School Spirit, Part 2

While Bucky was scaring away the potential mascot thieves, Star was busy trying to talk to the Spirit Committee. And getting more and more frustrated by the minute.

"Does anyone have battle experience around here?!" she hollered. Yes, she had no idea that on Earth, most sports were just games. She thought Echo Creek's rivalry with Silver Hill Prep was a severely one-sided war with heavy casualties, and she was determined to help her school win at any cost.

"I already told you, Butterface! Nobody here is an actual fighter!" Brittney groaned in exasperation. She and the rest of the Cheer Squad had made a "tactical retreat" after the mascot thieves first showed up, and found Star going through their uniforms and equipment to see if anything could be used as a weapon. "Now get out of here so we can practice our routine! It needs to be perfect so it can both distract the Warriors from their game and grab the attention of your hunk of a brother!" Star stood still for a moment while Brittney's strategy sunk in. Then she trembled all over and made a strange sound in her throat, to Brittany's confusion. "Uh, are you okay? What's going on?" Star couldn't hold it in any longer.

"PffffffftHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Star threw back her head and started laughing so hard that she fell over. "Y-y-you? You seriously think my big bro would-?" She rolled around on the ground, still laughing uncontrollably. The various members of the Spirit Committee all looked at each other and at Brittany until Star finally got a grip and stood up, wiping away tears of mirth.

"Uh...what was so funny?" Brittney demanded. Star sighed with a smile and put a hand on Brittany's shoulder.

"Oh, Brittney, Brittney, Brittney," she said, shaking her head. "You think I didn't notice the way you and the other girls in our class and around school were checking Bucky out? Let me clue you in on a little secret: Buchanon Butterfly is the smartest person I know, but he's also dense as a brick! If you want his attention, you're gonna have to do a LOT more than just shake Chantal's booty at him!"

"Hey!" protested Chantal, who had the widest hips on the Cheer Squad.

"Sorry, Chantal! No hard feelings!" Star apologized before turning back to Brittney. "The same goes for the Warriors. If they're the mindless, repulsive apes I think they are, they only have enough brain cells to focus on the battle, so your routine won't work on them, either. Just some food for thought." Star patted Brittney's shoulder before walking out of the Spirit Committee's meeting room without another word, already formulating a strategy of her own. Brittney sighed, pinched the bridge of her nose, and turned to her subordinates.

"Okay, girls. Who has an idea for a new plan?" she asked.

...

Out in front of the school, Bucky and Alfonso looked on as Marco tried to convince Fergusen, still in his opossum costume, to keep a "stranger danger" emergency whistle with him.

"This is ridiculous! I just wanted to wear a costume to pick up on ladies!" Fergusen was complaining.

However, Marco smacked him upside the head and said, "Hey! This whistle is gonna save your life! You don't wanna get kidnapped by the Warriors again, do you? Put it in your mouth! Now!"

"Never! Get away from me!" Fergusen screamed and started running around the parking lot in circles with Marco chasing him. Bucky was trying hard to hold in his laughs, when he spotted something out of the corner of his eye. Looking at the end of the alleyway that separated the school from the building next to it, he could see Star perched on the rim of a Dumpster.

"Are you guys ready to be part of my Kitty-Cat Offense?" she was asking a cluster of mangy, disease-ridden kittens eating the carcass of a dead opossum (the school's previous mascot, to be precise). A one-eyed orange tabby looked at her and mewled before going back to its meal. Star sighed and said, "Looks like we'll have to do this the hard way..." She adjusted her position on the rim, then sprang forward and belly-flopped into the Dumpster, yelling, "KITTIES!" the lid closed behind her, and the Dumpster shook and rattled from the tussle taking place within.

Seeing as this was typical behavior for Star, all Bucky did was roll his eyes with a chuckle.

...

Later that evening, the four boys were gathered in Marco's bedroom.

"I still can't believe how you were able to just stand your ground like that, Bucky," Fergusen (still in costume) said.

Bucky shrugged and replied, "It's mostly in my blood. A lot of Mewmans are hardy folk, especially the ones from Clan Johannsen, my dad's side of the family. My training from the castle guards helps, too."

"I guess that makes sense," Fergusen responded before turning to Marco. "Can I go home now? Tonight's Taco Wednesday, the night we eat the leftovers from Taco Tuesday, and I don't wanna miss out."

"Of course not! Your house is the first place the Warriors will look!" Marco protested rather harshly. "Now drop the attitude if you ever want to see your family again!"

"Uh, Marco? Don't you think you're taking this a little too far?" Alfonso asked worriedly.

"Alfonso has a point, Marco. I highly doubt the Warriors are smart enough to find out where Fergusen lives," Bucky added. "Besides, if they show up at the school again, I'm more than capable of beating the tar out of them." Before Marco could respond, Star's voice could be heard calling from outside.

"Marco! Hey, Marco!" Marco opened the blinds of his bedroom window. Dangling from the telephone line with one hand and holding a squirrel by the tail with the other was Star. "Do you have any highly flammable liquids?" Star asked with a broad grin.

"I don't know. Check the garage!" Marco called back.

"Cool, thaaaaaaaaanks!" Star let go of the telephone line, and the squirrel did its best to hang on, only for Star's weight to drag it down with her. Marco closed the blinds.

"What in the world is that girl up to?" he wondered aloud.

"Beats me," Bucky said with a shrug. "But whatever it is, I doubt it'll do any real harm." Just then, Fergusen attempted to grab an open can of cola with his costume's tail by snapping it like a whip. However, that only succeeded in knocking the can over, and the spilled cola shorted out Marco's laptop. That was when Marco decided enough was enough and kicked Fergusen out of his room, sending both him and Alfonso home.

...

The next day, Bucky was approached between classes by a buff blond-haired boy from Star's class.

"Hey, are you Bucky Butterfly?" the boy asked.

"That's me. What do you want?" Bucky replied.

"Me and the coach saw you yesterday when you stood your ground against that guy from the Warriors. We could definitely use someone like you on our football team," the boy explained. "So, would you be interested?"

"I don't know. I've never even heard of football until recently," Bucky said.

"That's okay, we can show you the ropes. From what Star's said about you, I think you'll catch on pretty quick." Bucky considered his options for a moment before reaching a decision.

"Okay, I'll do it!" he declared and shook the other boy's hand.

I guess I'll stop here and make this a three-parter. See you next year!