Nia's alarm went off and she groaned as she reluctantly reached over and pressed the snooze button on her clock. She hated getting up in the mornings. She had never been an early riser. The only times she really made the effort was when Astro was out on a mission.

But today she didn't have to. Janna told her it was the weekend, so there was no school to get up for. So her whole schedule was clear. She might pop by the base later, but other than that she had no plans of-

"Rise and shine little sister!"

Nia's eyes shot open as her door was suddenly kicked in. Astro walked in casually while Sear rushed right towards her bed and jumped on top of her. The dragon began pouncing and nuzzling on her, but she groaned and struggled to push him off. "Uh, Astro. It's five o'clock in the morning. What are we getting up for? There's no school…"

"But there is training. Did you forget part of the reason you came here. You need to learn how to improve your skills," he explained.

She sat up. "But you said I could train at the Vanguard base?"

"The Vanguard can help you improve your control and physical skills, but the only actual magician they have is Serena, and she isn't versed in the type of magic we use. I'm going to help you master your technique," he said.

Nia pouted. "Aw c'mon Astro, can't I get a few more minutes of…" She sniffed in the air and suddenly her eyes widened. "What… what's that smell?" she asked. It smelled so delicious. Like a waterfall of heavenly flavors mixing into one single point.

Astro smirked before holding up a box. "This is a box of leftover Chinese food Janna brought home last night. I thought it might motivate you to-" Before he could even finish Nia jumped past so fast even Astro had barely seen her. He looked over his shoulder and saw she was already scarfing the box down. "What the-?!"

Nia finished gulping the box down and then smiled and licked her lips. "Oh my gosh, that really was the most delicious thing I ever tasted. Is there more?" she asked suddenly wide awake.

Astro took a few moments to let the shock wear off, and then cleared his throat. "After we finish we can go get some more," he said turning towards the stairs.

"Can I take a shower first?" she asked.

"Nia… we're going to exercise. You're just going to get dirty again."

"Oh… right!" she said laughing before following after him.

They went out to the backyard, Sear running around to burn off some energy. This is usually when Astro would take him for his morning ride, but he knew the siblings were doing something important.

"Do you have the wand?" Astro asked.

Nia pulled her necklace out. "Always!" she said knowing how important it was to keep track of it. She may have been pretty laid back about most things, but never about the wand.

"Good. Now I want you to make a weapon like you did the other day with the robot," he instructed. Nia nodded and concentrated. The wand went to its sword form, and then changed again into a large battle axe. The weapon towered over the both of them.

Nia smiled proudly and lifted it up. "Pretty cool huh. And it feels light as a feather," she said, giving it a practice swing. Astro ducked down barely avoiding the blade. He looked back up at her with disbelief. "Sorry…" she said shyly.

He sighed. "No, no it's fine. It is impressive that you can alter the wand's form like that, but try making it smaller," he said, making a shrinking motion.

"What? Why would I try making it smaller? Bigger is better right?"

Astro shook his head. "Not necessarily. The size of that weapon is a reflection of how much magical power you have. For you to channel that much of it and keep it like that so easily, it means you've got a pretty big pool of it. But now you need to learn to funnel it."

"Funnel it?" Nia asked.

Astro scratched his head. "Uh… how do I explain this…?" He wasn't used to teaching this stuff. What would his mother do? He held his hand up and suddenly shot out a spray of water. It drizzled water all around the lawn. "Pretend this water is like your weapon. It's your raw unchecked magical energy being funneled through the wand. No nozzle, no funnel."

Nia put her hand on her chin. "Okay…"

"Now what we want to do is show you how to funnel that power. Use the same amount of energy, or pressure, but through a smaller exit." The water suddenly shot out of the hand like a hose, in one single stream. "Does that make sense?"

Nia hummed. "Okay, I think I get it. Same power, but smaller weapon. It'll pack a bigger punch right?" she asked. Astro nodded. "But since that's what I'm trying to do, should I use all my power then?"

He blinked. "Uh… that's not all your power?" he asked.

She shook her head. "When I went full power back home I blew up part of the castle, so I didn't want to go all crazy and boom-boom again," she said looking nervous.

Astro narrowed his eyes. She was kidding right? He couldn't believe she was still holding back power. "Nia, show me your full power," he said.

Nia nodded and then held up the wand again. She was really nervous about doing this again, but Astro wouldn't let anything bad happen. She let out a breath and then focused. The axe glowed again, and then the weapon began to grow… and grow, and keep growing.

Astro backed up wide eyed as the axe began growing even taller than the house. "Okay Nia, that's enough!" he shouted. It kept on growing. "Nia!"

Nia opened her eyes and then stopped. "What?! What's wrong?! Is it not growing fast enough?!" she asked, looking nervous.

She could still keep going?! For the love of stump! How much magical power did she have? He knew his mother was powerful and something was bound to pass on, but if this was any indication her power dwarfed hers, never mind his!

"No, no, you're fine Nia…" Astro said holding his hand up. "I think you should leave it at that though. It's more than enough." There was no way she could condense any more magic into a reasonably sized weapon. He wasn't even sure she could condense this much.

