Chapter 1

"Narwhal Blast!" Star screamed. The fourteen-year-old blond haired Mewnie princess sent out a rainbow blast filled with tiny Narwhals from her wand that slammed into a two-headed bear. Marco backflipped off a giant lobster monster and planted his foot into the throat of the giant giraffe man, causing his neck to twist at an odd angle. With the last one fallen, Star and Marco gave each other a high five.

"Sweet backflip, Marco" Star complimented. Marco flipped up the hood of his red hoodie and gave her a thumbs up.

"Getting better at the ol' Narwhal blastin'" he replied and pointed finger-guns at her. She grinned and finger-gunned Marco.

"Oooo, I'll get my hands on that wand one of these days!" Ludo screamed. The tiny green creature that looked like a deformed chick who wore a skull on his head pulled out a pair of dimensional scissors and sliced open space/time. His minions gathered themselves up and limped through the portal to their home dimension. "Mark my words! I WILL GET THAT WAND!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah… thanks for the morning workout!" Star grinned and batted her blue eyes at him. "You think you can show up a little before seven next time, though? I'd like some time to shower after kicking your butts!"

Ludo growled in frustration and jumped through the portal. The last one to enter was a new monster who didn't even participate in the fight, a crocodile man in a suit. He looked back and Star and Marco and only raised an eyebrow while he adjusted his tie, and vanished.

"Who was that guy?" Marco asked. Star shrugged as she stretched her back. He winced as she proceeded to crack her neck and knuckles.

"I dunno… they all kinda blur together." Star said. Marco had pulled out a notepad and was flipping through it. Star looked over his shoulder with interest.

"Giraffe neck, Lobster Claws, Unicorn bear guy… He's not on the list." Marco mumbled as he flipped through the notes he had been taking since his first fight. The first rule of combat is to know thy enemy.

"Woah… you made a list of all the bad guys we beat up?" Star said over his shoulder, sounding impressed. She reached around him and yanked the notepad out of his hand. "Yoink!"

"Yup… I make notes after each fight what techniques work best and what their weak spots are… The giraffe guy doesn't like to be kicked in the throat much." Marco remarked as he tried to retrieve his notepad. Star dodged his grabs and continued to read while fending off Marco as they entered the kitchen of the Marco residence.

"I don't think anyone likes to be kicked in the throat." Star pointed out. With her pause, Marco deftly snatched his pad away from her. She stuck out her tongue while Marco shrugged and put his notepad back inside his red hoodie.

"Star! Marco! Breakfast!" Mrs. Diaz said from the stove. The smell of pancakes and bacon excited the appetite they worked up after their fight. "Make sure you fix your mess before you go to school. I think that bear guy may have left a 'present' in my petunias!"

Marco and Star looked out the sliding glass door to the backyard. The resulting destruction from their fight was on par with most of their daily battles. The cactus was snapped in half, the neighbor's fence blasted into splinters, and Marco's room had yet another hole blown in the wall.

"It's a good thing I'm getting better at this spell." Star grinned and opened the sliding door. She twirled her wand and shouted "Faster Fixit Fragrance!"

A pink mist came from the pink winged wand. Marco covered his nose. He hated this spell. It made him smell like he was attacked at the perfume counter. To his amazement, once the mist cleared, all the damage was gone, and everything looked shiny and new. Last time she used the spell, it did fix everything but it left a pink dust on everything that took hours to clean off.

"Okay let's eat!" Star said and grabbed Marco's hand. She pulled him to their seat at the table while Mr. and Mrs. Diaz cooed at each other. His parents have always been hyper-affectionate with each other, and they'd been married forever. As gross as it was to see his parent's constant kanoodling, Marco always hoped he would be able to find someone who loved him that much someday.

"It smells wonderful, Star! Thank you for fixing up the mess. I know you and Marco don't mean to, but if you could try and be mindful of property damage when you fight, it would make me so much happier. We don't want the neighbors to complain." Mrs. Diaz said as she sat their plates in front of them.

