(Takes place between during chapters 14-15 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 the Metallians and their ruler 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 their power 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, and in the process the homeworld of the Metalians, Metallum, was destroyed, but the the end the battle was lost. Metallum 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 Metallum fall for his betrayal. Unsatisfied by this, Metallum made a pact with the Cosmic Elemental of fire, Urere, to create a warrior of fiery pure evil simply to torture each reincarnation until it ceased. 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 opened his eyes and found himself in a black void 'This is another dream about him isn't it? Well no more, I promised myself for the sake of Bridgette and the others I wasn't going to fight him for vengeance. I know you're there, go ahead and show yourself Mal."
Sure enough, Mal appeared before him with a malice filled smirk plastered across his face, with the same shadowy figure standing beside him and speaking for him "Well what do we have here? I can see that that wretched lizard failed to kill you and your little girlfriend, just as I had expected. You're quite the resilient one aren't you Adam, you just don't know when to quit."
"Yeah it's been a long time hasn't it? You're about the same as I remember."
"And you haven't changed in the slightest either since our last fight more than 5 years ago, how amusing you can be. So what are you doing here now? If you're here to resume that fight then you should know that this isn't the right time or place, but once I have control of Mike's body again I will kill you."
"I'm not here to fight you, but I do have something important to say." Adam's gaze darkened and hardened "I'm going to say this once and only once so listen well Mal." he drew Shatterstorm off of his back "All this time I've been forced down the path you want me to take, but thanks to the people in my life that I can depend on I have the strength to change my path and begin a new one. When the time comes I will not hesitate to fight you but it won't be for the sake of vengeance, it will be for the reason I promised to both you and myself all those years ago: to save my friend."
"...Your friend?" the shadowy figure let out a malicious chuckle "Do you really want to delude yourself as much as that? Never has Mike or Devin or Carrie or Cody or any of those worthless peons ever been your friends, and now that your precious mentor is dead and gone rotting away 6 feet under you don't have a single ally in this world or any other world, least of all with your own kind. Such a pathetic and cursed thing you are. Those who adore you, those who believe in you, those who respect you, and those whom you yourself love will surely leave you. That much I can promise you, especially when they find out the truth about you."
"Don't think you know anything about me Mal. Even if that does turn out to be true, even if you're 100% right there are things that I have to protect and I'll give up my life to do that if I have to, and in order to do that I will fight with all of my strength even if I have to turn all of them against me. But it won't come to that, I will make sure of it." he strapped Shatterstorm back onto his back and started walking away "Remember this Mal. I will get stronger, I will defeat you, but I refuse to become like you. When I defeat you, it will be on my terms." and with that, he walked away as the black void turned white and Mal faded away while the shadowy figure suddenly evaporated, only for it to almost immediately turn blood red out of nowhere, and the tension in the air grew unsettlingly thick, and images began appearing around him of blood, fire, corpses and skeletons on the ground littering the area "What the hell, what's going on? I already conquered Mal, what else is there to haunt me at night?"
"Much more than you could ever imagine." a haunting voice echoed throughout the void "Gaze upon these images boy, for they are all that your future holds for you, and soon you shall suffer for your transgressions and your crimes against my kind!"
Adam summoned his Hurricane Gauntlets and drew Shatterstorm off of his back as he got into a stance "Who are you? Where are you? Show yourself, come out and face me like a man!"
"You turned against me, you and that other wretch combined with each other and you dared to defy me!"
Adam whipped around and his eyes widened in pure horror and disgust "What the hell… What are you?"
Before him stood a hideous hulking figure with glowing green eyes, a metal mask across his face with his teeth being visible on the side of the mouth, his body being hulking and muscular with blade sticking out from virtually everywhere, blue veins also being visible in various spots and areas, with three crystals embedded in his chest, one being orange, one being red and one being dark grey "What I am is your demise, after countless millennia of you respawning yourself over and over again just to haunt me, my blades shall run you through and then the cycle shall end!"
"You lost me at run you through, now down you go psychopath!" Adam blitzed behind the figure and attempted to slash him using Shatterstorm.
The figure caught Shatterstorm in his hand and caught Adam in a chokehold.
"That… That's not… possible…"
"Foolish child, you have no idea of what is possible." he shattered the axe in his hand as it crumbled into dust "There is no place you can run and no place you can hide where I will not find you. You think you are ready to face me? Well you are wrong boy. No matter how many times you crawl back from the dead, no matter what the pathetic backwater world you reincarnate yourself on, I will hunt you down, and I will crush you beneath my feet!" blades grew from his fist as he slashed at Adam faster than he could react.
