1.1 DISCLAIMER: Ah doh own dem.
1.2 AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know, I know. I'm a bad author. *Hits self with a stick* I'll try not to leave it hanging like that again. Sorry!!
1.3
1.4
1.5 CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Bombs were dropping left right and center. Smoke billowed from the ground in large, poisonous clouds, engulfing the sky in its black hands. Fires burnt about the city. Civilians screamed and cried. The war was full fledged and more would die. The single planet had three parts, those for Zan, those for Rath and those for Khivar. The war for the kingdom was fast killing the planet. The King's army was weakening and it was most certain that Khivar would win the savage war. Already, the Queen had met her end and it was rumored that the Princess was against her brother and betrothed.
Cortenia was afraid for her best friend, Rath, the king's second in command. He followed his king's orders and fought bravely, but she thought that soon, he, too, would be dead. She paced the length of her bedroom in worry. It had been so long since she'd heard from him…not since the night he heard that Nikaid was on Khivar's side. He was convinced that it was all his fault, and that she and her sister would be in danger if he hung around. They gave Khivar ammunition. Future collateral if need be.
Their friendship was still, pretty much, a secret. The only ones that knew were them, Kaylanna and Nikaid. The fact that Nikaid knew was dangerous as it is, the fact that he was now the enemy made it lethal, for now, Khivar knew how to get to the general.
Cortenia was pulled from her reverie by a frantic pounding at her door. She pulled it open to reveal a distressed Rath. He hurriedly closed the door behind him and pulled her into a hug.
"You're okay!" he said into her shirt.
"Yeah, I know," she said, she pulled away and looked at his face. There were tears cascading down his chiseled cheeks. His once lively hair lay grungy and flat atop his head. His face was covered in black soot. "What happened to you?" she led him over to the couch.
"He's dead," he said, choking on a sob.
"Who-who's dead?" she asked.
"Zan, he's dead. They…k-killed him right in front my eyes."
She shook her head and pulled him to her, letting him cry on her shoulder. He was losing the only family he had ever known and could do nothing to stop it. She rubbed his back.
"It will be okay. You will win this war without him. It's not like he was much of a help anyway. I can help you fight…"
"NO!" he shouted, pulling away, "I can't lose you, too. You're all I have left. I have to tell you something."
"Rath, I don't think this is the time to confess the never ending love you have for me, but if you must, confess away," she joked. He laughed slightly.
"Somehow I think your sister would enjoy that more than you," he said, with a small smile.
"I think you are right. Pity though…"
"Cort, I really need to tell you something. I am trusting you and only you. You mustn't tell anyone. Not unless it is absolutely necessary," he said seriously. She nodded. "The Queen. She's made clones…of me, Lonnie, Zan and Ava. She will send them to Earth to grow so that we may return and defeat Khivar. It is obvious that we will not win this war. You know it, I know it, our people know it, we will lose."
"I don't understand, what does this have to do with me?" she asked. He pulled out a small vile of blue liquid. "What is this?"
"It's a serum of sorts. The royal scientists discovered that this helps us to adapt to the atmosphere of Earth." He placed it into her open palm and closed it over the small object. "I want you to go with them."
"But Rath…"
"Go. You have to do this for me. I can't die knowing that I failed my whole family. You must go. Go to Earth."
"But…"
"I already gave one to Kaylanna. The ship leaves tomorrow. I have a man who will let you on secretly. Just give him your name and he should let you on. His name is Private Vardex."
"But Rath…"
"Please? For me?" he pleaded, "I cannot bear the thought of my best friend dead and I will surely die tonight, so please. Just take the formula an hour before you get on the ship. When you get to Earth, you will be safe…or at least safer than here."
"I will."
Maria Deluca walked into the kitchen on Saturday. It was the day after they were attacked by the demons and she was still waiting on a reaction from her mother. After the truth about her after school activities…well, besides the nookie, got out, her mother had retreated into the silent confines of her room. Now, it was about two o'clock in the afternoon and she finally came out to greet the world.
Amy Valenti was sitting in the kitchen, in her bathrobe drinking coffee like a zombie. Her hair stuck out in all directions, much like Michael's did two years ago.
"Mom?" Maria said, when she didn't acknowledge her presence. She looked up and tried to smile.
"Oh, hi, baby. Do you want some breakfast?"
"It's two o'clock, Mom," she said.
"Right. I knew that. So, where are you going?"
"I was going to meet Michael at Giles' for training."
"Oh."
"Do you want to come? See what I do?"
Amy smiled. "Of course. Then I can ream out this Giles for putting my baby in danger." Then, with a new determination, she went upstairs and changed into jeans and a T-shirt. Within ten minutes she was back downstairs and together they walked to Giles' house. It was only a few blocks away.
When they got there, Maria unceremoniously walked through the door without even a knock and headed to the basement like she owned the place.
Amy looked around in awe at the wide expanse of training equipment in the room. Teenagers were strewn about the gym and were either doing some form of martial arts or reading some cryptic looking books. An oldish looking man walked up to them, cleaning his glasses.
"Hello, Maria," he said, warmly, "And who might this be?"
"Giles, this is my mom. I had to tell her because we got attacked in the park last night. A whole butt load of demons," Maria said.
"Oh, quite. Buffy told me about your little encounter. We are in the process of identifying the demons now. I assume you weren't harmed in any way?"
"Ain't nothing wrong with me," she answered.
"I swear, Maria, you're hanging out with Rath too much," Isabel said as she walked up to them, sipping her water.
"That's 'cause nobody can resist this bod," Rath said from behind them. He had just arrived with Michael. Michael immediately left Rath's side and went over to his girlfriend. He kissed her on the cheek and wrapped his arm around her waist.
"Mrs. Valenti, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"I brought her so she could see that we're prepared for anything the demons throw at us so she won't worry," Maria answered.
"Any word on those demons yet?" Rath asked, walking over to his own girlfriend who was sitting on the bleachers, huddled over a book.
"Nope," a short redhead answered, "Hi, I'm Willow." She put out her hand to Amy.
"Amy Deluca-Valenti," Amy said shaking her hand.
"Well, I guess this is welcome to the Scooby Gang," she said cheerfully, before heading back over to Tara.
"See mom? Friendly people," Maria said, "Why don't you go sit in the bleachers and we'll show you whatever you want."
Amy nodded and sat next to Willow.
"Okay," Giles commanded, "Let's get started."
And with that, the training began. There was sparing, yoga and a lot of gasping from Mrs. Valenti. They worked hard and fought well. Within an hour of the session, Amy cornered Giles and squeezed every last bit of detail of the life of a Slayer from him. The man looked quite scared. It was the Deluca charm. At about five o'clock, the training ended and everybody settled down to research the demon clan they stumbled onto. Even Michael and Maria buckled down and read. They couldn't very well make out in front of Maria's mother. At 7:30, Amy, Michael, Maria, Rath and Faith went back to the Valenti residence.
"Jim, honey, I'm home!" Amy called as she walked in. there was the distinct sound of laughter coming from the living room. Female laughter. "Jim?"
Amy, Maria, Michael, Rath and Faith walked into the living room to find Jim, Kyle and Ava sitting on the sofa across from an old woman. She had faintly blonde hair and a young demeanor.
