(See the end of the chapter for notes .)

Chapter Text

‘This is sort of like poetry, it rhymes, you know?’

‘What the fuck are you going on about now?’ Marco thought, pulling a chair over to the living room, along with everyone else.

‘Well, we’re back downstairs, getting ready to have a conversation that no one actually wants to have.’ Kar thought. ‘You know, like this morning.’

‘That doesn’t make it poetry, Kar. That just makes it repetitive.’

‘Isn’t that what poetry is?’

“Are you two quite finished?” Moon said, shooting them a look as she and River sat down.

Ugh. Right. He forgot he was being ‘rude’ by thinking. Marco noticed his parents and Star were staring at them as well.

“I’m good. Sorry about that, folks,” Kar said, without a care in the world.

“Yeah. Sorry,” Marco said, taking a seat by everyone else. Marco had a chair right next to his for Kar to rest his body on. It looked ridiculous, and Kar was reveling in that fact.

Kar had been unusually obnoxious since they went downstairs, but he supposed the carefree mood he displayed was an attempt to clear his mind. Marco would take Asshole-Kar over Distraught-Kar any day, so he didn’t mind.

“You know,” River began. “There’s something oddly poetic about this, what with the boring and serious conversation looming in this room once more.”

“Fucking Xhiln,” Marco said.

“Marco! Language!” his dad said.

“Oh, right. It’s not another language, actually. Xhiln was one of the first people to figure out how magic in Heckapoo’s dimension worked, and for a long time people worshiped her-”

“We meant the swearing, Honey,” his mom said. “Your father and I are willing to acknowledge that you’re an adult trapped in a teenager’s body, but could you tone it down with the curse words? Watching you say stuff like that is.. bizarre.”

Marco shrugged. “Sorry about that, Mom.” She did have a point. It must have been more than a little jarring to see ‘precious-child-Marco-Diaz’ use profanity, but today had been so emotionally exhausting, that he needed some way to vent out his frustration. This was yet another sacrifice he’d have to make for the greater good.

‘Fuck,’ Marco thought to himself. Hmmm, it just didn’t have the same ring in his head.

‘If it’s any consolation, it sounds the same to me,’ Kar thought.

“We should really get on topic. Letting Star and Marco escape to his room was a mistake, that much is clear. If we want to make any progress today, we’ll need to discuss this together, ” Moon declared.

“Before that,” Star said, “Is there any reason why we’re doing it this way? Like, a bunch of chairs formed in a circle? It feels like we’re about to summon a demon? Why does this need to feel so awkward?”

River reached over and put a hand on Star’s shoulder. He looked slightly serious. “Star, while this does resemble a typical demon summoning, we are actually participating in an ancient Johansen ritual known as an ‘Intervention.’ A social trap meant to put a friend or relative of particular dysfunctionality under the spotlight, so that the rest of us may judge them and tell them how to live their lives. Rafael and Angie are making us partake in their Earthly, more primitive, version of that ritual. So it’s best we participate to not come off as rude.”

“Wait!? We’re doing this this just to judge Marco? Why?” Star said, starting to sound defensive. “There’s nothing wrong with him! He’s just...different… is all.”

Marco scratched the back of his head. “Um… I don’t think that’s what-”

“This is not an intervention, Star, and this isn’t just about Marco. After what we saw in his room, it’s clear that we have a lot of things to talk about, and it’s best we do that in a controlled setting where everyone has a chance to say what they’re thinking,” Marco’s dad said. “No more screaming and blaming, just discussing and understanding, okay?”

Star crossed her arms. “What happened in Marco’s room wasn’t a big deal.” She shot a cold glance at her mother.

“Marco’s vomit was on the floor…” his mom said.

It was blood, his organs were-

Shut It Down, Marco.

“You aren’t looking at the big picture, Angie! Marco, Kar, and I were discussing plans for the future in private , but Mom here spied on us! And now she’s acting like she’s in the right because what we’re gonna do is ‘illegal’,” Star said, doing some stupid thing with her fingers to emphasize ‘illegal’.

