"MAROON AND THE EARTH-NI PROTECTORS!"
BOOK ONE: TURF WARS
CHAPTER FIVE: TRAINING TROUBLES
The sun was out and shining on Earth-Ni today, and it was a real scorcher. However, even in the sweltering heat, it was no time to laze around. Our tale begins in a group of empty lots owned by the Roth Construction Company; Today was the first day of development for a new neighborhood, meant to house the mewmans and monsters displaced by the Cleaving.
Overlooking the site was the head foreman, Desmond Jean-Marcelin. He prided himself on the diversity of his construction crew; Humans, mewmans, monsters and demons all played a part in his newly-hired team. Even the former "Prince of Darkness" Globgor found a job on his crew. After all, Desmond had a soft spot for the new beings brought to Earth by the Cleave; He was an immigrant himself, from his native Haiti.
As Desmond encouraged his workers with inspiring ethos, his nephew Austin oversaw a smaller side project; The construction of a training course for four up-and-coming superheroes...
Today, Austin was wearing a much different outfit; His eyes were completely masked by dark-lensed aviator sunglasses, and he wore blue jeans, brown steel-toed boots, and a tight black T-shirt with the words "SIFU YANGCHEN'S WING CHUN DOJO" on it in white lettering. However, his right arm still rested in a sling, due to the injuries that put him out of commission.
Once the course was finished, Austin stood and waited for his friends to arrive. Suddenly, he heard the sound of hoofbeats; Quite an odd sound to hear in an average California construction site. But this was no average place; This was Echo Creek, the epicenter of Earth-Ni!
Headed straight towards him was a demonic-looking carriage pulled by skeletal horses with flaming manes. It was quickly barreling closer and closer to Austin, till the teen had to jump out of the way to avoid being stampeded on. Suddenly, the carriage stopped in its tracks with a screeching halt. As Austin came to his senses, out of the carriage stepped Star, Marco, Janna and Tom.
All four teens were dressed in workout clothes. Star wore a sky-blue tank top and black leggings, plus comfy white tennis shoes. Additionally, her blonde hair was tied in a ponytail with a cyan scrunchie, and she had a white headband on her forehead. Marco was clad in an outfit not so different from his usual attire: A gray T-shirt, and black shorts cut just above the knee. Janna was dressed in a yellow T-shirt with a neon-green graphic of a flaming skull, and a pair of gray shorts, while Tom wore a tight-fitting black tank top and maroon gym shorts.
"Thanks for the ride, Tom." Janna remarked, as the hellish-looking carriage sunk deep into the ground, back to the Underworld beneath.
"No problem." Tom replied. The four teens stood together in a horizontal line, and faced Austin.
"Ah, you're all here. Wonderful." Austin firmly spoke. "First things first, I-" Austin continued, when he was suddenly interrupted by Star, who was filled with joy when she saw a familiar face nearby.
"Hey, grandpa Globgor!" Star called out as the size-shifter, who was carrying a huge stack of lumber, turned to face his adoptive granddaughter.
"Hi, Star!" Globgor happily exclaimed in return, as he headed off towards an empty lot to start building. Austin just groaned, annoyed that he had been interrupted in the middle of his opening speech.
"Sorry, where were you?" asked Star.
"First things first, I am hard, but I am fair! I do not look down upon mewmans, monsters, demons, or humans. Here, you are all equally worthless." Austin sided. Star, Marco and Tom were all quite insulted, but Janna just smiled, as she was the only one who got his reference.
"Is that you, Maroon? Is this me?" Janna joked. However, Austin sure wasn't laughing.
"So, you think you're funny, Ordonia? Drop and give me twenty!" Austin commanded. Janna crossed her arms, shook her head, and responded with a single word.
"No."
Wrong answer. Austin suddenly blew into a metal whistle that hung around his neck, creating a loud, shrill noise that made everyone wince and cover their ears in pain. "Make that fifty!"
Janna groaned, and begrudgingly got on the ground to start her fifty push-ups, while Star, Marco and Tom quietly watched her, irking Austin. "That goes for the rest of you, too."
The others got down and began doing push-ups as well. When they were halfway through, Marco was already starting to tire out. "Man, this is torture!" He groaned in a strained voice.
