Liz heard a sharp knocking on her window. She was running late, and if she didn't move swiftly, she'd be late for school. Yet her curiosity got the best of her, and she went over to the window.
Standing on the other side was a person that she'd never seen before. The person wasn't bad looking- in fact he was quite attractive. But the fact remained that he was a stranger. And over the last few years, she'd learned not to trust a stranger, and to definitely never, ever take candy from one.
"Liz!" The stranger said.
"How do you know my name?" Liz backed away from the window. She had to have something she could use as a weapon. Or she should. You think she would have learned by now to carry protection…
"It's me, Liz. Kyle."
She shook her head. "What is it about strangers coming to my window? Is there some kind of sign or classified ad I don't know about? You aren't Kyle."
"Yes I am. And I knew you would be the only one to believe me." He whined.
"Let me prove it to you?"
"How?"
"Ask me something that only I would know?"
"What if you're some sort of alien that's trying to convince me that you're Kyle?"
"I think I am alien. Or this is alien, Liz, I'm scared and I need your help. You said that we'd always be friends and we'd be there for each other. Right after Alex died."
"Where did we have our first kiss?"
"In the janitor's closet at school."
"My birthday is…"
"Uh….uh…I never knew that one, Liz. Plus anybody could find that one out."
"We slept together last year."
The stranger, Kyle, shook his head. "We pretended to. But we didn't. For goodness sake, we both had underwear on. But I made you laugh again…"
"It is you." Liz said in a voice full of wonder. "Get inside here before somebody sees you."
"That was kind of my plan." He grumbled as he climbed in the window.
"How did this happen? Was it some sort of attack or something?"
"I don't know how this happened!" He said, running his fingers through his now, lighter hair. "I went to sleep normal and I woke up a freak!"
"Calm down. I'm going to go tell Mom that I'm sick and I want to stay home. And then I'll call the troops."
***
"I got the box." Max said, climbing into Liz's window. "So what is this all about?"
"Hi, Max." Kyle sat on Liz's bed, still in his changed state.
"What the? Liz, would you like to explain why you have a stranger on your bed?"
Kyle rolled his eyes. "Chill, Senior Presidente. It's me."
Max's eyes grew wide. "What the? Kyle?"
"What, where's Kyle?" Michael said, climbing in the window. "Owww….Maria, I was moving, I swear."
Maria nudged Michael out of the way again and then climbed in the window. "Yeah right. And what's with the dude on the bed?"
"It's me?"
"And who would me be? I don't know you." Michael stated.
"We bowl together!"
"I don't bowl with anyone like you."
Kyle buried his face in his hands. "For crying out loud! You do! It would be nice if people could recognize me. Some friends. Some life, being changed into some sort of freak."
"But at least you're a good looking freak….whoever you are." Maria said, coming over and sitting beside him and rubbing his back. "For some reason, you seem familiar."
Liz breezed into the bedroom. "You brought Tess' stuff? Good."
Michael, Max, and Maria stared at Liz. "Would you care to explain what's going on?"
"Through some kind of something, possibly alien, Kyle's body has changed. The guy on the bed is Kyle."
Maria drew her hands away from his back. "And this is supposed to be some sort of crisis? He looks better then before."
"MARIA!" Michael scowled.
"Well, it's true!" She protested.
Kyle sighed. "Gee thanks. Being turned into an alien freak- an unadvertised beauty secret."
"We will get down to the bottom of this. We always do." Liz said. "And now it's time to research." She walked over to the box that Max had brought over. "Something in here has got to tell us something."
"And if it doesn't?" Michael said, starting to paw through the box.
"Then we get Kyle a job as a male fashion model." Maria chirped.
"Or a porn star." Michael grumbled.
"Really?" Kyle said, his face lighting up. "You think I could?"
"NO!" Maria, Max, and Liz chirped.
Liz picked up a globe, small and crystal like, see-through and shimmery. She gazed into it, and then it seemed to change into a jello like substance and then expanded.
A flash of light shone through the room.
The teenagers shut their eyes, the light too bright for their eyes to stand.
When they opened their eyes, Tess was standing there, dressed in a resplendent white dress.
"What…" Liz remarked
"The…" Michael and Maria chorused in sync.
"Hell…" Max and Kyle finished.
"Do not be afraid." She said.
"What, and I'm supposed to be jumping for joy about now?" Michael grumbled.
"Where's my son?" Max growled.
