"MAROON AND THE EARTH-NI PROTECTORS!"
BOOK TWO: HEROES AND VILLAINS
CHAPTER SIX: THE WATTS CONSPIRACY
It was 3:00 AM in Echo Creek's central City Hall; Not the ideal time for important governing work. But since the cleaving of Earth and Mewni, the mayor of Echo Creek toiled day and night, trying to make sense of the chaos of the Cleave. This stout old gentleman was Willis Holt, a distressed, sleep-deprived, neurotic mess; On top of all the multi-dimensional madness, a psychotic, electric-powered supervillain had wreaked havoc earlier in the night, whilst two others were still on the loose!
Poor old Willis was strenuously slaving away at his desk, writing a speech addressing Lady Lightning's heinous attack on Monstertown. "It's a wonder this town hasn't fallen apart yet." The elderly gentleman groaned. It was a good thing Star Butterfly was sent to live there earlier; Without her wacky escapades, Echo Creek wouldn't be as resilient towards matters weird or wild.
"Woe is me! I'll never rest soundly again." Willis sobbed, feeling burnout on a thermonuclear scale. Suddenly, his aide entered the room, causing Mr. Holt to jolt up in surprise.
"Sir, you have a visitor."
"At this hour? Who on Earth could it be?"
"Wanda Watts, CEO of WattWorks International Industries, at your service." Wanda spoke as she took a bow, then entered the mayor's office.
"You again? Can't this wait till morning?" Willis queried.
"My, aren't you tense, Mr. Holt?"
"Well of course I'm tense! This town's been a three-ring circus of madness and anarchy ever since the world went all wack-a-roo!"
"You have no idea." Wanda dryly remarked. "The Cleaving has been a world-wide issue, as are the unsavory fellows it spawned."
"Why, if we didn't have the Earth-Ni Protectors, we'd all be goners!" Willis admitted, causing the British billionaire to raise an eyebrow.
"Oh yes, them. While those gaudy costumed superheroes may fight evil and save the day, they don't attack the root of the problem." Wanda orated. "Disorder is a damaging disease, Willis. The Protectors are a treatment...but WattWorks can provide the cure."
"Hard pass, Wanda. Last time your company tried to help, your robot army tried to kill everyone!" Willis scoffed, as he slammed his fist on the desk.
"You raise a good point...but my analysts have made a shocking discovery. Allow me to show you why my sentinels went awry." Wanda took out her phone, and showed the mayor security footage of Snatcher and Maroon hacking the control tower used to command the robots. The weary politician gasped in shock; He could hardly believe what he was seeing.
"Their corruption was an inside job. The Protectors hacked my robots and turned them hostile, so they could dispose of them and look good doing it!"
"Shut the front door..." Willis mumbled, feeling bewildered and betrayed.
"Besides, my sentinels stopped Lady Lightning; A mewman enemy the Protectors couldn't defeat. Let me remind you, Willis; My home was just like yours, plagued with disorder. But I took initiative, and returned normalcy to Darby Glen. If you give my company emergency control of the city, we can do the same here."
"But what will my constituents think? A mayor giving control of his town to a mega-corporation? My career would be ruined!"
"You look tired, Mayor Holt. You could use a vacation...brought to you by WattWorks." The steadfast English socialite offered. Willis rubbed his eyes, and realized what would happen if he gave up his mayoral powers; The chaos of Earth-Ni would finally be out of his hair, and he could sleep soundly for the first time in weeks.
"Very well, Miss Watts. You've won me over."
"Mrs. Watts." Wanda corrected.
"Whatever. I hereby grant WattWorks Industries emergency control of Echo Creek." Willis affirmed, then shared a handshake that would change the fate of the cleaved city. After shaking the billionaire's hand, the old geezer fell asleep on the floor, finally relieved of his stressful duties. Now, the town of Echo Creek was ripe to be changed to suit Wanda's vision...
The next afternoon, our heroes were gathered in the living room of Austin's home, to watch the news alongside Aunt Rita, Eclipsa and Meteora. While the others were paying attention to the screen, Star was talking to Eclipsa, hoping to find information on the mysterious Lady Lightning.
"I'm sorry, dear, but I've never heard of this "Alectria Lightningbolt." I knew all my mother's warriors, and trust me, they're all dead." Eclipsa informatively assured.
"Oh...wait, what if she's one of Mina's warriors?" Star inquired.
"Unlikely. All the extremists in that group were killed by the Dreaded Beasts. Besides, the Solarian Warriors have many magical powers, but lightning manipulation isn't one of them." The former queen added. "Besides, isn't all the magic, you know, gone?"
"That's what I thought...now I'm not so sure..."
All of a sudden, everyone's attention was caught by a breaking newscast.
"BREAKING NEWS! Local supervillains Ringmaster and Steel Wolf were captured during a fight by a squadron of WattBots, robots created by the billion-dollar company, WattWorks."
The screen displayed footage of Ringmaster and Steel Wolf fighting each other with their gadgets, until both villains were struck by the laser blasts of the WattBots' energy rifles.
"Hey, that's our job!" Tom cried. Meteora, who was sitting on the demon teen's lap, angrily hissed at the screen; She really hated robots, after all.
"Last night, Mayor Willis Holt gave emergency governing powers to WattWorks. Here to tell us more is WattWorks administrator Warren Cole."
"All mewmans and monsters must relocate to designated reservations outside of town, while demons and Pony Heads are to stay in their respective kingdoms. Interactions with humans are strictly forbidden, for the safety of all races." Warren spoke.
