ACT XIII: Comet II, the Underestimated Part 8: St. Olaf's
Castle Avarius. Mewni-Realm.
The rogue monster queen, Luna Avarius, was at her wit's end. After her latest failure to take the scepter from the pesky prince, she had grown more restless and wrathful. She began taking her frustrations out on her troops, blaming them for everything. Having had enough, Buff Frog abandoned the rogue monster army and went out to live in the wilderness. In contrast, however, there was one member of Luna's army who had been taking a different approach. Since the beginning of their attacks on the Earth-Realm, she had set a plan into motion that would put her in power and put the Dragonfly's scepter in her grasp.
Her name was Taffy. She was a lizardwoman who had killed Comet the Chef, and had been after the scepter ever since Mars the Undaunted had severed her finger with the dark arts. While many thought she had been defeated, in truth, she had merely been biding her time for the right opportunity. And as she sat through Luna's latest tantrum in front of her minions, she realized her time was now.
"MORONS!" Queen Luna sneered at her cowering minions. "FOOLS! WORTHLESS REJECTS! For six months that scepter has almost been in my grasp! But every single time we get close enough, you bumbling morons manage to screw everything up!"
"I disagree." Taffy spoke up, enticing a gasp from the crowd as all eyes fell upon her.
"What?!" Luna growled. "You believe there is any other reason why this army can't seem to steal one thing from a pair of children?!
"The fault, Queen Luna, has not been with your army… but with you." Taffy declared, boldly. "Your leadership is lackluster, incompetent, and above all pathetic. Your army simply follows your orders. It isn't their fault that those orders are as asinine as the one giving them."
The other monsters mumbled between each other. Some were shocked at the idea of someone daring to criticize Queen Luna. Others silently agreed with the lizardwoman.
"How dare you?!" Luna spluttered, indignantly. "No one speaks to the queen like that!"
Taffy scoffed. "They would if you'd dare to let them. You're too scared to let them speak up."
"Wrong again, you lying lizard!" Luna turned to the crowd. "Go on, my minions! Tell this treasonous turncoat what you think of my leadership! You first, noble Battling Ram!"
Battling Ram stepped forward with a neutral expression on his face. Luna crossed her arms as she awaited his response. "Well, Miss Taffy, speaking as one of this army's veterans, I can honestly say that Queen Luna is a world-class… buffoon."
"WHAT?!" Luna squawked, indignantly.
Battling Ram ignored her leader's distress and continued airing his complaints. "I mean, the best plan she ever had was attacking the prince while he was vulnerable from the metamorphosis phase of his life. But after that, the best she could come up with was to make deals with teenagers!"
"Enough!" Luna screeched and pointed at her other minions. "Bearicorn! Beard Deer! Boo Fly! Don't just stand there, you idiots! Say something! You're not going to let such slander against your queen go unchallenged, are you?!"
"Certainly not!" Beard Deer stepped forward, much to Luna's delight. "Battling Ram forgot to mention your frequent displays of cowardice!"
"WHAAAUG?!" Luna gawked in utter distraught.
"That's right!" Bearicorn growled and pointed at the kappa queen. "Whenever shit hits the fan, you're the first to run through the portal!"
"And one time, you almost closed it before the rest of us got through!" Boo-Fly added, angrily. "You almost cut me in half!"
Luna gulped in fear as her minions furiously crowded her. "H-hey, fellas… back off." She whimpered.
Soon enough, everyone in Luna's army had turned against her. The rogue monster queen trembled as they all threw numerous critiques at her while Taffy looked on. The crowd stripped Luna of her crown and tossed her out of the castle. The indignity was almost too much to bear for the kappa as she watched the doors of her family castle slam shut in her face. With that, Taffy straightened her tie and took a seat at the throne. There, she laid out several pictures of Comet and Marcia battling the monster army in the past.
"Now, let's discuss real strategy, shall we?"
"What do you have in mind?" Bearicorn asked.
