Brent Cosmos: A Hero's Quest

Chapter 9: Temper, Temper

    “Brent…” I heard a distant voice say. I felt so weak and confused. I couldn’t even remember where I was or what was going on. “Brent, wake up…” I heard the voice say again. It sounded louder, as if it had gotten closer. “Brent, you must wake up,” the voice called once again. It sounded calm and familiar. Soon I regained my consciousness and responded to the voice,
    “Queenie?” I said weakly as I slowly opened my eyes. I then saw Queen Alicia standing next to me. She had a worried look on her face. I tried to move, but my body was completely stiff. I looked down and saw that I was stuck to a wall by Carnage’s slime. I started to drool. As my saliva slid down the congealed slime sticking me to the wall, it started to dissolve it. Soon the slime had completely vanished from around my body, allowing me to get down from off of the wall. My Destructoid ability to spew acid may be a little gross, but you’d be surprised how often it comes in handy.
    “Wh-What happened?” I said as I rubbed my head dazed. “Is everybody okay?”
    “Yes,” the queen said calmly. “We’re all fine.” I looked around to see the Amazon guards having recovered from Primech and Ballista’s attack. Queen Alicia was alright too, but she was not happy. I continued to look, but I couldn’t see Misty (or the golden statue that looked like Misty to be precise).
    “Queen? Where’s Misty?” Alicia remained silent for a minute. It was strange. It seemed like she knew something but she didn’t want so say it. “Queen?” Alicia let out a sigh and finally answered.
    “Misty was taken…by the Dark Legion,” she said sadly.
    “WHAT?!” I said in shock. “No! That can’t be! NO!” I couldn’t believe it. I had lost my best friend to my worst enemies. I couldn’t protect her. I couldn’t save her. I totally let Misty down. I freaked out for a moment, but then I just hung my head in despair. Alicia placed her hand on my shoulder.
    “Now Brent,” she said calmly. “There’s no need to be upset. Everything will be okay.” She tried her best to reassure me, but it didn’t work out…at all. I turned my head around and looked her in the eyes. She gasped in surprise as soon as she saw my face. My eyes were red, my mouth was snarling, and I let out a huge hiss. My despair had turned into something much worse…anger.
    I forcefully shoved Alicia’s hand off of me. I then pushed her over. She cowered on the floor as I stood over her menacingly. The guards, seeing that their queen was in danger, instantly moved in. They all came at me with their spears, but I wouldn’t be stopped so easily. I pulled out a huge red sword and a shield with spiked edges and a skull on it from my belt. I then transformed into a huge and very sinister looking knight. I had black armor and a white skull helmet with horns that covered all of my face except for my still angry red eyes. With a swift slash, I cut down all of their spears. My red eyes then began to glow.
                       BLZRRRRRT!
    Red lasers began to shoot out of my eyes. The Amazons all moved as quickly as they could to dodge it. Knowing that there was little they could do to stop me, the Amazons ran away in fear. Now it takes quite a bit to actually scare the Amazons so you must know that this little tantrum of mine is a very bad thing. As my laser blasts continued, the castle began to get wrecked. As the lasers moved across the floor, flames began to arise. The queen watched in horror as her beloved castle began to burn. It wouldn’t be long until the castle was completely destroyed. Alicia knew she had to do something to stop me.
    “Elite Force!” she called. Then, a group of Amazon swordswomen in golden armor marched into the throne room. These were the Elite Force. They were the strongest warriors that Amazonia had to offer. They were equipped with magical swords and shields to protect them. They were probably the only Amazons whose skill and strength could rival that of Misty’s. They stood in a line like military soldiers.
    “Yes your highness!” they said attentively.
    “Stop him!” the queen said as she pointed to me who was still causing destruction in my knight form. “But please try not to hurt him.” The queen knew I wasn’t doing this on purpose. I was just upset about what had happened and I sometimes lose control when I get mad. She thought she could at least find a way to contain me until she could find a way to calm me down.
    “Yes your highness!” they said. They all then charged towards me with great speed. They all slashed their swords sideways causing razor-like gusts of wind to put out the fires I was making. They then turned their attention to me. As I noticed them coming for me, I raised my shield in defense.
    One of the Elite Force warriors swung their sword with lighting speed slashes. My shield then completely broke apart into pieces. She had cut it up like it was a piece of construction paper! Well all that succeeded in doing was making me even angrier. I raised my sword and tried to bring it down on the Amazon who attacked me. But she blocked my attack with her shield. I pushed down as hard as I could to try and get to her, but to no avail.
    Just then, I felt a huge, painful jolt of energy that began to surge through my body. I turned around. I saw that one of the other Elite Force Amazons had blasted me with her magic sword. I raised my sword to retaliate, but she moved quicker that I did, cutting the blade of my sword down with a swift motion. Suddenly, all five of the Elite Force gathered around me in a circle. Each one raised their sword and let out a blast of white magical energy.        They all hit me simultaneously. Their combined attack really did a number on me. When it was over, I transformed back into my normal form and fell over. The Elite Force then walked to the queen and kneeled before her victoriously.
    “Mission accomplished your highness,” one of the soldiers said.
    “Is he alright?” Alicia said worried as she looked over at my unconscious body.
    “We used a fairly weak blast of energy,” another soldier said. “He should be fine. What should we do now?”
    “Take him down to the dungeon,” the queen said. “There he’ll have some time to calm down.” The Elite Force saluted and obeyed. They walked back over to me. But, just as they were about to pick me up, I instantly opened my eyes, which were still red with anger. I raised my head and let out a hiss. The Elite Force all gasped in shock. Before any of them could react, I leaped into the air. My liquid metal leg grew, stretched, and morphed into a giant metal combat boot. I came down fast and stomped on the Elite Force with great…well, force.