"Mom?" Amy said in surprise, "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, Amy is that any way to greet your own mother," the woman said, getting up from the comfy armchair. Maria instantly flung herself in her arms. The woman returned the hug with equal fervor. "Well, child, aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?"
"Sure, grams. This is my boyfriend, Michael, his twin brother, Rath and his girlfriend, Faith," Maria said. She missed the look of recognition on the woman's face.
"Could it be?" she whispered. Maria looked at her strangely. Since when did her grandma have an accent? "Rath and Ava. I should have known from the start," she said to herself. Everyone but Amy stiffened when she said this. She noticed. "Amy, could you make me some tea, please?" she asked sweetly. When Amy left to the kitchen, the woman hugged Rath tightly. Rath looked confused as ever.
"Do I know you?" he asked, tentatively. She withdrew herself from his arms.
"What, I can't give my best friend a hug? Heaven forbid big army man gets a hug. What ever will the soldiers think?" she said. There was a hint of recognition in Rath's eyes. He squinted at her.
"Of course you don't recognize this face," she said. She held her hand in front of her and in a flash of light, she changed form. Her hair grew longer and her wrinkles lessened. She took on a younger figure. "Is that better?"
Rath's eyes widened in delight. "Cortenia?" he said in disbelief before grabbing her and twirling her around. Everyone looked confused and Faith looked slightly jealous.
"Anyone care to explain?" Michael asked. This woman looked just like Courtney, but she was dead, he was sure about that. Cortenia turned to look at him. She hugged him too, though briefly. She turned to Rath for an explanation.
"He doesn't remember the past," he said, "This is Cortenia. She was my best friend on Antar."
"But, I thought Zan was your best friend," Ava said, "I don't remember her."
"That's 'cause you never met me," Cortenia answered, "Rath used to sneak from the palace every week to meet me. Since we were thirteen."
"So, let me get this straight," Maria said, "You, grandma Deluca, are an alien? And you were my boyfriend's past life's girlfriend? Which means that I'm getting my grandmother's seconds."
Rath and Cortenia looked at each other before bursting out in laughter.
"Yeah right!" Rath exclaimed.
"We were never together, just friends. Like you and Alex," Cortenia assured her, "Though that's a screwed up scenario if I ever heard one."
"I think you better change back before mom gets back," Kyle warned from the couch. They had completely forgotten he was there. Cortenia quickly turned back to her original form and sat back in her chair as Amy came back in with the tea.
"So, mom, what brings you here?" Amy asked as she seated herself on the couch.
"What, I can't visit my favorite daughter and grand daughter? Heaven forbid you entertain your old mother for a day or two. Well, fine. A girl can take a hint," she said, teasingly. Rath smirked. Same old Cortenia.
"Grams, you know that's not true," Maria said, "I so have to call Liz. We can have a girls' night. You know she totally misses Grandma Claudia, I'm sure she'll love it. Oh! And we can invite Izzy and Faith can come. You'll come right? Right. Come on Michael, we have ice cream to buy. Grams, you coming?"
"Yeah, babes, right behind you," she answered, smiling. She turned to Amy. "I'll see you later. I assume you're coming."
"Of course, I'll come to girls' night! I've not had one in ages. Jim, you and the boys can have boys' night or something. You're not invited," Amy said, "I better go get some movies. We'll meet back here at, what, 9:00?"
"Okay, bye!" Maria called as she led her friends, lover and grandmother out the door. They all piled into Cortenia's brand new SUV and drove in the direction of the Food Giant.
"So, what have I missed of your life, Rath?" Cortenia asked, looking at him through the rear view mirror.
"Nothing much," Rath answered, "You?"
"I kept my promise, you know. Stayed safe."
Everyone else seemed lost but listened into the conversation anyway.
"What about Kaylanna?" Rath asked.
"I don't know, I mean, last I heard, she was developing an army here on Earth to protect you from Khivar's men. I last heard from her thirty years ago. She still had that youthful form, looked like she did back home, how we looked. I think she's still in love with you," she teased.
"Her stalking abilities must be rusty if she hasn't found us yet."
"Who?" Michael asked, finally fed up of being out of the loop.
"My twin sister, Kaylanna," Cortenia answered, "she had a huge crush on you back home. I'm pretty sure she had a shrine somewhere."
'Oh crap!' Michael thought to Maria.
'You don't think she's…'
"Courtney," Michael said aloud. The others turned to look at him.
"What?" Rath asked.
"Cortenia, I think your sister is dead," he said softly. Cortenia slammed on the brakes.
"What!"
"We stopped the harvest and killed all the husks. I rescued Courtney's, but it was premature. She was dying, so I told her where the Granolith was so that she could save herself. I just had the feeling that I had to protect her, you know," Michael said, his head down. He looked Cortenia in the eye, "Nicholas found her on the way to the Granolith. He was going to mind rape her to get the location, so she killed herself so he wouldn't get the info. I'm sorry."
"Don't blame yourself," Cortenia said reassuringly, "She wouldn't want that. You tried to save her. You cared about her and that alone probably let her die a happy woman." She pulled into the parking lot of the Food Giant.
They all got out of the car and went into the store. They picked up a large supply of ice cream, chips, cookies, popcorn and other snacks. On their way back, Cortenia dropped Michael and Rath back home. Valenti, Kyle and Sean were sitting in front of the front door with duffel bags.
"Amy kick you out?" Michael asked, unlocking the door.
"We can stay here, right?" Kyle asked. They nodded and dropped their bags on the counter as they piled in.
"What'd you bring?" asked Rath, nodding to the bags in their hands.
"Cards, poker chips and movies," Valenti answered.
"Action?" Rath asked.
"The only kind," Sean answered.
"Body count?"
"Very high."
"My hero."
"So, does mom know that you're, you know," Maria asked, waving her hand in the air, "Czechoslovakian?"
Cortenia quirked an eyebrow. Amy had just gone to get pie for everyone so they took this opportunity to talk about the aliens. Cortenia shrugged.
"Well…kinda. She knows some," she said, "she knows that she is different and that I am different. I tried to keep her away from this part of her life as much as possible. I wanted to keep her safe. Guess that went down the drain."
"How did you keep things like that from her? What about her powers?" Isabel asked.
"ESP. Hello, we're on Earth! A planet with all kinds of freaks and weirdoes. It's not that hard to pick a mutation and hand it over to somebody," Cortenia answered.
"Why didn't we ever think of that?" Isabel wondered.
"You're led by Zan. 'Nuff said."
"What do you have against Zan?" asked Ava.
"He's a useless piece of crap, where have you been?" at Ava's offended look, she continued. "You lived extremely sheltered lives back home on Antar. The only one of you that came out into the city prior to the war was Rath, and even then only at night. The cities were poor. This is not excusable for a planet that has a large marble palace. The state after the war was not much of a decline of conditions, really."
"But…"
"I know you must have memories of a beautiful planet with golden skies and a ruby sun, but that was just how it looked from the castle grounds. From the city, the sky was just a tease, showing us what beautiful was and how ugly we had it."
The conversation ended as Amy returned with the chocolate pie. Cortenia looked on in disgust as Ava and Isabel drowned their pie in Tobasco sauce. She screwed up her face when Isabel offered her the bottle.
"Yuck," she stated simply. Maria leaned over to her.
