(Takes place between during chapters 1-3 of the Ridonculous Underdogs)
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(Warning, this chapter will feature Mike and Adam's backstory and it will come off as pretty dark, so read with caution. Also, expect a spoiler for Avengers: Infinity War hidden somewhere in the chapter)
"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. Until the day comes when Metallum is slain the cycle will continue and if that day never comes, the true spirit of the Hurricane will be lost forever to the memory of time."
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Adam bolted upwards in his bed, sweat dripping down his face 'Those dreams again. It's really weird, ever since I killed M'Baku back in Africa more than a year ago I've been having these weird dreams I was in this black void, nothing around me for god only know how far except for this voice. It kept telling me about these things called Cosmic Elementals, reincarnation, some kind of fusion… I just don't get it, what does it all mean?'
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The skies were clear and calm over the city of Ocean Falls.
Adam prepared to step out of his apartment "Keys to the $75,000 RV. Check. 5 gallons of Tantrum loaded into the back. Check. Well I'd better make that 4, chances are one of them burned through the container already. Whoo!" he ripped a chair in half "TANTRUM!" he heard a knock on the door "Oh hey Zeke."
Sure enough, there stood Zeke looking highly disoriented but still pumped "Hey man, you got a second?"
"What the hell happened to you?"
"Oh Izzy brought me here on a vine she carries around."
"...Neat. So what's up?
"Well I needed to ask you something pretty important, it's about Izzy… You know our anniversary was last week right? I mean you planned out that hot air balloon ride over the city and all?"
"Yeah but you refused to tell me what happened, what's the deal man?"
"You know I feel about her, she's like an angel to me so… I asked her to marry me and she said yes."
"Wait for real? Alright way to go little buddy!" he wrapped Zeke in a hug "I'm really happy for you man."
"Thanks man, that really means a lot coming from you. That's actually why I came here, I was hoping you'd do me the honor of being my best man."
"Are you kidding? Dude I'd be honored." they hugged again, only for it to be cut off by a honk outside "Oh crap Mike and Zoey are waiting. You know Zoey's my friend and all but it's been ages since Mike and I did something together and ever since he and Zoey hooked up he turned from an I to a We."
"What do you mean?"
"You've heard him, any and every time you ask him anything it's like he's speaking for both him and Zoey. It makes you wanna rip his head off." then he heard a loud banging on his door "It's open."
Then Mike burst into the room wearing one of those soda drink hats "Hey Adam check out what I've got! I've got black coffee on the left, I've got Tantrum on the right, do you have another chair?"
"Yes I do." he handed him the chair "You know how this goes right?"
"Yes I do." he ripped it in half and let out a roar "TANTRUM!"
"TANTRUM!"
"Hey guys." and then Zoey showed up "You guys ready to hit the road?"
"...You really invited Zoey?"
"We most certainly did." and they left.
"Oh joy."
Zeke poked his head up in front of him out of nowhere "I don't know if you caught it but about the whole We thing-"
"Yeah I got it."
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It wasn't long before Adam, Mike and Zoey were on the road across Canada.
"Road trip!" Zoey pumped a fist out of nowhere "So you guys wanna talk about punching each other and stuff?"
"We're not those kinds of guys." Adam pointed out without looking back from the road, mainly since he was the one driving and he also came off as pissed but he was keeping it contained. For the most part.
"Oh yeah sure, by the way I have to pee."
"Didn't you go before we left?" Mike pointed out.
"Oh yeah bit I pee a lot."
"We know." Adam said dryly "Bathroom is in the back."
"Okay be right back." and she left.
Mike found Adam glaring daggers at him "Look Adam I know how serious this is-"
"Clearly you don't." Adam hissed in his face "This isn't fun and games Mike, this is because we're dealing with Mal. You of all people should know how serious this is, mainly since he's in your f*cking body!"
"You think I don't? It's just that… Look you know better than anybody aside from me that Zoey is the only girl I've ever been into that didn't think I was a freak or something. I don't want to have to lie to her."
"You meah like you did for a month on Total Drama: Revenge of the Island?"
"Again. I don't want to have to lie to her again."
"Well what exactly did you tell her?"
"That we were gonna take a trip around Canada and revisit all of our old friends from Revenge of the Island. Well, except for Cameron since he's with Lightning on that new race show."
"Like I said, the perfect time to do this until you f*cked it up. Anyway after we see you know who then you guys can do whatever you want while I head to Australia to see Bridge in that surfing tournament." then he smirked "But that reminds me, we have a stop to make along the way." he pulled the RV to a stop outside what looked like a large mansion.
"What are we doing here?"
"You'll see, we've just gotta pick someone up."
"Who are you-"
"I believe he's talking about me." a new voice answered him.
Mike froze "Adam you didn't please tell me you didn't."
Adam shot him a smirk "Like a wise man one said Mike, payback is a bitch and she's back in heat. We're up here Alejandro."
Sure enough, Alejandro made his way up to the front covered in scratches, bruises and a number of bite marks "I'm truly glad to see you actually kept your word and decided to include me in this matter."
"Not like I had a choice, especially not after Area 51."
