Starco vs Parenthood Introduction - These chapters can be read separately but they are all connected. It's always the same Star & Marco, same kids, same world.
I'm trying something different this time. For this chapter I'm rolling up my stories from the August & October 2021 r/StarVStheForcesofEvil Writing Contests into a single chapter. The themes were 'Back to School' & 'Mewni Halloween'.
This starts 21 years after the Cleave. Star & Marco are 36, their daughter is 14 and son is 11. You might want to read the chapters 'Death in the Meat Aisle' & 'Queen and King' if you haven't already since they kind of relate but who am I to tell you what to do?
Favs, reviews, and constructive feedback are all really helpful. Thanks!
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Chapter 28 - Making Everything Right
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Post-Cleave Halloween. The Earth tradition is still the same as it was twenty years ago if you don't count the huge popularity it's gained with monsters and mewmans. The only real changes are subtle. One example, if you're too large to safely ring a doorbell you generally shouldn't go trick-or-treating. Another is that traditional 'monster' outfits aren't always a politically correct costume choice. To make up for this there are more kids in sports uniforms, career related clothing, and young people dressing up like their real life heroes.
"Happy Halloween everyone! Have a good night!"
Within the Mewni Territories, in the great hall of Butterfly Castle, Star Butterfly waves goodbye to the dispersing crowd of costumed citizens before retreating to the tower that serves as her family's private apartment. Upon entering she makes sure the door is locked before letting her shoulders slump and her well practiced royal smile fade. It had been a long day. From under her enormous dress she kicks off her boots, letting them fall at the foot of the stairs before ascending up to the second floor. In the first room off the landing Star walks to a comfortable chair before flopping down exhausted, her puffy gown spilling out in all directions.
"MARCO! STOP WORKING! FEET! TOES NEED ATTENTION!"
Although she had taken over for her mother and Eclipsa only two months before, all of this was familiar. The smiles, the waves, the speeches, she had been doing them all for decades. The difference with the new position, there was more of it. A lot more of it. Her role as queen was mostly ceremonial but she knew she had an important part to play with convincing mewmans and monsters that it's finally safe to take the next important step toward full Earth-Mewni integration and making everything right.
"...sorry, hold on one second. On a call your highness!"
Star mumbled several corn related obscenities as she struggled to pull off her long socks. The first came off fine but the second was giving her so much trouble she had to take a break. As she waited for her feet to stop throbbing the new queen instead focused on letting her hair out of a disheveled bun.
At the other end of the room Marco stands in front of three large monitors. One contained a multi-colored map of the southwestern US, the second a thirty tab spreadsheet filled with graphs while the third held chat windows, each with text moving almost too quickly to read. "Yes, I need them canvasing right up to the edge of LA county. I also want half our reserves working Greater Spiderbite. We need to take it by fifteen if we want-" The 36 year old campaign manager for 'Mewni, the 51st State' paused and looked back at his wife after being pelted in the back of the head by a throw pillow. "Sorry Hornanne, I have to go. The boss just sent me a high priority meeting request."
"... ..."
"Hey, tell you sister I'd appreciate it if she didn't refer to me as the Mewni campaign turd during her next TV appearance."
"..."
"Thanks. Good night."
After taking off the headphones and rubbing his eyes the ceremonial king of the Mewni Territories walks over to his queen so he can sit on the floor before her. He removes the one floppy half-on sock before starting to apply pressure to his wife's right heel. It takes a minute but finally Star is able to take a few deep breaths and relax.
"Mmmm...that's better. I was thinking that it was more of a Cushion Blast than a meeting request."
"At least it wasn't a Narwhal Blast. So, was the party difficult after I left?"
"Yes and no. Nothing bad happened but it feels like everything wears me out way too easily these days. It's your fault you know, having a baby in here makes me way more...more..."
"More Star?" He looks up at his wife's face, proud of his reply.
She just closed her eyes, ignoring his insolence. "Totally your fault."
"You know if it wasn't my fault I'd be really upset right now, I'd have a lot of questions."
"Whatever. You just keep working that arch."