"Work it, Marco! Get those abs back!" Star flirted. When she said this, something sparked inside of Marco, and like greased lightning, he whizzed through the rest of his push-ups, then did an extra twenty to boot.
Once everyone else finished their set of push-ups, they were already getting rather weary. The only exception was Marco, who was doing dozens of sit-ups to bring back the abs that drove his girlfriend wild.
"Man, it's so hot out." Star weakly complained, as she drank some water from her bottle to hydrate.
"Oh, it's not so bad." Tom commented, being used to far harsher temperatures in his homeland.
"Dude, you live in literal hell." Janna retorted.
"Fair point."
Austin blew into his whistle again, startling his trainees. "Diaz! Ordonia!" He barked. Marco quickly stood up straight, while Janna groaned in annoyance, and popped a squat.
"See that obstacle course?" He asked, as he pointed to the recently-built course in question. It consisted of a series of tires to parkour on, two sets of monkey bars, A couple ropes dangling from an elevated platform, and a pair of metal balance beams leading to the finish line. "You two will be racing each other on it."
"Wait, I'm racing Janna?" Marco nervously asked. In theory, it was the fairest matchup, as they were both human. But with Janna's antics, it would be anything but.
"No, you'll just be eating my dust, Diaz." Janna coyly remarked. Now it was on!
Moments later, both Marco and Janna were standing at the starting line of the obstacle course. Marco was pumping himself up by doing some stretches, while Janna was pacing back and forth. Tom and Star sat down on the ground together to spectate the race.
"On your mark...get set!" Austin spoke. Then, he fired a shot from the wrist-blaster he was wearing on his arm, and both teens took off.
Marco parkoured from tire to tire to ease thanks to his years of experience in the Neverzone, while Janna awkwardly stumbled through the course. Eventually, Janna had conquered the tires, and moved on to the monkey bars. While she found this portion of the course easier, she was still trailing behind Marco. "Guess this is what I get for skipping gym." Janna thought to herself.
While Marco and Janna raced, they were eagerly watched by their spectators, Tom and Star.
"Go, Marco!" Star giddily cheered, as her boyfriend started to climb up a rope. Marco shot her a wink, and kept on going. Meanwhile, Tom noticed that Janna seemed to be struggling.
"Come on, Janna! You can do it!" Tom shouted. Suddenly, Janna felt much more energized, and raced to climb up the rope next to Marco's. However, when she nearly reached the top, the raven-haired girl lost her balance, and fell to the ground with a thud.
"JANNA!" Star and Tom cried out in unison, as Marco stopped dead in his tracks, and rushed to his friend to make sure she was okay.
"Janna! Are you okay? How many fingers am I holding up?" Marco queried in a worried tone, ever the safe kid. While she felt touched by Marco's concern, Janna suddenly had a devilish idea that could spell victory for her. She rose up, and said two words to Marco; Two words which were the ace up her sleeve.
"Chicken butt."
With the utterance of that seemingly nonsensical phrase, Marco's eyes shut, and he fell to the ground unconscious. Once he fell, Janna seized the opportunity, and quickly bolted away. She sprinted across the balance beam, and leapt to the finish line, ensuring her victory.
While Star tended to her unconscious boyfriend, Janna was celebrating her first-place score in the race. "Score one for Ordonia." She remarked to herself, when Tom approached her.
"You did great! Up top!" The half-demon cheered, as the two high-fived. However, their mirth was rudely interrupted by the awfully shrill sound of a blown whistle. Cue Austin strutting towards them, with a disgusted scowl on his face.
"Ordonia! What was THAT about?" Austin barked.
"What are you talking about, dude?"
"You cheated!"
"It's not cheating, Ozzy. I got skills, I might as well use 'em."
"Well, I hope your skills include push-ups, because-" Austin remarked, when Janna interrupted him.
"Drop and give you 50, I know." The troublemaker scoffed.
"Well, I was gonna say 20, but that sounds even better!"
Janna groaned, and got on the ground again to do yet another round of agonizing push-ups. However, such exercises were made slightly less miserable, when Tom got down next to her, and started doing them as well.
"Bet I can do 'em faster than you." Tom bragged, making Janna crack a smile.
