Summary:
For better … or worse
Chapter Text
Star laid lazily on sand that was now her new front lawn. It was relaxing and super comfortable, but she couldn't focus on any form of fun or relaxing at the moment, no matter how much she wanted to.
"Star, look out!" Steven's warning came too late as a volleyball hit her face. She just let it hit her, not giving it a chance to bother her.
"Sorry about that!" Phineas said, as he and most of their new friends gathered together for a fun beach day. "I was certain the kinks on the boomerang circuits in the ball were all fixed."
"Boomerang ball sounds pretty badass." She spoke, tossing the ball back. "It actually does what you want instead of going on forever."
"… Star, are you doing okay?" Steven asked.
"Yeah … just kinda hit a wall after clearing my head." She noted. "Can't figure out a single way to help Eclipsa be shown as a good person."
"Hah, it's one of those deals, isn't it?" Anne asked with a light snort. "Been there, done that. Trust me when I say you just got to give stuff like that time. It took about a month before everyone in Wartwood began trusting me."
"It's been four months and they still want her head on a pike." She inputted.
"Alright, you should just ditch the planet." Louie said with an uncaring shrug as most of the group stared at him in disappointment. "What? No idea is a bad idea until it tries to kill you."
"Still pretty heartless." Luz shook her head. "I would've left the Boiling isles to die hundreds of times for every stubborn demon and witch I met there if I gave up that easily."
"I mean, it's definitely not easy." She muttered. "But still, four months without any progress? Can't we do something to increase the good vibes."
"Have you tried bribing them with candy?" Number three suggested, being the naive and sweet girl that she was.
"Hmm, sounds good, but Eclipsa would sooner hog all of it to herself than give any away." Steven shot down. "Her sweet tooth is insatiable."
"Have you tried threatening them with gum in their hair?" Number four suggested, being the violent kid he was.
"I'm getting pretty close to just ripping off their arms and beating them senseless with it." Star admitted. "But they were fine with being arrested if it meant Eclipsa was gone."
"Okay, so they hate your grandma beyond life itself and probably want to behead her at any cost." Dipper spoke up next. "Does she have any GOOD sides to her personality that we can show off to a large number of people?"
"Sure." Steven shrugged. "She's nice, motherly, and has a great singing voice. But what could possibly be done to send a single message across an audience that's larger than a small stage no one would bother show up to?"
Everyone stared at Steven for a hot minute. "I almost forgot you were not an Earth native for a minute." Mabel said with a hint of disappointment.
"Your dimension has video and internet, right?" Phineas asked her, taking out a laptop he had stored away.
"Yeah. We use magic mirrors instead of smartphones, but it works the same way generally." She clarified.
"Ferb, I know what we're going to do today!" Phineas shouted, before looking around confused. "Hey, where's Perry?"
"Raagh!" Lion roared, looking over with caution before running off.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd think Lion was afraid of your Platypus." Steven titled his head.
"He shouldn't be. They don't do much." Ferb spoke …
"You can talk!?" Everyone shouted.
"Yeah, but he only does one sentence a day." Number Five answered with a shrug.
"Wait, so that one sentence he just said is all he's going to say today?" Luz asked.
"Ferb's not a man of words, he's a man of action." The young brother said, watching as the green haired kid started messing with blueprints. "Anyways, if we can get a hold of the frequency, we should be able to hijack the mirror signal and play whatever we want. Heck, we can take it a step further and broadcast it across the multiverse."
"We just met a couple months ago, how can you already go cross dimensional?" Anne asked in bafflement.
"Why do you think they're on our tech team?" Number Two stated with a grin. "They're the best in the bizz."
"Hey, if this is all about making an impression, then we can't tread lightly." Dewey said, standing on top of a water cooler to make himself look taller and impressive. "This needs to be a whole show! With lights, action, mystery, and thrills of all kinds!"
"And I know the perfect broadcasting station!" Star shouted, getting into this as she pulled out her mirror, calling Ponyhead. "And we can show the whole world the good things we're trying to bring to the table!"
"I'll grab the rest of the gang, this is gonna be big!" Steven shouted with glee. "Here we come, awesome show!"
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"Welcome to a very special segment of Dewey Dew Night." Dewey spoke to the camera. "I'm your host, Dewey, the man with the most daring of Dew." He signaled for the laugh track, getting a kitten sound instead.
"I'm sorry, I'm gettin it." The man named Soos typed some more keys, one being thunder. "Hold on, I know I mastered this last summer…"
"Ignoring our … technical difficulties at the moment, I have two very special guests with me. Give it up for Dipper Pines and Luz Noceda!" He ignored the siren noises. "Great to have you two with us tonight."