"Why did you come back?" Liz asked. "Was killing Alex not enough for you? Have you come back to do the rest of us in? One by one? What's your plan."
"I've come to help you. I've come to help you realize your destiny."
"Oh please." Maria groaned.
"My son." Max growled again. "Where is he?"
"Max…there was no child. It was all a mind warp. The sex, everything."
"What? Why? Why would you do a thing like that? Why would you play with my mind, my memory, my emotions? Why?"
"It was necessary, Max. It was necessary?"
Max approached her, so that his face was right in front of hers. "It was necessary, to reveal the truth."
"The truth? What exactly is truth, Tess? I didn't think that you grasped the concept of that word."
Tess stepped away from him, and looked up at the ceiling for a moment, taking a deep breath. "The truth is that I'm not one of you."
The room was filled with silence.
"My name is Atavia. I'm the leader of the Rebellion on Antar. It has been my goal, my responsibility to get the Five, the heroes and saviors of our planet back to Antar, safely, so that they can help free us from the state of unbearable servitude that we are under."
"From Khivar?" Michael said. "Because Isabel thinks that he's been after her, and now somebody's attacking Kyle. And he's one of our humans. And nobody gets away with messing with them."
Tess shook her head. "Khivar has never been your enemy. And he isn't after Isabel, he's just awakening."
"But…But….Isabel said that she betrayed us for Khivar. That he was our downfall."
"Let me start at the beginning." Tess said, taking a deep breath and sitting on the bed next to Kyle. "Relax, Kyle."
"You can see me?"
"Antar had always been a peaceful planet, ruled for a millennia by a five arched monarchy. One monarch came from each of the five continents, and they ruled together peacefully and the planet prospered. Then an alien from a neighboring planet, Dukal, came and overthrew the monarchy. The Dukalians started to spread throughout the system, and they are present on every planet- even Earth. There is an ages old prophecy that the five monarchs could bind together and overthrow any invader or enemy. The last monarchs tried, and then Khivar and Ava were killed, and Ava got sick. So a plan was hatched, to reincarnate Rath, Ava, Khivar, Vilandra, and Zan in human bodies, where they could grow up safely, undetected by the Dukal forces."
"How did they do that?" Michael muttered, talking more to himself than to anyone else.
"Rath, Zan, and Vilandra were still alive. They gave up their lives on purpose to be put into hybrid bodies to support the cause. So scientists searched out and found appropriate human bodies to extract human material from. The bodies were prepared, and sent to Earth, where they would set and hatch when the bodies were able to survive outside the pod, or 1989."
"What about Ava? And Khivar? And weren't you Ava? Wasn't that your dupe?" Liz asked, wringing her hands.
"Ava was not my dupe- Ava was Zan's queen. I met up with the dupes before I came to Roswell, and I changed Ava's appearance to match my own human form. It was important for the plan that it worked."
"What…what plan?" Kyle asked, looking deeply into her eyes.
"Ava and Khivar were purposely separated from the other three. If all 5 were together when they were little, and aware of their connection, then the Dukal could come and pick them off one by one, before their powers were developed to the greatest potential. So they had to be kept close, yet separate from the group. Close enough for their watcher to watch them, but far enough away that they wouldn't draw attention?"
"But wouldn't the powers be a dead giveaway? They give away an otherworldly vibe." Michael shrugged.
"That's why Khivar and Ava would be different. Their powers would only be activated when they were touched by a catalyst- another member of the five. Otherwise the kids would look and act just like normal humans."
"Except for the whole otherworldly destiny thing…"
"Yeah, besides that." Tess said. "And the final gathering, the final catalyst had to be jealousy- emotions had to be stirred up. The humans would have to remember the way they felt before…remember the destiny and love that they had felt before."
"And how does this relate to me?" Kyle groaned, shifting his legs around. "My legs are too long and I want to know what in the hell is happening to me!"
Tess turned to him.
"You are Khivar."
Kyle stared at her blindly. He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. "I'm human. I'm Kyle Valenti. I was born in Roswell General Hospital. My parents are human. I'm not alien."
"Khivar and Ava were killed before they could have a new hybrid body. So their essences were transported to Earth and transplanted into human babies right after birth, in 1983, so that they would be the same age as the others. You were chosen Kyle, and your two personalities have knit themselves together to make you. This is your destiny."
"You knew this all along. You knew who I was. You were supposed to be my friend. Why didn't you tell me?"
"I was your friend." She answered, taking his hand in hers. "That's
why I couldn't.