Summary: A familar foe shows up
Glossaryck watched as Steven tried to mess with the wand. "I don't understand, doesn't this thing change depending on who holds it?"
"To be fair, it's broken." The girl shrugged. "Something Glossaryck still hasn't gotten the kinks out of yet."
"There's that reason, but there's also the fact your bond with each other connects you to each other. That combined with your similar personality traits means the wand probably can't tell the difference between you two." Sometimes even Glossaryck couldn't tell the difference.
"Oh, so I'm also half a star with wings." The boy muttered. "Then let's try something easy … Levatatto." The cup began to move.
"How did you do that!? I still can't get that one down!" Star huffed.
"Really? It's the easiest spell I could find in the book. Mom uses it all the time." Steven raised an eyebrow.
"That spell is mainly guided by a clear head and focus, so that means Steve here has less…distractions going on in his head."
Star groaned. "I just want something to take on Jasper … is that too much to ask?"
"Well you could always try the Solaria chapter." Glossaryck shrugged. If the girl could handle Eclipsa's dark chapter, that would be nothing … and her brother could pull her away from violent tendencies.
"She does have the most sword spells, and those could poof through her body like nothing if given the chance." Star looked to her brother. "I know we're not on the 'monster's are evil' thing anymore, but it's her chapter.."
"As long as you don't try to kill anyone, you'll be good."
"Cool, cool." The girl began flipping through. "Diary stuff, yada yada … delusional rantings … weapon creation." Star lingered on that a bit, before flipping through. "Oh, here's Mina's experiment spell."
"Ah, I'm less sure about that one. You might catch her crazy if you use it." True, you got terrifying but semi-effective results.
"And … Princess Coded message." Star noted, shifting her wand. "Like mom said, decoder ring. That translates to that … and we get … The Shattering Spell." The princess paused, probably realizing what she just said.
"…Solaria made a spell to shatter gems?" Her brother said in pale horror
"Not just gems…it's a spell meant to kill your mom." The girl looked like she was about to throw up. "Okay, maybe I should focus on something else. Ooh, maybe I can focus on making your Sheids if you have my magic!" She waved her hands in the air, and a half dozen Rose Quartz shields shot out of her, bouncing off the walls repeatedly.
"Well..you made them much easier then I did on my first try…that has to count for something." Steven tried to reassure.
"..." She closed the book without reading anymore. "What am I supposed to do here? All the most effective spells in here cause horrible agony or insanity."
"An old saying about magic is that when done wrong, it either leads to sadness or madness." Glosseryck said.
"So what about magic done right?" Star asked him. "Gladness and puppies?"
"Well that doesn't quite rhyme now does it?" He thought these kids had better imagination than that. "The point is that you two are in a very volatile state when it comes to learning magic, both with your bond amplifying potency and the fritz getting stronger. Fortunately, that bond also means there's a better chance of you two not going completely loony."
"Wait, the fritz?" Steven asked.
"What, did you think it was just you? That's a pretty selfish thing to think. Magic all over is on the fritz." Glosseryck shrugged. "Dip a drop of venom in hobo gravy soup, and the whole thing is poisoned, it just takes a while to spread all over."
"Great, so everyone sucks." Star groaned. "At least it's not just me."
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Spider ate her latest meal as Master growled in frustration. "Why won't you do anything!" The master complained, waving the arm of might around. "You're supposed to be a wand, do magic! Lift!" The blast of green destroyed his food.
"Squawk!" Eagle was right, the green energy was pretty scary. The rats feared the master just from the glowing alone. It destroyed predators wishing to prey upon them and it hunted their food. There was very little they couldn't do.l
"It's supposed to be more than just firing green lasers! I'm supposed to be capable of doing anything I imagine!" The master sighed and rested on the hammock of her webs. "Star can do anything they want, she's a princess, she had her wand because she was probably taught so much …"
One of the rats nearby, the one eyed commander, began squeaking their plan. If she knows more than he does, maybe he can learn from her. "That..that is a sound plan, but should I even risk it?" The master scratched her head. "I finally have power, real, true power for myself. And if there's anything I know about Butterfly's, it's that they know how to ruin my happiness.
The wand began glowing, the master staring at it. Spider and Eagle had been worrying, the master spoke as if the object had a mind of its own. "You're right … I'm stronger than I ever was … hehe. And I can learn spells just by being beat up by them … fueling my magic even more!"
The master laughed hysterically. "It won't even matter how many allies they have! I have an army now! One loyal and stronger than my previous minions, haha!" Their little green master shot a laser into the air. "Enjoy your last few minutes of freedom with your brother, Star Butterfly, because I'm coming for you!" The master showed sharp and feral teeth. "And I'm not afraid to blast my way through anyone that gets in my way!"
