Rifts

Part 4~Epic Adventure Crew

Yawning, Star looked around her room. "What the... Marco?" Marco was gone, as were the others. Hesitantly, she approached the mirror, unsure if this would work. "Mirror, call Marco."

The mirror turned on, little green dots appearing as the ringing tone filled the room. "Hey, I'm not by the phone right now, so leave a message after the beep."

Star hung up, groaning as she slid to the floor. She really needed to talk to Marco, but he was already gone. All that was left of him and his friends was a weird puddle of purple gloop and some bloody bandages.

If only she knew where he was. Gasping, Star shot up. "I don't need to know where he is if I know where he's going! Mirror, call Tom!"

The mirror rang again, the dialling tone echoing out. After a few seconds, Tom appeared on the screen. "Sup Starship." Tom sat in front of his game, pressing the buttons rapidly. "What's up."

"When's your next movie night?"

Tom raised his eyebrow. "Tonight? Why?"

"Nothing. Can I come?" Star practically hugged the mirror as Tom snapped his controller in half.

"What?! No, no, no, no! No! You can't just barge in on the EAC movie night!"

Star paused, raising her eyebrow. "EAC?"

"Epic Adventure Crew," Tom explained as Star snorted.

"That's such a dumb name."

Tom huffed, crossing his arms with a sour expression on his face. "Well, I think it's cool. Besides, that is not the point! The EAC has been forged over months, if not years, of perilous adventures and near-death experiences. Each member has huge burdens on their shoulders. The movie night is a stress-free, no-drama night where we can all just hang out and relax. If you just show up, that won't happen."

"Oh, come on, Tom, It'll be fine. I know everyone going, and we all get along super well! Besides, you did invite me."

"That was weeks ago, Star." Tom let out a heavy sigh. "I see I'm not going to convince you out of this, so fine, but if you mess this up, I will not be held accountable for how the crew responds."

"Yay! I won't let you down."

"Whatever. I need to get ready." Tom stood up, clicking out his back and stretching his body. "Bye, Star." He hung up the mirror, leaving Star alone in her room again.

"Cool. Just got to wait for tonight. Cooooool." Star fidgeted, clapping her hands together.

"Star!"

Screaming, Star jumped away from Janna, falling over. "Janna! You're back! What you got for me, girl!" Star grabbed Janna, pulling her into a hug and dragging her to the bed.

"Well, it took some digging, but I found them." Janna pulled out two thick folders and threw them down in front of Star. "Moc Hindrocroft and Solar Mothin. According to their files, they were both orphans from the same town but separate orphanages."

"Huh?"

"Solar went to the Mewnie orphanage while Moc went to the monster one down the road."

Star's eyes widened with understanding as Janna continued.

"What's weird is unlike Moc, who lost their parents in a freak flood, no one knows who Solar's parents are. He just appeared one day with a bag of money to pay for him."

"Weird."

"It gets weirder. Both have a huge record of misbehaving and breaking the rules, but unlike Moc, Solar's actual misdemeanours aren't stated. Instead, it says 'purple incident', which we know from a fight he had with a kid called Bermy, is not just the school being lazy. Whatever this purple incident is, it's bad and happened a lot." Janna flicked through Solar's file, showing off the long list. "Other than that, there isn't a lot. When they were 10, their friendship was discovered, and Moc was chased out of the town. Solar defended them and ended up attacking a royal guard. He was banished from Mewnie, and no one has seen either of them since... well until they walked into your bedroom."

Star held the file as she sighed. "I guess I can see why Marco is friends with them now. They stood up for each other and were kind to one another. That's very Marco-like."

"Yeah, plus they saved his life."

"Say what now?"

"Yeah, while you were out portaling, I was helping fix up Moc. They told me all about their adventures with Marco but mostly the embarrassing ones. Did you know Marco once insulted a necomar's cooking and ended up as a Yam!"

"No... I didn't know that."

Janna hummed, swinging Marco's scissors around her finger. "Plus, Moc told me about how their group functions. Tom and Kelly act as the muscle. They follow orders and do all the fighting. Pony head and Moc are the social ones, using their skills to gather armies! And Solar and Marco are the brains. They come up with plans and lead the group. That said, apparently, Solar is best at deciding on a plan, and Marco organises the people to where they need to be for it to work. It's why the two are always together."

Star sighed, rubbing her arm.

"What's wrong? I thought you wanted me to gather information on them.

"I did, but... I may be over my head."

"What now?"

"I'm going to the EAC movie night. I want to talk to Marco, and it's the only time I know where he is, so I convinced Tom to let me go."

Snorting, Janna leaned back. "Well, that's a horrible idea."

"I know. But I need to talk to Marco, and the mirror is not working." Star glared at her mirror before sighing once more. "You think it's a mistake."

"Definitely. I'm so in for it."

"I'm not sure-"

"I'm letting you make your bad choices, let me make mine."

Laughing, Star shook her head. "Thanks, Janna. You're the best." Hugging Janna, Star grinned, ignoring Janna's exclamations to let her go. "Now, let's get ready!"

"Say what now!" Janna couldn't fight it as Star blasted the room with magic.