As the newscast cut to footage of WattBots forcing mewman and monster civilians out of Echo Creek, everyone was aghast with horror. Most astonished of all were Star and Eclipsa; All the work they did to mend the rift between Mewni's races was being undone in front of their eyes by intolerant humans.
"Great! I might never be able to see Tom again, 'cause that old geezer sold out!" Janna angrily ranted. Tom held Janna closer to comfort her, while Star worriedly looked at Marco. The hoodie-wearing teen furiously fumed as he glared at the screen; Being with Star was his life's greatest joy, and WattWorks had the power to take that away...
"Not everyone is complying with the company's new guidelines. A massive protest is under way outside City Hall, with people of various species rallying against the restrictive new rules."
On the television screen, hundreds of people were protesting at the town hall, which was guarded by a blockade of rigid, emotionless WattBots armed with blaster rifles. Quite a few familiar faces attended the protest; Desmond and Globgor were there with their integrated construction company, as were Jackie, Chloe and their diverse posse of skateboarders. Even Pony Head showed up, with Seahorse recording her for the Pony Head Show.
"That's my husband You go, Desmond!" Aunt Rita rooted.
"Ba-ba!" Meteora squealed, as she pointed to her monster father on the television.
"Jackie!" Star and Marco cried out in unison. While they were proud of their friends for standing up for what's right, the Protectors all worried what could happen to them if the protest ended in violence.
"We need to get out there, before things get messy!" Austin exclaimed. The other heroes nodded in agreement, and said the magic words that transformed them into the Earth-Ni Protectors...
Outside of Echo Creek's town hall, the integrated crowd of humans, monsters, and other extradimensionals were continuing to protest WattWorks' draconian security measures. The protestors booed and jeered at the robot guards blocking off the building, but the automatons remained still as stones.
"All non-humans must leave Echo Creek; Our auto-shuttles will guide you to your reservations." One of the WattBots droned. Parked outside the City Hall were high-tech black-and-white cars, which could drive themselves.
"Vive la resistance!" Chloe exclaimed. Jackie and the other skaters repeated after her, and soon the entire crowd was chanting with them.
"Yeah, WattWorks SUCKS!" Bellowed Hornocles, the mighty minotaur who worked for Desmond. He charged towards a couple of WattBots, and threw them into the air with his mighty horns; However, his reckless action caused the other sentinels to point their weapons towards him, and all the other non-humans in the crowd.
"Hostiles detected; Engaging neutralization protocol." The WattBots monotonously spoke in unison, frightening the crowd of civilians. Just as they began to open fire, Lady Butterfly descended from the sky like a guardian angel, and cast a Magitech energy shield to block their other four Protectors backed her up; They'd arrived in the nick of time!
"Hooray, it's the Earth-Ni Protectors!" A boar-like monster cheered.
"Fugitives detected! Elimination protocol engaged." The WattBots suddenly droned, as their eyes and joints went from yellow to red; Looks like just being near the Protectors turned them to their most aggressive setting.
"Get out of here!" Marco ordered. Most of the crowd fled from the charging robots, except for Pony Head, who had front-row seats to record the ensuing battle. Several WattBots flew towards Tom, but dodged their shots with his high-speed flight, and melted through them with a scorching blast of hellfire.
While Star and Tom fought flying robots in the sky, Marco, Janna and Austin battled them on the ground. Maroon and Martial Boy viciously sliced through the unfeeling automatons with their respective blades, whilst Janna took them down with her electrified Kali sticks, then curb-stomped their heads to make sure they were down. A horde of five robots charged towards the trio of Earthly teens, but were suddenly stomped into scrap metal by a giant-sized Globgor.
"Thanks, Big G!" Janna exclaimed.
"No problem. You're doing great, kids!" The size-shifter encouraged.
In under two minutes, the Earth-Ni Protectors had taken out all the WattBots in the area, meaning it was safe for the civilian protesters to regroup. The crowd flocked to the Earth-Ni Protectors, and kindly thanked them for saving the day. Austin hurriedly headed over to Uncle Dez to make sure he was okay.
"Oz-I mean, Maroon!" Desmond exclaimed in relief.
"Glad you're okay...citizen." Austin retorted, making sure not to blow his cover.
"This is a nightmare! WattWorks says we'll be separate but equal...we both know that's a lie." His uncle solemnly spoke.
"They're gonna break up our crew!" Jackie added, gesturing to her diverse skating posse.
"Those tyrants could take away my family. I'm not going through that again!" Globgor added. As more crowd members expressed their dire concerns of being evicted from their homes, the heroes of Echo Creek became more and more horrified; After all, this problem wasn't a mere villain they could beat by force.
"I promise you, we'll find a way to take care of this mess. Right now, you should all go home where it's safe." Marco spoke.
"I can't GO home!" A mewman villager refuted.
"I can't LEAVE home!" Pony Head added, when out of city hall came its temporary governor, Warren Cole. He was a tall, square-jawed man with a tawny crew cut and chevron mustache, and he dressed in a light gray suit. The governor was escorted by four police officers, and glared towards the crowd with rage in his eyes.
"It's the Earth-Ni Protectors! ARREST THEM!" Governor Cole commanded.
"B-but they're superheroes! They've saved our lives." One of the policewomen retorted; She was on scene when the Steel Wolf attacked, and would've been a goner if not for the Protectors.
"Yeah, what did we do wrong? Besides oppose you." Star insulted.
