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The Once and Future Queen

Chapter Six

Some things best kept secret


As the morning began to take it's first tentative steps toward daylight, and the first songs of the birds began to play for all those awake enough to listen, another first had already taken place. In the Diaz household, tucked away in the second-story bedroom of a boy whose life had changed, were two teens blissfully unaware of the encroaching hour.

As a lone shaft of sunlight crept its way into the room and illuminated a heart stamped cheek of ivory, Star took in a deep breath and stretched, sprawling on the unusually small bed she slept in. But as she smacked her lips and levered open her eyes at the early hour, she realized two things. One, this wasn't her bed, it was way too small. And two, it only seemed smaller because she was sharing it with someone else.

Under her sprawling form, she found another, muscular body beneath her, enjoying the warmth of the bed to his own degree. Stars eyes went wide and a flush cre uppt her cheeks upon seeing Marco blissfully sleeping beneath her, not a shirt in sight, but she didn't move a muscle. Instead, she let her mind wander to the events of the night prior, and what brought her to such a compromising position.

When the sun was still hidden from their side of the world, Star and Marcos lips parted long enough for them both to utter only one word each.

"We…"

"...kissed."

Despite the cloudy haze his mind was still enraptured in, Marcos eyes went wide as he and Star stared at one another. This couldn't be real, nothing about it fit with what his mind could comprehend at that moment, but there it was before him, as though it were waiting to be discovered.

"We...Star...do you have any idea what we just did?" he asked, still coming to terms with his situation.

Despite her own fuzzy thoughts, and her fleeting sense of reality, Star still managed a weak, lopsided grin. "We just agreed that we kissed, didn't we?" She asked, leaning a bit closer to read him. Marco instinctively leaned back and turned to face the foot of the bed. He wouldn't meet her eyes, either out of fear, or out of confusion, she couldn't tell.

"I don't think I need to tell you why...why that's bad," he said in a flat monotone.

Stars absent-minded grin began to fade, unlike her lingering buzz."Marco, why does it have to be bad?" she asked, still trying to give him a weak smile, but he wouldn't return it.

"I'm sorry, Star. We-" he began, but Star interrupted him.

"I'm pretty sure I kissed you first," she pointed out, turning his head to face her as she continued to try coaxing a smile out of him, "so why are you apologizing?"

"Because I didn't stop you," he answered quickly. "I just...let things get to this point. I shouldn't have been sending those kinds of signals. I should have been more professional as your guide, and not put our friendship in jeopardy with-" but Star interrupted him again with a tight hug, nearly crushing the life out of him.

"Marco. Something like this… could never ruin a friendship like ours. We're best besties! Nothing, not even a giant hairy monster tearing apart a mountain could stop us!" She proudly announced. But when she saw the hesitation still-present in his eyes, she continued, pushing her buzz aside for a moment to address him with more sincerity.

"One of the reasons I like you so much, is that you don't treat me professionally. Everyone else always treats me like I'm just a princess. Like being queen is all there is to me..." She noticed Marcos confused expression and continued, "I mean, I know I am a princess, and I will be queen someday, but not to you. You treat me like a real person. And whenever I'm with you, I feel like I'm where I belong. And maybe I sound crazy, but I thought that was real."

"Of course it is, Star," Marco affirmed, taking both of her hands in his. God she looked flawless in the pale moonlight, "But… this? This isn't something friends do."

"Why not?" she asked, cocking her head slightly.

The question caught him off guard, as he recalled what Reynard had mentioned about Stars tenacity to make friends. Rubbing the back of his neck with one hand, and holding onto Stars with the other, he pressed his lips together as he tried to think of a good answer. "Star, I… I like you. A lot. More than I think I should. But… I don't want to hurt you. I care about you too much to see you hurting."

"Marco, you could never hurt me," she cooed, pulling him closer to meet his chocolate brown eyes with her own. By Corn, he looked so enticing. She wanted nothing more than to steal him away and horde him to herself forever. "I feel the same way about you. And I know it's not perfect , or neat, but I don't want this moment to end just yet." Marco could feel the warmth radiating from her, reminding him of their first adventure together, how close they seemed to be when they only had each other.

'That wasn't a lie', he thought to himself, 'none of it was.' For as long as he'd known her, which albeit wasn't that long, they had never lied to one another and they always had each other's backs. She was new in his life, a mere second on his clock face, but she understood him better than anyone else did. Maybe, just for this one moment, they could be something more than friends.

Steeling his nerves, Marco reached up and held the curve of Stars ivory cheek, marveling for a moment at its butter smooth texture and pulled her closer. Neither said a word as their lips met for the second time that night, and both entered a state of blissful satisfaction so deep, they felt as though they would drown in it. It wasn't some new experience for them, and it certainly wasn't either of their first kiss, but the sensation was otherworldly nonetheless.

Marco sighed a contented breath into her lips before deepening their kiss, his tongue rubbing gently against hers as they pressed their bodies close. Exploring one another's bodies in new and inventive ways, he marveled at how well she seemed to fit with him and how perfect it felt to hold her. Star found herself pushing against him, forcing him to lie back as she draped her petite frame over his, her hair falling around him like curtains on a stage.

She relished in every sensation he gave her; from his strong touch, to his intoxicating smell, nothing could rival it as the two found themselves lost in one another. Moaning, she shuddered as Marco's teeth grazed the length of her tongue while his thigh slipped between hers. It was the best kiss of her life, and as much as she may have wished against it, the kiss had to end. When the two eventually had to come up for air, Marco pulled back for a moment, glancing up into her frenzied eyes, taking in for the first time that evening how perfectly they went together.

"What?" Star asked, catching her breath and analyzing him further, "is there something on my face?" Marco laughed, holding her sides and pulling her closer as he met her expression. "Just me, if that's alright?" Star grinned at him and rested her hands on his shoulders, grinding against him ever so gently.

"It's more than alright. But I might need you to 'guide' me a little… to what you know I want," she offered back, leaning down and planting a soft kiss on his neck. Marco took that as a green light, letting a breath of pleasured air hiss from his lungs as he began rubbing her thighs and grinding against her oscillating form. "Mmmmphhh!" Star bit her lip and buried her face into his shoulder as the two began to melt into one another, each one softly panting as their hips rolled against each other. Like two halves of the same coin, they felt perfect together, and the world around them had long since faded to grey.

She was seconds from making another snappy remark to buy a few precious seconds of focus, when she felt Marco gently bite into her neck. It was a soft bite, barely a pinch of the skin, but it mingled beautifully with the strong friction of Marco's thigh against her core. There was a split second of calm, and then there was nothing. Her mind went blank as all other thoughts aside from 'Marco' were immediately pushed away. It was like a jolt of electricity traveling down her body, nearly overwhelming the moaning princess.

"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!" She screamed in a whisper as she curled around his form and dug her nails into his back. Marco held onto her rear, the fear of being caught growing by the second, and in a snap decision, pulled her into another tight kiss. Star let out a deep breath and melted into him as the two held each other for what seemed like a lifetime.

As the minutes rolled by and the two melded tongues in a deadlock of passion, Marco could feel his self control eroding. His hands were continually kneading and squeezing her firm bottom, and he could feel the passion in his soul roaring at him to find the zipper of her dress. Using every ounce of remaining willpower, he ran his hands up her sides and gently pushed her back enough to catch her gaze.

"Star," he panted, reaching up to hold her face, "We should probably...slow down...a little…before-"

"Yeah," she answered quickly as she caught her breath, giving him a seductive grin, "maybe we should…"

Marco pulled her back in for another kiss, Star eagerly accepting and deepening it into another breathless transaction of promised feelings. As she gripped his shoulders, however, she began to notice a rising tension growing between them. After one last kiss, she slowly pulled away, giving him an exhausted smile.

"Mmmm, what's wrong, Diaz?" She asked, slowly bringing herself down to cuddle with him amidst a slew of blankets. Marco blushed at their precarious situation, and with a sleepy grin, rested his head atop hers. He didn't have the energy to think of much else. "What are we doing?" He asked, out of breath. Star only managed a shrug in response.

"Who even knows anymore? I'm with you, so I'm happy."

Marco nodded absentmindedly as he felt his eyes getting heavy, and his breathing getting shallow. "Yeah…that's...good," he answered. Up until this point, the adrenaline had helped him forget his drink, but now that both of them could take a minute to breathe, they both could feel that sense of weightless bliss beginning to subside. "We should...sleep a little, yeah?" He asked, pulling Star closer. She simply nodded, smiling against his shoulder as she wrapped her arms around him.

"Goodnight, Marco."

"Goodnight, Star."

And after the morning sun began to rise, along with a sleepy, bed-headed princess, so did the memories as she laid back down atop her fearless warrior. 'This is probably gonna be a bit harder to explain than I thought,' she rationalized before gently nudging Marco until he stirred.

"Mmmm, six and a half more minutes," he mumbled, turning towards her and pulling her closer. Star felt her cheeks burn at his touch, and tried once more to wake him, silently relishing in his warm embrace. 'Well, maybe not fearless warrior, more like cuddle buddy for life.'

She watched as Marco's eyes slowly opened to welcome him into the world, and with his slow rise to consciousness, came the bullet-train realization as to what, and whom, he had been doing the night prior. As he took in his situation, Marco shot back like a drawn arrow, and eyed Star with such dread, she feared he would drop dead on the spot.

"Hey, uh...good morning sleepyhead," Star offered with little confidence. She smiled at him, trying to ease his nerves, but his frenzied expression showed her he was having none of it.

"Star! What are you doing in my bed?" he asked in a silent shout. She frantically tried to quiet him, but without much command, he steeled his nerves and eyed her with a shocked stare.

"Oh my god…we… I didn't… force you, did I?" was all he could whisper, his eyes wide with shock.

Star managed a weak grin, and scooted back a bit to give him some breathing space. "Yeah, we did. And no, I wanted allll of it. H-how did you sleep? You had a lot of Rainbow Fizzes last night, so don't be surprised if you have a bit of a hangover." Marco seemed to take a moment from running the events of the prior evening through his mind to answer her with a chuckle.

"Nah, I learned after a few parties with Reynard to always match my alcohol with water. Keeps the hangover away, but somehow, I feel like that's the least of my worries."

Star met his eyes. Of all the thoughts going through her head, this was one she was hoping to avoid for the moment, so she steeled her nerves and pressed further, asking "And what worries are those?" Marco could only shake his head at the grim prospect.

"I'm gonna go with being burned alive, and right after that? Ripped apart by a very angry Mewman girl."

A few seconds rolled by before Star matched his grim expression. "Oh. Right. That," she mumbled, unsuccessful in steering the conversation away from that topic.

Up until now, it had been easy to push the idea of their significant others aside, and she'd be lying to say she didn't feel a new weight of guilt for it, but she willed herself to move forward. "Maybe...maybe they don't have to know about it," she added quickly, gauging his reaction to the idea. He didn't seem to go for it.

"Star, we can't do that to her-...them. It's wrong for-" he began, but Star cut in, grabbing his shoulders.

"We can stop!" She cried out. He started to reject it further, but seeing her wide eyes match his, let her continue. "We...don't have to do that to them. We can stop…this." She let the words hang in the air, cringing internally as she hoped he would go for it.

"Can we?" he asked quietly, "can we stop? Can we just ignore what we did last night and forget about it?"

Star knew he had a point. There was something truly addictive about their exchange, and even now, locked in fear as she was, she still wanted more. Realizing she was holding her breath, she let it slip through her lips as a sigh. "I don't know. I mean, I know I don't want to stop. I don't want to forget. But I also know that right now, we might not have a choice."

Marco nodded. "We both have commitments to other people. We're happy with who we're with, and we owe it to them to give them a chance too. We have a responsibility to be truthful and real to them."

Star knew he was right, to some degree, but at the same time, she couldn't ignore everything she had experienced in the last twelve hours. Something had shifted inside her since their first kiss, something important, and she wasn't sure she wanted to put it back. "You make it sound like it's our job to be with them," she mumbled, laying flat on her back in bed staring at the ceiling. Marco watched her carefully and after a moment, laid back himself.

"I know. Maybe I feel like it is, but we're happy with them, aren't we?"

"Yeah," Star whispered back. Marco pressed his lips together and thought of what to say, but Star saved him by continuing. "I guess right now isn't the time for any of… this… is it." she shook her head, but widened her eyes as an idea popped into her head. "So let's make a deal Marco. We hold off for now and come back to... this, when we're ready? I don't want to hurt To- them... either." Marco didn't answer right away. There was too much to think about at once.

"Are we bad people?" he asked suddenly.

That question caught Star off guard. After everything that went so well, she wasn't sure if it was the guilt telling her no, but she knew what the answer was. "Yeah. Yeah, we might be bad people."

"I was afraid of that," Marco whispered back, taking her hand into his. "But I don't want to forget about it. ...I like this. So, I can promise that we don't have to forget, if we can also promise that for now, we stay friends and make sure our other friends don't get hurt."

Star stared at the ceiling for a moment, thinking it over before she managed a weak grin. "I promise if you do." The two laid there for a few more moments before Star looked over at him, and found him already staring at her. "What?" She asked.

Marco gave her a weak smile and squeezed her hand. "I know it's hard, pushing down what you want, for what you already have. Having to let something as amazing as this... slip through your fingers because you can't bring yourself to keep it in your grasp, because you know it'll hurt in the best way. And I can't think of anyone else in the universe who fits me as well as you do, and carries me in the way that you do…" Marco stopped.

He had to force himself to think of Penelope, and all that she had done for him without question. How much she cared for him without the promise of reward. He knew in his heart what he wanted at that moment, but what he had already promised to another was non-negotiable. "But I'm so glad we can be friends, despite the hard choices we have to make. I'm lucky to be your guide, and your friend, Star."

"Me too, Marco. Thanks for letting me have... this. For now. Maybe in the future, there's something more for us, but for now, I think you're right. We should focus on what we have, instead of what we want."

He nodded before rising from the bed to get ready for the day. Despite all that they had just agreed to, it was easily the best night of his entire life. "Don't worry about it, Star. Let's just keep this between us, and try to be more careful next time, yeah?"

