Star and Marco vs Evil Book 2 Chapter 11: XI, a star vs. the forces of evil fanfic

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This is a work of fiction portraying alternate universes; all similarities to beings living, dead, or undead are entirely convergent.

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Possible spoilers between the ⭐⭐and 🌟🌟.

Having changed back into their everyday clothes, Star and Marco took their places at the meeting table in the MHC meeting room, atop the Bureaucracy of Magic. "Thank you, everybody, for coming here, even if some of you again didn't want to do their duty." Hekapoo looked around the table as if she had no clue what Marco was talking about. Hekapoo sat at one end of the table, Moon and River at the other. Angie, Rafael, and Eclipsa sat across the table from a sitting Star and a standing Marco. "Queen Moon will have the final say, but in my opinion what we discuss here today must be kept confidential until an official announcement is made. Anybody who believes they cannot live with that, I suggest Queen Moon order them to leave."

Marco looked at Moon, who simply responded, "What he said." Marco smirked at Moon's growing informality.

Speaking to the room at large, Marco said, "Janna, regardless of how you're watching this, we need an acknowledgement from you that you'll keep the secret ... or we'll have the King's Guard escort you to a place where you can't spy; the Monster Castle dungeon, perhaps."

Star's compact phone chimed with Janna's ring tone, I'm a Gummy Bear. Star read Janna's text aloud, "I'd like to see you try, but I swear to continue to keep the secrets." Star looked at Marco. "Continue?"

Marco's only response was a mostly unintelligible mumble about stakes and hearts.

Angie had noticed a difference between what Marco and Janna said. "Secret-s?" she asked.

Marco sighed. "Unfortunately, yes, and ..."

"Wait," River interrupted, asking, "where are the flagons of ale? We can't discuss matters of state without flagons of ale!"

"I asked the wait staff not to bring ale with any refreshments, given the emotional nature of ..."

In a frustrated tone, speaking for the entire audience except River, Rafael said, louder than he intended, "Please to be getting to the secret telling!"

"Okay, dad. As you all know, we collected DNA samples for genetic testing, and I have the results. I'll give a copy of everything to Queen Moon so if anybody needs the nitty gritty details, you know where to go. To begin, do all of you remember what Star and I told you about DNA?" Everybody around the table nodded. "I wasn't certain whether an alien species would even have DNA, but, happily, all the native and nonnative species on Mewni do have DNA."

Marco looked around the room at the looks of confusion. River, the Stump Day storyteller, was the first to figure it out. Slowly, he said, "I presume you're not speaking of Dame Janna and the Diazes when you speak of nonnative ... species, was it?" Marco nodded. "Our known history says Monsters were already here when Mewmins arrived. We've always assumed our ancestors traveled here from a distant land ... but you're telling us they came from a very distant land? From another dimension?" There was a collective gasp.

"The evidence supports that, yes."

"Is it possible to use your science magic to discover which dimension?"

"That's possible only if you have genetic material you know is from that other dimension, and ..."

"Oh," River said, crestfallen.

"You didn't let me finish; we do have that material."

"But," Eclipsa chimed in, "you collected this whatchacallit, genetic material, from only the Mewni and Earth dimensions."

"That's correct," Marco answered, then paused while the gathering mulled over that fact.

"Pegasus feathers!" Star exclaimed, followed by Angie declaring, "Holy shit!" The two looked at each other, practically yelling, "Mewmins are from Earth!"

Everybody turned their attention back to Marco, holding their breaths in anticipation of his response. "Correct; Mewmins are originally from the Earth Dimension."

The room became deathly silent. "The DNA of Mewmins from other than the Butterfly lines is nearly identical to that of humans, primarily the descendants of the Anglo-Saxon, Celt, and remaining Roman, populations in the British Isles a thousand years ago. In both Butterfly lines there are some unique sequences, mutations most likely due to exposure to radiation from the wond and to magic itself; the genetic blueprint of your wings, and your 'super-strength,' for examples."

Moon asked, "I understand so far, but how do you know Mewmins came from Earth? Isn't it possible that the original Mewmins came from a third dimension, or even from somewhere far away in this dimension, while humans came from Mewni later? Perhaps when Queen Skywynne deleted gravity some Mewmins fell to Earth."

