(Ludo's Castle)
A displeased Ludo sat on his throne, giving an ashamed Emmitt a look of disapproval. "You have disappointed me, Emmitt." the kappa stated. "My scepter's power cannot be wasted on the weak, and all these years, you have proven to be one of my best warriors. I expected more from you."
"I'm sorry, master Ludo. What will you do to me?"
The tiny tyrant thought about it for a minute, scratched his chin and concentrated...and smirked once he got an idea.
"Nothing, actually." the statement baffled everybody, Buff Frog included. "Through the battle, you managed to reveal the power of the princess's super form. Your strength was highly increased, and yet Star was able to defeat you in her super form. If she is that powerful, we need to act, and fast."
The kappa's minions, after shaking off the shock, immediately and unanimously agreed with him. "What do we do now, master Ludo?" Buff Frog asked. "Should I spy on her and see if-"
"Save it, Buff Frog." Ludo snapped. "If she catches you spying on her, she could turn you into the first demon sushi in existence."
Buff Frog's face turned blue and his eyes became blank after hearing the reply, and he quickly shook it off as Ludo continued speaking. "No, what we'll do will be different from the norm." and in his head the picture of a particular teenager popped up, Marco Diaz. "Very, very different from the norm."
(Meanwhile, at the Diaz Household)
Star, looking completely exhausted and with her hair a complete mess, went inside and immediately closed the door and blocked it with as much furniture as she could, including herself. Mr. and Mrs. Diaz went downstairs shortly after Star arrived, and they spotted her holding the door, which was being knocked by hundreds of hands. "Star, what's going on?" Mr. Diaz asked.
"I-It's a long story, but I'll try to tell you what I can once the knocking stops!" And then, the knocking stopped, much to Star's relief. "Thank goodness. I'll tell you what happened, but first, I have to put the furniture back where it belongs."
She quickly did such and, once she finished, she got on the couch and sighed as Mr. and Mrs. Diaz walked to it and sat close to her. "Star, what happened that made you look this...exhausted?" Mrs. Diaz asked with worry.
The magical princess from another dimension scratched her head, took a deep breath and answered, "A transformed monster attacked the school and, when Marco was hurt by it, I...went into my super form and everybody saw it." Star resumed. "Now, everyone is asking me stupid things like how they can get super forms, can I fly, does the transformation have multiple stages, they even asked unrelated stuff like what time was it!"
"Marco got hurt?!" Mr. Diaz exclaimed in shock.
"He didn't look that bad when he came back home." Mrs. Diaz remarked.
"I fixed him when I got the chance and nobody was stalking me." And then Star suddenly realized something and got up. "Speaking of which, where is Marco?"
"He's at his room, practicing his karate skills." Mrs. Diaz answered.
Star gave the woman a pleased smile and quickly went upstairs as the adults exchanged worried looks. Once at the boy's room, Star scanned the room and spotted Marco about to try and break...iron tables?!
Understandably getting worried, Star moved the iron tables away just as Marco was going to karate chop them. However, he hit Star instead, who groaned in pain and clutched her stomach as the boy realized what just happened.
"S-Star?" Marco stuttered as Star took a deep breath and gave him a cold glare. "What are you doing in my room?"
"What are you doing in your room, Marco Diaz?!" Star loudly scolded. "I just fixed you from the fight with Emmitt, do you really think I can do that every single time you get badly hurt?! What were you thinking trying to break iron tables?!"
Star's harsh words made Marco scratch the back of his head and look away in embarrassment, and he sighed before going to his bed and sitting on it with a pessimistic look. Seeing the boy's uncharacteristic mood, Star went to him and put her hand on his shoulder.
"What's bothering you, earth bro?"
Marco remained silent for a while until he sighed and finally answered, "I have to get stronger, Star. I came to that realization yesterday after the battle with Emmitt."
A bewildered Star simply asked, "Marco, what are you talking about?"
"Did you see how utterly easy it was for Emmitt to knock me down and severely hurt me?" the boy replied, and he paused to look down and frown before continuing. "And if what I heard from our classmates is true, he didn't even manage to put a scratch on you!"
"I was on my super form, Marco." Star retorted. "Besides, Emmitt was a transformed monster back then, it was something we had never seen before."
"But you managed to defeat him, that's what matters." Marco paused before adding, "If I can catch up to you, maybe...maybe I'll have some worth in the team when we meet something like that again. Otherwise, I'll have to stand back while you get all the fighting...and I'm just the boy that you have to protect."
Star gave him a sympathetic look, looked strictly at his eyes and said, "Marco, no matter the circumstances, no matter the enemy, and no matter the situation, you'll always be my best friend on earth, the one I can trust the most, and the one that has my back." Marco started to shed tears as Star added, "Even if we met another one of those things, I wouldn't want to fight it with anybody at my side but you."
With that said, Marco blushed and looked down before giving Star a hug, which the girl gladly returned not long after. "Now get some rest, earth bro." Star suggested as the two separated. "Making sleeping optional for you isn't something I can do."
