Happy belated Valentine's Day, and welcome to the mid-point of MATEP! Seriously, this is the halfway point of the series, as there are 28 chapters planned for the fic's entire run; Book Two is eight chapters long, Book Three is ten chapters, and there's an epilogue that will bring the series to a close. Anyways, the reason I wish you a happy late V-Day is because this chapter deals with love; Austin gets set up on a date, but with who? You probably already know by now, but happy reading anyways!


"MAROON AND THE EARTH-NI PROTECTORS!"

BOOK TWO: HEROES AND VILLAINS

CHAPTER FIVE: SPARKS OF LOVE


It was a bright and sunny afternoon in the cleaved city of Echo Creek, with not a single cloud in the bluish-pink sky. Outside the upscale Capers household, Austin was with his family and friends, preparing for a day of fun in the sun. Accompanying Austin were his closest friends; Star, Janna, Tom and Marco, the latter had Mariposa strapped to his chest.

"So, who's ready for Beach Day 2?" Star excitedly asked.

"Hell yeah! Sun's out, guns out, am I right, Jannabelle?" Tom flirted, then struck a pose and flexed his muscles, causing his girlfriend to smirk and playfully prod his side.

"Save it for the beach, hot stuff."

"Sure, Ringmaster and Steel Wolf are still on the loose, but who cares? Beach Day!" Austin sarcastically retorted. While a day of fun in the sand and sea would certainly be pleasant, he was rather worried about the fugitive supervillains who were still on the loose.

"Hey, nobody's seen them since they escaped. You know, 'cause they're scared of us." Janna quipped.

"And besides, if they cause trouble, we'll stop what we're doing and kick their butts back into jail!" Marco retorted as he karate chopped the air, causing his sister to clap and giggle. Thanks to his friends' convincing arguments, Austin started to lighten up. After all, they beat those baddies before; They could certainly do it again.

Just then, Aunt Rita and Uncle Desmond finished packing the truck with the help of Eclipsa and Globgor, the latter holding baby Meteora.

"Are you ready, kids?" Rita queried. The five off-duty superheroes all cheerfully agreed.

"Then let's get this show on the road, eh?" Uncle Dez excitedly added. The kids climbed into the vehicle, when a colorful, bird-sized dragonfly with glimmering blue and yellow scales landed on the hood of the car. Meteora let out a curious coo, and inquisitively reached her hand out to touch the insect, which skittishly flew off towards the woods behind Austin's house. The half-monster tyke let out a squeal, and bounded out of her father's arms to chase after the Mewnian dragonfly.

"Meteora!" Globgor cried.

"Sweetie, come back!" Eclipsa called out. Meteora continued to pursue the insect, and climbed into the treetops after it. The former queen and her monster love frantically ran after her, while an idea popped in Austin's head. He said the incantation that activated his Hero Ring, and became his masked alter-ego!

"What are you doing, dude?" Janna asked.

"Helping them catch the baby. You guys can go without us, we'll meet you there."

"Oz, are you sure?" Dez queried.

"We can't all fit in the Dezmobile, anyways. I'll see you at the beach!" Maroon exclaimed, as he activated his rocket boots and flew into the nearby woods, to catch himself a rambunctious baby Butterfly...


After half an hour spent chasing after Meteora, Austin, Eclipsa and Globgor finally managed to catch that wily little rascal. Now, they were headed down the street, on their way to the beach. Eclipsa swaddled her baby in a beach towel so she couldn't escape again, while a shrunken-down Globgor sat on her shoulder.

"Well, that ate up a good chunk of our time." Austin groaned, still exhausted from the rigorous chase.

"Don't worry, it was only half an hour. Beach Day is still young." Eclipsa retorted. "And I'm looking forward to it."

"So am I! Especially now that most people aren't afraid of me anymore." Globgor added. Ever since he stopped Seth and helped save the day at Echo-Palooza, the formerly feared "Crusher of Skulls" was praised as a hero, even though he preferred to stay out of the limelight. The newspapers even gave him his own superhero moniker; "King Sizes."

"Because you saved the day, King Sizes." Eclipsa flirtatiously remarked. The happily married mewman and monster then shared a passionate kiss, which was rudely interrupted by a helmet-wearing robber rushing down the road on a motorcycle! The thief was making off with a big sack of cash, while being pursued by a police car.

"Don't worry, I got this." Austin jumped into an alley and quickly changed into the mantle of Maroon. "You three are free to head to the beach."

"Wait!" Globgor exclaimed, as he jumped off Eclipsa's shoulder and grew to his standard size. "Let's do the fastball special!"

"Great idea, Big G!" Austin retorted. The masked vigilante boosted himself up with his rocket boots, and landed on the size-shifter's palm, Globgor then grew himself up twenty feet, and hurled Maroon high into the air!

"THIS IS AWESOME!" The hero hollered, as he activated his jet-boots and honed in on the motorcycle-riding thief. Once he was within range, Maroon launched a whip-cord that wrapped around the robber's torso, and yanked him off his bike! Austin kicked the disoriented thief in the face, then landed safely on the ground.

"I'll leave you for the cops. Now if you excuse me, it's beach time." Unfortunately, just as Austin uttered that, an alarm went off a city block away; A group of thugs were holding up a grocery store!

"Oh come on!" Maroon cried. The Red Protector begrudgingly headed out once more, to lay the hurt on yet another gang of two-bit baddies...


Several hours had passed, and Austin STILL hadn't reached the beach. Every time he stopped a crime or saved someone, a new problem popped up in its place. Even worse, he ended up on the other side of town, far away from his friends and family!

"Alright. I stopped three muggings, two break-ins, two assaults and a rogue Warnicorn. Man, what is with today?" Austin groaned, feeling absolutely exhausted. He was just about to head into an alley to revert to his civilian identity, when he heard a terrified scream.

