A/N: Well, I'm still alive lol. In all seriousness, I'm sorry for taking such a long time to update any of my stories. I couldn't make time to write and concentrating was hard with work and school taking up all my time, but I'm taking a break from working which is why I'm able to update. Hopefully, you all aren't too upset with me and will like this chapter, because it gets intense and disturbing to a degree, for a good amount of it. Anyway, enough of me talking, on to the shoutouts, which you can skip if you'd like.
Gold Testament: Sorry for the delay. I can't express that enough. You'll see some of their reactions, but, well, you'll see. I did their reactions for a reason. I'm not much for dramatics lol. As for Old Guy and Baby Man, they'll get theirs soon enough. I have something planned for those two.
HKShadow714: I don't think I've seen you in my comments so welcome! Hopefully, this chapter was worth the wait too. Again, sorry for not updating sooner and thanks for the kind words.
Resurrection99: I'm glad you liked it! Hopefully, this chapter makes up for my tardiness, even if just a little.
OmegaDelta: It certainly seems that way, but was it? Oh, Baby Man and Old Guy will be punished, I promise. Marco will see to it. You'll see who the person is that helped him in this chapter.
fartedandcraped: Haha can't get enough of your name. Thanks for the kind words, glad to be doing something right.
TheAllKnower: I don't know about masterpiece, but thank you! Also, I'm well rested now.
Aldal: Thanks!
AchingHeart2011: Hope you'll love this one, and sorry for the wait, once again.
V1kingz-98: Lol I was tempted on putting that but I didn't, I don't remember why…
Guest: Thanks!
thelegendofstarco: The Kelco takes a backseat on this one sadly, but I'll keep it up in the next chapter!
DJ Rodriguez: Now where to start with you lol. I could write paragraphs replying to you, but I'm going to keep it short, this time. I loved reading your in-depth thoughts about the chapters, I really did. Feedback like that allows me to better construct the story and gives me the boosts needed to push these out, besides the need for time of course. I'm super glad you're liking my story! I hope to hear more from you soon, and I'll do my best to keep you entertained.
Macky125: Lol I'm flattered that you would do something like that. Sorry for making you stay up lol, but I must be doing something right if you are doing that. And here's the update, hope you like it. Don't be late to work though lol.
Disclaimer: I do not claim the right to Star vs. the Forces of Evil or any of the characters in the show. They belong to Disney and the show's creator, Daron Nefcy. I do, however, claim the right to the plot as well as any original characters that may appear in this fic. - Sky
After the unusual events that had just occurred in the arena of the Squire Tournament, Marco, Higgs, and the mysterious brunette made their way over to the awaiting group by the massive gate. Marco was not looking forward to explaining to them, especially Kelly and Star, about his actions but he knew they wouldn't leave it alone until he did. He noticed a bright orange dress mixed in with the group and groaned.
Hekapoo was going to overreact again, just like the last time he went 'dark'.
"Hey, if you're not feeling well, we can go drop off your friend and talk somewhere in private. You don't need to explain anything if you don't want to, Marco," said the brunette next to him.
He sighed and shook his head, "I have to explain to them what's going on with me."
"Well, are you going to tell them who I am? Because I can feel eyes on me coming from their direction."
Marco thought about it for a couple seconds as they continued to walk and turned to his companion. "I'll only tell them who you are if you want me to since I know that if I introduce you they are going to ask how I know you and so on. [Looks at her sadly] Our meeting was… well, you know already. I... also thought you died in that fire... if only I hadn't been away then maybe I could have prevented it. Y-Your father had confirmed that you were lost in the burning stables... I couldn't bring myself to look through the wreckage in fear of finding your body. I'm sorry," he said with heavy regret and sadness.
The brunette's face turned into one of dejection at the mention of that past experience. She had thought she was going to die too but, right when the flames were about to consume her, there was a blinding flash. Next thing she knew, she was waking up on the cold hard ground in some unknown forest. "I thought so too but something saved me... It must have been that weird lady that follows you around. I should thank her the next time I see her, maybe... Anyway, after I returned home, I tried looking for you but you were gone."
Marco was about to apologize to her, but she instantly perked up as if she was reminded of happy memories with the person next to her, and gave him a strong pat on the back which stopped him from following through with his plan. "I missed your kindness, Marco. You have no idea how long I've spent looking for you… I-I almost gave up if it weren't for a poster I saw in a tavern about the Squire Tournament that was being held here, in Mewni. I remembered you talking about a place called like that so I figured I'd give it one last try and [looks at him] here you are." she said with watery eyes and a smile, on the verge of full-blown tears.
Marco shot her a comforting smile and gave her a one-armed hug since she was still carrying Higgs. He patted her head and she smiled, much to his relief. "Don't worry, I won't be going anywhere without telling you first. I promise. [Glances ahead] We'll talk later."
Before she could respond, she noticed Marco stop dead in his tracks and the presence of multiple people in front of them. 'I better keep my guard up just in case things go sour,' she thought. Not even a split second after that, she noticed one of the people in the group rush Marco and she panicked.
Esperanza grabbed and restrained the individual.
"Whoa! Esperanza, let Kelly go!" Marco exclaimed while trying to keep everyone else in the group from attacking her by standing in front of her with his arms spread out. She immediately did what he asked and released 'Kelly' from her one arm choke hold... while still carrying Higgs.
