The Rise from the Ashes
"The Chaos Kin is going to destroy Pittoo! Can't you see what's at stake here? I don't CARE if my wings catch fire!" An introspection into Dark Pit and why "his and Viridi's interests just happen to overlap."
Chapter 1 - Ring of Chaos pt. 2
Author's Notes: This is my first ever fanfiction, and I hope you guys enjoy. In case you can't tell, this story will contain spoilers from pretty much the entire story of Kid Icarus: Uprising, so watch out.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kid Icarus or any characters or events contained within this story from said game. All rights to said characters and events are owned by Nintendo.
Note (2.4.15): Thanks ShadmeTheAngel and my other anonymous reviewer! I hadn't noticed Dark Pit was so happy near the end. I suppose I was confusing him for Pit XD.
"No way! Humans could never be as selfish as the gods!"
Dark Pit soared on a thermal across the ocean, thanks to the so-called grace of the goddess Palutena. Hades was finally gone, and the balance between Skyworld, the Overworld, and the Underworld had been restored. Pit himself was flying over the town nearest to the carnage, celebrating his hard-won victory.
As the black-winged angel dipped past his doppelganger deep in conversation with the goddesses in his head, he was deep in thought himself. He was jostled from his musings with a "Hey, Pittoo?" from the victor himself.
If I hear that name one more time, I swear-
Yet Dark Pit just could not bring himself to yell at his clone, and he didn't know why. Resigned, he felt Palutena pour more power into his wings, allowing him to soar off into the sunset, Pit close behind. Apparently - as he only caught snippets of the conversation between Palutena, Viridi, and Pit - both he and his white-winged twin were flying off into the sunset for some sort of "happy ending," or whatever. As if Dark Pit had any say in the situation at hand, since he could no longer fly by himself.
After a few minutes of savoring the air above the ocean, Palutena's voice echoed in Dark Pit's head.
Just so you know, Pittoo -
PLEASE stop calling me that.
-since you're probably not used to it, the power of flight is running out. You're welcome to stay in Skyworld if you so wish, but I'm calling Pit back now.
Dark Pit said nothing to this, contemplating his choices. If he stayed in Skyworld, he'd probably be at the beck and call of Palutena. That would be a life changer, since even though Dark Pit needs Pit to survive, he didn't need to be with his copy all the time. He was sure that Palutena still harbored some resentment towards him for having been created. Of course, that wasn't his fault, but as the goddess of light, anything created by the Underworld Army threatened her realm of existence. And as she had said before, he was inherently wicked and destructive. She didn't seem to have much faith in him, probably because he had no intentions of becoming her faithful puppet.
But if he went out on his own, he would have no security or safety. He would probably have to venture forth into the world looking for shelter and food, and he would have to fend for himself, possibly fighting off hostile forces or monsters left from Hades' reign. Was it worth his safety if it meant dealing with Palutena? Dark Pit couldn't decide.
However, he didn't have to make that choice yet, as Palutena revoked his power of flight. Apparently she took his silence to mean he didn't need any help. Secretly, he was a little disappointed at this assumption, but that was the least of his concerns. After all, he was now plummeting to the ground at an increasingly alarming rate.
At least there's some rubble down there..Much better than drowning of course.
Dark Pit spread his wings, hoping to slow his fall as much as possible before crash landing. After all, he didn't have a goddess to provide heavenly healing right now. It was moments like these that made him wish he had never gone to save his copy at the Rewind Spring, if only so he wouldn't plunge to his death. That godsdamned Pandora..
He supposed helping his twin was worth it now, even as he plummeted towards the ever-growing ground. If it came between existence and flight, Dark Pit assumed existing would come first every time.
As he hit the ground between some fallen pillars, the black-winged angel heard a sickening KRIIAAACK. Horrified, he pushed up from the rubble, only to find he had cracked the purple gem on his shoulder. He breathed a sigh of relief, although he was quite surprised to find himself otherwise unharmed. Maybe Palutena had left him with a little divine protection on the fall down. Though doubtful and a little confused, Dark Pit decided to decipher his surroundings.
