Stargazer

**Summary:** An origin story for Newton Star.

Night in the city. But not the city of the PJ Masks. Instead, this story begins in the suburbs of Paris; a small town sharing its name with the French Capital, located not too far from Tarabiscoville.

Here, in one of the homes, sitting at the window of his bedroom, was a young African-American boy named Theo Newton Halley.

Most kids his age would be asleep at this point (except of course a certain trio of heroes and their adversaries), but for Newton the night was his favorite time of the day. The time that the stars and all the other wonders of the universe could be observed from Earth without interference from the sun. And observing them was just what Newton was doing, using the telescope his grandparents gave him last Christmas.

A quick glance around the room made it pretty clear how great Newton's love for space was. Rather than posters of cartoon characters or superheroes like one would find in most kids rooms, the walls of Newtons' room where decorated with images of the planets, galaxies and constellations.

But it wasn't just the stars the young would-be astronomer was interested in tonight. Lying next to him was the latest edition of "Junior Stargazer", with on the cover a large photo of the very thing Newton was hoping to see most of all; a rare cluster of asteroids that would pass the Earth this night. Not close enough to pose a threat, but still close enough to see, even with a telescope like his.

He was so focused on the nighttime wonders he didn't hear the footsteps on stairs, or his door being opened as Joe Halley entered his son's room. The man wasn't surprised to see the boy, not in his bed where he should be, but at the window.

"Theo?"

That snapped Newton out of his concentration, but he didn't turn around immediately.

"Son…I know how much you like to see those asteroids, and that you have no school tomorrow, but it's really getting late now".

Now Newton finally tore himself away from the telescope, already having that big "please 5 more minutes" look in his eyes that warned Joe he was most likely going to lose this. So he didn't even try. "Alright, 15 minutes more, but then to bed, okay".

"Promised dad" Newton answered, before turning his attention back to the night sky. Rather than going back downstairs like Newton expected he would, Joe sat down next to Newton. The boy cast a quick glance at his dad, who just shrugged. "What, are dads not allowed to be interested in their kids' hobbies? Besides, there's nothing worth watching on tv right now."

Five minutes past, during which Joe himself began to doze off, but a sudden cry of excitement from Newton woke him up. "Dad, I see them!".

Peering through his telescope, Newton counted at least 25 asteroids of different shapes and sizes. And these where just the ones closest to Earth. "Look!"

Newton moved over for a moment so Joe could take a look through the telescope. Now, Joe didn't share his son's love for space (he got that from his mother), but he didn't want to upset Newton or ruin this moment of them together, so he took a brief look anyway. "Well wouldn't you know. This was actually worth staying up son". He handed the telescope back to Newton and patted him on the shoulder. "Well done. So, are you going to name one after yourself now that you discovered them?" he chuckled. "Like, Asteroid Theo. Or I guess you'd prefer Asteroid Newton" he hastily added. Joe knew too well that his son preferred his middle name over his first. In fact, Joe was one of the few people who called Newton by his first name.

"Dad, I didn't discover them. It was announced weeks ago that they would come" Newton sighed. He knew his dad was joking of course, but at this moment his sense of humor had taken a backseat to his internal scientist. "Besides, if I wanted to name some I would think of more original names".

Joe nodded. "Alright, you're the scientist here". Newton didn't continue the discussion; all his attention was currently geared towards the asteroids.

"So many….and even more we can't see from here" Newton spoke, more to himself than to Joe. "And who knows where they came from. Maybe all the way from another galaxy; remains from a former planet, destroyed thousands of years ago. And now they're here, for a moment at least. Think what we could learn if we could get our hands on one".

Joe gave him a smile. "Well, we can't send people that far into space yet. But maybe someday. And speaking of people in space…I bet your mom must be getting a great view of these asteroids from the ISS right now".

"You think she is doing fine up there?" Newton asked. "It's her first time and…. she's been gone for so long".

