Glossarycks departure to his room on the second floor had left the group speechless; not because his disappearance had been so incredible, but because no one knew what to say. The silence did not last however.

"Whelp," Tom proclaimed, clapping his hands as obnoxiously loud as his voice was. "I'm done. Can I borrow your music, Marco? My CDs…" Toms eyes squinted nervously as they scanned the room for anyone who might possibly refute him, "mysteriously went missing after an intense game of ping-pong."

Marco groaned an almost inaudible sound. The CDs Tom was referring to hadn't been Toms. They had been Marco's.

"Yes, Tom, you can borrow my CDs," He responded through gritted teeth. He gave Tom a sharp scowl before adding, "Don't break them this time," in a voice that clearly stated that Marco knew the CDs were as good as trashed already.

Tom gave him a cocky smile and snapped his fingers into finger guns pointed at Marco. "Gotcha."

As Tom left to go acquire what would soon be a pile of broken polycarbonate, Star looked up to Marco. "Uh, Marco?"

Marco looked to her. Despite getting her book back for her (or having tried and succeeded with her help), she hadn't recovered the way he was hoping she would. She wasn't bursting with energy, she wasn't ready to embrace the world with her unique personality, she wasn't sure of herself no matter what. It was like she had taken pills that suppress herself, or, god forbid, in an angsty fanfic that should have ended long ago.

"Yes, Star?"

She lifted up her wand and pointed towards the star in the center. The crack that separated the golden half of the Star from the empty darkness next to it stood out in intense clarity to the young teen. "We didn't get the wand." Her eyes were weary and filled with disappointment for herself. "It's still broken."

Marco stared at the wand for a solid ten seconds before slapping himself in the face. "Right, no wand, shit, alright…" he sighed and rubbed his hand all around his face, letting it mush it up. The wand. He'd forgotten the wand. Half the reason he'd gone on the trip and they had forgotten it. Marco glanced at Star through his fingers and, hesitantly, asked, "Can we go back?"

Frustration broke out on Stars face like acne on pre-teen Marco's face. Before she could answer in what would've been a condescending tone only Star could make, Jackie spoke up informatively, "How do we know the green gas won't still be there?"

Marco cringed, then shook his head and looked away… to see Jam and Elizabeth staring hard into each other's eyes. Their faces were only five inches away as their faces shook, their eyes turned red, their tears ran in rivers down their cheeks. Absolute determination defined their entire bodies. Artists, athletes, and craftsmen alike would have slaughtered babies to have but a sliver of the intense focus on a single action that the two teenagers employed to their death stares.

"What the heck are you two doing?"

They answered in perfect unison, as symmetric as their concentration. "Staring contest to determine the best child."

Marco rolled his eyes and mildly scowled away from them. Tom was right. They were fond of staring at each other. "Yeah, okay, whatever. Star," Marco looked at Star with tight-knit eyebrows. "Can you and Elizabeth go talk to Glossaryck? You two know him the best."

Star looked at Marco like he was crazy. She was slowly starting to act more like herself, as seen in her befuddled response: "I barely know him."

"Same," Elizabeth stated without ending her stare.

"That's still more than the rest of us," Marco countered. "We need to know as much about the green cloud and the time travel stuff as possible." He gave her what he hoped wasn't a pleading smile. "Please?"

Star stared at him, then nodded. Her eyes went half-lidded. "Come on, Elizabeth. Time for more riddles and pudding."

Elizabeth bit her lip. She was clearly winning the staring contest, but it would take at least another five minutes to wear Jam down. There was only one option.

She poked Jam in the eyes.

He sprung back, his hand flying to cover his stinging eyes. He fell on his back in a satisfying thump.

"Suck it, rag boy! I win!" She proclaimed to the crowd of four as her eyes twitched uncontrollably.

Jam rubbed his eyes and scowled in bitter hatred at Elizabeth. "You cheated. And cheaters never truly win."

Elizabeth stuck her tongue out at him as she proceeded to stand next to Star, who fist bumped her daughter. "She didn't break a single rule," Star declared quietly. "She simply rewrote the rules." She and Elizabeth went up the stairs and disappeared from sight. The sound of a door opening and closing was heard seconds later.

"Alright then." Marco didn't know if Star supporting Elizabeth was a sign of recovery or resignment. He shrugged it off and looked over to see Jackie supporting Jam and looking over his eyes. Her smooth hands glided over Jams own to reveal his throbbing red eyes, still watering from terrible if only temporary agony. She carefully inspected them with the care and love of a mother.

"You'll be fine, but you should probably get some rest." Her voice was calm but direct. She looked up to Marco, who realized too late that he'd been staring. His cheeks flushed a deep crimson, and she gave a quick smile before returning to wary neutrality. "He needs time to rest. And…" she hesitated. "I need some time to unwind. Tonight was a lot, and I think I need to relax and let everything set in." She looked down at Jam, who was still rubbing his eyes. "I'll let Jam stay at my house. You've got enough company for one night, and I need to ask him more questions about this all."

