It's BACK! Yessiree, after three long months of hiatus, "Maroon and the Earth-Ni Protectors" have returned for Book Two! I must say, I've prepared quite a nice lineup of chapters for the next book in the series. So without further ado on the 6th anniversary of SVTFOE, no less, let's dive right into this tale of good, evil, and everything in between...the tale of the Earth-Ni Protectors!
"MAROON AND THE EARTH-NI PROTECTORS"
BOOK TWO: HEROES AND VILLAINS
CHAPTER ONE: BACK IN ACTION
Four days after the climactic battle at Echo-Palooza, a bright and sunny morning had risen upon the cleaved city of Echo Creek. In the upscale Capers household on Tennyson street, the fifteen-year-old Austin Capers was still asleep in his bed. The night prior, he stayed up late working on some new engineering projects, including some upgrades to the Maroon suit. Austin had a tendency to work long into the night, a vice that often hindered his sleep.
While the teen engineer dozed off, an unexpected intruder quietly snuck into his room. Luckily, the interloper wasn't a threat, but merely a rather unexpected visitor; The formerly magical hybrid baby, Meteora Butterfly.
Meteora crawled up the wall, but once she reached the ceiling, she lost her balance and fell. Fortunately, she landed safely on Austin's bed with a plop, causing her to giggle. The half-breed tyke was now right next to Austin, unknowingly tickling his cheek with her fuzzy tail.
Suddenly, Austin let out a groan and slowly began to wake up. To his surprise, the first thing he saw was the bright-eyed baby staring right at him with a curious look on her face.
"Gah!" Austin exclaimed, startled to see a half-monster baby in his bedroom, of all places. Meteora let out a squeal in response, bounded off his bed, and started running down the hall on all fours.
Austin stretched, let out a groan, and begrudgingly trudged out of bed to trail Meteora, and find out how the heck she ended up in his home. He shambled downstairs, and saw the little rugrat crawling around in the foyer. Austin crouched down, picked her up, and carried her towards the kitchen.
Austin stepped into the kitchen, with Meteora squirming and writhing around in his arms. At the dining table, he saw his aunt Rita and uncle Desmond eating breakfast with two surprising guests; The former "Queen of Darkness" Eclipsa Butterfly, and her monster husband Globgor.
"I think you lost something." Austin humorously remarked, as he held Meteora out to her parents.
"There you are!" Eclipsa called out to her child. Meteora suddenly leapt out of Austin's arms, and into the arms of her loving mother. "Where was she?" The former queen queried.
"In my room. Trust me, it was a rude awakening." Austin commented.
"Sorry about that. She likes to explore." Globgor retorted.
"Why don't you fix yourself a plate and join us for breakfast?" Desmond suggested. Austin nodded in agreement, and sat down with a plateful of scrambled eggs, bacon and toast slathered in sweet blackberry jam.
"So, what brings you guys here?" Austin asked the Butterflies. He knew that Globgor worked in his uncle's construction crew, so he assumed they were over for some sort of social gathering.
"Well, Ozzy, the Butterflies will be staying with us until their home gets rebuilt." Rita answered. That certainly wasn't the answer Austin was expecting.
"I thought you guys were living in the Underworld?" Austin queried.
"Oh, we were, but it turns out the infernal domain of death and torment is no place for us to raise a baby." Eclipsa answered, as she tickled Meteora's chin, making her giggle cheerfully.
"So, we decided to stay somewhere...safer." Globgor mused.
"And we were happy to oblige." Desmond added with a smile on his face. "This is a big house, after all. There's already three of us, what's three more gonna hurt?"
"Well, any friend of Star's is welcome here." Austin commended the Butterflies. "Especially one that saved my life." The boy continued, as he turned to face Globgor.
"Oh, it was nothing." The size-shifter humbly replied, clearly downplaying the crucial role he played in stopping Seth of Septarsis.
"There's something I've been meaning to ask you, Mr. Globgor. You saved countless lives at Echo-Palooza; If it wasn't for you, we'd all be dead." Austin spoke. "You're already a hero; I'd be honored for you to join us as an Earth-Ni Protector."
Once Austin made his offer, the breakfast table fell silent. Globgor turned to Eclipsa and Meteora, while Austin tensely waited for an answer. After what felt like an eternity, the former king of monsters gave his answer.
"I'm sorry, but I can't join your team. I've got a stable job, my family is together again, and there's no Mina or Seth to threaten us. I'm honored, but I'd rather just live a normal life, for once." Globgor responded.
"I respect that. After all you Butterflies have been through, you truly deserve it." Austin noted, when the front doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" He piped, as he headed out of the kitchen towards the foyer.
Once he reached the foyer, Austin opened the front door to see a pleasant pair of familiar faces; Star Butterfly and Marco Diaz, standing at his doorstep whilst smiling and holding hands.
"Guys!" Austin exclaimed, happy to see his two closest friends again.
"H!" Star cheerfully trilled.
"Hey, Austin!" added Marco.
"Come in, come in! I've got something cool to show you." Austin spoke. The happy couple entered the foyer, where some familiar faces caught Star's eye.
"Oh my gosh, is that Eclipsa?" Star exclaimed, surprised to see her not-quite relatives eating with the Jean-Marcelins.
"Hello, Star!" Eclipsa called out, as she, Meteora and Globgor waved the to the former princess.
"What are they doing here?" Marco wondered.