"I'm sure she is Theo" Joe assured him, while casting a quick glance at his left hand on which, barely 10 months ago, his wedding ring had been. "Her mission ends later tonight, so she will be back in a week and then you can visit her at her new home in Tarabiscoville again."

Newton nodded. Joe didn't blame him for missing his mom; normally, Newton would spend only a week at each of his parent's homes, but due to Mae's mission to the ISS he had been living with Joe for 4 months already. But even before these 4 months, the divorce and the resulting shared custody had been hard on Newton. Still, the boy understood it was for the best his parents split up, and he still got to see them both.

Joe actually allowed Newton to stay up for 20 more minutes to watch the asteroids before gently putting his hand on Newtons shoulder. "I think that is enough. Now come on, back to bed. Even great scientists need their sleep".

Joe casually guided Newton away from the window and back to bed before leaving the room. Now that he was in bed, sleep began to rush in.

"If only I could be up there now" Newton thought. "Not being limited to just my telescope, but see those asteroids from up close". Then sleep overtook him and he drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

Had he spend a bit longer staring at the asteroids though, he would have seen something rather unusual…

Because hundreds off kilometers above the Earth, now very close to the asteroid cluster, the PJ Masks where in their HQ-spaceship, chasing after Luna Girl. The young villainess was using her magnet to drag along a statue of the Greek goddess Selene, which she had stolen from the Tarabiscoville museum.

"Come on guys, we've got to catch her before she reaches her fortress on the moon" Catboy encouraged his teammates. He, Owlette and Gekko had actually been watching the museum this night since they already expected Luna Girl would try to steal the statue the moment the new exhibit was announced, but still she had managed to evade them.

"You won't catch me this time PJ Pests. This statue will be the eye catcher of my Fortress" Luna Girl shouted. She was determined not to let the PJ's beat her this time. Especially not since she had to sacrifice one of her moon crystals to even make her magnet strong enough for the trip to Earth, since Motsuki, who didn't like the statue, had refused to teleport her there.

Still, she couldn't attack the ship following her without having to let go of the statue for a moment, so her only option was to try and shake the PJ's off her tail. And the asteroid cluster proved to be just the thing she needed.

"Try and follow me through here!" she taunted as she took a sharp turn to the right and flew straight into the cluster.

"Gasping Gekko's. We're not going in there are we?" Gekko asked.

"We have to Gekko" Owlette reminded him. "Now hold tight". She accelerated the spaceship and followed Luna Girl into the cluster. But just like Luna Girl hoped, the PJ's had much more trouble maneuvering between the space rocks with their big ship than she had with just her lunar board.

"Watch out!" Gekko shouted. Behind him, PJ Robot also let out a worried cry as Owlette barely managed to prevent an asteroid from ramming their ship, but her evasive maneuver put them on a collision course with another asteroid. If not for Catboy firing the reverse thrusters to make the ship stop, they would have crashed into it.

"By my cat whiskers, that was too close".

Luna Girl meanwhile was getting further ahead. She was approaching a group of 6 smaller asteroids, that seemed to be clustered together for some reason.

As the PJ's wondered how to catch up with her, PJ Robot quickly observed the various asteroids between them and Luna Girl, and did a quick calculation. Then he flew up to Owlette, speaking in his usual robotic language.

"PJ Robot…..wait what? You're saying we actually should ram that particular asteroid?" Owlette pointed at the asteroid PJ Robot was looking at. PJ Robot just nodded.

"And I should…." Gekko began, but PJ Robot cut him off with an annoyed bleep.

"Alright, alright, we get it. No time to loose. Gekko, get in position. Owlette, full speed ahead" Catboy ordered.

As the ship accelerated, Gekko quickly put on his helmet, and left the cockpit. Using his super lizard grip, he crawled across the hull of the ship to the very front. Once there, with his feet securely clung to the ship, he summoned his Super Gekko Shields.

"Ready guys!" he yelled while bracing for impact. "Super Gekko MUSCLES!".