Star got out of bed and using her wand, changed her clothing to her usual green dress and matching white boots. "Yeah, won't happen again. Not a chance," she added cheerfully before closing the distance between the two and planting a firm kiss on his lips. Marco recoiled slightly at the act, but soon found himself melting into her passionate kiss for several furious moments before pulling away breathless and grinning wildly.

"Star! What was that? We just agreed-" he laughed, breathing hard.

"Shuhsuhsushshhhhh shhhhhhhh," she hissed, pushing him back a little as she tried in vain to straighten her hair, "just one for the road. I already forgot about it. Right? Just two friends havin a sleepover, nothin weird, we're both taken, so why would we do somethin weird?"

Marco pressed his lips together, hampering a grin as Star pointedly avoided his gaze. "Fine. Only one for the road. Something between friends, but just that one, got it?" He asked.

Star nodded, letting her radiant smile burst through before sitting on his bed. "Got it." And all fronts aside, she meant it. And knew that that night was the best night of her entire life.

Getting up to give him some room to change, she was surprised when she felt his hand grab hers and pull her into another tight embrace. Immediately, she found his tongue back in her mouth to dance with hers as he held her close. One hand slipping up her neck into her soft blonde hair, as the other pinned her hips against his. Her mind blank once more, she felt a pang of need as he pulled away suddenly, a sheepish look on his face.

"Sorry about that... I just needed one for the road too," he said to her in a low voice.

"I'm not complaining Diaz," she could only pant back.

After Marco spent a minute trying to get his outfit together, she leaned over a bit and eyed him expectantly. "Soo, what's on the agenda for today? Are we gonna see some Earth stuff? Maybe-"

Before she could finish, Marcos phone rang out into the room, and both teens faces paled to the tune of space unicorn. Marco met her eyes and neither of them said a word. Star coughed into her hand, shriveling into herself slightly. "You uh, gonna answer that? It might be-"

"I know," he cut her off. He pulled his phone from his pocket and answered, straightening himself. "Hello?"

"Marco, it's Janna. Get to Echo Creek Freedom Hospital, now. Floor A, room one hundred and thirteen. This is an emergency."

Marco let out a small sigh of relief and straightened up more, glancing at Star with a reassuring look. "I'm with Star right now, but we'll be there in five. What happened?" He asked. There was a short silence from the other end of the line before Janna answered, sounding less than sure for the first time since he'd known her.

"Jackie got hurt, and it's kinda my fault. Just...get here. Now, Diaz. And bring Star."

"We'll be there in five," he repeated, hanging up the phone.

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

On floor A of the Echo Creek Freedom Hospital, in room 113, Janna was seated beside Jackie's bedside, staring at the monitors beeping in solitary. As someone who took life by the horns every chance she got, planning was something she didn't normally do in her free time. But now, she found it was the one thing that eased her troubled mind amidst the blank room around her.

"Jeez, who died?" Jackie asked, turning to face her friend with a broken grin. Janna managed a fragile smile and shook her head.

"You almost did, Dumbass. Maybe next time, you'll think twice before helping me out." The two sat in silence for a moment, letting those words hang in the air.

"Shouldn't I be mad at you?" Jackie fired back with a curious glance. Her head was still tightly bandaged after her eight stitches, so to the rest of the world, she looked like a confused pirate with a white bandanna.

Janna did her best not to laugh, and shook her head. "What for? I helped you fight your first demon-"

"It nearly killed me," Jackie grumbled.

Janna only shrugged and continued listing key points on her fingers. "Yeah, but you got to see some cool magic, learned some Latin, oh! And you got to wave around some sage!" Janna held up four fingers and grinned, but Jackie's sardonic expression conveyed that she wasn't having any of it.

"The sage smelled like burning feet, I still don't know any Latin, and if I wanted to see magic, I could talk to Star," Jackie listed back. Janna lost her smug grin for only a moment before Jackie let out a giggle and shook her head. "But, yeah, silly me for letting you drag me into Dante's Inferno."

"Oh, you wish, sister. If I hadn't pushed him outta there, you'd be very dead."

Jackie rolled her eyes with a smile and folded her arms. "Well thanks, Janna. I'll be sure to send you the hospital bill as thanks for all your 'help'."

Janna sat back, suppressing a laugh as the two sat in silence for a moment. Jackie, straining a bit, turned to meet her eyes. "Thank you, Janna. I really mean it."

"Don't mention it. You can pay me back by getting better, and not 'almost dying' anymore," Janna said with a laugh. Jackie frowned and made to retort at her dismissive nature, when the doors of the room flung open with two very disorganized individuals rushing in and assessing the room around them.

"Hey Janna, we got here as fast as we could," Marco gasped, glancing around the room before his eyes fell on Jackie's injured form, the green eyed blonde giving him a sarcastic wave of jazz hands.

"Jeez, Marco. Six minutes and fifty seconds later, how do you sleep at… night..." Janna let the words fall out of her mouth, taking in both his and Stars bedraggled appearance. "Or maybe you didn't sleep well at all, huh?" she grinned, giggling slightly at her own insinuation.

Jackie tossed Janna an inquisitive look before looking at Marco more closely. His hair was messy, his hoodie wrinkled, his pants stained with some multicolored liquid, and his eyes were highlighted by dark shadows under them. "You look, pretty bailed, dude," was all Jackie could say to sum him up. He gave Star a nervous look, one she met with a cheery grin and a shrug, and decided it best not to argue.

"Yeah, I was up late last night trying to figure some stuff out. But I think I got it," he said, resting his idle hands in his pockets. Janna nodded slowly, eyeing them both down as Jackie squinted at the two. Maybe it was her recent concussion, but was Stars neck...bruised? "That explains you," Janna began, donning a new grin, "what about miss-"

Star raised her wand and poofed a thick blue choker around her neck decorated with a jeweled heart, and covering her...markings. "I also didn't sleep too well. My mom...she uh...kept me up late with lectures, and even later with wand practice. Just...flopped into bed and never looked back!"

Marco wouldn't meet Janna's eyes as the Filipino girl folded her arms and nodded slowly. "And you guys got here at the same time, how'd you coordinate that in seven-"

"We're here for Jackie," Marco cut in, deciding enough was enough. "Mind explaining what happened to her?"

Janna folded her arms and nodded slowly. Jerking her chin towards her friend, she merely muttered "Demon attack in my house. I asked for her help and things got pretty wicked fast." She stood up and extended a hand towards Star. "I'm Janna by the way, in case you didn't catch that. I'm kinda the expert on all things weird around here. I asked for you to be here too because this thing might be too much, even for me. So I was hoping you'd be able to help us out, since you're magic, and you're dating a demon." Those last words hung in the air like a thick fog.

Star tossed a quick glance to Marco, who had moved to Jackie's bedside, no doubt to give her a barrage of questions about her condition. She turned back to face Janna and nodded. "Yeah, yeah maybe, I can see what I can do, but no promises, This is definitely out of my comfort zone, you know?" She asked. Janna nodded quickly, looking back to Jackie.

"Yeah, no problem. I'm sorry I didn't get to meet Marcos best friend under better circumstances, but-"

"I wouldn't say best friend," Star cut in, giving her a frenzied grin, "but still, don't worry about it, it's nice to meet you. I've heard...alot." She held face, not realizing she was hoping for a distraction, and found that everyone in the room was staring at her. Janna shook her head and chuckled to herself.

"Well, I'm saying best friend, because that's the most real thing in this room, sister. But, either way, you guys might want to sit down for this. It's not pretty." Marco traded a nervous look with Star, both of them silently moving to the couch in the room and taking a seat. When all parties concerned were seated, and sedated, Janna leaned on the foot of the hospital bed and nodded.

"So, frolicking aside, I unleashed a very powerful entity on the town, probably the world, and it's not happy. I tried getting rid of it myself," Janna stopped and pointed her gaze a Jackie. The fractured friend of hers that couldn't help but roll her eyes. "But we saw where that went. So I'm hoping you guys might be able to help us out."

Star nodded and made to speak first, but Marco beat her to the punch. He shot up from his chair and stared at Janna, wide-eyed and shocked, and the first thing he could say was, "Did you do this? Did that thing...do this to Jackie?" Janna had expected him to freak out, classic him, and shrugged.

"Yeah, it was a little stronger than I am, so we're kind of on the clock to get it under control," she quipped.

But Marco wasn't sold on her casual as always nature. "No. Janna, you acted without thinking, and let something loose. And like always... you expect us to drop everything and help you fix it, but Jackie got hurt, and now you wanna get Star roped in-"

"I know, Diaz," Janna shot back. She met his stern gaze with one of her own and fought back the urge to say his sleeper phrase. Good first impressions and all. "I know Jackie got hurt 'cuz of me. And I know the risk that comes with asking you two for help. I know this thing is dangerous, and that's why we have to keep it on the down-low. People would seriously lose their shit if they heard about this and right now I need you to be cool about it. I fucked up, I know. Can you please just be a decent friend to me for the first time in two weeks and help me?"

She and Marco held each other's eyes for a solid minute before the boy in the red hood finally let out an exhausted sigh. He was too tired to fight it, and Janna knew it. "Fine, I'm in. But it's up to Star if she's in too. I don't want her getting hurt like Jackie trying to clean up your mess."

Janna stood in silence for a moment before nodding, turning to face the door. "Watch it, Diaz. That's as close to an apology as you're gonna get, so don't push it. Star?" She asked, turning to face the rumpled blonde. She wasn't expecting the question, and when it came, she found herself doing something she almost never did. Overthinking a decision.

"Are you in, or not?" Janna asked, pressing a bit harder. Marco stepped between the two and held up his hands gently. "Give her a minute. I'm her guide before anything else, and I don't want her being pushed into-"

"I'll do it," Star affirmed, nodding to Janna through Marco. She suddenly had a very serious expression on her face, something uncharacteristic for her on any other given day. She'd be lying to say it was due to her not-so-well thought out decision making, instead of an irrational thought about commitments, and duties, but she nonetheless agreed."If there's something out there that might hurt people, I wanna help you stop it. So first, we should try to figure out where this thing might have gone."

Janna grinned and nodded, pleased to finally have some cooperation in the room. "Awesome. I say we should-" she began, but didn't get to finish.

At that moment, the doors to the room burst open once again, and an extremely irritated Princess stepped in with all the poise of an annoyed general. Penelope stopped at the center of the room and before doing anything, assessed the condition of all parties concerned, starting with her guide, Jackie.

She was initially struck by how fragile the skater girl looked, but a quick wave diluted those worries remarkably quickly. Next, there was a young woman in a beanie standing at the foot of the bed, looking quite annoyed herself, but Penelope didn't know her and for the moment, would continue her assessment.

Lastly were Star and Marco, the two who had been inseparable lately, corn knows she had tried. They both looked...well, like shit cobbled together to make a pie. It didn't elude Penelope that her boyfriend and his unusually close friend were already here together, both looking terrible, but like the girl in the beanie, she decided to address it at a later time. There were more important things to deal with.

"Hey there, Jackel. How are you?" She asked, leaning over her guide and expecting the worst news.

"You and Marco must be perfect for each other," Jackie began, giving her a smile, "because you guys looked the same level of terrified when you asked me that."

Penelope let out a quiet breath of relief and smiled back. "I feel like I should trust your judgment," she replied, tossing Marco a contented look. "Do you wanna talk about what happened? All I heard was that you fell or something silly like that."

"Ugh, yeah. I got pushed down the stairs, but I oughta let Janna explain the why of it all." Penelope let her smile break into a nervous frown. "Who's Janna? Did she push you down the stairs?"

Janna stepped around the bed and threw an arm over Penelope's shoulder. "Nahhh, not while she owes me money. Buuut, I know who did, and they are not pretty, lemme tell you." Penelope could only stare, trying to fix her brain around what the hell was going on at that exact moment.

She nodded slowly, her green eyes spelling curiosity and apprehension as she parted herself from this very different but confident girl beside her. "Who did this to her?" Penelope asked.

Janna grinned. "Not who, What. We're looking at a very powerful demon that at the very least, wants to make everyone in Echo Creek a slave to his will, and it just got cut loose into the city yesterday." Marco groaned and laid back in his seat, eyeing the ceiling. "You make it sound like it wasn't you who set it loose."

"Does that matter? I'm trying to stop this thing, so if you don't want to help me, that's fine, Diaz. I know I'm partially responsible for Jackie getting hurt like this, but at least I'm gonna do something about it."

Marco gave her a sarcastic smirk and nodded understandingly as he folded his hands together in his lap. "Then I guess all is forgiven right?"

"Marco, stop," Penelope sighed, surprising everyone in the room. No one should have been more upset than her, but now, even with Jackie injured and bedridden, she found it hard to see his reasoning of resentment. She turned back to Janna, looking for some kind of guidance. "What do you need? We can get all of Mewni behind us to make sure-"

"No no no, that's a bad idea," Janna interrupted, "people find out about this thing, they're gonna lose it. So we need to take it down quiet, and quick. I'm taking Star and Marco to hunt for it at sundown when it's weakest, but now that you're here, I have an idea on how you can help."

"And hows that?" Penelope asked, meeting the new girl with piercing eyes and fighting back a very strong pang of jealousy at the obvious inclusion of only two individuals. She'd be having a word with her boyfriend before she left, to be sure.

Janna leaned on the bed, folding her arms and shooting the Princess her cockiest grin to date. "You're gonna keep the big wigs in the M.R.C. from getting suspicious of something going bump in the night. Throw em off our trail so they don't lose their shit and get everyone riled up."

"You want me to lie to an entire city about a potential threat that could end all life inside it, and do so without raising any suspicion?" Penelope inquired, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yup," was all Janna responded with.

Penelope finally smiled at the new girl and extended an open hand to shake. "Piece of cake, girlfriend. I'll keep them off your backs. And you," she began, looking to Marco and pulling him to her with her eyes, "a word please." He and Star both exchanged a quick look before he stood up and followed her into the hallway.

