"MAROON AND THE EARTH-NI PROTECTORS!"

BOOK TWO: HEROES AND VILLAINS

CHAPTER SEVEN: THE STAR-TACULAR SEVEN


Confusion. A nine letter word, and the first thing Marco Diaz felt as he slowly woke up, feeling dazed as hell and sore all over. His surroundings were quite drab; A gray, dimly-lit room with concrete walls.

He tried to stretch his limbs, but alas, he was fastened to a tilted operating table-like device by metal cuffs. Astonished that he was shackled to a metal board, Marco attempted to break free from his restraints but they wouldn't budge.

"No, no, NO!"

As the dark-haired hero began to panic, a familiar voice spoke his name. 'Twas Janna Ordonia, who was cuffed to another restraining board on his right. She didn't seem nearly as worried as he was...but hey, it's Janna. Who knows what she was thinking?

"Yeah, this sucks. Trust me, I know." Sadly, this was a familiar feeling to her, as she was kidnapped and held hostage by Cobalt Watch extremists a year prior. "Just like old times with Austin's crazy dad."

Upon the mention of Austin's name, Marco looked to the left and saw his friend shackled and unconscious. When the teen vigilante awoke, he jolted up when the chilly air touched the skin of his helmetless face.

"WHERE'S MY HELMET?" Austin cried. He snapped his fingers to activate his utility bracelets, but nothing happened. He tried using his rocket boots, but those were stolen too! As of now, the Maroon suit was totally disarmed. "They took my gear!"

"It could be worse, at least our clothes are still on." Janna retorted, receiving strange looks from her teammates. The things that went through her mind were truly a mystery. Suddenly, the door of their holding room opened, and in came Wanda Watts, escorted by two of her robotic sentinels.

"Well, if it isn't the Earth-Ni Menaces."

"You've got a lot of nerve doing this!" Marco snapped.

"We know your secrets, Wanda. You made the supervillains!" Austin added.

"Villain" is a subjective term. What you see as villains, I see as heroes. And vice versa." Wanda coldly retorted.

"I know what Darby Glen's really like. You make me sick, and that's saying something." Janna jeered.

"Listen, Snatcher. The reason I'm doing all of this is to protect humanity from the hostile aliens brought to Earth...by Star Butterfly." Wanda scowled. The hateful, vitriolic tone she took when saying Star's name absolutely infuriated Marco.

"LEAVE STAR OUT OF THIS!"

"So, you're confirming she caused the dimensional merge."

"How did you know that?" Austin queried.

"I extracted the info from one of my test subjects. Subjects like you." On that cue, a trio of scientists in white hazmat suits wheeled out a cart with a large canister of yellow-and-purple liquid on it, along with three empty syringes.

"You won't get away with this, Wanda! I sent a message to Star! She'll come for us, and put an end to your tyranny." Marco snarled.

"Oh, really? Then she'll finally get what she deserves. But for now, we need to deal with you three; You know too much." Wanda snarled, as one of the hazmats filled a syringe full of the mysterious liquid.

"You might survive this, you might not; It's experimental. Any volunteers?"


Unfortunately, things were no less bleak back home. Tom was sorrowfully sulking on the front porch of the Diaz household; He'd texted both Janna and Austin to see if they were okay, but alas, neither responded. Nachos mournfully moaned as she curled up on the grass, missing her master.

Star stepped out of the Diazes home with tears streaming down her cheeks. She had just broken the terrible news to Marco's family, and felt absolutely awful while doing it. To Star, it was like reliving one of the darkest times in her life; The day Toffee kidnapped Marco.

"This is all my fault! I can't believe I was stupid enough to let them go!" Star cried.

"Hey, it's not your fault, okay! Look, I'm worried too; They've our friends, and we need to save them before it's too late."

"But WattWorks has a robot army, and three powerful supervillains! We can't beat them with just the two of us."

"Well, what would Marco do?" Tom queried. Star wasn't sure what her ex was getting at with that question, when she remembered something crucial to their plight.

"The Marc-nificent Seven!" The ex-princess suddenly hollered.

During Meteora's relentless rampage through Mewni, Marco formed a ragtag crew to stop her, consisting of him and six close allies. Tom was a part of the team, as were the Woolett warrior Kelly, her beastly sparring partner Jorby, the rough-riding mercenary Talon Raventalon, Hekapoo of the Magic High Commission, and the incredibly annoying Princess Pony Head. Although the Seven ended up losing to the magical monster, their efforts were truly valiant, giving Star just the idea she needed.

