While the smells of pine and cinnamon mingling with the Earthly aromas of fresh falling rain, a young man felt the iron grip of his slumber finally begin to fade. Marco deliberately forced his eyes open in a bleak effort to shake the sleep from his head, and nearly started at his strange surroundings. 'I'm not in my room,' was his first thought of the day, looking around to take the room in. But from the rustic, pastoral decor he gathered his bearings, the events of the past evening seemed to spring back into his mind. 'Oh yeahh, sleepover at Stars...Penelope wanted me to come sleep in her room I think.'

As he processed that rather innocent thought, ready to accept it as reality, he was unexpectedly alerted to the warm body pressed against him. Moving to pull the covers up and away, his chest seized as he tried to suck in a breath at the naked, sleeping brunette curled against him. Penelope lay wrapped around his torso, a thin smile across her lips that he would almost have found enchanting, had he not been in the middle of a panic.

'Ohhh shit, ohohohooo, noooo," he breathed in silent consternation as his eyes shot open. 'We...we did the thing, how did we do the thing? Why did we do the thing?' His body wanted to curl back up into sleeps embrace and pretend none of it was real, but there, draped around him was all the evidence of last night he needed. Marco laid his back against his pillow, his initial, instinctual panic abating if only for a newfound, nonplussed thought. 'Why… am I so stupid…?' Those words rolled in his head for a moment as he played back last night, and the choices he had made several times throughout. They had had sex, and they had only been together for a month. This wasn't something he would even think about feeling ready for, let alone actually acting upon, so why was he here?

He groaned to himself and tried to shimmy away from Penelope's lithe form, prying her arms from around him and awkwardly trying not to stare. This was all too much at once, and he felt his chest tighten, suddenly struggling to breathe. He couldn't have felt ready last night, even with all the excitement and energy clouding his thoughts almost as much as the booze. Hell, he still wasn't ready now. 'With everything going on, with a demon, with my job, with...Star.' He finally managed to peel himself from Penelope, desperate to get some air, or his clothes, or out of the room. He needed to feel the refreshing solidarity of his own home in order to properly lose his shit. Here was not the place.

He pulled on his boxers, careful not to make a sound, and started donning his jeans. Luckily, they were right where he had left them: in a pile, discarded with haste at the foot of the bed. 'Okay, just gotta-'

"Mmm, and where do you think you're going, lover boy?" Penelope purred as she rose from a mass of blankets and bad decisions, her bare chest exposed for him to see, "You just gonna ride off into the sunset on me, or do you wanna go for round two?" She let the question hang in the air as Marco felt his cheeks burn at the sight of her. He stammered for a good, if any, response, doing his best to not look guilty. "Y-yeah, I mean no. I uh...I gotta get ready for work and uhm, I didn't wanna wake you or anything."

"Hmm, it might be the hangover, buuut I'm pretty sure your 'boss' lives here, so why do you need to leave?" she asked, pulling on some underwear beneath the covers before getting out of bed, stalking closer to him. She had a hungry, determined air about her, neither of which Marco felt armed to combat at the moment.

"Well, I was gonna take a shower, 'clean up' a bit, that kinda thing, and I uhm...well I don't wanna show up to work looking-"

"I have a shower you could use," Penelope hummed, drawing a finger down his still bare chest, admiring the impressions his muscles drew for her, "*ahem*…we could both use. It's pretty big, actually, I'm sure you'd enjoy it." Marco could feel his heart pounding in his chest as she bit her lip and waited for him to give in. Even in his semi-panicked state, the offer was enticing, and his teenage hormones were roaring for him to take her up on the offer, but ultimately, Marco's far more prominent rational side won the battle. He cleared his throat awkwardly as he finished buttoning his pants, desperate to keep his attention on anything but the sight before him.

"Thank you, Penelope, but…" he finally let his eyes dip below her chin and set his jaw in hard-learned discipline and bearing. "...But I prefer to use my own. Things are… well they're organized how I like, and I never really liked using other peoples bathrooms, you know?"

She met his eyes in a deadpan, baffled stare, too stunned to form a reply, much to Marcos relief. As he struggled to get his shirt and shoes on, already headed for the exit, he called back over his shoulder, "Thanks again Penelope, I had a great time last night, I'll call you later, I love your room byyyeeee!" He was already out the door by the time Penelope registered everything he had blurted. She wasn't sure if it was disbelief, shock, anger, or lust that was most prominent on her mind, but nonetheless, she resigned herself to picking one and starting there as she shook her head in frustration and went to begin her day.

Meanwhile, as Marco walked down the halls of the castle, he replayed the last eight hours of his life over and over, kicking himself for every minute. "Okay, Marco. Step one, get home. Step two, damage control. Step three, stop talking to yourself, you weirdo. Step four, go to work and-" he muttered, stopping and finally noticing the echoing footsteps in the corridor. Footsteps that didn't belong to him…he realized with petrified mortification. They had been following him since he had left Penelope's room and when he had stopped, so had they. Turning quickly, he blew out a relieved breath when he spotted no one else in the deserted castle corridor.

Narrowing his eyes, Marco continued walking. The last wisps of sleep falling away, he was now fully alert and found that as he turned the next corner, the steps began again, a quick pitter-patter reverberating against the marble walls. 'This is the last thing I need,' he grumbled before ducking into a thankfully empty room, and diving behind the closest piece of furniture he could find.

Just outside, he listened as the echo of the footsteps quickly approached before slowing to a stop a little way down the hall. He held his breath and pressed himself against the back of the couch, tensing as a shadow crossed the open doorway. Every nerve in his body was screaming 'panic', but by the grace of Mackie Hand himself, the footsteps continued, this time receding much quicker as they faded down the hall, almost as if they were trying to catch up to where the person thought he had gone. 'Thank you, Mackie, I promise: tonight I'll watch all of your movies in a row, no bathroom breaks.' He thought, waiting for a few moments until all was quiet.

After taking off his shoes, Marco poked his head out into the hallway, peering in either direction before sighing in relief. With the coast finally clear, he darted out of the room and raced down the adjacent corridor towards the castle's grand entrance.

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

"Finally home," Marco breathed, pressing the door shut against his soaked back before letting out a hiss of relief. Jogging in the morning, especially in the rain, wasn't a usual event as far as his daily routine was concerned, but today he found it surprisingly relaxing. It gave him time to think. Taking a deep breath, he rooted himself in the moment and pushed all other distractions aside, choosing to first assess himself while the coast was clear. The jog had been easing on his nerves, even if it was a little too demanding after the bruises and...marks, from last night. Hiking up his hoodie to hide his hickeys, he quickly snuck through the house and up to his room.

As quickly as he could manage, he peeled off his clothes, eager to get clean and prepare himself for another memorable and hazard-filled day working with Star. However, no sooner had he gotten his clothes off and shower running than he found himself staring at his reflection in the mirror, his face twisted in both disgust, and surprise. His chest still bore an ugly, purple welt in the shape of a foot, his eye was now ringed with a blotchy dark bruise and his neck was studded with several embarrassing hickies… an all too obvious reminder of what happened last night.

Shaking his head, Marco turned away from his reflection and instead chose to reflect on his latest decisions. He should have waited, or at least played it so they stopped just before...that. He had been doing well at keeping Penelope satiated, somewhat...but, thinking back on it, maybe playing with her desire had been a step too far. "I gotta smooth things over with her," he noted as he stepped into the shower and under the now steaming water, "Safe-kid strikes again, only a little too late."

Standing under the hot, pounding water, Marco let his hair press against his scalp as once again, he replayed the events of the prior evening in disbelief. It wasn't to say he didn't feel a small amount of excitement and, dare he call it, pride at what they'd done together, but even excitement could be frightening, and even satisfaction could be overrun by uncertainty. He had actually just had...sex with Penelope. The very thought was still exhilarating yet terrifying.

In an effort to ease his self inflicted penance; Marco instead chose to think not of the night before, but the day ahead. He'd get to focus on being a Guide of Earth, showcasing his hometown and those who lived in it, or go off gallivanting in another dimension with-

"Star…" he breathed, finding himself sternly

reminded of not only their promise, which had had its mettle tested last night, but also of the shared feelings that promise stemmed from. From the first day they met, to that night of solitary indulgence, every minute spent around her was a trip he didn't want to lose. It was like a drug that he couldn't live without, from her addictive smile, to her intoxicating attitude. She was by all accounts one of the best things that had ever happened to him, and he'd be lying to say that the events of last night weren't a foreboding beginning to something he wasn't even sure he wanted. A commitment to something he was hardly experienced with.

Maybe this was a good thing, though, moving forward with their current partners just as they promised. Marco wanted desperately to believe it, but for some reason he couldn't put his finger on, it didn't seem like he could. If anything, his feelings for Star scared him even more than what had happened at the sleepover with Penelope last night, so now? 'I don't know what I'm doing," he thought in a sudden wave of cognizance, 'We shouldn't have done that, it hasn't been nearly long enough for it.'

After finishing his shower and grooming himself as per his usual routine, Marco donned his signature attire and pulled his phone from his pocket, dialing a number without reflection of what to say, or even what he'd do if she answered.

"What?" Star answered from the other end of the line, a raw, bitter undertone to her usually chipper voice.

Without thinking, Marco spoke, happy to have any form of distraction. "H-hey, Star! Glad you're...awake," he stammered, trying to ignore the pang of guilt in the back of his mind. Of course he was looking to be with Star to help ignore last night, it was more or less typical of him. But Star wasn't sharing in his faux upbeat attitude, and answered with a less than cheerful tone. "Well? I'm as awake as I sound, and I'm doing stuff. What did you need?"

He wasn't sure if it was his imagination that she sounded so agitated, but the more he listened, the clearer it became that something might be bothering her. "Are you okay? You sound kinda mad. Did...Tom do something again?" The line went silent for a moment as Marco waited patiently for a response, unsure if it was even his place to ask that. Finally, Stars' sarcastic demeanor sounded through the speaker. "Yeah, I'm fine. And no, Tom didn't do anything, not that I'd let him, anyway."

"Soo, what then? Are you feeling alright?" he pressed, eager to take his mind off last night. But he heard an annoyed huff from the other end of the line before Star answered, her tone even dryer than earlier. "Look, I'm kinda busy right now, so...I dunno, take the day off or something, Diaz. You're...excused."

At this point, he was sure that something was bothering her, but he also knew Star well enough to know that pressing further would only make it worse. "I don't think I've ever taken a day off...do you need some help with what you're doing? I can be over in-"

"Jeez Marco, can you just drop it!" she snapped, making him pull the phone away from his ear before a half-minute of silence rolled by. He was considering what to say when finally, she continued, a new, softer tone to her voice.

"Sorry. I'm just...I'm gonna go dimension-hopping for a day or two. Alone. I wanna stay in this old town my family used to visit on vacation and enjoy some peace and quiet. So, take some time off, maybe spend some time with Penny. You guys have been inseparable lately, so I'm sure she'd appreciate seeing more of you."

"Well, I wouldn't say inseparable. We've been-" but Star cut him off, the thinly-veiled impatience showing through her tone. "Marco I have to go. Thanks for coming to the sleepover last night, thanks for being a good sport, thanks for keeping the peace too, and...uhm, see you...later." With that, she unexpectedly disconnected, leaving Marco alone with his thoughts, and the emptiness of his room.

'She's absolutely pissed about something, but to just, stunt me like that?' He wondered, glancing up at the clock. It read 8:03 am, exactly three minutes after he usually met her in front of the castle. 'If I hurry over, I could...but, Penny's gonna want an explanation. And I still need to smooth things over.' No, he couldn't just ghost her and go adventuring with Star. That was out of the question.

And what was with the footsteps in the castle? Had someone played witness to his narrow escape? Marco felt his face pale at the very idea, as well as the long list of charges sleeping with a princess could bring about. This wasn't like an Earthly one night stand, or getting busted in the bone zone by your parents. If someone saw him leaving and put two and two together, Marco would be lucky to have the honor of being put to the guillotine.

He stopped and took a deep breath, closing his eyes and collecting his scattered thoughts to tame the tempest of fears he was stricken with. "Good warriors can face any danger without the weakness of emotion, but the best warriors can face the mind without the weakness of fear," Reynard had told him during his training, and as he exhaled, he let the pressure he had been building in his chest release, along with his fears and regrets.

"I'll be fine, and I can make up for the weird morning with Penny later. For now, Star needs me, and I won't abandon her when she's going through something this troubling," he affirmed before opening his eyes and making his way to the door, not even thinking to send a text.

A little under eight minutes later, Marco sped into the M.R.C. square, just barely catching a glimpse of Queen Moon's silvery-blue hair disappearing back into the castle as she reluctantly said goodbye to her daughter. Star had on her usual teal dress and iconic rhinoceros-horned boots, but she also was toting a new scarlet duffel bag slung over her shoulder.

Marco could see her digging around for her scissors as he approached, and mercifully, she was alone enough to have a real heart to heart with, without the guards overhearing. But when she finally looked up and noticed him walking through the square, the look of pure annoyance and apprehension on her face made it clear he may have made another mistake.

"I thought I told you to take the day off, Diaz. Did I bust your hearing worse than your eye?" She asked, cocking an eyebrow in his direction. 'Seriously, what is his deal? What part of 'alone' doesn't translate to English?'

Marco pressed his lips together, fighting the urge to remind her she had a black eye to match. Instead, he reminded himself that it would only aggravate an already extremely agitated looking Star, and probably get him kicked out of the M.R.C.. Instead, he simply opted to give her his best innocent grin, hoping humor might time the wild beast. "Nope, don't recall. Where are we going? It'd be pretty cool to see this place from your childhood you were raving ab-"

"I'm serious, Marco," she sighed, her words carrying a frighteningly high level of patience compared to her usual manner of speaking, "I would much rather be alone right now, so how about you go home and get some rest. I'm sure you need it."

"Fine, I'll leave you alone, but only if you tell me what's bothering you. Otherwise, I'm just gonna have to come with you and needle it out of you," he suggested, donning a faux confident smirk, "Unless… you want to spar again and try to stop me... But be warned, I might give your shiner there a friend to match."

He was obviously bluffing, Star could tell that much, but his cluelessness and generally positive attitude set her over the edge before she could even think of a proper way to decline. 'Why won't he just take a damn hint?' She seethed, 'he's just as bad as Tom!'

"Fine!" She yelled, taking off her duffel bag and shoving it into his arms. Her harsh glare was enough to curdle milk, and her eyes spelled yet another level of impatience as she met his. As if they didn't see each other enough on a regular basis, now he was pestering her to let him tag along when he obviously wasn't wanted.

"You wanna come with me so bad? Alright then." Not even turning, Star plucked her scissors from her purse and in one slicing motion, cut a lavender portal through the air just to her right. As it hummed, she approached Marco and stuck a finger in his face, backing it with a glare.

"Then walk right through there. But I'm warning you right here and now; if you bother me, or you get even a tiny, itty bit more annoying, I'm kicking your butt right back to Earth. Got it?" Marco nodded, too stunned to answer in any other way before Star promptly shoved him through the portal in a huff. "Wait what abou-" was all he could manage, the portal cutting him off as Stat let a satisfied smile play across her lips.

He wasn't expecting the ground to give out as he stumbled between dimensions, and when he slipped through the other side, it rose up to meet him as he tumbled hard. Facedown with a mouthful of dirt, he was beginning to reconsider the whole endeavor as Star calmly strolled through after him, stepping over his sprawled form.

"Get up, Marco. You're missing the view," she grumbled, walking down the dirt road before them. She'd be lying to say she didn't enjoy her view of him, sprawled on the ground like a burnt lizard, but a time and place for everything, her mother always said. 'Served him right.'

"Thanks," he replied with a scowl, spitting pebbles before he finally took a look around, the jaw-dropping view immediately making his breath catch in his throat. His eyes widened, and Star felt another hint of satisfaction at his dumbfounded stupor.

Above, in a purple sky that was swirling with violet, amethyst, plum, and magenta, was another planet so close that he could make out lakes on its surface as storms brewed around its equator. It took up nearly the entire horizon; a grand display of swirling colors and dark storm clouds that was almost overwhelming to take in all at once. At the looming planet's upper pole, there were ominous vortexes of silver, and at the equator, the planets storms seemed to collide in force, struggling for dominance.

Finally, after several stunned seconds, Marco had collected his thoughts enough to look closer, seeing a grand ring of opal asteroids that slipped between the two binary planets. Every few seconds, the tumbling stones would catch the light of the planet's sun, and shimmer like a shooting star made of rainbows.

"Star, what is this place?! There's like- and the- it looks amazing!" His cheeks flushed in slight embarrassment at his own reaction, but Star seemed to have barely noticed as she began walking down the path towards a distant settlement. "It's just Mejoga, Marco, you don't have to drool about it. I've been to way cooler places than this."

"Well, I... Ugh. I mean like what is this place? What did you use to do here?" He asked, happy to keep her at least talking to him. Star, however, was less than enthusiastic to continue the conversation, and with a sigh of vexation, stopped, turning back to face him. "It's like an isolation resort slash funplex, or something like that. For like, three hundred years now, rich people, poor people, everyone can come here and just enjoy a little peace and quiet, or fun and games "Without people bothering them," she finished under her breath, but Marco was too focused on the horizon to notice.

"Soo, what happened over there? It kinda seems like the opposite of peaceful," he pointed over her shoulder. Star wanted to growl in frustration, even though deep down she knew he wasn't actually being a pest. Nonetheless, she turned to see what was so damn interesting about- "Wait...what?" Was all she could whisper in shock.

In the distance, it seemed as if an entire mountain range had been cleared of trees and mined irreparably. The landscape was scarred and burned beyond any natural beauty, multiple quarries reducing it to little more than black stone and ash. Higher up the mountain face, the telltale valleys carved by rivers and glaciers over hundreds of thousands of years, seemed to have long since dried up and filled with dust.

"Those mountains used to be gushing with healing spring water. What...happened here?" She asked no one, to which Marco felt some corn-forsaken need to reply. "I was kinda hoping you would know. Looks like some parts of the Amazon back home, after we starteqqqqd...harvesting it for...stuff..." He let his words trail off as he noticed Star's deteriorating expression, now dipping to downright murderous.

Hoping to help, he asked softly, "Why don't we head into the resort and see what happened? I'm sure the locals might know enough to fill us in." Star opened her mouth to give him a derisive retort, but as frustrating as it was, he had a point. Corn, she hated it when he had a point, though almost instantly, she regretted her harsh thought. 'You don't hate him, you're just mad and he's the only person around to take it out on. Be nice.'

Sighing, Star nodded, still wearing a withering glare, and adjusted her duffel bag before the two set off towards the town. Marco happily, or at least acting happy, followed her, keeping a safe distance, neither noticing the cracking, blood-red crescent moon above them.

By the time they made it to the main thoroughfare through the resort; it being a single cityscape of hotels, inns, bars, casinos, and other luxuries for every interest under the sun, Star was practically foaming at the mouth. Trash was piled high against nearly every wall in sight, and a multitude of broken windows, doors, and signs made it very clear that the mountainside wasn't the only place suffering. Businesses were closed all over the place, and the streets were littered with people. People dotted in huddled masses, some wearing tattered rags, and some looking like they had just gotten off work, so Star had no trouble finding a new victim to vent to.

Grabbing a nearby villager, or whatever these people were called these days, Star pulled him close and met his eyes, trying not to scream. "You. What happened to this place? I used to come here all the time as a kid, it never looked like this shit hole!" she asked, her voice climbing to a near shout. But the villager pried her hands away and glared right back, dusting off his patched and grimy clothes..

