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.

7. A Cosmic Knight to Remember

(Takes place between during chapters 15-16 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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A typical night for Team Tennyson, searching for the Forever Knights.

Ben Tennyson, world famous hero and jackass with the Ultimatrix, pulled out a Plumbers badge and got into contact "Alright guys what have you got?"

"This is surveillance team 3, target B is on the move. I repeat, target B is on the move. What do you want us to do?"

"Keep an eye on him and don't let him get away, we're on our way. Kevin."

"I'm on it." Kevin put his car into the next gear "So when we get there we take Vilgax out for good?"

"Kevin you know that's not the way we do things-" Ben was cut off when he received another message on his Plumber's Badge "What the? Azmuth?"

"Ben Tennyson, I must discuss with you about a matter of utmost importance."

"Now isn't a good time Azmuth, we've got Vilgax and Esoterica problems to deal with at the moment."

"I am aware of the situation and I have taken action to make sure of the success of your mission not just in regards to these pitiful human fools who understand so little, but in regards to the master that they believe themselves to serve."

"What did you do?"

"It's not what I did, but what an old friend of mine did. A friend of mine from Earth of the 8th dimension had contacted my several weeks ago and informed me that a prophecy among her order, the Master of the Mystic Arts, and that the one to fulfill that prophecy has at last been found."

"...You know after everything I've been through this has little to no impact, so you're bringing some ancient prophecy kid to meet us?"

"No, he is already at your current destination. He shall be aiding you in your mission and he will fill you in on the details when you arrive." and then the connection shut off.

"Does anyone ever get a read on that guy?"

"Nope." was the simultaneous chorus from both Gwen and Kevin.

"Just checking."

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At the same time, the Plumbers team quickly hit Conduit Edwards and his Esoterica with a well timed ambush "This is the Plumbers, lay down your weapons. You will not be getting another warning."

"Is that so?" Conduit Edwards stepped out of the truck "Well then it's fortunate for us that we don't need any weapons." he and the rest of the Esoterica quickly phased between the dimensions.

"Men hold your positions, don't let your guard down."

That was when Conduit Edwards phased in front of the leader and took out the leader with an energy blast, with the Esoterica subduing the rest of them with ease "Excellent, all of you have served the mighty Diagon well."

"Yeah but there's one problem with that." that was when Ben, Gwen and Kevin showed up through the hole in the wall.

"Yet another group of naive fools who would dare to oppose the great Diagon."

"The only problem with that is that that's not Diagon, he's Vilgax. He's been playing all of you for a bunch of suckers."

"Be silent fool, how dare you even speak the name of our master!"

"Would it kill you to use your head, even if he really is your almighty Diagon which I've made clear that he isn't then why the hell does he need a truck in order to get around? Either you're either super gullible, in major denial or you're just really stupid."

"I said be silent!" Conduit Edwards fired an energy blast at them, resulting in a rather small explosion.

When the smoke cleared, it revealed Adam standing in front of Ben's team, equipped with his Hurricane Gauntlets with Shatterstorm in his hands, having taken the full force of the blast but wasn't even scratched "You see that's what you get for being reasonable with cultists, it's just a no win situation."

"You took the words right out of my mouth and made them even bigger." Kevin absorbed the material of a wheelbarrow and encased himself in armor "So who's ready to bust their heads already?"

"Not you guys, just stand back and enjoy the show while I deal with them." he didn't even have to look to take out an Esoterica from behind with a single kick, the same with several others as he advanced forward.

"You shall pay for daring to defy the great Diagon!" Conduit Edwards fired another energy blast at him.

Adam deflected the blast and dealt Conduit Edwards a sharp kick to the jaw, sending him flying through the roof of the building, which prompted the rest of the Esoterica to climb a set of invisible stairs "Okay I don't remember that happening."

"Hold on, let me shed some light on this." Gwen used her mana powers to reveal what looked like another dimension "They're climbing around on flights of stairs in some kind of parallel dimension."

"Yeah sure they are." and then Kevin got kicked around by a few Esoterica popping in an out of their dimension.

Adam blitzed behind Gwen and kicked out another Esoterica "You see this is why we listen to the smart members of the team, and where the hell did Ben go?" he looked over and noticed Conduit Edwards attempting to get away with the truck.

"RATH!" that was when Ben, now transformed into Rath, dropped down and stopped the truck with his bare hands despite being pushed back a great distance "Let me tell you something you goddamn condiment!" he bashed through the windshield and grabbed Conduit Edwards by the front of his robe "You ain't going nowhere!"

"That is where I would beg to differ." Conduit Edwards summoned a small button and pressed it, detonating the various explosives.

Kevin didn't even notice this until the Esoterica started to retreat "Hey where the hell do you think you're going you sons of- Oh. Oh crap."

"Hold on!" Gwen used her Mana powers to shield most of the unconscious Plumbers, which left the leader unprotected.

"I've got him!" Rath and Adam both leapt towards the last one just as the roof came down and the building exploded.

This gave Conduit Edwards the time he needed to get the truck with Vilgax inside and take off towards his destination "The time has come, the mighty Diagon will at last be restored to his full glory!"

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It wasn't long before everyone had gotten out of the wreckage mostly unharmed.

Adam laid down the injured Plumbers against another nearby building "They're pretty messed up but they should be alright, sorry I showed up too late to stop them from getting hurt like this though."

"No need for an apology." the leader waved him off "It comes with the territory and we're all professionals, besides we all got out alive and that's one of the most important things." and he walked off.

"He did once say that the most important thing was to come back alive no matter what, not for the sake of yourself but for the sake of those you would hate to leave behind."

"What are you talking about?" asked Ben.

"Just thinking about something my mentor told me, nothing you would be interested in."

