21Nobody has passed Hekapoo's trial in 100's of years, dimensional scissors only being handed out to royals. She made it especially hard on Marco, after he abused her own personal scissors. But to her surprise, he blew out his first flame in a very impressive 2 minutes, Hekapoo has constantly lead him into violent and harsh areas, that improve for the better after he leaves. She constantly tested his will, spirit and selflessness. Marco left his mark in very village, town, city, kingdom and even whole worlds that he's visited, he had the reputation of a noble warrior and eventually became a legend known as, 'The Human'.
Whenever he encountered his enemy's or challengers, they all underestimated him because of his species. He barely won any of his fights through strength, he quickly learnt to outthink and outmaneuver his opponents to wear them down and overwhelm them. He was never the strongest, quickest, smartest or skilled compared to most of his opponents, but he developed an uncanny ability to read peoples movements. He was everywhere except where his opponent attacked, every strike was where it needed to be. He never lost a battel, but that did not mean he was never injured.
Hekapoo never thought a mortal could affect her immortal life as much as Marco. His whole life will be a blink of an eye compared to Hakapoo but she will never forget him. He consistently surprised her with his quick thinking, adaptability, determination, spirit and will. She always left a door open for him to return home but even on his roughest days; no food, no water, no shelter, torture, war, assassinations… He never once hesitated to decline her offer.
Similarly, when people needed help, he never continued on his journey until he made the world around him a better place. Whether they asked him or not; Marko defended them, liberated them, provided for them, and generally made lifelong friends if they ever met again.
In the beginning Marco's adaptability was the only thing keeping him alive. He ate every edible thing he could find, drank water whenever he found it, made shelter, and fended off all creatures trying to make a meal of him. It was the hardest thing Marco had ever done, but it slowly got easier to survive and began traveling when he was strong enough.
16 years after he began Hekapoo's trial he finally ended up at her door step. She tried to act as if she didn't care, but a huge, proud smile that she had never shown anyone before couldn't leave her face. This flesh wad, no, her flesh wad's trail has come to an end.
"So, you finally made it. Marco." She says, finishing the scissors she is forging. A well build warrior with a red hood enters her house with a cocky, but well-deserved smirk on his face.
"Who's the little boy now?" He playfully asks with a deepened voice as he removes his hoodie.
"I have to say, I'm impressed." Hekapoo grins as she turns around with the scissors in her hands. Marco smiles as he walks up to her and blows out her flame. "You truly earned these, I underestimated you." Hekapoo praises.
Marco lets out a little chuckle, "You wouldn't be the first." He reaches out to grab the scissors but Hekapoo pulls back as Marco raises an eyebrow at her. They stare into each others eyes until Hekapoo grins at him.
"Marco, will you accept my offer to become my champion?" She asks him.
He looks a bit unsure, "What do I have to do?" Hekapoo pockets Marco's scissors and puts a hand on his shoulder.
"Kneel and I'll explain." She tells him. Marco kneels but looks suspiciously at Hekapoo and watches his surroundings.
"Marko Diaz. I wish to crown you my champion. You will do jobs that I, or my superiors, task you with to the best of your ability, you will protect my name and image, you will swear your loyalty to the Magical High Commission, and you will continue to do what you do best." Marco raised an eyebrow in confusion but decided not to move or talk until she said so. "In return, I will grant you power and authority to help you complete these tasks. Do you accept these terms?" She asks him.
Marco stays quiet for a moment in thought before he nods. "I do." He replies confidently as Hekapoo grins at him.
"Than I share with you my flame, my mark, your badge, your proof of my champion." She casts a fire in her right hand and helps Marco stand up straight with her left. Marco flinches when she shoves the fire into his chest but trusts her all the same. Suddenly, Marco can feel a certain heat inside his body. The feeling gets stronger and stronger until his whole form catches fire. Marco yelps but Hekapoo holds on to his shoulders keeping eye contact with him, Marco breaks it and looks at himself in awe. Marco is on fire, from his toes to his hair and strangely does not mind as much as he should.