"Sorry, we'll try Mom!" Marco said and cut his pancakes. Star had inhaled most of her plate by the time Marco took his first bite and held it out to Mrs. Diaz. She gleefully filled it with a second helping. Star proceeded to drench the pancakes with syrup and slather peanut butter on top.

He shook his head at his best friend's eating and cut his pancake into neat and even squares. He drew a line of syrup over the grid he created, ensuring each piece has the optimum syrup/butter ratio.

Marco reflected on the last few months. His family was no stranger to having foreign exchange students, in fact, his home felt empty without someone else here. Star Butterfly was the most foreign exchange student you can get. She was an honest to goodness princess from a dimension called Mewnie, and his best friend. His life has been completely changed because of her, and he hopes to be a part of her life forever.

Marco never understood when Star says dimension if it's on another plane of existence, or just another planet so far away they wouldn't be able to detect it. It didn't matter either way. Her parents needed her to learn responsibility and sent her to Earth since it's the 'safest and most boring place in the universe.' To add insult to injury, they dumped her here with the 'safe kid.' It was an annoying reputation Marco got at school for always being prepared and top of his classes.

Their first night, the green chicken guy Ludo attacked, and Marco was able to use his karate skills for the first time in his life. The feeling was exhilarating! Marco Diaz, the safe kid, took out a hoard of monsters alongside a magical princess.

Ludo was obsessed with obtaining the wand that was given to Star on her 14th birthday. It was a long-standing tradition of Mewnie royalty to pass down this object of power from mother to daughter. The wand itself would morph and form into a design that befits the user, and Star's design was something out of a Japanese magical girl anime.

The wand was more a handle with a globe on top. The whole thing was pink and had wings on the sides and a tiny gold crown on top. One side was flattened and adorned with a golden five-point star on a blue background with tiny pink hearts in between the arms of the star. It looked like something a five-year-old would draw, but oddly enough, it suited her.

It didn't take long before Star's background was common knowledge at school. She had no qualms about using her wand in public and ignored Marco's protests when she would magic something at random. She would blast anything with her wand for any trivial reason she could find. Marco gave up trying to keep it a secret and just went with it.

"Okay, time to go or you'll miss your bus!" Mrs. Diaz said. Marco gave his parents a kiss goodbye, Star followed suit. They rushed out, got into the bus and headed off to school.

OoOoO

In the dark and foreboding swamp, deep in the heart of the monster forest, stood an opulent castle that housed various denizens of the dark.

Castle Ludo.

It's heartless ruler, Ludo the Terrible, rules his lands with an iron beak.

The ruthless tyrant sits in his war chamber, looking over a relief map of the kingdom of Mewnie, and plots his next scheme.

"Give it to me straight, Toffee," Ludo said, rubbing his temples. He looked up at the newest member of his army. The man was quiet. He was always quiet. He never spoke unless it was necessary, but when he did, what he said was important.

Toffee leaned forward in his chair and rested his chin between steepled fingers. His eyes darted across the map while his tail rhythmically thumped against the stone floor. Everyone waited with baited breath for him to speak.

"We need to separate them." Toffee said. The rest of his generals let out a disappointed groan. Ludo grabbed his goblet of wine and threw it at Toffee, who calmly moved his head just enough to let it sail past. He gave Ludo an emotionless gaze, only raising an eyebrow in response.

"Oh, well that's obvious…Mister… obvious!" Ludo snarked. "You're supposed to be a strategist, and the last three battles, we had our tails handed to us while you sat around drinking coffee!"

"I was gathering intel" Toffee calmly replied.

"Well then? What do you think we should do? Kidnap the parents? Drop a massive rock on the boy?" Ludo giggled rubbing his hands together. "Let's see him try to backflip out of that."

The tall alligator in a business suit rubbing his chin in thought.

"We need… to separate their friendship. That is what will make Star vulnerable. When she's vulnerable, she'll make bad decisions… and then we'll get the wand from her." Toffee leaned forward and let out a toothy grin. "After all, Princes of mewnie is just a girl after all. A young, confused, and emotional one at that."

"Oh, I like it… what are we going to do?" Ludo asked, barely containing a fit of evil giggles.