"You don't like tobasco?" she asked quietly.
"Have you ever seen me eat the stuff?" Maria shook her head. "It must be a hybrid thing."
"So you don't have any quirks like they do?"
"Of course I have quirks. Mine is mint…I'll have to explain the whole thing to you sometime."
"Chug chug chug chug!" the guys chanted. Sean and Kyle were having a Coke drinking competition. They were lying back on the couch with two litre bottles of coke lodged in their mouths, liquid levels dropping as each fought to finish before the other. Finally, Kyle sat up and shouted in triumph, holding his bottle above his head. The Guerin twins cheered and high fived each other.
Michael, Rath, Sean, Max, Zan, Kyle and Jim were having a grand old guys' night. They went through five bloody, explosion filled, high body count action flicks that their significant others, except for Sean, would never let them watch. It was heaven. They were now betting money on who could chug Coke the fastest. It would be beer, but the sheriff was present and the hosts were under age, on Earth at least.
Michael walked up to Max and Zan to collect their money and then split it with his brother and the Sheriff. Jim chuckled.
"Never bet against a Valenti, boys," he said, patting them on the back.
"No way, rematch," Sean protested.
"Give it up, Deluca, you lost. You're a loser. You should know this," Michael said.
"Starting to sound like my cousin," he grumbled.
"She speaks the truth, buddy."
"Ugh. Whatever dude."
"So, what do we do now?" asked Max.
"Twin chugging competition?"
"Bring it on, brother."
As the night grew older and dawn approached, the floor became more and more littered with the limp bodies of the sleeping girls. The night had been fun and relaxing, with a touch of normalcy that had been missing in Roswell for some time, well, besides the fact that none of the twelve girls present were completely un-supernatural.
At around four o'clock in the morning, it was down to two people awake and roaming. Maria and Cortenia took it upon themselves to remove the empty dishes and clean up a bit so that no one got impaled by a fork or something. After cleaning as best they could, they settled at the kitchen table. Maria put out two teacups and filled up a kettle with water.
"No need for that, sweetie," Cortenia said, pouring the water straight into the cups. She waved her hand over the water and it immediately started to boil.
"Right, you're a Czech," Maria said, shaking her head, "What kind of tea do you want?"
"Mint."
"Yeah, what's up with the dietary quirks. I mean, the mint thing I can handle. It's not that gross, but the others with the tobasco? Ew. Just ew."
"I agree," Cortenia replied, "They really don't have a choice, though, if they're anything like me."
"Why?" she asked, sitting across from her grandmother.
"Okay, you know how Nicholas and friends can't survive down here?"
"Yeah, something about the atmosphere. They're from another planet from you, though, right? Carnath?"
"No. Not that I know of…as far as I know, they're Antarian."
"Then why can you and Nasado survive without husks? And while we're at it, why couldn't Courtney survive without one?"
"Okay, that requires a little background," she said, sipping her drink. "Okay, we have been traveling between Antar and Earth for many centuries. Long before the war began. Before, the only people who could get around here without husks were the Pyleans, and the Carnasians because their suns are closer to the intensity of radiation as that of Earth." Maria stared at her blankly. "Let's just say Pylea and Carnath are hotter that Antar and they can take the heat."
"Makes no sense to me, but go ahead."
"Okay, apparently, just before the war, the Royal scientists had a breakthrough. They discovered how to walk on Earth without the suits. A serum. They hadn't had a chance to test it properly, though."
"The serum…well, I'm not too sure what it does exactly, but the mint seems to balance chemicals or something. After I was down here for a while, I began to get really worn out, had trouble breathing. The food tasted awful, like it was missing something. Then, I discovered that the mint helped with that. It's hard to explain, since I really don't know myself, but the mint is kind of like a booster or something. When the body needs something, it craves it. I'm guessing the same goes for the tobasco with the others. It helps the body handle the new atmosphere or genes…I don't know. I hate science."
"You and me both. Leave Liz long enough and she'll probably figure out why."
Cortenia chuckled. Liz, ever the scientist.
"So, what about Courtney?"
"She should be like me."
"She wasn't. She was a skin."
"Well, sometimes, things just aren't as they seem. There must be an explanation that she and she alone held."
"So for all we know that wasn't her, just some random Michael worshipper coming to Roswell and stalking my Spaceboy?"
"Probably."
They finished their tea and headed back to the living room to turn in for the night…or morning, depending on how you look at it.
Monday morning returned with a swift vengeance. The town's morning air was once again filled with the groans of students being forced out of bed into the world of school. Back at the Guerin-O'Conner apartment, a boy stood banging on the door with his fists.
"Michael! Rath, Get the hell up!" he shouted. After five minutes of banging, the door flew open and a disheveled Rath stood glaring at him.
"Kyle. It's 7:00 am," he stated, "Too damn early for you to be terrorizing us so you better have a good reason or I am going to bash you into the next century."
"Okay," Kyle said, pushing his way into the apartment, "First off, it's Monday so you have to get up anyway." He walked into Michael's bedroom and smacked him over the head with the nearest pillow, then walked back out into the living room. "Secondly, it's your first day on the football team and coach wants to have a meeting before school." He turned back to the bedroom. "Guerin get the hell up!"
"Damn football team," Rath grumbled. "I told you, I'm not joining."
"And I told you you don't have to join cause you're already on it."
"Damn it Kyle!"
"Damn it Rath, you're on the team. Now shut up and get dressed. If we're late we get laps and I'm not doing laps for you guys again AND MICHAEL GET YOUR ALIEN TAIL OUT HERE RIGHT NOW BEFORE I COME IN THERE AND BEAT YOU DOWN!"
Michael sauntered out of his room dressed in black jeans and a red T-shirt. He sat on the couch and started lacing up his boots. Rath muttered something under his breath about preppy Dupes and early mornings and went to his room to change.
"Where's Maria?" asked Michael, the first thing he said all morning.
"Sleeping."
"Why am I not?"
"Football meeting."
"Ew."
Kyle quirked an eyebrow. "Ew?"
"Yes. Ew. Yuck. Blech. Are you sure I have to go?"
"Yes, I'm sure, but you need to stop talking like that. You'll embarrass me."
"Like what?"
"Like Maria."
"I do not talk like her."
"Yeah you do."
"No I don't"
"Do."
"Don't."
"Do."
"Nuh-uh."
"See? There. Maria thing to say."
"Whatever, chia head stalker boy."
"Continue to delude yourself."
Michael glared at him, crossing his arms over his chest. Rath walked in dressed in the usual black on black and they left for school with Rath in Kyle's Mustang and Michael on his motorcycle.
By the time they got to the field the rest of the team was already gathered. The other guys greeted Kyle as one of their own and regarded Michael and Rath curiously.
"Hey Valenti. Why'd you bring those two?" asked Paulie.
"Coach's orders," he stated simply.
A loud whistle silenced the team. In front of them, stood the coach in all his beer-bellied glory. The team instantly gathered around the man. He stood with is hands on his hips, eyeing each of his boys.
"As you all know, last game we lost two of our players, Moore and Johnson. I have just recruited their temporary replacements. Meet your new team mates, boys, Michael Guerin and Rath O'Connor." The boys clapped and a few of them patted them on the back. "Okay, so, practice will be at the regular time, at three o'clock. Don't miss it. You can go now. Guerin and O'Connor stay back."
