Exelirus, lying on the bed in the dark room fast asleep, quickly jolted up and out of bed, panting profusely with sweat dripping down from his face, having been awaken by horrific nightmare where he had to witness the destruction of Kinex and the death of his loved ones over and over and over again, in a bloody and grim cycle that seemed to never end. Exelirus then took in a breath, calming himself down as exhaled. He wished he could have done back then other than just simply running, thinking about his father, mother, and brother who all fallen while trying to protect their family. A memory of the silhouettes he saw while running during that test flashed in his mind, he remembered how close he was to reaching, if he had just moved his body a little bit faster and took a few brief steps he would have reached them. Tears then began to form in his before making their way down as Exelirus thought about how closer he was to his family, all he had to do was moving a little faster and he would have been with them.
A thought then formed in Exelirus's mind, maybe if were to run right now, moving as fast as possible, maybe, just maybe, he might be able to reunite with his family again. Exelirus figured that it was worth a try and even though his body ached and was immense pain due to how much strain he put on it while running, it was worth a try, after all he didn't really have anything left to lose. But as Exelirus tried to summon the flow of kinetrix energy within he remembered the words of the commander;
"You should, above all else, avoid being a threat"
With those words echoing in his head, Exelirus thought back to when he crashed in to Hilltop, remembering the look of horror and fear on faces of the people as they looked at him like he was some kind of monster like the Sabraxians. He then thought about all the damage he had caused while using his speed and then sighed deeply. Deciding that for the time being it would be best if he didn't use his speed, at least in place where it would risk people getting hurt.
Exelirus then realized something about his powers, they seemed to have changed somehow. With everything that had been going he failed realize this. Thinking back to his last moments in Kinerix as he dashed at full speed straight to the massive world draining machine and remembering how during those moments while his mind was flooded with feelings of sadness, pain, and rage, he felt something change inside him. It felt as though something inside him snapped and broke apart, like a chain holding back and when it broke he was free to move faster than he ever had before. Exelirus then recalled the immense he felt rushing through his entire body as he dashed straight for the machine, he also felt the same rush of power while running in the city as he tried to make sense of his distorted vision, and again during the test. Ever since that moment during Kinerix's final moments where he dashed straight for the world drain machine he felt a rush of power pour throughout his entire whenever he ran, filling him up with so much strength and power unlike anything he had ever felt before.
Exelirus looked at his hands with a puzzled looked on his face, crashing them into a tight fist before unraveling them. For some reason his body felt stronger and lighter, like a weightless tank, stronger enough to deliver a deadly blow while also being light enough to move faster than the wind. Exelirus just sighed deeply wondering if what he felt was all in his head or if something within him had indeed changed. Exelirus looked at his hands once more, contemplating about the matter and wondering if something within him had indeed changed before taking in a deep breath and exhaling. He figured that whether or not something had changed within him didn't really matter after all he was the last of his kind and whatever changes he body might have undergone along with the boost in power meant every little to the blue haired boy. Nothing really meant anything to him anymore unless of course it was the possibility of going back to his home again and seeing his people along with his family, but that was a dream that would be a reality.
Exelirus was snapped out of his train of thought by the room doors opening up with none other than the commander himself stepping into the room.
"Hello there little boy blue, nice to see you're up" said the commander jokingly with a light chuckle.
"My names not little by boy blue", Exelirus snapped at the commander.
"Alright then, what is it?" asked the commander.
"Exelirus" said Exelirus with an annoyed look on his face.
"Exelirus huh, strange name but then again I know guy who's Eqilg'bov" said the commander
"What, that's an actual name?" asked Exelirus.
"Yeah, he's a Quivkain. Little blue men cover head to with slime with four freaky looking eyes, nice guy just try not to look him in the eye" said the commander with a light chuckle.
Exelirus upon hearing what the commander said remained silence, giving no reply, not even a faint smile in response to the commander's attempt in humor.
"Tough crowd" said the commander jokingly before seating down on the bed Exelirus was lying on.