"We need to divide their interests." Toffee replied with his toothy grin and proceeded to lay out his plan

OoOoO

Marco danced to his lunch table while his headphones were blasting his favorite music. As he spun and sat down, he proceeded to move his peas away from the mashed potatoes. Veggies should never touch carbs!

He had a spoonful of mashed potatoes and gravy heading to his food hole when the shadow of someone covered his tray. It was a familiar shape, but not one whom he expected. It wasn't Star… or Ferguson. He moved his eyes from his lunch tray to the interloper and his mind went numb. Words refused to form, he was like a deer in the headlights.

"Hey, Marco." Jackie Lyn Thompson said. Her short cropped blond hair with a streak of blue was as enticing as ever. She was perfection personified. Cool and aloof, into extreme sports… the complete opposite of safe and he loved every ounce of it.

"Marco… am… I…" He mumbled and dropped his fork. He was staring. STOP STARING! The little Marco in his head was slapping him silly and screaming at him to act cool.

"So… yeah… I heard from Anna who heard it from Andrea who overheard Brittany Wong talking to Chantelle and Sabrina how cool you were when that weird butterfly thing happened. I just thought I'd come over to tell you that I happened to agree." She said.

She must be referring to the Mewberty incident where Star hit her home world's version of puberty and went boy crazy… to the point where she morphed into a moth and cocooned all the boys in school. Marco did all he could to save everyone, but it eventually the moth horror fixed itself and Star turned back to normal except for a pair of tiny wings.

Oh, that's nothing….

I'm just glad you're safe…

I did kinda rock there didn't I?

Little Marco inside his head flipped through the book of cool lines and screamed for him to say one of them… any of them. But his mouth refused to move. He mustered up his courage and said the first thing he could think of.

"I… thank you?" Marco said, still sounding like an idiot. The girl of his dreams is right across from him and he's gawking! He could at least close his mouth! The little Marco in his head took the book of cool lines and set it on fire. He grabbed his little red hoodie and stormed out of his brain.

"So… anyways. There's this thing I'm going to after school and I was curious if you wanted to hang with me. If not, I understand. I know babysitting Star is a full-time job. It's not like you two are going out or anything… are you?" Jackie said. She looked down at her food and jabbed it with a fork. Was she blushing? She was blushing!

"What? Me and Star? Nah… we're just buds, that's all. I mean, yeah she lives with me but that's the whole foreign exchange thing." Marco said nervously. Jackie looked up and gave him a sly smile. Marco's head felt like the fire little Marco set in his brain spread to his whole body.

"So, then… that thing?" She said and gave him a coy smile. She stretched her arm out and touched his hand with her fingertips. He felt like he touched an open socket. It took all his willpower not to move. He wanted to grab her hand and pull away at the same time. She started drawing circles over his index knuckle.

"Umm… Go.. can I… I mean… yeah... umm, I got no plans. I can go." Marco said with a gulp. He stared at her gorgeous manicured hand as her finger rubbed his knuckle back and forth.

"Sweet. Meet me at the front after school. I'll bring the spare board from my locker. I hope you don't mind pink." Jackie said.

It didn't surprise Marco one bit that she kept a spare skateboard in her locker. Especially since he's broken one of hers before by accident.

"Nah… I don't mind," Marco said. Jackie got up and waved at Hanna who sat at another table.

"K, I'll see you after school." She said and rushed over to her brown-haired friend.

"Someone scored a date with Jackie Lynn Thompson!" said a familiar voice behind Macro.

"How long have you been watching?" Marco asked as Star sat across from him, grinning ear to ear. Marco's stomach already had butterflies, but it was turning to nausea as she piled everything on her tray into one big mash potato mush and shoveled a forkful into her mouth.

"Long enough to know I shouldn't jump in…" She said with her mouth full. She started to choke and took a drink of chocolate milk to wash it down. After pounding her chest a few times, she continued her thought. "I know how skittish you get around her."

"For your information… I handled it like a pro!" Marco replied, handing her his chocolate milk. She tore it opened and chugged it in one breath.

"You got some drool on your chin," she said with a milk mustache.

