An Underdog's Knighthood (Story 3 of 4 of my Underdog Series)

by The Legendary Dragon Reaper

During the events of the Ridonculous Race, Adam takes this chance to prepare for Mal's inevitable return. But preparing for this fight will test him in every way imaginable, and the start of it all involves him learning about himself. The age of the Cosmic Knight is upon us. Third story in this series. Multiple crossovers including TMNT 2012, Ben 10, Kung Fu Panda and Fairy Tail.

3. Enter the Shatterstorm

(Takes place between during chapters 6-7 of the Ridonculous Underdogs)

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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. 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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(3 years before the Rise of an Underdog, 6 months after Adam's first confrontation with Mal)

The skies were calm in the early morning over the town of Ocean Falls.

Adam met Carlos on a hill on the outskirts of the city "I got your message Carlos, what did you wanna talk about? I thought our training session wasn't until tomorrow."

"It's not, but there's something else I had to show you that couldn't wait." Carlos told him "Tell me Adam, when you look out at the city and the people in it what do you see?"

"What do you mean?" Adam sat down next to him "I see the city and the people who live in it, what else is there to see? And how will that help me be ready for when I have to fight Mal?"

"That's not the point I'm trying to make, take a look down there and you'll be able to see so many of the people of this city from here." he pointed to one of the market streets of the city where it was bustling with the night people and early morning people "Every single person in this city down there has their own individual story, their own beliefs and reasons for making the choices that lead them to become who they are today. We all have their own stories just like you do and it could be said that the story is written by the time we come into the world, that all of it is connected together in a sort of grand scheme as it were, that all of the people you see each and every day are nothing more than a small contributions to something greater than each of their own individual stories. It's like a sort of Grand Novel of Life if you think about it."

"What are you trying to get at?"

Carlos gave a small smile "Well mi amigo pequeño, while the thought of it does give me a great deal of comfort I myself am inclined to disagree."

"But why? The idea that everyone is connected to each other sounds ideal though doesn't it? I mean if that's the case then everyone should be able to understand each other shouldn't they? So there wouldn't be any sort of need for people to fight amongst each other if everyone was able to understand everyone else."

"Yes that is indeed true, if there could be universal understanding between all of the people of this world then conflict would be eradicated. However while I do believe that this is a goal that most people would find worthy of striving towards no matter how small or how large the scale may be, I don't believe such a thing as universal understanding truly does exist."

"Otherwise you think people would've already found it and most of the disasters brought about by mankind would never have happened?"

"Perhaps, but now I suppose we'll never know but that isn't the point I'm trying to make. Let me put it this way. For example, if such a thing as universal understanding exists then why are people punished by law for something like theft?"

"Because it's wrong but-"

"By the laws of the land you would be correct, theft is a crime and people do get punished as a result. But consider this, what of the man who steals from a shopkeeper in order to provide for his family when he doesn't have the means to purchase the goods himself? Should he let his family starve in order to protect the profits of the shop owner?"

"Of course not, if universal understanding did exist then there would be no conflict of interest in the situation, the shopkeeper would have understood the dilemma the thief was in and not pressed any sort of charges. Likewise, the thief would most likely have asked the shopkeeper for help rather than actually have stolen the goods seeing how he would most likely have understood that the shopkeeper's own family depends on him making a profit from his goods to provide for them. But that sort of thing doesn't happen in real life, I mean it should but it doesn't, and it's all because of the fact that nobody can see past their own situation."

"That's exactly right. Life is chaotic by its very nature no matter what you do, true harmony is a difficult thing for anyone to achieve no matter how hard one tries or how great the one who pursues it may be."

"So what then, are you saying that there's no point in even trying? That it's all pointless and it won't amount to anything?"

"Quite the opposite actually, the thing that makes life most beautiful is that there is always going to be those who will strive to make things better for others, to stand up for a cause that benefits others and not just themselves. Tell me again Adam, when you look down at the city and its people what do you see?"

Adam looked down and noticed something.

A pair of shoppers had crashed into each other on the streets, but instead off getting mad at each other and accusing the other of being careless, they both just seemed to apologize before they helped each other gather the displaced goods and they went on their way.

Suddenly it made sense to Adam, and he gave his answer "Life."

Carlos nodded in approval "Exactly."

"But I still don't get it Carlos, how is this related to my training for my next fight with Mal?"

"It doesn't relate to it but not everything I'm teaching you has to. You have great potential and a good heart Adam, but you're far too focused on your goal of vanquishing the demon plaguing your friend Mike for it to be considered healthy. You can't base your entire life around this goal or you won't have anything else in life to look forward to once you accomplish this goal."

"What are you saying Carlos, that I should try and be happy with the endless struggle that is my life while my best friend is suffering?"

"That decision is yours alone and I cannot make it for you, you've become so narrow mindedly focus on this goal that you've forgotten what it means to enjoy your life and the opportunities that come with it. A wise man once said that vengeance consumes all who seek it, it can corrupt even the most pure hearted of people and even I myself have fought with it many times over my life. Of course I'm not justifying your actions over the past few weeks but I think you understand where I'm coming from."

"I guess I do but where are you going with this?"

"Take another look out there, beyond the horizon, what do you see in the distance?"