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Adam bolted upright in bed, sweat dripping down his face 'Every time I have that dream it gets more and more intense… But that voice… that thing… It shook me to the core.' he looked over to where his alarm clock lay beside him '3:23' he looked over to where Bridgette lay sleeping beside him 'Bridgette… I promised you after we returned home that I wouldn't let vengeance consume me.' he gently kissed her on the forehead and made his way into the living room of his apartment and sat down on the couch, staring at the ceiling as he drifted away with his thoughts 'It's only been about 3 days since we got back from the Turtles dimension after the huge confrontation with Lord Dregg and the Newtralizer. I told Bridgette that I loved her and once we got back I even asked her to move in with me, she said yes and the night that she moved in we ended up… consummating our relationship. Wait why am I sugar coating my thoughts? She moved in and we had sex for the first time, at least I think we had sex. We were insanely careful though, we did everything that we should've done. Frankly I'm not even sure we had sex, or I wouldn't be if it wasn't for the fact that she was roaring like a velociraptor from Jurassic Park. Cody's still kind of mad at me for not telling him about the Ninja Turtles stuff sooner than I did, but it's kind of funny when he gets mad like that. I guess him and Gwen having sex and him losing his virginity before me probably helped with that. Still though, that thing I keep seeing in my dreams over and over again. I just don't get it. It just doesn't make sense to me, what does it all mean?"
"Much more than you could imagine."
Adam whipped around and nearly froze in shock "No way… Carlos?"
Sure enough, before him stood Carlos, appearing as if he was good as new "Hola mi amigo pequeno. You need not fear me, I'm just here to talk."
"...Am I still dreaming or is this some kind of acid trip?"
"You are not dreaming and you are in your proper state of mind, what you see now is how I appear after attaining a higher spiritual plane of existence that only mi abuelo and the ancestors have achieved before me. Passing into death we merge with the whole of life itself, we become one with all of nature in all of the universe and in every dimension. Even with you."
"You saw what happened with Lord Dregg and the Newtralizer in the Turtles dimension. " it wasn't a question.
"Indeed. Whether your beloved had a hand in it or not you chose not to go down the path of vengeance and for that I am proud of you." he put a hand on Adam's shoulder "I know you face a heavy burden with this destiny that you are forced to bear but you must not forget,
"Carlos… I have so many questions that I've been wanting to ask you for so long. But first, I have to know this. You didn't really have cancer, did you?"
"Why would you ask such a thing?"
"I never told anyone about this except for Alejandro but you already knew, I have a sort of sixth sense that lets me sense people's energy so I would've been able to sense if you were dying. I know there was something else you weren't telling either of us, so what is it?"
"...It is true, I never did have cancer. It was the flu just as I had told you, but I actually got over that a few days after you left. However I could sense something dire on the horizon and I knew that my time had been near, so before Alejandro left I told him that I had cancer."
"You mean that you willingly turned him into the bastard that I was at war with all throughout Total Drama World Tour?"
"A decision of which I will admit that I am not proud, but even before then he was slowly but surely becoming more and more like Jose. I knew that this was necessary to make sure that he would never return to that path."
"That's another thing that I've been wanting to ask you about Carlos, did you always know that I was going to have these hurricane powers? That I was the reincarnation of a fusion of two cosmic monster? That I was going to team up with the Turtles and fight off filler villains in their dimension? Did you know all of this? Who is it that killed you and why am I going to have to fight them?"
Carlos breathed a heavy sigh and began to tell him the story "I know you have many questions, I promise I will answer as many of them as I can right now." he sat down on the couch "Please, ask any question you may have."
"And I've got a lot." Adam touched the scars on his chest beneath his shirt "So how long have you known about this, since we first met?"
"That day at the bowling alley? No, it took me some time after then. Or to be more specific it was during your first conflict with Mal, when you struck him with that massive blast of lightning I knew that you were the one that I had heard about from mi abuelo, as well as Aurora, my teacher in the Mystic Arts. While you were recovering in the hospital I went to see her to discuss this and she all but confirmed my suspicions. You are the next reincarnation of Tempestatis and hopefully the one to slay Metallum and end the cycle, and bring peace to the universe." he put a hand on Adam's shoulder "But even then that did not matter. With you I have someone to whom I could pass on my legacy, mi abuelo's wisdom, the beliefs that we shared."
"You mean Alejandro, your brother."
"No, not my brother. My brothers, both of them."
"Excuse me?"
"At first when I met you I saw a young boy whose heart and body had been scarred and who needed a friend, one who could be the influence that Alejandro needed to steer him away from the path of my other brother, Jose. But as time passed and I watched you heal your heart and grow, I saw you as my own younger brother and I felt that I was lucky to have you."
Adam stayed silent for a moment "So then… how did you die?"
