The Once and Future Queen

by LordRonaldwalis

After a chance encounter that leaves him wanting more out of life, Marco soon gets his wish granted when a certain blonde princess comes to Earth with her entire kingdom in tow. But things are not as they seem, and while the forces of darkness, fear, and evil seek to destroy, Marco and his new best friend look to make things right, between both of their worlds.

16. The Calm

A/N: Thar she blows! It's been a hot minute, but as I always say, "You can't rush quality." Seriously though, we had a blast working on this for the past couple months, and this is only the first half of the last chapter of Season One! Still, it's a beast packed with action, adventure, drama, and a little smooching for the romantics out there. I hope you're all ready for an action-packed chapter, because boy, oh boy, are we bringing the smoke with this one.

As always, Ronald and I would like to extend our sincere hope that all of you enjoy the chapter, and if you're so inclined, leave a review! We love hearing from our readers the stuff they loved about the story. So without further ado, Viel Spaß!

The Once and Future Queen

Chapter 16.

The Calm

With a gentle rustling of leaves, Buff Frog leaned forward and squinted through the thick green foliage. Ahead of him, a lone figure was walking, nearly sauntering through the underbrush, heedless of the thorny brambles pulling at his clothes. He was checking something that was emitting a quiet beeping that even Buff Frog could hear over the gentle breeze through the canopy he was hiding in. When he judged the figure far enough, he chanced moving, leaping from the thick branch he was perched on silently to land with barely a sound of rustling leaves thirty feet forward.

"Rasticore has been walking for hours, and still, we have no idea where he is going," he murmured, forcing his voice into a nearly subsonic whisper.

"Well clearly he's going somewhere ya big oaf!" hissed back Ludo from his position strapped to Buff Frog's chest, kicking like he was in the beginning stages of a apoplectic with indignation at having to be carried around with such a lack of dignity, he'd only relented to being transported in the stolen baby carrier after Buff Frog had explained it was the only way he could securely transport him and still be able to be stealthy. "I overheard one of the Zryn reported coming across something unusual in the park. You know the plan as well as I do, Buff Frog. Information is key to my ultimate victory, and the Zryn are almost impossible to track without magic."

"But if Rasticore hears…"

"Then you had better keep quiet, then," said Ludo almost absentmindedly as he watched the frilled lizard check the device he was holding from between a small gap in the green cloak Buff Frog had wrapped around them both. Raising a small spyglass to his eye, he squinted into it as he struggled to read what the screen in Rasticore's hand said. Several graphs seemed to be pulsating up and down wildly, but he couldn't read the heading above them.

Tugging on the cloak, he looked up at Buff Frog as the latter fixed him with an exasperated look. "Take us a little closer, Buff Frog, I need to see what he's measuring."

"Master, I do not think it wise to push so clo-"

"Just do it!" hissed Ludo. Grumbling to himself, Buff Frog, picked his way farther out on the branch before launching the two of them silently through the forest canopy. Landing as quietly as he could, he froze, his yellow eyes focused hard on the figure of Rasticore, now mostly obscured by leaves. It was an objectively worse observation location in almost every respect, but he had found that acquiescing to Ludo's more minor shortcomings of command, was easier than fighting him on them.

"Closer, Buff Frog! I can't see through all the leaves,"

Without responding, Buff Frog crawled farther out on the branch, cringing as he felt it give under his and Ludo's combined weight. Still, the little kappa yanked on the cloak, hissing for a better view. Again, Buff Frog crept farther, his chest tight with anxiety as the branch drooped lower and lower.

*Crack*

The sound of the branch snapping under his foot reverberated like cannon shot in the near silence of the deep forest and Buff Frog felt cold fear run down his spine as Rasticore's head whipped around in their direction, his single eye narrowed in a murderous glare. The septarian's lips curled back in a contemptuous smile to display his gleaming, razor-sharp fangs at the welcome interruption to his, so far, fruitless search.

"You've made a very foolish mistake by even thinking I wouldn't notice you," growled Rasticore to the forest around him as Buff Frog tried his hardest to lift the offending foot off of the partly broken branch. "Be you spy or assassin, you won't escape alive!" As if to emphasize his threat, he flexed the metal fingers on his prosthetic arm, before leveling it and firing off a sizzling purple bolt of energy that blew apart the trunk of a tree only fifteen feet away from their hiding spot in a shower of sharp splinters.

"Sukin syn!" hissed Buff Frog to himself. They were made, and he wasn't at all confident they'd manage to escape with their lives, not to mention their identities concealed. If Rasticore caught them or even glimpsed the identity of who was spying on him, not only would their lives be forfeit, but he'd also make sure to cull the rest of Ludo's monster crew as well. Even though Buff Frog only knew him by reputation, he was certain Toffee's right hand didn't take half-measures. Even Ludo, as bombastic and oblivious as he was, seemed to understand the danger they were in and Buff Frog felt his leader freeze in fear under the cloak.

*Creakkkkkk*

The fractured branch groaned under Buff Frog's shifting weight, the low moaning sound of the overstressed wood betraying their location as Rasticore's eyes snapped directly to their spot behind the foliage. Another flashing blast of purple energy streaked by, burning a softball-sized hole through the leaf canopy. Rasticore shouted something in challenge, but Buff Frog didn't even pay attention as he vaulted off the failing branch with a loud *Snap* to throw himself out of immediate spotting range and the reach of any more lethal energy hard, he landed awkwardly on a tree fifteen feet away, nearly losing his footing on the thinner branch. 'Do not fall, or you and everyone dies', shouted a very panicky voice in his head. Shaking it off, he hurried to grab a small branch to stabilize himself before ducking and pushing deeper into the woods.

Within seconds, Buff Frog was leaping from branch to branch, cursing under his breath as below, Rasticore gave chase. He couldn't use his full strength and jump out of range, as it would give away his identity in a moment. Rasticore was familiar with his ability to jump, and no mewman had anything like that capability. Two more sizzling purple bolts of energy roared by just out of sight behind him, and he hunched slightly, trying as best he could to make himself and Ludo as small a target as possible.

Rasticore held his grin, letting his arm whir to collect more magic."Running little coward? You'll only die tired!"he called out from below, and Buff Frog cursed silently to himself at just how close Toffee's right hand was sticking despite his best efforts to quietly move through the thick canopy of leaves.

"Hurry, Buff Frog! If he catches me, I'm done for!" Ludo's voice was fearful and pleading as he began to struggle in the baby carrier, the unexpected movement throwing Buff Frog off balance and causing him to miss his step on the branch he was attempting to land tumbled, grunting hard as the thin branches ripped and tore at his face, only barely managing to arrest his fall by using another thick branch as a bar to swing back up into the dense needles of a massive fir tree.

"Dah, I know! I know!" he panted, pausing to get his breath and balance as he listened to where Rasticore might be lurking below them. He didn't have to wait long for his answer as he felt the tree lurch violently to his right as another energy blast slammed into the trunk about halfway up. Buff Frog cringed as the tree began to groan and shudder, a series of loud popping and snapping noises heralding its imminent collapse.

"Cyka! Nu vot!" he cursed under his breath as he braced against the trunk, feeling the tree begin to slowly tip forward towards the bright canopy of leaves below him. The sight of the forest top with the larger city of Echo Creek beyond would actually have been rather captivating if it weren't for the terror of certain death for both himself and Ludo if they were found by the monster lurking below. Buff Frog waited, pacing the slow fall in his head as the tree tipped faster and faster, muscles waiting like coiled steel springs for the angle to be right to launch him far away from the falling tree.

He Jumped.

Praying the sound of the collapsing and splintering tree would cover the basso grunt of his voice and Ludo's muffled scream of terror as he clutched at the cloak, he launched himself with every ounce of strength his considerable leg muscles could muster and rocketed off the branch just as the tree plunged into the forest canopy. Together they soared through the air at least 100 feet, Buff Frog adjusting his legs and balance to give them the best chance of landing without any broken bones until, with a burst of splintered twigs and torn leaves, they plunged back into the forest.

He didn't even think, just simply leapt off again the moment he felt a strong feeling branch beneath his feet. Again and again, he leapt, losing count of how many frantic jumps he took until finally, he collapsed in the canopy of a huge oak tree, panting and wheezing for breath. When he'd managed to regain control of his limbs, Buff Frog lifted his head and strained to hear for any sign of pursuit through the forest.

Nothing.

Only the sound of his heavy breathing and the usual noises of things like rustling leaves and the occasional chirp of a bird that he'd come to expect from forests on Earth. "That was too close…" he muttered to himself before a struggling down by his chest pulled his attention away from his dark the cloak, he was greeted with a gasping and angry-looking Ludo who was tearing at the straps in a futile effort to free himself from the baby carrier. "Do not struggle, Master. I think we lost him, but Rasticore is no simple foe. If we must flee again, I do not want you to fall out of…" he paused as his mind frantically struggled to think of any other term than…baby carrier. "Safety restraint device," he finished rather slowly, the words sounding forced even to him.

The indignity of it all was almost too much for Ludo to bear. But whatever stinging retort he had on the tip of his tongue died when a swirling portal tore into existence not 20 feet from them, before out strolled none other than Princess Star Butterfly. She was carrying a heavy-looking box and was accompanied by another mewman girl he immediately recognized as Princess Penelope Spiderbite. His heart stopped when he thought about the possibilities in front of him. The Karate Boy was nowhere to be seen, and when he spotted the handle of the magic wand sticking out of a cloud-shaped purse by her hip, he had to contain his exploding excitement.

"Buff Frog, she's alone! Now is our chanceeeee," he hissed up at his chief henchman, "without Karate Boy there, we can surprise and overwhelm her!" Visions of himself holding the wand danced through his head as he struggled to contain his paroxysms of delight. He could rid himself of those interfering brats! Blast Toffee into another dimension! And best of all…claim his place as the rightful ruler of all Mewni!

Buff Frog was running out of patience for Ludo today. The little Kappa was so obsessed with the Royal Magic Wand, that he was beginning to think it was clouding his boss's judgment. In fact, he was seriously starting to worry it was going to get them both killed. Ducking back behind the thick tree trunk when he saw the brunette girl look up, he squatted down and spoke into the coat as quietly as he could. "Boss, I appreciate confidence in my skills as warrior, but Princess Star would thrash us like last week's wash. I would recommend we simply…observe."

Fighting the urge to shout and stamp his feet, Ludo let out a low growl of frustration through gritted teeth. Buff Frog was right, though the ruler in him hated to agree with a petty underling. There was probably about a one percent chance they could best her in a fight even without the wand, which was easily accessible in her purse. If she got the wand out? He shuddered at the thought of the pain that thing could dish out even in the hands of a novice like Star.

"Fine. But don't you dare get us caught again!" he huffed before pulling the cloak closed around himself to peer out of the small hole.

"Dah, I will be careful, Master."

Creeping back around the tree trunk, Buff Frog kept himself as low as possible as he edged out on the limb to get a clear look at what the two mewman girls were doing. Star seemed to have just dropped a large crate at her feet, while the Spiderbite girl was simply watching, a disdainful frown on her face as she tapped her foot.

"Are you almost done? We're going to be late to meet up with Marco and the others."

Panting with effort, Star dropped onto the large wooden crate and took a second to catch her breath before answering, "We wouldn't have been late at all if you hadn't stopped at that Reflectacorp kiosk in Quest Buy. Now c'mon, help me get this set up so we can meet up with everyone and get all this over with."She watched in near disbelief as her haughty counterpart merely let out an indignant-sounding sigh before trudging over to the wooden crate, checking her new phone one last time.

"Well if Queen Moon had actually deigned to give my old phone back to me, I wouldn't have had to get a new one…" Penelope shot back, seeing that Marco had answered her text, letting her know that everyone was already waiting by the park entrance. "What's in this thing anyways?" She eyed the somewhat sinister-looking crate where Star was currently unlatching a stout metal strap to reveal a rather ominous symbol of a one-eyed triangle with a top hat.

Grunting with the effort, Star finally managed to get the last metal strap undone before tipping open the stout crate and reaching into the pitch-black interior with both arms. Hefting it out, she held it up with both hands, her face split in an ear-to-ear grin. In her hands was a featureless black cube of perfect, polished obsidian. "This, Penelope, will be providing all of the entertainment for this afternoon. Pony Head told me about it a while ago and I've been dying to try it out. And…" she let the false cheer fall away from her voice as she continued explaining, "it will hopefully put everyone in a good mood before…" she trailed off as she gently set the heavy cube on the ground.

"Before you break up with Tom?"

"Yup," answered Star, a bit more quickly than she'd have liked. This was the part of the plan that still bothered her somewhat. Even though she'd made her decision about who she wanted to be with, and she felt in her heart that Tom was still concealing something important from her, it was still nothing she wanted to celebrate. 'Just get through today, Star, and everything will work out', she told herself, repeating the thought over and over in her head as an almost mantra. One day of pain, and then she and Marco had their whole futures to explore together.

"T.H.E. B.O.X.?"

Penelope's voice broke her out of her stormy thoughts and she looked up to see the Spiderbite princess had finally put her phone away and was leaning over her shoulder and reading the label that was written in small, neat golden script on the face of it. Leaning close, she peered at the label and read the tiny, embossed words just underneath it, "Total Hemispheric Environmental Biosphere Optimization X-perience…"

"That's the most pretentious name I've ever heard," said Penelope from just over her shoulder as she turned to check the crate for any instructions or some kind of control interface.

But Star wasn't paying attention. She had just spotted a small seam on the front of the cube in the shape of what was unmistakably a button. Grinning, she pressed it, satisfied when veins of bright gold began to grow from under the surface of the cube to criss-cross across it like alien circuitry. "Cooooool," she muttered, stepping back as it rose into the air before stopping at her eye level.

"Thank you for choosing T.H.E. B.O.X.," said a cool-sounding female voice that seemed to come from the very air around them instead of the object right in front of her. "Bought to you by Dream Dynamics: Where fantasy becomes reality. Please make your selection now."

Immediately, an interface of sorts appeared on the front of the cube and Star stepped closer to inspect the controls. What looked like a selector wheel was located under a small window that seemed to rotate through a number of options as she dragged her finger along the curve of it. Swiping through the selections, she was very glad Sally had managed to catch up with her late last night to tell her what Marco had set up with their other friends because there were dozens of options.

"Space opera? No. Wild West adventure? That wasn't it either… Orgy? Defffffinitely not. There it is!" Excitedly, she stopped on the option she knew would be in here somewhere and pressed the selector button that was glowing invitingly next to the wheel.

"Adventures of Swords and Sorcery. Excellent choice," said the cube. From the polished obsidian surface, a tablet of the same material slid out, landing neatly in Star's outstretched hand. "Please gather your party in a suitable location away from unwanted participants, children under 13, and pets. When you are ready, please press ready on your remote."

Penelopelet out a snort, "So we're going to pretend we all have magic now? What are we? Little kids?"

Star had to count to ten in her head before she turned around and fixed her with an eye-twitching smile. "Can we not? Today? We can go back to hating each other tomorrow. Let's just get through today so my Mom will get off both our backs, okay?" She waited for several seconds before a distinctly unhappy-looking Penelope let out a clipped, "Fine," before she pulled out her dimensional scissors and cut them a portal to the park entrance.

Buff Frog let out a shuddering breath he didn't realize he was holding the second the swirling blue portal snapped shut. Star had mentioned the only earthling he'd ever been afraid of: Karate Boy. So far, they'd fought two times, both of which resulted in resounding defeats for himself and his other monster friends. 'Rasticore, Star Butterfly, and now Karate Boy here?' he thought, as cold fingers of dread seemed to close around his throat. They had to get the hell out of these damn woods before- "Master, I-"

"Buff Frog," interrupted Ludo in a trembling voice from his spot inside the trench coat. "I think I've had enough reconnaissance today. Let's go home."

"Da, is good plan," Buff Frog mumbled in agreement to his leader, wiping the collecting mucus from his brow, "something big is happening here, and we are not match for it."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O

"Did anyone else hear that?" asked Marco, cocking his ear. It had sounded like a tree had fallen in the forest, but far off and muffled.

"Hear what?" Janna spared him a harried glance from the spot where she was looking for the Nerd Twins.

"Sounded kind of like a tree fell way off in the distance," added Jackie as she walked over to where Marco was standing and peered into the thick treeline where he was now staring.

"Amazing. A tree fell. And in a forest, no less… So mysterious!" Tom rolled his eyes before scowling over from his reclined spot on a large flat boulder. "Seriously Mango, I thought you were supposed to be protecting my girlfriend? And you're scared of a tree falling a couple miles away?"

Marco didn't respond, though he couldn't help but make the comparison that Tom looked an awful lot like a lizard sunning itself on a hot stone in the California heat. He was in no mood to deal with the snarky, arrogant demon prince right now, and besides, if Star and Penelope didn't show up soon, he was certain that Tom would simply leave and go back to The Underworld. That potential outcome was something he wouldn't personally mind, but was sure would throw a major monkey wrench into his and Star's plans for the day. Looking next to him, he found himself observing Jackie as she stood there, her gaze locked with the treeline, her eyes slightly unfocused. 'Maybe she's having her own Marco moment?' he thought to himself, before giving her a playful nudge with his elbow. "Worried about the woods?" he asked, before dropping his voice to a low whisper so Tom or Janna wouldn't overhear.

"Nah, dude." Jackie shook her head and flashed him a quick smile. "I know this demon guy's bad news, but I haven't heard a peep from the freak in days. Plus, we'll have Star, Janna, and Tom here. That's a lot of fire-power."

"You sound exactly like Star," he chuckled. Marco was glad to see Jackie recovering so well from her nearly fatal encounter with the demon the other week. He'd been extremely worried about her ever since that afternoon in Star's room when she'd opened up to them all. He remembered how hollow she had been for months and months after Adam's funeral and he was afraid that having all that pain and loss dredged up again by the Demon would put one of his best friends in a tailspin she might not recover from.

"What can I say?" she shrugged, and back was the easy-going grin, "great minds do think alike."

Before Marco could say anything else, however, the portal he was expecting opened up no more than fifteen feet away, and out stepped Star and Penny. The tension in the air racked up about five notches as he watched Star give him a tight smile before Penelope caught his eye. He could feel the intensity of her gaze and her unspoken need to speak to him privately. Fighting the pit of cold dread and guilt that had replaced his stomach temporarily, he mouthed a silent "later" to her when she made to stride over to where he and Jackie were standing.

"Hey guys!" Star beamed around at the group, doing her best to avoid having her eyes linger on Marco for more than a second. Tom's face was unreadable to her, though she was sure he, much like Penelope, very much wanted to get her alone for a serious "talk" about what had happened at the tournament and just exactly what that bracelet had meant to Star when she gave it to Marco. A problem she'd deal with once they'd gotten everything underway, not that Tom was going to take it well regardless of location.

Deciding that finding any excuse to prolong having to talk with him over what had been happening the last few days, she hurried over to where Janna was standing.

"Where are Ferguson and Alfonzo? I thought they'd be here by now?" she asked.

Janna didn't answer right away. Instead, she was studying Star's face intensely, a small smirk forming at the corner of her mouth. "Something big is going down today, isn't it?" she asked suddenly, stepping a little closer so that no one else could overhear.

"What? Psh-no? I mean, that's ridiculous!" sputtered Star, a move in which she immediately realized completely gave away the game.

"I knew I should have sold tickets to this thing…" Janna shook her head ruefully before turning her attention back to Star. "So what's going down? You finally breaking up with Tom? Orrrr is Mr. Confusion over there finally ditching the ice queen?" When her friend only continued to sputter half-formed denials and sentence fragments, it hit her like a ton of bricks. "You're both dumping your partners!" she hissed in an excited whisper.

"Shushushushush!" Star whispered back, clearly panicking now. She liked Janna, but she also couldn't deny that the human girl almost ran on drama and strife. If she even hinted at what she and Marco had planned for the day to either Penelope or Tom, everything would be completely ruined. 'Sure, Penelope will likely never talk to me or Marco again…' she thought with relish, but her mother would go through the roof. Moon would be apoplectic with rage at having been lied to again, and Star was sure that not only would she be grounded for the rest of the summer, but much more importantly, she would very likely be forbidden from seeing Marco again.

That couldn't be allowed to happen.

"Relax, Star," said Janna as she threw an arm around her friend to draw their heads close together. "You're cool as hell, so I really don't have any desire to make your life any tougher than it already is. I give Tom and Penelope over there a hard time mostly because they suck-"

"Tom's really not that bad once you get to know him." Star was surprised to hear herself still defending him after everything that had happened. It was almost a reflex action, but still, she felt a spike of guilt shoot up her spine.

Despite his somewhat anti-social behavior and whatever he was still hiding from her. Despite her overwhelming surety in knowing that she wanted no one but Marco. Despite all of that, she had to admit that Tom could be quite sweet when the two of them were alone. 'And he always knew how to find a romantic spot to watch a sunset or have a picnic,' reminded a nostalgic voice in her head.

"Uh, Earth to Star?" Janna waved her hand in front of her friend's slightly sad-looking face until the blonde shook her head and frowned at her. "Aren't you the one breaking up with him today?"

"Yeah, but he still-"

Janna arched an eyebrow, but before she could say anything else, the ticking sound of a ten-speed heralded the arrival of the brothers Fergonzo.

"Sorry we're late everybody!" called Ferguson as he and Alfonzo finished huffing and puffing to a stop in front of them. They'd both ridden in on bikes that seemed to be pulling some kind of small trailer on which sat several bulging trash bags full of stuff.

"The chain mail took longer than I thought it would," added Alfonzo as he grabbed a bag and proceeded to dump its contents at everyone's feet.

Out of the giant black trash bag flowed a veritable cornucopia of arms and armor. There were swords, maces, spears, shields, staves, and several other types of weapons Marco couldn't even name, all of them constructed out of foam, duct tape, and about half a mile of PVC piping. He shook his head slightly at the sheer number of fake weapons on display, joined shortly by another large pile of costumes and chain mail. He might consider himself a nerd, but he never quite went in that hard on their D&D adventures. Moving forward to join everyone else picking through the large piles of stuff, Marco paused when he felt a hand on his arm.

