(A/N) The final chapter to Battle Cross will delve into the past and the story's history. This origin story will give finer details to exactly how and when Battle Cross was created including some news of future characters in Battle Cross: Endgame. Please enjoy. *P.S I apologize for not posting this last chapter sooner than the release of Endgame. It completely slipped my mind.

"Untie me."

A fourteen year old was currently strapped to a chair in someone's basement, blindfolded. It was his mother's; he deduced this from the familiar smell of laundry detergent only his mother loved to bits. That and he heard his own father told his captors not to get to rowdy as they took their victim downstairs. He knew who his kidnappers were and their motives and he was not pleased.

"Not until you listen to the pros and cons of taking up my dad's offer. I mean, this opportunity is exactly what the doctor ordered for us, Hector. Right, guys?" The apparent ringleader announced.

"Sounds awesome! Can't wait to get some action for once in this place!" The teenager yelled excitedly.

Giving up on the first two, Hector asked for the voice of reason's thought of the current situation. He knew she was there. He could sense her annoyance. "Mikaela, this is ridiculous. Get me out of this, please."

"I'm afraid I've taken an interest in what Alvin is trying to persuade you with, Hector. But I will take this off for you." The young lady stepped up to Hector despite Alvin's protest and untied the blindfold from Hector.

Sighing in defeat, Hector let his eyes adjust to see Alvin staring at Mikaela with a look of betrayal while he was still tied to the chair with an absurd amount of duct tape. Noticing something to his right, Hector rolled his eyes. Draco was hooked up to a chair as well.

"Mikaela…" Alvin whined. "You ruined the tension in the atmosphere!"

"I agreed to help convince Hector, Alvin, not torture him into submission."

Aside from him, sporting a wicked grin was Draco. The unstable member of their group. "Why is Draco tied to a chair too?!" Unlike Hector, Draco didn't seem bothered by the situation he was in.

"Because he abducted your cat, tied a chain leash around it, and screamed at it to take over my dad's company." Alvin calmly said as if his statement were normal.

Hector's face blanked and then scrunched up in confusion. "What?! When did this happen?!"

"A few days ago."

"My poor Thomas…" Hector slouched into the chair for a moment before quickly resorting to anger as he turned to grill Draco on what exactly he hoped to accomplish by abusing his dear feline pet. "Why?! No! Who invited this guy to our circle of friends?!"

"Blame Mikaela, you know how she picks up strays."

Mikaela sniffed at the comment. "I didn't pick you up; you just kept following me around."

Blushing slightly, Alvin quickly changed the traction of the conversation before he got embarrassed. "Enough! We're going off topic!" Alvin turned and slammed his hands on each armrest of Hector's seat. Getting right in Hector's face, Alvin said, "You're going to get your nose out of those biotech books and join my team for this new sport our dads created."

Making a mental note to check on Thomas' mental state later, Hector lulled over the idea of getting shot, prodded, and potentially ending up in a hospital bed if he said yes. "What's my motivation?"

"M- What? We get to gain instant popularity and fame when we mop the floor with the competition." Alvin straightened himself up and went through the motions of gloriousness with stars in his eyes. "Imagine, being the role model of adoring fans. Movies, games, and comic books based on our awesomeness. Cereal boxes with my face on it-"

"If we get sponsored, most likely by Maverick Empires, we'll get paid for every race we win." Mikaela got right to the point, interrupting Alvin's theatrics. "You can use the money to fund your experiments, Hector."

"Mikaela, come on! I was just getting to the best part." Alvin crossed his arms and pouted at Mikaela.

"Get over it. You would've never convinced Hector of joining for such a stupid reason as his face getting plastered on some cereal box."

"Guys, shut up. I'll do it." Hector offhandedly announced. His mind was racing with the various schematics to inventions he could now fund with the money from Battle Cross. To be honest, nothing groundbreaking can be created on his laughable allowance.

"Whoohooo!" Alvin broke out into a small dance consisting of small jumps. The group was in the basement, it wouldn't do good to accidentally jump to high into the low ceiling.

