Disclaimer: I do not own Epic Battle Fantasy or its affiliates.
Dark Fight
"Once again, I will ask: ARE WE LOST?!" Anna screamed at Lance, who was calmly examining the map that shady stranger in town sold them.
"No. Well, at least, not yet in my opinion," The gunman replied, tilting the parchment sideways. "Now, if I was a buried chest of guns, where would I hide…?"
"Face it, we`re lost…" Natalie sighed and fell back, wincing as the stones within the dirt dug into her. Matt joined her, muttering how they should never trust idiots with treasure.
The four adventurers were currently in a forest clearing, resting while Lance got his bearings. Why were there you ask? The party had gotten sidetracked from the final boss by a mysterious map.
Yes, that`s right: a map. It promised weapons and armor, something everybody desperately needed to fight against God Cat. Anna wanted more bows, Lance wanted more guns, Natalie wanted more spells, and Matt wanted more meat.
Of course, when the red head told the party that he needed a few more minutes to decipher the map, the green hair girl exploded in fury. She was tired, she was hungry, and worst of all, she didn`t get her daily voodoo rituals.
"YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING IDIOT!" Anna`s furious voice scared off all the roosting birds, sending them flying away from the angry ranger. "HOW DO YOU PROPSE WE GET OUT OF HERE THEN? Huh? Huh? There is no Teleport Slime, our items are useless, the vegetation is inedible, WE ARE SO SCREWED!"
"Calm down, calm down." Lance tilted his officer hat. "According to my calculations, the treasure is not far off. Only a few turns that-away."
"No! I am sick and tired of this! Give me that stupid-!" The furious girl grabbed the map and began tugging on it while Lance still held it.
"What! No! I am the navigation expert!" Lance protested, tugging on his half.
"You guys do realize that when a map is pulled like that, it-" RIP. "-tears apart, dammit!" Matt got up and grabbed his discarded sword. "Well, that`s it. Good game, let`s head back…" The swordsman called out as No Legs walked in sync.
The two ranged warrior looked at each other furiously and huffed, grabbing their respective weapons. Only Natalie remained on the floor, her eyes furrowed as something- no, someone-was felt.
"Natz? You coming?" The pirate asked, swinging his Heaven`s Gate experimentally. "The town isn`t that far off, we could-"
"Hold up." Lance frowned and slowly took out his scanner. The army officer placed it on his eye and carefully looked around with it, seeing no bright red figures. Out of the range of science then. "Anna."
"Give me a second." The previously angry girl closed her eyes and tapped her feet on the ground, getting her body in tune with the environment. She heard every rustle of the leaves, the quiet pattering of the nearby river, and the ominous silence of the animals. "Everything is…tense. As if something is going to happen."
The black mage suddenly opened her eyes and she got up quickly, grabbing her crystal staff. "We`re leaving. Now."
"Right, but first…" Matt and Lance nodded to each other and pointed their respective fingers at the opposite end of the clearing. Their weapons briefly glowed as the combination of Barrier and Protect activated, creating a near solid wall of magic between the party and whatever danger might be coming.
"Go, go, go!" Natalie shouted, almost tripping over her white dress. Matt grabbed her and yanked the girl back onto her feet, placing his sword over the shoulder while Lance and Anna looked on anxiously at the barrier.
"What do you think is coming?" Anna nervously asked, her fingers already moving for the arrows on her back. "Some dark creature? Or a horde of Giant Slimes?"
"Well, whatever it is, we should`ve bought a little time," Lance replied, his hands shaking. "Barrier and Protect are pretty strong defense buffs, so the two should-"
Bang! The barrier shattered immediately as a bullet punched through, dispelling whatever fleeting hopes the party had of fleeing the coming battle.
"Lance!" Natz uncharacteristically yelped and clutched her staff tighter. "Why`d you shoot it?!"
"Wasn`t me! I don`t have anything that strong to pierce that combination!" Lance frantically replied, loading bullets into his gunblade.
"It was a Dispel!" Matt shouted, taking his blade. "Our enemy has a dispel spell!"
