"She's late… I should go check on her."
"I'm sure she's fine. Her idiot of a brother is with her."
"But she's not answering her mirror. She's never late, and she always answers. I think something might really be wrong."
Breeze rolled her eyes. Astro was always so off balance whenever he thought Maria was in trouble. She was willing to admit that Maria being late and not answering her mirror was… off. The girl was always very punctual and when she did have a set back she made sure to let others know. But still, she didn't see any reason to assume the worst yet. It was likely just a minor setback.
Slick yawned as he laid back in his chair. "Dude, you are so whipped. So she's running late. Big deal. If something was up you would have sensed it," he said bluntly.
Bloom nudged him. "Be sympathetic. He's just worried," she said before turning back towards Astro. "Don't worry Astro, everything is fine. I can sense Maria, her brother, and Topaz all headed this way… though admittedly, they're making some very off movements. There's no danger but…"
"Are they arguing?" Fum asked, tilting his head. He could also sense the three incoming. The way they were moving told him the Kelpbottom siblings were having a heated discussion, but he obviously couldn't make out the words.
"What could they be arguing about now?" Jagur asked curiously. It was true that their siblings' spats were a regular part of their meetings, but since making his promise they had become far less regular. And even then it rarely resulted in heated words between them. They usually sat in an uncomfortable silence.
Nia looked bored. She really wanted this meeting to get started. "Could be anything knowing Hody…" she muttered. Even if he had gotten better, it wasn't odd to hear him come out of the mouth with something rude.
"Why do we even keep inviting him back here?" Slick asked. "All he does is sit there looking angry and start shit with everybody. I mean I do the second part, but I do it in a charming way everyone enjoys."
Breeze narrowed her eyes. "That's debatable. And frankly if you didn't respond and throw fuel on the fire he wouldn't be able to cause so many interruptions. Why can't you just learn to ignore him like the rest of us?" she asked.
"Well somebody needs to say something to him!" Slick argued. "He's always strutting around here like he's the best even though he keeps getting his ass beat… I mean I guess he got the best heart. Because I don't know anybody who can take that many L's from us and still be that confident. He got that going for him."
"As much as I enjoy sitting around a table and roasting Hody, I think they're almost here… and they have Snapper with them? What in the…" Astro was more than a little confused. Hody didn't usually bring Snapper here. And when he did he left him outside with Dottie. But the sharp pup was making his way inside.
The doors burst open, and Snapper ran in and began barking at the prince. Astro scowled. The stupid little think always barked at him whenever he was around. It made sneaking into the Kelpbottom castle at night such a pain. If it hadn't been for Maria he would have let Sear eat the thing by now.
"YOU BASTARD!"
Everyone turned and saw Hody storming in. Maria was right behind him, grabbing onto his sash and trying to slow him down. "Hody stop! Don't do this! Not here!" she yelled. Topaz wasn't far behind them, and had a very hard to read expression on her face.
Astro raised an eyebrow. "You know, if you're going to show up late, you could at least not cause such a disruption," the prince of mewni said.
"Don't you dare lecture me on anything you sneaky little degenerate! Not after what you've done!" he yelled stomping towards him. "I'm going to skewer you where you stand for putting your filthy hands on my sister!"
Everyone looked shocked. Astro scowled angrily. "Are you implying what I think you're implying? Because if so that's a new low, even for you. I'd harm a hair on Maria, and even you're not dumb enough to think you could pull off that lie!" he said standing up.
"That's not what I meant you little surface dwelling shit!"
"Then what are you talking about?!"
"I'm talking about this!"
"Hody! Don't!"
Maria wasn't able to stop her brother as he pulled out a pair of… underwear? There was a long moment of silence as everyone just sat there. "I… I'm sorry, maybe this is just me but… what is this? Why are you showing us your underwear?" Jaguar asked.
Hody groaned. "It's not mine you fools!"
It took a few more moments, but then Astro's eyes widened. Maria looked down and covered her face. The rest of the room was still trying to piece together what was going on, except Slick, who had a look of sheer joy on his face. "NO! No way! This is not happening right now!" he said standing up. "Oh shit! Oooooh shit!"
Breeze and Jagur both seemed to catch on as well, and Astro turned towards the other calamities with a threatening glare. "Slick, don't you-"
"Aye yo, those are Astro's man! Him and Maria been fucking!" Slick shouted.
Everyone's eyes widened as the dots were suddenly all connected. Amber, Nia, Vera, and Bloom all winced. They had known what was going on between the two, but… they certainly never expected it to get put out in the open like this. They all felt a mix of embarrassment and sympathy.
