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Marco prepared himself for one of the hardest challenges he could ever pit himself against, while also trying to keep his excitement in check. He had spent years of his life as 'just the Safe Kid,' only to now be hailed as a warrior god meant to end, simply, a war. But in truth, there was nothing simple about it. Thousands of men were fighting for a cause he barely knew about and would have the ultimate choice of ending the war themselves.

It was agreed that he and Star would fight for either country against each other and that once the two made peace, the countries they backed would hopefully follow in turn. But the cold reality sunk in deep within him. That if their actions headed no results, they had no choice but to let the war rage on, and try to make the best of things as they had always done. While this sentiment scared Marco, he was more nervous about the prospect of having to fight Star.

When he and Star fought in the past, it was always either in fun or specifically for training. They never really fought for a cause like this, and Marco could tell that she was just as nervous as him. As he walked through the military camp with Petrov, he couldn't help but meet eyes with the very men and women he was trying to save. Though it was just a ruse, they all looked to him in awe and amazement. There really was nothing on this planet to match the scale of what they had heard of him, and what he was about to do.

"You nervous?" A calm and collected Petrov asked him. She gestured to the battlefield before them and smiled. "I always tell my men before a battle, that no matter what happens, no matter what you see, the people you fight for will always have your back." Marco let his confident demeanor falter for a moment as he stared ahead. "Not this time," he muttered. She returned his expression and looked out before them as well. "She's made her choice. Do not waver, and I'm sure we can come out on top."

Marco knew that in a sense, she was right. As long as he didn't hold back, they might be convincing enough to bring peace. So many people would be spared from a conflict that he and Star had inadvertently caused by leaving. They may have put a stop to Machinor, but it only brought about another terrible reality that they needed to clean up.

"Get your men back, and I'll take care of the rest. Hopefully, no one else needs to die for your people's war." Marco punctuated the last words he spoke by unsheathing his scissor blades and igniting their edges in a glorious sapphire blaze. Petrov ignored the display before her and simply kept her eyes locked on Marco. "My people fight this war because there's a greater evil in this world that must be stopped."

Marco turned to face her and scowled. "I knew an immortal man who shared your ideas. It was his mission to bring equality and justice to his kind, and it didn't matter who died, so long as he got his way. Two wrongs, don't make a right. I only hope you learn that before it's too late." He cut a scarlet portal into the air and stepped through, deposited neatly in the battlefield amongst a slew of charging Dewjans.

He cut another larger portal in the air and pointed his blade to it. "All of you! Get back to camp! Hurry! It's not safe here!" He shouted impatiently, making the charge promptly stop in its tracks. As the men begrudgingly began retreating, a war horn sounded in the distance. He turned to face the noise and saw a charging battalion of Vintal soldiers rushing towards him, weapons at the ready. This was it: the beginning of the end. He took a battle stance and looked around nervously before a wall of pink energy rose from the ground to block the soldier's path.

"No one fights him but me." A powerful voice echoed over the battlefield. Every single soldier stopped dead where they stood as a lone Star Butterfly strolled through the middle. The soldiers marveled at her radiating power as she parted the energy wall for only a second. Before allowing it to return as she stepped through, she turned back to face them and glared as she walked. Marco had to take a moment to observe her because she no longer looked like the lovable, carefree girl she had always been. She wore an expression Marco remembered seeing when she first met Toffee in Ludos castle.

She wore her Mewman suit of armor and held her wand by her side, eyebrows furrowed at one spot. Marco. He gulped anxiously and stepped closer to her, hoping that they could at least have a short word before this started. When they were no more than ten feet apart, they both stopped and turned to face their respective armies. "THIS BATTLE WILL SIGNIFY THE VICTOR OF THIS WAR, ONCE AND FOR ALL!" Marco shouted, his voice echoing over the hills. "ANYONE WHO DISAGREES WILL BE DEALT WITH AS A TRAITOR TO THEIR COUNTRY, AND WILL ANSWER TO US!"

