Scarlet Executioner

by bubbajack

A man can only be pushed so far before he breaks. To love, then lose, then love again only to see that love currently with another? Why its enough to drive even the greatest warrior mad with grief. Enough for them take up arms and seek an end in glorious combat. The Executioner stands ready his axe raised high... Slowburn Starco Marco x harem. Rated M for violence, depression, etc.

2. Chapter 2

The Scarlet Executioner

By: Bubbajack

Beta/Co-author: IcySnowSage

Disclaimer: We do not own Star vs, or ANYTHING else that shows up in this fic.

For continuity of this Story the Episode Princess Turdina has not occured yet.

Ch.2: Forest Green Vacation.

Three days. It had been three whole days, and not a word had come from Wicked K and in those nights the Blood Moon had gleamed overhead, like an accusing bloody eye glaring at her. During her daylight hours Star had spent them sequestered in her room, a majority of the time was used staring at her reflection in her full length pixie mirror and the longer Star stared into its reflective depths, the less she liked the look of her own reflection.

"You were so damn busy trying to change the world Star Butterfly that you broke the most important piece in your world. The piece that never gave in, never gave up, and never quit on you. Like a trusty spring in a windup watch. You broke Marco you stupid, stupid girl!" She shouted at herself tears running down her face, her cheek emblems having been set to the shape of broken hearts ever since the night at the Crucible where she saw her bestie from earth reveal his shattered heart and soul.

A knock came at her door. "Go away!" Star snapped at her would-be visitor.

"Estrella dear, might I come in?" Angie asked.

"A-Angie?! Of… Of course!" Star said immediately changing her tune. The Diaz' were currently staying at Butterfly Castle as they had no means of getting to the Crucible once Marco was able to receive visitors.

The door opened and Angie came in, holding a plate filled with sandwiches. She looked around Star's room for a moment. "It looks just like the one at home, a lot cleaner though."

"Yeah well, tidiness is something of Marco's that rubbed off on me," Star said awkwardly. She looked down in shame. 'I don't even have the right to talk to her,' Star thought to herself. 'I broke her son.'

Star couldn't even meet Angie's eyes as she asked, "Angie, do you and Rafael blame me for what happened to Marco? I… I wouldn't blame you if you did."

Angie said nothing but Star felt her weight press down on her bed beside her. After a moment, Angeline Diaz spoke pensively, "Rafael and I don't blame you Estrella no." Star began to sigh in relief before it died in her throat on Angie's next words, "But unintentionally or not, you have hurt my son very badly."

Star nodded. "I know and I'm so, so sorry for that," Star was all but begging for the woman's forgiveness. "If I could go back in time and fix it, I would but… well messing with time once was enough."

"He was always introverted," Angie carried on as if not hearing Star, "Marco kept to himself but always tried to do the right thing. I've seen my son do many things. I've seen him take ballet, I made him learn how to play the piano, I watched him grow into a fine young man as he began taking Tang Soo Do classes and became obsessed with Mackie Hand movies…" Angie looked at Star now and she had a haunted look in her usually happy brown eyes, "But never in all my years of watching Marco grow up have I ever seen my son so utterly broken Star."

"It's all my fault," Star said again while looking at her floor, "I destroy every good thing in my life. When I got the wand on my birthday, I almost set the kingdom on fire with a rainbow and then, upon meeting Marco for the first time, I did the same thing to the school roof." Star gave a harsh self-deprecating laugh. "Then, I sucked the things in his room down a blackhole and summoned a rain cloud over his head. He was smart to leave then… and I should've been smart enough to leave him alone. The mistakes just kept piling after that. Turing the football game into a warzone, giving him a tentacle arm for a week, blowing up at him after the Blood Moon Ball…"

Star paused, her face twisting into one of hate as she recalled her stained glass-self berating Marco in his hellscape of a room. She refused to call that his 'happy place'. She carried on, "Almost killing him with facial hair and getting him kidnapped by Toffee… All but sabotaging his relationship with Jackie by confessing to him before going back to Mewni," Star buried her face in her hands as she cried. "I single-handedly ruined his life!"

Star jerked slightly when she felt Angie's hand begin to pat her back comfortingly. "Estrella dear, you… you truly live up to your namesake. You are a Star, shining bright and vibrant. But do you know what a star is?"

Star looked up at Angie questioningly. "A light in the sky?"

Angie shook her head. "A ball of fire. Fire can do a lot of things Estrella, especially the sun. It can provide warmth, safety, make plants grow, and help make things… but fire can also be destructive. If mishandled, it can go out of control and blindly destroy everything around it, heedless of its actions. It'll consume everything, and leave naught but ashes in its wake."

As Star listened to Angie speak, she realized that her words paralleled herself perfectly. Star had always been passionate, driven, rebellious, headstrong, and she prided herself on being untamable, and dead set on doing things her own way. She was fire. 'And I consumed Marco whole in my blaze.'

Angie stood up and smiled at Star. "But you know what else it like fire?" When Star shook her head, Angie told her, "Love. It can make us stronger than we've ever been or will be …or burn us from the inside out, and make us wish we were dead…" Angie frowned when she said that before she smiled again, "But I find that love is like a phoenix. it can sputter and fade to embers only to burst back into a brilliant flame again if it's tended to properly."

Angle left Star with those cryptic words, and a plate full of sandwiches next to her on her bed. Taking one of them, Star bit into it, and chewed thoughtfully. It was the first thing she'd eaten in days, but she still chewed slowly and methodically as she contemplated Angie's parting words. 'A Phoenix huh?'

---

For the past four days now, Tom had been burning his room to ashes, screaming in a rage. One might think the source of his anger would be directed at Marco Diaz having confessed he was in love with his girlfriend on multiversal pixievision, but no, Tom wasn't mad about that. He was angry at himself.

"You knew! You knew they were bound together by the Blood Moon, but you just had to be selfish Lucitor!" Tom growled at the empty air berating himself. "You just couldn't try to better yourself, for yourself oh no, you had to do it to try and get back together with Star," Tom let out a depracitative laugh. "Well congrat man, it worked, and all it cost you was your best fucking friend's sanity and soul!"

A knocking came at his door and it took all of Tom's willpower not to snap at whoever it was. Counting to ten and taking deep breaths through his nose and out through his mouth just like Brian had taught him. Once he felt centered he called out a bit hoarse from all the screaming he'd been doing, "Come in."

His mother, Wrathmelinor entered her son's room, having shrunken down to a more manageable size to accomplish the feat. In her hands she had a piece of red devil's food cake and lemon soda, his favorite snack. "Sit down Thomas, we need to talk."

Tom could of course understand his mother perfectly. Abyssal came as naturally to him as English. So he nodded and sat on his bed, absentmindedly stroking Marshmallow, his pink Mewni rabbit's fur as he did so. Wrathmelinor sat down next to her distraught son and handed him his favorite treat. "Thanks mom."

Wrathmelinor nodded. "Thomas dear? Do you remember what I said when you told me you and Star were giving it another go?"

Tom swallowed his first bite of cake hard. "I do, you told me you were worried. That we'd hurt each other again..." Tom looked at his scorch mark covered floor, "But that didn't happen this time. We didn't hurt each other."

"Just someone you both cared about," Wrathmelinor spoke wisely. "Now the question is, what are you going to do about it?" Seeing her son look at her questioningly, the Queen of the Underworld continued, "Will you ignore his pain and continue dating Star regardless… Or will you do something else?"

"Mom are you suggesting I break up with Star?" Tom inquired.

"No no," his mother said, "But ask yourself, is being with her worth losing the one friend who accepted you for who you are, flaws and all, not what you have and what your station could bring them?"

Tom scowled. He didn't always used to be so angry, that was a learned response. When he was younger, he was more open and kind, he wanted to be friends with everyone in his kingdom and beyond… but time and time again, people 'befriended him' for the sake of his status and what it could get them. Once he realized that, he became closed off, suspicious and distrustful of others… wrathful. The only person he felt he could trust growing up, the only one person had accepted him in the beginning. His Starship. She was wild free and didn't care what anyone thought about her and did her own thing. It was no wonder he was drawn to her like a moth to a flame.

In hindsight, it might've been a plan of his fathers. Tom Lucitor the next King of Mewni. No more would the Lucitors have to pay such high tax imports on Mewni's corn as this was the Underworld, nothing grew here even though they were rich in precious stones, gold, and other valuable minerals commonly found beneath the earth. Yes he could most certainly see his father's hand at work now, pushing him and Star together.

They dated, but his own anger and insecurities drove them apart. He built his carriage by hand in preparation for the Blood Moon Ball, toning everything down, while also trying to get everything just perfect so that the Blood Moon might pick him and Star and bind their souls together forever…

But it didn't.

It chose her and Marco. He was furious at the time cursing him with the Naysaya curse to prevent him from asking her out. 'But they danced around their feelings for each other more than they danced at the Blood Moon Ball,' Tom thought with a little laugh, causing his mother to arch an eyebrow at him. "It's just Star and Marco are so alike yet so different it's funny. They both love each other but keep trying to ignore their feelings… Marco balances out Star's wildness with caution and she brought him out of his too cautious shell. They complete each other, like two halves of the same coin and I'm… I'm not helping," Tom admitted.

Wrathmelinor put a comforting hand on her son's arm. She had sensed as much, but knew her son had to reach this conclusion on his own. She knew he was going to hurt for a while, but eventually he would be okay. "You know, that girl Orodina looked pretty hurt by Marco's words about her perhaps you should check up on her make sure she's okay."

"Mom, seriously," Tom said flatly, " I just realized I need to break up with Star for both my and her own good. Can you at least let me do it first before you start trying to set me up with someone else?"

Wrathmelinor looked away sheepishly. "Sorry, I just want my little Tom-Tom to be happy that's all."

"Mom!" Tom complained when she used the baby name she used to call him by, "Don't call me that!"

Wrathmelinor pulled her son into a light hug. "No matter how old you get, you'll always be my little Tom-Tom understand?"

Tom returned his mother's embrace. "Yes mom… now I hate to be rude, but can you give me some time alone? I… I need to make a long overdue mirror call."

Wrathmelinor gave her son a quick squeeze before she exited only turning back to say, "By any chance will you be thinking of giving Miss Orodina a visit after? She had the air of a capable witch about her so you two would at least have some common ground."

"Mom leave!" Tom shouted with a laugh. Once she'd gone Tom turned to his compact. Flipping it open, he said, "Call Star."

The compact rang a good three times before the Princess answered she looked haggard but determination was burning in thoes cerulean sky blue eyes of hers. "Hello Thomas, I was just about to call you."

'She called me by my full name, this must be serious,' Tom thought. "Hey Starship whatever you're about to say can it wait? I got something I need to get off my chest."

Star hesitated but nodded. Tom smiled. "Thank you. Star, you are my best female friend. You showed me that despite all my flaws I'm still a good person deep down. And in doing so you made me, want to be the best me for you," Tom began. "It took Marco breaking down like that days ago to show me, that I'm trying to become a better person for all the wrong reasons," Tom became more confident and bolder, more sure of himself as he continued, "I shouldn't be trying to better myself for anyone other than myself. Like I know there are such things as wanting to be a better person for someone, but you can't just want this for someone else's sake, you also have to want it for yourself, know what I mean?"

Star gave him a small smile, her head bobbing up and down. "I do Tom."

Tom grinned happily, glad she understood where he was coming from. "Good, good that's why… that's why I'm breaking up with you Starship."

Instead of looking sad. Star just smiled wider. "Is that so?"

"Yes," Tom was sure now he was making the right decision. "I realized that, while we were good friends, we aren't that great together. I mean…. Fuck Star we were so wrapped up in each other we didn't even notice that Marco was dying inside and that we were twisting the knife in his heart! I just don't think it's healthy for us to be together if we end up hurting our best friend."

"I couldn't agree more Tom," Star replied, surprising him a little. "In fact, you all but stole the words out of my mouth. I… treated Marco like a doorstop while we dated; not a single word he said when in the arena was untrue, and the funniest part?" Star said in a sarcastic and self-deprecating tone, "Is he was still going easy on me!" Seeing Tom's questioning gaze she held up a finger and disappeared for a moment only to return holding a day planner on a certain page. "Notice anything different between these two pages here?"

Tom leaned in close to get a good look. On the left page was neat, tidy precise handwriting with little notes helpful notes written in the margins. 'That's not Star's handwriting.' Tom looked at the other page. Everything was chaotically written there were overly large letters hearts over all of of the 'I's' and little doodles all over the place. "The second page is definitely you, the first page isn't… Marco?" Tom hazard to guess?

Star grimace confirmed his suspicions. "Yes, I was so wrapped up in trying to be a better princess and being with you that I didn't even realize he was keeping track of everything and I mean literally everything for me! I mean seriously, I've been so distracted I didn't even realize I hardly wrote in this thing myself since I got it!" As if to prove a point, Star rolled back through the day planner showing page after page after page of Marco's flawless writing showing just how thoroughly and thankelessly he had her back.

"Wow… Star you…" Tom didn't know how to put this delicately.

"It's a good thing I'm already royalty because I royally fucked up," Star finished for him.

Tom cringed but gave a meek nod. "Yes, that exactly."

Star shook her head, "You've only seen the tip of the iceberg," Once again Star disappeared and came back holding a crate of potions. "Know what these are?"

All three of Tom's eyes widened. "Are those stamina potions?"

"They are, we found a crate full under Marco's bed… I've been sleep portaling and since Marco was my squire I tasked him with keeping an eye on me while I slept making sure I didn't get into any trouble."

"But if he was watching you sleep and then with you all the time then when did he… oh… oh sweet darkness Star," Tom said horrified. "How long has this been going on?"

"About a month now?" Star admitted shamefaced.

"He's been taking stamina potions for almost a month straight?!" Tom shouted. "You do know how bad they are for you right? They're only handed out to knights on emergency marches to get to battlefields when troops are in dire need of backup. For him to be taking them for a month… Ash below… "Tom swore. "He's likely been suffering from side effects for weeks! Insomnia, mania, lethargy, depression, which he likely already had, mood swings, increased stress levels…"

"I KNOW!" Star screamed into her mirror. "I didn't bother to think about MarcoI I was too afraid of covering my own ass! I was terrified of letting anyone, especially my mother or the MHC know because I figured if they found out, I'd end up in crystal just like Eclipsa!" Star looked down as tears fell from her eyes. "I got scared and it was Marco who paid the price. He covered for me, just like he always does."

"Star," Tom said trying to calm her down, to no avail as it was clear this had been bubbling within the princess for awhile.

"He just… he doesn't deserve this! I torpedoed his relationship with Jackie you know? I told him I had a crush on him in front of everyone, Jackie included before I left for Mewni. To be fair, I didn't think I'd be coming back, but I stupidly forgot Marco fought tooth and nail for sixteen years in Hekapoo's dimension to get me another pair of Dimensional Scissors! Of course he wasn't just going to let it go at that!" As the blonde princess raved, she paced back and forth in front of her mirror. Tom thought it was like looking into a mirror seeing his Starship rant and rave like this. "Then he has to watch me die…"

"Wait, wait, wait! You died?" Tom interrupted, shocked. He'd never heard about this at all.

