Forgotten Ventures

by Ronald reagan

If you could go back two years in your life, and you could remember everything, what would you change? When Marco Diaz wakes up in his old bedroom, with memories of events that haven't come to pass, he finds out that some things should stay the same. And that some things will change on their own. Rated M for language, violent scenes, and some spicy stuff.

46. The Concert Pt 2

Marco gradually opened his eyes and found a blinding sphere of light hanging above him, making him squeeze them shut as his head buzzed in rapid response. His tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth with an aftertaste of papaya, something Earthy, and orange, and as he smacked his lips, desperate for water, he chanced another uneasy glance at his surroundings, this time struggling through the searing pain the light elicited.

It wasn't just a light. It was the sun, and judging by its position, it was around noon, with the clear pink sky spanning in every direction around it. Tall trees stood around him forming a small clearing in the center of a forest, and from the looks of it, it seemed darker inside than should have been possible.

'Mewni?' He thought to himself, 'how am I on Mewni? We were just at the resort…' He battled the pounding of his head and tried to sit up, only to find a leg strewn across his stomach affixed to a young woman he recognized well enough to panic upon seeing. Toriddity shifted against the movement she felt and sat up as well, clearly just as disoriented as Marco, and looked around before her gaze fell upon him. Her eyes widened at the sight, and she quickly scrambled away from him, checking herself to make sure she was unharmed and fully dressed.

He thought that was a little unusual until the cool mid-afternoon breeze chilled his uncovered chest and made him realize he was shirtless, his abs and scars bare for the world to see. He matched Toridditys apprehensive expression and slowly got to his feet, a small amount of motion sickness not going unnoticed. She glared at him and watched him carefully, her red eyes never leaving him as she slowly stood up as well, neither saying a word.

'Oookayyy, no shirt, no memory, no Star, no idea where I am," he thought before reaching for his belt and finding it surprisingly empty. 'Annnd no scissors. Alright. This is bad.'

"What are you doing?" Toriddity asked him without an ounce of emotion in her voice. Marco froze his hand on his belt and took a cautious step back, shooting her a reassuring glance. "I was just seeing if I had my scissors, so we could find our way out of here. I don't remember where we are, or how we got here, so we should come up with-"

"You don't remember anything either, do you? We're on Mewni, I think… but uhm, that's all I got, " she offered, thankfully easing the tension in her body. She turned her red eyes toward the north, where a towering mountain range could just barely be seen above the treetops. "I think those are the Jagged mountains."

"Which means… what, exactly?" Marco didn't like the dejected tone of her voice, and as she checked her pockets with increasing desperation, her expression fell to match. Finally, she gave up searching and huffed in exasperation, glaring at the woods around her. "It means we're stuck in the Forest of Certain Death with no memory, no map...and no compact mirror."

Marco let his shoulders sag as Toriddity searched for a speck of optimism. "But it's gonna be alright, Star told me a little bit about how you guys spent like fifteen years in another dimension- well, five and ten -and you guys like, ran the country, mowed down anything in your way... being lost in the woods isn't really an issue, right?"

"Not on its own, no," he answered, looking back up to the mountains, "but being stranded out here is still a problem. We need to get back, and fast." Toriddity gave him a confused stare as she adjusted her leather jacket. What was the rush? It wasn't like they had somewhere to be, aside from 'anywhere but here'. "You got a hot date or something? I'm sure whatever's out there, we can handle."

"It's not us I'm worried about, " Marco responded, meeting her with a sudden, dangerously serious look, "If Star's alright, and she's awake, she's not gonna handle this well." Toriddity wasn't sure she liked that answer any better than their position. "If you're implying she'd presume we were eloping, then I have-"

"Star can't handle me disappearing again, Toriddity. She barely held herself together when… when Vartek corrupted me. She shuts down when she sees these," he gestured to his set of profound scars. "So waking up, not knowing where I am, might be a bit of a shock."

Toriddity thought about that for a moment as she tried to ignore his pointed refusal to acknowledge her accusation. She had heard enough about the 'accident'' to know it was a touchy subject, especially for Star, and wisely opted to turn the conversation in a new direction.

"Did we all get like, blackout drunk or something? It would explain why my head wants to explode, and why we don't remember anything," she offered, spotting a nearby log and taking a seat. Marco followed suit and folded his hands together in his lap. "I don't know. It makes sense, but why don't I have my scissors, why are we out here on Mewni?"

"And why are you shirtless? Like, not that it's a bad look or anything, but hiking half-naked is something Johansens do, not humans," Toriddity speculated, trying to ease the mood. Marco found himself grinning at the idea of running around with a loincloth-laden River, and nodded. "I guess when we make it back, we'll finally rest easy with answers to questions like that."

"If we want to get out of here, we need to head for Butterfly castle. That's probably the closest place to get a pair of dimensional scissors without too many questions," Toriddity offered, rubbing her sore neck at the idea of such a long trek, "That is if we can make it through the forest."

"Can't you just portal with demon magic?" Marco asked, "I've seen Tom do it a few times this week." But to his surprise Toriddity shook her head and folded her arms, taking on a somewhat guilty look.

"Tom is of the Lucitor bloodline, a more archaic demon brood. Portaling even a mile would be next to impossible for a demon like me." Marco watched as she continued to fidget nervously, keeping her eyes glued to the ground. "It's actually kind of shameful for lower demons to accept 'rides' from ones like him."

Marco couldn't help but ask, his interest piqued. "Lower demon? I thought you were all the same, no offense," he added quickly, trying to meet her eyes. The familiarity of the underworld class system was beginning to sound a bit too familiar. "Aren't you…?"

"We're the same species of demon, if that's what you mean, " she grumbled, her dainty fangs flashing in the sunlight, "but I'm not from as distinguished a race of demon as Tom. Of the nine demon circles, mine is eighth, and Toms is first."

Marco pursed his lips at what he was sure was a draining admission, and tried to offer a small amount of consolation. "He seems to really like you though. I doubt he cares what 'circle' you're from, much less what people think of him giving you rides. I mean, look at me, I'm just some nobody human from Earth, and Tom and I are best bros."

"You have a fair point, Marco. But I'm not forgetting that time you dressed up to sneak into a ball," Toriddity half-heartedly chuckled before stopping herself awkwardly. It was scary how easily this guy could draw out the good parts of you when you weren't looking, like a bad joke you still found funny. It almost made her forget that she was alone in the woods with a shirtless boy and no memory of the last twelve hours.

"How's about we get out of here so we can stop being so soft, huh? Talking about my feelings isn't something I do for fun," she barked, but he could tell it was half-hearted.