"You're on!" Janna retorted. The edge of the exercises was taken off for her, as she was admittedly happy to have someone to do it with.
Once that debacle was over, it was time for another special training exercise. This time, it was an experience meant to test the limits of Star and Tom's supernatural strength, which they owed to their demon and Johansen heritages. To gauge their physical prowess, both teens were meant to hold up two flat, wide, square-shaped steel panels.
"This isn't so bad." Star noted, barely breaking a sweat.
"Yeah, this is too easy!" Tom added.
"Actually, that's just where the weights go." Austin explained, as both the mewman and the demon winced and shock. "Now, Globgor!"
With Austin's command, the twelve-foot-tall size-shifter placed heavy metal weights on both of their platforms. Now, they were much harder to keep hoisted up.
Both teens strained and groaned as they fought to keep the platforms raised, while Marco watched nervously from a distance. He was truly afraid for Star, as if she slipped up, she could end up crushed like a bug. This made the karate expert think to himself; "Is Austin taking this too far?"
However, his worries were mitigated when he noticed something peculiar: Janna was pointing her phone towards Tom, with a sly grin on her face. "What is she up to?" Marco thought. He approached Janna, and asked her what she was doing.
"What are you, a cop?" The juvenile delinquent refuted, not even taking her eyes off her phone. Marco took a look at the screen, and it all became clear; Janna was clearly recording Tom as he held up the weighted platform, with a special focus on his arms and chest. In other words, she was pirating the gun show.
Once Marco realized Janna's true intentions, his face lit up with a big, dumb grin. "Well, well. Looks like Tom's got a secret admirer." He joked. Janna's face turned beet-red, as her eyes shot right open. For once, he'd actually got her flustered.
"C-c-chicken butt." Janna stammered, making Marco faint again. That was a close call...
Star and Tom were still using all their strength to bear the weight of the steel platforms they were holding. However, with the broiling heat of the sun beating down on her, Star's stamina was draining fast. The Mewman girl let out a strained whimper as she tried her hardest to keep the platform up. Moments later, Star gave into her tiring, and tapped out.
"I give!" Star exclaimed. Suddenly, the platform was lifted off her hands by Globgor, who set it on the ground with ease. Star then collapsed to the ground to rest. "Whew! Thanks, grandpa Globby!"
"Anything for you, kid." Globgor replied. The former monster king then shifted his eyes towards Tom, who was under no strain at all. "You need any help with that?"
"Thanks, but I've got this." Tom answered, as he effortlessly lifted the platform up with his telekinetic powers. However, Tom's eyes were suddenly caught by Janna, who was practically broiling in the scorching sunlight. In an effort to relieve herself, she pulled off her goldenrod-colored shirt, revealing the black sports bra she was wearing underneath.
Tom became incredibly flustered, and his throat went completely dry. He tried to look away, but couldn't keep his eyes off of her. This proved to be a big mistake, as he lost his concentration, and the weighted metal platform fell right onto his foot. What happened next was a demonic scream so loud it could be heard from the next town over!
Several minutes had passed since Tom's foot-smashing mistake. However, thanks to the supernatural properties of his demon physiology, none of his bones broke; Still, he felt all of the pain. Now, the four heroes-in-training were sitting down on the ground together, taking a break by chatting and drinking some refreshing water.
"I swear, if I have to do another push-up, I'm gonna puke." Janna joked.
"Hey, it could be worse. You could've dropped a huge metal weight on your foot." Tom retorted.
"How'd that happen, anyways?" Marco queried, since he was out cold during the whole debacle. Tom froze up in the moment, glanced at Janna, and then back at Marco. He didn't want to admit he was ogling his friend, so he quickly thought of a lie.
"I...uh...saw a spider." Tom muttered, making Star giggle. Janna just shook her head; She could clearly tell he was lying. Still, she decided she'd speak nothing of it. Suddenly, the teens' vibe session was abruptly interrupted by Austin, and that dreadful whistle he blew into.
"Diaz! Lucitor!" Austin barked, as the two boys stood to attention. "See that ring over there?" He questioned, as he pointed to a circle drawn in the sandy, dry terrain with white chalk. "For this exercise, you two are gonna get in that ring and spar."
