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thdorkmagnet · 3 years

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Light of the Sun and Stars Chapter 46: A Mewman and a Monster

Summary: His whole life Marco Diaz has been raised by monsters, living under the cruel rule of their leader, Toffee. But one day Marco escapes into Mewni where he meets a magical princess and Mewman like himself, who begins teaching him all about her world. Together they will learn about life, love, and the lights within each of them, as they change their world forever.

Chapter Synopsis: Slime has asked his crush Princess Penelope Spiderbite out on a date and needing support, both emotionally and literally, calls upon Star and Marco for help. The two graciously lend a hand in helping create the most romantic date possible but, as usual, things rarely go the way they want it too.

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Index

Disclaimer: Star vs and all its characters belong to Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them.

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The dimension was completely lifeless. Once a sprawling community had dwelled there, setting up residence in its green pastures and lush landscapes, living a simple and basic life amongst the natural resources all around them. But that peaceful lifestyle had changed when technology was first introduced to the humble society. At first it had been small changes, as it always started, machines and many mechanisms made to help make life easier. Need to plow the fields? Build a machine that could do it half the time you could.

Soon people were using machines for every part of their everyday life and with the invention of robotic helpers… everything changed. Their once grassy hills were torn up to make factories, their land broken and scarred for the sake of 'progress'. Soon their dimension more closely resembled a machine than a once thriving, living place. And the numbers of robots steadily grew, until they outnumbered all living beings 10 to 1.

Sunlight was blocked by heavy smog while frequent and heavy storms began to tear apart what was left of the landscape. The dimension became virtually unlivable and the people were filled with dismay.

That was until a mysterious benefactor appeared one day, offering to buy up the remaining usable land for unknown reasons. The people happily accepted the offer, using the money to relocate to a new dimension (hopefully with better luck than the last), leaving the new owner of the dimension to do with it however they wished. Soon they began construction on a single building, employing the many robots that still inhabited the place to the effort. It took a long while, even with beings that didn’t have the need to eat nor sleep at the head of construction, but eventually it was finished, a single living place in a dimension of dead architecture.

The place was a sight to behold: a clean, cut courtyard leading up to a grand, multi-story building. The architecture was ancient but refined, borrowed from famous castles and cathedrals throughout the multiverse, a sharp contrast to the sleek, modern buildings the dimension had been so known for.

But for as magnificent as it seemed, there was something sinister as well, something dark lurking just behind the smoothly cut stones or grand balconies. A large metal fence had been built around the building, electrified at all times to deter anyone from entering or exiting through anything but the gate. A large tower stood above the building itself, pulsing with some dark magic that had been lost to time long ago. The building's structure itself held a deadly contrast to its beauty, full of sharp edges and spikes that could seriously harm anyone who was not weary of their surroundings. And though the grand double doors were made of the finest wood in any dimension, they opened onto halls of endless turns and deadends, a labyrinth built to keep everyone trapped inside forever.

But the creator of this school did not care how others viewed it, because this place was serving a grand purpose, educating and enforcing positive change on the future monarchs of the multiverse. St. Olga’s Reform School for Wayward Princesses was a school like no other, standing superior to any other education system that dared to compete with it, for it was focused solely on punishment and strict results. Every young princess that was sent there, no matter how rebellious or resistant they were, would eventually be broken. It didn’t matter if it took days, weeks, or years, St. O’s and its founder and principal, Megeara Heinous, had a perfect record that had never once been broken.

That was until a certain four-armed princess blew the whistle on the academy's “less than reputable” penalties and the school was shut down by the dimensional knights. The great Miss Heinous was forced on the run, leaving every part of her life, her career, her home, her minions, her legacy, to rot. She spent years on the run, just barely managing to stay one step ahead of the dimensional knights and any other form of military power a noble might hire to capture or kill her. But through it all, Heinous only had one thought that kept her going day in and day out. Revenge. Or rather, her legacy finally fulfilled. She often confused the two but it didn’t matter. The path was the same. The path to ultimate victory and control. The path to perfection.

And that path had led back to where it all began.

Nostalgia and old memories came flooding back to the once-proud principal as she stood in front of her old, decaying school. She could still picture it back in the prime of its life, see it as clear as if she were standing in the memory itself rather than the broken dream that stared back at her. Reality was far from the picture perfect days of old. Oh how the mighty had fallen.

Her once proud school was now in desperate need of repairs, walls caved in over the course of time, entire sections of the school now gone. The courtyard was now filled with untamed weeds and overgrown plant life. The tower that had once stood as a beacon of power for her school had been the first thing taken down by those pesky knights and it lay in shambles around the area, an ever present reminder of the injustice Heinous had suffered. The fence was bent and disfigured, now full of giant, gaping holes in its structure making it completely useless, it couldn’t even keep out the gusts of wind that blew through the empty courtyard. The school had become nothing but an empty shell that had once housed life within it. Heinous couldn’t help but scoff at the irony, her greatest masterpiece was now no different to the rest of this forgotten waste of a dimension.

She took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. No, she couldn’t start dwelling on all that now. She had come here for more than just reliving her past failures. Today was about seizing her future. A small cough behind her caused Heinous to roll her eyes. She had almost forgotten her hired hand had come with her, just in case some dimensional knights were lurking about and needed to be disposed of. It was clear that Rasticore, unlike her, was less than content with her dimension. She could practically feel Rasticore’s discomfort as he shifted from one foot to the other, over and over again. It was obvious he wanted to get this over with, something at least they could agree on, Heinous was more than ready to achieve the next step of her decade-long scheme.

“So are we going inside or not?” Rasticore finally asked and Heinous turned back to him with a narrowed glare.

“Why? Don’t tell me you are frightened of my school?” she accused him, point blank.

Rasticore tensed, before gritting his fangs, clearly holding back the retort. Instead he replied, “No, just all this smog is aggravating my condition.” He then made a point to cough into his claw.

Heinous highly doubted that was the reason for his rush. Not when it was more likely her minion was playing up his sickness to hide his discomfort from her. After all, he was recovering remarkably well from the poison, ready to resume his work in just a few short weeks, so a little foul air shouldn’t be upsetting him as much as he was pretending it was.

Still, she didn’t see any reason to delay things any further so Heinous just turned to her minion and said, “Very well, follow me.”

Entering into her old home was like walking into a portrait in time, everything left exactly as she remembered it. The knights must have left things the same for evidence reasons but Heinous was surprised her school was still mostly intact. A few rooms had been caved in or hallways blocked and everything certainly needed a good dusting but from the view outside she had been expecting much worse. Paper and pencils lay on the dusty desks, ready to use, as if some child had just set them down and then vanished from this dimension. The banners holding old phrases and mottos Heinous would often repeat in classes were decaying but still hung up even after all these years. The only thing missing was her beloved robotic staff.

Shortly after her escape she had gotten word that all robots operating under her name had been discontinued and dismantled to “prevent further harm” as they had put it. Ha, as if her precious staff could be so cruel, every punishment was fully justified and all for the greater good. If only the royals of the multiverse had seen it that way. “Cruel and unnecessary” they had called it. Hypocrites! They were always happy with the results, even quick to praise her or offer her large sums of money as thanks, but the moment they knew how their beloved child came to be cured of their faults suddenly she was the villain, torturing their bratty children by making them perfect.

Well if they were too stupid and cowardly to see her perfect vision all the way through, then it was up to her to fix this miserable, chaotic world.

Heinous entered into her old office, staring at it with wistful eyes as memories came flooding back to her all over again. Every detail of the small space was exactly as she had remembered it, not a single stone out of place, even after all these years. She ran her hands across her desk, her fingers brushing the loose pieces of paper she had been reading through when the alarm had sounded. Old student files and report cards now yellowed with age and beyond salvaging but Heinous could have read them with ease, every single letter saved to her subconscious.

Rasticore stood awkwardly in the doorway, watching as his temporary boss reminisced her old life. It was shocking in all honesty, the lizard assassin hadn’t even known Heinous had a smile that wasn’t sinister but she seemed… almost genuine now. That was until she came across a certain file and the peaceful look switched to a frown, the spell she was under broken in a flash. She picked up the piece of paper, ripping it to shreds in a matter of seconds. Rasticore jumped but didn’t say a word as his boss fell deeper and deeper into a blind rage, picking up several other files and ripping them apart as well. Soon the room was coated in paper shreds and the desk was empty. Rasticore risked a look at what remained of the original file, surprised to see it was a young curly haired princess with four arms. He couldn't imagine what she had done to invoke such fire from the level-headed woman.

Once the temper tantrum was over, Heinous straightened her clothes and smoothed down her hair, making herself look presentable again before turning to her minion. “Well, let’s get started, shall we?” she said as if nothing had even happened. She reached her hand into one of the many pockets that lined her oversized dress and pulled out a small key covered in intricate carvings. Without a word she shoved the desk to the side, Rasticore taken aback by the sudden show of strength. He certainly hadn’t expected it from such a petite woman.

Heinous bent down and inserted the key into a small slot in the ground and turned it with a click. Suddenly, the ground beneath her feet collapsed and a long spiral staircase stretching into the darkness below was revealed. Heinous returned the key to her pocket before looking at Rasticore expectantly, much to his confusion. He had been caught off guard thanks to the multiple, unexpected turns this trip had taken and couldn’t for the life of him figure out what she was wanting for. Her sharp eyes dug into his skin before she impatiently snapped, “Well? You are the one with the light.”

Rasticore could slap himself for being so stupid and he quickly pulled the lantern out from behind his cloak, already brightly lit by phoenix embers. Without a word he started down the stairs, practically feeling Heinous roll her eyes behind his back and he had to clench his claw so tightly a few trickles of blood formed on his leathery skin. For not the first time, Rasticore seriously debated on just how bad a reputation he would get for killing his employer in cold blood. The lizard assassin cursed himself for his integrity as a killer for hire, every other job had been so easy but this one was really testing just how far he was willing to go for his reputation. He probably would have quit entirely if he weren’t for those stupid brats that eluded him on multiple occasions. Every attempt he made to take that worthless Princess Star resulted in complete and utter failure and the humiliation ate away at him almost as much as his anger. So if having to endure Heinous a little longer meant seeing the looks on those brats' faces when they finally got what was coming to them… well Rasticore wouldn’t miss that for the world.

Rasticore smiled, imagining the faces of Butterfly and her friends when they realized they had lost and that brought a new fire back to his soul, descending the staircase with a new vigor. The lizard got a good look at his surroundings, his night vision easily spotting what it was they were down there for: robots. Dozens of them, old and rusted over to the point Rasticore questioned if they would even activate. He looked back at his boss, who was eying the robots with a glimmer of dark ambition, not at all concerned about their obvious defectiveness.

“Thought all your robots were dismantled,” Rasticore questioned suspiciously.

Heinous shook her head. “That’s just what you would think,” the woman replied in a condescending tone. “And I knew those idiot knights would believe the same thing, hence why I had these hidden away in case I was ever found out. Imagine it, they all believed they had beaten me and yet my true power was right under their noses all along.”

“Well that explains their poor condition,” Rasticore mumbled to himself, low enough he knew Heinous couldn’t hear him.

The two reached the bottom of the staircase and Heinous began inspecting her machines closely, running her gloved fingers along their metal casings and grimacing at the layer of dirt left behind. “The truth is those robots from my time as principal were simple worker drones, but these, my dear Rasticore, are my army.”

“So you had these things hidden away this whole time and you never thought to use them before now?” Rasticore asked in a deadpan, trying to hold back his rising anger. If she had an army this whole time, why bother hiring him for her dirty work? How much time had he wasted fulfilling her goals when she could have just as easily sent a robot to do it.

“Of course I did,” Heinous replied with quite a bit of malice. “They were my plan from the beginning. I just had to wait for the right time to use them.”

“And only after I’ve been poisoned for your little mission do you suddenly decide it’s the ‘right time’,” the lizard Monster grunted, doing air-quotes for emphasis.

“Hold your tongue!” Heinous snapped, her voice echoing around the dark chamber. The two stared each other down, neither breaking eye contact for even a second. “You cannot possibly comprehend the amount of time and planning I put into this,” she continued, spitting every word violently at her minion. “I spent years concocting the perfect scheme to take back everything I lost, to regain control and create a perfect world order. And yet you dare to believe I would overlook something so carelessly. No. Everything has been crafted to serve a greater purpose.” The woman turned her back to the assassin, stating smugly, “In a scheme like this, timing is everything, my dear Rasticore.”

She approached the nearest bot, wiping the dust off its metal surface, pulling out the same key from before and examining it closely. “And the time has finally come for the next phase of my master plan,” she whispered decisively. With that she rammed the key into the center of the robot’s chest, causing its eyes to blink open and light up red. Heinous took a step back as the machine slowly rose to its feet, creaking and groaning loudly, its rusted body protesting greatly. Branches that had formed around its hollow shell snapped and broke as it pushed itself upward with great strength. Finally, the machine was up, standing tall and at attention, its red eyes blinking as it waited for new orders, somehow menacing despite its deteriorating state.

Rasticore took a step towards the robot body, still eyeing it skeptically but didn’t see a point in arguing, if his boss wanted to gamble all their plans on some old, dumb machine then she could deal with the consequences. It wasn’t his problem if her plan failed, so long as he got paid. “So what, we send this hunk of junk after the Butterfly brat and finally be done with her.” He had to admit the idea of a robot taking her down instead of him left a sour taste in his mouth.

Heinous admired her machine with a satisfactory smile, her gloved hands delicately running along its frame. “Patience, Rasticore, patience. Star Butterfly will receive her punishment in due time. But for now she is too highly guarded to risk an attack on her. We must tread carefully from here on out, no more half-witted schemes, we must deal with her delicately or all of this will be in vain.”

Rasticore grit his teeth at the small insult but kept his calm, extended time with Heinous had really helped him with his temper, the one good thing he could say about being stuck with the snooty, high-and-mighty ex-principal herself. “So who are we targeting?” Rasticore asked impatiently. “I thought the whole point of this field trip was so you could get your hands on Butterfly. You yourself said you needed a Mewman for-”

“And what I said still holds true,” Heinous interrupted, turning to her minion with a very evil expression. “Which is why we will be targeting another old student of mine, one who is much less guarded and much more obtainable.” A dark look passed over Heinous’ face as she thought of one of her oldest and most successful students, just speaking her name again filled her with a satisfaction and pride Heinous had almost forgotten about. “Princess Penelope Spiderbite.”

…

Okay, it’s fine. Everything is perfect. Nothing is going to go wrong.

Slime had been repeating this in his head for the last two hours, over and over again like a montra. But no matter how many times he told himself everything was going to go perfectly, he couldn’t shake the jitters building up inside of him as he prepared for his first official date with Penelope. He didn’t know how he had ever worked up the nerve to ask her out but he had somehow got the courage one day when he came to her castle with a bouquet of flowers and asked her if she wanted to go on a date with him. She had said yes in a heartbeat, much more confidently then he had been expecting, which made him feel a little more awkward since he seemed to be the only one nervous in that situation. His anxiety had only gotten worse when Penolope’s parents showed up, wondering what Slime was doing there so late in the evening. Thankfully, Penelope’s family were pretty friendly towards Monster, especially after Penelope told them what his slime could do for their spiderbites, so there had been no issue when he nervously informed them about the date.

