Where'd You Come From Again?

It was the way it ate that made Ember stay her distance. Well him. It didn't look like it, but it sounded like him, a bit of an english accent but it sounded male for sure. The big ball of floating emerald swallowed a whole box of cereal, then gulped down a gallon of milk with its cartoonish lips. Finally, it belched, eyes bulging out of its head and sending a wave of mysterious smells into Yoyo’s face.

The floating emerald with eyes and lips shrugged. “Sorry about that.”

Yoyo slid back on her denim baseball cap on her shaved head. “No worries.” then she walked away. Probably gonna go punch a wall, Maverick thought as the young girl kicked open her door down the hallway. He turned and stared at the inter-dimensional being in front of him. “What’s your name again? You know, for recognition?”

The being smacked his lips on an old meatball sandwich. “Kandy. With a ‘K’. Short for Kandelionetulusesh.”

Maverick shook his head. He gawked at the thing. “Kandy it is.” he turned and looked at Duncan. The short black teen, fixed his glasses while he acted like he read a magazine. He finally looked up at the mocha-skinned bodybuilder. He shrugged. Maverick nodded. He went back to sipping his protein shake as Amanda walked in. 

The middle-aged woman stopped mid-walk and was stunned, but not at the alien, but at the meatball sandwich. Her mouth gaped open under her crimson scarf. Her eyebrows furrowed and she slowly stepped to Kandy. “Where’d you get that sub?’ she pointed at the half-eaten two-week-old sub. Kandy shrugged his pencil stick arms. “Was in the freezer. A little green stuff on it. Really gives it a tangy flavor.”

Amanda looked at her sandwich one last time before staring at the black speckled boy next to the alien. Duncan looked up from his magazine and sighed. Amanda turned right back around, then out the room. It was Duncan, Maverick, and Ember who gazed at the alien who was welcoming itself now to a can of pineapples. “Omigosh! You don't know how long since it's been since I’ve eaten! Like..A thousand years!” it munched down on the can.

Ember brushed aside her jet black hair. “Uh where did you say you’re from again?” Kandy looked up. “From dimension CC-444444441. Eight fours and one-one.”

Ember nodded. She looked at Duncan who groaned as he slid out of his seat, then tried to escape the room. Kandy jumped up and hovered behind him. “And if it wasn't for this little Rubix cube here!” he slapped the boy on the back. “I’d be still in that prison on that hellish planet Gorbach! Wait until the princess hears of this! You’ll be rewarded handsomely Duncan Anantha of Earth!” Duncan turned back around and waved his hands up. “And when will that be huh? When will you decide to get the fu...notify the princess?”

“Well let's see here,” Kandy counted his twenty digit hands. “About fourteen thousand and six hundred days from today. Forty years from right now.”

Duncan’s eyes glazed over and he stared at his two superhuman teammates. He could see the wonder in Ember’s dark eyes and the look of entertainment in Maverick’s. The bodybuilder scoffed then walked out of the kitchen. “Have fun Starsky,” he slapped Duncan on the shoulder. “Starsky? Why do I have to be Starsky?” 

“Because silly,” Kandy said. “I’m the laid back one. Now when’s our next hero mission?”

…

Duncan could all see the blame in their eyes. He knew Amanda would be mad for a week over that forgotten sub. He could hear the echo of Maverick’s laugh as the glowing green gem would follow him around. He’d hear Yoyo’s complaining before he went to bed, Ember’s looks of amazement and Julian, the immortal Gilgamesh, proceeded to say “interesting,” over and over and over again. Duncan let his head fall on the desk in front of him as the entire classroom gawked at his new friend. Kandy sat in a desk of his own, made out of thin air, with an umbrella on top and a pina colada beside him. 

Duncan’s teacher couldn't help but peer at the alien either. The class was halfway about Mitochondria and its role as the powerhouse of the cell. The other was camera flashes of Kandy and him posing. Where did he get a bikini from, Duncan thought. Then he remembered the damn alien came from his forehead. Well from a pocket dimension that was from his forehead. Most of the time, Duncan’s spontaneous powers would last for a day- the time it took for him to enjoy(or hate) his new power. Then the next day, a new ability and the day after that. Yet Kandy was still here, following him everywhere he went, eating food that wasn't his, posing for classmates, and pissing Yoyo off.

It was to his luck that Julian sent him a text, notifying him that a car would come to pick him up. Duncan sighed. It was a mission. Most of the time, that would raise the boy's spirits, but Kandy changed that. Especially when Kandy reappeared in a tuxedo and a red carpet rolled down the sidewalk towards the limo. Duncan felt the cameras of classmates on the edge of the windows as Kandy waved them goodbye. “Awesome! I can't believe you’re this famous dude! I wonder how many ladies, hold on,” Kandy cleared his throat. “Slide in your DMs.”

