ACT XIII: Comet II, the Underestimated Part 4: Freeze Day

Everyone oversleeps from time to time; often at the most inconvenient of times. Marcia Diaz was no exception. After their misadventure with Comet's sleep-spelling, the duo were so exhausted that they both turned off their alarms for the entire weekend and forgot to turn them back on on Sunday night. It wasn't until Angelo called from the kitchen offering pancakes that Marcia bolted up from her bed. Much to her horror, she only had fifteen minutes to get to school on time. She quickly got out of bed and rushed to her dresser to get ready, forgoing any thoughts of taking a shower. In her haste, she accidentally put her hoodie on backwards and ran into Comet's room.

"C'mon, Comet, we're la - WHOA!" She covered her eyes once she saw that her friend wasn't wearing any pants.

Comet had his dress pants on an ironing board, frantically trying to get rid of wrinkles. "Marcia!" He gasped, covering himself. "What are you doing?!"

"Look, I'm sorry, but we have to go now!" Marcia shouted, keeping her eyes covered.

"Last call for pancakes, kids!" Angelo called.

"Not now, dad! C'mon, Comet! We're gonna be late!"

"Normally, I would applaud your desire to arrive at school on time, Marcia." Comet replied while he continued ironing his pants. "But a prince can not go anywhere with tarnished clothing."

Marcia looked down at her watch; they only had five minutes left. "Comet, I'm begging you. I have to get to school on time!"

"What's the big deal?" Comet shrugged. "Our first period is homeroom. We can afford to miss that, can't we?"

"You don't understand. Every day before classes, I hang out by the lockers until Jackson Lee Thomas skates by…" Marcia cupped her hands over her heart as a wistful sigh slipped through her lips. "And every time he does, I nod at him so that he doesn't think I don't like him! He's never looked at me the same way since I beat up those shitheads, and I've always been too afraid to talk to him. But when I get to see him, it's always special."

Comet's heart sank. Even after their pact to be honest with each other, Marcia had never openly talked about her feelings for Jackson. Comet had met Jackson only a handful of times since he had arrived in Echo Creek, but he could easily understand why Marcia was so fond of him. Jackson Lee Thomas was captain of the football team, a straight-A student, and one of the more kind-hearted individuals the prince had ever had the pleasure to meet.

He turned off the hot iron and set it aside to put on his pants. He summoned the scepter to his hand and checked his watch. "I'm sorry, Marcia. But even if we leave now, I doubt we'll make it to school in time."

"Hey, wait a minute…" Marcia got an idea as she glanced at the scepter. "So far, I've seen you use magic to fly, fight, and conjure shit. Do you think you could use your magic to stop time until I get to my locker?"

Comet frowned, offended by her ignorance. "Marcia, how do you think my magic works? Spells have to be expertly crafted and practiced in order to function properly. I mean, it's not like I can just tap my scepter on the ground and say something like 'easy-peasy-time freezy.'"

The prince mockingly tapped his scepter on the floor to prove his point. However, much to his surprise, a bright blue charge built up inside the scepter, only to briefly take the form of a clock grinding to a halt as a low ticking noise echoed around the room. He and Marcia ran towards the window and watched the cars and pedestrians slowing down until they all stopped entirely and the ticking ended.

"Huh… I guess the joke's on me." The prince chuckled. "It looks like we'll be able to get to school on time after all."

Marcia picked up Comet in a grateful hug. "Thank you, Comet! You're a lifesaver!"

The duo made their way downstairs and saw Angelo frozen in place while in the middle of flipping a pancake. Rosa was also frozen, as was the orange juice being poured halfway into her glass. Marcia waved one hand in front of her father's eyes and snapped her fingers in front of her mother's. An idea crept into the girl's mind.

"Alright, well, if you'll just fix your hoodie, we'll be on our way to school." Comet suggested as he grabbed his lunchbox from the kitchen counter.

"Hang on…" Marcia grinned and held her arm in front of the prince. "So… time is completely frozen right now, right?"

"Yes." Comet nodded.

"And it's not just in Echo Creek, but everywhere?"

"It is."

"For how long?"

"Um… for as long as we want, I think."

"Well then… why don't we make the most of this and have a little fun?" Marcia shrugged off her jacket and fixed her hoodie.