Stars voice carried further but the message was clear to all: This was the end of the war, one way or another. Not a voice of objection was heard, rather, a collected cheer of encouragement rung from every soul around. Both Star and Marco turned to face one another before taking their battle stance. "Hey, Star. You look nice," Marco whispered. She smiled slightly under her helmet and nodded. "You look pretty cool too, Marco. I'll try to go easy on you."

This made Marco smile, remembering just how powerful she really was. But they had to keep it believable, or the entire plan would fail. A lot was riding on this, and they couldn't afford to let up. "Be safe, but dont hold back. Are you ready?" She gripped her wand as it glowed a bright sky blue. "Don't worry babe. And yes. Let's do this."

The roaring cheers of either army began to die down, replaced only by a rhythmic pounding of war drums. Marco took a step back before sparking both blades against one another, eying Star with intent. She returned in kind by stretching a bubble of pulsating magic from her wand, holding it back like an arrow. The world seemed to slow down as the air between them was charged with anticipation.

Marco took his chance and moved forward towards her. She drew back her shot and fired at him with blinding speed. Marco had only a moment to react before slicing the bolt of screaming pink magic in two. Both halves flew to either side of him and blew the ground behind him to smoldering dust as he dove through the portal and flew out high above Star, his armor blazing with fire. She looked up and ignited her eyes in blue flames as well before aiming her wand to the sky.

"Heartbreak Storm!" She shouted, her wand receiving the command and blasting a pulse of red, cackling energy upwards. Marco grinned as he fell and swung his blade downward, creating a roaring arc of blue flames that burst with fury against Stars attack. The air sizzled with purple heat as Marco sailed through the micro storm cloud. She stared up at him and dove backward with like a bullet as he struck where she had just been. When he hit, he sunk his blades into the ground and filled it with torrents of flame, bursting it like a giant stone bubble. Chunks of rock and dirt flew in every direction as the blast and heat could be felt behind the front lines.

The chanting of troops for their fighters quickly turned into a roar of excitement as Marco flew from the fireball towards Star. She summoned an arcing blue magical blade from her wand and swung it to parry Marcos oncoming strike. He swung for her side as his blade bit into her blue sword of magic, pushing him to the side as she cast her next spell. "Warnicorn Stampede!" she yelled, sending a volley of angry warnicorns at him. He eyed them with intent before digging both blades into the ground and blasting it apart. He shot through the air like a screaming ball of fire straight over the warnicorns before holding both blades out wide. Spinning wildly, he sent a whirlwind of flames straight for Star.

She glared at him and brought her wand up before her, aimed directly at the flaming disk. "Glitterbomb Cannonball!" A radiant ball of orange light shot out and met Marcos strike with concussive fury. The blast ripped the ground apart beneath it and sent both Star and Marco flying apart. A massive ball of flame roared before slowly turning to black smoke and rising to reveal the scorched earth beneath it. As chunks of rock fell from the sky, soldiers stopped chanting and looked on in silent amazement.

Marco stood shakily and fell backward into a portal to avoid catching a Narwhal Blast with his face. He turned in midair and clashed both blades together to force a wave of blue fire at Star. She swung her wand in the air before jumping to the side to avoid being ripped apart by the fire's edge. "Neon Strawberry Lasso!" She whipped her wand over her head and shot out a pink magical rope that wrapped around Marcos' waist. He had only a second to blink before she brought her wand down hard, sending him along with it.

He hit the ground like a meteor and as the dust cleared, he saw Star edging closer, her wand glowing with power. "Shooting Star...Explosion," she whispered, firing a torrent of stars right at him. He brought up a blade and jumped forward, slicing down through the air. Where his sword arced, a wave of fire followed and fell against the ground. Shooting stars exploded as they hit the wall of cobalt flames, ripping the burning grass to shreds.

