Crystal Clear - Don't Always Go With Your Gut
Marcia was sound asleep in her bed tucked snugly under her sheets. The door to her bedroom slowly crept open and a head of blonde hair appeared. Star looked around the room her eyes landing on the slumbering Marcia. There was a slight rustling from the bed and Liger's head pops up from the other side of Marcia's form, his feline eyes connecting with Star's. The sneaking princess puts a finger over her lips making a shushing motion to the large cat. Liger simply blinks before disappearing again behind the sleeping Marcia.
Star smiles to herself then quietly slides out of Marcia's room, quickly and silently sneaking downstairs. She makes her way into the kitchen opening a cupboard pulling out a box of cereal. Stuck on the front of the box is a sticky note reading "Don't touch! I will find out!"
Star chuckled as she started pouring the cereal in a bowl.
"Sure you will, Marcia….Sure you will. Heh-heh-heh."
The bowl was barely half full when a ray of light shit out blasting Star freezing her inside a large crystal.
Rhombulus entered the kitchen and for some odd reason, he had socks on each of his hands. He walked over to the frozen Star attempting to pick her up, having a bit of trouble getting a proper grip. The crystal was a bit too heavy and clunky, and he ended up dropping it on his foot.
"Unh!"
The light in the kitchen flicked on revealing a startled and confused Marcia.
"Uh…"
*BAM*
Marcia did not get a word out as Rhombulus blasted her encasing her in crystal too.
"Really?" Rhombulus groaned looking at the two girls he now had encased in crystal, "All right." He opens a portal grabbing Star. "One-" Then he grabs Marcia "-and two. Thanks for nothing."
He walks into the portal disappearing with Star and Marcia.
The moment the portal closed Liger entered the kitchen walking over to the counter where Star's poorly poured bowl of cereal was resting. Liger put its front paws on the counter hoisting himself up before plunging his head in the bowl eating its contents.
Rhombulus arrived in the crystal dimension, his two unwilling passengers hoisted over his shoulders. Marcia, seeing as she wasn't Rhombulus's real target, was stashed away. While Star was basically put on display, Rhombulus getting the frozen Princess to be presented.
"Chancellor Lekmet!" Rhombulus called out.
Lekmet appeared from behind a large crystal letting out a resonate bleat.
Rhombulus bent down kneeling on one knee. "My liege. I come bearing an offering of great momentousness should it please thee."
"Baaaa," Lekmet said
"Uh, well, it's kinda heavy. I was hoping that thee could come down here to see it," Rhombulus said
Lekmet let out a sigh but started making his way to Rhombulus. He walked over to a stairlift sitting down before moving slowly down the stairs, but halfway down the lift gets stuck.
"Oh, dang! Is that on the fritz too? Oh, hang on."
Rhombulus runs over to Lekmet lifting him up carrying him down.
"I've got you. So, um, speaking of the interdimensional fritz?"
"Baaaa?" Lekmet questioned
"I've been doing some digging on my own and, uh, I think I've found what's causing it," Rhombulus said
"Baaaaa," Lekmet said
"Stay right there. I present to you the source of the fritz."
Rhombulus throws his arms open wide in a brief show of fanfare presenting the crystal encased Star.
"Baaaa!" Lekmet shouted shocked
"Evidence? I've got your evidence right here," Rhombulus pointed at his stomach, "My gut told me she's evil, so I took her out. Boom! No more fritz."
Lekmet put a hoof over his face letting out a weary bleat.
"Yeah, I know she's Queen Butterfly's daughter, but-"
Rhombulus was interrupted by Lekmet bleating.
"Okay, t-that kinda hurt. I know it came from a good place, you know, but-"
The sock on Rhombulus's left arm suddenly rips off revealing one of his snake hands. The poor appendage was panting, gasping for air, having been entrapped in the article of clothing for quite some time.
"Okay, Chancellor, for the record, we had nothing to do with this," Left said
The sock on Rhombulus's right arm breaks open and his second snake hand was freed.
"Yeah, we told him it was a horrible plan, but Rockhead here didn't wanna hear it."
"He never listens to us!" Left shouted
"But he would listen to you, Lekmet!" Right added
"Tell him, Chancellor!"
"Tell him!"
The snake hands chanted shouting at Lekmet.
Lekmet rubbed his brows stressfully, bleating worriedly.