"Luna's mistake was believing that the prince was vulnerable in unfamiliar surroundings." Taffy explained. "But she failed to do any research on the realm herself, and thus created an even playing field. We can't try to take the scepter with brute force. If we want the scepter, we need to lure the prince to us."
"And how do we do that?" Beard-Deer asked.
Taffy grinned as her claws traced the picture of the human escort. "By taking away what he cherishes most."
Diaz Household. Earth-Realm.
Comet sat cross-legged in front of his best friend while she did push-ups in her bedroom and read her psychotherapy textbooks. While Comet studied the Great Book, he would turn the pages for her whenever she asked him to. Every so often, they would strike up a conversation with each other.
"So, how was your 'not-date' with Jackson yesterday?" Comet asked, cheekily.
"Pretty good, actually, smartass." Marcia huffed out a chuckle. "We're trying to get our hands on a couple tickets to the next Love Sentence concert, but they sell out super fast. Turn, please."
"Oh!" Comet flipped the page on Marcia's book.
"Thanks." Marcia nodded and continued her exercise. "And how 'bout that talk with your dad? You told him how you feel, yet?"
Comet bit his lip and looked away from her. "Uh… I'm getting there."
Marcia shook her head in disappointment. "Dude, we've talked about this. You can't keep dodging this. If you don't tell your dad what's bothering you, he'll just keep thinking that nothing's wrong."
"I know that." Comet sighed. "You don't understand, Marcia; it's not just my dad's reaction I have to worry about. After my grandfather went away, the Magical High Commission got really strict with Mewni's ruling class."
Upon hearing this, Marcia stopped her work out and rested herself on her forearms to give the prince her full attention. "The Magical what now?"
"The Magical High Commission." Comet repeated. Realizing he had never explained the organization to Marcia before, he flipped the Great Book to a page in Edward's chapter. He turned the book around, showing Marcia a life-like drawing of the Commission in the middle of a meeting discussing how to deal with rogue monster hordes. "When King Brian the Predominant first discovered the scepter and mastered its power, he met Indexia; the guardian of said power. To help guide Brian in his mystic studies and govern the other kingdoms, Indexia created the Magical High Commission. I guess you could say they're our version of, uh… what do you call it? Parliament?"
"Congress." Marcia corrected. "Parliament's in England."
"Right, right, right." Comet shook his head and continued to illustrate each member of the Commission. "Hekapoe - you've already met - is responsible for monitoring inter-dimensional travel. Though, I don't understand why he's never been able to stop Luna from coming here. Lekhmat is the one who handles medical and pharmaceutical endeavors on Mewni. Rhombulie is a warden; she looks after the most dangerous criminals in all the kingdoms. And Omnitraxus Prime is a living embodiment of the time-space continuum who uses her ability to see into possible futures to guide kings when making difficult decisions. Together, they advise current leaders, and monitor the progress of future leaders."
"Okay, that was a very interesting bit of Mewman lore." Marcia nodded, patiently. "But what's that got to do with you not talking to your dad?"
"Well, my family may be the major ruling monarchy, but the Commission is responsible for ensuring stability and good leadership. Mewni needs a strong king in these hostile times." Comet sighed, dejectedly, as he closed the Great Book. "If I tell my dad about my emotional health, the Commission might see it as a sign of weakness. And if that happens, they might have one of my cousins supersede me and take away the scepter. And if that happens… my dad might never trust me again. He might even take me away from y-" The prince caught himself. "From Earth forever."
Marcia closed her own textbook and got up from the floor. While she still wanted to help improve Comet's relationship with his dad, she could now fully understand his reluctance. She undid her scrunchie to let her hair down while heading towards the shower. "Alright. But, uh, just FYI; unresolved parental issues have been proven to lead to premature hair-loss."
Comet gasped and nervously patted his head of golden locks, not noticing Marcia's mischievous smirk. He hastily made his way through the bathroom he and Marcia shared, keeping the Great Book in front of his face to avoid seeing anything, and made his way back into his own room. Placing the Book back into his nightstand drawer, he glanced over at the magic mirror hanging on his wall. He was just about to tap the glass when he noticed a portal opening in the reflection.
