Homecoming: Sparks of Rebellion

Many years had passed since we had our meeting. Celestial and I had become fast friends to say the least. She told me of what she could remember of her past, where she was from, how she got here. But despite of all she told me, she'd never revealed why she was here.

Eventually we grew older and she gained more power as she did. The Plumbers were forced to move her into a bigger facility to train her to become an agent for them. Around that time I became one of the youngest people to graduate out of high school in my area, at age sixteen. I spent the rest of my time working with my grandfather at the underground. We got new recruits coming from all different parts of the galaxy and beyond. I got to take notes on them, observe them, and track them down on the monitors. Aliens had become my day and night now. Soon I joined the same program that my best friend was in. When I got there I realized just how wrong the world really was to aliens. They were cast out, treated poorly, and being used as pawns and weapons. It seemed that Celestial was getting the worst of these attacks. Being an alien of unknown species was really taking a toll on her.

And that's when it all started...

Selena nervously chewed her lip. It was her first day on the field and she was sweating bullets fast. She had made it through the rigorous training school to make it this far. Now she was going on her first mission outside the Underground.

A wave of warmth washed over her and she sighed contently. A pair of arms wrapped around her shoulder as a head laid gently on her back. Selena smiled, knowing that it was Celestial. The alien herself had made a more humanoid body to blend in with the rest of society better. Her light orange hair cascaded down her back, the tips tinted with gold. Her fiery matching eyes were closed as she buried her face deeper in her back. Both of them were wearing the standard uniform: a black and white jumpsuit with the strange symbol on their chest.

"You don't know how much I've missed you Sel. It's been way too long." She said, tightening her hug. "Have they been treating you right?"

"As fine as I can tell. Grandpa has been keeping me busy with all the lab work."

"Your always in that lab! You need to spend more time out of the cyberworld and focus on your real friends."

"Oh? And where can I find these real friends?"

Celestial pouted and brought her face up. She placed a warm hand on Selena's back and traced her spine with the glowing tips. Selena tensed for a moment before relaxing, the tension releasing from her back.

"See, am I a good friend or what?" Celestial joked, giving her another hug. "Now let's hurry before Magister Tennyson wonders where we are."

"Okay..." Selena murmured dreamily, closing her eyes in happiness. Her friend giggled at this and patted her back a bit more.

"Hey freak! Quit messing with McKnight!"

Selena rolled her eyes as a blond boy walked over towards them. His green eyes glared at Celestial, who was gripping on her shoulders now.

"What was that? I wouldn't be calling me a freak now if I were you." Celestial said, growling at the boy.

"Lay off Josh. Celestial is my oldest and dearest friend." Selena countered, glaring at the young cadet.

Josh scoffed and walked around her to face Celestial. "It's alien breeds like you that make the scientist work extra hard. Why don't you tell us what you are already freak?"

Selena could hear the sizzling of hair burning when he said that. She had to stop this before her friend did something bad.

"If you excuse us Josh, we have to get going. Our mission is starting soon and we don't want to miss our flight." Hastily, she grabbed Celestial's hand and walked past the jerk.

"Sel, what if I told you I wanted to make a better world?"

Selena looked up from the mission pad she was reading and gave her friend a curious look. They were in the plane that would take them to their destination. The question struck her a bit odd, making her eyebrows furrow.

"What do you mean "a better world"? You mean one where we all live in unity?" Selena asked her.

"No...I mean, one where aliens won't be hidden from humans." She turned around in her chair, a sadden expression on her face. "Aliens like me and the rest have been in that Underground facility for far too long. I wanna make a world where we can be who we want to be without human prejudice." She grabbed her hands and looked into her eyes with an intense burning look. "Help me create a better world. We can use your research to build a better one."

"Celestial I-I-I don't know what your saying." Selena said, a bit frightened. Her once happy friend was giving her a crazed expression as she nuzzled on her shoulder.

"Think about it Sel. You study different varieties of aliens everyday! You know their strengths and weaknesses. With your knowledge and my powers, we can take over the Underground and get the world I desire. No...what we desire."

Selena considered this. From what she saw at the Underground, the aliens there were being used as test subjects rather than treated like normal people. She remembered being younger and watching the experiments being took. It suddenly came to her that those experiments were wrong! Gasping, she let go of her friend's hand and reached into her backpack. Fumbling around a bit, she pulled out a certain notebook that she'd taken notes in for years. Flipping through the pages, she saw the entry on Celestial and hitched her breath.

Prone to be unstable. Do not try to make angry. Subject has unfathomable powers. Must do more work on her psyche.

Do more work on her psyche.

"So you finally realize the truth." Celestial said, going back in the front seats. "I didn't lose my memories at all."

"How...what did they...why is..." Thousands of questions swarmed in her head at once as her friend smiled evilly. "No...you didn't!"

"You know Sel, I loved working at the Underground. Really I truly do." A picture of the Underground appeared on the screen. "But you of all people should know how much I've endured through those years. And then you come along and changed my loneliness into a friendship. They knew you were about to make a breakthrough, they knew you would be the one to figure out who I really was."

"Your speaking in riddles Celestial. I don't understand what's going on."

"My dear sweet friend, you really are naive when it comes to social interactions. The scientist, your grandfather, even your classmates know you have a gift to make friends with the most unusual species of aliens. Your calming presence within the lab made it easier for them to study more aliens."

"I-I-I..."

"Time to say goodbye to them, because as of now, you are my only connection to the ancient aliens."

An explosion went off behind them as the facility went up in fire.