So I got this idea from starcoforever on Tumblr. It involves racism and a couple of slurs, so if that affects you at all don't read. Also, if there are mistakes, it's cause I wrote this at 2 am and didn't catch them all.

I don't own Star vs. the Forces of Evil.

GENERAL POV

Marco got home late from school that day. Like really late. Like it was getting dark outside late. He knew that Star had obviously beaten him home, so he did his best to duck his head and get to his room as quickly as possible.

A hand fell on his shoulder just as he grabbed onto his doorknob and Marco flinched. "Marco honey? Why are you home so late?"

Marco swallowed at the sound of his mother's voice and turned around, keeping his head tilted towards the floor. "I uh…stayed late to work on a project with Ferguson."

His mother remained silent for a moment before putting her index finger under his chin and lifting his head so that she could see him properly. Mrs. Diaz flinched as she took in the sight of her son's bruised face and she tenderly used her thumb to wipe a smudge of dirt off of his cheek. "Oh Marco, what happened?"

Marco shook his head, his eyes brimming with tears as he pulled away from his mother. "It's nothing, Mom. I'll deal with it, okay?"

Mrs. Diaz studied him for a long moment before nodding and leaning over to kiss his forehead. "All right honey. I love you."

Marco swallowed and gave his mother a quick hug. "Love you too, Mom."

He escaped her grasp and ducked into his room, shedding his hoodie and walking over to his closet mirror. He took a second to study his newly forming black eye and the bruises littering his face and he sighed, rummaging through a box on the floor of the closet and pulling out concealer. He wasn't very experienced with the makeup, but he was able to use it well enough so that all bruises but the one around his eye were covered.

He tucked the box back into the closet and leaned against the cold surface of the mirror for a moment, taking a minute to breathe deeply.

He'd have been fine if he hadn't had to stop at the dojo on the way home from school to grab his uniform, which he'd left there at the last practice. On the weekdays, the dojo was a relatively safe area. But during the weekends, especially in the early evenings, the streets were crowded with nasty people that Marco didn't like to intermingle with.

He shook his head wearily and crawled into bed without bothering to put on his pajamas, flicking off his lamp and burying his face into his pillow, feeling the lump in his throat start to grow.

His whimpers broke loose after a failed attempt to hold them back and Marco cried until he was so exhausted that he collapsed into a heavy sleep.

"Marco! Come on, come on, come on!" Star shouted, jumping up and down around him as he ate his lunch. "We have to go to the carnival NOW!"

Marco chuckled, wincing slightly as one of the bruises just next to his mouth started stinging. "Okay, okay Star. I'll be done in just a minute, okay? Go grab some money from Mom."

She skipped off happily and Marco quickly finished the remains of his sandwich before ducking into the downstairs bathroom to double check that the concealer he had reapplied that morning was still doing its job. He had told Star that his black eye had come from getting into a fight with Jeremy, and after he had convinced her not to beat him up for it she had dropped the subject.

Marco sighed deeply and plastered a smile on his face as he and Star left the house, calling out a goodbye to his parents on the way out.

They picked up Ferguson and Alfonso on the way to the carnival, and though Alfonso frowned at the sight of Marco's black eye, the two teenage boys didn't comment on it, knowing exactly what had happened.

Star kept up a lively chatter the whole way, describing carnivals on Mewni (Marco didn't think he would like them, if the bobbing for eyeballs was any indication of what they were like) and asking the boys hundreds of questions about Earth carnivals, which they tried their best to answer.

Marco shivered as they reached the downtown area, despite wearing his usual hoodie, but he swallowed his fear and shut his eyes for a moment, listening to Star's happy laughter. He slowly relaxed and opened his eyes again just in time to swerve away from a lamppost.

When Star saw the carnival, she let out a squeal so loud that all three boys slapped their hands over her mouth.

"OH. MY. GOSH. LOOK AT THIS OH MY GOSH THERE'S A BIG EYEBALL THING THAT PEOPLE ARE IN AND OH MY GOSH A MAN EATING FIRE AND OOOOOH GIANT TEDDY BEARS!"