"Kinda sorta." Star admitted. "When the magic almost got completely destroyed, I ended up in this weird limbo place with Glossaryck and then I dipped way down and saved it all and myself," Star frowned sadly, "Mom told me later that Marco had punched through Toffee."

"Isn't it like, super hard to punch through a Septarian?" Tom asked, "Like don't you like, need to have strength on the level of a Solarian Warrior to do that?"

A look of shock entered Star's eyes. "I think you may be right… and then he got smacked into a brick wall and he was fine moments later… What… what's going on with Marco?"

"Bigger question is, why didn't any of us see it before?" Tom asked.

Star scoffed. "That should be obvious. We weren't looking at him, we were too busy with each other."

Tom looked down at his burnmark pocked floor. "Yeah… so what're you going to do now?"

Star sighed. "I don't know. Like if I tell him we broke up he's gonna think I did it out of pity for him… but that's not why I'm doing this… truth is Tom I've loved Marco ever since I saved him from Toffee. I sacrificed my wand for him. I didn't even need to think about it, because… because there was nothing to think about," Star shook her head and shuddered a bit. "A world without Marco in it, without him by my side, isn't a world I want to be in."

"Is that why you made him your squire and took him everywhere with you? Even on a lot of our dates?" Tom asked.

"Yess!" Star admitted in shame.

Tom gently chided. "You realize you probably made him feel like a third wheel right?"

Star closed her eyes in regret. Truly hindsight was twenty-twenty. "I know, but Marco hasn't seen a lot of the multiverse like we have. I thought he would've enjoyed seeing some new sights at the time… there has to be some way to prove to him I'm being genuine."

Tom rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Right now Star, I think the best thing we can do is give Marco the space and time he needs to heal."

"If we want to change the world, first, we must change ourselves," Star echoed Wicked K's words from the previous night. "Maybe you're right Tom. Maybe I should just give Marco his space no matter how badly I want to do something to make him feel better. I mean seriously, my first instinct is to take him in my arms and squeeze him until all his pain is gone."

Tom shrugged. "Sometimes doing nothing, is the best thing you can do Starship."

Star dropped her head in defeat both looking and sounding sullen. "Yeah. I guess… I'm gonna go Tom, you've… given me a lot to think about."

The demon prince understood. Everyone who had been at Crucible Arena likely had a lot on their mind's these days. "Seeya Star."

---

"You… Are… A… Terrible… Friend… Janna… Ordonia!" Janna said over and over as she swung a rusted metal pipe against a beat up old refrigerator over and over again, venting her rage. She'd been coming to the local dump for years collecting weird nicknacks and stuff, and this was the first time she was venting like this. She'd been at it for the past five days now. Seagulls cried overhead as metal clanged off metal. Her arms were hot and felt like wet noodles as she glared at her own reflection in half rusted appliance. "You can't even be a half decent person to the one guy willing to put up with you!"

The pipe hit the fridge again and the girl huffed ragged breaths. "You suck as a friend that much is obvious."

"Aren't you being a little too hard on yourself?" A familiar voice asked from behind her.

Janna turned and glared. "What do you want Tommy?"

Tom was leaning against a pile of junked cars, hands in his pockets, he shrugged. "Nothing, I just figured after… that night…" She didn't need him to say what night, she knew exactly what night he meant. "That none of us should be alone."

Janna scoffed. "I'm not suicidal triclops."

"First off, hurtful, secondly, I never said you were, I just thought you might like some company. It kinda sucks being alone at times like this."

Janna looked away. "Do what you want I guess."

"Cool," Tom chucked a fireball at a warped chunk of sheet metal scorching it. Janna looked back at him with a questioning gaze. "What, you're not the only one dealing with anger issues at the moment you know?"

Janna smiled a bit as she took another whack at what she had mentally dubbed as 'her fridge' As she did so she felt her anger rising as she asked herself. "Was I just an annoyance to you Marco? Did you ever at all consider me a friend or just this pest you needed to put up with?!"

Tom cast more fireballs at the sheetmetal. "Why didn't you tell me how you were feeling bro? I thought we were close? I would've understood! You and Star have been through a helluva lot together! I mean, shit man you practically watched her die! Then you went without sleep for weeks for her sake! Who does that unless they got it bad?!"

"He watched Star die?" Janna asked.

"In the final fight with Toffee, kinda sorta…" Tom wasn't exactly sure how to explain.

Janna quirked an eyebrow. "It's complicated?"

Thankful for the out, Tom sighed in relief. "It is."

Janna pinched the bridge of her nose, "And on top of that, he hasn't been sleeping?"

Tom shook his head, when he explained how he'd been taking fatigue potions and what their long term side effects can do, Janna started smacking her fridge all the harder. "Do you have any idea what you just described?" When Tom shook his head, Janna elaborated, "Someone who likely has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and is now coping using the magical equivalent of cocaine."

"I don't know what either of those things are," Tom admitted awkwardly.

Janna sighed. "Have you ever seen a warrior come back from battle just wrong? Like it just messed them up in the head?"

Understanding shined in all three of his eyes. "You're talking about warrior fatigue."

Janna shrugged. "Yeah whatever you wanna call it, I don't really have a thing to compare cocaine to, it's just a really addictive drug that can fuck you up if you take it."

Tom grimaced. "Sounds like Pixie Dust."

"Pixie Dust, don't pixies run the magical mirror network?"

"The ones who work under their queen do," Tom affirmed. "The ones who live outside the law, sell their magical dust as a powerful and extremely addictive aphrodisiac."

Janna put her back to her fridge and slowly sunk to the ground. "Then on top of all this, he spent sixteen years and got up to who knows how much trouble in that Hekapoo chick's dimension. Meaning he should mentally be in his thirties with the body of an adult, and he's stuck in the body of a sixteen year old."

Tom hissed through his teeth, "Wow when you lay it all out like that, Marco's probably…"

"Really fucked up in the head?" Janna retorted, nodding vigorously, "Yeah, probably! And the one thing that kept him going through all of that shit was Star. Then he watched her die!"

It was sinking in now for Tom, how bad things were for Marco. "We fucked up."

"What, you mean when you flaunted your relationship with basically the reason he had for living? That being Star? Yeah totally," Janna agreed. Before Tom could snap out an angry retort Janna continued, "Get in line though. I fucked up by never treating him like a real friend. Star fucked up by finally telling him how she felt and then leaving him, and then not expecting him to come after her only to die in front of him. As for Jackie… well she kinda fucked up by letting him think he was a bad boyfriend."

Tom watched Janna pull her knees up to her chin. "We all played our part in breaking Marco. We all fucked him up, in our own way."

Janna hid her face in her knees so Tom wouldn't see her cry. She didn't react when she felt him sit down next to her or when he put an arm around her. The two just sat there. Tom watching the sun sink down behind the dunes of garbage. 'It's fitting,' he thought, 'Sunset in a junkyard… with the way we're both feeling right now, it suits the two of us.'

---

Eclipsa was beginning to get dreadfully worried about the boy she considered her surrogate son. She watched his match on Star's Pixie Mirror and she heard his declaration of desired death. It made her tear up. To think that poor sweet innocent Marco was so hollow on the inside. 'Well he's 'mostly innocent' if that folder he has on his Kom-put-tor Krum-putr? How does one properly pronounce it?' Eclipsa asked herself, 'Is any kind of indication. Still the poor boy is suffering. I haven't seen him in days, and I can't just pop in and ask what's going on. I'm 'supposed' to be a prisoner after all.' The Queen of Darkness paced around her room turned prison cell. Finally she stopped, declaring, "Oh, Pegasus Feathers! Moon can berate me if she wants to, I'm far too concerned about Marco to care at this point," So thinking, Eclipsa went to the painting of her father, Alphonse the Worthy and asked, "Would you be so kind as to help me out daddy?"

In response, the painting winked at her before swinging wide open, revealing a secret passage out of her room.

Eclipsa walked down the passage, poking her eyes out through other paintings every now and again hoping to find Moon or even better, Star. Yet she found two people she didn't expect…

Marco's parents. Or, so she assumed as they looked much like the dear boy himself. They looked positively haggard, the father's hair was a mess, his eyes red, puffy from crying and also bloodshot from lack of sleep. Marco's mother looked like she fared little better with black circles under her eyes and she seemed so downtrodden it practically broke Eclipsa's heart to see them like this.

"What are we going to do Rafael?" Angie asked her husband. "When we get Marco back? Do we take him home, get him help, and forbid him from coming to Mewni again?"

Rafael opened his mouth angrily, likely about to give a passion filled yes, only to stop and close it. "The part of me that is a father wants to do exactly that Angelina… but I know our son. There would be no tying him down if we tried. He's… he's a lot like his abulo."

"Your father? The bull rider?" Angie mused. "Forgive me but I just don't see it."

Rafael laughed. "Just like you can't stop the cowboy from chasing the rodeo, you can't keep Mijo away from Estrella. She is his destiny."

Angie smiled despite being so clearly exhausted. "I think so too."

Rafael continued. "But she's also like a bucking bull, and keeps trying to throw him."

Angie swatted at her husband. "Rafael, be nice!"

The man rubbed the back of his head, "You know what I mean dear. Those two just need to sit down, talk, and stop dancing around the issue."

"I must say I quite agree," Eclipsa said.

"EEEK! What was that? A ghost?!" Rafael asked.

Pushing the painting outwards, Eclipsa stepped out from her hiding place. "Hello, sorry for the eavesdropping… well actually when you think about it, I wasn't really eavesdropping because I wasn't out on the eaves… would 'painting dropping' be more apt perhaps?"

"Who are you?" Rafael asked.

Eclipsa covered her mouth with one hand in embarrassment. "Oh terribly sorry, I get lost in my thoughts sometimes. I'm Eclipsa Butterfly, pleasure to make your acquaintance," She offered a hand which Rafael and Angie shook.

"Rafael Diaz and my wife Angeline."

Eclipsa clapped her hands happily. "Oh so I was right! You are dearest Marco's parents then."

Angie gave a hesitant nod. This woman though a tad strange seemed nice enough and seemed to be related to Star if her last name was any indication. "Yes, how do you know our son?"

"Oh Marco is such a dear sweet boy!" Eclipsa praised. "After I was frozen in crystal for three hundred years he would take it upon himself to bring me history books whenever he brought me food so I could get caught up on the last three centuries of time."

Angie smiled. That sounded like the Marco she knew. "That's my boy… why were you frozen, if I may ask?"

For the first time since meeting her, Eclipsa's perpetual smile fell from her face. "I simply… fell in love with the wrong person… and my people did not approve. They locked me away for that."

"Oh, how dreadful," Rafael said, more tears gathering in his eyes.

Eclipsa nodded. "Yes, but Marco the sweet precious lovable boy that he is has been trying very hard to help me transition to this new world I find myself in. He even went to Earth and bought me a solar powered television. I've become somewhat addicted to those Novellas."

"Sounds like Star might have some competition," Rafael joked.

Eclipsa flushed, "Oh don't be silly, I'm old enough to be his mother! Besides, I see him as something of a son or nephew perhaps."

"Aww," Both Diaz parents said, "Welcome to the family Eclipsa." They cheered having little to be happy about these past few days.

"Bring it in, group hug," Rafael insisted.

"Thank you for the warm welcome, would that my own family be as welcoming but aside from Star, but that isn't the case."

"And we have a very good reason for that." Moon's stern voice came from the doorway.

"Well as they say on Earth, speak of the devil and she appears," Eclipsa's smile never wavered but her tone became sharp.

Moon quirked an eyebrow, "The devil, that's funny coming from you of all people, 'Queen of Darkness'. Now, what are you doing out of your room?"

Eclipsa gave a little shrug. "Oh you know, stretching my legs, getting some fresh air, wondering what in Corn and Pegasus Feathers has happened to my nephew, nothing much."

"I'm honestly surprised she even knows what the devil is," Rafael muttered to his wife as they watched the two queens verbally spar.

"I took the liberty of learning about your religion when I found out my daughter was staying with you Rafael. Nothing personal, but I like to know who my daughter is with in all facets," Moon replied, not taking her eyes off of Eclipsa.

"None taken."

Suddenly the room was flooded with Mewman knights all of whom had blades bared at Eclipsa, who just kept smiling. "My, my all this for lil ole' me? I feel honored, Moon."

Moon narrowed her eyes. "I'm not sure how you left your room Eclipsa, but now you have a choice. You can either go back to it, or the dungeons. Which would you prefer?" Moon asked coldly.

"I can't do either right this moment if I'm being entirely honest Moon dear," Eclipsa replied casually.

Moon quirked an eyebrow. "And why are you making it sound like you have a choice?"

"It's not so much a choice as it is a contractual obligation… a magical contractual obligation. One I made with Marco before he left. I would watch his Laser Puppies for him and in return, until he returned, I could use that simply marvelous com-putter of his."

"His computer?" Rafael asked.

"Ah, so that's how you say it!" Eclipsa said happily. "Yes, in return for taking care of his puppies feeding, walking, and the like, I can use that lovely machine of his. That was our bargain."

Moon was unconvinced. "Nice try Eclipsa, but like you told me, magical pacts can only be created and upheld by magical royalty."

Eclipsa nodded, her smile getting just a little bit bigger upon her face. "Oh yes that's absolutely correct Moon dear. Only magical royalty can create such pacts."

Moon finally understood just what Eclipsa was hinting at. Seeing the look of comprehension dawning in the ruling queen's eyes, Eclipsa chuckled. "Finally dawned on you has it?"

"What… just what is Marco?" Moon seemed to ask herself.

Eclipsa shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine Moon. But whatever he may be, he has my full and undivided support no matter what he chooses to do," She walked past Moon and stopped to add, " After all, what kind of Aunt would I be if I didn't support my nephew?"

"Where are you going?" Moon said, suddenly feeling very tired.

Eclipsa replied as she kept walking "I think it's about time I took the Laser Puppies for a walk. Then maybe I'll play that Civilization V on his computer. I owe Gandhi a thrashing from the other day… Oh, and do keep me informed about Marco won't you? It's not very nice making me worry like this."

"Follow her," Moon wearily ordered her knights, who silently trailed in Eclipsa's wake.

"Moon, is everything alright?" Angie asked the ruling monarch.

The Queen didn't answer at first, she was too wrapped up in her thoughts. When she finally did reply it was in a clearly distracted tone. "Yes, yes everything is fine Angie. If you'll please excuse me."

The queen raced off to the royal archives there was something she needed to check. She thought it was a fluke or due to a burst of adrenaline at the time, but Marco had punched through Toffee when he thought Star was… Moon shook her head banishing that dreadful thought before it could fully coalesce in her mind. 'Then he got right back up after he got smacked into a wall.'