Mike on the other hand was horrified "No… no no no no no… Just… no. Adam for a guy who's been more secretive than even me about my Multiple Personality Disorder than I am this is a really stupid idea especially for you."
"Says the guy who came up with the idea of lying to Zoey and telling her that you're part of some acting troupe, at least I had the decency to say you had an extended family. Then you go and blow your secret during your third episode of Total Drama!"
"I was in the confessional, it's supposed to be safe!"
"We're talking about Total Drama, nothing is ever safe!" he let out an aggravated sigh as they took to the road again "Look I told you before how he first saw Mal after that incident with the portal back in Area 51, Alejandro is a lot smarter than most of the others so I knew we couldn't hide the truth from him for very long." they engaged in a brief staredown.
Mike let out a sigh "Fine, I don't like it but since you did so much to keep my secret for so long I'll respect your wishes. But don't forget Adam, if he tells anyone who shouldn't know then I'm gonna blame you."
"And I'll take full responsibility for it."
"But I still don't want to tell Zoey."
"I never planned to to begin with, and if all goes according to plan then she'll never have to know about it."
"...So you the two of you intend to continue to speak as if I'm not here?" asked Alejandro out of the blue "I mean you claim this situation with the one known as Mal to be as serious as life and death itself."
"Oh believe me Alejandro, that's the understatement of the year." he looked back for a second and noticed Zoey poke her head out of the bathroom but then rush back in "Look I don't wanna risk Zoey finding out about this so we'll have to wait. We'll tell you tonight when she's asleep and there's no chance of risking her finding out."
"Very well, if that's the way it must be."
"...By the way what the hell happened to your face?"
"Oh I was hoping you wouldn't notice. See what happened was I had decided to follow some advice you gave me and went to see Heather, I climbed up to her window around midnight with a bouquet of roses."
"You tore that page from Carlos' handbook."
"Yes."
"And you guys are a couple now?" asked Mike.
"Well… not exactly. She took the roses, picked off the thorns and threw them all at me one by one. Then she pulled me into an angry yet heated kiss and followed not long after by kneeing me in the groin before dropping me out the window and leaving me to be attacked by her german shepherd guard dog."
Needless to say, that ended any attempts at making conversation for the next few hours.
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Nightfall came, and the group had settled down in a parking lot for the night.
Adam turned on a small lamp in the main room of the RV "Zoey's asleep in the bedroom in the back, we're in the clear."
"Alright." Mike sat down in one of the seats in the back.
"You don't have to tell him yourself you know."
"Maybe not but it wouldn't be right if I didn't have the courage to tell him myself."
Alejandro sat down in the seat across from them "The courage to tell me what?"
Mike let out a sigh "Alejandro, I may not know you or trust you but Adam is my best friend so if he has faith that telling you is the right choice then I'll go along with it."
"Very well, I won't rush you if this is as dark as the two of you make it out to be. Please take all the time you need."
"Alright… This story is one shared between me and Adam, and one that haunts us both day and night but at the same time it's what's kept us connected all these years." so with a heavy heart felt sigh, Mike began his story "My full name is Mike Tremblay, my mother's name is Lucy and my father's name is Steve. Well that's not entirely accurate, you see Steve is actually my stepfather. Before I was born my mother met a man by the name of Logan Gauthier, he is or was my biological father. They started to go out and a few months later he proposed to my mother and she said yes. From what my mother tells me he was a very good and good hearted man back when they first met, but all I know of him from the time I was little was that he was a horrible alcoholic and he made it seriously clear that he never even wanted to be a father in the first place."
"But I don't understand, why did they have even you then?" Alejandro received a shocked look from Mike and cringed "That came out wrong, I apologize. But I mean, of they never even wanted kids then how did you come to be."
"...It was about 2 months after their wedding, one night Logan came home and he was drunk as hell. He went up to my mother in their bedroom and… he… he raped her."
Alejandro's eyes widened in horror and disgust as he heard this.
"It gets worse, when Logan found out that she was pregnant he demanded that she get an abortion for it but she refused to do it. He decided to do it himself, he beat her and hurt her to try and kill me too inside of her but he failed, so he let her have the child. And then about 9 months later I was born." a few tears came to his eyes.
"You don't have to force yourself to tell me this, I'm not going to rush you."
"No it's okay, I can keep going." he took a breath and went on "When I was born my mother gave me the name Michael after my grandfather since he passed away a few months before I was born. My father, he couldn't give less of a damn about me. My mother was the only one who cared about me and gave me all the love, care and support she ever could and I had accepted all of it from her without a second thought. But this is where the Multiple Personality thing came to be. When I turned 3 the man that was supposed to be my father would start to brutally abuse me both physically and emotionally every single minute of every single day and night. My own father…" he wiped away a few tears.
Adam put a hand on his shoulder "Take it easy Mike, too much strain on the brain isn't good for you dude. Not to mention it might end up releasing Mal."
