The Renegades - A Disney Novel

The Assemble?

An eerie silence echoed through the halls of the hellicarrier's interior as Ludo in chains was escorted by a squad of OWCA agents to a deeper, center part of the bottom of the hellicarrier. The almost quiet click of the lock sealing into the cylindrical cell ironically sounded so loud that it could be heart throughout the entire facility.

"In case it's unclear," Major Monogram informed Ludo, "If you try to escape, if you so much as even BREATHE on the glass..."

Monogram pressed a test button, showing Ludo a seemingly bottomless pit right under the tube he was in. Gusts of wind begun to seep under the center as a giant hatch showing the sky was revealed.

"That's 30,000 feet straight down in a steel trap! You get how that works?" Monogram said, shutting the airlock once again. "Ant, boot, squish."

"It's an impressive cage," Ludo remarked, putting his hands up slightly. "Not built, I think, for me."

"Built for something a lot stronger than you," Monogram answered.

"Oh, I've heard," Ludo added, clearly speaking to the cameras of the survellience footage, where everyone watched Ludo above on the bridge. "A mindless beast. Makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?"

"How desperate am I? HOW DESPERATE AM I?!" Monogram growled. "You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can't hope to control, you talk about peace, and you kill because it's fun! You have made me very desperate, young bird!! You might not be glad that you did!"

"Ooh... it burns you to have come so close. To have the Calamity Box, to have power, unlimited power. And for what?" Ludo smirked. "A warm light for all mankind to share. And then to be reminded what real power is."

"Well, let me know if 'real power' wants a magazine or something," Monogram scoffed, leaving Ludo to rot in confinement.

---

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Eda asked.

"Well, Ludo's gonna drag this out," Marco replied, still watching Ludo from one of the camera monitors. "So, Star, what do you know so far about him and what he's planning?"

"He has an army called the Emperor's Coven," Star informed. "They're not of Mewni, nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will surrender themselves to Ludo's command, in return, I suspect, for the Calamity Box."

As soon as Star said "Emperor's Coven", though, Luz spat out her water that she was drinking out of her thermos.

"An real army... from outer space."

"So, he's building another portal," Eda figured out. "That's what he needs Stanford Pines for."

"Stanford? Why?" Mabel asked.

"He's an astrophysicist." Eda responded. "And a high tech level genius."

"He's my great uncle," Mabel specified. "But Ludo has him under some kind of spell, along with my brother."

"I want to know why Ludo let us take him," Marco requested. "There's no way he can lead an army from here."

"I don't think we should be focusing on Ludo," Eda objected. "That guy's mouth is a bag full of barf. You could smell crazy on him."

"Have care how you speak," Star reminded Eda of her insults to Ludo. "Ludo is beyond reason, yes, I understand because of his hostilities, but he is of Mewni. And I know he has a heart and mercy within."

"He killed over a hundred people and destroyed an entire military complex in less than two days," Carl interjected.

"... well, he did try to steal my wand numerous times with Marco and I," Star reasoned.