The boys held back their laughter as they followed Star around the carnival, watching her ooh and ahh over all of the attractions and games. They came across a ring toss game eventually where the big prize happened to be a massive plush rainbow, and Star stood there for a minute drooling over it before spinning on Marco.

"Marco, how do I get that rainbow?" she demanded, pointing behind just in case Marco couldn't see the enormous prize.

Marco laughed and turned Star back around, pointing to the rules. "You get three rings for a dollar, and you have to get all three rings on the soda bottles," he explained, gesturing to the soda bottles set up on the ground.

Star nodded thoughtfully. "Doesn't seem too hard," she declared, tugging a dollar from her purse and sliding it across the counter to the woman in charge. "Three rings, please."

The attendant obliged and Star's "easy game" idea was quickly foiled as she missed all three tosses. "Darn it," she muttered, digging another dollar from her purse.

Marco knew he had lost her to the game, and when he turned around found that he had also lost Ferguson and Alfonso to the Ferris Wheel (somehow, Marco had a feeling those two would end up dating).

Giving a shrug, Marco informed Star that he was going to go grab a churro from one of the food vendors, to which she responded with a vaguely uninterested "Okay yeah, you do that."

Marco shook his head and slipped into the crowd, finding the churro cart and paying the man behind the counter for one. He munched as he walked, observing the games thoughtfully and trying to decide what he would be best at luck wise.

He played a couple of games aimlessly, not winning much more than a lollipop and a pack of gum. He checked in on Star a couple of times, still trying to win that rainbow, and spotted Ferguson and Alfonso heading excitedly into the haunted house attraction. Oh yeah. They were definitely going to start dating one day.

Marco smiled and stuck a piece of his gum that he had won in his mouth, moving to the edge of the grounds and sinking down onto the curb as he blew a bubble and popped it loudly. He crossed his legs and tilted his head back, studying the sky and realizing with a start that it was beginning to grow dark out. Had they really been there for that long?

Shrugging, Marco scanned the carnival grounds slowly, chuckling at the sight of little kids carrying plush animals bigger than them and the weary parents tagging along after them carrying everything else. He was glad he didn't have to deal with that.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in over the border guys."

Marco groaned inwardly, suddenly wishing he did have a screaming child to attend to. Anything would be better than these guys

He turned to scowl at a group of boys, probably 18 or 19 years old, as they approached him, sneers on their faces. The tallest of the group tilted his head mockingly, his bald head glistening under the lamp lights that were turning on. "Yo, didn't we get your face harder than that yesterday?"

Marco remained silent, mentally cursing at himself for having left Star. The bald headed guy suddenly snickered. "Yo, he's wearing makeup. What a fucking pussy."

Marco swallowed hard and looked away, his eyes stinging as he tried desperately not to cry. He knew these guys were jerks; they always hung around the dojo on the weekends and taunted anyone who went in and out, unless that person happened to be a buff male. The girls got harassed, the younger boys got called nasty names, and people like Marco….

"What's the half breed doing out here all by himself?" one of the lanky guys sneered, laughing like he had just said the funniest thing in the world.

Marco shut his eyes tightly and pursed his lips. People like Marco got racist slurs.

"What, did your daddy dump you over the border and leave you here?"

He fought to remain quiet. He had heard every insult before, knew they were just using it to bait him into fighting, and knew that no matter what they said his parents loved him.

"Nah man, daddy probably fucked his mommy and ran. Stupid American slut."

Marco was on his feet in an instant, his fist flying before he really knew what he was doing. A hand intercepted his fist and Marco cursed mentally for giving in to the fight before a steel toed boot kicked him squarely in the gut and he hit the ground hard, gasping for air.

"Look at that, he tried to fight us. Go back to your own country, you dumb fuck."

Marco flinched as the boot kicked him in the side, and before anyone spoke another word, a narwhal came flying out of nowhere and slammed into the bald guy head on, knocking him to ground hard.