"Dammit! There goes my Reflex!" Anna gulped, taking a poison laden arrow and placing it on her bow. She quickly took out her ocarina and blew in it, intent on casting her Screamer. The enemy may be able to cancel out the party`s boosts, but they certainly could not have a refresh-
The ceramic instrument shatter in the girl`s hands as another bullet was fired, barely missing Anna`s face as the girl preemptively tilted her head, sensing the bullet`s path the moment before it struck.
"Sniper!" The gunman realized and placed back on his scanner, quickly examining the area for hostiles. To his great bafflement, nothing showed up on thermals-
A great burst of red showered his scanner as Matt was hit with a Firestorm spell, sending him careening back. The swordsman quickly back flipped and landed on his legs, the serious side finally taking over. "Natalie! What did you sense?!"
"A dark presence, but it wasn`t like Akron`s or evil God cat!" Natalie jumped in the air and dashed, swiftly evading the sensed Cataclysm attack. "It was more like…like…"
"US!?" Lance shouted as he barely dodged a combo of arrows. He finally switched to dark scanners and found the enemy: themselves.
Or rather, the party`s dark doppelgangers. Each of them had soulless and bottomless eyes, with only a red dot in the center for the pupil. The faces were pale and gaunt, but each enemy had a creepily stitched grin on them. The clothing was all black and almost all of their hair was black as well.
And of course, the exception to hair color was Opposite Anna.
"One does not simply do red hair!" Anna protested, pointing at her dark counterpart. "That is a very offense against Mother Nature, using the color of blood as your color!"
The dark version merely tilted their head, still grinning sadistically on her face. The four evil counterparts then slammed their weapons into the ground, creating a giant white flash that all four adventurers were forced to shield their eyes from.
During this, they felt an ominous wind tugging at their bodies and clothes, separating the party into different areas the moment their eyes opened. Matt found himself in a cave of ice, Natalie found herself in caverns made of crystals, Lance found himself in on volcanic ground, and Anna found herself still in the same clearing.
Well, they did literally found themselves in their respective areas.
"I`m not going to hold back…" Matt swore, raising his Heaven`s Blade as his counterpart raised their Anarchy to match him.
"I hope everybody can hold out until I can heal them…" Natalie muttered, getting her Crystal Staff to shine while her counterpart merely raised their scythe.
"Don`t die until I can get there you guys…" Lance growled as he and his counterpart took aim at each other with their Dark Blasters.
"We`re so dead…" Anna whispered as she and her counterpart notched their arrows and drew their respective Fairy Bow and Black Widows.
O O O
"Let`s go!" Matt shouted and activated his ability. "Swift Slash!" The swordsman dashed past the enemy, swinging his blade back and forth. Dark Matt met the attack with his own weapon, deflecting each slash with a well angled block. Matt carefully leapt back and slashed, sparks flying as the two blades met each other.
Dark Matt, while the real Matt was dropping back to the ground, slammed his blade into the earth. The hero`s eyes widened as the icy ground underneath shattered, the ice splinters digging into the teen`s clothing. He swiftly landed on a relatively solid chunk and propelled himself forward, activating another ability as he flew towards the opponent.
"Holy Sword!" A second sword made up of pure light emerged from Heaven`s Gate and slammed into Dark Matt, knocking him back. The real Matt then grabbed his sword`s handle with two hands and brought it down on the floored foe.
"DESPAIR!" The dark form hissed and the icy ground beneath fractured, sending more ice splinters in Matt`s direction. The blond quickly changed strategy and activated Protect, deflecting all sharp projectiles. He was going to have to take a hit from Dark Matt, but the defense buff should hopefully-
The edge of Anarchy slammed into Matt`s side, breaking right through Protect. The swordsman yelped unmanly as he was tossed against the cave`s wall, the ice fracturing from the impact as the body fell to the ground, the sword impaling the ground next to him. Matt groggily pulled himself up and looked up to see Dark Matt pointing to him. Taking the chance, Matt took out Heaven`s Gate from the ground and prepared for a Wind Slash…
Only to cry out in pain as Giga Drill scraped the teen`s back, sending him flying forwards, into Anarchy`s side as Dark Matt effortlessly slashed Matt`s unprotected front. Heaven`s Gate weakly blocked the attack and the blond only suffered a shallow cut to the chest as he landed on his feet. His back, however, was bleeding profusely.