"Pretty sure you're still a kid, Blondie. And yeah, the place was nice 'til a couple years ago, when those rich Mewmans stopped supporting us." He let out a weary breath and shook his head as if remembering the last few years was as taxing as losing a family pet. "People stopped coming here from Mewni, and those filthy monsters started replacing them. With fewer tourists, we had to start getting inventive. Bottled healing spring water, wood that never rots, diamonds that change color to match your outfit, hell even crime started catching people's interests when the monsters took over in place of the Butterflies. Things got rough, but we're making it work."

Through the entire history lesson, Star felt her knuckles turn white at the thought of one of her childhood memories being taken from her, much less being blamed for it. "'The Butterflies' didn't have a choice. We-" she began, but the villager cocked his head, a glimmer or recognition flashing in his eyes. "Hey! I know you! You're that princess, Stan Butterfly or whatever, you're one of em, ain't ya?!"

Marco had been watching with piqued interest, ready to rush in if the man said something that Star found particularly annoying, and quickly took charge of the situation. "Hoookay, thanks for the update, yeah we're just gonna-"

"You Butterflies abandoned us and left us to fend for ourselves against the monsters that ruined our city! If you wanna know what the hell happened to our planet, go take a look in the mirror, kid," he grumbled. In a flash, Star lunged at him, not even bothering to use her wand. She knew she didn't need it to break his neck, but a pair of firm yet gentle arms wrapped around her waist and held her in place as she struggled to get closer. "Say it to my face! Get back here and say it again! I dare you! I friggen dare you! Let go of me, Marco!" she screamed, drawing attention from everyone on the block.

Marco jerked her back and tried to hold her still, which served only to direct her blind fury at him. There was a sharp, crowd-stopping slap that echoed off the cobblestone street, and Marco slowly turned to look back at her with a fresh red welt on the side of his face.

Rocked from her drunken rage as well as her new anger issues, Star brought her hands to her mouth in shock, too stunned to do anything more than tentatively reach for his cheek. "I... You were... I didn't mean to..." she stammered, feeling her heart break as he backed up a pace, touching his cheek.

Marco simply glared at her for a moment before giving her a firm nod, and grabbing the hand she held out to pull her down the sidewalk, away from the still shouting villager. He led her towards a less populated part of town, away from all of the negative sights and aggravating people. "I'm so sorry, Marco," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. He nodded again and kept his eyes trained forward with his jaw set. "It's fine. Let's just...go for a walk, alright?"

"Walk and talk?" She asked in a small voice.

"Walk and talk, " he affirmed.

Star let out a quiet breath of relief and sped up to walk beside him. Sadly, this caused him to release her hand, no longer needing to pull her along. She'd be lying to say she didn't miss the warmth of his hand seconds after he let go, but there was no way she'd say that now. "I just, " she began, too many emotions raging in her head to make it easy to talk, "This place means a lot to me. And, I dunno if you could tell, but it's kinda been a rough morning." She looked up at him, trying to gauge his response.

"I could tell," he answered, careful not to make it so quick as to seem patronizing, "So why don't you do something about it?" She gave him an incredulous look at the idea of it being even possible to fix what was bothering her before he held up his hands in defense and continued. "I mean the city, Star. You have the wand, right? Can't you just fix everything and give people more stuff?"

"Then who's to stop them from just tearing it all apart when they run out of stuff, or money?" She asked, donning a small amount of her pessimistic attitude, "No, If we wanna fix this place for real, we have no choice but to-"

"My my my, don't you two look a little lost?" A gruff voice asked from in front of them. Both Marco and Star had been too lost in conversation to notice they had walked into a decidedly more run down and deserted part of the neighborhood. The reason behind its desertion became abundantly clear as several more burly and ragged looking Monsters began stepping from the shadows to greet them.

"I said, you two look a little lost. I'm sure we could point you in the right direction, for a fee, " the apparent lead Monster offered, smiling like a shark appraising its next meal. He flashed a wicked, jagged looking dagger from his belt, waving it almost lazily in front of him and bared his fangs in a crooked, reptilian smile.

"Do I have 'Annoy the hell out of me' written across my forehead today?" Star grumbled, clearly out of patience now, "So not only did you take my home, but now you are actually trying to rob me? Seriously?"

"Star, let's just portal out of here, we don't have to-" Marco began, but she pressed a hand to his mouth to shut him up, her eyes locked with the monsters in a tight-lipped smile. She desperately wanted to see where this was going, for more than one reason. "Shshshsh, shush. Let's see what the nice man- sorry, monster, has to say, Marco." She smiled at the mixed bag of creatures actively surrounding them, but it wasn't genuine. It was mash-like to the point of looking fractured, and it made his skin crawl.

"Be a good girl and give us your things, and don't skimp out on the wand. We heard about how the Old Crow finally gave it to you, so c'mon. Hand it over." The lead Monster seemed to be losing patience, gesturing for a two-headed bear to lumber forward to try and take their things by force. But Star continued smiling as though she had all the time in the world. It made the hair on the back of Marco's neck stand up in anticipation of the fight he knew was only a hair's breadth away.

"Nooo, I don't think I will, actually," mused Star, taping her chin in deep thought, "whatchya gonna do about it?" She asked casually, pointedly keeping her hands off her purse, daring them to try something. Marco watched as the two-headed bear hesitated, looking back at the reptilian Monster with conflicted worry and apprehension. The group of thugs stopped circling them, if only for a moment, before the leader took a short step forward, now brandishing his blade.

"For fuck's sake, you idiots, she's just a kid. If you're all too chicken shit, then I'll just take the rewards all for myself!" he growled as he began approaching.

Marco tossed an uneasy glance to Star and jerked his head toward the monster. "What's our move? Should we portal back home? Get some guards? Maybe-" but Star wasn't listening to him. She shoved her duffel back into his arms and produced her wand, twirling it in her fingers as she took a step forward, wearing a sadistic grin. "Our move, is to see who can take out the most, unless you wanna run back home to…home," she finished awkwardly, refusing to make eye contact.

Before Marco could ask, she darted forward with a hearty laugh and blasted the ground in a flurry of pink-hued rainbows. The explosion sent her soaring over the group of thugs as she fired a strawberry lasso at the leader's neck, landing gracefully behind him. She jerked him backward into a waiting haymaker, smiling as Marco heard bones crunch, and watched as half of the monsters recoiled at the effortless display. The other half seemed to find courage in their anger, and the fight was on, much to Marcos horror.

As the Reptiles body tumbled across the secluded street in a heap, another monster, some sort of minotaur with a bulldogs face, charged at Star with its horns aimed at her face. She flashed a wicked grin and lashed the strawberry lasso through the air like a whip. When the Dogbull was just about upon her, she dove forward and drove her knee hard into its chin and gripped its horns, jerking its neck back and driving it's still stampeding body into the ground. When it finally slid to a stop, Star stood, kicked it hard enough in the head to render it unconscious, and turned towards the rest of them.

Marco had been watching the display with awed interest until a giant squirrel rippling with muscles took a vested interest in him and rushed to strike. 'Guess I don't have a choice, then, do I?' he thought reluctantly before pulling the duffel bag over his shoulder and whipping it forward to catch the squirrel in the gut. It doubled over as Marco struck with a powerful luggage uppercut before he swept it's feet out from under it and brought the bag down hard to finish the monster off.

Another monster rushed forward, brandishing a dagger and shouting incoherently, but Marco was in the mood to fight now. "Sorry, this isn't personal, just working through some stuff," he casually explained before twirling the duffel back like a single nunchuck, cracking it against the monster's sides in quick succession before finishing it with an inside crescent kick to the temple. It too crumpled to the ground, clutching its head as Marco stared down at the bag in awe.

"Wow, this thing is actually pretty useful," he noted before slinging the bag back over his shoulder and dropping into a defensive stance. It wasn't like it was his only weapon, what with Silverlight hanging pointedly by his side. But there was a small degree of satisfaction to be felt when one could use their surroundings in a fight.

However, killing the mood, Star narwhal blasted enemy after enemy, laughing maniacally as he started to wonder if she might be enjoying it a bit too much. Every once in awhile he'd hear someone's bones cracking under a successful strike, or an all too guttural grunt sounding from whatever poor soul thought to challenge her, and every time he would wince. Hoping to save someone the pain of trying to fight her, he leaped forward and sent a vicious left hook kick to catch a Monster that looked suspiciously like a dilophosaurus just above its frills.

It went reeling to the ground as Marco dispatched his duffel bag to knock it out before rushing to the next monster, slinging his scarlet weapon from one shoulder to the other as he dodged blows and dealt them back with a nylon padded fury like an immense yo-yo.

A massive bipedal warthog sent a wild right hook for his head before he ducked low, skidding on his knees as he sent the bag over his head. The warthog's fist cracked against something hard in the bag, sending it recoiling in agony as it gripped its hand. Marco saw the opening and vaulted between its legs before whipping the bag toward it's back, sending it sprawling to the ground. One more strike to the head was enough to finish it off, and when Marco looked up, he saw that every other monster thug was either too broken to fight, or had already ran for their lives. Heh, just like Ludos guys,' he mused.

Nodding to himself, he slung the duffel bag over his shoulder once more and strode over to Star, careful not to surprise her in her blind rage. She had multi colored flecks of blood on her face and hands but otherwise seemed just fine, though the same couldn't be said about her opponents. She dropped an unconscious monster to the cobblestone street and turned to face him, a wide smile still painted on her face. "That's more like it. Though to be fair, I think I won."

Marco tossed an uneasy glance down at the unconscious warthog by his feet before looking back up at Star. Her attitude seemed to have improved, but at the cost of starting a near riot in the street, and busting more than their fair share of heads? 'This can't be healthy,' he thought to himself, looking around at the other dropped bodies, 'Maybe I should take her home, I'm sure I could find a better way for her to vent about whatever's bothering her.'

Noticing Marcos prolonged silence, Star let her smile wilt as she thought of the best way to steer him back to her point of view, to get that support and relief she wanted from him. Finally, an idea popped into her head: "This is how we're gonna fix this place, Marco."

He continued to stare at her and pressed his lips together anxiously, not sure if he wanted her to elaborate. "By uhm...beating people half to death? I feel like… " He held a finger up in order to buy himself a moment, "that's not a greaat plan, Star," he said deliberately, cautious not to get on her bad side.

Star let her enthusiastic grin fully drop into a deadpan frown, now glaring at him. "That's not… Marco…" she began before pausing to think hard for a moment, "okay, it kinda is like that, but it's for a good cause! We can fight back. Take back this place from the monsters that ruined it. I know the Mejogans could support themselves if they didn't have to worry about Toffee's army flooding in and ruining the place."

"So you suggest we save these people by running around beating up monsters?" he asked with dry apprehension. She nodded, clueless to the sarcasm in his tone. "Star, that's-" 'the worst idea I've ever heard, an insane plan that's definitely gonna get us killed,' he wanted to list all of these answers for her, but if he was being honest, some part of him actually agreed with her.

Star had some semblance of a point; removing the monsters from the equation could do more good than harm for these people. And frankly, the longer he was here running around like a madman with a very agitated Mewman princess, the longer he could avoid going back home to explain himself to the other one. He felt a pang of guilt in his subconscious for even entertaining the idea of avoiding Penny just because he was having a Marco moment about last night, but the prospect proved to be too enticing to avoid.

"Alright, " he sighed, his shoulders visibly sagging in resignation with his acceptance, "let's… be 'the good criminals' then." Star grinned, happy to finally have Marco agree with her for once in his miserable- well it was nice to have him tag along. "Awesome. I'm gonna run home and grab some…stuff. Do you prefer maces or morningstars?" She asked, already pulling her scissors from her pocket. Marco tapped Silverlight and shook his head. "I have all I need to fight, right here. But if you have anything in black, I'll take it. Maybe a cape? Oh! And a mask, we don't want anyone else recognizing us."

"Hah! There's the Wild Man I love," she called back before instantly turning scarlet. "A-As a friend," she stammered avoiding his eyes. "I'll just...uh I'll be back in a flash!" She called out, cutting a deep blue portal with pink swirls. "Wait!" he called just before she could step through it. Star turned around and looked at him like he was about to give her some bad news, only to find him holding out his hand. "Lemme borrow your phone so I can call Penelope. I should at least tell her we might be gone for a couple of days."

Star's eye visibly twitched as she fumbled around in her purse, and Marco felt himself recoil slightly as she glared at him, her sky-blue eyes boring into his before she shoved the compact roughly into his hands. "Enjoy the phone call. I'll be back in five minutes, be ready to go when I'm done," she barked at him as she strode through the portal. He looked from the compact in his hands to the still-open portal, and for a split second, considered returning to Earth instead of acting on whatever crazy plan Star was proposing.

Convincing her to leave with him would probably be next to impossible, but at the same time, leaving here on her own wasn't an option. He'd never forgive himself if something happened to her and he'd had the choice to stay and help. Not to mention, the thought of facing Penny right now was terrifying. So without thinking, he resigned himself to stay and dialed her number.

"Heyyyyy, Star! Oh my gosh how aaarreee yoouuuu?" Penelope's voice rang through the receiver, a copious amount of smarm making her voice sound artificially sweet. Marco wanted to question her unusually chipper greeting, given that she and Star had just been at each other's throats, but decided it best not to comment. "Uhh, hey Penelope, it's me." There was a short moment of silence before Penelope spoke again, her tone noticeably less enthusiastic. "Why are you calling on Stars phone? Did something happen to yours?" she asked. Marco could feel a lump forming in his throat, shaking his head to himself as he pressed on.

"No, I'm just borrowing hers for a minute. We're in another dimension right now, so, my phone is basically pretty much useless." He let his shoulders relax, eager to keep the conversation as casual as possible until Penelope steered it back to where her mind lay. "Oookay? Well, lover boy, you should definitely pay your princess a visit tonight after you get back. We could watch a movie, have some drinks, fu-"

"I won't be able to, " Marco said in a flat tone, eager to keep her from speaking any more on the subject. Talking like that on someone else's phone just felt… wrong. "I'm actually gonna be gone for a couple of days...with Star. It's complicated, but we're fighting some monsters out at some kind of resort planet. We think Toffee might be involved, so I need you to keep this a secret from anyone at the M.R.C."

The deafening silence that emanated from the other end of the phone spiraled horribly as the seconds rolled by. He wasn't sure if he'd explained too much or made it too vague, but finally, Penelope answered in a dangerous, monotone voice.

"...what."

He bit his lip and closed his eyes, bracing for the storm he knew was seconds away from crashing into him. He was desperate to keep things peaceful with at least one princess today, but it looked like that wasn't going to happen. "Marco! Are you serious?! You and Star are off at some fucking resort fighting monsters and you're planning to-" she stopped herself for a moment. Whether to collect her thoughts or to catch her breath, Marco wasn't sure. Neither option seemed all that enticing.

Seeing an opportunity, he eagerly cut in. "How about I make it up to you? I know this is kind of a problem-"

"Kind of?!" She shouted from Earth, her voice dripping with sarcasm. But Marco pressed on. "As soon as I get back, you can come have dinner with my family, I can make us all some awesome food- hey! You can even help me cook!"

Once again, the other end of the line seemed content with just producing static, before Penelope finally sighed in resignation, the steam gone from her planned barrage. "Fine. But I swear, if you get hurt again..., or Star tries to make a move on you..., Imma kill her."

"Uhhh, alright. But somehow, I feel like you don't have to worry about any of that," he mused, looking around at the scattered bodies of unconscious monsters.

"And why is that?" Penelope asked, her tone betraying her clear disbelief in such a notion that Star could possibly be controlled. Marco rubbed the back of his neck, unsure if it was his place to say or not, but eventually decided it best to give her a little insight.

"Star's been acting a little weird all morning. I'm not sure if she's just having a bad day, or if something's actually wrong, but she's definitely in a bad mood." He waited for Penelope to shoot him some snarky remark, or at least poke at Stars attitude, but she actually gave him something far more surprising; a piece of genuine advice.

"Maybe she's just a little stressed? That sleepover, the spin the bottle game...," her voice took a turn for the uncomfortable, "the disaster date we had the other night. Maybe… Maybe you should just give her some space. She might need it."

He couldn't tell if that was her trying to lure him home, or if she was actually trying to help, but he knew advice like that wasn't going to help him here. "Trust me, I can't leave her alone here, or anywhere else for that matter. A looser canon probably doesn't exist right now."

Penelope let out a heavy sigh, fighting back the urge to comment on his canon. When she finally did respond, it wasn't annoyance that her words were dripping with, but rather, it was resignation."Okay, Marco. I trust that you know what you're doing. Just, be safe, and hurry back. I'd love to meet your parents already."

"Can't wait for it, Penny," he answered, finally donning a smile, "I'll see you in a few days. Keep an eye on Jackie and Janna for me, though, would you? You know how weird things can get back home."

"Of course, not to worry, Marco, I'll make sure there's still a city left by the time you get back. Now, go, make sure Star doesn't kill someone."

With that, the two hung up, leaving Marco alone, surrounded by groaning monsters, some of which began shuffling away, complaining about their cuts and bruises. He made to pocket the compact, but before he could even close it, it began to ring, shaking violently with a picture of Reynard making a pig-nose face on the screen.

He wasn't sure if he should answer, but given that it was Reynard of all people, he reluctantly tapped the green button and stared at the screen. "Hey, uhm, this isn't-"

"Yes I know, Marco, not to worry, I just saw Star for a moment and she has informed me of the both of your...activities."

Marco sighed and held the bridge of his nose, content to simply stare at the ground in lieu of explaining himself again. "It's not what it sounds like. We're just-" he began, but Reynard was far too anxious to let him finish.

"I know exactly what you're up to, Marco. Don't attempt to insult my intellect by assuming I'm too blind to notice, that's River's job." Marco felt his mouth turn dry. Rarely did Reynard speak to him in anything less than a positive jaunt, except when he was recollecting his history on Mewni.

The young royal continued however, despite Marcos venture to defend himself. "I completely endorse your activities. As far as I'm concerned, the two of you are doing more in the crusade against Toffee than anyone else I've had the unfortunate displeasure of dealing with as of late. Take a stab at that bastard Lizard, Marco, and please make sure to be safe, both of you. I mean that in every way that matters.

He didn't have to explain it, but Marco knew what Reynard was talking about. His and Stars promise had been a short topic of conversation between the two, but he knew Reynard could be more empathetic than anyone in the universe when it came down to his cousin and Marco. "We'll be safe, Reynard. You have my word, in... every sense of it."

With that silent understanding between the two, Reynard excused himself and hung up, grumbling something about having to return to a meeting. Almost immediately after he closed the compact, Marco heard the sound of the portal behind him as Star stepped through, now armed with two more black duffel bags clanking with weapons.

Darting his eyes from the set of dark luggage to Star, Marco cocked an eyebrow and folded his arms. "Whatchya got there? I don't suppose it's presents?" He asked with a sarcastic frown. Star, ten seconds back and already done with his attitude, flashed him a vicious grin.

"Sorta. You could call em 'party favors' if you'd like. But I call it sweet revenge," she cackled, setting both bags down and gesturing for her scarlet one. As he handed it to her, Marco deepened his frown and shook his head.

"My sensei used to say: he who seeks revenge should dig two graves. One for-"

"Did you have to break all my stuff?!" Star yelled, pointedly ignoring him. She pulled apart the two sides of her scarlet bag to reveal a mass of shattered porcelain, dented cans, crushed toiletries and- 'is that sheet metal?' Marco thought. He shrugged quickly and took a step back, careful to remain out of her reach. Star groaned and threw her bag full of broken...things, back through the portal before shutting it and shouldering one of the two remaining packs.