"...It was the same day of young Cody's birthday, when I was contacted by Aurora. She told me something that shook me to the core: Metallum was coming to seek out M'Baku in order to steal his other Earth Lacrima in order to make himself even more powerful. And after that… he would kill you. I wasn't going to let that happen, so I went to confront him… alone, armed with nothing but my knowledge of the Mystic Arts and my powers of the Crimson Jaguar. I was able to damage him to some extent but nothing fatal, though I did manage to cut off a few of his blades and scar him across his heart and throw him off of a building. However, he took me from behind and ran me through with his blade, and he threw me to my death."
"Just like Splinter in Requiem."
"Si. Aurora had arrived too late to save me, so she took my body back to the hospital and asked my father, as well as mi primo Diego, to tell you and Alejandro that I had passed of cancer. I wanted to tell you the truth, I really did, but I knew that you couldn't find out until you were ready, when you had awakened your powers and had overcome vengeance."
"And now that I did you came back to tell me the truth."
"Si. And I watched you throughout your time in Sphaera Ignis, having been at the edge of your life you had received a great gift that very few of your past lives had been able to tap into and even fewer were truly worthy of. I am truly proud of you, mi hermanito."
"Thank you. I never asked for this power, but now that I have it I might as well do what I can and put it to good use. I can't say that I'm gonna be some sort of hero or great savior, but I will do anything I can to protect my friends. And while I'm at it I might as well make sure this Metallum learns a very important lesson. Nobody messes with my town, my world, or my friends. Don't worry Carlos, I promise you he's going down and I'll be the one to make sure of it. Not in the spirit of vengeance, but in the spirit of protecting the ones that I love."
"You must keep your resolve pure and tap into the light within, it is the only thing that can keep you safe from the dark forces that will come for you. I suspect you only have a matter of days before they come for you again."
"And I'll be ready for it."
"Ready for what?" that was when Cody came out into the living room "Adam who are you talking to?"
"It was…" he looked over and saw that Carlos had disappeared "It was no one, I just had another nightmare is all."
"About Mal again?"
"At first yeah. He appeared before me, trying to get a rise out of me like usual. But I didn't buy into it, I promised Bridgette I wasn't going to let myself be consumed by my anger and I'm seriously making an effort to make sure that doesn't happen. I told him straight up that I wasn't going to be consumed by vengeance and that he had no control over me."
"Adam that's great."
"Yeah… But yet despite what I promised to her, I can't help but wonder. Will I be able to keep that promise?"
"...You know I've always looked up to you Adam, and yet in all of these years I've never known you to be such a coward." that got a look from him "You know I still remember back when I first told Gwen about you."
"Yeah, back, in Egypt you mean."
"No, I told her back at Playa de Losers. It wasn't long after the end of the first season of Total Drama." they both shuddered.
"Not your best moment towards the end there."
"Tell me about it. Anyway it was a few days after the final challenge and before the whole thing with the case with the million."
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(3 years ago, at Playa de Losers. After The Very Last Episode, Really!, and before Total Drama, Drama, Drama, Drama Island)
Cody sat in a lounge chair at the pool of Playa de Losers, looking over a piece of paper time and time again 'I just wish he would talk to me more often, I mean when your big brother is travelling around the world with the son of a diplomat and becoming some insane teenage version of Indiana Jones.'
"Please tell me you're not looking at porn."
Cody jumped when he found Gwen standing in front of him "Oh hey Gwen. And no this isn't porn, it's just a letter from my brother Adam."
Despite wanting to just leave Cody to his business, Gwen was actually rather intrigued by this and sat down in the lounge chair next to him "What do you mean your brother? I thought you said you were an only child."
"Well by blood I am, biologically Adam is my cousin on my dad's side but we've been growing up together like brothers since I was 7. He isn't around much though, he's been travelling around with this son of a diplomat. His name is Carlos, I've met him a few times. Nice guy with a good heart."
"So your parents are cool with him just taking off like this?"
"They don't really care to be honest, truth be told they aren't really around that much. Adam is a little bit more but not by much."
"So why does he go off like that anyway?"
"...The poor guy has had a lot of bad luck in his life, mostly when he was 8. There was this crazy fire that burned down his home, his parents died in it too, and his best friend just up and vanished without a trace. I mean granted he came back a few years later but I still don't know where he was or anything about it, and Adam was pretty messed up for awhile."
"Messed up how exactly?"
"Some major scars both in body and in mind, not to mention that he didn't trust anyone, not even himself, for almost 6 years. I was the only person aside from Carlos he would actually talk to for ages, until he met this one guy in middle school. His name's Devin, he's a nice guy but he's kind of dense."
