#I’m a firm believer that they’re perfectly made for each other. they kinda remind me of bees but just. different you know?

[sirazaroff]

How do you think Velvet flirts with Coco?

This is one of the funniest asks I ever got and im glad cause this is just gold. Like how does the Bun™️ woo her stupid bozo??
————


I have my biased takes on what Coco and Velvet are like as characters, but to start off I wanna focus on what Vel brings to the table.

I think a lot of people have moe’d her down to a nervous/scaredy bunny girl and…that’s not her at all. She’s a real multilayered character who can and will kick your ass flat. She’s also…

- very very attentive to people

- excellent at memorizing things she sees and hears, and quickly at that

- very emotionally in tune with people, herself included

- insanely kind and helpful

- honest about her feelings and will voice her thoughts when ready

Also she’s a bunny like come on. Is baby. It’s impossible to not find her likable.

I can go on forever, but I think these are enough likable traits to work with.


Time to shift. Now we focus on what I think Coco likes in a person:

- Hot girls

- Complexity

- Someone true to their nature

- Some sense of honor

- Someone striving to learn and to better themselves

Hopefully it’s not lost here, but there’s some compatibility don’t you think? Velvet’s got some of those traits that Coco likes.

————

So where’s the flirting? It’s coming I swear, I just needed the background info to help support the answers.

Bun bun flirts two ways: intentionally and unintentionally. The latter is usually what’s happening most often.

Her intentional flirting is what you would expect. Some cheeky words, being a playful tease in her actions like when she flashed her camera in After the Fall. I think she would 1000% take advantage of her physique and incredibly vast skillsets. She is totally totally showing off during training and sparring. Coco might hide her gaze under her glasses but that dumb bitch is so easy. So so easy…

Now her unintentional flirting is basically that Velvet is just doing her thing. She’s comfortable and loved by her team. With them she’s able to be herself and have fun, and that’s what coco loves most. Seeing Velvet thrive and not feel like she has to hide herself away from the world, and with it comes moments and actions that make Coco, much to her surprise, fall for Velvet.

I guess simply put, Velvet flirts by being her cheeky self around Coco, and her leader falls for her every time.

#fooze #smugm3ss #rwby #rwby fanart #velvet scarlatina #rwby velvet #coco adel #rwby coco #crosshares #rwby crosshares #of course these are just my playful opinions #but yeah I mean these two kiddos are funny and idiot goobers but they’re also so sugary sweet to each other #without any compromise to their personalities either #I just wanted to answer this already but I had a lot more tender moments planned for these two to show #I’m a firm believer that they’re perfectly made for each other. they kinda remind me of bees but just. different you know? #wow Fooze so much stuff to answer a simple question~ SORRY IDK I HAVE THOUGHTS and it takes months to get them out okay?!?! #probably doesn’t even make sense either! #anyways velvets favorite pastime is raising coco’s bp just by looking at her for longer than 5 seconds #sorry if this is also formatted weird I’ll fix it tomorrow if need be

[sunkisseddaffodils]

reunion- pt 2 (final)

Pairing: sherlock x fem!reader

Request: 'hi! can i pls request a sherlock x fem!reader fic in which reader is kinda john's childhood bestfriend, but they were separated when reader with her parents moved somewhere (to united states, for instance). so now when she is in britain again, she sort of struggles with finding a not very fancy place to stay. fortunately, she meets our johnny boi and he immediately proposes for her to stay in 221c, baker-street. so reader moves there, meets sherly and they sorta starting to fall in luv with each other'

Summary: Sherlock accidentally drags up some old unwanted memories for the reader

Genre: reader insert, angst

A/n: this is the final part of the above request. Sorry, I didn't exactly follow the request but I mostly tried to. Thanks to anon for requesting though! Enjoy!

Read pt 1 here.

-

The following day, after a restless night’s sleep, Y/N sat nervously in Mrs’s Hudson cosy kitchenette. Mrs Hudson had switched on the kettle and was preparing to make both of them a cup of tea. From what John had told her, she was perfectly lovely but she couldn’t help but be anxious. It was in her nature; she worried about everything. She made sure to bring papers to prove to her that she had a monthly income. But what if that wasn’t enough and Mrs Hudson had already decided that she wasn’t good enough to stay in her upstairs flat? The sound of china cups being placed on the table brought her back from the depths of her mind.

‘What brings you to London? John tells me you moved all the way from the States?’

John was right, Mrs Hudson was delightful. Y/N felt more relaxed at the sound of her comforting voice.

‘I’m starting my training next week to be a dentist in Harley Street ’

Mrs Hudson’s eyes genuinely glistened with interest.

‘Oh? John told me you already completed dental school in Seattle? Aren’t you already qualified?’

‘Yeah in the States. To work here, I have to do an extra year before I’m qualified. I don’t mind though, I wanted a fresh start in the UK.’

A door closing behind them interrupted their conversation. Both Y/N and Mrs H turned to where the noise came from but couldn’t see who or what made it. The latter called out.

‘Sherlock? John? Is that you?’

With no response, they returned to their conversation.

‘Y/N, you seem like a lovely young woman with a bright future. Of course, you can stay in the upstairs flat!’

She smiled widely, uttering a thousand ‘thank yous’. Y/N grabbed her important documents and handed them to Mrs Hudson.

‘Thank you. I’ll take a look at these later.’

Tomorrow, Mrs Hudson gave Y/N a tour of 221c. She fell speechless as she looked around. It was the same layout as Sherlock’s but had recently been renovated to have a more modern look. The apartment was already furnished so all she had to do was move her belonging's in from storage. She couldn’t believe that she was able to afford this apartment! Especially, as it was in central London. Promptly, she strolled over to where her new landlady was waiting by the front door.

‘So I get all this for this price? That’s insanely cheap for London.’

Y/N commented while pointing to the tenancy agreement Mrs Hudson was holding.

Simply, she just chuckled.

‘I do special rates for Sherlock and John. If you’re a friend of John’s then you’re a friend of mine. I’ll do the same for you.’

She continued.

'I met Sherlock in Florida when my husband was sentenced to death. He was able to help out so I owed him a favour. ’

Her face was completely serious yet it sounded so implausible. How could a lovely little lady like Mrs Hudson have such an impossible past like that? Adding to that, Y/N wondered that Sherlock really must be a genius if he can stop someone from being executed.

‘Wait, are you saying that Sherlock stopped your husband from being executed?’

‘Oh no, he ensured it.’

And with that bombshell of a statement, Mrs Hudson disappeared downstairs leaving Y/N utterly astonished in her new apartment. She made a note to herself to remind her to ask John about Mrs Hudson’s past. There was so much she wanted to know about her life.

A few days passed and the time finally arrived for Y/N to move into 221c. She was standing outside the cafe with Mrs Hudson, waiting for the moving company to arrive along with her possessions. She glanced at her watch, anxiously. The moving people were already five minutes late. Meanwhile, Sherlock and John were upstairs having carried three boxes between them that Y/N had brought herself. John was busying himself, tidying up the flat, waiting for a text from Y/N so he and Sherlock could help her move in and set up the place. He had told Sherlock to make himself useful but looking over his way, he hadn’t. Sherlock was staring intensely at the three boxes they had placed on the dining table by the windows. John marched over there to tell him off.

‘Sherlock! What are you doing? If you’re not going to make yourself useful up here, then can you at least go downstairs to check what’s taking the mover’s so long?’

Sherlock completely disregarded everything he just said.

‘Look at these three boxes, John. What do they tell you?’

He just groaned.

‘Nothing, they’re just boxes.’

‘Fine, if you’re not going to play ball then I will just tell you.Y/N has made sure she took these boxes here herself. Why? That suggests they’re private and she doesn’t want strangers, i.e the movers, to touch them. The first two boxes are labelled: electronics and toiletries. Makes sense then for why she would want to move them herself: one’s valuable and the others personal.’

He pointed towards the last cardboard box.

‘But why hasn’t she labelled this one? I’m sure I’m right to assume that she would have labelled every single box from what I’ve seen from these two. So what’s in this box that separates it from the rest?’

John stepped away from the dining table and started fluffing some pillows on the couch.

‘Sherlock, I really couldn’t care less. There’s nothing weird going on. She’s not part of some underground crime syndicate. Just leave it alone. You can’t know everything.’

However, the crinkling of tape being peeled off from the box told John that Sherlock, was in fact, not going to leave it alone.

John raced back over to the table and seized the box from Sherlock. Soon, a tug of war for the box began between them.

‘You are not going through Y/N’s private things!’

He yanked the box harder.

‘But John, I have to know what’s in there.’

John glared at him, pulling the box back towards him.

‘Tough luck. Once again let me spell this out: you cannot go through other people’s belongings. It’s rude.’

Sherlock’s grip remained firm, however.

‘Don’t you want to know more about why she’s moved back here? The answer could be in this box. It’s strange that she just packed up and left her life back in Seattle. She obviously doesn’t have any family here. Otherwise, why would she come to you for help? And there’s also the fact I heard her tell Mrs Hudson that she has to do extra training to be a qualified dentist in the UK. Why go to all that effort when she’s already qualified back in the US? Aren’t you in the least bit curious?’

John once again dragged the box back to him.

‘Oh so now you’re not only going through her stuff, you’re also eavesdropping on her?’

Sherlock was offended even though there was a hint of truth to what John was saying.

‘It wasn’t eavesdropping! I just happened to overhear her.’

What Sherlock was saying did make John curious, but still, Y/N deserved her privacy. It was up to her if she wanted to them the real reason she moved back to the UK. John was about to tell Sherlock this when the door burst open.

‘Hey, guys! The movers are here now if you wanna come down.’

Y/N’s voice staggered when she saw the scene before her.

In a moment of alarm, both Sherlock and John had dropped the box. Its content spilt out onto the floor. An off-white ornate picture frame smashed onto the hard wooden floor, glass spraying everywhere. The picture in the frame was of Y/N and a man in front of the Seattle Great Wheel. Y/N stood in surprise as the said man was knelt down holding a rose gold diamond-encrusted ring. The picture frame was custom engraved and it read ‘For my love.’

Oh.

It all made sense now to Sherlock.

However, there was no time to think more about the picture. Sherlock and John stood like a deer in headlights

‘It was Sherlock!’

John pointed accusingly towards Sherlock.

Y/N didn’t say anything, simply walked over to where the box had fallen, glass crunching under converse trainers. She knelt down to pick up the photograph. She remained there for a moment, an expression of profound anguish on her face.

John tried to help her up, but she refused. She practically ran out of the flat, trying to conceal her pain. John didn’t even have time to tell her that she had cut her knees on the glass from the floor. He grabbed a broom from the kitchen and started cleaning up the mess on the floor. He looked at Sherlock who was still in the same place. He had a look of regret on his face.

‘Sherlock there’s no point making that face now! You’re cleaning this mess up too. We’re going to make it up to her by making this apartment look really nice before she comes back.’

As he shifted the box back onto the table, he thought of his own way to make it up to Y/N.

-

Y/N was falling asleep at her desk, she was now four hours into writing her essay on dental hygiene. She placed her head in her hands, thinking she would just have a quick nap. Her phone ringing ended that plan though. She saw that it was Sherlock and hesitated. She still hadn’t forgiven him for trying to go through her things and bringing back unpleasant memories. It had been a week into ignoring him and giving him the cold shoulder. She let it ring out. Sherlock still didn’t get the hint and texted her.

‘Y/N meet me here. I wanna make it up to you. S.H’

That text was accompanied by a GPS location.

Y/N couldn’t think of any possible reason why Sherlock had asked to meet her here. Her uber ride had stopped outside of a manor house just on the outskirts of London. She quickly checked with the driver to make sure she was at the right place. To her bewilderment, he answered yes. Hesitantly, she strolled up to the door. She didn’t even have to knock when Sherlock opened the door. He motioned for her to follow him.

‘Sherlock, what the actual fuck? Do you live here?’

Sherlock led her through a ton of rooms. Y/N swear she could have counted there were at least five formal living rooms.

‘Nope.’

He opened a set of French doors and led her out into the back garden of the estate. Not that you could call it a garden. It was massive. In the distance, she saw stables as they walked through a formal botanical garden. Sherlock was more like running though, but Y/N didn’t know what was so urgent.

‘So if you don’t live here. Then who does?’

An undesirable thought entered her mind.

‘Don’t tell me you broke in here?’

Sherlock turned around just outside of the exit to the formal gardens, jangling keys in front of her face, a childish grin on his face.

‘It’s not breaking in if you have a set of keys.’

They had finally reached their final destination. Y/N saw that someone had set up a bonfire in the middle of a field. A can of petrol and a box lay adjacent to it. That box seemed really familiar. Sherlock picked it up and brought it over. It was hers!

‘Sherlock, you’re going through my things again. You know what, I’m done here!’

She began jogging back towards the house. Sherlock grabbed her arm.

‘Wait! Y/N. Let me explain.’

She gazed back at him intensely, waiting for an explanation.

He placed the box down.

‘I know you haven’t told me about what happened. But unfortunately, I am good at deducing things. Those things in that box came from a bad past relationship. I’m pretty sure I can guess what happened.’

He started to stammer, not sure of how to word what he wanted to say next.

Y/N wasn’t sure where he was going with this but could see he was trying.

‘John will be the first to let you know that I’m no expert on love or on relationships. But I can see you haven’t moved on. I thought it might help if you chucked all of the old stuff from the relationship on that bonfire and set it alight.’

She looked down, knowing that Sherlock was right. He had guessed everything perfectly. He had read her like a book.

‘You’re right. But I took running away from your problems to the extremest.’

She sat down on the grass, wrapping her arms around her knees. Sherlock shortly joined her.

‘He was my world. Or I thought he was until one night I returned home to see him shagging my best friend on the sofa.’

There was a moment of silence before she continued.

‘I just felt so foolish. I had to get away from Seattle. The place was full of memories of my time with him. I couldn’t stand it any longer.’

Sherlock got up and picked up the box.

‘And that’s why you should burn this stuff. He doesn’t deserve to have this much hold on you when he never cared about you in the slightest. We don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. But please just think about it.’

Y/N stood up with determination. Sherlock was right. She had to burn all of this stuff to finally move on. Together they placed the contents of the box around the bonfire.

Y/N stood back as Sherlock poured the can of petrol over the bonfire. He asked.

‘One more thing. Do you have that picture with you?’

She grabbed it out of her bag as an answer and showed it to him.

‘I thought you would', he stated.

She placed the picture in the centre of the bonfire.

They walked back a safer distance from it and Sherlock got a box of matches from his pocket. He lit one up and handed it to Y/N. He could see that she was having trouble actually lighting the bonfire. He reached out and held her hand to comfort her. Y/N greatly appreciated that. She took the final step and with her other hand, threw the match into the bonfire.

The bonfire went up in ablaze. It was oddly beautiful watching the embers rise up into the sky. Standing there in hand in hand with Sherlock, she felt the weight that had been on her shoulders for months slowly lift off. The whole experience was cathartic.

Out of the blue, they heard the distant sound of alarms ringing from back at the house. Y/N looked to Sherlock for answers. He just told her to:

‘RUN!’

They sprinted, holding onto each other, seemingly heading towards a gate at the end of a stone wall surrounding the estate.

‘Sherlock! What’s going on?’

Sherlock tried his best to explain as they were running.

‘Technically I did break into this house. But it’s my brother's so it should be fine. There should be a cab waiting just outside this gate.’

‘Oh my god!’, she exclaimed worrying about the consequences to come for their actions.

When they had reached the road outside the gate, they stopped to catch their breath. Then they looked at each other and burst into laughter.

She hadn’t laughed that like in months. And it was all thanks to Sherlock.

-

#sherlock x you #sherlock x y/n #sherlock x reader #sherlock fanfic #sherlock fic #sherlock holmes #sherlock imagine #sherlock fanfiction #sherlock imagines #sherlock holmes x reader #sherlock holmes x you #sherlock au #sherlock x john #bbc sherlock #sherlock bbc #sherlock #john watson #john watson x reader #sherlock and john

[thdorkmagnet]

Light of the Sun and Stars Chapter 42: Cooking With Kelly

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: The annual Mewni Bake-Off is about to begin and Kelly is excited and nervous to be representing her restaurant this year. Needing help she asks Star and Marco for assistance in the competition and Tom comes to help out too, much to Kelly’s dismay. And to make matters worse one of the other competitors seemed determined to ruin Kelly’s chances at winning, no matter the cost.

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

Kelly sucked in a deep breath, trying to rid herself of the nervous energy she felt building up in her chest. Her fingers tapped impatiently against her leg as she scanned the crowded streets, looking for any signs of her friends. Today was the big day. The Annual Mewni Bake-Off was about to begin and so far Star and Marco were no shows, Kelly unsure if they were just running late or possibly had forgotten, although that last one seemed unlikely. Come on guys, this is not what I need today, Kelly thought glumly, feeling her anxiety spike again. She really needed some support right now. Although she had felt calm and ready during the time leading up to the bake-off now that the day had actually arrived, doubt had started creeping into her mind, her nerves making it incredibly difficult for her to relax.

She cast a quick glance over to Tad from the stands, her boyfriend sadly having to sit out the competition since he wasn't a chef and he gave her an encouraging smile, yelling something to her that sadly was drowned out in the noisy crowd around him. Kelly put a hand to her chest, trying to relax her nerves to no avail. It was bad enough she was struggling with self-doubt but not having Tad with her made her feel incomplete, like a part of her was missing and that only made her feel more stressed and anxious.

And to top it all off, Roy had made it very clear to her what would happen should she fail this competition, his horrifying use of the terms “dish maid and underpaid waitress” enough to give Kelly nightmares. She had to win this competition or her dreams of being a world-famous chef would be all but impossible. Kelly tried not to let those thoughts crush her, reminding herself of her resolve.

She was going to show Roy exactly what she was made of, she was going to help Fang Tangs reach new heights of popularity even if it killed her. Fang Tangs had never won the competition before, mostly going unnoticed to the bigger and better bakers on the roster, but Kelly was not gonna let that stand. Now was her chance to prove what she was made of!

But those dreams would be all but dashed if her sous-chefs didn't get there soon.