"Ugh, what now?" The helmeted hombre cried, as he jetted up to see what all the commotion was about. Lo and behold, a gas station was being robbed by a six-foot-tall, green-skinned Septarian, with a frilled neck and slitted yellow eyes. This monster was Rasticore Chaosus Disastorvayne, a ferocious warrior who fought Star and Marco on more than one occasion.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Austin groaned. He flew towards the gas station, and landed behind the larcenous lizard-man. "The name's Maroon, stop right there, blah blah blah, can you just go home? I've got plans, dude."

"Maroon?" Rasticore angrily asked. "You killed Seth of Septarsis! That guy was my HERO!"

"I didn't really kill him, you guys are practically immortal. I'm pretty sure he's frozen or something."

"Feel my VENGEANCE!" Rasticore roared, as he raised his arms to strike Austin down. The vigilante used his gizmo-loaded wrist bracelets to spray mace in the Septarian's eyes, causing him to scream in pain. Then, he used his razor-sharp wrist-mounted blades to cut off Rasticore's limbs, turning him into a living stump.

"Enjoy the slammer, lizard-lips!" Maroon exclaimed, as he attempted to activate his rocket boots once more. They worked as intended for a few seconds, then belched out a poof of smoke and went dead, causing Austin to fall on his back!

"Dang it, out of fuel!" The teen engineer cried. Now, poor Austin had to walk all the way across town to make it to the beach on time...


After half an hour spent traversing the treacherous Earth-Ni terrain, Austin was almost at the local beach, just as the sun was starting to set.

"Alright, let's hope I'm not too late." Austin said to himself, as he started sprinting down the path leading to the bay. "Hey, guys! I'm finally here!"

Sadly, hardly anyone was still on the beach at this time, his friends and family not among them. It was likely they left while Austin was tied up with Protector work. Righting all those wrongs and stopping all those criminals meant Austin had missed the entirety of Beach Day 2!

Heartbroken by the day's unfortunate turn of events, Austin slumped down on the grainy sands of the bay, and let out a deep, pained sigh as the sun set upon the sea...


Later that night, Austin was recuperating from his exhausting and emotionally draining day by resting in bed. On his cell phone, he looked through all the pictures and videos his friends had taken; Mariposa and Meteora were building a sand castle, Star and Marco played volleyball with Janna and Tom, and Eclipsa, Rita and Dez dove into the ocean, off the shoulders of a giant-sized Globgor.

Austin let out another sigh, feeling disheartened and dejected. He swiped his thumb to look at another picture, when a video chat notification popped up from his phone; The caller ID? "Marco Diaz."

Not wanting to be rude and reject his best friend, Austin tapped the answer button and prepared for an uncomfortable conversation. The video chat started up, and he saw Marco sitting on his bed, with Star lovingly leaning against him. Both star-crossed lovers were in their comfy pajamas, and they seemed to be relaxing just fine.

"Hey." Austin curtly spoke, a sullen expression clear on his face.

"Hi, Austin. We heard you missed Beach Day, so we wanted to check on you." Marco replied.

"You feeling okay, buddy?" Star queried.

"I'm fine. I tried my best to make it to the beach, but crime doesn't take a day off."

"Awww! Why didn't you call us? We would've helped." Marco kindly offered.

"I didn't wanna ruin your fun. Don't feel bad for me, I would've been a fifth wheel anyways."

"Fifth wheel?" Star wondered.

"Anyways, I'm gonna get some shuteye. Goodnight, guys." Austin spoke. Star and Marco said their goodbyes, but the despondent young man abruptly hung up, lightly tossed his phone to the ground, and groaned into his pillow...


Back in Marco's room, the power couple was still discussing the raw deal their friend had gotten during Beach Day 2.

"I feel so bad for Austin, he had a real rough day." Star sighed.

"Yeah, the poor guy really got shafted." Marco replied.

"We should find a way to make it up to him!" The mewman girl suggested, when she suddenly realized something. "Hey, why'd he call himself a fifth wheel?"

"Fifth wheel? That's when you're with two couples and—oh..." Marco realized. He was dating Star, while Janna dated Tom; Austin, on the other hand, was an eligible bachelor.

"Hey, I've got an idea! Let's play matchmaker, and set him up on a date! Know anyone he likes?" Star queried.

"Hmm...As a matter of fact, I do!"

"Ooh! Tell me, tell me, tell me!"

"Alright, but don't tell Austin I said this. It's...Sabrina Backintosh." Marco admitted.

"Sabrina? You mean that cheerleader from school who always gets hurt really bad?"

"Yep, that's her, alright. She was also that copycat Maroon from a couple weeks ago."

"Wow, really? No wonder Austin likes her!" Star cheerfully giggled.

"I've still got her number. Why don't we call her tomorrow, and hook her up with the guy of her dreams?" Marco suggested.

"Great idea, Match-maker Marco." Star retorted."And then, we can go on triple dates." The ex-princess purred, then playfully tackled Marco onto the bed. The two shared a passionate kiss, then cozily cuddled under the covers...


The next afternoon, Austin was alone in the living room, snacking on a turkey and cheese sandwich. Rita and Eclipsa were socializing upstairs, while Dez and Globgor were working at the construction site. Thus, the teen gadgeteer had the whole ground floor to himself!

Austin continued to eat his tasty sandwich, when his cell phone began to ring. He flipped his phone over, and saw that Star was calling him; So, he held it to his ear and answered the call.

'Hello?"

"Hey, Austin! How ya' feeling?" Star asked.

"I'm feeling better. Got any news on those vagrant villains?"

"No, but I've got great news."

"Oh?"

"Since yesterday was so poopy, Marco and I decided to make it up to you."

"With what, another Beach Day?" Austin retorted.

"No, silly! We're setting you up on a date!" Star crowed. Austin's eyes went wide with shock, and his half-eaten sandwich fell from his hand.

"A-a date? Wait, with who?" Austin nervously stammered.

"It's a surprise." The former princess playfully giggled. "And don't worry about crime-fighting. Since you worked so hard yesterday, we'll be covering for you."

"Really?"

"Of course! This is your day, Ozzy. Your date's coming at five o'clock. Good luck, lover-boy!" Star encouraged, then abruptly hung up. With the call over, Austin slumped down on the couch, trying to process what had just happened.