But asking her out had been the easy step, then he had to worry about preparing for the date and his nerves were shot. He was shaking so hard at the moment, the entire area around him was covered in drops of his slime and Penelope wasn’t even there yet.

Luckily, he had realized he couldn’t possibly handle this on his own and had called for help.

“Um, hey Slime, do you need… a towel or anything?” Marco hesitantly asked as he stepped over to check on his friend. Slime smiled and shook his head, trying not to let his nervousness show.

“No, no, I’m good. This is normal for me,” he explained, blushing slightly at the admission. He really hoped that wasn’t too weird or gross but Marco just shrugged and returned to carefully arranging the flowers on the table. When he had it the way he wanted, the hooded teen looked to Star for feedback which was given in the form of a thumbs up and a kiss on the cheek.

Slime sighed at the tender moment between the two lovebirds, dreaming that was him and Penolope instead. If all went well, maybe it could be. He was grateful Star and Marco had said yes to his request, arriving there in minutes, squealing and congratulating him and giving him so many hugs their clothes were stained green, and Slime felt the tension in his body ease. When he explained to them his plan for what he hoped would be a dream date, they had instantly jumped on board and offered as much help as he needed. He was grateful to the young couple, having them there was the only reason he had stayed sane.

“Well I think that’s about it, Slime,” Star said as she double-checked their work, her keen eyes scanning over every single thing, looking for anything out of place. “The only thing missing is your date.”

Slime opened his mouth but a loud, self-rightous voice spoke up instead, boldly declaring, “More like two things missing, since you can’t have a proper date without some mood lighting!” A multi-colored spotlight shined down from above, blinding all three teens as they yelled in surprise.

That’s right, Slime had almost forgotten that his two friends hadn’t come alone. He cupped a goopy hand over his eyes and looked up at Princess Ponyhead, smiling triumphantly like she had just solved world hunger or something. He grimaced, not sure how to break it to the royal horse that he liked the lighting the way it was and nothing about the seizure-inducing lights really screamed romance.

When the royal horse had first arrived with Star and Marco, tagging along since she had been hanging out with them at the time, Slime’s anxiety had hit an all-time high. He didn’t know Ponyhead that well and what he did know about her contrasted greatly with himself. Pony was a confident, brash, loud-mouth who said what she wanted and didn’t take slack from anyone. And in comparison to his socially awkward, self-conscious self, he figured he would get along with her about as well as human-faced cats and laser puppies. And while for the most part she had mostly kept to herself and all the horror stories he had heard had felt like gross exaggerations, it seemed some of his worries were a little justified. Point and case, right now.

He looked over to Star and Marco for help and the two quickly intervened, Star asking, “Hey, Pony, maybe tone down on the mood lighting a little. We’re trying to keep this a private affair, remember?”

Pony sighed dramatically. “Finnneee,” she groaned, deactivating the light with her horn. “But just so you know, you are totally missing out, boy. You change your mind, you know who to talk to, okay.”

Slime shrugged, not sure what else to do. “U-Uh, r-right.” He cleared his throat before saying to the others, “Thanks for c-coming to help you guys on such short notice. The place looks great.” The spot Slime had chosen was hopefully secluded enough for Penelope since he knew she would want to keep things low key. So he had found a pretty garden clearing on the very edge of Spiderbite forest. It was remote and hidden from any prying eyes, layers of trees and bushes making it impossible for them to be spied on. And it was beautiful too, the flowers had bloomed into lovely shades of purples and ambers and the thick foliage ruffled delicately in the wind. With the others' help adding in a table for a romantic dinner and a few decorations, it was a much better view than any restaurant could offer. Perfect for Slime’s first date with his dream girl.

“Oh yeah we were happy to help!” Marco cheerfully responded. “Even Pony.”

"Yeah, gotta say I'm surprised you agreed to help," Star commented skeptically. "Usually it takes a lot more convincing to get you to help with anything."

"C'mon, B-fly! I keep tellin' ya I've grown since then, " Pony whined, brushing up against Star's chest, in her best attempt at hugging without any arms, staring up at her with pleading eyes. "From now on you can count on me to be here for you, girl."

Star chuckled, returning the hug. "Okay, I guess that's true." She had to admit, despite Pony still being very Pony about everything, she was trying to do better and Star couldn't fault her for that.

"Besides, not like I got much else to do, ever since T got together with his new girlfriend all he does is text or talk to her on the phone,” Pony added, rolling her eyes.

“Awwwwww,” Marco cooed, his eyes shimmering as he imagined his two friends being cute like that.

“No, trust me, the ‘aww’ factor wears off fast,” Pony dryly stated. “Like, I’m happy for him and all, but he barely even notices my existence anymore. We tried to hang out the other day and it took two whole minutes to get his attention long enough for him to order.”

“He’s just happy is all, I’m sure it’ll wear off soon,” Star reassured her friend.

“But you gotta admit they are pretty cute together,” Marco added, beaming brightly.

“Yeah, yeah, I guess it’s good T is happy,” Pony admitted, pouting slightly. “Just wish he’d pay a little more attention to me.”

Now it was Star’s turn to roll her eyes, deciding it was best to ignore that last bit. Classic Pony, she always was an attention hog. She’d just have to get used to less attention from Tom now that he had Janna.

“Whoa, Slime, you look fancy!” Marco shouted, turning everyone’s attention onto the Monster boy, who jumped and flushed. While the three had been engaged in their conversation, Slime had changed into something more appropriate for his big date, well sorta. His original idea was to wear a white dress shirt but that had gone disastrously. Slime Monsters weren’t really big on shirts in the first place and the fancier they were, the easier it was to ruin them. So he had settled for a bowtie instead. He had also removed his cap and smoothed back his goopy hair as best he could. Hopefully that would be presentable enough for his royal date.

“Uh, thanks,” Slime said with a small smile. “So do I look good? Do you think Penelope will be impressed?"

"Yeah you look nice but, uh well, your tie is sorta, um, merging with your… skin?" Star hesitantly mentioned and Slime glanced down to see that the tie was already starting to slip away into his slimy innards. He sighed and pulled the tie off completely with a devastated look.

“Great, now how am I gonna impress Penelope?” he muttered bitterly. Why did nothing ever go his way? It was like he was incapable of finding happiness or something. He really didn’t want to mess stuff up with Penelope. She was the one good thing in his life right now.

“That’s easy, just don’t,” Pony said plainly and everyone turned to her with flabbergasted expressions. However, she did elaborate a little more, saying, “I mean, if she was willing to go out with you then she probably doesn’t have that high of standards. So you should just be yourself or whatever and not sweat the small stuff.”

“Wow, that was… almost good advice,” Marco said, surprised.

“Yeah, I’ve been workin’ on being nicer to people for B-Fly.” Pony dramatically flipped her mane, looking quite pleased with herself.

Star shrugged, saying to herself, “Eh, it’s a start.” Then she patted Slime on the back, adding, “But Pony is mostly right. Don’t focus on trying to impress her. Just show her how you feel and let that do the talking, okay.”

Slime nodded. “Uh… yeah, yeah, I think I can do that.”

“Great, then I guess you’re all set!” Marco exclaimed, giving him a quick hug from behind.

“Yeah, guess I am,” Slime agreed with a little half-smile. Remembering something he quickly pulled out a small watch from his pocket, checking the time. “And just in time, too. Penelope should be here any minute.”

“Oh, then we’ll get going,” Star said, pulling Marco off of the slime Monster and gently pushing him towards the bushes. “Have fun!”

“Good luck!” Marco added, yelling over his shoulder.

Pony flew over to Slime, saying in a low tone, “Oh and do me a quick fav, tell Penelope to hit me up on the mirror web. She hasn’t responded to any of my posts at all and I’m starting to think she doesn’t want to be friends.”

“Pony, come on!” Star called in a scolding tone.

“Comin’ girl!” the horsehead shouted back. But before floating away she quickly added to Slime, “Oh and don’t tell her I told you because that’ll make me seem petty.”

“PONY!”

“Alright, Alright, I’m coming!” Pony whined, flying over towards her friends, looking offended.

Once the horse was gone, Slime sighed in relief, glad to have a few moments to himself to think. His friends were great but they were also loud and it could be nearly impossible for him to collect his thoughts around them. Especially Pony. But now in the silence of the clearing his mind was finally able to drift as he tried to think of the perfect greeting for his date. He knew the others were right about ‘just being himself’ but he also knew himself had a tendency to say and do embarrassing things. So a little planning ahead couldn’t hurt anything.

“Okay, so remember what the others said, keep it simple,” Slime muttered to himself, his dripping fingers fiddling with the bowtie he was still carrying. “So maybe start with a ‘Hello Penelope, you ready for our date?’ Ugh, no that’s terrible! Of course she’s ready! Why else would she be here?!” Slime facepalmed at his mistake before taking a deep breath and starting again. “Alright how about ‘Sup, Penelope, I really like what you did with your hair?’” Slime buried his face in his hands, groaning in embarrassment. “No, no that’s trying too hard again. And no one even says ‘sup’ anymore!”

“Hi Slime,” a gentle and quiet voice said behind him.

“Yeah, hi Penelope,” Slime responded, before returning his focus back on important things, like nailing his greeting to Penelope. “Okay what if I just like bow and then kiss her hand or is that too formal forrrrrrrr-” Slime blushed dark green before turning on his heels, yelling in a squeaky voice, “Penelope! You’re here!”

Penelope shyly lowered her head, shifting awkwardly as she replied, “Um, yeah, sorry. Was I too early?”

“No, no!” Slime shouted, waving his hands for emphasis. “I was just, uh… practicing and didn’t notice you.”

“Um, yeah, I heard,” the princess admitted hesitantly, nervously rubbing a hand up and down her arm. Her cheekmarks glowed pink as she added, “And, uh, I liked the third one the best.”

“Oh.” Slime said, his own cheeks practically boiling from his blush. He slowly, anxiously, reached over and took her hand in his. His slime immediately turned her skin green and he cringed but Penelope didn’t turn away, instead watching him expectantly. He swallowed, gathering his nerve before leaning his head down and placing a gentle kiss on her hand.

Once he was done, the two just stood there in silence, still holding hands but their heads turned away in embarrassment. It was a pleasant feeling though, small smiles on both of their faces as they just enjoyed the sensation of holding hands.

Finally, Penelope spoke, saying softly, “So, uh, this place looks really nice.” She glanced around the clearing in awe. “I like the decorations.”

“Thanks but I didn’t do it alone,” Slime replied. “Star, Marco, and Pony helped me.”

“Oh, they were here!” Penelope said in surprise, her cheekmarks flashing orange.

“Yeah, but they left,” Slime reassured her. “And they promised they wouldn’t tell anyone about this, so y’know, it’s just between us like you wanted.”

“Wow, thanks,” Penelope said, brushing a loose strand behind her ear. “You really went through a lot of work for me, huh?” Her eyes filled with sadness as she looked around the clearing again. “I mean, you found this nice, secluded spot and everything!”

“Yeah but I didn’t mind. I wanted your first date to feel comfortable and I know you hate being in the spotlight.” Slime gave her hand a squeeze, hoping it would help bring the smile back onto her face.

And it worked as her face lit up with joy, her eyes tender and soft as she whispered, “Thanks so much, Slime.”

“Anything for you,” he replied. He paused before asking, “Sooo, do you wanna sit down?”

“Oh yeah, of course!” Penelope exclaimed, flushing some. She could seriously forget her own name when in the presence of her crush. She had had a few crushes in her lifetime but Slime felt completely different. Maybe it was because for the first time ever one of those crushes returned those feelings back to her. It was a bit weird, admittedly, to like someone and know they liked you back but Penelope felt like she could get used to it. Especially when it was someone like Slime.

Slime led her over to the table, pulling back the chair and waiting for her to sit. Penelope did but only by keeping her eyes peeled on the tablecloth, knowing if she looked Slime in the eyes then she was likely to fall out of the chair. Slime pushed her seat in before going over and taking his own. Penelope kept her hands in her lap, still staring down at the pretty patterns on the tablecloth, while Slime rubbed at the back of his neck, goo dripping down his backside.

Finally, the two worked up the courage to speak, unfortunately it was at the same time. “So did you ever-” “Um, what’s your favorite-” The two stopped mid-sentence just staring at each other before trying again. “Oh no, no you go ahead,” they said as one before stopping again.

A few awkward seconds passed before Penelope snorted and started to giggle to herself. Slime watched her wide-eyed until her sweet, melodious laughter became impossible to resist and he found himself slowly joining in, his slow, awkward chuckles turning into joyful laughter. The two just continued to laugh together as one, happy and content for the first time in a long time, while from the bushes, Star, Marco, and Pony just smiled at the cute display from the young couple.

“Awww, they are so adorable!” Star said, squishing her cheeks with her hands, her eyes shining.

“Yeah! I’m so glad we did this, they look so happy together,” Marco commented, equally as overjoyed as his friend.

“Gotta admit, they are a cute couple of nerds,” Pony said, her voice soft and light.

“Wow, we are really good at matchmaking, Star!” Marco added, grinning ear to ear.

“Yeah we are!” Star agreed loudly. “First Tom and Janna and now these two! Guess we got the golden touch, huh?”

“Whoa! You can turn things to gold by touching them!?” Marco gasped. His girlfriend just got cooler and cooler the longer he knew her.

Star smiled and shook her head. “Sometimes you are too cute, Marco,” the blonde said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

“Soooooo, we just gonna hang here and spy on them orrrrr-” Pony asked, feeling left out without her own boyfriend there and being excluded had to be one of the worst things to be besides unpopular.

“Oh, yeah, we should give them their space.” Star had gotten so caught up in the moment she hadn’t even realized she was intruding in on a private affair between the two lovebirds. She stood and dusted the dirt off her clothes, Marco doing the same. “So I guess for now we just need to focus on making sure no one interrupts their date.”

“Well that should be easy considering they wanted to keep things all private and everything,” Pony commented, looking quite satisfied with that. “Not what I would have done but at least that means we're done. I’m completely wiped! Probably gonna need to sleep for like a week after today.”

“Aww, poor Pony,” Marco said sympathetically. “Do you need one of us to carry you?” he offered her sweetly.

Pony smiled mischievously, saying in a slow, even tone, “Wellllll since you are offering to help me out and everything-”

“No,” Star said, shooting a firm glare at her horse friend. “She can fly herself, Marco. She’s just exaggerating. Right, Pony?”

Pony’s ears tucked behind her head, the guilt written all across her face. “Well, yeah, I have been called a bit of a drama queen from time to time.” she admitted in a hesitant tone, practically having to force the words out. “So, like, I think I’m good to just keep flying on my own.”

“Okay then!” Marco said, shrugging the incident off like it was nothing.