"As in Lindsay dense?"
"No she gets romance stuff, but when it comes to that he's dumb as bricks. But back to the whole thing with Adam, what else did you want to know?"
"So he's a nice guy then is he?"
"Oh yeah, and insanely tough and smart too but at the same time he can be pretty chill. If he was here then Heather would've been gone after what she did in the talent show, not to mention he and Leshawna would have either been best friends or worst enemies. Unlike me he's always been the popular one at school but he never let it go to his head, plus he's always the sort of take charge kind of guy in team challenges. You might not believe this Gwen but I never had that much confidence in myself growing up, and if it wasn't for Adam believing in me then I probably would never have come here to begin with." he gave a small smile "But if you want to keep it plain and simple then I guess you could say that Adam is the kind of guy that will go to the ends of the Earth and beyond for the sake of his friends."
"...Huh. So what does he say in the letter." she took it once he held it out to her and she read it out loud "Hey Codemeister, I saw you on the show. Tough break little buddy, losing the girl and getting mauled by a bear at the same time." she cringed at this part "But don't worry, knowing the spawn of Satan that is Chris McLean there's gonna be at least 2 more seasons so you'll get your chance to shine soon enough. But now onto the serious stuff. When you get home you and I have to talk, there's something really important that I have to tell you. Something that I should've told you a long time ago. See you soon Codemeister. Your bro, Adam." she handed it back to him "Yeah you're right, he's so nice it's sickening."
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(Present day)
Cody let out a sigh "Yeah and then you ended up getting us together."
"We've been over this before Codemeister." Adam used his old nickname "You were the one who decked me, even if I did totally let you win. But anyway I think what it is you're trying to tell me, you know me as the kind of guy who would do anything to keep his word or to protect his friends so I can't go letting you of all people down now can I?"
"That's the spirit, besides I promised you that I was gonna be right there alongside you. The only problem is that I don't have any insane superpowers so I can't fight alongside the Turtles against some evil bug lord like you can."
"...Are you still mad about that?"
"Kind of yeah."
"Just checking. Tell you what, tomorrow I'll take you to meet Aurora and see if she can teach you some stuff."
"For real? Like Doctor Strange?"
"Why the hell not? If this guy is coming for me then I've gotta make sure that they're ready to defend themselves.'
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Hours passed, and the sun was shining over the skies of Canada.
Aurora was with Dawn doing their early morning meditation "You must focus Dawn, do not let your attention flitter away from you for even a moment. All random thoughts are transitory like dreams, let them disappear into the void and bask in its vast emptiness." she closed her eyes, images flashing through her mind, and she suddenly began panting rather heavily "That… That is enough for now. We shall resume later."
"Is there something wrong mother?" asked Dawn "We only meditated for a few moments and you seem quite disturbed."
"I am fine my dear, I am simply rather tense from exerting myself more than usual as of the recent incidents. My dream last night… it was very powerful, and very ominous. I could sense another dire threat looming over the horizon. The Cosmic Elemental of Metal is coming, he is after not only Adam's life but also his power and if he succeeds in absorbing that power then he will be unstoppable."
"But Adam has already slain two of the Cosmic Elementals whether they were depowered or not and one of them was before he had discovered his powers. Surely he can defeat him if he awakens his full power and his armor correct?"
"I am aware of his potential my daughter, however even at his full capacity he will not be able to defeat Metallum alone, even if we were both to help him."
"But what of Alejandro?"
"He must reach his full potential as well, but even if the four of us were to fight together it is a risk that we cannot afford."
"So then what shall we do?"
"...We will have to risk everything and send them throughout the rest of the dimensions, it is the only way we will be able to emerge victorious. I must make a call with one who understands our plight and knows of the existence of our enemy and our only other ally of the same kind." she donned her battle attire and disappeared through a portal.
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The sun was shining bright over the city of Ocean Falls.
Adam was running through the city's park with Bridgette and sat her down on a bench "I'm not making this up Bridgette, Carlos really did appear before me last night and told me about these things. It's totally insane but totally true."
"I know you're not someone to make these things up but Adam but this really is a lot to take in all at once." Bridgette told him "Plus you're kind of rambling."
"I am not rambling, I'm just telling you a super long and overly complicated story that takes a long time to tell and a lot of stuff in one breath so- Hold crap I'm totally rambling. But what I'm saying is that what if Cody did learn the Mystic Arts like Aurora or Dawn or Carlos did? I mean these things can be learned so why not right?"