"I need help.."


Upstairs in Studio Rita, the resident eccentric fashionista was working on some new clothing designs, modeled by her newly-found muse, Eclipsa Butterfly. The so-called "Queen of Darkness" came out from behind a changing stall in her newest outfit; A long-sleeved burgundy top, and a shimmering black knee-length skirt.

"So, how do I look?" The former queen queried.

"Like a queen, Snookers. Like a queen." Rita retorted. Eclipsa sat down on the couch next to Rita, and Meteora, who was playing with Earth-Ni Protector dolls on the floor, cheerfully bounded into her mother's arms.

"What's that you've got there, darling?" Eclipsa wondered. Eclipsa spit out the Martial Boy doll she was teething on, and curled up on her mommy's lap like a sleepy kitten.

"Aww, she's so precious." Rita cooed. "Desmond and I always wanted a baby, but some, er...medical issues shot that down. But now we get to raise our wonderful nephew...and speak of the devil!" She retorted, as Austin hurriedly entered the studio.

"What's wrong, dear? You look distressed." Eclipsa noted.

"I'm going on a DATE!" Austin uttered, feeling out of breath.

"Really? Oh, Ozzy, I'm so proud of you!"

"But I've never been on a date before. I have no idea what I'm doing..." The nervous teen admitted, causing the two ladies to look to each other.

"You've got a lot to learn, kid." Rita retorted.

"But we'd be happy to help." added Eclipsa. Looks like Austin had the next few hours cut out for him...


After taking his aunt's crash course on the do's and don'ts of dating, Austin was ready for an evening out on the town. After changing into his outfit for the special occasion, which consisted of a cyan polo shirt, tan cargo shorts and gray suede shoes, he stepped out from the studio's changing room to see what the "judges" thought.

"So, how do I look?"

"Hmm...I'd say...you'll have to beat the ladies off you with a stick!" Rita joked.

"So, who's the lucky lady, anyways?" Eclipsa inquired. "Is she human, mewman, monster?"

"I have no idea. Star and Marco set me up on a blind date. For all I know, I could be dating a ten-foot-tall demoness." Austin remarked, causing Eclipsa to giggle.

"Sounds like a fun time." The former magic-wielder playfully retorted.

"But I'm still kinda nervous...should I really be dating with my secret identity at stake?" After all, Austin's heroic alter-ego was kept a closely guarded secret; The only ones who knew were his four teammates, his aunt, his uncle, Eclipsa, Globgor, River, Moon, Buff Frog, his father, even Jackie might've figured it out...okay, maybe it wasn't that secret.

"I know how you feel, Austin. When I was your age, I secretly dated Globgor back when it was taboo...while I was acting queen, no less."

"Wow...that must've been really stressful."

"It truly was, but the love between us made everything worth it." Eclipsa crooned, stroking her daughter's soft cheeks. As the hybrid baby cheerfully cooed, Austin realized; If a mewman and a monster could make it work, what's stopping him from going on a single date?

"Besides, you deserve a break, kid." Rita added.

"Alright, you've convinced me. Hopefully, everything'll work out." Austin answered, when the doorbell suddenly rang. "She's here!"

"Go get 'em, tiger!" Rita rooted, as Austin hurried downstairs to the foyer.

In suspense, Austin's mind raced thinking about who his pals set him up with. "Please don't be Pony Head, please don't be Pony Head..." The nervous young lad took a deep breath, and opened the door to reveal his date. When he saw who was on the other side, he gasped in surprise!

Standing on the porch was none other than Sabrina Backintosh; The cheerleader well-known for always getting into painful accidents...as well as the true identity of Rouge, a retired Maroon impersonator. Sabrina was clothed in a white, knee-length dress, a tan jacket, and sandals that matched. Oddly enough, she also carried an abnormally large red purse. Judging by her expression, she was just as surprised and nervous as her date. After a moment of awkward silence, Austin spoke up.

"Hey, I'm Austin...from the mall, remember? You're Sabrina, right?"

"Mm-hm!" Sabrina nervously piped. "S-so, what are we gonna do?"

With that innocent question, Austin began freaking out internally. He'd been so caught up in looking good for his date that he never stopped to think about what they'd actually do! In a pinch, Austin blurted out the first thing he could think of.

"Go for a walk!"

"...A walk?" Sabrina queried. Austin came up with that idea on the spot, and he was already regretting it; Still, he was a man of his word, so a-walking they would go!

"It'll be a fun walk."

"Okay." Now that their plans were chosen, the two teens headed out together on a pleasant journey through the cleaved city...


In the later hours of the evening, Star and Marco were waiting atop the damaged Monster Temple. The Protectors often used this historical site to watch over the city, thanks to its high vantage point. The couple sat down and held hands, looking down at the beautiful world beneath them, until Tom landed nearby with Janna resting comfortably in his arms.

"Sup, dorks." Janna teased.

"Hey, guys!" Star piped.

"Did you find any clues on those costumed criminals?" asked Marco.

"Nope, nothing on Ringmaster or Steel Wolf." Tom admitted.

"After they escaped, they just disappeared." Janna added. "So, where's helmet-head?"

"If you must know, Austin is on a date." Marco responded in a matter-of-factly-tone.

"With Sabrina!" Star exclaimed.

"Wait, you mean the cheerleader who gets grievously injured all the time? Hope he brought a first aid kit."

"Oh yeah, we saw her at Golden Echoes! Good for him!" Tom remarked.

"Let's hope it goes well." Star replied, when a bolt of lighting suddenly flashed in the distance.

"Gah! Was that a lightning bolt?" Marco worried.

"In crystal clear weather?" Janna doubtfully refuted, when in a rare event, lightning struck twice. The four Protectors rushed to see where the meteorological abnormalities were coming from; Castle Avarius, the ancestral home of Ludo and his siblings. The fortress seemed to be under attack by a being wielding lightning itself!

"What in the Underworld?" Tom cursed, unsure of what he was seeing. "What's going on in there?"

"I don't know, but we better find out!" Star exclaimed, rallying her team. The four costumed superheroes then took off to investigate the electrifying occurrence...