Comet was a little apprehensive. "I don't know… maybe we should just head to school."

"Oh, come on. Don't be such a wet blanket." Marcia snarked as she put her jacket back on. "If time is stopped, then no one can know what we do. And it's not playing hooky if we get to school right before you restart time. So don't worry so much for once. Be cool."

Comet crossed his arms. "I am cool!" He insisted.

"Alright then, I'm gonna make some coffee." Marcia opened the fridge. "Do you want some milk?"

"Coffee's fine." He replied, much to Marcia's doubt. The prince leaned against the wall and used finger guns to try and look cool. "Hey, I drink it. I'm cool."

"I dunno, man. This is espresso." Marcia warned. "It's like… uber coffee."

"Hey, I said… I'm cool."

Marcia shrugged and prepared two cups as the coffee brewed. A few minutes later, Marcia watched with amusement as her best friend frantically paced around the kitchen, talking as fast as he could, after only one cup of espresso.

"So then my parents made me join a bureaucratic prince club because I wasn't fitting in! But now I'm even more not fitting in because I was getting good grades! I mean, like, all A's! So I asked to be privately tutored, but my mom says 'you need stimulation!' And I was all, 'no, I don't need stimulation! I'm stimulated enough right now!'"

"You got that right." Marcia giggled, enjoying the show.

"So then my dad was all, 'uh-uh! You need a challenge!' So now I am challenged! I'm challenged to not come home with wedgies and dirty clothes! Because every other prince in the land of Mewni wants to beat up the one nerd prince who thinks he's smarter than them! But I don't think I'm smarter than them! I just do the stupid homework! If everyone else just did the stupid homework they could get better grades and get pounded, too! Isthereanymorecoffee?"

Marcia took the cup away from the prince and stretched her arms above her head. "Alright, let's burn off some of that energy."

And that's just what they did. The first thing they did was go downtown, giggling like children as they repositioned the frozen pedestrians into handstands, picking their noses, doing the splits, and kissing each other. To top it all off, Marcia drew a mustache on a baby's face, prompting Comet to use the scepter to draw mustaches on everyone else in the park. Marcia burst out laughing and Comet followed suit. Their laughter came to an end, however, when they noticed a car crash across the street. A tire blowout had sent a driver into a lamppost that sent him crashing through the windshield and shards of metal and glass towards a mother and her baby. Marcia moved the mother and her baby out of the way while Comet gently moved the driver of the wrecked car out of the air and safely onto the sidewalk.

Next, they traveled to the mall and gathered up all the free samples for lunch. Then, they broke into the shops to try on different outfits. Because no one would ever know that they wore them, Marcia was able to convince Comet to try on casual outfits. He agreed, but only under the condition that Marcia would try on something more formal. She eventually settled on a bright purple bustle dress with violet frills and shoulder puffs, a big purple bow that tied her hair into a ponytail, and black high heels. As for Comet, he wore a red baseball cap with devil horns, a green tank-top with red, pink, orange, and purple horizontal stripes in the front, sea green sweatpants with pale green stripes on the legs, pink high-tops with white bunny faces on the toes, and a silver bracelet with spikes. The duo examined each other and laughed at how ridiculous they both looked. After they changed back into their normal clothes, they spotted a gang of robbers assaulting the jewelry store. Once again, they took advantage of frozen time to take the weapons away from the robbers, tie them up, push a police officer in front of them, and give them all wedgies just for fun.

After that, they played hopscotch on the tops of cars on the frozen freeway where they spotted Luna stepping out of a portal, but she was frozen as well. The prince and his friend shared a mischievous grin as they took off the monster's crown, replaced it with a dunce cap, taped a "kick me" sign to her back, and kicked her back into the portal before Comet sealed it up with his own inter-dimensional scissors. Once that was over, they went back home for more rest.

Eventually, they decided that they'd had their fun and made it to the school.

"Oh, man! That was the best sixty hours of my life!" Marcia cheered.

"I have to admit, it was pretty exciting! I can't wait to tell my dad that I successfully froze time!" Comet agreed before he spotted a familiar friend suspended in a frozen kickflip. "Hey, look! There's Jackson Lee Thomas, right on time!"

Marcia hastily brushed herself off and leaned against her locker. "Okay! I'm ready! Go ahead and restart time!"

