*Jay's Workspace has now been renovated into a beachside resort modeled after the beaches of Libertalia in the All Blue Dimension. In the offshore water, the Vento Aureo lies at anchor, while its counterpart, the Absolute Vindication, is docked above. On the beach, we see RJ "Jay" Writing Ink wearing a summer version of his hoodie and swimshorts, sitting on a lounge chair next to Slick Goku, TFS Kermit, Janna, and Rex from SXR123's videos. Off to the side, Omnitraxus, Ed, the Warner Siblings, and Hooty are busy building sandcastles. That are the size of actual castles.*
Rex: Hmm, is nice.
Janna: So, let me get this straight: you were going to see the new Jurassic World movie when these velociraptor's kidnapped you?
Jay: Yep.
Slick Goku: And then the little a-holes brought you to their base in Mongolia, where you got abducted by the robots from that Lightyear film, and then this T-Rex came to save you?
Jay: And a pack of turkeys, yes.
DAU Kermit: And you're sure you're not making this up as some excuse to hide that you were too lazy to finish the new chapter of your story?
Jay: ...Okay, the robot part was BS. But Rex saved me from the raptors, so I said he could hang with us now. Also, I made friends with his YouTuber on Discord.
Rex: Da.
Jay: Look, can we just sit back and enjoy the story while we celebrate that it's officially Summer? I've got a weekend of nostalgia shows I want to watch with everyone, like the Eds over there.
Janna: How about we focus on the chapter, Jay? You do owe the readers something.
Jay: Don't worry, Janna. This is a good one. It's all about Tammy and Comet's backstory. I've been planning it for years now, so you know it's going to be good. Now, let's get this show on the road!
After their little rated PG sugar high and partying their butts off, Marcia and Tammy were lying on the carriage floor, staring at the ceiling and laughing at nothing in particular.
"Wow. That was so much fun!" Marcia said as she kept gazing upward. "I didn't expect to enjoy myself as much as I am tonight, Tammy."
"Well, you're going to see Mackie Hand, your favorite martial artist of all time, right? Of course you'd enjoy yourself," Tammy playfully remarked.
"Yeah, but I was half-convinced that this was just some crazy plan to try and leave me stranded in another dimension or just flat-out kill me. Instead, I find out that the Princess of the Underworld is a fan of Love Sentence."
"Okay, first of all, shame on you for thinking that about me," Tammy told the other girl. "And B, I'm surprised you're a fan of Love Sentence. They're like my favorite band of all time!"
"How do you even know about Love Sentence, though? Unless I missed the memo and it turns out that they're interdimensional popstars, then I'm pretty sure the only people who know about them are either from Earth or have visited." At this point, another thought also crossed Marcia's mind. "For that matter, how do you even know about Smash Bros? From what I hear, the rest of the Universe considers Earth a backwater that's not worth their time."
"Oh, they do," Tammy admitted. "You should hear how little we think of Humans in the Underworld. I don't mean to spoil anything, but we Demons have been using this place as our playground for centuries." When Marcia didn't react at all to this, Tammy grew curious. "Seriously? Are you not going to say anything?"
"Why should I?" Marcia asked. "I already put two-and-two together and realized that people have secretly traveled to Earth for thousands of years. That would explain all the crazy myths and legends we have. But that doesn't answer my question."
"Well, if you must know, many people still think Earth isn't worth their time," Tammy explained. "But around a hundred years ago, you guys started making all this cool stuff. Fast food restaurants, video games, music, indoor plumbing-"
"Gross," Marcia blanched.
"And a few people started coming back and telling others about all the cool shit you guys had. And a few savvy people listened. And some of those things happened to find their way into the Underworld, where a certain bored Princess stumbles upon them while walking around the market one day in disguise."
"Okay, I guess I can believe that," Marcia said. "It's just that ever since we last met, I've been wracking my brain to figure out how you could have a Switch in your bedroom. It didn't make sense! I was losing sleep over it, girl!" Marcia then made a big show of just how stressed out she was about it, though all it did was make Tammy laugh even more. "Well, that and I keep asking myself... never mind."
"What?"
"You're gonna think it's stupid."
"Try me."
"Alright, fine," Marcia said. "How is it that you're only fourteen yet have a figure that would make most models jealous?"
"Oh, now you're just flattering me," Tammy said, clearly thinking her question was a joke.
"I'm serious, Tammy," Marcia reiterated. "You're the same age as me, yet you've got curves that would make other girls green with envy. Your boobs are already pushing the size of small melons, and you've got legs for days. What's your secret?"
"Secret?"
"Yeah, how did you get like that? What was your diet? What kind of exercise routine do you have?" Marcia did want to know the truth about this. While she was aware that puberty and her years of martial arts training had begun to resculpt her body into that of a young woman, Marcia still felt insecure about her looks, especially considering the other girls in her life.
Brittney was already pushing C-cups and had beautiful, toned legs from cheerleading. Despite being incredibly shy, Sabrina didn't do that bad herself. If she had kept gaining more confidence as she'd been, she'd be turning people's heads left and right. Karla? She was average but had room for potential. As for Aqua, while her fins translated into incredible legs in her human form, she had little to no excess fat due to constantly swimming. Compared to them, Marcia couldn't help but feel inadequate.
"I don't have a secret, to be honest."
"No way, that can't be true."
"It is," Tammy told her once more before gesturing to her body. "This happened on its own, and my parents say it has something to do with my Type."
"Your...type?" Marcia wasn't following that well.
"Yeah," Tammy said as she got up off her back. "See, Demons are usually separated into different breeds or classes, called Types. Types are based on outward appearance and any common abilities we may possess, and our ancestry. In my case, I'd be considered part-Succubus.
"You're kidding me," Marcia said, not entirely believing Tammy.
"Nope. One of my ancestors married a Succubus, and that Type lay dormant in our bloodline until it showed up in me. So, even though my family is always a Great Demon Type, now and then, one of us will have a sub-Type that pops up in us. In my case, I'm part-Succubus, which means..."
"Which means you are more physically attractive than most women and possess the ability to charm those of the opposite sex that you may draw power from them through carnal acts of pleasure," Marcia said, finishing her sentence, much to Tammy's surprise. "Yeah, I read, and I know things. Lucky you. You can get any guy you want," Marcia added, pretending to mope.
"Well, I wouldn't call myself lucky," Tammy admitted. "The big problem is that the succubus part of my powers is usually active on a passive level, so guys start ogling me even when I don't want to. When I want to actively use them, it's not just the guys who won't stop staring at me." Tammy then leaned in closer to where Marcia was lying with a mischievous grin on her face. "It works on girls, too."
"What?" Marcia sputtered, bolting up in alarm as her face started going red.
"Yep. Even the girls want me at times. I don't swing that way, but I have no problem with those who do." Tammy then smirked. "It was worth seeing you get all flustered, though."
"Ha ha," Marcia deadpanned, unamused. "I'm surprised that that charm doesn't work on Comet."
"It doesn't," Tammy sheepishly admitted. "For reasons that I cannot fathom, Comet's immune to my Succubus charm. I had to go the extra mile when dating to ensure he saw me that way."
"Oh, come on," Marcia said. "It couldn't have been that hard."