“Illegal?” Marco’s Dad said, leaning in. “Like, murder-illegal or pirating-illegal?”

“Do pirates not murder here?” Marco asked.

“Um, I’ve met a few in this dimension. Instead of sailing the seas, they’re mostly landlocked and work at seafood restaurants,” Star said. “Kind of a downgrade if you ask me.”

“The pirates in restaurants are just actors, Star. The kind of pirates Rafael is talking about just steal things and resell them,” his mom said. “It’s mostly harmless, though.”

“Oh,” Star said. “Then it’s definitely kind of like Earth-Pirating.”

“More like we’re actually stealing the Earth back from the clutches of the Douchebag Commission,” Kar said.

“Excuse me, but where does Kar fall on the Marco-can’t-swear front?” Marco asked. “If I get censored, so should he.”

“We need to focus on the issue at hand,” Moon insisted.

“No we don’t, because whether you decide I can or can’t do something isn’t going to stop me from doing it,” Marco said, looking her in the eyes.

“Calm down,” Marco’s mom said, standing up and catching the attention of everyone in the room. “We don’t need to fight here. We just need to calmly discuss everything and come to a conclusion. And I need to know exactly what laws are being broken by my son and why.”

“Very well,” Moon said, standing up from her own chair. She did so with the Queen-like confidence that told everyone in the room it was her turn to talk and that she would not take kindly to being interrupted. Marco’s mom nodded and sat back down, letting Moon have the floor.

She turned to Marco’s parents. “This is a lot tell you two, but I will try to make it as easy to understand as possible. And it may be a bit shocking. Are you alright with that?”

“With all due respect, Queen Moon, with everything Marco unloaded on us yesterday, it’s hard to think anything else can faze us at this point,” Marco’s dad said. “It’s not a matter of if we can understand it. We have to understand it, to make sure we know what Marco’s getting himself involved with. We’ll decide if stopping him is the right decision after you explain what all this is.” He raised his hand to Moon, signalling for her to start.

Moon sighed. “You’re both already aware that other dimensions exist. We made that clear on our first meeting, when River and I approached you about letting Star live with you. When my daughter walked into your loving arms, she brought with her a priceless family heirloom, the Royal Wand, the most powerful magic-conjuring weapon in the multiverse, and the symbol of our family’s cosmic importance. Star was just starting to learn magic, and with her experimental nature, she began bringing some unwelcome chaos into your lives. This incident with Marco being one of many.”

“Oh, we didn’t mind,” Marco’s mother said. “Star can be rambunctious, but she was always capable of realizing when she made a mistake. Rafael and I never had to resort to punishing her; she’d always go out of her way to fix things before it ever came to that. And it’s those moments of maturity that make us love her so much.”

Marco looked over and noticed Star hiding the fact she was blushing by covering her face with the wand. So cute.

“Yes, well, I’m sure my daughter has her moments,” Moon said, passing off his mom’s compliment. “Anyway, the truth is, while magic may have overwhelmed all of you with its presence, it wouldn’t be that shocking in any other dimension, where magic exists in one form or another. Earth is a strange phenomenon as it contains no magic whatsoever.”

“I see,” Marco’s mom said, taking it all in.

“Makes sense so far,” Marco’s dad said. Marco briefly wondered why his parents never asked for any specifics regarding magic and other dimension in the first place, but he assumed they just weren’t the type to pry for details. Up until now he supposed it wasn’t any of their business.

‘That or they’re just plain stupid…’

Moon continued. “Earth is quite amazing when you think about it, actually. So many dimensions rely purely on magic, some civilizations would cease to exist without it, but the lack of magic on Earth had essentially forced humans to innovate in different ways, creating more advanced technology to to bend nature to their will. Doesn’t that make you feel a strong sense of pride for your people?”

“Not particularly,” Marco’s mom said, with his dad seeming to share the same sentiment of total indifference.

“But humans have made incredible technology, that almost parallels magic, though,” Moon insisted.

“Yes, but I certainly didn’t,” Marco’s dad said. “I make sculptures for a living, using chisels and hammers. I’m barely above a caveman, myself.”