"Oh yeah, I was on that team!" Tom responded. "Everyone got their souls sucked out, what's your point?"

"Now our friends need our help, and we're hopelessly outnumbered. So it's time we make a crew of our own to save them...The Star-Tacular Seven!"


Half an hour later, Star and Tom spread the word and contacted five of their worthiest allies for assistance. The Mewni-born Protectors and their dragon-cycle companion were now waiting in the throne room of the derelict Butterfly Castle. The palace hardly had any WattWorks security guarding it, so it was a safe location for the Seven to meet.

The first ally to arrive was a most unlikely and unlucky heroine; Sabrina Backintosh. Once she heard about her boyfriend's untimely capture, she told her parents she was going to a sleepover with her Spirit Squad friends, then hurriedly headed to the ruined castle, avoiding watchful WattBots all the while. The girl's tawny hair was an unkempt mess, and she was wearing a black hoodie, gray sweatpants and blue slippers.

The poor young lass rushed to Star with tears in her eyes, and the mewman heroine hugged her tightly to ease her emotional pain; The shared pain of losing a beloved boyfriend.

"I'm so sorry." Star quavered, as she comforted the weeping cheerleader.

"W-why'd you make me come here?" Sabrina sniffled. "I can't do anything to help you." She sorrowfully sighed, when Tom tossed a familiar possession towards her. It was an upgraded model of the Rouge suit, retro-fitted with Austin's spare gear. Sabrina picked up the helmet, which had a black visor resembling a stylized pair of sunglasses.

"What is this? D-did Austin make it?"

"Mm-hm. He built it the night after your date." Star informed.

"Y-you're kidding, right? I was a terrible superhero, I can't fight to save my life...or anyone's."

"Austin thought otherwise. You saved him before, you can do it again." Tom encouraged. Sabrina stared into the lens of her helmet, and saw her sorrowful, uneasy reflection; It reminded her of the person she was before; A spineless pawn pinned under Brittney's thumb. But that girl was no more. The former vigilante took a deep breath, and mustered all her confidence to accept her friends' mission.

"I'll do it. For Austin."

"And for Janna." Tom added.

"And for Marco. We're all in this together." Star stated, when a mighty eagle swooped into the castle, startling Sabrina. Riding on the eagle were three of Mewni's greatest dads; Globgor, Buff Frog and River, the latter of which was dressed in his Wild King outfit.

"Dad!" Star hollered, as she hurriedly ran towards her father and hugged him. The bearded barbarian heard his daughter crying in his arms, and felt absolutely awful for her.

"I'm so sorry, sweetie." River consoled. "How dare those fiends capture my future son-in-law!"

"We'll save your friends, and this city." promised Globgor.

"Is promise. You rescued Katrina, is time I repay you." Buff Frog added.

"Thanks, guys. You're the best." Star warmly responded, then hugged the three kind fathers.

"Alright, that's six of us. Where's number seven?" Tom asked. Star's phone then buzzed, so she answered it; The notification she received shook her to her core.

"Oh, no! The WattBots captured Pony Head for leaving the Cloud Kingdom! Where will we get a seventh member now?"

"Well, does Nachos count?" The half-demon queried, when River got a bright idea.

"Well, darling, there's someone special we know, who could really help us in this trying time. And she'd do anything for you." The eagle king suggested, causing his daughter to wince.

"Dad, you don't mean..." Star gulped. Her father looked at her and knowingly nodded, causing her to sigh deeply. Looks like Star and friends were due for a rather uncomfortable visit to the Butterfly yurt...


Star and her five faithful allies discreetly traveled through the skies, on their way to their destination. Star was riding Nachos with Sabrina, who was trying not to throw up in her borrowed helmet, in tow. Tom was flying with his fiery demon powers, and River, Buff Frog and Globgor were all on the former's eagle. As they soared through the wild outskirts of the Earth-Ni area, the team spotted the light of lanterns shining through the dense, dark forest.

"There it is! Tally ho!" River exclaimed, as he swooped down to the ground. The trio of teenaged heroes followed him down, and landed in front of the Butterfly campsite. To Star's surprise, it looked different...yet the same. Her parents' homestead was surrounded by dozens of tents and yurts, where a plethora of mewman commoners and nobles were gathered.

As Star and her posse headed through the makeshift village, the villagers gawked at their strange new visitors. While Tom, Globgor and Buff Frog felt uneasy in the mewman-majority settlement, Star was fearing that history was repeating itself. At the north end of the village, the ragtag crew spotted their potential seventh member speaking to some peasants. Her name? Moon Butterfly.