Comet was about to comply, but paused as he looked back at Jackson. "Hm. Y'know, maybe it's time for you to do something other than just nodding to Jackson." He suggested. "You should ask him out!"

"What?"

"Yeah! You wanna practice? We do have all the time in the world. I'll be Jackson, and you be you."

"No. No, no, no, no, no." Marcia shook her head. "That's not going to happen."

Comet arched an eyebrow. "You want to be Jackson?"

"No, I've got a system. It's worked just fine so far." Marcia insisted. "Just restart time."

"Well, alright then." Comet cleared his throat and held the scepter aloft. "Easy-peasy-time unfreezy!" The prince tapped the scepter back on the ground to restart the flow of time. But as he and Marcia looked around, they saw everyone and everything was still frozen in place. Comet looked down at the crystal in his scepter. "Huh. Maybe I didn't say it right. Let me try again. Ahem. Easy-peasy-time unfreezy…"

But still, nothing happened. Beads of sweat began rolling down Marcia's face as she nervously looked around. "Uh, Comet…?" She turned towards the prince, and shrieked in fear to see him frozen as well. "AH! COMET!"

"Ha, ha! Just kidding!" Comet laughed before putting on a serious face. "But, we really should try to fix this. To the Great Book of Magic!"

The two friends rushed out of the school and spotted Jonah riding in on his bicycle. Marcia gently lifted him off and set him aside while Comet sat on the handlebars. "Sorry, buddy! Emergency!" Marcia shouted as she peddled towards her house.

When they finally arrived, Comet bolted upstairs to his room. Marcia sat down on the couch, waiting for her friend to return. As she waited, she nervously tapped her foot against the ground, thinking that if she hadn't insisted Comet do this it wouldn't be happening. She was brought out of her thoughts when Comet stomped down the stairs and slammed the Great Book on the coffee table in front of her.

"Look! I was right!" Comet excitedly pointed to a page in the Great Book. "See? It says here, Skywind once accidentally cast the exact same spell when he was around my age."

"Really?" Marcia looked over her friend's shoulder to get a better view of the page. "Well, does it say how he fixed it?"

"Let's see…" Comet skimmed his fingers over the page as he read out loud. "Doo, doo, doo, doo… 'the problem is unfreezing time. You would think that you can tap your scepter on the ground and say easy-peasy-time unfreezy, but you cannot. It does nothing. Don't even try.' Pfft, now he tells me. Ahem, 'To move time forward, you must physically travel to the Plains of Time and appeal to Mother Time."

"'Mother Time?'" Marcia leaned over to get a better look. "You mean Father Time?"

"No, it says Mother Time." Comet repeated. "I think I read about her when I was younger. She's an immortal being from a space between spaces charged with maintaining the flow of time in the entire multiverse. All we have to do is travel to the Plains of Time and convince her to restart the time in our dimension."

"Alright then, let's get going." Marcia nodded.

Comet took out his inter-dimensional scissors and sliced open a portal to the Plains of Time. Once they arrived, the duo basked in the glorious landscape. The ground was composed of the softest sand either of them had ever felt, the clouds in the sky looked more like tiny nebulae, and instead of a moon or sun, an enormous clock orbited the planet. Across a glowing river, there was an ivory castle with a gilded clocktower in the center. Comet took in a deep breath through his nostrils as he happily surveyed the area.

"Beautiful, isn't it? Until today, I've only ever read stories about this place! But to see it in person is… Marcia?" Comet turned around once he realized how quiet his friend was being. Marcia was gripping her throat and gagging in pain as she fell to her knees. It wasn't until her face turned blue that Comet understood what was happening and hastily formed an oxygen-rich safety aura around her. "Oh, my gosh! I am so sorry, Marcia! Ever since I went through Mewberty, I haven't really needed to breathe. I guess it kind of slipped my mind."

Marcia took a few minutes to catch her breath. "It's… it's okay, Comet. Let's just find this Mother Time and get out of here."

The prince nodded in agreement and they set off towards the castle. In order to travel to the castle, the friends needed to cross the glowing river by tip-toeing over a path of rocks like stepping stones. As they reached the half-way point, Comet slipped and nearly fell in. Acting quickly, Marcia managed to grab him just before his nose could break the water. Comet was now face-to-face with an image of a much older version of himself. Marcia managed to pull him back up and they hurried across to the other side. The pair stopped for a moment to catch their breath before moving on to the castle.

