Alright so hopefully by the time I finish this chapter and upload it, it won't have been too long since my last chapter. Hopefully. Either way it is what it is. Now this is going to start off basically with Heckapoo already informing the group about the gist of what happened and what is going on with Marco but the main gritty details are up to Marco to tell. Also, he won't tell them everything from the get go. I'll include flashbacks here and there explaining people he encounters later on with the group and explaining certain events that'll happen later on. With that in mind, let's get the show on the road.

Chapter 2

"….And Marco left with Star to come back to Earth's timeline, and in doing so, his body reverted back to what it was when he had left. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for his memories. He still has all the memories he made during his time in the trial, which is more than likely what led to his mental breakdown today." Explained the remaining Heckapoo clone. During her explanation, she had shown her audience that by blowing out a clone's flame, it would cause them to dissipate from existence. This only really surprised Marco's parents and Janna, but they took it in stride considering all the other stuff they've seen Star do.

By the end of the story, both of Marco's parents were in tears at hearing that their baby boy had spent over a decade and half fighting for his life to earn a pair of fancy scissor. Janna was skeptical but still a little shaken up at the news. Star, on the other hand, seemed to take the news the hardest. She didn't realize exactly how bad Marco could have been affected by the trial until now. Her best friend spent years trying to get her scissors back and along the way had seen terrible, traumatizing things that no one should have been exposed to. She blamed herself for Marco's state of mind. How could she not have realized this sooner?

How could I have been so stupid? He was gone for 16 years! He even said so himself! And I just wrote him off as being overdramatic because for me it had only been a few minutes! How…How could I have done this to him…Marco… Tears were pouring down her cheeks as Star buried her face in her hands, trying and failing to control her sobbing.

Seeing their sorrowful states, the Heckapoo clone tried to offer some consolation in an effort to comfort them.

"Look, with some time and care, I'm sure Marco will be fine." Heckapoo stated with an awkward smile on her face. However, her attempt at comfort, did not help the situation.

"HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT! FROM WHAT YOU'VE JUST TOLD US, MY BABY BOY SPENT 16 YEARS IN ANOTHER DIMENSION! WHO KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM DURING THAT TIME?!" cried out Mrs. Diaz as she held onto her husband for support, who was not fairing much better than her at the moment.

"I know most of what happened to him during those 16 years. It is my duty to monitor those that are undergoing my challenge, so I've seen most of the things he went through. I would tell you exactly what happened to him over those years, but it is not my place to say. It is up to him to tell you about his experiences." Stated Heckapoo as she stood up from the chair and stretched her arms. She began to walk towards the portal and stopped just beside it before turning back to face them.

"Right about now, Marco should be waking up with the original Heckapoo there with him. I think…he would want you all there when he wakes up. He'll want to apologize and I'm sure he'll want to answer any questions you have for him. If you do come, please don't overwhelm him. If he asks to skip that question or if there is a topic he doesn't want to talk about, then please, let it go. He'll tell you when the time is right for him." With that said, the clone went through the portal, hoping that they would follow after her, for Marco's sake.

With her gone, the group just sat in silence for a few minutes, not knowing what they should do. Should they go see their friend/son, or should they wait for him to come to them. They didn't even know if he would want to see them or if would be safe for them if they went considering his recent outburst. After what seemed like an eternity of silence, Mr. Diaz finally broke the silence.

"I don't know if this flame woman is to be trusted, especially given what has happened to our son, but….I think she is right. We should be there for Marco when he wakes up. He needs his familia." A determined look made its way on his face as he dried his tears and dried his wife's tears and looked her in the eye. "He needs us. Let's go help our son."

"I…I'll go with you…it's my fault this happened…I owe him at least that much." It seemed as though Rafael's determination was quite infectious as Star adopted his same look of determination, but if one were to look a little deeper, you could clearly see the pain hiding just under the surface.

"I'll catch up with you guys later… Someone needs to tell Jackie about this." Stated Janna as she got up and started dialing Jackie's number. Everyone suddenly realized that Jackie hadn't seen Marco since he got back and that she knew nothing about what happened. A part of them envied her for that but knew that in just a few minutes, that innocence would be shattered. All they could do was try to be there for her once Marco tried to explain everything to her.