"But are you sure it's a good idea? I mean I know you want Cody to be able to defend himself but this is the sort of thing that takes years of training in order to master. I won't always be there in case something happens, I have to make sure you and the others can defend yourselves because if some other crazy supernatural threat shows up at our doorstep aside from me the only person who could stand against it is Alejandro, and if anything happened to you guys because I wasn't there or because I wasn't strong enough then I would never be able to forgive myself. I don't want to take any chances."
"Adam… I'll only agree to it if I get to fight alongside you guys too." she leaned in and kissed him full on the lips.
"...I don't get a say in this do I?"
"No you do not."
"Just checking."
"Adam, Bridgette." that was when Aurora revealed herself through a portal "I'm sorry to bother the two of you so soon but I must ask the two of you to come with me."
"What is it this time? More dimension hopping, another alien invasion of another dimension or something?" Adam's gaze hardened "It's these Cosmic Elemental things that Carlos told me about isn't it? The Metal one."
"He is coming, if he gets his hands on you then not only this Earth, but all 10 dimensions and the universe as a whole will tremble at his might. Carlos may have told you about the origin of your powers but we still have much to tell you."
"And who is we? Is there something else Carlos didn't tell me?"
"No, you have all of the information about your powers that you need for the time being. But on the other hand… Bridgette, there is much more to you than you realize."
"What do you mean?" asked Bridgette "I don't get it, what's going on?"
"I believe that there is someone more deserving to tell you of this."
"Who?" she looked through the portal and her eyes widened "No way… Dad?"
Sure enough, from the portal emerged none other than Colonel Daniel Connors of the Royal Canadian Air Force "Hi princess."
"Dad, what are you doing here?"
"Come on, there's a lot that you two have to hear about."
Aurora nodded "Indeed there is, however we must collect young Cody and Alejandro first. We will need all four of you if we wish to win this fight."
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An hour passed and the 7 of them, those being Adam, Alejandro, Bridgette, Cody, Aurora, Dawn and the Colonel, who shall now be known as Daniel, had gathered back at the Sanctum, also known as Aurora and Dawn's home.
Dawn displayed a visualization of the story of the Cosmic Elementals "When the dawn of the universe came there was nothing, but when the universe exploded into existence the Big Bang sent six conscious elemental forces hurtling across the new universe, across time and space. This is how the Cosmic Elementals came to be, they each control one of the six great elemental forces of the universe: Air or Wind, Water, Earth, Fire, Lightning and Metal. Each one holds within them two crystallized Cosmic Lacrima based on their elemental powers, one to keep them active and one to give them physical bodies. Their names are, or were for most of them, Tatsumaki, Kaiyo, Terrae or M'Baku as he later became known, Urere, Kaminari and Metallum, possibly the most powerful of them all. That is to say, before Tatsumaki and Kaminari merged their two completed Lacrima together into one to form the Hurricane Lacrima. When the cycle of reincarnation began, the Hurricane Lacrima is spiritually transferred into the soul of what would be Tempestatis in his next life."
"So then Metallum is coming for me." Adam muttered "He wants the Hurricane Lacrima that merged itself with my body and soul and that's what gave me my powers."
Daniel nodded "He is, he does and he's more powerful than you could ever imagine. He's a plague of unimaginable power, not to mention the cruelty. He and his forces invade planets, he takes what we wants, he wipes out ⅔ of the population just to satisfy his blood lust."
"So I've heard."
"And he's the reason why Terrae was sent to Earth and became M'Baku. The reason why he took the others back in Africa and you had to fight him, that was it."
"So this is it then."
"What do you mean?" asked Cody.
"Ever since what happened in M'Baku I've been wondering, what if there are other guys out there like him, guys that are even stronger than him? Not even Chef's Black Gorilla Blade would be able to stop him. All of the training I've gone through over the past 6 months, Sphaera Ignis time mind you, has been for this moment. He's coming for me, he wants my power and my blood and he won't settle for anything less than that. So what exactly is our timeline gonna for the arrival of the Cheese Grater from Hell anyway?"
"There is no telling." Dawn told him "He has half of the Lacrimas of Earth and Fire and both Metal as it is, with the equivalent of two completed Lacrima that already makes him the most powerful creature in the entire universe."
"So if he gets his hands on my Hurricane Lacrima…"
"Then he would be able to reach a level of power hither to undreamt of." Aurora finished, her tone grim.
"Did you seriously just say hither to undreamt of?"
"Do you seriously want to play the Tony Stark to the Doctor Strange of a 12th level master of the Mystic Arts?"
"...Yeah that's a fair point." he turned to Daniel "And what role do you have in this? Last I checked you didn't want anything to do with me."
Bridgette nudged him in the arm "Adam be nice, he is my dad and in the RCAF."
"Who hates on me over something that was a total accident. You know it's not like I don't want to get along with him for your sake Bridge, hell I even went to Geoff to ask how I could get him to like me and I came up with nothing. But then I realized something."
