Ex Solem|Ex Umbra
A Kid Icarus Fan Fiction by JoFaythe/xFlavourChan
Chapter 1: LIGHT vs. DARK
Light vs. Dark is a game of the gods where two teams of three fighters face off against one another, battling to defeat three opponents as a team, forcing the last one to be defeated to be taken out of the game and replaced by the team leader. After the team leaders are out on the field, the focus shifts to taking out the leader to win the match. The fighter (or, on some rare occasions, the leader) who takes out the opposing team's leader, as an act of no ill-will, will help the loser back to his feet, reminding everyone that it is simply a game. Once a year, a championship is held against every god and goddess, allowing each to show off their strongest warriors and leaders in an attempt to gain bragging rights for the next year or so.
"Okay team, listen up!" Pit announced, gaining the attention of his preparing three person team, donning the white-silver armour that identified them as the light team for the match. "Today is a very important day, so fight your best! But, win or lose, I'm proud to say that you guys are my team."
The only female warrior, a flaming redhead by the name of Quinn, raised an eyebrow at her team captain. "'Win or lose', captain? Are you implying that, for the first time in years, that we could lose the championship?"
"I'm not implying anything!" the angel shot back.
"Yes, you are. In the ten minus four years that I've been fighting for this team, you've never said anything along the lines of 'win or lose'." She smirked. "Has your confidence disappeared, oh mighty captain?"
"Of course not!" the angel recoiled as his face turned a deep shade of red. "I'm just being a good leader, that's all!"
"Sure you are…" sarcasm filled the voice of an older teen named Scott that Pit swore was double his own height.
"We're facing off against your brother today," the youngest, a dark skinned boy no older than twelve, interjected, "That dark angel on Viridi's team. He is your brother, right?"
"Pittoo…" Pit placed his chin on his fist and his voice trailed off, lost in the thought of his dark counterpart. In technical terms, Pittoo, originally 'Dark Pit', was simply a reflection of him created by the Mirror of Truth. But, after his three years of being a ring, fighting beside the dark angel to save Lady Palutena, and the several occasions that they saved each other, he wasn't so sure that Pittoo was just a reflection of whatever dark feelings might have been hiding in his soul. "Yeah, I guess you could call him my brother."
"I see," the youngster smiled, with an unusual twinkle in his dark chocolate eyes. No one had time to contemplate Maxxy's intentions as the five minute warning bell was sounded, beginning the countdown to the match.
The dark team's locker room was filled with chattering and excitement, something that rarely happened for the members of that particular team.
"Championship title, here we come!" the energetic brunette known as Zack exclaimed, already decked out in the dark gray/black armour and showing off his unusual weapon of choice, a Bowl Arm.
"Yeah, what a change," the star player, an Asian teen by the name of Ryu interjected as he polished his helmet, "With that lady as our leader, we got our butts handed to us in ten seconds flat."
The third fighter, a sharpshooting blond named Cass, shrugged his shoulders. "Who knew having wings made such a difference? No wonder the Goddess Palutena always wins; she has entire legions of angels on her side."
The other fighters nodded in agreement and added to the conversation about previous wins and losses, how the light team would be going down, and how their new leader was far superior to the lady they had been stuck with for many years prior.
The new leader, a dark angel once referred to as 'Dark Pit', sat away from the rest of his team, preferring to do maintenance on his favourite weapon than join in on the conversation. The blue bow with a silver edge, appropriately named the Silver Bow, was the weapon he had used since his birth from the Mirror of Truth. He twisted the bow at its center, effectively turning the weapon into two smaller blades.
It's been a while, Pit-stain.
He sighed as he put the blades back together and twisted it around his fingers.
I don't know how you do it, working for the goddess. Viridi is a pain the butt, but as long as I can't fly by myself, I have to listen to her. It's working out nicely, though, `cause I get to fight you again.
Content with the condition his bow was in, he rested it on his lap.
Get ready, I'm gonna wipe the floor with you today.
