Hi everyone! My name is PrimroseRaspberry, and welcome to my newest fanfiction story! Before I say anything else, I'd like to give a special thanks to my good friend, fellow fanfic author ponydog127. The two of us worked together to write this story, and I never would have been able to get it done if not for them. So…thank you for everything, amigo!
Now, what inspired me to start writing this story was three television show episodes: "Tap Tap Tap" from The Doodlebops, "Crazy Skates" from Team Umizoomi, and "Save The Dancing Duck" from Wonder Pets. These three episodes all have one thing in common, and that subject will play a powerful role in the fanfic you're about to read. I just wanted to provide the enchanted red objects featured in those episodes with the backstory that the episodes didn't feature, and I thought the best way to do that was by including that in a fanfiction that something else had already inspired me to write: a crossover between Star Darlings and Octonauts. But no, I won't say what that other something was, because it's a spoiler. A really big spoiler too.
Well, that's all I have to say for now. I hope you enjoy this story! :)
Note: Deedee, Moe, and Rooney from "The Doodlebops" guest-star in this story.
Chapter 1
"They're here! They're here!"
"Calm down, Libby," groaned Leona. "It's not like you're gonna dance with all the boys from Star Prep!"
"You know that's not why I'm excited. Don't you wanna dance with some of Ganymede's friends? I hear he has a roommate that's super zoomy…"
"Well, if you want to do some last-minute matchmaking at the Shining Star Dance, the only thing I can tell you is leave Astra out of it. She's already got a boy she's interested in."
Libby shrugged. "That's okay. If you want a perfect match though, come find us."
"Oh please," Leona said, rolling her eyes. "Like that's going to happen easily."
Ignoring her friend's last sentence, Libby waved and ran off to find her crush. As she watched her go, Leona groaned. The Shining Star Dance, a big event that all of Starling Academy had spent the entire staryear waiting for, had finally arrived. It was to be held that starnight, so the entire school was very busy preparing for it. Since the girls at Starling Academy were going to be hosting the dance alongside the staff and students from Star Prep, an all-boys school on Starland, the first preparation step was obvious: greeting the boys and the VIPs as they arrived that morning. At first, Leona had been looking forward to the Shining Star Dance. She'd asked Adora to make her the best golden dress she'd made so far, plus she had spent the last three starmonths rehearsing the Star Darlings' musical band's greatest hits. That way they could perform onstage, which would not only increase the band's chances of becoming more popular than Vivica & The Visionaries, their rival band, but also increase Leona's chances of becoming the famous pop star she'd always wanted to be.
But now, Leona's interest in the dance was fading away, all because of Libby. Doing whatever she could to pair Leona and the rest of the Star Darlings up with some of the boys from Star Prep just because she loved looking at and talking about boys was bad enough, but then a few starweeks ago, the pink Starling had received a holo-call from her older cousins, who were apparently attending the Shining Star Dance so they could perform onstage instead. Which was really a nuisance, because Leona knew for a fact that no matter what she did to win the audience's affection, Libby's cousins would have them more captivated by their own band, and it wouldn't even require any efforts. For it wasn't just their songs that made the cousins' band so interesting—it was also their backstory.
Libby and her second-oldest cousin, Deedee, had had so much in common right from the start. They both loved pink, they both loved singing and were very good at it, and they even both loved to play the keytar. Although there was one thing they didn't have in common: unlike Libby, becoming a musical superstar in a starmazing band was Deedee's childhood dream—a characteristic she shared with her brothers, Rooney and Moe. Their dream had quickly been fulfilled before they'd even reached their adult years (to Leona's envy), but it was their decision to move to Wishworld and create their first album there that really got Starland's attention. So they packed up, took off to Wishworld, adopted the last name "Doodle," and chose an official band name for themselves: the Doodlebops. Occasionally the band took breaks from the spotlight and returned to Starland to visit Libby and her parents, but nothing changed the fact that the cousins were over-the-top famous; both on Starland and on Wishworld.
Leona was usually very fond of talking about Libby's cousins, but now she couldn't help feeling very upset with doing so; mainly, because of Libby herself. Her matchmaking attempts and the Doodlebops performing for the Shining Star Dance instead of the Star Darlings were clear indications that that girl was making this special occasion all about her. Why was she trying to spoil the fun for her friends? Not that any of the other Star Darlings knew that's what she was doing—when Leona had brought up the subject, Sage had thought she was overreacting, which everyone else agreed with. Maybe they were just too excited about the dance to think much about what Libby was up to; it was a fun occasion, plus Tessa was in charge of making and offering everyone treats.