"You tampered with the WattBots, and turned them against the monsters so they'd get recalled!" Warren pointed an accusing finger towards Janna, causing her to sweat profusely; While it's true she hacked into WattWorks' robotic sentinels, she wasn't responsible for activating their elimination protocol...was she?
Now, a tense standoff was under way; The civilians looked towards the Protectors with disapproval, while Governor Cole was goading the cops to apprehend the heroes.
"The Earth-Ni Protectors are outlaws! Bring them to JUSTICE!" Warren ordered. The officers nervously began marching towards the five teens, as the tension grew higher. Just as the situation reached its boiling point, Janna threw down all the smoke bombs she had on her, clouding the whole area in murky smoke.
"SCATTER!" Janna loudly shouted. Both the Protectors and the protestors fled their separate ways; By the time the smoke cleared, the whole street was devoid of anyone, spare the cops, Governor Cole, and the broken bodies of a dozen downed WattBots...
Later in Studio Rita, the five heroes were holding an emergency meeting. Things were the bleakest they've been since the Solarian Uprising; Echo Creek was under corporate martial law, an apartheid regime was splitting its people apart, and the Earth-Ni Protectors were outlawed.
"Well, this is just great. WattWorks is screwing everyone over, and it's ILLEGAL for us to help them!" Marco fumed.
"So it's illegal. Never stopped me before." Janna remarked.
"We gotta find the one in charge of this madness, and make them stop!" Star exclaimed.
"Wanda Watts? Fat chance. WattWorks is a billion-dollar company with airtight security measures, we can't just go in guns blazing." Austin reminded.
"Then what DO we do?" Tom queried.
"WattWorks has a research station in LA, right? Why don't we sneak inside, and take a look around? A company that big's gotta have some dirty secrets." Janna suggested.
"What do you mean?" asked Marco.
"Isn't it suspicious that the supervillains were caught after the WattBots came back?"
"They're in CAHOOTS!" Tom shouted, as he furiously slammed his fist on the table.
"If WattWorks is behind the supervillain trio, then that needs to be exposed. Only one way to find out." Austin spoke.
"YES! Infiltration time..." Janna purred with excitement. "So, what's the plan?"
"Marco and Janna and I will go to LA and sneak into the research station. Star and Tom, you stay here."
"Wait, why do we have to stay here?" Star wondered.
"You two are our heavy hitters. Right now, the town's a ticking time bomb, so you need to protect it from any more trouble." Marco added, making his girlfriend smile. Now, a plan was in motion to bring freedom back to Echo Creek...but successfully executing it would be a whole different beast...
Ten minutes later, Austin used an app on his phone to summon a driver to take him, Marco and Janna to Echo Creek. Currently, they were anxiously waiting in Austin's foyer, whilst saying goodbye to their loved ones.
"Be safe out there, Marco." Star spoke in a worried tone. While she clearly had great faith in him, she still couldn't help but feel anxious over the safety of her beloved.
"Of course I will, my friends' got my back." Marco retorted, as he pointed towards his human teammates. "Besides, if things go south, I know who to call." The martial artist added, causing his mewman girlfriend to smile warmly.
"Oh, Marco! You're the best." Star shared a heartfelt kiss with her boyfriend, as a last romantic act before his journey into the unknown. On the other side of the room, Janna was sitting down with Tom, eagerly awaiting the WattWorks infiltration.
"Good luck with your mission."
"Thanks, demon-boy. Once we expose WattJerks, nothing's gonna keep us apart."
"Fight the power, babe." Tom retorted, then passionately kissed his occultist lover. While the other two Protectors were enjoying their last moments with their significant others, Austin was chatting with Sabrina on the phone; Sadly, she couldn't make it to the Capers household in person.
"Sabby, I'm sorry to say this, but I gotta go to LA; It's the only way to save the city."
"I'm rooting for you, Ozzy. WattWorks kicked Cara and Tia out of town; It's time they get what they deserve." Sabrina replied, infuriated that the company forced her mewman friends onto their reservations.
"I love you, darling. 'Promise I'll be back." Austin vowed.
"Love you too. We're counting on you!" She cheered.. Just as Sabrina hung up, a nondescript gray car with tinted windows arrived outside the Capers household, and honked its horn; Their ride was here.
The three Earthly teens said their goodbyes to Star and Tom, then headed into the vehicle, which drove off on a course to leave the cleaved city. As the automobile drove out of Austin's neighborhood, the two royals solemnly watched their beloved teammates head off into the unknown.
"Save the world, you guys..." Star whispered to herself, hoping the human trio would bring an end to WattWorks' authoritarian rule.
"So, now what should we do?" Tom wondered, unsure of how to spend the rest of his day. "We're supposed to protect the city, but those jerks made us illegal!"
"We should probably lay low until the others come back. We'll only do hero stuff if it's an emergency." All of a sudden, Star's cell phone began to ring; An unknown caller was trying to reach her. She picked up her phone, and unsurely answered it, hoping it wasn't another one of Earth's pesky "telemarketers."
"Hello. 'Is Star Butterfly?" Asked a man whose familiar voice was deep, with a noticeable Russian accent.
"Buff Frog? Hey, I didn't know you got a phone!"
"No, is Earth payphone. Very cramped and smelly. Anyways, am in dire need of help. My beautiful baby Katrina has gone missing!" Buff Frog worriedly reported, causing Star to gasp with shock.
"Oh no, that's horrible! Don't worry, buddy. The Earth-Ni Protectors are on the case!" Star promised, then promptly hung up.