Tom and Marco both looked at each other, and Tom seemed a little uneasy. "I'm not sure if I'm comfortable fighting you." Tom said.
"Hey, it's not a real fight, it's sparring! I did it all the time at my karate lessons." Marco replied.
"But I'm a demon. A powerful demon. Maybe Austin would be a better match-up." Tom suggested, making the teen engineer cringe.
"Sure, the guy with the concussion and the sprained arm would be a much fairer fight!" Austin sarcastically scoffed.
"Well, what about Janna?" The half-demon asked, catching Janna's attention.
"What's that? You boys wanna wrestle?" Janna teased, making both Tom and Marco turn a little red in the face.
"I take that back."
"Look, I know you don't want to hurt me, Tom. But you and I both know I'm not an ordinary kid. I've fought monsters, warriors and all sorts of other nasty things. I'm sure I can take you on." Marco spoke. Tom sighed, and finally agreed to fake-fight his friend. Now, it was time to rumble...
In the circular chalk ring, both Marco and Tom were preparing to spar with each other, while Janna and Star sat on the ground to watch. Janna was excitedly waiting for the fight, while Star seemed visibly nervous.
"Man, this is gonna be great. Who do you think's gonna win?" Janna asked.
"I don't know...do they really have to fight?" Star responded, afraid that either Marco or Tom would end up hurt from the duel.
Once Austin fired another starting blast from his utility bracelet, it was time for the two boys to tussle. There was a moment of stillness at first, but Tom made the first strike, by jumping towards Marco to kick him. However, the Earth teen dodged, and countered with a swift chop to the half-demon's back. Tom struck with his arms a few times in a half-hearted fashion, but Marco easily avoided each one, and swept his legs, knocking him down, where he hit his head on the hard ground.
"Is that really the best you can do?" Marco boasted. That was the wrong thing to say, if Tom's now-glowing red eyes were any indicator. "Uhh...Tom?" Marco stammered. Tom suddenly leapt back up on his feet, and blasted a plume of fire at Marco, which the red belt narrowly dodged.
"Marco!" Star cried out in a worried tone. Tom threw a fireball at his foe, who yet again barely dodged.
"Woah, Tom! Calm down, man!" Marco exclaimed as he dodged yet another fireball. "What's wrong with you?" Tom wouldn't relent. He was about to blast another plume of burning flames at Marco, when Star suddenly tackled him to the ground.
"TOM! The hell is wrong with you?" Star angrily shouted, as she shook the demon around. His eyes stopped glowing red, and he was left groaning in confusion.
"W-what happened?" Tom moaned in bewilderment.
"You nearly killed Marco!" Star exclaimed.
"Wait, WHAT?" The prince of the Underworld cried. "Sorry, Marco. I don't know what came over me."
"It's fine." Marco deadpanned as he left the ring. Suddenly, Austin blew into his whistle yet again, and everyone covered their ears.
"You shouldn't have intervened, Star. If Marco can't defend himself against a demon, how's he gonna fare against Seth of-" was all he could say, until Star suddenly cut him off.
"SHUT UP, AUSTIN!"
Now, Star was mad. She could take the push-ups, and the exhausting exercise trials, but talking bad about Marco was the straw that broke the pig-goat's back.
"Marco could have been KILLED back there!" Star snapped, as Austin went silent in shock. "Look, Austin. I signed up to be a hero, to help innocent people and fight the forces of evil. I didn't sign up for this. None of us did."
A saddened expression fell upon the boy's face, but it was hard to tell due to the shades covering his eyes. "Tell me when you're ready to actually train us." Star scathingly remarked, as she stormed off. The other teens soon followed her.
"Come on guys, wait! Marco?" Austin called out. Marco turned to face Austin, sighed with a disappointed expression on his face, and followed the others, leaving the injured young man totally alone...
Austin slumped down on the dry ground, and sighed in remorseful despair. He was too harsh towards his friends, and for that, he paid the price. The teen looked at that shrill little whistle on his neck, took it off, and threw it as far as he could as he grunted in rage. Once that hideous instrument was gone, he took deep breaths, feeling terribly regretful.
"Austin! Are you okay?" A voice called out. Walking over to check on his gloomy nephew was none other than friendly Uncle Desmond. "What's wrong?"