Breeze glared at Slick, looking like she was ready to kill him. Fum looks both confused and embarrassed, his cheeks bright red at what he'd just heard. Jagur laughed nervously as he pushed his glasses up. "So wait, they've been… ew! That's gross!" Rich Pigeon said, shaking his head.
Jackson Ponyhead leaned back in his seat in laughter, and Vincenza blushed heavily. This certainly hadn't been what any of them expected this meeting to turn into.
"Oh my god! Shit man! Astro, you did the best thing ever!" Slick said as he began running around the table. He high fived Jackson before turning back towards Hody. "Dude! He's been plowing your sister! Probably for all this time! Do you know what that means?!" Slick asked.
Bloom sighed. "Slick…"
"It means all the insults! All the times you've been looking down on him! All those high and mighty moments you had! They all mean nothing! Because no matter how much shit you talk, there will NEVER be anything you can say to one up 'I fucked you sister'! It's over my man! He won! He won forever! There's nothing you can do anymore!"
"Slick, shut the hell up!" Astro yelled angrily.
Hody looked downright murderous. His eyes were locked onto Astro, and every word Slick spoke just pushed him closer and closer to his breaking point. When Snapper had slipped into Maria's room this morning, he never would have thought he would find when he did under her bed.
It was no wonder she always wanted to keep them out of her room. How many months, years, had they been doing this?! Had this half-breed bastard been defiling his little sister with his filthy little hands?!
Maria pulled on Hody's arm. "Hody, for the love of chum, please let's just go! I think you've already made enough of a scene!" she said. She had tried to stop him the whole way here, but he was dead set on going after Astro.
Topaz felt sorry for the girl. She honestly didn't care all that much for Astro, but she didn't think Maria deserved to have all of her dirty laundry aired like this. She understood why Hody was angry of course, but still… Hody breathed heavily, his eyes slowly turning red. Damn, he was starting to get bloodlusted.
Astro sighed. "Listen, this isn't the time or place to-" Hody suddenly lunged at him, and Astro backed away just before his fist could connect with his face. Everyone gasped as Hody charged after him. "God damn it Hody! Listen to me!"
"I don't want to hear anything you have to say! All I want to do is punch you in your stupid face!" he yelled lunging at him again.
Astro easily avoided the swings. It was true that when he was bloodlusted like this that he was stronger, but he certainly wasn't in a right state of mind. His swings were easily read and ducked. "Calm down and think for two seconds! Do you really think we should be doing this here?! Think about how Maria-!"
"Don't you say her name out of your filthy mouth!"
He pulled out his trident and jabbed at him, and Astro stepped to the side. "Now, shit is getting good," Slick said amused. Now this was worth dragging himself here for.
"Do you really think coming down and airing our business in front of everyone was the best course of action here?!" Astro asked as he kept avoiding Sea Spike. "This is ridiculous! Look, I understand why you're upset but-"
Before he could finish, Hody twirled Sea Spike around and managed to nail Astro right across the face with the bottom of it. The others gasped as the prince stumbled back. His nose now bloodied by the hit. Astro stood and stared for a few moments, feeling his nose and then looking down at the blood. He sighed, and then closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
When he opened them, they were black.
"Fucking die then…"
Astro changed into his monster form and rushed back towards Hody, an equally murderous look now in his eyes. Hody growled and stabbed at him, but the trident bounced right off of him. He stumbled back, and Astro swung his fist right at his face. Everyone heard a crack as his fist connected with his nose, and Hody flew back and landed on the table.
He groaned and tried to get up, only to be grabbed by the back of his shirt. Astro slid him across the table and then threw him into the nearest wall. Astro walked after him, cracking his knuckles. Snapper barked and charged towards the prince, but the moment Astro glared down at him, he froze in his tracks.
Hody yelled and rushed back towards Astro while his attention was turned on the land shark. He opened his mouth and got ready to bite at him, but Astro's tail whipped around and stuck him on the chin, snapping his mouth shut and knocked him back again. "Damn…" Jackson said, wincing.
Slick scoffed. "What the hell did you think was gonna happen?"
Hody rubbed his jaw, and then felt a hand grab him by the throat. Astro pinned him against the wall and then brought his other fist up. "Shit, he's really trying to kill him!" Breeze said quickly moving in.
Amber and Nia began to move in as well. Astro had clearly snapped. Him going into his monster form while he was so angry made him lose control much quicker than normal.