"Well, they're staying with us 'till their house gets rebuilt.." Austin answered.
"Oh, that's wonderful! You'll love having those three around, trust me!" Star cooed.
"As long as I don't have to change any diapers." Austin remarked. "Speaking of Butterflies, where are you living nowadays?"
"Oh, she moved back into my house." Marco responded.
"And I love it. What could be better than living with my super awesome soulmate?" Star crooned as she held Marco close to her, causing him to smile and blush. Yes indeed, Star truly cherished living in the Diaz household again.
"You live with your girlfriend 24/7? Diaz, you lucky dog!" Austin joked, causing Star to giggle, while Marco began to blush.
The three teens then started to head upstairs; While they stepped up the stairs, Austin asked yet another question. "So, how's the new wand holding up?"
"Oh, it's great! Good as new." Star happily replied, as she held out her trusty mechanical wand. During the climactic battle with Seth, the wand's head got damaged, rendering it defunct. Over the course of several days, Austin repaired and upgraded the wand, granting it a wider variety of functions.
"Good to hear. Come on, I've got some more new stuff to show you!"
Star, Marco and Austin headed into Studio Rita; Formerly Austin's workshop, the room was under joint ownership since the Jean-Marcelins moved in. Now, it doubled as Aunt Rita's in-house fashion studio.
Austin flicked the light switch on, illuminating the room and revealing a couple of intruders hiding in the dark. Luckily, these infiltrators harbored no malice; They were Janna Ordonia and Tom Lucitor, who were sitting close together on the sofa, giggling as they read a large purple book.
"Oh, hey guys." Janna coyly remarked.
"What's up?" Tom queried.
"How did you guys get in here?" Marco asked; He knew Janna had a knack for sneaking into places undetected, from years of experience with her vexatious antics.
"Demon boy flew me in through the window. Isn't that right, babe?" The teenage troublemaker retorted, as she lightly stroked Tom's cheek. Star smiled upon seeing Tom and Janna together; She was happy to see two of her closest friends end up in a nice, loving relationship.
"We were just looking through one of Ozzy's family scrapbooks. I altered it a little." Janna mused. She held out the book to show the others. She had drawn devil horns, stink lines and a mustache on a picture of Austin's father Oberon; Her reviled former captor, who masqueraded as an armored warlord.
"Well, I was expecting you anyways." Austin remarked, as he gestured the others to follow him. He led his fellow heroes to a part of the room where the five Earth-Ni Protector costumes were arranged on mannequins in glass cases. In the center of the cases was a newly minted costume; the upgraded Mark IV Maroon suit. The modified costume had several new features, including a red helmet with white eyes, a black hooded cape, and upgraded utility bracelets.
"Alright, Star. You ready to work your magic?" Austin queried.
"Oh, I'm ready! Let's do this!" Star exclaimed, as she whipped out her mechanical wand. "I worked on this spell with Mom and Eclipsa. With the upgrades you made, I should be able to cast it."
Austin took out five high-tech metal rings that he crafted the night before, and set one next to each Protector costume. Star's wand began to glow a bright yellow, and a field of amber-colored energy started to emanate from it. She waved the pseudo-magical tool around in an elaborate routine, and hit the five super-suits with a ray of energy, causing them to disappear.
"Where'd the costumes go?" Tom asked, unsure of what just happened.
"If the spell worked, they should be in those rings." The former princess answered. Austin slipped the ring next to his costume's case on his index finger, then Star and Marco did the same.
"Repeat after me, on the count of three." Star mused in a rhyming fashion. "Three, two, one..."
"HERO UP!" The trio of teen heroes exclaimed; Star cheered the phrase out with gusto, while Austin and Marco repeated it shortly after, their voices not nearly as enthusiastic.
Without warning, each of their bodies became engulfed in a white light; Hardly even a second later, Star, Marco and Austin were out of their casual clothes, and into their elaborate superhero outfits. Unfortunately, they were wearing the wrong ones! Star was now wearing Marco's Martial Boy costume, Marco had donned the Maroon armor (Although it was far from his first time) and Austin was dressed in Star's Lady Butterfly outfit!
"Aah! What am I wearing?" Austin cried out in embarrassment, as Janna and Tom erupted into fits of hysterical laughter.
"Ooh, I look great in your suit, Marco! Not as good as you, though." Star complimented, as she struck an action pose.
"Oh, stop!" Marco playfully answered. "Man, I forgot how COOL my voice sounded in this helmet!"
"I think it sounds hot!"
"Hey, lovebirds! How do I get this off? This thing's tight in places it really shouldn't be!" Austin complained in a strained tone of voice.
"All you gotta do is say "Hero down!" Star replied; As she said the key phrase, the girl was magically reverted to her previous outfit; In this case, her green octopus dress, striped leggings and purple rhinoceros boots. Marco and Austin repeated after her, reverting them to their casual attire as well.
"We need a way to tell those rings apart." Marco remarked.
"Agreed."
About half an hour later, Austin took Marco's advice, and engraved special symbols into each of the Hero Rings. His own ring was engraved with a stylized carving of his helmet; Star's symbol was was a butterfly, Marco's was a hand in a karate-chop position, Tom's was a three-eyed skull with horns, and Janna's was an eye with a slit pupil.
"Alright, they're ready!" Austin exclaimed. His teammates got up from the couch, and tried on the newly-minted Hero Rings. Like Star's mechanical wand, these rings were items Austin nicknamed "Magitech"; Technology made with the last remnants of the old magic.