"I thought you said we were laying low?" Tom queried.
"That was before. Gear up, Tommy! We've got a baby to save!"
Star and Tom hurriedly rushed to Buff Frog's swampland home, using an Underworld carriage hidden beneath the ground to evade WattWorks' Orwellian security. The demonic vehicle suddenly erupted from the ground, startling some nearby critters. The two teens stepped out of the carriage, and stepped out onto the muddy marsh.
As the two heroes headed towards the home of their green-skinned friend, they noticed something strange; Dozens of monsters were living in ramshackle makeshift tents outside Buff Frog's house, including some of Ludo's old minions. However, Bulgolyubov himself was nowhere to be seen.
"Hey, has anyone seen Buff Frog? We need to talk to him." Star asked the crowd of monster refugees. All of a sudden, Buff Frog frantically ran over to the two Protectors, to discuss the terrible news of his daughter's disappearance.
"Thank goodness, you are finally here!" The amphibian monster huffed.
"Hey, what's with all the new guys? I thought you just lived with your kids." Tom queried.
"Refugees. Evil robots forced them onto my swamp. Apparently, is now "monster reservation." Buff Frog admitted; Looks like the WattBots struck again.
"So, what happened to Katrina? Where was she last?" Star inquired.
"She went to play in nearby woods with her friends. Said she'd come back in two hours, but two hours passed!"
"That's not good." Star responded, feeling worried as well for her little froglet friend. "Don't worry, Buff Frog. We won't rest until we find your daughter."
Unfortunately, just as Star made her promise, an angry mob was headed towards the swamp! It was a crowd consisting of a couple dozen mewman farmers armed with torches and pitchforks. As the mob marched towards the swamp, the monster refugees banded together, ready to fend off the possible invaders.
"You menacing monsters! Are you so ill in the ways of agriculture that you steal from our farms?" One of the mewman farmers jeered, as he shook his pitchfork.
"Colonizers! You're the real menaces, kidnapping our CHILDREN!" Exclaimed a teal monster woman with tentacles for hair.
"You're nefarious criminals like that dastardly Steel Wolf!"
"You nutjobs worship Lady Lightning!"
As the mewmans and monsters furiously argued, Buff Frog glanced towards Star and Tom, and pointed towards his other kids, who were hiding in their home.
"We're on it!" Tom retorted, as he flew up into the air. The opposing hordes marched closer towards each other, but a huge wall of fire erupted from the ground, separating them before any violence could happen.
"ENOUGH!" Tom ferociously roared as his eyes glowed red, striking fear into mewman and monster alike. Star floated next to him with her mechanical wings, and spoke down to the riled-up masses.
"Alright, everyone! Stop your arguing, and calmly explain to us why you're so mad."
"Honorable Lady Butterfly, we are but humble farmers, trying to survive in a kingdom that no longer reigns. Our crops have been devoured, and our livestock rustled; All evidence points to monster interference."
"Hear us out, Violet Devil! Monster children have gone missing all day; Surely those mewmans are to blame." Both sides began incessantly arguing, so Star fired an explosive blast of energy into the sky to startle them back into silence.
"Stop fighting, you guys! That's what WattWorks wants." Star spoke. After all, the company only cared about human safety; What the mewmans and monsters did to each other outside of town was apparently not their problem. "We're going to get to the bottom of this mystery."
"In the meantime, you guys better get along...or else." Tom threatened, as he cracked his knuckles. The two hordes shakily complied, not wanting to anger the Prince of the Underworld. The two Mewnian heroes then flew off on a search for Katrina and the other missing monsters, while Buff Frog stayed behind to protect his remaining children...
As the sun began to set upon the massive city of Los Angeles, Austin, Marco and Janna were situated on the top of a building next to the WattWorks center. LA was a far cry from Echo Creek, as it was just outside the part of America affected by the Cleaving. In fact, the multiple moons of Mewni weren't even visible, due to a thicker atmosphere clouding their visibility. If a city slicker didn't read the news, they'd never know two dimensions collided.
While Janna was hacking into WattWorks' security systems on her laptop, Austin and Marco were conversing as they took in the sights and sounds of the big city.
"So, Los Angeles. Didn't you grow up here?" Marco asked.
"Mm-hm. LA born and LA raised."
"Must be nice coming back to your hometown. What was it like?"
"I used to think the city was hectic, 'till we moved to Echo Creek. Now it's a reminder of when my life was normal. Boring...but normal." Austin admitted, reminiscing about old times...
"Alright, done! I hacked into the security system, and disabled the alarms, the security cameras, even the encryptions on their files. Nothing but smooth sneaking ahead." Janna remarked.
"Get outta town..." Marco replied, impressed by his wily friend's hacking know-how.
"Nice job, Janna. Let the infiltration begin." Austin remarked, as he donned his helmet and rappelled down to the research center with his wrist-mounted grappling hook. He cut the cord with his wrist-blade, and fastened it to a nearby pipe, so that Janna and Marco could climb down it as well. Once the three masked heroes were all on the roof, it was time for their mission to begin.
"Okay, what's the plan?" Marco inquired.
"Once we're in, we'll split up to cover more ground. Look for anything incriminating we can use against them."
"Corporate whistleblowing, eh? I like it!" Janna excitedly retorted, as she rubbed her palms together in anticipation.
"Alright, let's get this mission done. For Earth-Ni!" Marco rallied, as he raised his fist in the air.