"It was at first, but then I learned what kind of girl he likes," that playful smirk again appeared on Tammy's face. "He doesn't like anybody to know this, but he's got a thing for girls with legs."
"Bullshit," Marcia said, clearly not believing her. "If that were true, he'd had fallen for me a long time ago, and we wouldn't be having this conversation."
"It's true. Why do you think I wore that dress when I came to your school? I practically had him eating out of the palm of my hand!"
The two of them couldn't help but picture a chibi version of Comet fawning over Tammy, which caused them to laugh once more. The more they laughed together, the better this night seemed for them. Except...
Dang it, Marcia. Why do you keep coming back to this? Marcia asked as she mentally scolded herself. But she couldn't help it. Since Tammy showed up and said she wanted to hang out, Marcia had been suspicious of her. Even though the two of them were laughing together right now, Marcia couldn't shake the feeling that Tammy was doing all this for one reason and one reason alone: Comet.
Marcia could tell that Tammy was still into Comet. It was written all over her face. The way her three eyes lit up when they mentioned his name, the wistful sigh that escaped her mouth now and then. It was all way too obvious for her not to notice.
As much as Marcia wanted to give Tammy a second chance, she couldn't forget what had happened to them in the past. First, she'd talked Comet into going to the Blood Moon Ball to win him back. Then, she tried to use Miss Candle to manipulate him into taking her back. And when Marcia had got in the way both times, Tammy came very close to killing her. No matter how forgiving a person could be, it would be hard not to let such actions cloud their opinion of someone.
Yet, simultaneously, Marcia couldn't help but feel like something was different about Tammy. She had had multiple chances to humiliate or get rid of her but refused to do so. That, or she didn't realize that they were chances. Either way, Marcia knew that there was more going on about this than Tammy claimed, and she wouldn't be satisfied until she knew what.
Mentally sighing as she braced herself for what was to come, Marcia lifted her back off the floor so she could look directly at Tammy.
"Hey."
"Yeah, what is it?"
"Why did you invite me tonight?" Marcia asked, the tone in her voice indicating that she was completely serious. "And don't say it's because you wanted to see Mackie Hand, and I can already tell you're not a fan of him. Plus, to be honest, it feels like you're trying to force yourself to be nice to me, even though we haven't exactly gotten along in the past."
Tammy looked up at Marcia for a moment, contemplating what she was saying and how best to respond. For a moment, Marcia thought that the Demon Princess was going to come up with another excuse, in which case, Marcia would've walked right out of that carriage and never looked back. After what seemed like an eternity, Tammy let out a deep sigh before sitting upright so she could look Marcia in the eye.
"I was hoping that you forgot about that, Marcia. But I guess nothing can get past you, huh?" Curiously, Tammy turned to the white tiger, curled up in the corner as it took a cat nap. "Sorry, girl, but it looks like the jig's up. You can take that thing off now."
Marcia could stare in confusion as she tried to figure out what Tammy had meant. Fortunately, she didn't need to ask, as the white tiger then stood up on its hind legs, reached for its head, and proceeded to pull it off, revealing a familiar-looking woman with a pink beanie.
"Meg?" Marcia asked as she remembered the name of Tammy's anger-management coach. How she recalled the woman's name despite only meeting one time, Marcia did not know.
"Yep, it's me," Meg admitted as she wriggled her way out of the costume. "I have to say, it was fun cosplaying as a tiger while it lasted. Maybe I should make this a side-gig," she jokingly commented before realizing she was getting off topic. "Oh, and Tammy, while I don't approve of you blowing my cover, I think you did the right thing by telling the truth."
"So, does this mean I passed?" Tammy asked, her voice full of equal parts apprehension and hope.
"Well, you still haven't cleared the time requirement, and blowing my cover would mean you failed by default," Meg truthfully stated. "But given the circumstances, I'd say you're still in the running."
"It's fine. I wouldn't have been surprised if I didn't pass," Tammy admitted.
"Hold on. I'm confused. What are you guys talking about, anyway? Is this supposed to be some test?" Marcia asked, a million questions running through her mind.
Tammy looked at Marcia, and then she looked at Meg, who merely shrugged her shoulders. "You might as well tell everything, and she's already figured out most of it."
"All right," Tammy agreed before turning to look at Marcia. "You were right, Marcia. I did have ulterior motives for inviting you to this. But, before you do anything, please, hear me out. That's all I'm asking for, and if you don't like what I have to say, you can walk out of here. I'll even give you the tickets to still see the movie."
Marcia felt a surge of anger and resentment flare up inside of her for a moment. Once again, Tammy had tried to trick her for her gain. But, as much as she wanted to take Tammy up on that offer, there was something about the tone of her voice that kept her from doing so. Marcia wasn't sure, but Tammy pleaded for the Human girl to hear her out on this. Against her better judgment, Marcia decided to hear her out.
"All right, then," Marcia conceded. "But if I don't like what I hear, I'll make good on your offer and leave."
"That's fair," Tammy nodded before looking at Meg. "Maybe you should start since this involves you, too."
"Yeah, I probably should," Meg admitted. "Well, Marcia, the first reason we did is that this was meant to be the last in Princess Tammy's anger management course. If she could spend three hours or more with the person she hated the most, then I'd graduate her."
"And since we met, you've chopped off my arm, crashed the Blood Moon Ball, and then lied about the whole 'smooch buddies' thing with Comet," Tammy added, "you were the best candidate."
Marcia felt her face go completely deadpan at this but fought the urge to make a smart remark. She could tell that Tammy was being honest with her, so the least she could do was hear her out.
"And..." Tammy paused as if she was reluctant to continue speaking. When she felt a reassuring hand from Meg on her shoulder and saw the soft, encouraging smile on her coach's face, she felt the courage to keep going. "The truth is...you were right. I wanted to do it to get Comet to let me back into his life. And before you get mad at me and leave, let me explain. I don't want to date him." Tammy then paused and realized that she wasn't being honest. "Okay, that's a lie. I still want to date him. But what you said about how I can't force Comet to be my boyfriend stuck with me. It made me realize how wrong it would be for me to do that to him and that he deserves better than that. Far better than that."
Yeah, he does, Marcia thought to herself, but otherwise, she kept silent.
"I know that I may never get Comet to give me another chance, which hurts," Tammy went on. "It hurts to know that the boy I love may never return my feelings. But not having him in my life altogether would hurt way more. Boyfriend or not, Comet is one of the most important people in my life, and I can't stand to have to keep him at arm's length. If he wants to take me back, I will be beyond happy. If he wants to go after that Karla girl, that's his decision. I can't control him; I don't think anyone can."
"So you came to me since I'm his best friend and someone he'll listen to, right?" Marcia guessed, to which Tammy nodded her head.
"Yeah. I thought that the best way to get Comet to give me a second chance would be to get you to give me a second chance," Tammy admitted. "That said, the more time I've spent with you, the more I realized that I wanted to make amends with you."
"But why, though? Why the sudden change of heart?"
"Because," Tammy said as she began to look down at the floor rather than at Marcia. "Out of everyone I've met in my life, you were one of only two people that were willing to call me out on my selfish, horrible, manipulative-"
"Tammy, stop putting yourself down. Self-deprecation isn't going to improve things," Meg interjected to dispense some wisdom.
