Play Post Malone - Sunflower (Lyrics) ft. Swae Lee (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) Until the Opening Ends- /a8Q5HHjKHrA
*In Jay's Workspace, we see RJ "Jay" Writing Ink, Janna, Omnitraxus, DAU Kermit, Rex, the Eds (Now including Double Dee), TFS Nappa, Hooty, King, the Spongebob Narrator, GIR, and more all listening to the song "Sunflower" from Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse as they're packing beach towels, clothes, swimsuits, sunscreen, and other amenities.*
Jay: Okay, we're wheels up in forty-eight hours, people. Are we sure we got everything we need?
Janna: Everything's good, man.
Jay: Everyone got their swimsuits?
Omnitraxus: I don't see why I need to wear one. I don't even need to wear clothes.
Jay: It's the principle of the matter, Omni. Sunscreen?
Double Dee: After what I was forced to endure on our trip to the beach, I can assure you that I have more than adequately prepared the proper amount of protection from the sun's harmful UV rays, my dear Fritz.
DAU: Your last name is Fritz? Huh. Didn't know that.
Jay: That's not my real last name, just an alias. Swimsuits?
Eddy: Oh yeah! There's no way the ladies will be able to resist when they see us in these babies!
Ed: And I, Ed, and my faithful robotic companion shall be searching the waters for the fabled Skunk Ape!
GIR: IM GONNA EAT ALL THE TACOS!
Rex: REX IS READY TO GET BITCHES!
*Jay then turns to look at the readers*
Jay: TL: DR, I'm going on an IRL vacation to Florida this weekend and will return next Saturday. It's summer, after all, and one should try and have at least one beach day in the summer.
Spongebob Narrator: Technically, summer does not start until the middle of June-
Jay: Yes, but Memorial Day is seen as the informal start to the summer season in the USA. So, technically, I'm right. Now, while we review our stuff one last time before we catch our flight, let's see how Marcia handles her newfound curse. Spoiler alert, not well.
*End Music*
Tammy Lucitor was lounging in her bedroom in her casual clothes as she worked through the new hit game The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom on her UGC. Usually, video games from Earth were only found in that dimension since how little people thought of Earth. Those who understood just how amazing Earth video games knew the truth and actively shared them in underground rings and forums, many of which had operations meant to smuggle copies of the newest games out of Earth for customers. And Tammy was lucky to get her hands on one of the early copies of the new Legend of Zelda game. It was worth her allowance; she'd been at it for a few weeks, and she still wasn't even close to finishing it!
As Tammy was pitting Link against one of the mini-bosses, she found herself distracted by the sound of a portal opening up in her bedroom. From that portal stepped Marcia Diaz, the Human girl Tammy called her...friend? They weren't enemies anymore that much was sure, but were they friends now?
"Oh, hey, Marcia! You're just in time! I'm working through the new Zelda game, and it is the best! Do you wanna try your hand at it? I'm happy to let you take the controller for a while." she said as she held out her spare controller. Marcia, though, didn't say a word. She didn't even look at Tammy. She just kept staring at the floor as she walked towards Tammy. When she was just a few feet away, Marcia reached behind her back and pulled out a squirt bottle.
"Um, Marcia? What's the deal? Why do you have that squirt bottle?"
"Oh, it's nothing," Marcia said. Tammy paused. It might have been her imagination, but how Marcia said that was...menacing. "It's just filled with water. That's all; water," Marcia said in a manner that was way too affable to be true. "Holy water, that is."
*Record Scratch*
"I'm sorry, what?" At this point, Tammy stopped everything she was doing, her attention now squarely on Marcia.
"Oh, good. So it is as effective as I heard," Marcia said with a dark smile. "The thing is, I had read online that it was possible to make holy water, but I wasn't sure it could be effective against Demon Royalty. So after borrowing Comet's scissors, I decided to head to the Vatican and get some from the higher-ups of the Catholic Church. At first, they said that I would be better off purchasing the stuff from the gift shop, but when I told them what I needed it for and showed them what had happened to me, they were more than willing to oblige," Marcia explained. Her voice was calm on the surface, but underneath that lay a great deal of anger that took even a Demon like Tammy aback. "So, here I am, with a bottle of holy water blessed by the Cardinals. According to them, this stuff is like acid to Demons, so I think I should be good to use it."
