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writings-of-a-daphodil · 4 years ago

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Fire Keeper: Chapter 21

Douxie x fem reader

Masterlist in Bio!

Series Summary: You are Jim’s older sister who is taking a break from college and has moved back home to Arcadia. You end up joining Jim and his friends on their adventures.

Chapter 21 summary: You're back in the future, but things don't go well.

Warnings: temporary death and grief

A/n: Wow, last chapter for a while, cue bittersweet emotions. I hope you like it!(sorry for any typos)

Jim’s words echoed in your head. “We need an edge. I'm sorry.”

You and Claire had protested, but he wouldn’t listen. “It's the only way!”

Then he had turned into that beast and told you to run. Which you did, and you regretted it. You couldn’t have stayed, but how could you leave? Guilt haunted you and you knew Douxie wasn’t doing any better.

His aura was overwhelmed with his own guilt over Merlin’s death. “It's all gone. Everything. The Heart of Avalon, Camelot...Merlin.” Douxie looked away, but you could see tears shining on his face.

“Maybe we should say a few words?” Claire suggested.

You nodded. “That’s a good idea.”

“Yeah, okay. Ahem. Battleship. November. Fruit punch.” Steve sobbed. “Purple!”

Douxie sniffed, turning around. “Oh, what can I say about Merlin? He was... he was, uh... He was everything. He was all that we had.”

“We'll get through this, together. We need you, Doux, now more than ever,” Claire consoled, handing Douxie Merlin’s book. “The world, our friends are in danger.”

“And the Order's about to kick off an arcane apocalypse,” Archie added, nuzzling Douxie.

You took a seat next to him. “In our line of work it’s hard to find the time to grieve and now it’s harder than ever with this new threat, but we’ll overcome it. We’ll figure out a way together.” You gave him a hug.

Douxie leaned into you and opened the book. He sighed. “But Merlin didn't tell me anything. And of course, he gave us a book that I can't even read. I mean, what is that supposed to be? Orcish? Elvish? Naga snake tribe?”

Archie gasped. “It looks like...Ancient Draconic.”

“Draconic?” Steve’s eyes widened in panic. “Dracula! Oh, no, Dracula!”

Claire rolled her eyes. “No...as in dragons.”

“As in...” Douxie trailed off.

“Charlemagne, the Devourer,” Archie finished, leaping into the air and transforming into a Dragon.

“Charlemagne, the Devourer. Keeper of the most sacred stones and treasures. A vicious dragon,” Douxie elaborated for yours, Claire’s, and Steve’s sake.

Archie circled the clearing landing on top of a piece of Camelot. “Which is why we shouldn't trouble him. Maybe someone else can translate.”

Douxie shook his head. “Come on, Arch! This is clearly about the Genesis Seals. And if the Order finds them first-“

“Yes, yes, yes, we're all doomed.” Archie proofed back into a cat. “I suppose we'll have to pay Charlemagne a visit.”

“What about Jim?” Claire asked as Douxie called the flying ship to him. “I need to find him.”

“I’m worried about him,” you added.

“Go back to Hex Tech. Research any dark magic that can help him,” Douxie advised.

“Claire, do you think you can handle that alone?” You asked. “I think I should go with Douxie.”

“Of course. I’ll save Jim and you keep Douxie from doing anything crazy.” She made a waving motion. “Okay. Let's go, Steve.”

“Aw! But the dragon quest!” Steve protested.

“What're you going to do, get eaten again?” Claire sassed and you laughed.

“If I can I’ll get you some pictures, Steve,” you promised.

“Thanks, Y/n,” he said, but you could tell he was still kinda pouting. Claire rolled her eyes and sent him through a portal.

“Also if it’s not too much trouble, could you have Toby feed Mao?” You asked her before she could disappear into her own portal. You had left your familiar back at Hex Tech with Toby and Nari seeing as it didn’t seem like a good idea to bring a kitten into the Arcane Order’s Castle. You couldn’t wait til this was all over so you could spend some quality time together.

“Will do,” Claire said, hoping into the void.

Douxie helped you onto the ship. “Well, let's hope we get some answers... before the Order does.”

You went over and leaned on one of the rails as Douxie put his staff in the key. The ship hummed to life and flew into the air.

“Here goes nothing,” Douxie whispered, turning the staff. The ship lurched forward and you fell against the rail.

“Do you know who to drive this?” You asked.

“Of course,” Douxie said at the same time Archie mouthed “No.”

Douxie turned the staff again and the ship shot ahead. You couched the rail, afraid that if you let go you’d fly off.

Douxie didn’t really talk and so you retreated into your thoughts. You were worried about Douxie. Sure, he was distracted now, but you knew Douxie and he was an open book. With you able to read his aura you could clearly seem the grief in it. It was so overwhelming, you were tempted to stop looking for auras, but you also wanted to understand how he was feeling.

Not only was their grief, there was blame and you knew he was blaming himself. Douxie liked to shoulder the world, you recalled how Strickler used to call Jim ‘Young Atlas’, but to you, the nickname seemed to fit Douxie perfectly. You wished he would let you take some of the weight.

His sadness was another overwhelming emotion and you wondered how he wasn’t curled into a ball and crying. You had a very strong instinct to go over and hug him and promise him that things will get better, but you were a little scared to let go of the rail, you would do it later though and you’d make him a pie for good measure.

Archie shouted directions and it wasn’t long before Douxie was lowering the ship to the forest.

You looked ahead to see a rogue tree sticking out of the canopy, but Douxie didn’t seem to notice.

“Douxie!” You screamed. “There’s a tree there!”

“I see it, love.” The ship made a sharp turn and you fell to the other railing, taking Archie down with you.

“Sorry, Arch,” You apologized.

“He may know how to drive everything from a car to a stagecoach, and he may have learned how to drive this, but it doesn’t mean he’s good at it,” Archie grumbled.

This time you held on a little tighter and the cold rail bit into your skin. You didn’t have to be uncomfortably gripping the rail for long though. Archie gave one last direction and the ship shot down, making a surprisingly gentle landing.

Douxie helped you down and looked to Archie. “You've told me tales of Charlemagne, the Devourer, for centuries.”

Archie hopped down. “The truth may be stranger than fiction.”

“Who is he?” You asked.

“Oh...I've heard terrible tales-whoever stole his treasure got baked alive into a blood pie,” Douxie explained.

“And burned, and singed,” Archie added. “Oh, here we are.”

“Sounds like this’ll be fun,” You muttered, shivering a bit from the cold night air.

Douxie looked down into the old well Archie had gestured at. “I really don't want to be a blood pie.”

“Let’s try to avoid that then. We aren’t here to steal his treasure, we are here to ask for help,” you said, looking into the well for stairs or a ladder.

Douxie stood on top of the well. “How do we get ther-“

Rocks slid and Douxie fell into the well. You winced as you heard him tumble.

“Oh, no!” Archie flew down after him and you hoped in as well, but instead of free falling like Douxie you levitated.

You touched down to see Douxie lying on the floor as Merlin’s staff hit him. “Ugh! All this...ugh-“ the book hit him “-for a book.”

“A very important book,” you reminded me, lighting your hands up with orange flames.

Douxie moved his staff around and screamed. You went to help him stand and you looked down to see the two of you were standing in the middle of a giant foot print. “Oh fuzz buckets.”

You heard and growl and you yelped. You and Douxie looked around for the source, ready to defend yourselves. “I do not want to be baked into a blood pie!” Douxie repeated.

THe ground shook and something stomped up from behind you. The two of you and you whirled around to see a huge white dragon.

“Oh...fuzz buckets,” Douxie whimpered and you grabbed onto his arm.

“We can do this,” you whispered. “We’ve battled a Nyarlagroth and won.”

Douxie didn’t respond, but the dragon did. “Look what the cat dragged in. Get it? 'Cat drag-in'! It's a play on words!” He laughed a big hearty laugh that made you smile despite your fear. “I slay myself! Archie? My cuddly little shapeshifter. Come here.”

“Oh, Father!” Archie touched his face to the dragon and your eyes widened. Not that you knew they were related, you could see it, they had the same eyes.

“When did you get so big?” Charlemange asked.

Archie rolled his eyes. “Very funny, yes. You don't see me talking about all those grey scales, do you?”

“What? Charlemagne, the Devourer, is your father?!” Douxie concluded, lessening his tight grasp on your arm.

“Dad, these are my dear friends, Douxie and Y/n,” Archie introduced and you gave a small wave.

“Nice to meet you, sir.”

“So, I finally get to meet your wizard familiar. Mm! Which one is it?” Charlemange looked between you and Douxie.

“I am.” Douxie cleared his throat. “Um, pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. Charlemagne, the Devourer.”

Charlemagne laughed. “Please. My friends call me 'Charlie'. Let's retire to my dragon's den.”

As you walked you gently nudged Douxie. “And you thought you were gonna get eaten.”

“This guys is the most feared dragon out there, you can’t blame me.”

“Don’t worry, your screams were cute.” You kissed his cheek and went to stand next to Archie.

Charlie lit the fire. “I'm sure Archibald told you all about my famous blood-berry pies.” He set a gigantic pie down in front of you and you admired the craftsmanship.

“'Blood-berry'?” Douxie asked, shaking his head. “There's no time for tea! The Arcane Order is back. They-“

“Killed Merlin,” Archie finished.

“Merlin's...dead? So, you're after the Seals, hmm?” Charlie asked.

Douxie nodded. “And we think this will tell us how to find them.”

“Hmm. Of course.” Charlie took the book and opened it. “He never wrote anything in large print. Mm. Ancient Draconic.” He gasped. “The first letter is an 'H'.”

“Aw, come on! We don't have forever! The world's at stake here!” Douxie shouted, frustrated.

“I'll need my reading glasses. Be back in two shakes of a wyvern's tail.” Charlie promised. “Where did I put those things?”

Douxie snapped to Archie. “Oh, a 'real monster', eh?”

Archie licked his paw. “You think you're the only one with father issues, hmm?”

“Archie, why did you make your dad sound like a terrifying beast?” Douxie asked.

“They're here somewhere!” Charlie yelled from across the room.

Archie sighed. “Truthfully, I was embarrassed. Dad's a walking pun factory. The legends seemed better than the truth. Then again, compared to Merlin, who was...”

“Not the type to make tea and biscuits,” Douxie finished.

“Yes. And now that he's, well, gone, I'm more worried about you. You know you can talk to me, right?” Archie asked.

“We’re here for you, Doux. I know what you’re going through,” you added.

Douxie took a seat and you followed suit, wrapping him into a hug. “I can't help but think...what if Merlin was more like Charlie? If he hadn't saved me in that alley-” Douxie sighed “-would I be a completely different wizard?”

“We don't get to choose everyone that comes into our lives,” Archie said.

Douxie looked down. “Or when they leave.”

You gave a small smile and Archie came over to join your hug. “You’re exactly who you should be, Douxie,” you consoled.

“Ta-da!” Charlie said, coming back over. “Would you believe they were on my head the whole time?”

You gave a small chuckle as Douxie held up the book. “Please. Just tell me what it says.”

Charlie looked at it thoughtfully. “Mm. 'Hisirdoux, if anyone could figure this out, it'd be you. Since you're reading this, clearly, I'm dead. I kept many secrets close at hand, but now I entrust you with this, my final one. The Genesis Seals can be reached by destroying my staff.'

Douxie jumped to his feet, retreating away from everyone. “What? Wait, destroy his staff?”

“There's no time to waste, my boy. You've got a world to save!” Charlie said

Douxie clutched the staff. “A wizard's staff is everything to them. Look, are you sure that you translated it correctly?”

Charlie swiped at Douxie, trying to get the staff. “Uh!” He yelped, coming to the edge of a small cliff.

“Hey!” You yelled.

“Dad!” Archie scolded.

“Wait! Don't rush me!” Douxie begged, raising his hand, a spell ready.

“Douxie, Dad, play nice!” Archie called, trying to mediate.

“Guys! We can talk this out!” You added, ready to use your own magic to stop any fighting.

“Careful, boy. You're playing with fire,” Charlie growled, letting out a string to show Douxie he wasn’t kidding.

“Oh, dear,” Archie whispered.

“Never challenge a dragon,” Charlie roared. You and Archie rushed to stand between the two.

“Father, Hisirdoux, I miss him, too. But you know, Merlin's not the only family you had,” Archie pointed out.

Charlie sighed, baking down. “He's right. Family isn't only who you have. It's also who you're with. Did you know, Archibald used to be the cutest little dragon you've ever seen?” Charlie turned around and showed you a picture frame. You squealed. It was a picture of Archie as a baby nestled in what you assumed was his egg, wearing Charlie’s glasses.

“That is just too cute!” You squealed.

Archie gasped. Father, please! Burn that!

Charlie shook his head. “Archie always wanted to explore the world, even before he took his first form. And when he chose a cat, that broke my dragon heart. He became a familiar- a lower profession. But if a cat is what he wants, a cat is fine with me. I realized I had to let him go, so he could spread his wings and soar. And accepting that set me free. And r-r-r-right now, your people look to you-to stand up, to lead.” Charlie let out a breath and a sort of brownish mist swirled around Douxie. Smiling figures of Steve, Claire, Jim, you, Archie, and Merlin appeared in it.

“I know you're still grieving.” Charlie continued. “I know this is too much. But in order to save your family-to save the world-you must let him go.”

The mist cleared and Douxie looked up to Charlie, determination burning in his eyes. “Do it. Destroy it.”

Charlie nodded and Douxie held up the staff as flames engulfed it. Douxie braced himself against the ground, tears streaming down his face. He screamed and the staff shattered, letting out a blast of blinding green light. The light faded, but Douxie was nowhere to be found.

“Douxie!” You and Archie yelled.

You rushed over to the pieces of the staff and picked up the remains. “What happened?”

“If I had to guess, he went into a wormhole Merlin created to store the seals in,” Charlie said. “We just have to give Douxie his time.”

You nodded. “Okay...”

Charlie came up from behind you. “I have more baby pictures of Archie to show to pass the time.”

“Father!” Archie complained as you moved back over to the pie.

