The name's FungusDungus000, and I am a big fat liar. Back when I finished "The Mysterious Maroon," which was intended to be my only fic, I said that I was done with writing on this site forever, and wouldn't be making anything else. However, things have changed, as you can clearly see. Recently, I got an idea for a sequel series to TMM based on an art piece by the VERY talented MoringMark, called "Earth-Ni Superheroes"
In his piece, he created superhero alter-egos for Star, Marco, Tom, Janna, Globgor and Pony Head, and this gave me my idea for the sequel, in which Maroon returns to Echo Creek and ends up forming a team of heroes to protect the newly-cleaved Echo Creek from dangers that arise. These heroes are his friends; Star, Marco, Janna and Tom. (Pony Head got replaced with Maroon because I personally find her pretty irritating. Globgor, on the other hand...I'll get to that issue later in the story.)
Personally, I wasn't the biggest fan of the series finale, (An analogy I have is that the destruction of magic as a whole is like Aang taking away all bending instead of just Fire Lord Ozai's.) but after getting inspiration from the amazing post-cleave works of Blackspiderman, I ended up getting the idea to make this story reality.
One last suggestion; If you haven't read it before, read my other story "The Mysterious Maroon" right now, or you'll probably be really confused. Anyways, happy reading!
"MAROON AND THE EARTH-NI PROTECTORS!"
BOOK ONE: TURF WARS
CHAPTER ONE: RETURN TO ECHO CREEK
Parkersburg. If the word "average" could be defined by a city, this place was the perfect fit. It's a medium-sized town way up in northern California, and it boasts...not very much. The city has average buildings, average roads, average food and average stores, and most of the city's residents were, well...average. However, even the most average of cities can be plagued by the evils of crime. Luckily, Parkersburg had the privilege of being protected by a hero who was anything but average...
Our tale begins on a dark and rainy night, just outside the most prominent bank in Parkersburg. All was quiet, except for the sound of pouring rain bearing down upon the concrete. The silence was broken when an unsightly gray van pulled up to the curb outside the bank. Out of the van walked four men, whose faces were obscured by black ski masks.
These four thieves were armed with pistols, including their leader, a brash and burly man. The quartet of sinister ruffians forcefully entered the bank, which was barren of any patrons, with the exception of a single bank teller.
"Is there something I can help you gentlemen with?" The teller sheepishly stammered; Between the guns and the masks, she knew this was a robbery, but a good teller keeps their cool even in situations as tense as this.
"Good evening. My associates and I intend to make a withdrawal." The leader of the robbers spoke in a chillingly calm tone.
"Give us all the money, RIGHT NOW!" Another masked thief bluntly barked, as he was clearly the least patient of the lot.
The terrified teller slowly reached her hand under the counter to press the silent alarm; However, the lead robber observantly caught her attempt to signal help.
"Oh, you shouldn't have done that, lady." he growled, as his fellow thieves aimed their pistols at the banker. Panic began to befall the woman; Were these her last seconds on Earth? Before the tensions could rise any further, the unexpected happened; The power suddenly went out.
Now, the bank was pitch-black; The only light was the slight glow of street lamps beaming through the building's windows. The thieves started to panic just as the teller had before, with the exception of the gruff and heavy-built leader of the troop.
Mere moments later, the sound of light, quickly-paced footsteps could be heard in the darkness. Something else was in the bank with them.
"Spread out." The lead robber commanded. His three lackeys fanned out around the building, aimlessly ambling around in the dark. All of a sudden, a strange noise was heard, and the glow of red light could be seen as a blast of bright red energy hit one of the robbers, sending him to the linoleum floor stunned.
Before the rest of the thieves could fully comprehend what had happened, another bright red blast struck the second robber in the neck, and he fell to the ground as well. While the last of the flunkies was paralyzed with fear at his quickly-dropping comrades, the leader was more annoyed, and he growled with his teeth clenched.
Suddenly, the snapping of fingers was heard, and a metal-fiber cord wrapped itself around the scrawny, pistol-wielding thief, and he was pulled into the darkness, where a grunt of pain was heard...and then silence.
"SHOW YOURSELF!" The now-lone leader of the bank robbers barked. Suddenly, he saw two red eyes start to glow brightly in the darkness...