After seeing him use Will Magic there were few things Marco could be related to… and the most likely one filled her with dread. Moon honestly hoped she was wrong because if she wasn't…

She may just have to put a bounty out on Marco's head… something she was loath to do as a person, but as a queen, for the good of her people, she may have no choice.

---

"Existential War Cry!" Jorby, a purple and striped tigerlike monster with frilled ears roared his body drenched with sweat as he charged his best friend Kelly Wootz. The little Woolet was fighting like a tempest today and had been for the past six days. "Kelly you think maybe we could...I dunno… talk about why you're so upset?"

"I… am I not a good person or something Jorby? Do I come off as ugly, maybe unlovable or something?" Kelly asked as she dropped her family's ancestral sword, Shear, into the dirt, her hands having gone numb long ago and it was only rage and sheer force of will keeping her going.

"No, Kel no," Jorby curled around his dear friend as she shrinked in on herself. "Why on Woolandia would you think that?"

Kelly fixed her glasses on her nose before she replied. "Well, I kept having that on again off again relationship with Tad."

"Fuck Tad… he's an asshole, worse of all he's a hippie asshole," Jorby crooned in a sweet understanding tone.

Kelly nodded. "He's needy. Then… then there's Marco."

"The arena champ?" Jorby said. "What about him?"

Kelly dug small trenches in the dirt with the point of her family blade. "Do you think I'd have a shot with him if I asked him out?"

Jorby smiled encouragingly. "Course you would Kel. You heard the guy himself. He called you the cutest Woolet he knew."

Kelly gave an awkward little laugh. "He did say that, didn't he?"

Jorby kept encouraging this line of thinking, anyone was better than Tad in his opinion. "Yep and you know he's got moves being the Arena Champ and all."

Kelly nodded. "True, my people value martial prowess above all… dad probably wouldn't let me date just anyone. The only reason he let me date Tad at all is because he beat him at thumb wrestling."

"The weakest kind of fighting," Jorby replied. "Now Marco, that guy could probably take on all of Woolandia by himself and come out unscathed."

Kelly laughed, something she hadn't done in almost a week. "Yeah if what he showed the other night was any indication, he totally could."

The purple tiger commented. "Yeah but… How are you gonna talk to him? I mean, he is the Arena Champion. Chances are he's likely pretty busy. Like, if he's not fighting, he's training for a fight."

Kelly winced at that. She had a feeling Marco was still in that faux-chapel suffering verbal, and mental abuse. 'Jorby's right though, Marco is somebody now. I can't just go up and talk to him whenever, can I?'

Suddenly a portal opened up a few meters in front of the duo and Wicked K himself, the King of the Crucible stepped out of it. "Well now, I do declare, what's this I do hear about someone wantin' to join the ranks of my esteemed gladiators?"

"OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! IT'S WICKED K!" Jorby proceeded to fanboy… all the while sounding like a squealing fangirl.

"Greetings and salutations Kelly Wootz and Jorby Khan."

"You know my name?!" The two said at the same time, one with surprise, the other with geeky glee.

The ghoulish looking man tipped his tophat as he took a puff off his cigarillo. "I do indeed. Wicked K always keeps his eyes sharp and ears to the ground for prospective new fighta's. An' child, lemme tell ya, when the Arena Champion himself has nothin' but good to say about cha,well, that piques my interest."

Kelly looked at the ground and smiled. "Thank you sir, but do you really think I'm good enough to fight in your arena?"

"That Ah do ma dear, that Ah do. Now you listen to Ole Wicked K here," He said sharply getting her attention. "If the Got Damn Arena Champion says yer a good enough sparin' partner, then by Gov, I say you got what it takes luv."

Kelly smiled and blushed. "Marco," Her tone was both flattered but also embarrassed he'd speak so highly of her to someone like Wicked K..

Wicked K gave a stiff jerk of his head. "The very damn same luv. Now, are you gonna let his praise and belief in you be for naught?"

"I'll do it!" Kelly declared.

Wicked K grinned. "Capital!"

The Woolet continued, "But... only on the condition that Jorby fights with me in at least some of my matches. We're a team."

Wicked K clapped his hands together. "We have a tag team division so that isn't a problem at all."

Jorby looked at Kelly questioningly. "Are you sure about this Kel?"

Kelly turned to her friend and smiled. "There isn't any other person I'd rather have fight by my side Jorby," Kelly told him, "Besides this'll fasttrack you for Gandy's wedding ring."

The tiger chuckled. "Now we both know that's not true," Kelly blushed and looked away, prompting Jorby to continue, "But you're right about the wedding ring. Okay, I'm in!"

Wicked K clapped his hands and grinned. "Fantastic! You two'll be a hit on the Tag Team circuit, I can feel it already." Then reached forward, his arm disappearing into Kelly's hair while saying, "There is just one minor thing we need to take care of before we can proceed."

Wicked K withdrew his arm with a terrified Tad of all people clutched in his talons. "We need to get rid of this excess baggage. After all, two verses one is unfair."

"Tad what the hell?!" Kelly said, using some course language she'd learned from Marco. "I thought you moved out?"

"Well excuse me for having trouble finding a place," Tad complained.

Wicked K turned the male Woolet toward him and gave him a grin that didn't reach his eyes. "Let me be perfectly clear lad. If I find you've snuck your way into the lady's hair again… well I'm usually a gentleman… but in your case, I'd be willing to make an exception. Savvy?"

Tad nodded mutely, too scared to speak.

"Excellent, off you go then, chop-chop," Wicked K said as he released Tad from his grasp, and Tad flew away as quickly as he could.

With that done the ghoulish entity pulled out a sheaf of paper and unrolled it. "Now then, as to your terms for fighting in my Crucible. Name it. What would you like, do you have a dream, a desire, a wish you want fulfilled? I am a gentleman and a fair one you'll find."

Kelly and Jorby looked at each other. "Well Jorby here is trying to get enough coin together so he can buy a ring to propose to his lady Gandy."

Wicked K nodded. "A ring can be easily attained. Money for gladiator is like wine, it's always flowing. Heck we can have your wedding on Paradisa if you like?"

Jorby's jaw dropped. Paradisa was like every wedding couple's dream wedding location. It was a dimension full of beaches and resorts, the sky was always sunny, and only the richest people could afford to even go there. Marco once told Kelly about a similar place on Earth in his country. It had a hard to pronounce name, Hi-why-ee, she believed it was.

"You… you're serious?" Jorby asked.

"Certainly… and why not a two week honeymoon for you and the misses while we're at it eh?" Wicked K said with a grin.

"Deal!" Jorby said happily.

"Excellent, excellent! You're gonna have a grand ole time, I guarantee!" Wicked K said with a wink. He turned to Kelly, "And for you Miss Wootz?"

Kelly rubbed her arm. "I… don't need anything for myself. I've got armor, and Shear here hasn't let my family down for twelve generations."

Wicked K nodded. "But?"

"Can you do something, anything to help Marco?" Kelly pleaded tears gathering behind her glasses. "Seeing him hurting like this… hurts me Mister K. More than any blade or fist ever could."

Wicked K's arm was suddenly around her shoulder. "Kelly m'gal, very few people have ever earned my respect. Why, I can count on one hand and still have fingers left over, the people who've earnt my respect. Usually, when people choose to fight in my arena, they fight for things like money, power, prestige, fame, or glory." Wicked K shook his head, "Fickle things, the lot of them. Fortune flows like the tide, power wanes like the moon, and fame and glory only lasts as long as people's memories. But selfless acts of kindness? They are like a chain for they go on. One person linking to another and another across time. You, Kelly Wootz have earnt my respect. The only other two who can claim as such are my darlin' wife, and Marco himself."

Kelly felt her heart swell with pride at the King of the Crucible's words. "I… thank you sir."

Wicked K shook his head, "Don't thank me Kelly. It should be me who's thanking you. Everytime I start wondering if people are nothing but wicked lil' things, someone like you comes along and reminds ole Wicked K that people aren't born evil." He tipped his top hat to her. "Thank'ee for the reminder."

"You're welcome," Kelly felt humbled that she could do something nice for such an ancient being.

"I'll be by in a day or so and you can both check out your new digs, savvy?" Seeing them nod the King of the Crucible turned the now filled out contract towards them, "A bit 'o blood at the bottom from you both if ya would? To finalize our deal."

Kelly ran a finger lightly along the edge of Shear and swiped her bloodied digit along the bottom of the contract, with Jorby quickly following suit. The contract glowed like fire for a moment before rolling itself up and disappearing with a light poof. Wicked K gave a gentlemanly bow. "Till next we meet my new Gladiators."

Wicked K turned a flicked his cane out, slashing open a portal as he did so, and waltzed on through.

---

Biarritz was the place to be if you wanted to surf while in the country of France, and it was a place of blue sea, golden yellow sands, vibrant green flora, and where Jackie Lynn Thomas had been for the past week. Day after day she would leave the small one bedroom flat she was sharing with Chloe early in the morning, swim out into the swells, and get lost in the waves. Yet her thoughts were as turbulent as the ocean. They kept going back to that night, and her ex-boyfriend and no matter how many times she ate it on her board, she couldn't get the hurtful words said by that fake version of herself out of her mind.

'Does he really think he was wasting my time, that he was that bad of a boyfriend?' Jackie asked herself and not for the first time as she came in from the surf. She saw Chloe waiting for her sitting under an umbrella laying on a towel another one sitting close by waiting for her as she approached. Burying her board into the sand, Jackie took a seat on the towel and watched the waves silently crest upon the shore.

"Do you want to talk about it, Mon Cher?" Chloe asked after a moment of contemplative silence.

"I… don't know what to do," Jackie said at last. "I don't know how I can possibly help Marco, or if I even should."

"And why is that?" Chloe asked sharply.

Jackie turned and faced her girlfriend, "You wouldn't find it… odd that I ran off to help my ex-boyfriend?"

Chloe shook her head. "Mon Cher I have seen a lot of things. Protests have happened in neighboring countries before, people have gotten hurt, arrested, some even died… but have never in all my days seen something as utterly sad as Marco. To be so broken… even the refugees from the Middle East don't have eyes like his," Chloe looked down. "I think if you feel you can do something, anything to help him, you should, and if I can help then I will."

"Okay wow, you're awesome Chloe, but what I meant was you wouldn't think I'd you know… somehow get back together with him because of all of this or something?" Jackie asked worriedly.

Chloe laughed at that. "Jackie, do you remember what you told me when we got together?"

Jackie flushed. "We got together, because no other man I tried to date treated me like Marco did…"

"Hmhm," Chloe nodded knowingly. "That tells me that A, Marco holds a very special place in your heart, he is the standard to which you hold every other relationship to. Also, B. He brought you and I together."

Jackie laughed a little. "I guess he did."

Chloe smiled. "That he did, and as for me being afraid of losing you to him," Chloe shrugged. "Well as we say in France, menage a trois."

"Chloe!" Jackie said, flustered, "Not funny!"

The french women grinned, "The funny part is you think I was joking Mon Cher. Come now, look me in the eye and tell me you still don't love him on some level."

"I loved him enough to let him go," Jackie said sullenly not meeting her girlfriend's gaze.

"And you thought by doing so you'd be giving him the fairytale ending. The princess, the royal wedding, the happily ever after… and come to find out, his fairy tale came right out of the pages of the Brothers Grimm," Chloe lamented. She turned to Jackie asking, "So, what are you going to do about it?"

Jackie turned and gave her girlfriend a look like she'd grown two heads. "Are you being serious right now, because I swear, if you're fucking with me right now, this is not funny, like, at all."

"Mon Cher if I wanted to fuck with you this early in the morning neither one of us would've left the bedroom," Chloe joked, giving Jackie a saucy wink making her blush. "No, though, I'm not fucking with you."

Jackie turned and stared out into the waves. "So… we're doing this? We're going after my ex? After Marco?"

"We are, if that's what you want," Chloe affirmed.

Jackie took a deep breath, letting salty sea air fill her lungs as she made up her mind. Heaving out a sigh she said, "Let's do it!"

---

Marco didn't know how long he laid on that hellish chapel floor listening to the damn voices demean him, but it felt like a long time. Finally, it felt like he didn't have anymore energy to expend ripping this place apart and he felt tired. He wanted to sleep. 'Wait I can't afford to sleep, Star needs me to keep an eye on… oh right she was there that night. I can't… can't go back to the castle. Not anymore.'

Marco thought as he picked himself up off the tiled floor of his 'happy place'. The very idea of facing Star after she heard his confession… it sent shivers down his spine. He glanced at the mosaic image of her on the floor. He imagined that would be her response. 'She wouldn't be wrong either,' he thought to himself. 'But where should I go from here? Can't go home in disgrace, Janna'd never let me live it down. I need a place where almost no one knows me, a place where no one cares who I am…'

He snapped his fingers as he came up with a solution. "I got it!" So thinking, he whipped out his dimensional scissors and cut open a portal to parts almost unknown.

---

Marco came out of his portal in front of an old wooden sign hanging from some iron rings and flapping creakily in the light breeze. It said, "New Spiderbite Village." Smiling, he made his way down the dirt road that lead through the center of the town. As he walked he looked around the buildings and houses looked like rustic log cabins with the shops being two stories tall or more. At the end of the street was the Eight Leg Tavern, a three story tall building made out of hewn logs that reminded Marco of an old west saloon. The bottommost floor was the bar proper, the middle floor was where card games were held, and the topmost floor had bedrooms for paying guests. Marco made his way towards it, not because he was intending to go inside, but just because he needed to go round it to get to the path to Spiderbite Castle.

Strands of spider silk flowed in the breeze as Marco made his way down the road, it reminded him of a saying Penelope told him once, 'Silk and poison are all that flow through the Spiderbite Kingdom.' It sounded a little dark, but the fact of the matter was spider silk and venom used to create antivenoms and potion ingredients were the Spiderbite Kingdom's main exports besides wooden furniture. The people of Spiderbite were the finest loom and lumber workers in all of Mewni and it showed in their architecture. While the Butterfly kingdom was clearly medieval in its design, the Spiderbites had this rough frontiersman feel to them, like they were out here on the edge of society, surviving.

Marco made his way around the Eight Leg's Tavern and began walking the path to the castle. He had been there a handful of times before all at Penelope's request. The castle was a gothic style fortress made out of wood and stucco, even from here, he could see the tip of the highest steeple poking out from the top of the black trees that consisted of the Forest of Unlikely Spiderbites.

As he walked along the winding dirt path that led to the Spiderbite castle he was hailed by foresters and spider handlers both with big smiles, waves, and even cheers as he walked down the path. He returned their praise with shy waves of his own. Turing round a bend, the Champion of the Arena finally came upon the great wooden gates of Spiderbite castle, great wooden stakes had been implanted into the earth, serving as the closest thing the Spiderbites had to a wall or any kind of fortification. He slammed a fist on the massive wooden gates.

"Who goes there?" a voice called out.

"Sir Wolfe? It's me Marco."