Kelly stood up, trying to desperately push air into her empty lungs, and almost fell over from the lack of oxygen if it weren't for Marco catching her at the last second. Liliana took advantage of Marco being distracted and sprinted past him towards the girl who 'attacked' her daughter. She pulled her fist back and thrust it forward. She was about to make contact with her face when-
*WHACK!*
Liliana's face lost all its color as soon as Marco's face met the end of her fist. His head was tilted to the side from the force and she couldn't get a good look of his face due to it. "I-I'm so sorry Marco. I didn't-"
"WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM!?" yelled the girl beside Marco, who had laid Higgs on the ground and was now standing in front of him in a karate-fight-stance. She was about to throw a punch at a stunned Liliana when she felt a hand on her shoulder, causing her to face him.
"But, Marco, she hit-" Marco silenced her with a shake of his head, which she was not happy about. No one hurt Marco in front of her and lived to tell about it. Esperanza was about to argue with him but held back her tongue when he lifted his head and saw the look in his eyes.
"Fine," she said through gritted teeth.
Marco then turned towards Liliana and she cringed when her eyes landed on the massive bruise on his cheek. "Marco, I'm-"
"It's fine, Lily, I'll live." He sighed and looked past her towards the group, "I guess I have some explaining to do."
Hekapoo stepped forward and gave Marco a stern look. "You bet your ass you do."
Marco opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by Moon. "I think it would be best if we all took this… conversation into the throne room. We are still out in public and I don't want the citizens of Mewni to see Eclipsa unless she's willing to return to her tow-
"Nope!" said Eclipsa with a grin while keeping her eyes on Marco.
"[Sigh] I thought so." said the Queen of Mewni in a defeated tone.
Marco shook his head at the matriarch, "Sorry, Queen Moon, but I'm not going anywhere until Baby Man and Old Guy are taken care of." he said in a cold tone, surprising everyone there except for Esperanza who simply smiled at him.
"R-Right. [Ahem] River, could you send those criminals down to the dungeons?" River smiled evilly and nodded, sprinting towards the downed squires. "We'll decide what to do with them after our chat, is that okay, Marco?"
He nodded.
'I'll pay those two a little visit when I can.' he thought with a sinister grin that no one managed to see.
*Throne Room*
Everyone was now in the throne room, even a recently awoken Higgs who instantly asked Marco what happened to his face, which he dismissed in a nice manner. Kelly, after getting out of the shock of seeing him get punched in the face by her mom, made his way over to him. He was currently leaning his back against a marble pillar with his eyes closed. She also noticed the girl, who had almost caused her to pass out, sitting near Marco's feet playing with... his shoelaces?
Kelly shot a quick glare at her before stopping in front of Marco. She was going to bombard him with questions, like who the hell was the girl by his feet and what the hell had happened in the arena, but she decided against it once her eyes landed on his swollen cheek and tired expression. She would have to give her mother, no matter how scary she was, a piece of her mind when they got back home.
"M-Marco, are you okay?" she asked worriedly.
Marco hummed in response, which she interpreted as a 'yes'.
"I'm sorry for what my mom did to your face… Never thought I would say that to anyone, but yeah. I'm deeply sorry Marco. I'll make it up to y-"
Marco opened his eyes and gave her his signature lopsided-warm-smile that caused her words to catch in her throat, leaving her mouth open as she struggled in vain to get words out. 'Stupid heart! Don't beat so fast!'
"Don't worry, Kells, I'll be fine. It's just a small bruise. Oh, and tell Lily that she has nothing to worry about. I've had worse."
"[Scoffs] Damn right you have," whispered Esperanza barely loud enough for both of them to hear. Marco rolled his eyes at the comment and ruffled the girl's hair with a smile on his face, which she happily accepted without question.
"Umm, so who's the girl?" asked Kelly with a frown at the scene before her.
"Well [notices the Queen gesture to the middle of the room] you're about to find out," Marco said with shrug, then made his way towards the middle of the room, Esperanza right at his heels. The Queen, King, and princess were sitting on their thrones while everyone else was near the foot of the stairs that led up to them. Marco stopped in the middle of them and faced the royal family, almost surrounded him in a circular formation.
"Marco," said the Queen loudly to gain everyone's attention, "could you please tell us what happened down in the arena and who your… friend is?"
Marco nodded and took a deep breath, now facing everyone present. He noticed Hekapoo frowning at him, but he ignored it. "As most of you know, I took Hekapoo's Trials a… while back and during those Trials, I saw some very… bad things… Overall, it wasn't a pleasant experience but I don't regret taking part in them. When I finished the Trials I was honestly thinking of staying in Hekapoo's dimension since I assumed that everyone else in my life had moved on from me. It had been 16 years, after all. Anyway, thanks to Star, I returned to Earth but brought along something."
Marco cleared his throat, ignoring the looks of shock some of those in the group sported. He also noticed Star's happy-guilty expression, which he wasn't okay with.
She had convinced him (thanks to his love for her) to come back to his timeline and he couldn't thank her enough for it. Seeing everyone again that he thought was gone was one of the happiest moments in his life, even if he didn't have his awesome adult body. What happened before then was both out of his or her control, but he chose to follow through with the path he chose.
