The cool night air brushed against Amanda's skin as she stepped out of Dave's house, her cheeks still slightly warm from Mira's cinnamon rolls she grabbed as she left and the awkward tension that hung in the air when Mira walked in. She didn't even want to think about the part where Dave said, "Um… this is awkward," and she practically ran out like a malfunctioning android.
"I just had to go and blush like a schoolgirl," Amanda mumbled to herself, shaking her head.
She took out her phone and tapped Betty's contact.
Amanda: "Yo. I'm coming over. You won't believe what I found out."
Betty: "What did you find out,I can't keep myself together?"
Amanda: "Reality. Be ready."
—
Betty's house was a small cozy place tucked behind rows of flowerbeds and a mailbox shaped like a frog. Amanda barely knocked once before the door swung open.
Betty, in an oversized hoodie with "NASA IS LYING" printed across it, blinked. "What happened there? You look like you saw an alien."
Amanda stepped in, wide-eyed. "Betty… I think I am one."
Betty blinked again. "Wait what?"
Amanda took a deep breath, then said it all in one breathless rush. "Dave's not just some school heartthrob. He's… he's from space, he's like, a god or something, he has a spaceship, I was on it, he saved a floating city, there were monsters, and he's friends with this woman made of light who reads minds but couldn't erase mine 'cause apparently I'm not normal either. Oh, and I'm something called a Nephire. Whatever the heck that is."
Betty sat completely still. Then slowly, slowly, she placed her ice cream on the table. "…You on drugs?"
"I KNEW YOU WOULDN'T BELIEVE ME!" Amanda threw her hands in the air.
"No, no, no, wait!" Betty waved her arms. "It's just… wow. That actually explains a lot."
Amanda stared at her. "Wait—what?"
"I've been feeling weird stuff for years," Betty said, curling her legs up under her. "Dreams, instincts… one time in the third grade, I broke a vending machine with my thoughts. I thought it was a sugar rush thing, but now… it all makes sense."
"You're kidding." Amanda squinted.
"You've been having powers and never told me?"
Amanda blinked. "Why didn't you ever tell me?!"
Betty shrugged with that trademark smirk. "Would you have believed me? I also once dreamed of a giant being made of light who told me I was 'one of the last and vanished?"
Amanda hesitated. "…Probably not."
"Exactly." Betty rolled her eyes, then smirked. "So, this 'Dave'… can we meet him? Or is he too busy saving galaxies and making your heart do somersaults?"
Amanda immediately blushed. "W-What? No! I mean—he's just—"
Amanda sighed. "You are literally so casual."
Betty smirked again. "Wow. You're gone. This is just like when you fell for Jaden in ninth grade."
"Dave is not Jaden. Dave is… something else."
"Mm-hmm. Something else. Does this 'something else' sparkle too?"
Betty narrowed her eyes. "Amanda Thompson. Are you falling for the hottest boy in school again?"
"I am not!"
"You are. That's your crush voice." Betty pointed at her like a prosecutor in court. "I swear, if you focused on science as much as you do on boys, you'd have built your own spaceship by now."
"Shut. Up."
—
The Next Day
Amanda and Betty made their way to Dave's house. Mira answered the door warmly, delighted to see Amanda again—and even more pleasantly surprised by Betty. "Ah! So Dave's finally making more friends? Maybe Earth isn't so boring after all."
Amanda chuckled nervously. "Yeah, you could say that."
But Dave wasn't home. "He went out a few minutes ago," Mira said. "Probably the park. Or maybe the arcade?"
Amanda raised a brow. "Yeah… definitely not the arcade."
—
Meanwhile — Far Above Earth
The vast emptiness of space stretched endlessly around Dave, a silent void illuminated only by distant stars and the faint glow of the massive celestial being confronting him. The creature was an imposing figure—tall, wrapped in swirling shadows that seemed alive, crackling with violent energy, eyes like burning coals that pierced through the darkness
A celestial being loomed before Dave like a shadow cast by a dying star, its form shifting and pulsing with dark energy that threatened to consume entire galaxies. Its voice echoed like thunder across the void. "You dare challenge me, mortal? Your end is inevitable."
Dave barely raised an eyebrow beneath the sleek black suit that shimmered with cosmic energy. "Challenge? Nah, I'm just here to remind you why I'm the reason people stop fearing the dark."