"Leona?"
Leona jumped, startled to find Cassie standing next to her. She was smiling, clearly happy to see her, but that didn't hide the concern on her face. Obviously, she knew her friend was still upset about the Libby thing.
"Star apologies about Libby," said Cassie, confirming Leona's theory. "I know she and her family are likely going to be the center of attention tonight, but I don't think she's trying to be selfish. You know her. She's the exact opposite of selfish! If anyone's going to try and force the spotlight on herself, it's Vivica."
Leona sighed. Cassie was right of course. Libby was the most generous Starling in the entire academy; maybe even in all of Starland. She tried way too hard to make others happy, but it was never in a selfish way. And Vivica was the meanest student in Starling Academy for so many reasons, so basically she and Libby were complete opposites. Despite this though, Leona still felt a little put off by Libby's actions tonight…
Apparently reading her mind, Cassie put her arm around Leona. "I know it's a lot to take in, especially for you, but you can't let it get to you too much. Rancora may have lost most of her powers, but that doesn't mean she can't take advantage of your negativity."
"You're right," sighed Leona. "Especially now that we know Vivica's on her side. Well, more or less. That depends on whether or not she really learned much from that time we stopped her from granting a negative wish."
"I don't know if you improved her emotions enough," admitted Cassie. "I mean, it seemed to have worked at first, but lately she's seemed…sad. She hasn't picked on anyone since she returned to Starling Academy, but I have this feeling she's secretly still working with Rancora. Even after all that's happened…"
Leona looked around their campus. Most of the boys from Star Prep had arrived by now and were in the middle of chatting with female friends of theirs. She even recognized Vega, Adora, and Sage nearby, chatting with boys they'd known from their childhoods. Vivica, however, was nowhere to be seen, which seemed a little suspicious. Some of her cohorts were in sight, so shouldn't their leader be wandering around with them?
Suddenly Cassie held Leona's hand and whispered, "Libby's coming! No matter what she says, be as positive as you can. Trust me."
Leona followed Cassie's gaze, and sure enough, Libby was rushing over, pulling a boy from Star Prep with her by the hand. Both Star Darlings recognized the boy right away. Short combed lavender hair, cool purple clothes, a serene expression—it was Ganymede, the boy at Star Prep that Libby had a crush on. This wasn't good. Libby acted even more insane about boys when she received news about him in particular; the time he'd accepted her invitation to dance with him at the Shining Star Dance proved it! Leona quickly braced herself, hoping Libby would stay calm when she introduced two of her friends to her crush.
"Hi Leona, hi Cassie!" Libby greeted.
Leona stiffened at the excitement in her voice. Clearly, she was way more worked up than anyone had ever seen her so far. No starprise there; parties were another thing Libby never stopped talking about. So of course, a party (like the Shining Star Dance) and boys put together meant nothing but trouble.
"Hi," said Cassie, a little shyly. "Is this…the boy you told us about?"
"Yes!" Libby squealed. "I already introduced him to Clover. I'm gonna introduce him to Sage next!"
Ganymede smiled calmly and held out his hand. "I'm Ganymede. You must be Leona and Cassie."
Leona nodded and shook his hand. As he shook hands with her next, Cassie asked, "So…what's it like at Star Prep?"
"It's similar to how it is here," said Ganymede, casually. "Lighterature class, Aspirational Art…usual lessons."
Leona nodded. "Do you have a roommate? All three of us do."
"Yes," Ganymede replied. "His name is Walter. You probably saw him, he's got spiky red hair with orange streaks."
Libby smiled. "Yeah! I saw my friend Gemma talking to him while I was looking for you. He looked like he wanted some space though."
Ganymede sighed, his smile disappearing. "Yeah, he's been wanting a lot of space since last starmonth. See, um…his mother is a Wish Granter, and she gave him one of the shooting stars she used as a Bright Day present one staryear. Ever since then, he kept sneaking out of Star Prep and going to Wishworld every starday."
Libby, Leona, and Cassie gasped in shock. "Your roommate went to Wishworld? Even though he didn't graduate yet?!"
