Marco opened his eyes slowly as sunlight shined into the room from the window. He groaned and rolled over to go back to sleep. He barely got any sleep after that thing with Hekapoo. He checked his phone and saw three missed calls from Janna and a text, come 2 the forest asap. Marco sighed and called the girl back, he got no answer. He climbed out of bed and shook Star awake.

"UGH. Marco you know I hate it when you do that. Mama needs her beauty sleep." Star moaned as she turned over.

Marco kept shaking his girlfriend and Star's eyes shot open in annoyance but softened when she saw Marco's worried face.

"What's wrong?"

"Janna might be in trouble, come on!"

Star wasted no time jumping out of bed and threw a hoodie over her tank top and pulled jeans onto her legs. Marco grabbed Silver Lining and ran out the door with Star close behind. They rushed down the stairs into the main hallway and averted crashing into Moon who was walking about the corner. Moon watched her daughter making a mad dash towards the entrance and yelled out,

"WAIT! Where are you going?"

"Sorry mom, important friendship business. I'll be back in a bit!" Star shouted back as she ran with her boyfriend.

"Don't leave the castle!"

But it was too late as her daughter was already out the door. The pair rushed down the streets towards the small village. They didn't slow as they zoomed past people and their properties into the forest of Certain Death. The couple called Janna's name out as they took off deeper into the forest, in fear of what could have happened to their friend. Marco saw a figure out of the corner of his eyes and pulled his girlfriend in the direction he saw the figure go in. They followed the suspect beyond the trees into a familiar clearing where it disappeared. Marco and Star looked around frantically, staying close together in case shit hit the fan. It was like the universe was reading their mind. Marco felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he turned around in time to lock blades with a man that looked similar to his future self from the Neverzone, except for the scar across his face and the twisted smile on his face. Marco deflected the blade that was seconds away from severing his head from his neck, they stood in a stalemate for what felt like centuries as they studied each other. Star jumped back at the sudden appearance and looked at the battling duplicates.

"Marco!" Star shouted in shock as she gritted her teeth and her hands started to glow a dull gold before changing to bright blue.

Star's spell casting was interrupted when she suddenly felt extreme pain running through her body, she screamed that caused Marco to look over and see a figure draped in a hooded robe blasting a beam of electricity at his girlfriend. The boy growled and narrowed his eyes.

"Looking away from the enemy in the middle of a battle? BOLD!" Marco #2 shouted as he lunged forward in an attempt to stab the younger boy.

Marco dodged quickly and retaliated with rapid swipes and slices of his own, changing from defense to offense in a split second. Star collapsed as she continued to scream in agony, she felt the electricity coursing through her body making her spasm and seize as she squirmed on the ground. She tried to bear the pain so she could stand and fight with her boyfriend but it was overwhelming her. Star saw Marco get flipped onto his back and his future self stalked forward ready to finish her boyfriend off. Star squeezed her eyes shut and reached up as far as she could till she felt that blazing heat burn her face. The blonde opened her eyes and they were completely gold as she started get up and held her hand out towards Marco #2 and several different knives and swords flew towards the man. Most missed but one punctured his leg, another embedded itself in his shoulder, and the last grazed his cheek. He stumbled back by the sudden attack and growled at the girl. Marco used this opportunity to jump to his feet and sprinted towards the robed figure, the person stopped their attack on Star to target Marco. They shot several spells in the direction of the boy but he dodged most and used his sword to reflect the last one back at the caster. The robed figure ducked as the ball of fire exploded behind them. Marco wanted to close the distance between them to make their wand effectively useless. Star transformed into her ultimate butterfly form and flew high into the sky before dive-bombing the older Marco with light-based spells. The man couldn't dodge the attacks in his current condition and was blasted onto his back as he coughed up blood and pulled the sword out of his leg and shoulder. He winced as he removed the blades and stood before the floating princess.

"So that's how you wanna play, huh? Okay let's play." Marco #2 snapped as he pulled a bottle of golden liquid from his jacket pocket and guzzled it down before tossing it aside.

The man's eyes flashed gold before turning back to brown as he felt power course through him. He put his hands together and whispered something before putting his hands up to his mouth and blowing out, fire spewed from his hands towards the flying girl but she dodged easily. He put his hands out in front of him and a row of fire appeared on the ground underneath the princess and he raised his hands up and the fire obeyed, towering up to the girl and engulfing her. A burst of wind swirled around the girl and dispersed the flames. Star cast a wall of countless blades and pointed at the man and the swords were hurled in his direction. He smirked and sent out several beams of flames to intercept the coming blades, groups of the weapons were thrown off course when met by the extremely heated air. Marco #2 swung his arms expertly as the fire bent to his will.

"Getting tired, princess?" He taunted as the man noticed the girl's slowing movements, "that's the best part of alchemy. You don't have to worry about using your OWN source of magic. I can drink these bottles all day and I won't even break a SWEAT!" The man shouted as he timed a blast of fire that knocked the princess out of the sky.

Star crashed into the ground as she reverted back to her normal form. She had burns all over her body, not from the fire but the excessive "sunlight" she was exposed to in that form. She was barely conscious as the male picked her up bridal style. She looked in the direction of Marco who wasn't faring well either. He was clutching a wound on the side of his stomach and had several cuts on his face. He looked like he could barely stand but he continued to dodge and block spells from the caster.

"I got her!" the older Marco called out to his partner.

Marco widened his eyes as he whipped around to see Star being carried in the arms of the enemy, she had burns all over her body and he saw red as he stepped forward. He was about to go rescue his princess when he felt a sharp pain from his chest. He looked down and felt like he was going to be sick, a metal rod poked through his chest as he fell to his knees and dropped to his side. He was barely breathing as he bled onto the ground.

"You really need to stop turning your back to your opponent, boy." A female voice scolded coldly from underneath the hood as she stepped over Marco's body.

The unknown female walked over to the man and opened up a portal before walking inside. Marco #2 turned and followed her, Star had tears rolling down her cheeks as she watched her boyfriend die. She didn't even have the strength to scream his name.

Marco watched his girlfriend disappear as he tried to control his breathing. He heard his name being called in the distance as he heard multiple footsteps. A figure knelt beside him and he focused his eyes to see who it was. Kelly held Marco as she slowly picked him up and placed him on Jorby, who was laying down.

"Marco? Marco! Stay with me! You're going to be okay! I need you to STAY AWAKE PLEASE!" Kelly screamed as she lightly slapped his cheek.

"Star…" Marco muttered as he closed his eyes.

Kelly jumped on her wolf and rode at lightning speed towards the castle with Jorby close behind.

"Star… I'm sorry."

AUTHOR's NOTE: CLIFF HANGER! That was an intense chapter! Who was the robed figure? Future Marco unveiled alchemy! It's getting juicy ladies and gentlemen. Do you think Marco will make it? Where did Janna go? Stay tuned! Read and Review.