AUTHOR's NOTE: Hey guys so this chapter will be a bit dark but nothing too crazy. I'm just forewarning those who may be sensitive towards some of the topics mentioned in this chapter. I hope you enjoy it! Read and Review.

Marco crash landed onto the floor of the throne room right beside Dennis. He rolled onto his side and groaned in pain as he rubbed his head. The boy had a splitting headache but not from the fall, he felt like he got it from the portal. Don't tell me I have a portal hangover. Marco moaned as he struggled to get up. He didn't catch sight of Star or Kelly. He didn't see anyone in the throne room, which was weird. Marco looked at the unmoving space lizard.

"Dennis?"

No response.

"Dennis? You good, man?"

Marco felt uncomfortable from the silence he was receiving so he slowly trudged over to the lizard and rolled him over, the boy jumped back and gasped. There was nothing in the suit. No Dennis. Marco was confused on what happened to the spaceman and wondered if it had anything to do with the portal. The boy scanned the room once more before stepping over to the exit, when he opened the door to empty hallways; he started to get uneasy. Marco walked through the hallways in hopes that he'll find somebody. He called out Star's and Kelly's names but got no response. He felt relieved when he saw River standing at the end of the hallway and ran towards the familiar man.

"Hey River!"

No answer.

"River!"

Again, no response.

"River?"

The boy slowed down as he felt chills run down his spine. Something was not right. He slowly walked closer but stopped dead in his tracks. The feeling of extreme cold coming from the man kept Marco from moving closer. The figure started to slowly turn around and Marco was terrified at the thought of what he might see. He sighed in relief when he saw the normal River, but that feeling of calmness was thrown aside when he saw a picture of Toffee flash before his eyes in place of River. He stumbled back in fear as River put a finger in front of his mouth.

"Shh."

Marco's entire world went black but he didn't pass out, everything melted around him till he was surrounded in inky black nothingness. He hugged himself because it was so cold and it seemed like the low temperature just ripped through his hoodie. Then he was in a burning village. Everything was on fire and dead bodies were littered everywhere. He scanned the area and saw ANNEBELLE, on the ground, lying back on her elbows. She looked broken. The girl had cuts and scratches all over her face and her armor was ripped into pieces and scattered across the street. The red-head looked directly at him in pure fear and he tried calling out to her but his voice didn't work. Then he realized that she was staring at something behind him, the boy was about to turn around when monsters walked past him. He was in total shock as creatures and beasts of the night made their way towards her. He tried screaming or physically stopping them but nothing worked. He could only watch in horror as they ripped off her remaining armor and clothing. Marco wanted to throw up, the monsters took turns violently penetrating the poor girl. They didn't stop or slow when she screamed. And they didn't stop when she passed out from the pain either. Marco felt his heart break when he heard those screams for help. She pleaded with them to stop, shouting that it hurt but they didn't listen. The gruesome image disappeared and instead showed him his house in flames. This was no regular fire. The flames that torched his house were bright green and smelled of death. He coughed and gagged on the smoke even though he was outside in front of his house. Marco grabbed at his throat as his lungs screamed for oxygen. He looked up when he saw his parents running out of the house, his dad was carrying his baby sister as they ran across the front yard.

BANG! BANG! The sound of two shots rang out as he watched his parents drop dead just a couple feet in front of him. He clenched his fist as tears stung his eyes. Marco felt like his soul was ripped out. Then the image disappeared and was replaced with Star. No. Marco thought as he put his hand out to touch her. He looked into his princess' blue orbs of beauty and was starstruck. Star's hand reached out to meet his, but she gasped and widened her eyes. Marco was confused till he saw a thin strand of blood spilling from the corner of her mouth. He blinked and looked down at the sword that now poked out from his girlfriend's abdomen.

"NO!" Marco yelled.

He looked behind at her attacker in pure rage and his jaw dropped when he saw who it was. It was him. It wasn't the evil him that kidnapped Star nor was it future him. It wasn't any other version of him. It was just… him. Marco looked back at Star and the look of betrayal in her eyes crushed him. The image quickly zoomed out of view for him until it disappeared. Marco was left alone in the darkness with his heart broken, soul ripped out, and his dreams crushed.

"See, child? These are the consequences of your actions. YOU caused this." An unknown voice called out.

Marco spun around to see who it was but was met with darkness.

"You think you can defeat me,boy? I've lived for thousands of years and saw millions of heroes. I've destroyed their lives, homes, planets, and universes. They never stood a chance against me. They all thought that if they believed hard enough then the power of friendship would stop me. How shocked they were when I killed all their friends. The path you're taking right now leads to nothing but suffering. Even if you do manage to defeat me, you'll be left with nothing. Then you'll be haunted by regret,anger, and pain. You will fester in your emotions with no one to blame till you realize that you didn't win that day."

"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?"

"I don't have to explain myself to a child who still believes in hopeless causes. Goodbye Marco Diaz. I'll be seeing you soon."

Marco dropped onto the ground gasping for air, he felt light headed and drowsy. The boy fell to his side and blacked out. He opened his eyes and inhaled deeply as if he had just been underwater and he looked around. He recognized this room. It was the same as the medical bay in the monster castle. Star came running in with Kelly in tow to greet him. The princess threw her arms around the boy as tears stained her cheeks.

"Oh God, Marco. I was so worried! You fell out of the portal and hit your head. Then you weren't responding so…" Star cried onto the boy's chest.

Marco didn't respond to Star, but tears started to form at his eyes. He didn't know what was real and what was not. He thought about the graphic scenes that were shown to him and couldn't help but feel dread.

"No." the boy whispered.

"What?"

"No!"

"Marco?"

"NO. NO!"

"Marco, you're starting to scare me. Wh-"

The princess was silenced when Marco grabbed her shoulders and stared into her eyes. She looked at his eyes and they were cold, dead, and full of fear. Star had never seen Marco like this and she was completely terrified. She heard the heart monitor beeping rapidly as Marco freaked out.

"He showed me."

"Who?"

"HE SHOWED ME."

"What did he show you!" Star shouted at her delirious boyfriend.

She had tears running down her cheeks as the couple sat in complete silence for a few moments. Marco slowly turned his head towards the girl with a blank expression on his face.

"We don't win this one."

AUTHOR's NOTE: That was some dream, huh? It was dark and frightening for the young teen. You think Toffee gave him those dreams or someone else? Marco seemed pretty messed up afterwards too. This was a shorter chapter but this was kinda important for future reasons. Sorry if it was a little dark for some! But I bet some of you enjoyed it. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and review your thoughts on this chapter and what it might mean for our heroes.