BuffFrog's massive frame filled one of the loveseats in the meeting chambers. Marco and Star sat in a matching seat, facing BuffFrog. Between them was a coffee table filled with snacks. King and Queen Butterfly had positioned armchairs to his left while Mr. and Mrs. Dias sat on the one remaining chair, Marco's mom on her husband's lap.

"I uh… can bring in another seat for you Mrs. Diaz." King Butterfly said, with a cough. Clearly, he was uncomfortable with the PDA.

"Oh no… I love to sit on my cute enchilada's lap." She giggled.

Marco let out a sigh and looked down at his lap. Star's face was relaxed, but she was still unconscious from bringing Ludo back from stone. BuffFrog on the other hand, seemed to be cradling a newborn baby, as Ludo's mind had yet to return. He was a blubbering sobbing mess. No one could understand what he was saying. BuffFrog took a few snacks and fed them to Ludo, trying to keep him calm while everyone else sat in awkward silence.

"So… how are the tadpoles?" Marco asked, trying to break the heaviness in the air.

"Oh… they're good. They are no longer eggs. They are swimming all around the house. Is a handful for Greta." He said proudly.

"Oh, you meet someone?" Marco asked, absentmindedly running his fingers through Star's hair. For as long and thick as her hair was, it was surprisingly easy to run his fingers through. He wondered if it's all the times she magicked it into the various styles.

"Oh no… Greta is not like that. She is… tadpole sitter." BuffFrog chuckled. "No, this time in my life is too crazy to look for a mate, though my mudhole is quite lonely sometimes when the children are asleep."

Marco nodded in agreement. He felt bad BuffFrog was a single father raising an arm full of tadpoles by himself… while he was dealing with being in love with two women… one whose head is in his lap, and the other a literal world away.

"What's… happening?" a tiny voice cracked from the makeshift swaddling cloth.

"He's back," BuffFrog said. "Ludo… you're safe."

"Toffee… he… am I dead?" Ludo asked. His tiny quivering frame melted away Marco's initial hatred of him. All the fights he participated with the tiny demonic chicken, he would never wish for his foe to be reduced to… this.

BuffFrog glanced at King and Queen Butterfly, shaking his head.

"I will need time to nurse him back to health. I must contact Greta, see if she can stay longer."

"I'll make arrangements," Queen Butterfly said. Her regal stature composed while glancing at the unconscious Star.

"Ludo…" Marco said coldly.

"Wha? Oh, Marco! H-how have you been?" Ludo stuttered and fidgeted with his hands nervously. He looked up to BuffFrog who still held him to his chest.

"Star saved your life… this thing, between us? It's over." Marco said. He could feel his gaze slowly crushing Ludo.

"Well. I mean of course…" Ludo stammered.

"No," Marco said. His cold tone made clear of his intentions. "If you attack us, or any other Mewnies again… I will personally crush your neck with my bare hands and watch the life drain from your eyes..."

"Marco!" Mr. Diaz shouted.

Marco slid out from under the sleeping Star and stormed out of the room, leaving a clearly shaken Ludo staring after him.

"I'll just stand next to him and watch," whispered Star from the corner of her mouth, as she went back to feign sleeping. Ludo's face was filled with abject terror as BuffFrog shrugged.

"Heh… just give him a bit to cool down." Mr. Diaz chuckled to a stunned King and Queen Butterfly.

OoOoO

Marco fumbled with the dimensional scissors and sliced a hole in space-time. He took a step through and was in his room. He needed some fresh air, and the whole of Mewnie felt cramped.

As soon as he sat on his bed, his phone exploded with text messages. It was from Jackie

You back yet?

I miss you

I hope you're thinking about me

Please call me soon, I had a bad day at school.

It went on for a while. Marco forgot how long he was in Mewnie and looked to be a good week judging by the missed calls. He felt terrible leaving her like this.

Marco let out a scream and punched his bedroom wall. His hand broke through the drywall, and pain shot up his arm. Looking down, he saw his knuckles red and a small drop of blood from the impact run down.