"Right," Tammy said as she realized she was getting off-topic. "The point is that you were one of the few people who called me out for being a horrible person, and that's why your opinion of me matters so much in the end. So, that's it, and that's everything that you need to know about why all this happened."
Tammy then waited for Marcia to make her decision. She had told her the whole truth and left nothing out. The Demon Princess had bared her soul against the Human girl, and while she wanted more than anything for Marcia to accept what she said and forgive her, Tammy didn't have her hopes up.
The seconds continued to tick by in awkward silence as no one said anything. From the perspective of the three girls, though, it might as well have been an eternity. Finally, Marcia spoke up.
"It was Comet, wasn't it?"
This took Tammy and Meg a little off-guard. Neither of them expected Marcia to ask that, so all Tammy could do was respond with a confused, "What?"
"Comet was the first person to call you out for how you acted, wasn't he?" Marcia was saying it like less of a question and more like a statement of fact. She knew from experience that Comet Dragonfly wouldn't hesitate to let others know what he thought about them when they were acting like jerks. His now-famous telling off of Brittney at her birthday party was proof of that.
"Yeah, it was," Tammy somberly said.
"Can I ask you something, Tammy," Marcia said, clearly hesitant to do so. "Why are you so obsessed with being close to Comet? Don't you have any other friends? No, scratch that. I know you have to have other friends."
Tammy shook her head. "Not really, no."
"But what about the group you and Comet had on Mewni?" Marcia asked. "Comet told us that the two of you, MC, Killian, and Aqua hung out all the time together."
Tammy shrugged her shoulders. "Well, yeah, I did have them. But they were more like mutual acquaintances I knew through Comet than actual friends. We always hung out together, but that was either as a group or with Comet. I never really spent time with them without him around." Tammy's shoulders then slumped. "I guess I've never really had any friends my age. For one, as a Princess, I never really got the chance to make any friends outside of other royalty or nobles, and you know how they can be such brown-nosers."
"Yeah. I once ran into the heir to one of the Great Houses on Mewni. The dude looked at me like I was some kind of prize to be won." Marcia shuddered as she remembered the unpleasant look on Tywin Doflamingo's face.
"But the other, more immediate reason is that, well...I think you already know why," Tammy nervously said.
"Your anger problems?" Marcia guessed, to which Tammy confirmed by nodding.
"Yeah. The truth is, most Demons are like this. We can be abrasive to others at best to downright hostile to anyone who isn't a Demon at worst. Coming from a land as harsh as the Underworld of Mewni meant that we had to toughen ourselves up to survive, which was an unfortunate side-effect. It's even worse in my family, the Lucitors, though."
"Why?"
"We don't know. Legends say that it's because of the demonic hellfire we have coursing through our veins that makes us so aggressive. I don't care, though. It's all just a recipe for disaster. And once you add my Dad into the mix, then things get even worse."
"Why? What does your Dad have to do with this?"
"A lot, actually," Tammy said. "You see, unlike Comet's family, where his Mom had to marry into them, mine is the opposite. My Mom was the heir to the Obsidian Throne, and my Dad was the one who married into the Lucitor's."
"Okay, so...?"
"This was a problem for several reasons. For one, my Dad wasn't born into royalty or nobility. He was just a normal guy, working as a barista at my Mom's favorite coffee shop. Mom tipped well and kept returning, and the two of them got acquainted. Then, one day, Mom asked him out, and one thing led to another: I was born."
"Awww, that's so sweet," Marcia said. She couldn't help but like the idea of love conquering things like one's place in society. Just why, she didn't know, but she chose not to question it. "So, what's the problem?" Marcia asked once she got over it.
"Well, a few things. For one, some of the more old-school nobles and family members didn't approve of their marriage, even after my Dad proved himself worthy of being King-Consort to my Grandfather. They said a commoner had no business joining their ranks, much less a non-Demon."
This caught Marcia's attention more than anything. "Non-Demon? But I thought that..."
"Nope," Tammy said. "My Dad's not a Demon. He's a Mewman. Which officially makes me half-Mewman, half-Demon."
"Wow. I can see why those jerks would think that's not a good thing," Marcia said in sympathy.
"Nah, it's good. Most people complained either came around or learned to keep their mouths shut. Dad's pretty good at ruling over Demons, so that helps," Tammy said as she remembered watching her Father boss around Demons and commanding such respect like he was one of them. "It's me who ended up with a lot of the problems, though."
"Some people still can't accept that a Demon-Mewman Hybrid will be their next ruler?" Marcia guessed.
"Well, that's one problem. But the other is because of my temper. My Dad has a pretty bad temper problem, almost as bad as mine, and it's one of the reasons why he fits so well with Demons. But, as it turns out, he wound up passing this on to me."
"Oh," Marcia said, her mind already putting the pieces together.
"Yep. Take Demon's natural inclination to be abrasive and hostile, throw in my family's fiery drive, and add my Dad's anger issues together, and I'm the result. A girl with an incredibly short fuse who's quick to lash out at anything that sets her off," Tammy said, her voice filled with shame. "If you think I'm bad now, you should've seen me when I was little. My parents told me that I would cry and whine about anything I didn't like when I was a baby. Thanks to my powers, there wasn't much that servants could do once I got worked up. All they could do was wait for me to tire myself out and then clean up the mess."
Tammy took a deep breath before continuing. "As I got older, things got even worse for me. My parents would try and introduce me to the children of people from the other Great Demon Houses to play with, but I never really got along with any of them. They would either be too scared of me, have heard stories about my anger, or come near me. Or they would just flat-out mock me for being half-Mewman. They said that the half-breed daughter of a commoner didn't deserve to be called a Princess. And...I think you can guess how I responded."
"By lashing out?" Marcia guessed.
"By lashing out," Tammy told her. "Pretty soon, no one wanted to be friends with me. They were either too scared of me or looked down on me because I was a Hybrid. And the Mewmans? They were the same. Only this time, add on the fact that, despite being allies of the Dragonfly Kingdom for centuries, Mewmans and Demons had some trouble trusting each other." Tammy could still remember the look on some of the Mewman Royals and Noble's faces when they saw her. It was bad enough that they feared her for easily getting mad. They started mocking her behind her back because of her horns and extra eye, saying she was a freak!
"Then, when I was ten, everything changed for me."
Tamara "Tammy" Lucitor, ten years old, was dressed in an elegant, white ball gown with her hair done up in a prim and proper bun. She looked absolutely pretty, her parents told her. But as she stood alone in the corner of the ballroom, she couldn't have cared less about her appearance.
"I hate being here," Tammy grumbled as she half-heartedly tried to make herself invisible to the rest of the party-goers. Tammy had no idea why her Mom and Dad had dragged her to this boring party. The best they could come up with was that it's so all the young Nobles, Princes, and Princesses her age could meet and be friends with each other. If making friends also meant dressing up in these dorky clothes and doing dumb dances, then grown-ups didn't know how to make friends.