Tammy gulped. "Um, Marcia... you're not here to use that on me, are you?" Tammy started to genuinely fear for her life. "Look, if you're still mad about Ms. Candles, I already said I was sorry!"
Marcia shook her head. "Oh no, this isn't about Ms. Candles or anything. But I am mad at you about something," she coldly admitted. "And I'm going to use this on you in the next ten seconds unless you tell me why." Marcia reached for the collar on her shirt and pulled it down, revealing a very familiar look growth.
"Hello!"
"Why this little guy suddenly popped out my neck today," Marcia said with a smile that could best be described as psychotic.
Tammy took one look at the little Naysaya on Marcia's neck and let out a heavy sigh. "Duudee, Marcia, I am so sorry. I put that curse on you to prevent you from asking out Comet!"
"Tammy," Marcia said the Demon Princess' name as she still held the squirt bottle in her direction. "Why, in the name of all that is holy, would you do that to me? What part of 'I do not like Comet like that' do you not understand?"
"Hey, hey, hey!" Tammy threw her hands up in a submissive manner. "In my defense, all of this happened before we started hanging out, and I still wanted you dead. Wait..." Tammy's mind began to put things together as she laughed. "Have you not gone on a date since the Blood Moon Ball?"
"And you have?"
"Yes. After you made and your creepy friend made me realize that Comet isn't going to come back to me so easily, I started casually dating other people. Few of them even got close to second base with me." Marcia blushed at this implication but held her ground. When Tammy saw the look on the girl's face, she couldn't help but chuckle. "So wait, you haven't gone on any dates since the Blood Moon Ball? I don't know about you, but that is way more embarrassing than that thing on your neck!"
Incensed by Tammy making light of the curse she put on her, Marcia moved the squirt bottle close to Tammy's face, her hand on the trigger. "I only wanted to go out with one guy, and his name is Jackson Lee Thomas. And after finally managing to confess to him, I thought that maybe, just maybe, this could finally be the chance to do so! But I can't do that as long as this," she pointed at the Naysaya, "is on my neck. So you better have a way to remove it, or so help me, I will pull the trigger!'
Tammy could tell Marcia was serious. Thinking quickly, she said, "I don't have a way! Once the curse has been cast, no one can remove it, even the caster! Letting it run its course is the only way to eliminate it! Once it's shouted out all your biggest secrets, it will go away!"
"Are you serious?!" Marcia shouted in frustration. "How long will that take?"
Tammy just shrugged. "That depends. How insecure are you?"
Marcia didn't say a word for a moment...then, her eyes widened. "Oh, no..." Realizing that there was no way out of this for her, Marcia opened another portal and left without a word.
"Good luck, girl! And congrats on finally telling him," she could hear Tammy shouting to hear as she stepped through the portal.
After hearing everything from Tammy, Marcia didn't even bother trying to return to school. She opened a portal in the middle of her living room and found herself face-to-face with her surprised parents. They had never known Marcia to skip out on school in the past, not even to go on adventures with Comet, which made it all the more concerning. Being good parents, they asked Marcia what was wrong, to which Marcia gave them the basics of what happened: she tried to ask Jackson out, but she found she had a Demon curse that was going to keep blabbing all her secrets, so she decided to skip out on the rest of the school day and come home.
Again, since Mr. and Mrs. Diaz were good parents, they understood Marcia's reasoning and didn't argue with her. When they asked if they could do anything to help her, though, she just said that she would be in her room for a while and didn't want to be disturbed.
All of this led to the present, with Marcia sitting on her bed beneath a pile of pillows and blankets, sulking at her fate. After some time had passed, she was brought out of her self-pity by knocking on her closed bedroom door.
"Marcia, it's me," came the familiar voice of Comet from the other side. "What did Tammy say?"
Naysaya responded before Marcia had the chance. "Tamara says that Marcia will have Naysaya for the rest of her life because Marcia is so insecure!"
With a sigh, Marcia spoke up. "You should get back to class, Comet. Your grades are probably bad enough."
"Well, what about you?"
"I'm not going to school anymore, Comet. I will live the rest of my days as a shut-in."
"What? But what will you do about food? Or money? You're going to need both, eventually."