With a loud roar, Matt raised Heavn`s Gate and charged the ever grinning Dark Matt.
O O O
"Firestorm!" A series of loud explosions rang out. "Icestrom!" A series of loud crystallization noises rang out. "Thunderstorm!" A series of loud thunderbolt noises rang out.
And still, Evil Natalie continued to advance with that unnatural grin. Step by step, the scythe wielder continued to step forwards, unfazed at all by the powerful spells Natz was casting.
"Dammit…Bomblast!" Natalie threw a small bag of gunpowder (courteous of Lance) and blasted it with her fire. The resulting explosion shook the entire cavern itself, but when the smoke clearly, the evil grin was still there.
"Oh, come on!" The mage slammed her staff onto the ground and a dying star appeared behind Evil Natalie, the air howling as it was dragged in without effort. "Dark Pulsar!"
The figure stopped, but slammed their own staff onto the ground as well. Behind the black mage, another dying star appeared, nullifying the magnetism effects of the first one until they both disappeared. Natz gasped, but was too late to react as the scythe wielder attacked. They swung their weapon sideways, the orange head barely able to dodge each attack.
Finally, Natalie took out another packet of gunpowder and ignited it, blowing her and her counterpart back. The girl grunted as she slammed into a crystal, the blast slightly singing her white dress and blackening it. The evil girl merely landed on her feet, unperturbed by the close range blast.
As Natz got back up, she suddenly felt a rush of pain from her legs and almost collapsed. A quick Heal was casted but with very little effect, besides temporary numbing of the pain. A closer examination revealed two thin shallow nicks on her legs, most likely from the scythe. If a small cut like this caused massive pain, then a major cut would be instant death.
"Can`t stop now though…" Natalie muttered and rose back up, her grip on the staff tightening. "Firestrom!"
O O O
For once in his life, the great gunman Lance was running out of bullets.
Every time he fired anything, Anti Lance would snipe the bullet out of the air with unbelievable accuracy. All his special bullets were depleted and his scanner had been smashed. Nothing that couldn`t be replaced, but this was not the time to run out of supplies!
"Hiya!" Lance swung his gunblade wildly and Anti Lance merely parried it before firing two bullets point-blan. The officer managed to roll away and retaliated by firing a few more shots once on his feet. As expected, his opponent had to also roll to avoid the incoming fire. "Now! Airstrike!"
A small war plane whizzed overhead and dropped a large bomb at the feet of Anti Lance. It exploded, creating a huge blast that threw Lance`s opponent backwards. The real Lance saluted to the unknown pilot within the plane, and then readied himself.
Only to get shot in his shoulder. The red head swore loudly and clutched the bleeding limb with one hand, his gunblade firmly held in his other. The boy turned and ran for the nearest piece of cover, swearing and jumping as a few more shots was taken at him. Lance was pretty sure that the last one was a Flame Shot as the bullet heated up the rock he took cover behind.
Sparing no time, Lance stuck his weapon into the volcanic ground and took out his emergency supply of bandages. Using his teeth, the gunman tore some from the roll and gingerly wrapped it around his arm. It would staunch the bleeding as the bullet had gone straight through, but he would still need some real medical attention.
Lance grabbed his gunblade and checked its barrel before popping out of cover, loosening the entire clip in an attempt to intimidate his foe. The bullets all went wide as Anti Lance was nowhere to be seen.
"What the heck…?" Lance muttered, carefully reloading. He scanned the volcanic environment, seeing nothing but a lot of rocks. Had Anti Lance simply fled the fight? Unlikely. Did he have an invisibility flair? Viable, but not likely. Was it possible that a small red dot was trained on Lance`s face right now?
