Believe In The Weird and Wild (Star vs. the Forces of Evil x Steven U)

Alright Marco, don't freak out. There's a thing wiping away your memories, but that's fine. You just need to find those memories and hide them away. Except he was inside of his own head, so the chances of finding a place to hide were fairly limited to begin with.

"Come on Marco, you can do this." He muttered to himself. "You've dealt with mind warpers in the Neverzone, just go back to your safe kid space and avoid Jana."

A memory popped up, Marco watching as Jana messed with a golden watch. "Whenever you hear these words, you will enter a deep slum-" He folded up the memory like it was origami, forming a shield.

"Disposable memories and apparent hypnotic commands as weapons and shields." He spoke with a vindictive smirk. "Now where is my subconscious … that should have some Star stuff this thing would target."

He took a long walk through what looked like the school hallway before coming across a giant version of the wallet he got from Quest Buy, labeled 'subconscious' in big and bulky words. "Okay, that's a little on the nose, but whatever works." He just needed to stand and guard it until hopeful their friends came in and stopped the process.

"Are you sure you want to stop this?" A familiar voice echoed in the air. "You're only limiting your options by doing this you know?" 

"Shut up, shut up! You want to try and talk me out of it, fine, every villain does that. But do NOT use my friend's face to try and get under my skin." He shouted.

" But you've dreamt of getting under MY skin for so long, long before you've met Star.." He turned around…and saw Jackie, same glimmering eyes, same pretty face, and same freckles that use to drive him crazy whenever he saw a glimpse of them.

"You want to know something funny?" Marco asked. "Using her face means one of three things … either you're too lazy and want to take the easy way out, you take sadistic pleasure in hurting others … or you want me vulnerable because you're scared." He gave a bravado as he raised his memory shield.

" Mainly the first thing, though I could honestly care less about how you feel." The creature that looked like Jackie swiped their hand across the shield and obliterated the memory in seconds. "You came here to cleave, and thus I cleave."

"I wanted to cleave the brainwashing bond, not absolutely everything that made us friends." He argued. "You're doing a lot more than your job description implied."

"If you know what I do, you know that it said physical, mystical, and emotional. The curse was one thing, but souls make connections upon every other soul they meet, and because you two came to sever said curse, I need to break apart every stitch of this bond."

"So what, you just cut things apart cause you find it fun?" He asked, moving his foot across the door. "You seriously don't have any other hobbies than your own job?"

" I don't even really exist. I'm just the mental manifestation of the Stone's presence in your mind. I'm taking this form because your sudden reluctance requires me to be more thorough."

"So you admit that what I'm doing IS making your job harder." He smirked.

"Not really, this is just the first time someone's tried to fight it."

So it wasn't a lack of power, but a lack of experience … something he had spades of. "Then a final request before I let you inside the door?" He asked. "Mind putting on some cat ears, partially because I'd find it cute."

"Meow." The Jackie image replied instantly, cat ears all.

"And partially …" He pushed the door through a gap in the wall he's been carving, letting it fall into the void. "The cat playing with its mouse as it gets away is too funny to pass up!" He shouted, laughing as he followed suit. "You may be powerful, but you're in my house now,..!"

SHINK

What felt like Lion's claws slashed against his back as he fell. He winced in shock and confusion as he looked at the stone looking at him with a blank and neutral expression.

"I'm in your head, this whole place is filled with memories I can break apart, with or without you." The Jackie image shrugged as it began walking away. " And in case you forgot, it's a soulbond I need to break."

Shit, he could stall all he wanted while the others went for help, but he didn't know how to protect Star. "You can't get away with this! Star's even way more stubborn than I am!" He tried to yell out another bluff. "It's like tap water going against a mountain, you can't possibly break through it!"

"I suppose that's for me to know and you to forget about." They waved off. "Enjoy your small reprieve while the soon to be stranger forgets everything about you."

