Star Children

In the unknown regions of space across time, two children were sent back in time to be adopted. With golden brown eyes, the boy had azure skin, and the girl had viridescent skin. They both had charcoal hair; they rode in a pod no bigger than a Volkswagen beetle curled up in the fetal position as they traveled through interstellar space, passing stars and planets throughout the cosmos. They finally arrived in the sector of the cosmos where they'd grow into phenomenal adults. As they slept through their journey, their pod collected data and transmitted it into their subconscious, where they withheld all the information. Their parents knew only they could save the planet they were about to embark on. As their craft entered the planet's atmosphere, it began the reentry process, first slowing down. It was nighttime as they fell through the atmosphere; lights illuminated the night sky. The computer beeped as it found the ideal destination. Crashing through trees, landing in the backyard, snapping branches as it descended, leaving an opening in the tree. Their craft emitted a low vibrational hum as it hovered off the ground. The computer engaged the landing gear and softly brought the craft down. As the craft slowly cut power, it diverted all its energy to turning invisible. The crashing sound woke up people in the nearby. The residents of the home whose backyard they landed in woke up from the robust noise. The lights in a small room clicked on as a chocolate-toned man hopped out of the bed, grabbing the drawstring to an elephant-shaped lamp on the nightstand table. Pulling the curtains back, he gazed out the window but could not spot anything. His pregnant wife, a plus-size coffee-tone woman, lay in bed naked as she tossed over and turned in bed. She looked over to the man as he peeked out the window. "Devonte, what are you doing?" Devonte averted his gaze from outside as they made eye contact and turned back around, looking around their backyard. "Didn't you hear that racket? It sounded like something crashed through the trees." The woman yawned and stretched her legs out as she gripped the cover; she sat up and turned out the lamp, "All I could hear is your snoring." Devonte huffed and puffed and pouted, "I'm not crazy. I know I heard something, Sylvia." Sylvia got up and walked around the bed in front of them; their two dogs, Manhatan and Clowie, poked their heads out of the bed and then back down. The TV was left on as the streaming service's main menu displayed. Standing next to Devonte, she tippytoed and peeked over his shoulder. Devonte then closed the curtain to meet Janet eye to eye, "I'm going outside; if I don't come back, call the police right away." The ship hissed as the computer beeped, rapidly unlocking the vessel. The two children awoke from their slumber as Devonte exited the house. In his left land, he carried a tiny flashlight in his right, an unsheathed dull sword. His dog Flakes jumped on him excitedly and began running back and forth as Devonte approached the back. The light from his solar-powered back porch light dimly illuminated their backyard as he waved his tiny flashlight around in front of him. As the craft hissed, Devonte could hear it. He readied his sword, gripping it firmly. "Come out, and I will harm you slightly!" The ship's computer continued to beep as it powered down, and the hatch slowly opened at the bottom. The two mysterious children got up, rubbing their eyes with their forearms. They had on almost identical short-sleeved pajama sets, and their eyes sparkled as if they had many stars in them. Devonte froze as they exited, dropping his sword to the ground. The boy looked around. His eyes were heavy and hazy, "Ama," his voice was groggy. The girl yawned; her teeth were porcelain white. "Uma," The girl said as she wiped her eyes; as their eyes cleared, they looked at Devonte. "Children? What are they?" He thought to himself, his feet frozen to the ground. Flakes barked as he ran close to the children, growling. The children were unbothered as the girl kneeled down, extending her hand in Flakes's direction. Flakes continued to growl as the girl's hand got closer and closer; Flakes slowly walked up to her. Flakes began licking her fingers, and she hugged him tightly, "Flakes." Shock ran across Devonte's face as he dropped his sword and turned around. Devonte hurriedly ran, pushing the chain link fence open as it scrapped across the ground. He then darted into the eyes, locking the top and bottom locks on the heavy steel security door. He then slammed the wooden inner door, twisting the locks on them next. Devonte sat with his back pressed against the door. Sylvia came out of the room with a dark blue silk robe covering her, "What is going on out here?" The locks then clicked one by one. The steel outer door opened as the locks on the inner wood door unlocked; Devonte looked up and tried to lock the door again but was unsuccessful as the door