Light of the Sun and Stars

by thDorkMagnet

His whole life Marco Diaz has been raised by monsters, living under the cruel rule of their leader, Toffee. But one day Marco escapes into Mewni where he meets a magical princess and Mewman like himself, who begins teaching him all about her world. Together they will learn about life, love, and the lights within each of them, as they change their world forever.

45. Monster Eggs

Chapter 44: Monster Eggs

Hey Stardom! thDork is back haha. This one took a loottt longer than I would have liked, ughhhhhh, but it's here! Thanks for staying patient with me and this story! And just reading it in general haha! You guys are the real MVP's, not me! I'm feeling much better now so I'm hoping I can actually start making progress at a faster rate. Here's hoping at least! I'm so happy with this one too haha and I think you'll all like it too! Couple of acknowledgements/thank yous before we get started. First off, the idea for the couple featured in this chapter is none other than a long time friend and reader, Sugarqueen97, who gave me the idea for a ship I didn't even know I wanted till it was brought up! I think you guys will like it too, haha. And then there are going to be several OC Monsters featured in this chapter all of which were designed and co-created by the lovely and talented Kikithefox231! She's a very dear friend of mind and I highly suggest you go check out her Tumblr and work! It's all very cute and creative!

Okay now with that all out of the way, onto the chapter!

Disclaimer: Star vs and all its characters belong to Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them.

"Big Brother! Star! Look at this!" The eager Daisy waited until both teens' attention was on her before jumping off the diving board and into the water below. She tucked her legs in at the last second before hitting the water with a large splash. The young Mewman popped her head back up to the water's surface a second later, grinning ear to ear. "Did you see it? Did I look cool?" She excitedly asked.

From the shore Star and Marco began clapping, cheering and congratulating the girl on her dive. "It was awesome, Daisy!" Marco shouted to her, his eyes gleaming with joy.

This made Daisy beam even brighter, showing off her missing tooth, and making her cheekmarks spin in delight at impressing her cool brother and cousin.

Violet, now positioned on the end of the diving board herself, yelled to the two teens to gain their attention. "My turn! Now watch me!"

Star and Marco again clapped and cheered for the little girl as she did her own diving trick, managing to soak little Daisy thanks to the splash and causing the peach-haired girl to shriek and ensuing another argument from the two. Neither teen moved to stop this one, knowing eventually they would tired themselves out and go back to playing. Instead the couple just laid back and let the rays of the warm Mewni sun bathe over them.

Today was a day off for both of them (a rarity to be sure) and Marco suggested they spend it at Buff Frog's secret lake, otherwise known as Gravity Falls. Of course the twins had caught wind of their plans and begged to come along which Star and Marco had agreed to without much convincing. It was more fun with Daisy and Violet around anyways, even if a date with just each other did sound nice. Still, the two girls weren't much of a handful and thanks to Star's quick thinking, summoning a large slide and diving board for them to play on, the twins were preoccupied playing on their own, leaving Star and Marco plenty of time to just be together. The most they had to do was watch the girls whenever they wanted to perform tricks and make sure they weren't drowning.

"This is nice," Star said with a wistful sigh, laying her head back and just enjoying the warm rays of sunlight on her skin.

"Yeah," Marco agreed, laying down himself before reaching over and grabbing hold of his girlfriend's hand. "After everything that's been going on lately it's nice to just relax a little."

"Agreed. I think we both really needed this."

Marco's thoughts drifted back to that dreaded night in the swamp a few days ago and shuddered. "Yeah, I guess we did," he said in a choked up voice.

Star studied his expression for a second, knowing exactly what was troubling her boyfriend's mind, and took it upon herself to distract him from those horrible thoughts. She moved closer to him, curling her body around his, until their limbs were intertwined with each other. Her forehead gently touched the side of his head, his soft hair tickling her skin and she whispered softly into his ear, "Hey, it's okay. I'm here for you. You don't have to fight it alone, alright."

Star waited as his breathing slowed back to a more normal pace and placed a hand over his heart, feeling as the rhythmic pulse returned to its steady drumming against his chest. After a few more seconds, the boy quietly whispered, "Thanks, Star. I needed that."

"Anytime," Star replied sweetly, kissing his cheek, causing his whole face to flush. The blonde royal went back to laying on her back, watching as the pink clouds slowly drifted through the tinted sky, although she now kept her body pressed firmly against Marco's for what she hoped would be reassurance. "Besides, you've been doing a lot better lately. I mean before even mentioning the lizard's name would put you in a full-blown panic attack," she added, quite impressed with her boyfriend's progress.

Marco shrugged. "Well I guess I realized I can't run from what happened, I just gotta learn to face it. Otherwise, I'll never stop being afraid," the hooded teen looked so strong in that moment, his eyes full of determination, despite the edges of fear she saw and Star couldn't help but smile.

"And I'm proud of you for that," Star said. "I just hope you know you never have to face it alone."

"I know," Marco replied, his voice confident and clear. He had never doubted that for a second.

Suddenly, a high-pitched scream rang through the air, cutting into the peaceful silence of the clearing and filling the air with dread. The Mewmans all stopped what they were doing, looking in the direction of the shriek, looks of fear and confusion on their faces. "What was that?" Star asked.

"It almost sounded like a kid's scream," Marco added, worriedly.

Daisy and Violet quickly raced to shore, jumping into Star and Marco's arms for protection. "What was that scream? Are we in danger?" the peachy girl asked, her voice quivering with fear.

Another loud shout, this time the clear word reaching the Mewman's ears. "HELP!"

"No, but it sounds like someone else is," Star said in a serious tone, answering the young girl's previous question.

"We have to go help them!" Marco shouted, hopping to his feet and racing off in the direction of the yell.

"Right behind you!" Star replied, chasing after him but at a slower pace since she had to keep a firm grip on the two girls' hands, making sure they stayed with her. After all, whatever was making that kid scream, she would die before she let the same happen to her sweet, little cousins. Daisy and Violet followed along with their two babysitters, both quite dazed by whatever was happening, one fearful and one curious as to what they would find when they got there.

…

The loud screeching of a bird was the first thing that hit Marco's ears when he reached the source of all the shouting. The bird sounded dangerously violent, like it was ready to peck someone's eye out or worse. And when Marco layed eyes on said bird, it wasn't exactly a welcoming sight. It was a large eagle, at least twice the size of Marco or more. It's narrowed yellow eyes were full of viscous instincts as it stared down its prey. Its chest was puffed up in a threatening manner, flapping its long wings back and forth in an attempt to intimidate what it had sighted as food, feathers were sent scattering about the clearing with every stroke of its massive wings. Its sharp talons lay at the base of a large nest in what was an otherwise dead tree, its body shielding whatever lay in the nest from view.

Its attacker, however, was what really caught Marco off-guard. It was a young Monster, probably barely older than Daisy or Violet if that, the young boy yelling and throwing rocks at the giant beast above him. He was a bird Monster with green-almost grey feathers. His beady yellow eyes were full of kindness and child-like innocence and his beak looked too big for his own face, misshapen slightly like he was still growing into it. There was a tiny band-aid on his left cheek and Marco could see several teeth missing from his beak. Despite how young he looked he was fairly tall and very skinny. If not for the plain white shirt he was wearing Marco could swear he would be able to see all of the Monster's ribs. The bird boy wore brown jeans with tears in the knees and no shoes. Although the Monster boy didn't seem dangerous, something about his appearance gave Marco pause, he was the spitting image of Ludo, just a little taller.

But when the eagle grew tired of being assaulted by pebbles and decided to retaliate, it stirred Marco back into motion. With a mighty screech the bird lifted off the nest and swooped down towards the young Monster, Marco ran to the kid, slamming into his side and knocking them both out of the way of the eagle's sharp talons.

"Ouch! What the-" the Monster kid said as he slammed into the hard ground, immediately struggling against his savior in his confused state. But when his eyes met Marco's, he calmed, seemingly comforted by the hooded teen's bright smile. "It's okay, you're alright now," Marco said as soothingly as he could, getting up off the young boy and helping him to his feet.

But the bird boy was quick to point out the eagle who had circled back around for another attack. "Uhh, no we're not yet!" he screeched, his voice filled with terror. Marco positioned himself in front of the Monster kid, ready to take the attack himself if it meant saving this innocent child from harm. But thankfully, the eagle was knocked off-course from its attack when it was met, face-first with a giant rainbow fist. The eagle was thrown into a nearby tree, cracking it in half and causing the whole thing to fall over, slamming into other trees on the way down, knocking those over as well.

Marco and the Monster kid both looked over to see Star standing with her smoking wand held out in front of her, her stance confident and strong, Daisy and Violet hovering behind her. "Star!" Marco yelled, excitement in his tone as he waved to his girlfriend. "Thanks for the save!"

"You're welcome but that bird won't be down for long," Star replied in a serious tone and Marco couldn't help but take a second to admire his girlfriend. Despite how dangerous a situation this was, his amazing bestie had everything under control, like she had handled these kinds of life or death situations a million times before. Which come to think of it, they had been in way more of them than a normal teenager should. "Grab that kid and let's get out of here," Star added, keeping her eyes trained on the eagle as it slowly recovered, shaking its head back and forth and puffing up its feathers in anger.

"We can't!" the bird Monster screamed nervously. He pointed up at the nest high above them. "That nest is full of eggs that bird stole from other Monsters! We have to save them!"

Star and Marco's eyes met and they both instantly came to the same conclusion, nodding their heads in agreement. Star took another step forward, her wand glowing in anticipation for her next magical strike. "Then I guess we'll just have to fight!"

The eagle rose high into the air, blocking out the burning sun as it spread its giant wings outwards, bathing the entire clearing in shadows. With a massive beat of its over-sized wings it swooped down, diving-bombing towards the Mewmans and Monster. "Here it comes!" Marco yelled, pulling the Monster kid closer to him. Star readied her wand, her mind going quickly through a list of spells that could stop this bird in its tracks, even briefly remembering her dad's lessons on breaking the animal's will by starring them dead in the eye but Star had her doubts that would even work if if she could manage to keep this beast still.

Before she could actually summon an attack, she felt a large gust of wind and magic behind her, blowing her blonde hair into her face and catching her completely off-guard.

A giant, multi-colored dragon rose into the sky, glittering in the sunlight, its hundreds of eyes focused entirely on the eagle, who was barely the size of a fly in comparison. The eagle looked petrified in fear, stopping in its tracks as it saw the large predator ascend above it. The eagle's whole body was shaking, causing its feathers to quiver as it looked up at the dragon with a worried gaze. The beast leaned down so its face was level with the bird before letting out an ear-piercing roar that caused the whole forest to shake. Star, Marco, and the kids had to cover their ears to keep their eardrums from exploding. When the dragon was finished it simply stared at the bird, waiting.

The eagle's already narrowed pupils shrunk till they were a mere black speck and it let out a caw of fear before flapping away as fast as its large wings could take it, never once looking back at the dangerous predator behind it. The dragon let out a puff of smoke through its nostrils before vanishing in an instant, turning it an array of rainbow-colored bubbles that popped out of existence as well.

Star and Marco blinked a few times in shock while the Monster kid was left in complete disbelief, his awkward beak hanging open while his eyes widened to inhuman proportions. "What the heck was that?!" the bird kid asked, completely flabbergasted by what he saw. If it hadn't just happened to him, he probably wouldn't believe it. "It was a dragon and then it wasn't! Was that some kind of crazy, weird Mewman magic or something?!"

"Actually it was," an excited voice said behind Star and everyone's attention was drawn onto Daisy and Violet, who stood proudly side by side, their chest puffed out in a heroic manner. "Our magic actually," Violet continued.

"We did a good job scaring away that big bird, huh Star?" Daisy asked, her eyes glittering with the need for recognition.

Star nodded slowly, still in disbelief her young cousins could produce something as massive and animated as that all on their own. Something like that should have been impossible without a wand but then the little Butterfly twins did always have some tricks up their sleeves. "Yeah, that was impressive, girls," Star said, giving Daisy a gentle pat on the head, which caused the girl to light up with pride. "I didn't even know you guys could make something like that."

"Oh normally we can't," Violet said, matter-of-factly. "That's why it was just an illusion. It couldn't actually do anything. We just needed it to scare that bird off."

Star nodded again, smiling approvingly down at her cousins. "That was smart thinking. Good work, girls."

"So wait, that giant dragon came from you two!" the Monster bird blurted out, gasping in surprise.

"Uh huh, it's kind of our Trait," Daisy explained brightly.

"That's so cool!" the bird boy shouted, pumping his fists into the air. "I mean I knew Mewmans could do magic but I never thought I'd ever see it up close like that! You two are amazing!"

Daisy blushed slightly at the compliment, before being pushed aside by her twin, who boasted loudly, "Thanks I know I am."

"Violet, he said we both were!" Daisy retorted, giving her twin a violent shove back.

"Yeah, but he mostly meant me," Violet said, getting right up in the cutest girl's face.

