Sérgio's 1st Adventure
Chapter 3 - The Hero's Blazing Test!
Written by: CS-Masyet
Uploaded on: November 19, 2014
"Mmngh..." I woke up bright and early the next morning, as usual. I got up out of bed and stretched myself. "I hope today is another great day!"

I looked through my dresser drawer for something to wear, then got dressed.

I wonder what things me and Serge are going to do today? Will we finally be able to go on an adventure together?

"Oh, speaking of which..." I turned my direction to Serge, who was sleeping on my bed. "Hey, are you gonna wake up already, or what?"

Serge continued snoring, still curled up in a ball. And when I say "curled up in a ball", I mean that literally. Asleep, he looked like a plain, white ball on my bed. His arms, legs, and face were completely unseeable.

"Wow, that looks really weird..." I poked him. "Hey, rise and shine!"

"Wah!" He cried suddenly, his arms, legs, and face popping out in front of me immediately, frightening me a little. "Don't do that!"

"Sorry... but do you always sleep like that?"

"Sleep like what?"

"Uh, n-never mind..."

All of a sudden, I heard a gurgling sound coming from Serge's direction.

"I'm hungry... I haven't eaten anything since I got here..."

"Let's go get some breakfast, then. Mom said she'd be making something good for us today!"

--

I grabbed Serge and headed downstairs to the kitchen to chow down on some grub. But Mom wasn't ready right away though, which made him kind of upset.

"The food's ready!" Mom said, bringing two steaming plates to the kitchen table we were sitting at.

"Finally!" Serge exclaimed. "I'm sooo... starving!"

"Um, what?" I said in confusion.

"Like, y'know, even hungrier than hungry!"

"I know what starving means! That's not what I meant!"

"So, what is this, anyways?" He asked, changing the subject. "I've never seen food like this before..."

"Oh, it's a bacon omelette!" I told him. "It sure smells good, huh?"

"A... bacon omelette?" He said in confusion.

"Like, y'know... A omelette with bacon in it!" I answered smugly.

"No, I mean what i-... Hey, you makin' fun of me?!" He noticed I had mocked the way he was talking earlier, and glared at me.

"Stop fighting you two." Mom ordered us sternly. "Eat your food before it gets cold."

"Yes, mom..." He and I said (except Serge didn't say "mom", of course).

"And it's 'an omelette', Sérgio." She added, correcting my earlier statement. "Jeez, is this why you never get good grades in school?"

Mom! You're embarrassing me!

"School?" Serge questioned. "What's that?"

"Huh? You don't know what school is?" I questioned back at him.

"No, I don't! Why else do you think I asked you?"

"It's, y'know..." I paused, trying to think of a way to explain. "A place everyone goes to. To learn things."

"Like fighting techniques?"

"Um... no. Not fighting techniques." I told him. "We learn academic stuff; like maths, history about the world, and other boring things like that."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. There wasn't something like a school on the island, Serge?"

"No. I, and the other CSmon too, learned all we know from Rhinore. Although I taught myself my fighting moves."

"I see..." Yeah, I guess that makes sense.

"But this 'school' place sounds pretty interesting!"

"It's not! Not at all! I mean, we spend so much time there; time I could be spending performing heroic deeds or going on adventures!"

"Really? But I'd still like to see it. Can I come too?"

"No way! Mom said that I can't show my powers to my friends or anyone else, so I'm sure that means I show them you, either..."

"Yes, that's right." My mom confirmed.

"But don't worry. My mom stays home for work, so you won't be alone or anything."

"To be honest, I think I'd prefer being alone in that case..." Serge looked down, obviously upset.

"Trust me, you're lucky! School is definitely worse!"

"Speaking of school, hurry and finish up or you'll be late!" My mom said to me.

"Ah! Oh no!" If I'm late again, Jemily will get mad... again!

I gobbled down the rest of my omelette and hurried back to my room.

"Jeez, where did I put my shoes?" I asked myself, looking under my bed.

"Why in such a rush?" Serge, who had apparently followed me up the stairs. "Oh, and your shoes are on the other side."

"Thanks!" I jumped over the bed to the other side, then popped my head out from behind it. "Wait, how did you manage to get up the stairs?"

