Green beams of light careened off into the forest, striking far-off trees, nearly disintegrating them. Narwhals crashed through the forest canopy, dancing less-than-gracefully across the silhouette of the dual moons of Mewni. A sickly verdant glow spiked with intensity as a maniacal laugh echoed throughout the otherwise still forest.
"MARCO. STAR. MUST WE GO THROUGH THIS SONG AND DANCE? MOON COULD NOT DEFEAT ME, AND EVEN GLOSSARYCK NOW BOWS TO ME. WHAT CHANCE DOES THE REBEL PRINCESS AND HER EMBARASSING SIDEKICK HAVE AGAINST ME!?" Toffee's voice boomed from the small, avian form of Ludo.
Marco crouched on one knee, leering at Toffee. He felt the cold ground of the forest through his ripped jeans, the night air filtering in through the holes in his hoodie. He took deep breaths, aiming to calm his erratic heartbeat. Marco took a sidelong glance at Star, her wand primed for another spell. For a moment, Marco took in everything about Star. Her blonde hair tied in a single tight braid, her oversized sword slung across her back, her white, blue and purple battle armor surrounded by an aura of pink, her blue eyes radiating with fury and her… no wait, his dimensional scissors tucked tightly into her left greave. He'd been running after her since she left Earth in a mad-dash. He'd been focused only on finding his friend since then, but now that he stopped and looked… she was gorgeous. Marco shook his head, aiming to finish the fight before ogling his… best friend more. Wait, no. No more ogling, she was his best friend! Marco stood up with renewed vigor and assumed his martial stance once more.
"HE STANDS AGAIN. TELL ME MARCO, WHAT DOES THIS PRINCESS MEAN TO YOU?
¿CUÁL ES EL VALOR DE LA MARIPOSA, MARCO?"
Marco's face softened as Toffee spoke in Spanish. Marco could vaguely understand Toffee's sentence and pondered for a moment what she meant to him. "More than you could ever know, soulless monster!" Marco shouted, eyes locked with the small bird.
A sinister laugh escaped the lips of a devilish grin plastered on Ludo's face. "VERY WELL THEN. YOU HAD AN INFINITE WELL OF POTENTIAL, AND YOU CHOSE TO FALL INTO THE BUTTERFLY'S TRAP. THERE IS NO SAVING YOU NOW MARCO." Ludo/Toffee ascended even higher into the night sky, breaking through the trees, his green aura illuminating the forest for miles.
"Marco," Star shouted, "we've got to go, NOW!" She rushed over to him and grabbed his hand. Green artillery strikes landed all around them, toppling trees and creating craters in the soil. Together they darted through the Forest of Certain Death, dodging carnivorous plants along the way. Toffee glided over the treetops, pursuing the young teens.
"Star! I have an idea!" Marco yelled as they hopped over a collapsed tree.
"No, Marco! No more ideas! You shouldn't even be here right now!" Star said, eyes cast over her left shoulder, watching for any particularly close green beams of light.
"Star, please! Trust me on this!" Marco said with as much confidence as one could muster with a plan to defeat an un-killable, body-possessing villain.
"Marco, I trusted you not to come after me! I trusted you to let me handle this because Toffee is MY problem, not yours!" The young princess cast her eyes downward, the pain of betrayal evident in her words. She'd not meant to spit those words with that much venom, but Marco was in life-threatening danger, she couldn't risk letting him be Marco.
Marco squeezed Star's hand and looked into her eyes, still running through the endless sea of bark and grass. "Wait," Marco nearly whispered. "what? Star, let me make it up to you. I don't know why you left so quickly, but I want to make things right between us." Marco let the words flow out of his mouth, unsure what even he meant. Make things right? I didn't do anything wrong, did I? he thought to himself.
Star matched Marco's gaze for but a moment and felt her heart throb. Marco could be awkward and adorable, but Star loved those moments where Marco got that fire in his eyes. As much as the independent warrior princess didn't need anyone to take care of her, she was weak to Marco. He was like the best kind of drug to her. As the battle raged on in the forest, Star quickly weighed the decisions. She could probably make it to the castle before Toffee managed to hit them, but what about Marco? He wasn't going to let this go, now that he had his heart set on it. She could either help Marco with his possibly ridiculous plan or rainbow bunny blast them both out of here.
Time was not on her side though, as a green light exploded not but 5-feet to her left, sending dirt and leaves and bark everywhere. Toffee wasn't going to wait for them to get to the castle, and his aim was getting better with every passing second. Emotions stormed within her heart, causing her to audibly groan.
