One day, after class got out, I was standing at the window watching Oskar at his car. He was playing his keytar and I was thoroughly entranced. Marco poked his head in front of me and said something before moving out of the way. I kept watching Oskar, having not really heard what Marco said. Marco came back when I didn't follow, and this time I forced myself to listen.
"You've got some paint or something" he said as he pointed to his forehead "Right here."
I crossed my eyes trying to the see the spot, which obviously didn't work. I had no idea what he was talking about, I didn't remember getting paint on myself that day. Reaching up, I felt something where he had indicated and peeled it off. I looked at the purple heart I now held in my hands as realization dawned on me. I held it away from me as I said "Marco! This is not paint!"
"Well, looks like you got another heart" he said in a caring tone.
"Quiet Marco, this is serious! I think I'm going through Mewberty." His intentions were adorable, but he had no idea what was happening and as I finished speaking, I felt more hearts pop up on my face. I pulled my hair down to hide the marks as I started freaking out.
"What… okay, uh, Mewberty…" he said with a chuckle. He tried to reassure me by saying "That's nothing to be ashamed of, we have a similar thing here on Earth."
His reassurance was sweet, Futile but sweet nonetheless. I turned and pointed at him as I said "Don't confuse this with your Earth things Marco! I'm from Mewni! This is gonna get really weird."
"You gotta keep me away from boys!" I screamed as I grabbed him by his backpack and pulled him close, more hearts popping up on my face. Then I realized something. "Wait a second, Marco's a boy."
I pulled him close, some kind of primal force making him seem incredibly enticing. It seemed so right but so wrong at the same time, part of me wanting to let him go and the other part just confused. He chuckled and extracted himself from my grasp, and the feeling thankfully passed.
"When you say things are gonna weird do you mean typical Star weird or like destroy the school weird?"
"Destroy the school."
"That's what I was worried about, let's get you home." He turned and started walking to the exit of the school. I followed behind him, wary of any boys that might pop up.
"Oh no, Oh no, Okay, here comes the boy, you got this" I muttered to myself as we passed a boy in the halls who was tying his shoes. Suffice to say, I didn't have it. As we passed, no matter how much I tried to resist, I couldn't help lifting the hair out of my face and staring. I felt more heart pop up on my face and turned away. "Marco, I don't think this is such a good idea…"
I trailed off as we passed another boy, drinking from a fountain beside us. I parted my hair for a better view and couldn't stop myself from leaning in. I watched him and could feel more hearts as they appeared not only on my face, but started popping up on my arms as well. Reaching over, I put my finger in the stream of water, stopping it from obstructing my view.
"My turn" I sang when he stopped in confusion. Before anything could happen though, Marco ran over and grabbed my arm.
"Okay, let's go" he said as he stared to drag me away.
Before we could make it more than a few feet, hearts sprouted on my arm from where he touched and my entire arm turned purple. Then the hearts shot from my fingertips as some sort of webbing almost and latched onto a nearby locker. I started screaming, and Marco turned to see what was happening. When he saw, he also started screaming as he pointed at the locker.
Marco had to tear his hand from my arm where the growths had stuck themselves to his hand and his hand came away purple. I tried to tear myself free from the webbing as well, but only succeeded in pulling the locker open, falling over, and sliding into it.
"I'm stuck."
"Uh… let me help" said Marco as he reached down to try and free me.
For a moment, I was excited. I wanted him to touch me. Who wouldn't want that, I couldn't imagine anything better. With a start, I realized that was the Mewberty speaking and in a panic, I threw myself into the locker. "No! Your little boy hands are part of the problem!"
For some reason, I was especially drawn to Marco too. More than I had been with either of the other two boys, probably due to the advancement of my condition.
"Isn't there some way I can help? Maybe there is something in your book of spells that can stop this."
"Maybe…"
"I'll go home and get it."
"It's not at home, I gave it to Ferguson" I told Marco, slightly embarrassed, but also relieved the book was already at school.
"Why?"
"I lost a bet, okay? Do you wanna help me or not?"
