Kari Arclight was busy searching the internet for her next big scoop when she heard behind her,
"Hey, sis!" She whirled around clutching her heart.
"YUMA! Don't you dare scare me like that!" Kari picked up a frying pan from the sink and hit Yuma over the head with it.
"OW!" Yuma yelled and clutched his head.
"Nice to see you too, Kari." Merag said.
Kari blinked as she noticed the other people in the room. "Kite? Hart? Rio- no, wait. Merag, right?" Merag nodded. "So you guys are going to help beat those slimy goo aliens up?"
"Bingo." Nasch replied.
Quattro popped his head in from around the doorway. "Hey, octopus head. You're late reaching puberty."
"And you're still a pretty-boy with a god complex." Nasch shot back.
"You are you teasing this time, Quattro?" Trey's voice was heard from the kitchen.
"Nasch/Shark/Reginald/whatever he wants to be called today." Quattro yelled back.
"Wait, Nasch?!" Trey ran into the room and stared at the seven barians, Yuma, and the Tenjo brothers. "It's good to see you guys again. You literally look the same as you did fourteen years ago."
"Hello? What part of barians and human forms didn't you get?" Misael said.
Quinton, Vetrix, and three kids had come to see what the ruckus was all about. Vetrix, unfortunately, still looked like he was no older than ten. "Hey guys. Been a long time." Quinton nodded at the barians.
"Hi! As Quinton said, long time, huh?" Vetrix laughed.
"Hey, Quinton, Vetrix, and you three are...?" Dumon crouched down and looked at the three children.
"They're Quinton and Kari's kids." Vetrix said like a proud grandfather that he was(which was weird considering he looked like he was about seven but the barians weren't really the people who should be judges on that). "Their names are Tehn," Vetrix gestured to the oldest child who was a boy with red hair in a braid that looked about nine, "Fern," a white haired girl who was about eight, "and Septa." a three year old girl with lavender hair.
"Hi there. We're old friends of your parents, well," Merag gave a slight laugh, "more like friends of your uncles and grandfather but still."
Fern hid behind Tehn but Septa ran up to Merag laughing, "Hi!" she held out her arms as if asking to be picked up. Merag picked the little girl up and bounced her up and down.
"How are you friends of our parents? You look like you're only five years older than me." Tehn protested.
"Try seven hundred and five and you're right on the mark." Misael snorted.
Tehn's eyes widened. "You're Seven HUNDRED and five?!" he cried, his voice squeaking on the hundred.
"Actually, we're seven hundred and fourteen, almost seven hundred and fifteen, but we're seven hundred and five years older than you." Dumon corrected.
"Woah..." Fern murmured.
"I don't get why this is surprising. Your grandpa looks like he's a few years younger than Fern!" Nasch snorted.
"Yeah, but we've known him forever! You guys... Dad? Have they always looked like this?" Tehn looked at Quinton.
Quinton sighed, "Except when they're in their true forms, yes."
Fern peaked out behind her brother. "What do you look like in your true forms?"
Quinton looked at Dumon. "If you're okay with it, the energy level in my lab is high enough that you might be able to take your true form since it's easier for you than any of the others. And the kids will want to see it."
Dumon nodded, "It's fine with me."
Tehn blinked. "Wait, does that mean you guys are ALIENS?!" His demeanor changed dramatically from suspicious to fanboy.
Quattro rolled his eyes. "He loves aliens. I blame Quinton and Vetrix for telling him stories about the Number War."
"So ARE you guys aliens?!" Tehn asked again with puppy dog eyes. Dumon leaned away slightly before Merag smacked him and he straightened up again.
"Yes... we are." Dumon replied.
"WOW! Real. Live. ALIENS! And I can see these ones unlike Astral! It's hard talking to an alien via Uncle Yuma!" Tehn bounced up and down. Septa giggled from Merag's arms.
"Big brother Tehn is acting like a baby!" Septa giggled.
"Am not! But they're aliens! Real aliens!" Tehn pouted at his little sister.