“What’s the point of all this, Queen Moon?” Marco’s mom said.

“Earth technology, which has been made exclusively because of the absence of magic, is an incredible thing, and has even helped other dimensions solve their own problems.”

“Really?” Marco said. He seemed to remember mostly medieval-level or lower technology in the other dimensions he went to. Save for one or two weird ones.

Moon smiled. “Yes. Actually, Mewni itself has used Earth technology during great times of need.”

That… sounded like a stretch.

“Mewni?” Marco’s dad said. “What kind of technology of ours has Mewni used?”

That question seemed to make Moon stop for a few seconds. “Well, you see… um.”

“Ahh, that’s it!” River snapped his fingers. “Moon-Pie, isn’t the wheel an Earth invention?”

“That’s right! Thank you for reminding me, River. Earth was actually the first dimension to invent wheels. Everyone else relied on wooden cubes to move their carriages, while Mewni used slaves. It’s almost humorous how no one else thought of it before you,” Moon chuckled.

”

There was an awkward silence in the room as it soon dawned on Moon what she had said.

“Wait, Mom, we used to have slaves !?” Star said, appalled.

“It was a long time ago, Star,” Moon said.

Marco’s dad rubbed his chin. “So, because we invented the wheel, we indirectly ended the concept of slavery in your dimension? I guess that is impressive.”

“Oh, no,” River said. “Mewni didn’t stop using slaves until much, much later, but the slaves were very appreciative of the assistance the almighty wheels provided. At least that’s what the history books tell us, and why would they lie about that?”

‘I could think of a few reasons.’ Kar thought.

“So, did Mewni use anything more recent?” Marco’s mom asked. “Maybe something within the last thousand years?”

Moon frowned.

“I think it would be a little hard to use the most recent things,” Marco said, shooting Moon a look. “Because Earth’s advanced technology would require an explanation and they’re not allowed to talk to us.”

“Yeah, it’s kind of hard to steal Earth technology when it isn’t something as rudimentary as a freaking wheel,” Kar said.

Marco’s mom looked back and forth between her son and Moon and then said, “Okay, history lesson aside, exactly what law is my son breaking?”

“I want to bring magic to Earth and connect it with the other dimensions in the multiverse,” Marco said.

“He wants to bring chaos and confusion to your world, and destroy the systems in place that keep order,” Moon corrected.

“Magic? To Earth?” his dad said.

“Doesn’t it sound ridiculous?” Moon said, almost laughing.

“No, it... sounds pretty neat actually,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to do the ‘narwhal blast’!” Marco’s dad began making some weird gestures with his hands, most likely pretending blasts of energy were coming out of his fingertips. The ‘pewpew’ sounds helped Marco reach that conclusion.

“Ooo! Maybe I can teach you it!” Star exclaimed, almost bouncing up and down in excitement.

“I’m not sure if humans are even capable of performing the spells you do, Star,” Kar said. “But there’s nothing wrong with trying. Marco here proved that it’s at least possible to some degree, you would just need to take learning it seriously.”

Marco’s dad began clapping his hands. “Ohhhh! This is exciting! It’s like learning a second language. It’s difficult at first but with enough diligence the rewards are worth it!”

Marco chuckled. “I guess those are sort of similar.”

“Yeah, I’m not really seeing what problem is,” his mom said to Moon. “Unless ‘connecting Earth to other dimensions’ entails something else?”

Marco jumped to answer his mother before Moon could. “Basically, Earth has been left on its own since forever, but we can introduce the idea of other dimensions and magic to the people and governments, and maybe even have first contact with another dimension. Once we get past the hurdle of all that, our cultures could learn from each other and participate in interdimensional trade.”

“So then, not only would we get to learn magic, but other dimensions could use our technology?” Marco’s dad said.

“Yeah!” Marco said, starting to get excited again at the prospect.

“At the expense of your own dimension’s technological growth, of course,” Moon added.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Marco said.

