A/N: I don't own Star vs The Forces of Evil. In terms of Vampire Marco cannon, this takes place between 'To kill a Monster' and 'I Am Legion'

This wasn't the first time Marco had come to Saint Olga's school. What seemed like forever ago, he single-handedly laid siege to the boarding school and slaughtered anyone who got between him and his beloved princess, and while he allowed the headmistress to live, he inwardly wanted nothing more then to feast on her blood and burn the school down with her men trapped inside.

Now forty-seven years later and now a count and still looking the same as he did back then, he was here once again; only now he had had a garrison of Mewni's finest soldiers under his command ransacking the school for any trace of her supposed ties to Ludo. At this point in his life, Marco had become accustomed to doing the king and queen's dirty work and while they still despised him, they knew that their daughter still greatly cared for him even though he was a vampire.

Her parents may have hated him, they couldn't deny that he was worthy force to use as they saw fit on their enemies, so when rumors began to emerge that the school for wayward princesses was in league with Mweni's greatest enemy; they knew exactly who to send to confirm these rumors. So after dressing himself in his vampire attire and gathering up a large task force, Marco stormed the school that he cared so little for and killed anyone that got in his way.

Currently, the vampire was busy interrogating one of Saint Olga's guards in his own unique way…

"Now, let's go over this one more time…" Marco informed the guard as he held him in the air by the throat "Why are you in league with Ludo?"

"W-we're merely a school for p–princesses!" the guard wheezed out

"If that's that true, then where are the princesses?" the count inquired sharply, clearing losing his patience

He then clamped down on the poor soul's throat, crushing his windpipe and killing him in the process. The bloodsucker sneered in disgust before he tossed the corpse aside. He then turned to the soldiers who had just witnessed the brutal tactic and were trying to hide the fear of their leader turning his rage on them.

"Commander tear this school apart until you've found any sign of Ludo's men!" he commanded "And bring me any survivors—I want them alive!"

"Yes Count Marco!" the officer quickly replied before he and this other troops left to fulfill their task

As Marco's men continued their search, a tall humanoid frog-man made his way up to the vampire. Normally, the count would've been struck him down on the spot, for once he was Ludo's right-hand man, but those times have long gone; now he served Count Marco as his personal servant and his guard during the daylight hours. There was time when Marco would've killed him without giving it a second thought, but during his time with the exiled monster, he had turned out to be an excellent servant and a good friend as well; which was something that Marco was in very sort supple of these days.

"What is it Buff Frog?" his master asked

The frog-man kneeled before the count before speaking.

"Master, I bring news from Mewni" he began in a solemn tone

A deep sense of concern and dread began to well up inside of the count, as if he already knew what had happened.

"Show me" was all he said

After leaving the rest of the mission to the commander, Marco returned to Mewni with Buff Frog; all the while they stayed silent. When the duo arrived back at the castle, the vampire and his monstrous servant quickly made their way to Star's room, where they found her parents sobbing on her bed as the queen clutched her daughter's wand tightly in her hands. The bedroom itself was in ruin, meaning that Marco's lover put up quite the fight before whomever or whatever finally subdued her and carried her off. When the queen looked up and saw the bane of her castle standing before her in the doorway, she instantly turned all of his rage toward him.

"You…" she snarled "You monster! You did this! You brought this madness on us!"

"If you want to keep breathing your highness—you'll be silent!" the vampire warned her with a bright flash of red in his eyes

The queen only continued to glare at the undead boy while the king finally looked up at him with stone cold eyes—eyes filled with controlled rage and a need for vengeance.

"Go…" he ordered coldly "and make sure they suffer…"

Marco didn't need to be told that, he already had the full intention of killing whoever was stupid enough to steal his love as painfully slow as possible. With a nod, he turned and left the room with Buff Frog at his side. Before he could begin his search, he needed his weapons to help him slay his prey.

