Abomination

Chapter 22- Mothership

The aliens were definitely not here for cheer. They were, at the very least, showing off as they showed us their routine. The aliens even used anti-gravity. Their shiny costumes dazzled the rest of my friends and even stunned Bucky. We clapped.

"Our telepathic groupthink makes cheer so... easy," A-li gloated.

"Yes. We are even better than you, and you've practiced your whole life," A-lan taunted.

"So fun. Thank you for inviting us." A-Spen smiled brightly.

Addison and I stood in front. We weren't going to let them get away with that.

"Hey. It's us against them. And we are going to win." I looked around at the squad.

"We're not going to let them take what's ours," Addison agreed.

"Like the Seabrook Cup," Bucky pointed out.

"Right. The Seabrook Cup." Addison smiled. "Go, Seabrook!"

"Yes. That's the spirit," Bucky cheered. "See? Your squad just needed a common enemy to motivate you."

"No. We're going to win because this squad has been together since forever," I corrected him. "Even with the new recruits, that's what makes us stronger."

"We love each other," Addison agreed. "It's not going to be because we hate anyone else. It's not who we are."

"This Cheer Off is our last chance to cheer together. And to win it, we have to try a... triple hip-hop double tuck Lindy," Bree pointed out.

"That move's impossible."

"I can't do that move without face-planting."

"And his face cannot take another nose job."

"Together, we can do anything," Addison and I assured them.

"Come on, guys. Let's go."

As we started, a pulse was sent into my body. Someone touched the force field. I growled, but continued the routine. I felt weakened for a second. When someone reached to touch it, I zapped them. We ended practice early when Addison noticed.

I felt something in me tingling. I looked over at Addison, worried. Blue pulses came from the sky and made us disappear from the stadium. I growled as I appeared by myself on the alien ship. I walked out, looking for any of the aliens.

I found myself in the main part of the ship. I put my lens in the space made for it. The screen showed me the alien planet. My parents. I looked over and saw Addison with the aliens entering the room.

"Our planet was destroyed by environmental blight built up over many years," A-Spen explained as I removed my lens.

"What?" Addison questioned. "Over years? Didn't anyone try to stop it?"

"No. And we lost everything. No one spoke up."

"That would have led to disagreements. We value harmony," A-Spen admitted.

"And we remain one people. We never had disagreements," A-li added.

"You're joking, right?" I scoffed. "If you guys were so harmonious, why did you try to kill me?"

"Kill you?" A-lan looked at me in disbelief. "Why would we kill a simple wolf?"

I showed them the memory on my lens. Everyone looked scared. A tear slipped.

"Years ago, our scouts crashed in Seabrook and hid a map to Utopia," A-Spen said. "A new home for aliens. We came here to find it."

"Wait. I thought you said you were here for cheer," Zed pointed out.

"That was a deception," A-Spen admitted. "We were afraid you would not allow us to find the map since it's hidden in the most precious thing in Seabrook."

"So that's why you kept asking about the moonstone," Zed realized.

"Yes. But our scans came back negative. It's not there. What else is precious in Seabrook?" A-Spen asked.

"Cheer. But you can't hide coordinates in a routine," I pointed out.

Zed reached for the controls. I held him back.

"Do not touch. We're repairing the files of our scout's logs," A-li explained.

"With no success," A-lan added.

"I mean, have you guys tried banging it?" Zed asked. "It works whenever my old TV's on the fritz."

"Banging?" A-li scoffed. "That's highly sensitive cosmic tech. You can't just bang it."

Zed banged the system. A woman appeared on the screen. "Oh. That seems to have worked."

"This is Scout Commander 15-09. I proudly report my mission is complete. For decades, we have been without a home. But I have found a utopia. The perfect new planet for our people. I hid the coordinates in the most precious thing in Seabrook. You must find the most precious thing in Seabrook. Many decades ago, out of fuel, my scout ship crashed on this planet. I would have died if not for a young humanoid, Eli. He hid me and nursed me to health. But with no ship to take me home, I was forced to hide my true identity."

"I know how that feels," Addison mumbled.

"I joined Eli in his school, and I discovered my passion. Cheerleading. I even created a trophy."

"The Seabrook Cup," Addison and I realized.

"But no longer in contact with our people, my hair grew white, and I lost my stardust powers. Though I gained something else. A family. Eli and I fell in love and married. And we named our firstborn A-Mishanta, but we always called her Missy."

"That's my mom's name."

We stared as the woman took off her mask. "Grandma?"

I wordlessly placed my lens back in the holder and played the log my mom recorded.

"My name is Avina (L/n). I believe I have found utopia. My family and I have found a planet that seems to have life." Mom took a deep breath. "I am also here to expose the disharmony in the so-called harmonic society we have adapted. For eons, we have believed that we live in a perfect society. They use that image to make sure we don't argue. We do not create disharmony. This is why so much has been hidden from our people. My daughter was supposed to be executed because of a prophecy, and the council presented my husband with papers. Hidden in them was the decision to rule it as an accident and disclose any and all information. She would simply not exist in the minds of our people. That is why we ran." Mom turned away from the camera, panicked. "Wayz? Wayz! What's going on?!"

"The council's controlling our ship! We're going to-"

The video was cut. My mom looked terrified.

"We were supposed to crash and die."

Everyone looked at me. "Fortunately, that wasn't the case. But the blight was not only environmental. It killed my parents a few months after I turned five."

"The prophecy told of a monstrosity. A woman that was all monster and had powers tremendous enough to overthrow the council. I believe they were scared, (Y/n). Scared that it would happen because they had us all under control. Overthrowing them and the system would be-"

"Chaos?" I questioned.

"All (Y/n)'s done ever since she came here was bring people together," Zed argued.

I took my lens and left the ship without a word.