Star gave Pony a proud smile, hoping to provide some positive reinforcement to help her continue to improve on her bad behavior. With any luck, maybe Pony really could become the ‘better person’ she claimed she was working to become. And Star would do her best to help her along the way… so long as she didn’t hurt Marco in any way, shape, or form, of course.

...

The three teens were about to reach the nearest village when they were completely blindsided by a barrage of bright lights, all flashing hypnotically in their faces, some with a very noisy click sound accompanying it. Marco jumped, frightened by the sudden attack on his pupils and hid behind Star, blinking and trying to regain his vision. Star held a hand over her eyes, trying to protect herself from the unending flashes of light, frowning as she immediately connected the dots of what was the cause of this vision-based attack. Pony just beamed brightly, instinctively striking a pose and whipping her hair back in the most show-offy way imaginable, her natural position when around any form of camera or photographer.

“What the heck is going on?!” Marco screamed, his heart thumping loudly as he tried to squint and see who was up ahead and why they apparently had a vendetta against eyesight.

“We’re about to make the front page news, that’s what!” Pony shouted, enjoying every second of this.

“Ugh, reporters, just what we need,” Star muttered, having to fight back every bone in her pretty face to keep from rolling her eyes and frowning.

“What do they want?” Marco asked and that’s when the questions began. An unending stream of inquiries, impossible to be answered since there was no getting a word in edgewise when another reporter would just pick up the questioning the moment one was finished. Marco held on tightly to his girlfriend’s arm, afraid to let go and be fed to these hungry, news-seeking wolves. Star, on the other hand, faced them all with confidence, having dealt with enough in her lifetime to not get overwhelmed by voices or flashes of light.

“Just ignore them, Marco,” Star said simply. And she had just started to take her own advice, tuning them out as she attempted to pull away from the crowd (Marco still glued to her back and following her every move like a shadow) when her ears picked up the names of both Slime and Penelope from one of the reporters. She whipped back around to face said reporter asking, “What did you say?”

The reporter smiled, excited to be the one to gain the Princess of Mewni’s attention, before repeating his original question, “How is the date between the slime Monster and Princess Penelope Spiderbite going?”

Star’s mouth dropped open. “How do you know about their date?” she demanded to know, leaning forward expectantly.

“We were sent a notification about it,” the reporter stated.

“What? But that was supposed to be a secret,” Marco spoke up, only to duck away again when several photos were taken of him against his will.

“A secret?” the report said, his eyes glittering with greed. “Is this a secret love affair between two different species? Are they ashamed to let anyone know about their relationship? Are King and Queen Spiderbite disapproving of their daughter dating a Monster?”

Star glared at the man before stating firmly, “No, and that’s none of your business!” The blonde royal smacked the microphone away from her face, giving him a warning glare and he took a fearful step backwards. With her personal space returned, Star directed her attention to Pony who was still soaking up the limelight. The magical princess called for her friend’s attention and after a couple of attempts, the horse finally heard and looked down at her friend with wide, confused eyes.

“Pony, how do they know about Slime and Penelope’s date? Star asked accusingly, her foot tapping impatiently on the ground.

“Got me, B-Fly, somebody musta blabbed,” Pony said innocently.

“But the only ones who knew about it was us,” Marco pointed out.

Star glared up at the horsehead, knowing full well Pony’s tendency to gossip. When they were kids no secret was safe with her bestie and it seemed like now was no different. "Pony, did you tell everyone about Slime and Penelope's date?!" she asked, getting straight to the point.

"No way, girl it wasn't me! You swore me to secrecy, remember? I would never break your trust just for a little fame,” Pony defensively stated, shaking her head frantically back and forth.

"Then who was it?" Star asked, her eyes narrowing to mere pinpricks, not quite believing her old friend.

One of the reporters who had been listening in to this conversation, spoke up, explaining, "Actually, it was Princess Ponyhead!”

“What?!” Pony yelled angrily, glaring at the man for having the gall to accuse her of such a crime. The reporter ignored her though, pulling out his mirror phone and showing both Mewman’s the screen, a picture of Pony displayed, the royal horse striking one of her typical poses with Slime and Penelope in the background, clearly seated for their date in the woods.

Star and Marco stared at the screen for a few seconds then immediately whipped their heads around to glare at the horsehead. "Pony!" both shouted in varying degrees of anger. Marco looked hurt by the blatant lie from someone he believed to be his friend, giving Pony a sad frown.

The royal horse immediately began to sweat nervously, looking quite guilty. “Uhhh, okay, I don’t know how that got posted, B-Fly. I swear I was never gonna actually send it anywhere.”

“Then why did you send it to every reporter in Mewni!” Star screamed, grabbing the reporter’s phone and shoving it into her friend’s face.

Pony’s eyes suddenly lit up with realization. "Ohhhhhh,” she said thoughtfully before explaining, “Right, right, right, I totally forgot, Seahorse programmed my phone to send anything newsworthy on it to all news people. It was supposed to help me keep my image without working too hard. Yeah, it's like super technical and stuff, totally forgot he left that on here, my bad.” She let out a lovestruck sigh before adding, “Isn’t my boo so helpful though.” She paused seeing the looks of annoyance on both of her friend’s faces before clarifying, “Well obviously not in this situation but you know what I mean!"

Star facepalmed and groaned, while Marco just asked in confusion, “Why did you even take the photo in the first place?”

“Uhh, because if you don’t have a picture of something, how do you know it even happened?” Pony exclaimed defensively.

Star pinched the bridge of her nose, completely dumbfounded by her royal friend’s poor decision making skills. It shouldn’t surprise her at this point but she really had thought Pony was at least smart enough not to do this. Almost get them eaten in a cave full of deadly creatures, sure, but not taking a freaking photo, how hard was that? Taking a quick glance at the expectant and waiting reporters, Star leaned in closer to Pony and lowered her voice to a mere whisper. “Well, I sure hope you have some kind of plan to get rid of these guys because they cannot ruin Penelope and Slime’s date!” she hissed into her friend’s ear.

The horsehead looked pleased at the second chance, her face morphing into the most serious expression Star had ever seen her friend wear as she said in a confident whisper, “You can count on me, B-Fly! I know exactly what to do.”

Pony cleared her throat before declaring loudly to the crowd of reporters, “Alright, everyone wins! We can’t hide it anymore! It’s true, you all caught us, so we gotta accept our defeat or whatever. I’ll show you where their date is happening, everyone follow me!”

With this declaration there was a flurry of questions and excited chatter from the reporters, all rushing to follow after Ponyhead, who flew off in the opposite direction of the true date, leading them all as far away from Slime and Penelope as she could. “That’s right, that’s right, just keep comin! Okay, hey, I saw that! Alright, geez, you’ll all get your chance, ya don’t need to fight each other! Okay, so, if I see one more person punch someone else, I’m turning this thing around and you’ll just have to settle for a weather report as your headline.”

Star and Marco just watched dumbfounded as Pony led a herd of ravenous, news-seeking Mewmans off into the distance. Once they were out of sight, Star and Marco shared a look before simultaneously sighing in relief. The hooded teen practically collapsed against Star and the girl had to move to help support his weight. She quickly wrapped her arms around him in a protective hug, she knew that while thing had been stressful for her boyfriend so she hoped to at least give him some comfort and release. She felt Marco through their connection, his soul radiating gratitude for her help and she smiled to herself. She waited until his nerves were soothed before even trying to speak, finally saying, "Well, I’ll give Pony this, she’s pretty good at fixing her messes."

Marco nodded, his brown hair tickling Star's nose. The sensation left goosebumps on the blonde’s skin. “Yeah, at least she’s trying.”

“But wait, what’s Pony gonna do when they realize she isn’t taking them to Slime and Penelope.” Marco asked in concern.

Star shrugged. “Eh, I’m sure Pony will think of something,” she said confidently. “She’s good at dealing with the paparazzi.”

“If you say so,” Marco responded, having no reason not to trust his girlfriend. But their peaceful moment was short-lived as Marco suddenly pulled away as he spotted a lone figure watching them from a distance. “Um, Star, someone’s watching us,” he whispered to his girlfriend.

Star gave him a confused expression before turning to see what he meant, gasping in surprise. “Uhh, who are you?” Star asked the stranger, resisting the urge to add 'creep' to the end of that sentence. It would certainly fit.

The woman took this as a sign to approach, walking right up to the young couple and dropping into a bow. She had long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and wore a fashionable business suit, complete with a skirt, black stockings and high heels. Her cheeks were red lightning bolts, meaning she was a Mewman, although one neither had seen before.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you in person, Your Highness. I apologizing for interrupting you…" Star blushed. How long has this creep seriously been watching them? The woman cleared her throat before continuing. "But I wanted to say that I’ve actually written several articles about you and your family and I’m a big fan." Could have found a less intrusive way of making that known, Star thought, fighting the frown that tugged at her lips. When she received no response she added, "I’m from the Mewni Mirror News, MMN for short.” The woman rose from her bow, a courteous but formal expression etched onto her face.

“And your name issss?” Star asked, trying not to sound too rude.

“Most people call me Stormy Weathers, Your Majesty,” Stormy explained with a polite smile.

"Wonder why they call her that?" Marco whispered into Star’s ear. The blonde, however, was too focused on trying to get this woman to leave to respond.

Star cleared her throat before saying assertively, “Well as lovely as it is to meet you, I’m sure you’ll want to go with my friend to see Princess Penelope’s big date, right?”

Stormy chuckled, shaking her head. “Right.” She rolled her eyes, putting a hand on her hip. “Listen, princess I’ve been a reporter long enough to know when someone is trying to lead you to a dead end and that display was clearly a distraction. A cute attempt, really. I’m impressed. But a real journalist knows where to go to get the real scoop.” She folded her arms in front of her chest before asking, “So are you gonna tell me where the real date is taking place or are you going to make me figure it out for myself?”

Marco’s mouth dropped open in surprise, looking over to Star for help but the blonde’s face had gone blank. Inwardly was a much different case, however. Star struggled to keep her calm, to keep from showing any weakness to this vulture, hunting for nothing but a good story. Star had dealt with pushy journalists in the past but this one was a whole different story. She was clearly smart and had a good read on people, even when they were trying to deceive you. And from her mannerisms it wasn’t hard to guess she took her job very seriously. It would be tough to get her to back off without making a scene.

Well, here goes nothing. “Sorry but I think you’re mistaken.” She gave Stormy an apologetic smile. “Like I already said Pony knows where the date is taking place. We just happened to meet up with her a few minutes ago.”

Stormy examined Star closely, before concluding, “Nice try but before you lie, next time make sure there’s no evidence left behind.” The woman picked a stick out of Star’s hair, holding it up for them to see.

Star mentally facepalmed at the slip-up. “So, that doesn’t prove anything?” Star said more forcefully now. “We could have just been walking in the woods for all you know.”

“You really expect me to believe that Princess Ponyhead willingly chose to dedicate time out of her life to help someone else without a push from you?” Stormy scoffed. “Yeah, not likely. I’ve done my research on the royal families and I know, Princess Star, you are her moral compass.”

Star tried to think of a comeback for this but knew she was outplayed, letting out a groan before dejectedly admitting, “Okay fine, you got me.”

“Please, just leave them alone, Mrs. Weathers,” Marco spoke up, hoping to reason with the journalist since Star’s plan had failed. “They’re both really shy and they want their time together to be just between them.”

Stormy shrugged. “Sorry, kid, but I need this scoop to help me get my promotion. If it was anyone else I might reconsider but Princess Spiderbite is royalty and, like it or not, the people have a right to know what their future leader is doing. You understand, don’t you princess?”

Star frowned, forgetting about acting civil after that very inaccurate and quite offensive statement. “No, I don’t! Penelope is just a teenager! One who just wanted to go on a date with a boy she likes! And no one has any right to intrude on their relationship, for any reason!”

Stormy Weathers kept her cool, saying smoothly, “That’s surprising. I honestly thought you’d be on my side on this, Your Highness.”

“What? Why?” Star asked, more confused than angry.

“Because you’re the one who would benefit the most from their relationship,” Stormy continued, her words soft and manipulative, clearly trying to get inside Star’s head and change her mind. “Think about it. You’re the one with the mission to bring peace to Mewni, you even have a whole commission dedicated to it. You want to ignite positive change for Monsters, well what’s more convincing than a future monarch dating one of them! It could be game changing for you.”

Star was speechless. How had that never even crossed her mind? She hadn’t even considered what good a relationship like this could do for the Monsters. It was such a peaceful solution to what was such a complicated issue. She had been looking at it as a sign of growth for Mewni but she hadn’t thought about how it could be used for even greater changes. Would it be worth it to betray her friends’ trust to get there, though?

“I-I-” she stuttered, rubbing at her arm, struggling to find the words to respond with. The blonde cast a desperate glance over at Marco to see what he was thinking, expecting to see him in the same inner turmoil. But instead she saw only confidence radiating off of him as he just stared at Stormy unflinchingly. His face was as easy to read as a book and he showed no signs of doubt that Star wouldn’t make the exact same choice as he did. She felt a tiny thumping in her chest and knew without a doubt what she had to do. What Marco wanted her to do. And if Marco was convinced of the right answer, then so was she.

“No,” Star said firmly, standing tall and strong, both figuratively and literally. “It’s not right for me to use them that way. Even if it would be for something good. Slime and Penelope’s romance is not something that can be used for anyone’s benefit.”

“And if we get involved we might end up destroying it, instead,” Marco added, before shooting his girlfriend a proud grin which made Star’s heart soar.

Stormy sighed, long and hard, before snapping out, “Fine, then. I tried to negotiate, but if that’s the way you want it, then so be it. Good day, Your Majesty.” She gave a small bow before turning on her heels and storming away.

The two teens sighed in relief, Marco saying, “Well, glad that’s over.”

Star watched the journalist closely, noticing the resolve and purpose in every sway of her hips and movement of her body. No, this wasn’t over. Not by a long shot. “ I wouldn’t be too sure of that, Marco.”

…

Stormy waited until she was out of sight from the princess and her boyfriend before pulling out a small device from her pocket. She smiled to herself, thankful she had had the common sense to bring this along. It was a rare edition, not something your average reporters would have on hand but she had paid good money to own one and that would now pay off in the biggest way imaginable.

In all honesty, she hadn’t needed Princess Star for help in locating the subjects of her investigation, she was just hoping to stay on the future queen of Mewni’s good side. After all, she was a powerful source for news. But, oh well, Stormy would just have to continue on without them. She worked better alone, anyways.

She already knew where the two teens were hiding, already putting the pieces together before even striking up the conversation with the princess. It had been pretty simple to figure out, really. The three had come from the forest so logic dictated they were returning from wherever Slime and Penelope were. But just to be sure she had watched and waited, taking note that Ponyhead had led all the other idiot reporters in the exact opposite direction, clearly trying to get them as far away from the couple as possible. And then there had been the evidence that confirmed where her targets lay, when Princess Star had been lost in her big speech on preserving her friends’ privacy, she had subconsciously thrown her arm in the exact direction they had just come from.

