Star banged the tiny gavel. "Alright, the meeting of Nexus City is now in session." She told the gang. "And we're going to talk about … the incident."
The entire group decided they just needed an entire week off after that. Most of Star's time was spent making sure Steven was alive and her parents didn't hate her. It was convenient for her that Steven spent those entire two week mainly sitting by Ian's crib with Luz constantly reassuring themselves that they weren't in hell and were who they said they were respectively. "Before we get into the heavier topics of…that day…" Marco stood beside her as he picked up a couple of papers. "Let's go over the events of the week. Lady–or should I use real names?"
"It's fine, cat's out of the bag." Adrien sighed.
"Alright, Marrinette, Adrian, I see you looked significantly less tense." Marco knotted.
"Well we spent the week coming clean to people." Marinette said. "They just kept laughing until we walked away."
"After that it was mostly pampering her after realizing the love of my life was my current love." The boy grasped her hand. "My lady in both sides of my life are the same amazing and talented heroine I've always known she was."
"Oh, Adrian, you flatterer." Well, honesty was the best thing for a functioning relationship. Probably would save them another decade of arguing and misunderstandings. "After that, we were finally able to corner Lila from her hiding spot."
"And then she started a case to sue us." Adrien rolled his eyes. "Apparently kicking someone's spine when it's already broken is 'excessive force'. Wouldn't be too bad, except she worked her magic over a judge and pleaded brainwashing by Gabriel Agreste."
"And while it might be annoying, at least we FINALLY got a hold of the Butterfly Miraculous!" Marinette cheered. "Only thing left to take care of is finding Felix and the Peacock Miraculous."
"Well glad to see progress is being made." Steven nodded as he turned to Phineas and Ferb. "I see in the last week you too have been in a bit of a bind with OWCA."
"Yeah, after we got home, the cover-up team swarmed our house, and Perry fought them off." Phineas went on as he petted his Platypus, who was standing upright next to them. "Then after Monogram came in to force the mind erasing, Perry used a loophole and resigned…which made things worse for about two days. We had to go on the run."
"That's when they contacted us." Gwen raised her hand to get everyone's attention. "We got the plumbers involved, and a few days of legal jargon later, both organizations agreed to work together, so now Perry's officially a Plumber agent, free to tell his identity to whoever he wants."
"Krkrkrkrkr." The semi aquatic mammal nodded with a smile on their beak.
"Nice, guess that all worked out for you guys." Kelly smirked.
"Yeah…but then that intern guy Carl tried to sue Perry for 'excessive force'." Ferb grunted. "The case only fell apart because the judge thought it was ridiculous for a grown man to sue an animal 'that doesn't do much'."
"Hmm … alright. Lets move over to … Dipper and Mabel." They turned to the pines twins, who were gazing out at the sky in a daze. "Dipper, Mabel?"
They broke out. "Oh yeah, we um … just went to school." Dipper said. "You know, normal stuff."
"Hahahahaha, no seriously, what the heck happened with you two?" Star groaned. "No one in this group does anything normal without something abnormal happen."
"Well they actually did go to school." Ben said. "They just mainly stayed quiet and together … until Crash tried to make a joke about how 'close' they were, which resulted in Mabel getting a lawsuit in excessive force …" He smirked. "Not that seeing him being thrown out of a window wasn't funny."
"I did?" Mabel asked with a confused look. "I must have um … zoned out."
"Wait a minute…Mabel would take pride in the fact she punched somebody. She'd never forget." Steven accused.
"I'm gonna be honest, when we said normal I was guessing." Dipper admitted. "We've been trying to process … what Bill did to us, and the only thing I remember about the last week with detail was talking with Uncle Ford. Anything else was just … motions."
"And I used the Memory eraser to try and erase the trauma….big mistake, I just felt empty and unfulfilled until the gang restored my memories." Mabel sighed.
"... We'll just … put you under a watch list." Star said hesitantly. "Okay, unto the new guys. Gumball, Darwin, are you two adjusting well to your new home?"
"Well I mean it's kinda mundane, but you get used to it." The blue cat shrugged.
"You rode a dragon yesterday." Marco pointed out.
"Yeah, but it didn't even say anything." The orange fish complained. "What's it's life story? Does it have goals and dreams? How old were they? And how can we try and make it an adventure …" He sighed as everyone tried to process that. "The closest thing we got to exciting was an excessive force notice when Gumball punched a gem that was rude."
"Alright, is there anyone that didn't get an excessive force law case?" Nobody raised their hand. "Seriously? Molly? KO? You guys?"
"Accidently pushed Andrea into some mud, she went all out." Molly laughed hesitantly.
"And mine was against Boxman… I thought since he was the leader of an evil robot factory I could cut loose to help vent some bad thoughts but … apparently the law says otherwise."
