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  “Science and mathematics are more than just academic subjects; they are the fundamental languages we use to decipher the universe's deepest mysteries and the practical tools that shape our daily lives. From the intricate…” Dexter’s reading of his new science and math textbook was suddenly interrupted by Dee Dee’s squeal of happiness in a reaction to the television, which was playing some cheesy princess movie… again. Dee Dee had been obsessed with princessy films lately, for whatever reason. 

  “Oh, my gosh, Bartholomew is so handsome,” Dee Dee sighed. “Esmerelda is so lucky! What I wouldn’t give to be a beautiful fairy princess with magic powers like her! I wonder if there’s some way to become one of those lucky people out there with actual magic…” Dexter returned to his book, but then was interrupted again by Dee Dee suddenly exclaiming, “I know! I could make a potion or something that will turn me into a fairy and give me magic!”

  Reluctantly, Dexter put his book down on the couch’s arm rest beside him. Here we go again, he thought. Time to set Dee Dee straight- again. “Dee Dee, you know perfectly well that wouldn’t work. Magic doesn’t exist.” Dee Dee stuck out her tongue at him and said, “Yes it does! How do you think TVs work? Magical projection! Duh!” Seriously?, Dexter thought. Out loud he said, “Television sets work by electricity, not magical projection. There is no scientific evidence to prove that magic exists. Science has proved it again and again, therefore, it doesn’t exist.” Dee Dee said, “Oh, yeah? Well, it took ages for people to realize that the earth spins around the sun and isn’t flat! Before that, ‘science’ said the earth was flat! So, HA!” 

  “It wasn’t science that said the Earth was flat, Dee Dee, it was just people’s perceptions. Science eventually proved that Earth is round, and it’s also proved magic doesn’t exist!” 

  “Oh, yeah? Well, if you’re so sure that magic doesn’t exist, build some doohickey or something in your secret lab that proves it!” 

  “That would be a complete waste of time. Such an invention wouldn’t be practical!” 

  “Then prove it, Dexter! I know for a fact that magic does exist! If not here, then somewhere out there!”

  Before Dexter could respond, his parents arrived home from the store, so they couldn’t talk anymore about it. Dexter couldn’t risk his parents knowing about his secret laboratory in his room! Dexter grabbed his textbook and went upstairs to his room- or so it seemed. Once in his bedroom, he looked to make sure his door was closed, then pulled on just the right book on his bookshelf, opening the entrance to his secret laboratory. Earlier that Saturday morning he had finished tweaking his Computer’s programming, and now his schedule was free. He went to his work desk and continued reading his new textbook, but his mind kept going back to the earlier argument. 

  Could he really make such an invention? What would it detect if he did? Magic didn’t exist, but he could make an invention that could detect abnormal energies, which, in theory, would be close enough to detect anything “magical.” It was true that science had no evidence of magical phenomena, but as much as he hated to admit it, Dee Dee had a good point. At one point, people believed the Earth was flat, because science hadn’t yet proved the Earth was, in fact, round. Maybe science just hadn’t yet determined whether magic existed or not… 

  Dexter tried to concentrate on his textbook, but his curiosity had been piqued. He couldn’t just let this sit- as much as he was adamant that magic didn’t exist, he couldn’t help but wonder if an invention that detected abnormal energy would detect anything magical. After thinking about it a few minutes longer, he decided to build it. He immediately pulled up a blueprint on his computer and started planning. What could possibly go wrong?

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Over the next 8 days (it took so long because he kept getting interrupted by Dee Dee), Dexter worked on his invention. Once complete, it would be able to detect any sort of abnormal energy, which theoretically would count as “magic”, or magical ability. It would look like an ordinary camera, but when looked through, any abnormal energy viewed though it would appear a bright, unmistakable yellow. Everything else viewed though it would appear drastically muted in color, almost black-and-white. If it did detect abnormal energy, it would also vibrate. For stealth, it also had a mode where it could function like a regular camera, in case one got caught using it in public. 

  It was Sunday evening, and Dexter was almost there. The invention was so close to being complete! The work put into this one had been a little tough, since he’d had to spend time looking for the correct component that would make the whole thing detect abnormal energies. But nothing was impossible for Dexter- he was a genius, after all. Finally, after a few minutes of fine-tuning it and painting it black with fast-drying paint, to make it look like an ordinary camera… It was done. The Ethereal Spectrum Analyzer (ESA) was finally complete!

 Just like he had planned, it looked and functioned like an ordinary camera- except there was a small, hidden button that would switch its function from an ordinary camera into the ESA, which would be the function used to detect abnormal energies. The same button pressed again would switch it from ESA mode to regular camera mode, and it was cleverly designed so that unless you were aware of where the button was and what it did, you wouldn’t be able to find or activate it. It was a simple but effective security measure against certain people- namely, Dee Dee, or worse, Mandark, his archrival. Dexter hated to think of what evil plots Mandark would think of if he got his hands on this particular invention and figured out its true function. But for now, it was time to test his invention.

  When Dexter turned on the device, at first it functioned like an ordinary camera. To test the camera function, he snapped a couple of photos of his lab-which were high-quality, as intended- then quickly deleted them. He couldn’t risk someone finding the camera and seeing pictures of his lab- someone who wasn’t supposed to know about his lab. Dexter then pressed the hidden button to switch it from camera mode… to ESA mode. He then looked through the viewfinder at his laboratory- as expected, the only color he could see was black-and-white with a hint of blue. The shapes and dimensions of everything in his lab were crystal clear, though. 

  Dexter looked around through the viewfinder, but there was still nothing, as expected. He was about to put it away when… A flash of bright yellow. Dexter froze- but there was nothing. Maybe it was his imagination? He went to put it away again, and he saw the same yellow again. He tried to find where it was coming from. Somewhere else in the lab, he heard a robot crash into a wall, making his hand accidentally get in the way of the viewfinder. Dumbfounded, he stared at the view his camera was giving him. No, it couldn’t be… The yellow glow was coming from… his hand?! Indeed, when he looked at his hand through the viewfinder, it was glowing yellow! He flipped it to first-person mode and saw that it wasn’t just his hand, but his whole body glowing brightly yellow through the ESA viewfinder! The device was vibrating like crazy. 

  Dexter was stunned. What could this mean? Surely, it was a glitch of some sort, and the ESA was only detecting body heat… right? Yes, that made the most sense. Dexter turned off the ESA, and continued to fine tune it. But no matter how many times he fine-tuned it, the ESA still showed the same thing. 5 tries later, the device was absolutely perfect, and it still showed the same result. No matter what he did, when he viewed himself through the device, it showed his entire form glowing a vivid yellow. What… What was this? What did this mean? If the device was reading accurately, then… That would mean he… That he… He couldn’t even think it. It was impossible… right? 

  If, somehow, the device was reading correctly, that would mean that Dexter… had… magic… Dexter could barely concentrate. He felt dizzy. It was impossible! There was no way! It had to be just a glitch… Yes, that had to be it. He just had chosen the wrong component, that was all… Dexter glanced at the clock- it was bedtime. He’d try again to fix the ESA tomorrow. For now, he turned it off, put it in a secret compartment where it would be safe, and went to bed. Tomorrow, he’d figure this out. For now, he needed sleep.