When the two were good and alone outside, she looked him up and down and folded her arms, a near glare on her face. "Spill it. I think you still look as dashing as ever, but you also kinda look like garbage this morning. You weren't answering any of my calls last night, you smell like Pony Heads last sleepover, and you look like you barely slept last night." She stopped herself and looked around, making sure the hallway was still empty. "What happened last night? I was worried sick about you. Were you out with Star?"

"No!" Marco answered quickly, "I was just hanging out with some other guy friends of mine, and I had a few too many drinks is all. Nothing to worry about."

Penelope didn't seem to buy it, arching a disbelieving eyebrow as she continued to stare him down. "Marco, I like you. A lot. But you don't strike me as a 'party person', and I've only ever seen you hanging out with Reynard, and the people in that room over there." She took a deep breath and leaned in closer, taking his hand. "If there's something going on with you, something bad, I think I deserve to know. What are you not telling me?"

His eyes dashed to the side once, then twice, before he finally let out the breath he had been holding. 'Maybe it's time for the truth,' he thought to himself. "Last night...I was trying to forget what happened. You know... with Reynard," he whispered to her, "I kept hearing things and seeing things, and I was trying to drown all of that out. I didn't want to tell you because you already have enough to worry about, without me being dramatic."

Penelope stared at him with wide eyes. "Is...is that it? You just...got hammered because of a fight, and didn't think you should tell me because I have 'enough to worry about'?" She wasn't sure if she simply didn't want to believe him, or if it just sounded too ridiculous to be true. Something wasn't adding up quite right, so she tried pressing further, leaning closer and meeting his eyes. "And how does Star fit into all this? You both look terrible."

"Sheee...had some training super late last night with her mom, some kind of hardcore wand training, so we met up in the morning for our usual business. We got the call to come here almost right away, and Janna said she needed Stars magic to help with the demon." Marco gave her a thin smile, but Penelope wasn't sold yet.

"So you go out and drink all night after bailing on our double date, to forget about some fight you had, and your first reaction when you're sober is to hang out with Star?" She seemed somewhat hurt at the idea she was proposing, but her voice spelled annoyed more than anything else.

"Well...I was just-" he began, but Penelope cut him off by holding up a finger and looking away. Marco pressed his lips together and waited for the inevitable storm. "You killed like two of those vermin, Marco. I know other warriors that have killed a hundred and haven't so much as sneezed about it."

Marco stared off to the side for a moment before turning to face Penelope with an angry glare,"Well, maybe I'm not cut out to be a warrior then, huh?" He asked, his tone harsh, getting rather impatient himself, "Maybe I'm too soft for what I do, but I agreed to be a guide, not a soldier! I've shown that I'll fight to protect myself and the people I care about, but I will never enjoy killing something. If you can't accept that-" He stopped himself.

Penelope turned to face him, her eyes getting wider, and nodded slowly before reaching out and taking his hand. They stood in awkward silence for a few tense seconds, before she finally spoke up. "I'm sorry. It's just… really easy to forget that humans haven't been fighting these beasts as long as we have, given how similar we are. We get numb to it very quickly. I'm sorry, Marco. You're not too soft, you just have too big of a heart, more than those creatures deserve."

She started to pull away, but Marco placed a stronger grip on her hand and pulled her into an enveloping warm hug, resting his head on hers. "Please don't apologize to me. I'm the one who owes you a much bigger apology, Penelope."

"What for? I'm the one talking trash, and I'm the one who has kinda been treating Star like shit," she noted, accepting his hug. Marco felt those words like ice up his spine as a fresh wave of guilt washed over him.

"It's okay, you're just protective. I admit Star and I have been overstepping a bit lately, but you know how she gets with her friends." He felt Penelope nod against his chest, and an idea presented itself. "How about tonight, we have a double date with her and Tom? I won't leave early, and you can be as protective as you want. I won't say a word, and we can all just enjoy a nice night together, since I bailed yesterday."

A few moments of speculation rolled by before he felt Penelope nod again, this time pulling back and smiling up at him with a new gleam of excitement in her eyes. "That sounds fantastic, Marco. Deal. And I'll try to turn down the 'possessive girlfriend' dial, just a little bit."

"Alright then!" Marco exclaimed, maybe a little too excited, "after we're done with the weird 'Janna business', we can all meet up at Pannuci's Pizza for some dubble dayte akshuuun!" Penelope giggled at his over the top nature and gave him a playful shove. "Keep talking like that and you won't get any dessert, ya goofball."

Marcos's cheeks lit up like a stovetop, but he held face and grinned, leaning in and giving her a soft kiss on the lips. 'Hmm, cinnamon,' he thought to himself before stepping back. "C'mon, let's head back in. The sooner we catch this thing, the sooner we can enjoy ourselves again."

"Except you 'enjoyed yourself' last night, huh? I'm sorry that I missed it, . Next time you go out drinking... don't forget to call me, yeah?" she quipped, ruffling his hair as they walked back towards the room. But she noticed Marco get stiff, and not in a fun way. There was something painful about the way he moved, all the way back to the room. She was almost sure it was her imagination.

When they were all back in the hospital room, Penelope and Marco sharing the couch while Star and Janna stood beside Jackie, Janna began going over everyone's role. She had a new, commanding air about her, and when she spoke, everyone listened.

"Penelope, you're on reconnaissance and control. Anyone says anything related to this thing, I wanna know, and you isolate the leak then and there." Penelope nodded, and Janna then turned to Marco.

"Marco, you're with me. This thing has a knack for throwing people around, so we may need someone agile, and good with a weapon...just in case. You're also gonna be reconnaissance, so use what you know about the city, both of them, to find out where this baddie is hiding based on what Penelope tells us today." Marco nodded and Janna continued on to Star, donning a wicked grin as she spoke.

"And you, Miss Firepower. You're gonna be our main point of attack. My knowledge of the occult, and your magic, we're gonna mashup together to make something very very powerful. A new kind of magic that might be able to banish this thing for good, or better yet: destroy it. So you're with me and Marco, and when we make a move, you and your wand are by my side at all times."

Star matched Janna's grin and nodded eagerly, brandishing her wand with a hum of pink magic. "You got it, Janna Banana. You and me, dream team!"

Janna smiled and shook her head, wrapping a hand around her fist. "I like that. If we do code names, remember that one," she laughed.

Turning to Jackie last, Janna let her amused air fall flat, in lieu of a more somber address. "And you, 'Jackel', you're job is to get better, so I can properly slug you for losing your cool on me at my place."

Jackie rolled her eyes and grinned, making the bandages around her head flex. "When am I gonna learn," she mumbled sarcastically, "with you, trouble always follows."

Janna seemed to stop at that, those words hanging heavier on her shoulders than she could have imagined, but continued with a confident smile nonetheless. "You all have your jobs, so we can move out when you're ready. I'll be at my house grabbing some...things, Star, Marco, you meet me there."

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

An hour after the group had dispersed around the neighboring cities, Star and Marco walked up the driveway to a house straight out of a magazine, and a horror movie. They stopped just before the walkway leading to the door began, taking in the colorful flower garden, the open front door, the lavender paint decorating the walls, and every window that was left in shards glittering on the grass.

"Don't let your guard down," Marco warned, not turning to face her, "I know she seemed...okay, in the hospital. But Janna can be a lot of things if you don't know how to handle her."

Star wanted to think he was joking but what she had seen so far, both at the hospital and here, was enough to shelf that idea. "I'll be careful. What do you think we're doing here?" She asked quietly as they stepped through the open door.

Marco made to answer, but the sound of the door slamming shut behind them made them jump in surprise as a voice boomed from the top of the staircase. "WHO STEPS THOUGH THE DOOR TO DESPAIR, UNDER THE ROOF OF THE ORDONIA HOUSEHOLD?!" Following the voice, the two found Janna, grinning down at them with a stack of books at her side, and a backpack slung over one shoulder.

She made her way down the staircase and gestured toward the living room with her free hand as she chuckled to herself. "Jeez, you guys could stand to lighten up a bit, I doubt he's coming back here anytime soon."

Star and Marco exchanged an uneasy glance before following her into the den, each taking a seat beside the other across from the self-proclaimed governess of the occult. "Alright, Janna, we're here," he began, trying to decipher the language on the books, and failing, " what's step two of your glorious plan?"

But she didn't answer. Janna simply examined the two in further detail, noticing they had since cleaned up and were both maintaining several inches of space between them. Cocking an eyebrow, she asked "So what really went down last night? You guys see a ghost?"

She noticed them stiffen almost immediately, but it was Star who spoke up first. "Nothing out of the ordinary, I had wand practice and Marco was dealing with the other kind of demon. What's in the bag?" Janna leaned back in her chair, using an arm to prop her head up. "That would be my bag of secrets. But since we're not in a sharing mood, you'll have to wait and see."

Marco didn't let the subtle accusation pass him by, instead opting to further the conversation of their target rather than their respective evenings. "Alright so, what...exactly...are we dealing with here?" he asked, meeting Janna's eyes. She gave him a grin, shaking her head dismissively. "Something nasty, that's about all I know. It draws power from fear, it's a surefire demon, and it's reeeeeaaaaaally pissed that I kicked it out of my house."

"And does it know who you are? Is it intelligent enough to figure stuff out, like who your friends are?" he asked, eyeing her nervously. Janna slowly nodded and gave him a half-hearted grin. "Probably. But i doubt it knows what to do with that information... Yet. So for now, we wait and see what moves it might make."

It was another several hours before they realized that the mission might be more short term. Star had excused herself to catch some Z's in the upstairs bedroom, while Janna and Marco continued to discuss the finer details of what they were up against. Despite the distinct feeling of unease in his stomach as he learned more and more about her plan, it took three more hours to hammer out a plan both of them could agree to. With the sun just starting to dip below the western horizon, Marco finally got the call they had been waiting for.

"Yeah, this things apparently making waves on social media, but people just think it's someone's publicity stunt," Penelope explained over the phone, "I think it's down at the echo creek park? There are a lot of trees and junk, and people have been avoiding it all day, saying it's giving them a weird vibe or something. I hope that helps."

"That's perfect, we can use that and we'll try to get it under control as soon as we can," Marco answered. Janna noticed his stern expression as he addressed his girlfriend over the phone, but decided it was just him being confident. "We'll let you know what happens, and we'll keep you posted. Try putting some stuff up on social media to make people believe it less, it could help us in the long run."

"Okay, Babe. Be safe out there, I want my dashing warrior back unharmed," Penelope replied before the two hung up, leaving Marco and Janna alone with the quiet room. She met his eyes and nodded, slinging her backpack over her shoulder before calling out to Star upstairs.

"Do you think it's gotten stronger? Like, too strong even for her?" He asked, but Janna only gave him a shrug.

"Maybe? I dunno. We're just gonna have to see. If your super powered bed-buddy doesn't have enough juice to stop him, then I don't think much of anything will." Marco ignored her not so subtle jab, for the millionth time that day, and made his way to the stairs just as Star came bounding down.

"You guys ready for an adventure?" She asked excitedly.

Marco wanted to be grim about it, but Janna offered a high five and grinned at the prospect. "Hell yeah! But don't be surprised if things get messy, Star!"

Star stopped for a moment when she noticed the windows of the house, and pulled out her wand. "Speaking of messy, Hyper Refraction Cleanup!" she shouted. At her words, the house began to shift around like a prism, and through every facet, a windows glass would self repair until the entire property was cleaned and organized. Janna would owe Star, a lot, by the end of the day.

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

As the trio snuck through the gates of Echo Park, the sun was just beginning to dip into the horizon, casting a blaze of reds and oranges into the sky. It would have been absolutely stunning, if the venue around them wasn't so downright creepy. Marco subconsciously reached for his sword and looked to check on Star, his instincts telling him she was in danger, but he held fast, brushing it off as his nerves getting the best of him.

He decided the best way to put his worries aside, was to come up with a plan of attack. "So, should we split up? Or do we wanna take it by sector? I can-"

Janna was on him in the blink of an eye, a single finger pressed against his lips. "First, shh. We're trying to surprise this thing. Second, why the fuck would we split up? Are you that high on ecstasy from yesterday that you wanna risk your life twice in one day? You'd so be the first to die in any horror movie..."

Marco caught his breath, her question catching him in a corner, but Star, bless her, came to his rescue with one of her own. "Hey, guys? When does the park close?"

Marco and Janna checked their phones before he met her eyes. "Not for another couple of hours, why?"

"Because there's no one here," Star answered. They had been walking for at least a minute, well into the park, but they hadn't seen a soul around. Not even a bird, or a squirrel.

Marco looked around, but even down the hills, and in the woods beside them, there was nothing. "That's...weird. Do you think it has something to do with-" he began, but Janna silenced him with a barrage of shushes.

"Don't acknowledge it. If it is our little friend, then it's trying to get us spooked. It's a dominance thing, and it makes them stronger. So just ignore it." Marco gave her an unsteady nod, and the trio continued walking. Star heard a twig snap in the woods beside them, and almost turned to look, but Marco put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and stared forward.

"Something doesn't feel right, Janna," he whispered to her, but she only shook her head and rolled her eyes. "It's just trying to mess with you. Ignore the distractions, and the bigger picture becomes clear." She stopped the group and took off her backpack, setting it on the ground and digging around inside until she found what she was looking for.

She pulled out two long, L-shaped stems of copper wire, capped with wooden knobs on the ends, letting them spin freely in her hands. Marco raised a curious eyebrow at the strange tools and waited for an explanation.

"They're called dowsing rods. They can help you find things with particular energy fields, and spirits can use em to answer questions." Wordlessly, she held both wires out in front of her by the handles on the smaller segments, and let them rotate freely until they both pointed directly left. Into the woods.

"Yeah, hard pass," Marco snorted, "We're not walking straight into the woods to get jumped."

He was ready to call this whole thing off when Star grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. He turned to look at her and found her already staring at him with nervous, unsteady blue eyes. "Marco, this thing could hurt people. Like it hurt Jackie. I'm right here next to you, okay? We got each other's backs."