On the converse, Austin and Sabrina were strolling through the town park, chatting about their hobbies.

"So, what do you like to do for fun?" Austin queried.

"Well, I'm on the school Spirit Squad, but somehow I always get hurt doing it. It's like I'm cursed!" The awkward and unfortunate girl vented.

"Well, cheerleading is one of the most dangerous sports out there." Austin blurted out. "But if you like it, then by all means keep it up."

"Umm...What about you?"

"Well...I do engineering projects in my spare time."

"Really? Like what?" Sabrina inquired. Since Austin couldn't mention his most famous creation, he went for another project he knew most ECA students would be familiar with.

"Remember last year's science fair? I was the guy who built the little rocket ship."

"Hey, I remember that! I forgot you went to ECA!" Sabrina retorted. "After the science fair, you just disappeared for some reason."

Austin let out a deep sigh. He certainly couldn't admit the reason he left for Parkersburg, but he still decided to tell Sabrina the truth...from a certain point of view.

"It was...a family emergency. I'd rather not talk about it, please."

"Oh...I'm so sorry, I didn't know!"

"It's fine..." Austin replied, when his stomach started to rumble. "Why don't we get something to eat?"

"Okay, where to?" Sabrina wondered.

"Greek food, perhaps?" The teen engineer answered, when all of a sudden, the ground began to shake. Charging towards the teens was a huge, eight-foot-tall minotaur monster with tawny fur, wide horns, a tufted tail and...jogging clothes.

Upon seeing the intimidating bull-man, Sabrina yelped and froze up in fear. Austin, on the other hand, was unfazed. "Sabrina, you okay?" He asked. As the beast came closer, Sabrina let out a frightened squeak and dove into the nearby bushes to hide. Once the minotaur reached the two teens, he waved hello to Austin.

"Hey, Austin!" The mighty monster greeted; He was a familiar face to Austin, since he worked for Uncle Dez.

"Evening, Hornocles!" Austin replied, as the friendly monster jogged away. Once Hornocles passed him, he helped Sabrina out of the bushes, and she spat out some leaves whilst shuddering with anxiety.

"What was that all about? He was just going for a jog!" Austin clamored. Sabrina didn't say anything in return; She looked too nervous to even speak. "Sabrina...do you hate monsters?"

"Ummm..." Sabrina stammered. Her frightened, nervous disposition caused Austin to realize the painfully obvious.

"Oh, I think I understand. Are you afraid of them?" He asked. Sabrina nodded in return; How had he not considered this before! Since the Cleave, monsters were real and roaming the Earth; Of course people would be scared!

"During Brittney's birthday party, a bunch of evil monsters attacked our party bus, and I got really hurt."

"I'm so sorry..."

"And at Echo-Palooza, I was nearly eaten by a creepy bat monster...but I was saved by Maroon..." Sabrina swooned, with a noticeable blush on her face. This caused Austin to have a rather awkward epiphany; He was on a date with a girl in love with his alter-ego! What kind of guy is his own competition?

"I understand, Sabrina. I used to feel the same way." Austin responded. After all, the entire reason he conceived Maroon in the first place was because of Ludo and his monsters' constant attacks on Echo Creek, a place he was due to move into at the time...

"But not all monsters are bad. My uncle works with monsters, Star's got monster friends, heck, a monster even saved my life!"

"Really?" Sabrina wondered.

"I know the world's changed a lot in the past few weeks. But not all change is bad." Austin spoke. "Now follow me."

"Where are we going?"

"To face your fear!" Austin exclaimed, as he beckoned Sabrina to follow him. The anxious teen took a deep breath, and followed her date; Looks like tonight was gonna be an important impromptu adventure...


Let's wind the clocks back, and head to Castle Avarius, just before it was struck by some very abnormal weather. Ludo, Dennis, and the other Avarius siblings were gathered around a boxy old television to binge-watch a human soap opera. On the screen, a beautiful blonde girl named Stefanie was having a romantic moment with her best friend Marcel, in a stinky barn full of pigs and goats. The two lovesick teens were just about to share a heartfelt kiss, when all the power in the castle suddenly shorted out!

"NO! I waited four seasons for that kiss!" Ludo cried in exasperation.

"Well, we got the power installed just a few days ago. Maybe it broke?" Dennis proposed.

"Hm...I did see the electrician giving us some dirty looks." The diminutive kappa retorted. "Someone, go check on it."

One of the Avarius siblings got up and started walking out of the throne room, when she was suddenly shocked by a horizontal bolt of lightning, which stunned her to the ground.

"ZUDO!" The other kappas cried. As Dennis and Ludo rushed to their injured sister, a malevolent hooded woman levitated into the throne room. This mysterious lady of seemingly Indian descent had dark hair braided into a ponytail, and she wore a flowing blue robe with yellow lightning markings, an azure hooded cape, and deep indigo boots. The area around her eyes and forehead fact were concealed by a blue lightning-mask, adding to her villainous appearance.

"Greetings, monsters." The electrokinetic woman snarled, her tone dripping with venomous vitriol. The Avariuses all looked horrified; Hadn't Star's sacrifice rid the world of menaces like her?

"W-what are you?" Dennis shuddered.

"My name is Alectria Lightningbolt. Master of electrical magic, destroyer of heinous monsters...and the last Solarian Warrior..."

"How can this be? All the magic got destroyed!" Zudo exclaimed.

"What would a monster know about magic?" Alectria scoffed in disgust.

"More than I should!" Ludo furiously retorted.

"No matter. You degenerates shall all perish at the hands of Lady Lightning!" The mewman villainess yelled, as she prepared to electrocute the kappa siblings. Suddenly, Lady Lightning was enveloped in a yellow field of energy; Mere moments later, she was then slammed into a wall by none other than Lady Butterfly and her wonderful Magitech wand!

"Star Butterfly?" Ludo cried in surprise.

"And the Earth-Ni Protectors!" Marco added.

"So, who's the human generator?" Janna joked. Alectria slowly got up, and turned to face the Protectors with a scowl on her face. To their surprise, Alectria had two blue marks on her cheeks; Lightning bolts crossed together in the shape of an X!