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"I gotta say, I never expected Pizza to be so good from its description alone." Steven spoke, taking another bite. "It's amazing."
"It baffles me just how much crossover there actually is between every dimension." Marco said, confused. "You have ice cream, but no pizza. You don't have therapy, but you do have phones made from mirrors. You have arcade machines, but you've never seen a polar bear."
"Therapy makes sense." Star told the boy. "Something that evil deserves to be locked away between dimensions." Such wise words from his big sis.
"You hear that, Marco, your straight A's in psychology are corrupting your soul." Jana smirked. "Better get off that track before you're lost in the abyss."
"Says the girl with a book on the underworld and how to bring about the apocalypse." Marco retorted. "I swear you'd just press a doomsday button if you weren't entertained by our daily lives."
"The follies of mere mortal's do hold my attention." Steven wasn't sure if Jana was kidding or not. "So discover any new and freaky powers today?"
"Nah, right now we're getting a hang of each other's powers." Steven answered. "Star gets my exploding bubbles, and I test a few mega narwhal blasts." That was admittedly pretty fun. "Gotta say, it's pretty nice using the wand. Now I get to feel how every Queen felt when they first had it."
"So if you get each other's powers, then does that mean Star could fuse on her own?" Kelly asked an admittedly good question.
"Don't know, haven't actually thought about it before." Star smirked before looking at Marco. "If you're up for it, we can always test it out. We never did get that dance during the blood moon."
"I um, I mean, that was a pretty crazy night and-" Marco went from blushing and stampering to screaming at the flip of a switch, jumping on top of a car. "Rat!" He pointed to an admittedly large rodent staring at them with big wide eyes … like a creepy puppy.
"I got this, Raspberry Licorice Lasso!" Star used her wand, luckily not glowing green, to wrap it up. "There, you're safe to come down now."
"No way! I ain't going anywhere until that thing is out of sight!" Marco screamed. "Do you know how many diseases those things carry? I don't trust our track record with medical attention!"
"Marco come on, it's just one rat." Star said, looking at the spot, finding two new rats. "Make that three." She noticed the sound of scurrying. "Four to five … hundred?"
"Jana, please tell you this isn't one of your doomsday rituals." Steven asked his friend as he started using his shield to scoot the rodents away. "I don't really feel like dying to the black plague today."
"Nah, mine usually involve black skies and lots of fire." Jana said as she joined Marco on the car. "Where the heck can I find a pipe?"
"Just use this." Kelly tossed over one of the extra swords she kept in her hair. "It should be blunt enough to bat them away without things getting messy..unless you want to see splattered rat guts all over the place. No judgment, I know you like it freaky."
"You know me well." The girl grinned, tapping the blade.
Once they were completely surrounded and about to become overrun, the rats … stopped. They actually made a small spot in front of them as a giant eagle landed with a Spider. The spider leaned down and off its back walked off … "Hello again, Star Butterfly."
"Ludo!? " Four of them shouted, before smiling wide. "It's Ludo!" The group, bearing Jana, gave each other hugs.
"Um … did you really miss me that much?"
"Of course we did!" Star shouted. "Back then it was just fighting monsters and keeping you away from a wand! Do you KNOW how hectic it got?"
"We've been trying to find one new annoying green bad guy for about a month now, so you have no idea how great it is to find something so familiar!" Kelly said elatedly.
"But now we just have to deal with you." Marco chuckled in relief. "Something simple and easy without existential crisis crushing us."
Ludo stared at them, before chuckling. "Ah yes, I'm weak, pathetic, useless and viewed as a fun joke to punch around. The chump change that could be almost ignored for idiotic plans and an incapability to fight."
"Was he always this … self-deprecating?" Jana asked them.
"Not that I remember, he usually vented all his frustration at the monsters he worked with." Steven answered.
"Because I changed!" Ludo shouted. "I gazed into the abyss when it gazed at me, I tamed the wild, I learned companionship and loyalty." He patted the spider almost genuinely. "And now I have power beyond your mortal comprehension!"
"Oh what?" Star chuckled. "You discover magic?"
"Precisely!" Ludo shouted in glees, holding up… "I have my very own wand!"
"WHAT?!" EVERYONE shouted as they looked at the piece of stone that was tied together with a skeletal hand, in it a dark green crystal. One that Steven recognized instantly.
"Star!" Steven realized. "It's half of the star! The one on the wand." He pointed to them both. "You found the other half!?"