"Earl Diaz?! Hang on just a tic milord! Open the gates! The Bane of the Spider Priestess approaches!"

'Well so much for keeping it on the down low that I'm here,' Marco thought to himself as the massive gates were pulled open and Marco walked inside. The castle stood tall, majestic and proud hewn out of logs though it was it. The sunlight gleamed off off the waxed wooden beams and timber thatched roof of the castle. Marco walked across the yard looking to his left and seeing the knights garbed in their armor. Unlike the knights of the Butterfly Kingdom who wore steel and plate, the knights of the Spiderbite Kingdom wore the chitinous carapaces of giant spiders as their armor. Additionally each squire, upon ascending to knighthood, would take upon themselves the name of a species of arachnid. Sir Wolfe for example was named after the Wolf Spider. His head was currently covered by a brown spider carapace of a giant specimen of the beast of his namesake. Two of its closest four eyes were used as eye holes for the knight, while the remaining two eye holes were filled with yellow crystal. Marco knew the crystal to glow luminously at night much like headlamps. For nighttime was the time of the Giga-Arachnids and the Knights of the Spiderbite Kingdom were expected to be more active at night than during the day for that very reason, to defend the citizenry of their Kingdom against the forest's apex predator if needed.

"Sir Wolfe," Marco greeted with a nod.

"Earl," the broad man said, his long brown beard completely covering his lower jaw, "Here to see the princess I reckon?"

"Only if Penny is available."

Sir Wolfe grinned much like a true canine. "For you sirah, I've little doubt in my mind our dear Penelope will somehow miraculously find her schedule wide open should you come a'calling."

Marco gave an awkward chuckle. He'd already ruined things with one Mewman princess, he didn't seek to make the same error twice. "You don't say?"

Sir Wolfe slapped Marco on the shoulder heartily, "I do… if I may be blunt sir?"

"When have you ever not been blunt Wolfe?" Marco said with a sigh.

"Blunt force trauma hurts but it doesn't cut," Wolfe said knowingly, "Thus blunt while an inconvenience at first, makes the biggest impact in the end."

"It could have saved me a bit of hardship," Marco muttered, smile falling behind his mask but he was like a drawbridge and when the defences needed to stay up, the chains held them up and his chains would need to do the same. "We should press on. Chivalry does say we can't keep a lady waiting."

"You assume she knows you are here, my friend," Wolfe crowed.

"Like you didn't immediately send a messenger the moment you saw me Wolfe," Marco mocked lightly.

"You know people too well my friend!"

'Maybe, you're only half right,' Marco thought, thinking of everyone, "Lead the way old man!"

"You must be eager if you're calling me that!" Wolfe said, booming with laughter, "Normally it takes more ale than the Inn can make in a month before you start acting like a man and not a golem!"

The two let themselves in through the front door. The foyer had a vaulted ceiling with wooden cross beams criss crossing throughout its length. Two curving staircases led to the upper floors, while a path in between them lead directly to the throne room. The floor was covered in rich furs from creatures of the forest from magical beaver-dog pelts to the hides of hydra. Making their way towards the throne room, Marco past tapestries depicting the former Kings and Queens of the Spiderbite Kingdom, woven and dyed from spider silk. There were almost sixty in all and they lined the way towards the throne room each one depicted the ruling monarchs, all the way back to the founding of Spiderbite Village more than eleven hundred years ago.

The current most tapestry depicted King Giolath his queen Arachene and their daughter Penelope. When the princess wed, her princess tapestry would be replaced with one of her and her husband together, and when the time came, that of her son or daughter's would take its place where her's now hung.

"Oi, Reggie wake up, yer nappin on the job again," Wolfe said kindly to the elderly Spiderbite Steward.

"Hmm, oh terribly sorry sirs," A kindly if elderly servant, his face lined with age and his eyebrows so white and thick they obscured his actual eyes said from his seat near the doors leading into the throne room proper. He stood showing he wore simple brown silk attire and nodded happily upon seeing Marco. "Ah Earl Diaz how are you m'boy?"

Marco returned the gesture. "Fine Reggie and yourself?"

"Getting too old for my job, I should retire," The man said with a chuckle, it was the same thing he said everytime Marco asked after him. All three men knew Reggie would only ever retire the day he died. He loved the royal family as if they were his own son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter respectively. For Reggie had been serving the Spiderbites since the time of Giolath's father, Byrd. The old man stretched a bit, "I should announce you shouldn't I?"

"If you'd be so kind, Reggie old boy," Wolfe said with a chuckle in his tone.

Reggie pushed the door to the throne open. The long expansive hall was lined with pennant flags bearing the symbol of the spiderbite kingdom. A golden spider on a green field with the thorax in the shape of a tree. At the opposite end of the hall were three wooden thrones. The King sat in the center most one, his wife with Queen sat on his left, and the princess sat on his right. They were currently holding court listening to the plights of their people, merchants, and envoys of the other kingdoms of Mewni.

Reggie cleared his throat and announced in a clear tone that cut above the clamor. "Now announcing Sir Wolfe, and Marco Ubalo Diaz, Earl of Gossmarstrande Keep, Bane of Annalise the Spider Queen."

The hall quieted as Marco approached and all moved out of his way as he approached the wooden thrones. Penelope didn't care for decorum. The moment a gap opened up, she rushed towards him and enveloped in a warm embrace. Marco froze for a moment before he finally returned the embrace. "Hello Penny."

"Marco…" the princess buried her head as deeply as she could into his chest. Just a week prior, she had seen her beloved precious hero admit he was suffering from a heart so broken, he wished he were dead rather than carry the love he did for her fellow princess. "How're you doing?"

"I've been better… what day is it anyway?" Marco asked. He had no idea how much time he'd spent in what he called the Hell Chapel.

"It's the Fourteenth of Dathruk." Giolath informed him.

Marco blinked. "It's been a week?" He reached up and removed his mask. He felt his face, it was covered in stubble. "I need a shave, among other things."

His stomach took that moment to protest angrily.

"Marco, when is the last time you've eaten anything?" Penelope asked, her tone filled with both suspicion and accusation.

"Uhh, a week ago?" Marco replied.

Penny just stared at him wide-eyed. "You haven't left that hellish place all week?!" She got a stubborn scowl on her face. "Well, I know what we're doing now," She promptly reached up, grabbed Marco by his ear, and proceeded to walk out of the throne room. Dragging Marco behind her. She stopped only to turn and say, "Please excuse me, everyone, an emergency has just come up that requires my immediate attention."

The King and Queen shared a knowing glance at one another, smiling as they watched their daughter drag the young Earl off.

"Ow, Penny that hurts! Let go of my ear, I am not a child!" Marco demanded as she dragged him down the hall towards the kitchens.

"Then stop acting like a child and take better care of yourself!" Penny sassed back as she pulled him into the kitchens by his earlobe.

The castle chef, a slightly portly man wearing a smock made out of woven Tarantula hair and a dark waxed mustache greeted them. "Ah, mia Princess, and the Earl as wella! What can old Mario do for you eh?"

"Hello Mario," Penelope greeted with a smile. She gave Marco's ear a yank and said, "This big baby here hasn't been taking proper care of himself. He hasn't eaten all week."

"Oh no!" The chef said putting his hands on his face in sheer horror of not eating for more than a few hours, "We must fix this post haste!"

"I couldn't agree more," Penelope said empathetically. "Now I know lunch won't be for an hour or more yet but I was still hoping you might have something…" The princess was hopeful.

The chef held up a hand with a knowing smile on his face. "Say no more mia princess. Mario is always prepared. Wahoo!"

The man dashed around his domain at rapid speed, his hands a blur. In a matter of a few minutes he had a sandwich on a plate, that he handed Marco, with a flourish and a "Viola! One mushroom, spider leg and cheese sandwich for our starving Earl eh?"

Marco felt his mouth water. It certainly smelled good despite some of the more dubious ingredients. Then again Marco was so hungry it hardly mattered at this point as he wolfed down the meal in a matter of seconds.

"Ugh, I haven't eaten spiders since my time in the Neverzone," Marco said to himself. "They are always so crunchy," He said as he picked a bit of carapace out of his teeth.

Penelope gently patted his back comfortingly. "Do you feel a bit better now?"

Marco sighed and nodded. "Yeah a bit thanks… you didn't need to drag me here by my ear though."

Penelope put her hands on her hips and fixed Marco with a glare. "If you'd stop worrying me half to death, then maybe I wouldn't have to treat you like an infant."

Marco was clueless. "What do you mean?"

"Grr… Marco I was there in the booth with Mother, Father, and everyone else that night. I heard your confession, I saw you break down," Penelope admitted. "Then I don't hear from you for a week, with each passing day I feared the worst. Seemingly out of the blue, you show up and I find out you're not even doing basic things like eating?" Penny reached out and took Marco's hand in both of her own. She looked at him with eyes filled with concern. "I'm very worried about you. You mean a lot to me… and everyone else here in the Spiderbite Kingdom," She added hastily.

"Sorry Penny didn't mean to worry you or anyone else… and I'm sorry you had to see that."

She knew he was referring to his breakdown in the VIP box. The princess of the Spiderbite Kingdom patted her friend's hand comfortingly. "It's fine, I understand Marco, you just admitted you were in love with Star, not expecting her to be there… and when she was…"

"It was just too much," Marco finished for her. "God I am such a fuck up."

Penny shook her head. "You're not a fuck up Marco."

"I just succeeded in losing two friends in one night, I can't go back home, and I can't go back to Butterfly castle where all my things in this dimension are, I am figuratively quite fucked Penny," Marco's assessment of the situation was quite bleak.

The princess hissed through her teeth, "Yeah, when you put it like that, things don't look so great," She brightened up when she told him, "But you do have someplace you can go! Gossmarstrande Keep! My dad made you the Earl remember? Not only for killing Elise but also for negotiating trade relations with the Slime People."

Marco rubbed the back of his head. "I really didn't do all that much with the Slime People."

Again, Penelope's hands found their way to her waist as she fixed him with a glare. "Marco, you hammered out a three way trade agreement in twenty minutes. They tithe us a quota of their slime every month to counteract the spidebites. We, in turn, give them a certain percentage of our furniture, which they will sell, and use to purchase corn in the Butterfly Market."

Marco looked away sheepishly. "I just wanted everyone to walk away satisfied."

"Do you have any idea how hard that is to do in trade negotiations? Especially with all the history between Mewmans and Monsters already?" Penelope asked him. She just couldn't understand why he didn't see what he'd accomplished was so monumentous, historic even. Why if things like this continued there could be a golden age in the future for the Spiderbite Kingdom if such deals continued. Her parents had a lot of faith in Marco. He was a strong warrior, a keen negotiator, and wise beyond his years. They hadn't outright said it yet, but she felt they would have no problem whatsoever if she chose to pursue a relationship with Marco.

In truth, Penelope would like nothing more than to do so. She had been nurturing a sort of hero worship for the boy ever since she watched him kill Elise the Spider Queen in the Crucible. The way he did it was quite inventive too. Using his dimensional scissors he opened up multiple portals around the arena floor whenever Elise attacked him with one of her spider legs. She watched on the edge of her seat as he tricked her into stabbing herself with her own limbs then, promptly shut all the portals on her, slicing her arachnid legs off. Elise raged at the indignity of this lowly human bringing her low and gave up her human form transforming into a giant spider with new limbs sprouting from her back and a cluster of spiderlings exited from her abdomen. He didn't have his armor, mask, chains, or even his axe back then. Elise was his first ever fight in the Crucible and he was just a boy in a red hoodie with a pair of dimensional scissors. She watched Marco begin to dodge the tiny spiders as Elise began to ascend into the rafters of the arena and watch as some of the spiders Marco stabbed exploded into a torrent of body parts and venom that coated Marco and seeped into his skin like poison. Penelope grew worried as Marco began to slow from not only the venom but also exhaustion from fighting so many underlings of the infamous Spider Queen. Only when Marco dropped to one knee did the Queen herself descend from the raptors to crush Marco. Penelope thought at that moment that another brave soul would be consumed by the abomination that plagued her family's lands. Marco surprised everyone as he rolled out of the way with practiced ease and sliced with his scissors cutting off the front most legs of Elise that got stuck into the arena floor. Wails of agony echoed across the arena as Elise cursed and screamed at Marco promising to make him watch as he is slowly eaten by her patron deity Vilemaw, Devourer of Ancients. Marco only scoffed as he jumped forward and stabbed Elise with the last thing anyone expected. The very legs he cut off earlier in her human form. Wedged in place by her own legs piercing her body Penny could only watch as Marco treaded towards the writhing menace and she watched with glee as Marco plunged those scissors into her where her spider head connected with her body before pulling them apart using the portal they created to sever her head clean from her shoulders. Her body dropped to the ground finally dead as her head shifted back to human form with the emotion of eternal agony etched on her face.

He then brought the head, on a silver platter, up to the VIP Box and presented it to her father. He kneeled respectfully and offered it as a gift of atonement and forgiveness to her family.

"Why?" She recalled her father asking as he made to leave.

Marco looked back. "She killed your son didn't she?" Marco nodded to the severed head. "The least I can do is this for all of you who suffered under her tyranny the most. I am sorry for this is all I can do for now. You have my utmost sympathy and condolences."

Anansi. The older brother Penelope hardly remembered, killed by Elise's hand as a sacrifice for her Spider God. Penelope recalled how in that moment, with his hoodie and pants all torn up and with scuffs on his hands from where he'd taken the occasional blow and fallen on the hard stone floor, that he'd looked so cool.

"Penny?" Marco asked, pulling her from her pleasant reverie. "Are you alright, you kinda zoned out for a bit."

Penelope flushed. "I-I'm fine Marco. You must desire a bath. Please follow me."

---

Marco was led to a changing room where he slowly removed his armor. He turned the primary dial on his chest to the left, causing a pneumatic snap-hiss as the metal spikes were removed from his torso between each rib, down his back parallel along his spine, between the knuckles of each hand, on the sides of his shoulders, and down the front of his legs past the knee to release all at once. That done, he slowly removed his black armor. He had crying wealts upon his body from where the spikes had driven into his flesh. Setting the Judas Coffin aside, Marco took off his red hood, the Robe of the Fire Rat and placed it over top of his armor. He unwound his black barbed chains from his forearms leaving them covered in even more weeping welts than the rest of his body, and placed them on top of the robe. When the chains rose, and seemed to shake and hiss in protest at being left behind, Marco held a hand out to them.

"Zarathos, stay!" Marco said firmly.

The chains shook and hissed again but fell silent.

Finally he placed his mask, the Deathmask of Santa Muerte on top of the pile before covering himself in a towel. Only Leviathan stayed with him, for a warrior does not go unarmed. Going into the adjoining room where the bathtub was supposed to be, Marco stopped cold in the doorway. For there were two wooden bathtubs in this room, carved into the shape of spiders, and Penelope was already lounging in the second one. "Uh… P-Penny w-what're you d-doing in here?"

