Author's Note: Not really sure what motivated me to write this. I remember watching the episode with the whole 16 years thing, and I thought to myself: "Someone could write a whole lot about that". Anyways, it sparked my imagination a bit, but there was only one thing. I see a lot of stories about the destination (when he comes home), but never the actual journey, which I find sad because the actual journey would be far more interesting. That's just my opinion. Hence, I tried writing a bit about it, and what came to me was this whole, trials vibe. I would love to take it further, at least until I hit a writer's block. I should probably return to writing "something that I should have finished", but no one needs to know. Enjoy, for I shamefully admit I enjoy these types of cartoons. Haha.


Mountain of the Mirror World (Part 1)

"Just a little bit more…" Marco gasped as he struggled his way up the steep cliff. Sitting ten feet above him, with her legs dangling over the rocky face, was his goal. A demon (or something) with an eternal flame flickering tauntingly over her head.

"Ha! Ha! Just give it up flesh wad. Even if you get up here, you still gotta catch me~" she taunted as she checked out her nails, seemingly bored.

Marco's arms shook as he thought about his predicament. Currently, he was ninety feet up in the air, hanging onto sharp rocks. His hands were already bloody from the repeated attempts to scale the wall-like mountain barehanded, and his hoody was soaked with sweat from the effort.

'Man, I am going to have to wash it later' Marco thought sullenly, as if that was his biggest problem right now.

"Never!" he finally responded to Heckapoo's taunt after panting for a bit. Amazingly, this was actually the second cliff Marco had to climb, and even then, that wasn't the end. From what Marco had discovered after walking through one of the original portals she left in the clearing, this…

'wait… dimension? realm? world?' Marco wasn't too sure at this point.

Anyways, this place was incredibly strange, Marco had thought. 'Not at all like Earth or Mewni'.

For one thing, the sky was purple, like deep purple. Similar to a plum, one of Marco's favorite fruits (and colors). The trees surrounding the mountain he was on stretched far off into the horizon to what seemed to be infinity, and they were disfigured, not to mention blue and adorned with red circular shaped leaves. Yup, they were strange all right.

Even the supposed sun, or more accurately… suns, were odd. There appeared to be two, but they were totally unnatural. One was completely black, and the other white, and Marco couldn't understand how they produced light.

'Maybe it's just magic" Marco had surmised, completely convinced that there were some things he just had to accept if he wanted to stay sane, much like living with Star, his friend that he wished to return to as soon as he got her back her scissors.

"Oooooooh, lokie here~! Mr. Tough Guy here has almost made it to the second level! Clap! Clap!" Heckapoo taunted, the sarcasm oozing from her voice as Marco gained another five feet up the cliff side, small rocks tumbling down. From Marco's perspective, her legs almost appeared within grabbing distance, but he knew from experience that it wouldn't be that easy.

Marco grit his teeth, the frustration evident, but he was too tired and too close to his goal to really form a response. She was so close!

'Just a tiny bit more…' thought Marco, as he braced his legs for the final push. He held a tiny bit of hope that he would be able to catch her off guard when he finally jumped the last few feet. He got himself into position, and… JUMPED. Heckapoo's legs disappeared out of reach as Marco grasped the ledge and hauled himself over. He was beyond exhausted, but he couldn't waste this chance.

Standing up shakily, he began to give chase. Naturally, she ran like the wind towards the next cliff, and there was no way he could catch her. But, refusing to admit defeat so easily, he stumbled for another fifty feet before coming to a dead stop. He had come to another cliff face that was exactly the same as the last one. Looking up, he saw Heckapoo sitting on the edge waving down at him.

"Hey there dum-dum~" she smiled as she waved

Marco sank to his knees, irritated beyond belief. Another obstacle preventing him from reaching his goal. Another hurdle he would have to eventually overcome. Another cliff face, the third one.

'How many can there be!?' He roared in his mind as he stared blankly at the wall. Marco sat there, slumped over in exhaustion. As he caught his breath while wallowing in his own sweaty misery, he saw something shine in his eye.

'Huh?'

The sudden distraction shook him from his grief and he glanced towards the source. Sitting there, embedded into the ground, was a weird stone.

