CHAPTER ELEVEN- A Little Help

Woohoo, I've got this chapter ready for y'all and I'm really excited about it because of CHARACTERS. AHH. ALSO. READ MY AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE BOTTOM PLEASE.

StarButterfly07: What, you didn't think I'd leave you hanging, did you? I considered making that the final chapter just to piss everyone off, but I have at least two more chapters planned after this.

Rayfe: *laughs evilly*

PROJECT K: Nope! No hiatus here! Hopefully never again!

Princess Dia: Lol it's all good. And perfect, I tried to make that ending as unexpected as possible.

K.S.: Why thank you :)

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

The tears spilled onto Star's cheeks as Marco whipped his monster arm down at her.

GENERAL POV

Stop.

STOP.

STOP.

Marco froze, squinting his eyes shut and pulling his arm away so quickly that he fell backwards onto the ground, his body trembling. When he pried his eyelids up, his first sight was Star, curled up on the ground with her arms above her head, and he was instantly horrified to see that there was indeed a bright red mark lying across her skin where he had hit her.

"NO!" Toffee roared, pressing the button on his remote again. "IMPOSSIBLE."

Marco flinched and sat up, flexing his hand and forcing the monster arm back into his skin before turning on Toffee, his eyes flashing with pure hatred. He pushed himself up to his feet in front of Star and swallowed hard, clenching his hands into fists.

"I don't know what you just did, or how you did it, but you just made the biggest fucking mistake you ever could have made," he growled.

Toffee chucked the remote down to the ground and scowled. "Me? You've just ruined everything we ever worked for, and for what? Some…pathetic, cowardly princess that you fell for? What kind of monster are you?"

"I'm not," Marco snapped, his eyes narrowing. "You….you made me one!"

Toffee's face broke into a thin smile, and he crossed his arms. "So, you finally figured it out."

Marco swallowed and bit the inside of his cheek to keep from crying. "You stole me from my parents, you…you did something to me to make me like this. And for what? To destroy the stupid wand?"

Toffee cackled madly, slowly backing up into the fading shadows. "My dear boy," he purred. "The wand is far from destroyed. And this is far from over."

Smoke swirled around his form and Toffee vanished from his sight. Marco raked a hand through his hair and then turned around to look at Star desperately, his jaw working as he tried to figure out what to say.

Her eyes were filled with tears as she got off the ground, her legs visibly quivering and the slap mark on her arm slowly beginning to bruise. "You…"

He shook his head quickly, holding up his hands. "Star, please," he pleaded, his voice breaking. "I…I had no idea….that I was…I mean….and Toffee had me convinced that you….and the wand…and it started out as me trying to…trying to….you know…and then it…I…"

Marco trailed off helplessly at the look of disgust in Star's eyes, and she stepped back, her arm close to her chest and her other hand pulling out her interdimensional scissors. "Star," he gasped out, holding out a shaking hand and finally feeling tears slip down his cheeks.

She shook her head and ripped through the air with her scissors, vanishing through the portal without a word to him.

Marco choked on a sob and dropped to the ground, curling his arms around his torso and ducking his head, feeling beyond abandoned and alone.

Footsteps sounded behind him and he flinched, tilting his head in their direction. "Whatever you do," he grumbled, "just…do it. I don't care."

"Get up, child."

Marco jumped at the sound of The Seer's voice and looked up at the demon, a shaky smile crossing his face as she held out a clawed hand and helped him up.

"What do I do?" he asked after a moment of silence, his hands twisting around the hem of his t-shirt.

The Seer smiled thinly and led him over to a massive crater that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Marco hadn't even seen it be formed, but he followed the monster to the edge carefully, stepping over rocks and roots and moving to stand alongside her.

"She will not forgive you easily," The Seer murmured, glancing sideways at Marco. "But there is something you can do to make sure she will not hate you forever."

Marco almost questioned what she meant, but instead she pointed, and he followed her finger to the center of the crater, amongst a pile of rubble and dust.

There, glinting faintly in the fading light, was Star's wand.

Marco whipped his head around to look at The Seer in disbelief and she smiled gently, eyes filled with much more sympathy than Marco had ever seen in her before. "It is not whole," The Seer warned him. "Toffee has managed to steal a very important piece of the wand. The princess needs it back in order for the wand to work again."

Marco hesitated and then slid down into the crater, stumbling over to the wand and falling to his knees next to it, dipping his hands underneath of the handle and closing his fingers around it gently.

Nothing changed about the wands appearance when he touched it, but he could see that the star that was on the front had been cracked cleanly down the middle. Marco frowned in determination, getting to his feet and tucking the wand into his pants pocket before turning to find The Seer right behind him.

"How do I get the piece back?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

The Seer smiled, her pointed teeth glinting. "I think you know. But only someone with royal blood can put the wand back together. You can accomplish this, my dear. I have seen your past, and your future."