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The next day, Dexter was walking through the halls of his school, Huber Elementary, to his locker. He still couldn’t quite figure out why the ESA had read like it did last night. Maybe his invention was simply a failure? Honestly, for once, if his invention had failed, it would be a relief. There was simply no way that he could have… magic. It was inconceivable! Dexter was about to get to his locker when he heard some commotion… 

  He turned the corner, and witnessed one of his classmates getting bullied- for cash, of all things! Dexter wanted to help the poor kid, but how? As he thought this, he suddenly felt… strange. He felt dizzy, but not quite… What was going on? As Dexter watched the kid getting bullied, one thing was clear- he had to stop this! 

  Instinctively, Dexter thrust out his hand in an effort to stop the bully- and watched, in shock, as his hand started glowing bright yellow, and the bully was thrown back from the kid by some invisible force! Dexter watched as the bully ran away in shock. 

  Dexter felt dizzy. He couldn’t think straight… It was all he could do to rush to the nearest bathroom to avoid being seen like this. Once there, he finally allowed himself to process what had just happened. His hand was still glowing… The strange feeling from before surged, and Dexter watched, flabbergasted, as the bright yellow glow spread over his entire form, the glow sparking like electricity… What was this?! What was happening to him?! Slowly, he managed to calm down, and as he did so, the glow faded, leaving him normal again- on the outside, but it was clear that he was no longer “normal” on the inside.

  What just happened?!, Dexter wondered, shocked. Suddenly, it all became clear: The ESA last night… It hadn’t been a glitch after all… He had magic…  He had never felt such shock in his life before. Questions swirled around in his mind like a hurricane. How long had he had this magic? How did he not notice it before? How did he get it and not realize? Had this magic just been dormant inside him his whole life? If so, how had he never known? Dexter then heard the bell ring- that meant only 5 minutes until the next class- and decided to study this later at home, in his lab.

  Once at home in his lab, Dexter did a complete body scan of himself. The results were shocking. The scan showed that this… magic… had indeed been dormant inside of him his whole life- the reasons, as of yet, were unknown. To think, all this time he had been insistent against the existence of magical phenomena, when the whole time, he’d had magic inside him… Which, according to the readings, was also very powerful. Even now, he could still feel it- that strange sensation of the magic in him, waiting to be used again. Dexter remembered how that bully from earlier had been thrust back from the victim by some invisible force… It was obvious that Dexter’s magic was responsible for that. If Dexter could pull that off, unintentionally, by will alone, what else could he accomplish? What could his magic do? He decided to find out.

  Over the next few hours, Dexter experimented with his magical abilities. He discovered he could fly, run fast, make things out of thin air, basically anything he could possibly imagine! This was amazing! He could do literally anything! Which was great and all, but he still had one question- why did he have this magic in the first place? Where did it come from? Dexter was determined to find out.

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Over the next 2 weeks, Dexter honed and refined his magical abilities. By now, he was pretty much an expert, but he couldn’t stop wondering why he had this magic in the first place. Was it somehow tied to his intellect? That seemed the most likely answer, but he had no way to prove it. Besides, how would it be tied to his intellect? Was it tied to his genius? If so, why had this magic been hidden his whole life, but he’d been a genius his whole life? He had so many questions, and they seemed impossible to answer. Still, he did what he could- which was a lot. He had a lab, after all!

  One day, it was almost the end of the school day. He was in science, his favorite class, and the teacher, Mr. Luzinski, was going over the lesson plan for the next day. Apparently, tomorrow they’d be having a special slideshow presentation about a long shut down science company, SciCorp. Now, Dexter was not one to watch a slideshow unprepared, so needless to say, as soon as he got home, he decided to research SciCorp just to get some extra information before the next day’s slideshow. 

  Once in his lab, he pulled out his notebook- for taking notes, just in case. He then googled “SciCorp”. He found that SciCorp was short for Science Corporation. Not very creative, but okay. Dexter scrolled further, and found a news article entitled “Project Genesis- The Tale of SciCorp’s Demise”. Intrigued, he clicked on it. The article read as follows:

 Project Genesis: The Downfall of SciCorp

  “About 10 years ago, in Genius Grove, California, there was a major science company called SciCorp. One day, they discovered something world-changing- alien DNA. It was found in a meteorite crash, and when tested, it was found that the DNA matched none of that on Earth. SciCorp believed that this DNA could help create a new generation of superhumans- just like in all the stories, with powers beyond imagination, extremely heightened intelligence, magic, and who knows what else. It would be called… Project Genesis. Side effects may have included a foreign-sounding accent, which would make sense, but SciCorp was determined to make it work. 

  Within a year and a half, they had converted the DNA into a serum. They were determined to put their plan to action, but it was not meant to be. The FBI received an anonymous tip of SciCorp’s conspiracy to mess with the human population, which is illegal. SciCorp was shut down, their plan decimated, and forgotten.”

  As Dexter read this, he realized something. The time they converted the DNA… that would be a couple of weeks before he was born! And the descriptions of the would-be superhumans… it described him exactly! His magic, his intellect, even his accent, which he had never been able to figure out… And he lived in Genius Grove, California. Could… could he have had something to do with this? Was Dexter somehow a result of this long-ago project? Impossible- right? Right. But then he read the final line of the article: “But there was something the FBI never found…” Curious and cautious, Dexter clicked on the hyperlink entitled, “The Lost Experiment". What he read shocked him beyond all belief. The article read as follows:

  The Legend of The Lost Experiment

    “According to rumors, there was one vital piece of the experiment that the FBI never found. Supposedly, before they were shut down, SciCorp had managed to insert the DNA into a yet unborn child via amniocentesis, selected from a random mother at Genius Grove Hospital. The parents were not informed of this. The child was born a couple of weeks later, and according to old SciCorp files, the experiment was successful. However, when the FBI raided SciCorp a couple weeks later, the infant was nowhere to be found, although SciCorp had written down information about the mysterious infant- not enough to identify him- or her. The FBI searched, but they could not find a record of an infant that would fit the description. The child eventually became known as… The Lost Experiment. This tale is believed to be a rumor, but it could also be true. Either way, it’s one mystery the FBI has never solved to this day.” 

  Dexter was stunned. The birth date of The Lost Experiment… that was around the time he was born! A chilling thought gripped Dexter. Was… was he The Lost Experiment?! Impossible- right? But all the evidence matched up. His magic, his intellect, his accent, and the dates of the events… It was impossible, but it made sense- too much sense. It couldn’t be true- it just couldn’t be! If it were true, that would mean that Dexter… that he… was part alien. It was impossible! It just couldn’t be true! It would mean that his whole life, he’d falsely believed he was completely human, when he wasn’t… Dexter refused to believe it could be true, but it made much too much sense. 

  Dexter then had an idea- if he could find something at the SciCorp laboratory ruins, maybe it would give him an answer to all this. Dexter quickly googled the location of the old SciCorp ruins- it wasn’t too far from his house, actually. Then Dexter realized something- he could just teleport there with his magic! He quickly checked to see if doing so would be trespassing- but thankfully, it wasn’t. Visitors were allowed to explore the old ruins anytime, but no one had for years. That worked in his favor- Dexter didn’t want to break any laws. Dexter gathered his thoughts, pictured the ruins, and teleported there with a flash of yellow light.

  The SciCorp ruins were nothing like he expected. Everything was a bleak shade of grey, covered in thick layers of dust. Almost everything was broken and forgotten- it was apparent that nobody had been there in years. From the domed ceiling hung vines and cobwebs. And yet, amid all the mess, something resonated within Dexter- something about this place was strangely familiar. It was almost as if he’d been here before, in memories long forgotten… He pushed aside the feeling and started exploring. 

