Star vs The Forces of Evil
Earthni Sweet Symphony
Disclaimer: Star vs The Forces of Evil was created by Daron Nefcy and is owned by Disney. I own no part of Star vs.
Episode 11: Me, My Shadow, and I (Part 2)
Episode Summary: Star & Marco finally learn the truth about how the "Shadow Council" was formed, putting into perspective much of the previous 12 months of life they've all experienced on Earthni.
Original Release Date: June 11, 2022
A long, arduous day of trekking Echo Creek's newly minted Earthni status lead to the group of Star, Marco, and Buff Frog finally returning to the Butterfly Castle after a long day. By this point, everyone that had been out and busy with their day had returned to the castle for some much deserved down time. This down time included engaging Miles & Meteora in the most adorable game of peek-a-book ever, regaling in Eclipsa's newly minted memoir, and Moon & River discussing the events of their own class for the day. But these positive thoughts were going to quickly be put on the back burner. There was a knock at the front door, which was quickly followed by the door swinging open, revealing Star, Marco, and Buff Frog standing there. Star, in particular, found herself sternly staring at her loved ones.
"Oh, you're back!" Moon delightedly shouted, which also prompted Miles & Meteora to stop their game and turn to face the teens. "We weren't expecting you so soon." Moon kept a brave face on for a short bit, but as Star, Marco, & Buff Frog gradually approached them, the adults all took note of the stern face Star had on. She had quite the handful of questions she wanted to confront them with, and she wasn't particularly in a jokey mood about it.
"Star!" Miles, on the other hand, she was always in the mood to be light & fluffy with. The boy, holding Meteora's hand, bounced around at Star's feet. The girl lovingly responded by picking them both up & embracing them.
"Hi babies. Did you have a good day with Aunt Eclipsa & Uncle Globgor?"
"Yeah! We played games and we danced!"
"D'aww, you're so precious." She granted them both a kiss before handing them off to their respective parents. It was during this brief respite that the adults all began to grow concerned noting Star's more grounded attitude. She was not in the best of moods at the moment, given what had transpired throughout that day.
"Star, honey, is everything alright?" Eclipsa took the initiative to confront Star's somewhat somber attitude.
"Um, yeah yeah, sure, totally, but..." She hesitated slightly. "I think I have some questions that I could use some answers to."
The stipulation took the ground by surprise, but now wasn't the time to push back. "Of course. Whatever can we help you with?"
"I was just curious, uh...how exactly did this "Shadow Council" thing you have going on come about?" The Butterfly Shadow Council was a subsection of the mayor's political committee that helped weigh in on matters concerning the adjustment from Earth to Earthni, since the Butterfly family was at the heart of the matter that led to the Cleaving. "I mean, I never asked about it because I was falling apart and everything, and nobody really wanted me to get back into the scene too fast, but..."
Admittedly, the adults never saw it appropriate to relay this information to the girl. Given her mental state at the time and her subsequent emotional & physical battles, it was deemed proper to allow her the space she needed to bounce back the way she wanted to. But if Star was adamant about now learning that information, there had to be an adequate reason for it. "Well, it's quite the story, actually..."
[Flashback]
It was the prior year; Star & Marco were preparing to depart in a taxi for the airport, eager to get a start on their long-awaited, much deserved vacation away from Echo Creek. Both of their adult family members were standing by, preparing to say their farewells. Even now, Star was still apprehensive, afraid that her departure would compromise operations in Echo Creek during the transition. "You know, it's not too late to tell me not to go on this trip." Star said to her mother, almost pleading with her in a twisted vain effort to escape what was a well deserved getaway. "You could always play the "princess responsibilities" card on me and I wouldn't have to argue."
"And if you ask me to do that again, I'm going to empty out your luggage onto the street." Moon half-joked, loading Star's luggage into the trunk of the taxi before shutting it. Ever since the end of the Magic High Commission and the destruction of magic (sort of), Moon had pledged that the dynamic between the two of them would be vastly different from before. No more ludicrous expectations for Star. No more assumptions about her personality and behavior. No more shouldering the burdens of an entire monarchy on her shoulders alone.
"...You sure?" Star hesitatntly asked once more.
"We're all on board with this, dear. Go. Enjoy yourself. Relax."