"What's happening to me?" He asks as he studies the fire dancing in his hands.
"Don't worry about it flesh wad. Figure it out without my help." Hekapoo tells him, as the flames around him die down into nothingness. Suddenly a fire bursts into life right above his head and stays there. Hekapoo grins as Marco is still contemplating if this was a good idea or not. "I have one more surprise for you. Trust me, your gonna love it." Hekapoo says as she takes out Marco's scissors and walks towards a glowing table in the corner of the room.
Without warning, Star kicks in Hekapoos door, making Marco instinctively dive behind the couch. "Hekapoo! Wheres Marco!?" Star demands, charging her wand at the redhead.
"Star!" Marco yells, running up to her and quickly hugging the princess. Star gasps at the man hugging her, she noticed his rock hard abs and big arms before she pushes him off all flustered.
"U-unhand me, beautiful stranger!" Star yells pointing her wand at him, almost wishing she hadn't when his warmth left her. "H-how do you know my name?"
"Star! It's me, Marco. See?" He says, pulling of his red hood and showing her.
"Marco?" "Marrcooooo…" She dreamily says, staring at him with her cheek marks flaring. She had no idea what he was saying, Star could only focus on his alluring body. Sexy scar across his eye, cute mole, his big arms that he hugged her with earlier, and his perfect abs. Star couldn't help herself, she slowly reached out her hand while Marco was still rambling on about something. She put her out stretched hand right in the middle of his six pack and gasped at how hard and warm they were. Marco stopped talking and immediately looked back down at Star with a confused look on his face.
"Star?" Star didn't respond, she just continued to stare at his abs while she touched them, making Marco slightly uncomfortable. He was about to get her attention, until he noticed some purple paint on her face. 'Huh, that's strange. It wasn't there before.' Suddenly, her whole body exploded into heart shaped purple confetti, leaving Marco blinded and stumbling while he could hear Hekapoo laughing from near the couch. "What the hell?!" Marco yelps as he falls and lands on his ass in a pile of purple hearts. Star suddenly gasps as her view of Marco is blocked by a wall of purple. She puts her arm out in front of her to remove the suspiciously familiar purple hearts, but screams when she sees her arms. "Star! Star! What's wrong?" Marco franticly asks. He gets up and finds a figure completely covered in hearts. "Star?" He grabs her shoulder and turns her around to face him. Suddenly, wings shoot out of the 6-armed purple figure and they both yelp in surprise. "S-Star? Can you hear me?" Marco cautiously asks in a defensive stance.
"Y-Yeah. Marco, what's happening to me!?" She frantically asks, starting to panic. "AHHH! Your heads on fire!" She screams, finally noticing it.
"Yeah, long story." He says, pulling Star gently over to the couch. "Just calm down, deep breaths. I'm right here, everything's okay." Marco reassures her as they sit on the couch. Hekapoo walks over to them with Marcos now glowing scissors and a half amused, half annoyed expression.
"Marco, come here so I can show you your scissors." Hekapoo lightly demands with a small smile. Marco looks worryingly at Star as she looks desperately at Marco.
"It will just be a minute, I promise I'll be back." Marco tells her as he hesitantly leaves the couch. He walks over to Hekapoo who's twirling some scissors on her finger.
"Geez. What a mess." She says, referring to all the purple hearts in her house. "Anyway, these dimensional scissors are special." She says, showing them to Marco. "These scissors are my best work by far, lose them and you'll lose your head." She glares at Marco as he gulps. "I enchanted these scissors so that no one else except you and I can touch them. Crafted from the finest metal in the multiverse mixed with my own personal concentrated fire salts. Completely heatproof, highly combustible, very sharp, and…" She flicks her wrist and the scissors expand into a flaming roman styled Gladius sword, making Marco's mouth drop in awe. It has Marco's name written on one side and Hekapoo's written on the other. She slowly swings the sword through the air, leaving a trail of fire and making a 'whoosh' sound. She looseness her grip of the sword and it transforms back into scissors as she hands them to Marco. "These scissors are yours until death. I will not grant you another pair." She tells him.
