1 PROLOGUE: A meeting between monsters...

It's 3 in the morning, but you wouldn't be able to tell from inside situation room 12. A man with a gloomy countenance wearing a black suit stood at attention in front of a long mahogany table. His badge, which read "Federal Bureau of Secret Investigations," sat on the table in front of his assigned chair. An analog wall clock to his right ticked slowly by.

15 minutes later, muffled sounds could be heard outside the door. When it opened, a cavalcade of monstrous beings shuffled in, each taking a seat at the table. It could only be so orderly due to the little name placards in front of each seat at the table. A human would have a great deal of trouble here, though, as over half the name-plates contain strange esoteric characters which gave one a headache if they stared too long.

Seeing all the seats filled, the agent finally took his and spoke.

"Esteemed gentlemen, ladies, and uni-sexual organisms; I can't thank you enough for taking time out of your busy schedules to assist in this matter of the FBS. As you can probably tell from your fellow colleagues here, we believe this matter to be extra-terrestrial in origin. I thank you all in advance for any unique insights which you can bring to bear on this case as, to be honest, we at the bureau are stumped. Without further ado, let me begin the presentation."

He then produced a remote control from his pocket and, pointing it towards the ceiling, pressed a yellow triangular button. Several ceiling panels shifted out of the way, exposing a hole in the ceiling. From this hole descended a square, crystalline object attached to a hollow pole. Light poured in from the pole, only to get refracted inside the crystal. It bounced inside the object's complex structure several times before spilling out on the wall behind the agent. Information of high graphical quality filled its surface, revealing the device to be a projector.

It's quite an advanced one at that, as the multiple bounces of light within it resulted in similar yet smaller screens on the table, one for each seat. One of the more impatient aliens at the table began swiping the screen, and it readily displayed the next bit of information without affecting any other projections. The agent payed this no mind, as if it were normal, and began speaking of the case details.

"On august 30th, 2012, in Mumphrey, Indiana; two 7 year old boys, Jeffrey Phillips and Terry Swanson, engaged in deadly combat at an abandoned lot two blocks down from the local elementary school. This resulted in the death of Jeffrey and subsequent disappearance of Terry. We got involved with this case after being forwarded crime scene photos from the local sheriff's department. You can see them yourself on slide 2," the agent said before pushing a button on his remote control.

The information on the big screen changed. Before, it showed a general summary of the case; but now, it showed what looked like photos from a disaster area. Large chunks of concrete had been ripped out of the ground and thrown at great force throughout the area of the lot; several buried power lines and water mains were yanked from their position above ground; the buildings on either side of the lot suffered major scorching to their exterior; and, finally, the mangled corpse of a prepubescent boy laid at the center of it all.

The monsters at the table were utterly unfazed by the images, studying them closely. One could even be seen zooming in on his personal projection, trying to get a better view of the scorch patterns. The room fell into a period of silence, with the only noise present being the ticking of the wall clock.

Eventually, one of the aliens raised an appendage. It had six of them on its upper body, and they vaguely resembled arms; the problem is, instead of hands, these arm-like things terminated in a series of claws. The agent nodded towards the beast, and its mandibles moved to mimic the sound of speech.

"This is indeed troubling... Are you sure this is our territory, though? Can't those eugenicists produce similar results in their child soldier program?"

"Indeed, we initially thought the same thing, Glarhox: devourer of children. If those folks were involved, it would pose a serious threat as, until now, that organization has not expanded east of Nevada. After many interviews with the local populace, however, this theory was disproved."

"Don't keep us in suspense, what did you find," a gaseous entity asked while glowing in a myriad of colors.

"There are two things we discovered which prompted me to call this meeting. I'll start with the less salacious of the two," he said while pressing another button on his remote. The big screen changed to display a video. In it, a man in surgical garb was standing over the body of Jeffrey Phillips, who was currently laid out on an autopsy table.

"This is Dr. Russo, performing autopsy of suspicious victim in case file #1312379J..." The video continued through his introduction, which the doctor gave while opening the boy up for inspection. About a minute or two in, the doctor had opened the chest cavity, and the mood of the aliens turned as gloomy as the agent's.

The boy's stomach did not resemble a human's; It was 3 chambered, but only the first of them appeared to deal with traditional food digestion. Those in the room turned to one of their colleagues, who resembled a Minotaur.

"It's certainly similar to our own species, but the second and third chambers are different... As you all know, our species has evolved to work with mana. We eat mana-rich food, and our stomach's second chamber separates the two; it is the third chamber's job to then refine the mana into a form of energy usable to our bodies. The boy's chambers sport a similar design, but the energy he would absorb isn't mana..."

The other aliens nodded and continued watching the video. This doctor was incredibly skilled, and had a nose for where the weird things were. It was only 12 minutes later that, on a whim, he decided to check the body's bone marrow density.

The problem is, his bones didn't appear to have marrow in them. Instead, a silvery liquid similar in appearance to mercury poured from them.

"Liquid asteroid," one of the scientist, possessing a fish-like head and scales on a humanoid frame, said in horror.

"It can't be related to that incident, can it?"

"Relax, we investigated the theory you just imagined the second we discovered this. There are no tears in the seal between realms that we can detect. Plus, the corpse's surroundings show stability far above what would be normal if one of those was responsible."

This comment put everyone at ease, and the video proceeded. The only other thing of note was rune-like scarring on the interior of the lungs. The resident linguist was stumped as to their meaning, however.

