Exelirus surveying his surroundings began to search through his memories trying to recall where he was and how he got there. But everything was a bit of a haze with the most recent memories being of his encounter with that strange black and red suited woman and her telling him everything would be okay, every after that, was blank.
Exelirus then tried getting up from the bed only to groan and wince out in pain. It seemed as though he was finally feeling the painful after effects of pushing his body too hard too fast. He had been through a lot and now that the adrenalin induced by the overwhelming fear he felt after seeing his entire world fall to the Sabraxians which numbed all the pain his body went through during all that time, he was finally feeling the full intensity of the pain. Much less getting up, he could barely lift finger at that moment.
Exelirus just laid on the bed, and then, for the very moment in what felt like a ages, free the chaos and overwhelming grip of fear, he was finally calm enough to clear his head and take in his new surroundings. He then recalled the destruction of his home Kinerix, and then slowly, the haunting and horrifying reality of him being the last of his kind slowly began to sink in. Images of his family, his father who fought with everything he had to protect their home, his mother who sacrificed herself for him and Sonikro, and Sonikro, his brother, the one who stuck with him through it and the only one he had left during the finally days of Kinerix, they were all gone, reduced to star dust scattered about aimless somewhere in vast out reaches of space alone with what remained of Kinerix. Tears then began to drip down from Exelirus's sky blue eyes as he thought about his family and home were all gone, and he was never going to see them again.
Exelirus grim thoughts were however cut short by the sounds of the room doors sliding open. Exelirus then raised his and faced the door, with a mix of intrigue and fear, his eyes were locked on the door as he wondered who was about step out of it.
"Hey there sleepy head, you're finally awake" a somewhat familiar voice came from the door before a short haired, scarlet woman wearing a familiar black red striped suit with a shooting star at its center.
Exelirus upon seeing the woman eased up a bit, not seeing her as threat but still stared at her with a look of caution.
"You're one hell of a kid" said Daniela with warm and playful smile as she approached him.
Exelirus remained silent and was hesitant to utter a single word.
"Come on say something or you from one of those bizarro world that don't speak the universal tongue", said Daniela said jokingly with a playful.
Exelirus remained silent.
"Alright, seeing as you don't speak the universal tongue, I'll try speaking an in a more alien language", Daniela then proceed to make incoherent strange and bizarre sound that sounded like cross between scratching claws, clicks, and growls but still Exelirus gave no response.
After a while of making those strange sounds, Daniela finally gave up.
"Hey, how you feeling" Daniela spoke with gentle and soft voice filled concern.
Exelirus upon hearing what Daniela said just stared at her for a moment, as though he was internally contemplating on whether or not he should say something. He didn't really trust her but after looking in to her eyes and seeing the worry and concern look she had, he felt his heart soften and felt safe enough to speak.
"It…it hurts" were the first words to be uttered by Exelirus.
Daniela was a bit taken aback upon hearing him finally say something but was glad that he finally said something.
"What hurts?" asked Daniela.
"Everything" Exelirus replied while trying his best keep himself from shedding a tear from the pain he felt both from his heart and body.
"Well considering the fact you literally fell from the sky, that's pretty normal" Daniela spoke jokingly.
Exelirus upon hearing Daniela paused for a moment, as he thought about the fact that he was currently in a foreign.
"What's the name of this world?" asked Exelirus.
"Earth, great big blue marble" said Daniela.
"Earth?" Exelirus spoke with a deep, already knowing that the world he was in wasn't his but still felt a sting in his heart upon hearing the name of the world he was currently, as it served as another reminder that his home along with everyone and everything he knew and loved was gone.
"So, I take it you're not from around here?" asked Daniela jokingly.
Cause Exelirus to reply with nothing more than a simple, as the answer was glaringly obvious.
"Alright then little boy blue, where're you from" asked Daniela.
Exelirus upon hearing what Daniela said bowed down his head as painful memories began to flood his mind once more.
Daniela upon saying the sad look on Exelirus's face could tell that something was wrong.
"What's wrong?" Daniela asked with a soft and caring voice.
Exelirus upon hearing what Daniela said raised his head to look at her, and as he did so, for a moment, he saw a flash of his mother through her.
"It's…gone" Exelirus spoke with a trembling voice as having to utter those very words was nothing less that hell for the young blue haired boy as those words confirmed a through he wished was a lie.
Daniela upon hearing Exelirus said looked at him with mix of but shock and sadness, feeling sorry of the child for having to go through something so painful at very young age, understanding the pain of having lost a home along with everyone you love and hold there.
"Oh…I'm sorry about that" were the only words Daniela could think of to say to the child even though she wanted to know about him and where he came from but for now, seeing the hurt and pain his eyes, she thought it would be best let the matter rest for the time being, although she was planning to inquire more when he was settled and ready to talk about it.
Exelirus upon hearing what she said just sighed deeply, drawing out all the strength he could muster to bear the overwhelming pain he felt in his heart before saying, "What is this place and who are you?"