"I screwed up, Uncle Dez. I tried to train my friends to be better heroes, but I was too hard on them. Now, I've gone and pushed them away..."
"Yeah, I heard. You really gave them a hard time. However, I know what you're doing wrong. Come with me, I've got something to show you." Dez offered.
Desmond guided his nephew to a cluster of empty lots, where his builders and architects were working on houses. Austin could see workers of various species working together to construct their projects. A group of humans and mewmans hammered and sawed wooden planks. Globgor used his size-shifting abilities to easily build a multi-story house, and a demoness with large, leathery wings used her flight abilities to aid her in framing a rooftop.
"Wow, they're doing great!" Austin complimented.
"I'm glad you noticed." Dez replied. "You see, I employ workers from all kinds of backgrounds, because I value their diverse abilities. You should train your friends by highlighting their strengths, not pointing out their weaknesses."
"I understand now!" Austin exclaimed. "But how will I get them to forgive me?"
"You're a smart kid, Oz. I'm sure you'll figure something out." Dez replied, giving his nephew a sudden, brilliant idea.
"That's it! Get my stuff out of the truck; It's time to show them what I've been working on..."
Under the shade of a nearby tree, Star, Marco, Janna and Tom were all sitting down, talking with each other as they rested their tired bodies. However, their commotion fell silent once Austin walked up to them, with a remorseful expression.
"Hey guys...I know you're mad at me, and you have every right to be. I was being too hard on you, and I just wanted to say...I'm sorry." Austin sincerely quavered, as he removed his aviator sunglasses. Everyone cringed when they saw what lied beneath; His baggy, bloodshot eyes.
"Dude, what's with your eyes?" Janna queried.
"When's the last time you slept?" Marco added.
"Does getting knocked out count as sleep?" Austin rhetorically asked, surprising everyone. Austin hadn't slept a wink since he woke up in the hospital; He stayed up for over 24 hours to work on a couple new projects. Factor in the headache from his concussion, and you have a finished recipe for an unusually cantankerous teenager.
"You're a mess, dude." Tom remarked.
"Yeah, I know."
"I can vouch for him. Trust me, sleep deprivation is no joke." Star commented, having experienced it during such times as the Monster Arm fiasco and her reign as acting queen.
"I just want to apologize once again for my harshness. All I ask is that you forgive me." Austin apologized. There were a few seconds of silence, until Star rose up and looked him in the eye to say:
"I forgive you."
Just after she said this, Austin cracked a smile, which got wider once Marco, Tom and Janna forgave him as well.
"Thanks, guys. From now on I'm gonna train you the right way." Austin spoke, as he looked directly at Star. "Star, there's something I'd like to give you."
Austin reached into a bag he was wearing around his shoulder, and pulled out something shocking; A replica of Star's old magic wand. The former princess's face lit up when she saw it, and she snatched it out of the boy's hands to see it for herself.
"No way! Is...is this my wand?"
"It's a replica! I made it with Aunt Rita's 3D printer, and I spent all night putting it together!" Austin exclaimed.
"H-how did you get it to look so...perfect?"
"Oh, that was easy! Marco sent me some pictures of your wand to base it off of." When Star heard this revelation, she quickly turned to Marco with an overjoyed teary-eyed smile that made his heart melt.
"I wanted to keep it a surprise." Marco retorted.
"Does it really work? Star asked.
"Indeed it does. It's powered by a mix of Maroon tech, and that bottle of corrupted magic you gave me. Guess it was useful after all." Austin explained, as Star's face lit up even more. She struck a pose, pressed a button on the hilt of the wand, and gleefully shouted "NARWHAL BLAST!"
However, to the former magic-wielder's disappointment and dismay, no narwhals came out of that wand: Only a blast of yellow-colored energy.
"Oh, right...sorry about that. Since the magic's corrupted, it can't make sentient spells; Just energy-based stuff." Austin elucidated. A frown fell on Star's face, as she felt a pang of guilt for her now-vanished spells...
"Still, the last remnant of magic is in your hands." Austin said.
"The hands they belong in." Marco added, making Star feel better. She inquisitively pressed another button on the wand's hilt, and it extended into a four-foot-long bo staff.
"Woah, cool!" Star exclaimed, as she swung her wand-staff around.
