Ch 1 helping hand

"Marco, are you sure everything is ready for the ball tonight? Because people are going to be coming here at any moment now. Both Monsters and Mewmens under the same roof, and I'm not going to have a repeat of what happened last time. Everything needs to be perfect and orderly for just this night because if it's not… bad things may happen if we're not careful!"

"Star, you're worrying too much. I quadruple checked anything and everything and it's all going according to the schedule that I personally created and planned, and I don't mean to brag but, I pulled it off flawlessly if I do say so myself."

"Really Marco? Really? Are you sure?"

"Yes, Star I'm sure."

"Did you make sure all the food was prepared?"

"Check, I even helped the chefs cook all the meals that they'll be plating up."

"Are the decoration setup, right?"

"Check, Tom and I got it done in no time flat."

"Did you send out all the invitations?"

"Check, I personally handwritten them all and hand delivered them to their respective individuals and all said yes."

"Did you tell the guards not to treat the monsters that are coming here any differently than they would treat someone from a royal family?"

"Check, I made sure all those blockheads understood what was happening here. They won't be a problem tonight."

"Did my specially ordered dress come in on time?"

"Check, I signed the delivery order for it and placed it in your room. Also, Star."

"Yes, Marco?"

"You're wearing it," Marco pointed out to Star who then looked herself over.

"Oops, silly me. Kind of forgot that I was wearing it. Sorry about spazzing out on you, Marco. It's just that this may really be my last chance to mend fences with Monsters and Mewmens. Ever since the monster temple incident with Miss Heinous or Meteora and Mina Loveberry, the monster kids have been avoiding me. They must really hate me for what I put them through," Star started to cry as her tears started to ruin her makeup.

"What?! No Star, they don't hate you they're just uh, laying low for now. After all, they did almost die but that doesn't mean they don't hate you at all. They really appreciate what you're doing for them."

"Really?"

"Yeah, they said so themselves when I handed them the invitation to come to your ball. And yes, before you ask they are coming to the ball."

Star wipes her tears away with her sleeves and gave Marco a big hug. "Thanks, Marco you're the best squire and best friend a princess could as for."

"Don't worry about it Star," Marco patted Stars back lightly before he lightly pushing her off him. "Star, look at me."

Star did as she was asked and looked Marco in the face. Looking deep into his eyes Star saw the claim in his eyes which told her everything was fine and nothing bad was going to happen. She felt lucky to have Marco at her side, she wouldn't have been able to handle all the stress of planning this event without him.

Hell, even the previous event would've never happened without Marco there to help her out with all the signatures and party planning. He even somehow got the goblin truck to give out the goblin dogs to the people who asked for them without making them wait in a long line for no reason, which was impressive in her book.

Sure, Star did have some other help from Tom and Pony Head, but Tom tended to back away from anything remotely political which was weird given he was a prince after all. He did help out here and there, but it was never enough to really get anything done. And Pony Head was more of a hindrance than anything remotely helpful.

She loved Pony Head as if she was a sister, but Pony Head's sisters did somewhat try to kill her. Then there was the fact she kidnapped Rich Pigeon which also almost got her executed by Death by a Thousand Pecks. Star also did hate to admit it, but Pony Head was very self-centered and was hard to rely on for very important matters.

As Star continued to look at Marco, she saw him rummaging through his coat pockets as if he was trying to find something.

"Uh Marco, what are you doing?"

"Trying to find my cleansing wipes. Ah, found them!"

"Why?"

"Because, when you started breaking down in tears you kind of smudged your makeup."

"What?!" Star screeched out. "This took me two hours to get it just right, I won't have time to fix this!" Star was now getting furious now as she stomped her feet in frustration.

Luckily Marco was there to calm her down as he pulled out some clean wipes and started to clean her face of the ruined makeup.

"Star it doesn't matter," he said calmly as he held her face still as he wiped away her smudged makeup.

"Yes, it does! I spent a long time getting myself to look good and presentable!"

"Really? Because I think your natural look looks better."