"It couldn't be that, as humans were around long before Queen Skywynne. Since the ancient history of Mewni is pretty much unknown, the geneticists looked at other lines of evidence. In addition to us, they also sequenced the DNA of Monsters and other Mewnian life forms. The fact that Monsters and Mewmins have produced hybrids might suggest a common ancestry, except for two things."

Marco raised a single finger. "First, the known hybrids ... Meteora, Queen Celena, and Tom Lucitor, the analysis showing that Demons are Monsters as long suspected ... had at least one parent with magic. Their genetics strongly suggest the magic altered the Monster DNA where it was incompatible to make it into Mewmin DNA. As a result, all three could naturally reproduce with Mewmins but not Monsters."

Marco paused, looking around the room at the expectant faces, then raised two fingers. "Second, generally, forms of life that all come from the same biome ... what humans call a planet and Mewmins call a dimension ... share a certain amount of DNA; humans and other mammals, for example. Monsters and Warnicorns, both coming from Mewni, share DNA; sharing DNA is also why most of the animal life on Mewni have uni-horns." Marco took a deep breath. "Mewmin-beings do not have shared DNA in common with the rest of life on Mewni; they do, however, have shared DNA in common with life on Earth. Simply put, the DNA analysis shows that Mewmins are native to Earth; Mewmins are humans." Marco looked pointedly at River, saying, "Which means, by the way, that Star's not a Monster Love."

"But it does mean you and Star can give him grandbabies," the actual Monster Love quipped, in a teasingly loving tone.

Star and Marco glanced at each other, a slight blush on their faces. Moon, Eclipsa and Angie snickered knowingly.

"Yes," Marco said, "five beings in this room can be given grandbabies by us."

The smile on Angie's face lasted only a couple beats before she did the math. "Wait," she said in a confused tone, "five? Not four?"

"Correct." As Marco turned toward Moon and River, he noticed, out of the corner of his eye, Eclipsa perk up and give him her rapt attention. "DNA can also tell you who a being's parents are, if you have the DNA from all three beings. Furthermore, certain types of DNA are passed down only along gender lines. The one most often used for matrilineal testing is mitochondrial DNA, which is passed only from a mother to her offspring, and only a daughter can pass that same DNA to her offspring. The geneticists analyzed all our mitochondrial DNA."

Marco paused to steel himself; he was about to drop an even bigger bomb than Mewmins being humans. "The results show that Star is the daughter of Moon, and neither she nor Moon are from the original Butterfly line, as expected. Star and Moon also share some DNA with Monsters, but only due to Queen Rhina's marriage to John Roachley, a Lucitor, which also confirms that Star and Tom are distant cousins. Also as expected, Meteora was Eclipsa's daughter, and I'm the son of Angie."

"If everything's as expected, then how ..." Angie began.

Interrupting, Marco looked Eclipsa in the eyes, saying, "I'm also descended from Eclipsa." He then looked his mother in the eyes. "As are you. What's more, the scientists found a mutation unique to Meteora, so any being with it descended from her." As he spoke, Marco pointed at his mole. "I have it, as does Mariposa, as do you, mom, it's simply not visible in your case."

The room again went deathly silent. Star jumped as Janna's ringtone sounded from her compact phone. Reading the text out loud, she related, "Janna says this is how she reacted, too."

Almost as one, everyone turned their heads toward a very uncomfortable-looking Hekapoo.

"Hekapoo," Marco began, a slight tinge of anger in his voice, "when Meteora said, 'you're the one who stole her from me,' I assumed she was talking about Eclipsa. But she wasn't, was she?"

Hekapoo stood, drawing her scissors. "Oh, hey, I just remembered I left the fire on under the crucible. Gotta go...OOF."

A rainbow fist held Hekapoo tightly, squeezing the breath out of her. This time the fist was conjured by Marco, rather than Star, so she was lowered back into her chair, rather than bashed about the room a second time. "Try that again," Marco said in a tone that made it clear he was quite in earnest, "and I'll do to you what Star did."

For the first time in her life, Hekapoo was truly afraid. She knew Marco well from his sixteen years questing to earn his scissors from her, and, if she was honest with herself, had come to love him in a way she couldn't quite describe. The fact that her Marco would threaten her, and clearly mean it, scared her more than anything ever had. Despite her bravado in her forge, she was not really certain that Marco couldn't overpower her. Regardless, she knew Star could overpower her, and thought it likely Star could kill her as well. Even if Star couldn't kill her, she figured that Star and Marco, working together, could. They might actually do it if she refused to spill the corn, and might still do it even if she did. Given the latter seemed to be slightly less likely than the former, she decided to come clean.