"Do you think it was Ludo?" his servant asked "it seems like his doing"

"No, Ludo's men are too loud and too stupid to break into the castle and take Star without the wand as well" the count explained before adding "no offense"

"None taken master" the manphibian replied "But if it wasn't Ludo, then who was it?"

"When I was in Star's room, I smelled a faint scent in there" Marco said "A very familiar one to"

"I noticed it to" buff Frog commented "What was it?"

Marco's eyes turned a deeper shade of red as he let out a low animal-like growl escape his lips, he knew exactly who had stolen his beloved the second he inhaled that scent and he was going to make damn sure that the princess's kidnapper was going to pay dearly for his mistake.

"Sulfur"

Tom stifled a laugh in his throat; he had to maintain his stoic nature that he had presented to his demonic servants within his Kingdome, but his joy was starting to get the better of him. Mere hours ago, he had successfully kidnapped the woman of his dreams in a quick and silent raid on the palace, and while he suffered a few bruises from the princess, he had managed to take his prize.

The demon prince intended on making the girl his bride and having her rule by his side for all eternity, but there was still one thing standing his way of victory: Count Marco. Ever since he had discovered Star and the undead boy had become lovers, he had schemed to kill the vampire and claim the princess of Mewni as his own. He knew that the bloodthirsty beast would come to Star's rescue and when he arrived, the demon prince would personally see him fall before him.

It wasn't to long before Tom heard the sounds of swords clashing and the screams of the dieing just outside of his throne room. The wicked prince merely sat on his throne and waited for his guest with great anticipation, knowing that his prey was falling into his trap. Just then, on of his guards—who was now covered in blood and missing an arm—staggered into the room, coughing up more blood as he did.

"M-my prince, C-Count Ma–Marco has arrive—"he attempted to say before a sudden pain in his belly cut him off

The guard looked down to see the vampire's sword protruding out his stomach. Before he could even make another sound, the blade rose upwards through his body until it exited out of the top of his head, making the upper part of his body fall to the floor in two halves. The owner of the blade then stepped over his latest victim as his blood red eyes locked onto his next target who was looking back at him with an amused smile across his face.

"My, my, you certainly know how to make an entrance" the demon playfully complimented as he looked him over "Maybe you should've cleaned up a bit before coming into my throne room, your tracking in quite a lot of blood"

Marco was covered in the fresh gore of Tom's warriors who had the idiocy to get in his pathway to the demonic prince. He was dressed in his battle armor and cape with only his sword at his side. The count refused to allow Buff Frog to join him on his quest, knowing that he was only one capable of challenging the demon in combat, and even then that was a long shot.

Despite Tom's bratty and hotheaded nature, he was a dangerous opponent thanks to his demonic abilities and had total mastery over both sorcery and swordsmanship that left many of his enemies to rot in their graves. The vampire had seen images of Tom slaughtering hordes of enemies on the battlefields of old with great ease and without the slightest hint of pity or regret. While the undead teen kept up a fierce façade; he was filled with something he hadn't felt in nearly fifty years: fear.

"I've come for the princess" The count declared as he pointed his bloodstained blade at the prince "And your head"

Most people would either run for cover or beg for mercy when the count told them something like that, however instead of begging for his life, Tom burst into a fit of laughter.

"Was that supposed to scare me?" he asked in-between his fit of laughter "Because if it was, then you need to work on your threats!"

"Where is Star?" Marco demanded

With a snap of his fingers, Tom silently commanded a large black iron cross that was hung upside down to float down from the ceiling. Strung up against the cross in strong red chains was his lover, who was currently unconscious. The vampire's rage doubled upon seeing Star like this.

"Release her now!" he commanded "While you can still breathe!"