  He came to a strange structure- it looked like it was once a glass tube of confinement, but the glass was long broken. As he absently brushed his hand against the glass, he suddenly got a flash of vague memory- chaos, fear, motion- and immediately yanked his hand back as though he’d been burned. He didn’t want to admit it, but this place spooked him- it was looking more and more like he’d been here before, pointing to a past he didn’t want to be true. He glanced around, and saw an old file cabinet- maybe there was something in there. 

  To his surprise, when he tugged on the drawer, it wouldn’t open! He tugged, but nothing happened. He realized it was locked. No problem- he had magic. He concentrated, and used his magic to open it. Inside, there were tons of yellowed documents, long disorganized. He picked up and read some of the documents- these were files of Project Genesis, the plans for everything, the details of everything! He picked up another document- it was a hospital birth certificate. It was entitled, “Birth Certificate of Subject One.” The names had been whited out, but the birth date wasn’t. Dexter nearly dropped the certificate- the birth date was his birth date exactly, down to the minute! Fear injected him- there was no way! All the evidence was pointing to the scary possibility of him being The Lost Experiment, but he didn’t want to believe it- he couldn’t believe it! It was inconceivable! 

  He found the folder all these documents had been in. He couldn’t see the title, but then realized a blank piece of paper was covering it. He hesitated to remove the paper- what would the title be? Did he really want to know? All the evidence was pointing to a truth he didn’t want to face… But, he reasoned, he had to know. He had to know the truth- no matter what it might be. With trepidation, he uncovered the title of the folder- PROJECT DEXTER. “No…” he whispered. He felt dizzy… It couldn’t be… Maybe it was a trick… But the title was still there- PROJECT DEXTER. He barely felt the folder fall from his hands. He felt himself falling backwards, but lost consciousness before he hit the ground. 

  When he woke up, it was a few minutes later. He found himself on the dusty lab ground, with the folder right next to him. He still felt dizzy, but he sat up, and glanced at the folder title again. Maybe he had imagined it from shock… PROJECT DEXTER. He hadn’t imagined it… it was real… All the evidence… Was he really The Lost Experiment??? He couldn’t believe it… He didn’t want to believe it. Maybe he was just imagining things… Maybe he wasn’t… After all, “Dexter” was a fairly common name, and he supposed quite a few children had been born at the same time he was… But inside, he knew he was kidding himself. All the evidence pointed to him being The Lost Experiment- his genius, his magic, his accent that he had never been able to figure out… But he didn’t want to believe it. It would mean that he was part alien… 

  Dexter decided there was only one way to confirm this- he needed his laboratory. He hastily gathered up all the documents and stuffed them into the folder. This time, he didn’t look at the title. Then, folder and documents in hand, he teleported back to his lab with a flash of yellow light. Once there, he spread the documents onto the desk in front of his Computer, which ran the whole lab when he wasn’t there, and said, “Computer, analyze these documents, and determine if they correlate with me. I need the truth.” He sounded much calmer than he felt. His computer replied in its female synthetic voice, “Confirmed. Analyzing documents.” Dexter sat down, and waited for his computer to finish scanning the documents. 

  A few minutes of anxiously waiting later, his computer softly beeped. “Results confirmed. Dexter, this information may be life-changing- likely emotionally damaging. Are you sure you want to know?” Dexter felt himself tense- this wasn’t good. He took a deep breath and said, “Yes, I am sure.” The computer replied, “Really sure?” It was too much- at that point, all his emotions exploded. “YES! Tell me the truth already! I need to know- WHO AM I?!” It was all too much- he slumped down on his desk, resting his head on his arms. He felt like crying- but he refused to. He wouldn’t cry- but he came close. 

  After a few moments, his computer softly said, “Dexter, all evidence points to one fact: You are The Lost Experiment, the child SciCorp experimented on, but the FBI never found.” Dexter’s breathing went shallow. Here it was, the truth he desperately didn’t want to face… He was The Lost Experiment… He was part alien… He didn’t dare to believe it, he didn’t want to believe it. Then Dexter realized something- maybe this was a cruel prank after all! Yes, this seemed exactly the kind of thing Mandark would do to try to mess with him. Well, he wouldn’t fall for it! Dexter grasped to the hope like a lifeline. After digitally cleaning his DNA scanner of any potential viruses, he yanked a hair from his head, and put it in to analyze. As the scanner did its job, Dexter paced around nervously. What if… what if it was all true? What if he was really… 

  He didn’t have time to finish the thought before his DNA scanner beeped. He looked at the results. The screen read, “DNA sample identified. Composition is 98% Human DNA, 2% Unidentified DNA, Matches SciCorp DNA Samples.” It was true… All of it. Dexter’s breath again went shallow. He felt himself trembling… All of it was true. He really was the Lost Experiment… He was 2 percent alien… He collapsed into his work chair. His whole life, however different he was from everyone else, he was always certain he was, at least, a human being… Now he wasn’t even completely that. Yet another thing that made him different from everyone else… He was the sole surviving remnant of Project Genesis, SciCorp’s long-ago experiment that was intended to make a whole line of superhumans… It explained everything, why he had always been different from everyone else, why he had an accent, why he was a genius… Even why he had magic… 

  Dexter then saw the time- bedtime. But how could one sleep when one had just discovered that his whole life, he’d been living a lie? This whole time, he’d been part alien, not even fully a human being… He was meant to be the first of many just like him… It felt like his entire reality was shattering around him. But he knew it made sense- he was truly part alien. He needed time to process this- he decided to head to bed. Despite how he felt, it turned out discovering such a life-changing fact about himself was exhausting, and he dropped to sleep within a few minutes, his mind swirling with the fact that he was The Lost Experiment, Subject One, 2 percent alien.

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The next day, when he woke up in his bed, everything was normal- until he remembered all that had happened yesterday. Dexter hoped that it had all been a dream, that he was still completely human… But that was no longer his reality. When he walked into his lab, the first thing he saw was the SciCorp documents, confirming the horrifying truth… He really was The Lost Experiment, part alien. 

  Heavily, Dexter sat down at his desk, and reread the documents. He scratched off the white-out on the birth document- it was indeed a copy of his birth certificate. Now that he knew the truth, what should he do? Dexter was at a standstill now. Finally, he had an answer to why he had been different his whole life. Part of his DNA was that of an unknown alien race… But which race? Where in the universe did his alien DNA come from? Was the alien race still alive? If so, what was the alien race like? Dexter decided that’s what he should do next- find out where his alien DNA was from. 

  Dexter yanked another hair from his head, and put it into the DNA scanner- then isolated the alien DNA in his hair. He then used his extremely high-technology satellites- which he’d gotten permission to send up into space from NASA, thankfully- to scan the universe for matches to the DNA. It was a long shot, but it was the only shot he had. It would take the scanner at least 24 hours to find anything, so Dexter went to school. 

  School was fairly normal- the slideshow about SciCorp went over fine. Thankfully, no one suspected that Dexter was The Lost Experiment- not even Mandark, even though it seemed obvious to himself. After school, Dexter checked on the scanner- nothing yet, which was expected. He spent the rest of the day working on unfinished inventions- he desperately needed a break from all this chaos. 

  That night, the scanner still had no results. It would most likely have results by the next day, so Dexter went to bed. He felt much better, and had almost accepted that he was part alien- almost, but at least he no longer felt like his reality was shattering around him into shards. With a slight smile on his face, he went to sleep- but when he woke up, he wasn’t in his room!