"I know… but now that I've started to tell the story it wouldn't be right for me to stop in such a half assed way." he turned back to Alejandro "When I was 5 years old I was outside playing in our backyard, my mother was inside getting dinner ready. I ended up accidentally tossing my ball into the street and ran out to get it back but… but as I was going to get it… I saw something thundering towards me and this huge white light and then everything just went black for me." he started to tear up again "I didn't even know what had happened but my mom had told me everything… It was Logan, he had crashed his car into me, breaking my arm and leg pretty bad and giving me a serious head concussion… He even almost cracked my skull open, I've still got the scar to prove it to you." he pushed down his hair, revealing a small scar at the center of his skull "My mother ran out and saw me on the ground, she thought I was dead but I was still alive. Well just barely but it still counts. My mom had enough so she called an ambulance and the police. Logan was arrested for child abuse and attempted murder and he was sentenced to life in prison, but he said that he didn't even want a son… He wanted me dead… My own father, the man who helped to give me life, wanted me dead." tears streamed down his face but he went on regardless "I was sent to the hospital and I was in a coma for 6 months, my mother was all alone in the house. That is until she met Steve, the two of them soon became fast friends and soon they even became a couple. My mother and Steve visited me every single day to check on me, the doctors said that I would barely make it but they thought that I would've been dead. All the while I was trapped in my subconscious, I was alone, scared and wanting to see my mother. That, combined with all of the abuse that I took from Logan, all of the things he said to me and added up with being hit by the car… that's how I got my Multiple Personality Disorder." he looked up at Alejandro "Are you crying?"
"No… It's just some condensation." he wiped some of said condensation away "But still that's the most tragic story I've ever heard. But I don't understand, where do Adam and this Mal figure factor into this story?"
"I'm getting to that, but everything you've heard up until now isn't even close to being the worst of it. The real hell begins… when I created Mal."
"You mean because he's one of the multiple personalities that Adam went to such great lengths to keep secret from the rest of us?"
"Yeah. When I obtained my Multiple Personality Disorder it was Mal that was the first one that I had created. Mal was created from all of the negative emotions I had boiling inside of me, my rage, my hatred, my pain, every single horrible moment of the first 5 years of my life was what gave birth to the force known as Mal. He wasn't always like that though… at one point he was my best friend. Mal was created about a month before I woke up from my coma, and when I did the first thing I saw was my mother crying and holding onto me like I'd disappear forever if she let go. My mother told me that she met Steve while I was in a coma, they said that they were gonna get married. I was glad my mom had found new love but at the same time I was scared to the core of Steve hurting me like Logan did for so long. Mal was created in order to protect me from any danger or threats, so in a sense he was like my guardian angel. About a month later my mother and Steve got married and he became my new step father, though I was still afraid of him but he soon showed me that he was different from how Logan was. He actually cared about me and treated me like I was his own flesh and blood, and I was happy. I even changed my last name to Tremblay since it's his and as far as I'm concerned he's the only true father I've ever had in my life."
"So then where do your other 4 multiple personalities come into this story? The ones everyone saw on Revenge if the Island I mean."
"I gained the other four personalities about a week after the wedding. You know Chester, Svetlana, Vito and Manitoba Smith. When they came Mal started to feel jealous, but I reassured him that he wouldn't need to be because he would always be my best friend… but that wouldn't last. When I was 7 my mother told me about my multiple personalities, and surprisingly Mal and the others were okay even after they learned they were just alters… at least I thought that they were okay. That was the start of Mal turning into the monster, but it was still to subtle for me to notice."
"This is where I come into the picture." Adam finally chimed in for the first time "After the big bombshell Mike's personalities, well except for Mal, started popping out whenever they were triggered. Vito came out whenever anyone ripped off his shirt, Svetlana came out whenever he was challenged to anything athletic so she worked wonders in gym class, Chester came out whenever he got frustrated and Manitoba Smith showed up whenever he put on a fedora. But that was where the ridicule started."
"Everyone saw me as some kind of freak, frankly it almost pushed me over the edge and I almost lost it. That is, before I met Adam. He was the only kid who saw me for Mike instead of just Multiple Mike the freak." he received a shrug.
"What can I say? I saw a lonely guy with a good heart who wanted a friend, I figured I might as well be that friend." Adam's expression turned to one akin to murderous "Little did I know it would lead to what is without a doubt the most horrifying night of my entire life."
"What is it?" Alejandro paled at how much darker Adam's expression turned.
"The night my home was burned down and my parents were killed." that froze him in his place.
"You mean…"
"Yeah."
Mike went on with his side of the story "Adam and I were really close friends ever since we were kids, and I didn't realize how jealous Mal was becoming as a result of this until it was too late. Adam and I had been friends for about a year. It was nighttime, I was asleep… when Mal took control of my body. He walked down the stairs and grabbed a butcher knife from our kitchen drawer and walked down the street and he broke into Adam's house." his body started shaking "He snuck up on Adam's parents while they were sleeping and he…" tears started streaming down his face "He stabbed both of them in the chest."