"Oh...well, what do you think? We can wait for the sun to start setting to get out bearings-" Marco began, chancing a look at the sky only to find the sun placed nearly exactly above them before Toriddity shook her head with a thin smile. "No need. I've seen enough maps of Mewni to know we should head…" she looked towards the Jagged Mountains, and slowly pivoted until she was facing a third-turn counter-clockwise, "that way. Southwest. It might take us a couple days, but we can make it. I'll take care of the campfires."

Marco was rather impressed, and wasn't afraid to show it as she began making her way into the thick brush. He took one last look at the mountaintops to his right before turning his gaze down to his hand. Flexing his fingers, a slight ripple of blue fire swirled across his palm, rolling over his fingers neatly. Satisfied, he clenched his hand shut, snuffing out the flame with a nod.

"Marco! C'mon! We have a couple of hot dates to get to, let's get moving!" Toriddity yelled from deeper in the woods. Wiping his warmed hand against his jeans, he took off in a run to follow into the Forest of Certain Death.

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

"Star! Hey! Wake up, Starship," a voice beckoned to her as she struggled to open her eyes. They were as heavy as anvils, and the rest of her body was faring no better as she managed to pry an eyelid up. She was in Marco's room, which was always a plus, but instead of the owner greeting her with the sunlight that made her head throb, it was Tom.

"Star, c'mon, something wrong, I need you to wake up," he repeated, looking down at her from the side of Marcos's bed. Star smacked her lips, tasting corn ale, something Earthy, and papaya, and slowly turned to face him. "What…? Tom?" She asked, trying to sit up despite every muscle in her body screaming. He gave her a less than soothing smile and held up his hands.

"Don't worry, you're safe, nothing happened, I swear." He noticed Star struggling to comprehend the situation and elaborated, taking a step back to give her some room as he sat in the desk chair. "I woke up downstairs, and I can't find Toriddity. It's already noon, and I haven't gotten a single message from her, and Janna and Jackie aren't answering their phones. I came upstairs to ask you guys if you had seen her, but Marco's missing too."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN- ahhhhh," Star clutched her head as it throbbed from sitting up too quickly, and the floor began to spin. Tom made to help her stand, but decided to keep his distance for now. "Easy, easy. We all drank way too much last night, so you have a serious hangover."

"What about you?!" She silently screamed, "where's your hangover? And what do you mean Marcos missing?"

Tom suppressed a shrug, as he was sure it would only piss her off even more, and gestured around impatiently, growling "I'm a Lucitor, I don't get hangovers. And as for Marco, I don't know. He and Toriddity are just gone. No note, no texts, nothing." Star pressed her lips together and managed to stand on two rubber legs, hesitant to leave the refreshing comfort of Marco's room for her own. "You woke me up for that? Dude, I'm sure Marcos fiiiine. If they're gone, he probably has a reason."

"W-... What?" Tom quietly demanded, "Why am I the only one who's worried about them? Toriddity was in the living room when I passed out, and you're saying 'they have a good reason' to just disappear?"

"Maybe she went back home for the night? I know she can't portal like you so Marco could have given her a ride, and decided to check out the underworld?" She proposed hopefully but was met with a grim reprise. The air in the room was getting heated, in every facet of the word as Tom let that steep for a moment, finding a glimmer of tranquility.

"Star, I know this is the last thing you'd want to happen on the last day of your vacation, but does that really sound like Marco to you? The guy makes a schedule for a dinner date." He noted with a trademark frown, which only set further against his jaw when he noticed Star's absent-minded smile. "Yeah, he really does, doesn't he?" She nodded atop a shrug and turned to head toward her room, Tom following close behind.

"Plus, why would Torridity ask the human for a ride home when she has me? Especially when we were all shit-faced?" Tom protested, only to once again find Star grinning as she chewed on her wand, giggling at the idea. "He's such a gentleman. I'm sure they're both fine Tom, we've been on vacation for a week, I doubt they're off on some secret mission-"

"Star, would you listen to me?!" Tom had officially had enough of this and rushed towards her so quickly she flinched. His worry for Toriddity was far too great to put up with Stars nonsense for another moment. "We have no idea where they are, and neither of them are answering their phones. Either we can look for them together, or you can wait here to find out when something bad happens without your precious boy toy to shield the blow."

Star stared at him, surprised at the sudden outburst, and pressed her lips together in a frown. "I don't use him as a shield, " she grumbled. Tom rolled his eyes, completely appalled that that was what she decided to take from it. "Yes, you do. You always run to Marco to feel better, and he always softens the blows. And now that he's off who knows where with my girlfriend, you don't know what to do."

"I don't 'run to Marco', Tom! He's my boyfriend and he helps me deal with stuff I can't handle, it's what boyfriends are supposed to do, in case you hadn't read that yet," she shot back, burning holes into his forehead, "and just because I'm not rallying an army bc I can't find him doesn't mean anything. I trust that he can take care of himself, just like I can too."

Tom seemed to wither for a split second before he matched her dominating posture, glaring back at her with all three of his eyes. "It's not him I'm worried about, idiot. Toriddity isn't as powerful as most demons, and if Marco has an episode while she's around him-" he didn't need to finish the thought, Star understood the danger perfectly.

"Ohhhh corn, " she muttered, letting her frown fall into shock, "ohhhh noooo. We gotta find them, now. Do you have a way to find out where a demon is?" She asked frantically. Tom bared his teeth and surprised a growl before shaking his head. "No, why do you think I woke you up!? Can't you use your magic to find Marco? You did it before, right?"

Yeah, but it won't do any good, I can't force my way through the seeing eye spell again. Plus," she thought to the future, when she would ultimately lose her mother, and be completely unable to find her, "it doesn't really work how you think. I have to have an idea of where they are. It doesn't show me your location anywhere in the universe."

Tom let his shoulders sag. "So what can we do? We can't just sit here and wait for them to get back." He expected Star to disagree, but instead, he found her nodding thoughtfully. "We need Janna. If anyone can find a specific demon, it's her."

Tom let the unpleasant idea of not only waking Janna, but asking her for help wash over him. Janna wasn't the kind of girl who gave favors out for free, and if he knew her as well as he thought he did, it wouldn't be a cheap one. But at the prospect of finding Toriddity, he ultimately agreed. "Fine. But I swear, if they're just hanging out somewhere, I'm going to kill them."

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

"So why are we hanging out here of all places?" Marco asked as Toriddity splayed out in the grass at the center of another clearing. They had been walking for over an hour now, thankfully with little to slow them down, and while he was happy for the break he would be far happier being back home.