He turned his attention back to the foot in hand. "Sorry I never made it back down to the event. Thing 2 did not want to go to bed after eating that candy. Once I got him settled I made the mistake of looking at the updated voting projections. Yeah, I shouldn't have done that."
"Is Thing 1 home yet?"
"Nope. Last message I got said she was going to help get candy for monsters too scared to go trick-or-treating."
"That's our girl...mmmm...always helping."
"When she's not causing trouble, she's a good kid."
"Speaking of kids, any changes with the campaign?"
"Nope. Numbers are all the same so I'm still predicting a win Tuesday. But you know how quickly things can change."
"I know it'll take a whole year after this passes but I can't wait until statehood is done and we can finally be a family again." A half-smile crept onto Star's face thanks to her husband's careful touch.
"Until then, maybe we should cut back on the morning workouts. This used to be the time of night when you were just getting started and now you're always tired. Hey, are you going to be okay for tomorrow? Remember what we need to do in the morning?"
"I know, I know. Drop pumpkin off in the Underworld, campaign with Tom for the day...kiss tacos...eat babies. O-oh Marco! Right there, keep rubbing that spot!"
"Hun...eat tacos, kiss babies?"
"If you want to get technical, no kissing but they do like it when you shake babies in the Underworld. Totally different rules down there."
"Another reason why we shouldn't have let our little girl be an Underworld exchange student."
"Fourteen Marco and you know she's doing fine...mostly. Okay, I admit I'm a little worried. You know, I figured if she was home to visit we'd be spending all our time together. Instead it seems like she's avoiding us."
Marco scooted over and began working the other foot. "All part of growing up I guess."
"She's changing so fast and yet I still want her to be our little baby." Star let out a long sigh. "Remember how cute she was at five? Her first day of kindergarten seems like it was yesterday."
"Oh I remember that day. It would be hard to forget an afternoon like that."
As he pushed into his wife's heel their thoughts drifted back to a simpler time, just nine years earlier.
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First Day
Thirty minutes outside of Echo Creek, Star and Marco are holding hands as they walk through the halls of the local elementary school. After a few turns the couple enters a large open room that has been decorated for the first day.
"Marco, this is so exciting! It's just like we're going back to school."
"We're here as parents Star, this is not at all like we're going back to school."
"You smell that? It takes me right back to Echo Creek Academy."
"Industrial strength disinfectant?"
"Is that what it is?"
The former knight of Mewni gave Star's hand a squeeze before leading her through the classroom. "You know, for a girl who hated public school you seem really excited to be back in one."
"Totally hated it but it's weird. Being here for her first day makes me kind of miss it too. Also, I would have enjoyed high school way more if we had an indoor sandbox and a corner full of educational toys. Really, they should have this in every classroom."
"What's weird is that they needed to meet with us. The schedule said introductory teacher conferences aren't until next week."
"Think Marco, she must be so smart her teacher is blown away. I kind of wished we named her Bright so she could be the Bright-est Butterfly. Get it!"
"-Bright- really? She has a beautiful name. I'm really glad we named her after..."
"GOOD AFTERNOON MS. BUTTERFLY, MR. DIAZ. AND HERE I THOUGHT BY MOVING OUT OF ECHO CREEK I'D FINALLY BE RID OF YOU TWO DELINQUENTS."
"Skullzy!?"
Sure enough it was Miss Skullnick. She was sitting at the far end of the room behind an ancient wooden desk. The human turned troll looked exactly like she did the last time Star and Marco saw her ten years before.
"What happened to Mr. Miller? We met him last week during orientation."
"SEEMS THE OLD MAN WON THE MEWNI-MEGA-BUCKS AND MOVED TO A PIE ISLAND CONDO FASTER THAN A MEWMAN CAN SHUCK CORN. THEN FOR SOME REASON I LET THEM PULL ME OUT OF RETIREMENT UNTIL THEY FIND A REPLACEMENT. HAD I KNOWN I'D BE SEEING THE TWO OF YOU HERE I WOULD'VE PRETENDED TO BE DEAD."