It wasn't her fault for that.
It was his.
"Star, don't blame yourself for what I went through. It was all me."
Star looked into his eyes and began to tear up, "B-But it was my fault you started them! If only I-"
"Star, it was my own pride that led me to take Hekapoo's Trials and I don't regret it. In fact, I should be thanking you because if it weren't for you I would have never met [gestures to Esperanza] her or other amazing people during my travels. I also wouldn't have gotten some awesome looking scissor-blade-swords." A quick memory of all the people who had helped him flashed before his eyes, bringing with it a look of longing from the earthling.
Hekapoo stepped forward and eyed him and the girl with anger-filled eyes. She took a few more steps towards Marco but was stopped by his 'adult' stare, much to her annoyance. "Marco, why don't you tell them the truth? She's the reason you're the way you are! If only you listened to me then maybe you wouldn't be so corrupted and traumatized but nooooo you had to listen to that bi-"
"ENOUGH!" yelled Marco, startling everyone, "She isn't the cause of whatever is going on with me, Hekapoo, so cool it! I've had my scars long before meeting her and it's because of her that I came out of your trials relatively sane."
"W-What do you mean by that, Marco?" asked a worried Kelly, quickly followed up by Star.
Eclipsa walked past Hekapoo, a sad smile on her face as she came closer to the teen. She eyed his hand and caught a glimpse of the crimson ring on his finger. Once she was in front of Marco, she asked if she could look at his hand, which he hesitated but obliged.
"Interesting… This ring is imbued with magic, [smiles] dark ancient magic."
As soon as those words past her lips, Queen Moon shot off from her throne and marched towards Marco. "Marco! Give me that ring, it's not safe for you!" She was within arms reach of him and tried to grab his hand but Eclipsa smacked her away. Moon opened her mouth to retort but didn't get the chance, "Moon Moon, not all dark magic is 'bad' or 'evil' you know. This [raises Marco's hand for everyone to see] is keeping whatever is affecting Marco at bay. Of course, what Marco has isn't necessarily dark magic related because I would know, trust me, all of you. [Faces the crowd] Whatever is inside of Marco will not manifest itself like it slightly did back in the arena BUT it has to stay ON. AT. ALL. TIMES." stated the Queen of Darkness in a commanding tone.
"But how is that possible?" asked Liliana, "I've never heard of such an item and wouldn't it be better if Marco abstained from doing anything that would cause his condition to worsen? We don't know what that ring is or could do to him."
"Hmmm you may be right, but the cause could be anything at this point so the question is: Are any of you willing to risk Marco's well being by taking the ring off? Because the ring is the only solid way of keeping him safe, at the moment," replied Eclipsa.
The room went silent.
"That's what I thought, so where did you get this ring Marco or should I ask your friend?" said Eclipsa with a grin.
The girl, who had surprisingly not said anything yet, smiled. She moved next to Marco and faced everyone, giving Eclipsa a smile before returning her attention to everyone else. Marco glanced at her and gave her a look that said 'watch what you say', which caused her to roll her eyes. She cleared her throat and rose her hand for everyone else to see, making their eyes go as wide as dinner plates.
She was wearing a matching ring to Marco's but it didn't have the crimson glow that he had.
"Hello everyone, my name is Ray- [Ahem]Esperanza de Arcanum, princess of the Arcanum Kingdom/dimension and next in line to the throne. I'm sure you're all wondering how I know Marco so I'm going to cut to the chase since he and I need to speak about some very important things. The sooner the better."
"You don't have to tell them how we met if you don't feel comfortable, Esperanza. I'll tell them the short version if you want-"
"No, Marco. [Takes a deep breath] I'll be fine," she replied with a reassuring smile, which he didn't buy at all. Before he could try to stop her from speaking about their encounter, she punched him in the gut hard enough to cause him to shut up but not so hard to cause him actual pain.
"Where was I? Oh yes, well this is how Marco and I met. It all started with a nice sunny day and blue skies… It all went downhill from there..."
*Flashback*
"Princess! Princess! Are you okay?!" exclaimed the coach driver.
The princess looked around slowly, trying to see through the haziness and commotion that was going on around her. It was kind of hard to get a clear grasp of her surroundings from the hot-almost sandy- ground and the blood slowly going down her forehead wasn't helping. Not waiting for a reply, the coachman picked her up and made a run for it, leaving the carriage and their belongings, along with the chaos, behind.
"W-We need to get away, your highness! Those bandits are clearly after you-" He stopped in his tracks and looked at the dazed princess in his arms, "Y-Yeah, they're after you, aren't th-they?" he said with a look of realization. Before the princess could react to what he was about to do, he dropped her on the ground with a noticeable thud and made a run for the hills.
Literally.
"Ch-Charles!" cried out the princess, "Please don't leave me alone!"
However, her cries were in vain as Charles was desperately trying to get over the patchy-green- hill. "Save yourself you spoiled brat!" yelled back the coach driver. Once he reached the top he looked down at her with disgust before running down the other side where he presumed to be safe from the bandits… boy was he wrong.