"No he didn't!" Daisy snapped.

"Yes he did!"

The Monster boy looked up at Star and Marco, lost on what was happening and they just shrugged. "This is pretty normal, just gotta wait for them to get it out of their system," Marco explained.

The boy nodded a few times thoughtfully before letting out a loud gasp. "Oh no, the eggs! We gotta make sure they're okay!"

"I'm on it," Star replied, spinning around her wand before summoning Cloudy to take her up to the nest.

While his girlfriend was doing that Marco decided now was a good time to get some answers from the Monster kid. "So, uh, what's your name?" Marco asked, examining the boy closely, still curious what his relation to Ludo was. Probably a brother or cousin. He didn't seem anything like his short tempered relative though.

"Who, me?" the boy asked in surprise, his cheeks suddenly turning pink with embarrassment. "I-I'm Dennis." Dennis rubbed at his arm nervously.

"Dennis," Marco repeated. "Your last name wouldn't happen to be Avarius, would it?"

Dennis nodded. "Yeah, it is. Why do you ask?"

"Oh I just… know another Avarius," Marco replied, cryptically, not sure how much he should tell. This kid seemed pretty innocent, he didn't want to upset him by telling him how exactly he knew Ludo.

"Probably one of my brothers," Dennis said with a shrug. "I have a lot of brothers."

"Here we are," Star called down to them, breaking up the conversation as Cloudy gently floated down to the ground, her arms now filled with four eggs of various sizes and colors. One was tiny and white, covered in what looked like fur, and soft to the touch. Another was big and red, at least double the size of the other eggs. It glowed faintly and was warm to the touch as if producing its own heat source. The third was a rich shade of brown and covered in scales, though to the touch it felt more like tree branches, intricate yellow designs were etched into every corner of the eggs surface, all of which glowed ever so faintly. The fourth was just a tiny green ball with a black floating sphere in the center.

"Thankfully, that eagle didn't seem to have eaten them yet," Star said brightly, as Marco grabbed two of the eggs from Star's hands to help her carry them. The blonde looked over to Dennis with a bright grin. "Although we probably have you to thank for that, little guy."

"Yeah, good work, Dennis," Marco agreed with his girlfriend, shooting the Monster an equally wide smile.

Dennis looked flattered, his facing turning an even brighter shade of red. He kicked up a pile of dirt with his foot, muttering, "Aw, it was nothin'."

Daisy and Violet had stopped their arguing enough to notice the eggs and their faces lit up in delight as they squealed in unison, "MONSTER BABIES!"

They ran over to Star and Marco hopping around them and shouting excitedly, "I wanna hold one!", "Let me hold one!", and "I'll be careful, I promise!" among other things. Star quickly calmed them down, worried they might accidentally hurt one of the eggs, saying in a strict tone, "Okay girls, you can hold them, only if you stop jumping around and promise to be careful with them."

Both girls immediately froze, nodding their heads wildly. Star let out a sigh, before handing them each an egg. "Now be gentle, they haven't hatched yet and they're very delicate, okay?" the blonde said softly to them.

The twins didn't respond, however, too busy staring wide-eyed down at the eggs, completely mesmerized by them. "I didn't know Monster eggs looked like this," Violet said, holding the fluffy egg.

"Aw mine is soooo cute," Daisy cooed, clutched it close to her chest, but thankfully not enough to hurt it. Her said egg was the tiniest of them. It was squishy to the touch and on closer inspection see-through, the inside of the egg green with a black center.

"Um, Daisy," Star said, scratching her chin as she leaned down to examine the orb. "I'm not sure if that's an egg or not." It certainly didn't look like any egg she'd ever seen. Not that Star had seen all that many.

"Well for all we know that's what some Monster eggs look like," Marco pointed out.

"Fair enough," Star agreed.

"Well, whatever it is, it's cute and I'm keeping it," Daisy replied without hesitation, still hugging the 'egg' joyfully.

"We can't keep them, Daisy," Marco spoke up. "They need to get back to their homes and families."

"Speaking of which," Star interrupted, biting her lip in concern. "How are we gonna find their homes? We don't know anything about Monster territory."

"I can help!" Dennis spoke up, raising his hand high into the air and waving it. His beak was spread in a wide smile, one almost too big for his face. "I know everything about this area! I can find the Monsters these eggs belong to in no time!"

"Really?" Star asked reluctantly, not sure if they could trust such a young kid to be their guide. Especially one clearly related to Ludo.

"Yep!" Dennis said proudly, putting his hands to his side. "I'm out here exploring all the time, so I know my way around out here! Plus, I already know who one of those eggs belongs to!"

"You do?" Marco gasped excitedly.

Dennis nodded. "Uh huh. That's why I was out here in the first place. She asked me to help her look for her missing egg."

"Well..." Star muttered, biting her lip. She figured it wouldn't hurt to put their faith in this little kid. It was better than wandering around lost on their own. Then again...

However, it seemed Marco didn't have the same thoughts as Star as he simply exclaimed, "Then, lead on Dennis!"

Daisy and Violet both let out a cheer, excited to spend more time with the Monster kid. Daisy grabbed hold of the boy's arm, dragging him towards the trees as she shouted, "Come on, Dennis! Let's go!"

Violet ran after them, yelling, "Hey, wait for me! I wanna ask him questions about being a Monster!"

Marco started to follow but was stopped when Star put a hand on his shoulder. "Marco, are you sure this is a good idea?" she asked skeptically.

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be?" Although his tone remained enthusiastic, Marco's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion.

"Wellllll," Star began, biting her lip. "I mean, you noticed, right? Who Dennis is related to? He's an Avarius, Marco. Y'know Ludo."

"Yeah, so?" Marco responded with an innocent shrug.

"So don't you think, maybe, it's not a great idea to get involved with him, considering how much his family hates Buff Frog," Star hesitantly replied, keeping her voice down low.

Marco shook his head. "No way, he seems nice and friendly. Besides, just cause the rest of his family holds a grudge doesn't mean he does. And if anything this is our chance to finally put an end to the Avarius-Bulgolyubov feud. Dennis is the future of his family, if we can change his mind, there might be hope for everyone else."

Star paused at that, surprised by Marco's level of thought. She hadn't even considered that. Her only thought had been to keep Dennis at a distance but maybe Marco was right. Maybe they just needed to spare a little trust for him and he might give some, in turn. It had worked with her and Marco, so maybe it could work here. "Yeah," Star began reluctantly. "I guess it's worth a try."

Marco beamed ear to ear at that before declaring, "Then come on! Let's get these little guys back home to their families."

The two started off for the forest but Star took a second to give the boy a quick kiss on the cheek. Marco flushed and asked, "What was that for?"

Star shrugged. "Nothing," she said before picking up the pace so she was walking in front of him, a playful skip in her step now, leaving a confused and love-sick Marco to stumble after her. Marco never ceased to impress her. She couldn't believe she had forgotten for a second just how useful Marco's naivety and trust could be. Sure it could be used against him, but it was also his greatest strength. It had won her over and had changed Mewni, after all. She would have to remember not to doubt her boyfriend again.

…

"Sooooo do you know any Monsters that can do dark magic?"

"Um, no, I've never met one."

Violet groaned in disappointment, her cheeks puffing up cutely. "Darn it. Janna and I were so sure that was a thing too. But no one seems to do it anymore. So lame!"

Dennis gave the creepy kid a tight smile, not sure how to respond to that. Honestly he didn't know how to deal with any Mewman. He had never met one before, after all, but his parents had warned him against being around them though. In fact, his parents warned him about being around anyone they disliked (which was basically everyone) so Dennis had made a habit of not doing what his parents told him. Besides he liked these guys, even if they were a bit strange.

"Violet! Stop asking him a bunch of stupid questions! You're making him uncomfortable!" Daisy shrieked, giving her twin a disapproving scowl.

"My questions aren't stupid!" Violet snapped back angrily.

"Well you're still making him uncomfortable!" Daisy retorted in a mocking tone.

"Nuh uh!"

"Uh huh!"

Violet stuck her tongue out at her sister, which caused Daisy to huff in frustration. While all this was going on, Dennis looked more and more awkward, shrinking into himself as he was stuck in the middle of the two girl's argument… literally. Just as the bird boy was beginning to regret ever agreeing to come along, Star thankfully cut in to resolve the situation. "Violet, why don't you give Dennis some space," she said in a semi-scolding tone.

"Yeah, how about you come help me take care of the other two eggs?" Marco suggested helpfully.

Violet was intrigued by the idea and so reluctantly went over to help out her big brother, leaving Dennis and Daisy alone with their own egg.

"Just ignore her," Daisy said when Violet was out of ear shot, shooting the Monster boy a pleasant smile. "I do all the time. She can be really annoying sometimes."

"Oh, I don't mind," Dennis replied immediately, looking flustered. "It's kinda cool to talk to real Mewman."

"You've never met a Mewman before?" Daisy asked in surprise.

Dennis shook his head. "Nope and the stories I heard about you guys were really… bad."

"Really?" Daisy said in surprise. "That's funny. All the stories I heard about Monsters were bad."

"What were they about?"

Daisy blushed as she remembered how frightened she used to be of said stories and how she had first acted around Monsters. "Ummmm, just silly things mostly. I don't really remember them now," the girl lied. The cutsy girl quickly changed the subject, asking curiously, "So, um, what were the stories you heard about?"

Dennis rubbed nervously at the back of his neck. "Um, that you guys ate babies. And stole our food. And would push us in the mud and then laugh at us."

Daisy gasped, a horrified look on her face. "Why would we ever eat babies? That's super gross!" She held the egg in her hands a little closer to her chest. "Besides, how could I ever hurt little Katrina like that!"

"Katrina?" Dennis asked in confusion, an eyebrow slowly raising.

"Yeah, that's what I decided to name this little guy!" Daisy exclaimed happily, gesturing to the egg. "And the ones Marco has are named Xaviar and Amanda. And Violet's is named Fluffy Cutie Pie." Dennis couldn't help but giggle at the last name which made Daisy grin.

The girl cupped a hand around her mouth as she whispered, "Don't tell anyone but that last one was named after this old stuffed animal I used to sleep with."

Dennis gave her a trustworthy grin. "My beak is sealed," the Monster boy said, before laughing nervously at his terrible joke. But Daisy seemed to love it, laughing to herself. Dennis liked the way her laugh sounded, sweet and a little high-pitched but not in an annoying way, in a cute way.

"Thanks Dennis," the peach-haired girl said gratefully. "Y'know I'm glad all those stories weren't true because I really like being friends with you."

Dennis was caught off-guard by that, blushing bright red. "Friends?" How could they be friends so quickly? He had never had a real friend before and this cool and cute girl wanted to be one with a loser like him! It was too good to be true.

"Yeah! Let's be friends, okay?" Daisy offered her free hand to the Monster boy and Dennis shakily reached out for her, even though he had no clue what to do with said hand.

Just as their hands touched, Daisy tightened her grip on his hand and pulled him in closer to her, giving her a one-armed hug, shouting, "Friendship hug!"

Dennis couldn't stop blushing at this, his brain trying to shut down from being so close to such a pretty and cool girl. He thought his heart was gonna explode from his chest and he could feel himself sweating. He didn't really understand why he was acting this way. Was this a normal way to act around Mewmans? Or just girls?

Before the bird boy could question things any further, Daisy had grabbed tightly to his hand and was now dragging him along behind her, squealing excitedly. "Now come on, new best friend! Let's find Katrina her home!"

"U-Um, r-right," Dennis said, trailing along behind her, his cheeks still bright pink.

Star, Marco and Violet watched the two sprint off ahead, following along in silence. They had seen and heard the whole exchange and the two teens couldn't help but share knowing looks. Violet, however, just huffed in frustration from her position on top of Marco's shoulders (the boy giving her a piggyback ride since his hands were full), "No fair. Why does Daisy's first crush have to be on a Monster? She doesn't even like Monsters?" The creepy girl pouted to herself until Star said in a hinting tone, "Well, if she didn't before seems like she definitely does now."

"I'm so proud!" Marco sniffed, tearing up a little

"But why couldn't it have been me!?" Violet exclaimed angrily. She continued, muttering hatefully under her breath, "They're probably gonna get married now and I'm gonna be stuck all alone."

"Don't worry, Violet, I'm sure you'll find a Monster that will fall in love with you, too," Marco said encouragingly.

"You really think so?" Violet asked, her voice cheering up a bit.

"Sure I do," Marco replied confidently.

Violet sighed, already imagining her dream guy. "I'll bet he has eight legs and hundreds of eyes and he shoots poison and lasers out of his mouth."

Marco struggled to respond to that interesting visual but managed to stutter out, "U-Uh, yeah, sure. He sounds really... nice."

"And then he grows gigantic and eats the entire town! And he's all like 'Rawh! I wanna eat your brains'!" As the girl continued on describing her terrifying dream guy Star and Marco shared looks of concern, before the blonde asked, "You let her watch that scary Earth movie about the giant Monster, didn't you?"