Instinctively, he reached for his scepter and aimed it at the portal, thinking it was another attack from Luna's forces. But instead of a monster army - much to the prince's relief - only a familiar blue-haired Woolet tripped out of the portal. Kyle clumsily scrambled to his feet, took off his helmet, and knelt before Comet. "My liege!" He huffed, out of breath. "There is an urgent matter that requires your attention! Lady Dama, the Solarian Trio, and I have discovered a most disturbing development has been taking place at-!"
Just then, Lady Dama and the Solarian Trio - all in full battle armor - stormed into the room and knocked Kyle over. Comet rolled his eyes in bemusement as the warrior apprentices tripped over each other and spoke all at once. He was just about to order them all to be quiet when Marcia - wearing nothing but a towel - kicked open the bathroom door with a frustrated expression. "What the fuck are you all doing in my house?!" She screamed.
Comet blushed and looked away from his roommate while Kyle and the others couldn't help but stare with wide eyes. "Ooooh, uh, did we interrupt something?" Kyle asked.
"Wha-NO!" Comet stammered, bashfully. "She was taking a shower!"
"Alright, alright, enough!" Dama shouted, pushing herself back onto her feet before addressing the prince. "Sire, we bring urgent news. We have just received an anonymous notice regarding foul play at St. Olaf's School for Wayward Princes."
Comet gasped; every prince and princess in Mewni shuddered in fear at the mere mention of the dreaded academy. Many rumors had often circulated inside and out of the school's walls regarding the abusive techniques of Headmaster Atrocious, but nothing had ever been proven. But with a snap of her fingers, Dama wordlessly ordered Franklin to hand Comet a folder. The prince opened it up and his jaw fell to the floor at the disturbing sight before him. Inside, he found several photographs of Headmaster Atrocious using some form of magic to drain the life-force from countless other princes and then either burning their lifeless husks to ash or eating their remains.
"Why did you show these to me?" Comet couldn't help but ask. "Shouldn't you have taken this to General Loveberry? Or the Magical High Commission?"
"With all due respect, my prince, the Commission takes weeks to decide on anything that involves one of their own organizations." Harold spoke up. "So long as St. Olaf's is a Commission-funded academy, they will be hesitant to convict any of their staff."
"And as for General Loveberry, he's far too focused on dealing with literal monsters to deal with the metaphorical monsters." Franklin put in. "He'd probably consider investigating Atrocious to be a waste of time."
"Plus, we have reason to believe that Atrocious will kill more of his students in the near future." Vincent added. "So without the assistance of any other Solarians or the Magical High Commission, the best thing we could think to do was contact you and your human escort for help."
Marcia had left to get dressed, but returned in time to hear everything and look over a few of the pictures, herself. "Hey, Comet, weren't these the same assholes you were telling me about? I say just give the evidence to the Commission and let 'em take their time."
Comet took the photos from her hand and inspected each of them. Sure enough, Princes Pony Head, William Hunt, James Francopolis, and Harry Pottsmith appeared in the pictures along with personnel files on each of them; each file being written by Headmaster Atrocious, personally. The headmaster had described the four princes as natural-born troublemakers who would never amount to anything respectable or be fit to rule their respective kingdoms. According to the schedule attached to their files, all four of them were labeled "irredeemable" and the next to be consumed by Atrocious.
The Dragonfly prince felt so many conflicting emotions rattling around in his mind and heart. On one hand, he hated the bully princes for what they had put him through in his youth and a dark, twisted part of him wanted them to pay. But on the other hand, he would never wish whatever Atrocious was doing to them on even his worst enemy. These thoughts went back and forth in his head until, at last, he concluded that Mewni's future king must never allow petty grievances get in the way of doing the right thing.
"Alright, I have a plan." Comet declared as he turned towards his roommate. "But we need your help."
Marcia sighed and handed the folder back to Franklin. "I figured you would."
St. Olaf's School for Wayward Princes. Mewni-Realm.