"You're getting a little soft there, Star! I thought you were trying to hit me!" he yelled. She glared at him as a flash of lime green fire blazed over her eyes before turning back to blue. "Oh, I'll hit you alright! But only after you stop running!" The armies around them roared and chanted their fighters names as the two stared each other down. "Why would I do that? You make it sound like you've been trying."

Marco swung both blades around his side as he sent another wave of flaming force right for Star. "Concussive Disarm Shockwave!" she yelled, firing a sonic pulse from the center of her wand. Marco had no time to react as he and his attack were blasted back thirty yards, his scissor blades blown out of his hands. He rolled back onto his feet and took his usual karate stance as Star swung her wand around in a wide arc trailed by a ball of light. "Rainbow Fist Punch!" She swung it wide and sent a massive fist of every color right for him.

Marco inhaled sharply as his armor ignited with fervor, blue flames fluttering over his shoulders. He dug in his heels and just as the radiant fist was upon him, threw a heavy right punch forward. Fist collided with fist and the space around him unraveled in a fiery shockwave. A jarring blast ripped apart the ground as a deafening boom rattled his eyes inside his skull.

Star was awestruck but gave Marco no time to breathe. As he picked up his blades and tore his tattered right sleeve from his armor, he had to dive through a portal to his right to avoid a crystalline laser that bore through the air with heated fury. He flew out behind Star and drove both heels into her back as flames pulsed from behind her. She was thrown far through the air and tumbled hard as Marco portaled into her path.

He sunk both blades into the ground and filled it with another massive bubble of surging heat. Just as Star fell upon him, he blasted the ground below her apart and sent her flying through the air. The flames billowed apart and Star landed hard in the grass as he landed smoothly a few yards away. Marco stopped for a moment to ensure she was still okay, and to his relief, she slowly returned to her feet.

"I'm sorry, Star. Are you okay?" he whispered tenderly, hoping she wasnt hurt. He knew she wasnt burned by any of his fire, but the kick was probably too far. She stood shakily and gripped her wand tighter as she glared at him. "That. Hurt." She muttered with an icy tone that chilled Marco to his core. "I'm sorry I hurt you. We can stop now if you want to, Star, or we can-" She bent her knees as her wand began to glow a deep green that was all too familiar to Marco.

"Im not done with you, Marco. That. Hurt." She spat, her deeper voice edging with an anger that spilled with death. "Star? Are you okay?" he said with growing unease. She didn't answer, but simply breathed a quiet, shaky breath that fueled the emerald flames on her shoulders. "Let's find out," she muttered, in what seemed like two indistinct voices.

She blasted a marvelous ball of green energy right at him, which was easily deflected to the side. It blew apart the ground to his left but before he could react, another ball slammed into his right leg and blasted him twenty yards away in a charred huff. He rolled to his feet and held both blades at the ready, but winced, shifting his weight to his left side. "Star! What are you-"

She held her wand out in front of her and spoke with anger at the world around. "Cataclysmic Total Extinction Death Blast." Her wand hummed with energy and Marco stepped back, his blades drawn up defensively. "What kind of attack is that? This isn't the plan," he warned quietly. But there was no answer. The hum grew louder and without warning, a shimmering orb of green light trailed by sparks of electricity reaching for the ground shot out towards Marco.

In the blink of an eye, he brought up both blades to form an x and caught the orb of power, fighting to keep it at bay as it arced energy through them. He was pushed back slowly as Star strolled casually around him. "You know I never got to use this spell that day. You stopped me. But not this time, boy." Marco struggled to fight the raging power against him as he shakily glanced at his lover. "Star, this isn't you! It's Toffee! He's inside your wand!"

"Yes, I am. But only long enough to make sure you don't pester me any longer than you plan to. This is goodbye, Marco Diaz of Earth. It's been a pleasure." Star exhaled as her flames grew larger before she aimed her wand at him. Marco grit his teeth and shot a glance at the armies watching. He closed his eyes and gripped his blades as Star shot a green blast of energy right for his side.