The battleground was an eerie location, fittingly known as the Rail Temple, filled with fog, tall ruins and a floating island in the center. Before the stone walls surrounding the edges of the arena were pairs of rails, making it easy to use hit-and-run strategies, travel from one area to the next, and battle along the rails. A single grind rail lead to the center island, an area where one could possibly recover, but the open view of the island easily revealed those who were. The rest of the area was plain and leveled, with few places to hide.
The crowd watching from above the stone walls cheered as the two teams entered the arena on opposite ends. A few fighters acknowledged the crowd, waving back as a thank you for their support before taking a battle stance. A timer hovered over the center island, counting down the final thirty seconds before the game's start. From the locker rooms the two angels watched the battle from reflection pools, Pittoo clutching his silver bow in his hands, and Pit holding on to his first blade.
As soon as the timer read '0' the light team launched its first attack, a Mega Laser launched by Quinn aimed directly at the opposing dark team. No one was hurt as the two teams began to charge at each other, with attacks littering the stage.
Ryu of the dark team, armed with a black club, made his way to the edge of the arena where the grind rails were situated, returning fire at Maxxy, the user of a Twinbellows cannon, as Ryu started to take advantage of the rails to quickly circle around to the opposite side of the arena.
On the ground, the light team's fiercest fighter, Quinn, armed with beam claws, cornered the dark team's fighter, Zack. From the other side of the arena, the assault was ended by Ryu, thanks to a charged attack from his club. Quinn was defeated, but not taken out as she revived away from the chaos.
Zack had little chance to recover as another onslaught of attacks began, this time from light team's Scott and his fairy orbitars, quickly diminishing the last of Zack's health.
Zack revived in front of a grind rail leading to the arena's central island and, hoping to snipe the competition away, he rode it. He was followed by Maxxy, who had seen an opportunity to attack. Zack was once again defeated and thrown off the edge of the island. He revived close to the island and greeted Maxxy as he jumped off the island, taking him out immediately with a single shot.
Elsewhere in the arena, Scott was having a hard time putting distance between himself and Ryu, who was relentlessly chasing him with his two-handed weapon. There was a reason that Ryu was named the top warrior in the Free-for-All season, and it probably involved his talent at wielding the usually uncooperative weapon class known as clubs.
Clubs were weapons that slowed one down considerably, had low range and had to be handled with two hands. Their strength came from their weight, causing high damage counts and many injuries for those who couldn't outrun them.
Scott fired blast after blast of charged energy, which were easily brushed aside from a swing of the flat club. He could feel his legs beginning to wear out and the sweat that drenched the underclothing of his armour. With his lightweight orbitars floating around him, there was no reason why he couldn't outrun the dark team's star fighter. Yet, here he was, running for his life.
Finally tired out and being forced to stop to catch his breath, Scott suffered a single defeat from a sniper attack from Cass and his Insight Staff and was taken out of the battle. The crowd erupted in cheers as they awaited the arrival of the light team's leader.
In the light team's locker room, Scott and Pit had a quick talk before Pit was forced into the game.
"You did a great job, Scott! You only got defeated once!" Pit gave the fallen fighter a thumbs up, which was returned before a light surrounded him, putting him in the battle. Ignoring the cheers from the crowd, he locked onto his first target, the dark team's user of a bowl arm, who was cornered at the edge of a crevice. Pit lifted his left hand above his head, feeling a burning power grow within him, and released it upon his victim.
As the massive fireball subsided, the fighter disappeared, taken out of the fight to be replaced by his team's leader.
From the center island, the dark team's sniper, Cass, aimed his insight staff, intending to take out the white angel while his back was turned. Before he could pull the trigger, the wind was knocked out of him by a forward dash attack, courtesy of Maxxy and his cannon.
"Don't interfere!" the young light team member shouted at his opponent. "The battle is now between the angels! Let them fight it out on their own, you lousy cheap shot!"
Cass lunged at the youngster, using his staff as a spear. "What makes you think you make the rules? I'm in it to win it!"
As the two continued to exchange blows, the dark team's angel appeared on the opposite end of the arena from his white counterpart. Blue eyes met violet-red ones for a brief moment before the white angel made a mad dash on foot to the southern grind rail station, quickly followed by the dark one. Between their destination and dodging the few boulders that littered the stage the two fired energy blasts and arrows of light at one another, none of which made contact with their intended target.
