Hello, and welcome to the first real chapter of Part 4. As always, Star vs the Forces of Evil is owned by Disney and Stands are the creation of the brilliant and talented Hirohiko Araki. Blah, Blah, Blah, Enjoy.
1-Up Girl: Chapter 1.
(Echo Creek, California: Present Day)
It was a beautiful day in Echo Creek, and… well, that's pretty much all the group had going for them at the time.
The situation was dire… no, scratch that. It would have to get better just so you could upgrade it to dire.
A murderer was roaming the streets.
A highly intelligent, amoral psychopath with a taste for human flesh, the ability to make her aura completely undetectable, and the chops to take down five of the deadliest Stand Users alive singlehanded.
What's more, it was very likely that this lunatic was now in possession of her own pair of Dimensional Scissors; meaning that she could literally go anywhere in the entire universe in the blink of an eye.
No sir, things were not looking good for our young heroes.
However, if there was one silver lining in all this, and there was only one, it was that this particular psycho was patient and seemed to have a weakness for games. Since Jackie's return, the mysterious Chemical Romance had given them a pretty wide berth; no one had heard so much as a word from her in over three weeks. Which meant that their training had gone on completely unmolested.
But alas, Jefferson could not allow himself to feel good about this. He knew what was really going on. He knew that Chemical Romance was only allowing them to continue their training because it made the game more interesting. She was bored with eviscerating random homeless people. Now she wanted a challenge.
Shudder
No Sir, he did not like this one bit. It sickened him to think that at that very moment, their would-be killer could be watching them from the shadows. Giggling to herself as she devised new ways to torture them; both physically and mentally.
Sigh.
Oh well, at the very least, he could take solace in the fact that his students were progressing nicely with the next phase of their training.
So, technically that makes two silver linings.
Well… at least that's something.
Right?
"Yo, Jefferson!" called Janna from across the way, snapping the older Stand User out of his self-imposed funk. "Check this out!"
On a reflex, he turned his head toward the source of the intrusion and, to little surprise, he saw his star pupil lifting a large boulder over her head with one hand.
Very nice. Very nice.
Much better than yesterday.
"Looking good, kiddo." He said supportively before quickly remembering his own warning. "But don't overdo it, okay. You could get seriously hurt doing this."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." The young Filipina replied dismissively, before turning her attention to Marco; who at the moment was busy doing one-armed pushups. "Hey, Marco! Check this out!"
Begrudgingly, the young Latino stopped what he was doing and gave Janna his full attention. Which she took as a cue to start flexing her free arm and wink at him seductively; much to his apparent revulsion.
Now, Jefferson knew for a fact that Janna was just playing around. Whatever feelings she may or may not have had for the young Latino died the moment Hekapoo told her that he was planning to use Jackie as a disposable sext doll. No, this was strictly about rubbing salt in his still open wound.
"Like what you see, Diaz?" she said in mock flirtation. "I bet you do. I bet since Jackie dumped your sorry ass, you're just aching for some company."
Yes, you heard that right folks, but it's not nearly as cut and dry as Janna made it sound. You see, a few days after Jackie came back from the island, she and Marco spontaneously announced that they were no longer dating. Neither one of them said exactly why they were splitting up, but Jefferson had his suspicions. At any rate, neither of them seemed all that broken up about the break up, but that didn't stop Janna from trying to get the young Latino's goat.
Case in point.
"Aww~ what's the matter, Marco? You know you love this." She said teasingly. "You know a big, tough, macho man like yourself needs a big, tough betty by his side. Come on~ You know you want me. Just look at these muscles."
"Muscles are supposed to tighten, not jiggle." Marco replied bluntly, as he gave up on pushups and forced himself into a seated position. "And as tempting as your offer is, I'm afraid I must decline. You see, I'm just not that into fat chicks."
Oh… not smart.
Marco was playing with fire now.
It was true that over the last few weeks, Janna's stress eating had caused her to put on a fair amount of weight; so much so that at present the young Filipina could be classified as 'chubby'. But alas, this was not a truth that she was willing to accept. In fact, whenever the subject of her weight was brought up, Janna would deny her new physique adamantly; often violently.