"It's great to be here. No seriously, you have no idea how amazed I am to be here." Luz said with that excitable energy that the audience was sure to gobble up. "I love the Boiling Isles, but it's nice to visit a dimension where the rain doesn't cook you alive."
"And giving my findings to the world has always been a dream of mine." The boy smiled with a cool lean. "Finally giving the supernatural the recognition it deserves."
"Glad to have you on board." Dewey nodded. "For those of the 'higher evolved' audience, Dipper and Luz here are known as 'hooman beans', from a world where monkeys like them have taken over and became the dominant species." A real dystopian society.
"I would feel more insulted if you weren't scientifically accurate." Dipper stated.
"So how about this for a topic starter." He leaned forward on his desk. "Dipper, Luz, what do you two do for hobbies?"
"Watching anime, drawing, and finding new ways to practice witchcraft." Luz answered first. "It turns out I can do potion brewing without being in the Boiling Isles, so I've been mostly catching up on that front."
"I study the supernatural and mysteries." Dipper said with a smile. "Although most of these days it's magic and aliens, there is the occasional guy wearing a mask … that actually seems to be the case a lot when the guys in a sixties van come into town."
"Nothing like good old mystery solving to get the day started. I detect that you two have uncovered quite a few capers yourselves?" A rubber ducky noise came from the background next. Dewey knew that he should've gotten Launchpad.
"Oh yes. Did you know that aliens actually came to earth to steal old people and eat them?" Dipper asked. "And they were allergic to water of all things!"
"And I figured out the author of Azura is a scammer!" They both stared at her. "… Okay, I may not solve a lot of mysteries, but only because everyone is very upfront with me."
"Jealous!" The butterfly siblings screamed off stage.
"We are neighbors now, and I know where you both live!" Luz shouted back to them. "Do you really want to test your luck with me when all I have to do is draw something to strangle you two?"
"Jokes on you, I'm a badass sleep fighter!"
"Alright, we're getting off topic." Dewey waved his arms. "So, do you two know any good spells?"
"I've got loads of glyph spells, check this out." The girl planted down a pad of paper and stepped on it, sending a pillar of fire upwards that almost spread everywhere. "Ahh, I thought this was an ice glyph!" She stomped it out as the soot got all over her face.
"Lovely fireworks, great for a night in the town." He waved it off. "What about you, book boy?"
"I tried, but I can't really get magic down pat. Mable's better at that stuff than me." Dipper shrugged. "Ironically the one thing I got down was corpus levitas, diablo dominium mondo vicium , but I never say it because-" The ground started to shake.
"DIPPER!" Mabel shouted. "What did I say about raising the dead again, especially on a live broadcast!?"
"Do not do it." The hat wearing twin said as a rotted hand started to grab ahold of his face.
"We'll be back after a few messages from our sponsors-don't let them eat my brain!"
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"Although poorly timed." Anne said, tossing away a zombie skull. "Now we'll get on with a moment in the kitchen with Anne Bunchoy, and her sous chef, Marco Diaz."
The boy in question coughed. "You mean head chef."
"I'm sorry, do you work minimum wage at a Thai restaurant and successfully revitalize a dying one in another dimension?" Anne raised an eyebrow.
"Do you have over forty years of experience cooking while being locked inside the body of a fifteen year old?" He asked, raising his own eyebrow.
"Guys, there's a schedule we need to keep!" Number two shouted from behind the camera. "The zombie's put us behind by five minutes, and KO's still fighting off the stragglers."
"SORE-RY!" The little kid himself said as he uppercut another zombie skull. "Sorry mister, we need you to be dead again."
"Alright alright, we'll speed it along." Anne sighed. "Today, we're going to be cooking a traditional meal in Amphibia, flycakes."
"As in pancakes shaped like flies?" Marco asked.
"No, as in pancakes WITH flies in them." She clarified. "It's surprisingly tasty when you get used to the insect legs."
"And what about the bug people in the audience?" The guy asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Dude, it's the multiverse, no matter what we make there's probably some sentient version of whatever we make." Anne argued back. "And last I checked, we're supposed to be cooking, not talking about philosophy."
"I'm not the one making both gross and offensive food."
"It's delicious and nutritious..."
"Not to mention the numerous diseases they carry…"
"They're packed with protein…"
"I'd hesitate to feed pigs this slop…"
"Hey, watch it buster!" Anne pointed an accusatory figure at the red hooded jerk. "It was thanks to this 'slop' that I didn't starve to death! And each bug filled bite I had was always filled with love and care!"
"Food fight, food fight, food fight!" Every kid shouted, and maybe they had a point.
"Alright, I'll show you my dish is superior!" She grabbed ingredients, getting to work.