"C'mon, Marco! We're wasting daylight and we got like a hundred bad guys to beat down!" she offered, punching her palm with her fist enthusiastically, but Marco had resolved to put his foot down, or at least set some ground rules.

"Star, we should talk about our plan, and what exactly we're going to do. We can't just go around beat-"

"If you're just gonna tell me what to do and complain about how I shouldn't help people, then you can just go home," she interrupted over her shoulder, her tone turning sour, "I was planning on being alone here anyways, but no matter what, I'm gonna make sure Toffee feels this. I wanna make sure he knows what it's like to lose something."

Marco looked down at the several remaining, bloodied monsters still struggling to move, and shook his head. Between sitting at home thinking about his poor decisions, and running around like an outlaw with Star, the choice was strikingly clear. Picking up the black duffel bag at his feet, Marco set out to follow her, ready to sow some chaos.

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

Pumping her foot hard on the wet pavement, Jackie wiped away her wet, limp bangs from her eyes and crouched on the board as she coasted down a small hill, the rain pelting her facel. She'd just left Star's sleepover after a strange breakfast with Penelope and Janna, and was feeling somewhat eager to get home after all that had transpired. Penelope had seemed very put off about something, and noticing a distinct lack of Star or Marco at breakfast, Jackie had more than a hunch as to the reason.

Effortlessly ollieing over a wide crack in the pavement, she groaned to herself as she thought back to breakfast at the Castle that morning. It had been a pleasant one until Janna, being Janna, decided that things were becoming a bit too chummy between the three of them. And so, she acted as she always did when things got too quiet and poked the bear. Jackie hated when she did that, as invariably, she went too far and feelings got hurt.

"So how's Diaz in the sack Pen?" asked Janna, now munching on some toast. Her expression was genuine, but anyone who had known her longer than eight minutes would know she was itching to start some trouble.

Jackie felt herself go pale at her Earth Friend's words. 'Please, no Janna. Just leave it…' she thought desperately as Penelope turned to stare in shock.

"I beg your fucking pardon?" she spat back. The brunette furrowed her brows and glared, but Janna only shrugged, as if she hadn't even noticed.

"Oh please. We all woke up this morning and you two were nowhere to be found. It's not hard to put it together. Honestly, I never thought the poor kid would have the balls to go through with it." Jackie's eyes went wide, looking from one girl to the other as things went south faster than she could have imagined.

"I am NOT giving you the details of my physical relationship with Marco," Penelope growled as she narrowed her eyes at a now smirking Janna.

"I didn't ask for the play-by-play, Pen, just an overall… I dunno, grade?" she chuckled, dusting the toast crumbs off her hands.

Penelope looked at her in disbelief, unsure if she was being serious or not. A quick check with Jackie didn't provide any help, as the blonde skater girl merely shrugged and rolled her eyes. Taking the obvious bait, Penelope narrowed her eyes and leaned forward, organizing her tableware. "If you must know… then all I will say on that matter is that he is an excellent lover, and and even better boyfriend. Now if you'll excuse me." She got up to leave, shifting her glare to a smile and giving it pleasantly to Jackie, "Tomorrow then?"

Jackie was happy to steer the conversation to tamer waters and nodded without hesitation. "Of course! I'll bring extra pads too so you don't get all banged up."

"Too late for that…" chuckled Janna under her breath as Penelope strode out of the room.

Jackie sighed, shaking the tension from her shoulders as she eyed her now laughing friend. "Janna, did you really have to act like that?" Janna only gave her a derisive scoff and rolled her eyes.

"Do you know who I am? Seriously, there was no way on Earth I was going to let that gold mine go untapped. Besides, it's not a secret what happened last night. Spiderbite there was giving Diaz the 'fuck me' eyes so hard, I was worried we'd all get pregnant."

Jackie couldn't help herself; she burst out laughing, soon joined by Janna as they snorted over their breakfast. "Oh, and did you see Star and Tom this morning?" She asked, catching her breath, "The way Star just sort of stormed back in and ignored him when he tried to take her out to breakfast? Cold as ice dude…"

Janna shook her head, the thought of that demon prick unwanted so early in the morning. "You know, for such a bubbly and fun princess, I sure wouldn't want to get on her bad side. I seriously thought Tom was going to cry when she told him she'd 'call him in a few days...' she mused.

"Be nice, Janna, we barely know the guy," Jackie answered, forcing her grin down.

"Psh, no? You barely know the guy... I've met him twice, and both times he's been a complete ass. Didn't you see him trying to pick a fight with Diaz like two times last night? He deserves every bad thing coming his way. Not to mention, it's probably tough to be Star's boyfriend when she's got it so bad for our favorite black belt."

"Janna shush!" hissed Jackie, shocked that she would be so open about it, even if they both knew it was obvious., "I don't think you should be talking about that so openly. I know your vibe is starting trouble, but please… just keep that to yourself okay?"

Janna narrowed her eyes, thinking hard for a short moment before reluctantly giving her a nod. "Fine, but it's gonna cost you. Pizza from Panucci's is my price. Janna Ordonia's silence is not so easily bought, you see."

Brought back to the present by a loud clap of thunder, Jackie shook her head, muttering, "That girl…" Ending her reminiscence on that morning to concentrate on her balance, she leaned to take the familiar sweeping curve onto Riverside Street. 'Still,' thought Jackie, 'besides an intensely awkward breakfast, last night was a lot of fun.' At dinner she'd had some of the most delicious food she'd ever eaten; easily rivaling the best restaurants in town. The "Friendship Tournament" had been riveting, with Star and Marco's absolutely epic match dazzling her still.

'And that game of spin the bottle…' Jackie felt her cheeks redden as she thought of those two excellent kisses with Amanda. She had been pleasantly surprised to find out just how much the southern girl had returned her kiss and while she coasted towards the Echo Creek River, she let her mind wander to other things that she wouldn't mind doing with that delicate southern belle.

'Easy girl, she's already taken…' she shook her head slightly at the thought, willing away the tantalizing images now rising in her mind as her cheeks reddened.

She didn't have time for fantasies anyway as up ahead, Bonner Pedestrian Bridge sat squarely in her path; its old fashioned light poles still glowing even in the gloomy, rainy morning. Jackie hated riding over this bridge. The soft burbling of the Echo Creek river floating below, the slightly different sound her skateboard wheels made as they transitioned to the concrete decking. Even the lights lining both sides seemed to radiate malevolence as she crossed onto the span. They never failed to dredge up memories of the accident four years ago. Memories she would prefer remained buried and at rest.

Ahead, about midway across the bridge, Jackie spotted a lone figure standing by the railing. Judging from the size of the figure standing there, it was a kid, a boy she could tell now that she drew closer.

"Hey!" she called out, jumping off her board and jogging over to the slightly trembling boy, "do you need help? Are you lost?" But the boy didn't answer, nor did he turn around. He simply continued staring out over the churning water.

Walking closer, Jackie noticed now that he was crying softly, his faint sobs and sniffles just audible over the rush of the river below. She wanted to reach out, to help the kid who could be lost and scared, but something inside her made her pause before her hand had even lifted from her side. There was something… off about the crying boy in front of her. He was soaked head to toe, his hair plastered to his scalp and water dripped steadily from his sleeves.

And his clothes; besides the fact that they seemed far wetter than the light drizzle could account for, something was off about those as well. They seemed disturbingly familiar, but Jackie couldn't remember where she had seen them before. Summoning her courage, she pushed aside her reservations and reached out to lay her hand on the boy's shoulder, asking him once more, "Are you okay kid?"

Silence; the sound of the traffic, the rushing river below, even the wind. It was like someone turned the volume down on the world the moment Jackie's hand made contact with the boy. So too did the boy's sobs cease as a quiet laugh replaced them. It began as a low, haunting giggle, and the same reservation that had warned her against approaching the boy now screamed for her to run, to run as far away from the small frail boy in front of her as fast as possible.

"Jackie…" a horribly familiar voice whispered from directly behind her as her blood turned to ice.

Trembling now, Jackie whipped around, determined to face her fear and the thing she knew was right behind her. Nothing, just iron grey drizzle, and the familiar sight of Riverside Street.

*Splash, the sound of wet clothes sopping against the concrete made her quickly turn back before a scream tore its way from her throat as she threw herself backward from the horrible and familiar sight before her.

The boy had turned, his clothing no longer just wet, but now torn and dirty, as if it had been dragged along the ground for miles. His skin was a mottled green blue, with abrasions and tears on his hands and ruined face. Dead looking, milky brown eyes bored into her aqua ones, as it reached out to her. "Hi, Jacks," he gurgled, as a dark, foul-smelling liquid dribbled from his mouth.

"Noooo," Jackie whimpered, closing her eyes, unable to look at the atrocity in front of her. "No, Adam...H-how?"

"Revenge…on a coward," he hissed, reaching out a slimy hand and wrapping it around her wrist.

Jackie almost vomited when cold, clammy hand closed hard around her wrist. "Adam I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't know what to do, I was just twelve… I panicked, oh God, I'm sorry"

"Sorry…" Adam chuckled wetly. "You're...sorry? You let me drown Jackie… It took… days for them to find me. My parents… They couldn't even have an open casket..."

Jackie trembled violently in the Adam-thing's grip. It was true, she remembered, Adam's body had been so wracked with trauma and decomposition when the Police had found him, that his family had to have a closed casket funeral. "I-I didn't…" she began as his cold, putrid breath caressed her face.

Opening her eyes, she could barely look at Adam, his lips pulled wide in a rictus grin, displaying his mouth full of jagged and splintered teeth. "C'mon Jacks. Time to swim with me. One. Last. Time."

Jackie screamed again as the small boy giggled, beginning to pull her across the concrete with inhuman strength. Her forearm felt like it would break under his ice cold grip as she struggled and pulled, desperate to get away as the corpse of her childhood friend dragged her slowly and inevitably towards the concrete railing.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." was all Jackie could moan over and over again as she was pushed back hard against the railing.

"Don't worry Jacks... it'll all be over soon. Just you, me, and the cold, dark, water…"

It was now or never, she couldn't wait any longer or the thing would have her off her feet and pushed over the railing. So with an adrenaline surge born of years of close calls surfing, and skating, she gripped Adams rotten forearm and twisted violently away from him in an attempt to break free.

With a wet tearing sound and a spray of putrid black blood, the sagging skin of Adam's forearm tore away as Jackie pulled herself free. He didn't seem to feel anything, merely gazing at his now skinless right hand with a sense of mild interest before looking up at her as she scooped up her skateboard.

"You shouldn't have done that…" growled Adam, as he turned and sprinted towards her.

Jackie lost no time in fleeing from the monster now. She threw her board down and leapt on it, pumping furiously as Adam screamed in a low demonic roar, chasing her across the bridge as she fled. She couldn't keep her eyes off him as she desperately tried to get away.

'This can't be real, this can't be real…' she kept repeating in her mind over and over again, feeling her legs burning at the strain of her escape. It was a scene from the worst nightmares she'd had when she was 12. When she'd dreamt of Adam every night after the accident, her guilt gnawing at her like a parasite.

As the distance between her and the horror chasing her slowly grew, Jackie turned back to see where she was skating just as her board left the sidewalk and into the road where a truck was speeding towards her. It blared it's horn in warning, and Jackie had only a moment to throw herself forward as the truck roared by, it's wheels crushing her blue skateboard into kindling. In a flash, she got to her feet, ignoring her torn, bloody knees as she looked back, bracing herself for the horror show behind her to catch up and finish what it started.

But there was nothing there. In fact, the only sign that anything at all was amiss was a large puddle of water at the edge of the road. Turning away from the spot with a shudder, she felt her skin crawl as a voice once again whispered in her ear, "See you real soon, Jacks…"

Jackie didn't stop running until she got home that day, only stopping when she had slammed the foot door of her house shut behind her and triple locked it. Her hands were shaking so hard, she could barely engage the deadbolt and when the final lock had slid into place she dragged herself up to her room and collapsed on top of her bed as a strangled sob escaped her lips.

It was everything; the terror that had seized every fiber of her being when Adam had confronted her, the revulsion at seeing his torn and decomposing body, and the overwhelming guilt she still felt at her part in his death. Together they shattered her, broke through every fragile mental barrier she tried to throw in their path, and left her unable to stem the rising tide of emotions that were already overwhelming her. For the next several hours, all Jackie could do was clutch herself and cry uncontrollably as her fears swirled and raged inside her as outside, a smiling Adam breathed deep, intoxicated off of her delicious, fortifying fear.

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

As Nekatu, the planet rivaling Mejoga, drifted across the sky, it blocked the sun from view for approximately fourteen hours of the long, alien days, giving Star and Marco more than enough time to get down to business. And this particular evening would be no different from the others as the two prepared themselves for their new role as vigilantes.

Marco, now fully enraptured by the childish idea, donned a dark outfit reminiscent of a mariachi band member's clothing, with the subtle addition of a cape so black, it looked as though it were made of shadow. 'Always did have a thing for these,' he thought a small smile tugging his lips as he donned an equally black mask. Silverlight hung at his waist, ready as always to be used, but he was content with using a wooden bo staff he'd picked up on his first day instead...for now.

Star, on the other hand, had chosen a far more blunt approach, wearing baggy black pants with matching combat boots, and a heavy, leather jacket complete with spiked shoulders and studded armbands. 'At least I can wear this without people judging me,' she mused, pulling a black bandanna up to cover her cheek marks, her hair pulled into a ponytail. She had her wand neatly strapped to her waist, along with several knives, though she was content to do her dirty work with just her fists; it just felt so much more gratifying that way.

"How long until they get here?" Marco asked from his perch next to her, drawing her attention, "If we're actually doing this, which, again, we probably shouldn't be... I wanna be ready." Star checked her compact and shrugged, rolling her eyes before approaching the window overlooking the now deserted street.

"I don't know. They'll get here when they get here, I guess. Just sit down, and pipe up, will ya? I thought you were supposed to be the patient one?" Marco wanted to retort at that, but quickly let any response die in his throat. She had been like this for three days: Irritable, grouchy, and short with him whenever he pressed for any details about her downright dangerous plan. So without any fuss, he shook his head and walked over to a nearby couch, plopping down and picking up his heavily worn staff. "There's a good lad," Star chuckled, turning her attention back to the street below.

In the evening, corn only knows how, the streets that had been full of vagrants and ragged locals always cleared, leaving them to the tender mercies of Mejoga's worst inhabitants. Only the most bloodthirsty of the populace was ever eager to set foot outside so late at night, but that's what Star had been counting on. It was always easier to play 'spot the monster criminal' this way, much to Marcos dismay. From behind, he cleared his throat, drawing her attention once again. "So, I don't suppose you're ready to tell me what's bothering you?" he asked in a tired voice.

Star groaned and shook her head{l, frustrated at being asked the same, tired question for what felt like the twentieth time in the last three days. She answered the same way she always did, in that same flat, emotionless voice. "If I felt like you deserved to know, then you'd know by now,"

Pressing his lips together in frustration, Marco glared at her, ready to retort with his usual answer to hers. "Then I'll be here, waiting, until I deserve to know why my best friend is upset," he grumbled.

Star rolled her eyes, suppressing a growl that threatened to climb in her throat, and ultimately said nothing.

"I'm just saying," he continued, his tone shifting towards sincerity she would ultimately disregard, "you've been acting really different since the sleepover. Maybe it was our fight, but if something happened or if I did anything-" he began, but Star whirled around so quickly, he let the next words die in his throat under the weight of her withering glare.

"I'm. Fine," she growled, punctuating both words with a heavy step closer. But Marco had heard it all before, and he wasn't the least bit intimidated. Standing to meet her encroaching fury, he only produced a chagrined smile, coaxing her to finally serve him with the truth. "I don't think you are. So how about-"

At that moment, just outside in the cobblestone street, the rumbling sound of a convoy of wood carts and wagons echoed off the buildings around them. The two exchanged a short, knowing glance before Star made for the window, Marco strapping his staff to his back.

The two hastily jumped from the window and vaulted up the side of the building without so much as a sound. In truth, this was always Marco's favorite part. He relished in the moments they spent silently crossing rooftops and scaling buildings in the dead of night, running silently as they stalked their prey. He couldn't help but imagine he and Star were Ninjas, and the criminals they were about to serve, their unsuspecting targets.

Marco latched a firm grip on the next windowsill, noiselessly hoisting himself up to the shallow foothold before turning and extending a hand for Star to take. With little effort, he pulled her up to join him before letting her push off his shoulders to climb higher. 'Thank god she only weighs… huh, I don't even know. Maybe I should ask,' he mused before Star yanked him up by the collar of his jacket.

"Quit daydreaming, Marco. We have a busy night ahead of us and I'm not about to spend it babysitting you!" she barked before placing him gently down beside her. One of the few signs Marco interpreted as Star not necessarily being mad at him. She knelt down behind the ledge of the rooftop and scanned the streets, waiting for their convoy.

Finally, it rounded the corner three blocks down, a string of five wagons covered in tarps and hauling an untold stock of valuables fenced near the city's edge. Marco nudged her shoulder and pointed. "Okay, Star. That middle wagon there is the only one we care about. Six onboard, a few bags of some good stuff to steal, and twenty-four guards in total."

Star nodded in assent and readied her wand, the crystal-embedded bulb of the artifact glowing a hungry purple. Marco tried to ignore her eagerness and squatted beside his partner, the two of them keeping their eyes glued to the target. "So after we rob these guys, we can leave them for the cops, donate whatever valuables we find, and I think after a score like this, we'd be safe to head home. There's basically no one left to rob."

Star turned an incredulous look at him and shook her head in disapproval. "No, we're 'safe to head out', she mocked with a toothy grin, "when Monsters aren't destroying my childhood, Diaz. Toffees already taken enough from me, so now it's my turn to take something from him."

"Star...he has an army at his disposal, we're two teens with a magic wand and a bucket full of anger issues...we can't take out every criminal here," he explained, hoping to at least get through to her once in three days he'd been relentlessly trying. But as he should have expected, it went ignored.

"Ugh! Marco, are you gonna help me or are you just going to list off all the reasons why I shouldn't try to help these people?" Opening his mouth to speak, he wanted to argue that that wasn't at all what he was saying, but he knew it was wasted breath. So with a sigh, and an egregious eye roll, he muttered, "In for a penny, in for a pound… let's go get us some goons."

Star flashed her trademark beaming smile and stood, looming over the encroaching convoy of loot-laiden carts. "That's the spirit, uno Oscuro," she whispered, earning little more than an annoyed sigh from her counterpart.

(Mood Music~ Caffeine: Casey Lee Williams)

With a slight grunt of exertion, Star hefted herself up and over the ledge just as the convoy was only meters up the street, and dropped into a hard landing to block the path of the lead cart. As its horses reared and stamped angrily against the stone, Star peeked her head around to see the two monsters seated at the front.

Oddly enough, most monsters here were reptiles, and the rest could be anything under the sun so long as it was humanoid. Star found it of little importance, especially now, and pointed to the drivers left. The two monsters in question shared a confused glance before looking left, just as a portal opened and Marco came roaring out, catching both of them in a clothesline, sending them crashing to the ground in a heap.

With the entire convoy now ground to a halt, and only twenty-two guards left to boot, Star let her wand thrum with pink energy as that familiar high of satisfaction made her blood pump hotter. It was eerily relaxing to beat these guys down, even more so than Ludos grunts. 'Maybe that's because these guys are serious,' she mused, quickening her stroll to catch the next wagon's guards by surprise as another intruding thought made her blush. 'Or maybe... it's because Marcos here to watch.' Both options seemed equally tempting to invest in, her mind already combing through their latest encounters to compare with.