"I wonder if I can put part my soul in this..." Janna wondered. But before she could test her curiosity, a breaking news alert appeared on the studio's television, catching everyone's attention.
"I'm here in the heart of Echo Creek, where chaos and terror are running rampant! A gigantic spider is rampaging through the streets, attacking anyone in sight!" An on-scene reporter exclaimed. Lo and behold, a massive brown arachnid the size of a house was raging through town, webbing things up wherever it went. This giant creature was one native to Mewni, but was extremely dangerous to humans, mewmans and monsters alike.
"Looks like there's trouble!" Star piped up.
"Well, we've been on break so far...it's time to get back in action!" Austin exclaimed. The five teen heroes gathered together, and in unison, called out the key phrase to transform into their heroic alter egos;
"HERO UP!"
In the middle of town, which boasted a patchwork of modern and archaic-looking buildings from both dimensions, the tawny titan of a spider was knocking over parked cars with its mighty legs, and ensnared people and buildings alike with the webs it shot from its abdomen.
A human family of four was caught in the middle of the rampage, and fled from the giant arachnid; However, it quickly out-scuttled them, and cornered them up against a building.
"We're gonna die!" One of the children cried out in fear. The spider bared its ferocious fangs, but was suddenly hit in the abdomen by a ray of gold-colored energy, causing it to shriek in pain. Everyone looked to where the blast had come from, and saw a relieving sight.
On top of a building behind the spider were the Earth-Ni Protectors! Lady Butterfly, Martial Boy, Violet Devil, Snatcher and Maroon had come at last to save the day!
"It's the Earth-Ni Protectors!" A rodent-like monster exclaimed.
"We're saved!" A mewman peasant girl shouted. The endangered townspeople cheered and applauded the five heroes, bringing a smile to their faces.
"Music to my ears." Tom remarked.
"Alright team, let's squash this itsy-bitsy spider!" Maroon called out. The helmeted vigilante let out a war cry, and activated his rocket boots to hover through the air. The others followed his lead, and leapt into action against the massive arachnid.
The spider set its eight beady eyes upon some fleeing civilians, and began to pursue them; However, it was suddenly stopped in its tracks by a wall of fire created by Tom. The ferocious critter let out an angry hiss in response.
"What's the matter, Spidey? Too hot for you?" The half-demon hero taunted. However, the titanic tarantula retaliated by firing a ball of webbing at Tom, sticking him to a building.
However, the fight was far from over. Star flew in with her lightweight mechanical wings, which were now built into her suit, and fired pulses of energy at the spider from above. Maroon followed her lead, peppering its thorax with energy blasts fired from his wrist-mounted blasters.
While Maroon and Lady Butterfly squared off against the spider, Martial Boy was on the ground, aiding civilians in need. He whipped out his trusty sword, and sliced through the jammed door of a wrecked car, freeing the passengers trapped inside. The innocent bystanders thanked Marco, and fled to safety.
Marco looked to see his teammate Janna doing what but recording the battle against the spider on her phone! "JAN-I mean, SNATCHER!" The martial artist sternly shouted. "You should be helping us!"
"What, you want me to hypnotize that thing? I'm WAY out of my league here!" Janna retorted.
"Then at least help me evacuate civilians!" Marco commanded.
"Whatever you say, Martial Boy." Janna groaned, as she followed Marco to help more people out of the danger zone.
Star and Austin continued firing upon their eight-legged foe, to seemingly no avail.
"This thing's tough!" Maroon exclaimed.
"We're lucky; They get way bigger." Star retorted, when Austin was suddenly hit by one of the spider's stringy, sticky webs. "MAROON!" she cried out.
The spider reeled Austin towards its fangs, and prepared to feast on the masked vigilante. Austin thought fast, rotated his left utility bracelet, and clenched his fist, spraying the arachnid's eight eyes with a potent pepper spray. The beast screeched in pain yet again, and while it was distracted, Maroon cut through the webbing with his wrist-blades, and escaped with his trusty rocket boots.
Maroon regrouped with Star, and the two heroes prepared for another round against their relentless adversary. The menacing beast poised to pounce, but before it could strike, Tom burst through the webbing like a meteor, and slammed into the spider with his fiery fists.
Marco leapt off a crashed truck, and plunged his sword into the arachnid's abdomen, resulting in yet another ghastly screech. It shook its body vigorously, throwing Marco up into the air. Star quickly dashed towards him with her wings, and caught her lover mid-fall.
"Whew! Thanks for the save, Lady Butterfly." Marco complimented his loyal lady-friend. He gave Star a quick peck on the cheek, causing her to blush and grin. The two heroes landed next to their teammates, who were growing weary of the battle.
"We've had our fun; Let's end this before someone gets hurt." Marco spoke.
"You read my mind." Austin retorted. The five heroes poised to attack the gigantic arachnid and finish their fight, when the unexpected happened; The spider was struck in the back by an explosive!
As the creature reeled in pain, the Protectors looked to the sky to see the airstrike's source; A white helicopter flying thirty feet above the action.
"What the?" Janna droned, unsure of what was happening. The situation only got stranger, when what looked like four men in white armor leapt out of the vehicle! They stabilized themselves mid-fall with miniature rocket thrusters that seemed to be built into their torsos.
