Chapter One

She was young, nearly what appeared to be 5 earth years old, and she was running…not in fear…she was running away from another child. A boy, the same golden hair as her, the same age.

"I'm gonna get you Ahv!" the child called, sand flying behind him as they raced down the strip of pink sand by the red waters of Antar.

"Got to catch me first Ray!" she replied, looking over her shoulder at the boy. She smirked; she had always been the faster runner of the two.

She looked ahead of her; there was a large bolder, just at the base of Dimaras Rock, that was the sanctuary in their game of Catcher (A/N – like tag). If she could reach it, she'd be safe and win since he'd caught the others.

Suddenly two arms wrapped around her and swung her around, she could feel her captor stagger from the force of her run. Once she was set back on the ground, her captor grabbed her wrist to prevent her from escaping. "No fair Key!" she shouted, stomping her little bare foot in the sand. She knew it was fair though, if the Catcher caught someone, then that person was allowed to help catch others.

"Come on Ahva, you know the rules," the boy said smirking. He appeared a little older than the girl he held in his grasp, but with the same blue eyes and smug smirk. "Remember what you did to Nic?"

Ava rolled her eyes; it wasn't her fault that the toddler was as gullible as to think that you could catch the Catcher. Technically, trickery was cheating, but there was no rule in the game to definitely say so.

Just then she felt someone smack her arm. She turned to see that the Catcher had just tagged her…she lost…he'd won…Her captor let go of her arm, moving to shake hands with the Catcher for their outstanding team work in winning the game. Ava pouted for a moment before an idea struck her. An evil smirk appeared on her face as she walked slowly up to the two boys. "Key…" she started, getting his attention. Quickly, she reached out and smacked his arm before taking off, calling over her shoulder, "Catcher, catcher, you are the snatcher!"

Key stood there for a moment before realization dawned on him. He looked to his left where his partner in crime was standing. They stared at each other for a moment before he took off with Key chasing after them…

She blinked a few times, all traces of the memory fading from her mind. She looked around as sounds started to filter through her brain once more. There she was, sitting in the Crashdown next to Max while he and Michael talked incessantly about Michael's growing power control…while waiting till Liz's shift finished of course. Who could forget about ever perfect, Liz Can-Do-No-Wrong Parker.

Apparently she and Max had a date that night and Max had been there since after school, waiting for her shift to end. She and Michael had only arrived a half hour ago after another training session so that Michael could brag about his ability to melt rocks…no not blow them up, he'd moved on from that, now he could melt them.

'Whoop-de-do,' Tess thought to herself, 'If only Michael could remember the beautifully destructive power Wrath possessed. He wouldn't be too proud that he could just melt rocks. Hell, even Wrath himself wouldn't have been proud of that! That's a baby trick! Now getting a boulder to jettison hundreds of meters away while making it shatter into millions of very specific, sharp, shards and strike the throats, chests, and heads of exact enemy targets…that was a trick worthy of praise.'

She sighed, this would have to do for now. She had to keep reminding herself that Michael was not Wrath any more. He might be better, he might be worse…she didn't know. She only knew that for now, she had to humor him. Praise him, while still pushing him forward.

She looked over to Max and Michael, Max was in the process of warning Michael not to get too excited about their powers, to keep it on the down low. She shook her head. Max would never learn; they'd need Michael's powers if the Skins ever attacked again. She was honestly surprised that Max and Isabel even realized they had powers to begin with; they were so dead set on being human.

Where was Isabel anyway? Tess knew that Isabel was there, Max had mentioned driving her to the Crashdown just before she and Michael had left to practice. Tess sat up a little straighter and scanned the room for her…friend? Princess? Acquaintance? She didn't even know where she stood with Isabel. When they had found out that Tess had been an alien too, Max had nearly forbid Isabel to even so much as look at her. The small sliver of friendship that they had started to build had been shredded to bits.

Finally a flash of golden brown caught her eye. There she was, Isabel, Princess of Antar…sitting in a booth…talking with a human…Oh how the mighty had fallen. Not to get her wrong or anything, Tess had absolutely no problem with humans…most humans…Kyle and Jim were very nice to her. It was just that…it hurt that her family, the only three people (not counting the Dupes of course) like her in the universe trusted humans more than her. It was no secret that neither Max, nor Isabel, nor Michael to an extent trusted her.

Now that she looked closer, Tess saw that Isabel was sitting with a boy…a new boy…someone she was certain Isabel didn't know. Funny, how she would trust a human male who probably wanted to speak with her only to jump her bones, more than she trusted her once closest companion.

Tess' eyes narrowed in suspicion…that boy…who was he? He looked…familiar…She squinted, trying to make out more of his features; he was sitting on the opposite side of the restaurant after all. He really did look familiar…almost…too familiar…

Then without warning, the stranger looked up…right at Tess. Her eyes widened as a small flash played across her mind while she stared at him. It couldn't be! He couldn't possibly be here! It just…it wasn't possible!

"No…" she whispered.