Marco shrugged. "I just thought the title sounded cool," the hooded teen sheepishly responded.

…

Eventually the group made it to a small cottage in the middle of a grassy field. Pretty blue flowers were in bloom and the gentle trickle of a nearby stream created a peaceful soundtrack to the glade. The cottage looked like something out of a storybook and everyone but Dennis seemed to be entranced by the place. It was as if they had just entered into a fairytale. Most Monster homes were worn down but this place seemed quite cared for. The walls were painted a pale white and the roof a bright yellow that somehow managed to stand out against the greens and browns of the forest while still feeling like they belonged. The home was tiny, almost child-sized and Star suspected Daisy and Violet wouldn't be able to stand in the place without bumping their heads on the ceiling.

"So you're sure this is the right place?" Star asked, looking down at Dennis.

The Monster boy nodded and quickly explained, "Yeah, the mom who lives here told me she lost her egg and I offered to go looking for it."

"That was very nice of you, Dennis," Marco complimented, making the boy blush, rubbing shyly at the back of his neck.

"Um, yeah well I know a lot of the Monsters around here. They're all pretty friendly," Dennis mumbled nervously.

"Well then I'm sure this'll go just fine," Star said confidently. She knew once the Monsters found out who Marco was they would be open and friendly with them anyways but until then there was always the risk of them being wary of Mewmans. They would have to approach this delicately. Maybe let Dennis explain things first to avoid upsetting anyone.

Star's thoughts were interrupted as she heard a loud, violent knocking and looked over in shock to see Daisy and Violet both pounding on the door, not even bothering to keep in rhythm, too excited to wait any longer. "Girls no!" the blonde royal shouted. The twins immediately stopped, looking back at their cousin with guilty expressions. "You can't just go around knocking on people's doors like it's the end of Mewni! You probably scared them!"

"But Big Brother said we could," Violet argued, incriminating the hooded boy with a pointing finger.

Marco flinched and gave Star a sheepish look, his eyes pleading for forgiveness as he hesitantly explained, "I, uh, didn't know they were gonna knock on the door like that."

Star let out a long sigh, gently massaging her aching forehead, before saying in a strained tone, "It's okay, Marco. I'm just worried how the Monsters are gonna react to all that."

"Oh, don't worry, Harley is very chill," Dennis pitched in helpfully.

"And where is Harley?" Star asked, looking over at the door in concern. After all that ruckus the girls had made, Star wouldn't be surprised if the poor Monster mom hadn't barricaded herself inside her house. Despite her concern her eyes were drawn to an odd detail she hadn't noticed before. The front door lacked an actual knob, instead there was a pull rope where the knob should be. Star found that strange but was too distracted to focus on it.

Dennis frowned, the curves of his beak turned down as he seemed a little worried for the Monster as well. He cupped his feathered claws around his beak before yelling, "Harley! Are you there? It's Dennis!"

After a few seconds the door slowly cracked open, a furry head appearing on the other side a second later. The Monster blinked a few times, before saying in a soft but surprised tone, "Dennis?"

The bird Monster nodded enthusiastically. "Yep! It's me!"

Slowly the door was pushed open and the group got a good look at the Monster. She was small and short (which made sense considering her house) not even coming up to the twins' chins. Half her body was covered in pure white, while the other half a rich black, all of the fur puffed out so much she looked like a cotton ball. But that wasn't the only contradiction this Monster had in store. She was somehow a perfect amalgamate of a rabbit and dog. She had two long rabbit ears, one white, one black, and another pair of cocker spaniel ears that perfectly framed her fuzzy face. She had a small black nose and bright blue eyes that shined with a warm gentleness. Her tail looked was a fluffy cotton tail that wiggled back and forth like a dog's would. She walked on all fours for some reason, her front paws perfect matches to a dogs, while her back paws were rabbit paws.

She seemed to finally notice the group of Mewmans and grew quickly shy, keeping her head lowered and her face turned slightly away from them. "Oh, um, hello there," she whispered in a gentle tone. Even her voice was as soft as she was. "I didn't realize Dennis brought friends along."

Star gave the rabbit-dog an apologetic smile, "Sorry for startling you, Mrs. ummm-" The blonde bit her lip, she knew her name was Harley but Dennis hadn't mentioned a last name yet.

"Harlequin Pup," the Monster helpfully supplied. "But you can just call me Harley. Everyone else does."

"I'm Star Butterfly and this is Marco Diaz and my cousin's Daisy and Violet Butterfly." Star pointed to herself and her companions as she introduced them.

"I've never seen a Monster like you before!" Violet shouted out, her eyes shimmering in joy.

Harley blushed, trying to hide behind her ridiculously long ear as she said in a small tone, "Oh, r-really. I didn't realize I was so odd l-l-looking."

"No, I think it's cool!" Violet quickly added, still as enthusiastic as ever. "I didn't know Monsters could be two kinds of animals at once!" From beside her, Daisy nodded, squishing her cheeks in her hands as if she was resisting the urge to do that to the absolutely adorable Monster in front of her.

"Oh, yes that's very common around here," Harley said politely, still blushing.

"You're so cute!" Daisy cooed and Harley flusteredly turned to Star and Marco, desperate to change the subject.

"Um, sorry for making you wait, it takes me a bit to get to the door," Harley apologized, she fidgeted slightly as her body curled up into a ball, clearly ashamed for making them wait or embarrassed or both.

"Oh it's no problem," Marco told her with a bright grin, despite his doubt on that. Even with her size it should take only a few steps to get from one end of the tiny home to the other. Still he didn't say anything, not wanting to be rude or hurt her feelings.

Harley's eyes landed on the multiple eggs in the Mewmans' arms and asked hopefully, "So, um did you find my poor little egg?" Her voice was small and nervous and she overlapped her front paws together as she waited to hear the answer.

Dennis nodded. "Yep! Just like I told you I would."

"Oh thank you, I thought I'd never see my poor baby again," the Monster woman sighed, tears appearing at the corners of her eyes as she rushed towards them. Only to trip on her abnormally long ear and Star and Marco rushed forward to catch her. Star managed to grab onto her fuzzy frame to keep her from falling flat on her face and the Monster let out a nervous laugh. "Oh, my, how clumsy of me," Harley muttered in embarrassment. "Thank you, Star."

"No problem," the blonde replied, helping the hybrid Monster get rebalanced.

"I should really do something about this ear of mine, before something bad happens," Harley said, the lightness in her tone letting the group know this wasn't the first time this had happened.

"So what does your egg look like?" Marco asked, changing the subject, looking between the multiple eggs in his and the twins's hands.

"I bet it's this one!" Daisy exclaimed, holding out the tiny Katrina for all to see.

Harley shook her head, giving the girl a polite and apologetic smile. "No, I'm sorry. That's not my egg."

Daisy sighed in defeat, holding the squishy egg up to her cheek as she cooed, "Aww, we'll get 'em next time, Katrina."

"Obviously this one is your egg," Violet said, matter-of-factly, holding out the white, fluffy egg to its mom.

Harley gasped in delight, snatching the egg out of the young royal's hands usung her mouth, moving at a speed they hadn't seen from her so far. "My baby! Oh thank goodness you're alright! I was so worried!" Harley tucked her unhatched child into her long ear using it to rock the baby back and forth.

"I named it Fluffy Cutie Pie, by the way," Daisy spoke up, puffing out her chest proudly. "So if you want to use the name you're welcome to it."

"I'll consider it," Harley said with a gentle smile towards the girl before she returned to fussing over her egg.

"Yes!" Daisy excitedly shouted before whispering to her sister, "See I told you she'd like the name."

The group all couldn't help but admire mother and daughter reuniting, smiling softly as the Monster mother softly cooed to her little egg, still swinging it gently. She looked up at the group of Mewmans and Monster with happy tears in her eyes, saying in a tight tone, "Thank you so much."

"It was our pleasure," Star reassured her.

"Yeah, I'm just glad your baby made it home safe," Marco added and Star nodded in agreement.

"Me too," the young mother said, staring lovingly down at her egg. "Her brothers and sisters will be so happy to see her."

Daisy and Violet both gasped. "There are more of you!" the creepy girl shouted.

"Of course," Harley said, stepping aside to let the others look inside her house. Star and Marco both cringed as they saw an army of tiny rabbit-dog kids wreaking havoc on the peaceful household: wrestling on the floor, jumping on furniture, bouncing off the literal walls and breaking nearly anything they got their fuzzy paws on. Suddenly it made sense why the mother had been so slow to get to the door.

Harley didn't seem at all troubled by her childrens' wild actions, letting out a content sigh before saying a proud tone, "Aren't my children such sweet, little angels?" There was a loud shattering from somewhere in the house causing Star and Marco to jump but Harley didn't even seem to notice.

Star and Marco shared a doubting look but the hooded teen politely responded, "Uh, yeah. They seem… nice."

Daisy and Violet were both squealing in delight at the baby Monsters, even the creepy girl unable to hide how adorable she found the little guys. "Can we pet them?" Daisy asked, hopping up and down cutely. "Please, please, please," she begged, pressing her palms together as she looked hopefully up at her cousin and honorary brother.

Star looked over at the rowdy kids and bit her lip, trying to think of an excuse to leave before her or Marco or the twins got trampled by the Monster hybrids. Although they were certainly cute, Star wasn't sure if letting them around her clumsy boyfriend or troublemaking nieces was a good idea. "Actually I think it would be best if we left before we overstay our welcome," she whispered down to the two, grabbing Marco's arm and starting to pull him away from the house.

But she didn't get any more than four steps before Harley called out to her children in a sugary-sweet tone, "Kids! Come and thank our guests for bringing back your little sister!"

"Oh that's not-" Star started to say before an army of children burst from the house, swarming towards the group of Mewmans and Monster. At least twenty kids were now hopping around Star and Marco, asking them a billion questions at once, their voices overlapping to the point neither teen could make out a word. Star and Marco were too stunned to speak, although Marco was doing his best to keep his eggs up high enough it wouldn't be damaged. "Okay, okay. Settle down, guys." Marco said as calmly as he could. "Delicate eggs in harm's way, right now- OW!" The boy was nearly pulled to the ground when one of the kids grabbed onto the back of his hood, holding onto it with their sharp teeth.

"Marco are you alright?!" Star asked in concern.

"Choking! Choking! Definitely choking!" The boy coughed out weakly as several other rabbit-dogs hung from his hood, one even hopping inside of it and the boy found himself losing airflow. "Quick, take the eggs!" he hissed, passing the eggs to his girlfriend's safe hands before he was finally pulled down to the ground due to the weight on his hoodie, the boy collapsing to the ground in a daze. Star's mouth hung open as she watched her boyfriend being dragged away by the rabbit-dog pups, still holding him by his hoodie, as several others began digging a massive Marco-sized hole.

"No, no, puppies!" Star screamed, quickly summoning a tiny Cloudy to set the eggs onto before racing over to stop them. "Marco is not a bone!"

Meanwhile, the Monster kids circled Daisy, Violet, and Dennis shouting in repetition, "Play! Play! Play!" and occasionally calling out Dennis's name. The girls giggled as they were licked by the excited Monster kids over and over again and Dennis was grinning with his oversized beak as he greeted each of them happily, somehow calling them each by name.

"Hey Spots! Hey Curly! Hey Brownie! Hey Cookie! Hey Plum! Hey Pie! Hey Alexander Ludvig the Third!"

"Wow! How do you know all of their names?" Daisy asked as she snatched up one of the Monster kids into her arms, holding it in a tight hug as it wagged its tail in joy.

"It's easy once you get to know them," Dennis replied with a shrug.

"Can you teach them to me?" Daisy asked, her eyes sparkling.

"Ummm, sure," Dennis replied nervously, his cheeks flushing slightly for reasons he didn't understand.

"Oh, me too!" Violet shouted, inserting herself between her sister and her new friend, much to the bird boy's relief.

Star finally managed to wrestle her boyfriend out of the rabbit-dog's grip, now holding him tightly around the waist, his own arm around her neck to keep him standing. "Shoo, shoo, Marco is not a chew toy," Star hissed at them, quickly losing patience with the Monster kids no matter how cute they were. "Are you okay, Marco?" she asked her bestie worriedly.

"Yeah, thanks to you," Marco replied, still dazed by being almost buried alive.

Star smiled at her boyfriend for all of about two seconds, before the pups constant yipping and barking was close to driving her crazy and she pulling out her wand. "Okay that's it! Shiny Squeaky Toy Blast!" After a small spark of light, a bunch of squeaky toys appeared around the clearing and the Monster kids quickly pounced on them in excitement. Star wiped her brow in relief, glad to finally have the rabbit-dogs distracted for a few moments.

"Oh thank you, Star," Harley said happily, having watched the whole thing in silence, oblivious to how destructive her kids were being. "My children are so happy with their new toys! What a wonderful gift!"

"No problem," the blonde royal replied, huffing and puffing. "But we should really get going now."