Not that mattered to Tammy, though. This whole thing had gone like every other dumb party she'd been to. She'd introduce herself, try to be super nice to everyone, and be on her best behavior. Then, everyone would stop whispering about how the 'Demon Princess of Pain' was at the party or something stupid. Before Tammy knew it, all the kids her age avoided her like the plague. And then she'd get mad and accidentally burn something she wasn't supposed to. Except for this time, Tammy didn't even feel like doing that. She just went to the corner to sulk and wonder what it was about her that made everyone act so mean. Was it because she had three eyes? Because she was half-Demon? Why couldn't just one person out there be nice to her?
As if answering her prayer, the Universe responded to her prayer.
"Hi, there!"
Tammy was brought out of her sulking by an unfamiliar voice calling out, prompting her to look around until she saw who it was. A boy. He was around her age, with blonde hair, these bright, shining blue eyes, and a little pink heart mark on his cheek. He had a fancy blue suit that complimented the color of his eyes, but what was strange about him was that he was wearing a little crown on his head upside down. It looked so weird, and Tammy was at a loss of words between that and the big grin the boy gave her. At least, for a brief moment, that is.
Remembering what her parents had said about being on her best behavior, Tammy reluctantly suppressed the urge to sigh and was about to introduce herself.
"Umm, hello?"
Yeah, Tammy couldn't get over the upside-down crown.
"Why are you standing over here all by yourself?" the boy asked. "Are you trying to hide from this party?"
Honestly, hiding from this party sounded like a perfectly good idea, but Tammy couldn't admit that to anyone. "No, I'm not hiding. I'm mere-" Tammy had to think fast. She didn't want to admit to this boy that she'd been sulking in the corner. "I'm merely taking a break from the festivities," she said a matter-of-factly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I will rejoin the other young royals on the dance-"
"No, really, why are you standing over here?" the boy asked again. This time, though, it sounded less like a question and more of an affirmation. This boy, whoever he was, had already figured out that she was sulking in the corner. And for a moment, Tammy felt her anger begin to flare up before she forcefully shoved it back down.
"I could see you standing here all by yourself for a while now, and I wondered if there was something wrong," the boy continued, unaware of the danger he was putting himself in. "So I thought, 'maybe she's trying to hide from this party and everyone in it,' and decided to ask. Because if you try to hide, you aren't doing a very good job at it."
"Excuse me?" Tammy huffed, a little offended by what this boy was saying.
"Well, yeah. You're just standing here in the corner, and it looks like you don't want to be here," the boy stated, having her down to a tee, much to Tammy's dismay.
"Well, even if I didn't want to be here, I don't have a choice," Tammy told the boy. "I'm here because it's expected of me to make friends with all the other Princes and Princesses and to put up with their dumb smiles and dumb conversations, even though they don't want me around."
The boy's smile fell a little as she said this. "But...what makes you think they don't want you here?"
Tammy was dumbfounded. Did this kid know who she was or why none of the other kids seemed to like her? The very idea sounded crazy to her. And yet, here stood this strange boy, his crown upside down, seemingly ignorant to her reputation.
"W-well, for one thing, did it not occur to you that I'm a Demon?" Tammy asked, trying to avoid bringing up the more unpleasant reasons why kids her age avoided her (at least undesirable for her.)
"And?"
"And? And?! Do you even understand what that means?" Tammy may have been young, but she was already aware that her people didn't have the best of reputations throughout Mewni, and her natural temper did little to help her. "Do you even notice the fact that I have three eyes!?" She asked as she pointed to the extra eye in the middle of her forehead. More than the horns growing out of her head or the tail she normally kept hidden, it was her third eye that people would tease her for having. And regardless of whether or not this weird kid had failed to notice it, once he did, he would mock her for it like everyone else.
Or so Tammy thought.
"*gasp* Oh, my corn, that is so cool!"
Of all the things that Tammy expected this kid to say, "cool" had been the last. For a moment, Tammy stood there, stunned by what she heard. Finally, though, she responded.
"W-what?" Tammy managed to get out, still not believing what she'd heard.
"You have three eyes! That is so awesome! Just think of all the cool stuff that you could do with an extra eye. Like, you could-okay, maybe I can't think of anything, but that's still awesome!" the boy said as he got stars in his eyes.
"You-you're not afraid of me? Or think that I look like a freak?" Tammy hesitantly asked as she got this bashful look on her face.
"Of course, I think that you look weird," the boy said without hesitation. "But that's what makes you awesome!"
"It is?"
"Well, yeah. Why does anyone want to be 'normal,' anyway? That's boring, so I try to avoid it as much as possible. For example, it's why I'm wearing my crown upside down: to let everyone know that I do whatever I feel like and don't care what anyone else thinks!"
Tammy had no idea who this boy was, but his sheer confidence in himself was infectious. Tammy couldn't help but start laughing at such a ridiculous statement.
"And that makes you the first person at this dumb party who liked my amazing sense of fashion," the boy said, making Tammy laugh even more. As she did so, the boy proceeded to get an idea.
"Listen, I don't know about you, but I think this dumb party is dumb, and we could be doing way cooler things right now. So, how about we ditch this thing and have some fun?"
"You know what? I think that's the best idea I've heard since I got here," Tammy admitted, her mood completely lifted.
"Well, then, my new partner in crime, shall we take our leave?" the boy asked in a tone of speaking that was meant to be an exaggeration of some snooty noble, which nearly made Tammy burst out laughing once more. Thankfully, she managed to hold it in long enough to answer.
"Well, if you would be so kind as to lead the way, Mr...?" Tammy realized she didn't know this boy's name for the first time in this conversation.
"The name's Comet. Comet Dragonfly," the boy said with the same grin that, by now, Tammy could tell was his default expression.
"I'm Tammy. Tammy Lucitor," Tammy said, smiling. She had no idea what would happen next, but something told her that this was the beginning of something special.
"And just like that, Comet became the first friend I ever had," Tammy said as she stared at the carriage ceiling, wistfully sighing as she remembered one of the best nights of her life. "The two of us sneaked out of the castle and got cornshakes together."
"They make milkshakes that taste like corn?" Marcia couldn't help but cringe at this.
"Hey, don't knock it until you try it," Tammy replied. "It was way more fun than sticking around for that stupid dance. Even if our parents read us the riot when we returned hours later." Tammy could still remember how red her Dad's face got as he tried lecturing her about running off like that, but his words never reached her brain. She focused on the boy who told his parents that the two of them had been playing hide-and-seek around the castle. No matter how furious they were at him, he didn't hesitate to defy them for the sake of his friends.
"After that day, the two of us became almost inseparable," Tammy continued. "We'd hang out every chance we got. And before long, he brought me into his close group of friends. It was us, MC, Aqua, and Killian. Since Aqua couldn't travel much outside of her dimension, it usually wound up being the four of us."
"And you weren't as close to the others as you were with Comet?"
"I mean, I tried to be, but I could be a little...intense at times," Tammy sheepishly admitted. "Plus, I don't know if you've noticed this, but MC can be full of himself. It's like the guy-"
"-Has to have everything revolve around him 24/7? It's so aggravating!" Marcia commented.
"I know, right! I swear there were moments when I wanted to wring his stupid neck out!"
The two girls enjoyed a good laugh as they thought about how annoying Comet's best friend could be, which helped alleviate a lot of the tension permeating the room.
"As I said, I wasn't as close to them as with Comet. I don't know how, but he had this way of helping to keep my anger in check. He brought out the best in me. And, before I knew it..."