The four strangers landed on the ground with a steely clank; A closer look revealed them not to be men, but humanoid robots! They were sleek, slender robots measuring exactly six feet in height; They were covered in a white, plasticine metal exterior, with a complex black endoskeleton hidden beneath. Their heads were rounded, with four luminous yellow "eyes" on their faces. To top it off, each droid was armed with a futuristic firearm.
The four automatons marched towards the giant spider, and aimed their weapons at it. Each one cocked their blaster rifle in unison, and they fired a volley of grenades at the arachnid. The grenades stuck to the arachnid's bristly body; Mere seconds later, they all exploded at once, killing it with extreme prejudice.
For a moment, there was stunned silence in the air; However, it was soon broken by the cheers of the local populace, relieved that the menacing predator was no longer a threat to them. While the civilians rejoiced, the Protectors stood still, confused and unsure of the events that unfolded before them...
Soon after the spider's demise, the alabaster helicopter landed right in the middle of the vacant road, much to the shock and awe of the mewmans and monsters who had never seen such an advanced contraption.
"Woah, check out that flying thing!" An excitable, purple monster with fluffy fur exclaimed. Oddly enough, the monster's outburst of exuberance caused the four robot soldiers suddenly point their rifles right at him! As the frightened civilian began sweating bullets, Star took out her wand, and aimed it at one of the unfeeling automatons, when the helicopter's cabin door opened automatically.
"STAND DOWN!" A feminine voice with an eminent English accent called out. The four robots all froze up, and assumed an idle position, much to the menaced monster's relief.
A stepladder extended from the vehicle's cabin, and out walked a slender, middle-aged Caucasian woman with fair skin, green eyes, and brown hair styled in a prim updo. The unidentified lady was rather well-dressed, clothed in a form-fitting gray pantsuit and black dress shoes. Escorted by a pair of robot soldiers like the ones who slew the spider, the woman stepped onto the ground of the Cleaved City for the first time, and spoke into a lapel mic hooked up to the speakers on her helicopter.
"People of Echo Creek! My name is Wanda Watts of WattWorks International Industries, and I am your salvation..."
An hour later, the five Earth-Ni Protectors were now out of costume, and were headed to city hall for a press conference held by WattWorks International. As they walked down the street, the teens discussed the unexpected ending to their latest battle.
"This is a weird town, but I didn't think Wanda Watts of all people would show up." Austin remarked.
"Who even is Wanda Watts, anyways?" Tom queried.
"She's a billionaire tech magnate hailing from the United Kingdom." Austin's response piqued Star's interest; From what she knew, Earth wasn't ruled by monarchs like her home dimension.
"Wait, Earth has kingdoms too?"
"Yeah, but the Queen of England doesn't have magical powers." Marco explained.
"She's crazy old, though." Janna retorted with a smirk.
"Wanda's the CEO of WattWorks Industries, a huge player in energy, robotics, security, pharmaceuticals, you name it. They've got facilities all across the globe, including one in my native Los Angeles."
"Great, a soulless mega-corporation with a robot army. Just what this town needs." Janna scoffed, as she crossed her arms. Soon, the teens approached City Hall, which was packed with a large crowd of humans, mewmans and monsters. Austin and his friends shuffled into the mass of people to get a better view of center stage. Just in time, Wanda strutted up to the podium, with her pair of robot guards escorting her.
"Greetings, Echo Creek! First off, my condolences to anyone who was harmed in the fight against that dreadful monster."
"HEY!" A bear monster loudly called out, a scowl on his face. "I'm a monster! That spider was a mindless mewbeast! Get it right!" Several other monsters began murmuring and nodding in agreement, while Wanda looked quite confounded. What on earth was a "mewbeast?"
Well, throughout mewman history, the term "monster" was used to describe sentient non-humans who inhabited Mewni, but it also could refer to the dangerous wildlife endemic to the dimension. During the second reign of Queen Eclipsa, the term "mewbeast" was coined to describe these ferocious fauna. For example, a kappa is a monster, but a warnicorn is a mewbeast.
"Anyways, you all may be wondering why we've come across the pond to a tiny little town in Southern California." Wanda went on, not even acknowledging the bear-person's point. "Echo Creek is a place like no other, a place where two worlds became one and the same...at least that's what you think." Wanda revealed, causing many to gasp in surprise.
"Eleven days ago, an English town called Darby Glen merged with the alien world of Mewni. When the worlds collided, the Glen was thrust into chaos; Vicious beasts and ruthless barbarians roamed the land, causing terror and strife." Wanda spoke. "But through my company's noble efforts, we brought peace to Darby Glen. Now, it's a haven for the people of both worlds to live in harmony."
"Excuse me, Madam! How could you possibly have done such a daunting task?" A mewman man inquired.
"With the help of the WattBots." Wanda replied, as her robot guards mechanically saluted the audience in unison. "These peacekeeping sentinels are designed to protect and serve civilians, defending them from threats like, say...the monsters that attacked your town's festival."
"What about the Earth-Ni Protectors? They're the ones who stopped those jerks!" A human woman exclaimed.
"Our sentinels are more viable, more effective and more dependable than a group of ragtag teenage vigilantes. The WattBots killed the spider, not them." Wanda sternly answered, much to the chagrin of the incognito heroes.
"Can you believe her?" Janna rhetorically asked.
"Here's the deal, everyone. For the foreseeable future, WattWorks will be overseeing this town's security measures. It may seem like a drastic change from what you're used to, but let's face it; It's not the biggest change you've seen, is it?"