Then, taking in a deep breath, the commander's face morphed from the friendly and playful expression he displayed earlier to try and put Exelirus's mind at ease to a more serious one before he opened his mouth to saying, "I take Daniela have already briefed you on your current situation".
"You mean about how your either going to lock me and then proceed to study me, and if you find out that I'm some kind of a threat you'll kill me" said Exelirus.
"Yeah, that's one way of putting it," said the commander shocked at how direct and blunt the kid.
The commander then cleared his throat before saying, "You do also know of the second option right".
"You mean 'Project Integration'. Mrs. Daniela told me aliens don't normal get such an option", said Exelirus.
"Yeah, that woman has a really big mouth", said the commander in annoyance as he wonder just how many things she told the blue haired kid.
"Why?" asked Exelirus.
"Why what?" replied the commander.
"Project Integration, why do you want me to be a part of your world", asked Exelirus, still finding it had to be able to understand why the commander would present him with an option such as Project Integration.
The commander upon hearing what Exelirus said just sighed before saying, "I'm not entirely sure myself. A very large part of him, especially after seeing what you and that fast feet of yours can do is yelling and screaming at me to throw you in a box somewhere and throw away the key".
The commander then took a deep breath before continuing, "I've lived a long life, sometimes it feels a little too long. I've seen almost everything this world and many other worlds have to offer, most of them weren't very pretty. This world is filled to the brim with people who are only after their own wants, desires, and interests, and their willing to do anything no matter how cruel or inhumane to get what they wants, and more often than not, its does sick psychos that have all the power. Battles, bloodshed, and wars, are the results of those sickos pursuing their twisted ambition and goals and all that comes from our world alone, beyond that, it's far crueler story. We've had other 'visitors' apart from you; sure most of them were good people and did offer us a helping hand when we needed it, most of them even fought for us *sigh* but a greater number of them were cruel and heartless invaders who wanted to use us as either food or slaves, and plunder all our resources, stripping the Earth dry of her precious life blood or destroy our world all together. Some of them attacked us directly, making their hostile intention clear to us from the start while the more crafty and conniving ones choose a more subtle approach, giving us a sob story about how they came to advance and develop our race with their superior tech or how their planet was revenged and complete decimated by war and conflict, and that they came to lead us in to a prosperous new age without the need for war or any form of conflict, preventing us from making the same mistake as them".
Exelirus remained silent, diligently listening to ever word that came out of the mouth of the commander, understanding where the perceived fear and paranoia of visitors of another world came from but hearing the grim tale only made him question even more why the commander was taking a chance on him after seeing so much.
"At the end of the day, when all was said and done, it all ended the same bloody way, with humanity struggling to make it out alive in a seemingly unwinnable battle only to make it out in the end with death toll great enough to cover the world over in a pool of blood", the commander ended his grim tale with those dark words.
"Then why take a chance on me", said Exelirus.
"Think of as a leap of faith of sorts. I'm not fully convinced that unleashing you out into my world is the best course of action but at the same time, I'm not entirely convinced it's wrong move to play", said the commander with a deep sigh.
"Why take the risk then?" asked Exelirus, wondering why the commander was willing to gamble the safety of his world by letting him stay there.
The commander upon hearing what the blue haired by said just sighed once more as memory of the vision he recently had in his office flashed in his head, the words of the man in white then once again ringed in his ears;
"I can sense something wicked in the air and the fact that it can evade my view worries me".
"I'm not a man of faith but there are times that even I have to bow my head and simply hope that everything turns out alright. Besides fate has a nasty habit of bringing people where need to be" said the commander.
Exelirus upon hearing what the commander said paused a moment to ponder about his words, wondering if his words true then for what reason would fate have to bring him to Earth and did it take him having to witness destruction of his home to bring him there.
Exelirus's mind was brought back to reality upon hearing the commander chuckling loudly be before saying, "Look what you've made me do now kid, you've got me talking so much that I almost forget what I came here to do".
The commander then got up from the bed before saying, "Get up kid, it's time you got going".
"Going where?" asked Exelirus, wondering where the commander was going to take him to.
"Where else, your new home" said the commander with a playful smile on his face.