"Oh…I completely forgot about Jackie…How is she going to handle this? And…what does this mean for her and Marco?" asked Star as she gripped her wand tighter, continuing to blame herself for the added pain that was befalling those she cared for. This is all because of me…

"I honestly don't know how she'll handle it…but knowing her…she'll want to go see him once I tell her. Just leave the portal open for us and we'll meet up with you." With that said Janna called Jackie and told her to meet her at Marco's place immediately, it was an emergency and it had to do with Marco. While she told her that, Star, Rafael, and Angie walked through the portal to go see Marco.

Kassius Dimension

Stepping out of the portal, the three were greeted with the sight of what appeared to be the inside of a small house. It seemed to have been devoid of life for a quite a while based on the cobwebs and dust that had accumulated. Angie let out a few coughs as some dust entered her lungs. This immediately alerted Heckapoo to their presence and she popped her head out from behind a wall to their right.

"You all came…well all but one but still…thank you." She said to them with a small but genuine smile on her face as she came out from behind the wall. Instead of wearing her normal clothing, She was now wearing a pair of pajama shorts with the same color scheme as her dress and one of Marco's trade mark hoodies. Except on the front of this hoodie it clearly read 'My Flame Empress'.

"He's right over here…he's still resting, but, I can tell he's about to wake up. Also, I've taken the liberty of returning him to the body he's most comfortable in. I do have to warn you though, he's quite the looker." She said light heartedly to improve the mood as she motioned for them to come closer. As they passed the wall that had initially separated them from Heckapoo, they saw that there was a rather large bed behind it, and on that bed, was Marco Ubaldo Diaz, sound asleep. And much older than either of his parents had ever seen him.

Their eyes widened as they saw his now adult body. He had clearly taken over his father in the muscle department, which filled Rafael with quite a bit of pride, before causing both of his parents and Star to gasp as they saw all the scars covering his body. Oh Dios mio. What has our little baby gone through? What could possibly leave something like that?

I didn't even notice these the last time I saw him! Was…was he really this badly scarred? How much do I really know about you now Marco? I'm so sorry… The three of them all looked horrified and once again on the brink of tears after looking at the mature Marco. And their worst shared thought was that these were only the scars they could see. What else had he gone through?

Without warning, Heckapoo climbed into the bed with Marco and straddled him in front of everyone, causing a certain princess to blush like a tomato alongside the parents. Before anyone could say anything, Heckapoo brought her lips to his forehead, leaving a brief mark before disappearing. As she pulled away from him, his eyes began to slowly open and the first thing he saw was the only person he needed to see. A smile made its way onto his face as he saw his heart in front of him.

"Hola, mi amor." As soon as those words left his lips, Heckapoo blushed brighter than the flame on the top of her head, which had now formed the shape of a heart and was burning bright. Before she could say anything, he grabbed her arm and brought her close to him, meeting her mouth with his for a passionate kiss between lovers. She immediately melted into his kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck. After a few moments, they pulled away from each other, love clearly shining from each other's eyes.

"You won't believe the nightmare I just had. Get this, I was apparently back on Earth with my parents and friends. It was insanely real too! It's been years since I remembered their faces or voices that clearly. And well…" His face slowly shifted from contentment to one of horror as he slowly turned away from Heckapoo and looked around the room to see his family and Star standing not 5 feet away from them. "Oh fuck…it wasn't a nightmare was it?"

Back on Earth, in front of the Diaz household

Right outside of the Diaz household, it could be seen that a certain blonde skater was arriving. As soon as she made it to the driveway, she jumped off her board and headed to the door and began knocking frantically with a devastated look in her eye and tears rushing down her cheeks. Janna had called her a few minutes ago, telling her there was an emergency and that it involved Marco. She immediately assumed the worst and rushed over so fast, she didn't even grab her helmet. Instead of receiving an answer at the door, like she had expected, she heard Janna call her over from the side of the house.

