Star Vs. The Forces of Evil: The Return of Toffee

It's Complicated

   Evening turns to night. At the Septarian camp, a few soldiers give Toffee some ice to put on his head after his fight with Star. Despite his best efforts to hide it, Toffee's fury and rage at losing a magic fight with Star is palpable. As he puts the ice on his head, he looks at a tv screen showing a live cctv video.

At Toffee's secret base, Moon and the rest of both Star and Marco's families are being held prisoner when Moon hears from the soldiers guarding the place about Toffee's humiliating defeat at the hands of Star. Moon looks at one of the cameras on the ceiling of the base monitoring the prison cells.

Suspecting Toffee might be directly looking at the video feed, Moon smiles and talks directly to the camera. Moon mockingly asks Toffee how his battle with Star went today? Watching and hearing this from his tv screen, the rage Toffee feels boils over. He angrily shuts off the tv and then throws the remote at the tv with all his might, breaking it and causing the glass of the screen to shatter.

Toffee yells for his soldiers. Rasticore and two other septarian soldiers appear in the tent. Toffee first orders the two soldiers to get him a new tv, which they oblige and take the broken tv out of his room. Regaining his composure, Toffee then tells Rasticore to prepare the soldiers in a few hours for a raid on Monster town.

Rasticore is confused and taken aback by this ( thinking they should try to recruit monsters in their ranks, not openly target them ). Sensing Rasticore's confusion, Toffee elaborates that Star will not stand by as innocents are in harm's way. Toffee continues in his classically cold and calculated fashion that this will force Star out into the open, making her easier to capture and neutralize. In this way, they'll exploit Star's big heart and incorruptible moral compass to their advantage.

Rasticore is still a bit shocked and inquires with concern about the monsters in the town, shouldn't they avoid harming them? They're the closest thing Septarians have to kin! Unfazed, Toffee continues coldly that those are just average monsters, not Septarians. Toffee further elaborates coldly that the empire they'll build is one for Septarians and Septarians only...and no one must stand in the way of that, not even other monsters!

Reluctantly, Rasticore obeys Toffee's order and leaves the tent. He's ill at ease and for the first time calls into question the faith he's had in this "Septarian" cause. Deep inside, Rasticore feels the guilt inside him. He knows that what himself and Toffee have been doing is wrong.

Before Rasticore gives the order to the soldiers, he goes into another tent close to Toffees' and slowly approaches a desk with a large pile of papers. Rasticore looks at one piece of paper in particular before grabbing it and discreetly exiting the tent.

At the camp of Star's army, campfires are lit all over with the soldiers cheering and laughing at how Star forced Toffee into a humiliating retreat. Everyone seems to be in a good mood...except for Marco. For some reason, he seems distracted and a bit depressed, not interacting with anyone and looking glumly at one of the campfires.

Marco soon gets up and walks to the very edge of the camp and sits on a large tree log, continuing to look glumly at the ground. The night sky is clear and full of stars. Both Jackie and Star notice this and walk towards Marco. Star worriedly asks Jackie what's going on with Marco, with Jackie just as baffled as Star is. Jackie tells Star she'll talk to him.

As she tells Star this, Jackie can sense the pinch of apprehension and worry Star feels ( knowing full well Star might be a bit concerned at the possibility of Marco's ex-girlfriend hitting on him ). Jackie has no such ill intentions and tells Star she can eavesdrop on her and Marco from close by. Star nods in worried agreement and hides behind a tree close to the tree log.

Jackie sits next to Marco ( who doesn't even seem to notice her ) and asks Marco worriedly if everything's ok? With his concern and sadness almost palpable, Marco confesses that no, he frankly doesn't feel ok...he feels like he hasn't done enough to help everyone ( especially his now captured Parents ) and feels he isn't the best boyfriend or even friend that Star deserves.

Marco also talks about the what-ifs he's been asking himself recently: what if he reacted sooner and blocked Toffee's energy blast from hitting Star at D.C., what if he was able to rescue his parents and Star's parents at the Battle of the Mewnian Hills before they were captured?

After taking a few second pause to compose himself, Marco tells Jackie he doesn't want anything bad to happen to Star and he's worried sick about messing up his relationship with her.

Seeing Marco is on the verge of having an anxiety attack, Jackie firmly tells him to stop for a second. Jackie then tells Marco to take a few deep breaths and relax. It's pretty obvious now to Jackie and Star ( who is still hiding behind a nearby tree ) that Marco is just simply overwhelmed by everything that's been happening recently. Star herself can relate to this exactly as she was in the same place multiple times ( from the times battling Meteora to dealing with Mina Loveberry's army, etc. ).

Knowing Marco feels truly alone and stressed, Jackie makes sure to reassure Marco about how he's feeling. To put how he's feeling into context, Jackie tells him about her relationship with Chloe. Jackie bluntly tells Marco about the struggles she's had with being Bisexual and how no matter the disapproval she's gotten from others, she loves Chloe anyways. Jackie further reassures Marco that, especially due to their present situation, everything he's feeling is pretty much normal, and that he's really been in fact both a good boyfriend and great friend to Star. Marco feels a bit better, but is still pretty depressed and worried and asks Jackie how he would know if he's doing his best or if he's not messing up with Star? Then, Marco hears someone in front of him tell him positively "Why don't you ask her yourself?"

Lifting his head, Marco looks up to see Star standing right in front of him with her arms crossed and a smile on her face. A shocked Marco looks at Jackie, who is now also smiling and tells him she was listening to you the whole time. Marco is speechless and embarrassed, now terrified he's now scared all his chances away for having a good relationship with Star. Before Marco can say something, Star gives him a hug.

Jackie tells the two of them she'll give them some space and goes back to camp. After hugging him, Star tells Marco to stop worrying, it's not necessary.

For a little bit, they look at the beautiful night sky. Star then tells a more relaxed Marco that whatever happens, they'll get through it together but he needs to promise her that if he's ever stressed or has something on his mind, to please let her know ( also adding that he has the really bad habit of bottling up his emotions ).

To pass the time, Marco awkwardly asks Star if she would like to have dinner together back at camp. Star happily accepts!