The Ultima Children

The Ultima Children-Book One

"Aphmau," Aaron said.

"yes Aaron?" She turned in her seat.
"What are we going to do about... this?" He motioned vaguely towards the monitor. "About what they're doing with all those kids and stuff."
Aphmau frowned, considering him for a moment before she looked out the window. They were flying over Starlight now, and her gaze had drifted from the window to her reflection. "It's not my place to interfere, Aaron."
She didn't really know what her role would be when it came to the kids, but there was one thing she did know - Michael was dangerous. And she was pretty sure everyone thought that she' s the only person capable of stopping him. But how was anyone supposed to stop something like that? How was anybody meant to stand up against an evil man like that, or even understand what he was feeling?
Besides, she didn't have to worry about anything. No more than three Ultimas and two Vampires lived here; and there wasn't much of a threat since most of the other people on the planet were still alive. The fact that she was a guardian, and an incredibly powerful one at that, made her the perfect candidate to keep Michael occupied while the rest of the Guardians worked to get rid of the Vampires. If she couldn't do that, she' d rather die than allow Michael to hurt anymore Ultimas.
She sighed softly to herself. This was probably the first time she'd felt genuinely sad since she' s been on her own for seven years. At least her life had been easy once upon a time. Back before the world went to hell and everything became too complicated. She hadn't needed to worry about any of this; she'd never known what her purpose even was. All she'd ever cared about was surviving. There weren't very many places you went if you didn't need a reason to leave your house, so the last thing Aphmau had ever done before leaving home was go to school.
And then there was Michael. That one event had changed everything she knew. She no longer saw the world in black and white, like she used to. Her goal had always been to live long enough to see the end of this horrible cycle. Now she was stuck in a constant cycle of fear, and fighting back as hard as she could. If there was one thing she'd learned, however, it was that life wasn't some cartoon where everything is fair. Life wasn't a fairytale, and it didn't have any happy endings. So she had to make the best of her situation, no matter how painful the outcome. It wasn't easy. But it was her duty. And even though it pained her, she had no choice but to accept it.
The sound of Aaron's voice brought her back to reality, bringing her out of her thoughts. "... Aph?" He asked again.
"Sorry, I zoned out," she replied.
"... I' m worried that we can't handle this ourselves." He paused before continuing. "We have three people to watch over these kids. We need help, especially with the Vampires. And if we don't do something soon, we might lose the kid." He stared off into space, seemingly lost in thought.
"we could call Katelyn, Kawaii~Chan, Zane, and Garroth to help us once we land." Aphmau suggested.

Aaron nodded, looking away. "You're right." His eyes scanned the monitors as they flew past, focusing on one spot and staying there until it disappeared behind another cluster of buildings. "They'll come, won't they?" he muttered, sounding less certain.
"Of course." Aphmau assured him. "They'll probably fly down right after we get off the ship." She paused. "But I suppose we should tell them what happened first so they aren't surprised."
"You think they want to hear that?"
Aphmau chuckled dryly. "I' re sure they do. And we can ask them to help us, if that helps you feel better."
"Yeah, okay." Aaron sighed.
After spending several minutes debating whether or not they should contact the other three, they landed and Aaron went to retrieve the other four members of the team before taking the shuttle up into the atmosphere. Once they were in the air, he called the others on the communicators in his wrist bands.
Kawaii~Chan answered almost immediately, her excited giggling coming through loud and clear. Aphmau smiled as Aaron held out the communicator to her, telling her he was on the way up.
Garroth, Zane, and Katelyn appeared seconds later, all wearing their usual expressions of shock and concern. Aphmau grinned as she watched the others, glad to see them safe and sound.
"Hey guys!" she greeted. "How've you been doing?"
Zane hesitated before answering. "Oh, well, the weather was terrible yesterday. I'm afraid my circuits got overheated." Zane took off the bandana around his head, shaking his hair loose to reveal two rows of horns along the top of his head.
"That must be a pain to deal with," Aphmau agreed sympathetically.
Zane smiled gratefully, nodding his head slightly.
"Anyways," Aaron broke in, clearing his throat uncomfortably. "We found some information on Michael. We believe that he plans to use Ultimas against humans in order to turn them into a weapon of mass destruction."
Silence followed. After a minute passed, Garroth finally spoke.
"Is that true?"
"Yes."
There was silence again before Kawaii~Chan spoke. "He sounds insane! Does he plan to do that to everybody?"
"No," Aaron replied grimly. "Only Ultimas. But he has a few dozen children at the facility."
"So what do we do?" Zane asked.
Aaron shook his head. "That's the problem. There's nowhere else to send the kids; we have to take care of this ourselves."
"But we haven't finished training for our classes yet. We can't just start training without knowing what we're getting into." Kawaii~Chan sounded distressed.
Aphmau leaned forward. "Look, Aaron was right. The Guardians are trying to bring back a good old' Utopian order. We have to stop him."
Kawaii~Chan gave her a curious look. "Are you one of the Guardians?"
Aphmau laughed. "Me? No, sorry. Not exactly. I'm Aphmau."
"Oh," she said, blinking.
Kawaii~Chan seemed to be thinking hard for a moment. Then her face lit up in realization and she turned her attention back to the screen.
Aphmau sighed quietly as she sat back in her chair, staring at the monitor again.
~~~~~~
Michael paced in front of the window, his hands resting heavily on his hips. He glanced over at the guard standing outside of his office, waiting patiently for him to finish yelling and cursing at the idiot that had caused this mess.
Finally, the guard pushed open the door, holding it wide open so he could enter. Michael's face twisted into an expression of pure loathing as the guard approached him. "Do you have something to report?" he demanded, pointing an angry finger in the man's direction.
"Sir, Laurence wants to talk to you." the guard said.