"FOR EARTH-NI!" The others repeated with gusto. The three masked infiltrators then snuck into the WattWorks building, to search for the secrets of WattWorks...
In the rural hinterlands outside Echo Creek, Star and Tom were wandering through a cornfield where the villagers reported stolen crops. As they walked through the verdant stalks, the teens found several ears of corn with teeth marks in them. Star picked up a corncob and examined it, using tracking knowledge from the hunting trips she went on with her father.
"Woah, look at those marks! I bet whatever's stealing the corn's got some sharp chompers."
"Mm-hm." Tom droned, as he stared off into space. From his somber expression, Star noticed that not all was well with her demonic ex-boyfriend.
"Everything alright, Tom?"
"Wha? Oh, yeah, totally fine. I was just, um...thinking. About nothing, though, it's not important." The half-demon stammered.
"Hey, if something's bothering you, you can tell me."
"Really?" Tom asked, and Star nodded her head up and down in response. The three-eyed teen let out a sigh, and let her know what was bugging him. "I'm just still kinda hung up on the way you treated me when we were dating..."
Star let out a saddened sigh; After all, he wasn't wrong. As Tom continued to talk about his gripes with their romantic relationship, Star felt worse and worse about the way she acted; She had some underlying guilt about it ever since they broke up, but now she just felt awful.
"I know, I was a pretty crappy girlfriend. You went through so much to change for me, and I kinda just pushed you away." Star shakily admitted. "I treated you wrongly, and I can't stress enough how sorry I am for that."
"Really?"
"One hundred percent." The former princess assured. And by the way, you were right; We both needed to date someone we could be friends with. For me, that was Marco; For you, it was Janna."
"Awesome, beautiful Janna..." Tom swooned, making Star smile; She was truly glad her former flame was in a relationship with someone who loved him like Marco loved her.
"You may not have been the best girlfriend, Star, but you'll always be my friend." The two Protectors then shared a friendly embrace, both happy that the lingering problems from their former relationship were finally solved.
"Thanks, buddy. Now come with me and gather some corn; It's time to set a trap..."
Maroon crept through the rafters of the WattWorks research station's basement, stalking a scientist headed towards the top-secret armory. The scientist placed his thumb in a fingerprint scanner, automatically opening the mechanical doors. Seizing his moment, Austin leapt down from the rafters, and quickly headed through the doorway.
As Austin entered the armory, the automatic doors suddenly closed, snagging his cape! "CRAP!" The masked vigilante thought to himself. The scientist turned around, and gasped in shock when he saw Maroon stuck in the doorway!
The lab coat-wearing man fled towards an alarm, but Austin raised his wrist and fired an energy blast at him, knocking the man unconscious. "Sorry." Maroon muttered, as he pulled his cape free of the door. Now that he was alone in the armory, it was time to search for the secrets it hid.
The first thing Austin saw was a machine that assembled dozens of WattBots at a time; No surprise there. As he headed deeper into the mysterious room, a surprising sight caught his eye. It was a white exo-suit with black plasticine accents. The gear included gloves, boots and a white helmet with a tinted visor. Surrounding the suit were a variety of high-tech rings, just like the ones the Ringmaster wielded!
"PROJECT: DISCUS." An information display read. Further down the armory hall, Austin found a mechanical exo-suit colored the same as the Olympian, only it was twice as large, had sharp steel claws, and was loaded with weapons.
"PROJECT: BEOWULF." Austin read aloud. Looks like Janna's suspicions were true; WattWorks and the supervillains were certainly connected! At the end of the hallway, Austin came across an even mightier weapon; One he'd never seen in his life, although his teammates would certainly recognize it.
"PROJECT: GIANT SLAYER." The teen engineer had to tilt his neck up to get a full look of the WattWorks armory's piece de resistance; An enormous white mecha with black accents, boasting a streamlined design and a plethora of high-tech weapons. Nearby was a blueprint showing one of Mina's Solarian mechs, and the Giant Slayer next to it. Although the latter was a little over half the former's size, it was a truly formidable weapon, judging by Austin's amazed reaction.
"Like what you see?" A frighteningly familiar voice remarked. Austin hurriedly turned around, and saw none other than the Steel Wolf in his black, canid-esque armor! Maroon activated his retractable wrist-blades to fight, but the false monster struck his head with his mighty mechanical arms, knocking the vigilante out cold...
In the depths of the Earth-Ni forest where Katrina was last seen, Star and Tom set a trap for the mysterious mewbeast that reportedly caused her disappearance. They set a pile of corn out on the forest floor, and lied in wait for their prey. All of a sudden, a strange creature whizzed past the pile of corn without even touching it, as if it were a mere blur.
"I saw something!" Tom exclaimed, as he stood up and prepared to strike the beast down with his flames. Star whipped out her wand, and carefully kept her eyes peeled.
"Come out, you creepy little beast." Star remarked. Unbeknownst to her, the cryptic creature was stalking her from behind. It crept closer and closer to the girl without being noticed, until it was too late. The beast pounced on Star, and she let out a terrified yelp...but then, it started licking her face!
"Gah! Stop it, stop it!" Star giggled; Her tone couldn't be any less serious if she tried. The former princess opened her eyes, and saw that her purveyor was a familiar friendly face; Nachos, Marco's beloved dragon-cycle from his adventures in the Neverzone!
"Nachos! Oh my gosh, I missed you so much!" Star cooed, as she hugged the friendly creature.
"Hey, Nachos! Remember me?" Tom greeted, as he patted the reptilian's rough, scaly head.