"You mean the sunrise?"

"Exactly now tell me, what do you think of it?"

"Well sure it's beautiful but I usually don't spend any of my time thinking about sunsets when there are more important things for me to think about."

"That right there, what you just said is exactly your problem. You're so consumed by your anger and hatred for Mal and what you believe is your responsibility to stop him that you either fail to notice or just flat out ignore the smaller things in life."

"What exactly are you trying to tell me Carlos?"

"What I'm trying to tell you is that if you don't stop or slow down and look around a little bit in life then you'll never be able to get anything out of it. For the past 6 months you've been focused on nothing but preparing for when Mal will return and you've kept it a secret from your other friends, your family, everyone except for me and it's not going to do you any good in the long run now does it?"

"No… No I guess it doesn't. Is this because I didn't go with Devin and Carrie to see that new Avengers movie about Ultron back in May?"

"If that is how you choose to interpret it then yes. You have to be sure to understand these things before it's too late Adam, as much as the thought pains me I won't be able to watch over you forever. I have to make sure you're able to take care of yourself both physically as well as mentally."

(End)

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Adam's eyes suddenly shot open "Woah man… it was just a dream… No, it was more like a flash of my memories or something…" he looked around at his surroundings and realized he was bound by chains "Oh yeah, ugly smoldering cave, bound by chains and stuck in a cage in that realm of fire that Aurora sent me to a few months ago called Sphaera Ignis." let out a sigh "I've got a pretty good idea of what you're thinking, your big bad hero Adam is in a cage in a realm of fire and you have no idea how the hell he got there. Well let me go ahead and give you the short version, sometimes you've gotta let yourself get caught in order to get the straight forward answers you're looking for. Now for the long version, see I don't see myself as much of a hero as I do of a protector. Of my friends and family I mean. See I'm usually a pretty chill guy, at least on the outside, but the truth is that despite having as many friends as I do I've been keeping a dark secret from a lot of them. Mike, my true best and closest friend since we were like 8 has Multiple Personality Disorder, and one of his personalities is called Mal, a psychotic murderer who nearly ruined my life almost 10 years ago when he killed my parents, burned down my home and scarred me all over my body. I was depressed for a few years until I met Carlos, the son of a diplomat from Spain, and he sort of became like a big brother to me. For a long time I felt like he was the only person I could trust, until I met my friends Devin and Carrie. I didn't really care enough to get to know them at first and honestly just blew them off a lot in an attempt to get them to leave me alone, this applied to Devin a lot more than Carrie. But that all changed one day after school…"

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(4 years before the Rise of an Underdog, 6 months before Adam's first confrontation with Mal)

Sunset came and another day was ending at Ocean Falls Junior High, all of the students were making their way home.

Adam was calmly making his way out of the building, alone just like always 'And he's gonna show up in 3… 2… 1…'

"Hey Adam hold up!" sure enough, out came 14 year old Devin, wearing his signature shirt, only it was backwards for some reason "I was thinking, what would you say about walking home together sometime?"

"I'm going left, you always go right." and he walked off on the left path, only to find Devin right behind him "Seriously?"

"What? My homie Carrie lives this way, I mean I could go the other way like I always do but sometimes I wanna enjoy the scenic route."

"Fair enough." they kept walking in awkward silence.

"So are you getting used to 7th grade yet?" Devin received no reply "Do you like any of your classes?" he still received no reply "Oh come on man, just talk to me for one for the love of god!"

Adam stopped in his tracks but he didn't bother to look back "Why do you keep trying to pester me and refuse to just leave me alone?"

"What do you mean why? I just wanna get to know you, I don't see what's so wrong about that."

"Trust me, you'd be a lot better off just leaving me alone and going about your own business. I am the last person in the world you should get involved with."

"What's the big deal? I mean sure you're pretty popular with all the girls because of your cool mysterious dark guy act but you're always on your own acting like you don't even care about anything." he noticed the tension in the air.

"...Are you really that shallow and stupid? There's nothing cool about the hell that is my life, you're just as much of a thoughtless imbecile as everyone else."

"Hey what's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like, I called you an idiot because you are dammit!" Adam finally turned to face him, his face twisted with a disturbing mix of rage and grief "You don't know a single damn thing about me so how about you take a hint and leave me the hell alone!" and he stormed off, leaving a stunned Devin behind.

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The next day came, and the sun was shining high.

Adam was on the roof of the school, staring up at the vast horizon that lay above him 'Mom… dad… It's been 6 years since I lost you guys and everything else… I know you guys would want me to move on with my life, but I don't think I have the strength to.'

"I figured you'd be up here."

Adam glanced back and found Devin standing right behind him 'Great, him again. Doesn't he know how to take a hint?'

"You weren't in the cafeteria so I figured I would find you up here."

"Well you did and now I'm leaving." he started walking away.

"Hey Adam wait up!" Devin chased after him and grabbed him by the arm "Come on man, talk to me. Look you're right, I don't really know anything about you but that's why I want to get to know you."

"...You wanna get to know me? Fine, here's the deal with me. My life went to shit when I was only 8 years old! My parents were killed in a fire, my home was burned down right in front of me and less than a day later my best friend just up and vanished on me without a trace! And if that wasn't enough, I realized I was gonna spend the rest of my life stuck with this!" he pulled his shirt off, revealing that his chest and stomach were riddled with scars, each one being small but still noticeable, covering his entire torso from the front to the back.