It took all of their strength, but they managed to open the large door at the front of the castle. Once inside, they saw that every wall was lined with thousands of clocks of different designs and sizes. However, the faces of each clock acted as a looking glass to each of the countless dimensions throughout the multiverse, with the gears inside acting as a means to keep the timeline of each universe moving forward. As they turned a corner, Marcia spotted a clock whose arms weren't moving. She pulled Comet aside and drew his attention to it. As she suspected, they saw an image of a frozen Echo Creek through the glass. She was about to lift it off of the wall when a chill ran down both of their spines.

"You should not have come here…" A voice echoed. The duo turned around and saw a tall, elderly woman dressed in a yellow robe with blue skin and long silver hair hovered towards them. There was no doubt in their minds that this was Mother Time.

Comet felt a lump in his throat as the omniscient being looked down on him. Instinctively, the prince fell to his knees and hung his head in fearful respect. "Mighty Mother Time… w-we apologize for disturbing you. B-but we r-require your assistance. I am-"

"I know who you are, Prince Comet Dragonfly." Mother Time interrupted. "And I know why you have come here. It is my sacred duty to know everything that happens in the multiverse; past, present, and future."

"T-then… you know we've come to correct our mistake." Comet stammered as he got back on his feet.

Mother Time snorted. "Have you ever heard the phrase 'history repeats itself?' Don't answer that. You're not the first king of Mewni to come barging into my domain to demand that I fix their mess, and you'll not be the last. The first was Thaddeus, the Brute. He wanted me to surrender my power to him, so instead I cursed him with immortality and invulnerability before I chained him under the very Stump your family draws power from. The next was the bastard who dared to call himself 'King of Hours.' Skywind made the same mistake you made and came to me… begging for repentance. But somehow… he was able to cloud my vision of the future, and prevented me from seeing that he would betray me once he learned all of my secrets. And now, here you are. Come to twist the knife your forefather stabbed me with."

"I-it's not like that, Mother Time!" Comet gulped. "It was an accident! I-I didn't even think it would w-work!"

"Look, this isn't his fault, okay? It's mine." Marcia chimed in, nervously. "I was the one who asked him to cast the spell. So if you wanna be mad at someone, be mad at me. But don't make an entire universe suffer because of my selfishness."

"Yes, I know I messed up, but we can fix this!" Comet pleaded. "And I swear, we'll never do this again! I'll… I'll even tear the spell out of the Great Book!"

Mother Time rubbed her chin in thought as she let out an amused huff. With a snap of her fingers, two mirrors rose from the ground in front of the two teenagers and their reflections began to reshape into images of their pasts. It was then that they realized what was going on; Mother Time was viewing their entire lives.

King Mars and Queen Lake looked down at their newborn child with unbridled joy.

"He's amazing…" Mars smiled. "What do you wanna name him?"

Lake wiped a bead of sweat from her brow and nervously brushed aside a strand of her hair. "Well, if you don't mind… I kinda like… Comet."

Mars blinked in surprise before crying, happily. "Well, I… I think that's perfect." The king looked down at his son. "Hello, Comet. Hello, little Comet!"

A few years later, Mars and his wife were playing with their son in the royal nursery. Much to their delight, the prince managed to prop himself up on the wall and started taking his first steps. Mars proudly lifted his boy in his arms and kissed his forehead, making the boy giggle.

"Good job, Comet!" Mars praised.

"Oh, our baby boy is growing up!" Lake cried, happily.

Sadly, the MHC entered the room and requested the king's presence. With a heavy heart, Mars handed the prince over to Lake and left to deal with his kingly duties. Comet whined as he reached out for his father. All Lake could do was cradle her baby in her arms, trying to offer him comfort.

Another few years later saw Comet trying to make friends with Prince Pony Head and the other princes of Mewni. Pony Head had helped the crown prince with his initiation into the club, and now all Comet had to do was give a speech in front of the club. Straightening his tie, Comet turned back to his best friend before taking the stage. "Thank you, again, for all your help Prince Pony Head."

"No problem, D-Fly."