The coach led the twins to his office just off the side of the football field. He sat behind his desk and gestured for them to take a seat. They complied.
"Okay, kids, get this straight. This is not gym class. You cannot just duck any chance you get. This is a real team. That means that other people are affected by what you do. Now, I expect you to work hard and help carry the Comets to another victory. If you don't, believe me, you will feel my wrath, not to mention you won't be graduating with your class. Be here before practice to collect your pads and cleats. You'll get a jersey later. Any questions? Okay, get out now."
Michael and Rath walked out of his office as the first bell rang to signal the beginning of school. They didn't even miss first period.
Michael hummed along to the song playing on his Walkman as he painted in the art room. It was his free period and he had a painting to do for his art class. He frowned at the picture. Something wasn't right. He quickly looked around, then erased the paint with his powers. He dabbed his paintbrush into the blue paint and continued to stroke the canvas.
He was so engrossed in his work that he didn't hear the bell ring, nor did he see when Alex entered the room. Alex stood behind his friend and studied the picture. It seemed to be a sunset, but the colors were all wrong. The sun was blue and the sky was purple with a tinge of green and pink. In the background stood a tall castle with blue walls. A young woman sat outside the castle walls watching as a little boy played out in the garden.
Alex pulled the headphones away from Michael's ear and tried to figure out what he was listening to. Michael spun around, startled.
"You know you're listening to *Nsync, right?"
Michael eyebrows furrowed as he realized what he was doing. He frowned and turned off the music, disgusted with himself.
"So, is that Antar?" Alex asked quietly.
"No, Carnath."
Alex pointed to the woman. "Your mom?"
"Yeah."
"You think she's still alive?"
"Probably not," Michael answered sadly. He took the picture off the easel and carried it over to the drying corner. "What are you doing here, Whitman? You don't have art now."
"Yeah, I do. The bell rang ten minutes ago."
"Oh. Okay." Michael wiped his hands on his jeans. "What do I have now?"
"How should I know, I'm not your girlfriend." Michael raised an eyebrow. "You have History."
Michael groaned. Great. The most boring class ever created. Maybe he could duck…
"Don't even think about ducking class," Alex warned, setting up his canvas.
Michael muttered under his breath about geeky rock star wannabes and stalked off to class. The halls were empty, his boots making the only sound. He paused as the hair on the back of his neck stood at attention. Someone was watching him. He looked around the hallway, brown eyes searching all the corners.
"I must be going crazy," he mumbled, shaking his head. He shoved his hands in his pockets and continued his stroll, though at a quicker pace, to his history class.
A figure appeared from behind a locker, an evil smirk on its face. It watched Michael's retreating form until he was out of sight, then turned and walked out of the school. The end would come soon, and Khivar would reign supreme. 'Twas only a matter of time.
Michael sat on the bench at the side of the football field, watching the game. He watched as Kyle was run over by the opposing team, the only movement coming from his trampled body was slow waving of his middle finger. Michael smirked. Even though he was out for the count, Kyle still found a way to get his message across.
"Looks like one of us has to go out, little bro," Rath said, suddenly appearing at his side.
Just then, the coach stalked up to them, his face red with anger. His star Quarterback was injured beyond belief. He wouldn't be able to play again for the season and the championship was next week.
"Guerin, O'Connor, get out there," he yelled.
Michael and Rath picked up their helmets and began to jog out to the field. The coach pulled Michael back by his head gear.
"Red 32 roundabout," he said, before shoving him back in the direction of the field, giving him a slap on the butt. Michael regarded him strangely before getting in the huddle.
"SO, what's the play, baby bro?" asked Rath.
"Don't call me that," Michael growled, "Red 32 roundabout, whatever that means."
"Don't you remember? That's when the two big X's run along the edge of the line of O's and knock out the big O, then the X's do a crossing pattern…"
Michael nodded like he knew what the hell Paulie was babbling about.
"Break!" the team shouted, getting into position.
"Red 32! Red 32!" Paulie called. "Hike Hike!"
Paulie passed the ball from under his butt into Michael's hands. Michael tucked it under his arms and ran for the endzone, dodging football players left and right. It seemed that the endzone wasn't getting any closer to him and he was sure he had been running for hours. He turned back to the football players barrreling over to him, then started running faster.
Sweat poured down his face and his breathing became labored as his eyes searched for the end of his run. He turned back to find the players with large football heads chasing him down.
Suddenly, the ball in his arms started to squirm. He looked down to see a live pig squealing, trying to get away from him. He dropped it in his surprise and it rolled down the field behind him. The football players snatched the pig and fought over it, ripping it to shreds. In his distraction, he tripped over a big ditch in the middle of the field.
The football monsters were baring down on him as he scrambled back on his hands. The biggest, number 15, jumped on him, trapping him in his claws as his football head opened up to reveal a row of large, sharp teeth. Michael screamed as his head was devoured by a football.
Michael gasped as he sat up in bed. He was wet with sweat and he was shivering slightly. That was one weird freaky dream. He knew this football thing was a bad idea.
"Baby? What's wrong?" a voice asked from next to him. Maria sat up on the other side of the bed, clutching a blanket to her naked chest.
"I-it was a nightmare," he said, "You know, the usual football chasing me down a field."
"Aw, poor baby," Maria cooed. She smoothed his hair with her hand and leaned in for a kiss.
Michael closed his eyes and kissed her back with vigor. His tongue was happily dueling with hers when he felt something sharp digging into it. He pulled away and opened his eyes to reveal a Maria sized football sneering at him from beneath him.
"Michael don't wanna play?"
The football sat up suddenly and pulled him down for a kissed that was so bruising, his lips started to bleed. He struggled to pull away, but the football monster's grip was too firm…
Michael shot out of his bed, gasping for his lost breath, and searching the room for hidden, man-eating footballs. As he fought to catch his breath, he noticed his hands shaking. Oh, he would get Valenti for this. He ran a hand through his hair, then headed for the shower.
The next day at school, the sun shone brightly in the sky, its yellow rays warming the cool morning air. Fall was upon them and already the desert was cooling down. It didn't look like they were going to get a heatwave this yar, which was a disappointment for some. Michael and Rath walked slowly up the path leading to the Penitentary aka West Roswell High school. Across the lawn, teenagers were sitting around, avoiding going inside for as long as possible. He looked around and soon spotted his friends at their usual table. They were both surprised that Faith was there, but it was too early in the morning for them to care beyond that. They plopped down on the bench as they normally did, Michael next to Maria and Rath next to Faith.
"Morning Michael, Rath," Isabel said sunnily. They both regarded her suspiciously.
"Izzy, what are you up to?"
"I just wanted to apologise for laughing at you because of your…misfortunes."
"And…"
"And, I wanted to give you this to show you how sorry I am." She reached into her bag and tossed a football at Michael. Michael shrieked and dropped it as if it burned his skin.
"Michael?" Maria said, worriedly, touching his arm.
He flinched away and jumped out of his seat.
"Uh, it's nothing, I just…have to go to art. See ya." He turned and scurried off into school.
"What's up with him?" asked Max.
"Who knows," Isabel said nonchalantly, hiding a smile.
Beneath the table, she slapped Ava a five. That was so sweet.