Stormy had spent many years learning people’s many ticks and body language, it helped when she was trying to get the truth out of someone. And there was no mistaking that Star had been gesturing in the direction she knew Slime and Penelope were. Sure it wasn’t exact. There was a lot of woods in that direction but she was confident she could narrow that down. Look for any place secluded enough to hide them in. Concealed on all sides, possibly even from above. Shouldn't be too hard, she just needed to get a bird’s eye view to spot it. Luckily, Stormy already knew how to get that.

So with her plans resolved Stormy switched the device on, saying softly to herself, “Looks like we’re going with ‘Plan B’ after all, huh little friend?”

…

Slime and Penelope had settled into a relatively peaceful quiet, sharing small casual blips of conversation but otherwise just silenting enjoying their meal. It was way less awkward then either had been expecting, something about their date’s company made them feel safe and comfortable. Of course Slime was still nervous and Penelope was still shy but much less so then when the date first started.

The food that had been prepared for the date was nothing special, Slime was not a good cook, try making anything decent with slime-covered hands, so he had gone very simple with the meal, just some soup. In all honesty, he had wanted to give Penelope a meal deserving of her, five courses of the most delectable dishes she had ever tasted but he just couldn’t make anything that didn’t come out of a can or box. He blushed a lot when he first uncovered the dish, expecting her to hate it or laugh at him but instead she had just smiled. “Oh, mewshroom soup is my favorite!” she exclaimed in delight, clapping her hands together once.

“Oh really, mine too,” Slime replied, relieved she didn’t seem disgusted by his poor cooking skills.

“My grandma used to make this for me all the time when I got sick,” Penelope continued, before taking a long, slow sip. “Mmmmm, it’s even better than I remember!” she said, her cheekmarks glowing a vibrant yellow to reflect her happiness.

Slime giggled, looking shyly down at his own plate. “Huh, I didn’t expect someone of royalty to like something so simple and plain,” he commented, swishing the soup around with his spoon. “You're just so full of surprises.”

Penelope tensed. “Is that a good thing?” she asked, looking suddenly worried for the answer.

“It’s a great thing!” Slime quickly shouted, hoping to reassure her troubled mind.

She smiled and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “A lot of people expect more from me than I feel like I can give… so that’s nice to hear.”

“Y-You’re welcome,” he stuttered nervously. Not wanting to let his terrible social skills get the better of him, he quickly tried to change the subject. “Uhhhh, I also made some tea… if you want any. I know it doesn’t go great with soup but, uh, you seemed like the kind that enjoys tea with everything.”

Penelope giggled a little. “Yeah, I am actually. What kind is it?”

Slime cleared his throat. “Uhhh I think it’s like… Angiebrew or something. It’s a kind of Monster tea,” he explained, pouring her a cup. He had to take extra care not to let the teapot slip through his hands, concentrating on staying tangible. “Not sure where the recipe came from but a lot of Monsters I know enjoy it.”

Penelope looked intrigued now. “Oh, that’s so cool!” she said, sounding more confident then she had all night. Clearly tea was something she took great interest in. “I had no idea Monsters brewed their own tea! I’ve tried like every flavor I could of both Mewni and Earth brews so this will be so neat!”

Slime grinned, happy he could impress his crush. "I had no idea you were such a fan of tea," he said lightly, handing her the cup.

Penelope blushed but the smile remained on her face. "Yeah, I guess it's a weird hobby of mine," she admitted, her thumb tracing the rim of the cup.

"It's not weird, I think it's really cool you have something you like," Slime insisted. Now that he was on a role, his confidence had taken hold, making conversation with Penelope easy for him.

Penelope looked up at him with soft eyes, the glow from her cheekmarks making them twinkle and Slime felt like he was floating with joy. "Thank you, Slime," she added and the Monster was sure he must have touched the clouds because the weightless feeling only increased thanks to her gentle words.

Penelope lifted the cup up to her lips and took a dainty sip of the tea, clearly letting the flavor soak into her tongue. She quickly gasped with delight, licking her lips and humming in appreciation. "Wow, it's delicious!" She exclaimed, staring down at the teacup longingly. “Although, it tastes kind of like the tea Marco made for the peace commision,” she added thoughtfully.

“Well Marco was raised by Monsters,” Slime pointed out.

“Yeah, that must be it,” Penelope agreed. She rose the cup up for another sip, closing her eyes so she could focus on the delectable flavor. As the tea poured down her throat she couldn’t quite help the hum that radiated out of her. It was so good! Probably the best tea she had ever had in her life. It also didn’t hurt knowing that Slime had made this for her, his thoughtful gift only added to the exquisite taste.

Slime watched her with starry-eyed vision, completely smitten with everything his royal date did. “Aww, you raise your pinkie up when you drink your tea, that’s so cute,” he couldn’t help but comment, finding the little habit beyond adorable. Penelope was just incapable of not being cute.

Penelope’s eyes widened, her cheekmarks glowing purple in alarm and she slammed the cup back down on the table, jerking her hand away and cradling it against her chest as if it had burnt her. Slime panicked, terrified he had just ruined his date by embarrassing her and quickly apologized to try and salvage the situation. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to-”

“No, no, you’re fine!” Penelope exclaimed, still holding her curled up hand against her hammering heart. She turned her head to the side to avoid eye contact before explaining, “It’s not you, it’s just… old memories.” She began to rub up and down her shaking wrist, trying to give herself a sense of calm and comfort.

“Oh,” Slime sadly said, his eyes drifting from his beautiful crush and down to his plate, silently berating himself for upsetting Penelope.

The Mewnian royal sucked in a long, slow breath, before saying, “Sorry about that. It’s just baggage. I’m okay now.” She finally allowed her hands to lower back down onto the table, her eyes brimming with sadness and anxiety, the webs on her cheeks switching from blue to violet and then back.

Slime nodded but still couldn’t help but want to help in some way. So he just slid a hand across the table, leaving a trail of slime as he did so, and placed it gently on her hand. He waited to see how she would react, a passing thought worried she might find his hand disgusting but she didn’t pull away from his touch. Instead, she met his eye, her face flashing with surprise. He offered her a tiny smile for reassurance and she seemed to relax, using her free hand to wipe away a few stray tears. “Um, thanks for putting up with me,” she said softly.

“I’m not putting up with you,” Slime responded confidently. “I like being around you.”

Penelope shyly looked away again, letting out the smallest of laughs. “Thanks.”

Slime pulled his hand away and the two resumed their dinner, another silent calm falling over the pair. The Monster teen soon realized he needed to make conversation somehow, what kind of date would this be if they just sat in silence the whole time? He was nervous to try again after last time but the need to make this date work overruled his anxiety and so he pleasantly asked, “So is it okay if I ask you a personal question?”

Penelope seemed surprised but she didn’t say no. “Um, sure.”

Getting her permission allowed him to overcome the last of his lingering nerves and blurt out the question that had been pestering him since the day they met. “So, I’ve been meaning to ask you, if you’re so afraid of being the center of attention why agree to join Star’s peace commission?”

“Oh, I guess it doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Penelope muttered, setting her spoon down. “Well, to be honest, I was really afraid of the idea at first. My parents said I should join to help build my confidence but even then I was scared. I felt a bit pressured because I knew that my people needed help dealing with the spider problem but at the same time I was terrified of being made fun of.” She took a deep breath before continuing. “I think the reason I finally said yes was because I just realized that the Monsters were being forced to do things they didn’t want to do and no one had ever tried to help them. And, well, I couldn’t handle the thought of not helping when I could help. I think you guys deserved for me to at least try.”

Slime blushed, completely floored by her honest and kind response. “Wow, Penelope, you're so nice!” he stupidly replied, unable to think of a greater compliment than that. He felt tears in his eyes from her thoughtful words. That had to be the nicest thing any Mewman had ever said to him. Penelope was even more amazing than he had thought she was. She was too good for him. She was too good for anyone! “I- Wow, thank you so much!”

He couldn’t help himself as he leaned over the table and pulled her into a hug. Penelope’s cheeks flushed bright red but she didn’t pull away, instead hesitantly returning the hug. “Um, you're welcome, Slime,” she shyly muttered. “Y’know, it’s funny. Now I’m really glad I joined because if I hadn’t I wouldn’t have met you.”

Slime chuckled. “Yeah, same.” Everything in his life seemed worth it if it meant he could keep holding Penelope like this. Everything.

…

“You sure they were back this way?” Marco asked his girlfriend, after the couple had spent the last several minutes trying to backtrack only to get lost in the dense forest. “Cause I’m pretty sure I’ve seen that rock before.” The hooded teen pointed out a small rock that seemed to be no different from the hundreds of other rocks around them.

“Well I thought it was this way,” Star said, frowning. Her eyebrow raised though as she turned to Marco with a questioning look. “Also how can you tell that’s the same rock?”

“Oh cause it kinda looks like Tom’s face.”

Star cocked her head to the side. “Yeah, I don’t see it.”

“Maybe a bird’s eye view would help?” Marco suggested.

“Sorry Marco but I don’t think getting up higher is gonna change how this rock looks to me,” Star said, trying to put her boyfriend down easy.

“No, no, I meant finding Penelope and Slime,” Marco corrected her.

“Oh.” Star blushed at her mistake. “Yeah, that makes more sense.” The blonde cleared her throat as she pulled out the wand to summon her Cloudy spell when a shadow fell over the two and a small drop of water hit Marco on the nose.

“Huh? What’s that?” Marco asked, looking up. He gasped at what he saw before grabbing his girlfriend’s arm. “Star! Star! Look up!”

Star did as she was asked, only to also be left gawking in surprise as well. It was Stormy. She was back, only now she was riding on top of a storm cloud, all black and menacing with small patches of lightning flicking out every so often, and small scatterings of raindrops dripping from the bottom. Stormy’s lightning cheekmarks were lit up gold as she gazed down at the world below with a confident smirk. “How is she doing that?!” Star exclaimed. It had to be some kind of Trait but most civilians didn’t have strong enough magic to do something like that.

“Ohhhhh so that’s why they call her ‘Stormy’,” Marco said, relieved he had finally cracked the code.

Star’s eyes narrowed into thin, angry lines as she bit out, “C’mon we have to stop her!” She summoned her Cloudy charm under her and quickly pulled her boyfriend onto it. “Looks like she had the same idea as you, Marco,” she added as the two were flown above the treetops.

They could see Stormy up ahead, her back to them and her arms raised to control her power. She hadn’t seen the pair yet and Star wanted to use that to her advantage. She raised her wand to use another spell but Marco started shaking her arm which threw off her aim too much to fire. “Oh! Oh! Use the rainbow punch, I love that one!” Marco said in a whispered shout.

Star giggled giddily. It was adorable that her boyfriend took such great interest in her spells and she couldn’t resist indulging him. “Rainbow Fist Punch!” Star said, hoping she was quiet enough that Stormy Weather wouldn’t hear. The spell streaked across the sky, heading right for the unsuspecting reporter. But just before it could hit, a bolt of lightning appeared from above and struck the rainbow fist. The rainbow turned dull before dropping and then zapping out of existence, all in the span of just a few seconds.

Star and Marco both gasped. “She just lightening-ed your rainbow!” the hooded teen exclaimed, his hands pulling at strands of hair.

Stormy turned to them with a smirk, her eyes now also starting to glow a pale gold. “Hello again, Your Majesty!” the reporter yelled over to them. “Do you like my storm? Quite the sight, isn’t it? It’s a unique Trait but it sure comes in handy.”

“What are you still doing here?!” Star shouted back in an accusing tone. “I thought I already told you to-”

“Sorry, Princess Star,” Stormy interrupted. “But the news waits for no one. And I’m not going to pass up the story of the century.”

“I order you to leave!” Star screamed, her cheeks and wand flashing white to show her anger.

“I’m afraid that isn’t going to work, Your Majesty,” Stormy said with a winning grin. She was clearly enjoying the power she held and it had most certainly gone to her head. “Your mother has a rule against royalty forcing their power on the press. I have every right to be here.”

“Fine.” Star aimed her wand at Stormy again. “Then I’ll just have to make you leave.”

“Very well,” Stormy said, brushing her hair back, before her eyes lit up golden. “I do love a good challenge.”

Suddenly, the storm cloud she stood on began to grow, turning dark and sinister as more lightning flashes sparked around it. Stormy held her hand out and a lightning bolt flew at the pair.

Star and Marco screamed before they both leaned to the side, causing Cloudy to do the same thing. The blonde royal shot a narwhal at the reporter but it only made it about half-way before getting electrocuted and poofed. Stormy retaliated with a barrage of lightning, all cracking and slashing through the air, towards the pair of teens.

“Marco, hold on!” Star screamed and the hooded teen wrapped his arms around his girlfriend’s waist, burying his head into her back, unable to watch their approaching doom. Star began to maneuver Cloudy around the bolts, up, down, left, right, each one getting closer and closer to hitting the two. Star fired a few Crystal Daggers to any that were on a direct collision course but it was barely enough. Some came so close that she could feel the air around her charged with electricity and her and Marco’s hair stood on end. She gained speed as they flew around the random bolts, finally ending up ahead of Stormy.

Once the lightning storm ended, Star flew Cloudy straight up so she was level with the woman and shouted, “Mega Narwhal Blast!” A narwhal the size of a building appeared and headed straight for the magical journalist. But Stormy didn’t despair. In fact, she had just the trick for this.

Stormy began to spin her finger in a circle, faster and faster until a tornado began to rise into the air. It quickly consumed everything in its wake, sucking up the narwhal, flinging it around a few times before sending it flying far, far away from her and the fight. Star and Marco would have been shocked had they not gotten caught up in the storm, too. The wind pulled against them, trying so hard to suck them into the swirling vortex, Marco holding onto Star in a death grip to keep from flying off and Star clung to Cloudy with the same amount of pressure. Cloudy was grunting as he tried to fight through the endless gust of wind they were trapped in. The tornado only spun faster and the teens' hope of escape only grew slimmer.

“Can’t. Fight. It.” Cloudy grunted, his pink cheeks turning red from the effort.

“Just hold on a little longer, Cloudy!” Star shouted. By this point, both teens were dangling in the air, only their hold on the spell and each other, keeping them from being sucked in.

“I’m sorry, Star,” Cloudy said before he poofed from existence, leaving the two teens dead in the air.

“Nooooo!” Star shouted as the two were pulled into the tornado. They were whipped about by the wind, tumbling and circling until they were dizzy and disoriented. Marco lost his grip on Star and let out a shout of despair but somehow Star grabbed his hand. “I won’t let you go, Marco!” the blonde shouted above the wind and destruction. “No matter what happens, I’m not going to lose you!”

Marco felt a tear in his eye which was swept up by the wind but he didn’t care. The feeling was still there and so was Star. Using strength he didn’t know he had in him, he pulled himself into Star, wrapping his arms tightly around her and clinging with all his might. Star did the same for him, only with one arm since the other held her wand.

The two were still flipping through the air but Star forced her eyes open (even as the gusts of wind stung her pupils, trying to close them again) and made herself focus on her surroundings. It was hard to get your bearings when you were spinning in nauseating circles but Star did her best to aim outside the tornado. She waited until she could see Stormy and then fired one last spell at her.