"Hey…can we talk for a few? Alone?"

'Here we go, keep it together buddy', he reassured himself as he turned to face Penelope. Her face was drawn and pale and he could see her trying to do something to keep her nervous hands busy. Nodding, he followed her to a spot near the treeline that afforded a reasonable amount of privacy. He was expecting her to immediately press him for the answer she had demanded on the day of the tournament, or barring that, at the very least cut into him over what had happened that day. But instead, she simply stood across from him in awkward silence, doing her best to maintain eye contact but, like him, failing miserably at the task.

Marco could feel the wheels in his head turning as the awkward silence dragged on. What could he say? He didn't want to lie to her, but he definitely didn't want to give her any false hope that everything was okay before he broke up with her later that if he pulled the bandaid off now? He fought down an involuntary shiver at the images that idea dredged up: 'yelling, tears, probably mine', he thought with a mental shrug. But worst of all it would smash any chance of Star having a smooth breakup of her own.

Deciding that he'd steer as neutral a course as he could, he broke the awkward silence with a simple, "How have you been the last few days?" 'Too formal! Too formal!' His panicked brain screamed, forcing him to flash her a weak smile. "I, uh… I heard from my parents that Queen Moon was pretty harsh."

"Marco, you're terrible at small talk…" said Penelope as she returned his weak smile, "but yeah, I don't think I've ever seen her that pissed. She even used magic on the whole court yesterday when we were... well, you probably know."

"Heh, yeah…" he let the smile die as he shoved his hands into his hoodie pockets. "Did you get in trouble with your parents?" he added a moment later, a question that earned him a noncommittal shrug.

"Nah, they pretty much follow along with whatever Queen Moon does. But that's not really why I wanted to talk…" Marco watched as she blushed lightly and double-checked that they were alone. "Look, um… You know I'm not good at this. But…" she paused before taking a deep breath and plowed forward. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry about the tournament. When I saw that bracelet on your wrist, I flipped out."

"Pen-" But she cut him off as she stepped closer and pressed on with her apology.

"I shouldn't have made that ultimatum. I…" And Marco watched as she seemed to struggle with something internally before answering, "overreacted." Penelope grimaced as she said it, folding her arms over her chest defensively as her emerald eyes flicked to where Star was curiously examining a spike mace. "Star and I talked while we were both grounded, and she told me about what she tried to do… ya know, the night of the tournament?" She made a disgusted face at the other mewman princess before meeting Marco's eyes again and smiling cautiously. "But she also told me how you shut her down. Soooo consider what I said rescinded. We can just focus on us from now on and put all this Star trying to steal you from me nonsense behind us."

Why now, of all times, is she being so damn reasonable! Back was the suffocating heaviness in his chest and suddenly, the idea of just pulling the bandaid off and breaking up with her on the spot didn't seem so bad. Just the idea of spending the next four hours pretending like things were going to be okay only to ambush her made him feel like the biggest creep in Echo Creek. Besides, Star could break up with Tom anytime couldn't she? In fact, he might even be safer if she waited for a moment he wasn't around.

Before he knew it, his mouth was moving, his mind seemingly making the decision automatically. This is it, no looking back now! And he braced himself for the coming explosion as heard himself say, "That's great that you two talked; I figured you'd probably never want to speak to her again after last week. Actually, I wanted to talk about moving on after everything that's happened. Penny, I- "

"ARE YOU TWO SERIOUS?!"

Janna's angry shout drowned out his words and made both of them whip their heads to the side to see the very same teen holding something small up in front of herself and glaring at Ferguson and Alfonzo. Grinning, Penelope whispered a quick, "Hold that thought," before hurrying over to join the group, Marco only a couple steps behind.

When they got there, it didn't take him long to realize what Janna was so upset about. In her hands was what he could only describe as the very small top of a bikini made completely of chainmail with some flimsy-looking fabric triangles for modesty. A quick scan of the rest of his female friends told a similar story: Penelope was looking justifiably murderous, while Jackie looked much more disappointed than angry. Star, on the other hand, just looked confused. Confused, that is until Janna bent down and fished another piece of scanty chainmail out of the pile at her feet, this one in the unmistakable shape of bikini bottoms.

"Oh Ferguson, no…" Star frowned as Janna dropped the offending garments back onto the pile and wiped her fingers on the front of her jacket like she'd touched something dirty. Next to her, a grumpy-looking Tom made to say something, but one look from her and he closed his mouth, choosing to simply glare instead.

"Ah, well… ya see," Ferguson tripped over his own words as Alfonzo bit his nails, whimpering slightly under both Janna and Penelope's glare.

"Did you seriously think any of us were going to wear those things? I thought we were going on some kind of adventure, not the damn beach." It was Penelope's time to chime in, and Marco almost let out an audible sigh of relief to have this helpful distraction to extricate himself from a very uncomfortable conversation. Inside, he was reeling slightly, nearly breathless from nerves that he'd so nearly made his move without letting Star know. It was selfish and cowardly, and he sighed to himself as he clenched his hands inside of his hoodie. 'Just more guilt to throw on the pile with the rest of it…' he thought with a sense of grim acceptance.

"I… welllll the costumes are optional?"

From the blank, angry stares from every female present, nobody was buying Ferguson's rather lame explanation and Marco, with mounting second-hand embarrassment, watched as both Ferguson and Alfonso continued to sputter out half-formed and flimsy excuses and apologies. All this as a backdrop while Janna and Penelope pursed their lips and Jackie and Star shared a bemused, though still somewhat scandalized looking smirk. In fact, he was beginning to worry that Janna and Penelope might bail on the whole thing if someone didn't calm things down.

In the end, it was none other than Tom who saved the day, though, inadvertently. "Wait a second…" he muttered, before squatting down and picking up a flaming red great axe made completely of duct tape and foam. "I thought we were going to slay some monsters and get some gold? What's with these lame, baby weapons? You can't kill anything with whatever the hell this is made of." He scowled as he handed it to Star, who looked equally let down when she squeezed the edge of the blade and realized it was soft squishy foam.

"Dude, we had a day!" said a now indignant-looking Ferguson, before snapping a finger. "Show them your hands, Al."

"Oh, I… It's not really-"

"Do it!"

Star cringed slightly when she saw Alfonzo hold up his hands. Every fingertip had a bandaid on it. "The chainmail kept jabbing my fingers," he said, and suddenly, she felt bad for looking so disappointed in their efforts. "Not off to the best of starts…" she muttered to herself before pursing her lips in thought. If she didn't do something soon, people might start bailing, and then her and Marco's admittedly somewhat shaky plan would collapse. No, what she needed was to glitz this plan up. Just like how glitter always made boring royal documents a lot more fun.

Pulling out her wand, she held her hand up for silence and pointedly ignored Marco's concerned look. "Reeelaaxxx everybody," she flashed everyone around her a bright smile, "Star's got all of this covered. All we need," she started as she spun her wand before raising it high above her head, "is a little magic." Twirling on the tip of her boot, she brought her wand down in an elegant arc. "Super Mega Radiant Shadow Transform!"

There was an explosion of shooting stars and bright light as nearly everyone in the group let out a shout of surprise. Marco, who had endured this particular flavor of Star's magic more than once in the last two months, merely rolled his eyes. He had the beginnings of a bad feeling in his gut about their mutual plan. Star, magic, and trouble were three things that routinely popped up in his life, and usually in that same order too, he mused with a grimace.

When the light had died and the falling stars had burned out to mere motes of light falling in lazy spirals, Star looked around and felt her ear-to-ear grin deepen; she'd outdone herself. Everyone's outfits were impeccable, and she felt her chest swell with pride as she watched everyone examining their new clothes in appreciation. Even Penelope and Tom had impressed looks on their faces. "Uh, guys? Magical Princess from another dimension?" she pointed to herself with both hands. "Don't look so surprise-" A loud snickering interrupted her, and she looked over to see all of her Earth friends pointing at Marco and doing their utmost to not completely break down laughing.

"What? What's wrong? Is there something on my face?" Marco reached up and felt his face tentatively. He felt fine, but Star had definitely transformed everyone's appearance and something was making all of his friends find his specific one very amusing.

"You look… You look…" Fergusson was on his hands and knees, desperate to choke the words out between snorts.

"Ridiculous," Janna managed to breathe out between great fits of laughter.

Even Jackie couldn't manage to contain her laughter, though she was at least a little more diplomatically discreet about it as she hid her giggles behind a hand. "At le-he-he-east," she paused to stifle another gale of laughter that ended in a minor coughing fit, "at least you and Star match."

That was it. The entire group burst into uncontrollable laughter as Marco looked at Star for the first time since their transformation, and his face fell. With horror, he reached up to his forehead, his fingers tracing the severe, arching eyebrows along his forehead before letting his fingers sweep into his hair where found pointed ears. For confirmation, he reached into the leather pouch at his belt, taking a second to hunt down his cell phone in the unfamiliar container before using its camera to see his face.

'Yup, just what I expected…' he sighed to himself, noting the distinctive eyebrows and very pointed ears displayed in sharp contrast against his brown hair. Thankfully, her spell had left his hair alone; he didn't know what he would have done if he'd seen himself in a bowl cut.

"Starrrr?" he gave his best friend an even more exaggerated arched eyebrow than usual, "did you mean to turn the two of us into Vulcans? Because they're not from D&D."

"What's a Vulcan? I turned us into elves. Ya know, pointy ears, severe eyebrows, weirdly logical?" As if to emphasize her point to a very confused Marco, she rather unhelpfully raised her hands to her eyes and waggled her fingers as if to emphasize the long eyebrow part especially. "We saw them in that old movie your mom made us watch. I know because the name had my name in the title!" Star looked very pleased with herself for remembering such an obscure detail.

"You mean STAR TREK?!" asked Ferguson, having managed to hoist himself back to his feet, and regained the use of speech. "Dude, she turned you both into Vulcans!"

"Look who's talking, Frodo." shot back Marco, smirking at the dawning horror on Ferguson's face as he frantically used his own cell to check his appearance.

"Seriously? You made me a hobbit?" Ferguson looked livid as he bent to check that the dense hair on the tops of his feet was in fact, real.

"Weren't you just suggesting that all of us wear chainmail bikinis?" asked Janna, her arms crossed as she and Star shared a knowing look.

"Yeahhh, alright…"

"I don't know, dude," Jackie chimed in, her eyes twinkling in the mid-day California sun, "the bare feet with the fur is pretty cute."

Star couldn't help but laugh when she saw a deep crimson flare on his cheeks, and she felt significantly better about their plan when she saw him let out a little grin to Alfonzo, apparently mollified. Reaching into her purse, she pulled out the small tablet and saw the formerly blank face of it was now glowing gently with yellow writing headed by the bold words, "Read Me." It was almost as if the gamepad had read her mind that she was planning on getting them started.

Looking closer, she noticed it was a very brief rundown of the rules, as well as their objectives. Everything seemed simple and straightforward enough, but something in the back of her mind was warning her that this may turn out to be more difficult than she had originally intended. She'd only had magic at her fingertips for barely two months, but she'd seemed to notice that it had a rather unintended side effect of oftentimes complicating any given situation. 'Or maybe having magic just lets me deal with more complicated situations…' she mused as she finished reading the rules with a sigh.

Satisfied she understood it well enough, Star cleared her throat and raised her hands for silence. When everyone had turned to her, she straighted up and spoke in her most authoritative and regal voice. "Alright, now that we're all properly dressed for a grand adventure," she paused as her friends all returned her 1000 watt smile with one of their own. Even Tom and Penelope couldn't help but look mildly interested as she held up the black tablet.

"The rules are simple," she continued, feeling the building excitement around her. "We're going to divide up into two teams of four and each team will have a separate objective. One team will go to protect the village of Cornstalk Acres from a roving gang of monsters, and the other group will escort a caravan of farmers from bandits as they move their crops to the village market. Once we do that, we'll team back up to go kick the rest of their monster butts at their hideout at Hydra's Eye. It's going to be so aweso-"

"Sorry to interrupt your slightly unhinged-sounding explanation, but I would just like to point something out," interrupted Penelope. "Only like... three of us really know how to fight."

There was a harsh snapping sound, and everyone looked over to see Janna holding up her taser as blue lightning leapt between the small, sharp prongs on its tip. "Speak for yourself, Princess."

"Ha!" laughed Tom, before a glare from both Penelope and Star quickly stifled it. "Sorry, Boo…"

Star had to take a second to make sure she answered Penelope's concern in a manner that her mother would be proud of. It wouldn't do to stumble here, not when she and Marco were so close to getting what they wanted. "Way ahead of you P-nells."

"Don't call me that."

"Too late, I'm on a roll!" Star held up the tablet, now only displaying a blinking yellow button. Now, it said when the game starts, you'll be given abilities and magic befitting the classes you're assigned, and somehow you'll just…know. Magic's totally weird, right?" she shrugged, grinning when she saw Marco give her a knowing chuckle.

"Just know?" Penelope looked skeptical as she cocked an eyebrow. "Wait, you said Pony Head told you about this? Now I love my girl, Pony Head, but she is straight-up crazy. Is this even safe?"

What followed that very pregnant question was Star attempting, rather clumsily in Jackie's opinion, to assure Penelope that the afternoon's activities were going to be perfectly safe, but she had stopped listening. Instead, she was staring just over Star's shoulder to where a deeply tanned teenage boy in board shorts and a sleeveless tee with sandy brown hair was leaning against a pine tree. She smiled when their eyes met and was happy to see him return the gesture with a lazy grin that flashed his dazzlingly white teeth. She knew him, but also didn't. For not thirty feet away stood her childhood best friend, Adam, looking like just stepped out of the cover of Surfer magazine.

"Just the reminder of what your fear destroyed."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Jackie had woken up in her house with her room completely repaired and feeling none of the previous day's anxiety. Outside, she could only hear the buzzing of insects, interspersed with a nearby mockingbird that had been chirping by her room since late spring. Rolling her ankle, she was pleasantly surprised to see the sprain she'd gotten only hours before had apparently healed. Images, blurry and yet staggeringly vivid flashed through her mind: The Ball, the attack by that monster with the metal arm, Adam…

"I took the liberty of fixing it for ya, Jacks."

His voice… Desperately, she turned to look toward the direction of the hall outside of her room where a figure was standing, his face partially obscured by darkness. One eye glowed a baleful yellow, like a vivid bruise, while the other was that same warm brown she remembered. There was no fear when she saw him standing there. Instead, she smiled when he stepped fully into the light of her bedside lamp.

"Thanks," she said, her voice breathy with emotion despite how calm she felt. Looking him up and down almost disbelievingly, she asked the question that was burning the tip of her tongue, "H-How? You look so much-"

"Older?" Adam broke out into his trademark toothy smile as he walked over to where she was sitting on the bed. "I figured if I'm going to come back, I can't appear as a silly twelve-year-old, now can I?" he laughed before his face fell into a vicious sneer, and pale yellow light seemed to radiate off him in sickening waves. "Besides, choosing this form would be the perfect reminder of what your fear destroyed…"

Jackie felt like she was going to fall over in her bed. Her head was swimming as ice-cold grief seemed to harden into razor-sharp shards in her chest and gut. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, gripping the warm sheets like she'd tumble off towards the ceiling if she didn't hold on with every ounce of her strength. But Adam continued, seeming not to hear her as he squatted down to eye level. "But now that you've chosen to discard that…frailty," he'd added when she'd looked away, reaching out and turning her head back to face him, "we can be besties again. Would you like that?"

She shivered as she nodded, though her face remained a rictus of grief. It was only the warmth radiating from the two fingers on her cheek that seemed to be keeping her from breaking down completely, and she had to blink several times to clear blurry tears from her eyes. Memories of their time together when she was younger flashed through her mind and she felt almost deliriously nostalgic. Adam had been her best friend her entire life. He'd been her first kiss, and the only boy she'd ever felt that kind of way about. They'd been inseparable, until…

"I ruined everything that day," she managed to choke out and watched as Adam's face fell for a moment.

"For a while…yeah, ya did," he snorted, "being dead kinda puts a damper on your plans to be a pro surfer."

"I'm so sorry," and Jackie could hear her voice break as she bit back a sob.

She didn't notice him standing without even a single rustle of fabric, didn't even notice that she had stood as well. But she did notice the tight hug she found herself wrapped in as a sense of perfect peace settled over her. Lifting her own arms, she let the last of her self-control crumble and wept. It felt like a poison slowly being drained out of her, all the pent-up grief and guilt of the last four years leaving her body.

"It's okay," she heard him reassure her, his voice warm and calming, "I went away for a while, but now I'm back and it's going to be even better than before. Just you and me, Jacks, forever and ever…"

"Forever and ever," she whispered back.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O

"Heya, Jacks." Adam waved as he stepped away from the spot where he was still leaning against the tree and began to stroll over to her.

"Hey," she said. Or rather… she thought to him, though she still couldn't quite believe this was working. He'd explained to her during the tournament, that while no one but her could see or hear him unless he wanted them to, the same couldn't be said for her own responses, so she needed to be careful. It was all very strange to Jackie despite spending enough time around Star to have grown very comfortable with magic by now. But still, there was something about telepathic communication that somehow seemed a couple of steps beyond simply seeing Star shoot exploding narwhals and kittens out of her wand.

A flick to the left and right with her eyes confirmed the truth in what he had told her, for no one else had reacted in any way to either his words or his approach. Her childhood best friend seemed to be well and truly hidden from everyone but her. She watched as he stopped right behind where Star was still tensely explaining to Penelope why the game was going to be perfectly safe.

"Ya know," said Adam, lifting a small lock of the blonde princess's hair and frowning like he'd smelled something particularly unpleasant, "your new friend Star is remarkably positive for someone so absolutely chock full of fear. It's a wonder she can get through the day without curling up into a ball and crying."

Jackie liked Star, despite considering Penelope a much closer friend and confidant. But she couldn't help but agree with his assessment. She'd been wondering if anything was actually going on between her and Marco, and after she'd accepted Adam's offer and woken up in her room that fateful night, he'd spent hours showing her everything. How all of her friends were letting their fears and doubts rule their lives, making them miserable and angry. Just thinking about Star and Marco, she could see now how they'd both let their fear of going after who they truly wanted hurt not only themselves, but also Tom and Penelope. It was just more reason why she'd agreed to Adam's proposal to, "help our fearful friends shed their weakness and learn to live." After all, she'd accepted his offer, and she'd never felt better in her life.

"Why don't we have a little fun this afternoon? Liven up this little… game of your friend's here." Adam's easy smile deepened as he reached out and summoned a swirling dark purple mist into his open palm. An image of a strange black cube laced with what she could only describe as glowing gold circuitry appeared there. But that wasn't all. There were patches of what looked like dark purple oil fouling its surface, and here and there, leaking into the intricate gold lines like ink spreading through water. When she looked back up at Adam, an eyebrow cocked in confusion, he explained. "I think we should help our friends out this afternoon… Really help them face their fears. I'll turn up the intensity of this little game of yours a bit and get the adrenaline pumping."

Adam's smile had lost all of its earlier charm, now appearing as a hungry leer on his otherwise handsome face. But Jackie didn't care. She needed to help her friends find their strength and so what if they got some bumps and bruises along the way? Pain was inevitably part of the process of improving at anything, whether it was skating or being a better person. "Dude, I think that is an awesome idea," she said, holding up a fist he promptly bumped. "So what do you need me to do?"

She watched as Adam's eyes flashed a menacing yellow just as the oily stains on the cube began to spread and bubble like hot tar. She felt a fluttering of excitement begin to throb in her chest as his intense gaze bored into her. "Nothing at all, Jacks. Just play along and let ole Adam here do his thing. It's going to be so much better than at the tournament, I can promise you that."

"Better than the school?" she asked, an eager look now to match his own, though she was unsure if anything could top the adrenaline rush she'd had that night.

"Absolutely."

And then he was gone. Between one blink and the next, he'd vanished from her sight. Turning, she'd just begun to pay attention to Star and Penelope's discussion, when he whispered in her ear, "Don't let the couples play together. They need to grow on their own."

"Right," she nodded unconsciously, despite not having anyone to actually focus on.

"Fine, I'll play!" huffed Penelope as she glared at Star, though a quick glance at Marco's disappointed-looking face quickly doused her anger in a wave of guilt and shame. Glancing away from him, she looked past Janna to where Jackie was standing by herself and seemed to be… 'is she nodding?' she asked herself. Yes, Jackie had nodded to herself and she was staring at Star- 'no… past Star' she realized, leaning back to get a surreptitious look. Just about to call out to her friend to ask if she was okay, Penelope had her attention ripped away as Star, pleased now that her best frenemy had agreed to participate, announced her first teammate, "Great! I'll take Tom, then."

"More than fine with me," snorted Tom as he strode up behind Star and threw an arm around her shoulders.

"Then I'll take Marco." Despite knowing that Star was planning to break up with Tom this afternoon and having him on her team was integral to that plan, Penelope could still scarcely believe it. Part of her, well most of her if she was honest with herself, was sure Star was lying to her. That it was all a trick to get Moon to lift their punishment so she could go right back to pursuing Marco behind her back. 'But I guess she's serious then…'

'But could she have another angle here to play?' After her outburst at the tournament and the strained nature of her relationship with Marco, Penelope was worried that there was still an unplayed trick that the other mewman princess had up her sleeve. Her short conversation earlier with Marco was not nearly enough to patch up their shaky relationship status and the fact that he was so compliant to be on her team was tripping some paranoid part of her brain to flash a hazy warning at her. Taking a quick look at him, she was glad to see he looked relieved to be on her team and was already moving to stand next to her.

Later, she was sure, they could continue their conversation and finally have another fun day without any interference from Star. It was enough to make her mind hum with possibilities, and she couldn't help but indulge in several amusing fantasies about how badly she was going to rub in the fact that in the end, Marco had chosen her over the annoying blonde. Not having Star in the picture pouring poison in her boyfriend's ear was going to seriously take some of the strain off of her relationship, and hopefully let the two of them get past all this drama and foolishness. Those happy thoughts lasted approximately fifteen seconds before Jackie, of all people, spoke up.