"Eh, I don't really get to see grass like this a whole lot in the Underworld. Gotta enjoy it when I can, you know?"

Marco started as he watched her run her fingers through the thin blades of green. It had only occurred to him at that moment that Toriddity was more or less trapped in the underworld, with even assistance being considered shameful. Without a word, he sat down in the grass beside her, and looked up to the pink sky, noticing a couple of daytime moons on display. "Does it bother you?" He asked after a moment, "being stuck down there?"

She had to think it over for a minute. "Not really. There's a lot of cool stuff that I like. Never a shortage of lava, it's always nice and hot, people don't look at you funny for having horns and a tail-"

"You have a tail?" Marco asked, turning to look at her. Even through her orange skin, he could make out a blush, but she nodded, turning over some to allow a thin, spade-pointed tail to curl into the air, flicking several times before she laid back down. Marco couldn't help but smile.

"That's so cool, I can think of a hundred reasons why having a tail is way better than not having one," he commented, earning a derisive snort from the girl beside him.

"Congrats, that makes you better than like, eighty percent of the people I meet everywhere else," she said, maybe a little too sardonically, "but yeah, it's cool. What about you?"

Marco looked from side to side before prompting her to elaborate. "I don't have a tail if that's what-"

"Noo! Not the tail, you idiot. I mean, being different from everyone you meet. You and Star are basically magically-charged weapons at this point. I mean, the fire is old news, no offense, but you're nothing like the other humans. I mean that in a good way, this time." Marco turned his gaze back up at the sky. She was more right than he cared to admit. He wasn't much of a human anymore. At the very least he wasn't a normal one.

In the months since Star had once again entered his life, and even the years since he had met her for the first time, he had changed in such a vast way, it was hard to even consider himself Marco Diaz anymore. By all accounts and purposes, he was a different person, for better and for worse, and as alarming as that prospect was, he still found he wouldn't change it even if he could.

Toriddity seemed to notice the silence and the muscles on the side of his face growing tense, so she decided it best to ease the friction. "And now you have a soul in you," she added, turning to look at him with a more appraising expression, "ooohhh, maybe you're a demon now. That would be cool. You already shoot fire and stuff."

Pulled from his thoughts, Marco blushed somewhat at the idea and shook his head. "I don't have a soul in me, and it's not cool. I don't want Star to know, but ever since I…" he had to force himself to not suggest he 'died'. Since I got hurt, it's been happening more and more as time passes, like once every other day now. I don't want her to freak out, and shut down on me, but I don't know what to do." He glanced over at Toriddity and found her frowning at him, but not in anger, more in annoyance.

"You guys worry about each other too much, you know that?" Marco looked around before sullenly nodding, finding that hitting too close to home. "It's what I do. I worry about stuff. I've always been scared of bad things happening to my friends."

"She's not your friend, Diaz. She's your girlfriend," Toriddity scoffed, rolling her eyes lazily in his direction, "she's her own person, and you won't always be there to walk her through her feelings. You gotta let her figure things out on her own."

'You have to let me figure things out on my own.' The words seemed to effortlessly float into his head as Marco felt that familiar vice in his chest from the first time he heard them. She was right then too. "I know," he mumbled, "I should trust her more. As much as I want to be, I'm not her hero."

Toriddity noticed his melting expression and managed a grin. "Well, I don't know about that, you guys are pretty unstoppable," she mused aloud, not hiding her wonder before laying back against the cool grass. "But yeah, let her find her own way through the dark, so you can be there to walk her through the sunshine."

"Jeez, do you get all 'fortune cookie' on everyone you meet, or just shirtless dudes in the woods?" Marco chuckled, sitting up. Toriddiry gave him a confused glance before asking, "What's a fortune cookie?"

Haunting and annoying images flashed through Marco's head before he held up a hand and dismissed the topic. "Don't worry about it, trust me. It's not important. Ever again." With a shrug, Toriddity turned back to the sky and rested her horned head in her hands. It was another few minutes before Marco cracked his neck and slowly rose to his feet.

"Thanks for the talk, Toriddity, I really-" out of nowhere, a tree whizzed past him, it's trunk sailing by mere inches from the top of his head. Before it had even thundered to a stop on the far side of the clearing, he was instinctively reaching for his weapon, only to find it wasn't there.

Toriddity was already on her feet as a massive, six-legged beast emerged from the treeline, pointing it's four horns right for them. It had a matted hide of black fur and a long tail that thrashed violently against the trees behind it as it trained its four red eyes at Marco.

"Don't. Move." He whispered to Toriddity as he slowly inched closer to her. He expected a wash of annoyed banter, or at the very least a rejection, followed by an attack, but truthfully she looked petrified, a stark opposite to her usual temperament. The beast watched them carefully, snorting hot blasts of air as Toriddity took a slow step back. "If we fight it together, we can win," he whispered to her, not taking his eyes off the creature that glared menacingly in their direction, "I was hoping to practice with it a little more, but I can use a small amount of magic without my scissors, so I can keep it distracted if you can go for its weak spots."

She managed a slow nod in return, flexing her fingers as steady balls of fire began to grow in her hands. She wasn't as strong as Tom, but she could be just as quick, and more agile if anything.

"Do you know what that is?" Marco asked in a hushed tone, never taking his eyes off the beast as Toriddity shot him a withering glare. "Do I look like an expert on Mewni? No! I don't, it probably wants to kill us! Is there a lot more to think about?" she answered in a whispered scream. Marco set his jaw and slowly shifted into a low stance, feeling that familiar tourmaline heartbeat of warm energy growing in his body. The creature seemed to respond in a similar way, dragging three of its hooves against the dirt.

"Okay, okay, when it charges, you go high and aim for the eyes, I'll go low and-" the beast must have had enough, and snorted violently in a heated huff of air before launching itself forward in a thunder of stomping hooves. "Go!" Marco shouted, rushing toward it as Torridity stomped on the ground, blasting the dirt with fire and launching herself twenty feet into the air.

Meanwhile, deep in the recesses of someone else's mind, a more primal, volatile creature was stirring as well. Surrounded only by darkness, the entity huddled around a small ember of teal flames, waiting for any sign of change to arouse it. Lifeless, and thoughtless, it was isolated without even the notion of its own existence, until finally, Darc was called upon again as words echoed through his void, resonating a memory of combat.

"I said go high!"

He heard that familiar heartbeat began to thrum inside his ember of magic, breathing life into him. Not since his fight with that young queen had he felt such adrenaline.

"Be careful! Watch his horns, I'm going for the legs!"