"We'll decided about that later, first I've gotta thank you for helping us with those guys. If it wasn't for you then the Plumbers team I sent in could've been seriously hurt or maybe even killed."

"I just did what I thought was right, not all of us can be a hero with the most powerful weapon in the universe you know."

"Maybe not but looks like now I'm not the only one who met the creator, plus you're probably the only one who's offed a monkey god in Africa, blown up a plane and still walked away from a reality TV show with the heart of a gorgeous blonde surfer girl with an inhuman sex drive. Does that sound about right?"

"...You watch Total Drama? They have Total Drama in this dimension?"

"What are you kidding? A world without Total Drama is like New York without pizza, it's just not a thing."

"Yeah you've got me there." they shook hands as if they had a mutual understanding of each other "Seriously though, you watch Total Drama? Like for real?"

"What do you think I did during the four years before I slapped the Omnitrix back on? That show got me through middle school, not to mention it took me forever to convince Julie to watch it for the first time."

"Good to know, but fanboying aside we've got that one Esoterica over there to interrogate so we can find out what Conduit Douchebag is up to."

"Yeah you've got a point. Hey by the way, if you're fictional in this dimension then does that mean that I'm fictional in your dimension?"

"...Let's get back to the mission at hand." they made their way over to Gwen and the others "So what's the status with this guy."

"It looks like he's coming around." Gwen told him.

"Good enough for me." Adam picked up the Esoterica and pulled off his mask, revealing his identity "Oh gee Winston, what a shock."

"Wait seriously?"

"Well what do you know? Squire handsome." Kevin's tone was dripping with sarcasm.

"Are we still doing the jealous thing?"

"That depends on whether or not some real competition shows up, but frankly right now I'm just wondering what exactly a squire for the Forever Knights is doing hanging out with the guys from the Flame Keeper's Circle." he was answered by Winston's eyes suddenly glowing an ominous shade of green.

"My best guess is the glowing green eyes, that's never a good thing." Adam pointed out "For real though, unless the glowing green eyes come with some insane rage and spiky blonde hair glowing green eyes are always bad."

Winston shook off the glowing green eyes and looked over towards Gwen "Oh well hello there, you're quite the sight for sore eyes aren't you?"

"Oh yeah and all of us are thrilled to see you too." Kevin slammed him against a wall, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

"What do you want with me?"

"What we want is information." Adam told him "How long have you been part of the Flame Keeper's Circle with the Esoterica?"

"Pardon?"

"The Flame Keeper's Circle and the Esoterica are followers of Diagon, or you might know him as the dragon."

"You must be daft."

"This coming from the guy wearing the tights of the enemy, just please tell me you've got your own underwear on under there."

"What do you-" he looked down "This… This shouldn't be possible, I must hurry and report back to Sir Driscoll at once."

"Oh yeah sure." Kevin let out a loud snort "Light we're gonna let that happen."

"Actually he's right." Adam cut in "As a matter of fact that's exactly what we want him to do, at the very least we can use him to lead us to the rest of the Forever Knights."

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At the same time, Driscoll was with Cyrus and the rest of the Forever Knights investigating a new weapon being shipped in "I wonder what this one is supposed to do."

"It can't be that bad as long as you don't push the red button." that was when Adam and Ben stepped out of the shadows "Any idiot who ever pushes the red button usually gets their ass handed to them."

"And that would be our job." Ben slammed down on the Ultimatrix and transformed into one of his new aliens "Fasttrack!" he blitzed through half of the Forever Knights that had almost immediately started shooting at them and disarmed them.

Adam on the other hand blitzed through them and cut down their weapons using his Hurricane Gauntlets alone "Not too shabby, that one's got more style than XLR8."

"You're no slouch either, you're keeping up with me like a pro. How exactly do you have these powers again?"

"Reincarnation shtick, I'll give you more details on it when this is all over with."

"Fair enough, we've got other pricks to deal with."

"Silence wretches, how dare you show yourselves here." Driscoll snarled.

"As much as I'd love to pound you into next week Driscoll we don't have time for any of that right now, we have a crisis and you have a problem with your personel."

"You're talking gibberish."

"Fine, you don't have to take our word for it Sir Dickhole." Adam pointed to where Winston was being brought in by Gwen and Kevin "Looks to me like your boy Winston hasn't been feeling like himself as of late."

"What did you do to him?"

"Don't get your medieval panties in a bunch, we didn't do anything to the kid. He's been under the control of the Diagon, or the dragon as you guys know him."

"Is that so?"

"Please my liege, I beg for your forgiveness." Winston fell to his knees "Myself and my weakness have brought great dishonor to the Forever Knights."

"...The squire of Sir Cyrus is a traitor to the Forever Knights, Sir Cyrus you know what to do about this."

"Indeed I do." Cyrus slowly advanced forward and prepared to execute Winston with a small dagger.

However, Adam snatched the dagger away faster than any of them could follow "And it looks like your metal thongs are already up your asses, the kid didn't have any say in the matter so lay off of him."

"What do you mean?" asked Driscoll.

"You remember that cave with the Forever Knight seal on it, the one Cyrus and his boys busted open and it released that Lucubra? Winston was one of the ones who fell under its mind control powers just like Gwen over there and that means that anyone else who was near there could be under Diagon's control even right now."

"Yes…" sure enough, at that moment the so called Diagon took control of Gwen in order to communicate with all of them "You are such simple creatures, so easy to manipulate and bend to my will." he (or she, frankly I'm just gonna refer to Diagon controlled Gwen as them for the time being) cast a glance over towards Adam "But you… you are so much more than the rest of your species. You have the potential to become the greatest of all, not just this world but all of the universe, all of reality could be at your disposal."

"Take it easy Gwen, you're starting to scare me a little bit." Kevin was answered by Gwen charging two blasts of Mana "Okay now you're scaring me a lot." and then he was blasted through a wall "Ow…"

"But there is a pretender, an imposter who has laid a false claim to my name and my followers."