Okay, but we gotta talk about that betting thing later" Marco told me. I watched him run off as I peeked through the slats in the locker. With him gone, I was able to calm down a bit and started the long process of cleaning myself of the hearts. At first I was able to pick them off at a decent rate but eventually I had to peel them off one at a time.
It was slow going, but I was finally able to peel all of the hearts off myself. I leaned back, wondering what was taking Marco so long as I said to myself "That's better."
Suddenly I heard the bell ring, signaling the end of class. Marco still hadn't returned and there was a huge pile of hearts in front of the locker. All I could hope was that no one noticed or tried to open the locker. Then I looked around the inside of the locker and for the first time, I noticed that I had crawled into a boy's locker. Just my luck. As people milled about outside, I could feel more hearts popping up on my face. Soon they were on my arms and as I spun around in fear, the bell rang again to signal the start of the next class. The voices faded and the Mewberty hearts stopped growing.
"Huh, that wasn't so bad." There were much fewer than before and it wouldn't take me long to peel these off. Then it got bad.
"Alright boys, we're gonna do our warm-up out here today" I heard a gruff voice say. I couldn't stop myself from peering through the slits to see the men's swimming team walk out in front of the locker I was in. "Pool's been compromised. Poop, it was poop. Somebody pooped in the pool. Okay! Let's get to it!"
They all through down their towels and in nothing but their swimming trunks, the swim team started their stretches. It was too much for my Mewberty addled brain to take in and I reached up to the metal slats, pulling them out of the way for a better view. The purple hearts started spreading again, but this time I was too far gone to care. They quickly covered my face and overflowed the locker, spilling out on the ground in front of me.
Next thing I know, the door to the locker is opened, and this boy is standing there. He looks at the mirror on the inside of his locker door, oblivious to my presence or the pile of hearts inside his locker.
"Boy." I say, more hearts spilling from my mouth onto the ground. His headphones prevent him from hearing me, but I don't care, all I know is that I am entranced. I reach out to touch him, still completely oblivious. And when my finger contacts his cheek, he stops dancing to his music, finally aware of my presence.
I withdraw my hand as the shell of hearts fills in around my face and I close my eyes. When I open them again, everything seems different. Everything has a purple tint to it, and the boy in front of me stands out in amazing detail, an aura surrounding him I hadn't noticed before. He is looking at me now and I want to reach out and grab him, but I can't the transformation has started.
He closes the locker, unfazed by what he sees but I can still see him, fainter now but still visible. He and his aura fade as he walks away and I settle into my cocoon. As I feel myself transforming, more and more hearts are shed from my body. The shell grows harder around me before it starts to expand. It cares not for the confines of the locker and pushes at the walls. The locker bulges around me and tendrils grow from the cocoon.
The cocoon grows and grows as I change, losing track of time. At some point, there is a loud screeching noise from outside the cocoon and the area around me fills with boys. In hindsight, it was the bell to signal the end of classes. I should have been worried that Marco was still not back, but there was only one thing that mattered, boys.
As I finished my transformation, a boy approached the cocoon and placed his hand on the surface. This was the catalyst I needed to awaken fully. Reaching out, I slammed a hand into the inner shell as I tried to take his hand. He pulled back his hand and I became frustrated. I needed that hand, no, I needed him.
In my frustration, I slammed another hand into the shell, and then another, and another, and another, and another. Soon all six of my hands were pushing on the membrane as I floated forwards towards the boy. Tilting my head, I asked myself why I could not get to him and as if it were responding to my commands, the cocoon started to crack open. More and more I willed it to open until it popped open. I fell to the ground as the cocoon parted.
I unfurled my new wings and beat them once to clear the mist from inside the cocoon before launching into the air. I raised my six arms, rolled up my hair so it was out of the way, and zeroed in on the boy in front of me. Using both my wings and magic to fly, I looked down at him, smiled, and said "Boy!"
I felt a longing well up inside me, I needed to find someone or something. I swooped down and grabbed the arm of the boy from earlier as he stood in stunned silence, watching me. With a jolt of disappointment, I somehow knew this was not what I was looking for. However I knew he was still useful, if I didn't find what I was looking for I could potentially use him as a replacement.