Right on cue, she heard the familiar voice of Marco call behind her, “Hey Kelly!”

The green-haired girl turned with a relieved grin as she saw Marco and Star approaching, the two dressed in cute chef outfits. “Thank goodness you two made it!” Kelly exclaimed, her tone slightly panic-filled. “I was starting to worry you wouldn't show.”

“Sorry,” Marco said, rubbing sheepishly at the back of his neck, Star giving the girl an apologetic grin. “Hope we didn't worry you too bad.”

Kelly shook her head. “Nah, so long as you're here, that's all I care about,” the Woolett told her friends with a bright grin.

“Well you can count on us, Kelly,” Star said, doing a little salute, Marco doing the same. “We're here to help!”

“Thanks, I really appreciate the support,” Kelly replied, before letting out a soothing breath. “To be honest, I've been feeling a little freaked out about this. Roy said if I fail I can kiss my role as chef goodbye.”

“That's not gonna happen, Kelly,” Marco said, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder. “Because so long as the four of us work together we're gonna win this thing!”

The girl felt a flood of relief wash over her at that, Marco’s confidence helping to restore some of her own. “Thanks, Marco, I-” Kelly began, only to stop mid-sentence as she processed what Marco had said. “Wait, what did you mean by four?” the green-haired girl asked, a suspicious eyebrow slowly raising.

“Oh we invited Tom to help out, too,” Star explained.

“You did what?!” Kelly exclaimed.

The two flinched at the raised tone, Marco saying in a soft, unsure tone, “We, uhh, just thought maybe he could help.”

“How?” Kelly asked, in disbelief.

“Well it is a really complicated recipe, Kelly,” Star tried. “We just thought an extra pair of hands could be useful.”

“Yeah, but you could've at least told me about it,” Kelly muttered bitterly, crossing her hands in front of her chest.

“Sorry, we didn't think you'd mind,” Marco said with an apologetic look.

“Plus, it just kinda happened,” Star added. “We mentioned the competition to him this morning and Tom offered to lend us all a hand, so we said yes.”

“Well, where is he then?” Kelly asked, with a skeptical frown.

“Tom's usually late for stuff,” Star explained. “He'll be here.”

“Does he even know how to cook?” the Woolett questioned, an eyebrow slowly raising.

“Oh, totally!” Marco said with a confident smile. “He said he's been baking since he was a little kid.”

Kelly looked back and forth between the two for a moment, seeing their eager and begging faces and knew there was no point in arguing. It was impossible to resist those two's charms. “Okay, fine. He can help,” the Woolett declared and Star and Marco cheered, high-fiving in victory. “But he better not get in the way and he has to follow orders, got it.”

Star and Marco nodded. “Thank Kelly!” Marco exclaimed, giving the girl a quick hug, Star joining in, too. “I promise you won't regret it.”

Kelly gave a small grunt in reply. She really hoped that was true and that she wasn't making a terrible mistake. But she supposed for once, she'd just have to trust her friends. They were helping her out of the kindness of their own hearts, after all. The least she could do was hear them out. She pushed the two away before saying in a commanding tone, “Now, let's go get our area set up, the competition starts soon.”

“Yes, ma'am!” Star and Marco said simultaneously, saluting their chef with goofy but enduring looks and Kelly couldn't help but giggle.

“At ease, soldiers,” she joked with the smallest hint of a smirk on her face, her friends succeeding in crushing the fears and doubts within her.

…

The center of town was a hectic mess of people, rows of seats now surrounded the square, Mewmans and creatures from many dimensions all sitting to watch the competition take place. In the middle were little miniature kitchens for the designated contestants, complete with all the essentials needed to prepare each dish, made to perfectly suit each chef's unique style. Although most contestants were Mewmans, Marco could spot many different species present, some he didn't even recognize. He couldn't help but gawk at every new face he saw as well as admire the cooking utensils which were completely unknown to him, the red clad teen left to guess what they could possibly be used for, pointing them out to Star whenever he could.

Star as well seemed curious about the other contestants, sometimes even staring in wonder along with her boyfriend, the two letting out quiet and simultaneous “oohs”. Kelly, on the other hand, didn't seem as impressed, her face set in a firm line as she led her two helpers over to their spot.

“Wow, can't believe how many people showed up this year,” Star commented, her hands behind her back, an almost skip in her step.

“Is it not like this usually?” Marco asked, his interest clearly piqued.

“Normally, no. But since the war ended, this year my parents thought it would be a good idea to allow contestants from other dimensions to compete instead of just from around Mewni,” Star explained to her boyfriend.

“Oh neat,” Marco said, a bright grin on his face.

“Not really,” Kelly spoke up, her voice devoid of emotion. “That just means we have all the more competition to beat.”

Star and Marco shared a look. “Well I mean, I hadn't thought of that,” the hooded teen mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Geez, Kelly. I know you wanna win but don't you think you're taking this a bit too far,” Star spoke up, putting a hand on her hip. “I mean everyone else just looks like they're having fun.”

Kelly stopped in her tracks, turning on her heels with a grim look. She leaned in close to the teens and whispered, “This is not a fun game. This is survival of the fittest. Don't let everyone's happy appearance fool you, none of these guys are our friends. You can't trust anyone, got it.”

Star and Marco both nodded dumbly, their eyes wide with fright. They had never seen Kelly so intense before and the couple could feel a shudder jumping up their spines. “Good, then stop admiring the competition, we gotta look professional.” With that, Kelly continued on ahead, Star and Marco following reluctantly after.

“Do you think any of that was true?” Marco asked his girlfriend, his voice shaking some in fear.

“It's okay, Marco. I'm sure Kelly's just exaggerating,” Star replied with a comforting smile.

“Yeah, you're probably right,” Marco said in relief.

“Oh hey Kelly,” a friendly boy said, a bright smile on his face as he approached the Woolett. “Long time no see.”

“Out of my way, Gustav!” Kelly shouted and Gustav jumped, quickly moving out of the way of the rampaging girl, keeping his hands raised in fright. The girl paused only long enough to shoot him a warning glare. “I'm watching you.” She did a quick gesture pointing two fingers to her eyes then in Gustav's direction before storming on.

Gustav watched her go, still frozen stiff, his eyes wide with shock and terror, saying more to himself than anyone else, “Uhh, see you later then, I guess.”

Star and Marco both cringed at their friend's unjustified behavior, their eyes slowly meeting. “Or maybe she's completely lost her marbles,” Star corrected herself and Marco nodded in agreement.

The two quickly approached the still-troubled Gustav, Marco greeting in a friendly tone, “Sorry about our friend, she's just... really determined.”

“Oh no, I get it,” Gustav said in a thick accent neither teen recognized. “Kelly's always been the competitive type.”

“Yeah, we kinda picked up on that,” Star replied.

“You know, Kelly?” Marco asked, cocking his head curiously to the side.

“Sorta. I worked at Fang Tang's for a few months,” Gustav explained, rubbing his neck shyly.

“Oh, so what restaurant are you representing this year?” Star asked.

“My own, actually. I own a modest meatball place back on Earth.”

“Wow! Your meatballs must be pretty good, then,” Marco said his eyes shining with wonder.

“I could let you try one if you'd like,” Gustav offered.

Marco gasped in joy, exclaiming, “That would be-”

“Marco! Star!” The two jumped as they heard their names, turning to see Kelly tapping a foot impatiently, her arms crossed in annoyance, clearly waiting on them to catch up.

“We better get going,” Star said, not wanting to make Kelly any more stressed than she already was.

“Good luck in the competition!” Marco added with a quick wave, the two racing to join their friend.

Gustav waved back, calling after them, “You too!”

When Marco and Star reached Kelly, however, they were greeted by a much less friendly sight, the girl glaring long and hard at them. “Hey, Kelly,” Marco began, feeling slightly nervous. “Is something wrong?”

“What did I literally just tell you two?” the girl hissed in exasperation. “Don't trust anyone!”

“Oh come on, Gustav is harmless,” Star shot back, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “You're being paranoid, Kelly.”

“Yeah, he seemed friendly,” Marco added a smile on his face.

Kelly rubbed her forehead with her hands, feeling a headache start to form. “They always do, right before they stab you in the back,” the Woolett muttered. But seeing the worried looks on Star and Marco's faces she quickly added in a much more reasonable tone, “Look, just try and not talk to anyone else unless you have to, okay.”

“Okay,” Star and Marco agreed as one.

Satisfied her friends wouldn't be putting themselves at further risk, turned to her designated area for the competition. The smooth metal counters shone in the mid-afternoon light, cleaned and polished to perfection. The top-of-the-line oven and stove top both looked brand new and Kelly smiled in anticipation for getting some good use out of them. All the cookware they would need was stacked neatly and organized just to Kelly's liking and the ingredients needed for her recipe were all on a cart next to the small cooking area, a blanket draped across them to try and prevent the competition from catching on to her chosen dish. The area was small but just big enough for three (or now four) people to work and move about freely.

“Wow, looks to me like we're already ready to go!” Marco exclaimed, a bright grin on his face as he admired the miniature kitchen.

Kelly nodded her head in approval. “Yeah, looks that way. Guess whoever Roy hired actually did their job right,” the green-haired girl complimented, running her finger along the smooth metal, not a speck of dust to be found.

“Guess that means, we're just waiting for the competition to actually start,” Star commented.

“And on Tom,” Marco added.

“If he shows,” Kelly said doubtfully.

“He will,” Marco reassured her. “He promised.”

“Well, let's hope he does, then,” was all the Woolett said in response. “In the meantime, though, do you guys remember your jobs?”

Star and Marco nodded. “Oh yeah, we are so ready!” the hooded teen exclaimed, pumping a fist into the air. “I've been hyped for this all week!”

“Oh, he has,” Star agreed, putting a hand on her boyfriend's shoulder shooting him a loving look. “I haven't seen Marco this excited in forever.”

“Yep, I even stayed up all night last night making a list of everything each of us has to do!”

Marco pulled out said list, letting it unfold so the two girls could read it. Kelly looked over the tiny lettering in surprise, saying in the nicest tone she could, “Wow, Marco this is... very detailed.”

“Thanks, I even color coded it,” the boy said, puffing out his chest with pride.

“So what about Tom?” Kelly asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh well, I had to rearrange a few things,” Marco explained sheepishly.

“That's what took us so long getting here, actually,” Star pitched in.

“I see,” Kelly said, her eyes scanning the page again without really reading it. At least they are prepared, the hairy teen thought.

“Well, well, well,” a cynical voice said behind them and the group of teens turned to see a tall lanky man in a chef's uniform standing over them. He was a strange looking man to behold, everything about him screamed that something was not quite right, from the eyepatch over his right eye, to the hook hand on his left arm, to the large metal spatula that operated as a sort of peg leg, something about this man left Marco and Star feeling uncomfortable. On top of that he had a crooked smile that screamed trouble, framed by a thin, curled mustache and goatee, and his cheek marks were spatulas.

He leered down at the three with a single, judging eye, his gaze seeming to be sizing them up and Star and Marco felt a chill jump up their spines. “It would seem Roy decided to hire a few amateur chefs to represent his restaurant this year, how interesting. Seems like he's finally given up,” the man said, his voice dripping with superiority, polishing his gleaming hook with a fancy handkerchief.

Kelly's eyes narrowed at the insult, saying through gritted teeth, “We are not amateurs. And for the record, we are more than ready to wipe the floor with you, Pie King.”

“Pie King?” Marco whispered in confusion and Star just shrugged.

Pie King paused for a moment at the challenge before bursting out into laughter, only causing Kelly's anger to grow. “Oh that's a good joke. Roy's pathetic restaurant has never won once, not against the superior might of the Pie Folk.” The pompous man stood a little taller as he spoke of his people.

“Well before Roy didn't have us,” Kelly responded confidently, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Pie King rolled his singular eye, before saying in a sly tone, “Right, then I suppose we'll just see who is better, won't we.”

“Yes, we will,” Kelly spat out, the two glaring at each other for a moment, a spark of animosity passing between the two competitors.

“Well, good luck with that, I look forward to beating you,” Pie King said before turning and walking over to his own station which was three times bigger than their tiny set up, at least a dozen chefs all waiting to follow his orders. The Pie King turned to them with a superior grin, giving them a patronizing wave that caused Kelly's blood to boil.

The Woolett let out a groan of annoyance, doing her best to not let her anger show (not wanting to give Pie King the satisfaction of seeing he had an effect on her) and she turned away, propping herself up on the tabletop as she took slow breaths to try and calm down.

“Who was that guy?” Marco asked curiously, eying the strange man out of the corner of his eye.

“That would be the esteemed Pie King of Pie Island,” Kelly said in a mocking tone, rolling her eyes.

“Oh, so that's the Pie King, huh?” Star questioned, her interest peaked. She had never actually met any of the Pie Folk in person before, but their reputation spoke for themselves, well known for being as untrustworthy as they were excellent cooks. Their pies are some of the most delicious things in the world but the cost of getting one could prove too great since the Pie Folk were dirty cheaters and thieves at heart.

“Yep, that's him in the flesh,” Kelly replied with a deep sigh. “Watch yourself around him. He's as sneaky as they come.”

Star and Marco nodded. “What does he have against Roy anyways?” Marco asked nervously, shifting uncomfortably on his feet as he felt the Pie King's lingering gaze land on him.

“Oh those two have hated each other for forever,” the girl-haired girl said. “And he would do anything to make sure we don’t win because of it.”

Star and Marco shared nervous looks at that. If what Kelly said was true then this guy really was bad news and the two wanted to stay as far away from him as possible.

The teens quickly brushed this off though, having more important things in mind than the tricky Pie King, as the announcer declared the competition would soon begin. Star, Marco and Kelly quickly got into their positions, checking over everything to make sure it was all in perfect working order. Once the Woolett was satisfied, it simply became a matter of waiting. The time seemed to drag on at an agonizing rate as the three stood around in boredom, watching the other chefs rush around to get everything ready. Kelly drummed her fingers impatiently against the countertop, searching the crowded area for any signs of their fourth member, growing more and more frustrated with every minute that passed. Every few seconds, Marco would check his phone for both the time and to see if maybe he got a call from Tom, but with no luck.

After three minutes of waiting Marco tried calling him, Kelly watching closely as the hooded teen's face flooded with disappointment before hanging up the phone without a word. “Seriously?” the Woolett huffed. “I'm starting to think he isn't going to show.”

“He'll be here,” Star reassured her friend, giving her a confident smile. But she was starting to have her doubts herself. Tom was usually a little late but this was getting ridiculous, even for him.

After nearly ten minutes though, the gang was starting to worry he wasn't coming, Marco keeping a close eye on his phone for any sign of ringing and Star and Kelly looking around frantically for any sign of him. Finally, the blond leaned heavily on the tabletop. “Where the heck is he?!” Star snapped, starting to get frustrated with her friend's tardiness. “I swear if he doesn't show, he's gonna get an earful.”

“Maybe he forgot,” Marco suggested with a shrug.

“Typical,” Kelly muttered bitterly. But she quickly took charge once again, saying to her fellow cooks, “Well if he doesn't get her soon, we'll just have to go back to the original plan. Star, you'll be in charge of-”

“That won't be necessary,” a voice said behind the girl and the three looked over to see Tom standing just a few feet away, a smug grin on his face.

“Tom!” the three said as one.

“You made it,” Marco added happily, his eyes twinkling in joy.

But Kelly and Star were less than enthusiastic, the hairy girl snapping, “Where were you?!”

“And why weren't you answering your phone?!” Star added, with a scolding glare.

“Whoa, whoa, relax,” Tom said smoothly, raising his hands in surrender. “Look sorry for making you wait, but I'm here now, aren't I?”

“Yeah but barely, you cut it way too close, Tom,” Kelly responded immediately, her voice full of authority as she addressed her final baker.

Tom shrugged. “I just like to wait for the best possible moment to show,” the boy explained, giving her an innocent grin.

But Kelly wasn't budging as she said in a firm tone, “Well, on time would have been the best possible moment and if you are gonna be baking for me, you need to follow my commands exactly, got it?”

Tom seemed a little annoyed by this, his cheekmarks simmering just a bit but he quickly gained control of himself, nodding and giving a salute. “Aye, aye, ma'am,” he said with a cool smirk.

“Good,” Kelly said, satisfied with the boy's obedience. She held out a hand in offering and Tom shook it without a second thought, the Woolett adding in a semi-pleasant tone, “Then welcome aboard the team.” 

“Happy to be here,” Tom replied, smiling smoothly back.

“Hey, Tom!” Marco shouted over to the pair, a bright grin on his face as usual, his cheekmarks glowing bright red from his excitement. “Come stand over by me, I saved you a spot!”

“Sure thing, Marco,” Tom called back, giving his friend a warm smile as he moved over to Marco's side, now standing between him and Star. The hooded teen practically bounced with excitement now that Tom had arrived, happy to have his best guy friend there to help out.

“Glad you could make it,” Star said to her friend, before giving him a knowing look, “Finally.”

Tom smiled guiltily, saying, “Yeah, sorry.”

Star laughed, giving Tom a light shove. “Tom, I'm just kidding. I know how you are. I'm just glad you made it.”

Tom grinned over at the blond. “Thanks.”

“So Tom, are you ready to help us make the most delicious meal ever!” Marco exclaimed, unable to hold in his enthusiasm.

Tom, however, kept up his cool and collected attitude as he just shrugged, his hands buried deep in his pockets as he replied smoothly, “Sure, what are we waiting for? Let's do it.”

“Well we gotta wait for the time to officially start,” Star explained to her hot-headed friend.

“Luckily we only got about a minute or so,” Kelly spoke up, returning to her own spot as she waited tensely for the competition to officially begin, her heart beginning to pound in anticipation.

Star turned to Tom and whispered softly over to him, keeping her voice low enough that neither Kelly or Marco could hear. “Are you sure you are up for this? I've never heard of you cooking anything in your life.”

Tom scoffed, not bothering to match Star's quiet tone as he replied confidently, “Oh yeah, I've got this. I've been cooking with my mom for years. I can handle anything you guys can dish out.”