At full speed, the HQ-rocketship hit the asteroid, but Gekko's shields, backed up by Gekko's superhuman strength, took the full force of the blow. The impact send the asteroid flying. It struck another asteroid, which in turn hit another one, causing a chain reaction that, just like PJ Robot calculated, eventually caught up with Luna Girl, and knocked the last asteroid in the chain directly in front of her. Before Luna could divert her course or slow down, she slammed into it. The shock made her drop her magnet for a second, and the forcefield she had been using to drag the statue along disappeared.

Luna quickly grabbed her magnet again, since she couldn't breathe in space without it's powers. Before she could do anything else however, the PJ's had caught up with her. Gekko, who was still clinging to the outside of the ship, grabbed the statue and took it with him inside. With the stolen statue recovered, Owlette turned the ship around and, careful not to hit any other asteroids, flew out of the Asteroid cluster. Inside the ship, the PJ's and PJ Robot exchanged a high five. "Great work team. And even greater plan PJ Robot" Catboy cheered.

"Pesky PJ's! I stole that fair and square!" Luna yelled. She charged up her magnet and attempted to blast the ship, but she was still dazed from the collision and her aim was way off. Instead, the ray struck one of the six small asteroids. By the time Luna could see clear again, the PJ's where long gone. There was no way she would catch up with them again, or that they would let her steal the statue a second time.

Angered at being foiled again, and not looking forward to Mothsuki's taunts when she returned empty handed, Luna went back to her fortress. Never noticing that, when she had shot the asteroid, the ray had dislodged a small, disc-shaped rock, not much bigger than a tennis ball, from the asteroid's surface, and send it flying away from the cluster, in an orbit around the Earth. And even stranger; the asteroid it had previously been attached to, along with the other five asteroids directly around it, suddenly changed course, broke away from the cluster, and followed after the rock.

In the hours that followed, till long after the PJ Masks had returned to Tarabiscoville, placed the statue back in the museum, and then went home for the night, the dislodged rock kept floating through space around Earth, tailed by the six asteroids, as the rest of the cluster moved away from Earth without them.

But something would soon put an end to its aimless drifting.

Call it coincidence, call it fate, but the rock had drifted off towards the International Space Station, and at the very moment that the station was about to undock a Soyuz Capsule to return three of its crewmembers to Earth. Among them Newton's mother, Mae Coleman, formerly Mae Halley. All three astronauts where already on board, ready for their 3,5 hour journey back to Earth. No-one in the station or the capsule noticed the small rock approaching as the final checks where made.

And so it happened that when the Soyuz undocked and entered its own orbit around Earth to begin re-entry, the small rock struck it. Not hard enough to cause damage, or to alert the crew inside, but enough to get stuck in the descent module part of the capsule.

For Mae and her two fellow astronauts, the re-entry and landing happened without any notable incidents. But if the descent module had a window on the back as well as the front, they would have been able to see a very interesting sight; six small asteroids, tailing behind the capsule, like baby ducks following their mother. They only stopped when the capsule entered the Earth's atmosphere with the small rock still stuck to it.

**One week later**

"Alright Theo, we're here." Joe said as he stopped the car in front of an apartment building in downtown Tarabiscoville, where Mae now lived.

Newton could hardly hide his excitement at finally seeing his mother again, and to hear all about her time in the ISS; a sharp contrast to his usual quiet and shy self. . Since he and Joe received word that the Soyuz Capsule had safely landed in Kazakhstan, Newton had called Mae every day. Now, he practically jumped out of the car, and ran to the main entrance. Joe followed behind, carrying Newton's suitcase. Upstairs, Mae had already noticed the car stopping in front of the building, and was on her way down.

"Mom!"

"Newton!"

Newton and his mom ran into each other on the stairs, and a long overdue embrace followed.

Joe just put down the suitcase. "Alright, see you in 2 weeks Theo. Have fun". He and Mae quickly locked eyes, and simply nodded. Then he left to give Newton and Mae their time alone. The boy needed it.

