Chapter 16: Blakk's Legacy
Tad was wandering through the hideout. Just then, Pronto walked up. "Hey, Taddy, mind if Pronto asks you a few questions, buckaroo?" Pronto asked. Throughout the day, Pronto continuously asked Tad questions. "Now why would be so secretive when it comes to family, slugger? How'd you come to live up on the Surface, huh, tiger? Anyone else know your secrets, buddy? How secretive is your truth, ranger? Been in the family records lately, scout? Hey, where you going? Champ? Slugger? Hey, cowboy. Where you going? Where you going?" Tad groaned as Pronto was starting to annoy him with all these questions.
"Okay, that's it, Pronto." Aerona said, appearing behind Pronto with her sisters. Pronto turned around and saw them glaring angrily at him. "Oh, eh, hello, Garcias, I was just regaling young Tad with tales of my many adventures with Eli and Harley." He said. "Yeah, right. You were bothering our brother, mole-face." Kala said. "And we don't like it when someone bugs our little brother." Paulina said. "And that's why you're going to face a little punishment." Fareeda said. Pronto gulped in fear at that, having no idea what kind of punishment the Garcia sisters had in mind.
Meanwhile, as the Garcia sisters were punishing Pronto, Tad sat in the living room, feeling gloomy about all the questions Pronto was asking. Just then, Cilan came into the living room and noticed his son's mood. "What's wrong, son?" He asked as he walked over and sat down next to Tad. "Pronto's been bothering me all day. He didn't do anything, but he's been asking all these questions for no reason." Tad explained. "I might have known it was Pronto as he was aware of your relation to someone." Cilan said. Tad was surprised to hear that. "But how does Pronto know that I'm related to…him? I didn't tell anybody my secret. We've always kept it from everyone in the hideout." He said. "Pronto was able to smell your scent and figured out that you were related to him." Cilan said. "Do you think he'll tell the others about my true origin?" Tad asked with worry. "Come with me, son. There's something I want to show you." Cilan said, getting up and walking off. Tad got up and followed his father. They both got on their mecha beasts and rode off.
Later, they arrived at their destination, Blakk's old citadel. "What is this place?" Tad asked. "This is your father's old citadel, where he workshopped his experiments with turning slugs into ghouls." Cilan explained. Tad was stunned to hear that. They headed inside and walked around. Tad stared with horror at all of the ghouling machines. "I know, son. I was thankful that I was not here when these things were active." Cilan said. They later arrived at the big hole left from Blakk's Terraportal. "How far down do you think it goes?" Tad asked. "I don't know. But I don't wanna find out." Cilan said. Later, they walked into Blakk's old office. Tad looked up at the portrait of Blakk, glaring at the face of his own biological father. He said something in his mind that he didn't want to say out loud.
Meanwhile, back at the hideout, the Garcia Quadruplets walked in, having given Pronto his punishment. "Hey, girls." Eli greeted. "Where's Pronto?" Harley asked. "Oh, we just sent him to fetch some ingredients for dinner tonight." Aerona said. "Have you guys seen our father or Tad?" Paulina asked. Eli and Harley shrugged, not knowing where they went. That is, until Cilan and Tad walked in through the entrance. "Oh, there you 2 are. Where'd you both get to?" Aerona asked. "We went to a certain location. There's something that we need to tell you right now." Cilan said. Eli and Harley were confused.
Later, the gang, minus Pronto, gathered in the living room. "What's going on? What is this about?" Trixie asked. "It's time for you guys to learn the truth about our brother's origin." Aerona said. The gang listened closely as Cilan started to tell the story. "13 years ago, I helped a young woman named Galatea escape from Dr. Blakk. She was his prisoner. In order to keep her safe, I took her to the Surface so Blakk couldn't find her. But then, Galatea learned that she was pregnant with that madman's child." He explained. That shocked the gang. "Overtime, my family has helped Galatea and she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy." Cilan said. "Me." Tad said. "Because of our support, Galatea decided to raise Tad and gave all of her love to him before she would pass away from her heart disease in 3 years." Cilan explained. The gang was sad to hear that. "But before she passed away, Galatea asked us to take her son in and make sure he stays safe, fearing that he would become like Blakk." Cilan explained. The gang looked at Tad, who was horrified by that fear. "After the 3 years passed, Galatea peacefully passed away in her sleep. And I kept my promise to her and adopted Tad into our family as my own son." Cilan finished.
The gang was left speechless after what they learned. That Tad was the son of their arch enemy, Dr. Blakk. "Ever since that day of Galatea's passing, I told Tad the truth about his biological father when he was old enough." Cilan said. "Daddy feared that Tad would react in anger for keeping the truth from him. But he didn't." Aerona said. "I was fine with it and I didn't care. I didn't care if I was related to that madman. I blamed him for abusing my mother and her life shorten because of him. Despite being adopted and not blood-related to the Garcias, I felt like I was really part of their family. They're my real family and I love them very much. If they hadn't taken me in after my mom passed away, I could have a better life to this day." Tad explained. The gang was amazed to hear that. Eli stood up and walked over to Tad. "You did the right thing in choosing the right path instead of the wrong path. If it hadn't been for the Garcia family's kindness and love, you probably would've become like your evil father. But you didn't. You chose your new family over your abusive father. You're part of the family, Tad." He said with a smile as he gives Tad a brotherly pat on his left shoulder, making him smile. "Wait. Where's Pronto? He missed the whole story." Kord said, noticing that Pronto was gone. "Oh, we just sent him out to fetch some ingredients for dinner tonight." Kala said. "Not to worry. He'll be back in a few hours." Paulina said.
Meanwhile, Pronto was running away from a swarm of angry Scorpion Bees after he collected honey from their hive. "PRONTO REALLY REGRETS IT FOR THIS!" He shouted as he continued running away with a scream as the Scorpion Bees chased him.