"Jackie! Over here! Meet me in the back!" yelled Janna as she disappeared from the side of the house motioning for Jackie to follow her. Jackie immediately rushed after her. When she finally caught up to Janna she noticed the large orange red portal in the backyard and a few abandoned chairs nearby it.

"Janna? Where's Marco?" pleaded Jackie as she gripped onto Janna's hoody with tears in her eyes. Janna avoided her gaze and looked to the ground as she unconsciously reached for her neck. It was still red and raw from what happened.

"Jackie…He…He's alive…but…something happened to him a few days ago…and…I don't know if he's our Marco anymore…" Tears were now pouring down Janna's eyes as well as she thought about her childhood friend. How his eyes used to be filled with such joy and comfort, instead of the anger and pain she saw. "I don't know who he is anymore."

Back in the Kassius Dimension

Marco was now dressed in a robe made of some kind of dragon hide, in an effort to hide his scars from the three remnants of his past, and was grabbing a drink from the fridge. Heckapoo was humming in the kitchen as she prepared some tea for her guests. It made Marco smile hearing her angelic tunes. It reminded him of a certain morning after finishing some quests for the guild. As quickly as the smile came, it left, in favor of a more neutral facial expression. He opened is drink and took a deep swig of its contents, hoping it would help him get through this.

Clearly Heckapoo noticed his discomfort, because he could feel her send him plenty of comfort and love through the mark. His smile returned as he shook his head and gave her a thankful look. She responded with a wink and a smile. I really am the luckiest man in the multiverse aren't I?

He walked towards one of the couches they had in their living room and sat down, waiting for her to join them before he started this conversation. His parents were sitting on the couch to his left, holding hands as they stole awkward glances at him. I don't think I've ever seen them this nervous before. Granted they just found out their son is actually 30 years old and suffering from PTSD. On the couch to his right, Star was looking around the house, still with a slight blush on her face. I guess I was right. She does have a crush on me…rather she has crush on the old Marco. She'll learn soon enough he doesn't exist anymore. Hopefully she'll be able to move on.

After a few more minutes of awkward silence as Marco finished his drink, Heckapoo finished the tea and brought the platter holding the cups and pot of tea for them freely grab from and set it on the table in between all the couches. She then joined Marco on his couch by sitting on his lap and grabbing his arms and wrapping them around her. This made Marco laugh at her adorable action and Heckapoo blush, only grabbing his arms tighter.

"Alright, well I'm going to assume Heckapoo gave you a quick run down about what happened and why I am the way that I am, both physically and mentally. Correct?" He asked as he intertwined his fingers with Heckapoo's and focused on the mark to get him through this. In response, Heckapoo gripped his fingers tights, letting him know she was there. She would always be there. He received three nods in response and some questioning looks from his actions with Heckapoo.

"Ok…well, what she probably didn't tell you is exactly what happened to me during those 16 years I was gone." His body tensed up and his grip on Heckapoo tightened, but, he did not stop talking. "As you can obviously tell from the way H-Poo and I have been acting around one another, I fell for her over the years. At the beginning, she was nothing more than obstacle I needed to overcome, but as the years went by, and as we spent more time together, I found myself thinking less about the trial, and more about her and what she meant to me."

"Mijo, how could you fall in love with her? She's the one who trapped you for 16 years! Forcing you to chase after her the whole time!" Hearing them disapprove of Heckapoo was something he had expected would happen, Heckapoo didn't seem affected by it outwardly but Marco could feel that it hurt her a little bit to be reminded that, in the end, Marco suffered because of her.

"Mom…Dad…I understand how you feel, but, what you said is simply not true. If you had paid attention to what H-Poo told you, you would know that she gave me a chance to go back home. She warned me about how long it could take, and she warned me of the dangers. I still walked through that portal of my own volition. She didn't force me to do anything." He could feel her heart lighten as he defended her. A small smile made its way onto her face as she lowered her head and stared at their intertwined hands.