The rest of the day, Newton spend listening in awe, and with some envy, to his mom's stories about her time on the ISS, until it was already dark outside and time for Newton to go to bed. However, his mom had one last surprise in store for him. She briefly left the room, and returned with a small box, wrapped up with a ribbon.

"I brought you a little souvenir. It was quite unexpected, but I'm sure you like it".

Newton carefully untied the ribbon, and opened the box. His eyes widened when they fell upon the content; a small, almost disc-shaped rock.

"Is….is that an actual asteroid?".

Mae smiled at her sons excitement. "Yes, and one with quite a story. We found it stuck to the hull of our capsule after the landing. We must have bumped into it on our way to Earth. We handed to over to our research team first, but they couldn't find anything unusual about it, so me and the others drew straws to determine who got to keep it. I won."

Newton carefully picked the stone up and held it in both hands so he could examine it from all sides.

"Thanks mom" the boy almost whispered. He kept staring at the rock as his mother gently guided him from the living room to his bedroom. There, Newton carefullyt placed the rock on his desk at the window. As he did, he briefly felt a light tingle in his fingers, as if the rock was giving off electricity, but it passed after a second so didn't think much of it. The boy changed into his pajamas and got into bed.

"Night mom"

"Sweet dreams, Newton Star". It was Mae's favorite nickname for her son ever since she learned he shared her love for space.

30 minutes later, Newton was off to dreamland, and didn't notice something happenening to the rock that now rested on his desk. Up till now, people had only handled it during the daytime, or in a laboratory, when the light from the sun or the roof of a building would block out the starlight. But when Newton had placed the rock on his desk, it was exposed to the starlight outside while he was still holding it, and that combination awoke something that had been slumbering inside the rock for who know how many years, and that no-one had managed to detect so far. The electric tingling Newton had felt was just the first sign.

Slowly, small cracks began to appear in the rocks surface….

When Newton opened his eyes, he found he was no longer in his bed. Instead, he was fully dressed, and standing on the rooftop balcony of his mother's apartment.

"What the…" the boy adjusted his glasses to ensure he was seeing this correctly. "Did I sleepwalk?"

He felt something in his hand, and when he looked down he noticed he was holding the rock his mom had given him. Except it now looked different. It seemed a part of the rocks outer layer had fallen off, revealing a six smal gemstones embedded inside. Five on the edges in the colors red, yellow, blue, green and purple, and in the center, a large white stone.

Then, without warning, all six gems began to glow, and in space above Tarabiscoville, the six asteroids that had been in orbit around Earth ever since their smaller companion was taken to the planet's surface responded to this, with each one revealing a pattern of alien symbols in one of the six colors corresponding to the gems. Newton tried to drop the rock, but found it stuck to his hand.

Something approached him from above. As the boy looked up, he saw six orbs of colored lights descent upon him. He didn't even have time to scream before they reached him and engulfed him. A bright flash blinded Newton and when his sight returned, he was no longer wearing his regular clothes but a gold/yellow suit with red and black markings. Gone where his glasses, but it didn't bother him in the least as his eyesight was for some reason perfect. And on his chest was the stone, now free from any remaining debris that had previously beenl attached to it, and restored to its actual form; a red and blue, disc-like rock with the six gemstones inside.

Then, a golden glow engulfed Newton's body, and a force pulled him up into the sky. With a weird mixture of fright and excitement, Newton saw Tarabiscoville shrink beneath him as he shot up towards the waiting Asteroids. As Newton approached them, the asteroid with the white markings (the one that Luna Girl had accidentally shot a week ago) positioned itself underneath Newton, and the boy gently landed on it. The other five began to circle around him.

For a while, Newton could only stare as his mind tried to process what just happened. It had all gone so fast. One moment he was on the balcony, now he was standing on an asteroid, staring at the planet below him. The boy blinked with his eyes, mentally told himself to wake up, and came close to trying that old technique of pinching yourself to see if you're dreaming. He carefully checked out his new attire.