“Feel free to have some,” Charlie called over his shoulder while he looked for the pictures. You did as he suggested and got yourself some. Honestly you were shocked when you bit into it. It was warm and gooey and utterly amazing. The crust was perfect and flaky as well. The pie was perfect and you said as much.

Charlie thanked you as he came back over and handed you the photo album. You went to open it but paused. “Could I take a picture of you please? My friend, Steve, wanted to meet you, but he had to go with our other friend, Claire. It’s a long story.”

“Of course,” Charlie beamed and you took out your phone. “Say cheese!” You called, snapping a picture of Archie and Charlie. You took a few more for good measure and then sat down to look at the baby pictures.

You had no clue why Archie was so embarrassed of them. He was the most adorable baby dragon you had ever seen, though you hadn’t seen many of them. The pictures of him learning to fly were your favorite. Charlie was in the background of some of those, encouraging Archie. Seeing how cute baby Archie was really cheered you up.

You were only on the seventh page though, when a cloud of green fog billowed out of nowhere from the corner of the room. When it cleared away Douxie was standing there.

“Douxie!” You yelled, immediately jumping up.

“Mordrax's miracles, you found them!” Archie exclaimed and you looked at what Douxie was holding.

Charlie smiled. “Well done! I knew you'd do it, little buddy!”

Douxie admired them. “The Genesis Seals! Now we just need to get back to Hex Tech and regroup.”

~~~~

“Um, Doux!” You called as you looked down to the street Hex Tech was on. “You need to see this.”

Shards of ice were all over the place and bits of everything was burning. There was no sight of your friends.

Douxie gasped as he hopped out of the ship. “No! No, no, no. No, no, no! No!” You all rushed over to Hex Tech, but the lights were off and ice was everywhere. “Claire! Steve! Nari!” Douxie called. “What happened here?”

You heard someone groan and you rushed over to see Krel. He was trapped in ice and looked on the edge of consciousness.He wasn’t the only one you saw though, Mao was licking away at the ice trapping Krel. You grabbed her and waited for DOuxie to free your Akiridion friend.

“Krel! No.” Douxie blasted the ice that was trapping Krel and you moved to heal him.

“Where is everyone?” You asked.

Krel groaned. “Couldn't stop them. Took Nari. Oh, wait! He can show you.” He stood up and grabbed the head of a glitching robot with a human face. You shivered a bit at the creepy sight.

“Wahoo! How are you, buckaroo?” The robot head asked. Krel pressed a button and a video of Krel screaming and running appeared on a big screen. There was a lot of screaming as the camera was rolled around until Toby grabbed it.

“This looks like the end!” He cried. “I leave my classic VHS action movie collection to my nana and my warhammer to Y/n!” The video was taken from Toby and showed the fiery person from the Arcane Order who crushed the camera.

With that the video cut out. “That's all fo-beep-boop,” the robot said.

You continued looking at the screen in horror. “Not them too.” You squeezed your eyes shut as tears ran down your face. You hated the Arcane order. Gumar had already taken so much from you and here they were to finish it off.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no! This wasn't supposed to happen! No! Oh, please tell me there's something in here to help,” Douxie begged, setting Merlin’s book on a table leafing through it.

Archie put his paw on it, covering some of the words. “You don't need the book to tell you the answer, Doux. Merlin was clear. If the Order has Nari, we can't let them get the Seals, or it's arcane Armageddon.”

“But I can't just leave our friends to die!” Douxie protested.

“No we can’t,” you stated, determined. Your friends were not going to die. You weren’t gonna lose anyone else.

“It's not easy being a leader,” Krel said.

“The Order will never stop coming after the seals,” Archie reminded and you nodded.

Douxie sighed. “We'll spend the rest of our lives running.”

“Save our friends or save the world? You have to make a decision. We're out of time!” Krel complained.

Douxie’s head snapped up. “Or maybe...time is all we have.”

“What do you mean?” Archie asked, but it hit you.

“We send the Arcane order through time,” you concluded.

“It’s a crazy idea, but it just might work. Arch, remember how before we met Merlin we used to do the Lad of Fortune trick with the cup to earn money? We do that, but inside the cup is a smaller heart of Avalon. Krel you mentioned something about magic and Acaridian tech earlier, can you fashion something out of the heart of Avalon that will send the Arcane order through time?”

Krel shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Well, ‘maybe’ is all we’ve got right now. We can only hope this works. Let’s get to work!” Douxie exclaimed.

You turned to him. “I’m gonna go leave Mao with my mom, but I'll be back to help soon, okay?”

“Okay, stay safe.” He kissed you and you wished you didn’t have to go. You wished you and Douxie could just hang out and date like a normal couple, but alas, the fate of the world was in your hands.

~~~~

You made it back just in time for Douxie to explain his plan to you. He, Krel, and Archie had gotten a lot down in the short amount of time you had been gone and were ready to put the plan into motion.

You watched as Douxie closed his eyes, projecting himself so he could talk with the Order. “Arcane Order, Hisirdoux is here!” He spoke. ”Ah-ah-ah-ah--! Hold your hexes if you still want these.” He held up the seals and you realized how weird it was to be on the other side of astral projection. “You want them?” Douxie asked. “Well, come and get them. I'll be at the cafe.” Douxie’s eyes opened and gave you a thumbs up before he turned to walk over to Krel.

“Your designs were complicated, but I'm 98.442 percent sure that this will work.” He set the device down and it spun to life. “Akiridion tech and magic are so compatible! Who would have thought?” Krel laughed.

“No turning back now,” Archie said as Douxie picked up the little-yet very important-trinket Krel had made.

“Wasn't planning on it. Arch, pass me those salad bowls, then head out. Y/n, prep the airship,” Douxie requested.

“I'll always follow you, Doux, but this could be a huge mistake,” Archie warned.

“'A wizard doesn't make mistakes-he makes unexpected possibilities,'” Douxie quoted, courage and determination ringing through his voice.