"Not to step on too many toes here, butttt how is that fair?"

Everyone turned to her at the question, seemingly taken off guard. But when she'd gotten veryone's attention, Jackie pressed forward with her hastily concocted plan. Putting on her most diplomatic face, she explained herself to her friends, "I don't mean to sound too pushy or anything, but Tom and Star are by far the most capable people here. If we're splitting up to play this game, I think it's only fair if those two play on separate teams."

"You know Jackie, that is an excellent point." It was Janna's turn to speak up, now looking like a shark who had scented blood and was dashing in for a kill. "Seems like the best plan would be to have Tom and Star be on separate teams to keep it fair. What do you two think?" she added, throwing an amused look to where Ferguson and Alfonzo were standing and quietly arguing between themselves.

Everyone watched as their hushed argument continued for several more seconds, with Ferguson gesticulating forcefully as Alfonzo signaled his agreement. Finally, the discussion stopped as both teens nodded at each other. "With all due deference to all three of our royal friends, Alfonzo and I have decided that for the good of the group-"

"Would you two dorks hurry it along!" Janna snapped impatiently, "and seriously? Do any of them talk like that?"

"We agree," said Alfonzo, speaking up while Ferguson sputtered something unintelligible.

"And if Star and Tom can't play together, I don't think Marco and Penelope should either. Sorry dude," he added quickly when he saw Marco's scorching look.

"See? Fair's fair. Now, everybody gets to be miserable," said Janna, her triumphant smile now ear to ear.

"Fair?!" screeched Penelope as Tom took a step forward, his face contorted in outraged anger.

Marco groaned as he gently pounded the heel of his hand against his forehead. Why today, of all god damn days, did Jackie of all people have to say something. In one fell swoop, she'd broken his and Star's plan apart as easily as he could smash a board. 'I should have just trusted my friendship with her and let her in on the plan…' he thought with a futile sigh. He'd let his fear of Tom or Penelope finding out prevent him from doing the one thing Star had taught him above everything else: trusting your close friends to have your back in a bad situation.

Alright, well if the universe isn't going to let him do this the easy way, he'd simply improvise. Turning to Penelope, he reached up and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, squeezing it gently to get her attention. "Penny, it's alright, Jackie has a point," he said, trying to keep his tone as light as possible, before leaning in and dropping his voice low. "Besides, if we can't play together, I don't want Tom getting his way either. And anyways, we can catch up at the village."

He hated himself for saying those words. Hated the ugly lie he'd just told to someone he still cared a lot about, despite knowing they weren't right for each other. But come what may, he was committed now and he had to see this through to the bitter end. At the very least, his words seemed to have headed off her temper before it got a chance to get away from her and he nearly grimaced when she smiled weakly.

"Alright babe," she said, sparing a, "you are in big trouble later" look at Jackie before leaning in for a quick kiss, only to pause for a moment and instead redirect it to his cheek. "Try not to let Tom get too under your skin though, okay?"

"I will, as long as you try your best to keep things civil with Star." Marco's eyes flicked over to where Star and Tom were having a somewhat more heated discussion than he was. However, it wasn't long before Tom was looking sulky and brooding, his sharp anger of only a few moments ago was seeming to fizzle out as Marco caught fragments of their conversation. Things like, "we'll talk when we meet back up at the village," and "try to get along with Marco, please," would have made him laugh if his gut wasn't so clenched up with anxiety. It always amazed him how well Star could handle Tom's temperamental nature, and he could appreciate the boundless well of patience it must take for her to look past the half demon's darker nature.

"Alright, well now that that's settled," said Star, her voice sounding more than a little strained after she'd mollified her boyfriend, "here are the teams. Tom? Marco? You two are teaming up with Jackie and Janna. The rest of you are with me." Waiting as her friends shuffled over to form the two groups, she reached into her purse and gripped the small slate The B.O.X. had given her.

It was time, and Star felt her heart race with a strange mix of excitement and anxiety. She was really going through with this. Finally, it was time for her to make a choice for her own happiness and for once, put herself above the needs of The Kingdom. She could face being queen someday and sacrifice the choice of her own future. But what she refused to do, what she absolutely would not do under any circumstance, was to face that future without her best friend by her side.

"Everybody ready?" she asked, after a moment to organize her streaking thoughts. Star's nervous grin was ear to ear as she held the thin, dark remote in her hand, her thumb poised over the pulsing button to begin their adventure.

She took one final look at all of her friends, noting with pride, the excellent spellwork she'd done for each of them. In Marco's group, Janna looked every part the powerful warlock, with robes of dark satin and sable, the faux demonic runes adorning her leather belt glowing dim orange. Jackie too looked fantastic in her sky blue monk's robes as she inspected the engraved quarterstaff she held that was tipped with twin brass mermaid tails. Penelope was less excited about her ensemble, however, Star was still impressed with herself at the skillful job she'd done transforming her worst enemy's clothing into an elegant robe of leaves, along with a gnarled oak staff that had small, flower-adorned vines snaking along its length.

Across from her group, she had to avert her eyes after just a second to keep from blushing at just how magnificent Marco looked in his polished silver plate mail, Silverlight strapped to his hip and seeming to gleam with its own inner light. Overall, he looked amazingly handsome and looked every bit the dashing man she knew he truly was under his usual red hoodie. Tom was still sulky and sullen-looking at not having been put in Star's group, but still cut a very refined figure in his robes of red and black. She'd given him the same shoulder pads she'd seen once on a suit of armor in Castle Lucitor: upwardly sloped and made of iron-hard obsidian. Overall the effect was intimidating, something she was sure he'd enjoy once he took a minute to stop pouting and actually check it out. Ferguson and Alfonzo, however, did put a smile on her face. Even though she'd just met them, she'd already noticed how close the two were. So in honor of that, she'd had her, "Mega Radiant Shadow Transformation," spell give them both matching outfits of leather armor, accented with green cloth and silver ringmail.

For a moment, just before she pressed the button, she met Marco's eyes and took in a sharp breath. A sort of understanding passed between them, that she couldn't explain. It was just like that night at the Geode Club when she had simply… Known. They'd execute their plan once the two groups had rejoined one another. Waiting any longer would just be needlessly cruel, what with both Tom and Penelope itching to get alone time with both of them so they can talk. 'Just one day of pain, and we can figure out our future together,' she reassured herself for the fifteenth time in as many minutes. Fortified, she hitched her smile back on and raised the remote above her head.

"Here we go, everyone! Let's have some fun!"

*CLICK*

Silence.

The seconds ticked by as the forest swayed around them, a collection of confused and optimistic faces passed around like bottles of wine. Whatever fanfare and revelry were depicted on the package, this certainly wasn't living up to it.

"Wow. Honestly, when I roleplay that your cool tablet is working, it almost makes this fun." Janna clearly wasn't impressed, and through a soft murmur of collective disappointment, Jackie added, "Does it need batteries? We can probably run to the store and grab-"

Her voice was suddenly drowned out by an ominous, low hum that rapidly rose to a disturbing electronic shriek as a searing tear of golden brilliance tore into existence. The light was dazzling, its intensity causing everyone to shield their eyes with their hands as it gradually expanded, arcing bolts of snapping golden lightning gouging six-inch-deep furrows in the earth. Collectively, the group stepped back as the rift grew steadily, until it was nearly a foot across and emitting an ear-piercing, modulated electronic howl.

That's when it happened.

Marco watched as a polished black cube slipped through the rift, its surface pulsing bright gold in a pattern that reminded him of a circuit before the rift snapped shut to leave them in dead silence. Turning, the cube rotated faster and faster until it was a blur of gold and obsidian eclipsing all other light in the park to plunge the group into a field of featureless, utter blackness. And then it stopped. It simply went from spinning so fast he could hear it whipping through the air, to completely stationary in the blink of an eye and speaking in a neutral, female voice that was both soothing and unnerving to him.

"To all who seek adventure and glory, you shall submit yourselves to me…

Courage, strength, wit, and will, only these marks shall set you free.

"Step forward, those among you… who are worthy."

Marco felt his blood run cold at the order, as if it had probed deep into his mind and found something it didn't like. There was a presence there, somewhere deep inside him. The B.O.X. wasn't just asking them, it was checking; thoroughly. But as if he had been the only one to feel anything, everyone else took a subconscious step forward. Penny and Star bumped into each other trying to get closer, Tom took an easy step to the front, while the humans all crept into The B.O.X.'s gaze.

Until Marco was all that stood behind the front line.

No one else had noticed, so with difficulty, he took a step closer to a spot just behind Star. He readied his weapon and waited, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. Thankfully The B.O.X. bore no objections on him being present, giving a whirl as it turned itself over and chimed nine times. "You are all… worthy. Let us commence with the adventure of your lives!"

Marco almost expected a flash of light, or some crazy portal to whisk them away into the thick of it. But instead, it seemed the cube merely turned the dimmer switch back up on the world outside, and he had to blink spots out of his eyes as the sunny July day flashed back into being around him. He watched in fascination then as it sank down into the grass, merely phasing through it without so much as a bent blade, leaving nothing but the warm summer breeze to sway the park.

"Sooooo do we just head out now orrrr..." he asked no one in particular.

*RRRRRUUUUUMMMMMMBBLLLLEEEEE*

A basso growl echoed up from deep beneath their feet, like an earthquake, but less rhythmic. It didn't come in waves, but rather in gusts; sporadic booms and cracks echoing from over and beyond the treetops. "Star!" Marco yelled, desperate to assure their safety or protect themselves from whatever was happening, but Marco's voice was drowned out. From the spot where the cube had sunk into the grass, a beam of crackling white energy screamed towards the heavens like a beacon until it struck some invisible force high into the clouds, pushing them apart. It broke into eight shafts like an umbrella, splitting into rods of light that all curved back down, falling like lances of brilliant fire. No one had any sense left to question what was happening. Marco clung to Jackie and Alfonzo, Janna gripping tight to Tom and Ferguson, while Star and Penelope stood firm against the ripples pounding up from below.

The beams of light struck down, multiple booms shaking their vision like thunder. But like a bubble, a thin membrane of shimmering, iridescent energy began to form between the paths of light. Marco stared in awe, as the entirety of Echo Creek park was cocooned inside a force field, even the sunlight taking on a more pink hue.

"Adventure location secure," The B.O.X. announced from seemingly everywhere, "Scan complete. Beginning terrain adjustment within preset manufacturer's parameters. Warning, caution is advised while adjustment is in process."

"Star! What did she mean by adjustment?" Penelope shouted above the shaking landscape.

Star shook her head, her eyes darting around with nervous intensity before she shouted, "Strawberry Licorice Lasso!" With a sparkling puff of red magic, several strands of thick, pink licorice enveloped the group, tying them to the ground and the trees around them in a web.

The lassos swayed with the shaking earth, everyone holding their breath for the 'adjustment'. It could have just been an earthquake to add a few features, but Marco had a feeling it was bound to be something more… Star. Just when it seemed like the rumbling was about to die down, however, the white beam of light in the center of the bubble shifted to an ominous purple with a loud, reverberating thrum. Everyone could only watch as the ground around them shifted, buckled, compressed, and finally broke like a mile-wide pane of glass. Canyons skated open into the forest to carve apart the Earth. The park seemed to grow, the gaps in the land being filled with reaching towers of stone, a peak of a mountain covered in snow, a forest of sky-scraping trees, and rivers reflecting the iridescent bubble above. It was striking, but they weren't exactly safe where they stood.

When the ground split throughout the park, their central clearing had been spared, breaking off and rising above the treeline on a hilltop sprouting with alien flora. Chunks of the park took to the sky, hovering in the air, colliding with peaks in the distance, or crashing back down in shuddering outcroppings, but Marco was too focused on the bubble to appreciate them. It was growing, the scale of it expanding to envelop the new terrain and vegetation. By his approximation, it had gone from one mile to no less than ten. It was even beginning to grow beyond the borders of the horizon, likely expanding into the rest of Echo creek itself.

"This wasn't in the rules!" Penelope yelled over the grinding of the earth below, her face twisted in fear to match everyone else present, "what the fuck is going on!?"

"I don't know! I was there with you when she was rambling about the missions!" Star answered, her face the only one filled with anger. How typical it was that things would fall apart so quickly, and when she'd actually followed all the rules for once! "Just hang in there! When it's over we can-"

*CRACK*

*RRRUUUMMMBBBLLLEEE*

Star gripped the strawberry lasso just as a fissure split the segment they resided on, and all eyes turned to her. For a moment, the whole bubble went silent. Star, Penelope, Ferguson, and Alfonzo stayed motionless on one side. And on the other, Tom and Marco went rigid beside Jackie and Janna. There was no telling how high in the air they were, but Marco still couldn't see the edge of the bubble over the horizon. Countless other segments hovered around them and in the distance, similar to his first adventure with Star, but these carried no promise of safety. He was afraid, reasonably so, but more than he'd ever been in her company.

The fissure cracked further.

"Star…" was all Marco could whisper, Tom's gaze snapping to his side, and Penelope's eyes narrowing at the princess of Mewni.

"Don't-" Star let go of her lasso, reaching for him across the fissure, but with a deafening snap the chunk of land split right down the middle, both halves grinding as they slid apart with a thunderous roar. In opposite directions. No one had the wit to scream as the two halves of stone sundered. Above it all there came a voice to drown out the crashing roar of the changing terrain, and the rush of wind past their ears as the chunk began to fall.

"May you find your glory, and may your courage never fail you. Good luck, brave adventurers!"

Marco watched as the floating mountains seemed to whiz by, overtaken by the thick canopy of a jungle. The air rapidly began to humidify as he braced himself for the inevitable, and with a deafening blast of thunder, the world around him began to topple. The sound of shattering stone was met with the snapping of trees until finally, everything ground to a halt in a dense cloud of dust and dirt that choked his scream of terror into a fit of harsh barking coughs.

His body was trembling,and he waited in batedanticipation for the world to fall apart again. But… Everything was quiet. He wasn't in any real pain, he wasn't dead, so they at least landed someplace safe, but when Marco found the courage to open his eyes he was met with a sight worse than death.

"You…" Tom growled, shaking off a layer of debris as the strawberry lasso dissolved into pink glitter, setting the two teens free. The demon fell to his knees as Marco fell face-first into the purple lichens below, their smell a surprisingly pleasing mix of bananas and freshly turned earth. The silence between them was as chilling as the emptiness of the towering forest, but Tom sought to end that with scathing questions. "What did you do? What the hell just happened?" he demanded, already steaming with a wave of blazing anger that set his eyes to white.

As Marco picked himself up, he decided to not humor him and instead take in his surroundings. He didn't need to figure out what went wrong, he needed to figure out what to do now. They were alive, thankfully not crushed to death or ground into the dirt. Though Jackie and Janna might not have been given the same fate. They were well and truly alone, the anger of Tom's question still lingering, until after a quick inspection of the chunk of stone, Marco grimaced. There was nothing left of the floating island, just the pulverized section they'd just been severed from reduced to boulders amidst the broken trunks.

Marco let his worry fester into a frown, his brow furrowed. There was a time and a place, but here and now was neither. "Tom, save it for later. We need to find the others and make sure they're alright before we do any of… this," he all but ordered, not waiting for an answer before making his way around the rocks, checking for any sign of the other six, "Take a look around and see where we're at, maybe try and set off a signal flare or something with your magic."

But as rational as Marco was trying to be, his sole counterpart was inclined to do exactly the opposite. Tom settled his anger, if only slightly, and drew closer with a look of barely restrained malice. "And who decided you can give me orders, Mango? I asked you a-" Marco whirled around and glared with an impatient anger not often shown before, and Tom instinctively retreated a step. There on the human's face wasn't an idle threat, but a warning best heeded.

"Our friends could be hurt, and you're really doing this now?" he asked, his voice a harsh growl, just like that night in Panucci's. "Think of all the garbage you wanna say right now and shove it. I don't have time for any of your usual attitude, and neither does anyone else. We need to find them and get this crazy game over with before someone gets seriously hurt. Got it?"

Tom glared right back at him, but the heat radiating from his eyes began to subside. Something about Marco was giving off a subtle hint of danger, like a lava beast from the slopes of Mount Boom, but he pushed it aside. Folding his arms with a huff, Tom kicked at the rubble and stewed, the blazing anger in him fading to a low simmer. "Your friends…actually. I'm only here because Star wanted to hang out for the first time in a week, which was, by the way, thanks to you."

"No, our friends, Tom," Marco repeated, staring at the mountains in the distance through the decimated treeline, "like it or not, you're a part of our group and you have just as much reason to be here as the rest of us. At least, Star thinks so, and as much as I hate it, I kind of agree. So start acting like it, would you?"

Tom fumed to himself, but he didn't object, Marco noted. The demon simply kicked at the rocks some more and tried to appear aloof and uncommitted. "Whatever you say, Mango. I'm gonna go look for Star, try not to get yourself killed while I'm gone," he offered with a touch less hostility.

He turned to leave and tried to summon his demonic portal, but when he reached within to pull out his magic, it felt… different. It wouldn't submit to his will no matter how hard he tried to force it. It refused to take the shape he recognized, his mind flashing with images of what it could do, and what it wouldn't. "What the heck, I can't open a portal?" He asked, flailing in the air with growing outrage, "the hell is wrong with this stupid game?! Why isn't it working?!"

Marco ignored the outcry and turned back to face the disintegrated section of rock. It had carved a trench into the Earth where they'd fallen, cutting a long gash through the treeline to reveal a faraway range of mountains capped in snow and surrounded with more floating islands. Wherever they were, it was a safe guess that they were far from the others; at least, the other half of the island. Janna and Jackie couldn't have fallen too far from them, and they needed to make sure everyone was still alive.

With care, Marco reached into the pink and purple backpack Star had created to replace his hidden fanny pack. Inside was a first aid kit, some snacks, his phone, a spare set of keys, and a compass. Pulling out the pathfinder, Marco set it forward and lined its sight with the mountains, gauging them to be about west by northwest.

"Have you ever heard of a game like this before?" he called out to Tom, not bothering to look his way, "Is there some kind of safety switch to get out of here, or are we stuck here like Jumanji until we all die?" Turning the compass, he could tell that the rock had traveled almost due east before crash landing.

"I have no idea what that is, and no, I haven't," Tom spat, pointedly keeping his glare in a different direction, "My guess is that Star just picked out the first crazy game she could get her hands on and dragged it through a portal. Hell, for all I know it's not even a game. It could be a torture device like my anniversary gift a couple years ago."

That wasn't encouraging, but Marco shrugged it off for now. They should likely head southeast, for now, looking for signs where they could. "You remember the rules right? The B.O.X.. thing told us we had an objective. If we happen to find it, there's a good chance we might run into the others." He turned back to Tom, finding him all but sweating with the effort to conjure his portal. "Tom, it's obviously no good to try portalling, so let's just-"

"Stop telling me what to do!" Tom shouted, finally whirling around with a hiss of fire, "I'm worried about Star too, so stop trying to act like you're in charge here just because you're her guide or whatever!"

"Well, stop acting like an insecure jerk about everything and work with me here!" Marco shouted right back, leaning in to meet Tom's glare, "The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can get back to hating each other's guts, but right now we have an objective. Let's not waste time arguing about who deserves what and try to get it done already."

The two glared at each other as the seconds ticked by, neither willing to back down. But from beyond the trees, a woman's shrill scream echoed in the distance to draw their attention away from each other. It didn't sound far, maybe a quarter mile due east, but it didn't sound good either. "Come on, that's probably them," Marco offered, already turning to leave. Tom glared for a moment longer, but eventually, he too found he couldn't ignore the obvious.

"If you think they're worth the trouble then be my guest," Tom offered, taking to follow Marco around the crumbled stones, "Typical that you humans are always screaming your heads off. I bet one of them bit it already."

"Do you even hear yourself? How in the world did someone like you manage to get with someone like Star?" Marco asked, careful to keep his voice apathetic and humorous, "you two are like night and day, with you being a massive jerk to everyone at every opportunity and Star being an uncontrolled kerosene fire for good." He could have sworn he heard Tom barely suppressing the urge to roast him alive, but the response he got was far more… casual?

"Psh. I bet you know how Demons work, I'm sure Star spared no details in talking about me behind my back," he muttered, glaring at the back of Marco's head, "As we get older, we get more souls. And more souls means more anger, more power, and bigger horns. I wasn't always… a dick, you know. And unlike the rest of you, Star can see past what I can't control. She likes me for who I am where it counts, not just because I'm some white knight waving a stupid sword around."

Marco rolled his eyes, pressing further through the thicket towards where he heard the scream. He didn't much care to hear a backstory, and no doubt Tom's version of it would be as apocryphal as it was self-serving. But he also knew that by the end of the day, Tom would likely want him dead after his breakup, so maybe it was a good idea to chum it up while he could. "She never gossips behind your back, and I actually heard about it from Reynard. But… you know, I've never met someone who wanted to kill me as much as you do," he noted with a touch of dry humor, earning a derisive snort for his efforts, "but, if you figured out how to get around the whole, 'trapped souls within' thing, you might wind up being a pretty cool dude, with friends.

Tom was silent for a long time. He didn't want to press the matter, or make it seem like he was goading, so Marco stayed silent until he finally got some progress on Mister Malicious. "There's… actually a way around that," he heard Tom mutter, the fire gone from his voice, "but it's dangerous, painful, and it would take years to work."

With Marco's full attention on the matter, he pressed on, his cheeks blooming at the touchy subject he'd only brought up with his girlfriend. "It's called a demonicism. They strap me down and start purging the spirits from my body, a few dozen at a time. But it's one of the most painful things a demon can experience, it leaves me with barely any powers, and Star would kill me if she knew I tried it."

"Of course she would, that's just the kind of person she is," Marco added offhandedly, falling in beside him, "but… maybe you could just channel your energy into something else, so you aren't blowing your top all the time? You don't have to let it rule you, especially if it's a part of who you are, and you don't have to rage against the world for not understanding. You can change, and who cares what other people think."

