Chapter 2: The Day After Destiny!

Lincoln was stirring in his bed before he suddenly sprung up with a yelp, his eyes opening.

"Wait, I'm in my bed? He said as he looked down at the covers. "Whoa, was that a dream?" Lincoln said as he looked around his room in confusion. "Whoa, what did I eat last night?"

As he took the blanket off of him, his eyes eyes widened in shock.

The helmet of Ares was laying in his bed.

"I assure you, what happened yesterday was all too real." A voice spoke out of the helmet. "And there are artifacts all over the world that the robber's boss wishes to destroy. So you best be on the lookout for them when go on trips with your school or your friends and family."

"No way." Lincoln said in disbelief as he stared at the helmet in utter shock. "So I really went to that museum with my class, didn't I."

"Yes."

"I really met those two students? Who were they again?" Lincoln asked,

"Hilda and Dexter?" The helmet responded before he began to say teasingly. "And oh boy, were you blushing and stuttering up a storm seeing the former? Quite the cutie, isn't she?"

Hearing that caused Lincoln's heart to skip a beat as he blushed as he remembered that particular meeting he had outside the museum with his friends looking on.

"Ooooohhhh..." was the only Lincoln could say.

"Don't be embarrassed, I'm pretty your predecessor's all felt the same way when they met the one they were destined to be with." The helmet said.

"WHAT?!" Lincoln shouted as he felt his whole face turn red. "I... I'm not in love with her."

"You sure about that?" The helmet asked in a rather smug tone.

"I barely know her, how can I be in love with a girl I barely know?" Lincoln countered. He knew exactly where this was going to go and he didn't want it to for the life of him.

"I'm sure you'll know her in due time." The helmet said teasingly before stopping. "I suggest you go downstairs, the news is going insane over you wrecking those robbers yesterday."

Deciding to go down the stairs, Lincoln decided to hide the helmet behind the bed before getting out of his bed and opening the door before stepping out of his room and closing his door.

Walking down the stairs, Lincoln peeked and saw his parents watching TV as they saw multiple news reports on the screen as his mother Rita flipped through the channels, all saying the same thing... much to the surprise of her and her husband, Lynn Sr.

"Yesterday, at Royal Woods Museum a groups of robbers attempted to rob it-" a woman with red hair put into a ponytail said.

*CLICK!*

"This just in! Mysterious vigilante wrecks robbers at Royal Woods Museum just yesterday." a Parisian brown haired teen girl said, with a tone of excitement. "If he ever comes to Paris, will he be a match for Ladybug and Cat Noir?!"

*CLICK*

"What a load of garbage. If this Grimace is really a "hero" as everyone says he is. Why didn't he show up in public like a man instead of appearing in the shadows like a coward?!" a mustachioed man said with anger in his tone as he slammed his fist on the desk. "I think a warrant should be put out for his arrest for illegal vigilantism!"

*CLICK*

"I don't trust this guy." a blind woman said bluntly. "With the rise of a hero comes the rise of super-villains. This "Grimace" person is just to make things worse for everybody in Royal Woods. Just look at what happened yesterday, the only reason he showed up was because those robbers attacking it were after that happen he was wearing. If he really wanted to protect those innocent people, he should've just given them the helmet instead of wrecking a portion of the museum just to show off!"

As Lincoln watched, for some reason, despite both the praise and criticism he was getting, he couldn't help but smile a bit.

"Wow, I saved all those lives, huh?" Lincoln thought to himself.

"Yeah." The helmet said in his head. "You did good, kid. You did good."

"Wow, this guy is all over the news." Rita said, "A total scam."

As Lincoln made down the stairs, Rita turned to her son as a smile appeared upon seeing her son. "Oh, morning Lincoln."

"Hey, Mom and Dad." Lincoln greeted his parents. "Watching the news?"

"Yeah, all about this "Grimace" guy." Lynn said. "Some say he's a hero while others say he's a menace. Pretty cool, right?"

"Yeah, pretty cool." Lincoln said, struggling to maintain his composure.

Later at Royal Woods Middle School...

In homeroom, the students were all speaking about the same subject. The "Grimace" that saved their lives yesterday.

"That Grimace guy was so cool!" one of the male students said.

