Marco slowly opened his eyes to a dimly lit room, he noticed Star sleeping in a chair next to his bed with her head planted on the side of it. Kelly was passed out in a chair against the wall and saw her wolf friend snoozing in front of the door. He tried to shift his weight to move without waking up Star, but it didn't work out as the princess groaned at the sudden movement. She opened her eyes and looked at the boy.

"Marco?"

"Yeah it's me,Star."

"Thank God. You freaking scared me earlier." The girl said as she yawned and stretched.

"Yeah… I'm sorry about that. My dream just freaked me out is all. I'm all good now." The boy replied sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head.

The couple chuckled and shared a moment of silence before Marco spoke again,

"So… What's next?"

"Listen Marco, I think you should sit this one out. I mean you've been getting pretty messed up lately. The Magic High Commission agreed that Kelly and I will continue the mission and you can stay in the hospital and heal."

Marco was astounded at the words that left his girlfriend's mouth.

"WHAT?"

The wolf barked in his sleep at the sudden volume and Kelly opened her eyes quickly to see what was going on.

"Star, you need me! I'm not going to let you and Kelly do this alone."

"Ugh Marco, stop making this harder than it already is! We're not alone. Dennis agreed to come along with us. He said he may know where the item we're searching for is."

"Star, he's been bunking with your NEMESIS! How could you trust him? Over me!"

"How could you say that? Ludo literally saved our lives! This has nothing to do with me trusting him more than you and you know it."

"I can't believe what I'm hearing. I AM being ditched by my girlfriend. Awesome."

Star was starting to get annoyed by Marco's behavior.

"Marco, you're a-" Star cut herself off before she said something she regretted.

"I'm a what, Star? A liability? Dead weight? The weak link? HUH? What am I?"

Star sighed and rephrased her thoughts before whispering, "You're only human."

Marco felt his heart break as Star looked into his eyes with a sad, pitiful expression on her face. She didn't want him on the team because he wasn't strong enough? He hated that pity expression she was giving him. He fought against the best of the best and NOW she decides that "you're only human"?

"Star. Why does it matter that I'm only human? I would die for you either way! I am YOUR champion." Marco protested.

Star looked at him with a big frown on her face as she started to tear up. Marco was bewildered by the reaction that Star gave him and immediately felt guilty. He was about to apologize when she got up and ran out of the room. Marco looked down in shame and twiddled his thumbs.

"You don't get it, do you? I guess that was your dick talking instead of your brain. Star isn't leaving you behind because you're fucking weak, she wants you to stay here so you don't do what you just SAID you would. Star doesn't want you to die for her! She can take care of herself just fine. You think Star would be able to live with herself if she knew that the love of her life died because of her? How could you be so insensitive? Didn't you fight another version of Star that turned evil because her Marco was killed? She doesn't want to turn into that! She doesn't want to lose you, Marco. I agree with Star. You need to stop acting like a hero and start acting like a fucking team player." Kelly scolded the young teen as she left the room with her wolf in tow to find Star.

Marco sighed and closed his eyes. Great. Now Kelly hates me too. Marco thought to himself. He wanted to scream and break something. They were right he was acting like a fucking baby, trying to be the hero of every story instead of supporting the team.

"Damn she really laid the smack on you, eh?"

"Go away, Glossaryck."

"Yeah I didn't want to show up either but I have some news for you." The blue man replied.

Marco opened his eyes and looked up at the powerful wizard that was floating next to him.

"That Dennis fellow is going to lead Star and Kelly to a clue that directly points you in the direction of the key. But why would you want to go looking for the key? If anything you want to stop Toffee from reaching the key. In theory, the enemy can let you go search for the key and hang back till you find it; then they'll just swoop in and take it from you." Glossaryck explained.

"Okay so why don't you tell Star about it then?"

"No then they'll know something is up, if Star and Kelly suddenly have a change of mind."

"Who's they?"

"The traitor and any other spies that may be tailing the group."

"Who is the traitor anyway? Am I going to figure that out anytime soon?"

"You'll know them when you see them. Now I gotta go! Once you finish your conversation with Hekapoo, I'll be back to get you."

The blue man poofed away and Marco was left in silence until he heard his door open and saw the demoness walking in.

"Damn no knocking before entering?" Marco asked the MHC member with a raised eyebrow.

"Your little girlfriend's party left without you. Aww, that must make you sad." Hekapoo mocked before plastering a wicked grin on her face.

"Eh. It doesn't bother me that much. I trust that she can take care of herself."

"Hmm." Hekapoo muttered as she straddled the boy in bed, "With that hero fetish of yours, I was sure that you'd have your panties in a bunch over being left behind." She whispered as she traced Marco's cheekbone with her sharp fingernail.

"Haha seems like you didn't think much of me then, huh?"

"Are you mad at me, Marco?" The demoness purred in the boy's ear.

"Everyone has their expectations, I guess." the boy said as he shuddered and blushed slightly at the close contact.

Hekapoo ran her long forked tongue across the boy's cheek and stopped at his ear.

"Mmm I guess." the demoness whispered as she flicked her tongue against his ear.

"And my expectations are very low for you." Marco spoke softly.

"Please elaborate."

"You aren't my Hekapoo, are you?"

Marco was met with silence, but he continued nonetheless.

"The Hekapoo I know does NOT have a forked tongue."

"My, my how incredibly perceptive."

"You tricked Janna into giving Mina the poison apple. Then you changed yourself into Ludo to make it seem like he was around during the time of the murder. But real Ludo was long gone on the farming planet because YOU orchestrated the raid on his castle! How else would you know that he was in that godforsaken dimension? Then you sent people after us in hopes that we would be taken care of on some random planet. You killed JANNA! Because she was on your fucking ass!"

"How long have you known?"

"Since that night in the hallway. You guys must have similar memories but it wasn't close enough. That night in the neverzone… Your Marco must have only gotten his dick sucked but I FUCKED THE SHIT OUT OF MY HEKAPOO!"

Marco used all his strength to push Hekapoo off of him and onto the ground, she growled when she hit the floor but the boy paid her no mind as he reached for his sword.

"Bingo."

Marco looked over his shoulder and saw a floating Glossaryck above a snarling demoness. The sorceress switched her attention to the wizard but the blue man had it all planned out. He snapped his fingers and Hekapoo disappeared spontaneously.

"Alright kid let's skedaddle before she comes back."

Glossaryck clapped his hands and the medical equipment littered over Marco disappeared and he was in his usual attire. The boy jumped up and grabbed his sword and shield while the blue man conjured a portal. They immediately entered and landed in the front yard of a small house. It reminded him of Earth's houses and he wondered where they were.

"Where are we?" Marco asked.

"Fate's house."

AUTHOR's NOTE: Holy shit. A lot of things happened in this short chapter! Star and Marco fought, Hekapoo's true identity is revealed, and Marco has a solo mission to meet Fate! I wonder who Fate is! Next chapter will most likely be split between Star and Marco. Everything is starting to add up and things aren't as subtle as before. The upcoming chapters will be more action packed since the jig is up with Hekapoo. The next chapter will probably come out tomorrow or maybe later today. You know the drill, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and review your thoughts. This story will probably be coming to an end soon. 10 or so more chapters then I'll either start working on a sequel or another work. It depends on how I end it.