His blood-curdling scream only lasted a second before they ended, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to rise at attention. Something bad was coming towards her, and she could feel it. She slowly stood up, now having a badly injured arm to accompany her concussion thanks to the dead coachman. She glanced back and saw that her chest, full of her things, was near the carriage. If only she could get to it then maybe she could use her mirror phone to call her dad and get rescued, but she had to be f-
The loud screech of an unholy sounding animal startled her out of her thoughts. She quickly glanced towards the direction of the terrifying sound and paled.
At the top of the hill was a group of criminals, known as the Walking Coffin, some of the most notorious and cruel bandits in the known multiverse. Even the MHC couldn't deal with them due to their complex networking and connections, as far as her dad had told her. He had also told her to run as fast as possible in the opposite direction of them if she ever came across the savage group and she intended to follow his advice, now more than ever. She turned on her heels and made a sprint for her chest, noticing the dead bodies of her guards and the bandits that had attacked them laying around that weren't there a second ago, but she shook the image out of her mind.
Her focus must be on the chest.
The princess ran as fast as her slender legs could manage, not giving a single thought to anything else but her chest. It was her only way to possible salvation and she wasn't going to mess it up. She didn't want her streak of living for sixteen-years to end.
"Fuck," she said under her labored breath, now regretting not taking her father's classes and fitness advice. Luckily for her, the chest was mere yards away and a feeling of relief washed over her until she heard that ungodly screech again. For some reason, she decided to turn around and what she saw caused her to turn up her speed to its absolute limit.
The Walking Coffin members were going right towards her! They were riding on some giant lizard-horse hybrids and gaining on her somehow! Esperanza turned back towards her saving grace and opened it as soon as her knees touched the ground next to it. She desperately rummaged through her belongings, but couldn't find her mirror phone and was about to give up… but then she found it!
She flipped open the small gadget and scrolled down her contacts, now wishing she didn't know so many people. Once the digital bar landed on her father's contact information, she dialed that thing like her life depended on it because it did! There was one ring… two rings… three rings…
Then she heard her father's groggy voice, probably barely getting out of bed. "Rayla? Have you arrived at your mother's y-"
"DAD! SEND HELP! BANDITS ATTACKED US AND-"
An arrow whisked mere nanometers from her face and impaled her phone to the carriage that was shielding her from the harsh sun, effectively destroying the small gadget into many pieces. The ice-cold sensation of death washed over her quickly followed up by panic. The princess slowly and begrudgingly turned her head towards the direction that the arrow had come from and all hope of surviving died in that instance.
There were about twelve members of the Walking Coffin and their bizarre mounts right in front of her, some looting of the dead guards that were supposed to protect her. The head member of the group began to walk towards her, causing her to stand up and go into the fighting stance that her father had so meticulously ingrained into her memory albeit shakily. This action seemed to get the attention of all the members, especially the one she assumed to be the leader. It was kind of hard to tell who the leader was since they were all wearing a black cloak, face mask, vest, guards, boots... basically black everything.
The 'leader' wagged his index finger at her as if she did something she shouldn't have, which only made the tension in her body that much more intense.
"Tsk tsk, princess," said the distorted-muffled voice, "You shouldn't be looking for a fight you clearly can't win." The members snickered at their leader's comment. "All we want are the chests full of jewels inside the carriage so if you stand aside we'll let you live."
Jewels?
How did they know about her mother's jewels? Only a select few knew they were with her… She had been set up!
Rayla glanced around at the rest of the members and, even though their faces were covered, could feel their eyes undressing her. She was getting the same sensation the 'high-class' boys gave off when they looked at her.
It was sickening.
"Y-Yeah, for some reason, I-I don't believe you," said the princess with a bit of bite behind her words, trying to mask how scared she truly was, but her voice, unfortunately, cracked at the end. The leader put his hands up and shook his head, then reached into his cloak and pulled out a long-jagged dagger.
"Alright, princess, tell you what. If you can land at least one hit on me with this dagger, I'll make sure nothing bad happens to you. You have my word." he said with a bow.
Rayla eyed him suspiciously and was startled when he tossed the dagger by her feet. She slowly knelt down and examined the dagger, noticing the green flakes and scaly handle. Her eyebrows knitted at the sight.
Something wasn't right about that dagger.
She stood upright and kicked the dagger to the side, out of the reach of the members.
Out of nowhere, all the members erupted into laughter, except for the one who had tossed the dagger. Violet could tell he wasn't happy. "Hahaha, looks like someone finally saw through your poison trick Renar!" teased one of the members, followed up by the others. "This little princess has some spunk. [Chuckles] Let me have some fun with her, Renar, you had your chance."
The one known as Renar turned towards his fellow members and they instantly silenced whatever it was they were doing or planning. The air had noticeably turned icy, which was unnerving considering they were basically standing in a desert at high noon. He then turned back to Rayla and whatever resistance she had in her body vanished. The intense glare he was shooting behind the mask was almost paralyzing to the point that she was having trouble breathing.
The next few seconds went by in a blur to her.
All she saw was him slightly inch towards her, then felt the air get knocked out of her, and was now having her face viciously smothered into the ground which was making it extremely hard to regain her air.
"You think you're a smart shit, huh," said the angry voice above her, "Just for ruining my fun, I'm going to ruin something of yours." Violet felt a heavy force collide with her temple, followed by excruciating pain traveling inside her head. Then another hit… and another… and another… and another.
It was numbing.