These eyes belonged to the vigilante who protected Parkersburg from crime; A mysterious figure, whose whole head was concealed by a crimson metal helmet with two vertical, horn-like metal rods mounted on the sides, and a red visor built-in to the helmet, the lenses of which resembled a pair of sunglasses. He was clothed in a black, lightweight metal chest-plate with red LED accents, and underneath it was a shirt of red metal-fiber cloth, covering him from his torso to his wrists. There were also similar pieces of dark-colored armor covering his shoulders, elbows and knees.
On his hands, he wore black gloves, and directly above those were two black metal bracelets of wondrous design; These rotating mechanical wrist-guards were his utility bracelets, in which he stored his crime-fighting weapons and tools. Covering him from the waist down were pants the same material as his shirt, and his footwear were specialized black rocket-boots that could propel him through the air!
But just what was the name of this mysterious masked stranger?
"The name's Maroon." The vigilante spoke to his foe, in his deep, reverberating voice.
"I don't care who you are, you ain't getting between me and my money!" The last remaining robber roared, as he pulled out his pistol and aimed it at his enemy.
Maroon acted fast and snapped his fingers, causing a dark metal shield to expand from his right utility bracelet; He used this shield to block the bullets the robber fired at his chest. Then he snapped with his left hand, and a red laser-blade extended from his other bracelet. Maroon lunged quickly, and used the sleek red blade to cut through his foe's pistol, rendering it useless.
The furious thief roared in rage, and swung his fists at Maroon; However, the vigilante dodged his foe's three strikes, retaliated with a series of quick jabs to the chest, and finished him off with a wrist-blast. Now, the last of the thieves was defeated.
As the lights came back on in the building, Maroon gathered the incapacitated robbers, and tied them together with one of his whip-cords. He then walked past his vanquished foes, to the counter the timid bank teller was hiding beneath.
"It's safe, you can come out now." Maroon calmly spoke. The teller then arose from under the curtain, to look upon the helmeted hero.
"Thanks for the save! I would've been a goner if you hadn't stepped in." The bank teller graciously praised.
"No problem, ma'am. All in a day's work." The cryptic hero spoke, then headed out of the bank. As soon as he left the building, he activated his high-tech rocket boots and flew off into the night sky...
Later, Maroon rocketed up to his destination; The fifth floor of one of the city's apartment buildings. On this level, a window was already open; The masked superhero then climbed in, and closed the window behind him.
The room he entered was a small bedroom. It was painted a medium-tan color, and was furnished with a blue bed and a black desk, with an office-style chair tucked into it. Maroon removed his metal helmet, revealing the face that lay beneath it.
He was a black teenage boy aged fifteen, with azure-blue eyes and black hair grown out in short locs on the top, with a skin fade going down around the back and sides. He was a smart young man, as he built the Maroon suit all by himself, truly an impressive feat. The name of this tech-savvy teen? Austin Capers.
"Someone's home early." A sardonic, feminine voice remarked. Sitting on Austin's bed was Rita Jean-Marcelin, his maternal aunt, and one of Parkersburg's most reputable fashion designers. This 38-year-old woman had hazel eyes and jet-black hair that was rather short and parted to the left.
"Hey, Aunt Rita." Austin nonchalantly responded, without even looking at her. This wasn't the first time she'd seen him in his vigilante outfit, and it wouldn't be the last; She and his uncle had known of his heroic alter-ego for almost six months.
"Anything interesting happen?" Rita inquired.
"Nope, just some run-of-the-mill bank robbers."
"Hold on, let me check your suit for bullet holes."
"I didn't get shot, Rita! Those guys couldn't hit the broad side of a barn!" Austin annoyedly brushed her off.
"Alright, alright. Just wanted to check." Rita explained, then exited Austin's bedroom. Once his aunt was gone, Austin changed into his pajamas, and settled in for the night.
Once he was in more comfortable attire, Austin left his bedroom and walked over to the kitchen, where he reached into the fridge and pulled out a bottle of soda. As he sat on the couch with his ice-cold drink, he turned to ask his aunt a question.
"Hey, where's Uncle Dez?"
"He got called into some emergency meeting with his boss. Not sure why, though." Rita replied, piquing the boy's interest.
"A meeting? This late at night? Must be important." Austin responded.
As if on cue, a 39-year-old man with faded black hair, a lampshade mustache, and green eyes barged through the door. He was wearing a gray suit, with black dress shoes and a green tie. He was Desmond Jean-Marcelin, a man hailing from Haiti, who happened to be Rita's loving husband. However, this kindly and jovial fellow was known more familiarly to Austin as "Uncle Dez."