"'D-Fly?'" Comet grinned. "I like that! I'm finally cool enough for a nickname!"

"You sure are. Now get up there and give that speech!"

"Yes!" Comet eagerly ran up to the stage and bowed in front of the applauding crowd. "Ahem, gentlemen, I am honored to finally join you as a future-"

Suddenly, Comet found himself drenched in pig-goat blood, ruining his hair and clothes. The entire crowd burst out laughing at the prince's misfortune. As he looked back and saw Pony Head holding the rope that dumped the bucket of blood on him, he finally understood that he had fallen victim to another cruel prank. And he hated himself for falling for it once more. With tears in his eyes, Comet ran out of the clubhouse back to his family's castle.

"Yeah, that's right!" Pony Head taunted. "Run home to mommy and daddy! You suck!"

The day after, Comet tried to plead with his father to return to his private tutoring, only to have his requests fall on deaf ears.

"Not now, boy." Mars said, sternly. "I have far more important things to focus on."

When the king left, Comet was left to wallow in self-pity and anger. The hearts on his cheeks seemed to crack as a flicker of green magic flashed over his eyes. Acting on impulse, he almost punched a nearby wall as an outlet for his frustration, but stopped himself as he saw the tapestry his blow would have destroyed. His heart-marks reformed and the green magic faded away as he gazed up at the lavender eyes of his beloved namesake.

"... Grandpa…" He whispered, sadly.

After that, Comet would endure whatever bullying the other princes threw at him without any complaints.

Another few years ahead, saw Comet wrestling with his Johansen cousins to help him blow off some steam from weeks of back-to-back study sessions. They were all so confused as to how the crown prince was so strong with such little muscle mass. So far, he had defeated Bobby Johansen, Sarah Johansen, Big Bobby Johansen, Michael Johansen, Bigger Bobby Johansen, and Katlin Johansen. His mother clapped and cheered for him from the bleachers.

"You're doing amazing, sweetie!" She shouted, proudly.

Comet took a bow for the crowd, but his face fell once he saw that his father wasn't sitting anywhere in the stands. It shouldn't have surprised him that the king hadn't been there for him, but it still hurt. He didn't have time to think much about it as his final opponent - Biggest Bobby Johansen - stomped into the ring, towering over the prince. Comet's aunt and uncle whooped and hollered to rejoice their eldest child's victory over the crown prince, but Comet was unimpressed.

"... I accept your surrender." He huffed, bitterly.

Biggest Bobby laughed at his cousin's audacity and swung his fist. Comet blocked the punch with one hand, startling his cousins. The prince delivered a powerful uppercut that sent Biggest Bobby flying out of the ring, silencing the crowd. Unceremoniously, Comet jumped down from the ring and walked over to ask his mother if they could go home.

At last, the images displayed the day Comet earned the scepter and traveled to Earth. Whenever Comet was with Marcia, he seemed genuinely happy and at peace. Even when they were risking their lives to fight off monsters, Comet seemed happiest whenever he was with Marcia. The images concluded with the very day that began their current adventure, and how much fun he and Marcia had before the gravity of the situation came crashing down on them.

The prince stared at his mirror with a saddened expression. At the same time, his best friend was looking at her own mirror.

Marcia's birth was celebrated by her entire extended family. Her parents raised her with all the love and affection in the world, and she grew up to be a kind and friendly girl. She met Jonah when the two were in elementary school and played on the same little league soccer team. Jonah was being teased by the other players, but Marcia offered him a dandelion and an invitation to her birthday party. It was also around that time that she met Jackson Lee Thomas; when she skinned her knee during a game, Jackson placed a bandage on her wound and kindly made sure that she was okay. From that day forward, Marcia would be infatuated with the boy.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Thank you."

Many years later, Marcia passed her entrance exam to Echo Creek Academy alongside Jonah and Jackson. Marcia was still too shy to actually ask him out, so whenever she saw him passing by on his skateboard, she would nod in greeting just to see if he would acknowledge her. She left the school with Jonah and they met her parents outside.

"Oh, Marcia, I'm so proud of you!" Rosa praised her daughter for passing the entrance exam. "Let's go celebrate! Where would you like to go for dinner?"

"Nothing's better than your cooking, mom!" Marcia smiled. "Can Jonah come over tonight so we can celebrate together?"