Lost in thought, she hadn't even noticed the two monsters charging towards her, one looking like an overgrown salamander and the other resembling a porcupine. "Hey, guys! You're just that eager to get the snot kicked out of you?" She asked, twirling her wand in her fingers as it charged a dangerous level of magic, "that's cool. You don't mind if try some new moves, do you"

The two goons exchanged a worried look as Star sprinted towards them, both returning the charge with war cries as she used a move she had learned from Marco during their fight, a sweeping kick that dropped them both to the pavement. "Heartthrob hammer!" She commanded, turning her wand into a massive, pink, sizzling hammer in the shape of a heart. With little effort, she slammed it down into the cobblestone, blasting both chunks, and goons into air, and out of sight.

Marco had barely dodged a swipe of dagger when he heard the deafening boom, now all too aware that Star had decided to 'cut loose'. Again... 'This is the eighth time since yesterday!' He wanted to shout, but knew he had to remain as ominous as possible. Something about "Striking fear in the hearts of criminal scum?" He wasn't too concerned. As the leather Bat-monster took another swipe at him with its wicked-looking hooked talons, Marco caught its ankle and twisted, sending it to the ground. After one solid kick to the temple, it was out cold.

With another one out for the count, Marco knew they were down to nineteen left, but with a group charging for him with weapons already drawn, he knew it was time to get serious. He still had reservations about using Silverlight, so for now he unfastened his staff from behind and spun it in his hands, relishing in the low "whir" as the ends whipped through the air and catching it in a forward lance.

Sprinting forward, he ducked under a longsword aimed for his neck and came up hard, swinging up his staff in a brutal, short arc to crack against a mutated-frog-looking monsters jaw, sending it reeling. He jumped into a forward flip letting the staff trail behind him before landing, using the momentum to swing it over his head with all the force of a sledgehammer into the top of the still stunned monster, dropping him like a marionette with its strings cut.

Star dove backward, skidding to a stop as another minotaur-esque beast lunged for her, swinging a mace with reckless abandon. 'I love it when they're this stupid,' she grinned. With only a sweep of her wand, a massive trailing fist of rainbows following behind it, she knocked the big beefy monster and two carts loaded with junk clear through the brick of the closest building. But as more monsters surged forward, however, Star found that she much preferred when they practically lined up for her, so she could dish out their beatings one at a time.

She whipped her strawberry lasso around the neck of the closest one and jerked hard, relishing in the crack of bone as it collided with her waiting knee. After throwing the unconscious monster aside, she fired a volley of explosive cupcakes forward, hoping at least some of them landed on their targets. As a series of rolling explosions tore apart the cobblestones not fifteen feet from him, Marco turned to witness the carnage, seeing monsters, stone and shattered pieces of wagon flying through the air in every direction, raining down like deadly hail.

"Star! We're trying to stop the monsters from destroying everything, not help them!" He shouted in annoyance. He ducked under the swipe of a monster's fist and kicked hard, finding plenty of give in its stomach. Star rolled her eyes and strapped her wand to her waist. "Fine! I'll play nice since you wanna be such a baby about it!"

Marco let out a gruff sigh and caught the wrist of a monster desperate to run him through and twisted, letting the knife clang harmlessly to the ground. "I'm not being a baby about it. Am I?" He asked, earning a confused glare for the bulbous frog-monster. Shrugging, he swept its feet out from under it and bounced its head off the ground with a short blow from his staff, leaving the question up for debate.

In the three days they had been here, he had learned that a vast majority of these monsters were sluggish, untrained, and cocky; used to shaking down and intimidating villagers not trained fighters like he and Star. It made the fighting that much easier, but also meant that he had more time for Star to give him more of her bad attitude. And more time to play cleanup whenever she got too, zoned in.

"Diaz, catch!" She called from down the street, slinging a horned toad monster with two heads his way. In one fluid motion, he hooked its thorned neck under his staff and drove it into the ground before grabbing its legs and swinging it towards a charging squad. Another monster used the moment of discord to rush him, swiping for his head, but Marco had learned enough from Reynard to predict the feigned strike.

As he predicted, the monster veered low with its blade at the last second, aiming to open up his gut. Marco brought up a knee to catch it in the wrist before swinging the end of his his staff hard into its temple. It doubled over in agony and Marco lost no time in vaulting off the monster's back high into the air. The monster, seeing the caped warrior falling his way, scrambled to dodge, but succumbed to a heavy whack of wood to the face. Marco stood, assessing himself and those around him as his exhaustion was starting to become a problem. But with twelve more monsters to go, it was grin and bear it, or get left behind.

"Marco! Can you keep up! Some of your guys are kinda crowding me over her!" He heard Star call out angrily. As always, she was getting cocky.

"Or how about you just focus? These guys are nothing to you, just-" he began, but was immediately interrupted by a very angry Star.

"Stop complaining and help me already!"

"Typical," he mouthed to himself before breaking into a controlled sprint for her. She was getting pushed back, at least seven monsters coordinating to surround her despite her obvious advantage. Even without the wand, she had them hilariously outgunned, but as per usual, she had decided to focus on a one-on-one based fight, which always meant more work, as they inevitably ganged up on him.

To her rear, a wolfish humanoid was lunging to run her through with its longsword just as he whizzed past her in a whirlwind. He jumped and twisted in one swift motion, driving his heels into the monsters gut before swinging over and around its shoulder, hooking the back of its head with a blur of his staff. There was the sound of metal clanking to the ground, followed by a heavy, hairy body falling beside it before Marco picked himself up, charging for the next monster.

But even through their small victories, Marco could tell they were overrun. In the time it had taken him to dispatch the wolf, the remaining eleven monsters had surrounded them, and were moving in for the kill. Marco and Star went back to back, both teens keeping their respective fists and staff raised and their eyes sharp as Star whispered to him. "Do I have His Majesties' permission to use my wand, now? I promise I'll only kill about two, at the expense of the block."

He knew she was being crude for the sake of putting on a show, 'but still. I probably shouldn't leave it to chance,' he considered. "Star, focus. We're supposed to be the good guys, remember? Or do you not care about that either?" She flashed him a fiery glare over her shoulder, subconsciously reaching for her wand. "One of us has to be, but you're awfully confident it's you, Diaz," she taunted.

Things were going nowhere fast, so rather than argue with her, he decided to change the game in their favor. "On my signal, be ready to-"

"Why your signal? I wanna signal," Star growled as Marco groaned, the monsters slowly advancing closer, and shook his head, happy to give her whatever she wanted just as long as they got the hell out of here. "Fine! On your signal, we run for the middle cart and grab whatever we can. Portal it all to the church on the other side of the city, alright?"

"What? No! These guys aren't getting off without a beating, and I'm gonna be the one to dish it out to them," she returned, donning a confident smirk.

"Uhh, you guys know we can hear you, right?" A slimy, two-headed lizard asked, looking uncomfortably from side to side. Star and Marco both exchanged a quick look before she yelled, "FINE! GO!" At the top of her lungs.

The two rushed for the now-abandoned middle cart surrounded by groaning monsters, weaving between horses, yelling enemies, and… 'Are those the locals?' Marco thought. Sure enough, just fifteen paces beyond the last wagon was a growing crowd of ragged villagers and locals coming to see what all the racket was about.

"Krunt's gonna skin the two of you's alive for this! He'll end your whole filthy bloodline for taking his money!" One of the monsters yelled as the two fumbled to grab whatever they could. But in the opposite direction, the villagers appeared to be getting restless with the display. Star and Marco had come to be known as local celebrities without names, giving away literal hordes of gold and valuables, so it wasn't much of a surprise that someone recognized them.

"Hey! That's them! That's the Black Duet! Come on, they need some help over here!" one man cried out before charging recklessly toward the mass of monsters, wagons, and vigilantes. Shouldering several bags of stolen swag, Star and Marco ducked out of the way to avoid the angry mob politely skirting past them, and watched with uneasy interest as monsters and villagers clashed in deafening fury.

"Should we...help them?" Marco asked, turning to Star with a worried glance. In terms of numbers, the villagers had the fight. But they weren't fighters, they were just regular people.

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Star dismissed with a wave, "see, that tall guy already got one!" She excitedly pointed to where a tall villager had run a monster through with its pitchfork. "Now c'mon!" she shouted, grabbing Marco's hand and pulling him hard towards an adjacent alleyway. "Let's use this time to reflect on great running away feels when we have literal, sacks of gold Marco!"

"But aren't we trying to help them? We shouldn't just-" he began before Star shot him a glare that made his blood run cold.

"I'm trying, but with you horning in all the time, it's a wonder I get anything done at all! How about you just let me do things my way?" She yelled. The two were now standing face to face in a dark alley, with a near riot taking place in the next block over, and they were wasting time.

"We'd be dead, if we did things your way," he returned, his own anger rising as he matched her glare for several tense seconds, "I'm just trying to make sure my best friend, the way I know her, makes it back to Earth with me."

"Don't hold your breath, because I sure won't," Star spat, causing Marco to pause not only at the venom of her words, but by the intensity of her belief in them. She turned away, pointedly avoiding his gaze before opening a portal and shoving her stolen loot through. Marco watched as she strolled away, depositing his goods just the same, and found that in that exact moment, he felt the most alone he had in over two years

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

After eight tense hours of continued criminal activity in the name of helping the people around them, Star and Marco finally decided to call it quits for the night. Neither had spoken a word to each other since the alley, which admittedly made it far more difficult to operate, but now, with the sun peeking around the edge of Nekatu, they could at last steal away to their "hideout." A cozy little inn near the edge of town, with a striking view of the only untouched mountain range left in sight towering in the distance.

Closing the door to their insignificant, shared room, Marco immediately removed his mask and placed it delicately beside his things, Silverlight and his staff quick to follow. He was exhausted to say the least, worn to the bone after three hard days of fighting criminals, or whatever they were, but to his relief, it was finally time to get some rest.

"I'm taking a shower, don't bug me," Star barked, stomping over to the bathroom and slamming the door behind her. 'Maybe rest can wait, just a bit,' he thought, removing his cape and taking a seat by the window. Every day thus far, he had enjoyed watching the sideways sunset capping over the edge of Nekatu like a diamond ring. Who else could say they got to see a planet-wide eclipse every morning? It was one of the few beautiful things left in this world that he could enjoy, especially without someone intruding in the moment.

Star had been, well, a lot… to deal with during their adventure, but Marco didn't blame her as much as he was entitled to. Whatever she was going through must be rough for her to go to such extremes to ease her pain, and he found that keeping an eye on her was a far greater endeavor than forcing himself to spend more time with Penelope. Especially with how things just felt different now. Maybe it was the isolation, from both her and Star, but he'd be lying to say he wasn't getting used to fending for himself. All in all, once again he decidedly chose to just remain patient with Star and to hold true to the idea that they were best besties even though the tough times.

A few minutes later, and without warning, the shower door swung open as steam poured out, filling the room with a humid air that smelled of strawberries and lavender. Star stepped out wearing her nightgown, her hair already dried and straightened, and promptly fell face first into her bed. "Shrwrz arl yrzzzzz," she mumbled through her pillow, eliciting a confused glance from Marco.

"Come again? I wanna say you said 'Schwartz mall yurts'?" He joked, giving her a light smile. Star turned her head to face him and glared, though it was obvious she was trying to hide a grin. Just Another sign she was more interested in acting mad than being mad. "Showers all yours, Diaz. I'm punching out for the night," she muttered, burying her face back into her pillow.

Marco's smile went cockeyed as he found her words almost as surprising as the humor behind them. "I was actually kind of hoping we could talk about our plan before we went to bed," he offered, standing from his window-side perch. But Star wasn't in the mood to throw around that kind of banter just yet. "I don't really care, I just want to bust some heads and forget- ...I mean, to help these people."

"Shouldn't we be more careful about this? You know there's an army of monsters out looking for us and-"

"We'll be fine, Diaz," she interrupted in a softer tone, nearly uncharacteristic for their time here, "besides, I doubt 'careful' is something you've been thinking about lately. So let's just go to bed."

Marco groaned in silent consternation. After a full shift of hostility followed by mutual silence, he desperately wanted to have a normal conversation with her again, even if it was over something trivial. The kind of fun, endearing conversation he couldn't have with anyone else but her. So, steeling his nerves, he sat down at the edge of his bed and asked, "What do you miss most about Mewni? The good version, I mean, before it got all messed up."

There was at least a full minute of tense, ominous silence from her side of the room before she surprised him by answering in something other than a retort. "I miss the stars."

Marco laid back on the bed, an overwhelming amount of relief coursing through his body at her considerate response. "Why's that?" He asked simply. She didn't sigh or huff or groan or complain like usual. Instead, she seemed quiet and content to talk and answered with a tone as soft as velvet to his ears. "They made me feel less alone. Like…I wasn't the only one who's life and future had been chosen for them… That being Queen wasn't the only future for me... Some nights, I'd go up to the roof of the castle, and just lie beneath the stars until I fell asleep. They made me feel like I was one of them."

"Can't you see stars anywhere you go, though? Even here there's a ton of them up there, you know." Marco wasn't trying to ruin the moment, but rather, was hoping she actually hadn't considered that. Thankfully, Star didn't take it the wrong way and answered patiently.

"They're not my stars though. They're not the ones I grew up with, the ones I'd sleep under, the ones I'd cry under. There's only one Mewni, and those stars are one of a kind." She didn't hear anything from him, and when she tossed a nervous glance his way, she found him staring, too awestruck to say a word. Rather than poke fun, she decided to just enjoy his captivation with her view of home.

Whether it was a shock to hear something positive from her, or what she had actually said, Marco wasn't sure, but he felt resolved to keep her mood going. "There's something on Earth we have that I think is pretty unique too, and it only happens every once in a while," he offered, unsure of why that thought was the most prominent in his mind, "it's called a blood moon. It doesn't happen a lot, but the moon turns this deep shade of red, and it's supposed to symbolize a bad omen, danger, pain, or change. But the last time I saw one was right before I met you and Reynard, so I don't think they know what they're talking about. These last two years have been the best of my life, and I wouldn't change a thing about it."

He heard Star suppress a snort from her side of the room and turned to find her grinning madly and clearly struggling to hide it. "What's so funny?"

"You're such a dork sometimes, Diaz," she answered, giving him a sincere smile for what felt like the first time since they got here, "but thanks. I think I needed to hear that."

"I don't suppose you wanna tell me why?" He prompted, flashing her a lopsided grin. But her smile faltered as she gave him a mock glare for his efforts. "Don't push it. We're having a moment."

"Right, well, as always, I'll be right here when you wanna talk about it." Star stared at the ceiling for a moment before her eyes widened so slightly, it was barely even noticeable. "You know, I actually saw a moon like that a few years ago too."

Marco pressed his lips together and cocked an eyebrow in her direction. "It's not exactly...an Earth thing, Star. I was just being… either way. What was it like on Mewni?"

"Well, it wasn't exactly on Mewni. I had just left this dumb ball with Tom, something about celebrating the moon and the color red and a bunch of really amorous couples, and I'm pretty sure it was in the underworld. Supposedly, the moon was supposed to pick two people and bind their souls together. To share not only love, but everything about each other. They would become two halves of the same person, and their love would live for all eternity or some junk like that."

Now it was Marco's turn to snort, barely hiding his amusement. "Are you serious? That sounds like some kind of lame fairy tale with Janna written all over it. How is a moon going to bind two people's souls together?" Star rolled her eyes and gave him another genuine smile, one he was happy to receive, and reciprocate

"You've seen me obliterate a furry, three-story-tall monster on a floating mountain, met my demon prince...boyfriend, battled an ancient fear demon and met me, a magical princess from another dimension and you can't wrap your melon around the idea that the 'Blood moon' can bind two souls together? I thought I knew you, Diaz." Star flashed him another wide grin before the two broke out in a fit of shared laughter, either of them unaware of just how much the other enjoyed it. "But yeah. The whole thing was super weird and Tom would not stop trying to drag me out to the dance floor."

"So what happened?" Marco asked, now fully captivated in the story, if only to hear about how hard she'd snubbed Tom. Star paused for a moment to recollect the evening and shrugged. "Nothing really. It didn't end up choosing anyone and Tom was a big baby about it, big shock right? But when I went home that night, there was this gigantic red moon in the sky, and it was soo bright, Marco. Like, all I could see was red, and stars. And then I blinked, and everything was just...back to normal."

"What do you think it was? Maybe like, a solar flare?" he asked, his interest piqued by such an odd description, but Star only returned with a shrug.

"I dunno what that is, but It wasn't like anything I'd ever seen before. It was like this crazy, ominous red spotlight was shining down on me, and I felt...different." She noticed Marco suddenly grow tense, and gave him an odd look. "What?"

"Different... how?" he asked, suddenly losing the nonchalant attitude of the conversation thus prior. Absorbing his serious demeanor, Star had to think about that for a moment, struggling to remember, until she let out a gruff sigh, content with slamming together various descriptions if it helped paint a broader picture.

"I'm not sure. It was warm? Like Earth, actually. And it made me feel like I was lighter than air. Like the war, my parents, the nobles, all of it wasn't real for a moment. I felt better about my future, I guess? Like I was safe, from all the bad stuff that was going on." She laid back and stared at the ceiling, finding herself lost in the memory the more she committed to keeping it. "I know it sounds kinda dumb, but-"

"No, no it doesn't," Marco cut in, his tone hurried, but gentle. Star waited for him to elaborate, and when he didn't, she pursed her lips and looked in his direction. "Well, it's not like that's something that happens all the time," she muttered, her annoyance returning if only for a moment.

"Well...I actually kind of know what you mean," Marco said in defense. When it became clear that Star wasn't buying it, he decided to continue, with obvious reluctance. "When I saw that moon before I met you and Reynard? That one was, different too." Star still wasn't buying into his explanation, noting that it was far too convenient for him to have such a reliable experience ready.

"Different how?" she asked, letting a smile play across her lips at the use of his own words. Fair was fair if they were just going to copy each other. But Marco remained serious despite her uncharacteristic humor. "It was like a red spotlight, and it felt really warm too. After it was over, I felt...better," he finished with pained reluctance.

Star, noticing his obvious hesitation, sat up and looked at him with vested interest. "What do you mean? Were you sick or something? Was there a war on Earth?" Marcos' expression seemed to darken, but it wasn't in anger. It looked to her more like sadness than anything.

"Not exactly, it was after-" he began, wanting to spill it out, but catching himself just in time. That wasn't a story that needed telling, either to Star, or anyone else for that matter. "It was after a pretty bad time in my life."

But being the ever-persistent girl she was, Star wasn't going to let him off so easily, and leaned to get a better look at him. "What happened? C'mon, Diaz, give me the details, normally I can't get you to shut up! This is kind of cool!"

Marco pressed his lips together in a struggle between enjoying her enthusiasm, and keeping to his vow not to talk about that night in detail with anyone but…

"It was after Jackie rejected me," he finally managed to muttered after a moment, his voice tense from forcing it out. Despite his level of trust in her, he kept his eyes glued to the ceiling and away from Stars as he continued, "She let me down easy, which was nice of her, I mean... it was before I knew she wasn't into guys. But, it hurt...liking someone that much; spending every day thinking about what it would be like to be theirs... and having no choice but to watch them walk away.

He noticed Stars silence and chanced a glance in her direction, finding her now avoiding his gaze. "I know how that feels," was all she muttered, the allusion clear to both of them, and the eager tone of her voice grinding to a halt. "I guess you do," Marco returned, shifting his gaze back to the ceiling, "But, like with us, she was still happy to be friends, thankfully. I guess I just wasn't ready to forget my feelings so soon."