With a grumble, Star yelled "Okay, Marco Diaz! What is this grand idea of yours!?"
Marco smiled as he took the lead and rushed further along into the forest.
Toffee soared effortlessly above the forest, launching blast after blast of green magic towards the wayward princess and her 'best friend'. The leaves admittedly were making it hard to aim at the two, and Ludo's capacity for magic was staggeringly small. He knew that it was only a matter of time before his host's body gave out. As he glided, he noticed there was a small clearing coming up, with a large rock-structure in the middle. He smiled wide as he saw his opportunity. The brats would try to run into the cave surely, and he'd blast them before they could even get close. He sped up his levitation, stopping at the edge of the clearing, and began coalescing a large green orb in his hands. He sensed the wand coming ever close to the clearing and he nearly couldn't contain himself. The pulsing ball in his hands threatened to explode on him right then and there, but he used his many years of magical training to keep the orb intact. The wand was now but 100 feet from him, about to exit the clearing.
"GOODBYE, STAR," Toffee said menacingly. However, at the last moment, a rainbow explosion beamed from the edge of the clearing as two figures bounded upwards. The momentary change in course caused Toffee to fire the orb off into the sky, missing the two completely. As the two careened towards the cave, Marco was close enough to deliver a swift kick to Ludo's face.
"Goodbye to you, Tofdo!" Marco yelled as Star and Marco landed right at the mouth of the cave and bounded inside. Ludo scowled as the momentary pain from Marco's kick subsided. Toffee wasn't one to let rage take over him, but Ludo gained power from his anger, and power was something Toffee needed right now. Toffee let the anger flow through him and rushed down after the intrepid couple, vying to eliminate them once and for all.
"Tofdo? Really?" Star said, giving Marco an amused smirk.
Marco blushed as his hands waved in the air. "I don't know, it just sorta came out!" Marco said, clearly flustered. As a deep emerald glow began filtering through the stalagmites, Marco put his hand on Star's head and crouched down behind a large rock, quietly shushing her.
"You know the plan, right?" Marco inquired softly. He could see Star's apprehension on her face, her previous smile replaced with a frown. Her eyes screamed at him not to do this, to think of any other way, but she responded with a confident nod. She reached into her left greave and pulled out the dimensional scissors, and placed them in Marco's hand. When he tried to take them, she kept an iron grip on them and grabbed Marco's shoulder.
"Marco Diaz, don't make me have to save you." She whispered with a serious tone. A single look into those sapphires for eyes and Marco knew she was serious. She put a lot of faith into going along with his plan, and this time it had to be perfect.
"Don't worry, my princess," Marco said, as confidently as he could, having just imagined this plan not but 5 minutes before. "You never have to worry about me." He smiled as he yanked the scissors from her hands and ran out into the open.
Star sighed with content as Marco rushed off into the face of danger. His princess? She smiled as she thought to herself. No, focus! Marco is out there! She peeked around the corner just as Marco started yelling at Ludo.
"Hey Toffee! It's a real shame you chased us allll the way here because we're about to leave!" Marco shouted as he waved the scissors in the air tauntingly. Ludo snapped his sights on the young boy, staring daggers through his soul as Ludo's eyes glossed over with green.
"NO! THE WAND WILL BE MINE!" The figure shouted, switching between Ludo and Toffee's voices. "CONTROL YOURSELF, BIRD! NO, I WILL HAVE THAT WAND!" Marco dashed off behind the rock where Star was still crouched as Toffee argued with Ludo. "LOOK HE'S GETTING AWAY! FIND THE GIRL, FIND THE WAND!" Ludo charged off after Marco, fury rushing through his veins.
Marco grabbed Star's arm and began running through the rough ground of the cave, peeling around every rock they could. Ludo was in hot pursuit, barely managing to keep up with the tight turns in the cramped cave environment. More than once Ludo crashed into the walls of the cave trying to keep up speed.
"WATCH IT, BIRD! LET ME FLY! CAN IT, LIZARD!" Toffee and Ludo argued after a particularly rough crash with a stalactite. Marco and Star used this opportunity to gain some ground on the monster duo and found a short 10 foot drop off where they could finally enact the last part of Marco's plan.
"Okay Star, you jump down first! You gotta catch me alright?" Marco said as they stood at the edge of the short cliff.
"Yeah, yeah, Marco! Get cutting!" She yelled as she effortlessly scaled down the drop. Seeing Star at the bottom of the cliff with waiting arms gave him a small burst of confidence. He jumped off the cliff, dragging the scissors downward in front of him, creating a roughly human-sized portal on the way down. He tumbled through the air, terrified as he lost his bearings, and fell for what felt like 3 seconds. However, Star managed to catch Marco bridal style and grunted as he landed less than gracefully in her arms. He smiled as they both waited for Ludo to rush through the portal.
