ACT XIII: Comet II, the Underestimated Part 10: New Feelings

Pussywillow Hallow. Mewni-Realm. Eight Years Ago.

Comet Dragonfly sighed from boredom as he sat next to his father in the royal carriage. Today, King Mars had been summoned to the only mewman kingdom resting on the edge of the Forest of Certain Death to meet with Queen Batra of the monster species and renew their treaty. Comet did his best to stay quiet and out of the way during the peace talks, while also taking notes on how well his father led the meeting. But over time, he realized that his father was doing little more than reiterating everything from Comet I's first draft of the original treaty. By the time the first recess was called, the little prince had nearly fallen asleep.

"Come along, Comet." Mars beckoned, giving his son a light pat on the shoulder. "We're having prawns. You like prawns, don't you?"

"Not really." Comet yawned and glanced at the forest. "Hey, daddy? Can I go for a walk? My legs are asleep."

Mars was about to protest when he saw the delegates from the other surrounding kingdoms arrive. He didn't have time to keep his son entertained. "Oh… alright. But don't wander too far." Mars warned. "And keep out of trouble."

Comet nodded and made his way into the forest, kicking a pine cone as he walked. "Hmph. 'Keep out of trouble,' he says." The prince muttered to himself. "Well, that's easy enough. There's no one around to get in trouble with."

However, once the young prince reached the bank of the creek, he heard something rustling in the bushes. Thinking it could have been a monster, he instinctively ducked onto the ground and covered his head with his hands. After a few minutes of waiting without hearing any more noises, he cautiously crawled through the tall grass to avoid being seen. But just as he was about to stand up and bolt it back to the castle, he accidentally spotted the source of the noise.

Just a few inches away from his face, Comet saw two miniature creatures only three apples tall. One was a female dressed in purple with pointed ears, red hair, and pink leaf-like wings. The other was a male with blue skin dressed in white pants and a white hat. For a few moments, the trio just stared at each other without a word, unsure of what to say. Comet's eyes sparkled with wonder as he finally broke the silence.

"Who are you? What are you?"

The tiny creatures glanced at each other before looking back up at the young Mewman. At last, the one with wings timidly spoke up. "Uh, I-I'm p-p-p-Pansy. I'm a pussywillow p-p-p-pixie."

"And I'm Clumsy Smurf." The blue one added. "I'm a smurf. Who're you?"

Comet, still laying down to be eye-level with the tiny creatures, bowed his head before the diminutive couple. "I am Prince Comet Galaxius Astro Celestio Cosmo Dragonfly the Second." He introduced himself.

"Gosh, heh, that's a smurf of a mouthful." Clumsy chuckled. "Mind if we just call ya Prince Comet?"

Comet smiled. "Sure! Y'know, I've never seen monsters like you two before."

The two creatures took offense to that statement.

"Hey! We're not monsters!" Clumsy crossed his arms in anger at the prince's words, only to rub his chin in thought. "Uh, at least… I don't think we are."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Well, then… what're you doing all the way out here in the Forest of Certain Death?"

Pansy shivered as she nervously glanced around the area. "W-we were hiding! F-from the w-w-w-Wartmongers!"

"Oh, Wartmongers." Comet nodded before blinking in confusion. "Uh, what's a Wartmonger?"

"They're awful, horrible creatures!" Pansy stammered. "They have green, scaly skin! And terrible manners! They've been trying to enslave my people for centuries!"

Comet gasped in shock. "Well, that's not very nice! I'd like to teach those Wartmongers a lesson!"

"Oh, and it get's worse, Prince Comet!" Clumsy shuddered. "The Wartmongers have teamed up with-"

Suddenly, two brown bubbles floated out from the tall grass and trapped the pixie and smurf. While Clumsy and Pansy struggled to break free, Comet saw two grotesque monsters only slightly bigger than their prey step out from the tall grass. The mewman prince frowned as the Wartmongers picked up the bubbles and laughed at their misfortune.

"Aw, what's the matter, little pixie?!" The taller one - named Sludge - chuckled. "Can't fly away now, can you?!"

"Heh-heh-heh-heh, yeah!" The short one - named Slime - laughed. "Once King Bullrush clips your wings, you'll never fly away again!"

"Hey! Leave them alone!" Comet snapped. "Why don't you mean old monsters pick on someone your own size?!"

"Ooh, is that another pixie, I hear?" Sludge gleefully cackled and aimed his bubble gun towards the source of Comet's voice. "'Pick on someone my own size,' you say? Well, show yourself and-!"

