ACT XIII: Comet, the Underestimated Chapter 14: Confessions

Echo Creek, Earth-Realm.

Comet opened a portal from Dragontown and nervously stepped through along with Kyle, Klutzy, Dama, and the Solarian Trio. The prince of Mewni was afraid to face Marcia after the disaster that was Ruberiot's song, but he knew running from the problem wouldn't solve anything. So, in order to diffuse the situation, he picked up his mewman friends as promised and headed for his host family's house. Taking deep breaths, he eventually led them to the Diaz residence and the group peaked in through the living room window.

From what they saw, the party was already well underway. Most of his human classmates were there, enjoying themselves immensely. Angelo and Rosa were dancing next to a boombox, making the mewmans snicker. Jonah had already grabbed a plate of food and isolated himself in the corner. At last, Comet's heart skipped a beat at the sight of Marcia. And it then promptly sank once Jackson approached her with two cups of fruit punch and kissed her on the cheek.

Steeling himself for whatever conversation he and his best friend would have, Comet inhaled one last time and led his guests into his host home.

"Good afternoon, your highness." A familiar voice called out.

Comet blinked in surprise at the sight of the government agent wearing a more casual attire; blue jeans and a Hawaiian shirt. "Agent Casoy? What're you doing here?"

"Your host family invited me." Alex smiled and stepped out of the doorway. "Shall we?"

"WHOA!" Klutzy excitedly fluttered up to Alex's face and gripped his cheeks to get a good look at him. "A real-live human! You look just like that Marcia girl the prince likes! Only bigger!"

"Uh, thanks?" Alex smiled, awkwardly.

"What's it like living in the Earth-Realm?! How do you folks get by without magic?!"

"Klutzy!" Dama scolded as she squeezed the pixie's wings between her fingers and plucked her off of the agent's face. "Behave yourself! We are guests in this realm!"

"Heh, heh. It's okay." Alex chuckled as he held out his palm beneath Klutzy's feet. Dama released her grip and Alex gently placed her on his shoulder. "I'd be happy to tell you all about my world if you'd all be kind enough to tell me a little about your world. Humans may not have magic, but we get by. In fact, me and my two best friends do our jobs just fine without it."

"And what would those jobs be?" Harold huffed, crossing his arms with boredom. "From what the prince told us, all you do is watch him fight monsters and then scold him for it."

"Well, that's one way to look at my current position. But back in the day, me and my friends did our fair share of saving the world." Alex smirked. While Comet closed the door and behind him, the Solarian trainees and pixie listened with interest as Alex spoke to them. "C'mon, I'll tell you about this one time the three of us got called in to investigate a bunch of bodybuilders going nuts because of some protein bar invented by a former Mr. Universe."

Comet smiled as his friends settled down on the couch, listening to Alex's story. The prince made his way to the table of snacks and fixed himself a glass of fruit punch just as Jonah slung an arm around him. Squinting his pink eyes at the couch, the conspiracy tycoon pointed an accusing finger at Comet. "Why'd you bring the fed?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Diaz invited him. Not me." Comet chuckled at his friend's paranoia. "And he's not such a bad guy. He just cares, y'know?"

"Hm." Jonah grunted as he reached for another doobie in his pocket. "Well, I'll be keeping my eye on him, regardless."

Comet humorously shook his head as Jonah stumbled outside to light his joint. As he went along, several of his classmates were asking to take selfies with him and have him sign their yearbooks. At last, he bumped into the girl he'd been living with for the past nine months.

"Hi…" Marcia smiled, awkwardly.

"... hi." Comet smiled back.

"Marcia…"

"Comet…"

"... I am so sorry!" They both said. "...what?"

Marcia shook her head in confusion. "What're you sorry for?"

Comet was just as confused; he was expecting her to be furious. "Th-the song." He explained. "Ruberiot told everyone that I was in love with you. It, uh… it must have been-"

"No, Comet, that's my fault." Marcia interrupted, gently. "When Ruberiot was interviewing me, I told her about how much our friendship meant to me, and everything you've done for me… I guess I made it sound as if you were in love with me. I should have explained it better."

"Oh… oh! Marcia, no!" While relieved that his secret was still safe, Comet couldn't stand to see his best friend blame herself. "Marcia, that's not your fault. It's Ruberiot's fault! She had no right to ask such personal questions! Let alone, imply that we have feelings for each other! I'm so sorry, Marcia. If I'd known you felt responsible for her mistakes, I would have stayed in Mewni a little longer to ensure that she'd be punished."

Marcia seemed to relax a little bit. "Thanks, Comet. Let's just try to enjoy summer and forget about Song Day, yeah?"