“Well if you're sure,” Star said reluctantly, not quite believing her friend was as ready as he let on. Tom seemed to pick up on this though, his eyes flashing with hurt and annoyance for a second and Star quickly added, “It's just this whole thing means a lot to Kelly and she needs all of us at the top of our game to pull this off.”

“Star, relax,” Tom replied, giving her a smooth grin. “I got this.”

Star still wasn't quite sure if that was true or not but not wanting to upset her friend, didn't argue any further, simply nodding her head and giving him a small smile.

“What are we whispering about?” Marco asked in his own soft tone, leaning in closer so he could hear what his friends were discussing without him.

Star and Tom shared a grin before the blond explained with a giggle, “Nothing important, Marco. Don't worry.”

“Okay,” the boy said with bright enthusiasm.

Tom decided it best to change the subject as he asked the group. “So what are we making anyways?”

Kelly whipped her head over in their direction, saying in a disbelieving tone, “You didn't tell him what we were making?!”

Star and Marco's faces flushed with embarrassment, Marco beginning to tap his pointer fingers together as he muttered sheepishly, “Well it kinda slipped our minds.”

Seeing Kelly's growing worry and frustration, Star quickly added, “But hey, it's okay. I'm sure Tom'll be able to learn as he goes, right Tom?” She gave him a knowing look and the flaming teen nodded.

“Oh yeah, sure, I've got this,” Tom replied awkwardly, the hesitancy and nervousness in his tone giving him away in a second.

Kelly sucked in a calming breath, doing her best to remain cool and level-headed despite the creeping anxiety she could feel building up inside her. “It's fine,” she muttered, more to herself than the others. “We can handle this.” She turned to the hooded teen. “Marco, please fill Tom in on what we're making today and what his part is going to be.”

Marco nodded and pulled out his color-coded list and Kelly almost laughed at the irony. Looks like I misjudged that thing. Who would've thought that actually had a use?

“Ok, so we're making a very special recipe that Kelly came up with all by herself. It's called the Multiverse Multi Layered Rainbow Cake,” Marco explained, his voice shaking some with excitement, his eyes shimmering with pure joy as he thought of the genius recipe his friend had come up with, his stomach rumbling some and his mouth beginning to water just thinking about the delectable treat.

But before the hooded teen could explain anymore to his friend, the announcer from before loudly declared to the crowd and competitors alike, “And now friends it's time for Queen Comet’s Annual Mewni Bake-Off to officially begin!” A loud cheer rang out through the crowd and the Mewman man smiled brightly. He cleared his throat, before his megaphone cheekmarks glowed brightly, activating his Trait as he shouted loud enough for all to hear, “Good luck to all our chefs this year and may the best baker win!”

With that a whistle was blown behind him, officially beginning the baking competition.

Kelly immediately took charge, yelling to the rest of her bakers, “Nevermind, we don't have time for that, Tom you're just gonna have to learn on the go!”

Tom's eyes widened and he let out a nervous chuckle, saying in a skittish tone, “Uhh, can't we just go over the recipe like one time or-”

“Nope” Kelly shouted, flicking the sheet off the cart, revealing her ingredients to the world and letting the sheet flutter to the group forgotten. Tom nearly gasped in shock as he stared at a collection of ingredients from all over the multiverse, some of which even he didn't recognize. “What is all that?”

“Our ingredients, duh,” Kelly responded, quickly grabbing a few of them off the cart and handing them over to Star and Marco.

“This stuff looks like it came from every dimension possible!” Tom exclaimed, his mind still reeling in shock.

“Yeah, that's the whole point,” Star spoke up, her and Marco huddled together as they worked on peeling open some odd-looking purple fruit. “Kelly had the genius idea of mixing food from different dimensions together into one dish.”

“I've actually had the idea for a while now,” Kelly said modestly, but there was a confident gleam in her eye. “It just took a while to figure out which ingredients to use. But I think I got the recipe down.”

“Oh man, do you!” Marco exclaimed, looking up from his task long enough to shoot his friend a smile. “Me and Star loved it! Right, Star?”

Star nodded. “Yeah it was delicious,” the blonde agreed, still working hard on peeling the remaining bits off the fruit, before passing it to Kelly.

The green-haired girl whipped out a sharp knife, twirling it expertly in her hand before quickly dicing up the fruit in only a few seconds, her hand moving at speeds Tom didn't even know was possible. 

“So what do I do?” Tom asked, feeling suddenly left out of the group.

“Well while we're working on getting the purpleblurp berries ready, you can start on mixing up the rest of the ingredients,” Kelly directed him, never taking her eyes off the sharp knife as she cut through the purple fruit like it was nothing.

“Right, sure,” Tom said with a quick nod, looking around the small kitchen for any signs of a bowl of some sort. “Uhhh just need a-”

“Below you and to your left,” Marco helpfully supplied and Tom was able to locate the mixing bowl he needed.

“Alright, where do I start?” Tom asked, looking over to his friends for his next direction.

“Four scoops of fluff flower,” Kelly said, Tom quickly scooping the mix into the bowl.

“Two griffon eggs,” Star added and Tom quickly cracked them open and added them to his mixture.

“Two scoops of sapphire sugar,” Marco directed, a bright smile on his face, clearly enjoying himself.

“A whole thing of banana butter,” Star added, looking over to make sure her friend followed the direction.

“A pinch of aquamarine salt,” Kelly finished. She turned to Tom with a serious expression, pointing her knife in his direction as she added, “But not too much. It could ruin the whole mixture.”

Tom nodded, sprinkling in only a few grains of the blue powder.

“Now just keep mixing okay,” Kelly said, the smile returning to her face as she continued to cut up fruit. Tom did just that, whisking the spatula around the bowl at the fastest speed he could, his eyes beginning to glow red from the pure intensity he was putting into the task, causing some of the mixture to splatter out of the bowl.

“Relax, Tom,” Marco said, noticing his friend's tense demeanor. “You don't have to be so aggressive. Just have fun, okay.”

“Yeah, you're mixing the batter, not declaring war on it,” Star jokingly added, giggling a bit to herself.

Tom slowed down his assault on the batter, giving his friend an embarrassed grin, his cheeks slightly flushed. “Right, sorry, guess I just got carried away.”

“Well next time, try not to spill it everywhere,” Kelly commented as she stepped over to where Tom was, depositing the chopped up bits of fruit into the bowl, Tom mixing them in with the rest of the ingredients. “We want the mixture to go in the cake, not on the floor.”

The hot-headed teen frowned but kept his comments to himself as he finished stirring.

Kelly nodded her head in approval as she looked into the bowl, before saying, “Okay, that should do it for the first layer, now get it into the oven to cook.”

Tom nodded, quickly moving over to the oven and beginning to fiddle with the buttons and knobs, trying to figure out how to activate the heat, while Kelly poured the mixture into a pan. The boy growled some in frustration as he pressed buttons at random hoping that would somehow work. Dang, stupid machines! Why did they all have to be so complicated! This was exactly why the Underworld had Firebrand Fairies instead. All they had to do was breathe a little bit of fire and your meal was ready to go. Why didn't everyone switch to this much easier method instead of insisting on using dumb technology for everything?!

The others could see their friend struggling and Marco helpfully asked, “Hey, Tom you need a hand?”

“No, no, I got it,” Tom replied stubbornly, though the venom in his tone was clear. There was no way he was gonna let a stupid oven beat him! He was the Prince of the Underworld for crying out loud! He would get this thing working even if it killed him!

Kelly just rolled her eyes and hit the start button out of the boy's view, causing the machine to instantly come to life and Tom grinned in victory. “See, told you I'd get it,” he said smugly in Star and Marco's direction. The two had to turn away to hide their laughter, giggling to themselves over their friend's naivety in the kitchen. It was obvious Tom wasn't the master baker he had said he was.

Tom proudly slid the pan into the oven and slammed the lid, clapping his hands together to dust off the remaining powder from his messy mixing. “There, done and done. That wasn't so bad,” the boy declared, gloaling to himself at his impressive skills. Sure, he had been a little lost at first but he was really starting to get the hang of this whole cooking thing. You couldn't even tell this was his first time.

Just then, though, Star and Marco  gasped in surprise, the former exclaiming brightly, “Oh hey look Kelly, Jackie and Janna came to cheer us on!”

Tom followed the blonde royal's pointing finger, before feeling his heart stop as he spotted the beanie-wearing girl in the crowd. The girl's playful brown eyes rested on him and him alone, clearly watching him from her vantage point. She was leaned back in her seat, her lip showing the slightest hint of a grin, causing her bright white fang to be just barely visible in the blinding sunlight. Tom felt his heart skip a beat, his cheeks heating up in a blush and making his flames become roaring bonfires.

A second later, the oven lit on fire, flames bursting from within the metal device and Marco and Star screamed as one, “Tom, your fire!”

The hot-headed teen screamed in surprise as he looked down and saw the damage from his power. Kelly's eyes widened to the size of saucers as she yelled at the top of her lungs, “No, my cake!” The group began panicking as they tried to put the fire out, Marco rushing over to the sink and filling a glass of water to pour on the flame, Star running to go get her wand, and Tom simply tried to think calming thoughts and slow his racing heartbeat. Kelly, however, kept her cool as she reached into her large mass of hair and pulled out a red fire extinguisher. In a matter of seconds, Kelly had the fire under control, blasting the ruined pan with a wash of the foamy, retardant substance.

But the incident hadn't gone unnoticed, gaining a crowd of onlookers both audience and participants alike, all of them watching flabbergasted as the teens struggled to save their spot in the competition. One of these viewers was none other than the Pie King himself, who had been keeping a close eye on the kids since the contest began. He smiled smugly to himself as he watched the four scramble to repair the damage done, his one eye hovering on that of the demon boy. It was clear to the sneaky chef that this boy was out of his element, looking uncomfortable and awkward as he attempted to help cook. But it was clear he had never been in a kitchen in his life and that made him an easy target.

The Pie King let out a shrill whistle and held a banana up in his good hand. A second later a squealing white monkey hopped onto his shoulder, snatching up the banana and devouring it instantly. The Pie King barely acknowledged the animal, his eye remaining on the group of teens. Specifically on the young, awkward half-demon. A twisted smirk formed on his face as he said to his small pet, “Go take care of our competition. And please try and be discreet about it.”

The monkey nodded it's furry head before hopping off his shoulder, readying to go do his master's bidding, the Pie King watching giddily. 

Once Kelly got the fire out, the group of teens were finally able to breathe easy again as they stared at the oven in disbelief. Tom cringed in guilt, looking shamefully at the damage he had done to the metal monstrosity. He hadn't meant to cause so much damage, maybe agreeing to help had been a bad idea after all.

Kelly was silent as she slipped on a pair of oven mitts and pulled out the smoking, burnt mess that was once cake batter. She set it on the counter and frowned in despair. She wafted a hand over it a few times to try and dissolve the thick smoke that poured off it but she knew it was a lost cause. There was no salvaging this, they would just have to start again. She checked the watch on her wrist, not wanting to see just how behind they were and let out a groan of annoyance from how much time they had lost. They would have to work extra fast to make it up.

“Uhh sorry, Kelly,” Tom finally managed to mutter, his voice tight with remorse for his actions.

Kelly let out a long sigh, before pushing down all her anxiety and stress. They didn't have time to dwell on it. “It's fine,” she said to the boy, her voice sharp but thankfully not resentful. “We'll just have to remake it.”

Tom nodded, still feeling bad for causing so much trouble. Marco and Star finally stepped in, each putting a soothing hand on Tom's shoulders and giving him an understanding smile. “Don't worry, Kelly,” Marco said, his voice full of positivity and belief. “I'm sure we can make up for lost time if we work hard enough. Right, Star?”

The blonde nodded. “Yeah, Marco's right! As long as we work together I'm sure we can finish the cake before the deadline.”

“Well, we gotta move fast then,” Kelly muttered, dumping the ruined food into a nearby trashcan before setting the bowl back down. She didn't sound quite convinced but at least she wasn't dwelling on the mistake. Instead, she got right back to work, barking out orders to her helpers who rushed to obey her commands. “Alright, we're gonna have to work fast then, Marco, Star, start peeling more fruit. Tom get the ingredients in that bowl asap! Let's move people, we don't have a lot of time to do this!”

In a matter of a few short minutes, the group had completely remade the first batch of cake batter, this time without any incidents and it was in the oven cooking, Kelly setting the timer instead of Tom, which the boy was thankful for.

But there was no time to celebrate, Kelly not wasting a second as she turned to her friends and said, “Alright, here's the plan, Tom and I are gonna work on the next batch. Marco and Star, you get to work on making the frosting. You remember how, don't you?” The two Mewmans nodded, doing cute little salutes.

“Yes, ma'am!” Marco exclaimed.

“We're on it,” Star added, equally as enthusiastic.

The two scrambled over to their station, ready and eager to get to work on the frosting.

Kelly watched them for about two seconds before whipping her head in Tom's direction who flinched.

“Alright, Tom. Ready to put those mixing skills to good use?” she asked, the smallest hint of a smile on her face.

Tom nodded, though he looked a bit unsure of himself. “Uhh, yeah, I guess. But out of curiosity, how many layers is this cake going to be?”

“Three,” Kelly replied as she set out the next set of ingredients needed. “The bottom layer is going to be purpleblurp, which we just finished, the middle layer is going to be Mewberries, for obvious reasons, and the top layer is going to be chocolate, cause who doesn't like chocolate.”

“I like it!” Marco pitched in, raising a hand and flashing them an innocent grin before returning his focus on his work.

“Exactly!” Kelly exclaimed, looking confident and in control again, any signs of nervousness gone. She was in her element, after all, and it was time for her to shine.

The Woolett flew into action, chopping up the delicious looking Mewberries into small little pieces, while directing Tom on the next set of cake mix. The boy worked delicately and precisely now, not wanting to make another mistake like before, being extra careful to not spill any of the contents on the counter, gritting his teeth and pinching his eyebrows together in concentration as he swirled the large spoon around the bowl. He wanted to prove to Kelly and the others that he was of valuable use to them. At first he had only agreed to help out of wanting to spend some time with Star and Marco but now he needed to prove he could do this. That he could fit in and do his part, otherwise he might not have a place in their group and he didn't want to be left out for such an easily avoidable reason.

As he mixed though, he kept his eyes on the bowl, barely looking over to acknowledge the ingredients as he picked them up off the table. Because of this, he didn't notice a small, furry hand reaching up from under the table and picking up the box of sugar, switching it with the box of salt. Then the hand slowly disappeared beneath the table once again.

“Now for the sugar,” Kelly said and Tom nodded, lifting up the box beside him without reading the label. He poured in the amount Kelly told him before setting it down and continuing with the baking process.

Star and Marco, meanwhile, were hard at work making frosting. They had set out the correct ingredients in front of them and Marco was eagerly stirring the smooth mixture into the bowl, his movements reminding Star of a master chef. The boy was humming a tune as he steadily mixed, clearly having a blast and Star couldn't help but hum along with him despite not recognizing the tune. Star was immensely happy she had agreed to help out Marco and Kelly, any time spent with her amazing boyfriend was sure to be a good one and having some time away from trying to literally fix the world was a relief. They had been working really hard lately, it was nice to have some time off. Even a princess needed to rest from time to time and after the Baby incident she had needed it more than ever.

Star was pulled from her thoughts as Marco suddenly said, “Okay Star, time to add in the food coloring.”

“Right,” Star agreed with a nod. This was the most important ingredient, Kelly’s own secret ingredient that she had worked tirelessly to make and the two teen’s both knew all too well it’s importance in the dish. Star scanned the countertop for the small vial of rainbow-colored liquid. But her smile switched to a frown when she didn't see the bottle anywhere. “Marco, you did grab it from the cart, right?” she asked, giving him a questioning look.

Marco nodded, his eyes widening in surprise. “Uh, yeah,” the boy in red replied, his eyebrows scrunching together in confusion. “I remember getting it. I put it right there.” He pointed to the spot only to gasp in shock as he stared at an empty space where the secret ingredient had once been.

“What?” Marco put down the bowl to lean over the spot, examining the smooth metal surface like the bottle might miraculously appear there. “But I know I put it there.” He frowned, his head spinning with questions.

Star tapped a finger to her chin looking around the tiny kitchen space for any sign of the missing ingredient. “Hmmmmm...” she mumbled. Her eyes landed on Kelly and she cringed, not wanting to trouble the girl with any more problems. She already seemed stressed enough and telling they had lost her secret ingredient just seemed like a bad idea. So she softly whispered to Marco in a low tone, “We better find it quick before Kelly notices.”

Marco nodded and the two quietly began a search around the kitchen, trying to go unnoticed by Kelly and Tom who were too focused on finishing up their batch of batter. Star checked all the cabinets and shelves for any signs of the missing vile with no luck, growing more and more agitated with each passing second. Marco was on his hands and knees looking around the table just in case it had fallen off somehow and rolled away. Although the hooded teen didn't locate the missing bottle, he did come across a trail of suspicious looking pawprints leading away from their table.

Marco stared at them in surprise for a second, examining them closely. They looked like they came from some kind of animal, though Marco couldn't tell which one. Whatever it was it had stepped in some flour, leaving white, powdery footprints behind. He was far from an expert on these things but something told Marco that if he followed this trail he would find out where the missing bottle of food coloring had gone. So without a word, he stood and began following the messy footprints around the courtyard.

He passed by a few stands but barely looked up to notice the rush of chefs scrambling to finish their meals on time. His focus was only on following the footprints, his head still filled with questions, wondering what could possibly be waiting for him on the other end. He did notice though that the footprints seemed to be fading, whatever creature had stepped in the incriminating flour had had a long way to go it seemed and the trail begun to vanish from its paws with every step. Marco began to fear he'd lose the trail and picked up his pace, jogging forward while keeping his gaze down at the prints. Just as the prints faded fully, Marco found himself standing in front of one of the many baking stations, staring down at the table in confusion.