"Don't celebrate yet, Alvin." Mikaela yet again stopped Alvin short.

"Now what?!" Alvin was beginning to think that Mikaela had it out for any positive emotion he displayed.

"You haven't gotten Draco to agree yet."

"It's expected that he'll say yes." Alvin fixed Mikaela a smug knowing look. "Isn't that right, Draco?"

A trio of eyes peered over to the oddly quiet member. Draco, never to disappoint in the unexpected, surprised them all when he suddenly yelled at the top of his lungs. A small black kitten appeared at the collar of his shirt just under Draco's chin. The kitten's eyes dilated right before pouncing onto Alvin's shocked face.

"Ah! Get it off me!" Alvin fell to the floor, wrestling with small feline as it pawed at his cheeks. The kitten didn't even have claws yet and Alvin was making a big deal of nothing.

"Thomas!" Hector struggled in his chair to get loose. "Draco, stop messing with my cat!"

"There is no Thomas here, boy! Only a minion of destruction for the almighty Draco!" Draco then continued to holler incoherent commands to Thomas, the newborn kitten.

"Thomas, calm down and come to Daddy!"

While the madness continued, Mikaela packed up her things and stepped over the situation in front of her. Taking one last look at her friends, she shook her head and switched off the lights. Climbing the stairs, she closed the basement door behind her and headed for the front door of Hector's house. Right before she exited the household, she could hear Hector's mother surprised exclamation.

With the collective effort of the four, they managed to drop 8 grand into Battle Cross equipment, novice racer training, weapon combat, and registration fees. Spending about two weeks in exercises honing their innate reflexes have gotten the group of teenagers absolutely nowhere close to the level required to step on a Battle Cross racetrack. The officials would've laughed at them and shrugged off their application if one of them wasn't the son of Drake Maverick. But Alvin thought otherwise, he knew his team was ready.

Currently, the team was gathered together in the garage making a few last adjustments to their 20's, the required bikes used in Battle Cross.

"Your team?" Mikaela was installing the latest software into her helmet.

"Yes, I'm the captain." Alvin said confidentially. He stood in the middle of the room, overseeing the work his team was doing with a checklist.

"And what qualifies you to lead us?" Hector asked over his shoulder as he tinkered with Mikaela's bike. Alvin managed to snatch some boost canisters from his dad's workshop. Yes, nitrous was illegal in Battle Cross. No, Alvin didn't think it would be a big deal as long as we didn't get caught.

"It was my idea in the first place for us to race. AND I had to convince you all to join."

"Hector scored the top in the class for the hand to hand and weapon combat training. Draco had top marks for the novice racer class. And I used my own trust fund to pay for all of this." Mikaela waved to the combined equipment, bikes, and armors that they all were wearing. She had her back to Alvin, but she could feel the heat of his glare at the back of her head. "You, on the other hand, have contributed nothing to the team, Alvin. You even pulled us from the classes before we graduated just because an upcoming race was announced… I say we put it up to a vote for who gets to be official captain of Team Alpha."

Hector felt the tension in the air as he faced the 420 in front of him. Anxiety bubbling in his stomach, Hector had a strong sense of foreboding. Like the next few moments would define his friends' relationship going forward. This vote would most likely end up with everybody voting themselves as leader followed by a stalemate moments before their first race. He wanted no part of it-

"I vote Hector to be leader."

What?! Hector whipped his head towards Mikaela's face. It was stoic as usual. He couldn't begin to guess what her angle was. Could it just be that she wanted to annoy Alvin like always or what? "Wait-" Hector stopped when, from the corner of his eyes, he saw the look Alvin was giving him. Hector never saw such anger directed towards him before from Alvin. Hector shook his head and waved his hand dismissively.

"Draco, what's your vote?" Mikaela asked. She had taken up the reins as ringleader when no one announced their vote after her own.

"I couldn't care less. I just want to blow shit up!" Draco, off to the side away from Hector's welding torch, was loading up his fireworks and preparing the rest of his highly flammable weaponry.