"Oh, you must be so hungry! You like corn, right?" Star picked up an ear of corn, and fed it to the dragon, who grinded it up like a wood chipper.
"What's she doing all the way out here, anyways?" Tom wondered. Nachos let out a saddened growl, and Star noticed her now-weathered "667" collar. After a certain scissors enforcer brought her from the Neverzone to Earth as one last gift for a friend, the dragon-cycle had been searching the wilds of Echo Creek for her cherished owner.
"Aww, she's been looking for Marco all this time! Sorry, sweetie, but Marco's out saving the town. But he'll be so happy to see you once he gets back!"
"Wait, hold on!" Tom exclaimed. "Nachos was the one eating the mewmans' corn, and she probably ate their animals, too. But what about the missing monster children?"
All of a sudden, Nachos started to growl ferociously when the sound of engines polluted the peaceful forest. Three rugged-looking, helmeted men were riding towards the trio on motorcycles! The leader of the three ruffians fired a tranquilizer dart into the dragon-cycle's neck, knocking her out.
"Nachos!" Star and Tom cried in unison.
"Finally! We've been tracking that beast all day!" The lead thug boasted. These men weren't just any criminal low-lifes; They were poachers! The trio of dragon rustlers quickly ensnared Nachos in a net, and began riding off on their motorbikes.
"Oh no you don't!" Star shouted. The heroine took off after the poachers with her mechanical wings, and Tom did the same. Star fired blasts of energy towards the motorcyclists, but they dodged her shots.
"Take this, Earth-Ni Bozos!" One of the poachers shouted, as he whipped out a net launcher, and fired its contents at the two heroes. The net bound the two together, and knocked them to the ground; Now, the poor former lovers were uncomfortably close to each other.
"No!" Star cried, as she struggled to break free of the net. Tom burned through it with his pyrokinesis, but by the time they were back on their feet, the poachers were gone.
"S-she's gone."
"Don't worry, Star. There's a silver lining to all this." Tom spoke, confounding his ex.
"How?"
"We know who kidnapped Katrina...and where they're headed." The half-demon gestured to the tire tracks left by the poachers' motorcycles. Now they could follow the thieves back to their hideout, and give them the walloping of a lifetime!
Back in the WattWorks compound, the sneaky Snatcher was doing what she did best; Creep around without being seen. Outside the entrance to the archives, Janna silently snuck up on a security guard, and whipped out her pocket watch to hypnotize him.
"Take me into the archives."
"As you wish." The guard droned emotionlessly, and placed his thumb onto the scanner, letting the troublemaker into the confidential compartment. The hypnotized man then aimlessly shambled the other way, leaving Janna alone with all of WattWorks' secrets.
"Alright, Wattsie. Let's see what you're hiding." Janna rubbed her palms together, as she sauntered over to the archival computer; Thanks to her prior hacking, all of its restricted files were accessible to her prying eyes.
To start her search for sinister secrets, Janna searched up "Darby Glen." The Glen was a small, quiet town in southwestern England, or at least until the Cleaving. Like Echo Creek and a handful of other locales across the globe, the geography of Darby Glen merged with that of Mewni.
Janna searched through the files on Darby Glen, until she came across a bewildering discovery; Across the pond, Darby Glen was practically under martial law. Mewmans and monsters were forced into high-security containment camps, and anyone who spoke out against WattWorks' interventions was arrested. Looks like Darby Glen's reputation as a post-Cleave paradise was a bald-faced lie.
Horrified by the draconian rule WattWorks imposed on the Glen, Janna recorded the computer footage with her cell phone. Then, she looked up another keyword: "Cleave."
What popped up from that search was some truly shocking footage, set a week after the dimensions merged. In the flaming wreckage of an English town, three mysterious individuals were all fighting a massive monster; A striped, gray-skinned size-shifter with long, black hair and a scraggly beard.
One of the warriors hurled explosive metal rings; Another fired a volley of rockets and energy blasts from his mechanical exo-suit. The third fighter was a woman in a black-and-white bodysuit, casting electricity from her hands towards the monster. Obviously, these three were the supervillain trio before assuming their vile alter-egos.
The footage cut to an on-ground perspective of the size-shifter battling the mighty Giant Slayer mech. The mechanical warrior had fists imbued with yellow shock panels, which shrunk the mighty monster with each punch. Suddenly, the video cut again to what seemed like the aftermath of the fight. The size-shifter was being electrocuted by Lady Lightning, and the electric shock caused him to shrink even smaller.
"THIS IS FOR MY BROTHER!" The electric woman screamed, her voice teeming with hateful fury. As the bloodied, battered monster writhed in pain, Ringmaster, Steel Wolf and the Giant Slayer gathered around him.
"P-p-please, h-have m-m-mercy!" The size-shifter stammered, paralyzed with terror. All of a sudden, the voice of Wanda Watts emanated out from the mech.
"For everything you've done, you don't deserve mercy." Wanda coldly spoke. The Giant Slayer raised its mighty metal foot, and stomped on the shrunken monster, killing him instantly. Aghast, Janna stopped recording and turned around, only to see a familiar foe standing at the entrance; It was the Ringmaster!
"Hoots mon! Is that the Snatcher I see?" Ringmaster spat in his recognizable Scottish brogue.
"You again? Looks like I was right; WattWorks works with supervillains." Janna retorted, as she whipped out her Kali sticks and prepared for a fight. Ringmaster charged towards Janna, and reached into his coat pocket; He whipped out a small metal ring, which expelled noxious knockout gas.