Ben was quick to realize what they were referring to "You mean Vilgax conning the Esoterica and the rest of the Flame Keeper's Circle by pretending to be you."

"Yes… He plans to steal the source of my power: my heart."

Driscoll's scowl only deepened "The witch has been possessed by this creature, strike her down now!"

"Cool it tin man!" that was when Kevin rose back up in wood armor "You might make her melt all over you."

"Heed me. If your Vilgax acquires my heart, he will have power enough to rule over your universe." they cast a quick glance over towards Adam "Unless you tap into your full potential even you will grovel before his might." and with that, Diagon released his control over Gwen and let her collapse to the ground.

Kevin caught her before she hit the ground "What the hell was that? Was it that Lucubra thing that came through the seal before?"

"No, that was definitely not it." Gwen muttered "The Lucubra was an insect compared to the likes of… it was Diagon and he's right, if Vilgax gets his hands on Diagons powers then he'll be unstoppable."

"Which raises a hell of a lot of questions." Ben pointed out "How could Vilgax steal something like the heart of Diagon in the first place, and how could Diagon even be alive without a heart anyway? I don't understand."

"Well of course you don't." Driscoll let out a scoff "You've never understood anything about us or our noble mission."

"Then educate us." Adam blitzed in front of him "Or I might just have to to educate you in my way of getting answers."

"Your threats do not scare me boy." and yet he did so anyway "The heart of the dragon is the essence of the life force of Diagon and our founder, the first ever Forever Knight, captured it long ago. Perhaps you've heard the story of Saint George and the Dragon. Over the course of many centuries many cultures have laid claim to this tale embellishing it in various different ways, however this is what actually happened. Sir George was the most noble of knights, he served his king but he defended the helpless wherever he travelled. One day while in a far off land he had heard tale of a hideous creature, a monstrous dragon, derived without warning and out of thin air. Anyone courageous or foolish enough to challenge it was met with a brutal demise or became a slave to its will. Sir George confronted the beast without fear, the dragon tried to seize control of his mind but his will was far too strong. The power of the Diagon was formidable yet Sir George fought onwards and using his mighty sword Ascalon he cut out the heart of the beast but still it refused to be claimed by death. The first Forever Knight cast the creature back into the hell from once it first came and sealed it inside, now separated from its heart which was the source of its unnatural power. So long as the heart of the dragon is pierced by the sword the Diagon cannot regain his full power, and we are safe."

"That depends on how you define safe, but either way we have to make sure Vilgax doesn't get his hands on the heart."

"That is easily said but in order to protect it we will first have to find it."

"And how do we do that exactly?" asked Ben.

"Those who have fallen under the spell of the dragon built a shrined around the heart, it travels between our world and that of Diagon and it never appears twice in the same place."

"But Sir George would know where to find it." Adam pointed out "We might as well just ask him, from what I can tell you yourself know that he's still alive and well. Am I right or am I right?"

"...How did you know?"

"The way you speak makes it sound like you know him on a personal level, he's some kind of immortal or maybe eternal youth?"

"His life has been bound to the sword Ascalon, he cannot die nor can he question him. You would be wise not to do so."

"I don't have the time or the patience to argue protocol with you Driscoll, just take us to where he is."

"The first knight has been missing for days and we know not where he has gone to."

"Then let's not waste anymore time and just find him already."

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So despite his clear reluctance, Driscoll showed Adam, Ben and the rest of them to a certain set of quarters in the base "These are the quarters of the First Knight but we cannot decipher these ruins."

"No wonder Ben keeps making you his bitches." Adam let out a snort "This is just calculus, I might be a fighter but being mentored by the son of a diplomat. What did they not teach you math in the Forever Academy or is that not a thing? Yeah back up a second you guys, I've got this." he spent a few minutes going over the equations "Well he's the first knight for a reason, he definitely is one genius son of a bitch though."

"What do you mean?" asked Ben.

"These equations are him trying to calculate the coordinates of the next place Diagon's shrine is going to appear in this dimension." he wrote down the coordinates "My guess would be about four hours from now."

"You have all been most useful, however that usefulness has reached its end." Driscoll quickly fired at Ben and the others and knocked them out cold.

Adam didn't even flinch as he felt the blast hit him in the back "You gonna try and break out the big guns?" he received a stunned silence "That's what I thought. Don't worry, I'm not gonna kill any of you guys for the attempted double cross but I'm not gonna let you take out Ben or the rest of them either. If you want them dead then you'll have to go through me."

"...Very well so be it, they may still be of use to us. For now we must find Sir George and hurry to his side."

"And I'm coming with you and the rest of them, I have a few things I want to talk to him about anyway."

"Fine, but do not get in the way of the mission for which myself and the rest of the Forever Knights have spent our entire lives preparing or I will cut you down without hesitation. Do you understand?"

"You say that like you can." and so Adam walked out of the room with a seething Driscoll right behind him.

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Sir George stood overlooking a cliff by the sea, his mind wandering 'The time is near, the battle for which I have spent 1,000 years preparing is at last upon me.'

"M'Lord, at last we have found you."

George looked back and found Driscoll and the rest of the Forever Knights, along with Adam, all standing right behind him "How is it that you are here?"

"We tricked the Tennyson boy and Witchling and alien abomination comrades before, as well as this one here." he pointed at Adam.

"Correction, you trapped them while I was finding the calculations that you guys weren't smart enough to figure out." Adam pointed out dryly.

"Silence you arrogant insubordinate child, you are not fit to-"

"Be silent Driscoll." George promptly shut him up "None of that matters now. We must destroy the heart of the dragon, finally and forever."