The bubble popped upon impact on Comet's nose, and the prince stood up and angrily crossed his arms as he gazed down at the wartmongers. He may have only been six years old, but even at such a young age, he towered over the scaly monsters. Sludge and Slime fearfully dropped their bubble guns to embrace each other.

"N-n-now, hold on…" Sludge stammered. "R-remember; you said 'your own size.' You wouldn't hurt an unarmed monster, would you?"

In response, Comet silently held out one hand in front of the Wartmongers; he was demanding that they release his new friends. With little reluctance, Sludge and Slime placed their prey in the massive palm and smiled up at the prince. Then, Comet kicked the two rude monsters back into the Forest of Certain Death. Once they were out of sight, Comet popped the two bubbles and freed Clumsy and Pansy.

"Are you guys okay?" He asked.

"Gosh, thank you, Mr. Prince Comet! You sure saved our lives!" Clumsy praised the prince for his heroics before he remembered something. "Hey, wait a minute… the Wartmongers ain't alone! They're working with Gargamel!"

Before Comet could question who that was, something hard smacked him in the back of his head and he collapsed back to the ground. Before he blacked out, he saw an elderly wizard holding a sack full of Smurfs. When he woke up, however, he ended up reflexively punching Rhombulie in the face.

"Ow! What the heck, your highness?!" The crystalline warden groaned. "Ugh, is my face cracked?"

Comet looked around to see his father holding the wizard at bay with his scepter while Hekapoe and Lehkmat freed the Smurfs from the sack. Clumsy and Pansy ran to hug the prince once they saw that he was awake. Comet gently hugged them back as he watched his father hand Gargamel over to the Solarians.

"Gargamel, as king of this land, I hereby sentence you to fifty years of imprisonment for assaulting the crown prince and racially motivated hate crimes!" Mars declared. "Guards, take him away!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Gargamel spluttered. "I'm not racist! All I want is to gather up every last smurf in existence and eradicate their entire species!"

Mars' brow furrowed from annoyance. "That is the literal definition of genocide. Take him away."

"Three cheers for King Mars the Undaunted!" Papa Smurf praised. "We are forever in your debt, your majesty!"

Comet sadly clapped along with the Smurfs; he had finally done something heroic and his father's actions had eclipsed that. But he was happy that Clumsy and Pansy were safe.

Echo Creek. Earth-Realm. Present Day.

Marcia Diaz was awakened by the sound of someone opening her bedroom door. She propped herself up on her elbows just in time to see her roommate carrying a tray of breakfast food towards her bed. Comet flashed her a wide smile and set the tray on her lap. The mewman prince had prepared her a stack of pancakes with a side of bacon, four slices of buttered toast, hash browns, freshly squeezed orange juice, and a sealed envelope.

"What's all this for?" She asked, pleasantly curious.

"W-well, I just… I wanted to thank you for how you helped me at that trial." Comet bashfully drew circles with his foot. "So I got you a little present."

"Aw, Comet, you don't have to do that." Marcia smiled even as she took a bite of pancake. "I told you I was just helping you out. You don't owe me anything."

"Oh?" Comet smiled in a cheeky fashion as he picked up the envelope and waved it above his head. "Then I guess I stayed up all night last night and bought these three concert tickets for nothing."

Marcia's jaw dropped open. "You didn't. You couldn't have. I checked this morning and they were sold out!"

Comet shrugged, opened the envelope, and proudly showed off three tickets for the Love Sentence concert coming to town in two weeks. "I suppose there are perks to being royalty."

Without warning, Marcia bolted up from her bed, wrapped her arms around Comet in a strong bear-hug, and planted a grateful kiss on his cheek. "I would both die and kill for you!" She squealed, gleefully.

While Marcia happily studied the tickets, Comet slowly began to blush bright red. The only other girl who had ever kissed him was Tiffany, but the demon heiress only ever did it to lay claim to the prince. In contrast, Marcia's kiss was much softer, warmer, and less possessive. And although the kiss was light and fleeting, the wonderful sensation had lingered for quite some time. The prince had been so transfixed on the sudden act of affection that he hadn't even noticed Marcia had called someone on her phone.

"- I'll see you there!" She hung up the phone and hugged Comet once more. "I just told Jackson you got us tickets! Oh, my god, thank you so much, Comet! If there's anything I can do for you-!"

"Well, actually…" Comet cleared his throat, trying to hide his blush. "There is one thing you could do in return. Next month, my father is going to commission the kingdom's royal songstrel to compose a song all about me for my Song Day. In order to make the song unbiased, she needs to hear about my accomplishments from a reliable source. If you could talk to her-"

"Done!" Marcia agreed, happily. "Bring her on! I'll tell her whatever she wants to know! It's the least I can do for you, buddy!"

