Comet and Marcia were concerned about Coryn's inquisitive nature potentially harming the tadpoles, so they decided to keep him in Comet's bedroom. Although he continued to eat a berry-based diet like most Pokémon in the games and virtual Park, Marcia didn't want to risk anything. Despite being confined to the balcony attached to the tower, Coryn could still fly around the neighborhood if bored. Mini-Comet and Mini-Marcia also watched him in case anything went awry.
Comet and Marcia decided to move the numerous tadpoles to the living room. They placed them carefully on the coffee table and closely watched them while sitting on the couch. Comet was particularly attentive, getting up close to the tadpoles and making amusing expressions while Marcia read through Buffrog's binder.
"Marcia, these tadpoles are adorable! Your parents are at the art gallery, so we have them all to ourselves," Comet exclaimed with excitement. The young tadpoles gazed back at him with curious eyes. "They are so innocent and full of potential! I wonder what kind of adventures they will have today?"
"None. Right now, the babies are napping." Marcia said without looking up from the binder.
"What?! A nap? That's not fun or adventurous! Boo!"
Marcia paid no attention to Comet's childish objections and persisted in searching through the binder. "Sorry, Mr. Rabble Rouser, but we have to follow Buffrog's instructions, and this is the time they rest," Marcia stated firmly, indicating that she would not engage in a debate. Comet reluctantly backed down.
"Fine. Then let this be a nap that these tadpoles shall never forget!" Comet proudly proclaimed, making Marcia roll her eyes as she handed Comet the binder.
"Just read me what the book says, Comet. I've got a reputation to keep up."
"Okay, then," Comet said as he opened the binder and looked at the instructions on nap time. "Dimitry, Ana, and Igor prefer sleeping on their stomachs, and Mikhail, Leo, and Irina sleep on their right sides."
"Mm-hmm got it," Marcia said as she followed Comet's instructions and adjusted the tadpoles accordingly.
"Nadia and Sergei like to sleep on their left sides-"
"On it."
"-And lastly, Katrina is delicate and must be held to sleep," Comet said as he finished reading the instructions before quickly adding, "Dibs!"
Despite a little apprehension about doing so, Marcia chose to hand Comet Katrina, trading her for the binder. Comet couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat. For whatever reason, Katrina was the smallest of the tadpoles, yet her eyes remained the same size as her siblings. As a result of this combination, she was, by far, the cutest of all the tadpoles.
Holding her in his arms with all the care and grace in the world, Comet began to rock Katrina back and forth until she gently shut her eyes and fell asleep. "Aww, sweet dreams, little one," Comet said as he looked at Katrina like she was the most valuable thing ever. For a moment, Marcia was a little taken aback by this sight. Comet Dragonfly, who was normally so energetic and hyperactive that he was liable to cause chaos in his wake, looked so calm. It was impressive.
"Okay. What now, Marcia?" Comet asked, shaking Marcia out of her thoughts and back into the binder.
"Well, now, they sleep. Then, after that, we feed them," Marcia stated.
"And then what?"
"Then they sleep some more until their Dad comes to get them," Marcia simply told Comet, causing his face to contort into a frown.
"Oh, come on, Marcia. Where's the fun in that?" Comet questioned.
"It's not about having fun, Comet," Marcia answered. "It's about keeping them safe and healthy." Comet liked that answer less, though.
"But babies need to have fun, Marcia. You can't just keep them napping the whole time. They need to explore the world, learn about it, and look at it with wide eyes and bright smiles!"
"Nyet," Marcia said in a faux-Russian accent. "Babies have routine and schedule. And Marcia has reputation as best babysitter in Echo Creek to maintain."
"Ugh," Comet groaned. "You're no fun today," he whined.
"Too bad. Now you watch over the tadpoles while I go make their lunch."
"Aww, no fair! You get to do something while I'm stuck here watching them not have fun!"
"You think you can make twelve lunches, be my guest," Marcia offered. "Or perhaps you'll recall how your brownies turned out?" She teased, making Comet glance to the side with an edgy look.
"No, no. Watching the tadpoles is good!" He quickly said.
That's what I thought. With that settled, Marcia went to the kitchen, leaving Comet alone with the tadpoles. Alone with the dozen tiny, adorable, unbelievably precious baby frogs.
It took all of two seconds for Comet to start going all starry-eyed and little hearts floating off his Cheek Mark. "Oh, so adorable," Comet cooed. "So precious!" As Comet looked at the babies further, he felt the urge to boop them on the nose. Or wherever he thought the nose would be. "Just...just one boop," Comet said as his eyes widened, and his right index finger started inching towards the babies.
"Comet! No booping! Just watch!" Marcia called out from the kitchen, making Comet freeze up. How did she even know what he was trying to do? Did she have X-Ray vision or something?
"Comet, I know what you're thinking, and the answer is...I know what you're like. So, no booping!"
Now back under the control of his senses, Comet took a deep breath before returning to his job of watching the babies. "Just watch. Like a Papa Penguin, waiting for Mama to return with the others with food."
As he spoke, Marcia was at the counter in the kitchen, looking at the binder for feeding instructions. "Let's see, Buffrog. What do you get to feed your kids? Feeding...feeding," It took Marcia a few seconds to look through the binder before finding the section on feeding. What she saw looked...less than appealing to her Human palette. It was akin to baby formula but with some kind of frog-baby food, slime, and insects.
"Ugh." It took all of Marcia's sensibilities to keep herself from gagging. Still, she'd seen worse in her time babysitting and watching stuff on TV. With all her nerves and discipline, she steeled herself for the coming task.
