Author's Note: Hey, everyone. I'm back updating this fanfic in the Young Avengers series. Starting today, I will be posting a new chapter every week until I reached the end of season 1.

Now, I understand there are a few holes when the story began, but I've had a lot of time to brainstorm, and I strongly believe I can pull a good story out of all this. A plan is already in motion.

It starts with updating the list of episodes I'm going over here. Below is my NEW list of episodes I'll be going over this season, including this one.

Lobster Claws
Sleep Spells
Blood Moon Ball
Fortune Cookies
Freeze Day
Royal Pain
St. Olga's Reform School for Wayward Princesses
Mewnipendence Day
Interdimensional Field Trip
Marco Grows a Beard
Storm the Castle

Enjoy this chapter as well as other chapters to come. Any and all comments are welcome.

Another day. Another ambush by Ludo and his monster gang.

Not ten seconds after leaving the apartment complex, America and Star were surrounded by the monsters that went after the want regularly. And like always, the girls were ready to fight.

The giraffe monster came after America, but the superhero flew on up and delivered a hard punch to his throat putting him through pain that he can't reach with his short arms.

"My weak spot!" he groaned weakly.

"Seriously, where did Ludo find you guys?" America asked mockingly. "Hey, Star, what do you… Star, look out!"

America's warning came too late. The deer man managed to get behind her and wrap his arms around her trapping her in his grip. America tried to fly in to save her, but most of the other monsters jumped on her and struggled against her to keep her on the ground.

"Yes! Yes!" Ludo cheered from on top of his flying bat beast carrying him on its back. "Now, somebody, grab the wand! Lobster Claws, you!"

"Oh, yeah! I got this!" the lobster monster cheered pumping himself up. "Go, red boy! Go, red boy! GO, RED BOY!"

"Stop flexing your thorax and get it already!" Ludo ordered.

"This is happening now!" Lobster Claws yelled before scurrying over to the deer monster who held Star in his arms. The wand was sticking out between her and the arms that held her just ripe for the taking.

It was too late. There was no stopping Lobster Claws. Neither Star nor America were able to fight against what happened. Lobster Claws clutched his claws on something and plucked it up holding it high into the air proudly.

"BOOYAH! I got it! I got it! You got clawed!"

Lobster Claws' celebration came to an end when he noticed what he was holding in his claws, something that made all the monsters gasp in disbelief. What he was holding was not the wand, but one of the deer monster's antlers.

Once he noticed his antler was missing, the deer monster released Star to hide his shame. Once she was free, Star blasted herself into the air and readied her next magical spell to end the fight.

"POISON CRYSTAL CUPCAKE KISS!"

A rain of crystal cupcakes rained out of Star's wand and showered down on all the monsters. Enough of them got hit so that America freed herself and punched every monster around her. Star then fired one last cupcake at Ludo knocking him to the ground.

America stood above Ludo smiling down on him. "Had enough, retaco? Please say yes. Star and I got school."

"Fine." Ludo groaned angrily.

"Hey, you're on my backpack." Star said. Ludo took the time to pull the backpack out from underneath him and give it to Star. "Thank you!"

"Later, Ludo." America said leaving the area with Star.

Once they were gone, Ludo stood back up and pulled out his dimensional scissors which he used to open a portal. "All right, morons. Walk of shame. You know the drill."

The deer man with the busted antler was the first to run into the portal. The other monsters followed. However, just when Lobster Claws was about to enter last, Ludo extended his staff to stop him in his tracks.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Where do you think you're going?"

"Uh, back home. To celebrate how close we came with my bros." Lobster Claws answered.

"After that performance?" Ludo asked. "You, sir, are a steaming pile of monster garbage! And! You're! FIRED!"

Ludo proceeded to jump into the portal. It was about to close, but Lobster Claws kept it open to try to include himself back in.

"Hahaha. Good one. You really had me going, boss."

"Ugh! You're even bad at getting fired." Ludo groaned.