Star nodded to herself, eager to hear him continue, rather than wallowing in her own shared feelings of emptiness on the topic. Thankfully, Marco must have been thinking the same thing, as he was quick to continue. "Either way, though, that night, I was on the roof, watching the stars, and the moon turned red out of nowhere. Like, a lunar eclipse, but immediate, and brighter. There was this crazy flash of red light, and suddenly, I didn't feel so alone. I felt stronger, happier even, like I was someone completely different, and there was a whole universe of options for me to explore."

"What happened then?" Star asked, every bit as captivated by his story as he was of hers. Marco felt his cheeks get hotter, finding himself ranting about his innermost feelings, and chose a quieter tone as he finished. "It...kind of just stopped, actually. The moon was back to normal, and after that, I don't know. I kind of...changed? I wasn't as afraid of things anymore. I started skating with Jackie, getting out of my comfort zone, and then I met you guys."

"That's...so weird," Star found herself whispering, her mind already drifting back to her own experience. The two lay there for a moment, silently comparing the other's story of their respective evening, and although neither was brave enough to ask at a time like this, both lay in quiet awe, marveling at how similar their experiences truly were.

Marco folded his hands across his stomach, looking for some way to keep the conversation going. This was easily the longest Star had spoken to him without shouting since they got there, and he didn't want to give that up. But Star must have been thinking the same thing when she cleared her throat and sat up to look at him, her eyes serious and analytic.

"What do you do when you're mad?" She asked, thinking back to Marcos' story of unrequited feelings for Jackie. It wasn't exactly the best time to ask, but in this shared moment of vulnerability, she found herself compelled to ask. 'There might not be a better time.'

"...what?" he asked, looking at her as though it would make her question easier to understand. Star thankfully took notice of his confusion, and elaborated quickly, eager to get an answer.

"What do you do when you're...really angry with something, to the point that you feel sick. When things don't go your way, or, no matter how hard you try to fix something, it never works out. How do you handle it?" He had to think about that for a moment before he could answer, shrugging to himself.

"I don't know, usually I'll go practice karate, sword fighting, ballet, anything to take my mind off it," he began, listing the options on his fingers, "things that let me express my frustration in a positive way so I can focus my mind to find a way through the problem, not around it." He looked at Star, who wore an unreadable expression. "Does...that help you with...whatever you're dealing with?"

She averted her gaze for a split second as if she were fighting the urge to get angry, but to his relief, she let out a waiting breath and shook her head. "My problems won't go away that easy, Marco. They find me when I try to run away from them, but thanks for the advice anyway."

"You know I'm here if-"

"You won't always be here, Diaz. Nothing lasts forever and someday, you'll move on to better things, whether it's for family, school, love, or your crazy sense of duty. It's just what happens," she muttered, falling back to her bed and rolling herself into a sheet-burrito.

"That's...dark," Marco noted, looking at her skeptically. She only shrugged through her blankets and rolled to face the other direction. 'Andddd now we're back to square one,' he thought before getting up and heading to the shower. 'Maybe tomorrow we can try to wrap all this up. I can't imagine Penny's going to get calmer the longer I'm here.'

He hadn't spoken to her since his first day there, something about not wanting to antagonize Star by asking for her phone again, but he'd been dreading the thought of going home and having to explain himself. Especially now that they had to have a nice family dinner together. He knew he was acting like a child about it all because he was having doubts about what they'd done after the sleepover, but it still scared him.

As he stepped out of his mariachi costume, he decided that the best way to handle it, for now, was Star's way; pretend the problem wasn't there, and focus on something else.

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

It happened suddenly, and without warning, by the time Nekatu slipped in from the sun again, bathing Mejoga in darkness. The door to their room was kicked down, splinters thrown everywhere as a group of armed and armored monsters rushed in, already shouting. Star, to her credit, was quick to react from inside her sheet burrito and blasted them back out of the room, poofing a thick steel door in place of the old one, and tearing her sheets away.

"Radiant shadow transform!" She yelled, engulfing the room in purple light. When it dissipated, Marco was already in his Mariachi outfit, complete with his mask and cape, Star having donned her usual attire as well. "Doors not gonna hold, Marco! Get ready!" She ordered, aiming her wand at the buckleing, barely braced door, seconds before it too collapsed to the floor. Six monsters poured in immediately, with another squadron waiting just outside.

"Star we can't take them all, we need to portal-" Marco began, but Star jumped towards the closest monster and leaned back before jamming her feet forward into its gut, and sending several of them hurtling into the wall. She caught herself on her hands and pushed off the floor, landing smoothly beside Marco before blasting two more monsters back, but more kept coming.

"Go!" She yelled, shoving Marco towards the window, "I have our stuff, just get to the roof!" Marco nodded and kicked a struggling monster in the jaw, dropping it to the floor before climbing out the window. He gripped the ragged wood making up the ledge and heaved himself up as more blasts of magic sounded from below. The street lit up bright pink and purple and red as he climbed, and by the time he made it to the roof, he had forgotten how many shots he had counted.

'How did they find us? How did they know where to look?' He thought frantically as he peered over the edge, waiting for Star to fly out of the window in a flurry of magic. 'Come on, hurry up and get out of there!'

No sooner than he finished that thought then a blinding blast of narwhals blew a hole in the roof behind him, Star climbing up and out. "Star!" He shouted, running to her. She had some scrapes and cuts on her arms, but otherwise, she seemed perfectly fine.

"Shh, there might be more," she muttered, still catching her breath in the pale starlight, "We need to plan our next move, as much as I hate to say it." Her eyes were piercing and angry, but remembering what Marco taught her, she took a deep breath and rooted herself in the moment, focusing that anger to find a way through her problem instead of around it.

Marco wanted desperately to just leave, to suggest portaling home and calling their mission complete. Even with the daunting idea of going back to Earth, and having to accept his poor choices as reality, Star's safety came first. 'At least, that's what a guide should do,' he thought. But in reality, as much as he wanted to deny it, he knew that Star needed to be here. To feel like she could fight back against the forces of evil that took her old life away. So he refrained himself from suggesting a hasty retreat. 'If shes staying, then I'm staying.' He seethed.

Steeling his nerves and thinking to Star's hidden happiness, he reluctantly found himself formulating a plan. "We need to lay low, get someplace quiet, and move from there. We can hit them back, but not while they're expecting it. Is that okay?" He looked at Star and found her less than accepting of the idea, but she nodded nonetheless.

"Fine! Lead the way, but I'm not waiting all night to finish this, Marco," she growled.

Marco looked toward the dark mountains and pointed to the one left untouched. "We can hide out on the mountain for now and walk there, or we-" he began just as Star cut open a deep green portal, gesturing for him to go through.

"Let's go, Marco. I'm not wasting time walking out there. The sooner we lose them, the sooner we can make them regret it," she muttered, not bothering to hide her impatience. Marco eyed the swirling mass of magic and decided it was either this, or hours of pain-staking creeping, eagerly rushing through, followed by Star.

After portaling to a dark, isolated part of the woods, Star and Marco set up a small campfire, both suppressing too many emotions to count when Star pounded her knee in animosity. "They knew where we slept, Marco! How could they have known that?" She demanded, not of him, but more so to herself. "It just doesn't make any sense, no one could have seen us!"

"I know, I know. We must have gotten careless, and someone followed us home." He stared at the fire, trying to recollect the hazy experience that was the last three and a half days. But between his mixed bag of problems, both here and at home and the countless near death experiences he faced thus far, it was hard to say. "If we'd have portaled like I suggested, then we-"

"I KNOW, ALRIGHT?!" Star suddenly exploded at him as the campfire plumed heavily to match her rage, "IT'S MY FAULT WE'RE HERE, MY FAULT WE GOT CAUGHT, MY FAULT FOR THINKING-" she paused turned her raging gaze downward, as though she was suppressing something more. "I just...I get it! You don't need to keep reminding me of everything I keep messing up, and what I'm acting like, and the fact that I have problems-... You're not half the man you think you are, so why don't you stop trying to judge me for what I do!?"

She glared at him as the fire began to die back down, both in the forest and in her chest. 'Say something, already!' she wanted to scream at him as the seconds rolled by, her glare only growing hotter. For three days now, she wanted him to break and rage against her as she had done to him. To see him get angry, to yell to shout, to enjoy the fight against monsters as she did. But every step of the way, he only accepted her actions with the turn of the other cheek, literally on their first day. 'Why won't you cave in, and show me you care just as much as I do?'

Marco said nothing. He didn't know what to say, actually. 'Is that...what she really thinks? What happened to the Star from last night? What happened to my friend?' Her anger had been volatile since they had arrived, but now it was outright explosive. "Star, what's all this really about? You seemed better yesterday, so...what am I doing wrong? Is it something I said?"

"I don't know," Star muttered. She wouldn't meet his eyes as she folded her arms, glaring in any other direction. To her credit, she was better at reading people than subtlety, but here, she needed the latter.

"I don't believe you," Marco pressed, his expression pulling her eyes to meet his, "What's gotten you so upset these past few days? What am I doing wrong that's making you hate me?" He'd been asking for days now, and every step of the way she would refuse to answer. Now, he wouldn't accept anything less than the truth. "We're not just on a fun jaunt through the neighborhood Star, we could die out here, so I need you to focus so we can stay alive. And whatever's got you so bent outta shape is keeping that from happening. So just...tell me, Star."

Finally, she looked up to meet his eyes, and he saw fresh, stinging tears dropping down from the tip of her nose. They weren't tears of sadness, he could tell that by the way she was staring at him. 'No, it looks more like...anger? Betrayal?'

"Nothing is wrong. I'm allowed to act how I want, and I'll kick you right back to Earth before I let you try to tell me who I am like some stupid noble!" she growled. Marco felt himself slightly recoiling against her withering glare, but he steeled his nerves and pressed harder, unwilling to let her run any more when their lives could be on the line.

"I'm not trying to tell you to do anything, Star! Ever since we got here I've been helping you tear yourself apart in some stupid mission to get yourself killed! I've been doing everything that I can to help these people, to fight with you, to keep you safe, never once questioning your motives or what you're trying to do. So why? Why are you not treating me like your best friend anymore?!"

BECAUSE BEST FRIENDS DON'T SLEEP WITH OTHER PEOPLE, MARCO!" she screamed back at the top of her lungs as the fire blazed in a towering column of flames. She stood there, her hands trembling as Marco could only stare back at her in wild disbelief.

'Star...it was her in the hallway,' he thought, his eyes going wide as the flames once again began to die down, 'She knows...this whole time, she knew…'

"I saw you in the hallway leaving Spiderbites room the other day! I saw the marks, I know you guys...did the thing!" She spat before sitting back down, her anger wilting with the overwhelming relief to finally admit what she knew. "I know...I know we made a promise. To hold off, but not forget what we felt, but...but I didn't think you'd forget anyway. I felt something real that night, and I thought you did too. I thought I meant something more to you, but I guess I was wrong, huh?"

She wiped her eyes of the flood of tears streaming down her cheeks and held her face in her hands. She didn't want to look at him. She didn't want him to look at her. But when a pair of all too familiar arms wrapped around her trembling shoulders, pulling her into a warm and gentle hug, she nearly jolted out of her seat. Marco cradled her head and held her close, wetting her shoulder with tears of his own.

"That's...that's not how it was, Star... Not...How it is. You're my entire world, and I could never forget that night. I've thought about it every day since…" he admitted, rubbing her back carefully to avoid her more sensitive areas.

"So, what? You just thought you'd pull a Reynard and sleep with anything with a pulse?" Star grumbled into his shoulder, pointedly trying to put distance between her and him. But like always, Marco was not so easy to dismiss on a whim.

"No! I would- it was-..." He sighed deeply and finally pulled back to look her in the eyes, it was a mistake, okay?. It shouldn't have even happened...I knew it even that night. We got too carried away and I slipped. I let my head make a choice I wasn't ready for and I've been trying to avoid facing it every since I got here."

He watched her eyes, seeing the way she carefully examined his face for any sign of a lie. When she seemed satisfied, he continued in a much softer tone. "I know that putting these feelings aside hurts. It hurts both of us. But...but right now I'm with Penelope, and you shouldn't hate me for giving her the chance she deserves. I'm sorry for hurting you, Star. But right now? Right now I'm hers. And I'm sorry for thinking I could be your best friend too."

Star seemed to take a moment to process his admission, turning her head to the side if only to stare at the moss growing in the woods around them. Finally, she relented, blowing out a frustrated breath before meeting his eyes again. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have gotten so jealous over something that isn't mine anyway," she muttered, still clinging to that small bit of bitter resentment, "but why would you...do that with her, if you weren't sure?"

Marco pressed his lips together and sat back on his heels, breaking the hug to let the fire warm the back of his neck. "It's..complicated, Star. There was a lot happening, and I'm only human. We make...mistakes sometimes." He let that hang in the air for a moment before tilting his head and meeting her eyes. "Besides, haven't you and Tom ever…"

"Marco!" Star shouted, giving him a sideways shove. Her cheeks turning an obvious beet red even in the ruddy light of the fire as she fought to avoid his eyes. "For the record, no. We haven't. Just some kissing and...touching here and there."

Marco poked her elbow and her nose, leaning down to catch her eyes. "There and there? Seems kinda un-sexy to me, Star." She smiled and giggled, blocking his repeated pokes before catching his hands and pushing them back to his chest. She needed to be serious. "He and I just...well," her grin began to fade, and Marco noticed a frown begin to take its place as she thought for a moment. "We're not there yet. I don't really feel ready to do that...with him. And with the way he's been acting lately," she muttered quietly. Marco nodded in assent and took a seat beside her, the two watching the fire lick the air above it.

"I guess I should have told you that morning, when it happened, huh?" he asked, feeling her lean over and against him, as if the fire was pushing them closer. He felt her shake her head as she rested it against his shoulder. She felt cold, but he resisted the urge to put his arm around her; something inside him told him it might be dangerous.

"No, your business is yours alone. I shouldn't have been snooping. But… I don't know," she whispered. Marco nudged her with his elbow, asking "What is it? At this point, I don't think secrets are very healthy."

"Well, I was just...kinda hoping...our first times would be… together…?"

Marco felt his chest tighten at the idea as his heart began to race. 'Did she just...actually suggest…' he blinked hard and fought the urge to look at her. "Together?" Was all he could manage to ask.

"Yeah...you know. I was hoping that maybe someday down the road if we ever made it back to each other we could...you know." She finally willed herself to meet his gaze, if only to gauge his reaction to the idea. When she could see his face, however, she was surprised to see regret written all over it. "Sorry, I don't know why I said that. Just, kinda rambling about junk, stuff I don't mean, you know, that whole thing, best to not-"

"I guess I should have waited then, huh?" He interrupted, turning to face her. Star pressed her lips together and tried not to speak what exactly was on her mind, as it involved plenty of shouting and sultry thins, and instead, resolved to say nothing. Marco nodded to himself before trying to stand up, but Star wordlessly grabbed his arm and pulled him back down to sit beside her. "We're having a moment, Diaz. Don't ruin it," she joked.

"Can I be honest with you?" He asked, taking her hand gently. Star nodded and squeezed his hand reassuringly. "This has been the most fun I think I've ever had, aside from you being a sour grape the whole time, and almost dying, and getting ambushed in our sleep, and-"

"I get it, Marco. Skip to the good part, please," Star giggled, nudging his shoulder with hers playfully.

"It's been nice, being here with you. I think I needed to be here as much as you did, to be honest. You're not the only one running from… what happened that morning."

"I don't wanna be here anymore, Marco," she muttered, leaning more heavily into his shoulder, and finding a comforting amount of warmth in return, "I don't want to keep running. I think ice cream would probably work better than starting a revolution."

"How about this," Marco began, his eyes still glued to the fire before them, "We go for the head honcho. Raid his castle and leave it for the villagers, so we can go back to Earth with a clear conscience? We can finish what we started." Star seemed to mull over the idea, which was a relief, and ultimately she nodded in approval. "Okay. Let's take back the city for good, so we can get you back to...Penelope. I'm not going to be the only one who has to face their mistakes today."

Marco had to force himself to nod in agreement, his lips pressed together as a bead of sweat dripped down his brow. "Okay, okay. You have a point. In the future, I'll be more careful with how I handle things, and maybe a bit later on..., I say we re-evaluate the terms of our promise."

Star nearly did a double-take at the idea of Marco considering changing the rules, so to say. "O-okay, y-yeah, that works. But, Marco, I swear on my crown if I see you guys getting feely under the table again, I'll turn you both into goblin dogs."

"Deal. Besides, I think we both could use a break. A good one, without fighting for our lives. Just us, hiding from all the crazy junk right now," he offered openly, now freely standing and adjusting his scabbard. Star stood awkwardly in a feeble attempt to put some distance between the two, unsure what a 'safe distance' would be, when Marco pulled her into a tight hug.

She started, but after a moment she wrapped her arms under his and hugged him tighter, happy to enjoy the warmth of both the fire, and his embrace never failed to make her pulse quicken. "Maybe sooner rather than later, okay?" She asked so quietly, he had trouble hearing her over the crickets. "Okay. Just let me know when."

Star felt herself smiling, and for once, it wasn't forced or in reaction to a bad joke. It felt nice, being held by him again, and feeling like she could tell him anything. Even at three days, it had been too long.

Marco rested his head atop hers and felt himself smile just as wide. His shining Star was back, and it only cost him three days of cathartic life or death situations, and about two weeks worth of therapy. All in all, it was well worth it.

"So, how are we doing this?" Star asked, regretfully pulling out of the hug. She already felt the cold of the night replacing it's warmth, and even as she was now, it made her feel hollow. "you said to raid the castle, and there would be some guy named honcho?"

"Sorta," he chuckled as he began to put out the fire. Enough time had passed that they could safely move without being hunted, and it was time to move. "I've heard some people talk about this guy who lives in the big castle just outside town. Supposedly, he runs the monster operations here, and from what I could gather, he reports directly to Toffee."

"Ohh, that son of a-... Wait wait wait, how, do you know all that, but you couldn't figure out why I was mad?" Star asked, donning a bemused frown and peering at him with suspicion. Marco shuffled uneasily under her faux glare, deciding that while he didn't like it, she had a bit of a point.

"Because people actually told me this stuff, Miss attitude. They didnt slap me in the face and almost get me killed hoping I would figure it out for myself," he retorted, resting his hands on his hips. Star nodded in assent, finding that as much as she hated to admit it, he had a bit of a point.

"Touché, Diaz. So what's our move then?" She asked once the fire had been sufficiently snuffed, and the two had begun a slow walk through the woods, "My first plan would be going in guns blazing, buuut…" she trailed off.

"But after three days of doing exactly that, almost getting killed a dozen times, and feeling generally miserable, you're thinking you wanna try it 'my way?'" Marco finished, cocking an eyebrow at her as she refused to meet his gaze, pouting at the ground below her.

"...maybe, who's to say? Guess we'll just have to see, won't we?" She hummed, pulling her scissors from her purse and handing them to him. "You know the way, so let's get this thing done. I'm kind of looking forward to taking you up on that 'getaway' offer after this is all over.."

Marco grinned and cut open a deep teal-colored portal, gesturing for Star to step through first with all the grace of a herald introducing his Lord. She did a mock curtsy, and stepped beyond the thin membrane between realities, Marco soon to follow.

One they had both gone through, they found themselves perched atop a gothic castle standing just outside the city limits, its estate spanning hundreds of yards around it. Dotted around them were gardens, ponds, soaring trees, and most importantly, a twenty-foot stone wall surrounding the property. It would almost have looked nice, if not for the monster guards standing idly on sentry.

Five towers stood tall, attached to the castle's main, cathedral-like structure, and in them, they could make out several guards in each, watching and waiting for any sign of trouble with poised, likely faked, bravado.