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280 years ago...

At the darkest hour of night, Hekapoo stood outside a relatively nondescript dwelling, listening to the screaming within. The Magic High Commission had learned that Meteora, called Heinous since being given to Saint Olga to raise, had married a Mewmin and produced a child. Even though the child was only a quarter Monster, it was enough for the MHC to consider the child a threat.

Hekapoo looked down at the sleeping baby she cradled in her arms. She realized she did not know the little girl's name, nor the name of the husband she had exiled to another dimension, from which he could never return. The baby looked healthy and, Hekapoo supposed, happy. What she could see of the swaddled child looked entirely Mewmin; the only obvious similarity with her mother was the cute mole on her right cheek.

Hekapoo had helped raise the peasant girl they installed as queen, but teaching her to hate Monsters had been at odds with the rest of the High Commission, especially Omnitraxus. Festivia had not turned out well, and as they learned, Meteora was messed up in her own right, so this time Omnitraxus and the rest of the MHC insisted it be done their way.

Together, they had chosen a Mewmin family, living in the most distant part of Mewni, that had recently lost their girl child. They were not royalty, but they were of better than modest means and very kind, not only to their own family, but to Mewmins, and even Monsters, in general.

While Hekapoo did not approve of their being kind to Monsters ... she had been in full agreement with Queen Solaria's campaign against the Monsters just a generation prior ... she had to admit that perhaps her brothers were right.

More screams emanated from the house, calls for a husband and a child, neither of which would ever return. Hekapoo almost felt remorse, but she was absolutely certain this was the right thing to do, for Mewni and for the baby girl.

Hekapoo pulled out her scissors, opening a dimensional portal and stepping through, closing it behind her.

At the last second, Hekapoo had been seen. Heinous ran from the house, screaming for her child, but she was too late; the portal closed before she could reach it. She collapsed to the ground, sobbing. She was still there when Saint Olga arrived just before dawn, asked by Lekmet to check on its adopted daughter. Seeing Heinous, the android calculated it had its work cut out for it conditioning Heinous to suppress these particular memories.

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Hekapoo finished, relating how she had delivered the baby to her new family. The MHC had checked on her from time to time as she grew up, stopping when she had grown into a healthy, happy, and prosperous woman ... and proved to be no threat to magic nor Mewni. They had no idea what happened to her after that; specifically, they had no idea she had children, so had no idea when, and how, a descendant, Marco's and Angie's ancestor, ended up on Earth.

"Once Saint Olga had conditioned Heinous ... I mean, Meteora ... to suppress the memories of her family, we ordered Saint Olga to delete them from her own memory. The night I took the baby, Meteora must have seen me, or perhaps a neighbor did and told her before Saint Olga's conditioning kicked in. I really don't know how she knew."

Her story ended, Hekapoo crossed her arms, looking neutrally at Marco.

Eclipsa was the very picture of cold fury, but Star was the one to respond. "We already knew everything was the MHC's fault, but we had no idea your treachery ran this deep. Do you deny it?"

"I deny it was treachery, but I agree that me and the rest of the Commission are at fault for what happened after King Shastacan disowned Meteora."

"Really?"

"Yes." Keeping her voice entirely neutral, Hekapoo continued, saying, "If only we had dropped baby Meteora out of the castle's highest window, or drowned her in the moat, then none of this would have happened."

Star began to rise, a look of intent-to-murder on her face, her hands turning yellow with the glow of the magic she would unleash on Hekapoo. Marco placed his hand on Star's shoulder. "Boo, we'll deal with Hekapoo later, and without violence ... if we can." Star retook her seat, powering down.

Moon stood. "Hekapoo, you are to return to your dimension, where you are to remain until summoned. Do not make us come for you again."

Hekapoo merely nodded, opened a dimensional portal to home, then was gone.

Moon sat, as did Marco, taking Star's hand.

"There is still a mystery, yes?" asked Rafael. "You told us you were testing us because you changed very little when hit by Meteora's magic, thinking it might tell us why. I do not see how this answers why."