"I'd say get a room you two, but Star's right. No turning back now, Diaz," Janna offered as she took the first tentative steps into the trees. Marco met Star's gaze one more time before they too followed into the thick underbrush that evaded the sun's light.

Marco kept looking over his shoulder, sure he could hear something, either a twig snap, or a rustle in the branches, but any time he looked, there was nothing. Star was guilty of hearing things as well, and the two found themselves subconsciously reaching for their respective weapons, just in case. Janna, however, continued her stride forward, both metal rods pointed exactly forward, her eyes following suit.

"What do we do, when we find it?" Marco asked just above a whisper.

Janna shrugged to herself, careful not to disturb the rods. "We better hope it hasn't found us already. But if we're lucky, then we're gonna use everything I brought to banish it from this dimension."

Star perked up at that, and took a step to match Jannas speed. "I can open a portal, if that might help. We can push it through and-"

But Janna interrupted her with a snort. "Doesn't work like that, sister. This thing doesn't have a body, so you can't push it. And if even if we could push it out, it'll just come right back in the way it came."

Marco darted his eyes to left, finding only a conspicuous tree stump, and moved closer to the other two. "You said this thing draws power from fear, right?" Janna nodded. "So, if we're just not afraid, it can't hurt us? What if it just runs?"

"I never said it wouldn't be able to hurt us, Diaz," Janna quipped, moving to the right to follow the point of the rods, "it'll just be harder for it to get inside your head. It's up to you to not die on me."

"Like Jackie almost did?" Marco asked. He knew the comment wasn't fair, and that Janna was truly sorry for what had happened to Jackie. But at the same time, his skin was crawling with anxiety and lashing out helped him take his mind off the invisible threat looming over them all. Janna ignored him as they entered a small clearing in the woods. When they reached the center, the rods crossed paths, forming an X in front of her.

"We're here," she muttered. Marco and Star instinctively went back to back, their weapons drawn and ready as Janna rifled through her pack for a particularly thick book covered in animal parts, like key chains.

"What does it look like?" Marco asked as he scanned the surrounding tree line for any sign of their objective.

Janna simply gave him a shrug and began pawing through her book for pre-marked pages. "Dunno. I told you it doesn't have a body, so it could look like anything," she answered with a wave of her hand.

"That doesn't help us at all!" He shot back in a whisper.

"Hey, guys?" Star asked, still searching the air and ground around them. Janna and Marco took a moment to stop their search and squabbling. "Is it just me, or is this place, quiet to you?" She watched as Marco and Janna exchanged an unsteady look before directing their senses to the forest around them. What they discovered was alarming as it should have been so painfully obvious.

"I don't hear anything, not even a breeze," Janna noted.

Marco shook his head and held a cupped hand to his ears, listening, but all that came was the usual whine of blood rushing to his head. "This park is in the middle of the city, we should be able to hear something, but…" he let his words trail off. They had lived in the city their entire life, even Star having since gotten used to the hum, or the ambient noise of the town. But here, there was nothing.

All three members of the group were on high alert, listening for any sign of disturbance around them when Star grabbed their attention. "Do the woods on Earth always do that?" She asked, pointing to the tree line in front of her. When Janna and Marco looked, it sent chills up their spines. From the grouped trees, and through the shrubs below, came a pouring, purple fog that rolled ever closer to slowly engulf everything it touched.

"No...no they do not," Marco answered, readying his sword and lowering into a defensive stance, but Janna placed a hand on his shoulder and shook her head.

"Swordplay won't work here, Prince Charming. Put these on, it'll help keep him from taking over if you go down." She produced three small necklaces, each adorned with an assortment of plants, bones, and rocks, which they took gladly and donned without question. "Now this is the tricky part," she began, "don't let it mess with your head, don't listen to it, and do not, show fear. Unless you wanna end up like Jackie."

"Thanks, Janna. Always telling me exactly what I want to hear," Marco growled, sheathing his sword as the fog finally surrounded them, and stopped several yards around them. Star made to say something, but before she could utter another word, all three of them felt their skin crawl, and the hairs on their arms stand up as a voice seemed to echo through the forest.

"More have come to play it seems," it chuckled. "New faces, and one, so much more… familiar…" Marco wasn't sure if it was all in his head, but the ominous, deep voice seemed to resonate in his very bones. The sensation of being watched suddenly poured over him, and he knew the others could feel it too. They were no longer alone.

Janna immediately took charge, taking a step forward towards the fog and holding her book out in front of her. "Hic non receperint vos. Ad a quo factum est," she shouted, slamming her fist down on an open page. The sound of her hand echoed through the forest, and for a moment, the fog seemed to recede, but it was short-lived.

"Your pathetic parlor tricks hold no sway over me… girl. I have evolved, and now, I will gorge myself on your delicious fears."

"Well, worth a shot I guess," Janna muttered. She flipped the pages of her book, searching for one in particular as the fog started inching closer to them, reducing the size of their visible island to little more than ten feet across as it forced them back towards one another.

"Janna, we're kind of on the clock here," Marco muttered, stepping towards the center and finding himself back to back with Star, " so if you have something with a bit more kick, now would be the time to use it."

He made a point to not show any fear, and to hold an expressionless face, but he could feel the entity staring at him from all directions. It seemed to pull at his hidden thoughts, coaxing even the smallest bit of anxiety to the surface. He chanced a look at Star, and found her struggling just as much.

"Yes, show me what you've learned. Strike me down little witch, avenge the one I've broken," the voice laughed as the fog was nearly upon them. Marco looked nervously to Janna, breaking his face of neutral surprise, and found her setting the book down. On both open pages were identical pentagrams, circled with countless symbols and markings. Once it had been placed, she stepped forward, standing on both pages, and clasped both hands together, as if in prayer.

"You want vengeance?" She asked as the world seemed to slow around her, and she felt a thousand eyes lock with hers, "I got your vengeance, bitch." She let her hands fall to her sides to hang limply as she whispered incomprehensible words to herself. Marco felt an immense pressure from all sides, like an unseen force moving towards him from every direction, but it stopped just as quickly as it started when Jannas limp hands seemed to grip the air around her.

"You believe I will allow you to use such magic again? You. Will. Burn!" the voice commanded.

Lifting with all her might, Janna forced the air in her hands higher until they were above her shoulders, as the tomes in her book began to glow a brilliant blue. The pressure began to return, fighting against an invisible wall around them, and just when they felt like it would burst, Janna muttered the triggering phrase of her spell.

"Kutoka kwa giza ulilokuja, utarudi kwa utupu. Wacha nguvu ya taa irudishe nyuma, na roho yako iwe moto." As she finished, and the fog began to seep through their invisible barrier, Janna forced her hands down with a speed reminiscent of dropping weights, punching the open pages of the book as a brilliant wave of blue light burst in every direction, forcing the fog back into the woods and bending the trees against its power.

As the light began to recede, and the trees settled with a rush of leaves after the rolling wave of blue energy had dissipated, Janna slumped her shoulders, drained after such force. "What was THAT?" Star yelled, wide-eyed in amazement, "How did you do magic!? And without a wand!"

"Trick of the trade sister, a lady never tells," Janna mumbled with a smile. Overhead, the usual hum of the city could be heard past the treetops, and a gentle breeze began to ruffle the leaves around them.

"You think it worked?" Marco asked, chancing a look deeper into the woods, seeing nothing out of the ordinary.

Janna rolled her eyes and struggled to stand, closing the book at her feet. "Star, smack him when you get the chance, but make sure he doesn't enjoy it." Star let out a giggle, turning to Marco to rib him a little as well, but found him glaring to the side. She met his eyes, to which he softened his gaze, but the two remained in silent agreement to not comment, as Janna finally got to her feet.

"Alright, I say we sprinkle some holy water around this place, maybe-" she stopped, her eyes wide as Star and Marco turned to look at her, their alarm quickly growing.

"What is it?" he asked, moving closer, "what happened?"

She didn't move. Despite the calm attitude they had adopted moments ago, and the confident air they had prior to that, she looked petrified, despite her earlier warning. "He's still here," was all she could say, her voice barely above a whisper.

Marco started, too shocked to move, but he found that he wouldn't have been given a chance. Before anyone else could speak, all sound in the forest and beyond simply stopped, leaving a cacophony of silence in their ears.

Star gripped the hilt of her wand, ready for anything as the rolling purple fog returned with a gale-force wind, bending the trees of the park all toward the center of the clearing where she stood. Marco steadied himself and squinted against it as Star gripped Janna's shoulders to keep her down. The fog was rolling now, and it was so thick, the dusk twilight could no longer be seen, leaving them all in a state of perpetual darkness.

"I will admit, that was something, even for a human. But you've no idea what you're up against," the voice boomed over the wind. It echoed inside each of their skulls, unwilling to be ignored. "Perhaps a brief lesson is in order…before I drink my fill."

The wind continued to roar, and the fog was so thick, they couldn't see their own hands in front of their faces. Their senses were on overload, and as Marco struggled to keep his footing, he found the world spinning around his feet as he stumbled to the ground. "Star!" he shouted, shielding his eyes from debris, "Star! Are you there?!"

He heard a muffled "yeah!" over the wind, but he couldn't tell from where. "Do you have Janna?!"

He waited, listening as best he could for an answer, but none came. The wind was just too much for him to focus, and soon he couldn't even think. "Staaaaar!" He shouted again, and this time, as his voice was entirely drowned by the wind, it suddenly stopped, clearing the fog back to reveal a lone, sole figure standing before him in the dead quiet.

"That's not...possible," he whispered, staring at the eviscerated form of the crocodile monster he had cut down just a day prior. Fresh blood still oozed from the trembling ruin of its neck, now cleaved in twain from the collar to the throat. The disembodied voice rang out again from all sides, echoing through the small pocket of clarity he resided in.

"The noble 'would be' warrior, reduced to a sniveling child. How valiant were your intentions, and now you stand, a shell, your fears staining the honor your weapon carries."

Marco fell to his knees, staring at the beast before him as hot tears fell down his face. It showed no emotion, not even blinking. The monster just let crimson blood trickle down its chest as it slowly reached a single hand forward, pointing at Marco with a red-stained finger. "I'm sorry," the boy whispered, ignoring his surroundings, "you wouldn't stop… I-I had to do it!"

The crocodile shifted, circling around him and raising its sword, but it wasn't raised for him. It lurched forward to his right, and Marco watched as Star, Janna, Jackie, Penelope, and Reynard were all struck down by its blade, as he was powerless to help.

"An ocean of your tears will not wash away the blood on your hand's boy, and you are far too weak to raise your sword to kill, even if it meant protecting those you love," it chanted into his ear as icy chills ran down his spine. "Surrender yourself to me, give me your soul, and I can release you from this fear, forever…"

Marco saw the monster shift and distort until it was nothing more than a mirror image of himself, adorned in the finest suit of armor he had ever seen, crested with purple diamonds on its chest and helmet. Aloft in its hand, Silverlight shone like like a scarlet star, its blade stained a deep red along its jagged, almost torn edge.

"Serve me, and you will never know the fear of battle again. Your name will be known all across the universe, and the blood of your enemies will bath the stars in between."

Marco felt weightless, like all the pressure on his body was lifted, and he no longer felt the cold chill in the air around him. It was warm and inviting, like sitting by a campfire drunk at night as all his worries began to wash away. Beside him, the fog began to clear, revealing a frenzied Star, and the two immediately went back to back as the world churned around them. She didn't seem to hear the voice as he did, but it continued speaking to him like nothing had changed.

"And my… what's this? That blossoming love within you, for a woman claimed by another... Oh, you wretched child. But through me, you may have her, and all else I have promised you. You will grow old in her arms, never again afraid to speak your heart."

Marco saw Star through the fog, several feet before him, instead of behind, as the armor dissipated into mist. She was happy and smiling, beckoning him closer with a silent promise to never let go of the love they would share.

Behind him, Star could neither see nor hear what he could, but instead, saw another Marco before her, glaring angrily with a toxic rage she had never seen before. He looked almost in pain, but as if that pain was in direct response to her presence. "Marco? What's wrong?" she asked, tempted to step forward and calm her best friend, but too terrified of his fierce expression to move.

"Your fear is as childish and naive as you are, but nonetheless, Princess: It feeds me. With all the power in the world, your greatest weakness is losing the one destined to lay down his life...in exchange for yours. Pathetic…"

"That's not possible, Marco wouldn't leave me!" She shouted in response, furious at the very idea.

But the boy before her disagreed, pointing towards her and bellowing in disgust, "You did this to me! You were never my friend, and if I could take back the last two weeks, I would."

Star made to retort, to say anything to deny this figure its validity, but it continued, silencing her where she stood as it brought up knowledge that was only hers to keep. "I will never, want to be with someone like you, especially after last night. You betrayed my trust, Tom's trust, and Penelope's trust. You're worse than a monster."

Star felt her heart slow as an icy dagger seemed to glide through her flesh, tearing it in two. "But… I thought-"

"You don't think, you never have. You're a little ball of destruction that ruins people's lives. I was happy before you came along, and now I'm a murderer," he returned with fury before slowing to a light snarl. "Just go back home where you belong. Your kind isn't welcome on Earth."

Star fell to her knees, desperate to reach out to him, to do or say anything to make him stay, but just as seamlessly as he had appeared, he vanished like smoke in the wind leaving her alone with a shadowed figure behind her, resting its ethereal claws on her shoulder.

"Poor Butterfly, left behind by the one you thought you could trust. This future terrifies you, but through me, it doesn't have to come to pass." As it's words floated into her ear, Star felt the warmth leaving her chest in lieu of a hollow throbbing that could not be sated. Heartbroken, she had no choice but to listen, swaying limply with the wind.

The two teens standing back to back watched as the remaining visions faded into nothing, leaving behind only a shadowed form they could both see and hear. It was skinny and deformed, with two glowing yellow eyes in the dark, and they could just barely make out a jagged smile through its honeyed words. As it spoke, the necklaces they wore crumbled to dust and ash, scattered in the wind.

