Chapter 13: Say Freeze!

Summary: Turns out, freezing time is easy. Playing time ...

Marco groaned as the light pierced his face. That was annoying, the sun was up and hitting him at twelve in the morning … wait a minute. He sat straight up and looked at his blinking alarm clock. "The power went out!" He burst out of his room into the bathroom, depretly struggling to get everything ready.

"Yeah, I blasted the tv last night, lighting flew everywhere, things went out for a bit." Star shrugged as she used the wand on her own hair. "Pigtails or ponytail today? Wanna spice things up, but I'm not sure how."

"Star, we're going to be late for school! I can't afford to miss it for even a second! There's too much at stake!"

"You're going to go from safe kid to nerd if you're in love with school that much." Star rolled her eyes.

"I don't care about…okay, that would be a lie, I care about getting an education and a job later in life.." he muttered quietly. "But there are things more important than school at the moment. I need to go to school for my daily hi with jackie!"

Star blinked, turning to Marco with a glare. "I thought we advanced you to high fives."

"I'm working up to it! In fact, I was sorta, kind of thinking of doing it today, but that's not going to happen when it.." He looked at one of the house clocks.. "7: 57!? We'll never make it on time now..unless your magic can do something!"

"My magic can do anything." The girl smirked. "Except for making portals, surprisingly. You'd think they'd just be able to make regular dimension scissors but nope, not possible! And I STILL can't get that levatato spell down!"

"Can't you just, I don't know, freeze time?" He was desperate for something.

"Oh sure, tell me to do one of the most complex spells in the book." Star rolled her eyes and lazily waved her wand. "Easy-Peasy Time Freezy." A pulse of blue energy was sent out from the wand. They both looked out the window after a minute, seeing a joger frozen in mid air. "Marco, I love to say it, but I'm pretty sure you're gonna have to start bowing to me now. Cause i'm a complete badass!"

"Holy moly, you actually froze time!" Marco shouted, actually excited about the prospect rather than horrified. "How'd you do it?"

"Because I'm awesome, that's how." She giggled. "Plus Skywyne's chapter is the only one I read in full."She looked out a window. "Hey, Marco, wanna do some shenanigans? We have the time ."

"That pun was terrible, but the fun is endless!" For once he didn't need to worry about the consequences for anything. Now he could finally nail that high five with some prep! Besides, if Star could freeze time easily, undoing it shouldn't be a problem.

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

"Look, we both know it was an accident."

"You made time frozen, permanently!" Marco shouted at her.

"I didn't hear you complaining three days ago, especially when you were punching that Jeremy kid in the face."

The boy groaned. "So why are we going to Mewni? Time's frozen here too , it's everywhere."

"There's a slight chance my brother was unaffected." She explained as they walked up to his room. "We're bonded together by magic, been that way ever since we were adorable babies. And mom has read some of the spell book to him for years, which is more than what I've read of it."

"So basically you have no idea what to do and hope he has something." Marco accused.

"I make a mess, he helps me out, he makes a mess, I help him out. That's how brothers and sisters work." They arrived at Quartz's room and entered, and what they saw surprised them to say the least.

Quartz was in his room, and he was frozen…sort of. His body was floating in mid air, along with Kelly, like they were swinging through jello.

Star looked at the bubble containing her brother and his awkward lady friend, along with a peeved looking hairball known as 'Tad' within it. "... So before I talk about what I did… Can we get some context?"

"I was getting back at this jerk for taking advantage of my girl!!" The walking hairball shouted.

"I was explaining that it was an ACCIDENT…!" Kelly yelled at the jerk she chose over her brother. "..Then Tad turned it into a fight, Quartz made a bubble on instinct, and now we're stuck like this."

"My first bubble that didn't explode, and it traps me in this situation." Quartz spoke in a defeated tone. "Stuck with a girl who I invaded and a guy who wants me decapitated."

"Hey, I was in your head too, Quartz, I know it was a complete accident…plus it was nice being taller than I already am."

"And despite the whole 'freak thing', you two were pretty hot." She glanced at Marco. "I'm being honest here."