He looked up and was shocked to be staring into the smirking face of the Pie King, who just stared back at him with a look that Marco found instantly off-putting. The boy stumbled back in his surprise, feeling his cheeks heat up against his will. Marco felt a rush of awkwardness and found it difficult to meet the Pie King's intense gaze, especially since there seemed to be something malevolent hidden behind his dark eyes. “Can I help you with something?” the Pie King asked, his voice ringing with annoyance and Marco felt even more uncomfortable than before.

“Sorry, I was just looking for something,” Marco responded in a tiny whisper. He turned to leave when a squealing drew his attention back. He turned to see a creature (a monkey if he remembered from his books) sitting on the Mewman's shoulder, staring at him with what looked like an evil grin... and clutched in its small hand was the rainbow-colored bottle that Marco had been looking for.

“Hey, that's ours!” Marco exclaimed, reaching over to grab it, only to receive a smack from the Pie King's hooked hand. The boy cringed, holding his aching palm to his chest, while giving the man a confused frown.

“What do you think you are doing, trying to steal from our table like that?!” the crooked king exclaimed, anger flashing across his face.

“I'm not stealing from your table!” Marco shouted, completely flabbergasted at the accusation. He stabbed a finger at the pet still perched on the Pie King's shoulder. “That monkey stole that from us!”

“And do you have any proof of that?” the Pie King asked, his eyebrows slowly raising.

“Uhhh, well, he left footprints leading all the way-” Marco's voice cut off as he turned to look back at him, the trail now completely gone, swept clean by one of the Pie King's many minions, who smirked at him still holding the incriminating  broom.

The Pie King and his monkey shared a knowing look, before the man exclaimed, “It seems to me you are completely delusional. That or you're a thief and I don't tolerate either, so you can either leave my stand peacefully or I can call one of the judges over and have you and your little team disqualified.”

Marco's mouth dropped open in complete disbelief. Was this guy for real? Was he seriously accusing Marco when his pet had so obviously stolen from their table like that? Did he seriously think he was gonna get away with it? “Are you serious?! You stole that from us!” Marco pointed to the vile, once again, in a last ditch effort, but the Pie King merely shook his head, in complete control of the whole situation. 

“I will not ask you again to leave. Or would you like to fail your friend on such a spectacular level as to get her disqualified?” The Mewman gave him a warning look and Marco took a step back out of instinct. He felt utterly lost and alone, his cheeks burning with failure and his stomach doing little flips in despair. Still, he knew there was no winning this and so simply shook his heavy head and headed back the way he came.

The feeling of defeat was made all the worse by the fact that he could swear he heard the Pie King laughing at him behind his back.

When the boy got back to Kelly's station he was quickly greeted by Star, who's eyes shined with concern, running over and giving him a tight hug. Marco felt his stomach twist in guilt, knowing he had made Star worry for wandering off without a word. Ever since the Mewberty incident, Star didn't like not knowing where Marco was, keeping him under an even closer watch than usual... and that was saying something. Star was already pretty protective.

“Where were you?” she asked as she pulled away.

Marco gave her a sheepish grin, replying apologetically, “Sorry, I didn't mean to wander off.” But his throat tightened as he added, “But I found out who took the rainbow dye.”

“Who?” Star asked, the fear leaving her eyes, instead replaced with burning curiosity.

“The Pie King. He had his pet monkey thing snatch it up while we weren't looking.”

Star gasped, her mouth dropping open in surprise before she scowled angrily, gritting her teeth in frustration. “That jerk! I can't believe he would just take it like that, especially in the middle of the competition!”

Marco nodded, an angry frown on his own face. It seemed Kelly had been right all along about the sneaky Pie King and the hooded teen couldn't help but feel resentment towards the man. He was about to ruin his friend's only chance to achieve her dream for no real reason. And even if he had a reason it was still wrong!

“I tried to get it back but he said he'd have us disqualified if I did,” Marco explained, his eyes now filling with panic. “What do we tell Kelly?”

Star shook her head, looking as lost as Marco felt. “I have no idea. This is gonna crush her.”

Just then, the Woolett let out an annoyed shout, the frustration and nervousness clear in her tone as she yelled, “Tom! You mixed it in wrong! You put in way too much salt!”

“What?!” Tom exclaimed, looking down at the dough in disbelief. “No way, I followed the recipe exactly like you told me to, I swear!”

Kelly quickly picked up two boxes off the table, shoving them in the hot-headed teen’s face. “You mixed up the salt and sugar! You ruined it!”

Star and Marco shared a knowing look, both thinking the exact same thing. Looks like the Pie King had sabotaged them once again.

“N-No,” Tom muttered weakly, looking lost and confused as he stared at the two boxes in growing despair. “I-I couldn't have. I mean, I thought I had it right.”

“Kelly-” Star spoke up, trying to gain the Woolett's attention but she was too busy reprimanding the hot-headed teen to notice.

“Ugh, I knew this was gonna happen!” Kelly groaned, slamming the boxes down on the table in a huff, her anger and frustration close to bursting. “I knew you couldn't handle this! I never should have let you help!”

“Wait, what?!” Tom exclaimed, a dark glare spreading across his face as his cheekmarks burned with growing anger.

“Kelly, wait,” Marco tried, moving between the two, Star right beside him, needing to stop the two before a full-blown argument broke out. “It's not what you think.”

“Oh I think it's exactly what I think!” Kelly shouted. “Tom ruined any chance I had at winning this thing and just cost me my dream job!”

“How is this my fault?!” Tom yelled, his anger now boiling over as his eyes began to turn a dark shade of red. “I did everything you told me! If anything this is your fault!”

Kelly let out a fake laugh at that, giving him an incredulous look. “Me? You said you knew how to cook but clearly you were lying!”

Tom's eyes flashed with guilt at that, rubbing subconsciously at his arm.

“ENOUGH!” Star shouted at the top of her lungs, finally gaining both arguing teens' attention. The two stared at her with looks ranging from confusion to annoyance and she shot them both a scolding glare. “That is enough out of both of you! Arguing is not going to fix anything!” the blonde exclaimed in a reprimanding tone.

“Besides it's not Tom's fault,” Marco added. “The Pie King is trying to sabotage us. He stole the rainbow food coloring too and he probably mixed up the sugar and salt to make it look like Tom mess up.”

Kelly stared at the two in disbelief for a second, before saying loudly, “What?! Are you serious?! He just ruined everything and we didn’t even notice! How did I not see that coming?! I mean, sure I knew he was sneaky, but that is just downright criminal! I can't believe we fell for that, ugh!” The girl buried her face in her hands, letting out a long groan.

Tom, meanwhile, just stared at his feet, his heart aching from the Woolett's harsh words. Marco seemed to notice this as he asked pointedly, “So don't you think you owe someone an apology?”

Kelly finally met Marco's eye and then Tom's seeing the hurt she had caused him and felt her stomach churn with guilt. “Tom, I'm sorry. I-”

“No, no, you were right,” Tom muttered weakly. “I did lie. I don't know what I'm doing. I just wanted to be included.” He sucked in a deep breath before adding softly, “I know how important this whole competition is to you, so I'll just let you guys handle the rest without me.”

“Tom,” Star spoke up soothingly, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. “This isn't your fault. The Pie King is messing with us. This is exactly what he wants. To divide us. But we don't have time to feel bad or be at each other's throats, not if we want to win this.” She turned to Kelly with a questioning expression. “We do still want to win this, right?”

Kelly sighed, defeat and exhaustion shining in her eyes. “I don't really see how we can. We've lost so much time and we don't even have a way to finish the recipe. I think this year Fang Tangs is out.” She leaned against the tabletop, her head lolling forward in shame and regret. She was practically shaking with despair, her fingers clutching so hard at the countertop they were turning white.

Star, Marco, and Tom all shared a look, unable to bear seeing their friend so emotionally devastated. Even Tom looked determined to cheer their friend up, his eyes glowing with compassion, even if he had no clue what to do to help. Star looked to be at a loss, as well, looking around sadly at the competition, all hard at work and nearly done with their dishes. It would take a miracle to catch up now.

But Marco refused to give up, something about this situation filling him with ambition and determination. That’s when the idea came to him. “No,” the boy said firmly and all eyes turned to him. “We're not out of this yet.”

Kelly looked confused at his words, before arguing, “But Marco. Look around.” She gestured to the other competitors. “We'll never catch up at this rate.”

“Yes, we will,” Marco said, a smile spreading across his face. “We just need a different method. And I think I have one in mind.” There was a knowing glint in his eye that caught Kelly’s attention instantly.

“And what is that?” Kelly asked, an eyebrow slowly raising.

Marco shook his head, knowing they didn't have time for him to explain it. “Don't worry about it. You just focus on getting the frosting ready. We'll handle the rest.”

“Wait, seriously?” the green-haired girl muttered in disbelief.

“Yep, leave everything else to us,” Marco said with a nod, ignoring the questioning looks from his other friends.

“But what am I supposed to do without the food coloring?” Kelly questioned, looking lost once again.

Marco shrugged. “Improvise. I'm sure you'll think of something.”

Kelly took a moment to contemplate that, her eyes flashing with determination and new drive. Marco was right. She couldn't just sit around moping, not when there was still time. She was a Woolett, a warrior by blood and her people didn't give up without a fight. She began to search their small kitchen space for anything to inspire her, needing an idea fast. That's when her gaze caught on the box of cereal Marco had brought with him. It was Captain Blanches Sugar Seeds, Marco's favorite apparently and he had insisted she use it somewhere in the cake. She had been planning on using it as some slight décor to top off the cake. But maybe...

A smile spread across Kelly's face now as she formed a new plan to get her in first place. “Alright, I think I'm on to something,” she said proudly, grabbing the box off the counter and running over to the other workstation, eager to get started, excitement bubbling in her chest.

“Great!” Marco exclaimed happily. “Then if you've got that, the rest of us will take of the cakes.”

“And how are we gonna do that?” Tom asked, giving Marco a doubting look.

“By doing what we do best... sticking together,” the hooded teen answered. He held a hand out before asking, “You two in?”

“I'm in,” Star said, immediately placing a hand on top of her boyfriend’s, the couple sharing a short smile.

Tom looked hesitant, asking softly, “You sure you want me to help?”

Marco nodded, giving him an uplifting smile. “I'm positive. We can't do this without you, Tom.”

Tom's eyes shined joy at the acceptance, feeling like an equal in their group once again. And with his confidence restored, he proudly placed a hand over Star and Marco's own before exclaiming in a cool, collected tone, “Then count me in!”

“Alright, then let's win this thing!” Marco shouted and the other cheered their agreement, throwing their linked hands into the air in excitement and unity. The boy immediately turned to Star though and added cryptically, “First things first, Star you're gonna need your wand.”

…

Jackie and Janna watched from their seats  as their friends seemed to be struggling with something. It was hard to tell because they were so far away but the four teens had completely stopped working, looking like they were talking amongst each other and based on their sorrowful expressions, it didn't seem like they were talking about anything pleasant. Clearly something had gone wrong, although neither Jackie nor Janna could piece together what that was. Things had seemed like they were going well from the two girls’ perspective, after a bit of a rough start in which Tom almost set the kitchen on fire (which Janna had seemed quite proud of for some reason) they had managed to more than make up for lost time. Only now, the group looked close to giving up, Kelly hanging her head in defeat for reasons Jackie and Janna didn't understand.

“What are they doing?” the skater girl asked, leaning forward in her seat in a vain attempt to hear them somehow.

“No idea,” Janna said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “But if they don't get back to work soon, they're gonna run out of time.”

“I know,” Jackie agreed, nodding her head. “I wonder what's wrong?”

“Wrong!” Tad exclaimed, both girls jumping in their seats. They had completely forgotten the tiny Woolett was even there, perched atop of Janna's brown beanie. For some reason, he seemed to have a distaste for chairs, much to the creepy teen's annoyance. “Something's wrong! Oh no, Kellllyyy!” he whined pitifully, his eyes shining with worrying tears.

But Janna seemed unaffected by his distress, asking in an annoyed tone, “Do you have to sit up there?”

“What, I can't see anything sitting in a chair,” Tad replied quickly.

“He has a point,” Jackie spoke up in defense of the pile of hair.

“Then why don't you move to Jackie's head?” the girl asked.

“I like yours better,” Tad replied, before the annoying whine returned to his voice. “Besides, who cares about that when my babe is struggling!”

“I don't know if they're struggling,” Jackie pointed out, frowning in the direction of the four teens.

“No, they definitely are!” Tad exclaimed, his small body beginning to shake. “I've never seen Kelly so depressed before, she looks like she's about to give up.”

“Why would she give up when they are so close to winning?” Janna asked, an eyebrow slowly raising. “Based on the rest of the dishes I'm seeing, they don't even come close to what Kelly and the others are cooking up.”

“Something must have gone wrong,” Tad replied, his body beginning to rise off of Janna's head. “I need to go over there. She needs me!” He started to float off in the direction of his girlfriend, feeling a pressing need to comfort her.

“Whoa, hold up there, Romeo!” Janna shouted, grabbing the hair out of mid-air and squishing him to her chest, holding him in an effective ‘hairlock’. “You can't go over there. She'll be disqualified if you do.”

“But Kelly...” Tad muttered in a nervous whimper, his voice trembling so much he couldn't even bring himself to finish the sentence.

“Will be fine,” Jackie reassured him, patting him gently on what she assumed to be his head. “She's not alone, after all. She's got Star, Marco, and Tom on her team. And if I know anything about those three it's that they don't give up without a fight.”

“Yeah, they are pretty stubborn,” Janna added in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Oh as opposed to you,” Jackie slyly added, giving her roommate a knowing look.

Janna shrugged. “That's fair,” she agreed.

Tad still seemed unsure, groaning under his breath but Jackie gave him another comforting pat. “Hey, no worries, Tad. They'll pull through, you'll see.”

“And wouldn't you know it,” Janna spoke up in a mystified tone, drawing both teens' attention onto her, while she was busy staring in disbelief in the direction of Kelly's table. “It looks like they're already doing just that.”

Jackie and Tad both gasped in shock as they finally noticed what Janna was seeing. It took both Woolett and human a few seconds to process the bizarre sight and a few more for the skater to be able to form functional words as she asked no one in particular, “What are they doing?”

…

Marco was moving at a speed he hadn't even known existed, his hands flying through the motions as he prepared Kelly’s signature dish. It was a wonder he was able to keep up with his own insane speed but for some reason, he felt totally in control, like this was what he was always meant to do and he couldn't help but wonder if it was because of his Trait that was giving him the speed and precision at which to do his job. He was throwing ingredients into the bowl left and right, not even bothering to measure things out (he didn't have time for that) just doing his best to guess the amount for each serving. He cracked open eggs, chopped, sliced, peeled, and poured in the span of mere seconds for each task. At some points even he didn't even know how he was keeping up, his hands moving faster than his brain could. But somehow he was pulling this off.

He risked a quick glance at Star, a smile of wonder spreading across his face as he watched the blonde royal spinning the wand confidently in front of her. The whole thing was glowing with pink energy and Star's eyebrows were furrowed in concentration, her tongue sticking out in the cutest way as she focused intently on her spell. In front of her, was a large glowing whisk, completely pink, much like Star's wand, and covered in little diamonds and star patterns all over it. It spun around the bowl in a circular pattern, stirring the mixture into a delicious looking pile of dough, everything blending together perfectly thanks to the magical utensil.

Once Star was done with stirring she pushed the bowl over to Tom who would pour the batter into a pan. He set the pan on the stovetop and cracked his knuckles, ready to do his own part and prove himself to the group. He sucked in a deep breath, before allowing the flames within him to take control. He could feel his cheeks growing hot enough to melt lead and knew they had to be burning torches by now, while his vision went completely red. 

He took slow, even breaths, picturing the fire he needed to summon deep within his core. Then focusing only on the pan in front of him, he blocked out all distractions, all three of his eyes trained on the metal dish. Slowly he saw a flame forming underneath it, burning a dim yellow, and he smiled. He was doing it. He was really doing it. 

“Wooowww,” he heard Marco’s awe-filled whisper and he felt his pride grow, making the small flame burn just a little hotter. But he knew he needed to speed things up, concentrating now on making the flame grow, watching as it slowly grew from a tiny spark to a burning, hot fire that completely consumed the bottom of the pan. 

Tom heard Marco’s gasp and he held his head a little higher, proudly showing off his skills to his best friend. “How are you doing that with your mind?” Marco asked in disbelief.

Tom was too busy concentrating to answer but luckily Star pitched in for him, still keeping her eyes on the magical whisk, “It’s Tom’s Trait. He’s always been able to do that.”

“Tom has a Trait, too!” Marco exclaimed, slamming his hands down on the table in shock.

Star nodded. “Yep, he’s half-Mewman so he gets a Trait same as us.”

“That’s so cool!” Marco shouted in joy. “I can’t believe you can light things on fire with your mind, Tom!”

“It’s not easy,” Tom finally said, letting the flames around the pan diminish, leaving behind a steaming hot pan, the delicious aroma wafting off it enough to make Tom's stomach growl. “I think it’s called like pyrokenesis or something like that, I don’t know. I’m pretty sure I heard a few egghead physicians my parents would take me to call it that.” He shrugged, as he poked the cake, making sure it was cooked all the way through and smiled in satisfaction. 

“Anyways,” he continued. “Most people in the Underworld can light themselves on fire and stuff but my ability is one of the rarest among demons and sometimes the hardest to control.”

“Why’s that?” Marco asked.

Tom cringed at the question, answering hesitantly, “Uh well, there are a few things that can affect it… like your emotions for example.”

“Ohhhhh,” the hooded teen said, finally understanding. He gave his friend a sympathetic look and the hot-headed boy hung his head in shame.

“Well if you ask me, I think you’ve been doing a great job, Tom,” Star spoke up, pushing the final bowl of cake mix over to Tom. 

Tom poured the batter into a new pan, casting a hopeful look over at his friend. “You think?” he asked nervously.

Star nodded. “Of course. You’ve really been working on getting that temper of yours under control, your emotions are way more in check than they used to be. I hardly ever see you set things on fire at random like you used to. I mean, used to my parents would have to put fire-proof coverings on all the furniture when your family came to visit.” She gave him a teasing wink. 

