Episode 9: Marco's Sweet 15th Part 3
Synopsis: Star tries to throw the best birthday party for Marco, but he's feeling a bit under the weather. Will Star actually notice before its too late?
Special Thanks to my Betas:
Sabrina06
PaintedPetrichor
Credit to Kprovido for the cover art
Enjoy!
Before the party
"Come on," Star said, "there has to be something Marco will like around here."
Star dove headfirst into the pile of mish-mash accumulated in a hidden compartment in her room. In that pile, were different kinds of colognes and unlabelled bottles, mixed with the odd weapon and various items collected from her adventures. Without batting an eye, she tossed them behind her, a few items shattering into shards. She groaned as she clawed her way through the pile.
"Star, we need your help with the cake," Mrs. Diaz exclaimed, popping her head through the door.
Star pulled her head out of the mountain of stuff, inhaling deeply. "Yeah, yeah, I just need to find something, be right down."
Mrs. Diaz nodded as she turned around and left.
Star continued chucking items from the pile, each time with a heavier sigh.
Behind her, Glossaryk popped out of his spell book, ducking down as a mace flew in his direction.
"Lose your wand again, Star?" Glossaryk asked as he ducked under Star's incoming wand. "I'll take that as a no." Glossaryk walked towards the pile.
Star paid no mind to the blue, diminutive wizard.
"What are you looking for?" Glossaryk waved a hand over Star's eyes.
"A birthday gift for Marco." Star said, keeping her eyes glued to the pile. "I forgot to ask him beforehand. I know he said he didn't really want anything, but still."
Glossaryk peered towards star's wand as he placed his fingers underneath his chin. He tugged the hem of Star's dress.
Star turned to Glossaryk, to her chagrin.
"Why not just make something out of thin air with your wand?" Glossaryk asked. "It'll probably save you a lot of stress, Star. That's one of the things the wand is good for."
"Yeah, but it's not the same." Star carried on her search for a suitable gift. "A birthday gift should be something that comes from effort and exhaustion." She saw her wand lying on the ground, and went over to pick it up. "Just making an awesome gift appear out of thin air kinda makes the whole thing a bit pointless don't you think?"
Glossaryk pressed both hands together and said, "You're the boss."
Star shrugged and continued her search. A beam of light shone through a crack running down the pile. She shoved everything to the sides, revealing a miniature Star glowing in silver light. Star hopped back with a gasp. "I found something!"
"What the?" Glossaryk walked over, bending down to peer in for a closer look. "Star, that's a star shard!"
"I know, that's even better!" Star squealed. "Doesn't it grant you your one true wish, before you even know it? It's like the greatest birthday gift ever. Especially for someone as finicky as Marco."
Glossaryk kept his eyes on the star shard. "So, this is where it went. How did it get here?"
Star's lips formed a meek smile as she shrugged.
Glossaryk stared up towards Star. "Oh man, Moon and River went banana-nut crazy when this went missing. Maybe we should return it, I bet your parents would love to see it again."
"Nah, they could probably find another one." Star chuckled under her breath. "I remember that day. I couldn't walk through the castle without stepping on a guard." Star picked it up, placing it inside her bag. "I know Marco will love this."
"Really?" Glossaryk raised an eyebrow. "Is giving it to Marco as a gift really worth risking dimensional stability?"
"Of course!" Star looked over to her nightstand, finding a photo of her and Marco. In the photo, Star had her arm wrapped around Marco's waist, with her other hand posing with a sideways peace sign. Marco had his arm around her neck. Both of them smiled. "He's like, the bestest bestie ever and he deserves the bestest gift a bestie can give. And besides…"
Star stared at her own wand, clasping it tighter. "I owe him for everything."
"Meh," Glossaryk said, "whatever floats your boat, princess"
"Oh, Star!" The Diazs called from outside.
"Well, what's the point of an awesome gift without an awesome party?" Star made her way to the door. Her wand glowed alongside her. "Time to make it happen."
Now
A few people in the crowd fainted the instant Ferguson and Alfonso came in as Jackie and Janna dragged Marco along. Mr. and Mrs. Diazs' eyes widened, as both of them bellowed out screams.
"Oh sweet Mewni." Star pressed her hands against her mouth. "What happened to Marco?"
"We have no idea," Ferguson replied.