Duncan turned his head to the alien. Kandy smiled, with animated pearly whites. Duncan banged his head back and forth on the headrest as they zoomed off to the mansion.

….

A giant dragon. Of course it is, Duncan thought as him and the team zoomed off down to the coast of Hawaii in their invisible jet. Kandy was sprinting back and forth on looney tune legs, excitement overwhelming him. “Omigoshomigoshomigosh. My first ever superhero mission! “ he darted to Ember. “So what’s it like?? Fighting dragons, robots, zombies??” Ember simply shrugged and went back to zipping up her black and blue armored suit. She put on her blue and red lenses over her cowl. “Cool. Very cool,” she grinned at him. Kandy exploded in delight. He was next to Yoyo. She stepped back in her violet and white suit, pulling her hoodie down further on her face. She ignored Kandy’s cries as he zipped to Maverick, in a sleeveless black and metal trimmed suit, then to Amanda in brown and white, an armored mask covering the bottom half of her face. It was Julian who took the time to talk to him.

The middle eastern man(the team didn't really know his nationality) grinned at him as he readied his composite bow and quiver of arrows. “Difficult most of the time. But we pull through.”

“So you’re the leader,” Kandy grinned to Julian. He pointed to Maverick. “You’re the bruiser.” He turned to Yoyo. “The Rogue.” Then Amanda. “Scout.” He pointed to Ember. “Or are you? Maybe you’re the support. And you buddy!” he zapped to Duncan and slapped him on the shoulder. “You’re the powerhouse!”

Maverick scoffed. “O-kay. Sure.”

Duncan struggled with his zipper. “No. I’m just here in case the Wyvern has a weird weakness to me or something.”

Kandy circled him with stars following. “Oh oh oh! What power is it today? Heat vision? Can you make hurricanes with your breath? How about you can turn into a dragon?”

Duncan nodded. “Yea...I can talk to fish.”

Kandy looked at him for a very long time. Then his grin spread to the other side of the room. “That's AWESOME! Like Aquaman. Ooo! How about-”

“Fish man?” Yoyo remarked.

“Or Mer-man?” Maverick snickered.

“How about...Aquarius?” Kandy zoomed an eye in on Duncan. Duncan raised an eyebrow. “That actually sounds pretty good.” and he cracked a grin for the first time that day. “YES! Aquarius, Gilgamesh, Thermo-Dynama, The Mole, Matter Maverick, and...Yoyo?” Kandy asked the girl.

“Yep. Just Yoyo,” Yoyo replied.

The autopilot of the jet disabled and the team quickly dispersed to their positions on the island. All around them was chaos.  Matter Maverick and Amanda-The Mole went straight to search and rescue while Ember-Thermo-Dynama sped off leaving a trail of water vapor. It was Yoyo, Gilgamesh, and Duncan’s new codename, Aquarius that stayed and observed the sky.

Behind the fires and smoke, a dark-winged creature roared fire above. Its dark wings sent gusts of winds down upon them, feeding flames. It soared down and bit down on debris, heaving it to the sky and flinging it to a random location.  Gilgamesh raised his bow and aimed. Through the scope, a digital display appeared and he observed the creature. “It's at three-thousand meters above, one-mile west of here,” he said.

“We can see that,” Yoyo pulled out her rope and it glowed to life in violet energy. “How the hell are we even gonna’ get its attention?”

“HEY UGLY.”

The three of them turned their heads. Kandy screamed at the top of his lungs. “YOU SCALY BASTARD.  NOTHING RACIST THOUGH. I LIKE ALL CREATURES. BUT YOU'RE A DICK.” his voice boomed across the beach. Up above, the Wyvern circled until it's glowing crimson eyes targeted them. “Wow,” Yoyo said. “We are screwed.”

The Wyvern jetted off towards them, a primordial roar ringing in the sky. “Maverick. Assistance please,” Gilgamesh spoke through his earpiece. Gusts of sand parted and the dragon flapped its wings. The sky was getting darker and darker as the beast got closer and closer towards them. Maverick skidded to a stop in front of them. He touched a metal trimming along his suit and he changed. Glistening brown skin turned to textured metal, flexible graphene. He readied himself. “Oh yea! Oh Yea!” Kandy screamed. “It's clobberin' time now A-hole!”