Star still wasn't entirely sure if her mother should come along to help them. While their strained relationship was slowly healing, she still found her mother best in small doses. But these were pressing times.

"Mom?" Star called out, instantly catching her mother's attention.

"Star! I promise you, this isn't what it looks like. These people were forced onto our home, they had nowhere else to go." Moon clamored, not wanting her daughter to mistake her hospitality for anything malicious.

"Mom, it's okay. Look, right now we really need your help. Our friends tried to infiltrate the WattWorks compound, but they all got captured! Marco's in danger!" Star worriedly vented, prompting her mother to comfort her with a hug.

"We're planning a mission to siege that fiendish fortress, and rescue our fellow heroes. But we need your help, Moonpie." River pleaded.

"You need...my help?"

"Look, I know you're still hung up on the past, but this is bigger than all of us." Globgor spoke.

"This is our only chance to save our friends and put an end to WattWorks' reign." Tom rallied.

"So, are you gonna-" Star queried, when Moon suddenly cut her off.

"I'll do it."

"Wait, really?"

"Star, I wronged you so much in the recent past; This is the least I could do to make up for it." The former queen responded, causing both Star and River to hug her.

"Thank you so much, mama!"

"Anything for you dear." Moon replied, then headed into the yurt and opened up a cabinet. It contained her queenly battle armor, as well as an ornate metal spear and a large shield with the Butterfly crest on it; After all, Moon the Undaunted didn't need magical powers to put up a fight.

"Now let's go save your friends..."


Back in the WattWorks holding chamber, Wanda was preparing to inject the intoxicating Ichor serum into the veins of one of the captured Protectors.

"What is that stuff?" Austin quavered.

"It's liquid magic...but like, knockoff magic." Marco responded. "The old stuff was brand name, this is a ripoff."

"Wow, you clowns couldn't even get real magic!" Janna teased. "You know, cause it's all gone."

"Magical or not, this Ichor is incredibly potent." Wanda coldly informed the teens. "After all, it's what gave Lady Lightning her electrifying abilities."

"And killed the other test subjects." Marco snapped.

"That begs the question...which of you will be the first lab rat?" No response from anyone. "Alright, then I'll just start with the ringleader." Wanda menacingly spoke, as she gestured towards Austin. The caped vigilante began to panic as the hazmat workers lurched towards him, but before they injected him, Marco intervened.

"I'll do it!" The former "safe kid" courageously exclaimed.

"Don't do it, Marco!" Austin pleaded. "You've got so much to live for!"

"I've handled magic before; I stand a better chance than either of you."

"It's settled, then. Prepare the injection." Wanda ordered. The hazmats tore the right sleeve off Marco's suit, and the boy's heart raced as the syringe pierced his shoulder. Once all the cryptic liquid was administered, Marco began to feel an intense pain in his abdomen and groaned in agony. Orange, crescent-shaped marks began to flash and flicker on his cheeks, like a faulty lightbulb.

While Austin and Janna watched in abject horror, Wanda observed him with a stone-cold expression on her face, and said naught but a single word.

"Intriguing..."


Later in the night, Tom's demonic carriage erupted from the earth outside the WattWorks building in Los Angeles, scaring the hell out of nearby pedestrians. The doors of the vehicle opened, and the seven members of Star's rescue team flooded out of it, astonishing the confounded citizens. Nachos stayed inside, to guard the carriage from any would-be hijackers.

"Alright, what's the plan?" Sabrina queried, her voice disguised by her high-tech helmet.

"Well, sneaking in didn't work for Marco...so let's just bust in there, kick some butt and save our friends!" Star commanded, then Tom used his demonic powers to open a hole in the ground, which led to the compound's hidden lower floors. The team all jumped through the hole together, with one exception; Buff Frog.

"No sneaking? But I am spy!" The amphibian monster groaned, then hopped in after the rest of his crew. The Seven all landed in the subterranean rotunda, the centrifuge of WattWorks' secret research division, which led to three separate hallways.

"Looks like we've gotta split up." Tom remarked.

"Alright, Mom and Dad, you take the left hallway. Globby and Buff Frog, head down the right. Tom and Sabrina, follow me." Star instructed. "Watch each other's backs, it's time to save the town!"

With her rallying cry, the seven ragtag rescuers split up into three groups, and headed out to find their kidnapped cohorts...


Back in the sterile, lifeless testing room, Marco was still writhing in agony from being injected with Ichor. While his teammates could only watch in horror, Wanda was inquisitively observing his flickering cheek crescents.