Jackie and Janna held Marco up, letting his legs drag along the ground. At this point, his entire body was swathed in a shade of purple. His clothes were drenched with a dark, viscous fluid, seeping from his pores. As soon as Star stepped forwards, a rotting stench struck her in the nose, forcing her back.
Star tensed up as soon as she looked down towards Marco's 'arm'; a deformed hybrid of a squid tentacle and his human arm.
"He's been acting weird all day," Alfonso said, "but this…" Alfonso had a hard time looking at his deformed friend. "This is just, nuts."
"Marco." Star nudged Marco on the shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me what's going on? Or did you?" She went up, looking towards the house. "Don't worry, Marco, I'll fix you right up."
Marco's eyes burst open, revealing shaking pupils. "Why fix what isn't broke, Star?" Marco tentacle arm expanded, grasping onto Star, Jackie and Janna. "I feel fantastic." 'Marco's' other arm glowed. It morphed into another tentacle/arm hybrid and grabbed any other guests it could. He pulled Star close towards him.
"What are you doing, Marco?" Star struggled to push herself off as the tentacle wrapped tighter. "This isn't you at all!"
"I know," 'Marco' replied. "I've messed with Marco's body so much, it's hard to even call me 'human'." A wry grin formed along his face. "But, I have to thank you, Star."
"For what?" Star heaved out.
"For giving me an opportunity to take over Marco's body." 'Marco' stared straight towards Star. "Do you know who I am?"
Star shook her head.
"You remember when you messed up Marco's arm, and gave him a tentacle instead? That's me." 'Marco' chuckled. "Did you really think you could get rid of me just by changing me back into a human arm?"
Jackie flailed her foot around, fighting against the tightening tentacle.
"I've stuck around for quite a while, in Marco's subconscious. If Marco hadn't grabbed a hold of that wand, there would have been no source of magic for me to grasp onto. I would've been stuck there forever." 'Marco' licked along the top of his lip as more purple saliva flowed down from his mouth. "So thank you, Star. I'll be sure to find a way to repay you."
"So all of this," Star muttered to herself, "this is all my fault."
"Hey, Star, don't look so down," 'Marco' said. "You've done a great thing. Do you know how good it feels to be free?" Something rumbled inside of 'Marco'. He pulled everyone closer to his gaping maw. "Now, I think it's time for an afternoon snack."
Star looked away from the depths as she kept trying to squirm out of 'Marco's' grasp. But it was useless. Even against her struggle, the tentacle wrapped tighter. Still, despite watching herself edge closer towards his mouth, Star kicked and screamed, defiant. The arm loosened up a bit.
In the other arm, Grandma Diaz bit his tentacle, forcing her teeth deep inside.
'Marco' screamed his lungs out, releasing everybody.
Star landed on the ground, feet first, readying her wand.
"Get back here!" Marco threw his arms out towards the crowd.
"Rapid Confetti Transform!" Star pointed her wand outwards and reformed 'Marco's' tentacles into streams of confetti.
'Marco' stopped in place, staring at his limbless stumps. He snickered.
"I don't know what you've done to Marco," Star said, aiming her wand at the deformed 'Marco'. Her shoulders hunched over, but she tried to keep herself steady despite her legs betraying her. "But one way or another, I'm getting him back."
'Marco' cackled into the air as another pair of tentacles sprouted out from the place his arms should be. "If that's what you want, you have to try harder than that."
Star grinned. "It'll be my pleasure!" Star charged forwards and fired blast after blast.
'Marco' propelled himself upwards with his tentacles, hopping into the air, letting the blasts hit the house.
The crowd of people ran off in separate directions as a shadow encroached them. 'Marco' landed on the ground with a massive thud. The ground below his feet fractured. Enraged, 'Marco' whipped his tentacles straight towards Star.
"I'm not gonna let you ruin my bestie's birthday!" Star swung her wand against 'Marco's' tentacles, shoving them aside. Still, the tentacles ravaged on, lashing out towards Star as she struggled to deflect each one.
In a brief moment, Star blasted herself back, charging her wand up. "Piranha Wave Annihilation!" A surge of piranhas rushed through the air. They latched on to 'Marco', embedding their teeth all over his body.
As more piranhas covered 'Marco', he collapsed onto the ground, screaming bloody murder.
Star aimed her wand at the piranha-covered heap. "Returnius Marcoius Normalita!" An iridescent light bathed around 'Marco'. The piranhas disappeared as Marco's skin returned to its natural shade of light-ish brown.