"I thought you could use some company," The Spiderbite princess replied easily. Seeing how flushed and he looked at the moment, it didn't take her long to figure out why she grinned. "You think I'm naked right now don't you?"

"You're not?" Marco asked.

In response Penelope stood up in the tub, showing she was wearing a brown bathing shift. "See?"

Marco let out a breath he didn't know he was holding before he approached, causing Penelope's eyes to widen as he did so. "Sweet Corn, Marco! What happened to you?!"

Marco's body was covered in all manner of scars. They were on his toned and muscular stomach, criss crossed his arms, trailed down his legs, and even the backs of his hands weren't free of scaring. His flesh was a canvas of old war wounds. The most prominent one was under under his left arm and was a large crescent shaped wound that looked like it might've come from a large crescent shaped weapon, there were several small circular scars peppering his torso likely from those things called guns that Star had told her about. Old burn marks and he had various claw marks all over his chest and arms. Yet overlapping the scars were the glowing blue tattoos.

'Or are they veins?' Penny wondered. As she watched the glowing blue lines trail their way up Marco's body in an almost runic fashion making their way up his throat and edged their way along his chin and framed the side of his face. It made him look both regal and powerful in Penelope's opinion.

Marco just chuckled as if amused by her shock. "One does not become the Crucible Arena Champion without earning a few scars along the way Penny. Now turn around and no peeking."

His voice was stern, prompting Penelope to cover her hands with her eyes.. Only to peek between them when she heard the water in the other tub begin to slosh. Penelope was rewarded with a good view of his back which was also heavily scarred, and his chiseled backside. But on top of that she saw the tattoo he had on his back. A red crescent moon with a pink heart in between its two points. The symbolism was obvious to her.

"Nice ink," Penny commented as he got settled into the tub.

"I thought I said no peeking," Marco replied, giving his friend a half glare before sighing, "But thank you."

Penelope let out a sigh as she stretched; she then sent him a cheshire cat grin, "So~ were you happy or disappointed that I was wearing a shift in the bath?"

"I'm not going to dignify that with a response," Marco replied while firmy facing forward. His mind's eye recalled in vivid detail how the soaked shift clung to Penelope's every curve, leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination.

"Awe, you're no fun," Penelope said swatting at him playfully, before becoming morose and serious, "Hey Marco can I ask you a question?"

"You just did, but go ahead and ask another," Marco said as he proceeded to scrub himself with soap.

Penelope looked down into her own bathwater as she asked, "Did you really mean it? What you said down on the arena floor? That you want to…"

"Yes," Marco said, cutting her off. "I did, and it's no less than what I deserve."

"Deserve?" Penny said becoming angry, "You don't deserve to die just for loving someone! Last I checked, that isn't a crime punishable by death."

"Tell that to Eclipsa," Marco's retort was sharp and cut Penelope to the core. "She lost everything because she chose to love the wrong person. I'm headed down the exact same path she was… and I don't even care."

What could the Spiderbite princess say to that? I mean, the bad blood between Eclipsa's monster lover Globgor and her family still burned strong to this day. Yet here Marco was, saying he felt that he was in the same boat as the Queen of Darkness herself because he too, had given up everything he knew to love someone he felt he shouldn't. It really made her think.

Penelope decided to change the subject. "What are those blue markings?"

"Will lines," Marco explained. "The stronger I become with my brand of magic, the more numerous and brighter they glow. According to Mister K, anyway."

"I also noticed you have red crescent shaped cheek emblems." Penny couldn't help but reach out and stroke one of them. She chuckled when Marco flushed at her action.

Marco sighed and leaned back in his tub. "Tell me Penny have you ever really looked up to someone, viewed them as an idol of sorts?"

Penelope was quick to nod. She almost said Marco himself, but she changed her mind at the last second and went with the other person she looked up to. "Yeah Princess Turdina."

"What?" Marco turned to her and deadpanned.

"Yeah, she's like, a total hero to like all princesses across the multiverse Marco. She single handedly led a revolution at St. Olga's Reform School for Wayward Princesses. She inspired us and made us believe that it's okay to be ourselves. It's not criminal to be an individual," Penelope quoted her famous line with passion and vigor. "That we can still be good princesses while still being ourselves. She gave us a lot of hope."

"Did she now?" Marco said with a smile.

Penelope smiled. "Yeah I just wish we knew some way of contacting her… her merch is selling like crazy at Questbuy."

"Merch?" Marco questioned in disbelief, "Princess Trudina has merch?"

Penelope nodded. "Yep, dolls, a fashion line, copies of her dress for little girls, even a makeup line."

"You have got to be shitting me," Marco deadpanned.

Penelope shook her head "Nope," She said popping the 'p'. "She's probably the most popular princess in the multiverse."

"My God," Marco said to himself. "What've I done?"

"Marco?" Penny asked, raising an eyebrow.

Marco sighed, it was confession time. He just wished it didn't have to take place while he was naked in the bath. "Penny, there is no Princess Turdina."

"What? What do you mean there is no princess Turdina?" Penelope echoed.

Rubbing the bridge of his nose and accidently causing his contacts to fall out, Marco replied, "There is no princess Turdia… because I'm Princess Turdia!"

"What?" Penelope asked confused.

Marco sighed and explained, "Princess Pony Head had been sent to St. Olga's previously. Star becoming worried about her, convinced me to help her break her out. I asked her originally to dress me up as one of the guards… she didn't do that. Instead, opting to put me in a dress and a wig. We needed a distraction to get rid of the guards and find Ponyhead, so I started a riot in the tearoom… the rest as they say, is history," He looked at Penny who was staring at him in shock. "I'm sorry Penny, I never meant for any of you to believe in a lie…" Marco sighed, "I guess it's just another thing I can throw onto my growing pile of fuckups."

Penelope was suddenly leaning over the side of the tub hugging him. "Marco, accidentally or not, you've inspired a generation of princesses to better themselves. To be the best princesses they can be, without sacrificing who they are at heart. That isn't a fuckup, that's amazing!"

"But it's a lie… Princess Turdina is just another one of my lies," Marco said disheartened.

Penny scowled at Marco's pessimism and thought of a way to help push it back. "That's it! Go get dressed!"

"Why, where are we going?" Marco asked as he poured hot water down on his head.

Penelope suddenly lost a lot of her bluster, she asked, "Marco has your hair always been white, and why is one of your eyes blue?" She noticed that his left eye was an icy blue now, like the rivers that ran through the forest once the first of Mewni's harsh winter snows ran through her kingdom like they did every year.

"Fuck," Marco cursed with a sigh before he smacked the back of his head and popped out his remaining contact.. "My hair turned white due to a combination of stress and my own unique abilities. Those same abilities changed the color of my eyes. Something about the purity of my soul reflecting upon my flesh according to Mister Kay."

Penny frowned. "What do you mean your hair turned white due to a combination of stress?"

Marco shrugged. "It was originally golden blonde but… well, let's just say being Star's squire was quite stressful, and leave it at that."

Penny growled, muttering under her breath. "Stuipid fucking heartless princess with her stupid hearts on her stupid fucking face."

"Easy there Penny. Don't have a coronary," Marco chided. "But anyway you were saying about going somewhere?"

Penelope gave a swift nod. "Yeah, but just how easily can you get your hands on your Princess Turdina dress?"

"It's back in my room back at Butterfly Castle… I could probably sneak in and nab it though, I have dimensional scissors after all… Why?"

Penny smiled at him, "I think it's about time we let the multiverse know just how awesome Princess Turdia really is, don't you?"

Marco mulled it over in his head. "I'm tired of keeping secrets Penny. So if I do this, I'm going as me, one-hundred percent me," Marco motioned to his scared, glowing, white-haired blue-eyed visage. "After this, there will be no more secrets."

"Sounds cathartic," Penelope mused.

Marco agreed, smiling a little. "It does, it really does," He gave her a sideways glance. "I'm getting out, look away… and no peeking this time."

"No fun," Penelope pouted a smile on her face as she looked away with eyes covered by her hands.

---

Hekapoo had thrown herself into her work. By her standards, it had been centuries since the arena match and she had created hundreds of thousands of pairs of dimensional scissors within that time frame, each one waiting for a bearer to come and claim them. She normally didn't do custom work making scissors right in front of their new wielders, but Marco was special in her mind. He deserved a show, as far as she was concerned. He had grit, a stubborn will that refused to be put out or stomped down. For sixteen years he chased after her clones not for prestige or glory of owning a pair of her scissors like so many did, but all for the sake of defending Princess Butterfly's honor when Hekapoo dared call her a thief.

'He's something. Something I couldn't quite put my finger on at first.' Hekapoo thought to herself. 'A good friend, loyal, honorable?' Hekapoo shook her head. None of those words did Marco Diaz justice. His actions went beyond the pale. You don't suffer for sixteen years in what is almost a hell dimension for someone who's' just a friend'.

As she watched Marco struggle and go from a talented boy to a strong proud warrior. Something changed. She began, somewhere along the line, to take a personal interest in this mysterious stubborn boy. It was thought to be a well known fact throughout the multiverse that humans were weak. For without access to magic, how could they ever hope to survive the greater multiverse? Yet Marco, time and time again, proved her wrong. Using warrior skill and ingenuity only a human could possess due to growing up with a lack of magic, to track down her clones…

Over time, dislike became grudging respect, a budding friendship, and then something… she could not define began to bloom in her chest whenever she looked at him, whether it be in his form as a man or a boy. She couldn't define it, but she liked the feeling. It felt as if the heat from her forge was inside her very chest whenever she so much as thought about Marco. 'But what's causing it? A spell, some kind of illness, have I picked up a human disease?'

These were all thoughts that Hekapoo had discarded time and time again, as illnesses do not usually make you feel pleasant. She recalled the day some months ago, he came to her asking for her patronage to join the Crucible arena of all things.

"Why in this or any other dimension would you want to join the Crucible?!" Hekapoo asked, feeling like her heart had just stopped. The Crucible was a place for glory and honor yes, but it was also a place where people often died. The thought of Marco being another corpse for the meat grinder that was the Crucible, terrified her.

"I have my reasons," Marco replied calmly while shrugging his shoulders.

"You don't have to prove anything to anyone!" She told him, "You've got a genuine pair of my scissors that alone will get you respect from plenty," She said trying to dissuade him from his course of action. For some reason, the thought of losing him terrified her.

Marco just shook his head. "This isn't about getting respect, H-poo."

"Don't call me that," She said in reflex. She both hated and loved that nickname. "If you're not doing it for the money or the glory then why're you doing it?"

Marco looked away refusing to meet her gaze. "There's a wish… that I want granted."

Ah, now it made sense. Wicked K was a powerful if enigmatic entity. Granting wishes was well within the scope of his abilities. However not just anyone could get a wish granted by the man. In order to have a wish granted one to become one of the Arena Champions. Those who had risen above the rest and proven themselves worthy of the ultimate prize. Anything their heart's desired.

Hekapoo smiled knowingly, "Does this have something to do with the Princess?"

Still, he refused to meet her eyes. That should've been a warning sign all the way back then, but she just thought it was him being embarrassed and shy at the time.

"Yes," he said, "This has everything to do with Star."

"Okay," Hekapoo replied, "I'll sponsor you," She pointed a finger at him and continued, "But only if you find a trainer. I can't have you dying on me in there Marco."

"I… think I know someone who can help," Marco said after a moment's thought.

"Good, good," Hekapoo said, a seed of worry already growing in her chest. "Train hard, win your first match, and you'll have my patronage."

She was there for his first match. She watched him kill Elise the Spider Queen in his first of many death matches. It was also his debut match. The odds were heavy against him. One-twenty-five to one. After all what could a mere human boy do against the favored priestess of a spider god that ate other gods?

Yet win he did, much to the shock and awe of the crowd, a mere human had defeated a divine magic user with nothing more than a pair of dimensional scissors, and sheer tenacity. His fame grew steadily after that. He went from being 'new meat' to a mysterious masked fighter who had a penchant for killing Mewni's Most Wanted and offering their heads to their victims families and even paying for tickets out his own pocket so that families of their victims could see their loved ones avenged. He gained fame both for his generosity and ferocity.

Hekapoo was even present when he became the Singles Match Division Arena Champion. She was so proud of him that day, watching when he received his champion seal in the form of a belt the giant oversized buckle taking the shape of two crossed swords behind a shield with an axe crossing horizontally upside down below it. Yet she never saw, as far as she knew, get his wish granted.

She asked him about it once. "It just isn't time yet I guess. It'll happen when it's time I suppose."

"Oh it's one of those casualty manipulating kind of wishes huh?" She playfully nudged him in the shoulder. "What'd you wish for, to become a prince so you can get the Princess?" Even as she said it, she felt an ache in her chest, and felt the warmth she'd long come to associate with Marco by then, dim a little.

Marco shook his head and gave a laugh that, now that she looked back on it, seemed hollow. "No, nothing as grandiose as that."

"But it is gonna happen right?" Hekapoo inquired.

Marco gave a slow nod. "Hopefully… hopefully soon."

"Then why do you keep fighting in the arena?" She asked.

He didn't answer right away, it was as if he was weighing what he was about to say in his mind. "I want to be sure… that the next person who gets a wish is going to wish for… the right thing." Seeing her give him a questioning look he elaborated, "I can't in good conscious let someone wish for multiversal conquest or something now can I?"

"Oh, I get it, you're guarding the gate," Hekapoo understood now. Marco was being a Marco, this was that paranoid 'Safe Kid side' she'd heard tell about. But she found it honorable, in its own way. So she kept supporting him. Whenever a potential combatant showed up to challenge him and claim a wish for themselves, she would watch as he would either beat them down, or kill them outright.

She never once outright asked what his wish was…

When he finally admitted it, on the arena floor that night… she was consumed by fury the likes of which she had never felt before in all her long eons of existence.

'He wants to die!? He can't die! I want him to live! I want him to keep on living! With me! For me! I…'

It was then that it finally clicked. The reason Hekapoo felt that warmth in her chest whenever she was around Marco.

'I love him,' She realized. 'I'm 'in love' with a human boy… a boy who wants nothing more than to die because he's in love with someone else.'

Yet that was not to be the end of the blows Hekapoo would take to her heart that night, for she saw what Marco feared in regards to herself in his heart of hearts.

'Out of my hair? Annoying? No, no!' She found herself denying over and over. 'The times I spent with you, have been some of the best in my long life.' She stopped working on the pair of scissors and looked at the copy of Festivia's tapestry that hung in her workshop. The closest thing she'd ever had, and likely ever would have to a daughter. "What should I do Fes? How can I help him?"

This wasn't the first time she asked the tapestry this question in the mewman week that had passed since the fight, but as usual Festivia gave the same answer.

Silence.

She looked back at the half formed scissors before she let the molten metal fall back into her forge. "Enough moping around, I'm Hekapoo damn it! So what if I'm in love with a human! If he's only going to be alive for a century, then I'm going to make it the most memorable century of both of our lives!"