Meanwhile, Comet was in the middle of his own task of watching over the Buff babies. It was a task that he found incredibly difficult. He wasn't the kind of person who did well sitting still for long without anything to do, and seeing so many adorable babies in front of him was proving hard to deal with.
"Precious little babieesss!" Comet whispered as he looked at the tadpoles before letting his eyes settle on Katrina. "Especially little Katrina-kins!"
As he said this, Katrina let out a little yawn, briefly opening her eyes as she did so. Comet felt his heart ready to explode from sheer cuteness.
"Aww, you just wanna be boopity-booped, don't you? I just gotta-no. Must resist...urge to boop." As Comet fought a mental battle over the urge to boop or not to boop. Nervously, he looked around the living room, wanting to ensure that Marcia wasn't anywhere in sight. "Ohhhhh, just one boop..." Comet couldn't resist the urge. He had to boop them! His index finger was already moving towards little Katrina. "I just gotta..." Comet then gently booped Katrina before letting out an audible shudder that he had held back for several minutes. "Oh, that felt so good. And nothing bad happened..."
Unfortunately, Comet had spoken too soon. Even though he had done it as lightly as Mewmanly possible, Comet's actions were still enough to wake Katrina from her restful slumber. And, much like any baby who was prematurely woken up from their nap, Katrina made her displeasure known in a very effective manner.
"RIBBIT!"
"Oh no," Comet gasped. Katrina's ribbiting quickly created a domino effect. Now awake, Katrina's ribbiting prompted her siblings to wake up and start ribbiting. Within a few moments, each of the Buffbabies was awake, ribbiting and hopping all over the place.
In the kitchen, Marcia was just finishing the baby's lunches when she heard the noise in the living room. "Comet? Everything okay in there?" When she didn't get an immediate response, Marcia rushed out to the living room to see what the problem was. There, she found her roommate lying on the ground, his face a dead-ringer for Bob Belcher when he's stressed out, while the babies were hopping atop his body.
"Comet, what happened!?" Marcia yelled at her best friend, wondering what could have happened in the short time she'd been in the kitchen.
Staring up at the girl with a look of shame, Comet simply said, "I booped, Marcia. I booped so bad."
Allowing herself to let out a heavy sigh, Marcia brought her free hand to her face. "It's alright, Comet. This one's on me. I should've known better than to leave you alone with the babies."
Comet couldn't help but wince when he heard this. From his perspective, it sounded like she had zero faith in him! As much as he wanted to protest this fact, though, Comet chose to keep his mouth shut. Now wasn't the time for them to argue.
"It's alright, though. I've got Buffrog's binder right here!" Marcia said as she tapped against the binder in her arms before quickly skimming its contents. Marcia didn't get a chance to tell him this, but Buffrog had put a lot of thought into caring for his adoptive kids. The binder even had a solution to this exact scenario. "To stop croaking," Marcia said as she adopted that fake Russian accent again, "feed babies lunch."
Whatever negative thoughts he might have had at that moment, they vanished when he heard that it was time to feed the babies. "Ohhh, my babies gotta eat! Be right back!" Before Marcia had any time to protest, Comet had already unloaded the still ribbiting tadpoles onto her and dashed into the kitchen.
When Comet saw what had been prepared for them to eat, he cringed. It looked like someone had taken garbage, swamp scum, and live flies and put them into a blender. It even had flies hovering around it!
"Oh, no way. No babies of mine are eating that slop!" With an eager grin on his face, Comet pulled out his Wand.
Marcia tried to corral the tadpoles in the living room with limited success. Now that they were fully awake, they refused to sit still, and it was taking everything she had to keep them from bouncing around!
"Comet, any day now!"
Comet quickly exclaimed, "Ready!" and promptly used his Wand to teleport the bottles into the room and directly into the tadpole egg membrane. Marcia was able to breathe a sigh of relief.
Her relief didn't last long, though. As the babies started suckling on the bottles, she saw that they drinking something that looked nothing like the green slime mixture she had prepared. It was bright, neon pink, and had sprinkles in it, and it was starting to fill up the tadpoles' egg things.
Looking directly at Comet, Marcia only asked him one thing. "Comet, what did you feed them?"
"Cake," Comet said without even taking his eyes off the babies.
"What?!" Marcia nearly shrieked. "Why would you feed them cake? You can't feed babies cake!"
"Because it's fun, Marcia. Remember? Babies need to have fun! It's how they learn about the world and their place in it," Comet argued. Marcia, though, wasn't having any of it.
"You still can't feed them cake, Comet! That's going to be too much for their stomachs!"
"No, it won't," Comet scoffed. "I used to eat cake and cookies all the time as a baby, and nothing bad ever happened to me."
Marcia could feel one of her eyelids starting to twitch at this. "There is just so much wrong between what you said and your actions. Look at them!" Marcia yelled as she pointed at the babies, whose outer membranes had begun to swell up like balloons, leaving only their eyes visible until they began to contract.
"You guys like to have fun. Isn't that right, wittle guys?"
Even if the tadpoles were old enough to properly answer Comet, they wouldn't be able to do so. As Marcia feared, the cake and sprinkles formula that Comet had given them proved too much for their bodies to handle. As a result, there was only one way their lunch could go: out.
That's how one of the tadpoles started burping their lunch into Comet's face, making him fall flat on his back.