"The shrine is up ahead." Adam pointed to where the shrine was appearing ahead of them "Are you gonna be okay or do you need to borrow this." he held out Shatterstorm.

"Thank you young one but my weapon likes in the shrine, it is long since time that I retrieved it once more."

"Fine then, I'll respect your wishes." he lowered his voice "The squire back there is being controlled by Diagon." he pointed to where Winston disappeared between dimensions "Should I say anything to the others?"

"No, Driscoll anc Cyrus will most likely attempt to execute him. Winston is but a boy, what he does for the Diagon is not in his control."

"At least you're more sensible than the fools who follow you."

"And I can sense in you a strong sense of justice supported by an iron will, as well as power that rival that of the great dragon itself."

"So what then, you think I'm an abomination like the rest of your lap dogs do? I'm a full blooded human from Earth of another dimension, I'm just the reincarnation of a powerful being from many eons ago."

"The Cosmic Elementals, beings that have existed since before the very universe itself. One of them appeared before me, that being Amphitrite, the Cosmic Elemental of water that shares the same name as the goddess of the sea herself. Just as the creator of the sword Ascalon entrusted it to me in order to defeat Diagon, she entrusted to me one of her two Cosmic Lacrima. It was absorbed into the blade of Ascalon and as a result whoever should next wield it will have that power at their disposal. If the one known as Vilgax should acquire that power then he will become nearly unstoppable."

"So the full power of a Cosmic Elemental, how does Diagon compare to it exactly?"

"The power of the dragon is nearly omnipotent as people would refer to it today, the power of the Cosmic Elementals may very well be the only source of power aside from myself and my sword Ascalon that can vanquish it."

"And if we don't stop Diagon in this dimension then chances are he'll come for my dimension next and if I die here then I doubt even the likes of Aurora and the others will be able to stop him, if we're gonna stop Diagon then it has to be here and now."

"Very well then boy, let us go and destroy the heart of the dragon." and so they forged onwards towards the shrine "There was one other thing that Amphitrite told me."

"And what would that be?"

"One day a warrior would appear that bares a great burden as well as unrivalled power, born from the fused souls of two more of her kind, and that the battle he faces will decide the fate of not only his world, but of all worlds and all of reality."

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Soon enough all of them were inside the shrine.

Adam looked around and shared a subtle nod with Sir George just as several Esoterica soldiers started to burst out from the wall paintings "It's an ambush, take them down!" he turned out to be the only one capable of taking them down as the other Forever Knights were easily swatted aside by the Esoterica "So you gonna come at me or what?"

"You shall pay for defying the great one!"!" Conduit Edwards charged at Adam and fired an energy blast.

Adam deflected it back at him without even batting an eye "You clearly don't remember how this went a few hours ago." he dealt Conduit Edwards a sharp kick to the face, sending him tumbling down the hallway "Alright First Knight, now is your cue."

"So it is, you have my thanks." as he punched out an Esoterica standing behind him without batting an eye, George slowly made his way towards Ascalon plunged into the massive heart in front of him, until…

"Stand aside!" Vilgax suddenly threw George aside with one of his tentacles and weakly pulled himself up to the heart, and once he gripped the handle of the sword he was almost instantly restored to his original form, but once he pulled the sword out of the heart he was engulfed in a blinding light. When the light it subsided, it revealed Vilgax in his original form with the sword in hand, now encased in a suit of armor provided by the sword, and the heart of Diagon had disappeared "Incredible, this power is absolutely magnificent!"

"You charleton, you dare to deceive us!" Conduit Edwards charged at Vilgax and prepared to fire an energy blast at him.

With a sniff of dismissal, Vilgax simply waved his hand and blew him away, sending him and the rest of the Forever Knights and Esoterica, with the exception of Adam and Sir George, flying away and crashing into nearby walls "The power of this sword, it feels unlike anything I've ever felt before! And yet despite it, I can sense that there is more."

"Yes…" Winston appeared before him, still under the control of Diagon "There is infinite power waiting for you. However, in order to gain it, you must break the seal. Only then will the power be yours."

"...Tell me more."

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At the same time, Ben's team was on their way to the location of the shrine in their Rustbucket 3 ship.

Ben looked back towards where Gwen was huddled up to herself in the back "Whatever it was that took control of her back there messed her up pretty bad, we've gotta do something about this."

"You take the controls, I'm gonna go talk to her." Kevin told him.

"No let me try, she is my cousin after all. Just keep going and get us to the shrine as fast as you can." he received a nod "Okay good." so he made his way back towards Gwen and knelt down in front of her "How are you holding up? Stupid question I know but I can't just let you shudder in silence anymore, you wanna talk about it?"

"I feel sick." Gwen muttered "It's like my entire soul wants to vomit."

"Well with the way Kevin flies this thing it's a good thing I haven't turned into UpChuck yet or…"

"Would it kill you to please just be serious about these things just one time?"

"I'm sorry, I'm just trying to help."

"That thing was in my head Ben and it was controlling me like I was some kind of puppet. I can't even tell you how disgusting that felt to me. Why didn't I fight it?"

"That's like being angry at yourself for catching the flu, this kind of thing isn't your fault. If you should blame anyone for this then just blame me, I'm the one who took as long as I did to put everything together with the Forever Knights, the Esoterica, Vilgax and now Diagon. I feel like such a screw up right now."

"None of us saw it."

"Yeah but I'm supposed to be the hero."

"If we're voting on who to blame then I vote for Ben." Kevin offered his two cents from the pilot seat, earning a small smile from Gwen.

"Oh yeah sure, it's okay when he jokes around in a crisis situation?"

"In his defence, his jokes are actually funny. You on the other hand-" Gwen suddenly let out a cry of pain.

"Gwen what is it, what's the matter?"