"And I'll show you that I anything I make is clearly better than whatever parasite filled pastry you threaten to serve is!" The boy grabbed some tools, starting to place ingredients into a pot.
"… And we moved to this." Star sighed off camera. "As long as we get to Eclipsa's part, it should be fine."
"Yeah, maybe we got a little carried away with giving everyone a segment." Steven said as he munched on something round and colorful. "On the bright side, the Macarons Ladybug recommended for caratering are delicious."
"Just a local bakery, don't mention it." A legitimate superhero said from a wall … when did Anne become so nonchalant with how cool her life was now?
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"Mind passin the popcorn pall?" Wander asked the good old shapeshifting dog. The little Orange alien may have loved traveling the galaxy, but it was nice to have a little break every now and again on the planet earth.
"Sure thing, this latest segment is pretty cool."
It showed four ninjas chatting it up. "So Jay was all 'Ah, it's rubber, why did we have to fight my weakness', and we all laughed for a bit."
"They let me struggle for an hour! I didn't even have a sharp weapon to actually fight! I'm the one guy on the team with a blunt weapon!" The blue ninja complained.
"BMO, I didn't know you got such great reception. Why haven't you done this before?" Jake asked the cute little robot they've been watching the program on.
"Because I've never been able to do this before. My circuits have been violated on a massively invasive scale." The little guy responded. "I can see the entire universe … my eyes and ears are doing the biological equivalent of bleeding."
"What's your guys equivalent of a robot emergency room?" Kelly, one of his new best friends, asked. "I feel we might need to take BMO there after."
"A mechanic, though a quick tune up from PB usually helps." Jake said with a nonchalant wave of a hand. "Such a shame Finn and Slyvia are missing this."
"Well when Mars gets invaded by Zombies, they're my go to for help." Wander said. "I'd help them, but Slyvia says Zombies don't reciprocate good intentions, so it be pointless for me." As if, they just needed to be shown a safer alternative for brains.
"Trust me man, they don't." Jake said with a wave of his hand. "Zombie stuff is a big bad sickness that never ended well with the candy people."
"It's weird, we never actually fought the undead. Closest we came to was the gem mutants." Kelly noted, staring at the tv. "… They seem to be doing well."
"Check this out, we call it spinjutsu." The red ninja began to spin around, fire emanating from their body.
"Wait, you'll hit the camera-!" The scene cut to commercials for some guy named 'Mc Fist'. Looked nifty.
"You could always go back." Wander smiled. "It's always nice when I visit an old friend.
"Not yet … I don't quite know myself … or trust myself." The bushy haired girl sighed. "I can finally safely say I can live without fusion, but…I've messed up what I had with Steven so hard.."
"Don't sweat it girl, if I had a nickel for every relationship Finn screwed the pooch on that front, I'd have about….five nickels, which isn't a lot, but it's funny that it's happened that many times." Jake shrugged.
"That's true." The girl nodded, leaning back. "I guess we can just … go back to being friends."
"Nothing wrong with the platonic." Wander agreed. "I've been around for a thousand years, and every friendship I've made has been able to last generations."
The two of them stared at him. "… I thought you were a teenager." Jake said, Kelly nodding along.
"Oh come on, I don't act that childish." They gave him unamused stares. "What?"
"Just..how have you lived this long?"
"Vegetarian diet. It keeps the face extremely youthful."
Kelly gained a haunted look on her face. "Oh no … Vlad was right!!"
"Oh hey look, I think the next one's a wrestling match." Jake deflected the conversation before the girl could become depressed again.
"Show me the blood!" Kelly got excited once more. Not exactly his cup of tea, but anything was better than the girl being sad.
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Ben heard the chant of the audience, Chat Noir, a real life superhero, just like him, screamed into the mic. "Alright ladies and gentlemen. We have an exciting show tonight that will leave you PAWsitivily craving for more!" This was gonna be real fun. He pulled up the Omnitrix, dialing to his best fighter.
"In this corner, the cub from the jungle that inherited a coconut factory! Buying his own muscles and power as he cleaves his way through the competition, it's, Tiger Millionaire!"
"I have clawed my way out of the depths of obscurity, and today I come before my roaringaudience to claim the whiskers of victory!" Steven began hamming it up and getting into his persona. It was a surprise to learn that the pacifist kid had his own secret wrestling career.
"And in the other, a new challenger from a far away land." Chat Noir smirked. "They may just be the PURRfect challenger yet for this undefeated champion." Ben was loving the puns, even as he could see others groan. "Give it up for …" The dude paused. "What kinda name is 'Rath'?"