Renar had struck her temples so many times that all she could 'see' were dark shapes and outlines, and he would have continued if it weren't for one of the members pulling him off of her, leaving her in a bloody catatonic state.
"Whoa calm down, Renar, we still need her alive if we want to get more gold out of the King of Arcanum."
Renar pulled away from him and gave the princess a hard placed kick in her stomach, causing her to wheeze out in pain before he kneeled down next to her face. He grabbed a handful of her hair and jerked her head up to face him. He smiled evilly at her, a look of lust in his crazed-covered-eyes, "Listen, here's my new proposition, just lay there and we'll have some fun with you before we kill you, then we'll track down your younger sister and do the same to her, deal?"
A renewed strength rushed through the princess at the mention of her innocent younger sister which allowed her to headbutt him square in the nose, effectively breaking it in the process. He recoiled in pain, much to his group's amusement. She reached for the suspicious dagger that she had kicked near herself, stood up shakily, and looked at the slightly hazy figure before her, now realizing that her vision was beginning to fail her.
The rest of the members realized what she was planning on doing, except for Renar who was trying to stop the bleeding in his nose, so they couldn't react in time to stop the princess from slamming the jagged blade into the leader's stomach. However, she couldn't push more than half the dagger into him since her strength was rapidly fading and the previous burst had done a number on her body. The chest piece he had on had also softened the strike for it to not be fatal.
In a matter of seconds, her upper body was showered with arrows.
She was done…
She crashed onto the ground…
She had failed in killing Renar.
"YOU DUMB WHORE!" yelled Renar furiously then kicked Violet on her already bruised stomach and side, a cold sensation now lingering on her being.
The voices around her were soon beginning to sound muffled and distorted as if time itself was slowing down. 'Huh,' she thought, 'I guess this is what it feels like when you're dying…' She blinked slowly, looking up at the beautiful blue sky and smiled. At least she would die looking at something beautiful.
She couldn't really ask for more.
Rayla wasn't the kindest person, but she wasn't mean either. She loved her family very much, and they loved her back. Her life had been full of what-ifs, always afraid to take the next step, which was why she was heading towards her mother's place. So she could teach her how to be a proper lady and marry her off because she wasn't really good for anything else, at least that's what the nobles had told her. She was also mediocre at everything she tried so the least she could do was marry some stranger to help her family and kingdom… It's funny how one thinks about such things when they are on the verge of death… when it doesn't matter anymore.
Rayla's vision was turning pitch black, no longer able to see the beautiful blue sky. She couldn't even feel the pool of blood that was surrounding her anymore, the strong iron smell of it, or Renar and some other member's hands all over her body, which was a good thing.
She was dead to everything around her.
She felt her eyes closing and took one last shaky breath, 'Guess this is it… Sorry I couldn't meet your expectations dad… take care of Rose for me.' And with that last thought, she was ready to pass on to the next li-
The rippling sound of a portal and a dragon cycle erupted throughout the air, shocking Rayla back to life long enough to faintly see the silhouette of a guy, probably not much older than her, with a decently large muscular frame pass over. He jumped off his dragon cycle, tackling the sick fucks trying to defile a dying girls body, and sent the sentient bike to distract the other members.
Rayla's head fell to the side, giving her another chance to look at the stranger who had rescued her innocence, even if it didn't matter because she was still dying… Fuck that, it still mattered. The Coffin members the guy had tackled had their heads bending in the wrong direction, and he didn't look like he was done with the notorious group. He reached into his pouch and threw a circular object at the scrambled members, causing a set of mini explosions to go off, giving him enough time to rush to a rapidly fading princess.
"Fuck… not again. I won't let you die, not like them." Rayla slowly glanced up at him, using all the strength she had left to see the face of her hero. 'What a cute scar' was the only thought she managed to conjure up before fading into the endless void.
...
Suddenly, she felt her heart get jump-started and the feeling of a metal rod exit her chest.
Her body went into shock, the darkness dissolving around her.
Rayla let out a violent gasp, air, and blood finally making its way into her lungs and system.
Before her body could do anything else, her hero opened her mouth and forced her to down two red vials, that tasted like Xu fruit (a fruit in her kingdom). She could feel the life beginning to return to her due to the unknown liquids and glanced back at her savior, giving him an eternally grateful look.
He shot her a quick smile, that turned into a stone-cold expression just as fast. His eyes were starting to turn golden, a solid form of it rapidly swirling around his pupils.
It was hypnotizing.
"Stay here. I'll take care of the rest," the man said in a deep cold tone. He stood up and faced the members who had managed to chase off his dragon cycle. They were holding sharp weapons and several were aiming their bows at him, ready to fire enchanted arrows.
"W-Wait.. wh-at's your n-name." she struggled to say before he could jump into action.
He glanced down at her and smirked, "the names Marco, at your service."
Before she could respond and give him her name, he rushed at the group, ready to kill.
It was Marco vs. nine of the Walking Coffin members and the entire thing all happened in slow motion before her eyes, which in reality was only a few minutes.
The two groups looked at each other for a split second, sizing each other up, before Marco unsheathed his obsidian flaming katana and slashed into the air, sending an arc of flames at the murderous group. All of them managed to evade it, which was exactly what Marco wanted since they were all separated now.