"Please listen to her, sweetheart." Angie, Marco's mother, agreed. "If anyone deserves this, it's you. And none of us are going to take no for an answer."
Star looked over at her boyfriend, smiling away and holding her hand as gently as he could. She breathed a loud sigh. "Alright. I guess we'll see you guys in a week."
"TWO WEEKS!" Marco, Moon, and the other adults all shouted quickly to counteract Star's gradually unfolding self-destructive ways. Again, she sighed, relaxing at last.
"Fine, two weeks."
"Trust me, we're going to have so much fun." As the door closed on them and the driver prepared to depart, the two embraced in a kiss while be serenaded with loud & tearful goodbyes from the adults. As much as all of them were going to miss the teens for the next two weeks, they decided it was worth it if Star came back well rested, happy, and in love with the boy she always wanted. They remained in place only just long enough for the card to drive out of sight. But just as the group was about to disperse & return to their respective homes, in came the deafening blairs of police sirens. From a both ends of the street, police cars came hustling towards the group, boxing them in to prevent any sort of escape.
Without any sort of warning or foreshadowing, police officers leaped out of their respective cards & grabbed a hold of the adults, containing them & effectively arresting them. This was in spite of the fact that Globgor still possessed the ability to manipulate his physical size, and he could have easily decided to become a giant & stomp on them all if he so chose. He did not, however. It was a case of playing the long game.
[End Flashback]
In a moment of dumbfoundery, Star interrupted the story. "Wait a minute, time out. You guys were arrested!? You never told us!"
"We weren't, though!" Moon corrected hastily. "Well, not exactly."
"We were just fine when you and the boy crash landed back home, so we decided it wasn't a worthwhile topic of discussion." River added.
"Well, you were wrong. Why exactly were you all thrown into authority vehicles so haphazardly?"
"May we continue?" Star nodded, now anticipating where the story was going to go. "Excellent!"
[Flashback]
Some time later, the group had found themselves all sharing a cell in a nearby police station. Unlike the other folks in cells awaiting their fate, none of them were in handcuffs. They were all free to walk about the cell as they pleased. In fact, comparatively, they had by far the nicest cell in the station. It was a fact that they had picked up on rather quickly. That, combined with how none of the involved officers said even a word to them while they were loading them in the cell - other than "wait here" from one of the slobs - told them that something much more unusual was afoot.
"This is hardly ideal." Eclipsa commented, awkwardly starting a conversation nobody wanted to have. For being locked up in essentially a prison cell, the young babies Mariposa & Meteora were surprisingly calm & collected, though obviously unamused by this turn of events.
"At least the children were far enough away to not have witnessed it." Moon added. "What could they possibly want with us?"
"If they're just interested in intimidating us, they're going to have to go above the call of duty. We've seen quite a lot throughout our lives." Eclipsa bravely announced. The corner of her caught a glimpse of Globgor silently snickering to himself.
"...You know what you said, dear."
"Not the time, Globby."
This brief respite for small talk would be interrupted by one of the guards present quickly unlocking the cell door. With the way she eyed the Butterfly family & Marco's parents directly and intently, everyone standing around knew this was for them. She said nothing, only motioning the other inmates around them to ensure that they didn't try a fast one in the midst of transfer. She motioned to them to approach the gate; it swung open, and she briskly led them to the other side of the room, where they were brought into another waiting area - this one considerably less unpleasant than the one they just left - and ordered to patiently wait. The mayor was personally on his way to speak with them.
Despite the slightly condensed area giving off claustrophobic vibes, the agonizing wait only lasted a rather unfulfilling twenty minutes. But once the door swung open once more, an icy, crippling sensation surrounded the atmosphere of the room. In stepped the mayor, accompanied by a few of his close associates. He was holding a briefcase with papers sealed inside. An initial glance at his twitching face revealed a glimpse into his developing psyche. One searching for answers. Perhaps also searching for a scapegoat. A person or entity with which to saddle the blame for what had become an era of infinite questions & uncertainties. He quickly scanned the room, surveying the faces of those he was about to confront. He took a seat at the desk that was conveniently located in the middle of the room for some reason.