"Fascinating...I'm surprised he's lasted this long." Wanda remarked, as she picked up a short bladed tool, and stepped towards the pained and restrained teenage boy. She used the blade to slice through Marco's shirt, revealing the shocking source of his pain; A dark, violet-colored wound was spreading across his abdomen like a big blot of ink.

Both Austin and Janna were horrified to see Marco's spreading infection. It was even worse for the latter, as it reminded her of one of the most traumatic things she'd ever witnessed; The death of Quirky Guy, who succumbed to a Solarian blade. While she had a taste for the macabre, there was a clear distinction between "creepy" and "scarring for life."

"Never seen that before. How peculiar." The British billionaire noted.

"How can you say that? Do you even have a soul?" Janna snapped.

"You have no idea how much I've sacrificed, thief." Wanda scoffed, when a security alert suddenly popped up on a hologram screen. It displayed a live feed of the security cameras, showing that the Star-Tacular Seven was storming the compound!

"S-staaaarrrr..." Marco weakly moaned, while Austin and Janna rooted for their rescuers.

"We're saved!" The teen gadgeteer cheered. Wanda, on the other hand, was absolutely livid.

"Alert the admins, and engage all defenses!" She ordered the hazmat workers, as she huffed off towards the testing room's exit.

Where are you going?"

"To even the odds." Wanda retorted, as she hurriedly opened the door. "And while you're at it, inject Snatcher next!"

One of the hazmats took out the second syringe, and began filling it with potent Ichor. Janna's heart started to race as she began sweating bullets. That serum was internally destroying Marco Diaz, the only human to ever wield the Butterfly wand. What chance did she stand?


Through the western hall of the compound raced the former monarchs of the Butterfly Kingdom. Moon and River took down attacking WattBots with their medieval weaponry, and checked every door they could find for Star's captive friends. River took out his oversized battle club, and used it to smash through a locked door.

"Marco, are you in there!" River hollered, to no response; The room was empty. "Blast it!" He snapped, when a yellow energy blast was suddenly fired towards him.

"Look out!" Moon exclaimed, then used her trusty shield to block the blast. River looked to the end of the hallway, and saw the familiar foe who fired the shot; It was Wild King's own arch-nemesis, the dastardly Steel Wolf!

"Wild King!" The armored monster howled.

"Steel Wolf! I should have known you'd be working with those corrupt charlatans!"

"I think it's time we had ourselves a rematch."

"He's not alone this time." Moon dauntlessly spoke, as she pointed her spear towards the villainous werewolf.

"Bah! My armor's too advanced for you moonies to handle." Steel Wolf scoffed.

"We'll make you eat those words with corn on top, you steely scoundrel!" The Wild King roared. Steel Wolf fired a barrage of energy blasts towards the former royals, but Moon easily deflected the blasts with her shield.

"Launch me, Moonpie!" River exclaimed. Moon affirmatively nodded, then crouched and held her shield above her head. River got a running start and used said shield as a launch pad, and leapt across the hall to strike Steel Wolf with his battle club! The staggered supervillain reeled in pain, and let out an angry yell.

"I'll gut you like a rainbow trout!" The wily wolfman roared, and swung his sharp metal talons towards his archenemy. However, Moon used her trusty spear to parry the villain's furious swipes. He tried to fry her with his energy blasters, but she used the polearm to slice the weapons off, just as Marco and River did in their previous altercation with him.

The armored werewolf whipped out his wrist-mounted flamethrower and ignited it, but the undaunted queen obstructed the flames. Closer and closer she marched on, until she was near enough to shield-bash Steel Wolf, staggering him yet again.

"Insolent wench! I'll rip you apart!" The ironclad cad clamored, when River suddenly tackled him into a wall with his sheer brute strength.

"How dare you insult my wonderful wife!" River grabbed Steel Wolf by the arm, and threw him on the ground, then jumped up and body slammed the vile brute.

"I've got him, he's pinned!" River hollered. Moon rushed over to the Steel Wolf, and prepared to thrust her spear through the supervillain's thick metal armor.

"Please, don't spear me!" The pinned fiend pleaded. Moon lowered her spear, then used it to cut through his canine battle helmet, revealing the human beneath the high-tech shell.

"You're...a human?" Moon couldn't believe what she was seeing, and neither could her husband. This whole time, the villain was masquerading as a wolf monster to sow fear and distrust in the community.

"Hiding behind the guise of a monster...how cowardly!" River retorted, then pulled Remus out of his protective armor and shook him silly. Two down, one to go...