You smiled at him nervously as you walked out the door. “Stay safe and don’t forget you still owe us brunch.”

~~~~

“Hold on, big guy. I'm about to bust you out. Agh! Cheap lighter!” Steve whined as you entered the room. You nodded to Archie and he sent his own fire to free Aaarrrgghh.

“I did it! Sir Steve is your savior!” Steve cheered and you rolled your eyes.

“Helpful as always, Steve,” Archie said as he flew around freeing everyone. You sent your own blasts of fire, but you were distracted by Jim, or what was supposed to be him. You knew your brother had to be in there somewhere, but whoever was in control of him was not your Jim.

The beast roared at Archie, ready to fight and you got ready to protect, but Aaarrrgghh stepping, punching Jim. “Please stop, Jim!” Aaarrrgghh growled. “Don't make me hurt you, Master Jim!”

“Stop it, Jim!” You scolded, your big sister instincts kicking in as he hit Aaarrrgghh .

“Wingman, no!” Toby cried as Jim punched Aaarrrgghh again, knocking him down. Toby ran over there, ready to face the beast if it meant saving his wingman.

“No!” Claire called as Jim got ready to punch Toby. You were ready though and sent a shield their way. An orange sphere blossomed protecting them, but Jim never attacked.

A guitar riff played and you knew that Douxie had arrived. Jim covered his ears and you laughed, your Jim wouldn’t enjoy this type of music either.

“How about a little music to soothe the savage beast? Is everybody all right?” Douxie asked, knocking Jim out with his guitar-staff.

You rushed over to him. “Did it work?”

Douxie nodded. “So far so good. Now we just need to get everyone out. Is everyone all right?”

“Douxie!” Toby exclaimed. “I'd hug ya, but I can't move my arms.”

“Where is the Arcane Order?” Claire asked, getting to her feet.

“I have them preoccupied.” He gasped. “What's the Queen of the Apocalypse doing here?”

“What I should have done long ago-deal with my brother,” she said, moving past Douxie. “Get your injured to safety.”

You moved to help Aaarrrgghh up. “We need to find Nari.”

“Nari!” Douxie exclaimed. “She's not here with you?”

Claire shook her head. “They locked her up somewhere. Douxie, did you get the Seals?”

“Uh...” Douxie hesitated. “I'll explain later. Let's go.”

“Grab Jim,” Claire requested.

Aaarrrgghh grunted. “Got him!”

You raced out of the castle and to a ledge were Douxie whistled. The ship rose out of the clouds, hitting the castle. You winced and covered your ears as metal on metal screeched.

“Whoa, whoa! Whoo-hoo! Whoa! Sorry, sorry! I'm still getting the hang of it,” Krel apologized.

“All right, everyone on board. Krel will take you down to Arcadia. I have to get Nari, see my plan through to the end,” Douxie explained.

Douxie held out his hand to help you onto the ship, but you didn’t take it. “I’m coming.”

“No, you go with them. You need to keep them safe.”

“Fine.” You took his hand and hopped on. As he walked away you could only hope that he would be safe. You hated not going with him, but you also knew he was strong and could handle himself. The Arcane Order were still going through time anyways.

You went to take the steering staff from Krel, hoping you’d be a slightly better driver.

“He’ll be okay,” Claire soothed and you nodded.

“What should we do about Master Jim?” Blinky asked.

“Restrain him,” you replied, raising your hands to perform the spell, but before you could his eyes snapped open.

“Oh, no!” Claire yelped.

“Oh! No, no, no! Go back to sleep, Big Jim!” Steve yelled, trying to whack Jim with his axe. Jim caught it and sent Steve flying over the edge.

“Steve! No!” Claire yelled as Jim sent the axe flying right at you. Toby pushed you aside and the axe hit the staff instead, sending the ship spiraling out of control.

The ground grew closer and closer and you sent a spell to slow your fall. “Hold on!” you screamed. The ship bounced on the ground and you all fell from it.

You did your best to shield everyone, but you still had a nasty fall. You were very glad you hadn’t been impaled by a branch from the tree you had somehow landed in.

"Y/n! Claire!” Toby screamed and you hopped down from your branch to see Aaarrrgghh and Jim fighting.

“Jim!” Claire cried.

“Aaarrrgghh remind Jim who he was.” Aaarrrgghh pinned Jim to the ground.

“Master Jim, snap out of it! We are your friends,” Blinky tried.

“Your family!” You added, blasting him with a stun spell. It only seemed to enrage the beast though and he threw Aaarrrgghh onto you, Krel and Blinky.

Your back hit your old tree and you felt the wind get knocked out of you.

“Oh, no!” You heard Toby gasp. “Come on, Jimbo. It's Toby, your best friend. Oh, no, oh, no!” Jim roared turning to Toby, but Claire sent a portal and Toby popped in next to you.

“Jim Lake Jr., I know you can hear me! I know you're still in there!” Claire yelled as you got up. Her eyes glowed purple and Jim’s golden outlining turned the same color.

“Get out of my head!” Jim roared, attacking CLaire who portaled away.

“I promised I'd come back for you! Now fight it, Jim!” Claire begged sending a swirling blast of magic at Jim when he continued to charge.

“No! My soul belongs to the king!” Jim growled. You got ready to take over the fight when a blast shook the ground, knocking you back down.

“Morgana!” Claire yelled, but her voice turned into a scream.

“Jim, no!” You got up again, already chanting a spell.

“Oh, no!” Toby cried as Jim squeezed Claire.

“Claire!” Blinky called.

“I love you, Jim. We all do. Please...” she begged and his markings once again faded to purple.

You were soon distracted though by a piece of the castle crashing to the ground on top of Morgana and Arthur.

Another blast almost sent you to the floor, but you braced yourself. As the energy faded you looked over to Jim.

“Claire? Y/n?” He asked.

Claire smiled. “There you are!”

Jim beamed, but your euphoria faded when you saw stone spreading over him.

“Oh, no!” Toby cried.

“Claire!” Jim panicked. “Y/n?!”

“Jim! Jim!” She sobbed. “No! Jim! No! No!”

You sank to the ground. “No! Not again, This will not happen again. We’ve already lost too much.” You buried your face in your hands as sobs wracked your body. In the few seconds that Jim had been yours again, hope had built itself inside of you and now it was getting destroyed. It felt like your heart was getting ripped out of you.

Jim was gone again, and unlike last time you had seen him die. It was. over, there was no way you could get lucky enough to get your brother back again. It was over now and this time you’d actually half to tell your mom.

You sobbed harder, it just wasn’t fair. Jim couldn’t be gone, he had barely lived his life. Sure he had his fair share of great adventures, but that didn’t make it any better. You may have your memories, but all you wanted was to have Jim back.

You only stopped sobbing when you heard a crack.

You looked over to see Jim breaking apart. You began to sob even more, angry at the world that wouldn’t let him be. You couldn’t even have his statue apparently.

After a while you felt a hand on your back and you looked up, expecting it to be Claire, Toby, Steve, or even Douxie, but who you saw shocked you even more. Jim, human Jim was smiling at you. “Y/n...”

You stood and wrapped him in a tight hug. “You’re okay! I missed you so much!”

“I missed you too.” You stayed there, hugging him for a while, trying to soak up all the happiness you were feeling from your brother. You couldn’t believe he had lived, but you were so so happy that he had.

Now to make this day even better Douxie would come. Nari and Archie had already arrived, you were just waiting on your boyfriend to figure out the next phase of the plan.

You looked up though when a blast rocketed across the sky. Your eyes immediately found Douxie’s body falling through the debris.

You barely registered Steve and Toby shouting as you and Nari took off. The forest blurred behind you as you ran. This could not be happening. You had just gotten Jim back and now Douxie was free falling to his death. The world could be so cruel.

A flash of blue light briefly lit up the clearing in front of you and you raced to its source. Douxie was lying on the ground and you could barely sense his aura. You dropped to your knees and searched for a pulse and though you found one, it was so small there was nothing you could do, not that both you and Nari wouldn’t try.

You placed your hands on his chest and went through every magical healing spell you knew, even trying normal things a human paramedic would do, but nothing worked.

Your emotions were thrown right back into the dark lands of grief.

“I can’t be too late. Come on Douxie. You’re gonna be okay. You can’t leave me here. I can’t do this without you. You can’t die now. I need you,” you sobbed, tears soaked Douxie’s jacket as you mourned.

You couldn’t even process it. Your emotions had been thrown through a blender and it hurt so much. Your heart ached with the pain of knowing that this time you had actually lost Douxie. There was a small part of you that was still hoping though, maybe today was a day of miracles and Douxie would live?

The demons that had taken over your rational thoughts laughed at that idea. More tears fell as you sank deeper and deeper into despair, grief and guilt. Maybe if you had run faster or convinced Douxie that you could take on the Arcane Order with him, then he would still be with you.

You barely heard your friends talking and were only relieved from your dark thoughts by the impossible, Douxie’s chest was moving.

“Y/n...?” Archie asked and you realized that he had been on your shoulder, lying on Douxie with you.

Douxie coughed. “Eh...?”

“You’re okay!” You cried, jumping into his arms.

Archie copied you. “Douxie! You brave, foolish boy.”

Douxie groaned. “But everything hurts.”

Claire smiled. “I can't believe you're okay.”

Archie laughed. “Barely! Seems you're the one with nine lives. And don't you ever do that again.”

“Happy you're alive, Teach,” Claire said as the two of you plus Steve helped him up.

“Easy,” Douxie rasped. “I just came back from beyond the grave. But wait, where's Jim? Mordrax's miracles. It seems I've missed a lot.”

“Same, but glad to be back,” Jim said.

Douxie looked around. “What about Arthur?”

“Squished,” Aaarrrgghh grunted.

“Indeed,” Blinky confirmed. “And I'm afraid with their demise, Excalibur...”

“Is right over here!” Toby yelled, racing over to try only for the sword to not even budge. “Okay, I just had to try. It’s kinda fun. Y/n you should try.”

You chuckled. “Thanks, but I’ll pass.” Honestly you just didn’t want to let go of Douxie.

“What of you, Master Jim?” Blinky questioned.

“What?” Jim asked.

You helped Douxie forward. “Jim, Blinky's right. With Arthur gone, someone needs to wield Excalibur.”

“Who better than the Trollhunter?” Claire pointed out.

Jim looked down. “But without the amulet, am I still the Trollhunter?”

“This means nothing, Jim. If I've learned anything, it's that we don't draw strength from magic artifacts like amulets and swords. Our strength is something far less enchanted, but no less special—our friends. We are the protectors of this world. That's why I made the gamble I did: because the only way to stop the Arcane Order and save this world...is to do it together,” Douxie explained.

“Are you sure our Douxie came back from the dead? This one is super sappy,” Claire joked.

“Cheeky,” Douxie said and you all laughed, but you noticed Douxie stopped soon after. “It's time Nari and I got a move on, before the Order catches up.”

Claire frowned. “You're leaving? Already?”

“Yeah, you just finished a whole speech about saving the world together,” Steve reminded, as Douxie, Nari, and Archie got onto the slightly damaged ship.

“Where are you going?” Jim asked, coming up to stand next to you.

“I promised Merlin I'd keep Nari safe, which means taking her far away from here. Don't worry, I'll be seeing you champions of Arcadia soon enough,” Douxie reassured.

“We’ll make sure to visit, we just have to keep moving. Staying in one place too long will give them time to catch up to us,” you added, climbing onto the ship.

“We?” Douxie asked and you took his hands.

You gave a small smile. “Yeah ‘we’. You’re gonna need me.”

“What if you get hurt?”

“We’ll have each other's backs,” You said, petting Archie. “It’s gonna be okay.”

You turned to wave goodbye to your friends and family. It was a bittersweet ending, but like Douxie had said, you would see them again soon.

****

Yay! It's done-ish!! I can't wait for the movie so I can finish it!! I really hope y'all enjoyed this series and I can't wait to write more for Douxie. Thank you all so much for your kind comments and I hope y'all will have a fantastic and safe weekend.💙 And happy Halloween!!

P.S. if you want to be on the taglist feel free to ask. I hope it works and please message me if it doesn’t.

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coldcomputersoul · 4 years ago

Text

Marco vs. the Forces of Love Episode 5: Carnival

Summary: It’s a hoot and a holler when Marco escapes from the girls and gets blackmailed by Jeremy. Meanwhile, Star, Jackie, Janna and Hekapoo work together to find him.

Star vs. the Forces of Evil belongs to:

[theme song]

ACT I

[The episode starts where we left off at the previous episode where Star and Janna have a heated argument regarding Marco]

Janna:

If anything, Marco should avoid you at all costs.

Star:

Oh yeah? At least I don’t steal things from him of stalk him like a creep, and let me tell you...

Marco:

[thinking to himself] Aw man, this is getting ugly. I need to get out of here.

Star:

...and that’s why I’m the best girl for Marco.

Janna:

Sure, keep making noise babyface. You sure are gonna win if you cry harder.

Star:

[breaking glass sound] What did you just say to me?

Janna:

I said: Keep making noise baby...

[before she can finish Star tackles Janna and they start a fight, but Jackie once again gets in between and attempts to stop them]

Jackie:

Come on girls please... fighting each other won’t solve anything. It will makes things worse.

Janna:

You’re right. We should let Marco decide once and for all and finish this nonsense...

Star:

I agree. So Marco, which one of us do you like...? [she notices that Marco is missing] Marco? Where did he go?

Janna:

Maybe he ran away from you and your childish behaviour your majesty...

Jackie:

Janna...

Star:

Well at least I’m a member of the royalty. You, on the other hand are just a sad, strange little girl who steals wallets to get attention. How pathetic.

Jackie:

Star...

Janna:

Say it again to my face, your royal pain.

Star:

I’ll be glad...

[Just when they’re about to start another brawl, an orange portal opens in front of them with Marco and Hekapoo coming out from it]

Hekapoo:

What’s up ladies?

Star:

What the…?!!!

[TIME CARD: FLASHBACK]

[Cut Marco and Hekapoo lying under the bed sheets all sweaty and exhausted. Marco stares at the ceiling with his arms around his head while Hekapoo plays with her hand on his chest]

Hekapoo:

That... was even better than I remembered. I really needed this...

Marco:

[concerned] I’m glad to hear it...

[Hekapoo notices that Marco looks concerned about something]

Hekapoo:

Is there… something you wanna tell me right now?

Marco:

What do you mean?

Hekapoo:

You look kinda sad. Do you regret about this?

Marco:

What? No, I’m not. It was wonderful and you’re an amazing chick and all but...

Hekapoo:

Do you still have feelings for Star?

Marco:

What happens between me and Star, like I said, it’s complicated. I don’t even know how to define it. The problem is: Right now, I just don’t know what I’m doing. It seems like every time I think I’ve found love, something happens and I get caught between more decisions and… I can’t think clearly anymore. I want somebody to love, someone who gives me comfort and support, but I also want to live dangerously, to be challenged...

Hekapoo:

Marco, you don’t have a problem. You’re just a kid. It’s normal for boys at your age being so indecisive and impulsive. You’re just a little confused, that’s all.

Marco:

Maybe that’s true, but it doesn’t take away the fact that I’m hurting Star. I wish I knew what I want so this could end peacefully.

[Hekapoo looks at Marco for a moment and thinks of a way to help him]

Hekapoo:

I think I figured out what’s your problem...

Marco:

You do?

Hekapoo:

You said that you don’t know what you want in a girl, right?

Marco:

Right...

Hekapoo:

That’s because you’re too busy pleasing everyone else instead of focus on what makes YOU happy. Am I right?

Marco:

Uhm, yeah, that’s kinda true...

Hekapoo:

And that’s my point: There’s nothing wrong in enjoying yourself once in a while. You’re a great guy Marco Diaz, and I’ve always thought you deserve better.

Marco:

That’s funny. I’ve always consider myself to be very lucky.

Hekapoo:

Yeah, but I’m not talking about the things you have, I’m talking about respect. And that’s what I love about you Marco: No matter how hard life has been treating you, you always seem to keep going. You spent 16 years chasing me to get back a lousy pair of scissors that weren’t even yours.