Well, yeah. There was a small laser dot on Lance`s forehead.
"OH SHI-" The boy was unable to dive back into cover fast enough and the bullet grazed his temple. While it was infinitely much better than between the eyes, the sudden loss of blood in his head was making Lance slightly dizzy. He was forced to use another bandage and tied it around his head. The red head sighed. "Hopefully, the others are having a better time."
O O O
Anna, despite all her ranger training, was poisoned. She vomited for what had to be the fifth time of the day, grimacing at the horrid aftertaste in her mouth. "If this is how my enemies feel, I`m switching to stun-causing."
An arrow slammed into the tree, in the area where Anna was just hiding at before she disappeared. Opposite Anna didn`t even blink an eye at her miss and just somersaulted, launching a few arrows up into the tree tops. All of them found their mark.
"Argh!" Anna scrunched up her face as she fell to the ground, landing hard on her back. She quickly jumped back on her feet and reached for her belt, taking out a small saw blade. The ranger quickly tossed it and flipped backwards, notching and releasing an arrow as she darted back into darkness.
Opposite Anna countered the saw blade first, slamming her bow into the ground and creating a wall of logs for the blade to get lodged in. Then, she simply blew a note in her ocarina and disappeared; Reflex. Finally, Opposite Anna slammed notched and released a Spark Arrow, riding the forest area of all shadows for Anna to hide in.
"FALL!" The dark version of Anna screamed and released a whole quiver load of arrows. The real Anna dodged to the best of her ability, relying on her constant Reflexes, but could not escape numerous nicks and scratches. Every time she managed to slip around one, two more nicked her.
Then an arrow pierced her thigh and her Reflex buff was broken. Thankfully, it was the end of the Arrow Rain so Anna didn`t get impaled by several arrows. Only parts of her limbs got pierced through as she fell to the ground, the wind girl no longer able to escape the grasp of gravity as she crashed into the earth…
…the unescapably earth gunman finally blown to the wind as he was shot…
…the burning spirit mage shattered as the cold lull of death visited…
…the flowing swordsman broken by unyielding steel slamming into him.
"There`s no way I can match him…"
"Her scythe is way too powerful…"
"My aim isn`t quick enough…"
"That speed far outstrips mine…"
"How can we beat them!?" All the bleeding heroes shouted.
O O O
Somewhere in the town, a shady looking stranger grinned, letting their red hair fall over their crimson red eyes.
"Dissonance comes before consonance."
O O O
The environment of all four battles shattered, saving the lives of the teens. The dark forms all looked confused as their overwhelming control was broken over, the reins finally whipping out of their control. They tried to regain the control, but was not quick enough to prevent the four from meeting up in their mind`s eye.
"What can we do? They`re too powerful!"
"I can`t even scratch my opponent, and I`ve been bombarding her with every spell possible!"
"He`s way faster than I am at aiming. There is no way I can match him."
"Guys, I have a few arrows sticking out of my body right now. That`s how fast my opponent`s reflexes are."
"Wait…Natz, you can`t pierce her magical defense…Lance, you can`t aim as fast…Anna, you can`t match her speed…and I can`t engage my opponent close combat wise…That`s it!"
The environments eventually did come back together, but the combatants were different now. The dark forms all suddenly felt a flicker of fear within their bodies as their new opponents presented themselves.
Natalie versus Dark Matt.
Matt versus Evil Natalie.
Anna versus Anti Lance.
Lance versus Opposite Anna.
O O O
Dark Matt growled and stabbed Anarchy into the ground. The icy floor beneath Natalie collapsed as Cataclysm was cast, but the girl grinned and slammed her staff into the ground. A thin layer of ice coated the breaking floor, sealing together the shattering ice with more solid water. The black mage then tossed a small packet towards Dark Matt.
The swordsman reacted and slashed, breaking open the packet. Natz immediately followed up the attack with her Fire Storm, blasting her opponent with a barrage of flames. Add to the newly released gunpowder in the air, and the result is a combination of both Bomblast and Fire Storm.