"I'm surprised that Royal Woods now has it's very own superhero!" a female student said ecstatic.

"Yeah, those other costumed clowns got nothing on Grimace." said another boy student.

As everyone else were expressing the joy of having a hero to protect their town, Lincoln and the others were whispering their conversation so that their fellow students could not hear them.

"You feeling alright, Lincoln?" Dexter whispered. "We didn't see you after... well you know."

"Yeah, where did you go, man?" Rusty quietly asked.

"I don't know, honestly." Lincoln said, his voice low. "Once I put that helmet on, everything else was just a blur. When I woke up, I was back in my bed this morning... with the helmet in my bed."

"So you don't remember anything?" Hilda whispered with a hint of disappointment in her tone.

"Aside from what happened before I put helmet on, no." Lincoln whispered. "I do remember fighting those robbers but I don't remember actually fighting them. It's like the helmet took control of my body or something."

The friends than looked at each other in concern.

"So you don't remember getting blasted by a rocket?" Stella asked quietly.

"No." Lincoln said.

"You don't remember hitting a robber in the face with the tail of that dino skeleton?" Clyde asked, quietly.

"Not really." Lincoln responded quietly.

"You don't remember scaring one of them so much he peed his pants?" Liam asked quietly.

"I did that?" Lincoln asked quietly.

"You don't remember torturing the lead robber for info on his boss? Cause that was a brutal thing you did." Zach said.

"Me torturing someone?" Lincoln quietly said in concern. "Maybe if he deserved it but still no, I don't remember."

"You don't remember..." Hilda began her cheeks beginning to turn pink. "Healing my shoulder from the robber's leader stabbing me?"

"I don't think so." The white haired boy said as he blushed for some reason. "Did I really do all those things?"

"Yeah, and you were amazing." Clyde said quietly.

Lincoln smiled a bit at the bits of recognition he got from his friends, Dexter and Hilda, and hearing the various comments the students were saying.

"Thanks, Clyde." Lincoln said.

Just then, the bell rang, signaling the end of homeroom.

As everyone was getting up and getting their things, they began to walk out of the room.

Lincoln and Hilda were the last ones to leave the room.

"Well, see you later Hilda." Lincoln said, as he was about to leave when Hilda grabbed his hand.

"Wait." The adventurer said with a bit of desperation in her voice.

"What is it?" Lincoln asked curiously as his cheeks turned a bit red at the blue haired girl was holding his hand, which felt warm by the way.

Hilda was blushing a bit as she decided to just do it rather than tell him.

She quickly leaned close to Lincoln's face and planted a quick, but meaningful kiss on his left cheek.

"T-Thanks for s-saving me, Lincoln." Hilda quickly stuttered to him before running down the hallway.

As Lincoln watched the blue haired adventurer running away blushing, it felt like everything was going in slow motion as he laid a hand on his kissed cheek in confusion as his heart was beating profusely.

Until a small smile manifested on his lips. And the smile began to grow until it reached the sides of his face in a big, goofy smile.

Does Hilda like him?

Or did she just love that he saved her life yesterday?

Lincoln felt like he was going to find out sooner or later when he sees her again.

Royal Woods High...

As Leni, Sunset and Jack were walking through the hallway as students were saying things about this new hero that showed up yesterday, something was on the latter's mind so he spoke in a quiet tone.

"Hey, Sunset." The teen said quietly.

"Yeah?" Sunset said, quietly.

"Have you had a weird dream last night?" Jack asked, quietly.

"Weird how?" Sunset whispered.

Jack took a moment to think of how exactly to explain the weirdness of his dream.

Then he got it.

"Well, last night I was in this void of darkness and this voice that I never heard of before was speaking to me about something. Something weird but important."

"Like a mystical artifact?" Sunset whispered. "Cause my dream was about something like that."

"Yeah, exactly that." Jack quickly whispered. "And also something about destiny."

"Yeah, talk about trippy." Sunset whispered.

"Somehow, I have this weird feeling that we're going to find out more about this whole "destiny" thing during our time here, Sunny." Jack whispered.

"I feel the same, Jax." Sunset whispered. "I feel the same."

Oh, how right they'll soon be...

Meanwhile, in Japan...

