Wally and Kim sat next to each other in the tech department of a shipping company in New Jersey. It was dull and paid less than Nantox but as they didn’t have to fear their boss turning into a shape-shifting monster and killing them, it was suitable for the moment. They had an apartment together with Astra as a third roommate and their landlord didn’t mind unless she made a mess. In actuality, she tidied up the apartment, which was a plus. It wasn’t ideal but it was a serviceable situation until the three of them could make sense of the strange turn their lives recently took.

“Astra seems like she’s getting used to living a normal life,” Kim told Wally as they left their workplace.

“Is this a normal life?,” Wally asked incredulously.

“We’re not constantly on the road and our former boss isn’t trying to actively murder us.”

“Well,… She isn’t trying to murder us today at least.”

“You know what I mean. You and I are just going about our day and Astra hangs out at the apartment. It’s a semblance of normalcy.”

“But how long are we gonna keep this up, Kim?,” Wally said tiredly.

“As long as we need until all three of us know we’re safe so… who knows.”

At their two bedroom apartment, Astra sat on the couch and watched TV. She had recently discovered The Courtroom Channel and had a particular affinity for the show Cheater’s Court.

“I love my man and everything but I know he been cheat’n,” the woman onscreen stood in front of a judge, “I got the receipts!” Astra stared with fascination as the woman showed the judge proof of her boyfriend’s infidelity via text messages. “Hey, Astra,” Wally and Kim came into the apartment at that moment but she remained fixated on the screen. “How was your day?,” Kim sat down next to her on the couch.

“I love my man and everything but I know he been cheat’n. I got the receipts,” Astra responded.

“Oh no,” Wally sighed as he took a look at the screen, “We finally discover an advanced, artificially intelligent being and we destroy her brain with daytime TV.”

Astra indicated the show currently on the television, “I’m not sure this is an accurate depiction of the American legal system.”

“It’s only a TV show,” Kim assured her.

“Yeah, America’s legal system is much more ridiculous than this,” Wally added snidely.

“What’s the purpose of a legal system?,” Astra asked innocently, “I’ve read about its importance to society but from our experiences, it hasn’t been beneficial.”

“Well, we need a system to protect people who are innocent.”

“But the legal system protected Jennifer Sawyer,” she titled her head curiously.

“Right, yeah, okay,” Kim took everything in before continuing, “The system isn’t perfect and there are some changes that need to be made but even a flawed system is better than no system. Do you understand?”

“What changes need to be made?”

“Hoo boy,” Kim breathed out heavily, “Well, there’s -“

“Wait,” Astra raised a metal finger and lifted her head, “The Skaleens are back… I’m getting similar readings to the ones I picked up when we were on their ship.” Wally leapt off the couch and looked out the window, “Shit, we were afraid of Sawyer coming back, but somehow I guess we just forgot about the time we were abducted by aliens.” Astra wasted no time and stretched an arm out, scooping Wally up and likewise grabbing Kim, “We have to get to the roof.” Wally and Kim had no time to protest as Astra raced down the hall and up the stairs in a few seconds, then emerged on top of the building.

“So why are we on the roof?,” Wally asked as he adjusted his glasses.

“Trying to escape on the ground might result in civilian casualties and property damage during the fight,” Astra explained as she gazed up at the sky.

“You think there’s gonna be a fight?”

“There’s always a fight.”

In the sky, there was a shimmering shape, roughly the size of a Skaleen ship and a second later, figures dropped through the air and swooped toward them. Using her telescopic vision, Astra could see Skaleens in bi-pedal armor with metal packs on their backs emitting a blue glow. In their hands, they wielded large canons. “What are they-,” Kim began, only for Astra to scoop both of them up again once more and leap off the roof to the building below. The Skaleens looped in the air, faint streaks of blue light trailing behind as their packs carried them.

Wally and Kim closed their eyes tightly as Astra ran across the roof to a taller building. A jetpack popped out between her shoulder blades and lifted them into the air where they landed on a taller roof. A Skaleen eventually got close enough to fire its canon, sending a bluish-white beam that passed between Astra’s legs as she stretched to the next roof. She landed and another Skaleen dropped in front of her, then fired a blast which prompted her to flip to the side, propelled by stretching legs. As the Skaleen behind her got closer, small canons appeared along Astra’s back and fired, which ripped into its armor, sending it to the roof below. “Just put us down! Putusdownrightnow!,” Wally screamed as he flailed about.

