An Underdog's Destiny (Story 4 of 4 of my Underdog Series)

by The Legendary Dragon Reaper

He has spent more than a decade preparing for this day, and his fated final battle is drawing nearer. But with his greatest foe knowing just how to get under his skin and his best friend under that foe's thumb, it might turn out to be too much for even him to handle. Can he defeat his foe and protect his friends, or will he give in and lose everything?

7. The Darkness Within

(Chapter Title: The Darkness Within)

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(Takes place after Episode 5 and before Episode 6)

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"Since the beginning of time, before the event you have come to know as the Big Bang, there have always been 6 singularities, 6 forces of ultimate power. Then the universe exploded into existence with the Big Bang and the remnants of these systems were forged into concentrated physical forms each with a consciousness of its own. These beings have come to be known as the Cosmic Elemental Masters. Each being has mastery over one of the 6 elemental forces of the universe: Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Lightning and Metal. These beings are the most powerful in all of the universe and cannot be defeated by any normal being lest their existence be wiped from the face of the universe upon contact, and the only being capable of defeating a Cosmic Elemental is a Cosmic Elemental, or one with the powers of a Cosmic Elemental. Many eons ago, a great war was raged between the Daagons, the inhabitants of the cosmic ocean Varuna and their ruler Hiidrala, and Metallum, the Cosmic Elemental of Metal. With them were their greatest protectors, the Wind and Lightning Cosmic Elementals known as Tatsumaki and Kaminari. The two clashed in an epic battle that scarred the very universe itself, but before a victor could be decided Metallum betrayed Kaminari and attempted to take both their powers for himself in order to conquer not only Varuna, but the entire universe itself. In the face of this betrayal, Tatsumaki and Kaminari agreed to combine their power to face Metallum and end him, and in doing so they performed an ancient ritual known only to the Cosmic Elementals: Elemental Fusion, in which they would fuse into one new being altogether with both of their powers but at the cost of their fusion being permanent. With this they forged a new being with a new elemental force: Tempestatis, the Cosmic Elemental of the Hurricane. The battle was fierce and ravaged the universe, but the the end the battle was lost. Metallium was badly injured nearly beyond recovery but he had triumphed. With his dying breath, Tempestatis made a vow: even if it took him thousands upon thousands of lifetimes, he would see that Metallum would fall for his betrayal. However, that is not the whole story. What very few are aware of is that there are two other Cosmic Elementals who refused to take part in the war, two who refused to take sides because they were unsure of how the evolution or mortals would turn out in the end. These two were known as Illuminare and Tenebris, the Cosmic Elementals of Light and Darkness. As the war between their fellow Cosmic Elementals raged on and ravaged the universe, they had retreated into the shadows to observe how the mortals would react. They had wondered if the mortals of the lower realms of each universe were creatures that were truly deserving of the protection of the gods. I have observed the dealings than I would care to count. Mortals thrive, they quarrel, they perish, and they repeat this same cycle time and time again on an endless loop. At that time it seemed to me that for them to keep doing this would be the height of futility. I had even gone so far as to wonder what sense there was in protecting such flawed beings when they would consistently repeat the same tragic mistakes time and time again without showing any signs of developing, and ponder if it were to be more merciful on our part to put an end to such hopeless cycles once and for all. However, after the fated battle between Metallum and Tempestatis had at last come to a close and the mortals began to rebuild the remains of their civilizations across the universe, that was when Metallum appeared and offered a solution to their dilemma. They would pool their power into one point and create a warrior that was mixed of both light and darkness, intended to follow the spirit of Tempestatis for as long as he reincarnated through over one hundred lifetimes in over one hundred different races. Now the mission of the Warrior of the Hurricane has become much more grave, and if both Metallum and his warrior of darkness are not slain then the legacy of the Cosmic Elementals will be forever tarnished and lost to the memory of time."

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Adam opened his eyes and found himself in a familiar black void "Another dream about you even after you popped back out again, seriously? Okay you know what f*ck it, just get out here so we can get this done Mal."

Sure enough, Mal appeared before him looking rather stoic "So you noticed, and you're not dead which is a start I guess."

"Thanks for the boost in moral now let's get down to business, I fought Sordibus with everything that I had, Cosmic Force transformation obstaining since I didn't wanna blow up the entire island obviously."

"Fair enough."