"What do you want from us, good sir?" River exclaimed in a clearly panicked yet still respectful undertone. A momentary silence from the mayor as he internally composed his response.
"What I want...are answers." He spoke. A stern, unwavering tone. But not one lacking in compassion. To him, the guests before him were not enemies. At least not yet. There was no incentive to needlessly antagonize them until he could better gauge the unfolding situation around him. "And it seems that you people are the only ones capable of providing those answers."
"...Answers? To what, exactly?" Moon's response was clearly calculated. Don't give away your vulnerability too soon, lest it be used to your detriment. The mayor, for his part, wasn't particularly amused by Moon's counter, though there was nothing about it that he could pinpoint to being counterintuitive. His mood just wasn't up for games. He wanted to get right to the point.
"Oh, I don't know...perhaps one of you can tell me why just in the last few days I've witness a ginormous, mutated spider casually stroll through about a half dozen family homes, thereby ruining countless lives, massive birds that clearly don't come from any habitat I've ever seen flying through our airs & startling our good citizens, sentient, English-talking creatures that look like a crop of deer in headlights, and, oh I don't know, there was that whole ludicrous attack on our citizens that saw a whole gaggle of them turn into mutated, sickly hellbeasts."
"They are not "hellbeasts," and I resent the usage of that word to describe them. This ordeal is not their burden, let's make that very clear." Moon spoke up, still visibly sore about the subject, partially due to her own responsibility in the matter.
"Actually, "making things clear" is exactly why I'm here. That and perhaps cleaning up some unnecessary waste from my town."
"What are you implying?"
"All I'm saying is that life in Echo Creek was far less chaotic before that blonde girl with the fancy stick-thing stormed in and created a rucus. What was her name again?"
"Her name is Star. She's our daughter, and if you say a single bad word against her, I assure you you'll regret it."
"Miss, are you sitting here and threatening an elected official?"
"Literally none of those words have any meaning to me." Moon had to be quietly held back by River before she mouthed off any further. It was evident she was tensing up; between the stress of having the Mina ordeal blow up in her face to nearly losing her daughter in more ways than one, Moon wasn't in the right head space to be dealing with this chaos at the moment. But a bow out was not an option. Not with no idea what they were potentially facing ahead of them. Thinking quickly, Eclipsa stepped into the conversation.
"Sir, I understand the anxiety you're currently experiencing," Eclipsa calmly spoke, garnering the mayor's attention. "But I assure you, we are all just as confused about how all of this happened as you are." That wasn't "technically" true - they had all learned the reasons behind how the Cleaving occurred just days prior - it was proving incredibly difficult to properly process all of the events playing out before them in an appropriate amount of time "But rest assured...we can explain."
"Oh, can you now?"
"If you'll grant us a moment of your time - and a modicum of patience - we certainly can." Moon bit back. Though their attitudes were off-putting to him, it was their steadfast nature that persuaded him to hear them out.
[End Flashback]
"So we spent probably the next hour or so regaling the wild tale."
"You told him everything?" Star asked her mother. "And he believed you?"
"Well, not at first, of course." River interrupted the talk. "But it's difficult to blame the lad. Even we struggle to believe the incredible journey we've all been on sometimes."
"And...why were my parents not freed as soon as he realized they had nothing to do with any of this?" Marco asked, obviously focused on the important details.
"He did. It just...took some time to reach that point." Eclipsa interjected.
"He is quite the headstrong man." Globgor added. "Reminds me a lot of us in a way. Someone that doesn't like to admit that they're wrong about something."
"Yes, it was like looking into a mirror..." Moon reluctantly contributed. Even she couldn't disagree with that assessment.
"So you were able to get him to believe you when you told him about what happened?"
"...Eventually, yes. He had a lot of questions we needed to do our best in answering. Understandable; everything did happen pretty quickly." Moon glanced over at her daughter, attempting to gauge how she was processing this information. "Once cooler heads prevailed we were able to convey the circumstances that resulted in the new state of the world. We even got to tell him a story about our history. Our incredibly flawed, lengthy history..."
"Don't sweat it, it's not like we're flawless either."
