I have a dream. I'm sure everyone else has their own dream too, but mine is a really great one.
But, for some reason, when I tell others what it is, they always laugh at me and say: "Are you serious?" I don't get what's so ridiculous about it...
"What are your dreams for the future?" My teacher asked one day, before the end of class. "Since this is the last year of elementary school for all of you, now's a good time to decide."
I raised my hand and waved it back and forth as fast as I could, so she would notice me.
"Yes Sérgio, what is it?" She said, not seeming surprised at all that I wanted to answer so badly.
"I want to be a superhero!" I answered right away.
The whole class burst into laughter.
Jeez... I don't get what's so funny!
"S-settle down, everyone..." The teacher said, giggling herself.
"You're so childish, Sérgio!" Kylade shouted from his seat.
"Shut up! I don't get why everyone thinks my dream sounds silly. I just want to stop the bad guys and help people!"
"You don't have to be a superhero to do that." My teacher told me.
"Really?"
"There are a lot more realistic ways you could help people, without having to use superpowers. What do you want to be to do that?"
"Hm..." I thought about it for a second. "I don't know. I just want to be a superhero!"
Everyone started laughing again.
Gah, stop laughing at me!
--
"That was really funny, Sérgio!" My best friend, Jemily, said to me as we left school, once our lessons were done for the day. "You had the whole class in tears today!"
"Funny? But I was being completely serious, y'know!"
"I know, I know. You've told me a bunch of times already."
"You're too short to be a superhero, Sérgio. Heh." Kylade said, walking behind us.
"I'm not short, you're just freakishly tall."
"Jealous much?"
"Enough bro, stop teasing him." Jemily cut in. "Sérgio has a point though; maybe you should try out for the middle school's basketball team next year."
"I bet I could join any of the sports teams. I'm awesome like that."
Even though I don't want to admit it, I can't really disagree with him...
"By the way Jemily, what do you want to be when you grow up?" I asked her.
"I want to be a doctor. Just like my dad."
"Wow, that's a really great dream. It's way more mature than mine or Kylade's..."
"Hey, don't group me with you, shrimp."
--
After school, I hurried home to watch my favorite show, as usual.
"Gargh! I be stealin' from this here bank! Argh!" Said the evil pirate villain from my show.
"No! Someone stop him!" Said a man, hiding in a barrel.
"Argh! No one can stop the Bank Pirate! Gar har har!"
"Not so fast, evildoer!"
"Gasp! Jalapeño Man!"
"That's right! It is I, Jalapeño Man, the spicy smiter of evil!" He shouted, jumping down from the building he was on top of. "Now hand over the money you've stolen, or things might get hot for you!"
"Never! Argh!" Bank Pirate took out a pistol. "This here be the Bank Pirate Pistol!"
"Looks like an ordinary gun to me."
"Argh! It be not! Now feel its wrath!" He shot at Jalapeño Man with the pistol, but he used his fire powers to melt the bullet and even the pistol Bank Pirate was holding.
"Ha! You should know better than to shoot at Jalapeño Man!" I said in unison with him.
"You haven't seen the last o' me! Gargh!" Bank Pirate said, running away.
"And the spicy smiter of evil, Jalapeño Man, saves the day again!" He said, then the show ended.
"Jalapeño Man is sooo cool! I wish I had powers like him so I could be a superhero too!" I sighed. "But I know that's not possible..."
After my show, I ate dinner and took a bath. Then I went to bed, sad. My parents asked me what was wrong, but I didn't tell them.
"I'll never be a superhero, will I?" I said to myself before I fell asleep.
Of course not, superpowers don't actually exist...
--
Burning... Fire... Hot!
All of a sudden, my whole body was on fire. But...
... That's strange, it doesn't hurt. It's almost like it's a part of me...
--
"Ungh... Huh?" I muttered, after waking up. "What a weird dream. What was that all about?"
"Sérgio, sweetie, it's time for breakfast!" My mom called from the kitchen.
"Coming, mom!" I got out of bed, got dressed, and went to go eat.
"What's the matter?" My mom asked. "Have a bad dream?"
"More like a weird one."
"Oh? What was it about?"
"I don't remember much..." I said, trying to recall my dream. "All I remember is 'fire'."
"Fire?"
"Yeah. I don't know why I'd have a dream about that."
