Maybe running at full speed wasn't the best choice Marco could make when his stomach was oozing blood like there was no tomorrow - though at that rate, Marco doubted there would be a tomorrow for him. Star screamed and despite his injuries, Marco found himself speeding up even more. Flipping into the air, Marco's body came raining down on a monster, kicking the purple thing straight in the face. The monster fell to the floor and Marco felt his body fall with it. Marco landed easily on the ground, unfazed by the monster's body beside him. Marco was fairly sure that monster would be out for the count for quite some time. Marco jumped up, avoiding a kick.

"Strawberry Sun Mash!" Star shouted, attempting to blast a monster off her. A sun in the shape of a strawberry shone brightly, temporarily blinding the green monster in front of her. Marco and Star both shared a grin as their eyes locked and Marco instantly knew what was coming next. Star has given herself just the opening she needed. Marco quickly spun behind another monster. The world slowed down for Marco as his eyes locked with Redturner's. The giant red monster had not moved but instead turned around to face Marco, a seemingly blank look on his face. Marco didn't have time to complement it as the world spun up again and Star screamed the words that she Marco had been waiting to hear.

"MEGA NARWHAL BLAST!" Star screeched like a banshee, as if her life depended on it - which, ironically, it did. Usually when Star used her magic it was for daily things - usually for something silly, or to help her procrastinate, or to make someone else clean something for her - or there was the daily monster attacks but they never really meant much, considering they were easily beat each time. But to say the least, it still felt weird for Marco to hear those words in an actual deadly situation. The only times that had been near deadly were the Toffee attacks - and the time Toffee had Marco abducted. Which came as a surprise considering Ludo usually forgot about and ignored Marco. That's what scared Marco the most about Toffee. Toffee made sure to not ignore Marco and managed to get to Star easily. It was without a doubt that Star cared for her friends and Toffee had used that to his advantage, and kidnapped him.

Marco could feel his anger rise but at the same time, his blood run cold. Just thinking of Toffee usually sent mixed emotions through Marco. Hatred, fear, resentment, sorrow, anger, guilt. If Marco hadn't been captured then Toffee wouldn't have been able to force Star to destroy her wand. Then Star wouldn't have lost half of her power and lost control of the wand multiple times.

'It's all my fault...' Marco thought bitterly, his eyes casting to the ground as Narwhals ambushed the monster's around him.

He was slammed into the floor, the wind knocked out of him and his pain seared in his ribs. Marco let out a groan of pain, trying to keep in his whimpers of pain.

"Now that I know, is definitely gonna leave a mark..." Marco groaned, pulling himself up.

"MARCO! Are you okay?!" Star called, immediately rushing over to him. Star crouched next to Marco, trying to help him. She pulled her hands back as she noticed the pain on his face; she didn't want to hurt him more than he was already was.

"Are you okay..?" Star asked again, unsure of what else she could say when Marco did not answer her. She wanted to use her magic to help but she knew it wouldn't do much good considering last time she had attempted to use magic to heal, she had left a never-fading emotional scar on Marco and allowed his darkness to grow.

Fun times.

"I'm fine," Marco finally said, lifting his head up. "I just needed to catch my breath."

"Are you sure?" Star asked worriedly, helping Marco up.

"I'm fine," Marco snapped, pulling his arm out of Star's grasp. Marco glared at the ground before his eyes drifted to Star's face and he saw her hurt and surprise.

"Sorry, Star. It's just... Well, we're basically in a war zone now. How could anyone possibly be okay?" Marco sighed, running his hand through his brown hair.

"No, it's fine. I understand. It was a stupid question to begin with. I just didn't know what to say so I just asked. This place isn't really a good one to have an normal conversation topic..." Star muttered, looking at the ground, then the surrounding burning crystallized buildings. Marco nodded in agreement.

"What should we do?" Star asked. Marco looked at Star before looking around.

"I'm not entirely sure. I know we should leave but I doubt I'll ever sleep again knowing I could have done something but didn't."

"Then... What should we do? We can't win this all by ourselves. And my wand... I still can't control it. I'm having trouble just maintaining control, using my normal spells are hard enough," Star's eyes drooped, staring sadly at her wand before her eyes traveled down to the floor. Marco looked at Star, guessing that she must of been feeling useless at that moment. Marco felt his guilt multiply, as he stood up and embraced Star in a hug.

Star froze for a second, her arms limp at her sides before she regained her senses, and hugged Marco back.

"Marco… I don't know what to do. I'm scared. I can't control the wand, and even if I could, what could we do? This entire dimension will fall even if we help out. We'll be able to save some lives, but that won't change the fact that so many people are going to lose their lives, or be captured. I just… Feel so useless," Star sobbed, crying into Marco's hoodie. Marco sighed and held Star tighter, allowing her to cry into his shoulder.

For those few seconds, the world around them seemed to disappear as it was just the two of them. The destruction and danger didn't exist as it was just the two of them and they were safe inside of their embrace.

As if reality was just teasing them, reality came pouring down on the two of them like a waterfall. The quick peaceful moment over, Marco spoke up.

"I know Star, I'm scared too. But even if we can only save a few lives, it's better than saving no one at all, right? Saving a few lives over none. We can at least make a difference if it helps." Star looked up from Marco's shoulder, her eyes still glittering with tears waiting to fall.

"But what can I do? The wand lost half its power but yet, I can't control it."

"You just need to regain your balance." Marco assured her, smiling softly.

"Regain my balance?" Star looked up at him, her glittering eyes full of hope and trust. For a second, Marco looked himself in the abyss that were her eyes. He quickly snapped back to horrible reality.

"You had control with the wand when it had all its power, but now half is missing and you're struggling to find that other half. Stop trying to find the missing half and focus your mind on the power you have now. Weigh out the power and find the balance the power in between." Marco explained, giving a reassuring smile that instantly gave Star more hope and the confidence that she had needed. Star stood up, smiling down at Marco and offering him her hand. Marco grinned, taking her hand and allowing himself to be pulled up. Sparks flew as the their skin connected and it was like an invisible bond pulled them together, igniting their hearts and joining their minds together to become a hypersensitive couple to each other.

"Thanks Marco. I really needed that," Star cocked her head to the side, feeling the strange bond between them. "Do you feel it too?"

"Yeah. It's kinda weird, but... I like it," Marco smiled softly before the two two turned around, both taking a battle stance in perfect sync. The two shared a grin before running into the flames, feeling each other's heartbeat and emotions through their weird, un-explainable binding bond.

Aye people. Sorry for the slow updates. I'm a master of procrastination.

Thanks for all your reviews! I'm hoping to be able to update more. I have mocks and stuff but I generally don't care. I don't really see the stress of exams. .-. You answer questions - sure, they're a little harder than in classes but it just requires a little more thinnking?

That said, I'm 70% sure I'm failing Science so RIP me.

I haven't actually clicked on drafts at all recently but I promise I'll start actually being productive and doing some actual writing. So, try not to hate me too much. XD

OH, AND FEELS. I PLAN ON ADDING A LOT FEELS, JUST AN ADVANCED WARNING AND CRAP.

Leave a review? I love reading them! Also, thanks for all your words, they really put a smile on my dead, cold body. (I'm cold blooded and my friends agree with that. XD)

Adios!

-Lilly out.

*Proceeds to jump off a cliff.*