"I used my new Blue Drive technique that I've got a lot of work to do on, it almost fried my ass entirely."

"I saw from within the mind, lack of experience and flaws aside it was actually pretty impressive. Creating your own version of the Crimson Drive used by Alejandro or the Kaioken from DBZ."

"Having multiple Cosmic Lacrima in your body really helps in that regard, it's basically an energy and power multiplier but the downside is that it only works on one elemental property at a time. But the problem is that Sordibus is insanely powerful, what I fought last night was just a fraction of what he's really capable of. I've gotta get a lot stronger than I am right now, that much is clear to me."

"You have a plan?"

"About as much of a plan as I usually do."

"So that's a no then." he received a middle finger and let out a chuckle "You never change do you?"

"I try not to, it hasn't been easy though."

"Tell me about it. You can sense it can't you?"

"...Yeah, Yeah I can. It's Metallum again, him and two others. They're getting closer and closer to Earth by the day, and it feels like he's even stronger than last time. I've got a lot of powering up to do before I'm ready to face them."

"On that we can agree. I'll try and let you know when the big shit is about to go down, but for now just get as strong as you can as fast as you can." and with that, Mal faded away.

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Adam opened his eyes and looked around to see the insides of a dark cave on Boney Island, where he had been meditation "Oh I'm nowhere near my limit yet Mal, there's no way I'm gonna stop now. I really believe that what I've tapped into so far is just a mere fraction of my true latent power, I've pushed through a bunch of walls before and now it's just a matter of finding the next one. I have to say that I'm really curious about how strong I can truly become, why would I want to settle for being better when I could aim to be the best. I've got a full night so I'm gonna put it to good use, and by the time I return to the island of Wawanakwa I'm gonna be way stronger than I've ever been before. You get all of that Aurora?"

Sure enough, Aurora emerged from a portal behind him "I'm hearing you loud and clear, and judging by that newfound resolve of yours I think that means that you're ready."

"Ready for what, more armor for myself?"

"No I've given you all of the armor that I can, what I'm talking about is two very important tasks that you must accomplish before your ultimate power can truly belong to you."

"Which are?"

"First of all, you have to confront your true self in a sacred place known only to Masters of the Mystic Arts and you must overcome that true self. Then and only then will you be able to handle the awakening of your true power: the releasing of your Second Origin."

"Oh I am so in."

"I suspected that you would be." and so Aurora led Adam through a portal in order to start his night's worth of training.

Both of them being unaware of the impending peril that would soon descend upon the Earth and her people…

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It was only a matter of moments before Aurora led Adam through the portal to where a beautiful waterfall sat in front of them with a small island in the middle of the lake in front of them "Here we are."

"And where is here exactly?" asked Adam.

"This is an area that we know as the Waterfall of Light, every Master of the Mystic Art must come here to train and cleanse themselves of their hatred and anger that they hold in their hearts."

"So this is where Alejandro was training back when Bridgette and I went with Sir George to collect my Wind Stormer boots and fought Metallum for the first time?"

"Exactly. Now then, sit down on that small island and close your eyes and you will meet your true self, or more accurately the darkness hidden inside of yourself."

"...Alright I guess it's go time, wish me luck." so Adam made his way out onto the small island, sat down in a meditative position and began meditating.

"What he does from here is up to him, I suppose that now I should get to finishing that special surprise I've been preparing for him." and so Aurora exited the scene through another portal, leaving Adam alone to face what may very well be his most difficult trial yet.

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Adam opened his eyes and gazed at the waterfall in front of him "I don't know what I'm gonna face in here but I guess there's only one way to find out."

"Why?" a voice echoed as a shadowy silhouette appeared from behind the waterfall "Why do you keep lying to yourself even after all of these years?"

"What the hell?"

"I guess I can't blame you to be honest, I mean after all they're always just kissing up to you like that." the figure emerged from behind the waterfall, revealing himself to look almost exactly identical to Adam, only with blood colored crimson pupils along with black sclera (the white part of your eyes), a devious smirk plastered across his face "They're all completely disgusting aren't they?"

'What the hell, this guy looks just like me. Who the hell is he?'

"You do remember all of it now don't you? All of the pain that we went through for all of those years and nobody ever even cared about us after we lost mom and dad, we were just another face in the crowd and no one ever gave a damn, and now these pieces of trash try and pull something like that?"