"This is has gone too far, Mikaela. It's not funny anymore." Alvin was on the brink of snapping his clipboard into pieces in his bare hands. "You only have one vote and Draco and Hector forfeited theirs. I'm the team captain whether you like it or not-"

"Well, as executive producer, I count as two votes. My two vs. your one vote concludes it. Hector is captain, end of discussion, Alvin."

"You just made that up- That's not fair!"

"Congratulations, Hector. You're team captain of Team Alpha. Don't let us down." Mikaela ended before strapping on her helmet, mounting her bike, and riding out to the racetrack as her teammates watched her go.

Hector turned back to Alvin when he heard a strange whirring noise. It turned out that Alvin was clutching his armored gloves so much, the mechanics in his armor were being put under too much pressure resulting in the noise. "Alvin, chill out. Nothing changes. Ignore Mikaela and focus on-"

"No…" Alvin's quiet voice was laced with venom. Stalking towards his bike and starting it up, Alvin clutched the accelerator and peeled out of the garage. Draco followed suit.

It wasn't the best plan to get everyone pumped up for the race, but there was no denying that Alvin and Mikaela and Draco were reared up to go. Hector was beside himself. Who knew what was going to happen on the racetrack?

It was a complete failure. Team Alpha was pretty much target practice for the seasoned motor cross racers. No amount of expensive equipment, bikes, weapons, and upgrades could replace experience. A lesson the four teenagers took to the showers.

"This was a stupid idea…" Alvin reared back and slammed his helmet into a nearby locker door. He continued to pound the door in with his helmet until the ruined door fell off its hinges and lay on the floor before him.

Mikaela turned to Alvin with a brow raised. "I thought Hector would be the first to complain."

Said teenager had been silent since the announcer called out the teams and their standings. Now in the locker room with his teammates, Hector hadn't stopped pacing back and forth with a thoughtful expression on his face.

Draco fell to the floor, breathing hard. He was spent. As far as he was concerned, this was the best day of his life.

"I think I know how this whole sport works now…" Hector spoke as he continued to pace back and forth, his friends sharing a look of confusion before awaiting his answer. "We could buy the top of the line merchandise and expensive equipment, but what we need to succeed is skill and experience." Hector stopped to stare at Alvin. "I think we should take a break from all of this. Battle Cross entirely."

"You what?!" Alvin made the emphasis of cleaning out his ear and cupping them to hear Hector correctly. "Say that again… It sounded like you wanted me to sign my death certificate and personally deliver it to my dad."

"Alvin, think. Our combat rating is pathetic, we haven't completed all of our training, we have no sense of teamwork, and no experience racing with a crowd. Trust me, guys. We need to stop and reevaluate Team Alpha before we step foot onto a racetrack again."

"Very well."

"Sure."

"Draco, why did you of all people say 'yes'?" Alvin threw up his hands. He knew Mikaela would jump off a cliff and Hector thought it was a good idea, but why would Draco want to take a break from using his explosives legally?! "You know taking a break means you can't blow things up, right?"

"Couldn't even if I wanted to, I gots no more ammo." Draco shrugged as he stripped off his armor and hopped into the shower.

Shameless as always, Hector thought. Draco could've at least waited until Mikaela left for the other side of the lockers for her own shower. "Alvin, I know my plan won't be approved by your father, but-"

"Well, you don't have to be the one to tell him! I told my dad that we would reimburse his investment in Team Alpha by the time the Grand Championship starts."

"You what?! That event isn't until this summer, man! We would have to race in every competition of the season to even make it onto the roster!"

"That was a bad bet. We've only just started Battle Cross." Mikaela mentioned.

"Maybe if you didn't buy such crappy equipment we would've won that race…" Alvin muttered.

Thankfully, Draco piped in before the armored pair got into a fight. "We'll go to Fort Suoredrum for the weekend then."

"Why?" The collective members of Draco's team asked all at once.

"There's going to be a blowout sale over there for Battle Cross equipment. Half-off on those little explosive beanbags! Ooh, and the newest offense weaponry is exclusively released to the first 100 customers!" Draco whipped off the towel around himself to ruffle-dry his raven hair.