flew open, sending him flying onto the sofa. Sylvia screamed as the two children walked into the living room; Sylvia, at that moment, fainted, collapsing onto the ground. As the sun clouds crept slowly on the wind across the sky, Flakes walked into the house as Devonte lay unconscious. Flakes licked his hand as he lay slumped over on the long sofa. Groaning, Devonte slowly opened his eyes as he straightened up his body. A small gash could be seen on the back of his skull as bleed got into his mini afro. His eyes were fuzzy. Devonte slumped his head into his hands, "It was all a dream, it was all a dream, it was all a dream. Nothing like that happens in real life. Get a grip." The two children huddled up on the loveseat, sleeping in opposite directions as Devonte glanced over to see them. Devonter's eyes widened, "Shit. So it wasn't a dream, it was all real. I saw a blue boy and a green girl. Maybe it's paint, maybe it was those damn edibles." Devonte looked to his right and saw Sylvia collapse on the floor. He jumped up and picked her up as she returned to consciousness. Sylvia looked Devonte in the eyes and smiled, "Devonte, I had the strangest dream last night. When it flew open, you sat at the door, and then two children walked into the house. The boy was blue, and the girl was green. They both had jet-black hair, but their eyes were like stars. This pregnancy is crazy." Devonte contorted his face, his left eye squinched as his mouth twisted, "Well." He pointed to the loveseat, and Sylvia's eyes followed. Sylvia's eyes widened as she gazed at the children, and Sylvia's eyes rolled to the back of her head as her body went limp. Devonte picked Sylvia up with all his might and gently placed her onto the long sofa. Devonte plopped him onto the sofa next to Sylvia. Devonte placed his hand on Sylvia's stomach and rubbed it circularly. He could feel the baby moving as he sat there. A smile ran across his face as he looked at the boy and girl once again. As the sun touched the children, they yawned, stretched, and sat up. The boy and girl then pointed to Devonte and Sylvia, "Ama, Uma." Devonte held his hand outwardly, bent towards the sky, "I don't know what that means. I can't even understand you." The boy and girl looked at one another and then back to Devonte. The girl held up her finger as if she were going to ask a question with the tip of her index stretched open. The craft in the backyard turned on and beeped rapidly, sending information to the boy and girl's minds. They gasped in awe as the information flooded their brains. The boy and girl gripped their throats and made grunting noises as if they were clearing their throats. They did this while stretching their mouths; the bones cracked in their jaws as they rolled their tongues. They looked at one another, smiled, and then turned their attention back to Devonte, "Mother and Father." Devonte groaned as he placed his face into his hands, "What is happening?" The children walked over to Devonte, "Father." Devonte eyes widened as they got closer when they both wrapped their arms around him. Devonte raised his arms to hug them but hesitated as they held him; a strong aroma of lilies and jasmines radiated from their pores. Devonte pushed them away as he stood up, his mind in disarray. Devonte looked at them one last time; as he turned around, he picked up flakes and took him back outside. Carefully, he placed flakes down and closed the gate fence, locking it to be sure he didn't get out. As he headed back inside, the two children stood at the door, "Father?" Devonte grew frustrated, "Look, I am not your father. I already have a child on the way." The children looked at one another; the girl held up her index finger and placed it on Devonte. Devonte's body grew weak as he fell to his knees when a voice began to speak to him, "Hi Devonte, I don't have a lot of time to explain, but all you need, Devonte, is these children are your children from an alternate universe/future. I know this is confusing, but we've sent them here for you to raise them. Our world, our home, is or has been erased from the greater multiverse, and these children are your only bet to saving it and your world." Devonte's eyes widened and bugged out as he sat on his knees; the voice continued to speak to him, "As the Anti-Matter Probability storm clashes and eats each universal bubble, more worlds will be destroyed. We choose the two because you're the least likely of us all to mess up something important and the most stable of us all. Please, for the sake of your world, raise them right; they have all the knowledge needed within their ship. When the time comes, they will know how to access the information and save your world and the multiverse. Be on the watch for the Anti-Matter heralds, the Anti-Life." Devonte heart raced as images of the Anti-Matter storm swallowed a universe, and sweat poured from his pores. "They will come as Grey aliens; kill them as soon as you spot one