"No..." Star droned, absolutely floored at the shocking sight. "T-that can't be possible!"

"You have no idea what's possible, Butterfly." The Solarian warrior snarled, as blue electricity coalesced around her hands. "You all shall fall as my empire rises!"

With a foe as threatening as Lady Lightning, like the Earth-Ni Protectors were in for the fight of their lives...


On the lighter side of things, Austin and Sabrina arrived at their next destination; Monstertown. After the monster-majority settlement was razed by Mina and her armored army, the Cleaving placed it right at the edge of urban Echo Creek. Over the weeks, the district was repaired with the help of charitable humans, who shared their advanced technology with the monsters.

"Well, here we are! Welcome to Monstertown!" Austin presented. He looked to Sabrina, and noticed she was still feeling on edge. "Trust me, you've got nothing to fear." He assured, when an enormous, teal-skinned monster with reptilian features nearly stepped on the unlucky lady. Sabrina jolted in fright and anxiously clung to her date, causing some quite awkward tension between the two teens.

"Sorry." The massive monster spoke in his incredibly deep voice. "You people are so tiny, it's hard to see your little bodies."

"Umm...it's alright. J-just try to watch where you step." Austin recommended, feeling rather nervous for two reasons. One: His crush was clinging to him like moss to a rock. Two: He was reprimanding a monster over a hundred times his size. The enormous being shrugged, and stomped off, shaking the ground with each step. Once he was gone, the two teens looked at each other and blushed.

"S-sorry." Sabrina squeaked, as she avoided eye contact with her flustered date.

"It's okay. I guess there's a little to be afraid about." Austin responded. "But it's not all bad. Come on, let's get something to eat."


Austin took his lovely date to the Cavern Tavern; A popular and recently-refurbished eatery right in the heart of Monstertown. As they made their way to a table for two, Sabrina uneasily looked around to see various species of monsters dining on strange, alien-looking dishes.

"Eep, it looks like the Mos Eisley Cantina in here." Sabrina quietly remarked, piquing Austin's attention.

"Wait, you like Star Wars?"

"Of course! Return of the Jedi's my favorite movie!" She giddily replied. Austin smiled warmly, happy they happened to share an interest.

Once they were seated, a bat-like monster waiter hovered to their table.

"Hello, my name is Archibald and I'll be your server for the night. What can I start you off with?"

Austin glanced at Sabrina, and noticed she was too nervous to speak. So, he decided to order for her. "I'll have a swampberry smoothie with red solanaceae leaves...and Sabrina here'll have a glass of water."

"Very well, your drinks will be out soon. In the meantime, enjoy these complimentary roasted bog beetles!" Archibald crowed, as he set a wooden bowl full of spiced, roasted insects on the table. Austin gasped, and Sabrina gagged like she was about to throw up.

"B-beetles?" The anxious girl stammered.

"I guess so. Well, bugs may look gross, but they're delicacies in some countries." Austin stated. "Why don't we give them a try?"

"What? Are you serious?"

"Hey, you only live once." Austin remarked, as he plucked a beetle out of the bowl and popped it in his mouth. To his surprise, it was quite tasty! "Mmm! Piquant, with a very pleasant crunch."

While he enjoyed the unorthodox snack, Sabrina just looked at the boy like he had seven heads. Internally, poor Austin was kicking himself for eating bugs like a warthog in front of his date!

"Okay, I'll give them a try." The nervous cheerleader admitted. "Hakuna Matata." She retorted, cringing as she slowly forced a beetle towards her mouth. Sabrina took the tiniest bite of the insect's head, and immediately fell in love with the surprisingly scrumptious taste.

"Wow!" Sabby exclaimed.

"You like them?" Austin queried, as the girl ravenously wolfed down the rest of the seasoned beetles. She nodded her head in agreement, then involuntary belched. Sabrina's face flushed red and she covered her mouth, causing Austin to chuckle.

"I'll take that as a yes." The teen gadgeteer joked. Looks like his date was finally starting to pick up some steam...


Unfortunately, things were going much worse for the other Protectors. They were locked in a heated battle against Lady Lightning, a seemingly mystical foe in a world that no longer has magic. The four heroes engaged their electrical enemy, while Ludo and his siblings evacuated the castle.

As Star and Tom avoided Lady Lightning's potent bolt-strikes, Marco snuck up behind the sinister Solarian, struck a pressure point in her collarbone, and swept her legs, knocking the villainess down.

"Crazy monster-hater with superpowers, huh? Where have we heard that before?" Marco retorted, when Alectria jumped back up and hit him in the gut with her electrified fist, knocking poor Martial Boy to the ground, much to Star's horror.

"Pathetic human." Lady Lightning scoffed in disgust.

"Don't hurt my boyfriend!" Star furiously shouted, as she flew towards the supervillain with her mechanical wings. Alectria formed a sphere of lightning between her hands, and hurled it towards Star. It exploded on contact and shorted out Star's wings, causing the former princess to drop her wand, and fall to the castle floor with a thud.

Tom sent a flurry of fireballs Alectria's way, but she dodged it with her levitation abilities, and retaliated by striking him with an electric outburst. However, she was too distracted shocking the half-demon prince to notice that Janna had snuck up behind her!

Janna thrust her Kali sticks towards the villain's torso, and amped them up to the highest voltage setting; But due to her uncanny electrical powers, Lady Lightning was hardly fazed! She grabbed hold of Snatchers' fighting sticks, and redirected the electricity right back at her, causing her to convulse in pain!

"Janna!" Marco exclaimed. He leapt at Lady Lightning to kick her in the face, but she struck him down with another lightning blast, and continued to electrify Janna; If this kept up, the girl would surely die! Luckily, the vile villain was struck in the nick of time by a powerful blast of magical energy, knocking her into the throne room wall.

"Wow, that hurt." Janna groaned in pain. "Thanks for the save, Star!"

"Wait, that wasn't me!" Star responded, as she got back to her feet. "W-where's my wand?"