"What's a Song Day?" Comet shrugged, playfully.

"So…" Marcia nodded and spread her arms. "Still friends?"

Comet smiled and hugged her, taking great comfort in her embrace. "Best friends." He promised.

"Great." Marcia broke the hug and looked over her shoulder before adding one last thing. "And, uh, I would really appreciate it if you didn't mention this to Jackson." She whispered. "I think he's finally gonna ask me to be his official girlfriend and I don't want him to get confused, okay?"

Comet felt his heart break, but kept a brave face as he smiled and gave her a thumbs up. "No worries."

"Great. This is gonna be the best summer ever!" Marcia exclaimed, earning a cheer from the entire house.

Comet watched as Marcia made her way back to Jackson; his smile completely disappearing once he put his arm around her. With no interest in mingling with anyone else, Comet grabbed his own plate of food and discreetly went upstairs. Closing the door behind him, the prince plopped down on his bed and began rereading Simon's chapter in the Great Book of Magic out of boredom.

"Globgal!"

Comet lazily turned to see Indexia watching him from his nightstand. A small chuckle slipped through his lips as he realized she was eyeing the chocolate pudding on his plate. He set the rest of his food down for his teacher and settled further into his bed to continue reading. If he was lucky, he'd be able to sleep through the rest of the party without being disturbed.

Unfortunately, it was not meant to be.

Without warning, an interdimensional portal tore open in the middle of his room. Instinctively, Comet summoned the scepter to his hands, rolled out of his bed, and aimed the magic heirloom at the unknown portal. But before he could whisper an attack spell, a familiar face stumbled out from the other side. Mars was dressed in tactical battle armor, covered in dried blood, and out of breath. The king desperately tried to catch his breath, but collapsed to the floor from exhaustion.

"Dad?!" Comet rushed to help his father back on his feet. "Are you okay?! What happened?! What're you doing here?!"

"I-I'm fine, Comet. I'm fine." Mars insisted as he sat on the bed to catch his breath. "But there's trouble back on Mewni. You're in danger. I need you to come home with me, right now."

Comet could hardly believe his ears. He hadn't seen his father since the end of his Song Day, and now Mars had the audacity to come barging into his room to demand he come home without any explanation. As far as Comet was concerned, his father needed to go to a doctor before even thinking about bossing him around.

"No!" Comet snapped. "Dad, I'm not going back yet!"

"Comet, you don't understand!" Mars tried to explain. "We have to-"

"Dad, you said you trusted me to take care of myself on Earth!" Comet fumed. "And now, just because you couldn't take down a monster, I have to come home?!"

"Comet, I'm sorry, but-"

"Dad, I love you. And I miss you and mom, but I'm growing up!" Comet went on with fervor, pacing the room as he spoke. "I have my own life! And right now, I need to deal with some stuff!"

"Comet-"

"Marcia and I are back on good terms after Ruberiot's song!"

"Comet-"

"Plus, I've got to deal with being able to dip down now that the scepter's broken!"

"Comet-"

"And apparently, there's this thing on Earth called 'Summer Vacation' where you just don't go to school! And now that I have all this free time, I want to take a minute to process my feelings and-"

"COMET! Taffy is back!" Mars boomed, startling his son. "Somehow, she's possessed Luna through the other half of the scepter's crystal! The Commission and I tried to take her down, but it was no use! I almost died! The Commission has been drained of magic! Taffy could target you next! If she manages to come to Earth, she will likely put your friends in danger to get to you!"

Comet's blood ran cold. His mind immediately flashed back to the last time Taffy targeted Marcia and nearly killed her. He would never forgive himself if that lizard tried to hurt her again. The prince glanced over at his bedroom door before speaking up again. "Just… just give me five minutes." He pleaded.

Soon afterwards, Comet made his way back downstairs in search of his best friend. After navigating through the sea of classmates, he accidentally bumped into Jackson just as he was about to kiss Marcia. "Oh, uh, s-sorry, Jackson."

"Hey, man, it's cool." Jackson smiled.

"Comet, are you alright?" Marcia asked.

Comet looked deep into Marcia's eyes and thought about the journey they'd been through together. Clenching his fists and furrowing his brow, the prince gripped Jackson's shoulder's looked him in the eyes. "Listen, Jackson Lee Thomas! You better treat this woman like a queen, you hear me? She deserves nothing less!"

"Comet-!" Marcia tried to scold him.

"Let me talk!" Comet interrupted his friend, ignoring all other eyes on him as he continued to speak with Jackson. "Marcia Diaz has been crushing hard on you for years, Jack. And she's not gonna let you go any time soon, but that doesn't mean you don't have to work to keep her affection!"