Darc felt thoughts and questions returning to his mind as the heartbeat sped faster, the small ember of teal fire growing in size. Where was he? Who's voice was that? How did he get here? As Marco surged forward, igniting his arms into azure flames to strike the animal, Darc opened his eyes.

He had no time to refine an answer, as he felt a sudden surge of heat from his flame. The opaque void around him lit up in deep blue from a sole beam of energy that spanned from one endless horizon to the other, while the thriving teal flame continued to thrum with a powerful heartbeat. 'More'. He hungered for more of that life-giving heat, to feel more of what he had at that exact moment.

'That power…that light...I've seen it...so long ago…, ' Darc thought, feasting his eyes upon the brilliant beam. An image flashed through his mind of a woman he loved trapped inside, doomed to disappear from existence while he stood helpless.

From outside the prison he had come to know as home, the shadow of Marco heard a thundering boom, felt a rush of heat, and then felt the familiar icy dagger of fear grip his chest.

"Toriddity!" A copy of his voice screamed out, "I'm coming, just hold on!" But Darc couldn't see any reason for such anxiety. There was only black all around, save for the beam of light and his small flame, so out of pure curiosity, he leaned closer to his teal blaze and tried to see through it. Much to his delight, and horror, he could clearly see the figure of a young woman sprawled in the grass as a raging beast thundered closer to him.

He pulled back violently and looked around, wary of his surroundings. In the past, he'd seen a scarred version of himself staring back, a haunting butterfly raring to strike, and even a strikingly beautiful woman with green hair looking at him lovingly. But now, he was afraid to take control, petrified even. Until another feeling washed over him from the other side: malice.

It filled him with rage, fear, and clarity as words of provocation echoed around him.

"Come on! You want to kill something then come after me! Over here!"

Without even thinking, he picked up his teal flame and carried it over to the beam, careful not to burn himself. "I'm coming, Merina, just hold on, " he whispered before thrusting his blaze deep inside the beam, forcing its color to shift from deep blue, to a radiant teal.

Marco shot backward on an arc of blue flames, careful to ration what little power he could muster. He didn't know how long he had been fighting this thing, or how long he had left, but he knew that he needed to act fast to end it. With the beasts undivided attention, he could keep it distracted long enough to get enough juice to retreat with Toriddity the moment she woke up. To her credit, taking a blow like that would have killed any human, but had only succeeded in knocking her out. He just needed more time to-

"Nooooooo," he felt himself growl at the sight of her still form. As he watched her, Toridditys hair seemed to curl into itself and turn a deep shade of forest green. Her skin shifted to a more pale color as his vision started to blur, and a frown began to creep across his lips. "Merina, I'm here now. I'm sorry it took me so long, but you're safe," he spoke in a gurgling, deep tone. His eyes were black voids with pinpricks of green light, and his arms were aflame with teal.

The beast before him was unknown, a creature of mindless killing intent, and to go so far as to strike his Merina, he should answer in kind. It bellowed in rage and charged for him, ready to put its opposition to rest when Darc blasted forward in an arc of teal fury, charging his fist to strike. When he hit, it was like a nostalgic memory of what he knew he was destined for. Destruction, and death.

Darc felt only rage. No empathy filled his heart, no thoughts provoked his mind, no call held him back. His knuckles were iron against the beasts bone, and when his fist made contact with its skull, he released his charging magic and slammed the beast's momentum into the ground, burrowing its face into the dirt as it rolled.

Before he could feel satisfaction at the successful hit, the beast skid to a stop and freed it's horns from the ground as Darc stepped closer to it, rage oozing from his eyes. "You will suffer, as I have suffered," he breathed as the ground around him began to catch fire. Searing hot gusts of wind blew through his rippling hair before he leaped into the air, holding both hands above his head.

As the beast bellowed, Darc fell back to the ground, and as teal flames licked the air above his shoulders, he buried his burning hands into the dirt. It sent a single ripple of magic forward, tearing the ground apart before him in blind wrath, snaking its way to its target. When it was just below the creature, the magic burst at the flex of his hand, and the ground blasted itself apart violently, sending rocks and debris in every direction, throwing the beast back

The shockwave of force and the rumble in the ground beneath her caused Toriddity to stir as she fluttered her eyes open and took a dazed look around. 'What the fuck is going on?!' She wondered in a mad shout as she fought to remember where she was and what was shaking the ground beneath her feet. Turning her head on a swivel, she watched as a six-legged thing with horns that could uproot houses, was sent tumbling like a ragdoll from a punch that rattled her skull.

Toriddity flinched as Marco roared forward in a flurry of movement, flying toward the beast and driving his heels into its side, blasting it into the bedrock in a flash of teal light. It rolled into the treeline, ripping towering pines from their roots before catching its footing and turning its momentum to charge back for another strike, but Marco was already moving once more. Just before it could knock him a mile back, he dropped to the ground and threw his legs into a centrifugal kick, his signature fire burning at his heel.

In every direction, Toriddity watched in awe as a wave of teal energy roared out, ripping the beasts legs from under it. It curled harmlessly around her as she finally shook the shock from her brain, fully wrapping her head around what she was seeing. Marco was wielding magic like she'd never seen, but his expression looked, broken somehow. Like another person entirely.

"Get down!" She heard him shout before he jutted two open palms forward. Instinctively, she dropped down to the cool and calming grass as a blinding surge of lime green magic boomed from his hands in a wave that shredded trees from their roots, and blasted the beast to pieces. Purple blood rained against the treetops of the forest of certain death, and as Toriddity lay there, Marco slowly retracted his still smoking hands, standing before a newly carved rut filled with dirt reduced to glass. His eyes were voids are far as she could tell, but they were filled with malice and hatred she rarely even saw from Tom on his worst days.

"Marco?" She asked barely above a whisper as she shakily stood. He turned his gaze sharply to meet hers, and she could feel herself recoil slightly at the mix of emotions in his dark eyes. Love, fear, anger, and sadness all rolled into one was what she saw, and as he took a step closer, he whispered only one word.

"Merina…"

"What?" She asked, taking a careful step back.

He took another uneasy step, the fire dying on his arms as the last of his dwindling magic was expended. "Merina...you're safe now...it's okay. I promise." She stared at him, too stunned to speak. He continued approaching her, captivated by her dark green eyes and forest green hair, the cute freckles under her eyes, it had felt like eons since last he laid eyes on her. But what shook him slightly, was her fearful expression, so when he was within arms reach, he slowed and kept his empty eyes locked with hers.

"I'm here, my love. I won't let them take you from me, ever again," he said, his voice hoarse and deep. Toriddity pressed her lips together in surprise and disgust, as her eyes shot wide open. "The fuuuuck? Marco, are you okay? What...happened to you?"