"Alright it hasn't even been five minutes and I've already had enough of this crap, now who the hell are you?"

"I thought it was gonna be obvious to someone who claims to be as smart as you are. Think for a minute, I'm you."

"Cut the bullshit, that doesn't make any sense!"

"Actually it does, I'm the darkness that exists inside of your heart. You see here's the deal, I am you. As for how I'm here now, you can thank this place for that." Dark Adam (as he will now be referred to looked around for a few minutes and his smirk widened "So this is the Waterfall of Light where Alejandro conquered his inner darkness? I've gotta admit that I never thought I would be able to come all the way out like this, I like it." his smirk fell and his expression turned grave and deadly serious "Anyway I'm the so called true self that Aurora wants you to face while you're here. I'm the real you that comes from the deepest darkest depths of your very soul."

"The real me? But that means that…"

"Yeah you've got that right, I'm the hatred, pain, anger and darkness that's burning inside of your very soul. I'm the Yin to your Yang, the only difference between us is that one of us actually believe that we can trust them. Just go ahead and face the reality of our situation, I'm the real one between the two of us and I have no intention of letting some face bastard like you kick me out."

"So that's how it's gonna be then is it?"

"That's how it's gotta be, you alread know that without me having to say it." and so Dark Adam charged forward and let a fist fly.

Adam countered the fist with his own, sending out a small shockwave as a result "There's only one fake here and it's you and I'm gonna prove it!"

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Aurora on the other hand was busy preparing her special surprise as she took it out of a large forge "Well it took about a month but it's finally ready." she held up the object in question as it glowed with golden energy "Now the only question is, how is Adam coming along with his first test? Well all the same I suppose it would be for the best that I call him and ask him to come here and talk to him. Knowing Adam he'll probably have a heart attack."

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Adam wasn't getting anywhere in his struggle against Dark Adam, and now his mind was racing to come up with a solution, but he wasn't having much luck 'Dammit this is insane, our strength and our techniques and our fighting styles are all exactly the same! At this rate I'm never gonna get anywhere!'

"You might as well just accept it." Dark Adam shot him a smirk "You never had any chance of defeating me and you never will."

"Would it kill you to shut the hell up!"

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Aurora observed Adam as he underwent the trial of the Waterfall of Light "When one sits and meditates in front of the Waterfall of Light they're able to focus and enter one's own mental sphere and the waterfall itself is a sort of mirror that reflects the true self of the user. It is a truly mystical place. To put it quite simply, right now Adam is battling against himself."

Adam's eyes suddenly snapped open and he began gasping for air, beads of sweat dripping down his face "Oh… oh god… dammit…"

"I take it that you saw him in there?"

"That guy in there… he looked exactly like me… I think that guy was supposed to be my dark half. We're both exactly the same, what with the same levels of strength, the same abilities, the same fighting style, the same tricks, everything is identical between the two of us. A fight like that would never end."

"But you have to defeat him or your heart will lack the necessary strength to withstand the massive amount of power that you will awaken with the Second Origin. I told you before, the Waterfall of Light is just one of two steps that you have to take before you're ready to face the coming threat."

"Which raises the question, what the f*ck am I supposed to do to take him down?"

"That's something that I can't tell you even if I wanted to but I do know this, if you want to conquer your inner darkness then you need to come to terms with your greatest doubts and accept them."

"...I had a feeling you were gonna say that."

"Well isn't that convenient for you?"

Adam glanced back and saw a faint silhouette of Dark Adam behind him, but it faded away seconds later "Look Aurora don't follow me okay, I just need to think on my own for a little while." and then he disappeared in a flash.

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Adam stood on a lone cliffside somewhere in the world, not knowing where he had teleported to but also not caring 'I have a lot of people depending on me and who want me to win this fight, no one moreso than Mike. They all trust me to take care of them and protect them, they care about me and they respect me, they see me as one of their own. It all started when it was only Carlos at my side, then Devin and Carrie, Alejandro and Zoey somewhere along the way, and then I even got Mike back but my eyes were damaged pretty badly. And then I went on Total Drama where I met Bridgette and everyone else, so before I knew it I had a hell of a lot more people that ended up depending on me, and that was before I gained all of these insane Cosmic powers. And now here I am contemplating the real me. I tried not to think about it too much ever since Carlos died but I guess somewhere deep inside my heart it turned out to be true, I want to belive that I trust all of them 100% percent but the truth is that I'm still not at that point.'