"What was that, Diaz?" Janna asked angrily as she tossed the boulder aside like it was a throw pillow; her left eye twitching like crazy.
"You heard me." Marco said boldly as he stood up to face his long time nemesis. "I don't go for manatees."
"Are you implying that I've gained weight?"
"I'm not implying anything. Your love handles say it all."
"Pfft. What love handles?"
In an act of reckless defiance, the young Latino reached under the Filipina's blouse and gave the sides of her swollen tummy a painful squeeze.
"Here! Here! Here! See 'em?"
"Get off of me!" she shouted as she slapped Marco's hands away and brought out her Stand.
The young Latino responded in kind and for a moment it looked as though they were going to have it out.
Fortunately, before they could come to blows, Star suddenly stepped in; using her own Stand to keep them apart.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Take it easy you two." The young princess said, attempting to be the voice of reason. "We're supposed to be working on our overlaying. Not ripping each other's heads off."
Sorry, I know I keep breaking the flow of the narrative, but this is the last time, I swear.
For those of you who are wondering, which I assume is all of you, overlaying is a skill Stand Users can learn that utilizes their aura in a way other than manifesting their Stands.
Essentially, overlaying is when a Stand User focuses all their aura into one part of their body in order to go beyond its natural limits. For example, focusing it into one's muscles to attain super human strength. A useful skill to be sure, but one that comes with a heavy risk. Which is why most Users never bother learning it.
But alas, I stray from the point.
Back to the story.
"Star, get out of my way!" Marco said annoyedly as he struggled against the icy touch of the princess' Stand. "That hippo's had this coming for a long time!"
"What did you call me, Paco?"
"You heard me, you pudgy little monster!"
"Momma's Boy!"
"Fat Ass!"
"Pansy!"
"Pig!"
"Demon Lover!"
"That's enough!" Jefferson roared as he stepped forward and loudly clunked their heads together like a couple of coconuts. "Now look you two. I've had just about enough of your crap for one day. We've already got one psycho roaming the streets of Echo Creek, we don't need two more!"
"Yeah, but he…"
"Zip it, missy!" the older Stand User said sternly, before calming himself down with a quick cleansing breath. "Look, I get it. You're both fourteen. You've both got hormones messing with your minds and naughty bits. And now you've got Stands, which are pretty much synonymous with emotional instability. But for the love of God, try to keep it together. I mean, come on. You don't see Jackie and Annie trying to claw each other's eyes out, do you."
"Uh… where are Jackie and Annie?" asked Star, suddenly making everyone aware of their missing comrades.
"Ugh… oh boy…"
(Meanwhile, a short distance away)
In a small cluster of trees just beyond the southern edge of the clearing, Annie sat beneath the shade of an old Dutch elm.
Having successfully completed their first round of overlay exercises for the day, the group had been instructed to take a short thirty minute break before moving on to the more advanced sets. And since she had had the foresight to bring her trusty sketchbook with her, the young otaku took this opportunity to indulge in her favorite pastime; IE, drawing.
Now, this may not come as a surprise to you, given her obsession with all things Japanese, but Annie had a passion for anime. And not just watching it, but drawing it too. In fact, she even had her own idea for an original series. Which also happened to be the subject of her current artistic endeavor.
Yes, the young lass was quite passionate when it came to her art; so much so that she failed to notice that her thirty minute break ended over half an hour ago. And it's likely that she might not 've noticed this for at least another hour, had her little world not been breached by a familiar intruder.
"Hey, Annie." Said Jackie as she popped up from behind the tree; snapping the young otaku out of her artistic trance. "What are you doing?"
"Oh… uh… hey, Jackie." She replied awkwardly. "I-I'm just doing a little sketching. What are you doing?"
"Oh, I was meditating over there, when I saw you over here all by yourself. So, you like to draw?"
"Uh… yeah, it's kinda my hobby."
"Cool! Can I see?"