“Magical communities stagnate due to the simplicity of using magic to solve their problems. Everything Earth was good at- the science, the technology, would start to degrade and it would be the same as any other dimension. Do you really want Earth to lose what made it so special in the first place? Humans displayed so much untapped potential. Why stop it now?”

“No offense, but I’m pretty sure magic would only fuel that fire,” Kar said.

“And what makes you think that?” Moon said.

“There are already scientists here, and they’re in the mindset of ‘learn how EVERYTHING works, no matter what’. Give them magic, and they’ll see how it ticks. Give them access to other dimensions, and they’ll have a goddamn field-day out there.”

“You can’t possibly believe that with the introduction of magic, people won’t just drop their studies in favor of it,” Moon said.

“Well, with or without magic, there are a lot of people I know who would never give up the internet,” Marco’s dad said.

Oh. Shit! Marco had forgotten about the monster that was internet. While he would have to be caught up to speed, Marco remembered it having the ability to transport information across the planet in seconds. It was almost like Earth’s answer to the dimensional scissors. He really needed to get his computer password from Janna. The internet might be his only way of contacting Earth’s various leaders.

“There’s also cars, indoor plumbing, back-up cameras,” Marco’s dad said. “Can magic really replace those things?”

“Yeah, and on that note, maybe magic can cure the fossil fuel crisis and just power our cars,” Marco’s mom said. “That could work with any technology, though. I want to see an I-Phone with a magically charging case.”

“That would’ve helped me a lot on the quest,” Marco said, “My phone did not last long out there.”

“It’s sort of like our compact mirrors!” Star chimed in. “Those things can last for days on one charge, but they can't do as much as Earth’s phones!”

“So it might not have to be as simple as choosing one thing over the other,” Marco’s mom continued. “I’m no expert at magic, but it seems like something we could integrate in our lives really easily. It could complement technology, not deter it. Just like how technology could complement Mewni, cause God knows they need it.”

“Excuse me?” Moon said.

“Well, we’ve been to Mewni once or twice, and, well, when you’re not treating it like a Ren-Fair, it’s sorta…”

“Disgusting?” Marco’s dad suggested.

“Yes! That’s a good word! Though, I was thinking more like ‘old fashioned’.”

“Why I never-” Moon began.

“Wait, Moon!” River said, cutting her off. “I think they’re onto something here. I’ve stayed at their house for a few days before and believe me when I say that this indoor plumbing thing is amazing !”

“River, not you too...” Moon lamented.

“Think of all the chambermaids we could fire!”

“Yeah, and instead they could work on, I don’t know, paving the town roads or something instead!” Star said.

Marco grinned. This was working out better than he expected. Literally everyone else agreed that putting Earth on the map was a good idea, and none of Moon’s counter arguments had worked. It was only a matter of time until Moon herself admitted how arbitrary that ‘law’ was, and as a member of the High Commission, she had the authority to attempt to change things. Screw doing everything from the shadows. They might actually be able to do it officially!

“That’s enough from the both of you!” Moon ordered, interrupting Star and River gushing about the possibilities.

They both dropped down into their seats almost instinctively, like Moon had them trained like dogs.

“We are not changing our very way of life at the drop of a hat,” Moon said.

“You said it yourself, though,” Kar said. “Relying on magic too much has caused your kingdom to stagnate.”

Moon shot a glare at Kar so intense that he snapped his mouth shut.

“It doesn’t matter whether we want to change anything. We can’t . May I remind you that what you are suggesting is illegal,” Moon said.

“Who even enforces this law?” Marco’s mom asked. “Who is big and scary enough to make a queen shake in her boots?”

“The Magic High Commission,” Moon said. “A cluster of immortal entities with near-limitless reach and power. They have watched over your dimensions and countless others for millenia.”

Marco’s parents frowned and slowly took that in.

“So they’re gods ?” Marco’s mom said.

“Gods that aren’t unkillable,” Marco said, making sure that was at least on the table. “Nor are they always right.”

The attention all turned to him.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,” Marco’s dad said. “Before we resort to murder, maybe we can try to reason with them?”

“Heckapoo’s a member of the High Commission,” Star added, with a sly smile.