"Yeah. At first it was just going to be a once-a-starmonth thing, but there was this Wishling girl…I think her name was Karen…who really caught his attention. Ever since he first saw her, he kept coming back to her so he could make friends with her. But she was so caught up in her fancy wealthy life, she never really noticed him. Then one day…Walter wouldn't tell me much of the details, but something awful happened to her, and she ended her cycle of life at fourteen Wishworld years old."
Cassie's eyes widened. "Oh starf…no wonder he wants space. My parents began their afterglow when I was little. I was so sad when that happened!"
Ganymede was starprised to hear this. "I'm sorry for your loss," he said.
"Me too," said Libby. She meant it too; for the moment, her obsession about boys and parties was taking a break from the spotlight.
"So how's Walter doing now?" Cassie asked.
"Not well," admitted Ganymede. "His grades are slipping, and he hasn't spoken much to anyone lately. He still talks to me, but every time he does, I can tell he'd rather be speaking to Karen. You can see it in his eyes, and his aura."
Libby held his hand sympathetically. "Is there anything we can do to help him?"
Ganymede thought for a moment. "We can try to cheer him up a little at the dance tonight. But it could take a lot of work."
"No problem," said Leona. "I'll just go up onstage and sing something that's sure to…oh right. The Doodlebops are performing, not my band."
"Star apologies, Leona," Libby told her. "I know you really wanted us to perform tonight, but when my cousins holo-called and mentioned the Shining Star Dance, I just couldn't resist inviting them to sing for it! I honestly thought they'd say no because they already had a performance to attend on Wishworld. But when it turned out they didn't, I didn't want to hurt their feelings. I mean, you know how much they love—"
"Forget it, Libby," interrupted Leona, doing her best not to sound angry. "What's done is done. Let's not ruin the starday."
Libby and Cassie looked at her in concern, but nodded. Then, one by one, the group parted ways; Cassie went to find one of her classmates, Libby took Ganymede on a tour of the school, and Leona…well, she wasn't actually sure where she was going to go now, or what to do. She couldn't rehearse one of her songs because now there wouldn't be any point, and she couldn't ask Adora about the dress she'd asked her to make because she was busy talking to some of the Star Prep boys. Ugh—why in Starland did Libby have to take all the fun out of such a starmendous occasion, even if the situation with her cousins had been a total accident brought on by her crowd-pleasing habit? This was supposed to be the starnight of a lifetime, and now it was turning into one of the biggest disappointments Leona had ever experienced!
When she was certain that Cassie, Libby, and Ganymede were out of earshot, Leona groaned loudly and stormed off to her dorm room. She couldn't believe she was saying this instead of her antisocial roommate Scarlet, but she needed some time alone. For how long, she wasn't sure. But one thing was for sure: she wasn't going to the Shining Star Dance. Not when Libby was stealing the starlight.
Leona tossed and turned in her bed, desperately trying to forget about what tonight had turned into. But it was no use; she wasn't someone who let things go too easily. It could take starweeks for the golden Starling to let something like this blow over, and while she was still upset about it, she was never afraid to lash out some way or another. It was a good thing she was alone in her dorm room and not out there with all the girls and boys. She would have gone supernova if she hadn't left when she did.
Finally, Leona couldn't take it anymore and let out a loud scream of anger. She couldn't help it—she'd always loved being in the spotlight, and as much as she didn't want to admit it, that characteristic had made her a little…self-absorbed. Not enough to stop her from caring about others and turning out like Vivica, but definitely enough to crush her ego like this. She knew Libby hadn't meant to hurt her feelings, but she still couldn't stop staying mad at her.
Leona's Star Zap started beeping, signaling that someone was trying to holo-call her. At first she tried to ignore it, but curiosity won over a few starsecs later, and she checked to see who it was. The Starling expected the holo-caller to be one of her fellow Star Darlings or a member of her family, but much to her starprise, it wasn't. The holo-caller was a young reddish-pinkish-haired Starling with cute pigtails resting on her shoulders, freckles on her face, and a truly adorable smile. A sweet girl that Leona knew all too well, but hadn't seen in person since shortly before Cassie's Wish Mission: Ophelia.