Over the next half hour, Marcia happily shared her breakfast with Comet as she put on her entire collection of Love Sentence CDs. While she babbled about how excited she was to finally see her favorite band live, Comet couldn't help but longingly study her features as she spoke. Something about the way she kept brushing her hair behind her ear every few minutes and the curve of her smile took his breath away. He was just so grateful to have her in his life.

"-omet? Comet? Yo! Earth to Comet!" Marcia snapped her fingers in front of his face, bringing him out of his trance. "I think your mirror is ringing."

Sure enough, the prince could hear his mirror ringing from his own room. Setting aside his share of the breakfast, he made his way back into his own bedroom with Marcia close behind. He pressed the green icon on the glass and the reflective surface shifted into an image of a panicked pixie fluttering in the air.

"Pansy?" Comet gasped, happily. "It's been so long! How are you?"

"There's no time to talk, Comet!" The pixie panted. "You've got to come to Smurf Village immediately! It's urgent!"

"What? W-what's wrong?"

"Oh, it's terrible, Comet!" Pansy cried. "Clumsy's gone missing! Please, you just have to come and help!"

Comet gasped in shock. "O-okay! I'll meet you in Smurf Village as soon as I can!" Once the call ended, Comet used his scepter to change out of his pajamas and into silver battle armor before using his scissors to open a portal. "I have to go to Smurf Village and help Clumsy, Marcia! There's no time to explain!"

"Wait, what village? Who's Clumsy?! Comet, what's going on?!" Marcia demanded.

Comet stopped, halfway through the portal. "Okay, I have a little time to explain." He shrugged. "Years ago, when my dad took me on one of his political trips, I met a pixie and a smurf named Pansy and Clumsy in the Forest of Certain Death. After I rescued them from two monsters, and then my dad saved us all from an evil wizard, they took us back to their village and introduced us to the other smurfs. And now, they're in trouble! And they need my help again!"

Marcia blinked in confusion. "You have friends… who are actually named 'Pansy' and 'Clumsy?'"

"Yeah. We were pen pals for a little while." Comet fondly smiled at the memories of his friends. "They even have their own little pixling named Klutzy-"

"Of course they do."

"-and I promised them if they were ever in trouble, all they had to do was call me. And they just called me." Comet tightened his grip on the scepter as he gazed into the portal. "Are you up for a little quest, Marcia?"

Marcia chuckled and headed back to her room to change. "Well, I need to burn off those breakfast calories somehow." She remarked, cheekily.

Just outside of Pussywillow Hallow. Mewni-Realm.

Once they stepped through the portal, Marcia immediately took notice of her surroundings. Right next to a small stream, she spotted tiny bushes with some sort of fruit growing on them. But what stood out to her was that the fruit was no bigger than a pebble. Not only that, but right next to the bushes was a bed of tiny daisies. Lastly, she swore that a tiny wheelbarrow lay next to the bushes.

"Hey, Comet?" She piped up. "How big are the smurfs?"

"Uh…" Comet motioned with both hands. "About three apples tall. Why?"

Marcia immediately checked both of her shoes for blood splatter, and sighed in relief when she saw none. She pointed towards the wheelbarrow, but it was the bush that drew the prince's attention.

"Ah! Smurfberries!" Comet grinned as he laid down to inspect the fruit. "We're on the right track! We'll find the village in no time!"

"Whoa! Watch out!" Marcia shouted as her friend stood up, but it was too late.

When Comet got up from the ground, his head accidentally bumped into a pixling that had flown out of the smurfberry bush. She dropped the basket she had been carrying and desperately reached out to catch it before all of the smurfberries inside it spilled out. But the bangs of her red hair fell in front of her eyes and blocked her field of vision.

"Oh! I got it! I got it! I got it!" The pixling shouted, fumbling with the basket. Luckily, Comet quickly but gently clasped both his hands around the tiny basket. The pixling gasped in relief when he opened his palms up, revealing that he hadn't squished a single berry. "Gosh… you got it!"

"Hehe… this belongs to you?" Comet chuckled and held the basket out.

"Yeah! Took me quite a while to fill up this one basket." The pixling admitted as she gripped the handle with both hands and carefully fluttered down to the ground to catch her breath. "It'd be really embarrassing if I spilled it all on the ground. Thanks for catching it, stranger."