"I'll get my GED online and then find some way to work remotely from my laptop," Marcia simply said. "As long as I have this thing on my neck, there's no way I can go out in public, much less have a social life."
From outside Marcia's bedroom, Comet frowned as he heard this. "So, you're just going to sit in there and wallow in misery for the rest of your life?"
"That's the plan," Marcia said. Comet felt awful as he heard this, but he also felt another feeling: disappointment. Then he looked at his fingers and got an idea.
"Marcia," came the voice of Comet once more. As Marcia watched, the boy slid his index finger underneath the door, revealing that he used a pen to draw two eyes, a heart, and a smiley face on it, meant to represent himself. "Marcia, do you remember that one anime I found on Crunchyroll? The one about that guy who spent his entire life as a shut-in and wallowing in self-pity and trauma until his family finally got fed up with him and threw him out?"
"You mean Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation?" Marcia asked.
"Yeah, that's the one!" Comet said. "That guy realized that he had wasted his life and the chance to be happy, and, in the end, he died saving those teens from that oncoming truck. Yeah, he got reborn in a new world and got a second chance at life, but he would always carry that regret with him for as long as he lived. What would he say to you if he was here right now?"
"I don't know, Comet. What would Rudeus Greyrat say to me?" Marcia asked, unsure why she was even indulging Comet at this point.
"He would say that you shouldn't let your fears of what might happen stop you from wanting to be happy. It's just a little Demon curse. Don't let Naysaya keep you from being happy with your life. Besides, you never know. I'm sure that if you asked him out, Jackson would say yes."
When Marcia didn't respond to this, Comet let out a sigh. "Okay, so the door is cutting off the circulation to my finger, so I better go." As Comet tried to extricate his finger from underneath the door, he initially had trouble doing so. By the time he finally did so, his finger felt covered in pins and needles. "Ooh, tingly. "
As Marcia sat there and thought about what Comet said, the Naysaya spoke up. "He's a good friend."
Sighing as she sat upright on her bed, Marcia looked at the little curse on her neck. "Alright...what do you want?"
The Naysaya's smile was replaced by a frown as it looked at Marcia in confusion. "What?"
"What. Do I. Need to give you? To keep your mouth shut?"
Naysaya was taken aback by this. In all its existence, this was the first time anyone had asked it something like that. "M-Marcia wants to know what Naysaya wants? B-bu-but...no one has ever asked Naysaya what Naysaya wants." Naysaya couldn't help but get a sad look on its face as it said this.
Marcia raised an eyebrow at this. "Never?"
"No. Not once," Naysaya admitted. "No one ever asked Naysaya what Naysaya wants," the Naysaya reiterated. "They only want Naysaya to leave them alone."
Marcia felt sympathy for the curse for a moment, and she had to struggle to repress it. She couldn't start feeling sorry for this thing; it was trying to make her life miserable! "Well, dude, consider this your lucky day. What will it take for you to keep your big mouth shut long enough for me to ask Jackson out?"
The Naysaya thought about this momentarily and then hesitantly asked, "Can Naysaya ask for whatever he pleases?"
"As long as it's nothing pervy, anything you want. Just as long as you keep quiet enough for me to ask Jackson out."
"Then Naysaya would like...cereal."
Marcia arched an eyebrow at this. "Seriously? You can have almost anything you want, and you want...cereal?"
"Yes," the Naysaya admitted. "Naysaya has always wanted to try cereal since Naysaya heard about it."
Marcia was a little confused but didn't make any objections. "Okay. You can have cereal."
Moments later, Marcia was in the kitchen, pouring a bowl of Captain Blanche's Sugar Seeds for the Naysaya to eat. After scooping a spoonful of the cereal, she carefully moved the spoon toward the Naysaya, who seemed to flinch and panic for a few moments.
"Will... will... will it hurt?"
"Just make sure you chew with your teeth," Marcia told the curse as she began to feed it. For the next several minutes, Marcia continued to feed the talking growth on her neck, who eagerly enjoyed the cereal. Once the bowl was empty and the thing looked satisfied, Marcia wiped the milk off its face and spoke up again. "So, are we good? Also, why do you even need to eat? Can you even digest that stuff?"