"My dad is supposed to be flying out to Bog for a business trip this weekend…"

Hector jumped at the opportunity before Alvin could even finish his sentence. "Good, then we'll go over for the weekend and at least build up our training as a team at your dad's racetrack!"

Mikaela, as usual, didn't really give thought to Hector's ideas and immediately agreed with him. "There is no disadvantage to taking a break due to the next race being two weeks from now."

"Yosh! Top of the line explosives here I come!" Draco, dressed by now, started jumping up and down as many possible explosive devices came to mind.

Three pairs of eyes landed on Alvin whom was willing to ignore them until Hector gave him a stern look. "Fine! Whatever, but you're gonna tell my dad your grand plan when he gets back from his business trip, Hector!"

"We'll burn the bridge when we get to it." Was Hector's way of not completely agreeing to Alvin but it would sate the blonde until then.

The flight to Fort Suoredrum was uneventful, the ride to Maverick Enterprises was boring aside from Alvin and Mikaela bickering, and the arrival to Drake Maverick was explosive for Team Alpha. Yes, Drake wasn't on Bog Isle but in his building just as the teenagers walked through the doors of the building.

"What are you four doing here?" The supposed businessman inquired as he took off his blood-soaked examiner gloves. Handing them to his assistant and dismissing the man, Drake Maverick towered over the petrified teens in his messy lab coat, black goggles, and muddy clogs. "Well, I'm awaiting your explanation for arriving unannounced, Alvin…" Drake stripped his coat, discarded his goggle and boots, now resembling a business man in his black suit with a purple tie.

What was he doing prior to their arrival, resurrecting Frankenstein?! Was everyone thoughts as they could only stare wide-eyed at Alvin's father. Without a second thought, the three teenagers shoved Alvin in front to speak on their behalf. Before Alvin could hiss at his friends for selling him out, his father eyed him down with a studious gaze. The thought of becoming his father's next freak experiment crossed Alvin's mind if what he said in the next few seconds wouldn't satisfy Drake. "Uh, the guys and I wanted to get some private training down on the racetrack behind your building, Dad. You know, team-building and stuff."

"Hmm, so Solomon still hasn't pushed Mayor Thug to build more racetracks on Berk, has he?"

"No, I guess not- I mean, no! Mr. Haddock must be busy with the event planning and stuff, I guess." Alvin couldn't take speaking with his father outright. The man was just so intimidating to converse with. So analyzing of every part of his answer.

It took about a minute, which felt longer to Alvin, before Drake sniffed and accepted Alvin's broken answer. "Very well, Alvin and company. You may use my company's racetrack on three conditions…" Drake straightened and made eye contact with each teenager. "Minimal cosmetic damage to the track itself," Drake narrowed his eyes at Draco. "And absolutely no straying around in my building." Drake regarded Alvin. "Finally, no social interaction with Subject #2654." Hector audibly gulped as Drake locked eyes with him.

"Who's Subject #2654?" Mikaela asked, earning glares from her whole team.

"Someone who you won't be making any social interactions with." Drake answered. "Now off with you brats, I have work to do."

"Thanks, Dad!" Alvin said before clamping a hand over Mikaela's mouth and quickly dragging her away with Hector and Draco following behind closely. Piled safely into the elevator, Alvin fumbled for the Garage button as the doors closed off Drake's piercing stare. Breathing a collective sigh of relief, Alvin released Mikaela and glared at her. "You got a death wish, idiot?!"

Instead of responding, Mikaela leveled Alvin's glare with her own.

"Guys, come on…" Hector moved to get in between the two before a fight broke out in the confined space they were in. Out of the corner of his eye, Hector noticed Draco messing with the button console of the elevator but before he could reprimand him Alvin got right in the brunette's face.

"Are you kidding me? Mikaela was about to volunteer us all for my dad's next experiment! 'Who's Subject #2654? Ooh, maybe I can pick up another stray and make him my pet! I'll buy him whatever he wants! Gag!" Alvin mocked Mikaela with his voice raised and his arms making frilly motions.