"How often did I come up?" It was itching at Star's mind; she had to know just how much she was a part of the conversation despite having just left with Marco for a long vacation at the time. The mere act of speaking up resulted in a cataclysmic laugh from her baby brother, who celebrated anything and everything Star-related. "Boy, hearing about all this now makes me feel even sillier that I wasn't there to help steer-" Even after all this time, the self-loathing voice in the back of her head managed to creep up every so often. And it was up to her friends & loved ones to kick it back down into its cage.
"We told him straight away you were sent away for some well deserved R&R. At first, he thought we were lying & hiding you away."
"You guys practically had to put a straitjacket on me just to get me to even go!"
"Apparently you had made a bit of a name for yourself while you were in training. And not always in the best of lights."
"Yeah, that's what happens when you're 14 and you're as dumb as a brick." Another slip up from her. It was evident to all, even to her baby brother, that this had the potential to spiral out of control rather quickly. Fortunately, both Marco & Miles were there to reign her back in. In typical Marco fashion, he kissed her & caressed her hair. In typical Miles fashion, he playfully slapped at Star's arm & made a whiny grunt noise, almost chastising her for berating herself. This was enough to temporarily quell the darkness & lighten Star's mood. "He just assumed that it was entirely my doing, didn't he?"
"He never said it directly. But that's the impression we got. Still, even with that, he was willing to hear us out..."
[Flashback]
After over an hour of a detailed explanation provided by the entirety of the Butterfly family - Rafael & Angie had almost nothing to contribute since, well, they weren't part of the magical monarchy - the mayor had no choice but to stew with his thoughts for a good, long moment. He said nothing, opting to keep his face buried deep into his hands enough so that his mouth was not visible. He scanned the room once more, digesting all of the information presented to him while gauging the reactions of the others. To his surprise, they remained as stone faced and firm as they did when they were brought over. He was looking for some sort of signal that what they were spilling was some sort of convoluted story designed to nullify any potential repercussions they might face. And sure, it was convoluted. But that didn't make it untrue.
"You understand the conundrum I now face, don't you?" He spoke softly while continuing to scan the room. "Not only must I look after my own constituents, the very people that elected me to the office and placed their trust in me..."
"Again, those words mean nothing to me." Moon insisted on insisting.
"But now I have your batch of hoodlums & troublemakers to be concerned over. Two entire subsections of species that I never before had to account for. Our entire eco & economical system thrown into a wood chipper! Essentially we're starting from scratch!"
"No, that's not necessarily true!" Moon implored him. "In fact, the entomology of your people and our people are strikingly similar."
"I'm pretty sure that's not the word you should be using here."
"Not to mention that you also run on a 24-hour clock, as we did, and your currency is frighteningly similar to ours."
The mayor found himself shaking his head & sighing, exasperated from the conversation he was having. Another matter that he had to consider was whether he could feasibly classify what had happened - The Cleaving - as a "crime." "You're all very fortunate. Technically I can't say you've broken any laws on your own. What happened appears to have literally been an act of God."
"You mean an act of magic." Eclipsa attempted to correct him.
"Not the time, Eclipsa." Moon loudly whispered to her.
"And yet...I can't simply let you walk away."
"But what about them?" Globgor piqued up once more, referring to Angie & Rafael, who had spent the vast majority of this meeting quietly observing from the background. "They've literally done nothing wrong."
"Excuse me, who's in charge here?"
A sarcastic response, but one that ironically spurred a thought in River's head. "That's a good question. Who is in charge now? Who runs the world that you have come to know as Echo Creek?"
It was painfully obvious the Butterfly family was in desperate need of a geography lesson.
[End Flashback]
"Yes, as we learned, this world extended far beyond the barriers of Echo Creek, lurching into what the whipper snappers call "cities" and "states." Even "countries!" There are multiple countries on this circle orb we set our feet on!" River declared, still giddy over the revelation despite having it happen a year prior. "Marco, my boy, did you know any of this!?"
It took all of the boy's willpower to keep a straight face on & prevent himself from either laughing hysterically or walking out in a fit. "Please tell me you're kidding."
"I'm not! In fact, did you know that our "country" is called "O-MARE-CHI-CA?" He hilarious mispronounced his country of living. Marco may not have been in the mood to laugh, but baby Miles sure was.