Lo and behold, that yellow magical blast came from none other than Ludo! He had the mechanical Magitech wand in his hands, and stood atop his two loyal pets; The aptly-named Bird and Spider.

"What the..." Marco crowed weakly, still feeling the shock of Alectria's electrifying powers.

"Leave my family alone, Princess Zappyfingers!" Ludo shouted, as he raised the wand towards the masked villainess.

"Just who do you think you are, you little runt!" Alectria snapped. The mystical warrior's eyes glowed a chilling shade of blue, as an electrical field sparked around her body.

"I am Ludo Avarius!" The diminutive bird-man exclaimed, as his arachnid steed fired a net of sticky webbing at Lady Lightning. The webbing bound the electrokinetic woman to the wall, and she struggled to break free.

"Now leave my castle, or face the wrath of my magic wand!"

"It's not actual magic, dude." Janna remarked. "All the magic's gone."

"Wait, then what is this thing?" Ludo queried. "Or her, for that matter?" He continued, referring to the mysterious Alectria Lightningbolt.

While Ludo and the Protectors were debating the state of magic in their newly-merged world, Lady Lightning charged herself with all the electricity she could muster, until her eyes and cheek marks glowed as bright as a lightning bolt! The mewman supervillain burned through Spider's webbing, and stunned everyone with an explosion of static electricity.

"Enough of this nonsense! I've got bigger monsters to fry." Alectria retorted, as she blasted a hole through the castle roof and flew off into the night sky.

"She's heading to Monstertown!" Tom pointed out.

"We've gotta stop her!" added Star. "Ludo, gimme back my wand!"

"Oh, right!" The short-statured kappa replied, then tossed the pseudo-magical wand back to Star. "Trust me, you can have it."

While Ludo and his siblings stayed in the safety of their castle, the four Protectors headed out to pursue Lady Lightning before she could hurt any more innocent monsters...


Back at the Cavern Tavern, Austin and Sabrina had finished their entrees, and were just about done with dessert. As they picked at the remains of their slime meringue pie, Sabrina regaled her date with stories from her time attending the same school as a certain magical princess.

"And after the yarn monster was defeated, we made it back home safe and sound! I didn't even have to go to the hospital!"

"Woah, that sounds so fun! Man, I wish I was in your class, but my dad signed me up for all AP courses. 'Said I was "destined for greatness." Austin ranted. "I was stuck in the same class as Brittney Wong; Believe me, it sucked."

"Don't get me started on that toxic jerk. I finally cut her out of my life a few weeks ago, and made some real friends."

"I'm glad. You deserve people as nice as you." The teen engineer flirted, causing Sabby to smile sweetly. Archibald fluttered over to the table, and gave the two human teens their bill. Austin handed some cash to Archibald, and the two teens headed outside with happy hearts and full bellies.

"So, was the Cavern Tavern to your liking?"

"Totally! Who knew bugs could be so delicious?"

"I know, right? Monsters aren't so bad after all, huh?" Austin rhetorically asked, as Sabrina nodded in agreement. The two reached the scenic center of the monster-majority district and sat down on a bench. Up above them were the many moons and starts that lit up the skies of Earth-Ni.

"The world may be super weird now, but it sure is beautiful." Sabrina stated.

"Mh-hm. Earth-Ni is really something." Austin replies, when he felt a hand softly brush up against his. He looked towards Sabrina, and she nervously pulled her hand back, clearly doubting her own confidence. So, he reciprocated by holding her hand, causing the cheerleader's face to light up. She held his hand tighter, and they shifted closer to one another on the bench. For once, Austin felt totally lost in the moment with Sabrina; This was the highlight of his day, and it surely made up for the Beach Day disaster. Unfortunately, things were about to go far downhill...

All of a sudden, a mysterious robed figure descended from the skies, and landed in the center of Monstertown. The civilians were stunned with shock in awe, as Lady Lightning stood upright, her eyes and cheek marks brightly glowing. "Putrid denizens of Monstertown! Prepare for JUSTICE!"

"We gotta go..." Austin muttered, unsure of what he was looking at. He took Sabrina by the hand, and the two fled into a nearby alley for safety.


"Who is that?" Sabrina asked.

"I don't know, but she looks like trouble!" Austin exclaimed, as he peeked his head out from the alley. Monster citizens were fleeing in terror, as the psychotic villainess wildly fired lightning at anything that didn't look like her. A stray lightning bolt headed straight towards Sabrina, but Austin tackled her to the ground, sparing both of them from being fried.

"Did I hurt you? I'm so sorry!" Austin profusely apologized.

"Ugh, that hurt...but not as much as that lightning would have!"

Alectria Lightningbolt's electrifying crusade against monsterkind was halted when the four Earth-Ni Protectors caught up to her, and engaged her in another round of combat. As the heroes and villains battled it out in the middle of Monstertown, Austin and Sabrina hurried through the twisting streets. While they searched for an escape route, Sabrina saw droves monsters, including children, panicking and fleeing the streets in terror; They were just as terrified as she was during the Echo-Palooza attack!

Eventually, the two teens reached the border between Monstertown and the rest of Echo Creek. On the relatively normal side of town lied a safe haven away from Lady Lightning...but on the other side, the Protectors were starting to lose their fight. While Austin swore not to get into any hero hijinks on his date, seeing his teammates in grave danger gave him second thoughts.

"Austin, come on! We gotta get out of here!" Sabrina cried, as she worriedly tugged on her date's sleeve. But while she pleaded for Austin to escape, he could hear the crackling of electricity, and the pained screams of his friends coming from the other side. Poor Austin was on the horns of a dilemma, and he had to make a choice fast.

"I-I can't." Austin sorrowfully admitted.

"This is life or death, Austin! Please, come with me!"

"Look, Sabrina! I gotta come clean...I've been hiding something really important from you!"

"Can't it wait?"

"Sabrina, I trust you not to tell anyone about this..." Austin nervously spoke, as he hid behind a dumpster for cover from prying eyes.