"Adam."
"Fine, I'll shut up."
"No, go ahead and say whatever you have to say." Daniel told him "And then I'll tell you what I know about this whole situation."
"I know what your kind is like, I've seen your kind all my life. You're the kind that thinks that doing the right thing doesn't matter if it means you have to break the rules. You think that if someone commits a crime then it doesn't matter if they had no control over what they were doing because in your eyes a criminal has to be brought to justice and once a punishment has been decided it has to be carried out no matter what. That's what you see as the rule of the law, in your eyes caring about your own friends and loved ones doesn't mean anything. Feelings and emotions have no value compared to the law in your eyes, as a colonel in the RCAF you're bound by duty to serve as an example for everyone in Canada so how could you enforce the law if you're not willing to obey them. That's something I could never understand and frankly I never will. You probably never thought about this because you've never been in a situation like this but I've seen people in that kind of trouble, people in desperate need of help. But people these days are weak willed cowards and fools, I know for a fact that if I go to your so called sacred law then they'll just lock him up and throw away the key! I refuse to let that happen, I'll do whatever it takes to make sure it doesn't. And if I had to then I'd run you through without a second thought." this left everyone silent, for they knew who he was talking about.
"...So that's what you think then is it?"
"That's what I know, in order to save my friend I'll fight the law with everything that I've got and if you try to stop me then I'll fight you too."
"I see. So it's not me you see as your true enemy, but rather what I represent. But while you may over exaggerate you do speak some truths, I do believe that even if you do the right thing it's no excuse for breaking the law."
"The Swindle books and Robin Hood would beg to differ."
"Anyway now we've gone over your problem with me."
"Yeah so spill it, what's your problem with me?"
"...With you specifically, nothing. But what you represent, it brings back bad memories of an issue that I had hoped would fade away with time, but try as I might I can't forget what happened 18 years ago."
"What are you talking about?" asked Bridgette "Dad what's going on?"
With a heavy sigh, Daniel slowly sat down in front of Bridgette and gently took both of her hands in his "Bridgette… there's something that I've been keeping from you for years, something that not even your mother knows. Before I joined the RCAF, I was a member of the Masters of the Mystic Arts and I trained alongside Aurora. We studied under the same master back then."
"You mean mi abuelo." Alejandro noted.
"I do. However, 18 years ago I tried to shed that part of my life because it held too many bad memories. Bridgette, When you were born, you were sick. Very sick, with an illness we knew next to nothing about, and still no one does even today. We feared that… that you weren't going to make it. We visited countless doctors and specialists and I tried everything that I could that I learned from the Mystic Arts, but none of them could do anything for you, and the situation was looking more and more bleak, so one night I just started driving. I didn't know where I was going, but I just needed to be alone so I could clear my mind. Then I got to that field with the really big tree outside of town, the one that people say has been here for years, and I just started crying and praying that god or someone or anyone up there was listening, and I started begging for them to save my daughter. That was when she appeared before me: Amphitrite, the Cosmic Elemental of Water. She wasn't like the Cosmic Elementals of Earth, Fire and Metal, she was one of the three kind ones who hadn't been corrupted by their power and she remained a kind soul, and she had offered me a deal: She would transfer into you a Cosmic Lacrima, a crystalized substance that enters one's soul and cannot be detected. It would give you the last half half of her cosmic power and more importantly it would save your life. In exchange, with her life force transferred into you with it came the responsibility to aid in the final battle against the most dangerous one of her kind: Metallum, the Cosmic Elemental of Meta. When the time came she would call for you and for the warrior of the Hurricane, the reincarnation of the fusion of Tatsumaki and Kaminari, the Cosmic Elementals of Wind and Lightning, and the final battle would begin. She gave me this keystone that was meant to glow and then she just vanished into thin air. I haven't seen her or heard from her since that day. For 18 years I've waited for this day, and for 18 years I had hoped it would never come. I never told your mother about this because I was so ashamed of it, it was the hardest decision that I ever had to make. I know that I had no other choice but still, in my heart I still feel the pain from all those years ago. And when your… boyfriend brought me back out here for your birthday, I knew right from the beginning that he was the one that Amphitrite told me about, and the reason why I reacted the way that I did was because it reminded me of how the day would come when I would lose my little girl, possibly forever, and I would be powerless to stop it."
Bridgette took a minute to soak everything in "I… I had no idea. Dad… you really did that for me?"
"I couldn't bare losing you. Bridgette, Adam, I'm so sorry. For everything."
"Daddy…" Bridgette caught him in a tight hug "You did what you had to do in order to save my life, I could never be mad at you for that."