Meanwhile in the eastern hall, the monster duo was silently sneaking around, as opposed to the Butterflies' boisterous crusading. Two WattBots stood still on either side of a doorway, when the robot on the left was plucked and pulled up to the ceiling by a long, sticky tongue, then had its head crushed by Buff Frog, who was hiding in the rafters.

"HOSTILE DETECTED!" The other sentinel buzzed, and aimed its energy rifle right at the amphibian monster. But before it could shoot, a shrunken-down Globgor landed on its head, and quickly turned back to normal size, crushing the automaton under his feet. Buff Frog dropped from the rafters, and the two monsters nodded at each other before opening the mysterious door.

"Karate Boy?" Buff Frog called out, as he peeked into the room; It was surprisingly roomy, and boasted a large, high-tech electrical generator. Alas, Marco and the others weren't inside, but someone far worse was; Lady Lighting herself, the electrifying Indra Watts.

"What's this? A couple of monster intruders!" Indra remarked, as she began to levitate above the generator.

"It's you! The Solarian warrior with lightning powers!" Globgor exclaimed.

"Don't compare me to those witless savages, you brutish beast! I've fought your kind before; This will be too easy!" The villainess shouted, as she fired a horizontal lighting bolt towards the monster dads. Both heroes leapt out of the way, then Globgor tripled his size and tried to grab Lady Lightning. However, she struck him with her Ichor-powered bioelectricity, which had a most peculiar effect; He began to shrink involuntarily!

"No, no, not again!" The shrinking size-shifter worried. Indra charged up for another strike, when she was suddenly drop-kicked into a wall by Buff Frog.

"Thanks for the save."

"You are father too. We look out for each other." The frog man replied, when LL suddenly darted towards him, and struck the monster in the stomach with a flurry of electrified punches, stunning him to the ground.

"I love the smell of freshly fried frog legs." Indra coldly remarked, as she began electrocuting poor Yvgeny. Globgor watched in horror as his comrade began to fry; Lady Lightning's powers directly countered his size-shifting, so he couldn't take her on in a straight-up fight. The key was to fight smarter, not harder. The last king of Mewni grew until he reached the ceiling, and ripped apart a plumbing pipe and bent it towards Indra, soaking her with a deluge of water.

"How dare you douse me, you four-eyed freak!" The false Solarian furiously shouted, as her eyes and cheek marks glowed a chilling hue of blue. However, when she tried to use her electrical powers to slay the monster, she ended up electrocuting herself instead! Stunned by the force of her own lighting, Indra fell to the ground in a smoking heap.

"How did you know to do that?" Buff Frog queried.

"I work in construction. First thing I learned; Water and electricity don't mix..."


Meanwhile, Marco was still twitching and jerking in agony, as the purple wound continued to slowly spread from his stomach. As he continued to be tormented by the Ichor's effects, two of the hazmat men were preparing to experiment on Janna; The other was filling the final needle with ichor.

As the experimenters tied a tourniquet around the teen troublemaker's arm, her heart began to race. While she certainly wasn't scared of needles, she feared what was in these particular ones. She wanted to make a clever joke, some macabre, Janna-esque quip, but she couldn't; The poor girl could only hope that her teammates would rescue her in time.

One of the hazmats stuck the syringe into Janna's shoulder, and began injecting her with Ichor. Immediately, Janna began to feel nauseous, lethargic and light-headed, and they had only administered half the serum. At the three-fourths mark, she could hardly stay conscious.

Luckily, the cavalry had just arrived. A blast of magic broke down the door, and in charged Star, Tom and Sabrina. Star was immediately drawn to poor Marco in his feeble state; His cheek marks were still blinking on and off, and then there was that grievous wound, which was all too familiar to her.

Tom furiously hurled a fireball at the man who dared to inject his girlfriend with Ichor. Star fired an energy blast towards the second scientist, and the third held up his hands and cried out "I surrender!" Now that the scene was safe, the three teen heroes rushed to their captive friends.

Sabrina hurriedly headed to Austin, and sliced through his cuffs with her borrowed wrist-blades.

"Who are you?" Austin confoundedly queried, evidently unable to recognize his own girlfriend behind the mask.

"Someone who loves you." Sabrina replied whilst removing her helmet. She then leaned in to kiss her astonished boyfriend, pleasantly surprising him.

Unfortunately, Star's reunion with her beloved was anything but heartwarming. She tearfully looked into her infirm lover's eyes, and his crescent marks consistently glowed when he saw her face. "Don't worry, Marco. I'm here now." Star whimpered, as she placed her hand on Marco's wounded stomach.