"Oh, no, not again!" Janna moaned, as she grew terribly drowsy, and fell to the ground unconscious.
"Sorry, lassie, but you know too much..."
As night fell upon the cleaved city, Star and Tom tracked the dragon-cycle rustlers to a poacher camp in the remote forests far outside of Echo Creek. It was a hastily built camp of several tents, and it was lousy with metal cages containing exotic Mewnian animals. Among the strange creatures captured were dog-sized spiders, the pig-goats and Warnicorns the mewman villagers reported missing, and poor old Nachos.
"We're gonna make a fortune from this catch. There are already buyers for this beauty in Venice, Hong Kong and El Paso." A poacher remarked, as he banged on Nachos' cage. The angry dragon lunged at him in response, causing the lout to jump in fright.
Star looked around the campsite, and her heart sank when she saw Katrina and some other monster children locked in the marauders' cages.
"Please, let us out!" The frightened froglet cried, as she shook on the cage bars.
"SILENCE!" The leader of the borderland poachers shouted, as he emerged from the shadows of his tent. He was a rugged man in tactical gear, who wore a severed Warnicorn horn as a necklace. "My clients will pay a pretty penny to have you freaks in their private collections."
"Look at those jerks. Ravaging the forest, and kidnapping innocent children for profit." Star sneered.
"Some people have no remorse. Trust me, the Underworld's full of them." Tom mused. "So, what's our plan?"
"Our plan? We show these bozos what happens when you mess with Mewni." All of a sudden, Lady Butterfly and the Violet Devil leapt out from their hiding spots behind the trees, and flew towards the cutthroats' campsite.
"Crap, it's the EP! They followed us here!" One of the poachers cried.
"THEY FOLLOWED YOU HERE?" The leader shouted, then smacked said poacher in the face with his pistol. Star and Tom rushed the den of troublesome thieves, and engaged their vile enemies. Star struck some of the rustlers down with her wand-staff, and fired blasts of Magitech energy towards a man with a gun. Tom used his enhanced demon strength to beat up the plunderers, and destroyed their motorcycles with his pyrokinesis. The two Mewni-born heroes worked together to take down the last of the thieves, when the leader suddenly made a heinous gambit.
"Stop right there, Protectors!" The lead poacher shouted. To the horror of the heroes, he was pointing his gun right at Katrina!. "You better leave right now, or I'll shoot this froggy freak!"
Both heroes froze in place, not wanting their friend's beloved daughter to be killed by that wretch. Neither hero was sure what the right move was, until Star saw a flimsy lock on one of the animal cages, giving her a bright idea. She quickly whipped out her wand and shot the lock off the cage closest to the ringleader. As soon as it broke, Nachos burst out of it and pounced on the poacher, pinning him to the ground!
"It's time you learned that crime doesn't pay." Tom commented, as the dragon-cycle growled ferociously at her former captor. One Star freed the monster kids from the locked cage, Katrina hurriedly rushed to the heroine and gave her a big hug, which the former princess happily reciprocated.
"You saved me! Thank you so much, Lady Butterfly!"
"Oh, it's nothing. All in a day's work for the Earth-Ni Protectors!"
Back in the Wattworks compound, Marco was silently slinking through the halls of the building's basement. While he certainly wouldn't endorse corporate espionage under regular circumstances, WattWorks had pushed him to the edge. After sacrificing so much to be with Star, he'd do anything to stop the company from taking his magical lover away.
Marco came across a hallway with a laser grid; Whatever lay at the end had to be important...and top-secret. While laser sensors were a surefire way to trip up would-be thieves, Marco dipped, ducked and dodged each beam with ease, and gracefully weaved through the hallway without tripping a single one. After all, living with a pack of rambunctious laser puppies made him an expert on avoiding them.
At the end of the hallway was a mysterious chemical laboratory, with a warning sign on the door that read: "EXPERIMENTAL SUBSTANCES: AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY."
"Well, that's alarming." Marco retorted to himself. Still, he'd come so far, and all of Echo Creek was counting on him; No turning back now. The masked martial artist headed into the lab, and was greeted by a bewildering sight; Front and center was a series of vats full of familiar greenish-black slime, which was funneled through a complicated machine. The slime was being processed by said device, which turned it into a strange liquid with a blotchy, yellow-and-purple glow.
"No way...it can't be! Is that...magic?" Marco couldn't believe what he was seeing, but Austin somehow made the corrupted magic into Star's new wand; Surely a billion-dollar company could do the same on a larger scale.
Marco then investigated an electronic display screen in the lab, which held valuable information on "PROJECT: ICHOR." The first thing that popped up was a video of the crumbling, disheveled Magic Sanctuary, which ended up in the UK after the Cleaving. An enormous machine resembling an oversized oil pump was drilling into the sanctuary, and it siphoned out the corrupted liquid magic...but for what reason?
Marco interacted with the display screen's interface, and selected a series of files labeled under "TRIALS." Each file's name consisted of a "subject number," and a name following it. The first of the files was labeled "SUBJECT 01: GIDEON RAULS"
Marco turned his phone camera on, then opened up the video; He was treated to a visceral video of a middle-aged man having the refined liquid pseudo-magic injected into his veins. Gideon grit his teeth in pain, and started convulsing. The video went on for a dozen more seconds, then Rauls suddenly fainted. A graphic suddenly cut in, which read "CONDITION: DECEASED."