Alejandro's look turned to one of horror "So then…"
"It gets worse from there…" Adam's voice was hoarse "Mal snuck up on me, he stabbed me a few times, threw me out a second story window and then he held out his hand and my house just burst into some kind of black flames with the bodies of my mom and dad still inside. Then he went up to me while I was still on that ground with that sickening sadistic grin, his eyes glowing blood crimson with some kind of black shadowy figure appearing behind him and going into him, his body radiating black energy with black marks appearing all over his body like he and said to me that I didn't deserve to have Mike as my friend and that butting my nose into something that didn't concern me was what cost me everything, and then he warned me that if I ever came near Mike again then he would send me to join both of my parents in Hell. then he ran away. I passed out a few minutes later from blood loss. That night I lost pretty much everything. My parents, my home, and my body was riddled with scars all over my chest, stomach and back."
"What are you saying? I've seen you without a shirt, you don't have a single scar on there."
"...I was hoping I would never have to take this off." Adam slowly removed his shirt, confirming that there were no visible scars "This is what I've let people see from me, but I've kept the truth hidden all this time so that nobody would see the scars of my past. Literally." he gripped his shoulder and ripped at it, revealing a fake layer of skin, and he ripped it clean off all the way, revealing his hidden secret: his chest and stomach were riddled with scars, small but each one was still noticeable and they covered almost his entire torso front and back "These are the physical scars Mal gave me that night, but I still got a lot of emotional ones too. My life pretty much went to hell after that. I lost my family, I lost my home, and after that night my best friend just up and vanished without a trace and I didn't have a single clue where he was. I moved in with Cody and his parents about a week later but I wasn't the same. My heart was dead, any emotions I showed were just an act, a ruse to fool people into leaving me alone so I could just wallow in my own misery. And bowling. And that's when I met him."
"Carlos. Mi hermano."
"Yeah. I was trying to bowl without bumpers for the first time, trying to copy his moves to get a higher score since he kept getting strikes and spares every time. It didn't work, and I was getting frustrated. I think Carlos saw this and wound up trying to help me get it right my own way, even if he did have a tournament to finish him. He guided me in that game and I wound up getting my first strike. I went bowling every Saturday after that, and it turns out he bowled there every Saturday too as part of his league. It was like that for about a year or so, and after the first time I beat him in a game, though I'm pretty sure he let me, he started teaching me a lot of stuff about different cultures and skills and the like. When I turned 13 he made me part of his league with him, and we won like 5 tournaments in a row as a result. But I'm getting off track and kind of ahead of myself. Let's go back about a year, this part of the story is pretty important. By this point I was 12 and I was in 6th grade, but one day gave me a much needed semi eye opener. It was the day I met Zoey."
"I never heard about this part." Mike pointed out "You always just said you and here were old friends and pen pals."
"Because I didn't think you'd wanna know how your girlfriend met her ex."
"...Fair enough, go ahead."
"Anyway she was a new transfer student at my middle school, and she caught my eye pretty quickly. My first thought was that she was cute, but I noticed pretty quick that she lacked confidence. We got to talking and we became fast friends over the course of the next few weeks but there was a problem. I liked her, like really liked her, and that thought scared me to the very depths of my core. Ever since what happened that night my heart was in shambles and my soul was scarred almost beyond repair. I hadn't been able to truly trust anyone, not even my own family, in over 4 years. Everything was just so hard and so confusing. I talked to Carlos about it and he told me that that's how life is, it's a struggle but what helps you to get through the hard stuff is the people by your side. Thanks to that I realized that I might have ended up throwing away what could've been a really close friendship. So I talked to her about it, I told her I wasn't ready for anything like that and I just wanted to stay friends for the time being. Zoey was actually surprisingly cool with that, well one side of her was anyway. It was her Commando side that wasn't so cool with the idea, and I ended up spending the next week locked in her freezer until Carlos found me and let me out."
Alejandro blinked "Wow."
"Yeah. Anyway Zoey transferred to another school a few months later but we were still pen pals, but even after all of that I was still having a hard time trusting people. Then came 7th grade and with it a day that changed my life. It was the day I met Devin and Carrie."
"I see."
"I don't know what it was about me but they just went out of their way to try and be friends with me, but that day was a life changer. The two of them were the first people I was able to trust even a little bit in half a decade. They may not know it but the saved me from myself, and I can never even begin to repay them for it. But when I turned 14 I got the shock of my life, courtesy of a birthday gift from Carlos. Apparently he had tracked Mike down for me so that we could reconcile, but as it turns out…"
"I had been in juvie." Mike took over for him briefly "After what had happened that night with his parents Mal had refused to give me back control of my body so I ended up spending the next 6 years in Juvie. When I finally managed to get back control of my body I found myself face to face with Adam and I poured my heart and soul out to him about Mal and all he had done, the pain he had caused, the people he had hurt and I think he might have met Duncan while he was in juvie."
"...I actually never heard about that part, but go on."
"Anyway I was so desperate for the nightmare to be over that I dragged him into it, I begged him to do anything to help me stop him before anymore innocent people suffered his wrath."