Hody tried to pry his hand off, but he had a death grip on him. He could barely even breath. He raised his leg and kicked at his chest, but it felt like he was hitting a wall. "I'm going to smash that stupid fucking face of yours into-"
"ASTEROSSA!"
He stopped as Maria suddenly grabbed onto his arm. "That's enough!" she said, trying to pull him back.
Astro stared down at her, then shook his head. He blinked a few times, his eyes turning back to normal. "I… I'm sorry. I just… need a moment." He let go of Hody, and then turned around and opened a portal, leaving before anyone could even try to stop him.
Hody panted and rubbed his neck. That fool had nearly choked him to death. "Wow, you came in trying to fight on behalf of your sister's purity and got your ass beat. Again. This is a pretty new low for you, huh Hody?" Slick asked.
"Slick!" Bloom said glaring. She really didn't need him trying to rile up the situation again. Not after everything that had just happened.
He sighed. "Alright fine, I'll let the chum bucket lick his wounds…" He'd gotten to see a sigh go down, and chances were they were gonna cancel this meeting anyway, so he counted this as a total win for him.
Hody pushed himself up, and Topaz went to check on him. "You okay?" she asked.
"I'm fine!" he growled angrily.
"Not for long, you're not!" Maria said glaring. "Outside, right now! We need to talk!"
He grunted. "I'm not in the mood for you-!"
"Well I wasn't in the mood to be embarrassed in front of every heir in the kingdom! So it looks like we're both going to be disappointed today! Outside now, or I swear by the sea that I'll pick up where Astro left off!" she threatened.
Hody knew the levels of anger his sister could reach. Usually, even when she was mad, she tried to keep a calm expression on her face. But open hostility… that was not a good sign. "Fine…" he grumbled as he made his way out.
Everyone just watched awkwardly. Nobody knew what to do next. It was just... uncomfortable. The second the door closed behind the siblings Maria blew up. "What the hell were you thinking?!" she asked, holding her arms out.
"Me?!" he asked in disbelief. "You must be joking! After what he did he-!"
"WE! What WE did Hody! Astro didn't do anything I didn't consent to!" she pointed out.
"You shouldn't be doing anything! You're too young! And you two aren't even.." He shuddered. He was about to say betrothed or married, but the thought of his little sister and
Maria scoffed. "Please! You don't think I know what you were doing sneaking girls into the castle all those years! I'm older than you were when you were doing it! And even if it wasn't, what I choose to do with my body and my partner is none of your business! And it certainly doesn't give you the right to embarrass me in front of everyone!"
Hody flinched. "You… you knew?"
"Of course I knew!" she snapped. "I'm not an idiot! I have eyes and ears! Did you think I wouldn't find it odd that you were always sneaking back into the castle so late?! It's a wonder you and Astro never ran into each other before."
Hody blinked. "Wait, how often does he-?!"
"Not important!" she said holding her hand up. "What is important is that exchange for me not castraring you, you're going to leave me and Astro alone!"
Hody growled. "Not a chance! I'm not just going to turn a blind eye to-!"
"If you go to mother and father about this, then I'll tell them about you and Topaz." Hody stopped dead in his tracks, and Mairia narrowed her eyes. "She's not very quiet. And you'd better believe I'm willing to take both of us down if it comes to it. So what's going to happen now?" she asked, crossing her arms.
Hody let out a breath. "I… am willing to let this sit for now…" he said bitterly. "Provided I don't see any signs of the horrible, horrible deeds that you two commit…"
"Then stay out of my room and don't go looking for them," she said. "And don't think that this at all means that you're forgiven. At some point in the future, I will make you regret this more than you already have. It may not be today, or tomorrow, or even a year from now. But it will be coming. So you and Topaz sleep very carefully from here on…"
"Now, I have to go convince Asterossa not to kill you the next time he sees you," she said. Hody watched as his younger sister turned and walked off. Shit whenever Maria wanted revenge she always took her sweet time to make sure you never saw it coming…
He was going to have to tread carefully.
A/N: The secret it out! Ignorance really is bliss, and Hody will forever wish he never found out what was going on. But there's not turning back now. He'll always have it in the back of his head... Yeah, I think everyone knew Slick was gonna be a major instigator in this event. He wasn't gonna pass up on the chance to throw some fuel on the fire.
Don't know if I'll get around to doing a fic for Maria's revenge. It'd be pretty funny. She wouldn't be gunning for Topaz but... chances were she'd just get caught in the crossfire. Maria is nice, but when she's out for revenge she's willing to let there be casualties... Hope you guys enjoyed!