With a flick of his wrist, Dave released a pulse of raw energy, sending the celestial reeling backward before it could even raise a finger. It hissed, tendrils of darkness writhing wildly, but Dave was already moving.
"You're like a bad soap opera villain — all dramatic threats and zero chill," Dave said, sliding through the void with effortless grace.
The celestial lunged, trying to ensnare him in a shadowy grasp, but Dave's eyes glowed electric blue. Beams of pure energy shot from his eyes, cutting through the darkness like a hot knife through butter. The creature screamed as the beams pierced its core, disintegrating swaths of shadow in seconds.
"Seriously, you'll have to try harder," Dave smirked. "I've got a galaxy to run."
The celestial tried to reform, but it was like fighting smoke. Dave clenched his fist, summoning power from the farthest stars, and with one effortless punch, shattered the celestial's form into stardust and cosmic debris.
As the remnants faded, the creature gasped, "This… is not over… the stars would testify that I prepared his coming"
Dave blinked "whaaaa?"
He hovered for a moment longer, scanning the star-studded void. "Honestly, these guys are starting to feel like bad reruns. Same drama, different episode."
Then, with a casual flip, Dave vanished into a streak of light, leaving nothing but silence behind.
—
Back on Earth, twenty minutes later…
Dave walked in the front door, pausing mid-step as he saw Amanda and Betty on the couch.
His face said everything: "No. Please no. I'm not babysitting two mythical teenagers today."
Amanda raised a brow. "Nice of you to join us."
Betty stood up, extended her hand confidently. "Hi. I'm Betty. Amanda told me everything. And… yeah. You're real."
Dave glanced at Amanda, who looked away with sudden interest in the rug pattern. He sighed and shook Betty's hand, offering a smile that was 3% real and 97% social survival instinct.
"Oh, right! Uh, Miss Hawkins' assignment! Yeah, that one," Dave lied terribly. "We should… go upstairs. You know. Finish that."
Mira popped her head in from the kitchen, smiling warmly. "It's so nice to see you making friends, Dave!"
Dave froze. "Uh, yeah. Friends. Definitely."
Then Mira's tone shifted, ever so slightly. "By the way… did you hear about the explosion near your school? Officials are saying it was a terrorist attack. Others say it wasn't… natural."
Dave's heart skipped.
He smiled. "Oh… that? Yeah, I'll be extra careful next time. Promise." A single drop of sweat ran down his temple.
Amanda and Betty both noticed.
The moment they entered Dave's room and shut the door, Amanda whispered, "She suspects something."
Dave nodded. "Which is why… we're leaving."
He snapped his fingers. In a blink, they were aboard the Celestial Arc.
—————-
Two colossal celestial beings raced through the twisting threads of time, infants securely carried on their backs. Behind them, an unknown evil pursued relentlessly.
Suddenly, they crashed landed on Earth in 2007, high in a remote mountain range.
They quickly checked the infants—thankfully unharmed.
One being whispered gravely, "We can't stay here long. He will find us."
Scanning the area, they spotted two women hiking nearby.
The celestial beings materialized before them, stunning the women into silence.
But the beings used telepathy, sending visions and memories — everything they needed the women to understand.
With heavy hearts, they gently handed over the infants before vanishing as if they'd never existed.
Those infants were Amanda and Betty.
Raised by one single mom and one by her boyfriend—later husband—the girls never knew they weren't truly their real parents. Amanda hadn't told Betty yet, but soon, the truth would surface.
Unlike Amanda, Betty's Nephire essence began manifesting very early, though faintly at first.
Now, with everything Amanda told her, Betty finally felt she wasn't crazy.
⸻
—
Back in the Celestial Arc, Amanda was still stunned. But Betty? She was breathing heavily, trying to process everything.
"I thought I was just weird," she said quietly.
"I didn't know I was… something more."
Before Dave could reply, Adele appeared—her form flickering with concern. "We have a problem."
That sentence—from Adele—was like a red alert.
Dave's expression instantly shifted. The relaxed space lord vanished. Now, he was a commander.
He stepped forward. "What is it this time?"
Without a word, Adele teleported them all to the observation deck.
Outside the ship's force field, they saw it—a fleet of massive unknown crafts, consuming stars in their path. Among them, a being of impossible proportions—a hunter of Nephires—hovered at the front.
Betty's eyes widened. "What… is that?"
Dave cracked his knuckles.
"Ohhh yeah. Finally… a real opponent."
He smirked.
"Let the drama begin."