"So we've been like this for three days…let me guess, a spell gone wrong?"

"You know me so well." Star sheepishly laughed. "So I may have sort of, just a little bit, completely accidentally… broke time?"

"Star, you know how dangerous Skywyne's spells are!"

"People have been frozen for three days and I couldn't enjoy it!?" Kelly shouted.

"Sorry, sorry! I'll make it up to you guys eventually." She pushed them back to the main subject at hand. "So I tried undoing it, but I don't know how."

"Well of course not." Quartz said. "All the spell does is shove off the guy on the wheel, you need to put him back on manually."

She and Marco looked at each other for a second. "Huh?"

"Father Time? The guy that keeps time moving forward?" Quartz asked them like they should have already know.

"Wait, so that's literal, not metaphorical?" Marco asked back.

"Yes, he is, there's a whole entry on him in…Star, it's literally in Skywyne's chapter! I thought you read all of it!"

"Read all of it, yes, thoroughly, no. I mainly remembered the entry she wrote when she used a spell to blow up a whole dimension." Everyone looked at her. "What, just because I know the spell doesn't mean I'll ever use it." 

"Look, just get us out of here, and we'll walk you through it." He pleaded.

"Right right." She raised her wand, but paused. "First though …"

"If you reach into your pocket for your hand mirror to take a picture, I will tell Marco about the Blood Moon."

"Tell me what?" She didn't need her cute…CLUELESS, that's what she meant, friend to catch on now.

"Nothing, let's just get my brother out of here." She pointed her wand at the bubble. "Emerald shiny bubble pop!" Swarms of pointy objects banged against the bubble, and Quartz and the others were free in a matter of seconds. "So what now?"

"Now I'm going to the bathroom and after that I'm making the three of us…" He pointed to himself, Kelly, and Tad. "Enough Breakfast for three days. Then we'll go get Father Time … oh, and Star, get some of dad's good hunting equipment … it's gonna be annoying."

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

Mud, it feels so nice and soothing, especially on sore legs that have been running for eternity. Father Time likes embracing it along with the soil and air, such cooling never been experienced before. They were free, for the first time since forever and more, they could do as they wished!

"So that's father time?" He looked at the red hoodie boy. "He kinda looks like Gloserycck."

"That alone is a sign this is going to be a nightmare." The boy wearing some kind of pink armor groaned. "So…looks like you're having fun in the mud. That must be really fun."

"Oh yes! So cold, so messy!" Father Time laughed, rubbing it all over his face before putting some in his mouth, and spitting it out. "And it tastes terrible! I love it!"

"Alright, so this guy is time, and suddenly I think I feel much more insignificant." A green bush muttered.

"No way Kelly, you are the most beautiful and amazing person there is." A second voice within the bush spoke up, making the bush blush.

"Yeah, this guy seems more childlike than I thought he'd be..,and that's coming from me." The blonde haired girl walked up to him. "Hey there, buddy, look I know how much fun one can have in the mud, believe me, I have years of experience getting in places I shouldn't mention. But have you considered…" She scooped up some mud and rubbed it all over his wheel. "Turning the wheel while covered in mud?"

"Hm…that is tempting…but I like sitting in the mud better." Father Time affirmed. "I have a chance to do what I want, so I'm not going to blow it like I blew that date with Mother Nature."

"Yes, I see." The blond nodded. "If that's what you-THE NET, NOW!" 

"Sorry dude, but this is for everyone else's own good!" The hoodie boy along with everyone else tossed up a net at him, though it was easy to just roll out of the way. "After him!"

"Oh, chase! I've never done anything like this either!" The adrenaline produced from the fear of being caught felt just as great as mud! "Come on, let's run to the end of the river and into the future!" He laughed, even as they threw more nets at him.

"Come on, everyone we know is frozen in place, and I'd like to actually see sunsets again!" The boy in pink ran up, jumping on one of the clocks flowing down the river of time, and it instantly aged him by about two or so three years, being a little taller and now wearing a pink jacket with a blue star shirt. "Huh…so this is what it's like to have a neck."