"I really hate you," Tom muttered, his eyes locked on the trees, "You sound just like Star, always telling me that I can be better, that I can learn to accept myself, and do good things. But I'm not a good person, and one of these days she's gonna leave, and she won't come back. No matter how many nice things she says about me, I'm just… an asshole."

Marco nodded. He felt like he was donning his Dr. Marco Diaz, P.H.D. persona he rarely let loose outside of Jackie and Janna. But he could tell when someone needed a talk, and even if it was Tom, this talk was long overdue. "So why don't you just focus on yourself? Spend some time alone, figure things out, go on some adventures? It did wonders for her."

"Because I'm not like you, and I don't go on cool adventures with Star to 'find myself'. How a human like you even manages to keep up with her is crazy, but I'm not into that."

"You'd be surprised what I can do, and a part of me thinks you'd surprise yourself too," Marco offered, "I feel like under that big, writhing, asshole exterior lies a dude who just wants to… I don't even know. But if you let people in, and join them? You might even surprise yourself."

Tom grimaced, his discomfort reaching its apoapsis as his footsteps began to sizzle against the dried pine needles and foliage. But part of him felt… Good. Like the mere notion that someone could see through him like Star could, was comforting. "I can handle it myself, but it's letting other people in that's the problem," he found himself answering, as though the words weren't even his. "No one ever wants to stay long enough to see me like Star does, and that's just fine. I don't need to be someone I'm not just to please a bunch of nobodies. I have Star."

"And exactly how long do you think Star's gonna bother sticking around when you never change?"

Tom was on him in an instant, a blur of ruddy orange and lavender and the demon was at Marco's throat, pinning him to a tree with a waiting fist of fire. But Marco was staring at him, not a muscle tensed in defense. In truth, he'd wanted to splash that cold bucket of truth into Tom's face from the first double date. To make it abundantly clear just how hopeless his relationship was if only to see the look on his face when such a prediction came true. But now? Now that Marco could see that face, the one twisted not with pain, but with fear? He looked like a scared little kid, and it felt less like a stab at his ego, and more like a much-needed reality check. He looked like he needed to hear it, even if it was a dangerous warning to give.

"I thought so. You push everyone away, including her, but you're terrified of the day she finally gets tired of dealing with you."

"Shut. Up."

Those two words were laced with unregulated malice, a seething hatred hidden just behind his teeth. But Marco could practically hear the other emotion lying in wait deeper still.

Jealousy.

"You want what we have, but you won't make an effort to change, and you have the nerve to be scared of what happens?" he asked him, slowly released from the hold of his armor's collar. Tom didn't answer, he just stared through him and shrugged, the fire gone for good. "You're just like Penelope," Marco noted, much to Tom's surprise. "Every time she makes a mistake, or blows up, or acts like you, it's promises and apologies to get better. Promises to treat me like a person. Until she doesn't, and it's the same routine the next time we all hang out. That's why I'm breaking up with her today because I can't keep waiting for her to change; it's not healthy for me, or her."

Tom let him go, his eyes wide as his hand trembled, slowly losing his iron grip on the polished armor. Marco felt lighter having admitted it to someone, even Tom. He wasted no time picking up where he left off, the two continuing their trudge through the woods in silence. Minutes rolled by, but Tom was too occupied with catching up to the blindside of that confession. So he was seriously gonna cut it off? Was that the whole point of coming out here? 'Did Star invite me out here for the same reason?' He couldn't tell for sure, and it was unlikely that Marco would say anything if he knew, but… "Star's gonna do the same thing to me, isn't she?"

The question nearly knocked Marco off his feet. He was trying to clue Tom in in a way that would help him move on later, maybe even improve thanks to the situation. But to be asked so directly? "Tom, I don-"

The demon prince eld up his hands with a look of cold indifference. A stark opposition to his earlier, feisty temper. "It's cool man, you don't have to lie to cover for her if she even told you anything. But if you're planning to drop Spiderbite, then I guess it's only a matter of time before Star does what she always does these days."

"And that is?" Marco asked, barely hiding his nerves. Tom just grimaced, his eyes empty as he stared at the trees.

"Follow you."

Those two words came as a growl from the base of Tom's throat, but his expression was as calm as a pond in the morning. He'd said too much; that, Marco was sure of. But before he could do damage control, or prepare Tom for what he knew was coming, the scream came again, this time closer.

Pushing past fern bushes that fanned out with sharp, purple leaves and careful not to cut himself, Marco took the lead and hastened their pace. The trees above all had the same color of pine needles, at least two hundred feet straight up, but they were as thick as school buses. It reminded him of the Sequoias up north, but the terrain and atmosphere made him think of South America. Vines were dangling everywhere, and the air was thicker than it had been in the park. It reminded him of that summer when he and his parents had visited his aunt in Florida, though the landscape was much more alien. But more importantly, however, something about the forest was off.

No matter where they walked, as the minutes passed, they didn't seem to be getting anywhere. It was easy to get lost in the woods, Marco knew that much, but after five minutes of walking? They were still going east towards the scream, but it was hard to tell by any other landmark.

"Tom, do these trees seem weird to you?"

The demon prince slowed his trudging march for a moment and glared up. He craned his neck to look around, even turning to stare at the trees they'd passed. "No, they look the same as every other stupid tree in... the… wait, what?"

Both of them began to look around, and sure enough, his hunch was correct. "Every tree is the same, right down to the last branch," Marco remarked, running his hand over the closest towering giant. It felt damp from the humidity but cold to the touch like metal. "The B.O.X.. must be saving memory by copying the forest over a wide area. You think it's the same for everything else?"

"Kinda don't care about the trees, Mango. Let's just focus on saving your loser friends first, and then getting back to Star," Tom grumbled, pushing past him to take the lead. Marco frowned, running his hand against the tree's bark one more time before taking the rear. He checked his compass, correcting Tom as needed, as unwarranted as the help was.

There didn't appear to be any fauna inhabiting the purple jungle, but then again, why would there be? The B.O.X.. had said something about enemies, but it probably wouldn't recreate anything outside of terrain if it didn't have to. "You think we're alone out here?" Tom finally asked after another five minutes of dodging the painful leaves and scaling random outcroppings.

"No, I feel like someone's watching us. I just didn't wanna say anything until I was sure," Marco answered, reaching for Silverlight instinctively. The hilt felt warm, unlike the bark of the towering trees. An inviting sensation against the chilling presence hidden just out of sight. They should have found the source of the scream by now. "What about you?"

Tom grimaced as he pushed through the sky blue bushes, their scent sweet like cotton candy, "Same. Someone's out there, and they're keeping their distance. I don't know how I know, but I just do. Maybe it's part of The B.O.X., like it's watching what we do."

Marco made to comment when another chilling scream echoed just past the bushes in front of them. Both glanced at each other before nodding, taking off through the thicket. Whoever it was, it wasn't Jackie or Janna, and the closer they got to it, the worse the feeling of unease became until finally, they broke through the ferns and found themselves standing in a clearing. and they weren't alone.

There past the thicket was a group of monsters if you could call them that. They moved in a jerky, limited motion, but that didn't seem to have stopped them from decimating a group of people. A small crowd of men and women, some armored and armed to fight, were desperately trying to hold off the creatures. And from Marco's assessment, they desperately needed some help.

"Tom, can you handle the monsters while I get the wounded out of there?" He asked, readying his sword, "I can cut down a couple of them, but I need you to keep their focus off-"

"I'm pretty sure I said stop telling me what to do, Mango. I'll take care of the monsters. You just try not to get in my-" Tom moved to push past him and charge in with reckless abandon, his skin all but itching for a good fight. But from the other side of the clearing there came a different yell, not one of terror, but far more familiar.

"WHAT ARE YOU DUMBASSES STANDING AROUND FOR?! GET MOVING!"

From the far end of the clearing, two chunks of ice shaped into lances came screaming into the group of monsters in a flurry of snow. They drove clean through two and impaled two more before a nearly invisible pair of metallic ropes leading back to the trees came into view. Down the length of the ropes there came a rolling crackle of blue sparks, electricity burning through the lances like a giant… taser? Marco would have assumed it was Star, but that brand of weirdness was undeniably Janna, as from the far end of the woods she and Jackie came running, staff and wand drawn.

"DIAZ, QUIT CLOWNING AROUND AND MOVE YOUR ASS! THIS MAGIC STUFF IS HARDER THAN IT LOOKS!"

That snapped them out of it, and just as the group of monsters was collecting themselves, both of them charged from the brush. There were only about twelve monsters left, with only three humans standing, and four down for the count. Marco knew that they'd have to be careful and strike fast, but the glaring issue wasn't the numbers. If this wasn't really a game…

He readied Silverlight, unsheathing it and charging into a sprint, his blade tinged red and ready to extinguish a life to protect another. He could do this, it was no different than dealing with Krunt, right? If it meant protecting his friends, he could handle himself well enough to keep everyone safe. He'd gotten better…

Before Marco could react, the three monsters who'd fallen to Janna's icicle Lance suddenly began to inflate. Their bodies grew bulbous and round until with a *pop*, they exploded into a shower of… "Straw? What the heck was that?" He heard Tom cry out beside him, but to Marco, it was as clear a sign as he needed. "They're not real!" He shouted over the battle cry of the creatures before them charging to fight. "Give them everything you've got and don't hold back! They're from the game!"

"That was the plan, dumbass! Just shut up and stay out of my way!"

Seconds before the two forces collided, Marco dropped into a slide and raked Silverlight's edge across the gut of a cyclops. He planted his feet into the grass and rolled, coming out of his charge with an upwards thrust into some kind of werewolf before leaning back to avoid a wild swing of a club. His blade swung in a blur of carmine steel, severing the weapon before he went for the creature's head. The cyclops, much like the other beast, grew rotund with air until it too *popped* into a flurry of straw.

The werewolf made a guttural howl before charging after him, but from behind, a pinwheel of fire came spinning to cut it clean in two. It gave out a wild yelp before bursting into burning straw as Tom kept his run, creating a flaming javelin over his shoulder and lobbing it into the crowd. "Get up, Diaz, the weird chick was right, this magic isn't as easy as it looks," he shouted over his shoulder as his javelin burned clean through a lizardman, boring a hole into the grass. "My magic is different, but not that different! Keep- ...keep kicking ass and buy me some time to recharge!"

Marco didn't feel all that obliged to do anything of the sort, but regardless he nodded, drawing his sword and going back in for the charge when a shadow whizzed through the crowd. Jackie was an aqua blur as she darted through to disarm every creature within striking distance. The tails on either end of her staff hooked into swords, clubs, even a bow to rip them from their masters' hands. She was agile and adept, but Marco paused at her demeanor. She was confident, going in like she didn't fear them, and couldn't be hurt anyway.

"All yours, Marco! Make it count dude!" She shouted, barely dodging a swinging ax. Jackie cracked the end of her staff against the offending monster. It fell with a thud, expanded, and popped before Marco had even registered the sharp report of her attack. She darted back and buried her staff, swinging from it to drive her heels into the gut of a goblin before shouting, "Did you hear me? We gotta hurry up and waste these guys, Marco!"

He shook his head, gripping the hilt of his sword as he charged back into the fray. A flying spear came into focus, but Silverlight was faster. Marco deflected the tip against the base of his sword, spun, and threw Silverlight to skewer the pig monster in place before the spear could impale the monster behind him. An ax swung for his head as he fell backward, catching himself in a flip to vault off the impaled beast before it exploded, using the added force to swing into a hook kick to disarm the offender before he retrieved his weapon. Two quick jabs and a dropkick were all it took to send it backward, and with several pops of straw, Marco retrieved Silverlight, daring the next beast to move.

It was jarring, as every sensation he felt when his blade cut and skewered the monsters were as real as could be. He dove into a roll and hacked against another cyclops' gut, he drove his sword forward to run him through. It all felt so real. But as before, it was reduced to a pile of straw with a yelp.

"Behind you, idiot!" He heard Tom's warning over the yelling and spun, swinging his sword in an instinctual parry to swipe at a spear aimed for his back. Marco didn't hesitate to keep his momentum and hook the offending monster with a kick across the jaw. It reeled back and readied to charge, but from out of nowhere, a cloud of spinning daggers filled the air. It *popped* into a mass of shredded straw.

"Yo Diaz! As metal as it is watching you work for a living, you and Jackie can do cool stuff too, you know!" Janna shouted, darting back after her spell had been cast. Marco grimaced and parried another cyclop's sword, his steel skating against its edge. He seemed to be the only one who didn't have any abilities, and it was getting on his nerves. "Maybe start with telling me how to do that? What, do you guys have a menu or something?"

There were only three monsters left, but Tom pushed him aside, taking center stage to the onslaught coming his way. A blade grazed his gut, a club battered his side, and a dagger slashed across his arm, but he held firm. And just as the monsters were reeling to strike again, Tom pointed one finger forward and unleashed hell.

A ferocious column of black flames burst from the ground and ripped into the beasts, charring their flesh and roaring across the clearing. What was left were three barely recognizable corpses that began to inflate, and *pop* into a cloud of blackened straw. Marco didn't realize that he'd caught his breath, but as Tom turned and flashed him a wicked grin, he let out a sigh of indignation. "Showoff," he grumbled, leaving the demon to gloat in silence.

It was over. Every last monster had been downed, and with a delightful ping, the air seemed to relax as the instinctual tension of a fight receded.

Four people were lying in the grass, and they were clearly wounded, with three more doing their best to look grateful for the save. As Jackie and Janna inspected the straw, Marco approached those who were injured. What he expected to do for them, he wasn't sure, but maybe their wounds were superficial, or they'd just been knocked out.

"Your light… share it with those in need."

Marco stared at the group of humans lying in crumpled masses and shook his head, the whisper having come and gone. As if on autopilot, he extended his hand to them, desperate to share a warmth he felt in the pit of his stomach.

"Uhhh… Marco?" He heard Jackie ask, stepping closer to investigate, "What are you doing?"

He wasn't sure himself, but from the center of his palm there came orbs of golden light, each splitting off to seek the others. Four went to the downed, three went to those who could still stand, and one sought out Tom and Jackie. Where they struck, the orbs burst like bubbles of shimmering gold, enveloping those they touched. "Turning the tide," he heard himself say.

Before their eyes, every cut, bruise, scrape, and fracture seemed to be washed away, even Tom feeling a wave of ease spread through his body. So he had a healing spell, one that left him feeling somewhat drained. How Star managed to use magic on a regular basis was a mystery, but then again, she did have the wand. "That should do it," Marco offered, taking a step back to let those who'd fallen recover, "are you two alright?"

"Jeez, even in a game like this you find a way to be the safe kid," Janna noted, much to Marco's annoyance, "Not that we were all that worried, but I was gonna ask the same thing. What the heck happened?"

Marco looked around, noting the towering trees that scraped the clouds lazily passing overhead. It was still the same humid jungle, and there wasn't much to go on besides what he'd seen from the floating island. "I think the game split us into the two teams Star mentioned. We probably have to help these guys out some more before we can regroup with the others, but… I didn't see much else when we were falling."

Jackie seemed to be more interested in flicking her staff around, testing out her new agility and speed, while Tom was back at it trying to open a portal. Janna rolled her eyes and turned to face the group of humans as the injured ones were coming to. "You guys have anything to say? Or are we supposed to find some other people to save?"

The apparent leader of the group, a woman with armor that would barely protect her against anything, stopped her inspection of her fallen comrades long enough to regard Janna with gratitude. "My name is Segilis. Thank you, truly, for coming to our rescue. We strayed too far from the village in search of the monster's den, and fell right into their trap." She turned to glare at one of the recovering villagers, the young man in question looking down in embarrassment. "Hokam, you nearly got all of us killed running off like that. You owe these strangers your life, so I expect you to properly thank them."

The boy named Hokam nodded with a dejected frown, but turned to face the strangers with an air of curiosity and gratitude. "Thank you. I thought we could take them… but I was wrong. If you hadn't shown up, we would have lost the last bastion of defense for our village." Marco tried to play it off with a dismissive wave, but Janna strode forward and smiled at the young man with a wicked gleam in her eyes. "Yeah, you can thank our neighborhood badass here for swooping in and saving the day. Guy takes on armies, slays generals; but he ain't cheap. So if you wanna pay us for our troubles, we won't say no. Gold or alcohol works just-"

"Janna, knock it off. Does it look like these guys have money?" Marco asked, his cheeks blooming as he brushed her greedy display aside. Besides, it wasn't as if any money made here would stick around after they were freed. He turned back to the villagers and tried to give them a reassuring smile. "You don't have to pay us, but I'm pretty sure we're supposed to help defend your village from more monsters. Can you take us there?"

"What? No way man, I'm not going to some rinky-dink village in the sticks to drink mud water and use an outhouse!" Tom glared at Marco, but it was Jackie who talked him down first. "Come on dude, the sooner we help these guys out, the sooner we can all meet back up! Plus, do you really wanna lose to the other team?"

Marco hadn't exactly considered that angle, that this was in some way a competition, rather than a fight for his life. But it was a game, and really, he'd rather hang out at a village than meet back up with… Penelope. Jackie seemed to notice his falling expression and added, "Plus, Star has a handle on things, even if it turned out to be crazier than we expected. If things get out of hand, she can magic us a way out."

"Psh. We don't need a rescue like these clowns," Janna scoffed, letting a cloud of dark magic collect in her palm, "let's see what else is out there. I kinda like getting to handle things the 'Star way'."

Marco had to agree with that. As reckless as Star could be, ever since Mejoga she'd been able to keep things pretty secure when it came down to it.. and it was unlikely that she'd let a game like this spiral too far out of control. "I don't know how much Star can do for us out here, but they do have a point, Tom. We play along, and it might even end up being safer for us than running off the storyline. All in favor of finishing the objective?"

Jackie and Janna both raised a hand, three sets of eyes looking to the one discontented grimace in the bunch. He was a pill to swallow at the best of times, but now more than ever even Tom had to see reason. It was either aimlessly walking through a forest of identical trees with no idea of present dangers, or playing along and getting to show off some more.

After a moment of prodding, reluctantly Tom raised a hand as well. "Whatever. It's not like I can leave anyway."

"Attaboy," Janna teased, turning back to face the villagers. They were all staring with blank, expressionless eyes, to which Marco figured they were like NPCs, waiting for dialog to continue. "You heard me, man, take us to the shit-sack you call home! We got monsters to slay!"

She was enjoying herself far too much for her own good. Which was odd, seeing how her participation in 'Dungeons and Dragons and Demons and More Dungeons' nights was uncommitted at best, and a cover story for a crime at worst. But Marco shrugged it off. It was only a game, and so long as they made it through alive, by the end of the day he and Star could finish what they started. As daunting as the task itself seemed.

"Excellent! You have our utmost gratitude, strangers!" Segilis exclaimed, joined in by a flurry of cheers from the others, "Nightfall is fast approaching, and it's half a day's journey to the village, so let us make haste! The sooner we recuperate, the sooner we can pay these savages a visit on their land for a change!"

Okay, maybe they'd be here a while, but it was probably for the best. Marco wasn't looking forward to rekindling that uncomfortable conversation with Penny any more than he was staying out in the woods at night. But as the villagers began a march towards the north, he caught his eye on something hidden in the trees, a shadow passing between the trunks and disappearing into the thicket.

'Maybe a straggler?' He thought, instinctively resting his palm on Silverlight's hilt. One monster wouldn't pose too much of a threat, especially against two Mages and a Monk with a cool staff. It was probably nothing to worry about. Reluctantly, he shouldered his discomfort and fell in with the others, pointedly keeping himself distanced from Tom.

It was going to be a very long walk, and one fraught with headaches if the beginning of their adventure was any indication. 'I hope you're okay, Star. Keep an eye on everyone, and I'll see you soon.'

O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Here.

Where was here?

There was a loud noise, a violent shaking in the earth, and a rush of cold wind that stung like fire against her skin. And then there was nothing. There were others, friends standing beside her before the world changed, and then a pain in her chest. Or rather, an icy fear that stole her breath. But where was she? Star shook off the dimness, the numbness soon to follow before she struggled to open her eyes.

She was upside-down, hanging from something, and every muscle in her body screamed. But where was here? The answer came with a great deal of alarm, when Star realized she wasn't just hanging, she was dangling over the edge of a ravine, one whose bottom was lost hundreds of feet below in fog. "AAAAHHHHHHHHH! WHat the- WhEre?! What?!" She scrambled away from the edge, her backside scraping against the loose stone below.

"Where am I? What's going on!?" She demanded, only to find that there was no one to ask. As she took in her surroundings with alarm, she realized she'd woken up on the side of a daunting mountain that overlooked a horizon she couldn't recognize. Snow-covered peaks loomed tall to her rear, surrounding the expansive lands in front of her, where stood a menagerie of landscapes and biomes straight out of an inter-dimensional bender. To the left was a desert far below the foot of the mountain. To the right was some sort of rocky hillscape, sharp peaks of grayed and green stone jutting out from rolling hills. In the center was what looked to be a forest, but the trees were short, fat, and stretching with wide canopies. Far in the distance was a jungle, towering higher than the closer woods, and beset on either side by a lake and a canyon. And of course, more floating rocks littered the skies like islands in the sea.

"Ooookay? Annnnd where exactly did I wake up?" she had to ask, but with a flash, she got her answer with a stinging headache.

Images passed through her mind of a gathering of her friends, strange outfits, the world breaking apart, and… "Marco?" Star asked aloud, finally managing to stand. She looked around without the expectation of actually finding someone, but that gripping fear was too much to ignore. If her hazy memory served, she'd been… separated, the ground started to fly, and everyone was thrown in a different direction.

She still had no idea where she was, or where anyone else was for that matter, but at least she had a good idea of how she'd gotten here. It was some kind of game, and it had gotten out of control. She had plans, but that black box made a mess of things. 'Okay, Star, you're used to things blowing up in your face. Marco's probably out there somewhere, taking stock and figuring things out, so you should do the same.' First, on the agenda, she took stock of what she had. She was still wearing one of those funny outfits from before, a deep blue robe tied in place with a yellow sash, and inlaid with stunning vines of gold down the sleeves and shoulders. Her hair was still short, if a little disheveled from the flight, but just below it, strapped to her back was a wooden bow, delicately carved and beset with a matching quiver of arrows.

