Marco was still slightly disoriented from whatever had blinded him, and was doing his best to follow Buff Frog in the direction he thought the girls had been taken, but Marco could tell he was having difficulty, and neither of them had actually seen where they went. They just seemed to be walking into more forest.

'I'm surprised we haven't run into more of their patrols by now.' Said Buff Frog, attempting to lower his voice while looking at his surroundings. 'Yeah...' Marco began 'Maybe it's better that way though. I don't know how we would handle a group bigger than that one.' Buff Frog flashed him a toothy, almost menacing grin. 'We wouldn't have to fight, not it they don't see us.' Marco immediately caught his meaning. 'You think they'd lead us to where they took Star and Jackie?' He gave a slight nod. 'That would be the easiest way. Cannot guarantee we won't have to fight though. Maybe to have one of them show us the way...' He seemed to stop mid-thought. 'Or we could have them take us there.' Said Marco, a little louder than he had hoped. Buff Frog looked confused. 'You mean, get captured?' Marco nodded enthusiastically, despite Buff Frog's obvious disapproval of his idea. 'Yeah, and once they bring us there, we can escape, find the girls, and get out.' Buff Frog stopped in his tracks.

'Marco...I know you want to help them as quickly as possible, but we cannot rush, these people are far more dangerous than you think.' 'All the more reason to get there quickly right?' Marco was losing his composure. 'There's no point in getting there fast if we can't get out safely. If they capture us and we escape, it won't be long before they figure it out and then we have the whole place to deal with, and who's to say if we find the girls before then?' Marco hung his head. 'I'm sorry, I just don't want either of them to get hurt.' He felt Buff Frog rest his large hand on his back. 'I understand, but you can't ignore your personal safety, that will only cause more pain, for all who are involved.' Marco nodded with silent understanding as they continued to listen for other signs of movement.

A few minutes passed before Buff Frog froze in place. He could hear footsteps. 'There's three of them, coming this way. Quick, hide!' He gently corralled Marco into a group of bushes not far from where they were stood, trying not to make too much noise. They saw the group pass by near enough the exact spot they had been standing a few minutes ago. There was three of the rats, one of which was carrying another creature with a bag on its head. 'That's a prisoner, they are probably heading back, this is our chance!'

After the group was a decent distance away, they both emerged from the bush. 'Looks like we were going in the exact opposite direction. Figures' Marco chuckled sadly. 'Yes, atleast we are heading the right way now.' Marco took a look at the person being carried. 'What about them? Are we going to help?' This was a question Buff Frog almost didn't want to answer, but he figured he owed it to Marco. 'We... Can't. I mean we could, but it might be too risky.' Marco tried his best to understand, he knew the reason why they were there, but it just felt wrong letting people get captured like this. What felt like hours passed as they silently tailed the creatures, who were oddly enough just as silent, until they finally reached an opening in the woods, and what Marco saw left him speechless. He was looking at Mewnie.

Buff Frog paused too, to give Marco time to compose himself. He pointed to the hole in the barrier as the creatures crawled through. 'Ludo used his magic to do that somehow. I don't know what he is planning, but they don't know he's there.' Marco snapped out of his trance of confusion. 'I wonder if Star knows where she is.' They finally started moving cautiously towards the portal, keeping mind of anyone who might come out of the forest. Just as they reached the hole and were about to crawl through, they saw some of the corn behind the shield moving, and prepared for the worst, but were instead greeted by Star and Jackie, who seemed to be holding each other up.

Marco stood in silence as the two of them pushed forward, not noticing him right away. Jackie looked up and stared into his eyes and immediately her face lit up. 'Star, look! We made it.' Star looked up too, but seemed less concerned with Marco, and more with what was in front of him. She turned her head, and was quickly filled with feelings of fear and dread. 'What... Is this. How could they be here?' She was overcome with anxiety, and began to breath erratically. Jackie struggled to keep her under control as she moved her to the hole. She heard the corn moving behind her. 'They've caught up to us! Marco pull her through quick!' Marco grabbed Star's trembling hand and quickly pulled her through as he saw a group of the rat-men emerge from the corn field. He then reached through to Jackie, grabbing her hand before she could even react. He pulled her through with such force that he fell in his back, and she lay on top of him. They both looked in each other's eyes with a look of relief, before Jackie rolled over to the side of him, blushing. They both looked back at the hole to see one of the rat-men attempting to climb through the hole, reaching for Jackie's foot. She kicked it's hand back, but it was not deterred. Marco quickly got up and gave it a flying kick to the face, which pushed it back significantly. Buff Frog rushed to the hole. 'Get them out of here Marco! I'll hold them back, it'll be fine, they can only go through one at a time!' Marco nodded triumphantly at him as he turned around to help Jackie, who was already on her feet attending to Star. Star on the other hand, didn't seem to have taken her eyes off of the castle. Marco grabbed the dimensional scissors from Stars pocket and opened a portal as fast as he could, given one final nod towards Buff Frog as he stepped through.