"What are you doing?" The cheerleader quavered, confounded by her date's erratic behavior. Then, she heard Austin say the magic words "Hero Up!," and a bright light flashed from behind the dumpster.

"A-Austin?" Sabrina stammered in confusion, when to her complete and total shock, the mysterious masked Maroon leapt up on top of the dumpster! Absolutely floored, Sabrina gasped in shock, feeling absolutely breathless.

"It's me, Sabrina. I'm...well, you know the name." Maroon jumped off the dumpster, and walked over to his dumbfounded date. Sabrina couldn't believe what she was seeing; She was at a total loss of words!

"I'm really sorry, but I have to help my team. Innocent people are depending on us!" The masked vigilante spoke. "But before I go, I must tell you one last thing...I love you..."

With those parting words, Maroon turned face and headed towards his team, feeling awful for leaving poor Sabrina alone after such a great date. But suddenly, he felt a tug on his cape.

"Sabrina, what are you-" Austin protested, when Sabrina suddenly pulled him in, undid his helmet and kissed him right on the lips!

"Good luck, Maroon. Make me proud." Sabrina flirtatiously remarked. Austin winked back at her, then made his way towards the fight. As he flew off with his rocket boots, Sabrina looked on, lovestruck and swelling with pride...


In the middle of Monstertown, the Protectors were still locked in their brutal battle against Lady Lightning. Marco and Janna jumped at her with their respective weapons drawn, but she struck both of them down with potent shockwaves. Tom lobbed a flaming fireball at the sorceress, causing her cloak to catch fire. She frantically removed her hooded cape, and angrily scowled at the Violet Devil.

"What's the matter, can't take the heat?"

"I'll show you HEAT!" Alectria shouted. The sinister Solarian warrior cast a bolt of lightning down from the sky, and it struck Tom like a lightning rod! Tom screamed and convulsed in agony, then fell to the ground in a smoking heap. Had he not been a heat-resistant demon prince, he would have surely perished.

"With my unlimited power, I will rid this world of monster filth like YOU!" The supervillain yelled, as she pointed an accusing finger towards the closest monster to her; A green-skinned, white-haired troll with the flair for the artistic; Vogg Offal.

The hefty troll was frozen with terror; He was a survivor of the Solarian Uprising that happened just before the Cleave; The very thing that radicalized him to praise the Dreaded Beasts. Now, poor Mr. Offal was face-to-face with a monster-hating fanatic with seemingly magical powers...

Alectria cast a wicked bolt of lightning towards the terrified troll, but just in the nick of time, Star swooped in and blocked it with her wand's energy shield.

"L-Lady Butterfly?" Vogg cried in surprise; After his heated argument with the heroine, she was the last person he expected to save him.

"Get out of here!" Star commanded. The Protectors' harshest critic wasted no time, and hurried away as fast as he could. Now, Star was in a tense standoff against her mysterious new enemy.

"How are you doing this? I sacrificed everything so freaks like you can't misuse magic!"

"I sacrificed more than you ever have, Butterfly!" Alectria hissed, as she expelled more electricity towards her infuriated foe. Star continued to tank the villain's electric pulses with her energy shield, but it eventually gave way and shattered. Now that the former princess was vulnerable, Lady Lightning began mercilessly electrocuting her.

As Star screamed in agony, Alectria surrounded herself with a field of electricity, preventing the Butterfly's teammates from saving her. Just as all looked bleak for poor Star, the sinister Solarian was struck in the neck by a red energy blast. Lo and behold, Maroon had come to back up his buddies!

"Shocked to see me?" Austin quipped, while his teammates cheered. "Who's the psycho-electro?" Suddenly, Alectria fired a bolt of lightning towards Maroon, but he avoided it with his rocket boots.

"Woah, are those cheek marks? Star, is she another long-lost relative?"

"At this rate, anything's possible." The ex-princess groaned; At this point, she just wanted to finish the battle.

"Let's finish this quickly! Protectors, attack!" The Red Protector rallied. The five costumed heroes then fought their foe in tandem; Janna threw down some smoke bombs to hamper Lady Lightning's vision, so Tom could hit her with an uppercut. Star made another shield with her wand, which Marco leapt off of; He used the higher altitude to strike Lady Lightning with a drop-kick!

Then, Maroon boosted up with his rocket boots, to deliver a flying final blow, when Alectria blasted him with a powerful bolt of lightning! His right utility bracelet exploded from the power overload, and the caped vigilante was knocked back towards a brick building. Austin scraped his leg on the rough, stony wall, carving a bloody gash on his right calf.

"Maroon!" Star cried in horror. She tried to finish Lightning off with an energy blast, but the villainous villainess struck all four remaining superheroes with lightning blasts from both of her hands.

"Bow down to your god-queen!" Alectria cackled, as she continued electrocuting the agonized teens. Star, Marco, Janna and Tom all screamed and convulsed in pain; Could this be the end of the Earth-Ni Protectors?

All of a sudden, Lady Lightning was struck by a volley of yellow energy blasts, which stunned her into submission. The mad mewman marauder fell to the ground in a dazed heap, and the civilians looked up in shock at their rescuers. Hovering in the air with their built-in rocket thrusters were a platoon of WattBots; The robotic security sentinels that served WattWorks International Industries!

When Star and the others came back to their senses, they were shocked to see that the robots, who were recalled from Echo Creek for their obvious monster-biased programming, just saved Monstertown! Tonight was truly full of surprises...


While the WattBots were apprehending Lady Lightning, Sabrina frantically searched the streets of Monstertown for her vigilante love. Eventually, she discovered a ghastly sight outside an alley; Austin lay on the ground wounded, with the other Protectors watching over him.

"He's not responding; The shock must've knocked him out cold." Marco observed.

"This doesn't look good..." Tom somberly sighed, much to the cheerleader's horror.

"No, no, NO!" Sabrina cried, as she pushed through a crowd of monsters to get to her injured date. "What happened to him?"

"He's got a nasty gash on his calf, and his wrist's all burnt up." Marco reported.

"Someone, call 911! He needs an ambulance!" Tom exclaimed. Unfortunately, most of the districts' residents didn't own cell phones; Medical help would arrive later than sooner.