Plucking it from the dirt, he saw that it was a very unique rock that reflected everything like a mirror, as if the surface of the uneven stone was carved from an actual mirror. He hadn't seen anything like it on the first two levels of the mountain before, just regular old rocks.

"You give up yet~? Heckapoo yelled from her perch on top of the 100-foot-high cliff. Marco, heard her, and swallowed his frustration.

'One day, I will get you, and this will all be worth it' Marco thought to himself as he pocketed the cool looking stone, deciding to keep it as an emotional consolation prize. Looking up at his adversary, he yelled in annoyance "How about instead of saying "I give up" like you want me to, you just send me back like always?"

Heckapoo finally frowned at that, and took out her scissors. Cutting the air in front of her, two portals opened next to Marco, one orange and red, the other light pink and blue. Marco knew exactly where both of them went, and even more so, their meaning. One was saying "Stay and continue", the other "Give up and go home".

"Just like always" Marco sighed to himself. Looking at both like the many time before, his gaze lingered a bit longer on the pink and blue one, staring wistfully. But, as he always did, he walked towards the red one.

"You know you should just give up. There is no way you can win" Heckapoo warned casually, for what felt like the millionth time.

Marco's steps never faltered as he walked up to the "Stay and Continue" portal.

"I don't believe that. No matter how long it takes, I WILL get those scissor!s" he shot back defiantly.

Heckapoo shrugged and stopped speaking.

Before Marco stepped through the portal, however, he looked back at a smiling Heckapoo who said these simple words: "In that case, have a nice swim, loser".

Marco stepped through, and immediately fell through the air straight into a pool of fresh water. Marco wasn't surprised at all though, because this was how she usually sent him back. Swimming to the shore, he crawled out the water into the mud before glancing up.

'Yup, still there' Marco noticed angrily while a scowl formed on his face. A wooden sign was hammered into the ground in front of the lake with the words "Loser Lake" written on it. He had once tried to kick it down, but it was like the sword in the stone, unmovable, likely thanks to magic. It's meaning was clear as day though. Marco had failed once again at catching her, and she sent him back to the same spot, a small lake in the woods near the mountain.

'And it's not even the real her, just one of her clones' Marco reminded himself bitterly. He felt little hope in ever beating her, but there was one thing he refused to call himself, and that was a "quitter". Especially if he was doing this for his best friend. He refused to let her down.

Stepping out of the mud, Marco slid his hoody off, careful not to aggravate his cut-up hands, and wrung it out, hanging it on a nearby branch to dry. Dawning the gait similar to the "walk of shame", he glumly strutted over to the little hut he had built next to the lake made of sticks from the weird looking trees and covered with their round red leaves. Strolling a little past it, he approached his objective: a pile of pumpkin size, pear shaped fruits that were blue with yellow stripes.

When he first got here, he thought the fruits produced by the trees were poisonous due to their color, but hunger makes a person take risks. Fortunately, he quickly learned that the fruits were not only not poisonous (thank god), but they also were incredibly delicious. Marco always felt completely energized after eating them which he thought meant that they were super healthy…ish. He just hoped he wouldn't grow an extra leg or third eye or something, being in a magical place with magical fruits.

Oh, and there was one more thing about the fruits that Marco discovered, much to his pleasant surprise. Carefully picking one up, he smashed it onto a rock, splattering the delicious juices everywhere. Meticulously, he rubbed his wounded hands in the juices. After experiencing this many times, Marco was used to the burning pain that accompanied the fruits special effect.

After five minutes, Marco looked at his hands. They were completely healed, not a scratch.

'Still amazes me…' Marco thought as licked the juice off his healed hands. He had wondered if maybe he could bring some of these back one day. Maybe sell them for a good price.

'Like 650 dollars apiece' Marco nodded to himself, satisfied with his internal business plan, as if it would ever come to fruit-ion, pun intended.

Before he returned to eating though, a thought struck him like a thunderbolt and he shivered all over.

"Eughhhhhhh, wet socks. I can't believe I forgot!" Marco yelled as he ripped his shoes off and pulled off the saggy crimes against nature. He quickly hung them on the branch next to his hoodie.