Devin was horrified by what he was seeing "Adam…"

"That night not only scarred me both physically and emotionally, but whatever was left in my heart died that day as well. I haven't trusted anyone else in my life, not even my cousin Cody, who is the only person I find to not annoy the bloody f*ck out of me, except for one guy for the last 4 years of the living hell that is my life and I'm not about to start now. So for once in your life dude, take a hint and leave me the bloody hell alone!" and he stormed off.

Devin just quietly watched him go 'Adam… The looks in his eyes was so filled with pain and anger… He trusted people once and he was rewarded by losing everyone he cared about, his grief was immeasurable. Now he must believe that trust is worthless, that his emotions are nothing but an anchor to weigh him down. He refuses to allow himself to trust people because he's afraid of losing them and feeling all of that pain again. He refuses to let himself trust anyone else, and even if he denies it he needs someone to save him from himself.'

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The next day came.

Adam stood at a crosswalk thinking about his earlier conversation with Devin, carrying a bag draped over his shoulder 'Maybe I was too hard on him before, I mean granted it's not like I'm willing to put myself out there to get hurt again but I could at least try to be nice about it.'

"Oh hey, if it isn't Adam."

'And speak of the devil.' Adam looked back and saw Devin make his way over "You've been doing that on purpose haven't you?"

"Doing what on purpose?"

"...Never mind, what do you want?"

"Nothing really, I was just gonna head out and see that new Guardians of the Galaxy movie when I saw you here."

"You were gonna see it by yourself?"

"Well Carrie hates those movies. The bag looks heavy, what's in it?"

"Bowling stuff, I'm being mentored in a few senses by the son of a diplomat and he's in a bowling league here in town."

"Cool. You want some help with it?"

"And you want me to hear you out on whatever annoying crap you're about to bring up, am I right?"

"What? Of course not, I just wanna help."

"That stupid look on your face says it all, you have no confidence in what you're saying."

"...I'm that predictable?"

"Everyone is at least to me, I can read people like an open book." he looked over "The light is green."

"Oh yeah, I guess it is." he started making his way, only to suddenly be yanked back by the collar of his shirt as a truck sped across the walkway at full speed "Woah, just… woah."

"I noticed at the last second that the douchebag in the truck was just gonna run the light all the way through without stopping."

"Adam…"

"Have you gotten it through your thick skull yet? No matter what I do everyone around me just ends up getting screwed over in some way, you're better off just-"

"Thanks man, you really saved my butt."

"...Huh?"

"Looks like you landed on your knee wrong, that gash looks pretty messed up."

Adam looked down and noticed a deep gash on his knee "It's not a big deal."

"Of course it is, if you leave it like that then it'll get infected." Devin led Adam over to a nearby bench and pulled a bandage out of his pocket, then placed it over the gash on his knee "There, I think that oughta do it."

"Thanks for that."

"Sure no problem, it's the least that I could do." a brief awkward pause "So about what you said yesterday-"

"It's not like I'm proud of being alone like this, but I let myself get close to people once and as a result I lost my home, my family and my best friend."

"Adam…"

"I'm just a f*cking curse that does nothing but ruin the lives of those around me and end up costing them the ultimate price, so now I can't do anything but make sure I don't let anyone else get close to me or else it's gonna cost them dearly."

"So then that's the main reason why, even when we're at school you…"

"Why the hell do you keep insisting on buddying up to me?! What is it gonna take to get you to just take the hint and leave me alone?! You have to understand by now, all that's gonna happen is that you're gonna get hurt or worse because of me!"

"And are you gonna be okay with that if I do?" that shut him up "You keep saying that you don't want anyone to get hurt because of you but I don't buy that for a second, you're the one that's been hurting all this time not me or anyone else!"

"Well it's not like there's anything I can do, you think I'm proud of being alone?! The last thing I want is to hurt people or to get hurt, but what makes my blood burn to the core of my being is when I make mistakes I can't take back and the people I care about slip through my fingers because of it! That's why I'm better off just being all alone and the world is better off because of it!" a brief pause followed the outburst.

"Adam listen to me." Devin put a hand on his shoulder "Whether you do anything or not you can't control life and death, you're human just like the rest of us and people who want to leave are gonna leave but not everyone you'll meet is like that. How about we give this a shot?" he gripped Adam by the shoulders "I'll stay with you from here on out, no matter what happens I'm not gonna leave your side. How about that?"

"...Are you for real with this?"

"Of course I am, after all as far as I'm concerned you and I have been friends for weeks. What you're not gonna cry are you?"

"No! Any tears I had dried up years ago, but thanks for real… Devin."

"Hey you actually called me by my name instead of calling me a pest, that's progress if I've ever seen any." they shook hands and clasped them firmly "Good to have you as a friend Adam."

"Same thing Devin, same thing."