"Good point, dad," Marco answered. "Any thoughts?"

"A great Mewmin," Eclipsa answered, "once said, 'when you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.' What are the possibilities?"

"Because Marco is human?" asked Star.

"Can't be," Marco replied. "We're all human. If that was it, no one on Mewni would have transformed."

"But Janna..."

"Was never blasted by Meteora."

"Oh."

"Because of your magic?" Moon asked. "Star's magic changed her transformation, maybe that happened to you, too."

"I am not thinking so," replied Rafael. "Star is more powerful ... sorry, mijo ... yet still transformed except for her mind, and even that slowly changed. Marco changed only a little."

Marco nodded.

"It's because you're a Monster!" River said, using his best mocking tone and bug-eyed look.

Everyone chuckled, knowing he was teasing. "That makes more sense, but I don't think so. Star is part Monster, even more so than me."

"Maybe that's it," Angie said, "just not so ... generally. It wasn't because you're part Monster, but because you're partly a specific Monster: Meteora. The magic probably was failsafe, just in case it somehow got directed back at her; maybe there's just enough of her in you to trigger that failsafe and suppress most of the transformation."

The group was quiet, contemplating any other possibilities.

"That must be it," Marco finally responded. "It would also explain why the MHC went ape-icorn-shit when they discovered what happened to me. Not because they thought I was part Monster, but because of Meteora; they must've guessed we're related. It was just more of the cover-up."

"It must be," Eclipsa agreed.

Star's phone chimed. Star read the text, stating, "Janna says, 'we also now know why it's easier for Marco to use Butterfly magic than it is for me.'"

Marco responded to the room, saying, "Good point. Now torture somebody else."

Star's phone chimed again, Star reading, "She says Tom's already there. He says 'ow ... hi ... ow.'"

Marco took a deep breath to calm himself. After a few seconds he moved on.

Marco raised his eyes to find Eclipsa's, held them for a few seconds, then slowly said, "Eclipsa, may I ask you a question? It's okay if you say no because you want to process this for a while, first."

"No, go ahead, sweetie," Eclipsa answered. "I'm sure we all have questions; we might as well start asking them now."

Marco nodded. "Thanks ... Granny Eclipsa." Eclipsa blushed slightly at having her quip turned back on her, but it was a happy blush. "That painting of the sea captain in Star's tower, the one that hides the secret passage you used; until now, it never occurred to me the passageway might end there because the painting's connected to you somehow. I've never mentioned this because I thought I imagined it, but now, considering all this, I really have to wonder. I think the painting spoke to me the night of the Blood Moon Ball, influencing me to chase after Star. Does ... does the painting have some significance to you?"

Eclipsa couldn't answer right away. Clearly emotional, she had to get control of herself before answering, pulling out a Snookers bar and taking a few bites. Then, a slight quaver in her voice, she said, "That's ... my daddy, and your great-great-something grandfather."

Marco nodded.

"So," Rafael interjected, "perhaps that is why your wond looks so nautical. You are a líder natural just like your papá, but being a sea captain is in your blood."

Marco thought for a few moments. "That's good insight, dad. The dragoncycle wings make sense, but the nautical look never has ... until now."

"Good job, hon," Angie said, giving her husband a peck on the cheek.

Rafael smiled. "I now go back to being comic relief."

Moon could see that this time, it was appropriate for her and her husband to leave, along with Star. Standing, she said, "Come along, Star, let's give them their privacy."

"But," Star began to protest, looking concernedly at Marco, "my boo needs me."

Marco smiled lovingly at his girlfriend. "It's okay, Stardust. I think, this first time, it should just be us ... original Butterflys." Letting go of her hand, he kissed Star on the forehead. "Promise me you won't allow this to add to the guilt you feel," Marco grinned and winked, "at least not until after you've talked to me, later. If it will help, focus on the fact that there will be only one Butterfly line again, soon enough."

Reluctantly, Star joined her parents and they all left the room, closing the doors behind them. As they began to walk toward the elevator, Star, fighting to keep her promise to not feel guilty, suddenly realized the full implication of what Marco said. She burst into tears.

"Oh, pumpkin," River soothed, "Marco didn't mean anything by it."

"Yes, papa, he did. Think about it. Think hard about it." After a few moments, Moon and River, too, realized the import of what Marco said. Their faces lit up, almost matching the huge smile that graced Star's face, despite the tears. Happily, they shared a family hug.