"Oh no," Marcia felt her pupils shrink to the size of pinpricks. Acting on years of experience, she grabbed the still-burping tadpole, trying to redirect the blast away from Comet. Unfortunately for her, the cake blast was like controlling an active fire hose; without proper training, it was impossible! As a result, all Marcia managed to do was get herself covered in cake barf before aiming the baby at the fireplace, knocking several vases and plants off their perches. Making the problem even worse, the other babies also started to puke. Before either teenager knew what was happening, the entire living room was engulfed in streams of cake barf, sending the Buffbabies flying clear of the table.
"HIT THE DECK!" Without wasting any time, Comet grabbed Marcia and pulled her close. Before she could protest, he flipped the coffee table onto its side and used it as a makeshift cover. It wasn't much but it offered a brief respite for the beleaguered babysitters.
"This is all your fault, Comet!" Marcia shouted at the Prince of Mewni as they tried to avoid the barf blasts. "Why couldn't you just follow the instructions like I said?!"
"My fault? All I wanted to do was let Buffrog's kids have fun while their Dad's out!" Comet shouted back! "If you had let me do that, we wouldn't be in this mess!"
"Well, good going, man! Now my living room's getting trashed for the umpteenth time, we're covered in barf, and my reputation will go straight down the toilet!" Marcia complained. "We have no choice. We gotta call Buffrog!" Marcia then reached for Comet's mirror phone, only for him to grab her wrists.
"No, don't do that, Marcia! I told Buffrog that I was the King of Babysittonia! If I fail this, my clout will go, and my subjects will force me to abdicate and leave in exile! Oh, and you'll lose your babysitter cred, too."
Is he freaking serious about this?! As much as Marcia wanted to yell at him some more, tell him how a responsible babysitter would call the parents or emergency services in a crisis, she ignored her years of experience. "Fine," she angrily said. "But we're doing this by the book!" Marcia then reached for the binder and began flipping through it, hoping Buffrog's notes would have something for this scenario. Much to her great relief, they did.
"It says here if they make a mess after eating, we need to bathe them! But there's no way we can make it to the bathroom like this!" Marcia noted that the living room was still covered in cake barf as she said this.
"Leave that to me!" Comet dug into his pockets and pulled out his Dimensional Scissors before quickly making a portal and rushing through. While he came close to slipping on the floor due to being covered in cake spit, the boy reached the shower and pulled on the towel rack. Just like that, he activated the magic that replaced the shower with the luxury bathtub. A quick zap of the Wand later, and it was filled with water and ready to go. Comet then jumped back into the portal, returning him to the living room.
"Marcia, the bathtub is ready to go, and-oh my Mewni! What the heck happened here?!"
When Comet returned to the living room, he found most of the walls and furniture covered in cake barf while the tadpoles were now ribbiting and croaking loudly as Marcia tried to keep them in her arms while they continued to barf. Needless to say, she was now filthy and very unhappy.
"Umm, Marcia?" Comet hesitantly asked, only to receive a glare terrifying enough to put fear into the hearts of the worst Demons from the pits of the Underworld.
"Not. One. Word," Marcia said slowly as she got up and trudged over to the portal with the babies in her arms. "Clean this up before I get back, or I'm throwing you out of the house for the rest of the day." That was less of a threat and more of a promise. And it terrified Comet!
As Comet, now alone, looked around the living room and saw the results of the chaos he had unleashed, the weight of his actions finally sank in.
Morgan Freeman: It was at this moment that he knew...he fucked up.
000000000000000
It took Comet several minutes of using his Wand to put the living room back in order. The hardest part was getting rid of the cake barf before it could stick to the walls and furniture without damaging it. He had to put a great deal of concentration and focus into the spell he used to get the balance of power and accuracy he needed, which required Comet to plan things out in his head for once. That was something other than what he normally did, but this was an exception. Thankfully, it worked perfectly when Comet activated his "squeaky clean room beam" spell. The magical suds, soap, and hot water promptly erased any traces of the cake barf, leaving the living room clean as a whistle. It even got rid of dust that had built up underneath the furniture!
Comet's clothes, though, were another matter since they didn't get hit by the spell. As a result, he was still covered in cake barf, forcing him to go through the necessary but embarrassing process of stripping them off so he could clean them with magic. For several weeks afterward, he would remain grateful that Marcia didn't step back through the portal while he was in his underwear. The last thing he wanted was an anime cliche like that happening to him!
Eventually, Marcia stepped back through the portal, clad in a bath towel and carrying the Buffbabies in a smaller towel. As she looked around at the now clean living room, she sighed. "At least you managed to clean up the mess," she said, her voice filled with disappointment that made Comet wince. Handing the tadpoles to Comet, along with a hand towel, Marcia then turned back to the portal. "I'm going to my room to get changed. Can I at least trust you to dry them off?"
Comet felt his heart sink into his stomach as he realized how upset she was with him. "Yes, ma'am. Take all the time you need."
Comet didn't say a word to the little ones as he began to dry them off. He felt he had no right to say anything or do anything fun with the tadpoles. All he had to do was listen to Marcia, follow Buffrog's instructions, and make sure the babies were safe. What he did instead was cause trouble, get them both barfed on, and trash the living room for...how many times had that happened now? The fact that it had been more than once was bad enough as it was.
"Darn it all," Comet muttered as he finished drying off the last of the tadpoles before setting them back on the towel. "I should've just followed the rules like Marcia said," he said before lying on his back and staring at the ceiling, feeling depressed. "What is it with me and the rules?"