Out of the smoke, Dark Matt flew backwards and would`ve crashed into the wall, had he not turned and landed on his feet sideways. With a powerful grunt, he activated Wind Slash and slashed through the smoke, aiming for Natz. The girl quickly snapped her fingers and casted Dark Pulsar, negating Wind Slash`s advance and sucking Dark Matt back.
"Matt was always the meat shield, wasn`t he?" Natalie smirked as the swordsman finally slammed into the wall from Pulsar`s gravity pull, taking a severe hit. Dark Matt merely growled in response and pointed with his free hand. An unmistakable gesture for…
"Giga Drill!" Natalie exclaimed as her icy platform was pierced by the metal tool, barely dodging the first attack. Just before the rebound attack occurred, she quickly tossed out another packet of gunpowder and lit it. The resulting blast would send Natz flying backwards, but it destroyed the Giga Drill, rendering it useless for the remainder of the fight.
Dark Matt leapt as soon as the blast was released; dodging the scraps of metal as his Giga Drill was destroyed. He swung and slashed his way to a dazed Natalie, bringing his sword down. The black mage quickly sidestepped and casted Dark Pulsar again, drawing Dark Matt away. Another gunpowder packet later, a huge explosion racked the cave, leaving the dark swordsman dazed from the lack of counters.
Come on. A chance to smack Matt around (albeit a dark copy of him). The mage took a deep breath and swung her staff sideways, right into her foe`s temple.
O O O
"A scythe huh?" Matt confidently swung Heaven`s Gate around and grabbed it with both hands. "Haven`t actually fought one yet, so this should be interesting."
"DIE!" Evil Natalie shrieked and…bat wings came out of her back!? The new limb gave the scythe wielder the ability to fly, and she took advantage of that ability by immediately flying straight to Matt, swinging her black blade back.
The pirate raised his blade, expecting for the two weapons to clash against each other. Instead, he felt the blade suddenly loop around him and catch him at the waist, propelling him forwards. It was done using the back of the blade, so no open wound resulted, thus no instant death. Matt flew forwards, about to slam his head into the ground had he not slammed Heaven`s Gate in first to the ground.
The torque on the scythe pained him as he firmly gripped the implanted blade, but Matt endured the pain and forced his body to move the other way. As expected, Evil Natalie was caught off balance as her scythe was wrenched out of her arms, the weight on it greater than what she could exert. Matt grabbed the scythe by the handle using his left hand and flipped himself back up, taking Heaven`s Gate out of the ground with his right hand. Now he had two weapons.
Evil Natalie growled and flew up high, placing her hands together. The earth underneath Matt began shaking and cracking, but it was nothing that he couldn`t handle. Years of fighting kicked in as he dashed and leapt between the ever increasing breaks, using both the stolen scythe and sword blade to slice his way through the walls of solid earth. As the pillars of the earth slammed into the cave`s roof, Matt roared and broke the final barrier, slashing in an x formation.
His opponent was forced to swerve to the ground to avoid the two blades, but managed to grab a hold on her scythe and wrenched it out of Matt`s hands. The two combatants dropped to the ground for the final showdown, both of them glaring at each other. The next clash would most certainly define the outcome of the match
Evil Natalie turned her wrist and dashed. Matt turned his wrist and dashed.
The two met in the middle and both made only one slash with their respective weapons. Evil Natalie and Matt stood crouched, facing away from one another as the results of the clash kicked in.
The black scythe slammed into the ground, along with Heaven`s Gate. Both had disarmed their opponent. But Matt was the only one who did actual damage, his left hand twisting to reveal a hidden Light Blade.
The pirate slowly walked towards the staggering foe and removed his sword from the ground, dismissing the light blade as he suddenly slammed into Evil Natalie.
O O O
Bullets were everywhere as Anti Lance used Bullet Hell and Plasma Storm, but it was to no avail as Anna`s smirking (and garlic smelling) face kept dodging everything, the only sound of her being an annoying wooden flute. There were a few arrows in his uniform, but nothing to worry about for now as he reloaded and fired again at the green and brown blur.