"Okay, everybody just calm down!" Rhombulus gestured to a chair for Lekmet. "Why don't you sit? I'll grab you a glass of warm milk, and then we can talk this out like rational people."
While Lekmet took a seat Rhombulus opened a fridge going to grab a drink but the moment the door opened the crystal encased Marcia fell out.
"Baaaaa!" Lekmet shouted freaking out.
"Shoot! I forgot she was there. Okay, so I actually don't know who this is. But she's definitely evil. Gut's honor," Rhombulus declared banging on his stomach.
Lekmet let out a grim bleat.
"You'll what? Oh, please don't call the Magical High Commission," Rhombulus begged, dropping to his knees.
"Baaaa," Lekmet said
"You...you think we should make other living arrangements?" Rhombulus said
Lekmet nodded his head, "Uh-huh."
Rhombulus seems to be at a loss of words, "But...who's gonna take care of you?"
Lekmet said nothing and started to walk away.
"Lekmet, no. Stop! Please!" Rhombulus shouted
Lekmet walks over to a wall with a curtain. He pulls on the curtain string revealing an interdimensional mirror.
"You'll ruin everything!" Rhombulus cried
Ignoring Rhombulus's cries, Lekmet started to dial a number on the mirror.
"Stop! Stop!" Rhombulus screamed, grabbing his head in a panic. "Guuuuhh!"
Rhombulus let out an anguishing cry before zapping Lekmet, encasing the goat-man in crystal.
"Dude! You just crystallized the High Chancellor!" Left shouted
"Do you have any idea how much trouble we are in?!" Right panicked
"Stop yelling at me! Look, I just really need a win right now. I mean, you guys are my hands! You're supposed to be on my side! Can't you just…."
Rhombulus let out a sigh, realizing the mess he was now stuck in.
"Hey. I bet a few reps would clear your head," Right spoke gesturing to a rack of weights.
"Huh. You know, that's not a bad idea," Rhombulus agreed
"Bench presses, couple of bicep curls. Hmm?" Right suggested
As his arm spoke, Rhombulus noticed the snake's eyes dart to the side.
"What are you lookin' at? Huh?" Rhombulus asked
He looked to the side seeing Left holding a baseball bat in its mouth.
"What? No! Uh! Hey!" Rhombulus shouted
Left swings aiming for Rhombulus's head while Right starts dialing on the mirror. Rhombulus dodges the swing and the bat ends up hitting Right. Rhombulus runs around the room in a panic smashing his arms against various crystal structures.
While all that commotion was going on a crystal started to glow turning from blue to red. Splinter cracks make their way across the surface of the crystal then it shatters and the girl trapped inside falls, landing on her back with a light thud.
"Oooh man...what-what happened?"
Marcia sat up rubbing her head confused. As she took in her surroundings, Marcia didn't notice the faint glow around her neck die down.
Rhombulus had finally stopped running around, crystallizing his own arms.
"Oh, man...Oh, geez!" He backs up from Lekmet's crystal bumping into Star's. "You! I know you're the source! I can feel it!"
He backed up going to unfreeze Star but ended up tripping over Marcia.
"What?!-H-Hey! How'd you get out of my crystal?" Rhombulus shouted
"Uhh...no clue," Marcia spoke, shrugging her shoulders.
"Well...get back in it!" Rhombulus said
"What? But that doesn't even-look even if I could do that, I wouldn't. Who'd want to be stuck in crystal forever?" Marcia said
"They seem to like it," Rhombulus spoke gesturing around him.
Marcia looked before going to a creature trapped in crystal who was clearly mid-scream when he was trapped, the look of horror frozen on his face.
"This guy literally looks like he's frozen in pure terror."
Marcia continued to look around spotting Star.
"Oh my gosh Star!" She ran over putting her hands on the crystal. "What'd you do to my friend!"
"She's the cause of this all!" Rhombulus shouted
"Cause of what!" Marcia shouted back.
"Argggh!"
Rhombulus let out an angry cry before uncrystallizing Star but only from the neck up.
"Huh?" Star blinked looking around groggily.
"Star are you okay?" Marcia asked
Before the princess could answer Marcia was shoved out the way by Rhombulus.
"Why did you cause the fritz?!"
"Ahhhhhhhhh!"
Star responded to Rhombulus's demands by screaming.