"I can see the seal, Vilgax is trying to head towards it and Adam is fighting him. Sir George and the rest of the Forever Knights followed him and they're all trying to stop him and… They're down, Vilgax just blasted them with one hand and almost all of them are down. Driscoll, Cyrus and most of the knights are all… George is barely standing and Vilgax is beating Adam down pretty bad. His armor got peeled off, his weapon thrown away, and now Vilgax is pulverizing him."

"Are you sure they're at the seal? That's thousands of miles away from where we're heading right now."

"Even if we leave the atmosphere and come back down it's still gonna take us more than an hour to get there." Kevin pointed out.

"Then we've only got one other option, Gwen I need you to teleport us to where the seal is right away."

Kevin had his own opinion on this matter "What are you out of your gourd? She can barely do that when we're standing still but now she's sick from Diagon, we're going thousands of miles per hour and we're in the Earth's atmosphere! It's way too dangerous."

"Well it's not like we really have a choice."

"We?!" Kevin grabbed Ben by the front of his jacket "What the hell do you mean we? You're the one who was so busy playing hero that he missed the bigger picture and there's no way I'm letting you risk her life now because of your grand f*ck up!"

"That's enough Kevin, let it go." Gwen pulled herself to her feet "I can do it, besides it's not like we have any other options." she grabbed Kevin and Ben by the hands and teleported them out of the ship.

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The scene at the location of the seal was looking grim, with Sir George unconscious on the ground and the corpses of Driscoll, Cyrus and various other Forever Knights littering the grounds of the cave.

Vilgax was continuously using Ascalon to cut away at the seal "Just a little more and then ultimate power will be mine!"

"No… not in… this lifetime…"

Vilgax looked back and watched as a heavily injured Adam staggered towards him "You still intend to stand against me?"

"You have… no idea… what you're messing with…"

"I know exactly what I'm doing child, you are in no position to defy me. I have already defeated you twice in the last 10 minutes alone, you are powerless before my newfound might. Just give up."

"...Give up? You're telling me… to give up?" despite coughing up blood he continued to inch his way forward, his body beginning to crackle with electricity "You can give up… on me… ever… giving up… I don't care… how strong you might be… But I keep fighting… not because I think… I'm stronger than you… or stronger than the others… A terrible monster… has been terrorizing me and my friends for years… and my friend is suffering because of him… I have to keep fighting… I have to keep getting stronger… for the sake of my friends… for the sake of the people I love… I won't lose… at the very least… not… to… YOU!" his body began crackling with crimson colored electricity, his eyes and hair beginning to change color, until he let out a furious roar and he was engulfed in a pillar of light.

George lifted his head up and gave a small smile of approval 'At last the boy has begun to grasp his full potential.'

Sure enough, when the light vanished it revealed Adam, his hair now the purest white, his eyes blazing a shade of electric blue, with blue and white glowing markings now visible on each arm and each leg, his body crackling with golden colored bio electricity. He took a minute to regain his sense of awareness "Woah, just… woah."

That was when Ben and the others dropped down onto the scene, with Gwen passing out just as they hit the ground "No way, this is unreal."

'I can feel the power coursing through me, it's growing bigger by the second like I'm just scratching the surface of a bottomless well of power! Ben listen to me, I want you and the others to stay back. I'm gonna handle this one on my own, don't get in my way on this one."

"...Fine." Ben shared a nod with Kevin and the two of them, along with an unconscious Gwen, backed off.

"You made a grave mistake in pissing me off Vilgax, now you're dealing with me on one of my bad days. Out of respect for the original owner of that sword I'll dub this new power… the Cosmic Knight!"

"The only who made a mistake here is you boy, you're even more foolish than Tennyson to challenge me with my new power!" Vilgax turned away from the seal and charged at him with Ascalon still in hand.

Faster than any of them could follow, Adam blitzed behind Vilgax "Now to see the new power output that I'm capable of. Cosmic Lightning… ELECTRIC FIST!" he fired off a powerful blast of lightning, hitting Vilgax dead on "Cosmic Tempest CLAW!" he followed up with a wind powered kick to the skull, knocking his helmet off, leaving him vulnerable to the blast of lightning that followed up, causing Vilgax to cry out from the pain.

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Ben and the rest looked on in awe "You've gotta be kidding, he's plowing through Vilgax like he's nothing! Even one of my ultimate transformations couldn't plow through him like that, I mean granted Ultimate Waybig probably could but not like this."

"Gaze upon him young master Tennyson." Sir George limped his way towards them "This is what it looks like when a warrior chosen by the hand of destiny reaches his full potential. You may wield the most powerful weapon in the universe created by the likes of Azmuth, however what you see now is the truly most powerful warrior in the universe."

"No kidding. He won't last long though, it's not very clear but he's definitely starting to slow down one bit at a time."

"He was gravely wounded by Vilgax beforehand and yet he is still capable of such a level of power, that simply goes to show you just how far he will be able to go given enough time."

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Adam continued his furious assault against Vilgax, slamming one wind and lightning attack into him after another "This is for all of the innocent people you've killed in your foolish quest for power, and this is for ever even thinking that I'd give up! I'll never give up, not to you, not to the Diagon, and especially not to HIM! NOW BURN IN HELL VILGAX!"

"I don't think so boy!" Vilgax thrusted Ascalon forward and fired off what appeared to be a sort of energy chain, binding Adam's hands and burning them severely "Your power is impressive Son of Ander, but what can you do with your hands tied? Now you're defenseless against my power!"

"...Do you really think that I need my hands to take you down?" Adam broke free of his bonds with ease "And this is one technique that I've been saving for a special occasion." he took in a deep breath and began drawing on both wind energy and lightning energy, his body practically glowing from the power he was summoning "Cosmic… Hurricane… ROAR!" with every ounce of strength he had left, Adam fired a massive blast of wind and lightning combined into one source of power, the blast slamming straight into Vilgax and blowing him clear out of the cave, which nearly caved in as a result of the blast.