He and the rest of the monsters continued to walk off leaving Lobster Claws behind, but not before the deer monster took his antler back. The portal finally closed leaving Lobster Claws in front of the apartment sad and alone.

"Earth history is so cool." Star said as she and America rode in back to their apartment on the latter's motorcycle. "Ben Frankling blowing up that kite monster with his electric lightning powers? Like, whoa!"

"Not exactly how that happened!" America stated. "You see… WHOA!"

America suddenly pulled the brakes on her bike and stopped it right in front of the apartment. She and Star looked and saw Lobster Claws near the front entrance with his front flat on the ground.

"You again?" America asked in shock. "What do we have to do, get a restraining order?"

Star screamed out a battle cry as she jumped on Lobster Claws' back and aimed her wand at him. "You want seconds on those cupcakes?" She awaited an answer, but Lobster Claws didn't respond. "Um, this is the part where you fight back."

"Go ahead!" Lobster Claws sobbed looking back at Star. "Blast me! Do it!"

America raised her eyebrow at the monster curiously. "Is everything okay?"

"Well, uh, the thing is…" Lobster Claws suddenly sobbed letting tears fall out of his eyes like waterfalls soaking up the sidewalk. "MASTER LUDO FIRED ME! I can never show my dace on Mewni again!"

"Ouch." America said. "I kinda feel sorry for him."

"What? No! Don't feel sorry for him!" Star shouted. "This is probably just a monster trick."

"I don't think so, Star." America said. "This seems way too pathetic to be a trick. We should do something."

"Like what?" Star asked.

"I don't know," America said, "But we can't leave him like this."

As she said this, a squirrel made its way to Lobster Claws' path. He picked it up in his own claws.

"America, why do you even care?" Star asked. "He's a monster. Monsters are the bad guys."

"I don't have to be bad." Lobster Claws said. "In fact, I've always secretly wanted to be good."

"Is that so?" America asked. "Well, I guess we can show you how."

"What?" Star cried out. "That's crazy! Monsters are evil! It's just their nature."

"You know, you could show a little more empathy." America said with a bit of disdain. "Remember, I'm a hero. And heroes always help those in need, even sad crustacean beasts. And if he wants to be a hero, who am I to just deny it?"

"He just put that squirrel in his mouth." Star pointed out.

America turned back to Lobster Claws, who smiled revealing the squirrel tail that was sticking out of his mouth.

"SPIT IT OUT!"

After removing the squirrel from Lobster Claws' mouth, the girls brought him on a walk across the neighborhood. Star was still shooting glances at the monster, so America had to take the lead on the lessons.

"All right, Lobster Claws." America said. "It's time to begin your lessons on how to do good. It all starts with the Golden Rule."

"No wearing white after Labor Day?" Lobster Claws guessed.

"Uh, no. It's 'do unto others as you'd have them do to you'." America corrected.

Just as she said that, a man passed by riding on his bicycle. Just as he went by Lobster Claws, the monster swung his fist and knocked him into the grass surprising America and Star.

"Like that?" he asked.

"What? No!" America answered. "You can make it up to that guy by saying you're sorry."

"That's all right. I landed on a sprinkler." the cyclist said recovering and riding off on his bike.

"This is too hard." Lobster Claws said. "I'm never gonna get this."

"Yeah. You should just give up." Star said with a wicked smile and tapping her hand with her want like she was ready to fight with it.

"Star, por favor, be nice." America groaned. "Lobster Claws, when I said that 'do unto others' line, what it means is to treat others the way that you would want to be treated. Would YOU want to be punched and left in the dirt?"

"No, obviously." Lobster Claws answered.

"Good. Now, project that feeling on someone you may have the urge to punch." America said. "Keep thinking about how you'd feel if you were in their shoes, and it'll help your self-control."

Lobster Claws paused for a minute. "Huh. That would have hurt, wouldn't it?"

At that moment, the three of them heard the sound of a little girl sobbing and followed it. They found the crying girl underneath a tree.