"I rolled up them."

"How is that even pos-... ah, whatever." I ignored the thought, and put on my shoes hurriedly.

"What's this thing?" Serge asked, walking up and looking at my backpack.

"That's what I use to carry my books and homework to school."

"Sérgio, don't forget to brush before you go!" My mom yelled from the lower floor.

"Ah, jeez!" I jumped over the bed again and ran to the bathroom.

After I quickly finished brushing, I ran back to my room to get my backpack.

"Huh? Where did Serge go?" I wondered aloud, him nowhere in sight.

I guess he went back downstairs...

I picked up my bag and rushed down and out the door.

"Have a nice day at school, sweetie!" My mom said before I left.

--

Weird, my bag seems heavier today for some reason... I thought to myself, while running to school. But that doesn't matter now! I have to hurry before I'm la-...

The rest of my thought was interrupted by me crashing into someone. I was fine, but the person I hit fell down.

"S-sorry, are you okay?" I asked worriedly, before realizing who it was. "Jemily?!"

I offered my hand to her, but she ignored it and got up herself. She looked at me angrily.

"What's wrong with you?!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to knock you down..."

"That's not what I meant, stupid! Where were you last night?!"

"Huh? What're you talking about?"

"What do you mean, what am I talking about!?" She shouted, even more angry this time. "Your parents called my house last night, wondering where you'd gone!"

"O-oh..." I forgot all about that!

"You shouldn't go wandering off somewhere, especially when you're sick!"

Jeez, I've never seen Jemily this mad before...

"I-I... I mean, we..." She calmed down, tears forming in her eyes. "W-were so worried about you..."

"Ah...! I'm really sorry! Please don't cry, Jemily..."

She wiped her eyes. "I-I'm not crying, you idiot!" She put her hands on her hips, giving me a mad glare again. "Explain yourself!"

"U-um..."

I can't tell her what really happened, so...

"W-well, I was feeling better, so I decided to go for a walk to get some fresh air." I explained, making something up on the spot. "I wasn't gone for very long. In fact, I came back right after they called. Honest!"

"Oh, really...?" She continued to glare at me, not buying it.

"Yeah, really. Nothing happened that you need to be worried about, Jemily!"

She sighed. "Fine. I guess it doesn't matter, as long as you're alright." She looked away from me, her face turning slightly red. "B-but don't get the wrong idea... I wasn't worried at all! I-I know you're always doing things like this, so I expected it to be something like that in the end..."

"I see..." But didn't she say she was worried before? I don't get her sometimes...

"But are you sure you're feeling better?" She asked, more seriously. "You had a pretty bad fever yesterday."

"Y-yeah, of course! I'm as fit as a fiddle... whatever that means!"

She went up close to me suddenly, and touched our foreheads together.

Oh no, now that I think about it, my power was the reason I felt so hot before! What if...

"Okay; looks like you're telling the truth." She stated, immediately backing away from me afterward.

Phew...

"Excuse me, lovebirds." Someone said from behind me. "You're blocking the sidewalk."

I turned around to face him. "Oh hey, Kylade..."

"We're not lovebirds, bro!" Jemily exclaimed, her face becoming even more red for some reason. "That isn't funny!"

"What, you think I was joking?" He gave her a sly look.

"W-wha...?!" She uttered, her face staying red.

"Hey Sérg, haven't you been wondering why Jemily is coming to school the same time as we are today?"

"Now that you mention it, it is pretty strange..." I turned my attention back at her. "Don't you usually like to be at school early?"

"Actually, as soon as your parents called us saying they couldn't find you, she became restless and wouldn't stop pacing all around the house." Kylade explained, giggling. "She was so worried, she almost didn't manage to get her homework done."

"S-shut up, bro!"

"And not only that..." He continued, ignoring his younger sister. "She got up late today, because she apparently had a hard time sleeping last night! She was that worried!"

While Kylade burst into laughter, Jemily's eyes began to water, looking both upset and embarrassed.

"I-if we keep hanging around here, we're going to be late for school." Jemily told me, regaining her composure and looking away from her brother.

Ah, I completely forgot!