"Ah...nice to see you too Miss Skullnick."
"NOW, LET'S TALK ABOUT THE REASON I CALLED YOU IN SO I CAN GET BACK TO MY NAILS."
Marco was the first to guess. "You want to talk about the lack of consistent funding for our education system?"
"You need us to speak to the class about Monster rights or Earth-Mewni integration?"
"NO YOU IDIOTS, IT'S YOUR DAUGHTER!"
Star bit her lower lip as she prepared for the worst. "Oh corn, what did she do?"
"WHERE DO I START! LET'S SEE, DURING THE FIRST PLAY PERIOD SHE TOLD TWO OF THE OTHER STUDENTS THAT IF THEY GO OUTSIDE AT HOME THEY WERE GOING TO GET RUN OVER BY INVISIBLE GOATS."
Marco raised a finger as he spoke. "That could happen in theory."
"WHEN I TOOK THE KIDS OUTSIDE TO INTRODUCE THEM TO THE PLAYGROUND SHE GAVE SEVERAL STUDENTS A LESSON ON HOW TO BAIT WARNICORNS USING AN APPLE, THREE PAPER CLIPS, AND A PROTEIN BAR."
"Well, my father taught her that. They really enjoy their camping trips together."
"THEN AT LUNCH YOUR GIRL TRADED HER FOOD TO OTHER STUDENTS UNTIL SHE HAD EVERYTHING SHE NEEDED TO MAKE A SODA VOLCANO. YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THE MESS IN THE CAFETERIA AFTER."
A scowl formed on Marco's face as he shook his head. "Who sends their kindergarteners to school with soda?"
"LATER SHE WROTE OUT INGREDIENTS FOR SOMETHING CALLED A BAKING SODA AND VINEGAR LUNCHBOX BOMB. EVIDENTLY SOME OF THE KIDS PLAN ON BRINGING EVERYTHING TO SCHOOL TOMORROW SO THEY CAN MAKE ONE IN CLASS."
"Well, that seems pretty creative."
"AND THEN TO TOP IT ALL OFF, SHE CAST SOME SORT OF RITUAL IN THE BATHROOM THAT LET HER TALK TO A DEMON!"
"Did she do it in the toilet?"
The troll threw her arms up in the air in disbelief. "SO YOU KNEW ABOUT THIS!?"
"I-I'm so sorry Miss Skullnick. She's had some issues when she was at daycare, and at pre-school, and at home but we thought we were on the other side of them."
"LISTEN, I'VE SEEN THIS BEFORE. SHE'S A BRIGHT KID BUT SHE'S TROUBLE. BIG TROUBLE. MOST KIDS START KINDERGARTEN NOT EVEN KNOWING ALL THEIR LETTERS AND THE FACT THAT SHE'S WRITING SENTENCES BY HERSELF IS IMPRESSIVE. BUT IF THIS IS THE TYPE OF BEHAVIOUR I'LL BE DEALING WITH EVERYDAY I'M NOT SURE SHE'S READY FOR THIS. I KNOW I'M NOT READY FOR THIS."
"I see that the kids are out on the playground. Since the school day is almost over, is it okay if we call her in and talk to her? Maybe this is just some big misunderstanding."
"DEMONIC RITUALS ARE JUST A MISUNDERSTANDING? WHAT'S NEXT, SUMMONING DRAGONS DURING NAP TIME? YOU TWO STAY HERE, I'LL GO GET HER. I SO SHOULD HAVE TAKEN THAT THIRD GRADE TEACHER JOB IN THE CLOUD KINGDOM, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN WAY EASIER THAN THIS. MAYBE I COULD HAVE MET A CUTE SINGLE HORSE-HEAD THERE."
As the human turned troll walked out the door to the playground, Star and Marco sat down in the tiny student sized chairs stunned.
"I'm sorry Star. I'm the worst father ever."
"What!?"
"I-I've raised a Janna."
"Marco!"
"This is all my fault."
"How could this be your fault? She's just a really smart kid who forgets to ask before she does stuff. I never asked before doing stuff when I was her age...I kind of still don't."