Taking a calming breath and resolving himself. He made a call.

OoOoO

Marco sipped on a Slurpee and sat on the park swing. Spending enough time with Jackie, hey could pick out the distinct sound of her skateboard as she rode up next to him.

"Hey, Jackie...mfrH!" Marco said, His face was immediately shoved into her chest as she dove to hug him.

"Oh my god, I've been so worried!" Jackie said and hugged tighter. Marco patted her shoulder, letting her know to let go. He took a deep breath and tried to recover his composure.

"It's good to see you, Jackie, I missed you too…" Marco said. Before he could continue. Jackie shoved him out of the swing. He landed on the soft sand underneath unharmed but was immediately pounced upon by his girlfriend.

"What… are you doing?" Marco asked, her devious grin told him all he needed to know. She was a tiger and he was her prey.

"I… really… missed you." She said and leaned down to kiss him.

Any and all protests that filled Marco's mind was washed away in the euphoria. His hands caressed her back while they exchanged passionate kisses. Her hands slid under his shirt. He winced from the cold, but they felt good.

His hands moved from down her back to feeling her firm butt over her jeans skirt.

"We… we should stop…" Marco panted and tried to sit up. Jackie having the leverage shoved him back down and grinned.

"It's 10 at night, no one is here." She giggled and pulled up his shirt. She playfully bit his ribs, causing him to wince from the tickle. "I'll tell you a secret."

"Jackie…" Marco pleaded.

"I'm not wearing underwear" Jackie whispered.

Marco's mind blanked out at that statement. Her hands moved from his chest to working his belt off and unbuttoned his pants.

"I… Jackie… I…" Marco's mind was flooded with euphoria as she kissed his stomach and slowly worked her way down.

Star's face flashed in his mind.

Jackie almost made it to her target when sanity (or insanity, depending who you ask) took hold.

"JACKIE," Marco said louder and sat up. "Please stop!"

Jackie's devious grin fell to a look of concern. She sat up, still straddling him, but scooted back enough to let him sit up.

"Marco, what's wrong?" Jackie asked. "I… I was too forceful wasn't I? I thought, with all you're going through."

"No… no, I really don't mind." Marco chuckled.

"There's a but coming isn't there," Jackie said. She stood up off Marco and smoothed out her skirt. "God I'm an idiot. Why wouldn't there be a but coming."

"There's no but, Jackie. I needed to talk to someone. I'm really having a hard time over there and I needed you. You just… surprised me is all."

Jackie sat on the swing next to where Marco was. He took up his original space and pushed off slightly.

"I… scared myself," Marco said. "Ludo… he was turned to stone. Star brought him back."

"Little chicken dude?" Jackie asked.

"Yeah… I told him if he attacks us again… I was going to kill him. I would crush his neck with my bare hands and watch the life drain from his eyes." Marco said. "At first, I thought I was bluffing to scare him… but now… I don't think I was.'

Jackie paused mid-swing and looked down. Her hair covered her eyes, Marco couldn't tell what she was thinking.

"Could you really do that?" Jackie asked. "The sweet, kind, and awkward Marco I know… I don't think... he could ever do... something like that.."

They sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity.

Marco reached out his hand and grabbed Jackie's. He continued swinging, absentmindedly, feeling her cold hand in his.

Marco looked down at Jackie's hand. It was really cold.

"Jackie, let me give you my hoodie, you're freezing," Marco said. Getting up, he let go of Jackie's hand, and she slumped out of the swing and fell to the ground.

"Jackie… what's going on?" Marco said, his throat caught when he looked at the awkward pose she landed in. "Jackie?"

Marco turned her over, her eyes were closed, but all color was drained from her face.

"Jackie!" Marco screamed. He felt her pulse, to find she had none. He started CPR, but nothing worked. Grabbing his phone, he started to call 911, when he paused mid-dial. Deep down, he knew what had happened.