The rest of the team stepped back as the Wyvern rocketed towards Maverick. Maverick readied himself. The Wyvern scooped him up, and they went towards the sky. The team looked up at the dragon flying back to the atmosphere, dropping a figure in the ocean. “Oh crap,” Yoyo said. She turned to Gilgamesh. “Uh, dude…?”

Out of the ground, The Mole shot out, then collapsed to the floor, half of her suit charred. “Ow. Ow. Ow. Hot. Very hot.” she muttered. Gilgamesh shot towards her as Yoyo looked back at the ocean then stared at Kandy. “You suck!”

“What did I do?’ the alien asked.

“You antagonized it! You don't antagonize a dragon!”

“Wyvern,” Duncan said.

“What?”

“Dragons have six limbs. That has four. It's a Wyvern.”

Yoyo looked at Duncan for a very long time. “Okay, AQUARIUS...what’s your plan?”

“We need to divert it away from the civilians,” Gilgamesh said. “Maverick will be back with us shortly.”

 ”You mean from sinking into the ocean?” Yoyo asked.

“I can help with that,” Duncan lit up. He raced to the edge of the water and stared into it. “Oh yea oh yea baby!” Kandy clapped. “Show them what you can do!”

Duncan focused hard. Felt the tingling in his head. His consciousness stretched into the sea. Stretched until he could pinpoint the creature in the deep. He spoke to it. Asked for help. Surprisingly, the creature eagerly said “Hell yea!” Duncan turned to the group. “He’s coming.”

“Who? “ Yoyo asked.

“He...wait.” he stared into space. “I’m not sure.”

“You’re not sure? What...we are the worst superhero team ever.”

Kandy looked off into the distance at the dragon coming back towards them. He poked Yoyo. “What?” she yelled at him.

He pointed to the Wyvern. Yoyo sighed.“Worse. Team. Ever.”

The Wyvern came barreling towards them and they all ducked in time to escape the jagged scaly wings. It dived upwards, then came back down, shooting a wave of fire. The blistering heat sent them ducking across the beach. Yoyo readied a charged ball, then flung it towards the retreating creature. It left a flicker. A tiny spark, over thirteen pounds of kinetic energy, merely affecting it as a flicker. She groaned. It was Gilgamesh that was up next, shooting hundreds of arrows faster than the dragon could see. The arrows each caused a chain reaction. Was supposed to. The combustible arrow and cryokinetic arrow should have blinded the beast, instead, it made it angrier. The electric arrow didn't slow it down not one bit. It sent another wave of fire their way, and Gilgamesh fired off another arrow before he fell into the water.

Kandy stared around at the fiery landscape before him. He turned to a whining Yoyo who flipped him the bird, then Duncan who was helping Gilgamesh out the water. He stared up at the dragon. “You dick,” he muttered. Then he was gone. Yoyo could see a stream of green light shooting towards the dragon. Her mouth gaped open as the green went straight through the beast, then the sky exploded in dark intestines and bones.

A bone was aiming towards them. “Worst team ever!” she cried out as the charred scale landed beside her. She looked at the scale, then back up at the sky. “And that’s for not having any manners!” Kandy dusted his hands off. “What the...what did you just...why did you just…” she started walking towards the invisible jet. Kandy smiled smugly at the charred bones across the beach. The rest of the team gathered together and inspected the mess around them. Gilgamesh looked to Kandy. “Interesting. Where did you say you’re from again?”

Kandy appeared in a leather jacket and dusted off his shoulders. “Pretty good huh team?” They stared at him for a very long time. Duncan’s eyes widened. He turned alongside the others as something shot out the water. It sent a colossal wave in the air. A tentacle came out of the water followed by more. Crimson tentacles swirly in the sky. Kandy laughed. “No way! No, you didn't!” he slapped Duncan on the back. One of the giant tentacles had something in its grasp. It flung it, and a dark figure screamed towards them, before landing with a thud on the beach. Maverick looked up at his teammates. “A giant squid? A giant freaking squid?” Yoyo peered at Duncan. He adjusted his glasses nervously. “Yea. Was gonna grab the Wyvern. Or something like that.”

He waved a hand out to the creature and spoke telepathically to it. “He says hi.” he turned back to his team as the colossal squid descended back into the depths of the ocean. Gilgamesh gawked at him and Kandy. “Interesting...very interesting…”

Thermo-Dynama appeared in front of them with The Mole who was bandaged up. “What happened?”

Kandy appeared with a trumpet. “Your savior IS HERE!” he blew into the instrument. Thermo-Dynama looked at the team, then back at Kandy. Julian nodded “Interesting...very interesting…”