Will Comet ever get Marcia out of his closet? Will Marcia find the thing Glossaryck told her about? Why am I telling you this when you have already watched the show? All these questions, except for that last one, will be answered NOW!
Glossaryck managed to squeeze the last of his head through the keyhole, bringing him back into Comet's closet.
"Miss Diaz, I hope that you've made some-"
Glossaryck didn't finish his sentence. He didn't have to. In the short time that he'd been explaining to Comet the basics of "dipping down," Marcia had been at work organizing the closet. In the middle of the room were two piles labeled "secrets" and "not secrets." In each small but growing pile were various items and objects that the Diaz girl managed to find, neatly organizing them to the best of her ability and limited resources.
"Well, this is a surprise," Glossaryck admitted as he floated over to the Book of Spells and the Wand contained within. As he did so, Marcia happened to pass by him while riding a unicycle.
"Welcome back, Glossaryck," Marcia said as she rode the unicycle to the center of the room before coming to a stop.
"Well, it looks like you've been busy, young lady. So, how are things going on your end?"
"Well, as you can see, I've been organizing everything I can find in here into these two piles. The problem, though, is that Comet's got so much stuff in here that it's almost impossible to figure out what big 'secret' I'm supposed to be looking for is."
"Yeah, Comet's never been what one would call 'organized,'" Glossaryck admitted. "I think he does it to piss his Father off."
"Of course he does," Marcia complained. "It also doesn't help that some of the things that I've found have been...less than pleasant..."
"Okay, then. What could Comet possibly have inside this chest?" Marcia wondered as she opened up the random treasure chest that she found. Inside, she found, much to her horror, this deformed and misshapen narwhal with several eyes, a crooked head, and horns protruding out of several points in its point.
"Existence...is...pain." the poor creature said, making Marcia drop the chest as she fought back the urge to vomit.
"I'm going to have nightmares thinking about some of the things I saw," Marcia darkly admitted. It also didn't help that she had to put that poor creature out of its misery. Wanting to quickly forget about what she saw, Marcia changed the subject. "So, how did it go with Comet?"
"Oh, yes," Glossaryck admitted. "I told him that the only way to open the door is to learn how to use magic without the Wand. Or, as we call it, learning how to dip down." Glossaryck couldn't help but smile at the memory of Comet's explanation. "He figured it out pretty quickly, too. I was surprised."
"That's Comet for you," Marcia said. "He may not be the most hardworking person that I know, but when he puts his mind to something, you'd be surprised with what he can do," she said, complimenting the boy. "But what does me looking for something inside of this closet have to do with any of that?"
"Well, I could tell you. But then, why spoil all the fun?" Glossaryck teased, much to her irritation.
"All right, fine. Don't help me. I'm going back to organizing the rest of this stuff," Marcia said.
"Trust me, Marcia, the payoff's going to be good!" Glossaryck called out to her as she walked away. "Now, then," he said to himself as he turned towards the Book, prying it open to reveal the Wand within. "Let's see what's going on with you."
"Hmm. How do I 'dip down'?" Comet wondered to himself as he sat on the floor of his room, looking at the still-locked door to his secrets closet. "Glossaryck did a good job of explaining what 'dipping down' actually means, but he was pretty vague on how I actually do it." As Comet continued to ponder the meaning of what Glossaryck said, he looked at a few of the laser puppies who were happily next to him, happily panting with. "Have you ever dipped down before, Sajak?" he asked one of the puppies, who just barked happily at his master/creator. "Yeah, I didn't think so." Comet then turned to some of the other puppies. "How about you, Adam? Or you, Alex?" The other puppies just yapped at Comet without a care in the world. "You neither, huh?"
At this point, Coryn then hopped over to his side. "Well, how about you, Coryn? Know what old Glossaryck might be talking about?" It was a stretch, but given that Coryn wasn't even a real animal, but a Pokémon, he might have an idea.
"Hoo?" Coryn simply hooted as he looked at Comet in confusion.
"Yeah, I guess that's fair. I don't think 'dipping down' is anything like Pokémon evolution. Or Mega-evolution. Or Z-Moves. Or even Dynamaxing." A realization then came over Comet. "Is it just me, or is Pokémon adding a new super-powered concept every generation to keep people interested in their games?"
"Hoo," Coryn hooted.
"Well, if I can't figure this out," Comet said as he stood up and walked towards his bed, "then I guess it's time to try something else."
As the laser puppies and Coryn watched, Comet reached under his bed and proceeded to pull out a small box labeled Mewnian Termytes.
"If I can't break the door down, then I'll just destroy it," Comet said with a devilish grin on his face as he looked at one of the many toys in his hidden arsenal. He had secretly ordered these little guys on the U-Net (Universal Net) a while back if he ever wanted to pull a prank. But this seemed like a better use of their skills.
As Coryn and the laser puppies watched, Comet walked up to the door and undid the lid on the box.
"Go, my babies. Go wreak havoc for Papa Comet!" Comet shouted as the little termites flew towards the door...and did absolutely nothing. Not only did they not attack the door, but they flew right past it into the closet.
"Oh, that can't be good," Comet said to himself.