"You disgust me!" he spoke with venom to his socks, which sat there as usual, absorbing their abuse with dignity. Returning to his makeshift tent, he sat down and began eating the fruit he had stockpiled while glancing over to the mountain in the distance.

"Mountain" In Marco's opinion, was not the most accurate description. It looked more like a layered cake. The side rose straight up, plateaued out, then rose right back up again. He theorized that it just kept doing this as it approached the center. He wasn't certain because the mountain had a certain feature: he could not see past the first two "cake layers".

There was some kind of fog blocking his vision. He could not see past the first two walls. Only when he reached another level could he see a bit further up. It was just like…

"Magic…" Marco muttered under his breath as he stared out into the distance.

'God I miss Star…I miss everyone' Marco thought sadly. He sometimes wondered if this was worth it just to get some stupid scissors back, but then he thought about what Star would do, and his doubts flew away.

"She would work tirelessly to help her friends" Marco affirmed.

While he contemplated the meaning of his suffering, Marco finished eating several fruits, already feeling much better. Even the soreness from climbing went away, and Marco felt a boost in his spirits. In spite of repeated failures, he at least felt like he was getting stronger.

'I will get to the top, mark my words' he mentally shouted as he stared at the mountain in the distance. He believed that the only way to catch her was to reach the top. If his theory was correct, she would have nowhere to run at the top, unless she used a portal. Then again, this was a test… she wouldn't make it impossible right?

With this realization, Marco shuddered.

'What if she is just messing with me? What if she intends to never let me succeed? What if…?'

Marco thoughts went haywire as he imagined worse and worse scenarios in his head. He felt an irrational anger build up like a dam inside him.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" the dam burst as Marco roared in anger and he punched the nearest tree, which he immediately regretted. The "magical" trees here were as hard as steel.

*Crunch*

"AHHHHHHHHHHRGH!"

Marco rolled along the dirt ground in agony as he spouted out almost-vulgarities while cradling his hand in an attempt to ease the pain.

Meanwhile

Heckapoo sat on her couch inside her cozy little tree trunk house. The warmth from the nearby lava helped her relax as she enjoyed her new favorite pastime, observing the little flesh-wad struggle. She had to admit, he was probably the most interesting candidate for her trials she had ever encountered.

She had special rules when it came to giving out her hand-made scissors. If the requesting party was royalty and were recognized by the magic high-commission, they would be gifted scissors as a show of support and to strengthen alliances.

However, in every other case, the being who wanted a pair of his/her scissors for their own would have to pass her trials, no exceptions. Usually, most who came to accept her challenge knew of the risks and the nature of the trials. They would come prepared, well trained, and ready to spend a VERY long time before succeeding.

Naturally, the human boy she was watching now had none of those things. He wasn't trained, wasn't prepared, and didn't even know about the special time restrictions of her dimension. Yet, he didn't give up, no matter how many times he failed. If nothing else, she admired his tenacity, or maybe stupidity. She had not yet decided.

'Yup, definitely the most interesting one~' she hummed to herself as she watched Marco through one of her invisible portals. It was a sneaky little trick she kept to herself, the ability to make invisible portals for observing other people. Although, she could only make them in her dimension, which was a bummer.

Per her usual routine, after she sent him away, she came back to her home and began watching him. Being immortal, she didn't need sleep and time was irrelevant. Since she had so much time on her hands, being in this special dimension, she took things very relaxed and slow.

Portaling in a leg couch, she put her legs up and reclined her chair. Grabbing a box of her life time supply of cream puffs she brought from Mewni, (her favorite treat) she tossed some into her mouth as she watched the "Dramatic Tales of Marco" channel, hoping he would do something dramatic and funny that she found amusing.

Very early on, she found that Marco was very quirky and a spaz. For example, when she found out he hated wet socks with a passion, she nearly chocked on her snacks. She had laughed too hard. It was simply too amusing to see the scrawny human boy curse his socks.

Other times she observed that he would go into random rants or debate with himself about simple things that normal beings wouldn't care about. Put simply, he was a breath of fresh air in her very busy schedule. Although she liked to relax, the job of being on the magic high commission was not an easy one. Lots of magical disputes and phenomena that she was in charge of fixing.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

*Crunch*

"AHHHHHHHHHHRGH!"