"What's wrong, little girl?" America asked.

My kitty's stuck in the twee!" the girl cried. She pointed up to the tree's branches where a white cat was hanging on for its life.

"This is your chance, Lobster Claws." America said. "Saving a cat from a tree is one of the most basic good deeds ever."

"On it!" Lobster Claws said climbing up the tree. A short while after, he returned to the ground with the cat safely in his claws. "Tada!"

"Thank you so much, Mr. Lobster Man!" the little girl cheered.

"All in a days work for…" America stopped when she noticed the cat was now in Lobster Claws' mouth. "LOBSTER CLAWS, TAKE THAT CAT OUT OF YOUR MOUTH NOW!"

Star proceeded to thrust her hands into Lobster Claws' mouth and pull the cat out. Once she was sure the cat was okay, she turned to America. "Now, do you see what we're dealing with?"

"Look, the important thing is that no one got hurt." America said before turning to Lobster Claws. "All we gotta do is… LOBSTER CLAWS, GET THAT GIRL OUT OF YOUR MOUTH!"

"Lobster Claws, I'm trying to give you a chance, but after nearly eating a kid, you're really trying my patience and my temper." America said continuing down the street with the others.

"I spit her out, didn't I?" Lobster Claws asked. "Sorry."

"HELP! HELP!" a woman screamed.

Everyone's attention was drawn to the nearest house, which was bursting into flames while ominous music was being played. A woman covered in soot stood outside in a panic.

"HELP ME! MY BABY IS STILL INSIDE!"

"YOUR BABY?!" Star gasped.

"This might be a bit too advanced for you, Lobster Claws!" America said rolling up her sleeves. "I'll go in and demonstrate how to be a hero!"

"No! I'll go save the baby!" Lobster Claws said. "Consider this my way of making up for my slip up before! And I'm totally not gonna eat it!" He proceeded to run into the burning house before anyone could say a word. Everyone waited a short minute, but there was no sound other than the music.

"I swear, if we end up turning him into cooked lobster…" America said.

"I got this!" Star said holding up her wand. "Cotton Candy Fire Extinguish!" Star blasted her wand into the house, and all the flames have been put out by the sudden burst of cotton candy. She and America then followed the woman into the house.

"My baby! Oh, my baby!" the woman cried happily embracing a large instrument in her living room. It wasn't a human baby. It was a piano. "My sweet baby… grand piano! Are you scared? Tell me what you're feeling." She pressed a key and the piano started automatically playing "Camptown Races".

America stared weirdly. "I was wondering where that music was coming from."

"Um, where's Lobster Claws?" Star asked looking around.

The girls looked around until they found a hole in the back wall shaped like the monster in question. They looked out and spotted Lobster Claws past a broken-down fence. He held up an ice cream stand over his head and poured everything in it in his mouth.

"Well… It's at least a step up from eating cats and people." America said to a still-unconvinced Star.

"Okay. This is it." America said nearing the end of her rope once they reached the city. She looked down the block and spotted an old woman attempting to move through the crosswalk. "Lobster Claws, this is one of the most basic good deeds. All you have to do is make sure the old lady over there makes it across the street safe and unharmed."

"Got it." Lobster Claws said scurrying over to the old lady while America watched hopefully.

"Okay. So far, so…"

"HOW DID YOU BURN DOWN FOUR CITY BLOCKS THAT QUICKLY?!" America yelled out once she, Star, and Lobster Claws returned to the apartment.

"I don't know! It all happened so fast!" Lobster Claws said miserably. He then sighed looking down. "I'm really sorry, girls."

"You know, Ames, we could just…" Star started to say before America interrupted her.

"Not another word, Star!" She sighed. "I need a moment." She headed over to her bedroom. Star looked at her friend leave and became worried.

A minute later, Star followed America into her room and found her laying on her back to the bed.

"I know what you're going to say, Star." America said. "Can we just not and say you did?"