"This name!" He slammed on the watch. With a flash of green, Rath roared, jumping onto the stage and surprising those that haven't seen Rath being awesome before. "Let me tell you something, Tiger Millionaire! You may have money, but gold coins and the power of stock market is no match for the awesomeness that is Rath!!" Rath roared out, the force pushing that puny business man back.
"For a feline, you sure have a lot of bark in yah!" The tiny rich cat shouted as he pressed forward. "But around these parts, there's only room for one top cat!" Picking Rath up, Tiger Million lifted him over his head and threw him into the edge of the ring.
"And we're off with a feline massacre folks!" That leather hero shouted. "Already starting strong before the bell even rings!"
"Rath is gonna make you pay for that little man!" He roared, rushing and slamming the boy into the edge of the ring, where they bounced off the cord. "Because Rath, is the best fighter there is!" The tiger alien extended their arm, slamming it into their body with a satisfying boom.
"And amazing intensity all the time." Chat Noir turned to his dumb cousin. "Anything you have to say about our new fighter?"
"Rath is from a race of combat aliens. They're super rage induced, but it's a minor trade off for the physical full roundedness they can bring to the table." Gwen spoke into the mic. "With that said, please kick the dofus's butt, Tiger Millionaire."
"Don't worry." The little man stood up. "Because I have some taxes to file!" Rath was grabbed, thrown in a suplex as he was planted face first into the ground. Countering, Rath gripped the ground, grabbing the richie rich with his legs and tossed him into the edge once more, only for him to float slowly to the ground. "A cat can always land on their feet, can you say the same?"
"Cats also have nine lives, and you haven't knocked off ONE of Raths! Rath is gonna show you my claws!" He extended the internal blades on his arm, yelling as he rushed forward.
"Are we allowing natural weapons?" Chat Noir asked the group.
"Hm, guess we didn't think this one all the way through." Star thought about it for a second, before shrugging. "As long as Ben doesn't change form and Steven doesn't do any major shapeshifting, anything goes."
"Oh good, for a second, I thought I'd have to go into this face declawed. " Tiger Million chuckled before a giant bubble covered in spike formed around himself. Rath hurt himself trying to punch it, a cut on his arm.
Rath growled. "Let me tell ya something, pink bubble covered in spikes! You may have hurt Rath, but Rath will hurt you harder!!" Rath began hitting and striking at the bubble over and over, slowly letting it break.
"Well it's just like they say, the best offense is also the best defense!" As the bubbled began to crack, the puny business man waved his hands and it expanded, forcing Rath to fly back first into the ground.
"You're going down, bubble!" Rath ran into it, beating the bubble into submission as it shattered, then going after the annoying shards on the ground that tried to hurt Rath.
"Is … is he angry at the bubble itself?" Rath could hear his previous opponent ask.
"I told you, super rage induced." Rath's dweeb of a cousin said with an eyeroll. "You might want to end the match now, he'll be at it for a while until something else attacks him."
"Boo, I wanted more blood!" Mabel said as she lobbed a paper ball at Rath's head.
Rath turned with a growl to the girl. "Let me tell you something braces wearing cool sweater girl, you have attacked Rath, so Rath will attack you back!!" Rath jumped out of the ring as everyone screamed.
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"Sorry about the last segment." His brother, Phineas, spoke with sincerity. "We finally got enough tranquilizers to calm him down." It didn't help that the boy timed out mid shot … and was now an unconscious human. "But now we can move onto our segment, 'how to build stuff'." Normally they would've opted for a musical montage, but Star was insistent that the musical segment would be reserved for their Grandma Eclipsa.
"Now this is something I've been interested in for a while now." The red duck, Huey, said with a smile. "Finally, some real life down to earth science, so what are we going to start with? A jet pack, high tech car, radio tower?"
"Well there's kids in the audience, so I was thinking of an ice cream machine." Phineas stated. "You know, something simple to follow along."
"Heck yeah!" Dewey, Luz, KO, Steven and Mabel shouted simultaneously.
"Well, I guess if it's for the fans." Huey sighed. "So, what's first?"
"Well first we need the cold, so first you should start with an anti energy generator that produces cold instead of heat, allowing for a more effective chill." Ferb placed the device on the table.
"You what now?" Huey immediately stood agaped as he paused in the middle of writing in his notepad.
"Now to slowly keep the internal temperature stable, you should line it up with a mix of aluminum and titanium alloy, which allows it to be sturdy and stable." Ferb began working as his brother explained the easy to follow instructions.
"Hold on, give me a minute, I'm still on the anti energy generator!"
"Now to funnel and mix all the ingredients together we need a particle colliding based system that melds the ingredients together on an atomic level." Ferb showed off the device. "That way you get the perfect mixture and don't ruin the experience."
