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"What are we doing here marco?" Star asked impatiently.

"You'll see, it's a surprise." Marco said smugly.

"We have more important things to do today-" Star said

Marco then interrupted, "We can worry about the magic after we do this first, I promise."

Marco planned on taking Star into town to buy her an Earth phone. Sure, Star had her compact mirror, but a phone would do so much more for her, especially now that they wouldn't be able to leave Earthni/Echo Creek.

Star then added, "Alright Marco, I trust you." This made Marco smile, then again, so did every other thing that Star did.

The two made their way into the mall and were right outside of their desired store. Marco had already talked to his parents about this, so Star was already added to their phone plan. All Marco had to do now was take her inside, get her a phone, a case, and a charger.

They walked into the store and immediately started toward the iPhones. Marco knew she would love the phone, it helped to confirm his theory when Star was wide-eyed and gasping at the sight of every new phone. Marco had exactly $650 dollars, and he knew that would be enough for a new enough phone. He decided on the iPhone xr. It was really new, so when he saw a promotion for $650 dollars that included any case and a charger, he knew exactly what to do.

The fact that it cost exactly $650 dollars was comical at this point. No matter where Marco went, everything he purchased ended up being either exactly $650 dollars or ended up being free. He ignored the random coincidence and brought the phone to the register. He simply gestured for Star to go over to the cases and pick out one she liked.

When she brought the case to the register, Marco was annoyed, but decided to just ignore the fact that she brought a Princess Turdina case to the register. He giggled to himself, not aloud, he refused to give her the satisfaction. She knew him though, he surely found it just as adorable as she did.

When the two left the store, Marco opted to not give her the phone yet. He had to explain something to her first. The fact that she was jumping up and down in the same fashion that she did when she turned fourteen and got her wand. That didn't surprise Marco though. He told her, "this is an Earth phone Star, it will break very easily if you're not careful.". It obviously fell on deaf ears because before he could even finish that sentence, she had yoinked the phone from his hands and loudly yelped at him.

Marco let out an annoyed sigh and was left with nothing but hope that she would be able to avoid breaking the new phone.

"Alright, you trusted me to bring you here, now I'm trusting you not to break it." Surprisingly enough, this warning wasn't ignored. Star may have been pretending to ignore Marco, but when he told her he trusted her, she rewarded him with a hug. When they were close enough, Star whispered, "Can I trust you to give me your ringtone?" Marco giggled at that before whispering in return, "Of course you can."

"Let's go investigate this magic business, alright Star?" Marco calmly asked.

"Alright Marco, but we are going to have so much fun messing with this magical rectangle later." Star countered.

"Agreed" Marco concluded.

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Somewhere in Monster Town - at the same time

Inside of a dark room, a purple-haired woman is searching through a bookshelf. 'If anywhere has these records, it should be the renowned monster library' she may not have liked monsters, but at least, unlike the Mewmans, they didn't hide their records from people.

Mina had heard rumors of something called the "Fountain of Youth" or something along those lines. She thought that maybe this so-called 'fountain' could at least slow down her aging. She didn't find anything in the monster records, so the next place she would look would have to be in the Human records, those filthy animals.

She had to hurry now. She was running out of time.

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Diaz residence - 3:00 pm

The two had been home for a few hours now. They wanted to go figure out what was going on with the magic, but neither person had any clue where to start. So they wouldn't.

The two instead spent the whole day working on Star's new phone. By now, Star had Marco's ringtone, his contacts, and she had mastered the camera. She intended to capture her adventures with her boyfriend in full detail with her new phone.

Now, with Marco currently in the bathroom, she decided to try out texting. Unfortunately, she attempted to use emojis while sending 'Hey boo *pink heart emoji*, how is your *poop emoji*?'

Upon seeing this, Marco's face was nearly as red as his signature hoodie. Still embarrassed, Marco responded 'I am not pooping Star, you know I sit in the bathroom, Naysaya made that very clear.'