Marco wiped it away in horror.

"Oh my god! Do you think she saw? Oh, I bet she thinks I'm such a dork!" Marco lamented.

"Nah, you're good. In fact, it's perfect!" Star giggled. "Guess who I talked to today?"

"Who?" Marco asked.

"Oskar! We're going to do a jam session after school!" she squealed. Marco smiled. Oskar was a strange kid who lived in his mom's car in the parking lot of the school. He was a 'rebel' and plays an out of tune keytar that seemed to entice his Mewnie roomie. Marco had no idea why Star was infatuated with the wannabe musician, but he was happy she found someone she liked.

"That's great!" Marco said. He politely listened to her gush over her infatuation while he finished his lunch. Taking Star's tray and setting it on his own, he placed it with the others and walked her to class.

OoOoO

"Okay, I did what you asked." Britney Wong said and tapped her foot impatiently. Toffee stood outside the back of the gym and raised an eyebrow at the black haired cheerleader. "Uhg… it makes me sick to say anything good about Marco and that crazy Star… especially after they crashed my party and turned it cooler than what I planned."

Toffee handed the snobby head cheerleader a package.

"With this, you'll be able to win all your future contests. Use it sparingly, as you don't want to draw attention to it. I'm sure this world looks down on cheating as much as others." Toffee said.

Brittany tore opened the box and pulled out a pendant. She put in on and grinned. It glowed yellow briefly and she somersaulted into splits and rolled to a forward handstand, a maneuver she'd been practicing for years, but never mastered enough for competition.

"Wow, this does work!" she grinned. "And it will work with my whole team?"

Toffee nodded and cut opened a portal.

"Our terms are complete, you won't see me again." He said and stepped through; Brittany ignored him and stared at the ornate carvings on the tiny oval pendant in her hands.

OoOoO

Marco waited for Jackie Lynn in front of the school sign. He flipped through his phone nervously and tried to take his mind off things. He had skipped seven steps in his twenty-three step plan of obtaining the woman of his dreams! He had just gone past the morning head nod of step seven to 'hey Jackie' of step fourteen every morning. Now, he's going out with her to an after school event… that was step fifteen!

Marco could feel a panic attack start when Jackie came out holding two skateboards under her arm and a spare helmet in her hand.

"Hey, Marco. I didn't think you'd have a spare helmet." Jackie said and tossed him the one in her hand. Marco caught it and looked at the sticker of a pink kitten in roller skates doing an elbow dive onto a teddy bear. "It's the one I use for Roller Derby… I hope you don't mind."

"Oh Nah… it's cool." Marco chuckled and put it on. "Looks like we have the same size head!"

Marco wanted to slam his face in a pole for the comment, but Jackie chuckled and tossed him her spare board.

"You know how to ride don't ya?" Jackie asked.

"I know a little," Marco said, and did an olly in front of her with a board flip and landed it.

"Nice!" Jackie chuckled.

"Yea… I have a few movies" He said confidently.

Marco had countless skateboard injuries since kindergarten, Once he saw Jackie riding, he did everything he could to master the art of skateboards just for this occasion. He hoped he was as good as her by now and could keep up.

Jackie led the way out of the school and tore down the sidewalk. Marco kept up with her as they dodged pedestrians. He jumped over a dog, letting the board glide between its legs and nailed the landing. Jackie gave him thumbs up and ground down a handrail. Marco followed. The trip turned into a one-up contest, each stunt more dangerous than the next. Jackie would tail slide across a park bench and Marco would front flip and land on his board. Jackie jumped over and tapped the trunk of a parked car with her back wheels, and Marco ollied over the whole car.

Jackie grinned at Marco and made a hard right turn. Marco barely kept up as she sped down a back alley. Trash cans and bags of garbage littered the way. She swerved and jumped the obstacles, deftly flipping her board with each ollie. Marco tried to keep up, but there was too much clutter. To his horror a black cat darted out of a box just as Jackie passed, Marco tried to jump over it, but the cat moved the wrong way. Marco did what he could to keep from hitting the scared creature and leaped forward. The board slipped out from under him and flew directly behind him as he tumbled and rolled. He'd taken worse spills but the fall mostly hurt his pride.

