It's me with another chapter.

So, we finally get to see Star's point of view on things. I actually had fun writing the chapter to be completely honest. Star was a refreshing change of pace after writing about Marco so much. It makes want to release a Star centric story.

But alas,I cannot do that, for I have already released 'Avoiding A Harem' and I have all the timeslots for my stories filled.

Anyways, enjoy the chapter.

Possible Chapter Title: 'Shut Down'

Disclaimer: Star Vs. The Forces Of Evil belongs to Daron Nefcy.

Story is mine.

Broken By Blood, Sweat, and Tears

"MARCO!"

Star rushed towards the boy. Her breathing hitched as she got closer to him. Kneeling down, she saw that he was still conscious; barely clinging on to life. She quickly pulled out a towel and covered the wound before looking all over his injured body, the biggest and the most alarming one he had was the hole on his chest. It was the size of a a stress ball. Blood slowly dripped from the hole and was slowly creating a puddle around them. She also noticed that he was having trouble with breathing, which meant he was hit in the lungs.

His body was burning. Black marks of ashes surrounded his face and body. His hair was a burnt mess and his clothes were pathetically ripped into several pieces. If he had worn his hoodie, then his black shirt would've survived. Sadly, that was not the case. She also saw his arms dripping with fresh blood as she held him in her arms.

"Marco..." A tear formed in her eyes. No! She couldn't cry now! Marco needed her. She can't afford to look weak in front of him again. He needed her to be strong, for him and herself.

"S-Star...?" He looked at her with confused eyes; as if he tried finding her. "Where are you...?"

Her heart stopped. She looked at his eyes. There wasn't anything wrong with them. But why? Why would he ask if she was there? It was obvious as day she was in front of him. She was the one who was stopping him from knocking on death's door for crying out loud! But if Marco couldn't see her up this close, then that meant his eyes were closed or that he was...

"No, it couldn't possibly be..."

"Marco...I'm right here..." A lump was forming inside her throat. "Please...Tell me where I am right now..."

If her theory was correct, then she would be able to tell that the hole in Marco's chest wasn't the only major injury that he had. A tear dropped to her face as she silently observed the boy. He was looking everywhere for her. If he had seen her carrying him, then there would be no reason to even look for her. She was there kneeling and covering his wound with a towel."Please. Tell me that I'm wrong about you..."

Her heart pounded as her fears were being confirmed by Marco...

"I...I can't see you..." Marco started to grasp empty air around him; panicking from Star's sudden silence. His breathing was slowly becoming quicker as his hands travelled to all directions except for the one she was at. More tears came out from her face. There was no point holding it in anymore. As more droplets slowly fell down her face, Marco became a lot more panicked from her lack of response. "Star!? Star!? Where are you!?"

He was blind.

Star pulled his body up and wrapped herself around him. She planted her face in his neck before finally allowing herself to break down. It was her fault that he was attacked by a monster from another dimension. It was her fault that she hadn't found him earlier. It was her fault that he was slowly bleeding to his death...

He killed himself in the last timeline...and it was her fault.

Marco must've heard her crying, since he was currently rubbing her hair and pulling her into him, whispering false lies to her. Saying how everything was okay and that there was nothing to worry about. Those white lies that was supposed to make her feel better, only filled her with rage and grief. It came to a point where Star grabbed him by the arms and pushed him away, forcing both of their eyes to meet each other.

"S-Star...?"

"STOP SAYING IT'S OKAY!" Star roared at the brunette boy, tears finally flowing down her face as grit her teeth. Her nails dug into his skin, but he was showing little to no reaction if anything. "Stop trying to make me feel better! That there's nothing wrong with you! Because the way I see it, there is something wrong with you! Are you stupid enough to think that I'm just some innocent girl who doesn't know how the world works or are you so blind that you can't see it?!"

Her heart dropped at what she practically screamed at the boy. She expected him to cry, get mad, or simply slap her. Their already strained was barely pulling through back then, but now it's getting worse. And it was her fault once again.

Before she could even say anything, she noticed Marco go quiet. His previously shocked eyes were back to being unfocused. His head was slowly tilting backwards and his hand reaching out to her. A tear can be seen from the corner of eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, but only an silent gasp was heard...

His body went slack soon after.

"Marco?" Star shook him.

No reaction.

"Marco!" Star shook him once again; much more violently than the last.

No reaction.