"Is all ice cream in your universe made with this amount of complexity?"
"Nah, we just like to take fun one step further." Phineas said with a smile. "It's not that hard to do anyway, so we thought we'd share the steps." He turned back to the camera "Of course if you wanted all the components to meld together properly, you need to use a blowtorch and peanut butter everywhere, preferably creamy."
"How the heck does that fit in at all!?"
"Well we tried crunchy, but creamy just happens to act as a better cement for all the cracks and joints. That's how we're able to prevent the treehouse from falling apart."
"These guys are awesome!" Louie shouted. "They're one uping our science guy!"
"They are not one upping me!" The red duck accused.
"Now next is the ingredients. Thanks to a lost addition to the nursery rhyme of 'the cow jumped over the moon' we found at the bottom of the Red Sea, we discovered milk tastes best when produced from low gravity, so after making a farm there we set up a product labeled 'Moon Milk'. Trust me when I say it'll rock your socks off." Ferb poured the milk into the canister.
"Okay, now that I'm calling foul on! The lack of gravity shouldn't have an effect on the ingredients!"
"Our dimension's moon has piles of gold on it." Dewey called out from the back. "I can totally buy the moon milk theory."
"Now for sugar we had to outsource our normal ingredients and ask our friends for help. Give it up for Steven Universe!"
Puppy dog sounds came from Soos's direction. "I swear I had it working earlier!"
"No harm done, dude, I can roll with it." The curly haired boy in pink waved off. "I've made sure to gather the finest ingredients in order to make this the best ice ever. First a cup of shredded rainbow.."
"You can't shred rainbows, they're made of water!" Huey shouted, looking delusional.
"A dab of fire salt to give it a slight kick." Steven threw in a shake of red and glowing rock salt that was on fire but somehow not burning the ingredients
"Why would you put something with 'fire' in the name, in ice cream!?"
"A pinch of pixie dust from the boiling isles, a smidge of burple berry.."
"I can take the pixie dust, but burple berry is not a real flavor!"
"Freshly picked marshmallows from mars.."
"Life doesn't grow on-" Ben walked up and placed a hand on Huey's shoulder, shaking his head no.
"And finally … a dash of cream." Once the last ingredient was placed, the machine began to mix.
"Now, for cones, you should start by taking out your atomizer, and aim it at eggs, flour, butter, and sugar." Phineas explained.
"Oh for the love of, seriously!!?" Huey was pulling on his head feathers as his eyes began going red with rage. "You're breaking down objects at the molecular level to make cones?!"
"What, you think we should've gone to the ice cream cone mines instead?"
"I … why do those exist!?"
They heard a ding. "Oh, it's done." Ferb opened the compartment, scooping it into his cone. "And here's a perfect ice cream cone."
"Now all that's left is to add the sprinkles!" Mabel can in with a canister.
"And what deranged and chaotic place did you get that!?" Huey asked indignantly.
"... The dollar store."
"…Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!" The red wearing mcduck triplet muttered inchoherly as they began a rage fueled attack on the studio set.
"Now join us next week, when we teach you how to make a nuclear powered boomerang that can travel through time."
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"I had worries, but this is turning out good." Star smiled. "We're showing off monstrous looking people and having a fun time combined into one! When we get to Eclipsa's part, the crowd is gonna go wild!"
"Wait, is that what we've been doing?" Luz asked, slightly confused. "I just thought we were having random fun.
"What, no, we started this whole thing complaining about how people don't treat her right." Steven sighed. "Thanks again for helping us Ponyhead."
"No prob Q-fly, I'm down for helping besties and the queen of darkness." The floating horse head nodded. "And I'm making like, thousands for the ad revenue, so you're actually helping me by making the show as long as it is with all the segments." Her best friend on Mewni looked around them. "You two have made some pretty weird friends though."
Star turned to the current segment, two guys named Mordecai and Riby sitting down and talking about their lives. "So after cutting the yard we had to take out the trash, which was hard because of the rats. So after they ate the exterminator they turned to a mutant."
"Same old story, there's a giant mutant rat in your backyard, you hit it in the eye. Always take it down." How they managed to make awesome things sound casual she would never know.
"And we still have so many views." Number Two pointed to the screen. "No one has changed the channel."
"Oh, that's because they can't." … The entire group turned to Seahorse. "What?"
"What do you mean … can't?" Anne asked hesitantly.
"Oh, Mirrors don't normally have signals sent out constantly unlike television or phones, so I had to rewire the system to allow for it. All other functions on their mirrors other than watching this have been nullified and voided."
"Wait, so people have been watching…because they can't turn it off or change the channel?" KO summed up the situation. "Which means…we've been forcing people to watch us?"
