Chapter Text

“Something’s wrong,” said Moon. “Something is very wrong with that boy Marco.”

“Maybe he is sick or something?” Janna wondered.

“No,” Moon shook her head. “No. Something is definitely not right. It’s not like any sickness I’ve ever seen. He’s not acting rationally. I think we need to start considering the possibility of possession. Perhaps even the demonic kind. I’ve seen it before when Toffee took over the body of Ludo.”

“Ooh, what if he’s being possessed by Tom's spirit?” Said Janna. “Maybe he’s trying to tell us something from the other side?”

“Maybe,” Moon tapped her chin. “We cannot rule out any possibility. Have you seen Eclipsa around? Where did that woman go off to?”

Janna shrugged.

“Something is coming… and it isn’t good.”

“Mister Ruberiot, sir,” the reporter called out desperately.

“Please, madam,” Ruberiot smiled. “Call me – Voiceful Ruby. I have been reborn, love. To be better suited for my tasks.”

“Can you tell us more about the events that have transpired here today?” Asked the reported, shoving a mic to Ruby’s face. “What exactly happened? Did someone die? What was the cause of death?”

“I, of course, have my own theories on the matter,” smiled Voiceful Ruby. “But that wouldn’t be right for me to present you with theories and speculations over facts and truths, now would it? It is a difficult matter for all of us to tackle and process yes, but I believe we now have a definitive answer to what had transpired here today.”

He cleared his throat, and struck his voiceful lute:

“For you see, the answer is obvious now isn’t it? Just think about it. What was the one recent event that had the world turned upside down and disrupted the natural order of things? What was the one significant catalyst of recent memory that changed everything we know about life on this planet as we know it? Answer me that. Hmm? That’s right, it is the merging of the two dimensions to create this hideous hybrid of celestial bodies. It has tarnished the green fields of corn on Mewni and sabotaged the factories and cities on Earth. It has destroyed the lives of countless innocent humans, countless innocent hard-working humans may I add, who wanted absolutely nothing to do with all these magical mumbo jumbos and at the end of the day just want to get by with what little they had. And they couldn’t even be given that one measly privilege. Instead, their little pathetic lives just had to be ruined by this meddling magic that is spreading all over the place. Nobody wanted it, nobody needed it, nobody asked for it.”

“So what are you saying exactly?” Asked the reporter, “Could you elaborate on that? It’s been months since the two worlds were cleaved together. What is the correlation here exactly?”

“Isn’t it clear, my love?” Voiceful Ruby smiled, “I am saying it is all due to those darn magical Mewmans’ fault that you poor humans had to suffer so severely. It is due to their meddling with the magic and the natural order of things that many of you now no longer have a roof over your heads. Everything was going swell for all you lovely humans before the dirty filthy Mewmans – and not to mention the various Monster races accompanying them, which I also say are equally despicable – decided to just waltz into this dimension and take what is not theirs. How unjust is that?”

“Tell me Dave,” Marco growled. “What hurts more? My fist… or my slap?”

The boy held Lord Lucitor’s neck in his sharp bony hand, gripping tightly into his flesh and onto the bruises. Marco’s breath was heavy, too heavy for anybody to carry. The wrinkles on his face began to surface and became more pronounced. Bags formed under his eyes, and his pupils were shining brighter with some strange red. Sweat and blood dripped down his face, right onto Dave's bruised and unconscious face. Marco’s head was spinning in newer directions now. He could see things that were normally invisible to the naked eyes. He could see them, and he had no intention of stopping. He wanted to see more.

“This is what pain feels like, Dave,” Marco whispered. “Savor it. I have a thousand more flavors to show you. I wish your pathetic excuse of a son is still alive to see this. What I would give for him to feel the piercing of my heart when he backstabbed me and took Star for himself while I was away. I want you to know this, Dave. I despise your son. That means I can’t let you join him in oblivion, not just yet. An eternity of pain awaits, Dave. And I’ve got an eternity to spare.”