"Really? You're not just saying that to make me feel better, are you?"

"No Star, I'm not. Makeup makes people look kind of fake to me and I'm pretty sure many people would agree with me on this. Besides, to me you look far more beautiful without makeup on."

"Oh, Marco that so sweet of you to say," Star gave Marco a quick hug and as she let go of his she gave him a few quick and soft playful jabs to his arm "You're no misunderstood bad boy, you really just a misunderstood lady killer~"

"Star!" Marco called out in embarrassment "Okay Star look. The guests will be here any minute now so head to the ballroom now. Tom is waiting for you now and he's getting impatient with waiting. I'll be heading to the entrance of the castle to greet all the guests that come in, alright?"

Star gave Marco a silly salute with a very serious face as she stands at attention.

"You can count on me, Sir Diaz"

"Star, I'm not a knight."

"You're not a knight 'yet' Marco, but you will be. I just know it."

"Can't you just I don't know, knight me here now? All you have to do a bend the rules a little," Marco joked which was seen by Star but she decided to play along.

"Oh, silly Marco. To be knighted you'd have to study and train under the tutelage of a knight or someone of higher or similar authority for a few years or complete some sort of great quest. I mean, I may be able to bend the rules a little, but I can't bend them that much."

"Hehehe, I know that already Star I was just playing with you."

"I know that silly, I was just playing along with you."

"You sure you were?"

"Alright, Mr. Misunderstood Lady Killer. Go and make sure that our guests are welcome when they start coming in."

"I'm right on it, your majesty."

"Good. Now if you'll excuse me my boyfriend is waiting for me in the ballroom," and with Star started running down the hall to the ballroom.

Marco gave a small smile as he waved goodbye to Star. This didn't go unnoticed by Star as she had turned and saw this she gave a similar response back, causing her to stumble and fall on her face.

"Star, are you okay?!" Marco screamed as he was about the rush to her side.

"No, no I'm okay," Star call out before Marco could move a muscle to help her. "This used to happen a lot when I was a kid, so I'm used to it this." Star explained as she dusted herself off and continued running.

"Oh Star, may you never change," Marco said to himself as he 'walked' to the front entrance of the castle to wait for the guests to arrive.

It took 5 min of waiting at the front entrance for the first guest to arrive and Marco was happy the first guest was a familiar face.

"Hey, Buff Frog it's good to see you," Marco greeted his monster friend.

He wore the same tunic he had always worn, but it was now accompanied by a thin black tie and a pair of long green pants.

"Ah, Karate Boy it's good to see you to. I hope I'm not late or anything."

"No, you're like the first to arrive," Marco looked around Buff frog. "Hey, where are your kids?"

"Oh, I left them with Bull Dog and Fly Boy to babysit for tonight."

"Such a shame, Star was looking forward to seeing them again."

"Oh, don't worry about it. She'll be seeing them next time I'm sure."

"I know she will," Marco looked down at his clipboard and ticked Buff Frog name off. "Head inside, Star's waiting for you." With that Buff Frog did as he was told and enter the castle.

After Buff Frog left, it wasn't long before Marco could see the next guests approaching, very fast from a distance. Marco already knew who it was from the body shape and color of the creature, Jorby. Which meant the green person on his back was most likely Kelly.

Jorby came to a screeching halt, right in front of Marco, he narrowly avoided ramming into him.

"Jorby! I told you to slow down, you nearly run over Marco!"

"Yeah, whatever I didn't, did I? Marco is still like in one piece and alive and well and stuff oh and by the way Marco looking shape."

"Thanks, Jorby, and may I say your bowtie suits you very well. It helps brings out the color of your fur."

"Thanks, bro."

Marco then looked up at Kelly as she dismounted from Jorby and saw she was wearing a nice one-piece knee high sea-foam green dress that complimented her hair and skin tone.

"Hey, Kelly," Marco greeted as he gave her a small wave. "You're looking very divine today, hell I might even go as even far to say you may even be among the best dressed here."

