Some days are better than others. This was not one of those days.

I was sitting in at my desk for math class, so I was already in a foul mood when the ground shook a little. At this point I was already used to the tremors that pass through the area every once in a while and barley looked up from my mental preparations. Mrs. Skullnick was sure to be upset with me, as she always was and I hadn't slept well the night before.

With hardly a sound, the door to the classroom opened and in marched the last person I expected to see in my math class. For instead of Mrs. Skullnick, in walked my demon ex-boyfriend Tom. His feet wreathed in flames, Tom walked to the aisle in which I sat. Ingrid, the girl who sat in front of me, let out a small gasp of hope and sat up straighter, hoping he had come for her. I also wished he had come for her, or anyone else for that matter, but I knew he was here for me.

Dashing aside any uncertainty, Tom used his magic to launch Ingrid and her desk up into the air where he held them suspended as he levitated off the ground and over to where I sat. Throwing aside his sunglasses, Tom held out his hand and said "Hey Star, I'm here to take you…" He paused for dramatic effect as he summoned a crescent moon made of fire in his palm before continuing. "to the Blood Moon Ball."

Slowly, I rose from my chair, walked to his other side, grabbed his hand and started dragging him from the classroom as I said "Nope, no, no, nope. Nuh-uh, no way, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope."

By then I had dragged him back to his carriage from the underworld that he used to move between dimensions and blasted the door off with my wand. Shoving him into the carriage through its new door, I told him "You need to leave, right now. Take your carriage, and fire, and dead horse, and go back to the underworld."

I stood there for a moment, silently fuming until the skeleton horse pulling the carriage turned and said "Wait, I'm dead?"

Unamused and done with Tom, I stalked away from Tom and headed back to class. I didn't make it far before Tom said "Aw, c'mon Starship" and before I could process anything a wave of fire rolled underneath me and carried me into his waiting arms. Holding me in his arms, Tom said "It's the Blood Moon Ball! It only happens once every 667 years."

As he was talking, Tom levitated up into the air and with a spin, dipped me as if we were dancing before staring into my eyes. As much as his charming words, charming actions, and pet names reminded me for how I had felt when we dated, just looking at him reminded me of our breakup and why we had done so. Flipping out of his arms, I landed on the ground and as I stood up I told him "We broke up! Period."

"Wait!" called out Tom as I turned to leave for class again. Swooping down he grabbed my hand as he said "Wait, Star. I'm a changed man, okay. I've got a life coach, Brian"

Hearing his name, a rather portly man poked his head out of the carriage and gave a quick "Hey" before handing Tom a cute, small, pink bunny to hold.

"He's awesome" continued Tom, "A happy bunny, and… and, I have been anger free for fifty-three days."

"Fifty-Three…" I was impressed, for Tom it was an amazing achievement.

Holding forth his bunny, Tom said "Don't you wanna pet my bunny?"

I looked at it and as it gave the most adorable little nose twitch, I felt the last of reserves drain away. Leaning in close to the rabbit, I said "Well, he is adorable."

Suddenly Marco came flying in and with a yell, he karate chopped Tom's hand off. I stood there shocked, staring at Marco. Standing up, Marco took a fighting pose and yelled "Back off demon!"

"Marco!" I yelled, partly out of surprise and partly out of fear for his safety. Looking over at Tom, he was clutching the smoking, severed end of his arm and moaning. Without warning he snapped his head up and all three of his eyes started glowing red. I knew what that meant, Tom was about to go ballistic.

Rushing over, Tom's trainer grabbed Tom and started him walking in circles as he said soothingly "Walk it out and talk it out. Walk it out… and talk it out. Walk it out, and talk it out."

Throughout this, Tom's eyes never left Marco's face as Tom's rage flowed out of him. Marco on the other hand took it without flinching, staying in his fighting stance the whole time.


"Have I mentioned how awesome Marco is" asked Star, pausing the story.