"THEY'RE BITING MY SKIN! MY PERFECTLY SMOOTH SKIN!" Marcia cried out in agony from within the closet.
"Sorry, Marcia!" Comet told her. "My bad!"
"WHY DOES THIS HURT SO MUCH!?"
"Okay, that didn't work," Comet said as he backed away from the door. "Time for another strategy."
As Marcia proceeded to get rid of all the Mewnian termytes, Glossaryck was hard at work examining the Wand within the Book. And, even though he wouldn't admit it to anyone, this was a relatively unfamiliar experience for him.
To put it simply, in all of the Wand's existence, something of this nature had never happened before. Yes, the Dragonfly family had created the Whispering Spell to destroy the Wand to keep it from falling into the wrong hands, but none of its wielders had ever had to resort to something so drastic! The fact that the Wand proceeded to reform itself shortly afterward only added to the mysteries surrounding it.
"All right, then. What sort of secrets are you hiding?" Glossaryck said as he stared at the magical artifact with laser focus. Whistling quickly, he called two of his pet silk bugs, Silky and Sassafras, from inside his house in the Book. The bug dutifully arrived before allowing Glossaryck to ride on them, carrying him closer to the Wand so that he could inspect it. Placing his hand on the haft of the Wand, he carefully ran his fingers across it, feeling the distinct texture of the material as he did so: rough yet smooth, perhaps befitting Comet's wild but caring personality. Leaning in closer, he began to sniff the Wand, looking for any telltale clues about why it had acted up earlier.
One of Glossaryck's lesser-known skills was that, as a being of magic, he could sense different forms of it in his vicinity. Throughout history, every magic-user had a distinct "flavor" to their magic that only he could feel. His was ancient and filled with great wisdom...with a dash of weird thrown in. Mune's was refined, like the highest quality wine, with a subtly bitter taste. And Comet's? Comet's magic was, in Glossaryck's own words, like eating a ray of sunlight covered in frosting; hyper and intense, yet also warm and comforting to those who let it in.
At the moment, the Wand possessed this sunshine, sugar-coated flavor to it, but there was also something else. Something that hadn't been there before Comet left to rescue Marcia. It was hard to tell, but Glossaryck knew that something was off with the Wand.
As he rubbed his beard in contemplation, Glossaryck then moved onto another part of the Wand.
Back in his room, Comet was still trying to figure out what Glossaryck had meant by "dipping down," to no avail. Figuring that it wouldn't do him any good to keep running in mental circles, Comet had decided to make himself useful by finding other means of getting the door open. Since the termytes had failed to solve it (and Marcia had probably killed them by now), he decided to try other means.
"All right, Barco Diaz," he said to the laser puppy that he had named after Marcia (her parents said that if she'd been born a boy, they would've named her Marco). "You got this, little guy. Now-shoot the door!" Somehow, the little puppy did what Comet wanted and proceeded to fire a laser blast from his adorable eyes directly at the door. Unfortunately, not only did it fail to leave a dent on it, but the shot bounced off the door and started ricocheting around the room, forcing Comet and the other animals to take cover.
"THIS WAS A HORRIBLE IDEA!"
Glossaryck continued to examine the Wand, trying to pinpoint what exactly was wrong with it. Using his feet, he lightly raised one of the two sets of dragonfly wings on either side up and down several times. The wings did so just as they were meant to, yet Glossaryck could still not shake the feeling that something was seriously wrong with it.
"Hmmm..."
"Okay. So, using the laser puppies didn't work. Neither did any of my swords, crossbows or the fish from my aquarium," Comet said as he recounted his various failures to pry the door open. "However, despite all of these setbacks, I still have one last card to play: the Pokémon card!" Comet said as he mimicked one of the poses of Ash Ketchum. "Coryn, use air slash on that door!"
"Hoot hoo!" The little owl Pokémon said, complying. Moving at speeds almost too fast for anyone to see, Coryn slashed his wings through the air, creating several air blades that began to arc towards the door. They collided!
*Ka-blam!*
The door was obscured by a cloud of dust for a moment, forcing Comet to shield his eyes. But when the dust cleared, he saw...that the door remained undamaged.
"It's hopeless," Comet said, hanging his head in defeat. "All right, there's no ifs, ands, or buts about it. If the big guns don't work...then I've got to resort to the big, big guns."
"Hoo?"
"Yeah, Coryn. I'm going to have to ask for help from...him." Comet was already dreading his task at hand. However, getting Marcia out took priority over his pride. Reluctantly, he strode over to his mirror and tapped the button on it.
"Call buzzkill," Comet glumly said.
"Calling Dad," the mirror said. Within a moment, the face of Mune Dragonfly, ruler of the Dragonfly Kingdom and High King over all reigning Kings in Mewni, and Comet's father, appeared on the mirror.
"Comet?"
"Hey, Dad," Comet sheepishly said, causing his father to get a disapproving look on his face.
"All right, son, what did you do this time?"
"Wow," Comet said, genuinely offended that his father would automatically assume the worst from the getgo. "Dad, just because the majority of the times that I call you are when I'm in trouble doesn't mean that's going to always be the case," he told his father, who did look a little guilty for what he said. "But that doesn't really matter. I just need some advice on something."