Her wand was tucked into a small satchel on her hip, resting just above a sheathed dagger strapped to her thigh. "Narwhal blast!" she yelled, aiming her wand out over the landscape, but nothing happened. There was still power hidden within the artifact, but it was as if she hadn't spoken the incantation at all. "Magic exit beam!" Still, nothing, as was the next spell, and the next, and the next, until she finally accepted that her magic was as good as useless out here.

But where was here?

"Okay, step one, find a way down the mountain," she listed, stowing her wand and making to walk down the length of the ravine, "Step two, find the others, and figure out a way out of here. Step three-"

"STAR!"

She stopped, tilting her head to hear the echo of her name screamed across the side of the mountain range. To her rear was a cliff, the top shrouded in clouds, but maybe around the bend? It sounded like Penelope, but what struck her as odd was the lack of worry or empathy in her name, like it was screamed with anger and malice.

"Penelope?" Star yelled, cupping her hand around her mouth and listening.

"-MY HANDS ON YOU, YOU'RE DEAD!"

"Oh yeah, that's Penelope alright," she sighed, turning up the mountain where the scream sounded clearest. The slope was jagged and cracked, with more ravines and rocky outcroppings making for a daunting climb, but if it got her closer to the others, it was probably worth it. Unless Penelope was really as angry as she sounded, then maybe it would be a better idea to- "OOF!" Star was knocked down by something heavy and green, like a ball of leaves had just fallen out of the sky and barreled straight to her. She scrambled to keep herself upright and away from the ravine when a screech like a banshee sounded just inches from her ear. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?! WHAT HAPPENED TO 'A FUN GAME'?"

"Good to see you too, Penelope," Star grumbled, tossing the enraged clump of leaves to the side and dusting herself off, "Where did you come from? I was just about to-..." her words trailed off. It took a few moments to fully digest everything she saw in front of her, more flashes of the outfits and the earthquake coming back to her. Penelope was dressed in leaves, sure, but she looked like hell. "What happened to you?"

"I- ARE YOU- WE-" Penelope caught her words in her throat as she seethed with a barely restrained rage, "I should be asking you that! What did you do to the game? Why are we stuck on a mountain?!"

"I don't know! I just woke up dangling over a cliff, so maybe turn down the volume a little bit and help me figure it out!" Star yelled back, meeting the Spiderbite princess' glare. When it seemed as though Penelope had calmed down enough to not scream, she continued, adding, "Do you know how we got here? I kinda have an idea, but it's just… *whoosh*, whenever I start to figure it out."

Penelope stared for a moment, eventually coming to the conclusion that this was some act designed specifically to annoy her. "We bought some dumb game to play with Marco and everyone else. You used your magic to make these clothes, we turned on the crazy B.O.X., and then it made Echo Creek look like… This!" she gestured to the looming mountain, and then to the sprawling landscapes in the distance. "The ground broke up with you, me, and the two dorks on one side, and Marco, Tom, Jackie, and… Janna, on the other."

Star processed that well enough, as she could remember the group getting split apart with… that fear for Marco. But that didn't exactly explain why they were standing on a mountain, and why it was just the two of them. There was the wind, and the loud rumbling, but her memory started to get fuzzy after that. "What happened next?"

"Wha- seriously? Our flying rock crashed into the side of the mountain, how could you- oh…oh." Penelope grabbed Star by the shoulders and turned her around, making a satisfied huff when she found what she was looking for. "You hit your head, idiot. Which is probably better than I can say for the two dorks since they don't have magic, or strength, or common sense."

"Ahhh, be nice, they're probably around here somewhere," Star nodded, rubbing the back of her head to find a welt big enough to ruin hats for a few days, "Though, I wouldn't count us lucky, since I can't exactly use magic either right now. My wand doesn't listen to anything I say."

For once, Penelope met her grim news with a smile, doing more than enough to creep Star out. She reached behind her back and with a flurry, produced a wooden staff, mangled and intricately carved as it was, proudly displaying it like she'd made it herself. "I can actually use magic with this thing, but it only lets me do stuff with plants. Maybe your wand has some kind of limitation on it while we're stuck here?" Star looked down at her wand and pulled it out once more, holding it to face the horizon.

"Sunshine Lasso!"

"Crystal Cupcake Storm!"

Still nothing.

"Try using a spell that matches… you," Penelope suggested, clearly trying to be helpful but donning that same, condescending tone she was famous for, "You have a bow and a dagger, so maybe you can only use magic that fits a… what was it? Elvish Princess?" Star glared at her wand, trying to figure out what exactly her character was supposed to use. She'd watched a few movies with magic like that, but what kind of spell would fit the bill?

"Magic… is alive… feel it within you… and set it free…"

"What?" Star looked at Penelope, but she was met with a confused stare. There was a whisper, but like her other memories, it was gone just as soon as she'd come to grasp it. "Uhhh… I guess…," Star felt a pull at her center, like something was there just waiting to burst forward, and all it needed was a gentle push. She could hear words echoing just beyond her focus, randomly popping into her mind as she struggled to think. "Seek out those who dwell beyond my reach, bring them out under the grace of starlight…"

From the bulb of her wand there came a dull ring, a reverberating bell accompanied by a steady glow of white light. It snaked through the air, curling and twisting in shafts of concentrated starlight. And through the light, she could see… everything? The entire mountainside was there for her to see, and as though her vision was moving on its own, she saw the terrain expand, zooming in towards the foothills. Like a dream, she was floating, watching from above as two young men struggled to climb out of a pit. They didn't look injured, but they were panicking, and about as bedraggled as Penelope was. With a start, Star gasped and took an instinctive step back, glancing around in a frenzy to reacquaint herself with her surroundings.

"Did you- Were you speaking a different language?" Penelope asked, not bothering to hide her curiosity. Star closed her eyes, replaying what she'd seen through the wand, struggling to keep it fresh. "I saw two guys down the mountain in a pit, I think it was-"

"Marco?! Did you see Marco down there? Is he okay?" Penelope demanded, startling Star as she lunged forward. Her eyes gave her away, that telltale worry creasing her brow.

"No, I'm pretty sure it was Ferguson and Alfonzo," Star answered, already moving towards the ravine, "They're not far, if we can get past this stupid hole in the ground we can be there in a few minutes."

At the silence, Star turned to see Penelope staring, a look of quiet contempt at nothing in particular. With a sigh, Star quickly came to remember exactly what had started all of this, and the reason for the game in the first place. She still had a mission, and so did Marco. "Pen', we'll find him. But right now, those 'two dorks' need our help, and I wouldn't wanna be the girl who has to tell Marco that his friends kicked the bucket. So help me out, please?"

Slowly, reluctantly, as if she'd rather do anything but, Penelope nodded. She hated the idea of playing along with Star of all people, much more so when Marco was potentially in danger, but she had to bite the truth: Star was good at this kinda stuff. She'd taken Marco on adventures, she'd been in enough trouble to know what was the best course of action. And apparently, she knew it. "Alright, so what's the plan?" Penelope finally asked, approaching the edge of the ravine, "You can conjure us up a ride or something, right?"

Star gave her a doubtful look and shrugged, holding out her wand. "Probably not the best idea. Until I have a handle on how to use this thing again, we should stick to walking on our own two feet."

Another gruff sigh and Penelope palmed her face, grumbling under her breath as she glared at nothing in particular. "Fine. Move over, I'll make a bridge." Star made to ask, but remembered the whole, 'using magic' thing, and stepped to the side as Penelope held out her staff, glaring in concentration. She watched as the carved flowers of the wooden staff bloomed, and before her eyes, vines grew from the rocky ledge to reach for the other side. They snaked across and latched into stone, growing and weaving and winding over one another until they'd formed a rudimentary rope bridge.

Tentatively, Penelope was the first to step across, testing its strength and elasticity before turning back to Star with a satisfied smirk. "Now who's the magic princess?" Never mind the sweat on her brow, but she stepped across with a cautious stride, followed shortly after by Star. "So where do we go from here? I assume you can at least still remember where they were?"

Star forced a smile, gesturing towards the east. There was a jagged slope with a steep drop-off, the ledge just wide enough for one. It seemed like a pretty clear path down, and from what she could remember, it was less perilous the further down they got. "There's a way down a few minutes that way, and then it's smooth sailing," she offered with a tight grin, "Unless we need another bridge, or some nice flowers to look at." Penelope rolled her eyes and followed along, the loose gravel below crunching beneath their feet.

They walked in relative silence for far longer than the promised few minutes, snaking an uneasy path down the face of the mountain towards the rocky fjords below. The valley they were headed towards spilled out into the fat tree forest, as Star immediately took to calling it, with a few more ravines and cliffs and outcroppings along the way. But as the minutes droned by, Star began to notice the, while appreciated, unusual silence. Turning about, she saw Penelope glaring at her before hurriedly looking down towards the valley. 'So it's like that then,' Star mused, shaking her head. "You alright, Pen'? You're thinking hard enough for the both of us, wanna clue me in on what's up?"

"Not particularly," came a short, snappy response Star all but expected. It wasn't hard to imagine that Penelope might have been harboring more than a bit of a grudge still, even more now that they were stranded in a strange land with little to no clue on what was happening. But if things kept up like this, it would make things harder in the future, and it would make their journey that much more annoying. "We could be out here for who knows how long," Star offered over her shoulder, "I thought we'd hashed things out well enough, but if you have something to say, get it off your chest already."

Silence.

Penelope stared at the back of her head, at the growing welt Star was sporting, at the girl who'd caused her so much headache. "You love this, don't you," she growled under her breath, a pointed stare sent forward with laser focus, "you wanted something like this to happen. I haven't seen Marco in a week, and right off the bat you sweep him away in yet another mishap disguised as your trademark cluelessness."

Star stopped. She inhaled through the nose and looked up at the shimmering sky, exhaling with pointed frustration. She'd been expecting something like this to finally rear its ugly head, since before they'd even left the castle. And she was owed some reconciliation with a slap of her own. "Do you think I want to be up here, stuck with you of all people? Stranded, concussed, magicless, and with no clue how to get out, just like you?" She asked with conviction, not bothering to turn around, "I have no idea what's going on, Penelope, and even if I did, do you actually believe that I'd be happy putting Marco in danger, just so long as you don't get to see him? How shallow are you to even think of something like that?"

Penelope glared at her, but didn't say anything.

"If that's the way your brain works, then I gotta tell you I don't blame Marco," Star jabbed, finally turning back to give Penelope a harsh glare of her own. She was met with more stunned silence, taking a step closer for good measure. "Let me clue you in on a little detail, P-nels: Marco's my best friend, and I know him wa-hay better than you do. So if you really wanna keep him as more than a friend, I'd start thinking about what you can do better, and less about what I do with my friend."

"And who do I have to thank for all the bullshit up to now?" Penelope asked, daring Star to deny it, "you've been digging around in the shadows for months, trying to get between us, pitting him against me-"

"Hey, I owned up to what I did, and I made a promise to you and my mom that I was done trying to steal someone who wasn't mine," Star cut in, drawing ever closer, all but looming over Penelope despite their several inch height difference, "but don't you dare try to tell me that your relationship is falling apart just because of me. It was in the outhouse before I even gave him a second glance as anything more than a friend, and you've done a marvelous job at giving him a thousand and one reasons to drop you like a sack of pig goat shit!"

The two stared at one another as the shimmering clouds passed lazily overhead. The fury behind her accusation was palpable, but Star almost found it more enjoyable to see Penelope's expression crumble into embarrassed dismay. Almost.

"...I know."

Star looked like she could be knocked over with a feather, but still, Penelope held her glare before sweeping her gaze to the side towards the towering hills to the south. "I know I keep messing up. And Marco… he doesn't look at me like he used to. Anytime I try to get close or fix my mistakes, he closes up and pushes me away. But I can tell where it's headed, and I'm doing what I can to fix it. I mean, why do you think I even agreed to this stupid idea of yours?"

Having recovered enough to un-vapor lock her brain, Star gave that some thought. She'd initially concluded that Penelope was desperate enough to do anything just to spend some time with Marco. But to think she was going in with a plan as half-baked as this in some vain attempt to reconcile was a little hard to believe. How much damage control could you really do after what happened at the tournament? What could you reasonably expect? "And you think acting like you've been to everyone but him was the best idea? You really don't know him at all, do you?"

"Of course I do, moron," Penelope snapped, pushing past Star to continue walking towards the foothills below, "But I'm a noble, I've lived my entire life being given everything I ever wanted, always at the center of attention and paraded around without question. So when we came out here, and I met this random guy who's never had any of that, never even thought about that kind of lifestyle? Away from all of the royal bullshit? How am I supposed to act but the only way I know how?"

Following along, Star didn't have much of a counterpoint. It was true, Penelope was raised to behave like the nobility she was, whereas Star was given healthy doses of freedom, combat, and adventure. "We're not on Mewni anymore, Penelope. Guys like Marco don't act like the stuck-up nosebleeds we're used to. He's not a servant, and he's not a peasant," she offered carefully. There wasn't much anyone could do to salvage the current situation, but maybe for her future? "If you want to impress guys from Earth, you can't act like you're better than them. You don't treat them like a different species, you don't lord things over them or show off your skills at bossing people around, and you certainly don't tell them what to do, when you clearly have no idea what they want. Marco's as far from a noble as you could get, but that's a good thing. It's humbling, and you know that when he does things you like, or when he's chasing after you, it's not because you have something to exchange for his affection, but because he just… likes you."

As they rounded the edge of another gorge, cutting through the center to make their way down to the belly of the valley, Penelope shot Star a pained, but restrained grimace. "He likes you. Because you've got all the perks of being royalty, without the royalty," she grumbled, "You go on adventures, you have magic, you fight monsters, you get messy and have fun… and what do I have? High expectations and an attitude befitting a future queen? How am I supposed to do anything but what I'm good at: bossing people around, showing off what I have, and standing above everyone else?"

"You change," Star huffed, kicking a rock down the slope, watching as it tumbled wildly until finally ending up in a small landslide. "I admit, things were easier before I… screwed everything up. We were friends, the four of us hanging out at the mall like nothing was wrong… We were all so happy. And then… we changed."

Penelope glared out across the valley, but even she could feel a pang of longing in her chest for the simplicity of their first outing together. Before romance and deception stepped into their lives to pit the two of them against each other for the same goal.

"Marco did too, you know? He wasn't always the warrior, the gentle tough guy, the leader- ...Did you know I met him two and a half years ago? Before we left Mewni?"

Penelope turned, giving her an inquisitive look, but showing neither curiosity nor annoyance with yet another thing Star had that she didn't. The blonde princess nodded. "I rode a warnicorn downtown and wrecked the place, only seeing him when I tore down the street, flattened a car, annnd when Reynard dragged my butt back home," she explained, smiling at the memory of better days, "obviously Reynard told me all about him, this skinny kid who fell in love with the idea of what he thought I was: free, wild, reckless, and fun. He poured his heart out at being something different from what he was. How I amazed him, how he wanted to be a warrior like Reynard, about how he wanted to change."

The tense silence thickened between them for a moment, but Star was on a roll. Her grin as wide and bright as the setting sun, she decided to clue Penelope in on what she probably had only heard bits and pieces of. "When we went to Mejoga- or rather when he followed me to Mejoga… When I was in a dumpy mood, we took on an army, Penelope. We fought so many monsters, we stole so much from them, and he was right there at the front, stronger than anything they could throw at him- stronger than Krunt... stronger than me. Seeing him like that, you'd never guess what he really was: a boy worried half to death about his friends' well-being."

She watched Star, and though she tried to hide it, it was clear she hadn't heard more than a few passing details. "And you just let him fight like that? Why did you make him do that if you knew he was just a human?" She asked, incredulous at the idea that Marco would take on hordes of monsters just for the sake of Star's happiness.

"That's part of your problem, Pen'. He's not just anything. He's Marco. Always has been, always will be, no matter who tries to win him over." Star was practically beaming at the thought, and at Penelope's gruff sigh, she toned it down, the two helping each other to scale down a rock face. "I never made him do anything, I gave him so many outs because I didn't want him there. But he knew I needed a friend, so he stayed by my side. Not as anything questionable, but as a friend."

"I don't believe that for a second."

Star rolled her eyes, the foothills of the mountain coming into view just beyond the mouth of the valley. "Over those two and a half years? He changed, but he kept the good parts. He knows how to treat his friends, and you can imagine how he probably feels every time you treat them like they're beneath you. You could have changed too, you had plenty of time to try, but-"

"But you 'couldn't help yourself,' and I dug myself into a hole trying to fix it. I get it," Penelope growled, producing her staff to trek along the base of a rising cliff. "Don't get me wrong, I tried to be what I wasn't, to step down into his world instead of trying to bring him up into mine. But all that got me was one step forward and five steps back. It's not easy to change, and it's even harder when someone like you is dancing behind the scenes to piss me off and set me back further."

Star grimaced at the prod. Her conversation with Marco the morning after the Geode Club flashed through her mind, along with their affirmation to see this through. "I… messed things up too. I never should have tried to take him from you," Star offered, noting the way Penelope clenched her jaw in a scowl towards the horizon, "I'm horrible at thinking things through, and every time I dove into something without a plan, you got hurt. But I want to be better than what I've been. And that starts with letting go of both Marco, and Tom. So you can have him, and inevitably push him past his limit. But he's my best friend, and regardless of what you do, I'm gonna be there for him when you do it."

Penelope grimaced, her brow furrowed low as she pushed ahead. None of this was her fault, she could have changed, she could have had Marco the same way Star did, if only she had more time. But Star, she came waltzing in and stole him, just to act like it was doomed from the start? Like she hadn't orchestrated every downfall and misstep along the way? To now say that she planned on being an angelic shoulder to cry on when her venom had run its course; it was maddening.

"We'll see about that."

Before Star could respond, or downplay the precarious conversation dipping into a pool of malice, her wand hummed a low tone similar to the spell she'd used at the top of the mountain. She pulled it from her bag, holding it out in front of her as it shot a beam of white light forward, just through the hills at the base of the valley. "I think that means we're close, come on!"

The two took off for the hills, the mountain to the west now standing tall and carving through the clouds. Within moments they crested the first foothill, finding a familiar sight on the other side: a pit twenty feet deep, and twice as wide. "Ferguson! Alfonzo!" Star shouted, approaching the edge.

"Star?"

"Is that her? Star! Hey! Staar!"

Penelope and Star both leaned over the edge of the pit to find Ferguson and Alfonzo standing at its center, covered in dirt, scraped up, and grinning ear to ear. "What happened to you guys?" Star called down, gesturing for Penelope to grow a ladder out of vines.

"We fell off the rock," Alfonzo answered, earning a jab in the side from his hobbit counterpart.

"What he meant to say, was that we wanted to brave the dangers of the misty mountains, and jumped at the chance to fight tooth and nail with the oppressors of the land! We wouldn't stand idly by and watch as-"

"You dorks got lost and fell in, didn't you," Penelope grunted, struggling to weave the vines down the slope of the pit. Ferguson paled at the accusation, but a quick nod from Alfonzo was all it took to sum up their predicament. "Leave it to the losers to try and-" Penelope began, but at Star's frown, she cleared her throat, her cheeks blooming scarlet. "Look, just don't wander off next time, okay? I'd hate to have to explain to Marco that his buddies were too dumb to survive a hole in the ground."

Star gave her a shrug. Not exactly a vast improvement, but if Penelope was going to move on after the day's motives were carried out, she'd have to start warming up to the natives. "Sorry it took us so long, you guys. The rock crashed at the peak of the mountain and we had to walk down," Star offered as the two 'dorks' in question climbed free of their plight, "Magics kinda on the fritz, or we would have been here sooner."

"Don't sweat it, we were just working out a plan to escape when I heard you calling our names," Ferguson offered, waving the apology to the side. Star, not convinced in the slightest, gestured to her wand, and then to her eyes. "I saw you guys with a weird spell, and it looked like you were-"

"Forming. A plan," Ferguson repeated, folding his arms and turning towards the east, "Now then, since we're all back together, should we start looking for that caravan that needs our help?"

Penelope looked them over, trading an uncharacteristically worried glance with Star. Apparently what she'd been told about Marco and his friends had stuck, because she felt compelled to ask, "are you guys sure you're up for this? No offense, but you two don't strike me as the type of people to really… excel… in combat. And that's coming from me."

As if to alleviate her concerns, Ferguson produced a small dagger, cheaply constructed and dull at the edge. "We might not look like much, but this here's a game," he offered with a satisfied grin matched by Alfonzo, "one of the few things we specialize in is role-playing games like this. Sure, we got off to a rocky start, but once we have a chance to beat down some baddies, you two will thank your lucky stars we picked your team."

'Wound up on our team,' Penelope thought with distaste, but nonetheless, she shrugged. "Whatever you say. But I agree, the sooner we get this first job over with, the easier it might be to find the others. So… Star?"

All of the sudden, all eyes were on the princess of Mewni, expectant and patient for orders. "What?" She asked, glancing behind her before patting herself down, looking for whatever had drawn their attention. With reluctance, Penelope's shoulders sagged. "You're… better... at this kind of thing: the whole, stuck in a weird place fighting people and surviving the land like some kind of wild animal? What should we do?"

"Uhhhh," Star glanced around, feeling an unusual amount of stage fright at the odd vote of confidence she hadn't been expecting. Sure, she'd been on jaunts like this before, and the 'fend off bandits to protect the farmers' mission had a similar ring to it to Mejoga, but it wasn't like she was good at it. Plus, most of the time lately, she had Marco to rely on, he was the one who came up with the plans and reinforced their movements. But if it meant finding him, and getting today over with? She found she would just have to channel her inner Marco and step up to be a leader. Part of becoming a better princess, right?