Astra dropped both of them as the Skaleens surrounded her. More canons appeared along her back, shoulders and chest, “I’ve had upgrades since the last time we met”; multiple beams fired 360 degrees, poking holes in several armored suits. One Skaleen who managed to dodge the blasts landed in front of Wally and Kim. “Pick us up again!” Wally shouted as he and Kim began to retreat. Astra’s arm stretched out, her hand turning into a claw-like clamp before tearing into the Skaleen’s chest plate. She flipped the alien into the roof hard enough to break granite, then spun through the air, dodging twin beams as her leg stretched out to kick another one out of the sky. Another Skaleen landed behind Wally and Kim, releasing twin bursts of a strange gas from a device attached to its stumpy hand. Seeing Wally and Kim fall unconscious, Astra tried to race toward them, only to be hit in the back with a bluish-white beam, covering her body with a white substance similar to dry ice. Realizing she was unable to move or form any weapons, she checked her core temperature and realized it was at absolute zero. Another shot took her offline.

When she woke up, she found herself in the middle of a large atrium with Skaleens, now in the armor she was more familiar with, seated along ascending rows of balconies. She tried to move but realized she was in a chamber with a blue circle above and below her, likely designed to keep her temperature low enough that she could not use her shape-shifting abilities. She surmised she was in the large ship she noticed cloaked in the sky earlier. It was a much larger vessel than the one she found herself in previously and there were far more Skaleens than before as well. They sat in tiered levels and while Astra expected to see them in armor, she now noticed that, depending on where they were seated, each suit of armor had different colors and slightly different designs which likely denoted various tribes. Going by the size of the atrium, this particular ship might even house multiple vessels, including the one that kidnapped her and her friends months earlier. A platform lowered from above, carrying eight Skaleens, all with armor that matched the crowds behind them. She instantly recognized one armor as belonging to the group that had tried to kill her, which led her to believe these were the tribal chiefs and that meant the Skaleen she recognized was Mulkos, the leader of the group she fought before.

A hologram flicked on, large enough for everyone in the atrium to see, “As the Judge presiding over the Tribunal of Chiefs, I call this court into order,” came a booming voice, “On trial today is the being known as Astra Machina. We will hear from Chief Mulkos who has been in charge of observing the Earth and ensuring no advanced civilizations interfere with the planet. Mulkos has the floor. Please make your opening statement.”

“Thank you, Judge,” Mulkos began, “My tribe detected a strange anomaly from outside the galaxy some time ago. It was a code to create an artificial intelligence that was unintentionally received by a human lab,” a series of readings appeared on holograms strewn about the atrium, “I ordered my tribe to fire on the lab before the entire code could be received but apparently, enough of the code was downloaded that it resulted in the creation of Astra Machina. We are unsure of her origins but she was certainly the result of an advanced civilization interfering with the Earth.”

Astra tried to speak but realized she couldn’t. This was obviously a trial by the Skaleens and she was sure it would be unfair. Additionally, she was concerned for her friends.

“Keep in mind, in the Earth year 1981, this planet came into contact with an advanced race of beings which changed it both in terms of technology and geopolitics,” Mulkos continued, “It is a fragile world and its state must be maintained until it can evolve naturally. We attempted to capture and destroy Astra Machina but she attacked me and members of my tribe before escaping custody. Unfortunately, two humans were made aware of our existence in the process. Due to my failures, I have turned the matter over to the Tribunal of Chiefs as they were passing through this sector and hope that order can be established.”

“It shall,” the Judge informed him, “We will now hear the opening argument from the Defense.”

Another platform descended and Astra saw Wally and Kim standing inside a force field ring, likely keeping them in place. Otherwise, they had no restraints. “Astra!,” Kim called out as they noticed Astra’s frozen form across the atrium. The Judge informed them in a calming manner, “Your friend has not been harmed, she is merely frozen in place to ensure she will not attack.”

“Gee, why would she attack when you people have been so kind to us,” Wally grumbled.

“As the two of you are from an inferior civilization and have befriended this being, we saw fit to allow you to make a case for her life. It would behoove you to treat this matter with respect.”

“What has she done to deserve death?,” Kim shouted.

“I have already made that statement,” Mulkos reminded her.