Star, obviously unaware of how embarrassed she had just made Marco, sent another text 'Hon you know I cant forget that'

Marco, annoyed at the bad memory responded 'Yeah, wish I could forget that *sighing emoji*'

Star, wanting to make Marco feel better, responded 'Well at least you're more confident now! Everything is better now right *peach emoji*' She obviously didn't know just what that emoji meant.

'STAR! DO NOT USE THAT EMOJI' Marco responded. If she had used that emoji with literally anybody else, it would mean bad news.

'Well why not?' Star questioned.

Marco, sensing that maybe he had been a little too harsh, more calmly texted 'Star, that emoji is very….inappropriate.'

'In what way Marco' Star asked, incredibly confused at the moment.

Marco wanted to avoid telling her exactly what it meant, but maybe just telling her could help. He seemed to forget that he was texting...Star. 'Star, it may just look like a peach, but that emoji is used to look like a butt, in a very sexual way' Marco hoped that this text would fix things, but he was still not taking into account that Star would definitely escalate things.

'Well maybe I meant it that way, Macho Man…' Star flirtatiously added.

Marco had now finished the transformation. He was finally the color of his hoodie. He had never heard Star talk to him like that. He certainly wouldn't complain though, they were basically soul-married by this point. He had to decide, would he allow her to do this, would he shut it down, or would he actually take it a step further?

'I may be a Macho Man at heart, but I am still a gentleman' Marco said, hoping that the conversation could wait a moment.

Star, on the other hand, wanted every bit of what she was insinuating. She typed out 'Would a gentleman kiss me in a photobooth before we were even dating' she almost second guessed herself, but she convinced herself to send the message and see where this was going.

Marco wasn't responding, albeit, it was only two minutes, but Star was someone who panicked easily. She comically bit her fingernails before she looked back at her phone, still seeing no response.

Marco, having wandered out of the bathroom by now, tip-toed toward his room, knowing that Star had basically made it her own by now. The door was already wide open, which helped the hooded boy sneak towards his lover, who was sprawled across his bed, facing the back window. When he finally was within tackling distance, he did just that, he tackled her against the bed. Of course Star was much stronger than him, so it surprised nobody that she quickly turned him on his back.

Now on top of the boy, she jabbed his arm, "Don't leave me worried that I took things too far Marco, I was really afraid-" Star softly scolded.

Marco interjected just before she could finish scolding him, "I'm sorry, I just thought that I could surprise you and you would be happy."

"Well I mean, here we are Marco, I don't see you complaining about your position" Star joked.

Marco, now fully grasping where he was, made to panic, but found himself soothed by Star's warmth.

She felt his initial struggle, she gave him the opportunity to leave, but when she noticed his smile growing, among other things, she kissed him. She felt him push back, mostly unable to move his lower body.

He pushed his head forward and returned the favor. Feeling all her warmth at once, all across his body, all across. She felt the same. His growing warmth and aggressiveness finally showing. Unlike herself, Marco was much more firm, in ways she hadn't felt before. She didn't fully grasp what that firmness was until she came up for air briefly.

She took notice at the firm extremity and shot Marco a glare. She then lovingly spoke, "So much for being a gentleman, Diaz". Marco hadn't realised what she meant until he really thought about it. He let things go too far, and yet he didn't regret it, not even a little bit.

"You're not helping Star. You were literally laying on top of me," Marco reasoned, obviously blushing. Star took note of this and didn't pull back, instead, he got even more comfortable against him. She lunged in for round two, but just before she could connect with his lips, a voice in the open door spoke, "I would say get a room, but obviously you have." Angie spoke.

The two didn't move, probably for the better because of what would be revealed if Star moved. Star was the first to break the painful silence, "He was- We were just- Wrestling." That was a poor choice of words. Angie knew exactly what they were up to, or so she thought. Either way, she didn't come to the room to scold the duo.

"I'm just messing with you, I know it is early, but dinner is ready"

"Okay, we'll be down soon." Marco managed.