*********************
1.2 AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know, I know. I'm a bad author. *Hits self with a stick* I'll try not to leave it hanging like that again. Sorry!!
1.3
1.4
1.5 CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Bombs were dropping left right and center. Smoke billowed from the ground in large, poisonous clouds, engulfing the sky in its black hands. Fires burnt about the city. Civilians screamed and cried. The war was full fledged and more would die. The single planet had three parts, those for Zan, those for Rath and those for Khivar. The war for the kingdom was fast killing the planet. The King's army was weakening and it was most certain that Khivar would win the savage war. Already, the Queen had met her end and it was rumored that the Princess was against her brother and betrothed.
Cortenia was afraid for her best friend, Rath, the king's second in command. He followed his king's orders and fought bravely, but she thought that soon, he, too, would be dead. She paced the length of her bedroom in worry. It had been so long since she'd heard from him…not since the night he heard that Nikaid was on Khivar's side. He was convinced that it was all his fault, and that she and her sister would be in danger if he hung around. They gave Khivar ammunition. Future collateral if need be.
Their friendship was still, pretty much, a secret. The only ones that knew were them, Kaylanna and Nikaid. The fact that Nikaid knew was dangerous as it is, the fact that he was now the enemy made it lethal, for now, Khivar knew how to get to the general.
Cortenia was pulled from her reverie by a frantic pounding at her door. She pulled it open to reveal a distressed Rath. He hurriedly closed the door behind him and pulled her into a hug.
"You're okay!" he said into her shirt.
"Yeah, I know," she said, she pulled away and looked at his face. There were tears cascading down his chiseled cheeks. His once lively hair lay grungy and flat atop his head. His face was covered in black soot. "What happened to you?" she led him over to the couch.
"He's dead," he said, choking on a sob.
"Who-who's dead?" she asked.
"Zan, he's dead. They…k-killed him right in front my eyes."
She shook her head and pulled him to her, letting him cry on her shoulder. He was losing the only family he had ever known and could do nothing to stop it. She rubbed his back.
"It will be okay. You will win this war without him. It's not like he was much of a help anyway. I can help you fight…"
"NO!" he shouted, pulling away, "I can't lose you, too. You're all I have left. I have to tell you something."
"Rath, I don't think this is the time to confess the never ending love you have for me, but if you must, confess away," she joked. He laughed slightly.
"Somehow I think your sister would enjoy that more than you," he said, with a small smile.
"I think you are right. Pity though…"
"Cort, I really need to tell you something. I am trusting you and only you. You mustn't tell anyone. Not unless it is absolutely necessary," he said seriously. She nodded. "The Queen. She's made clones…of me, Lonnie, Zan and Ava. She will send them to Earth to grow so that we may return and defeat Khivar. It is obvious that we will not win this war. You know it, I know it, our people know it, we will lose."
"I don't understand, what does this have to do with me?" she asked. He pulled out a small vile of blue liquid. "What is this?"
"It's a serum of sorts. The royal scientists discovered that this helps us to adapt to the atmosphere of Earth." He placed it into her open palm and closed it over the small object. "I want you to go with them."
"But Rath…"
"Go. You have to do this for me. I can't die knowing that I failed my whole family. You must go. Go to Earth."
"But…"
"I already gave one to Kaylanna. The ship leaves tomorrow. I have a man who will let you on secretly. Just give him your name and he should let you on. His name is Private Vardex."
"But Rath…"
"Please? For me?" he pleaded, "I cannot bear the thought of my best friend dead and I will surely die tonight, so please. Just take the formula an hour before you get on the ship. When you get to Earth, you will be safe…or at least safer than here."
"I will."
Maria Deluca walked into the kitchen on Saturday. It was the day after they were attacked by the demons and she was still waiting on a reaction from her mother. After the truth about her after school activities…well, besides the nookie, got out, her mother had retreated into the silent confines of her room. Now, it was about two o'clock in the afternoon and she finally came out to greet the world.
Amy Valenti was sitting in the kitchen, in her bathrobe drinking coffee like a zombie. Her hair stuck out in all directions, much like Michael's did two years ago.
"Mom?" Maria said, when she didn't acknowledge her presence. She looked up and tried to smile.
"Oh, hi, baby. Do you want some breakfast?"
"It's two o'clock, Mom," she said.
"Right. I knew that. So, where are you going?"
"I was going to meet Michael at Giles' for training."
"Oh."
"Do you want to come? See what I do?"
Amy smiled. "Of course. Then I can ream out this Giles for putting my baby in danger." Then, with a new determination, she went upstairs and changed into jeans and a T-shirt. Within ten minutes she was back downstairs and together they walked to Giles' house. It was only a few blocks away.
When they got there, Maria unceremoniously walked through the door without even a knock and headed to the basement like she owned the place.
Amy looked around in awe at the wide expanse of training equipment in the room. Teenagers were strewn about the gym and were either doing some form of martial arts or reading some cryptic looking books. An oldish looking man walked up to them, cleaning his glasses.
"Hello, Maria," he said, warmly, "And who might this be?"
"Giles, this is my mom. I had to tell her because we got attacked in the park last night. A whole butt load of demons," Maria said.
"Oh, quite. Buffy told me about your little encounter. We are in the process of identifying the demons now. I assume you weren't harmed in any way?"
"Ain't nothing wrong with me," she answered.
"I swear, Maria, you're hanging out with Rath too much," Isabel said as she walked up to them, sipping her water.
"That's 'cause nobody can resist this bod," Rath said from behind them. He had just arrived with Michael. Michael immediately left Rath's side and went over to his girlfriend. He kissed her on the cheek and wrapped his arm around her waist.
"Mrs. Valenti, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"I brought her so she could see that we're prepared for anything the demons throw at us so she won't worry," Maria answered.
"Any word on those demons yet?" Rath asked, walking over to his own girlfriend who was sitting on the bleachers, huddled over a book.
"Nope," a short redhead answered, "Hi, I'm Willow." She put out her hand to Amy.
"Amy Deluca-Valenti," Amy said shaking her hand.
"Well, I guess this is welcome to the Scooby Gang," she said cheerfully, before heading back over to Tara.
"See mom? Friendly people," Maria said, "Why don't you go sit in the bleachers and we'll show you whatever you want."
Amy nodded and sat next to Willow.
"Okay," Giles commanded, "Let's get started."
And with that, the training began. There was sparing, yoga and a lot of gasping from Mrs. Valenti. They worked hard and fought well. Within an hour of the session, Amy cornered Giles and squeezed every last bit of detail of the life of a Slayer from him. The man looked quite scared. It was the Deluca charm. At about five o'clock, the training ended and everybody settled down to research the demon clan they stumbled onto. Even Michael and Maria buckled down and read. They couldn't very well make out in front of Maria's mother. At 7:30, Amy, Michael, Maria, Rath and Faith went back to the Valenti residence.
"Jim, honey, I'm home!" Amy called as she walked in. there was the distinct sound of laughter coming from the living room. Female laughter. "Jim?"
Amy, Maria, Michael, Rath and Faith walked into the living room to find Jim, Kyle and Ava sitting on the sofa across from an old woman. She had faintly blonde hair and a young demeanor.