In a Japanese village, a teenage boy known as Jack (or better known as "Samurai Jack) in a white robe and a hat made out of straw was walking through the busy streets as around him, he could hear people talking about you know who.

"I'm surprised he didn't kill those robbers." an elderly woman said.

"Yeah, if I was there. I would've killed all five of those hoodlums." an elderly man said.

"I wonder will happen to them next." a middle aged man questioned.

"I wonder where Grimace will show up next." a young boy questioned in glee.

"What's the Royal Woods Demon going to attack next?" a young girl asked.

"Yes, he did kinda look like demon..." a blind man said. "But not an evil one like we normally see."

As Jack overheard these various comments, he too wondered where this mysterious "Royal Woods Demon" came from and just as importantly...

Why exactly was he here?

Regardless, he felt determined to find out should the beast set his sights on Japan, himself, or his people!

As Jack was thinking on this, he felt like he was going to get those answers as a blue portal manifested beneath him and he screamed as he fell straight through it.

Unknown to the people of Japan, the village was being spied on by someone in a far away place...

"So... the fool is determined to destroy this beast who has the helmet of Ares." A dark, deep voice said as he rubbed his hands together. "I have a feeling that those two won't be the only ones fighting it out." He then turned attention to the Earth's atmosphere. "Should be quite the entertainment for me."

He then began to laugh manically as he snapped his fingers...

Meanwhile, in Earth's Orbit...

Space, the final frontier, the place where no one can hear you scream... so on.

Just then, a mystical blue portal manifested into existence as something, flaming and what appeared to be golden in color was shot out of it.

It took a few moments for whatever came out of the portal to regain its bearings.

Taking a moment to look around, it was some sort of tall, golden robot.

"Where... am I?" the robot spoke.

Looking behind him, he saw the Earth. Noticing it, his eyes glowed green as he scanned the planet.

After the scan, he got his result.

Earth 1749, not Earth 0832.

"Great, first Grundy was impervious to my powers now I get stranded in another universe by another's machinations." The robot said robot-like. "Well, I should check this Earth out to get some answers."

With that, he rocketed towards the planet. Unknown that his arrival won't exactly go unnoticed as he'll soon find out.

Oh, the things that are going to happen when he lands on that planet...

Meanwhile in Tremorton...

"Hmm, another robot entering the planet's atmosphere. I wonder if he's one of Vexus'." a elderly woman scientist said as she watched a monitor showing her the footage of the golden robot coming out of the portal. "Just in case, he is. I best get XJ9 on it right away."

Meanwhile on the streets, a certain white and blue robot was flying around the city on patrol, trying to find out if there's a crime in progress. So far, there hasn't as she's just been saving people from what would've been fatal accidents if she didn't intervene with either her various rocket based capabilities or her weaponry at the last second.

Just then, she heard her wrist monitor activate.

"XJ9, sorry to interrupt your patrol, but we have an emergency."

"Finally, some action." the robot muttered to herself before responding. "What is it, Mom?"

"A strange, golden robot of some sort had entered the earth's atmosphere and it appears to be heading towards the forest outside the Michigan town, known as Royal Woods." The scientist explained. "I want you to go there and get some answers however you can."

"On it, Mom." The robot said determined. "I'll show that robot that no one comes to Earth and starts trouble."

"Good luck, XJ9. Make your planet proud." She heard her mother say as she began to fly towards the robot's location.

"Look out Royal Woods forest, here comes Jenny." The robot said as she flew faster at the speed of light.

Unbeknowest to her, the golden robot's arrival wasn't only found out by her mother...

Meanwhile in Beach City...

A tall, lanky, blue colored lady was reading a magazine on a beach chair on the sand when suddenly she heard something come from the sky.

"What the..." was all she managed to say before she quickly summoned her water wings and flew of the way of the "shooting star" just before it could hit her.

Turning around, she saw the "shooting star" wasn't heading for her, it was heading... somewhere else?

With a sense of determination in her eyes, the lady summoned her wings once more and began to fly after the object of her ire.

"Alright, I don't know what the heck that thing that almost shattered me was, but I'll make sure it remembers one thing before I give it some well deserved payback..." The blue skinned lady began as amplified her wings speed. "No one messes with Lapis Lazuli and lives to tell about it!"