"Not directly, but once or twice maybe" said Ruberiot as he hid a grin.

"Okay, but for real, Marco is awesome. You haven't seen Tom mad before. It's terrifying. Marco, awesome as he is, totally stood up to it though trying to protect me."

"I see."

"Yeah, I just felt the need to say that, back to the story" said Star.


Grabbing Marco's hood, I tugged it and said "You better run."

"No, no, no, no" said Tom from where he was pacing, his eyes returning to normal as he did so. "No, no… ho, no. That's why I got my support system." With hardly a sound, his dismembered hand floated back to his arm and reattached itself. The hand had been holding the bunny and transferring it to his other hand and petting it Tom said "I'm good. Got the angries out. Everything is, hoo, under control."

It seemed like he was telling the truth, and that impressed me. When we were dating, his anger issues had been out of control and it had been too much, which was why I had ended it. My misgivings about him tempered, I pushed Marco's hands down as I said "Marco, don't karate him. This is… Tom."

"Demon ex-boyfriend Tom?" said Marco as he resumed his fighting stance. I wasn't sympathetic enough towards Tom to stop him again.

Walking over, Tom reached over and attempted to shake hands with Marco. A task made complicated when Marco stayed ready to fight. Doing his best, Tom said "Nice to, uh, meet you… Marco."

"Whaaat is he doing here?"

"He wants to take me to the Blood Moon Ball" I meekly murmured.

"Star, never go with a predator to a second location" said Marco, still in fighting stance.

Handing off his bunny, Tom raised his hands defensively as he said "Look, I can you're mad. You think I'm a total jerk, I get it. But I have changed. Remember, I'm not the only one with horns."

Glancing up at my headband, I remembered all of the good times we had shared and my heart softened. Looking back at him, for a moment, I let go of my anger and smiled back at him.

"Why didn't you tell me I'm dead?" interrupted the skeleton horse. The moment passed and I remembered everything I had put aside earlier. Hardening my resolve I let a look of indifference creep back onto my face as I turned to look at the horse. Marco chose that moment to slide up behind me and make strange noises, I assume to show Tom he was still not trusted.

"No pressure, if you decide you wanna go, just toll this bell" said Tom. As he climbed back into the carriage he reached into his vest and pulled out a small bell before placing it in my palms. As I stared at it, flames surged up from the ground as Tom prepared to make his way back home. Lowering a gap in the flames, Tom poked his head out and said "Oops, almost forgot the little hammer. I hope I see you there."

I stood there, holding the tiny hammer and tiny bell as I watched the flames close up around him and then sink into the ground. I would have stood there all day if Marco hadn't pulled me back to class. As it was, I didn't pay attention in any of my classes as I thought about what to do. The day passed quickly, the only time I wasn't brooding about what to do, I was talking to Marco about what to do and before I knew it we were home and it was nearly time.

"I'm going" I told Marco, making up my mind to give Tom another, final chance.

"You're making a big mistake Star."

"Maybe" I relented "But it could be fun."

Marco pushed his way into my closet as he said "Why don't you just stay here… where it's always fun. Like guaranteed."

"Well, this is a different kind of fun" I told Marco, opening up my mirror to put on the dress I had picked out. Stepping behind it I warned him "Don't look, I'm gonna change."

Changing quickly, I heard Marco say "I just don't trust Tom, maybe I should go with you."

"You weren't invited" I told him as I pulled on my dress, he seemed to not realize this wasn't a normal party. I made a mental note to educate him about traditions among royalty, he would very likely need to know it later. "Besides, you gotta trust me to do the right thing for myse-"

Having pulled on my dress, I interrupted myself with a blast of magic that would fix up my hair. It felt a little weirder than I had expected and my words turned into a yelp when I blasted myself. When the magic stopped, I stood there for a moment, stunned.

"Are you okay?" asked Marco after a brief moment.

