A Star and Marco vs Evil Story Chapter 2: Fall Frolic, a star vs. the forces of evil fanfic

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This is a work of fiction portraying alternate universes; all similarities to beings living, dead, or undead are entirely convergent.

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A fall adventure for Star and Marco. Spoilers for book 1.

October...

Idyllic. That was the best description Marco could think of.

The Diaz parents had decided to take a four day Fall vacation, to kick back and relax and try to shake off the detritus of everyday life. Star was invited along as a de facto family member; that Star and Marco were finally officially a couple made it all the sweeter. Mariposa, too young for the trip, was left in the care of neighbors.

Angie had decided to take advantage of the kids' ability to travel by portal, arranging for a cabin in the deep woods of Ohio where she grew up. They would be away from people in general, yet only a portal away from small towns for shopping and relatives for visiting. The hiking in the foothills of Appalachia would be as easy or as challenging as desired, and the October foliage a visual smorgasbord of reds, golds, and oranges.

The first day of the trip was spent shopping for groceries, cleaning and dusting the cabin, and in general getting situated for the next three days. That night they sat around a roaring fire in the backyard fire pit, Angie talking about her adventures growing up in that part of the country, and Star and Marco telling stories of their own adventures. Rafael mostly listened, throwing in the occasional quip or joke. They all turned in early to be well rested for the next day.

Come morning, everybody pitched in to fix a sumptuous breakfast. In honor of Star, Angie had picked up a locally produced cornmeal pancake mix, and the family ate the pancakes slathered in locally sourced sweet butter and maple syrup. They added generous amounts of locally sourced sausage and bacon, and drank locally sourced milk and apple cider. Added to the mix were some chips and salsa ... not locally sourced, but brought with them from Echo Creek.

"So," Angie broached, as they all cleared away the dishes, "we thought we'd go antiquing in the town a couple miles up the road. Doesn't that sound like fun?"

Star and Marco fell to the floor, writhing like they were painfully dying, subtly suggesting they did not think it would be fun.

"A simple 'no' would have sufficed ... jerks," Angie muttered.

The pair rejoined the adults, grinning.

"Well, kids," Rafael interjected, "maybe we go our separate ways today? A hike could be fun. Colors that are pretty and no magical hijinks or explosions."

Star and Marco looked at each other. "Yeah, sounds fun."

An hour later, all four stood in front of the cabin, dressed for the day. Marco was dressed as usual, except for his boonie hat and hiking boots. Star was wearing her light-blue shirt, long blue pants, green hoodie, purple hiking boots, and red baseball cap with purple devil horns and yellow star. Both carried their backpacks and walking staffs. Angie and Rafael were dressed like tourists from the eighties.

"Now remember," Angie warned, "the cabin owner said to take only the southern trail into the southern woods. Stay far, far, away from the northern trail and northern woods."

"We will," Marco replied.

Using his dimensional scissors, Marco opened a portal to the town his parents wished to explore. "When you're ready to come back, just ring," he said, holding up his phone. Angie gave Star and Marco each a kiss on the forehead, to Marco's embarrassment, then she and Rafael stepped into the portal.

Thirty minutes later, Star and Marco, walking hand in hand, were admiring the gorgeous Fall foliage of the northern woods. The leaves that had already fallen made a satisfying crunch under their boots, and the cool breeze was perfect, not to cold nor too warm for their hoodies.

Marco sniffed the bracing air, catching a whiff of something unexpected: smoke and ... cinnamon. Walking around a bend in the northern trail, the teens discovered a house in a clearing.

"Hunh," Star said, "how did we miss seeing that?"

The house was made of gingerbread, frosting, cookies, candy, and other confections. Smoke drifted lazily from the chimney. Halloween decorations hung on the house and sat in the yard, plus half a dozen lit jack o'lanterns lined the walkway. "Has to be in violation of dozens of building and fire codes," the Safe Kid commented.

As they watched, a short, heavyset, old woman stepped out of the house. Seeing the teens, she beckoned them over. "Happy Halloween, kids. Fine Fall day for leaf peeping. Would you like to come in for some spiced apple cider and pumpkin cookies?"

"Would I!" Star practically yelled, bounding into the open door.

"Star, wait, stranger danger!" Marco called after her, to no avail. After a few moments spent eyeing the sweetly smiling old woman, Marco followed. As he entered, he caught a glimpse of himself in a gilded mirror hanging on the wall. His mole was visible on his right cheek, but nothing else. He touched his light-brown cheeks, thinking, Wait ... isn't there something missing? He couldn't think of what it could be, so shrugged and moved on.