Leona's negativity quickly faded away. Ophelia had been the girl that a disguised Rancora had gotten admitted into Starling Academy, despite her having little talent and a huge amount of trouble catching up on what Wish Granters learned in school. The villain had then swapped Ophelia's poor grades with Scarlet's starmendously amazing ones, which had caused Scarlet to get kicked out of the Star Darlings and be replaced with Ophelia. This had also caused Ophelia to become Leona's new roommate, while Scarlet was relocated to another dorm room. Leona and the new Star Darling had become friends right away, even if part of it was because Rancora (disguised as Lady Stella, the school's headmistress, at the time) had told Ophelia to do so, not to mention tell her everything she knew about the girls' Star Darling duties. Ophelia's shy but sweet personality just complimented Leona's spontaneous, confident, and courageous one nonetheless, even after Lady Stella discovered the grade mixup—which had resulted in Scarlet being reinstated into the Star Darlings and Leona's dorm room, while Ophelia was kicked out of the team and later sent to another school due to her immense struggles in Starling Academy's classes. Ophelia and the Star Darlings got back in touch virtually right after Astra's Wish Mission, which was when she apologized to them and told them the truth about "Lady Stella's" instructions to her.
Even after learning the truth though, the girls had maintained their friendship with their former teammate, and whenever they could, they (particularly Leona) holo-called her and chatted. Ophelia had truly wanted to be friends with them from the beginning anyway, so even if she had no wish granting potential, she was still an ally as far as the Star Darlings were concerned. But still, why would Ophelia be holo-calling today? Her new school was hosting an end-of-the-staryear celebration too, so shouldn't she be getting ready to take part in it?
Leona shrugged. It didn't matter. She wouldn't miss out on a conversation with her old roommate for the world. So, without any second thoughts, she accepted the holo-call and allowed a live projection of Ophelia to appear on her Star Zap's screen.
"Star greetings, Ophelia!" Leona exclaimed, smiling brightly. "How's everything going?"
"Starmendously," replied Ophelia, smiling back. "We're having an end-of-the-staryear talent show, and my roommate's going to be in it. She's very excited."
"I'll bet," sighed Leona. If only she could go to that talent show without anyone at her own school knowing it; then she could celebrate without having to worry about Libby, and even better, she could spend time with Ophelia in person for the first time in starweeks! But sadly, she did such a good job at making herself noticed that she doubted it would take long for her friends to realize she was missing if she tried to sneak off.
"Yeah, everyone's excited for the talent show," Ophelia continued. "I really wish you could come see it. You'd love it! You even could have signed up for it. Some of the Starlings in the show are going to be singing, after all."
See? Another reason why Leona should be at that talent show! The golden Starling could feel herself starting to get upset again. Thankfully, she managed to hold it back and sound casual as she asked, "Well…shouldn't you be getting ready for the show then?"
"I was," said Ophelia, "but then I got a holo-text from the headmistress of my school. Apparently I've been given special permission to go to Starling Academy tonight and attend its end-of-the-staryear dance?"
Leona jumped at this news. "Really?"
"Yeah, she said Lady Stella holo-texted her and suggested it. Isn't this exciting?"
"It's startastic!" Leona exclaimed. "Here I was, thinking this would be the worst starnight ever, and then you give me the best news ever!"
Ophelia smiled. "I can't wait to see you, Leona. I'd love to hear about how everyone's Wish Missions went! I mean, I know I was there for yours, Vega's, and Scarlet's, and I saw Libby getting her magic crystal, but that's just four of you…"
"I can't wait to see you either, Ophelia," said Leona. "You may not be Star Darling material exactly, but you're still the kindest and sweetest Starling I'll ever know."
"Star salutions," Ophelia replied, touched. "See you at the, um…what's your end-of-the-staryear dance called again?"
"The Shining Star Dance. See you there!"
Leona hung up, and then sprang out of bed, pumping her fists into the air with excitement. Finally, something about the Shining Star Dance was going her way! Sure, she would have loved to sing onstage instead of Libby's cousins, but seeing Ophelia in person, celebrating with her, and having those of the Star Darlings she wasn't currently upset with there too was much MUCH better. Now, once more, she could hardly wait for the Shining Star Dance to begin.
It was now evening, both in Starland and on Wishworld. The Starling Academy students and the Stap Prep students had finished their preparations for the Shining Star Dance and were now having a moment of free time before the dance would actually begin. Ophelia hadn't arrived yet, but Leona wasn't too worried. She was too excited for her friend's long-awaited in-person arrival…well, alright, maybe she was a bit worried. Alright, alright…impatient. If her former teammate/roommate didn't show up, then there was nothing about tonight that she could enjoy.