Marco nodded. "Yeah, that's… that's probably for the best." He couldn't keep his eyes on Jackie so he looked Jam. He had risen by himself, eyes still watering, and nodded. He looked miserable, but kept his head up, high and proud. He wanted to look dignified and cool in front of his parents, much like his father.

"We'd better leave now," Jam said clearly. "It's already late."

Marco looked out from behind himself and looked through the window. The sky was pitch black, only lit by the street lamps and a nearly full moon, it's pale light gleaming across the pool of black that surrounded it. It must have been early in the morning, sometime around three or four A.M. Marco looked back to Jackie.

"I, uh…" He scratched his head looked away again. "I'm sorry that tonight didn't go as planned."

Jackie shrugged and smiled. Her smile was warm and airy, like that of the winds in summer. "I'll see you tomorrow." Her voice spoke more than her words alone, assuring him that she was okay that their plans had changed. She pecked him on the cheek as she left, causing Marco's crimson red to deepen further. Jam, who still stood proud despite his pain, broke out into a wide grin that stated, 'who's the winner now, Elizabeth?'

They left. And Marco was alone… For all of ten seconds.

"Hey, Marco!" Tom shouted from the kitchen. "Come in here! You gotta see this!"

Marco's face dropped. "What is it?"

"No time, just come see it!"

Marco sighed. It had been a long night, and he'd been hoping to just be able to fester about his problems in his bed while hopelessly trying to get some sleep. He grumbled something about 'demons and how he needed to get some holy water on hand' when he was met with a terribly familiar face.

"Hey Marco," Janna said, smooth and relaxed despite being tied up and held down by a demon. "What's new with you?"

Marco stood, too tired to be dumbfounded again, at the mess in front of him. Jars of peanut butter, grape jam, and pickles lay smashed next to broken eggs, a still leaking carton of milk, mushed bananas, and torn bread (which was, at the moment, soaking up the milk flood). Janna lay wrapped in what appeared to be red, glowing string in the mess of food that covered Marco's floor. She gave Marco sensual eyes, which would have worked better if there hadn't been peanut butter smushed against her cheeks. Tom, panting and sweating with a triumphant vigor, looked up at Marco.

"I caught her hiding away in your refrigerator when I went to steal a small snack before going," he explained, still high on his victorious setup. "I think she might be some sort of assassin or spy for… something. She put up a good fight, but I distracted her with the peanut butter. Should I kill her?"

Jannas eyes went from collected and full of power to shocked and scared within seconds. "Wait, what?" She asked, voice cracking.

Marco shook his head. He was tempted, if only for a second, to let Tom deal with his stalker problem once and for all. But only for a second. "She's not an assassin, Tom. She's here to annoy me and stalk me."

"So…" Tom's demeanor melted into disappointment. "No killing?"

Marco shook his head. He looked down at Janna, weariness overcoming him. "Why are you here, Janna?"

Janna, who kept watching Tom to make sure he didn't make any sudden movements, replied, "I felt left out of the story. Also it's Friday, and I always stalk you on Friday."

Marco nodded. This was true: Janna made a solemn effort to stalk him every Friday night, despite his threats of calling the police. But while most nights it was only a minor inconvenience and mildly scary, he didn't have time to deal with her tonight. He had to think of what their next plan of action would be, and how to deal with his girl troubles. Janna's acult-ish nature would only distract him from-

Wait. Her acult-ish nature.

A smile broke out on Marco's face. He clapped his hands with deep satisfaction, causing both Janna and Tom to look confused and worried.

"Janna!" Marco exclaimed, face beaming. "Have you met my demon friend Tom?"

Tom lift up his finger to protest. "Wait, we aren't-"

"DEMON?!" Janna's voice fell hushed and low, eyes sparkling. The character who she'd been watching cautiously suddenly caught her eyes in a new light. Her arms and legs tore through their constraints as she threw her arms around Tom in a crushing hug. Tom's eyes went wide. He looked daggers at Marco.

"Whatdidyoudo?" He demanded, voice totally not shrill in panic. Marco gave him a deeply satisfied, sinister smile.

"What are friend-enemies for?"

Tom's eyes lit on fire and he screamed vulgar profanities as he failed to escape from Jannas arms. She ran out the house with Tom struggling in her arms, his screams slowly growing quieter and quieter as they got farther and farther. Marco smiled broadly, reveling in Tom's displeasure. Then he looked to the mess that Tom and Janna had left him. His smile fell.

"Well," he lamented. "At least I have something to do while I think of what to do next."

Uh, oops. Two months is a long time to not update after having updated weekly. I'd say I'm sorry, and that work and life got in the way, but those are only excuses. I promise to work to update more often. I know how it feels to be waiting for the next chapter in a story, especially after cliffhangers. There will be at least one more chapter this month, if not two.

With regards to writing this chapter, I had a lot of trouble trying to figure out what should happen next. So this ended up mostly just being setup for the next chapter[s], where the groups then individually expand the story. Spring break is coming up soon, so expect more to come.