Comet thought there was the obvious answer, and it concerned his upbringing on Mewni. All his life, the adults around him kept telling him what to do and what to be. They wanted him to be a Prince, cavort with other Royals and Lords, be obedient, and do what they thought was best for House Dragonfly. But Comet figured out long ago that if he did that, he'd go without knowing what it felt like to be happy. So, he started to rebel, doing whatever he could to not conform to what his snooty relatives wanted from him, and he didn't regret doing that. If he hadn't become the headstrong rebel he was, he would never have come to Earth and met Marcia and the others.
This went beyond his need to be himself, though. It was like he was opposed to the very idea of rules altogether. And while he could usually get away with it, that wouldn't always be the case. Sooner or later, Comet might run into some big rule he could not break or find a way around.
This made Comet's head hurt and made him feel even worse about himself. Fortunately, something soft tapping against his head brought him out of his brooding. Curious, Comet lifted his head off the ground just enough for him to be able to see what it was. It was the tadpoles, each looking at him like they were worried about his well-being. A few of them even croaked at the site of Comet moping.
"Awww, are you guys worried about me?" Comet asked, happy to see that the Buffbabies were taking a liking to him. "Thank you guys so much. I know I may not be the best babysitter right now, but that's just because I wanted to show you guys how to have fun. That there's more to life than routines and schedules." Comet let out a bitter chuckle as he started to sit upright, musing about what he'd said. "A lot of good that did us. Now Marcia's the maddest she's been in a while."
Whatever musings Comet might have had about the current state of affairs, he was abruptly brought out of them when a familiar song began to play.
Play Space Unicorn (by Parry Gripp) with lyrics-
/qv-indybUlE
"What the...?" For a second, Comet started looking around the living room, wondering where that song was coming from. It took him a moment to realize that the music and the vibrating he felt against his legs were coming from inside his pocket. In other words, it was his mirror phone. Taking it out of his pocket to find out who was calling him, Comet's eyes widened when he saw the Caller ID: Buffrog.
"It's Buffrog!" For a brief moment, Comet's mind began to panic. What should he say to Buffrog? That he woke his kids up from their nap and proceeded to feed them cake until they got sick? There was no way in the Seven Hells that he could say something like that! As the boy continued to fret over what to tell him or even if he should answer, Comet looked down to see something he didn't expect. Each of the little tadpoles was bopping up and down to the music, dancing and enjoying it.
"Awww, you guys like the music? That's so adorable!" Whatever bad thoughts he still had, Comet swiftly forgot them as he watched the little tadpoles dance. As they continued to do so, they gave Comet an idea.
"All right, everyone! Get in close so we can send a photo to Daddy!" After making sure each of the tadpoles was in the frame, Comet took a quick picture, then started texting Buffrog. "'We miss you, Daddy. We are counting on you.' Annnd, send!"
End Music
Whatever guilt and self-loathing Comet had been suffering from a few moments ago had now evaporated, thanks to the sight of the tadpoles dancing. They looked so happy listening to the music that Comet couldn't help but feel better. This was the kind of babysitting that he supported.
"Aww, aren't you little angels the best?" Comet said as he started scooping up the tadpoles in his arms. "I just wish you could move more so we could have real fun!"
The moment this statement left his mouth, Comet felt the tadpoles begin to shake in his arms. Thinking that this was a sign they wanted to be put down, Comet quickly did that. Nothing, however, could prepare Comet for what would happen next. One of the tadpoles began to shake on the floor...and then, legs sprouted out of their egg-thing!
Comet let out an audible gasp as he saw this. "Oh. My. Corn. You've got leggsssssssss!" he joyfully squeed.
That was just the start, though. As Comet watched, the other tadpoles began to sprout legs. Comet gasped some more. "OMG, this is so amazing!" Comet squealed in glee as he began to bounce on the balls of his feet. "You've got legs, you've got legs, you've all gotten legs!" Comet's face fell a little when he saw that one tadpole didn't have its legs yet.
"Awww, poor little Katrina," Comet said as he sympathetically picked up the smallest baby and held her in his hands. Despite having missed out on getting legs like the rest of her siblings, the little tadpole looked at Comet with an innocent smile that made the boy's heart melt. "It's okay, sweetie. I won't let you feel left out!" he said as he held Katrina close to her chest. "There's still plenty of fun to have when you're with Comet Dragonfly!"
Comet was so busy tending to Katrina that he almost didn't notice where the other tadpoles were until he tried to move his legs and came close to losing his balance. Thanks to his years of physical training and reflexes, he kept himself upright, avoiding a nasty fall that could've hurt Katrina. Once he got to look down at his feet, though, Comet saw what he nearly tripped over. Each of the remaining tadpoles had crowded into a tight circle at Comet's feet, and they were all looking up at the boy with eager smiles!
One of the things that Comet Dragonfly prided himself on was that no matter how old he got, he always kept in touch with his inner child. It was one of the reasons why, despite being a teenager, he often acted like an excitable kid, eager to learn about the Universe and whatever caught his eye. While this drew scorn from some people, the added perk was that Comet got along great with kids, and they seemed to flock to him. It was like they knew he understood the importance of having fun.
And whatever his screw-ups so far as a babysitter, Comet Dragonfly wasn't going to let children be in his care and not have fun.
"All right, kids. Now that you've got the legs, what do you say we take them for a test drive? It's time to have some fun!" The tadpoles all began to ribbit and croak happily at this.
"I'll take that as a yes," Comet said with a happy grin. "Operation: Buffbaby Fun Time, ENGAGE!"