Ophelia wasn't the only student taking part in the dance that wasn't present, however. Walter had mysteriously disappeared at some point during the student reunion, which Ganymede had been the first to notice. Sage was also aware that no one had seen Vivica since breakfast that morning, which she found a little concerning. This was the one starday where she and her cohorts would have the most people to make fun of; why would the meanest girl in Starling Academy miss out on everything happening today?
Two starmins ticked by, and there was still no sign of Ophelia. Leona's happiness was now starting to fully fade into impatience, especially when she saw Lady Stella stepping onto the Band Shell to address the giant crowd standing before her.
"...so, I am honoured to introduce this staryear's Shining Star Dance's special guests: musical stars both here and on Wishworld. Deedee, Moe, and Rooney, the Doodlebops!"
Everyone clapped and cheered as the three famous Starlings made their way onto the Band Shell with their instruments once Lady Stella announced their names. Before long, they had begun singing one of their songs. Leona, however, wasn't really paying attention to what they were singing. In fact, she was barely paying attention to the other students and the faculty as they began dancing to the music. There was only one thing on her mind right now: Ophelia, who was now the only participant of the Shining Star Dance that hadn't arrived yet. What was taking her so long? She was the only part of tonight that Leona had to look forward to! If she didn't show up soon, she was going to do something she'd never done on a starnight like this before: ultimately leave the festivities. Sure, someone was bound to realize she was gone sooner or later, but at this point, that was fine with her. Now she had a logical reason to leave: concern for the wellbeing of another Starling.
Taking deep breaths to try and calm herself (not that these attempts were successful), Leona turned her attention towards the dance. All the girls, boys, and staff members were dancing together as the Doodlebops sang and played their music; even the bot-bots, who were usually all-business, and Scarlet, who usually avoided social gatherings like this, were enjoying themselves! Leona didn't think she could get any more distressed…and then she saw Libby making her way onstage with Ganymede by her side, standing next to Deedee, and playing her keytar to the beat of the song. Okay, that was it. The golden Starling had had all she could take. She was out of here.
"Oof!"
Leona jumped as someone bumped into her from behind. She turned around and almost squealed in delight. "Ophelia! You're here!"
Her former roommate giggled, and they shared a compassionate hug. "Sorry I'm late," said Ophelia. "I got confused about which hoverbus stop I had to get off at, and while the bot-bot driving the hoverbus was helping set things straight, we saw something land on the Isle Of Misera. I think it was a Bad Wish Orb, except it looked…different. At least, slightly different from what I remember about our Starling Academy classes."
Leona shrugged. "Well, if it landed on the Isle Of Misera, we should be safe. That's where all the negative stuff's supposed to go anyway, so it won't cause any trouble on Starland."
"But that's not what really distracted us. As we were watching the orb land on the island, we noticed some Starlings there. And one of them kind of looked like that girl in Starling Academy, the one who's the lead singer of that band you're competing against. Vivica and the Visionaries?"
Hearing this, Leona's jaw dropped. "Vivica was on the Isle Of Misera? But…why? I thought Sage, Scarlet, Vega, Libby, and I talked some sense into her! Or sang sense into her. It's kind of a long story." As she spoke, Leona suddenly remembered Vivica's peculiar absence during the girls' reunion with the boys this morning, and her conversation with Cassie, who'd had a feeling Vivica was secretly still working with Rancora. Of course; she should have known. Cassie was a very intuitive Starling who usually came up with a lot of theories regarding various problems, most of which had turned out to be true. Why hadn't she paid enough attention to today's theory to realize they needed to look into it?
"Anyways, how many other Starlings did you see? And what did they look like?" Leona asked Ophelia.
"I only saw one other Starling," replied Ophelia. "A woman with dark hair and sunken cheeks. The bot-bot driver said he thought he saw a third Starling's aura there too, but he couldn't be sure."
"Did the woman have a scary appearance and a cloud of negative energy where her legs should be?"
Ophelia nodded. "The bot-bot driver started to leave the bus and find out what those Starlings were doing there, but I told him to just focus on taking me to Starling Academy. I said it was because I just wanted him to stay safe, but I really did it because this sounds like something only Star Darlings are supposed to handle. And I wanted to protect your secret. The real Star Darlings' secret, I mean."