A thick strand of ruby red ribbon shot forward, twirling and spinning as the whirlwind tried to stop it too but Star’s magic was too strong. It never lost course and only gained speed as it went, flying out of the grip of the tornado and wrapping itself tightly around an unsuspecting Stormy. “What the-” the woman yelled in surprise, thinking the battle was over. With her hands pinned to her sides, the magic for the tornado was cancelled and soon the whirlwind died down, the air finally settling.

Star and Marco were soon freed from the spinning cyclone but without Cloudy there was nothing to keep them in the air, leaving them plummeting to their deaths. Marco screamed, holding Star in a now painful grip but the blonde just held her wand aloft, waiting. Soon the raspberry lasso went taunt and the two were left dangling in the air below Stormy.

Stormy was trying to untangle herself from the magical ribbon, not paying any attention to the two teens below her.

“What do we do?!” Marco asked, trying not to let the fear of falling to an untimely death get to him. The only comfort he could draw was from Star but even she couldn’t hold on forever.

“Easy. I beat her at her own game,” Star confidently stated. Then with a flick of her wrist she detached the ribbon from her wand, grabbing it with her free hand. She spun the wand around her head once before chanting, “Mystical Crystal Heart Shower!”

Above their heads (even Stormy’s) a crystal cloud appeared, gleaming like diamond. And from the bottom of this cloud thousands of tiny heart-shaped raindrops fell, each the same cut of gemstone as their creator. Stormy was just beginning to free one of her hands when the assault of crystal rain began. Each one shattered against her, leaving small bruises behind. The reporter began to cry out in pain, holding her hands above her head to shield herself.

Star quickly summoned Cloudy back and the two flew a safe distance away. The ribbon lasso vanished as soon as they did so Stormy raised her hands to cast another weather spell but unfortunately for her, some of the heartdrops punctured her cloud, feeding magic into it and causing it to disperse.

Soon the tables were turned as Stormy was left falling through the sky, screaming her lungs out as the treetops grew closer and closer to impaling her. Star, being merciful as always, caught the woman in a spell just before she reached the trees, trapping her in a pink bubble and slowly lifting her up to where Cloudy hovered.

Once Star and Marco got a good look at the shaken reporter they could hardly recognize the well-dressed woman. Her hair was in tangles, her suit was wrinkled and torn, she was missing both her shoes, and her skin looked pale from the frightening experience. Marco felt a little bad for her since she was just trying to do her job.... but she had also sucked them into a tornado so maybe she brought this on herself.

Star, however, held no sympathy. “It’s over now, Stormy. You are not reporting on Penelope and Slime’s date. End of story.”

“You’ll just have to find something else to report on,” Marco suggested helpfully.

Out of all the responses Star and Marco expected from the defeated journalist, laughter was not one of them and yet, for whatever reason, Stormy burst into uncontrollable laughter, chuckling victoriously as if she had just won the nobel prize. It started out small but soon her voice must have rang through the whole forest. Star and Marco were a little creeped out by her weird reaction and the blonde suspiciously asked, “What’s so funny?”

Just like that the laughter died and the journalist gave the two a big, holier-than-thou grin. “I already found my story,” Stormy clarified, reaching into her suit pocket and pulling out a small rectangular device. “And I’m afraid it’s too late for me to change my mind.” The journalist held the camera up where the two teens could see. The device turned out to be a small screen, filming live footage of Slime and Penelope, both holding hands and staring at each other lovingly. Star and Marco gasped, seeing all their hard work dashed in an instant by some kind of tricky cameraman. “But-But how?!” Marco exclaimed, his hand pulling out hair in frustration. “How can you be here and there at the same time?!”

Stormy just smiled but didn’t reply but Star was already piecing that mystery together. She watched as the camera bobbed up and down ever so slightly at an angle no mere Mewman could reach on their own without growing wings, that could only mean one thing…

“All-Seeing Eye Cam,” Star whispered fearfully.

Stormy smiled. “Yep, I had it searching for those two the whole time. I just had to keep you two busy long enough to find them. Thanks for falling for my little wild-goose chase, by the way. Couldn’t have done it without you.”

At this point Star had heard enough and without a word released the spell, leaving the woman free-falling all over again. “Star!” Marco shouted in surprise but Star had already cast another spell, a rainbow-colored net stretched across two of the trees, ready to catch the Mewman and save her life. Though, in all honesty, if Marco wasn’t behind her, gently gripping her shoulders ever so slightly, she might not have bothered with the net at all. Star didn’t bother to look to see if Stormy was caught, returning her attention to more important things. “C’mon! Maybe we can destroy that camera before it’s too late!” she said to her boyfriend.

“But how will we get there in time?” Marco asked, his eyebrows pinched together with worry.

Star wordlessly reached into her star purse and pulled out a pair of dimensional scissors, snapping them together a few times for emphasis.

…

Slime couldn’t look away from Penelope’s beautiful green eyes. Since the two had resumed their meal, he had found that’s all he could focus on. He had only gotten a few chances to stare into them but he could already tell he was completely obsessed with them. He had never seen a more gorgeous shade of green in his life, it reminded him of freshly grown grass, alive with the miracle of life. He loved the tiny brown spots in her vision which only seemed to add to her cuteness. He loved the way her eyes sparkled when she looked at him, it was different then with everyone else, she looked more comfortable, more confident, and Slime liked to think that he was the reason for that confidence.

Suddenly Slime felt an urge to kiss her, to take hold of her lips and share the feelings etched into his heart and soul. He wanted to know her taste, her touch, the sensation of her lips moving against his own and the very thought made his slime coating quiver in delight. But Slime didn’t just want to do it for him, he wanted to give Penelope all that she deserved, to cherish her in a way no one else had ever done, to allow her to get a small taste of his affection in the hopes she might feel loved. He wanted to be more than just her date, he wanted to be her light, to be a gentle, soothing beacon against any trouble that came her way. Slime knew he might be moving too fast, that this was only their first date and he should try and take things slow for her sake but the need was too strong.

He found himself moving towards her, leaning further and further over the table as the desire continued to take hold. His slime dripped onto the table, ruining their meal but none of that mattered, the only thing that mattered was Penelope and the achings in his heart. Penelope’s eyes widened in shock but she didn’t move away, staying glued to her chair, completely frozen. As he neared her lips, Slime’s eyes slid closed out of instinct and the trance was broken, the Monster teen able to get a hold of his wild thoughts. He stopped just an inch away from her face, so close he could feel her hot breath on his slime.

Slime felt his whole face heat up with embarrassment, keeping his eyes sealed shut to prevent himself from being hypnotized by her adorable eyes again. He felt like an idiot, giving in so easily like that. He was supposed to be taking things slow, to get to know her as a person and understand how she ticked. Not just kiss her and hope that magically won her over. He felt like scum for trying to force a kiss on her like that. Penelope was sensitive. She probably wasn’t ready for that yet. After that display, Slime wouldn’t be surprised if she hated his guts. Great job, you selfish idiot, he said to himself. You just ruined your one chance at happiness.

Slime risked opening his eyes as he gave her a pleading look, saying in a hoarse tone, “Penelope, I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.” He was about to sit back down and begin his endless string of apologies and assurances when Penelope sprang forward out of nowhere, her lips trapping him in his own. Slime let out a small whimper of surprise but that quickly melted away as he gave into her soft touch. His heart quickly picked up in speed, his entire body quivering with excitement, making his slime ripple in waves. Penelope led the kiss, inexperienced but still confident. The kiss seemed to last a lifetime but Penelope soon was out of breath and had to pull away, the two staring at each other with flushed but happy faces, both wide-eyed from what just happened. The table was coated in a layer of slime but neither noticed nor cared.

“Whoa,” Slime muttered in disbelief. He hadn’t expected this side from Penelope but he really liked it.

“Sorry, you can do it this time,” Penelope said softly, her lips now a slight shade of green.

Slime, now having permission from his crush, took the initiative, gently cupping her face in his hands and leaned forward, hoping he did it right and didn’t embarrass himself. As soon as their lips touched, a bright flash filled their vision and they both pulled away startled. “Ah!” Slime screamed, rubbing at his eyes in an attempt to regain his vision. “What was that?!”

Penelope’s face had gone pale, recognizing the source of the light and she quickly looked up to see the floating camera hovering in the air above their heads, far too close for comfort. She had been so preoccupied by Slime she hadn’t even noticed it there. And just like that, all her insecurities took back control, causing her whole body to tense. Her posture went rigid and she began fiddling with the folds of her dress, sinking some in her chair to try and hide from view. Just when she finally thought she was making progress with herself, when she was finally feeling comfortable in her own skin, someone had to come along and ruin it for her. Couldn’t she ever get a break.

Slime looked more confused than embarrassed, staring at the Seeing Eye Cam with raised brows. “What is this thing? Is it some kind of camera or something?”

Penelope opened her mouth to answer but seemed to think better of it, snapping her jaw closed once more.

“Did you…” Slime’s words cut off as he noticed Penelope’s discomfort, her eyes pleading with him for something, but he didn’t yet know her well enough to tell. He started to reach for her hand but she quickly pulled them away, wrapping them around herself protectively. “Penelope?” he said in a hurt tone. She lowered her head in shame.

Before he could question her odd behavior, a portal opened up behind her and Star and Marco jumped out of it, looking flustered and disheveled. It almost looked like they had been through a hurricane or something beforehand. But that was impossible, of course. “Slime! Penelope! Someone’s spying on you!” Marco screamed, waving his arms wildly. The two spotted the hovering device and grimaced. “Oh,” the hooded teen whispered.

Star raised her wand, shouting, "Here, I got it!"

"Oh no you don't!" A voice called as a new portal opened and Stormy stepped out, her eyes aflame with rage, her once clean pressed suit wrinkled and ripped, her hair a host to all manners of leaves, sticks, and even a birds nest. With a snap of her fingers, the Seeing Eye Cam flew over to where she was standing, allowing her to look through the footage.

"This camera is property of the Mewni Network News, if you destroy it, princess, I will make sure everyone knows about your assassination attempt."

“Who are you?” Slime asked, only growing more confused by the second.

Star practically growled at the woman as she snapped back accusingly, "Me?! You sucked me and Marco into a tornado! At least I had a net to catch you!"

Stormy scoffed. "Give it a rest, princess. Just admit I won already."

"Only cause you cheated," Marco pointed out.

"What is going on?!" Slime shouted in exasperation, finally gaining their attention.

"I'll tell you what's going on, I just got the scoop of the century," Stormy said with a smirk, her focus on the recording she was rewatching. "'Princess Penelope Spiderbite caught dating a Monster.' Talk about front page news. Even got the first kiss to prove it."

"What?! You can’t do that!" Slime exclaimed, slamming his hands down on the table. “Me and Penelope wanted to keep this just between us!”

“Yeah, I know, that’s what makes it such a big scoop,” Stormy replied, barely paying the teens any mind as she flipped through a few pictures the camera had taken. “Ooooh this one would be perfect for the headline.”

“Miss Stormy please reconsider!” Marco pleaded, hoping to appeal to her mewmanity. “I know you think you want this but it’s gonna ruin their lives if you publish that story! Isn’t there anything we can do to change your mind?”

Stormy looked up at Marco with glazed over eyes as if she just noticed he was there. “Yeah sorry kid but this is the real world, not some perfect little fantasy where we all get what we want.”

Star took a step forward now, her wand beginning to glow with magical energy. “If you do this I swear I’ll-”

“Careful, Your Highness,” Stormy interrupted with a twisted satisfaction. “I’m still recording.”

Slime watched the whole affair with growing despair. It was obvious whoever this reporter was she wasn’t going to change her mind about revealing their secret to the world. All that work for nothing. Slime felt awful, wishing he had taken better precautions to keep this from happening. He only hoped Penelope didn’t blame him for this. Speaking of, his date seemed no better emotionally than he was. She had almost completely curled up into herself, her hands fiddling nervously with a stand of hair. And worst of all, she wouldn’t even look Slime in the eye.

“Penelope, are you okay?” he asked, quickly moving to her side. “I’m really sorry about all this, I-I didn’t mean for us to get caught.”

Penelope didn’t even bother to lift her head in his direction, instead just staring at the slime-coated tablecloth. “It’s-” she began only to cut herself off. She closed her eyes for a few seconds before trying again. “I-I just-” Penelope again couldn’t seem to get the words out. Tears surfaced in the corners of her eyes and she suddenly blurted out. “I can’t do this, I’m sorry!”

In a flash, the shy princess had bolted up from her seat and fled: from the situation, from the reporter and her prying eyes, from the camera watching her every move... and from Slime. “Penelope, wait!” he called after her but she didn’t even slow. The second she disappeared into the bushes Slime collapsed onto his knees. “No,” he whispered brokenly, before the tears started to fall.

Penelope’s shout had drawn the other three’s attention, Star and Marco watching the girl flee with sad expressions, while Stormy’s eyes glittered with greed. “Yes! Oh my gosh, after this I’m gonna become head journalist for sure! They’re gonna make me employee of the year!” Stormy squealed with excitement. Star’s distraught expression turned to an angry frown. She didn’t even look as she fired a Jellybean Hallucination Mist at the unsuspecting woman. The two didn’t pay any attention to the woman’s mad ramblings about cotton candy people eating her as they focused on trying to cheer up their friend.

Star put a hand on Slime’s shoulder saying gently, “I’m so sorry, Slime. I should have done more to stop her.”

“We didn’t mean to ruin your date,” Marco added guiltily.

“No, it wasn’t you,” Slime muttered, his head lowering as tears and slime dripped to the grass below. “I never should have asked her out. It was a bad idea from the start. Her dating a Monster was bound to backfire.”

“What? But Slime-”

“Please don’t,” Slime interrupted before Star could get an argument out. “Don’t try and comfort me. I don’t deserve it.”

…

Penelope furiously swiped at her eyes again and again, trying to clear them of the tears that were blocking her vision, but the tears wouldn’t stop falling. She never stopped moving through the thick underbrush, her dress no doubt catching in bramble and branches but she paid it no mind. She had walked these woods her whole life, there was nothing in them that could surprise her anymore. She sniffed, trying her best to regain her composure into a somewhat decent form but no matter what she did she couldn’t stop crying.

She felt like a coward, running away from Slime like that just because of something as silly as a camera. He must hate her. He should hate her. This was why she didn’t like attention because she only ever disappointed people when she got it. Penelope wished she had stayed but the fear had been too strong. She could hear that horrible, awful voice in her head telling her she was a embarrassment to herself and others. How many times had she been mocked, been ridiculed for her low self-esteem, been locked in a dark room with only her thoughts and insecurities to keep her company. She had already been broken when she was sent to the reform school, her parents had believed it might help her, but all it had done was show her that she was beyond saving. Since then every step forward was followed by even more steps back. Just when she thought she was close to a break-through, Penelope’s mind would cut in and start bullying her into submission, reminding her that she was a lost cause. She had really thought Slime might be it but… now that was over too.