"Ames, you saw what Lobster Claws did today." Star said. "He ate a cat and a kid, he ignored a burning house, and he nearly wrecked the town for no reason. I tried to warn you about him."

America sighed. "Okay. Maybe you were right about Lobster Claws being trouble. If this is how he always was in his old gang, it's no wonder Ludo was always so cranky. I guess I just wanted to prove you wrong."

"Well, that's rude." Star commented.

"No, Star. What's rude is your comment earlier that being a monster automatically means they're evil." America said sitting up. "That's a pretty cruel prejudice you're going with."

"Wait, what?" Star asked.

America sighed. "Growing up, there were certainly times when I faced my fair share of unfair intolerance. So when you kept saying that monsters are evil by nature without even giving him a chance, I felt a little attacked."

Star stayed silent before sitting beside her friend. "Jeez. Sorry, America. I didn't realize you felt that way. I guess I've gotten used to everyone saying that monsters are just that; monsters. I suppose it was a little unfair to not give Lobster Claws a chance. Still, you gotta admit that he's more trouble than he's worth."

"I know." America said. "I guess the only way we can help him now is to get him his job back. But how? Ludo is probably furious at him."

Star thought for a minute before getting an idea. She gasped out a smile as her heart symbols on her cheeks became bright light bulbs. "I GOT IT! COME WITH ME!" She grabbed America's hand and brought her back to the living room. "Lobster Claws, we've got a…"

Lobster Claws looked back at the girls, who all stared in shock when they found a swan halfway in his mouth.

"HOW DID YOU EVEN MANAGE THAT?!" America shouted.

Lobster Claws opened his mouth again and laughed nervously as he headed to the open window and threw the swan out. "So… what's the plan now?"

"The plan if for you to get your old life back." Star said. "And I know just how to do it."

Once the sun started to set, Star headed to the park where she set up a hammock between two trees. She then laid herself upon it and closed her eyes to relax. She had her wand sticking out for anyone to see, which drew the attention of a certain bird monster.

Ludo quietly opened his portal to the park and led his monster gang out of it. They all crept up to a sleeping Star until Ludo got close enough to grab the wand. He was just about to grab it when Star woke up and pulled her wand away from his reach.

"Ludo!" Star yelled. "I was just dreaming about kicking your butt!"

"Well, Star…" The monsters gasped when they noticed America standing at the side cracking her knuckles. "How about we make that dream a reality?"

America flew off the ground and charged at the monsters. She knocked most of them down with her arms before grabbing Star and moving her away from her hammock. Once she set her down, Star shot blue blasts at the monsters that went after her.

"This plan of yours better work, Star." America whispered before throwing a kick at the two-headed monster.

"It will." Star whispered back between blasts. "We throw the monsters around, Lobster Claws shows up, I let him beat me up a bit to impress Ludo, and he gets his job back before we send them all packing again."

"Okay. I'm going to lead the monsters away to create some distance and make it look believable." America said. She then grabbed the giraffe monster by his legs and swung him around catching everyone but Ludo in his long neck and tossing him aside. She flew over to continue fighting them while Star had Ludo cornered with her wand pointed right at him.

"All right, Ludo! I got more than cupcakes this time!" Star proclaimed. She stood there motionless until her eyes shifted around. "Uhh, I said 'I got more than cupcakes this time!'"

"GO, RED BOY!" Lobster Claws yelled out jumping from behind a tree. He jumped between Ludo and Star readying a battle stance against the princess. "Don't worry, boss! I got this!" He scurried over to Star and faked a few blows at her while she pretended to fire blasts at him.

"Boss? Didn't I fire you?" Ludo asked witnessing the fake fight. "Look, Lobster Claws, I do see marked improvement, but I'd really be impressed if you would just grab the wand!"

Lobster Claws, hearing Ludo's demands, looked back at Star with her back on the ground. Desperate enough to impress his boss at last, he decided to snatch the wand out of her hands and hold it up in his claws.