"Great news, everyone!" Dez jollily exclaimed as he shut the door behind him. Rita and Austin attentively turned their heads to the Haitian-American to see what he had to say.
"I got promoted!" Ecstatic, Rita ran to her husband, hugged him, and kissed him on the cheek. Desmond was a foreman for the Roth Construction Company, whose headquarters rested right in the business district of Parkersburg.
"Nice, Uncle Dez!" Austin proudly commented.
"Spectacular job, honey! Maybe now we can get a cushy penthouse on the West Side..." Rita suggested, as Dez's expression began to sink.
"About that, sugarcube...This promotion comes with a challenge for us..." Dez sighed.
"What is it, Desmond?" Rita queried, as Austin took a big swig of his soda.
"Well, we're going to have to move to a new town...it's this place called Echo Creek."
Desmond's answer shocked Austin, and caused him to spit his soda out in surprise, catching the attention of his guardians.
"What was THAT all about?" A shocked Rita asked.
"Yeah, what's the matter?" Desmond added.
"It's nothing, I'm just surprised. I actually used to live there for a bit." Austin answered.
"Great! Moving won't be so hard, then!" Dez exclaimed. "Get some rest, kiddo. Tomorrow we wake up early to get there!" He added.
Austin wished his guardians goodnight, and headed off to bed with thoughts about moving racing around in his head; After all, Echo Creek was where he had some of his best memories...and some of his worst...
The next day, the Jean-Marcelins woke up early and drove across the state for a day and a half, until they finally reached the quaint little town of Echo Creek; Here, they were in for a drastic shock.
Echo Creek had changed greatly since Austin moved away from it nearly a year ago. For one, the sky was glowing with spectacular yet strange blue lights, and three different moons could faintly be seen in the sky.
"What the..." was all Austin could choke out, while his guardians were simply speechless at the sight. However, the moment of awe was cut short when Rita slammed on the brakes hard with a scream, to avoid hitting a man-sized chicken monster. As the three humans were frozen in shock, the chicken-creature squawked in fright, laid an egg, and quickly flew across the road.
"What was THAT?" Rita cried out in confoundment.
"This place is weird..." Des responded, as Austin started to chuckle a little.
"You guys have no idea..." The boy sardonically retorted, as the family of three continued driving towards their destination...
Not long after their strange encounter, the Jean-Marcelins arrived at the house they would be staying in; It was a large, two-story mansion, yet it had been empty and defunct for quite a long time.
Now, this home used to belong to Austin and his father, Oberon Capers. However, once Oberon was revealed to be the villainous leader of the terrorist group Cobalt Watch, Austin had no choice but to move away and live with his closest living relative; Luckily, that person was his friendly aunt Rita.
"Well...I didn't think we'd be staying here." Austin sighed; He could already feel the bad memories flowing from merely looking upon his old house.
"Hey, wasn't this house Ober-" Dez was about to add, when Rita suddenly shushed him.
"We don't speak of him..." She growled; Rita never got along with her brother-in-law, especially when she found out he was the leader of a xenophobic militant group, who nearly killed his own son. Needless to say, Austin was certainly better off with her and Desmond.
Once the family of three unpacked their belongings in the spacious house, Austin posed a question to his guardians.
"Do you guys need any help with anything?" Austin asked.
"We can handle this, don't worry. But could you do us a favor and go buy some groceries?" Uncle Desmond suggested. "Not too much, just get us something for dinner tonight."
"Sure..." Austin nervously sighed, as he started to walk off. Rita could tell something was wrong with the boy, and she couldn't let that go unnoticed.
"Is something wrong?" Rita inquired, as Austin turned to face her.
"Well, of course! Everything got weird while I was gone. There are literal monsters roaming the streets! How did this happen?" Austin clamored.
"I'm not sure why this place is so strange, but I bet it's why we're here. Mr. Roth did say an urgent housing crisis popped up in this area..." Desmond noted, as Rita came closer to her worried nephew.
"Hey, whatever's out there, you can handle it, Ozzy. You know why? Because you're Maroon." Rita kindly advised, making Austin smile.
"You're right. I'll be back as soon as I can!" Austin then headed out the door, and began his quest for groceries...