"Yep." The boy smiled. "Anything for my girlfriend."
"Awww, I love you too, boo." Ponyhead said back with a blush.
"Alright, I'm ready for my cue." Eclipsa came out of the dressing room, wearing a garish tiger suit. "I must say, I don't quite get today's fashion."
"Ponyhead…" Star turned to her best friend once more.
"What, you wanted everyone to have eyes on her, I'm just doing what I'm told." The now hornless unicorn rolled her eyes.
"Not by force!" Star shouted. "Gah, i'm surprised they haven't started rioting and showing things like-"
"DOWN WITH THE SHOW! DOWN WITH THE SHOW! DOWN WITH THE SHOW!" Was the cry of several Mewmans pounding on the thankfully locked doors.
"I'm trying to sleep!"
"You kids are annoying!"
"I lost my high score!"
"How can I see funny cat videos now!? It's the only thing I have now that I live in the woods!"
"Okay, so if my name had any good will before it probably just got flushed down the drain." Star groaned.
"Don't be like that Star, they're just being petty." Anne tried patting her on the back.
"They're always petty, they're always angry." She said. "They refuse to accept Eclipsa, this was supposed to help her gain support in the end, but all we did was annoy them." She placed her head into her hands. "This was supposed to actually fix something."
"Star, you do recall what I said about not needing to be liked to be Queen, right?" Eclipsa spoke to her softly.
"But it's just going to be worse and worse." Star said. "They're never going to accept monsters, they're never going to accept change, they're never going to accept anything other than 'kill everyone who doesn't look like us' and 'every queen must be perfect'." She could feel anger boiling, black sparks in the corner of her eyes.
"Mom changed though, and she's probably the most stubborn Mewman we know about this thing." Steven rubbed her arm. "Heck, Ludo changed, and he's probably more stubborn than all of Mewmanity combined."
"And again, you're not alone with this sort of thing." Anne spoke out again. "I had to lead a whole war that united all of Amphibian kind together, and even then they were trying to kill each other in the middle of planning, the day BEFORE the big fight."
"But I haven't gotten anything!" Star shouted. "No progress whatsoever! Mom only changed because us dying was the only other alternative …" She paused, looking down at her own hands. "..How long have I been sparking…?"
"Since the mob made themselves known." Phineas told her. "And it's not hopeless yet, we still have one last segment to get through."
"Come on Eclipsa, take the stage." Steven handed her the mike. "Be as honest with the world as you are with us … just, less violent about it, please. We don't need another Rhombulus incident."
"I can promise no brain switching, the rest..not so much." The Queen smirked as she made her way on the stage.
" Please do, I don't need that awkwardness in my life again." Steven, Dipper, Mabel, and Luz said at the same time, all four of them looking at each other.
"Magic spell."
"Science carpet."
"How is science carpet the odd one-" She heard the banging get louder. "No time. "Do what you need to do Eclipsa." She gave a gentle push to the queen, praying for success.
"I shall." The woman smirked before waving to the camera, carrying her guitar made up of Rat Bones. " Imagine waking up..To a world turned upside-down.."
The crowd began to die down on the rioting. Good, that meant they were listening. " Those you know are gone." The voice was soft and melodious, very reflective of her motherly nature. " And suddenly you have the crown."
It was already tugging on her friends' heartstrings. "Number four, are you crying?" Number three asked the watery eyed short kid
"No, I'm just sweating through my eyes!"
"Here I am, this is me." Eclipsa played on. " Brokenhearted but finally free. Never quite fit the mold…..Just not great at doing what I'm told."
Star could relate so hard to that. Looking around, she could see others looking thoughtful as well, staring with smiles.
"Now I'm here in your world…So much bigger from my point of view." Anne and Luz smiled at each other, fist bumping at that little comment.
"Centuries from my home…" Eclipsa let out a tear, shaking her head before continuing her melody. "Can't go back, so let's start something new."
"My heart…it's too full!" Mabel was sobbing pretty hard alongside KO and Webby. Ladybug was wipping her eyes and Chat Noir tried to provide a shoulder to lean on while Ben did his best to uphold the tough guy act.
"Here I am, this is me … Open-hearted, I proudly decree." The queen went on, giving a smile. "Now as queen, I am yours …. Let's make magic and reach for the stars … Let's make magic and reach for the stars." She gave a few more strums, finally finishing the song.
The group gave a standing ovation. Star was estatic. She felt the love and warmth. This was it, this was-
"It was just a ploy from Eclipsa!" Someone shouted.
"Probably trying to get us to 'like monsters' like those duck freaks that came on screen!"
"Oh come on!"