She grabbed my hand without warning, and started dragging me forward, leaving Kylade behind.

"Let's go, Sérgio!" She said, still looking upset.

I'm sorry, Jemily. I wish I could tell you the truth...

--

We all managed to make it to our first class in time (even Kylade). Our first class was... math.

"Aw man, I hate math class..." I uttered to myself.

"Do you even like any subject, Sérgio?" Jemily asked, sitting next to me as usual.

"I would if there was a 'superhero' class, or something like that."

"Jeez... is that all you ever think about?"

"'Course!"

"I hope all of you remembered to do your math homework last night." Our teacher stated to the class. "I'd like all of you to take it out, please."

"W-we had math homework to do?!" I shouted, panicking. "I-I honestly had no idea!"

"Sérgio, calm down!" Jemily told me. "You don't need to worry about it."

"I... don't?"

"It was during math class when you left early yesterday, remember?" She explained. "The teacher gave out the assignment after you were gone already."

"Oh, that's right... Okay, then." I said in relief.

"You're still going to have to do it, though. But I can come over after school and help you with it, if you want."

"Really? Thanks a lot, Jemily!"

I guess it's kind of a good thing I got "sick" yesterday, after all!

The teacher came around and collected everyone's homework, ignoring me. He went back to his desk afterward.

"Alright now, everyone get out your textbooks." The teacher stated.

I bent down to get my math book out of my bag. I opened it and what I saw inside was... Serge!

"What the...?!"

"U-uh..." He looked at me nervously. "Greetings!"

"What are you doing in there?!" I said in a quiet but upset voice.

"I wanted to see your school, remember?" He told me, also in a quiet voice. "I looked in this bag when you were getting ready to leave, and I realized I could fit in here!"

I sighed. "Ugh, fine, whatever. Just don't make any noise, okay?"

"Sérgio, who're you talking to?" Jemily inquired, after apparently having heard me.

"E-er, no one!" I stammered, closing my bag in a flash, after getting my textbook out of it. "Just talking to myself!"

"Okay, then..."

Sheesh... That explains why my bag was so heavy today...

--

After math class was over...

"So, did you have any problems with class today?" Jemily asked me, walking by my side to our next class. "I know you're kind of behind, so..."

"Is your 'school' over yet?" Serge said to me suddenly. "I'm starting to get bored."

"Ssh! Be quiet!" I snapped, irritated by Serge.

"Excuse me?!"

"A-ah, not you, Jemily!"

"Who were you talking to, then?" She looked at me funny. "You're acting weird today..."

"Um, well... I-I guess I'm still feeling kind of strange from yesterday..." I tried to act as naturally as possible.

"Oh, you're still feeling sick, Sérgio?" She looked at me with more concern than before. "Do you want me to take you to the nurse again?"

"I-it's not a big deal. I'm sure I'll be fine!"

"Alright. But don't force yourself, okay?"

Jemily's really nosey when it comes to stuff about me... I have to make extra careful she doesn't find out about Serge when I'm around her!

"Hey, Sérgio..." Serge uttered. "Who is the person you're talki-..."

Before he could finish, I elbow jabbed him through my bag. I heard him make a light "ow" sound.

"What was that? I thought I heard a strange voice just now..." Jemily looked around in confusion.

"H-heh, it must be your imagination!"

It's going to be hard to do though, if Serge doesn't shut up already!

"By the way, Jemily..." I asked, trying to change the subject. "... what class do we have next, anyways?"

"You've been walking to it this whole time without knowing?!"

"Yeah. I've actually just been following you this whole time..."

She sighed. "It's cooking class, Sérgio."

"Cooking?! Sweet; I'm actually getting pretty hungry right now!"

"You're not going to eat all of the ingredients again, are you?"

"T-that was only one time! And I was starving then!"

"Oh, really now...?" She looked at me skeptically.

"Besides, when it's you making the food Jemily, it's well worth the wait!"

"E-eh?" For some reason, she looked away from me, her face turning red. "In that case, I could make you something to eat again. I-if you really want me to..."

"Seriously?! Yay~!"

"Hold on, you're not trying to get out of cooking anything yourself, are you?!" She looked back at me, glaring at me again.