"For once it was everyone except us who caused trouble." Kelly noted.
"Heck yeah." Star cheered with a grin. "For once I'm the superior role model." Guess maturity came naturally when you were a teacher. "Anyone else have anything to say about their week?"
"I still have nightmares about spiders crawling out of my mouth." Dewy raised his hand.
"I'm terrified of bubbles popping now." Bubbles shivered.
"I'm leading a protest to end frog dissections in schools." Anne said rather calmly.
"I'll try to schedule in some more therapy for you two … and keep all flammables out of Anne's hands please." Marco told the group.
"Okay, I believe that's everything major that we've covered this week..aside from the incident." Star cautiously put away her notes. "So with that…let's talk about what we all don't want to bring up now…Black Hat."
The room tensed, Steven most notably, gripping his own arm. "I felt him the whole time." He muttered. "I don't know if it was empathy or what but I knew what he felt and how powerless we were … even the Koala had restraint when he shoved his viewpoint in my head." He took a breath. "I … I don't think we should try to go after him."
"..Say what?" Anne looked shocked. "I mean, I get being scared dude, we all are by that creep, but isn't that throwing in the towel a little early?"
"Actually, for once I agree with the boy." They all turned to a familiar blue genuine, riding on a familiar black and white cat, held in the arms of a familiar professor.
"Glossaryck, of course. Haven't seen you in four years and you chose now of all times to show up." Star grumbled
"Meh, I'm not all knowing anymore or super powerful." The jerk shrugged. "The most I can do is create a single bug every month." He snapped his fingers to make one. "I've been training them to make my pudding."
"And where were you two during the whole Bill being crazy god mode?" Adrien accused.
"Being weak from old age without a successor to guide."
"Fixing a paradox in time caused by Star and her offspring."
"Her what now-" Steven glared.
"Let's see what the masters of space and time have to say." Star stopped that train of thought.
"We pretty much just came to agree with Steven." Glossaryck said. "Sure, people like Bill can be beaten through rule exploitation, magical might, and an ungodly amount of luck. But beings like Black Hat are on another level."
"Picture it like this." The Professor explained. "They're an artist, and you're the art, and you're trying to land a blow on them."
"You can make the attempt, but it's futile when they hold the eraser."
"But … but." KO stumbled over his words. "He replaces the snake right? Can't that account for something?"
"Here's the thing … nobody knows HOW he did that." Glossaryck said with a wince. "We're…still looking into it, we've been traveling through the past and future just to get a clue. The problem is that he erased the moment he did it from existence, so the moment never actually happened."
"Causality at its worst." Paradox grumbled. "And if you try and bring up the Koala, bear in mind that said being is aware of exactly how they will die, but lets it happen out of the desire to keep the timeline straight and narrow."
"Fortunately, time for people like them and us doesn't follow a concrete path. We can see and process the moment simultaneously throughout all existence and be detached at the same time." The guardian nodded.
"Which is just the complicated way of saying it'll be a millennia from your perspective that whatever Black Hat plans to do will happen." Glosseryck summarized.
"So … what?" Star asked. "Just leave it to someone else?"
"Kids, trust me." The Guardian spoke. "The Axolotl has been planning on a way to stop him since before the Diamonds even existed, and the plan goes on until the atoms of this universe go to dust. You just focus on your own multiverse and leave Black Hat to us … please?"
"Besides, he's the big fry. You have an entire multiverse of french fries to deal with." Glossaryck waved off. "And it's not like they're ending any time soon."
"Yes it is." Marinette smiled. "We almost have the Peacock Miraculous."
"Oh, that'll make nineteen out of the thousand on this earth." The little blue man nodded. "Well done on the collection."
"Nice to see you're still the same cold jerk as you were back then." Steven sighed as he stood up. "It doesn't matter if there's one fry or a million. We're still here, we survived the latest catastrophe. We can keep this universe safe. We can protect this multiverse, and we can do it together!"
"Heck yeah!" Ben shouted. "We've seen an infinite number of Steven's, let them handle their own problems, and we'll handle ours."
"Sounds like a jerk move when you shout it out loud but I know what you meant!" Luz cheered as the group started chanting. "We beat Bill, we can take in whatever comes next!"
"Bring it on!" Webby shouted, backed up by the rest of the ducks. "The Mcducks don't back down!"
"Maybe we should've stayed in the void." Gumball muttered. "Now we have to play hero or we'll look like spineless and heartless jerks."
"Weren't we already heroes?" Darwin asked.
"No, we were kids that helped our friends and family with problems in their lives out of guilt or misplaced good intentions, and stuff that inconvenienced us."
Star sighed. "Alright, we'll trust you and deal with our own problems." Star said, patting Steven on the back. "Let's focus on our own universe." Maybe the next problem would be simple?