“Right, so you guys don’t like superior races mucking about with the inferiors if I remember correctly,” Wally began, “So that’s the issue here? We know Astra is probably from some awesome alien race and she ended up on our little planet and that pisses you off, right?”

“In a manner of speaking.”

“Astra saved us and hasn’t hurt anyone, nor has she broken any laws,” Kim argued, “She’s not a threat to anyone on Earth.”

“We are not concerned with the laws and morals of your world. We are concerned with natural states and whether or not those states are being maintained. Your planet has already been perverted by superior beings, which is why we are particularly concerned with further upheaval.”

Astra continued to watch, seething with rage at the sanctimonious display, made all the worse by her inability to move.

The Judge turned to Mulkos, “The humans have made their statements. What is your final argument, Chief Mulkos?”

“We believe that even Astra herself does not understand her origins,” Mulkos motioned toward Astra, “Her very existence might upset the balance, not just on Earth, but potentially in other systems and she may not even be aware of it. Even if she means well, we are not sure what her true purpose is and neither is she. She may be a part of a larger plot…”

Kim turned to Wally and whispered, “What are we gonna do? We gotta make an argument here.”

“Well, appealing to their humanity won’t cut it. We just don’t see eye-to-eye morally,” Wally whispered back, “But… we’ve seen enough Star Trek to know that maybe we can think on their level and make a solid case.”

“I think I see where you’re going with this.”

“Humans, we are ready to hear your final argument,” the Judge’s hologram turned in their direction, looming over them in an ominous, yet polite manner as the Skaleens waited for their response.

“My argument is that Astra Machina is from Earth and you never had a right to bother her to begin with,” Kim retorted.

“What?,” Mulkos bellowed.

“I’m sure you guys have all sorts of sensors or whatever and have gotten a good read on Astra, right?”

“Of course.”

“So you would know that she gets her powers from nanobots that were created on Earth with Earth materials and those nanobots took a bunch of debris from a destroyed building and created a body with it. Said debris was also from Earth.”

“Yes, but there is a code that inhabits her mind and is what programmed the nanobots to begin with. That code is from another world.”

“… And was picked up by Earth tech. We brought the code to Earth ourselves, even if it was by accident. If it wasn’t for humans like me and Wally, that code would still be floating in space somewhere. So you see, it wasn’t Astra Machina who interfered with Earth. It was you guys all along. You blew up the lab and later kidnapped us… twice… when you never had a case.”

Mulkos’ armor could not display emotion so his reaction was hidden. Considering his true form was a faceless slug, his emotions would still be hidden outside the armor. Despite this, Wally and Kim were sure he was outraged. “They are inferior but they have made a good point,” the Judge made an announcement, “The Chiefs will converge in the inner chamber and reach a verdict.” The platform rose to the ceiling which opened up, allowing it to float through before closing. Astra remained frozen in place, so Kim gave her an assuring wave and Wally shrugged his shoulders nervously. After a few minutes, the ceiling opened again and the Chiefs returned. The Judge’s hologram flickered on, making a final verdict, “It is the Court’s decision that Astra Machina is of Earth and should not be destroyed. She will be returned to her home along with her friends. Chief Mulkos will continue to monitor Earth and ensure no future interference will be permitted from superior civilizations while also promising to practice caution in the future.”

Wally leaned toward Kim, “And of course, they’re not gonna hold themselves accountable when they realize they were in the wrong.”

“I’m just glad we get to take Astra home.”

Soon, a large ship decloaked and a tractor beam sent Astra, Wally and Kim to the roof of an apartment building before turning invisible once more and flying away. “I see now that a court system is beneficial to society,” Astra admitted, “Although it seems that even when an advanced race uses a court system, there would still be flaws.”

“Well, who’s perfect?,” Wally asked.

“And by the way, congratulations on legally being declared an Earthling,” Kim gave Astra a friendly hug, “Now let’s go inside. I think we left the front door open.”

In space, Mulkos monitored Earth from his ship, the other tribes retiring to their respective systems. All was quiet. Somewhere in the vicinity of Mars, a black vessel approached. It had taken many years for that vessel to travel from its home planet and would take only a few more months to reach its destination. Mulkos would soon be alerted to a much larger interference than anticipated.

Coming Soon – Every good superhero universe needs a big crossover and that’s what’s in store for AP Productions! Once that big mysterious ship reaches Earth, there will be team-ups, clashes and tragedy. Nothing will ever be the same. Stay tuned for…

The Resurgence!