"Mom?" Amy said in surprise, "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, Amy is that any way to greet your own mother," the woman said, getting up from the comfy armchair. Maria instantly flung herself in her arms. The woman returned the hug with equal fervor. "Well, child, aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?"
"Sure, grams. This is my boyfriend, Michael, his twin brother, Rath and his girlfriend, Faith," Maria said. She missed the look of recognition on the woman's face.
"Could it be?" she whispered. Maria looked at her strangely. Since when did her grandma have an accent? "Rath and Ava. I should have known from the start," she said to herself. Everyone but Amy stiffened when she said this. She noticed. "Amy, could you make me some tea, please?" she asked sweetly. When Amy left to the kitchen, the woman hugged Rath tightly. Rath looked confused as ever.
"Do I know you?" he asked, tentatively. She withdrew herself from his arms.
"What, I can't give my best friend a hug? Heaven forbid big army man gets a hug. What ever will the soldiers think?" she said. There was a hint of recognition in Rath's eyes. He squinted at her.
"Of course you don't recognize this face," she said. She held her hand in front of her and in a flash of light, she changed form. Her hair grew longer and her wrinkles lessened. She took on a younger figure. "Is that better?"
Rath's eyes widened in delight. "Cortenia?" he said in disbelief before grabbing her and twirling her around. Everyone looked confused and Faith looked slightly jealous.
"Anyone care to explain?" Michael asked. This woman looked just like Courtney, but she was dead, he was sure about that. Cortenia turned to look at him. She hugged him too, though briefly. She turned to Rath for an explanation.
"He doesn't remember the past," he said, "This is Cortenia. She was my best friend on Antar."
"But, I thought Zan was your best friend," Ava said, "I don't remember her."
"That's 'cause you never met me," Cortenia answered, "Rath used to sneak from the palace every week to meet me. Since we were thirteen."
"So, let me get this straight," Maria said, "You, grandma Deluca, are an alien? And you were my boyfriend's past life's girlfriend? Which means that I'm getting my grandmother's seconds."
Rath and Cortenia looked at each other before bursting out in laughter.
"Yeah right!" Rath exclaimed.
"We were never together, just friends. Like you and Alex," Cortenia assured her, "Though that's a screwed up scenario if I ever heard one."
"I think you better change back before mom gets back," Kyle warned from the couch. They had completely forgotten he was there. Cortenia quickly turned back to her original form and sat back in her chair as Amy came back in with the tea.
"So, mom, what brings you here?" Amy asked as she seated herself on the couch.
"What, I can't visit my favorite daughter and grand daughter? Heaven forbid you entertain your old mother for a day or two. Well, fine. A girl can take a hint," she said, teasingly. Rath smirked. Same old Cortenia.
"Grams, you know that's not true," Maria said, "I so have to call Liz. We can have a girls' night. You know she totally misses Grandma Claudia, I'm sure she'll love it. Oh! And we can invite Izzy and Faith can come. You'll come right? Right. Come on Michael, we have ice cream to buy. Grams, you coming?"
"Yeah, babes, right behind you," she answered, smiling. She turned to Amy. "I'll see you later. I assume you're coming."
"Of course, I'll come to girls' night! I've not had one in ages. Jim, you and the boys can have boys' night or something. You're not invited," Amy said, "I better go get some movies. We'll meet back here at, what, 9:00?"
"Okay, bye!" Maria called as she led her friends, lover and grandmother out the door. They all piled into Cortenia's brand new SUV and drove in the direction of the Food Giant.
"So, what have I missed of your life, Rath?" Cortenia asked, looking at him through the rear view mirror.
"Nothing much," Rath answered, "You?"
"I kept my promise, you know. Stayed safe."
Everyone else seemed lost but listened into the conversation anyway.
"What about Kaylanna?" Rath asked.
"I don't know, I mean, last I heard, she was developing an army here on Earth to protect you from Khivar's men. I last heard from her thirty years ago. She still had that youthful form, looked like she did back home, how we looked. I think she's still in love with you," she teased.
"Her stalking abilities must be rusty if she hasn't found us yet."
"Who?" Michael asked, finally fed up of being out of the loop.
"My twin sister, Kaylanna," Cortenia answered, "she had a huge crush on you back home. I'm pretty sure she had a shrine somewhere."
'Oh crap!' Michael thought to Maria.
'You don't think she's…'
"Courtney," Michael said aloud. The others turned to look at him.
"What?" Rath asked.
"Cortenia, I think your sister is dead," he said softly. Cortenia slammed on the brakes.
"What!"
"We stopped the harvest and killed all the husks. I rescued Courtney's, but it was premature. She was dying, so I told her where the Granolith was so that she could save herself. I just had the feeling that I had to protect her, you know," Michael said, his head down. He looked Cortenia in the eye, "Nicholas found her on the way to the Granolith. He was going to mind rape her to get the location, so she killed herself so he wouldn't get the info. I'm sorry."
"Don't blame yourself," Cortenia said reassuringly, "She wouldn't want that. You tried to save her. You cared about her and that alone probably let her die a happy woman." She pulled into the parking lot of the Food Giant.
They all got out of the car and went into the store. They picked up a large supply of ice cream, chips, cookies, popcorn and other snacks. On their way back, Cortenia dropped Michael and Rath back home. Valenti, Kyle and Sean were sitting in front of the front door with duffel bags.
"Amy kick you out?" Michael asked, unlocking the door.
"We can stay here, right?" Kyle asked. They nodded and dropped their bags on the counter as they piled in.
"What'd you bring?" asked Rath, nodding to the bags in their hands.
"Cards, poker chips and movies," Valenti answered.
"Action?" Rath asked.
"The only kind," Sean answered.
"Body count?"
"Very high."
"My hero."
"So, does mom know that you're, you know," Maria asked, waving her hand in the air, "Czechoslovakian?"
Cortenia quirked an eyebrow. Amy had just gone to get pie for everyone so they took this opportunity to talk about the aliens. Cortenia shrugged.
"Well…kinda. She knows some," she said, "she knows that she is different and that I am different. I tried to keep her away from this part of her life as much as possible. I wanted to keep her safe. Guess that went down the drain."
"How did you keep things like that from her? What about her powers?" Isabel asked.
"ESP. Hello, we're on Earth! A planet with all kinds of freaks and weirdoes. It's not that hard to pick a mutation and hand it over to somebody," Cortenia answered.
"Why didn't we ever think of that?" Isabel wondered.
"You're led by Zan. 'Nuff said."
"What do you have against Zan?" asked Ava.
"He's a useless piece of crap, where have you been?" at Ava's offended look, she continued. "You lived extremely sheltered lives back home on Antar. The only one of you that came out into the city prior to the war was Rath, and even then only at night. The cities were poor. This is not excusable for a planet that has a large marble palace. The state after the war was not much of a decline of conditions, really."
"But…"
"I know you must have memories of a beautiful planet with golden skies and a ruby sun, but that was just how it looked from the castle grounds. From the city, the sky was just a tease, showing us what beautiful was and how ugly we had it."
The conversation ended as Amy returned with the chocolate pie. Cortenia looked on in disgust as Ava and Isabel drowned their pie in Tobasco sauce. She screwed up her face when Isabel offered her the bottle.
"Yuck," she stated simply. Maria leaned over to her.