========================================================================
"Are you kidding me!?" Ben watched as Star ranted. "You're willing to wipe out all life because you're 'superior'!?" She shouted. "You're not even afraid of me shooting you through the skulls!?"
The DNAlien and Highbreed threat had finally reached its apex. Galvan prime had been blown to bits and the warp gate had been built, culminating in an all out war for the earth…again. Luckily this time, with it being the third or fourth apocalyptic level threat he's ever face, Ben knew he couldn't do it alone, gathering every friend and ally he could to take this war head on.
Coordinating with each other had been made much simpler, especially given they didn't have to split the magic users apart from the main group this time. The only problem was the fact their enemies were humans corrupted by DNAliens, but thanks to Cooper and Rex, they made a massive headway on that front. Now it was time to stop them directly … until they learned that the invasion was happening on EVERY inhabited planet in the galaxy SIMULTANEOUSLY! Even the Gem Homeworld wasn't that efficient, what the heck!?
Now he stood on the Highbreed Homeworld, with Gwen, Kevin, the pines twins, and the Butterfly siblings, along with Azmuth, confronting the council, with a last ditch effort to find a way out of this catastrophe. "We will not let your species continue your unwanted existence. The Highbreed will reign supreme, shining with the glory it was meant to achieve." The head honcho spoke. "After all, it was much easier to build resources after you pacified both of our greatest foes."
"Other than the enemy known as Lars of the Bardinga clan." Another one of the royal guys growled. "A most hated fiend that you've delayed the capture of time and time again, Steven Universe. That only adds to our ambition to eliminate the scum of all inferior life forms."
"Is there anyone in the universe Lars hasn't screwed over?" Steven rolled his eyes. "You know what will happen if you go through with this. It'll be carnage. Chaos. You'll wipe out billions of lives from the universe."
"That is the point of a xenocidal mission." Another Highbreed snarked.
"But what's the point!?" Mabel cried out. "You claim to be better than everyone, and maybe you could be! But then what!? Everyone else will be gone, there'd be nothing for you to be 'superior' over!"
"We were the first, and we will be the last." The center one growled.
"Don't listen to that babble." Azmuth jumped onto Ben's shoulder.
"Ah, a Galvan." A female Highbreed took notice. "A slightly more intellectual form of pond scum."
"Even their compliments are insults." Kevin muttered.
"Their race is dying due to their genetic purity." The first thinker explained. "Due to inbreeding and lack of diversity, they're losing resistance to disease, and they've gone sterile."
"Wait, inbreeding?" Dipper blinked. "As in … oh my god." He looked like he was going to barf.
"Oh don't lord over us on that of all things." A youngish sounding Highbreed rolled his eyes. "According to our reports of Earth and Mewni, inbreeding is still a thing there as well."
"Yeah, and it's gross, disgusting, and a big taboo, so much so that millions swear from day one NOT to do so!" Star screamed. "Your so-called idea for purity doomed you all! There's nothing pure about you in your decaying diseased riddled bodies
"Your insults matter little now." The ruler said coldly. "For in moments your kind will vanish from this galaxy, leaving it pure and untainted, as the last lifeforms to exist are the first."
"My corn." Steven muttered. "You guys are dying so you're just saying screw it and taking everyone with you, cause you don't want to die alone instead of looking for a cure!" He shouted, glowing pink.
"The damage done to them is on a molecular level, each strand of their DNA being more damaged than the last generation to the point it's become a part of who they are." Azmuth explained. "Even your healing powers couldn't hope to cure them at this point. All is lost."
Ben looked at the villains, then at his friends. All the methods they've tried, all the effort they've put in … "Omnitrix." Ben looked down, remembering everything he's seen since hanging out with Steven and Star. Every single crazy idea they've ever had. Meeting with all these friends, all these heroes, it taught him many different ways to fight. "... Mix the DNA of all Highbreeds in the Universe with random DNA samples you own." Even so, sometimes, the best way to solve a fight was to help instead of hitting back.
"What?" Every living thing asked at the same time.
"Charging energy now. Ten seconds and counting." The watch announced as it began to spark.
"You ever think it's weird it speaks like me but robotically?" He asked the floored group. "I mean, some personality wouldn't hurt." Then again it loved to give him the wrong alien …
"Ben, do you have any idea what you're doing!?" Gwen yelled at him.
"Yes." He nodded simply as the watch continued to charge. "They have the universe surrounded, we can't fight them..so we should try helping them."
"You will not taint our kind!" With more power than someone as old and supposedly broken as he had any right to be, the head honcho moved fast, trying to grab him …
FWOSH
Only for them all to be blasted with a familiar green wave of energy, Ben feeling his body tingle as it enveloped them all and kept going. And now, the room was silent as it processed what had happened.