"I really, really hate that lizard," he muttered. He turned his left blade to carry the weight and threw his right scissor at Stars feet. She stared in awe at it and sunk through the fresh portal in the ground as Marco caught the blast with his right side. He screamed in pain and with one final push of firey intent, he roared in anger as the ball was propelled backward between the armies. It ripped through the air and soared into the distance as Marco clutched his wounded side. He bit back the pain in his body as adrenaline pushed him past his limits.

He ran to collect his second scissor and just as he gripped its hilt, a blinding green light lit up the hills around him. He faced the massive shockwave that was roaring towards the battlefield and grit his teeth. "This is going to hurt, a lot," he seethed. His armor danced with sapphire flames as his scissors glowed with anticipation. Marco took off in a sprint towards the fireball and readied himself to strike.

As the soldiers on either side of the hills began moving away from their inevitable doom, Marco blasted himself into the air and inhaled a slow, deep breath. "I raise my blades to answer your call, and to end this fight, once and for all." He brought down both blades hard to form two massive arcs of flaming force that roared towards their target. His arms, for the first time, burned all the way up as his fire drained down them and through his blades. There was a split second of silence, where the only sound in the world was the wind whipping around him.

Like two windborne waves, his strikes found their mark against the approaching devastation. Rather than slice through it, the green flood of destruction was pushed back into itself. As a vacuum of wind pulled it backward, Marco cut a portal and fell through, drained of his strength. He rocketed out of his portal back to the center of the battlefield and tumbled over the ruts of dirt and charred grass. As he came to a stop, he watched the green ball of fire slowly collapse in on itself and burst like a bubble, sending every ounce of force straight into the clouds above.

As the winds died down, Marco lay on his back, clutching his blades. "Okay, maybe this was a bad idea. I don't want to be a god anymore," he groaned. His side still ached with pain but the rest of his body would not be ignored. As he slowly rose to his feet, he felt every hit take its toll on him. "You did good, boy. But I can do this all day," a voice chided.

Marco turned to see Star, no longer ablaze with power, but still very angry. Her eyes were now emerald green, and her wand was pointed right for Marco. "I'm anything but a savage, so I'll let you decide how you wish to die." He leaned on his left leg and dropped his blades, staring at her. "Star, you dont need to do this. Fight him. You did it last time."

At his words, tufts of angry green fire formed around her eyes, as her expression turned to a glare. "I mean. Forget about last time. I know you can do it this time. You're stronger than him. You're stronger than me. Please." Marco held his hands up gently and took a step towards her, but she blasted the ground at his feet to keep him at bay. "You're out of time, my boy. Sorry to be so cliché about it, but its been nice knowing you."

Her wand began to charge with green energy as he took a step closer. It sizzled around the edges and the half star at the center glowed bright green in an all too familiar way. She grinned wickedly with a blank stare, but just before she could fire, Marco spoke with a hushed voice only she could hear.

"It was no secret, the way that we feel.

A love that's so pure, a love that's so real."

Her wand slowly lost its hum as the billowing green fire began to quiet. Stars cold glare began to shift to a longing gaze as her eyes never left Marco. The wand glowed brighter in pulses and hummed loudly as if to protest, but Star remained silent.

"I showed you my world, and it felt like a sign.

But I acted too slow, and I ran out of tiime."

Star lowered the wand and glared at the man before her as the green light flickered for just a moment. "Have you really taken to singing your way out of this. Truly. Pathetic."

"And now we'll be, just friends. We will be, just friends. And all we'll be, is just friends."

"Really that's enough! Im ending this now!" Star raised her wand but found no power in it. Its hum was lost and the green energy that swirled around it dissipated entirely.

"I didn't mean to hurt you, I didn't have a clue.

So you went out and got busy, And found somebody new.