"You'd fallen for him?" Marcia guessed. The blush on Tammy's face confirmed that she was right on the money.
"Yeah. I mean, what wasn't there to love about him, though? Those amazing blue eyes, gorgeous blonde hair, brilliant smile-" Tammy couldn't help but blush even more as she thought about how handsome Comet was. "I was head over heels for him. So, when we were eleven years old, and he came up to me and asked if I wanted to go out with him on a date, I felt like the happiest girl in the Universe. Not to brag, but I was cool about it."
Comet watched in amazement as an eleven-year-old Tammy Lucitor used her firebending to write "I LOVE COMET DRAGONFLY" in the sky above them.
"So, what did you guys do on your first date?" Marcia asked, dying to know what happened next.
"Oh, the two of us went to this pier in the Underworld, got cornshakes together, went on some rides. Stuff like that. Nothing special, really," Tammy told her before putting a pin in that idea. "We did do something special. We came across this vendor selling these hats with horns on them, and, I am not kidding, Comet's eyes went as wide as dinner plates."
"No way."
"No, seriously. And one hat stood out to Comet from all the others."
"You mean..."
"Yep," Tammy confirmed. "That hat that Comet's always wearing was my gift to him to remember our first date together." The fact that Comet kept it after more than two years was nothing touching Tammy. And the fact that he used his parent's wallet's to buy an entire stock of them for himself? Adorable!
Looking back on it now, those moments were among the happiest of Tammy's life. "It was pure bliss," Tammy wistfully said, smiling at the ceiling. "I had wanted things to always stay like that. But nothing ever stays the same, does it?" Tammy's smile then vanished. "And once we became teenagers, things started to change for me. Some of them for the better," she said as she gestured to her body, "and some for the worse."
"You mean your anger issues?" Marcia surmised.
"Yeah. For a time, I thought my temper had become a thing of the past, as did my parents. In truth, though, it merely went dormant. When it finally came back, it was fueled by hormones. Hormones and thousands of little, angry Demons inside of me."
"That doesn't sound good."
"It isn't," Meg chimed in. "They're part of what makes Demons so aggressive to other beings, and they usually don't calm down until they reach adulthood."
"As I said, though, the fact that I inherited my Dad's temper didn't help matters," Tammy ruefully said. "Except this time, my anger had something to work with, something to focus on."
"You mean Comet?" Marcia didn't know where this was going, but she didn't think she liked it.
"Let me ask you something, Marcia. You said that many girls at your school have crushes on Comet, right?" Marcia nodded her head. "How many are we talking about?"
Marcia honestly hesitated to tell her the truth. But with how honest the Demon Princess was with her, it would be disrespectful not to do the same. "One time, he opened up his locker, and a pile of love letters poured out."
"Damn. I wish I got that kind of attention back in high school," Meg couldn't help but remark.
"Well, I don't know about love letters, but after Comet turned thirteen, something similar happened to him on Mewni. Wherever Comet went, girls would start giggling and blushing as he walked by. Since most of them were just commoners, that's all it amounted to, and none of them had the guts to try and hit on the boy who'd be their future King. The nobles, on the other hand..."
"They had no such reservations, did they?'
"Exactly. And, I don't know if it was because he's the Prince of Mewni or if it were his good looks, but pretty soon, Noble's daughters and Princesses started swarming around him like flies. And they all seemed to ignore the fact that I was his girlfriend! And, I just got so angry watching all of it!"
"Tammy, we both know Comet well enough to know that he's not the kind of person who would ever let-" She was going to say "attention," but that would be a lie. "He wouldn't let that kind of attention get to his head. I would know. I don't think he realized that all those girls at school were crushing on him until a friend and I spelled it out for him."
"I knew that. At least, my brain knew that. But my heart kept telling me, 'they're trying to steal him from you. They're trying to steal your man!' And I knew that some of them were more interested in his title than they were in the actual Comet, that they would use him to gain power, influence, or-" and Tammy shuddered at this, "babies out of wedlock!" It wasn't unheard of for the elite in society to have bastard children, but it was almost always a black stain on themselves and their families!
"So, when Comet wasn't looking, I started to lash out at these girls," Tammy admitted, her voice filled with regret. "At first, it was little more than a simple glare. But then it started to escalate to verbal threats. And before I even fully realized what I was doing, I started turning my flames on those other girls."
Marcia let a small gasp escape her mouth. "Did you-?"
Tammy shook her head. "No, I didn't lay a hand on them. I had some common sense and knew that if I did that, I would cause a diplomatic incident that would make all of our families look bad. But there were times when it got really, really close to happening. And it wasn't long before Comet started to notice how aggressive I was."
Tammy paused for a moment. Talking about all of this was bringing back some very unhappy memories. Memories that she wanted nothing more than to forget. It was only when she felt the reassuring hand of Meg on her shoulder that the Demon Princess found the courage to keep going.
"Then, a few months ago, things finally came to a head. I was walking around town when I saw these two girls. I had seen them a few times before; Comet told me they were just some friends he made; some minor nobleman's daughters were visiting Comet's family on business or something. And guess who they were talking about?"
"Comet?" Honestly, Marcia didn't even know why she needed to guess; she already knew the answer.
"Comet," Tammy nodded. "Now, I know what you're thinking, and no, I didn't get mad at them. At least, not right away. My relationship with Comet had been shaky then, and I was trying to be on my best behavior. So instead, I decided to walk away. Before I even had a chance to do that, I heard one of them say something. Something that I couldn't ignore."
Tammy felt her fists clench as she still remembered what she had heard.
"They started insulting Comet," Tammy started again. "They questioned how someone as reckless and irresponsible as him could be the Crown Prince of Mewni. How easy it was for them to make him think they wanted to be friends with him when, in truth, they were faking it so that they could get money and power for their families. But worst of all...worst of all...they wondered if he was even Mune's son."
"What?"
"Given how Comet acted almost nothing like his Father, a rumor went around that he might not even be Mune's child, and he was just some orphan that the King secretly adopted so he could have an heir. Or worse, he was a bastard child that his Mom had before they married!"
Marcia shot up off the ground at this. "What?! Who the Hell said that!?"
"I don't know, and I don't care!" Tammy shouted as she felt her anger rise. "At that point, I was close to losing control of myself. What they said next ended up being the breaking point."
"What could they say that was worse than that?" Marcia asked, still mad at what she had heard so far.
"One of them said that maybe that was why he chose to date 'that three-eyed, half-breed freak. Because neither of them belonged in their world.' And the other one laughed and said that maybe it was because 'the Demon girl was willing to satisfy his...needs when no other girl would.'"
Translation: they thought Tammy was whoring herself out to Comet.
"After that, I...I snapped," Tammy admitted as she hugged her knees to her chest. "I don't remember much of what happened next. Just some screams, the heat of flames in the background, seeing red in my eyes. It wasn't until someone called my name that I finally snapped out of it. I almost wish I hadn't because what I saw...let's just say it wasn't pretty."
"It's alright, Tammy," Meg told her charge. "You got this girl."