Yet despite all her passionate boasting she sighed, "But his heart belongs to Star… I can't just swoop in and take him, can I?" She ran her hands through her hair in frustration, "GRR! I've never done this before! It isn't procedural like making scissors! What should I do! What's the proper process here?!"

She sighed and put her hands on her hips. "Hmm, I suppose I could ask for some advice… but who? Moon?" She grimaced at the thought. "No, I'm not going to ask Moon of all people how to get Marco interested in me instead of her daughter." She paced for a moment before an idea struck her. "Well there's also… No! Nonononono! She'd never help me! She probably hates me!"

She looked at Festivia's tapestry again. "I don't have a choice do I?"

Again, she answered with silence. Hekapoo sighed, "Fine, fine, I'm going I'm going."

Hekapoo cut open a portal and took a deep breath before walking through it.

---

Eclipsa was so engrossed in her game, she didn't even notice the sound of tearing cloth behind her. "I've got you now Ghandi! Taste my vengeance in the form of nuclear fire! Bwahahahaha!"

"Enjoying yourself are we?"

Eclipsa almost fell out of the swivel chair she spun around so quickly. For her darling nephew was standing behind her grinning. She was up and out of the chair in moments and had her arms wrapped around him. "Oh my dear sweet precious boy! I'm so glad to see you're alright!"

"Good to see you too Auntie… word of advice, always go after Gandhi first," Marco advised before breaking away from the hug and going to his closet.

Opening it, he pulled out the bag covered hanger that held his Princess Turdina dress. Then he got the duffle bag he originally came here with and started stuffing his hoodies, jeans and socks into it.

"Marco dear, whatever are you doing?" Eclipsa asked worriedly from behind him.

"Packing my things. I can't stay here, not anymore. Not after what happened a week ago. It would be too awkward," Marco zipped his duffle shut and hoisted it over his shoulder. He smiled sadly at his surrogate aunt the 'dark and terrible Queen of Darkness.' "You can keep my computer and the laser puppies if you want Eclipsa, I don't mind."

Just as he was about to cut open another portal to leave, Eclipsa grabbed his shoulder, "Please wait!"

"Hmm?" Marco looked back.

"You… you're just going to go without saying goodbye to everyone else? What about Moon and River? What about Star?"

Marco grimaced and shook his head. "I… I can't do that to them. I've messed up their lives enough, Star especially. It would be better if I just left."

"Your parents!" Eclipsa was grasping at straw, any straw she could to get him to just sit down and talk instead of leaving. She felt like if he left, she wouldn't see him again for a long while. "Your parents are here! Surely you won't leave without saying goodbye to them?"

Marco just looked at the floor. "I'm such an embarrassment. They were there that night. They know about my wish. They must be so ashamed of me," Marco sighed, "They'll probably be better off without me."

Eclipsa was shaking her head, with tears gathering in her eyes. "No Marco dear no! Your parents have been an absolute mess this past week worried sick about you. Myself, River, and Moon included! Why, you're practically already a member of the family."

'See Marco, now you've got not only your parents worried about you, but everyone else too!' All Eclipsa's words, that were meant to be comforting, did was confirm for Marco that he should go. As if he wasn't around, then he couldn't be worried about.

"Sorry Auntie but… I've got somewhere I need to be," Marco told her. As he reached into the shadow of his closest and pulled out his Arena Champion Belt. It's black leather surface Eclipsa noted was studded with small silver coins.

"If you try and leave, I'll scream!" Eclipsa said, trying a final desperate gambit to her adopted nephew to see reason.

Marco sighed before he pulled a silver coin from his belt leaving an empty hole where the silver once rested. "It's not going to matter if you scream, because everyone is about to be screaming."

Eclipsa's eyes focused on the coin a sense of dread filling her stomach as she watched him fix it under his thumb as if preparing to flick it up in the air. "What do you mean by that?"

Marco flipped the silver denarius up into the air where it spun for a moment before bursting into flame. "I wish to summon… Godzilla… for five minutes."

"What the Corn is God…"

A keening cry split the air that caused the entire castle to shudder.

"Eclipsa let me tell you something about Earth. We have our own King of Monsters."

Another cry shook the heavens as Eclipsa made her way wobbly towards the window of Marco's room. She stared out of it and gasped.

It was gigantic. Even from such a far distance Eclipsa could see the creature rising from the waterfolk kingdom from the west. And it simply kept rising. This HUGE bipedal lizard, easily the size of one of the tops of the Jaggy Mountain peaks after it rose out of the sea looked around its surroundings as its spine began to glow like the lightning from a fierce storm. Eclispa was even at this distance able to see it had tough looking green leathery hide, long snowflake-like spikes trailing down its back all the way to the tip of its swishing tail, and its footsteps shook the earth with every step he took. He let out another keening cry to the heavens as if declaring Mewni had a NEW KING and daring any to come challenge his reign. What no one, not even Marco expected was a reply to sound out. The ground shook again as screeching and keening came from the woods to the north west. Marco grew worried because that was near the Spiderbite Kingdom.

Then a monstrous spider twice as long and half as tall as the lizard "god?" crawled out of the forest proper with some trees growing out of its back showing that it was actually part of the damn forest itself.

Eclipsa could only look on in horror as what looked like giant behemoths were about to clash. She turned to question Marco but was surprised to see he was gone. She must have missed him leaving with the two titans rising behind her. Apparently the Stump isn't the only god of Mewni who was more than a myth.

---

Marco popped back into Spiderbite castle, he saw knights running to and fro, Sir Wolfe was directing the dignitaries and the royals into a shelter hidden behind a bookcase when he saw Marco. "Earl Diaz, get in here quickly!" The castle shook a little from the vibrations of the giant spider making its way toward the intruding predator.

"Wolfe where is Penny?!" Marco snapped off.

"Inside," The knight told him prompting Marco to head on in. Wolfe followed behind him pulling the hidden bookcase entrance shut as he did so. All was bathed in darkness for a moment before the room was bathed in dim yellow light. The same crystals placed in the helms of the Spider Kingdom knights lit up the four corners of the room, showing the panicked nobles and dignitaries. Upon seeing him present, Penelope rushed into Marco's arms and pulled him into a relieved embrace. "Marco, thank corn you're alright!"

"Does anybody know what that… that giant lizard is?"

"Perhaps it is some kind of Septarian deity?" ventured one nobleman, a dignitary from the butterfly kingdom if the blue slash he wore embroidered with golden butterflies was any indication. He was tall and rake thin, with slicked back grey hair and an aquilonian nose with shrewd steel grey eyes. "I recall the monsters having their own temples beyond the Jaggy Mountains. It would be just like Toffee to have one final trap for Mewni even in death."

Marco shook his head. "No sir, Godzilla isn't a Septarian anything."

The man turned and the entire room with him when Marco spoke. He addressed Marco directly, "Earl Diaz, you addressed this thing this… Godzilla was it? How do you know about it?"

Marco rubbed his head sheepishly. "Well… I kinda summoned him here for the next five minutes?"

The room burst out into a cacophony of shouting that was only silenced when Sir Wolfe put his fingers to his lips and let out a shrill whistle. "Be quiet and let the boy explain! All ah, ya!... Apologies, your Highness," Wolfe nodded towards his King.

Goliath waved away Wolfe's apology. "The floor is yours Earl Diaz."

"Well, to answer your question uh…"

"Count Mildrew. Aloysius Mildrew."

Marco blinked and gave his head a little shake, "Wait, as in Queen Moons Count Mildrew? The one her Aunt Etheria keeps telling her she should've married over River?"

"Oh Warnicorn piss! Is that old windbag still going on about that?" Mildrew asked with a scoff. "I've been happily married for years now, and I enjoy my job as the Envoy to the Spiderbites thank you very much. To the topic at hand though, how did you manage to call forth this… Godzilla and what is it?"

In response Marco threw his Arena Champion Belt on the floor for all to see. Forty-nine silver coins were set into recesses in the leather. "The coins, that's how."

"Come again?"

"I do believe I can take it from here if you'd like Marco me bucko!" A familiar voice said.

From within the depths of the crowd Wick K himself emerged. "Lords and Ladies, to those of you that do not already know me, I am Wicked K, King of the Crucible!" He gave a stately bow.

"Lord K," Goliath nodded in greeting. "Am I to assume you have some sort of special contract with Earl Diaz?"

"Why indeed I do Goliath my dear boy!" Wicked K said jovially. "I'm sure I do not need to tell anyone in this room what young Marco's true wish is?" He did not, all were watching that night. All knew the boy wished to die a glorious warrior's death in the arena. Seeing he didn't need to elaborate, he continued, "Good, now knowing that I couldn't just give that lad nothin'! Ole Wicked K's fair he is. So a bargain was struck. For every death match the boy won in the Arena, until his true wish could finally be granted. I'd grant him one silver denarius. Silver denarius which could, in turn, be used for a wish. The only exceptions being he couldn't wish for his own death or the death of a fellow arena combatant. That'd be cheatin'."

The room was silent for a time and the ghoul king of the crucible turned to Marco frowning a bit. "My only complaint is that I'd wish you'd have used this first wish in the Arena itself laddy! Why, what a spectacle it could've been! Giant monster fights! Now what a novel idea you've given me!"

"Marco?" Penelope asked with irritation and suspicion leaking into her tone, "Why did you summon that lizard in the first place?"

The teen sighed, "I panicked. I was packing my things preparing to leave Butterfly Castle and Eclipsa really wasn't going to let me go without a fight. When she threatened to start screaming, I knew I needed a distraction so I used a coin and said the first thing that popped into my head."

Penny stared at him a moment before she started slapping him continuously in the arm. "No! You do not summon a giant lizard just so you can get out of your room without drawing attention to yourself!"

"Oh yeah and what about the giant ass spider?" Marco retorted. "When was anybody going to mention that fucking thing to me, huh?"

"Marco," Penelope said flatly, "What did you think Elise was the Spider Queen to?"

"Oh… oh shit!" Marco said, eyes widening in realization. "Well looks like we've got a kaiju fight on our hands folks. Let's hope Godzilla continues to live up to his title of King of All Monsters."

Mutters of 'Globgor' went up from the crowd at that, making Marco laugh. "No! Nononono! Globgor, for as impressive as I'm sure he was, is an ant compared to Godzilla. Godzilla can breath lazers, casually flatten buildings without even trying and he'd probably climb the mountain Butterfly Castle is built into just because he could."

"And you thought it was a good idea to bring such a dangerous creature here, why?!" Penelope asked arms crossed as she glared at her friend.

"I told you, I fucking panicked!" Marco retorted. Dust fell from the ceiling prompting Marco to say, "One way or another, this'll all be over in five minutes."

Wicked K slashed his cane through the air causing a viewing portal to show up. "Would anyone besides me care to actually witness this clash of titans?"

"I'm putting all of my accumulated winnings on Godzilla winning this fight before the five minutes are up," Marco said knowing full well the King of the Crucible wouldn't be able to resist taking his bet.

"Yer on lad."

---

Godzilla arose from the depths of the merfolk kingdom with a roar of "MOTHRA! WHERE THE FUCK IS MY SANDWHICH BITCH?! GODZILLA IS HUNGRY!" The King of all Monsters looked around in confusion. "GODZILLA DOESN'T KNOW WHERE HE IS! GODZILLA DOESN'T LIKE THIS... GODZILLA STILL WANTS HIS MOTHERFUCKING SANDWICH

The Master of Reptiles saw a stretch of land not too far away and grumbled to himself as he approached the coast. "MOTHRA, YOU BITCH. THIS DOESN'T STOP GODZILLA FROM GETTING HIS SANDWICH! GODZILLA'S GONNA EAT ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, AND MAKING ME, THE KING, WALK, LIKE A FUCKIN' PLEB."

As he approached the Beach of Trash, Godzilla scowled. "THE FUCK'S WRONG WITH THIS PLACE?! MOTHERFUCKERS CAN'T EVEN CLEAN UP AFTER THEM DAMN SELVES. THIS IS AN ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD YOU SONS OF BITCHES!" As he spoke, the icicle like spikes on his back lit up and crackled with power. He proceeded to blast the beachfront with his atomic breath. The thousand degree kelvin breath. Melted everything in sight several hundred magical suits of Solarian Battle armor were turned into slag, melted down into magical ore by the heat of Godzilla's breath.

Then from the depths of the dark forest, a giant Spider arose, trees clinging to its body. Godzilla glared at the annoying arachnid. DAMN! YOU ARE ONE UGLY SON OF A BITCH… MAKE ME A SANDWICH! I MEAN, YOU AIN'T MY PRIME HOE BUT YOU'LL DO… I MEAN, GODZILLA HASN'T GOTTEN ANY EVER SINCE HIS DAMN MOTHER-IN-LAW CAME TO STAY! WAIT A MINUTE! DID YOU EAT MY WIFE YOU SON OF A BITCH?! NOBODY GETS TO EAT MY WIFE BUT ME YOU EIGHT LEGGED MOTHERFUCKER!"

Vilemaw clicked his mandibles together threateningly.

Then the two titans finally clashed as Vilemaw jumped from its perch on the hill to attack the intruder on its domain. Hiding from the beast would do it no good so Vilemaw decided to attack the beast and who knows maybe it tasted like some of those upstart dragons that trespassed in its domain before. Hunger and dominance were the only things going through Vilemaw's mind as it attacked.

"MOTHERFUCKER DON'T ROLL UP ON ME! YOU DON'T KNOW ME! M'KAY!"

Godzilla was going to have none of it and as the spider was in midair he blasted it with his atomic ray breaking off the trees and other plant life that had grown on Vilemaw while it slumbered away. Awakening only when sacrifices were brought to it. Unluckily for Godzilla this monster was resistant to his atomic breath with its millenia old carapace being thicker than most castle walls. The burden of heat did wear on Vilemaw but it got through the blast of fire to latch its two longest legs onto Godzilla as thousands ropes of silk shot out its backside and attached to the cliffside, trees, earth, and other areas to secure a strong hold. Now came the difficult part of dragging Godzilla out of the water.

"YOU EIGHT LEGGED SON OF A BITCH, DID YOU JUST JIZZ ON ME?! AWW YOU NASTY!"

Godzilla kept blasting at Vilemaw and hurting the spider somewhat but its six glowing eyes did not stop staring at its new prey. Six more of its arms shot forth and latched onto Godzilla as Vilmaw tried with all its might to pull its enemy out of its aquatic domain. Inch by painful inch Godzilla was being dragged forward. A tug of war of monstrous proportions had started.

Neither titan noticed that the nearby beach covered with trash and filth was set ablaze even more with some stray shots from Godzilla. The blaze roared high to the heavens and burned in an ominous blue light but instead of leaving only destruction the fire did not seem to go past the hills of trash as it continued to burn away the blight upon the once pristine beach staining the sand an onyx black. Turning the slag from earlier into a beautiful liquid ore deposit of magically reinforced metal.