========================================================================

Star tried to hold onto her head. "I'm Star Butterfly, my brother is Steven, my love is Marco, my friend is Jana, my ex is Tom, my enemy is Kelly." She repeated these words like a mantra, over and over. She needed to keep all her memories close, as this thing just cleaved through magic. "I'm Star Butterfly, my brother is Steven, my love is Marco, my friend is Jana, my ex is Tom-"

"Is it?" A familiar voice spoke up. "Or is that just what the moon told you?"

"Oh great." She groaned. "Are you doing this just to be annoying, or do you not have your own voice?"

" The second option mostly." What appeared to be Tom came before her, smooth charisma and all. " I've had to learn how to be…creative, shall we say, due to your sudden reluctance."

"So that means this is working then." She grinned, charging up her magic, forming a bubble around herself.

"You bonded one has the same misplaced confidence too. Was that the curse binding two similar people together, or the curse making you more alike? Who's to say, and who cares?" The Tom image shot out a bolt of white fire and shattered the bubble instantly. "I do my job either way."

"Not this job." She said, "I don't care what you do, you're never removing my memories!"

"If I let you keep the one about Marco's abbs would you be tempted to surrender?"

"Huh, that is a good compromise…" Star blushed, before slapping herself in the face. "No! Hot abbs mean nothing if I don't know the face of who they belong to!"

"Meh, doesn't matter." They shrugged, forming a sword. "Just buying time for this little tri-"The copy of Tom was punched by her brother, going through a wall.

"Man, I got to hit your ex as hard as I wanted without any repercussions." Steven smiled. "Now that, is much better than some dumb old therapy."

"Steven! You're here!" She ran up and hugged her brother. "I mean, is it really you? You're not just my brain making up stuff to keep myself safe?"

"Sorry, it took a while to dreamwalk, I eventually just had Tom hit me really hard." He explained. "I really need to see a doctor about my head."

"Maybe a trip to Rose's fountain will fix things up." Star suggested, before getting her brother ready. "Okay bro, watch out. We essentially have a cold unfeeling force of nature that doesn't care about anything except doing its job."

"Aww, cold and unfeeling?" A clone of Kelly walked through the hole in the wall. "I'm hurt … I thought we had more in common." She pouted with a pose.

"You turning into Kelly is only really proving her point." Steven said exasperated.

"You know, I'm half contemplating erasing the memories of all your 'greater beings' battles out of the fact you kids keep taking me so nonchalantly." The clone of Kelly spoke. "But since you're here in this cleaving group I may as well see …." They paused. "Umm … give me a second …" They stared at a wall, messing with it by poking at the frame.

"Ah…are you okay?" Star asked.

"Yeah just … oh corn." They muttered. "Your bond is so interwoven and connected, stronger than anything I've ever seen …"  The image of Kelly began to drool. "It's like a mosaic artwork … the beauty and honor of cleaving something like this."

"If you're going to erase any memories, can it be of this moment?" Steven asked. "I'd like to not remember my ex drooling over me like this."

"Aww, but she doesn't have to be an Ex." They smirked. "Going into her head and erasing the bad experiences … a fresh restart on your relationship …"

"Wait, what do you mean by her head?" Star asked. "She's not bonded with anybody."

"Oh no, she isn't. This is a deal type of situation." They shrugged. "Erasing this sibling bond is FAR more important to me personally than the blood moon curse. So here's the offer, I let Marco go, he drags Kelly to take his place, I erase the sibling bond, and you and her get a fresh redo."

Steven stared at the image with a blank expression, walking towards the being. "Steven.." Star called out to him. "She's not…"

"You know, I'd love nothing more than to be with Kelly again. A fresh start is everything that I would want." Steven stared at the creature in the eye.

"Oh thank you for being…"

"But what I want more than that is for her to be happy of her own free will…and I'll BE DAMNED IF I LET YOU MESS WITH HER HEAD!" Glowing pink, Steven grew spikes and horns along his head and back as he charged right into the creature, slamming it into the ground, plummeting whatever this thing was to the depths of who knows where.

"Whoa, yeah! Go monster Steven!" She cheered for her brother.