Comet had been wondering why a pussywillow pixie was gathering smurfberries for the village until he noticed her blue eyes. He turned to Marcia before looking back at the tired pixie with a smile. "You must be Klutzy!" He realized. "Clumsy and Pansy's daughter!"

"Gosh! That's right! How'd you know-?!" The pixling tried to lean against a mushroom while she spoke, but ended up slipping with a grunt.

Marcia snorted. "Lucky guess?"

"Klutzy, my name is Prince Comet Galaxius Astro Celestio Cosmo Dragonfly the Second. Your mother called me and said your father was in trouble. Can you take us to the Smurf Village?"

"Oh, yeah!" Klutzy nodded and eagerly fluttered back into the air. "Just follow me, your highness! I'll get you and your girlfriend there in two flutters!"

Comet and Marcia blushed at the pixling's statement. As they followed, they awkwardly talked over each other to try and explain to Klutzy that they were not in a romantic relationship. Thankfully, after stumbling through the air for fifteen minutes while listening to their ramblings, Klutzy was able to guide them to Smurf Village.

"La, la! La, la, la, la! La, la, la, la, la!" The Smurfs happily sang to welcome the prince. "La, la! La, la, la, la! La, la, la, la, la!"

Comet bowed in respect and Marcia nervously waved at them before an older pixie flew up and hugged the prince. "Oh, Prince Comet, thank heaven you're here!" She sighed in relief and took his hand to lead him further into the village while the smurfs continued to sing. While Comet seemed to confidently stroll through the village without a worry in the world, Marcia nervously watched every step she took to make sure she wouldn't step on anyone. But their song eventually got on her last nerves, and the girl snapped.

"Will you please stop singing?!" She shouted, earning a collective gasp from the crowd. "Look, I'm sorry, but you're just saying 'la la la' over and over! I mean, none of you find that song the least bit annoying?"

"Oh, I do!" Grouchy Smurf smiled as he eagerly held up his hand. "I find it annoying!"

Just then, a much older smurf dressed in red exited his mushroom house to meet with the crowd. He bowed in respect to Comet. "Welcome back to Smurf Village, your highness. Thank you for coming on such short notice."

"Of course, Papa Smurf." Comet slowly laid down on the ground to where he was eye-level with the smurf's patriarch. "Pansy told me Clumsy's missing. What's going on?"

"Oh, it's terrible, my boy." Papa Smurf sighed. "Over the past few days, several Smurfs have gone missing. Handy Smurf, Scaredy Smurf, Lazy Smurf, and Clumsy Smurf. At first, we thought it might be that dreadful Gargamel, but when we searched his castle we found no signs of either our smurfs or the wizard. I fear something more sinister is going on. So we could really use some royal help."

Comet stood up with a determined gleam in his eye as he drew his scepter. "Have no fear, Papa Smurf! As of now, Smurf Village is under my protection!"

Papa Smurf cleared his throat. "Ahem, royal undaunted help. We were hoping you could ask your father to lend us his aid."

Comet's face fell. "What? But… if you wanted my dad, why'd you call me?"

"King Mars lives too far away to send a carrier pigeon." Papa Smurf explained. "And when Pansy told us that she had a direct method of contacting you, we believed that this would be the fastest way of contacting your father for help."

"Yeah, but… I-I've got the family scepter now." Comet reasoned, showing off said heirloom. "Marcia and I have taken on way more monsters in the past few months than my dad has in the last five years."

"Didn't you break the scepter, though?" Hefty Smurf asked, doubtfully.

"What? No! It's not broken!" Comet glanced at the fractured crystal. "Well, not totally broken. I can still cast spells."

"It certainly looks broken to me." Brainy Smurf objected. "And no matter how many monsters you may have defeated, it's unlikely that it measures up to the experience your father has."

"Come on, guys." Comet pleaded, softly. "I can help you just as well as my dad. Have a little faith."

"I hate faith." Grouchy grumbled.

"With all due respect, your highness, Papa Smurf explicitly asked for King Mars' help!" Brainy pointed out, haughtily. "Papa Smurf says that King Mars is the best candidate for tackling this problem, and Papa Smurf is always right, because Papa Smurf-"

Hefty and Grouchy grabbed Brainy and threw him out of the village. Hefty turned back to the prince to put his two cents in. "Listen, your highness, whoever took our friends obviously isn't smurfing around. And a serious threat to our village needs a serious response!"

"But I-!"

"Hey, Comet. Time out for a second." Marcia grabbed her friend by the arm and pulled him aside. "Comet, I think you should just call your dad."

"What, why?" Comet frowned, dejectedly. "You and I can handle this."