"Are you okay?" Jackie asked with a slight chuckle. "You were doing pretty good there for a while."

"Yeah… a black cat crossed my path… didn't want to hurt the little guy." Marco said and scooped up the petrified cat. It purred in his arms as he faced Jackie, offering her to pet him.

"Not too many guys would take such a nasty spill for a cat," Jackie said.

"I hope your board's okay," Marco said, looking back he saw it sticking out from between some boxes.

"It's just a board," Jackie said with a shrug, "just as long as you're okay."

"Oh, I'm fine… my pride is more bruised than my shoulder." Marco admitted.

"Ha, you're like the only one to have kept up with me so far. I'd say you're doing just fine."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Marco asked.

"Well… this is sort of a test I give a few guys I think are cute… let's just say you've made it further than the others." Jackie said with a coy smile. She walked over to retrieve her spare skateboard.

Marco's mind went numb.

"You think I'm cute?" Marco repeated, dumbfounded. Jackie giggled, retrieved her board from the box and wiped off a dried banana peel that stuck to it.

"Let's go, safe kid." She said and tossed him the board.

Marco caught the board with his free hand and set the cat down. Jackie led him to the skate park where they spent the rest of the afternoon on the halfpipe. When they got tired, they sat on the lip and talked about nothing. Once the sky grew orange and the sun was setting, Marco walked Jackie to her door.

"I had a lot of fun Marco, we should do this again soon." She said.

"Yea… I, uhh… me too." Marco mumbled. "Can… I… uh… number?"

Jackie giggled and pulled Marco close. She reached her hand into his hoodie and pulled out his phone. She took his hand and put it on the lock screen. Marco typed in his code while in a daze. Her hand was so soft. She opened his contacts and put in her number. She held the phone out arm's length and kissed his cheek when the camera went off. She added the photo to her newly made contact and slipped the phone back into his pocket.

"Anytime." She said and gave him a hug. Marco stumbled down her steps as he walked backward in a daze. "Hey, can I have my board back?"

"Oh, uh, yeah…" Marco said and walked back up to her. He took off the helmet and passed her the board.

"We can look into getting you one of your own sometime."

"Yeah… I'd like that." Marco said. He already had his own board and gear, but she didn't need to know that. It'd be fun to go board shopping with her. "I'll see you tomorrow at school!"

"Kay." Jackie waved as Marco walked down the road and headed back to his house. He couldn't wait to tell Star how his day went!

OoOoO

Marco showered and changed into a pair of new clothes. He whistled a happy tune and gave his mother and father a big hug.

"I love you, family!" Marco declared. "I had the most wonderful afternoon! I got to go skateboarding with Jackie Lynn Thompson!"

"You mean you manned up and went for that girl you've stalked…er, pined for since kindergarten?" Mr. Diaz asked.

"Yes! Well… she asked me actually… but I didn't freak out or run away this time!" Marco declared proudly.

"That's my boy!" Mr. Diaz said and pounded his chest. "Be the man!"

"If my memory serves me correctly, you were shy and bashful around me. I had to pry you open like an oyster to get you to talk to me!" Mrs. Diaz reminisced with a giggle and sat on her husband's lap. "But once I did… I unleashed a rampaging bull!"

"Ah, my little enchilada… the sight of you made my heart run faster than a Matador!" His father proceeded to dip his mother and passionately kiss her. Marco

Marco smiled at his parents while averting his eyes. He wanted to tell Star the good news, but she wasn't anywhere to be found.

"Hey, has anyone seen Star?" He asked.

"Oh, she came in an hour ago and went to her room. She looked gloomy" Mr. Diaz said. "You might want to check on her."

"Okay," Marco said and trudged upstairs. He wondered if her date with Oskar went okay or if something else happened. With Star, you never knew what to expect. He knocked at the door softly and got no answer.

"Star?" he said through the door and knocked again. He got no reply. "Star? It's Marco… I'm coming in… please don't wand blast me. Last time you turned me into a girl… and I'm still having night terrors over it."