"Oh, we are currently in the H.O.P.E HQ and my name is Daniela, though the people of this world know be more commonly as Speed Star" said Daniela.
"Hmm, Speed Star" Exelirus said with a faint smile on his face, as he thought about how Sonikro would most likely burst in to laughter as such a ridiculous name.
" H.O.P.E, what exactly is that?" asked Exelirus.
"The Heroic Organization of Protector of Earth" said Daniela.
"Really, Heroic Organization of Protectors of Earth, what kind of a name is that?" asked Exelirus upon hearing how ridiculous the H.O.P.E name was.
"I know right, that's cheesiest name ever" said Daniela while laughing upon hearing what Exelirus said.
Exelirus upon seeing the Daniela laughing, he couldn't help but be reminded of his brother and his playful and carefree attitude, always messing with him, cracking joking, and playing. Exelirus couldn't help but think about how Sonikro would probably laugh his heart out if he heard how ridiculous H.O.P.E's name sounded, "How about Super Hyper Peace Keepers or Omega Justice Seekers", those are probably the kinds of ridiculous name Sonikro would have come up with just to make fun of how ridiculous of a name Heroic Organization of Protectors of Earth sounded. Upon thinking about, Exelirus couldn't stop himself from smile slightly at the thought of his jokester of a brother but then he remembered everything him and Sonikro had gone through during Kinerix's final days, and how he pushed him out of harms ways, protecting and saving him, *sigh* Exelirus just wished he could move just a little bit faster and grab hold of him before…Exelirus's smile faded away as quickly as it appeared as was reminded the bitter and painful reality of his brother and the rest of Kinerix.
"Anyway, aside from how ridiculous the name sounds, H.O.P.E's job is the keep the Earth safe from any major threats".
"Threats like what?" asked Exelirus.
Daniela upon hearing what Exelirus said just sighed, knowing that she needed to choose her words carefully.
"Well you see Earth is not your typical planet. Sure the main inhabitants of Earth are the humans, powerless, weak, slightly squishy people, they make up about a 80% of the planet but the remaining 20 somewhat strange, from people who are born with extraordinary abilities called demihumans, to magical and mythical beings and creature, hell there even a few alien roaming around from other planets" said Daniela.
"What?" said Exelirus shocked upon hearing everything Daniela just said, having never heard of any planet quite as bizarre and strange as to be home to so many beings.
"Yeah, that's Earth for you; this blue floating rock is one of a kind. Anyway, Earth being homed to bizarre and weird did come with a few downsides, for the most part, the bizarre side of Earth was hidden away from the public the general public for decades. The demihumans, mystics, and aliens stayed hidden, leaving among the regular people living ordinary, any major hiccups along the way like a few sighting of six foot tall hairy monster dubbed big foot, a few sea monsters, and the occasional U.F.O sightings were swept under the rug as conspiracy theories. That all changed after Demihumans began to spring up everywhere, revealing themselves and their powers to the world, after them the mystics followed, then the aliens, soon the entire human race was in on the secret. After that the entire world was plunged in to panic and chaos with a few of the demihumans, mystic, and aliens wanting to take over the world, seeing humans as nothing but weak little fools unfit to reign over the Earth. Luckily a few demihuman, mystics, and aliens, stood by the human, they were the first hero that emerged to fight for the people of Earth, and after fighting for while, they all decided to make peace with each other and in other to maintain the peace, the H.O.P.E was formed to maintain the peace" said Daniela.
Exelirus upon hearing the story Daniela just told couldn't help but think that H.O.P.E was something akin to the Kinetrix back on Kinerix.
"So this H.O.P.E are like the peace keepers of your planet" said Exelirus.
"Yeah, they are kind of like a police force for the entire Earth who makes sure no deranged psycho tries to take over or nuke the entire planet" said Daniela.
"Oh, so you're like an officer" said Exelirus.
"Not really, I'm not an official member of the H.O.P.E. I just try to help out where I can" said Daniela.
"What are they planning on doing with me?" asked Exelirus.
Daniela upon hearing what the blue haired boy said was taken aback a bit by direct he was as he spoke to her. Exelirus may be a child but he was no fool, from what Daniela had told him about the H.O.P.E he could easily deduce that at the current moment the H.O.P.E considered him a threat and after recalling all the trouble he caused upon arriving on Earth, he couldn't really blame them.
There was a moment of silence between Daniela and Exelirus as Daniela was busy trying to find the best was to explain the current situation he was in, in a matter that a child his age could understand.
"Well you see, normally H.O.P.E tends to deal with other worldly threats like alien like you by detaining you until they can fully understand their intentions or in cases where they proof to be hostile they…" Daniela stopped herself from complete her statement, knowing that the next words that were about to leave her lips might be to grim and dark for the blue haired only to be shocked to hear the boy complete her sentence by saying, "they killed them don't they".