None of the highbreed were white anymore. Now they had random reds or greens mixed in, along with a scale here, a feather here, maybe an eyeball there, and an arm there (probably four arms). "You … you …"
"Genetic Damage of all Highbreeds has been fixed." The watch stated. "All available energy in Omnitrix has been used. Shutting down for recharge."The watch started turning dim. Well, master control was nice while it lasted.
"You healed all of them?" Steven asked, losing all the pink glow in his body.
"Well yeah. If the damage was to their DNA, then the solution was to just change it." He shrugged. "I do that all the time, and with the warp gates open…"
"You spread the signal all over the universe, hitting every Highbreed." Dipper smirked with a chuckle. "You fixed all the damage."
"You have ruined our purity …" They sighed. "There is but one noble action … the destruction of our own race."
"Isn't that going a little too far?" Kevin asked. "So you're like every 'mongrel' now, so what? No one's going to judge you."
"Our Purity has been our trademark, our pillar to move us forward." The female explained. "Without it, there is no point."
"I refuse." They all turned to a new Highbreed who looked relatively unchanged, save for a green arm. "Ben Ben Tennyson is right. We must change our ways if we are to continue as a species."
"Ah..do we know this guy?" Mabel asked the group. "If we made nice with one of the Highbreed, then I'm out of the loop."
"That one guy I got stuck in the desert universe with." Ben explained. "Reinrassig the Third."
"Yes, Ben Ben Tennyson." He walked forward. "I chose to stay behind in exile, for my infection to both my body, and my mind." The man explained. "But now I see that was not the path. Stagnation was what doomed our society, we must move forward with new ideals, if the Highbreed are to become as great as we were meant to be." They called the council. "We must not rot away in silence, we must evolve, as all cells do."
"Finally! There's somebody out there that learned to not be an idiot!" Star yelled out. "You have no idea how close I was to using a turbo nuclear atomic warhead spell on this place."
"On a planet with enough weapons to decimate a quarter of the galaxy?" One of the Highbreed asked with a confused look.
"Hey, it's been a stressful day. I don't make smart decisions when I'm stressed out." Star pouted. Fair enough.
"But how would we move forward?" Another one of the higher up Highbreeds asked. "We know of no other way."
"We have experience with teaching other cultures to adapt to a new way of living." Steven calmly reassured them. "I can guarantee both Earth and the Gem Homeworld will be more than happy to help you get readjusted."
A soldier ran in. "Sir, the Gem Homeworld has started to fight our ships, declaring war!"
"...Give me a second." Steven pulled out a mirror, pressing a few buttons. "There, sent a link to White, she'll stop right about…" A ding went off from his phone. "Now. All Done."
"So … you willing to give peace a chance?" Ben asked. "I can recommend a good cook."
"We clearly don't have the right experience to handle such a massive endeavor." The red Highbreed turned to Reinrassig. "Reinrassig the Third, you are the first to embrace this…occurrence from our lifestyle. Would you serve your people once more, and guide us into this way of change."
Reinrassig stared at them with what looked like wonder, before bowing. "I would be honored, supreme ones."
"From this day forth, we bow to you. You are now the Highbreed Supreme." Each one of the bigger guys bowed from their thrones, dipping their heads in respect.
"Congrats on the promotion, Reiny." Ben smiled. "I guess we're partners on the path to a better future." He held out his hand.
"A future I look forward to crafting, Ben Ben Tennyson." His Highbreed friend reached out his own hand, with a solid and respectful handshake.
"There were many outcomes I was expecting." Dipper muttered. "Somehow this was not one of them."
"Tell me about it." Gwen snorted. "And yet he's still a c student."
"Hey, don't look a win in the mouth. We won, we achieved peace for another tyrannical and genocidal species." Mabel cheered, before pulling out a punch card. "Two more and we can get free cosmic milkshakes for life." You'd think they'd get it after two.
As they walked, he turned to the pink boy. "Hey Steven." Ben smirked. "I'm totally beating you out of your savior of the universe title."
"You can go ahead and keep it, less pressure off my back." He laughed back. "You can be the hero of the galaxy, I'll be happy with the small moments of peace." They sent each other a fist pump. "Just don't get a big head after this. The moment you get cocky is when everything falls apart."
He snorted. "Name one time."
"Mina Loveberry." Star groaned.
"Meteora." Steven sighed.
"Spinel." Star and Steven said at the same time.
"Team Miraculous with Lila." Dipper added in.
"Bill." Kevin, Gwen, and Mabel echoed all at once.
"… I'll keep my eyes peeled." He muttered, before shaking his head. "So, anyone feeling up for a victory Mr. Smoothie?"
"Didn't you used to hate those?" Star asked.