"Looks like Septa got a few genes that her father was carrying dormant which you, on the other hand, received very much active." Nasch glared at Quattro
"You have been spending too much time around Dumon, shark bait." Quattro laughed.
"Hold it!" Everyone looked at Tehn, "Dumon? Are you guys the BARIAN EMPERORS?!"
"Just how many other aliens aside from Astral beings and Maldorians do you know about?" Misael scoffed.
Tehn got up really close to Misael. "That must mean you're Misael! Kite described you as an effeminate jerk! And the guy with the purple hair is Nasch! And the girl is Merag!"
"Excuse me? The girl?" Merag repeated, "That's what I get labeled as?"
"I got called the guy with purple hair, suck it up, sis." Nasch muttered.
Tehn started excitedly naming the barians. "Then the big dude with the mohawk is Gilag, the short kid with the brown hair is Alit,"
"Dumon's shorter..." Alit muttered.
"Just get over it, buddy." Gilag whispered.
"The nerdy grey haired one is Dumon," Tehn continued.
"Nerdy?" Dumon blinked as he mentally nursed his injured pride.
"And that must mean the guy with the jacket and hair that looks like a carrot is Vector!" Tehn exclaimed.
"Yes. He is. He is also a psychopath. Please avoid him for the next few days." Dumon said in a nervous, clipped voice and turned Tehn around by the shoulders as Vector opened his mouth to protest(and probably utter some colorful words and threats) before Nasch covered his mouth.
"Come on, kids. Let's go into the lab but, as usual, DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING!" Quinton beckoned.
"Yay! I get to see Dumon-sama's barian form!" Tehn cheered and raced in front of his father. Fern, Vetrix, Dumon, and Merag, still carrying Septa followed.
"So here's the lab." Quinton pushed open a metal door and the small crowd walked in.
"Nice." Dumon approved.
"Give me a second to amp up the energy level." Quinton walked over to a machine and typed a few things. As his fingers went click-clack over the keyboard, he froze right before hitting the 'Enter' key. "Alright, kids. You guys might feel a little funny in a second but you'll get used to it."
"Got it, Dad! Let's get going!" Tehn cheered.
Quinton pressed the button and the barians could sense the energy level in the room rising. Vetrix passed a paper bag to Fern who was looking a little green. The pearl-haired child promptly lost her lunch. Dumon waited until the children were feeling well again before turning to Merag.
"Is there enough energy in here for you to take your barian form, too?" Merag shook her head.
"No, not quite." she replied.
Tehn spoke up, "Awwwwww... I would really have liked to see your true form too, Merag-san."
"You'll see it eventually." Merag replied.
"I suppose you want to see me bariaphose now?" Dumon asked.
"YES! Please!" Tehn begged.
Dumon chuckled and closed his eyes. He concentrated and felt the cleansing experience of transforming back into his barian form. It felt so good considering, excepting for his visit back to Barian World, he hadn't been in his true form for a long time. He opened his eyes to see Tehn staring at him with saucer-like eyes.
"WOW! YOU LOOK SO AWESOME!" the scarlet-haired boy cheered.
"You really like extraterrestrial beings, don't you?" Dumon asked.
"Of course!" Tehn replied still staring at Dumon like he was his idol.
"You do look really amazing..." Fern whispered.
"You'll get used to our barian forms soon." Dumon 'smiled'.
"Dumon is a barian! Dumon is a barian!" Septa chanted.
Merag laughed, "And Merag is too."
Septa changed her chant, "Dumon and Merag are barians! Dumon and Merag are barians!"
Everyone had to laugh at that. "Come on kids, go watch some TV. Us adults, er... and centuries old aliens, and your grandfather need to discuss the Maldorians." Quinton said.
"Why wasn't I included in the 'adults' category? I am technically an adult." Vetrix complained.
"Well, no offense, but you do look like a child. And usually act like one." Quinton replied.
"So that's why we weren't categorized in the adults category either." Dumon mused.
Tehn looked at them. "You guys are adults?"
"Seven hundred and fifteen freaking years old, and you ask us if we're adults." Everyone turned to Misael who was standing behind Dumon.