"Oh but there is one other person who hasn't thanked you yet," Harley replied with a sad frown.

Marco cringed. "Another one of your kids?" the boy asked hesitantly, not sure he could handle another 'thank-you" from the rambunctious pups.

Harley laughed and shook her furry head. "Oh no, you already met all of my kids," she said sweetly before explaining, "I meant my mother."

"Your mother?" Star repeated.

"Where is she?" Marco asked, looking around the clearing for another adult Monster hyrbid but seeing only kids.

"Just behind the house," Harely said before something large rose up from behind said house, towering over the group. She too was a rabbit-dog Monster only huge, bigger than Harley's whole house. And unlike Harley's soft, gentleness, there was a ferocity in this Monster, looking like she might attack at any second.

Star and Marco could only stare up at the giant Monster in shock, Daisy nervously hiding behind the pair while her sister openly gawked at it. They had never seen a Monster that big before. Harley's mom's eyes narrowed as she noticed the Mewmans, anger flashing across her face as she stared them down. Daisy gulped in fear and clutched a little tighter onto Star's dress. Harley's mom put a protective paw in front of her daughter, one that was bigger than Harley herself. She then gave her daughter a questioning look and a low growl.

"Oh sorry to wake you from your nap, mother," Harley said, smiling up at her mom obliviously. "But these young kids helped return my missing egg, isn't that great?"

Harley's mom seemed to brighten after that, her protective instinct vanishing as she smiled down at the Mewmans happily. She growled something the group didn't understand and Harley quickly translated, "She says 'thank you for helping me and that she's very grateful to meet nice Mewmans for once.'"

"Oh, your welcome, ma'am," Marco spoke up.

"It is kind of our job, anyways," Star added politely.

Harley's mom nodded and then much to the group's surprise she leaned down her massive head and gave them all a large lick with her tongue. Daisy, Violet, Dennis, Marco, and Star couldn't help but giggle as the rough tongue lifted them off the ground before dropping them safely back on their feet, the whole group now coated in Monster saliva.

Star forced the smile to remain on her face, resisting the urge to wipe all the dripping liquid off of herself as she said in a strained tone, "Yep, your thanks make it all worth it. But we should really be going now."

"Awwwww," both girls whined, the twins giving their cousin pouting faces. "But we just got here!" Daisy complained.

"Can't we stay a little longer?" Violet begged.

"Girls I really don't think that's a good-"

"Of course you can stay," Harley spoke up, her voice much more confident than it was before. "And for all your help I'll make you a lovely carrot cake as thanks."

"Wait, no, we really need to-" Star started to say but Harley was back inside her house before the blonde could argue.

"-go," Star finished, hanging her head in defeat.

Seeing his girlfriend's irritation, Marco gave her a sheepish smile, before saying, "Um, actually carrot cake sounds really delicious right now."

Star stared at her bestie three seconds before her will broke and she said halfheartedly, "Okay, fine. We'll stay a little longer."

The kids all cheered in excitement before both teens were tackled to the ground by a horde of high-strung Monster hybrids, Star immediately regretting her decision.

…

"Well that took way longer than expected," Star commented dryly, when the group finally got away from Harley and her family. The blonde busied herself by trying to clean off her wand with the corner of her dress, since it too had been coated in dog drool like the rest of her. Or rabbit-dog drool? Star wasn't entirely sure she knew the right word for it, but she definitely didn't want it all over her priceless family heirloom.

"Well look on the bright side," Marco spoke up, ready to comfort his girlfriend at once. "We got an egg back to its mother, we helped out a Monster, and the kids got to have some fun." The two looked over to Daisy, Violet, and Dennis, the three running around the tall grass, playing tag and laughing all the while.

Star couldn't help but smile as looked over at the remaining eggs, which Star still had on the tiny Cloudy, except Katrina since Daisy had swore she could look after her. Star admitted reluctantly, "Okay, you have a point. Harley was nice even if her kids were... a lot to handle."

"Hey if we had that many kids, I'm sure we'd have trouble handling them too," Marco argued.

"We?" Star repeated, feeling her cheeks heat up in a blush.

Marco turned to her with an innocent gleam in his eyes, explaining, "Yeah, you and me and Janna and Jackie and Tom and-"

"Okay, I get the point," Star interrupted, stopping him from listing off everyone they knew, holding back a giggle. Marco had caught her off-guard with that, but of course her adorable boyfriend had no clue what he almost just implied, which Star was grateful for. While the idea of them having kids was nice and all she knew that was a long time away before thoughts like that would even be relevant. They were taking their relationship slow, it was what Marco needed since he was way too naive and innocent for anything too serious. Not that Star minded. Just being with her amazing bestie was enough for her. Besides, she wasn't sure she could handle it right now, either. Saying she loved him without him knowing had thrown her whole brain into chaos and left her a flustered mess! Nope, it was better to take their time with this.

Star gave Marco's hand a small squeeze and a loving smile that made the boy's cheekmarks glow a little bit brighter. And the blonde couldn't help herself, the temptation was too great to pass up this opportunity. "You would make a great dad though, Marco," Star playfully flirted, winking at him.

Marco gave her a shy smile, before muttering, "Well, maybe, I don't know. You'd make a way better mom than I would a dad, Star."

Star's plan backfired as her whole face lit up red, her heart now pounding away in her chest, making it impossible to think of a response. "S-s-so you think the next place will take as long as Harley's?" she stuttered, feebly trying to change the subject to literally anything else.

Thankfully, Marco played along, shrugging his shoulders and responding with a simple, "Hope so." The hooded teen then shouted over to the Monster boy, who was still playing with his new friends, "Hey, Dennis, is it much farther to the next house?"

The bird boy came to an abrupt stop, causing Daisy to nearly crash into him but she was able to stop herself just in time, leaving the tiny egg still clutched in her hands, unharmed. Dennis shook his head before pointing off somewhere behind him. "Nope, it should be just right over the next hill."

"Well that's good news," Star said, enthusiastically.

"Is the Monster there nice, too?" Daisy asked excitedly.

Dennis grimaced, shyly rubbing a claw up and down his feathered arm. "Umm, well, sorta. She's kinda a lot to handle at first."

"What does that mean?" Violet questioned curiously.

Before the bird Monster could answer, a loud, girlish shriek rang through the air. Everyone turned to see Marco tackled to the ground by three lion Monster cubs, all of them pinning him to the ground with their paws. Well not entirely lion. Although they were the right size and shape to be lions, both their manes and tail were lit on fire, burning like red flaming torches around their soft, yellow fur. Hovering over their sides were small burning patches of flames, that took the perfect shape of wings, fluttering up and down playfully as they held the boy tightly against the ground.

"Why is it always me?" Marco whined, wondering why he had the worst luck out of all his friends.

"Hey get off of him!" Star screamed, pulling out her wand, ready to blast them away with her wand.

"Big Brother!" Daisy and Violet shrieked in panic, worried for the fate of their honorary sibling.

"Ha, good job, kids!" a heavy and aggressive voice said as a new, bigger Monster emerged from the tall grass. She too was a lion like the others but much taller, a good foot above Star. She had glowing yellow eyes that burned with intensity as she stared down the group of intruders to her glade. Her mane was on fire like her cubs, but burned much brighter and hotter than theirs, so much so that Star could feel the heat on her skin even from a short distance away. The red flames were like a signal fire above her head and it was anyone's guess how she had snuck up on them unnoticed. Her tail was on fire, like her kids, and as she swung it back and forth it singed the grass behind her. Her fire wings were opened aggressively although considering their tiny size it wasn't much of a threat.

"Lionelle, what are you doing?" Dennis asked nervously.

"Oh Dennis, it's you," Lionelle replied casually. "Just given' the kids some hunting practice and lucky for me, this weak Mewman made the perfect prey."

"That Mewman is my boyfriend and you need to get your kids off of him right now!" Star demanded, anger flashing in her eyes, holding her wand threatening out towards the Monster mom.

Lionelle's eyes narrowed, growling low in her throat, her mane lighting up with a flame that towered over head. "Don't tell me what to do, Mewman!" She snapped, every word making her wings flap angrily which only added to the strength of the blaze. "You enter my territory, you become prey! That's the rules!"

At this point, Daisy and Violet were hiding behind Star, nervous and frightened of the aggressive and angry Monster before them, just barely poking their head out from around Star's legs. "Um, but we just came to bring your egg back to you," Violet said softly, trying to keep the shaking out of her voice.

"You what?!" Lionelle roared, her voice echoing around the clearing, causing both girls to cower behind their cousin's legs again for safety. The Monster then began laughing, a harsh and sinister growl echoing from her throat with each chuckle and the whole group got chills. "Like a Mewman would ever do something like that. Everyone knows Mewmans can't be trusted."

"Um, can I please get up now?" Marco asked, not enjoying the way the Monster kids' nails dug into his hoodie (he was sure it would be ripped in several places) or the unbearable heat coming from their manes. Not to mention how uncomfortable to was to have three fairly heavy weights pressing down on him, keeping him squished against the hard ground and causing the tall grass to tickle his unprotected face.

"No!" Lionelle snapped at the hooded teen. "Kids, attack!"

"Wait no!" Star yelled in terror, about to run over and help him but Lionelle rushed to block off her path, using her tiny wings to move at a lightning fast speed. Her name flared up in warning but the blonde royal was undeterred, angrily raised her wand, ready to blast this annoying Monster out of existence, when she heard the loud scream from Marco.

Star felt her blood run cold. That was until Marco's screams turned into wild laughter, the blonde Mewman and lion Monster both frozen in confusion, sharing a look. "No! No, stop! That tickles! Ha ha ha ha haaaa!" The hooded teen guffawed, barely able to get a word out between his giggle fit.

"Wait tickle?" Lionelle shouted, turning to see her kids were not, in fact, eating the boy alive but were instead merely licking him all over with their rough tongues. "No! You're supposed to bite him, not lick him!" The mother scolded but her kids weren't listening, their tails wagging happily as they made the boy in red laugh so hard he was crying.

Lionelle face-palmed with her paw, muttering to herself, "Kids these days, they never listen to a word you say." She turned back to face the other Mewmans and Dennis, an annoyed but defeated look on her face. "Okay fine, you guys get to live this time. Looks like my kids could use more training."

Star breathed a sigh of relief, thankful her boyfriend wasn't going to be devoured by Monsters. "So now will you take your stupid egg so we can get out of here?" the blonde asked in annoyance.

"Wait, you were serious about the whole egg thing?" Lionelle said in surprise, cocking her massive head to the side. "I thought that was just a lie to get me to spare him."

Dennis shook his head. "Nope. We actually only came here to give you this." He picked up the red, glowing egg from Cloudy and brought it over to Lionelle, setting it in the grass in front of her. "So here you go."

Lionelle eyed the egg suspiciously, giving it a few sniffs and pawing it a couple of times to make sure it was real, before she looked up at the group with a confused expression. "You seriously came all this way to return this."

Star and the twins nodded.

"Huh," Lionelle muttered in disbelief. "Well whaddya know. Looks like you Mewmans aren't entirely bad, after all."

"That's what we were trying to tell you," Star huffed in annoyance.

"And can you please tell your kids to stop licking our Big Brother before he explodes," Violet added, still a little nervous about speaking up.

Lionelle shrugged her massive shoulders and said, "Fine, whatever." Then with a loud growl that shook the ground around them she commanded, "Kids! Hunting positions now!"

Her kids didn't have to be told twice as they quickly lept off of Marco and disappeared into the tall grass, ready for their next hunt. The hooded teen sighed in relief as he was finally freed from his ticklish danger.

Lionelle turned back to the group and said in a friendly (or as friendly as an aggressive and predatory hunter could be) tone, "Sorry for the misunderstanding and almost eating your friend. Appreciate you bringing me my egg, hopefully this one will be a better hunter than his brothers." She rolled her eyes before continuing. "I'll be sure to avoid attacking you guys the next time we meet." With a quick glance she off-handedly added, "See ya, Dennis. Say hi to the parents for me." And with that she scooped up her egg into her massive fangs and disappeared into the tall grass along with her kids, her wings quickly her paws from quite touching the group, keeping her silent. Unfortunately her bright burning mane stood out rather obviously against the tall grass. Still the group soon lost sight of her and were left to process everything that just happened.

For a moment there was silence. No one said a word, even Daisy and Violet quiet for once as they all just stared off in the direction Lionelle and her strange kids had gone. Finally it was Marco who spoke up. "Well, gotta hand it to you, Dennis. You were right. She was a lot to handle."

The others could only nod in agreement before the tall grass went ablaze and Star sighed in annoyance, preparing an ice spell.

…

The next house the group reached was fairly large but modestly built, made out of reeds and tree branches all thatched expertly together into a sturdy structure. It seemed to hold together pretty well, thanks in part to the twin trees that stood protectively over it and it would seem that was an entirely intentional design choice. There was no door to knock on so instead Dennis just shouted out the name of the home's resident but no one answered. "Hmm, Miss Deery must be out somewhere. Guess we'll just have to wait."