"It's funny how useful this form is when before it used to be a gigantic pain." Steven said as he observed the spikes. "I guess that's how life works I guess."

"So umm … about Kelly." She started. "I … I'm gonna be blunt, I still don't like her."

"Yeah, I figured that out a long, long, LONG time ago…probably back during the sardonyx thing." Geesh, that was such a lifetime ago..

"But I can push it away if you care that much." She finished. "You're my brother, I want you to be happy …" No matter how annoying it was.

"You don't have to worry about it anyways. She seems committed to being single." Steven sighed. "That's enough romance gunk for one day. Let's get you two out of here before anything else…"

A glowing light came from the hole, Toffee crawling out with the crack of his neck. "Very well … if you want to play it hard, I'm all game for that." They formed a crystalline blade out of thin air. "Your memory shows your shield never breaking … let's fix that shall we?"

"Star, stay being me!" Steven had said shield ready and pushed her behind. "You find Marco, I'll…" The sword pierced through the shield…and ran across her brother's chest. "Ahhhh!" Steven fell on his knees, clenching his wound.

"You've seemed to have forgotten the most important rule of dream walking…what happens in the mind happens in real life. So if I destroy him, he'll die, and your bond goes with him."

"STAY AWAY FROM MY BROTHER!" Using her six, pink arms, she blasted the bastard apart, grabbing Steven. "We're running now!"

"You seem to have forgotten I've picked a memory with a healing factor!" They shouted. "You've beaten every villain through dumb luck and miracles … now face all of them at once!"

========================================================================

Dendy began poking at the equipment the bloggers were using. "So archaic …" She muttered. "No trans dimensional router or hard light projector …" She knew that not every dimension had glorbs, but the bare minimum was all she asked for. "I suppose a brief introduction to quantum physics to this universe will be required after I fulfill the purpose of this interview."

"Well the interview is talking about your world …" The boy known as Rhonaldo stated with a twitch. "Which sounds scientifically advanced … we still are having trouble with a particle collider."

"I pity the progress of your species. Nowadays in my world you could make one with your backpack if given the right equipment." Dendy adjusted her glasses. "And indeed, my world is quite advanced, mainly through the evolutionary process granting many such as myself extraordinary abilities."

"Oh, so super powers?" The girl known as Starfan asked with curiosity.

"Yes. I'm a kappa, I can breathe underwater naturally, though my main power extends to launching myself into the air at high speeds." She explained. "My friend, KO, has energy fists and is filled with an absorption based genome from his father."

"An entire world of superheroes." Rhonaldo looked on in wonder. "I have found my calling …"

"Indeed, it is a world of heroes, but it is also one filled with villains, both sides dabbling into each concept on various levels. You have those that are capable of consuming entire worlds on a whim, and those that see it more as a side job or hobby." Dendy explained further. "We keep track of everyone through the use of pow cards, which ranks each side with power levels, though the system has proven time and time again to be unreliable for practical use."

"Then why do you use it?" Starfan13 asked.

"Collectibles." She presented her collection. "I have kept track of over one thousand heroes throughout my lifetime." It would prove useful for when she eventually took control over the pow card factory.

"Maybe I can dabble with my poke card collection again, see if we can create a cross dimensional collection." The teen boy noted. "Anyways you've mentioned something called glorbs?"

"They're the primary source of all powers and abilities in my universe. They're scattered all over the planet and can provide many power boosting abilities. The source of it, according to my friend KO, is from the president of the universe, who wanted to see the lives he created have as much fun as possible."

"Definitely one of the nicer gods we can add to the list." The teen girl wrote it down. "Now you mentioned villains treat their roles like a job. How would the very concept of villainy be legalized to begin with, or am I reading this wrong?"

"Oh no, you are quite right in your observation. There are entire corporations and companies dedicated to the promotion and 'betterment' of villainy." Dendy continued. "A world where everyone has powers may sound utopian, but the truth of the matter is that it's chaotic and prone to disasters. There have been many cases where both villain and hero have taken advantage of the power they wielded, or have become too consumed by their lust for power. So corporations like Boxmore, which provide robotic minions for villains to exploit, help keep everything stable."