Mune arched an eyebrow at this. "And that would be?"
"So here's the thing," Comet began. "I was hanging out with Marcia when, all of a sudden, my Wand started going crazy and bouncing around the house like there's no tomorrow. And before I could grab hold of it, it threw itself and our Book of Spells inside my closet, and Marcia along with them."
"I'm fine, your highness!" Marcia called out from inside the closet. "I managed to make a makeshift outfit and am currently organizing your son's closet!"
Mune didn't say a word, though he did look a little concerned for Marcia's plight.
"In any event," Comet continued, "the door won't open. The only way to unlock it is with magic, and since I don't have the Wand, Glossaryck wants me to 'dip down' as he put it."
Mune's eyes widened a little at this. "Glossaryck wants you to...dip down?"
"That's what he said. He gave me the whole metaphor with the hobo stew," Comet told his Dad, who had a look of disbelief on his face. "Dad, are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine," Mune replied. "It's just that...I didn't learn how to do that until I was 19."
Now it was Comet's turn to be surprised. "19? You're telling me that I have to learn how to do this at 14 years old, and you didn't learn how until you were already an adult?"
Mune hesitated to respond, but ultimately, he simply said, "Yes."
At that moment, Comet forgot about his concerns. He couldn't resist the opportunity to gloat. "Oh my corn, this is awesome! This just means that I'm already more advanced than you ever were. Yes! Comet for the win!"
"Don't let it go to your head, son," Mune said as he watched his son perform some sort of bizarre dance that he must've picked up on Earth. "The last thing we need is for your already sizeable ego to grow even bigger."
"Hey, it's not my fault I'm that awesome, Dad. As they say here on Earth," Comet then threw on some thug life shades for the heck of it, "don't hate the player, hate the game."
"Comet! Focus!" Marcia called to him from inside the closet. She couldn't exactly hear everything going on, but she could tell when he was gloating.
"Right, right," Comet said as he collected himself. "In any case, Glossaryck told me what dipping down means, but he was pretty vague about how I go about doing it."
"Well, that certainly sounds familiar," Mune grumbled. "Listen, son. Dipping down is not easy to do on the first try. If you want to do it, you have to summon everything you have."
"Wait...do you mean I have to throw all of my stuff at the door? Because I'm willing to try that, but I don't know how that will help."
Mune groaned. "I don't mean summon everything you own, Comet! I mean emotionally! You have to emotionally gather everything inside of you!" Mune told him before calming down. "Comet, let me explain something to you about the nature of how we do magic."
"Okay," Comet said.
"On its own, magic is simply raw power and energy. When we cast a spell, we channel our thoughts and feelings and use magic to transform them into action. Or, to put it simply, we think of what we want to do, and the magic will allow us to do it. But dipping down is a far greater effort than this. To do it the first time, you have to experience intense emotions, like none you have felt before. And the moment you do, it will awaken that power deep within you and allow you to perform magic without the aid of the Wand."
"Oh," Comet said in realization. "You mean it's like going Super Saiyan," he said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"I'm sorry, what?" Mune asked, confused.
"Dipping down. It's like going Super Saiyan for the first time," Comet said, which only confused his Dad even more.
Mune tried to figure out what in the Seven Hells his son was talking about, but he was drawing a blank. "Please explain: what is this...Super something or other?"
"Super Saiyan, Dad," Comet corrected him. Now it was his turn to give the lecture. "It's a concept from this show called Dragon Ball Z that's insanely popular here on Earth. At one point in the show's run, the hero ended up having to watch as his best friend was murdered at the hands of his greatest enemy. When he saw this, he became so filled with rage that he ended up unlocking a new level of power that he didn't even realize he had within him. His eyes turned blue, his hair became spiky blonde, and it stood up on end, and he had this golden aura around him that radiated power as he beat the shit out of his friend's murderer.
Mune remained silent for a moment, so Comet took this as permission to continue talking. "So, yeah, same basic concept to dipping down, I guess."
At last, a bewildered Mune spoke. "And you say that the Humans of Earth came up with this concept? All on their own?"
"Pretty much," Comet told his Dad. "So, is that an accurate description, or did I miss anything?"
"No, no," Mune said. "That's pretty much how dipping down works the first time around."
"Awesome! Now I know how to get Marcia out of my closet! Thanks, Dad!"
"Don't...don't mention it, son," Mune simply said. "I think I need to go lie down," he mumbled to himself in a daze as he walked off-screen, ending the call while Comet made his way to the closet door, quietly satisfied at the fact that he just blew his Dad's mind.
"Man, when Comet said that this was his 'secrets closet,' he wasn't joking around," Marcia said to herself as she looked around the massive closet and the piles of things lying in it.
Since Glossaryck told her to look for something that would help Comet 'dip down' and use magic without the Wand, Marcia Diaz had been paying extra attention to everything as she continued to organize it. The problem was, she still had no idea what she was looking for. Not helping her scavenger hunt was that Comet turned out to be quite the packrat. Most of his closet was filled with doodads and baubles that he no doubt collected throughout his inter-dimensional escapades or just created with his Wand. However, she managed to recognize a few of the items that she found related to either Earth or his home dimension of Mewni. Some of the most amazing stuff that she found included:
A collection of various swords, axes, and battle staves that he gathered across the Universe (Comet seemed to have an affinity for staves, for some reason.)