The small complement Marco gave Kelly made her blush red hot as she tried to hide her embarrassment by simply laughing it off. Jorby noticed this and snickered at her expense. Kelly, not like being laughed at punched Jorby in his right front leg as hard as she could.

"OW! Sorry, sorry… god, that hurt! Did you have to hit me that hard?"

"Oh, get over it, big baby."

As Kelly and Jorby bickered with each other Marco ticked their names off the list. After waiting for them to stop, Marco thought that it was time for him to step in and make them stop.

"Ahem," Marco clear his throat loud enough for the both to hear. "So~ do you guys want to attend this ball or~ do you just want to fight each other to the death. And if so could you do it someplace else if you don't mind," Marco joked causing both to stop.

"Sorry about that Marco," Kelly apologized.

"Yeah, me too. We'll behave now."

"Good, now head right in," Marco moved off to the side and welcomed them in.

As they entered the castle and passed Marco who stepped back in place Kelly paused and turned back to Marco. She took a deep breath and approached Marco and tapped him on his shoulder gaining back his attention.

"Oh, Kelly you need something?"

"Yes, I was wondering if you would like~…" Kelly stopped mid-sentence as she was rethinking what she would say, "to come and spare with me and Jorby in two days?"

Hearing this Marco gave a smile and gave a small nod in agreement. "Yeah, that sounds fun."

"Great, I'll call you then and fill you in on where we're going to meet up."

Walking back up to Jorby Kelly mentally cursed at herself. 'Great! Way to go, Kelly, you choked, all you had to say was. Hey, Marco, you want to dance with me when you finish with ushering people in and possibly go out with me sometime?'

Looking down Jorby could see Kelly's internal dilemma and tried to give his friend some words of encouragement.

"Hey, cheer up Kelly, there's still a chance."

"I just asked a guy I liked to a sparring match instead of asking him to dance with me."

"Oh, come on, Kelly. Like, a lot of people make-out with each other during the heat of battle."

"Yeah, and those people are usually demons."

"Hey, you never know. Marco maybe into that sort of thing."

"Jorby, he's not that sort of guy! He's more of a caring and loving sort of guy. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't like it if I just pushed him down and have my way with him." After saying that she quickly started imagining the scenario in her head, a slight bit of drool slipping from the corner of her mouth.

"Oh~ Kelly didn't know you were that sort of girl~" Jorby teased. "I'm sure he'd like it, he seems like the kind of guy that likes them wild and adventures."

"I really do hope so…"

As time went on more and more people came. Most encounters were uneventful, all he would do was greet them, check their names off a list, and let them pass through. Some of the more noticeable guests were when the princesses from Saint Olga's that asked him to sign some movie posters and dolls. The others were the monster kids that attended Stars last attempt to throw a party. They all looked kind of nerves and flinching at the smallest of sounds around them.

Marco managed to convince them that they had nothing to fear hear and that they would not have a repeat of what happened last time. He even gave his word, this seemed to really help put their minds at ease. They all saw Star was really trying to make good Monster and Mewmen relations work and that she was putting a lot at risk for them.

"Hey Marco, could you say to Star that we're sorry for avoiding her for these past couple of weeks?"

"You know, it would mean a lot more to Star if you guys said it to her instead of me."

"Yeah, you're probably right about that. Oh! And we didn't even say thank you for helping us out in the monster temple before."

"Don't mention it, just head on in and go talk to Star. She was really worried about you guys."

"Will do, man."

As the monster kids went in, a portal opened and out stepped three knights Sir Stabby, Sir Dashing of Muzzleton and Lady Whosits. All three of them were wearing ornate armor, freshly cleaned and polished, most likely by their respective squire.

Speaking of which right behind the knights their squires followed suit. Baby man, Old guy and his somewhat rival Higgs.

"Marco, my dear lad! It's good to see you."

"Yes, it's good to see you two Sir Stabby, how have you been?"