"Get ready, everyone!" Austin exclaimed, this time with excitement instead of anger. "It's time to train for REAL!"
First up in Austin's new training regiment was a golden opportunity for Janna, aka "Snatcher" to test her skills. Desmond had sought their help, as there was trouble with his construction crew. Two of his workers; A short-statured, bearded mewman named Kris, and a large, muscular minotaur named Hornocles were in a heated argument. However, it wasn't over race or politics like one would expect; It was over who got to use the band saw, but it somehow mutated into an immature shouting match.
"Get your beefy butt out of the way so I can use the machine!" Kris snapped.
"No way! I got here first, short-stack!" Hornocles retorted.
"Why I ought to whup you, you big dumb cow!" Kris yelled. The mewman and monster were about to engage in fisticuffs, when Janna approached them.
"Hey, morons! Check this out." Janna remarked, as she swung her pocket watch back and forth. The watch emitted flashing black-and-white light, which in tandem with the swinging motion, instantly hypnotized the dim-witted workers.
"You two will share the band saw and get back to work." Janna spoke. Then she snapped her fingers, and the two workers snapped out of their trance. They quickly got to work sawing planks, and Janna gave Uncle Dez a wink, received a thumbs-up in return...
Next up on the training block was Marco Diaz, aka "Martial Boy." The others had set up Austin's muk yan jong, a plasticine dummy with pivoting arms. For millennia, this humble-looking device has been used in various forms of Kung Fu. Marco practiced on it with his karate moves, but ended up getting struck repeatedly by the dummy's wooden arms.
"What's wrong with these karate dummies?" Marco wondered.
"Not Karate! Wing Chun!" Austin corrected. For five months in Parkersburg, he trained in the Chinese martial art under his teacher Sifu Yangchen, as he was inspired by Marco's martial arts prowess.
Janna snacked on a fresh apple, while she watched Marco continue to embarrass himself with the muk yan jong. Suddenly, she got the devilish idea to throw the apple at him. The troublemaking girl wound up, and tossed it straight at him, but to her surprise, he easily caught it in one hand.
"Nice try, Janna!" Marco retorted, when he suddenly got a brilliant idea. "You guys ever heard of Fruit Ninja?"
A few minutes later, Austin and the others gathered a variety of fruits from a nearby store, while Marco made a pit stop at the Monster Temple to retrieve a sword from the armory. On his order, Star, Tom and Janna, started tossing various fruits at him, which he sliced and diced through with stunning swordsmanship.
"Isn't that kid something?" Desmond queried to his new associate, Globgor.
"I was gonna eat those..." Globgor replied, feeling disappointed.
While the rest of the team snacked on some freshly sliced fruit, Tom, aka "Violet Devil" was flying around, striking straw dummies with fireballs from above.
"Nice shot!" Janna called out. Tom gave her a two-fingered salute in return, as he landed on the ground.
"Alright, that went great!" Tom exclaimed.
"So, how am I gonna train?" Star queried, as she took a bite out of a juicy slice of watermelon.
"Well, to do that, you'll be needing this." Austin said, as he pulled a tarp off a stack of crates, revealing what lay on top: A device that looked like a strange metal and wire harness.
"What is that thing?"
"Put it on, and you'll find out."
Star slipped on the lightweight harness, and was told by Austin to press the button on one of the straps. Once she touched it, a pair of bright pink, hard-light butterfly wings emitted from the back of the device, and she could feel she was lightly hovering over the ground.
Everyone around her gasped in shock, wondering if what they saw was really happening. More shocked than anyone else was Star herself.
"Am I...am I flying?" Star asked Austin.
"M-hm. That's what I used the Dauntless core for. It's time for Star Butterfly to take flight again..."
After being taught a crash-course in how to operate the wing harness, it was time for Star to take to the skies.
"Before I go, this isn't gonna break down, is it?" Star inquired.
"Hopefully, there won't be any bugs. Even if something goes wrong, Tom and Globgor are your lifelines." Austin explained. Star looked to the demon and size-shifter, who both gave her a thumbs-up. Star took a deep breath, activated her wings, and got ready to fly.
Once she took off into the air, Star felt truly exhilarated. As she gracefully soared through the skies, her teammates and the whole construction site watched in awe and amazement.