"Thanks, Meg. I needed to hear that," Tammy admitted as she prepared to do or die. "It turns out, I ended up attacking those two girls. I started beating them, yelling at them, and trying to burn them with my fire abilities. I wound up burning the hair off their heads and ruining their dresses, but I didn't do worse than that. The same couldn't be said for the buildings around us, though. I wound up setting several of them on fire."
"Ouch," was all Marcia could say.
"And if that wasn't bad enough, guess who it was that snapped me out of my rage. The last person in the Universe I wanted to see me like this."
Marcia didn't even need to ask, and she already knew who it was...and Tammy didn't want to have to say it out loud.
"After what...happened, everything became a blur. The local guard showed up and started putting out the fire, pulling the two girls to the side so healers could look at them. Then the King showed up, and I was standing in the throne room the next thing I knew. My parents were there, and they were saying things to me. I don't...remember what they said, but I know it was bad. I didn't care. The only thing that I cared about was Comet. He was standing next to his parents...and he could barely look me in the eye."
"I don't know how long I stood there, but after a while, Comet spoke up. He...he said something to his Dad. I don't know what he said, but then he walked over to me and said, 'We need to talk,' before leading me into the hallway without another word. What happened next was probably the worst moment of my life."
"Tammy, are you nuts? Do you realize what you just did!?" Comet said as he criticized his girlfriend for her actions.
"What I did? Do you even know what those two girls were saying about us? ABOUT YOU?!" Tammy yelled at Comet.
"What, you mean how they were badmouthing me and calling me a failure or unworthy of being called a Prince? Or was it that dumbass rumor that I'm not even my Father's son?" Comet shot back, taking Tammy by surprise. "Don't give me that look, Tammy. I'm not as dumb as everyone makes me out to be, and I hear more than most of those bastards give me credit!"
"If you knew all of this, then why did you-"
"Tammy, I don't care what other people think about me. I already like who I am, and the people who matter in my life like me for who I am, so why should I have to make some snooty-ass pricks care?"
"You should care about what they say about you, Comet! What they say about us!" Tammy tried to argue. "Unless they know not to speak poorly about you, they're always going to talk shit about you!"
"I don't care if they do, Tammy, and neither should you! I don't understand why you're making such a big deal about this!"
"BECAUSE SOMEBODY HAS TO, COMET!" Tammy shouted at him. "Somebody has to keep you safe from everyone who wants to use you!"
"What?" Comet asked, taken aback by this.
"Comet, sweetie, how many people talk bad about you behind your back? Or how many girls only want to act nice to you because they want to get in your you-know-what?" Tammy said without a hint of embarrassment. "Somebody has to keep you safe from them when you're not looking!"
That proved the wrong thing to say, though, as Comet began to put the pieces together in his head.
"Are you saying...this has happened before, hasn't it?!" The way Comet said this, it was clear that he already knew the answer and merely wanted Tammy to admit the truth to him. Tammy, for her part, quickly realized her blunder. It was already too late, though, and the cat was out of the bag.
"I can't believe it! You've been going around and scaring everyone behind my back!" Comet didn't even bother to his frustration with his girlfriend. "I can't believe you, Tammy! Not even I'm that stupid!"
"Stupid? Stupid?!" Tammy felt her anger begin to burst out as her eyes started to glow white-hot in rage, and her voice took on a deep, demonic growl. "I'M DOING THIS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD, COMET! I HAVE TO KEEP YOU SAFE FROM ANYONE WHO WOULD TRY TO HURT YOU AND ANYONE THAT MIGHT TRY TO STEAL YOU FROM ME!" Tammy was so furious that fire began to shoot up from the ground around her. Such a sight would be enough to terrify most people into submission.
Comet Dragonfly, however, wasn't most people. He looked Tammy in the eyes, his gaze unwavering, and said. "So that's what this is about, then? You're jealous."
"What?" the Demon Girl was surprised by Comet's reaction, enough that she felt her anger subside a little.
"You're jealous of all those people, so you take your anger out on them and justify it by saying it's to protect me," Comet calmly told her. "But I don't need your protection, Tammy. I can take care of myself, and you know it."
"But, my Shooting Star-"
"Don't 'Shooting Star' me, Tammy. I know how angry you can get, and don't bother trying to deny it. I had hoped that you would get better at keeping your anger under control the longer we knew each other, but it looks like it's the exact opposite after what happened today. You're not getting better-you're getting worse."
"No, no, Comet. Didn't you hear what they said about-"
"It doesn't matter what they said, Tammy! You could've killed them! Do you even realize that?! Those girls might be dead now if I hadn't snapped you out of it! And all you're doing is making excuses for yourself!" Comet shook his head in deep disdain over this. "I'm sorry, but I can't."
"Can't? Can't what?"
"I can't do this anymore, Tammy. I can't keep having you lash out at everyone who pisses you off. So, that's it."
"Comet, what-what are you trying to say?" a fear the likes of which Tammy had never felt before began to grip her heart.
"I'm saying that...it's over between us, Tammy," Comet said before turning on his heels so that he turned his back to Tammy. "We're done," Comet said as he began to walk away without another word, leaving Tammy alone in the hallway as the man she loved started to step out of her life.
And just like that, the dam inside Tammy's heart broke, and the girl fell to her knees and began crying like never before. It wouldn't be another ten minutes before the doors to the throne room opened, and the grown-ups saw Tammy sitting on the ground, alone and sobbing uncontrollably.
It was the worst day of Tammy's life.
"The next few days were extremely rough on my family and me. The girls' fathers insisted to King Mune that our family pay reparations for what happened to their daughters. Given how rich we are, it didn't even put a dent in our treasury," Tammy continued. "The damage to our family's prestige was far worse, though. Word got out that my parents were aware of my anger issues and that they had done nothing to correct them. Pretty soon, every major kingdom in Mewni spoke out against us, saying that I was too dangerous to even be considered the next Queen of the Underworld." Tammy still remembered the hate mail that she got from other royals.
"In the end, King Mune had to intercede on our behalf. As punishment for my actions, I was forbidden from setting foot in Castle Dragonfly for more than a year. And, by royal decree, I would be ordered to take anger-management classes, something my parents should've done for me long ago, to be honest."
"And that's how I got hired," Meg added.
"Needless to say, none of this helped my reputation, and the few people who put up with me started keeping their distance. None of it mattered, though," Tammy admitted. "The only person I cared about, the boy I liked, that I still like wanted nothing to do with me." Tammy could feel a few tears running down her cheeks as she admitted this but quickly wiped them away. "That was the last time I saw Comet...until the day of the Blood Moon Ball. I thought that if I showed Comet how hard I was trying to change for him, he might be willing to give me another chance. But we both know how that story ended." Marcia vaguely nodded in agreement.
"But, instead of learning anything from the Blood Moon Ball, I doubled, tripled, and then quadrupled down on my obsession with Comet. I needed to have him back in my life, regardless of the consequences," Tammy said as she tried to suppress the wellspring of emotions currently fighting to get to the surface. "But there was just one problem: you. You, a human, were willing to stand up to the Princess of Demons for the sake of someone you'd have to have known for only a few months. I'm glad you did, though," Tammy told Marcia honestly. "Thanks to you, I realized how much I was hurting Comet. But even though I realized you were right, I couldn't stop wanting him back in my life. So," Tammy then gestured to everything around her, "is what came of it. One last, desperate attempt to get back into Comet's life by trying to get you to forgive me."