"This...can't be" he muttered, but the evidence before him said otherwise so his inner scientist scolded him for denying an obvious fact; he, Theo Newton Halley, was somehow in space, standing on an asteroid. The lack of oxygen up here didn't seem to bother him in the least, nor did the cold temperature. He felt as comfortable as if he was still on Earth.

"But how...what is going on here?" Newton wondered out loud.

As if to answer his question, the asteroid with the blue markings broke formation and flew towards Newton, stopping within arms reach of the boy. The markings lit up twice, like a blinking signal, and Newton understood the hint. He reached out and touched the surface of the space rock. Instantly, a surge went through his body and a vision appeared in his mind, as clear as if Newton himself was actually there.

In this vision, Newton found himself in a solar system, but not one he recognized from the various books he had read or documentaries he had seen about space. Nor did he recognize any of the constallations. Newton figured this solar system was probably not even located in the Milky Way, but in some distant Galaxy.

For what he could see, this solar system had 7 planets, at least 4 of which seemed to be inhabited. And there where asteroids; lots of them.

Now he found himself flying towards the largest of these planets, and as he approached the planets atmosphere he came face to face with one of the inhabitants; a purple, humanoid alien wearing a costume identical to the one that Newton was currently wearing. Tailing this alien where no less than 10 asteroids, all glowing with the alien markings in various colors. Colors that corresponded to 10 gemstones inside the disc-like rock on the aliens suit.

And this alien was not alone. Everywhere on the planet and above it, Newton saw dozens of aliens of multiple species (no doubt the inhabitants of the other 3 planets, and perhaps even from neighboring solar systems), all dressed in the gold suits, and all of them with several asteroids following them. Some as little as 2, others as many as 15. All of them had one of those red/blue circular stones on their suit, decorated with a number of gems corresponding to the number of asteroids they apparently owned.

And the things they could apparently do with, or thanks to, these asteroids... Newton saw them ride the asteroids like a surfer riding a board, or draw various powers from them like the ability to fly unaided, teleport, summon shields, or create powerfull energyblasts.

It wasn't just their own asteroids they could control; Newton saw several of the aliens manipulate asteroids not represented by a gem on their suit. But the ones that had a gem where clearly the main source of their powers, and the ones they had the closest bond with.

The vision continued with a tour across the planet, which seemed to function as both the place where the circular stones where created, and where their future wielders would learn to use them. They all started with 1 personal asteroid, and got more as their skills improved. Newtons earlier theory of the various aliens hailing from multiple solar systems in this galaxy seemed to be correct. The vision showed Newton how these aliens came here if they were selected to receive one of the circular stones, and after learning to use them they returned to their home planets with them. For what purpose, Newton could only guess. Maybe to defend their planets, like a galactic police force. Or to use their new abilities to explore the universe and it's many secrets. Naturally, Newton liked that last theory best.

"And now I have one of those stones, and the six asteroids that are connected to it" Newton thought as he touched the disc on his chest. "But how did it end up on Earth?".

The answer came at once. Now the vision took Newton to a different point in time, some unknown years after the first vision. Here, Newton found himself in total chaos. The sun that formed the center of this alien solar system had gone supernova, threatening all of the planets with obliteration. A massive evacuation of both this planet and the other 3 was on its way. Newton saw the last ships and asteroids carrying the refugees depart just before the inevitable happened. He shielded his eyes as the sun blew up, blasting the planets around it to space dust.

When it was over, all that remained of the once glorious planet was a large cluster of Asteroids.

But evidently, at least one poor chap didn't make it off the planet in time. Because floating among the planetary debris where his six asteroids, and his circular stone. The heath generated by the supernova and the exploding planet had covered the latter in molten debris, which was now rapidly cooling and petrifying, thus giving the rock it's appearance from when Newton first saw it. The asteroid with the white markings flew towards it, and scooped up the rock.