"Hm... Maybe because of that show you like to watch?"
"Yeah, that's probably it." But it doesn't feel like it is...
After I ate, I hurried to school. But on the way there, I started to feel strange.
"I feel so hot... I wonder why?"
I looked up at the sky.
"Nova must be shining with extra brightness today." I uttered, looking at the CS World's sun.
"Hey, Sérg!" A voice from behind me shouted.
"Oh, morning Kylade. Sure is hot today, huh?" I said, while wiping sweat off my forehead.
"Huh? Not really." He answered, looking at me funny. "Besides, you of all people shouldn't be bothered by the heat."
"Yeah, you're right. It's nothing."
But it wasn't nothing, 'cause it got worse later that day...
--
"Now if you multiply 4 x 5 you get 20." Said my math teacher, during class. "So what do you get when you multiply 5 x 6? Anyone?"
I raised my hand.
"Oh, this is a surprise. You want to answer, Sérgio?"
"It's hot in here. Can you turn on the air conditioning?"
Almost everyone in class burst into laughter, much to my annoyance.
"It is on." My teacher replied angrily. "Now would someone like to answer the question or not?"
"Sérgio, are you alright?" Jemily, who was sitting right next to me, asked.
"It's so hot..." I slumped my head onto my desk.
Jemily placed her hand on my forehead.
"Omigosh, you're burning up!" She exclaimed in shock, then raised her hand. "Teacher, Sérgio isn't feeling well. Can I take him to the nurse?"
I'm not sick...
"Ah, sure. Go ahead."
"Thank you." She grabbed my hand, and dragged me to the nurse's office.
--
"You have a high fever." The nurse said to me. "You should go home and rest."
"A fever? But I feel fine..."
"I know you don't like to be sick Sérgio, but you'll get worse if you don't listen to the nurse." Jemily told me sternly.
"Alright..." But I'm not sick, it's just really hot today...
Even though I didn't feel sick, I decided to go home anyway (Jemily always gets really mad at me when I don't listen to her). She offered to walk home with me, but I told her I'd be fine.
But am I really...?
"Nova, are you the one behind this? Are you trying to pull a prank or something?"
I reached my hand out to the sky.
"You're lucky you're so high up, or I'd show you..."
All of a sudden, everything became white for a second. Like I'd fainted or something, but only for a short while.
"Ah... What just happened?"
I noticed my hand was still raised. But something was wrong with it.
Hot... Burning? "FIRE!!!" I screamed, waving my hand rapidly. "MY HAND'S ON FIRE!!!"
What's going on? Why's this happening?! Why... doesn't it hurt?
I stopped waving my hand and just stared at it.
"... Huh?" Was all I thought to say.I continued to stare at it until the fire eventually went away.
"What... was that?"
Maybe I should tell someone about this...
--
"MOM!!!" I yelled, bursting through the front door of my house.
"What is it, sweetie?" My mom asked, surprised at me coming in so suddenly.
"S-something weird just happened to me!" I told her frantically. "I..."
"Calm down, Sérgio." She said to me calmly, while making me stop moving around. "Now tell me. What happened?"
"Well..." I stated, thinking of what to say.
I told her how I felt hot this morning, about going to the nurse, and about my hand burning from Nova.
"O-oh my goodness..." She looked at me wide-eyed, hands over her mouth. "C-could it be...?"
"W-what is it, mom?"
"Hey, you two! I'm home early today!" My dad exclaimed, coming in the front door.
"Ribeiro! I have something to tell you!" Mom told him, both surprisingly and happily.
"W-what is it?" He asked, confused.
"Apparently Sérgio really did inherit my power after all! Isn't that great?"
"W-what did you just say?!" My dad was so surprised by the news, that he dropped everything he was holding.
"Inherited? Does that mean you have fire powers too, mom?!"
"Of course! Where do you think you got it from? Your father's too wimpy!"
"Well excuse me, dear..."
"It seems me teaching you some of my kicking techniques wasn't in vain after all!" My mom said giddily.
"So, this means..." I started to say.
"It means...?" My mom asked, with a slightly less happy tone than before.
"... I can be a superhero!?" I said happily.
"A superhero...?" My mom looked at me questioningly.
"He's taking this a lot better than I thought he would..." My dad added, sighing in relief. "I guess your fire isn't the only thing he inherited from you, Rhea."
