STAR VS THE FORCES OF EVIL
THE PILOT AND HIS PRINCESS

ACT I - THE PROLOGUE

I
MARCO'S HISTORY

"...And on that day... Marco Diaz was dead, and a new Marco Diaz was born."

I could remember... the day I lost Star... Not just any Star.

...But... my Star...

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It was night when I first learned that from Star that she would have leave Earth in an hour, I never felt so sad and depressed in my entire life. It just a few moments, Star would leave my life to never return. It broke my heart. She flung herself to me, hugged me tight and cried on my chest. I've never seen her cry this much before. She told me that she would miss Earth, because in reality, it became her real home. Her life was here, not in Mewni. Here happiness was here, not in Mewni. Everything that brought her joy, it was all here on Earth.

And she would have to leave it all... forever.

As she cried on my chest, she told me between sobs to me saying that she doesn't want to go, because she had so much fun here than back in Mewni.

As she cried on my chest, she told me between sobs that leaving Earth meant leaving behind everything she treasured and loved.

As she cried on my chest, she told me between sobs that all her happiness was here on Earth, and coming home meant leaving the memories, the fun, the adventure... everything, behind.

As she cried on my chest, she told me between sobs that she would miss everything... especially me.

I could only hug and console her as she cried on my chest, drenching my favorite hoodie. I tried to console and comfort her, telling her that I would stay by her side. Sadly though, we knew that was lie. Once she left, she would be gone - forever. There was nothing we could do.

I could only hum her favorite song - a song from Love Sentence about memories. I wished that I didn't hum that song, because it only made her more depressed. It reminded me of all the memories we had - the first day we met, the hundreds of cross dimensional adventures we had and the victory we earned over Toffee and Ludo. I would miss it all.

I would miss the way she smiled.

I would miss the way she made me smile.

I would miss the adventures we had together.

I would miss the joy when hugged each other.

I would miss the life of having her with me.

I would miss the nights when we watched movies together.

I would miss... my Star... my beautiful Star Butterfly.

While I was walking in memory lane, Star slowly stopped sobbing in my chest and started to emerge from my drenched hoodie. I stared into her eyes, filled with tears. A girl like Star should never cry, should never be sad, and should never be forced to leave her happiness.

"I'm so sorry Star..." I whispered into her ear softly.

"Don't. I... no, we knew that this day would come." Star, his Star, spoke. "And I really wished that it never did."

"I wished the same."

"There is nothing I can do, Marco. I have to go."

"I'll miss you, Star." Star's eyes were dry at this point.

"I'll miss you too, Marco. Th-th-thank you... for all the memories you gave me..." Star hugged Marco tighter, burying her face into his chest. We hugged for a minute, and we broke our hug.

"Marco... before I go, I would like you to have this." She then gave me a necklace with a heart.

"What is this?"

"Back home, we call this the Necklace of Protection. Remember all the times when we somehow miraculously survived the universe?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, this was protecting me and now it will protect you. Keep it to remember me."

"Thank you..."

They could hear Star's parents calling for her to come out. It was time.

"Goodbye, Marco."

"Goodbye... my Star."

The last thing I could remember was a kiss on the lips.

And after that... nothing more.

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I could remember... the sirens that came a few days later...

...and the rising mushroom cloud in the sky...

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I was at school taking a quiz and still sad (or depressed) about Star's departure when all of the sudden we heard sirens blazing in the city. Our physics teacher then barged into our classroom, telling us to leave the classroom and head for the gym. We were all confused why she would say so, but she told us that the quiz was canceled and that we had to go to the gym. Now. We didn't know why, but we complied.

As my classmates cheered for the cancellation of the quiz, I wondered what was happening. When I asked, they said it was a surprise routine inspection. Routine inspection? I internally laughed when I heard that. At the same time, I wondered what it was all about. I knew about this school and its policies, and there was never a 'routine inspection' in the history of the school.

Something was wrong.

We lined up outside the classroom and we marched towards the gym entrance, with students from other classes joining us. On the way, we found military personnel talking to the school administrators. It made ask myself why there are military personnel in the school. I tired to listen in the conversation, but I could only get snippets.

"...th-th-that's impossible..."

"...a-a-a-an A.I.?"

"... we're sorry for everybody who has no chance..."

"...Nuclear...bomb?"

What? Nuclear bomb?

We were walking in the hallway. To our left was the windows that gave a good view of the skyline of the city. While we were walking, we heard a deafening roar coming from the distance. We stopped dead on our tracks, and looked through the windows and to the skyline.

I couldn't believe what I saw.

I couldn't believe that everything consumed in that light was destroyed in an instant.

I couldn't believe that my world was ending before my eyes.

None of us did.

The city was consumed in a blinding light, and out of it, came a large mushroom cloud rising up to the sky. The buildings that weren't destroyed in the nuclear blast was destroyed by wind speeds I never imagined possible. It began to spread in all directions, destroying anything on its path.

We all stared at it, as all of us were paralyzed in fear.

And then someone shouted.

"The wind! It's gonna destroy the school!"

"Oh, no. Oh, no! Everyone in the gym! Now!" Panic erupted.

Students began to push each other forward, trying to reach the gym. Some fell down and were trampled, while others began crying and swearing. Me? I stood there, paralyzed in fear watching the wind come closer and closer. Completely oblivious to the panic of the student community.

"I want my mommy!" A voice of crying girl screamed.