"Yes, Marcia," Naysaya said with a sigh. "Naysaya is in your corner. Also, Naysaya... doesn't know how eating works for Naysaya." Naysaya then proceeded to get this weird, shell-shocked look on its face. "Naysaya is now questioning its very existence."
"O...kay?" Marcia was more than a little weirded out by this, but she didn't care that much. She had to get back to school.
Back at Echo Creek Academy...
"So, let me get this straight. The reason why that talking tumor sprouted out of Marcia's neck is because... it's a curse from a Demon?" Brittney asked Jonah as she tried to get her head around the whole concept
Standing against the locker door with his usual, half-lidded stare, Jonah gave a brief shrug. "Yeah, that pretty much sums it up."
"...Jesus Christ, how horrifying," was all Brittney managed to get out. "Do Demons really think that little of us?"
"Brittney, it seems like there are a lot of people in the rest of the Universe that don't hold a very high opinion of Humans," Comet said, his voice filled with sympathy. "As for the one responsible for doing this to Marcia, I can promise you that I'm going to have words with her later."
"Oh, don't be like that, Comet," Jonah said in response. "I mean, sure, your sexy-as-literal-Hell ex-girlfriend cursed Marcia. It's not the end of the world."
Brittney sighed as she heard this part. "Ordonia, I'm pretty sure this doesn't apply to you since I'm not even sure if you're Human yourself-"
"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. Who's to say, sweetheart?" Brittney chose to ignore that blatant attempt to irritate her as she continued.
"-but for us teenagers, having to reveal some of our deepest secrets is, like, a living nightmare! If people knew some of the things that I keep to myself, I would have to change my name and move to another state!"
"And if my parents knew half the stuff that I keep secret from them...well, let's just say I have several hiding spots for a reason," Comet added.
"The point is, it's hard to reveal your secrets to other people, even if they're the ones we want to be closest to," Brittney finished. "I just hope that Marcia can work up the nerve to do so."
"So do I, Brittney," came another voice from behind the trio. As the group of teenagers turned around, they were surprised to see themselves face to face with Marcia, fresh from a dimensional portal.
"Well, look who decided to come out of their bedroom," Jonah remarked, eliciting a glare from Brittney while Comet ran over to hug Marcia.
"Marcia! You're back! I knew that my motivational speech would do the trick!" the boy happily said while Marcia let a soft smile emanate from her face.
"Yeah...it kinda did. Thanks, Comet."
"Well, I'm just glad to see that you didn't chicken out of this like all the other times, Diaz," Brittney scoffed, much to Marcia's amusement. Brittney may have been acting like she didn't care, but Marcia knew she did. Besides, she wasn't wrong. She'd tried to confess to Jackson several times over the years, only to bail at the last second. And she probably saw a majority of them happen.
However, Brittney's tsundere act was cut short when she saw the long, blue scarf that Marcia was wearing around her neck. "Um, what's with that thing? Are you trying to start a new fashion trend, because I can give you pointers-"
Marcia shook her head at this. "No, no, Brittney. This is just to cover up the Naysaya. See?" Glancing around to see that no one else was looking, Marcia lowered the scarf just enough to let the Naysaya become visible.
"Hello," the Naysaya happily said. Brittney couldn't help but cringe.
"Ew. That thing still looks like a giant zit. Or a tumor."
"Aww, you flatter Naysaya," the Naysaya said as he batted his eyes at Brittney, which only weirded her out even further.
"Look, TL: DR, I bribed this guy...curse...thing with cereal, and it's gonna keep its mouth shut long enough for me to ask Jackson out. Right, Naysaya?" The Naysaya nodded to affirm Marcia's statement.
"Well, then, Juliet, you're in luck," Jonah said as he spoke up. "It just so happens that Jackson happens to sit right...over...there." Jonah then pointed towards the courtyard in the middle of Echo Creek Academy, where the school kept several trees to add ambiance. Sure enough, Jackson was sitting underneath one, his U-Board in one hand, phone in the other, as he listened to something on his earbuds.
Marcia felt her heart almost leap from her chest when she saw her longtime friend and crush sitting there. Even when he wasn't doing anything, Jackson looked so...hot! So perfect!
I need him so badly! Taking a deep breath before sighing, Marcia then covered her neck with the scarf. Letting out a hasty, "Wish me luck, guys," the young girl started walking towards Jackson while the others watched.