  Dexter bolted upright and looked around- this definitely wasn’t his room, or his bed. He was in a shiny, silvery bed with a shiny black blanket and pillow. The room he was in looked somewhat like his own lab, except it was in shades of purple instead of blue. He looked around, and saw a logo on the floor. The sight of it turned his blood into ice- a diagram of an atom with the letters SC on the nucleus… The SciCorp logo. SciCorp?! But how? It was shut down! Where was he?! 

  A clipped male voice somewhere behind him- “Ah, finally, you’re awake.” Dexter whirled around- but there was no one there. Before he could ask who was there, a figure stepped into the light. He was wearing a lab coat and had slicked back, blonde hair, and a pointed nose. He was tall and looked almost intimidating. Seeing him sent an unknown spike of fear through Dexter, but he shoved it aside. Dexter had never seen this man in his life, but there was something familiar about him… “Who are you?” Dexter asked. 

The man said, “Oh, you don’t recognize me? That does make sense, you were only just born when we last met. By now I’m sure you’ve figured out that you’re ‘The Lost Experiment’. Otherwise, why would you have been in the old laboratory a couple days ago, taking the documents that described you exactly with you back to your own lab? I suppose I should explain who I am now. My name is Steve Uranium Stewardson, but you can call me Steve. 

“And I oversaw your creation, Dexter, the splicing of your DNA with the alien genes we found. This room we’re in now was SciCorp’s emergency lab, hidden from the FBI. This is where I’ve hidden all these years to keep from being tossed in jail. I last saw you over 8 years ago, in the old lab. Impressive… You’ve grown so much since then…” So this was him- the man who did it all. The very reason Dexter was the way he was… 

  Steve continued, “I’m sure you have questions, Dexter. Well, let me answer them for you. Let me tell you exactly what happened. 

  “You see, Dexter, a couple months before you were born, our corp found a meteorite. This meteorite contained alien DNA- from an unknown planet. We realized we could use this DNA to enhance the human population- create a series of superhumans that could solve all the world’s problems. So we got started. Once we were able to convert the DNA into a serum, we chose a random mother from the local hospital with a child due soon. We used amniocentesis to insert the alien DNA, unbeknownst to the parents, of course, which was successful. A couple weeks later, you were born. 

  “Obviously, you know by now that you were the child we inserted the alien DNA into. But anyway, about a day after you were born, we were able to sneak you from the maternity ward to this room, to examine if the alien DNA worked. Of course it did. We discovered your intelligence was already over 160 IQ- astounding for a day year old. No doubt you could already comprehend English by then with that level of intelligence. We also discovered that magic energy you have inside you- which you know has an energy color of bright yellow. And we also discovered your IQ would increase with time. As of now, your IQ would be in the 300s. Astounding at such a young age…” Dexter was stunned- he knew he had a high IQ, but not that high! And 160 at birth… that meant he was a genius from birth. But then, why didn’t he remember being at SciCorp? 

  Steve went on, “Of course, then you had to be taken home by your parents, so we had to let you go. But I was smart- before you were taken home, I implanted a tracer chip in you…” Dexter froze. He had a tracer chip in him?! 

  Steve said, “I implanted it in your arm, and let you go with your family. I used the chip to track your location, monitor you. A week later, I brought you back- just to check on you. But then the FBI found out and destroyed our lab- and the technology we were using to monitor you. You vanished, likely teleporting back to your home. A couple years later, by the time I managed to build another tracker, your signal had disappeared entirely. At first, I was confused. Then I realized that by then you would have been building your laboratory, and probably had made it so radio signals couldn’t enter. And I couldn’t remember where you were last located. The other scientists gave in to the FBI and told them about you when they were confronted, but not me. I temporarily erased all information on you, so they couldn’t find you.” 

  Steve continued, “Now let’s fast-forward to a couple days ago, Dexter. I had nearly given up looking for you- it was as though you had disappeared entirely. But I knew better. Then the scanners went crazy with detection- they sensed you in the old lab! I immediately pulled up the footage from the one security camera that was still operational. I watched you discover the documents, discover that you were ‘The Lost Experiment’. 

  “Then I observed you teleport back to your lab, and your signal from the tracer chip was lost again. But this time, I knew what to look for… and just a couple hours ago, when you went up to bed, the trackers perceived your signal immediately. So I teleported you here, because I had to know how you had evolved since I last saw you. I honestly didn’t expect you to find out your origins, but who was I kidding? You ARE a genius after all- with an IQ far surpassing any recorded genius in history. Basically, the current most intelligent human being on the planet. You were intended to be the first of a superhuman race- but of course, the project got shut down.” Steve fell quiet, probably thinking about that day. 

  Steve then continued, “But of course, I didn’t teleport you here just to give you information. I’ve brought you here to make a deal. All your life, you’ve been alone, different, isolated from your peers, all because you were a genius, 2 percent alien. But with your help, all of that can change. If we work together, you won’t be alone anymore. Join me, Dexter, and help me get revenge on the FBI for ruining us! It’s because of them you’ve been bullied all your life! If it weren’t for them, you’d have friends, people who would understand you! Will you join me?”

  Dexter barely had time to think about it before he suddenly felt dizzy, and he suddenly recalled a memory from his childhood- rather, many infancy memories. Dexter remembered being an infant, feeling scared, trapped in an unfamiliar place… Steve had indeed sent him to his family for a week, but then he intended to keep him forever locked up! If it hadn’t been for the FBI and a worker returning him to his home, he would have been trapped forever, locked up, treated as an experiment- nothing else. He suddenly returned to the present and realized- Steve was lying. Dexter realized what Steve really wanted- to use Dexter’s intellect, his magic, as a weapon to take over the world… Dexter didn’t want that. Dexter shook his head, and Steve’s expression darkened. Steve said darkly, “Very well. Let me know if you change your mind.” 

  Steve flicked a lever, and suddenly, Dexter was back in his dark bedroom. That was too close… And now Steve might come after him! Dexter didn’t trust Steve one bit- he had to do something! He used his magic to send an anonymous tip to the FBI, letting them know where Steve Uranium Stewardson was. He also used his magic to send them the location. A few minutes later, he could feel it- Steve had been arrested. As an afterthought, he used his magic to dissolve the tracer chip inside his arm. His arm tingled, then stopped- the chip was gone, and his arm was as though there had been nothing there. Satisfied, Dexter went to bed- he was glad he managed to get Steve in jail, and protect himself- and the whole world. As he fell asleep, he looked forward to seeing the results on the scanner the next day.

Chapter Text

The next day, Dexter checked on the scanner- nothing yet. That was okay, because it was Saturday- no school. He started working on an infinite ink pen- that would be useful in class, since it would convert oxygen molecules into pen ink. He was halfway through when the scanner suddenly beeped- it had something! Dexter immediately rushed over to the scanner, and examined the results. It had found a match for his alien DNA! It was on a planet on the other side of the Milky Way. Dexter pulled up the visuals for it. The planet was stunning, Earth-like, but it shimmered with a turquoise glow… Not only did it look like Earth, but it had all the requirements for life- an oxygen-rich atmosphere, water, it was in the Goldilocks zone… 

  Dexter checked the life-form readings. He couldn’t get visuals yet, but his scanner confirmed that his alien DNA matched that of multicellular organisms on the planet! This was amazing! He had actually found where part of his very being was from! Dexter wondered what they looked like. Were they humanoid? Four-legged? Did they have wings? Scales? Fur? Did they resemble mythical creatures of some sort? What were their personalities like? Did they vary, like humans, or were they generally the same? It was obvious that they had higher IQ than that of humans, otherwise, Dexter wouldn’t be a genius. Dexter wished that he could go to the planet to explore- wait, maybe he could! He could just teleport there! He was about to try when he hesitated.