Marco singled out the nearest Coffin member and began his onslaught of attacks, which were too much for the murderer. Marco was using the katana as if it were an extension of himself, fluidly and with deadly precision. He was about to land the killing blow when he had to barrel-roll to the side to avoid multiple arrows that exploded on impact. He swiftly recomposed himself in a ready stance, sword in hand, off to the side, and faced the group once more.
"Who the fuck are you?!" asked one of the members.
Marco didn't reply but instead smiled as he impaled his katana into the ground and twisted the enchanted blade, causing a fiery fissure to swallow two members who were standing too close to the attack. Now, there was an infernal chasm between Marco and the Walking Coffin.
"I would love to tell all of you psychotic degenerates who I am but it won't matter [pulls sword out] because you're all going to be dead soon," said Marco with an unnerving smile.
A few of the members took a couple of steps back, confidence beginning to decrease among their rank. The second-in-command noticed this and growled. "WE ARE THE WALKING COFFIN AND NO WANNABE HERO IS GOING TO STOP US!" He unsheathed a set of daggers from his waist and rushed Marco, jumping over the chasm, thinking he was going to show the wannabe his place.
The gold in Marco's eyes was almost molten-like, giving him a crazed look. He waited for the new leader to penetrate his sphere of defense to end it all in one strike. He was going to just give them a quick death but, after seeing what they were going to do to the poor girl, he changed his mind.
These fuckers were going to pay.
No more pity.
No more mercy.
The leader was centimeters from burying his daggers into Marco's sides when a colossal force struck him square in the chest.
All went silent.
The newly appointed leader looked down at his chest shakily and noticed that Marco's fist had gone cleanly through him, and could slightly feel something squeezing his rapidly beating heart.
"Huh, so you do have a heart."
Marco crushed the heart in his hands and pushed the dead body away. He shifted his attention to the remaining soon-to-be corpses and smiled at the looks of horror on their faces. "Oh come on now, I hope I didn't scare you too bad."
Renar and Durlan, who was now dead, had been their strongest members, but that didn't mean the rest were weak.
There were seven of them left: two of which were glowing with magic, two archers, one had a claymore, another a spear, and the last one was holding a grimoire.
Marco quickly glanced at each one and frowned, 'I guess I'll have to use a small amount of that power again… Sorry old friend but I must break my promise, just for a bit.' He sheathed his sword, extinguishing the flames, and closed his eyes.
"Are you mocking us?! Kill him!" ordered the new leader.
The mages launched a torrent of flames and lighting from their hands, the archers released their arrows, and the one holding the grimoire was saying an incantation while the other two held back, for now.
Marco took a deep breath, reeled his fist back, and punched towards the combined attack that was heading his way. A sonic boom erupted from his fist, causing a stream of strong winds to collided with the attack, completely canceling the group's effort. The group that had launched the attack stare on in shock, now realizing that they weren't going to hurt this guy.
However, the weapon users were still optimistic, as well as the grimoire user.
The two warrior-types ran at Marco, weapons ready to slice through him. The incantation was now ready for use, and they knew it. The grimoire user raised his hands towards his comrades and they were engulfed in a golden glow, which boosted their movements and strength by an enormous margin.
The one using the claymore swung at Marco (which he sidestepped) and the spear user aimed at his leg, both moving at unthinkable speeds. However, Marco caught the spear between the bend of his leg and pulled the spear user towards him. He then landed an open-palmed strike on his chest, sending the Coffin member a few yards away at an alarming rate.
Marco suddenly felt the cold familiar feeling of steel against his skin, bringing his attention towards the spot. "HA! Looks like your luck is up douchebag!" The latino man had a claymore embedded into his shoulder but looked unfazed. He turned his attention at the injury and growled, taking a hold of the enchanted blade in his hand. Marco began to slowly push the large blade out of his shoulder, which the horrified Coffin member was trying to stop by putting more force into his claymore, but it proved to be doing him no favors.
"You and your group deserve the worst possible deaths… so I'm going to give them to you." snarled Marco, before pushing his body forward so the sword could pierce all the way through. He grabbed the individual's head with his free hand and held it in place so he could gaze into his eyes. The gold in Marco's eyes began to swirl and glow to an unstable degree.
The poor fool who had attacked him could do nothing but watch in horror as all his sins were reflected right back with the seething intensity of a hundred suns. He couldn't even scream out in agony fast enough before ruptures began to emerge throughout his body with golden light seeping through.
Marco sluggishly kicked the husk before him that turned into ash as soon as it hit the ground.
A gust of wind soon passed, taking the ash and all the malice it once had with it.
Marco eyed the horrified spearman on the ground and scowled. He pulled out the sword out of his shoulder with a sickening sound and began to walk towards him, dragging the bloody blade along the ground.
"Your evil… must be ended… ended… ended," he continued to drone on and on with every step. The individual on the ground snapped out of his frightened state and noticed Marco getting closer. He scrambled to his feet and began to run in the opposite direction, screaming bloody murder all the way. "STAY AWAY MONSTER!"
Marco frowned at being called that but, then again, he was always called that by the Walking Coffin members before he killed them. 'Me, a monster?...' He lifted the sword over his gushing shoulder and threw it like a spear.
It passed through the majority of the member's midsection, causing all his insides to spill on the ground, followed by the rest of his body in a pool of blood and decaying flesh.
