Stardust World X; Earth

In the year 2012, everything changed.

It happened swiftly, millions of lives were lost and the world was forever changed. The waters around New York City rose up as a being unlike anything Mankind had ever seen before had awoken underneath the city. This creature was believed to be a long-lost cosmic deity that had for countless millennia slumbered under the city. It had the power to drive mankind to extinction, yet, shortly after it's awakening, it is said that the cosmic deity went back into hibernation, diving deep into the earth's core. The deity no longer posed a danger to mankind, yet the damage done to humanity was seemingly irreparable. It would take hundreds of years for humanity to repair itself, however, little did they known that the cosmic deity was only the beginning...

The cosmic deity's awakening had opened a dimensional portal that opened a path to countless worlds. From it, countless interstellar beings flooded through onto Earth. And so New York City's "Next Wave of Immigrants" arrived, beings from throughout the universe who traveled to Earth in search of a new life. With them came a new wave of technology, culture, and problems. New York was rebuilt in a matter of years as new Gotham, the bridge between Earth and it's interstellar neighbors. It is now 2025, and the presence of aliens and all matter of incredible sights are now common-place. The president has shaken hands with hundreds of leaders from throughout the galaxy, thousands of different species walk through the streets of New Gotham, there are alien Hip Hop artists. However, the world is far from peaceful. Alongside a new wave of interstellar immigrants came a slew of new threats to mankind both small and large. Interstellar criminals, would-be world conquerors, illegal aliens! These are but a few issues that face Earth today!

Under the faithful protection of forces such as the Kalem Klub and Earth Defense Force, Earth has been relatively safe, it at least saved countless times again and again from destruction. However, on the other side of the cosmos, trouble is brewing! The galaxy faces a new danger, linked to an ancient secret known as the Cosmic Keys! It is said that these powerful artifacts have existed longer than the galaxy itself, and those which hold them gain awe-inspiring power! This is a story about a city, and a new wave of immigrants who will forever change the fate of an entire planet! This is Stardust World X; Earth!

New Gotham has been the center of alien immigration and activity since the dimensional portal opened, just as it was in the days of the American Dream. After 13 years of aliens pouring into Earth through what was once New York City, the vibrant metropolis adapted itself to its newcomers, changing its infrastructure, subcultures and laws, turning into the leading city for alien activism and activity.

Among the practical changes, the movement between dimensions had to be facilitated so as not to have giant ships crashing into the Empire State every few weeks. The more organized form is transportation is a multi-tiered train powered by the static electricity of the dimensional portal and the atmospheres of the dimensions traveled in. This train goes from Saturn Intergalactic Station to Port Terra in New Gotham, and is driven by a highly-intelligent and skilled crew of cats, from Saturn. Alien ships that are too large to fit in the vehicle car of the Terra-Saturn Express are kept in controlled orbit around the Moon, and shuttles can regularly be taken from Ellis Island to this makeshift parking lot, but these ships are prohibited from entering Earth’s atmosphere. Aliens entering New Gotham legally go through thorough documentation checks and interviews before being set free into the city, being sent back to their home planet, or being picked out by the Intergalactic Immigration Bureau as a character of interest.

The boroughs of the city have evolved as aliens have settled in, but there is still a lot of discrimination going on from both sides. While Brooklyn and Staten Island pride themselves in the openness of the culture and the good relations between aliens and earthlings, with inclusion groups like Living Things United, other areas are more segregated. Brooklyn is commonly referred to as ‘the Brook’, and from here have spurted new festivities celebrating the immersion of alien culture, most notably the Festival of Nuala, celebrating the awakening of the entity that opened up the portal. The Brook is where a new hippie age has begun, where the youth-groups and activism is strongest, as well as the formation of new and combined religions. Staten Island takes the inclusive atmosphere of the Brook into diplomatic and political matters. It has become the hub of intergalactic diplomacy, politics and communications; a place that the President often visits and resides in. All of the decisions regarding aliens are made here, and promising aliens are offered work and facilitated residence around here, where meeting influential figures is increasingly probable.
 Manhattan continues to be the center for many wealthy humans, but the anti-alien white-collar criminals, and their culture, have made it their home too, stimulating a lot of organized hate-group formation that has made it into a hostile area for aliens. On the other end of the spectrum we have the Bronx, where many aliens have settled in- however many live here in poverty, making the resentment towards humans grow, and most of the alien criminal activity starts off here, mainly all stemming from the Bronx Zoo Crew, a gang that has slowly been gaining infamy and power in New Gotham. The area that was once Queens has been renamed Proletariats, and is mostly a neutral zone, where middle class, suburban aliens and humans seem quite indifferent to each other, each minding their own business as opposed to the blatant segregation in some areas or the extreme melting pot of others.