"Didn't the rest of the kingdoms around Mewni just windup in other parts of the world?" Star surmised. Indeed, that had been the case. And all of them were having similar difficulties having all of the species living harmoniously together.
"So I guess this whole "Shadow Council" arrangement was just to stop him from locking you guys up unfairly?" Star surmised.
"It took a bit of time to get there, but eventually, he offered us a deal. In exchange for dropping the matter, we would assist him in the transition. You know, help him understand our own culture and how our people and the monsters survived everyday life. We would have our input accounted for. But he insisted on having the final say."
"Well...yeah." Marco bluntly responded. "He's the one in charge of the town. You guys aren't. Just because the universe decided to have a seizure doesn't mean the balance of power changes."
As much of a struggle as it was - and has been - for the family to make the adjustment, it was a point that even they could disagree with. Essentially, they had entered someone else's territory. It wasn't like they could just waltz in and try to take it over. After all, the last time Moon attempted to do that it nearly cost her the relationship she now has with her daughter. Sure, different circumstances, but an egregious & desperate act nonetheless. "I suppose that's true. It does require an incredible amount of dedication & focus to running a ship."
Star couldn't help but think back to the conversation she and Marco had just had with one of the mayor's underlings. How the Butterfly family had sometimes felt "checked out" of conversations. Ignoring the mayor's input and disregarding the role he plays in running the ship. It was challenging to gauge the family's intentions; were they looking to siphon the power away? Were they eager to simply leave & never look back? Was it the same kind of fatigue Star felt that ultimately forced her folks to take an "early retirement" approach with her?
"Yeah...about that..." Star said once she finally recomposed herself. "Look, there's no easy way to say this, but...well, the mayor hasn't exactly had the most flattering of words for you guys lately. Depending on how you ask him, either he thinks you guys are checked out & not really providing adequate service anymore, or you're just enacting policies & ideas for this place without bringing him into the loop. That might help explain why he's become so antagonistic towards both us and Mewni's inhabitants."
It took a long pause for the declaration to be mentally processed. Among the Butterflies, either they wanted to laugh at the implication or simply shrug it off & change the subject. But a quick note of how Marco & Star were staring them down told them this wasn't an accusation they could merely ignore. It wasn't just for Star's peace of mind, but their own as well. "We're certainly not very fond of him at the moment, but...I can't exactly say he's wrong, either."
"So explain it to us. Help us understand."
"When this arrangement started, we were all in. We saw it as a chance to not only right all of the wrongs we've committed previously with Mewni, but also a chance to adapt from the lifestyle of a monarchy." Eclipsa explained. "We all agreed at the time that the monarchy was rather tired, and given all of the damage the constant rule of the family had done, perhaps it was time for a change. Most of what we did at the start was simply educating him on our culture. Where we came from, how we operated, all of the blemishes that came with it. It was still his show. But we got the impression we wasn't entirely fond of having us around. It remained civil for the most part. But as we went along, our priorities started to shift, I suppose."
"We all developed our own person hobbies that started to take up much of our time and focus. The longer we went along, the more gradually we realized that these hobbies...might be something we would want to pursue more aggressively."
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with that." Star was encouraged by this development before realizing the surrounding context. "But yeah, it's not like you could just..drop everything you were doing to pursue those passions completely, right? That was the problem I had when I was back on Mewni full-time. Had to put a lot of stuff to the side to focus." The initial refusal to acknowledge Star's response sent up red flags aplenty in her mind. "Right?"
"Well, I didn't have any particular interest in dragging out my book longer than necessary." Eclipsa retorted in what was perhaps the worst way she could have. "I had to devote time & focus to that project."
At the cost of letting whatever anger was bubbling escape, Star took another breath. Aided by Miles sticking his tongue out at her to ease tension, she faced them once more. "Are you serious? You actually abandoned your post unprovoked to work on this little passion project?"
"Not abandoned." Buff Frog finally saw fit to insert himself into the conversation. "They would show. Some days engaged & concentrated on task at hand. Other days, not so much. Others, myself included, had to pick up slack. And some days, when engaged, they would ice mayor person out."
"Ice him out? How exactly?" Marco inquired.
"So...some of the policies that have been enacted to help our people haven't exactly gone through him." Globgor admitted.