Mikaela got red in the face as she narrowed her eyes at Alvin. "Shut up before I make you…"

"No, I've had it with your attitude! If you're not taking me apart with your snide comments, you're sabotaging my role as leader and being a total killjoy!" Alvin's hands balled up into fists as he stared down Mikaela.

Hector saw that Mikaela mirrored Alvin's tension and body language. "Hey, cool it-"

"Why are you even on the team, Mikaela?! I don't want you here, Draco couldn't care less, and Hector doesn't-"

"Stop-" Mikaela's death glare was replaced with horror as she looked over to Hector who had his mouth hanging open slightly. She glanced at Draco who wasn't even paying the rest of his team any mind as he played around with the console. "Please…" She didn't think she could take the truth of Hector's feelings for her coming from Alvin in front of her whole team.

"No, lemme save you the embarrassment. Hector doesn't like you the way you like him! All those times you blindly agreed to his ideas, sided with him in arguments, and bought all of his Battle Cross gear doesn't mean anything to him! He doesn't love you!" Alvin announced it so loud; chances were that everyone in the building could've heard him. Including a man who specifically said not to be disturbed; Drake Maverick. But Alvin didn't care, he felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders as he took in how caught off-guard Mikaela was. Gone was her cold blank face, her condescending attitude. Now she was self-aware of the looks and disregards her teammates had for her. Realizing a deep feeling in his gut, Alvin felt something in him, it was joy. He was enjoying making someone like Mikaela feel down. He was acting like a bully and it felt great! Like it was payback for all those times Mikaela ruined his good mood and manipulated everyone against him. "The truth stings, doesn't it?" A wicked grin graced Alvin's face as he sneered at Mikaela.

Without warning, Mikaela shoved Alvin away from her and crossed her arms, facing away from Alvin's sneering and Hector's pitiful stare. "I'm not going to stand here and be the cause of your boosted self-confidence, Alvin… I quit." Mikaela's face was flushed red and tearful, but the conviction in her voice told them all that she wasn't bluffing. She flinched when Hector laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Mikaela, please. We'll all calm down and-" Hector knew he lost control of the situation a while ago and this was by far the worst fight the two had but maybe there was still hope. Maybe giving each other a little space to cool off would neutralize the heated tension in the team.

Apprehensive at first, Mikaela shook her head and shrugged off Hector's gesture. With her current state of mind, Mikaela wasn't listening to anything. Any other fight she and Alvin had and she would've relented to Hector's peace-keeping ploy but not today. Alvin cut too deep. Shouldering past Hector, Mikaela jabbed the emergency button and those in the elevator lost their footing due to the sudden stop. The doors opened and Mikaela exited onto the lobby floor. It didn't look like she would be stopping to rethink her last statement.

"Alvin!" Hector shoved his still smug friend. "Apologize before she really leaves!" Hector didn't want Alpha to be disbanded this soon into the competition. Not when he was just starting to like and show genuine interest in the sport. More importantly, he didn't want to lose all of his friends.

Neither Alvin nor Mikaela were open to forgive and forget though. The two were done for today. The rookie team of Battle Cross seemed to have been at a crossroads. This brought attention to the last member of Alpha, Draco. All eyes turned on him as the raven-haired teenager continued to whistle a tune to himself. Apparently, he had been imagining explosive tactics and potential weapons to purchase at the Battle Cross blow-out sale going on on Fort Suoredrum today. A sale they still weren't at yet. This fact brought Draco out of his little reverie. "Hey, when are we going to the big sale?" Draco asked, completely oblivious to the tension between his friends.

"Now. Let's go, Draco!" Mikaela managed to eavesdrop from a distance as she stood in front of the entrance doors. She pushed the doors open and awaited Draco to unintentionally resign from Team Alpha like she did.

"Draco, you don't understand the situation. If you leave now, you're essentially quitting Team Alpha!" Hector exclaimed as he moved to bring Draco back with him and Alvin. He wasn't trying to take sides against Mikaela or anything but Draco needed to know what exactly he was getting himself into.