"I don't see why not!" Angelo agreed, happily.

"Yes!" Jonah cheered. "There is nothing better than free food!"

The mood was ruined, however, when a group of juniors threw garbage at the two new students.

One year had passed, and Marcia wasn't adjusting to high school as well as she'd hoped. She still hadn't tried to flirt with Jackson - only nodding at him whenever she passed him - and the bullying hadn't stopped. At last, Marcia decided she had had enough. She walked up to one of her bullies after school and hit him in the head with her backpack. The bully was furious and tried to fight back, but Marcia never gave him the chance as she dodged his punch and knocked the wind out of him with another savage swing of her backpack. Marcia spat on his face and began to walk home.

One month later, the bully had gathered three friends and cornered Marcia and Jonah while on their way home. They were armed with chains, brass knuckles, and a baseball bat. Jonah cowered in fear, worried that he and Marcia were about to die. Marcia, on the other hand, decided not to go down without a fight.

"You deserve this, you little bitch!" The leader of the group snapped. "This is what you get for-"

He was cut off as Marcia dodged his punch and kicked him in the crotch. Once he recovered, he punched again and managed to hit her elbow, but Marcia ignored the pain and gave him a black eye in return. The other bullies were understandably startled.

"Alright, you cabrones! Who else wants some?!" She snarled.

Later that night, Marcia walked into her home with a broken arm and quietly walked past her parents.

"Marcia, what happened?!" Angelo gasped.

"Are you alright?! What happened to your arm?!" Rose ran to the phone to call an ambulance.

"I'm fine." Marcia huffed.

"The paramedics are on their way!" Rosa called from the kitchen.

"Marcia, please! What happened?!" Angelo went on. "Talk to us!"

"GET OFF MY BACK, GOD DAMMIT!" Marcia shouted as she angrily ran upstairs, leaving her parents in stunned silence.

Going even further into the future, Marcia had earned the reputation of the toughest girl in Echo Creek, and she was finally left alone. But still, whenever she heard the faint sound of a skateboard coming her way, her heart would skip a beat and she'd try to keep herself composed as she nodded at Jackson without a word. And this would continue every day for the next year until she finally met Comet.

At last, the mirrors shattered into specks of dust that blew off into the wind. Mother Time's gaze had softened, slightly, but still held an air of judgment. The prince now understood why the Keeper of Time wouldn't trust him; he was unworthy of her trust. He was a weak-willed boy who couldn't even stand up to his own bullies due to his insecurities. And why? Because his father had a life of his own? Given the power of magic, he was a walking formula for disaster. As for Marcia, she was ashamed to see how she had gone from a sweet, friendly girl into a violent troublemaker who alienated anyone out of fear of being bullied.

"I'm… I'm sorry for disturbing you, Mother Time." Comet sighed, sadly. The prince took Marcia's hand and headed for the exit, prepared to live out the rest of his life in the private hell he had created. "C'mon, Marcia, let's get out of here."

Another snap echoed throughout the castle halls, and the massive door slammed shut. "Just as I predicted." Mother Time smirked. "You are different."

"E-excuse me?"

"You see, I haven't been completely fair with you, Prince Comet." Mother Time explained, happily. "The truth is, there is only one king of Mewni who ever had the courage to enter my domain without disrupting the timeline. And just as he did, you did what no one else ever had; you said sorry. And because you have so humbly apologized today, I shall teach you how to restart time just as I showed Eclipsine in the past."

"Eclipsine?" Comet gasped in shock. "The King of Darkness? He came to apologize to you?"

"Yes. Eclipsine felt guilty for his predecessors' past mistakes, and he came to ask for forgiveness on their behalf. So, with my blessing, your ancestor created an amulet that granted him the power of the three who came before him." She went on. "Now, unfortunately for you, he saw fit to give that artifact to a human who found herself trapped in the Demon-Realm. But, if you're willing to put in the work, I can show you how to craft a device that will allow you to stop and restart the timeline of your dimension at will."

"Y-yes! Yes, of course!" Comet replied eagerly. "I'll do whatever it takes to rectify my mistake!"

"Hey, wait a minute!" Marcia spluttered. "If you knew Comet wasn't the same selfish prick as those other two guys, why'd you guilt trip us with the mistakes of our pasts?"