"They grow on you after a few sips." Ben shrugged. "I mean, it was either that or Grandpa Max's meals, so …"
"Thanks, but I'm going to the auto show." Kevin declined.
"I'll come with you." Gwen wrapped her arm around him.
"Great, now that image is burned into my head." He grumbled. "Dipper, Mabel, wanna make it a singles night?"
"...I've been dating Pacifica for four years…how have you not noticed?" Dipper's eye twitched.
"Doesn't she always insult you and say she can buy whatever you do in a demeaning manner?" Ben asked.
"That's just the front she puts just in case her parents are watching. I've been helping her get over her fear of bells."
"Ahh … Mabel?" His last hope.
"Single and stylin! I'll always be there for my best bud." YES! He wasn't alone.
"Heh, now that you saved the universe, maybe I can recommend Looma to you." Steven chuckled. "Been getting hard to change my number every time she calls."
"Wait, you don't mean Looma as in the tetremand, right?" Kevin asked nervously.
"Yeah, she used to flirt with me all the time, but apparently she's engaged to someone else." Steven said with a smile. "I wish the lucky couple the best."
"I wouldn't call them lucky…" Kevin muttered.
"Kevin…" Gwen stared at his once enemy with a glare. "Is there something you're not telling me?"
"Well … the Null Void escape route didn't dump me out on earth … and I had no way off the planet myself so …" The guy was sweating, looking away. "There may have been … an arrangement of sorts."
"Aww, Kevin, why didn't you tell us you were getting married!?" Mabel said with delight. "I would've had Steven plan the wedding…wait, but.."
"Kevin…" Gwen was starting to go into her alien form.
"… Kevin …" The gem boy twitched. "I am either making wedding arrangements, or am going to stop yet another war between worlds break out because of you … choose your answer very carefully."
"It doesn't have to be that bad!" Kevin raised his hands. "All you gotta do is fight her and she'll call it off!"
"Alright, one more stop today, and then Mr. Smoothies." Ben began walking off.
"Wait, if you win, won't you.." Steven started to say, only to get a blip on his mirror. "..Oh crap, Spinel's crashing her ship into Highbreeds, gotta run before peace is ruined!" Steven turned pink and flashed out of there.
"What was he about to say?" Star asked.
"Whoever beats her gets anything they ask for." Kevin explained quickly before shoving Ben forward. "Now chop, chop, we're not getting any younger!" Why did it feel like he was heading into a bigger fire than an all out war?
========================================================================
The last couple of years had been quite eventful for the little Kappa known as Ludo. Long before the peace, long before he entered the path of redemption, he was the runt of the litter. The failure of the flock. The only thing he had going for him was grit, guts, determination, and decades worth of spite.
Spite against his parents, spite against the Butterfly family, spite against Mewni…just general spite for anybody and everybody…except for his brother Dennis. Now he had none of that, just ideas that for some reason, people listened to. They liked him, they cared about him … and now he had his fill.
"My fellow Mewmans, monsters, witches, aliens, floating spaghetti creatures.." He addressed the audience , who had gathered in front of avarice castle, once a safe haven for monsters to plot and scheme, now a monument of peace for all to gather around. "It has been a long road for all of us for the past few years, hasn't it?" He chuckled. "We've seen violence, we've seen war, we've been personal witness to a deep level of darkness capable of being inside any of us."
"A Lot of that was my bad." Rhombulus, his most trusted general, raised his hand sheepishly. "Sorry about that."
"You're cool, Gem Buddy. Everybody makes mistakes." Steven, his fellow companion in animal taming, patted the man's back. "Along with a long line of villains …so many villains…"
"But even with that darkness, we've been able to climb out of it, and into the light." Ludo kept going. "If you told me years ago I would be talking in front of you all without getting rotten vegetables thrown at my face, I'd ask what kind of sick joke you were telling."
"Actually it was mostly blades and spears." Star, the best monster educator on either Earth or Mewni, noted. "But continue."
"When I look at you all, when I see so many different faces and species gathered in one place, to hear one message, I don't just see a great community, I see a bright future…no…THE brightest future anyone could've asked for." He watched as the crowd cheered gleefully. "Nothing isn't truly earned in this life without hard work, and as we head deeper into that bright future, the work will only get harder, but if we stand United, we WILL face whatever hardship that comes together!""
"Marry me Ludo!" A kappa girl in the back shouted, being held back by Rasticore, his main bodyguard and head of security. Eh, he was way too old for that now, he'd rather rest alone in peace anyhow.
"Not all good things have to come to an end, but as we trek forward into the future, the journey required is sadly one I cannot join you in." Ludo announced. "Which is why I am now passing my role as leader to someone else." He was surprised Globgor didn't run … but then again, probably family. Eclipsa wasn't in the most mobile conditions these days. "My first choice would've been Buff Frog, but it turns out he's not that much younger than me.."