After the video ended, an entity resembling a blob of goo undulated rhythmically to produce sound waves. "You mentioned two things, what is the second?"

"I am glad you asked," the agent said before changing the slide, "After performing countless interviews, our agents were able to put together a timeline of events leading up to the altercation. 3 months before the incident, these boys were best friends. They regularly hung out together after school, partnered with each other during assignments, and even shared a similar hobby: star gazing. At around 2 and a half months before the incident, they went into the woods behind Terry's house to get a better view of Sassafras comet. As we all know, that comet veered towards our planet at the last moment, breaking apart in the atmosphere."

One of the aliens, who's head looked like an over inflated beach ball, frowned at the insinuation.

"To quote their English teacher, Mrs. Laramy, 'them boys changed after watching that comet. The very next day, they requested a separate seating assignment... Had to move em across the room from each other before they'd finally settle down.'"

He then stopped and, using the remote control like an intercom, ordered drinks for everyone at the table. The suspense became palpable, as it wasn't until he received and drank the ice water delivered to him that the agent continued.

"Their internet search records show both of them began frequenting survivalist forums heavily in the days following the comet. Security cameras at the school also show they would both stay after to work out in the recess playground. We believe they came to an arrangement of sorts before this, as the two boys always alternated training days. Finally, after slaying Jeffrey, Terry immediately fled the scene; we still have not been able to locate him. These are the major facts of the case as we see them, and why I called you all here today. Does anyone have a clue what is happening here?"

With this comment, it was as if a set of floodgates had opened. All of the aliens began actively speculating, debating, and arguing with each other. There was no regard for order whatsoever.

"Don't the toth worms have a mating ritual similar to this?"

"Those parasites! They couldn't inflict half the property damage seen here."

"Yeah, plus I've seen that ritual. It is very pompous and boring; fighting in a dirty back lot would be an affront to them, the snobbish pricks."

"Could it be a new type of psychic?"

"You saw the autopsy, dummy. his pineal gland was completely closed!"

"Are we sure it isn't the result of occult practices? Those runes could be demonic in origin..."

"In the lungs? They'd be packed with sulfur the second he tries an incantation."

"What if the comet was a nanite swarm?"

"Those would have to be pretty advanced nanobots to not get melted during re-entry."

"Screeech Screech Screeeh!"

"Esteemed guests, please slow down! The translators can't keep up," The agent reminded them while pointing to the nameplate of the 6 armed monster, which was currently blinking. They all chuckled at this, creating a terrifying chorus of noise.

Suddenly, the entity sat directly across from the agent reacted. This being had been silent for the entire meeting but, judging from the occasional tremors of fear from the aliens sat next to it, this was an important individual.

The being had no chair behind it, as it floated in mid air. It had no appendages, and yet its personal projection had been flipping along as it if was swiped. Its shape was an oblong spheroid, and its surface appearance resembled a massive chunk of obsidian. On the middle of this being, a pattern of white alpha-numerical characters wrapped around it like a belt.

When it is said to have reacted, the method was equally weird. First, the lights around it dimmed, as if being sucked into this crystalline entity. Then, it spun rapidly in place and changed color to a deep red. Finally, the belt of characters seemed to squirm and writhe while being spun. They wriggled fiercely until eventually forming a readable text.

This text consisted of two words, "Star Child." When the words appeared, the being ceased its movement, yet the text remained clear as day.

"Lord Commander 8-Ball, you grace us with your wisdom. Could you tell us more about the meaning of your conjecture," the agent said, paying careful attention to every syllable which left his lips. The other monsters at the table looked equally stressed, as those with sweat glands could be seen perspiring.

The entity known as 8-ball remained still, before eventually rotating once more. Its color remained red, and new words soon formed on its surface.

"Forbidden by vow."

The monsters with adequate facial structure to do so showed expressions of pure shock, and everyone in the room had a similar collective thought: "Just who in the galaxies could bind 8-Ball to a vow..."

The agent maintained a poker face, but his eyes showed the same determination of a bomb disposal expert on the job. "We are extremely grateful for your magnanimity in sharing even this much with us, despite the dangers to yourself in doing so. We couldn't possibly impose any further, as your continued health is important to all of us. Thus, please feel free to refuse any comment for the following discussion... Jeez, it'll be quite tough to crack this case with what we have now. If only we could know the threat level we are dealing with... If only there was someone smart and brave enough to speculate on this question..."

"I can," 8-ball responded almost immediately, even turning green as it did so. Several aliens had to forcefully suppress their facial muscles at this response, and the Minotaur could be seen holding back a series of snorts.

"Why play so coy," they collectively thought.

"Oh, I wouldn't dare! This concerns your health, lord commander. Please, let me call the receptionist and upgrade your suite. You must be exhausted even helping us as much as you did."

8-ball flashed yellow repeatedly, before spinning out the following phrase "Ask Away!"

The six armed being fell out his chair at this display.

"Are you okay, Glarhox?"

"Yes, my spinneret must have acted up," it said before clamping its mandibles shut to suppress a joyful screech.

"Well, we dare not refuse your graciousness, lord commander. I shall begin then; what is your estimate of the threat level in this case?"

"60" 8-ball responded, shocking everyone out of their stifled laughter.

"Is one kid really that dangerous," the agent asked.

"Yes and no."

"Could you elaborate?"

"Ask again later..."

The room fell into silence, and the meeting adjourned.