"Yeah, probably also trying to spread her dark influence with that witch girl!"
"Just think if the children saw this crap!"
"DOWN WITH THE WITCH! DEATH TO THE MONSTERS! DOWN WITH THE WITCH! DEATH TO THE MONSTERS!"
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Steven could idly see a large variety of emotions on his peers. The Mcducks were in a panic, likely from being called 'monsters that deserved death' and stuff like that.
"Man, your kingdom really hates anything different." Luz said with a face full of cringe. "It's like they didn't even listen to anything we've been saying all day
"They probably didn't." Chat Noir said with a sigh. "I've seen people like that, stubborn and unchanging … this place was never going to accept it."
"Well we are talking about adults here." Number One said. "Where people are at the age where bad ideas have snuck in deep and taken root at a fundamental level."
"I just … I don't … why would …" Phinieas was looking like he was having a mental breakdown. Steven may have underestimated his new friend group's maturity to extreme prejudice, most of them were still kids.
Eclipsa … she just looked expectant. Like she expected this from the start. "It's sadly my kingdom, and where I live. I thank you all for your attempts, even if it was never going to work out."
"We had fun today at least, right?" KO surprisingly was the best at keeping a more optimistic outlook on the situation. "We got to hang out and do a big project together. We made memories, that's always good."
"Yeah, plenty of memories for us." Marco patted the boy, trying to keep the good vibe going. "Isn't that right Star?"
"They're … never … going to change." His sister muttered, hearing the cries of the crowd. "They'll never change … nothing will change …" Black veins started to wrap around her arms. "The diamonds will keep attacking earth … the adults keep messing up … the people keep uselessly hating one another … no matter how much effort we do." They grew up to her head, attaching to her eyes. "Nothing fixes nothing fixes nothing fixes it's all just one big mistake."
"Star…dude, are you alright?" Ben tried asking.
Star became still, turning to Ben with a smile … one that didn't belong on his sister's face. "I'm perfectly fine, I just had a fun little realization is all." She gave an offhand wave that creeped everyone out. "We should give the people what they want." She began walking to the door.
"Hey, don't do anything crazy girl!" Luz shouted as she covered the door with vines to get in the way. "Take a second to calm down!"
Star simply grabbed the door … the vines rotting away and falling to the ground as she opened it. "Citizens of Mewni! You all wanted death and destruction, right!?" She asked with a sense of showmanship.
"YES!" …. These people were too stupid to realize how dangerous the situation was.
" Then I'll give you death! I'll give you a whole kingdom's worth of death!" Star's hands became coated in a black and eldritch fire. "And I'll start by getting rid of the studio's pest problem!"
"Yeah, get rid of those filthy duck monste-" Steven had to generate a shield fast, as Star almost set the man ablaze.
"Everyone run! She's out of control!" Steven warned as the citizens finally realized they were the ones she wanted dead.
She turned to him with a pout. "Aww bro, your stopping the retaliation." She placed a hand on the shield, black cracks spreading along it. "I'm just giving the people what they deserve and ask for."
"Star, you need to stop." Gwen spoke, gesturing the non fighters out. "You're not in the right mind space."
"I'm the most clear headed I've ever been! They claim that everyone can only be better when what they hate disappears, so I'm just following through on their logic!" The growing dark fiery aura began flaring all over Star's body.
"Okay, you need a time out!" Ladybug wrapped her yo-yo around Star as Luz made more vines. "We don't want to fight you Star, so just stand down!"
"No thanks." His sister laughed, sparking. "Hey, Chat Noir, what did you call that one move … Cataclysm?" Star's hands started sparking a lot more chaotically. " I think I'll steal it, so don't sue me for copyright."
"Everybody out, now!" The cat hero shouted in a panic. The warning came too late as Star shot both of her hands into the ground, making it crumble and collapse as a wave of energy was sending them back. If it wasn't for his last minute shield making, they would've hit it head on.
"I didn't know Star had her own TKO!" KO shouted as everyone was sent flying.
"Her own what now?!"
"Split personality that was born due to superpowers combined with my growing lack of self-worth that festered into immense anger for everything around me!"
"So everyone in this group has been traumatized in some way!" Luz shouted. "Nice to know I'm not alone!"
"How did you beat it?" Huey asked as they all landed.
"By accepting that I can feel fear and anger just like everyone else." The boy explained with a smile.
"Come on out Mewmans! Star wants to play with your heads!!"
"I think now's not the time for her to express any form of anger right now!" Marco said as he avoided a blast to the head.
"Well we could always bottle up her emotions, but that comes back to bite you in the long run." KO said.
"Bottle…bottle…that's it!" Steven said as he turned to Eclipsa. "Eclipsa, do you know Crescenta's emotion spell?"