"To be honest, I'm a little confused..." I told my parents, scratching the back of my head. "You told me there were no such power like Jalapeño Man's."
"I'm sorry I lied to you, sweetie." My mom told me comfortingly. "I thought you didn't have any powers, so I figured it was better if you lived a normal life."
"I guess that isn't really possible for you now, though..."
"So, can you tell me about my powers?" I asked, with a big grin on my face.
"I think you need to know about the true nature of this world, first. It's not as normal as you think it is."
"Huh?"
"There are a lot of different people in every region, with all kinds of different abilities."
"You mean, there are other people like me!?" I asked, wide-eyed and happy.
My mom chuckled. "Yes, that's right. You and I are what's called an 'avian'."
"Avian? What's that?"
"All avians have wings, and a power of some sort. It's said avians are descendants of Spirit Guardian Sarjoun himself." She explained to me, looking at my back and lifting up my shirt slightly. "But it doesn't seem like yours have grown yet..."
"I'm going to have wings?!" I exclaimed, even more happy than before. "This is great! I can't wait to tell my friends!"
"Now, now. You can't tell anyone about this."
"What? Why not?"
"With your power comes great responsibility." My mom said with a stern look on her face. "You should only use it when absolutely necessary."
"Why?!" I asked, a bit disappointed.
"Your power is dangerous. If you use it irresponsibly, something horrible might happen."
"Horrible?"
"Yes. I'm sure that's something even Jalapeño Man understands."
"Wait, Jalapeño Man is real?! And has actual powers?"
"... Um, most likely..."
"AWESOME!!!"
--
After that, I decided to go outside to try out my new powers.
"You can't tell anyone about this, understand?" I remembered mom telling me.
"If I can't show them to anyone, then how can I use them to help people? What's the point...?"
Isn't there someone out there who needs my help?
"Oh, but there is..." An unfamiliar voice said to me.
"W-who's there? Who are you?!" I asked, looking around for the person.
"Come to me, child..." All of a sudden, a strange blue hole appeared in front of me.
"What is that?"
"Please enter. Your help is needed."
"M-my help?! Really?"
I'm not sure if going into this weird hole is a good idea, but this might be my chance to be a superhero at last!
I entered it without hesitation.
When I went in, it felt like I had entered another room. Weird since I was just outside.
"What is this place?"
"Welcome, child." Said the voice from earlier. I looked up to see where the voice came from.
"W-who are you?!" She looked like nothing I had ever seen before, even on TV. She looked like a person, but was big and all blue (like the place I was in).
"You may call me Crystana." She said to me in a more calming voice. "Child, your power is needed to protect the CS Region from the approaching chaos."
"M-me!? But I just..."
"This concerns you as well. You see, the approaching chaos is in fact, your dark side."
"My... dark side?"
Crystana held up her hand, and another weird hole appeared. It showed someone who looked just like me, but with darker hair, a weird mark on his forehead, and a very unhappy look on his face.
"This is him. He holds an enormous power; a power no one can even fathom."
"And I'm supposed to stop him?! How can I beat someone like that?"
I want to use my powers to help people, but... This is crazy!
"Do you not understand? Since he is your other half, you hold the same amount of power that he does. Possibly even more..."
"S-seriously?!" But I don't feel that different from a normal person right now...
"But before you can stop that evil boy once and for all, you must be tested."
"Tested?"
"You do not have enough experience to face him yet. So you must gain some."
"How do I do that?"
"Have you heard of Serge Island?"
"Um... yeah?" I said, confused by the random question. "It's a place that only exists in legend, right?"
"Yes; it is the home to many beings known as 'CSmon'. Only one with a pure heart can step foot on it. Because of that, it is very peaceful."
"I see..." I think I've heard of CSmon before, but I've never seen one.
"However, it seems that peace has begun to dwindle..."
"What?! Is it because of that evil me?"
"There is an evil creature rampaging all over that island. Your first test... is to put a stop to the creature and restore peace to the island."
"But how? For one thing, I don't even know where it is..."
"You need not worry about that. Just concentrate on doing your duty." She said to me, waving her hand in a weird motion.
"Uh, okay?" I responded, having no idea how that would help me get there.
"I wish you luck..." Crystana held out her other hand in a weird way, then everything started to spin.
"W-what's going on?! Ahhh!"