Toffee.

OoOoO

"EVERYONE MAKE WAY!" Marco screamed as he carried Jackie's limp body in his arms. He ran full speed through the castle, straight to Star's room. With no knock, he kicked in the door to find Star and her parents talking.

"Toffee did something to Jackie! I know it!" Marco sobbed.

King Butterfly took the limp body from his hands. The relief of weight was too much, and he crumpled to the floor.

"Get our doctors and Glossaryck in here." Queen Butterfly ordered. One of the guards ran down the hall.

Star scampered to Marco and held him. He couldn't see through the tears. Just a vague outline of Jackie as she was laid on the bed.

"Tell me you can fix her… please?" Marco choked.

"We'll do what we can," Star said. She held and restrained him as he frantically tried to reach for Jackie.

The castle's doctors rushed in and inspected her cold body. Glossaryck even examined her and shook his head.

"Indeed this was magic from the wand," Glossyric said solemnly. "It's still there, but I don't know why."

BuffFrog came in carrying Ludo. he looked over at Marco and the unfamiliar girl on Star's bed.

"What has happened to the tiny girl?" BuffFrog asked.

"Isn't that the girl Marco liked?" Ludo commented. "The one we used to distract him from Star?"

Marco's eyes dried up. He slowly stood up from Star's lap and turned to Ludo.

"M… Marco! You look like you're feeling better." Ludo stammered.

Marco's arms quivered in rage as he glared at Ludo.

"Friend Marco, what are you looking at us like that for?" BuffFrog asked.

Before he could finish the sentence, Marco lunged forward and snatched Ludo from BuffFrog's arms and slammed the tiny creature against the wall. His hand was around his throat squeezing as tight as he could.

"GahhH!" was all Ludo could say. Everyone in the room stood dumbfounded as Marco choked the life out of Ludo.

"You… set the whole thing up?" Marco screamed in rage. He squeezed harder and slammed the back of Ludo's head against the stone wall. The tiny chicken's eyes rolled in the back of his head and froth came from his silent gasping beak.

Marco's vision was blocked by a floating blue man. Glossaryck hovered in front of Marco and rested his hand on his shoulder.

"He may know things we need," Glossaryck said calmly. Marco's rage ebbed and he let Ludo go. The tiny chicken creature slid down the wall to be caught by BuffFrog. He gasped and held his throat, a wild look of fear in his eyes.

"Well, it almost went according to plan." Said a familiar voice. "I guess my sweet Marco didn't really have it in him to break that traitor's neck."

Marco looked over to where the voice was coming from.

Everyone let out a gasp as Jackie Lynn sat up and stared at Marco… with Toffee's crocodile eyes.

"King and Queen Butterfly, Princess Butterfly," Jackie sat up and bowed to each one. "Ludo…"

"I'm disappointed BuffFrog, but it's not unexpected," Jackie-Toffee said with a smirk on her face as she turned to Star.

"I assume you're the one who broke Ludo free from my spell?" Jacky-Toffee said with a grin. "You're just as strong as your mother."

"You won't get away with this!" Queen Butterfly shouted. "I defeated you once… I'll do it again!"

"Please, Moon… You and Star are san wand… and I doubt your natural powers are going to be a match for us." Jackie-Toffee chuckled and sat regally on a seat. "Plus… I have a hostage."

"Let her go you cheap handbag!" Marco shouted. Before anyone could react, a wavy dagger was in Jackie-Toffee's hand and held against her throat.

"Star seemed to have recovered from that cursed poison." She chuckled. "How sturdy are humans?"

She checked her nails nonchalantly while everyone froze.

"I had hoped to use this on you in the park. But, since I heard you talk about Ludo, I had to see if you'd follow your word and kill him for me."

Marco's stomach dropped.

"How… long were you in control of Jacky?" Marco asked sheepishly

Jackie-Toffee chuckled, and the crocodile eyes faded, the knife still held to her throat.

