Ludo screamed as he was blasted off his feet, landing face first into the ground. He could feel cupcakes splatting against his head as he slowly got up, coming face to face with his attacker.
Princess Star Butterfly was standing over him, her long blonde hair and green spider dress blowing in the breeze. The pink heart marks on her cheeks were adorned by a smug smirk as she puffed her chest triumphantly.
"I gotta say Ludo," Star said, laughing. "Out of all your plans to steal my wand, this was by far your worst one yet."
"Yeah, seriously", said another voice. It was Princess Star's annoying karate boyfriend. Like the princess herself, he had a triumphant smirk and was cracking up. "You didn't even come with any sort of backup or anything. At least try to make it challenging for us."
The two started laughing again. Ludo groaned but noticed Star was still holding her wand. Seeing his chance, Ludo jumped forward, his arms outstretched, only to find himself once again being thrown through the air and into the dirt. The two were laughing even harder now, making Ludo turn red with anger and embarrassment.
"Ok, seriously, Ludo, this is just getting sad now," Star said, chuckling. She threw a pair of scissors at him. "Get outta here and do… whatever it is that you do when you're not trying to take my wand. You're just embarrassing yourself at this point."
Grumbling to himself, Ludo cut open a portal, hearing a noise behind him. Turning around, he saw Star and her earth boyfriend giving each other a high five. Their backs were turned to him.
"Well, that was fun," Star said. Suddenly, there was a rumbling sound. Her friend, Marco, looked at her in amusement.
"Hungry?" Marco asked, chuckling.
"Yeah," Star said, smiling. "Beating up Ludo always builds up an appetite."
"How about we grab some ice cream?" Marco suggested. "I heard that place down the road has unlimited scoops for $650."
"REALLY!?" Star yelled, hurting Ludo's ears. " I LOVE ice cream! It's so cold and tasty and…"
Ludo had heard enough. Swearing under his breath, he stepped through the portal and found himself back in the familiar confines of his castle. Seeing no one else around, Ludo let out a scream of frustration.
"It's not FAIR!" He shouted, hearing his voice echo through the deserted room. He aimed a kick at a nearby vase, causing it to shatter. He didn't care, he would get one of his useless no-good lackeys to clean it up later. Ludo was stomping now, not caring at all to keep his voice down.
"That awful princess gets everything! A castle, loving parents, a boyfriend that can actually DO something, a wand…" Ludo aimed another kick at a statue he just passed, shattering it to pieces.
"That wand belongs to ME! Why does she get to have it? She barely even knows how to use the thing!" Another crash as he kicked over another vase.
"And she gets to have ice cream! Ice cream! Does her greed never end!?" Ludo flopped onto the floor, letting out a scream of rage.
"I wish, just once, I could get my hands on her wand! But noooo! It's always the same! Always with her and her annoying karate friend! Always the same humiliation! What do I have to do to get that wand out of her grasp?! I mean, it's not like she's just going to come knocking on my door to drop it off and–"
Ludo stopped, getting up suddenly. He blinked. "Come to my door to drop it off…" he repeated. Slowly, Ludo's face twisted into an evil smirk. "Oh, she's going to hand deliver it to me alright. Even if I have to make her do it myself." The empty room was filled with the sound of a loud triumphant cackle.
(Later that night)
Star Butterfly was sleeping peacefully on her bed. She had put on her blue nightgown, brushed her teeth, and said her goodnights to Marco before flopping down onto her bed for a well-deserved sleep. The soft sounds of her peaceful snoring drowned out the sound of a portal opening, and a familiar figure appearing in her room.
Ludo landed on the carpet with a soft thud. He turned his head towards the sleeping blonde. She was still fast asleep, his entrance having gone unnoticed. Smirking, Ludo checked his supplies.
He had had a heck of a time getting them, thanks to Princess Star "helpfully" blaming him for the mess last time he was at Quest Buy. It took almost an hour (and several close calls with the employees' claw swipes) and several apologies, but he had managed to convince the staff that yes, he had money, yes, he was going to pay for his things this time, and yes, he promised he wouldn't cause another mess. Several more hours (not helped by that "not my department" crap) and he had finally found everything he had been looking for. Looking over everything he had gathered, Ludo selected the shrink ray in his right hand. Pointing it towards himself, Ludo fired, hoping the noise wouldn't wake the sleeping princess.
Ludo suddenly found himself a few centimeters tall, everything around him now a gargantuan size bigger. He could still hear Star's snores coming from the top of the bed, which was now as tall as a mountain. Checking that everything else he had brought had also been shrunken down, Ludo made his way over to the bed and began climbing up the blanket that was laying off the side.