"MOTHERFUCKER THINKS HE CAN JIZZ ON ME, I AIN'T NO PRISON BITCH YA HEAR!" Godzilla was getting enraged at this insect thinking it could treat him as some kind of prey to be brought to the slaughter. He did not know why he was brought here but he would prove who was king. He grabbed one of the foul creature's limbs and began to squeeze with force that could crush skyscrapers. He heard a satisfying crack as the carapace began to give from the pressure never before seen in this world.

"I WANTED A FUCKING SANDWHICH! I STILL WANT MY MOTHERFUCKING SANDWICH, BUT I'LL MAKE DO WITH CRAB LEGS!" Godzilla roared in minor triumph as he finally wounded the beast. The roar of triumph was short lived as the other seven limbs began to grip him harder as the spider tried to pierce his indomitable hide with its own strength. While the smaller legs could not pierce Godzilla's flesh the two largest ones were able to give enough pressure to pierce Godzilla and cause his blood to trickle out and mix with the magic ocean. Causing the sea to begin to spark and thrive with life as Godzilla's lifeblood mixed with the sea and empowered the dormant magic within.

"BITCH DID GODZILLA SAY YOU COULD TOUCH HIM?! NO! NO HE DID NOT! SEE THE TAIL?" He waved his tail in front of Vilemaw's face. "NOW TAKE IT LIKE THE BITCH YOU ARE!"

Godzilla smacked Vilemaw with his tail sending him careening back.

The ocean began to sparkle even brighter, with the putrid green turning into a crystal blue. It churned and thrived as if a storm was coming as torrents of electricity began to shoot off Godzilla's spine as he charged another atomic blast to hit Vilemaw in the face. Vilemaw was by no means stupid. It knew that if it didn't finish this fight soon it would join the afterlife amongst its many sacrifices. It roared in challenge as it pulled even harder causing Godzilla to fall forward a little at the surge of strength and even be pulled towards the mountain coast knocking some debris off the cliffs. Only when his head was forced to look away from its prey did he notice the burning beach and the silk strands gathered all behind his monstrous foe. An idea sprang into Godzilla's mind as again he charged his atomic breath.

"I GOT YOU NOW YOU WIFE EATER!" This time the pierced legs inside of him became conductors, shocking Vilemaw with millions of amps of electricity coarsed through Godzilla and into its body. This had the unforeseen side effect of causing its legs to clamp down harder on Godzilla.

Roars of agony came off of both titans as Godzilla charged through the pain and with herculean effort grabbed Vilemaw and ripped him off his perch off the plateau it was on and throw the creature away from himself dragging everything it was holding on or stuck to with silk to be ripped out of its place of purchase, like its two talons in the sides of Godzilla. Godzilla roared even louder as the the two legs inside his sides were ripped out and Vilemaw landed on the burning beach catching flame as its silk also caught alight.

"BURN BABY BURN! BURN BABY BURN! DISCO INFERNO!"

Vilemaw could only thrash in pain as Godzilla began to slowly stomp towards it from the coast with his blood flowing and mixing even more with the writhing sea. Vilemaw was in too much pain from being shocked to stop Godzilla from stomping on top of it and grab both sides of its mouth with his strong clawed hands. Before Vilemaw could put up anymore resistance it noticed a disturbing fact that would probably be the last thing it saw. Godzilla shined like a blue star as he looked down at the disgusting abomination and roared straight into its open mouth.

"YOU SHOULD'A JUST MADE ME A SANDWICH, BITCH!"

This shot his ever dangerous atomic breath into Vilemaws significantly weaker internal organs setting it alight from the inside out. The Spider God could only give a pitiful response as it locked eyes with its killer as the last remnants of its conscience faded as it burned.

"I NEVER GOT MY SANDWICH!" Godzilla roared in triumph firing a blast of atomic fire from his maw into the heavens, once again showing why he was the King of ALL Monsters. He set his sights on the mountain in the distance and took one… then two lumbering steps towards it…

"I BET I'LL FIND A SANDWICH OVER THERE."

Before he disappeared with an audible pop. The giant blast of wind from that ended up putting out all the raging flames from the battle between the two titans. Godzilla was, as always, a force of nature and had left Mewni forever changed in his wake.

---

"Well, I won that bet." Marco said once the King of All Monsters was sent back to the realm from whence he came. "But why the fuck could we hear Godzilla's thoughts… and why the hell did he sound like a pissed off Samuel L. Jackson who just sucked on a container full of helium?"

"Damn you and your four leaf clover luck Diaz," Wicked K said, but good naturedly. "Well, a bargain's a bargain. That brings your total amount of coin up to…" An old fashioned receipt printer popped up into the man's hand and he started mumbling to himself. "Let's see carry the three, add the seven… 772,000 gold, and to answer your question, I've always been curious about Godzilla's thought process… I've no idea why his voice is so pitchy though."

"Wow, that's a lot," Marco said to himself.

Penelope laughed. "A lot?! Marco if you wanted to, you could outright buy most of the Spiderbite Kingdom from my parents right now. The only people richer than you in all of Mewni are The Lucitors and the Butterflies themselves. Not to mention, you still have all those royalty checks you still need to pick up," she told him under her breath, her gaze flicking to the covered bundle that was draped over his shoulder.

"Right about that, we should be going. Penny get my belt would you?"

Penelope gasped before she spoke in awed tones. "I actually get to touch an Arena Champion's belt?"

Marco shook his head. "Don't make this weird Penny, it's just a belt. Now pick it up and let's go."

"Right, fangirling, sorry," Penelope said letting out an awkward giggle before she reverently picked up the signature piece of attire and laid it across her shoulder. "Let's go!"

"Where are you two going?" Goliath asked.

"St. Olga's. Marco has something very important to tell everyone there, Father," Penelope replied.

The king and queen shared a confused glance, prompting the King to ask. "What connection does Marco have with a former reform school?"

His daughter laughed and replied, "You'll see soon enough. Keep your eyes on your pixie compacts because this is gonna be big."

"Bigger than the giant lizard and spider fight that just happened?" Wicked K asked, eyes gleaming with mirth.

Penelope laughed. "Okay, maybe not that big, but still, big news."

"This sounds important," Wicked K muttered to himself. "Yes, I'll be sure to tune in. Good luck and safe travels to you both." The King of the Crucible said as he prepared to leave.

"Wait just a moment Mister K," Marco said.

The ghoul turned a cigarello dangling from his lips. "Yes ma boy?"

Marco looked at him guilty, "Could you give my gold to the Spiderbites to aid in the reconstruction please?"

"Marco," Queen Arachne protested. "You don't need to do that! If anything we should be thanking you. You've just eliminated a grave and dangerous threat not only from our kingdom but from the entire face of Mewni itself."

"But at what cost Queen Arachne?" Marco rebutted. "How many people got hurt during the fight, or outright killed? How many buildings collapsed? What about your infrastructure? How much of it has been damaged? How badly will this affect your trade with the other kingdoms? I made this mess, I'm responsible for it. I need to clean it up."

'He's blaming himself for everything again,' Penelope thought sourly to herself. 'At the same time, he's also thinking about the kingdom's welfare long term.' She glanced at her father who she saw weighing Marco's words. 'He approves.'

"How much of your gold would you like to give them lad?" Wicked K asked.

Marco looked at Wicked K, eyebrow raised. "When I said give them my gold, I meant all of my gold."

Everyone in the room gasped. Even the King and Queen looked shocked. "We can't accept that Marco," Goliath spoke in his deep timbre after regathering his wits. "You are truly kind, but this is just too much. If you truly feel guilty we shall take what we need for any necessary repairs and burials, but that is all."

The teen shrugged. "Do what you feel is best, King Goliath." He turned to the princess who was looking at him in awe. "Coming Penny?"

"R-Right!" The spiderbite princess stammered out.

Before two could leave through the portal Marco had opened, Wicked K hailed his champion.

"Ah Marco m'boy, before I forget, do talk to your poor mother sometime soon. She was in a right state when I sent you away and I promised her she'd be allowed to speak to you as soon as you were able… and yer not gonna make a liar outta me are ya?"

Marco grimaced. Talking to either of his parents was the absolute last thing he wanted to do right now, but he felt shitty enough as it was. He didn't need to go making one of the few people he felt he hadn't stabbed in the back feel betrayed. "I'll go see her after my business at St. Olga's is concluded. You have my word Mister K. Penny, let's go."

The duo left then, leaving a grinning Wicked K behind them. He turned to the Spiderbite Monarchs. "That boy'll make a helluva King someday I guarantee… But only if he can ever get over his need to blame himself for everything…" He leered at the King and queen one foot through his own portal as he said, "But I wonder which kingdom will call him their King? The Spiderbites, or the Butterflies? Anyway toodaloo!"

Wicked K left them all behind with a jaunty wave.

---

Marco and Penelope stepped out of the portal, they appeared in an abandoned room, the bed having been overturned and the walls spray painted with graffiti. Marco looked around in utter confusion. "Um, did I accidentally portal us to a crack den?"

Penelope went to the windows and looked outside. "No, no, we're at St. Olga's alright." Marco joined her at the window and looked down, in the courtyard was the robot DJ from the Bounce Lounge playing music, and the girls, princesses each and everyone of them, were using mattresses to surf down the front steps of St. O's.

"Okay, this is going a bit too far. I'm all for being an individual but these girls are acting like straight up hooligans."

Penny turned to him and raised an amused eyebrow. "Hooligans?"

"You know what I mean, they have absolutely no rules or decorum whatsoever. I mean look at this place," Marco spread his hand out over the view below them. The courtyard was in ruins trash lay strewn about carelessly, and mountains of pizza boxes were lining the walls. "I'm all for fun but this is going a little far. Time to restore some semblance of order to this place."

"Princess Turdina is going to lay down the law?" Penelope asked with a giggle in her tone.

Marco let out a sigh. "Yes, now can you help me get into this thing?" Marco politely requested as he pulled the blue dress out of its bag.

Penelope blinked. "You're going to wear it over your armor?"

Marco shrugged, "Not for long, I told you, no more secrets remember?"

The Spiderbite princess shrugged. "Okay if this is how you wanna do it, seems a shame to ruin such a nice dress though."

It was a bit of a struggle getting the dress on over his spiked armor, but they managed. To her credit, Penny didn't laugh at him when he applied eyeshadow, blush, and lipstick, and adjusted his wig so it would stay on properly.

"You're really good at applying makeup," she complimented.

Marco accepted the compliment with humility. "Thanks, Halloween is a holiday in my dimension that has everyone dressing up as scary creatures and it's mine and my dad's favorite holiday. So I always wore creative costumes. One year I went as a vampire, another as a zombie with rotting flesh… you get the idea."

Penny giggled. "That actually sounds like fun. I wonder what Mewni would be like if we had such a holiday there? One day a year where the Mewman's became like monsters and maybe vice-versa? I wonder if it would make people think?"

Marco shrugged, he couldn't say one way or the other. He wasn't on Mewni and he wasn't Star, who was trying to change the way people thought about monsters on Mewni. He was just here at St. Olga's to restore a semblance of order to the place.

As he and Penny walked down the halls, Marco or Turdina rather could see that 's had seen better days. Posters of himself as Princess Turdina hung up on the walls haphazardly, with her slogan of, "It's not criminal to be an individual!" posted underneath a picture in big block letters. Trash covered the hallway as the two walked and Marco shook his head in disgust. "This is what my rebellion has become? It looks like Red Square in here good work comrades."

"It has gotten pretty bad since I was here last. Is this maple syrup on the floor?" Penelope asked as her shoes seemed to stick hard to the wooden paneling.

"Yeah this place needs cleaning up. Let's see if we can find the person in charge."

"Follow me, Heinous' old office is this way," Penelope said.

Marco followed a step or so behind the Spiderbite princess as she led him to an ornate office door that was being guarded by a couple of robots. The came alert as Marco and Penelope approached. "Halt!" The one on the left spoke in a menacing mechanical monotone.

"Identify yourselves, or prepare for annihilation," The other said.

"Princesses Penelope Spiderbite and Turdina of Earth here to see Princess Patricia Arms." Penelope said, giving a polite curtsey to the robots.

Upon hearing the name Turdina, the machines turned as one erriely towards Marco and stared at him. "Ehehehe, hello there." Marco said, twiddling his fingers towards the guards nervously as they stared at him, his tone pitched and feminine.

"Nice princess voice," Penny said under her breath.

"It's not a princess voice I'm just nervous," Marco admitted. This caused Penelope to chuckle. "Marco, you've killed fifty people in death combat. You've got nothing to be nervous about."

The two guards seemed to scan Marco as the two friends held a whispered conversation.

"Facial recognition software one-hundred percent match," The robot guards both took a knee in an unmistakable bow. "Princess Turdina, how may we serve?!"

"Uhh, at the risk of sounding cliche… take me to your leader… please?" Marco said in his 'princess tone'.

The robots rose and one opened the door while the other announced their arrival. "Princesses Penelope Spiderbite and Her Holiness Turdina to see you Your Majesty!"

"EEEK! T-Turdina herself is here?! Well, let her in you bucket of bolts!" An excited voice replied.

"Right away ma'am," The robot turned to the two, "Her Majesty Princess Patricia Arms will see you now."

Marco entered the former headmistress' office and found it for the most part clean. There were a couple of discarded pizza boxes scattered about and several posters of himself on the walls, but other than that, the place looked fine from what he could tell having never been in here before. There were bookcases lining a fireplace directly in front of him, and immediately on his left was a desk that was weighed down with paperwork. Sitting behind it was a blonde girl with four arms. Marco had to do a double take as for a moment, he thought he was staring at Star in her Mewberty form. It was only the lack of golden wings and the missing pair of arms that prevented him from having a panic attack.

The girl came around from her desk and was grinning giddily clasping all six of her hands together as if in reverent prayer. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, Oh my Gosh! It really is you Princess Turdina!"

"Um, yes. Hello," Marco said in his princess voice. "It's Patricia right?"

Marco suddenly found himself hugged by the girl with four arms. "It's… it's so incredible to finally meet you in person!" Patty half glared at Penelope as she hugged her heroine. "So Penelope, however did you manage to find her? When no other princess in the multiverse could?"

Penelope knew faux-niceties when she heard them. 'Well two can play at this game bitch,' Penny thought to herself as she pulled Marco into a friendly hug, "Well I began attending the Crucible Arena regularly after my brother's murder was avenged and it just so happens that Princess Turdina too was there one night."

"Oh really?" Patty said, sounding awed. "I didn't take you for the violent type Turdina, no offence."

"Oh I wasn't watching silly girl Tee hee," Marco laughed before he pulled Leviathan out from behind his back, shocking the six-armed princess. "I was participating."

Patty's jaw dropped. "You were fighting in the arena?" Seeing Turdina nod, Patty just laughed and leaned against her desk for support. "Ha… hahaha! You really are something you know that Turdina? Did you ever meet that Scarlet Executioner guy?"

Marco tapped his chin, in thought. "Once or twice. He's a nice if a bit quiet fellow."