"Get out of my way, you jackheads!" One of the jocks screamed, selfishly pushing others to the ground to reach the gym.

"Help me! Help me!" He was ignored, and then trampled to death, by the other panicking students.

"Everyone stay calm!" The teachers shouted to make their voice heard, but it fell on deaf ears.

Meanwhile, the winds were moving closer and closer to the school, and all I could do was stand there paralyzed in fear.

The last thing I could remember was being blown away by the wind at an impossible speed.

After this... nothing more.

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I could remember waking up... in the now destroyed school...

... surrounded by the bodies of my dead classmates...

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I woke up on the ground a few hours after the bombs dropped. The explosion must have knocked me unconscious, but surprisingly, I'm still alive.

Speaking of alive...

I looked around the remains of the school, as its foundations were blown away by the winds generated by the explosion. What I found made me puke. I found the bodies of my dead classmates, and their bodies were horribly disfigured. Some joints were sticking out in unnatural positions. Some of the bodies were impaled by sharp objects in amidst the rubble. Their faces showed the emotions they felt before they all died from the blast - agony, shock, fear, confusion. Some bodies weren't even human, not even remotely close to one.

Which made me question... how was I still alive? A million questions with no answers to them popped into my mind.

How did I not die?

How did I not suffer the same fate?

How did I not feel pain when I was knocked unconscious?

How did I survive?

My body didn't have any wounds when I examined my body. No bruises, no scratches. My clothes weren't even ripped. In fact, it was as if I never was blown away by winds generated by a blast.

Until I noticed my necklace was glowing.

The necklace Star... my Star... gave me. I owe her my life.

Because of said necklace, I was alive. But all my friends and fami-

"Family!" I thought to myself. "Mom... Dad!"

I began to run away from the burning remains of the school to return home. The path I took was one that only existed in apocalyptic movies. There were only a few structurally sound buildings left built near the road, with the other buildings turned into rubble. The roads were filled with cars and trucks, with their drivers dead inside. The streets was littered with several dead bodies, and their face showed shock and fear as I assumed, came from the explosion. The sky was no longer bright and sunny, but was dark red. The explosion threw up enough particles into the atmosphere to block out the sun. I was grateful that, somehow, the lighting system of some street lights still worked, so my path home wasn't, at the very least, filled with total darkness.

After what seemed like an hour of running, I finally arrived to my house. The house was still structurally secure, but part of the house collapsed. I ran right through the door and bolted around the house, and tried to find my parents.

However... I found them dead.

Their bodies were hugging each other, meaning they died together. I could only drop on my knees.

In one day, my family was dead.

In one day, my friends were dead.

In one day, my whole life was taken from me.

What's next? Death came knocking on my door?

Out of depression, my rational thinking shut down. I couldn't think straight anymore. Could anyone think straight while knowing that everything that you knew in your life was gone in an instant?

The last thing I remembered was falling asleep... begging for the sweet release of death.

After this... nothing more.

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I could remember... men taking us to a base...

...a military base... to sign up for war...

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I found myself standing in line, along with other children from what I can only assume, came from other states. They most likely faced the same thing I faced - family dead, friends dead, life dead. It hurts. It hurts so bad. We were on line to join the army, because we had no choice. They needed men, and they needed all they manpower they can use because I heard that the entire army went up in flames when the bombs were dropped by some A.I. known as LandWeb. Curse that A.I.

"Next, please." I stepped in front of the recruiter.

"Name?"

"Marco Diaz."

"Age?"

"17."

"Good. Head over there, and give this to that recruiter."

"That's it?"

"Yes." The recruiter then gave me a paper and pointed to me to a dude, who stood next to an... advertisement of sorts? I don't know if I could even call it one, but it said.

Titan Initiative
The Greatest Soldiers of Humanity

As instructed, I went over to the other recruiter and gave him a paper. He examined it for a while.

"Good. Go join that line." He then returned the paper to me, and I joined the line he mentioned.

An hour of waiting passed, and we were on trucks heading for some abandoned place in the world in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness.

The last thing I remembered was falling asleep in the truck...

After this... nothing more.

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I could remember... being with other teenagers like me...

...preparing to die...

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The Titan Initiative, they say, is one of the programs to train young people for war. I didn't know why they wanted young people like us, since we had no experience in war or killing a man for that matter. But they also said that we were to be the greatest soldiers to be trained to wield, quote on quote, "walking killing machines". I was part of a group that were to be trained to wield this "walking killing machines." I was nervous about this, but at the same time... I felt vengeance. I tried my best to keep it down... but I never experienced the need for revenge this much.

I had my entire life taken away in an instant.

My whole world was destroyed in the nuclear fire.

Everything I knew I loved... was gone.

My parents.

My school.

My life.

My home.

My... Star.

I felt burning hatred for the sentient A.I. called LandWeb. If it destroyed everything I loved, I will destroy it too.

I fought Toffee.

I fought Ludo.

I fought Toffee again.

I survived countless dimensions.

I braved through countless storms.

And if survived all of that... I will survive this.

The trainer then appeared, and he blew his whistle. We went into formation and they spoke in front to us.

"You will be the first line of offense against LandWeb. You will be the greatest soldiers humanity will ever train. You are the Pilots." The trainer then said. "Training starts now."

And on that day... Marco was dead, and a new Marco was born.

A/N. Follow, review, criticize.