"After that I left and consulted Carlos about what to do, all he said was to do what I thought was the right course of action which really wasn't much help. I felt deep down that the only way to stop Mal was to take him out by any means necessary, I doubt it's the right way but I still think it's the only one that would work. Like how Thanos in Infinity War thought halfway genocide was the only way to save the universe. Anyway I felt like this was something that I had to do myself, Carlos understood this and accepted my decision. I spent the next month training in any and every way I could to be ready for this fight. and the day came where Mal and I actually fought for the first time. I remember that day like it was yesterday. It was pouring rain, lightning was flashing overhead like I had never seen before. Carlos stood nearby on the sidelines looking at Mal with nothing but contempt in his eyes and yet his glare held a small sense of pity. When the fight finally began I fought Mal with everything I had but I was lucky to even get a couple of lucky shots in on his blind spot, and that was before he unleashed… whatever it was. I don't know what it was but I was able to slash Mal across the face with a pocket knife, he kind of, well… exploded. My vision was kind of blurry but some fiery red energy surrounded his body and it was like he was a whole different person. He was so much stronger and faster, and he damaged my eyes to the point where I was nearly blind with just a sweep of his hand. I could still barely see though, so I kept on going. Mal aimed another attack with a knife he pulled out of nowhere and this one would've killed me if Carlos hadn't stepped in and stopped the attack with his bare hand, but he ended up getting hurt in the process. I thanked him for saving me but I also asked him to step aside and let me finish this fight on my own."
Alejandro let out a sigh "Carlos always did say that in battle you either fight to protect one's life or you fight to protect one's pride."
"And I was fighting for both of those things. But Mal was brutal and relentless, he beat me down to the ground and left me burned over about 70% of my body and yes even down there. It still burns when I pee. Anyway Mal had me pinned to the ground and I raised my arms in a desperate attempt to block the strike when something unexpected happened."
"What?"
"Mal got struck by this gigantic blast of lightning that came out of nowhere, that weird energy around his body disappeared and he collapsed to the ground. Carlos took us both to the hospital after that, I was there for a month and Mike was in a coma for just as long. But I never forgot what Mal said to me before he passed out. He kept mocking me about how my so called heroics would be my undoing and that he'd come back, and when he did I would suffer a pain worse than hell itself. So Carlos spent the next 3 or so years training me and teaching me everything he knew and everything I would need in order to be ready for when Mal returned." he took a deep breath "And that's the end of the story, up until now that is."
Alejandro remained silent, but he finally spoke again after a few moments "That's… well for the most part that's one of the saddest stories I've ever heard. On one hand the thought of a foe such as Mal having supernatural powers does leave me rather skeptical, or it would had it not been for the incidents with the alien portal in Area 51 and M'Baku in Tanzania."
"So what then?" asked Mike "Does that mean you'll help us?"
"...Adam you helped to save my from myself after I committed as many atrocities as I did throughout the course of Total Drama World Tour, and you were one of the few people able to truly understand my brother and his wisdom. Therefore, I'm bound by a code of honor to aid you in this quest until your foe is vanquished. I will follow you until the end."
"And for that I'm grateful." Adam told him "Now come on let's turn in, I have a feeling we'll need all the strength we can get for tomorrow."
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Morning came, and the sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon.
Adam was already driving the RV through the city 'It shouldn't be too long now, before we have the answers we need.'
"You're up already?"
Adam looked over and noticed Mike and Alejandro make their way up to the front "I got up an hour ago and I'm not one to fall back to sleep so easily."
"You never told me." Alejandro blurted out after a moment "What the point of this trip is I mean, was it just to tell me the story of your past?"
"...That was only part of it, and a small part at that. Apparently I was one of the few who wasn't sore about McLean trying to screw us over at the beginning of season 4."
"How did everybody take it anyway?" asked Mike.
"Oh they got back at him by keeping the yacht until it hit dry land and Geoff and the others threw a kickass yacht party. Anyway going back to your question Alejandro, aside from those who made cameos throughout the course of the season, none of them really bothered to keep up with the new generation of contestants. Well aside from me and Cody that is. Well I mean granted Mike was the main reason I watched but not long before the halfway mark into the season I noticed something that caught my eye. One of the other contestants was able to figure out Mike's secret without having to be told."
"You mean Cameron?"
"No he's competing on that other show with Devin and Carrie remember?"
"So then who- Hold on, you mean…"
"Her name is Dawn, apparently she was the ability to read the auras of different people and see into their pasts as a result. She was able to use this ability to learn about Mike's multiple personalities, and I believe that if she knows about that then she should know when Mal is most likely to return. That way I'll have a deadline for when and where I have to be ready to fight that bastard again."
"I see, so this is about knowing how ready you have to be and when you have to be ready. This is about setting a deadline."
"That's what I said." he pulled over to the side of the road "Mike go wake Zoey up, I figure we might as well stop off and get some breakfast on the way."
"I suppose it would be best to-" he was cut off by sparks flaring into life underneath his feet in the form of a ring "What the-?"
"Okay what's going on?"
"How am I supposed to know-" he let out a yelp as he dropped through a random portal that appeared beneath his seat, only for it to disappear immediately after, leaving only a card behind on the seat.
"...Alejandro?" he poked the card and picked it up "177A Bleecker Street? Okay I guess we have the place."
"Adam!" Mike burst up to him from the back room "Zoey just disappeared-"
"In some kind of fiery vortex that appeared at her feet?"