He slowly opened the door to the dark cavernous room. When Star moved in, the first thing she did was morph her room into a massive princess tower. The whole thing jutted out the side of their house and looked like something out of Arabian Nights. It was littered with weapons and magical creatures she would randomly summon to practice her mastery of the wand.

Marco looked around the dimly lit room and sniffed the air. Nothing was on fire, that's a good sign. He moved his whole body in the room and closed the door behind him.

"Star?" He asked.

"Go away, Marco." He heard a muffled voice from the closed curtains of her massive four post bed.

"Star… Talk to me bud. What's going on?" Marco asked as he approached the bed. He opened the curtain and saw her curled up and sobbing into her pillow.

"Oskar is such a jerk." She whimpered. Marco sat next to her and rubbed her back.

"What happened?" Marco asked. She tossed the pillow and grabbed Marco, pulling him into her bed. He wrapped his arms around her and let her cry.

"We… went to his car… I listened to him play his new song…" she hiccupped each part. "And… I got out my mewniephone and played along. He said… I had no talent and he was embarrassed to even be associated with me. I had spent ten years… in lessons and have performed in front of diplomatic delegates from other worlds!"

Star hyper-ventilated into his chest and unleashed a torrent of tears. Marco ran his fingers through her hair and reassured her repeatedly while she continued.

"He said… he said they were placating me and that I really sucked." She finally said. Marco heard Star play her Mewniephone occasionally. The music was… different, and it did take some time to get an ear for it, but it was hardly as bad as Oskar's playing.

"Hey… I'm sorry he said that, did you two at least do anything else but talk about music?" Marco asked, hoping there was something salvaged with her date. She buried her head in his chest ever more and shook her head.

"No… he couldn't be associated with such a terrible musician and he said he had enough groupies to deal with," Star said. She looked at him with tear stained eyes. "Me? A GROUPIE? I don't even know what that is and I still know it's bad!"

Marco hoped Ludo somehow changed Oskar into some monster that he can beat to a pulp one day. He will be having words with that loser tomorrow at school.

"Come on… let's get you cleaned up. I'll make nachos and we can watch some movies okay? I got Kung Fu Hustle. I know you'll love that one." Marco said. Star sniffed and gave him a weak smile.

"Okay… How did your date with Jackie go?" She asked. Her arms squeezed him tight as she took a few deep breaths to calm down.

"It went okay. We'll talk about it later." Marco said as he sat up. He held out his hand, which she took and helped her up out of the bed. "Right now you need to shower and get changed into some leisurewear. You smell like Oskar's car."

Star nodded and giggled at his observation.

"Thank you for being here for me," She said and kissed his cheek.

Marco watched her head to the bathroom. Once he heard the sound of the shower going, he let himself out. He went downstairs to make the promised nachos and secured the DVD. He hoped she'll be alright.

OoOoO

"My god… this plan is like some bad teen romance novel. What are you thinking?" Ludo roared at Toffee after they had left Oskar. The dimwitted musician was gushing over his new Keytar and waved goodbye to the departing villains.

"Patience my liege, one piece at a time must be moved in order to secure the prize. Marco and Star are tightly bound together. We need to drive a wedge between them. I'm only laying out the foundation of my plan." Toffee smiled and used the dimensional scissors. The duo passed through, Ludo muttered to himself.

"I wish you'd tell me the whole thing," Ludo grumbled. "I am your lord and master."

"I would, but I think it would only give you a headache. I have so many machinations going on simultaneously it would be hard to explain it linearly." Toffee said. Ludo furrowed his brows in frustration

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Just saying that much is giving me a headache." Ludo said and sat down on his throne. One of his minions gave him a glass of swamp water with an eyeball floating in it. He dipped his beak in the refreshing drink and sighed.

"Just relax and let me handle it. When the time is right, you shall have the wand and all of Mewnie under your command."

"Yes… Yes… YES!" Ludo screeched a cackle. His minions all joined in a chorus of maniacal laughter. Toffee grinned, swirled his own glass of red liquid, and took a sip.