"No! No no no no!" Rhombulus shouted before recrystallizing Star to silence her screams. "I really just can't take anymore yelling today."
"Well, what do you expect her to do?" Marcia quipped, crossing her arms.
"You! Get back in your crystal!" Rhombulus shouted
"No! Besides, I got out of it once, I'm sure I can do it again," Marcia said
"Gaaah! Alright, you're going to help me. Stop her-," Rhombulus pointed at Star, "-from screaming."
"Only if you let me and Star go home," Marcia said
"Grrrrrrr, fine!" Rhombulus said
Rhombulus uncrystallized Star's head once again.
"Ahhhhhh-!"
Marcia covered Star's mouth.
"Princess, my name is Rhombulus, I work with your mom, and I need you to answer one question!" Rhombulus quickly said
Marcia uncovered Star's mouth so she could answer.
"Rhombulus? Oh, ohh! You're the time-out guy," Star said
Marcia covered her mouth holding back a chuckle like snort. "Time-out guy?"
"What? Who calls me that? I bet it's Glossaryck, isn't it?" Rhombulus said
"Omnitraxus calls you that too. And my mom and dad. Really all of the members of the Magic High Commission call you that. Time-out guy," Star said
"Oh yeah, I think I heard Hekapoo say that too," Marcia added
"You and Hekapoo hang out?" Star questioned
"Yeah, we meet for tea sometimes, discuss blacksmithing and weapons. Quite interesting-"
"Oh, never mind!" Rhombulus shouted, interrupting the girls. "Why are you causing the fritz?" He asked Star.
"What's the fritz?" Star questioned
"The leak! The reason why nothing's working up here?" Rhombulus said
"I don't know," Star said
"Oh! Something has been draining the power of magic from the universe." Rhombulus flips what appears to be a light switch but nothing happens. "See? Crystal orbs are down. And then there's the green hole over there."
He pointed upwards and the girls looked to see a green swirling hole hovering over the area.
"Oh that looks rather ominous," Marcia said
"Yeah, that part definitely looks broken," Star said
"And look at the crystal I trapped Lekmet in. This stuff used to be hard as diamonds. Now it's like...rock candy or something," Rhombulus said
"I'm sorry your powers are all crazy, but it's not me," Star said
"Yeah I mean Star does a lot of crazy things but draining magic seems a bit too out of her reach," Marcia said
"You have to be the source! You see all these guys?" Rhombulus gestured to all the beings crystallized around him. "My gut told me they were evil, so I crystallized them. There's Zedlord, who blew up an entire planet. Astrobell and the black hole she created. Stopped that one just in time. Oh, and then there's pizza delivery guy. Delivered the pizza to the wrong address. Then of course, I am most proud of the evil twins," He points at the two gems on his chest, "John and Jack. They're pretty hard to tell apart, but one of them was definitely evil. This is what I do. I find the source of evil, and I encase it in crystal forever."
"Soooo your snake hands. They're evil too?" Star said
"What? No, they're my hands," Rhombulus said
"What about me huh?" Marcia said
"Yeah what about my friend Marcia? What did she do exactly? Wait you were in crystal? Why are you out and I'm in?" Star said
Marcia shrugged her shoulders, "No clue, but the real question is why was I in there in the first place?"
"Oh, Well-"
"And what about that old goat man? Is he evil?" Star said
Rhombulus scoffed crossing his arms, "There's nothing evil about Lekmet. He's the most pure-hearted, hard-working angel goat demon there ever was."
"Well, why did you crystallize him then? Hmm?" Star asked
Rhombulus kept silent not responding to Star.
"Look, time-out guy, I think you need to think stuff through a little more before you rely on your gut. It's making you crystallize innocent people," Star said
"Maybe you're right. I thought I could trust you, gut!"
Rhombulus yelled before he started punching himself once again running around wrecking more crystal structures. He rams into the statue containing the pizza guy freeing the poor minimum wage worker.
"I'm free!"
The pizza guy wildly laughed with pure joy before running off.
"Should we do something?" Marcia asked
"Nah, lets just let him tire himself out," Star said
The two girls watched Rhombulus freak out for a good while before he finally calmed down taking a seat at his weightlifting bench.
