Star vs The Forces of Evil: Earthni Sweet Symphony

Episode 5: Fiery Passion

On an ordinary, chilly, slightly snowy Earthni day, Janna found herself over at the Lucitor beach house in the underworld; despite said beach house being located in the underworld, it was not impervious to snow-like effects either. Temperatures around them weren't quite as chilly as they were on the surface level, but it still required exterior warmth by other means.

Tom's folks were in the living room, playfully bickering over a board game they were playing, while Tom was fixing up some hot cocoa for everyone. A small shiver crossed his body, but quickly subsided. Eventually he stepped out of the kitchen holding a tray of hot cocoa cups. "Who's ready for warmth?" He shouted out, garnering everyone's attention.

"Took ya long enough." Janna barked, visibly annoyed, though it was clear it was directed more at the person whom she was sitting across from - Relicor - whom she was playing chess with. She was convinced he was engaged in foul play. "This loser keeps cheating." Relicor screeched in protest, and all Janna could do was roll her eyes. "Yes you can capture an enemy pawn if they've moved two spaces on a first move. It's called an en passant! How do you say you're a chess expert and not know that?"

Tom chuckled as he started passing around the hot cocoa cups. "He hasn't played professionally in, like, 2000 years or something."

"Well then he can't claim he's an expert anymore. I've been kicking his butt all morning." Janna sipped her hot cocoa and breathed a loud sigh of contentment. "That hits the spot. What took so long, anyway?" Relicor suddenly began screeching again, sharing in Janna's sentiment.

"Sorry, it took a while for the cocoa maker to warm up."

"...You have a cocoa maker? A-And wait, you have fire powers, why not just use that?"

A quick jolt where Tom's faces stiffened, implying he was hiding something, which Janna caught onto almost instantly. "Um...w-well, it was a birthday gift for my mom! She hasn't really used it that much, I just didn't want it to lose its spark, that's all. Nothing or nefarious about that."

His girlfriend wasn't buying it, but she also was not in the mood to stir up unnecessary trouble, so she let it slide with a shrug before returning to her chess game, albeit with a bit of a chill. "Getting kinda nippy in here."

"It's not often we're down here with chilly weather." Tom's father, Dave, spoke up. "Hey Tom, how's about lighting up the fireplace for us?'

"Oh, uh...uhh s-sure, no problem." He started to nervously look around the room. "W-Where's that lighter of yours, pop?"

This response caused Dave to break out into laughter for some reason. "Lighter! That's a good one, son!" He was in for quite the surprise in a moment's notice. "Since when do you need a lighter?"

"Oh, you know, f-for emergencies and stuff, like...like..." At this point, Tom was visibly sweating. He drew a loud sigh and tightly shut his eyes. "Like when my fire powers go on the fritz."

Even louder laughter emitted from Dave, but it took him a moment to realize he was the only one laughing. The other Lucitors were confused, while Janna was suspicious as all heck. "Powers going on the fritz? You? Oh Tom, you're on a roll with these jokes today." He continued to laugh, but gradually died it down when he realized everyone else was actually concerned. "Y-You are joking, right? Tom?"

Now he was essentially boxed into a corner. The only thing that would set him free would be the truth. With an even louder sigh - and another brief shiver - he trudged over to the fireplace, held out both of his hands as if he was going to shoot flames...and then nothing happened. No flames, no fire, no nothing. Only a tiny spark & a puff of smoke from his hands. Okay, now it was time for Dave to be panicked.