Written by Manchee

While most of the world's governments and nation's are still relatively intact since an influx of culture and species has entered the Earth, there has been a new growing forces that has gained more and more of a hold on the Earth since the awakening of the Cosmic Being. The Earth Defense Force, often referred to simply as the EDF, is a multi-national task force with the simple goal of defending the earth from any extraterrestrial threats. Its members are noted for their colorful uniforms, their super-advanced technology, and their flair for the dramatic. They have thousands of highly-trained agents throughout the world, hundreds of spaceships that make up a fleet, and enough sway over the public to rival any government or corporation. They are lead by a man that was once known as "The Defender of Earth", a heroic figure who defended the planet from the tyrannical Mingko, whom threatened to invade the Earth shortly after the awakening of the Cosmic Being and he's even said to have secretly been defending the Earth for decades before that. The leader of the EDF has since retired, and his now succeeded by the poster-boy of the EDF, the "Second Defender of Earth". Despite essentially being an army of real-life Power Ranges, they hold their own dark secrets. The EDF is known for their shoot-first-ask-questions-later attitude, and many have complained about their agents and even their entire structure being largely xenophobic. Their goal is almost always "eliminate the threat", which means that they tend to solve their problems by killing aliens. There have been several bursts of outrage when seemingly innocent aliens were killed without mercy by the EDF. This is not helped by their outright xenophobic efforts to keep aliens OUT of their ranks. Despite all of this though, they are still largely popular by the populace due to their constant successes against aliens invasions that would otherwise wipe Earth out.

Most aliens whom go wish to live on Earth must first deal with the Kalem Klub, a government organization based in New Gotham tasked with regulating the alien population of the city. They keep track of who enters and leaves the cities, they deport (literal) illegal aliens, they combat alien criminal organizations, and they just generally deal with anything under the EDF's radar. Unlike the EDF, they have recently become open to aliens joining their ranks. They are most well known for all wearing suits, due to the company being strangely tight around what they can wear (they MUST wear suits when on the job). They are also well known for their mascot: a cartoon otter. There are dozens of videos that immigrants must watch through the process of getting a green card, the cartoon otter is even on their files and paper work! It frankly terrifies many xenos who have to deal with it so often. Kalem Klub is horribly under-funded, mostly because most in the populace believes them to be unnecessary. There are talks of the Kalem Klub being dissolved and the EDF forming a new branch to take over their responsibilities.

New Gotham is more than a hub for intergalactic immigration, it was not too long ago that a Cosmic Deity awoke underneath the city and killed millions. While humanity tried to stop it, it was largely helpless towards the creature's raw power. The fear of its awakening is largely was causes humanity to strive to constantly evolve. The only reason humanity wasn't wiped out prior is because the Cosmic Deity mysteriously went aslumber shortly after. Two days in fact, two days where it killed millions and caused dozens of millions of humans to go insane. While very little is known about this Cosmic Deity, they've managed to get some information from the legends of several alien species. Cosmic Deities are said to be ancient beings, having evolved to a level beyond human (or most aliens') understanding. While it would be incorrect to call them "supernatural" (or really, anything. Though "magic" does exist in this universe, it is simply a term used to describe technology so advanced and ancient most species in the universe don't understand it) they are by all definitions explainable. Since they don't exist on the same plane of existence that most species do, what they are actually interacting with is an avatar of these beings. That is not their true selves, but simply a being's attempt at manifesting in this plane of existence. Their actions, behavior, and morality are all completely alien to pretty much anything else in the universe. The likeliness of a Cosmic Deity passing  into this plane of existence is very low, to the point of being an impossibility. However, their footprints are still very clear. "Magic" is believed to be the creation of their less-evolved ancestors, since it is still clearly out of normal-understanding and creates a certain similar aura from that of a Cosmic Deity. There are also the legendary "Cosmic Keys", artifacts that are believed to hold ancient and unstoppable power for those who wield them.

Nobody has been able to find the Cosmic Deity since it fell back into its slumber.