"Yeah how did you-"'
"The same thing happened to Alejandro and it left behind some kind of card with an address, I'm guessing that means we found her."
"So we found the place then?"
"Looks like it." they both stepped out of the RV "We're gonna have to go on foot from here."
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It wasn't long before the address in question had been found.
Adam stopped Mike at the door of the building "Alright man what do you think?"
Mike looked around "Let's see… Large building that looks like the Sanctum Sanctorum from that Doctor Strange movie, small animal sanctuary nearby, wind chimes and dream catchers across the front… Yeah if Dawn doesn't live here then I don't know who else could." they went up to the door and he prepared to knock on it, only to find themselves already inside before his hand even hit the door "What the-?"
"Okay some serious Doctor Strange shit going down right here."
"I imagined you would come." a voice echoed throughout the building.
Adam looked up, with Mike doing the same, only to see a figure approach them from the shadows "Are you the one that took Zoey and Alejandro?"
"Rest assured your friends are in no danger, I simply sent them through a portal into another dimension while the two of us discuss our business."
"So what does that mean then, you're some sort of sorcerer?"
"The preferred term is Master of the Mystic Arts but essentially yes. Please, call me Aurora if you wish. Adam Anderson, Michael Tremblay, I sensed that you would be coming."
Mike looked over her appearance for a moment 'Light blonde hair, teal eyes…'
"I am aware of what you are wondering Michael and yes, Dawn is my daughter."
"Oh really?"
"Greetings friends!"
Mike let out a terrified yelp and whipped around to see Dawn pop up behind him, and he turned into Chester as a result "Dagnabbit, what is it with you kids popping up behind people like that? You nearly gave me a blasted heart attack!" then he turned back into Mike "Sorry, Chester doesn't like to get startled like that."
"No apologies necessary. Tell me Mike, you have come to confirm with me when the great evil resting deep within your mind would return yes?"
"Um… yeah…"
"There is no need to feel nervous, simply take my hands and I shall peer into your mind."
"Alright." Mike sat down on the ground and took Dawn's hands in his, and his eyes suddenly turned white.
"And now, it begins…" Dawn's eyes turned white as well.
"...So what's going on right now?" asked Adam.
"It's one of the techniques of the Mystic Arts." Aurora told him "Right now Dawn is peering into the boy's mind in order to locate the one known as Mal, and once he has been located she will be able to determine how long before he resurfaces and tries to take control of Mike's body."
"So that way I can know how long it is before I have to fight him."
"The eventual battle between you and Mal is inevitable, he is a forced that must be stopped and you are the only one who can. But before you make any assumptions there is much more to this you must know. Please take a seat." she teleported them into another room and sat both of them down in chairs "Tea?"
Adam looked down and noticed a cup of tea in his hand "Thanks but I don't drink tea."
"What would you prefer then?"
"Just some water would be fine I guess-" he paused when he realized that the tea had been changed to a cup of water "Huh. Thanks." he downed it, only for it to refill itself "So there's more to my war with Mal than even I know?"
"Correct. I've searched your aura and the several layers covering it and in your previous duel against this foe you've noticed him unleashed black flames from an unnatural source and he was struck down by lightning correct?"
"Yeah but what does that have to do with it?"
"Much more than you realize young one." she teleported them over to a bookshelf and took out one of the books "Throughout the order of the Masters of the Mystic Arts, all have been informed by the Sorcerer Supreme of the history of the six most powerful beings to ever exist in our reality, or any reality for that matter."
"What are you talking about? I don't get it."
"...What are you saying?"
Since the beginning of time, before what we know as the Big Bang, there have been 6 singularities, 6 forces of ultimate untapped power. When the universe exploded into existence with the Big Bang, the remnants of these six systems were formed into concentrated physical forms, each with a single consciousness of its own as well as two Lacrima each in their chest. To them, a Lacrima is the core of their being, divided into two separate objects with two different purposes for each, one of them being used to keep their physical forms and the other to keep their consciousness active, and the other being used to keep their spirits active, for without them their spirits would lay dormant for 10,000 years, either that or their spirits will be reincarnated but I will get into that later. These six beings have been known throughout the 10 dimensions as the Cosmic Elementals, with each being having absolute control of one of the 6 great elemental properties of the universe: Wind, Lightning,Water, Metal, and two of them you have already fought before, those being Earth and Fire. Their names respectively are Tatsumaki, Kaminari, Kaiyo, Metallum, Terrae and Urere. The Cosmic Elementals remained neutral for eons, but eventually they grew tired of this as the 10 dimensions and the universe as a whole quickly fell into chaos, but they differed in their paths: Four of them desired to conquer the 10 dimensions and rule over them with an iron fist, whereas the other two decided to use their powers to help people and improve on their ways of life and one of them decided to remain neutral in this matter. This was the start of the Cosmic War, the Elementals of Metal, Earth and Fire against Wind and Water. The war was fierce and ravaged 3 galaxies, but when it was all said and done they had all survived unsathed but they had scattered, different plans on their minds for the inevitable fated showdown that was to come. Metallum quickly proved himself to be more powerful all of the other Cosmic Elementals and established himself as the superior of Terrae and Urere, and began making plans to invade the Cosmic Ocean of Varuna, eliminate the powerful