Several minutes later, Ludo pulled himself up to the top of Star's bed. Star had turned onto her side, giving him the perfect opportunity. Grabbing her hair, Ludo began climbing up Star's head, brushing aside long golden hair that was getting in his face, until he came to Star's ear. He waited, checking to see if the princess had awoken from the sudden attack on her head. Still asleep. Smirking, Ludo jumped, landing perfectly inside Star's ear.
Ludo suddenly found himself in a long dark tunnel. The walls and ceiling were a pinkish dark red, and he could see pink geysers leaking some kind of sticky purple goop. Raw magic, Ludo thought, amused. Ludo began walking down the tunnel that was Star's ear canal, hearing wet squelching noises underneath his feet as he went. Pulling out a map of Star's body, Ludo checked to see where he was.
"Hmmm, according to this," Ludo began, looking at the map. "I should be in Princess Butterfly's left ear, meaning it should be a straight shot. But where is it? Where-oh." Looking up from the map, Ludo's face lit up when he saw he had arrived at his destination.
Star Butterfly's brain was sitting in front of him, the bouncy pink organ surging with electricity and leaking the same purple goop that was in her ear. It was almost comical. Here was Princess Butterfly's consciousness, her personality, her control center. Her body's most important organ. Yet here it was laying completely unguarded inside her skull, with the princess herself being completely unaware of the tiny invader inside her head.
Ludo laughed and rubbed his hands together eagerly. "Alright Princess," he said, chuckling. "Time for you to hand over your wand to its rightful owner. Have a problem with that? Too bad!"
As Ludo started laughing once again, Star suddenly turned over onto her other side, causing her brain to roll down away from Ludo.
"Hey!" Ludo cried, his smugness now replaced by irritation at the fact that even Princess Butterfly's own organs were taunting him. "Where do you think you're going, brain!?"
Ludo began chasing after the brain, however Star once again turned over back onto the side she had been sleeping on originally. Ludo suddenly fell and was almost immediately flattened by the brain as it rolled back over him.
Star turned onto her back, causing her brain to come to a full stop at the center of her head. Ludo was seeing red now.
"That's it, brain! You're going down!" Pulling out a roll of tape, Ludo quickly went around the brain, taping every inch of it to the bottom of Star's skull to ensure it wouldn't roll away again. Satisfied, Ludo threw away the tape and climbed to the top of the brain, pulling out a control mechanism with an electrical plug on the end.
"Wakey wakey, princess. It's time for you to hand over your wand!" Ludo jammed the control mechanism into Star's brain and hit the giant red button labeled "total body control."
Star suddenly shot awake, looking around in confusion.
"Morning already?" Star asked, before her face lit up into a smile. "Good morning Earth!"
Inside her head, Ludo pulled a lever, causing Star's arms to shoot out and pull her blankets off. Star's smile immediately disappeared and was replaced by confused panic as she realized her arms had done so against her will.
"Huh? What?" Star asked in confusion, feeling fully awake now. "Why can't I move my arms?"
Ludo pulled another lever. Star's legs suddenly moved forward, causing her to fall off the bed and land flat on her face. Star let out a squeak of surprise as she began walking forward with her butt sticking out in the air.
"Wait, wait! Stop!" Star yelled. She was still facedown on the floor so she couldn't see where her body was taking her. Suddenly, her arms pushed up off the floor and she found herself in front of the giant treasure chest on the other side of her room. Once again moving without her input, Star's arms opened the chest and began throwing out various items.
"Hey! Quit!" Star yelled in annoyed panic. She had no idea what was going on or what she was looking for, but she didn't like it. These were HER possessions, things that she grew up with on Mewni. A sword clunked onto the floor. Then a mace. Then various suits of armor. It had to be here somewhere…
Star's head suddenly turned towards her bed, causing another surprised squeak to come out of the blonde's mouth. There it was. The wand, sitting perfectly still on the princess's nightstand completely unguarded. Ludo did a mental facepalm. Of course it was there. Of course it would be that easy. He should have known. Whatever, he found it. Star's legs started sprinting as she ran towards the nightstand, her right arm shooting out with odd enthusiasm as her hand grabbed the handle of the wand and held it over her head with gleeful triumph. For some reason, Star felt a sense of elation and satisfaction upon holding her family's heirloom that she couldn't explain.
"Ooooook," Star said, blinking in confusion. "This just got even weirder now. Seriously, what is wrong with me? Why can't I move my arms or legs?"