“Oh,” Marco’s dad said. “Then we don’t care what they think.”

“Give ‘em hell, son,” Marco’s mom said.

‘Whelp, looks like we’re off to kill Heckapoo for real this time. Come on, Marco, we got a dimension to liberate,’ Kar thought, jokingly, or at least Marco hoped so.

Oh boy. Marco’s parents were taking this a step too far. “Mom. Dad. You got the wrong idea. I’m not trying to off these demigods. I just want to loosen their grip on Earth, and possibly every other dimension they’ve stuck their noses in.”

“Well I would hope not,” River said. “That would be quite the undertaking.”

“Listen. I don’t even know these people,” Marco said. “For all I know, they’re just overpowered dumbasses running a much bigger show than they can handle. I don’t want to get on their bad sides if I don’t have to. Plus, I’m actually on pretty good terms with Heckapoo.”

“If you’re on such good terms with her,” Moon said, “why is she not part of this plan?”

“What?” Marco asked.

“If you trust her so much-”

“Hey. No one said anything about trust,” Marco said. “I said I’m on good terms with her, but she lied to me my whole life about living in a time-dilated dimension. I can throw her a lot farther than I trust her.”

“Besides, like it or not, we completed the quest, fair and square. Doesn’t that at least entitle us to decide what happens to our dimensions?”

“For the very last time,” Moon said. “Your Scissors Quest is not official. Most take up to a year to plan out, and are not decided on a whim like Heckapoo did.”

“Official or not, I earned those scissors,” Marco said.

“Wait a second,” Marco’s mom said. “What do you mean, ‘official’?”

“Normally the High Commission chooses a worthy representative from each dimension and tests them to determine worthiness. If they complete the quest, they earn dimensional scissors and permanently connect their dimension to the rest of the multiverse,” Moon explained. “But Marco’s quest wasn’t planned . He wasn’t informed of the pre-existing conditions, he was much younger than anyone we’d chosen for a quest before, and he wasn’t even given time to prepare.”

“So you’re saying our son had to go through a worse version of this quest than everyone else and he still doesn’t get the reward?” Marco’s mom said.

“I understand that this doesn’t seem fair, Angie, and I promise that Heckapoo will be punished as soon as we’re done here,” Moon said. “But that punishment will not be possible if Marco’s kidnapping is treated with the same gravity as a normal quest. To the Magic High Commission, the ends would justify the means. Do you understand?”

“Punished?” Marco’s mom said. “How exactly do you go about punishing a God?”

“Well,” Moon stopped for a second to really think it over. “I wouldn’t know until we actually brought it to the High Commission’s attention.”

“So, probably not at all, I’m guessing,” Marco’s mom said. “She’s a member of this High Commission, right? If she makes the rules, I can’t imagine much of a punishment for her breaking them.”

“Yeah, she probably wouldn’t have decided on a whim to give me a quest if there was a possibility for getting shit for it” Marco added. He felt uncomfortable making these points against his friend, but at the end of the day, she was given too much freedom to do whatever she wanted.

“Heckapoo does not encompass the entire Commission,” Moon said. “There are other members as well, and I’m confident they would not approve of any of this.”

“Would they even care, though?” Marco’s mom said. “Would these immortal Eldritch horrors or whatever lift an eyebrow for a single human from some dimension they consider less important than others? Isn’t Marco a speck of dust to them?”

“ I’m a member of the High Commission!” Moon said. “And so long as one of us cares, the rest must, at the very least, discuss it.”

Marco’s parents raised their eyebrows at that.

“You? So are you also a magical being?” Marco’s dad said.

“Not in the most literal sense, but our family does own the royal wand, which is a magical force of nature in its own right. The only thing we lack is the extremely long life expectancy, which is why every crowned Queen takes the job,” Moon explained.

“If you have so much power, why are you bending over to their stupid laws?” Marco’s mom asked. “Why not just pass righteous judgement or whatever you do?”

“I... don’t have the same kind of pull as the others-”

“So you’re like a sub- member of the Commission?” Marco’s dad asked.