When they parted, Moon smiled at her daughter, the corners of her mouth twitching. "I guess I needn't have worried about appearances if I made Marco a Butterfly prince, since you dated your cousin ... twice."

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Meanwhile, in the Monster Kingdom, Bob stepped back, admiring her creativity and handiwork. She assessed the tapestries, paintings, statuary, monuments, and other objects, in various states of decay, finding them more than acceptable.

It was all a put-on. The items were all created by Bob's magic, although most were based on historical artifacts she had seen in her travels around the multiverses of the various alternate universes she had visited.

The "Hall of Injustice," as Bob fancied it, was simply a room in an ancient single-tower keep, nestled in the eastern foothills of the western territory of the new Monster Kingdom. It was mostly obscured from the view of close-by Butterfly Castle, but not Pigeon Lookout to the west, likely the reasons it had been abandoned in every alternate Mewni Bob had visited. This AU's keep was in particularly good condition, and the room Bob had chosen was almost completely intact.

The room was high in the keep, large, high-ceilinged, round, and entry was through a single, small, door. Bob didn't know the room's original purpose, but guessed that, since keeps were largely for military use, it had been the armory. She had repurposed it to display her interesting knickknacks.

Bob had long known of the keep, but had never before used it in her dastardly machinations. It had taken three visits to explore the entire keep, choose her room, then outfit it. She was satisfied with the results, and decided it needed no more work. She levitatoed to the ceiling, checking on the hidden tramorfidian crystal that provided a portalling barrier in all parts of the keep directly below it. Bob had placed it on her second visit, after choosing the room.

Bob exited the room, closed the door, then walked down the stairs and out of the keep. She opened a dimensional portal and left the keep grounds, leaving it once again to the local lifeforms. She would not return to the keep until her plan was put in motion.

Obscured by the trees and far enough away Bob would be unlikely to sense him, even if she knew to look, Bob's watcher considered what to do. He had never explored the keep before Bob showed interest in it, was not certain of the building's original purpose, so couldn't figure out what Bob was doing. He had briefly explored it after Bob's first visit, but it was mostly empty. Since then, Bob had returned twice more, but the teen didn't enter the keep again, fearing a trap or Bob discovering that someone had been there. He had no intention of tipping his hand.

The boy knew a saying: "once is happenstance; twice is coincidence; thrice is enemy action." He thought he had reached the point of diminishing returns following Bob around, and knew she would not have visited the keep three times if she had no plans for it. He had managed to find an angle that, using a telestereoscope, allowed him to look through the window of the room that seemed to interest Bob the most. He could not see much, but what he could see suggested she was building a museum, to the boy's great confusion. He decided to stay, setting up a discrete camp from which he could maintain a vigil watching the keep, at least until Bob revealed all her plans for it.

Bob's watcher lifted his red baseball cap a bit so he could scratch his scar. He wondered if he ought to tell Star and Marco about Bob. He decided not to, preferring the pleasure of killing Bob on his own. He also did not wish to create any undue panic, given he planned to kill Bob long before she executed whatever plans she was making for Mewni's protectors.

Pulling his cap back down over his eyes, the boy set about making himself comfortable.

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⭐⭐ Days later, Star and Marco stepped out of a space-time portal into a graveyard. It was cold, a frigid breeze rustling the bare branches of the trees. Many of the branches and much of the ground was covered in snow. Star closed the portal, then conjured their winter adventuring clothes.

"The royal graveyard ... again," Star said. The graveyard was slightly different from the one they knew at home, and from the Mad King AU; it was located outside the castle battlement wall, surrounded by a wrought-iron fence and mature trees, the cemetery having been established in what had been a forest clearing before Castle Village grew up around it.

The pair heard a weak cough and sniffle. This time they were on the other side of the graveyard, hidden by trees. Star pushed aside a branch for a better look, causing a pile of snow to slide off into the neck of Marco's jacket. He screeched, drawing the attention of whomever coughed.

"Who's there?" a weak voice called. "I see you, in the trees. Come to make fun of me?"

The teens looked at each other. They were breaking their own rules, again. They stepped out, getting their first look at the being behind the mystery voice ... the AU's Star. She appeared to be around sixteen, wearing thin, dirty, torn, clothes, with unkempt, dirty, hair. She was emaciated, and they could smell her unwashed body, even standing yards away from her.