"That's fine with me," Marco said, plopping down on the ground and massaging his poor ankles. "My feet are killing me."

"Well, guess we have no choice." Star took a seat next to him, putting a hand gently on Marco's back. "Take a rest, Marco. You earned it," she cooed, kissing him on the cheek.

"Well, while you guys are being lazy, I'm gonna explore around the house," Violet proclaimed. "I need to research how Monster homes are made. Janna's gonna be super impressed with everything I've learned today!"

As the girl started running off to the other side of the house, Star called out in warning, "Be careful! Don't break anything!"

"Yes mom!" came the sarcastic reply and the blonde just shook her head but let it go for now.

"Hey guys! We're down to only two eggs now!" Daisy exclaimed, setting both eggs down on the ground, before laying in front of them so she could watch them closely, her little legs kicking back and forth excitedly. "I wonder who it will be this time, Baby Katrina or Amanda?"

"Well whichever it is, I'm sure they're mom will just be happy to have them back," Marco said brightly.

"What do you think, Dennis?" Daisy asked, looking up at her new friend.

Dennis flushed and flusteredly answered, "Oh, uh, um, I'm not really sure which egg but possibly… Amanda?"

Daisy nodded sadly. "Yeah, you're probably right. Poor Baby Katrina doesn't have a home yet."

Dennis sat down next to the cutesy girl, before scooting away from her a bit, nervous about getting too close. "Yeah and I don't know any other moms missing kids in the area, either."

"Oh no!" Daisy gasped fearfully, bringing Katrina close enough so that she was resting against her cheek. "Poor Katrina!"

"If that's the case we might have to ask Buff Frog about the last egg," Star spoke up.

"Buff Frog?" Dennis asked, looking confused and a little worried. "Isn't that the new Monster leader?"

Marco nodded before saying proudly, "Yep and he's also my dad!"

The moment her boyfriend spoke, Star turned to judge Dennis' reaction closely, her eyes examining every inch of his face. This was the moment of truth to find out just where he stood on his family tree. The bird boy's eyes lit up with fear, his beak pressing together tightly as he curled up into a ball. Just as Star suspected. It seemed he had been warned about his family's past and where he stood in it. That was until he spoke. "M-My parents told me not to talk about him with anyone. They said I was too young to understand."

This confused Star, unsure where the fear had flared up from if not from the mention of his family's enemy. It was the first time Star had seen genuine fear from the boy. "What are your parents like, Dennis?" she asked, venturing a guess.

"Oh they're, um…" Dennis' voice trailed off as he looked down at his clawed feet. He didn't seem to know how to answer the question. "They're kinda strict, I guess."

In all honesty Dennis knew his parents were much more than that. His parents were a bunch of grumps. They hated everyone and complained about everything and everyone. Dennis wanted to grow up to be better than them. He wanted people to like him instead of avoiding him like they did with his parents. Which was why he tried so hard to be friendly and helpful. He had been working to gain the Monsters trust since the day he was born.

"Our mom's strict too," Daisy said absentmindedly, gently booping Katrina's 'shell'. "She makes us go to bed every single night and she doesn't let us play with piggoats in the castle. She says they get mud everywhere. But I mean, it's just mud!"

"Um, yeah, my parents aren't really like that," Dennis muttered nervously, rubbing his claw up and down his feathered arm. "They say that I need to do better so I don't end up a failure like my brother, Ludo."

At the mention of Ludo, Star and Marco shared a look.

"I don't really like staying in the house very much because they always just end up yelling at me for something so that's why I'm out here exploring and talking with the other Monsters," Dennis continued.

"That's horrible!" Daisy exclaimed, jumping to her feet, tears in her eyes. "Your parents are big meanies! You should move out!"

"I'm not old enough yet," Dennis mumbled sadly.

Daisy looked sadly down at him, before tapping a finger to her chin, trying to think of a plan for her new friend. Suddenly an idea came to her and her cheekmarks switched to lightbulbs for a second. "I've got it! You can be a part of our family instead!"

"Wh-What?!" Dennis exclaimed, blushing brightly. "B-But I'm not a Mewman!"

"That's okay! We don't mind!" Daisy said reassuringly, grabbing the boy's feathered hands and pulling him to his feet.

"Yeah, we'd love to have you a part of the family, Dennis," Marco spoke up, feeling his chest swelling with sympathy for the poor boy. He knew better than anyone what it was like to have a bad parent hurting you. Although he hardly considered Toffee a parent.

Star's face softened at the hopeful look in Dennis' eyes, something he was clearly starved of thanks to his broken upbringing. This kid deserved better and Star would do everything in her power to make sure that's exactly what he got. "There's always room for one more," Star said gently.

"B-But how can I be a Butterfly?" Dennis asked, a mix of happy and confused. He just didn't understand how he could be two things at once. He was already an Avarius so how could he also be a Butterfly? His small mind couldn't grasp it and it left his whole head spinning.

"That's easy!" Daisy shouted. "You and I can just get married!"

"Married?!" Dennis squeaked, his face growing hot from the rushing blood in his cheeks.

"Yeah! Then you'd have to be part of our family!"

"W-We can't just get married like that." The bird boy wanted so badly to turn away and hide his embarrassment but the cutesy girl had gotten right up in his face waiting for his response so that wasn't an option. Instead he did his best to keep from looking too stupid as her adorable eyes dug into his skin.

"Why not?" Daisy asked, genuinely confused. "Our mom says marrying is easy. It's staying together afterwards that's the hard part. But I'm not worried. After all, if we need to we can just have time out's from being married, so it'll be easy."

Dennis didn't think that was how it worked but didn't say anything. He wasn't sure he could, his tongue was like lead in his mouth. There was no way he could get a word out with how nervous he was. It was clear the girl was waiting for a reply though as she stared at him expectantly but he couldn't manage so much as a syllable. "Come onnnnn," Daisy whined, throwing her head back in annoyance and finally giving Dennis a chance to breathe. "It'll be fuuuunn! Please, please, please!" she gave him a pouting look and the Monster boy knew he couldn't resist the look for long.

He cast a pleading look to Star and Marco but they were no help at all. The blonde royal was laughing to herself about something, covering her mouth with her hand to stifle her giggles and the hooded boy was watching them both starry-eyed. Dennis was on his own.

Finally he was able to mumble out a reply, the words trying to catch on his throat even as he coughed them out. "Fine. I guess that'd be okay."

"Yay!" Daisy cheered, giving him a hug in both excitement and thanks, squeezing the boy so tight Dennis thought he might never breathe again. His pounding heartbeat certainly didn't help the situation and he could feel his face growing hotter than the sun with each passing second. He couldn't believe he had said yes. It wasn't that he didn't want to marry this pretty girl because while he hadn't thought about marriage before he wasn't against the idea but well… she was really cute and he didn't want to mess anything up despite what she said. He had never even been around a Mewman before and now he was supposed to get married to one. He had no clue how to even be married. His parents mostly just argued with each other or complained and Dennis was fairly sure marriage wasn't supposed to be like that. What his parents did wasn't how most Monsters were supposed to act, that much Dennis was sure of thanks to the other Monster he knew.

Daisy didn't seem to ever want to end the hug and Dennis wasn't sure his heart could take much more so he swallowed nervously and asked as calmly as he could (failing miserably), "So, uh, w-w-what do we do n-now? Isn't there like a-a thing you're supposed to do to s-show you're married?"

"Oh yeah!" Daisy exclaimed, finally pulling out of the hug. "We gotta have a wedding!" She turned to her cousin and asked loudly, "Staaaarr, can you marry us please?"

Star smiled at the pair and nodded her head. "Yeah, I think I can do that."

Daisy squealed and grabbed on tightly to Dennis' arm, the boy having no choice now but to go along with it. "Okay we're ready!" the girl cheered and Dennis just did his best to not die from his blush.

"Alright, let's see," Star muttered, absentmindedly playing with a strand of hair. "Now where do I start? Um, Daisy, do you take Dennis to be your husband?"

"Yes!" the girl screamed, squeezing Dennis' arm even tighter and do a cute, excited hop.

"And Dennis, do you take Daisy as your wife?" Star asked the boy.

Dennis froze up for a second, not realizing he had to actually speak during the wedding. He swallowed hard and looked over at his 'wife' for a second. Her eyes were shining in joy, her whole face lit up with a smile and her cheekmarks were glowing brighter than the daylight around them. He had never seen anyone so happy before and it came so naturally to her, like happiness just surrounded her and spread wherever she went. Dennis liked that about Daisy. How easy it was for her to smile. He wanted to be like that, too. Maybe being married to her wouldn't be that bad. Maybe she could help him be happy like that. Maybe her happiness could spread to him. He felt a warmth inside his chest and wondered if it already had.

"I do," he said softly but surely, the words coming out of his mouth without him thinking about them as he just watched Daisy's smiling face. It was the most confident thing he had said since meeting the Mewmans and he didn't regret that. Especially when the girl let out a squeal of delight, a look of pure joy on her face as she hugged Dennis tightly around the neck. The bird boy blushed beet red and went completely still as she buried her head in his neck. He couldn't move or even breathe with Daisy this close to him, completely at the girl Mewmans whims. She smelt really nice though. Like flowers. "Isn't this exciting, Dennis! Now we're married!" The girl couldn't stop screaming and started to hop up and down, poor Dennis getting shifted uncomfortably around with each jump.

"Uhhhh, yeaaaahhh," he muttered, still having trouble breathing, though he had no clue if it was because of the tight grip around his neck or the close proximity with a cute Mewman girl who was now his wife.

"Wait, it's not official just yet," Star spoke up and Daisy gasped. The blonde cleared her throat before saying in an overly dramatic drawl, "Then I now pronounce you husband and wife." Daisy squealed and Dennis sighed, hoping the hug would finally end. He needed some space from his wife before his cheeks exploded. "You may now kiss the bride," Star added and Dennis shrieked in fear.

"What?! I-I didn't know t-that was part of weddings!"

"Duh, that's the best part," Daisy said, matter-of-factly.

"B-B-B-But-"

"If you want you can just kiss her on the cheek," Star offered helpfully.

Dennis swallowed hard and slowly turned to face Daisy. The girl gave him a cute smile before turning her cheek so he could kiss it. Dennis had never been more nervous in his short few years of life. He gulped, trying not to think about what he was doing as he leaned in towards Daisy, his face redder than the sun at this point. He closed his eyes, feeling his heart in his throat but continued to lean in towards the girl, his beak puckered as best a beak could be.

Daisy watched as Dennis moved towards her with a mischievous grin, waiting patiently for him to be close enough. Just before he could kiss her, she ducked around him giving him a quick peck on the cheek. "I win!" she shouted in victory as Dennis melted into a puddle of goo. He fell over onto the ground, holding a claw over his cheek, his brain spinning as he realized he had just received his first kiss.

"Daisy, it's not a game," Star pointed out, holding back a giggle.

"Sure it is," Daisy argued. "Mommy says kissing is like a game and you want to always be the one to win it."

Star frowned, inwardly rolling her eyes at her aunt. What was she teaching her kids? A sniffling beside her drew Star's attention to Marco who had fat tears dripping down his cheeks, a wistful look in his eyes. "Marco, why are you crying?" she asked in concern.

"This is the first wedding I've ever been to," the hooded teen said, wiping a tear from his eye.

Star chuckled and draped an arm over her boyfriend's shoulder, resting her cheek against the side of his head, placing a tiny kiss in his hair. The two watched as Daisy pulled the pile of goo that was her new husband to his knees, insisting they needed to make flower crowns to show they were married. Dennis was too shell-shocked to argue, staring blissfully off into the distance as the girl wove her name-sake into a headpiece.

"I'm back!" Violet yelled, finally returning from her trek around the house, beaming from ear to ear. "I think I got a good look at everything! This house is way bigger than it looks from here! I bet whatever lives here is huge! Also the wood for the house is all fresh and new. Maybe they just remodeled or something?" Once the young royal had finished her rant she looked around at the group before asking, "So what'd I miss?"

"Me and Dennis got married!" Daisy exclaimed, linking her arm with the Monster boy next to her, causing him to blush again, keeping his eyes trained on his flower weaving, not daring to look up and humiliate himself.

"What?! No fair!" Violet whined, her cheeks puffing up in anger. "Why'd you get to marry him?!"

"Because we're in love," Daisy stated matter-of-factly. "Besides I asked him first!"

"But I want to marry a Monster!" Violet shouted, stomping her foot and clenching her fists. "I've loved Monsters my whole life and you were afraid of them until just a few months ago!"

"Well you're too late," her sister taunted, sticking her tongue out and then making a big show of nuzzling her cheek against his feathered head. Dennis was about ready to die from embarrassment.

"Guys, c'mon," Marco spoke up. "There's no reason to fight over Dennis like that! He already chose Daisy and that's that." Dennis wished the ground would open up and swallow him whole.