"I don't suppose you would mind some company?"

Adam glanced back to see a figure standing behind him and his jaw nearly dropped through the cliffside "Oh… my… Avatar…"

Sure enough, before him stood none other than Avatar Aang, now with the appearance of a 20 year old, sporting a very light beard and his typical robes of an Air nomad, as he shot Adam a small smile "So is that a yes or a no on the company."

"That… That depends, how do I know for sure you're who I think you are."

"Lady Aurora did mention that you would say something like that, which is why I brought this just in case." so Aang took out what looked like two pieces of seafood three marbles, and he began spinning them using his Airbending, doing that exact same trick with his same trademark stupid grin "Is that enough proof for you?"

"...Derp." this was met with a simple chuckle.

"Nice to meet you too Adam."

"You know who I am?"

"Lady Aurora has told me everything that she knows about you, which knowing her, is actually a lot."

"Oh believe me I know, it gets annoying after awhile. I mean a guy likes a challenge once in a while you know?"

"Yes I think I do, but as much as I enjoy the small talk there's actually a good reason for why I'm here."

"...Let me take a wild guess, Aurora told you huh?"

"Yes." Aang sat down next to Adam on the cliffside and turned to face him, his expression serious but also gentle at the same time "I understand what you're feeling. You've spent years feeling unbelievable pain and rage and whether or not you realize it it's consuming you bit by bit until you're nothing more than a monster who has allowed your hatred to consume your humanity. How do you think I felt about the Sandbenders when they stole Appa? How do you think I felt about the Fire Nation when I found out what happened to my people? You don't want to become like Jet did."

"That's not the same. Jet attacked the innocent, Sordibus is nothing but a monster who's taken over my humanity and taken everything and everyone that I loved once and I refuse to let him do it again."

"The monks used to say that revenge is like a two headed rat viper, while you watch your enemy go down you'll only end up being poisoned yourself in the end. You already knew that though didn't you?

"...Knowing that he's still out there, knowing that my friends and the people that I love are still going to suffer because of him, I feel like I don't have a choice."

"You do have a choice, you can forgive him. It's not the same as doing nothing, to do nothing is easy but to let go of your anger and forgive him is much harder."

"It's not a matter of forgiveness, if I don't stop then Sordibus is just going to keep hurting Mike and making him suffer until he's satisfied. It doesn't matter if you are the Avatar, I'm not going to let you stop me."

"I wasn't planning to. You're right, Sordibus is a force that has to be stopped for both yourself and for Mike to be free. This is a step you need to take in order to finally heal. You don't have to let him go, just don't let go of who you are to do it. I had to learn the same lesson. I knew that I would have to defeat Fire Lord Ozai in order to end the war but everywhere I turned everyone around me, including my past lives, kept telling me that the only way to do it was to kill him, and that went against my morals I talked to four of my past lives and they all gave me advice that I had at first perceived as them telling me that I had to kill the Fire Lord. Roku told me that I would have to be decisive, Kiyoshi told me that only justice would bring peace, Kurruk told me that I had to be more attentive and active to the world, and Yenchin told me that selfless duty called for me to sacrifice my own wants and needs and to what has to be done to protect the world. All of that advice was given to tell me that killing the Fire Lord was the only way to achieve those things, that I would have to go against my morals. But I proved them to be wrong, I did manage to defeat the Fire Lord without taking his life. I found another way, and I did it with help from my past lives. I was decisive, I brought justice, I was attentive and active, and I was able to fulfill my duty all without sacrificing my morals and beliefs. I learned a lot during those few days, but the most important lesson of all was that just because someone can tell you what you have to do doesn't mean that they can tell you how you have to do it. You don't have to give your morals or beliefs or let go of who you are, you can do it however you want to do it as long as you stay true to yourself, as long as you don't lose sight of who you are."

"...How is it that you always know what to say and when to say it?"

Aang gave a simple shrug "I just had a lot of great teachers that guided me to becoming who I am today."

"Well that's one thing that we have in common, we had some kickass teachers. It doesn't matter if they're dead now, their teachings live on as long as we keep them alive." Adam got back to his feet "You know I've really gotta thank you Avatar Aang, I think that talking to you was exactly what I needed to get my head back into gear for real this time around. I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna fight Sordibus, I'm gonna take him down, and I'm gonna do all of that my way. The way with the people that I love backing me up every step of the way."