Marco raised his hand, the claw of his fingers sharpened, and his palm tightened into a force beyond strength itself. And thus, his mighty hand was brought down with unholy fury, striking Dave’s face without Mercy in sight.

“Wake up, Dave!” He shouted. “You’re going to watch this, and I’ll claw out your eyeballs if that’s what it takes. Open them!”

Dave gradually opened his eyes under the layers of bruises, ever so slightly. It hurt to even twitch them even an inch. But a force beyond his control, beyond his understand was forcing them open, like a crowbar prying off a metal locker.

The lord looked around the wreckage, and behind Marco he could see his wife – Wrathmelior lying on the ground. With her red skin cracked and turning grey, and her pupils white and empty as if her soul was plucked right out of her massive frame.

“What… did you do to my wife?” Dave muttered in pain, trying to keep his near broken teeth intact. “B… bastard!”

“I’ve broken her. Enslaved her with her own grief. She believes you dead, Dave. Just as she grieves for her son. Before long, she won’t even wish to believe anything other than what I say as reality. And I say reality is about to commit a form of cosmic suicide. She is mine now, Dave!” Marco’s face twisted into a violent grin, as if whatever was left of him was desperately trying to fight the urge to laugh so loud his voice would echo across the universe.

“Marco, STOP!” A voice boomed in front of him.

He looked up, with his violent grin still on his face. And there Kelly stood.

With teary eyes and a shrill shriek, the girl did everything in her power to beg. She threw her sword away, it was her way of saying she just wanted to talk. But that was not how Marco saw it.

“Kelly…”

“Marco you need to stop this right now,” she cried. “You're not well. This violence has to stop. I know losing Tom is hard for you to deal with, but what you’re doing is wrong.”

“Kelly…” he whimpered as his face began to soften. And his grip on Dave’s neck loosened, dropping the near unconscious body to the ground. Marco too collapsed onto his knees, keeping his head down beneath the shadows.

“Oh Marco…” Kelly did not hesitate to swoop in for a hug. She felt he needed one. Lots had happened, and she thought it must’ve done a good number on his nerve. She held him tight, afraid if she let go, he would shatter into a million pieces.

Truth was…

That should have been the least of her concerns.

“You were never good enough, Kelly…” he whispered into her ears.

She flinched, opening her eyes wide open.

“Admit it,” he said, “you were always just a whiny pathetic little brat who couldn’t handle your own petty relationship problems. You wanted to use me to fix those problems within you.”

“Where is this coming from?” Kelly looked at Marco, confused.

“You used me, Kelly. Used me during my moments of vulnerability. Because you felt inadequate and insecure.”

“That’s not true,” she whimpered.

“Face the truth, you wanted me just to compensate for your own shortcomings. Because I was easy target. I was weak, I was broken. Deep down you knew you could never truly measure up…”

“No, no… stop…”

“Deep down you were jealous,” Marco’s eyes sparked with red, “jealous of my love for Star – my true love. You were nothing but a breakup buddy, a one-time fling at best.”

“NO!”

Kelly flung herself right on top of Marco, with tears soaking her eyes and her heart beating faster as the seconds went by.

“Please Marco… don’t say that,” Kelly sniffed, her cheeks now soaking wet. “You weren’t just a one-time fling for me. What I felt for you… it was real… it was real…”

“How can you say that with absolute certainty?”

“Because I never felt like that about anyone, not even Tad.”

“Tch…” Marco sneered, “You were just jealous is all. Jealous I did not fight against Tom or Tad for you the same way I fought against Tom for Star. You were just jealous you weren’t at the center of attention. That’s all it is.”

“NO!” Cried Kelly, “That isn’t true. Please, Marco, don’t say that. I'm begging you. Please… I… I… I love you, Marco. There I said it. Just… please… I love you.”

There was only one thing on her mind at that moment, that brief infinitesimal moment that more likely than not meant absolutely nothing in the face of infinity itself. But it did not matter to her. She only cared for one thing, for one person. And that moment, Marco’s eyes glowed redder than ever before.

