The princess of mewni had never really grasped the concept of stress eating. She always ate just because she liked to eat. It was never to forget troubles or anything like that. But right now, even if she didn't realize it, all she wanted to do was bury the stressed out feeling in the pit of her stomach under a pile of Chinese food.

AJ watched as the princess finished off yet another box of teriyaki chicken. She had eaten twice as much as she usually did, and it didn't look like she was slowing down anytime soon. This was supposed to be an all you can eat place, but if she kept up at this pace there wouldn't be anything left.

"Yo blondie." If the girl heard him she didn't show it. She just kept on shoving more food into her face. The boy sighed before reaching out and grabbing her hand. "Nia!"

She stopped and then turned towards him. "Huh? What's wrong?"

He stared at her blankly. "What's wrong? Are you serious? You've been eating non stop for the last thirty minutes. If you keep this up you're gonna eat these guys out of business. Not even you usually put down this much."

Nia slurped down the last of the lo mein she was eating and smiled shyly. "Uh, yeah. Guess I was just in the moment…" she muttered finally putting her fork down.

"No kidding I thought you were going to eat through the table for a sec."

Nia sat back in her chair. Her mother said she ate so much because of her fey half. It was her body trying to maintain the large amount of magic it produced. Now that her powers were growing she guessed her appetite was too.

"Could I get the rest in a bag?" she asked a nearby waiter. The man looked at her with an odd expression before nodding and walking off.

AJ gave her a sympathetic look. "What's happened today blondie? You seem like you're even more stressed out than before. I thought you were gonna clear your head and stuff."

"My cousin came by again…" she muttered.

He frowned. "What, did he try something shady?"

The princess shook her head. "No… well, maybe. He came by the Vanguard base. He said he wanted to help fund us. And host the big introduction to me and Amber. But it seems like it's just too convenient, you know?"

The boy nodded. "Definitely wasn't. Trust me, billionaire guys like that never deal out money for no reason. He's either trying to cozy up to the Vanguard or trying to get closer to you," he said. His mom had dealt with enough guys like that for him to know what he was talking about.

"I don't know if I can really trust him or not. I mean I can tell he knows what he's doing. I can feel the same kind of magic I have coming from him, but it's way more controlled. I just… I got this feeling he's up to something. I just don't know what," she said, hanging her head. Maybe she was just being paranoid after everything that happened back home.

Besides, it wasn't like she had anyone else to go to for help. The waiter came back with the to go box and she quickly packed everything up. The two made their way out of the restaurant and down the street. It was starting to get late, not that Janna would notice or care about what time she came home. But AJ's mom would give him an earful if he didn't get back soon.

"Well, whatever you decide to do I'll have your back. You could always make your cousin teach you around the others just in case he tries something funny," AJ suggested.

"I guess… but if my family is really as powerful as my mom said I could just be putting them in danger too. I don't want them getting hurt because of me…"

AJ rolled his eyes. "Blondie, let me give you some advice. Don't start being selfless," he said sternly. "You got enough deep family crap going on without trying to play Ms. Lone wolf."

"I wasn't trying to do that," she said pouting.

"Just making sure. I know you're super stressed out and stuff so I don't want you trying to do anything crazy. Just remember that I got your back," he said puffing his chest out.

Nia giggled. "You never let me forget it." He gave a toothy grin back and was about to speak, but then they heard a loud shriek. A figure soared over the both of them, and Nia immediately recognized it. "Sear!" She took off after him, and AJ quickly followed.

AJ called after her, but she wasn't listening. The only thing keeping her from taking off into the air was the fact that Sear was still flying low enough to keep in sight. Eventually AJ managed to catch up to her. "Nia! Hold up! You told me he's been acting weird since-!"

"I don't care!" the princess yelled keeping up the chase. If there was even the slightest chance she could bring Sear back home she wasn't going to pass up on it. He may have been her brother's dragon, but he was still her friend. Him running around like this was dangerous.

They kept on following after him until suddenly, he seemed to just drop. He crashed down onto the ground near a construction side, and Nia gasped. She quickly ran over to the dragon and knelt down next to him. "Sear!" What just happened?! He had never fallen like that before!