"And pass your anger-management classes," Meg added.
"That, too. But, I guess there's no chance of that happening now, is there?" Tammy stated, chuckling bitterly as she did so. "Listen, you don't need to force yourself to stay here so you can go see that marathon. I'll drop you off at the theater, hand you the tickets, and fail this test."
"Tammy, wait," Meg said as she scooted closer to her charge. "Nobody said that you're going to fail the test. You've still got time to-"
"No, Meg," Tammy shook her head at this. "I think we both know that Marcia will not want to be around me after this. It's fine, though. Honestly," Tammy tried to smile at Meg, one of the few people who stood by her during her absolute worst, but she couldn't muster the energy to do so.
Finally, Marcia spoke.
"You're wrong."
This statement caught Tammy and Meg off-guard, and the two stared at Marcia in confusion. For her part, Marcia's face was a mixture of emotions: anger, sadness, pity, sympathy, and so many others.
"You're wrong about several of the things you said, Tammy," Marcia reiterated, this time with more clarity in her voice. "For one, you shouldn't be trying to change yourself for Comet's sake."
"I shouldn't?" Tammy was genuinely confused by this.
"No, you shouldn't. At least, that shouldn't be the sole reason you want to change for the better," Marcia explained. "From what you've told me, you've been struggling to deal with your anger your entire life, and that's hard. It's hard having to do with something like that. And it's even harder knowing that having Comet around made things better for you, only to find out that it didn't solve anything."
"Yes, I think I already established that," Tammy said in a deadpan tone.
"But from what you've told me, it sounds like this was a problem that would affect you negatively at some point, regardless of whether Comet catalyzed it. But he shouldn't be the sole reason you want to deal with your anger."
"He shouldn't?" Tammy remained clueless about where the human girl was taking this.
"No, he shouldn't. As I said, this was going to happen since you didn't deal with it sooner. And it's great that you're doing this to prove to Comet that you can be trusted again, but that's still only doing it to impress him. There's nothing wrong with wanting to impress the person you like," Marcia said as she thought of Jackson at that moment. "But, you shouldn't just be doing this for him." Marcia then stood up and walked over to Tammy. "You need to be doing this for yourself."
"But aren't I-"
"Just listen," Marcia interrupted. "You were miserable before you met Comet, and the fear of that being your future if you don't make up with him is what's motivating you. But even if you reconcile with him, he's still only one person. One incredibly fun, sweet, annoying, reckless person that everyone I know loves. But you can't go through life with only one friend. That's no way for anyone to live. So, keep working to be better, Tammy. But don't just do it to get the boy you like back." Marcia clasped both of Tammy's shoulders and looked her dead in the eyes as she said all of this. "Do it so you won't have to worry about not having any more friends. Do it so you can live your best life. Do it for you!"
Tammy was at a loss over what was happening right now, but she found herself unable to say anything as Marcia continued speaking.
"I won't sugarcoat it: a lot of what you told me, you brought on yourself by not getting the help you needed sooner. But the fact that you're trying so hard to make amends with me proves that you're already on the right path," Marcia said with a sympathetic look. "Now, look: I'm not going to forget what you tried to do in the past. I'd be crazy to forget about that," she admitted. "But I'm glad you told me all of this, even the part about you setting fire to all those buildings. And-" Marcia then got a bashful look on her face, "You're not the only one who's lashed at someone who badmouthed Comet."
"I'm not?" It took a few seconds for Tammy's mind to put it together, but once she did, her eyes grew as wide as saucers. "No way...you too?"
"Yep," Marcia admitted, her face turning a light shade of red in embarrassment. "But it wasn't as bad as what you did, and the jerk had it coming," Marcia quickly said. "I mean, he called Comet a 'failure of a Prince' and a disgrace to his family in front of me, his friends, and even his parents. I had to slap him across the face, even if he is Comet's Great-Uncle-"
"You bitch-slapped Eternia Dragonfly?!" Tammy practically yelled.
"L-look, it doesn't matter. It was a lapse in judgment, and I shouldn't have resorted to violence-"
"Marcia," Tammy took Marcia's hands and got these stars in her eyes. "I've wanted to do that to the man for years now!"
"You have?"
"Yes! That guy has, like, the biggest stick up his ass! I can't believe you had the guts to do something like that!"
"Really?"
"Marcia, let me put it this way: if you hadn't done that in full view of Comet and his family, he would've had you locked away for the rest of your life," Tammy told her, making Marcia's face go pale. "But at least you showed restraint. I would've burned him alive if he said that before me!"
"Oh, come on. I don't think you would've done that, Tammy," Marcia told her.
"Trust me, I would have. But, it's great to know that someone else in Comet's life is willing to stand up for him like that."
"I'm not the only one, Tammy. Ask any of my friends on Earth, and they would've done the same thing. Comet's changed a lot of our lives for the better, so we-"
"-want to do whatever it takes to protect that amazing smile on his face? Yeah, I've been there," Tammy told her. At which point, the two girls just burst out laughing and bonding. Not just over Comet and the shared history they had with him, but the realization of how far both were willing to go to protect him.
Though, they had to admit that Comet didn't always need protection. The next thing Marcia knew, she was telling Tammy all about the time's Comet stood up for her and her friends or went out of his way to help them. Pretty soon, the two were laughing and enjoying themselves like they'd known each other for years, any remaining tension left in the carriage now gone. And as Meg sat quietly off to the side, looking at the two teens enjoying themselves, she saw how happy Tammy was. More comfortable than she had seen her in months.
Not bad, kid, Meg thought to herself as she mentally complimented Marcia Diaz for what she did tonight.
She helped Tammy start to move on.
Spongebob Narrator: A Few Hours Later...
Tammy's carriage pulled up to the front of the Diaz family's house with the smell of fire and brimstone trailing close behind it. It was now late into the night, with no one out walking or enjoying the weather as Marcia, Tammy, and Meg stepped out of the carriage, all looking tired but happy.
"Wow. You were right, Marcia," Tammy said as she walked Marcia up to the front of the house. "That Mackie Hand was the real deal. And you're saying that he's dead?"
"Sadly, yes. He died performing one of his stunts on himself," Marcia told her.
"Yeah, well, that's not much of a problem for me, you know."
"I'm sorry, what?" Marcia wasn't following Tammy's logic.
"Oh, you didn't know? One of my powers is to perform necromancy and raise the dead," Tammy casually admitted.
"You could do that this whole time and you didn't tell me?!" Marcia practically grabbed onto Tammy's shirt. "Tammy, for the love of all that's holy, please do it!"
"Uhhh, maybe some other time. You might die from sheer joy otherwise," Tammy said, keeping her cool as she did so.
"Right, right, sorry," Marcia said, feeling a little embarrassed at her outburst just now. "So, I guess this evening's activities were a complete success, then?"
"I guess they are, huh?" Tammy then looked at Meg for reassurance, to which the life coach shrugged her shoulders.
"Pretty much, Princess Tammy. You can expect your diploma in the next few days, but you've got my number if you want to talk."
"Thanks, I appreciate that," Tammy said. And she honestly did.