Violet let out a long sigh, throwing her head back. "Fine," she muttered bitterly, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "But I get to marry the next Monster."

"Deal," Daisy agreed.

"So does that mean I'm related to a Monster now?" Violet asked, sitting on the ground in front of her sister.

"Technically," Star said with a shrug.

"Cool, I can live with that," the creepy girl responded.

"There, finished!" Daisy exclaimed, holding up the flower crown for all to see. The girl had weaved many different flowers together so that it was a rainbow of color and scent.

"It's great, Daisy," Dennis complimented while Violet held back a gag.

"It's too girly," Violet said truthfully. "Where's the Black Deathrot?"

"I'm not putting any of your gross, poisonous flowers on Dennis' head!" Daisy snapped.

"It's not that poisonous," Violet argued.

Daisy huffed but ignored her in favor of her husband. "Let me see yours, Dennis," she said sweetly.

Dennis gulped before shyly holding it up for her to see. It was much messier and not nearly as professional looking as hers had been, not to mention he had only used one kind of flower to decorate it. "It's not as good as yours but, uh, here," he held it out to her and looked away, slightly ashamed of himself for doing such a bad job. There was no way she'd want to stay married now.

But Daisy gasped and asked, "Are these real daisies?"

Dennis nodded, risking a glance at her face, surprised to see her beaming with joy. "That's so awesome!" the girl shouted and snatched the crown out of her friend's hand, placing the crown on her head. "I love it! Thanks so much!"

Dennis gave a little shy chuckle, rubbing nervously at the back of his neck. "Uh, sure. No problem." He put his own flower crown on and shared a look with Daisy, feeling a little better about this whole marriage thing now. Being with Daisy was lots of fun. Embarrassing fun, but fun nonetheless.

"So how do I look?" she asked, her bright smile nearly blinding to him.

"You look… really cute," he replied honestly, his cheeks just slightly tinged pink.

...

About thirty minutes later the Monster for the house finally returned. She screamed in surprise upon finding guests in her front yard, startling the others and drawing their attention onto her. Just like the other Monsters they had encountered that day, she too was a hybrid: her front half that of a deer, and her back half a dragon's tail. The tail was a pale tan color, complete with fancy designs etched into the scales, each one glowing yellow. Her deer side was a dark brown and covered in soft fluff. She had freckles on her face and long sharp fangs that jutted down from her mouth along with glowing emerald eyes. She seemed quite intent on making her deer side stand out more, wearing nearly excessive amounts of make-up (at least for a deer Monster). She had long, thick eyelashes and dark eyeshadow that made it hard to look away from. Every inch of her fur had been brushed down flat, nearly to perfection but there were a few patches that had managed to fluff out despite that. Her hooves were all painted a sparkly purple which Star just saw as overkill.

"W-Who are you all?! What are you doing in front of my house?!" she shrieked in alarm.

Marco took a step towards her, keeping his hands raised in a friendly manner. "Sorry for scaring you, we're-"

"No, shoo, g-get away from me, you vile creatures!" the Monster screeched, lowering her head so she could brandish her horns. "I-I'm warning you, i-if you come a step closer I-I'll use these if I must!"

"But we're friendly I swear!" Marco continued, trying desperately to get her to listen but she was too frightened to hear a word he said.

"I said 'stay back'!" she waved her horns towards the hooded teen and Star grabbed him by the collar, pulling him away from the Monster before he was impaled.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down!" she said in the most soothing tone she could manage, holding Marco close to her in case the Monster actually attacked. "We aren't your enemies."

"Y-You aren't," Miss Deery asked, tears in her eyes. Now that she wasn't shrieking her tone was much more dainty and sophisticated. She sounded more like a lady of court than a Monster hybrid and neither Marco or Star could tell if that was her natural voice or if she was just faking it. Considering the amount of make-up she was wearing though, Star could guess.

Star shook her head. "No. The opposite actually. I'm Star Butterfly and this is Marco Diaz, you might have heard about us before," she tried, giving her a hopeful smile.

Miss Deery gasped. "Oh my stars, you're the princess and the son of the Monster leader!"

"Yes exactly!" Marco exclaimed with a nod of his head, relieved she recognized them. However, instead of calming down, the deer Monster seemed to get even more flustered, panting and shaking head to toe.

"Are you okay?" Marco asked in concern.

"Yes, yes, I just can't believe I'm meeting such important Mewmans," Deery gasped out, she bowed low to the ground, swishing her enormous tail behind her and out of sight. "I always dreamed this would happen but to actually experience it in person is exhilarating! It's such an honor to meet you both! I've heard so much about your work!" She made a show of batting her eyes at them, which made Marco shift uncomfortably and blush.

Star offered her a humble smile. "Oh, well thank you so mu- aahh!" Star was cut off mid-sentence as flames exploded from Miss Deery's mouth, both teens having to duck under the burning torch of breath to avoid being burned alive.

When the flames finally stopped, the deer Monster put a hoof to her mouth to try and vainly cover it. "Oh, excuse me. How embarrassing. I'm so sorry, princess! This cursed dragon side of mine can be such a nuisance." She let out a long sigh, making a show of rolling her eyes. "You see, I tend to breathe fire when I'm nervous. Or get hiccups. Sometimes both."

"That's okay," Marco answered for his girlfriend, the two nervously standing up straight again.

The deer Monster bowed her head in respect. "Thank you for understanding, Your Majesty."

Star cleared her throat, trying not to let her awkwardness show as she explained, "So, uh, the reason we came here is because we think we found your missing egg."

Deery gasped, Marco instinctively flinching and ducking just in case more flames emerged. "Oh my goodness, I can't believe it! Thank you, princess. I thought I'd never see my baby again! I thought for sure they were-" The mother let out a sad chuckle, tears in her eyes as she looked around for her lost egg. "Where are they?" she asked the blonde royal.

"It's right over here, Miss Deery," Marco said, sweeping an arm towards where the egg was laying in the grass.

Miss Deery let out a strangled gasp, running to her egg, the tears now streaming down her cheeks. Her tail swept the egg up, holding it safely against her furry chest as she brushed a cheek across the shell. "My baby! Thank the heavens you are safe!"

Star and Marco watched blissfully as the mother was reunited with her child.

"I'm glad little Amanda made it home safe," Daisy spoke up politely. Miss Deery looked down at the girl with a pleasant look.

"As am I," she replied. But out of nowhere, her eyes widened, the Monster letting out a frightened squeak and shuffled back away from the kids, a burst of flame escaping from her mouth once more. Violet watched this open-mouthed, as a blaze of smoke and fire flew overhead, her eyes shining with intrigue. She whispered softly under her breath, continuing to stare, "Coooool."

Star and Marco were instantly at the kids' sides, ready to protect them if Deery lost control of her flames again. "Whoa, hey, calm down before you hurt someone," Star said, her voice torn between soothing and commanding, falling somewhere in the middle. "I know you're scared of humans but these are just kids!"

"What is he doing here?!" Miss Deery exclaimed, pointing to Dennis with her hoof.

Star stared back at the boy in confusion, but Dennis didn't react to the harsh accusation, instead his eyes just glazed over, looking but no longer seeing, unaware of anything happening around him. The blonde royal felt her heart twist at the sight, the broken look all too familiar thanks to her past. No one as young as Dennis should have to look like that.

Marco's eyebrows pinched together in confusion. Surely there had to be some kind of mistake, this Monster couldn't really believe sweet, innocent Dennis was a threat? Maybe she thought he was Ludo? So Marco took it upon himself to clarify. "Who? You mean Dennis?"

Though Marco had expected her to correct her mistake and apologize for the mix-up, Miss Deery only dug her hoofs in more to her rash judgement. She nodded frantically, her tail now holding the egg behind her and as far away from the small boy as she could get it. "Yes! How could you bring this ruffian here with you, princess?!"

It took everything in Star to keep from snapping at the Monster for talking about an innocent child that way. Although she had at first had the same suspicions of Dennis, he had proven to be nothing but kind and sweet and she felt a burning desire to make up for her early decision by defending him to her dying breath. But she knew it was more important to keep her calm in a situation like this, losing her temper would only make things worse. Still s,he couldn't help the growing hatred burning in her chest. "Why? He's just a kid," she remarked with incredibly strained effort, feeling the venom on the tip of her tongue. "It's not like he's doing anything wrong."

"Well yes but," Miss Deery leaned in closer so that only the two teens could hear her. "Don't you know he's an Avarius. His brother, Ludo, is a traitor to his own kind. I wouldn't be caught dead hanging round anyone from that family line. They are all nothing but trouble if you ask me."

Marco's face morphed from confusion to sadness as he heard this. It was terrible this poor kid was being judged for his family's actions. It wasn't like it was his fault, after all. It wasn't fair to him that he was born into that life. The hooded teen felt the need to stand up for the poor kid. "Dennis is nothing like that! He's good and nice and helpful! Just because Ludo is his brother doesn't mean he's like that! In fact, we never would have even found your egg without him!"

Miss Deery seemed shocked to hear that, still eying Dennis wearly. "Well if you say so," she said unsteadily.

Now it was Daisy's turn to interject. "Don't talk about my new husband that way! Dennis is really nice and he's nothing like his super mean parents!" The cutesy girl held Dennis close in a protective manner, glaring the Monster mom down. The Monster boy was obviously caught off-guard by the action, staring at her with unfocused eyes. Still, he didn't seem to mind the show of affection, especially when in such a fragile state of mind, ever so slightly hugging her back.

"V-Very well then," Miss Deery said nervously. She shifted uncomfortably, not meeting anyone's eye, Star had no doubt so much as a loud noise would probably send her running for the hills. The blonde could tell they had overstayed their welcome. "Well, we better be going now," she said, enunciating each word as he pushed Marco back in the direction they came from. "It was nice to meet you, Deery," Star said cordially.

"Miss Deery," she corrected awkwardly, turning her head to the side so she wouldn't meet anyone's eyes. It was clear to her she had made a mistake but she was completely lost on how to correct it.

Daisy grabbed Dennis' hand, quickly leading her husband out of the clearing and as far away from this rude deer as possible, while her sister swiped baby Katrina off the ground. Violet was right behind the two and the kids were soon out of Star and Marco's sight. The teens were about to follow after them before their young charges got into trouble but were stopped as Miss Deery gravely warned, "A little word of warning, princess. I'd watch myself around that boy if I were you. The Avarius clan can never be trusted."

Marco turned to argue with the Monster once more but she had zipped inside her house as quick as a flash, the boy only spotting the swish of her tail as it disappeared through the doorway before she was gone. Star glared after the Monster, clenching her fists so tight the knuckles were going white. Marco noticed this and gently pried Star's hand open, only to grip it softly in his own. Star looked up at her boyfriend in surprise and he gave her a wain smile in return. The blonde relaxed a little, letting her anger diminish for the moment. A sadness washed over the couple as they left the simple-minded and frightened Monster behind, both fully aware of how much work there still was to do before Mewni would truly be at peace again.

...

Buff Frog massaged his tired eyes with his palms, letting out a long breath of air. He sat back in his chair, taking a small sip of tea and just let the quiet wash over him. Today had been busier than usual, since he had given his crew the day off so they could go play some human sport called 'bowling'. They had offered for him to come as well, but he had declined, someone had to watch over his kind after all. So spent the day travelling all over Mewni, dealing with minor disputes and small incidents, not to mention a few false Ludo and Rasticore sightings that he had looked into personally. It felt like every Monster on Mewni had needed his help today. But finally as the day wrapped up he was able to retire back to his home, soaking in some much needed peace and quiet.

But that quiet was interrupted sadly as the front door banged open, two childlike voices calling out, "Uncle Buff Frog!" The frog Monster barely had time to lift the cup above his head before he was tackled in a hug. Buff Frog blinked, staring down at the two girls clinging to his front, saying in confusion, "Daisy? Violet?"? What you two doing here?"

"We came to see you," Violet explained.

"Did you miss us?" Daisy asked innocently.

The frog's expression immediately softened and gave the cutesy girl a pat on the head, "Da, is good to see you two again."

"Hey dad," Marco called from the doorway, he and Star stepping inside, Dennis hovering just out of sight behind them. The hooded teen rubbed at the back of his neck, adding, "Sorry to come over unannounced but we, uh, have a bit of an issue we need help with. I hope you don't mind."

"Course not, is always nice to see you and little ones again," Buff Frog said, setting his cup down on the table so he could give the girls a proper hug. "What is problem?" he asked his son.

"We found some Monster eggs that were stolen by a giant eagle," Star explained.

Buff Frog nodded, a grim look on his face. "Yes, have heard many tragic stories of such things happening."

"Well thankfully we were able to get them back safe and take them home to their families," Marco continued, pausing before adding, "Expect one."

"Which is kinda why we're here. We were hoping you might be able to figure out who they belong to," Star finished.

Buff Frog nodded again, before picking each girl up and setting them down so he could stand. "Let me see egg."