"Stupid, stupid Comet," Marcia grumbled to herself as she worked on getting dressed in a new change of clothes. She was not in a good mood right now, and it all had to do with Comet and his rule-breaking, non-conforming behavior. All he had to do was one simple thing: help her wash Buffrog's kids and keep her reputation as Echo Creek's premier babysitter spotless. Instead, she woke the babies up at naptime, fed them cake batter for lunch, and covered them in cake vomit. She wasn't even sure if she could salvage the clothes and underwear she had on!
"I should be making Comet wash them by hand after what he did today," Marcia said as she put on some fresh underwear before slipping on a spare t-shirt and sweatpants she had for emergencies. There was no point in changing back into her usual clothes if they were just going to get ruined by Comet and the tadpoles.
As Marcia stood in front of a mirror and looked herself over to ensure she looked decent, she sighed. "Well, Marcia, now that we've seen your reputation as a babysitter get torn to shreds by your hyperactive bestie, at least things can't get any worse."
*THUNK* *BANG* *KER-RASH*
Marcia felt her eyelids begin twitching once more. Inwardly, she screamed over the fact that she had probably just jinxed herself. Grabbing Buffrog's binder from where she set it on the floor, Marcia practically kicked her bedroom door open before rushing into the hallway towards the stairs.
"Comet, what's happening now? Did you do something you're not supposed to because I am not in the mood for any more of your-"
Whatever Marcia had planned on yelling at Comet almost died in her throat once she reached the end of the hallway. Standing there, actually standing there, at the top of the stairs to the living room, were several of Buffrog's tadpoles. Marcia could feel her eyes starting to go wide and her jaw slackening as she tried to process what she saw.
"They have legs? Do they have legs? Why do they have legs?!" Marcia began to go into full-blown panic mode as she went through Buffrog's binder, trying to find anything that could explain what was happening. To her distress, she found that there was no such chapter to be found. Buffrog must not have anticipated that the tadpoles would start growing limbs so soon!
Before Marcia could process this any further, the tadpoles began to jump onto the railing and used it to slide all the way down to the bottom, much to her horror.
"No! No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Marcia shouted as she tried to stop the last of the tadpoles from going down the railing. Alas, her efforts were for naught, for Buffrog's children were too fast, too nimble for her to catch. All it took was a single kick from their legs, and they jumped out of her grasp, leaving poor Marcia lying on the floor and helplessly watching the tadpoles put themselves in danger.
Despite wanting nothing more than to pretend this was just a bad dream, Marcia's sense of responsibility bade her look downstairs and see how bad things had gotten. Her worst fears were confirmed. In the short time she'd been in her bedroom, all the tadpoles had sprouted legs and were using them to run roughshod all over her house!
Everywhere Marcia looked, she saw the tadpoles running around. They jumped on all the furniture and threatened to knock over the plants and vases. A group of them was even running on the treadmill they had set up near the laundry room at speeds that were way too high for them to handle!
"Ahhh! It's every parent and babysitter's worst nightmare!" Marcia screamed as she felt the all-important routines and schedule she relied on crumble around her.
"GANGWAY!"
And then, as if the Universe was messing with her, the one responsible came barreling down on the railing like he was grinding on rails at the skate park, with several tadpoles following in his wake.
"No, no, no, no!" Marcia cried out as she saw Comet and the Buffbabies speeding toward her. Fortunately for her, the crash she anticipated never came to be. Instead, in an impressive display of acrobatic prowess, Comet leapt over Marcia's head before executing a perfect landing in the living room while holding Katrina safely. Even more surprising, the tadpoles replicated the boy's feat to a tee. The last three even managed to form a perfect frog pyramid as they landed, to boot!
"Whoo! That's what I'm talking about!" Comet cheered as he saw what the tadpoles pulled off. "And that's how you use momentum and reflexes to maneuver around any obstacle! Great work, you guys!"
"COMET!"
Comet's bonding moment with Buffrog's kids was cut short by his name being called. And it didn't take much of a genius for him to figure out who had yelled it so loudly.
"Oh, hey, Marcia!" Comet waved, doing his best to act innocent. Judging by how mad Marcia was at him, though, it wasn't working.
"What the heck is going on here, Comet?'
"Well, as you can see, it's currently playtime, so I've been showing the babies how to have fun!"
"That's not what I meant, Comet!" Marcia clarified to him. "I wanna know why the heck they suddenly all have legs!"
Comet didn't have an answer to that question for his part, so he just responded with a shoulder shrug and said, "I don't know. Who cares, though?" He couldn't help but ask. "I mean, look at how much fun we're having! Isn't that right, you guys?" he said as he looked at the little tadpoles as they continued exploring the living room and everything it had to offer. All the tadpoles croaked in a manner that the boy could only interpret as happy. "See, they get it!"
Before Marcia could continue berating Comet for letting this happen on his watch, she saw one of the tadpoles walking onto a nearby cabinet and threatening to knock over an expensive vase that Mrs. Diaz won at an online auction three years ago. Marcia swore that she could feel her hair starting to fall out as the vase went over the side. Before she could do anything, though, Comet beat her to it. Dashing over to the cabinet faster than Marcia could react, he stretched his left hand out as far as he could, managing to deftly catch the vase while not letting go of Katrina, still in his right hand.
"Whew, that was a close one," Comet muttered to himself before looking at the tadpole responsible. "Come on down, Dimitri," he said in a tone that, while gentle, left no room for argument. Once that was done, he carefully returned the vase to where it had been standing before returning his attention to Dimitri. "Now, Dimitri, it's fine if you want to jump on the furniture, but you need to make sure to avoid breaking anything. Because if you do, then you'll get in trouble," the Mewman Prince said in a mentor-ly manner. "Now, be more careful and watch your surroundings, and you'll be fine." Having said that, Comet allowed Dimitri to go back to playing.