Dazed, I told him "Yeah… totally, totally, totally… I just gotta stop using magic on… on… on my face."

"All I'm saying is, guys like Tom never change" said Marco as I got back to work preparing for the Ball.

"Well" I said, grunting as I fitted my boots on, "there's only one way for me to find out. What do you think?"

Having finished getting ready, I stepped out from behind the mirror to see Marco hiding behind the sombrero, a large hat, he had been wearing. It was quite adorable to see. He lowered the hat as he looked at me and said, obviously dumbfounded, "You look… amazing."

"Thanks Marco!"

"Don't go" he whispered to me in a final attempt to stop me.

I was not to be dissuaded though and whispered back "I'm totally going."

Pulling out the hammer and bell, I struck them together. The sounds that came forth were incredibly deep considering the appearance of the tiny, handheld bell. I was unsurprised though, it must have been enchanted if Tom had expected the summons to reach his realm. As the echoes faded away, a pillar of fire rose up outside my balcony and a demon flew up carrying what looked like the cabin of a carriage.

With a ding, the doors opened and smoke poured out across the floor as a ramp flipped out so I could easily get in. I walked over to my ride as I told Marco "Mmm, smells like burnt toast!" Pounding on the roof, I told the demon "Let's get this show on the road!"

"Which floor, mortal?" asked the demon.

"Uh, I guess, the bottom?"

"Let me just ride down with you" said Marco, attempting to climb in with me.

I was having none of it though and planting a foot in his chest, I shoved him back onto the balcony as I sang "Goodbye Marco! See you after the Blood Moon Ball!"

As the demon lifted me away from the balcony, the doors closed and the ramp retracted while I peered out of the closing gap and made spooky noises at Marco. Then with many labored pants, the demon lowered us towards the ground until a column of fire rose up and transported us to the underworld of Mewni.

When I arrived in the underworld, the doors opened to reveal the entrance to the hall. Above the door there was even a carving of a crescent moon that was carved from some red gem. Waiting for me in front of the carriage was Tom. He greeted me saying "Star Butterfly, don't you clean up nice."

"Thank you" I said, feeling awkward at the compliment. It seemed forced, especially as he had seen me dressed up for royal affairs many times in the past. "I guess."

"I got you this" said Tom, holding out what looked like a giant spider.

"What is it?"

"It's a hair thing. It goes in your hair. It'll help you fit in down here." He lifted the spider up and moved to put it in my hair.

I was having none of that. Ducking out from underneath the supposed hair pin, I walked towards the entrance as I said "How sweet Tom. But yeah, I kinda got my own thing goin on here. I'm pretty happy with it. Let's go have fun now."

As I entered the dance hall, Tom ran to catch up and escorted me inside. He explained to me that he had been the one in charge of setting everything up and seemed to take pride in showing me everything. After his explanation, Tom convinced me to get my picture taken with him seeing as how I was his date. Seeing no real issue with that, I reluctantly agreed and we hopped in line.

As we waited I saw that as the picture was taken, a vat hanging from the ceiling would upend a large amount of liquid on the people being photographed. When we were up next, I realized what the liquid was. Before I could say anything it was our turn for pictures. Stepping onto the platform, Tom whispered "I am so excited to be covered in blood with you. Don't worry, it's not real, it's from a unicorn."

A little uncomfortable at how excited he was I told him "My best friend is a unicorn."

"Well they're not related."

"I'm not gonna bathe in unicorn blood Tom" I told him. Tom let out a frustrated grunt and I noticed his hand active behind his back. "What's that hand doing back there?"

"Nothing!"

Not believing him I pulled him forward a bit as I leaned back to look behind him. I saw his life coach back there, holding up Tom's rabbit as he scratched it. "Wait a second, are you getting angry?"

"No."