"HEY!" Star shouted.

"WHAT?!" America yelled flying away from the monsters. "Hey, idiota, what's going on?! That wasn't…" Her mad expression suddenly changed into nervousness and worry. "Uh, what's it doing?"

The wand started to change in Lobster Claws' grip. It started with red cracks all around, but when the cracks broke apart, it suddenly changed. It now had a purple handle, thorned wings, and a demonic eye.

The wand wasn't the only thing that was changing. Lobster Claws' eyes transformed into black and purple while his wand-holding claw was covered in purple veins. He growled in a grizzly tone while small parts around the park floated around him.

"BEING BAD FEELS SO GOOOOOOOOOOOD!" Lobster Claws declared.

"How could you do this?!" Star shouted. "America and I were trying to help you!"

Lobster Claws stared at Star and began to change back. For a second, his eyes blinked back to normal, and the wand shrunk down to a cute lobster-themed item with a big, cute eye.

"Don't listen to her! She's the enemy!" Ludo shouted urging his minion to revert to his evil transformation.

"No! You don't want to hurt us!" America argued.

"America's right, Lobster Claws!" Star agreed. "I didn't know what to think of monsters at first, but that moment just now! It showed me that there is some good in you! Don't do it!"

"Act like a monster and give me the wand!"

"Lobster Claws, please!"

Lobster Claws struggled between the arguments held around him. One side told him to embrace the inner good that was potentially within him while the other told him that he was entirely bad. One side of him fought to keep his evil form while the other side fought to keep everything safe.

During the struggle, Lobster Claws opened his eyes slightly and looked over at America. He then whispered something so that she would hear him.

"H… Hit… me…"

America nodded and flew over to Lobster Claws. While he struggled, she launched her fist up to his chin and connected a strong uppercut that sent him falling onto his back. The blow also knocked the wand into the air which landed in Star's hand. It then changed back into its original form with its white wings and yellow, star-shaped crystal.

"UGH! I always forget about the flying girl!" Ludo shouted.

"Oh, do you now?" America asked before flying over to Ludo and punting him like a soccer ball. "Try to forget that!"

"Stardust Daisy Devastation!" Star declared firing a yellow stream of light at the monsters defeating them all in one blow.

"RETREAT!" Ludo shouted leading his monsters to the open portal. Once again, Lobster Claws was about to go in last, but Ludo stopped him. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. You!"

"Uh, what about me?" Lobster Claws asked.

"You had the wand in the palm of your claws!" Ludo shouted before smiling. "What did it feel like?"

"It kind of tingled." Lobster Claws answered.

"I knew it!" Ludo cried out excitedly. "I'm so jealous. Can I touch your claws?"

Lobster Claws indulged him by allowing him to caress the claw he used to hold the wand. He entered the portal with Ludo welcomed back into the gang, but not before he looked back and saw the girls. He smiled at them and whispered "thank you" before the portal closed behind him.

"Well, it looks like it all worked out." Star said.

"Looks like it." America said. "Still, I gotta ask, what was that with the wand? Why did it change and transform like that when Lobster Claws held it."

"Oh, that?" Star asked. "Well, the wand tends to change its form depending on whoever's holding it. When my mom held it, it looked like a crystal scepter thingy. And you saw how it looked when Lobster Claws held it."

"Wow." America said staring at the wand. "I wonder how it would look if I held it."

"Pretty cool, I bet." Star said. "Though, it looks like it also depends on whether there's good or evil in someone's heart. If it kept shifting around even though a monster had it, then it looks like you were right. Monsters can be good if they have the chance. Sorry I acted like the way I did before.

"It's okay, Star." America assured. "Though, it looks like there's a time when someone's ready to be a good guy after being bad, and it seems like Lobster Claws still has a bit of a ways to go before he's ready."

"Until then, we still kick monster butt?" Star asked.

"Only because they try to hurt us, not just because they're monsters." America said.

"Deal." Star nodded.