"Wow, that's how you will look in the future?" The green bush looked like she was staring intensely at the boy. "Nice looking neck."

"A neck I can decapitate!" The bush also shouted. "You better keep moving!"

"Right!" Another step and the boy was aged down to one year old, giggling.

"I'm on it!" The blond jumped into the river, getting aged up to her sixties or so as she reached out to her brother. "Steady now, youngly, big sister Star is coming for you.." She slowly stretched out her hand.

"Oh, you guys should probably do something about that." He said. "Before she swims towards death." And death was not a pleasant person to be around…okay, he wasn't all that bad, but the skeleton face gave him the heebie jeebies.

"I know we're chasing him because we need him to restore the universe and all that." The green bush girl pulled the boy to show as the hoodie kid pulled out the girl. "But it's not like he's a bad guy or anything."

"Well, it's not like I'm the only one who can run it." Father Time said, making them tilt their heads. "Someone else is allowed to spin the wheel you know!" It was true, he was just chosen out of leg power. "You just have to do it … until time runs out."

"Uh…so exactly how long have you been on that wheel?" The youngest kid asked.

"I remember a Koala giving me the job when a big explosion overtook the multiverse … the big shabang." So many beings of power were created that day. Aku, Discord, Uncle Grandpa, the list went on. "In fact, I think I can show everyone how it all started. Follow me."

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

Quartz, finally at his (hopefully) propper age, watched as Father Time took them to a screen room. "This is the watch space. You can see all of time's stuff here. So many strange and wonderful faces."

"Is that JFK?" Marco asked a screen, seeing a man get shot. "Ooof, did not need to see it up that close.

"Yep. Every bit of history that occurred in every bit of time in every bit of the universe gets recorded here. Oh, and there's the recorder now." Quartz watched a giant eyeball on a tentacle extended from the ceiling, eye to face with Star.

"Um … hi?" The screens all changed, now displaying … their childhood. "Oh my corn it's baby me!" He watched as his two year old sister impaled a dummy. "I was so adorable."

"Oh, so that's how you learned how to use a sword." Quartz watched the monitor as it gave flashes of Star's life. "We're in a lot of these together..oh, there's the first sleepover with Ponyhead." That showed her rolling him down the hill in a trashcan. Fun times.

"I've got one of you guys turning a room into cake." Kelly laughed at the picture. Oh yeah, they messed up that one bad. "The power of innocent mayhem is adorable."

"Oh, there's Mom giving me my first guitar!" Quartz pointed to one of his favorite memories. "Star broke it trying to smash it like a rockstar, so Mom got me about ten back ups."

"This one is just really foggy." Marco looked at a screen. "Were you ever blinded at one point-SHOWER! SHOWER!" The boy ran from the screen and hit the eyeball, now scanning him as Star blushed madly.

The monitors flashed static for a few seconds before it showed off Marco as a kindergartener, as he stood by a shelf in a cool guy pose, nodding to a girl that was passing by him. "So you've been doing that since before you liked girls." Star questioned her friend.

"Well …" The screens started to multiply, showing him nodding to the same girl over and over, all the way until one day he said hi. "... Okay, starting to see I have a problem with hesitation."

"Well, good thing we have no problems whatsoever." Tad said annoyingly as the monitor turned to his and Kelly's past next. Most of it was just the many times they broke up and got back together. "Our love is so strong that we always find a way back to each other."

"Yeah..super strong." Kelly sort of waved her boyfriend off, looking at another memory….oh shoot, that was the Blood Moon Ball, specifically their dance. "That was a fun night." Nope, he didn't need to reopen this can again.

"We should go-" The eye looked at him … then moved to his stomach, narrowing in on the gem under his shirt. "Hey is this guy okay?" He asked Father Time. "He looks more intent then he did with everyone else?"

"The longer he stares at something the more history it has." 

"Wait, so Quartz's belly rock is older than he is?" Star asked.

"Belly rock?" Tad and Marco all asked simultaneously.

"Yeah, it's part of my magic. I've always been told to cover it." The eye finally withdrew, the screen flickering until it showed … a man he's never seen before. 