"Marco," Star whispered, watching his arms return to normal. She caressed the bruised and battered boy with both hands. "Are you alright?"
'Marco' opened his eyes, pupils still black. "Oh sure." Tentacles sprouted out in place of his arms and bundled Star together. "I feel fantastic."
Star kept squirming against 'Marco's' tentacles, defiant.
"Did you really think a spell like that will get rid of me?"
Behind 'Marco', Jackie and Janna sprinted towards him, brandishing lead pipes.
Two blue, translucent tentacles sprouted up from the ground. They grabbed a hold of Jackie and Janna.
Star stared at 'Marco' with trembling, watery eyes.
"Like I said"—'Marco' grinned—"I'm not exactly human anymore."
Summoning every bit of will remaining, Star pulled her hand out of his grasp. "Not for long, you aren't." Underneath, Star tossed her wand up to her free hand. A spark of electricity discharged from the top of her wand. She plunged it deep into the tentacle, letting a surge of electricity flow through it.
'Marco' twitched in the air, releasing Star. His body smouldered as he forced himself to stand back up. More blue tentacles popped out of the ground behind him.
Star sprinted forwards, wand out in front.
A wave of tentacles extended towards Star. As they emerged close to her, Star rolled to the side. The tentacles struck the piñata, bursting it open into a storm of candy confections. Her own vision clouded as the broken piñata struck the ground. Her nostrils flared with increasing intensity. She tunneled towards 'Marco'.
That piñata was supposed to be for Marco.
Star screamed as she sprinted towards him.
'Marco' wrapped both his tentacles into one, swinging it like a baseball bat.
Star knocked her wand on the tentacles off to the side and sent 'Marco' tumbling down. She slashed her wand sideways, firing a barrage of blue light towards him.
Another explosion of light blinded everyone in the vicinity. When everything cleared up, 'Marco' lay on his stomach, feet and tentacles bonded together.
Star walked over to him, priming her wand for another blast. She took each step as slowly as she could, pointing her wand towards him.
'Marco' sniggered, forcing a grin as Star moved closer to him. "Go ahead—"
Star stopped right in front of him.
"—take the shot."
Star hesitated, letting a bead of sweat run down her forehead.
"What's the matter?" 'Marco' asked. "You seemed so eager before, what's stopping you now?"
"Sh… shut up."
"Can it be, are you unwilling to kill your own bestie, as you call him? Oh, how delicious."
Star knocked him over the head with her wand. "I told you to shut up!"
Everyone gathered behind Star, watching the scene unfold in.
"Marco as you know him is gone. I got rid of him, fairly easily actually."
"No…" Star whimpered, as the hand holding the wand began to shake. "No, I'll save him, one way or another."
"Face it, Butterfly, you've only got two choices: Either you kill me now and prevent possible human annihilation. Or I set myself free while you're too distracted trying to find a 'cure' for all of this. Either way, Marco's not coming back. What will it be, Butterfly?"
Star stood there, silent, contemplating. The crowd of voices behind her didn't help.
"Don't kill him, there has to be another way!"
"End Marco's misery!"
Star pulled her hair, debating. She wanted to scream; scream as loud as she could. But her best friend needed her help. Star shut her eyes tight, in some vain attempt to make it all go away.
Star's wand glowed, forcing her eyes to burst open.
"You know what to do, Star," someone not from the crowd whispered to her.
And in that moment, an idea came to her.
Star swallowed her throat as she knelt down to Marco. "If you're not leaving Marco's mind and body"—Star pressed their heads against each other, and then held her wand next to her own head—"I'm pulling you out myself!"
Star fired a hollow beam through both of their heads.
Dark, darker, still darker yet.
"Did I do it?"
This was the first time Star had ever intruded upon someone else's mind alone. She could have sworn it wasn't ever this empty.
Star didn't have much time.
Star opened her eyes, watching something unfold in front of her.
"Congratulations, it's a healthy baby boy!" The doctor said.
The doctor wrapped an infant in a cashmere cloth, setting it down to the woman lying on the bed. A brawny, stocky man knelt beside her, cooing softly as he kept his eyes glued on his newborn son.
"Raf, he's beautiful," The woman said, keeping her newborn son cradled in her arms.
Mr. Diaz let out a soft chuckle as he caressed the top of the baby's head. "I told you Angie, keeping it a surprise was a great idea."
Mrs. Diaz gently rocked her baby back and forth, feeling her own heart melt as the baby cooed himself.