"Again with the threats?" Tom commented in a bored tone "I'm not impressed. She's fine by the way, just a bit knocked out from all the sleep spells I put on her"

"And the cross and the chains?" Marco harshly questioned

"What can I say? I have a flare for the dramatics. I trait you share as well I'm told" his enemy answered "Now fly away little bat, before I lose my patience"

"I'm only going to say this one more time, Tom" the vampire hissed "Let. Her. Go"

The demon prince narrowed his eyes darkly at the count with a cold look in them. Marco knew what was coming next and mentally readied himself for what could very well be his last battle, but if it meant saving the woman he loved then so be it.

"So be it…" Tom sneered

Suddenly, he jumped down from throne and landed several feet away from where Marco was standing. His clothing began to twist and morph into a suit of pitch-black armor as he summoned a large purple sword with sharp ridges along both sides of it, the sword then ignited in a burst of hellfire from it, covering the already dangerous blade in its dark power.

This was not like battling Daniel Dandy or laying siege to St. Olga's school, this an opponent who could easily kill him if he made the slightest slip-up during their battle. The fear that Marco made those around him feel for so long was now shaking his resolve, making a tiny voice in the back of his head to tell him to run, but then his eyes lay on Star's unconscious form and he wrestled the tiny voice of doubt to the ground and broke it its neck. Even if he may not walk away from this fight, he would make sure that the princess was safely returned to her home.

"For Star…" he mentally told himself

With that, he bolted at his adversary at blazing speed with his sword. He swung with all his strength, however instead of striking down the demon; his blade was blocked by his enemy's own sword. Marco strained to push back Tom's sword with everything her had, but the demonic prince easily held his ground thanks to his supernatural strength. Marco could see the satisfaction in his opponent's eyes as the vampire tied to break his defense and it filled him with an intense rage.

The vampire jumped back and summoned his shadow for an attack. His shadow slowly rose up as a huge black mass before launching itself; however with one strong slash of his hellfire blade, Tom slashed the shadow in half, making it recede back its master. Marco was horrified by what he had just saw; no one in the universe could stand against his shadow, but to see the demon bring it down in one hit truly put the vampire into perspective of what he was up against.

Marco let out a snarl and charged again. The two clashed blades once more, every time the vampire thought he had an opening, Tom easily blocked him with his sword. With every failed strike at the demon, Marco could feel his fear turn into rage, fueling him with a blind bravado that made him clouded to everything else around him. Tom on the other had kept a calm demeanor on his face as he held the undead boy at bay with one hand holding his weapon and the other behind his back.

In a surprise move, Tom reached out with his free hand and punched Marco across the face with the force of a locomotive, sending the count flying into a wall. The very touch from the demon caused the boy's skin to punch from where he had hit him. The vampire fought through the pain and prepared for another attack, but in the blink of an eye, the demon prince bolted right up to him and raised his blade to finish this. Fortunately, Marco locked his strike with his sword and pushed him back, hoping to capitalize on this, he tried to thrust his sword at the demon's heart, however much to his horror his blade was stopped when his enemy caught it between two of his fingers.

With a devilish grin on his face, Tom snapped the sword in two like a twig between his fingers. While Marco was still in shock by what he had just witnessed, the demon kicked in him the stomach right back into the wall before attempting to plunge his sword into the count's chest, luckily Marco managed to evade the attack by running out of the way with his super-speed. He got behind the prince and slashed at his armor with his claws thinking he cut through it. A burning pain shot through his finger, making him draw back in agony. The vampire looked down at them to see that his hands where scorched upon contact with the armor.

"Enchanted armor. It repels the undead" Tom casually informed him as he turned around to face his opponent "What? You didn't think I'd fight fair, did you?"

Despite the pain in his hands, Marco swung his claws furiously at the demon prince, only slash at the empty space he once stood. With every slash, the count tried to land on hit on his enemy, but Tom merely ran circles around him with his superior speed, playfully cutting deep through the vampire's own armor with his sword and slicing into his skin with each hit.