--
A bright flash of light shined in my face. When it finally disappeared, I saw something I wasn't expecting.
"Sand... Trees... Ocean? Where am I?"
I noticed a sign with sand covering the letters on it. I rubbed the sand off and read it.
"Welcome to Serge Island!" It said on the sign.
"W-what?!" I exclaimed, surprised. "How did I end up here?"
Did Crystana teleport me here or something? I've seen some shows where the hero is transported to a bunch of different places to save the innocent citizens from bad guys...
Wow, I feel like a real superhero now!
"So, first things first, I need to find that evil beast she told me about, right?"
I climbed up some big rocks leading to the upper area of the island. Up there I saw a vast amount of the most beautiful green grass I've ever seen in my life! And there were many unfamiliar creatures (which I figured were CSmon) having fun together.
"Weird, this place seems fine to me. Where is th-..."
"RHINOOORE!!!"
A piercing scream echoed throughout the whole island. The CSmon reacted to it by running away in fear.
All of a sudden, what looked like a rhino came barging through, in seeable view.
"Stop it! Stop it, Rhinore!"
It seemed that not all of the CSmon had fled; there was still a small, round, and white one standing in the rampaging rhino's path. It was calling out to the rhino to stop.
What a brave little guy...
"You're scaring all of the CSmon, and destroying the trees! STOP IT!"
"RHINOOORE!!!" The rhino ignored his cries and continued to barge through in his direction.
"Watch out!" I ran for the CSmon as fast as I could, grabbing him and rolling away before he was stomped flat by the beast. "Are you okay, little fella?"
"What do you think you're doing?! Put me down!" He replied angrily, while I was still holding the rather light and white being.
"Ah, sorry..." Before I could anything, he jumped out of my hands on his own. "But I didn't want you to get turned into a pancake!"
"It's none of your business! Hmph!" He crossed his arms angrily... as much as he could with his stubby little arms, anyway.
Y'know, you could be a bit more grateful for me saving you...
"So, what's that evil beast doing here? And why is it rampaging all over this island?"
"He's not an evil beast!" He responded, even more angry than before. "He's Rhinore, the guardian of this island. But some evil guy turned him into a rhino and attached poisonous, fungus creatures onto him, which is making him wild and upset!"
Weird, she told me the rhino was supposed to be evil... Oh well.
"Not to worry! I'm a superhero... Well, a superhero in training, so I'll save Rhinore for you!"
"No thanks; Rhinore has raised me since I was a newborn, so I'll save him!"
"B-but... it's my duty!"
"What are you even doing here, anyway? Who are you?! Besides Rhinore, there aren't supposed to be any humans here!"
"Hu... man?" I asked, confused. "I have no idea what you're talking about, but shouldn't you introduce yourself before asking who someone else is?" That's what mom taught me, anyway...
"Hmph, fine... My name is Serge. I was named after this island by Rhinore, as you might've already guessed." He crossed his arms again, his time in a proud pose. "And this island was named after the leader of the Spirit Guardians, Sarjoun, so my name's pretty incredible, if I do say so myself!"
"Wow, really? My name is Sérgio, and I'm also named after Guardian Sarjoun!" I said proudly, imitating his pose. "So my name's pretty incredible, too!"
"W-well, I can spit fire! Fire!" Serge said, trying to show off for some reason. "I bet you can't do that!"
"Actually I just learned that I have the power to use fire a little while ago!"
I've haven't had the chance to try using it yet, though...
"W-wha..."
"We have so much in common; let's be friends!"
"B-but, I..." He started, until he was interrupted by a bellow from Rhinore off in the distance. "What am I doing, wasting time talking to you?! I have to save Rhinore!"
Serge ran off after Rhinore.
"W-wait!"
I have to do something to stop that rhino guy! I must, since I am a superhero (in training), after all!
I ran after Rhinore as well.
He'll probably stop if I can get those fungus things off of him. Maybe I can use my fire on them when he runs by!
I stood there waiting, until Rhinore came close to where I was.
Okay, so last time, I created fire by facing my hand toward Nova. If I do that again, I should have fire once more!
"Here goes! Haah!"
I held up both palms toward Nova's light, and tried to focus all of my thoughts and energy to my hands.
"Take this! Jalapeño Cannon!" I pushed my palms out in front of me, and released all of my gained fire energy at the rampaging rhino passing through, burning off all of the fungus!