"Still, it's a shame Grandpapi Ubaldo isn't here to see this," Mr. Diaz muttered to himself. "He would've been dancing in glee right now."
"If he lasted another two days, then maybe…" Mrs. Diaz stopped herself when she noticed her husband's eyes slightly watering. "In any case, we have to pick a name for him. What do you think, Raf?"
Mr. Diaz stared up to the ceiling, thinking about it. "Are you sure you don't want to name him, Luchadore Jones?"
Mrs. Diaz groaned, shaping her lips into a frown. "We're not calling him that, Rafael."
"Awh," Mr. Diaz muttered.
"How about, Marco?" Mrs. Diaz asked.
"Yeah, Marco Diaz…" Mr. Diaz let the syllables roll out of his tongue. "Marco Ubaldo Diaz…"
Star cooed herself, feeling a warm sensation flowing through her body as she stared at baby Marco.
Something pulled her away. Star flailed her arms around, struggling to fight against it.
And then darkness.
Star drifted along for a while, passing by fading images of Marco's memories.
The day Mr. Diaz taught Marco how to ride a bike. The moment Mr. Diaz let him go, Marco fell off to the side. In a hurry, Mr. Diaz lunged towards him, cradling him while he apologized. Star snickered as Mr. Diaz squeezed Marco as hard as he could, while the boy's face turned to a darker shade of purple.
Mrs. Diaz comforting Marco after a failed attempt to win Jackie's heart. She found Marco sobbing on the stairwell. Mrs. Diaz knelt behind him, placing a sympathetic hand on his shoulder.
Their hug the first night they met each other. Star remembered that day. At that moment, she didn't even know how to react after hearing the boy who wanted nothing to do with her, change his mind at the last moment, and invited her to his home. She pounced on Marco, embracing him with every bit of gratitude embedded in her. Marco reciprocated.
Each memory flickered with static.
All of Marco's memories, the good and the bad, drifted away, breaking apart.
Star had to fix this.
Star didn't know where she was going. But she knew at some point, she'll be where she needed to be. So she closed her eyes, drifting along. She waited.
And waited.
And waited.
A tentacle wrapped around her waist, pulling her out of her stupor and pulled her deeper.
More tentacles popped out, shattering Marco's memories into shards of nothingness.
Star flailed her arms in vain, being dragged deeper and deeper.
"You're not supposed to be in here."
"Yeah, well, neither are you!" Star shouted.
"All of this, every bit of Marco's mind in my reach is my domain now. Butterfly, do you know who I am?"
Star found herself submerged in a red fluid. For a brief moment, she stood still. Then she flailed in the depths in desperation. She fought against the thick, viscous liquid pressing down on her. Reddish bubbles flowed up to the surface.
"Do you know who I am?"
Star scrawled up to the surface, choking hard. When she broke the surface, she gasped for air, coughing out the red fluids. Another tentacle wrapped around her. Again, she tried to push herself out its grasp.
"Don't fight. Just watch."
Star rose higher. From high up, she realized how massive the body of water was. A tentacle appeared out of the ocean, covering a huge portion of it.
"That's me"
More tentacles sprouted out from the ocean, rising alongside each other.
"That's everyone else. Together, we form a collective. A hive-mind so to speak. A thousand minds controlling one being"
Something swam along the surface of the ocean. One of the tentacles clasped onto it, dragging it down to the depths. Water splashed in tidal waves as something emerged from the depths.
Star raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why are you showing me this?"
"Because, I want you to understand what I am."
"Understand you?" Star raised her voice. "You're just a squid. A squid whose arm I grafted onto Marco by accident!"
"No! I'm not just a Monster Arm as you say. Listen carefully."
The tentacle released Star. She didn't feel as though she were falling, yet she couldn't feel anything beneath her. Star couldn't stand up.
"Before the universe existed, there was nothing."
Star gasped for air as she felt something constrict in her body.
"And before that, came the monsters. The kind early civilizations have come to fear."
Blackness obscured everything around her. Star sensed something furry under her hands. She moved her hands around, running it against something furry, moist and scaly in different intervals.
Star prodded something soft and wet by accident.
"Now you've done it."
It shrieked. More joined in, blaring against Star's ears. Covering her ears didn't help. She tried to crawl back, but something bit her back. It was difficult for Star to perceive her surroundings as she felt everything bite and scratch her. Star pulled out her wand and fired in all directions. The flash from each blast lit bright enough to show various grotesque eldritch abominations, all enraged.