"Marco...please...please don't die..." She rubbed her eye with her bloody palm; trying to stop the incoming tears that was forming from the corner of her eyes.

No reaction.

"Are you gonna be fine, Star?" Jackie asked as the blonde girl sitting across from her. Ever since the brunette slipped into Star's arms, both her and Tom had already called an ambulance. All there of them had been recieving strange looks as they brought him to the E.R.; mainly Tom, but they simply ignored it. All of them were forced to wait outside as the doctors performed surgery on Marco.

Jackie saw the look on Star's face. She was depressed, which was only natural in this situation. Almost losing your significant other would take a toll on anyone for that matter. Not that she wasn't affected, but she was sure Star suffered the most out of of them. The two were closer than any highschool couple she had seen in her life. As if they had known each other beforehand.

"Yeah...I'll be fine..." She sniffed as she rubbed her red eyes. Jackie could tell she was lying, wouldn't be the first time someone lied to her. She wanted to call Star out on it, but she'd knew that with the already fragile mind that Star currently has; it'll only make things worse. So she stayed silent, for her sake.

Silence filled the air. Nothing else was apart from the cold air washing all over them. She looked around the room, trying to find something of interest. Once she laid her eyes on the weird looking boy, she had noticed something very wrong about him. He probably noticed her staring since his attention was quickly turned to her.

"Can I help you?" The boy asked.

"Yeah, what's your name?" She raised an eyebrow at his appearance. He had horns and three eyes, something that partially gave her the creeps. Tattered shirt and shorts. He had boots and eyeliner on. "And what's with the costume anyways?"

"It's Tom." He answered simply. "And it's not a costume. I'm a half-demon and Star's ex-boyfriend."

She would've been normally shocked if he didn't mention Star's name. Star was weird (in a good way) and had a magic wand, no point in questioning the things she normally did. So instead of being asking why a half-demon was currently in earth, she said something else entirely.

"Tom...Nice name." She simply complimented.

"Thanks." He smiled. "What's yours?"

"It's Jackie. Jackie Lynn Thomas." She asnwered. He seems calm for a half-demon. Before she could even continue that train of thought, the half-demon got something from his pocket and squeezed it repeatedly. "What's that?"

"Stress ball. Helps with situations like these." He gave the ball one final squeeze before it popped in his hands. "Damn it. Now I have to tell Brian to buy twenty more of these."

"I take that back." She internally thought. Okay, so he wasn't a calm person after all.

The door leading to the operation room opened, a male doctor emerging with bloody gloves on his hands. Standing up from her position, Jackie nodded her head and looked at the man. "Is Marco alright, Doc?"

The man pulled down his mask before speaking. "For now. We finally patched up the hole in his torso and his heartbeat has stabalized."

Relief spread throughout her body at the news of Marco being okay. But she knew the doctor wasn't finished yet. "And?"

The man sighed before continuing. "He's currently comatose."

"What?!" All three of them gasped. Even though Star's was a little quieter than hers and Tom's, it can be still heard.

"His respiratory system have suffered as well as his body due to second-degree burns. His lungs had burns in them, most likely the reason of his troubled breathing. His neck also showed signs of being strangled. His arms also had multiple cuts that pierced into his bones. His legs were fractured from blunt force trauma as well."

Jackie sighed after hearing everything. She knew the full story. After the hooded figure she and Marco had fought earlier in the day, they figured that they haven't done enough damage to Marco's body. And so she saw them torture the boy. She heard every grunt of pain, every scream of rage as the figure tortured Marco. She saw the figure cut into his arms as they mocked him, stomp on his legs to avoid him from escaping, and she saw him being spit on by the figure.

And they did it, all of that while laughing at the boy.

"How long 'till he wakes up?" Tom asked before standing up to the man.

"If we're talking about him waking up, then it will take two to three weeks at best; and six to eight weeks at worst. But if we're talking about his recovery, then months will have to pass until he is fully recovered. Or mostly recovered." The man stared at the teens to see if they will answer, he continued when they didn't. "He will most likey need an inhaler to help medicate his asthma. We also noted that his legs had been fractured and took it upon ourselves to put in a titanium plate inside his legs to support the healing process."

Jackie looked at the man in shock. Marco was pretty much standing at death's door at this point. All he needed was to knock and he'll finally be gone from the world, forever. Jackie knew that Star wouldn't be able to handle the news very well. She took a quick look at the blonde and noticed that she was looking at the floor, her bangs covering her face. Seeing that tears were falling from her face to the floor, she decided to confront her.