"Is that Mr Universe?" Marco asked. "What's he doing with your 'belly rock'?"

"I dunno?" The screen moved away, revealing a woman with long pink locks. "Is that the Rose Guard!?" His heart practically jumped out of his chest. "Why the heck would she show up when it's looking at my gem?!" He took out the mirror and hoped it would record this like it recorded him.

"Oh, ole Pinky?" Father Time commented. "She had one just like yours…or maybe it is yours…she came by once or twice and told me about it."

"WHAT!?" He and Star shouted.

"Yeah, look right there, you can see it." They looked to see the exact same Gem on his stomach was on hers. The woman who was smiling and kissing the man in front of her, an apparently famous rockstar.

"You…this…this can't possibly be what I think it is!?" Quartz looked at the screen, even when it went blank. "If I have her gem….if it belongs to her…." Quartz stared at his sister…"Then…is the Rose Guard…my mom!?"

"That's not even mentioning how chummy she looked with Mr.Universe." Marco added on. "You're probably human instead of Mewman!"

"I have the most badass hero who ever lived and a rockstar as birth parents!" He shouted. "What has my life become!?" He didn't know whether to be more terrified or more excited over the revelations that were just piling on him.

"Quartz!" Kelly snapped him back to reality. "I know this is a lot to take in, and I promise I'll help you process…whatever it is that's going on." Her small smile sent him reassurance that he hasn't felt in days. "But we still have the problem of getting that wheel turning, cause I don't feel too good about letting this guy run until the end of eternity." 

"Well someone has to do it." The man shrugged. "Say, any of you kids feel like running until you die for me? Would run a solid eighty years off the time I need." Yeah, running in place over and over without doing anything else sounded like a nightmare.

"No…I think I have a better idea." Star looked at a bunch of giant animals with clocks around their necks. Bunnies, hamsters, a two headed duck for some reason.

"Oh yeah, it's all coming together." He smirked with her.

"Say it on the count of three." Marco grinned as well.

"Oh yeah, team chants rule." Kelly agreed.

"We make a chariot!" Quartz and Star shouted.

"We put the animals on it!" Marco and Kelly shouted.

Everyone looked to each other, and then to Father Time. "Both sound really good…I don't know what I prefer!" Well that wasn't helpful.

"Rock paper scissors?" Quartz suggested. "Make it quick, though. I'm really getting tired of seeing clocks everywhere.

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

Jackie rode on, school in sight. So far the week has been pretty cool. Less homework, her job has been paying well, she pulled off a trick recently, and Marco said hi … it was nice seeing the guy grow into himself. Not to mention school in general was just more fun to be around with that new girl Star blasting something crazy out of that wand of hers.

She talked to Jana a bit about it, though the girl apparently found another 'weird' friend to hang around that filled that chaotic craving she always seemed to seek out. Good for her, Jana seemed like someone that could use a few more friends.

She rode in close, seeing Marco by and giving him a wave. "Hey Diaz."

"Hey Tomas." He held out his own hand … and high fived hers. 

"Huh..that's new." She smiled in curiosity. "Someone's getting bolder."

"Eh, after seeing the universe almost get ripped in half by magic, I figured why not make the time."

"Heh, someone's been getting funnier too." She began to skate away. "I look forward to seeing how cool you get, Marco!" She turned a corner, but stopped when she heard a strange noise. Peeking her head out, she saw Star Butterfly coming out with two people she didn't recognise.

"Where have you guys been?" Marco asked them. Wow, she would've expected him to freak out over something this normal. Times were changing.

"Father Time found another mudhole and got the bunnies to roll in it with him." The girl with bushy green hair shook off some dirt on herself. "It took us two days to get the wheel rolling again."

"Wait, so you guys are two days older?"

"It's no big deal, time is weird there." Star shrugged off. "Come on, let's enjoy our time and skip school!"

"Star, I think we've spent enough time ditching class already." Marco rolled his eyes.

"But there's a whole big mystery that needs to be solved now!" Star picked up the short kid by her side. "Is my brother the son of the Rose Guard? Is he actually from earth?!" Sounds like Marco hung around some exciting people nowadays.