Comet audibly squeed as he watched his best friend approach the plate. "She's doing it, you guys!" he said with stars in his eyes. "Quick, guys. Should I make something encouraging to help? Or come up with some grand fireworks display to congratulate her?" Just as Comet got his Wand out, Brittney covered it with her hands.
"Uh-uh, your highness," Brittney said, her tone unusually serious, considering how she was talking to the guy she was crushing on (and it was taking a lot of willpower to keep from freaking out.) "This is something she's gotta do on her own; we can't interfere."
"Whatever you say, Wong," Jonah said as he pulled out his phone and a bucket of popcorn. "Whatever you say," he snickered. Before either teen could do anything, the Filipino boy had slunk off to enjoy the show.
"He-e-e-y, Jackson," Marcia nervously managed to get out of her mouth as she approached Jackson after what felt like an eternity. The boy paused whatever he was listening to as Marcia nervously walked towards him.
"Marcia, hey," Jackson said as he casually waved at his friend and classmate. As he was doing so, though, a look of confusion became apparent on his face as he saw what Marcia was wearing on her neck.
"Um, Marcia, why are you wearing that?" Jackson pointed in her direction, referring to the scarf she had wrapped around her neck.
Marcia hesitated. She honestly didn't know what excuse to give Jackson, so she just went with the first thing that came to mind. "It's, um, cold out."
Jackson's eyebrows arched as he gave Marcia a look that said to her, "Really? In this weather? That doesn't make much sense." Marcia quickly backpedaled, mentally cursing herself as she realized how stupid that explanation was. "I just thought I could try a new look for myself."
Jackson didn't say anything at first, but when he finally opened his mouth to respond, the first thing he asked was, "Are you sure you're alright, Diaz? You've been acting...weird all day."
Marcia couldn't help but feel the blood rush to her face as she thought back to everything that had happened so far today. Just thinking of how she had embarrassed herself several times made her stomach churn. Maybe this was a mistake, and she should-No, no, no! It's time to stop running!
Mentally reminding herself of what she came here to do, Marcia bravely strode forward on her quest for love. "I'm fine, Jackson, really. And thank you for worrying about me. It, um, means a lot. And actually, I wanted to talk to you about something." As Jackson kept quiet as he looked at Marcia, the girl got ready to ask the big question she'd wanted to ask for years. "I was thinking, well more like hoping, that it would be cool if we, uh...if we, that is to say, you and I...if we went on a-"
Before Marcia could finish talking, an all-too-familiar face started to speak up from underneath the scarf. "Oh-oh-oh, this is the Jackson Marcia practiced asking out in the mirror. Oh! And Marcia even used her pillow to pretend to make out with you!"
"Uhhh...what?" Jackson asked, his face a mixture of confusion and embarrassment, while Marcia's face turned a shade of red that no one thought was physically possible.
Off to the side, Comet and Brittney couldn't help but pale when they heard that last part. Elsewhere, Jonah was, for the umpteenth time that day, laughing his ass off and saying something about this being better than wrestling.
Panicking, Marcia quickly looked underneath her scarf and yelled, "¿Qué diablos, Naysaya?*" (*What the heck, Naysaya?) "You promised that you wouldn't do that!"
The Naysaya just gave Marcia a blank look and asked her, "Wha... what's a promise?"
Marcia swore that she felt nuclear bombs going off inside her head at that exact moment, while Jackson just looked at her, completely weirded out.
"Um, Marcia, are you sure you're alright?" Jackson asked in concern. "You're kinda freaking me out right now."
Marcia felt herself start to sweat from sheer nervousness at this point, but all she managed to say was, "Nothing! Nothing's wrong! I'm perfectly fine! No big secrets I'm keeping from you or anything because that would be so wrong, right!"
"Oh, oh, oh! Marcia is worried that if she gets shot down by Jackson right now, then they can never go back to being friends and-"
"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Marcia more or less shouted at Naysaya, wanting it to be quiet before it humiliated her even further. From anyone else's perspective, though, it looked like Marcia was mentally breaking down. And Jonah was enjoying every second of it as he got it in 4K on his phone.
"Okay, this is getting too weird for me," Jackson finally admitted. "Maybe I should just go home."
Go home...go home...go home...go home...