Once Angie left the two, and shut the door behind her, the couple burst out into uncontrollable laughter. The situation was ridiculous, and one of the least insignificant parts of it was the firmness that he had somehow maintained throughout the conversation.

"I don't want to make it awkward, but we have to go down there, so, what are you going to do with that?" Star asked, obviously talking about his metaphorical breadstick.

"Oh, usually, it would have left by now, but I've never been in a situation that...intense, so I really don't know." Marco responded.

"Marco, this is going to be an important mission. Operation: Hide the breadstick" Star joked, letting out a laugh.

"This. Is. A. Nightmare." Marco muttered.

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Downstairs - at the same time

Angie came downstairs, somewhat mortified at what she had just seen upstairs. She knew that the two were both growing up, and well… it would happen eventually. She had stopped it this time, but she wouldn't always be able to stop it, nor would she want to. Seeing any more of these... events, would surely break her.

She walked toward the kitchen and started toward Rafael. "Hola, mi amor" Rafael spoke. "Hola yourself my love." she said, adoringly. Rafael could tell that she was uneasy though, he decided to push her further, "is something wrong, my darling?" Rafael asked. Angie nearly broke down at her husband's kind tone. She could only manage to say "It's just that he is growing up and it is hard to watch sometimes."

Rafael, shocked at her honesty, joked, "I'm supposed to be the emotional one, mi amor!".

"I'm allowed to worry too, am I not?" Angie spoke, annoyed, not at Rafael, but still annoyed none-the-less.

"Of course, mi amor, but I just mean to say that there is nothing that you can do to stop time. You and I have raised a fine young man and he has proved time and time again that he is destined for greatness." Rafael said, hoping to reassure his wife.

"I guess you're right." Angie stated while slightly smiling, "At least we still have a wonderful little daughter to raise."

Rafael started crying, only to be interrupted by Angie, "Oh stop it you big baby".

Rafael then sniffled, before saying, "Life is just so beautiful"

Angie came over to console her large, crying, husband.

That was when the two noticed some slow footsteps coming from the stairs, it was Star and Marco of course, as if on queue. They gingerly walked down the stairs, for whatever reason, Star was walking in front of Marco.

From their own point of view, they noticed that the parents hadn't noticed the growth in the boy's pants. If they did, it wouldn't serve to help anyone involved. Star's mission would not fail however, she had embarrassed Marco enough this afternoon and this would be too far to come back from. Not to mention that she fully planned on taking advantage of the situation when they got back to their-

Her thoughts were interrupted by the boy himself. He had tapped on her shoulder to get her attention, clearly it had worked.

"We should really hurry to the table so I can sit down." He harshly whispered. She got the message. The two ran for the table the second that the adults' attention seemed to leave them. They ran for it at unbelievable speed. Even going at these speeds, Star managed to keep herself just in between Marco and Angie. She had figured by now that Rafael was oblivious enough at basically anything going on between her and Marco at this point. He had to be told that the two were kissing to even believe it for god's sake.

Once the two made it to the table, they felt a burden leave them. Star, far too loudly, sighed of relief. Angie took notice and simply asked, "everything alright Star?". Star, having gone for the corn first, nearly spit out her corn and said, after swallowing, "Pfft. Yeah, just relieved to see such tasty food Mrs. D!"

"How many times am I going to have to tell you to call me Angie?" Angie asked.

"Maybe just a few more times." Star said with a wide smile across her face.

To the entire family's delight, the dinner was largely uneventful. No slip-ups on the side of Marco, thanks to Star, who graciously volunteered to refill his drink along with her own. Angie didn't bring up her grievance, and the steak and corn dinner was very tasty.

Once everyone was finished and excused, there was another, more complicated part of Star's mission to consider. How would she get Marco past his parents without alerting them to the still firm and unsolved problem? She opted to voice her concern to Marco, "What's the plan man?" she whispered.

"I have no clue… should we just run for it?" Marco asked, in a hushed tone.

The problem was very hard. Star was flattered by it though, it meant that she was most likely doing something right. That train of thought would have to wait though. She still had to get upstairs now. She had finally thought of a plan.