Marco nodded in agreement and got ready to sleep as Star got off his bed and walked out of the room. Once she left, Marco slowly closed his eyes and snored as he slept peacefully...and a shadowy figure appeared on the window, chuckling maliciously as the boy slept.
(Next day, at the backyard)
Marco was practicing some punches and kicks, mostly doing what Star did a few days ago. He kicked, punched and then blocked at various times, almost like he was in an actual fight. And just as he continued, he stopped once he looked around and spotted Star walking to him.
"Marco, we have school today." Star informed, shocking Marco. "Are you coming?"
The boy quickly got out of his shock and confidently replied, "Sure! Go ahead, I'll catch up later!"
With a little smile, Star left the backyard and Marco continued to spar with the air. A long time passed, and Marco stopped once he remembered that he was late for school. He would have done as promised and catch up to Star, but before he could even move, Ludo and his minions arrived.
"Ludo!" Marco exclaimed as he got ready to fight.
"Relax, earth turd, I'm not here to fight...yet." Ludo stated, earning a raised eyebrow in response. "I'm here to give you...a proposition. One that will be beneficial for the two of us."
"You won't trick me into making a deal with a tyrant!" And then he paused and thought about it before adding, "Or a mini tyrant, in your case."
"Hardy har, you humans and your sense of humor have never gotten on my nerves."
Having had enough, Marco blindly rushed at Ludo, who stopped his minions from attacking and smiled as the boy got closer and closer. And once they were close enough, Marco rapidly attacked with punches and kicks, which Ludo dodged effortlessly. And just as Marco attacked again, Ludo struck him with his scepter and hit him some more before sending him towards a tree, throwing his scepter and hitting the boy's stomach before it went back to him.
After that, Marco slid off of the tree and spat out some blood. "How...how is this possible?" Marco questioned as he tried to maintain his balance. "You weren't this strong back on our first fight."
"That was back then, and this is right now." Ludo smugly stated as Marco collapsed and hit the floor. "And besides, if I weren't restraining my power right now, I could just crush you like a grape. But I digress, will you listen to my proposition now?"
Marco gave the monster a defiant glare, but he quickly backed away when Ludo pointed his scepter at him. "Fine, what is the proposition?"
"I propose that I'll help you achieve your super form, if you become my newest minion and hunt for Star Butterfly." Marco tried to bark no, but before he could utter a word, Ludo's scepter charged enemy as he added, "By the way, you have no choice in the matter."
With that said, Ludo shot an energy ball at Marco, which sent him flying to a wall. He slid off and slumped on the ground, his head tilted down and his body barely moving. After a while, he groaned a bit as he got surrounded by a purple, fiery aura, and he slowly lifted his head to reveal he had yellow, reptilian eyes.
(Echo Creek Academy)
The class, except Star, heard Miss Skullnick's lesson with complete boredom and indifference, while Star looked around worriedly. "Has anybody seen Marco?" Star asked. "He was supposed to be here a while ago."
"Who knows, maybe he realized that he doesn't deserve to be in the same classroom with you, a powerful princess from another dimension, unlike the rest of us." Brittney teased, earning herself a punch from Jackie.
"Maybe, but he was trying to gain strength so he could achieve his super form as well." Star thought about it and came to a conclusion. "Do you think something happened to him?"
Jackie got ready to answer, only to close her mouth shut when she noticed a car flying towards the classroom. She screamed and pointed at the car, which made the rest duck behind their desk just in time to dodge the car. "Okay, that'll be all for today's lesson." Miss Skullnick said. "For now, RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"
Everybody did as told and they quickly left the classroom and the school, upon which they spotted the one who had thrown the car. It was Marco, only with his hair spikier, purple with red highlights, and pointing upwards. He also had a black aura and some green electricity surrounding him.
"Marco?!" everyone exclaimed in shock.
"That's me, indeed." he answered with a voice combining his own and Ludo's. "I finally achieved the super form Star achieved earlier, although it was...a bit more different than I expected."
It didn't took Star long to decipher what happened, and she snarled, "That's not your super form, Marco, and this isn't you!" then she yelled at the skies, "Ludo, what did you do to Marco!"
A dark green orb suddenly materialized near the boy, with Ludo's face shown inside it. "I simply gave him the power he desired, and now he's one of my most loyal subordinates." Ludo jeered. "And to prove it, he will destroy you, once and for all!"
Marco telekinetically lifted a car nearby, aimed it at the group and threw it as he laughed like a maniac and Ludo watched with approval. However, just as the car hit the group, a brief flash of light occurred and the car was grabbed by Star, who had turned into her super form. She lifted it and revealed herself to a surprised Marco and Ludo.
She threw the car away and the students hid nearby while Skullnick went to the car and checked it. "Marco, I don't want to hurt you." Star stated. "However, I can't let you hurt these innocent people nor the rest of the city just to kill me either."
"So we shall fight?" Marco asked with a wicked smile.
Star frowned and took a battle stance as Ludo turned to Marco and gave him a nod before disappearing alongside the orb. With that done, Marco turned back to the girl and took a praying mantis pose as Star finished:
"I'm afraid so."