(End)

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"And we've been close friends ever since." Adam finished his backstory "Anyway shit hit the fan about 6 months later when I turned 14, Carlos got me a life changer of a birthday present. He had somehow tracked down Mike for me so that we could reconcile, but as it turns out he had spent the last 6 years in juvie. After what happened with my parents Mal had refused to give control of the body back over to Mike so he ended up in juvie. Carlos took me to visit him in the detention center he was in, and for reasons I still don't know Mal had decided to give Mike back control of his body and so he poured his heart and soul out to me about Mal and everything he had done, the pain he had caused, the people he had hurt, and how he couldn't live with himself if Mal were to continue to run around free. He was practically in tears and begging me to help him in any way I could before more innocent people would suffer the way that me and my parents had because of Mal and his actions. I didn't say anything to that, I had just left. After that I went to consult Carlos about what to do and all he said was to do what I thought was the best decision in these circumstances. It really wasn't much help but I did spend the next week or so thinking about it but I kept to myself. I felt deep down that there was only one way to stop Mal from hurting anymore innocent people like he had my parents, I had my doubts that it was the right way but I thought it was the only way it would work I felt like this was something I had to do myself so I asked Carlos to let me do this on my own. He 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. You see, Carlos taught me that there are two types of fights. There's a fight to protect one's life and a fight to protect one's pride. 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. 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. That's how it's been for the next 3 years or so, until I found out that my cousin or adoptive little brother Cody was going back onto this show called Total Drama so I decided to go with him to make sure he won. I ended up becoming the unofficial leader of my team called Team Mystery, consisting of me and Cody and our other 5 team members, Bridgette, Gwen, Trent, DJ and Zeke. But this is where it gets complicated, mainly because the biggest threat to me and everyone else was Alejandro, Carlos' younger brother who was basically there to win by any means necessary and cause some serious shit along the way so I teamed up with one of his teammates, a snarky smartass by the name of Noah, to put Alejandro in his place one step at a time. But that turned out to be easier said than done, he's almost as intelligent as Carlos and just as deceitful as the evil brother Jose. He was able to pick off his enemies one by one until the final 5, with only me, Cody, Bridgette and Noah standing in his way. I managed to get under his skin and got him to reveal why he was doing all of the things that he was. I didn't show it at the time but what he said shook me to the core: Carlos was dying of cancer and he never told me, and all this time Alejandro was making a desperate attempt to find a way to save him using the prize money. I don't know what changed his mind, but he chose to help me when I was pinned under a boulder rather than leave me behind and steal the win for himself. But that was when shit hit the fan for me for the third time in my life when Alejandro's cousin Diego showed up and dropped the bombshell: Carlos had passed away just a few hours ago. After that Alejandro left with Diego and was out of the competition, and that night I ended up blowing up to Total Drama Jumbo Jet so McLean kicked me out of the game, leaving only Cody, Bridgette and Noah. After a long and hard race to Hawaii it was Cody and Bridgette in the final two, and in the end Cody won the million in the final challenge, securing the win. After that I promised on Carlos' grave that I would restore Alejandro's faith in himself, I've been working on that for about a year and a half now. But now it's only a matter of time before Mal returns so I decided to test a theory I developed from watching season 4 of Total Drama, in which we met one of the second generation contestants, an aura reader by the name of Dawn who figured out Mike's secret without having to be told. At the same time I met her mother, a master of the Mystic Arts by the name of Aurora. She revealed to me that my conflict with Mal was part of some sort of ancient prophecy amongst the Mystic Arts, wherein Mal has fire powers and I'm supposed to have hurricane powers, which according to Naruto logic means wind and lightning powers. Lucky me I'm such an anime addict. Anyway in order to awaken my powers Aurora sent me here to fight some wild and untamable fire dragon, kill it and bring back its head. I found it and I ended up awakening my wind powers and my lightning powers which made me too hot to handle and I'm trying to come off as egotistical or anything but it got away. I spent the next few weeks trying to track it down so I could kill it and finally go home. I miss my friends, I miss Cody and the others and… I miss Bridgette most of all. But unfortunately that's not how it was gonna turn out. While I was searching for the fire dragon I came across something that would shatter the spirits of most men, a path of death and destruction that ended up leading me all the way here into this cage where I met you." he looked over at the only company he had in the cage, that being a broken skeleton whose jaw broke off "Yeah I know, I've got one hell of an autobiography to write don't I? But since I've been stuck in here I've been able to do a hell of a lot of meditating on how to awaken my powers and I think I've got it down. See I remember from watching Avatar: the Last Airbender that Airbending is all about spiral movements, when you meet resistance you have to be able to switch directions in a fraction of a second. As for lightning, that's a little bit more complicated. There is energy all around us. The energy is both yin and yang; positive energy and negative energy. Only a select few firebenders can separate these energies. This creates an imbalance. The energy wants to restore balance and in a moment the positive and negative energy come crashing back together. You provide release and guidance, creating lightning. So how much longer do you think we're gonna be in here? I mean I've been secretly charging a blast of lightning to free me from these chains for like 2 hours, the ruler of this place has to try and question me at some point." then the bottom of the cage opened up and he was sent tumbling down just a few feet above the ground, still bound by chains "And apparently this is happening now." he heard a sinister chuckle "Oh if that's who I think it is then spending a week in a cage bound by chains."

Sure enough, before him sat what looked like a fire ogre sitting on a throne, his body radiating crimson flames as a sword of flames rested in his hand "Adam, son of Ander, the earthling who holds in his grasp the power of the Eye of the Hurricane."