"Marco, I know this sounds crazy, but I think you should carry me upstairs, I can cover it with...well...myself" Star reasoned.

Marco, blushing again, questioned, "are...are you sure-"

"Yes, it's not that big of a deal Marco." Star said softly.

Marco, still skeptical, nodded to her. She then instantaneously jumped into his arms. She was heavy, but Marco had spent the last two years fighting whatever creatures dared to fight back, so he could handle her.

Star, now in his arms, made sure she was covering his… member. That's all she really could do to help now, so that's what she did. And she did it with her usual, glowing smile on her pale face.

Now, with the most beautiful of stars in his arms, he made for the stairs. Everything was working out so well, too well even. That was until Rafael tapped on Marco's shoulder from behind. Rafael, with his son now facing him, said "What's with the hurry mijo? We were going to watch a movie down here if you and Star wanted to join us?".

Star could feel that Marco felt bad, so she took the liberty to answer the question for her, "We really appreciate your offer Mr. Diaz, but we were planning on going upstairs and playing some uhh… board games… and we were SUPER excited about it so-"

Before Star could finish her falsified excuse, Angie entered the conversation, knowing that the two were having a pretty intense moment upstairs by saying "Don't worry Rafael, we have Mariposa to keep us company!".

Marco, still holding his girlfriend in his arms, was relieved by the two women from saving him. He then slowly began backing away, towards the stairs while saying "We're gonna go now…. Goodnight!".

He then sprinted upstairs. When he was at the top of the stairs, he looked at Star and wordlessly offered to let her down. That was until she held herself up against him with her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. Marco got the message and started walking toward their room.

Once inside, Marco sighed in relief, knowing that his parents hadn't noticed his still prominent issue. Less relieving was the fact that it was still there however. Somehow, it was just as big of an issue as it had been about half an hour ago. It was only then that he noticed that Star was literally latched to his stomach and right against it. He then panicked and yelped at her.

Star, spooked by Marco's reaction, asked "What's wrong, are you okay, did I-" Marco then interrupted her panic as well. He felt bad that he made her think she had done anything wrong because how much she had just helped him out. He said "No no no no no, Star you're fine. I really appreciate your help actually, it's just that you were SUPER close to it and I just realised."

Star had only then realised what he meant "Ohhhhh, my bad. I didn't mean to." Marco grabbed her hand to reassure her. In reaction, Star lunged toward him and hugged him. Now ignoring the closeness, she asked, "So this has never happened to you?" Marco understood her curiosity and decided to help her out, "Well, no, it's been like this before, but usually it just goes away, this time is definitely different though."

"Does that mean that you want to…." Star didn't finish. Both of the teens blushed. Marco decided that it would be better if he just didn't answer the question. He really didn't need to though. Both of them knew the answer to her question. The topic would have to wait, because Marco wanted to alleviate the pressure of the conversation by asking, "Mind if I take you up on that board game thing?".

"Let's do it, just use a pillow or something to hide it. Otherwise I might just-" Star was trying to get up to her usual shenanigans, but she was stopped by her bondmate, "Don't even think about it."

The two pulled out the Slides and Ladders game and began to play, in an attempt to make some fun out of the afternoon.

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In the Monster Village - Midday

It had been several days since Manfred had come into town and things hadn't become much easier for him. Obviously, there was much work to be done in order to rebuild the now broken Monster City. More broken than the city however, was his relationship with the Monster race. He wanted to regain the Monsters' trust, but everyone knew the part he played in the invasion and that he still followed Mina afterwards. It wasn't going to be easy.

The Monsters resented him, it was for good reason too. His sole goal at this point, was to make things right, no matter what he had to do.

He made his way back to the rebuilding site after his short break and was prepared to get back to helping. Once he got there, he went to the Monster in charge of the rebuilding. The leader visibly scoffed at him before saying "Back again are we, murderer?".

