The Sparkz of Power

Lukyan "Luke" Silva was tossing and turning in the morning, coughing and making noise from a dream.

In his dream, he was running in a forest from some unknown creatures with red eyes approaching within a storm. He tripped on a tree branch as one of the bat-eared creatures lunged at him from the treetops and lightning pierced the sky around them. Luke saw rainbow-colored flames come from his body before he was awakened by someone coming into his room. It was his overprotective older brother, Leo.

"You feeling okay, Luke?" Leo asked, "I heard you coughing, making noises like in cycles and you were talking in your sleep again. It's been like this since we came back from Wisconsin."

Luke was having a very vivid dream. He's had a lot of them since coming back from one of their many vacations up north, during the early days of the war between Earth and the Modgekkon Empire.

The brothers and mother went to the cheese state, which was untouched during this time when Earth was negotiating with the Modgekkon Empire envoy that came weeks prior. They went to get away from the stresses of the looming threat of the Empire.

This time, Leo thought to take his brother and friends, Katy and Peyton Hayden, through the forest, and had stumbled into a cave that was thought to be haunted by the ghosts from an asylum that was torn down years ago. Lukyan was uneasy about going into this area out of fear of getting the attention of whatever spirits that lingered in the cave's walls. He bolted when he heard what sounded like chanting, "Turn back! Turn back!" He was so panicked that he got himself lost in the forest that surrounded the cave. Luke then fell down a hole in the ground, breaking his legs when he touched the ground.

Luke came to and noticed a metal pod within the hole he was in.

"A Modgekkon ship?" Luke pondered, "How did it get here?"

He then heard growling coming from a creature that was near the ship. A tall, purple, imp-like creature with a long tail, huge bat-like ears, draconian face with blue hair, small wings, and a mouth with huge sharp teeth on the front of the stomach. Luke backed away in fear as the entity crawled over the ship and slinked towards the human kid.

"Don't hurt me! I didn't mean to come across this place!" Luke cried out.

The being then looks at him with rainbow colored eyes wide as blue energy flowed around Lukyan. The kid looked at the blue energy surrounding him before the creature launched himself at the kid as quick as lightning.

It felt like a dream when that happened until he woke up and was scolded by his parents after they finished scolding Leo and his two friends for endangering Luke during stormy weather. Luke didn't have a scratch on him or even signs of being struck by lightning except for the St. Elmo's Fire that surrounded him in that underground cave. Not long after that was when the war between Earth and the Modgekkon Empire began when negotiations fell through.

This started the recurring dream of running from the Modgekkons that looked like the one he encountered in the cave that involved rainbow-colored fire vaporizing them with evidence that suggested that it happened during the night. This perplexed some locals with how the aliens were attacking and killing each other instead of the humans in the area. These drake soldiers were also a part of a guerrilla effort to attack and conquer less-protected areas of the planet. It made Lukyan question what was a dream to him and what wasn't.

This all changed when the draft came. The Silvas lost family, including their father and some uncles, in this war against the bat-eared drakes. Even Katy and Peyton's grandfather, Atticus, was drafted, with his fate uncertain as the Modgekkon overtook places like Ireland and Gibraltar.

The toll was felt heavily by the Silvas and Haydens, as a mass funeral was held for the Silvas. However, as they were driving back from the service, fire blasts stopped the cars in their tracks, making everyone flee from their cars. Lukyan ran from the attacking Modgekkons and also from Leo, Katy, Peyton, and his mother, much to their bewilderment. He heard his mom call him by his name, Lukyan, in confusion and fear, as he the Modgekkons flew after him. Their focus was on him, but why? He had seen them in his dreams trying to fight him, but he had no idea why they were after him.

Luke was shot in the back by a red fireball. Before long, he was surrounded by the creatures that looked like the one from Wisconsin, but with smaller ears and no chest mouth, and wearing plated armor with a crest emblazoned that resembled a V sandwiched between two more V's.