"I know, but I still feared the thought every single day."
"I guess you're not as by the book as I thought." Adam muttered.
"You don't have to apologize."
"I wasn't going to." he received various looks "What? The guy has been holding over my head the whole plane thing, which was a total accident mind you, over my head for more than an entire year."
"...You get that one, don't get carried away."
"When I have I ever gotten carried away? Don't answer that, any of you. Anyway Aurora let's cut to the chase, what can we do to be ready for when Metallum arrives? Even if Alejandro and I team up with you, Dawn and the Colonel we'll need more manpower and firepower than that in order to take these guys and come out on top."
Aurora nodded "You are correct Adam, as you are right now you will not be able to defeat these foes. However, Bridgette and Cody have power sealed within them that they have not even begun to grasp. Bridgette has half of the Cosmic Water Lacrima within her body, it saved her life when she was an infant but it also bestowed her with powers she has yet to grasp or even comprehend. Cody on the other hand…" she put a hand on Cody's shoulder "You hold within you a power that you have held since the day you were born, a gift that not even Adam had noticed all of this time. However, in order to awaken this power you must accomplish a task of great importance."
"What do you mean?"
"Within one of the 10 dimensions lies a source of power gifted to only one warrior every generation, a dimension you should know all too well: A special location in an alternate version of ancient China known as the Valley of Peace."
Cody froze in his tracks "You mean…"
"In Dimension 3 of the 10 dimensions, the Sacred Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom has overlooked the Valley of Peace for one century after another. However, for a good portion of that time but for much of that time the valley was anything but peaceful. The valley was ruled by Demons of the Underworld, and anyone who would dare to enter the valley was either driven out or enslaved, or they would be devoured by the demons. This continued until the fated day came when there was one who would dare to stand against the demons, a young tortoise by the name of Oogway. What none of them knew was that within Oogway burned a powerful force of life energy. A gift from the universe bestowed upon one warrior in every generation, which we have come to know as the Hero's Chi. With the power of the Hero's Chi Oogway was able to drive the demons back to the Underworld and use his magnificent gift to seal the way behind them. However, there was one demon that he had missed. This one was stronger, smarter, faster, and overall more powerful than the others. His name was Ke-Pa. Thirsting for vengeance over the loss of his demon brethren, Ke-Pa relentlessly attacked the exhausted Oogway without mercy, the only thing on his mind being to spill Oogway's blood over the valley. After a fierce and brutal battle Ke-Pa was ready to strike and deal the final fatal blow, however that was the moment in which something magical happened. As Oogway had protected the Valley of Peace, his home, the Peace Tree now protected Oogway in return. The powers of both Heaven and Earth blasted forth from the tree and not only restored his Hero's Chi, but it greatly enhanced it, which allowed Oogway to overcome Ke-Pa's evil demonic power. Stripped of his might, Ke-Pa swore vengeance and fled with the power of the Peace Tree of Heavenly Wisdom keeping him trapped in the form of a mortal body."
"So… what do I do?"
"I will take you to the Valley of Peace to aid them in combating this great threat, you must find the one who wields the Hero's Chi and then your true power will be yours to use as you so desire."
"...Woah. That. Is. AWESOME!"
"I was correct when I had anticipated your reaction."
"So what about the rest of us then?" asked Adam "I mean mystical potentially filler Kung Fu powers or not there's still Bridgette to consider."
"I am aware of that, she possesses power lying dormant within her, which is why Daniel and I shall be training her ourselves to master the water powers that she holds within her. As for you two, Alejandro and Adam, your destinies lie elsewhere in Dimension 1 and Dimension 2 respectively."
"What's in those dimensions?"
"In dimension 2 lies a formidable threat that their inhabitants cannot vanquish alone, if they wish to conquer this threat then you must aid them in the upcoming battle."
"And then after that?"
"Then you shall journey to the first dimension, in which you and Alejandro will face a foe of power unrivaled in that dimension, one that has inspired legends. That dimension is also where your true intended weapon lies."
"You realize that my true weapon is right here right?" he pointed to where Shatterstorm was strapped to his back "You know the main focus of my power and all that jazz?
"That weapon that you had previously dubbed as Shatterstorm was never the source of your strength, it was merely a tool to train you to harness and focus your powers that once laid dormant inside of you, whereas the rest of your equipment is intended to enhance your powers in order to face your foes and grow as a result of each battle in which you would be victorious. As soon as your growth with the weapon had been completed you would have to pass it onto the one being you trust enough to wield its power, which is but a fraction of what the user will be capable of if they should reach their true potential. The Shatterstorm does not wield the power of the Hurricane itself, it's true intention is to aid those with great dormant potential awaken their powers to the greatest extent that it can. However, before you can claim this weapon you must face this foe and then you will journey to the home of the Daagon in the Cosmic Ocean of Varuna, where the next piece of your armor lies: the Wind Stormers, a set of metal boots that enhance your wind powers and allow you to move faster than the speed of the wind itself."