"Surrender yourselves to me, and you will never know fear again. I can give you that which you truly desire, and that which you know you cannot have; each other…" At those words, those soft, beautiful, tempting words, both Star and Marco could feel the willpower draining from their body, as the color seemed to fade from their eyes. It gave way to a deep grey, and their bodies slumped as they listened.

Several feet away, isolated in her own clearing from the fog, Janna knelt over her pack, desperate to find something powerful enough to use against it, and to find a way to get out of this mess. She had been so prepared, but nothing she brought would be powerful enough for what this demon was now capable of.

"Ordonia, you feel it don't you?" the voice beckoned from behind, "that cold, deranged fear that one only faces when they have No. Way. Out. Your friends, have already given themselves to me, and you? You are alone. And you will die, alone," it repeated once more.

Janna watched as an image of Star and Marco glaring at her, followed by Jackie, her parents, and a few figures she didn't recognize. One after the other they all silently screamed at her, but she knew what they were saying. She put them in danger, she was selfish, and she would die alone, with no one by her side.

"Your greatest fear is so well hidden, I'm almost impressed by your callous nature, and your will to deny it," the voice admitted before a shadowed figure knelt before her, "but you don't have to be alone, Ordonia. I am here for you… surrender yourself to me, and you will die surrounded by those you hold dear."

"Coulda sworn… you wanted me dead…" Janna managed to whisper, despite her growing inebriation. The figure shook what was probably its head and extended a clawed, transparent hand towards her, beckoning her to give in. "Not when I see so much potential. So much… Fear.," it's voice resonated within her skull, like chains trying desperately to pull her out of her own body.

A little ways away, Star and Marco stood back to back, watching promised images flutter by as the shadowed figure swirled around them with the wind. Marco saw himself, standing above a parade in his honor, as he was weathered and old, worn from countless adventures, with Star by his side.

Star, on the other hand, was ever so slightly harder to break, and as images passed by of her and Marco dancing in red, kissing in private, sharing a bed, and ruling a freed Mewni, the figure lulled them closer, turning them both to stare its way.

"Surrender yourself to me, and you will both know peace and freedom. I can keep you both together" it cooed, extending two open hands towards them as images of last night came into view behind it. Star was cuddling up to Marco in a moonlit room, both teens smiling blissfully in the warmth of each other's arms. "I can give you to each other, and you will grow old in one another's arms. Every night can be a symphony of pleasure, my children. All you have to do is give in to me and every night will be as last night.

Marco, in his clouded state, loved how that sounded. A lifetime with Star? His best friend? How could he pass that up? And as he watched the foggy version of himself with her, he knew in his heart that that was what he wanted.

But Star felt different. 'Every night will be like last night'. Those words echoed in her mind on repeat as the ghastly figure strolled closer. Star had a brief moment of clarity, remembering how the night actually ended, and felt a new weight overtaking her. It wasn't just the visions of Marco that told her she betrayed his trust, she knew deep down that that was the truth.

'We both have commitments to other people. We're happy with who we're with, and we owe it to them to give them a chance too.' Marcos words seemed to echo in her head, reminding her of her promise. A promise to wait, and be patient for what you want, and to focus on what she has now: A best friend that would do anything for her, and had proven twice now that nothing could ever come between them.

"You can't give me what I really want," Star muttered under her breath, the color returning to her eyes as she felt the warmth leaving her chest. "What? You dare deny this glorious future under my rule?! Your fear will destroy you, but under me, you could have anything! " The figure snapped, but Star shook her head, turning to look at the boy beside her. "My best friend Marco is already everything I could ever need."

The demon could only watch as Star struggled to move, a brilliant white light beginning to glow from her cheek stamps and eyes, illuminating the dark clearing around her and pushing against the roiling purple fog. She felt an unbearable pressure start to weigh down on her as the wind began to pick up again, but she persisted, forcing her wand up to level the gem with the figure before her.

"Sunshine Clusterbomb!" She yelled, blasting several orbs of brilliant golden light from her wand, illuminating the grass at her feet and tearing through the dense fog around them. Marco immediately slumped, falling into a kneel as he caught his breath, the brown hue returning to his eyes as Star quickly grabbed his arm and began pulling him towards Janna.

The witch herself was struggling against the wind, desperate to block the words of the demon from her ears, as Star and Marco slid to a halt beside her. Star blinked hard, the white light leaving her eyes as she gripped Janna's shoulders, forcing her to look up.

"Janna, it's us, we need you to snap out of it so we can get out of here!" Star yelled as the fog quickly began to return around them. Janna chanced a frantic look around, noticing the waning light beginning to fade, and nodded, hurriedly getting to her feet.

"Star, remember that spell I used earlier?" Janna asked, tearing open her book and flipping through the pages, "I'm gonna do it again, but this time, I'm gonna use your wand like a battery. It should be enough to banish this thing for good."

Star nodded, eager to do anything if it meant getting this thing away from them, and stood to Janna's right, each of them keeping one foot on the book. Janna gripped the wand with her right hand, and as the fog continued to roll closer, and the wind began to pick up, she began whispering unknown words to herself. She let her free hand fall limp to her side, Star doing her best to mirror her as Marco felt that telltale pressure beginning to grow, pushing at them from every direction.

"YOU WILL NOT FORCE ME AWAY, YOU NAIVE LITTLE PUPPET! THIS IS MY WORLD NOW, AND I WILL SEE IT KNEEL AT MY FEET OR ELSE RAZE IT TO ASH ABOVE YOUR BONES!" Marco nearly stumbled under the weight those words carried in his head, but he persevered, waiting as Janna and Star both gripped an unseen force in the open hands.

"Woooaaahh," was all Star could whisper as she began to lift the air higher and higher with Janna until it was above their heads, and the sigils on the book began to glow a brilliant gold. The pressure pushing against them was so immense, they could feel the blackout drawing closer, tempting them to simply collapse. Janna grit her teeth, glaring at the visage of the demon before them, its sickly yellow eyes burning with hate.

"Kutoka kwa giza ulilokuja, utarudi kwa utupu. Wacha nguvu ya taa irudishe nyuma, na roho yako iwe moto," she struggled to mutter, and as one, she and Star both forced their free hands down, slamming their fists into the open pages of the book. Marco watched as the world seemed to stop for a moment, frozen in harsh relief as light burst all around him.

From Stars wand, the brilliant golden light returned, and as their hands fell, it too shot down like a radiant beam, crashing into the book with a force that ripped the pages apart. As it's bindings were used as an epicenter, the book unleashed a raging maelstrom of power and golden light that burst in every direction like a shock wave forcing back the fog, the wind, the darkness, and the trees. The demon struggled against the blast of wind that was tearing it's form apart, rattling their minds with its screams of rage.

"I CANNOT BE BANISHED BY THE LIKES OF YOU, MORTALS! YOU WILL BURN, YOU WILL BREAK, AND I WILL BE THERE, STANDING ATOP YOUR WITHERED CORPSES AS I VIOLATE THIS WORLD IN AN OCEAN OF BLOOD!"

Star, Marco, and Janna nearly collapsed under the force of its will assaulting their minds, but as the golden blast continued, the demons form evaporated into the light, taking the purple fog with it. With their enemy gone, little by little the shimmering magic subsided, until it was little more than a breeze. When it was finally over, Janna let out a gasp and fell to her knees, desperate to breathe after the released pressure.

Marco looked around, noticing the flattened trees and scorched Earth, and at the center of the clearing, a tattered, charred book crumbling to dust. He wasn't so surprised at the method, but rather, he was completely dumbfounded by the results. For the second time since he had known her, Marco had just witnessed Stars unbridled power in action.

"That was...really something," he managed to say, rubbing the back of his neck.

Janna looked up and grinned, chuckling to herself. "Yeah. You can say that again Diaz. I really feel like we got him this time, what do you think?" They looked around them at the smoldering remains of the clearing and couldn't help but laugh. Star helped Janna to her feet, the black-haired girl pointing at the still glowing wand. "Star, you gotta let me take that for a spin some time," she joked, prompting a frown from Marco, "I could reeaaally do some crazy magic with something like that behind me."

Star stifled a giggle and shook her head, the three beginning their journey out of the clearing, and out of the forest. "You really could, but nah, the wand would tooootally kill you if you tried to use it." She noticed her friends horrified stares and explained the working of the wand further. "Only a Butterfly can use it, and if someone else tries, the wand will basically blow up, and you'll be dead."

"Well, thanks for the safety tip," Janna laughed back, still riding her euphoric high, "and thanks for helping me out, I'd probably be a mindless zombie or something if you hadn't been here." Star blushed and meant to wave it off, but Marco interjected.

"Janna, that thing was way more powerful than you made it seem. Are you sure it's actually gone?" She wouldn't meet his gaze, turning back to look at the scorched trees and the distant smoldering clearing. "I don't know. He's a lot stronger than anything I've ever read about. We just have to be on our guard, and be ready in case he comes back."

Marco and Star both nodded in agreement, and before long, the small group was back to the open path of the park, the dusk sun long since having set over the horizon. Marco checked his watch and flinched, biting back a curse. "We were in there for two hours?!" He shouted as he grabbed Stars' wrist and pulled her with him, breaking into a sprint. "Sorry, Janna we gotta go! If we see anything, we'll call you!"

As the two crested a hill, Janna called after them, "You're just gonna ditch me here?! How am I gonna get home?!" but they were already gone. "Fine then," she muttered, tightening the straps on her bag and breaking into a run herself, "see ya guys real soon."

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

Fifteen minutes later, Marco and Penelope stood just outside Panucci's Pizza, dressed for the occasion and waiting for their respective counterparts. "Sorry for the short notice, by the way. I'll tell you about what happened when they get here," he offered as he adjusted his red button-up shirt. Penelope simply shrugged it off and donned her spider earrings, her eyes still scanning the streets for Star and Tom.

"Don't worry about it, I was getting worried you were gonna...stand me up to hang out with Star. I got ready as fast as I could after you called." Marco could tell by her voice that she was still a little short about last night, so he pulled her closer and held her gaze, whispering, "Penelope, I need you to be nice to Star tonight, okay?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I am nice to Star, what do you mean?" Marco held a serious expression, taking her hands in his.

"We all went through a lot today, Star especially. So I think you should take extra care to dial the protectiveness down like we talked about. I just want to have a great date with you and not have to deal with any more drama today." He held her gaze for a moment, and finally, she let out a sigh.

"Alright," she mumbled, avoiding his eyes and folding her arms, "but I swear, if she gets too touchy with you, I'm pulling off the gloves and I'm going full bi-"

"Hey, guys!" Star yelled, nearly dragging Tom around a parked car to the front of the restaurant, "nice to see you both again, I feel like we haven't all been in the same place in weeks!" Penelope watched carefully as Star approached them, waiting for her to go in full force for a hug, or something of that close nature, but she just stopped a few feet away and waited for them to respond.

"Thanks for agreeing to come to hang out," Marco offered after a short moment of awkward silence, giving Tom an uneasy look, "You guys ready to head in?"

Tom snorted and shoved his hands in the pockets of his jackets. "Let's get one thing straight, Mango; I didn't agree to 'hang out.' I agreed to eat, and make Star happy. I'd much rather be doing anything but hanging out in some lame-ass Earth restaurant."

He made to head inside and get this evening over with, but Penelope cleared her throat. "His names Marco, not Mango. And If you wanna 'make Star happy', maybe you should start by dropping the bullshit angsty teen act, yeah?" Marco looked petrified, given he was already nervous about being in such close proximity to Stars' significant other, as Tom simply stood there, speechless.

"Hoookay!" Star cut in, shoving Tom toward the door and pulling Marco with her, "why don't just head inside and get started!" Penelope bit her tongue, watching her drag her boyfriend along, and decided it best to stop at one outburst. For now.

When everyone was properly seated at a rounded table, Star sitting across from Marco, and Penelope sitting across from Tom, a waiter deposited their menus, smiling from ear to ear. As they began to skim them over, he began his usual routine.

"Welcome to Panucci's, can I start you off with something to drink?" he asked pleasantly. Tom pretended to read the pamphlet he was given, before asking for some whiskey or even some rum splashed with hot sauce.

"Uhhh, we don't serve that, heeereee, perhaps I could get you a Pepsi?" the waiter offered. Tom met his eyes and simply shook his head, not bothering to argue on this one. "No. Lemonade will be fine. Idiot."

"Tom, you should be a little nicer to him, he's just telling you what they have," said Star, smiling apologetically to the waiter, "I'll have one of those 'Ginger Ale' sodas, I've heard they're pretty good."

"Oh man, thank corn you're not ordering one of those 'Rainbow Fizzes' you always get at the Bounce Lounge," Penelope chuckled, making both Star and Marco immediately tense beneath the table, "you always get so wild on those, right? Oh! Remember Ponyhead's 15th? I don't think I've ever laughed so hard when you got up on the bar and started doing the Butterfly Waltz with Prince Kelpbottom."

"You what?" asked Tom, narrowing his eyes at a squirming Star.

Star coughed uncomfortably, her eyes darting around the table. "We were on a break Tom, relax. And yeaaah, but they're just soo amazing. Though, I haven't been to the bounce lounge since Tom and I went," she answered.

The whole table sat in a silence lasting longer than would be comfortable, until Marco finally saved her. "I'm sorry, Rainbow what? Is the 'Bounce Lounge' some kind of trampoline park?"

Star met his gaze and broke into a smile, catching on almost immediately and deciding to play along. "It's such a good drink, it tastes like those little colorful candies you have… SKITTLES!" she shouted, startling the waiter, "and the Bounce Lounge isn't a park, it's like a dance club in the clouds, maybe I'll take you sometime."

Marco made to comment but Penelope coughed into her hand, her voice getting serious. "Maybe you should tell the guy what you want to drink, Marco? He's probably super busy, like you when you're working."

"Sorry, sorry," he chuckled, missing her jab entirely, "Just a Pepsi for me, and, oh! Penelope, you gotta try the vanilla creme soda here, it's like liquid ice cream." Penelope pressed her lips together and double-checked the menu, only to find that she couldn't seem to locate any beverages.