There the vision ended.

For some time afterwards, Newton sat on the asteroid, his mind going over what he had just seen. The theory he had told his dad about the Asteroids possibly being remains from a planet in a distant galaxy had turned out to be spot on. How long had it taken them to travel all the way to Earth? At the very least several thousands of years, but possibly even millions. This of course begged the question; what had become of these aliens that used to have these Asteroid-based powers. Where there still others out there with the same powers as him, even after all this time? Or was this stone that had somehow ended up in his hands the last one? And what powers exactly did these six Asteroids give him, besides a new costume and the ability to breath in space?

At least that last one he should be easy enough to test. He had seen several potential powers in the vision after all. For starters, Asteroid surfing.

Now, Newton had no experience with any kind of surfing (except surfing the internet), but he had seen others do it during a vacation on the beach. Carefully, Newton assumed a surfing position and leaned forward. Too much; instantly, the asteroid he was standing on shot away like a bullet, with the other five following close behind. Newton yelped and tried to stand up, which brought the asteroid to a screeching halt, and the forward momentum launched Newton off the space-rock. Newton later estimated he must have continued to fly through space for at least 8 kilometers before he figured out how to slow himself down. Fortunately, the asteroids had followed him and the white one picked him up again.

After taking a moment to catch his breath, Newton got back up to try it again, leaning forward more carefully this time. Now the asteroid began to move at a more manageable speed. Newton tried to make it take a right turn, and the asteroids responded without any problems. For an hour afterwards, Newton kept practicing his new asteroid-surfing abilities, pulling off more and more impressive maneuvers. When he finally had enough, he sat down to admire the view of Earth. Words could hardly describe how he felt at that moment.

Unfortunately, it was already late, and Newton feared that if he stayed here too long his mom might find out he was no longer at home.

"Sorry guys. It was fun, but I really need to go home now. I'll come back tomorrow" Newton said to the asteroids. "I mean, as soon as I figure out how to actually get back to Earth".

About that, Newton didn't have to worry. The same force that had previously pulled him up from the balcony and towards the asteroids now lifted Newton up again, and send him hurtling towards Earth. Newton closed his eyes as he approached Earth, fearing at some level that he would burn to a crisp when entering the atmosphere at this speed, but his new powers apparently protected him against the friction as well since nothing happened. Seconds later, Newton made a safe landing on the balcony of his mom's apartment. One bright flash later, and Newton was wearing his regular clothes again. His glasses had also returned.

Quietly, without waking his mom, Newton got back to his room, and into bed.

When he woke up the following morning, his doubts about whether or not his adventure from last night hadn't been some livid dream after all returned for a moment, but disappeared when he found the circular stone on his desk; had his adventure been a dream, it should still look like a regular rock, but instead he found the red/blue disc with the 6 gemstones. He carefully slipped the stone in his pocket, not wanting to let it out of his sight.

That night, when he was sure his mom was sleeping, Newton quietly got out of bed, made his way to the balcony.

"Last test; if what happened yesterday was not a dream, then please work" Newton thought as he took the stone out of his pocket.

It worked just like it had done the night before.

And so, in the days that followed, Newton kept making his nighttime excursions into space, slowly learning the various powers that these asteroids gave him. The asteroid with the green markings turned out to contain a little souvenir; an oval-shaped stone that could somehow act as a communication device due to a link with the disc-like stone on Newton's suit.

And once he got a hang of his powers, the real fun began. Since he could now visit space with the same ease as he say visiting the library, Newton was able to study the asteroids and other wonders of the universe from up close, no longer bound to the limits of a telescope. For the young space-enthusiast, it was a dream come true.

Little could he know at that time what else was in store for him. That he would soon meet the young heroes and villain that, unbeknown to either him or them, had played a vital part in Newton gaining these powers. And that these heroes would become close allies to him.

**The end**