Comet, Marcia, and the others hid behind the rocks just outside of the school grounds. Franklin, Vincent, and Harold left to deliver the evidence to the Magical High Commission in case Comet's plan fell through while the others stayed behind to rescue the other princes. Comet took his scepter out of his belt one final time and conjured a hairband.
"Okay, Marcia, you're the distraction." Comet explained. "This hairband will create a disguise that will make you look like a prince. Since you're not on St. Olaf's register, they won't let you in, but it'll buy us enough time to sneak past the door. Once we're inside, I'll go find where Atrocious is keeping the other princes he plans to kill while Kyle and Dama free the rest of the school."
Marcia, Kyla, and Dama nodded in agreement. Marcia took the hairband and placed it over her head, then made her way towards the academy's front door. She lifted the massive brass knocker and banged it against the oak with all her strength. While she waited, she caught a glimpse of herself in the reflection of a nearby stained-glass window.
"Whoa…" Her eyes widened in surprise as she checked herself out in the mirror. Comet had dressed her in a clean-white renaissance prince's outfit with black knee-high boots and a royal purple jacket with coattails. A smile spread over her lips. "Holy shit, I look good."
Just then, the wooden door opened, and Marcia found herself looking down at a one-eyed cybernetic troll-like creature in a lab coat. This was Pisces, the chief of security at St. Olaf's and Atrocious' right-hand woman. "And who are you, young man?" She asked, suspiciously.
"Uuuuhhhh…" Marcia's eyes nervously darted between the vicious security chief and her friends trying to sneak behind her. Steeling her nerves, she locked eyes with Pisces to keep her attention fixed on her. "I am Prince… Dudebro… of the kingdom… Wholelottatrouble."
"Hmmm…" Pisces arched her only eyebrow before curiously taking a notebook out from her coat pocket. As she flipped through the pages, Comet, Kyle, and Dama managed to silently sneak past the door into the school. Marcia resisted the urge to release a breath of relief while Pisces remained oblivious to the entire plot. "Hm, well, your name doesn't appear to be in my roster. I can't let you in if you haven't been admitted by your parents."
Marcia shrugged, trying her best to look nonchalant. "Whatever, man. I'll just head back home and give my idiot parents the bad news. And maybe on the way, I'll stop at the pet store and teach the parrots to say bad words."
Atrocious seemed disgusted by such an idea. "Dear Stump!" He sneered. "You are a lot of trouble, Prince Dudebro of Wholelottatrouble. A whole lot of trouble, indeed! Perhaps you do belong here!"
"What?" Marcia gulped. "Uh, no, the roster-"
"I think this roster must be outdated!" Pisces declared, grabbing her by the wrist and leading her into the school.
Comet silently cursed himself for putting her in danger, but Marcia noticed his hiding spot and motioned for him to go on. And so, the prince signaled for Kyle and Dama to proceed with phase two of their plan. The two Solarian apprentices stealthily followed the human girl while Comet snuck away to find Pony Head and the others. His search took him upstairs to Atrocious' office, where he found James, Harry, and William chained up to the wall and gagged. Comet took out his scepter again and it magically transformed into an ax, which he used to slice apart their chains. Once the scepter reverted to its original form, Comet used it to conjure a puddle of water that splashed onto their faces.
"W-what the…? Dragonfly?" William grunted in confusion. "What're you doing here?"
"I'm here to save you guys." Comet replied as he continued removing the trio's shackles.
"Yeah, right." James scoffed, groggily. "Why would you wanna help us?"
"Yeah." Harry nodded, rubbing the chain burns on his wrists. "How do we know you're not here to watch Atrocious kill us?"
Comet felt offended. "Are you kidding me?! Yes, I'm mad at how you treated me, but I don't want to hurt you! Look, I'm trying to stop Atrocious from taking anymore lives. Go back downstairs and find Kyle Storkson and Lady Dama. They'll get you to safety."
"You want us to put our safety in the hands of a weak woman and a filthy Woolet?" Harry spluttered, indignantly.
"Well, that's my best offer." Comet glared, impatiently. "Take it, or leave it. Now, where is Pony Head?"