Tom quickly charged up to Janna, pulled the needle from her arm, and ripped off her cuffs with his bare hands. Once freed, the ailing occultist clung to her boyfriend's torso, and weakly whimpered. The once-daring and mischievous miscreant was now a feeble, sickly shell of her former self, which absolutely enraged him.

"What did they do to you..." Tom fretted, then turned his piercing gaze towards the nearest hazmat agent. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?" He roared in his altered, demonic-sounding voice, as flames erupted around him.

"I-I was just f-following orders! I don't even know what that stuff does!" The scientist stammered, feeling absolutely terrified.

"I do..." Star quavered. "That stuff...it has to be magic."

"Cure our friends! CURE THEM NOW!" Tom threatened, using his telekinesis to levitate the frightened scientists in the air.

"We don't know how!" One of them cried.

"Curse me kilts, what's all this?" A certain Scottish supervillain called out, as he menacingly strutted into the room. It was the Ringmaster!

"Star, Austin! Get Marco and Janna to safety! Sabrina and I will handle the circus freak." Tom commanded. Star freed Marco and slumped him over her shoulder, while Austin picked Janna up bridal-style. As they headed out with their disabled teammates, Ringmaster brandished his daunting metal ringblades.

"Well, well, if it isn't the Violet Devil and his friend. Ready for round two?"

"It'll be okay, just follow my lead." Tom told Sabrina, who nodded in agreement. She activated her wrist-blades, and the duo of costumed heroes began to battle the circus-themed Scotsman...


In the meantime, Star and Austin were fleeing down the central hall, with their sickly friends in tow. The two teens reached the central rotunda, where an entire platoon of twenty WattBots was waiting for them, their blasters drawn.

"You gotta be kiddin' me!" Austin raved. Just when things seemed like they couldn't get any worse, the pair of heroes heard loud, clanking footsteps that shook the very ground beneath them. Into the fray came a twenty-foot-tall mech that looked like a cross between a Solarian Warrior and a WattBot, with plasticine white armor, a black endoskeleton, and glowing yellow joints and eyes. This was the Giant Slayer, the piece de resistance of WattWorks' advanced weaponry.

How was this techno-terror being controlled? In a control room with a thick glass window at the top of the rotunda was Wanda Watts, who was now wearing an advanced motion capture suit, with a hologram-projecting earpiece that let her see through the mechanized giant's eyes.

"Well, if it isn't the princess herself."

"Why are you doing this, Wanda?" Star shouted, as she held her wounded boyfriend in her arms.

"I'm bringing order to a world where chaos runs rampant...chaos created by you!" Wanda snarled, seething with vitriol. The Giant Slayer aimed one of its arms towards Star to fire a wrist rocket, when it was suddenly struck by an energy blast.

"Leave my daughter alone!" A familiar, motherly voice exclaimed. Star and Austin looked to see that four of their allies had come to help them; Moon, River, Globgor and Buff Frog, the last of which was armed with a stolen WattBot blaster.

"Mess with Star, you mess with us." Buff Frog threatened.

"I don't care." The British billionaire scoffed. "Eliminate the intruders!"

The robots aimed their weapons at the aforementioned intruders, but Star quickly flew over to her friends and family with her mecha-wings, and used her wand's shield mode to block their shots. While Austin led his disoriented human teammates to safety, the five Mewnian heroes fought back against the bots in one heck of a battle...


Back in the lab, Tom was battling it out with the menacing Ringmaster, while Sabrina followed his lead. The costumed villain hurled a razor-sharp metal ring towards the heroes, but they dodged out of the way with their respective demon powers and borrowed rocket boots. The ring missed them, bounced around the room, and hit the ichor container, spilling the false-magic liquid onto the ground.

Tom swiftly flew around the room, hurling fireballs at the Ringmaster. However, the Scottish supervillain narrowly dodged them with a series of acrobatic flips, jumps and twists, and hurled his trademark battle rings at the half-demon.

On the other hand, poor Sabrina was awkwardly flailing around with her rocket boots. "Aaah! How do you turn these off?" The unlucky lady squealed, then crashed into the ceiling and plummeted to the ground.

"Och! What an eejit" Ringmaster scoffed. He continued to lob rings at Tom, until he was struck by an electrified one that shocked him into submission. "You, on the other hand, are much more impressive." The top hat-wearing cad then pulled a ringblade out from his coat. "Your demonic head'll look mighty fine o'er my fireplace."

The Ringmaster was about to behead the stunned demon, when he was suddenly struck by a familiar blast of red-hued energy. Lo and behold, Sabrina had hit him with a wrist-blast, her boyfriend's specialty!