"You mean the spell that came after me from the currently destroyed book?" She asked rhetorically.
"Damn it.." This wasn't the time to hold back anything. He needed to save his sister now. Grabbing Marco's scissors, he tossed them to Eclipsa. "There's a piece of the spell book in Star's closet! Use the bugs and learn it!"
"I'll thank you later!" She said, running through the portal.
Glossaryck came from behind. "It'll take a few minutes to actually fix the book … good luck holding her off till then." He waved, following through.
"KO, was there anything your friends were able to do to calm TKO!?" Steven shouted.
"Hug me and love me?" They stared at the blazing black flames that went into the sky.
"Sometimes I hate having fast healing.." He groaned as he lit himself pink. "She's going to keep attacking, so no matter what, keep pushing me forward!"
"Lucky Charm!" Ladybug tossed her YoYo in the air … producing a blanket.
"Oh that's going to be really useful!" Anne said sarcastically.
"Never doubt the Lucky Charm." Marco said. "Alright Steven, lead the charge!"
"I'm on it!" Steven said as he produced a shield that was big enough to cover them. Unfortunately, being at the front, he was feeling the immense heat and fire from Star's attacks. He had to suppress screams, creating a small shield as he tried to make it easier for the others.
He continued trudging, digging deeper into himself … and deeper … and dipping down . He felt his body shift, clawed feet and spikes on his back. Oh, so he had his own mewberty transformation back…oh joy. Plus side, the fire only was half as excruciatingly painful.
"Steven, you feeling alright!?" Luz asked as she and everyone else pushed him. "I know I got a healing glyph somewhere.."
"Save it for the others just in case! I've dealt with worse … you can ask Marco." He said. "I have dealt with so much … but it's worth it for her." He continued pressing onward, seeing bolts of black lightning. "She's close."
He was starting to see double, feeling the burns get to him. He needed to keep pressing on. So close … so close … he could see her. Standing over a woman, a black ball in her hand.
"STAR!" She turned to him with that vicious smile … which dropped at seeing his burnt up state, the fire lowering.
"Steven …" The girl's fire began to die down, but the dark veins stayed. " You're hurt…"
"Since when is that something new?" He joked, now closer to her, wrapping his arm around her. "You're obviously hurting more right now."
" But I attacked you…stay away from me..please..I don't want to hurt you anymore.."
"I know more than anyone that love hurts…it's a pain I don't mind having." He squeezed her tighter.
She was trembling, he could feel tears on his back. "I … they wouldn't change … even after all that they wouldn't do anything …" She sniffled.
"I don't care about them or what they say or do…care about my friends…my family…and especially you."
He stayed like this for a while, keeping her tight as things slowly felt more and more normal. After a few minutes she pulled back, the black veins gone. "I'm … im sick of trying …."
"The universe doesn't have to be on your shoulders alone. I'll try twice as hard for the both of us..we all will, right?" He turns back to his friends, luckily only minor burns on most of them.
"Absolutely." Marco said, walking to her with a pat on the shoulders. "I'm here for you all the way Star." He gave her a kiss on the cheek.
A portal opened, Eclipsa coming in. "I came with the spell-…" She looked at them. "… Are we still doing this or …"
"Give us a minute, it might help to use it later when she's not exhausted." Steven said as she let Star stand on her own.
"No, I can't risk letting….whatever that was to get out again." Star lowered her head. "Do what you need to do."
The queen nodded, and placed the wand on his sister's head. "Now I just need to pull …" She looked like she was sweating. "Pull …" She moved back, looking like effort was put in. "Steven, a little help here?"
"Sure." Steven reluctantly went to grab onto the wand and pulled … and pulled … "Man, it's burrowed deep." He dug into his strength, pulling … "Come on, get out of my si-"
It finally nudged, pulling out- "DEATH TO MORONS!" A Star sized abomination that looked like it would eat him.
"AAAAHHHH!!" Everyone screamed, as Ladybug jumped into it with the giant red blanket.
"Hah." She scoffed. "And you said this wouldn't come in handyyyyYYYYY-" The superhero was slowly being dragged by whatever that thing was.
Eventually it broke out of the hold, grabbing the bottle in Eclipsa's hand, shattering it, before jumping right back into Star, before anyone could so much as blink. After a tense silence, KO spoke up. "I told you bottling it up wasn't a good idea."
"Yeaaaah…" Steven sheepishly replied. It looks like this was another long term problem. "Who wants to forget about the past ten minutes and eat moon milk ice cream?"
" Me." Everyone said almost immediately. It didn't exactly wrap a bow on today's events, but it would end just slightly more positively.