Important amusement.

After this chapter I plan on working on humanity's dark secrets as I've neglected it for too long and then go back to this story or the red chain of fate depending on how I'm feeling. Hope to see you all soon.

Ch 7 The Power of Love

"What do you mean by, one of those guys? I'm not trying to be any kind of guy!"

"Yes, you totally are! You're trying to be the funny witty one that has all the muscles but I'm pleased to say that spot is taken already."

"You think I'm witty and funny, H-poo?" Marco inquired with a smile on his face.

"Don't push it, Marco. What did we talk about nicknames in front of the bad guys?"

"'To not to call you by your nickname in front of the bad guys.'"

"Exactly. And you, just be the wild savage you were when my clones came in to deal with you and don't give me any more lip than you already have. Got it!?"

"Well, to be fair, when your clones came I was just starting to absorb the forest's magic so my mind and body were out of focus. And I frivolously apologize for that, I really do, but time had passed since our last meeting and well, what can I say," Ki shrugged his shoulders a bit but then glared evilly over at Hekapoo and Marco. "I got back into focus now."

Ki raised his right hand towards them causing Marco and Hekapoo to take a stance against him. Ki smiled as water started to gather in his hands until it looked like an over-sized water droplet was hanging off his hand. Both Marco and Hekapoo thought he was going to throw that big water droplet at them and were ready to dodge it, but Ki unexpectedly turned to his left away from them and got into a pitching position and threw the water droplet like a baseball the opposite direction.

Both of them were confused as to why he would do this until they noticed that as the water droplet was nearing the edge of the lake it started to curve around the lake at great speed. It only took a matter second till it disappeared behind the fountain. A loud splashing noise was heard from the other side of the lake shortly after its disappearance.

"Did he just kill your clone that was coming from the back?"

"Yep. He really did, I even felt that hit from here."

Having just witness Ki's newly mastered powers Hekapoo curses herself for not bringing more back up then Marco. But no, she just had to have just the two of them come here without telling anybody and now one or both of them will die. Most likely Marco.

"I should have brought Talon with us, he would have to make an excellent meant shield for us. In fact, I still may be able to call him here to take a hit for us."

"There's no time for that H-Poo. What's done is done, just keep your guard up. He looks like he's going to attack us for real this time."

"You're right, I am."

Leaping forward Ki went straight for the both of them hoping to end this fight as soon as it began. Marco and Hekapoo on the other hand weren't going to go down without a proper fight and jumped out the way, each going in the opposite direction.

This served as a simple yet effective tactic when facing an outnumbered opponent that was stronger than them. Simply splitting off from each other and make their opponent go after one or the other. Leaving him blindsided to the other one behind him.

Ki easily fell for this trick as he was drunk on power he was stealing from the fountain, not seeing what he had done wrong.

Seeing them split off Ki immediately went after Hekapoo and didn't even bother thinking twice about Marco. Even with his new found power and confidence he still knew that Hekapoo was the biggest threat to him. Of course, he had fought and won against her clones, but he was no true idiot. Those clones he defeated before were nothing compared to the real Hekapoo. That was just a widely known fact.

Seeing his opportunity Marco made his move and swung his fire enhanced sword down into Ki's back cutting into his flesh. After his successful strike, Marco backed away quickly from Ki just in the nick of time.

Ki not really expecting Marco's weapon to do as much damage as it did to him. Having confidence his magically enhanced scales would keep him safe from most forms of damage. He was still somewhat right about it, as his scales did in fact stop most of the damage that could have been done.

"FUCK!" Ki screamed out violently feeling the pain of Marco's sword cut into him as well as the residual burning sensation he got from his open wound.

Ki lashed out against Marco by swinging his large tail at him hoping to crush him with it, as well as to carefully to not break away the visual sight of Hekapoo. This proved to be very ineffective as Marco dodged his frantic tail swing and Hekapoo jumped in and around Ki too quickly for him to keep up with her after what just happen with him.

Then Ki had realized his mistake in this fight. He thought with all his new found power he'd be able to power his way through his opposition and get back to draining the forest of its power so that he could set off and do what he really wanted to do. Now that he was kicked off his high horse thanks to those two he had to admit that he had bitten off more than he could chew. He knew that he could easily take them on in a one-on-one fight, but with them working together like they just did, even if the fight had only began a moment ago, Ki could already see and painfully feel the excellent teamwork they had.

They were taking turns on attacking him while giving him no opening to counter any of their attacks. When he even tried to hit one of them with his claws or magic spells the other one would attack him and force him into a more defensive state.