Young Star was on the ground in front of a gravestone that, at the angle they were standing, the pair could not read. They could guess, though, as young Star trembled, staring at Marco.

"Are you ghosts? My imagination?" Noting Star's purple streaks and Marco's Magic-Pips, young Star asked, "Me and Marco from a different timeline?"

The visitors glanced at each other a second time, then walked over to young Star. Kneeling, Marco said, "I'm Marco Diaz, a magical prince from an alternate universe, and this is my girlfriend, Princess Star Butterfly. We're you and Marco from a different timeline, just as you guessed."

Star nodded her head. "I understand that."

At this point Star and Marco read the engraving on the gravestone. It said, "Marco Diaz of Earth, best friend and hero." There were no dates.

Young Star said, "I know little about him. I met him after I was abandoned on Earth. He was sad and abused, just like me. I had tried to commit suicide almost 500 times while being abused and raped, and he was abused for years and suffered from crippling anxiety. We helped each other so much."

Star and Marco looked at each other sidelong; the story was damned familiar.

"I know about alternate timelines because Marco, in a wistful mood, would talk about them. About timelines where we weren't abused, had family who loved us, and lots of friends. Where we were happy."

"Honey," Star said softly, "I don't think any universe is nothing but rainbows and puppies, we all have trials of varying degrees. It comes down to how you play the cards you're dealt. Your trials were far worse than ours, and ours were bad, yet it sounds like both you and Marco are kind, caring, beings."

"Thank you," young Star whispered. She looked up at Star. "Are you two happy?"

Marco took his Star's hand. "It's been a tough road," Marco answered, "and we're not yet at the end of it, but, yeah, I'd say we're happy. You find your happiness where you can. I'm sure you and Marco did, too."

Young Star nodded again, then reached out and laid her hand on Marco's gravestone. "We finally ran away, but his aunt and uncle found us at the same time mom came for me. When I tried to pry Marco from his aunt, she used that strange mechanical weapon, and he jumped in front of the shot. He died."

Young Star returned her hand to her lap and sniffled. She was so dehydrated she could no longer produce tears.

"I think we've visited a timeline like yours before," Star stated. "That Star pulled her Marco into a portal, and he ended up okay; he was recovering in the castle infirmary when we left for home."

Young Star nodded. "It sounds like things were the same up to that point, but my Marco wasn't okay."

"Even without being familiar with guns, the royal doctor or your mother should have been able to save him. What happened?"

Young Star coughed, a fleck of blood appearing on her lips. Her voice noticeably weaker, young Star said, "When we got back, everything was in chaos. Some Monster named Toffee, who had saved me and Marco from being murdered on Earth, was on Mewni protecting the castle against a very powerful magic wielder in a black cloak. A bunch of the castle staff were dead, including the royal doctor. Mom had to join the fight, and my magic was so screwed up that a healing spell from me could kill instead, so I hesitated. Marco died before I could try." She sobbed.

A crash echoed off the castle walls. Looking in the direction it came from, Star and Marco saw flashes of light.

"What's going on out there?" Marco asked.

"I'm not certain. For reasons I don't understand, that being in the cloak was able to use Toffee and his Monsters defending us to turn some of the other kingdoms against us, including the Lucitor Kingdom, which was already angry at us over my rejection of Tom. Mom's been away fighting a war against those kingdoms ever since. I think. I'm not in good shape, I've been out here a very long time. My brain no work so good no more."

Young Star sighed. In barely a whisper, she said, "Marco was the first person in years to show me any kindness. He truly understood, because he'd been through bad things, too. I've never connected with another being like I connected with him. I miss him so much; I want to be with him, where I belong. With or without life, we belong together."

Young Star's eyes began to flutter. Marco quickly pulled her into his arms. Holding her, Marco looked into her eyes as the light left them, extinguished by starvation and hypothermia. Marco hugged her tight, rocking her back and forth, as Star knelt and held him.

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The quiet and darkness of Star's room gave way to the sound and light of an opening space-time portal. Star and Marco walked out of the portal together, Star guiding Marco and practically carrying him. After Star closed the portal with one hand, still dirty from helping bury young Star next to her best friend and hero, the two stood, Star staring at a wall while Marco stared at the floor, his eyes unfocused.