Tom grinned, the flame coming even easier than before as fire once again burned at the bottom of the pan, the batter slowly rising into a usable shape. “Well I don’t know what it is but lately controlling my Trait has been a lot easier.”

“Maybe it’s because you’re happier,” Marco suggested. 

Tom paused at that, thinking it over for a second. He was happier. Ever since he and Star had made up, his anger had been so much more manageable. He loved being a part of the Commission, feeling like he belonged to something and wasn’t shamed for his emotional outbursts. Even as a prince, he could tell people were afraid of him and it made getting close to people hard. But now, he belonged to something and that gave him comfort, because he would never have to try and belong again. Now the only time he ever lost control was around Janna, his twisted knot of emotions for her impossible to understand.

“Yeah, maybe,” he whispered, his cheeks flushing slightly as he tried to keep his thoughts off of the creepy beanie-wearing girl no doubt watching him.

Star glanced at the pan and said, “Okay, I think that’s enough, Tom.”

The boy didn’t need to be told twice, the flames instantly dying, leaving only a thin layer of steam rising off of the cooked surface of the cake.

“Good work, Tom,” Marco said, slipping on oven mitts and moving the pan next to a fan to cool. “It looks perfect.”

Tom put his hands on his hips, puffing out his chest proudly as he declared, “Well, what can I say, I am the Prince of the Underworld for a reason.”

Star and Marco giggled, before the blonde royal said teasingly, “And so modest, too.”

Tom just gave her a playful grin back, happy to feel included once more. 

Marco pulled the last pan from the oven and set it next to the other two. Now all the teens could do was wait till they were cool enough to frost, still the three couldn't help but sniff the air greedily, their stomachs growling in want. But they knew better than to indulge their empty stomachs, not after all the hard work that had gone into making the rich dessert. So ignoring their hunger pains, Star, Marco, and Tom turned to Kelly, who was hard at work mixing something.

“Okay, Kelly, all three layers are baked and ready to be frosted,” Marco exclaimed, standing at attention as he waited to hear the Woolett's next order.

The girl turned to them in surprise, her hands still mixing as she stared at them in disbelief. “Already,” she muttered. But it wasn't hard to hear the hopefulness hidden in her voice, her gaze softening. “You actually pulled it off.”

“You say that like you doubted we could,” Tom spoke up smugly.

“Well, I-” Kelly began, fidgeting as remorse flooded her features and her cheeks burning in shame.

But Marco shook his head not allowing his friend to continue, instead saying brightly, “Well, we handled it, just like I said we would and now we have a fighting chance again.”

“Yeah, we actually do!” Kelly exclaimed, her eyes burning with passion once again. “And honestly I think the change I made to the recipe is gonna be even better than before.”

“Seriously?” Star gasped. She couldn't imagine the amazing cake she and Marco had tried before could get any better. It had taken all her will-power not to stuff the delicious dessert down her throat and she had still ended up eating three slices in one go, Marco outdoing even that with four slices (which he had immediately regretted).

“What did you do anyways?” Marco asked, cocking his head to the side, clearly burning with curiosity.

“See for yourself,” Kelly said, tipping the bowl so the three could look inside it. The teens gasped but smiled at the delicious and wonderful sight in front of them. Marco was especially overjoyed by the contents of the bowl, his eyes lighting up in the cutest way. The frosting was now pink and purple and had small bits of sugar crushed up in it which sparkled in the sunlight, making it glitter like tiny crushed up jewels.

Marco couldn't believe what he was seeing, recognizing the ingredient in a heartbeat. “That's sugar seeds, isn't it!? You used Captain Blanches Sugar Seeds as your secret ingredient!”

Kelly nodded, a sly smile spreading across her face. “Yep, sure did. I'm glad you insisted on adding it to the cake, otherwise I might not have even thought to do this.”

Marco grinned brightly, practically shaking in excitement. “I can't believe you used my favorite cereal for your recipe!”

“Didn't have much of a choice,” Kelly replied, before adding quickly, “Now help me get this thing frosted before the time is up.”

“Attention all competitors! There is only five minutes remaining of this year's Annual Mewni Bake-Off so hurry and finish your dishes before it's too late!” A voice announced and the four teens shared a look, before they flew into their work with new vigor.

The next five minutes flew by in a haze of chaotic cooking, Star, Marco, Tom, and Kelly frosting and stacking and smoothing out the spread over the baked layers of cake like there was no tomorrow. There was no time for precision, only panic, as they rushed to get everything done in time. Honestly, if asked afterwards not a single one of the four novice bakers could say what they did during those five minutes. Except maybe Kelly, who was used to working under a time limit but even she gave in to her stressful mind once or twice and lost track of time.

Kelly was nervously trying to smooth out the frosting on the cake, making sure it was all even and neat but she could feel the time ticking away from her. At this rate, they were just barely going to make it since they had to have it on the cart ready to go before the time ran out. She took a moment to observe the cake, trying to decide on if they should try and make it look a little nicer or call it done.

But when the announcer loudly shouted they were on the final minute she knew they had to stop and just hope it was good enough. “Guys, we need to get it on the cart!”

“But the frosting isn't-” Marco started and Kelly grabbed onto his arms, cutting him off.

“There's no time!” she screamed, shaking him back and forth. “We need to move it, now!”

Marco gave a small nod, clearly confused and disoriented by the Woolett's action but quickly got into position to help lift the massive plate the three-layered cake was sitting on.

Kelly got into her own spot and waited until the others were ready before shouting, “Ready? Lift!” The four grunted as they managed to hoist the heavy dessert off the tabletop with their combined strength. Kelly waited a second to make sure everyone had a solid grip, the hooded teen seeming to struggle for a second, before she ordered them to move.

The group started the slow, steady process of carrying the cake over to the cart, every step pure agony to Kelly who became intensely aware of every second that passed and she cursed herself for not having thought to bring the cart closer to them beforehand. But the teens actually seemed to be making decent time, the cake remaining steady on the plate as they walked. The Woolett smiled as the cart drew closer and closer. This was it. They were actually going to make it!

The announcer's voice called out again, proclaiming in his loud but professional tone, “Only ten seconds remain! 9... 8..”

Marco felt something wedge underneath his foot mid-step and was powerless to stop himself as he felt his knee buckling and he lost his grip on the cake as he began to fall.

“7...”

Kelly saw Marco trip and felt the weight shift but could do nothing but scream in terror as the plate flew from her hand.

“6... 5...”

Star and Tom turned when they felt the plate slip from their grip and gasped in surprise as they watched the cake falling down towards their fallen friend and Star's instincts took over as she held out her wand.

“4...”

Star managed to catch the cake with her magic just before it splattered on Marco, who could only stare forward dumbly, watching as his girlfriend lifted the cake high into the air with her spell.

“3... 2...”

Star set the cake gently down on the cart, making sure to move slowly enough that the cake wouldn't be messed up in any way, but luckily it all stayed in one piece, the spell she had used keeping it suspended in a moment in time as well as in the air. She only had time to set the dessert down before a loud bell was rang, signaling the end of the competition.

“Time!” the announcer declared. “All bakers, lower your utensils!”

The four teens let out long breaths of relief and exhaustion, Star, Kelly, and Tom nearly collapsing to the ground like Marco as the stressful competition was finally over. “Oh man!” Kelly exclaimed, still in complete disbelief. “That was too close!”

“See, I told you we could make it in time!” Marco spoke up as Star helped pull him to his feet, brushing him off in a caring manner and checking him over for any injuries.

“You okay, dude?” Tom asked in concern, moving over to his friend. “That was a pretty bad fall.”

“Yeah, sorry I guess I just tripped over something,” the hooded teen muttered sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his neck. He quickly met the Star's eye and the two blushed against their will. “Thankfully Star was here to save the day.”

“Aww, I didn't do anything special,” Star said modestly, waving a dismissive hand in the air.

“You saved the cake and my career,” Kelly pointed out, giving her a kind smile. “Thank you for that, Star.” She then turned her gaze to Marco and Tom. “And thanks everyone for keeping me going even when I felt like giving up, I really couldn't have done this without you.” Her eyes lingered on Tom for a second as she added sweetly, “All of you.”

Now Tom was blushing and he quickly hid his embarrassment with a cough, saying, “Soooo, we should probably get this cake over to the judges before anything else goes wrong, huh?”

Kelly nodded her agreement and said in an enthusiastic tone, “Yeah, let's do that.”

She began to wheel the cart away, Tom following along behind her as they headed over to the judges stand. Star started to follow when she noticed Marco standing in the same spot as before, staring at the ground, and she immediately asked, “What's wrong, Marco?”

The boy frowned and gave his shoulders a little shrug. “I just can't figure out what I tripped on. I mean, I know Higgs said I was clumsy but there was nothing for me to trip on.” He thought it over for a second, before meeting Star's eye with a nervous expression. “Do you think there's something wrong with my feet?”

Star couldn't help but giggle at her boyfriend's childish worry and he gave her a confused look at the sudden burst of laughter. “No, Marco, I don't think it has anything to do with your feet,” Star replied, trying to hide her smile. “You probably just lost your balance, it happens sometimes.”

Marco gave a slow nod, his eyebrows still pinched together, telling Star he didn't quite believe her theory. “Yeah, I guess you're right.”

“Now, c'mon, let's go catch up with the others,” Star said, snaking an arm around him and leading him away from the small cooking station. Marco didn't fight the blonde as she pulled him away but taking one last look back he could swear he saw a small furry white tail poking out from under one of the tables. He frowned to himself, suddenly having a pretty good idea what had tripped him up earlier.

But then Star said something to him and he returned his focus onto his girlfriend, responding to her question while inwardly hoping that the Pie King didn't have any more tricks up his sleeve. He wasn't sure Kelly (or him for that matter) could take much more of this.

…

When the gang finally reached the judge's table, they encountered a large crowd blocking their way, their competitors beating them there it would seem. Kelly looked around for a moment, trying to find a way through the thick wall of people in front of her before sighing in defeat. “It's no use. Guess we'll just have to wait till they call us.”

“Well hopefully we won't have to wait too long then,” Marco spoke up, his voice as positive as ever.

“Yeah, no kidding,” Tom added, already starting to look bored. “I mean how long does it take to try some food, anyways? Just stuff it in your mouth and move on.” He rolled his eyes and Kelly had to bite her lip to keep from lecturing him on the incredibly important and intricate process of critiquing fine cuisine. But it wasn't worth the effort, besides she'd probably only end up putting the flaming teen to sleep.

“Y'know Tom, if you don't feel like waiting you could always go and join our other friends in the stands,” Star pointed out, shooting him with a playful smirk and wink.

Tom blushed as he remembered just who was waiting for him in the stands and quickly blurted out in a nervous squeak, “Uh no, that's okay.” He cleared his throat, before adding in a much more collected tone, “I'd like to see how this thing plays out. After all, I am part of the team.”

“I just hope we don't run into any more trouble before the judges can taste the cake,” Marco said nervously.

“Well just keep your eyes peeled, trouble could lurk around every corner,” Kelly replied in an unnerving tone.

“Hello friends!” Gustav yelled behind them and the group all let out screams, Kelly instinctively grabbing the boy's arm and flipping him over her shoulder. The young chef was left coughing and groaning on the floor as the group stared down at him dumbfounded. “Ouch,” he murmured in a strained tone.

“Gustav! What the heck, dude! You know better than to sneak up on a Woolett!” Kelly exclaimed, letting out an annoyed huff.

“Right, that was my bad,” the boy said, blinking away tears of pain.

“Sorry, Gustav,” Star quickly apologized, giving him a sheepish grin as she helped pull him to his feet. “We didn't know it was you.”

“Yeah we thought it was the Pie King,” Marco explained. “He's been trying to sabotage us this whole time.”

“Marco,” Kelly hissed, giving him a warning glare. Had he seriously already forgotten her rule about not talking to the competition unless it was absolutely necessary.

But Gustav didn't seem to notice this letting out a loud gasp, his eyes widening as he said, “No wonder you all are on edge! Being on the Pie King's bad side can only bring trouble.”

“Yeah, tell us about it,” Tom scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“I wouldn't want to be you right now, that's for sure,” Gustav added, giving them all sympathetic looks.

“Next up, Gustav's Meatballs,” the announcer suddenly called and the young human let out a squeal of delight, adjusting his baker hat on his head as he exclaimed. “Guess that's me! Wish me luck!”

He strolled away with an unnaturally wide grin on his face, wheeling his cart over to the judge's stand.

“Good luck!” Marco yelled after him, waving to the boy.

Kelly nearly groaned in embarrassment, muttering out sharply, “Marco, don't wish him luck! This is still a competition, remember?”

“Well, yeah but that doesn't mean I can't be friendly,” Marco argued, his eyes shining with innocence.

“Yeah, Kelly what's the big deal? So far the only one who has it out for us is the Pie King and I don't see him anywhere around,” Tom retorted, his voice full of doubt and arrogance.

“Look you guys still clearly have a lot to learn about the Mewni Bake-off,” Kelly said simply.

“But isn't this your first year entering, too?” Star pointed out, raising a knowing eyebrow.

Kelly felt her cheeks flush some as she quickly argued, “Well yeah but I just know these things, okay!”

“Okay whatever you say, boss,” Tom replied sarcastically, the smirk visible on his face.

Kelly simmered in place for a moment, doing her very best to hide the annoyance she felt but her impatience and anxiety was starting to get the better of her already. She knew she was overreacting but she couldn't help it. She was once again a walking ball of stress, her fingers twitching in place and her shoulders tensed up to the point she felt like she had pulled a muscle out of place. Her body seemed incapable of holding still with the massive amount of nerves building inside her. She did her best to hide her irrational fears from the common eye but on the inside she was screaming in both worry and excitement. The outcome of this bake-off would make or break her career, after all, it was hard to stay calm with knowledge like that.

And as if she wasn't already stressed enough, Roy decided now of all times to make his presence known, sauntering up to them with the same dorky, over-the-top grin as always but instead of just humiliation at the sight, she now felt genuine fear from the look, knowing underneath the layer of goofy bravado was a power-hungry and spiteful creature. “Well hey there, Kelly. How's my favorite chef doing today?” Roy greeted cheerfully enough, before it hardened into a much more sinister question. “Feeling confident in us crushing the Pie King in his smug face, hmm?”

“Uhh, hey Roy,” Kelly managed to nervously muster. “Good to see you here. Right before the judges taste our cake. That's not stressful at all.” She let out an awkward chuckle and the others could see their friend was in desperate need of saving.

“We managed to get the cake done, Roy,” Star spoke up, hoping to distract the goblin's attention off of her friend.

“Yeah and I think the judges are gonna like what they taste,” Marco added with a confident grin.

“Oh thank you princess for coming to help out my little restaurant, it really means a lot to me,” Roy said in an overly sweet tone, shaking the girl's hand vigorously.

“Uhh, what about Kelly?” Tom asked suspiciously.

Roy seemed to have completely forgotten about his chef for a moment as he mumbled halfheartedly, “Hmm, oh yes, yes. It means a lot to Kelly, too.”

Tom gave the goblin an incredulous look while the Woolett's eyes just narrowed in annoyance, gritting her teeth to keep from commenting.

“Well it was no problem,” Star said modestly, her regal tone picking up at just the right moment. “I'm always happy to help out a friend.” The blonde put extra emphasis on the last word, hoping to gain Kelly a little recognition for her own work.

But again, Roy seemed oblivious to his worker's existence as he squealed in delight, “Oh my, I can't believe it! The princess of Mewni is calling me one of her friends!” His eyes shimmered with joy and it took all of Star's willpower not to grimace.

“Actually I think Star was talking about Kelly,” Marco pointed out.

“Oh,” Roy said in obvious disappointment. But he quickly directed his attention onto the Woolett asking in excitement, “Sooo did everything go well? I know after tasting that amazing recipe you came up with we'd finally have something to one-up my greatest rival and his island of thieves.” The goblin gave his chef an eager look as he waited for her answer and Kelly felt her stomach twist with nerves once again.

“Well there were a few hiccups,” Kelly said awkwardly.

“Like what?! Did you manage to finish the cake or not?” Roy asked, clearly panicking.

“We did,” Kelly reassured him, before sucking in a deep breath. Here goes nothing. She closed her eyes as she hesitantly added, “But I did have to modify the recipe in a few places.”

“What?!” Roy screamed, drawing many onlookers to the scene the goblin was beginning to make. “You modified the recipe during the competition! Do you realize how risky that is?! What if the judges don't like it! I could lose... again! I can't take another year of gloating from that villainous king!” Roy was starting to go into a full-blown panic attack, hyperventilating as he rubbed his clawed hands together in nervousness.

“Relax, Roy. I made the cake even better than before. We're still gonna win this for sure,” Kelly said smoothly with all the confidence she did not have.

“You better or you won't have a job!” Roy shouted, giving her a firm look and Kelly's hands clenched into tight fists to avoid losing her cool. So now he was threatening to fire her! Demoting her was bad enough but being forced to leave in shame like that… it was unthinkable.

“I got it, okay. Just let me do my job already,” Kelly said in a huff.

“Uhh, Kelly,” Marco spoke up nervously, flinching as all eyes fell on him. He gave them a sheepish grin as he said apologetically, “I know this might not be the best time but I think we're next up.”

“Good, we're done here anyways,” Kelly said immediately, turning her back on her goblin boss, her long hair whipping him in the face slightly. To her friends she added, “Now let's go guys, we got a competition to win.”

The others gave a quick glance to Roy before following after their friend, leaving the small goblin to mutter under his breath about the insubordination amongst his staff and how he really needed to stop hiring a bunch of disrespectful teenagers.

“Wow, I've never seen Roy acting like that before,” Marco mentioned, once they were out of earshot.

“That's because you've never seen him competitive before,” Kelly hissed, her blood boiling with rage towards her boss. “He becomes a whole different goblin. One year he nearly mauled a teenage street vendor for trying to sell hot dogs too close to Fang Tang's.”

“Yikes,” Star and Marco said as one.

“Yeah, yikes is right,” Kelly agreed, rolling her eyes.

“Sounds like you need a better job,” Tom commented.

“Well if this doesn't work out I might be in need of one,” Kelly whispered, her eyes flooding with worry.