Faster than the eye could see, the ranger slid her feet around each individual projectile, her eyes constantly trained to the barrel of the gun. One good shot would kill all her Reflex buffs, but as long as he couldn`t hit, she could simple keep stacking her evades. Once she evaded all the bullets, Anna quickly drew and fired her bow, not even bothering to aim precisely at this close range.
The arrow skimmed her target`s face, drawing some blood but not giving the poison status. Must be immune to poison then, she thought as she jumped into the air to avoid the next barrage of bullets. In midair, the green head girl let loose another three arrows, all of different variety as she landed back on her feet. The projectiles pierced her target`s skin directly, leaving three very painful arrows stuck in him. Taking them out now would result in more loss of blood, something Anti Lance had been trained to be aware of.
There! Anna felt the scope train on her as Anti Lance activated his scanner, locking onto her. Just as expected. Faster than the wind itself, she ran towards her opponent and back kicked, landing on her knees as his lock on was disrupted before it completed. The next shot would be close, but could not directly hit her.
"PERISH!" Anti Lance screamed. It was apparent the gunman had enough as the sound of an airplane whizzed overhead, dropping a trio of thin missiles at Anna`s feet. They exploded and created a cloud of smoke, covering Anna from view. The blast would`ve been impossible to dodge.
And yet the ranger survived, summoning out a wall of sharpened logs in front of her at the last possible moment. Still hiding behind her wall of logs, Anna stuck her bow into the burning floor and closed her eyes. She muttered a small prayer and several vines emerged underneath Anti Lance, shredding his boots as the gunman was forced to leap backwards.
That was when the ranger emerged from her cover, cartwheeling on the volcanic ground as she fired a volley of arrows. Several of them struck Anti Lance in the head, causing the gunman to actually stagger back as Anna rapidly disappeared from view, drawing closer for her close range arrow strike.
And when she did finally appear, he fired. But it was only an afterimage as the girl looped around him and stuck.
O O O
Patience, Lance remembered, was the key to accuracy. A fond lesson from his late father, bless his soul. And so, he waited a heartbeat before pulling the trigger.
The lone bullet flew true to its path, passing through all the trees in the way and into the arm of the moving Opposite Anna. She acted as though it didn`t affect her, much like the other bullets, but Lance could sense her speed gradually slowing, making it only so much easier to snipe without a scanner.
Without pausing, Opposite Anna disappeared from his line of vision and appeared behind Lance. Smoothly, the gunman switched his handling and stabbed backwards, impaling Opposite Anna on his blade.
Or rather, an after impression of her as she had already dashed backwards at the imminent danger. Lance smirked and, using his thumb, pulled the trigger again. Without even looking, he had again shot his supposedly uncatchable opponent.
Vines caught the red head teen as Opposite Anna stuck her bow into the ground, rooting Lance in once spot. Thankfully, he wasn`t poisoned but it still was a serious problem as Lance`s opponent was dashing all round and whatnot. He began hacking at the plants with some degree of success, but felt the tremor in the ground and froze. Sharpened wooden logs broke out of the dirt and snapped all the vines, threatening to impale the gunman as more appeared.
Lance quickly crossed his arms and shouted, "Barrier!" A red shield surrounded his entire body, protecting him as the logs knocked the barrier upwards. The red head grimaced at the sudden energy drop, but did not have time to reflect on it as Opposite Anna suddenly appeared right before him in the air, firing three arrows point blank at his cracking shields.
Immediately, Lance fired upwards, breaking the barrier and sending him flying downwards to dodge the arrows. At the same time, he shifted his gunblade slightly down, targeting and firing on Opposite Anna. The officer landed on the ground, his trench coat fluttering about as the stunned Opposite Anna fell to the ground…
…Just as Dark Matt and Evil Natalie slammed into each other over their comrade`s body, both of them hissing as pain shot through their bodies. Anti Lance came flying as well, rag dolling onto the growing pile of bodies.
"Yo!" Matt greeted.
"Hey!" Natalie shouted.