A replica of the MAC5 Assault Rifle from the Halo franchise, along with the helmet he got from the collector's edition for Halo: Infinity
Bits and pieces of armor that looked to be from Mewni
Various outfits that she'd seen him wear, like his princely garb from Mewnipendence Day, the armor from the football game against the Warriors, his Assassin outfit, and the disguise he wore at Sgt. Oleg's.
A collection of various, devil-horned hats, along with some others that he'd created, such as his straw hat and one with a blue pine tree on it.
A giant hamster ball ("Why would he even need that?")
A chest filled with jawbreakers the size of someone's head.
A bunch of rubber piggy's
Various costumes that he made for himself and his friends.
Some of the excess treasure from the Shooting Star
Blueprints to upgrade the Shooting Star into a flying, inter-dimensional warship ("He's nothing if not ambitious")
A broken electronic keyboard labeled "The Power."
A "Top Secret" list of other Pokémon that he planned to bring to life, with the words "DO NOT SHOW MARCIA!" written at the top. ("God damn it, Comet.")
Several boxes filled with unopened BIONICLE action figures that were labeled "Soldiers for badass toy army" ("Where did he even find all these? LEGO hasn't made them in years!")
Bottom line, Comet had a lot of stuff in his closet, but so far, nothing that looked to be what Glossaryck was talking about. And Marcia was running out of ideas.
"Think, Diaz, think. What else could be in here to help Comet?"
"Marcia? You still in there?"
Hearing Comet call to him from the other side of the door, Marcia walked over so that she could speak to him. "Yeah, I'm still here, Comet. I'm just organizing your closet some more," she said without going into too much detail about what she'd done. "What about you? Made any progress on 'dipping down'?"
"Not yet. But after a few...alternative methods of getting the door open, I called my Dad for advice. And don't read too much into it."
"Wasn't going to," Marcia reassured him. "So, what did he tell you?"
"He said that to dip down, I need to experience an overwhelming amount of emotion all at once. Then that will awaken my body's dormant ability to draw on the magic of the Universe and allow me to perform it without the Wand."
"You mean like how Goku turned Super Saiyan for the first time?" Marcia replied.
"Yes, exactly! This is just like going Super Saiyan, Marcia!" Comet excitedly told her. "Get this: when I told my Dad about that, he just looked at me and was like 'what?' I think I ended up blowing his mind; it was hilarious," Comet proudly told her. Marcia couldn't see his face, but she couldn't help but giggle at his childishness.
"So, if dipping down is like going Super Saiyan, then he needs some kind of emotional trigger to get him started. Is that right?"
"Yep," Comet told her. "You got any ideas?"
Marcia got a sly grin on her face as she thought of some things that she could do to trigger him. "I've got a few. You ready?"
"Go ahead."
"The Last Airbender film was a masterpiece and M. Night Shymalan did nothing wrong," Marcia quickly said, eliciting an audible gasp from Comet on the other side of the door.
"Marcia Ulberta Diaz!" Comet yelled. "We do not joke about that crime against cinema! Even if it's meant to trigger me."
Recently, Comet discovered Nickelodeon's hit animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender on Netflix and instantly got hooked on it. He and Marcia spent a whole weekend binge-watching it together, and he obsessed over it. Then he found out that there was a live-action adaptation of it and, despite everyone he knew telling him not to, he insisted on watching it.
The next day at school, Marcia and the others had to physically restrain him when he wanted to find Shyamalan's house and force him at Wand-point to make a public apology for the film.
"So, did that do anything for you, Comet?"
"It made me mad, yes, but it didn't make me dip down," Comet sadly told her.
Marcia then pondered the nature of dipping down for a minute. "How did Goku end up going Super Saiyan for the first time, Comet?"
"He watched as Frieza blew his best friend, Krillin, up?"
"What if the process for dipping down is similar?" Marcia suggested. "Like, you need to undergo some sort of immense, emotionally charged moment in life to activate it? It's like when people suffer from extreme stress, or their lives are in jeopardy. They're able to do things that, otherwise, wouldn't be physically possible, like lifting a car."
"So, what you're saying is that I need to experience something so stressful that it will make me dip down?"
"Exactly," Marcia told him. "Now, think: has there ever been a moment in your life where you felt like you were angrier than you've ever been before."
Marcia couldn't see it for herself, but a look of realization began to wash over Comet's face. "There is...one moment, but..."
"Comet?"
"Marcia, do you remember when I came to rescue you from Toffee and how I tried several times to destroy the crystal cell you were trapped in?"
"Yeah. It took you a while, but you did manage to blow it to smithereens," Marcia said.
"Well, see, the thing is, right before I was finally able to blow that cage open, I remember getting...mad. Like, madder at anything than I've ever been before," Comet explained. "And then I remember feeling this...power inside of me that I never knew I had. It was the most intense feeling I've ever experienced in my life up to that point. And then, the next thing I knew, I had blasted your cell apart." Comet then paused, hesitant to continue. "Marcia, what if, at that moment, I got so freaked out at not being able to save you that I ended up dipping down?"