"Truth be told, I didn't even make that connection until I found it buried deep in the forest where I survived for months by myself, learning the ways of the wilderness." Ludo aimed the wand half towards them. "Now come with me, Star Butterfly! I need to pick your brain."
"What, why!?" Star shouted. "You already have a wand, which I plan on stealing" She muttered that last part. "What do you need me for!?"
"I can only get it to do one thing, I want to learn how to do something other than fire green lasers.
"You want the girl that always causes mayhem with magic to teach you how to use it?" Marco asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Exactly! There's so much variety in the chaos she causes! I want to have every option available." When he put it like that, it actually sounded like a smart plan, smarter than his usual ones. "Now surrender, or else!"
"Or else what?" Kelly asked, holding out her sword.
"... Well I thought the magic wand, giant hawk and spider, and the rat army would have been an obvious threat of what I can achieve now."
"So you got a few pets? So what, my brother does that almost weekly. We just adopted a one eyed cat I named Cat Steven." Star explained. "And Lion cuddles her daily like a protective papa." It was adorable.
"In that case talking is over, army attack!!" The rats screamed, rushing at them with numbers. The spider shot a web at Kelly's arm, swinging her away as the Eagle swooped in at Marco.
"Ah! The talons are sinking in!" Marco was unable to move his arms and the bird flew him higher and higher, his kicks unable to reach the bird as well.
"Alright Spider, come at me, your webs mean nothing in front of this sword!" Kelly shouted, rushing at the arachnid.
"And as for Star and Quartz-"
"I go by Steven now."
"I hallucinated you for years, insulting me!" The wand sparked as he raised it. "I call you what I want!!" Ludo fired a beam of green energy at Star.
"Hah, like that'll actually hurt me! RAINBOW FIST PUNCH!" Star fired off one of her signature attacks…which was green and pink instead of its usual colorful state. "Okay, it's a little stronger than I thought it would be, but nothing I can handle!"
Steven, knowing his bubbles were on the fritz, planned on rushing Ludo and distracting him in the beam strugg- Faulty. Malfunction. Energy. Oh wow … he felt sick. He hit the ground, feeling cold and hot. What the heck was going on. Faulty. Form. Pink scales began growing on his hands.
"Steven, what's going on!?" Jana rushed to him, kicking a few rats out of the way. "You're looking pink again!"
"Don't know … feeling woozy." Steven groaned, blinking. Faulty. Vision Predatory. Form.
"Ow, spikes!" He hurt Jana, turning to her and … noticing how she looked tasty … "Steven, it's gonna be fine. Faulty. Form. Appetite. Mentality. "Stay with me, stay with me!"
He began panting. "Stay back … somethings wrong." He groaned, Steven … his name was Steven, right?
"Steven, your spikes are getting bigger!" Kelly shouted. "Don't let this be another Cat Finger disaster!"
"It's not …" Faulty. Breach. Give into those instincts. "Somethings wrong, just stay away please!" The boy pleaded, feeling his head spin and split. He was Steven, these were his friends. Are they really? Why did he think they were? He knew- Fault. Memory. Bonds. Where was he, what was he?
He could see pink crawling on his hands, forming claws. "Buddy, it's gonna be okay!" The hoodie boy spoke to him. Faulty. Breach. He looks tasty doesn't he? Faulty. Appetite. Mentality. The beast took a bite of the red one's arm.
"Marco!" Star ran and pulled the red one from his mouth. Why did he know her? Maybe she tasted like the sky, or was food. "Steven, what the hell!?"
"So hungry … So cold …" Did his voice always sound this raspy? Fault. Size. Form.The beast looked down on them. "Foood. Waaarm"
"Okay, was this always a thing with your brother or am I just late on new information?" The green chicken nugget asked. Maybe the little man could make a nice meal. The beast went to grab him. "Hey, Stay back buster!" Stand Still. The beast stood still, listening to the soothing command. Maybe it would be rewarded with food, or warmth. It was very cold. "Huh…uh…roll over?" Roll yourself across the ground .
It was hard to do, getting stuck on the ground with the spikes on their back. "Steven, I know you're a nice guy, but don't just listen to Ludo! That's what you were yelling at me for, with the fortune cookie thing!" Star yelled at him. She smelled like frosting and cake. Maybe she tasted just as sweet."
"I don't think he has a choice!" Chicken nugget laughed. "Take her out." She'll warm you if she's in your stomach.
He was cold, he was hungry, and the voice was telling him to feed. That's all he could do...that's all a monster like him could ever do.
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"Steven! Snap out of it!" Star back away as her brother in that pink Dino form actually reeled his head back and tried to take a BITE out of her! "Can someone get a giant bucket of water!!? That's what worked last time!"