James pointed to the door on the other side of the room. "Through there. That's where Atrocious does all his killings."
"Alright. I'll save him. Now, get going." Comet ordered.
Reluctantly, the trio of princes made their way downstairs, but they had no intention of following Comet's suggestions. Instead, they decided that they would head down to the school's boiler room and kill Atrocious before he could kill them.
Meanwhile, Marcia gawked at what she was seeing as she was led down the halls of St. Olaf's. The dorm rooms were nothing more than stone prison cells. The cafeteria served only dry bread, chicken, and tap water. Three-by-three isolation rooms designed to hold unruly cases for two weeks each. At last, Pisces stopped in the doorway of a large auditorium to admire the headmaster addressing the students.
"Good morning, graduating class." Atrocious announced in an oily voice. "Congratulations. I am pleased to report that this is the most successful class to ever attend St. Olaf's School for Wayward Princes. When you came to me, you were all unruly, undisciplined, and far too free-spirited for your own good. But thanks to my faculty's teachings, you have matured into obedient heirs who will never trouble their parents with such radical thinking. Each of you represents the future of your respective kingdoms, and shall be held responsible for upholding tradition and maintaining the peaceful status quo. When you walk out of these halls, you shall be perfect princes. Now, return to your rooms for thirty minutes and then meet back here for Prince Jericho's valedictorian speech. Dismissed." The princes silently nodded in agreement while Atrocious ascended the stairs of a secret passage.
Marcia was disgusted by the audacity of the headmaster. These poor souls had been indoctrinated and brainwashed into believing that they all had to think the same in order to run a kingdom. She wondered how Comet's parents or the Magical High Commission could have allowed Atrocious to treat anyone like this, much less killing them. She was just about to speak up when she felt Pisces pulling her along again. Refusing to let such a thing go on, she stuck her foot out to trip the cyclops up, then ran into the room before anyone could exit. While the crowd murmured in confusion, Marcia awkwardly made her way to the stage.
"Um, hi. My name's Prince Dudebro. I know you all wanted your valedictorian speech to come from Prince Jericho. Because you think he's nice. Because you like his leadership style. Because you just plain like him, right?" Marcia paused as the crowd politely clapped in agreement, then she grabbed the microphone and raised her voice. "But the truth is, you just think that you do! Because you are manipulated into thinking you do! By him; Headmaster Atrocious!"
The crowd turned towards the portrait of the cruel headmaster hanging on the wall. The crowd muttered and mumbled to each other, curious as to what this rebel prince was talking about. At the same time, Atrocious walked into Capricorn's monitor room and loomed over her shoulder to see what all the fuss was about.
"He did it the same way they manipulate us into reading certain kinds of books! Or watching certain kinds of movies! Even listening to certain kinds of politicians! All labeled as the least offensive, most appealing alternative just to get us all to think the same way!" Marcia continued with fervor. "But it is precisely when someone else's opinion is different and offensive that we need it most! You are all leaders of the future! You should provoke each other with different ways of thinking! Challenge each other's preconceptions! A true leader should always be thinking of new ways of living to benefit their kingdoms!"
Back in the security room, Atrocious angrily noticed that several of the princes in the crowd were beginning to agree with Prince Dudebro. "Get him out of there!" He ordered Capricorn. "NOW! Now, now, now, now, now!"
Back in the auditorium, Marcia grinned as she continued with her speech, rallying the princes to her side. "Sure, different ideas can be harmful. Even dangerous. But the risk is better than the alternative; a steady diet of innocuous, flavorless, traditional mush! Demand to be challenged! To be offended! To be treated like thinking, reasoning, living beings! Don't let your traditions, or your out-dated family feuds, or an evil headmaster take away your freedom to think for yourself! It is not criminal to be an individual!"
Just then, Pisces and Capricorn burst into the auditorium, armed with electric prods. Marcia gulped and tried to run away, but the crowd - oblivious to the two security chiefs - blocked her path to praise her for her words. By the time she managed to squeeze her way through, she tripped and fell to the floor. The sudden action caused her hair band to fall off, and her true form was revealed.