"Hello." Lance grinned.
"Let`s finish this!" Anna completed the greetings and closed her eyes, drawing power from the pains within her body. Her eyes practically glowed green as she activated her ultimate power: Limit Break. "Mighty Oak! I call to thee!"
The forest ground shattered as a massive monster made up of metal and wood broke out from underneath, growling as he was summoned into battle. Immediately, he used a hook shot to grab all four dark foes into his grip and slam them into his wooden fist, knocking them near unconscious. The forest guardian then kicked the four, sending them flying…
Right into Lance, smirking as his smile turned maniacal with the power of Limit Break. "Ion Laser! Strike at my position!"
Far above the battle, a black metallic satellite came to life. Several silver appendages bent and activated their cores to focus the power into one clump, a large cannon emerging to absorb the energy. With a loud hiss, the cannon fired, a large laser descending down from the heavens to strike at Lance`s enemies. The four dark forms were sent flying backwards again…
And were caught in midair by a Limit Break frenzied Matt. "Legend!" The blond shouted as Heaven`s Gate glowed to twice its size.
With several grunts, the swordsman slashed at the clumped four enemies, hacking away without a care in the world. He first swung sideways, turning and flipping with a downward strike. But instead of letting his foes slam into the ground and suffer major injury, Matt swung his sword upwards, bringing all four of the evil forms back up into the sky.
Right up to a mage, who was peacefully smiling as her black magic purified itself. Wings of light emerged from her back and her crystal staff shone as the dark magical chains faded away, no longer blocking the immense flow of pure energy within Natalie. She raised her staff, glowing with the power of Limit Break, and screamed, "GENESIS!"
Light shone from the staff and the four evil doppelgangers of Matt, Natalie, Lance, and Anna disappeared as a holy cross made of light enveloped them, obliterating all the darkness. The foes all screamed as their entire body was vaporized by the blinding light, the tainted souls no longer able to anchor themselves onto the world after all that damage.
The screams still lingered in the air as Natalie gracefully descended to the floor, kneeling with her eyes closed as her friends dropped to the ground as well. The copied forms never reappeared.
The battle was won. But there was still one major problem.
"Where`s the booty?" Matt struggled to get up, his entire body raked with pain from the fight. He squinted at the forest ground and saw not a single gold glitter among the grass. "NO! THERE ISN`T ANY LOOT!"
"WHAT?" Anna sank to her knees and cried, banging her head on the ground. "Are you telling me that we did that all for nothing?!"
"Guys…" Natalie sighed as her two teammates bawled like little kids, upset that their hard work had not even resulted in peanuts. "Just be glad that we`re alive."
"Agreed. What do you think they were?" Lance asked as he calmly knocked back his dislocated hand. "They were our dark forms, but how did they come to be?"
"I suppose…the map? We were acting our very worst, so that may have allowed the darkness within us to seep out and take form."
"But you`re a black mage and darkness naturally resides inside you. And Anna practices voodoo, so she shouldn`t have a sou-"
"YOU!" Anna gripped her bow tightly and pointed at the gunman. "YOU CAUSED THIS SUFFERING! If you hadn`t gotten lost, this fight would`ve never occurred! PREPARE TO SUFFER!"
"WHY YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE BIT-"
O O O
"And I`m censoring that out." A blue haired girl sighed as she slammed her head on the café table. "Did you really have to do that? A dark form fight? How much can one copy from a franchise?"
"Well, it was interesting." A red head girl sipped her coffee and smacked her black lips. "And you have to admit, dissonance does go well with them."
"Oh, enough of that now!" The girl wearing a white dress snarled uncharacteristically. "If Matt had gotten really hurt or anything worst, then I`ll get into serious trouble!"
"Your problem, not mine." The girl wearing a black dress cackled and stood up from her chair, tossing some coins on the table. "Here, let me make it up for you. I`ll pay for the drinks."
"Fine, but next time, you`re paying for lunch as well!"
"Yeah, yeah, see ya around Halcyonic."
"You too, ya stupid copy."