and aim for the head. Or take off their helmets; they will explode when they come in contact with regular matter. They first set anti-matter bombs, which in your Universe are deadlier than even the Atomic bomb. I hope you accept. Otherwise, all hope is lost." The girl placed her index down; Devonte gasped for air as he was sweat-drenched. Devonte's body went numb as he fell to the ground. The children used their mysterious powers to catch him before he hit the ground. Gently, they lowered him to the ground and closed the door to the house, locking it. Devonte and Sylvia would eventually wake up as Devonte explained all that had transpired. Sylvia looked at her belly and rubbed it, "So are they the same ones I'm pregnant with or different?" Devonte shook his head, "I don't know, different at best. Ours won't be blue or green. For the most part, they seem like ordinary children aside from that overall glaring issue. Maybe we should give it a chance." Sylvia sighed, "Well, okay, but where will they sleep? Your grandmother isn't going believe any of this, and Epopo is supposed to take that extra room." Devonte placed his hand on Sylvia's shoulder, "Don't worry, I have it all planned out." Later that morning, when Devonte's grandmother woke up, he greeted her as she shuffled into the living room, holding the children's hands. "We're moving out." Devonte's grandmother's mouth fell to the floor, "No need to say anything; we had been preapproved; we just didn't know how to bring up the issue. But circumstances have forced us to at this current time." Devonte's grandmother's legs buckled, and Devonte dashed over to her before she could fall to the hard tile floor. As he caught her by the arms, he helped her to the long sofa; the two sat down, "Look, we can't hold up over lives for you any longer. You don't want to eat, you constantly smoke, you disrespected me by asking Sylvia to buy you cigarettes after I told you not to ask her." Devonte's grandmother began crying as she fixed her mouth, "I'm sorry, I don't want you to move out." Devonte sighed, "Well, it's too late. We are tired; we always go to your doctor's appointments, we give up date nights to make sure you're alright, and we're literally your caretakers. You have a 60-year-old son in this house who doesn't clean, he doesn't go with you to your appointments, you put everything on us, and it's time we left. These children don't need to live in an environment like this one. You can't even admit your wrongs. You always think your right and do stuff to piss me off." Devonte and his grandmother hugged as she cried; Sylvia and Devonte packed all their necessary things and left with the children to begin a new life. As time passed, the children grew older and wiser; their once azure and viridescent skin became mahogany, and their eyes remained the same even into adulthood. Sylvia, in total, had three children by Devonte, who became a successful writer, and Sylvia opened a business called Star Dust Delights, where she sells soaps, toothpaste, shampoos, and candles. Sylvia and Devonte would name the boy Xavier and the girl Andromeda. Now in their late twenties, Xavier and Andromeda worked non-stop to surpass their expectations, never forgetting where they came from. They would go into the field of physics, using their brilliant minds to solve complex equations and dominate Quantum Mechanics. The time would eventually come when the Anti-Life would invade the Earth. As the Anti-Matter storm devoured many universes whole. The Anti-Life would attack many cities worldwide. Military leaders banded together in a joint operation to fight this new invading threat but were unsuccessful. As the war waged, the Military voted for a strong leader to take control. This gave rise to the tyrannical General, General Anna. General Anna secretly dated Colonel Rosie, and she slowly rose to Brigadier General. Many died under Rosie and Anna's leadership; Jamal was a hefty cocoa-colored man who died in the battle of Washington, saving the Colonel and Brigadier general in the meaning with President Rhaney. ext was a father and daughter duo, Jose the Mouth and Ashley. They were shot by Anna as she tried to escape the hord of Anti-Life in the battle of Sacramento when the Anti-Life dropped an Anti-matter bomb on the city. Millions were whipped out, but Anna saved herself and herself only by shooting those two, claiming they were slowing her down and doing things wrong. She undermined them every step of the way, and had it not been for her, the city could have been saved. She was court-martialled, but because of her lover, she was able to return to the front lines and take command, although she was unfit to lead. Anna had no shame as she recounted the events of how Sacramento fell. Anna felt no remorse for the senseless killing of Jose or Ashley. Jenny, Montez, Michelle, Daisha, Pamela, Stanley, Carlos, Petion, Ana, & Florencia, all part of the same troop, as Jose & Ashley passed