"You don't like tobasco?" she asked quietly.
"Have you ever seen me eat the stuff?" Maria shook her head. "It must be a hybrid thing."
"So you don't have any quirks like they do?"
"Of course I have quirks. Mine is mint…I'll have to explain the whole thing to you sometime."
"Chug chug chug chug!" the guys chanted. Sean and Kyle were having a Coke drinking competition. They were lying back on the couch with two litre bottles of coke lodged in their mouths, liquid levels dropping as each fought to finish before the other. Finally, Kyle sat up and shouted in triumph, holding his bottle above his head. The Guerin twins cheered and high fived each other.
Michael, Rath, Sean, Max, Zan, Kyle and Jim were having a grand old guys' night. They went through five bloody, explosion filled, high body count action flicks that their significant others, except for Sean, would never let them watch. It was heaven. They were now betting money on who could chug Coke the fastest. It would be beer, but the sheriff was present and the hosts were under age, on Earth at least.
Michael walked up to Max and Zan to collect their money and then split it with his brother and the Sheriff. Jim chuckled.
"Never bet against a Valenti, boys," he said, patting them on the back.
"No way, rematch," Sean protested.
"Give it up, Deluca, you lost. You're a loser. You should know this," Michael said.
"Starting to sound like my cousin," he grumbled.
"She speaks the truth, buddy."
"Ugh. Whatever dude."
"So, what do we do now?" asked Max.
"Twin chugging competition?"
"Bring it on, brother."
As the night grew older and dawn approached, the floor became more and more littered with the limp bodies of the sleeping girls. The night had been fun and relaxing, with a touch of normalcy that had been missing in Roswell for some time, well, besides the fact that none of the twelve girls present were completely un-supernatural.
At around four o'clock in the morning, it was down to two people awake and roaming. Maria and Cortenia took it upon themselves to remove the empty dishes and clean up a bit so that no one got impaled by a fork or something. After cleaning as best they could, they settled at the kitchen table. Maria put out two teacups and filled up a kettle with water.
"No need for that, sweetie," Cortenia said, pouring the water straight into the cups. She waved her hand over the water and it immediately started to boil.
"Right, you're a Czech," Maria said, shaking her head, "What kind of tea do you want?"
"Mint."
"Yeah, what's up with the dietary quirks. I mean, the mint thing I can handle. It's not that gross, but the others with the tobasco? Ew. Just ew."
"I agree," Cortenia replied, "They really don't have a choice, though, if they're anything like me."
"Why?" she asked, sitting across from her grandmother.
"Okay, you know how Nicholas and friends can't survive down here?"
"Yeah, something about the atmosphere. They're from another planet from you, though, right? Carnath?"
"No. Not that I know of…as far as I know, they're Antarian."
"Then why can you and Nasado survive without husks? And while we're at it, why couldn't Courtney survive without one?"
"Okay, that requires a little background," she said, sipping her drink. "Okay, we have been traveling between Antar and Earth for many centuries. Long before the war began. Before, the only people who could get around here without husks were the Pyleans, and the Carnasians because their suns are closer to the intensity of radiation as that of Earth." Maria stared at her blankly. "Let's just say Pylea and Carnath are hotter that Antar and they can take the heat."
"Makes no sense to me, but go ahead."
"Okay, apparently, just before the war, the Royal scientists had a breakthrough. They discovered how to walk on Earth without the suits. A serum. They hadn't had a chance to test it properly, though."
"The serum…well, I'm not too sure what it does exactly, but the mint seems to balance chemicals or something. After I was down here for a while, I began to get really worn out, had trouble breathing. The food tasted awful, like it was missing something. Then, I discovered that the mint helped with that. It's hard to explain, since I really don't know myself, but the mint is kind of like a booster or something. When the body needs something, it craves it. I'm guessing the same goes for the tobasco with the others. It helps the body handle the new atmosphere or genes…I don't know. I hate science."
"You and me both. Leave Liz long enough and she'll probably figure out why."
Cortenia chuckled. Liz, ever the scientist.
"So, what about Courtney?"
"She should be like me."
"She wasn't. She was a skin."
"Well, sometimes, things just aren't as they seem. There must be an explanation that she and she alone held."
"So for all we know that wasn't her, just some random Michael worshipper coming to Roswell and stalking my Spaceboy?"
"Probably."
They finished their tea and headed back to the living room to turn in for the night…or morning, depending on how you look at it.
Monday morning returned with a swift vengeance. The town's morning air was once again filled with the groans of students being forced out of bed into the world of school. Back at the Guerin-O'Conner apartment, a boy stood banging on the door with his fists.
"Michael! Rath, Get the hell up!" he shouted. After five minutes of banging, the door flew open and a disheveled Rath stood glaring at him.
"Kyle. It's 7:00 am," he stated, "Too damn early for you to be terrorizing us so you better have a good reason or I am going to bash you into the next century."
"Okay," Kyle said, pushing his way into the apartment, "First off, it's Monday so you have to get up anyway." He walked into Michael's bedroom and smacked him over the head with the nearest pillow, then walked back out into the living room. "Secondly, it's your first day on the football team and coach wants to have a meeting before school." He turned back to the bedroom. "Guerin get the hell up!"
"Damn football team," Rath grumbled. "I told you, I'm not joining."
"And I told you you don't have to join cause you're already on it."
"Damn it Kyle!"
"Damn it Rath, you're on the team. Now shut up and get dressed. If we're late we get laps and I'm not doing laps for you guys again AND MICHAEL GET YOUR ALIEN TAIL OUT HERE RIGHT NOW BEFORE I COME IN THERE AND BEAT YOU DOWN!"
Michael sauntered out of his room dressed in black jeans and a red T-shirt. He sat on the couch and started lacing up his boots. Rath muttered something under his breath about preppy Dupes and early mornings and went to his room to change.
"Where's Maria?" asked Michael, the first thing he said all morning.
"Sleeping."
"Why am I not?"
"Football meeting."
"Ew."
Kyle quirked an eyebrow. "Ew?"
"Yes. Ew. Yuck. Blech. Are you sure I have to go?"
"Yes, I'm sure, but you need to stop talking like that. You'll embarrass me."
"Like what?"
"Like Maria."
"I do not talk like her."
"Yeah you do."
"No I don't"
"Do."
"Don't."
"Do."
"Nuh-uh."
"See? There. Maria thing to say."
"Whatever, chia head stalker boy."
"Continue to delude yourself."
Michael glared at him, crossing his arms over his chest. Rath walked in dressed in the usual black on black and they left for school with Rath in Kyle's Mustang and Michael on his motorcycle.
By the time they got to the field the rest of the team was already gathered. The other guys greeted Kyle as one of their own and regarded Michael and Rath curiously.
"Hey Valenti. Why'd you bring those two?" asked Paulie.
"Coach's orders," he stated simply.
A loud whistle silenced the team. In front of them, stood the coach in all his beer-bellied glory. The team instantly gathered around the man. He stood with is hands on his hips, eyeing each of his boys.
"As you all know, last game we lost two of our players, Moore and Johnson. I have just recruited their temporary replacements. Meet your new team mates, boys, Michael Guerin and Rath O'Connor." The boys clapped and a few of them patted them on the back. "Okay, so, practice will be at the regular time, at three o'clock. Don't miss it. You can go now. Guerin and O'Connor stay back."