"Woah! How's you get inside?!" Tehn cried.
"Teleported." Misael answered.
An awkward silence followed.
"Huh." Tehn seemed to be worn down from all the questions he had asked.
"Hey, I think there should be some cartoons or anime on TV. Why don't you kids go look?" Merag suggested. She set Septa down and the three children raced out of the lab as Quinton turned down the energy level. Dumon reverted back to his human form and they walked back upstairs.
Everyone else was waiting. Kari had, apparently, made cookies. That made Dumon wonder exactly how long they had been in the lab. "So you're finally up. Ready to talk about those demon aliens?" Kari said.
"Yeah, you guys saw the one in Kite's tower, right?" Trey asked.
"Yep, that bug was large. L to the A to the R to the G to the E. L-A-R-G-E." Alit chanted. The others stared at Alit. "What?" Alit cocked his head.
"What we know is that these things to the form of an earth organism of the kingdom animalia, can only come to earth at certain phases of the lunar cycle, and exhibit super-human strength and probably speed too." Dumon summarized. Only Trey, Vetrix, Kite, Hart, Quinton, Nasch, Merag, and Misael fully got what he had said. The others were still caught on the phrase 'form of an earth organism'.
"They also appear to require less energy to attain their true forms on earth. To do this, they set up devices that will emit energy waves around the area they want to attack, usually all around Heartland. We bust the ones we find, but they're hidden well. The good news is, once the machines are turned on, they just keep emitting higher and higher forms of energy, meaning after a certain period of time you guys can take your true form as well." Trey explained.
"So, have they attacked already?" Merag asked.
"Minor skirmishes, nothing more. Most of what we know on their energy devices is based off of taking some of their machines and doing some reverse engineering." Quinton said.
"Hmm... Alit? Gilag? Vector? What do you guys think-" Dumon started to address the other emperors before seeing them arm-wrestling and playing table football with Yuma, Quattro, and Vetrix.
A bright red tick mark appeared on Misael's head. "ARE YOU PATHETIC IDIOTS EVEN PAYING THE SLIGHTEST BIT OF ATTENTION?!"
"Huh?" Alit said.
Misael started screaming at them, then Kite started yelling at Misael and they got into a fight and Vector just had to step in and add fuel to the fire.
"SHUT THE F*CK UP YOU GENDER-CONFUSED JERKHOLE!"
"THAT'S THE BEST YOU CAN COME UP WITH FRUITHEAD?!"
"Ooh! Cat fight! Mreow! Hiss!"
"SHUT YOUR PIEHOLE CARROT-BRAIN!"
"STAY OUT OF THIS YOU FILTHY ROCK ALIEN!"
"DID YOU JUST INSULT MY SPECIES?!" Misael shouted.
"YEAH, YOU DO THE EXACT SAME THING WITH HUMANS!" Kite retorted.
"A superior species is allowed to put the little ants in their place!" Misael sneered.
"SUPERIOR SPECIES?! YEAH, AND I'M A LITTLE GIRL!" Kite yelled.
"THAT MAKES SENSE, YOU SURE ACT LIKE ONE!" Misael snapped.
"Woohoo! Sissy fight! Skip to the part where you have a naked pillow fight!" Vector giggled.
"WHAT THE F*CK YOU FREAKING SOCIOPATH?!" Misael yelled.
Dumon, Merag, Nasch, Hart and Yuma quickly got involved to break up the fight. While restraining Misael with help from Dumon, Nasch realized just how much he had missed the other emperors over the fourteen years they had been apart. Sure, he had amnesia during that time, but still. It made him wonder what exactly had happened to cause them to land on earth as children who were barely two years old.
"Let me at that effeminate mother f*cker! Let me at him!"
"You honestly think a pathetic flesh bag like you could last one nanosecond against me? That's cute, why don't you just go play in your little fruit patch with all your plant friends? You just fit right in there." Misael taunted. Nasch tightened his grip on Misael. Wonderings and musings could come later, right now stopping Misael and Kite from ripping each other to shreds was the priority.