Marco was then pelted by volleys of arrows, magic, and lightning blasts, causing dust to engulf the area.
"D-Do you think we got h-him?" weakly asked the smallest member of the bunch.
Before any of the others could respond, two hands from the dust cloud grabbed the side of his face and crushed his skull with a sickening crunch, dropping dead to the ground. A pair of golden orbs suddenly appeared inside the low-visibility dust and... set it's gaze onto the others.
The last magic user panicked and unleashed all the remaining magic possible at the hidden 'creature', managing to clear the dust cloud away and what was revealed made them wish for the dust cloud to come back.
Marco was radiating power with such a ferocious intensity that the very ground he was on was cracking from the immense pressure. His eyes landed on the foes before him and grinned, "It's time to face judgment!" He bellowed out, followed by a loud snap of his fingers.
There was a blinding flash…
Followed by ear-piercing screams of pure agony...
Then silence…
The debris began to clear and the light began to settle back to normal.
The one individual who had witnessed it all was laying on the ground trying to process the entire thing. She wasn't scared of the person in front of her, because she had noticed that he moved away from where she was so as to not involve her. There was also the fact that Marco was only directing his wrath towards the murderous group… which now appeared to have vanished entirely, which she was deeply thankful for.
She slowly stood up from the hard ground and began to make her way over to a still Marco, not even bothering to check if he was in his right state of mind. "H-Hey, are you okay?" asked the princess but didn't receive an answer. "I said are you-"
Marco suddenly lurched down and coughed out large amounts of blood, which he tried to contain by covering his mouth with little success. He fell to his knees as an unspeakable pain wracked through his body, forcing him to scream out in excruciating agony. The sudden action startled Rayla, causing her to kick Marco on the ribs, which she deeply regretted right after.
"Shit, I-I'm sorry! I-I didn't mean to hit you!"
If Marco heard her, he didn't show it and instead continued to stay hunched over in pain. Rayla noticed that he needed help so she gently placed her hand on his head, "I'll go get help just stay put." She turned around to hopefully be able to use one of the weird hybrid mounts, but a hand gripped and stopped her from doing leaving.
"I'll be f-fine. [Groans] It's just a s-side-effect from pushing myself too hard," he whispered in a hoarse tone.
'I told you to not push yourself too hard, my harbinger of justice. Shhhh, rest, for now. I'll take care of the rest.'
Marco didn't have the strength to argue with the voice and collapsed onto the ground, as blood continued to seep out of his mouth and the open wound on his shoulder. Rayla panicked at the sight before her and kneeled down next to him, trying to wake him up.
After several tugs and smacks, nothing seemed to work.
"Of course that wouldn't wake him up, he's a heavy sleeper." said a voice startling the poor girl.
"W-Who said that?!" asked Violet.
A transparent form of a woman wearing flowing robes slowly appeared before her eyes, almost giving her a heart attack. " Who the fuck are you?!"
"[Chuckles] Not much for lady-like language I take it. Anyway, I can't keep this form for long so here, take these. I think it's pretty self-explanatory and it'll help with the drawbacks." said the shimmering apparition.
"What are you- [feels something on her fingers] huh?" the princess looked down and saw a crimson ring on each hand. They looked to be plain and made from a cheap alloy but the glow coming from them told a different story. "Thanks, I guess? So who are- notices the apparition had vanished- you? Huh… I must be seeing things thanks to my concussion and the blistering heat… I hope." She looked down at the unconscious man and couldn't help but study his well-sculpted face. He had sharp features and the scar over his eye was certainly getting her attention… but right now she had to save his life!
The poor guy was bleeding out!
Rayla placed one of the magical rings on him (since the other wouldn't budge) and patted him down to try to find more of those red vials and ended up finding them inside his bag-thingy, much to her relief. She mirrored the actions he had done to her before rushing off to fight those bastards. While trying to sit him up-right, something fell out of his worn jacket that made her eyes go wide with happiness.
It was a mirror phone!
… With a unicorn sticker?
The princess quickly picked it up, ignoring the fact that she was breaching the guy's privacy but decided that using it to save his life was a good enough reason to violate such a thing. She quickly dialed her father's number (which she should have done instead of searching for it on her own phone! Dumb brunette!) and waited for the annoying ringing on the other side to end.
"RAYLA! IS THAT YOU?! ARE YOU-"
"I'm fine, dad… Mentally, emotionally, and physically scarred but fine. [Glances at Marco] I can't say the same for the guy that saved me from the Walking Coffin thugs."
"Oh heavens! Stay where you are, don't move! I'll send help, just keep the phone on so I can pinpoint your location! See you soon!" the King screamed out before ending the call to summon his personal guard and rescue party.
Rayla sighed and plopped down on the ground next to Marco. The entire weight of the situation she had found herself in moments ago had finally caught up to her and she was drained. 'I'm definitely going to have nightmares... great.' She turned to her unconscious hero and gave him a small smile of appreciation. He had saved her, there was no doubt about that. Whether that was intentional or not didn't matter because the facts were that she was very much alive, if her rapidly beating heart was any indication, and that was what ultimately mattered in the end.
She knelt down and slowly placed her hand on his dark wild hair, patting it softly.
'At least now I don't have to go to my mom's,' she thought with a happy sigh, 'fuck that place.'