"I'm so sorry..." Star consoled, as she placed a hand on Sabby's shoulder to comfort her. Sabrina started to tear up, when she remembered something Austin told her as his masked alter-ego.

"Not everyone has what it takes to be an Earth-Ni Protector. But anyone can be a hero."

Sabrina then realized what she had to do. She unloaded the contents of the abnormally large purse she'd been lugging around all day; Inside was a large first-aid kit full of various medical supplies.

"Wow, she's more of a safe kid than Marco." Janna remarked, causing Star to lightly elbow her; Now was not the time for jokes.

First, Sabrina applied pressure to Austin's leg with a cloth to stop the bleeding; Then, she washed the dirt and debris out of his cut with a vial of soapy water. Lastly, she applied antibiotic cream to the wound, and securely wrapped it in a sterile gauze bandage. Now, she had to deal with a much more daunting task; The blistering second-degree burn on Austin's right wrist.

Sabrina fumbled through her first aid kit for something to treat such a burn, but she couldn't find anything that fit the description. "Dang it, can't anything here treat a burn?"

"I can!" Somebody called out. Much to Sabrina's surprise came the aptly-named Slime Monster, one of Star's monster friends. "Let me help, my slime can heal burns."

Slime pressed one of his gooey arms onto Austin's burned wrist, and it miraculously began to heal. After fifteen seconds, the blistering burn had healed completely, as if it was never even there!

"Wow...thanks." Sabrina spoke from the bottom of her heart; For over a year she'd been terrified of monsters, and now one just healed her date out of the kindness of his own heart.

"No problem. Let's just hope your friend's okay." Slime replied. As if on cue, Austin coughed, and woke up from his unconscious daze.

"Ugh, what happened?" The masked hero groaned, when Sabrina suddenly squeezed him tight.

"You're okay!" She squealed, tearing up with joy as she happily hugged him. The other Protectors and nearby civilians then happily clapped and cheered;The Red Protector was alive and well, all thanks to Sabrina Backintosh...


After the quite eventful night in Monstertown, Austin, now back in his civilian clothes, was walking Sabrina home.

"Hey, thanks for patching me up back there. You're a real Florence Nightingale." Austin remarked, as he patted his crush's shoulder.

"Thanks. When you get hurt as much as me, it pays to know how to fix yourself up."

"Hey, I'm sorry today ended so terribly. If you want to stop dating me because of my alter-ego, that's fine. It's your choice." The boy hero remorsefully sighed.

"Stop dating you? What idiot would give up having Maroon as their boyfriend?"

"B-boyfriend?" Austin choked. He never expected Sabrina to call him his boyfriend after just the first date!

"If you're okay with it!" Sabrina nervously stammered.

"I sure am." Austin leaned in and pecked her on the cheek, causing the girl's face to redden. "Just don't tell anyone about my secret identity, alright?"

"Hey, you kept Rouge under wraps; It's only fair I do the same." Sabrina responded, then took Austin by the hand and led him behind a large tree.

"Uh, where are we going?"

"Somewhere a little more private." The cheerleader coyly retorted, with a playful smirk on her face. "You saved me from the bat monster, the Royals Red and those jerks at the karaoke place...I think it's time I properly repaid you..."


Meanwhile at the top of the Monster Temple, the rest of the Protectors were watching over the town, still shaken after their battle with the electrifying Lady Lightning.

"Well, that was anti-climactic." Tom commented.

"Isn't it strange we couldn't beat Lady Lightning...but robots powered by ELECTRICITY could?" Janna refuted.

"And who is she, anyways? Magic can't be back already...can it?" Star worried.

"Something isn't adding up..." Marco added, when Maroon floated up to his teammates using his trusty rocket boots.

"Hey guys, what did I miss?" Austin queried.

"Oh, we're just recovering from being blasted by a living lightning bolt." Tom retorted.

"My mouth still tastes like metal." Janna groaned. Come morning, everyone would still be feeling the shock and awe of that psycho's powers.

"So, how did your date go?" Star inquired. Austin removed his helmet, causing Star, Marco and Tom to gasp; Janna, on the other hand, burst out laughing. The lucky lad's face was covered in pink lipstick marks!

"I think it went pretty well." Austin remarked; Even with his near-death experience, today was a day he'd always remember...


In the nearby city of Los Angeles, Alectria Lightningbolt was being held in a containment chamber at the WattWorks research facility. However, she wasn't trying to escape; Instead, she was calmly meditating in the center of the room. The mysterious woman's contemplation was interrupted, when the door of her cell suddenly opened.

Outside the cell stood two men in gray suits; One had a lean build with black, slicked-back hair and a curly mustache, while the other was more muscular, with salt-and-pepper hair and a bushy beard. They were Richard Masters and Remus Loeb, two high-ranking WattWorks administrators. However, the people of Echo Creek knew them by other names; Ringmaster and Steel Wolf.

"Well, look what the bots dragged in." Richard remarked.

"I gotta say, you play a pretty good moonie." added Remus. "Not as good as my monstrous performance." The false Solarian said nothing, and stared into space until a familiar voice called out.

"You took quite a fall back there, Indra..." A familiar British brunette entered the room, and stood between Richard and Remus. It was WattWorks' own eponymous CEO, Wanda Watts!

"Wanda. Your extraction squadron came too early, I almost got to kill those wretched Protectors!"

"It doesn't matter, your performance was excellent. With your staged defeat, we're on the path to regaining the trust of Echo Creek. Malcolm would surely be proud of you..."

Both women solemnly sighed at the mere utterance of that name. Wanda then turned to her trio of company-created supervillains to give them their next orders.

"Now, we must finish our work, and bring order to that city of chaos...whatever it may take..."


And that's my record for longest chapter, with over nine thousand words! Now, to tell you the truth, these next three chapters are where things get INTENSE. How crazy are things going to get, you may ask? Well, if Book Two somehow became an actual SVTFOE season, I wouldn't show ANY footage from the three remaining chapters. Anyways, have a great day and stay safe!