Turning, I shot some webbing from my fingers and ripped the door off of a nearby locker. I threw the boy inside of the locker and when he had the nerve to try and escape, I shoved him in further and started using my webbing to trap him inside. By this point, people had started running about and screaming for some reason. As I finished securing the boy, another one reached out and grabbed one of my arms. I snapped my head around and one of my arms grabbed his while my others continued working.
I lifted the boy into the air, this one was also not it, whatever it was. Like the one previously though, I was not about to let him go to waste. I tore off another locker and secured this boy as well as people panicked. At this point, some older, larger boys showed up and tried to work together in subduing me. It was a futile effort and soon all of them were in their own cells, none of them had been what I was searching for either. I flew off to grab a nearby boy, swooping down as I passed overhead. He wasn't what I wanted either.
I flew back to the lockers where my collection was growing, and as I ripped the door off of another locker, I noticed a boy trying to free one of my potential replacements. Throwing my current catch into the locker, I quickly secured him as I flew to nab the vandal. Picking him up I grunted in frustration when I realized he wasn't the right one either. All of the boys were partly what I was looking for, but none of them were just right, always lacking in something and all different.
Letting out my frustration, I flew over and ripped the door off a locker, only this time with my bare hands instead of with the webbing. Throwing him into the cubby, I finished securing my two latest catches. After making sure they were secure, I flew off in search of whatever it was that I was looking for. By now though, the small part of me that was still myself had the horrible suspicion that it was a someone, and that that someone was a boy.
I flew around the school, grabbing every boy I saw, nothing else seemed worth examining or even worth noticing in most cases. Every boy was a disappointment, some more so than others. None of the boys felt right. After each catch, I would throw them in a locker for later.
Swooping into a classroom I found a boy hiding under a table, there weren't many boys left in the area at this point, at least not ones that were free. Lifting up my catch, I sighed inwardly. This one was even worse than the last. I hefted him into the air as I flew outside and looked for a prison. As I flew outside, I realized there was a new presence out in the open. For a moment I paused, I thought I had grabbed everyone outside already. I examined the new boy and realized it was Marco.
He seemed confused as he beheld my work. Not to be slowed in my search, I flew to an empty locker, ripped off the door and threw in my latest catch. Reaching out, I barricaded the entrance like the rest. As I worked, Marco approached, saving me the effort of hunting him down like the rest. He started talking, but it sounded meaningless drivel about scaring everyone or something. I turned back to my current catch, I had to finish preparing him just in case. I shot webbing over his mouth and went back to securing the door as Marco approached.
As I continued to secure the boy, Marco grabbed my arm and said "Stop!"
With a jolt, I knew. This was what I had been looking for. I looked at him, and saw him in a way I had never seen him before, he just resonated within me. Completely forgetting about my latest catch, I turned towards Marco, the rest were useless now that I had found what I wanted. Lunging forward, I started spraying webbing on him, pinning him to the wall as mind raced with emotions.
I continued spraying him, covering him more and more. A small part of me noticed that this webbing was different, very much unlike the stuff I had used to contain the other boys. That webbing had been hard and solidified almost immediately while this was softer, more like the material that had turned into my cocoon. Before I could envelop him completely, a sound cut through the now silent schoolyard.
It was Oskar and his keytar. I paused, confused by the sounds assaulting my ears. With this confusion brought a brief moment of clarity. Afraid for Marco, I focused on all the aspects that drew me to Oskar, and held on tight as I felt my more base instincts taking over. Fortunately it was enough, and with Marco no longer touching me, I was able to change focus from Marco to Oskar.
I felt bad, who knew what was going to Oskar, but I had been desperate to protect Marco. Turning, I flew up into the air so I could see him and droned out "Oskar."
With my full focus turned to Oskar, I swooped out of the sky to where he sat on his car, foolishly oblivious to what was happening around him. His singing only helped to keep me focused on him, and as I flew over, I went to blast Oskar with the webbing I had been prepared to use on someone else. I paused for a second, thinking to myself "Why then am I using it on him?" as I tried to remember who it was intended for.