Marco:

That’s because I didn’t knew that were your scissors.

Hekapoo:

That doesn’t matter. What I’m trying to say is that everyone else would just given up the first year or so, but you... you persisted all those years and never turned back. And to tell you the the truth, It makes me kinda jealous of Star. She’s so lucky to have you in her life.

Marco:

[blushing] I... I’ve never realized how much I needed to hear that.

Hekapoo:

You’re welcome. [they stare at each other for a brief moment]

[Hekapoo gets up the bed and puts her trademark yellow dress. Marco dress up as well]

Hekapoo:

You know? You have done so much for me lately and I wanna make it up for you.

Marco:

It isn’t really necessary. I like to be helpful.

Hekapoo:

But I wanna do it. You deserve a better treatment and Star still doesn’t understand how valuable you really are, so we’re gonna pay her a visit so I can speak her a piece of my mind...

Marco:

[getting nervous] You what? Hekapoo, I appreciate what you’re trying to do but… [Hekapoo opens a portal and grabs him by the hoodie before he can finish] Wait, I’m not mentally prepared for this...

[TIME CARD: END OF FLASHBACK]

[Cut Back to Marco and Hekapoo facing Star, Jackie and Janna at the park]

Janna:

And who the hell are you?

Hekapoo:

My name is Hekapoo, gatekeeper of the realms of time and space, and I’m here to set the record straight regarding Marco.

Marco:

[thinking to himself] This is it. They’re gonna tear me apart limb by limb.

Star:

Wait… what do you mean by “set the record straight”? Is there anything you didn’t tell us yet Marco?

Marco:

Uhm, it’s funny that you mention it, because...

Jackie:

Hey, aren’t you that girl that kept Marco recluse for 16 years on that weird dimension?

Hekapoo:

Mmmm, recluse it’s not the word I would use, but... Yes, yes I am...

Star:

You better have a good explanation for this Marco Diaz.

Marco:

I was getting into that, you see...

Hekapoo:

Don’t tell her anything Marco, you don’t owe her any explanations...

Janna:

[raising an eyebrow] You seem pretty close to be just acquaintances.

Hekapoo:

You’re pretty sharp for a human kid. I’ll give you that...

Star:

Seriously, what’s the deal with you and Marco?

Hekapoo:

Oh please, don’t tell me that you still can’t figure it out...

Marco:

[whispering] Hekapoo please, you’re making it worse...

Star:

[upset] And what exactly am I supposed to “figure out”?

Hekapoo:

Mmmm, I’m gonna take a wild guess: Marco is not only good in bed like… REALLY good, but also is so full of energy that is capable to last for hours and hours. Am I right?

Star:

So?

Hekapoo:

Where do you think he learned all that stuff?

[Star takes a moment to think about it until she realizes what she meant]

Star:

[gasps] Marco, is that true?

Marco:

Well, you see: I was trying to get back your scissors and spent 16 years on her dimension to do it and… I may have got a little sidetracked...?

Star:

Marco!!!

Janna:

Well, well, well, guess we learned something new about you safety kid....

Jackie:

Why you didn’t tell about this before? I thought we were gonna be honest to each other...

Marco:

I’m sorry, it wasn’t my intention, but you also lied to me...

Jackie:

Yeah, but what you did was way before of what we did and we already apologized, right Star?

Star:

Indeed, what is wrong with you? I thought you were better than this...

Marco:

[staring at the floor] I’m sorry...

Hekapoo:

[to Jackie and Janna] Wait, I’m confused… What is your relation with Marco?

Janna:

I am his lover...

Jackie:

And I am his former girlfriend...

Hekapoo:

So, you’re telling he’s been cheating on all of you at once?

Janna:

That’s right.

Hekapoo:

Wait a minute: Wasn’t Star your girlfriend?

Marco:

I think you misunderstood what I meant. Star is not exactly my girlfriend, it’s just that I...

Star:

What?!!! So you’re telling me during all this time you did with me all kind of things... and you didn’t even considering me your girlfriend?!!!

Marco:

You’re getting me wrong. I’m actually...

[All the girls give Marco a death glare as he gulps and takes a step back wearing a fearful expression on his face]

Marco:

[thinking to himself] Oh God, I’m SO screwed. There’s no way I can’t get out of this one...

Star:

I don’t even know you anymore.

Jackie:

[crossing her arms] I agree. We’re very disappointed of you right now.

Janna:

So, what do you have to say in your defense loverboy?

Marco:

[shivering] Girls, there’s no need to do something crazy.

Star:

You haven’t seen crazy yet.

Marco:

Please, just listen to me: It’s not that I didn’t enjoy all this time with all of you...

Janna:

Oh, we all know that you did it, you womanizing bastard.

[The girls surround Marco while he just takes a deep breath and prepares to get punished by them]

Hekapoo:

Any last words to defend yourself fleshwad?

Marco:

[sigh] I understand that why you’re so upset right now and I just want you to know that… [he notices something at the sky] Holy shit, is that a nuclear missile coming right over here?!!! [points at the sky]

Janna:

[crossing her arms] Marco, Do you seriously think that we’re gonna fall for that one? I mean, not even Star is looking up...

Star:

Yeah… [beat] HEY!!!

Marco:

[panicking] I’m serious, it’s getting closer, we’ve gotta get out of here.

Jackie:

Marco, please. This is getting ridiculous. Why don’t you just face the problem instead of coming up with such a nonsensical…?

Random Person:

[o.s] A NUCLEAR MISSILE IS COMING DOWN!!! EVERYONE RUN AWAY!!!

[Cut to the missile falling down while all the people at the park evacuate while screaming in panic]

Janna:

[looking at the sky] Holy guacamole: Marco was telling the truth.

Jackie:

Quick, we gotta get out of here fast.

Star:

Wait… I know what to do...

[Star uses her wand to transform into her mewberty self and flies to the missile to blast it]

Star:

[pointing at the missile with her wand] MEGA RAINBOW BLA…!!!

Marco:

[shouting at her] Star, don’t do that!!! You’re gonna make it explode!!!

Jackie:

Try to slow it down!!!

Star:

Okay, I got it.

[Star flies towards the missile, grabs it and attempts to slow it down using the flutter of her wings, but it’s too heavy for her to handle]

Janna:

That’s it, we’re doomed.

[everyone close their eyes waiting for the end, but the missile just lands and gets buried in the ground without exploding in a very anticlimactic way]

Marco:

[opening his eyes] Are we… still alive?

Jackie:

Apparently, but how?

Marco:

Star, are you okay? [he helps Star to get down from the missile]

Star:

[turning back to normal] I’m fine, but… what just happened?

[Janna gets closer to the missile and takes a look to it]

Marco:

I’m not sure, but we need to get out here. This thing could still explode if we...

[Janna kicks the missile twice]

Marco:

[to Janna] WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!!!

Janna:

Don’t panic safety kid. The missile is hollow.

Jackie:

Really? [she also kicks it] Hey, you’re right.

Star:

But I don’t understand: Why would anyone launch a weapon that doesn’t even work?

Janna:

Tell that to Pyongyang’s government.

Hekapoo:

And just when I thought humans couldn’t get any dumber.

Janna:

Yeah right, because mewmans and monsters are SO smart that they need magic to solve all their problems. That’s a good one.

Star:

Hey, shut your piehole Janna. You don’t know anything about us mewnans and all the problems we have to deal with on our everyday lives.

Janna:

That’s even funnier coming from you, your royal highness.

Star:

Just because I’m a princess that doesn’t mean I don’t have problems of my own, okay?

Janna:

Is that so? name one.

Star:

Well, for instance, you’re all getting in the way between me and Marco.

Hekapoo:

Oh, poor you. Let me ask you something: If Marco is SO comfortable with you, why is he looking for other girls?

Star:

Perhaps because some of those girls keep him prisoner for 16 years and take advantage of him...

Hekapoo:

Yeah right, because is not like I gave him the choice to go back to Earth. Also, the only reason he stayed on my dimension for so long it’s because he was trying to get back the scissors that your pony friend stole from me in the first place...

Star:

Leave Pony Head out of this.

Hekapoo:

Well, if you and Marco were so close, he would have told you all of this, right Marco? [notices that he is missing] Marco?

Star:

Oh, damn it. He did it again.

Janna:

Nice job scaring him way. AGAIN.

Star:

Oh, like you didn’t have any part on it whatsoever.

Jackie:

Uhm, girls?

Janna:

At least I don’t blame everyone else for my own mistakes like you do.

Jackie:

Girls?

Star:

Perhaps because you never apologize for your mistakes.

Jackie:

Girls?

Janna:

As if you know what it is to apologize...

Jackie:

[screaming] ENOUGH!!!

[everyone stop arguing and pay attention to Jackie]

Jackie:

Now, I don’t care how entitled do you think you are, or how much you want to tear apart to each other. The only thing I want is to know where Marco is, and whining and complaining like a bunch of children is not gonna solve anything, so please, PLEASE: Stop it.

[they get quiet for a few seconds awkwardly staring at the ground. Then Hekapoo decides to break the silence]

Hekapoo:

[sigh] You have a good point. This bickering is both pointless and counterproductive. I mean, I don’t even know who you girls are, I was here just to stand for Marco, but now that he’s gone…

Janna:

Well, neither do I. Right now I’m upset because I just want to know where Marco is...

Hekapoo:

I propose a truce until we find him so we can settle this once and for all. What do you say?

Jackie:

I’m in. [she shakes hands with Hekapoo]

Janna:

Me too. This whole argument is getting old anyway. [she also shakes hands with her]

Hekapoo:

What about you princess Butterfly?

Star:

Well... if Jackie is okay with it, I guess you can count me in as well.

Jackie:

[giving her a pat on the back] That’s the spirit.

[Star finally shakes hands with Hekapoo]

ACT II

[Cut to a crowd of people at Echo Creek’s pier. President Richard Martinez is about to give a press conference while everyone is talking about the missile incident. Cut to Alfonzo and Ferguson between the crowd]

Ferguson:

Oh man, I’m so afraid right now.

Alfonzo:

Tell me about it. Less than 5 minutes after it happened and my dad just ran away to the store to buy plans for a bomb shelter.

Ferguson:

What do you think it’s going to happen? Do you think they’re gonna relocated us all or something?

Alfonzo:

I hope not. I’ve spent the best years of my life on this town.

[cut to a flashback of Alfonzo getting his head stuck on a toilet by local bully Lars]

Ferguson:

[deadpan] Right...

[Cut back to President Martinez at the stage]

President Martinez:

[speaking at the microphone] My fellow american citizens:In light of the recent mass hysteria that followed the landing of the nuclear missile “allegedly” launched by the government of North Korea early this afternoon, I flew back to this lovely town to clarify some of the misconceptions you may had about what exactly is going on...

Justin:

WE’RE ALL GOING TO GET NUKED!!! [everyone at the audience starts screaming]

President Martinez:

Now, calm down everybody. Nobody is going to get nuked, in fact: This whole incident was a huge misunderstanding.

Sabrina:

Misunderstanding?

President Martinez:

You’re correct young lady in the audience. You see: This was all part of a… simulation, yeah, that’s it. The US DoD personally asked me to launch this fake missile to test the overall response of your town in case of an actual nuclear threat and… congratulations. You passed.

Reporter:

But, isn’t launching a fake WMD without prior notice a form of fear-mongering?

President Martinez:

Now, you may thinking that these nuclear policies are highly unconstitutional. And you’re totally right. That’s why I came here to personally apologize for such an irresponsible decision and make it clear that this tragic incident will never going to repeat again. And to compensate you: I’m proud to announce that I’m bringing to your town: A brand new carnival. [talks at the phone] Bring it on boys.

[a group of helicopters brings a rollercoaster, a ferris wheel, a merry-go-round as well as other park attractions and land them on the pier]

Brittney:

Oh come on, do you actually believe that we’re going to forgive you for spreading scaremongering on our town using such a moronic tactic that no one is going to…?

Blake Lemon:

Hey, look everyone: A free carnival.

[everyone at the audience go to the carnival to try the rides while Brittney gets trapped among the excited crowd]

President Martinez:

[talking to the bodyguards] Phew, that was a close one. Call CNN, CBS, ABC and MSNBC and tell them to bury the lede. no one else at the country has to know about this.

Bodyguard:

Yes sir.

[Cut to Star, Jackie, Janna and Hekapoo at Marco’s living room. Star is talking with Princess Pony Head using her mirror phone]

Star:

Are you sure about that?

Princess Pony Head:

[sigh] For the millionth time: Yes. I looked for him like… everywhere. He’s not at the Amethyst Arcade, he’s not at Quest Buy, he’s not at Pixtopia, and he’s definitely not at the Goblin Dogs stand.

Star:

But what about Kelly and Tad?

Princess Pony Head:

They haven’t seen Marco either. I’m sorry B-Fly, but your beloved Earth Turd is officially MIA.

Star:

That’s okay. I appreciate your help.

Princess Pony Head:

I’ve always knew that turd was no good for you B-Fly. I’ll tell you what: Next time I see him I’m gonna shove it my horn right up his...

Star:

As... well-intended you may be, it’s not really necessary for you to do that. I’ll deal with this problem all by myself, okay?

Princess Pony Head:

Pfft, whatever. See you next time B-Fly. [she hangs up]

Star:

Well, girls it seems that Marco is not at Mewni after all.

Janna:

Yeah, but it doesn’t take away the fact that he’s still nowhere to be found.

Jackie:

Do you know any other place he could possibly be?

Star:

Not a clue. but wait, I’ve got it: I’ll use the All-Seeing Eye to look up where he is.

Hekapoo:

Wait… The All-Seeing Eye? Are you aware that spell is completely Off-Limits. right?

Star:

Who cares? I’m gonna use it just for a teeny-weenie short moment. What could possibly go wrong?

Hekapoo:

Everything can go wrong if you use that spell. There is a good reason of why it’s in the forbidden chapter. You can’t just use it as you please.

Star:

Oh, and do you have a better idea?

Hekapoo:

Well, not exactly, but I do know that considering the low amount of magic power those scissors have, he couldn’t go any further than Earth. That’s for sure.

Jackie:

Yeah, but even if that were true, Earth is still a huge place for Marco to hide. He could be in China for all we know...

Janna:

Well, not necessarily.

Star:

What are you talking about?

Janna:

When you have the ability to move from place to place in a matter of seconds, one could argue that he would use the scissors to hide at some unknown village at the Congo or something like that. But what if Marco is actually self aware of this and he chose to stay right here at Echo Creek just to drift away our attention?

Jackie:

It might be possible, but it still sounds pretty unlikely. How can we be sure?

Janna:

Exactly. We can’t, the only thing we can do so far is to look up for him at the last place he could possibly be right here. A place full of lights and surrounded by people, a place like...

Everyone:

The carnival.

[Cut to Echo Creek’s carnival. Everyone is having a good time, except for Jeremy Birnbaum who walks around along with his butler bored out of his mind]

Jeremy:

[eating cotton candy] Ugh, this is the worst carnival I’ve been on my entire life. I’d rather get grounded doing my homework than attend this snoozefest any longer.

Butler:

You want me to take you back home master Jeremy?

Jeremy:

Hang on, I’m sure I can find someone to pull a prank on. Okay, let’s see… [he looks around to find someone] Too many potential victims, but no one who’s actually worth the effort.

Butler:

Well, if you want my advice sir...

Jeremy:

I pay you to drive me home, not to listen your worthless advice, so shut your piehole. Wait a second… [he looks at some guy wearing a trenchcoat and a fedora sneaking around] Mission control: We’ve found our next target, he-he-he...

[the guy with the trenchcoat turns out to be Marco, who hides behind an alley and attempts to use the dimensional scissors]

Marco:

Ugh, come on. Open the portal already. Goddammit.

Jeremy:

Hey jerkface...

[Marco turns around and sees Jeremy right behind him recording him with his cell phone]

Marco:

Jeremy? What are you doing here?

Jeremy:

Funny, I could ask you the same question. What are you hiding under that coat? Free candy?

Marco:

Uhm, that’s none of your business, so... buzz off dude.

Jeremy:

And miss the opportunity to humiliate you and whatever you’re trying to do? No way, this shit is gold.

Marco:

Okay, first of all: Watch your potty mouth you little brat, talk like a sailor does not make you edgier than the 12 year old kids who post Minecraft gameplays on Youtube; and second of all: If you wanna talk about humiliation, do I need to remind you of the time when I put your “private karate lessons” to shame at the graduation? I don’t think so...

Jeremy:

Well, if you’re so confident about yourself, whom are you hiding from?

Marco:

Who says that I’m hiding?

Jeremy:

Oh, give me a break Marco: You’re behind an alley wearing a trenchcoat AND a fedora like you were some kind of secret agent. You’re so bad at lying it’s kinda sad.

Marco:

Oh yeah? and you’re so full of yourself I’m surprised that you are not overweight. Why don’t you just admit that you act like a jerk simply because you have an inferiority complex that…?

[In that moment, Marco hears the voice of Star and the girls passing by, so he puts his head out the alley to confirm it]

Marco:

What the…? [he sees them searching for him] Oh, crap...

Jeremy:

[wearing a smug smile] Well, well, well... What do he have here? Marco Diaz, the tough, misunderstood “bad boy”, hiding from a group of girls? I don’t even know what this is all about, but I’m already excited.

Marco:

Jeremy, listen: Right now I’m on a very delicate situation and... I know that I’m not exactly your favorite person in the world, but… Would you please help me to get out of here without being noticed?

Jeremy:

Wait, hold on. Let me get this straight: You’re asking ME to help YOU to escape from those chicks over there? [he starts laughing] This is just… I don’t even know what to say.

Marco:

Oh, come on Jeremy, don’t you have at least a bit of empathy for someone other than yourself?

Jeremy:

Mmmm, I don’t know. Aren’t you the one who said that I’m “full of myself”?

Marco:

[getting on his knees] Jeremy please. I’ll do whatever you want?

Jeremy:

[raising an eyebrow] Whatever I want?

Marco:

[sigh] Yes, whatever you want.

Jeremy:

Mmmm, let me think about it… on one hand, I could rat you out to those girls and enjoy your demise in the front row… and on the other hand I could help you out and turn you into my personal slave for the rest of the evening, which is a very rare opportunity… Alright Romeo, I’ll help you out...

Marco:

Oh thank you Jeremy...

Jeremy:

However: I want your red belt...

Marco:

[sigh] Okay, it’s all yours...

Jeremy:

AND your karate certificate.

Marco:

Ugh, fine. You can have that too.

Jeremy:

Also, I want your entire comic book collection.

Marco:

Jesus Christ, why don’t you ask for my soul while you’re at it?

Jeremy:

Actually, that’s not a bad idea.

Marco:

[grinding his teeth] Jeremy...

Jeremy:

Okay, I finished to mess up with you sweetheart. [uses his cell phone to call his butler] Henry? Yeah, it’s me your master Jeremy… I need a distraction now… yup, 40’ away...

[A loud explosion is heard at the distance, which drifts everyone’s attention. Marco and Jeremy use the opportunity to run away from the scene]

Jeremy:

And that’s why you should worship the almighty dollar...

Marco:

Well, I guess I owe you for that one.

Jeremy:

That’s what I love to hear. Come on slave boy, you still have some work to do.

Marco:

[sigh] Somebody kill me please.

[Cut to Star, Jackie, Janna and Hekapoo still looking for Marco]

Star:

Now that was weird, it sounded like an explosion, but everything just seems fine.

Hekapoo:

Something tells me that Marco had something to do with it.

Jackie:

That may be true, but it doesn’t change the fact that he is still nowhere to be found, especially among this huge crowd of people.

Janna:

What are we gonna do then?

Jackie:

I suggest we split up to cover more ground. Janna: You and Hekapoo go and check up the stands while Star and I will look for him up in the ferris wheel. We’ll be in contact with our cell phones. Then we’ll meet again right here in one hour. Got it?

Hekapoo:

Clear as crystal.

Janna:

It works for me.

Star:

Yeah, me too.

Jackie:

Alright people, let’s go.

[Cut to Marco and Jeremy wandering around looking for victims. Jeremy set eyes on a little girl eating ice cream while sitting on a bench]

Jeremy:

Alright slave boy, here’s the first order of business: See that little girl eating ice cream over there?

Marco:

Uhm, yeah.

Jeremy:

Well, I want you to sneak around behind her back and throw her ice cream at the floor without being noticed.

Marco:

What? That’s terrible. I’m not gonna do that.

Jeremy:

Oh, yes you will. We had a deal remember?

Marco:

Forget about it. I’d rather eat my toenails on a bowl of cereal.

Jeremy:

Well, in that case I guess I’m gonna have to rat you out with your cheerleading squad then...

Marco:

Yeah, like I care. I bet they all returned home at this point.

Jeremy:

Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Just look at behind you.

[Marco turns around and sees Janna and Hekapoo heading towards them. Marco gets all nervous while Jeremy watches him wearing a smug face]

Jeremy:

Not feeling so brave now, huh?

Marco:

You little piece of...

Jeremy:

Ah ah ah! Remember our deal slave boy.

[Marco gets infuriated, but immediately calms down as he sees Janna and Hekapoo getting closer]

Marco:

[feeling resigned] Okay. I’ll do it.

Jeremy:

That’s a good boy.

[Marco sneaks around behind the little girl and throws a coin next to her. She turns her head and Marco uses the opportunity to throw her ice cream to the floor, which makes her cry. Then Marco returns with Jeremy]

Jeremy:

Wow, I hate to admit it, but… I’m truly impressed. I’ve never seen someone sneaking up that way, I mean, you have the reflexes of a ninja.

[Marco just looks at the little girl crying and feels guilty about it]

Jeremy:

Oh, don’t be so melodramatic. She’ll get over it.

Marco:

Please don’t make me do that ever again.

Jeremy:

Are you kidding me? That was freaking gold, and this is just the beginning my friend.

[Cut to Janna and Hekapoo still looking for Marco on the stands]

Janna:

Have you found anything?

Hekapoo:

I can feel the power of the scissors near around us, but I’m still not really sure where this feeling is coming from...

Janna:

Well, that’s just great. It’s like we’re playing hide and seek with Marco.

[they spot the little girl on the bench still crying, so they go to talk to her]

Janna:

Hey, what’s wrong little girl? Why are you crying?

Little girl:

My ice cream... [shows her the empty cone]

Janna:

Oh, I see. And where are your parents?

Little girl:

Over there... [points at her parents playing at the stands completely oblivious]

Janna:

Typical. I’ll tell you what: I’ll go to get you another ice cream, so in the meantime you can talk with my friend Hekapoo right over here...

Hekapoo:

What? Why do I have to take care of her?

Janna:

Don’t be rude, just keep her distracted for a few minutes, alright?

Hekapoo:

Okay...

[Janna goes to buy an ice cream while Hekapoo just sits on the bench looking at the girl in silence. Then she starts crying again]

Hekapoo:

Oh, come on little girl,dont cry. I… I… I don’t really know what to do in these situations. [she thinks for a moment until she gets an idea] I got it.

[Hekapoo uses her powers to materialize a group of tiny ballerinas and makes them dance in front of the girl, which makes her stop crying]

Little girl:

[clapping] Bravo… I love ballerinas.

Hekapoo:

[looking exhausted] I’m glad you liked it.

[In that moment, Janna returns with the ice cream]

Janna:

There you go... [gives the ice cream to the girl]

Little girl:

Ice cream. Thanks.

Janna:

You welcome sweetie, just remember to be more careful next time. Now if you excuse us. We have to go...

Little girl:

Bye ballerinas… [she waves goodbye to both of them as they leave]

Janna:

[to Hekapoo] Are you okay? You don’t look so well.

Hekapoo:

I’m fine. I just... need to take a short break.

Janna:

You did a great job back there. Come on, I’ll buy you a cotton candy.

Hekapoo:

Thanks.

ACT III

[Cut to an old lady on an electric wheelchair who can’t move around because their brakes were cut. Marco and Jeremy are watching her from the distance]

Jeremy:

I swear, this evening just keeps getting better every time, don’t you think?

Marco:

It can’t get any worse than this.

Jeremy:

Is that a challenge?

Marco:

You know, I don’t understand you Jeremy...

Jeremy:

It’s MASTER Jeremy to you.

Marco:

It’s like being rich, healthy and successful isn’t enough and you feel the need to shove it on everyone’s faces, and it makes me wonder: Why? What’s the point? Is it because you don’t have any real friends? grow up...

Jeremy:

That’s funny coming from the guy who likes to bang everything that moves like if it was a sport. Also, aren’t you friends with a rich a-hole yourself? because from what I see it: You’re either a masochist, a complete pervert, or a social climber.

Marco:

You don’t even know what you’re talking about. My relationship with Star goes beyond your shallow and materialistic viewpoints.

Jeremy:

Or maybe, that’s what you want to believe. How naive can you possibly be?

Marco:

At least I live in the real world. When was the last time you got out from your cute little bubble, you self entitled prick?

Jeremy:

I don’t need to live on what you call “the real world”, as long as I can humiliate poor saps like you.

Marco:

Is that so? Then how about a bet? If I win I can keep my red belt, my karate certificate AND my comic book collection.

Jeremy:

And if I win?

Marco:

I’ll mow your lawn for a whole year.

Jeremy:

Mmmm, that sounds interesting. I’ll take it.

Marco:

And just to prove to you how sure I am, I’ll let you choose the challenge.

Jeremy:

That’s even better.

Marco:

Yeah, that’s right. Keep that smug grin on your face, because no matter what you choose, I’m 100% percent sure that I’ll kick. your. butt...

[Cut to Marco and Jeremy at the bumper cars. Marco loses all his confidence while Jeremy just watches him smiling with his arms crossed]

Marco:

[thinking to himself] I didn’t think this through, did I?

Jeremy:

Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get it on.

Marco:

I stand corrected: This evening just got worse.

[Cut to Star and Jackie sitting on the ferris wheel. Star uses her wand as a magnifying glass to search for Marco]

Jackie:

Do you see anything?

Star:

I can see Principal Skeeves selling a couple of yearbooks, but there’s no sign of Marco whatsoever. What about you?

Jackie:

Well, It’s hard for me to see from this height, but so far I haven’t found anything yet.

Star:

[sigh] I’m getting tired of this. I wonder if Janna and Hekapoo already found him.

Jackie:

They would have already told us if that were the case

Star:

How can you be so sure? What if they’re conspiring against us to have Marco all for themselves?

Jackie:

Don’t be so paranoid Star. We all made a truce, remember?

Star:

I know that, it’s just that I don’t really trust Janna right now. I mean, look at what she did behind our backs.

Jackie:

Listen, I can understand why you’re so upset. I’m very upset too, but I’m trying to keep myself under control. That way is easier for me to deal with my problems.

Star:

You make it sound so simple, but I just... don’t have the same level of patience as you Jackie.

[Star holds her knees and lowers her head while Jackie watches her concerned]

Jackie:

Star, can I confess something very personal to you?

Star:

Sure.

Jackie:

Believe it or not, I wasn’t always the calm and composed person you see right now...

Star:

Get out of here...

Jackie:

But it’s true. The thing is...

[Cut to a black and white flashback of Jackie’s childhood. She’s painting a watermelon while everyone else is playing outside]

Jackie:

[narrating] When I was 8 years old, I was having a bit of a hard time. My folks got divorced due financial difficulties and at the time I used to think it was my fault because I was a kid and didn’t know better... [finishes the drawing and throws it away]

[Cut to Jackie’s mother (face unseen) talking with the school counselor while he shows her the report card of her daughter. Jackie is sitting next to her]

Jackie:

[narrating] ...my low self esteem started to affect my grades as well, and even though my mom told me countless times that it wasn’t my fault, I couldn’t simply believe it. I thought she just said that to make me feel less guilty about the divorce...

[Cut to Jackie receiving a dog for christmas while her mother is knitting a scarf next to the tree]

Jackie:

[narrating] My mom did everything she could to make me feel better. She even bought me a dog that I named Pickles. But it actually made things worse when I accidentally gave it chocolate while looking for some dog food, but couldn’t find any… again, I didn’t know any better back then...

[Cut to Jackie and her mother standing next to Pickles grave. She starts crying while holding her mother’s leg]

Jackie:

[narrating] It wasn’t until that moment my mom decided to take me to the beach without prior notice. I’m not exactly sure why she chose that place in particular, but what I do know is that it was an experience that I’ll never forget...

[Jackie is playing with a red ball next to the shore]

Jackie:

[narrating] I was playing with my favorite red ball very close to the shore. Back then I was full of energy and could play to kick the ball around for hours and hours. And just when I thought I was finally letting go all my anxiety, tragedy struck again. I kicked my ball so hard that it fell onto the sea...

[Jackie runs to the sea to get her ball back, but gets stopped by her mother]

Jackie:

[narrating] And thank goodness my mom stopped me because at the time I didn’t know how to swim, but most importantly: I witnessed one of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen in my entire life... [watches a group of dolphins playing with the ball] Now, I don’t know exactly how to put into words the wide variety of emotions I felt that day, but something about those dolphins and their playful and carefree lifestyle, got me so fascinated that I became obsessed with those animals. My mom of course received my new hobby with open arms and encouraged me to learn how to surf to get closer with them, that led me to learn how to skate and the rest is history...

[Cut back to Star and Jackie at the ferris wheel]

Star:

Wow, who would’ve thought that the reason behind your love for skating could be so… deep.

Jackie:

Well, it’s the closest thing to surf when I’m on firm land.

Star:

Jackie: I want to apologize for all the things I did to you so far.

Jackie:

What are you talking about?

Star:

Don’t act like you don’t know, I’m talking about the kiss incident, the time I forced you to lie, the time I used that spell to spy on you and Marco. You deserve better and I definitely crossed the line.

[Jackie smiles at Star and grabs her shoulder to comfort her]

Jackie:

The fact that you can come clean about this in such a transparent and honest way is enough for me. I really appreciate the gesture and it makes me glad that you consider me more than just your rival.

Star:

And I just want you to know that no matter which one of us win Marco’s affections, I still want to keep our friendship alive.

Jackie:

So do I Star. So do I… [they smile at each other]

[Cut to Marco and Jeremy at the bumper cars facing each other. Jeremy looks much more confident than Marco, who tries to keep his composure]

Jeremy:

What’s the matter? Feeling a little under the weather already?

Marco:

Yeah, you wish.

Jeremy:

You know, you still got time to walk out of this and avoid the public humiliation. Just sayin’.

Marco:

Oh, so now all of a sudden you act compassionate, huh? What a hypocrite.

Jeremy:

Don’t say I didn’t warn you...

Marco:

[mocking voice] “Don’t say I didn’t warn you” I’ll show you how to...

[Jeremy bumps Marco against the wall without any warning. Marco already starts feeling sick]

Marco:

That’s not fair, I wasn’t ready.

Jeremy:

Welcome to the real world honey...

Marco:

[feeling dizzy] You’ll see...

[Marco tries to bump Jeremy, but feels too sick to focus and gets bumped as a result]

Jeremy:

So, what do you think about my driving skills? Not bad for a three times regional champion in Mario Kart 8, huh?

[Marco is too sick to pay attention to him]

Jeremy:

Hey, I’m talking to you. Pay attention!!!

[Jeremy bumps Marco once again and as a result, he throws up all across the floor, causing a malfunction]

Microphone voice:

Ladies and gentleman, the operator speaking here… uhm, due a small inconvenience regarding the electric floor, it’s my duty to inform you that we’re gonna have to close for the rest of the evening. In the name of the staff, we’re sorry. Have a good night.

[Everyone starts booing both Marco and Jeremy]

Jeremy:

[smiling] Ah, the sweet sound of public discontent. What’s not to love?

Marco:

It’s official: This is the worst day of my life.

[Cut to Janna and Hekapoo still looking for Marco while eating cotton candy]

Hekapoo:

This is actually pretty good.

Janna:

I told ya.

Hekapoo:

You know, as a member of the Magic High Commission I never got the time to enjoy things like this...

Janna:

Really? [looks at one of the stands] Have you ever played “shooting ducks”?

Hekapoo:

Never heard of it.

Janna:

Then follow me, Flaming Lips...

Hekapoo:

Mmmm, now we were supposed to be looking for Marco, but… yeah, why not?

[Cut to Janna and Hekapoo playing “shooting ducks”]

Hekapoo:

[shooting at some ducks] I got them...

Janna:

Wow, not bad for a first timer. What’s your secret?

Hekapoo:

Well, I may be not familiar with this game, but we do have target practice on Mewni. It’s part of our job.

Janna:

[shooting ducks] So, you don’t use magic for those kind of things?

Hekapoo:

[sigh] Here we go again: Humans assuming that just because we use magic on Mewni, our lives are somehow less complicated than theirs. Look, it doesn’t work like that, okay?

Janna:

Well, you tell me... The only knowledge I have about the topic comes from Star and her magic wand.

Hekapoo:

Star is a princess, which means she has the privilege to use magic in a less restrictive way, but for entities like me, magic is more of a device we use to facilitate our jobs.

Janna:

Sounds pretty boring if you ask me...

Hekapoo:

It’s not that bad, I mean… you get used to it after a couple of centuries or so...

Janna:

Hold on: How old are you exactly?

Hekapoo:

Like 700 years more or less. I don’t know, I stopped keeping track such a long time ago...

Janna:

Oh… You look great for your age.

Hekapoo:

Thanks.

Janna:

By the way, now that we’re knowing each other a little better, I have to ask: How exactly did you and Marco meet in the first place?

Hekapoo:

It’s a bit complicated to explain, but long story short: I was looking for my dimensional scissors after Princess Pony Head took them away without permission, and when I finally track them down it just so happened that Marco had them in his possession.

Janna:

Wow, talk about bad timing...

Hekapoo:

And that’s not all: Apparently, he also was under the impression that the scissors belonged to Star, so he did everything that he could to get them back and spent 16 years doing it. Which, by the way are just a few minutes in your dimension...

Janna:

So that’s when you and Marco… you know…

Hekapoo:

Well, 16 years is a lot of time and a lot of things happened, but… yeah. And just between you and me: Those were some of the best years of my life. Finding that fleshwad was one of the greatest accidents that happened to me in a long, long time...

Janna:

Yeah, Marco is certainly one of a kind...

Hekapoo:

I mean, a guy who’s able to take care of five clones at a time? That’s not something you can forget so easily, even when you’re more than 700 years old.

Janna:

Wait a minute… did just say FIVE clones at a time?

Hekapoo:

Yep, and all without breaking a sweat...

Janna:

Is that so? [thinking to herself] I think my mind just got a great idea...Oh, Marco you’re gonna love me for this, hehehe...

Hekapoo:

Okay, this was fun and all, but I think we should keep with our search...

Janna:

Yeah, about that: After a thoughtful consideration, I think I might have found the perfect solution to our little dilemma with Marco...

Hekapoo:

[raising an eyebrow] Keep talking...

[Cut to Star and Jackie returning to the meeting point along with Janna and Hekapoo]

Jackie:

So, did you found something that can lead us to Marco?

Janna:

Not exactly, but Hekapoo and I’ve been talking for a while and… We want to make you an offer to settle down our main problem...

Hekapoo:

Something like: A permanent solution if you prefer...

[Star and Jackie look at each other]

Star & Jackie:

We’re listening...

[Cut to Marco carrying a bunch of junk food while Jeremy walks right next to him whistling happily]

Jeremy:

Come on, hurry up barf bag. We still have a lot of work to do...

Marco:

[getting angry] I’ve had ENOUGH OF THIS!!! [he throws the food to the floor]

Jeremy:

What are you doing you retard?!!! I was about to eat that...

Marco:

[taking off the disguise] I’m so sick of you and your smug, cocky, arrogant and overall demeaning attitude. You think you’re SO clever and SO mature for your age when in reality you’re nothing but a hollow, self absorbed, worthless scumbag that stomps on everything that’s pure and decent because nobody, and I mean NOBODY likes you... And you know what? You may take my red belt, my certificate and even MY FREAKIN’ SOUL for all I care, but it’s not gonna change the fact that you’re a total loser, a waste of human life, a leech that depends on its parents money to survive... because in the grand scheme of things Jeremy, you’re part of the problem and I’m not gonna waste my time with you any longer, you hear me? So do me a favour and take all your money and all your worthless privilege and GO. F***. YOURSELF!!! [spits at the floor] God, you’re pathetic.

Star:

[o.s] Marco?

[Marco turns around and sees Star, Jackie, Janna and Hekapoo right behind him]

Marco:

[getting nervous] Uhm, girls, what a nice surprise...

Jeremy:

Good luck getting your butt kicked by your girlfriends, loser...

[Jeremy leaves the scene while laughing hysterically]

Marco:

Okay, listen up… I have an explanation for for all of this, ehm… [he checks his pockets to find the scissors] where did I put them?

Janna:

[holding Marco’s scissors] Oh, were you looking for these?

Marco:

Oh, crap...

Hekapoo:

I’ll keep the scissors for now on... [Janna gives them to her] Thank you.

Janna:

[crossing her arms] So, what do you have to say in your defense?

[Marco quickly gets on his knees to beg mercy while the girls just look at each other in confusion]

Marco:

[crying] I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. I know what I did was inexcusable and you have all the right to be mad at me, but please… this whole evening has been the most painful, cringe inducing experience of my life and I just can't take any more punishment… please, don’t hurt me.

Star:

[crossing her arms] Hurt you? Oh no, Marco Diaz. We have a much better idea.

[Cut to Mewni’s castle. Hekapoo opens a portal in the middle of a hallway and Marco and the girls come out of it. They walk by and come across a giant grey wall]

Hekapoo:

It’s all yours Princess Butterfly...

Star:

I hope this works... [raises her wand] Vulgo Apertis Ianus!!!

[A giant wooden door appears on the wall, so they open it and walk through a long narrow hallway lightened by torches]

Marco:

[thinking to himself] Well, this is it. The end of the line for me. Goodbye world, it was nice to meet you. Mother, Father: I hope one day you’ll understand and forgive me for what I...

Star:

Well, here we are.

[At the end of the hallway, they come across a giant door. Star opens it and they get inside a giant room with a pool sized bathtub some pillars around it and harp music to set the mood]

Marco:

Star, what is this place?

Star:

[closing the door] My parents private bathroom. This is where they come when they want to be alone and forget about their royal duties for a moment.

Hekapoo:

Also, it’s one of the few places inside the castle that can’t be reached using dimensional scissors, so it’s safe to assume that no one will interrupt us...

Marco:

But… I thought you were mad at me for what I did.

Jackie:

Although we’re still a bit upset for the way you handled the situation...

Janna:

We talked about it came to the conclusion that... punish you it’s not exactly the best solution.

[They all stripped down to nothing but their underwear as they speak. Marco blushes and feels his heart beating faster as a result]

Hekapoo:

Besides: We assume that part of this problem was our fault too. We got too competitive with each other and put you on a very difficult situation.

Star:

So bottom line: We’ll allow you to keep things the way they are...

Everyone:

If you can take care or all of us.

Hekapoo:

So what do you say fleshwad? Will you accept the challenge?

[Marco closes his eyes and takes a deep breath]

Marco:

Alright, let’s do this.

MARCO VS. THE FORCES OF LOVE - EPISODE 5: CARNIVAL

1 note · View note

ladyherenya · 5 years ago

Photo

Books read in November and December

Between trying to write a novel for NaNoWriMo and discovering oh-so-addictive Korean contemporary romantic dramas on Netflix, I didn’t read as much in November. But after reading two months worth of books in October, that felt like the right decision.

And then December was busier than I anticipated.

Favourite cover: The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making.

Reread: The Girl in Times Square by Paullina Simons (November).

Next up: Miss Bunting by Angela Thirkell.

(Longer reviews and ratings are on LibraryThing. And also Dreamwidth.)

November

When We Were Warriors by Emma Carroll (narrated by Victoria Fox): A collection of three stories about children in England during WWII, loosely connected by an American soldier who turns up in each story. “The Night Visitors” is about a group of London children evacuated to Frost Hollow Hall and I would have appreciated it more if I’d read Carroll’s novel Frost Hollow Hall. I enjoyed revisiting the characters from Letters from the Lighthouse (which I have read and loved) in “Olive’s Army”, and “Operation Greyhound” is about an important issue that none of the other wartime fiction I’ve read has explored: finding safe shelter for pets during air raids.

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente (narrated by the author): Even though blogging acquaintances had reviewed this positively, I was still surprised by how delightful and meta it is. It felt, very intentionally and thoughtfully, written in the same vein as the first novels I ever read: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz and The Magic Faraway Tree, with a dash of Narnia. Twelve year old September doesn’t have siblings or friends accompanying her into Fairytale and I wondered if that would limit how emotionally invested I became in her story, but I cared a lot about September and her relationships. And the prose is just lovely.

Three Little Truths by Eithne Shortall: This is about the different women living in a Dublin street. I liked the way their lives and stories fitted together. The conclusion has the potential to be bitter, setting women against each other, but is much more forgiving -- and manages that realistically. It makes for a quieter ending, but that isn’t a weakness. Not every story needs to be sharp and shocking. I think having so many characters meant enough time wasn’t given to Martha and her daughters and how they are dealing with the aftermath of trauma. The book could easily have just focused on them.

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory: Alexa and Drew meet when a hotel elevator briefly breaks down. Afterwards Drew asks Alexa to be his date to a wedding, and a fake relationship quickly turns into a real one, complicated by them both living in different cities. This was okay, which is to say that I enjoyed reading it but don’t feel inclined to spend any more time reviewing it.

The Deathless Girls by Kiran Millwood Hargrave: This is darker than Hargrave’s middle-grade fantasy but otherwise it felt very much like the same sort of adventure and even in the final act, when it had clearly turned into a vampire story, I was still expecting that it would have the sort of bittersweet ending her other books have. It doesn’t. Intellectually I can recognise the merit in what Hargrave is doing here. But from an emotional perspective, I found the ending thoroughly disappointing. As a teenager, I would have hated it.

Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett (narrated by Nigel Planer): When Death is, well, fired (for want of a better word), he finds himself a different job. But his absence causes problems for those who die, particularly for Windle Poons, the oldest wizard at the Unseen University. It wasn’t a book where I felt like I really related to the characters. (It was published in between Moving Pictures and Witches Abroad, and I like those two a lot more.) But it was entertaining and had its moments when it was surprisingly funny or thoughtful. I like reading about the antics of the wizards more than I expected to.

Permanent Record by Mary H. K. Choi: Pablo is working nightshift when pop star Leanna Smart comes into the store. I read most of this, put the book down to do something else... and then never picked it up again. It was interesting, particularly for its portrayal of a teenager who has dropped out of college and is struggling to find direction -- something I think should be explored more in YA fiction -- but I think those qualities which made it interesting also made it a bit too real to be really enjoyable? I don’t even know.

December

The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There by Catherynne M. Valente (narrated by S. J. Tucker): September returns to Fairyland, a year older, to discover that Fairyland has been changed by her previous adventures and that this sojourn is not going to unfold how she’d expected and hoped it would. As a story about changes, consequences, coming back to a place you love and entering adolescence, this is poignant and astute; it resonated with me so much. I also liked its many nods to the portal fantasy I grew up with. But I found some of the landscapes, and the people September meets, less appealing than those in the first book. I’m not sure why.

Notebooks of a Middle-School Princess: Royal Crown by Meg Cabot: I enjoyed this more than the previous two in the series. The focus is on Olivia’s family and friends in the days leading up to a coronation. Olivia’s family is Mia’s family -- after reading all The Princess Diaries books, I care about them, and I continue to think it’s interesting (but also very believable) that Olivia has such a different relationship with Grandmere than Mia does. And I like how Olivia navigates relationships with, and advice from, her peers. She’s got a lot to learn because she’s thirteen, an age where there are a lot of changes, but she’s realistically level-headed.

Warrior of the Altaii by Robert Jordan: Jordan’s first novel was written and sold in the late 70s, but never published until now. What I found most interesting were the differences and similarities between it and The Wheel of Time, one of my favourite series. In terms of the protagonist, prose and plot, it’s very different: its first-person narrator is a already a warrior and leader; the story revolves around why the nomadic Altaii try to take a city; and it’s all over by page 350. But many of the worldbuilding elements are variations on things which are also in WOT. If I hadn’t read WOT, I would have still found the worldbuilding interesting but probably not enough to make up for not really connecting with any of the characters.

Soul Music by Terry Pratchett (narrated by Nigel Planer): I knew about the Discworld series for years and years before I read any of the books and I’ve wondered when I was going to meet Susan. Sixteen year old Susan fills in for her grandfather, Death, after he disappears. Meanwhile Anhk-Morpork discovers “music with rocks in it” I enjoyed watching Susan learn about Death, Pratchett’s parody of rock music was a lot of fun, and the combination of those two storylines means this book isn’t a rehash of Moving Pictures-but-this-time-with-rock-music. However, I didn’t find the final act -- and its resolution -- quite as satisfying as Moving Pictures’.

#Herenya reviews books #Emma Carroll #Catherynne M. Valente #Eithne Shortall #Kiran Millwood Hargrave #Terry Pratchett #Discworld #Mary H.K. Choi #Meg Cabot #Robert Jordan

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anothershadeofpurple · 8 years ago

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What do you think the hug means in the context of operation out? You previously discussed how the touch Emma and Regina share fits the narrative of someone in a comatose/vegetative state, but now a hug seems to break the rules there? Or do you think this is happening perhaps in Snow's dream world? Also, thanks for sharing your positivity and theories!

Hey!

I don’t like posting incomplete theories, but I’ll share the bits and pieces of what I think has been going on this season, because it’s so good for us, actually. Everything under this is my current hypothetical based on first impressions.

What’s been happening this season is that Emma is starting to wake up. Her subconscious recreates what’s happening to her in little summaries. The wish realm showed us what happened since the Pilot. She’s slowly sunk into a dream world where she lost her memories and tried to live up to her fairy tale parents’ expectations. The Emma she remembered was the Emma we first met.