Marcia, for her part, just stood there stock-still, trying to process what she just saw. Before she could say anything in response, Comet jogged past her, ensuring he kept Katrina safe and secure as he made his way to the treadmill. To Marcia's dread, she saw a few of the tadpoles currently running on the active workout machine, with one repeatedly hitting the "increase speed" button on the menu. In response, the treadmill started going faster and faster, too quickly for the tadpoles to handle.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Easy now, guys," Comet said as he got next to the treadmill and shooed the tadpoles off it. "You don't want to do hard mode right off the bat unless you're ready for it," he explained to them before setting the speed down to something more modest. "Because if you're not, you could end up like me." Comet then gestured to an indent in the wall behind them that was shaped suspiciously like him, albeit one that had been partially covered up. "That's what happens when you try and use this thing to walk a bunch of puppies!" Comet said while letting out an embarrassed laugh.
How have I not noticed that before!? Marcia said, flabbergasted that something like that had snuck underneath her radar.
As Comet continued to look out for the tadpoles and gently told them how to avoid getting hurt as they played, he also paid close attention to Katrina. "Aww, Katrina-kins. Do you feel left out? Don't you worry, though! Once you've gotten your legs, your big brother Comet will teach you his secrets to being a parkour master. We'll have you hopping and jumping everywhere before you know it! Boop!"
Marcia couldn't believe what she was seeing. Despite all evidence to the contrary, even though he was letting the babies run around and put themselves in danger, Comet was doing...a good job? This shouldn't make sense!
"Comet...how on Earth are you doing this?" Marcia asked, still in disbelief over what was going on. "A short time ago you were a complete disaster, and now you're...doing a good job at babysitting."
"I am?" Comet asked, needing clarification about this. "I didn't really notice. I thought I was doing a terrible job and was depressed about it. But then these little angels wanted to play, so that's what we've been doing," he added as he gestured at the tadpoles.
"But, Comet...you're not letting them get hurt, and you're telling them what not to do and ensuring they stay out of trouble. That's the ABCs of babysitting!"
"Not really, Marcia. I'm just trying to ensure they have fun, not hurt themselves. As their big brother, it's my job to ensure they don't get into more trouble than they can handle. Barring that, I show them how to get out of trouble," he confidently stated.
Marcia was at an utter loss for words. In a few minutes, Comet had just blown away her misconceptions about his ability to look after kids. Any anger she might have held towards him for the feeding and naptime incidents was now replaced by newfound respect.
Not that I'm going to let him know that, Marcia said, mentally stopping herself from telling him this. She stubbornly thought he still needed to learn his lesson about following the rules.
"Well, quit messing around, Comet. We can't have the babies running around the house like this! Buffrog's going to be back in about-" Marcia glanced at the nearby clock to figure out how much time they had. However, what she saw almost made her face pale. "-Four minutes!? We only have four minutes to get these babies under control!" Marcia now began to panic as she felt the pressure build. "Okay, don't panic, Marcia Diaz. You can do this. You just gotta get these babies to calm down and-"
"Marcia," came the voice of Comet as he put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Relax. We got this. Tell you what: I'll take care of the ones with the legs, and you can focus on looking after Katrina," he said as he handed Katrina over to Marcia. Except-
"Um, Comet, where's Katrina?"
Comet got a confused look on his face as she asked this. "What do you mean, she's in my-," but when Comet looked down at his hands, he saw that Katrina wasn't there.
Morgan Freeman: It was at this moment that he knew...he fucked up.
"AHHHHH!" Both teenagers began to scream.
"Where the heck is she?!" cried Marcia
"I don't know! She was in my hands a second ago!" Comet shouted back.
"She couldn't have gotten far! We need to find her!" Marcia frantically told her partner in crime.
With only a few minutes left, the two rapidly searched the house.
"She's not in the kitchen!" Comet called out.
"My bedroom's clean!" Marcia shouted.
The duo looked all over the house, but no matter where they looked, Katrina was nowhere to be found. By the time they met, there was only one room left: the biggest one in the house.
Despite having shut it earlier to keep Coryn from bothering the tadpoles, Comet didn't hesitate to kick the door to his bedroom open before rushing in. Alas, their task was impossible in the short time that they had.
"It's hopeless! We'd need an army to search your room, Comet!" Marcia said as she felt herself giving into despair. On the other hand, Comet found himself coming up with a brilliant idea as he looked at the tadpoles, who had all gathered upstairs to see what the commotion was about.
"Hey, hey, kids! I hope you've put those new legs of yours through their paces because now it's time to see if you can go faassssttt!"
Comet then pulled out his Wand and, through methods known only to him, had it start to play his favorite song.
Play Space Unicorn (by Parry Gripp) with lyrics-
/qv-indybUlE
Hearing the fun music being played again, the tadpoles eagerly started to bounce around the place as they gathered around Comet and Marcia, the former of whom couldn't resist the urge to start dancing. Marcia, for her part, was stumped by this.
"Wha-what is going on? When did this-"
"It was a whole thing earlier, Marcia," Comet told the girl as he continued to dance and move around. "Now, don't just stand there. Give them their marching orders! And remember to make them fun!"
As Marcia looked at Comet and then at the tadpoles crowding around her, she tried to think of something to motivate the babies. That's when she got an idea.