"Star..." She tried to confront her, but was stopped when she held up a hand.

"No, Jackie. I'm fine." She said without any hint of life in her voice. She turned her back on both of them and before slowly walking away. "I just...need some time alone..."

Jackie thought about going after her, but Tom must've saw what she was thinking as he looked at her with a disapproving look and a shake of his head. She sighed. It would be best to leave Star alone for the moment.

"If you may excuse me," The doctor made his presence aware by coughing. "I shall take my leave for now. Other patients are waiting for me."

"Sure thing." She bowed her head. "Thanks for the report, doc."

The man nodded before walking away, leaving the two of them in the corridor.

"So?" Jackie looked at Tom. "What do we do now? We don't know who attacked us and both Star and Marco are out for the count."

Tom sighed as he placed his hands in his pockets. "Nothing."

"Nothing? Why?"

"Without Star, the chances of finding the person who attacked you and Marco are pretty slim. For all we know they could may as well be in any of the millions of dimensions out there. And that's not including the hidden ones either."

"What about Star?" She asked. She knew that the bubbly girl wasn't okay and no doubt in mental pain more than physical.

"What about her?" Tom asked.

"Do you think she'll be able to recover after seeing Marco...dying?"

"Star isn't like that." He avoided her gaze, sighing as he looked at where Star walked off to. "She might be depressed now, but give her some space and a couple of days to get her bearings. We'll find the one responsible for hurting Marco, and we need Star's help to do just that."

"Where do we even start, anyways? You said you don't know where the assassin could be, so how do we find them?"

"I've got my suspicions, but I'm not a hundred-percent sure." Tom pulled out a couple of scissors before cutting into the air; making a portal. "I'll try to get some info a certain council that I believe is somehow connected to this entire mess of a situation. We'll convince Star to join us on a different time, I'll get back to you once I've got solid info."

Jackie nodded. It wasn't much of a plan, but it was a plan nonetheless. "Alright then. See you around."

Before she could even walk away, Tom asked her something that caught her off-guard.

"Do you know you know Star and Marco are so close with each other?"

She stared at the boy; confused. "Uhh, I guess not?"

"It's a secret. A secret only Star, Marco, and I know." Tom said mysteriously.

"What is it? The secret; I mean."

"It's not my place to say anything, only Marco and Star have the rights to reveal it to the world." He then motioned her to come closer to him. "Let me clue you in on something..."

She leaned in and waited for him to talk.

"Let's just say that - Marco rewinded the clock by the three years."

Rewinded the clock by three years? What does that even mean? But before she could even ask Tom about it, the half-demon had already left. Leaving Jackie to her own thoughts...

"Looks like I'll be going to the skatepark to clear my thoughts for tonight."

So, Tom has a bigger role in all of this. Wonder what it is?

Looks like Star and Marco are broken in their own ways. One physically and another one mentally. I know some of you might dislike the idea of Jackie taking over for now, but I promise you that Star will be the main character soon enough. She won't immediately create a plan to find the culprit of Marco's attempted assassination, she'll grieve over him like any other person would. And that's normal.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, HAPPY 20K VIEWERS AND 50K WORDS! Holy hell I did NOT expect this story to be this long! Man, it feels like yesterday when I was just posting the first chapter for the story! I just want to thank you guys for sticking with me all the way. I really love it when you guys give the story much love. Who knows, maybe this story will reach 100K words!?

Reviews are love. I'm so happy I won't even give an excuse for you to review. The review can be a compliment, complaint, suggestion, and/or criticism.

Anyways, that's all for now and I will see you in the next one.

Crazyman out.

Extras: A Romantic Secret

"It's a secret. A secret only Star, Marco, and I know." Tom said mysteriously.

"What is it? The secret; I mean."

"It's not my place to say anything, only Marco and Star have the rights to reveal it to the world." He then motioned her to come closer to him. "Let me clue you in on something..."

She leaned in and waited for him to talk.

Only for him to kiss her on the cheek.

Quickly backing away, she looked at him with a red face. "What was that for?!"

His face was equally red from embarrasment. He laughed as he scrathed the back of his head. "Sorry! You're just really preety, y'know!"

"What?!"

"Uhh...gotta go now! Bye!" He quickly jumped into the portal before it disappered. Jackie stood in silence as she processed the events in her head.

"What just happened? And why is my heart beating so quick?"