"Come on, Hector. This wasn't a team to begin with." Draco shook his head at Hector's attempt to explain what he already decided on himself. Rolling his eyes at Hector's dumbfounded expression, Draco continued to display, gasp, intelligence. "This team was never going to be successful with Alvin lording over us like some self-proclaimed captain."

Mikaela nodded as Draco stepped up beside her. "Come on, Hector. Let's make our own team."

Mikaela outreached her hand towards Hector. "You can be captain and we'll be successful…"

Mikaela wasn't sniffling and her eyes were clear of tears. Hector noticed this and felt that something was off. Just a few minutes ago, Mikaela looked devastated and Draco wasn't even paying attention. But now, Mikaela seemed to have gotten over it and now Draco is saying those words out of nowhere.

"You don't have to keep letting Alvin weigh you down." Mikaela struck the last chord and it hit Hector like a ton of bricks. He knew for a fact that it was all an act. Hector thought that it was odd for Draco to suddenly suggest some random sale off-island. Strange that Mikaela only didn't ship any of their gear- stating earlier that Maverick Enterprises should have at least the basic equipment needed for weekend training- or bikes. Mikaela and Draco must've decided to oust Alvin from the beginning. But why? Hector thought as he absentmindedly took a step forward.

Alvin saw this and started getting upset. Did he go too far? Was his whole team going to leave him behind over what just happened? Fear seeped in as the reality of what came next raced through Alvin's mind. Hector was his only real friend, if he left, he'd be alone with his father who thought of him as a disappointment. If he couldn't pay back his dad, he'd be disowned. His dream of stepping away from the life of being a boring old business man like his father was vanishing before his eyes. Before he knew it, Alvin started getting misty-eyed.

Hector found himself glaring at the two ex-Alphas. How long were they planning this and how could they think he would not see the obvious act they put on? Why would they string Alvin along with the hope of being a team? All these questions, but Hector didn't care for what Mikaela or Draco had to say. His answer to their offer was a resounding, "No." Alvin had his flaws but Hector had known him the longest and that was enough for him not to betray him. Loyalty or something, but Hector wouldn't admit it out loud.

Mikaela seemed genuinely surprised at Hector's answer. She thought Hector was smarter than that. "If you ever get wise, you know where to find us, Hector. In the winner's circle…" Mikaela gave Hector a disappointed look before exiting with Draco from Maverick Enterprises.

"You can't quit! I'm kicking you losers off the team!" Alvin rubbed the moisture from his face and screamed back at the pair of traitors. Smacking away Hector's offered hand-up, Alvin got up himself and angrily stalked off to anywhere but there. He was glad Hector didn't leave, but he still wanted to be alone for a while. The dominant thought of explaining all of this to his father was racing through his mind.

"Alvin! We make a great team!" Hector thought Alvin needed to know that he was on his side. Not getting an immediate response, Hector was stuck holding the elevator open as the members of Team Alpha went their separate ways.

Battle Cross Team Alpha; formed two months ago with a Win/Lose ratio of 0/1 has disbanded.

Hector and Alvin were glued to the television since coming back from the airport. Last weekend's trip turned to an eventful screaming match that resulted in Team Alpha disbanding and Drake literally screaming at Alvin while Hector sat to the side, feeling immensely awkward. The moment the duo landed, they were ambushed by the press media. Apparently, Mikaela had already set the wheels in motion to debut her leave from Maverick Enterprises and forming her own team sponsored by some company that seemed to come out of the blue. It wasn't a minute after fighting their way past the paparazzi and collecting their baggage did Drake call and resume screaming into Alvin's ear upon learning of the media frenzy too.

Now back at Hector's house, the two barred the doors, shut the window blinds, turned off all the lights in the basement and loaded up on junk food snacks. Flipping the channels to anything regarding Mikaela's stunt, Hector and Alvin found themselves tuning in to Berk's national Battle Cross network. But the news turned out to be much worse. In Alvin's case.