"And you must be Urere, the ruler of Sphaera Ignis, son of… a bitch. Aurora told me I'd run into you eventually, but then again she also said that Metallu,

"I cannot die, not until I fulfill my destiny and lay waste to this universe before I claim it as my own."

"You know it's actually a good thing you mentioned that when you did, you see I've been having these terrible dreams ever since I've been here. It's always along the lines of the Earth going up in flames and falling into ruins, burned and charred corpses all over the place, and you happen to be at the center of all of them."

"Then you have seen my destiny, my conquest of all of the 10 dimensions foretold throughout all of the realms and all of the cosmos-"

"Wait hold that thought." he started spinning around by the chains "I'll be back around in a second, you know it's too bad since I felt like the two of us were really connecting there." he forced himself back around to face Urere "Okay so your conquest. Tell me a little bit about it, give me a quick walkthrough of what I should expect."

"My time has come for your world, when my crown is reunited with the molten flames of my second Fire Lacrima I shall at last be restored to my full might. I shall tower over the tallest mountains and I shall bury my sword deep in the heart of your universe"

"Wait a second, hold that thought again." he started swinging around again "I swear this isn't even me, it's just doing it by itself. Okay so let me see if I got this, you're going to put your crown into the flames of the universe's core and you're gonna somehow grow as big as a skyscraper?"

"A mountain you fool."

"Within the Earth's core? Yeah that does sound interesting, so where exactly is this so called crown of yours?"

"This is my crown, it is the source of my power." Urere pointed to the thing on the top of his head.

"Oh so that thing is a crown, truth be told I thought it was just a really big unibrow or some ugly crap like that."

"It's a crown you imbecile."

"My mistake, anyway from what you're telling me it sounds like all I have to do in order to stop you in your tracks is rip that thing off of your head."

"Is that what you believe?" Urere let out a malicious chuckle as he rose from his throne and stalked his way forward, dragging his sword grinding against the ground "It is useless Son of Ander, for my conquest had already begun and you could never stop it." he grabbed the chains holding Adam and glared at him dead in the eye "You are alone child, there is only darkness for you and only death for your people. You are little more than the beginning of the end for Terra, for I already hold a great and terrible army and we shall conquer all that the cosmos has to offer. We shall go forth until every light has been extinguished. You are strong child, but I am beyond strength. I am the end of the universe, all shall suffer and all shall burn as they face my wrath."

Despite the overwhelming glare, Adam showed no fear "Not gonna lie that comes off as pretty intense, to be honest seeing you grow to the size of a mountain and set fire to a planet would be one hell of a show. But that being sad, it looks like I'm gonna have to choose option B where I just force my way out of these chains, knock that ugly tiara unibrow off your head, kill you where you stand and leave that thing here to rot while I find the fire dragon, kill it, and bring its head with me back to Earth."

"You have no hope of stopping my conquest, why would you dare to fight it?"

"Because I follow no prophecy, I make my own destiny. Raging Bolt!" at that moment, a massive ball of lightning rained down from above, sending Urere stumbling back and shattering the chains binding Adam, freeing him and leaving him free to fight.

"You have made a grave mistake Son of Ander."

"Yeah well try and tell me something I haven't heard before, I've made a hell of a lot of grave mistakes in my time but it usually works out one way or another. Which reminds me, I've got one other trick up my sleeve." he floated up into the air, wind gathering in his right hand and lightning gathering in his left "I call these my Tornado Fist and my Thunder Fist, in other words you're gonna f*cking die." he looked over and saw a certain fire dragon lunge at him from the shadows of the cave, only for it to be held back by chains "Oh good, and it looks like I found my target too. I don't have time to play around with these guys, I've gotta get that thing and get out of here or they'll follow me back to Earth.' so he started fighting off the fire demons and killing them as they attacked him, receiving a few burn marks across his skin and some bruises in the process, but he fended them off regardless "Now this is a technique I've been dreaming of for ages, straight from the Fairy Tail handbook Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Roaring Thunder!" he quickly unleashed a blast of lightning to his right "Tornado Fist!" he unleashed a powerful blast of wind to his left, the combined force of both blasts taking out all of the fire demons surrounding him "So are you ready to fight me yourself or are you gonna keep sending the mindless ones after me?"

"Very well, you shall fall by my blade Hurricane Warrior!" Urere picked up his sword and attempted to turn Adam to ash with a massive blast of fire.

Using his wind powers to propel himself upwards, Adam unleashed another Roaring Thunder straight down on Urere's head, knocking his skull clean off "And stay down!" he looked around and noticed fire demons crawling down the walls in order to kill him "Well this clearly isn't gonna end well. Hey Aurora, if you're listening you might wanna get ready because I could really use a fast exit!" he received no reply "Aurora? Are you even listening?"

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As it turns out, Aurora had brought Alejandro to another room with various herbs and remedies, as well as a pit filled with crimson colored sand "Here we are."

"Why have you brought me here?" asked Alejandro "From what you have told me the prophecy of the Mystic Arts centers around Adam having supernatural powers does it not? There was no mention of me or anything in relation to me."