"Okay, I'll try it, but if it's bad, I'm stealing your drink instead," she threatened with a smile.

"Deal," Marco returned, grinning at her before the waiter nodded and left to prepare their drinks. When the group was good and alone, Penelope took the opportunity to make conversation on the only topic she figured everyone knew about. "Sooo, Marco. How was the hunt today? You said something happened, but you never told me what."

Marco made to answer, but Tom cut in, leaning forward with a sneer to address the topic he could finally show interest in. "Wait wait wait, you hunt? On Earth? What were you chasing, some rabbits? A squirrel?" Again, Marco made to answer, but Penelope shot a burning look at the Prince and locked eyes with him, hidden aggression seeping through her words.

"Actually, yes. He was out hunting today, for a demon."

Before Marco could elaborate, and before Tom could form a cohesive response to the threatening insinuation, the waiter returned, placing four cups in front of their respective customers. Once everyone had their drink, he asked politely, "And does everyone know what they're having today, or should I give you some more time?"

"Yes!" Star shouted, eager to have something beneficial to add to the table that wasn't an underhanded jab. The date was going down in flames, fast, and she needed a good distraction. "Just like, I dunno, two pepperonis pizzas, please. I think everyone here likes those."

The table murmured in silent agreement as the waiter nodded politely and took off towards the kitchen, having unknowing saved the restaurant from an accidental arsonist. Star let out a breath of relief, eager to keep the newly found peace from fading. "So, Tom! How's stuff in the Underworld? Have you heard anything about back home?"

Tom started to speak but bit his tongue before any heated words could leave his mouth. He knew Mewni was a touchy subject for Star, so for now, he decided it best to play it safe. "Sorry, Starship. We haven't heard anything from Mewni, good or bad. It's kind of a dead zone to us right now."

He noticed her shoulders slump at the expected lack of news, but continued, hoping to save her mood at least a little. "Look on the bright side though, at least I can still come visit you, right?" Star only nodded glumly at his proposal, Marco looking to Penelope for some sort of comment, but none came.

"Sorry for asking, Tom," Star offered, forcing a smile and taking his hand, "We're just a little in the dark right now, and any news helps. But enough about home. Penelope, how's your guided tour of Echo Creek been?"

The brunette beside Marco seemed to tense at the question, but like any self-respecting member of a royal family, she was proficient at keeping face during a meeting. "It's been great, Jackie's shown me a lot of really cool places. But I gotta admit, I'm a little jealous of you, since your guide is just a bit more...enticing."

"Yeeaah," Star agreed before mentally slapping herself, hurriedly continuing as Marco shot her an alarmed look, "I mean, ya know, he can fight, which is super helpful… and he uhm… well, he's punctual! Never been late once!"

"Sounds pretty lame to me," Tom fired from across the table, sipping his drink, but Penelope beat the rest of them to the punch. "If by lame you mean honorable and respectful, then I suppose you'd be right. But somehow I feel like you're not well acquainted with those principles either."

Toms right eye twitched with barely suppressed anger, but before any more needling blows could be delivered across the table, a new voice made itself heard beside the table.

"So after almost dying and having our souls harvested, this is what you ditched me for?" Janna asked, pulling a chair into place to sit between Star and Tom, "And here I was hoping the nightmare visions were over."

"Who the fuck are you?" Tom asked, still reeling from his shattered pride, as Penelope turned to look incredulously at Marco. "Almost died? What's she talking about?"

"Well, I wouldn't say almost died, more like turned into mindless zombies," Janna corrected, taking Toms lemonade for a heavy sip.

Marco made to clarify but Penelope leaned closer to him, her eyes wide in shock. "Zombies?! You guys were gone for an afternoon, Marco! What the hell happened out there?"

Star cut in, glancing nervously at Marco as she did. "Well we were gonna tell you guys this evening, but it's really not-"

"I'll get to you next," Penelope fired from across the table, "Honestly, what happened to 'scope it out, don't get caught'?"

Marco bit his lip and stared into his lap as he gripped his knees, unsure how to respond. "Well, things got hairy, and we were ambushed. It wasn't by choice, you know."

"I thought you were 'gonna do your job, and keep her safe'," Tom growled at him, not hiding his very clear contempt, "What the fuck, man."

Marco blinked hard at the not so subtle accusation, looking from Penelope, to Star, then back to Tom. "You can remember all that, but not my name?" he asked.

Janna cleared her throat, hoping to get things back on track, extending a hand for Tom to ignore. "Janna Ordonia, local witch, master of the dark arts, and liaison to the otherworldly, at your service. Can we ask you some questions about demons?"

Tom went from passively ignoring her, to actively looking for a distraction before Star gave him a gentle kick under the table, forcing him to respond. "Gah! Damnit- Sure! Fine! What do you want to know?!"

Star leaned forward first, looking at Tom with newly curious eyes. "Do you know anything about demon illusion magic? We kinda had an incident with a particular demon today, and he was using this, fog, to make us see...thiiiinnngsss,"

"What kinda things?" Penelope asked, not bothering to hide her disbelief. On Mewni, illusion magic was something only attainable by a massive quantity of magic, and nearly impossibly by those without the aid of the wand.

Star gave her a crooked shrug and let her eyes wander around the room, avoiding Marco's date. "Ohhh, like. Demon stuff...future junk. It was weird."

Tom snorted, leaning back in his chair as the waiter returned with two large pizzas, setting them down quickly and departing from the tense air of the table. When the food was placed and they were alone, he merely grinned and shook his head. "Well I dunno what you guys were smoking, but illusion magic isn't something demons have access to anymore. That's like some 'power of the ancients' type of bullshit."

"Sounds fun, tell us about that, would ya horns?" Janna shot back, grinning at him as he almost had to physically restrain himself from strangling her.

Instead, turning to Star, he answered in a tight, forced tone. "Unlike what your crazy friend here thinks, no. Ancients are not fun. We locked those freaks down in the Pit where they belong. But it doesn't matter," he began, turning back to Janna with a sarcastic grin of his own, "because the chances of it being literally anything else in this lame ass dimension, are about as high as you must be, barging in on our date and asking for a history lesson!"

"Tom!" Star shouted, glaring at her boyfriend, "Be serious. We saw some really… messed up stuff today. She just wants answers. We all do." Marco made to ask a question of his own, but Penelope jumped in, eyeing star with a raised brow. "I'm still waiting for an answer about how Marco almost got possessed while he was out frolicking with you all day."

Marco tried to point out that all of them were nearly possessed, but Star was ready for the blowback she had received. "We weren't 'frolicking', we were trying to catch this thing before it could hurt someone again," she offered, noticing Penelope's withering glare at the mention of some else getting hurt, like her guide. "Luckily, we did find it, and we blew it into next year. So you're welcome!"

"Yeah, lemme thank you and Janna for putting Marco in danger, again," Penelope snapped, glaring at Star as Marco stammered to calm the boiling table, but Janna threw in "Pretty sure your Boy Toy was fine with it when we met up this morning. Who bit you in boobs?"

"Must be the imaginary demon magic pissing her off," Tom laughed as he rolled his eyes, taking a bite of his pizza, "It'll do that, but hey, what do I know."

Janna glared at the demon prince and muttered, "Less than us, since our 'gifted friend' here didn't bother showing up."

"Hey, I have better things to do than hang out in this shit-hole dimension with a bunch of nobodies since my girlfriend doesn't like the Underworld," Tom muttered as Star narrowed her eyes at him. But it was Marcos turn to speak.

"Maybe she'd wanna hang out there more if you weren't such an asshole," he spat, not sure where this sudden flare of contempt was coming from, "You should probably work on fixing that before she realizes she's tired of being stuck with you."

The entire table fell silent as Marco watched Toms three eyes widen. "What. Did you just say?" the demon muttered as he slowly rose from his seat, the air in the restaurant quickly getting hotter. Rising to the challenge, and keeping his eyes locked with Toms, Marco sneered back, "You heard me, Lucitor."

"Say it again and I'll fucking burn you to goddamn ash, human!" Tom bellowed, shaking the very walls of the restaurant.

"Tom just chill out, he was just jo-" Star began, but Janna shouted over her.

"Just try it horns! I'll turn you inside out before you can light a candle!"

"Janna put that crystal down before-" Star tried again but Penelope cut in, glaring daggers at her.

"How about you reel in your bull-headed boyfriend before I slap those stupid fucking hearts off your face!" she shouted louder as Tom and Janna bickered about demonic powers, the demon of the two setting the napkins ablaze to prove a point. Marco tried to calm Penelope down before she picked a fight she couldn't win, when Star stood up from her seat.

Done with the yelling and the anger, she leaned forward and dropped her fist like a two-ton boulder, smashing the oak table to splinters, and sending the china in every direction. "ENOUGH!" she bellowed, glaring at everyone she could see, but when she caught Marco's gaze, she immediately settled.

He was looking at her not in anger or fear, as the rest of the table was, but in disappointment at the display she had just put on. He was hunched over Penelope, protecting her from the wooden shrapnel that had rent long furrows along his jacket, gently helping her back to her feet as bits of burning wood and silverware trickled from his shoulders. "Are you guys-" Janna began, but Marco held up a hand for silence, and everyone listened.

"I'm sorry for our attitude tonight," he began, giving Penelope a scorching look all her own, "but I think it's time we left. We don't have super strength, magic, or demonic powers, so before the 'regulars' get hurt, I'm going to play the safe kid. Goodnight."

"Dude, no one's gonna-" Tom impatiently began, but Marco shot him a withering glare that made his words die on his lips, shutting him up immediately.

"I said goodnight. Star, I'll see you tomorrow. Janna, go home." He dropped several large bills on the floor before ushering Penelope around some smoldering bits of the table, and out the front door.

When the two were gone, Tom brushed off his suit and moved for the exit as well, muttering "Tell me fucking goodnight? 'Pathetic human can go to hell."

"Tom!" Star called out after him, but Janna patted her shoulder and shrugged.

"Sorry. I might have come in too hot on the whole, 'Demon hunting trip' thing."

"Ya think?!" Star yelled, glaring at her before dropping several gold coins on the counter and leaving. Now alone in the aftermath of a double date from hell, Janna grabbed a particularly uncharred slice of pizza and took a bite. The visions from the park echoed through her mind like a hot breath on a cold day, forcing her to think about what she had seen.

"Way to go, Janna banana," she mumbled to herself, chuckling at the forced nickname, "three new friends in one day, and they all hate you. What other tricks do you have up your sleeve." Pulling her beanie down, she dropped a couple of bills on the counter, and left the building, pizza in hand.

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

On the other side of town, and inside the M.R.C. gates, however, things were just heating up between Marco and Penelope, the latter of which was trailing slightly behind, staring at him with an inquisitive arch in her brow. "Can't you at least tell me what I did wrong?" she asked in desperation.

"Penelope… you should already know why what you did was wrong, but let's see; first, you were incredibly rude to Janna at dinner. I know she crashed our date, but she had good reason. That demon was seriously bad news and it's precisely because of Janna that I'm even able to go out on this date tonight. Next, you threatened to slap Star because she couldn't control that hotheaded asshole Tom… Like anyone can put a leash on that jerk. And finally, the fact that you went nuts today about my mission is a problem in and of itself. I need you to trust me that I'll take care of myself," he grumbled, slowing to allow her to catch up. As she walked beside him, he turned to look at her, impatience written in his eyes.

"Like seriously, what is your problem with Star? She kept her distance, was nice, no hugs… you said you'd dial it down tonight." There was a clear note of exasperation in his voice, like asking that was physically demanding, but Penelope held her ground as they approached the castle grounds.

"I know. But you should have seen how she was looking at you all night, Marco. I think… I think she's sweet on you," she said with distaste.

Marco felt his heart skip a beat upon hearing her suspicions, knowing well in his heart the truth behind it. "Penelope that's-" he began, stopping himself as a wave of guilt seemed to flood his head. He remembered his promise from the night prior, and steeled his nerves. "Even if she was, it wouldn't matter. I'm yours, and only yours, Penelope, for as long as you'll have me."

"Yeah but…" she stopped, relishing in how sweet those words of music were to her ears. God, he knew how to break her, but not so easily this time. "But you're hers too, Marco. What if she realizes that?"

"Penelope, she's dating Tom. Wouldn't it be a little crazy for her to try chasing me too?"

"You seemed to think she doesn't belong with him, who's to say she doesn't feel the same way?" Penelope inquired as they walked through the gates of the rose garden, the tall bushes catching cascades of moonlight in the dark red petals. Marco tried to speak, but he knew she was right. He had made it very clear where he stood in regards to Star and Tom's relationship.

He let the breath out of his lungs and stopped, turning to face her with a sincerity in his eyes she never took for granted. "What do you want me to say? I've seen bad relationships before, and I don't want her getting hurt," he sighed before taking another deep breath and sitting on a carved stone bench. Silent for almost a full minute as he held his face in his hands, he finally looked up into Penelope's concerned eyes and asked her the question that had been flitting through mind for the entire walk since they left the restaurant, "Do you want me to quit?"

Penelope started at that, meeting his brown eyes with her own green ones before leaning closer. "What do you mean 'quit'? Quit what?" she asked.

"Quit being her guide. It's… just a job," he answered, struggling to get the words out, "Say the word and I'll give them my resignation. No more Star, no more danger, no more Guide." Penelope let his words wash over her like a cool breeze on a hot day, the promise of no more competition, and more importantly, the promise of no more danger.

With just one word, she could have Marco all to herself, without any of the trouble of organizing his surrender. He was laid bare for her to steal, and a mighty treasure it was. She sighed, and joined him on the stone bench under the willow tree, taking his hands in hers.

"Marco, I shouldn't have to explain why I could never let you do that. Being a guide means everything to you, and so does being Star's best friend." He tried to protest, but she pressed a finger to his lips, continuing to say "I know being a warrior isn't your strongest point… yet. But I know how much it would kill you to have to give that up, even for me."

Her words, meant to be warm and inviting, only tightened the cold grip on his chest further. Even when he had offered to give himself to her completely, she still refused, more concerned about what would make him happy. "I really don't deserve you, Penelope," he whispered, trying to avoid her eyes, "You're the greatest princess in the universe, and I don't know what I'd do without you."