Marco's mouth had gone dry and he rubbed at his shoulder cautiously. "You…you have?"

She nodded, her eyes gleaming. "I have, Marco. And for all that you've gone through, you are stronger for it. And that is the reason I did not stop Toffee from taking you all those years ago. Because if he hadn't, you would never have been able to defeat him."

Marco smiled thinly and jumped as The Seer tossed him a pair of dimensional scissors. "Go. You will need help," she acknowledged. "But Star will not trust you. However, there is one other that will help you, one I assured Toffee would not affect the outcome of these circumstances. She will help, but only if you get to her before Star does."

Marco stared down at the scissors and his eyes widened a little. "Pony Head," he mumbled.

The Seer grinned and when Marco looked back up to thank her, she was gone. With no hesitation in mind, Marco clipped open a portal to St. Olga's.

"You need my help?" Pony Head asked in disbelief. "Why can't B-Fly do it?"

Marco winced and paced the floor in front of the unicorn head, rubbing the back of his neck. "I…Toffee was controlling me somehow," he admitted. "And Star….saw the monster arm…and now she doesn't trust me. Please, Pony."

He turned to face her, his hands spread in front of him. "I need you. Star needs you. Her kingdom needs her and without the wand…."

Marco pulled the wand from his pocket and stared at it sadly, biting at his lower lip. Pony Head sighed and butted him in the shoulder. "Okay. Let's go, Earth Turd."

He whipped his head up to look at her and grinned, pulling out his scissors. "You are the best, Pony Head," he declared.

"Yeah, yeah," Pony Head snorted, following him through the portal with a glance back over her shoulder (or at least, where she would have had one if she had one). "Tell me something I don't know."

Marco shushed her as they ducked into Toffee's living room, sinking down together behind one of the sofas. "Okay," he whispered. "There's only two places that I can think of he would hide it. One, is where my room used to be. The other is in the vault in his room, but that'll be loud and draw attention to us."

"Your room it is," Pony Head muttered, shooting him a narrowed gaze.

Marco winced and glanced around, darting towards the stairs with Pony Head close behind him. He skipped across the creaky steps of the staircase with ease, having spent years memorizing the squeaks and groans of the steps so that he could get downstairs without Toffee hearing. Pony Head scouted ahead as he made his way past a particularly tricky portion, and ducked back as he reached the landing.

"All clear," she murmured. "I don't think he's here."

The crawling sensation down Marco's back said otherwise, and he shook his head. "No," he mumbled under his breath. "He's here. Somewhere."

They moved quickly to Marco's old room and he pressed open the door as quietly as possible, peering inside with a scowl.

The two ransacked the room softly, turning over blankets and opening trunks and sticking their hands into the tiny nooks and crannies that Marco had found during his explorations as a child. Their search proved useless, however, as they turned up with nothing more than dust and old clothing.

"It's gotta be in his room," Marco grunted, clenching his hand into a fist and looking behind him at the door. "We have to do this carefully, Pony Head. I don't….I don't want you to get hurt because of me."

Pony Head turned from where she had been checking under one last piece of clothing, her eyebrows lifted in surprise. "You…huh?"

Marco winced and smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't want you getting hurt," he repeated softly. "Star would…I mean she already hates me, but I….plus it was cool of you to help me so I guess…."

He trailed off and frowned at the floor in slight confusion, glancing up only when Pony Head nudged him with her horn. She had a fond smile on her muzzle. "For what it's worth, Marco, I think you're a genuinely good person."

Marco felt his cheeks heat up and he ducked his head, not used to being complimented so sincerely. "Uh…thanks, Pony. Tell me that when we get out of here, though, okay?"

She snorted and nudged him towards the door, both of them peeking around the corner before sliding into the hallway.

Marco hesitated outside a simple, black wooden door and glanced back over his shoulder with a nod at Pony Head before twisting the doorknob and swinging the door to his room.

Toffee looked up from where he leaned against the far wall, a sly smile on his face. "Ah, Marco my dear boy."

Seconds later a knife was quivering in the wall less than half an inch from Marco's face and he and Pony Head froze as Toffee moved towards them, twisting a half broken star in his fingertips with ease.

"Took you long enough."

Haha whoops. Yes, that ending was a reference to a few chapters ago when he stabbed Ludo's photo in the dead center.

Anyway, guys, I've been posting an original story called Little Magic to my Fictionpress account (TakingOverMidnight) and I would really appreciate it if you guys would take a look at it. I feel like if you like this story, you would like that one. I'm shamelessly self-promoting at this point, because I am not as nearly well-known on Fictionpress as I am on here. Thank you in advance.

Reviews are much appreciated. ALSO MY LOVELY CHILD FLAVIA MADE THE COVER FOR THIS STORY AND IT'S SO GOOD AHHHH.