    I raised my boot to reveal the soldiers. They were alive, but crushed and moaning in pain. Just like that, they were down for the count. The Elite Force may be as strong as Misty, but they can’t take a hit like she can. As I stood over my defeated adversaries, Alicia let out a gasp. That was a mistake on her part. Why? Because it brought her to my attention.
    I stomped on the ground with my crystal leg. A huge piece of crystal then sprung up from the ground next to me. I picked it up over my head and threw it right at the queen. She dodged just in time. The crystal I threw smashed through the wall that was behind her. But I wasn’t through yet. My hands began to glow red. I then slammed my robotic arm on the floor and the entire castle shook. A crack began to form on the floor by my hand. The crack grew and spread quickly; it was headed in the queen’s direction! Once again she dodged at the last minute. The crack spread until it hit a wall, causing a giant hole to form.
    The queen swiftly ran over to her throne and pulled a strange looking staff with a snakehead on it. I reached into my belt and pulled out a portable rail gun. I aimed at Alicia and fired. She dodged one last time (this time was a little to close for comfort). The blast from my rail gun hit her throne instead, making it explode. Alicia fell onto the ground hyperventilating. She was too tired to take another step.
    I aimed my rail gun at her again. As I was about to pull the trigger, she held out her staff and let out a magical blast of energy from it. It hit my ray gun, causing it to be destroyed. She then let out another blast from it that hit me, but it didn’t seem to do anything. I tried to advance towards her but something was wrong. I couldn’t move. I looked down to see that my legs had been turned to stone! The spell of Alicia’s staff continued to spread throughout me until my entire body had been petrified.
    The queen let out a sigh of relief. It was finally over. Or was it? Some of the stone on my body suddenly began to crack. The cracks spread until I had totally broken free. Being turned to gold might be an issue for me, but being turned to stone: no problem at all. Alicia raised her snake staff again, but this time I was ready. I raised my robotic hand and it began to emit a yellow glow. Suddenly, poof! Alicia’s staff turned into… a pool noodle. The queen was not amused.
    I then transformed into a ferocious tiger. My eyes, still red and enraged, were fixated on the queen. I growled as I crept towards her slowly, my claws scraping the floor with every step. The queen was paralyzed with fear. She was even too scared to call for more help. Usually when I get mad like this Misty can calm me down pretty quickly, but you can probably see how that wasn’t really an option now. I edged closer and closer until I was right in front of Alicia.
    “Brent, please,” the queen said frightened. “Don’t do this. I understand that you’re upset, but do you really think this will fix anything? Think about Misty. She needs you. You need to calm down so that you can be the hero that she needs you to be. This isn’t who you are!”
    Just as I was about to bring my claws down on the queen, I stopped. My eyes turned back to normal. I transformed back into my normal form with a completely surprised look on m face. The queen’s words had actually gotten to me.
    “Queenie?” I said confused as I looked down at the cowering queen of Amazonia. I looked around at all of the damage and destruction I had caused. “Oh no, what have I done?” Realizing my folly, I put my hands together as if I was praying and closed my eyes. “Mending Pulse,” I whispered. Suddenly, a sparkling wave of white energy came out of me. It spread throughout the castle, healing the injured queen and the Elite Force that I had defeated. Mending Pulse is a technique I use to heal people that get hurt during my super battles (or in some cases, my anger fueled episodes). Soon, they were all good as new, like nothing had ever happened. 
    I opened my eyes and extended my hand down to Alicia to help her up. She looked at me for a minute, and then she smiled. She took my hand and I pulled her up from the ground. I then hung my head and said the only thing that I could say after all that.
    “I’m sorry.” I said sadly. Alicia lifted my head up from my chin and looked me in the eye.
    “It’s alright,” she said calmly.
    “Alright?” I said. “But I almost destroyed your castle and you. And all just because I got a little mad. Man, I hate in when I let my evil side get the best of me.”
    “It’s okay Brent,” the queen insisted. “I know you only got mad because you were upset about what happened to Misty.” I hung my head again. “But there’s really no need to be so forlorn.”
    “But aren’t you worried about Misty?” I asked.
    “Not at all,” she replied.
    “What!? Why?”
    “Because of you,” I was caught of guard. My face turned to a look of surprise.
    “Me? What do you mean?”
    “Brent, ever since you and my daughter met you’ve always been there for her when she needed you. She trusts you with all of her heart…and so do I. I know that as long as you’re involved, Misty will always be okay.” I smiled. I may be a pretty tough and angry guy, but a little encouragement and a few kind words is about all it takes to ease my frustration.
    “Thanks Queenie,” I said. I then gave Alicia a big hug. The Elite Force who was still standing near us got ready to attack, but Alicia raised her hand to stop them. She then rubbed my head affectionately. “I won’t let Wrecker and his goons make a monkey out of me. I’ll beat them and save Misty! But since she’s been turned to gold I have no way of turning her back to normal.”
    “Well it was a magic spell that turned her to gold,” said the queen. “So maybe magic can change her back. Why don’t you ask your magician friends for help?”
    “Magician friends?” I said. “Oh yeah! That’s a great idea! Thanks Queenie. And don’t worry, I promise I’ll save Misty!”
    “I know you will,” she replied with a smile. I nodded confidently. I then looked around at all the damage I had cause to the castle.
    “Before I go, I should probably help fix this up,” I said.
    “We’ll take care of this,” the queen replied. “You just take care of my daughter.” I nodded.
    “Cosmos out!” I exclaimed. I then jumped into the air a flew out of the castle…via crashing through the ceiling. “Sorry!” the queen could hear my distant voice shouting through the newly made hole. She chuckled and let out a sigh.
    “Well I can certainly see what my daughter sees in that boy,” she said. “With him, the excitement just never stops.”