because of Anna. Months passed as The Anti-Matter storm slowly crept towards the universal bubble. For months, Xavier and Andromeda developed futuristic weapons on their own as a way to victory. Xavier and Andromeda would finish developing their weapons and, with little funding, created many more when they went to the Rosies and Anna on behalf of the world's Military leaders. They presented Rosie and Anna with new weapons that could kill the Anti-Life. As the tide of the war turned. The brother-sister duo knew what they must do to protect their new home reality, gaining access from spacecraft. Although it would take many years, they knew time was of the essence. With the help of many scientists worldwide, they built an interdimensional life bomb. When questioned about how they acquired such knowledge, the two would play coy with their answers. Other Universes who mastered dimensional travel came to this reality to assist in building a weapon to destroy the Anti-Matter storm as it neared. Two more universes in the vast multiverse would be eaten and erased from all existence when they finally developed a weapon powerful enough to rewrite and rearrange all of existence, but they only had one shot. The Anti-Matter storm was a mere year away, so they quickly teamed up with the space agency NASA. Xavier and Andromeda were sure it'd work. They used the technology from their old craft as part of the weapons components. "Theoretically, when the missile collides with the Anti-Matter storm, it should cause probability to take over, introducing regular matter to it. Anti-Matter, thus self-exploding with the force of a septillion joules or more." Xavier looked at his sister as she stood near a dry-erase board. "Hopefully, it all works because it's all just a theory. I don't know why we were tasked with this mission, but we will see it through." Everyone nodded in agreement as NASA prepared the missile for take-off when the Anti-Life came out of hyperspace with many fighter crafts." Rosie and Anna deployed their troops and tanks for ground control combat and their new fighters for air support and combat. Gunfire roared as they flew overhead as tanks shot down Anti-Life crafts. The crafts crashed to the ground in a flaming display. The Military fighters were blown to bit as they engaged with two Anti-Life craft in a dog fight above NASA's headquarters. Now under pressure, NASA managed to get the rocket in position and ready to launch as one of the Anti-Life dived into a kamikaze. A fighter dove into him, killing both in the process; many Anti-Life pilots began doing the same as they were shot down one by one. Some scientists crossed their fingers while others prayed as Xavier and Andromeda ran for the exit. Anti-Life foot soldiers exited their mothership as the Military shot at them. Many made it to the ground, as they killed and destroyed many of the military ground vehicles. Now face to face, Andromeda and Xavier once again used their powers at one hundred percent, crushing the Anti-Life helmets and bodies, compressing many into projectiles, and firing them back at their allies. The Anti-Life bombarded Andromeda and Xavier with a barrage of gunfire and projectiles. Xavier's eyes lit up bright as his skin turned azure again. The barrage was caught in midair and turned around. Andromeda's eyes glowed pink, and her skin turned viridescent; stretching out her arms and opening the palm of her hand, she grabbed all the Anti-Life ships, including their two-and-a-half-mile-long mothership. Andromeda dragged it down to the planet's surface using all her might, crushing them as Xavier released their bombardment barrage back on them. The Military, now frightened, turned their weapons on the duo as Rosie pulled out a speakerphone, "What are you?" Rosie looked at Anna as she nodded and started walking toward the brother-sister duo. Their skin slowly changed into a mahogany complexion as they collapsed. In the distance, a vehicle came down a long dusty road. "Well, what are you!" As Anna got closer, the vehicle drifted in front of them. Out of breath, they sat on the ground when Devonte and Sylvia hopped out of the vehicle, jumping in front of Xavier and Andromeda. "They are human like you and me!" Devonte shouted. Rosie's face contorted as a dumbfounded expression crossed his face. Anna stopped five feet from them and looked back at Rosie as she held the microphone. Anna then looked back at Devonte and Sylvia, anger filled in her eyes. "Are you mad, man? They're monsters, they are shapeshifters, they're probably Anti-Life as well!" Anna pointed to Xavier and Andromeda as Devonte stepped forward, his arms stretched out wide. Anna then grabbed Devonte by the collar, jacking him up. "I am their father; I raised them since they were young. They are human, I assure you." Rosie got out of her SUV and walked over to Devonte as Anna jacked him up and, with a right hook, punched him in the face; Devonte fell to the ground