Seeing no other option Ki needed some breathing room to think about what to do and he had just the spell for it.

"Water prison!" Ki called out his spell as the water from the lake shoot out towards them.

"Marco, get back now!"

Hearing the spell's name and Hekapoo's worrying were easy indicators about what was happening, the duo jumped back away from the incoming water. Surprisingly enough, the water didn't come anywhere near them at all. Instead, it went straight towards Ki, wrapping itself around him forming a large condensed bubble of swirling water.

"That can't be good?"

"You can say that again. It would appear that Ki didn't lose any brain cells when he got beefed up with magic. I've got to admit even with his few selections of spells he knew, he had the wisdom to repurpose an imprisonment spell into an improvised barrier spell, which was pretty slick of him."

"Impressive, I know, but it's far from perfect. He's trapped himself there unable to move unless he deactivates the water prison and when he does we'll attack him again. Also, looking at the water prison seems like it's full of water and no air. Given the fact his species of lizard is somewhat aquatic in nature, I'm guessing he can hold his breath in there for at least twenty minutes or more."

"Glad to see you didn't lose any brain cell as well, beefcake. You're right on this one, his kind can hold their breath for forty minutes at a time."

"Thanks. Someone needs to be the brains out of the two of us and that job just naturally falls onto me anyways."

…

Back at the Butterfly Castle Star blushed in embarrassment at that remark hoping no one was looking at her right now.

"Oh, when you get back you and I are going to have a very serious talk, Marco."

…

"I'm so looking forward to the day you become old and senile."

"Good luck with that. After you gave me this amulet I'll never grow old and senile."

"You know I could always take that back off you, right?"

"I know, but you won't."

As Marco and Hekapoo continued their little chat with each other while also keeping an eye on Ki, just to make sure he didn't try anything funny. Ki, on the other hand, wasn't going to do anything as of yet. He had a plan in his head he wanted to try and pull off, but it all hinged on two factors for it to work the way he wanted.

He already had all the water he needed for the first part of his plan, but now he needed to have those two attack him. Well, he mostly wanted Hekapoo to attack him in order for his plan to work. However, the way things were going it didn't look like they would attack him or do anything any time soon. It would seem they were okay with just waiting for him to release himself his water prison.

On average, his kind could hold their breath for over forty minutes at a time but that was only if they took a deep breath before they went under, which he didn't. Because he was being attacked on all sides and he panicked a bit and forgot to take a deep breath in, so he had a good ten minutes before he would need to release himself before he drowned. Lucky for him he knew of a way to get them to act.

"Hey Hekapoo, I think he's doing something," Marco pointed out.

Looking over at Ki Hekapoo saw his hand hovering over one of the small cuts that she herself had inflicted upon him glowing a faint green as it started to heal and close up the wound.

"Shit, looks like he knows a minor spell of healing."

"Well that's not good, can't have all that hard work we did go to waste now can we?"

"Agreed, we have to stop him."

"How? That water prison he's in is too dense for your daggers or my sword to reach him."

"Simple Marco. I'll just use the same plan I used to get him out of the water in the first place." With that said Hekapoo made twelve copies of herself as they all lined up in front of Marco and Ki, all readying themselves with balls of fire in hand. "He's either going to come out of his little water bubble of his and fight us, or he boils in that bubble alive."

Not waiting for a reply from Marco or even Ki, Hekapoo and her clones fired streams of hot flames towards Ki hoping to boil the lizard inside his own bubble. Little did she know, this was exactly what Ki wanted from her.

"Fool," was Ki's only words he spoke before he released himself from his water prison.

Before either Marco or Hekapoo could react, Ki released himself from the water prison he was in. He then diverted the water directly towards the streams of fire that was heading straight towards him. With water and fire clashing in midair, a geyser of hot, heavy steam erupted everywhere, blanketing the area in thick clouds of steam. Without wasting any time, Ki rushed in on the moment of weakness. Using the steam filled air as cover he now held the advantage in this battle because of his sense of smell was by far sharper than his opponent's senses.

Hekapoo tried to defend herself from Ki, but felt two of her clones dissipate and soon after that felt a fist collided in her face sending her flying back from the force of the punch. She was sent hurtling into a nearby tree where Marco just so happen to be near and saw her on the dirt floor, hurt and bleeding.

"Hekapoo!" Marco called out in distress as he rushed over to her. "You okay?" Marco asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit dazed." She looked up at Marco seeing the concern on his face, but also saw movement in the mist close behind him. "Lookout!"