Manfred, ashamed, responded "I'm doing what I can to help. I have made more than my fair share of mistakes in my past, but I want, more than anything to make things right."

The leader, still annoyed, told him to "Go move the dead, pig". The job was terrible, but someone had to do it, and nobody was more deserving to have to do it than him. He solemnly nodded at the Monster leader before walking in the direction that she told him.

He felt terrible. Seeing the bodies… It was appalling. If he didn't have a grasp on how dreadful his actions were, he would now. The beaten, bruised, and sliced monsters were scattered all across the ground. Without anybody helping him, and no direction as to what he was to do with the bodies, he needed to make a decision. After a lot of deliberating, he came to his decision. He would not rest until there was not only a cemetery made for the dead, but a grand memorial for those who were lost.

With no help, it would be impossible though. He decided to call upon none other than Eclipsa and Globgor themselves, he didn't directly ask them to help, but before he could tell them the situation, they had already agreed to help. Once they actually knew what he was planning, they were proud of him. If all he was saying was true, the royal couple would not allow things to go unknown to the Monster citizens.

Once the two had arrived in the city, they were greeted by the Monster leader, she introduced herself as Minerva. Before Minerva could ask what the Queen and King were doing down in the city, they had already walked past her and were going in Manfred's direction. Minerva noticed this. She had purposely not stationed any Monsters near the murderer, so there was nowhere else the duo could be heading. She was perplexed but chose to ignore it for now.

Also arriving were Moon and River. It turned out that Eclipsa had called Moon and asked if she would like to help! Moon, eager to reenter society, similarly to Manfred immediately agreed and headed into town.

When both couples arrived at the soon-to-be graveyard site, they immediately got to work. The first thing that needed to happen was to count the bod- oop, turns out that Manfred had already done that. There were two hundred eighty-three Monster bodies on the field. It was a massacre. It was one created from hatred, from long-standing grudges, and from mistakes. Manfred was someone who had made as many mistakes as anybody.

The five people would need to dig nearly three hundred graves. How could they possibly pull this off? The only way to get there was effort. The five Mewmans each pulled out a shovel and began digging the six foot holes. Manfred and Moon were digging with an unimaginable amount of fervor. They felt accountable for what had happened and they were, but their efforts were very respectable. So much so in fact, that Minerva took notice. She looked at the group and scoffed before walking in the other direction.

The group was making pretty good progress actually, what with River's immense strength, Globgor's shape-shifting ability, Moon and Manfred's effort, and Eclipsa's best attempts, but there was way more work than they had expected. After an hour and a half, the five workers had only created a hundred and twelve graves.

The progress would be sped up greatly however, when a familiar Monster made her way to the site, not alone. She was followed by a brigade of about twenty-five differently shaped monsters. All she said was, "You may be terrible, but at least you're doing what is right. We are here to help." The Mewmans nodded. Manfred wanted to say thank you, but he was at a loss of words. He had been trying to help the Monsters for weeks, but he finally got something back. It may have been an insult on the surface, but beyond that, approval. It was more than he could ask for, but he needed it. All he could do was nod at Minerva, purely out of respect.

After only another hour, they had created the graves. That was the hardest part. Now, the bodies needed to be moved. The brigade of Monsters made to get started, but Manfred was firm in his standing. He wouldn't allow anyone to help, not even Moon.

One by one, body after body, hour after hour, progress was being made. Manfred was exhausted, but he already vowed to himself not to rest until it was done. He had much work to do. He still had at least thirty more bodies to carry. He had already been carrying bodies, most of which much heavier than himself, for over four hours by now. It was around 10:00pm by now and he had no intentions on stopping. He was alone by now because Minerva and her volunteers had gone home and the royals followed suit. Everyone understood why Manfred had to do this, they just doubted he actually could.

The work was breaking him down, both physically and emotionally. He had to lift nearly three hundred bodies to their graves. Not to mention that he felt responsible for all of their deaths.