All of a sudden, a whole legion of forty WattBots marched into the square, much to the surprise of the civilians. As the audience began to clamor, Wanda gave her parting words.
"I must be going now. Worry not, people of Echo Creek; WattWorks Industries will keep this city safe, no matter the cost..." The billionaire businesswoman then left for her helicopter, leaving the town to her machinated sentinels...
A few hours later, the team had split up to go about their day. Star and Marco were walking down the street together, on their way to the Stop-and-Slurp to buy some tasty snacks, when they came across a rather tense situation. Sykes, a hulking cyan-colored cyclops who Austin encountered during his first day back in town, was bickering with a WattBot that guarded the store's entrance.
"What do you mean I can't go in! I come here all the time!" Sykes snapped.
"You are too large to enter this building. Please leave the premises." The metal sentinel responded in a monotone voice.
"I'm not leaving till you LET ME IN!" The cyclops roared as he raised his fist. The WattBot whipped out its blaster rifle, and aimed it at his monocular eye in response.
"STOP!" Star yelled, causing both parties to freeze up. "What's going on here?"
"Star Butterfly! You came just in time. This metal mook won't let me in!" Sykes complained.
"Well, the robot has a point." Marco noted, as he pointed to a large, cyclops-shaped hole in the entrance.
"Why don't we go in, and get you what you want?" Star offered.
"Hey...that's a GREAT idea!"
After several minutes of splurging at the Stop-and-Slurp, Star and Marco walked out with a huge bounty of snacks and shakes for their cyclops friend.
"Here you go." Marco sputtered in exhaustion, as he set the heavy bag of goodies down by Sykes' feet.
"Thanks, you two!" Sykes gladly replied, as he picked up his bags and patted Star's head with one of his huge hands.
"Don't forget, you owe me $650!" Marco retorted.
"I won't, promise! As for that metal man...I've got my eye on you..." Sykes snarled at the WattBot, whose emotionless face showed no reaction. As the cyclops stomped off on his way, Star and Marco knowingly looked at each other, and left the convenience store and the WattBot behind...
Meanwhile, Janna and Tom headed out to lunch at the recently refurbished Britta's Tacos II. When they reached the beloved town taco shop, the couple saw it was guarded by four WattBots armed with their peacekeeping rifles.
"Well this is, uh..."' Tom droned, unsure how to feel about a small-town taco joint being frequented by futuristic robots. He looked to see Penelope Spiderbite and her monster boyfriend Slime eating together; However, they seemed rather uncomfortable due to a WattBot staring them down ten feet away.
"Orwellian." Janna retorted.
"Yeah, what you said."
The two teens waited in line for six minutes to get their tacos; As soon as Tom was at the front of the line, he was blocked from the register by one of the WattBots.
"Hey, what gives!" The half-demon prince exclaimed.
"Entry denied. Fire Prevention Protocol states demons are prohibited from commercial establishments." The four-eyed robot spoke.
"Hey, I come here all the time! What gives?" Tom rhetorically asked, quickly becoming angered by his mechanical adversary.
"Entry denied. Fire safety protocol states demons are-" The WattBot droned again, when Tom furiously thrust his fiery fist into its chest mid-sentence, then swung his arm upwards to decapitate it.
"Yeah! Fight the power, babe!" Janna remarked, when the other three automatons aimed their rifles at Tom.
"We gotta go!" Tom worriedly exclaimed. He picked Janna up, and swiftly flew off, leaving the scene before things could get any worse...
At the same time as the previous two occurrences, Austin, Rita and Eclipsa were strolling through the local park, so Meteora could frolic to her heart's content. As Austin listened to music on his headphones, Eclipsa was regaling her newfound friend with anecdotes from her storied past.
"And to top it all off, he smelled like a musty coin purse." Eclipsa remarked, making Rita laugh wryly.
"Your ex-husband's a real piece of work, Clips. Shastacan? More like Trashtacan." Rita wittily retorted, causing the former queen to giggle in return.
"He gets way worse, trust me. I'll tell you the details later, they're not exactly child-friendly."
Suddenly, something caught Meteora's eye, and she began to wriggle in her mother's grip.
"What's wrong, darling?" Eclipsa asked.
Meteora pointed towards a nearby sandbox, where several babies were playing; One of the children was none other than Mariposa Diaz, Marco's baby sister and Meteora's best friend!
"Oh, I see! Go on, play with your friend!" Eclipsa encouraged, as she set Meteora down on the grass. The bushy-tailed baby immediately took off, and cheerfully scampered towards her cherished playmate. Once Mariposa saw her, she joyfully waved her arms around and cooed.
Before Meteora could reach the sandbox where Mariposa and the other babies were playing, she was suddenly separated from her friend by an imposing WattBot, who looked down at her with its piercing yellow eyes.
"Child Safety Protocol states monster children are barred from this area." The WattBot mandated in its monotone voice. The metal sentinel sparked a fiery rage in Meteora's mind; Not just because it was barring her from her closest friend, but because it also evoked faint memories of a certain abusive figure from her tragic past life.
Without warning, Meteora pounced at the robot, and tackled it to the ground. She then started biting and clawing at its metal body, then used all the strength her tiny body could muster to tear its head clean off.
Now, she had slain the robot who threatened her, much to the mortified horror of everyone around her. As everyone stared in shock, Meteora just crawled to the sandbox and began playing with the other babies as if nothing had happened...