"Who's the "eejit" now?" Rouge taunted. The mustachioed menace got back up, and scornfully scowled at the helmeted heroine. He threw a pair of razor-sharp metal rings at her, which she dodged with a perfect backflip; Her cheerleading experience really paid off.

Sabrina flew up with her rocket boots, and continued to fire wrist-blasts at her enemy; However, now that he was privy to who he was up against, the villain fared much better, dodging each of her shots. He lobbed an explosive ring towards the girl, and it hit the ceiling and blew up.

"You missed, moron!"

"Wasn't aimin' at ya." All of the sudden, a heavy chunk of debris fell from the ceiling, and landed on Sabrina's legs, breaking them and pinning the poor girl to the ground. She let out an agonizing scream, which shook the Violet Devil to his core.

"Hurts, doesn't it, lassie." The sinister Scotsman sneered. "Almost makes me feel bad for ya."

Infuriated, Tom decided to take drastic measures, and do something he rarely tried out of fear of being shunned; Let loose. The demon's eyes glowed blood-red as he chanted in an ancient, demonic tongue. All of a sudden, the ground burst open, and out of the fiery Underworld charged ten skeletons with fearsome fangs. Ringmaster screamed in terror, and the skeletal warriors jumped him all at once. As the undead horde kicked the terrified supervillain against a corner, Tom rushed to his teammate, and lifted the rubble off of her legs.

"Sabrina! Are you okay?"

"I-I think I broke my legs!" The injured cheerleader sniffled.

"That's horrible!" The half-demon cried.

"Don't worry, I'm used to it. Happens a lot." If there was one upside about Sabrina's life being so unfortunate, it was how surprisingly resilient she was to whatever painful predicaments the universe threw at her...


Back in the rotunda, Star, her parents and their pair of monster allies were battling it out with Wanda's platoon of WattBots, plus her massive metal mech. As they took down the offending robots with their weapons and powers, Austin was hiding in the western hallway, watching over Marco and Janna. The teen gadgeteer watched in shock as Star and her allies fought against Wanda, and felt awful that he was powerless to help them.

All of a sudden, Janna let out a groan, and held onto Austin's shoulder to support herself.

"Janna! Are you okay?"

"Well, I feel kinda...weird. And not the usual weird. How's Marco holding up?" Both teens looked to their infirm teammate, who was still lying on the ground, writhing in pain. Things had gotten worse; The purple wound now covered all of Marco's front torso, and was spreading to his shoulders and back...


"TALLY HO!" River hollered as he used his club to crush a WattBot to pieces. While Moon and Buff Frog used their respective weapons to slay the remaining robots, Star was flying above them using her wand to blast any enemy that targeted her team. Unfortunately, she was about to face a much bigger problem; The Giant Slayer was charging right at her!

But before the Giant Slayer could attack, Globgor grew to a height of twenty feet, and struck the mech with a punch, knocking it into a wall. Then, he held the robot's arms down so it couldn't attack.

"Pick on someone your own size!" The size-shifter remarked. "Crazy lady with a giant mecha-suit? Been there, done that."

"You've never seen anything like me." Wanda retorted. Suddenly, a flurry of flashbang flares ejected from the techno-titan, and exploded into blinding flashes and deafening bangs. Disoriented, Globgor tried to strike at the Giant Slayer, but those flares had temporarily blinded him; Wanda's avatar dodged each and every punch he threw with ease.

The Giant Slayer's fists then began to glow with strange yellow energy, and it threw a powerful punch at Globgor's face, which knocked him out cold and shrank him to his standard size. Strong as the former Prince of Darkness was, he stood no chance against a weapon specifically designed to fight his kind.

"Time to do the world a service." Wanda snarled, as she raised her foot; The technological titan she was remotely controlling mimicked her motion, and prepared to crush Globgor to death with its mighty metal boot. But before she could deliver the blow, a large sphere of yellow energy struck her mech and exploded, knocking it to the ground.

"Leave him ALONE!" Star shouted, hovering in the air with her Magitech wand poised. The Giant Slayer rose back to its feet, and stared Lady Butterfly down with its illuminant yellow eyes.

"You're nothing but a pest, Butterfly! Time for your extermination." The Giant Slayer swung its massive metal arms at Star in an attempt to swat her, but the heroine swiftly avoided the colossus's attacks. Star fired rapid blasts of energy towards the mech, but her pseudo-magical weapon was too weak to compromise its rigid armor.