"Whoa! Chill, man!" Jackson replied, calmly. "Where's this coming from?"

"Just shut up and listen!" Comet continued. "You have no idea how lucky you are to be dating such a strong, brave, smart, and confident woman like Marcia! She will stick by your side whenever you need her! If I was dating her, I would fight to make her as happy as she makes me! I would make her breakfast every morning! With eggs over hard, just like she likes it! I would write her poems every week just to try and put how much she means to me into words! I would confront anyone who dares to besmirch her honor! And even though she is more than capable of taking care of herself, I would protect her from any kind of harm…!"

After catching his breath, the prince finally seemed to notice the festivities had completely stopped. Dama and Kyle had their weapons in their hands in case Jackson had attacked the prince, but they had put them down after hearing Comet's rant. The Solarian Trio halting stuffing food into their mouths so they could hear everything. Agent Casoy had stood up from the couch to get a better view, aiming his watch at the scene occurring before him. Everyone was staring at Comet. Especially Marcia.

Comet cleared his throat and took one step back from Jackson. "I-I mean, that's what I would do… i-if I were you, okay?"

While stunned by Comet's sudden outburst, Jackson seemed to take his words to heart. "Yeah." He nodded. "Yeah, man, I got it."

Marcia gently pushed her boyfriend aside and stepped in front of her roommate. "Comet… wh-what's going on?"

"Marcia… I'm sorry." Comet admitted. "You've been the best friend I've always wanted, and you never asked for anything in return. But I haven't been completely honest with you, lately. And it's not fair that I'm telling you all this at the last minute, but you deserve the truth. And the truth is…" Comet closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and looked directly into Marcia's eyes. "... I am in love with you."

While Marcia merely widened her eyes in shock, everyone else gasped in shock at the sudden revelation.

"Called it! Called it!" Klutzy bragged, excitedly patting Agent Casoy's cheek. "Who called it?! I called it! Boom!"

Marcia was speechless, but Comet went on. "At first, I thought if I just ignored these feelings, they'd go away, but they haven't. Ruberiot's song wasn't your fault, it was mine. Because when I say that I love you, I don't mean it as just a childish crush. I mean, I love you… the way one loves another… whom one simply cannot live without. And I know this may ruin our friendship, but I just couldn't keep it a secret anymore. And I know it's selfish of me to tell you all of this right now, especially since you're dating Jackson now, but - I just - I… I just couldn't leave without telling you how I really feel!"

"Comet, I-" Marcia blinked. "Wait, 'leave?' Where are you going?"

Comet's eyes welled up with tears, but he forced himself to explain. "I… I have to go into hiding with my dad. Taffy's still alive." The prince paused to study Marcia's reaction; as he suspected, she appeared to be shocked and confused. Clearing his throat and wiping his eyes, he continued to elaborate. "Somehow, when the whispering spell cleaved my scepter's crystal, it trapped her soul inside the other half Luna has. And now, according to my dad, the crystal possessed Luna's body. So, I need to go back to Mewni… possibly forever. If Luna's after the other half of the crystal, she will likely put you in danger to get to me, again. And I can't let that happen."

Marcia didn't know what to say. She had never seen Comet so hurt and afraid. Half of her brain was trying to understand how Taffy was still causing problems, while the other half was trying to comprehend Comet's love confession. Suddenly, his behavior from the past few months made so much sense. She internally cursed herself for being so blind, but remained silent. She wanted to say something to Comet - give him a hug, lightly punch his shoulder, tell him everything would be alright - but she just couldn't make her body obey her brain's commands.

"Comet…" She said, at last. "I-I… I don't-"

Comet's tears streaked down his cheeks and over his heart-shaped birthmarks. "Goodbye, Marcia." He sobbed, turning towards the staircase. "Goodbye, everyone!" Without another word, he ran up the stairs and headed straight for his room. Such a sudden action shocked Marcia out of her trance and she quickly followed after him.

"Comet!" Marcia called out as she chased the prince up the stairs. "Comet, wait-!"

By the time she reached the top of the stairs, a brilliant flash of light shone from beneath the bedroom door. She flung the door open just in time to see a portal close in the middle of the room. Her heart sank at the sight of the empty guest room.

"... Comet?"

To Be Continued.

Author's notes: And there you have it! The final chapter of the year! And because of that, I'm going to take a break from this story for just a little while to work on some of my other projects such as The Owl Mage, Stevonnie: Alexandrite Warrior, and my new story Amphibia: Calamity Blue. Be sure to check those out! Until next time, please read and review!