"I wasn't aware that you guys had any power to unilaterally enact legislation in your roles." The hesitating response from the adults suddenly gave Marco & Star the insight they needed to deduce the problem. "...Oh, so you don't."
"Mayor guy try to be understanding of our predicament." Buff Frog went on to explain. "Has his own ideas. Not always on same page."
"We didn't want to have to wait for him to come around on our point of view on matters involving our people, so we thought the faster we could move things along, the better it would be for all and we could move forward with our vision."
"Oh, I see what you mean. So basically you want to decide how things should go without any sort of feedback or interference. You know...like a monarchy. The very thing you said you wanted to move away from." It was all but impossible for them to dismiss that characterization, no matter how much they hated it. "Of course it's going to take him time to open himself up to a different way of doing things. Of course he's going to be skeptical. And if you guys were going around him to enact policy changes, then of course he's going to be upset. It doesn't matter what your intentions were."
"Uh, not to beat on a dead horse or anything, but a lot of this could've been avoided if you guys weren't so focused on giving me an early retirement and actually...you know...let me help out more." Star insisted, still stuck on the mindset that she had spent the past 12 months lazing around rather than actually recovering from a severe nervous breakdown. "I've had a lot of experiences with both worlds. I could've helped smooth things along a lot more easily."
"No way." Marco objected. "That staycation we're giving you is the one decision none of us regret."
"But look where we are now. The mayor is clearly pissed off at us because he feels like he's been left in the wind to figure out what the hell's even going on. It's no wonder he's so upset." Before continuing with her speech, she took a glance down at her baby brother, who had the widest eyes & brightest smile looking back at her. He kissed her chin, which melted away the building tension in her body almost instantly. "It's been so rough for everyone. Probably for you guys, too. Don't get me wrong. I totally get it. The political stuff is exhausting and it just burns you out big time. It's great if you guys are finding yourselves wanting to pursue other passions. But it's not like we can just leave things hanging for someone else to take on. Do you know how many times I wanted to leave when I was having to teach Eclipsa how to be a ruler? More than a few times. But I couldn't. I needed to make sure she was capable of running the show on her own terms without causing calamity to everyone, no matter how much it drained me or ruined my personal life."
Baby Miles was listening intently to Star. As she explained herself and her justifications, the wheels in his head began to turn. With a gentle whine and a tug at her arm, he requested to be put down. Upon her obliging, he dashed out of the room, laughing hysterically. In actuality, he was racing for his & Star's bedroom, where he had been keeping the trophy he had bought for Star's "birthday" for safekeeping after she & Marco had left. In the distance, as he was returning, his hysterical laughter crescendoed in volume. His plan was simple: show him the trophy meant for her again to boost her spirit. Sure enough, he stepped back into the doorway with the little trinket in hand - now covered head to toe in stickers of Star's face - and galloped over to the sullen girl. "Here you go!"
How loving he was, even in the face of his oblivious nature. Star couldn't be prouder. She picked up the trophy & put it on the table next to her, then picked the boy up & cradled him in her arms, showering him with the affection he so richly deserved. "Such a good boy. Are you trying to cheer me up?"
"Yes!" He proudly proclaimed, eliciting scattered chuckles from the rest of the group.
"Miles, sweetie, do you even understand what we're talking about?"
"No!" He again proudly proclaimed.
"Then why are you doing this, you silly little munchkin?"
"Because you did a good job. And I love you." Of course Miles didn't have a clue. He was so young. But that wasn't going to stop him from lifting her spirits.
"He's right, dear." Eclipsa reassured the girl. "You did a wonderful job. I was lost without your guidance. I felt awful that I was obviously keeping you busy from other matters you sorely wanted to tend to."
"That's why we overcorrected and wanted to keep you as far away as possible from these matters." Moon concurred.
"And we'd do it again!" River also added.
"And what about you guys? Do you guys feel like you want to move on from running the show?" They weren't particularly proud of this idea, but all of them eventually gave somber nods her way. "Don't get me wrong, I'm happy you guys feel that way. It's just time to move on. The problem is...we can't just drop everything and leave the mayor holding the bag. Even if he is a jackass, that's not fair to him. And clearly he feels like he's being strung along. Maybe that's where this "the cleaving is a hoax" thing is coming from. He's lashing out and frustrated because he doesn't have answers and he feels like the people he's supposed to trust aren't helping the way he thought they would."