The Mewman rushed with adrenaline as she flew around. It was like using her butterfly form without any of the magic! She took out her new wand, and shot blasts of amber-colored energy into the sky, which burst into beautiful fireworks.
"Is that magic?" Globgor wondered.
"It sure is." Austin replied. As Star started hovering lower to the ground, Marco cupped his hands around his mouth and called out to his sweetheart.
"I bet you really missed flying, huh?" Marco shouted. All of a sudden, Star turned around with a loving grin on her face, and swooped down towards him. Marco froze in place, unsure of what to do, when Star picked him up and flew back into the air.
Marco was freaking out about being so high up, but his panicking stopped when Star placed one of her hands on his cheek. "I bet you missed it more." She replied. Marco smiled, and the two shared a passionate kiss. The lovers both felt absolute bliss from this moment; Today, magic had returned, at least for them. Nothing could interrupt this beautiful moment.
Except the faulty bugs from Star's wing-harness, that is. The glowing wings on her back suddenly shorted out, and the flight thrusters disconnected with them. The two teens screamed as they started plummeting to the ground. Luckily, their lifelines acted fast. Tom quickly took flight to catch Marco, while Globgor used his size-shifting to grow giant and pluck Star out of her freefall.
Once Star and Marco were safe on solid ground, they promptly thanked their rescuers by gratefully hugging them. Austin quickly ran up to the two to profusely apologize yet again.
"I am so sorry, guys! I didn't know that would happen!"
"It's okay, dude. I'm just glad we're okay." Marco replied.
"I gotta say, those wings were pretty amazing." Star added.
"Thanks, guys. I just still gotta work out the kinks..." Austin replied. Today had been a challenging experience for him, but he was glad he had friends who'd stick by him, whether he's at his worst, or at his best...
While the teens were training, trouble was brewing near the Echo Creek Police Station. A group of six men and women in medieval-esque clothing came out of a nearby thicket of trees. These unsavory fellows were being led by the prejudiced, scheming and overall very irritating former Solarian warrior, Manfred. This stuffy servant was holding quite the strange item; One of the other energy cores from the wreck of the Dauntless.
"Ready your bow." Manfred told a mewman archer. Moments later, he threw the core up in the air, towards the station's wall. The archer released her drawn bow, and it hit the core, causing a concussive explosion that blew the police station's wall open, exposing the jail cells.
The explosion caused a cloud of dust and debris to appear. When the dust cleared, the Mewman mob looked upon the person they were trying to free; Their revered former leader, the psychotic, monster-hating warrior Mina Loveberry.
"I'm free! I'M FREE!" Mina screamed, as if she had been held there for centuries. In reality, she was only in jail for a total of three days. Her right hand was encased in a cast, since she previously broke her hand from punching Maroon's helmeted face.
She quickly fled into the woods on all fours, and Manfred and his cronies quickly followed her.
Eventually, the hostile mewmans caught up to Mina, and guided her to their lair; A campsite they had set up around the lake of corrupted magic, where the wrecked Cobalt Watch dreadnought lay. Here, they caught her up to speed on subjects like the Dreaded Beasts, and their recent skirmish with Star and Austin. Now, Mina was giving a speech to her loyal underlings.
"So, everything's gone to crap. We've lost most of our numbers, our magic, and the support of the monarchy. We've lost so much, but we will NEVER lose our fighting spirit!" Mina rallied, as her dozen-something devout followers cheered.
"It's time to destroy those terrible terrorists! Once we slaughter them like the savage animals they are, we'll purge the whole world of Monster-kind, and make the weakling humans our slaves!" Mina shouted with vitriol, as even more cheering followed.
With the wretched Neo-Solarians and vile Dreaded Beasts rising against each other, a bloody turf war was coming to Earth-Ni, and poor Echo Creek would be caught in the epicenter. However, hope still remains. Hope...in the form of heroes...
And, scene! Now, I know this scene didn't have a lot of conflict with the evil factions, but I thought this was a fun chapter to write because of the internal conflict within the team. However, the next chapter will definitely have the superhero action you guys are craving. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, don't forget to review, and remember to be a hero and wear a mask like Maroon!