As she got closer, she got her answer. Sear was laying on his side, breathing heavily as he struggled to get back up to his feet. Worst of all, Nia could see an arrow sticking out from his side. "SEAR!"

"Oh shit!" AJ said wide eyed.

The dragon narrowed his eyes as he saw them coming and tried to get up, but ended up falling right back down and letting out a rather pathetic sounding groan. Nia knelt down next to him, teary eyed. "No! No! What happened?! Who did this?!"

AJ knelt down next to her. "Shit, this doesn't look good." The spot the arrow hit didn't look fatal, but with him moving around like he had it must have made things worse. "We gotta get that arrow out of him blondie." He reached out to grab it, but the moment he touched it Sear turned towards him and growled.

Nia quickly grabbed onto the dragon's head. "Sear, please! We need to-" The dragon kept thrashing about, and Nia held on tighter. She sighed and took a deep breath. "AJ, when I tell you to yank out the arrow."

"Are you nuts! He's gonna bite our heads off if-"

"Just do it…" she said closing her eyes. Sear kept on growing, until suddenly Nia's hands began to glow. Sear's eyes widened for a moment, then seemed to calm. He stopped thrashing about and his body went limp. "Okay, do it now."

AJ looked at her hesitantly, but then reluctantly grabbed the arrow. Once he saw the dragon didn't make a move, he yanked the arrow out. The dragon winced for a moment and he jumped, but then he seemed to calm right back down. He turned back to the wound the arrow had been in and got ready to tear a piece of his shirt off to cover it, but then saw it was starting to close.

"Whoa… what the…" The wound slowly but surely closed up, leaving no trace of the injury behind. Nia's hands stopped glowing and she let out a breath. "Since when could you heal other people blondie?!"

"Since just now…" She had healed herself plenty of times since her fight with her brother. It wasn't something she really had to try to do. It was just like a reflex. But she had never tried it on anything else before. Mostly because she was worried she'd mess it up. But just now all she had wanted to do was help Sear, so she had to try.

Sear blinked a few times before getting back up to his teeth. Nia and AJ both looked weary, not knowing how he would react. Then he narrowed his eyes and growled. "Oh come on! You are so ungrateful dude," AJ said backing up. Nia frowned and raised her hand to try and calm him, but then he walked right past them.

They both turned around and saw two more figures approaching them. "Well, thank you for healing our target just now. I assumed that shot would bring him down, but he's far more resilient than we gave him credit for," the armored figure said approaching.

Nia stared for a moment before glaring. "You… you're the one who did this?"

"Please don't misunderstand. Our intention was and is to take him in alive, but he was a bit too clever to be taken in by our first attempt and we were forced to injure him when he lashed out," Delta, who was in her White Maiden armor, explained. "We won't make the same mistake again, I assure you." Robert stood beside her, a smirk on his face.

AJ frowned and slowly reached for the bat he had hidden in the back of his shirt, while the princess just looked furious. "You shot him with an arrow?" she asked dangerously.

"No, I did." Nia and AJ both turned around and then saw two more figures behind him. Anti and Adam both stood looking ready to move in. Adam was dressed in his black hoodie and mask, making sure to keep his identity well hidden.

AJ cursed under his breath and then pulled on Nia's shirt. "Blondie, we need to get out of here…" he muttered. Delta stepped forward, and Nia quickly brought out the wand and turned it into a bow. She pulled it back forming an arrow, and everyone else looked on guard. "Or we rush into a losing battle, we can do that too," AJ said scowling.

Delta looked down at her. "The princess of mewni, Nia Butterfly. I've heard a lot about you," she said. "And your brother as well. Shame he isn't here as well."

"Who are you?" Nia asked wearily.

"Who I am doesn't really concern you. The only thing you should be concerned about is surrendering that dragon over to us. I didn't come here to hurt you, so if you give him over we can all walk away from this unharmed."

"You're not taking Sear…"

"You're outnumbered and outmatched. There is literally no situation in which we don't leave with that beast. So just make it easier on you and your friend and-"

Nia fired the arrow at her, but she moved to the side and easily dodged it. "I said, you're not taking Sear," Nia repeated.