What was becoming clear during this exchange was that the current relationship between the mayor's office and the Butterfly family was no longer sustainable. Tensions were far too high and the mayor was not particularly interested in restoring the status quo. Truth be told, neither were the Butterflies. "I suppose we need to explain ourselves to him, don't we?"
"I think that would be smart." Star agreed.
"But what do we do now?"
"Why don't we just play it by ear until the election?" Marco suggested. "That's still a ways out, and there's still plenty of work to be done. Not to mention we all can't just assume that Buff Frog is going to win in the end. What if he doesn't? We need to be prepared."
"Don't say that, Marco. Of course Buff Frog is going to win. He's the best person left to handle this place. He knows more about all three secs of Earthni than you or I."
"And I'm telling you guys that that doesn't matter. Not here. I hate to be the debbie downer, but the most qualified candidate doesn't always win around here. That's just how it goes."
"That sounds incredibly bleak, Marco."
"...Yeah..."
"Well, whatever. We're not going to let that happen. Buff Frog is the best person to step in and lead us into the next chapter. And we'll do everything we can to make sure he wins. And then, once he's in, he'll be able to bring in his own team of smart guys that are better equipped to take us in a better direction."
"You think I would fire Butterfly family?" Buff Frog asked her.
"Don't you want your own inner circle to work off of? People that...don't have our baggage attached to them? Wouldn't it be better for you to have a clean slate completely tethered from us?"
"At the risk of stepping out of line...I must concur with her." Moon chipped in once more. "We can do the best that we can to rid the sins of our reign and be a better example for those that look up to us. But perhaps it is time for us to finally step aside entirely. The truth is we've become so sick of the same old routine & responsibilities that we always have had. And now that we've been branching out and trying to find our own pathos in life, I suppose we'd much rather focus on those aspects than have to yet again make important political decisions that could vastly affect the people we're charged with overseeing and looking after."
"Unfortunately, you can't just do that. At least not without some kind of communication or forewarning. You can't ice him out, even if he is kind of a dick."
"Then I suppose we should set up another encounter with him and attempt to work everything out & hope he's responsive."
"And if he's not, then we just up our game to get Buff Frog elected."
"Yay Buffy!" Came the precious shout from little Miles to ice out the remaining tension. So at that point, the game plan was set. Sort it all out civilly with the mayor's office and hope for the best. Otherwise, continue to help Buff Frog become the next mayor. Even with the new lease on their perspective, everyone knew that the stakes were still elevated.
Later that night saw Marco on on his laptop, hard at work putting together his college assignment & Star playing with her baby brother on her bed, eliciting some of the loudest, most joyous laughter one could ever hear from a toddler. Despite the high pitched volume, the noises wasn't a nuisance to Marco. If there was laughing, then Star was happy, and that was all that was important to him.
"And...done." Marco announced after completing the project. He slammed his computer shut & turned to face his girlfriend. The slamming of the laptop procked Miles's attention; he crawled to the other side of the bed and hugged Marco's neck with his tiny arms, laughing all the way. "And now I wait."
"You're so getting an A, stop worrying." She said penchantly. Despite the surface level brave face she was putting on, Marco had no illusions; his college performance was the farthest thing from her mind at the moment.
"Speak for yourself."
"Don't throw my words back at me, smarty-pants."
"Stop making it so easy." Without a second thought, he leaped onto the bed and playfully tackled her, resulting in a fun fake fight that ended with them kissing. "Everything's gonna be fine. We know what we're going to do. We're gonna keep helping Buff Frog while your folks try to hash things out with the mayor." the two of them made room for Miles to crawl into the hug when they heard him giggling with impatience.
"Marco, do you think we should have some sort of escape plan? You know, just in case things go completely haywire and might turn sour on us?"
"What do you mean exactly? Leave town?"
"Maybe. Shouldn't we be prepared for the worst?"
He stroked her hair & kissed her forehead. "I don't want to worry everyone around us. Not yet. We could be overreacting. We might avoid the totally catastrophic outcome."
"I hope we do. I wouldn't want to leave. All my Earth friends are here."