She giggled at that and pulled him closer, planting a soft kiss on his lips before draping her arms around his neck. "And you're a gentleman more than anything, so don't go dying on me at work, and you won't have to find out."

"I will give you everything that I am," he whispered back, "and I will do everything I can to keep you happy." He went in for another kiss, this time letting it deepen as Penelope sighed a contented moan into his mouth. She carefully let her hands slide down his collarbone to lightly graze his ribs, before resting at his hips for a moment. She played with his belt loop, winding a finger through a loop before looking him in the eyes and apologizing, "Marco I...I really am sorry about tonight. I acted like a monster, and I ruined our make-up night."

She let her eyes fall, but Marco was quick to lift her chin and hold her gaze with one of sincerity and forgiveness. "You don't need to apologize, everyone had a hand in starting that fight," he offered before taking on a new gleam in his eye, "but I think we can make our own fun, maybe enjoy a make-out night instead?"

Penelope let herself smile at the idea and pulled him closer, locking lips once again and wordlessly asking permission to tangle her tongue with his. He immediately accepted, the two delving into a conversation of moans and heavy breathing as she carefully reached down towards his belt. Though, this time, when he heard that familiar jingle of metal fastening being undone, he chose to ignore it, continuing in his eager enjoyment of his better half.

Penelope felt a thrill in her heart as she let herself be pushed against the willow tree, swooning under Marco's sudden effort to reciprocate, and let her hands continue to unfasten his jeans before slipping a warm eager hand into his now unguarded boxers. Marco moved lower down her jaw, alternatively kissing and sucking on the skin of her neck before letting out a deep groan as she gripped his excitement gently. She bit her lip and began to stroke him, continued her stroking motions, whispering, "Maybe I should pick fights more often, I'm kinda digging the new attitude, my warrior prince."

As she rubbed his length slowly, Marco carefully ran a hand up her thigh and under her dress, fanning the flames of her desire as she fought not to cry out in pleasure the instant his fingertips brushed against her through her panties. After one final kiss to her neck, Marco pulled back, rubbing her between the legs as he growled: "Two can play at that game, Penny." She bit her lip in a smile, eager to meet his challenge as she increased the paces of her hand in his boxers, eliciting a low moan from her flushed boyfriend as gently began to bite her neck once more.

"You're so fucking hot when you're mad," she blurted between sharp gasps, pressing herself against him and rocking her hips in an effort to get more of his fingers to touch her.

Marco let wave after wave of pleasure roar through his body as they tangled themselves with one another before groaning into her ear, "And you're so cute when you think you're in charge." Penelope struggled to respond through the pink haze of pleasure that had settled over her mind, but when she felt him slip his hand under the edge of her panties, and a finger rubbing her glistening entrance, she let an audible yelp escape her lips, burying her face into his shoulder.

Marco could feel her grip tightening with each passing second, until she could no longer handle the pressure he as putting her under. Instead, she arched her back and shook against him, forcing her face deeper against his shoulder as he continued to push her toward the edge.

"Marco…" she breathed, "p-please, I w-want you soo bad right now." He couldn't see her expression as her muffled, desperate words seeped through his clothes, but he could easily imagine the look as her hips still rocked insistently against his fingers.

"I…," he began, fighting the urge to give in to her every desire, to give her what she clearly needed, "I don't think… now is a good time for… that." He waited for her to suddenly stop, to berate him for sticking to his 'safe-kid' instincts, but nothing changed. She continued her oscillating motions as he felt her nod against his collar, her hands rubbing his shoulders.

"Don't worry, I get it," she finally breathed, tearing herself away and meeting his eyes with a drunken grin, "but at least...d-don't stop." Marco nodded quickly, and before he could react, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed his face to her chest, no longer trying to hide her heavy breathing.

"Mmmmph! Yeah, rub the top, just like-" she started before biting her lip and squeezing his head, "Ohhhhh fffffffuuuuuuck, Marco!" She cried out. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her ever closer, continuing to please her as she began to shudder against him.

"You like it when I do that, huh?" He asked almost too pleasantly, staring up at her. She wordlessly nodded her head, her expression contorted into one of guttural pleasure. "I'm glad you're enjoying it then," he started before suddenly stopping, pulling back both hands and setting her down on his lap, "because this is your punishment for tonight."

Her mouth fell open, struggling for some kind of response before her face dropped into a pout. "Noooo, come on, Marcoooo! You can't leave me hanging like that!" She held his face and leaned down, meeting his eyes. "Plus, you said it was everyone's fault! How come I'm the only one being punished?"

He leaned forward and kissed her gently, latching onto her lip and giving it a gentle tug before resting his forehead against hers. "Don't worry, tomorrow, Star's getting a real solid talking to, Janna's gonna get an earful, and Tom...well I don't know about him. Maybe I'll let Star deal with him."

"Marcoooo," she playfully whined as she slipped off his lap and pressed herself against him, "those things aren't comparable and you know it. Don't I get at least a little something for not killing anyone?"

He thought about that for a moment before reaching out and tapping the tip of her nose. "Boop. There ya go, Penny. Just for you."

She stared down at her nose and then back at him, her mouth now a small frown. "I don't get it."

Marco laughed and pulled her into a tight hug, finally enjoying the sweet smell of roses in the air, and the cool night breeze. "It means I love you. Very serious Earth tradition. Can't be undone. Ever."

"Hmm, sounds pretty serious," she added, lowering herself and curling up with him as the stars shimmered above them, "but I'll take it. So long as you never stop treating me like a princess."

Marco smiled and wrapped his arms around her, letting the breeze caress his face as the two sat under the willow tree. "Deal, Princess Spiderbite."

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

Across town, Star trudged up a deserted street, her eyes scanning left and right at the darkened storefronts that, in this late hour, no longer beamed for her attention. She had always admired the beauty and the simplicity of Earth's culture, from the stores to the people, the buildings, and even the art. Though, she'd be lying by saying she had any inclination for interpreting it.

But now, at the ripe hour she found herself walking down the street, it just looked hollow and annoying. And that could have just been the marvelous failure of her double date talking, who was she to say. But for now, all that mattered was finding the one most responsible for its subsequent crashing and burning. And what a bittersweet reunion it would be.

After about fifteen minutes of aimlessly walking in the direction of the M.R.C., she somehow miraculously found him. Sitting atop the roof of Randy's Donuts, two discarded boxes on the ground, and one chock full of pastries in his hands. His lavender cheeks were powdered with...well...powder, and when he spotted her casually approaching, he hurriedly scarfed down the remaining bite.

"Thomas Draconius Lucitor, get down here, now!" she demanded, glaring at him with a cross between impatience, and disappointment, "I would like to have- ...are you seriously eating doughnuts right now?" Tom merely stared at her, wiping the remaining crumbs and sugar from his face before jumping from the roof and floating down to her level. "Yes, I eat when I get angry or stressed or upset. Brian says it can be healthy, look that doesn't matter. Star, I-"

"Do you have any friggen idea how embarrassing tonight was for me!" she screamed, swiping for his head with her purse, "You acted like a complete asshole the entire time, for no reason! What the hell!?"

"Star, look, I-" he began, but she ignored his response, continuing her rant as he subtly tried backing away, met with more furious swipes that he knew could crack stones.

"I almost died today and your first gut reaction is to treat me and my friends like total shit?! Do you even understand what being a decent person is?! How do you pick a fight with three almost strangers over dinner?!"

"I know, and I was-" he tried to interrupt, but there was no stopping Star when she was on a tirade like this.

"We all get together for dinner to talk about it, we all join up to have a good time and then talk business. And then Tommy Boy swoops in and ruins dinner! This is EXACTLY why we broke up last time… Give me one good reason why I shouldn't dump you right now!"

Tom recoiled slightly at the idea, holding her eyes with his. "Because I'm sorry. You're right. I acted like a complete dick, and you'd have every right to walk away and never hear from me again," he paused, watching the gears in her head turning just as she had found a less than pleasurable looking stick to swat him with, "I like to think I've changed for you since you left. That somehow, I'm a better person because I had to live without you for so long. But the truth is I haven't changed. I'm still that asshole demon, holding you back. And I'm sorry."

Star stared at him with what could have been interpreted as appraisal written on her face. In the years she had spent harrowingly training to become a princess, she had gotten extremely good at reading people, specifically the nobles, and now, Tom knew she was reading him. After a moment, she softened her gaze and dropped her wooden weapon of choice, crossing her arms and choosing to look away, in fear of meeting his eyes and giving in completely.

"I'm sorry too. I wasn't exactly helping either. You're not an asshole, despite how you act sometimes. You're just...you," she muttered, walking a short distance away and plopping down on a run-down bus station seat. The Echo Creek Transpo line had long since been discontinued when manticores, flying carpets, and horses had been introduced, so they had no expectations of being met with a bus.

Tom watched her walk away, and though it was dark, save for the red-stained light of the nearby Randy's Donuts sign, he could tell she had been crying, and it wasn't anyone's guess as to why. He walked over to where she sat and stood behind the bend to her right, leaning against it and facing opposite the street. "Would you be happier if I wasn't a demon?" he asked suddenly.

"What?" Was all Star could finally manage, "Tom, what you are doesn't matter, you'd still be you. I'm not a racist, c'mon."

But an uncomfortable scoffing sound, he made it very clear he disagreed. "Star, as a demon, I have thousands, literally thousands, of demon souls inside of me. They're part of who I am and kinda why I'm… a dick. But I think some are pretty cool though."

"Wait, so if you weren't a demon, you wouldn't be-"

"A dick, yep. That's how it works. I'd be free to do my own thing without all these guys inside me telling me to 'ClEaNsE tHe WoRlD'," he mocked, chuckling to himself, "I wouldn't be controlling, aggressive, rageful; I'd just be me."

Star failed to suppress a laugh at that, trying to force it back down as she snickered to herself. Tom turned around and grinned at her, cocking an eyebrow as he leaned over the seat. "What? You think I'd still be a prick, Starship?"

"Nonono," she managed, forcing down more laughter and giving him a genuine smile, "that's just, not you at all, Tom! You're committed, not controlling. And you're passionate, not aggressive."

Tom gave her a smirk and met her eyes. "You left out rageful, ya know." She nodded, sarcastically moving forward to her next point.

"Annnyyyways, my point is, while I do like what you are, it's not why I'm dating you, Tom." He gave her a confused look, but before he could ask what exactly it was that made her so infatuated with him, she reached out and grabbed his face, pulling him over the top of the bench. He began floating in midair, some kind of weird demon power, and she held his gaze as she teased his lavender lips with a kiss, brushing a hand through his rose-colored hair.

"I'm dating you because I genuinely like who you are, Tom. You might not think you've changed, and while it isn't your fault, some people probably totally agree with you. But I know that's not the real you. Like Penelope said, that's just your angsty teenager vibe popping off." She pulled him even closer, sliding a hand up to his neck and looping a thumb around the base of his horn, cupping his head. "You make me happy in your own way, when you're not being a complete prick. So keep being you, and I'll keep being yours. Deal?"

"Deal," Tom answered almost immediately, resting his knees on the bench and leaning over Stars waiting form. He reached out, caressing her cheek and taking a moment to appreciate the heavy blush that stained those otherwise pale cheeks around her pink heart shaped stamps before kissing her. For him, it was like kissing silk that tasted like gingersnaps, and for her, it was like that first face full of sunshine you get at the start of every day; warm and fulfilling.

Within moments, the two had already begun their usual battle for oral supremacy, each one silently refusing to let the other win as their tongues thrashed and slid against one another. But Tom, who was usually the loser in these encounters was making a good show of himself, much to her mock dismay. He seemed to meet every motion of hers with one of his own, and every time she moved to surprise him with something new, he would immediately fill the gap and give her a taste of something she hadn't yet tried.

She pulled back for air as he went lower, latching onto her neck and playfully biting it with his fangs. The blue choker sitting just below her nape was new, but he didn't ask. Star's fashion sense could turn anyone's head.

"When'd you get so good at kissin', hot stuff?" She asked, running her hands through his hair and massaging the base of his horns. She knew he loved that.

Tom looked up at her and ran a hand up her thigh to just below the hem of her green dress as he met her gaze, answering with a confident grin. "You bring out the best in me, what can I say?" She could feel her heart-melting from the heat he could provide, and without any further prompt, pulled him into another marathon of deep, passionate kissing.

As Tom massaged the inside of her thigh, sliding his hand up her dress to a spot just shy of her sensitive areas, she let out a moan into his mouth, and not wanting to be outdone, reached for the inseam of his tight jeans. All was fair in love and war, and as far as she was concerned, this was war. Tom let out a quiet yelp in surprise, but not wanting to show weakness, wisely held face and pressed against her further, the two never breaking contact.

But Star wasn't done, despite her gaining ground in their battle of tongues, she had to win over him decisively. After dislodging her mouth from his, she pushed him back onto the bench and before he could utter a word of protest, straddled him and once again went back to war, furiously kissing him with a fire he had no chance of matching.

The air around them was getting hotter, the summer breeze unable to penetrate the slowly swirling hot wind that was now encircling the two lovers, was beginning to slow, and even the neon lights around them began to fade away as they melted into each other's arms like snow before the stove. Tom reached up and held her closer, furiously trying to match her passion and intensity. And then it happened.

With the unmistakable sound of fabric being torn, and a blood-curdling shriek, Star recoiled from him like a snake as she quickly shot up, hissing through her teeth before assessing her assumed wounds. Tom almost immediately followed suit, reaching out tentatively to gauge her condition. "Star, what happened! What's wrong?! Are you okay?! Did I burn you again?" He blurted out several more suggestions as Stars' face slowly became less pain-driven and more surprised. She shook her head and turned, showing him her back.

"I dunno what happened, but it really hurts. How bad is it?" she asked quietly, lifting her hair up to reveal eight distinct claw-marks, all convening towards the top of her back, thankfully avoiding her Mewberty wings, straight through her dress and into her flesh.