Delta sighed before pulling out her energy lance. "Take the dragon. I'll deal with the princess," she said before moving in. Robert and Adam both moved in as well, while Anthony loaded another arrow into his crossbow.

Sear growled and bared his fangs, while AJ pulled out his bat. Nia fired more arrows at Delta, but she casually knocked them away with her lance. She soon closed the distance between them and swung at the princess. Nia turned the wand into a shield and blocked it, but Delta continued the attack, spinning the lance around in her hands.

Nia was being knocked back, and Robert rushed right past her and towards AJ. "This is why I hate getting involved in this hero crap!" he yelled.

Robert flipped his hair as he approached him. "You might as well just give up, kid. I am not exactly dying to hurt you, but I will," Robert warned.

"You think I'm afraid of you? I've knocked out so many pretty boys like you I lost count over the years. So bring it!" Robert shrugged before suddenly growing into his monster form. He grew march larger, his skin turned green and became covered in scales, and a large tail sprung from his back. AJ looked up at him wide eyed. "That's… is so not fair…"

Robert cackled and cracked his neck before lunging at him. AJ rolled forward and slid right under his legs before turning around and hitting him with the bat. If Robert felt anything from the blow he didn't show it. He swung his tail at him, but AJ stepped back just in time. Robert turned around to go after him, suddenly Sear tackled him from behind.

The dragon pinned him to the ground before biting his shoulder. "Hell yeah!" AJ cheered happily. Robert winced and tried to pry him off as AJ lifted his bat and ran into the blindside him. Before he could however, he felt something grab his wrist. He looked down and then saw a vine wrapped around his arm, courtesy of Adam. "Hey, get off!"

"Afraid we can't do that," Anthony said, aiming his crossbow. AJ paled. If that arrow was strong enough to break through Sear's skin, it would go right through him. Anthony fired, but instead of aiming at AJ, he aimed at Sear. The dragon seemed to sense the shot coming and jumped off of Robert before it could hit him.

Robert got back up to his feet. "Thanks." He turned back towards Sear who was growling at him. The dragon kept glancing between them and the sky, seemingly thinking about rushing off. But then he looked back towards Nia for a moment before locking eyes with Robert again. The dragon took a breath before shooting a blast of fire.

Robert moved out of the way, but the dragon kept up the blast, aiming at Anthony and Adam next. Both of them moved out of the way, Anthony rolling back up to his feet and shooting at him again. Sear took to the air to avoid it and flew at him, but then felt something yanking on the back of his tail.

Adam had looped another vine around his tail and was trying to pull him back. Sear grunted before whipping his tail and sending Adam flying off to the side. Unfortunately this gave Anthony a chance to fire another arrow, hitting his wing. Sear yelped before falling down to the ground. "Aw shit!" AJ said running over towards him.

"SEAR!" Nia cried. She made to move towards him, but was sent stumbling back when the lance hit her shield again.

Delta stayed on her, not giving her the chance to collect herself. "You have yourself to worry about princess. I suggest you stay focused on what's in front of you." Nia glared before jumping up into the air. She raised her hands and just as Robert was about to get to Sear, a strong gust of winds blew him back. Delta narrowed. "Lifen."

"On it."

A blast suddenly came flying from across the street, and Nia barely had time to lift up her shield to block it. It knocked her back down to the ground and she groaned before she started trying to get back up. Before she could however, something knocked her right back down. Delta stepped on the girl's back and held her land over her neck. "Don't move," she warned.

Nia ignored her, trying to push the girl off, but Delta stepped down harder. Nia held up the wand, but Delta quickly knocked it away from her. Lifen approached the two, a large laser canon thrown over her shoulder. "Shame I couldn't get a direct hit. I wanted to see how a live subject would react," Lifen commented. She looked down at the wand and hummed. That could be a fun new toy to play with.

"Get off of me! Let me go!" Nia said, still struggling.

Delta hummed. "You know, it truly is a shame you're wasting your talents with amateurs like the Vanguard. You have the drive to be someone truly impressive, but it's clear you lack the proper guidance to bring it out," she said shaking her head.