Heckapoo snapped out her reverie and focused once again on the Marco channel. She was stunned to see that Marco has just screamed and punched a tree, seemingly for no reason. Right now, he was rolling around on the ground yelling out near-curses that were so "viscous", they would have made even nuns proud.

Heckapoo lost it.

"PUAHAHAHHAAHAHHAHA" *snort* "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

Heckapoo glanced at the portal once more…

"GUAHAHAAHHAAHHAHAHA…"

After a solid minute of laughing, she collected herself and picked up the fallen cream puffs that had dropped when she fell to the floor from laughter.

'Oh my god…' she rubbed a tear from her eye. 'This guy is too funny'

She continued to watch Marco, hoping he would continue to amuse her.

Back at the Lake

The pain faded until it was a dull ache. Marco picked himself back up, feeling foolish at his own stupidity. He rubbed his hand.

'Luckily, it's not broken…' he thought abashedly. 'Good thing no one saw that' he nodded in relief to himself (If only he knew).

He looked up at the sky. The white sun was beginning to merge with the black sun in the sky. To Marco, who had been here a while, this meant that there were only two more hours till it got dark.

Marco went over and grabbed his hoodie. Walking to the lake, he scrubbed it till it was clean, or at least didn't smell like sweat, and hung it back on the branch.

Stopping suddenly, Marco remembered something he had to do. Walking towards a very specific tree, he picked up a sharp rock that he kept next to it for a very specific purpose. Marco crouched, his face devoid of any humor, and began to carefully carve something onto the tree, which actually took quite a while since they were so tough.

"There" Marco huffed as he finished. On the tree, there was another dash mark, next to many other dash marks. If someone added them up it would add to…

"Three months" Marco whispered to himself. "One day, just you wait Heckapoo. I will beat you" Marco declared softly, a mantra he had been repeating every day since recently.

Done with his own personal pep talk, he took off his undershirt and hung it on the branch next to his hoodie. Smelling it, he snorted.

'Meh, I'll wash it later'

Now very shirtless, he grabbed the nearest branch and attempted to do pull-ups. After about five, he could not continue and dropped to the ground.

'Need to get stronger. Five is not enough' Marco told himself

Climbing those mountains really took a lot of energy. Marco was very healthy when it came to conditioning thanks to his karate practice, but what he was lacking in was strength, and he knew he needed more if he ever wanted to reach the top.

Marco continued to exercise.

Heckapoo's Home

Heckapoo watched as her little drama king began to do push-ups.

'Ha, that's cute. He's got little noodle arms. Awwwwww~' she cooed to the screen.

'He will never reach the top' she smirked as she "changed the channel". After all, it wasn't very interesting to watch a scrawny boy exercise.

Stopping when she saw something she liked, she paused the portal.

"Ohhhhhh gladiators of the sword dimension. Cool" she said as the fighters clashed onscreen. Heckapoo buried herself deeper into the couch, getting cozy.

Marco had, for the moment, been totally forgotten.

Back at the Lake

Marco finished just as the light went dark and the white sun was eclipsed by the black sun. Tired as hell, with the sweat rolling off his back, he jumped into the lake to clean himself off. Stepping out, he ate one of the fruits to help with his recovery as he climbed into his little home.

Curling a bunch of the leaves around himself to act as a blanket, Marco felt the effects of the fruit take effect, and his tiredness came back in full force. Marco curled tighter around himself in an attempt to preserve warmth. It wasn't exactly cold at night, but it wasn't warm either. Finding a comfortable position, Marco took out the special stone he found earlier out of his pocket. He looked at himself through the distorted reflection of the stone in the failing light.

By now, Marco had stopped thinking too far ahead, because that would only make him depressed. Marco now began to think one day at a time, which he found to be far more manageable. Looking into his reflection, he whispered "Don't worry Star, I will be back before you know it…" as he slowly drifted into the land of infinite possibilities. For the time being, Marco's dreams were his dimensional scissors, they could take him wherever he wanted. Home.


Any mistakes or typos, let me know please! Perhaps the voice inside my head telling me to write stuff will finally calm down now.