"Look, you do you boo, I'm gonna go get a drink" I told him, thoroughly over the whole experience. As I walked over to a cauldron of some strange, bubbling, red liquid, I saw a disturbance at the surface. Watching closely, I was a fish skeleton breach the surface a few seconds later. I was kind of entranced, it was pretty interesting and after a few glimpses I decided to name him Henry.

"Here he comes again… Hello Henry!" I cooed over the bowl as I watched Henry swim in the cauldron. Looking up I noticed another being was standing next to me and looking at me confused. "His name is Henry."

"You must be Tom's date" said a loud, reedy voice from behind me. Turning around, I saw two people standing there. One was about as tall as me but his face took up his entire torso and had horns growing from the top of his head. The other person was a good, normal, head taller, had blue skin and large, bat-like ears. Neither looked very pleased.

"I guess I am" I told them. According to tradition I was, he did invite me and all, but I defiantly wasn't there out of any romantic reasons. I didn't bother to try and explain this to him, and he didn't wait to let me even if I had wanted to.

"Well I hope you're happy. He made this whole entire ball completely boring, all for you!"

"I wouldn't say it's boring" I told him nervously.

"Oh really?" he said before starting to gesture about wildly. "Aloof, attractive people. Boring! Bubbling cauldrons that don't even melt your flesh off. What is it, naptime or something? Cuz I'm bored! Piece of garbage that doesn't destroy the universe! Stupid cockroach that lives inside! I'm over it already!"

Without warning, the man clamped his hands over his eyes and took off running as he cried. As I watched him leave, I heard someone ask me "You wanna dance?"

It was a deep, slow voice and when I turned to see who had spoken I saw it was the person I had thought was the earlier man's companion. His face had become much less agitated and he pointed his fingers at me so there was no confusion. Before I could answer though, Tom flew down between us and held up a hand as he said "Her dance card's full."

"I get it. I bet you think that like, your soul and like, her soul, are totally gonna..." at this point he made a high pitched humming noise as he interlaced his fingers and smiled. When he finished, he opened his eyes and looked around with a look of pure happiness.

"What is..?" I asked Tom, mimicking the gesture.

Before I could get an answer out of him, a loud set of screeches echoed around the room. Looking up, I saw a demon standing at a podium tapping a microphone. Clearing his throat, the demon said "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. It is my pleasure, that I request you now, to turn your heads skyward." Looking up, a panel opened in the roof to reveal a carving similar to the one above the entrance, an angular, red, crescent moon. "When the light of the Blood Moon dribbles down, and selects two lucky souls, binding them together for eternity in its hypnotic, ruby, brodum."

"Oooh" I said to myself, softly, as comprehension dawned on me. Somewhere nearby, an organ started playing its tunes as people moved onto the dance floor.

"Ugh, that's the wrong piece of music! This is gonna drive me crazy. Alright, don't go anywhere, I'll be right back" said Tom, running off towards the music.

"Okay" I said, barely paying attention as a strange urge drove me onto the dance floor. I wandered aimlessly around the dance floor, staring up at the panel in the ceiling, utterly entranced. Suddenly many thing happened all at once. Someone grabbed my hand and pulled, spinning me around and somehow into dancing position in their arms, as everything turned a bright shade of red as the lighting around us changed.

Looking up, we saw that the panel in the ceiling had illuminated and was shining down on the two of us. As the light intensified, so did the music, drowning out all other noises as the mysterious man and I started dancing in the light. I took the time to study him and though his face was hidden behind a skull mask, he still seemed quite attractive. He was wearing a suit, the bottom of the vest a few inches above his waistline. On his head sat a large brimmed hat that looked oddly familiar.

As we danced, I stared at him, enchanted by his handsomeness. He was leading the dance, as focused as I was on him, I was simply following his lead. Then without warning, he pulled me to the center of the dance floor, causing me to gasp at his boldness. As we danced, I stared into his amazing, brown eyes, the rest of the people at the ball forgotten.

"Star" he said eventually, the sound of his voice just drawing me in deeper.