Daniela upon hearing what the boy said was once again taken aback by the way he spoke those words casually without an ounce of hesitation or fear, making her ponder to herself that for a kid that looked like he was no younger than ten years old, he seemed to incredibly mature for his age.
"Is that what they are you going to do to me?" asked Exelirus with empty expression void of any emotion on his face.
Daniela upon seeing the cold and empty expression on his face couldn't help but feel sorry for the boy as she wondered just what kind of horror he must have gone through to feel so jaded and uncaring, void any kind of emotion. In truth Exelirus was simply tired, he had lost a lot, family and home, and shed an ocean of tears for them but that didn't change the fact that were gone, and now he felt empty inside, and whatever sense of purity and innocence he had was long dead along with Kinerix, at that moment he wouldn't even mind dropping dead.
"Are you okay?" Daniela asked with a concerned look on her eyes.
"It doesn't really matter, nothing does anymore. They're all gone and nothing I can do can change that" Exelirus spoke with tears dripping down from his eyes.
Daniela upon hearing what Exelirus said felt her heart break, feeling immense pain weighing on Exelirus's heart as he spoke, a pain of loss, hopeless, dread, and sorrow, a pain she could understand after all she had faced her own share of losses but her losses in life were nothing compared to what Exelirus had lost.
Exelirus then wiped away his tears before speaking once more with a cold expression on his face, "So what are they going to do to me, have me killed or detained".
Daniela upon hearing what the body said tried to remain composed, pushing away the sadness she felt for the boy before replying, "Normally, detainment would be the best option for you but considering the fact that you're kid, the Head Commander suggested a third option, Project Integration".
"And what exactly is that" asked Exelirus.
"It's a program, originally meant for natives of Earth like the Demihumans who live alongside humans but are born with unique abilities, it's a way for them to integrate with humans, to live with them peaceful without any form of hostility" said Daniela.
"So that's the offer I'm given, to integrate to your human society and live a peaceful life" Exelirus's spoke with a hint of disbelieve in his voice.
"Yes ", said Daniela.
"Just like that, you do realize I'm an alien from another world right. I'm not like anybody on the surface of the planet," Exelirus spoke with a hint of sadness evident in his voice as spoke, thinking about everything he gone through and he had lost the ability to harbor hope for anything in his heart because of it.
Daniela upon hearing what Exelirus's spoke examined for a moment before saying, "You're close enough to being human besides, compared to the other freaks we have run around here, a blue hair speed freak is nothing special".
Daniela then ruffled up blue hair a little, slightly annoying Exelirus.
"Stop that", said Exelirus with an annoyed look on his face which caused Daniela giggle lightly at him as seeing pout out like that made her realize that despite how mature he may be, the blue haired boy was still a kid.
"Alright Bluey", said Daniela.
"Don't call me that either, I have a name you know", said Exelirus.
"Okay, what is it", said Daniela.
"Exelirus", said Exelirus.
"Hmm, a bit strange but then again you're a blue hair boy who fell from the sky and can run at speeds that make the speed of sound seem like a snail's pace in comparison" said Daniela before taking a moment to think while stroking her chin.
"I've got it, Excel. It's somewhat similar to Exelirus and considering how fast you move, it suits you well", said Daniela.
Exelirus upon hearing what Daniela said wanted to scream and yell in protest against the name she gave but then felt a sharp pain flow through his body causing wince in pain.
"Hey, are you okay?" asked Daniela as she came closer to him to make sure he was alright upon seeing that he was in pain.
Exelirus upon seeing the look of worry and concern in Daniela's eyes just sighed before saying, "It hurts".
Daniela just took a deep breath, "Yeah, I know. You're a tough but don't worry, if you can make it out alive after literally falling from the sky, you can handle a little pain".
Exelirus just sighed before turning away from Daniela, "Can you please leave, I'm tired and I need to rest".
Daniela upon hearing what Exelirus said just sighed, understanding that the child needed to be alone right now and she couldn't really blame him, it was evident to anyone with a good pair of eyes, he had truly been true alone and at that moment he just needed time to gather his thoughts and try to make sense of the chaos around him. Daniela looked at the little blue hair boy and couldn't stop herself from smiling before leaving the room.
Once she was gone, Exelirus couldn't stop himself from shedding an ocean of tears due to the overwhelming feeling of fear, loss, and confusing that were slowly eating him up from the inside out. He tried his best to maintain his composure in front of Daniela, hiding his pain as much as he could, he couldn't allow himself be weak in front of her, understanding well, the price of being weak and helpless with flashes of his brother's and mother's death appearing in his head, deaths he deeded as consequences for him being weak and helpless.
The words of his brother echoing "Promise me you'll survive". His brother's dying wish was for him somehow survive, and he did, he alone survived while the rest of his people and his world died. Now he was left wondering, how on Earth was he suppose to live his in this new world knowing that his home along with every single person he held dare was dead and gone, how could he ever come to terms knowing that he was the last of his kind, Kinerixian in existence.