"I had youthful complexion until babies wore me down." Said frog man with now graying skin laughed. "Price of happy family I am proud to make."
"I agree, quite the lovely little wonders they are." Spoke Queen Moon, once a beauty with blue hair now had a few wrinkles, combined with minor white hairs covered within the ball of a head
"My next choice would've been my own brother Dennis, except he struck it rich with a lottery on earth and has been 'livin it up' in Vegas as the youths put it.".
"As long as it's not Empire City." Marco shrugged.
"I swear, earth has the dumbest names for cities." Kelly rolled her eyes.
"With those choices out of the way, I thought long and hard about what was best for the future, and decided that the next step should be taken in the hands of the next generation." He stepped aside and allowed a frog girl, his chosen successor, to step forth on the podium. "Katrina, you may now take a stand.."
"I'm gonna be like Aunt Star!" The toad girl shouted with joy. "I'm gonna set the world ablaze and from the ashes there shall be peace and prosperity!" Hopefully that was meant to be metaphorical and not literal.
"They grow up so fast." Said 'aunt' said with tears in her eyes.
"Froggy! Froggy!" A small child in the arms of Steven clapped and cheered.
"That's right Ian. This is the start of something amazing." The curly haired young man chuckled. "This used to be home for both me and Star…and I'm glad you get to see what it's becoming."
"Give it up for your new leader … Katrina Bulgolyubov!" The applause erupted with cheers and praise going off in the air as the young lady soaked it all up with a wide grin.
He let the little lady have her moment in the spotlight as Ludo quietly walked off stage. "Making a quiet exit?" He turned to see Star's smirking face. "I recall your style being much more loud."
"I'm old, I don't have what it takes to jump out of a window and ride out on eagle and spider." He shrugged. "Now, i'm just going to find a nice little hobble and live out the rest of my days … hopefully without another war."
"You and me both, birdman." Star laughed as they walked along the path. "I will say this. You did better at keeping a quiet and safe Mewni than nine generations of Butterfly's ever could."
The man snorted. "Who knew what it took to overthrow your family and gain the world was just better politics?"
"If I had known how horribly complicated running a government would be when I was fourteen, I might've just given the throne to you right then and there." Star chuckled. "I definitely lucked out with picking a teacher … honestly the most trouble I've had with that job was a pair of Lapis … one particularly more than the other."
"Most complicated thing I had was trying to reach the door handles…seriously, being this short sucks." Ludo chuckled. "We both came a long way from evil schemes and blowing everything up."
"The good old days when nothing was complicated … and now it's the good new days where we can confidently solve eighty percent of our problems." Star nodded. "Just like when you turned wand crazy, but with a very different context … I'm gonna miss you Ludo."
"I as well, Star Butterfly. If you didn't kick my butt hundreds of times, I wouldn't be where I am today." A funny little irony in their lives.
========================================================================
Eclipsa sighed in content as she cuddled with her husband. "Such an interesting sight." She said, watching the clouds dance and shift into various shapes. "This was definitely a nice vacation spot." A great thing about having grandchildren with lots of friends was that they could recommend so many great sights to explore
"Yes, long stretches of nothing but plains of grass, night skies, fairies that fly around and don't ask to bite pieces of your flesh off." Globgor laid beside her, taking in the sweet smell of fresh magic filled air of this dimension. "Aside from the gaping hole that's in the planet, it almost feels perfect." He laughed as he stared at her. "Although I swore you were going to get a heart attack when you were drooling over the candy kingdom."
"I might have been, a couple hundred years in a crystal hasn't been kind to me." She chuckled. Apparently the lingering affect of magic from being inside of Rhombulous's dumb rock was what kept her spry and young, so with Mewni without magic slowly tittered it away.
Not that she didn't regret it's reset, she's never had so much free time with her family. Little Meteora was growing up to be such a fine and lovely young girl too. And the rest of the Butterflies were having a blast on earth. "Did you ever make a bucket list?" Globgor asked. "Because we could probably fill it out when this little honeymoon of ours is over."
"Let see, I've already accomplished so much, even before I was crystalized. I made love with and married a monster.." She sent him a suggestive wink to her husband who blushed. "I ate a hundred Snookers in less than one minute, I created the forest of certain death, I got to see Monsters and Mewmans make peace, I get to see my daughter grow up.." She looked to the sky to see little Meteora soar in the air by clinging to the legs of a little manticore. "And I don't have to run a kingdom. I feel quite fulfilled already."
"In that case, then I guess I only have one mission." He smiled, caressing her cheek. "Making sure every moment you have left is filled with nothing but joy and happiness beyond what you can even comprehend." He swavely stated before kissing her gently.