"I'm not wearing underwear," Jackie-Toffee said sultrily. Everyone's gaze was on Marco.

"Nothing happened!" Marco yelled defensively. "She's being possessed, stop looking at me!"

"We are going to be having a talk later, young man." Mr. Diaz remarked, with his mother nodding in approval. Star gave him a sharp elbow to his ribs.

"You… you're evil! I mean, Ludo, he's bad. But this?" Marco stammered. Jackie-Toffee let out a low chuckle.

"I figured I'd give you the one thing you desired before you died. You worked so hard and failed. She would have been a consolation… a swan song." Jackie-Toffee said and move the knife away from her throat. She continued running the poisoned blade across her palm absentmindedly.

"Toffee… please let her go." Marco pleaded. Jackie-Toffee rubbed her chin in consideration. He held out the dagger to Marco.

"Take it." He said. Marco gingerly stepped forward and took the wavy serrated blade. "Stab Ludo and BuffFrog and I'll release the woman."

Marco looked at the terrified duo, and down at the knife.

"Let me make this clear." Toffee said. "If you don't. Then I'll snap this puppet's neck."

"Marco!" Mr. and Mrs. Diaz said in unison.

"We don't have a choice," Marco said, almost robot like. "They're bad guys… They were trying to kill us for months."

He took a step forward, his hair covering his eyes as he wiped tears streaming from his face.

"M...Marco… I know we've had our little squabbles, but I never actually tried to kill you!" Ludo stammered in protest. BuffFrog tried to look for an escape but was surrounded by guards. King and Queen Butterfly never gave any signal for Marco to stop, or have the guards stop him.

"It was fine Ludo," Marco said with his defeated voice. "I had fun. But, you know I have to do this… This is Jackie"

Marco took another step forward. BuffFrog fell to his knees clutching Ludo to his chest. The tiny chicken quivered hysterically.

"BuffFrog… if you hold out Ludo for Marco. I promise your Tadpoles will be safe." Jackie-Toffee said with a laugh.

"But… who will care for them when I'm gone?" BuffFrog whimpered. Jackie-Toffee just chuckled.

"Who will you care for when you get home?" She replied. BuffFrog's eyes watered, as he shrugged.

"Star and I will make sure they're okay," Marco said and took another step forward. "Star and I will make everything is okay."

BuffFrog locked eyes with Marco and nodded. Turning his face, he held out a frantic and screaming Ludo.

"M...Marco! Hahaha… okay, this is going too far! Please Please!" Ludo pleaded. Marco stared at the bane of his time with Star and grabbed the tiny deformed chicken from BuffFrog's outstretched hand.

"You… almost killed Star with this poison." Marco growled.

"That wasn't me! That was Toffee!" Ludo screamed.

"You ordered the attack!" Marco snapped. "You were there! Your lust for power started all this! Toffee is the result of your scheming! The women I love were both hurt, and the person in the center of it all is you!"

Marco dragged the dagger blade across his cheek. A black vine coursed through the wound and pumped through his face. He could hear a collective gasp from his and Star's parents, seeing that he went through with it.

"I want you to feel what Star felt," Marco growled.

"Marco…" he heard Star whisper.

Marco tossed Ludo in front of Jackie-Toffee. He screamed, holding his face as the black snake-like vines grew out of the small dagger cut on his cheek. Jackie-Toffee chuckled in delight as Ludo's eyes rolled in the back of his head. His quiver body frothed as he gasped for breath.

Jackie-Toffee looked up and smiled at Marco.

"You're half done then," she chuckled. Marco didn't look away from her and threw the knife behind him. There was a sickening sound as BuffFrog let out a pained croak.

The dagger was buried up to the hilt in the center of his chest.

"Marco… look after the tadpoles," he said and slumped down.

"A deal's a deal," Marco said. "Let her go."

Jackie-Toffee stared at Marco. Marco stared back, unflinching. She gave him a crooked smile and snapped her finger.

The eyes of Toffee receded, and Jackie slumped over.