"We are way beyond cat figures at this point!" Kelly shouted. "We need to restrain him!"
"Sorry Bro, but this is for your own good!" She aimed her wand to fire a rainbow licorice flytrap to restrain him.
Or it would have, if Ludo hadn't blasted her. "Like I'm going to let you do that!" The kappa laughed. "Hawk, Spider, Rats, stop the others! Star is mine and my new minion is going to see to it she's defeated!"
"Using her own brother against us! That's low even for you!" Marco did his best to avoid the spider by staying atop of it. "You're reaching Toffee levels of vile here!"
"Toffee got stuff done! He got you all scared! I'm going to go beyond that and become king of Mewni, hahahaha!!" The bird man probably was losing it if he really thought that was going to happen.
"Steven, I really like this side of you, but I'd appreciate it better if your tail wasn't threatening to crush me!" Jana tried to keep the bird from snatching her up in the sky. "This is so much less fun than the first time around, at least then he was nice about wanting to eat people."
"I don't think we can count on a time limit this time though!" Kelly used her hair to shield herself from debri the rats threw at her. "Star, now might be a good time to call in backup of the Crystal kind!"
"Already here!" Amethyst shouted … drop kicking her brother in the face! Sending him crashing into the ground. "Alright guys, one corrupted gem and a bunch of animals!" She shouted to Pearl and Garnet.
"That's not a corrupted gem! That's Steven!" Star shouted at the punch happy moron. "You just hit my brother in the face!"
"What!!?" Pearl shouted, all the crystal gems looking horrified. "No…it can't be..Rose…the diamond's aren't…"
"Steven.." Garnet attempted to reach out, her soul looking like it was seconds from leaving his body.
Steven stood back up, and let out a roar. "RAAAAAAGGGGHHHH!!" [Cold. Hungry. Voice. Comfort. Enemies.] Star couldn't understand but she could … was this what it was like with him and Centi?
"Don't know who these people are, and I don't care. Minion, stomp them to dust!" Make them fine powder under your foot. That voice … that skeletal hand with a missing finger … her fritzy wand messed with Quartz's powers, but that one was turning him into a monster.
"No, this can't be happening." Star couldn't understand how…but this whole situation had Toffee's fingers all over it. "I don't get what your whole deal is here, Lizard man, but if you think you'll get away with this, then you have another thing coming!" She shouted to voice, though from everyone else's perspective, it might have seemed insane. "Leave my family alone!" She sent rainbow blasts straight at Ludo and his wand.
"Monster, shield me!" The rainbow holds warmth. Ludo ordered, and her brother, in this mindless state did as he was told, wincing as the rainbow blast hit him right in the chest.
"Oh no!" Amethyst grabbed him with a whip, pulling back. "You're just gonna take a rest big guy!"
"Grrrrrrh!" [Anger. Annoyance. Threat. Break.] Her brother's rage was shouted right back with a shockwave that broke every window in the area.
"How did he do that!?" Pearl screeched, trying to keep herself steady from being knocked back. "Even if he's corrupted, Rose never had this sort of destructive power before, she was a healer!"
"Well obviously he does!" Kelly shouted, fighting the rat army with Garnet. "He has the power to punch through stone and exploding bubbles, he might just be battle oriented in general!"
"Are you kidding me, fighting is usually the last thing on my brother's mind!" Star charged up to her brother's form, attempting to maw her at any second. "You always try to protect first! You're not some dumb animal that takes bites out of people!" Her face felt warm, her heart marks beginning to glow as the imprint of his star marks did the same.
"No, you'll do as I say-" Ludo was cut off by a volley of spears. "Fine then, let's see how this new wand fares against a rock woman!" He shouted, firing green lasers at Pearl.
"Ugh, I remember Kappas being far less troublesome two hundred years ago." Pearl rolled her eyes, doing her best to deflect the magic, even as it pushed her back.
"Steven, Star's right, you're not some wild animal, and even if you were, you'd still be great to hang around!" Jana grabbed two rats by their tails and used them as wrecking balls. "Because every part of your weird and wild lifestyle is amazing to experience!"
"Grrr." [Warmth. Comfort. Blush]. The stars on Steven glowed brighter as she started to feel less malevolent behavior from him.
"Guys, keep it up, I think the talking is working!" Star told everyone. "Talk the evil out of him!"
"Steven, you're an awesome friend! You're fun, innocent, and responsible!" Marco shouted, grabbing the spider by the neck and punching it. "I wouldn't have anyone other than you as the brother I never had!"