He needed to move five more now. He was struggling to walk now. The physical exhaustion was finally catching up to him. The emotional exhaustion had him a while ago. He was weeping. It was terrible. He had killed so many innocent people, torn apart so many families, and yet, he felt worthy of earning forgiveness. It isn't fair. 'Maybe things would be better if I just wasn't alive. I deserve the same fate that I forced on these innocent Mon-... People'. He was down to the final body. This one was that of a small child. She had three horns and a single eye. She was the embodiment of innocence. She was only a child and she was dead. Death is cruel, indiscriminate, and irreversible. One day it would claim him too. It was sure to happen. And in an event of such trauma as the one he was experiencing, he had considered expediting the process. The final body was in her grave.

Manfred collapsed.

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The next morning

Minerva woke up. She felt better than usual, good work was done yesterday and surely would be done today. She readied herself and left her quaint home, headed toward the Monster Village.

Once she arrived, she assigned jobs and noticed the absence of Manfred. 'That's weird. He's showed up every day for the past three weeks.' She thought. At the thought, she decided to check on the cemetery.

On her way to the burial grounds, she walked through the village, seeing the volunteers and their great progress. Buildings passed by her, the village was starting to look more like a village now. Things were coming back, finally.

She could now see the cemetery from a distance. She was looking around, expecting to see at least two hundred bodies still in place, but was entirely shocked to see none, other than one. It wasn't a Monster though, it was Manfred. Was he dead?

She saw the man, clearly dehydrated, and went to carry him. She searched him for a heartbeat but couldn't find one. She picked him up and started, in a sprint, towards Echo Creek's center. The closest hospital was in the center of the city, the city was small enough before, so it made sense that there was only one hospital. The misfortune would be ignored for now. She had to run.

She finally arrived at the hospital, never ceasing her sprint. Once inside, she started yelling "THIS MAN NEEDS HELP! I CAN'T FEEL HIS HEARTBEAT!". At the drop of a hat, some doctors fan into the room with a stretcher. They took Manfred and laid him on top before speedily wheeling him off further into the hospital.

Minerva finally stopped and caught her breath, now sitting down. She didn't call anyone into the hospital. Who would she call anyway? Manfred had no family, no friends, not even an acquaintance. The realisation was sad, but made sense. Even during Moon's rule, Manfred was simply a royal servant. Now he really had nothing. Minerva decided to stay.

After hours of sitting in the waiting room, deep in thought, a lone doctor came into the room. The doctor was a Human man. The man softly asked, "Are you the man's family?". Minerva was surprised by the question, to which the answer was obviously no, and decided to say, "No, he doesn't have any, but I am a friend."

"No family huh? Well if that is true, I guess you can come visit him in the back." The doctor spoke.

"Is he alive? I didn't hear a heartbeat!" Minerva asked loudly.

"Yes, that would make sense, there wasn't one. We were lucky to be able to resuscitate him." The doctor seriously responded.

"Okay okay, I'd like to visit 'em." Minerva quickly spoke.

Now in Manfred's room, Minerva scanned the room. It was nice enough, way whiter than necessary, but it was clean. That was, of course, excluding the tattered man on the hospital bed. He was awake.

"Manfred?" Minerva questioned the paler than normal man.

"Miss Minerva?" Manfred questioned in return, not sure how to address Minerva.

"How long were you out there Manfred?" Minerva asked.

"As long as it took." Manfred solemnly added.

Minerva was shocked by this. She knew he felt bad, but this, this was insane. He had likely spent the whole night carrying the dead bodies of the monsters into their graves. He had actually died. He was here now though, that was all that mattered.

"I won't forget what you did with Mina, but I could never forget this either. I respect what you have done for me and my people and I hope that they can forgive you." Minerva sincerely told the man.

"I could never ask that much of you. I did some horrendous things. I can never make that up to you-" he said, but was surprised to be stopped by Minerva, "You are doing what you can. That's all I could ask."

Manfred simply smiled before holding out his hand to Minerva. Minerva took it and shook it.

"Thank you, for everything." Manfred said, intending to end the conversation. He needed rest.