"All right, babies," Marcia shouted as exuberantly as possible, "I hope you're ready for some fun because it's time for some speedrun hide-and-seek!" When she saw all the tadpoles beginning to bounce up and down to this, she knew she had them. "Now, find your sister before the song ends!"
The tadpoles happily agreed to Marcia's marching orders, and with the speed that comes with youth, they began to comb Comet's bedroom for Katrina. As a side note, Coryn was nowhere to be seen.
It took about a minute, but one of the tadpoles ran up to Comet and Marcia and began pointing to the upper floor of Comet's bedroom.
"I think they found something!" Comet excitedly said. "Lead the way, baby!"
Sure enough, the tadpoles had located Katrina. She was napping in a pile of plushies that Comet had won in an online auction. Said pile, though, was behind a mess of bear traps!
"You have bear traps in your room, Comet? Why do you have bear traps in your room?!"
"I don't wanna hear lip from the girl who was too afraid to confess to Jackson, Marcia. I don't get how you were afraid to do that but not afraid of bears."
"Okay, let's think. We have no idea how she got there, but we can't risk setting off any of the traps," Marcia said as she tried to devise an idea. "We need to think this through carefully and then-"
"No time! We use the binder!"
Before Marcia could react, Comet threw the binder toward the bear traps, much to Marcia's horror.
"Noooo!" She shouted as she tried vainly to reach for the binder. After that, all that was heard was the sound of bear traps going off.
Spongebob Narrator: A few minutes later...
At exactly 6:00 pm, Buffrog emerged from a portal in the living room of the Diaz House. He appeared exhausted from his recent job, with his tunic ripped in multiple places and mud stains all over it. Although his arms and legs were scratched and had thorns embedded in his skin, Buffrog was mostly unharmed, which relieved Comet and Marcia. They didn't ask him about his job, as they both suspected it might have been illegal due to the challenges that Monsters faced on Mewni. They didn't want to inform King Mune and Queen Lake of his actions, as Buffrog had helped them in the past.
The Monster's fatigue disappeared when he saw his children eagerly waiting for him at the coffee table while their babysitters watched from the couch.
"Babies!" Buffrog gleefully shouted as he saw his kids for the first time in hours. Spreading his arms out wide, Buffrog was ready to scoop the little tadpoles up in a big hug. Before he could do so, he was stunned by what happened next. The tadpoles stood up, making him gasp.
"Surprise!" Comet shouted, unable to keep his excitement to himself for a moment longer. "While you were gone, your babies got their legs!" As Comet said this, the tadpoles ran toward their father, who could only kneel in amazement. For a moment, Comet and Marcia thought he would still pick them up for that hug. They didn't expect to see Buffrog start to cry before doing so. Both teens looked at each other nervously before Marcia decided to ask the question on both of their minds.
"Hey, Buffrog, are you okay?"
Between his sobbing, Buffrog composed himself just enough to acknowledge the Human girl's question. "I miss baby tadpoles grow legs! Is most important of developmental stage for Frog-Children!" Comet and Marcia both felt a pang of sympathy at this. Getting to miss out on important moment's in your kid's life is one of the hardest things for any parent, no matter where they're from.
"Well, if it makes you feel any better," Comet said before reaching back to the coffee table to grab Katrina, "little Katrina hasn't gotten her legs yet."
For the third time in the last minute, Buffrog gasped as he saw his precious Katrina looking up at him, as adorable as ever. "My little Katrina!"
Then, as though it was all planned out by someone, Katrina spontaneously grew her own set of legs, prompting everyone present to squeal in joy.
"Oh my gosh! I can't believe I got to see that!" Marcia cried.
"Awww, you little angel! Were you waiting for Daddy to come back to do that?" Comet couldn't help but coo.
"Come to Papa, sweet daughter!" Buffrog said as he proceeded to grab Katrina and cradled her in his arms. "Boop!" he said as he booped the little tadpole on the face. The rest of the tadpoles used their legs to hop onto their Dad's shoulders, making him sniffle from tears of joy.
"I hope you had fun, Katrina!" Comet said sweetly to the little tadpole. "I can't wait to spend more time with you!"
"Oh, before I forget, here," Marcia added before handing Buffrog's binder. Thankfully, it proved sturdy enough to survive its ordeal with the bear traps, several of which remained embedded in its spine. "Sorry about the bear traps, but we added a new chapter for you!"
After quickly removing the bear traps, Buffrog looked inside the binder. He saw that Comet and Marcia added several images of the two spending time with the tadpoles, which he greatly appreciated.
"Thank you, Prince Comet and karate girl," Buffrog gratefully said to the Human and Mewman. "I will not forget what you have done for me."
"No need, Buffrog. We both owe you more than we could ever hope to repay. If it weren't for you, I might be dead," Marcia told him, still remembering how he helped Comet rescue her from Toffee.
Comet flashed one of his trademark grins and asked, "What are friends for, anyway?" Marcia and Buffrog were slightly surprised by his statement but didn't respond. Buffrog simply nodded in appreciation and took the remaining supplies he had given to the babysitters before stepping back through the portal. The portal closed behind him.
Now alone, Marcia looked at Comet and couldn't help but smirk at him. "So, friends, huh?" she asked, her eyebrow arching with a knowing look.
Finally realizing what he had said a moment ago, Comet began to rub the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, yeah. He helped us out before and trusted us enough to watch his kids. I'm not saying I don't hate all Monsters...but I do like Buffrog," he admitted. "He seems like a good parent."
"He does, doesn't he?" Marcia concurred with a nod. "But you know who else I learned was a good parent today?"
"Hmm?" Comet tilted his head in confusion at this.
