(Error In the First chapter, Name is Radicles they just call Him rad)
Two X-tians.
That's what they were called—X-tians. Blue skinned, round headed, with stubby antennae poking out from their skulls. One was massive—broad shoulders, thick arms, wearing what looked like a tank top that barely contained her bulk. The other was leaner, wearing some kind of vest covered in pockets and gadgets, with glasses perched on his wide nose.
They were both staring at me.
"Look at him!" the bigger one said, her voice booming with pride. "He's got my eyes!"
"Darling, he's three months old," the leaner one replied, adjusting his glasses. "He doesn't have anyone's eyes yet. His optical development won't stabilize for another two months."
"Don't ruin the moment dear."
I blinked. My vision was still blurry, but I could make out their features clearly enough . Theodosia, the vascular woman, had a grin that split her face in half, all enthusiasm and zero subtlety. The man looked like a tsundere pretending he'd rather be anywhere else, though there was a softness in his expression when he looked at me.
Parents.
These were my parents.
A wave of urgency surged through me, followed immediately by exhaustion. My tiny body couldn't handle the adrenaline. I let out a gurgle that was supposed to be a scream but came out more like a hiccup.
"Aw, he's trying to talk!" Theodosia scooped me up with hands the size of catcher's mitts, holding me at eye level. "You hear that, Olfang? Our little Rad's gonna be a chatterbox!"
Rad?
I had to know what world I was in now.
I wanted to protest. I wanted to explain that I was a champion, that I'd earned my place in the ring, that I'd fought and bled and won. But all I could do was drool.
Theodosia carried me through what I could only describe as a compound—a sprawling network of buildings that looked like someone had taken a college campus and a military base, mashed them together, and painted everything in shades of blue, yellow, white and purple. X-tian architecture at its finest.
"Where are we headed?" Olfang called after her, already jogging to keep up.
"Family gathering! Gotta show off the little guy!"
"Theodosia, he just woke up from his nap—"
"Exactly! Peak adorableness window!"
I bounced in Theodosia's arms as she barreled through a pair of sliding doors that hissed open automatically. The room beyond was massive—some kind of communal hall, packed wall-to-wall with more X-tians.
But what was strange was the clear disparity, they weren't all the same.
On one side of the room, near the far wall, was a group that radiated jock energy. Big shoulders. Thick necks. Tank tops and headbands and the kind chad like energy that came from knowing you were the strongest. They were clustered around some kind of training equipment—Big rocks, machines I didn't recognize, and as I watched, one of them lifted a barbell with his mind.
No hands.
Just pure purple telekinetic energy, glowing from the tips of his fingers
What the—
The weight rose into the air, wobbling slightly as the alien concentrated. His face twisted with effort, muscles bulging, veins popping along his arms even though he wasn't physically touching anything. The other jocks cheered him on, slapping his back, hyping him up something I recognize and had to appreciate the sight of.
"There they are!" Theodosia said proudly, gesturing with one massive hand. "Best athletes on Planet X. Strong bodies, strong minds."
I stared. for a little while longer It was hard to tell when he was using purple energy instead of his hands but I noticed it.
His form was terrible.
The X-tian lifting the rock had his back arched wrong, attempting to use full body weight to lift it, his core wasn't engaged surpirsingly, and his telekinetic grip was clearly uneven despite not knowing anything- one side of the rock was higher than the other. If this were a real gym, any halfway decent coach would've stopped him before he hurt himself.
But the other jocks were eating it up, hollering and flexing like this was peak performance.
An older X-tian, absolutely massive with thick arms and a headband that read "COACH," bellowed from the side. "THAT'S IT, JAD! FEEL THE BURN! PSIONICS AND MUSCLES, BABY!"
Another jock younger than Jad, with a cocky smirk pumped his fist. "Yeah, Jad! Show 'em how it's done!" That must've been Janner, based on how he was hyping up his buddy.
They're doing it wrong, I thought, feeling a strange mix of disbelief. All that power, and they're wasting it on bad technique.
"And over here," Olfang said, steering Theodosia's attention to the other side of the room, "is the Nerd Clan."
The contrast was immediate.
The nerds were clustered around tables covered in gadgets, screens, and holographic projections that flickered in mid-air. They were smaller, scrawny with the same stubby antennae—but instead of lifting weights, they were building things. Ships. Engines. Devices I couldn't even begin to name.
And they were using the same purple telekinetic energy.
But differently.
One nerd had three tools floating in front of him at once, each one moving with surgical precision as he assembled some kind of circuit board. Another had a massive holographic schematic projected above her head, her antennae glowing as she manipulated buttons with her mind.
"They use psionics to enhance cognitive function," Olfang explained directly looking at me, his voice warming with pride. "Better focus, faster processing, improved memory retention. That's how we've built some of the most advanced technology in the galaxy."