"NO!" Ludo shouted as he saw the portal still open. He flew as fast as he could towards the portal, but just as he was about to cross the threshold, he felt his body being held back by some external force. "THINK WITH YOUR BIRDBRAIN FOR A SECOND! WHY WOULD THEY GO THROUGH THE PORTAL AND NOT CLOSE IT RIGHT AFTER? WELL I… I don't know? Maybe they were in a rush? IF THEY WERE IN THE PORTAL, WHY CAN I STILL FEEL THE WAND NEARBY!?"
Star exchanged a terrified look with Marco for a second when Marco whispered: "Launch me, now!" Star responded immediately and flung Marco in the air with no hesitation. As Marco flew, he twisted his body to do a backflip. He rocketed towards Ludo upside-down and right when his foot was behind Ludo's head, Marco kicked with as much force as he could, forcing Ludo through the portal. He kept flying upwards and nearly hit the roof of the cave when he began falling. He flicked open the scissors and dragged them through the portal on the way down, sealing it shut. As the last tear of reality closed, Marco fell towards Star, who could no longer see due to the lack of the sickly green glow. Marco fell back first towards the ground, and Star barely managed to catch him… only to tumble down a nearby slope. Marco and Star grunted and winced as they kept tumbling down the slope, stopping once they reached the supposed bottom, side-by-side. For a minute the two lay there, unmoving, but still breathing.
"Woops, hehe," Marco said shyly. "Forgot that there wasn't gonna be any light once Ludo was gone. I'm just glad that you caught me St–" Marco began to say, but was interrupted by Star swinging her arm over his midsection and bringing him into a tight embrace. Star gripped his red hoodie tightly and buried her face into his chest. Marco tried to get up to return the hug, but Star pressed him deeply into the ground. He began stroking her hair awkwardly, twiddling the tight braid around in his hands. He reveled in its softness, and how even in the near pitch-blackness, he could feel how beautiful it was. Her armor was warm to the touch, still emitting a soft pink glow.
They lay like that for a while, Star occasionally nuzzling deeper into Marco's hoodie, Marco absentmindedly stroking her back, playing with her hair or scratching the top of her head. If Marco closed his eyes, it was almost like he was at home, snuggling with his woobie. Except Esteban didn't wear battle armor, his bed wasn't made of bedrock, and his woobie wasn't a magical warrior princess from another dimension. But it was close enough. After what must have been 15 minutes, Marco sat up as Star released her death-grip on Marco's hoodie.
"So, Star. Did you want to spend the night in the cave or…?" Marco awkwardly joked. It didn't seem to have any effect. "Because, I mean, I do have camping gear back at the house!" He tried to lighten his tone a little, but he knew that Star had heavy thoughts on her mind.
"Marco just… shhhhhhh," Star said pensively. A silence washed over them like the tide. Marco opened his mouth to break it until Star continued.
"Marco. Marco Diaz. Diaz of the Marco. Mar-co. Diaz Marco. Marco." Star said his name in all sorts of combinations as Marco listened. "Marco, I… honestly don't know what I'd do without you." Her eyes cast downward and to the right, perhaps embarrassed.
"Star, seriously, you don't have to – "
"No, seriously." Star leaned in and grabbed Marco's waist with her left hand and cupped his cheek with her right. Her voice started to quiver as her hands began to shake. "I don't… I don't know what I'd do…. Without you." Star brought her face close, oh so very close to Marco's. Their lips hovered inches away from each other, Star's breath tickling Marco's lips. Marco gulped as he stared into Star's eyes. Despite the low light, he could tell she had tears in her eyes, threatening to fall. He had thought a lot about this moment, if and when it came. Not just the past few days on his crazy chase after Star, but since Star took them to the Love Sentence concert. He knew something was up when he saw the billboard destroyed, leaving a mysterious green glow on it. When he heard her confession at his house, he had desperately hoped that it hadn't been what he thought. He was so scared of losing Star as a friend that he had shelved any feelings like hers after the Blood Moon Ball, so long ago. After hearing her feelings back then, he thought it'd never work. But after her confession… He couldn't, right? It wasn't fair to her, a magical princess to be stuck with an ordinary human like him. Never mind the fact they worked nearly flawlessly as a team or the fun they had, or when she left without any real reason he felt his heart sunder, no. None of that mattered. He just couldn't hold her back, she had to be free. So why did the distance get to him? Why was he only thinking about pressing his lips forward and ruining it all?