Patty nodded while crossing all six of her arms, "Yeah he does seem the type. But anyway what can I do for you?"

"Well, I was told by Penny here," Marco nodded to Penelope, "That I seem to have inspired merchandise? And I was wondering where exactly my royalty checks were?" Marco spoke in a sweet tone but there was a slight clipped undercurrent in his voice that showed he meant business. Yeah he could speak bitch too if needed. He'd been around Ponyhead long enough to know how.

"Right here ma'am. I've been hanging onto them in case you ever showed up again." Patty dove under her desk and the sound of a safe's tumbler being clicked into place could be heard, and the door swung open moments later Patricia came back up holding a small stack of envelopes. "Here you are ma'am. Your royalty checks for all the product lines that bear your name."

Marco flipped through them, there must've been dozens of checks here all addressed to his alter ego. 'Dulce Navidad' Marco thought to himself. "How… how much is all this?"

"Well," Patricia, said, "If I had to guess with the toy line from Toylandia, the makeup line from Mascaraia, and the clothing line from Guchiia… you're looking at sixty-five thousand crowns a month at least over a period of... it's been what? Nine months since your revolution? So… about 585,000 crowns."

"Damn!" Penny and Marco swore at the same time.

"Why are you both so surprised? You're very popular. Princesses, love you little girls want to be like you, girls between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five want to emulate you… and men between the ages of forty and fifty-five really want to get to know you, but let's just ignore them."

"Wait, what was that last bit?" Marco asked.

"Ignore it please… creepy pedos," Patty said under her breath.

"I… I need an adult!"

"You are an adult," Penny reminded him. "Remember?"

That snapped Marco out of his funk. "Oh, oh yeah, right. Okay. I'm good. Anyway, Patricia, I came here to make an announcement but it's late and I'm tired. So is there anywhere I can stay privately until morning?"

Patty smiled. Only the best would do for her hero after all. "I know just the place. Follow me please."

---

Patty led them to Heinous' personal chambers. It was lavish if a bit drab. Everything was grey and black in color. It was as if the woman had no idea what actual color was. Her floors were covered in grey carpet, her walls consisted of black wood, and the furniture was of black wood with plush grey padding. The couch in front of the fireplace was lifeless holding no sense of individuality for the person who owned these chambers. Even the bed, a four poster such as it was, was as dull and lifeless as the rest of the room, a giant fluffy grey mess of sheets and pillows though it was.

"What a boring woman," Marco said to himself as he looked around the room seeing not a single hint of a person here at all. No pictures, no artwork, nothing that could tell you about who Heinous was as an individual. "I've stayed in hotel rooms with more personality than this."

"It's quite dull isn't it?" Patty opioned, sniffing in disdain. "But it's quite comfortable if you can look past its droll color scheme."

"Do you usually sleep in here, we're not kicking you out of your room are we?" Marco asked concerned.

Patty scoffed. "Ha! I hardly ever have time to sleep ma'am. I'm the only one keeping this place afloat, and only just at that."

"I'll do what I can to help get this place fixed up," Marco promised.

Patty sighed in relief with her shoulders dropping in exhaustion. "Thank you ma'am. I don't want to boss the other girls around, I don't need them thinking of me as another Heinous, but this place is falling apart. And even if I'm an Armian and good at multitasking, I can only do so much."

"Don't worry, I've got your back Patty, but for now, I'd like to relax before retiring for the evening. Thank you for showing us the way here," Marco said politely.

Patty bowed deeply in respect. "Of course ma'am. Will Penelope be staying with you? Or shall I show her to a room?"

"She'll be staying with me for now," Marco said genuinely tired as he slumped down on the couch in front of the fireplace.

Patricia nodded seeing how tired and haggard her idol looked. "Then have a goodnight ma'am. I'll have a stage set up by morning for your speech," Patty shot Penelope a look that said 'take care of her', before she left the room.

Once Patty had gone, Penlope sat down next to Marco on the couch. "Hey Champ, you doing alright?"

Listlessly, Marco nodded. "Yeah today was just… intense. I mean, I summoned fucking Godzilla and caused a kaiju fight Penny. I mean, who even does that?!"

"You, clearly. But you shouldn't worry so much Marco. I don't think anyone got hurt, and to top it all off Vilemaw is dead. That's a win-win in my book," Penelope said as she scooted closer to her hero with every word she spoke.

"Yeah I guess even when I screw up some good can come from it," Marco said with a self-depreciating chuckle.

"That giant lizard also cleaned up the Garbage Beach and unless I'm wrong, he probably made the water deep enough near the shore for boats now, so we might have a new harbor on top of everything else. Hmm, Ubaldo Harbor, has a nice right to it I think. Now, does that sound like a fuck up to you?"

Marco turned to reply, only for Penelope to press her lips to his.

(Lemon Start, special guest writer Heliosion who promises not to wreck my fics anymore)

The kiss tasted of guilt and the smells of a girl he knew he couldn't have. His closed eyes misted over as the hot taste of shame was what first came to mind.

"Did you not like it?" Penelope asked weakly, her voice soft and sad yet it served its purpose to break the illusion. Star vanished inside his mind and out in the real world when he travelled back to it see the small tear that ran down the princess's eye. Old instinct, guilt clouded over by a memory of another life chasing after scissors allowed his hand to ghost across the curve of her cheek and smile sadly back at her.

He shook his head. Marco couldn't say anything. He wanted to apologise but he was scared that the wrong name would part his lips, a longing so strong it was sunk into his very bones. This princess didn't deserve that humiliation.

Penelope boldly kissed him again, squinting her eyes closed so tightly they shook like an earthquake was rumbling in the room. Her entire body was shaking too, convulsing as nerves and anxiety took turns to square dance through her body. Marco didn't answer back but there was a small tired part of himself that welcomed the outcome of her bravery that reminded him so much of his precious…

"Stop it," Marco said to himself, as their lips parted. His palm surrounded his traitorous brain and he squeezed tightly, enough for Penelope to hiss in distress and grab at the offending arm. She pulled, he resisted. She pulled again, another dainty arm struggled with the other in a brutal gladiator duel to free Marco from the monster that was his broken heart.

In the end, Marco didn't relent and it was a quirk of fate that flipped the entire destiny of the pair forever.

Heinous's fondness for the finer things didn't include a new mattress. The old bed of a spinster that had more chance of becoming a supermodel than getting laid had neglected to purchase something she would get very little use of. A small lump in the centre caught Marco by surprise and he fell over, landing on top of her and between the valley of Penelope's breasts. She captured him between the orbs of flesh and squeezed him tightly as if trying to juice out the darkness that plagued his psyche.

Penelope eventually freed him from her fleshy prison and took hold of his chin and forced him to stare at her. She in turn looked like she was forcing herself to stare at him. A stalemate ensued, the O.K. Corral, the impass, hell whatever the fuck you wanted to call it, the giant chasm Marco put up for everyone else, leaving just a broken bridge that Star could once wander in at her leisure was filled in by the sheer emotion in her eyes.

"You know what?" Penelope said softly, kissing him again, "If you once say no to me tonight we will stop this, where this goes…"

Marco didn't muster a word, something inside him sparked, a crack in the mirror that shone the little light Star provided in his mind when he could forget his guilt shattered and the light sparkled like stars. The lights distracted him, dancing like fairies for Penelope to make her stand.

Penelope scrunched her nose, closing her eyes and muttering something to herself, the girl reached for something behind her green dress and simply tugged. Like a beautiful waterfall, the green fabric fell, pooling at her feet like a clam shell, revealing the naked wonder hidden by a strategic use of her hands as her bravery failed her at the very last moment. She took a moment again, breathing hard then let her arms fall to her sides.

Marco was no amateur in the game of sexy times. He had spent sixteen fucking years in a hell dimension where the clean living God of the Bible would probably be beaten up and have his lunch money stolen by the various hell beasts and demon lords that called that place their vacation home. Stolen moments, fleeting nights when flesh was all the song a man needed and women… wow… Women had morals… if you decided the seven sins were a lifestyle but this…

Those women had never 'given' anything to these encounters. A harsh world bred harsh women who didn't surrender a thing to anyone. Penelope, princess of the Spiderbite Kingdom was bred to present herself to the one who would make her house stronger and her royal blood thicker. Marco's dying thoughts in regards to Star questioned why the blonde girl had never been thought of in the same way… Did it matter?

"Shut up brain," Marco whispered, hearing the quiet in his head for the first time in a long time. There was nothing burning away at his sanity, no thought acid pulling apart the threads that held him together. He didn't deserve to be depressed, a sad emo whiny bitch. Someone was giving him a unique treasure, the virtue of a princess. She was virtuous… that was it. Star never felt virtuous… "Wow, I'm an asshole."

"Shut up Marco," Penelope said softly, approaching him, her nervous walk making certain parts of her sway like a siren's call, a clash of pedigree and the heart of a teenage girl unintentionally creating a seductive look. Her breasts were full and smooth, the border to her precious virginity was covered by nothing but smooth skin. He stared… That was not how he expected a princess to tidy herself. The girl wondered what he was looking at until her eyes traced his in their path and she blushed. "Ponyhead told me that men like it that way."

Marco said nothing again. Ponyhead told her this was what men wanted?

'Fuck, I totally need to buy Ponyhead a coke after this or something?' His traitorous thoughts must have mirrored his facial expression. Penelope scrunched her nose and took the plunge.

The princess took full control of it, haste make waste it seemed in Marco's eyes as she stalked over, grabbed him by the armour and made him pull it off. Next casualty was the dress and like a savage, undermining the male stereotype of the alpha male she tore the dress off in one harsh pull, the shredding noise of torn fabric made a cacophony of reactions.

Marco had learned behaviour, a lifetime taught him to listen when his booty call was giving orders and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her in. Penelope's maidenly heart flailed like a drunk Irishman at closing time and the kiss that came from this clash made their teeth hit one another like two freight trains deciding who was the hardest one of them all. Marco reeled back but that seemed to be the wrong thing to do as the girl flew back in like a peregrine falcon on crack and shoved him onto the bed in a flying leap nearly, her full body weight pushing him onto the bed with a thud.

The coasters holding the bed up crunched as the wood gave way along with the frame. The bed had fucking broke and the ice at the same time.

It was a magical moment.

Penelope heaved in harsh breaths, a feral look on her face as she stared at him nose to nose then kissed him. Marco stilled like he was the girl in this scenario and accepted it. When she took control, Star faded away. He was not allowed to remember… what was her name again? His thoughts were afraid of a one hundred pounds when wet princess with the combat skills of a retarded goblin who couldn't figure out why it hurt when he hit himself in the face with his club. Somehow, Penelope would know and the idea made him forget that he'd served a trained warrior's head as a show just a little while ago.

In the face of Penelope Spiderbite's determination, no force in the cosmos could stop it. Toffee had less fucking impact than this girl! She was more explosive than Star… dear god, that was scary to think! The first day at school!

Marco was amazed he could finish that sentence in his mind. Penelope was fireworks!

Penelope started kissing him frantically, pulling away at what little of princess Turdina's dress was left. Next came his boxers, they lasted around a second as she tore them off too like it was Christmas morning. When nothing but her prize remained she remembered that she was a virgin and froze, one hand holding torn off boxers, the other inches away from his manhood.

The aggression gave way to a frightened rabbit. She just stared… for a long time.

Marco sat in the silence and the strangest thing built up inside until it had to come out at full force. The boy laughed for the first time in what felt like eternity. It was not a booming, satisfied laugh nor a sad little 'meh, I'm trying ain't I?' laugh that people having a bad time did when they failed at showing people they were okay. It was like he was exercising a muscle that had atrophied.

Penelope did not become discouraged. In fact, something about it made her smile in a truly beautiful way that made Marco utterly forget everything that had ever happened, a truly wonderful form of amnesia that made him reborn, feel refreshed in turn.

The both of them met together for the first time to kiss. It felt wonderful.

The princess pushed him back onto the bed and eeped when the laughter woke up the new hard problem she would now face. This time, Penelope directed while Marco acted the part. She climbed up his legs, past his socks that made her shiver when they touched her precious parts as the succubus in training climbed up, only to stop when something long touched the entrance. She gasped, feeling it with a rotation of her hips, eyes closed then opened with a smile baring teeth.

That was where the next technical difficulty occured. She was a virgin and while a few sexy books had told her the mechanics of the act she had never done this before.

"Marco, do the thing," she stated.

"How do you know that I…" Marco, his playfulness having karate chopped the emo for the time being couldn't resist. It was as if someone had dunked that darkness inside with white dye and it now had shades of something in it, an emotion he either forgot or it had been nearly dead or something. He really had little brainpower working with the way she was fiddling herself with the tip of his cock.

"Another dimension, aged sixteen years… That world is an urban legend to every person with a pair of dimensional scissors. You had to have gotten laid Marco. You are too…" Of all the things to get embarrassed about, Penelope's was apparently this really minor point. Talking about sex… when Marco could see the mole next to her left teat. "Just stick it in Marco before I scream for the royal guards!"

Marco complied, sliding it in without warning. Penelope found out she was a screamer right there and then. The 'Yes Milady' pun was implied.

Penelope had to have had one hell of a pain threshold because the girl took the pounding like a champ as she sat upon her royal throne while Marco thrusted from beneath. The poor girl finally relinquished the control, her goal completed as the maiden got the same awkward experience all virgins had to undergo as she balanced herself on the mattress with her hands. At one point the girl started to kiss him, her mind unclouded just enough after Marco forgot to be emo completely and bit her on the nipple. She winced but enjoyed it. She bit him back, playfulness littering her first time. She was lucky, Marco's body might have been playing back from the start like a physical game over screen but his second time round as a first time virgin went well.

She orgamsed quite a few times, Marco having mined the right spot to prospect, the gold rush so to speak as experience helped alleviate the inevitable point when his virgin body struck gold and the boy came hard himself. The release was like someone sucking on the vile horror that had taken root inside himself. She gasped one more time, reeling back, touching her clit to add an extra bit of bourbon to the hard liquor which was her first time sleeping with someone.

They both drowned together, saying nothing more but drifting into the wondrous hangover of sexual bliss.

(Lemon end, Helios says 'See Ya Space Cowboy!')

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Word Count: 25,000 Number of Pages: 55 Date Completed: 3/10/2020

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AN: Welcome one and all to Chapter 2 of Scarlet Executioner! Hope you all enjoyed it and the wait wasn't too long. Everyone be sure to wish Snowy a happy birthday for it is his birthday today. I hope you all enjoyed the chap and till next time, here's snowy everyone!

Seeya fellas this is a gift from my birthday folks. Happy birthday to me and you too readers. Enjoy this gift of double chapter post.

Double Chapter… oh, you mean the 'other' project. Yeah, that'll be up tonight too. If any of you happen to be Xiaolin Showdown fans and Fate Stay night fans… and Jackie Chan Adventures fans… and Kim Possible fans, then this is a fic you might wanna check out. Till next time everyone, this has been a Bubbajack and IcySnowSage Production! Peace!