Ben, Gwen and Kevin were all left absolutely speechless at the sheer display of power that they had witnessed.

Now completely exhausted drained of any strength he may have had left, Adam's appearance returned to normal "I told you… I'd never… give up…" his legs finally gave out and he fell forward.

George caught him before he hit the ground "A most admirable performance, you truly do embody the spirit of a knight who protects what he believes in."

"I guess… I kind of got carried away though… When I looked at Vilgax I started to see the one that took the lives of my parents… the one who tortured my friend for years… and something inside of me… it just snapped…"

"Yeah that tends to happen." Ben and the others made their way over to him "You know if I used that much power in one go then I'd wanna just pass out too, way to stick it to old squid face though. That was seriously awesome."

"Yeah… it makes you feel… like you're on a power trip… but that kind of power… it's too much for any normal person… But at least… he's finally down…"

"Down perhaps, but by no means am I out." a voice thundered, causing almost all of them to freeze in place.

"No… But that's… impossible…"

Sure enough, Vilgax emerged, clearly heavily wounded with his Ascalon armor badly damaged, but he was still alive and well "I must say that I am impressed boy, you are capable of generating far more power than even Ben Tennyson ever did."

"Hey!" Ben let out an offended yelp, only to be ignored.

"Now if you peons would do the smart thing for once and get out of my way, I have ultimate power to collect." he swatted them aside with a single sweep of his hand and advanced back towards the seal as a light began to shrine through the cracks.

"Yes…" the voice of Diagon echoed throughout the cave "Break the seal Vilgax, do it and your reward will be more power than you could ever imagine… Do it."

"This power shall be mine!" Vilgax thrusted Ascalon into the crack in the seal, resulting in a tremor that shook the entire cavern "Yes, hear me Diagon! I am Vilgax, I am the conqueror of 10 worlds, and soon I shall rule all of the universe, for your powers shall belong to-" he was cut off as the light grew brighter and he suddenly cried out in agony, causing Gwen to erect a barrier as the light encased the entire cavern. When the light finally subsided, Vilgax had completely disappeared, leaving only Ascalon behind.

Gwen took this chance to let down her barrier, leaving her panting heavily "I barely have enough strength left to stand."

"Welcome to the club." Adam promptly coughed up some blood and fell flat on his back, struggling to stay conscious So where's Vilgax?"

"Looks like he's gone." Ben noted "So does that mean we won?"

"No… far from it…" Adam coughed up some more blood as his vision began to fade "The only won… who won anything… was Diagon… he got Vilgax… to do his dirty work… and now he has his heart back… along with Vilgax himself…" and then the last of his strength faded and he finally passed out.

"Is he gonna be alright?"

Gwenn quickly checked him out "He's just weakened, a little bit of rest and he'll be fine. But we have other problems to deal with right now."

"Yeah I know, now Diagon has all of his power again."

"Rest assured young ones, this situation is far from hopeless." Sir George stood up and slowly made his way towards the seal "Once again the Ascalon is in my possession, and now the three of you shall bear witness to what the dragon saw." he gripped the handle of the sword and the blade began glowing with a bright light, encasing him in armor and restoring his long lost youth as a result, restoring the first Forever Knight to his original glory once more "Let the dragon come, for when he does I will be ready to defend this world and all who live in it." he removed his helmet, revealing his long flowing golden hair.

"My god, I don't believe it. You'd think he would have helmet hair."

"My secret for that is actually quite simple. I condition. Now then, if you wish to genuflect then now would be the best time to do so."

"Save it pretty boy." Kevin let out a snort "I'll genuflect whenever and wherever I want to genuflect."

"Kevin." Gwen hissed, shutting him up outright "To genuflect means to kneel down to him, not… I don't even want to know what you think it means."

"Oh. Well either way it's still not gonna happen."

"We're gonna need you to put the sword down." Ben told him.

George turned to face him as he removed his grip from the sword "My apologise Young Master Tennyson but I cannot do that, Ascalon belongs to me. It is mine."

"That's where you're both wrong." that was when Azmuth stepped out of the shadows and revealed himself, with Aurora right behind him "That sword belongs to me."

"Azmuth, hold on a second is that really your sword?" asked Ben.

"Hence the use of the word mine Tennyson, try to keep up will you?"

George was not amused "I haven't the time to banti words with you Azmuth, the same being said about you Lady Aurora. The monster that has plagued me for 1,000 years hides within that seal in front of us. Now at long last, this ends!" he donned his helmet, drew Ascalon from its sheath and charged forward into the crack in the seal.

"...Well it should take him at least a few moments to realize that now that the seal has been broken and Diagon has his full power restored he can enter and exit this dimension whenever it chooses." Aurora knelt down and placed her hands on Adam's chest as they began glowing a shade of white.

"So what's that supposed to do?" asked Ben.

"It's a healing spell derived from the Mystic Arts in my dimension, his injuries will be fully healed but he will still be suffering from a great deal of exhaustion."

"Not surprising considering the amount of energy he put out in that fight with Vilgax, I can't believe he took all of that."

"Hence the power of my sword." Azmuth pointed out "Again Tennyson you really should try to keep up, this is a slow day even by your standards."

"He's not the only one." Adam force himself to his feet, now only semi conscious compared to before.

"So how are you holding up right now?" asked Ben.

"My wounds are healed but I still used way more power than I'm used to, I never thought that the sword could make someone so powerful. And to think that now Diagon has even more power than that, I never thought I would be so useless against guys like them."

"It certain broadens your horizons young master Anderson." George made his way out from the crack in the seal.

"That was a pretty quiet dragon."

