Rifts

Prologue~Leaving

Standing before the old Echo Creek Academy building, Marco took a deep breath.

"Well, I now release you from the bonds of academia. Be free..." The headmaster opened his box, releasing the dove into the world. "Uh... something like that. We've never sent a kid to another dimension before."

"Sure you have. It's like what Star did when she did her exchange program... just, you know, in the opposite direction." Marco held up the stack of paper. He had changed the name to fit his.

"Well, I hope I'm not sending you off to your death."

Marco flinched shyly. He stepped back with a guilty expression on his face. "Y-Yeah."

"Marco, hold on!" Ferguson reached out, standing by their friend, holding up a sad Marco sign. "You can't leave yet!"

"We want to say sorry for how we acted the other day," Alfonzo stepped forward, staring at Marco as he shook his head.

"No, guys, I'm the one who needs to say sorry." Maco shuffled as he spoke. "I-I really haven't been around much and," Maco tailed off as his friends reassured him.

"Dude, it's okay. Look, we-we bought you something." Ferguson reached behind him, pulling out the red, twenty-sided dice held in a glass container. "It's our lucky die. It'll grant you good fortune on your travels."

Marco smiled, gently taking the dice. "Thank you, guys."

"For the record, I'm still mad at you." Sensei Brantley kept his arms crossed, a sour expression on his face as Maco sighed, reaching behind him.

"I know. But I got you something." Pulling out the red cape with an 's' on the back, Maco handed it to his sensei, who instantly burst out crying.

"I'm gonna miss you so much!"

"I'm gonna miss you too, man."

Tapping Marco's shoulder, Janna brought his attention to her. "I also got something for you." Janna pulled out Marco's social security card as he stared in horror.

"Wha-What?! How long have you had this?"

"Don't ask questions you don't want the answer to." Janna stepped away as Maco sighed, his expression softening.

"What a creep." He spun around, pulling out his scissors and cutting through the fabric of the universe. "Well, I guess this is goodbye, guys."

Throwing open his arms, Rafael couldn't watch this. "I don't understand. We're just letting Marco leave school? Is this even legal?"

Stepping to his side, his wife hushed him. "Marco needs to have his own French summer."

"What? What is happening?"

Marco chuckled, shaking his head as he walked through the portal, waving goodbye to his old life.

"Say hi to Star for us."

Marco flinched at the comment, forcing a smile on his face as the portal closed behind him.

"Took you long enough. What was the hold-up?" The voice echoed around the dark room Marco knew all too well.

"Nothing. Ready to go, H-Po?"

"Sure thing. If you can catch me, that is." Jumping out of the tower, Hekapoo laughed maniacally.

Marco hesitated before he abandoned his things from Earth. "I'm sorry, guys, but I need a new start. And I can't find that on Earth or Mewnie." Whistling, Marco grinned, hugging Nachos as he chased after his friend.

~~~

Sitting beneath the stars, Marco finished setting up camp. "Well, the traps are up. Nothing is attacking us tonight." He clapped his hands together, a grin on his face.

"Great, and you're not going to check them for the third time?" Raising their eyebrow, Moc watched Marco fidget.

Moc wasn't the tallest monster in the world. In fact, they were surprisingly small, even shorter than most humans. They were humanistic in nature but had strange dark green fur and large pointed ears. Their lime-green, curly hair was cut short to their chin, and their tail swayed lazily by them. They had fangs that pointed out of their mouth and slitted blue eyes.

Marco stepped away from them. "I'm just gonna..." He was going to recheck the traps.

"Stop him!" Pointing out their finger, Moc grinned as the last figure tackled Marco to the ground.

"You said you would watch the meteor shower with us, and you will not miss it. The traps are fine." Solar waited for Marco to admit defeat, holding his arm behind and sitting on his back.

Solar wasn't tall either- or at least he was shorter than Marco. He had midnight blue hair that was tied back in a loose ponytail and swayed choppily in front of his eyes. He had several plasters on his skin from the various monster attacks the group had to deal with.

Marco sighed, groaning slightly. "Fine."

"Good. Now join us by the fire Marco." Shifting so he was no longer sitting upon Marco, Solar waited for Marco to join the group, holding a roasting stick.

Marco chuckled, sitting close to Solar as he sighed. "Sorry."

"It's okay, man! We know Hekapoo has been running you ragged with the portal calamity. But relax. If there is a monster attack today, we'll deal with it." Moc puffed out their chest proudly, grinning a little manically, but the others didn't seem to notice.

"We've got your back, Marco. So relax. This is a once in every thousand years even." Solar glanced up, staring at the meteor shower as Marco reluctantly followed suit.

He had to admit it was pretty. Streams of all colours shot across the sky, looking like a rainbow of colours.

"Isn't it amazing?"

Marco tore his eyes away from the sky, staring at Solar. The boy was completely relaxed, his usually grey eyes looking alight with colour under the meteor shower. Every feature that boy had was highlighted under the light. "Yeah... amazing..."

Hesitantly, Marco shuffled closer to Solar, smiling as they leaned in closer, savouring the warmth and staring at the sight.

That wasn't normal. In the colour, a bright yellow light emerged, a portal. Shooting out of it, the big yellow moth-thing flew about the sky. Marco narrowed his eyes, gasping as he grabbed his binoculars, staring at the creature.

That was Star. Star Butterfly, the princess of Mewnie. Star didn't even bat an eye, opening a new portal and flying away.

"I wonder what that was." Moc paused as their eyes widened. "The marshmallows are done!"

Solar grinned, joining in as he grabbed his stick and began eating. "Hey, Marco-" he nudged Marco- "you're going to miss out. Eat it." Solar poked Marco's cheek with the marshmallow as he lowered the binoculars, standing up.

"Guys, get ready. We're going to Mewnie."

Sharing a look, Solar and Moc tried not to choke on their food. "What?!"