"Star!" Marco cried out her name as Toffee crumbled the rest of the wand shard in his scaly hand, letting the bits tumble to the ground like dust. No! Marco's mind wailed, Nononono! She was still in there! She had to come home! Star had become trapped in the wand after using the Whispering Spell on Ludo, but now she would never be able to return. In an instant, the light of Marco's life was gone. Forever. Her smile, her laughter, her sing-song voice, her hugs.... Gone.

She had left him before—right after revealing her crush on him in front of their friends on Earth a few days ago. It was embarrassing and awkward, and Marco could just kick himself for clamming up when his best friend needed to hear from him the most. But, he went after her—hence why he was on Mewni in the middle of a war with Ludo and Toffee. No matter the danger, he was determined to find Star and confess how he felt. About how he always sorta knew her feelings towards him, and that he felt the same.

Now, he was too little, too late. Star was taken from him before he could ever tell her how much he liked her. In his chest, Marco's heart was rent in two and the world spun around. Moon tried to strike back with her fists first then the powerless wand, but it was in vain. Toffee dealt with her like a minor inconvenience—the grief in her eyes garnering no sympathy nor remorse.

The villain grabbed her wrist, nearly snapping it to hold her back. "Are you finished?" He asked callously with a smidge of gloat in his voice.

Then, it happened. Instinct overrode every other impulse in Marco's body, and he somehow managed to land a perfectly placed punch through Toffee's chest where a heart should be. Even Moon was stunned. Marco would have marveled at his own strength if he wasn't busy sobbing. Give. Her. Back! His mind bellowed like a raging bull. Give me back my Star!

Next thing he knew, a rock wall collided with his spine, knocking the wind out of his body. The world went black for a moment, and he tasted metallic blood in his mouth.

"Weak human," Toffee scoffed. "You think you can take on me? Look what happened to your precious girlfriend—she's gone."

"I'm not a human!" Marco spat in a voice not his own as he rose defiantly to his feet. Instead of his wimpy, just-past-puberty voice, he spoke with the sound of a thousand hurricanes and the intensity of ten thousand suns. "I'm bringing you down!"

When he took a step forward, Marco assumed his demon form and the day turned to night in an instant. A full demon moon cast a hellish glow around him like an evil halo, and he became drunk on his powers. He was going to make Toffee pay because he had nothing to lose. Should Marco die, he would see Star again...

Toffee sighed and raised an eyebrow, "Impressive, but you're still not going to beat me. Star couldn't, and she was a Butterfly."

"Well, guess what?" Marco snarled as he sent a fiery punch into Toffee's side, watching the lizardman fly into the ruins of another castle spire. "I'm going to win because I love her!"

Love. What an amazingly powerful word. It was something Marco never felt before in his entire life until just now. He liked Jackie for sure, but there was nothing about his real girlfriend that would ever spur him into such grief and frenzy. However, he never knew he felt so strongly about Star. Sure, she was cute and amazing to be around, but that was beside the fact now. His mind thought about how he always wanted to stay by her side, and how he wanted to hold her each night before falling asleep. About how he would love to marry her and father her children, living out the rest of his days going on adventures until they passed into the afterlife together. That was love. That was the future stolen from Marco, and now he was ready to fight until his last drop of blood.

Demon Marco hissed as he launched himself at Toffee, spitting and snarling like a deranged, feral beast. The two were locked in a death-match, throwing their all into punches and other physical attacks. Marco used his claws to tear out a section of the lizard's arm, then went for the jugular. While both attacks were successful, Toffee shrugged, and the injuries mended. "Have you learned nothing? You can't hurt me."

With a slap of his tail, Toffee sent Marco into a crumbling stone wall. "Marco!" He heard Buff Frog and Moon call his name too late as the entire structure gave way. I'll be with you soon, Star... he shut his eyes and accepted the coming of death....

"Marco!"

With a scream he jolted awake, his heart racing a thousand miles an hour, threatening to burst from his chest. Where am I? Where's Star? His head whipped around in panic. Where was Toffee or the wall raining down on him? Was he dead? The fog rose off of his mind, and Marco discovered that he was back in his room on his bed. Most importantly, Star was by his side, holding his hand.

"Marco?" Her voice quivered full of concern and fear. "Are you okay? I heard all of this screaming and crying..."

Oh, Marco pieced it together. He was having another Toffee dream—they happened every so often. Despite that day being long over, seeing Star die in front of him haunted the boy like an evil ghost. He never wanted to see her hurt again, and having strong demon powers now as opposed to then made him feel better about the odds. He was going to protect her no matter what. Marco wasn't weak anymore.

"I'm okay," he panted. "Just had a really bad dream." He was going to leave it at that and tell her to go back to sleep—proper rest was important—but the dream tugged on his subconscious mind. He didn't want to be alone right now.

"Hey, Star," he took her hand. "C-can you stay with me for tonight?"

His girlfriend smiled and motioned for Marco to make room on his bed so they could snuggle. They wrapped their arms around each other and Star tucked her head under his chin. "Star..." he whispered her name tenderly, tilting her chin up for a kiss. "Star, I love you. More than anything. I don't think I say it enough."

"I love you too, Marco," she kissed him back. "You're my lifeline."

"Mine too," Marco brought her in as close as he possibly could, letting her touch and scent calm his fearful mind. She was here with him, in his arms. All was right with the world. The red light of the moon swept over the lovers as they slumbered, but it wasn't a demon moon. It was the Blood Moon sending a warning.