But now we'll be, just friends. We will be...something more than friends..."

As she drew a shaky breath, all the fire died down completely, and her eyes returned to normal. "Dont you dare hurt Marco." He stared at her in shock as she dropped to her knees and clutched the grass beneath her. With one final burst of green flames, she breathed a slow breath and eyed him. "Told ya I'd win."

Marco sighed and allowed gravity to take control of him. His right side was battered and broken and he slumped to the ground beside the warrior princess. She breathed hard for a moment as Marco grabber her hand. "I was hoping you were in there. I didn't know if you'd be able to hear me." She pulled him into a tight hug and nearly squeezed the life out of him. "Dont you EVER tell me we're just friends again. And next time you almost win a fight, I'll finish the job."

Marco smiled warmly and hugged her back. "Thank you, Star. And really, I'm so sorry." A hot wind blew through the hills to remind them that there was still a war around them and that a near nuclear detonation had just been averted. "It's okay, Marco. Let's just end this war so we can go home. I think I've had enough alone time for a while."

He pulled back and looked at her with curiosity, through a newly forming black eye of course. "Are you sure? What about Grenor and our jobs here?" She only smiled and ruffled his dusty hair. "They'll be here if we want to come back. But we...we have some other business first. And we need to figure out some stuff." Her expression turned cold and she helped Marco to his feet, both of them facing the armies watching with intent.

It was Star who spoke first, raising her wand in the air as Marco held a blade high above his head. Both of them igniting their weapons with cold blue blazes. "THIS IS THE END OF YOUR WAR AND YOUR STUPID DIFFERENCES!" "THERE IS NO CLEAR VICTOR, AS THE ONLY THING REMAININGWILL BE A SCORCHED LAND AND A DYING KINGDOM!" The soldiers began to shift nervously as generals and warriors alike murmured amongst each other of the unexpected outcome. But the beings before them continued.

"YOU WILL CEASE THIS NEVER ENDING VIOLENCE AT ONCE! AND YOU WILL WORK AS ONE, LIKE US, TO REBUILD!" Marco held Stars hand and drove his raised blade into the ground. A pulse of movement radiated out in every direction like a ripple, rolling over the hills under every soldier. "AND IF YOU DON'T? WE WILL RETURN! ONLY NEXT TIME; UNITED AGAINST YOU ALL!"

The ground beneath them cracked with heat, but before it could swell, Marco withdrew his blade and held it at his side. Star looked at him nervously and leaned closer. "Are you sure about this?" she whispered. "We don't want to make them hate us." Marco looked expectantly at the now silent crowd and shrugged. "Only one way to find out. C'mon, we need to find John and get out of here."

She nodded as he cut a portal for them to step through, landing them near the Vintal army camp. Soldiers could be seen in the distance running towards the battlefield followed by a group of officers. Star took an unsteady look around at the camp before noticing Marco was limping beside her. "Marco! Your leg...w-was that...me?" she asked, worried that the injuries her friend had sustained were due to her lack of control. "Yeah. But no," he breathed. "It wasn't you. Toffee took control like he did to Ludo. Do you remember?"

The two slowly made their way towards the camp, careful not to be seen, as they managed to flag down John near their designated meeting place. "No. I dont remember that. Or this. It's like a gap in my memory." She eyed John as he approached, clearly pleased with himself in some way before his expression turned to one of shock. "You guys definitely went too far. But, it worked. The leaders of both armies have agreed to meet to discuss the terms of a treaty. After seeing your spectacle, and an explosion of volcanic proportions, they've decided that they can't risk...well. Pissing you off."

Star breathed a sigh of relief and held Marco close. His right side was charred and bleeding, and his right leg was torn up. She felt waves of guilt for taking it too far, but she was happy that he was safe. "That's good," Star cut in. "As long as they aren't fighting each other, we've done our job. But, I need to get Marco home, for a lot of reasons."