"I know we can. But it's what they want, Comet." Marcia reasoned. "If it'll make them feel better, we should respect their wishes. And you did promise your dad you'd stop keeping secrets from him."

"I… oh, I did, didn't I?" Comet sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. After a quick glance back at the smurfs, he took out his compact mirror and dialed his father's number. "Hey, dad? You got a minute?"

While Comet spoke to his father over the mirror, Marcia cautiously sat down in the center of the village to take in her surroundings and talk to the other smurfs. Greedy Smurf brought her a tiny muffin to thank her and Comet for coming to help. Jokey Smurf happily gave her a present, which turned out to be an explosive prank that left her hand covered in ashes. She thought she had heard Vanity Smurf compliment her, but it turned out he was talking about his reflection in a mirror. Lastly, Smurfette eagerly sat next to her for a long talk, but Marcia kept stealing glances at her friend while he talked to his father.

"What'd you guys mean by that back there?" Marcia asked Smurfette.

"What do you mean?" Smurfette blinked.

"'Undaunted.' What's that about?"

"It means not being discouraged by danger or difficulty-"

"I know what 'undaunted' means." Marcia rolled her eyes. "I wanna know what it has to do with Comet's dad."

"Oh, that." Smurfette snapped her fingers. "It's his father's king title. 'Mars, the Undaunted.' Every king of Mewni gets a special title that reflects their personality or accomplishments. Solarius, the Monster Caver; Simon, the Shy; Festivio, the Fun. Stuff like that."

"Huh. Neat." Marcia nodded. "So what's Comet's title gonna be?"

"Well, he doesn't pick it. History picks it." Smurfette explained. "Usually, after the prince becomes a king, or after their song day is when they get the title."

"That is absosmurfly correct, Smurfette." Brainy nodded. "But frankly, Prince Comet hasn't exactly done anything special in his life just yet to be worthy of a title. In fact, before he left for the Earth-Realm, he hardly did anything at all without either of his parents around to keep him out of trouble. In fact, many mewmans are doubtful of his ability to take over the throne since he burned down an entire mewman village and-"

Marcia grew annoyed with Brainy's pretentious rambling about her best friend and flicked him out of the village with her finger. Then she looked back at the other smurfs. "Hey, you guys aren't being fair. Comet's a great prince. If he wasn't he wouldn't be respecting your wishes by calling his dad instead of handling this himself."

Before any of the smurfs could respond, Comet returned with a small smile. "Okay, I just got off the mirror with my dad, everyone. King Mars says he shall personally look into the matter in two or three days."

"TWO OR THREE DAYS?!" The village collectively spluttered.

"I hate two or three days!" Grouchy sneered.

"What the smurf are we supposed to do then?!" Hefty asked, irate. "Sit around and smurf our thumbs?!"

"What if that smurf-napper comes back?!" Vanity cried. "Oh, I'm getting worry lines just smurfing about it!"

"This isn't funny!" Jokey whined. "How could the king smurf us like this?!"

"Guys! Guys! Calm down!" Comet pleaded. "My dad is very busy right now-!"

"Busy with what?!" Greedy asked. "Doesn't he understand that smurfs could be hurt?!"

"Uh, if I might say something…" Klutzy fluttered above the crowd and landed on Comet's shoulder. "Why don't we let Comet try to solve this problem while we wait for the king?"

Pansy clapped and cheered in approval of her daughter's plan. But her clapping slowly died down once she noticed that none of the smurfs were cheering with her. Marcia frowned in contempt at the smurfs for still doubting Comet; and felt a twinge of guilt for doubting him, herself. She grabbed the prince's hand and led him towards the forest. Klutzy waved goodbye to her mother and followed after the duo.

"Okay, we're gonna solve your problem for you." Marcia announced. "Deal with it."

Grouchy crossed his arms. "I hate dealing with it."

Half an hour later, Klutzy had led Comet and Marcia to the last place her father and the others were before they went missing. Comet's plan was to use his magic to track the smurfs' essence and follow it to whoever had kidnapped them.

"Flashlight footprint scanning beam!" Comet shouted, but his scepter wouldn't do anything. He tapped the crystal and shook it to provoke a reaction, until it finally cast the spell he had ordered.

"Everything okay?" Marcia asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess the scepter still needs to recalibrate after… well, you know."

Marcia nodded in understanding as they proceeded forward. Klutzy tried her best to keep up with her new friends, but quickly grew tired and had to rest on Comet's shoulder. After about fifteen minutes, the trail went cold, but the scepter's light grew brighter. Suddenly, another portal opened up in front of the travelers, and out stepped a familiar rogue monster terrorist.