Snow & Charming’s sleeping curse reflects her current state where she’s half awake, half asleep. Emma is their heart. That’s why I suspect they’ll break their sleeping curse, but get stuck on the sleeping side. It’s what happened to Emma, it would be another clue for her that it’s possible to think you have broken a curse while you haven’t. It gives them the opportunity to do a marriage and a musical. It’ll clue people in that something’s up… while still having Emma marry her Animus figure and thus making peace with herself.

That’s the bigger picture in a nutshell, let’s zoom in on the hug.

In this wish realm there was a choice to go back to the dream world - go through the portal - or stay with Regina who was going after Robin. Emma made her choice, she chose Regina and the world that seems less real to her than the current one - reality.

Robin - I assume - is/was Regina’s boyfriend in the real world, but he is also a self-insert for Emma. That’s why it’s difficult to understand what this character is about. Emma really dislikes him and thinks he isn’t right for Regina - on top of her jealousy, I think he is a lawyer who screwed up Emma’s case or something - so we get all these scenes where he becomes the character to ask the not-so-smart questions. In other moments he has conversations with Regina where Emma expresses what she would like to say to Regina through him. I think what died last season was Regina’s image of the man. She ended her projections and now she’s dealing with reality Robin. So that’s what’s going on with Regina emotionally and it’s mixed up -as usual - with what’s going on with Emma.

When Emma and Regina didn’t take the portal back, everything changed. Instead they went back through the wardrobe. We saw Emma go through the wardrobe in the Pilot, when she had the accident. Going through it again symbolized Emma getting closer to consciousness. She’s crossing over.

Emma is probably starting to sit up and make real eye-contact. Maybe she’s uttering some words, but she’s still very far gone. Meanwhile Regina has been living for years fighting this battle with her and for her. Regina feels like she knows Emma. She’s researched Emma’s life, she’s done the coma work where they talk through gestures and touches. Where someone taught her to interpret the fluttering of Emma’s eyelashes and twitching of a finger. She feels like she knows Emma intimately and similarly, she has shared a lot of herself with Emma she hasn’t told anyone… but suddenly Emma is waking up and she can’t be certain of anything anymore.

Now keep that in mind and think about Emma’s perspective. Her mind is constantly working to make a mash-up of her fairy tale world and the real world. As she gets closer to the real world, we get more and more snippets of real conversations and she has to work harder to make sense of what she really sees around her. What we’ve seen was always reality-related, but you have to imagine it’s becoming less and less warped. Conversations and people’s actions very close to the real world.

Regina is one of the people she has the most contact with. Suddenly Regina’s acting really strange to her in reality. Regina’s acting like she doesn’t really know her. All this time Regina has been talking to her like a normal person. Snarky, telling her things. Suddenly, because Regina sees the signs of Emma waking up, she’s talking to her like they’re acquaintances who sorta know each other. It doesn’t add up for Emma. She doesn’t understand the change in Regina. So what happens in Emma’s mind? First we have the wish realm where she’s lost her memories, that initially explains Regina’s actions.

…but even though she's starting to remember who she is - which was significant and to be taken literally - Regina keeps being really weird. This can’t be about her, so it must be that Robin has come back, but he’s a different Robin who looks like Robin… Yes, that’s it. That’s who Regina’s talking to.

So when Regina and Emma came back through the closet…. that’s when Emma left her own Narnia. She crossed a boundary of wakefulness. She’s probably starting to sit up. Robin in this instance was simply Emma as well. He only appears after she leaves… and that’s when the first hug between Emma and Regina actually happens.

First it’s Regina just acting on emotion. She knows Emma, the thing nobody expected is happening, she’s still alive and now she’s actually waking up. Regina carries all this guilt about Emma’s car crash - it was the middle of the night and she’d given her a drink before she left. It’s just her first instinct. “You’re finally back.” She’s fought so hard for this woman, risking everything… and there she is suddenly. It’s a heartfelt hug full of emotion. She knows Emma, they’ve been in this together.

…but Emma’s still really weak. She isn’t very responsive yet, this is a very slow and gradual process. You can see it hit Regina. All the questions she has no answers to. How much does Emma know? How did she perceive all this? Does she feel the same about their bond, about their fight, their journey? She realizes that she has no idea how much Emma knows, how she perceived all of this, how she really feels… and how the image she has of her compares to reality.

…then she pulls back. Self-conscious, not sure how to proceed. She apologizes for maybe overstepping. Emma isn’t strong and aware enough to reassure her. She’s there and not there.

Then the conversation between Mary Margaret and Regina further reinforces they are really talking about Emma.

Mary Margaret: Regina what were you thinking, how could you bring him here?Regina: You weren’t there. He was miserable in his world and he wanted a fresh start and I’m just trying to help him.Mary Margaret: But you don’t know who he is. Looking like Robin Hood doesn’t make him the same person. Trust me, I once kissed David’s twin, world of difference.Regina: We’ve barely even talked.Mary Margaret: Well, there’s some things you should probably tell him, like for example he has a daughter.Regina: It’s not his daughter.Mary Margaret: Exactly my point, they’re different people.Regina: But there could be a part of him in there. He was able to cross into the real world, that has to mean something.Mary Margaret: Regina I want this to work out for you, you deserve this. I’m worried.Regina: Yeah. Me too.

This is very close to reality. They’re worried because Regina has no idea how close the reality of who Emma is will be compared to the expectations. Not only did she only talk to Emma very briefly before the car crash, she’s gotten to know her through talking to people who knew her, through files and research. She knows her because they have been fighting together and Emma reached out to her… but they don’t know how Emma’s going to come out of this. Will she be the same person after brain damage? It’s all up in the air. They haven’t been able to talk much yet, Regina can’t really gauge the situation.

And then there is the issue of Henry’s custody. They share custody - it’s what happened during Going Home and it was represented by Snow & Charming’s heart split. I’m not 100% clear on the why behind it, but I think it was partly about keeping Henry - the small print on the adoption was what Mr Gold blackmailed Regina with during season one - that’s what the “Please” was about. And on the other hand legalizing Emma’s ties to Henry so they could take care of her and make decisions on her behalf to keep her alive.

Of course now imagine this unusual situation for Regina where she has to tell Emma - who for all she knows may want nothing to do with them - that she now has a son. And at the same time she is terrified that she will want Henry and they will disagree on parenting him, but she has legal custody. It’s a terrifying situation for her.

That’s what’s going on in reality. The hug is actually a good way to show how cyclical this show is. How we get the same experience from a very different perspective to process all the emotions behind it.

Of course, Emma wanted to frame this hug between the two of them as well, but it had to make sense in her current reality… one where she is marrying Hook and in denial about loving Regina. That’s where the warp happened. I think there may be a slightly darker side to his, because I think this is Emma’s jealousy. In the real world Emma is alone and she’s jealous of Robin… she’s turning the emotions around, it’s less painful for her if she imagines Regina being the one pining for her instead of the other way around. In this world Emma has it all and she’s afraid of letting that go. That’s why the hug between them was the anti-climatic one. Emma has to make all the stories match up with reality and they still have to mean something on an emotional level.

Last but not least, we had the hug between Regina and the Evil Queen - which was very much about Regina starting to love herself and looking at her past with compassion… but a part of it was also once again processing that first hug and how much it meant to Emma. There are now three instances triggered by the same event, the first hug.

Emma has a troubled past that Regina and Henry know about and it was one thing for them to fight for her when she was completely helpless and in a vegetative state… It’s another thing for them to keep her in their life when she’s awake. The Evil Queen represents Emma’s Id. Her essential self… and Regina hugged her. She hugged her anyway in spite of everything she knows. She told her they are in each other’s lives now, because of Henry, whether either of one likes it or not and that means something. Regina doesn’t treat her differently now that she’s waking and… Emma…. now she has that tiny sliver of hope that maybe this family is going to keep her.

…and excuse me while I go cry in the corner.

#merlin-of-gallifrey #swan queen #operationOUT #ouat spoilers #swan mills faimy #anti-cs #anti-oq

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crossroadsdimension · 8 years ago

Text

Lucky!Ford Chapter 5

Here’s the last chapter for this guy for a while. Heh heh; I had fun working with this one.

And @howtotrainyournana (and recently @impishnature) know some of why that is. There are a couple characters who pop in from another dimension and come over into this one...and they mention a character who belongs to Nana, but that character doesn’t actually make an appearance. Let’s see what you guys think of these little inter dimensional visitors, eh?

Just so you know, if I write anything more for Lucky, it’s probably gonna be one-shots of future shenanigans he gets himself into -- and his luck gets him out of!

Unexpected Visitors

It turned out that Ford’s “safe trail” wasn’t actually as safe as it had been thirty years ago.

Ford dove into the underbrush, leaving Stan yelling curses behind him as he was dragged into the open clearing they had arrived at.

One of the three figures that had suddenly appeared in their path hit Stan over the head -- a pig-like creature with leather skin and thin, sharp spikes jutting out along his spine. “Shut it.”

Stan collapsed to the ground; Ford’s hand instantly went to the gun at his belt, and he gritted his teeth. Bounty hunters. How they had managed to reach his dimension and disturb the peace, he wasn’t entirely sure and he didn’t want to find out, because that question would lead to him being captured and being taken away from the home that he had fought so hard to reach.

“That one’s got five fingers,” said the stick-thin, green humanoid figure with pointed ears. “You grabbed the wrong one! We want the six-fingered one, not this oaf.” He kicked Stan, who rolled over and let out a groan, still stunned from the whack to the head.

“Use him as bait,” said the third figure -- a portly, scaly lizard humanoid who was anything but fat, if Ford’s experience was anything to go by. “They must be related, if you look at their faces. Humans look even more alike when they are.”

Ford gritted his teeth even more tightly. He had to do something, but his gun didn’t have very many shots left, and they wouldn’t be able to do much against two of the three hunters.

Of course my luck has decided to run out.

A hand came down on Ford’s left shoulder, and he stiffened and whirled, pulling out his weapon. He froze when his eyes locked with the figure who had come up behind him. “What in--”

“Shh.” The red-gold, fox-like ears on top of the other’s head twitched and swiveled, tracking the sounds from the clearing and the forest itself. “I’m here to help.”

The last person Ford had been expecting to hear that from was himself.

“Help?” he hissed. “How do you expect to help?”

“A distraction.” The other Ford’s seven red-gold tails twitched in a way that made Ford think of a nervous, cornered animal. “Wait here; we’ll take care of the rest.”

“What are you--”

His counterpart dashed out of the underbrush before Ford could say another word. “Leave him be!”

The bounty hunters looked up from Stan’s form sharply.

“Cipher’s runaway pet!” crowed the lizard. “That’s a double score! Get him!”

Ford felt a chill run down his spine. Cipher’s runaway--

His counterpart held a hand back behind him as the bounty hunters ran towards him. A fireball materialized in his open palm, and he threw it at the bounty hunters -- who dodged it -- before bolting into a different part of the forest. “Maria, now!”

Another figure came out of the forest as Ford’s counterpart disappeared: a young woman in red, orange, and gray armor, and a frown on her face that made her seem older.

“Wait!” The pig started flailing, trying to stop. “That’s--”

The young woman flicked her wrists, and a flat disk of blue energy appeared under the three aliens. Ford’s eyes widened sharply as the three dropped into it with yelps of surprise, the disk winking out of existence a moment later.

The woman relaxed, her frown shifting into a wide grin. “Got ‘em, Sixer!”

Ford’s counterpart came out of the trees, looking relieved. “Lower-level bounty hunters; obviously, they’re still running around despite the fact that we’ve cut off the head.” He looked over at where Ford was and motioned with his head to come out of hiding.

Ford hesitated, then stepped out from the trees, gun still in hand and the two newcomers kept in his line of vision as he moved over to where Stan lay on the ground. “Stan, are you all right?”

Stan groaned, then rolled over and started to sit up. “Ugh. What the he--eeeck was that? They looked like something out of a B-rated horror movie.”

“You can swear in front of me, Stan, I’ve grown used to it,” the woman called over -- right; Ford’s counterpart had called her Maria.

Stan muttered something as Ford dropped his gun near him and grabbed his brother’s head to give it a look over. “H-hey! Watch it!”

“Hold still; you might have a concussion,” Ford replied shortly as his counterpart and Maria came closer. He eyed them as they came to a stop, then looked back at Stan and looked him in the eyes. “...it doesn’t look bad; some aspirin and you should be fine.”

Stan grunted and pulled his head back. “I could’a told you that, Poindexter.” He looked over at the other two and blinked. “Am I seein’ double or…?”

“I’m actually physically here, yes,” Ford’s counterpart replied. “I’m a dimensional double of your brother, to put it simply; others call me either Kitsune or Sixer.”

“Would’a thought they’d’ve called ya Seven or somethin’.” Stan frowned at the seven tails behind Kitsune, which twitched in response to Stan’s comment.

“He had six when I met him,” Maria explained. “One of his tails split two years later.”

“It what?”

“Is this natural or is this something else?” Ford asked sharply.

Kitsune’s tails stilled at the question, falling limp behind him; his ears flicked back. “...Something else.”

“If you’re worried about Sixer, you really shouldn’t be; the Cipher that did that to him isn’t around to cause anymore trouble.” Maria folded her hands behind her back and rocked on her heels, a knowing smirk crossing her face.

Ford’s eyes widened sharply.

“What are you talking about?!” Stan demanded. “Yer leavin’ me out of the conversation here! Who is this Cipher guy you’re talking about?!”

Maria and Kitsune stared at Stan, then looked over at Ford.

“You haven’t had Weirdmageddon?” Kitsune asked in confusion. “Or has Stan not recovered all of his memories yet?”

“What are you talkin’ about? I haven’t forgotten anything!” Stan snapped back.

“Weirdmageddon?” Ford repeated in confusion. He blinked, and his eyes widened as he connected together the information he was hearing. “You mean that’s what would have happened if I had come back through my portal and Bill had gotten his hands on the Rift--”

“Yes,” Kitsune replied flatly.

“Who’s Bill?” Stan grumbled.

“His full name is Bill Cipher,” Maria replied. “He’s...simply put, he’s a demon who has an odd attraction to Fords across dimensions. Your brother’s lucky that he managed to get back here without opening a rift -- speaking of which, how did you get back?” She looked at Ford with a raised eyebrow.

“A young man named Joshua did the exact same thing for me that you did to those bounty hunters.” Ford motioned to where the bounty hunters had been a moment ago. He was a little confused as to how the girl knew anything about Bill Cipher and was willing to speak freely about him and not attempt to arrest them.