"Alright, well… first we need to figure out where we should be going," She noted, stepping toward the east to lay out the plan with the fat tree forest as her backdrop. The B.O.X. had shown her a rudimentary map, one still foggy from her spill on the mountain. "I'm pretty sure we gotta go that way, towards where the fat trees and the rocky hills meet. With any luck, we can make up for lost time and catch up to the farmers before the bandits do. After that, we head to the village and start looking for the others, and if Marco's doing what I think he's doing, they should be coming around from their mission before we know it."

Somewhat astounded at Star's turnaround, the rest of the group slowly nodded. "Okay, that sounds pretty good, but what about food? Does the game have anything we can eat?" Ferguson asked, a sheepish grin on his face. Penelope facepalmed and groaned, stepping around them and making for the fat trees. "You're just gonna have to wait till we meet the farmers, and maybe you can ask them for some corn," Star offered, following Penelope with Alfonzo.

Ferguson fell in beside him, his feet plopping against the grass as he caught up. Together they whispered things to one another, some scattered words like 'lunch', 'rivalry', and 'awkward' coming up louder, but Star ignored them. She felt lighter after her talk with Penelope. Like they'd come to a more… honest understanding than the one they'd reached last night. She hoped they had, anyway, because moving forward, there might even be a slim ray of hope that they could salvage things, all of them, and return to what they'd once been.

Friends.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Scanning.

Rasticore let loose a low, warbling growl that shook his frills as he trekked between towering arches of jagged stone jutting from rocky hills. He stared at the insignificant, but invaluable piece of equipment resting in his good hand, watching as the screen pulsed with blue waves. It had already mapped out the terrain, showing a three-dimensional scan of the surrounding area and subterranean caves, but to scan for magic? That took time, as the area was practically saturated with it. A compelling promise of an artifact, or even a well, but tedious all the same.

Scanning.

When the mountains had carved apart the land to make way for forests and deserts and jagged hills, Rasticore had darted from floating rock to floating rock, deftly avoiding the perilous Islands to return to the ground. The shift was nothing more than an exercise for one of Toffee's elite, but what was most jarring about it, was that it had come out of nowhere, and in a dimension as magicless as this one. There was no warning, save for the brilliant pillars of light and the energy field he was approaching. And on Earth, it should have been impossible to terraform as drastically, as abruptly as this.

Scanning.

Then there were the indigenous creatures that had spawned from the ground, resembling his kin in only appearance. They burst into straw when hit, perhaps formed from the same magic that had created such a landscape, but easy enough to destroy regardless.

Scanning.

The thought quickly came and went that perhaps this had all transpired due to his search for the artifact in the park the Zyrn had mentioned, but no. This was an entirely different magic source, as its mere presence had overloaded the scanner when the earth shifted. Whatever he was looking for was still out there, perhaps buried under the changed terrain, or perhaps at the center of it.

Scanning.

Rasticore slowly came to a stop at the base of the iridescent wall of energy that surrounded the landscapes, carefully reaching out to rest his prosthetic hand against it. It warped under his touch, sizzling at the contact, but it would not yield for any amount of his strength. For all intents and purposes, the bubble was likely designed to isolate the shifted terrain from the outside, as nothing beyond it could be seen.

Scanning.

"Alright then, perhaps I'll find you at the center of this prison," he mumbled to no one, turning on his heels to head towards the central biome of the bubble: a forest of girthy trees standing wide and imposing against the hills. "Or better yet, maybe she's here, the fallen princess searching for an artifact to save her people," he mused. Maybe it wasn't by his actions this place had changed, but the Princess'.

Scanning.

As he walked, false monsters came to test his mettle, only to be swiftly cut down by the energy blade of his prosthetic arm. He needn't dirty his reputation by wielding his ax… yet. But if he truly wasn't alone inside the bubble, there would be a time and a place and a neck for it regardless. And one thought came to mind that all but brought a smile to his face: if the girl was indeed here, then so too would be her human protector, Marco.

Scanning.

Scanning.

Scanning.

Scanning.

Update: magical dissonance source located! Head south by southeast for seven point two seven kilometers. Elevation: negative four… six… two... four… eight… four… nine… kilometers.

Rasticore stared at the marker for the source of the magic that had irradiated the iridescent prison. It wasn't exactly at the center, but by some means, the scanner couldn't isolate its exact depth. With so much interference, it was impossible to say what exactly was there, or how far down it was, but it was a good start. Whatever that Zyrn had sensed was here somewhere, and the sooner he found it, the sooner he could find a way out.

Update: unknown magical dissonance source located! Head… north- south- west- east- for… zero, kilometers. Elevation, zero, kilometers. You have arrived.

Rasticores frills lifted as his hand moved to the pommel of his ax still strapped to his back. Something was here, right on top of him, and it wasn't the artifact. His good eye scanned the immediate area, finding nothing but jagged rocks and hills, but even now his senses were screaming that he was being watched. "Show yourself, coward. I've no time for silly games, come meet my steel and fall!"

But there was no answer. Just the hum of the energy field, and a soft breeze through the stones. There was a growing chance that whoever, or whatever was stalking him, was the same thing that had scurried off in the woods. Whatever had been watching him, they could have gotten themselves trapped all the same, which was just as well.

The feeling of unease began to wane, slowly at first, until it was all but gone, and Rasticore narrowed his eyes as he let go of his ax. He wasn't alone, but neither was that presence. Perhaps it had come to evaluate him in some way, or maybe it was the source of the shift coming to see what he was. Regardless, he would have to remain on guard for now, until he found the artifact.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O

"I hate each and every one of you! How much farther do you expect us to march?"

"Can we take a break? This armor is killing me."

"Consider yourself lucky! I don't even have shoes, man!"

Star glared ahead, not entirely used to being the one shouldering resolve in a situation like this. "We've only been walking for half an hour, you guys can deal with it for a little longer," she all but commanded, having since taken the lead as they approached the divide between the fat tree forest and the rolling hillscape. "I know it sucks, but it shouldn't be too far until we hit the main road. Once we get there we can take a break. Alright?"

Groans of protest echoed behind her, but no one voiced any real objections. Star had taken to avidly ignoring the onslaught of complaints, longing for a solo op with Marco, who was far more decorated at 'not bellyaching over every little thing'. Even if their last adventure together was almost entirely spent with him complaining about her, rather than the journey.

As she'd noticed, the fat tree forest was much larger than she'd expected, the trees of which stood over a hundred paces high, with trunks at least twenty feet in diameter. The leaves on the wide field of canopy each giant boasted were a pale blue, blending into the sky to make the tree itself look bare, as small, porcupine-like bushes dotted the spaces between them.

In stark contrast, the rolling hills to her right were far more daunting than she'd expected. The dips between them were like optical illusions, dropping into perilous pits filled with sharp outcroppings and barbed vines. Why the game had designed something so dangerous, where there was nothing of value to look for was beyond her. But Star was at her wit's end and considered diving headlong into the dips after a mere fifteen minutes of walking.

But as fate would have it, the game saw fit to give her another out in the form of singing metal from just beyond the treeline. Where the hills had invaded the forest to send the fat trees higher or lower, there was the sound of battle just out of view, as it shut everyone up in an instant. Star met eyes with Penelope as Ferguson and Alfonzo traded an uneasy glance, and the four of them took off into a sprint towards the forest.

It took a couple of minutes to round the first tree, its bulbous exterior resting at the top of a hill, but after they'd come around at the peak, they bore witness to an unsettling sight.

There were fourteen wagons in a double row down a cobblestone road, the sight of it reminiscent of an old western movie, but there were no cowboys here. Just bandits and farmers. The former of the two was clearly on the winning side, no less than thirty of them locked in combat with ragged and rugged men and women with pitchforks and shortswords. Some bandits rode on creatures with scaled, purple hides, like giant lizards that spouted bursts of blue flames.

It was a grim sight, but rather than rush headlong into stomping the opposition, Star steeled her nerves and took a calming breath, like she'd seen Marco do countless times on Mejoga, or during the tournament. It wouldn't help anyone to rush in without a plan, not when there were lives at stake. "Okay, I'll go in and check 'em out, see if they're too tough to handle," she offered carefully, "if not, then I'll take care of the bulk of the bandits, and keep their eyes off of you guys and the farmers. Penelope, can you use your vines to deal with the weird dragons?" She asked, readying her wand.

Penelope grimaced at the sight of them all but nodded regardless. "They might burn through the plants, but I can try," she offered, noting, in particular, the sheer number of them out there. No less than eight dragons. "You're going to have to keep those guys away from me though. I need to focus to be able to handle so many at once, and… I'm still figuring out how to use this magic."

Star dipped her head in assent, turning her attention to the farmers next. "Ferguson. Alfonzo. You two need to gather up the farmers and keep them safe from the band-"

"What?! Why are we on babysitting duty?" Ferguson complained, much to Alfonzo's horror. It sounded like a pretty sweet deal, honestly.

"Because you two are guarding the entire mission, and I trust you," Star answered matter of factly like they even had to ask, "help them take care of the wounded, and keep the bandits from getting too close. I'll have their attention, and I'll deal with the ones Penelope can't subdue, while you two guard the villagers. With any luck, they'll retreat once they think they lost the upper hand, and we can focus on getting the wounded to the village. Any objections?"

Stunned silence from the other three, most notably Penelope. To think that Star had any sort of skill at strategic analysis was horrifying, but as she had said before: Star was good at this. "Alright then, I'm counting on you, so let's give 'em hell," Star noted with a grin twisting towards excitement. Ferguson and Alfonzo shivered, but without protest the four of them stood and made their way down the hill and towards the road.

"Try to put up a fight, would you? My men need more than a caravan of cowering whelps to test their mettle!"

A large man armored with leather and furs brandished his sword, a rusted piece of steel with a honed edge. He glared with delight at the huddled farmers, his right boot planted on the chest of one who thought he'd be a hero. "If you're done trying to resist, then I suppose it can't be helped. KEEP LOOTING!" He yelled to his subordinates, the bandits all furiously rummaging through the wagons for anything good.

"Lenkaj, there's nothing here!"

The leader grimaced, slowly turning to face the man giving excuses. "These fools are moving something! Keep digging!" He turned back to the farmers and soon-to-be-corpses, his eyes dark. "I find it hard to believe a bunch of farmers can afford such luxurious travel. You will give us whatever gold you've stashed away, or we'll start picking off-"

*thwunk!*

The villagers' eyes went wide, staring behind him with apprehension, some whispering to one another with words of 'more of them-' and 'one shot was-'... Lenkaj turned about wildly, finding the man he'd just finished giving orders to lying dead on the cobblestone, an arrow lodged between his shoulders. "Who-" his body went rigid as the ground shook, cracks webbing through the road leading towards the dragons.

Like a vicious sea monster cutting through the waves, thick trunks of thorny vines shot from the street, snaring and tangling over and under and around anything they could grasp. The dragons chittered as they struggled to burn or cut the vines, but nearly all of them were ensnared. It was as if a forest had sprouted from the stone, harsh vines snapping and lashing as Lenkaj could only watch. In front of him, his subordinate inflated, bursting into straw with a *pop*. He'd been sent to the afterlife…

"You sorry litTLE EXCUSES FOR FECKLESS WHELPS!" Lenkaj bellowed, gripping the hilt of his rusted claymore with fury, "FREE THE BEASTS! RALLY AND- oof!"

There was a blur of yellow as something flashed into his field of vision, kicking off his claymore and sending him flying. Lenkaj slammed into a nearby wagon in a shower of splinters and yams, already getting back to his feet to eye his attacker. But what he was met with was an unsettling sight: a girl, young but agile, grinning from pointed ear to pointed ear. "How's it goin' bud? Sorry to just jump right in, but you were having so much fun without us."

Lenkaj was stunned, staring at her as a trickle of blood ran down his cheek. So there were more of them, at least another mage, and an archer, but where did they come from? He needed time, and he needed to be careful. "Do you think it wise to strike me, girl?" Lenkaj asked her, vying for a breath as his men worked to hack and burn at the vines. From the corner of his eye he could see the villagers, huddled together and ripe to be made hostages, but the elf answered him with a grin. "Maybe. Do you 'think it wise' to take your eyes off me?"

Star kicked off forward to strike, her wand glowing gold to take on the shape of a dagger. With her spells active, she felt as light as a feather, as quick as an arrow, and strong as her dad. She feigned a strike for the creep's neck before doubling low, swiping her heel back and hooking him in the ribs. He winced and crumpled left, away from the villagers and towards a crowd of his buddies, but Star had seen enough. "They're chumps! Fergs, Al, go for it!" She shouted, diving back in for another hit.

Penelope grimaced, ebbing closer towards the road as she struggled to keep her vines under control. It was taxing, to say the least, but she'd subdued the dragons and was trying to nab any unaware bandits as the dorks crept towards the villagers. But Star, she was a whirlwind. She dove in after the bandits and hammered them hard, one after another sending them to oblivion. It would have been incredible to witness her in action, had it not made her blood boil. 'She is better at this… but I'm not as helpless as I was back at the mall!' Penelope seethed.

Splaying her fingers and forcing her palms up, she summoned another thicket of brambles from below to hook into her enemies, dragging them to the ground as Star flew through the bushes and slashed in quick, controlled movements. Penelope watched as her traps were filled with straw before her eyes. "Don't slow down! There's more where that came from!" She yelled at her elven counterpart, producing her staff and tapping the ground twice.

Star was right: somehow, she just knew what she could do, and how to do it. It didn't make it any less exhausting when more trunks of vines shot from the street to grab helpless bandits, throwing them at Star for the kill, but it was exhilarating. Magic was everything she thought it would be and more, and it made her giddy at the thought of Marco watching her work.

But there was a loud clang of metal as another blur of yellow shot by, followed by a *pop* of straw. "Keep your head in the game, Pen', there's still a lot more of them!" Star shouted, flipping back into the charging group. Penelope shook her head, stewing back into a glare as she swung her staff, not willing to be outdone.

Ferguson watched as a rolling wave of brambles and thorn bushes enveloped the dragons before bursting into mushrooms of blue flames. He stared in muted awe as Star darted in and out of crowds of bandits, taking a handful of them with each swing. She'd said something about a spell for speed, and a spell for vision, but… "Dude, we're getting outplayed by the newbies," he grumbled, helping Alfonzo carry an injured farmer out of sight. "Everyone gets a cool class that can kick ass, and I get stuck as a hobbit. Even you at least have some archery, what gives!?"

"Err, maybe it's better to sit this one out. I kiiinda feel like those two have a thing going on," Alfonzo speculated with a look of worry. Another boom sounded behind them, just out of view as they carefully set down the last villagers. "Once we get back out there, we can show them what we're made of?"

Ferguson nodded, donning a grin as he took to watching the rest of the fight play out. "Oh, we'll show them. It's gonna take a lot more than a sideline mission to set us back to- oof!"

Stray cobblestones were blasted back and out of sight, but Star kept her eyes on the prize. There were only a dozen or so bandits left, with half of the dragons having since run off, but now the head honcho was back in the fight, and he was fair game. "I call dibs, so keep the other guys out-"

"Why do you get dibs? Maybe I wanna show off a little!"

"Because I just called dibs, Pen', that's the rule!"

"Well, your rule is stupid! It's first-come, first-"

"You know we can hear you, right?" One of the bandits asked, unfortunately drawing both teens' attention to him. Star and Penelope traded a guarded glance before both rushed forward, neither willing to be outdone by the other. A brambled vine shot from the ground and crushed the first bandit to straw, but Star used the plants as a walkway, sprinting past the *pop* and twisting to hook the next bandit across the jaw with a clenched fist.

Penelope was suddenly running past her, summoning a wave of thorn bushes to roll through the street. Star arched her body into a sprinting jump and curled past them. Penelope lassoed two bandits, and Star slammed two more into the stone below. Vines whipped from above and threw a man out of sight, a wild haymaker punched the next all the way through a wagon. But neither of them let up, hacking and punching and trapping and throwing until it was just Lenkaj, his claymore dragging against the street.

"What… are you?" He managed to ask, drawing his blade to fight. Star swept under him and hooked into his blade with her dagger, swinging up to drive her boot into the side of his face just as a tangled mass of vines slammed into his ribs. Lenkaj pinwheeled as he inflated, and with a satisfying *pop*, the street fell back into silence.

Looking around, Star counted about five other bandits and four dragons, but all of them ran as Lenkaj's claymore clattered to the ground. "Easy peezy, taco breezy," she said with a grin, pocketing her wand and dusting off her dirtied knuckles. Penelope rolled her eyes, flipping her hair out of her face before the sound of pattering footsteps drew their attention. Ferguson and Alfonzo ran up to greet them, followed closely by a small entourage of villagers.

"Not bad for a couple of beginners, but I think you guys could maybe dial it back just a little," Ferguson noted, promptly ignored and dismissed by the pair of them. Penelope shot Star a sideways glare, one quickly matched as the air grew tight between them. But it was one of the farmers, an older man with neat white hair and a beard down to his chest, that stepped in to stop a calamity.

"My name is Segalis. We owe you our lives, brave children, and so much more than that, so do our families," he offered, bowing to them. The villagers behind him matched his gesture as Star, Penelope, Ferguson, and Alfonzo stood there awkwardly.

"It's uhh… no biggie. Are all of you okay?" Star asked, giving a short bow to encourage them to relax.

Segalis stood straight and nodded, gesturing to a small party of limping farmers. "No one was killed, thanks to you four. We have endured worse, but so rarely are we spared the cruelness of fate," he admitted, turning to the villagers, "gather the wounded and load them into the wagons we can salvage. We should leave immediately to make it home before nightfall."

Star figured that was probably the best idea, as a horde of bandits would likely return once they'd gathered themselves enough for an ambush. 'Not unlike Marco and I', she reminisced. But Penelope could see that telltale glimmer in Star's eye as her mind wandered. It was infuriating, but she was in the same boat. Worried sick and frustrated beyond belief, she finally worked up the nerve to blurt out. "Do you think Marco's going to be at the village?"

Seconds of silence ticked by as the villagers dispersed, clearing the road and gathering what they could save. "Probably, but I wouldn't count on it," Star answered, her brow furrowed in honesty. Now wasn't the time to sugarcoat things, especially now that they knew they were on the right track. "It's up to their team to figure out what's going on and make it to the monster ambush, and then they still have to make it to the village before we can head for the monster den."

Penelope seemed to deflate at the admission, a pale hue taking over her cheeks at the thought that Marco might not make it to the village. And further still was the uneasy thought that they'd all regroup for… conversations. Star added with a touch more comfort, "Remember, Penelope, Marco's not just an anything. He's Marco, which means he'll make it through just fine. Trust me, I kiiinda know what he's capable of."

"Yeah yeah, whatever," Penelope grumbled, turning on her heels and making her way towards the head carriage, "just remember, we're here because of you, and if anything happens to him it's you I'm going to blame." But as Star watched her go, a new presence made itself known, a gruff sigh from an old man sitting just behind her. "You seem to be both for, and against one another, yes?" Segalis asked, cocking a weathered eyebrow, "you compete for the same thing, allies, and enemies. My daughter, Segilis, is the same way…"

"Is she an enemy of the village?" Star asked, sitting down beside him, "like the bandits?"

"No, quite the opposite. She cares very deeply for the villagers and her home," Segalis answered with a shake of his head, "but she disagrees with how I choose to protect it. As chief, I see the production of food for the hungry, and the strengthening of our walls as a better use of our energy, but Segilis…"

"She'd rather fight than defend?" Star asked, finding a twist of irony in the question. Segalis nodded, watching as the villagers loaded the wagons left undamaged by the scuffle. "She'd rather fight the monsters with fury to ensure our survival, and to avenge her mother. My son, Hokam, follows wherever she goes. And I am left wondering, how much of what we love do we lose by fighting each other over it?"

It was Star's turn to nod, staring just as intensely at the villagers moving their wounded. "You should give the people the freedom to choose how they go on living. Nobody wins if nobody sacrifices. And whatever happens, you should be with the people you love."

Segalis gave that some thought before he slowly stood, his bones creaking as he moved. "You are very wise, Star. I'm sure you've experienced a great deal at such a young age," he offered, turning to help his people, "but whether or not you apply what you've learned, is up to you."

Star stared at him as he walked away, silent for a moment before she too stood up, mulling over the not-so-subtle advice she'd been given. 'Marco already made his choice, and so have I,' she thought, making her way towards the front wagon to join the other three.

"Woah, what happened to you, Ferguson?"

O - O - O - O - O - O - O

"Don't worry about it," Janna scoffed, kicking at the rocks of the gravel road as the small party made their way through the thickening jungle, "as much as I like the idea of watching you and Star make an obituary of yourselves… this is still pretty badass."

Marco glanced over at Tom, but apparently, he was out of earshot, coupled with the fact that Jackie was talking his pointed ears off about snowboarding. "We got sidetracked, but that's still happening," Marco grumbled. He didn't like the idea of actively planning a breakup any more than acting on it, but it needed to be done. One more day spent waiting would probably kill him. "If I'd have known that all this was gonna happen, I'd have just sent a text or something inst-"

"Like I said, Diaz, don't sweat it. We're having fun, and the show's just getting started. Once we get to the village I'm sure everybody's gonna wanna have a chat." She glanced back at the other two, eying Jackie in particular before Segilis cleared her throat behind them.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news about that," she began, slowing the group down, "There's a high possibility we won't make it back before nightfall. Even if we double our pace, it will still be an hour into twilight before we set foot in the village."

Tom scoffed and shook his head, eying Marco in particular. "It wouldn't be an issue if I could use portals. But thanks to this stupid game, all I can do are spells rated for kids."

The thought came and went through Marco's mind, that Star could very well be suffering from the same issue. If her wand wasn't working right, or if her magic was restricted like Tom's? Well, it wasn't exactly good news for anyone if their overpowered princess was as helpless as the rest of them.

"Hey, horns, why don't you quit bellyaching about it and focus on the quest?" Janna noted with a twist of sarcasm, "I'm sure Star is just dying to meet back up too, and have a nice long talk… but we're stuck, so suck it up for a while, and maybe these guys can fork over some booze for our troubles."