Marco gulped again. "Star," he breathily whispered, instinctively putting his arm around her waist. Stop now, Diaz. He pulled her onto his lap. You can't. His forehead touched hers. It'll never be the same again. His breathing deepened. She's your best friend. He cupped her cheek with his right hand, causing her heart marks to glow a deep red. ¿Cuál es el valor de la mariposa, Marco? She tilted her head slowly. Everything will change. He closed his eyes as he tried his hardest to think clearly. Something was begging him to stop, but his mind was filled with fog. Aren't you forgetting someone? He met her lips halfway locking them in a tender, warm embrace. Marco moved his right hand to the back of her neck, pulling her in closer. Star responded with a soft moan, moving both her hands to entangle them in Marco's shaggy brown hair. Star leaned into the kiss, pushing her chest into Marco's. He tried to keep his balance, but the cave floor was slick, and soon his left arm gave out from under him. The two hit the ground, but Star's hands stopped Marco's head from hitting any rocks. As they fell, Star broke the kiss but kept her face close to Marco's.
"Wow, uh… just wow," Marco said, head in a daze, body high on endorphins.
"Yeah…" Star responded breathily. She could feel her cheeks lit up a deep red but made no attempt to hide it. Marco didn't tell me he was that good at lip dancing too! Star looked Marco's face once over. Oh corn, he looks so adorable when he's breathing that hard. Maybe I'll just go in for another…
"Star, not like that wasn't… intense, but can we go home now? I think my leg went numb a while ago." Marco looked into Star's eyes, which held some sort of swirling deep red tint. He blinked a few times, but still saw the swirling red, enticing him to just give in to another…
"Oh sure. Surrre." Star made no attempt to get up, still taking in Marco's features. If she tried, she could see Marco's normally brown eyes reflected some ruby red light, but she ignored it. Probably her blushing cheeks right? She dragged an idle index finger down the bridge of his nose.
"Uh, Star?" Marco brought his hand up to Star's cheek, which she rubbed into.
"Okay, Marco. I'm getting up." Star grabbed the scissors from Marco's hand and stood up, keeping her eyes locked with his the whole time. She cut the portal to Earth and offered a hand to Marco. He graciously took it and stood up, feeling his left leg be pricked by 1000 imaginary needles. He grabbed Star's shoulder for support.
"Definitely went numb. Oh man, I hate this feeling." Marco winced as he took steps towards the portal. Without any warning, Star picked Marco up bridal style and carried him through the portal, giggling and grinning all along the way.
"Star put me down! I am not a child!" Marco protested as Star and Marco exited the portal into the Diaz's living room. It was the dead of night and not a sound could be heard in the entire home. Not even Mr. Diaz's usual snoring.
"Huh, that's weird," Marco remarked, noticing the quietness of his home. "Anyways Star, put me down, I'm fine!" Star set Marco down gently and began undoing her braided hair. Marco eased his way into the kitchen to get something to drink before heading off to bed. He opened the fridge and noticed it was surprisingly sparse. There was just a splash of milk, a little soda, a few eggs, deli meats, but not much else. Freezer told the same story, with a few pounds of ground beef in the fridge and some leftover ice cream, which turned out to be mostly empty. "Where is all of our food…?"
"Maaarcoooooo, I'm off to beeed!" Star sing-songed from the living room.
"Okay Star, g'night!" Marco hollered back. Marco checked outside, curious to find any sign of his parents. The backyard looked mostly untouched, his father's sculptures littering the edge of the fence, two lawn-chairs reclined but empty off to the side, and the patch of cacti below his window. Marco gazed up at the night sky and saw one white moon, confirming that he was on Earth. Maybe his parents really weren't home. Doesn't explain the missing food, but he'll get to that in the morning. The adrenaline of a fight with Toffee and the… event with Star started to wear off and fatigue began to set in. As he thought about it, he realized he'd not gotten a decent night of sleep since he first entered Mewni 4 days ago. His body was more tired than he realized. Yawning deeply, he stretched his arms out and turned around to head back inside. As he turned, he swore he could the moon was tinted as red as a rose. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, but the moon was its usual shade of white.
As Marco re-entered the house and trudged up the stairs, he heard a lot of noise coming from his room, most of which sounded like…voices? He knocked on his own door, which felt silly, but he didn't want to bother Star if she accidentally went into the wrong room. The door flung open and in front of him stood Queen Moon with a death leer and a grave frown on her face.
"Marco Diaz. Why don't you come in and sit down, next to Star." She uttered with a barely concealed tone of rage.