The coach led the twins to his office just off the side of the football field. He sat behind his desk and gestured for them to take a seat. They complied.
"Okay, kids, get this straight. This is not gym class. You cannot just duck any chance you get. This is a real team. That means that other people are affected by what you do. Now, I expect you to work hard and help carry the Comets to another victory. If you don't, believe me, you will feel my wrath, not to mention you won't be graduating with your class. Be here before practice to collect your pads and cleats. You'll get a jersey later. Any questions? Okay, get out now."
Michael and Rath walked out of his office as the first bell rang to signal the beginning of school. They didn't even miss first period.
Michael hummed along to the song playing on his Walkman as he painted in the art room. It was his free period and he had a painting to do for his art class. He frowned at the picture. Something wasn't right. He quickly looked around, then erased the paint with his powers. He dabbed his paintbrush into the blue paint and continued to stroke the canvas.
He was so engrossed in his work that he didn't hear the bell ring, nor did he see when Alex entered the room. Alex stood behind his friend and studied the picture. It seemed to be a sunset, but the colors were all wrong. The sun was blue and the sky was purple with a tinge of green and pink. In the background stood a tall castle with blue walls. A young woman sat outside the castle walls watching as a little boy played out in the garden.
Alex pulled the headphones away from Michael's ear and tried to figure out what he was listening to. Michael spun around, startled.
"You know you're listening to *Nsync, right?"
Michael eyebrows furrowed as he realized what he was doing. He frowned and turned off the music, disgusted with himself.
"So, is that Antar?" Alex asked quietly.
"No, Carnath."
Alex pointed to the woman. "Your mom?"
"Yeah."
"You think she's still alive?"
"Probably not," Michael answered sadly. He took the picture off the easel and carried it over to the drying corner. "What are you doing here, Whitman? You don't have art now."
"Yeah, I do. The bell rang ten minutes ago."
"Oh. Okay." Michael wiped his hands on his jeans. "What do I have now?"
"How should I know, I'm not your girlfriend." Michael raised an eyebrow. "You have History."
Michael groaned. Great. The most boring class ever created. Maybe he could duck…
"Don't even think about ducking class," Alex warned, setting up his canvas.
Michael muttered under his breath about geeky rock star wannabes and stalked off to class. The halls were empty, his boots making the only sound. He paused as the hair on the back of his neck stood at attention. Someone was watching him. He looked around the hallway, brown eyes searching all the corners.
"I must be going crazy," he mumbled, shaking his head. He shoved his hands in his pockets and continued his stroll, though at a quicker pace, to his history class.
A figure appeared from behind a locker, an evil smirk on its face. It watched Michael's retreating form until he was out of sight, then turned and walked out of the school. The end would come soon, and Khivar would reign supreme. 'Twas only a matter of time.
Michael sat on the bench at the side of the football field, watching the game. He watched as Kyle was run over by the opposing team, the only movement coming from his trampled body was slow waving of his middle finger. Michael smirked. Even though he was out for the count, Kyle still found a way to get his message across.
"Looks like one of us has to go out, little bro," Rath said, suddenly appearing at his side.
Just then, the coach stalked up to them, his face red with anger. His star Quarterback was injured beyond belief. He wouldn't be able to play again for the season and the championship was next week.
"Guerin, O'Connor, get out there," he yelled.
Michael and Rath picked up their helmets and began to jog out to the field. The coach pulled Michael back by his head gear.
"Red 32 roundabout," he said, before shoving him back in the direction of the field, giving him a slap on the butt. Michael regarded him strangely before getting in the huddle.
"SO, what's the play, baby bro?" asked Rath.
"Don't call me that," Michael growled, "Red 32 roundabout, whatever that means."
"Don't you remember? That's when the two big X's run along the edge of the line of O's and knock out the big O, then the X's do a crossing pattern…"
Michael nodded like he knew what the hell Paulie was babbling about.
"Break!" the team shouted, getting into position.
"Red 32! Red 32!" Paulie called. "Hike Hike!"
Paulie passed the ball from under his butt into Michael's hands. Michael tucked it under his arms and ran for the endzone, dodging football players left and right. It seemed that the endzone wasn't getting any closer to him and he was sure he had been running for hours. He turned back to the football players barrreling over to him, then started running faster.
Sweat poured down his face and his breathing became labored as his eyes searched for the end of his run. He turned back to find the players with large football heads chasing him down.
Suddenly, the ball in his arms started to squirm. He looked down to see a live pig squealing, trying to get away from him. He dropped it in his surprise and it rolled down the field behind him. The football players snatched the pig and fought over it, ripping it to shreds. In his distraction, he tripped over a big ditch in the middle of the field.
The football monsters were baring down on him as he scrambled back on his hands. The biggest, number 15, jumped on him, trapping him in his claws as his football head opened up to reveal a row of large, sharp teeth. Michael screamed as his head was devoured by a football.
Michael gasped as he sat up in bed. He was wet with sweat and he was shivering slightly. That was one weird freaky dream. He knew this football thing was a bad idea.
"Baby? What's wrong?" a voice asked from next to him. Maria sat up on the other side of the bed, clutching a blanket to her naked chest.
"I-it was a nightmare," he said, "You know, the usual football chasing me down a field."
"Aw, poor baby," Maria cooed. She smoothed his hair with her hand and leaned in for a kiss.
Michael closed his eyes and kissed her back with vigor. His tongue was happily dueling with hers when he felt something sharp digging into it. He pulled away and opened his eyes to reveal a Maria sized football sneering at him from beneath him.
"Michael don't wanna play?"
The football sat up suddenly and pulled him down for a kissed that was so bruising, his lips started to bleed. He struggled to pull away, but the football monster's grip was too firm…
Michael shot out of his bed, gasping for his lost breath, and searching the room for hidden, man-eating footballs. As he fought to catch his breath, he noticed his hands shaking. Oh, he would get Valenti for this. He ran a hand through his hair, then headed for the shower.
The next day at school, the sun shone brightly in the sky, its yellow rays warming the cool morning air. Fall was upon them and already the desert was cooling down. It didn't look like they were going to get a heatwave this yar, which was a disappointment for some. Michael and Rath walked slowly up the path leading to the Penitentary aka West Roswell High school. Across the lawn, teenagers were sitting around, avoiding going inside for as long as possible. He looked around and soon spotted his friends at their usual table. They were both surprised that Faith was there, but it was too early in the morning for them to care beyond that. They plopped down on the bench as they normally did, Michael next to Maria and Rath next to Faith.
"Morning Michael, Rath," Isabel said sunnily. They both regarded her suspiciously.
"Izzy, what are you up to?"
"I just wanted to apologise for laughing at you because of your…misfortunes."
"And…"
"And, I wanted to give you this to show you how sorry I am." She reached into her bag and tossed a football at Michael. Michael shrieked and dropped it as if it burned his skin.
"Michael?" Maria said, worriedly, touching his arm.
He flinched away and jumped out of his seat.
"Uh, it's nothing, I just…have to go to art. See ya." He turned and scurried off into school.
"What's up with him?" asked Max.
"Who knows," Isabel said nonchalantly, hiding a smile.
Beneath the table, she slapped Ava a five. That was so sweet.
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