It might have been Marco's imagination, but Tom's reddish complexion seemed to pale ever so slightly, and it wasn't likely that it was the thought of alcohol. 'What is Janna doing?'he questioned, watching her before cutting in, "Janna, I already told you, we're not asking them for drinks. The sooner we get this over with-"

"You too, Diaz," she turned, giving him a dangerously sly look, "I'm sure Princess Pretentious is looking forward to catching up after a week without you-"

"JANNA!" Everyone turned to find Jackie giving her an annoyed look, one reflected by even some of the villagers. "Put a sock in it, would you? Nobody needs that right now, not when we're out here just trying to hang out."

"And survive," Marco mumbled unhelpfully, but nonetheless Janna conceded.

"Fine, fine, don't mind the crazy witch blabbering on about everyone's dirty laundry. Hey, seagull, how much further was it?" Janna inclined her head towards the leader of the villagers, the young woman in question taking on a frown as she glanced towards the setting sun.

"It's Segilis, and too long," she whispered, watching the last of the rays of orange creep up the treetops around them, "while I love nothing more than killing them in droves, we're too weary from the ambush to handle the monsters that call the night their own. We may require more of your skills to brave the forces of the dark until we arrive home."

From what Marco could figure, that was clearly NPC talk for: "I don't know, but get ready for a fight." If the game were to ramp up its difficulty when nightfall came, then they'd be in for a lot more work than just a hike. And it was anyone's guess if Star was receiving the same kind of assistance from whoever she was helping. 'If she's even sticking to the script,' he wondered, 'for all I know, she might be making a beeline to where our rock fell, and then she'd lose our trail.'

"What's going on in that ole noggin of yours, Marco? Ya thinkin' about Star?" Jackie fell in beside him as the group trudged on, smiling as though she wasn't in any kind of mortal danger. Again, Marco glanced at Tom, unsure of just how good a demon's hearing was before he let out a sigh. "I'm worried about everyone, but… yeah. She can take care of herself, okay, but this place is crazy, and there's so much going on, and we have no idea when we're getting out of here, and-"

"Woah-woah, slow down there, bud. You gotta relax, or you're never gonna get better, dude." Jackie gave him a warm smile and shoved his side knowingly, but for the life of him, Marco had no idea what she was talking about. "What do you mean? How are you so calm about all this?"

"Marco, you trust me right?" she asked, her voice as collected and even as it always was. Her eyes, serene as the sea with a mischievous flash of yellow to reflect the dipping sun; they calmed him enough to listen. With difficulty he nodded, looking back over at Tom and Janna.

"Then trust me when I say, you don't have to worry so much. Focus on you, right now, at this moment," Jackie explained, twirling her staff to catch his attention before bonking him on the head gently, "this is a good experience for all of us to grow, so don't let it pass you up by stressing like that. When it's over, we're all gonna be better."

Marco gave her a perplexed look, but Jackie kept on smiling. "Better how? Like, stronger or something?" He asked, instinctively brushing his wrist over Silverlight's hilt, "Not everyone needs to train like this, especially not with everything going on right now."

"I'm not talking about training, goofball, I'm talking about growing. As people," she corrected, "Like I said, focus on you, so when this is all over, you can learn from your mistakes. You got me?"

"...Yeeesss?" He drew out his answer slowly, glancing back towards the others, but to his surprise, everyone had stopped. Even Tom looked particularly captivated with his surroundings, with Janna all but petrified in place to stare off into the distance. "Whats-" he started to ask, but Janna held up a fist, her eyes narrowed. Segilis glanced at Hokam, the rest of the villagers drawing their swords.

"Monsters?" Segilis asked, but Janna shook her head. She was practically trembling, but her face was locked in steadfast resolve to eye the sunset.

"Something… worse," she muttered as the last rays of sunlight were forced from the highest treetops.

Marco felt a chill ride up his spine, and from the tense, drawn look on Tom's face, he'd felt it too. It was a heavy, impending dread. Like every time he'd had to walk downstairs to get his mom something from the basement as a kid. It was a familiar fear. A primal fear. And it made his skin crawl. Janna, however, seemed much more angry than worried as she stared at the horizon. And when he followed her gaze, he finally understood why.

In the distance, rolling through the trees like a rogue wave, was a thick, heavy, purple... Fog. It swallowed the forest, it covered the horizon, and it was approaching fast from the far east to close in on them. "Janna…," Marco started to raise his suspicions, but she was already sure of them.

"It's him," she finished, bracing herself for the oncoming wave. She was unprepared for this, she didn't have her book, she didn't have her trinkets and artifacts, she was practically defenseless out here. But Tom looked between them, his confusion matched by the villagers, though it was for far different reasons. "Guys, I don't know how to say this, but it feels like… I don't know. It's like… the entire Underworld is in there…"

There came a blast of hot wind through the trees, likely the one carrying the fog, but it was minuscule to the approaching danger. "You all need to RUN!" Marco shouted above the wind, at everyone but Janna, already reaching for Silverlight as the fog ate the forest before them. But no one moved, like a pressure against their skulls was steadily rising, and any movement would only further draw whatever was coming straight for them. "Janna! We have to-'' The air in his lungs was forced out as the rolling wave quickly swept forward, slamming into him and engulfing everything in sight.

Miles away, Star turned around, looking towards the east to find the sun had just started to crest below the horizon. Whatever weird way the game worked, it felt so much colder already, but regardless she turned back to the road, walking alongside the wagons as they rolled onward. She shuddered, not because of the decrease in temperature, but because of the feeling that came with it. Like she was afraid for no good reason and felt like curling into a ball and hiding.

"Star," Penelope asked from the wagon, a deadly serious look on her face, "you look like you just saw a ghost. Are you alright?"

"I guess if even you're worried about me, I gotta look preeeetty messed up, huh?" She quipped, shooting Penelope a reassuring smile, but it was rejected as fast as it was given. "More like I'm worried about having to carry you through this if you get hurt. Plus, like you said, I wouldn't wanna be the girl explaining to Marco why his friends are all messed up."

"A little late for that," Ferguson jabbed, his welling black eye taking on a ring of yellow.

"I said I was sorry, do you want me to write a song about it next?" Penelope shot back, but Ferguson just scoffed. "No, but I wouldn't mind getting a turn on the wagon! Come on, you've been on there for like half an hour!"

"And what happened to 'the brave adventurers ready to show us girls how it's done'?"

"Hey, even brave adventurers get tired! Especially when they're not wearing any shoes!"

"Guys, knock it-" Star began, but like before, a chill rode up her spine, this time making her gasp. It felt like someone was squeezing her head, waves of force coming from… she looked towards the east, and the color drained from her face. "Marco…"

"What is it? Do you see something?" Penelope asked, looking towards the setting sun with Ferguson and Alfonzo. The villagers looked with them, all curious to see what the heroes were making a spectacle of, but no one said a word. The sun had dipped below the horizon, and though they might have been safe from the scattered monsters that roared at night, nothing could have prepared them for the rolling wave of purple smoke coming from the east.

It was higher than the mountains, and vaster than any ocean, swallowing the world before their eyes. A hot wave of air swept across the road to bring the fog as thunder boomed just inside the cloud. As it steadily grew, Star instinctively reached for her wand. If it was really the Demon from the park again, if he'd somehow ambushed them, then she was vastly unprepared for whatever might be coming her way. She braced herself for the rapidly approaching storm, an icy fist of fear gripping her chest.

"Penelope! Ferguson! Alfonzo! Don't listen to-" she started to warn them, but a crack of thunder drowned out her voice almost deliberately, and the wall of fog slammed into them. It flipped wagons, it sent the villagers into a frenzy, and even to someone like Star, it felt like getting hit by a runaway carriage. Her vision was blocked out, her lungs burned as she inhaled the vapor. She felt like she was dying.

The ground at Marco's feet seemed to lift and expand in waves, the gravel floating in a perfect layer two feet off the ground. The trees around him bent at impossible angles before snapping back into place like stalks of wheat in a field, but as reality contorted and twisted inside the maelstrom, it took everything he had just to stay conscious. "Slummbeeerrr… rest your weary soul… in my armmmss," Star whispered. But sleep was a death sentence, and every time he closed his eyes the scene around him would change, warping to fill in the space left behind by the darkness.

Star would stumble forward as she tried desperately to realign herself with the ground, but wherever she stepped, it seemed to curl away and ripple. The air was so thick, and even when she caught a glimpse of someone else in her peripheral, they would just evaporate into nothingness before her eyes. "Ressstt with meeee… haven't you destroyed enooouuugh?" Marco offered from just out of sight. She was so tired, every muscle in her body screaming to rest, but she had to endure. She had to outlast the storm, even as her body began to fail. "You willllll ruuuuiiiin everyyyythiiiing… aaaaand nooooone wiiiiill forgiiivee yooouuuu…"

Tom had felt the traces of demonic magic from a distance, but inside the fog it was overwhelming. It burned his throat to taste the air and with every step forward, his body wound up taking a step back. And it was only getting darker, the air getting heavier, and his steps getting smaller. "Run Thoomasss… wheeeen sheeee seeeees what yoouuu diiiiid…" Voices from behind the trees would whisper above the roar, calling him closer, away from the looming creatures behind him, but every step forward was another step back. Closer to the enemy, and further from safety. The darkness was too thick.

She'd never been afraid of the dark, but Penelope was terrified of what scraped against the ground just within earshot. Something massive, bulbous, and made of flesh. "Yooouuu did thissss to meeeee… rrrrottennnn giiiiirrrrll…" It groaned in agony as a herd of them moved in lethargic steps, dragging themselves further, calling her name as they went. She fought to ignore them, but the ground at her feet seemed to swell, giving away like rubber. She wanted to run, but no matter how hard she tried, she was petrified, her body starting to sink into the road.

"Jannnaaaaaaa," she heard someone say, the young witch snapping around to face the cackling creatures that darted just out of sight, "you remember usssss…. We remember yooouuuu…" She felt something brush against her leg, but when she looked down she was high above the forest floor, vines creeping up to envelop her, to drag her down to the roots. But those vines quickly turned to hands, grasping and clawing at any exposed flesh they could find, her skin crumbling to dirt at every touch.

He tried to dig himself out, but Ferguson was beset on all sides by the pit. Walls of stone rose from below before crumbling into ash, filling the hole with a pyroclastic slurry. "Suureennder toooo feeeaaarr…. Yoouuuu caaaant escaaaape…" When had it started to rain? His frenzied claws into the dirt walls of the pit were getting faster, but the closer he got to the lip, the faster the ash rose. Above him, the villagers laughed, sporadically glitching and shifting through the color spectrum. Their bodies broke, over and over again, their eyes hollow and cold.

Alfonzo could only stare ahead as the fog wove itself into a woman, her scream echoing in his ears as she decayed before his very eyes. "Weeeaaak chillllld of maaaan… yooouuu willl beeee forgottennnn…" Her bones launched towards him through the hole in the fog, but they crumbled to dust as she latched onto his collar, the whirlwind sweeping her away as bits of bone clung to his tear-streaked cheeks.

But as the world around her unraveled, Jackie smiled pleasantly, a confident gleam in her yellow eyes. They were going to get stronger, they were going to get better: They had to. They didn't have any more choice in the matter, having wasted so much compounding their faults and mistakes with more. And as the fog around her began to clear, Adam stepped forward to greet her.

"Think I did pretty well for myself, yeah? Definitely cooler than the high school," he noted, sarcastically checking a watch that wasn't there. Jackie looked him over, finding his eyes a little more sunken and a dull look to his skin. It looked foreign and wrong to see him like that, after days of seeing his prime, so she felt compelled to ask, "Are you gonna be okay? I know… doing this takes a lot out of you, but-"

"Hey now, remember what you told Marco," he offered with a reassuring grin, patting her shoulder. "Don't stress so much about the little things. You did a fantastic job earlier, setting things up for me, but now it's my turn. Focus on you right now… and I'll focus on our friends. "

For a moment, Jackie didn't answer, her eyes scanning his for any hint of a lie. But, it was Adam. He never lied to her, he never did anything he wasn't absolutely sure he could handle, and he had helped her so much already. To chicken out now, when they were so close to helping everyone shed their fears? "Alright, big guy. Go ahead, but be careful, got it? I don't want you dropping out halfway through. "

Adam nodded, his eyes flashing yellow to match the random shafts of sunlight that broke through their bubble in the smoke. "Don't worry about me, I've been through worse," he laughed, but it was empty and hollow. Like even he didn't think it was as funny as it sounded, "...you know better than anyone what worse looks like. But I'm gonna help our friends, so they don't have to see that too."

Jackie finally gave him a smile in return, shoving him back into the fog with a laugh. "Yeah yeah, go do what you gotta do," she offered through the fog, "and Adam?"

He turned around, a beacon of calm amidst the storm. His eyes were wide and thoughtful, despite that hungering leer he wore. How Jackie had gotten lucky enough to be given a second chance, to be given a taste of a fearless life, to be given the opportunity to grow? She couldn't say, but Adam had chosen her and helped her in the same way he was about to help everyone. "Thank you, for everything," she said, giving him a gentle wave as the fog rolled back through the forest, taking him with it to the darkness around them.

But it wasn't goodbye, and she smiled, knowing it would never be goodbye again.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Tom's body ached. It ached worse than he'd ever felt it ache before, and he'd taken some blows that would have killed a mortal. Sitting up, he promptly leaned over and wretched, feeling a knot of disgust form in what was left of his stomach after he saw the viscous, tar-like substance he'd just vomited up. What was worse is that it stank like a mixture of burning hair and something you'd find under the tile of a public restroom. Wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeve, he chanced opening his eyes to see how the earthlings had fared.

'Shit if Marco died, I'll never hear the end of it from Star…'

"Where the fuc-" but his words failed him as he found himself sitting on the ornate carpet of his father's study back in Castle Lucitor. 'When did I get back to the underworld?' he thought and wracked his brain as to any clue to how he got there. Standing on shaky legs, he took a moment to get his feet under him and noticed that he was no longer in the ornate red and black battle armor Star had conjured for him. Instead, he was back in his normal attire: ragged cut-off shorts and his favorite shirt that Star had gotten for his birthday last year. Did someone change him when they brought him back to the castle?

The last thing he remembered was a hazy memory of being at the park with those lame humans, and… 'The Fog!' his cloudy brain suddenly seized in realization. He remembered that massive, purple fog bank rolling in and how it had moved too quickly to get away from. How it had burned his throat, a sensation he had never experienced until then and, now that he thought about it, was never keen on experiencing again. "And where is everyone?" he said to himself, cocking an ear and hearing a distinct lack of the normal castle chatter he was used to. Seeing that he was unlikely to get any answers standing by himself in the study, Tom let himself out of the black oak door and into the hallway.

That's when things began to get weird.

The flue clue that something was horribly wrong was the blast of chilly air that hit him when the door had opened. Nowhere was cold in The Underworld, and the air hitting him felt like Mewni on a cold Novarth day. And where was the guard that always stood outside the study no matter the time of day? Or the servants that were always scurrying here and there at every hour of the day…

"Hello? Mom? Dad?" he let out an exasperated sigh before the next name, "Brian?" He listened hard, but as before found his words answered with only oppressive silence. "Shitttttttt." Whether or not he was actually in Castle Lucitor, he definitely seemed to be alone. The servants wouldn't dare defy an express command from one of the royal family, they all valued their hides far too much for that.

"Hothead…" whispered a faint voice from down the hall.

Tom whipped his head towards the source of the voice, narrowing his three eyes to try and spot the unseen speaker. But there was nothing. Just the empty hallway and grand staircase beyond. Turning his head, he concentrated on trying to hear and found that he could hear a faint droning, like dozens of hushed voices speaking words he couldn't quite make out.

"Disappointment…"

For an instant, the dissonant voices spoke as one, the word sounding like an accusation in the utter stillness. But the voices were even fainter this time, as if the speakers were moving away from him. "What did you say, asswipe!" shouted Tom, and he took off after the voice down the hall. Nobody mocked the Crown Prince of The Underworld, and he was going to make sure that the person or thing that just said that was going to get a pounding. Clearing the hallway, he skidded to a stop and looked around, straining to hear for footsteps or any other sign of his quarry.

"Embarrassment…"

The voices were contemptuous now, seeming to sit in judgment of him and he let an involuntary growl escape as he hurtled after the voice. It was headed down the stairs that lead into the royal apartments, and he clenched his fists in anticipation. Whoever this joker was, he was going to be incinerated, and Tom was going to enjoy every moment of it.

"Unloveable…"

Tom felt a thrill of dread run through him at that utterance, as he recognized the suddenly female voice as distinctly…Star-like. "Shut up!" he bellowed, his voice slipping fully into its demonic grow. He was sprinting now, down deeper into the royal quarters of the castle, but no matter how fast he ran, the whispers never seemed to get any closer.

"Failure…"

He was catching up! Tom felt a triumphant smile form as he roared down the hallway, twin jets of fire blasting from the soles of his boots. Up ahead was a sweeping stone curve in the hallway, and he was certain that just around the bend he'd be able to catch a glimpse of his tormentors. The whispering was so loud now, it sounded as if the speakers were whispering directly into his ear. 'Just a little furtherrrrrr,' he thought, focusing every ounce of his energy into pushing himself faster and faster, until-.

He flipped around and dropped to the stone floor on all fours, fire roaring from his boots as he scrambled at the stone to arrest his speed. He'd been so focused on chasing the source of the noise, he hadn't realized that he'd followed it all the way back to his room until he'd nearly blown past the door. Standing, he approached the door to his room and did his best to block out the still indiscernible speech that seemed to be crescendoing with every step he took.

When did his hands start trembling? Tom took a deep breath before reaching out and grasping the knob just as the voices ceased like the snuffling of a candle. Swallowing, he twisted the handle and pushed open the door to face a wall of featureless blackness that seemed to radiate malice like heat from a fireplace. He didn't even think, for the white-hot rage bubbling up from the voices taunting had driven things like careful consideration out of his mind. He simply put a hand up and pushed his way through the curtain of darkness like an oily waterfall.

Tom couldn't breathe, he merely stood in shocked silence at the scene playing out in front of him. His eyes were transfixed to a spot not fifteen feet away from where a naked Star was sensuously rising up and down on his least favorite person in the world: Marco Diaz. He couldn't tear his gaze away from her arched back and the way her taught muscles stood out under her skin as she let out soft little moans of pleasure and rolled her hips seductively. Balling his hands into fists so hard they drew blood from where his nails dug into his palms, Tom let his eyes wander down her back to where a pool of silky sheets was at least keeping a sliver of modesty from his horrified view. He was finding it hard to breathe through his clenched teeth, and as he watched her reach down and caress Marco's bare chest before dipping to kiss him passionately, his brain finally finished cutting through the fog of his shock with the incandescent axe of his anger.

"I *huff* love you *huff*" she panted to him as they continued their lovemaking seemingly oblivious to Tom's presence.

"Ung, I love you two," Marco grunted back as he reached down and ran a hand under the sheets to grip her rear, the move eliciting a playful giggle from the mewman princess.

His rage boiled over, erupting through every fiber of his body to burst away from his skin in a fiery aura. She had never, not even once, said I love you to him in the years they had been dating, and here she was professing her love for this weak, magicless, mortal. 'I'm going to kill him!' roared a voice in his mind, screaming for blood in retribution for this brutal betrayal. Crouching, he had just tensed his legs to throw himself at Marco when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"What are you doing in here, Thomas?"

"Dad?" Tom twisted in place to see the placid, yet the disappointed-looking face of his father.

"Who else would it be?"

And he watched as his father arched an annoyed eyebrow at him before he continued, his voice icy. "Now I asked you a question. What exactly are you doing? I was under the impression that Princess Star made it very plain she did not wish to see you again. It is incredibly unbecoming of royalty such as yourself to act the crude voyeur. Once again, you manage to disappoint me, Thomas…"

Tom felt nauseous as a wave of sickening cold spread from the point where his father's hand held his shoulder in its iron grip. "I didn't… When…" he managed to say, his voice weak and unsteady as the strength whet out of his legs and he sank slowly to his knees.

"Poor little Thomas… Always a slave to his brutish impulses. Always …a disappointment," continued his father, as still, the obscene show in front of him continued, heedless of their words and presence. It was like he was watching them through a life-sized invisible screen and he felt his eyes well at the betrayal on display. He tried to turn his head, tried to close his eyes, but the king's other hand had gripped his hair and pulled his scalp so hard, he couldn't close his third eye.

"Please, Dad…" he whimpered, tears beginning to stream as Star and Marco's lovemaking began to become rougher and more passionate.

"You deserve this, you know. You drove her right into his arms with your weakness and inability to act as befits your noble blood. A failure as a lover, a failure as an heir, a failure as a son." The grip on his shoulder suddenly clamped down hard enough to make him yelp in pain. "And now, my foolish child has lost one of the only valuable things in his life. How many more chances shall I waste on you?"

Tom's chest felt like bands of iron were slowly crushing the life out of him and his vision was beginning to wobble and sway. The numbing, cold radiating into his shoulder was spreading across his chest seemingly freezing him from the inside out. This couldn't be happening and yet, here was the evidence in front of his own two eyes. His worst fears made manifest as he struggled weakly in his father's cruel grip, the small remaining strength in his body seeming to blow away like smoke on the breeze as the cold spread. "P-P-Please…" he managed to choke out, before slumping forward to slam into the cold stone floor.

"You will never be anything more than a slave to your anger, Thomas," spoke a new voice, breathy and frigidly cruel. "A half-beast, ever… Unworthy."

And Tom screamed, as he tumbled into blackness.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Penelope smiled to herself as she strolled down the ornate hallway of Butterfly Castle at the head of a long train of friends, admirers, and servants. Her destination was the throne room, and she was excited.

"Penelope," said one of her friends from behind her, "do you think Dutchess Etheria will make a scene today at Court?"

"Only if River falls asleep again, Dahlia." She had to keep the smug tone in her voice from being too obvious. After all, she had just accepted her friends' groveling apologies just the other day for their harsh and hasty judgment of her character over the incident at the tournament. It had been a week since her silly little adventure in the Echo Creek Park, an event that seemed to signal the start of some drama-free time in her life for once. Star had dumped Tom and surprisingly, had kept her word about keeping things strictly platonic with Marco.