Theodosia snorted. "Technology doesn't mean much if you can't defend it."
"And strength doesn't mean much if you don't know how to use it."
Here we go.
Even as a three month-old, I could feel the tension crackling between them. This wasn't just family banter it felt more cultural. The kind of divide that had probably been around for generations.
Jocks versus nerds.
Brawn versus brains.
And I was stuck in the middle.
Theodosia carried me over to the jock side first, because of course she did. The other jocks crowded around immediately, their massive frames blocking out the light as they cooed and gawked.
"Aw, man, he's tiny!"
"Look at those little stumps! His antennae haven't even sprouted yet!"
"Think he'll be a lifter?"
"With Theodosia's genes? Absolutely!"
The massive X-tian with the COACH headband who I was starting to realize might actually be Coach, like that was his actual name—pushed his way to the front. "Let me see the little guy!" He peered down at me with an intense expression. "Yep. Good bone structure. He'll be a champion someday. Just like his grandpa!"
Grandpa?
Oh. Oh.
Coach was Theodosia's father. My grandfather.
Great. No pressure or anything.
I felt Olfang's presence behind us, quieter. He didn't push his way into the crowd, but I could sense his discomfort. This wasn't his world. These weren't his people.
A younger X-tian—probably late teens, with a cocky grin and a tank top that said "PUMP SQUAD"—reached out and poked my cheek. "Soft little guy, huh? We'll toughen him up. Right, Uncle Coach?"
"You bet, Blaine!" Coach boomed. "We'll make a warrior out of him yet!"
Blaine. Right. Another family member on the jock side.
I wanted to bite his finger for stretching my skin.
Instead, I just drooled on him.
The jocks roared with laughter, slapping Theodosia on the back like I'd just done something legendary. Theodosia beamed, holding me up like a trophy.
"That's my boy!"
Olfang sighed.
Eventually, we migrated to the nerd side. The energy was different here—A lot let noisy and everyone seemed to be more focused. The nerds didn't crowd around me the way the jocks had. Instead, they observed, some adjusted what I assumed were glasses, made thoughtful humming sounds.
"Interesting cranial proportions," one of them muttered, leaning in close. "He's got strong genetic markers from the Nerd Clan lineage."
"The symmetry in his facial structure," another added. "Could indicate advanced spatial reasoning development."
"Or he could just be a cute baby," Olfang said flatly.
The nerds paused, then nodded in unison. "Also possible."
Some were more technical than most on the nerd side giving me kisses and interested smiles like the jocks had.
I looked around at both sides of the room—the jocks still training, grunting and flexing and lifting with their minds, Coach barking orders at Jad and Janner while Blaine egged them on; the nerds still building, and creating.
Two sides of the same coin.
And both of them, in their own way, were wrong.
The jocks had raw power but no technique. The nerds had the mind but no physicality. Neither side seemed to realize that you needed both—that strength without knowledge was just brute force, and knowledge without strength was just theory.
But I was three months old.
I couldn't exactly give them a lecture on proper deadlift form or the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration.
Not yet, anyway.
But I was here now so. Maybe someday...
I felt something stir inside me.
I'd been given a second chance. A whole new life. A whole new body. And yeah, I was born into the nerd side of the family—Olfang's side, with the gadgets and the science and the careful planning.
But I'd spent my entire past life in the ring. I knew what it meant to train. To push your body to its limits. To fight with everything you had.
I wanted that again.
Without the betrayal and lack of corruption.
But the strength.
The jocks had it. They just didn't know how to use it properly.
If I could get over there... If I could train with them...
But how?
And it's not like I knew it all, I couldn't without having tested the powers myself.
But still Theodosia was already a jock. That was obvious. But Olfang? Olfang was pure nerd, through and through. And I got the sense that moving between clans wasn't exactly encouraged. This was a way of life.
If I wanted to join the jocks, I'd have to prove myself.
But not now.
Not as a three month-old with stumpy antennae and noodle arms.
Later, I decided. When I'm older. When I can actually move on my own.
For now, I'd watch and learn whatever I could especially from the nerds since I had no clue what the hell they where doing.
I'd figure out how this world worked no matter what, it's just like in the ring.
You don't wait for opportunities. You make them.
Olfang carried me back toward our quarters as the gathering wound down. Theodosia was still chatting with the jocks, laughing and flexing, completely in her element. Coach was already planning Jad and Janner's next training regimen, while Blaine flexed in water puddle.
"Your mother means well," Olfang said softly, adjusting me in his arms. "But I hope you'll appreciate the value of intellect, Rad. Strength fades. Knowledge endures."
I looked up at him, my tiny eyes barely able to focus.
You're not wrong, I thought. But you're not completely right, either.
Somewhere in the distance, I heard the jocks cheering again. Another lift. Another display of raw, unrefined power.
I smiled.
Just you wait.