Star, having found the kitchen and breakfast nook, sat at its table. Heaped in the middle were pumpkin cookies, which Star was already enjoying. Marco joined her, gingerly tasting a cookie. It was very good.

Joining the teens in the kitchen, the old woman said, "You're in luck. The pumpkin-kid pie should be cool enough to eat. Would you each like a slice?"

Star stuck out her tongue. "Pumpkin-kidney pie? That doesn't sound good at all."

"Star," Marco said, "she said 'pumpkin-kid' ppp-iii-eee ... what?"

"Yup," the old woman responded, "I caught them nibbling on the gingerbread wall-shingles and, well, they just had to go. I think their names were Mason and Mabel, not that it really matters."

"Mmmmm ... sounds yummy," Star interjected.

"Star, she baked kids into a pie!"

Star and Marco looked at each other for a long ten seconds. Finally, Star said, "You say that like you're making an obvious point, but I haven't the foggiest idea what it is."

"Uh, I think we'll be leaving."

The old woman cackled. "What, so soon, Princess Marco?"

The old woman somehow was now thin and tall, a heap of graying hair on her head and wearing a tattered purple dress. Her clover-shaped cheek-thingies were completely unhidden.

"Heinous!" Star yelled. She blasted Heinous out the front door, following closely behind.

"Star! Wait ..." Marco suddenly found himself in the clearing. The house was gone, and standing before him was Meteora, twenty feet of purple fur, eyes glowing green with magic. Marco froze, wondering what the heck was happening.

From her hand, Meteora fired a beam of purple magic, wrapped by a helix of green strands, just missing Star, now in her Butterfly Monster form. After several more misses, Star yelled, "You want my power? Here! Take it!" Star created a brilliant yellow ball of magic, firing it at Meteora, dropping out of her Butterfly Monster form as she did. The ball exploded when it hit Meteora, knocking them all to the ground.

Marco picked himself up, brushing off golden leaves and other debris. As his eyes readjusted, through spots he saw Star slowly standing while behind her, unseen, Meteora was rising to her knees, preparing to strike.

"Star! Look out!" Marco thrust his arm forward to blast Meteora with magic, but nothing happened. Why did I do that? he asked himself. Seeing Star was still dazed, he ran, tackling her out of the way just as Meteora fired.

Rolling to a stop, Star cried, "Not cool, Meteora!" then fired twin beams of smoking-hot pink magic at her. Meteora screamed, dissolving into apple-cinnamon scented smoke.

Marco blinked. He and Star were now standing, Star bouncing giddily from foot to foot, the Fall sun filtering through the kaleidoscope-colored canopy. There was no sign that a magical fight had just taken place. "Look, Marco, leaf piles," Star said, pointing. "Let's jump in them!"

Star ran, leaving a confused Marco. Seeing his girlfriend dive into the leaves, he felt a wave of joy come over him and quickly followed.

The pair rolled around in the leaves, tickling each other and laughing. Finally, with a crunch of leaves underneath, Star pinned Marco, sitting on his chest with her knees holding down his arms. She slowly leaned toward his face, smiling, and said, "I have to leave now, probably forever ... for real this time."

Marco blinked, and when his eyes refocused, saw Star hovering on a pair of giant dragon-like wings. "Star! No!" he cried, "Don't leave!"

Star turned and flew away, skimming the tops of the trees, a shower of red, gold and orange drifting to the forest floor, knocked free by the wake of her mighty wings. Marco chased after her, falling farther and farther behind. "Star! Please, come back! Come back! Star!"

Summoning all his strength, Marco yelled as loud as he could, "STAR!"

Marco sat up in bed, breathing hard. He jumped as he felt a pair of arms embrace him.

"Marco? It's Janna. You're okay."

"Janna?" Marco asked. "Janna," he said with finality. He inhaled deeply, then let the breath out slowly, shuddering.

"Another nightmare? About Star?"

Marco nodded, numbly. "Until the hike, it was so much like our last family trip to Ohio, except Star wasn't there in reality; but it all seemed so real."

Janna squeezed Marco tighter. "I know. We'll find her. We'll fix her. I promise."

Marco remained silent.

"You just go back to sleep. Sister Janna is here to watch over you."

Stay amazing!