"Mighty fine if I do say so myself. I and the other knights just got back from a thrilling quest to slay a foul fiend that was terrorizing the countryside on some far-off dimension. Thankfully our squires had waxed our armor just in the nick of time for the ball."

"That sounds great. But what kind of fiend was it?"

"My, what an inquisitive question to ask," Marco started to have a worried look on his face as he may have sullied Sir Stabby honor. "A great trait for any aspiring knight to have."

"Oh, thank god," Marco quietly muttered as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

"For you see, the fiendish creature we slew was none other than a Barghest! Tis an intense battle of knightly valor versus bestial instinct. Sir Dashing over here nearly had his dashing face mauled off by the fiend!"

"Yeah those guys can be a pain to deal with. Especially when they ambush you out of nowhere. One minute you think you're fighting a goblin or wolf, next minute your fighting a hungry Barghest that's trying you eat your flesh."

The three knights and their squires looked at Marco questionably as he continued to rant on about Barghests. From what they do to their victims to how one would attempt to defeat them.

"Oh, gee Marco, it actually sounds like you've fought a whole pack of Barghest before," Higgs butted in on Marco's rant.

Marco stopped mid-rant as his eyes fell on Higgs. She was wearing a dark green medieval dress with gold flower highlights decorating the lower part of her dress. Marco would never admit it but Higgs did look really cute in a dress.

"Well just so you know I actually have."

"I bet you just talked them to death like the big nerd that you are."

"No, I'd used my sword or there was one time I snapped one's neck."

Hearing this Higgs walked right up in Marco's face and stared him down. Marco not wanting to back down did the same thing to Higgs, all the while the two other squires cheered for Higgs on the sidelines. On the other hand, the three knights simply looked on with Sir Stabby shedding a tear of pride for his squire.

"Look at that, my squire has only been under my tutelage for just over a year now and already has her very own rival. Kind of reminds me how we lot meet with each other," Sir Stabby reminisced as the other two nodded in agreement.

As the stare down was heating up Higgs decided to make the first move as she, without Marco noticing. Grabbed at his stomach and gave a nice hard squeeze. Feeling Higgs suddenly grab him Marco flailed his arms a little forcing Higgs to let go of him.

"What the hell, what was that all about Higgs?"

"Just wanted to see if there was any truth to your claims that you snapped a Barghest's neck and I got to say I'm very disappointed. I mean you've got some muscles but your noodle like arms couldn't snap a bundle of twigs let alone a Barghest's neck. You'd have to be as muscle-bound as Lady Whosits to do that sort of thing," Higgs pointed at as she points to Lady Whosits who was now flexing her muscles.

"So, tell me, how is it possible for a nerd like you to snap a Barghest's neck let alone kill one?"

"You really want to know? Not afraid that I'll talk you to death?" Marco saw his words struck a nerve.

"I knew it! You were just lying through your teeth!"

"I don't care what you think about me. So just hurry up, get inside and have a nice time at the ball."

Higgs didn't even dignify Marco with a response. Instead, she crossed her arms puffed out her cheeks and walked right past Marco, not even looking at him as she does this. The other squires and knight follow close behind all except Sir Stabby as he stayed behind for a bit.

Sir Stabby walked right up to Marco and gave him a friendly hug that both looked and felt like a headlock.

"Thank you, Marco my dear boy"

"Uh, for what exactly?"

"For being my squire's rival of course."

"Why?"

"Because ever since you two met, a fire has been set off within Higgs. Now she works twice as hard as she has ever done before, working diligently and tirelessly to master her swordsmanship to new heights. That is why I thank you for being the push she needed. Or now that I think about it, it may also be a combination of you and Princess Turdina's influence. I mean, she's watched that 'Princess Turdina' movie like several times now plus, she even has all of her merchandise."

'Oh crap! I wonder what she'll do to me if she ever found out I'm Princess Turdina' Marco thought.

"Anyways Marco I wish you luck on your path to knighthood," Sir Stabby said as he released his grip on Marco and headed off to catch up with the others of his group.