Marcia's mind felt like it was shattering in two at this. She had failed again. She tried so hard to work up the nerve to ask out Jackson, only to be stopped by a dumb curse. In her mind, Marcia felt herself going through a whirlwind of negative emotions. One second, she wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. The next, she wanted to scream and curse the powers almighty for doing this to her. But worst of all, she was mad at how unfair this was. She was finally ready to take the next step with Jackson, only to get blocked by the stupid, annoying little Naysaya. It wasn't fair! Why should she have to go through this?!
As Marcia felt all those negative emotions swirl around inside her mind and destroy her self-esteem, a single, comforting light pierced through the mental fog: the advice that Comet had given her earlier that day.
You shouldn't let your fears of what might happen stop you from wanting to be happy.
At this point, Marcia felt the uncertainty give way to clarity as she knew that Comet was right. She wanted to be with Jackson, and nothing, not even a talking neck tumor, would keep that from happening.
As Jackson walked past the girl, he felt himself involuntarily stopping dead in his tracks, followed by the sound of a soft "Wait." Curious, Jackson looked over his shoulder to see Marcia standing behind him, her hand holding his arm with a soft yet unshakeable grip, even as Marcia kept looking downwards at the ground rather than at him.
"Marcia?" Jackson was a little taken aback. This was a surprisingly bold act coming from the likes of Marcia Diaz. Still, he had enough sense of mind to hear her out because it looked like she had something important to say to him.
Marcia took a deep breath to steady herself. "The truth is, Jackson, I'm not fine. I've been acting weird all day because I've been trying to work up the nerve to finally ask you out" Marcia didn't bother to hide the blush on her face as she said this, "-but I haven't able to because I've been dealing with this." With her free hand, Marcia unfurled the scarf and let it fall to the ground, revealing the Naysaya.
"Hello!" the little Demon curse cheerfully said to Jackson, who couldn't help but let a gasp escape his mouth. The students who had currently stopped whatever it was they were doing to gawk at the goings-on, though...most of them screamed.
"AHAHAHAHAHHAAHAA!"
Except for Jonah. He laughed it up.
"What the heck is that thing?!" Jackson said as he began to shout uncharacteristically.
Choosing to ignore the gasping of the peanut gallery (and swearing to make Jonah suffer for being a jerk later), Marcia began to explain. "This thing is a demonic curse that I've been dealing with all day today whose only reason for existing seems to be blabbing people's secrets to everyone in earshot range. Comet's crazy ex-girlfriend put on me put off an even crazier, convoluted plan to keep me from asking him out because, evidently, not only is she even more insecure about her love life than I am, but she can't get it through her three-eyed skull that we're just platonic best friends!"
"Oh, oh, Marcia thinks that the next time she sees Tamara Lucitor, she should spray her with holy water like she planned, but won't do it because then people will think her no better!"
"And this thing!" Marcia said as she pointed at the Naysaya. "I thought that I had gotten him to promise to keep his big mouth shut, but as it turns out, he doesn't even understand the simple concept of a promise!"
"Oh, oh, oh, Marcia thinks that she should...that she should..." the Naysaya tried to finish what it wanted to say, but as it did whatever it did to learn Marcia's secrets and thoughts, it started to grow a little pale. Right now, all of Marcia's thoughts seemed to concern itself...and it didn't like what it saw. "Marcia wouldn't do that to Naysaya, would she?"
"Can and will," Marcia said as she glared at the curse, making it shrink slightly in fear. It had seen a lot of things over the millennia from the many people it called host, but this was a new experience: anger at Naysaya.
Allowing herself another moment to take a deep breath as she let her years of meditation training take over, Marcia allowed the anger she felt to subside. In its place rose a new feeling: determination.
"Look, Jackson, I'm sorry that I've been making things...awkward for us ever since the sleepover," Marcia apologized to the skater boy. "I know I should've said something sooner, but I didn't know what to say. If I should say anything. I mean, admitting my crush on you the way I did...had to be one of the most embarrassing moments of my entire life."
"Oh, oh," the Naysaya started to say, "was it even more embarrassing than-"
"-Then the fact that I still have the lion plushie that my parents got for me when I was a baby? Yes, and for the record, his name's Esteban, and I don't have the heart to throw him out!" Marcia admitted.