Penelope tripped on something, collapsing to her knees. She didn’t make an effort to stand, she lacked the strength to even cry, so she just watched as her tears dripped onto her hands and then slid off into the grass. “I’m so sorry,” she sobbed brokenly, begging the woods for forgiveness when she didn't deserve any. “I-I don’t mean to be this way. I-I want t-to be with you but I j-just can’t.” Her hands clenched into fists, tearing a few strands of grass from their roots.

Just when the princess was at the height of her emotional breakdown she heard a loud snap from somewhere in the bushes. Penelope sat up, wiping the tears away as she tried to see the intruder on her private moment. “H-Hello, is anyone there?” she called, squinting as she tried to see through her tear-stained vision. There was no answer from the brush. “Slime, is that you?” she asked, slowly standing. “Because if it is I-I’m not sure i-if I’m ready to talk just yet.”

Still no answer but Penelope thought she might have heard something move quickly through the bushes to her right. Now she was beginning to get creeped out.

“Um, o-okay, whoever you are, if you're a reporter or something, y-y-you need to leave,” her teeth were beginning to chatter in fear, Penelope’s hands clenched up to her chest as she took small, nervous steps backwards. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong and Penelope didn’t know what. For a brief moment, she wondered if it was a spider but they usually made more noise than that, this thing, whatever it was, was almost silent. “I-I’m warning you-”

Something large and menacing jumped out of the bushes landing right beside her and Penelope screamed in fright. She turned to run back to her friends, to safety, but then something wrapped around her waist pulling her backwards. She let out another scream as she struggled in the thing’s grip, her back pressed up against something cold and hard. The grip never faltered no matter how much she fought to break free and feeling the crushing weight of hopelessness she called out for rescue from the only person she wanted to be there to help her. “SLIME!”

…

Star and Marco were close to giving up on comforting Slime, the Monster sinking into a deep depression that no one could follow him into or pull him out of. Just when it seemed their friend was too far gone, a loud scream pierced the air and all thoughts of Slime’s mental health were forgotten. “Was that Penelope?” Marco asked, all three staring off in the direction of the yell. Star and Slime didn’t need to bother with an answer, there was no denying who the scream had come from and that knowledge sent all three spiralling, fearful of what could possibly cause their friend such raw terror.

But there was no time to speculate, not when another higher pitched scream sounded from the woods again, this time calling out for help from a particular Monster. “SLIME!” The voice sounded desperate and hysterical, like she was on the verge of crying or screaming or both and he was the only thing that could save her from either. It tore at Slime’s heartstrings, ripping a hole straight through his chest, leaving him exposed. But the pain brought with it a newfound resolve, a red-hot fire eating away at all his fears and insecurities, until they were consumed by the blaze in his soul. The only thing that remained was his desire to protect that which he loved and right then she needed him.

“Penelope!” he shouted before he ran into the depths of the underbrush without a second thought. Star and Marco needed no convincing either as they followed after their Monster friend, equally eager to help save Penelope from whatever danger she was in. Slime charged through the bushes like a crazed bull, his slime passing through anything in his way like it was nothing, leaving behind a very clear path to follow. This helped Star and Marco since they couldn’t reach the same speed as Slime without causing serious injury to themselves but they did manage to keep a fairly decent pace with the panicked Monster teen thanks to the trail he left them.

Eventually the group came across a terrible sight, Penelope held in the tight grip of a robotic creature. The robot was vaguely humanoid, its metal face making a constant frown and its eyes glowing a sinister red. It was quite large, towering over the group, Penelope's whole body off the ground, her feet kicking uselessly as she tried to squirm free. All three teens were stopped in their tracks when they saw the machine and the bot’s eyes narrowed as it noticed the intruders.

The princess let out a small squeak when she noticed her friends there to rescue her, her eyes red and puffy from crying and her cheekmarks glowing dark purple in fear. “Guys!” she screamed, struggling weakly against the machine, more to show her discomfort than to actually escape.

“Penelope, just hang on, we're here to save you!” Slime declared heroically.

Although Marco was indeed worried for his friend, he was sidetracked by the strange creature holding her hostage. “Wh-What is that thing?” he asked, tipping his head to the side just slightly.

“It's about to be scrap metal,” Star responded, aiming her wand at the machine. The bot sensed the incoming attack and repositioned Penelope in front of the targeted area, the girl grunting in discomfort.

Star's eyes widened in fear, ever so slightly lowering her wand. “I-I can't get a good hit without risking hurting Penelope,” she admitted, biting her lip.

The robot, seeing as it won, began to slowly back away, inching closer and closer to the brush that it could easily escape into. “No! No, please! Someone help me, please!” Penelope went into a screaming fit, terror coursing through her veins like blood. She began to kick and pull and punch, anything she could think of to escape but it was pointless, the machine's grip was too strong.

Slime had seen enough and without a word rushed at the robot, sprinting across the fresh grass. “Slime no!” Star shouted, reaching out for him but being unable to stop him from his suicide run. The bot seemed to register the incoming threat, its eye-lights pulsing for a moment and it raised one of its metal arms, the hand disappearing inside the metal abomination and a machine gun taking its place. Slime saw the deadly weapon but wasn't deterred, still charging forward with all he was worth. The gun went off, sending a scattering of bullets straight for the Monster teen. Each one made impact with Slime's chest, ripping through him at a rapid fire pace. Miraculously though, Slime remained unharmed, each bullet simply rippling his slimy layering before passing harmlessly out of his back, sending a splattering of his namesake onto the ground below. Star put up a shield around her and Marco that the bullets bounced off of, watching in disbelief at her Monster friend's brave display.

When Slime was close enough he flicked his arm towards the machine, coating the robot and Penelope in his namesake. Then, when he reached the two he grabbed Penelope's hands and pulled her straight down, the girl slipping right through the metallic grip thanks to the slippery slime. When she landed she immediately wrapped her arms around Slime, needing comfort and protection after the terrifying ordeal. The robot saw its captive free and acted accordingly, swiping its hand at the pair, ready to knock them both out and take its prize back. Slime saw the metal hand coming and quickly threw him and Penelope to the ground, protectively covering her with his gooey body. “Star now!” he screamed, sensing an opportunity for an opening.

Star didn't waste the chance she was given, summoning magic to the tip of her wand before shouting, “Kitten Explosion Beam!” A blast of magical energy filled with tiny, adorable kittens were sent hurtling at the robot. It didn't even have time to block before there was a massive explosion, its metallic form right in the line of fire. A pink mushroom cloud formed where the robot once stood, a thousand tiny meows the soundtrack to the robot's defeat. When the smoke cleared all that was left was a crater and a pile of broken metal.

...

Rasticore grimaced as he watched the image feed from the robot minion go black. Under Heinous' orders he had viewed the whole kidnapping attempt and had watched the whole plan go down in flames. At first it had been going smoothly, waiting for the girl to be alone, then snatching her up with none the wiser. What he hadn’t predicted was that his most elusive target was within hearing range. The moment he saw the princess and her ever annoying friends, anger had flared up inside Rasticore’s soul. His claws clenched the pad so tightly that a few cracks formed at the corners of the screen.

He had sent a command to the robot to arm itself in the hope of scaring the brats off but of course it wasn't that simple. A new teen, one Rasticore didn't recognize but would be sure to pay back later once he was at full strength again, foolishly rushed at the metal monstrosity. The lizard assassin had been sure that act of bravery would be punished with death, only the kid didn't die. And what's worse that disgusting slime he was made of ended up being thrown on the robot. The screen had started glitching and he had received a warning that a few systems were damaged. From there everything slipped out of their grasp, the princess, their mission, and their 'powerful' minion, destroyed with a single spell.

It seemed Heinous' new scheme was a bust. Not that Rasticore was surprised, never send a machine to do an assassin’s job, but that wasn’t what upset him. What concerned him was the fact that he would now have to inform his employer of the failure and Heinous seemed even more unstable than normal. He didn't like the idea of being in the same room with her but a job was a job and he still had standards to keep up.

He rose from the table and slowly sauntered into the next room where… was she talking to herself? Rasticore could hear her muttering darkly under her breath. Despite his better judgement he cleared his throat to gain her attention. Heinous whipped her head around so fast Rasticore was surprised she didn't get whiplash, her eyes flashing with vile malice for the interruption. Rasticore finally got a good look at what she was talking to, somehow not surprised when he saw the old files from the school, spread out on the table (the ones that weren't shredded). She was talking to files now, wonderful. Ever since her tantrum in St. Olga's, his employer had been acting more and more unhinged as if her last little bits of sanity had finally slipped away. If not for the chance at revenge, Rasricore would have been long gone by now.

"Why are you interrupting me!?" She snapped, sounding more scolding than angry, like she was speaking to a child. "Can't you see I'm in the middle of a lesson?" She gestured over at the stack of papers as if this cleared everything up.

Rasticore was about to question this but decided against it. There was no arguing with crazy. "You asked me to tell you how the bucket of bolts mission went," he reminded her dryly. He still didn't understand why it was his job, specifically since Heinous clearly wasn't busy. Unless talking to inanimate objects had become her full time job.

Now Heinous seemed interested, leaning forward in her chair, a grin widening on her face "And was it a success?" she asked, already sure of the answer.

Rasticore did take a little pleasure in delivering his response, if only because he knew his employer couldn't pin the failure on him this time. "Well if his mission was exploding into a million pieces then yes."

"What?!" Heinous screamed, bolting up from her chair and grabbing the front of Rasticore’s cape, pulling him in close. The lizard assassin took note of the strength behind her grip, ever since their trip to St. O's Rasticore had been burning with questions about his employer. One of which was just how strong she really was and he found her skinny limbs quite misleading. She could probably snap him in half without even trying. His pride would never admit it but her strength might even match his own. "How is that possible?! That little brat shouldn't have been capable of doing something like that!" She screamed into his face, any sense of the calm, rational woman that had hired him gone, instead this crazed, bitter psychopath walked in her shoes.

"She wasn't. We can thank the crown princess herself for that honor." Rasticore tried to ever so subtly pry her arms loose from his cloak which became awkward when it was clear he couldn’t. Fascinating if not annoying.

He was saved from further embarrassment though, when Heinous released him, turning and punching the desk behind her, the wood snapping in half as the desk caved in on itself. Now Rasticore had proof there was more to Miss Heinous than she let on. How could such raw strength be hiding in such a petite form? There was only one explanation. How had Rasticore not seen it before? “Why does that one little princess keep ruining everything?!” she snapped, fuming with rage. “Why can’t she just behave for once?!”

Rasticore, despite being a little shaken by Heinous’ bizarre super strength, saw his opportunity to manipulate the situation to his advantage. “Our plans are just gonna keep getting ruined so long as she’s left alone, I think we should focus on taking care of that little brat princess first.”

Heinous seemed to think that over, tapping a gloved finger to her chin. “You do bring up an interesting point, Rasticore. Butterfly has managed to slip through our grasp one too many times and that simply cannot stand. She needs to be punished for such reckless behavior.”

A sharp grin formed on Rasticore’s lips, excitement at finally taking his revenge on Star Butterfly and all her miserable little friends. He could just imagine their scared, hopeless faces when they realized there was no escape from their fate. It would make this whole miserable experience worthwhile.

Heinous let out a dramatic sigh, plopping down into her chair. “Although I was hoping for one more princess to feed off of before going after her again,” she whined bitterly, absentmindedly rubbing at her cheekmarks. “But, alas, I suppose it can’t be helped,” Heinous added, with more conviction in her tone. She straightened her hair slightly, before standing, her hands folded delicately in front of her. “Very well then. Rasticore, I suggest you save up your strength. We have much to prepare for. It’s time we begin: Operation Perfection.”

There was a small moment of silence as the two just let the weight of that settle in before Heinous suddenly snapped, “And pick up those files, what do we live in a barn!” Rasticore was left mumbling choice words under his breath while the once-proud principal sauntered triumphantly away.

...

Slime panted heavily from both the short run and the fear of death, keeping himself squished against his crush until he was sure the danger had passed and they were both safe. “Slime, it's okay, you can get up now,” Marco called to him once the coast was clear. The Monster lifted his head hesitantly, looking over to the pile of scrap metal then at the pair of teens and then down to Penelope. The girl was in shock, her eyes wide, her face red, her whole body tense and unmoving, all she could do was stare up at Slime in complete disbelief and disarray. “Penelope, a-are you okay?” he asked, grabbing her by the shoulders, worried her detached reaction might be due to some kind of injury.

After a few seconds she blinked and said in a distant tone, “Yeah, I'm fine.”

Slime let out a breath of relief, before suddenly realizing what he was doing and released his grip. “O-Oh good,” he whispered nervously, his hands twitching in the air, desperate for something to do. “W-Well, I’m glad y-you’re alright.” All he wanted to do was take her into his arms again but she had made it clear she didn’t want physical contact from him or anyone else.

Penelope could feel the awkwardness radiating off of the Monster but had no idea what to say without making it worse. “Um, yeah, thanks a lot,” she shyly said, standing.

“Sure,” Slime anxiously replied, getting to his feet as well. “Anytime.” “The two’s eyes met and for a moment something tender and precious passed between them but it was gone as soon as they shyly turned away. Slime tried to think of a new question to ask, fearful Penelope would run off again the moment their conversation was done. “Soooo any idea what that thing was or why it wanted you?”

Penelope shook her head. “No and I never want to find out.” She pulled her arms tightly around herself, shuddering slightly.

Slime reached out to comfort her but thought better of it, forcing his hand back to his side. This was a mistake. She didn’t want to be near him, she had made that clear enough. He should respect her wishes, even if it killed him inside. Slime had no doubt she would find someone so much better than him, someone who wasn’t a risk to her image, and that person would make her happier than he ever could. “Um, so, since you’re safe… I guess I’ll leave you alone.” With much effort Slime turned and began to walk away, forcing himself not to look back.

“No, wait!” Penelope shouted, grabbing onto his arm or trying to since her hands passed right through his slime. It did stop him though and he slowly turned back around to face the girl of his dreams. There were tears in Penelope’s eyes now and she sniffed a few times before saying in a choked tone, “Please don’t go! I’m sorry I ran away. And i-it’s not because I don’t want to be seen with you, I swear. I want to have you around, it’s just…” She looked away with shame. “Too much.”

Now Slime was just confused but his heart began to hammer against his chest in hope. “But I thought you were ashamed to be around me?”

Penelope shook her head. “No, of course not,” she said sadly, her eyes flooding with tears for making her friend believe that. “I didn’t run away because I was ashamed of you, I-I did it because I was ashamed of myself.” The girl hung her head in defeat.

“What?” Slime gasped in pure disbelief. “But you’re amazing!”

“No I’m not,” Penelope argued, squeezing her eyes closed to keep the tears from falling as she repeated all those awful words that woman had said. “I’m a disappointment. I’m too shy and scared to do anything right. And I’m so afraid of people paying attention to me that I just lock everyone out and never talk, because if they see who I really am, then they’ll hate me.”

As Slime listened to Penelope hate on herself, it became abundantly clear it was up to him to set her straight. He had known, that like himself, the moment he met her that she suffered from low self-esteem but he had no idea it went this deep. But that just gave him all the more reason to try and help her, to try and pull her away from the lies and hate she had fooled herself into believing. And he knew the way to start that was with the truth. “I don’t hate you.”