"Hey, you'll always be a real Star Darling to me," reassured Leona. "Maybe not in anyone else's perspective, but…" Then she realized Ophelia looked confused. "What's wrong?"
"Um, Leona…why did you ask if the other Starling I saw had a scary appearance and a cloud of negative energy where her legs should be? Was there something I missed?"
Leona sighed. "Remember when I told you about how we found out who was behind all those Star Darling Wish Mission sabotages? The flowers that made us fight all the time, the nail polish, my shooting star and Wish Pendant malfunctioning, you getting into Starling Academy and replacing Scarlet, the power crisis…"
Ophelia nodded. "And the moment Lady Cordial revealed she was actually an evil Starling named Rancora." Her eyes suddenly widened. "Wait…is that what Rancora looks like? In her real form?"
"Yeah," said Leona. "And I didn't tell you this yet, but at some point after we stopped her, Vivica started helping her with plans to take over Starland. She tried to grant a negative wish, but Sage, Libby, Vega, Scarlet, and I stopped her. We tried to teach her some valuable lessons while we were at it too, but now I'm starting to wonder whether or not we actually got through to her."
"So you think Vivica and Rancora are up to something bad?"
Leona took Ophelia's hand and led her away from the Doodlebops' audience. "There's only one way to find out. Come on."
It wasn't until they reached the hedge maze, the one place in Starling Academy that nobody (except for Vega) ever went to willingly, that Ophelia cried, "There's Vivica! And I think I see Rancora too!"
Leona quickened her pace, and she and Ophelia arrived in front of the infamous attraction. Sure enough, there stood both spiteful Starlings, who each looked confused to see only one Star Darling in the area, with the girl who had no Star Darling potential whatsoever, of all people, accompanying her.
What Leona and Ophelia didn't expect, however, was to find that the two villains weren't alone. Standing in front of them, with Rancora busy sending a trail of negative energy with hints of red light in it towards their feet, were two animals that held many differences to all the creatures Leona had seen on Starland. They weren't glowing or even sparkling like they did, the respective colours of their fur weren't quite as bright, and most starprisingly, they each had something that absolutely no Starlandian animal had, at least not to Leona's knowledge. These animals each had on a pair of blue boots (which she only glimpsed for a starsec before the boots were covered by the negatite Rancora was sending towards them), a blue scarf-like neck accessory, and a small blue hat with a picture of a white creature (Leona had a feeling it was the tentacled octopus she'd learned about in one of her classes) on it. Who were these animals, and what were they doing here? And why was Rancora apparently including them in whatever evil plan she had on her mind tonight?
Leona shook aside her confusion for the moment. One question in particular needed to be asked first, and she said it out loud before doing anything else: "Vivica, what's going on? Why are you back to working with that…that…villain?"
"Villain?" one of the animals—a brown one with round tiny ears at the top of his head, a beige face with a strand of brown hair sloped in front of his forehead, two eyes with black scleras and white pupils, a triangular brown nose, two arms with mitten-shaped paws, and a strap and pouch to go with his collar-like accessory—asked, before Vivica could reply. He tried to turn to the left so he could face Leona and her friend, but whatever Rancora was doing to him with her magic kept him (and the other animal) frozen in place.
Ophelia gasped and pointed out another unusual thing about the animals: "Wait, hold on a starsec…those two can talk like we can?!"
"Apparently," said Leona, "but we'll have to look into that later." Finding out what Rancora and Vivica were up to was far more important.
Rancora smiled evilly. "Yes, mister sea otter, I suppose it's time I revealed the truth. I am a teacher of Vivica's, but I'm not a teacher at Vivica's school. In fact, I am a sworn enemy of her school's headmistress, who will stop at nothing to bring her down." She then released her magical grip on the two animals, and the tornado of negative energy faded away.
Leona quickly extended her arms forward and used wish energy manipulation to lasso the animals away from Rancora and Vivica, and towards herself and her friend. She had a lot of questions (one of which was about the sea otter comment; Libby had learned on her Wish Mission that sea otters were a group of animals that lived on Wishworld), but again, first things first. "Whoever you are, are you two okay?" she asked. "That kind of negative energy can be really painful."