"Dude, what are you guys up to?"

They both turned their heads and saw Micah looking over the fence. "What the-?! What are you doing here?" Astro asked, shocked to see him.

"I live next door…" Micah said pointing to the house.

Astro shook his head. "You live next door?! How am I just noticing this now?"

"I noticed a couple of days ago. Just didn't say anything. Usually my dad would make a gift basket or something for you, but you guys live with the creepy lady who's always running around at night with the shovel. So he steered pretty clear of you."

Astro sighed and pinched his nose. "God dammit Janna…" She was barely ever around the house, and yet still somehow affecting them.

"So I can see you guys are up to a little morning training. But could you tone it down with the giant weapons? I think you're going to freak out the neighbors."

He turned back towards Nia. "You can stop for now Nia. We'll pick this up again when we find a place you won't scare civilians," he said.

Nia turned the wand back to its regular form. "Can we still eat Chinese food?"

"Yes, we'll still get Chinese food."

"Yes!"

Astro sighed and rubbed his head. If they were back home they could use the courtyard, but obviously that wasn't an option. The Vanguard did mention a training center they were working on, but he also remembered they hadn't finished with it yet.

"I'm gonna take a shower now," Nia said before heading back into the house. She skipped along, singing happily about eating as she did.

Micah looked after her and then turned back to Astro. "So… is that normal for her?"

Astro ran a hand through his head. "I don't know…" he admitted. Nia was too much like his mother. Too hard to really predict. He wasn't sure regular teaching methods would cut it with her. He turned to Micah. "By the way, what are you doing up?"

"New game comes out today. Usually they have midnight releases for this type of thing, but the shipment came in late. Got to get there before it gets too crowded," Micah explained.

Astro looked confused. "You're getting up this early just to get another of those handheld things? Is that really worth the effort?"

Micah laughed. "It's not a handheld. This one is for a console."

"A console?" Astro tilted his head. "What is that?"

Micah smirked, until he realized Astro was being genuine. "Oh… oh, you're serious… wow, they really don't have video games on Mewni do they?" he said rubbing the back of his head. "Uh… I mean I guess if you wanted you could come with me and I could show you. Be a hell of a lot faster than explaining."

Astro looked down at his feet. He didn't really have anything to do. But the only places he had any interest in going was the donut shop or the Jasmine Dragon. "I'm gonna go ahead and politely decline on that-"

Nia quickly ran back outside. "He'll go!" she yelled pointing at her brother. The moment she had heard Micah make the offer she had sped right back outside. Before Astro could open his mouth to argue, she frowned at him. "You promised mom you were going to try and learn to lighten up, remember? Well, this is your chance."

Astro scowled. "Nia, I don't have any interest in-"

"How do you know? You've never even played a console thingy before! Just go try and see if you like it!" she said, trying to reason with him.

Astro clicked his tongue. He knew his sister had a point… but he really didn't want to go. "What about the Chinese food Nia? I can't take you to get some if I'm-"

"I'll go with AJ. He was going to take me before anyway," she said before turning and heading back inside. "So go ahead, and please try to have fun!"

"God dammit…" Astro muttered.

Micah watched trying to fathom how someone who had fought three demons head on just got verbally eviscerated by a twelve year old girl. Astro turned towards him, and he flinched. "Uh… look man, if you don't want to go I won't tell her or any-"

"She'll figure it out if I don't go. And she'll tell my mother," he said looking defeated. "Look, I'll just follow along and try not to be a bother."

Micah hummed. "Alright then."

Micah and Astro made their way down the sidewalk side by side as Micah held up the game with a smile. Astro looked at it confused. 'Blazblue: Cross Tag Battle'. That title sounded ridiculous. There were four characters on the cover.

"So… wait, there are four people on this cover. So who do you play as?" Astro asked.

"All of them. It's a crossover fighting game. Each person picks a character and they fight until one runs out of health," he explained. "There's characters from different game series in it. Well, one of them is from an anime I'm not too familiar with, but that's fine. All that means is when I livestream a bit more fans familiar with the show will tune in. I might even get a few more subscribers if I check the show out."

He looked over and saw Astro was more confused. Crossover? Subscribers? Livestream? He had no idea what any of those things meant.

Micah rubbed the back of his head. "Guess that's a little too much info for you to take in all at once. Don't sweat it, for now you just need to know it's a pretty fun game," he said, putting it back inside the bag. "You guys really don't have games where you're from huh? What do you do for fun back home?"

"I like gardening and playing music. There's riding Sear of course. I don't really have much time for other things. Between training, responsibilities in the Kingsguard I don't have time to play around with things like… this."

"Sounds like a drag. But hey, since you're on Earth you can sit back and chill for once right?" he asked. "I mean your mom and dad should have it covered back home. That's why you two came here isn't it?"

Astro frowned. "It was Nia's idea to come here. If I'm being honest I'd have rather avoided coming here at all. I don't much care for this place."

Micah chuckled. "Really? I couldn't tell…"

"I understand sarcasm Micah…"

"Seriously though, why were you so hell-bent on avoiding the Earth?"