"Is that it? After all those stories I've heard about you, this is all I get?" the demon asked in a bored tone "I'm disappointed to say the least"

Marco's only response to that was an inhuman snarl as he took another failed swipe at the prince. The rage in the count's heart had completely blinded him from thinking straight. The only thing on his mind was seeing Tom's corpse at his feet and nothing else. As he kept up his pointless attacks, his eye caught a glimpse of the reason he was fighting the demon in the first place. Shame quickly replaced the anger the count was feeling, what would Star think of him if she saw him in such a bestially state; it was because of Tom's rage that she left him and the vampire would be dammed if he would let history repeat itself.

The vampire closed his eyes and took in a deep breath before slowly exhaling, clearing his thoughts of his anger and focused back to his martial arts training when he was still a human. In that moment, he put his other enhanced senses to work by listening to his enemy's blade as it cut through the air and toward his head. Before the sword decapitated him, Marco ducked and roundhouse kicked the demon's weapon from his hand, sending it across the room as he did.

While Tom was awestruck by his opponent's move, Marco sent several quick yet powerful blows to the demon's face before finishing with a spin-kick that sent Tom sailing into a wall. The prince quickly recoiled and fired a blast of hellfire at his attacker, but the vampire's speed allowed him to evade each blast before it struck him. With each evasion, the count got closer to his target until was he was within arms reach of the prince; he grabbed by the throat and hurled him to the center of the room. As Tom tried to get back to his feet, Marco summoned his shadow once more to hold his enemy down.

"What—what are you?!" Tom demanded

"Your worst nightmare, bitch…" Marco replied darkly as he approached his prey "I'm a kung-fu vampire"

The undead teen readied his claws to slash his target's throat open. Suddenly, Tom's shock façade changed into one of satisfaction, throwing off the count completely.

"Gotcha" he said with a wicked grin

Tom's body released a blast of hellfire, incinerating the vampire's shadows and temporarily blinding Marco in the process. The demon prince got to his feet and held his hand in the direction his sword was currently laying, making it return to its owner it a matter of seconds. While Marco was still stunned by the blast of hellfire, Tom raised his sword and brought it down on the helpless vampire's right arm, cleaving it from the rest of body in one strong swipe.

Marco screamed in pain as he looked down at his severed limb that now lay on the ground. It was a sensation that he had long forgotten and it returned to him in the worst way possible. He clutched the bloody stump where his arm once was in an attempt to stop the bleeding and stumbled backwards unto the floor in a broken heap.

"Now what was that about being my worst nightmare?" Tom mocked "Honestly, did you really think you could defeat me? I'm a demon! I've killed things that beat your power by a long-shot. Face it Marco, you lost this fight the second you challenged me!"

He then hoisted Marco to his feet and prepared to plunge to his sword into the vampire. Marco was powerless, his strength was failing him and his vision was blurring into darkness. He looked over to Star as she hung helplessly on the iron cross with a strong sense of failure and shame building in his heart as he did.

"I'm so sorry Star…" he weakly thought as a bloody tear ran down his cheek

"You know it's kind of funny. Star left one monster for another" the demon prince said "I'm almost sorry that she's not awake to see this—then you could've got to at least got to say goodbye"

With that, he impaled his blade through Marco's chest, forcing a cry of sheer agony from his opponent. The count's sight started to turn into a peaceful black, which he almost welcomed. He had failed the woman he loved and his soul would forever be separated from her for all eternity. As the shroud of death began to over take the teen, he took in one last look at Star, hoping to keep the memory of her as he crossed over to the next life, but to his surprise, he saw that the princess of Mewni was slowly awakening and looking back at him in shock.

"Marco…" she whispered to him

The very sight of her face renewed the vampire's spirit. With all of his remaining strength, Marco took hold of the demonic sword with his remaining hand and started to pull himself along the blade until he was face to face with a very awestruck Tom. The vampire opened his jaws as wide as he could and lunged at his would-be killer, clamping down onto the prince's throat like a bear trap when he was in range.