"Comet..." Marcia couldn't help but feel sympathy for how her best friend must've felt at that moment. "Comet, if it's going to be too painful for you, you could try something else instead-"
"No, no, Marcia," Comet said, but the tone of his voice suggested otherwise. "It's like you told me: the best way to overcome trauma is to deal with it before it becomes too much to bear." Marcia then heard him stand up. "My mind's made up, Marcia. If I want to dip down, then I need to remember how I felt at that moment. For your sake."
"Comet, wait," Marcia told him, but then she hesitated. "Just...don't let yourself be caught up in negative emotions. That could really mess you up in the long term."
"I'll be fine, Marcy. You just focus on doing what you have to do," she told him before she heard him begin to walk to another part of his room.
"Yeah," Marcia said to herself, now feeling a little crestfallen. "Sure," she said as she got up to continue organizing the closet.
"Hmmm...very interesting," Glossaryck said to himself as he continued to inspect the Wand. By now, the magical entity had examined nearly every part of the Wand, looking for telltale signs of something wrong. So far, though, it had been a challenge.
To put it simply, it was like the Wand was the same as it had always been. Yet, at the same time, it felt like something about it had changed.
Glossaryck's examinations had since brought him to the Wand's bell, which housed the crystal gem carved into the shape of a star. At least, it used to be in the form of a star. Now, an entire piece of it was missing, as if the crystal had been split right down the middle. Glossaryck looked intensely at both halves of the crystal. The left half, the one that remained, remained as bright, golden, and shining like the stars in the heavens, letting Glossaryck see his reflection in it.
On the other hand, the other half, now missing the crystal, gave off an eerie feeling to it. Surprisingly, when Glossaryck looked at it, it gave off a reflection. Unlike the remaining half of the crystal, though, his reflection was now dark, with only his eyes visible. And they glowed an unhealthy green!
Leaning down against the Wand, Glossaryck gave it a light tap, not liking the echoey sound that he got back from it. Deciding to continue his investigations further, Glossaryck moved down to the base of the bell and began to press down on it. As he did so, the Wand's faceplate flipped open like the hood of a car, allowing Glossaryck to peek inside.
Within the confines of Comet's Wand lay a deep, endless, star-filled void. This was the realm of the inner Wand, home to the unicorn meant to power it and give it life. Once, it had been the home to the unicorn that had served Mune when the Wand was his. Now, it was home to that strange new guy that Comet and Marcia said spoke Italian. The new unicorn was running on the Wand's magical treadmill on two legs, his mane done up in a ponytail, and he was panting hard as he continued to work. Despite everything looking to be in order, though, Glossarcyk couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Leaning in to get a closer look, Glossaryck was startled when the unicorn looked up directly at him and screeched in a very unnatural manner. But that wasn't the strangest part; it was the fact that the unicorn's eyes were glowing the same, eerie green.
"Well, that's not good," Glossaryck admitted to himself. Before he could act on this information, though, he was surprised by what sounded like an earthquake going off outside the Book.
Comet took a seat on the floor of his room and assumed a meditative pose, much like the one he saw Marcia do when she was getting ready for Karate class. According to her, the act of meditating allowed her clear her mind of all other thoughts, bringing her into the necessary mindset to perform martial arts.
If it worked for her, it might work for me, Comet thought to himself as he began to center himself. It wasn't easy. Comet's naturally high energy levels meant that he was in a near-constant state of motion. Even his mind felt like this, constantly thinking up thoughts and wanting to do something every second of the day. Still, he knew how important it was to get Marcia out of this jam, so he steeled his mind as best as he could, took a deep breath, and prepared to remember what happened to him that fateful night.
At first, Comet couldn't really make anything out. Just blurry fragments of memories of what happened that day more than a week ago. He could already tell that part of him was resisting looking back on those memories. You can do this, Comet. You have to. For Marcia's sake, he told himself as he began to press onward. He remembered the two's argument, how Comet said something he regretted before getting lectured by Mrs. Diaz. Then, he remembered the moment when he learned of Marcia's abduction.
Comet didn't realize it at the time, but that was when he first felt the inkling of this dormant power within him. It came to him slowly, like the embers to a fire that just started to light. He was so distracted by his concern over Marcia, though, that he didn't even notice it. Then, throughout the night, it began to grow even further. It grew when he angrily told his friends not to follow him. Then it increased again when he saw Ludo and threatened to flat-out kill him, thinking he was responsible for Marcia's kidnapping. Finally, the frustration and anger that had been building up all night had reached a fever pitch when he continually failed to free Marcia.
He had hated how he felt at that moment. He hated the fact that he wasn't strong enough to save Marcia. He hated the Monsters for constantly threatening him and his friends. He hated Toffee for laying a finger on Marcia. And most of all, he hated himself for letting this happen to Marcia in the first place. And as the anger reached critical mass, he felt the power begin to flow through him. And then...he broke the cell.
Now, sitting on the floor of his room as Coryn and the laser puppies watched, Comet let those feelings hit him like a tidal wave. The strange, yet familiar, sensation of power began to course through him once more. He was so close!