“Don't worry, Kelly. You're gonna be great,” Star reassured the girl, putting a steadying hand on her back.

“Yeah, Kells, you're totally gonna blow them away!” Marco exclaimed brightly.

“Prepare to be blown away!” a loud and familiar voice called from up ahead and the group all turned to the judge's stand in surprise. The Pie King stood in front of the table where the three judges sat, giving them what could almost pass for a friendly smile if not for the sinister gleam in his eye. He had his hands behind his back, two Pie Folk ready and waiting at the cart behind him, watching their boss closely for his order. “For today I unveil to you a dessert so delicious, so unbelievable, so amazing that I guarantee you have never seen anything like it before!”

“Let me guess... it's a pie,” once of the judges said gruffly, looking bored and unimpressed with the long-winded speech.

“That's Emilio,” Kelly explained to the others, looking at the judge in total awe. “He's one of the most famous chefs on Earth and one of the most stubborn judges ever! He's incredibly picky. Getting him to like one of your dishes is close to impossible.”

“Well sounds like we don't have anything to worry about then,” Tom commented, a sly smirk growing on his face. “What are the odds he would like something that sneaky chef makes?”

“It is much more than just a simple pie,” the Pie King explained, unfazed by Emilio's cold demeanor. “I have spent weeks perfecting this recipe and now present to you my piece de resistance...:

Pie King snapped his fingers and his two lackeys ripped the fabric off of the tray, revealing the food that lay beneath it. It was indeed a pie, a very delicious looking one in fact, its crust cooked to perfection, just the perfect color of brown, with a layer of steam gently rising off of it and decorated on top with a few strawberries which looked like they had just been picked from the vine. But the part that caught Kelly and the others attention was the rainbow-colored filling that was inside it, some of it oozing out of the holes in the top. “The very first rainbow pie!”

The crowd of onlookers all 'ooed' and 'awed' at the sight, some even licking their lips in hunger, but Kelly and the gang could only stare at the dessert slack-jawed. “That's not their recipe!” Marco exclaimed in complete disbelief. “They stole your recipe, Kelly!”

“Yeah I can see that,” Kelly commented numbly.

“I cannot believe they are actually trying to pass that off as their own after all the hard work you put in,” Star hissed, her eyes narrowing in anger and she began to storm over to the judges stand. “I'm gonna put a stop to this right now!”

Kelly put up an arm, stopping the fuming princess from passing and the blonde turned to her with surprise. “Don't. It won't change anything. It'll only make things worse.”

“What but Kelly-” Star began to argue, only to be cut off by the Woolett.

“I know, it sucks,” Kelly said through gritted teeth, her voice tight with barely suppressed anger. She sounded like it was taking everything in her power to hold herself back. “But the Pie King is crafty, he'll just turn it around against us. Better to just let him have this.”

“Are you serious?!” Tom growled, his anger beginning to boil over. “So what, we just let him get away with this!”

“We don't have much choice, Tom,” Kelly responded, watching as the Pie King passed out slices of the pie to the eager judges. Of course she wanted to fight and take back what was hers. It was her recipe, after all, something she had worked tirelessly on and had been so proud to of made. But she had been careless and allowed it to end up in the hands of the greedy Pie Folk. She should have taken better care in safeguarding her secret recipe and now she just had to face facts and accept that her precious recipe was no longer hers. She just had to hope what she had made to replace it was somehow better.

But to her dismay the judges reactions were far from uplifting. They all seemed enamored with the pie, chewing the food greedily and nodding their heads as they wrote down their thoughts on the slips of paper before them. Even Emilio seemed impressed, his gaze softening as he took extra care and time to chew the treat, clearly in deep thought over the taste. When he did finally swallow, his face was totally unreadable. He scribbled something down on the paper, before saying in a businesslike tone, “Thank you, now move along.”

The Pie King bowed low before sauntering away from the table with a victorious grin, his minions following along behind them. He stopped right besides Kelly and he didn't even hide the shrewd smirk on his face as he said to the green-haired girl, “Good luck topping that.”

Kelly glared back and said through gritted teeth, “Just watch me.”

The Pie King made an indistinguishable noise that seemed to be a combination of a chuckle and a snort. “Sure you don't wanna drop out and save yourself the embarrassment.” He gave her a cheshire grin, his crooked teeth gleaming in the sunlight.

“Yeah right, like we'd even listen to anything you have to say,” Star snapped, speaking up for her friend while giving the Pie King a hate-filled glare.

“Especially since all you did was steal the secret ingredient from us,” Marco added, with an angry scowl. “Kelly worked way harder than you! She deserves to win, not you!”

The Pie King rolled his eyes, clearly growing bored of the conversation. “Well, we'll just have to see what the judges have to say about that, won't we?”

“Next!” Emilio shouted, his critical gaze landing on Kelly and she felt a chill jump up her spine. She gulped, feeling her stomach bubble with nerves, any semblance of control she once had leaving her the moment she was called on. She felt like the pressure was crushing her, the weight of all her responsibilities and dreams piling on her at once, making it difficult to breathe or move. She felt like she would crumble if a strong gust of wind hit her and as all eyes now fell on her, both onlookers and judges alike, she found her body had completely given up on her, movement an impossible feat.

But then she felt a hand on her comforting hand on her back, followed by a friendly hand on her shoulder and then a third hand on her arm, reminding her she wasn't in this alone. She was surrounded by friends who would help her face this challenge, who would stand with her pass or fail and she felt courage rise in her again. Kelly was able to turn her head in the direction of her friends and they all gave her a confident nod, silently telling her they could do this and Kelly smiled back at them, her drive restored.

And so, the Woolett held her head high and approached the judges stand, each step carrying her to her future but she welcomed it openly. Once she was in front of the three judges she cleared her throat, before speaking in the calmest, most controlled tone she had ever used, “Ladies and gentlemen, creatures of every dimension, me and my friends are here today on behalf of Roy's Fang Tangs-”

“Ah yes, wasn't that the same restaurant that tried to present discount Goblin Dogs last year,” one of the judges commented, her voice none too friendly.

But Kelly ignored the harsh comment, instead declaring, “Well this year I made my own original recipe.”

“Yes, yes and it's probably unlike anything we've seen before,” Emilio muttered, rolling his eyes.

Kelly, seeing words were not going to sway the judges' minds any, gave a small nod to Tom who pulled off the cover over the cake. Once exposed to sunlight the cake began to shine and shimmer, the thousands of grains of sugar lighting up and causing the whole courtyard to be covered in tiny spots of light. The crowd again was enchanted by the beauty of the cake, soft murmurs filling the air around Kelly. Star, Marco, and Tom all gave her thumbs up, happy this was going well so far. The judges remained stone-faced but the Woolett was sure their eyes had a hint of sparkle and wonder to them. Taking advantage of the hype, Kelly did a dramatic flourish towards her creation saying in a dramatic tone, “I present to you all the multiverse triple layer crystal cake! Each and every ingredient used comes from a different dimension blending together into one treat to celebrate our unity and companionship.”

The crowd hung on every word, the murmurings growing louder and more vibrant as Kelly let the attention soak over her. She hadn't expected this kind of reaction for something she made but it made her heart swell with pride, finally feeling for the first time ever like a real chef.

“It is quite a sight,” the woman judge said, unable to keep the awe out of her voice.

“Yes but the taste is all that matters,” Emilio commented, still not giving away even a hint of emotion.

“Of course, what's the point of a cake if you can't eat it,” Kelly said, smiling ear to ear. Nothing could faze her in this moment, she was on top of the world. Star, Marco and Tom began cutting up slices of the cake without a word, making sure to get all three layers on the plates before handing them out to the judges with small smiles. The group then moved to Kelly's side watching with held breath as each judge stabbed a fork into the sugary treat. Time seemed to slow as the bite of food was lifted up to their mouth before disappearing inside, all four teens on edge as they watched the judges silently chew.

Kelly kept an eye on the judges' expressions hoping to see some kind of indication they were enjoying her creation and to her delight they all seemed to like it, savoring the bite for as long as they could. When they did finally swallow, two of them began to furiously scribble something down, while Emilio simply stared down at his plate, deep in thought. Then he too wrote something down and said to the girl in a dismissive tone, “Thank you, next!”

Kelly and the others quickly moved back to the crowd, Tom pushing the cart out of the way so the next contestant could go. Once they were out of eyesight from the judges, the group all let out long breaths of relief and took a moment to relax. Marco bent over on his knees, trying to will his racing heart down to a decent speed as he commented, “Wow, that was intense!”

“Yeah no kidding,” Tom agreed, though he seemed a bit more at ease compared to the hooded teen, leaning against the cart with a tense expression. “Can't believe people willingly put themselves through that. It's nerve-wracking.”

Star seemed much less affected, her stance and posture calm, having grown used to dealing with unhealthy amounts of stress during her time on the throne. “Uh guys, you do remember our job is literally fixing the entire world, right?” the blonde royal commented playfully.

Tom and Marco shared a look before the hooded teen responded simply, “Well yeah but that's totally different. If Kelly loses this she doesn't have a job.”

Star giggled, shaking her head before planting a kiss on her boyfriend's cheek. “You are too cute sometimes,” she cooed, brushing his bangs out of his face. Marco blushed and looked away with an adorable little grin on his face. Star directed her attention onto Kelly who had yet to say a word so far and asked, “So, Kells, how do you feel?”

“Pretty good, actually,” the Woolett responded in an even tone, looking at peace. If she was stressing or worrying, it didn't show. “I think that went pretty well.”

“You think we're gonna win?” Tom asked with a competitive grin.

“I think we have a good shot at it,” Kelly replied with a confident nod. “But we'll just have to wait and see.”

“I bet they are gonna declare you the winner for sure!” Marco exclaimed, his eyes shining with naive brightness and Kelly couldn't help but smile at his innocent sureness.

“I hope you're right, Marco,” was all the Woolett could say in reply.

…

The next hour passed by at an unbearably slow rate, the four doing everything they could think of to keep their minds off the competition. They met up with Tad, Jackie, and Janna (who Tom did his very best to steer clear of) and luckily they were able to keep the gang sidetracked as the rest of the competition presented their cuisine to the picky judges. Kelly felt immediately more relaxed with Tad in her hair again, all the pieces of herself back together now that they were reunited. Still she had trouble focusing on a single word the others were saying as they talked and laughed in an effort to distract themselves. But Kelly couldn’t stop casting glances over at the judges table, shifting nervously in her seat. Tad seemed to notice this and reassured his girlfriend, saying, “Hey, no worries, babe. You got this in the bag.”

“I sure hope so, Tad, or I can say goodbye to my job,” Kelly muttered, crossing her arms in front of her chest, trying to hide her nerves as best she could.

“C’mon do you really think Roy is gonna fire you over some dumb competition?” Tad asked.

“It’s Roy, Tad,” Kelly hissed, leaning back heavily in her chair. 

“Oh… right,” Tad said sheepishly and Kelly let out a heavy breath of defeat. She buried her face in her palms, trying to massage her aching head, she was ready for this whole competition to be over, the sooner this was done the sooner she could relax, she had a three hour bubble bath in her future that much was certain.

“Hey Kelly, I think they’re about to announce the winners,” Jackie spoke up, snapping Kelly out of her thoughts and back into the moment. Kelly gave a quick glance in that direction and saw the judges whispering amongst each other, serious expressions on their faces. 

“Yep it looks that way,” Kelly muttered, rising up out of her chair, she felt her knees wobble a little but managed to keep her balance. Get ahold of yourself, Kelly, she mentally reprimanded herself. You’re a Woolett for corn’s sake! Act like one! The green-haired girl sucked in a breath forcing herself to relax (or at least appear to be) and made her way to the judge’s stand.

The others followed silently along behind her, not wanting to break her concentration. She seemed really focused. There was again a crowd of people that kept them from getting too close to the stage but they managed to find a free spot relatively close to where the judges had gathered. Emilio and the others seemed to have reached a decision, the serious expression they all shared tipping Kelly off and she felt her nerves spike. This was it. Moment of truth. 

“Ladies and gentlemen!” Emilio began, addressing the crowd and the moment he spoke a silence fell over the courtyard, all ears trained on his final decision. “The other judges and I have come to an agreement. This year's winner of Queen Comet’s Annual Mewni Bake-Off is…”

Kelly and the others all held their breaths, Marco crossing his fingers for good luck and squeezing his eyes shut, willing the judges to say his friend’s name. 

“The Pie King!” 

“WHAT?!” the group all exclaimed, their mouths dropping open in disbelief. Kelly was shell-shocked to say the least, the world around her almost fading to black, the applause of clapping hands fading to a dull roar, her own heartbeat pounding against her eardrum drowning out any other noise. It was as if her brain had completely shut down, watching numbly as the Pie King proudly received his golden trophy, flaunting it off to the crowd and sending Kelly snarky looks. But Kelly was barely aware of this. She was barely aware of anything. The only thing she could focus on was the simple and yet world shattering truth that she was faced with. She lost. All her dreams of being a professional chef… crushed. She felt tears form at the corners of her eyes but she blinked them away. She wouldn’t give the Pie King the satisfaction, since she was aware he was watching her closely. 

She could also feel her friends sympathetic stares burning into her back but she was too ashamed to face them. What was she supposed to say anyways? What words could possibly describe the soul-crushing despair she felt. She could feel Tad gently running a hand through her bangs, a gesture that would normally soothe her but right now....

“Kelly, I’m so sorry,” Marco said, placing a hand on her shoulder, his voice full of empathy and he was clearly suffering from his own despair at losing. 

“That is so unfair!” Tom exclaimed in a loud growl, his eyes flashing red with anger. “He stole Kelly’s secret ingredient and then still wins the whole thing! In the Underworld we would have ripped out his spine by now!”

The Pie King must have overheard them cause he gave them all a condescending smirk and even went as far as to wink at the teens. 

Tom’s cheekmarks were burning infernos at this point and it took all of his restraint not to light the thieving royal on fire. 

Star, however, had no such restraint. “That’s it!” she shouted, storming forward. “I’m putting a stop to this right now!”

“Guys, just forget it,” Kelly spoke up and the whole group froze, turning to her with surprise. “There’s no point,” she continued, her voice sounding pathetic even to her own ear. “I lost, he won and that’s that.”

“Only cause he cheated!” Star argued. 

“Want me to curse him?” Tom offered. “Cause I’ll do it.”

“Already on it,” Janna said, flipping through an old worn book with a black leather cover. Jackie quickly snatched it out of her hands, shooting her a warning glare. Until, the Pie King gave them another patronizing look and the skater handed the book back to her friend, glaring at the king in hate. “Fine, just don’t kill him,” she whispered to her friend. 

“Don’t you guys get it!” Kelly shouted, her hands clenched tightly at her sides and her body shaking in both rage and despair. “I lost because I wasn’t good enough! I thought I had the perfect recipe but I didn’t! And now I’ll never be a real chef!” Her voice cracked on the last word, the tears not threatening to spill. 

“Heck yeah you won’t,” Roy exclaimed, suddenly appearing beside her. He gave her a disapproving look, his arms crossed in front of his chest sternly. “I’m very disappointed in you Kelly. Thanks to you I get to face another year of that loser king taunting me!”

“Hey it wasn’t her fault,” Marco spoke up his friend’s defense, moving to her side. “The Pie King cheated and-”

“I don’t wanna hear any excuses!” Roy interrupted, his focus never leaving Kelly. “Maybe if you hadn’t changed the recipe without my permission this wouldn’t have happened.” 

Kelly said nothing, too numb to speak. She just waited for Roy to speak those dreadful words to her. 

“Kelly, I’m sorry to do this but you’re fired,” the small goblin said, no sympathy in his eyes. 

“Then I quit too!” Tad finally said, adding to the conversation for the first time. “And good luck replacing us! We’re two of your best workers.”

“Not anymore,” Roy replied, before turning his back on the group and storming away. 

Kelly nearly crumpled to the ground, hanging her head in shame as the weight of those words pressed down on her. She could barely breathe, it felt like all the air was being sucked right out of her lungs, like she was drowning in her despair. 

“Kelly, I’m so sorry,” Tom spoke up, his voice full of sympathy. “This never would have happened if I hadn’t lied. You, Star, and Marco would have won this thing if I hadn’t gotten in the way.”

“No, Tom,” Kelly spoke up, her voice tight but she gave him a friendly smile. “I’m glad you were part of the team. We never would have gotten the cake done at all if you hadn’t been there.” 

“It’s just so unfair,” Marco groaned. “We worked so hard and you deserved to win, Kelly.”

“Thanks, Marco,” Kelly muttered, looking tired and emotionally exhausted, heavy bags hanging under her eyes. “But I guess it wasn’t good enough. And now me and Tad are out of the job.”

“Maybe not,” Star said thoughtfully and Woolett turned to her with a startled expression. 

“What do you mean?” Kelly asked softly, barely daring to hope.

“Well Roy may not see your talent, Kelly. But I do,” Star said, flashing her an encouraging smile. “So how about you come work at the castle as our new head chef.” 

“Seriously?” Kelly exclaimed, a smile spreading across her face at the offer, all signs of fatigue gone as happiness filled her core. 

Star shrugged. “Sure. I mean, I already know we all love your food and you did say our current chefs could use some help.”

“Oh yeah, that’s a great idea, Star!” Marco shouted, pumping his arms in the air in joy. “That way we can see Kelly all the time!” the hooded teen gasped as an idea came to mind, squishing his cheeks with his hands. “Me and Kelly could be baking buddies!” The boy was squealing at the thought. 

“But what about Queen Moon?” Kelly asked, fear flashing across her face. “Aren’t you worried she might say no?”

Star waved a nonchalant hand in the air. “Oh that’ll be no problem. Mom trusts my judgement. Besides she was really impressed with the work you did with Baby. And once my parents get a taste of your food they’ll be begging you to stay.”

“That would be…” Kelly began but no words came to mind, she was too stunned, too ecstatic for words. “I don’t even know what to say.”

“Uhhh, a yes seems appropriate,” Janna suggested.

Kelly smiled, swiping a hand across her face to free it from tears. “Yes. I’d love to come work for you, Star.”