ruler Hiidrala, and take control of her army of Daagon warriors, and then their conquest of the universe would be that much easier. To this end, he found Kaminari and defeated him in a battle that destroyed three planets, but in the end Kaminari was defeated, and bound by his code of honor, he forced himself to go along with Metallum's wishes. Tatsumaki, on the other hand, tried to convince Kaminari to rebel against Metallum but was unsuccessful, but the two still refused to fight each other unless absolutely necessary, and so they left on neutral terms until the day came. When that day came Kaiyo and Tatsumaki allied with Hiidrala and the Daagon against the forces of Metallum, Terrae, Urere and a reluctant but honor bound Kaminari. Thanks to accessing the power of her Cosmic Lacrima on the deepest possible level, and in the end she was able to defeat both Terrae and Urere before being defeated, but not slain, by Metallum. On the other end of the battle, Tatsumaki and Kaminari had both undergone the same training as Kaiyo and were engaged in a fierce and epic duel. That is, until Metallum made his move: For their failures in battle, he stole one of the two Earth Lacrima from Terrae and one of the Fire Lacrima from Urere and exiled both of them into hiding on different planets, which we shall come back to later on in this story. With the Cosmic powers of Earth and Fire added to his own Metal powers, Metallum then attempted to take advantage of the fact that both Tatsumaki and Kaminari were left too weakened by their battle to fight back. However, Tatsumaki and Kaminari had another trick up their sleeves. Each two Cosmic Elementals come in a set, twins if you will. This would include Wind and Lightning, Fire and Water, and Earth and Metal. One of the abilities that Cosmic Elementals have is to use the element of another one of their own after certain conditions have been met, that being if they absorb a small amount of energy from the Lacrima and use that elemental power for a short period of time. These two took it one step further, and combined into one entirely new being through a process known as Cosmic Fusion and became a new being, with traits of both of their personalities and several times more powerful than either of the two alone. They had become Tempestatis, the Cosmic Elemental of the Hurricane. The only price was that the fusion was permanent, now that they had become one they could never go back to what they once were. But they were content, as long as they could stop Metallum from unleashing chaos upon the universe they were fine with it. The battle was fierce and even destroyed a number of planets in the process, but in the end the battle had been lost. Metallum had caught Tempestatis from behind and run him through with his metal claws. However, with his dying breath, Tempestatis made a vow: Even if it took him a thousand lifetimes, he would see that the universe would be free from Metallum and his horrible power, and that the power of the Cosmic Lacrima would never fall into the wrong hands again, essentially meaning that he would continue to reincarnate over and over again until Metallum was destroyed. Metallum was unsatisfied with this victory and used the power of his Fire Lacrima to create a new soul in his image: a fiery warrior of pure evil that was intended simple to torture each reincarnation until the process ceased to exist. Until the day come when Metallum has been slain, the cycle will continue and if that day never comes then the true spirit of the Cosmic Elementals will be forever lost to the memory of time."
Adam took a moment to process this "So let me see if I've got this: There were 6 of these elemental gods, two of them fused together so that leaves 5, the fusion got killed so that leaves 4 of these guys. Does that sound about right?"
"Not exactly, and it's a good thing that you are sitting down for this one. As punishment for their defeat in the war against the Daagon, Terrae and Urere both had one of their two Cosmic Lacrima stolen by Metallum, who implanted both of them into himself and became a hideous and deranged beast who sought only power and conquest. Now that they were nearly powerless, the two of them went into hiding on the far ends of the cosmos. Urere retreated to a remote planet on the edge of the known universe, but that didn't stop him. In a matter of eons he and his army of fire demons and dragons had conquered what we now know as Sphaera Ignis, and he currently rules over it in solitude. As for what happened to Terrae… well that will most likely leave you rather speechless."
"I'm listening."
"So you are. You see, after one of his Earth Lacrima had been stolen Terrae went into hiding on a remote planet on the far edge of the universe. This planet. Earth."
"Hold on, so you're saying that there's some giant rock monster rampaging around on Earth and has been for centuries?"
"He was. Until 20 months ago, but that will come later. When Terrae arrived on Earth, he was terribly weakened and washed up on the shores of Africa, where the native people believed him to be a god from the legends of which they had been taught. While Terrae felt that it was rather indignant, it did provide him with offerings of food, shelter, time to restore his strength, and the chance to create an army and regain his strength so that he could find Metallum, defeat him and take back his Earth Lacrima which had been wrongfully stolen from him. Until that day came he would be known by a new name: M'Baku."
"...Say what now?"
"He was-"
"Yeah I know, that was rhetorical." he got up, grabbed a glass of water, drank down a few gulps and spat the last one out "So you're saying that I've killed a GOD?"
"Essentially yes."
"...Yep it's finally happened, I've been brain f*cked. So what you're saying is… is that I'm the reincarnation of some elemental god from the beginning of time?"
"The 107th to be more specific, but yes. Adam, you hold a great amount of power within the very depths of your soul, power much greater than you realize and you've actually manifested it before. I can see it in your aura, which is actually a nice shade of forest green mixed with sky blue hidden under many protective layers of black and white. You manifested your powers once before, in your previous duel against Mal."