"I never said there was only one prophecy foretold amongst the Masters of the Mystic Arts." with that being said, Aurora pulled out a book from her robe and turned to a certain page "For many years it has been foretold that a man with great potential for great good and great evil, a pure soul tainted by the shame he feels for his past misdeeds, will rise from the ashes of his misdeeds and inherit the power of El Jaguar Carmesi, the Crimson Jaguar."

"...The Crimson Jaguar? But that was just a story my elder brother Carlos told me as a child, a legendary guardian of my family for generations."

"Carlos Burromuerto, I remember meeting him as if it were yesterday. When he first came to us he was as good of a man as always, yet at the time he was confused and struggling to find the answers he had been seeking. Answers to the most important questions in life such was what his purpose was, what the purpose of life was. With the permission of the Sorcerer Supreme I had taken him under my wing and he was revealed to be a brilliant student with a gift for the Mystic Arts." this caused Alejandro to freeze in place, his eyes wide with fascination.

"Mi hermano… you taught him?"

"Indeed I did. He spoke very highly of you and your potential, and how his greatest fear was for you to hold within you the same darkness as your brother Jose."

"...I see. What else did he tell you?"

"I believe that it would be best if he told you himself." she picked up a remedy "Please lay down on the sand."

"Very well." Alejandro did so and took off his shirt in the process "So what exactly is this supposed to do?"

"If you truly are destined to receive the power of the Jaguar Carmesi then this remedy shall take you to the Land of the Ancestors." she forced Alejandro to drink the remedy and began covering him in sand.

Alejandro's body began glowing with crimson energy as he was buried beneath the sand and darkness overwhelmed his vision.

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The scene in Sphaera Ignis was about the same, only a little bit more on the negative side of things.

Adam was still fighting off Urere's fire demons and firing blasts of wind and lightning left and right, respectively to the hand he was using for each one "You know anyone would think that with their master dead these things would stand down but no, they have to be noble and loyal and still try and kill the guy that killed their leader!"

Then shit hit the fan when the fire dragon broke free of its chains and started charging at him like a crazed bull.

"And that's my cue to drop the lightning, go full force on the wind and go mach speed and get the f*ck out of here!" so like that, Adam burst his way up and out of the cave into the smoldering skies of Sphaera Ignis "Aurora come on, I'm not kidding around here."

The fire dragon burst up from the cave and charged at Adam in a furious attempt to devour him whole.

Adam quickly forced his way out of the fire dragon's mouth and used a blast of wind to pin it to the ground "Stay. Good boy. Aurora I'm not trying to be impatient but I'm running short on options here!"

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Aurora looked up from burying Alejandro "Well now, he finished the task I had given him much faster than I had anticipated." she pulled a book from one of the nearby shelves "I suppose I had better open the portal before the fire dragon devours him." she started forming a portal as she chanted an incantation.

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By this point, Adam was flying across the skies of Sphaera Ignis at full speed using his wind powers, with the fire dragon hot on his heels and closing in fast "Come on come on, Aurora if you're gonna give me that dramatic exit and rescue then now would probably be the best time for you to do it!" and as if on cue the portal opened up and swallowed him whole, as well as swallowed the fire dragon halfway, leaving the lower half of its body on the ground."

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It was only a matter of seconds before Adam suddenly burst through the portal and skidded to stop on the ground "Finally, after all this time I'm back on Earth…"

"So I take it you succeeded in your quest?" Aurora inquired.

"Not exactly…" he pointed to where the fire dragon had ended up getting its head cut off by the portal closing, drenching the room in green and purple dragon brains and blood respectively "To be fair you said I had to kill it and bring its head back here."

"That I did." she snapped her fingers and cast a spell, and all of the guts and blood disappeared as if they were never there "While I had expected you to use your Cosmic Hurricane powers to slay the creature it was a very clever idea to use my portal to slay it."

"Yeah well I'm a little bit wiped from spending like 6 months in there. How long was it out here anyway?"

"Time passes differently from each of the realms, it was six months to you there but it was only a mere 3 hours here."

"...Good to know. So what are you gonna do with the dragon head?"

"In ancient times the first masters of the Mystic Arts would capture the dragons and harness their fangs in order for them to be made into weapons harder than any metal on Earth."

"For me to use I'm guessing, being the Hurricane Warrior and all?"

"Actually no, these are meant for the allies that you choose to bring into battle with you against your foe." she pointed to where Alejandro lay, buried by the crimson sand "Like you he must face a trial of his own, however, unlike you his trials lie within his own heart."

"And what will he get out of this?"

"If the power of the Crimson Jaguar accepts him as its master then he will be granted enhanced strength, speed, durability, agility, stamina, reflexes and self healing well beyond what any normal human being could achieve.

"Huh. Kind of like Black Panther or Captain America."

"For the time being yes, but once his true potential has been awakened he will have the ability to manipulate light energy to his whim, making him a force to be reckoned with.

"Nice. So going back to the weapons issue…"

"You seem eager."

"Hey regardless of being driven by vengeance I'm still a teenager. Sort of."

"...Very well, I suppose now is as good of a time as any to show this to you." she opened a portal in between her hands and revealed a long brown case "My master in the mystic arts, the Sorcerer Supreme, had entrusted this to me." she opened the case, revealing a silver colored metal axe-hammer "A weapon fit only for the weapon of destiny, meant to be of greater might than any other weapon this world could ever offer."