He looked at her with a matched expression of surprise and confusion. Perhaps she had a concussion, but he couldn't dwell on that fear now. "Merina, we have to get you out of here before she sends more of them. Please," he seemed to be begging her, but too much was wrong with this for her to concede, by a lot. "Marco…what-" she stopped when she remembered why this seemed so familiar. She had heard about his condition, parasite even, just yesterday, and a new level of fear gripped her chest as she took a step back.

"You're not Marco. You're that thing inside of him," she growled, her glare burning with intensity as the air around her matched it. Marco gave her a perplexed look and shifted uneasily, like he genuinely wasn't sure how to respond. When he did finally find his voice, it was just as horse as before, but it carried a nurturing, warm tone to it. "Merina, it's really me. Var, remember? I said I'd bring you back, I promised you. I...I'm sorry it took me so long."

He reached out a slow and careful hand, trying to cup her freckled cheek. She recoiled away from him, eying him incredulously as she did so, and held up both hands open towards him. "Marco, I know that's not you in there, so if I gotta burn you, I'm sorry in advance big guy. Try to fight it, or whatever you gotta do." She didn't know if he could hear her, or if this thing had full control, but it was worth a shot anyway.

Darc merely crept closer, still reaching out with one hand as she continued to distance herself. "Please, " he choked, his warm smile breaking by the second, as burning tears began to form, "I've been so alone without you, Merina, I need you. It's consuming me, and it's slowly tearing me apart… I need to save you, so you can save me, but the very thing that keeps us here is killing us. Please, I'm losing myself without you…"

Toriddity stopped her retreat, and for the first time, really looked deep into those voids dotted with green. Where she had seen rage and anger, she now saw true, soul-binding fear. Fear the underworld could never artificially produce. His hand was trembling, and as he inched closer, she couldn't bring herself to turn him away, like a call at the center of her very being she had to answer. "I...I can't, Marco. I'm not Merina, and this isn't you. I need you to snap out of it before you hurt yourself. Please."

He stood there in silence for a moment, watching her, reading her. The way her curly green hair rippled in the wind was almost enough to die for on its own, but he couldn't understand what she was asking of him. "I can take you to our home, maybe then you'll remember," he whispered. Before Toriddity could react, he flexed his right hand and swung his arm in a wide arc. She flinched, only to find he had tried attacking thin air. But where his fingers had swung, four distinct ripples in the air seemed to be growing, until a fresh portal appeared in a toxic teal light.

"Come with me, I can make you better, Merina, I can-"

"I'm not Merina!" She yelled, her voice echoing through the woods as a small bubble of fire erupted at her feet. He flinched a little, but kept his eyes trained on her as she continued. "I am Princess Toriddity Asura, not some 'lost love' of yours! Now snap out of it, Diaz!" She shouted before punching him so hard across the jaw, even her hand felt a sting. He crumpled to the ground, already delirious from his fight, and before Toriddity could smack any more sense into him, Marco drew in a breath as though he had just been drowning.

When he wheezed and gasped violently, Toridditys eyes widened before she scrambled to his side and checked him for irreparable damage, making sure he could breathe, and that he was really him again. "Marco?" She asked, looking at his eyes, careful not to agitate his unstable consciousness. He coughed a few times before he looked around desperately, finally letting his eyes fall on her. "T-Toriddity?"

"Oh thank hell. Star would have skinned me alive if you died like an idiot on me," she paused and noticed the faint teal light dissipating around the scar on his chest, but decided not to address it. "Are you okay? You were acting super weird, and calling me Merina."

"Yeah, yeah that happens sometimes, l-" he coughed, trying to get his lungs to operate on their own. His entire body was drained, and even standing seemed too daunting of a task. "I'm sorry, I don't know what triggered it this time, what happened to the monster?"

Toriddity looked uneasily at the pile of monster bits showered in purple blood, and decided it best not to go into detail. "You got him. And it's all good, I knew what was happening after a minute, so we got it figured out... mostly."

"Mostly?" He asked, struggling to stand on his own, with Toridditys help. She pursed her lips and jerked her head towards the space behind him. "Yeah, all except for where that goes."

Behind him was a single, shimmering teal portal, as fresh as any other he'd made. Where it led was an entirely different story. "Did I make that?" He asked. Toriddity nodded, just as confused as him.

"You made it when you were… the other thing. You used your bare hand, and it just...opened. Said it would 'take us home'." Marco looked from her, to the portal, and back numerous times before he carefully took a step closer, evaluating it further. "I want to see where it goes," he said with grim finality. Before she could protest, however, he held up a hand and met her red eyes. "I know, that's stupid, it could lead to a volcano for all I know. But Star and I don't know anything about this thing, so maybe this can help us understand what exactly we're dealing with."

"And what happens if it's not just in a bad place, but near bad people, " she countered, "as nice as it would be to check, that's a death trap waiting to happen, Marco."

"Yup, so are you coming? Or should I let you get back to enjoying the grass?" He flashed her a wicked, if a bit lopsided grin, and was met with one just as filled with anticipation. "There's the 'worry-free' Diaz, Rest for five minutes, so you have enough juice to torch whatever's waiting."

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

"Janna, it's Star. If you get this message, call me. Marco and Toriddity are missing, and we need you to track her for us. Thanks!" Star called out before closing her compact mirror. Tom eyed her with hope evident in his eyes, but he had heard enough to know it had been pointless. "No answer huh? What now?" He asked.

"We go to her house," Star grumbled as if it were common knowledge, stuffing her phone into her purse and starting the short walk to Jannas. Tom made a confused gesture, fighting down a low growl in his throat before huffing, resigned to follow her.

"Why do we have to walk? Can't you just portal?" Tom asked, desperate for their morning of slight peril, and subsequently jarring afternoon to finally be over. But Star tossed him a look that might have been impatience, gesturing to the neighborhood around her. "I don't have scissors, Tom! And you don't know where she lives, so we gotta walk! Any more questions?"

Tom didn't have any that he didn't think would be cause for more agitation, so the two continued walking, silence filling the space between them. As best as she could figure, Star gauged the walk to be only about a mile, maybe a little more, but she just wished she could be there already.

The back end of her morning was spent doing nothing but listening to Tom freak out, worrying about Marco, looking for him, and dealing with Tom when they found nothing. They'd tried to speculate on where they could have gone, how everyone blacked out at the same time, and why only Marco and Toriddity were gone, but that just left more questions unanswered. They still had no idea when the others had left, or why, and as Star walked, she found it increasingly difficult to not scream in frustration.