"It is long gone, apparently now that the seal has been broken the Diagon can enter or exit this dimension wherever and whenever it desires."

"Then there's no need to prolong this foolishness, return my sword to me." Azmuth told him "I do not intend to ask again."

"I cannot let go of this sword while the Diagon still lives, if you want then you will have to take it from me."

"And you believe that I can't? Look who you're talking to! I am Azmuth, I am the creator of the Omnitrix, I am the sculpture of worlds, I am the smartest being in five galaxies! Of course I can take it from you!... Ben Tennyson take it from him!"

"As if you had to ask." Ben prepared to slam down on the Ultimatrix.

"Ben hold on a second." Gwen tried to stop him "Something doesn't seem right about this whole thing-"

"Gwen Azmuth is telling me to fight, there's no way I'm passing that up!" he slammed his hand down on the Ultimatrix and transformed "Fasttrack!" he blitzed forward.

George simply held out one arm and knocked Fasttrack into a wall "You would've been wise to listen to the girl."

"...I thought that would go differently."

"No it's still cool, he loses way faster than XLR8."

"Will you shut up?"

"No, it's not my thing."

"So I've noticed." George noted.

"Yeah you and a bunch of others." Kevin suddenly blitzed behind Kevin and grabbed him from behind.

"Let go of me boy!"

"Make me you old geezer!" he tugged on George's hair, only to be thrown off and slammed into a wall.

"You would be wise to respect your elders stripling. And by the way, hairpulling? Seriously? You fight like a girl."

"Wrong!" Gwen hit him with a barrage of Mana blasts "I'm the one that fights like a girl, keep that in mind."

"So I will." George fired a blast of energy from Ascalon, sending her flying into a wall "And that should take care of that unless the rest of you-"

"Humungousaur!" that was when Humungousaur charged at him.

George simply unleashed a blast of wind from the sword, blowing Humungousaur away and sending him crashing into the cave wall.

"Well… that sucked."

"I commend your efforts young ones but now I am losing my patience with this game, you would be wise to stand down."

"Yeah like you really believe that's gonna happen."

"You cannot say that I failed to warn you." so he held up Ascalon as the blade began glowing, turning Humungousaur back into Ben "To destroy after such commendable efforts would be most dishonorable, especially when you are unaware of the stakes. To say nothing of the true power of the sword." he cut open a portal with the sword "But remember this, I have no intention of letting you get in my way."

"Rather flash for you is it not?" Aurora snapped her fingers and the portal shut "You always did enjoy showboating." she opened her own portal "Come, I believe that there are many things that we have to discuss."

"So there is Lady Aurora." so George and Aurora entered the portal.

Adam looked back at Ben and the rest of the team, though at Ben more specifically "I'll heard what George has to say and then I'll be back, and when I do come back I've got some things I want to talk to you about." and he walked into the portal, leaving Ben and the rest of them to question Azmuth.

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The portal opened within the main halls of the Sanctum.

Alejandro looked up from where he was doing some push ups to see Adam and the rest of them emerge from the portal "That was quite fast, you've only been gone for about an hour and a half or so. Bridgette is still undergoing her training with her father."

"What kind of training exactly?" asked Adam.

"To awaken her water powers and to overcome the doubts she keeps in her own heart, at least that is the objective." Aurora told him.

"So nothing that puts her life at stake?"

"Nothing of the sort, not yet at least. You on the other hand have another matter to deal with at the moment." she pointed to George "I shall leave you two to discuss the matters at hand while I take Alejandro to begin his own training." she grabbed Alejandro and the two of them disappeared through a portal.

"So what are we supposed to talk about, the fact that you're almost 2,000 years old or the fact that you're gonna be throwing your life away to stop Diagon?"

"I suggest I give you a short answer for both." George sat down in one of the chairs in the corner and gestured for Adam to sit across from him "I was born under the name of Georgius, a Roman soldier in the year 231 A.D. nearly 2 millennium ago. The how of it is a story for another day though I would not wish to have been blessed with immortality if it meant living to see mankind be eradicated, we had no weapon that would allow us to stand against the Diagon or its Lucubra minions. That is until Azmuth appeared to me and granted me this." he held up his sword still in its sheath "He described this sword as a weapon of terrible power, if it is wielded by one who is worthy then it is virtually unstoppable."

"And he never bothered to use it himself be he doesn't believe himself to be worthy, mainly because that sword destroyed an entire planet. I accepted the sword and became the first true Forever Knight with the gift that had saved humanity. After I defeated the Lucubra and the other knights under their control I went on to face the Diagon on my own. I cut out the heart of the creature and left the sword buried in it for over 1,000 years."

"But then Vilgax happened." he touched the new scar that had formed on his chest "From what I've heard it was pretty gruesome."

"Such thoughts are irrelevant when you fight for the sake of those you have sworn to protect is it not?"

"Does the sword let you read minds too?"

"No, but I do know a worthy soul when I see one."

"So you don't hate all aliens like the rest of them?"

"I merely tell them what they must hear, I need their allegiance in order to slay the Diagon when the time comes."

"And Azmuth wants the sword back from you because he knows that the Diagon won't underestimate you a second time?"

"He believes that I will likely never reach my target and that the power of the sword will overwhelm me within a matter of days."

"And if you and the rest fall then Diagon will go on to come to this dimension at some point right?"

"Precisely. You are now aware of the stakes, which does raise the question: Do you intend to stop me?"

"...Like we agreed, if you and Ben Tennyson and the rest fall then Diagon will come to this world and conquer it for himself. You defeated Diagon once before so you've earned the right to try and stop him again. I'll see if I can convince Ben Tennyson and the rest of his team to let you have your chance, but if you should fail then the sword will belong to me and I'll take Diagon down myself."