"Well, uh…"
But before she could answer, Jackie had already snatched the sketchbook out of her hands and began looking over the open page.
"Whoa~ Annie, these are amazing!"
"Y-You really think so?"
"Totally! These are really, really good. Come on, you gotta show the others."
"I-I don't know. I've never…"
"There you are." Said the familiar voice of Jefferson as he walked up to the girls with the others in tow. "Jeez-a-loo, how many times do I gotta tell ya not to go off on your own. You almost gave me a friggin' heart attack."
"I'm sorry, Jefferson." Annie said apologetically. "I guess I just…"
"Hey guys! Take a look at this!" Jackie interrupted as she rushed over to show everyone the sketchbook. "Look at what Annie drew!"
For a split second, the young otaku was scared out of her mind. Scared about what the others, particularly Star, might think about her work; especially given its unusual subject matter. Fortunately, these fears were soon put to rest when the Mewman Princess loudly exclaimed,
"Oh my gosh~ Annie, these are adorable~"
"Y-You really think so?" she asked; blushing heavily.
"Are you kidding? Just look at these, they're amazing!"
With her usual flair and spontaneity, Star held up the open sketchbook so that everyone could see the picture that captivated her so.
To the casual observer, it might look like a rough sketch of a movie poster depicting five chibi-style fairies fluttering around what appeared to be an ancient wizard. But to those within the group, the characters took on an entirely different meaning.
"So… is that supposed to be us?" asked Marco, sounding like he was only half interested in what was going on.
"Uh… yes, well sort of." Annie replied awkwardly, before her artistic passion suddenly took over. "See, it's kind of a cover for this manga I wanna write. It's based off our adventures as Stand Users."
"Okay… but why is my character a girl?"
"I… took some artistic liberties." She answered casually, before switching into 'sales pitch' mode. "See, it's all about these five little fairies from the magical land of Echo Valley, who meet a cranky old wizard who gives them special powers that help them fight evil monsters and save the universe."
"Whoa~ Annie, that sounds amazing." Said Star, causing her blush to intensify.
"You really mean it? You guys really like my idea?"
"Well, I don't know about 'like'." Jefferson chimed in with his usual air of grouchiness. "But I am proud of you, Lightfoot. You've channeled your thoughts and feelings about an extreme situation into something positive. So far, that makes you the sanest member of our group. Nice work, kiddo."
For one brief and shinning moment, Annie felt a great sense of pride welling up inside her. But alas, this was all soon dashed by one thoughtless comment.
"Yeah, really nice work, Lightfoot." Janna said annoyedly. "So how come I'm not in it?"
"Janna, your fairy's right there." Star corrected her playfully.
"What? Where? I don't see it."
"It's right here."
The young princess casually pointed to the fairy on the bottom left; a particularly pump looking fairy who was greedily stuffing her face with what appeared to be a doughnut and rubbing her bloated belly.
Naturally, Janna's blood began to boil.
"What the hell!" she roared as she snatched the sketchbook from Star's hand and turned to face the artist. "What's the matter with you, Lightfoot? Why would you draw me like that?"
"Because that's exactly what you'd look like as a fairy." Marco said tauntingly.
"Oh, shut up, Paco! And as for you, Lightfoot, where the hell do you get off drawing me like that? Are you implying that I've gained weight?"
"Janna, it's just a drawing. Let it go." Jackie spoke up, but was promptly ignored.
"Change it now!"
"N-N-No!"
"What?"
"I said No! It's my art and I can do whatever I want with it!"
"Oh yeah? Well, you wanna know what I think of your stupid art?"
Without warning, Janna summoned her Stand and used its razor sharp claws to rip the offending sketchbook to shreds.
"There! What do you think about that, Picasso?"
To her credit, Annie didn't respond by sinking to her level.
Instead, she just burst into tears and ran off crying.
Janna turned back around, looking quite pleased with herself, only to find that everyone was giving her the stink eye.
"What?"
End Notes:
Thanks for reading, everybody.
See you in the next one.
Peace.