Later, during the waning hours of evening, the five Earth-Ni Protectors gathered at Studio Rita, as Austin had called them in for an emergency meeting.
"Alright, guys. You may be wondering why I called you here. Well, it's come to my attention that those WattBots are unfairly biased against monsters." Austin admitted.
"We know!" Janna sardonically retorted. "They wouldn't let Tom into Britta's Tacos."
"They did the same thing to that cyclops at the Stop & Slurp!" Star added.
"We can't trust these things. They're cold, calculating robots without the reasoning of a living being. If they hurt or kill an innocent person...that's on us." Austin solemnly stated.
"Well, is there anything we can do to stop them?" Tom queried.
"I'm pretty good at hacking, you know. Bet I could shut 'em down for good." Janna bragged.
"I don't know, hacking a billion-dollar corporation could get us in a LOT of trouble." Marco warned.
"Who cares? We need to get those metalheads out of here!" Tom refuted.
"Tom's right. Our people shouldn't have to live in constant fear because of them." Star spoke. "What do you think, Austin?"
Austin paused for a moment, then gave his verdict. "WattWorks has no legal jurisdiction here. They're not working with the federal government, the state of California, or even City Hall! They're outside the law, just like us."
"So, that means?" Janna inquired. Austin gave her a knowing look, and nodded "yes," much to the teenage delinquent's delight.
"Alright, Let's get hacking!"
Under the cover of night, the two stealthiest members of the Protectors snuck through the dark and evaded WattWorks' robotic sentinels in order to reach City Hall, which now had a high-tech radio tower mounted to it. Here, Snatcher was working her way past the company's firewalls with her laptop, while Maroon kept an eye out for intruders.
"Can you hurry it up?" Austin impatiently asked, as he eyed a pair of WattBots heading down the street in their direction.
"I'm working as fast as I can, dude." Janna retorted, while she typed with incredible dexterity. "Hacking is something I'm actually good at."
"What do you mean?"
"I can't fight as good as you guys! When that giant spider attacked, I was practically useless!" Janna tensely admitted. While she was skilled in the ways of the occult and the dark web, her only formal combat experience was a few karate lessons from Marco.
"Don't say that! You're as valuable as everyone else on the team." Austin replied. "Didn't you beat up Mina and her racist goons?"
"That was with Star, though."
"What about the slime lady?"
"That doesn't count either. Tom did most of the work." Janna sighed.
"So what? We're a team, that means we work together." Maroon implored. "There's nothing wrong with being helped. Without you guys, I wouldn't be alive."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Janna admitted.
"Tell you what. Once this WattBot mess is settled, I'll make you something cool so you can have an edge in combat."
"Really?" Janna asked, as her masked ally nodded in approval. "Thanks, dude." She remarked with a faint smile, as she continued to hack into WattWorks' control tower. "I just broke through the firewall. Just a little bit more, and...done!"
As if on cue, all the WattBots in sight lost function; They stopped moving and became stiff and idle, as the yellow glow of their eyes and joints faded into darkness.
"Now all those robots are basically statues." Janna retorted.
"That's a relief. Now how are we gonna get rid of them?" Austin queried. Before they could figure out a solution, something unexpected happened; A sharp beeping noise emitted from all the WattBots, as their LED eyes glowed a sinister red. A monotone phrase was spoken in unison by every single one of the machines:
"ELIMINATION PROTOCOL: ENGAGED"
"What just happened?" Austin worriedly asked.
"I don't know!" Janna exclaimed, as she looked to her computer; The screen flashed red multiple times, then went dark. "This isn't my fault, I swear!"
"We've got bigger problems!" Maroon yelled; Five WattBots began to fire at the masked duo with their blasters. Janna threw down some smoke bombs to obscure the robots' aim; Then, Maroon picked his occultist ally up, and jetted away with his rocket boots to escape.
Meanwhile, Star, Marco and Tom were stationed atop a clock tower a block away, keeping lookout for WattBots from a heightened point of view. However, the boredom of waiting around on a cool, dark night went to their heads; Currently, they were staving off the monotony of lookout duty by playing a card game.
"Got any sevens?" Tom asked.
"Go Fish." Marco answered. Tom reached into the card pile, when all three Protectors got an alert from the internal communications in their suits.
"Guys, come in! It's an emergency!" Austin huffed through his helmet's microphone.
"What is it?" Star queried.
"Something went wrong, and now the robots are all crazy!" Janna added.
"What do you mean "crazy?" Marco wondered; However, his question was answered when one of the WattBots flew up to the tower with its built-in rocket thrusters, and aimed its blaster towards the three protectors.
"GET DOWN!" Tom exclaimed, as he hit the robot in the chest with a fireball. The metal man fell out of the air and onto the hard concrete sidewalk, damaging it to the point of shutting down.
Each of the three Protectors looked down to several hordes of WattBots marching through town, pointing their rifles at anything that moved. A squad of five robots sighted a group of young monsters who were trying to have a night on the town.
"NONHUMAN LIFE FORMS DETECTED!" The WattBots spoke in unison, as they prepared to open fire on the innocent monster teens. Suddenly, they were struck by an explosive orb of golden energy; In the sky, Lady Butterfly floated with her mechanical wings, as as she held out her wand.
"Lady Butterfly!" An elephantine monster exclaimed.