  If he did manage to teleport on the planet, what would happen? What purpose would it serve? Could he even teleport that far? He tried, but couldn’t. Okay, maybe he could fly there through space? Impossible- it was ludicrous to think he could survive in the harsh, cold vacuum of space. No, it was far too risky to try. He would simply have to study the planet from his laboratory. 

  As he studied the planet, his mind kept going back to the possibility of flying there. Could he somehow survive outer space? After all, his magic hadn’t failed him yet. But no, it was too risky. No lifeform could ever survive in space- it was a fact of science. Suddenly, he felt lightheaded and dizzy. He then felt his magic activate without his consent… What was going on? His vision flashed yellow, and he suddenly felt… weightless. Slowly, he opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was stars- and the planet Earth below him! Frantically, he looked around- he was in outer space! His breath became shallow with panic- wait! He was breathing?! Indeed, when he calmed down, he could breathe just fine! 

  How was it that he was in the harsh, cold vacuum of outer space, and yet his body was functioning just fine? He wasn’t even cold- in fact, he was no chiller than he would be on a mild fall day! He only needed a thin sweater, and he was completely fine! He made one with his magic, put it on, then tried to figure this out. He was in outer space, and yet he was completely functional… How was this possible? Was his magic creating a pocket of air around him? Somehow he could sense that wasn’t the case. He could sense that he was in direct contact with the void around him… To study this, he teleported back to his lab. Once there, he did a full body scan. The results shocked him.

  According to the scan, when in space, he wasn’t truly breathing air at all! Somehow, he was breathing the void itself! His lungs were somehow specialized with his alien DNA so he could breathe anything, anywhere- even the nothingness of outer space. He read further, and what he read chilled him- his lungs weren’t always like this! This change was recent- it happened without his noticing a few seconds before he went into space! That was interesting, but what did it mean? The scan also said that his body had also adapted to survive extreme temperatures- even absolute zero! That was insane! But what could he discover in space?

  Too curious to leave it aside, Dexter teleported into space again. He was still completely fine. The Earth was beautiful from up there… Dexter wondered something- how fast could he fly up here? Theoretically, no air meant no friction to hold him back, and his magic was probably limitless, so maybe he could go beyond the speed of light! To test, he flew to the sun at a casual pace. To his utter shock, he reached it in a few minutes- he had been traveling at more than twice the speed of light! It felt like he had been traveling at a casual pace- it didn’t even feel fast! If more than twice the speed of light was that easy, then how fast could he really go? Then he realized- he was less than a mile from the sun and he only felt slightly warm! He should have been burned by now!

Cautiously, he flew closer to the sun until he was within arm’s length. He could still see fine, and he only felt slightly warm, like he would on the beach! This was amazing- he was right next to the sun, and he was completely functional! He wasn’t even being pulled toward the sun by its immense gravity! In fact, he wasn’t affected at all by it- he could just float right next to the sun like it was nothing! Dexter looked at the sun directly, and could still see fine- as though he were looking through an extremely high-quality Hubble telescope! The sun looked enormous from here… 

  Dexter wondered something- if he could float this close to the sun and be just fine… could he touch the sun?! Impossible- right? Then again, he was already achieving the impossible. Breathing in space- not oxygen, but the emptiness itself as though it were air… Just then, a plume of lava spewed from the sun’s surface nearby, startling Dexter. His hand suddenly felt warm… He turned and realized his hand was inside the sun! Dexter was shocked- this shouldn’t be possible! His hand was in the sun, and yet it was only the temperature of warm water to him! Cautiously, he scooped out a piece of the sun’s surface. He sucked in his breath in astonishment- he was holding a piece of the sun in his hands. 

  This shouldn’t be possible, he thought. But it was- it was happening right in front of him! He watched as the thick liquid of the sun was pulled back into the surface by the sun’s gravity. It behaved exactly as you’d expect lava to behave in space. Dexter was astonished- he had just done many impossible things within mere minutes. What else could he accomplish? Could he exit the solar system, as Voyager 1 and 2 had both done? Only one way to find out, he decided.

  He then went at a slightly faster pace away from the sun- on a direct course out of the solar system. He watched as he passed Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars in less than a minute- he really was going extremely fast, even though it didn’t feel like it. He passed by Jupiter, then flew between the rings of Saturn, then passed Uranus and Neptune, and within a few minutes, he was out of the solar system! 

  This was amazing- he had already gone much faster than the speed of light! He poured on the speed, and within seconds, he saw Voyager 2 up ahead. He slowed down to its speed, which was very slow to Dexter- and observed this technological marvel traveling in space with wonder. He then passed it, and soon saw the first one- Voyager 1. The first thing he saw on it was the golden record. He examined it- it was surprisingly still in perfect condition, even after all this time in space. He didn’t dare touch it. Dexter continued flying beyond them. He then decided to test how fast he could go- he could always teleport back to Earth if anything went wrong. He poured on the speed, and watched as the stars streaked by. He did a mental calculation- he was going at over 200 times the speed of light! 

  He passed solar system after solar system. This was amazing! Before he knew it, he looked back and he was outside the Milky Way galaxy! Just for fun, he decided to fly all the way around it, just inside it. Within a few minutes of doing so, he suddenly felt a strange sensation… as if something in the closest galactical arm was urging him to come closer, was calling toward him… Dexter decided to investigate, and flew toward the pull. Within a few minutes, he came across an unfamiliar solar system. The pull was coming from the planet in the Goldilocks zone- a very familiar planet. It looked like Earth, but had a shimmery turquoise look to it. Dexter’s heart did a backflip- he’d found the planet he’d been studying- the very planet from which his alien DNA came from! What were the odds? 

  Cautiously, he flew closer to the planet, until he was within a couple of miles of its atmosphere. It was beautiful… But he was careful not to go too close to it. Suddenly, he felt something behind him… Dexter turned around just in time to see a meteor in his face. Before he knew it, he was flying toward the planet uncontrollably! Had the meteor hit him towards it? He couldn’t stop- he was going to crash! He turned around to see the surface of the planet flying toward him, right before he fainted from shock. 

  Steve had been in prison for many days now- it was miserable in here. The police hadn’t listened when he tried to plead his innocence, which made sense- he had been guilty of all the crimes. Not that it mattered- if it hadn’t been for Dexter betraying him, he would still be free. He was certain it had been Dexter who’d sent the anonymous tip to get him in jail. A mistake on Steve’s part- of course Dexter could mentally send the location of SciCorp’s once-secret lab to the FBI. He had the most powerful magic in the universe, after all! Steve grinned to himself as another guard passed his cell. Little did these foolish humans know that no cell could hold him. After all, Steve was no ordinary human… 

  Steve had stayed in here by choice- only to keep his cover as a human intact. But he could sense it was time to escape- the boy had discovered the planet his alien DNA was from, Steve could sense it. If there was a time to act, it was now. He’d had a plan of escape for days. He waited until the coast was clear, then used his abilities to turn invisible. As he predicted, a guard looked into his cell and assumed he had escaped, opening the cell door and sounding the alarms. Humans are so predictable, thought Steve. While the guards checked his cell, he simply walked out, then teleported out of the prison, back into his secret lab. Dexter would soon learn that no one says “no” to Steve Uranium Stewardson, the soon-to-be ruler of the universe! 