He had landed in a town that seemed deserted, since the town had been nearly reduced to rubble, but a closer look revealed a few citizens still making a decent living. Perhaps coincidentally, he had landed between those two pillars, out of the people's eyes, so he could psych himself up. Humans probably weren't used to seeing angels around, and he was definitely no ordinary angel.
Stepping into the light, he walked through the ruins, passing a few people who began to notice the stranger in their midst. There didn't seem to be many friendly faces in the town; in fact, most of the people slowly closed their doors or huddled in the shadows to avoid Dark Pit's gaze.
Odd.. What did I ever do to these guys?
The few people who stayed from their homes were murmuring to themselves and shooting glares in Dark Pit's general direction. He found if he listened closely he could make out a few words..
...what is that pile of angel trash doing here? Didn't he have enough fun destroying our town last month?
Bro, I don't think you should be saying that, he's looking at us..
Fuck that! A simple dye job won't stop me from recognizing that walking ammunitions depo…
Dye job? Dark Pit thought. This is all natural.. Unless they mean Pit..
The first person sent another glare Dark Pit's way, prompting the second person to grab his arm and shush him, almost whimpering. The first person pushed his friend off of him, however, and strutted out into the open.
"Whassa matter with you, angel face?! You think you can show your face here again after everything you've done to us?" He grabbed the angel's scarf and yanked him closer. Dark Pit stared in confusion, anger slowing rising within him.
"Yeah, goddess trash! I'm talkin' ta you! Got anything to say for yourself?" His breath wafted into the angel's face, causing him to gag. Frustrated, the man threw the angel to the ground. Dark Pit turned, shooting arrows from his eyes at the man.
"Yeah, that's what I thought."
Dark Pit slowly stood to face the man, brushing off his chiton, still covered in dust and grime from the fall. "You know that angel who attacked you wasn't me, right?" he murmured, smirking at his assaulter. "I've got much more style than that jerk."
"And how do you expect me to believe that?" His enemy stared at the angel in blatant disbelief.
"Well, first off, that guy had brown hair and blue eyes, right? Named Pit by any chance?"
"I suppose so, since he was too busy ATTACKING AND KILLING US for idle chitchat!"
"Right, right, anyway - "
"Get to the point, jerkface! I don't have all day, since we're kinda busy rebuilding our town that you destroyed!"
"See, that's where you're wrong, sir," Dark Pit gathered his thoughts, folding his arms and fondling with his scarf. "I'm not Pit. I'm his skia*, or shadow, if you will. The servant of the goddess of light, Palutena, was being controlled for 3 years by a being known as the Chaos Kin, who, by the way, tried to kill me too." The angel turned a little and stared directly into his aggressor's eyes, smirking. "If I have my time periods right, we just defeated that thing a couple weeks ago, maybe a month, and it's rotting in its own domain as we speak. Got all that, sir?"
The man scowled. "And just how am I supposed to believe that?"
"Angel face? What did you do to your hair? Haven't gotten soft since I beat you, huh?"
Confused, Dark Pit turned around and found himself staring up at a giant brute with a large club he vaguely recognized from Pit's weapon vault. What was the name of that weapon anyway.. the Mango Club? Magna? No..
"Something wrong, angel face?" The tall man had a glint of concern in his eyes.
"Why do you keep calling me that? Do you know Pit?" Dark Pit scowled up at him.
"Of course I know him! You were in my body! Wait - you're not Pit? … I'm confused, then. Who are you, buddy, and why do you look like Pit?" He folded his arms, frowning deeply at the dark angel.
"Magnus Club!" Dark Pit blurted out. The man stared at the angel, who chuckled. "You're Magnus, right? You have the same weapon that Pit does. I saw it in his vault when I..ah, never mind. Sorry." Dark Pit's wings ruffled a little as they stood in silence.