"O-of course not! No way!"

--

"Why can't I cook these rocks again?" One of my fellow classmates asked our cooking teacher, once we had arrived to our next class.

"Because rocks are not something that belong in the kitchen, that's why!" She exclaimed. "How many times must I tell you?!"

"But why nooot?" The boy whined.

"Rocks aren't edible, and inserting objects like that into the oven might be dangerous!"

"... Does that mean I can't make rock stew?" He asked again, starting to sob.

"You can't make rock anything!"

"Waaah!" He cried, dropping all of his rocks in the process.

"It looks like someone's causing trouble for the poor cooking teacher again..." Jemily uttered.

"See? It's not only me!" I added.

"Alright, everyone. Find a partner, and take a seat." The teacher said, ignoring the crying boy.

I didn't have to do so, because I was already sitting with Jemily. I always partner with her for everything, since we're best friends.

"So, what do you want to make, Sérgio?" She asked me.

"Chicken parmesan..." I answered, drooling at the thought.

"Again? I made that for you last time!"

"But it was really good, though! Especially the chicken part!"

"Chicken, huh? Then what about chop suey?"

"Chop suey? What's that?"

"It's a dish made of chicken, eggs, and veggies. It's really good!"

"Veggies..." I uttered, now wincing at the thought.

"C'mon, they're good for you! You can't eat just chicken all the time!"

"Chicken's not the only thing I like!"

"What else do you like, then?"

"Turkey's good, too..."

Jemily sighed heavily. "I swear, one of these days you'll grow feathers..."

"But that thing you talked about sounds kind of fancy. Do you know how to cook a lot of things, Jemily?"

"Yeah; my mom's been teaching me a lot about cooking. I've even started to prepare dinner sometimes."

"That's amazing! You want to be a doctor, and you can already cook so much stuff!" I exclaimed in awe. "You're definitely way more mature than me or Kylade..."

"I heard that, shrimp!" Kylade yelled from across the room.

"It's not that amazing..." Jemily fidgeted in embarrassment.

"Yes, it is! I almost want to marry you so I can eat your food all the time!"

"M-m-ma-ma-marry!?" Her face turned as red as a tomato, as she half-covered her face with her hands.

"Uh, are you okay, Jemily? Why's your face so red?"

"S-stupid! It's because you sai-... huh?"

There was a strange smell in the air. It smelled like... burning.

"Where's that smell coming from?!" Someone shouted.

"It's coming from your area!" The teacher exclaimed, at the dumb boy from earlier. "What did you put in the oven?"

"N-nothing you said I couldn't..." He stated nervously.

The teacher peered into his oven. "They're rocks! You put rocks in there! What did I tell you earlier?!"

"But they're not rocks! They're stones!" The boy explained. "They're wider and flater than rocks! Completely different!"

Before the teacher could argue further, the oven burst open, sending flames across the room. Luckily, none of it touched anyone.

"Everyone, out of the room, right now!" She yelled, leaving the room herself.

All of the students followed, in a panic. By the time we had all gotten out, the fire had spread all over inside.

The teacher slammed the doors of the room shut, so the fire wouldn't spread. But just in case, she pulled the fire alarm.

"Let's go, all of you! The firefighters will handle this, don't worry!"

Everyone rushed out of the school... but I decided to stay behind.

I can't just run away! What kind of hero in training would I be if I just waited for the firefighters to arrive?! And who knows how long it'll take them... This fire might end up doing even more damage to this school... or worse!

"Sérgio, what are you doing?!" Jemily called out to me. "We have to get out of here!"

If it's just fire, I might be able to do something. I've touched flames with my bare hands before without getting hurt, so maybe...

I ran back to the cooking room, as fast as I could.

"No, Sérgio! Come back!"

I ignored Jemily's cries and continued on, until I was too far away to hear her anymore.

"Nnghhrrah!" I forced open the doors to the room, entering and immediately shutting them afterward.

O-oh my gah...

There was fire spread around everywhere, although none of it was leaving the room. Some of the fire touched me, but it didn't hurt at all.

Some parts of my clothes are burning off, though. I'd better hurry and think of something! ... But what should I do exactly?!