"Get away from me, you freaks!" Star muttered.
Everything rushed towards her, grazing her arms and legs. Star tried to howl out in pain, only for the thick air to start suffocating her. She swung her wand, firing lasers in all directions.
And yet, they still came, relentless. Gnashing on her skin, tearing some of it to pieces.
Something shook below her, sending her tumbling.
Everything stopped attacking her. Their feral, guttural roars were replaced with hushed whimpers and uneasy moans.
From the darkness, Star saw the outline of something slithering up from the ground. More sprouted from the ground. One nearly impaled her, only for her to slide off to the side.
The others weren't so lucky.
Star tucked herself into the fetal position and covered her ears. She could still hear their dying moans.
Something below her opened up. Everything fell down into the ether, including her. As she plunged downwards, Star screamed. This time, nothing stopped her. Star looked up, watching the sky close like a mouth. She could barely make out the outline of a mouth full of teeth.
Star kept falling.
"I don't know if something worse created me, or if I came about through random chance. But from the moment I woke up, I could only feel one thing."
Star couldn't open her eyes.
"Hunger. An insatiable feeling that a lifetime of consumption can't satisfy. So, I kept devouring everything I've come across. Lesser creatures, planets, stars, galaxies…"
When she opened her eyes, she saw a jittery, disheveled Marco in front of her.
Marco waved his hands out in the air. "Please, help me! Please—"
A tentacle impaled him through the abdomen. He disappeared into the ether.
Star held her hands over her mouth, eyes watering.
"…even the minds of other beings."
Star backed away, shaking her wand out in front. In an instant, everything illuminated. Star looked up to see a dome of tentacles wrapped together, forming a roof over her head. Tentacles slithered by Star's feet. Panicking, she disintegrated them, letting the ash pile up on the ground. More sprouted up on the floor.
"There's nothing left for you here. By now, I've consumed every bit of Marco's mind. Go back now, or suffer."
Star let out a deep breath. "If it means saving my best friend, I'll stay inside here until I can get him back!" Star didn't have a plan when she entered deep inside Marco's mind. But she knew there was no way she could let the thing possessing Marco live on. "Even if it means spending the rest of my life in this crazy place."
More tentacles slithered, in a circle, surrounding Star. "So be it." The tentacles stretched up into the air and pounced on Star. One grabbed a hold of Star's heel.
As it pulled her away, Star morphed her wand into a sword, using it to slash the tentacle off.
"Excavalier Incinerito!" A blast of light exploded. As her vision cleared up, Star watched all the tentacles surrounding her disintegrate into ash. Some of it landed on her head, giving her hair a shade of black.
Star let out a deep breath.
And then the ash levitated into the air, reforming into the tentacles she already incinerated.
Star strafed off to the side, firing off blast after blast, doing everything she could to destroy them all.
But everything regenerated and even more tentacles popped up in front of Star.
"Like I said, in my mind, I control everything. He's not coming back."
Star shot her way through the waves of tentacles, groaning as they reformed.
"Tell me, how are you gonna bring him back?"
Gritting her teeth, Star's wand emitted a shockwave, slicing the tentacles into pieces. Above her, six orange pupils, three stacked in a column.
"You didn't even come in here with a plan, did you?"
Star kept running on nothing, side stepping the tentacles rushing towards her.
"Marco, I know you're still in here somewhere, I know you can't be completely gone just yet," Star muttered. "Don't be afraid to come out! You know who I am. I can help you, Marco. Just please, show me where you are."
Massive tendrils sprouted out from the ceiling, shattering the ground. Star kept tripping on nothing.
"I don't understand why you had to keep this a secret from me. But, that doesn't matter. I just want you back." Star started to lose her breath as more tentacles kept spawning in front of her. She almost tripped over one of the tentacles. Her legs ached, her lungs begged for air. But she couldn't leave yet.
"So please, show me where you are!"
The sound of shattering glass echoed through the ether, as Star fell.
How did that song go?
It's gonna get a lil Weird!
Gonna get a little wild!
Yeah. Yeah, that's how it went.
I'll be honest, this was only supposed to be the last part of the episode, but things happened. Sorry about that.
Also to the guest, idc1314, that said she wanted to make fanart of my fanfic, please message me when you finish some so I could take a look. I really want to see it!
Anyways, thanks for reading!