"Well, well, well." Luna grinned. "If it isn't the famous Prince Comet Dragonfly."

Comet gasped. "Luna?! You're back?!"

Marcia gasped. "Luna's back?!"

"But I left you in the Forest of Certain Death!" Comet added.

Marcia nodded in confirmation. "He left you in the Forest of Certain Death!"

The kappa laughed, menacingly. "That's right, you airheaded heir! I, Queen Luna of the house Avarius, have recovered from my previous defeat! Now, I've come for revenge!"

Comet scanned the area, looking for any more monsters. "Where's your army?"

Marcia also looked around. "Where's your army?"

"I don't need those bumbling buffoons anymore!" Luna boasted as she reached behind her back. "Not when I have this!"

Comet instinctively held up his scepter, only to blink in shock when Luna held up a severed skeleton arm with its fingers wrapped around a rock with a glowing green crystal in it.

"You have a scepter?!" Comet and Luna both gasped in disbelief.

"You both have scepters?!" Marcia gawked.

Luna frowned. "Okay, seriously Marcia, that's starting to get annoying."

"Hey, that's the missing half of my scepter's crystal!" Comet realized. "Give it back!"

Luna laughed and lifted her makeshift scepter above her head. "I summon the spider and eagle!" She shouted.

Suddenly, the crystal shone with green magic and the two creatures she had declared appeared out of thin air; both the size of a grizzly bear. Comet tried to blast them away, but once again his scepter wouldn't respond to his commands. Marcia got into a fighting stance as the spider charged at her, but was unprepared when it fired a web at her hands. Comet ran to try and free her hands, but ended up getting picked up by the giant eagle who lifted him up into the air.

"Bring me his scepter after you kill him!" Luna ordered the eagle. "But make them both suffer! They will pay for my humiliation!"

"Hey, you big meanie! You leave them alone!" Klutzy screamed as she flew up to Luna and started punching at her head. "Call off your monsters or I'll-!"

"You…" Luna grinned as she reached out and grabbed the young pixling. "You're coming with me. I can use you to lead me to that village!" After Luna disappeared, Marcia was nearly wrapped up in a giant spider web, and Comet was still struggling to get his scepter to work.

Luckily, Marcia managed to break an arm free and grab a nearby stick. She managed to whack the spider with the stick and halt its spinning. She freed the rest of her body from the web and shoved the stick in the spider's spinneret to prevent it from trapping her again. From then on, it was easy to fight the spider with her bare fists. At the same time, after failing to cast a single spell with his scepter, Comet instead used his innate Johansen strength and bit down on the eagle's foot. The giant bird reflexively opened its talons, freeing one of Comet's arms. After that, Comet used his momentum to swing himself free from the other talon and backflip onto the eagle's back and hit the back of its head, sending it falling back to the ground. Marcia looked up just in time to get out of the way before the eagle crashed into the spider. Comet had jumped to safety at the last minute, landing in a nearby tree.

Comet dropped down to the ground and checked on his best friend. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah…" Marcia nodded, breathing heavily. "Yeah… I'm okay."

It didn't take long for them to notice that Klutzy and Luna were gone. Comet shook his scepter and smacked it on his thigh until it finally reactivated the tracking spell he had cast earlier. They followed the trail all the way through the forest until they came upon a cobblestone building.

"Gargamel's lab…" Comet gasped. "Luna must be using it as a temporary hide-out."

"Alright, then. Let's go." Marcia cracked her knuckles and took one step forward before Comet grabbed her arm.

"Hold on!" He whispered. "As long as Luna has half of the scepter, we are at a disadvantage. And until I can get my scepter working again, we need to be careful about this."

Meanwhile, inside the laboratory, Luna had tied up Klutzy over a pot of boiling water. Across the room, on another table, she could see the five kidnapped smurfs - including her father - being held in a cage. Luna slammed a book down on the table, pointing to an alchemist formula with a picture of a smurf.

"Here! According to this book, I can use magic to transform six smurfs into a block of gold!" Luna grinned. "I already have five, and they refuse to tell me where their village is! But you're just a child. You'll tell me what I want to know."

"You're a monster! In every sense of the word!" Klutzy yelped, angrily. "What kind of tyrant would kidnap smurfs?!"

"Enough!" Luna snapped. "These five smurfs are only the beginning! Soon, all of Mewni will know my wrath! But I need money to finance my conquest! Now, tell me! Where are the others?!"