Marco pulled back, taking a chuck of the demon's flesh as he did. The fresh blood in his mouth was enough to give him the power to pull the sword of his chest and heal the hole in his chest. Tom coughed and gagged on his own blood and bile as he tried desperately to keep it all in from spilling all over the floor. He collapsed to his knees as his knees gave out from under him, making him spill more of his blood all over the floor of his throne room. He looked up in total terror as he saw Marco looking down at him with a predatory smile on his face.

"I like your blood…" he said wickedly as he licked his lips "I want more!"

Tom let out a gargled scream as Marco tackled him to the ground and bite down on what was left of his neck and began to feed on his demonic blood. Normally, the undead teen would only drink his fill of his victim's blood and leave a withered corpse in his wake, but Marco continued to feed until nothing was left of his enemy but an empty suit of armor. The more he fed on the demon, the more his enemies from the battle began to heal in doing so, even his arm regenerated in the process.

When he had finished feeding, he threw back his head and unleashed a monstrous roar that could be heard throughout the castle as his eyes blazed red. He looked back at Star, who was now looking back at him in total fear, much to his shame. He quickly drew back from his inhuman nature and hung his head low; she had just seen a side of him that he never wanted her to witness.

Marco then approached the entrapped princess and ripped her free from the chains before taking her into his arms and carrying her out of the castle, neither one saying a word to the other as they did.

It was later in the world of Mewni and after returned to her parents, Star went to see Marco in his dark home in the palace's dungeon. He had remained down there ever since they had returned home and refused to come out even when the moon was out in full. As she approached the dungeon, she found Buff Frog standing in front of the front doors to the vampire's room, blocking her entrance.

"I came to see Marco, Buff Frog" she informed him "step aside"

"I'm sorry princess, but he told me to keep everyone out" the man-frog replied solemnly "especially you"

"Well I'm going in there—one way or another!" the princess snapped "If you wanna stop me, then your gonna have to kill me!"

Before Buff Frog could say anything, Star shoved him aside and threw open the doors to the dungeon, closing them behind her once she was inside. There she found her lover sitting in his chair with his head hung low as blood dripped down from his face, indicating that he was sobbing. His armor was strewn across the stone floor of the dungeon and he was back in his regular vampire attire with his cape draped over him like a second skin.

"Marco…" Star began softly as she slowly approached him "Are you ok?"

"Go away…" the vampire ordered somberly as he kept his head down "I want to be alone…"

"Well I'm not going anywhere, so you gotta deal with it" she answered defiantly "Marco please—I want to help you"

"You can't help me" he told her "I'm a monster and your family kills monsters. So unless you're here to kill me, then leave!"

"Marco if this about what you did Tom, I don't blame you for what you did" the princess explained "You were only trying to protect me"

"And what happens when I become another monster?!" Marco shouted in face as he jumped out of his chair "Sooner or later I'll become the very thing your family swore to destroy!"

It was then that Star did something unexpected. She took the vampire into her arms and kissed deeply on the lips, refusing to let him go until he finally gave in and kissed her back. Marco's inner fears started to melt away as his lips stayed in contact with the princess's until she had to pull back to catch her breath.

"Your not a monster Marco, you never where" she assured him gently as she caressed his face with a tender touch "You're my Marco, and you'll always be that to me no matter what you become"

His red eyes looked deep into her bright blue eyes, seeing the truth in her word within them. True, he was a monster, but Star would always be his last thread of his humanity that would be by his side for all time.

"Thank you Star, I needed that" he said before kissing her cheek

"Anytime my count" the princess of Mewni responded before asking a question on her mind "So now that you've consumed Tom and taken his powers, what are you going to do now?"

At first Marco said nothing, instead his held up a hand. He then conjured up a ball of hellfire from and let it dance across his palm in front of his lover, letting her gaze in wonder at his new ability.

"Anything I want…" he finally said with a sly smile