"When did I… Hold on, you mean that gigantic lightning bolt that hit Mal and sent Mike into a coma was one I unconsciously fired at him?"
"Your power has always dwelled within you, yet only once has it ever been unleashed. You must learn to tap into it at will or you will never be able to emerge victorious."
"So what do you have in mind?"
"A simple test, if you pass then not only will your powers be awakened but you will acquire the materials to forge a weapon more powerful than any this world has ever seen."
"And if I fail?"
"You die." the tension in the air grew thick.
Adam stood unfazed "I'll do it."
"I imagined as much, your aura told me so." she teleported them down to the entry hall of the building "I simply require one strand of your hair, that way I'll be able to have an easier time of coordinating where to have the portal take you."
"Sure I guess." so without further ado he ripped out a strand of hair from the back of his head and handed it to her "Here."
"Thank you." she used it as a basis and used her Mystic Arts to create a portal "This will take you to Sphaera Ignis, the realm of fire."
"So what exactly is my test then?"
"You must journey to Sphaera Ignis and seek out the Fire Dragon, then you must slay it and bring its head back here. But be warned, if Urere discovers your presence there then you will never be able to return alive."
"...If it means I can beat Mal and make sure the people I love don't have to suffer the way that I have then it's a risk I'm willing to take." he looked down at his clothes "With all due respect, I don't think a red under armour quarter zip and a pair of khaki shorts are the way to dress when you're entering a world ruled by a fire demon."
"Of course." Aurora held out a hand to him and a white light washed over him.
When the light dissipated, Adam stood now clad in an ocean blue martial arts gi, a black belt, white shin guards, black wristbands and black shoes "Okay this is much better thank you. By the way when you were planning to let Alejandro and Zoey out?"
"...Oh yes of course." she opened another portal.
Alejandro was in the middle of screaming as he hit the ground with a thud, with Zoey landing on top of him "We have been falling… for 30 minutes!"
"There is no more that they shouldn't hear."
"Good to know. Alright, wish me luck." and with that, Adam jumped into the portal, which closed right after.
'Adam… destiny has big plans for you. Whether those plans be good or bad, only you have the power to define that. I can do little more than wish you the best of luck.'
A/N:
Mike's backstory was inspired in part by a oneshot by Hellflores, you'll find that name in my favorites list and if he or she has problems with it then I do apologize for that. That being said, Adam's side of that story was inspired in part by Erza's backstory in Fairy Tail and I decided to expand a little bit more on his backstory and his friendship with Devin and Carrie, since I didn't that much in the Rise of an Underdog.
The overall road trip idea was inspired by How I Met Your Mother, season 5 episode 4, and I added it in because I thought it would be fun. Hence the constant references to Tantrum, you know the Steroids in a drink that turns people into normal versions of the Hulk.
I decided to add Dawn into this fic, not because pretty much everyone loves her for somewhat understandable reasons, but because of episode 5 of Revenge of the Island in particular. I figured that if she knew about Mike having Multiple Personality Disorder then she should have known about Mal too.
I know I've been foreshadowing Mal A LOT over the course of these stories, which conforms that yes I will be continuing on into Total Drama All Stars with this overall story arc. I think that Mal was a pretty solid villain in a season that had the bad luck of such a terrible writer, so I'm trying to make the most of it.
That line about Thanos was a spoiler for Infinity War, if any readers haven't seen that movie yet then I do apologize for it.
Most of this stuff about the prophecy was stuff I came up with on the fly while I was watching Thor: Ragnarok. I do plan on playing it into a chapter in my All Stars story. Which reminds me, Thor: Ragnarok is now on Netflix as of June 5th so if you want to see it then just go on there and go ahead. Anyway, there's a lot of Doctor Strange stuff in here too since I thought I would expand on Dawn's ability to read auras a little bit more and I figured what better direction to go then the direction of the Mystic Arts?
The realm of fire stuff is just in Latin, based on stuff from Thor: Ragnarok. It was the best I could come up with.
I decided to just reveal the Cosmic Elemental plot points right away because it would make more sense this way, plus I actually hadn't come up with that when I first wrote this chapter so at least now I have a grasp on what to do with it going forward. Oh, and recently I came up with another idea for them that will be expanded on later on.
Terrae being M'Baku, the ape god that was killed by Adam in the Rise of an Underdog, was an idea that I came up with when I was watching Avengers: Infinity War. I figured that since the Tesseract was actually the Space Stone, why not expand on M'Baku being more important than anyone knew.
Kaiyo so I thought it was the best name to give to the Cosmic Elemental of Water. Plans for this one were something that I came up with on the fly because I realized that this was one that I hadn't looked into.
The idea for each Cosmic Elemental having two Cosmic Lacrima (Which is apparently Latin for Tears) as two halves of their core came from the idea of the Dragon Lacrima used in Fairy Tail, and somewhat based on the Ultralink Elementors in the Max Steel 2013 series. Amazing show by the way, it's on Netflix so check it out if you get the chance.