Maria blinked, then a smirk crossed her face and she snorted. “Joshua is neither young nor human, and neither am I.” She rapped her right hand against her chest.

Clang clang.

Ford stiffened at the metallic noise; Stan’s eyes widened.

“I’m surprised that he managed to get you here without Cipher getting involved, though.” Maria frowned, lowering her hand. “I’ve tried that before -- he always blocks the natural pathways off; that’s why your rift maker is usually the only thing that works. Why wouldn’t he get involved this time….” Her frown deepened, and she tapped again against her chin thoughtfully.

“I think I know what happened.”

Maria, Stan, and Ford looked over at Kitsune.

“Enlighten me,” Ford said dryly.

“There is someone that we have made the acquaintance of a year after I met Maria,” Kitsune said carefully. “A being who is a fury goddess who has had interactions with the Mas -- w-with Cipher.”

Maria looked up at him with a worried expression as Ford’s eyes widened sharply. Maria slipped her hand in his and squeezed it, which seemed to ground Kitsune.

Kitsune closed his eyes and took in a breath for a moment, then opened his eyes again. “She was in a relationship with him previously, but after he stole part of her power from her, she went on a sort of revenge quest against any and all versions of Cipher. Which leads me to believe that she has already found your iteration of him and has destroyed him utterly.”

“Huh.” Stan blinked. “Well that was nice of her.”

“Did you just almost call Cipher Master?” Ford demanded harshly. Even more connections were starting to come together -- especially considering what the bounty hunters had called Kitsune.

Kitsune winced and pulled back a little, but not very far because of Maria’s grip on her hand. “I-I was not--”

“Sixer.” Maria looked at him with concern, then looked back at Ford. “You didn’t know about that either, huh.”

“Know about what?” Ford hissed. “That the bounty hunters referred to him as Cipher’s runaway pet? Because that and what he nearly said are all that I am going on and I would love to know why.”

Kitsune’s ears flicked back as he shuddered. “I lost. That’s the simplest answer.”

Ford stiffened at Kitsune’s statement, eyes widening. “You what?” That was not the answer that he had been expecting from his counterpart. He rose to his feet, staring at Kitsune. “But...but the Quantum Destabilizer -- Our -- my plan to--”

“I missed.” Kitsune wasn’t looking at any of them. “The Zodiac could have worked, should have worked, but Stanley and I got into an argument and Cipher took that to his advantage.” He took in a shaky breath. “The appearance I have now is a result of that; the reason that I nearly called him that is a result of that. And he did this not only to me; he did it to the rest of us as well.”

“No….”

Kitsune nodded glumly. “The four of us were changed and forced into service. We were saved from that some time ago, but...our dimension….” He shook his head again. “We were able to save the people in Gravity Falls, but no one else.”

Ford stared at his counterpart as Kitsune’s statement sank in, Stan also looking at him with a murderous expression at the mere idea that Dipper and Mabel could have possibly been pulled into this. Ford hadn’t thought that it would have been possible for any one of his counterparts to lose against Bill, to lose with not only the one weapon that they planned to use against Bill directly in the Nightmare Realm, but also with the possible backup they had if he ever happened to enter their respective worlds -- much less if they ever managed to find all the parts of the Zodiac, which was apparently possible but not something that Ford was entirely willing to put stock in.

Especially since it was apparent that Cipher was no longer going to be attempting to make his way into his dimension.

“So, wait.” Stan pushed himself up to his feet, swayed for a moment, then managed to keep his balance. “Yer sayin’ that there are some places where yer entire dimension fell ta pieces?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Kitsune replied. “I’m at fault for that as much as the Ciphers, considering what I was used for. Those bounty hunters you saw were no doubt planning on reporting in to some Cipher with your brother so they could utilize the network that I left behind. Maria and I have been working to tear it apart, but...it’s been difficult, considering how large the mess I left behind is.” He sighed and shook his head.

Ford stared at his counterpart, his mind whirring as he put the pieces together -- what his counterpart was saying, what it was that he wasn’t, what it possibly meant for his other counterparts--

“How many?” Ford asked finally.

“I’m not sure of the exact number.” Kitsune shrugged a little.

“I’m sure Agnostic might know,” Maria commented, thoughtful. “He doesn’t like to think back on what happened, though.”

“Who?” Stan frowned. “Another Ford?”

“Yeah.” Maria looked over at Ford. “One who got brainwashed pretty severely. He’s one of the few that we’ve managed to rescue from Cipher’s clutches.”

Kitsune shuddered. “And I’m glad we got to him first. I don’t know what things would look like if Bishop was still--” He shook his head.

Ford flinched back. He’d heard of Bishop, of his religious fantasies and how easily words flowed from him that could make you consider changing sides. If he was going by Agnostic now --

Well.

“What, was he some kinda demon-worshipping -- “ Stan stopped short when Kitsune nodded. “Holy Moses.”

“He’s just the tip of the iceberg,” Maria said. “There are versions of you running around doing his bidding too, Stan.”

“Me?” Stan snorted. “Like that Cipher guy would want anythin’ ta do with me. I don’t got the brains that Ford has.”

“But you have the skills to see through his attempts at making deals,” Maria replied. “It takes a con to outcon a con, and you have the reputation of being the best at that out of the entire multiverse.”

Stan straightened himself up at that, puffing out his chest as Ford rolled his eyes.

“That can’t be it,” Ford said, frowning.

“Considering that Stans have been rather consistent throughout the multiverse as being the one to trick Cipher in a final deal? I’d say that Maria’s actually right,” Kitsune replied.

Ford stared at his counterpart in disbelief. “You...you’re backing her up?”

Kitsune shrugged. “The dimension I now call home has nine other versions of me and eight versions of everyone else in our family. I’ve grown to know and appreciate the quirks everyone has.” He smiled a little. “It gets to be rather entertaining when my brother and his counterparts attempt to out-con each other, especially after a few drinks.”

Maria snickered. Ford stared with an incredulous expression. His counterpart could not have been serious.

“That’s a crowded house,” Stan commented. He swayed a little, then righted himself. “Speakin’ of which, we should probably get back to the Shack. I don’t want to leave that place in the kids’ hands for too long.” He started to take a few steps forward, then stumbled and started to fall over, only to get caught by Kitsune before he could hit the ground.

“We’ll stay in this dimension long enough to get you back, at least,” Kitsune said. “Then we should probably get moving ourselves.” He looked over at Maria, who hesitated for a moment before nodding in agreement.

“I’ll be fine, you.” Stan righted himself again. “You go on an’ keep huntin’ down those guys who are goin’ after my brother. If any more of ‘em show up again here, we’ll be ready fer ‘em next time.”

Kitsune hesitated, unsure. “Being out in the forest with you as you are could be--”

“Grunkle Stan!”

“Great-Uncle Ford!”

The group of four turned their heads as Dipper and Mabel suddenly crashed through the underbrush and grabbed their grunkles in tight hugs.

“What are you two doing out here?” Stan demanded, looking down at Mabel. “I thought I told you kids to stay back and watch the Shack!”

“We saw these monsters come out of a portal!” Mabel looked up. “They were talking about taking Grunkle Ford away!”

“W-we gotta get back to the Shack before that mean pig-thing finds you,” Dipper added. He started tugging Ford back the way they had come.

“We’re already taken care of them, Dipper,” Kitsune spoke up. “You don’t need to worry about them finding your grunkles, I can assure you.”

Dipper and Mabel stared at Kitsune and Maria with wide eyes; Maria started giggling at their expressions.

“U-Uh….” Dipper looked between Ford and Kitsune. “What’s--”

“Ohmygoshyouhavetails!” Mabel let Stan go and moved closer to Kitsune’s seven tails. “They look so soft! Can I--”

Kitsune chuckled as one of his tails moved a little closer to Mabel. She instantly buried her fingers in his red-gold fur and gasped.

“Dipper, come over and feel this! It’s like a cloud or something!”

Dipper came over, frowning, but curious. “Mabel, clouds are water vapor, they can’t exactly be--” He stopped when he put his hand in Kitsune’s fur. “Whoa; that is soft.”

A low rumbling noise came from Kitsune; Ford was startled to find he could identify it as purring.

Mabel gave a delighted squeal. “Ohmygosh! You sound like my cat when he’s on catnip!”

The purring puttered to a halt as Kitsune looked down at Mabel with an unsure expression.

Stan and Maria laughed at the look on his face as Ford’s mouth quirked up in a slight smile. Another thought popped into his head then, and the smile faded.

“Who were you before?”

Kitsune looked over at Ford at the question while Dipper and Mabel exchanged confused looks. “You mean….”

Ford nodded. “Yes; before...all that.” He eyed the flicking ears on top of Kitsune’s head.

Kitsune frowned, then sighed and shook his head. “It’s...difficult, to remember before. I’ve spent well over six centuries like this; my memory-keeping abilities may be sharper now, but...some things still fade. One or two memories stand out among the mess, but not many. And...not very many good ones.”

Maria looked up at him with a concerned expression, biting her lower lip. Ford got the impression that she had heard him say something similar before.

“Why do you ask?” Kitsune looked at Ford with a slightly-cocked head, almost like an animal that had spotted something curious.

Ford paused. “I wanted to know if -- since you ran in...similar circles, for a time -- if you knew of a mercenary known as Fish.”

Maria’s brow furrowed, and she closed one eye as Kitsune’s left ear twitched.

“Fish? I don’t-- Oh. Oh, you mean Pirana.” Kitsune nodded a little. “I heard of him, but I never met him myself. Considering he hunts us down for sport, it was more than likely that he would have killed me on sight, so we were kept out of each other’s way.” He paused. “Although, now, there’s no doubt that he’s coming after me.”

“Ho-ly scrap,” Maria squeaked as she opened her eye again. “Holy scrap I do not think I’d do much against him.”

“Interdimensional database?” Ford guessed, not sure how the World Jumper would have been able to gain such an expression so fast.

“Tumblr,” Maria replied flatly. “Any alternate universe that exists, there’s a chance there’s something for it on Tumblr.”

“Considering that you’ve heard of him, you must have had times where he passed you by for another--”

“I’ve had him chase me five times.” Ford’s interruption caused Kitsune’s eyes to widen sharply. “Joshua saved my life the fifth time.”

“...you must be quite lucky, then,” Kitsune said.

“How bad is this Fish guy?” Stan asked.

“He’d kill the entire town without a second thought, so long as he could get to your brother -- and then he’d kill him, too.” The grim tone in Kitsune’s voice caused Stan to stiffen. “He is not someone that people can stand toe-to-toe against -- not unless you can appeal to his sense of humanity, somehow, but the chance of that is silmmer than Cipher when he’s looked at from the side.”

“Who?” Dipper asked in confusion.

“No one you have to worry about,” Maria replied quickly.

“And to hear that you’ve gotten away from him five times, I can’t say I--” Kitsune stopped short. “Wait. Lucky.” His eyes widened slowly. “That’s you, isn’t it? The luckiest of us?”

“...so I’ve been told,” Ford replied carefully as Maria and his family stared at him with wide eyes. “But that was only once, from Jheselbraum -- how do you know about--”

“I think I was the one who gave you that moniker.” An excited smile started to spread across Kitsune’s face. “You remember -- in the marketplace? Your translator wasn’t working but you knew enough of the language to barter with one of the shopkeepers for--”

“A part of the Quantum Destabilizer while barely keeping in his good graces, yes.” That was a memory that stuck out in Ford’s mind clear as day. It had been early on in his journey across the Multiverse, when he had still been getting his bearings and trying to figure out how in the world he was going to survive with Bill constantly on his tail. A figure with salt-and-pepper hair and a covered face had found him after a nearly-botched trade with a tradesman and had offered to repair his translator and give him a little advice.

“Well, Lucky, I’m surprised you managed to get away from him without losing a finger!”

“That was you?” Ford stared at Kitsune.

Maria was looking back and forth between the two of them with a wide-eyed expression, a grin crossing her face as Kitsune nodded.

“Yes; it was!” Kitsune laughed. “It must have been...oh, five years before I’d managed to gather all the parts I needed. I’m glad you managed to return home safely after that, and with a surprising turn of your luck then, as well. Your luck should certainly hold now.” He looked at Maria. “I think we’ll be all right leaving them as they are.”

Maria laughed. “All right.” She looked at Dipper, Mabel, Stan, and Ford in turn and gave them a thumbs-up. “I’m glad you guys don’t have to go through what your counterparts did in other dimensions. Hopefully Gideon Gleeful will get a swift kick to the pants some other way.” She clapped her hands together, and a shimmering blue, flat disk of a portal appeared in the air next to her -- a doorway between dimensions.

“Wait!” Dipper moved closer. “I have so many questions!”

“We don’t have much time to answer them, I’m afraid.” Maria rubbed Dipper’s cap-covered head. “You’ll get your answers eventually; maybe your Grunkle Ford will be willing to tell you stories one day, when you’re a little older. Until then, you kids stay safe, don’t read any weird cave inscriptions aloud, and try to teach Gideon a lesson in a way that will get him to see reason without putting you all in a life-or-death situation. The kid needs guidance, not to be turned into an outcast.”

Mabel fidgeted as Kitsune slid his tail out from under her fingers. “But...but Gideon--”

“I know what he did, sweetheart, but he can change. It’ll take time, and probably more lessons that he had to learn in other dimensions, but he will eventually become less stalker-ish. Eventually.” Maria ruffled Mabel’s hair as well. “Don’t ever tell him he’s good boyfriend material, though; I wouldn’t trust someone with a stalker past to get in a relationship with me.”

Kitsune chuckled, his tails curling at the tips. Ford found the display odd, but he didn’t get the chance to ask what it meant, because the next thing they knew, Maria and Kitsune had stepped through the portal and out of their dimension.

Leaving Ford to be stared at by Mabel and Dipper.

“Why didn’t you tell us you knew another you?” Mabel asked, eyes shining. “Are other ones gonna show up now?”

“Highly unlikely,” Ford replied.

“I find it hard to believe that you’re the luckiest you out there,” Stan said with a snort. “There’s no way that’s possible; you’ve never beaten me at poker.”

“Because you cheat, and besides, my luck only seems to work when it’s to my advantage somewhere in the future,” Ford hissed back.

Stan huffed, took a step, and stumbled. Ford quickly caught him and pulled Stan’s left arm over his shoulders.

“Let’s get you back to the Shack and looked over properly,” Ford muttered. He started to move back towards the house, Stan limping in step with him and Dipper and Mabel moving ahead of them.

“C-could you tell us about the other dimensions?” Dipper asked, hesitant and hopeful.

“Oo! Oo! Did you find a dimension made of cotton candy?” Mabel asked.

Something about Mabel’s eagerness made Ford laugh a little. “No, no.” His face scrunched up as he thought back to some of the dimensions he’d been to. “Although, there was this one where everything was shaped like the letter ‘M.’” He shuddered.

“That doesn’t sound so bad,” Mabel commented.

“Every single word they spoke started with the letter ‘m,’” Ford said. “I was considering ‘mommitting muicide’ if I never found a natural rift away from there.”

“Ford!” Stan looked at him sharply as Dipper and Mabel stared at him with wide eyes. “Lay off that kinda talk, will ya? Lighten up for once, geez.”

Ford ducked his head a little at that, but a slight smile appeared on his face. “All right, all right. Let me try to think of a different one….”

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