"Woah, that's… woah."
"Indeed. As for your true weapon, the one that I had intended for you lies elsewhere, within Dimension 1, or more specifically with an old friend of mine. Your true weapon is a sword of terrifyingly devastating power, if it is wielded by one who is worthy then it cannot be stopped. This weapon is known as Ascalon, and their creator happens to be an old friend of mine from Dimension 1 and the one who created your Hurricane Gauntlets, the Wind Stormers and the other pieces of armor you will acquire at a later time. You may have heard of him, for he is known by the name of… Azmuth."
"...Eep."
"I imagined such a reaction."
"And what of me Aurora?" asked Alejandro.
"You young Alejandro, you have perhaps the most important test of all. You must confront your true self in a sacred place known only to the Masters of the Mystic Arts, and you must overcome yourself and then the ultimate power of the Crimson Jaguar will be yours."
"I see. Very well then, I shall accept this task."
"I'm glad to hear it." she turned her attention to Adam and Cody and opened two portals, one red and one orange "Cody the red one shall take you to your trial and Adam the orange one shall take you to yours, albeit with a much more… mystical entry."
Adam nodded "I get what you're saying, I'm in."
Cody slowly turned to face him "Adam, I guess… I guess I'm gonna go on my own now. Wish me luck."
"Screw that Codemeister, you don't need luck. Hey you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Bleach style sendoff like in the Hueco Mundo arc?"
"You bet your ass." they put their hands in together, and after he shot some looks at Bridgette and Alejandro they did the same "As we approach the decisive battlegrounds, believe that the blades of our hearts and souls will never shatter! Believe that our resolves will never waver! Though our paths may diverge, our iron hearts will remain as one! Swear that even if the land itself may break asunder, we will return alive and well! Scatter!"
"You got it!" and with that Cody jumped into the red portal and it disappeared at he did.
"That always gets his blood pumping."
"You truly think the world of him do you not?" Alejandro noted.
"Well of course he does, he's my little brother. He's got even more potential than me too, he just lacks the confidence to do it. He doesn't believe in doing this stuff on his own because he's never had to, now Aurora is forcing his hand and now he has to accept his weakness and move past his insecurities and move on."
"So… you're going to then?" asked Bridgette.
"Yep, if I've gotta do this so that I can get strong enough to protect you then that's what I'm gonna do." he pulled her into a tight hug and gently kissed her on the lips "Be strong until I get back and I promise you, I WILL be back." and with that, he jumped into his own portal.
'I will… my love.' she looked over at Alejandro and the others "Let's go, we've got a lot of training to do."
A/N:
The scene with Adam confronting Mal and that shadow figure on the dream plane is based on the scene from the Seven Deadly Sins: Signs of Holy War where Meliodas destroys the Goddess Horn. I thought it would be a good way to show the animosity shared between Adam and Mal (or the shadowy figure that speaks for Mal).
That flashback scene with Cody and Gwen at Playa de Losers was just something I came up with on the fly when I was looking back at the first few chapters of the Rise of an Underdog.
The idea of Bridgette's dad being a master of the Mystic Arts came to me when I started typing up his encounter with Kaiyo, the whole thing about following the rules was inspired by the character of Byakuya Kuchiki from Bleach. As for the whole rant between him and Adam, if you think about it then their ideas of doing the right thing and following the rules kind of contrast in terms of the whole thing with Mike and Mal.
The idea of Adam and Cody getting sent throughout different dimensions is based on the Ultimate Drako story arc in TMNT 2003 season 3, I was going to just have Adam go to a few different dimensions but I wanted to give Alejandro, Cody and Bridgette some more spotlight too since they're all four of the most important characters in this trilogy. Bridgette and Alejandro however will be staying behind to train with Aurora to awaken her Cosmic Elemental water powers and enhance his Crimson Jaguar powers respectively. Each of the next 4 original chapters will focus on one of these four fighting through other shows which were mentioned before and what not. The order for the time being will be one race chapter and one original chapter, the pattern repeating itself.
The Windstormers are a part of metal boots that cover the user's legs up to just below the waist, so as with a knight's armor they consist of a Sabaton (feet) Greave (front and back lower leg) and Cuisse (thighs). Them giving the user the ability to move faster than the wind itself and enhance Adam's wind based abilities is pretty much based on the abilities of the 8th Makluan Ring from Iron Man: Armored Adventures.