As the young vigilante viewed video after video of human, mewman and monster test subjects being experimented on with the Ichor serum, his already white-hot anger towards the company grew. Not only were they segregating his hometown, but across the pond, they were doing unethical human experiments. After seeing several people die or end up in critical condition, Marco came across a rather peculiar exception; "SUBJECT 07: INDRA WATTS"
That name was a strange sight; Among these random test subjects, what was a relative of the CEO doing in these experiments? The video began playing, and it showed a woman Marco knew as "Alectria Lightningbolt." She was strapped to a chair, where a scientist in a hazmat suit was preparing to inject the Ichor into her bloodstream.
"Miss Watts, you shouldn't volunteer for this, the last tests were all failures! I won't have your blood on my hands!" The scientist warned.
"Just do it, I've got nothing to lose!" Indra snapped. The scientist sighed, and hesitantly injected the mysterious liquid into Indra's arm. The woman winced in pain, and suddenly started to feel...odd.
All of a sudden, the lights and other electrical equipment in the room began to fluctuate, and sparks flew out of them. Her eyes and cheek marks began to glow an astonishingly bright shade of blue, and lightning crackled all across the room, until she let out a huge pulse of electrical energy, shorting out the camera and ending the transmission.
Marco was astounded; So that's how Lady Lighting got her powers! He stopped recording, and turned around to see who but Indra herself in the lab!
"YOU!" Lady Lightning shouted, as she fired a bolt of electricity towards Marco. The agile hero ducked behind a cabinet and avoided her blast, which shorted out the laboratory's lights. Concealed by the darkness, Marco kicked Lady Lightning in the ribs, knocking her into the display screen. While she was disoriented, the karate expert ran out of the room, and called Star as he fled through the hallway.
Unfortunately, the call went straight to voicemail, so he had to leave an urgent message. "Star, come in! I found something horrible! WattWorks created the villains!" Marco let out a scream as he dodged another one of Lightning's bolts.
"You can't run forever! You're doomed, just like your teammates!" The villainess hollered.
"This is an emergency, we need help FAST!" Marco panicked, when his escape route was cut off by a line of WattBots, who stunned him with their nonlethal energy blasts. Marco yelped in pain, and hit the floor.
"Lights out, Martial Boy." Indra scoffed, as she used her experimental powers to electrocute the boy into unconsciousness. Now, more than half of the Earth-Ni Protectors were captured by the forces of Wanda Watts...
Back at the poacher camp, the police were arresting the offending criminals, who were locked in their own animal cages. While the mewman villagers reclaimed their rustled livestock, the monster refugees reunited with their children. The wild animals, on the other hand, fled into the forest after they were freed.
"Listen, we're sorry about accusing you of stealing our children. We were just fearing the safety of our little ones." One of the displaced monsters told the villager crowd.
"Oh, I completely understand. Isn't that right, Ginger?" A mewman farmer replied, as he patted the head of his precious pig-goat. At the camp's edge, Buff Frog and his other children were cherishing the safe return of their missing member.
"Katrina, you're alive! You had me very worried." Buff Frog sternly spoke. "But I am glad you're okay."
"Daddy, you won't believe what happened! We got saved by the Earth-Ni Protectors!" Katrina joyously exclaimed, as Star and Tom headed over to the family of frogs.
"Hey, Buff Frog!" Star greeted, while Tom waved to the Bulgolyubovs.
"Star, Demon boy! Thank you for saving precious little angel. How may I repay you?"
"Woah, you don't have to repay us. Heroism is its own reward." Tom retorted.
"Ah, I see. Come on, little ones. We go home now." Buff Frog told his children, and they began heading home with them.
"Bye, Star!" Katrina cooed.
"Goodbye, Katrina! Stay safe, now!" Star replied, then turned to Tom. "We should be getting home too, don't you think?" The demon teen nodded, and Star whistled loudly, signaling Nachos to come to her. The two heroes mounted their teammate's beloved dragon-cycle, and flew off on their way back to the main city...
As the demon and the Butterfly soared through the night sky on Nachos' back, they looked down at a saddening sight; WattWorks was still in control of Echo Creek, and was forcing a mandatory curfew on its human residents. The once-vibrant city where two worlds collided was now under strict authoritarian rule, just like Darby Glen.
"Look at them; They're undoing everything we worked so hard for."
"I know, it's disgraceful. But soon, it'll all be over." Tom responded. Moments later they landed on Avocado Terrace, outside the Diaz household. Star dismounted her boyfriend's dragon-cycle, and checked her phone to see a notification.
"Huh, Marco left a voicemail. It must have been when we were fighting those poachers." Star played back the voicemail, and her heart began racing as she listened to Marco's anguished pleas for help. Her stomach sank as he heard him try to flee the compound, and when Lady Lighting electrocuted him, she screamed in horror and dropped her phone on the ground.
Tonight, Star hoped the WattWorks infiltration would put an end to the struggle she and her friends were facing, but unfortunately, it brought the opposite. Today, the battle had only begun...
Well, things are looking BLEAK for the Earth-Ni Protectors. With three members down and two remaining, Star's going to need some extra help to save her friends...help in the form of the Star-Tacular Seven! The next episode, she'll form an auxillary team consisting of her and six of her allies, just as Marco did in the past...but who will they be?
I've got a little wager for you all. If you can correctly predict who all seven members of the Star-Tacular Seven will be, you'll get a shout-out at the end of the next chapter. Now that that's out of the way, stay tuned for the exciting next installment...