"Bite me!" Klutzy spat back before spitting in Luna's eye.

Luna furiously wiped her eyes as her grip tightened on her scepter. "I have tried to be fair with you, little pixie, but my patience has reached its end! Now, tell me where Smurf Village is! Or I'll-!"

Klutzy's eyes widened in unadulterated terror as her captor pinched her wings in between her fingers. "NO! NOT MY WINGS!" She begged. "Not my pixie wings!"

"Then tell me!" Luna snarled and tightened her grip.

Klutzy wept and sobbed from pain and fear. On one hand, if she refused to tell Luna what she wanted to hear, she would lose her wings. But on the other hand, if she complied, Luna would destroy every Smurf and pixie in existence and it would be all her fault. Just when all hope seemed lost, she spared a glance past Luna out the window. Prince Comet peeked inside the makeshift castle with Marcia standing beside him. The duo silently signaled for Klutzy to hold on just a little longer before they moved on. Klutzy plucked up courage; she just had to buy them more time.

"Okay… I'll tell you!" The pixling sniffled, trying to sound scared. "Do you know… the Muffin Man?"

Luna let go of Klutzy's wings. "The Muffin Man?"

"The Muffin Man." Klutzy nodded, trying her best not to laugh.

"Hmm, yes, I know the Muffin Man." Luna stroked her chin in thought, oblivious to the ploy. "Who… who lives on Drury Lane?"

Klutzy swallowed for appearance. "Well… she's married to the Muffin Man."

"The Muffin Man?!" Luna spluttered.

"THE MUFFIN MAN!" Klutzy finally laughed, but managed to make it sound like a scream.

"She's married to the Muffin Man…"

While Luna was distracted, Comet and Marcia snuck in through the back door. Marcia quietly picked up the cage from the shelf and Comet slowly crept up behind Luna to knock her out with his scepter. Unfortunately, he stepped on a glass beaker that was laying on the floor and alerted Luna to his presence. The rogue monster spun around and blasted him away with her magic.

Luna tried to fire at Marcia as well, but Comet quickly recovered and managed to fire a narwhal blast at her that knocked her away from Klutzy. The prince hastily ran over to the table, cut the thread keeping Klutzy captive, and tossed her towards Marcia.

"Get them out of here!" He shouted.

"Not without you!" Marcia objected.

"Just go! I'll catch up!"

Against her better judgment, Marcia carried the hostages out of the building and headed for the forest. Comet managed to summon a shielding spell just as Luna found her second wind and fired a corrosive beam that melted everything else it touched. The kappa laughed in assured triumph; soon she would kill her most hated enemy and take the other half of the scepter's crystal for herself. Comet grit his teeth, afraid that his scepter would fail at any moment. Unwilling to let Luna win, he decided to try and dip down into his body's natural reserve of magic power.

Comet's cheek marks went from light pink to dark red. He reached deep down inside of himself, trying to find the same power he had used to defeat Atrocious. Red sparks of magic energy cackled around his fingertips as he reached out and summoned his scepter back to his hand. The magic emitting from his body was channeled into the scepter, and the crystal shone with the same red power. The prince waved his weapon at the shackles around the captive smurfs and pixie, and the metal rusted away into nothing. Marcia gathered them all up and bolted out the door; she remembered what happened the last time Comet used this kind of power.

Luna tried to cast an attack spell with her own scepter, but Comet's reaction was much faster. A bolt of red lightning shot forth from Comet's scepter and Luna just barely had enough time to create a magic shield. The blast sent her flying through the nearest wall, and the cascading waves of residual energy spread throughout the building. Comet looked down at his arms, and gasped in shock at the sight of the red magic spreading through his veins. This was something more powerful than dipping down.

This was something darker.

He let go of his scepter, trying to contain whatever this dark power was. With a primal scream, he released one final wave of red magic and completely decimated Gargamel's lair. The prince pushed his way out of the rubble and into the sunlight just in time to see the dark red veins disappear from his skin. Once he spotted Marcia and the captives she had rescued, he decided to look into it later; for now, they had to return the smurfs to their village.

Back at said village, Mars had arrived to meet with Papa Smurf and discuss the situation. "You let my son go off alone?!" He spluttered.

"Well, what were we supposed to do?!" Hefty griped. "He's twenty times bigger than us!"

"Papa Smurf! Papa Smurf!"

Everyone turned and looked in shock and awe. All the smurfs stepped to the side to clear a path for Comet and Marcia as they carried the kidnapped smurfs and pixling back home and gently set them down. Pansy immediately rushed to hug Clumsy and Klutzy, and the other smurfs cheered for the safe return of their kidnapped brothers and sister. Mars hurriedly inspected his son for any injuries.