... At least, that's what I wanted to happen. Instead, nothing came out of my hands, and Rhinore ran by completely unfazed by what I was doing.
"I-it... didn't work..." I uttered in disappointment.
Rhinore continued on, making its way to where some little CSmon were hiding.
Oh no!
"Fire Ball!" Serge lit up some dry ground in front of Rhinore with fire, the rhino fleeing in another direction.
"Huh? What just happened?" I asked questioningly.
"I'm pretty sure those fungus things are controlling Rhinore's movement." Serge explained. "They don't like hot things very much; that's why they won't go near the hot spring, either."
"Hot spring?"
"You see that pool of water over there?" He pointed off in the distance. "There's a small hole at the bottom blowing hot air into it, making it hot."
"Oh, okay... But what's that thing covering it?"
"It's a large net we found washed up on the beach. We don't really know what to do with it, so we just leave it there when no one's using it. It can help some of the CSmon not fall in by accident, at least."
Hm... So the fungus don't like hot things, huh? But they won't let Rhinore into the hot spring! What should I do? My fire powers aren't working, and I doubt I'd be able to kick them...
"There are a lot more realistic ways you could help people, without having to use superpowers."
Ah, that's right! Even if I can't use superpowers, I can't give up! I'm sure even Jalapeño Man has had times where he couldn't use his fire powers, either!
Think... What would he do in this situation...?
"... I've got it!"
"What? What have you got?" Serge asked me in confusion.
"Serge, can you keep doing that fire ball thing like you did before?" I pleaded. "Try bringing him to the hot spring!"
"But that won't work! He'll just run away from th-..."
"Just trust me! I have an idea!"
"... Fine. This better work..."
Serge followed Rhinore, spitting more fire to guide him toward the hot spring. While he did that, I went to the hot pool and brought the net out of the water.
"He's going towards the hot spring now!" Serge warned me.
"Okay, burn this net!" I asked him, holding part of the net up over my head.
"Are you crazy? You'll get burned, too!"
"I'll be fine. Hurry up and do it!"
Serge gave in and did what I asked him.
Just as I thought, the net isn't hurting me! Even if I can't use fire, I can still touch it!
Like usual, as soon as Rhinore approached the hot spring, he instantly ran away from it. But...
... you aren't going anywhere this time!
"Olé!" I flung the burning net at Rhinore, sending him in the opposite direction... which was the hot spring!
Both Rhinore and the net ended up in the hot pool, washing away the flames and causing the fungus to finally leave the rhino's body.
Yes! I DID IT!!!
"W-wha..." Serge looked at what happened in disbelief. "I tried so many times to get him into the hot spring, but then I completely gave up on it... H-how did you..."
I turned to face the little round CSmon, and flashed him a smile.
"W-who are you?!"
"I already told you, I'm Sérgio... and I'm a superhero in training!"
End of Chapter 1
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Previous Ch.1 Release Date: 2010-Oct 26, 2011~
Previous Ch.2 Release Date: Jan 23, 2012
Writer's Comments:
So this is chapter 1 of Sérgio's 1st Adventure! How was it? Did you like it?
Yeah, I know; the ones who have been following this series before are most likely thinking: "Hey, what happened to this chapter? Shouldn't this be chapter 3?!" And to answer that...
I decided to combine the first two chapters with a new "third" chapter! Why? Two reasons. First is because after finishing Paint & Treble, it bothered me how short these chapters were. For comparison, P&T's shortest chapter is chap 8, which is 5½ pages long (I consider that short). While S1A's two chapters were around... 4 pages long (4¼ and 4¾, to be precise). ... Yeah.
Second is that I didn't want this series to start like Paint & Treble did (yes, I'm mentioning it again). With that series, you only really get an idea of what's going on after reading the first two or three chapters. So I decided to make this first chapter particularly longer than the rest (maybe), so my readers can know what the story is about only by having to read the first one.
I really want to do this sort of thing with the other series too, so this might not be the only time I combine chapters together. Before I was satisfied with just getting chapters done, but I want to focus more on getting the series themselves done currently (which was what I should've been doing from the start...).
So yeah. Sorry for using this section for an information dump that isn't even related to this chapter. So... bye! Hopefully I'll be more motivated to work on this series next!
- CS-Masyet