Thankfully taking her mind off it, Tom stumbled over a lip in the sidewalk, catching himself at the last moment in a desperate fumble for footing. When she let a small snort escape her lips, however, the mood returned to its prior sobriety after Tom shot her a withering glare. They walked in continued silence for another few minutes until he cleared his throat, looking mildly uncomfortable.

"So, walk me through it again: what's wrong with him?" He asked, trying to keep his bafflement from showing too much. Star let out an annoyed sigh and rolled her eyes, mentally fuming at why and how this conversation kept coming up. "Nothing's 'wrong', with him, it's just… a little bug or something." Noticing Tom's silent lack of understanding and clear disbelief, she continued, hoping this would be the last time she had to explain. "It's not like a sickness, but it's more like… an infection, if that makes sense?"

"No, not even a bit. What's he sick with?" Tom asked, earning a frustrated groan from Star, "Can't you just heal him with magic? Would your big, crazy moon friend know how?"

"We haven't tried going to her yet because we don't know what she might do" Star answered, her tone glum and impatient, "And when I used magic, it was like his body was trying to reject it. Like something was in there to push my magic back out."

Tom, to his credit, tried to nod in faux understanding before he proposed, "so you think that thing inside him that takes control is what's fighting you?" Star nodded. "What do you think it is?" He asked, pointedly slowing his walk as Star seemed to put real effort into considering ber response.

Finally, she answered, saying, "It has to be Vartek, Marco was fine until he…," she had to resist the urge to choke out until he died. "Until he turned. After I brought him back, that thing keeps coming out, and it acts like him."

"Like Marco?" Tom asked, giving Star a horrified look at the issues that would cause. She shook her head, her expression turning downright murderous at the memory. "Like Vartek," she fumed, "it says things, and does things only Vartek would say and do. It knows about Merina and Nebula, and it's-"

"Star...put it down."

They had stopped, and Star looked at Tom, seeing his eyes wide with worry as he held out a hand, reaching for her. She looked down and found her wand in her hand, its half-star gem glowing bright green, before abruptly shutting off. "Corn, sorry Tom. I don't...know what that was…" she whispered, stuffing her wand back into her purse.

"It's whatever, you're up against some pretty heavy stuff, and naturally, you wanna lash out, trust me, I've been there, admittedly without that to help" Tom answered in a tone uncharacteristically calm for a demon with a missing girlfriend. Star nodded unsteadily and the two continued walking, though she was eager to change the subject to something more...normal.

"Probably a bad time to ask, don't take it the wrong way," she began, shrinking into herself slightly with her preamble, "buuuut, how are things with Toriddity? Before this week, Marco and I hadn't heard much from you guys. You kinda disappeared on us."

Immediately, Tom's face lit up in captivated excitement, a stark contrast to the grim outlook Star would have pegged him to be sporting. "Oh, she's been amazing! Toriddity doesn't really get out much, so we actually just finished this crazy cool soul searching vacation together when you guys invited us to this one! She's super supportive, always lets me know how she's feeling, she helps me work around my anger, she's into the same things as me, and-" he had to stop himself, noticing the forced smile Star was giving him. "What?" He asked, suddenly conscious of his enthusiasm.

"She's everything I wasn't, huh?" Star asked. She said it with a tone that Tom interpreted as relief with just a tinge of regret. She continued with a sigh, "I'm sorry for how things ended between us, but I'm glad you finally found someone that clicks with you, Tom."

He gave her a conflicted look that shifted to an unsteady smile. "Me too, Star. About all of that," he answered, the unspoken tension between them lifting like thousands of helium-filled balloons, "how's Marco, by the way?"

He noticed Stars deadpan expression turning sour before he added, "not like, with his condition, but...is he really as good as you make him seem? Jackie and Janna kinda rave about him almost as much as you do, and Fergs...well he's just happy to be around."

"Marco's even more amazing than I make him seem," Star answered without missing a beat, "He's everything I could ever ask for. He's gentle, and strong when he needs to be, makes me a better person, he's always there for me, he listens, he never gives up, he-," she stopped when she noticed Toms cocked eyebrows and thin smile, suddenly aware of her enthusiasm. "Everything you weren't?" She asked quietly.

Toms' grin dropped before he coughed into his hand in clear discomfort. "Wow, okay. Ouch, kind of uncalled for, but we're having a moment, so...sure."

"Awwww, the wittle demon upset because his ex found someone better?" Star asked coyly, hoping to egg him on, but Tom was by now more than immune to her agitating games. "Not if my ex isn't upset because I found someone better too," he grumbled.

"Well, I can't disagree with you there," she mused, turning her attention back to the sidewalk, "It's like you said, I rely on Marco a bit too much. Especially lately, I've been...a lot" Tom stuffed his hands in his pockets, tossing a glance in her direction as they walked. He normally hated this kind of talk, but after Toriddity, he was getting pretty good at it.

"Why don't you tell me about it?" he asked gently, "maybe I can help you some." Star must have been in the dimension where things were the opposite of the real one, to hear Tom actually offer to listen to her problems rather than brush them off as boring.

"Uhmm… well," she knew this was unfamiliar territory, so with noticeable unease, she forced the rest of the words out. "I guess I just...hate feeling so vulnerable?" Tom gestured for her to go on, making her even more uncomfortable.

"Like, there are so many things to worry about lately, I can't even count them all. And Marcos' always right there with me, but I keep...breaking down on him. And he keeps having to pull me back together." She chanced a nervous look up at Tom, expecting him to look bored and uninvested. What she found was a look of pure captivation and focus, the demon thinking hard to himself before relaxing and giving her a proud smirk.

"Okay. So, none of this leaves the sidewalk, got it?" He asked, earning a quick nod from Star. She was very eager to hear this load. "Alright, well. I know what you mean," he began, his shoulders tense, "I hate going to Toriddity with any of my problems, and feeling like I have to rely on her to even make me feel better. But honestly? It's good for us."

"Innnn what way?" Star couldn't help but ask. Tom made a gesture of dismissal, regretted it, and came back with confusion. "In a 'small doses' kinda way," he finally answered, "you need to handle yourself more, and don't rely on Marco to carry you through emotional battles like you carry him through the actual ones. Buuuut..."

"But?" Star asked, fully captivated in the big idiots' speech and resisting the urge to ask why and how he wasn't like this before. She knew why, and it was annoying to be reminded of it.

"Buuut, c'mon. It's Marco, Star. You know the guy lives to keep you happy. Even if you try to handle all your problems alone, Marco isn't the kind of person to let you. So...small doses," he finished. Star stared, actually surprised by how much that hit home, and how much it helped.