“Yes you do!” Penelope shouted, the tears finally spilling over her cheeks. “I ran away and hurt you all because of my stupid irrational fears! And then you saved my life even after I ruined everything! I-I don’t deserve to have someone like you caring about me! I’m hopeless!”

“No, you’re not!” he argued, matching her tone. She seemed surprised that he had raised his voice and so went quiet, shedding silent tears. He softened his voice before continuing, “Please, Penelope, stop saying things like that about yourself. I don’t know where you got the idea that you're… hopeless or a disappointment but it’s not true. I know it’s not true! And I know that I haven’t known you for that long but… I can see how good of a person you really are. Even if you can’t.”

Penelope sniffed, wiping a few tears off her face. “Slime. Why did you want to go out with me in the first place?”

Slime blushed, before admitting confidently. “Because I think you’re beautiful. And I could see that you were just like me and that you didn’t believe you were special. And I wanted to show you that you are.”

Penelope blinked a few times, her cheeks turning crimson and her webs going bright pink. “Nobody’s… ever called me beautiful before,” she whispered softly.

“Well then I guess I’ll be the first,” Slime said awkwardly. Penelope let out a little chuckle, the smallest of smiles finally gracing her pretty face. Slime nearly cried himself getting to see that look again, he had been sure he would never get close enough to her to ever see her delicate smile again.

The cheerful moment was broken, however, when Penelope’s eyes swarmed with sadness. “I shouldn’t have run away,” she said softly. “You’ve done so much for me. You got rid of my spider bite and you made me feel more confident than ever before. But I’ve done nothing to repay you for being so nice to me. The least I could do is be around you and not make you feel like you have to hide.”

“I-I didn’t mind,” Slime said quickly. He would take anything as long as he got to be with Penelope, even if he had to hide for the rest of his life.

But the princess just shook her head. “No, it wasn't fair to you. You shouldn’t have to hide our relationship just to make me happy.” She bit her lip, deep in thought about something. “I just want to be comfortable enough around you that I don’t care what anyone thinks.”

“Look, Penelope. I do want you to be confident enough in yourself, that’s all I ever wanted, but I know that won’t happen overnight. I knew what I was getting into when I asked you out.” He paused before offering her a hand. “And I still want to do this, if you still want to.”

Penelope nodded, taking his hand in hers. “I-I do,” she said sincerely and sweetly. “And y’know even if that reporter tells the whole world about us, I don’t want to end this. I-I’m scared, but I also know that this is worth fighting for.” She gave Slime’s hand a small squeeze “If being with you means facing my fears then it’s worth it.”

“Nobodies ever done anything like that for me before,” Slime admitted, lowering his head in a blush.

In a bold act that neither teen saw coming, the girl leaned forward and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Then I guess I’ll be the first,” she replied sweetly.

"Awwwwwwww," Star and Marco cooed, pressed cheek to cheek as they watched the adorable display with starry eyes.

But the moment was ruined as a familiar voice let out a triumphant laugh, everyone turning to see Stormy Weathers and her Seeing Eye Camera hovering overhead. "Yes that was perfect!" She exclaimed in giddy delight, sounding like a kid on their first Stump Day. “So much drama, so much action!” Her voice became overly dramatic as she continued. “An attempted kidnapping, a desperate rescue, a confession and love renewed. Forget head journalist, I could own the whole company after this story!”

Marco decided now was a good time to step in, saying in what he hoped was a commanding tone, “Hey, come on, just leave them alone!”

“No can do,” Stormy said nonchalantly. “This story is gonna make me famous and nothing and no one is gonna take that away from me.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, the Seeing Eye Cam was speared through by something long and sharp. Stormy screamed in terror as she watched her precious camera crumble into a pile of broken scrap metal at her feet. She fell to her knees, trying to halfheartedly shove the pieces back together in some hope that would bring her career-making story back. “No, no, no, noooooooo! My evidence! I can’t publish a story without proof! I’m ruined!”

The reporter finally looked up to glare at whatever had caused the end of her career only to gasp in disbelief. “Princess Ponyhead!”

The horsehead grinned sassily down at the woman, hovering just out of her reach in case the woman became violent. “Oh you know it! That’s right, the new and improved Ponyhead don’t let nothin’ bad happen to her friends so your weird little camera thing had to go.”

“You just ruined the biggest scoop of my life!” Stormy screamed, her cheekmarks glowing as thunder rumbled in the distance. “I-I will destroy you!”

Pony rolled her eyes, scoffing loudly. “Oh yeah, good luck with that. Many a people have tried to ruin my reputation and I’m still the biggest celebrity in Mewni.”

“No, I mean literally!” Stormy shouted, a flash of lightning striking the ground right next to the floating head. Pony let out a shout of surprise at the near death experience, looking a little nervous and unsure now.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Marco said and the two looked over to see him holding up his phone in their direction. “Because now you’re the one being recorded when you don’t want to be.”

The glow in Stormy’s cheeks dulled, though her hateful scowl remained, her eyes narrowing first on the hooded teen and then on Pony. Realizing she couldn’t get away with physically harming the annoying royal, she decided to hit the horse where it hurt, right in her attention-loving ego. “Yeah, well good luck getting me to do another story with you ever again, because at this moment our professional relationship is over!”

She expected Pony to break from that, to realize the error of her ways and start crying and begging her to change her mind, to let her have a little more time in the limelight. She expected some serious groveling and would take immense pride in seeing her humiliated on camera by her so-called friend, only for Stormy to refuse and leave her a broken, tear-stained mess on the floor. But instead, Pony just gave her a blank stare, showing no sign of regret or worry as she simply replied, “Okay.”

Stormy was surprised and tried again to get her goat, adding, “Did you not hear me? No more interviews, no more hours of letting you pose for the front page photos, no more anything! Good luck finding a reporter patient enough to deal with your high standards.”

“Uhhh, I already got a boyfriend for that, I don’t need you,” Pony said, giving the woman a superior look.

Stormy growled under her breath, pulling at her hair as she shouted, “Oh stop pretending, I know you are an attention-hogging narcissist who needs everyone’s constant approval! You should be upset about this!”

And then in the most mature tone Stormy had ever heard from Ponyhead, she said, "Look, the spotlight is great and all and I was born to be in it but, like, not everyone has the same natural charisma on camera as me. And if you ain't even willing to give those people their privacy then I don't want to be in one of your cruddy stories anyways."

Stormy gawked open-mouthed at the floating horse, watching her silently hover for a few seconds before she let out a long, angry scream, violently wrenching the scissors from her pocket. “Fine! I’m done with all of you! Good luck ever getting famous without me!” With one fluid swipe, she cut open a dimensional portal, stomping through it before sealing it shut behind her.

Marco let out a breath of relief, putting his phone away into his pocket. He was glad she had bought his bluff about filming her or that could have gotten violent. Thank goodness he had kept the screen facing away from her or she would have very quickly noticed his phone was opened to an article about how cat pictures had evolved over time thanks to the mirror web. He gave Pony a friendly grin, glad to know the arrogant royal had had his back. “Thanks, Pony, we owe you one.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, friendship and love and peace and all that. Now if you’ll excuse me, I gotta get back to those reporters. They are completely lost without a star like me to focus on.” Before Marco could even blink, Pony had flown away over the treetops, eager and desperate to be back in her rightful place as the center of attention.

Marco let out a small giggle, shaking his head at his eccentric friend before realizing that he was now alone. Star was no longer standing beside him, in fact, she hadn’t been for a few minutes now. He glanced around for any sign of his girlfriend, finally spotting her staring down at the small crater in the ground where she had destroyed the robotic menace. He quickly walked over to her side, his eyes scanning her downcast face. There was no emotion in her eyes, just empty and mindless starring. She looked as though she were waiting for something, like she expected the pieces to start moving on their own. But they remained stagnant, just lifeless garbage now that they were separated.

He wasn’t sure if Star had noticed him yet, so he decided to make his presence known. "That was a close one," Marco said, directing his own attention onto the pile of metal parts. He still wondered what that thing was or why it held a grudge against such a caring person as Penelope. Whatever it was, it was clearly bad news and Marco hoped he never had to face another one of those things again.

Still, despite that, it was hard to look away from the scrap heap. To think only moments ago it had been a very real threat to both Penelope and Slime’s life, but thanks to Star it was just gathering dust on the floor, taken out by a single spell. He could never get over how cool and powerful his girlfriend was. "Penelope almost didn't make it out of that,” he added when Star didn’t reply.

Star gave a small noise of agreement, her eyes trained on the rusted remains of the deadly bot, dark thoughts swirling around her head.

Marco instantly picked up on his girlfriend's distress, eyeing her worriedly. There was a troubled expression on her face, one that was twisting her sweet smile into a grim frown. It was a look Marco couldn't quite place, but he felt a deep stirring in his chest that told him whatever it was… it went deep. "What is it, Star?" He asked, leaning towards her with fear in his eyes.

"Someone sent this," Star stated, finally taking her eyes off the wrecked bot and meeting Marco's brown with her blue, although neither shined with love this time, instead they were filled with anxiety and uncertainty. "Bots don't just get up and hunt people on their own, Marco. Someone told this thing to capture Penelope."

Bot? Was that what it was called? "But who?" Marco asked, his eyebrows raising in confusion.

Normally Star would have found it cute if not for the knot that was twisting up her insides, a terrible feeling of upcoming disaster overcoming all of her senses. It was as if her body was casting a premonition but her brain hadn't yet been informed of what it was she was supposed to fear.

"I'll give you one guess," she answered darkly, turning back to the dismantled robot with purpose.

Marco glanced between it and his girlfriend for a few seconds, before gasping, realization dawned on him. "You mean…" Marco quickly scanned the area before leaning in closer to Star so only she could hear him, just in case Stormy hadn't quite left. "...Rasticore," he whispered shakily.

Star nodded. "Or whoever he works for," she added and both teens felt their hearts speed up as one.

"Oh," was all Marco could say. For a moment all either Mewman could do was gaze grimly down at the pile of broken metal, the intensity of their stare enough to fool a stranger into thinking they believed it would spring back to life to attack, but it just stayed as it was, lifeless trash.

Star couldn't stop feeling uneasy, like she was missing something. It made sense whoever Rasticore was dumb enough to work for would resort to robots to help achieve their mystery goal. After all, thanks to their last encounter Babs had said the lizard assassin would be out of commission for a while. But there was something else, some other piece of information just out of reach, lurking the edge of her subconscious, telling her she was missing a vital piece of the puzzle.

Unsurprisingly it was Marco who figured it out, voicing the concern as plain as day. "But I thought Rasticore was only targeting you?"

Star’s eyes widened. "So did I," she breathed fearfully. Of course! In the moment her only thought had been on rescuing Penelope so it hadn't even occurred to Star that the robot showed zero interest in herself.

For a moment there was only silence and staring, their combined gazes enough to burn a hole through the thick metal. Finally it was Marco who broke the uncomfortable stretch of silence, asking the same question that was plaguing Star's own piece of mind. "So, what does this mean? Y'know for us."

Star took in a shaky, forced breath, trying to force the feelings down enough to answer. It wasn't easy. She couldn't help but grab on tightly to Marco's hand, drawing strength and encouragement from her happy place. And when she did speak, her voice felt hollow and hoarse, every inflection, every syllable like fire on her tongue.

"That this is so much bigger than either of us could have ever suspected."

#star vs #star vs au #my writing #Light of the Sun and Stars #Starco #spiderslime

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foresthillsirisgardens-blog · 6 years

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John Abbe migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1620-1640).

Descendants of John Abbe

Generation No. 1 1. John1 Abbe was born 1613 in Staverton, Northampston, England, and died 1689 in Salem Village, Massachusetts. He married Mary Abt. 1634 in Probobly England. She was born Abt. 1615 in England, and died September 09, 1672 in Wenham, Massachusetts. Notes for John Abbe: Taken from “Abbe-Abbey Genealogy” by Cleveland Abbe and Josephine Nichols. John Abbe, born in England about 1613; died in Salem, Mass., about 1689-90.

The place of birth of John Abbe, the founder of the American Abbe and Abbey families, is unknown, but every indication points to one of the interior and central counties of England as the home of the ancestors of the emigrant. It is not improbable that he was connected with the Abbye family of Staverton, Northampton. The parish registers of Stoke Bruerne, Northampton, show that there were many marriages of Abbyes recorded there during the 16th and 17th centuries.

John Abbe, from the age given approximately at his death, was born about 1613.

The first mention which seems to be of this John Abbe is on a register of the names áOof all ye passengers wch passed from ye Porte of London for a whole yeare endinge at Xmas 1635 -

Those underwritten are to be transported to Virginia imbarqued in ye Mercht bonaventure James Ricrofte Mr bound thither have taken ye oath of allegeance

- Jo: Abby yeares 22 Although this statement says bound for Virginia, it is a well-known fact that many of the early ships destined for Virginia landed many or all of their passengers at other ports, even in New England, and records of the name John Abbe begin in New England about that time.

The above Jo: Abby does not appear in the records of Virginia, nor in the Head Rights for lower Norfolk from 1637 to 1666. The abbreviation Jo: sometimes stood for Joseph, but there are proven instances where it was used for John.

The first reference to the name in the Salem records is on page 11, volume 1, in 1637, or, according to the old method of marking time, 2d of the 11th month, 1636.

John Abbie is Recd. ffer Inhabitant & is to haue one acre lott for a house next beyond the Gunsmiths, and 3 acres of planting ground where the Towne hath appointed beyond Castle Hill.

There has existed some confusion regarding the various freemen of the name Abbey and Alby. Benjamin Albye was admitted freeman, May 18, 1642, and John Albye in Salem, May 10, 1643.

These were, without doubt, the two Albys, John and Benjamin, mentioned in the early records of Braintree about this time. Benjamin Alby removed to Mendon and had numerous descendants, whose names occasionally appear in printed records as Abbey. John Abbey, sen., of Redding, freeman in 1634, may have been an Alby

On the 21st, 11th month, 1638, John Abby had a further grant of five acres, location not specified, but, as on the 15th, 2nd month, 1639, this record occurs, Granted unto John Abby 5 acres neere to Mr Throgmortons hoggehouse, it may be that the first was the grant and the second the location. Under date of the 25th, 10th month, 1637,

it was agreed the marsh and meadow lands that have formerly been laid in common to this town shall be appropriated to the inhabitants of Salem, proportioned out to them according to the heads of families. To these that have the greatest number an acre thereof, and to these that have least not above half an acre, and to these that are between both three quarters of an acre, always provided and it is agreed, that none shall sell away their proportions of meadow, more or less, nor lease them out to any above three years, unless they sell or lease out their houses with their meadow.

Under the above division a list of the inhabitants was taken, and the land divided. Jo. Abby is named in 1638 as having three in his family, and he receives half an acre.

On the 23d, 11th, 1642, ten acres are granted to John Abby together with several other ten-acre grants, all to be laid out near to Kings lot.