"I can help out!" My bag started shaking suddenly, startling me and making me drop it on the floor. "... Ouch."

"M-my backpack is talking!?" I stated in surprise.

"No, you idiot! It's me! Let me out, would you?!"

I opened the bag, and Serge jumped out of it.

"T-there's a lot more fire than I thought..."

"Serge, can you do something about all of these flames?"

"Of course; leave it to me! But it'd be easier if I knew where the fire was coming from..."

I pointed to where the dumb boy was sitting earlier. "Somewhere over there."

"Thanks!" He quickly rolled to where the oven was. "Now to get started!"

What's he gonna do?

Serge opened his mouth, and started absorbing the fire.

"Y-you're... eating it?!"

He kept trying to absorb it into himself, but he eventually became exhausted.

"I-it's too much..." He said, breathing heavily. "I can't..."

All of a sudden, another one of the ovens burst open, creating more fire.

"It's getting worse!"

"I-I'm sorry, Sérgio..." Serge started to cry. "My body's too small... I can't handle this alone!"

Oh no! What do I do?! Serge's trying his best, so I have to try to do something myself, too! ... But what do I do? Serge said his body was too small to absorb it all, and even if I figure out how to use my fire now, it won't do anything useful in this situation!

Think... What would Jalapeño Man do if he were in my shoes right now?

... Wait, Serge's body is too small...?

"... I've got it!"

I ran up to where Serge was standing.

"W-what are you doing?!" Serge shouted at me.

"The both of us have fire powers, Serge! If you can can absorb fire, then I should be able to, also!"

"A-are you crazy?! It could just be because I'm a CSmon..."

"We don't know for sure! And I can't give up just because it 'might not' work!"

"Sérgio..." He uttered, simply staring at me.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine! I am a superhero in training, after all!"

I don't know how to absorb fire, though... Maybe if I think in reverse to when I would actually want to shoot out fire...

I put my hands out in front of me, my sleeves becoming slightly singed by the flames.

"Fire, come to me!"

I concentrated as hard as I could, and eventually the fire started gathering toward my body, mostly toward my hands.

It's working! But I can't lose my focus...!

"Sérgio!" Serge cried. "I'll help out, too!"

I absorbed most of the fire around the room, while Serge got the flames from the other bursted oven. We kept at it until all of the fire was gone...

"Phew... I managed somehow..." Serge said, even more exhausted than before. "Are you doing okay, Sérgio?"

"A-ah... I..." I-it's so... hot... I stumbled onto the floor hard, not being able to move.

"Wha?! Are you alright?"

It became hard to breathe, and I sometimes released some fire when I exhaled.

I-it's gross... A-and it kind of hurts...

For some reason, it was becoming harder to stay awake.

"S-so... h-h-hot..."

"Sérgio... S-Sérgio?" Serge said, worriedly looking over me. "SÉRGIO!!!"

He cried one last time, before I passed out.

End of Chapter 3...

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Writer's Comments:

Our young hero has become unconscious from the power of the intense flames. What does this mean for the rest of the story? Well, you'll have to wait for the next chapter to find out! (Don't worry, he's not dead or anything.)

I know this may not seem like much of a "test"; it was kind of a way for me to try and make things as least spoilery as possible.

Now that stuff is out of the way... I have some bad news. Unlike Paint & Treble, I never finished this series when writing the old "episodes". In fact, I only finished 2 of them, and all the material I had to use to re-write this... has just been used up. In other words, from here on out, I'm writing this series from scratch (this saga, at least).

Why is this such a big deal? Because I'm not sure if I can fulfill my promise to put these up once per month anymore. Heck, it took me from the beginning of October to now (around the end of November) to finish this one (although I was also working on other stuff at the same time...).

So here's what I'm going to do. I'll try and work on this series as much as possible, and if I get stuck thinking of what to write, I'll switch to writing for another series instead. Although I have thought of a lot to write for this one in my head already, so this shouldn't be a problem... hopefully.

I know it's weird for me to say all this here instead of the updates section, but I thought it seemed too big to fit all this there, so... here it goes!

Now that this is done, time to take a break and play some video games work on some more stuff! Later!

- CS-Masyet