As Marco picked himself up and dusted himself off he ticked the names off the list of the knights and squires that just entered. The next guest that arrived was Rich Pigeon. As they both exchanged a quick greeting, Rich Pigeon handed Marco a small sack of gold and gems.

"Uh, Richard what's this for?"

"This, Marco, is thanks for helping me rid my kingdom of those creepy man-faced cat people by sending them all back to their cursed dimension. Let it be known I am not one to skip out on paying back my friends!"

"Oh, but I can't accept this so please take it…" Before Marco could finish his sentence, Rich Pigeon placed his fake hand over Marco's mouth to silence him.

"Please, Marco, just take the money. After all, you deserve it. Also, this is barely considered chump change to me so just take it."

"Okay," Marco agreed as he placed it in his pocket.

"Great! See you soon, Marco!"

"Yeah, see you soon Rich Pigeon." As Marco looked at his list and ticked Rich Pigeon's name off he now only needed to wait on a few other people to arrive before he could join the ball.

And as luck would have it another portal opened. From out of the portal exited King Pony Head and Princess Pony Head with her sisters following close behind.

"Late as always Pony Head," Marco said as he gave Pony Head a death glare. "You were supposed to help out with the ball preparations."

"Oh, chill out, Earth Turd. I had to get ready for the ball and you know how I like to look good for the hot hunks that be coming to this shindig."

"Whatever, I have no time to argue just get inside and go see Star. She's been waiting for you all day."

"Will do, Earth Turd. Come on girls! Lets. Get. Wild!" Her sisters all cheered as they all flew past Marco to get to dance floor as their father slowly trailing behind them.

With the last of the invited guests ticked off his list, he placed his clipboard away and was about to head to the ball when he had felt a hot burning sensation slap him in the back of his head.

"Hekapoo!" Marco screamed out her name not even needing to see the person who slapped him to know it was her.

"Sup, Flesh wad," Hekapoo greeted smugly.

"What was that for? And what are you doing here?"

"Well~ first off I slapped you because I felt like it and you deserved it. Oh, and let's just be clear on one thing, I've still not forgiven you for not telling me about Star going portal hoping!" Hekapoo pointed out as a reminder of how Marco lied to her.

Upon hearing that Marco did feel very remorseful about it and how they ended their last meeting on such a sour note.

"Look I'm sorry about that, okay Hekapoo. I really am. I should've told and trusted you from the start. I'd do anything to make you forgive me."

Hekapoo give off an evil grin as she crossed her arms, "Really? Anything?"

Marco did not like where this was going. "Yes."

"Good, because I need some help."

"You need my help?"

"Yes," Hekapoo confirmed.

"With what?"

"Some warlord is abusing the magic in his dimension and is using it to gain more power for himself. You know classic villain stuff that you see every week."

"That kind of sounds like something that would be Rhombulus's duty to do as he is you know the enforcer of magical laws and stuff," Marco pointed out.

"Yeah that would be the case normally, but Rhombulus is in the time-out corner for trapping random people with his Crystallokinesis. So, it now falls onto me to pick up his slack," Hekapoo explained. "That's where you come in."

"Look I'd love to help you, but I have this really important ball to attend to and I don't want to mess it up. Because you see if we mess this up Monsters and Mewmens may never have friendly relations," Marco tried to explain but his explanation fell on deaf ears as Hekapoo grabbed him by the scruff of his collar and pulled him down to her level.

"Okay look here, Marco Diaz, you owe me big time, and so you are going to help me with this." With her point firmly understood she lets go of Marco. "And besides, it's just a silly little ball. I'm sure Star can handle it without you there."

Marco thought about it and concluded that Star should be able to handle it herself. If she had any problems with the ball her mother and or Tom could help her out if needed.

"Okay you win H-poo, I'll help you out. I just got to tell Star first before I go."

"No time for that," Hekapoo exclaimed as she opened a portal with her scissors. "This is a very time-sensitive mission, and just so we're clear you still owe me big time."

Marco simply rolled his eyes as he followed Hekapoo through her portal.