"We have finally cornered the traitor prince, Commander Spireus," one of the Modgekkons said out loud, "It's worse than you imagined. He's ignited a pact with this human."

Luke was surprised he could understand the creatures clearly, but felt a sense of dread at the name of Commander Spireus.

"Kill the boy. Prince Vega will come out of the meat puppet then."

Those were the orders the commander told these Modgekkon drake soldiers.

"You heard Spireus," said the soldier, "One less human to deal with on this backwater world, and we get to take Sparkzel Vega back with us."

They started running at the boy, who heard a voice in his head tell him, "No..."

Luke shot rainbow fire out of his mouth, vaporizing the head of one of the drake soldiers. He was surprised to show this new power with a wall of rainbow fire coming from his mouth.

"Rainbow fire," Luke said, "Just like..."

Luke then turned into energy before the big eared Modgekkon took his place.

"You’ve got a lot of nerve to be picking on kids," Sparkzel said.

Sparkzel then engaged in a fight with the drake soldiers, and then opened the mouth on his chest to reveal tentacles that grab, lift up, and throwing the soldiers around. This sight confuses the Silvas and Haydens. They bore witness to Modgekkons fighting each other. Another set of tentacles that have suction cup-like mouths on them grabbed globs of acid to throw at the soldiers. These leave behind some holes in some of them, until three are left standing.

"The child is nothing but a meaningless soul you chose to hide yourself in, Traitor," one of the soldiers said, "Get out of that carcass now!"

"Carcass? Meaningless soul? What's he talking about? Who are you?" Sparkzel heard from Lukyan from within his head.

Sparkzel then shoots white finger beams through the head of one of the soldiers and flies up until one of them grabs him by the tail, making him detach the tail to free himself with some slight disorientation while flying. The acid in the chest mouth spews out onto the soldier below, dissolving him.

As Sparkzel absorbs some light into the wings, the remaining soldier bellows out, "The Emperor will have your head when he hears of this, you natural-born abomination!"

Sparkzel then unleashes a beam of rainbow fire from the wings and mouths, vaporizing the soldier and his fallen brethren, along with some of the surrounding area. The people nearby were stunned by the power of the lone Modgekkon.

Sparkzel flies down and notes, "This Empire is an insult to itself, going up to a planet pretending to be peaceful before stabbing the humans in the back when the time is right for them after..."

Sparkzel then notices Leo, Katy, Peyton, and some others, looking for Lukyan but are afraid of the lone Modgekkon. He fled when noticing police and military coming. He then turned into Luke's body.

Luke then heard Sparkzel speak as he caught up to his family and friends, "Lukyan Silva, I'm terribly sorry for bringing you into this, but your potential was unlocked when you were almost killed by the thunderstorm that fateful night. Only with igniting my body could I save your life."

Everyone got treated by the paramedics that came with Leo going up to Lukyan, asking, "What were you thinking, Luke? Mom and everyone got worried when you ran in there when the Modgekkons were attacking! You could've been caught up in that..."

Luke interrupts, "I wasn't!"

Leo blinks before Luke states, "Actually, it might be better if I tell you at home, Leo."

When the family got back, the mom went out to shop for food, leaving Leo, Luke, and the Hayden siblings in the living room.

Leo then asks, "Okay, Luke. What the hell is going on? These dreams are starting to sound like the attacks that have been going on around the forest at night."

Luke then becomes Sparkzel in a flash, surprising and scaring the others. Leo then tackled and lifted the Modgekkon by the throat, demanding, "Alright, bat head, who are you and what have you done with my brother?"

Peyton yells, "Whoa, Leo, you gotta chill out, man!"

Katy follow-ups, "Easy for you to say, Peyton! Our grandpa is still missing, probably still fighting the creatures that took our parents!"

Sparkzel then wheezes out, "Leo, your brother is safe."

Leo then drops Sparkzel in shock as Sparkzel coughs out, "He almost died to lightning striking him in that hole you found him by."