As he walked down the street, Austin looked upon his surroundings, to see many buildings that were out-of-place; They looked like they were from a whole different time period. He could see several people wearing archaic-looking clothing, and even a few monsters, although thankfully, they didn't seem to be hostile.
Austin pulled up the hood of his gray jacket, and looked down at the ground so that he didn't attract any unwanted attention. However, this plan backfired when he bumped into a wall, or what he thought was a wall, till he realized it was made of meat. What he bumped into was an eight-foot-tall, muscular, cyan-hued cyclops!
"Watch where you're going, boy!" The cyclops growled, with a fanged scowl present on his monocular mug. Austin awkwardly fell to the ground in a cold sweat, paralyzed with fear. Before things could escalate any further between the two, a familiar voice called out.
"Hey, what's going on here?"
This sentence was spoken by none other than Star Butterfly, the former princess of the kingdom of Mewni! Standing next to her was her best friend-turned boyfriend, who once wore the mantle of Maroon himself; The hoodie-wearing knight himself, Marco Diaz!
"Y-you're Star Butterfly! THE Star Butterfly, who saved monsterkind from those crazy warriors!" The cyclops stammered in surprise.
"Yeah, that's me..."
"Thanks for everything, Star. You mewmans aren't half bad." The giant remarked, then continued stomping down the street. With the massive monster gone, Star and Marco could see Austin still sitting on the ground.
"Star? Is that...you?" Austin queried, as Marco suddenly realized who the boy was by the familiar sound of his voice.
"Austin?" Marco called out, surprised to see that his old friend was back in Echo Creek.
Austin was thrilled to see his friends again, and quickly got up to his feet. Excited, Star quickly ran up and hugged the boy, and Marco followed soon after.
"I'm so glad to see you again!" Star cooed happily.
"I missed you guys, too." Austin replied, when he took a closer look at the blonde-haired girl's face, and realized a distinct feature of hers was missing. "Star, your cheek-marks! They're gone!"
"We should probably catch him up to speed." Marco suggested to his girlfriend.
"Yeah, a lot's happened since you left."
"Something tells me it's got to do with all the weird stuff popping up around here." Austin assumed.
"Sit down, because we've got a heck of a story to tell." Star replied. The three teens then sat on a nearby bench, to do some much-needed catching up...
For the next half hour, Star and Marco explained what Austin had missed since his departure; How Star left Earth and Marco came after her, the return and subsequent defeats of Ludo and Toffee, the uprising of the Solarian Warriors, the blossoming of the couple's newly-made relationship, and chiefly, the destruction of magic, which ended up cleaving Earth, Mewni and the Underworld into one singular planet...
"Wow...I can't believe magic's really gone..." Austin commented.
"Yeah...Gotta admit, I kinda miss it..."
"Hey, we still have our own magic right here." Marco remarked. He leaned in and gave Star a peck on the cheek, making her blush and smile.
"So, you guys are a thing now, huh? I saw that coming a mile away." Austin jokingly retorted, as the two lovers looked at each other, and back at him.
"So, how have you been doing?" Marco asked.
"Are you still Maroon?" Star added.
"Things have been okay since I left. I started fighting crime up in Parkersburg, but not much ever happens around there, except the occasional mugging or robbery."
"Well it must be a real change of pace moving back here."
"Yeah. Turns out Echo Creek is one of the few places on Earth majorly affected by the Cleaving." Marco commented. He was correct; only the Echo Creek area and a handful of other locales across the globe had actually merged with Mewni.
"Well, this place is gonna need a hero to keep order. Guess that's where I come in." Austin answered. While he felt bad about leaving Parkersburg without its hero, it was clear this town of two worlds needed Maroon much more...
"I'm sure you'll do great." Star complimented, making Austin smile and blush a bit. He got up from the bench, and looked down at his two friends.
"Well, I better get going. Gotta get some groceries for Aunt Rita." Austin explained. The two teens wished him goodbye, and he started walking down the street, when Star suddenly called out to him.
"WAIT!" The mewman girl exclaimed. Austin quickly turned around to see what his friend needed. "Could you do us a little favor when you're done?"
"Sure, what do you need?"
"Remember Mina Loveberry?"
Down in a damp, dank swamp in the middle of a thick forest sat a quaint, decently-sized house of unusual make. This strange homestead was inhabited by no people, but it was far from empty. No, this home was inhabited by a large and crowded family of frogs.