"You," Marcia told her best friend. "Despite how reckless and irresponsible you sometimes act, you're pretty good when handling kids. I guess I underestimated you earlier," Marcia admitted as she conceded the point.
"You'd think that people would learn to stop doing that with me by now," Comet joked as he gracefully accepted the praise. "Now, what do you say we play another round of Chutes and Ladders?"
Marcia's face lit up at the chance to play more with Comet. "You're on!"
"Woohooooo!" Marcia couldn't stop herself from screaming joyfully as she descended the long slide. Except it wasn't Marcia going down the slide, but Mini-Marcia while Marcia watched. After they had left their living game avatars and Coryn to their own devices, the three had gone on some kind of grand adventure of their own around Echo Creek. They only got back after the chaos of looking for Katrina had subsided. With Coryn now peacefully resting in the corner, they were free to go back to playing Chutes and Ladders, with Mini-Marcia now embracing Comet's philosophy of having fun.
"I guess you were right, Comet," the Mini-Marcia admitted to her Mini-Counterpart. "Sometimes it's better to forget the rules and focus on having fun."
"True, but you can't forget about them altogether," Mini-Comet admitted. "Most rules are put in place to keep bad things from happening and ensure everyone's happy. Right, Mega-Comet?" When Mini-Comet waited for a response from OG Comet, though, he got none. "Mega-Comet?" Looking upwards at their counterparts, Mini-Comet saw that Comet and Marcia had fallen asleep while playing the game.
"Awww, they're all tuckered out," Mini-Comet said as he looked at the two teenagers. "You think they'll ever get it?"
"Give them time, Comet," Marcia told her companion. "They're still young."
*Back in Jay's Workspace, the setting's now changed. Instead of Rex trying to fight Hooty, RJ "Jay" Writing Ink, TFS Nappa, DAU Kermit, Janna, Omnitraxus, and King are standing in the middle of a battlefield. Jay is holding his keyblade in one hand, Han Solo's blaster in another, as he stands over the dismembered body of a B1 Battle Droid. Kermit and Janna are both holding lightsabers while clad in Beskar armor. Nappa sits atop a pile of Battle Droids, Super Battle Droids, and Droidekas while King and Hooty go through the wreckage for any intact parts. Omni's trying to help Rex pick the Droid parts out of his teeth. All of them look exhausted.
Jay: Okay, guys, who forgot to leave the reminder for Star Wars: Jedi Survivor? Thanks to that, we had to deal with all these leftover Battle Droids showing up.
Janna: How does that even work, though? Not that I'm complaining-these guys are pretty funny.
Jay: I don't know. It's a reminder to get the game downloaded so I can play it on YouTube.
King: Frankly, I'm more worried that Rex and Hooty ate some of them. That can't be good for their stomachs...or whatever Hooty has.
Hooty: Don't worry. I can eat pretty much anything, hoot. Plus, I can just get rid of them in pellet form. Do you guys want some?
Everyone: We're good!
Omni: Well, that was a surprising turn of events in this chapter. I didn't think you'd have Marcia get that angry.
Jay: *shrugs his shoulders* She had every right to be mad at Comet for what happened. As we've established, seeing Marcia get pissed at her makes Comet reflect seriously on his actions. In this case, he asked himself why he greatly hates following the rules.
Rex: Little magic man was good with kids, though!
Jay: You're right. Comet's great with kids; if the opportunity presents itself, he would prefer spending time with them rather than many adults since they're less likely to look down on him.
Kermit: And the thing with looking out for them so well? How does he explain that?
Jay: It's not something he can fully explain, Kermit, because even he doesn't fully understand. But because of his understanding of the simple wisdom of maintaining a childlike sense of wonder as you age, Comet has an innate talent for bonding with kids. And since he's gotten into all kinds of trouble over the years, he understands it's sometimes better to teach people how to get out of trouble than to avoid it. Hence the kernels of wisdom he provided Buffrog's kids.
Nappa: I may not fully approve of his willingness to let them get into trouble like that, but that might yield a more positive outcome when it comes to long-term development. It teaches them how to be self-sufficient, and as someone who majored in child psychology, I know how important that can be.
King: It seems to work. I learned a lot from all the times I've gotten in trouble with Luz and Eda.
Jay: Plus, if I'm being honest, I used Comet as a mouthpiece regarding some of my thoughts regarding parenting. We need to keep kids safe when they're young, but they also need the chance to have fun, and that's how they learn about the world. Now that's done, let's wrap this up so we can play Jedi Survivor. I spent all night downloading it on my PS5, and I wanna play it. I took today off from work for it! But first, it's time for
READERS REVIEWS
LockAndKey989-Why would I skip this? I loved "Starsitting." It shows just how well Star and Marco work together and balance each other out. This is why so many fanfics of them show them as being great parents! And yes, the same can be said for Comet and Marcia.
Julayla-Oh, I enjoyed them and then some. The Super Mario Bros Movie is on track to make a billion dollars! EAT IT, CRITICS!
Ted Glass-I've learned that Order and Chaos go hand-in-hand in life and that too much of either is bad. But sometimes chaos is necessary to bring out a real change in society.
The Wandering Hippie-Yeah, I noticed that I was getting sloppy as well. Thanks for reminding me. Speaking of which, are you ever going back to writing, or are you retired?
You know what to do: fave and follow this story, and follow me on Twitter (JZ-Gaming), Insta (RJ Writing Ink), and YouTube (Jungoguy).
See you guys next chapter! We're gonna see what Buffrog got up to on the job!