"Comet! Are you okay?! Are you hurt?"

Comet smiled. "We're all fine, dad. But, we need to talk later. I know who did this."

Mars looked back at the smurfs his son had saved. "Comet, you rescued them…? By yourself?"

"Well, Marcia and Klutzy helped-" Comet was cut off when Marcia put her arm around his shoulders.

"Aw, don't listen to him, your majesty. He's way too modest." Marcia smiled. "Take it from me, Comet's the real hero today."

"Yeah, King Mars!" Klutzy nodded, happily. "You should have seen him!"

Clumsy laughed. "That's right! Prince Comet really pulled through for us!"

"It's true, Papa Smurf! The prince was so brave!" Handy praised. "That nasty Luna was going to turn us all into gold! But Comet saved us just in time!"

Papa Smurf made his way over to the prince and looked up with a grateful smile. "Well, my boy, it looks as if we all owe you an apology. We wrongfully underestimated you because of your age and past mistakes. But today, you have saved my little smurfs, and for that, you have my thanks."

"I knew from the start that you could save us, Prince Comet!" Brainy praised, much to the annoyance of his fellow smurfs. "I tried to tell them that you would succeed just as well as your father could have, but would they listen? Oh, noooo-!" Brainy was abruptly cut off when Hefty, Handy, Grouchy, and Smurfette angrily threw him out of the Village.

Mars hugged his son. "The smurfs weren't the only ones who underestimated you, Comet. You did good. I'm proud of you."

"Hmm…" Marcia smirked, rubbing her chin.

"What?" Comet asked.

Marcia turned towards the king. "Y'know, I think 'Comet, the Underestimated' has a nice ring to it. Don't you?"

Mars smiled and nodded. "I'll have Ruberiot come up with something that rhymes with that."

Comet's eyes widened. "Really?!"

The king led his son away from the village for privacy, leaving Marcia behind to answer any questions the smurfs had about what happened. Once they were alone, Comet told his father about Luna and how she was using the other half of the scepter's crystal to wield magic. He also explained that when he tried to dip down, he ended up tapping into something much more powerful than he had expected, but didn't show any signs of his mewberty form. Mars' eyes darted around, briefly, as he tried to process the last claim.

"We'll figure this out, Comet. I promise." Mars assured his son with a firm pat on the back. "In the meantime, return to the Earth-Realm. Keep studying the Great Book. Watch over Indexia. And keep your eye out for Luna if she tries to attack you again."

"Wait… really?" Comet blinked in shock. "You don't… you don't want me to come back home?"

Mars smiled and patted his son on the back once again. "I trust you." The king and the prince turned back to the village once they heard the crowd cheering for Marcia. As the sun began to set on the horizon, Comet could have sworn that his friend had a halo around her head. Her angelic laughter was music to his ears. A light blush spread over his cheek as he watched her playfully recount the rest of her story to the smurfs.

Mars arched an eyebrow as he noticed the way his son was looking at her. "You alright?" He asked.

"Dad…" Comet sighed as he gazed at his friend. "... when did you find out you were in love with mom?"

To Be Continued!

Epilogue:

Luna angrily dug herself out of the remains of Gargamel's castle, cursing the mewman prince and his human friend. She was just about to conjure up another giant spider and eagle, fully prepared to burn the Smurf Village to the ground, when she heard a voice coming from her scepter. She held it up to her ear as it whispered a new devious plan into her ear. Following its instructions, she plucked the crystal off of the rock and held it in her hand. An ominous green light shone from the crystal, and it began to fuse itself into her palm. She screamed in pain, but slowly began to laugh as she felt the power spread throughout her body. And then, her middle finger vaporized.

"Surprise…"

Author's note: AND THUS BEGINS THE GENDERBENT STARCO! What is the genderbent ship name for Starco? "Comcia?" "Marcet?" Let me know in the reviews.

NEW CHARACTER UNLOCKED: Klutzy the pixling is the child of Clumsy Smurf and his wife Pansy the Pussywillow Pixie. (FYI, Klutzy is an OC of mine, but I did not make Pansy up. She's a legit character from the 1980's Smurfs cartoon and Clumsy's love interest. Google it.) Like Clumsy said, Klutzy is way braver than either of her parents and is very adventurous, but at the same time, she's just as clumsy as both of her parents. She wears a white dress similar to her moms, and has red neck-length hair with bangs that emulate her dad's hat droop. She's probably going to show up again in the future.