Leo gets horrified along with Katy and Peyton.

Leo states, "It's very hard to believe Luke got hit by lightning, but it doesn't explain what..."

Luke spoke from Sparkzel's mouth, "It's true. I saw him in the cave during that storm, Leo."

Peyton explains, "That hole had a Modgekkon ship in there that everyone thought was empty."

Sparkzel clarifies, "That ship was what I used to get away from the Modgekkon envoy ship that came before the first wave of ships arrived."

Leo threatens, "Then leave my brother and the rest of us out of whatever you're trying to do with pissing off the Empire..."

Sparkzel interrupts, "The Empire will conquer your planet regardless of what I did. My presence allowed them to subjugate many, many planets and races the Empire absorbed, including what was left of the Hagamen race, which were as brutal as us."

Katy asks, "What are you?"

Sparkzel notes, "I am Crown Prince Sparkzel Vega of the Modgekkon Empire, a Natural-born Ignite weapon of theirs, or at least I was until I escaped them. The Modgekkon have quite a mastery over our physical bodies down to our genetic makeup, allowing for surviving harsh environments, infusing ourselves in other races like perfect mimics, and the creation of biological weapon beasts. I have the power to unleash flames that can become powerful enough to leave places in ruin, which was what the Emperor, my Father, was using as a means to an end in these conquests. I left because I was tired of being used as a weapon to lead them to victory with how that meant killing countless beings. I also used my Ignition power to save Luke."

Leo retorts, "No, you haven’t, not yet. All you’ve done is put him in even greater danger now because those things aren’t going to stop, are they?"

Sparkzel notes, "Even if I did leave Luke's body, your planet will fall to pieces and you'll all be casualties as the Empire diminishes your numbers and forces your people to submit. That is your fate, but it's not our fate. We will form a resistance against them. It won't be easy from here, but together, we will be the ones to save your world and others from the Modgekkon Empire."

Meanwhile, in the flagship of the first wave fleet of the Empire, a hapless reporter kneels before two towering Modgekkon officials with one sitting in a chair and the other standing beside him.

The one beside the throne bellows, "You may speak before Commander Spireus, little whelp."

The reporter explains, "We have taken footholds in so much of this world's lands, but the warriors sent to retrieve the Crown Prince have all failed to return and now he's made himself known to the humans."

Commander Spireus yells, "Impossible! He’s but a child compared to the others. How could he have any chance of escaping capture?!"

The reporter stammers, "I do not..."

The one beside the throne brings up a hand to make the reporter go silent and shoots red flames to burn him to a crisp.

Commander Spireus notes, "Such bloodlust will be needed elsewhere on this planet, Seba Zega."

Another Modgekkon by the ship’s controls interrupts, "Commander, we’re receiving transmission from Gekkoden: Level 5 encryption."

Commander Spireus is horrified but angrily notes, "Patch it through, and then leave us, all of you!"

The reporters leave as the screen sends through the transmission. Commander Spireus kneels before the silhouette of Overlord Igzel Vega.

Overlord Igzel Vega notes, "This is unacceptable, Spireus. Your ship was due to return to the homeworld after you’ve gotten my son back while your forces fought the worms below. It’s been three mega-cycles now. What is the explanation for your delay?"

Commander Spireus notes, "Your son has made short work of my warriors and made himself known to some humans..."

Overlord Vega threatens, "We are talking about my son, the first natural birth for an Ignite that is superior to the Ignites we’ve got, and you let him slip. Do you really expect me to believe a lone Ignite and some primitive lifeforms have prevented you from completing your mission? If you are unable to retrieve the Crown Prince and complete your mission by the time I call you again, the next fleet will finish the mission you couldn’t and all that will be left will be your charred, pathetic corpses."

Overlord Vega then hangs up as Spireus’ terror turns to rage while Seba Zega watches from afar and snickers at his master's frustration in secret.