"Don't listen! You have claws, you have teeth and spike on your back! You know Mewni will never accept a monster like you!" Ludo shouted as Garnet launched her gauntlet at his tiny body.
"Monsters aren't evil!" Star shouted. "They're just people, come on Steven, come back to us!"
"That first time we met at the wrestling ring, that was some of the funnest times I had ever had!" Amethyst joined in. "You're just as fun as I always pictured you to be, and I want to keep having fun!"
[Conflicted. Restrain. Compliment. Warmth] Steven's body began to glow, shifting in and out of its big state.
"Steven!" Kelly shouted, her hair tangled in spider webs. "Being your friend has made me feel better than when I'm dating Tad! You're a great comfort that I don't want to live without!"
"Steven, you're my brother." Star walked up, placing her head against his. "I couldn't live without you."
[Acceptance. Warmth. Family.] The body shined brightly, almost blindingly, before shrinking down onto a sick looking Steven. "Ugh … did anyone catch the bus that hit me?"
"Steven!" Star squeezed her brother like he was a toothpaste bottle. "You're back! Thank corn, thank all the corn in the universe!"
"Star … can't … breathe …"
"Well, there goes my monster." Ludo shrugged. "But I still have a wand, two strong minions, and an army! You will come with me, Star Butterfly!"
"You turned my brother into a giant pink dino, you stole half of my wand, and you think I'm going to go along with you after all the shit you just pulled!?" Star saw pink...literally, her entire body was glowing pink all over. "Get the hell out of my sight!"
With a sudden burst of energy that she never felt more of before in her entire life, she charged right past the rats, stormed right through the eagle and spider, and watched the whole world go in slow motion as she sent her fist right towards Ludo's small frame.
"A ckkkaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Another small shockwave of force was felt in the air, sending Ludo flying off to who knows where. She panted, glaring at the other animals as they began to make random noises and scatter, soon leaving the kids and gems alone.
"That…that was…something." Star let herself take deep breaths, before falling to the ground, exhausted. "Do you know if we have any pizza left?"
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"Dudes, what the heck was that all about?" Amethyst just had to ask after that whole crazy mess.
"No clue, Star and Ludo started fighting, it all got fuzzy and cold and painful, then I came back with the biggest wave of exhaustion in my life." Steven fell down on the ground next to his sister. "Was that a new spell, or were you dipping down?"
"Did my eyes get a new shape?" Star asked everyone.
"No, you still looked normal, just glowing bright neon pink." Marco explained.
"Might have been that pink thing you do sometimes."
"... I turned pink!?"
"Yeah, it happened when you got angry at mom and dad, then during the cat finger incident...l think I just hacked into another one of your powers."
"It was also when you came at me after Toffee broke my arm." Kelly shrugged. "Really lucky my hair doubles as a cast."
"I don't get it, Rose told me everything about her abilities…did she hide another aspect about it from me?" Pearl was starting to get into that mopey attitude again.
"Hey, I know less than you do Pearl." Steven reassured the gem, taking a bite of pizza. "Like, if I shapeshift my body right, do I still need lungs?"
"Best to not explore that avenue for the moment." Garnet kneeled down and patted the boy. "I'm sorry we couldn't be here sooner. The future has been more in flux as of late, like most of the multiple paths are covered in a deep fog."
"Even the almighty power up of future vision fails." Jana deadpanned. "Maybe we should try tarot cards, you'll probably get a more accurate reading."
"That honestly doesn't sound like a bad idea. We need every leg up we can get if Ludo of all people is starting to be more of a threat." Marco sighed.
"And to think I had the gall to be happy he came back." Kelly sighed.
"Why can't we go to the good old days of occasional monster fighting!?" Star shouted. "Is that so much to ask!?"
"Yes." Garnet deadpanned in a humor filled tone.
"We'll at least have our humor when every bad thing starts happening all at once." Steven turned to his friend and her. "Thanks guys, I felt a slight wave of appreciation when everything went fuzzy. I'm glad I have you guys in my life."
"Of course Ste-man, I'm always down for a party of relaxing fun." Amethyst gave the boy a noogie.
"Yeah-did you shapeshift during the fight?." The boy asked her. "Your hand feels like one of Lion's paws."
"Hmm?" She looked at her hand. Strange, she should change it ba- Faulty. Form. Hand Structure. And found she couldn't…. "Yeah, I was planning on going to town on those rats cat and mouse style." Amethyst lied.
"We should probably get going now before anyone starts questioning the mess." Star looked around them. "I got a phone call to make to Mom about the wand, and about something else."
"Good idea, we have to warn Mewni about the second wand problem."