At that moment, a net dropped down in front of me and that was enough to refocus me on the task of capturing Oskar. I tried to fly the last few feet towards Oskar, but the net stopped me no matter how I tried to reach him. In frustration I took up into the air and ending up arching up, around, and down into a tree. Inside the tree was a group of boys, the leaves having hidden them from me earlier.
None of them mattered anymore, I had already found what I was searching for. With a pause, I realized that it wasn't the boy I had just been chasing. Fortunately, I could not remember who it was as I was running on pure instinct and emotion at this point. After a pause, I decided that it was Oskar that I had been searching for and took off straight up into the sky.
I had forgotten the net however and after dragging it up quite a distance I turned and came back to ground. I weaved back and forth as I tried to shake the net off of me, some boy yelling as he held on. At the time, I was too focused on Oskar to realize that it was Marco and he was trying to help me or that he was in incredible danger from my antics.
After a few more seconds, I felt the net loosen around me before falling away. Turning, I saw Marco in his red hoodie laying on the ground. I paused, my worry for him almost enough to remind me that Oskar wasn't what I was looking for. I was about to turn back, but my now overwhelming desire for Oskar took hold before I could remember Marco and with a smile, I took off towards Oskar.
Flying down, I shot the hard webbing from four of my hands, anchoring myself to Oskar's car and taking off into the sky. Once up there, I used my free hands to start hauling the car closer and closer. Oskar finally realized something was happening and looked up at my Mewberty form.
"What?" he said.
I smiled at him as I continued hauling him closer and closer. As I pulled it so that I was standing on the roof, Oskar backed up to the edge of the hood. I extended my magic to the car so it would stay aloft and I started walking towards him, the soft webbing slowly spilling form my hands as I approached.
A part of me thought something was wrong, but at that point I was too far gone to listen to it. As I raised my hands to spray him, the car lurched underneath us. I stumbled and Oskar nearly fell from the hood. His fear of falling greater than his fear of me, Oskar inched a little closer as I regained my balance.
Before I could spray him however, I lost my connection to the car and it dropped out of the sky. I looked down and realized my arms were no longer solid purple. On the way up, I must have lost some. With a primal growl of frustration, I felt myself returning to normal, less beholden to my emotions. And then I passed out.
When I awoke, I was in the remnants of my cocoon. I heard Marco shout my name and come running over. With a groan, I pulled myself up and climbed out.
"You came back!" Marco ran over and pulled me into a hug. For a moment, I was worried and confused. Worried that whatever had happened earlier would start again and confused because I was still waking up. When nothing happened and I felt no desire to cocoon Marco, I smiled to myself and hugged him back. I was happy and relieved that he seemed like normal old Marco again and that he wasn't freaked out by what had happened.
Suddenly the hug was interrupted as I felt something flutter on my back. Springing apart, Marco asked "What was that?"
I turned around and pulled my hair aside. There on my back, I had grown two cut little wings. I let out a squeal as I said "Look Marco! I got my Mewberty wings!"
I put my hair up into a ponytail and grabbed Marco by the hand as he said "Does that mean you can fly?"
"Let's test it out!"
I took off running, dragging Marco behind me, as I started flapping my wings. Jumping into the air with Marco beside me, we took off. We laughed in joy, right before crashing to the ground.
"Nope." I told him as my wings buzzed on my back.
"Can I see your wings?" asked Ruberiot.
"Sure" said Star as she pulled aside her hair, showing him her tiny, pink wings.
"They are beautiful Princess" he said, and Star knew he meant it. "So after you turned back, all the crazy boy stuff went away?"
"Yup, everyone was back to normal."
"Even Marco? And did you ever figure out what it was that made him so different?"
"Especially Marco, he was completely back to normal Earth boy Marco with no special Mewberty stuff" Star lied, not telling him that since then Marco had always seemed a little different when she looked at him. "As for the specialness, I have no idea. It must have been some weird Mewberty side effect."
