Part two: A change of plans.
Marco quickly rushed to the door, almost tripping on the way down the stairs. He composed himself before slowly opening the door, revealing Jackie, who was stood somewhat awkwardly with her arms tucked uncomfortably behind her back.
'Hi Marco!' He was about to tell her about what was going on, but before he could open his mouth, she revealed what was behind her back. 'I got something for you.' it was a skateboard, and not only that, it looked like it was custom made, with his name on the bottom with a bunch of cool looking designs around it. He took the board in his hands. 'You got this in Just one night?' He asked, sounding slightly awestruck. 'Oh yeah, I know a few people who design art for boards, so I gave one of them ideas last night, and went to pick it up this morning. Do you like it?' He was still a little surprised by this, so he didn't answer her right away. 'Oh, it's awesome, I love it!' Her face lit up with a smile.
'I figured I could teach you a little bit about skating today, and then maybe what do you think?' Then Marco's heart sank, and he could feel his expression change from excitement, to sadness. 'Is something wrong Marco? I got some extra safety gear if you're worried about falling off?' He shook his head and started to explain. 'No, that's not it, it's just that after you called, Star told me that we have to go look for her book, so I asked if you could come... And it just sucks that you would do all this, only for me to change...' She interrupted him by putting her finger to his mouth gently. 'Its cool Marco. Don't worry about it. I think going to another dimension could be pretty cool too, and it's not going to take all day right? We could always go after, right?' She moved her hand and smiled back at him. 'Y...Yeah, you're right, why don't you come on in?'
Marco lead Jackie to the kitchen, expecting Star to still, be there, but only finding his parents, who had clearly only just woken up. 'Good morning you two!' His dad yelled. 'It's good to see you again so soon Jackie!' His Mom followed up. Jackie smiled calmly at their enthusiasm, despite their tired appearance. 'It's good to see you guys too, I hope you don't mind me being here this early though.' They both smiled at her. 'Not at all, Star just went upstairs if you were looking for her.' And with that, they thanked them and went up to Stars room.
'Hey you guys!' Star exclaimed as the pair entered her room, slightly more enthusiastically than she had planned too. 'Hey Star. What is the plan for today?' Star hesitated for a second. 'Yeah, about that, I was...Thinking about it, maybe this could wait until another day.' Marco opened his mouth to protest, but Jackie beat him too it.
'Star... I don't know much about who that little creepy dude was, but he didn't seem like the kind of person to wait around to do evil stuff.' Marco nodded. 'She's right. Ludo didn't have the kind of power he does now all the other times, and something about him definitely seemed different, and we don't know what his plan is.' Star nodded in sad agreement. 'Why the sudden change of heart any way?' He asked calmly. 'Well...I heard you guys at the door... And I felt kinda bad about interrupting your guys' date, so I figured I'd just let you guys go... And go look on my own.'
'Star...' Jackie began. 'That's nice of you and all, but did you really think we would put our relationship above your safety?' Jackie was holding Star's hands gently and smiling calmly at her. 'We want to help you find that book. Me and Marco can always hang out later on, but finding this as soon as possible is the most important thing right now. Marco was just stood there, almost surprised at Jackie's understanding. 'Well that took the words right out of my mouth. So what is the plan Star?'
She hesitated for a second, still not sure about what to do. 'Ludo's old castle would be a good place to start I guess.' Marco agreed 'Yeah, good idea, even if he isn't there, maybe we will find somebody who has seen him.' He looked worryingly at Jackie. 'If we were to run into anybody dangerous, don't fight if you can help it, just stay behind me and Star.' She nodded with a smile. 'Alright, just be careful.' It was obvious to Star that these two had formed a strong bond over the past few days, she felt a small part of her being happy for them, but she somehow still had mixed feelings that she was having a hard time brushing off.
'Alright then.' She pulled out her dimensional scissors. 'Let's go.' The glow of the portal seemed to be darker than usual, but regardless, the three stepped in, not fully knowing what to expect on the other side.