"I'll take good care of them. Thanks H-Poo." Marco smiles as he holds his scissors.
"Don't call me that." She scolds, but Marco just ignores her.
Marco walks back over to Star who was watching the whole interaction curiously. Marco opens a portal to his old bedroom, not sure what to be expecting. He offers Star his hand off the couch and gets a bone crushing hug instead, as they stumble backwards into the portal.
"Star, what are you-" Marco was cut off by Star's sobbing. When Marco and Star go back through the portal, Star is silently crying into Marco while he is holding her close. "Don't worry Star, everything will be okay." He reassures her.
"But this has never happened before! What if I'm like this forever?!" She cries into Marco, hugging him tighter.
"Star…"
"What if I go boy crazy again? No one will like after the last time I looked like this. And and-"
"Star stop. We'll figure this out and make it work. People might be wary at first, but they'll get over it when you show them who you really are." Marco wrestled and arm free and pointed at his flame. "Things will be different for me too, but I promise, everything will be okay and I'll always be there for you." Star calms down and looks up at Marco.
"Y-You promise?"
"I promise. I'll be with you, until the day you don't want me anymore." Marco lightly jokes.
Star smiles slightly and pokes his belly, "Squish." Making Marco heavily blush and hide his stomach from Star. She giggles at him, making Marco blush harder and smile back at her.
"Wait… My hot bod! Where did it go?" Marco desperately asks, frantically looking for his muscles. "And why am I so short?"
"Marco, you've only been gone for 8 minutes." Star tells him, making Marco's breath hitch in his throat.
"8 minutes!?" He yells, completely enraged.
"Yeah, but that's a good thing!" Star tries to comfort him. "It means we have more time for adventures together." Marco looks at Star through narrowed eyes for a while but quickly lights up in realisation.
"Y-Yeah, I guess your right." Marco tells her, still trying to comprehend being 14 again.
"Of course I am." Star says, looking at Marco's flame. They share a comfortable silence with each other as Marco hugs Star again. She quickly hugs back with all 6 of her arms as they stand in Marco's room.
"So, what happened back there? Why are you in Mewberty form?" Marco asks her.
"I-I don't know." Star replies. "But what happened to you? How long have you been gone? Why is there a fire floating above your head?"
"16 years, Hekapoo made me her champion and she gave me this flame."
Star gasps, "Your Hekapoo's champion?" She asks disbelievingly. "Wait! You earnt dimensional scissors!?" Star yells excitedly.
"Errr, yeah. See?" Marco asks as he pulls out his scissors. Star reads Marco's name on them in awe.
"Marco… No one has earnt dimensional scissors in hundreds of years. And nobody has ever been Hekapoo's champion before." Star tells him, still memorised by the scissors.
"I think I work for her now." Marco say lightheartedly, making them both chuckle. "Where's Glossaryck? Maybe he can help you." Star lets out another chocked sob and cries into Marco's chest, taking him by surprise. He gently runs his figures through stars hair while his other hand is wrapped around her.
"Marco… Glossaryck's gone. Remember?" She says, looking up at him with tears in her eyes. His heart aches when he sees Stars tears and he quickly wipes them away, cupping a hand behind her head. Star blushes at the contact, making Marco smile when he sees it but doesn't say anything.
"Star/Marco-" They both say. "Sorry-" "You first." They both laugh at each other as they lay down on Marco's bed, staring at the ceiling.
"Marco… Could I, could I sleep in here tonight." Star asks.
"Yes." Marco replies instantly, surprising Star. "Please do… I think… I think we both need each other right now." They both continue to look up at the ceiling but find each others hand to hold.
"I'm scared." They both whisper quietly to each other. They both lie awake, minds racing at what the future holds until they both eventually drift off to sleep, still holding hands.