Quickly she got up, pushed Marco out of the way and slashed the air with her scissor daggers, sending a flaming X into the mist. This seemed to have no effect as she knew nothing of importance was hit with her attack. She could also sense all the clones she had summoned had been defeated.

"Crap! This isn't looking good, Marco. It seems Ki is using the mist to obscure our vision so that he... could… attack… Marco?" She looked around her to find Marco but found nothing but mist and dirt. "Fuck. I think I pushed him too hard. MARCO!" Hekapoo called out hoping she didn't push Marco too far away to hear her.

"I'm here." Marco sounded off, his voice sounded like it was a considerable distance away. "Just… landed on my face."

"Stay put, I'll come to you." Hekapoo was about to head towards where she last heard Marco but a voice spoke out just from behind her ear.

"Aw, how sweet of you, but my heart already belongs to someone else."

Hekapoo stopped and pivoted around her on reflex with her daggers in her hand. Luckily she was quick enough that she managed to nick Ki in the chest as he tried to back away from that attack. However, when Ki backed away from the attack it was mainly just a faint distraction. Keeping her attention off the clouded ground, not seeing that Ki's tail had slithered on the floor and coiled around her leg and it pulled her down dragging her with him deeper in the mist away from Marco.

Hearing the sounds of Hekapoo being dragged away along with her cursing growing farther away Marco tried to follow it but to no avail.

Now Marco found himself alone in the mist without Hekapoo. He tried listening for her voice but heard nothing anywhere besides his own breathing. Seeing as he'd no longer have support anymore Marco readied himself for whatever Ki had planned for him. As Marco waited for any signs of Ki he saw some shifting in the mist telling him that Ki was now somewhere around him. Thinking of a way to pinpoint his location Marco thought of a way for Ki to reveal his location.

"So… Ki, was it? What's next after you absorb all the magic in the forest? Is it world domination? Revenge? Or is it something more?"

Marco asked out of nowhere hoping to get a response form Ki and after a few seconds, he got what he was looking for.

"I know what you are trying to do?"

'Got him.' Marco could hear his voice coming from behind him, but choose to keep his back turned to not give away his plan. "Really, what am I trying to do then?"

"You're trying to buy some time for Hekapoo to recover and rejoin the fight. Don't hold your breath. Where she is right now she won't be coming to you aid, little man."

"Did you kill her?" Ki could hear the anger in his voice and saw his hands grip his sword a bit tighter than normal.

"Oh, gods no. Killing a member of the Magic High Commission is more trouble than it's worth. I mean the price of my head would skyrocket into the heavens. Cutthroats and bounty hunters would constantly harass me and that goes against what I want."

Marco could hear Ki getting closer with every word he said but he still did not attack him. Marco still needed for Ki to be a little bit closer to him for his attack to reach him without Ki having time to counter him. The confirmation from Ki himself that Hekapoo was fine calmed the little voice in his head that told him to abandon the plan and attack.

"You never did answer my first question."

"Do you really want to know?"

"Sure, why not? I always beat heads into the ground and never ask questions, but I feel like a change. So are you going to tell me or not?"

A few seconds of silence passed before Ki gave Marco an aware,"I did it for love."

"You did all this for love? What, did your dark mistress tell you to go kill a forest to prove your love for her?" Marco mocked, not expecting the reaction he would soon get.

Hearing a loud, abrasive growling, and what sounded like something being gripped with a lot of force, Marco's sharp warrior instincts kicked in. Quickly leaping away from his position a large, dead tree came smashing onto the ground where he was previously standing.

"Don't you dare call her something like that! Like some common, dark mistress bull shit!" Ki yelled out to Marco steeping out of the mist and in full view of Marco visibly very angry. "She is pure and loving while also being a strong and independent woman and I'll not stand idly by as you drag her name in the mud like that, you hear me?!"

'Well, there goes that plan. Got to think of a new plan now.'

"I said, did you hear me?!" Ki called out again but more aggressively.

"Yes, I heard you loud and clear. But if she really is as pure and loving not evil then why did she send you to drain all the magical energy in this forest?"

Visibly, Marco saw the look of anger leave Ki's face as he looked away from Marco and it soon turned into an embarrassment similar to those times in anime when the girl was about to confess to something bad she did, but didn't want to say it while she would poke her fingers together.

"Is there something important that you're not telling me?"

Marco had all the right to take advantage of this situation as Ki had lost focus on him and was wide open for an attack. He was pretty sure he could have ended Ki right here and now, but his curiosity got there better of him.

"…"

"Ki, what is it that you aren't telling me?"