“Which means you can’t really punish Heckapoo at all, can you?” Marco’s mom said.

“Why are we so focused on who can do what?” River said, forcing himself into the conversation. “This silly game of theorizing and hypotheticals are getting us nowhere. If Heckapoo facing justice is a shared goal between us, then I say we stop wasting time and march to the Commission this instance. The legality of Marco’s ambitions can be discussed afterwards.”

“We… we can’t just bring this to them right now. They have other, far bigger problems to deal with,” Moon said.

“Oh, so Heckapoo won't actually get punished then,” Marco’s mom said.

“She will. Just not-”

“Queen Moon, I understand you’re in a difficult position right now, but with all due respect,” Marco’s mom said, “my husband and I have tried to find the good in all people we meet. We have never hated someone for making a mistake. It’s just not who we are.”

Everyone stayed silent with the sheer authority in which she spoke. You could think, for just that moment, that she was the queen in the room.

“ However, Heckapoo has wronged our family in such a way that we could have never even imagined. She’s broken our son and changed him and left him helpless and hopeless back in his own world. Because of her, he has to scramble to catch back up, he has to struggle to reintegrate, and he has to outrun a shitty past that’s constantly trying to catch up with him.”

Marco shifted a little uncomfortably. When she put it that way…

“I truly believed Marco made the most of it. He didn’t owe that world anything, but he constantly put his life on the line to save thousands of people. I would never want to undo that.”

“Mrs. Diaz,” Star said, lifting up form her chair.

“But I’ll repeat myself. We have never hated anyone. But we hate Heckapoo. And we only mean the worst for her.” She stared Moon down, ignoring the tears streaming down her own cheeks. “If you can’t do anything about her, than we will.”

What? Oh no.

“You can’t possibly be planning to go after her,” Moon said, a tinge of worry in her voice.

“Of course not. But if you can’t realistically punish her for what she has done, then we won’t bother meeting her at all. Instead, I want Marco to go through with his plan and bring magic to Earth. I want him to introduce every wonderful thing we missed out on that the other dimensions take for granted. My son will make Earth a better place. And when Heckapoo and the rest of her dysfunctional gang find out, when they see an Earth with magic and technology, and when she realizes what she created, I could think of no better revenge than that.”

‘Damn. Your mom wants you to bring magic to Earth just to spite Heckapoo. I have gained a whole new respect for her,’ Kar thought.

Marco’s dad put an arm around his wife’s shoulder. “I-I agree with Angie. These ‘gods’ have been deciding what’s best for us without ever having the decency to reveal themselves. Marco will prove to them that his way is better.” His dad was quivering a little in both body and speech. It seemed he was a lot more afraid of Moon than his mom was.

‘Well, with that at least your dad is out of the negatives,’ Kar thought.

Marco was a little overwhelmed by the sheer size of support his parents were giving him.

‘Yeah,’ Marco thought absently.

There was a moment of silence as the intensity settled. Moon took a slow breath, as if to push down whatever retort she had in her throat, and then turned to Marco.

“Do you fully intend to go through with this plan, despite the risks?” She asked, not to convince him against it, but simply to confirm his aspirations.

“Yes,” Marco said, with all the certainty in the world. “Earth is my dimension. I’ll decide what to do with it. I don’t need the High Commission’s blessing.” Marco couldn’t help but shake the feeling that, despite his words, him going through with this was exactly what Heckapoo wanted, no, expected from him after completing his quest. But he wouldn’t approach her to confirm that suspicion. This was his decision.

Moon nodded in understanding and then stood up. “Very well. I wish you the best of luck. River, Star, grab your things. We're leaving.”

“What?” Star said, not leaving her seat.

“Why?” River asked.

“If they want to get in the way of the High Commission, I want the three of us to be out of the crossfire,” Moon said.

“But, what about Marco’s memories? You haven’t fixed the memory spell yet.” Star asked.

“It isn’t our problem anymore, Star,” Moon said, coldly.

Marco blinked. Wait, shit! They were leaving? Right now?

“Not your problem?” his mom said. “It's your daughter's spell! You need to fix it!”

