Prologue

Son, in a year, it will be time to give my crown to you. There are a lot of preparations to make, like choosing a wife, finding others who are willing to become your people, finding a good planet… being king isn't as fun and easy as it seems, my Ort. For now though, let's start off simple-finding your planet. What type of planet do you have in mind? I know of an interesting one up north that you might like. It has two suns. Or would you like to choose your own? Ort's father, Pol, asked him.

Ort was overwhelmed. It had seemed like his 10 years of childhood had gone by too fast. He wasn't ready to become king, much less rule a planet. He wished his sister Zas had been the firstborn, so she could've become queen. It's tradition that the firstborn become a ruler of a planet of their choosing. Ort knew how much Zas had wanted this, but she kept quiet.

Son?

I would like to choose my own planet.

Then let's get started. Lead the way, Ort.

Ort looked around, and then started flying to his left. He looked for interesting looking planets. That was the only good thing about being king-choosing a planet. Ort knew many planets since he liked to explore as a younger Lorthok¹, but he wanted one that was new to him.

Ort hadn't changed much as a little Lorthok. He still looked like a fat, brown, and fuzzy marshmallow, except he was now as tall as a door. He kept his eye color the same-royal blue, his favorite color. He didn't have a nose or a mouth (actually, they didn't really have any body parts), since there was no need to breathe, eat, or talk. They communicated with their minds-you think of something you want to tell, and then you send it after checking it over. Lorthoks were also able to fly really fast, but it slowed down greatly when they were in the gravity of a planet.

Ort checked his surroundings-nothing looked familiar. Good. Perhaps now he can find-

THUMP! Surprised, Ort looked around and saw a funny looking asteroid about four times the size of him; he was confused at how he didn't notice it. It had a cube in the center, and sticking out of it were two rectangles and two circles.

Son, what did I tell you about flying safely?

I'm sorry, I was just distracted….

Son, I know this "king thing" is getting to you, but….

Ort tuned out his father. He would always go on and on about this and that, and he usually repeated things so Ort decided to stop paying attention. Pol never noticed anyway.

Something colorful caught Ort's eye. A planet! It didn't look too bad. It was blue, green, and white. Ort, being the curious Lorthok he is, zoomed over to the planet. Pol stopped communicating and followed.

This planet, son? I don't think you want this planet.

Why not?

It's… well, son, we're not the only living things in the galaxies. There are others, though this is the only planet that I have found so far that has life. This planet has already been taken, so we might as well find another.

No. I'll decide that for myself. I can wash the planet² if I need to.

Pol seemed like he wanted to argue, but stopped himself. He followed Ort, who was speedily flying towards the planet.

A few minutes later, after getting into the planet's gravity, they decided to go to the green area. It looked small from space, but it was actually quite large. When they were floating about 50 feet from the ground, Ort looked more closely at the planet.

It was magnificent. There were other flying creatures like him, except they had things to help them fly. Sticking up from the ground were tall, rectangular shaped rocks with a shiny, see-through surface. The sky's color was a different color than from space, and it had funny looking wisps of white things in it. The green was solid ground, since creatures were walking on it. The creatures walking looked different from the flying creatures. They had a funny looking body, with things sticking out. They also weren't fuzzy on their whole body, only on their heads. They wore colorful garments; some colors he had never seen before. Everything about them was weird-the colors of their body, their fur colors, their funny looking body parts-but all of this made Ort want to be friends with them. Also, something weird was happening. Their mouths were moving, and something was coming out of them. It was like they were communicating, but… not in your head.

"Omigosh, what is that?"

"Ew! It's gross looking!"

"AHH! Someone call 911!"

Most of the creatures were shocked at Ort and Pol, and many took something out of their garments and held it up to them, but not as an offering. Ort and Pol ignored them.

Suddenly, something louder than their way of communicating caught their attention. They looked at the source of the sound and saw six of the same creatures as the ones on the ground, except these were flying. Wherever they went, beams of light followed them-a pink and red, a blue and dark blue, and a green and dark green. They crashed into the rocks, not caring for the creatures inside and the time it took to build the rocks. They slowed down enough so that Ort and Pol could see their faces. They wore expressions of anger, which was rare back on Lorthoxia. There were three females and three males. The females and males were fighting each other, which was not only rare back home, but a crime. There were only a few situations in which anger and violence could be brought out, but Ort somehow doubted that this was one of them.

"Brick, you return that money to the bank right now!"

"Ha, too slow, little girl!"

"Butch, I swear, when I catch you, I am going to beat the daylights out of you!"

Ort didn't understand what they were saying.

Son, you know those business trips I've been going to ever since you were a young one? I was actually coming here, studying these creatures. They call themselves humans. I have learned their ways, and if you want, I will share my knowledge of this whole planet and their languages with you.

Ort didn't know what a language was, but he nodded anyway. Pol lowered his forehead to Ort's. Ort waited for the knowledge to come, and when it did, he was taken aback. Suddenly, he knew everything-what the tall rocks were, why the humans looked how they did, and the meaning of their words. What had seemed interesting before no longer was. There was much violence on this planet, along with pollution. Many animals and humans were dying, and others did nothing to help. There was so much hate. Ort began to get furious. He turned his attention to the fighting teenagers who were still bickering. He made a conclusion that the boys had robbed a bank, and the girls were trying to return the money, but was all this violence necessary? No. It wasn't.

Still, Ort wanted this planet, just without the humans and the animals. He was about to tell Pol that he just wanted the planet washed, but stopped himself. He wanted to make it fair to the humans by giving them a chance to redeem themselves worthy of being alive and living on Earth. He decided he would give them a test of some sort, maybe more. Then he had a brilliant idea. He would make the teenagers with the superpowers do the test-together. The whole planet would be counting on them, and in order for them to succeed, they must get along and work as a team.

You're not going to give up on this planet, are you, son?

No, but I will give the humans a chance to live. Let's go home; I will tell my plan to you on the way. I will give the humans a test….

Ort and Pol flew back to space, Ort telling him his plan.