Inside Star's head, Ludo was smirking with triumph. He had actually done it! He had gotten the wand and was actually holding it in his own hands! Well, Star's hands, but that's besides the point. It would be in his own hands soon enough. That was part one done. Now he needed a way to get back to his castle, and he had a pretty good feeling where Princess Butterfly kept her scissors. Pulling another lever, Star's legs once again started moving on their own accord, both arms sticking straight out in front of her like some sort of zombie.
"Hey!" Star yelled out. "Hey hey hey hey hey! Where are we going now!?" Gritting her teeth, Star strained as she tried to take back control of her legs, to no avail. "Grrrrr! Stupid legs!" They continued to move forward, carrying Star to the other side of her room, towards the door…
A few rooms over, Marco Diaz was sleeping soundly. At least he was until he was suddenly awoken by the sound of Star smashing through the wall of his room. Marco screamed and fell off his bed, before jumping up and taking a karate pose in alarm. Upon seeing the silhouette of the long-haired blonde girl, his alarm was replaced by confusion, then irritation when he glanced over and saw the Star-shaped hole that now adorned his room.
"Staaaaaaar!" Marco yelled out in frustration. He facepalmed. "Do you have any idea what time it is?!" He once again glanced over at the hole in the wall. "And would it have killed you to use the DOOR!?"
"Sorry Marco!" Star yelled, a mortified frown on her face. She began moving inside the room over to the bed. "I can't control myself at the moment!" Star let out a shriek as she suddenly bent over and began rummaging under her friend's bed.
Marco turned on the light and turned back towards his friend. "What do you mean, you can't control yourself at–" The words died in his throat as his face turned bright red and an odd wheezing sound came out of his mouth. His eyes were wide and he was fidgeting uncomfortably.
"Uh, I mean that I can't control myself, Marco." Star said, rolling her eyes. Hearing the strange noises behind her, Star attempted to move her head towards him but wasn't able to. "Uh, Marco? You all good there?" No response. Star wasn't sure what he was doing, until she suddenly came to a realization. She was bent over. In front of him. Not wearing her leggings. With the light on. Meaning that from his view…
"MARCO DIAZ! QUIT STARING AT MY UNDERWEAR AND HELP ME OUT HERE!" Star shouted angrily. Her hands suddenly grasped around a cold metallic object underneath the bed. Pulling it out, she saw a pair of dimensional scissors. Bingo. Pushing herself off the floor, she got up and faced Marco.
"Huh?" Marco asked, trying to forget what he had just seen. "Oh. Oh right." Marco coughed and gave a smile, to which Star shot an unamused glare at. "Anyway, you mind telling me what's going on? What do you mean you can't control yourself? Is it like some sort of spell or something?"
Now Ludo was getting annoyed. He was this close to finally getting his hands on Star's wand, and he wasn't going to have karate boy get in his way yet again. Pulling another lever, Star's face suddenly turned from annoyance to one of rage and hatred. Concerned, Marco walked up to her and was about to ask if she was ok when she suddenly raised her right arm and sucker punched him in the face, causing him to fall backwards onto the floor. Blood dripped down from Marco's nose as he looked at her in hurt and shock.
"Shut it, Karate Boy!" Star yelled out, causing Marco to flinch from the amount of venom that dripped from her voice. She was staring down at him for a few seconds before she blinked, and the look of rage was now one of mortified regret.
"OmigoshMarcoareyouok!?" Star screamed out. She had attempted to cover her mouth in horror at what she had just done, wishing to immediately take it back, but was unable to, her hands still grasped around the pair of scissors. "That wasn't me! I swear it wasn't! I told you, I can't control myself! I didn't do– waiiiiiiit a second."
Star's mortified expression had turned into one of annoyance and realization. Realization of what was happening. What was wrong with her. It all added up. Her not being able to control herself. The feeling of triumph and satisfaction upon holding her wand. Lashing out at Marco and calling him "Karate Boy." Only one person could be responsible for all this, and Star had a pretty good feeling of who it was….
"Ludo."
Marco looked up at her in alarm and confusion. Blood was still dripping from his nose and hitting the floor below him.
"What?"
"Ludo's behind all this." Star began. She now had an expression of pure anger on her face. "Ludo's inside my head, messing with my brain. That's why I can't control myself. Why I felt so happy holding my wand. Why I hit you." Star cringed, giving Marco an apologetic look.
"Ludo… what!?" Marco had gotten up and was staring at her with a look of dawning horror. "You mean Ludo's here? Right now?"