"Does it have a name?"

"My master had stated that it would only possess a name when it was blessed with one by the one who carries within him the Cosmic Hurricane Lacrima." she held it out to him "This weapon has been gifted to you by destiny, Adam Anderson."

Adam slowly lifted up the axe, wind circling around one end of the hammer and lightning gathering around the axe end "It's amazing, I can feel the power coursing through me like nothing I've ever felt before."

"What will you dub this weapon? Only when it has a title will its powers be unleashed to its fullest extent."

Adam started intently at the weapon in his hand "I dub thee… SHATTERSTORM!" and as if on cue, a massive blast of lightning rained down from the heavens, shattering the glass roof on the sanctum in the process, before it died down, causing him to cringe "Uh… sorry about that."

"No apologies necessary, a simple matter really." she fixed the damage with a simple snap of her fingers.

"Well that must be handy. So what's going on with Mike and the others?"

"My daughter is still searching through Michael's mind for the one known as Mal. As for the young lady Zoey… I must inform you that I had to erase her memories of the events that are transpiring here."

"...That's probably for the best, knowing Zoey she'd either get easily fooled by Mal or end up doing something really stupid. Most likely both. So where is she now?"

"She's asleep in your RV on the street outside."

"Good to know, thanks."

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(Land of the Ancestors)

Alejandro found himself in what looked like the fields of Africa, images continuously flashing through his mind 'Yes that's right… For all of my life I was always compared to Jose. My so called friends, my peers, even mother and father saw me as nothing more than the lesser compared to him. Carlos was the only person who ever saw me for who I was. He stood by my side as I grew up and he protected me, and how did I repay him? By dishonoring everything he taught me and doing so on international television, and making myself out to be nothing more than a disgrace to not only Carlos's teachings, but also to my family name and the blood that courses through my veins.'

"Is something wrong?" a large jaguar with red fur leapt down from a large tree and morphed into a familiar figure with a green shirt, tan pants and boots "You seemed troubled mi hermanito."

Alejandro remained quiet for a moment, he immediately embraced him, tears brimming from his eyes "Carlos… mi hermano…" he wiped away the tears and got down on one knee in front of him with his head bowed "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"

"Rise mi hermanito, you are a man now and you should not have to bow to me. You are my equal, nothing less."

"...Very well." he did so, albeit very reluctantly.

"What is the matter Jandro?"

"I am not ready Carlos, not yet."

"Not ready for the future? Have you not trained and studied your entire life for the day you would strike out on your own and become your own man? Have you not trained and studied, stood by my side every step of the way?"

"That is not what I'm talking about. I know it has been a year and a half as it is, but I am still not ready to be without you. Not for this fight."

"...I see, so Adam has told you about the demon that plagues him. A wise man once said that if a man does not prepare the people he loves for the day he departs from this world then he has failed as a man. Tell me, have I ever failed you?"

"Never, not once. Unfortunately I cannot say the same, not after all of the things I've done in my life. Please tell me mi hermano, how can I make things right? How can I make amends for my mistakes?"

"I once told you that every living being in existence has potential for great good and for great evil, what matters is how we choose to use that potential that matters the most. In your quest for redemption you will struggle greatly so what you must do is surround yourself with people whom you trust and trust you. You are a good man with a good heart, and it's hard for a good man to do the right thing in the best way you can. But I have faith that you will get there, you are my little brother after all."

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Alejandro bolted back to his feet back in the physical world, visibly shaken and disoriented from his experience "What… Where…"

"Please Alejandro, calm yourself." Aurora placed her hands on his head "Breathe, breathe, breathe…" she made him take several deep breaths until he calmed down "I take it you succeeded."

"I… I can feel it. The power coursing through me, it feels incredible."

"You're not gonna go power crazy are you?" asked Adam.

"Rest assured I may have committed many atrocities in my life but I am not one of the abominations who would abuse my newfound power. But that being said, I do wish to test my new abilities." he suddenly blitzed out of view.

Adam whipped around and stopped a knife hand attack to the back with his axe "Pretty impressive, I had a little bit of trouble following that. You're dozens of times stronger than you were before."

"The same can be said for you, my hand is still numb from when you stopped my attack. Your new weapon is a most impressive one, what do you call it?"

"I dubbed it Shatterstorm, nice right?"

"You've both grown in leaps and bounds in a very short amount of time." Aurora noted "I have done all I can for you, what you do with your newfound strength is up to you."

"And the two of us are undeniably grateful to you for everything that you've done to help us with this Aurora, but we still have one more order of business to take care of. The main reason why we came here actually."

"You still need to know when Mike's inner demon will resurface."

"That's right, are Mike and Dawn still at work with searching through his mind for the one they seek?"

"For now yes, but I doubt it will last very much longer."

"It's been hours though, is that concerning?" asked Alejandro.

"Quite the opposite actually, the longer it takes the longer you have before Mal resurfaces and your greatest challenge begins."

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The recesses of Mike's mind within a sinister looking tower.