"So basically the good guys and bad guys keep up an endless sharade to stop super armageddon from destroying the solar system." The boy got it down fast.

"Precisely. Not to say there aren't genuine people fighting for the greater good, it's just been proven that anything outside that system ends in instant extinction or fascistic dystopia."

"Well with the sheer amount of Xenophobia we've been told about, you wouldn't be wrong." Starfan muttered. "We thank you for your time Dendy, anything you'd like to add?"

"Yes. The amount of energy that the people refer to as magic in this town is staggering." She pulled out her pack and looked through her readings. "It's a wonder no one here has suffered horrific mutations from its sheer presence."

"Wait, are you saying magic has radioactive properties?" Rohnaldo asked with some sweat.

"If it was radioactive, then no one from this town would be alive. Magic, as you people refer to it, alters reality as you know it." She clarified. "I'm saying there's a big source of it around this town that's barely being contained."

"That would be Star constantly destroying stuff that's trying to threaten us." Starfan13 explained. "You can bring it up during the next town meeting, Nana should be having one soon."

========================================================================

Kelly stared at the demon boy, dumbfounded and disbelieving as she sat next to Steven's body on the floor. "Did you really have to knock him out like that? His skull is practically made of brittle plastic by this point.

"He was desperate, he was literally asking for one of us to knock him out at this point." Tom complained. "And we don't have the time for Jana to hypnotize him."

"Yeah, just went through the whole friend group. Three of them have experience entering people's heads, but Luz is the only one close enough to get here on time..if we even have that." Jana groaned. "Breaking curses shouldn't suck this much."

"Come on, we all know Steven's made of tougher stuff than that." Kelly waved off.

SHIIIIINK

As if to spite her, the Severing Stone doubled the intensity of its red glowing light. "Oh screw you too, mystical cutting rock." She looked down at her ex. "Come on Steven, fight back, fight.."

Slasssh

A big long red mark formed across his chest, his shirt cut and his body instantly starting to bleed. "Steven!" Kelly cried out. "What the hell just happened to him!?"

"Obviously messing with the severing is starting to affect him now!" Tom exclaimed. "What happens in the brain happens in real life!"

"Why didn't you say that before!?"

"Dude, that's basic knowledge!" Jana snapped back.

"Well fuck the stone!" Kelly reached into her head, pulling out Rose's sword. "Alright, you can cut through everything except Gems, work on this stone!" She shouted, swinging at the rock…

Kablaam

And was immediately sent flying back on her butt into her friends, making them all crash into the ground. "It's a rock meant to cut anything. You're lucky it didn't shred you to pieces." Tom chastised.

"Uh..guess again." Jana held up her hair..hair that wasn't attached to her head. "On the bright side…you totally pull off having shorter hair."

"I didn't even feel it …" Kelly muttered, more miffed than before. "How much longer until that back up comes?"

"I'm texting Luz the images for an instant transport to hell, takes a while to gather the ingredients."

"That's time we can't afford, Steven will get shredded by then!" Kelly ran to his body as another cut was formed along his arm, the boy wincing in his sleep. "Oh Steven, why do you have to be so reckless and selfless?" She got on her knees and held the boy tightly, like in the good days that they shared together. She had almost forgotten how much she loved the feeling.

"I'm sorry that I can't tell you how much I care for you..because if I do, I know I won't be able to resist going back." Kelly rubbed the unconscious boy's face. "When I left, I was trying to run away from all the bad memories I made..but while in Ooo, I kept thinking about all the good times we had, I constantly thought, 'Steven would love this' and 'what would Steven do here'."

"But … I'm a problem." She admitted. "I make things worse … you need to move on, find someone better … because you're better than me." She couldn't help but squeeze him tighter, knowing that no matter how this situation ended, this would probably be the last time she'd get to enjoy this. "It's thanks to you that I realized I needed to be better..and…and I'll always love you for that." She cried, pressing her face into his shoulder. "Please, fight it Steven. Come back to me."