This was on the Beverly side near Bass River, and on the 15th of the 12th month, 1642, it is voted áOordered that John Abby shall have 10 acres of land at Enon in exchange of 10 acres of land bounded out near Basse River. The lot near Bass River was afterward granted to Michael Sallows.

The record of the grants to Abbey show that he was of the same standing in the community as the great majority of the early inhabitants. The grants were in a great measure made with an eye as to the ability of the grantee to develop the land so granted, small grants to the poorer and the larger grants to the richer sort.

In 1642, Mr. Fiske organized a church at Enon and the following year the name Enon was changed to Wenham, while a permanent church organization was effected in 1644.

In 1644, under the date of the 13th, 6th month, it was agreed that John Abby shall have all that wastground which lyeth between ye end of ye lott which he lives upon and ye meadow which blelongs to ye town, leaving a poles bredth most convenient for a way. (Wenham town records, Worcester.)

Under the date of 1653 is a list of engagements with Goodman Haws about the mill, and John Aby gives a day and a half of his labor toward its erection, and others contributed in a like manner, some also giving the use of oxen.

Mr. Fiske left the town in 1655 followed by a number of the church, and in 1657 Mr Newman was procured as pastor. Under date of November, 1657, in a total rate of ¹42, 19, divided among twenty- four persons, of whom five paid a total of ¹14,

John Abey is assessed ¹1, 5, which was about the sum paid by eleven others, but two being less. In 1659, twenty-seven pay a rate of ¹46, 2, of whom sixteen pay ¹1 or a trifle over. Of these John Abey pays ¹1, 5, as before, in corne or cattle.

In 1660 he was assessed as Goodman Abey at eight shillings toward a new meeting house or repairing the old one. The new house was built in 1663. Under date of 6th, 11 month, 1661, John Abbey, Sr., and Edward Waldron had a town grant of land to be equally divided between them. The use of the title Senior at this time helps to place the birth of the son

John.

In 1663 Goodman Abey, Sr., and John Clarke are chosen to join with the selectmen to make the ministers rate for the present year.

In 1669 and in 1671 John Abbey appears as constable, an office of great local power and responsibility.

April 3, 1675, John Abbe deeded 10 acres of land to his son Samuel,

Thomas, John and Mary Abbe, being witnesses. John Abbe, sen., was a witness to the will of Edwd Walden of Salem, 4th month, 1679.

In 1683, John Abbey, who had been supporting his son Thomas, who lived with him and cared for him, dismissed Thomas on account of his bad behavior and called his son John, junior, to take charge of him and his affairs.

The son, John, proceeded early to build a new house, as the old one was unfit to live in.

Know all men By these prsents that I John Abbey (Scnjr.) of Wenham in the County of Essex being sensible of my owne & my wives inability to Carry on my affaires So as to provide for our Comfortable Livelyhood by reason of our age & weakness of Body

Attending vs by reason thereof Doe make Choice of & Request my son John Abbey as my ffeiofe in trust to take into his hands my house & all my Lands in Wenham together wth wt right I have in that Land which was sometime Richard Gooldsmiths. to ocquipie & improue for myn & his muttuall Benifit So long as my wife & I or eyther of us shall live: & for his incouriagment to maniage my affaires as above said & he provide Comfortably for my owne & my wives maintenance I doe hereby Give and Bequeath to him my afforesaid ffeiofe all my houses & Lands fforeuer

Except wt I doe hereby Give out of it to the rest of my Childrin viz Samuell Sarah Marah Rebeca Obadia & Thomas & to each of them as followeth viz to Samuell I haveing alridy Given him a Lell of Land I give him one Shilling more & to all the rest of my Childrin above mentioned viz Sarah Marah Rebeca Obadia & Thomas two Shillings a peice or to so many of them as shall sirviv at the deacease of my selfe & wife: & in Case God shall take awaye my Son John abovesaid before the Decease of my selfe & wife

if his Heires Shall Continue to maniage & Carry on my affaires as my abovesaid ffeioffe ought to doe then they Shall have the houses & Lands abovesaid as therin ordvard & in Confirmation of what is above written I have here vnto set to my hand & Seale Signed Seald & Deliverd August the 3 1683 in the presence of

Thos ffiske Senjr: John Abbey Senjr martha ffiske his marke John Abbey Senjr ded acknowledg this writing above written to be his act & deed August ye 3d: 1683 before me Samuel Appeton Assistant. On the outside of the above document is the inscription: John Abbey’s Disposale of his Estate 1653 Record In Ips in ye Regr office for ye probate of Will for sd County of Essex Decr 1702 p mee Danl Rogers Regr Administration on the Estate of John Abbey senjr of Wenham. John Appleton Esqr. Comissionated by his Excellency Joseph Dudley Capt. Generll and Governr in Cheif in & over her Majess Province of ye Massachtt Bay in New England, with the advice and Consent of her Majestes Counsell of said province for the Probate of Wills and Granting Letters of adminstro. Within the said County of Essex &c. To Thomas Abbey of Enfield in ye County of Hampshire son to John Abbey senjr of Wenham-Deceased

Intestate-Greeting-Trusting in yr Care and ffidelity I doe by These presents Comitt unto you full power to administer all & singular the Goods, Chattells, Rights & Creditts of the said Deceased & well & ffaithfully dispose of ye same according to law which to him while he Lived & att ye time of his Death did appeartain & belong, to aske sue for demand Levy Receive & Recover and to pay all Debts in which the Deceasd stood bound so farr as his Goods Chattells Rights & Creditts Can extend according to the value thereof, and to make a true &

.prfect Inventory of all & singular the Goods Chattells Rights and Creditts of the Deceasd and to Exhibit the same into the Registry office of ye sd County att or before the Last Day of ffebruary next Ensueing, and to render a plain & true accott of ye said adminjo upon Oath att or before ye Twentieth Day of Decembr which Will bee in ye year of or Lord God One Thousand Seven hundd & Three-and I doe by These prsents Ordaine Constitute and appoint you administratoer of all & singular the Goods Chattells Rights & Creditts of ye Deceasd aforesd.-In Testimony Whereof I have herunto Sett my hand & caused the Seale of said office to be affixed-Dated in Ipswich the 12th Day of Decembr anno. 1702. Annoq. R: Reginae Annae Angliae &c primo. Examd-11 John Appleton. Daniel Rogers Regr. Recorded Book 307, Page 456. Essex Probate Office. Know All men by these presents, That We Thomas Abbey of Enfield in ye County of hampshire as principle and Waltar ffairfeild Senj & Thomas Edwards both of Wenham as sureties within His Majesties Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England are holden and stand firmly bound and obliged unto John Appleton Esqr Judge of the Probate of Wills and granting Administration within the said County of Essex in the full sum of Two hundred Pounds Currant Money in New England. To be paid unto the said John Appleton Esquire his Successors in the said Office or Assignes. To the true payment whereof. We bind our selves, and each of us, our, and each of our heirs,

Executors and Administrators, joyntly and severally for the whole and in the whole firmly by these presents Sealed with our Seals. Dated the Eleventh day of Decembr Anno Domini. One thousand 702 Annoque Regni Reginae Annae primo.

The condition of this present Obligation is such, That if the above-bounden Thomas Abbey administrator to all & singular the Goods, Chattells, Rights & Credits of his ffather John Abbey Senjr Late of Wenham Deceased to make or cause to be made a true and perfect Inventory of all and singular the Goods, Chattells, Rights and Credits of the said Deceased, which have or shall come to the hands and possession or knowledge of him the said administrator or into the hands and possession of any other person or persons for him. And the same so made, do exhibit or cause to be exhibited into the Registry of the Court of Probate for the aforesaid County of Essex at or before the Last day of ffebruary next ensuing.

And the same Goods, Chattells, Rights and Credits of the said Deceased, at the time of Death, which at any time after shall come into the hands and possession of any other person or persons for him do well and truly administer according to Law. And further do make, or cause to be made a just and true Accompt of his said Administration upon Oath, at or before the Twentieth day of Decembr which will be in the year of our Lord, One thousand 703. And all the rest & residue of the said Goods, Chattells, Rights & Credits which shall be found remaining upon the said Administrators Accompt (the same being first examined and allowed of by the Judge or Judges for the time being of Probate of Wills and granting Administrations within the County of Essex aforesaid) shall deliver and pay unto such person or persons respectively as the said Judge or Judges by his or their Decree or Sentence pursuant to Law shall limit and appoint. And if it shall hereafter appear, That any last Will and Testament was made by the said Deceased: And the Executor or Executors therein named do exhibit the same into the Court of Probate for the said County of Essex making request to have it allowed and approved accordingly. If the said administrator within bounden being thereunto required do render and deliver the said Letters of Administration (Approbation of such Testament being first had and made) unto the said Court.

Then the before written obligation to be void and of none effect, or else to abide and remain in full force and virtue. Thomas TA Abbey (mark & seal) Walter fayerfield (seal) Thomas O Edward (seal) Sealed and Delivered in presence of francis Crumpton Daniel Rogers. This Inventory of the Estate of John Abee Senor formerly of Wenham

decesed about thirten yere since Intestate we whos names are her vnto subscribed on this twentey-fovrth of febuary in the yere of our lord 17 did at the Request of thomas Abee one of the sons of the decesed and Administrator of his fathers estat or by his order vallew and aprise the said decesed his house and land in Wenham on which to our certain knowleg he lived for many yers and dyed seased of the same as his owne Estat of Inheritance as we ever understod we being his nere neighbors for many yers the sayd decesed his homsted being about twenty and three acers of vpland and medow together with the housing and fences ther on the apertenances ther onto belonging together with his Right in the Comon all which we vallewed at ninety and two pounds ¹92-s00-d00.

We also being Informed that the sayd decesed in his lifetime did to acomodate his son Obadiah acording to his desire with a trad for his futer benifett when the sayd Obadiah was eighten yers old give to Richard Goldsmith three yers sarvit of his said son Obadiah and vntill he was one and twentey yers ould to learne him to be a shoemaker and all the sayd time his sayd father did find his sayd son meat and drink and Clothes washing and Lodging which we doe Judg to be worth thirtey pounds. the acount was settled betwen thomas Abee and his fathers Estat by the Children of the sayd decesed in our presents as witness our hands this 24 of the 12th month 1703/2 Richard RH Hutton ( his mark) Joseph ffowler Aprisers.

the estate debtor to his sonn thomas Abee for severall things for which our said father John Abee Senor was Indebted to his son thomas Abee before the death of our sayd father John abee Senor the acount whereof was settled and alowed by vse vnderwritten which debt is thirtey and two pounds ¹32–s00-d00.

as wittnes our hands this 24th febuerary 1702/3 Richard kimball for himself & Rebecc his wife (his mark) mary killam (her mark) Thomas Abbe (his mark) May 18th 1703 Then ye above sd Thomas Abbe made oath to this Inventory Before John Appleton John Abbe married (1) MARY -. She was born in England about 1615 20, and died in Wenham, Mass., September 6, 1672.

“Mary, the wife of John Abbey, senr. dyed the 9 Sept. 1672”; Wenham records. She was doubtless the mother of all of his children. Her name is given as Mary Loring, by Frederick Orr Woodruff, who says that the name was found on Enfield records by one who made researches for him there.

John Abbe married (2) November 25, 1674, MRS. MARY GOLDSMITH, widow of Richard Goldsmith, who was killed by lightning, May 18,1674. She was living in 1683. “John Abbie and Marah Goldsmith maryed 25 of Novemb, 1674”; Wenham records. More About John Abbe and Mary: Marriage: Abt. 1634, Probobly England Children of John Abbe and Mary are: + 2 i. John Jr.2 Abbe, born Abt. 1636 in Massachusetts; died December 11, 1700 in Windham, Connecticutt.

3 ii. Sarah Abbe, born Abt. 1640 in Massachusetts. +

4 iii. Mary Abbe, born 1642 in Massachusetts. +

5 iv. Samuel Abbe, born 1646 in Wenham, Massachusetts; died 1698 in Wenham, Massachusetts. +

6 v. Rebecca Abbe, born Abt. 1647 in Wenham, Massachusetts; died 1704 in Wenham, Massachusetts.

7 vi. Obadiah Abbe, born Abt. 1650 in Wenham, Massachusetts; died October 28, 1732 in Enfield, Connecticutt. He married Sarah Tibbals Aft. 1697 in Enfield, Connecticutt; born November 29, 1654 in Milford, Connecticutt; died Aft. 1700 in Connecticutt.

Notes for Obadiah Abbe: OBADIAH2 ABBEY, son of John1 Abbey, born probably in Wenham, Mass., between 1647 and 1652; died in Enfield, Conn., October 28, 1732. From the inventory of his father’s estate we learn that he was apprenticed to Richard Goldsmith to learn his trade of shoemaker, and that he served Goldsmith three years from his eighteenth year.

As Goldsmith died in 1673, this places the date of Obadiah’s birth approximately. He was an early settler of Enfield on the eighth lot from the south corner, east side, one of the original proprietors in 1682.

He seems to have been a prominent and influential man of the community, was constable between 1682 and 1717, surveyor of highways in 1692, assessor in 1702. In 1685 he was engaged in a law suit with Isaac Meacham.

At Northampton is the will of Obadiah Abbey, dated September 22, 1732; probated November 14, 1732. He names as legatees his wife, Sarah, to whom is given maintenance, all household goods and moveables; his cousin (nephew) Thomas, son of his brother Thomas, to whom is given his Scantic lot, and to the former Thomas’ son, Obadiah, house and land, with reversion to his youngest son, Thomas,

if the said Obadiah should die; to the last-named Thomas, he gives farm lands at the Mountains; his wife’s daughter, Phebe Heal; his cousin John Abbey’s oldest son, John. His cousin, Thomas Abbey, and Elizabeth Warriner are made executors.

This Elizabeth Warriner was presumablv the step-daughter of his wife, who was born in 1686.

Obadiah Abbe’s holdings in Enfield are described in the Enfield records: Home lot of 12 acres; 23 acres in the South Field, eastern division; 7 acres upon Schantuck River, 5 acres of it upland and 2, meadow; 2 acres of meadow upon a small brook easterly from the “grate meadow”; 4 acres of meadow by grant of March 5, 1700; and on November 17, 171[ ], a farm lying west of Schantuck grate meadow" consisting of 168 acres,

some of the boundaries of which were designated as Òwht Oak Tree marked with the letters O A" and a “Pine Tree marked with the letters O A.” See also under Thomas2 Abbe, references to Obadiah’s property. Notes for Sarah Tibbals: She was the daughter of Thomas Tibbals of Milford. Her first husband was Daniel Collins, by whom she had children, and she married second Joseph Warriner of Enfield, who died 1697.

Obadiah Abbe had no children, so far as is known. More About Obadiah Abbe and Sarah Tibbals: Marriage: Aft. 1697, Enfield, Connecticutt + 8 vii. Thomas Abbe, born Abt. 1653 in Wenham, Massachusetts; died May 17, 1728 in Enfield, Connecticutt. Generation No. 2

#Descendants of John Abbe

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