"I bet she's smarter than Janna was at five. She won't just steal wallets, in a couple of years she'll be taking money directly out of our checking account."
"She's a good kid! She's just a little different. They don't have detention in kindergarten, do they?"
"I bet it's all of Janna's 'free' babysitting that caused this. Maybe Janna's been using all this time with our pumpkin to start creating the next generation of super-Jannas. Instead of earning a high school diploma she'll graduate an expert in Jannanigans."
"Would you please stop, you're having a total Marco moment over this. Janna is not that bad. You know, she did stop her heart so we could be together. She literally died for us!"
"Should we just get our girl a beanie now? I wonder if Needles is still around and needs more tennis balls."
"No matter what happens she is still our daughter and we love her. Don't you dare forget that!"
"I love her but at least we have her brother. He can be our second chance of getting a good kid out of all this."
"Shh...here she comes, let me do the talking. You're being way too weird."
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The outside door opens revealing a long haired five-year-old who casually steps into the classroom. While the girl collects her backpack and lunch box from the wall cubbies Miss Skullnick stands in the doorway watching.
"Hi mommy. Hi Marco."
"Hi pumpkin! How was your day today?"
The young girl shrugged her shoulders. "Fine."
"Fine? Your first day of kindergarten and it was just fine? Can you tell me a little bit about what you did?"
"Can we get Chinese for dinner? I'm hungry."
"Hun, did you scare some of the other students with talk about Invisible Goats today?"
"Yup."
"Okay. Well...so why?"
"Some of the kids said they sneak out of their houses without telling anyone and I didn't think that was safe. I told them about the Invisible Goats to scare them into listening to their parents."
"Huh, okay. It might not be a good idea to scare other kids but I get it, you want them to be safe. So, did you try to lure a warnicorn into the school's playground?"
"Yup, Lexi said she wanted to see a warnicorn for her birthday. We got one close enough to look at but one of the teachers scared him before Lexi could get to the window."
"That was good, doing something nice for someone's birthday but I'm not sure if the playground is the best place for a warnicorn. And the soda volcano at lunch?"
"Some kids had all this soda and I didn't want them to be all hyper just before nap so I traded two of daddy's chicken tacos for them. Then to make sure they give me their sodas next time I give them a show."
"How about the baking soda and vinegar lunchboxes?"
"One of the kids said that their older cousin picked on him this morning and stole part of his lunch. I wanted to show him how to set a trap. It won't hurt anyone but it should give the bully a good scare."
From the doorway Miss Skullnick shook her head, not believing what she was hearing. "YOU WERE TALKING TO A DEMON THROUGH THE TOILET, YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY HAVE A GOOD EXCUSE FOR THAT!"
The girl looked over to her teacher while nonchalantly putting on her backpack. "I was calling my friend Angel. She starts kindergarten tomorrow and I wanted to let her know it's going to be okay. She's been scared so I told her how my day went. One of the things I said was that if she has a good teacher she might even have fun." As she finished her sentence the young girl looked the troll up and down trying to figure out if her troll teacher got the hint.
Star gave a half-smile as she turned to speak to her former high-school instructor. "Angel is a five-year-old half-demon we know. I used to date her brother and the girls are good friends. So Skullzy, are we good here?"
"CAN YOU AT LEAST GET HER TO WARN ME FIRST BEFORE SHE DECIDES TO HELP OUT? I'M NOT GOING TO MAKE IT IF I HAVE TO DEAL WITH A FULL YEAR OF THIS."
"You hear that hun? It's good of you to help other kids but maybe warn your teacher first. Running a classroom can be tough for them if they don't know what's going on. Also please listen to Skullzy if she says no."
"I guess I can. I'm feeling kind of done, can we leave now?"
"Sure." Turning to her husband, she gives him a light elbow to the ribs. "Do you have anything to add to this mess?"
Marco spoke with tears of happiness forming in the corner of his eyes. "Pumpkin, I love you so much right now. I always wanted a kid who's a good helper. Let's go pickup your brother from daycare and we'll get whatever you want for dinner."