as Rosie and Anna kicked him. "I'll show you they're monsters. Even if I have to kill you, they will attack me." Sylvia ran to Devonte's aid when Anna, with her backhand, slapped Sylvia to the ground. He stood there looking at her, "Pathetic. Maybe you're all monsters as well. It only makes sense as to why you'd protect them." As the remaining children sat in the car, unable to look, Scientist ran out of the facility with new weaponry when a fragile pale woman stepped forward, her knees knocked and buckled from nervousness, "I am Dr. Ingrid; if you kill them, we will be forced to stop you." Anna chuckled, "You nerds have no power here. We're taking control of this operation. We will take the glory for destroying the Anti-Matter storm." Dr. Ingrind flipped the switch on the weapon, "Well, that's not going to happen." Ingrid's face became serious as she pulled the trigger. A beam of purple and black energy swirled into one shot from the weapon as the army unleashed a barrage of fire on them. Xavier and Andromeda struggled to lift their arms as the barrage neared them all; their eyes glowed as they caught the bullets with their powers. The beam hit Anna and Rosie, vaporizing them into ash as the beam dissipated. Ingrid dropped the weapon and quickly held up her hands. Xavier and Andromeda released the barrage, sending the bullets another way. Their arms fell to the ground as they were exhausted and out of breath. "We..wouldn't.. hurt anyone that you can believe, and now you all are free from your dictators." Suddenly, an announcement came from the intercom speakers: "We're about to launch the rockets with the missiles inside!" Devonte and Sylvia were helped up by a few army men and women, and the other scientists helped Xavier and Andromeda. Ingrid was handcuffed and placed in a holding cell, where she revealed her secret identity as a non-human scientist. "I had to do it. My Universe was destroyed; we searched every remaining multiverse for one with the advancement or knowledge to take them on. We found yours, and we refuse to let anyone else die." The group headed inside to watch the launch. "3,2,1 and we have lift off!" The rocket ignited and lifted off the ground, zooming toward space. Once out of the atmosphere, the rocket headed towards the sun, gaining a gravity boost assist, towards Jupiter for another gravity assist, and finally toward the Universal boundary, where it will clash with the Anti-Matter storm. Months passed, and as they tracked the rocket's speed, they keyed the rocket's light-speed engine to activate. As the engine activated, time and space bent around the rocket, propelling it forward to an immense speed unlike any had seen before. As the Anti-Matter storm approached, mere days away, it took on a more physical form when the rocket emerged from the universal bubble. The capsule opened, releasing the missile. The Anti-Matter storm caught off guard and swallowed the missile; it chuckled, "Mortals think they can kill a God; at least they died fighting." The Anti-Matter storm suddenly began to break apart from the inside, "This shouldn't be possible; what did you foolish mortals do?" Its voice echoed across the bubble, causing everything in the known Universe to rattle, "I'm dying." The Anti-Matter storm slowly shrank in size as the matter was introduced into the Anti-Matter storm. "There has never been enough matter to kill me, so how is my Anti-Matter touch being nullified." The Anti-Matter storm faded into the void between universes, destroying all Anti-Matter in the known and unknown multiverse. Back on Earth, the twins explained what had happened; Xavier stood in front of the press and cleared his throat, "We learned from the Anti-Matter storm that was part sentient, and so we had to build into our missile a way to nullify his biology to turn everything he touches into Anti-Matter essentially he was a large virus. Once we introduced the nullification process, whatever he ate would become regular matter again. We also sadly had to teleport a dead universe into him." Andromeda stepped in, "To clear up what my brother meant by dead Universe, it was a universe where a zombie plague outbreak took over. No one survived thus dead Universe." A woman from the press stood up and held her hand, "How did you locate such a universe?" Xavier and Andromeda looked at each other and smiled. "We're not at liberty to answer that question." Rather than sitting down, the woman continued to stand, "One more question: are the rumors true at least that you two are from a universe that was eaten and others refugees from other universes as well?" They looked at each other one last time as the lights went out. Xavier and Andromeda weren't seen after that day as they lived out the rest of their days with Devonte, Sylvia, and the remaining members of their family on a farm on Mars, where they terraformed the planet and placed an artificial dome around it for the atmosphere to be habitable once again.