"Well, well, well." Pisces chortled. "Looks like we have a trespasser in our academy, Capricorn."
"I must concur, dear Pisces." Capricorn held the end of her prod dangerously close to Marcia's face. "And we don't take kindly to trespassers."
Suddenly, Prince Michael grabbed the prod out of Capricorn's hand and broke it in half. "Back off! We stand with Prince Dudebro!" He declared, confidently.
"You idiot!" Pisces sneered. "She's not a prince! She's a girl!"
"So what?!" Prince Fredrick asked, as he helped Marcia to her feet. "Who says she can't be a prince?!"
"Yeah!" Prince Leonard agreed, eagerly. "She can be a prince if she wants to be! She's an individual!"
Marcia grinned. "And it's not criminal…"
"TO BE AN INDIVIDUAL!" The crowd chanted.
The princes stampeded past the security robots and trampled both Pisces and Capricorn. Marcia directed the crowd out the door and instructed them all to head home and tell their parents everything Atrocious had put them through. With that out of the way, she turned back to regroup with Comet and the others, but was cut off by Pisces and Capricorn. She ran into a closet to buy herself time before she got an idea.
"Alright 'Prince Dudebro,' or whatever your real name is, come out!" Pisces ordered. "Headmaster Atrocious will decide your fate.
Marcia cupped her hands over her mouth and imitated a police siren, which startled the two security chiefs on the other side of the door. "Oh, you hear that?!" Marcia grinned as she opened the door. "Looks like help arrived already!"
"Ah!" Pisces yelped in terror. "Hide me! You've got to hide me! I can't go back to prison!"
"Quick! Hide in here!" Marcia suggested, motioning the closet. Once Pisces ran inside, she closed the door and was prepared to barricade it shut when Capricorn stopped her.
"Hide me, too!" The robotic guard begged. "It's not fair! You've gotta hide me!"
Marcia could hardly contain herself. "I must be dreaming. It couldn't be this easy." She thought to herself. "Okay! Get inside!"
She opened the door again, ushered Capricorn inside next to Pisces, closed the door, and propped a chair against the doorknob. Now, with both security chiefs out of the way, she fished her phone out of her pocket and texted Comet to go ahead with the next step of the plan.
She pocketed her cell phone again and hastily rushed towards the rendezvous point when she heard a noise coming from the dark hallway. Her curiosity piqued, she cautiously inched closer towards the source of the noise. "Hello?" She called out. "Is someone there?"
Suddenly, multiple glowing eyes emerged from the darkness and a net shot forth, wrapping itself around Marcia. "Hello, Punching-Girl." Bearicorn growled.
Meanwhile, Kyle and Dama had gathered all of the princes outside and were doing a roll call to make sure no one had been left behind. "Alright, the only ones missing are James Francopolis, Harry Pottsmith, William Hunt, and Pony Head." Dama declared. "It's all up to Comet and Marcia, now."
Kyle nodded in agreement, but found himself distracted as he saw two monsters running away from the school, carrying a burlap sack. Curious, he excused himself from the crowd and followed after them to investigate.
Back in the school, Comet had finally found Pony Head. Unfortunately, Atrocious had arrived and locked the door behind him. Comet aimed his scepter at the headmaster, but Atrocious ignored him and proceeded towards Pony Head. A sickly green aura radiated from Atrocious' eyes and two beams of light shot forth at the captive Pony Head. Pony Head cried in pain as his life force was being drained away.
"Stop it!" Comet shouted and fired a beam from his family heirloom, and disrupted the life-draining magic before it was too late. "Why are you doing this?! How are you doing this?!"
Atrocious grinned the most wicked grin Comet had ever seen. "I'm doing this for Mewni." He said, at last. "I, alone, possess the mental fortitude required to discipline these royal brats into proper rulers. For three hundred years, this mysterious power has kept me alive to complete this mission. And besides, Prince Dragonfly, can't you see that some of these princes don't deserve to call themselves royalty? Especially after the way this one has treated you?"