"I've been wrong about everything lately. The commission thinks I'm a joke. I thought I could find the source of the fritz, my hands and I could earn the appreciation of the Magical High Commission again," Rhombulus said
While Rhombulus was reflecting on his actions Marcia and Star were working together trying to free the princess. They managed to get her out but her socks remained trapped.
"What? Aw, man," Star said
"I actually crystallized Lekmet. And I love Lekmet!"
Rhombulus started to cry crystal tears falling to the ground.
"Ooh, pretty!" Star said holding some of Rhombulus's crystal tears.
"I'm gonna be in time-out for the next ten thousand years. Oh, Glossaryck is gonna have a field day with that. Let me tell you," Rhombulus said
"Ah, I wouldn't worry 'bout him. He's not coming back," Star said
"What? Glossaryck's gone?" Rhombulus said
"Star, I don't think you were supposed to tell anyone that," Marcia said
"Oh!" Star gave an awkward chuckle, "Uh, yeah…"
"Glossaryck's gone?" Rhombulus let out a happy chuckle. "This is amazing! I mean, it's actually really bad. But it's good for me. But yeah, wow. That's bad news for the universe."
"Why?" The girls questioned
"The thing about Glossaryck is he may be a jerk, but he's the most powerful all-knowing magic jerk in the universe. That's why I can never win an argument with him," Rhombulus said
"Wait, that rude, difficult chilidog loving lazy mini-man is the most powerful thing in the universe?" Marcia said
"Yup," Rhombulus said
"He's just so hard to deal with, right? Even when I tried to rescue him, he didn't want to come back," Star said
"You know that fancy crystal in his head? I gave it to him! But did he ever thank me? No," Rhombulus said
"Every time we got donuts, he just sat on them. What a waste of donuts," Star sighed
"You know, I made some donuts for a meeting yesterday, and I think there's some left over. Uh...you want any?" Rhombulus asked
Rhombulus created a makeshift table with a crystalized person, setting a box of donuts atop it. He, Marcia, and Star took a seat about to enjoy the baked treats.
"Ooh. You know, you shouldn't feel so down on yourself Rhombulus." Star held up a donut revealing it to be made of crystal. "Your crystals are really pretty."
Marcia tries to stop Star as she goes to take a bite out of the donut but is too late as the princess bites into the crystal hurting her teeth.
"Ow!"
Marcia sighed but grabbed her own donut but instead of eating it she puts in on her wrist like a bracelet.
"Huh...nice."
"Close your eyes for a minute," Rhombulus suddenly said
"Okay."
Marcia and Star close their eyes hearing Rhombulus let out quite cry of pain.
"Now open!" Rhombulus said
"Oh."
"Here," Rhombulus held out one of the evil twins' gems from his chest.
"Ooh. Is that evil twin Jack?" Star asked
"It could be. Either way, I want you to have it," Rhombulus said
"Thank you, Rhombulus," Star said
"Oh, and you can have the other one," Rhombulus said to Marcia, going to pull out the second gem.
"No, no!" Marcia put her hands up, "I'm good with the donut."
"Okay! So, I guess you've got to turn me in, right? I mean, crystallizing the princess is kind of a big deal," Rhombulus said
"Uh, not necessarily. Okay, look, if you don't tell the Magic High Commission about Glossaryck or the Magic Book of Spells and how I lost both of them, then I won't tell them about this," Star said
"Really?" Rhombulus said
"Yeah," Star said
"Deal," Rhombulus said
"What about the goat man?" Marcia asked
"Well, don't worry about him. I'm the only one who can understand what he says," Rhombulus said
"Also, I need my socks back," Star said
In the Diaz household Liger was laid out on the kitchen floor, Marcia's box of cereal on his head, the contents of said box littering the floor. A portal opens up in the kitchen and out jumps Star and Marcia.
"Hey. Thank you Princess and strange other girl," Rhombulus said, poking his head out of the portal.
"My name is Marcia!" She called out as Rhombulus departed.
"Welp it looks like it's morning better get breakfast started," Marcia said
She took a step feeling something crunch underneath her foot.
"What-ah man my cereal! Liger!" Marcia scolded putting her hands on her hips.
Liger whips his head around to Marcia the box of cereal falling off. Marcia taps her foot frowning at the cat, Liger simply stares back at her before rolling on his back crushing more cereal in his wake.
"Aw so cute!" Star gushed
Marcia sighed shoulders sagging, "Better go get the broom and dustpan.