Marco did a quick sweep of his surroundings as Star waited with surprising patience nearby. "Okay, so it looks like they pumped up security just a bit, probably our fault," he mused aloud as they snuck towards the forward face of the castle's roof. Star made to comment, but he was quick to continue, not giving her a chance to spoil the fun. "It's okay though, I doubt they expect us to hit 'em so soon after the ambush, so we should be able to take them by surprise."

Star nodded in silence, shaking off her growing air of admiration, and donned her mask, Marco following suit as they scanned the front entrance for guard activity. Star, noticing the planted guards, turned to face him, eager to take a stab at the planning process for once. "You wanna go in through the front, hot, loud and heavy? Or should we be sneeaakeh?" She whispered with a grin plastered on her face, Marco not bothering to hide his in return.

"I was thinking I'd go through the front, and you can hit them with a little 'Star bomb'. How's that grab you?" he whispered, careful to keep his voice down. The last thing they needed was to be seen before they were ready. Star met his proposition with pure excitement, her eyes as wide as dinner plates. Marco stood, as silent as the wind before hefting himself up to the ledge. "Alright then, you'll know when to grace us with your presence, your majesty. See ya inside?"

Her smile faltered ever so slightly, and Marco wasn't entirely sure, but it looked like she was nervous. But what a magically charged princess from another dimension, who had been pounding baddies all week, could possibly be nervous about was beyond him. There were a few seconds of pointed pause before finally, she blew him a kiss, and shoved him head over heels off the roof, not waiting for a reply. Through the air, he tumbled before straightening his descent a mere two seconds into his freefall towards the two unaware guards below. At the last second, he used Stars scissors to cut a portal below him, just like in the street.

He was a blur, both entering and exiting the portal like a shadow to swiftly dispatch his enemies, the guards never knowing what hit them. Shooting from the portal, he swept both their feet with his bo staff before rolling to a stop, darting back to finish them off with two rapid-fire blows to the forehead. They were down on the ground in seconds before he sprinted for the towering mahogany doors etched with intricate inlays of silver and gold. "That looks...pretty heavy," he whispered to himself before bracing against the massive doors, struggling to push them open. But they wouldn't budge.

Realizing he was wasting precious seconds struggling to get in, Marco jammed his staff into the knocker near the doors massive handle, and did his best to pry it open. Star had explained that portaling only works for places you've been, or can visualize, the inside of the castle being neither, so even just a crack would do. Except, it was his bo staff that cracked first. With a single clap of breaking wood, Marco begrudgingly pulled back two halves of his staff before crouching and driving his shoulder into it like he's trying to push past an offensive line.

With a heavy groan that echoed throughout the front courtyard, one of the doors finally gave, giving him just enough space to shimmy his way through and into the spacious front lobby. Inside, he had to strain to keep his jaw from dropping. The walls were far more lavish and exquisite than the exterior, with fine art, statues, and tapestries everywhere his eyes roamed. "Woooaaah," was all he could breathe as his sprint fell to a slow walk, his eyes vigorously scanning every inch of the room to take it all in.

"So this is where all of the money goes., huh? I guess it was worse than we thought," he mused aloud, stopping at what he assumed was the center of the room. Opposite the entrance, a massive staircase led up to the second level of the building, and above his head was an ornate dome of stained glass in a delicate looking metal lattice. He could just barely make out Stars waiting form behind the multicolored panes, so with a clear of his throat, he called out, "HEY! DOES ANYONE MIND IF I TAKE THIS FREE BAG OF MONEY? IT'S JUST SITTING HERE, AND I GOT BILLS TO PAY!"

Within seconds, an entire platoon of monster guards rushed from any, and every entrance in sight, several pouring down the stairs, already drawing their weapons. Marco stood idly as they circled him, smiling as though he hadn't a care in the world, which was painfully far from the truth. As usual, most of the monsters were reptilian, amphibian, or animal-based, with a small handful of them barely resembling a humanoid shape. "Wow, you guys are quick. I gotta say I was expecting to have to look for you," he chuckled, dropping his broken staff and falling into a ready stance, rolling his neck and shoulders to loosen up, "But now that we're here, does anyone want to opt-out before things get messy?"

Not a single soul in the room moved. Not an ounce of tested resolve in these 'men'. Marco nodded, his smile shifting to a mock frown. "Alright then, I guess that's why you guys work in the castle, huh?" Three guards let out a bellowing warcry and charged forward, aiming their weapons to skewer him where he stood as Marco braced himself. When the first spear was nearly on him, he threw a lightning quick front kick, knocking the point skyward and twisted his body to slam the still arcing leg into the first guards head before he rolled sideways to dodge a slash aimed at his shoulder.

He spun quickly, hitting the offending monster in the throat with a series of vicious chops, finishing it with a kick in the back that sent it headlong into another guard. Ducking a slash that would have opened his chest, he leapt up and grabbed another guard by the head to pull him face first into his driving knee, satisfied when he crumpled to the floor instantly. Landing gracefully, he swept the feet out from under a canine-esque guard and rolled forward to finish it with an axe kick that slammed its skull into the polished marble floor. Another guard, seeing an opening, charged in from behind and caught him with a right hook that staggered Marco for a moment before regaining his footing. Reading the guard's follow up punch, he looped his arm over the monsters and twisted violently until a loud crack rang out above the din of the fight. Grimly, Marco ignored the screaming guard, and finished him with a side kick that slammed him against the decorated wall to collapse unmoving to the floor as more guards rushed in to replace the fallen.

Marco dodged another hack and slash of a broadsword and made to counter, but the guards were relentless, and committed to cutting him to ribbons. Now that the initial confusion was waning, they were getting too coordinated for even him to adjust to all of their attacks. When a stray spear grazed his arm, digging into his flesh, Marco lept back and grit his teeth, fighting the urge to call in his backup. They were too spread out for Star to be effective, and they were not in a proper position. So stealing his nerves, Marco rushed back into the thick of their gaggle and weaved in and around as many as he could, subtly corralling and shepherding them to the center of the room, right under the dome.

He took his fair share of hits, now donning several fresh, and some deep, cuts on his arms, chest and back before they were finally in place, and sufficiently congested. "Bombs away!" he shouted before diving back from the center of the group, keeping his eyes trained on any stragglers. The monsters stopped where they stood and eyed each other, unsure what the 'taunt' was supposed to mean.

"STAR BOOOOOOOMB!" A woman shouted from above, the sound of breaking glass nearly drowning her out entirely.

Through a shower of painted glass shards, Star fell from the remains of the dome, gracefully trailing her wand behind as it glowed with radiant yellow light. All the guards fumbled and scrambled for footing to get away, but by now it was far too late for salvation. Star flipped in midair and brought her wand down hard in the middle of the group just as she landed, using it like a sledgehammer of magic to send a tidal wave of rolling rainbow-colored light in every direction. As the magic burst like a multicolored fireball, monsters were thrown to every corner of the room, slamming into columns and bouncing off the stone walls, without discretion, Star's attack inflicting burns and bruises for all. Marco braced for the rolling wind, but it almost seemed to curl around him, pointedly avoiding where he stood.

When the dust had finally settled, and only the two teens remained standing in the center of the room, Star stood shakily and blew on the smoking bulb of her wand before facing Marco and donning a wicked smirk. "As always, they never see that coming! I wish I had a camera to catch the look on their faces!" she laughed, wiping an imaginary tear from her eye. Marco couldn't help but smile and approached on shaky legs. He had taken a bit more damage than he would have liked, but at the expense of clearing the room, it was well worth it. "Next time I'll keep a phone on me, and I'll record it for you," he joked. Star made to give him a beaming grin, but when she noticed the multiple patches of cut and torn clothing on his arms and chest, her grin fell quickly into a worried frown.

"Are you okay? You look like you just walked through a blender, Marco," she noted, stepping closer to examine him.

"Finally noticing when I get some scrapes, huh?" he asked with a smirk. But Star was in no joking mood, looking at him with impatience and shaking her head before turning to make her way towards the staircase. Marco winced at the ill-timing of the question and followed her, adding "Sorry, dumb question. Yeah, I'm fine, just a few cuts here and there."

"Well, Penelope's probably gonna blame me, so I guess I deserve it for how I've been acting," she grumbled, her mood once again brought to a souring rut, "C'mon, we should probably find out where they keep all of the-"

From beyond the staircase, an echoing boom sounded that made the two stop in their tracks. They both turned to stare at the foot of the upper level, too shocked to move. The sounds that rang out against their ears were reminiscent of scraping metal claws, and a very heavy object dragging against the floor. Marco wanted to gauge Star's reaction or propose a plan, but he couldn't move. Neither of them could will their bodies to charge or flee as the terrible sounds proceeded to play with their fight or flight instincts.

Without warning, two heavyset doors at the top of the stairs blasted open, the wood cracking against the stone walls as the newcomer looked on in exaggerated apathy. Towering above them from the second floor, was a monster straight out of Marcos worst nightmare.

He was a crocodile, at least ten feet tall, with a tail at least fifteen feet long. His snout was lined with rows of yellowing teeth, his hands were adorned with ornate metal claws, and his tail was sheathed and weighted with flexible iron plates capped with spikes. Although the crocodile's massive sword hung at its waist, ready to be unsheathed, Marco had a distinct feeling it wouldn't need a weapon.

But the worst part about it was its scale pattern. Marco recognized it well, as it bore an eerie resemblance to the crocodile he had struck down days ago. He could almost imagine the deep gash in its throat and the thick, red blood oozing down its chest. He wanted to reach for Silverlight, as hand to hand combat would be out of the question against such a monsterous foe, but his hand wouldn't move. The wet, gurgling death throes of Ludos minion could almost be heard like a cacophony in his mind.

"Ahhhhhhh, I was wondering what all that racket was, and it would seem my curiosity has been rewarded...with a feast," the crocodile growled in a deep, raucous voice. He rapped his steel claws against the railing, his tail curling and scraping behind him. Marco could tell it was intentional, as the ear-raking sound made his skin crawl. "No doubt you know who I am," he continued, "You've been doing an awful lot of nasty things to me. Stealing my commodities, invading my property, breaking my men; yet you never kill anyone."

The crocodile eyed them with mock interest as if it had rehearsed the thought over and over in its head, relishing in their paralyzing surprise. "I had given my men specific orders to kill you, and yet...you never return the favor. Being great warriors such as yourself, I'm almost sad to have to do it myself."

Star finally worked up the nerve to speak, and took a defiant step forward, aiming her wand at him. "Krunt, I think your goon said that was your name right? We can kill you if we want, but we'd rather not. So how about you just walk away, and you can tell Toffee this place belongs to the Mejogans?"

There were a few tense seconds of calm before Krunt let out a thunderous laugh so loud, it shook the room and knocked several paintings from the walls. Marco exchanged an uneasy look with Star before Krunt finally regained his composure. "Please, don't overestimate your parlor tricks," he said, his deep voice as smooth as polished granite, "my armor is made of Blacksteel, straight from the underworld.. It's completely impervious to your magic. Only the best for My Lord's top generals. No, surrender now and relinquish the wand, and I will see to it that you at least are spared."

"And when I refuse?" Star chuckled back, gripping the hilt of her wand so hard her knuckles turned white. She hated even the mention of Toffee's name in any other tone than spite, so her answer went without saying.

"That would be when I kill you both, eat your mincemeat corpses, and report to my master that the next leader of his most hated enemy has been destroyed." Krunt folded his arms, the hardness of his scales and the metal of his armor scraping together. Star shook her head and smiled pleasantly up at him. "Hoo boy, I am going to rip you a-fucking-part," she growled, oozing with confidence.

Marco, now seeing the fast approaching conflict, had finally gathered enough sense to draw his weapon. The edge of Silverlight's blade still bore a small amount of stained red metal, no matter how hard he polished, but he held his resolve and took on a ready stance. 'Nonlethal, keep it steady, Diaz,' he thought to himself. No one moved for a stretch of time that seemed to go on forever.

Then, without warning, Krunt dropped down to all fours and rushed down the stairs, his claws digging into the fabric weave of the carpet, and his tail lashing violently to propel him forward. Marco could only watch in abject shock as Krunt ripped the stairs to splinters in his charge, and dug his claws into the smooth marble floor in a straight line for Star. "Time to eat, little princess!" he roared before turning sharply, whipping his tail around. It sparked as it grazed the floor, the spiked metal that encompassed it carving deep gouges where it ran. Star had barely any time to react, and jumped high to avoid the strike, blasting a flurry of kitten bombs to Krunts face.

Marco was still paralyzed with shock, watching as the cluster bomb attack exploded violently against Krunts head in a ball of fire, knocking him off course enough to allow Star a smooth retreat. She skidded to a stop several feet from Marco and stood carefully, eyeing the crocs still form. "Do you think he felt that?" she asked, clearly catching her adrenaline-rushed breath. Marco struggled to answer just as someone else beat him to it.

"About as much as a mountain feels the breeze, child," Krunt boasted, cooly, stepping forward through the smoke. Marco gulped hard and gripped the hilt of his sword, struggling to keep it steady. 'There's no way,' he thought to himself, but not of the attack. His thoughts were entirely directed to the familiarity of the monster before him, and his striking resemblance to his first, unwilling kill.

His sword still gleamed with a slight tinge of red, and now, he had to face down that monster again. He couldn't move, his legs felt weak as his mind replayed every painful second of that fight, ending, as always, with that blood-choked scream, and the sickeningly sweet smell of iron in the air. He wanted to throw up, but he couldn't even will himself to bend over.

He wanted to run, to go back home immediately in the face of someone he murdered, but he felt a soft hand rest against his arm. It was Star's, and when he looked at her, she gave him a frighteningly confident and reassuring smile, as if she could read his mind. "We won't let that happen, I promise. I'm right here for you, if you're right here for me, Marco," she whispered to him. Memories flashed through his mind of the past three days, but he pushed them down, and turned back to face Krunt, setting his jaw for the fight to come. The towering Croc rolled his shoulders and glared right back, taking a step forward as he dropped to a runner's stance.

"Are you children through saying your goodbyes?," he asked, raking his claws against the marble, "My patience is being tested, and you'll find that when I get impatient, I get…agitated."

Star gripped her wand and aimed, pulling back a bolt of pink magic and letting it rest atop her shoulder. "How's about something a little bigger, then?" she asked as Krunts eyes went wide. A low growl rumbled in his throat before he charged, his tail lashing back and forth, but Star wouldn't let him get close. With a shout of, "Raspberry Panzerfaust!" and an audible *click, the bolt of pink magic screamed forward with a plume of smoke, shooting right for Krunts head. Marco had to avert his eyes from the flash of white, as the floor buckled under the concussive force of the blast, and when he managed to look again, Krunt was thrown back twenty feet, already recovering without so much as a scratch.

"What the fuck is this guy made of?" Star asked hysterically, taking off towards the monster in a sprint. As Marco charged after her, he could hear Krunt chuckle through the room. "What part of 'impervious to magic', did you fail to understand, little Butterfly? Your magic means nothing against Toffee's army, and you'll soon find out just how far his sword can reach!"

With a deep snarl, Krunt reared about and whipped his iron tail to the ground with such force, the marble spiderwebbed with cracks, barely missing where Star had just been. She blasted his side with a rainbow fist punch, but as expected, he was unfazed.

"Star! Cut the magic, it's not helping!" Marco shouted, dodging around another whip of the spiked tail and going for the back, "We have to hit him under the armor!" Krunt raked his claws against the marble and rushed toward Star snapping his mighty jaws in the air, hoping to sink his teeth into anything he could reach. She blasted the floor at her feet and jumped, sailing backward and firing a swarm of crystal cupcakes, but each one clanged harmlessly off of the dark-sheened metal. "What am I supposed to do without magic?!" she demanded, keeping her distance as Marco ducked and dodged around Krunts thrashing tail.

As the massive crocodile scraped and roared after Star, Marco leaped forward and latched into his back, quickly digging his sword through a chink in it's armor. But he found that Krunts scales were almost as tough as steel, and the tip of his blade barely probing a puncture against his skin. Frustrated, Marco tried again and again in vain to drive his sword through those thick green scales, all to no avail. Krunt, whose movements had slowed almost deliberately as Marco attacked, let out a mocking laugh and bucked Marco off with ease. He sailed through the air, struggling to keep himself upright, but when he felt cold stone collide with his side, it was too late.

Marco slumped to the ground and clutched his shoulder, thankful it wasn't dislocated as Krunt taunted both him and Star with cool confidence dripping with smarm.

"Did you really think your little toy could cut me down?" he demanded with a wide, toothy grin, "ME? One of King Toffee's finest, and you thought you could penetrate my hide?" Krunt made to rush Marco in his dazed state, but as he took his first step, a five foot tall fist made of rainbows rocketed from his right, slamming into the side of his helmet, knocking it clean off as Star raced to Marcos side, helping him up.

"T-thanks, he threw me pretty hard," Marco breathed in his dazed state he cleared his head, "His scales are too thick, I can't get through them at all."

"Yeah, that punch had a lot in it, but his helmet took almost all of the force," Star huffed. This was bad, they were running out of stamina against an enemy twice their size, and they were clearly the only ones taking considerable damage. As Krunt scraped and clawed his way back to his feet, Marco looked to Star with an evaluating eye. "Magic won't help us here, that armor is just too tough, and my sword won't pierce his hide."

Stars look shifted from anger, to hopeless annoyance in the blink of an eye, "So what do you want me to do then, Marco? Magic is kinda my big thing, I'm pretty useless without it."

"What? Are you kidding me, Star?" he asked, both of them beginning to distance themselves from the now standing crocodile, "I've seen you push a car out of the way because you dropped a burrito. You almost beat me in an unarmed fight and I've been doing martial arts since I was 5! Magic is only half of what you can do, so use the other half and try to distract him, I'll look for a chink in that armor." Star eyed the approaching monster and nodded grimly, as though even she knew there were limits to her Johansen strength, but nonetheless the two prepared to get back into the thick of it.

"And what makes you think I'd be so generous as to let the two of you divvy out your strengths and weaknesses?" Krunt asked as he ripped closer to them, throwing chunks of marble and art aside in his wake. Marco moved to the side, hoping Krunts path would continue towards Star, but the charging monster used his thrashing iron tail to steer towards him, his yellow eyes locked on target. Marco readied his sword and braced for a locomotive-like impact just as Krunt raked his claws where Marcos chest had just been. His steel claws hissed angrily across Silverlights edge, sending a small torrent of sparks towards the roof as Marco felt himself being pushed back.

'Definitely gonna have to sharpen this thing if I survive,' he thought before parrying another upward slash of those deadly claws. He was losing ground, and inching closer to the wall as he blocked, dodged, and deflected every attack he could, but he knew it wouldn't be enough. Seconds were ticking away, and the battle was going south fast, he needed to think, to come up with an escape plan, a way to beat this behemoth back.

'Every oponent you face has a weakness,' he thought, remembering Reynard's lessons as he took a deep breath and let it out slowly, 'find the chink, strike fast, and strike deadly.' Marco tightened his legs to go on the offensive, his eyes glued to a small gap just above Krunts collar where this thicker scales didn't begin yet. But just before he could strike, Krunt lurched back and caught himself on his knees, his claws struggling to dig into the floor. Marco caught a glimpse of what was happening, and it came in the form of Star, her arms wrapped around his tail as she fought to keep her grip on him. She was pulling with all of her might, and even then Krunts tail was starting to swish madly. "HURRY UP AND GET HIM, MARCO!" She yelled as her face began to turn red.

