CHEERLEADERS VS. THE APOCALYPSE
SIX

“Any questions? Only a million of them!” Marco does a classic hand gesture of his brains exploding out of his head. “What the heck was that? How did you know? Who? What?!”

Xandi waits for him to calm down a little. He takes a few deep breaths during this moment of silence, and once it’s clear he’s not going to hyperventilate, she speaks in a gentle voice.

“I knew you had to see it rather than just have me tell you.” She bites her lip. “You know I’m part of a foreign exchange student program. My country is on another planet.” He opens his mouth to say something and she cuts him off. “Before you ask me a bunch of questions about that, let me get through this part.” He nods, she continues. “I’ve come to Earth because there’s a group of people, the Coalition, who are trying to make base here. Relocate. In doing so, they plan on making this planet the way they think it should be. A lot of that involves destroying what your people have already created.”

Marco takes a moment to process this, and I give him lots of props for that.

NOTE: Props are something Earth teens give each other when they do something tough. I don’t think it’s an actual physical thing. Their internet search service says it is short for “proper respects”. I’m just trying to fit in!

Once Marco has taken the time to process this information, he asks, “So that guy is from another planet just like you?”

“Yes.”

“And he caused that earthquake because he wants to destroy our home?”

“Kind of.”

“But he does want to take over this space.” It’s a statement.

Xandi nods. “All of his people do. I’m part of a group called the Alliance. Our job is to stop them from doing this.”

He nods very slowly. “You’re right, I had to see it to believe it. Otherwise I’d think you were making the whole thing up. And you both have super powers?”

“They’re called the colors,” she says softly. “They are gifts we are given, created through an ancient technology.” She flips her ponytail about so he can see the rainbow mixed into her platinum blonde hair. “We display them with pride and as a war paint, I suppose. I have several, but they are not all supposed to remain with me. The whole point is for me to create a team, and we will be bound together by this gift. It acts as a communication link, as well as providing a weapon to my team members.” She pauses. “I need help and I…I can trust you. I want you to be a part of my team.”

There’s quiet for a while. I’m not sure how I expected Marco to react, but when he says, “Yeah, okay,” I’m definitely surprised.

Maybe that’s why she chose him, though. She knew he’d follow once he understood and believed.

Xandi breathes a sigh of relief. “It’s getting late. I don’t want to go through all the finer details right now. If you mean it, though, let’s get together tomorrow night.”

“Just the two of us? Or can I—”

“Just the two of us. For now. I can only do one person at a time.” There’s a hint of regret in her voice.

“As long as we tell Taylor. I don’t want to keep anything from her,” Marco says. “Promise me.”

Xandi smiles. “I promise. When the time is right.”

I really hope that doesn’t bite her in the future.

NANO REPORT:

WC: 13801