"Ehhh, noooot baaaaddd," Tom lied, trying to hide the growing fear in his body. River was going to kill him, in every way he knew Tom feared most.

"That doesn't sound 'not bad'," Star managed to mutter back, lowering her hair.

In truth, the cuts weren't deep enough to warrant medical attention, but they were probably going to leave a mark. Or eight. Tom leaned forward and showed her his hands, the tips of which were slightly more red than lavender. "I um… kinda scratched you. Pretty badly," he admitted sheepishly, giving her a sincere look of worry.

"How bad is pretty bad? Are my wings alright? Is it gonna leave a mark? "

Tom sucked in a bit of air and shook his head. "Your wings are fine," he said as he helped her stand before turning her around to double-check on his unfortunate handiwork. "And proooooobably not? They aren't that deep." Star didn't seem to buy it, but the damage had been done, no use trying to oversell it. Tom sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and checked his watch, nearly choking when he saw the hour. "Ohhh boy, my Dad's gonna kill me if he sees I'm still gone. You don't mind if I skip out right?"

Star let her expression of surprise fall into a glare. "So you're just gonna leave me here with my back looking like this? Nuh-uh, you're at least paying for dinner, smooth lips," she griped, holding out a hand and staring at him. He didn't even bother arguing. Instead, he pulled his wallet from a fire in his palm and he produced several hundred dollar bills, or 'old dude papers' as he called them, and gave them to Star. When she had finished counting them, she nodded, pleased.

"All right, we're square. Just don't make me call you a dozen times to get you to go out with me again, though," she grumbled the last part. For all that Tom could and did provide, he was terrible at planning dates. And even worse and showing up to them on time.

"No worries, Star. I'll call you when I can, I promise. See you soon?"

"See you soon, Tom," she smiled. With a final wave, he summoned a column of blazing oranges and reds, letting it illuminate the street around him, and gently warm the front of Stars face as it pulled him into the ground. When the cracked sidewalk had closed at her feet, Star let her smile drop before turning on her heels, ignoring the stinging pain that dominated her back.

Why was it that every time they got together in private, she walked away with some kind of pain? She wondered that as she walked home, dreading being in the castle again, and in close proximity to Penelope, but the idea of aimlessly walking around the city that had just housed a demonic presence wasn't too inviting either. So home she went, with the welcoming, and loving encounter of early that morning with Marco still fresh on her mind.

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

But far across the city, nestled just beyond its rolling hills and hidden among the trees, the dwindling group of monsters had a more painful, horrific encounter just beginning. The Moon and stars hung in the night sky, casting very little light down on the world below, where Ludo stood in nearly complete darkness in the center of a small clearing. He wore his very basic obsidian robe, and sat on his calves as he waited very patiently for his message to arrive.

Sitting here, alone in the woods, this was as close to independence as he could truly get, but in his own mind, Ludo knew that he was strong, capable, and a leader. But truly alone he was not. Up in the trees, a shadowed presence was waiting to make itself known, staring with intensity over his shoulder at the powerful magic hidden in the small, dormant campfire.

"Any time now, would be nice," Ludo muttered to himself as he sipped the remnants of that morning's milkshake. He was a very busy bird, and his time would have been better spent gathering his few remaining troops or raising their morale by ordering another pizza to be delivered to their neck of the woods. But instead, he ignored his duties and waited. For what, the powerful entity could only guess.

After it had been cast out of the city limits by that wretched witch, it had tried to flee. Tried to find another place to gather strength and grow its influence over the nearby mortals, but the farther it got from the summoning circle in that girl's bedroom, the more he could feel his form dissipating like smoke in the wind. Something was keeping it tethered to the city, and now that it had been forced out, with barely enough strength to hold its form together, it was stuck in limbo, with these pathetic creatures.

After another few minutes had rolled by, it decided it best to get this over with, and draw the fear from the small bird and take every ounce of its spirit, but just before it could pounce, both he and Ludo were surprised to see the campfire erupt into hot, orange flames that licked at the trees above.

They quickly shifted into a deeper, green color, and once they had settled some, the image of a reptilian humanoid glared out from their base, long frills sprouting from the back of its head like a mane, and a single gem in his left eye. A purple shawl was drawn over his shoulders, and a snarl was drawn across his face.

"Rasticore," Ludo greeted him without any emotion, but his expression was oozing with contempt. If Ludo was Toffee's greatest general, and he knew he was, then Rasticore was Toffees second in command. A message from him was bound to be important, and fraught with problems. "I haven't heard from you in over a week. I was worried something bad might have happened."

The shifting figure up in the trees leaned closer to the fire. The energy keeping it steady, fueling it even, was something ancient, and very familiar. The lizard in the fire seemed to scoff at Ludo's words, and let out an overly audible chuckle. "You serious? I just forgot about you out here until Toffee reminded me to report your status on the Mewmans," Rasticore's image seemed to lean closer, suddenly growing deadly serious, "pray you don't disappoint him any further than you already have."

"I've been asking for reinforcements and supplies," Ludo growled, keeping his growing impatience with Rasticore in check, "I've been forced to send two of my troops to get jobs just to make ends meet."

The lizard only shook his head. "Your requests have been denied."

"Why can I not have more troops? And why are the ones I've been given so pathetic?" Ludo demanded, glaring at his superior with evident contempt.

"Because that's what your mission has been valued at. Now, your report."

"I have nothing new to report," Ludo lied, keeping his face opaque. Despite how highly he knew Toffee must have regarded him, reporting a slash in his troop's numbers with nothing to show for it was grounds for reprimand, as a start. Rasticore peered at Ludo more closely. "That's not what I've heard. Our scouts have reported failure after failure on your part. Are they wrong?"

Ludo hid his growing discomfort in the flickering green light, returning Rasticore's harsh glare. "I am your scouting unit. Why would I report that?"

"You really think we trust you enough to let you do this alone? We have several other groups of scouts hidden around the providence." Rasticore said it so matter-of-factly, Ludo was genuinely taken aback by the information presented to him. He wasn't trusted? Did they send more after him? Why didn't he know about this? Amidst the whirlwind of questions making his head spin, he decided to go with the most prominent.

"Why were other groups sent? I'm doing my job out here and-" he began, but Rasticore held up a hand for silence, making the fire 'fwoom' up into the air for a brief moment, casting light deeper into the woods around them. "You aren't doing your job. If you were, we'd have taken the girl, or her wand like you reported you could. Then, your unit was nearly decimated by a child! A child, Ludo! Consider yourself lucky it has taken me this long to get myself involved in this mission."

Ludo bristled at that, ready to unleash a barrage of questions, but Rasticore continued, once against donning his satisfied grin. "I will be there soon, and I will be taking full control of your operation, effective immediately. When I arrive, I will decide your fate, as you have clearly bungled this operation from the start. Maybe I'll send you back to Master Toffee so you can explain in person, the depth of your failure!" He leaned closer for dramatic effect, clearly showing off his ridiculous crystal eye implant. "See ya soon, Ludo."

And with that, the flame simply puffed into nothing, plunging the surrounding forest into darkness. Ludo was left sitting there, staring at the fresh embers where the fire had been, as the shadowed figure decided it best to move. Without so much as a disturbance in the air, the demon wisped further into the woods, until it found the remaining forces it had just overheard about.

There were only about eighteen of them, with two more hiding in a newly-dug cave a few yards from the camp, as the rest simply mulled around, cooked, sharpened weapons, or slept. It was a meager little gathering at best, but it was the perfect foundation on which to build upon.

As it wended its way ominously around the encampment, however, it felt something leaving. Something small and weak had been pulled from the forest, like it had lost all the strength it had left, and simply floated away. Formless and shapeless as it was, the demon smiled, as it knew before anyone else in the camp what had happened. Someone had just died.

It materialized itself lower down into the forest, weaving through the still living creatures that inhabited it, and found its way deep inside the artificial cave in the hillside. Once it was in, it saw what had happened. It knew from the boy's memories the history of the dead monster on the table in the cave, and from the stitched wounds on the werewolf's chest and neck, it looked like the boy really had done it in.

But this was no time to be reminiscent. There was work to do and fear to harvest. As the two living beings in the cave seemed to accept the loss of their friend, the demon had decided it was time for an immediate reunion, and promptly inhabited the still-warm corpse on the table. As the body twitched once, then twice, both monsters stopped their discussion and inched closer, eyeing the fresh corpse with wary scrutiny.

Then, before their eyes, the body lurched forward, sitting upright with its hollow, glassy eyes staring straight ahead. One monster drew its weapon and backed away, but the demon's plan was already working. Fear, both pungent and cold, was filling the space rapidly, and it drank up all it could get. The corpse turned its head sharply to the right with an audible series of snaps and lurched off the table, its movements loud and sickening.

As the giraffe monster ran away screaming, the arachnid limbed monster holding a sword charged forward to finish the zombie off properly. This wouldn't do, a being with this little fear was as useful as spoiled milk. The werewolf monster ducked low under a swing, its bones snapping every step of the way, and gripped the arachnid-headed soldier's forearm, and forced its own blade straight through its face with a sickening crunch of breaking chitin.

Green blood poured from the wound, and the demon pulled the sword from the monster with more snapping bones, turning on its heels and struggling to force its body to exit the cave. once it was outside, the werewolf grinned with great intensity, taking in the amassed monsters who had gathered around the entrance. 'Oh yes, the fear is strong,' it thought to itself as Buffrog stepped forward.

"You lay down weapon now, and crawl back into cave. Die like good Baba Yaga." The werewolf intensified its grin so much, the skin around its cheeks began to tear as the demon's voice rasped through its many teeth. "You will all die. And as your bodies go to the worms, your souls will be mine."

The purple fog began to appear, flooding into the clearing like water, pouring over tents and filling every available space as the werewolf rushed forward like a macabre marionette, moving in unnatural fits and stop in a horrible parody of life. It rushed through several monsters, slicing flesh down to the bone, and cutting down one soldier after the other. It laughed as it did so, gorging itself on the rampant fear that flooded the forest like its fog.

And from his fog, every monster he slew was filled with it, before rising back to their feet and drawing their weapons against each other and going to war. As the remaining forces struggled to gain ground, however, they began to realize it was pointless, and that fear began to turn to despair.

Buffrog would cut down one still bleeding corpse, and another would take its place before it too would rise once again. The fog seemed to be growing thicker with each passing 'kill', and before anyone could voice their terror, they noticed that they were surrounded by dozens of monsters, all petrified, and all brandishing weapons of every type.

The werewolf monster never moved, it only stood there, watching with what seemed like genuine amusement as one after another, the army began to dwindle. The camp was burning, its flames illuminating the fog slightly, as the remaining living back further and further into their corner.

"You see, this is more like it, " it mused, observing the fresh blood trickling down its sword as the visions intensified. "this is the fear I've been looking for, I can feel it. That smell, it's all I've ever wanted. I thank you all for your untimely...sacrifice. Maybe-" it began, but a sudden shrill cry echoed through the camp, turning every head, both real and ethereal.

Ludo charged through the mist, two short swords in hand as he screamed out "Run! Get out of the camp now!" He ducked between the legs of a corpse, slicing at its heels, but he was met with zero resistance, his blades going right through. There was a silent moment of realization before he turned his stride and began motioning for his still petrified troops to move. "They're just mirages! Get out NOW!" Ludo screamed again.

The demon let its corpse shell's grin falter into a steeled glare as he watched the stunned troops left alive suddenly turn on their heels and ditch the camp, fanning out into the woods as Ludo stared back. The little bird was gripped with fear, he knew it well, but somehow, he was able to see through the illusion, and force his troops to run. How?

Ludo stood there, watching as the zombies he figured were real seemed to observe him, but not engage. He hated whatever it was that was taking his brittle army apart, but more than that, he hated the idea of losing any more than he already had. And the demon knew it. To Ludo's horror, it addressed him by name, as dozens of eerily recognizable faces began to step out of the surrounding darkness.

"Ludo, can you really return to your armies, to your home, knowing how deeply your failure runs?" the monster asked, gesturing to the eviscerated bodies around it, "Is this what your perseverance and success have wrought? Your soldiers lay dying, your country mocks you, and the funniest part of it all? You let. It. Happen."

Ludo watched in abject horror as the bodies of his former comrades began to rip themselves apart before his very eyes. Blood and flesh rained down on the wet grass, staining it all red as Ludo felt a weight unlike any other begin to crush him down. "You feel that, littlest one? That is the weight of your overwhelming failure. And what I love most about it? It's also your greatest fear."

The werewolf made to charge forward to finish off the now petrified little man before it, but seemingly out of nowhere, a blade came forth from the fog and cut its head clean from its body. Ludo watched in a daze as it fell to the ground, and a shadow seemed to leave from the bleeding stump, as Buffrog scooped him up and sprinted towards the forest without a word.

The demon simply stood there, too stunned to move. Twice today, an individual he could read the entire life of, see all their shortcomings, and know their deepest fears, had turned away from his smoke and rejected him. 'How was this possible', he wondered. But it mattered not. He had all the fear he needed to move forward unabated. So with as much effort needed as taking off a sock, he abandoned his puppet bodies, and let them fall to the ground with the rest.

Despite all that had happened, tonight was a beautiful night, he rationalized, for fear. As the bodies lay withered and decaying, his shadowed body couldn't help but smile. Revenge was going to be as sweet as the fear on her face.


Authors note

What's up, everyone! Reagan coming at you from who the fuck knows where! Jk, Texas is the best state ever, I have to represent. Anywho, I hope you enjoyed this very long and arduous chapter of The Once and Future Queen, and I sincerely hope you're as excited as I am to see what comes next! This chapter was honestly just a giant fucking nope of discomfort from start to finish, for all of our heroes, but luckily, most everyone got a little sumthin sumthin for their troubles. If you enjoyed, have suggestions, wanna comment, didn't like something, want a question answered, or you just wanna talk about whatever, Leave a review! We'll try to get back to you when we can! Thanks so much for reading, and we'll see ya next time!

~Mr. Ronald Reagan

~Lord Cornwallis