"How do you know my name" I managed to say, still staring into his eyes.

"It's me, Marco" he said, leaning in, lifting his mask, and showing me that it was indeed Marco's face.

As we continued to dance, I let out a gasp as the moment was shattered into a million pieces and said "Marco? What are you doing here?"

"Let's get out of here, this place is the worst."

Before I could respond however, there was a grunt of anger and I was shoved aside and out from under the ruby light as Tom came over and shoved Marco to the floor a few feet away. Tom stood there, alone, under the column of light Marco and I had been under, together, and glared angrily at Marco's prone form. Then with a rumble, the beam started to shrink as the ceiling panel closed itself.

With a snap, the lights in the hall turned on and Tom's eyes began to glow red. Slowly stalking over to Marco, Tom said "That dance… was meant… for me!"

As Tom embraced his anger, as he had done so many times before, flames erupted around the ball room. They sprang from every possible place, and soon the room was like a raging inferno as Tom's life coach rushed over to Tom, trying to stop him. Reaching out, Tom grabbed his face and threw him aside saying "No Brian!"

Tom began stalking towards Marco, murder in his eyes as Marco crawled backwards until he hit the wall of flames. With a roar, Tom launched himself into the air on columns of fire. Before he could hurt Marco though, I pulled out my wand and froze Tom in a block of solid ice where it fell back to the floor with a thunk.

Angery at both boys, I walked over to Tom's frozen form before using my magic to conjure up a sticker on his chest that read "0 Days Anger Free" before stalking over to Marco. Walking past him I sighed and said tiredly "Let's go Marco."

Getting back to the demon lift, Marco and I crawled in as I told him to take us back to my room on Earth as I took off my boots in silence. When we arrived, I stepped out onto the walk and cheerily told the demon "Thanks for the lift!" before angrily walking onto my balcony with a huff. "So infuriating."

"Hate to say it, but I warned you about Tom" said Marco from behind me as I heard the rush of flames signaling our ride had left.

Turning, I threw out my hands and threw my boots over the railing as I gestured at Marco and said "No you! You're infuriating!"

"Me? I was just trying to he-"

"You don't trust me to do things by myself" I explained to him "I'm fourteen, I can handle a demon." I stalked over to the ramparts on the edge of my balcony and rested on them, looking out at the town as I told him "I know you're trying to look out for me, but you have to let me figure things out on my own. I don't need a hero, I need a friend."

Walking over to stand beside me, Marco sighed, took off his mask and said "You're right. I should have trusted you. I'm sorry I ruined you're night."

"Well, it wasn't a total disaster" I said, flipping around so I could see him better. With a sly smile I swiped his hat and said "Now I know you can dance."

After a moment, we both started laughing and at the same time pointed to Marco's head and said "Hat hair. Whoa! We both said… the same thing… Okay, stop that!"

With a squeak, I clamped my hands over my mouth and hopped back, away from him as he did the exact same thing. Reaching down, I pulled out my wand and pointed it at him, holding the pose for a moment until he snorted from behind his hands and we both burst out laughing again.

"Well that was new" I said, a little mystified.

"Yeah, weird."

"Now go make me some nachos!" I instructed him.

"Okay."


So, did you ever find out what caused that?" asked Ruberiot.

"Uhhh, no" said Star.

"Huh, you think it might have had anything to do with the Blood Moon Ball, you guys were under the light. Binding of souls and whatnot" said Ruberiot.

Letting out a nervous chuckle, Star said "Uh, nah, probably not. That was probably just a bunch of hocus pocus stuff anyways."

"Uh huh" said Ruberiot doubtfully, "Well did it ever happen again?"

"Nope, so see, it must have certainly just been a coincidence. We had just had a deep conversation, so it was probably just from our awesome friendship deepening, yeah, that must have been it!"

"Yes Princess" said Ruberiot, bowing his head a little to her as an idea began to blossom in his mind.