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As the family walked hand-in-hand-in-hand to the car the five-year-old Butterfly did have one final thought about school.
"Mommy, do you think Miss Skullnick would be happier if she had a boyfriend or girlfriend? She seems kind of grumpy and she spends a lot of time talking about how she doesn't have someone."
"Are you thinking we should find someone to ship her with?"
"Ship? Well, I guess."
"Oh! You're like the perfect daughter today!"
"Mom, stop being so weird."
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In the present, back in their tower apartment, a showered Queen Butterfly is lying face down in bed with a towel wrapped around her wet hair. While waiting for her husband she continues thinking about her two children and the one on the way. Once Marco arrives he pulls the sheets back just far enough to uncover her shoulders and wings before starting to rub her sore muscles.
"Thank you. You have no idea how many people wanted to get their picture taken with me today. That dress I was wearing, great for hiding a baby bump but really heavy and not at all comfortable."
"You just relax. Karate hands are here to help."
"Maybe it is time to cut back on the sparring. It's not fun anyway when you won't swing back at me."
"And why won't I?"
She let out a short sigh before replying. "~Because I'm a good daddy and I don't want to accidentally hurt the ba-by~." Star closed her eyes as he pushed harder into her shoulders. "Mmm...that feels really relaxing. I don't get why you're so good to me."
"Advice from my father, always be extra nice when your wife is pregnant."
"But you're always extra nice. Mmmm...so...is the boy asleep?"
"Yup."
"Good. And the girl is finally home?"
"Nope."
"Argh, that kid! She knows she's not supposed to be out this late!"
"Star, do you remember what we were doing late Halloween night when we were her age?"
"You were probably dreaming about kissing your precious Jackie instead of hanging out with me."
"No, we were cleaning up the mess in my parent's house after SOMEONE summoned Hungry Larry."
The queen just giggled. "Oh yeah. Hey, that was a fun night! So are you saying that you didn't like spending Halloween inside of a monster's belly?"
"I remember drool Star. Lots and lots of drool. So was summoning him your idea or Janna's?"
"Totally mine but Janna was a good accomplice." Star let out a sigh. "I miss our little girl tonight."
"Tell you what, if she's not home in ten minutes I'll give her another call. For now you just lay there and relax."
"Thank you. I try to be a chill mom but I wanted to give her a big hug before bed. I keep telling myself that if she's out helping I shouldn't worry but...yeah...I still do. Anyway...lucky for us she'll never get into as much trouble as we did."
Marco smiled at his wife before bending down and placing a kiss on her cheek. "As you did hun. As you did."
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A Spell with No Name
An hour earlier, on the other side of town, most children are enjoying Halloween.
"This house is the worst. Who wants a toothbrush or a coupon for carrots?"
"Screw this, I'm done walking everywhere for candy. Let's find some loser monsters and take theirs."
The two brothers wearing cardboard Solarian Warrior armor scan the crowd of trick-or-treaters for easy pickings. Their eyes soon fall on a young slime dressed as Abraham Lincoln and a kappa pretending to be the Statue of Liberty. After nodding in agreement the 'Warriors' approach their unsuspecting victims.
"Hey slimy Abe. That candy bag looks pretty heavy. I think I'm going to have to carry it for you. Same for you feathered Liberty."
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Five minutes later the young monsters are still trying to pull themselves out of a bush while the 'Solarians' are blocks away examining their loot.
"Nice, this kid had some king-size chocolate bars."
"Dude, this bag has three of them! We should do that again."
"If you're looking for something better, they're giving out cans of soda down at 667 Glossaryck Road starting at nine. The good stuff too, not the store brands."
The brothers looked around to see where the advice was coming from but in the darkness they couldn't make out more than a single kid with their hood up quickly walking in the other direction.
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8:55 PM and several groups are still wandering the road known for its strangely decorated blue homes. Because of the time, most of the houses lights are off but the festively decorated 650 Glossaryck Road is still giving out single serve containers of pudding.