"Oh, right! Ahem. My name is Dark Pit," said the dark angel. Magnus stared at him, raising an eyebrow. "I know. I don't like it any more than you do, but it's much better than the alternative- "
"AHEM."
Dark Pit jumped, almost falling to the ground. Behind him was the man he had been arguing with, intensely glaring his way. Of course he was still an issue.
"Oh, right. I forgot where we were." Facepalming, he said, "Kay, dude, seriously, I didn't kill anyone besides all the Underworld troops wrecking this place, so I don't know what your deal is with me. Your beef is with Pit, right?"
"Actually, I can answer that," Magnus interjected, sidestepping in between Dark Pit and the stranger. "See, the reason why I know Pit is I was him for a time. Or was he me?" He waved his hand. "Forget it. The point is, I know that angel, and he's a good kid." Gesturing to Dark Pit, he said, "Since you're his skia or whatever, I assume you're decent too- "
"Hey, I take offense to that," Dark Pit grumbled.
"-so the point is, leave the angel alone, dude, or I won't hesitate to put the hurt on you, no matter how much money you offer," Magnus finished, brandishing his club with a slight grin.
The stranger's friend tried pulling him away from the angel and the mercenary, but he held his ground. "That doesn't change how many people died at his hands! He must pay for what he did here!" His eyes began to tear up, and Dark Pit felt a wave of, er, pity for the man.
"Look," Dark Pit sighed, "I understand that you lost a lot from those attacks. I myself was in limbo for over three years, and I assume you at least lost a home or family member. That can never be replaced, I'm sure." The man nodded, looking down.
"But what I can do is tell you that now, Palutena's Army have eradicated the problem. The Chaos Kin, who I already mentioned, is gone. He's a pile of ash in the Chaos Vortex, and if he ever comes back, I swear on my life that I will never hesitate to hunt him down." He moved towards the man, placing his dirtied arm around the stranger's back, scowling a bit. "I know Pit definitely did not mean to kill all those innocent people for a fact. When I was in limbo, I could feel his anguish at being out of commision and killing innocents. Pit doesn't kill people."
"True," Magnus said. "When we took down Gaol, he was shocked to learn she was a human. I can't imagine the kid killing people for fun."
"So," Dark Pit finished, "do you trust me now?" He offered a hand to the fallen stranger. "I'm not that bad, right?"
He grudgingly took the angel's hand, bracing himself to stand. "I suppose not; after all, you aren't Pit. I can't exactly blame you.."
Dark Pit stared at the man, a hint of a grin showing through his red eyes. "No, no, you can't. Now where do you live?"
The stranger's friend came over. "No, I got this. Thanks, though." He smiled a toothy grin. "I've never seen him get like that, even if we had any angel sightings."
Magnus walked up behind the angel and whispered in his ear, "Nice job, skia. Ya done good, especially at calming these guys down. This place's been awfully unsettled since Pit wreaked havoc around here."
Dark Pit's eyes glinted towards the mercenary as they began walking. "Hey thanks. And skia? You heard that?" Nodding, he said, "Impressive."
Magnus couldn't help but grin at the angel. "Now, I wanna know something."
Dark Pit stopped walking, letting the stranger and his friend be on their way. He frowned. "And what's that, Magnus?"
"I wanna know your story, skia. Sounds like you've had a well-lived life." The mercenary had a warm smile on his face.
Dark Pit couldn't help but smile back. Magnus' expression was infectious. "Alright, but we better find some food first. I'm starving!" His stomach gurgled quietly, and the angel cringed.
Magnus chuckled. "You've definitely got some Pit in you, alright."
*In case you couldn't tell, skia is Greek for shadow, so I'll be using it in this fic to refer to Dark Pit, at least from Magnus. I've been thinking of using that as his name, in fact, but idk yet..
Posted 1.30.15; edited 2.4.15