"Well, you see, the funny thing is."

"Ki, what is it?"

"Will now hear me out first before you judge me? You see, she may not really know who I am."

"Wait, I'm confused. Then why are you doing this if she didn't tell you or even know about you to begin with?"

"Well, funny story about that. You see it all started when I quit the Shade Lizards and I…"

"Wait a second, I heard you were kicked out of the Shade Lizards for unknightly behavior like drug dealing and taking bribes."

"Unknightly behavior?" Now it was Ki that had a confused look on his face. "You make it sound like the Shade Lizards were an order of knights or something."

"Weren't they?"

"No, they were a mercenary group. I left them because they were corrupt to the core and had no morals on what jobs they accepted. I'll be the first one to admit that some Shade Lizards, not that I would ever stoop so low did take bribes, but others from time to time would. Mostly those that did were higher in the rank then. However, I assure you we never once dealt in drugs… the thieves guild had that market cornered."

"I see." 'I'm going to have a talk with Hekapoo later about her detective skills.'

"May I continue or did you have another question for me?"

"No, please continue. This is starting to get interesting."

"So after I left I hit a pretty bad spot in my life. I had given up hope in the people around me and all I ever saw was the corruption around me. It had gotten so bad I had turned to the bottle to drown out my sorrows. I was like that for months, I was even contemplating with the thought of just ending it all. But on one rare day that I was sober with only a few coins to my name, not really enough to buy my favored brand of liquor, I saw a little girl in the park playing with a pink princess doll that I have started seeing advertisements for around the city that I was in at the time. And do you know what that doll said that changed my life forever? It said, in a voice so sweet yet so full of dedication."

"It's not criminal to be an individual."

'Oh, you've got to be kidding me.'

…

Butterfly Castle

"Oh, my corn!" Star gasped as did many others did many others that heard what Ki said. All shocked at the new revelation on Ki's motivation.

"Oh I know dear," came Eclipsa's voice, right beside Star. "The plot thickens."

A stunned look fell on Star as she saw that Eclipsa was just casually sitting beside Star as she was eating another chocolate bar she got from God only knew where.

"Eclipsa! What are you doing here? I thought you went back to your room after you left."

"Oh I did my dear, but you see I just went back to my room to get changed into something more proper. I did feel rather underdressed with what I had on before."

Star looked over Eclipsa and noticed that she was wearing a far more elegant dress than the one she usually wore, one as black as the moonlit sky. Adorn with finely cut pearls, obsidian and other precious gems that made her dress reflect the light making it look as if it was something akin to the northern lights.

"I see, but when did you get back here? And how come I didn't notice you?"

"Oh, I got back here just bit after you finished casting my spell. And as for you not noticing me, from what I could tell you looked like you had a lot of things on your mind. I mean who could blame you? You are a young princess trying to get Monster and Mewmans to live together in harmony. Also, have you seen those abs on Marco? Who would have thought that your squire grows into such a fine man? You just need to look around here to see ever princess going gaga over him, even some of the married queens are basking in his physique. Some of the princes and kings are as well by the looks of it, but who could honestly blame them? It's not like I'm one to judge them."

"I guess I see you're point and I'm sorry that I didn't notice you sooner. It was just that I'm very worried about Marco."

"It's fine dear," Eclipsa warmly smiled. "You don't need to worry about him anymore."

"But he's still fighting that Ki guy."

Eclipsa looked at the All Seeing Eye to ponder over Marco's current circumstance with Ki.

"Oh don't worry, the fight is most definitely over by the looks of things. I may not have known Marco for a long time but I can tell he isn't a brute that just swings his," Eclipsa paused and looked over Marco's body. "Surprisingly well-defined muscular arms around, like some sort of savage only interested in the next brawl."

"Come on, what's with all of his talking?! Get back to the action!" River shouted at the All Seeing Eye only to be shushed by his wife. "Sorry, Moon Pie."

"My point being, you and I both know Marco is a sweet boy… man?..." Eclipsa wasn't really sure because of the two points of age for Marco. "I'll just ask him what he prefers when I see him next. But the point is he is more than his bulging muscles or a handsome face. He's a nice and caring person that has a brain to match and he knows that is more important than having all the power in the world."

"Yeah, that really does sound like Marco, like a lot like him, hehe."

"Indeed it is dear," Eclipsa nodded wisely with a smile. "So, Star dear, when did Marco and Hekapoo start dating each other?" Eclipsa asked in a hushed whisper in Star's ear.

"I'm sorry. What did you say?!"