The boy pulled Kelly in by the waist, brushing her bushy green hair to the side of her ear, and gave her a long passionate kiss. She was caught off guard, tears still wet in her eyes but in that moment that did not matter to her. She had begged, she had implored, and now she had been rewarded. It was all she cared for in the world, so she embraced it with every fiber of her being and let herself loose deep into this nigh eternal sensation that stimulated every part of her body. Her heart raced, her mind glowed, and her soul strengthened by tenfold.

Once his unholy but heavenly lips left hers, she felt a thousand years younger, and yet she felt as if a thousand years more had passed right before her eyes.

“Kelly,” Marco’s red gleaming eyes looked at her, “do you truly mean what you said?”

“Yes, yes, I do.”

“Do you truly love me?”

“I do.”

“Then will you do anything for me?”

“I will,” she answered instantly.

“Anything at all? No matter the cost? No matter the consequences.”

“Yes, I will,” she answered instantly.

Marco nodded:

“Will you travel to the edge of the world… nay, the edge of the universe itself… if it means it could please me? Will you carry out my will just as it is your own? Will know my wishes and carry them out without question?”

“Yes,” she answered simply, and decisively.

“Very well,” Marco stood up. “Then my first mission I ask of thee – to turn your back as I plunge my blade into your spine.”

Kelly sat there, mortified at what she heard. Tears welling up once more. Marco continued:

“My second mission I ask of thee – is to betray everyone you’ve ever known and swear your undying loyalty to me and me alone. You will betray your friends, your family, everyone you’ve ever known. You will leave your old life behind in favor of this new life, the life I've chosen for you. Your past life will be but a distant memory, and you will devote everything, absolutely everything to me.”

“But…”

“Do you want my love for you?”

“Yes, but…”

“Then you shall ask no questions unless I will it,” Marco affirmed, silencing the young girl. “And finally, my third and final mission I ask of thee – is to betray your own humanity. Detach yourself from this world and everything within. Detach yourself from your emotions, your willpower, your illusion of choice. Detach yourself and give yourself unto me – the one and only person who matters in your life from this point onward. And when the time comes – you will inevitably betray me, your lord and master, as well as the rest of the universe as a final act of cosmic suicide in my name. Do you understand?”

“Marco…”

“Do you understand?”

She fell silent. Sitting there, but ultimately all she could muster was the adequate amount of strength to just barely nod her head and answer:

“Yes.”

“There’s no doubt about it now,” Moon said. “Marco is being possessed. It’s only been a few hours since the incident with Tom and the cleaving of the worlds and yet Marco… something is definitely not right here. We need to figure it out now before it is too late.”

“Where on earth did Marco get that kind of strength?” Janna asked. “I’ve never seen anything like it before. It’s freakish… superhuman. Is… is he being possessed by a demon? It’s not like any demon I’ve ever seen.”

“No Janna,” said Moon. “We’re not dealing with demons, Mewmans, monsters, or even magic. No… we are dealing with gods.”

“Um… not sure I’m a believer, Mrs. Butterfly.”

“Well, you better believe this one,” Moon assured. “These are beings so powerful they can rewrite the very fabric of reality itself if they ever feel the need. The Magical High Commission back on Mewni were technically classified as these pan-dimensional cosmic gods as well. I’ve just… never really seen their true forms and powers.”

“I hope for our sakes… that your theory isn’t true.”

Moon sighed:

“Me too, Janna… me too.”

“Star’s been gone for quite a long while now,” Janna commented. “I wonder what’s keeping her. Do you think she's found something interesting on the other side?”

“I don’t know…” Moon muttered. “Oh, I worry for her. What if she got stuck and needs our help? We need to do something.”

“But what? We’re stuck here,” said Janna. “Star was holding on to the last pair of dimensional scissors.”

“There may be something we can do,” said Moon. “It’s just… risky.”

“What?”

“We need to summon Wyscan the Granter.”