She could feel so much warmth. His body, her heart, his heart, her cheeks. "They're … glowing." She could hear Jana muttering … in all the emotion Kelly forgot she had an audience.

"Huh?" She looked around her. Star and Steven's marks were glowing. Marco crescent moon marks were glowing. She felt her own face, where the majority of her body's warmth was right now, noticing a faint light coming from it. 

"They're shaped like swords.." Tom pointed to her own face.

"Shut … up …" Steven muttered, his body turning pink. "Leave … us … alone …"

SCREEEEE

The stone gave off noise similar to nails on a chalkboard, screaming at the entire room.

========================================================================

Steven never thought his own mind could be so horrifying. The amalgamation of Toffee, Meteora, Mina, Jasper, and the Diamonds proved that wrong fast. "Surreeeeender!"

"Mega Narwhal Blast! Rainbow fist punch!" Star shouted as she dragged him off to safety. They crashed through a crystalized cave where upon the wall there were memories upon memories they ended up smashing through. "How are these guys more scary in our brains than in real life!?"

"Because you have so much emotional trauma I literally can do this for eternity!" The amalgam shouted. "I have to say, thank you for struggling! I never knew or had the concept of fun before today!"

"Oh great, we're teaching a mental construct of rock the fun of hurting others." Steven muttered. "What else can go wrong?" The ground fell under them. "Why do I say the things I say?"

They were pulled under, the ground sealing up. "Glad I could pull you guys out." Oh right, Marco was here. "Since you've been able to actually put pressure on this thing, it's been focused on you, and I've been able to look for a weak spot."

"It's less putting pressure on it and more like they're slightly distracted because they're so obsessed with breaking my bond with Steven more than the curse." Star clarified.

"Honestly us lasting as long as we did was a miracle, they're pulling out all the stops." Steven muttered as they heard banging above them. "Lay it on us, how do we stop this thing?"

"Have you ever heard the legend of the spear and the shield?"

"From another dimension, still catching up on earth stuff." Steven reminded him.

"Right. In China there was an idiom on what happened when a spear that could pierce through anything hit a shield that could block anything." Marco explained. "When they hit they were both destroyed. This thing is the brittle spear, we just need a stronger shield."

"He's already broken through my shield, nearly cut out my heart with it too." Steven felt his chest, the wound still warm, deep and fresh.

"It's a metaphor, it just means we need something stronger than your shield." Marco clarified. "But we've gotta hurry, they'll be able to track us soon."

"Nah, I've been here this entire time." The creature said from right above them. "Thanks to experiencing all the Toffee memories, I like it when weaker creatures struggle against the inevitable."

"Yeah, and that's why toffee won…oh wait, no he didn't, we turned him to go and he got crushed by Ludo." Star said mockingly. "Just because you look like our scariest enemies doesn't mean you are them, you're just an ugly looking copy!"

"Before today, I didn't even exist as I do now, so excuse me for not being super creative appearance wise."

"Just stop will you!?" Steven shouted. "Why do you even want to sever stuff? Why does it bring you joy!?"

"That's just how I am. Soupina made me in an attempt to sever her connection with the multiverse, now I cut everything that I touch. I like what I do."

"As if I needed another reason to hate my family!" Star blasted her magic at the creature, only for it to do nothing as it just rushed forward, and grabbed her and Marco.

"It's overkill, but destroying your minds bit by bit will accomplish the job either way." And with that, they began ramming them through every walk around them.

"STOP!" Steven rushed to the big bastard, grabbing their arms and pushing them back even as it felt like porcupine quills were ramming through his hands.

"Let me server you bond with Star and all the pain will go away." The creatures dead eyes bore into his own. "What has it ever given you? Celestial beings that hate you? A dimension of intolerance? A lifetime of headaches and heartaches that you'll never recover from?"