667 however is different. Set back far away from the road, a row of trees and thick bushes make it hard to see the front door from the sidewalk. What is visible is a large digital clock hanging from the garage that flashes the current time. Staring at it from the curb is an odd assortment of costumed teenagers, all lured by the promise of free soda. Three are Solarian Warriors with costumes ranging from the aforementioned cardboard suits to a professional cosplay worthy outfit with built-in stilts that give the wearer an impressive height of six and a half feet, a 'Mewman' with a fake torch and pitchfork, and of course a 'Mina' complete with metal helm and long flowing pigtails. Approaching the group is a human dressed as a 'Frog Man' who has somehow managed to get a sword to look like it is sticking out of his chest.
Studying him with monster-hating disgust, the tallest warrior raised her visor revealing a fifteen year old girl. "What the hell are you supposed to be?"
The green painted teen laid down on his back before replying. "I'm the only good monster...a dead monster."
The kids practically fell over laughing before helping the boy up and complimenting him on his creativity. With the clock hitting 8:58 PM the tallest warrior made her move, "I don't know about all of you but I'm getting me some soda."
The driveway was far from straight and seemed to meander through the yard. Half-way down some of the teenagers began to realize that the overhanging trees blocked out the night sky above. To add to the spookiness the street lamps behind the rabble began to flicker. At 9:00 PM the trick-or-treaters were just ten feet from the door. At that range it became clear that something was amiss. Although a few lights were on nothing could be seen inside the house other than empty walls, cobwebs, and peeling paint.
"Hey, Dead-Frog-Man, you go knock. I didn't come this whole way for nothing."
"Are you sure? This place looks abandoned."
"Dude, I said knock!"
With some trepidation the green painted kid inched toward the front step while slowly reaching for the doorbell.
Just before his finger touched the button, the world went black.
"Who turned off the lights?" Said the brothers at the same time.
"Ah! I smell a stink bomb!"
"We have to go!" Yelled the 'dead monster'.
"I can't see where to go? Who has a flashlight?"
"It's not working!"
Before their flight response could fully kick in, a loud voice stopped them in their tracks. "There were two that fought long ago…" The tone was that of an old woman or maybe it was digitized, the kids didn't know for sure. What they did know is that it was coming from all directions.
"What?"
"Who said that?"
"...one with a blade, fist, and toe…" The sound was moving now, each word coming from a different location. The beginnings of a low moaning also joined in. Not seeing the source, their imaginations told them that it could only be a thousand year old demon slowly waking up to feed. This was followed by the whirling of blades moving through the air and the falling of candy from their now sliced opened bags.
"...the other had wings on which to fly…" Strobe lights began to fire, each flash revealing the outline of a person sized butterfly figure whose shape vaguely matched the drawings of the golden winged Star that everyone knew from their sixth grade history books. As the form danced around the group they could tell that the moans were coming from the two swords that constantly moved above the demon-butterfly's head. During the darkness, in-between flashes, the blades were cutting costumes to ribbons, slicing holes into clothes, and just barely leaving scratches on the children's smooth young skin. As the victims screamed, the strobe lights stopped.
"...but I'm the spell that makes you DIE!"
The figure stood on the top step with wings and face bursting alight. Had the children been born before magic was destroyed, they might have had a chance to see the Spell With No Name. If they had, or if they had seen the destruction it had caused they would have instantly recognized what was now before them. The unfurled wings were filled with a million points of purple light while a glowing white skull emotionlessly stared down its prey.
The street lights flashed back on, a beacon of hope for those about to be consumed. "RUN! IT'S GONNA KILL US!"
The slowest in the group felt blades again tearing at their clothes. Even Mina's pigtails were removed, each by a single cut. As the children sprinted down the street the tallest of them, in what was now ruined Solarian armor, screamed in pain as blood seeped out of her left hand.
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Three blocks away Star & Marco's fourteen year old daughter places two large duffle bags into the backseat of a black SUV before jumping into the passenger seat next to her favorite adult.
"Did you want one with or without nuts?"
"Without."