“Then welcome aboard!” Star said, holding out a hand to shake. Kelly received it gratefully, her smile incapable of growing any wider. 

“Thank you, Star. I promise I won’t let you down,” the Woolett said in a confident tone. She gave a quick glance up at Tad, squealing in excitement, “Tad, do you hear that?! I’m a real chef!”

“That’s awesome, babe,” Tad spoke up, giving his girlfriend a quick pat. “I’m so happy for you!”

“And of courseTad will have to be with you,” Star added as she remembered Kelly’s boyfriend. “I’m thinking something like… Royal Food Taster.” 

“Awesome,” Tad replied, nodding his head in approval. 

“Congrats, Kells,” Tom said enthusiastically. “You deserve it.”

“Thanks Tom,” the Woolett replied, giving him the smallest of nods, which he returned, a mutual understanding passing between each other. 

“This is so exciting!” Marco shouted, unable to hold back his joy any longer as he quickly tackled Kelly in a tight hug, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. “This is the best day ever! One of my best friends gets to come work at the castle with us!” 

Star giggled at her boyfriend’s enthusiasm, finding his joyful outburst as adorable as he was. Then again, nothing about Marco wasn’t adorable. The blonde smiled softly to herself, knowing she had made the right choice. 

“Still a shame you didn’t win the contest though,” Jackie said, looking sadly over at the judge’s stand where the Pie King was still gloating over his victory. “That jerk really doesn’t deserve to win.” 

Kelly rolled her eyes. “Who cares? I still managed to impress the crowd and I’m a real chef. Winning some silly contest isn’t that important.”

“Does this mean you aren’t gonna compete next year?” Janna asked, giving her a knowing look.

“Oh no, I’m totally competing,” Kelly replied. “Only next time, I’m taking that trophy home with me.” 

“And we’ll be right there to help you,” Marco said, giving her a friendly grin. 

 “Never doubted that for a second,” Kelly replied, returning the gesture. 

The moment was interrupted though as a voice suddenly cut through the crowd, saying cryptically , “Everyone, I have an announcement to make!” All eyes turned to Emilio, the crowd hushing once more and the Pie King scowled as the attention was drawn away from himself. The chef had a serious look on his face as he explained, “Due to a recent discovery I’m afraid the Pie King is disqualified.”

The crowd all gasped and the Pie King’s face contorted in rage. 

“What?!” the greedy king shouted in outrage, storming over to the chef in a rage. “This is an outrage! How dare you take away my victory like that! Do you not know who I am?! I’m royalty! On what grounds do you have to disqualify me?!” The Pie King grabbed onto the man’s collar, bringing their faces so close together their faces were now mere inches apart, the greedy king narrowing his one eye in warning. 

Emilio didn’t back down though, keeping up a solid stance as he replied, “On the grounds that we discovered hypnoberries hidden in the pie you gave us. Meaning you forced us into making you the winner, Your Highness!” 

The Pie King’s face immediately flooded with guilt, his one eye widening in fear. Sweat began to drip from his face as he realized he was caught. He gave the disapproving chef a sheepish grin, releasing his collar and trying to smooth down the chef’s white coat. He let out a nervous chuckle, clearly trying to act innocent.  “Oops,” he muttered, trying to play off his crime like it was nothing. 

But it was clear Emilio wasn’t buying the act, ripping the trophy out of the Pie King’s hands and jabbing a finger off-stage, clearly indicating for him to leave. The Pie King grumbled in anger and stormed off the stage, crossing his arm in a childish manner. The Pie Folk quickly chased after their leader as he barreled his way through the crowd, pushing men, women and children out of his way without a care. 

The gang watched as the Pie King exited the scene before a loud chittering at their feet drew their attention downwards. The same monkey from before glared up at the teens, only to let loose a barrage of raspberries, spitting at them and then scampering away after his master. The teens could only watch stunned as their rivals in the competition left in a huff. Once they were out of sight, the group could only stand in silence, no words coming to any of them after the bizarre experience. 

“Well that was just embarrassing to watch,” Janna commented in her typical cryptic tone. 

The others nodded in response.

“Yeah, talk about your sore losers,” Tom scoffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest. 

“Looks like that cheater finally got what he deserved,” Star added, a mischievous glint in her eye. 

“So, wait a second, does this mean there is no winner?” Marco asked quizzically.

As if to answer his question Emilio addressed the crowd once more, declaring, “Since our first place winner was forced to leave, that means this year’s new winner is Kelly of Fang Tangs!”

The crowd exploded into a barrage of applause and Kelly felt her mouth drop open in surprise. She could only stand there and gap, dumbfounded as the roar of cheers invaded her eardrums, making her heart swell. I won, she wondered to herself, the words not quite hitting her brain just yet. I actually won. It was a dream come true. More than she could have ever hoped for and there were no words to describe the pure elation she felt. Even Emilio gave her the tiniest of nods from on stage, recognizing her as a talented, worthy individual and Kelly didn’t think her life could get any better in that moment. 

“Kelly, you did it!” Marco exclaimed, hugging her tightly. “You won!”

“Congrats, babe!” Tad cheered.

“I’m so happy for you!” Star added, quickly hugging Kelly’s other side. Soon it was a group hug as the others joined in, even Tom somewhat reluctantly. They all couldn’t hold back their screams of delight at actually winning. 

“That’s my girl!” Roy said, hopping on stage and moving so he was standing right next to Emilio. He puffed out his chest in pride, a bright grin on his face. “I knew she could do it! I always believed in her!” He put his arm around Emilio’s leg, who gave the small goblin a warning glare and Roy immediately pulled away. 

Kelly’s eyes narrowed on the small goblin gloating and soaking in her victory and suddenly she knew what she had to do. She cleared her throat, before declaring, “Actually, I didn’t win.”

The cheering immediately stopped, all eyes turning to the Woolett in surprise. “What do you mean?” Star asked in confusion.

“Yeah, Kelly, they just said you won,” Marco explained to her, wondering if she had somehow not heard him. 

“No, they said, Kelly of Fang Tang’s won. And I don’t work for Fang Tang’s anymore so technically I didn’t win,” the Woolett replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

Roy’s mouth dropped open, his eyes widening in fear. He quickly tried to wave it off saying, “Oh Kelly. You actually believed all that, haha. You silly goose. I was just messing around.” He quickly leaned in closer to the girl, whispering softly, “Look forget what I said, come back and work for me and I’ll double your pay, okay.”

But Kelly shook her head, staying firm. “Not happening..”

“Fine you drive a hard bargain. I’ll triple your pay and rehire Tad, too. I’ll even let you work in the kitchen more, promise,” the goblin said, rambling with nerves at this point, desperate to get her to agree. 

“Too little too late,” Tom said, moving to Kelly’s left and giving the goblin a smirking grin, crossing his arms slyly in front of his chest. 

“Yeah, Kelly’s with us now,” Marco added, from the Woolett’s other side, trying his best to mimic his cool friend’s demeanor but failing drastically. 

“What, no!” Roy exclaimed, panicking. Finally, he could think of no other option as he got down on his knees and begged the girl to change her mind. “Please, please, please! You can’t leave me! Not when I’m so close! Just think of all the good times we had together!”

Kelly shrugged. “Sorry, Roy. But I got a new job.” The girl gave a quick glance around at her friends, smiling sincerely at each of them before adding, “And I think I’m gonna stick with my real friends.” 

Roy deflated in defeat, giving his ex-employee a sorrowful look, his lip quivering against his will. But Kelly didn’t buy into the pity party, keeping a straight face as Roy sadly slumped away. Marco waited until the goblin was out of earshot before asking, “But Kelly I thought you wanted to win?”

“I do,” the Woolett said with no regrets in her face or tone. “But on my own terms, not Roy’s. He’d just spoil the victory for me.”

“Well then, I think you made the right choice, Kells,” Star said, giving her a proud grin. The others all nodded in agreement, some even voicing their support out loud. 

“Thanks, I do too,” Kelly replied, feeling confident in her decision.

Emilio, from on stage, cleared his throat to regain the attention, before asking the girl, “Sooo, you're saying you don’t want to win then?”

Kelly shook her head, before explaining, “That’s right. I’m dropping out of the competition.”

A murmur grew in the crowd, people in shock by the girl’s bizarre declaration. Emilio was stunned, his face showing uncharacteristic surprise as he stared at the girl, now at a loss for words. “Well then… I-I-” He stammered, unable to form coherent sentences. “I suppose, this year’s winner is our third place… which was…” He turned to the other judges for help. They quickly began skimming through the notes they wrote down, scrambling for the right name. They were not prepared for this and their haste caused them to struggle. Finally, though one of them seemed to have found the right name and sighed in relief. 

He quickly handed Emilio the slip of paper, the chef acknowledging his fellow judge with a simple, “Thank you, Gordon.” Emilio cleared his throat before, reading off the name on the paper, saying for the third time that day, “And so this year’s actual winner of Comet’s Annual Mewni Bake-Off is… Gustav of Gustav’s Bites!”

“Yay!” A voice cheered from the crowd, two skinny arms pumping into the air in joy. The crowd parted to let the boy through, watching as he ran towards the stage to receive his award. There was a scattered mix of claps this time, most people still confused by what was happening. But Gustav was too excited to care, letting out whoops and shouts of joy as he sprang up onto the stage, beaming ear to ear. Emilio held out the trophy for him to take and the boy eagerly accepted it before giving the gruff man a tight hug. Emilio’s body went stiff, once again at a complete loss of what to do. Finally he settled for awkwardly patting the boy’s back. Still, he looked beyond relieved when the young chef let him go. 

Gustav held the trophy up high into the air, tears of joy streaming down his face, as he yelled at the top of his lungs, “I woooooon!”

Kelly and the others clapped for the young teen, all of them smiling brightly in his direction. “Good for him,” Star said sweetly.

“Yeah, he deserved to win,” Marco agreed, nodding his head.

“Better him than that rotton king,” Tom grumbled in annoyance.

 Kelly placed her hands on her hips, giving Gustav a long look, her head cocking slightly to the side before she finally said, “Not bad.”

“So how about we get out of here and go get Kelly officially certified as our lead chef,” Star suggested.

“Finally,” Janna said, not needing to be told twice as she began to make her way out of the courtyard. “Seeing all this food and not being able to eat it is a fate worse than death.”

“Tell me about it, I’m starving,” Jackie agreed, putting a hand over her rumbling stomach. 

“Well, what do you say, Kelly?” Marco asked, giving his friend a hinting look. “Feel like teaming up to cook one more dish for the day?”

“Sure, it’ll give me a chance to show off my skills.”

“Tom, you in too?” Marco asked his friend.

The hot-headed teen gave them a long look before he shrugged and replied, “Sure, why not?”

Star and Marco cheered in victory, high-fiving each other. “Yeah! Team Stomco is back at it again!” the hooded teen yelled.

“We are not calling ourselves that,” Tom muttered dismissively. 

“So Kelly, got any big plans now that you’re the head chef of Butterfly Castle?” Jackie asked, giving her friend a curious look.

Kelly’s eyes twinkled mischievously as she rubbed her hands together in anticipation, an evil grin beginning to spread across her face. “Oh I’ve got a few ideas in mind,” she replied cryptically. 

Finally, Kelly felt more free than she had ever been. She was no longer forced to work under the goofy and eccentric Roy, she was free to pursue whatever. She could bake to her heart’s content and she could already imagine all the amazing dishes she would be able to make now that she was in charge of her own staff of chefs. And boy did she have plans for her new staff. She was gonna whip those guys into shape or die trying. She was determined to not only run the kitchen right, she was gonna be the best dang chef Butterfly Castle had ever seen! 

She had been dreaming of such things for so long for an opportunity like this to come along, a dream which until a few hours ago had been entirely out of her reach. But now, it was finally a reality. And it was all thanks to her friends.

The girl took a moment to look around at her group of chosen companions, listening to them in silence as they all talked and laughed and joked with each other. She watched as Star said something flirty and Marco blushed beet red, hiding his face under his bangs. She watched as Janna poked Tom in the arm, causing him to flare up in anger, only to be distuighed as she then booped his nose, his face growing hotter than the surface of the sun. She smiled as Jackie’s laughter filled the air, giggling at her roommates bizarre attempt at flirting. She felt Tad’s weight pressing down on her head, reminding her that no matter what she wasn’t alone and she was loved.

And in that moment, Kelly couldn’t help but think that contest or not she was the real winner of the day. And her friends were all the award she needed. 

#Star vs #Star vs AU #My Writing #Light of the Sun and Stars #Starco

[bethhxrmon]

do flowers exist at night? -chapter eleven

Chapter Eleven: Jingle All The Way

Pairing: Steve Harrington x OC

Chapter Summary: Christmas has finally come to Hawkins and has allowed for everyone to take the time to be happy and decompress from the past month’s events.

Word Count: 2.9k

Warnings: Swearing, Annie being petty

A/N: Howdy! I hope you guys liked this chapter, I’m trying really hard to get out these chapters, but I also don’t have much time/energy for writing with uni going on soooo hopefully I’ll still keep updating regularly, but we’ll see! Anywho, if you really liked this part, you can find the other ones here.

~*~*~*~

"Do you think she's gonna like these?" Steve asked, closing the oven as he put some brownies in.

Annie hopped off of his kitchen counter and nodded, "She'll love them. Trust me, Steve, I've gone on and on non-stop about how amazing you are to her. She already loves you, she just wants to know who's been making me so happy lately."

"That's me, right?"

She laughed, grabbing the rubber spatula and dabbing a bit of brownie batter on the tip of Steve's nose, "It's definitely you, I promise."

"That's sweet and all, but did you really just dab batter all over my face?"

"Just your nose."

Steve got the rubber spatula out of Annie's hand with ease before dabbing it on her lips, "Really?"

Before either of them could properly realize what she was doing, she already had Steve pulled down to her level by the collar of a dark green polo shirt before kissing his nose. Which he responded to by kissing her. That was something that became more and more common over the bit of time they officially started dating for.

The school wasn't about to find anything concerning their relationship until after the new year, and Annie liked it that way. They had a chance to try being together in the best environment. It was hard to screw up hanging out with each other, after all.

Within the last week, they ended up hanging out almost every day. Someone had to show Annie what to do with snow. Seattle never got a whole lot of it and Steve had no qualms about running outside and almost freezing to death in it. Annie preferred the part where they went inside and made hot chocolate while cuddling with each other on the couch. The cuddling part couldn't be done quite as well when hanging out with the kids in the past few days.

As much teasing as they got from the kids, Annie was pretty sure they were okay with it. Not that it would have made her stop dating Steve.

There was batter all over both of their faces, but neither seemed to care. Steve left kisses all over her face that made Annie laugh. It was amazing how being out of school for a little while made her realize she didn't mind being touched by someone else. At least, not as long as she liked the person in question.

"So, I don't have anything to worry about?" he asked, looking down at her.

She nodded, "Exactly, you're gonna be fine. Just be your dorky self and it'll be fine."

Of course, there was a part of her that worried about her dad making another appearance. It still didn't stop her from burning the letters that got sent her way. She read one a couple months ago and that was all she needed.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked.

She shook her head, "Oh, nothing!"

"Are you sure?"

"I just don't want my dad screwing up Christmas, you know?" she said, "He screwed up Thanksgiving, and that's not a super huge deal, but I don't want him being all rude to you."

"It's gonna be fine," he said, pulling her in for a hug, "And even if he shows up, we'll work it out."

Annie nodded, letting herself just stand there in his arms. There was just something about how Steve's arms felt around her. They were so assuring and they were firm, but not strong enough to hold her still. It wasn't anything she had to worry about.

Though, a part of her was waiting for the other shoe to drop. For Steve to do something or for her to do something stupid. That was how these things tended to work. Not that she knew a whole lot, but it was how her parents worked. She didn't like to admit it, but it was also how her last relationships worked.

It probably wasn't anything worth worrying about. Not on a Christmas Eve night that was about to turn into Christmas Day in a matter of ten minutes. She already had his gift wrapped and kept in her dresser so he wouldn't get too nosy and find it. 

"Do you think you're gonna get bored?" she asked, barely realizing she said anything until she felt Steve move so he could look at her.

He frowned, "Of course not, why do you think that?"

"Just, I mean, we kinda met when a lot was happening and, well, if we're not doing something super dramatic, don't you think it's gonna get boring?"

"If not having any drama is boring, then I think that's the best way for things to be," he let out a sigh, "Like, when we were dealing with monsters and stuff, didn't you wish things were boring?"

She nodded, "Yeah... yeah, I guess I did."

"And you're not a boring person either. You have so much to say and I'm pretty sure I could listen to you talk for the next year without stopping and I still wouldn't get bored of hearing you talk."

"Really?"

"Really, I should be more worried about you getting bored of me," he laughed.

It was supposed to be a joke, but Annie knew better.

She took his hands in hers, "You're not boring at all."

"I'm okay with being boring, you know. I don't need to-"

"Steve!" she caught his attention, "You're not, though. Come on, you do sports, and I hated sports until I heard you talk about basketball."

"I'm gonna get benched."

"I could plant weed in Hargrove's locker and then you won't."

"You wouldn't."

Annie shrugged nonchalantly.

"Even if he wasn't there... I'm still not nearly in shape enough."

She looked at him, frowning, "You're the most beautiful, and probably most in-shape, guy I've ever known."

"You're my girlfriend, you have to say that."

"I don't have to say anything I don't believe. And I like every part of you from your floppy hair and your birthmarks and your eyes and your tummy's a great pillow because Lord knows I never get enough sleep. And that's without going into how kind and brave you are."

"You think that?"

She pulled him down to kiss him, "I know that."

Christmas was never the biggest holiday for Annie, but it was obviously different from how she celebrated it years before. With only her mom in the house, that should have taken Christmas shopping down by a lot. However, she did not count on befriending a bunch of kids. There were so many of them, but she would see them all later.

A part of her was anxious about Steve meeting her mom, though she was more excited than anything else. She had only said good things about Steve, knowing that he would be nervous about this. Not that there was much to be nervous about. 