Just then, Indexia materialized beside Comet's ear. "My liege, save yourself." She warned, earnestly. "You can't defeat this man on your own. You don't understand what he truly is."
"No. I don't care what Pony Head put me through!" Comet declared as he defiantly stood his ground in front of the recovering prince. "You can't treat people like this!"
"Then you can die with him!" Atrocious growled as he directed his gaze towards the Dragonfly heir. Just like before, his eyes shone with dark green energy. Pony Head took advantage of the distraction and hastily made his way out the door.
The pain was unbearable as the green magic surged through Comet's body. The scepter had been kicked out of his reach, so he could not conjure a protection spell to shield him from the attack. He tried to use his natural strength to power through the pain, but it was no use. A primal rage unlike anything the young prince had felt before began to rise up in his chest and the pink hearts on his cheeks turned dark blue. Against all odds, Comet managed to rise to his feet, and the dark blue magic branched out through his veins. He pushed against the torrent of green magic and charged his own into his fists.
"N-no!" Atrocious gasped in disbelief. "Stay back! Stay back!"
But Comet pressed on, determined to stop the sinister headmaster at all costs. Atrocious angrily increased the output of his own magic power, trying to push the boy back. At first glance, it looked as if the two had reached a stalemate. But in reality, Comet had only slowed himself down when he noticed something. As Atrocious strained himself, a faint glowing silhouette in the shape of three-leaf clovers appeared over the skin-grafts on his cheeks. Shaking his head, he finally managed to get close enough to strike his enemy.
With a sickening crunch, Comet's blow shattered Atrocious' ribcage. The dark blue magic drained away from Comet's cheeks and veins and traveled up his arm into his fist. A bolt of lightning shot forth from his knuckles, propelling Atrocious out of a nearby window and out into the wilderness. The prince of Mewni looked down at his hand just in time to see the blue magic fade away from his fingertips; he wondered how he had been able to wield magic without the scepter before coming to only one conclusion.
"I dipped." He whispered, excitedly. Then, he began to cheer more enthusiastically. "I DIPPED! I DIPPED! I DIPPED! Did you see that, Indexia?! I'm not a skimmer! I'm not a skimmer!"
However, Indexia recognized the true source of Comet's dark blue power and looked on in awe at what the young prince had accomplished. "... he is the one." She whispered to herself.
Unfortunately, neither of them had time to dwell on it as Comet remembered what they were doing there in the first place. He caught up to Pony Head downstairs and was just about to lead him outside when they both saw William, James, and Harry run out of the boiler room.
"Go, go, go!" William shouted as he ran.
While confused, Comet picked up Pony Head and followed after them. Once they were outside with the rest of the princes, a massive explosion destroyed the entire academy. Comet looked on in horror at the smoldering remains of St. Olaf's.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Comet screamed at the trio.
"What we had to do!" William cheered as he high-fived James.
"That was a Commission-owned building!" Comet explained. "You just destroyed MHC property! What do you think our parents are gonna say about this?!"
"Our parents aren't going to find out about this!" Pony Head spoke up. "We're gonna bury this and pretend it never happened! And no one - especially a goodie-two-shoes tattle tale prince - is gonna tell his parents, either!"
Comet angrily choked Pony Head. "I just saved your life, you ungrateful-!"
"Prince Comet!" Kyle and Dama ran up to their future king, pulled him away from Pony Head, and kept them separated.
"Comet, stop!" Kyle pleaded. "We have more important things to worry about!"
"Marcia was right!" Comet snarled at the gagging Pony Head. "You deserve everything Atrocious put you through! I never should have stuck my neck out for you! Right, Marcia?! Marcia…?" Comet scanned the crowd, but his best friend was nowhere to be seen. "M-Marcia…?"
Kyle gently patted Comet's shoulder. "Prince Comet… Marcia has been kidnapped."
To Be Continued!
Author's notes: Whelp, we all know where this is going. Marcia's been kidnapped by Taffy and her minions, and it's up to Comet to save her. As always, please read and review.