"I'm glad to hear it. The duty of the Avatar is to maintain balance in their world, but then again if there are multiple worlds out there then there should be multiple guardians for each one of them right?" the two of them bowed in respect to each other.

"I guess we'll find out soon enough." and with that, Adam disappeared in a flash, now fully recolved to do what he had to do.

With no other reason to be there, Aang whipped out his glider and quietly took his leave of the scene.

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Adam blitzed back to the location of the Waterfall of Light and sat down on the small island without uttering a single word.

Aurora observed him from afar, a certain object in her hand "Well Aang you did what you do best, now it's up to Adam to see this all the way through. And then with any luck he'll be able to get this back."

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Adam opened his eyes, his gaze now being covered by an unwavering resolve 'There's only one way that I'm gonna be able to take this guy down.'

Out from behind the waterfall stepped Dark Adam in all of his menacing evil glory, complete with the malicious smirk "So you came back for round two did you? I guess you haven't learned your lesson yet. You can come at me as much as you want but the end result is never gonna change, you can't defeat me."

"Believe me I learned that the hard way that brute force isn't gonna work on you, that much I understand all too well. You and I are exactly alike, you're the Yin to my Yang."

"And you can't chase me out either, I know how you think better than anyone else in all of the ten dimensions could ever even dream of."

"I figured as much, which means that you must already know."

"I must already know what?"

"What else, about the decision that I made after my talk with Avatar Aang?"

"To hold it over Cody's head?"

"...Make that two decisions."

"So what would the second one be?"

"Don't try and make me think that you don't know, this place is called the Waterfall of Light because it reveals the light and the darkness that lies inside of your heart right? Well you should already know where my light lies." he gestured to several shadowy silhouettes that suddenly appeared behind him, and the shadows faded to reveal them to be Mike, Bridgette, Alejandro, Cody, Carlos, Aurora, Dawn and all of the other friends and connections that he had made across the ten dimensions, such as the Turtles, Ben Tennyson, Sir George, Natsu, and everyone he had fought alongside and/ or considered to be his friends "So what do you have to say to that little trump card?"

"You arrogant little bastard…"

"How could I expect to trust the people that I love most if I couldn't even trust myself? I can't live in the past because I can't change what happened, whether it be losing my parents to Mal and Sordibus when I was only eight years old and losing Carlos when Metallum killed him two years ago. All I can do is accept them and look towards the future, and make sure that what happened to them can never happen again, because I won't let it happen again. That's what I'm here for after all, my purpose in life is to protect my friends.

"SHUT UP! So what if you wanna protect people like some kind of knight in shining armor or some kind of bullshit?! So what if you don't wanna live in the past anymore? Everyone you think you care about is just falling over themselves trying to lure you into a false sense of security before they rip out your heart! We lost everything just as a kid and they didn't even care, we had NOTHING! Do you even remember any of that? DO YOU?! Carlos was the only thing that we had to cara about in this world, and now that he's gone there's no one left who gives a damn about us! We have no one else, you can't trust any of them!" Dark Adam gripped his chest, tears streaming down his face.

"Yeah I know what you mean. I thought that way for a really long time too."

"Shut up! You know that you can't trust any of them!"

"Maybe I can, maybe I can't but it doesn't matter anymore. I care about all of them but before I can even think about trusting them there's someone else that I have to learn to trust first. I have to trust myself, I have to trust in what Carlos taught me, what Devin had faith in and never gave up on, and all of the people who made us who we are."

Dark Adam fell to his knees, his voice hoarse and becoming wrecked and wracked with strangled sobs "But why… just why? After everything we've been through…"

"Believe it or not but my inspiration actually comes from my first real friend, the one that kicked off this long and painful journey that I've been on for 11 long years. I learned it by spending all of these years watching Mike. He doesn't let himself get pulled down by doubt, not now at least, and he's got a lot of pride in himself and all of his other selves."

"Do you think… Do you really think that I'm just something in your way?! What the hell am I supposed to be to you?"

"You're the reason that I've become as strong as I have because you've been here for as long as you have, your very existence was what gave me strength. I have to thank you for getting me as far as you did."