"Oh, you know I like it when you talk sweet to me." Eclipsa said teasingly as she returned the passion. She felt like she could get lost in this moment forever…"
"HYYYYYY-YAH!" Meteora yelled as she let go of the manticore and on the head of a dragon. "Stay still, scaly! I promised Mariposa I would bring her a souvenir, and I'm not going to stop till I bring her your head!"
"Come on, can't I give you one of my talons instead!?" The beast roared.
"Give me a foot and we'll call it even!" The girl shouted, stretching her hand to try and squeeze the life out of him.
"She's already bargaining with people's lives …" Her husband sniffled. "I've never felt so proud in my life."
"Well she definitely has your strong confidence, my dear." She teased as the dragon began to breathe fire.
"And she has you fearlessness." Globgor complemented her back. "Even if this peace doesn't last forever, she'll be capable of defending herself."
"Oh, I believe it'll be lasting for a long, long while after we're gone." Eclipsa noted.
"Is that the premonition of a dark ritual you've partaken in?"
"I don't need a premonition." She smiled. "I've just seen Steven and Star do too many impossible things for that to be anything but true."
"GIVE ME YOUR TAIL OR I'M GOING SUCK OUT YOUR SOUL!" Mariposa screamed, falling out of a portal in the sky as she began biting down on the dragon's scaly neck.
"Mariposa, stop riding giant monsters please!" Marco shouted as he and the rest of the kids chased them. "We don't need you falling!"
"Oh come on Marco." Steven patted the boy on the back. "She's six, and with a shapeshifter as a friend, she can take care of herself."
"Yeah, bite his eyes out Ian!" Meteora shouted to the four year old, trying to punch the giant lizard's face.
"IAN! You shouldn't be dragon hunting until you're at least ten years old!" Steven jumped in the air to follow as Luz rode on her staff to chase them.
"The hypocrisy." Marco rolled his eyes as he began to run.
"That's just how having a little sibling works." Star chucked as she went into butterfly mode. "You love them so much you'd destroy the universe for them."
"....Fair enough." Marco relented as he used his gauntlet's grabbed to grab ahold of the dragon's leg. "Just let it go already, guys! We'll skin a bear or something for you to bring back home!"
"Aww, but uncle River says bear meat is tame compared to dragon meat!" Mariposa argued. "We're explorers and adventurers, we don't back down from little challenges like this!"
"Yeah, you old pussy! Get out of the way if you think you're gonna break a hip from skewing an overground lizard!" Meteora shouted to Marco.
"Meteora!" Eclipsa shouted, causing everyone to pause. "Language dear. Disliking someone is no excuse for a potty mouth."
"Yes, Mama." Meteora sighed, holding her head down. "Can we at least cut out the heart? The blood pumping through it makes it the juiciest piece of meat."
"No one's cutting anything today." Eclipsa chastised. "I believe that's enough excitement for one day, now come back down, or I'll make you eat ice cream for dinner."
"Ugh, but I hate ice cream! It's too cold!" Her daughter complained.
"Ice cream!" The little Ian shouted as Steven brought him down. "Ice cream!"
"I'll get you some vanilla little guy." He said. "But no more adventuring, seriously." The child of rose received a raspberry in return. "It's hard being the reasonable one all the time."
"Amen." Marco raised his hand. Such a lovingly chaotic family.
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Mariposa pouted. "I really wanted to eat dragon meat with you." They sighed as the crowd chatted in patience. She was siting next to her best friends, and only, in the universe. "Would have passed the time better than just sitting around."
"Ugh, it's one thing when Mama makes me limit the fun, but you got such a stick in the mud for a brother. It's like having an annoying parent you're forced to talk to." Meteora groaned as she pouted.
"I heard he used to be cool." Mariposa whined. "Fighting bad guys and rescuing princesses … he was like a superhero."
"Maybe he was always a wimp." Meteora suggested, before looking at Ian, happily licking his soft serve vanilla. "You're lucky. You're brother's an alien and your sister's a witch. If one acts lame, you have another to go to."
"Steven's fun and floaty, but gets too worried. Luz plays with funny liquids, but it's so weird around them." Ian spoke with his ice cream covered face. "I drank one, and my skin turned funny colors for an entire week. Mama wouldn't let me leave the bed until I was a normal color again."
"Yeah, all of them are way too safe." Mariposa sighed. "When I have a little brother, I'm gonna let them do whatever they want."
"Here here." Meteora chinked her ice cream soda float, the only form of ice cream she was comfortable with eating, and took a sip. "So what song is Steven performing anyway?"
"He said it's a surprise." Ian said. "And it's super cool when people react to surprises."
"Better than any surprise Marco can dish out." Mariposa laughed. "You know last year, I asked him for boxing gloves on my birthday, and he got me silk mittens instead. Like seriously, I want to knock enemies out from pain, not lull them to sleep with soft taps!"