The teen nods to her Aunty Janna while pulling a king sized chocolate bar out of a hoodie pocket. Once the thirty-six year old woman has it in hand, she opens the wrapper and takes a single bite before driving away. As she steers, the beanie wearing grownup decides to kick off the conversation by talking about what just happened.
"That was dark dude. I know dark and that was definitely dark."
"Yeah, I should have left the demon swords at home. They wanted to feed tonight...probably because it's Halloween."
"Even without them, that was more vengeful than I expected."
"Aunty Janna, thanks for running the lights a-and you know, having my back."
"Did you grab the clock?"
"Yup. It's in the props bag. I got everything."
"You know what I always say, no evidence is good evidence."
While replaying the events in her head the Butterfly child looked out into the darkness searching for costumed kids who still might be out seeking candy.
"So was it one of the swords that decided to take a finger or was that you?"
The girl cringed a little. "Y-you saw that on the cam?"
"Which one did you get?"
"Half a pinky. It was on the left hand of that tall girl."
Janna silently shook her head.
"S-sorry."
"Did you go to school with any of those kids?"
"No, but they were all corn-holes who I caught doing terrible things to monsters tonight. You know if they find the finger within six hours they can reattach it. They just need a car with bright headlights and they should be able to see it right there in the driveway."
"Do you think they can still put it back on when it's been cut off by a possessed blade?"
The young girl gave a shrug as she quietly replied. "...maybe...I don't know."
"Listen, keep the night goggles, lights, and speakers but promise me you're never going to do that again. If your parents found out that you hurt someone they'd kill us both and if for some reason they didn't kill me the jail time for being an accomplice to whatever crime that was is way more then I want to be facing. You know what I'm saying?"
"Yeah, I understand."
"Actually when I think about it, Star would definitely strangle me to death before I went on trial so maybe I don't need to worry about prison time. I'm fine with you scaring some punks but I need you to promise that you won't take it that far again."
"You know it WAS going as planned but yeah...that last part kinda got out of hand. I just wanted to make things right plus didn't my grandma do the same thing when she was my age?"
"Dude, Queen Moon taking the finger off of Toffee to save her kingdom is totally different than you taking one off some high school bully. You know that, you're like the smartest kid in the state. Don't pretend you don't."
The girl let out a sigh. "I do know. I'm just trying to make myself feel better. Hey, can you drop me a few blocks away from the castle? I grabbed most of the candy and my brother told me about some kids who were too scared to go out tonight. I want to make sure they get something."
"Kid, you're changing the subject. Please, promise me you'll never do that again."
She bit her lower lip before replying in a soft voice. "...I promise."
"You know I'm never going to do the kid thing so you're all I have, I don't want to lose you literally or figuratively. But I do give you some cred. Using the term 'out of hand' after cutting off someone's finger, that's totally something I would have done at your age. A little history for you, when your dad was fourteen he didn't make many mistakes other than never asking me out. Your mom on the other hand caused all sorts of trouble with that wand of hers. More than you can imagine."
Under her breath the long haired teen muttered quietly making sure not even her 'cool' aunt could hear. "...I promise to never do anything like that again until I bring the magic back. Then I'm going to make everything right."
"Hey, I know a way to get into the police radio system. I'll make sure they find that finger."
"Thanks."
The two stayed quiet as they slowly made their way across town. The girl used that time to turn on her phone and saw that she missed two calls from her father. Eventually the silence was interrupted by police cars and an ambulance racing toward Glossaryck Road.
"Aunty Janna..."
"Yeah kid?"
"...happy Halloween."
"Happy Halloween."
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Not the normal cutesy chapter that I normally give you but I'm okay with that. Plus I figured it would be good to start advancing the story. Now the important stuff, according to the SVTFOE Reddit AMA Skullzy was turned back to a human when magic was destroyed but what does the actual supervising producer of the show know? We're just going to ignore that.
As you might have noticed, the 20K story I mentioned at the end of the last chapter became 'Operation Starco'. I suggest clicking on my profile and checking it out if you haven't yet. I'm currently leaning toward doing another big side story like that but I haven't figured out all the details yet. Let me know what you think I should do.
I hope you enjoyed this. - Olin