Battle Cross had officially started its tag-team racing season a whole year ahead of schedule. But Alvin knew better. Drake Maverick made sure to remind him how lucky he was ever since Mikaela publically left and formed her own team. This whole tag-team tournament was his dad's ploy to make up for his son's mistake. Drake didn't know whether to furious or impressed by how fast his son forms and disbands his first team. Nonetheless, Drake had already paid for everything and he'd be damned if a little fuss within Alvin's circle of friends ruined all of his intricate planning and hard work. Drake wouldn't let up on Alvin until he got satisfactory results.

"That freakin' manipulative b- girl!" Alvin stopped himself at the end when Hector shot him a warning glance. He was referring to Mikaela and her most recent stunt. "Why do you still like her, Hector? She's such a- you know…" Alvin was tip-toeing his mannerisms as of late. With half his team gone and his father breathing down his neck, Alvin didn't need anything else to go wrong. Like Hector calling it quits because of his language.

"Yeah. But cursing her name isn't going to fix anything."

"Yeah, well it sure as hell makes me feel a whole lot better about myself."

Hector got up from the sofa and stretched outwards. "Relax, Alvin. This is exactly what we need to win a Battle Cross race."

Alvin peered up at Hector with a skeptical look. "Have you've been inhaling too much fumes, Hector, it's just you and me and some bare necessities your dad loaned us. Mikaela took her attitude and most of Team Alpha's gear when she left." Alvin's concerns were answered by Hector simply waving at him to follow after him up the stairs out of the basement.

"I swear, when we get that first place money, I'm investing in a personal elevator…" Hector breathed as he crawled the last few steps towards the top of the staircase.

"What a waste of money. It's only sixteen steps, light-weight." Alvin scoffed at Hector overexerting himself on only one flight of stairs.

"Because plastering your face on some box of stale cereal is a better investment." Hector got back to his feet and lead Alvin down the hall to the house's attic entrance. Bringing down the stairs and climbing up into the attic, Hector waited for Alvin to come up before he clapped his hands twice. Lights dimmed before blinking on in the small space, revealing that Hector hadn't just been reading biotech but putting what he learned into action.

Three rows of tables sat in the middle of the attic floor. All tables under blankets, Hector's recent projects lay underneath. Hector had been tinkering and inventing little gadgets and upgrades way before Battle Cross. Only after he found himself in the sport did he start building prototypes for his dad.

Without further waiting, Hector grasped the first sheet and whipped it away. EMPs, cluster grenades, two pairs of very sharp weapons and much more were sprawled on the table. All shiny. Hector was on a high right now. But Alvin was ruining it with his bad mood. "Hello, do you not see the toys and gadgets in front of you?"

Alvin picked up an Eskrima, barely glanced at it, and set it back down on the table. "Looks nice."

"It 'Looks nice'?" Hector unintentionally volunteered eight hours of electro therapy to perfect that weapon. It was freaking awesome.

Only when Alvin felt the burning glare coming from Hector did he look up. "Well, what do you want me to say? Good job on some toys, Hector. Where are you going to use these?"

"Battle Cross, ya pessimistic moron."

"Are you kidding me?! Where have you been all weekend?! Did you not hear me and my dad's screaming match? Don't you get it?! We can't race anymore!"

"Why not?"

Alvin looked ready to strangle Hector, but he relented. "Look, when Mikaela left the team, she took the bikes, weapons, and armors. Hell, she even stole my title of Team Alpha! We don't have anything left to even race in this tag-team nonsense!"

Hector gripped the edge of the sheet over the table in the middle. "We got our gear right here…!" Whipping the sheet off the second table, Hector revealed a pair of state of the art armors including helmets and a set of weapons respectively.

"You've run out of excuse, Alvin. Admit it; we have a fighting chance now. We'll prove 'em all wrong. We don't just pick up some hobby and then quit after one failure." Hector held onto Alvin's head and gave it a good shake. "Besides, we got that lame code we used to always go by…" Hector mumbled under his breath, hoping Alvin did hear him.

Unfortunately, he did. "Wow, man, I forgot all about that thing! How did it go again?" Alvin stood at full height. His foul mood diminished as he bugged Hector about the code they made up as kids. "Oh yeah! With the girl thing, remember… Say it!"