"Annnnnnnd that's how Marco and I met. Pretty intense huh? My vision is still messed up though, partially blind." she said with a chuckle while waving a hand in front of her face. "After that, jumping a bit ahead, Marco and I had many adventures together but [looks over at him] I'll keep that between us for now."
Everyone in the throne room was shocked, appalled, stunned, surprised, and an array of so many other emotions that it was a sight to behold.
Marco rubbed the side of his temples, expecting them to react that way but, hopefully, they wouldn't think differently of him. After all, there was no need for him to go to such lengths anymore… The Walking Coffin had perished by his hands, with some help from Esperanza. He had made sure of that.
"M-Marco, is all of that t-true?" asked a pale Star.
He nodded but rose his hand to stop her from saying anything else.
"Star, I'm fine. Those days are behind me and I can't even use that level of power since I don't have my adult bod anymore. As for the ring, as Eclipsa said, I think it's for the best for me to keep the ring on until a safe way to help my condition shows up."
Liliana and Hekapoo exchanged quick looks between each other, as if having a silent argument, then turned to Marco. "Alright, we'll do it your way, Marco. Hekapoo and I will look for alternatives to help you so take it easy in the meantime, okay? I mean it." she said with a cold-stern tone at the end.
Marco paled and nodded rapidly, earning a smile from the scary amazon-like woman.
"I'll help too," Eclipsa chipped in, "I don't know if it's common knowledge but I am pretty good when it comes to weird magic related things," she said with a giggle.
"I will also look into this, Marco. You have my word. I can't have my daughter's friend in danger under my watch." Queen Moon stated in her regal tone.
Marco smiled at the people surrounding him who were willing to help when they clearly didn't have to. They could have just thrown him into the loony bin or worse… tried to restrain him or something. Everything seemed to finally be turning for the better for the Earth boy… until Kelly's jeal-curiosity got the better of her.
She eyed the rings on their hands and scowled, "Wait, so why is she still wearing a ring too?"
Esperanza (Rayla) shot a mischievous smirk at the bushy-haired girl, causing her eye to twitch slightly, and intertwined her fingers with Marco's to further piss her off.
"Oh, that's because I'm promised to him."
Marco eyes shot open in horror at hearing those words and quickly opened a portal with his scissors, dragging a laughing Esperanza through it before she said anything else to cause him trouble.
The portal closed just in time to avoid getting sliced in half by Kelly's giant sword.
Marco and Esperanza appeared near the Mewni River, not far from the massive body of water. He shot her a glare, which ended her laughter on the spot. "[Sighs] So, what did you want to talk about, hija?" he said with a smirk.
"I told you to stop calling me that! I hate when you call me your daughter! It doesn't even make sense!" the brunette fumed.
Marco laughed at her reaction, knowing it would piss her off. "Haha, sorry. That's payback for the joke you said in the throne room... So what' up?"
Esperanza eyed him angrily for a few seconds before it turned into one of sadness, "Marco... come back with me to Arcanum... I need you." she said with watery eyes.
Marco gave her a confused look, which she expected. "What do you mean?" he replied, "Is something wrong?"
She stared into his chocolate brown eyes (she tried to anyway) and sighed, a single tear making its way down her cheek. "It's my dad... He's sick and he doesn't have much time left... The council is getting restless about me not having a King when... he passes."
His expression morphed into a sad one at hearing the dreadful news, which turned into an angry one at hearing about the council. He walked up to and hugged her, rubbing her back as she began to sob to reassure her. "Alright, I'll go with you since I was told to take it easy. [Sighs] So when do we go?"
She looked up at his face and sniffled, "N-Now?"
He nodded and opened a portal to the kingdom he hadn't seen in years. Esperanza rushed in with tears soaking her cheeks and he decided to follow, but not before sending Kelly and Star a mirror phone message:
(Kelly) "Hey, ummm, I'm going to go help Esperanza with some family problems so I'll be gone for a few days, but I'm sure it'll be less than that for you guys due to time differences in dimensions... When I get back we'll talk about... you know, what we talked about in the forest. See you soon, Kells, keep an eye on things for me (: "
(Star) "Hey, ummm, I'm going to go help Esperanza with some family problems so I'll be gone for a few days, but I'm sure it'll be less than that for you guys due to time differences in dimensions... Star, when I get back, we'll have to talk about something I've been meaning to say to you for a while now... See you soon, Star, and please keep Glossaryck out of my socks!"
Marco closed his mirror phone and ran a hand through his hair, 'Alright, Marco, time to play the role of a King to help your friend out... What's the worst that could happ-'
The boy facepalmed.
He was thisclose to jinxing himself, something he didn't need to add to his endless drama.
A/N: Once again, sorry for taking months to update. I couldn't concentrate on writing so yeah, however, I do have good news! My Mewni's Champion story will be updated in about a week, I've already outlined the chapter so look forward to that… Lol, you people have no reason to believe me after not keeping up with my 'deadlines' but I'll do my best to keep to my word. Anyway, thanks for all the support like always and see you all next time, peaceeee!
P.S: I have some more planned for Esmeralda (Rayla). The next 'episode'/chapter should mostly be about the monster bash so yeah. Also, I've been thinking of doing an Eclipsa x Marco story but I don't want to have too many projects out… Hmm, what do y'all think? Let me know!