Marco looked encouragingly back at Dennis, who held the final egg in his shaking hands. The boy looked nervous and didn't make any effort to make himself seen, so Marco told him gently, "It's okay, you can come out. I promise he's nice." Dennis hesitated for another second or two before finally stepping out where Buff Frog could see him. The frog Monster looked surprised but seeing the boy's obvious nervousness he quickly put on a kind and friendly smile, bending down to the young boy's level.

"Hello, little one, what is your name?" Buff Frog asked in a soothing tone.

"D-Dennis," the bird Monster shyly stuttered, shifting from one foot to the other.

"Without his help we never would have gotten the other Monster eggs back to their families," Star pointed out.

"And he's my new husband, too," Daisy proudly declared. "We got married just like an hour ago!"

"Sounds like you very important child, Dennis. You must be very good boy," Buff Frog said softly and Dennis' face lit up at the compliment. Marco wanted to hug his dad for following their lead and making the boy feel welcome, he knew his dad wouldn't be so harsh to judge like so many others before him. Dennis no longer seemed as tense around the Monster leader, his anxious shuffling disappearing in seconds. The amphibian looked down at the small round orb in Dennis' hands and asked, "May I please see egg?"

Dennis nodded and handed it to him. "Here you go."

"Thank you," Buff Frog said, giving the boy a pat on the head, though his attention was now on the small creature. He looked it over for a good while, creases appearing in his forehead as he observed the egg with a thoughtful expression. "This is not Monster egg," he finally said.

"Yeah we kinda suspected that," Star replied.

"So what is it then?" Violet loudly blurted, her curiosity peaked. "Is it a Monster at all?"

"Oh, is Monster. Just not egg. This is baby tadpole."

Marco gave his dad a quizzical look. "What's a tadpole?"

Buff Frog chuckled and explained, "Is baby frog."

The hooded teen gasped in delight. "So you mean it's a frog Monster just like you!"

"Would appear so," Buff Frog replied, gently setting the child down on the table and pulling out his phone. "I will make calls. See if I can locate parents."

"Hear that, Katrina?" Daisy said, leaning over the table so she was beside the egg. "You're gonna finally get home to your mommy and daddy!"

"Oh man, this is so cool!" Violet shouted, energetically rocking the chair she was in back and forth, almost dangerously so. "I had no idea that frog Monsters could have tadpoles! I'm learning so much about Monsters, it's insane! At this rate I'm gonna be a Monster expert in no time! And to top it all off I have a Monster brother now! Could today get any better?!"

Star went over to quiet the girls so Buff Frog could hear the phone and Marco noticed that someone was missing from their little group now. The hooded teen looked around for Dennis but couldn't see him anywhere in the house. At first Marco thought he might have wandered off to explore the rest of the house but then he noticed the front door was still left open and spotted the bird boy stepping off the porch. Marco, startled that Dennis would leave without so much as a word, quickly followed after him.

"Hey, Dennis, wait!" he called and the boy flinched. He turned and looked up at Marco with wide eyes. "Where are you going?" Marco asked.

"Home," Dennis said with a small shrug.

"You don't have to leave, y'know," Marco pointed out.

"Well, it was really fun hanging out with you guys but I should get back before my mom and dad get mad."

Marco could tell just mentioning his parents made Dennis nervous and the hooded teen remembered what the boy had said to Daisy earlier. "Are your parents… bad?"

Dennis seemed caught off-guard by the question and took a moment to answer, opening and closing his beak several times before finally answering, "I don't know. Everyone seems to not like them and they can be kinda mean to me sometimes." The boy paused, a sad look on his face before he admitted, "Sometimes people think I'm mean too because they are my parents so I have to work really hard to show them how friendly and helpful I can be. Maybe if I do that then people will see me as me and not my parents."

Marco couldn't help but compare himself to Dennis for a moment. They both had a lot to make up for thanks to their parents, just for very different reasons. Marco had to live up to his family legacy, Dennis wanted to change it. Still, the hooded teen couldn't help but feel a small bond with the young Monster forming. "Well, I'm sure you'll get there someday. You've done a lot more than the rest of your family has, after all. So that's gotta count for something, right?"

Dennis had a thoughtful look on his face, his eyes flashing with hope and happiness before he finally answered, "Yeah, that's true."

"And hey, you made a good impression on me and Star, not to mention my dad. So I'd say your really on your way to-"

"You know my brother Ludo, right?" Dennis suddenly asked.

Marco was caught off-guard by the sudden question and was shocked into silence for a moment. "Oh," was all he was able to get out. Marco scratched awkwardly at the back of his neck, trying to find the right way to word this to this young kid. "Uh yeah, I do," he finally said. "We, uh, didn't get along all that well."

Dennis nodded his head. "Yeah, I never met him but mom and dad say he's a 'disgrace to our family' whatever that means. I don't know what he did but it must have been pretty bad if everyone hates him so much."

"He… He made some bad choices," Marco hesitantly explained. "And it got people hurt, including me. But I don't hate him. I just wish he'd see what he's doing is wrong."

Dennis didn't respond to that at first, just staring sadly down at his feet and Marco was afraid he'd gone too far. The bird boy shifted awkwardly on his stubby feet before asking, "Do you think he could ever do the right thing, instead? And get a second chance to do good? Then maybe…. I could meet him."

Marco felt his heart ache for the poor boy, watching as the sadness slowly swallowed the boy up until there were tears in his eyes, the deep longing hiding there something Marco knew all too well. He and Dennis really were a lot more alike than Marco could have imagined. He knew the loss of what you never had better than anyone. Only unlike him, Dennis had a chance to get back what he never had, to fill this hole in his heart. And Marco swore he would do everything in his power to get that back if he could.

The hooded teen wrapped his arms around the fragile child in a hug, holding him close as the tears silently fell, dripping to the ground with a muted plop. Marco knew in a moment like this the words he would have given anything to hear. So he said them, not just for Dennis but for himself, some deep, starving part of him begging to let at least one person experience what he would never have. "I have no idea if Ludo ever will, Dennis. But if there is a way, I'm-I'm gonna help him see it so that you can meet him."

"You will?" Dennis said in a fragile tone, sniffling.

"Yeah, I promise," Marco replied, meaning every word. "I promise," he whispered in a small voice, his vow just barely reaching the young Monster, before being swallowed up by the evening wind.

Marco knew he couldn't fix everything in the young Monster's life but he could at the very least try and make up for the bad hand he had been dealt. And that started by giving him a real parental figure to look up to. So once Dennis was calm enough to speak properly, Marco asked, "You wanna come in with me?"

Dennis paused, inwarly debating on whether or not he should but clearly wanting to. Marco, seeing this, offered, "I promise I'll portal you right home after. Your parents will never know."

Dennis grinned happily, nodding his head vibrantly. Marco smiled back, taking the young Monster's hand. But Dennis didn't follow, instead asking hesitantly, "Um, would it be alright if you… gave me a piggyback ride l-like you did for Violet." Dennis bit his beak, afraid he had overstepped his bounds with the simple question, waiting to be punished. But Marco didn't get upset like the bird boy had expected. Instead he simply tucked his hands under Dennis' arms and lifted him up off the ground. The next thing he knew, the Monster was sitting on the hooded teen's shoulders, blinking a few times in surprise.

"Ready?" Marco asked, looking up at the Monster kid.

Dennis nodded vigorously, the happiest grin Marco had seen on him yet, his oversized beak stretched fully across his face, exposing his missing teeth.

"All right then, hold on tight!" Marco exclaimed, before racing across the yard, Dennis squealing in delight and clinging on tightly to the hooded teen's hair. Marco ran a few loops around the yard, letting Dennis fully enjoy his fast-paced piggyback ride before jogging up the stairs and into the cottage.

Just as the two entered, Buff Frog hung up the phone, muttering into the speaker, "Thank you for telling me." Marco could tell by his dad's tone that something was wrong.

"Hey dad, what is it?" Marco asked, setting Dennis down. Buff Frog's eyes were full of dread as he looked over at the two, instantly putting the hooded teen on edge. "Did you find out who the tadpoles' parents are?"

Buff Frog nodded solemnly and Marco knew it couldn't possibly be good news. He was right. "They both dead."

"WHAT?!" Marco exclaimed, slamming his hands down on the table, nearly knocking poor baby Katrina off but Daisy quickly snatched her up. The boy shot the young girl a sheepish look before turning back to his dad, loudly asking, "What happened?! Was it a Mewman? Please, please tell me it wasn't a-"

"It wasn't," Buff Frog reassured him, stopping that train of thought before he could get too worked up. The amphibian sucked in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Thankfully it not that."

"Then… what?" Star asked, moving so she was now beside the Monster.

"They…" Buff Frog began but seemed to be struggling to explain, terrified to voice their fates out loud. He went out of his way to avoid Marco's eye as he finally declared, "They were in swamp."

Marco felt his heart drop. No. No, anything but that. That would mean… that would mean that- that- they had fallen victim to Monster Arm just like him. Only they hadn't been able to escape like he had. Marco was the first and only one to ever escape. No wonder Buff Frog hadn't wanted to tell him.

"Oh," was all Marco said, falling hard into the nearest chair. His dad put a large claw over his son's hands, saying softly, "Is not your fault, Marco. Many have been victim to creature. You lucky to have escaped with life." The hooded teen said nothing to that, just soberly nodded, too unfocused and dazed to be aware of anything at the moment.

"So what now?" Violet asked, not quite sure what they were talking about but figuring it was some grown-up thing. She had learned that when grown-ups started talking all serious like that that no amount of asking would do anything, they always just gave some dumb excuse about her needing to wait till she was older. Besides, she was much more interested in what was going to happen to the Monster baby. "Does that mean we get to keep it all for ourselves?"

Daisy squealed happily, hugging Katrina to her chest. "Oh, oh, oh! Can we?! Can I adopt her?! Please, please, please! Me and Dennis can be her parents!" Dennis looked flabbergasted at the concept but said nothing, instead settling for laying his face on the table and throwing his arms over his head so no one could see the blush.

Buff Frog shook his head. "Raising baby is big responsibility. I afraid you too young to adopt her."

Daisy whined in sadness, giving them a pouting look, which went unnoticed by her older family members, causing her to cross her arms in annoyance and Dennis gave her a hesitant pat on the back.

But the young royal had given Star an idea, suggesting, "Hey Buff Frog, why don't you adopt her instead?"

This instantly perked up Marco as he loudly agreed, grinning ear to ear. "Oh yeah! That's a great idea!"

Buff Frog, however, was stunned. "W-W-Who me?" he sputtered in complete disbelief.

"Yeah! I mean you already know how to raise a kid," Star explained. "You did it with Marco and you did a great job."

"Plus, you have mentioned how much you miss having a kid to take care of," Marco added helpfully. The boy was sure this would be good for his dad but Buff Frog didn't seem to agree.

The frog shook his head wildly. "Yes, but is lot of work to raise child and I very busy. Normally I be happy to but not sure I right pick in this case."

"Why not have the other Monsters babysit while you're busy?" Star asked.

"Don't know how," Buff Frog said sadly, taking the small tadpole from Daisy and looking down at it longingly. He admitted the idea was tempting, very tempting. His heart felt slightly empty without a little kid around to take care of. Marco was still the joy of his life but Buff Frog longed to be a new father all over again, to take care of and raise a young child, but at this time it was simply impossible. "Sorry, little one, but you simply have to find different home."

"Um, I could help you watch them?" a tiny voice spoke up. Almost everyone had forgotten Dennis was there and as all eyes turned to him, he flushed bright red but kept his eyes locked with Buff Frog's.

"What's that little one?" the amphibian asked, not quite sure he had heard him right.

Dennis sucked in a deep breath, gathering his courage, before blurting out, "I-I could babysit them while you're busy. I'm usually not home anyways so it wouldn't be a problem. And I mean, sure my parents probably wouldn't want me to be here but, uh, as long as we don't say anything it should be fine. Um, that is if you don't mind." When the Monster kid was through with his rant he bit his beak, waiting for the Monster leader's answer.

Daisy gasped. "Oh yeah! And when Dennis isn't busy I could take care of Katrina too!"

"And me!" Violet added, climbing up on the table so she would be included. "I know everything about Monsters so it would be easy!"

"You didn't even know Katrina was a tadpole and not an egg," Daisy pointed out.

"Neither did you!" Violet snapped at her sister.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Buff Frog said, returning all attention onto him. He looked over to Dennis and asked, "You really not mind helping me?"

Dennis looked over at Marco, who gave him an encouraging nod and the bird boy answered sweetly, "Nope! I'd love to help!"

Buff Frog's whole face lit up at that, looking beyond happy as he gazed down lovingly at the small tadpole in his hands.

"It could be a team effort," Marco suggested. "We could all do our best to help raise this little guy and give them the best home they can! That's what you and the Monsters did for me and I wouldn't ever want anything different!"

"We'd all be happy to help," Star said, seeing her boyfriend's train of thought. "You wouldn't have to do it alone, Buff Frog."