"You also need to understand, she believed that I had stolen those scissors from her. She is the Forger of Dimensional Scissors and is also responsible for monitoring and regulating the opening of portals throughout the Multiverse. She had no reason to believe that I would follow behind her clones after she warned me of the risks. And once I walked through that portal, there was nothing she could do. The Trial of Heckapoo had begun, and it only ends once you've earned your scissors or when you died."

Marco looked straight at his parents when he said all of this and could see how he was breaking their hearts. It broke their hearts to see him this old already when, to them, he was but a child hours ago. It broke their hearts to hear his deep Latino voice rather than his childish high pitched one. He took a deep breath before deciding to continue to break their hearts with the truth. The truth they deserved to hear.

"You all want to believe that I'm still that 14 year old 'Safe Kid' that was scared of any and all possible dangers that the world could offer. The truth is…that Marco is gone. He is gone for good. Because if I'm being honest, I don't remember that Marco. Hell! Star had to remind me of the kind of person I used to be before I left because I didn't remember him! And…I need for you all to accept that. Or at the very least I need you to understand that. I've been through hell and back. I fought in 2 wars and travelled across dimensions. I've…killed to survive and I've killed…for money. I've loved, and I've lost. I've trusted, and I've been betrayed. I've nearly died too many times to count and after all that…I was still able to find someone as spectacular and understanding as Heckapoo. She doesn't want or expect me to change. She doesn't blame me or worship me for the atrocities I've committed. She loves me for who I am now, not for who I used to be. She understands what I've had to go through better than anyone. Most important of all, she understands me. Without her, I would have lost my mind long ago. And I'm sorry you had to hear that this way…Jackie." Throughout his speech, his parents and Star listened, and felt their hearts break as he continued to describe everything he's experienced. Their eyes widened and tears fell from their eyes when they heard that he was in not just a war, but two! And their looks softened as he explained to them what Heckapoo meant to him and just how she helped him. But, when he spoke Jackie's name at the end of all of that, their heads snapped back up and they looked towards Marco, and they saw him with a sad smile on his face as he looked forward…towards the portal. They followed his gaze and gasped when they saw Jackie and Janna standing there. Jackie had her mouth covered by her hands with tears pouring down her cheeks as Janna held herself tight and sobbed silently.

"Jackie…Janna…how long have you both been there?" Asked Star with a horrified look on her face. However, it wasn't Jackie or Janna who would answer; it was Heckapoo.

"They've been there since you questioned Marco about his feelings for me. They heard everything. I'm so sorry."

Jackie didn't respond, she couldn't. She was still trying to understand why all this was happening. Just minutes ago, she was informed by one of her best friends that her boyfriend had apparently been missing for sixteen years in the span of 8 minutes and that some messed up stuff happened to him during those 16 years causing him to have a mental breakdown before being carried off by the same fire lady that trapped him for those 16 years. And now, after she and Janna followed after them into the portal, she sees Star and Marco's parents speaking to a shirtless muscular man with the fire lady sitting on his lap in a loving embrace. Before she could speak, and ask about anything that's going on, the man speaks and that's when her world came crashing down. This man, was Marco, and he had been through hell. He had seen and committed such horrors that he didn't recognize who he used to be. He admitted that he was no longer her Marco. He was a completely different person now; a completely different person with the woman that he loved. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know if she could say anything. So, she did the one thing she could do.

She ran out the front door of the house and didn't look back.

And there you go. A cliffhanger ending! What a surprise! Please note the heavy sarcasm leaking from the very words I type. So I felt as though for a story like this, this would have been the best place to leave it be for the end of a chapter. I mean, there were multiple times earlier in the chapter that I thought would be a good cliffhanger ending for the chapter, but I felt as though this ended up working the best. Hopefully, you enjoyed this. Don't forget please review and leave suggestions for what you think I should do later on in the story. I'm more than open to suggestions. Also, don't worry, Star will still end up with Tom in the end and I'll make sure there is some form of resolution for both Janna and Jackie. I just haven't fully decided on what to do with them after they accept Marco's change. Like I stated before, I'll try to update this as fast as once a week and as slow as once a month. Until next time.