"Thank you, Tom, that's actually...really sweet," Star offered, giving him a genuine smile. He returned the gesture and answered, "Thank Toriddity, she's way better at the 'people stuff' than I am." The two laughed for a moment, before Star realized they had passed Jannas house two blocks ago, and immediately broke into a sprint to make it back.

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

Star kicked down the front door of Jannas house with all the precision of a ram during mating season, which admittedly wasn't far off, as far as she was concerned. "JANNA BANANA WHERE YOU AT GIRL?!" She bellowed into the echoing, empty house. There was no answer, save for the A.C. kicking on to combat the new draft.

Tom felt a growl forming in his throat, not eager to have wasted his time and been coerced into having a 'moment' with Star against his will. His patience being tested, he chanted low, gurgling, unintelligible words in anger before floating into the air, six inches off the ground. 'Whaaaaaa?' Star thought in surprise, watching him float back and forth before finding some sort of invisible trail, sniffing hard and floating towards the stairs.

"Whatchya got, boy? Ya smell that Banana?" Star asked in her best puppy voice, her eyes wide and excited.

"DoN't tAlK tO Me lIke tHaT," Tom growled, his voice giving the distinct impression he was gargling marbles. Star quickly stood straighter and nodded uneasily, happy to let him roam around the house on his own. As he floated upstairs, his expression growing more agitated, he stopped just outside the door at the end of the hall, his breathing ragged and pained.

"You uh...you good there Tom?" Star asked, careful to keep her distance. Without warning, he dropped to the ground and fell to his knees, crawling away from the door slowly. "I...I can't get any closer," he muttered through desperate breaths, "It's like it's pushing me back or something."

Star eyed the door and nodded, taking a step closer before bracing herself to kick it down when she heard a muffled 'It's not locked, use the doorknob, ya doorknob.' She eyed Tom, who merely gestured for her to hurry up so they could leave. Star turned back to face the door and slowly pushed it open, both her and Tom dumbfounded by the sight.

Atop Jannas bed, in a room shrouded in darkness, were Janna and Fergusson, looking as though they barely registered her presence. They sat amongst a slew of blankets, huddled around a laptop playing one of Marco's favorite soap operas, Fergusson clearly averting his eyes to hide his tears. "They already saw you crying, you big baby, why try hiding it?" Janna asked with an amused chuckle, "you have to own them to be strong."

"Janna!?" Star demanded, glaring at the brunette in question as Tom struggled to get a look inside the room, "What the hell? I've been calling you all morning! We needed your help!" she cried out.

"What?" Janna asked, her expression decidedly opaque. Fergusson finished wiping his eyes and chanced a look around Star, noticing Tom struggle in vain to get any closer, and beamed the demon a smile. "No use Tommy boy, Jannas got some crazy enchantments around the room, something about keeping it pure, for when she summons-"

"Don't CALL ME THAT!" Tom shouted from the hall. Star rolled her eyes in exasperation before taking a step closer to Janna. On anyone else, her glare would have been withering, but on Janna, it was little more frightening than watching a wet kitten clean itself. "We need you to track down Toriddity so we can find her and Marco," she demanded, ignoring Fergusson as he taunted Tom further, "We lost them last night and we need help-"

Janna interrupted her by tossing a small jade necklace into her hands, already turning back to her show. "There you go, it'll show you the way. I'd suggest starting on Mewni. Now can you guys leave? I'm trying to round second base."

"Why...do you have this?" Star asked, making a point to completely ignore Jannas exasperated comment. The Filipino girl merely shrugged, giving Tom a sideways smirk. "Dunno, maybe I always had it in case I needed to-," she began before Tom cut her off, lifting his weary face from the carpet where he lay.

"It was YOU, WASN'T IT?! You drugged us and threw Toriddity and Marco through a portal! I bet you even still have his scissors!" he roared, glaring at her. Star turned, bewildered, and stared at Janna, waiting for a response.

"Eh, maybe… but I definitely lost the scissors," she answered shortly, already engrossed in her show with Fergusson leaning closer. Star made to begin a furious tirade of mean comments, but stopped herself, balling her fist and turning to grab Tom by the collar. "You even set up this stupid spell to keep me from kicking your butt!" He shouted back towards the room as he was dragged away by a very agitated Mewman princess. "Drop it, Tom, save our dates first, burn Jannas later," Star muttered loud enough for Fergusson to hear.

"Ha...ha ha, you guys are joking, right?" he called out after them, but they were already down the stairs. After making their way outside, Star dropped Tom to the pavement and folded her arms, watching him carefully in case he decided to make good on his promise early. Thankfully, he stood and dusted himself off, only going so far as to glare at the house's missing front door.

Without a word from either of them, Tom pressed his palms together and whispered something archaic before spreading his arms, his eyes turning a brilliant white. From the street before them a fountain of flames erupted in a column over fifty feet high, forming a glowing orange cylinder that pleasantly opened in the front, with just enough space for two. Star, having used this method of transportation before, was used to the unnecessary bravado, and stepped inside, followed soon after by Tom.

Both safely inside, they waited as the front of the column closed slowly, enveloping them before their vision went white, all sound vanishing from their ears. It returned only seconds later, thankfully, and the front opened to reveal a pleasant enough field that Star recognized as the one just beneath the hill of flags. Giving Tom no time to ask, she stepped from the fire and produced the jade necklace, holding it out in front of her and watching it with a forbearing grimace.

For a few, tense seconds, nothing happened. Tom had banished his demonic portal, and made to ask what they were supposed to do, when the necklace suddenly tugged to Stars right, fighting against the leather string. "Woah, woah, Tom! We got a nibble!" She shouted, finally letting a smile wash over her face as she began jumping up and down, "now let's go catch us some fiiiiiiiIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISHHAHHHHHHHHH!" She screamed as the necklace jerked her through the air, nearly pulling her arm out of its socket with as much force as a flying warnicorn.

"TOOOOOOOM!" she shouted over the rush of wind that pulled tears from her eyes. She couldn't see anything, much less hear anything as she flew for what felt like five minutes, wind-rashes already beginning to form on her arm and face. If it hadn't been so terrifying, it would have been the most fun she'd ever had. But the fear of the necklace dragging her through trees, or worse, through a mountain, was an all too real fear she had to face.

She tried to pry her eyes open, even just a little bit, but she couldn't make out much past the rolling hills, sprawling forests, and rocky outcroppings. Until suddenly, the pull began to weaken, slowing her flight gradually. "No, no nonononono!" Star yelled, tightening her grip on the necklace as she fumbled for her wand. If it slowed down, or worse, stopped, she was a goner.

