On an alien planet far in the future, a sinister force is plotting to take over the world using advanced technology. But those plans backfire when a group of alien teens is accidentally transported to present-day Earth. How will the aliens navigate...
Far away, on a planet shaped like a donut, on a heavily guarded military base, Imperial General Katrias Santserra stood in the middle of a professional-grade laboratory. Despite having the space and workstations for a full staff, Katrias was alone. The only indication of another human being was a framed picture on a desk-of a curly-haired redheaded girl. But as far as living beings went, there wasn't another soul. The lights were half-dimmed. Almost nothing had been moved on any of the desks.
General Katrias raised both hands, palms forward. He grit his teeth and set his jaw, and suddenly, an electronic glow bloomed between his hands, then swelled to envelope his entire body. Then, with a 'pop'!, he disappeared completely. He appeared again somewhere completely different. There was bright sunlight here, and blue skies. He was surrounded by trees. Panting-for the act of teleporting itself was exhausting-he looked up, the smallest of satisfactory smiles playing over his face. "Hmm." He rubbed his chin, his gloved fingers running through his close-shaved beard. "Seems to have worked."
"Um..." From behind him, a feminine voice interrupted. "Not...Not exactly."
"What!?" With a shocked gasp, Katrias straightened up and whirled around. He recognized that voice. His eyes widened. Standing before him, a pen clutched in one hand, was a redheaded young woman in a tight black dress. "What are you doing here?" Katrias's brow furrowed in confusion. "It took you too?"
"I don't know. Don't blame me. I'm not the one who came up with it." The woman put her hands up defensively, taking a step back. She was looking at Katrias with as much confusion as he had.
"What were you doing when I left? Did you touch anything?" Katrias frowned and folded his arms.
"No! I was just copying down your notes, like you said." The woman shook her head, her fluffy red hair shaking from side to side.
"Hmm...That's odd." Katrias rubbed his chin again. "You were in the office? Maybe...Maybe it took you because you were in such close proximity to me."
"Maybe." The woman shrugged, and it was obvious she had no idea what Katrias meant.
"I don't see anyone else here." Katrias looked around the area, then shook his head. "So that must have been it. You were within 50 feet of me, so it snagged you too. It's more powerful than I expected. I knew I was right to evacuate the lab."
"We...We can go back, right? Both of us?" The woman asked nervously.
"Ahaha!" Abruptly, Katrias laughed, an amused and good-natured sound. He smiled and clapped the woman on the back congenially. "Of course I can get us back. Don't worry your pretty little head about that. I wouldn't leave you stranded here."
Hearing this, the woman smiled, her shoulders dropping with relief.
"After all, if I did, then who would make me dinner tonight? Ahahaha!" Katrias burst into laughter again, jostling the woman lightly, paying no attention to her offended huff.
"Alright, alright. I'll take us back." Katrias rolled his eyes, still smiling, and raised his hands again. "Just good to know that it finally works. I'll work out the kinks before next time. Get a handle on this power surge, so it only transports what it's supposed to."
The redheaded woman nodded, stepping close to Katrias and grabbing him by the arm, still obviously clueless about everything that was happening right now.
Katrias set his jaw again, and once more the green glow enveloped him, surrounding the red-headed woman as well. With another 'pop!', they both disappeared in an instant, leaving nothing but air and silence in the space they had just occupied. Birds chirped and leaves rustled. A beautiful summer day.
Meanwhile, in a split second after Katrias appeared in that sunny forest meadow... The blue summer sky split open, flashing a vibrant electronic green, for only an instant. Even a half-blink and you would miss it. Which is probably why most people did miss it, even though it could be seen all over the planet. And those who saw it quickly dismissed it as some kind of lightning, aurora borealis, machine, trick of the light, etc etc. Because when they looked again, the sky was closed back to normal, as if nothing had ever happened at all. No one noticed the 12 shapes that emptied from the sky and plummeted the short distance to the ground. Not in a sunny beach-side city; not in a snowy forested mountain; not in a misty dreary neighborhood; not in a cheery packaged suburb.
But in that sunlit beach city, a blonde girl was hovering her paintbrush over a blank canvas. Two loud thuds rang out on the roof of her apartment building, making her flinch and smear paint all over the nice pristine white.
In that snowy forested mountain, another blonde girl (with shorter hair this time), had the television turned up too loud and the curtains drawn too tightly to notice anything out of place at all.
In that misty dreary neighborhood, a boy with faded blue hair was tinkering with some electronic project when he suddenly heard a piercing scream ring out from his backyard, followed by three loud thumps.
In that cheery packaged suburb, a girl with auburn hair was chatting on her cellphone and painting her nails, when there were suddenly three different sounds: a loud splash; a loud clanging of metal; and the smashing of glass.
Which case seems the most compelling to check on at the moment?
(Art is rough concept sketches of Katrias & the red-headed woman, using pose references of original art made by Guillermo Varela Iglesias)
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