"Don't worry, we're here to help!" Star called out to the shaken civilians, as she floated down to the ground. Suddenly, another squadron of WattBots charged towards the monsters; Star acted fast and made an energy shield with her wand to block the fire.
"Get out of here! Go!" The former princess hollered. The teenage monsters quickly turned tail; She didn't need to tell them twice.
Tom and Marco landed on the ground behind Star, poised to fight. "Hey, Star!" Marco called out. "Gimme a boost."
Star cracked a smile, and raised her wand up so that her energy shield acted as a hard-light platform. With a running start, Marco leapt off the platform, and unsheathed his sword to slice through the robots' metal bodies, causing sparks to fly and oil to spray. He stabbed the last one through the waist, and thrust his blade upward to slice it in two...
In a nearby part of the town, Maroon and Snatcher were fighting against hordes of WattBots in the streets. Maroon ripped through the metal automatons with his razor-sharp, energized metal wrist-blades; Since they weren't organic beings, he could finally let loose with some gruesome slicing and dicing.
As the helmeted hero went ham on his robotic opponents, Janna noticed something useful in the wreckage he left behind. "Hello, what's this?" The raven-haired heroine pondered, as she looted a blaster rifle from a WattBot's bisected body.
Maroon charged towards a pair of Wattbots, and swung his arms in an "X" formation, slicing both of their heads off at once. "Too easy." The masked vigilante scoffed, when suddenly, another robot grabbed him from behind, and pinned his arms behind his back. The caped warrior struggled to break free, but his mechanical captor only tightened its unfeeling grip on his wrists. Before things could get any worse, the offending WattBot was hit in the head by a blast of yellow energy. It released Austin from its grip, and fell to the ground with a clank.
Austin looked to see Janna standing twelve feet away from him, with a stolen blaster rifle in her hands. "Woah, thanks."
"No problem. Guess my aim's better than I thought."
Four more WattBots charged towards the two superheroes, and Maroon aimed his wrist-blasters towards them.
"Hold on, I got this." Janna remarked. She flicked a lever on the side of the rifle, activating its sticky bomb mode. The hooded vigilante then pulled the trigger, and a small grenade stuck itself to the chest of one of the WattBots. It ticked several times, then blew the four corrupted sentinels to kingdom come.
"Now that's what I'm talking about..."
Star, Marco and Tom stood over the broken bodies of over two dozen defeated WattBots. The fight had been tough, but luckily, it seemed to be drawing to a close. Mere moments later, Austin and Janna regrouped with their partners in crime-fighting.
"What took you two so long?" Star inquired.
"Same thing that kept you." Janna replied, as she gestured to the wrecked WattBot corpses strewn across the ground.
"Is that all of them?" Marco asked. Star activated her wing-pack and flew high up to get a better view of the city. When the mewman girl ascended into the air, she saw a deeply horrifying sight; All over town, various mewmans and monsters were being menaced by those malicious machines!
"Oh no..." Was all a mortified Star could choke out.
"What's wrong?" Maroon asked over the comms system.
"Those robots are everywhere. There's no way we can stop them all at once."
"But they can." Janna retorted, receiving some confused looks from her teammates. "If I can get my laptop back, I could hack the WattBots to only target each other. They'll be their own worst enemies."
"Great idea! So, where's your laptop?" Tom queried.
Unfortunately, Janna's plan faced a sizable roadblock; Her laptop rested near the WattWorks control tower atop City Hall, which was surrounded by over two dozen WattBots.
"Great. The whole place is crawling with bots." Marco remarked.
"So, how do we get past 'em?" Star queried.
"You, Marco and I are gonna engage them and draw their fire. While they're distracted, Tom will fly Janna up to the roof so she can start hacking." Austin explained.
"Got it. Let's save the town!"
Star, Marco and Austin charged into the town square, and began to fight their automated enemies. As the trio of courageous heroes fought together on the ground, Tom was flying towards the top of the town hall, carrying Janna in his arms. The young demon dodged shots from the WattBots below him, and landed on the roof, where two more droids were lying in wait.
The pair of robots drew their blasters at the intruders, but Tom quickly melted them with a scorching plume of fire. Unbeknownst to him, a third WattBot hovered behind him with its built-in rocket thrusters.
"Look out!" Janna hollered, as she pulled out her stolen WattWorks blaster, and shot the robot in the chest several times, causing it to fall to the ground and burst into sparks.
"Woah! Nice shot, babe." Tom complimented, causing Janna to crack a smile, and faintly blush. Now that the area was clear, the hooded vigilante picked up her laptop, and began another round of complex hacking..
Back on the ground, Maroon, Lady Butterfly and Martial Boy were locked in battle against their insidious autonomous adversaries. Austin was firing on all cylinders with his wrist-mounted energy blasters, while Star hovered through the air, taking out any WattBots that tried to leave the town square.
Marco was locked in melee combat against a singular WattBot, which struck the sword from his hands with the stock of its rifle. While Marco was now disarmed of his weapon, he wasn't out of the fight just yet. The experienced red-belt struck his foe's chest with a couple of kicks, but they had no effect on the metal chassis of the unfeeling droid. Marco disarmed the WattBot's blaster, but it struck him in the gut with one of its hard fists, knocking the wind out of him.
As Marco gasped for air, the WattBot choke-slammed him to the ground, and held its hands around his throats. Marco fought and kicked to try and break free, but he was stuck in the unyielding hold of his enemy.