Dawn slowly and calmly climbed up a long and circling staircase until she was met with a large metal door 'He's in here… I can feel his aura as black as the night itself, but now the time has come to see this demon for myself.' she pushed open the doors and stepped inside.

Before her, bound by chains from every angle was a figure with the same outfit as Mike, a dark figure around his eyes, a spike portion of his hair hanging over his face and covering his left eye, his eyes shut and his body not moving an inch.

"You are not the one that I seek, where is the true demon taking possession of this mind and this entity?"

"So you noticed." sure enough, between her and Mal appeared a figure with no distinguishable figures aside from its cold, hate filled eyes, and a malice filled smirk plastered across its face in a condescending way "So the Moon Child decides to come tottering in, it was only a matter of time before those pathetic peons sent came looking for me. They must really be in trouble if they had sent you of all people to do it in their place. They're just that pathetic and desperate aren't they?"

"You believe that you may control them through their fear of you as if they are nothing but weak willed frightened lambs who are destined to suffer your wrath but you underestimate them. When they come, and they will, they will come for you."

"I will break free of these bonds, nothing is going to change that and then I will destroy the one that plagues us both. You cannot stop me."

"Perhaps not, but even now you overestimate yourself and underestimate them. There is no scenario in this situation in which you will emerge victorious. Yes you will break free and perhaps you may emerge victorious against Adam and his allies but that will always be on your head because even if Adam can't protect his loved ones then you can be very well sure he shall avenge them."

"Is that right?" he finally opened his eyes and glared at her, black energy burning around his body "Oh trust me, the one that's been plaguing me for more than 10,000 years is going to suffer. If you're smart then you will get out of here while you still can." the chains that were binding Mal shattered and the shadowy figure lunged at her faster than she could react.

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Dawn snapped back to reality and collapsed on her hands and knees panting heavily "He… He is coming…"

Mike opened his eyes and helped Dawn to her feet just as Adam, Alejandro and Aurora entered the room "Are you okay? Did you see him? What did he do to you?"

Dawn held up a hand as a sign for him to calm down "He is in there, he's buried very deep within your mind but he is there and he is growing stronger buy the day."

"How long do we have until he resurfaces?" asked Adam.

"By my estimation, you have 6 months at the most left to prepare yourself."

"6 months. Good to know, thanks." he turned to Aurora and held out his hand "Thank you for all of your help."

"You're welcome." Aurora gladly shook it "If you ever require my assistance again then my door is always open, but for now I wish the three of you the best of luck on your quest."

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Hours passed and the long trip back to Ocean Falls had begun.

Alejandro was the one driving along the road "You seemed so possessive of this vehicle on the way here, I had never imagined you would actually let me drive."

Adam glanced back to where Mike and Zoey were sleeping on the couches in the back and went back to admiring the newly dubbed Shatterstorm "Well I've got my own thing to do with this bad boy and I trust you enough." he looked up and his eyes narrowed "So now we know when Mal is going to return, and he's growing stronger by the day."

"Perhaps, but so have we. You entrusted me by telling me your darkest secret and Mike had left this mission to you, and we're going to finish it together."

"Alejandro… thank you."

"No need for thanks mi amigo, I'm simply repaying a debt. So what is your plan from here on out?"

"...I'm worried about Carrie and Devin. I told you that they've been two of my closest friends since 7th grade but the thing is… I never told them about Mal."

"Are you serious?"

"Hey you understand how secretive I am, hell I didn't even tell Cody until after he got back from the first two seasons of Total Drama."

"So you've been keeping this a secret?"

"Yeah, I'm not proud of it but I have to in order to keep them safe."

"Perhaps but that does make you rather hypocritical since you once stated that amigos should not keep secrets from each other."

"...Son of a bitch I hate it when you're right. But that being said there are two or three other people I could probably afford to tell."

"Are they in that new race show?"

"It's Gwen and Noah and maybe DJ too, does that answer your question?"

"Yes, yes it does."

A/N:

I normally despise writing out flashbacks in my fics but here I felt they were necessary in order to further explore Adam's backstory, his past and his friendship with Devin and Carrie and his bond with Carlos.

Those scenes with Adam fighting Urere (Latin for Burn) and talking about the supposed end of the universe were inspired by scenes from Thor: Ragnarok. I figured that since I was already borrowing stuff from Doctor Strange it wouldn't hurt to add in more stuff. As for the axe hammer I had dubbed Shatterstorm, inspired by Stormbreaker from Avengers: Infinity War but I didn't want to use the exact same name. Oh, and that last bit of dialogue from Urere before Adam broke out of his chains was based on the Lich's dialogue from the Adventure Time episode Escape from the Citadel.

About the remedy mixed to let Alejandro visit the Land of the Ancestors, that's all inspired by the scenes in Black Panther. I was gonna give him elemental powers of his own but I decided that even in this fic that was a step too far, so I decided to just have the remedy bring the user to peak physical condition instead, kind of like how Captain America and Black Panther are. Plus I wanted to give Alejandro some closure with his older brother after everything that had happened.

That scene with Dawn and Mal (or rather the shadowy figure speaking for Mal) is a mix of ideas from the Legend of Korra episode Beyond the Wilds (where Korra confronts Zaheer in prison) and the scene in the Avengers 2012 movie where Iron Man threatens Loki.