Yvgeny Bulgolyubov, better known by the easier to pronounce moniker "Buff Frog." was preparing a hearty dinner of flies, grubs and other insects for his twelve amphibian children. Although he had fought Star in the past, this genial monster had turned over a new leaf to tend to his adopted family.
"Papa, when will dinner be ready?" asked Katrina, the smallest of Buff Frog's daughters.
"Patience, little one I just need to add the swampberry sauce-" Buff Frog happily explained, when suddenly, the door was kicked down by an intruder! The perpetrator responsible for such intrusion was none other than Mina Loveberry, the notorious Solarian warrior with a burning hatred for all monsters, be they evil or benign. After Star cleaved the dimensions and stripped her of her powers, she was last seen running off into the woods; Now, she was back with a vengeance...
"A-ha! Sinister, evil, grody monsters! Prepare to be SMITED!" Mina shouted with vitriol, as she pointed a sharp metal sword at Buff Frog. The dozen amphibian children all instinctively hid behind their father, who shot a threatening scowl towards his foe.
"Leave this place, Loveberry! You have already lost!" Buff Frog rebuked.
"As long as people like me exist, you scummy little monsters will never win!" Mina screamed, when the sound of two small rockets was heard. Out of the blue, a caped figure landed behind Mina in a three-point stance, ready for action.
"That's why I'm here."
"Who are YOU?" The Solarian snarled.
"The name's Maroon." The vigilante replied in his deep, altered voice; His dark cape swayed like a banner in the night wind.
"Get lost, weirdo! Can't you see I'm trying to exact righteous justice on these horrible monsters?" Mina groaned.
"The only monster here is you." Maroon assumed a fighting stance, and stood off against the psychotic wanderer.
"Alright, since you wanna be such a goody two-shoes, I'll kill you as a warm-up!" Mina clucked, and pointed her sharp sword at the vigilante.
"Bring it!" Maroon remarked, as the Solarian ran towards him in unbridled rage.
As Mina charged with her sword, Maroon snapped his fingers, and a lightsaber-like blade of red energy ignited from his right utility bracelet. Mina lifted her sword up high and brought it down upon the vigilante, but he cut right through the metal blade like it was butter. As Mina became aghast with horror, Maroon just laughed.
"Not so tough without your magic, are you?" Maroon remarked. Mina furiously shouted a war cry, and lunged towards him with her fists balled. She punched Maroon in the face with all her might, but ended up breaking her hand on his rigid metal helmet.
Mina screamed in pain as she waved her broken hand around like a lunatic. While she was reeling on the ground, Maroon pointed his wrist-blaster at the former Solarian warrior. "Lights out." He snidely remarked as he snapped his fingers, firing a blast of red energy that knocked her out cold.
"That's the Mina she told me about? I've fought bike thieves who were tougher." Maroon tied Mina up with his whip-cord, then looked into the house; He saw Buff's children staring in awe at the action-packed scene that unfolded before their very eyes.
"Uh...I'm sorry you kids had to see that." Maroon awkwardly uttered, when Buff Frog walked up to him.
"You saved my family."
"It's no problem. All in a day's work."
"Thank you, kind stranger!" The hefty frog-man exclaimed, as he enveloped Maroon in a bone-crushing hug, causing him to groan in pain. While he could certainly whoop Mina now that her powers were gone, Yvgeny appreciated the benevolent wanderer saving him the effort.
When Buff Frog let him go, Maroon fell to the ground and grunted. He started breathing heavily to make up for lost air, and took off his helmet, revealing his unassuming true face. All the kids stopped and stared at the young human hidden beneath the mask.
"You are just...boy?" Buff Frog remarked, surprised that Maroon was someone so young.
"Correction; I'm a man on a mission, which I just accomplished." Austin answered.
"Then who sent you?"
Austin let out a sigh, and smiled warmly. He then turned to his amphibian acquaintance, and left a cryptic clue to his benefactors:
"Just a couple of...old friends..."
And that's the chapter! To see what happens next, read (or re-read) the epilogue of "The Mysterious Maroon" to see how Austin's hunt for the sinister Solarian warrior goes...
Also, MoringMark, if you found this and are reading it, I just wanted to say thanks so much for inspiring me to be creative, and I'm terribly sorry for your loss.
UPDATE AS OF 3/7/21: I added the Mysterious Maroon epilogue scene into this chapter to make it longer, and so people don't have to switch between fics if they don't want to.