Marco spun around to see Star standing there and he wiped at his face quickly, wincing when his hand came away covered in blood. He hadn't even felt the guy hit his nose.

"You leave him alone!" the princess demanded, storming over to them in a rage that Marco had never seen before.

"Aww look at that, little half breed got himself a trophy girl."

Star's face morphed into a mask of confusion and Marco climbed to his feet, hands clenching into fists. "Don't you dare insult her," he hissed.

The group of guys laughed and turned to go. "Whatever. Fucking border niggers."

Marco flinched at the use of the n word and immediately turned away from Star, rubbing his arms against the sudden cold of the night air and struggling to hold back his tears.

"Marco?"

Lower lip trembling, Marco glanced over his shoulder at Star to find her watching him in concern. When she saw his bloody nose she grimaced and dug into her purse, pulling out tissues and handing them over to him.

He dabbed cautiously at his nose while Star looked after the forms of the guys with an irritated face. "What the heck was their problem? And what is a border n-?"

Marco slapped a hand over her mouth, shaking his head. "Don't. Don't ever say that word, Star. Ever. It is a really, really offensive word and it is not okay for us to say it."

Star nodded and Marco removed his hand, taking a deep breath. She tilted her head slowly. "But…what…why were they calling you that stuff?"

He looked at her in bewilderment. "You…really don't know?"

She shook her head in confusion and Marco sighed, running a hand through his hair. He really didn't want to have to explain this to her, but he knew she wouldn't let up. "It's…this thing called racism. It's when people hate somebody for the color of their skin."

Star frowned. "What?"

Marco gave her a grim smile and continued dabbing at the blood on his face. "Yeah…those names they were calling me, they're insults. Because I'm half Mexican."

Star just stared at him. "That's…that's so dumb. Who would make fun of someone for that?"

Marco gestured angrily towards where the guys had run off to and shook his head. "It's okay. It happens all the time. I didn't get into a fight with Jeremy yesterday; I got in a fight with those guys. I try so hard not to but….when they go and insult my mom I just….I lose it."

His voice cracked and Marco looked down at the ground quickly, wringing the tissue in his hands. Star stepped over to him quietly and drew him in for a hug, holding onto him for a long time. "Well," she said finally, "how do we stop racism?"

Marco laughed bitterly. "We can't. At least, not soon. It's been around since Earth was formed, and it doesn't look like it's ending any time soon."

Seeing the look of defeat on Star's face, he shrugged. "But I mean…you could stand up for people who are getting bullied, like you just did for me. Thanks, by the way."

Star gave him a sad smile. "You're my best friend. Of course."

"Hey! Guys, Ferguson won a five pound gummy bear!" Alfonso yelped, running up to them with Ferguson behind him, lugging a massive red gummy bear.

Alfonso stopped as soon as he saw Marco's face, and he winced. "Again?" the teen asked in exasperation, digging into his pockets and pulling out a mini first aid kit he always had on him. Marco took it with an annoyed nod and Alfonso scowled as Marco pulled out an alcohol wipe and tenderly swiped at his nose.

"Did you kick their butts?" Ferguson asked around a mouthful of gummy bear ear.

Marco glanced at Star and smiled. "Star did. Look, I don't really want to talk about this anymore. This was supposed to be a fun night. You guys up for a ride in the spinning tea cups?"

Ferguson looked down at his gummy bear and turned slightly green. "I'll uh…I'll hold our stuff," he decided.

Alfonso and Marco laughed, and as they started to walk away, Star caught Marco's sleeve. "If anyone is ever…saying that stuff to you again…tell me, okay? I can have them beheaded in seven different dimensions."

Marco chuckled and gave the girl a tight hug. "Thanks Star."

They separated and followed after Ferguson and Alfonso, who were running ahead and laughing. "You know," Star said thoughtfully, "they're probably gonna start dating."

"I know, right?"

I have a love for Alfonsuson. They are adorable.

Reviews are lovely!