  What a beautiful day, Elvira thought as she kicked the e-ball. It wasn’t often the sun shone like this here on Utaria. Then again, it was often- it just wasn’t often she was outside. Her friend, Elana, kicked the e-ball back toward her, but Elvira blocked it from reaching her goal. They had been best friends since they had been kids, twin sisters, in fact, and now that they were young adults, they could finally play e-ball like all the grown-ups did. They even lived together in one of the young adult houses the council had issued for all young adults to live in until marriage. 

  Elvira kicked the e-ball into Elana’s goal. “I did it!”, she exclaimed. She had won the game! “Take the L, Elana!” But Elana wasn’t paying attention- she was looking at something in the sky. Curious, Elvira paused in the middle of her Fortnite-style victory dance, and looked, too- and saw a streak of yellow go through the atmosphere. A shooting star? No- Elvira could sense it was something more. She watched as whatever it was struck an empty field of grass nearby. Elana was already running toward it, and Elvira followed suit. Elvira watched as Elana’s wings fluttered, and Elana took flight. Typical of her. Elvira had dragon-like wings too- they all did- but Elvira preferred to run.

  They reached whatever it was within a few minutes- as always, Elana had gotten there first, because she had flown. Elvira could see that it was a lifeform of some sort- but not of this world. Elana had already scanned it with her species scanner. “It’s a human”, she reported. “Young, male, a child. How did he get here?” A human? Elvira had never seen a human for herself before. Studied them, sure, but never truly seen one- at least, not in a very long time. This close, Elvira could see that it was indeed a human child. Pale skin, red hair, and something covering his closed eyes… Glasses, Elvira recalled from her studies. Apparently, humans used them to fix poor vision. On instinct, she knelt down and held his gloved hand. Ever since she was a little girl, she’d had a unique ability- to tell everything about another lifeform with a single touch. The first thing she felt was something unexpected- he had magic, extremely powerful magic. Somehow it seemed familiar to her… 

  Elana was saying, “But if he’s human, how did he get here? He doesn’t even have a spacesuit on. He’s alive, but how is he even here?” Elvira then felt something unexpected- what this boy really was. She reported, “That’s because he’s only part human. Somehow, he’s also part… part…” She couldn’t even say it, she was too surprised. “Part what?” Elana urged. Elvira looked at Elana and said, “Part Utarian. In a small fraction, he’s one of us.” 

  “What? That’s impossible!” Elana exclaimed. 

  “I know, but it’s true. I can feel it- and I can also feel he has very powerful magic. I’ve never felt anything like it…” Except Elvira could sense that somehow she’d felt this exactly before… After a few minutes, Elana said, “Well, what should we do? How about we take him to our place- see that he’s comfortable when he wakes up?” Elvira nodded, and gently picked him up. She could still feel it- his magic, humming just beneath his skin. As she laid him in a bed in the spare bedroom of their house, she could tell… This boy, whoever he was, was special.

Chapter Text

The first thing Dexter felt when he began to come to was that he had a headache. He felt that he was lying on a soft surface… A bed, perhaps? Where was he? The last thing he remembered was falling toward a planet uncontrollably… Was he on that planet now? Was he really on the planet from which his alien DNA was from? His eyes were closed, but he didn’t yet have the strength to open them… As his awareness cleared, he began to hear whispers from unfamiliar figures… 

“When do you think he’ll wake up?”

“How should I know?”

“How should you not know? You can feel his energy or whatever, can’t you?”

“Sure, but that doesn’t mean I know when he’s aware.”

“What did you mean when you said he had very powerful magic, Elvia?”

“I meant exactly that, Elana. I can feel it… it’s like nothing I’ve ever felt…”

“Yeah, but when do you think he’ll wake up?”

“You already asked that.”

“Did I?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh. Do you think he’ll be able to understand us when he wakes up?”

“Likely so- he’s part Utarian, after all. Partly one of our kind. I don’t understand why, or how, but he is. He’ll probably be able to understand us. In fact, he does- he’s listening to our conversation right now.”

“Hey, I thought you said you couldn’t tell when he was aware!”

“I was being sarcastic, obviously. Of course he’s awake- or near awake.” 

  Dexter managed to open his eyes, and the first thing he saw was a strange figure- two strange figures. They were humanoid, obviously female, with kind smiles and long, straight brown hair, but they also had deep blue scales all over them. They also had wings poking out of their shirts on their backs- dragon-like wings. They were wearing normal outfits, but they obviously weren’t human. One of them, the one on the right, said, “Finally! We’ve been waiting for you to wake up for ages!” The other one elbowed the first one and said, “Oh, stop it. It’s only been a few minutes.” Turning to Dexter, she said kindly, “What’s your name?” Dexter hesitated, then told them. 

  The first one said, “Nice to meet you, Dexter. What brings you to our planet?” Before Dexter could think of a response, the second one said, “Isn’t it obvious? He’s partly one of us, and he knows it.” Dexter was stunned- how did she know?! Wait- the conversation from a few seconds ago… She said she could feel his energy somehow… What else did they know about him?

  The second one said, “My name is Elvira, and this is Elana. It is very nice to meet you. Are you aware that you’re partly one of us?” Dexter hesitated, then nodded- speaking felt like too much to ask right then. Elvira turned to Elana and said, “See, I told you!” Elana replied, “Okay, fine. You were right. And stop being all proper like that- I thought you said he could understand us perfectly fine!” Elvira replied, “I haven’t the slightest idea what you are babbling on about-” She then burst out laughing, apparently unable to keep a straight face any longer. “Okay, that was way too funny!” They both laughed, then turned to Dexter. “Sorry about that”, Elvira said. “We can be silly sometimes, even though we’re adults now.”

  Elvira continued, “But seriously, Dexter, we do know that you’re not entirely human. Sorry if that came out rude- I’ve never really communicated with humans before. The fact is, I know you have questions, and I might have some answers for you. We don’t really have magic, but we might be able to help you control it more, and tell you more about our people. I have a hunch about why you have magic, and why it is the way it is… Do you want to hear it?” Dexter nodded, too tired to speak.

  Elvira continued, “You see, Dexter, I have this unique ability- with a single touch, I can find out everything about a living being. I can sense that not only is your DNA composed of human and Utarian DNA, but the Utarian DNA is not from our present people. It is from our ancestors of long ago, over thousands of years ago. They had magic, extremely powerful magic, akin to the kind that is in you. Over time, they developed technologies beyond wonder, leaving their magic useless, and it fell into disuse. Eventually, it faded away completely. Within you resides the very last trace of their magic, and it seems to have gotten more powerful than it ever was before.” Dexter was shocked. He wasn’t expecting that… 

  Elvira then looked into Dexter’s eyes, and she said, “But I fear I must warn you. You currently have the most powerful magic in the known universe, but that may not be for long. You see, there is someone out there, someone powerful, who will stop at nothing to become ruler of the known universe, including your Earth. He currently resides on Earth, disguised as a human being, but he is no mere mortal. In his true form, he is a monster, a demon, with sharp features, red scales, no wings, basically the opposite of the Utarian race. He has powers beyond our understanding, and very dark magic. He is ageless, and yet he has many names. In our culture he is known as Malador, and in his human form he is known as Steve Uranium Stewardson.” Dexter felt himself turn pale- Steve was really a powerful demon?! Elvira said, “I can see that you know Steve from your past- he is the one who is responsible for you being who you are. He intends to use your magic as a weapon, Dexter, to take over the world. But I can see that he failed, and he doesn’t intend to fail again. Recently he escaped from the prison you helped put him in. He is now looking for you, and I fear there will be a battle in the near future between you and him.” Dexter’s heart rate increased- he thought he had gotten rid of Steve for good! 

