Rifts

Part 7~Divide and Conquer

Bursting through the door, Star grinned. "Sup Marco! I'm so pumped for this!" She threw her hands up as she walked in, making Marco roll his eyes with a chuckle.

"Yeah, but I still don't think this is a good idea."

"No, no, Marco. I'm coming, and you can't stop me." Star grinned as Marco slid his bag on his shoulder.

"You're just going because it's Hekapoo's dimension, aren't you?"

Star chuckled to herself. "Maybe, but come on, Marco. We have missed out on too much time!" Star swung her wand around her finger as Marco sighed.

"Okay, Star. Just stay close. This dimension isn't the safest." Marco paused, turning to the wall as he cut open a portal, standing aside as Moc cheered, bursting through on Flameo. Solar screamed, dragged through by Nachos, who instantly went to Marco's side. "Hey there. Did you enjoy your flight with Solar?"

Solar groaned, falling off the dragon's back, much to Marco's amusement.

"And Scoop." Marco picked Solar up, setting him back on Nachos' back. Star climbed on behind Moc as Marco sliced open a new portal. He sat in front of Solar, gripping Nachos' horns as Solar gulped, hugging Marco's stomach. "Ready to fight a fire queen?"

"Hekapoo isn't a Queen," Star pointed out as Marco snorted, rolling his eyes.

"If you've been with Hekapoo while she's stressed, you'll learn to treat her like one. Let's go." Marco pushed Nachos forward as a new portal opened up.

"Hey, Star, you forgot your bag." Janna stepped through the portal, holding up Star's bag as Marco slammed on the brakes.

"Oh, thank you, Janna!" Star rushed over, happily hugging Janna as she slid the bag onto her shoulders. "Right, we're ready!"

"You... You have my scissors!" Marco glared at Janna, who shrugged.

"Yeah."

Standing up, Marco stormed towards Janna, holding out his hand. "Give them back, this instant."

Janna hummed. "No."

Gaping, Moc and Solar slid off their dragon cycles, grabbing Star and pulling her into the corner. "Dudes, what's the big deal? Marco, let me borrow those all the time."

"Yeah," Moc hissed, "that was before the fire trial. Marco rarely lets anyone touch his scissor now, let alone take them."

Marco growled. "Last chance Janna. Scissors now."

Janna grinned, pocketing the scissors. "Really, what are you going to do about it?"

Screaming, the room filled with fire, and portals opened around them, dropping Janna out of this world. "I'll just have to try you." Falling after her, the portals closed.

Star screamed, running forward in horror. "What just happened?! Where's Janna? Where's Marco."

Moc shook her head as she climbed back on Flameo. "Don't worry about it. If they're not back by dinner, then we'll worry."

"Seriously? We're just not going to talk about what just happened?"

"It happens all the time, Star," Solar explained, shrugging his shoulders. "Someone aggravates Marco. Marco drops them into the volcano dimension. That someone gives up somewhere between 2 to 6 hours, and Marco returns them to whatever world they came from. As long as Janna isn't super stubborn, everything should be fine."

"Oh no. Janna's stubborn." Star paled as Solar shrugged.

"Well, worse comes to worst, we'll chase after them when we get back, but for now, we need to go find Hekapoo."

"Wait, should we even go without Marco?"

Moc and Solar shared a look as he sighed. "Fine."

Moc grinned, jumping up and drawing on the floor. They muttered under their breath, the symbols glowing and bursting into flames.

Appearing from the ground, Tom floated above them before the spell broke, and he fell to the floor. "Will you stop doing that! I'm getting a concussion." Tom rubbed his head as he looked around the group. "What's going on?"

"Janna refused to give Marco his scissors back, and he took her to another world, so we're now one down for our mission to calm Hekapoo," Star summarised as Tom sighed.

"Typical, Marco. Also, I told you to give those scissors back."

"Right, well, we're now one dragon rider out of four, so I guess we're walking... unless you know how to drive, Star?" Moc glanced at Star, who squealed.

"Nope, but I've always wanted to learn!" She jumped on Nachos' back as Solar paled.

"Yeah, that's not a good idea. Marco will kill us if we hurt Nachos."

Moc hummed, grabbing Star and putting her on Flameo. They then pushed Tom on behind her and grabbed Solar, bringing him to Nachos. "There. Now Star can learn on Flameo. She is an easier first dragon anyway, and if all goes wrong, I can give vocal commands and stop you from dying. Now let's ride!" Moc pushed Nachos forward, disappearing into the portal as Star followed them.

~~~

Groaning, Janna pushed herself up, glancing around the arena. She sat in a giant volcano mouth, lava pouring around the edges and up the walls. Only the stone platform she stood on was safe. Portals swirled above her menacingly as she shrugged.

"Time to get out of here." Janna reached into her pocket, but the scissors weren't there. "What?"

"You won't find them." Marco landed before Janna, falling from the portal, smirking as the portals closed. "The scissors are far away."

"Dude, I worked hard to steal those!"

"They were mine!" Marco growled as he took a breath. "No matter. If you want the scissors back, all you have to do is take this jewel from me. Alternatively, you could just leave." Marco motioned to the portal that opened up on the far edge.

"That's not happening. This will be a breeze." Janna reached forward to grab the red jewel, but Marco stepped away. She tried again and again and again, but Marco kept sidestepping her.

"You'll have to try harder than that, Janna." Sliding back, Marco put the jewel in his top pocket, pulling out his knives. He charged forward, forcing Janna to retreat and cutting her cheek. "You sure you don't want to just leave."

"No fair, you have weapons!"

Raising his eyebrow, Marco snorted. "Sure. Let's make this even." Behind her, racks of weapons appeared.

Grinning, Janna grabbed the mace. "Oh, it's on."