"We're alright," reassured the other animal—an orange one with triangular ears, eyes that looked almost identical to the first animal's with one of them covered by a black eye patch, mitten-shaped paws, and a yellow belly. A cat, kind of like the ones Tessa had spent time with on her Wish Mission! Except this one could speak out loud, along with the other animal…were they from Wishworld? No, that couldn't be right. Wishworld animals could only speak inside their heads, and Tessa was supposed to be the only Starling who could understand their thoughts. But then again…
The cat looked down at his feet and jumped. "Except…" he continued, "the colour of me boots seems to have changed from blue to red. And they've got these tiny ruby gemstones attached to them!"
"Mine too," the sea otter remarked, starting to look a little nervous. He suddenly flinched, as though someone had just said something to him, and his nervousness increased a bit as he said, "Oh. Suddenly I feel an urge to dance…even though we're not at the school dance, or in the middle of a creature report…"
As the cat glanced at the sea otter and then Rancora in fear, Leona once again pushed aside her many questions and quickly turned on her Star Zap, giving it to her friend. "Ophelia," she whispered, "holo-text Scarlet and the others, now."
Ophelia nodded and began tapping on the Star Zap's screen. As she did, Leona sternly turned back towards Vivica and Rancora. "This is a new low, ladies. Making Starland go dark, brainwashing me and my friends with negatite, and trying to grant negative wishes is one thing, but infecting innocent animals with negatite?"
"You don't know the least of it, Leona," sneered Rancora. "I don't want to reveal too much regarding my newest plan, but there is one detail you and your fellow Star Darlings can know: not even all twelve of your Power Crystals can undo what my friend and I have just done to these two Wishlings."
"Wishlings?!" Leona asked, staring at the animals in starprise. "You mean these talking animals…really aren't from Starland?"
"No, we're from Earth. Vivica just brought us here for a dance," said the cat. He flinched in the exact same way the sea otter had starsecs ago and added in annoyance, "But now I'm wondering how much of what she told us was really true."
Vivica chuckled. "Well, it's true that I brought you here for a dance. But it's actually a dance that'll crash the dance my school's having."
"You horrible beast!" the cat yelled. "Tell us, what's the real reason you've brought us here?"
"Yeah," said Ophelia, turning off the Star Zap. She tried to narrow her eyes like Leona was already doing, but her fear of Rancora still remained noticeable.
The sea otter flinched again, and then suddenly tapped his foot. "I'm sorry," he said, "I don't know what's come over me…"
"Don't move!" the cat ordered. "That wicked woman's planted some sort of curse on us! If we give in to these urges to dance, something awful could—Shellington!"
"Sorry, Kwazii, I can't help it!" exclaimed the sea otter, who had taken another step forward before the cat, who was apparently named Kwazii, could finish his sentence. This was followed by another step, this time slightly faster, and another at the same speed…until suddenly he was dancing a groovy-looking jig around Leona and Ophelia, which looked cool but was also transpiring at an unnaturally fast tempo.
"That's right," Rancora smiled. "Dance away…but make sure you dance long enough for certain magical things to happen. Like the negative wish your sworn enemy made about you and your cat friend coming true."
The sea otter, Shellington, gasped in fear. Quickly, he tried to get himself to stop dancing, but it was too late. He had completely lost control over his legs, and all he could do now was flail around the two good Starlings helplessly. Ophelia tried to grab his paws to stop him from going anywhere, but she was only able to hold on for a starsec before his legs' overpowering movements yanked him out of her grasp. And Leona, well…one thing was certain. She had a lot of questions to ask the villains and these two animals. And now some new ones had just entered her mind too. Just how much had Vivica told Kwazii and Shellington about Starland? How had they ended up here? Animals can be Wishers too? These two animals are really here because Rancora wants to grant a bad wish about them? Who made such a wish about these two? Why does it have something to do with making them dance so fast, and for so long? How did all this tie into the Shining Star Dance? And what was that wish?! Starf; now she was starting to remind herself of Gemma!
"Hold on, me heartie!" Kwazii yelled. He ran after Shellington and tried to tackle him down, but just as he approached him, his sprint evolved into the same groovy but fast-paced dance his friend was doing. And before Leona and Ophelia could blink, both Wishlings were dancing around them uncontrollably, trying and failing to stop themselves.
Rancora cackled evilly. "That's it, Wishlings…keep dancing! Dance until all your positive energy leaves you!" And with that, she snapped her fingers, and she and Vivica disappeared in a puff of black and blue smoke.
Oh dear. What could the villains be planning? Can the Star Darlings save their newest victims? Only time will tell…so be sure to stay tuned!