When Star saw Marco being throttled, her stomach churned, and a raging fire lit in her heart.
"GET AWAY FROM MY MARCO!" The winged warrior shouted, as she aimed her Magitech wand towards the offending automaton. All of a sudden, she was tackled from behind by a jet-propelled WattBot, rendering her unable to rescue her periled boyfriend.
"I've got you, dude!" Austin called out, as he activated his rocket boots. Before the armored vigilante could make it to his threatened friend, his cape was grabbed and yanked by a WattBot, who began to mob him with the help of its like-minded metal comrades.
Now, the situation seemed bleak. Marco was being strangulated by a corrupted, soulless husk in a metal body, with no one able to help him. He kept trying to fight his way free, but the more he struggled, the tighter the WattBot gripped him.
Just when all hope seemed lost, the offending robot's head was blown clean off by a laser blast. Now that the WattBot was destroyed, Marco freed himself from its grip, and gasped for air. He stumbled to the ground to see a surprising sight; The three WattBots who were attacking Austin were now targeting each other!
As the WattBots all started blowing each other to hell, Star rushed to to her beat-up boyfriend's aid.
"Marco! Oh, please be okay!" Star worriedly quavered, as she embraced Marco in a binding hug.
"I'm alright, Star, don't worry. That robot just roughed me up pretty bad. I would've been a dead man, if it wasn't for-"
"Janna!" Star cheered, as she pointed to her hacker pal waving from atop City Hall.
"You did it!" Tom complimented his girlfriend, happy that their long and arduous night of action was finally coming to a close.
"No, we did it." Janna replied, with a satisfied smirk on her face...
Early next morning, an emergency press conference was being held at City Hall by WattWorks Industries, to address the PR disaster that unfolded last night. Speaking at the podium was a slender young spokesman with ginger hair, freckles and comically oversized glasses. Judging by his nervous demeanor and shaky palms, it was obvious he was the company's appointed scapegoat.
"Last night...someone tried to, um...hack the WattBots, which somehow activated their heightened defense protocol." The spokesman nervously sputtered.
"DEFENSE? Those robots nearly killed us!" A pig-like monster angrily shouted.
"That protocol was not meant to harm you, and once again, we're sorry for the inconvenience."
"INCONVENIENCE?" Another crowd member hollered, as she threw a putrid, rotting tomato towards his head; Luckily, it missed.
"WattWorks International Industries humbly thanks the Earth-Ni Protectors for stepping in during last night's crisis." The spokesman announced, as he gestured towards the five costumed heroes, who were standing in a line on the steps outside the building. The crowd cheered and clapped for them, as opposed to the cold reception WattWorks was receiving. Star and Marco both waved to the adoring civilians, while Maroon bowed, and Tom held up his fingers in a "peace" sign.
"Furthermore, the WattBots are going to be recalled from Echo Creek." The WattWorks delegate spoke, causing even louder cheers from the crowd. "Wanda Watts sends her deepest apologies for the events that transpired, and hopes that soon, we can bring peace to this city, and the world as a whole..."
As a crescendo of boos and jeers filled the air, a nervous wreck of a spokesman stepped away from the lectern, and quickly strutted towards the Earth-Ni Protectors, who were chatting amongst themselves.
"Man, am I glad that's over. I hate this kind of stuff." Star mused to Marco, when she was approached by the man who spoke at the podium.
"L-Lady Butterfly!"
"Can I help you?
"Yeah, my boss wanted to see you. Said there was something she wanted to tell you."
"Oh, okay. Let's go, guys." Star gestured to her teammates.
"Woah, woah, woah. Not all of you; Just you..."
The delegate led Star away from City Hall, towards a nondescript, gray car with tinted windows, which was parked in a nearby lot. The vehicle's passenger seat doors opened automatically, revealing none other than Wanda Watts sitting alone, stirring a cup of chai tea. She looked the former princess in the eye, with a cold and unmoved expression on her face.
"Wanda Watts? What are you doing here?" Star queried. Wanda gave no answer, which made Star uncomfortable, and a tad guilty for destroying her prized robots.
"Look, we're sorry for destroying all of your robots, but it was for the good of the people." Star responded. "They almost KILLED my boyfriend, for crying out loud!"
Wanda just narrowed her eyes at Star's sudden emotional outburst, and took a sip of her tea.
"I understand why you're doing this. The world's changed a lot, and you want things to be under control. Trust me, so do we. But wouldn't it be better if we worked together to do so? I'm kind of an expert on Mewni, so if you need advice, I'm your gal."
Wanda finished the rest of her tea in one go, and gulped it all down. She dropped her cup on the ground, and stared Star down with her cold, steely eyes.
"I know who you are, Star Butterfly." Wanda spoke, shocking Star. Outside of Echo Creek, little was known about the exchange student from another dimension. "You think you're helping everyone, and because of that you can do no wrong. But I see through your lies; Now, it's up to me to clean up the mess you've made of the world..."
At this point, Star had no idea what to say to the mysterious magnate. Was this really happening?
"Earth will never be the same because of you. But with of my contributions, it'll be better than how you left it." Wanda remarked, as the passenger seat door of quickly shut itself. The vehicle quickly drove off, leaving an astonished Star confounded and alone...
Well, now you've got your first taste of Book Two. Stay tuned, as the Earth-Ni Protectors will face new threats, new enemies, and new allies as they protect their changing new world from harm, in this tale of thrills, twists and turns!