Then, without warning, the necklace did stop, leaving Star to soar haphazardly through the air with no real source of thrust. Frantically, she continued to fumble for her wand, which only served to keep it from her grasp before she struck something soft, and her vision tumbled in an array of orange, red, and brown. And then everything faded to black.

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

Some unknown amount of time seemed to pass before Star heard voices, and felt the cool night air against her nose. The voices were casual, and joking, but one of them sounded a lot like "MARCO!" She abruptly yelled, shooting upright, and immediately regretting it, "owwwwww."

"Star?" she heard him call out, already running to her side. She looked in the direction of his voice, spotting Tom and Toriddity sitting comfortably by a fire, neither of them noticing her stare. Marco crouched down next to her and helped her sit upright, already pressing a cool, damp cloth to her forehead. "Take it easy, you hit your head pretty hard back there when you flew into Toriddity like a narwhal blast."

Star struggled to form a coherent thought, holding the rag to her head and feeling a large welt beginning to form above her left eye. She fought back a wince and tried to stand, Marco, helping her to her feet. "How long was I out for?" She asked quietly enough to only be heard by him.

Marco checked his phone and grimaced, though Star noticed his screen didn't turn on. "My battery died about two hours ago, soo, about two hours ago? I was using a video I downloaded for what to do when someone-"

Star interrupted him by pressing her lips to his, not caring how her head protested the movement. She felt a wash of relief at his touch, and just before she felt like she would pass out from their hungry kiss, she pulled back, eying him lovingly. "Always such a safe kid, Marco," he whispered as he stammered for any response at all. "Now, wanna tell me what happened?"

Marco looked over at Tom and finally shrugged, the two making their way back to the fire and taking a heavy seat across from the demons. "Tom seems to think you guys already know. That Janna threw us out here because they were bugging her, which...admittedly sounds a lot like Janna," he mused before a cold gust of wind made him shiver despite the fire.

Star finally took notice of his bare chest, suppressing the tantalizing urge to feel jealous of Toriddity, and 'radiant shadow transform'ed him a new grey shirt, and his usual red hoodie. He gave her an affectionate smile and reached for her hand, taking it in his as Tom continued to rant to Toriddity. "-just to keep me out of arms reach! Ohh, my gosh! I could have killed her," he growled as Toriddity ran her fingers up and down the length of his arm, "how about you guys? Anything crazy happen?"

Toriddity looked at Marco and nodded, to which he cleared his throat and glanced nervously at Star. "Yeah...I uhm...had another, 'episode'," he finished barely above a whisper. Even the fire seemed to suddenly go quiet as Tom and Star stared at him, too shocked to speak. "But it was fine! Apparently, I thought Toriddity was Merina, and I-" he began before Star quickly caught hold of her senses

"What?! Marco that's the opposite of fine, what happened?!" She wanted to scream, but he held up his hands defensively, Toriddities' lack of apprehension evident to his innocence. Star closed her mouth and wanted to glare at her, but looked to Marco and nodded, waiting for him to continue.

"She got pretty messed up by this big… thing, and all I remember is seeing her lying in the grass, and then waking up when she punched me," he explained, tentatively touching his cheek as though it still bore that throbbing pain, "and, the other me cut a portal without scissors… I don't even know how. We went through, and it took us out here."

He gestured around him at the lightly wooded area covered in massive boulders, and at Stars confused look, clarified for her. "I had flashes of some weird vision when we went through the portal. I can't really describe it. It was like I knew where we were going. I was expecting a huge monster city and a mansion. My and I wife lived there, with…," Marco faltered as Stars opaque expression shifted towards incredulous, but he continued.

"...with our daughter," he finished uncomfortably, as though the emotions the vision came with were a grim memory he desperately wanted to forget. "It was like a dream, and when I came to, we were here, and there was nothing. Except you, swooping in to knock Toriddity down like a really big, blonde snowball."

There was a moment of tense silence where no one in the group spoke, Marco's recent enthusiasm beginning to wane. "We...we need to go home, now," Star announced, the rest of the group watching her with mixed looks, "We're gonna see the blood moon about getting this thing out of you. Tom, portal. Now."

Not needing to be asked twice, Tom moved to begin casting a spell to call for the portal as Toriddity watched with pointed awe. Or perhaps envy. Star couldn't tell, and didn't care.

"Aren't you, I dunno, curious at all about this?" Marco asked, standing to meet her gaze and taking her hands, "Shouldn't we try to be more, I dunno, careful about Vartek? What if we can actually capture him, and fix what-" he began, but Star backed up, her hand tracing a line to her wand, which didn't go unnoticed.

"I'm not risking another day with that...thing, inside you," she spat, her eyes turning serious as death itself, "we're going home, and we're pulling it out. Now. Not later, not when they can see us, not even after dealing with Vartek, but right! Now!"

Marco stared at her, unsure of what to say, and resigned to saying nothing. Her hand was firmly gripped around her wand, and whatever she intended to do with it would be directed squarely at him. So without any fuss, and without agitating her any further, he nodded. "Alright, Star. You're right. Let's get it out."

To be continued in: The Concert pt. 3

~After getting the worst possible news, Star and Marco find themselves at a familiar venue, stuck repeating the past as the universe seeks to right itself, in all the wrong ways.

"Did it work?"

"...No."

AUTHORS NOTE

HEY EVERYONE! Boy, it's been a minute, huh? Sorry, work has been taking up a great deal of my time, and writing has been getting the backburner. That, and I've also been finishing my latest chapter of The Once and Future Queen. It's friggin massive, but I'll be releasing it sometime this weekend, providing I can get all the edits done on time.

Guest Reviews:

Opinionator: sorry! I can't spoil too much more than my continued bits let me! But I will say some of your guesses hit pretty close to the Marc!

Piteros: So glad you liked the read so far! As for Heinous, the universe didn't move them, it corrected itself, already out under too much strain from so many changes. Hence the 'glitch', and Heinous acting as though she was in the original timeline. Hope that helps!

Guest: Lmfao, glad you caught the SU and GF references! You'd be surprised how often I make them!

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, trying something a bit different with the writing style and all that, and I can't wait to see y'all in the next one! If you liked what ya read, leave a review for me! It's good motivation to power through a rut, much like today! Thanks again to everyone for their patience with my lack of responses lately, things have been hectic, to say the least. Anyways, enjoy your day, thanks for reading, and I'll see ya next time! BUH BYYYEEE!

~Mr. Ronald Reagan