"What do you want with Sear?!" Nia demanded.

"Again, none of your concern." She turned and looked over her shoulder. AJ had been restrained by some of Adam's vines, while Sear seemed to be on his last legs. Robert and Anthony both had him surrounded on either side.

He blew fire towards both of them, but they easily avoided it before moving in. Robert grabbed him by the horns and then pinned him down to the ground. Sear roared and thrashed about, but Robert leaned his body weight to keep him trapped. "Tie him down!" Adam moved forward and shot more vines, tangling the dragon up.

"Stop it!" Nia shouted. "Get off of him!"

Robert lifted the captured dragon over his shoulder, and Delta spoke into her communicator. "Send the ship. We're ready for evac."

"You got it." Zuri's voice said over the headset.

A few moments later, a ship suddenly flew towards them and began landing down. "Let's get moving. We'll be meeting up with some of the Alpha members and delivering this straight to Chase," Delta said before poking Nia with her lance. The weapon had been set on stun, and gave the princess beneath her a wicked shock.

Nia cried out in pain as Delta began heading to the ship along with the others. Somehow the princess managed to reach out and grab her ankle. Delta looked back down at the girl. Nia glared back up at the girl. "I… I'm not finished with you…"

The white maiden sighed. "I respect your tenacity princess. But you need to learn when you're fighting a losing battle." She yanked her foot loose from the girl's grip and continued towards the ship. Lifen picked up the wand and twirled it in her fingers.

"Later shrimp," Robert said looking down at AJ.

He glared back at him. "I swear to god I'm gonna wipe that stupid smile of your ugly mug the next time we meet!" he snapped still trying to break loose.

"Sure you will."

The Delta Auxiliary all made their way onto the ship, and Nia saw Sear giving a defeated whimpering look. She bawled her fist up and struggled to make her way to the ship. The bay doors closed, and Nia watched as the ship began taking off.

She managed to force herself up to her feet and stumbled after it. She couldn't let them get away. Not with Sear. She felt like… she felt like the dragon was the only piece of her brother she had left right now. If they took him she'd have nothing.

The ship began moving further and further away, and then suddenly shot off, blowing both her and AJ back. Nia tumbled against the ground and then looked up. The ship was speeding off into the night, leaving nothing but a trail of smoke behind.

"No…" she muttered. "No! No! No! Come back!" she shouted, trying to take off after them. She only made it a few feet before falling right back down to the ground.

AJ, who had finally managed to get himself loose, ran over to check on her. "Blondie, are you okay?" he asked worriedly. Nia ignored him and kept trying to move forward. AJ looked at her stunned before reaching out and grabbing her hands. "Hey, blondie, cool it! You're never gonna catch them! Even if you did you ain't in no shape to fight!"

"No!"

"Look, you need to call those other Vanguard guys and get them to help!"

"It'll be too late by then! I have to stop them now!"

"You can't!" he snapped, grabbing her shoulders. "They're gone Nia! You can't do anything about it now! You gotta get your head in the game!"

Nia glared. "Yes I can!" she shouted. AJ felt a strong gust of wind come off of her, and he was blown back. Nia's whole body began to glow. "I can and I will! They're not taking Sear away! Or the wand! Or anything else! Nobody else is taking anything from me!"

The boy looked at her in awe as Nia's eyes glowed with a bright pink color. Two large pink butterfly wings decorated with yellow patterns sprouted from her back, along with two antennas which grew out from her head.

AJ's jaw dropped at the shocking transformation. Was this that thing she said she turned into when she fought her brother? If so… was she still in control? He hesitantly stepped forward. "Yo blondie, are you… are you still in there?" he asked.

"Titania."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "What?"

Nia raised her hand, and suddenly AJ heard the booming sound of thunder. The wind in the air began picking up, and AJ saw a flash of lightning go by in the sky. Nia crouched down and got ready to take off. "My name is Titania…" She took off, blowing AJ back and sending him tumbling to the ground.

The boy groaned and then looked up towards the direction Nia flew. "Aw shit, this can't be good…" he muttered. He quickly pulled out his phone and started to call Ezra. He had a feeling something really bad was about to go down.