"I just got one thing that's been bugging me this whole time-how did you know Mackie Hand was my favorite martial artist?" That was the one thing that Marcia had been unable to piece together.
"Oh, yeah. I almost forgot about that," Tammy admitted. "It was one of your friends that told me. The one with the beanie. What was his name again?"
"Jonah?"
"Jonah, that's right! It was Jonah! How could I forget that after he helped me with that Hydra? That's stupid of me."
"Hold on," Marcia put her hands up. "You're throwing a lot at me, and I don't have the context for it."
Tammy realized that she never told Marcia about her misadventure with Jonah in the Underworld, not that she wanted to do so. Still, Demon was out of the Pit, so there was no sense in hiding it. "He summoned me while I was getting out of the shower, forced me to take him along to fight this giant lizard thing, read me the riot act over my behavior, and I agreed to grant him Underworld citizenship if he told me how to get Comet to let me back in his life." That was an extremely abridged summary of everything.
After hearing everything that Tammy said, Marcia had but one concern on her mind.
"Tammy," Marcia asked, placing a hand on Tammy's shoulder, "Please tell me that that jerk didn't take photos of you." By the tone of the Human's voice, Tammy could tell that Marcia was being dead serious about this. She offered a small smile in response.
"Don't worry. I told him that I'd melt his eyes if he did," Tammy said in a tone that, while reassuring, indicated that she half-expected to get yelled at over. "Not that I'd be surprised if he did, though. I got the sense that he's got the hots for me."
"Of course he would," Marcia deadpanned. She'd known Jonah long enough to know he had a not-so-secret fetish for Demons. "Word of advice: don't underestimate him. And before you say 'I'm a Demon, and he's a human,' keep in mind that I outsmarted you once, so I know what I'm talking about."
"Touche," Tammy conceded as the two finally reached the front door. Tammy took a long, deep breath, trying to prepare herself for what was to come next...only to fail herself failing to do so.
Come on, Tammy, you can do this. You already managed to start patching things up with Marcia tonight. It shouldn't be that hard to do the same with Comet, right? So why are you so freaked out right now? This is all that you wanted!
And then, something clicked in her head. As Marcia began reaching out for the doorknob, Tammy intercepted her hand.
"Wait."
"Huh?"
"I...don't think I'm ready yet."
"Huh?" Marcia was confused, as was Meg.
"I said I'm not ready to talk to Comet again," Tammy reiterated.
"HUH?" Marcia felt dumbfounded at this. Wasn't getting to talk to Comet again the whole reason she did all of this?!
"Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking: Tamara Lucitor's wussing out at the last minute. So lame, right?" Tammy said while giving a self-deprecating laugh. "But, after talking about how I met Comet and how we broke up, I realized that it's too soon for him to even think about letting me back into his life." Tammy then looked down at her feet. "I hurt Comet a lot the last few times we've seen each other. I know how forgiving he can be to people, but even so, I don't think I'm ready to be offered forgiveness."
"Tammy, you know that I can tell him-"
"You can. But still, I think I want to work on myself a little bit more before I'm ready to take that next step." Tammy then looked at Meg. "You don't have to graduate me, by the way, and I know I've still got some work to do."
Meg couldn't help but feel proud of her charge in this moment. "It takes a great person to admit their faults, Tammy, and an even greater person to know when to step back from something, no matter how much they want it. I'm proud of you, Tammy." Meg then turned around and headed back to the carriage. "Now, come on. I need to use the bathroom."
"Fair enough." Tammy then turned back to look at Marcia. "Maybe we could hang out again sometime? Maybe we can figure out how to get your boobs to grow bigger."
"Why did I tell you that," Marcia grumbled. "But, yeah, I wouldn't be opposed to that. And I think you made a pretty responsible decision just now."
"Awesome. I'll text you later, alright? See ya, Marcia!" Tammy shouted as she ran towards her carriage, the two girls waving to each other before Marcia watched as the column of fire consumed it before it descended to the Underworld. Or trip. Marcia didn't understand the concept, but she wouldn't question it.
What she did question, though, was why her living room was now filled with the laser puppies and all of Comet's spells as they proceeded to have their dance party. Or why Comet was being hung from the ceiling, covered in glitter and spinning around like a disco ball.
"You wouldn't believe what I've been through tonight, Marcia. Trust me," was all Comet would say.
Marcia decided not to press the matter for once and kept her mouth shut.
*Back on the beach, everyone's finna to party as they finish reading (or watching) what just happened.*
Janna: Damn, Jay, you didn't hold back on the angst, did you?
Jay: No, Janna. No, I didn't, and I'm proud of it. Though I wish I'd written this in far fewer words. I didn't expect it to be this long. Oh well.
Omni-Honestly, it does explain a lot regarding Tammy's obvious insecurities and clinginess regarding Comet. He's like her emotional rock; when she lost that, nothing was there to stop her from being the worst version of herself.
Eddy: You mean a psycho bitch?
Ed: Eddy! They prefer to be called 'Yandere's!'
Jay: Tomato, toh-mato. I'd been planning her terrible origin story from the start, so I didn't want to hold back.
Rex: Now is time for terrible origin story for me. I was dropped as baby T-Rex-
DAU Kermit: Rex, you already tried that with Cell, and it didn't work. Think of something else. Or, just scream and shrink like you usually do.
Rex: Da.
Janna: So, question, Jay. Now that Amphibia's over and The Owl House is on its way out, what are you going to-?
Jay: Big City Greens. And Gloria's my favorite character. Any other questions? No? No, good. Then how about we watch the new Beavis and Butthead movie I just found on Paramount Plus? After we respond to
READER'S REVIEWS
Julayla-I'm not sure how much my break helped me, but I think I've gotten enough fuel back in the tank to keep going. The main issue is that it's been three years since the show ended, so the fandom's kind of dead. Oh, well. I knew what I was getting into. NGL, I am considering shortening the series to better accommodate ideas, though nothing set in stone. Thanks for being patient
Also, Lightyear was okay.
LockAndKey989-Thanks for the welcome back! And yeah. I don't know how exactly it happened, but Comet was able to piece together the fact that his spells were capable of becoming sentient beings. He still doesn't understand where they come from or where they go. Also, that was the reaction I was hoping you'd make about that scene. Everyone in their teens and up should know what she was thinking about. The real question, though, is who's doing what?
NightAroma-Yeah, you were reading too much into things and were way off. Also, about what you said about Star Wars, I grew up with the old Expanded Universe novels and comics, and by that point in the timeline, the Jedi were already back in full force. So, I want them back in Star Wars!
FlameyTheSnowman-Nice to see a new face around here. Most of the fandom's already moved on, so every new follower helps.
The Wandering Hippie-Bruh, is your story ever gonna come back? I'm lonely holding up this fandom now! Especially since it's almost dead after three years!
That aside, yeah, you shouldn't be surprised that Tammy already knows about that stuff. If this were M-rated, I'd go into more detail, but I don't want to. And, yeah, I took a lot of inspiration for this from your chapters, so I hope you noticed some similarities.
Guest 1-Reasonably well.
MlpBrony Fan15-You should watch Amphibia. The whole series is now out on Disney+, and it is awesome!
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! I've got something crazy planned, and given what film's have come out recently, the timing seems perfect.