  Elvira said, “But there is still hope. If you can learn to use your powers properly, you will be able to stop him. Please, Dexter, help us defeat Steve, and help us save the world. We can help you master your magic. What do you say?” 

  Dexter only had to think about it for a minute. Of course he would help- he couldn’t let the universe be taken over by Steve! He agreed, and Elvira smiled. “Thank you, Dexter. In the meantime, would you like anything? Water?” Dexter agreed to have some water, and Elana said, “Okay, we’ll be right back.” They left, and Dexter heard Elana say to Elvira, “You’re getting scary, you know that?” He didn’t catch Elvira’s response.

  Elvira and Elana led Dexter outside to show him around. The house he had been in turned out to be on a tall, windswept, grassy hill, with the greenest, most even grass he had ever seen. The hill was overlooking a wide plain with identical grass. The sky was the most beautiful shade of blue he had ever seen, with fluffy white clouds. The landscape reminded him of Earth, but of higher quality. There were no other houses or structures immediately nearby. The house itself was made of a light blue-gray metal that looked secure, and it was the size of a small house back on Earth. The door was made of heavy blue-gray iron, but Elvira had pushed it open and closed like it was nothing. The windows of the house were crystal clear- you couldn’t even tell they were there save for the blue curtains covering them on the inside. They didn’t even have reflections! 

  Off to the right of the hill, some distance away, there was a sprawling metropolis of a city. From here he could see skyscrapers and many other buildings. The coloring was a mix of purple, blue, and gray. Elvira pointed to the city and said, “Over there is Utaria’s capital city, Alt. Most Utarians nearby live there, and for good reason- not only is it one of the safest cities on the planet, Alt has everything anyone could ever want, from movie theaters to malls to zoos to whatever else you could think of. Me and Elana only live out here instead because we prefer the peaceful, open plains. We do visit occasionally, though. We should really show you around there, Dexter, it’ll be fun!” Elana chimed in, “Their mall is AMAZING! It has the best stuff for sale, and for so cheap too… Wait, what’s that???” Elana pointed upward at the sky. Dexter followed her gaze and saw what looked like a bright red shooting star, except that somehow, Dexter could sense it was something far, far worse. He discovered he could use his magic to zoom in on the mysterious object, and as he did, he realized it was not something, but someone.

Chapter Text

Dexter watched in horror as the object crashed in front of them, sending up a plume of dirt. The dust slowly cleared to reveal… Steve, with an evil grin on his face. The very last person Dexter wanted to see… or expected to see. How had he gotten here?! How was he here?! Steve said, “So, Dexter, you really thought you could hide from me? Traveling through interplanetary space is extremely simple for me… Even to the planet where your alien DNA is from. Escaping prison was even simpler- why, all I did was turn invisible and those idiotic guards lost their minds trying to find me- even when I was right in front of them. Of course it was all simple, especially since I have powers beyond all imagination. I can sense it- you’ve found out my true identity. Congratulations. I am indeed an ageless entity, or “demon”, as you say.

  “I tried to be kind to you, Dexter- after all, I made you what you are. A genius, 2 percent Utarian, with the most powerful magic known to the universe… We could have been an amazing team, taking over the world, getting rid of all who would oppose us… Had you joined me, we would have ruled the universe, and you’d never be excluded again…” Dexter was very glad he had rejected Steve’s invitation. Steve continued, “But of course, there was a flaw in my creation of you. You see, humanity comes with a certain quality- a conscience”- he spat out the word like it was something disgusting- “an urge to resist evil. It's a fatal weakness of humankind- it only gets in the way of power. I’m glad I don’t have one. But it doesn't matter. Whilst imprisoned, I realized something- I don’t need your consent to work with me. All I need is your magic.” 

  With that, he sent a blast of what appeared to be purple-red energy- dark magic, Dexter realized- right at Dexter! There was no time to run as the beam hit him full-on. He suddenly felt very weak, and watched in horror as his bright yellow magic, against his will, was sucked away, toward Steve. He felt himself fall backwards onto the ground, too weak to stand. Dexter watched in shock as his magic got absorbed into Steve, and Steve began to grow in size, his skin changed color and texture, and his hair changed from blonde to jet black, until he had become a giant, red-scaled humanoid figure with jet-black hair, almost resembling Ganondorf from Tears of the Kingdom. His clothes transformed into robes, black as night and glowing with rubies. Dexter only had time to process this before everything went dark, and he went unconscious. 

  Elana and Elvira watched in horror as Steve took Dexter’s magic and transformed into his true form- Malador. Elvira saw Dexter faint, and immediately rushed to his side- and so did Elana. Elvira touched his hand lightly, and realized that he was alive, thankfully, but she could also feel that most of his magic was gone. Elana gently shook him, trying to get him to wake up, but it didn’t work. Elvira and Elana then turned to Steve, now Malador, now in his true form and 30 feet tall, who threw his head back and laughed evilly. “Ahh, what a feeling… I did so miss being in my true form. And thanks to Dexter’s involuntary donation, I’m more powerful than I ever was before!” He raised a hand to the sky and sent a beam of dark magic to the heavens, causing a thick layer of storm clouds to form, covering the sky and blotting out the sun. 

  The sisters knew they couldn’t just do nothing- they had to stop Malador in his evil plot. Luckily, even though they didn’t have magic like Dexter, they had flight and immense physical strength on their side. They didn’t have to communicate verbally- as twin sisters, they could practically read each other’s minds. They only had to look into each other’s eyes to communicate. Elana immediately understood Elvira’s plan, and they quickly stood up to stop him. “Hey, rotten tomato head!”, Elana shouted up at Malador, chucking a large piece of land up to his face. However, it only bonked the side of his head, but it did catch his attention. 

  The giant demon looked down at the young women, and laughed evilly. “Oh, you think you can stop me? Good luck! Thousands of worlds bow to my name- what’s one more? This world will only be a meager addition to my collection of conquered worlds. Now that my magic has been strengthened, I can do ANYTHING! Go ahead, try to stop me- you will fail!” Elvira scooped some clay from the ground and, using her natural strength, crushed it into a sharp, lightweight sword and equally tough, light shield, both as hard as steel. Beside her, Elana did the same thing, and they flew up to face Malador.

  True, they were extremely small compared to Malador, but they did all they could, swinging their swords at him, dodging his blows like nimble wasps attacking a wild, clumsy bear. Elvira quickly found a weak spot- his ankle. She slashed it, and Malador fell backward in pain. However, the cut quickly healed itself, but Elvira was determined to protect the universe- and Dexter. Malador unsheathed a giant sword black as night, and fought back at them, but the twins were resilient. They slashed left and right at him, but slowly, Malador gained the upper hand.

  The twins suddenly found themselves trapped in glowing purple- red spheres of dark magic, trapped by Malador, who laughed evilly. “I tried to warn you, ladies! You stand no chance against me- nor does anyone else. Now you can watch as I take over your planet!”

  Dexter had a headache, but he ignored it. The last thing he remembered was Steve taking his magic and transforming into his true form, Malador, then… nothing. Dexter forced himself to open his eyes- even without his magic, he had to stop Steve! The first thing he saw was Steve, now Malador, laughing evilly. He saw Elvira and Elana encased in magical spheres of dark magic, and thunder rumbled overhead in the layer of dark clouds. Dexter tried to get up, but couldn’t do it- without his magic, he felt extremely weak… Malador spotted Dexter, and grinned evilly. “So, you’re finally awake, Dexter… Took you long enough. As you can see, I’ve imprisoned your little alien friends. They tried to stop me, but they were too weak. And now, nobody can stand in my way- not even you, Dexter, now that your magic is mine. First, I’ll take over this world, then move on to yours. Soon, a new age will begin across the universe- the age of Malador’s reign! All the universe will bow down to me, then the multiverse! With your magic, I have the power to travel across universes- my reign will be endless!” He threw his head back and did an evil laugh. 