"Yeah." Star said coldly. "Speaking of which…"
She took a deep breath. "LUDO! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"
"I don't think so, princess!" Star suddenly said, her voice a maddening cackle. Marco's eyes widened and his jaw dropped as he stared at her in shock. "I haven't ever been this close to stealing the wand, and I'm not going to throw it all away now! Besides," Star said, gesturing to her legs. "I'm finally tall enough to go on that roller coaster at Pie Island! Finally, two dreams of mine achieved!" An evil laugh erupted from Star's mouth.
"Ludo!" Marco yelled, taking a karate pose. "Get out of Star's head and leave her alone, or else!"
"Or else what, karate boy?" Star said, smirking. "You'll use your fancy pancy karate moves on me? And hurt your precious princess friend in the process?"
Marco froze, a look of horror appearing on his face as he realized Ludo was completely correct. There was nothing he could do without risking hurting Star. Star began chuckling.
"Well, I'd love to stay and chat," Star said, turning her back to him. "But I've got a wand to steal. See you later, Karate Boy!"
Cutting open a portal, Star stepped through and was gone. Marco was still frozen, but shook his head and regained his composure. He had a look of determination now.
"Oh no you don't, Ludo!" He yelled. Marco jumped and went through the portal right as it closed, leaving the now silent bedroom completely deserted.
Marco suddenly found himself standing in some kind of great hall. Looking to his left, he saw Star going through a door, once again holding both her arms out in front of her. She was holding her wand in her right hand.
"Ludo!" Star yelled in anger. "You won't get away with this!"
"On the contrary princess," Ludo said, once again speaking through Star. "I believe I am going to get away with it. Oh, I can't believe it! I'm so close!" Ludo said with glee. "Oooh! Here we are!"
Star saw another door in front of her. She could see her panicked expression in her reflection on the golden knob. Her arms moved out and turned the knob, throwing open the door to the room inside.
"Behold, princess!" Ludo shouted. "Your doom! Say goodbye to your wand!" He started laughing uncontrollably.
Star stared at the scene in front of her, a blank expression on her face. She blinked.
"Uhhhh, Ludo?" She asked, confused. "This is a bathroom."
"I-what?" Ludo stopped laughing. "A BATHROOM!? Seriously?" He facepalmed. "I told those idiots so many times to label these doors! Well, no matter!"
Star's legs began moving again, carrying her down the hallway to another door. Her arms threw it open.
"Now!" Ludo began again. "Behold!"
In front of Star was a large dining room. She could see a table stretching almost the entire length of the room. Chairs, plates, goblets, and various cutlery adored both sides of the table. There were several black-colored chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and a fireplace burned on the opposite side of the room. And, at the far end of the table, sat a stack of cushions on top of the biggest chair. And in front of it, a red-colored cushion sat on a plate. It was empty.
"N-no!" Star shouted, her eyes widening in horror. "I won't hand over my wand! You can't make me!"
"I'm afraid you don't have a choice, princess." Ludo said, smirking. "And I very much can make you hand it over. I can make you do anything I want!"
To demonstrate, Star's left arm suddenly punched her on the cheek. She yelped in pain and looked at it in annoyance and betrayal. She began walking into the room towards the end of the table.
"No! Nononononononono! Stop!" Star pleaded to no effect. She had stopped in front of the lone cushion on the table. She held out her right arm, which was still gripped around her wand. It began to quiver.
"Now, to claim what's rightfully mine!" Ludo shouted gleefully. Star's pinky shook, then released its grip around the wand. Then her ring finger. Then her pointer finger. Finally, it was just her thumb, holding onto the handle for dear life. Tears were running down her face as her thumb quivered and began to release its grip…
"Nooooooooooooo!"
Star and Ludo both jumped from the sudden noise, causing her to lose her grip on the wand entirely. Star's body turned around just in time to see a red shape coming towards her before she was suddenly shoved over, and she saw, just for a second, a hand grabbing the wand as it fell from the air, right before it had hit the cushion below. Looking up, she saw Marco, an angry and determined look on his face, holding her with one hand, and her wand with the other.
Her wand…
"Star! I'm here!" Marco shouted, breathing heavily. He pulled her up onto her feet, glancing over at the wand that was now in his right hand. "Just in time, too. Look, I think I might have an idea on how to get Ludo out of your head. But you need to trust me, and I'm not even sure that it'll work, but it's a start. You with me Star?" No response. "Star?" He asked again.
Star was staring at him with a blank expression. She glanced down at the wand he was holding, then back at him. She started breathing heavily. Then, her face slowly turned into an expression of complete rage and hatred. Before Marco could even react, Star let out a scream of rage and tackled him, both of her hands wrapping around his neck as she began strangling him.