This is it. This is what it means to dip down!
Then, he heard a loud, screeching noise from inside the closet, followed by what sounded like an avalanche. And amidst all of that noise, he could listen to the cries of-
"Marcia!"
His focus now broken, Comet rushed to the door and began to frantically pound on it. "Marcia? Marcia! Are you alright?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine, Comet," he heard her voice call out to him from inside the closet, making him breathe a sigh of relief.
"What the Seven Hells happened in there, Marcy?"
"Well..."
Marcia had almost finished organizing everything of value inside Comet's secrets closet when she came across this strange-looking box. As she went to pick it up, she saw that it was labeled "Scream in a Box."
"Okay, I'll bite: what the Hell is this supposed to be," Marcia wondered. Against her better judgment, she decided to open the box.
Big. Mistake.
(Play Annoying Orange- Pickleback at exactly 2:58)- /udog9diDmsU?t=178
Marcia was then subjected to the most annoying sound that she had ever heard in her life. It was so loud that it almost sent her flying back into the nearby wall. And, to make things worse, it proved just enough to mess with the giant piles that Marcia had organized in the middle of the room. The piles wobbled and tipped before finally, they came crashing down.
"OH, FU-!"
"So yeah, I basically thwarted my own progress," Marcia admitted before slumping onto the floor in defeat. "Now, everything in your closet's back to being an unorganized mess. Only now, I'm too tired to do anything about it," she shamefully declared, aware that her own curiosity got the better of her. "How about you, Comet? Did you make any progress?"
Now it was Comet's turn to hang his head in defeat. "Well, I almost had it. But then came the whole avalanche thing, and my concentration got broken. So, I guess both of our progress got thwarted. And what's worse, I don't think I have it in me to try and go through that memory again."
"Yeah. I can understand that."
Comet just sat there in silence, wistfully staring at the ceiling. "I guess this is it, Marcia. I'm not a dipper. I'm a skimmer. A skimmer of that magical, hobo-gravy. That watery, hobo-gravy."
"I'm sorry, Comet. This is all my fault," Marcia apologized, but then she thought of an idea. "Hey, couldn't we just use your scissors to-"
"Can't. I tried that a while ago. It just bounced me right back out, for some reason."
"Darn."
"It might not be so bad. I could slide food under the door for you. Bring you clean clothes, some hygiene products. Maybe even your homework. Life could be good for you."
"Comet, I am not going to spend the rest of my life in a closet. And besides, I am not letting you touch my underwear!" she told him. "We just have to think of another way to get me out of here."
At that moment, Comet's Spell Book began to wobble and shake on the ground in front of Marcia, catching her eye. As she continued to stare at the ancient, mystical tome, the Book suddenly popped, revealing Glossaryck to be arguing with two little bugs.
"Seriously, Silky, you need to let that go already. I'm sure that Sassafrass didn't mean anything by it-"
Marcia wasted no time. With the speed of a cat, she lunged her hand forward and grabbed Glossaryck before holding him up to her face.
"All right, Riddler, I think it's time to end the game," Marcia sternly told the little guy. "Comet and I have both tried everything that we could think of, and now we're at the end of our-" Before Marcia could finish making her threat, the pink gem on Glossaryck's forehead lit up like a flashlight, temporarily blinding her.
"AHH, MY EYES!" She cried out while somehow still managing to keep ahold of Glossaryck, even as she bumped into a nearby shelf, making something fall to the ground.
"Sorry, sorry, that sometimes happens when I'm threatened," Glossaryck told the girl. "By the way, you may want to look at your feet."
As Marcia began to recover her vision, she did as Glossaryck told her and proceeded to look down on the ground. There, she spied another book. Unlike the ancient Book of Spells, this one was newer-looking and was decorated with various anime-inspired drawings alongside the heart-shaped gem carved into the cover.
"Let me guess: this is what you wanted me to find?" Marcia asked Glossaryck.
"Yep. You found it, kid. I knew you could!"
"Hey, Comet," Marcia called out to Comet from inside the closet. "I finally found the thing. It's this little book!"
"A book. Oh, that's good," Comet absent-mindedly said. "Reading will keep your mind sharp. Like a sword. Or a Warnicorn horn about to skewer a crowd of unsuspecting spectators watching cornball."
"O..kay," Marcia said, chalking that last part off as another reference to the "Warnicorn Incident" that everyone keeps talking about, and just used Glossaryck as a makeshift flashlight to help her read the book.
"Damn it, it's written in Mewnian!" Marcia cursed. "Maybe I should learn how to read it after I get out of here," she mumbled to herself as she kept flipping through the book. "Oh, hold on! I found a section of it in English!"
"That's good. I'm happy for you," Comet said as he continued to stare at the ceiling.
"All right, here goes," Marcia said as she began to read aloud. "Dear Journal, from here on out, I'm going to be writing everything in here in English so I can practice this new language. That way, no one will realize that I've just been using magic to translate everything written down into Mewnian for me to read. Now, to start off, Chapter 2: All the Reason's Why Dad's a Dunderhead."
