The main plot is that five ordinary junior high students, Mason Storm, Taylor Hudsonnote , Isabella Ruiz, Deejay Justice (and his robot AXTN), and Junior Kinkaid, are chosen to fight corrupt billionaire Evel Beetle, who plans to take over Mammoth City and the world. The story is told through "scenes", interwoven with songs featuring the kids. Only the first volume (and a preview to the proposed first comic book included in the physical copy) has been released, with volumes two and three never seeing the light of day after the project went under. The official website also contained a "radio series", acting as a prequel to the first CD.
Discography:
- Mammoth City Messengers, Vol. 1 (2004)
Relevant tropes:
- Alliterative Family: Tom/Taylor/Tommy and Mac/Mason/Michael.
- Artificial Meat: When asked if she wants a hot dog at the school soccer game, Taylor replies, "A hot dog? Eww! See if they have any of those tofu dogs."
- As the Good Book Says...: Played straight with the Bible verse segments in the radio series.
- As You Know: Throughout the radio series, as it updated weekly and the listeners likely needed to be reminded of what happened the previous chapters.
- Bait-and-Switch: When he loses the DJ Mix competition to him, DJ Enemy Threat approaches Deejay brandishing a metal pipe. He only goes after his turntable.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: When Evel Beetle takes DJ Enemy Threat under his wing.
- Black-and-White Morality: "Good versus evil" is the series' main theme.
- Call It Karma: The message of "Boomerang".
- Cliffhanger: As it was cancelled, it's unknown how the series resolves.
- Continuity Nod: In the radio series, the Mammoth City Soccer Beetles win the championship and will move on to play in Tokyo. In the comic book, a sign reading "Good luck in Tokyo!" hangs on a railing in front of the school.
- In the series, after the Beetlecube fails to launch, Evel Beetle looks to create something else to control the people of Mammoth City, something "as close as the nose on their faces". In the CD, he comes out with Beetlespecs, mind-controlling sunglasses.
- Several recurring characters make reappearances, such as Jill and Moss.
- Contrived Coincidence: All five kids needed for the mission just happened to go into the janitor's closet at around the same time.
- Cut Short
- Early-Installment Weirdness: In the radio series, Taylor's last name is said to be Grant. However, in the comic, it's listed as Hudson.
- Five-Token Band: Averted. Isabella and Deejay don't convey many stereotypes associated with Hispanic and African American people, respectively; in fact, Isabella behaves more like a Valley Girl.
- Future Slang: "Spy" (meaning "cool") and "fragment" (an insult).
- God Is Good: The message of their songs.
- God-Is-Love Songs
- Hoist by His Own Petard: After DJ Enemy Threat sets fire to the factory, when he goes to escape, he gets turned around from all the flames and smoke and becomes trapped.
- Kick the Dog: The Beetlespecs' influence on Jill makes her blow off and ignore Taylor in the hallway. Taylor doesn't understand why and, to add insult to injury, she starts crying
◊. - Leaning on the Fourth Wall: The radio series progressed on a weekly basis. In the eleventh chapter, we get this exchange:Evel Beetle: I assume you're aware of the big party tonight?DJ Enemy Threat: You've been jawin' about it for, like, ten weeks, man.
- Literal-Minded:Evel Beetle: Get Research and Development to come up with a new initiative. Something that will reach the people where they live. Something that will have every person in Mammoth City sitting in the palm of my hand.Warren Jones: I think you're going to need a bigger hand, sir.
- Most Gamers Are Male: Junior, Moss, and Squire.
- New Powers as the Plot Demands: Deejay's sudden ability to understand AXTN's jumble of beeps.
- Ordinary Middle-School Students: Our main heroes.
- Parents as People: The radio series has the main characters' parents as Good Parents. Mac Storm, Tom Grant, and Anna and Hector Ruiz are prominent members of society.
- Plot Hole: In the CD, E tells the kids that they were specifically chosen for the mission, and that he'd secretly left each of them a note. This doesn't seem to be the case, though; each wandered into the janitor's closet for one reason or another (Taylor needed cleaning supplies, Isabella wanted a quieter place for her phone call, Mason was looking for tools to fix his skateboard, Junior wasn't paying attention and thought it was the boys' room, and Deejay was led in there by AXTN) and none of them appeared to be aware of any notes.
- Running Gag:
- Squire being called "Squirrel", and him correcting them each time.
- Isabella talking about her parents.
- A minor one: "When's this game starting anyway?" in chapter eight.
- The shapes of Artina Savant's ice sculptures being confused.
Taylor: ...Is that an ice sculpture of a cowboy hat over there?Girl: I thought it was an oven mitt! - Shabby Heroes, Well-Dressed Villains: The MCK crew wear casual clothing typical of teenagers while Evel Beetle and his employees sport a suit and tie.
- Shout-Out:
- "Mammoth City Rap" references The Brady Bunch.
- The Mask in "Explode".
- At one point Deejay mentions The Twilight Zone.
- Sinister Shades: The Beetlespecs.
- The Chosen Ones: How the MCK crew is treated.
- The Ghost: Isabella mentions having a brother once, and then he's never brought up again.
- Taylor's other brothers. It's not known if they live with her and her father or even how many there are.
- The Good, the Bad, and the Evil: The MCK crew, DJ Enemy Threat, Evel Beetle.
- Two Girls to a Team: Taylor and Isabella.
- Unexpectedly Dark Episode: Near the end of the radio series, Evel Beetle lures the Mammoth City citizens into his new factory for an unveiling party, then proceeds to trap them inside while he has the building set on fire. To top it off, E asks, "Who will live? Who will die?" This is especially dark when you note that most of them are kids and teenagers and that it's a Christian series aimed at children.
- Vile Villain, Laughable Lackey: Warren is a lot more hesitant and has considerably less evil tendencies than Evel Beetle.