"So then… So then what happens now? WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO FROM NOW ON?!" Dark Adam charged forward in a hysterical grief-induced rage and let a fist fly forward.

"I thought that one was gonna be obvious." Adam didn't even flinch as he caught Dark Adam in a simple hug "You just have to become a part of me, just like you've always been. I can't thank you enough for everything that you've done for me. But it's okay now, you don't have to suffer anymore. Neither of us have to suffer anymore."

Dark Adam said nothing, his arms fell limp at his side and his eyes closed, and he quietly evaporated into nothingness.

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Adam opened his eyes, his gaze showing unwavering resolve, yet at the same time his eyes appeared to be at peace "You don't to suffer all by yourself, not when you have people in your life that are depending on you, people that you've sworn to protect."

"Unfortunatley it's too early for you to celebrate." Aurora made her way over to the small island and gave him a small smile "At least that's what I should say but before anything else I think you've earned this. Good job."

"Thanks, so what do we do now?"

"Unfortunately the sun is rising back over Wawanakwa so we don't have sufficient enough time to awaken your Second Origin before they come to Boney Island to collect you for the next challenge. For now all I can give you is this." she summoned a certain object.

"Is that what I think it is?" Adam picked up the object in question "You actually reforged Shatterstorm? I thought that you and Azmuth collaborated so that I would get Ascalon after what happened to Sir George."

"We did, and that is still your intended weapon. As I mentioned before this weapon was never the source of your strength, it was merely a tool to train you to harness and focus your powers that once laid dormant inside of you, whereas the rest of your equipment is intended to enhance your powers in order to face your foes and grow as a result of each battle in which you would be victorious. As soon as your growth with the weapon had been completed you would have to pass it onto the one being you trust enough to wield its power, which is but a fraction of what the user will be capable of if they should reach their true potential."

"So it's up to me to decide who gets this thing?"

"Yes."

"...Yep I think I've got this one in the bag." Adam strapped Shatterstorm onto his back, then glanced back at the Waterfall of Light and let out a sigh "You know I fought Sordibus last night during the Blue Harvest Moon."

"And?"

"...I wanted to do it, I wanted to take out every last ounce of my anger at him, but when the fight actually got started… it was like my anger just faded away into nothingness. I just couldn't find it in myself to get angry at him like that. I don't know if it was because I'm too weak to do it or because I'm strong enough not to."

"I think you did the right thing Adam, forgiveness is one of the most important steps you have to take in order to fully heal."

"But that's just it Aurora, I didn't forgive Sordibus for what he did that night, and I don't think I ever will."

"Well what about Mal?"

"...I don't know, I don't think that's a question that I can answer, not right now at least. But maybe… maybe it's time that I forgive myself."

"That's a decision that only you can make."

"Then I guess that's settled. Thanks Aurora, for everything."

"I'll call on you in the next few days or so in order to finally awaken your Second Origin for the battle that has yet to come."

"I'll keep that in mind." and with that, Adam disappeared in a flash, headed back towards Boney Island to prepare for the next challenge.

A/N:

And with this comes the first of three original chapters that act as the calm before the storm, with Adam's journey of healing and the final step of his training begins at last, with a special guest star as well, that I've been holding back for a very special occasion.

I brought back the Waterfall of Light training that I had used for Alejandro in An Underdog's Knighthood. I figured that since the story is beginning to come to a close it was time to have Adam finally conquer his inner darkness and his trust issues, this step in his character arc having been persistent for quite some time now.

Me having Aurora reforge Adam's former battleaxe Shatterstorm was actually a decision that I had been considering for awhile. I figured that it didn't really serve that much purpose to forget about it altogether, so rather than have Adam retire Ascalon and go back to Shatterstorm, I'll give it to another one of the main characters.

Aang is from Avatar: the Last Airbender, which is the last of the 10 dimensions and it's also the final secret dimension that I had mentioned earlier. I figured that if anyone understood how hard it was to do what you had to do without letting go of who you are, which is the main internal struggle that Adam has been facing, it would be him. And since Avatar: the Last Airbender is such a popular and beloved series (and justifiably so), I figured which cartoon protagonist better to tap off Adam's character development before he defeats the next main big bad.

I do intend to have Adam's Second Origin released, but it will be in a later chapter, so for now I'm having Aurora give him back Shatterstorm as per a statement that I made in chapter 6 of An Underdog's Knighthood.