“Then simply consider this Marco’s first test. If he really wants to be a teacher of magic, then learning to manipulate memory magic is an excellent way to start. He has dimensional scissors, so he’ll have no shortage of resources at his disposal. I ask that you keep your studies out of Mewni, of course.” Moon took dimensional scissors out of her dress’ pocket.

“I think we are acting a bit over dramatic,” Marco’s dad said. “We don’t need to take it this far. Especially this close to Star’s first year of high school being over. Perhaps Marco can wait a few weeks?”

“Star only came to Earth to learn under Glossaryck,” Moon said. “Now that he’s gone, there’s even less reason for Star to stay here.”

“You bitch!” Marco’s mom said, not trying the slightest to hide her anger. “after all we've done for you, and all Heckapoo's done to our son, you just leave your problems behind on us?”

“We paid you to take care of our daughter, and offered to punish Heckapoo in a more traditional way, which you denied. That debt is non-existent,” Moon said.

‘What are you doing? Aren't you gonna say something?’

'Like what?’ Marco thought. What could he ever say or do that could make Moon stay? He was planning on breaking the law and risking his life. Could he really expect people to go along with that?

“Actually, Moon,” River said, a little embarrassed, “they never took the gold.”

“That's not our problem. We offered the gold. That’s good enough.”

“Hey! Don’t I get a say in this?” Star said.

“No.” Moon’s hand began glowing and a blue aura surrounded Star, slowly lifting her up in the air.

“What the-”

Moon was right. Star didn’t get a say. She was just a kid.

Fuck, she was just a kid and Marco was pulling her into this giant conspiracy.

She was just a kid and Marco was giving her a choice that sounded so much simpler than it was, a choice that would take up so much of her life, if not all of it, a choice that would risk her life on such a level that she couldn’t understand as just a fucking teenager.

Marco was doing what Heckapoo had done to him.

Moon handed River her scissors. “River, could you please?”

“Um, yes, of course my dear,” River said apprehensively. He took the scissors and created a light blue portal similar to the one Moon stepped out of this morning.

It was almost like poetry. It rhymed.

“Marco, now is not the time for fucking jokes. Are you even processing what is going on? They’re taking my mom away.”

‘Sorry. I just can’t do it,’ Marco thought, dully. Whatever he said now, he wouldn’t mean it. Or if he did mean it, it wouldn’t come off as sincere.

Moon waved her glowing hand and Star started floating over toward the portal.

“But I didn’t get to teach him English yet!” Star said, squirming endlessly as if she could break out of her mother’s hold if she just moved enough.

Fuck. He still wanted to be friends, but he couldn’t exactly just drop his plans like that, right? Would Moon even believe him if he did?

“Do something, Marco!” There was this underlying panic in Kar’s voice. He didn’t know what to do, either.

The distinct image of Star, killed by a group of godlike creatures and bleeding out on the ground, flashed through Marco’s head. She was just a kid, he couldn’t do that to her.

Moon directed Star’s floating body to the portal and for just a moment, Star and Marco’s eyes met. In a moment of panic, she started shouting a spell, probably to escape Moon’s grasp.

“Sparkle Wake-Up Cuddle Blast!”

Everyone watched as a pink creature erupted from her wand. A brief smile of satisfaction flashed across her face, and then she started shouting the spell over and over, even as her head got pulled into the portal, and the creatures kept coming from her wand.

Moon took a step into the portal, gestured for River to follow, and then they both disappeared beyond the magical horizon.

In the moment before the portal closed, another pink creature popped through it.

Marco just stared at where the portal had been.

Had he made the right decision? Had he even made any decision?

“What the fuck are all these Grubrats doing here?”

“They’re hedgehogs,” Marco’s dad said, slowly walking over and picking one up.

“That’s the spell Star uses to wake you up…” Marco’s Mom said.

“Oh,” was all Marco could think to say. He would try to touch one of them, but his hand was shaking too much and he didn’t want his parents to see.

He took in a shaky breath.

“Fuck,” he said, wiping a couple tears from his eyes.