John seemed surprised by this but nodded, sure that they knew what they were doing. The boy looked like hed been pulverized, blown up, and shredded. "I'll tell my father what happened here today. No doubt everyone else in Vintal will be happy to hear about this." Star smiled at the idea of earning more rep here, but knew that because of what they had done, and said, there would always be a bit of fear behind their names. Things wouldn't be the same for a long time. And speaking of time.

"Well," Marco began. "While we may be gone for a while; thanks to a lot of, problems back home, we won't take as long to return. Time in your dimension now runs parallel with ours." He didn't mention that it only did that when they weren't here, simply because it wasn't pertinent information. In truth, Marco felt uneasy about when exactly they would return, given that so much needed to be fixed back home first. But he took solace in that it wouldn't take as long this time around.

John smiled and shook Marcos hand before taking a soft look at Star. "Thank you, both of you, for what you continue to do for us. Words cannot express my gratitude. When I first found you in camp, I had no idea what I would witness of you. But I'm glad I could be here to help." Star looked around and smiled. "Thank you. We hope things go well for Vintal and Dewjah. Take care of Grenor for us, and be safe ya knucklehead."

John began making his way back to camp as Star took out the pair of scissors from Marcos belt. "How many times do I have to carry you back home?" she asked mockingly. Marco only smiled and kissed her cheek before speaking. "It's like St Olgas all over again. But I'm glad you're safe."

She cut open a portal and helped him to stand on his own, though shakily at first. "I wish I could say the same for you. You're really hurt Marco." Both of them stepped through the Portal and were deposited in Stars bedroom a little after dark. The rest of the house was quiet and asleep, save for a very wise, and very smug voice.

"How was your little outing to vacation land?" Glossaryk asked. Star glared at him and gestured to Marcos battered, younger body, and then her own rather trashed suit of armor. "How do ya think it went?" She spat. He floated over to Marco and assessed his wounds. "Oh my. These aren't just regular wounds; these are-" He slowly turned to face Star with a rarely used nervous expression. "Did you do this, Star?"

She nodded and set her wand down on the nightstand. "It was an accident. We stopped a war but-" She tried to finish, but Marco cut in. "But it wasn't your fault. Toffee took control." He turned to face Glossaryk with an expression demanding focus. "This didn't happen last time. Why?" Glossaryk looked gravely at the wand before turning his attention to Marco directly. He hovered just in front of the boy and shook his head. "We may have altered too much. Vartek went back to kill Star, and we thought sending you back as well would avert a crisis. But we may have only caused another."

Marco furrowed his brow and stared at the educator before him, unsure of whether or not he wanted an answer to his next question. "What's that mean? What's going to change?" Glossaryk shook his head and eyed both teens with worry. "Everything, my boy. Things are different. Things that shouldn't be."

Marco sat beside Star on the edge of her bed and took off his battered armor. "Then we need to be careful. There's no telling what either of those monsters might do." Star shook her head and glanced at Glossaryk. "What should we do?" He smiled smugly and began floating down to the open spellbook on the floor. "I'd suggest doing what you two usually do. Don't damage the course of events any more than you have to, and be alert."

He sunk down into the book, allowing it to close around him, as Marco laid back on Stars bed. "Well, business as usual then. So long as I can have nurse Star help me with my side like after St. O's." She punched his arm drawing a sharp wince from her boyfriend. "You wish, lover boy. C'mon. Let's get you cleaned up."

To be continued in: What You Once Were

AUTHORS NOTE

Hey yall, sorry for those of you who didn't enjoy the Vintal arc, but happy to say that I will be continuing regular episode storylines again since things are. *ahem* ...Heating up! :D

Yeah, I didn't think it was that funny either. Anywho, enjoy your day and leave a review with your thoughts or suggestions! Have a good one! And yes, for those asking: I do read my chapters before releasing them. BUH BYYYEEE!!!!

~Mr. Ronald Reagan