Astro grunted. "A number of reasons I suppose. One of them being I'm just not comfortable here," he said shoving his hands in his pockets. "If you took Nia and threw her in any random dimension, she'd make friends by the end of the day. That's just how her personality is. I'm not like that. I've been bred to follow a routine. And this place, these people… it's too random."

Micah stared for a few seconds before chuckling. Astro narrowed his eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm not poking fun. It's just, being nervous in a new place is normal."

"Especially when people in this new place are trying to kill you."

"Not everyone here is trying to kill you. I know you're worried about the Youngblood, but you can afford to relax sometimes. If you keep trying to fire on all cylinders you're just gonna burn yourself out. Find time to chill." Astro looked down at the sidewalk. Did he really seem that tense all the time? "Oh shit…"

Astro looked back up and saw a woman who had been knocked over. She was reaching out towards a man who was riding away on a motorbike. He was holding a purse in his hand, one Astro assumed wasn't his. "Be right back," Micah said, getting a running start.

The prince watched as he suddenly sped off, leaving nothing but a thin trail of dark blue behind him. In almost an instant he was in front of the thief, who panicked as he tried to steer around him. The man ended up losing control and falling right off of his bike.

He tumbled onto the ground as Micah casually walked over to him. "Alright, just hand the purse back over and-" The man got up and made a run for it. Micah sighed. Seriously? He'd just outran him on his bike, did he really think he was getting away on foot.

Before he could chase after him again however, a trail of ice sped past him, freezing the man's feet and ankles to the ground. Astro walked up beside Micah. "I think it's clear you're not going anywhere. Now return that woman's belongings. Now."

The man reached into his jacket and pulled out a gun. Astro got ready to grab his sword, but in another flash Micah zipped passed him and snatched it away. "Nope…" he said before tossing it back behind him towards Astro.

The teal haired teen caught the gun before freezing it and breaking it in his hand. Astro hummed and looked at Micah. "You're fast," he stated. He had moved before Astro could even react. That was something.

"Get it from my dad," Micah said shrugging. "How long do you think that ice will hold?"

Astro moved his hand and the ice crept up to the thief's body. The man yelped and looked nervous, but the ice stopped just before his neck. "Long enough."

"Good. Cause I don't feel like sticking around and waiting for the cops. Let's go," Micah said as he began walking off once more.

Astro followed after him. "That was irritating. I want some donuts."

"Now you're talking like a gamer."

"Really?"

They continued on, completely unaware of the figure looking down on them. A wide smile broke across the figure's face. He couldn't believe it. "Lucky me, lucky me. I actually found someone who might be fun to toy with in this backwater dimension," he said chuckling. It had been a while since he faced someone who could match his speed.

Not that it would help either of them.

Kingsley made his way towards Hank's office with a concerned expression in his face. Danielle had called him and asked him to come as soon as he had a chance, and she had sounded pretty worried about it too. The only times he really got calls from the Tech. department was when they had finished a top priority project, or needed his advice on something.

This time it was neither, so he had no idea what could be going on.

He made his way into the office and saw Hank sitting at his desk. Danielle was leaning against it, looking worried. "Hey guys, what's wrong?" he asked.

Hank signaled for him to come over. "You have to check this out man." Kingsley walked over and saw Hank had a window pulled up. It looked like a map of Townsville, and it had blinking dots in various locations.

"What is this?"

Danielle began to explain. "A while ago we asked your aunt for a piece of tech Townville used to use back in the day. A radar that could scan for monsters. Help them get a head start before they got to the city and did too much damage. We thought we could tweak it a bit to help weed out some of the Alliance since they have so many different species of members."

Kingsley smiled. "That's great. So if they enter the city we'll be able to know right?"

Hank sighed. "Well, that's the idea. But… well, something weird is up. This thing is picking up pretty much anything it doesn't consider human in its range. The Dominators, Vera, Vivian. We're going to have to work on it some more so we can filter our own people out."

Kingsley rubbed his chin. "Okay. But that still sounds like we're on the right track."

Danielle clicked her tongue. "Yeah, that's the thing…"

Hank typed away at the computer and then zoomed in on one of the dots. "We were going through some of them just to see if we'd get lucky, and we got this…" An image of Astro popped up on the camera feed. He was walking alongside Micah and carrying three boxes of donuts.

Kingsley looked slightly surprised. "Oh… but, is that really surprising? Nia and Astro aren't humans. They're Mewman."

Danielle stood up. "Nia didn't pop up on this thing."

Now Kingsley was growing curious. "As far as we can tell, anyone who has a biology or DNA close to regular humans is not being picked up. Nobody with X is on the list, and neither is Envie or Damian. Maybe cause they're sticking to their humans forms."

"So… what are you trying to say?" Kingsley asked.

Hank gave him a serious look. "I'm saying Nia and Astro have different DNA. Otherwise one wouldn't be showing up while the other didn't. It would either be neither, or both. Astro must be something else."

"And whatever he is driving the radar nuts," Danielle pointed out. "Even Vera and Vivian are registering as half human. He's not even close."

Kingsley looked back at the screen in disbelief. That… that couldn't be right. If he wasn't Mewman, then what was he?