"What is she doing?" Brittney whispered to Comet, who couldn't help but watch with glee.
"She's finally stepping up," the Prince of Mewni squeed.
"Oh, oh, oh, or about that fact that-"
"-That I almost burned down the house one time because I forgot to take the spoon out of a bowl of soup before I put it in the microwave? I almost ruined the thing and nearly let my Dad get the blame for it because I was too embarrassed!"
"And, and, and-"
"And that I don't always wear shorts underneath my skirts. Sometimes I like to go around wearing panties with cherry blossoms, and ninja's on them, no matter how childish they may look? Or how Comet accidentally saw me wearing them when I had to save his life from this giant beaked-Monster?"
"Did that actually happen?" Brittney asked Comet, who nodded in affirmation.
"She saved me from getting sent to prison by a maniac."
Marcia wasn't going to stop now that she'd gotten started.
"And even though everyone seems to think Spanish is like second nature to me, it's not. I came close to flunking Spanish in middle school and had to have my Dad tutor me! Me! I mean, I'm a straight A-student, and until a week ago, I thought the state of denial was an actual State in America!" Marcia freely admitted. "And don't even get me started on long division, which I can't do on my own. Go ahead! Someone give me an example!"
"Umm, 724 divided by 37?" Jonah quickly said, to which Marcia shrugged.
"I don't freaking know? Why do we even need to do that in our heads anymore? We can just use our phones to do it for us!"
"Yeah," Naysaya said, trying to regain control of the situation. "But did you also know that-"
"-that I sometimes dream about the two of us spending a romantic vacation on a tropical island in nothing but hula getup? Because I'm a healthy teenage girl, and I'm willing to bet that most of us have had dreams like that!"
"FACTS!" Jonah admitted.
"And that thing about my bra size? That was true, too. Sometimes I wonder if this is as big as they're gonna get!" Marcia said as she gestured at her chest. "And whenever he see what Brittney, Aqua, Tammy, and even Sabrina have going for them, I get jealous!" she admitted, catching Brittney a little off-guard.
"And you wanna know what my biggest fear is? That in the grand scheme of things, what we do in life won't matter much. That we're just specks in this vast Universe who will have no true impact on the wider cosmos and nothing that we do in life truly matters! That we're all just players on the absurd stage that we call life!"
"Wow. That was...that was pretty deep, Marcia," Jackson admitted.
Letting out a huge breath, Marcia allowed the emotional adrenaline in her body to wear off. "There it is, Jackson Lee Thomas. All of my insecurities and fears. You know everything now." Marcia then looked at the Naysaya. "Unless I missed something."
For the first time, the Naysaya didn't say anything. No smart remarks or smug comments. "No, Marcia. That was...everything."
"Okay, then," Marcia said before looking back at Jackson. "Jackson Lee Thomas, there is something I've been wanting to ask you for a long time: will you go out with me, and will you be my boyfriend?"
Jackson blushed as he looked at Marcia. He had known her for years now, and this was probably the most confident that he had ever seen the girl be. He was kind of into it. Plus, he still remembered everything that he talked about with Comet and Brittney earlier in the day. So, without thinking about it for a second longer, Jackson gave Marcia his answer:
"Yes, Marcia. I'll go out with you. Maybe we can try practicing your skating skills some more this Friday? And go see the new Spider-Man film together? I hear it's amazing, no pun intended."
"I would like that," Marcia admitted.
"Cool," Jackson said with a smile that made Marcia's heart skip a beat. "It's a date. I'll see you Friday." With that, Jackson got on his U-Board and began to hover away, leaving Marcia in a daze over what she had just accomplished.
"MARCIA!"
Until, that is, Comet came barreling over to her and tackled her to the ground like an overly-energetic dog.
"YOU DID IT! You did it, you did it, you did it, you did it, you did it, you did it!" Comet kept saying as he trapped Marcia in a bear hug.
"Yes, I know, Comet! Now can you stop before you break something?" Marcia managed to get out, prompting the boy to release his unintentional death grip.
"Sorry! But I'm just so happy for you! I even got fireworks ready and everything!"
"Please don't. I don't want this moment to get ruined," Marcia adamantly stated.