Marco stared at her display of strength in awe before shaking off his shock and facing Krunt once more. It was now or never, and with deadly precision, Marco surged forward, the tip of Silverlight drawn, and pointed for that small opening just below Krunts collar. The massive crocodile had only a fraction of a second to react before Marco sunk the tip of his blade through a thin layer of scales, and stopped short. Marcos hand shook violently as images flashed in his mind of his last crocodile encounter ending in a last breath, and a street soaked with blood. As much as he knew he needed to, Marco couldn't push the blade any further, it was like his body was locked in place.

As he stood there, frozen in fear and regret, he saw the flesh of Krunts wound seemingly begin to wrap further around the tip of his blade, almost like mercury to a magnet. As if it were his imagination, he watched as droplets of blood began to collect against the blades edge, deepening the prominent stain further into a magnificent crimson. "What...the," he began before Krunt sunk his claws into Marcos shoulder, pulling the boy closer with a sadistic, frenzied gleam in his eye. "Truly you are a trained swordsman, young welp. But I believe I can gather who it was who trained you," he snarled before throwing Marco to the side like a sack of meat and thrashing his tail to throw Star to the other side of the rotunda.

"I recognize the smell of that blades magic well, no one better, but I wasn't sure until I felt it's keen edge," Krunt sethed, pressing his oozing wound stiffly, "It belonged to a family of killers, hell bent on the destruction of all monsters. When Marduk cut them down, we celebrated as the mewmans carted their bodies away. And now…" Krunt inhaled sharply, as if relishing in the scent of his own blood, "now, I see it has found another...rabid host."

Marco, still reeling from his fall, shook off the dizziness and struggled to stand, fighting to keep his balance, and to ignore the taunting words of his adversary. "Hope you don't mind, but I might have to fact check you on that one later," he grunted, readying his blade and rushing forward to take another stab at the shoulder space. Krunt smiled, amused by the determined, yet ultimately vain display, and whirled around, lashing his iron tail and swatting Marco back like a toy, Silverlight lost from his grip to clatter noisily across the room.

As he was thrown back, Marco felt his head spin until he {was violently stopped and an explosion of pain blossomed in his ribs.} suddenly stopped with a throbbing pain in his ribs. He was bent around a columned statue at the edge of the room, and he could tell he had just fractured at least two ribs. He sucked in a deep, needle sharp breath, desperate for air and watched as Krunt approached, his tail dragging lazily behind.

"Are you through?" Krunt asked, letting an impatient glare spread across his face before a sudden thwack sounded from behind.

Both Marco and Krunt turned to look at the origin of the noise with quiet surprise to find Star standing behind the monster, Silverlight in hand, and two feet of Krunts tail severed clean off with laser-like precision. "Leave...him...alone," Star panted, a small trickle of blood trailing down her right arm. Krunt looked down at the severed end of his tail, barely registering the pain, and slowly let his gaze drift back up to Star. With little more than a swat of his fist, Star was thrown back into a marble column, her limp form crumpling to the ground, motionless.

"Wait your turn, pest. I'll deal with you...as soon as I've had my fun with the boy," he growled. He turned back to face Marco, and found the teen boy desperately trying to crawl towards his fallen teammate. His eyes were glassy, and his movements were pained and clumsy from his injuries. Krunt almost felt amused enough to let him live for another five minutes, if only to crush any hope left, but for now, he was content to stoop down and watch the lad struggle.

Marco was on fire, every muscle fiber, every joint, his head, his eyes, everything was burning and throbbing as he inched his way closer to Star. She wasn't moving, and he could see a small collection of blood beginning to form on the side of her head. He wanted to feel fear, or worry, anything that would get his body to move fast, but all he could feel in that moment, was unyielding rage. He had trained all his life to keep his emotions in check, to steady his hand in a fight and practice unrelenting focus, but now? He was burning with anger.

He reached further, closer to his best friend as Krunt watched fascinated, and with each second, Marco could feel himself able to move just a bit faster. 'Star….Star...Gotta get….to Star," was all he could think as he slowly pulled himself up into a hands and knees crawl, his ribs and legs cooling with each movement. He wasn't burning now; In fact, he was shivering, goosebumps spreading across his arms, as the hair on the back of his neck began to stand on end. He managed to pull himself to his feet, his eyes never leaving Star as the screams of his muscles began to give way to a cool, soft tightness.

"I'm thrilled you've managed to stand, but your arrogance to not face me, is most offending," Krunt growled, finally shifting to his feet and raking his claws together, "When you die, I will take great pride in devouring the corpse of such a fighter." He reeled back his right hand and splayed his claws before sending them down in a hacking slash aimed for Marcos neck. A painless death fit for a warrior. But Marco could see every movement as if it were happening in slow motion. Hopped on adrenaline, he dove out of the way and rolled sideways, grabbing Silverlight and diving backwards over a sweeping iron tail, somersaulting to his feet and catching another rake of Krunts claws against his blade, letting them scrape harmlessly off its edge and into the marble below.

With a loud series of clangs, four of Krunts claws fell to the floor as his hand slipped off Marco's blade to slam into the marble floor. The crocodile eyed Marco with wide-eyed shock, too stunned to speak. Marco's eyes darted from the severed claws to the buried hand, then up to the pristine edge of his blade. Not a scratch could be seen, despite having just cut through solid iron as though it were butter.

Krunt growled and dislodged his now declawed hand, darting back ten paces as he met Marcos confused, dazed look with one of absolute malice. "You will regret that, boy, and when I rip the princess to shreds, I will make you watch!" He bellowed before finally drawing his own blade, a terrifying, six-foot claymore made of black steel, its hilt a deceptively deep, murky green. He gave it only one trial swing, enough to displace the air around him before leveling it at Marco.

But Marco was too busy staring at the deep red edge of his blade, the stain now running from hilt to tip without interruption. The ever-weightless blade seemed even lighter, if that was possible, as Marco moved his arm in a small trial slash, feeling his muscles extend and contract like steel cables. 'What the heck is happening?' he asked himself in his stunned stupor. There was nothing like the feeling that was currently enveloping his body as every sinew hummed with barely restrained strength. He felt like some great spring that was coiled and ready to explode at any moment, the pain of his injuries dulled to nothing as he let his eyes drift back to Krunt. He narrowed them in focus. Krunt seemed to acknowledge the moment, and without warning, charged forward on two legs, his movements deceptively smooth and controlled for such a large creature.

Krunt dragged his blade across the marble floor, spitting sparks like a trail of water before rolling his still-bleeding shoulder, swinging his claymore up and over his head. Marco felt like he was on some kind of drug, and he wasn't sure if it was good or bad. As he watched Krunt swing his blade up for an attack, he could see every muscle fiber in his body rippling and flexing, giving away every moment he was going to make. And as predicted, when Krunt was nearly upon him, he brought down his blade like a mighty sledgehammer right on top of him. Marco was prepared, however, and he shifted his weight to his left foot, darting to the side as Silverlights edge scraped against the dropping claymore.

With a deafening boom, Krunts blade sunk deep into the marble below, blasting bits of rock and a cloud of dust in every direction as Marco followed through, jumping into the air and driving both heels into Krunts chest. With surprising, almost supernatural ease, the ten foot crocodile was actually pushed back into a scramble as Marco backflipped off his large armored chest into a low ready stance. Krunt was furious now, and with a hiss like steam engine, he charged forward again to meet Marcos blade with a whip of his tail.

Star could hear muffled clangs and booms echoing in the rotunda as she fought against the crashing waves of dull pain in her head. 'Actually, it hurts everywhere, damnit,' she hissed. She carefully brought herself up to rest on her elbows, her vision still blurred as the room continued to shake with the sound of grinding metal. Blinking hard, she finally managed to get a good look around the room, and locked her eyes on the two warriors still battling before her.

Krunts yellow eyes darted from his still buried sword, to Marco as the troublesome brat made to charge again. He extended his left claws and as Marco reared to swing his blade, Krunt jutted his hand out to run the boy through. But Marco, somehow, could see exactly what was transpiring before it was happening. At the last second, he abandoned his slash and ducked under Krunts attack and drove his blade hard into his chest, only to find that blackened steel nigh impenetrable. What was more, when his blade touched the nullifying armor, he found that it felt heavy in his hands, pulling down his arms and throwing off any semblance of control he could have managed.

Krunt made use of the short opportunity and whirled about, slamming his tail into Marco with enough force to send him flying back into long, backwards skid on pulverized marble floor. As the monster let out another blood-curdling hiss, Marco shook his blade and found it once again weightless, freeing up his movements. He let out a misted breath as cold as mint, and swung his blade to level, waiting for Krunt to move.

"What's this then, too scared to meet my might?" the crocodile taunted, lashing his tail against the edge of the staircase columns, "Very well then! Your death will come to you!"

Marco stood still, watching as Krunt bellowed in rage and surged forward like a tidal wave of armor, scales and teeth, waiting for just the right moment. Krunt roared ever closer, his armor and tail digging a rut into the ground before Marco finally jolted forward, his heightened movements propelling him faster than what should have been possible. Krunt passed by his claymore and ripped it from the rubble, swinging it in a flat arc that would have cut Marco, and the three foot thick stone column next to him in half as Marco jumped to avoid it. He twisted in midair, the joints in his legs like steel springs as he put every ounce of momentum he had into a vicious hook kick.

The shock of the strike should have hurt, but Marco was numb to any pain by now as Krunt sprawled to the side, several teeth knocked to the floor. He looked up just in time to see Marco shout as he fell, pivoting in midair and slashing hard across the crocs arm, just between his two plates of armor. Krunt roared in pain and sent a heavy fist forward, slamming into Marcos chest before clutching his arm, red blood streaming from the deep rent in his flesh. "You little insect! I will paint this room with your blood!"

Marco said nothing, all of his focus directed to keeping his sudden rush of speed and energy alive. The numbness was becoming too much to handle, and by now he couldn't feel anything below his knees. So, gritting his teeth, he rushed around Krunt and pivoted, jumping to land on his back, desperate to get to that gap in the monster's shoulder joint. But Krunt wouldn't let him get any further, rolling like an alligator and throwing Marco off.

Marco skidded to an uneasy stop and brought his blade up just in time to parry another slash from that wicked claymore. Sparks rained down on his head as one after another, he deflected Krunts blows with increasing difficulty. 'I can't hold this any longer...I can barely keep my eyes open,' he seethed. Even breathing was a struggle as he dodged a forward thrust, pivoting around the massive blade and rushing forward along its notched and serrated edge. His shoulder boomed against Krunts chest and the croc was thrown back hard.

'IT'S NOW OR NEVER,' Marco silently screamed, kicking off into a sprint and slamming his feet into the ground in the best jump he could manage. Krunt shook off his daze and watched in shock as Marco drove the tip of his sword into his shoulder, using it as handle to swing around onto his back. He withdrew his sword in a spray or iron-scented red, feeling every bit of resistance in Krunt's skin like a needle in his chest. More blood, more screaming, he was back in the same moment, forced to take another life

As Krunt fell to one knee, the force of his fall shooting spiderwebs of cracks into the marble, Marco held his sword up, pointed to a small gap in Krunts backplates. His arms wouldn't move, not to kill, even if it meant he would die. He couldn't take another life to save his own. But without provocation, Marco could swear he could hear Star's words drifting into his mind, forcing him to listen. "Being a warrior isn't about how many lives you can take, or how strong you can get. It's about how much of yourself you're willing to sacrifice to keep the people you care about safe."

His eyes darted from the small gap, to Stars sprawled and bleeding form. She was awake, and staring at him with a look of pure awe in her tired looking eyes. Despite her actions of the last three days, she was watching with unyielding acquiescence, the conflict evident between them. Marco turned back to the gap in the armor and held his sword higher, feeling the last of his energy feeding into his arms. "GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" He screamed from the bottom of his soul as he plunged his blade through Kruts' scales, Silverlight sinking down to the hilt with its tip hitting armor on the other side.

The air seemed to hiss from Krunts lungs, refusing to fill his chest as he sputtered blood to the polished white floor. Marco grit his teeth and twisted his blade, willing the beast to finally fall, to let go and just give in. After half a grueling minute rolled by, his hopes were rewarded when Krunt finally shuddered, the last of his air escaping before his body collapsed to the ground with a room-shaking thud. Marco kept his footing and stood in place, either too stunned or too drained to move, his eyes wide, and his jaw set.

"I just...again… I did it...again," he muttered, forcing his eyes down to look at his blade. Silverlight seemed so out of place against the black steel and red scales, but ultimately he willed himself to pull it out, the length of its polished steel dripping with blood. To Marcos amazement, however, all of the wet, hot blood seemed to seep its way to the edge, before eventually, there was none left. The edge of his blade now looked as though it were made of blood, but he didn't focus on it. Instead, he sheathed his weapon and dismounted Krunt, forcing himself to avoid staring at the mess he had just made.

As he approached her, Star was struggling to stand, her head bleeding, and her wand several feet out of reach. "Try not to stand so fast," he warned, taking her hand and slowing her movements, "You need to rest for a minute, you got seriously ...banged ...up." his last words came out as a mumble as he felt the last of the cooling energy vanish. He dropped to his knees and nearly took Star with him as his vision became a dark tunnel, and his eyes began to close.

"Hang on, Diaz. I got you," she muttered, walking on unsteady legs towards her wand. She wrapped her fingers around it's handle and pointed it at him, whispering, "Radioactive Healing Slug." From her wand shot a small, neon green slug that smacked between Marco's eyes like a wet sock; only it smelled worse.

"Gah!" He started back to consciousness as slime began to trickle down his nose, "What the heck, Star?! What was-" he suddenly felt a heat overtake his body as he fell flat on the ground, audible pops sounding as his muscles and bones contracted and pulsed with green light. It was excruciating, and by far the most unpleasant experience of his natural life, but when he felt the heat waning and the light began to fade, he felt only slightly beaten to a pulp. Star stepped over to him and plucked a green slug off of her arm, her body losing it's green glow before she plucked Marcos off as well. "Sorry, it hurts a little but it helps a lot more," she noted before tossing both slugs over her shoulder. Marco sat upright and tested his joints, noting they now only felt sore and tight, instead of broken.

A few guards rushed into the room, noticed the destruction and Krunts body, and promptly backed out of the room, not a word to be said. The two exchanged a confused look before Star made to charge after them, but Marco grabbed her arm, pulling her back. "Let them go, the villagers will take care of the stragglers. Plus, we're in no condition to fight," he pointed out, his voice dry and hoarse. Star stared at the door for a short moment before nodding grimly and helping Marco to his feet.

Decidedly keeping his gaze off of the crocodile corpse in the center of the room, Marco looked around for any sign of a guard. Star pointed to a heavy iron door on the side of the staircase and snorted, "How did we not notice that when we got here?" Marco managed a grin and shook his head.

"We were a little wrapped up with goons, your mood, Krunt, and staying alive, so I'm not surprised." Star rolled her eyes at the mention of her behavior and leveled her wand at the door, blasting it clean off its hinges. Through the doorway was inky darkness, with the smell of mold and dust flooding out into the larger room. The two exchanged an uneasy look before ultimately setting forward to investigate.

Under the stairs was, unsurprisingly, another staircase that led down, further than one floor by a long shot. The two walked down, Stars wand glowed hot pink, illuminating their way as the minutes passed, the steps seemingly going on forever.

"It must have been hard for you, to have to do...that again," Star finally commented, breaking the silence, "I know last time really did a number on you. How do you feel?"

Marco wasn't too exhausted to enjoy Star's returning, comforting tone, and kept his eyes forward as he answered. "I feel better than last time. I think because it was both of our lives at stake, it made it a little easier to push it out of my head and just...do it. But thanks for asking," he noted with a small smile.

Star was quick to return it, happy to see him fairing well after everything they'd just gone through. "You saved both our lives, so don't mention it. I'm just glad you're okay and feeling better. I'm sorry I've been such a pill lately, and-" she began, but Marco cut her off with a wave of his hand.

"Let's not talk about any of that right now. Can we just pretend it didn't happen, at least until we get home?" Reluctantly, Star nodded, and the two walked in silence for another minute.

"What should we do if we find a room full of gold?" Marco asked, clearing his throat amidst the cacophonic quiet. Star shrugged in the darkness and tried to hide her piqued interest in the new topic. She had thought about it on the way here, and somewhat before her dive-bomb, but now that they were seriously close to their goal, she wasn't sure.

"We could probably just grab some villagers and tell them to come get it, after we grab a little... Fee," she finished with a thin smile. Marco cocked an eyebrow in her direction and asked "aren't you a princess? You guys are loaded any other day, why would you need some of this stuff?"

"So I can spend some of it in places my mom would never let us go," Star answered matter-of-factly, "Besides, a little sumthin' sumthin' for our troubles isn't wrong... We deserve it."

Marco couldn't help but find himself agreeing. She did have a point after all, who was going to miss a few pieces of gold? It would definitely help with getting into college in the future. He made to comment on bringing something back for their friends, like a souvenir, but in the light of Stars wand, a massive, circular door began to take shape in the darkness. The two slowed to a stop, craning their necks up to take it all in. It was daunting, to say the very least. Even Krunt would have a hard time opening something like this, so it begged the question: what was behind it?

Star shut off her wand, not waiting for an answer, and whirled around before firing several strings of raspberry ribbons to wrap around the looming handle. Marco held up his hands and eagerly took several steps back as Star braced her footing and pulled with all her might, her red lines straining under the tension. Marco was almost sure this was never going to work, but by some miraculous odds, the circular handle began to turn, the old metal groaning in defiance. "C'mon babeh, Mama Star needs a new pair of shoes!" she hissed, taking one step, and then another as she pulled.

Finally, the massive door creaked open, soft, orange light pouring from the small, widening crack in its side as Star continued to struggle. Marco watched with silent awe as with one final tug, she jerked the line hard, and the heavy door swung open just wide enough for them to slip through. Star killed the lines and huffed, desperate to catch her breath as Marco crept closer to the opening, a thick shaft of flickering light shining out.

The two crept through the opening, momentarily blinded by the glow of the torches dotting the walls around them, but when they finally managed to keep their eyes open against the glare, they were greeted with a stunning sight.

Littered about the room were statues of regal-looking women with cheek marks resembling Stars. Portraits lined the walls or lay stacked in piles of golden artifacts, as more sculptures, sacks of gold, chests of jewels, and piles of scrolls filled up the dusty expanse. Marco looked around, stunned by just how decorated the room was and struggled to find words to describe it.

"What...what is this?" Star choked, her eyes as wide as dinner plates. Marco looked at her and could immediately tell she was angry, but he wasn't sure why. They had just found the motherload, and their mission was over.

"It looks a lot like the art in the castle, but...better," Marco finally answered, stepping closer to a bust of an angry woman with lightning bolt cheek marks, and a thin brain of hair running down the back of her head.

"That's because it is, Marco!" Star suddenly shouted. She had been examining a specific portrait of a sad-looking sailor with a pipe in his mouth when the realization struck. "They're selling the stuff from our castle to these lowlives! They're pawning off my family's history! Everything in the castle dates back centuries, and they're just… SELLING IT!" She screamed, "Those monsters are selling my family history!"

Marco looked from Star to the artifacts and back again. She looked about ready to implode into a ball of rage and tears, similar to her outburst at the campfire.

Marco stepped closer to her and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, making her flinch and whip around to face him. "It's alright, Star. I know...I know it doesn't seem like it, but it's gonna be okay. I promise."

"How is any of this going to be okay, Marco?! I've lost everything! My home, my history, my kingdom, my-" she stopped, her eyes stinging as she stared at him. Before he could notice, she turned away and balled her fists, blinking back tears as she glared at the stolen artifacts around her.