"YOU! STUPID! BOY!" Star spat, pure venom in her voice. Her grip tightened, cutting off any air supply from Marco's lungs. Marco tried pushing her off, swiping at her, shoving her arms away, anything to get her off of him and back to precious oxygen. But nothing was working. Marco wheezed. God, he forgot how strong she actually was.
"I WAS THIS CLOSE! THIS CLOSE!" Star spat again. "BUT NOOOOO! OF COURSE YOU HAD TO RUIN IT! JUST LIKE YOU ALWAYS DO! WELL, I'M STILL IN CONTROL HERE, SO I'M GOING TO MAKE SURE YOU AND THAT STUPID PRINCESS NEVER GET IN MY WAY EVER AGAIN! " Marco could feel himself becoming lightheaded. The world around him had started going black. So this was how he was going to go out. Strangled by his own best friend, who was under control by the annoying pest that they had easily beat up every single day. He had no idea what his parents would say. Or the king and queen. Not that it mattered now, anyway. Marco could feel himself losing consciousness, his worldview turning blurry, before going dark…
It took a few seconds for Marco to realize he could breathe again. His sight returning, he started coughing and gasping for air, instinctively reaching up to his neck to pry off the princess's fingers. To his astonishment, there was nothing there. Confused, he glanced over at Star, and his jaw once again dropped in astonishment.
Star's eyes were glowing a brilliant white, and her teeth were gritted. She had a look of pure anger on her face.
"Ludo!" Star boomed out, shaking the room. Her mouth spoke with the sound of several voices put together, and it felt as if the room temperature had dropped several degrees.
"You can mess with my head, try to steal my wand, make me punch myself…" Star raised a hand up to her left ear, much to Ludo's astonishment. He began frantically pulling levers, hoping to regain control of the princess's body that he had somehow lost.
"BUT NOBODY HURTS MARCO!" Star yelled, as a beam of golden light shot out of her hand and into her ear. Ludo screamed in surprise and horror as he suddenly felt himself being lifted up. He had just enough time to notice the control mechanism had also been dislodged from Star's brain before both were blasted out of the princess's other ear, hitting the tiled floor with a small clunk.
Marco, who had been watching the scene unfold, was frozen in amazement. His mouth closed and opened. Before he could say anything, Star suddenly wrapped him in a bone-crushing hug.
"Star!" Marco said, smiling. Returning the hug, he said "Are you ok? Is it really you?"
"Yup!" Said Star, beaming. "It's me, Star alright! And hey!" She said, waving a hand. "I can control myself again!"
"That's great, Star!" Marco said, smiling with relief and happiness. "You aren't hurt, are you?"
"Nah." Said Star. "I'm much tougher than that. Besides, I don't think Ludo did any real damage in there. Speaking of which…"
Ludo, who was still a few centimeters tall and had been trying to sneak away unnoticed, gave a squeak of surprise upon hearing his name. Turning, he gulped upon seeing the angry expressions on both of the teen's faces. Star bent down and picked him and the control mechanism up, holding both up to her face.
"So," Said Star, glaring at the tiny monster in her hand. "This is what you used to mess with my brain, huh?"
Ludo gulped again. Suddenly, Star crushed the mechanism in between her fingers, both watching pieces of the tiny machine falling down to the floor. Star glared at him again, causing Ludo to develop a look of fear on his face.
"So what are we gonna do with him?" Asked Marco, giving Ludo a death glare. "We gonna stomp him?"
"Nah." Said Star, still glaring at Ludo. "I'm t-i-r-e-d tired and just wanna go back to bed. And I don't know about you Marco, but I got a killer headache."
Waving her wand, Star made a glass jar appear on the floor. She threw Ludo down into it, not particularly caring to be careful about it. Ludo groaned in pain as he hit the bottom.
"Well, sounds good to me." Marco said, yawning. "I'm just glad you're safe Star. Let's go home."
Smiling, Star cut open a portal with her scissors. Seeing the two teenagers leaving, Ludo jumped up and started yelling.
"Hey! Hey! You can't just leave me like this! Come back! Come back!" He saw Princess Butterfly step through the portal.
"Karate Boy! Help!" Marco stepped through the portal, leaving Ludo completely alone in the deserted dining room as the portal closed.
"Come back! Seriously, come back!" Silence. "Hello? Anyone?" More silence. Ludo sat down, realization of his predicament setting in. It was going to be a long night.
"Can we at least go out for ice cream?"