"It gave me a family that loves me despite every mistake I make! It gave me a sister that cares about me no matter what!" He shouted, feeling his cheeks warm up. "And you'll never break it, even if we're both dead, that bond and love will never fade, no matter what!" He punched the abomination in its smug face.

"Then all you are is a deluded little ki-"

CRACK

Small bits of glass fell from the cracked cheek of the Toffee head he punched. "... Eh?" It looked utterly confused. "What is … is this damage?"

"I'm naive! I'm stubborn! And I don't know when to quit!" Steven kept up the attacks, freeing Marco and Star from the monster's grasp. "Because those are the best traits I've learned from my sister, Star Butterfly!"

The thing kept cracking, actually dropping him as it backed up. "What is this, what is this, what is this, what is this …" They kept repeating in a mantra, feeling its cracked portions.

"So don't you think for a single second that you're all powerful magical nonsense could ever come close to what we have!!" Steven jumped onto the stone in monster form, punching it over and over as his face glowed.

"Yeah! We make the impossible happen! We run on chaos and do everything implausible!" Star joined in, blasting the creatures back. "We're understanding, underestimated and undeterred!"

"Why is this, why are you hurting me, how are you hurting me?" They asked, the body continuing to crack.

"Because for once, friendship is magic isn't a joke!" Marco threw in his own hits, over and over. "We're the firsts ones to resist right!? That's because our bond is stronger than you can cleave!"

"I…was made…to cut through anything.."

"Oh yeah!? Well I love my sister, I love my family, and I love my friends!" Steven said as all three of their punches began syncing up. "No matter what happens, that's a love that!" Smack. "Will!" Smack! "Never!" Smack! " Break!"

SHATTER

Steven woke up, panting heavily as he felt tired, angry, hurt, and warm-all negative thoughts paused when he processed Kelly getting off him.

"Steven! You're awake!" His ex shouted, looking flustered and embarrassed by what he could only assume was her holding him while he was out of it.

"Yeah, it got crazy…did you get a haircut?" He looked at her shorter hair. "It's a good look."

"I tried to cut the rock …s" He followed her gaze, seeing the stone broken into pieces on the ground, sparking and letting out a low whine.

"Ugh..my head." Star stumbled to her feet as she helped Marco up. "Never doing that again."

"Speaking of, what happened there?" Jana asked the group. "One minute everything's red, the next, all four of you have glowing cheek marks."

"We relived the first day we met and realized we liked each other regardless of the blood moon. Then the stone tried to erase every memory that we had with each other." Marco made it clear. "So we fought against it … painfully."

"Wait…so you guys are still bonded?" Tom asked.

"Let's see." Star looked into Marco's eyes before pulling her boyfriend into a kiss. "Yep, the spark's still there, memories and all."

"And if the Blood Moon has anything to say, screw it." The boy shook his fist at the sky with a laugh. So it looked like their relationship was fixed … that was nice for them.

"I'm here!" Everyone turned around and saw Luz rushing into the room. "Jana explained everything on the phone and I rushed as fast as I could to-is the adventure already over?"

"We solved it." Steven nodded.

"Aww … nothing left?"

"Well, you could be the one to tell Tom's family we broke his family heirloom." Jana pointed to the shards.

"Raggfgh." Tom's grandpa said from the corner of the room.

"He says it's okay, he's been wanting to destroy the stone for years because he regretted his own blood moon severing." Tom translated.

"Well … then I guess that's everything." Steven nodded. "Celebrate with Goblin dogs?"

"You know I'm always down for that, buddy." Kelly slapped his back with a laugh as everyone exited the room, leaving him to stand awkwardly with Luz.

"Friend zoned?" His future sister in law guessed.

"Friend zoned hard." He nodded. "How did you get over it?"

"Sorry, I was the one friendzoning without knowing it. You'd have to take it up with my girlfriend." Even the awkwardness of his new family couldn't help him … great. "Hey, you scored one win today. Take it and focus on the love drama another day."

"Yeah, that's a good point." He nodded. "Well better get to the food truck before the line gets to big." Nothing drowns a broken heart like food made from the back of a car after all.