"I got to admit, that was pretty impressive," Jonah said as he waltzed over to the two. "And, don't worry about the footage," he added as he held up his phone. "I deleted it," he said as he removed the footage he took of Marcia's embarrassing moments from this day off his phone. "BTW, call me if it doesn't work out."
"Not a chance, Ordonia," Marcia bluntly said, eliciting a smirk from the Filipino.
"Marcia Diaz, that had to be one of the craziest thing's I've ever seen you do," Brittney Wong said as she joined them. "And I don't think I've ever felt so proud to have you as a friend," she said as she held out her hand, which Marcia shook.
"Friend? So we're going right into that?"
"Yep. We're friends, Marcia," Brittney admitted. "That's right! Marcia Diaz is my friend! Anyone got a problem with that?" the Wong girl shouted to the crowd that had been cheering and clapping the entire time.
"So, what now?" Marcia asked the Naysaya. "The curse is fulfilled. Do you just go away or flake off or something?"
"Actually...Naysaya was wondering if Naysaya could stick around until Friday. Naysaya wants to see how Marcia's date goes," The Naysaya admitted, prompting a sigh from Marcia.
"Fine. But I'm warning you. If you try anything else, I will have Comet blast you off with his Wand."
"I'll do it. You know I will," Comet said as he cocked his Wand like a gun.
Spongebob Narrator: A few days later...
"Whooaaaa!" For the umpteenth time that afternoon, Marcia found herself falling off the skateboard and falling flat on her back. "Ouch. Okay, that hurt."
"No, no. You're actually doing better. The number of times you've fallen off has gone down," Jackson said as he looked over her. "It may takes some work, but you'll get there."
"I hope so. I have you as a teacher, after all," Marcia said as she tried to flirt with her new boyfriend, making him chuckle.
"I can't argue with that, I guess," Jackson said as he held out his hand to bring Marcia to her feet, prompting her to blush.
"Oh, oh, oh. Marcia's start to get-" the Naysaya started to say, only to be cut off by a glare from Marcia.
"Remember who's watching you right now," Marcia simply stated. In the corner near some bunches, Comet Dragonfly hid while wearing a ghillie suit, his Wand trained on the Naysaya. The Naysaya wisely chose to shut its mouth, allowing Marcia to enjoy the rest of her date in peace.
*At a beach in Florida, Jay and the others are busy relaxing. Jay's working on a tan, Janna's making a sandcastle meant to resemble the Red Keep from Game of Thrones, Rex is daring the local wildlife to fight him, Kermit and Nappa are wrestling with alligators, and everyone's enjoying themselves. Jay then turns to look at the readers.*
Jay: Ahh, I needed this. And Marcia to do what she finally did in this chapter. I just hope I managed to provide a satisfying payoff to everything I've been building up between Marcia and Jackson. I planned this from the start of the story and made sure to have Marcia and Jackson actively interact with each other to give this relationship upgrade greater meaning. It'll make even better when things hit the fan, if you ask me.
DAU Kermit: Was the holy really necessary, though?
Jay:...Yes. What Tammy did was wrong, and she needed to be taught a lesson. Besides, she's spent so much time scaring Marcia that it was time for her to be on the receiving end for once. But enough about that. Right now, all I wanna do is enjoy my vacation. The last time I got to stay on a beach was before COVID hit, and I'm not about to waste this opportunity. But first, let's respond to
READERS REVIEWS
Ted Glass-Yeah, Buff Frog is a good Dad. And yeah, I think Marcia got her point across to Tammy. Now the Demon Princess knows better than to piss her off.
Guest-No, Ludo didn't kidnap the Buff Babies from anyone. Except for the orphanage he took them from, I mean.
LockAndKey989-How's that for a role?
The Wandering Hippie-The whole point of that arc was to show that, for all his faults, Comet's good at being a parent.
NightAroma-Sadly, I fear the Star vs. fandom is either dead or moved on. That is understandable, given it's been four years now. But I'm going to keep writing this fanfic for as long as I can. It's great practice as a writer. And look, Eternia is now voiced by Corey Burton. Case. Closed.
You know what to do: fave and follow this story, and follow me on Twitter (JZ-Gaming), Insta (RJ Writing Ink), and YouTube (Jungoguy)
Next chapter, we're going to see some people that I've been dying to include. Don't tell Omni, though. It's a surprise!