"Family is some of the worst." Meteora rolled her eyes. "Do they not think we can take on the world or something?" Yeah, bring on the giant demons and warlords, they could take them on no problem!
"Yeah, I hear all the time how Steven's saved the multiverse. Yelling at gods, punching abominations in the face, breaking time all before they were sixteen." Ian pointed out. "If they can have crazy adventures, why shouldn't we? We can make that our job or something."
"Yeah…yeah!" Mariposa pounded her fists. "We travel the world, we find as much weird stuff as we can, and either befriend it or punch it, and make people pay us!"
"And if they don't pay us, we ruin their livelihood for generations to come!" Meteora cheered.
Mariposa paused, turning to Meteora with a look. "Seriously, we're trying to be heroes, not tyrants."
"Oh come on, just a little tyranny?" She gave her a pouty look that you'd find on puppies. "What if someone makes a cult out of our exploits? They'll need leaders to guide them." She turned to Ian. "You agree with me, right Ian? Just imagine it, a whole club of people that'll get you all the ice cream you can ask for."
"Wait, I'm confused. Are we hurting people for the ice cream?" The child asked. "Because I really don't want to hurt people unless they're asking for it."
"No, we're not going to hurt people just to get ice cream." Mariposa corrected. "Hurting people made out of ice cream is a slightly different story. Haven't met one yet that wasn't a jerk, so they're free game to eat."
The crowd began to cheer as the band in question came onto stage. "Well, looks like it's music time." Meteora rolled her eyes. "I dunno why, but I really don't like songs … I mean the music is nice, but I really hate vocals." Meteora shivered. "There's just something I find uncomfortable about a rhythmic pattern of words telling me how to feel."
"Most of Steven's songs are about having freedom of expression and choosing how you want to feel." Ian took another lick of his soft serve.
"We can always sneak out if you're uncomfortable." Mariposa suggested.
"Nah, it's just a passing feeling I get sometimes." Meteora waved off. "You know, sometimes I get these weird dreams about living in a cave next to that Heckacrap woman."
"Wait, you get those too?" Mariposa asked. "I thought it was just me."
"Oh my corny titan, do you know what this means?" Ian asked. "You're reincarnated besties! Your friendship is so strong it lasts generations throughout time and space!" He climbed on top of her. "Tell me, was I there! Please tell me I'm there!"
"I don't remember you, but I did see a cat." Mariposa scratched her head. "Maybe that's something.
"I'm a reincarnated cat." The boy muttered. "Can you believe it, Steven Jr?" He asked the one eyed kitten, who looked surprisingly exasperated.
"Well, if I get to spend every lifetime with somebody, I'm glad it's with you two knuckleheads." Meteora laughed as she pulled them into a hug by the shoulders. "Alright, let's hear what our dumb siblings been planning for us today."
"HELLO BEACH CREEK!" Steven shouted in the mic as the audience roared. "I'm Steven Universe, our awesome bass player is Marceline the Vampire Queen, on drums is Marcy Wu, and our keyboard artist, Randy Cunningham!"
"Weird, there's only two stand outs." Meteora raised an eyebrow. "There's him, and the vampire, but the other two are just some random humans."
"You say that to two random humans." Mariposa raised an eyebrow.
"You guys aren't random though. You're the most amazing humans of all time." Meteora responded like it was the only natural response to give.
"But mom and dad are the best humans of all time." Ian countered. "Mariposa is super close though."
"Oh Ian, you naive little charmer." She ruffled the boy's head. One could spend hours pinching his little cheeks. "Well, we are all amazing, so lets make a pact right now to keep being amazing, and to one day out do our family in terms of sheer amazingness!"
"Heck yeah!" Meteora grinned. "Now that's a plan I'm down with. We'll do stuff so amazing we'll outdo anything they've done in Mewni, heck, the multiverse!" Meteora called out. "You hear that, old man Diaz, we're going to out crazy your entire life!"
"Not anytime this year, or the next, if I can help it." They turned to see her brother looking down on them, clad in his officer uniform. "I'm against arresting family, but not unwilling."
"Did we break a law?" Ian asked with a head tilt.
"No, but it feels like you'll break every law in the universe if someone doesn't reign you guys in." Marco grumbled.
"You can do that, or I can tell Steven how intimate you and Star get at night, including the night of passion you had on the dinner table." Mariposa smirked. "You know, give him the chance to give you that gold ole' brother's chat."
"... You are far too tainted." Marco said with a haunted look, slowly walking away and staring at his hands. "I'm a terrible role model …"
"A broken Marco … I may have a problem, because that brings too much joy to my heart." Meteora smiled.
"As long as we get to be happy together, I'm sure it'll be fine." Ian laughed as they prepared to watch the stage. She had the best friends in the multiverse.