Watching their loves' counterparts die in graveyards, alone if not for their presence, hit Star and Marco hard, especially Marco. His worst nightmare was watching Star die and not being able to prevent it; holding this one as she left the mortal coil devastated him. 🌟🌟

Star guided Marco to his bed then laid him on it. She contemplated joining him, but also wanted to respect his wishes. Pulling over the desk chair with a Raspberry Ribbon Lasso, she sat, taking his hand. Emotionally exhausted, they both quickly fell asleep, fighting their demons in their nightmares, together.

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Several hours later, refreshed, as much as was possible, by their nap, and having related their heart-wrenching adventure to Jej, the teens sat on Star's sofa, talking.

"Why have the last few AUs been so sad?" Star asked. "It was so much fun starting out."

"I dunno," Marco answered. "Maybe it's us subconsciously causing it, because we're still screwed up?"

Star shrugged in response.

"Maybe next time," Marco continued, "we make sure to think happy thoughts, and we'll end up somewhere fun."

"Sounds like a plan."

Marco rubbed his chin thoughtfully, his mind moving on to a pattern he'd noticed. "Star, that's now three dystopias where Star or Marco died due to a being cloaked in black. There are similarities across all AUs, so it could be just a coincidence, but you know me, the 'Safe Kid.'"

Star interjected, "I'm reminded of a saying I learned on Earth: 'once is happenstance; twice is coincidence; thrice is enemy action.'"

"Yeah, good point. I think we should keep our eyes and ears open, here, and in any AU we visit, just in case." Marco chuckled as he turned toward Star. "So much for not using AU knowledge."

"Says the man who was searching for an AU like that one, where Star lost her Marco."

Marco blinked hard, blushing a deep crimson. "How do you know about that?"

"Janna told me."

"Janna!" Marco said, angrily.

"Calm down, Wild Man, it wasn't on purpose. The subject of your 'intervention' came up, and she pretty much fell apart talking about what led up to it. It sorta slipped out when she started crying."

"What?"

"Yeah. That's the most upset I've ever seen her; I've certainly never seen her bawling before. I don't think you realize just how much she cares, how good a friend she is."

Marco was stunned. "So, she was telling the truth." Marco furrowed his brow for a moment, then asked, "Does that mean she ..."

"Yes, she loves you, but like a cherished little brother. I'm pretty sure Tom has her heart in 'that way.'"

"Wow ... although I'm only a few weeks younger than her. Anyhoo ... um ... I'm really sorry, Star. About the search, and for lying about knowing how to create a space-time portal, to cover it up."

Star sighed. "I understand why you did it better than you might realize. Even without being in possession of all my marbles, as Eclipsa likes to say, I still knew how desperately I missed you. That kind of longing can make you do crazy things." It was Star's turn to furrow her brow. "I think I fully understand the dangers of visiting AUs now. If you had found the Star you were looking for, you could've done one hell of a lot of damage to her universe, and possibly our universe as well."

The lovebird-icorns held each other. "I believe you," Marco said. "You may be oblivious a lot, and you may not like studying, but you're not stupid. I know you were pretending you didn't understand anything when you first came to Earth."

Star chuckled. "Can't get anything past you ... well, most things." Star paused, before asking, "Am I right in assuming that's what you said we needed to talk about when you were explaining DNA?"

"Yup," Marco replied.

"Ah, one more thing off the list. But ... if you knew, why did you go along with it?"

"Didn't seem to me it was my place to call you out on it, I was your guide, not your mother. Besides, it was fun, and I figured you were doing it to help me in some way, or to make me happy, and I thought that was cute."

Star smiled, pulled back, then planted a big wet one on his lips. "I love you, Marco."

"I love you, too."

They heard Janna yell, from down the hall, "Ahhhhh, dammit, where's my insulin?"

— OoOoO — O — OoOoO — O — OoOoO —

⭐⭐ Inspired by Echoes of Screams by Bedrock Armor (www dot fanfiction dot net /s/13085726). 🌟🌟

A/N: Today, December 24, 2021, is the one-year anniversary of the release of the first chapter of Star and Marco vs Evil: Evil's Illusory Threat. In honor of that anniversary, and to celebrate the holiday, I am again releasing two chapters back-to-back. Look for the next chapter tomorrow.

As always, stay amazing!