There were now tears in the Monster's eyes as he said in a small voice, "Thank you all so much."

"Soooo, does that mean…." Marco asked hopefully, eyes shining.

Buff Frog nodded, the happiest look on his face that Marco had ever seen. "Da, I will do it. Baby tadpole part of family now."

The whole room erupted in cheers, the two Mewman girls squealing, Marco bouncing up and down for joy and crying, and Star just grinning happily over the whole thing. Dennis was too stunned to say or do anything, partially from the Mewmans reactions and partially because he hadn't really expected Buff Frog to agree to his suggestion. He looked over to the Monster leader dumbfounded and the two shared a small look, the look in Buff Frog's eyes clarifying that he was indeed willing to take Dennis as a babysitter. It was a small exchange but one that made Dennis more proud of himself than he had ever been. It was just the justification the young kid had been needing his whole life. He wasn't being put down or treated like a possible threat but instead accepted with open arms. And by the leader of all Monsters at that! It was more than Dennis had ever hoped for.

"So what are we gonna name them?" Violet asked, leaning in closer to the egg.

Buff Frog took a moment to reply, watching the small child in a daze. The tadpole's eyes finally opened, waking for the first time all day, it let out a long yawn before staring up at the massive Monster with innocent eyes. It was like falling in love all over again. The frog Monster instantly felt his heart fill with a new warmth, another piece of his soul being shared by this tiny, delicate child. "Katrina," the Monster finally said, his eyes glancing up to Daisy for just a second, before going back to the egg.

Marco looked down at his new baby sister with tears still freely flowing from his eyes, unable to believe this was really happening to him. He now had a whole new sister to love and cherish and he promised himself he would be the best big brother ever!

The whole group gathered around the small tadpole, watching as she just blinked and yawned, looking around curiously at all the strangers watching her with large grins on their face. But she didn't seem bothered, instead nuzzling up against Buff Frog's hand, begging for warmth and comfort and the frog Monster swore on his life he would surround her with both.

He held Katrina up to his chest, rocking her back and forth while the others watched the peaceful moment in complete bliss and silence. It was as if a new light had begun to shine on Mewni, a tiny, delicate glow that would no doubt only grow stronger and more luminescent until all had to admire its brilliant beam. In the midst of the beautiful moment, a single sentence slipped from Marco's mouth, a promise that fell over everyone in the room, simple but true.

"Welcome home, Katrina."

Hope everyone enjoyed! This chapter was so much fun! I loved getting explore a whole different set of Monsters and they all came out so vibrant and fun! There are official sketches for each of the OC Monsters but they weren't ready yet so that'll have to wait till later! Still I can't thank my friend enough for working with me on them! It was a lot of fun! And yeah, Katrina is an official family member now! Betcha didn't see that coming haha! Or you totally did *shrugs*. I thought it would be nice to bring them in to the family since I feel like after the last chapter Marco and Buff Frog needed this. It's like moving on in a way. New life and happiness to help heal the old loses. Plus Katrina is cute and I want to include them!

Next chapter is gonna be exciting I can tell you all that much! Just to give you a hint of what's to come let's just say Jantom is finally gonna be getting the spotlight! Let's hope Tom can overcome his nerves and finally confess to the girl of his dreams!

Till next time, stay awesome!

LockandKey989- Thanks, I thought so :D! It definitely wasn't seen coming that's for sure which was my goal! Yeah haha, a little bit of a sappy ending to help drown out how sad and angsty the rest of it was! I hate ending things on sad notes so I really wanted to give it some kind of nice conclusion! Yeah that would have been a neat take for sure! Honestly, I like a lot of ideas of what this chapter could have been but I wanted to stick with the direction I chose! If it was Lekmet's doing things probably wouldn't have taken such a dark turn, too! Man what an interesting idea! Glad you like it!

Bedrock Armor- Haha you called it! Good job on guessing it haha! Yeah, I felt like that would be Marco's ideal world. All the problems in his life would have been solved if Toffee had never arrived to ruin everything! Ironically he probably wouldn't have met Star though? Who knows though, maybe in that timeline they meet while his parents are doing a political rally for Monster rights at the castle? I feel like they would still form that instant bond.

Oh yeah, haha. That feeling of dread instantly sweeps in and knocks you off guard, huh? That was totally the feeling I was going for! That "this isn't right" as Marco slowly comes to that conclusion! I'm glad it kept you so interested! I really enjoyed writing that last half, where everything goes horribly wrong! Yeah it was actually! Well, okay maybe not straight horror but I wanted the feeling of the nightmare and dread to take over! It also doesn't help that I'm currently obsessed with the game "Little Nightmares 2" so that might have influenced my writing a little, haha. Actually I've been using it for my new writing system: if I manage to reach my writing goals I reward myself with something I want. No writing, no game. It worked pretty well, despite a couple of hiccups.

Aaa thanks so much! I'm really happy to know you loved it! And yeah I'm doing great now, thanks for the concern :)

Monkey lover 911- Your welcome! Thanks for reading! Awww me too! Thankfully I didn't have too bad a case but I'd rather not have to go through it again XP But anyways, yeah I thought that would be a really fun twist on the character! No idea where the idea came from now but boy it was fun to write! I HAD to use Monster Arm somewhere and this felt like an unexpected place to slide him in! Thank you. *blushes humbly* I think you'll like this chapter, friend! And no worries, I got my shot now and me and my whole family are doubling down on sanitary measures to keep the rest of us from getting sick.

PJ- Well thanks! Yeah haha, I considered toning down the creep factor but I couldn't help myself! Yeah same but I'm back to 100% now so that's good! Awww wow, thanks a lot! I want to get these chapter out quicker but sometimes it's just really, really hard to work around and with getting sick it became close to impossible! Thanks for the patience, friend! At the very least I strive to give you all something worth the wait! Hope you like this one!

DC the cat- I'm glad to hear you are all recovering fairly well! Yeah these things can take time to properly heal, even if it is a very sad part of life. Still hoping the best for you and your family.

Yeah it was nothing too nasty, thank God, but still not fun. I'm glad I said something though if only because of how nice everyone was! Not to get political but I was fearful that I might have a few people who don't believe in the virus. Thankfully, I have awesome readers! Also yeah I'm glad I took that break to recover! It did me a world of good!

Yep! That was the intent from the beginning :P Haha, really? He was already creepy to begin with too but I really wanted to sell him as a true horror in Mewni, so I think I did just that! Oh yeah! I saw that Justice League episode! It's been a while but I remember really, really enjoying it! Pfft wow I can't believe the tentacle creatures linked up? Like wow! For me I love stories like this! Seeing a character experience a world at its absolute perfection and how they respond to it and ultimately see through the guise. Also I like the opposite story too. Weird example but I always liked 'Shrek Forever After' for the concept of them being in a world where they never existed. Seeing just how great an impact their lives had on the world and how wrong it is without them. I actually remember a few childhood brainstorms about this with other shows. It's just fun to imagine, I guess.

Anyways, back to your review, haha XD Yeah I thought that would make for an interesting difference. I guess the idea that Marco could see through it, makes it a bit more unique? I think partially I just didn't want Marco to come across as dumb since I know he's naive but I wanted to show he is crafty when he wants to be. In this case, he could see the ideal world was wrong but was still tempted to want to join in to it anyways. Oh but I should clarify, Marco is the ONLY one to see through it. Usually Monster Arm's illusions are impossible to see through. If they do manage to somehow become aware of the ideal world being wrong then it shows them there worst nightmare from which there is no escape. Except with Marco. It's a spoiler territory thing but yeah Marco's heritage does have a factor to play into why he got out. Glad the chapter was overall a success in your eyes, haha!

Yeah XD Not to say it's impossible for him to be Yadda Yadda'd but I mean Kelly has a keen eye for cuisine so I think she'd see through it in a heartbeat. And if she didn't Janna definitely would. Though it would be funny if she did end up with a statue of her boyfriend weighing down her head for a few days XD

Yeah I love having reader interpretation! I think it's important to let people have that freedom to headcanon or theorize parts of my fic that are left too vague! Yep, yep, yep! I love this idea XD I bet he only got to be a duke due to "taking out the competition" or bribery or both. He would insist he's the King! And that does make sense why Star wouldn't know him, he's not really royalty XD I imagine he has like "royalty discounts" which are actually higher priced than normal. You want to eat like a king, you gotta pay like one, haha.

Oh yeah true! I hadn't thought of that! I mean that makes sense! Nowadays sci-fi is way more well known so only those truly into the genre are aware of its roots. Yeah Star Wars really did change science fiction for the better! But I'm sure those old works are very heavily influential! Oh wow! So weird that I haven't heard of either of these! I bet their good though! And that's so neat it's getting a series! I'm sure you're gonna love watching it :D

OMG wow! That's so interesting, huh. Retons work sometimes! I mean, sometimes those changes become so fundamental you just can't take them away. Take Harley Quinn for example. Also I love these lantern oaths! And just oaths in general. It always feels so cool!

Oh good question! Actually yeah I imagine they had several! Potato Baby has his own language that is more or less lost to time. There is probably a prime language originally for Monsters and a few for certain Monster species. The Mewmans would have forced them to learn Mewnian instead as they slowly took over more land. Some Monsters still speak it but it's no longer their primary language anymore. So yeah exactly like Ireland I guess?

OH WOW! That's amazing! I bet it's an incredible work too! Connie Swap sounds super cute! I might have to check that out sometime! Right now I've been getting into the fandom for Undertale and it's MASSIVE. There is like, so, so much to learn there! And it's also easy to fall down rabbit holes that leave your brain spinning XD. But it's fun all the same.

Finally, that's so neat! Happy Spring and other holidays we missed :DDD

Dex Cipher- Awww thanks! Happy you enjoyed it so much! It was a TON of fun for me to write! Yeah I lured you into a false sense of security before springing this beauty of you XD Filler chapter it is not! Haha, glad I got that reaction out of you so quickly! I thought once the reveal of the mother being alive would be the moment I had everyone hooked!

Haha, wow! That's fair though! There is a lot to break down, haha. Yeah that's a great place to start with! Yep, that's what I was going for! I thought this would be an excellent way to jump start Marco's recovery and honestly I just love stories like this. I find it so interesting to see how they react. Yeah, haha, I'm glad I nailed a solid conflict for this one! I really was super excited to show everyone this one for that reason! It really was a lovely internal struggle for him to go through. Giving him what he always wanted and yet dangling the idea that it's wrong in front of his face. It was great to really explore this conflict all the way!

Yeah! I wanted this chapter to be a mystery! I wanted to keep everyone guessing until the very moment it's revealed what's really going down! Ironically, I was originally going to start it by showing Marco getting taken by the Monster Arm but I decided this made much more sense to start here. It really helps the reader experience the confusion of the situation along with Marco. Haha yeah! That ending climax was quite a ride! Boy it was so much fun to write Toffee again! And just having Marco finally, finally overcome his fear of him long enough to escape. I'm so glad I had you hooked from beginning to end!

Uh huh, that's totally fair! I mean I get how that is slightly disappointing. It was actually a very real fear of mine making this chapter. I knew the appeal of it being another dimension or timeline and well I know the whole 'it was all a dream' cliche can be annoying. But I had to stick to my guns on this one. I had this planned out for so long that changing it from anything but Monster Arm would have felt wrong to me and I tried my best to make up for it by making him an interesting threat to them. Still if it urks you I get it! Awww glad you overall liked the chapter despite this! Guess the good points were enough to make it up for you!

Yep, some much needed closure for the boy! He still has a few issues to go with his parents wise but this was a huge step for him. He finally can love them beyond just the concept of who they once were. The Monsters did take a back seat in this one because it really was all about Marco and his personal growth. Since this season is mostly about Star's struggles I knew I needed a chapter to really tackle everything Marco is struggling with in one fell swoop. This just seemed like a really fun and unique way to do it!

Haha yeah! It's very childlike and innocent way of thinking! To Marco, Toffee was the root of all problems so his ideal world only needed to remove him for things to be perfect! I think that's a really funny way of looking at it because I honestly hadn't really picked up on how cute it was for him to be like "No Toffee, everything good!"

Thanks for reading and analyzing this so well! It was really awesome to read through! I hope you enjoy this one! It's a lot more of filler chapter but it's also much lighter and more fun! Take care, friend!

RJWritingInk- Mmhmm, both of those things are true XD It was so fun to explore a world where Marco got to meet his family! Even if it was messed up and led to some dark places. And yeah I really considered toning down the horror parts because I feared it might be too much but I really wanted to sell the nightmare element to it! It also doesn't help I've been playing Little Nightmares 2 a lot and I'm pretty sure it helped inspire the more horrifying parts!

Also oh wow thanks! I'm not sure I'm quite up to the master of horror novels himself but I do apparently have some talent for it, haha. Thanks for reading! And yeah, I'm a big fan of the Lotus Trap trope! Glad to have done my own take on it!