"We're not going anywhere that you don't want to."
"That I don't want to?" She sat up and, with Marco's help, switched positions so that now she was the one on top of him, much to Miles's delight. "And what do you mean by that, Mr. Diaz?"
"Well, Miss Butterfly, we are coming up on our anniversary."
The wheels turned in her head, slowly but surely. Suddenly, a loud gasp. "We are! Oh my gosh where has the time gone?"
"Guess we've been busy."
"Busy with real world garbage, busy helping our friends, and busy making out...among other things."
"Soooooo I was thinking...maybe we celebrate the same way we did last year?"
"...You mean a getaway?" Star's eyes lit up.
"If you want. We can go anywhere you want to go, my treat. Just name your place."
Star backed off of Marco ever so slightly. The prospect of another getaway was always enticing for her, especially with how successful their last one was. The alone time that they had together, the wonderful activities they got to partake in, and the intimacy, obviously. But just because she could didn't mean that she should. "Um...thank you, Marco. But..."
"But what?"
"Maybe...maybe now's just not the best time to be doing this?"
"You don't think our folks would understand?"
"No I'm sure they would. But...I don't know, I feel like right now, being here is the best place for us. For...me. I kinda wanna be here right now to see this whole mess through. I'm sorry, Marc-" When would Star learn that she didn't need to apologize to her beloved? Tonight wasn't that night, though fortunately Marco acted quickly to put out the potential fire, kissing her out of surprise. "You sure you're not mad?"
"Hey, just because we're not going away doesn't mean we can't find other ways to celebrate. It doesn't have to be anything fancy or over-the-top. Anything I do with you is the best time of my life." His eyes momentarily darted over to Miles, who was now patiently sitting right next to Star, him and his wide, goofy smile giggling in anticipation of the attention turning back to him. "We can bring all of the babies along if you want."
She excitedly gasped. "You think they'd wanna come?"
"They'd follow you anywhere, you know that. Isn't that right, Miles?" And that was his cue to begin loudly cheering & laughing in Star's direction, shoving his arms out and requesting a hug from his favorite person. Of course she obliged. "We're gonna have such a good time, aren't we?"
"Oh I sure hope so. I could use a good time right about now." As she finished hugging her brother, her eye also caught a glimpse of the trophy he had wanted to give her for what he thought was her birthday sitting by Miles's bedside. She glanced back at him; the boy was still laughing & smiling like there was no tomorrow. "Hey buddy, would you like to sleep in my bed tonight?" His face fell momentarily while his mind processed her question. He excitedly nodded when he was finished. "Marco, is that okay with you?"
"Aww, you need an extra cuddler tonight?" He lovingly asked, to which she nodded, embarrassed. "I love how much of a hugger you are."
"I love how nice it is to hug you." She turned back to Miles. "And you, you adorable little goofball. I love you guys. So much."
"I love you Star." Squeaked Miles, sending Star into a frenzy of adorableness, only quelled by both Marco & Miles hugging & kissing her to death & helping her settle down for bed. Hopefully, for the time being, the kids would be able to focus on relaxing & unwinding. Would life grant them that reprieve?
End of Episode 11.
...Okay, I definitely need to write some less heavy chapters for a bit. These last few were draining cuz of how they unfolded. Combined with personal life stuff exhausting me and honestly I'm just amazed this is coming out the same year lol. I'd like to say these long gaps in between updates won't continue, but I don't want to lie. So I apologize in advance.
And because I'm half-convinced that this chapter itself is utterly terrible, to sum up what's going on: the Butterfly family has been somewhat shirking their obligation as the shadow council. Either they will leave the mayor out of important cleaving discussions & not allow his imput - unconsciously, of course - or they'll just get caught up in their own hobbies & personal lives on Earth where they sometimes leave the mayor to sort through everything. The mayor is obviously somewhat corrupt, but also he is burned by how the Butterflies haven't exactly been the most helpful people in the transition, which has led him to resent them & Star to an extent, and also conclude that the Cleaving was/is a gigantic hoax. So lots of big personalities and personality traits clashing with one another right now.
Next chapter will probably be more light-hearted & less angsty. I think we could use some laughs after everything so far. Any feedback is always much appreciated.
And as always, don't forget to read & review :)