Mother Time shrugged. "If you had to spend all of eternity staring at a bunch of clocks all day, you'd get pretty bored, too."

A few minutes later, Mother Time was coaching Comet on how to craft the stopwatch. His first task was to craft the frame of the watch from pure silver melted down from the heat of a dying star. Marcia helped him dig up the silver and the prince flew up towards the star. Using the scepter to protect himself from the heat, he was able to melt it down and bring it back in time to pour the liquid metal into a forge. His next task was to select the proper crystals to form the gears and cogs. Blue crystals were used to stop time, and yellow crystals were used to make it move forward again. Mother Time provided the tweezers and magnifying spectacles he needed to put it all together. Once the construction was complete, the final task was to fill the frame with water from the river. Comet was too afraid to actually touch the water after seeing his reflection earlier, so instead he used one of Crescento's levitation spells to magically collect a large droplet of water to place it inside the stopwatch.

Mother Time was most impressed with the prince's craftsmanship and held the watch up to her lips as she whispered an enchantment. "Alright. Once you return to your dimension, press the button and time will restart. But do us all a favor, and don't try this again unless you really need to, okay?"

Comet happily pocketed the stopwatch and bowed in respect. "I won't! I promise! Thank you, Mother Time! You won't regret this!"

The prince took out his inter-dimensional scissors and opened a portal to Echo Creek. Marcia flashed the time-keeper a grateful smile before she followed after her friend. As for Mother Time, she returned to her private quarters in the tower of her castle. There, she gazed at a framed picture of herself standing with the sixteen-year-old Eclipsine Dragonfly, taken on the very day he visited her.

"Don't worry, old friend…" She smiled, fondly. "Everything is going according to plan."

Meanwhile, back in Echo Creek Academy, Comet and Marcia got into their positions. Comet crossed his fingers behind his back and pressed the button on the stopwatch. A wave of blue energy rippled from the watch and through the universe, followed by a loud ticking noise. The duo looked around and saw that everyone was slowly starting to move again. Once the ticking stopped, everything was moving forward at the correct pace. Comet sighed in relief and placed the stopwatch in his coat pocket.

As always, Jackson skated past Marcia and she nodded at him as he went by. However, before he could go any further, she thought about what she saw in the mirror at the Plains of Time and what Comet had told her earlier. "H-hey, Jackson! Wait up!" Marcia nervously called out. The skater stopped and turned around to face her. "Um, listen, I - uh - I was wondering if you… if you wanted to hang out sometime?"

"Sure, sounds like fun." Jackson smiled. "Wanna meet up at Britta's Tacos after school?"

Marcia could hardly believe her ears. She glanced past Jackson and saw Comet giving her an encouraging thumbs-up. "S-sure. I love that place."

"Great, I'll see you there!" With that, he skated away to first period.

Comet tried to congratulate Marcia for her courage, but she didn't hear a word he said over her lovestruck giggling.

Later that night, Comet opened the Great Book of Magic to talk to Indexia. He explained the events of the day and how he was able to fix it before asking her how he could prevent such a mistake from happening again.

"The problem is that you've been skimming through the Great Book, your highness." Indexia remarked. "In order to prevent such a fatal mistake from happening again, you need to dip down into the lessons your forefathers have left behind for you."

Comet glanced down at the giant Book on his bed and the stopwatch in his hand with a gleam in his eyes. Indexia was right; he had spent so much time studying how to be a perfect prince, he hadn't focused enough on how to be a perfect magic-user. He thanked his teacher before she went back into the Book. He was about to study a bit more when his magic mirror received an incoming call from his father. He closed the Book and answered the call. "Hi, dad! What, uh, what's up?"

"Oh, you know." Mars sighed, tiredly. "Just the same old boring king stuff. A long, long stressful day of paperwork, politics, and problems. What did you do today?"

"Um, well…" The prince was sorely tempted to tell his father everything he had been through, thinking about what he saw in the mirror at the Plains of Time and what Marcia had told him after solving his sleep-spelling problem. But as he saw the tiredness in Mars' eyes, he pocketed the stopwatch and put on his usual empty smile. "Oh… nothing important."

To Be Continued!

Author's notes: Hope you enjoyed the different route I went with this chapter. As always, please read and review and let me know what you think!