'Speaking of Marco…' And she had to struggle not to blush as she thought about how and she was beginning to feel that things were going back to normal. They'd gone on their first date since the day of the tournament last night, and though they still had a ways to go before she considered things "back to normal," she was very pleased when he'd actually kissed her last night. Letting her imagination run wild at the thought of what their next date might entail, she waited as the honor guard opened the large carved wooden doors, before stepping through into the opulent throne room.

"Announcing Penelope Spiderbite, Heiress and Scion of the Spiderbite Kingdom!" boomed Manfred's voice over the chittering and gossiping crowd.

*Booooom* The deep thunder of the massive wooden doors being pulled shut made her jump slightly and look behind her. She'd never heard them shut with anything other than the stately dignity befitting court, and now, two guards were sliding a thick wooden bar into place.

Something was wrong.

Everyone was looking at her. But instead of the usual mix of admiration, jealousy, and casual contempt, she saw uniform looks of angry accusation. She scanned the crowd nervously, dismayed when she couldn't find her parents or Marco.

"Guards."

Penelope paled at the cold voice of Queen Moon, managing only a half step back before two armored knights stepped in from either side and seized her arms. "What?! Get your damn hands off of me you creep!" They dragged her, kicking and shouting, through the crowd until she was looking up at the Queen.

"I thought I made myself very plain when I warned you what would happen if any more chicanery happened between you and my daughter." Moon's voice was steely and Penelope couldn't help but quaver under the Queen's icy blue stare.

"Queen Moon, I don't know what people have told you but-"

"Silence," hissed the Queen, and even the court's hushed whispers ceased. Penelope watched as she motioned to someone out of sight, and felt her stomach drop as a smug-looking Star, and a grave-faced Marco stepped out from a dense knot of courtiers. Penelope's eyes flew open at the sight in front of her, her anxiety spiking off the chart as her boyfriend leaned in and whispered something to the Queen, who nodded solemnly.

Turning back to Penelope, who was by now beginning to tremble uncontrollably as a guard clipped the back of her leg to drive her to her knees, the Queen continued. "My daughter came to my study last night with a very interesting story. Do you know what she told me?"

"N-N-No, Your Majesty." She was properly scared now. The crazy idea that this might all be some elaborate prank on Star's part evaporating after she was struck by the guard behind her.

"It was a rather thrilling tale if I am honest." Moon's trademark deadpan sarcasm was on full display as the court laughed along sycophantically. "She informed me of your plan to deceive me last week in your efforts to circumvent your punishment. How you threatened my daughter, leveraging her close friendship with Marco to force her to corroborate that lie."

"And she threatened to abuse Marco if I didn't cooperate," Star chimed in, her smirk having widened into a now triumphant smile.

Indignant rage burst into every fiber of Penelope's body as she rose up snarling in a lunge that nearly freed her arms from the surprised guards. "You're a fucking liar, you slu-" But the rest of her voice was silenced as Queen Moon crushed the small orange orb she was holding to steal her voice.

"If you cannot comport yourself with the dignity required of this Court, then you shall have no voice in these proceedings," said Moon, signaling for two more guards to hold Penelope's arms behind her back as the original pair wrestled the silently screaming princess back to her knees.

She couldn't think straight; she couldn't breathe. As before in Moon's office, the spell had torn the voice from her throat and left her without any means to defend herself against the lies she was standing judgment for. In a panic, she looked up at Marco. He looked…pitying, and she felt frustrated tears well up and begin to fall. Everything had seemed so perfect last night, so normal. And today? Now she was on trial for something she definitely didn't do and everything was wrong, all wrong…

Calmly, Moon waved Star and Marco off the dais before returning to her throne and sitting. "Threatening bodily harm on an official guide acting in service to the Crown is a serious offense… As is blackmailing a member of the royal family," her eyes narrowed as she steepled her fingers. There was a long stretch of silence as the Queen seemed to weigh a decision for nearly a full minute until finally, she summoned a small gavel out of blue magic. "I have come to a decision. In light of my daughter's testimony as well as a corroborating witness. I judge Penelope Spiderbite guilty of the crime of abusing her position for personal gain, lying to the Crown, and abuse of an Officer of the Court. In punishment, you will be sentenced to six months in the dungeon and henceforth, shall be banished from court." The gavel came snapping down, booming through the throne room as if it had weighed a thousand pounds.

"Take her away."

Frantically Penelope fought against the iron grip of the guards, her mouth open wide in an ear-piercing scream that would never be given voice. All around her, the nobles and courtiers jeered and laughed as the guards pulled her from the throne room. Down, down she went into the bowels of the castle, at points being lifted off of her feet by the guards to carry her until finally, they reached the gloomy dungeon. There she was dragged through door after stout wooden door until she was tossed without ceremony to the cold stone floor of her cell. Adrenaline like she had never felt before flooded into her veins, and she tore her hands bloody in the frantic scramble to leap like a leopard for the closing cell door.

*Whump*

She bounced off the stout wooden door, slipping on a pile of unseen filth on the floor to crash in a heap inside the now pitch-black cell. There she lay, curled into a ball as she sobbed in convulsing silence. It was then, that a new voice spoke. A voice she had never heard before, and one she immediately never wanted to hear again, "Poor Penelope. Always second place to Her rising star," it said, its voice a mocking razor. "So full of spite and jealousy that she spoils all she touches, even Marco… Powerless in the face of your own inadequacy… you will always live in Her shadow…"

A tiny pinprick of silver light appeared in her cell, bathing the room in dim, shadowy light. Preoccupied as she was, it took Penelope several minutes to notice it. When she did, however, she pushed herself upright painfully before wincing as she wiped her bloody palms on the front of her dress. Slowly, the point of light was growing, elongating as it widened until all she could see was a blinding silver doorway of light. 'Is that…music?' asked her confused mind as she strained to listen and, to her surprise, distinctly heard a heavy bass beat. Figuring she'd be better served to go through to wherever the doorway in front of her led to than rotting in a lightless dungeon for six months, she reached out a hand and took a tentative step.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O

*HUUUU*

Marco sat up with a gasp, coughing and sputtering the last of the dark purple mist up from his lungs as he rolled on to all fours. His chest felt heavy and his limbs even more so as he struggled to hold himself up. The last thing he remembered was the purple fog swallowing him and everyone else. His hands were cold, though now that his mind was clearing and his eyes were open, it seemed that they were mostly cold because they were pressed flat against the polished, carmine stone. Stone that he distinctly recognized from that crazy, wondrous, magical night at The Geode.

'The night I finally realized what I wanted…'

Like a switch, his thought seemed to summon all the sound and chaos of that night, and he winced at the aural assault as the pumping music and the cheers of the club-goers crashed over him like a wave. He was back on one of the huge floating chunks of crystal that had served as the club's dance floor and all around him, people of all shapes and sizes were dancing, oblivious to him. Everything seemed to be a perfect recreation of that night: his clothes, the music, even the lighting… All of it was exactly as he remembered. Identical in every respect, except for a creeping feeling that he was being silently observed from somewhere nearby. Focusing, Marco turned this way and that, searching for any sign of the Demon or his magic.

That's when he saw her.

She was sprawled on her side on a massive, but thankfully nearby, floating sapphire the size of a school bus. And just like he was, she was wearing the exact clothes he remembered from that night and seemed to be either unconscious or sleeping. 'Or she's dea-' but he shut down those paralyzing and unhelpful thoughts before they'd even fully formed in his mind. He didn't hesitate, he simply crouched and propelled himself through the intervening space with a strong push to land gracefully only fifteen feet from the spot by her side he was aiming for. "Star!" he shouted her name over the roar of the cub and was glad when the blonde princess opened her eyes and met his concerned gaze.

"Marco?" She scrambled to get up despite the fatigue and soreness that seemed to be living in every muscle of her body. He looked alright, but Marco was stoic about things he shouldn't be, including injuries. She'd practically had to rip his hoodie open on Mejoga to make sure he got the proper healing spells after their frequent skirmishes with Krunt's thugs. It wasn't until she'd gotten to her feet that she felt some of her jubilant enthusiasm begin to sour. She'd been here before, facing phantoms meant to torment her. It seemed to be a favorite tactic of the Demon that had been plaguing them for months and if her memories from that day in the park were any indication, buying more deeply into the fantasy only seemed to increase its power over her.

Not fifteen feet away, Marco was having a similar internal debate. His initial joy at having seen Star wake in front of him and unhurt had soon been eclipsed by suspicion. If he put his trust in this Star and let that Demon get his hooks in him, he wasn't sure he had the strength to fight back alone. But still, something inside of him was almost… resonating at the sight of her. It was that same strange connection again and like all the other times, he felt a sense of confident certainty pass over him with its arrival.

Deciding to trust his gut, he took a step towards her. One step became two, then three; each time, his pace increasing until he collided with her to wrap her in a tight bear hug. A hug he was glad to feel she returned in kind. "Are you okay?" he breathed into her ear, the familiar scent of her shampoo making his heart beat just a skip or two faster.

Star's answer came swiftly when she released her own hug just long enough to place her hands on either side of his face and plant a fierce kiss on his mouth. There they stayed, locked in their passionate embrace for nearly a full minute, both of them pouring out their worry and anxiety in the safety and security of each other's presence. Panting slightly, she gave him a crooked smile he returned before they spoke up, both speaking in eerie unison.

"I don't know how I knew, but… I knew."

Marco recovered first, their shared words summoning a world of possibilities in his mind. All of the sudden, a lot of the strange and unexplainable things that had happened between himself and Star seemed to be making a bit more sense. "So you feel it too?" he asked, a wave of relief hitting him when she nodded. "At first, I thought when it happened it was just because we knew each other so well. But then earlier today, and just now…" his voice trailed off as her fingers intertwined with his.

"It was more than just a feeling. It was like we'd already had an entire conversation about it," she finished for him.

"Like the first time," they both said, once more in unison with each other.

"Okay that's not getting any less weird when we do that," shuddered Star, and they both shared a nervous giggle. Touching him had seemed to embolden the connection they shared, and she could physically feel it thrumming in harmony with his proximity just at the edge of her senses. The noise and chaos of the club had also seemed to fade out, now only sounding like a dull roar emanating from a well-insulated room instead of threatening to vibrate the earrings out of her ears. She knew she should be worried, should probably be talking with Marco right now about how to escape what was so obviously a trap by the Demon. But for some reason, 'Probably this strange connection we're feeling,' thought Star, she simply felt a contented calm.

"So that Blood Moon stuff really is true… It did bind us," whispered Marco as his eyes found Star's and he lifted their enjoined hands. "I didn't believe it at first, but so many weird things happened when we were in trouble and today just…clinched it."

"Wow…" Star breathed, fully appreciating the enormity of what was going on now that Marco had given it a name. "That means Tom was right about the whole 'Choosing two people' thing. Hey when we get back, um, do you want to look into this some more? The castle has a really big library, and I could ask Glossaryck? He knows wayyyy more about this magical type stuff than even my mom."

"Uh, y-yeah definitely," he answered, grinning eagerly this time. "With everything going on right now, some answers would be great." He was very curious about this incredible connection he seemed to be sharing with Star, and if anyone could get them answers, he trusted she could. But something was wrong. Marco watched as her face fell, an anguished expression eclipsing the look of wonder and affection of only a moment before. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Marco…" her voice was quiet and trembled slightly, "The park, it was my idea. And now with this Demon… I promised you everything would be okay. Pegasus feathers, if anything happens, it will be all my fault."

He didn't waste an instant. He just stepped forward and pulled Star back into a tight hug. "Don't," he said into the hair covering where he knew her ear was, "don't blame yourself for everything, Star. I agreed to the plan, and helped get everyone organized to come out today." He leaned back from her, though still keeping his arms around her back, and was happy to see some of the stress gone from her face. "You're like a magical force of nature, plus you have Janna and I have Tom there. Once we figure out how to get out of here, I say we get our two groups back together at the village, and then figure out how to turn the game off and get out of this waking nightmare."

Despite how worried she was and the gnawing guilt now eating her from inside at the thought of anyone getting hurt, Star couldn't help but feel buoyed by Marco's calm, rational planning. He always seemed to be the perfect counterbalance to her own bubbly energy. Tempering her impulses just enough, but always making sure the two of them had an amazing time. "How do you always know what to say…" she blushed, noticing now the intensity of those kind brown eyes as he held her.

"I…don't?" he answered, smiling sheepishly. "I just look out for the people I care about, including you. Well…" he chuckled as his own blush stained his tan cheeks, ", especially you." Another pulse seemed to thrum between them, and Marco found himself unconsciously pulling Star closer to him as he tilted his head. "I love you, Star," he whispered, feeling a blooming warmth at her whispered, "I love you too," a moment before their lips met.

His hands automatically slid over her body, one slipping up to hold the back of her head, fingers intertwined with her golden hair as the other dropped to her hip to pin her to him. Star, for her part, didn't miss a beat either, throwing both arms around his neck to grip the back of his head as she deepened the kiss. Lips parted as their tongues began to dance with one another, sliding playfully alongside each other as each of them lost themselves in their passion, heedless of their dilemma. She knew it wasn't the time for this, knew that they really should get focused on getting out of this illusion so they could rescue their friends, but for right now,

"I fucking knew it!" The angry voice of Penelope Spiderbite made the two teens jump apart and whirl, shocked when they saw the mewman princess. "I knew I couldn't trust you! I knew this was all a fucking act to get back to seeing Marco! And you," her eyes flashed to where Marco was now rooted to the ground, frozen in shock. "All those words about how you and she were only friends, how you were all mine?"

Marco watched, mortified, as Penelope spat on the ground and took a halting step towards them. She looked like a wreck, the front of her dress smeared with drying blood and dirt, while frustrated tears welled in her eyes as she stared at him. She looked both frightening and frightened, and for a second, he was sure she was going to slap him; hell…he wanted her to slap him after the things he'd done. But she seemed to halt just out of striking range and leveled a finger at them both. "Her, I understand. She's been panting after you like a warnicorn mare in heat since day one. But you, Marco Diaz, I trusted you."

She was looming over them now, seemingly 8 feet tall as the guilt and shame the truth of her words brought on slammed into the both of them. Star felt physically light-headed as the strength began to drain from her legs, and she struggled to organize her thoughts as she slumped to one knee. The motion seemed to attract Penelope's ire, however, and instantly the Princess's baleful gaze was focused squarely on her.

"So did you fuck him yet?" The venom in Penelope's words was biting. "I bet you couldn't stand the fact that I was his first. So Little Miss Selfish just had to have a taste for herself." Her angry glare shifted back to Marco, and her voice cracked slightly, "Is that the real reason why you said you needed more time? So you could fuck Star behind my back and decide which one of us you wanted more?"

"Penelope, I…" Her words were like physical blows now, and Marco found himself trailing off as he forced himself to remain upright while his strength faded. With effort, he steadied himself enough to see that Star was having a similar struggle, though she seemed to be even more affected than he was. She was swaying as she knelt, her gaze vacant as Penelope took a deep breath, seemingly to begin her next tirade. If they were going to get out of here, Star was going to have to whip out her wand and do some fast spell work.

"You know what? Save your fucking excuses. Whether you were too weak to say no, or just as manipulative as this little slut here, it doesn't really matter. I know who's really at fault." Like a shark sensing blood in the water, Penelope returned her ire to Star. "Your mother is right about you, ya know…" her face was twisted in triumph as Marco watched his best friend totter over and land on her backside, unable to tear her eyes away from her accuser. "Immature, selfish, irresponsible. Everyone knows what a mess you are, Star. Even your own Mom waited almost three extra years to give you the wand. If that doesn't tell the Kingdom what a failure you are as a princess, I don't know what will."

Marco could see his best friend wasn't in any position to get them out of here. It seemed like whatever dreamworld the Demon had trapped them in, it was sapping their strength as it fed on their negative emotions. He had to do something if the two of them were going to get out of there alive, and he had to do it fast. "You're right," he said, his voice as calm and even as he could make it.

"What?" Penelope's head snapped over to glare at him.

"I said you're right, Penelope. About everything…" Marco glanced down to where Star seemed to have broken out of her torpor. "I was afraid," he continued, returning his attention to where a nonplussed Princess Spiderbite was now staring instead of glaring. "I was too afraid to make a choice. I thought I could make us work, give you and I the chance I thought I owed us…" He took a step towards her, his hands held up and apart.

*SLAP*

The sharp report of her bloody hand hitting his cheek echoed in the small bubble of silence still lingering around them; he didn't even flinch. "I'm every bad thing you think I am and more, Penelope. A coward, a cheater, a dishonorable asshole… I should have realized when Star and I first crossed the line and I couldn't stop myself, that I needed to be honest about my feelings. That I…" Marco swallowed hard as tears of his own began to run down his cheeks, "that I should have broken up with you. You didn't deserve what I put you through."

"No, I fucking didn't." Penelope was panting now, her chest heaving as the adrenaline of her slap made her fists shake. She was still beyond pissed off at the both of them, but the urge to break Marco's nose was rapidly draining out of her.

There was a low rumble as fissures of white light spiderwebbed out all along the walls of the club. Star, who had regained her senses as soon as he'd started talking, climbed unsteadily to her feet and stood next to where a tearful Marco was now sharing a tense silence with Penelope. She knew what she had to do, his words and their bond had told her everything she needed to know. Taking a deep breath to steady her fractured nerves, she spoke. "Penelope, I know sorry isn't going to come even close to making up for what I did to you. We used to be friends…" she sighed, as every memory of the things she did with Marco flashed through her mind. Bittersweet memories she wouldn't trade, but regretted were necessary in the first place.

"That first day in the mall?" she waited as Penelope crossed her arms and scowled at her. "I was… I was going to ask Marco out, actually. Corn, why is this so damn hard." Star wiped her eyes with the back of her gloves. "If I'd have been braver, I would have never gotten back together with Tom. I would have told Marco how I feel…" She spared a second to glance at him, and felt her heart soar when she realized he'd done the exact same thing. The thrumming connection between them seemed to grow in intensity crescendoing to fill her with warmth. And, knowing she was on the right path, she said the thing she knew needed to be said most of all. "I'm not going to apologize for finally having the courage to admit my feelings and make a choice for me for once. But I want you to know that I wish I could have done all this without hurting you…"

*Crack*

Star flinched at the sound, her anxiety spiking as the frenetic lights and music of the club failed to leave them standing in an eerie, deserted twilight. The other clubbers had burst into oily smoke and vanished to leave the three of them standing on the massive sapphire completely alone in the massive club. The sound was exactly the same as when the giant crystal ceiling in the ballroom had shattered after being shot by Rasticore, and she nervously looked up to see the extensive web of glowing cracks in the ceiling was spreading at an alarming rate. It seemed both Marco and Penelope had heard it as well, for both of them were looking up and they all scrambled to move as large chunks of The Geode's ceiling began to peel away from the ceiling and fall towards them.

Marco rolled backward as a piece of stone that must have weighed a thousand pounds slammed into the spot he had been standing only a moment before. He still had to shield his face from flying chunks of the now pulverized crystal that pelted his forearms and chest, each hit feeling like someone had nailed him with a marble from a slingshot. "Penelope, watch out!" he shouted, spotting the danger as he struggled to stay on his feet while the massive sapphire they were standing on began to groan and creak.

Star had spotted it as well. A piece of glowing gemstone the size of a pig goat had broken loose and was hurtling straight down towards the mewman princess. Not even thinking, she launched herself at a surprised and terrified-looking Penelope. "Get away from me!" Penelope lashed out, landing a punch squarely on Star's eye just as the latter slammed into her, driving them both backward.

*GONGGGGGGG*

The sapphire rang like a church bell, vibrating so hard it took all three teens' legs out from under them. Their collective stomachs dropped only a moment later as the reverberating dance floor split with a crack like thunder and began to fall.

"Marco!" shouted Star as she watched him and Penelope slide backward with the tipping end of the dancefloor, before both tumbling off the edge into the dark mist below them. However, no sooner had that happened, than her own end had shifted. Dipping and turning to let her slide unceremoniously off of its surface to plunge into the ice-cold murk now yawning wide to swallow her whole.

Author's Note

LC: Whew, what a labor of love! Some of this stuff we've had in our notes for over a year, and now that we're finally getting to it, I'm so excited to hear what you guys thought. I know we're definitely not the fastest writers in this fandom, (mostly my fault as I'm rather plodding speed-wise, when I write), but I think the wait is worth it. Part two will be even more explosive and exciting than part one, and I can guarantee that our demon friend is not done with Star and the gang.

We're going to take about a month off from this story to work on our solo stuff, but once those chapters go out, (and Ronald has a little treat he's working on, but I'll let him explain that further) we'll be back at it for the conclusion to the very thrilling Season One Finale!

~Lord Cornwalis

RR: As said, this chapter was a fucking monster. And it's only taken a half step into the sunlight. Sorry for the wait, but we want these two final chapters to be as close to perfect as possible, and with so much going on, both in and out of the story, results come with refinement lol. This is the first chapter of our shared story in which both Cornwalis and myself wrote in tandem, a fine mesh of styles and direction and flow that only the two best on this site could achieve. And if you thought it couldn't get better, wait until you see part two, because this finale will rival that of any fiction out there, and leave you in a state of cardiac arrest. This finale will Kill you! (Not literally, unless you're really into it lol)

As Corn mentioned, I'm working on a little something, visual-wise, to be released when we pick this story back up in a month. Think "movie poster", but along the lines of a little teaser for the part two section of the finale. Look forward to it!

Again, again, thank you all for reading our story. Like Corn said, we've had some elements of this ending in the works for like, nearly the entire life of this story. To see it cultivated and brought to the sun, it's special for us, and we hope it's special for you. Thanks for being here for the journey, and I hope you all love what we've done here. See ya around the bend for a review roundup chapter in between this and the finale, so be sure to leave us some love and notes, and you can see yourself in the midroll! Cheers!

~Mr. Ronald Reagan