  Meanwhile, Dexter’s mind was racing. All the universe was about to be taken over… including Earth. His family… What would happen to them? Dexter didn’t want anyone to get hurt, nor did he want Malador’s plan to succeed. He desperately tried to activate his magic, but nothing happened… Except something did. As he watched Malador laugh evilly (it really was one of the world’s longest laughs), his heart began to beat rapidly. He felt strange… What was happening to him? He noticed his breathing go faster too. Suddenly, he was surrounded by a half-sphere of bright yellow light, and he felt himself elongating, transforming… Suddenly, he found himself streaking through the air, but not as himself. A mighty roar shook the planet- it was him. Somehow, incredibly… He had become a dragon. 

Elvira watched from her purple sphere as Malador approached Dexter. She wanted to defend him, but she couldn’t do anything while imprisoned here. Suddenly, a bright half-sphere of yellow light engulfed Dexter… What was happening to him?! Suddenly, a giant dragon streaked out of the light, with white scales, a red mane, and blue eyes, almost like the ones from Tears of the Kingdom. Elvira couldn’t believe it. Was that… was that Dexter?! It was! But how?! For now, it didn’t matter- they had hope again!

                                                             And now back to your regularly scheduled programming

  Dexter felt powerful… Extremely powerful. He questioned how he had become a dragon, but that didn’t really matter right now- the most important thing right now was stopping Malador in his evil quest. Dexter could feel it- his magic had grown stronger than ever. Just by looking at Malador, he got the rest of his magic back. He barely had to concentrate to get Elvira and Elana safely to the ground, and to free them. He turned to Malador, who looked very surprised. However, Malador quickly regained his composure and said, “So, you’re a dragon now, Dexter? Well, no matter. I shall destroy you as easily as I would have before!” Malador blasted dark magic at Dexter, but with a flick of his new tail, Dexter easily blocked it. Malador blasted more dark magic, but Dexter easily dodged it. Flying felt more natural than ever like this, and Dexter planned to use his dragon form to stop Malador once and for all. They continued to fight, Dexter in the air, Malador on the ground, but at equal eye level. Their battle shook the earth.

  Finally, Dexter used his magic to form golden chains out of midair, binding Malador so he couldn’t move. Malador laughed and said, “You really think you have the upper hand, Dexter? I could easily escape from this…” Dexter couldn’t speak as a dragon, but he had a plan in mind for Malador. He looked into Malador’s eyes, and by concentrating, could get ahold of Malador’s magic, all that made him a demon. “Wait, what are you doing?”, said Malador with a touch of uncertainty. Dexter concentrated, and did something impossible… He took away Malador’s magic. Not just took it away- he destroyed it for good. Malador quickly shrank and was suddenly Steve again. 

  Steve immediately tried to blast Dexter with dark magic, but he didn’t have any left. “What… What did you do to me?!” Steve shouted in anger. Dexter had turned Steve back into a human, this time for real. Now Steve was another human, inside and out. Steve realized this with horror, and said, “How dare you! I could have ruled the universe! How dare you turn me into a mortal! Give me back my magic right now, or the consequences will be dire!” Dexter didn’t comply, but instead, with a final burst of magic, sent Steve back to Earth. Now he couldn’t do any harm. 

  Dexter suddenly felt dizzy, and he had that strange feeling again. He felt himself shrinking, then everything went dark.

  Meanwhile, Elvira and Elana watched from the ground as Dexter the dragon (!!!) and Malador battled. Elvira’s mind was racing- how had Dexter suddenly turned into a dragon?! He hadn’t had enough magic to do that! Then she remembered something from her studies- supposedly, according to legend, her ancient ancestors had had a strange ability- to turn into dragons at will. Dexter’s Utarian DNA was that of her ancient ancestors, so that must be it! She was not expecting this to happen… 

  They watched as Dexter took away Malador’s magic, turning Malador into Steve again. The sky became blue again, Steve yelled something they couldn’t hear, then Dexter teleported Steve somewhere. But where? Just then, Dexter started to glow in his dragon form, and then he flashed bright yellow light, blinding Elvira and Elana momentarily, then suddenly, Dexter was in his human form again- unconscious, and falling fast! Luckily, Elvira flew up and caught him. 

  Elvira and Elana then took Dexter back to their house. Elvira couldn’t believe Dexter had defeated Malador so easily! But then again, she knew if anyone could do it, it would be him. As she carried him, she could feel it- Dexter’s magic was back in full force. Not just full force- even stronger than before. She could see him faintly glowing with his yellow magic… Somehow, being in his dragon form had strengthened his magic by a hundredfold! She laid him in the same spare bedroom she had before, in the same bed… As she waited for him to wake up, it was clear that Dexter had a lot in store ahead of him.

Chapter Text

The first thing Dexter noticed when consciousness began to return was that he didn’t have a headache this time. Also, he felt much smaller than he had last… Was it possible that he was in his human form again? He could feel it- he really was in his human form again! That was good- he’d enjoyed being a dragon, but he didn’t want to be one forever. He could still recall that feeling of power, of freedom… It was exhilarating, but exhausting. 

  Dexter slowly opened his eyes, and found that he was in the same bedroom as before. Elana and Elvira were still there, apparently having been at his side while he was unconscious. Had it all been a dream? No, he could sense he had really turned into a dragon. Elana said, “Finally, you’re awake, Dexter! How on Utaria did you manage to defeat Malador? And turning into a dragon?! That was amazing!” Elvira calmed Elana down and said, “Yeah, that was pretty cool. Did you turn into a dragon on purpose?” Dexter said no, and Elvira said, “Yeah, I suspected that.” She then told Dexter what she had remembered, about her ancestors supposedly being able to turn into dragons. Honestly, it didn’t surprise Dexter. What did surprise him, however, was when he looked down at himself and found that he was glowing slightly with his magic! Indeed, his form was surrounded with the faint glow of his magic. 

  Elvira explained, “Oh yeah, about that… It seems that when you turned into a dragon, your magic increased in power by a hundredfold. You are now capable of doing pretty much anything you could think of!” Dexter was shocked. How was it possible? He could feel it- his magic was indeed more powerful than ever before. This was so cool- and crazy. 

  Later, they went outside to enjoy the sunset- and to get Dexter safely back to Earth. Dexter had decided that he should get back to Earth, because he didn’t want to be away too long. He waved goodbye to Elvira and Elana, and knew that he would be back someday. Then he teleported back to Earth. One moment he could see Elana and Elvira waving goodbye to him, the next, he was back in his lab. He deactivated the clone that had been standing in his place the whole time, and updated his Computer on the adventure he’d had. But he knew, deep down, that this was only the beginning of his adventures on Utaria. It was clear that there was so much more to discover, and Dexter still had questions. How had he escaped SciCorp all those years before? What had happened? What else could he do now that his magic was stronger than ever? What other mysteries did his past hold? Dexter was determined to find out.

 The end… Or is it? There’s a sequel in the works! Stay tuned for more adventures with Dexter, boy genius! Also, please be sure to subscribe!