Annie knew that the only thing to worry about was whether or not her dad decided to make an appearance. That was something she felt would be fine, though. Mainly because snow was blocking the roads, making most travel impossible. At least, as far as going on the interstate went.

"So, when's Steve getting here?" her mom asked.

Annie heard a knock at the door, "Um... I think that's him!"

She was quick to rush to the door, seeing Steve with a rather large bag and a tupperware container, "You made it!"

Steve nodded, a smile was on his face that was far too large for any regular person, "Yep, your mom's here right?"

"Yeah, relax, she'll love you!"

Her mom stood from where she sat on the couch, "Steve! It's great to meet you, I've heard so much about you!"

"Um yeah, it's great to meet you, Mrs. Hardwick," he said, extending a free hand to shake.

The first thing her mom latched onto was that Steve baked brownies in the shape of Christmas trees. Something that neither Annie nor Steve pointed out was a team effort and involved both of them getting rather distracted thanks to each other. If Annie admitted that she kind of slept over at his place, she was sure that would put a wrench in the day.

As it turned out, Annie was more correct than she originally thought when it came to her mom loving Steve. They ended up talking to each other more than she did. Not that she was complaining, she took it as a good sign. There was nothing to worry about after all.

"I'm glad I finally got to meet you, Steve, but I'm pretty sure my daughter's got something she wants to give you," her mom said, getting up and walking off to her office.

Annie grinned, "I told you so!"

"Your mom's so cool! She's so smart," he smiled, "So... you have something for me?"

She nodded, handing him a box, "Now, keep in mind, I figured this out before we were dating, but I think it still works perfectly."

"Yeah?" he asked as he took the box and unwrapped it, "Oh, curtains."

Annie laughed as she noticed how he was trying to not look sort of disappointed at the dark blue fabric, "Aren't you gonna take it out of the box?"

"Um yeah, sure, I can do that," he said, pulling out the curtains before noticing something was wrapped in them, "Tapes?"

She nodded, "Yep, you said that you were really invested in Emma, but you also said you liked it better when I was reading it to you. Obviously I didn't narrate it, but the person reading it's pretty good and-"

He wrapped her in a tight hug, "It's perfect, thank you."

Annie smiled, melting into his touch. Though, he was soon pulling back so he could pull something out of his larger bag.

"It's not nearly as thoughtful, but here you go," he said, handing her a bag.

She took it and started to take out the tissue paper, "I'm sure it's great."

The bag had a notebook and a couple of tapes. Though, she was pretty sure that it wasn't an audio book. She picked up one of the tapes.

"I'm not great with names like you are, but they're both full of songs that remind me of you. Maybe you know some of them, or not but I thought you might like it. And I know you said you didn't know how to let out your feelings and I remember hearing something about writing being a good way to figure that stuff out and-"

She pecked him on the lips, "Thank you, they're amazing."

After staying at Annie's house for a little while longer and having a nice lunch, she and Steve went off to Hopper's cabin. She claimed it was so her mom and Scott could have a nice time and be alone. Which was part of the reason, but she also wanted to see the kids. They did a not quite so Secret Santa of sorts. One that she was pretty sure Steve cheated on given that he had a pretty large bag with him.

It was easy to find something for Max, who she was lucky enough to pick. Lucas had begged her to switch since he got Steve and had no clue what to get him. She didn't budge, though, having decided that she was going to roll with it.

And even between learning about her powers, which she still had yet to tell anyone about, she found herself bonding with Max the best. With a bit of help from the owner of the local comic book store, she was able to find some Wonder Woman comics that she was sure Max would really like.

Once at the little get together, it was easy to feel just as comfortable as she did at home. The only awkward thing was seeing Jonathan and Nancy together. Even that wasn't all too bad. At least, until Nancy went up to both of them, asking to talk to Steve.

Annie stood back so she wouldn't worry herself with whatever those two were talking about. Instead, she found Lucas.

"Hey, did you take my advice?" she asked.

Lucas nodded, "Yep, your boyfriend will officially have the best present in the galaxy."

"If you say so," she laughed, "If you really think an R2D2 is the best present."

He shrugged, "You're the one who said Star Wars."

It was true, that was her suggestion. She knew that he liked it even if he didn't like to admit it so easily. This was the one way to make sure that Steve got something that he was interested in. He didn't share everything that he liked openly, so that made figuring out what to do for him a bit difficult.

A little bit later and Nancy approached her, "Hey, can I talk to you?"

"Yeah, sure," Annie nodded, "What's up?"

Nancy let out a sigh, "I just wanted to say I'm sorry. You know, for not stopping all those rumors. I know you didn't do anything with Steve. He's not the type."

"Yeah, you're right. He's also not the type to tell you that you didn't treat him nearly as well as he deserved," she said, "But I'm the type to tell you that apologizing now that all that's kinda on the backburner's too little too late."

"That's why I'm apologizing."

"And I don't accept it."

Nancy blinked and crossed her arms, "Why not? If you don't mind me asking."

"I had to deal with guys treating me like I was a piece of meat, like I was some sort of exotic prize to be won," she shook her head, "You wouldn't get it. And maybe if you said something, nothing would have changed, but at least it would have meant you cared about someone other than yourself."

"I care about other people."

"Well then I'm not other people," she replied, "Merry Christmas."

Not too long after that exchange, it was time for everyone to give their presents to the right person. Really, the gift giver wasn't secret at all. The goal was to just make sure that no one spent an arm and a leg trying to get something for the whole group. Though, Steve clearly didn't get the memo. Not that she blamed him for getting something for each of the kids. He wanted to make them feel special.

A few minutes after she gave Max her present, someone tugged on the sleeve of her sweater. Annie smiled a bit, seeing El.

The young girl handed Annie a bag, "For you."

Annie opened the bag to see a blue Care Bear with a crescent moon on its stomach.

"You said you can't sleep. It's a bedtime bear," El explained.

She smiled and felt tears prick at the back of her brown eyes, "I love it."

That was when it hit her, if anyone would understand what was going on with her, it had to be El. Everyone was starting to go off to the kitchen since there was some food that was ready. Though she caught El's attention before she could follow.

"I need to show you something," Annie said, "I think I'm like you."

While she trusted everyone in this cabin to keep any of her powers a secret, she trusted that El would be the most understanding. So she started by unplugging the tree. Then, she set her focus on the lights. She had practiced a little bit over the last few weeks, so making the tree turn on by herself didn't strain her as much as it had before.

The once dim tree was now lit up with the lights glowing a light blue. Annie felt a drop of blood come down from her nose.

"What the hell?!" Steve exclaimed, which made Annie lose concentration and the tree went dark again.

Annie's eyes were so wide they could have popped out of her head, "Um... I-I can explain?"

"Can you? Because it looks like you did that yourself," he shook his head, "How long have you known?"

She pursed her lips and looked at the floor, "Three weeks."

"Wait, seriously?"

El looked between both of them and walked away to the kitchen. It wasn't that either of them seemed heated, but Annie knew she needed a chance to just explain it to Steve. Except, she wasn't sure how to. All she could do was nod.

"Does anyone know?" he asked, stepping closer to her, "Is this the first time you've told anyone?"

Annie took a shaky breath and nodded again, "You remember that day we were fighting? And how my hand was all bandaged up from the phone breaking? I um... I broke it on accident."

"I don't understand."

"I was talking to my dad and I got really angry and I made it short circuit. When I went to your place that night... I meant to tell you about this because I thought it would sweep everything under the rug. It's how my parents worked, focusing on the next thing instead of apologizing. Then, it turned out you were miserable and so I didn't tell you," she looked up at him as she chewed on the inside of her cheek.

He frowned, "Why didn't you tell me later?"

"It never felt like a good time. I guess I just didn't wanna make you worry about me."

"Hey, I'm your boyfriend, I'm gonna worry about you. You can tell me about this stuff, even if I don't really get it," he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

She smiled a bit, "You're not gonna tell anyone, right?"

"No... not unless this teddy bear counts as someone," he said, nodding down at the blue bear.

Annie laughed, "You're such a dork."

"I'm your dork, though," he replied, grinning.

Taglist: @dungeons-and-demodogs​ @nxncywheeler​ @ilovebucketbarnes​

#steve harrington #steve harrington x original character #steve harrington x oc #stranger things #stranger things fic #stranger things 3 #stranger things 2 #stranger things x original character #stranger things x oc #stranger things fanfic #stranger things fanfiction #dfean?

[thunderbirdlovelove-blog]

Instead, we added fuel to the fire. Well, not all of us – ‘you-know-who’ did.

The World has Gone Crazy. Mad. Off it’s Rocker: Trying to Stay Sane in an Insane World.

Looking back now, I guess I have to thank Billy Joel for planting a seed in me. Wow. I’m just realizing this as I write. I always loved that song – even then I liked to hear someone ‘stickin’ it to the man.’ It was 1989; I was a 17 year old high school senior & already long a Rebel 😛

It was the first time I heard someone list so many of the screwed up things in the world at the time – in one shot like that.

A challenge indeed. Did I take a wrong turn & wind up on the set of some sick & twisted play? It sure feels like it. I’ve heard many say, “It’s gonna get worse before it gets better.” That really sucks – but I get it. That’s probably a big reason why I’m so compelled to wake up the others. I wondered – maybe it’s just me – I tend to freak out fast with this mix of intensity, passion & impatience – but a quick search tells me no, it isn’t just me ..

Collective Evolution  did this piece:  “What The Heck Is Going On?”

And From the Stars did this one:  “Is The World Going Crazy?”

From Mark Manson:  “Is It Just Me, Or Is the World Going Crazy?”

And from Andrew Griffiths:  “How Can We Stay Sane When It Feels Like the World Is Going Crazy?”

And that, ladies & gentlemen, is what we call a Theme 😛

And this gem:  

“A Human Describes the Ridiculousness of our System to an Alien”

A clever & accurate description of the backasswards bizarro world we live in, explained so simply, & sounding utterly ridiculous. 

– From the FB page of Abnormal Society, posted on YouTube by Man Against the State.

Brilliant!

I still feel drawn, compelled even, to wake the masses – especially if I hear a story like people trampling their neighbour to death on Black Friday for the latest nikes / iphone / nonsense. Kinda leads me to feel it still needs to be said. Reminded. Remembered. As long as there still are people who are hooked to the Matrix while simultaneously flat-out not believing it exists – brushing it off as just a ‘Conspiracy Theory’ – or simply having absolutely no idea what I’m talking about – I will plant the seeds. It’s no bother, really – I love it 🙂  The Matrix’ tricks still have quite the hold on some. I still want to help them connect the dots. I really feel for my fellow humans who are still being reeled in. Every once in a while I gotta try to wake one more. Just another resonating characteristic of Dolores Cannon’s Second Waver. (I was delighted when Suzanne Hansen mentioned that again at the Alien Cosmic Expo 2017, 2 weeks ago in Toronto. My Expo blog is in the works 😉 )

“The First Wave were the pioneers or the trailblazers that is why they had so much difficulty with living on planet Earth. The Second Wave has had it far easier and do not have near the problems that the First Wave has experienced. Dolores Cannon refers to the Second Wavers as “channels, generators, and antennas,” and they generally project a very positive energy.

There are just here to be. The energy they have in their body effects everyone they come in contact with. Many have chosen not to have children, as this creates karma, and they don’t want to have to return to Earth after this life. They are very gentle, they could walk through a mall or a grocery store and affect everyone. They emanate a very positive energy.

Just like the First Wavers, they just want to do their job and get out of here. They also are protected by a karmic shield because they don’t want to be stuck on Earth and unable to return home.” – Dolores Cannon

My “In a Nutshell” Assessment of the Situation: The ridiculous world of the Matrix:

Turn on the news these days, & you’ll see them focusing on only the bad news – they search for the worst of the worst of the worst – instilling fear & hate to the masses. Replaying & replaying & replaying the same thing over & over again & over again, subtly brainwashing you. Dr. Steven Greer states & proves, with a myriad of documents & witnesses, in his #1 documentary on itunes & amazon for well over 2 months now, “Unacknowledged,” that you’re more likely to get truth from tabloids, than ‘the news’ – the mainstream media.

As you watch that TV, those utterly fake & absolutely annoying ads try to convince you that you need what they’re selling. “Hey we’ll cure your itchy elbow with this pill we just invented yesterday! But it may cause swelling, nausea, dizziness, pink eye, trouble breathing, walking, talking, you could go blind, your limbs might fall off, you could have a heart attack, or it could be fatal! They warn you it could KILL you, but want you to take the chance! But hey – you won’t itch!!” Meanwhile, I want to smoke my perfectly safe joint, & I can’t. SMH.

I cancelled my cable over a year ago; the fake-ness of it all made my skin crawl. These days I can only watch truth – documentaries, biographies, non-fiction stuff. I do watch 1 or 2 shows – online – far away from those ‘like nails on a chalkboard’ ads. Last week I ‘accidentally’ saw a few. All Big Pharma, pushing their poison. Legalized drug dealing. And every time one played, the one right after was an ad from a big law firm: A class action suit suing Big Pharma for their previous week’s pill. You catch my drift?

Some ‘american dream’ all right. Not yours though.

Credit card companies & banks let you buy stuff with money you don’t have. They lend you money that doesn’t exist. Have you seen #The Big Short?” Good God, watch that. Know whats going on. Research the Fed.

You pay for insurance, but when you need them you’re denied. If you require surgery in the US, you better have medical insurance or they may refuse to treat you – remember their slogan: Profit Over People. They privatize prisons. Rather than help you, they profit from your mistakes. Even further – they have a say in the very making of the laws that put you in there – lining their pockets even more! They invent laws against things that are perfectly safe, so they can arrest more of you. It’s insane!

Don’t even get me started on the 4000+ Free Energy patents lying on the patent room floor. They’re not actually, they’re on a black shelf way in the back. Squashed. Sometimes they squash the people too. Don’t take my word for it – look it up yourself. The info is all available online.

“CCA and GEO each spend well over $1 million a year contributing to political campaigns (in addition to untold lobbying costs likely in the tens of millions) in order to make sure that both the laws being written and the government contracts being handed down keep their private prisons stocked with inmates.”

– Source: Private Prisons: American Slavery, Under New Management

They make things that have no business being illegal, illegal. Like Cannabis. Cannabis is so safe, it had never killed a single soul in the history of time & people. It’s more dangerous to eat a peanut, get stung by a bee, take a selfie, walk down the stairs, or take aspirin; all which have killed people & continue to. Cannabis = ZERO. That’s as safe as it gets. But this is a huge threat to Big Pharma – their propaganda campaign is relentless. They, on the other hand, ruthlessly kill hundreds of thousands of people per year. The numbers are insane. All wrapped in a pretty package called ‘treatment’.

Monsanto wears Hazmat suits spraying our ‘food’. GMO’s. Farmers getting killed for not using Monsanto’s seeds. Chemtrails. Carcinogens are in our products, our drinks, & what we refer to as ‘food’.

A white kid rapes a girl – he gets probation – cuz he’s a good student & a great football player, & we don’t want to ruin his future! Meanwhile the girl’s life will never be the same again. A black kid rapes a girl – he gets the max, maybe even life, maybe no parole. Or maybe he never even sees the inside of a jail cell, let alone a court, cuz he was executed on the spot by one of those white cops who skipped the “How to Subdue, Handcuff & Arrest a Suspect” class at the academy & just executes instantly – but then only gets a 1 month suspension – with pay. Even WITH video evidence in the victim’s favor. It’s Insane!

These are the victims in the US since 1999.

I remember lots of these people – their stories are outrageous.

Blatant misuse of force & miscarriage of Justice.

Google ‘Pedophile Priest’ & you’ll get over 1 million hits. Google ‘Pedophile Priest Gets Relocated to Another Church after Abuse Allegations/Charges” & count those hits.

One needs not scratch their head in wonder at the state of the world when half the world’s kids have to go through what they go through. That’s 1 out of every 2 kids. Don’t even bother to look up statistics. Nothing could be more inaccurate. Too many go unreported. Probably more than are reported. There is a world child pornography/pedophilia ring so big & so high you could cry – but nobody does it – everyone is innocent. Child & human trafficking is a BILLION dollar industry. And it’s not just priests – judges, doctors, lawyers, cops, hollywood big-wigs, directors, producers – deep rabbit hole there. Coaches, uncles, teachers, bosses, fathers. Men kidnap young girls, sometimes their own daughters, lock them in dungeons & cages, sometimes for years, even decades – some even have kids with their own children! Do some searches on cases in the UK. You can connect people like Jimmy Savile & Jeffrey Epstein to politicians, government, presidents, the royals. the vatican & the MI people. It is all connected. Maybe that’s what MI stands for – Matrix Intelligence.

“The domestic intelligence agency of the United Kingdom, which operates in secret & whose primary function is to spy on terrorist organizations & others viewed as a threat to British national security. Formally known as the Security Service.

Not to mention all the USAP’s = Unacknowledged Secret Access Programs.

I’m so tired of all this. Aren’t You?

Sadly, I could go on – but that’s enough. It’s crap. All of it. And there’s a word for all that.

It’s called the Matrix.

‘They’ want you to blindly follow the ‘american dream’ they’re tryin’ to sell you; when it’s actually more of a twisted nightmare. Greed, corruption & bullshit. Complete disregard for our lives, health, future & the future of this planet. A broken system, secrecy, lies, deep corruption, injustice, wars, murders, kidnappings, executions. And they put it right out there in movies, hiding it in plain sight, disguised as:

“Oh that’s just movie stuff! Fiction stuff!”

Well I’m here to tell you – it isn’t. Everything is backassward. Bizarro world. Think George Costanza. I think, “Do the Opposite.” So many things are the exact opposite of what they claim to be. Flip ’em. Mirrors. You’ll just hafta figure it out 😉

   Seriously. What are we doing?

What are YOU doing?

#wakeup #wakeupworld

    Hey Billy Joel! We Still Haven’t Put Out that Fire 🔥 Instead, we added fuel to the fire. Well, not all of us - 'you-know-who' did. The World has Gone Crazy.

#Awakening #Awareness #Cannabis #Enlightenment #Freedom #Harmony #Love #Peace #Personal Freedom #Unity