Suddenly, Wanda landed a hit on Star's back, shattering her mechanical wings to pieces. The poor princess dropped her wand, fell to the ground and cried out in pain, alerting her horrified allies. The injured mewman tried to crawl towards her wand, but the Giant Slayer crushed it beneath its boot, destroying the last bit of magic she had left.

"NO!" Star cried out in horror.

"Looks like you're nothing without your toys." Wanda dryly gloated, as the mechanical titan raised its arm and prepared a wrist rocket. "End of the line, Butterfly."

Just before Wanda launched the rocket-propelled grenade at her enemy, Moon hurriedly rushed to her terrified daughter, and used her shield to block the explosive blast. While the recoil shattered the metal shield and knocked the two monarchs back, Moon and Star were for the most part, unharmed.

Infuriated at the audacity of that abhorrent oligarch, Moon threw her spear at the glass window barring Wanda from the impromptu battlefield. The point of the weapon pierced through the thick glass, then got stuck. Had the window not been so hardy, it would've hit its mark; The blade was merely a meter away from Wanda's heart.

With no weapons left to fight with, Moon then did the only thing she could; Shield her cherished daughter with naught but her own body. This selfless act of courage colored Austin surprised; He never trusted the undaunted queen, but now his views were beginning to change.

"Don't you dare hurt her!" Moon shouted. River and Buff Frog joined her to form a blockade in front of Star, to protect her from the wrathful Wanda Watts. The corrupt CEO hesitated; That desperate look in Moon's eyes was one she saw herself in...but she couldn't stop now that she'd come so far.

"God save the Queen." Wanda growled, then commanded her mech to raise its left arm to crush her enemies. Austin and Janna could only watch in horror; They were nowhere near equipped to help their friends. Marco, on the other hand, seemed helpless...until something inside him snapped.

The Giant Slayer swung its gargantuan arm down like a hammer to kill Buff Frog and the Butterflies, when something wrapped around it, and stopped its fatal blow; A long, slimy purple tentacle. It wasn't God that saved the queen...it was the Devil.

Said sinister-looking tentacle was attached to Marco's right arm, and the boy looked absolutely furious. He used his horrific new appendage to rip the Giant Slayer's left arm off with little effort, astonishing everyone.

"No...it can't be!" Star cried; For more than a year, she dreaded the day the feared Monster Arm would make its return. Without warning, Marco began to convulse again; His eyes and cheek marks both glowed a bright orange. The dark magic wound spread across his entire body, and turned his skin an uncanny purple that matched his tentacle arm. His other mutated into a tentacle that matched his morphed right arm, and the top half of his Martial Boy costume was torn off completely.

"The hell is that thing?" Wanda exclaimed.

"The death of you." Marco snarled in return; This wasn't his regular voice that Star cherished so much; It was the sinister, serpentine speech of the sentient Monster Arm. The perilous parasite leapt used its tentacle arms to pin the Giant Slayer to the floor. Now that the juggernaut was down, it was time to go for its source. The possessed boy smashed through the glass window with ease, pulled Wanda out of her ivory tower, and reeled her close to him, so that there was no escape.

"I don't understand! H-how is this possible!" The terrified tyrant stammered.

"You can treat the symptoms, but you'll never cure the virus." The demonic menace constricted his tentacles around Wanda's entire body, rendering her helpless. "Now, should I rip off your head, or tear you in half?"

"Marco, STOP!" Star tearfully screamed. "Don't kill her, please! I know you're still in there!"

"Marco is gone. This body belongs to me now." The Monster Arm snarled. Right now, Star felt like her heart just tore in half. "But you're right. Why kill some mere human, when I can exact my vengeance on the one who banished me."

Using his host's mutated body, the magical parasite leapt towards Star in an attempt to maul her to death. But before he could kill her using her boyfriend's body, the demon was stopped by a strange field of green energy, which held him in place. Then, he was swiftly thrown through a wall, knocking him into a nearby subway station. Monster-Marco then attached to an oncoming train with his sticky tentacles, giving him a much-needed getaway.

Everyone looked to see where that mysterious magic anomaly came from, and the source was an absolute shocker; Standing at the edge of the western hallway was Janna, whose hands were aglow with green energy. Her eyes were also glowing green, as were matching marks on her cheeks, shaped like eyes with vertically slit pupils.

Everyone gasped in surprise, including Tom, who had just returned with poor, injured Sabrina in his arms. All of a sudden, Janna's eyes, hands and cheek marks all stopped glowing, and the heroine fell to the floor unconscious...


Mic. Dropped.