"Dad's a Dunderheard?" Comet gasped, bolting off the floor as he knew right away what Marcia was reading. "Marcia, no! No, no, no, no, no, no!"
"Comet, can you keep it down? I'm trying to read this," Marcia said as she continued to skim through the book. "'Facts about Earth, #28-Earth Bras do not make for good catapults.'"
"Marcia, no, that's not it, that's not it!" Comet said as he continued to yell at her.
"List of Waifus," Marcia continued. "Some of my new guy friends insisted that I look at a bunch of pretty girls in anime and cartoons and then make this list, though I don't know why." Many images of various anime girls were right next to this list, including Rias Gremory from High School DxD, Lucy Heartfilia and Erza Scarlet from Fairy Tail, Raphtalia from The Rising of the Shield Hero, among others. There was also a note that read, "Earth Fact #29- All of these girls have chests that seem to defy gravity. I must know why."
"Marcia, please stop reading that right now!"
"Facts about the Human Internet, which I guess would also count as Earth Facts. #1-There are a lot of places where you can watch shows and anime for free. Fact #2-there a lot of websites with pictures of girls not wearing any clothes."
"No, no, no, please stop!" Comet said, now begging for his friend to listen to him. She was now getting dangerously close to learning something really embarrassing!
"Okay, just to skip a little bit," Marcia said as she continued. "A drawing of some guy riding a giant Kaiju and fighting Godzilla. Another comic of the same guy with giant shades and pilot the Gurren Lagann mecha-" And at that moment, the light in Glossaryck's gem went out.
"Sorry about that," Glossaryck said. "It's all out of juice. Good luck, though! The payoff's going to be good!" With that, he dived right back inside the Book of Spells, leaving Marcia by herself, trying to read the smaller book with the light coming through the door.
Comet was now banging on the door like crazy, trying to use brute force to take it down while he shouted, "Marcia, that's not the thing! That's not the thing!"
Marcia, though, paid no heed to what he was saying, too engrossed in her attempts to read the book in her hands. "Chapter 11: My Thoughts on..." Marcia had to double-check that next word to make sure she'd read it right..."Marcia?"
Comet gasped, and in an instant, it felt like his whole world was about to fall apart. That part of 'the thing' that Marcia read from happened to contain all of his thoughts and feelings surrounding Marcia. She was the last person he wanted to be reading it! Especially since a few of the things he wrote about her were really, really embarrassing. Like how when she lost her PJ bottoms trying to save him from Glorkon and ended up in her ninja panties, it had actually taken all of his willpower to keep from getting flustered! Or the night of the Blood Moon Ball and how he couldn't stop thinking about how mysterious and beautiful she looked in her dress and how he spent the rest of the night with some very confusing emotions. Or how he basically thought that she was very pretty, cute, and had great legs.
Even ignoring all of that, Comet had said some things about Marcia that he didn't want to tell her. Like how she just got him in a way that almost no one else did, not even MC, and that she was probably the best friend he's ever had. It was like having the sister he never knew he wanted, and it was all so confusing, and he didn't want her learning about it!
And at that moment, Comet felt something happen inside of her. It was like he was looking at a giant, ornate door inside his mind that he never knew he had. And, as though it sensed that he finally had the key to open it, the door opened up just a crack, letting a radiant, golden light come in from the other side. It was a strange yet familiar feeling. Much like what he felt in Ludo's Castle, and just moments earlier as he was meditating, Comet instinctively knew what this was.
"Dippp doowwwnn..." As the laser puppies and Coryn watched, Comet began to levitate in mid-air, his eyes glowing an eerie, pale blue. Without even knowing what he was doing, Comet then directed the magic towards the locked door, commanding it to open. The familiar 'click' of a lock turning echoed throughout his bedroom as the door finally opened, sending Marcia tumbling out, unaware of what had transpired.
His task complete, Comet then returned to the floor, the magic power exiting his body. However, whereas the last time it had left him drained, this time, he felt...perfectly fine. For a moment, Comet stood there, trying to process what happened. Then, he got this big grin on his face.
"I did it," he said quietly. "I DID IT!" He repeated, now shouting. "I DIPPED, I DIPPED, DIPPED, MARCIA!" He called as he gleefully bounced his way over to Marcia. "I'M NOT A SKIMMER, MARCIA! I'M A DIPPER! I AM AWESOME!"
As Marcia sat on her back, trying to process all of this, Comet proceeded to yank the book out of her hands...and then smack her on the head with it a few times.
"Ow! That hurt!" Marcia complained.
"Not sorry, Marcia," Comet said, and he meant it. "Now, stay the Seven Hells away from my journal!"
Marcia began to blush in shame as she realized what she had been about to do. "OH MY GOSH, COMET, I AM SORRY!" She said, throwing herself on her knees and bowing her head. "I HAD NO IDEA WHAT I WAS READING. I WAS JUST LISTENING TO GLOSSARYCK-Wait, why was I listening to him?!" Then, Marcia remembered that she was still in her makeshift outfit, making her blush even more. "Please don't look, Comet. This is embarrassing!"
"I'm not looking; I'm not looking!" Comet said, covering his eyes. But then, the two just started laughing at the absurdity of the whole situation.