"So we have an agreement. I must make preparations for the battle to come but I shall return, I have much wisdom to pass onto you if I am to trust you with my Ascalon in the event that I should fall." he cut open a portal with Ascalon "Farewell young master Anderson, I shall organize my armies and I shall return within a matter of days." and so he disappeared into the portal.

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Hours passed in dimension 1, and things had long since come full circle.

Kevin let out a grunt as he leaned against the wall of the cave "So we stuck our asses out like that for nothing."

"It was for anything but nothing." Ben told him "This way we have at least two chances to take out Diagon before it takes over the Earth. George has earned the right to try it his way since he's the one who beat Diagon the first time, Azmuth I don't think you should've tried to stop him before."

"You could be right." Azmuth noted.

"I mean George says that Adam and I are both like him and you say that I'm like you and I'm just trying to- Wait a second, did you just say I'm right? Oh god maybe the world is coming to an end."

"I said you could be right and it's not as if I've never made mistakes in my life as I've now shown you. All of the reasons I told you as to why I built the Omnitrix and Ultimatrix, they're all true. But there was one more reason and this was the real reason why, I was hoping that she would notice."

"So you did." Ben looked up "You hear all of that okay Adam?"

Sure enough, Adam emerged from the shadows and appeared before them "Loud and clear. Now then, a deal is a deal Tennyson so let's talk somewhere more private."

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1 hour, 45 minutes and 7 smoothies (2 by Adam, 5 by Ben) later…

Ben let out a loud belch as he downed yet another smoothie "So you're telling me that they have an entire TV franchise about me in your dimension?"

Adam let out a sigh "Yep. Alien Force and Ultimate Alien are where the shit gets good but after that they hit… Omniverse. I mean it's not bad but the new animation style is super cringeworthy and some of the plot points that they make up are just brain hurting levels of bad. And don't even get me started on that reboot that came out back in 2016. It's mortifying."

"Vilgax with the Omnitrix mortifying or mom stare mortifying?"

"...Yes."

"Good to know." the mood turned darker as they switched topics "So everything that you've been going through was for the sake of this one battle against this one guy?"

Adam's mood turned grim "Yeah. That's what I've been doing since day one, preparing for when he shows his face again. He's been torturing my best friends for years, and the nightmares I keep having about him don't help any. I promised the woman I love and my little brother, you know that I'm talking about Bridgette and Cody, and on the grave of me mentor Carlos that I wouldn't let myself be consumed by vengeance."

"Well that's good isn't it?"

"On the surface yeah, but despite that I can't help but wonder. Will I be able to keep that promise or will my anger and hatred for Mal take me over and cost me everything? I already know that I can never be a hero like you if I hold this much pain, anger and doubt in my heart, so the possibilities still exist. Even after everything I've been through I still can't help but wonder, can I do this?"

"...I don't think you're looking at this the right way."

"What do you mean?"

"Look man, if there's one thing that I've learned since I got the Omnitrix six years ago it's that being a hero isn't so black and white, it's about having the strength of both heart and will to make the tough choices. Anger, fear, doubt, temptation, hell even hatred, I feel those feelings creeping up inside of me every single day. I don't know if this is gonna make a lot of sense but it's okay to feel those things, as long as you don't let those feelings get in the way of doing the right thing. Look I'm not gonna pretend I understand a thing about all of this Cosmic Elemental stuff but just think back to the people in your life that you want to protect more than anyone else and that should be enough to steer you back in the right direction. I know that's how I keep pushing myself down the right path."

"...You know I think you might have the right idea. Thanks." he put down a few dollars "That should be enough to pay for it, as awesome as this has been I should get going."

"Back to your Earth then?"

"I don't really know. As much as I've love to stay with you guys until the whole thing with Diagon and the Esoterica is resolved I can't. Diagon and Vilgax weren't wrong you know, as I am right now I'm not strong enough to help win this fight. That power that I tapped into in my fight with Vilgax, I have to learn to tap into it at will."

"But you'll be back?"

"When the time comes to take Diagon down I'll be back and I'll be stronger than ever before, plus I'll have backup. Not like it'll be that hard though, I've already saved the Shadow Realm of the 9th dimension from the Giant Monkey Man so this oughta be a piece of cake in comparison to that. Until we meet again, Ben Tennyson." and with that, he disappeared back to his dimension.

"Until we meet again, Adam Anderson."

A/N:

This chapter is based on A Knight to Remember and Solitary Alignment, two episodes of Ben 10: Ultimate Alien. I was going to do the movie Ben 10: Alien Swarm but I thought that this was a better fit considering how Adam can relate to the similarities in his situation with Mal to Sir George's situation with Daagon.

Total Drama being a famous show in multiple different dimensions is something that I mentioned in chapter 3, the War for Dimension X. I figured why not keep it going at least over the next few dimensions or so, that way people would already know who Adam is.

Adam being in the Shadow Realm of the 9th Dimension was a reference to whatever came up with the Shadow Realm joke (I think it was Yu-Gi-Oh, if I'm wrong then let me know what it actually was) and him defeating the Giant Monkey Man and saving the 9th Dimension was a Spongebob reference.

The Cosmic Knight form, as Adam had dubbed it, is essentially his version of the Super Saiyan transformation from Dragon Ball Z, which he awakened at the last second just like how Goku attained Ultra Instinct -Sign- for the third time in his final battle with Jiren in the Tournament of Power. This will not be the last time this is used though, it's essentially his trump card but it does have drawbacks. Like we saw here, it has a great physical toll on the user. Keep in mind that awesome power or not Adam is still human and he does have his limits.

Sir George accompanying Adam back to his dimension was an idea that popped into my head and I just decided to roll with it. I always found George's character interesting and I never really saw him as evil so I decided to have him come in as a sort of mentor figure to Adam. Plus I shifted his overall character around just a little bit just to make him somewhat more likeable.