Again, she felt a gentle hand resting atop her shoulder, but this time she let it stay. "It's going to be okay because we're here to put a stop to this. We can drop an anonymous tip, and your mom can send someone to collect everything." She softened her glare, if only slightly, before he continued. "No one knows who we are, Star. We can keep it a secret, and we can take all this back."

Stars lip quivered before she suddenly turned about and threw her arms around him, crushing him in a desperate hug. She was furious, but helpless at the same time. Toffee was out there, ruining her home little by little every day, and she was stuck, helpless to do anything to stop him. Marco held the back of her head and hugged her back, letting her soak his shoulder as he tried to comfort her the best he could in the face of this unsettling experience.

"I'm here, Star. I'm not going anywhere, I promise," he whispered to her. He felt her breathing steady before a gentle nod pressed against his shoulder. "Toffee might have done this, but we can undo it. Little by little, we can fight back. I mean, we took this place back, right?"

Star lifted her face from his shoulder and sniffed, nodding to herself. "Yeah, we did…" she still sounded dejected and heartbroken, so Marco continued, rubbing her back as he spoke. "Toffee's gonna feel this. But...we need to go before an army shows up. Call someone at the castle and leave a tip, and let's go home."

Star finally unglued herself from his warm hug and nodded, pulling out her compact. After a few silent minutes of texting, she clicked it closed and looked to Marco, a determined gleam returning to her eye. "Alright, Diaz. I sent an anonymous tip to Manfred, and he says he'll notify my mom right away."

"Good. You ready to get out of here?" Marco asked, adjusting his scabbard and working the kinks out of his newly mended shoulder. Star pulled her scissors from her purse and nodded, cutting open a blue portal with pink swirls, the new light illuminating the room a little more. "See you soon, Grandmas," Star whispered as Marco stepped through the portal, following him immediately after.

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

Greeted by the familiar, cool and inviting air of the Echo Creek twilight, Star inhaled sharply, eager to enjoy some of the finer luxuries of home she had been missing. As she and Marco acclimated themselves to their surroundings in the quiet M.R.C. square, all too quickly, the memories of why she chose to leave came flooding back to her. She eyed the castle with a deceptive calmness, and without provocation, began to walk towards the massive oak doors.

"Where are you going?" Marco asked, his voice stopping her in place, "Do you maybe wanna, come over and just hang out? I'm sure my parents would love to have you." In all honesty, he wasn't asking for a good time, but he wasn't sure if Star should go off to sulk on her own, for more reasons than one.

"I'm...fine for now, Marco. I just wanna go lie down, maybe sleep for like 12 hours. But thanks," she mumbled. Marco made to press, but before he could say anything, his pocket exploded with buzzing and chimes as his phone caught up with his new dimension. He winced and pulled it out, checking the damages and let out a held breath.

He had forgotten completely about his deal with Penelope to have her over for dinner to meet his parents. Star looked at him, an eyebrow raised in question as he slid his phone back into his pocket. "I uh, kinda forgot...before we left, I promised Penelope I'd have her over for dinner...tonight, actually," he said just above a whisper, his face a pained grimace as he expected Star to immediately blow up at him.

But far more surprising than his 'killer croc' enemy, Star simply shrugged and turned about, heading towards the castle. "Have fun, Diaz. I just remembered I have a date with Tom tonight too. So I guess...everyone's happy?" She asked, her tone decidedly chipper, given the message.

"Yeah...I guess so," he answered, watching her leave after three days of enjoying her company, and hating every second of it simultaneously. As he turned to head home himself, he felt something new, something as frightening as the thought of seeing Penelope again. He felt {that same aching loneliness as before on Mejoga when he and Star had argued on their third day there. He had grown so used to having Star by his side, even as a grouch, it felt almost unnatural to walk alone at night without her by his side.

But as he sunk into that thought, the heavy patter of feet behind him drew his attention just as Star collided with him in a bone-crushing hug, nearly squeezing the life out of him. "Wha-"

"Shhshshshshhhhh, I just...need one more hug before you go, okay?" She whispered, pressing her face into his shoulder. Marco willed himself to hug her back, too stunned for words as they remained locked in each other's arms as the seconds turned into minutes. Star eventually, reluctantly pulled away, and as Marco was stammering for a response, their eyes still locked together, she steeled her nerves and went in hard for a quick kiss, pressing her lips to his.

As much as Marco knew he shouldn't have, and as fast as it seemed to pass, he found that he enjoyed it, the taste of strawberries on his lips as he returned the light pressure of her kiss with some of his own, feeling Star's blushing smile growing at having her affection returned. "That was just...a thank you, for all your help lately," she said quickly, dismissing the act she had been craving for days alone with her guide, "and an apology for treating you like a pig-goat the whole time, and-!"

"Thanks, Star," Marco interrupted, giving her a genuine smile, "Thanks for letting me come along. And, thanks for that." She stared at him as more blood rushed to her cheeks, and without a word, nodded to him formally. "D-don't mention it, D-Diaz. I'll uh...see you tomorrow?"

Marco gave her another quick hug before stepping back and nodding. "Already looking forward to it. Be safe tonight, with Tom, alright?"

"I will. And...be safe with...you know," she answered, shooting him a worried look like she was sorry to see him go. The two stood awkwardly there for another stretched moment before Star pressed her lips together and extended a shaky hand. "Goodnight, Marco."

He stared at her hand and grinned before shaking it, overexaggerating his movements before stepping back and flashing a chagrined bow. "Goodnight, Princess Star Butterfly, future Queen of Mewni, and super cool vigilante, and savior of Mej-"

"Shshshhhs!" Star shushed him, suppressing a lopsided grin, "Our secret, between friends, alright? Now get lost, Marco, you're cramping 'las princesas oscuras' style," she giggled. The two shared a short moment of laughter before finally, ultimately parting ways, under a soft, thin red moon illuminating the night sky.

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

As Marco walked home under the pale starlight of the quiet evening, he couldn't help but find himself smiling. Three days of struggle, three days of demanding physical vigilante work, three days of trying to help his best friend, and now he was rewarded with a hug, a kiss, a good night's rest in his own bed, and a peaceful walk home. He'd be lying to say there weren't times when he had enjoyed himself on Mejoga, and he knew what they had done for the people there was an honorable deed, but to finally be home again felt too good for words. Until his phone rang, cutting through the quiet night with all the grace of a rusty knife through a paper.

He pulled his phone from his pocket and checked the screen, finding a pleasant picture of him and Penelope smiling in a hug. He fought back a grimace, remembering all too quickly what he had been avoiding, and hit answer, bringing the phone up to his ear. "Hey, Penny, I was...just about to call you," he lied, waiting for her to lay into him for his recent behavior. But surprisingly, she didn't, even though she probably really, really wanted to.

"Well then. I'm glad I caught you at just the right time then, huh?" she asked, maybe a bit too sarcastically before calming her nerves and forcing out a more pleasant, sincere tone, "I just saw Star a few minutes ago, looking as chipper as usual. I take it your little vacation ended up working out?" She bit back a curse, having let through a small amount of her actual thoughts on the matter.

Marco pressed his lips together, her sardonic undertone not going unnoticed. "Yeeeaaah, you could say that. I mean, we kiiiiiinda almost died? I probably have a couple of fractured ribs now, but-"

"So no 'midnight wrestling' for a few days is what I'm hearing?" Penelope asked with a giggle, much to Marcos relief.

"No, not for a while, yeah. I hope that's not a problem?" He knew what her answer would be, but the ease it would bring to have a confirmed wait time on more...sex, was something he found himself in desperate need of. Almost a little too quickly, Penelope answered, "Of course not, Marco. I'm not gonna force you to do it with me if you're hurt. But…" she paused, having to will herself to act on the dialogue she had decided upon. "But you should still come over, now if you can. It would be cool to hang out, plus, I have some news, and I kinda just want to talk, if that's alright too?"

Marco could think of a list of reasons why going back to the castle wasn't high on his list of priorities right now, but reluctantly, he found that he had to agree. He had been away for almost four days now, and to outright refuse would just make all of his problems worse. "Yeah, of course, Penelope. I can be over in a few minutes. I'm not in trouble, am I?"

"What? No? I mean, no more than Star is, stealing you away for three days, Queen Moon is preeeetty pissed with her, but no. I just miss your cute little mole," she answered, using her best coy voice to describe her favorite beauty mark.

'Why does everyone call it cute?' he thought for a moment before shaking the thought from his head. "Alright, yeah I'll be over in a few minutes. No sleepover though, I kinda wanna sleep in my own bed after half a week of medieval hotel rooms."

"You two didn't...share a bed, did you?" Penelope asked, her voice betraying just a slight pang of jealousy. Marco scoffed at the idea and shook his head. "Nah, not when she hogs the covers all the time. Totally kills the mood," he joked.

"Wait...you-...Ugh, not funny," Penelope groaned as Marco began the short walk back to the castle, "Just, hurry up and come over, goofball."

After hanging up, and a few minutes of walking, Marco finally reached the castle, formally being allowed entrance through its massive oak doors, which bore a distinct resemblance to those he had seen on Mejoga. Similar to the doors, Marco also noticed something slightly jarring: much of the art and decor that graced the halls and rooms of the castle, were actually really good copies of the artifacts and valuables they had seen in the vault. He felt an instinctual need to turn to his right and confer with Star on the matter, but remembered almost immediately that he was alone. Until he reached the ballroom, where he found Penelope waiting just as promised.

"Hey, it looks like my directions were not, that confusing. In your face, Marco" she giggled, giving him a tight hug and a quick kiss on the cheek. Marco wrapped his arms around her, finding her warmth comforting, but all too similar to… 'I really need to stop thinking like that,' he snapped, instead deciding to focus more on what was happening now. Penelope forced a smile and pulled back, eyeing him up and down. "Is it cold outside? I just realized I always see you wearing a hoodie, no matter what the weather's like. Do you have any suits, by chance? She asked, giving him an overly radiant smile.

'She's making small talk,' Marco realized as she waited for a response, 'She usually only does this when she's upset about something and… no, wait. That's Star.'

"Uh, yeah, I have a suit?" he stammered, giving her a curious glance.

"Great! This is actually where the pre tournament ball is gonna be held on friday, so having a suit is...pretty gooood!" she grinned, an almost too wide smile between her cheeks. Marco tried not to notice, and stepped back, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm actually not that much of a dancer," he lied again, shifting his gaze about the ornate and spacious ballroom, "My grandma used to try to teach me, but I never really put it to any use."

"Well, there's always Friday," she mused, finding herself lost in thought before suddenly snapping back to meet his attention, "So! How was your trip? You uhm...get anything cool out there? Aside from some broken bones? Should I hunt down Star and make her apologize?" she was firing a barrage of questions at him, stepping closer with each one, and finally it dawned on Marco exactly why she had called him here. She wasn't as fine as she was letting on, and she wasn't letting much to begin with.

"No, it wasn't really her fault, we kinda just...fought one of Toffee's generals for control of the city and a crazy vault of Mewman artifacts?" He watched as Penelope took a deep breath, her forced smile beginning to waver as she nodded politely. "Ohhhh. That's...coooooool," she said, clearly trying to give the appearance that she meant it. The two stared at each other uncomfortably for a couple of moments before Marco let out his held breath, and looked down shamefully.

Surprising her, he muttered, "Penny, I'm really sorry for leaving the way I did. Not just the weird adventure, but Sunday morning too. I shouldn't have done that to you." Looking up, he found her forcing back a frown as she tried to look aloof and uncommitted to the topic. After a few painful seconds of silence rolled by, she too let out a quiet, frustrated breath.

"I admit, I was...am, pretty upset about it. But I mean, I understand. You had some pretty crazy things going on that you had to take care of, so I don't blame you." The air between them seemed to fill with all of the released tension as they finally met each other's eyes. To her credit, Penelope was far better than Star at hiding when she was upset, but a common tell the two shared were their eyes. They were piercing and focused, like she was trying to read every detail about him, searching his own for some lost bit of understanding or truth. Star did the same, but Penelope had more focus and precision, it was almost enough to make him uncomfortable.

"I didn't have to take care of it, and go off on some crazy adventure," he admitted. He couldn't keep it locked inside any longer. He needed to have this conversation with her now, or he was going to wind up just as temperamental as Star. "I left because...I was honestly kind of scared and confused about what happened Saturday night."

"Scared of me? Or…" Penelope began, cocking an eyebrow and narrowing her eyes, trying to read him. Marco cleared his throat and forced back a shrug, decidedly keeping his eyes from meeting hers. "No...it was more, what we did, than anything else. I kinda panicked."

Penelope seemed to process that for a moment before nodding, though it clearly wasn't in understanding. "Is that why you were acting so weird that morning? Because we had sex?"

Marco didn't answer for a moment as he collected his thoughts. He had practiced for days in his head what he would say to Penny when this difficult talk came up and so he opened his mouth and spoke, he was relieved to hear he sounded reasonably calm. "First, I want to be perfectly clear. It wasn't bad or anything… In fact, it was really… I don't know, I never thought about giving it a...grade or anything."

Penelope scoffed, rolling her eyes at the unwanted reminder of Sunday breakfast. "Don't even get me started on that. Just... Go on?" Marco nodded and bit his lip, unsuccessfully trying to hide his discomfort on the topic. "I don't know, exactly. I mean, on one hand: It was one of the best experiences of my natural life," he pointed out, leaning to his left.

"Buuuuut?" Penelope prompted, gesturing for him to get to the point.

"But on the other hand, I just, don't feel ready for that kinda thing?" he asked, as if he too was trying to make sense of how he felt about it, "I mean, we've only been dating for like...a month. Isn't that kind of fast for...that?" He watched as Penelope tried to wrap her brain around his perspective, ultimately shrugging it off and nodding half-heartedly. "I mean, I've done it faster… but yeah, I guess it was kind of fast," she admitted, though she sounded like she didn't believe it.

Ignoring her comment about her past experiences, Marco continued. "It was a really great night Penelope, But I just don't think it was the right time is all. I'm sorry I kinda ghosted you instead of not talking about it. I felt like taking some more time to wrap my head around it before we talked about it together. I realize now that was, pretty stupid and selfish..."

Penelope seemed to acknowledge his apology, but took a step back, folding her arms. "Are you saying that because you mean it, or because you feel like that's what I want to hear?" She asked rhetorically. "If you aren't feeling that invested in our relationship, you should be honest with me. Do you know when a 'good time' would be?" she asked pointedly, without malice or irritation. She sounded as if she genuinely wanted to know the answer.

"What? Of course I'm invested in our relationship, Penny," he said, taking a step closer and gently enveloping her hands with his, "I really like being yours, for as long as you'll have me. That night, I guess I kind of just got caught up in the moment and lost track of things, you know?" He watched her, unwilling to face the thought that he might be convincing himself more than her. There was also a small pang of guilt in his chest, thinking back to his conversation with Star, their kiss no more than half an hour ago, and their less than subtle excursion that lasted almost four whole days. But with decided devoir, he noted that right now, Penelope needed all of his attention.

Reluctantly, she nodded, mulling over his words and finding his answer acceptable. She noticed his slight hesitation, but thankfully didn't press, only asking, "And you promise Star didn't try anything while you were gone?" The question was direct, and demanded an honest answer. Mostly.

Marco let a thin smile cross his lips as her nerves once again began to wind up. "No, while we were there she was more interested in getting rid of me. So quite the opposite, actually."

Penelope let herself smile at the idea of Star actively trying to shoo an overly helpful Marco away, but found an empty soreness in her chest at the idea of Marco staying with her regardless. "Why didn't you just leave? Was she that bad?" she asked, forcing a light chuckle to decorate her words, "What um...what did you do to make her feel better?"

Marco thought hard about telling Penelope right then and there that Star knew about their latest activity, but decided that it would only feed the flames that were constantly lit between the two. "Well I couldn't just leave, it's my job. My duty is to guide her, and protect her, and I couldn't really do that from here, could I?" he asked, the pang of guilt in his chest now almost overwhelming, "So, we talked about what was bothering her, and she vented when she was ready."

Penelope raised a skeptical eyebrow and asked, "And what exactly was bothering her so bad that she had to go on a crazy, masked vigilante streak for three days?" Marco held up a dismissive hand and forced himself to act nonchalant about that gut wrenching ordeal in the forest. "It's...not really my place to talk about it. Personal stuff that I kinda wish even I didn't know, if that makes sense."

Penelope seemed to accept that as reality and nodded, hoping to prod him with one last question to satiate her nerves. "Marco, If you weren't happy with me, you'd tell me, right?"

That one was an easy answer, and he felt that pang of guilt begin to fade as he pulled her into another tight hug, comforted by the feeling of her returning it and being able to tell the whole, unaltered truth. "I would. But luckily, I don't have to, because I'm very happy with you, Penny."

She smiled, finally a genuine one at that. "I'm glad. For now, we can play things a bit more carefully, and when you feel ready, let me know, lover boy. You know I'll be waiting." For the first time in over three days, Marco felt a wash of relief, eager to put the first half of the week behind him. "Thank you, Penny. It really means alot to me, and I promise I won't make you wait too long. I already took the terrifying first step, after all."

"Friggin better, you have no idea how good that was," she purred, leaning closer to bite his neck before whispering into his ear, "And I'd give you an A plus."

Marco felt his cheeks burn, and struggled for a multitude of responses before finally settling on the one that offered the best results. "Sooo, are you still up for dinner with my parents tomorrow night?" he asked with a curious smile, pulling Penelope closer. Her eyes lit up like a wildfire as a shocked grin beamed from her lips. "Wait, you were serious? Can we actually? Because I would be sooo down for that!"

"Well, how does tomorrow night at my place sound? You can help me cook, we'll get all messy, My parents will wonder why we're covered in flour when we made soup, it'll be a riot." Penelope watched him with thrilled intensity as he listed the itinerary for the evening and cut in, pursing her lips with a cocked eyebrow. "And whatever shall we wear to such an occasion? I think I have just the goblin dog t-shirt to meet your parents in,"she suggested.

The two broke out into a quiet fit of laughter before Marco shook his head, giving her a mock glare. "I was thinking something a bit more formal, but trust me when I say my parents would be happy to see you in just about anything."

"Mhmmm, well," Penelope began, her grin resting beneath lidded eyes, "I know what you'd like to see me in...but that's gonna have to wait a while, huh?" Once more, Marcos cheeks blazed as he forced himself to nod, feeling her soft hands rubbing against his. "For now, I'd say just a dress, maybe something less than princessy? I'm not sure what that would be called," he admitted, eager to change the subject, which Penelope took careful notice of. Thankfully, she decided not to press.

"It would be called me looking amazing in just about anything, and you being the perfect accessory to it," she giggled, enjoying the way that sounded, "I'll see you tomorrow at your place then?" she asked, taking a step back and giving him a beaming smile.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world, Penny," Marco answered, returning her grin before planting a quick kiss on her eager lips, finally feeling like things were approaching normalcy for the first time in days. He gracefully departed the castle grounds for the second time that evening, though still not noticing the cracking red crescent in the clouds.

AUTHORS NOTE

Hello, you magnificent creatures, Ronald Reagan here! Have you already finished reading this goddamn mess of wonder and action? From the rolling hills of echo creek to a distant planet ravaged by war, it's been a thrill to write. Thankfully, Corn was able to step in and hash out your new favorite horror scene by the river, and add a little more light to your favorite baddie, so big ole thanks to that wonderful writer! This chapter took an ungodly amount of time, and an equal amount of patience, from both Corn and myself to get this thing polished and ready for your viewing pleasure, so be sure to leave a review with what you thought about it, for our efforts! We'd love to hear feedback from you, and we can't wait to see yall mofos in the next update of The Once and Future Queen! BUH BYYYEEE!

~Mr. Ronald Reagan

~Lord Cornwalis