"This has to be one of our weirdest adventures yet, and we never even left your bedroom, Comet!" Marcia said amidst her laughter.
"I know, right? So crazy!" Comet admitted. "But at least it all worked out in the end. You got out, and I learned that I can do magic without my Wand!" Comet then remembered just how this whole mess started in the first place. "Where is my Wand, anyway.
As soon as he finished asking that, the Book of Spells came rolling out of the closet before coming to a stop at the teen's feet. The Book opened up to reveal Glossaryck sitting next to the Wand.
"So, yeah, this thing's broken, but I think we can still make it work, kid," Glossaryck said, to which Comet laughed.
"Doesn't matter now. This bad boy can now do magic without the need for a Wand!" He proudly proclaimed. "We might as well send that back to my Dad!"
Glossaryck chuckled. "Hate to burst your bubble, kid, but dipping down for the first time on purpose doesn't mean you're ready to be without your Wand. But you're getting there. Now, why didn't you give this thing a whirl?"
Comet picked up his Wand once more, wondering what kind of spell he should do. Finally, he decided to just wing it and pointed the Wand randomly. The next thing anyone knew, the entire bedroom was covered in layers of this magical, green glitter, with another, smaller tower now jutting out from Comet's tower. Needless to say, everyone was more than a little surprised.
"Uh..." Comet said in confusion.
"Screw it," Marcia said. "If you guys need me, I'll be enjoying the spa feature in the bathroom," she said as she walked off, wanting to forget about what just happened.
As for Glossaryck, he just coughed and got rid of some green glitter dust he inhaled. "I call dibs on the tower."
This had truly been a weird day for the residents of the Diaz house.
*In Jay's Workspace, the entire group is now throwing a massive party to celebrate the return of this story. Everyone's talking, the Warners and Ed are stuffing their faces full of food, Freakazoid's trying to dance, and people are just enjoying themselves as RJ "Jay" Writing Ink mingles.
Jay: And with that, the first two chapters of this new story are in the books. So, what did everyone think? Anything I could've done better?
Janna: Probably, but then again, I don't really care. Besides, I did like what Comet wrote for his 'Earth Facts.'
Omnitraxus: I must say, though, the implications that Comet has used the Internet to look at pictures of naked humans is a little disturbing.
Jay: Omni, you may not get this because you're an immortal, ageless deity, but that sort of thing is par for the course when humans go through puberty. We are learning about ourselves and all that shit. Also, when Comet wound up on those kinds of websites, he bailed in, like, two seconds. He has some level of common sense.
Slick Goku: That, and he doesn't need those sites when he can find as many hotties as he wants in anime?
Jay: Facts
Eddy: Hey, um, Jay? Ed and I couldn't help but notice those giant jawbreakers in Comet's closet and we were wondering if you, uh-
Ed: DO YOU HAVE JAWBREAKERS?!
Jay: Go check the snack bar. I have a bag of them with your names literally on it.
Ed and Eddy: Whoo hoo hoo!
Slick Goku: By the way, Jay, pretty clever comparing dipping down to going Super Saiyan. And, no cap, the look on Mune's face was pretty freaking hilarious.
Jay: It just...felt right. It was the only way I could properly understand the concept, you know.
Kermit: You do know you're going to make shippers go crazy with the bait you set up for them, though, right?
Jay: Yeah, don't care.
Kermit: Whatever, it's your funeral, Jay.
Jay: Whatever, Kermit. Now then, I hope that everyone enjoyed the return of my fanfic series, and don't you worry. I intend to see this shit through to the end or die trying. Hopefully, see it through. Now then, it's time to respond to
READER'S REVIEWS
LockAndKey989-Good to be back, buddy. And the book thing just made sense. Glad you liked the cameos; be more specific about the gender flip, though; and yeah. Comet is basically going to try to live up to the full potential that Star may never have reached. That's why he's a little more serious about his magic practice...but not by much.
NightAroma-Well, let's just say that the trauma of what happened is going to be a recurring theme in this book. Disney never did it because, well, they're Disney. Yes, the anime-style anger was very much what I was going for with Marcia. Comet being her bestie wouldn't save him from her wrath if he saw her naked. And yeah, I'm a fan of ancient mythology, so I know about the story of Acateon. He should've run instead of piss off the man-hating tsundere that is Artemis, though.
And yes...very interesting foreshadowing.
ROTHEM-Thanks, man!
The Wandering Hippie-Glad you liked everything, Hippie. And yeah, I came up with that radiation effect thing myself, but I have you to thank for how Comet figured it out so quickly. Your version of Star was smart enough to get the metaphor. Though I'm surprised that you didn't realize that key and door thing was a subtle Kingdom Hearts reference.
Also...WHEN THE HELL ARE YOU GONNA CONTINUE YOUR STORY!? IT'S BEEN LIKE A YEAR, MAN!
Mlpbronyfan15-Yeah, these two chapters were pretty funny, weren't they? I'm glad you liked them, and Happy New Year.
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 week! We're going to be covering one of the series best episodes, "Ludo in the Wild!"
Also, I wasn't joking about M. Night Shyamalan. I think he owes us fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender an apology.