"Who needs those cootie-ridden Marys', forever we'll stay Virgin Garys'!" The duo said in unison before they exploded out in laughter.

"We should probably change that, though…" Hector wiped the tears running down his face. "I don't really want to stay a virgin forever."

"Just call up Mikaela…" Alvin jokingly suggested. Sobered up from his laughter, he waved off Hector's frown. He wasn't about to go back on a bitter rant about Mikaela again. "What? You know she's wanted to jump your bones for a while now."

"Get real." Hector dismissed Alvin's statement as a joke. But he started to have an excitement at the very thought.

"I'm serious, Hector. If you didn't have your nose in the books all the time, you'd see it." Alvin scratched the back of his head. "Why do you think she makes such an effort to include you in everything?"

"Because that's what friends are for."

"Geez. Only you could be as dense as to friendzone yourself."

"Screw you. And we've gone way off topic. Check this out." Hector took off the tarp from the last of the tables. The beginning assembly for their 420s lay on the table. The new beginning of Hector and Alvin's careers started now.

Epilogue to Origins

That afternoon, Hector and Alvin got to work building their team back up. Team Omega was their new name as they slowly crept up the ranks until the duo became the top rival to Team Alpha in Battle Cross. Night Fury and Sea Dragon were becoming the crowd favorites in every race as their synchronized teamwork was noticed by the other tag-teams. Their win/loss ratio was 12/19 but they could only get better. Although, one day in the middle of the racing season, Team Alpha mysteriously withdrew from Battle Cross and the public eye. The investigation was never solved. Team Omega didn't put much thought into as their old teammates didn't leave a positive last impression with them. Life went on without a second thought as Night Fury and Sea Dragon dominating Battle Cross.

Drake eventually let Alvin back into his good graces, with the help of Hector's dad Solomon, which resulted in things starting to look up for business in Fort Suoredrum and HRT. Apparently, having the heirs from each Battle Cross business be on the same winning team was good on sales. Drake even helped Alvin get his face plastered on a cereal box… A missing person picture as a threat to his son if he ever pulled a dumb stunt that cost money was Drake's own humor.

The duo wouldn't stay Virgin Garys' for long though, not if a certain #1 fan of Night Fury had anything to say about that. The blonde had completely idolized Night Fury since he won his second grand championship. In later years, the two separated their success to solo races until that fateful day when their last race together resulted in a cave-in.

End of Battle Cross.

(A/N) I've restrained from writing any action scenes of the races in this prequel because I didn't want to change, alter, or reveal Team Alpha's fighting styles that you already or will soon become to know. Also, I want to save some of the, like, epic action for Endgame. Yes, some scenes will be OTP (Over The Top) as one of my reviewers mentioned in a past Battle Cross chapter.

You know that part with Thomas attacking Alvin by Draco's screaming command? Yeah, I thought of putting Solomon there, but it seemed too soon, ya know? XD Don't tell StorSpeaker, but I was laughing myself silly every time Drago yelled to control the Alpha and the other dragons. ANYWAY, I'd like to take the time again to apologize to all my readers that enjoy my Battle Cross series. I could've sworn I posted this thing back then in July. But I guess it sort of slipped my mind (don't get old) and I continued on with Endgame.

For those who don't know, I've created two (three if you count Thomas) for the Battle Cross series. One is not canon, i.e. I didn't incorporate a character from HTTYD (1&2) and give them a modern name in the story. That one is Mikaela Ryder. The second character is Draco, which I have modernized from Drago Bludfist. I'll admit, I shouldn't have another character with a name close to sounding like Drake, but I didn't want to delve on one character too long and get distracted. I considered the name "Dagen" but I didn't like it.

Imagine what you want with Mikaela; draw up your own conclusions until I post the next chapter of Endgame. But please do not make her Hector's sister. Lord knows how deeply twisted his family roots are in Battle Cross. And for InfinitiumAce and all others, I'll make it clear from the Author's mouth; Hector and Ash are NOT related. You think I'd add incest to the borderline M-rated story?! Hahahaa…. O_O -_- Maybe…. No….

XD