On the island, fighters Cass and Maxxy were worn ragged, struggling to catch their breath. Maxxy noticed the angels making their way to the only rail station that lead to the island and quickly understood what was going on. But with the two of them in the way, the angels would not be able to fight it out properly. With no thought against it, he tackled the older fighter, throwing the both of them off the edge and into the fissure below. The two were then warped away from the danger and spawned at different points away from the angels and the island.
Pit was the first to reach the rail station, hopping onto the solitary rail that lead to the now empty center island. Pittoo followed, understanding where this was going. On the island they continued their fight at a distance, their shots continually missing the forever moving targets. Finally, a single charged shot from each hit their targets, sending them to opposite edges of the floating island.
The fighters refocused their attention to the center of the arena, eyes glued and minds wondering what the angels' next moves would be. In a typical game the fighters would be the ones to take down the opposing team's leader, but this was proving to be much more than a 'typical game'. They stayed behind, allowing their team captains to battle it out on their own.
With nothing getting done at a distance, the two silently agreed over their bond that the fight would be finished face to face.
The black angel twisted his bow at the center, turning his favoured weapon into two blades, one which he held in a normal grip and the other in reverse.
The white angel responded, feeling the hum of energy rushing through his blade as a blue glow formed its edge.
Every spectator fell silent, increasing the tension to agonizing heights.
The few moments of silence felt like hours before the angels lunged at each other, ready to prove to one another that they were superior.
When he was close enough Pit jumped high into the air, his blade gripped with two hands and held over his head. His dark counterpart responded by holding both of his blades in front of him in a defensive measure, but it was all for naught – the battle was already over.
Before the two angels made contact a fireball fell from the sky into the center island and released an explosion that caused every fighter and the angels to be thrown against the stone walls of the arena. The impact also caused the floating island to fall back into the bottomless pit below, plugging it like a cork.
Screams and panic erupted as the fireball morphed into a fiery beast five times the size of Pit, with the body of a lion, the head of a ram, wings like an eagle, and a tail that was actually a cobra.
Pittoo staggered to get up and shook off the dizzy feeling and the pain from hitting his head against the wall. He looked around and watched as the two teams flew into action and cooperated to take down the beast, with Ryu pounding the thing from up close and Cass taking advantage of the rails to circle and hit the monster.
From the other team, Pit, Quinn and Maxxy were keeping the thing busy at a decent distance.
Pittoo, not wanting to be useless, decided that he should get in on the action as well.
The beast's back was turned towards the dark angel, but to take it out quickly he would need to be in front facing it head-on. He moved in closer, expecting to quickly get to the front by going underneath the monster.
However, he realized a second too late that the tail of the monster was more than a tail. The snake dug its fangs into Pittoo's upper left arm before he could decapitate it with a bladed edge of his bow. He struggled to remove the head from his arm as he was hit with a lethal combination of symptoms that he never thought could be experienced all at once. His health declined rapidly as his left arm went tingly and limp, which soon changed into a growing burning sensation that travelled throughout his body. The headache he received from being smashed into a wall returned with a vengeance, darkening his vision and silencing his world.
Pit suddenly felt weak, like he was unable to carry his own weight any longer. While the fighters were doing a good job in keeping the beast contained, there was no chance of them being able to beat it. The fighters were trained to fight each other, not unholy creatures like the one that had fallen from the heavens in the middle of their match. Only he and Pittoo knew how to properly fight the monsters.
Pittoo…
Pit then understood his weakness, and it gave him a burst of energy that he had never felt before.
That thing got Pittoo!
He gripped his blade with two hands, holding it up and awaiting his chance.
The fighters continued to slash and hack away at the beast. Someone had managed to take off the monster's tail, which it wasn't too happy about as it voiced its displeasure in a series of deafening roars.
A dark fighter gave Pit his chance when he fired a large steel ball at the beast's front legs, causing it to crumple in a heap on the ground, its head facing towards the light angel. Pit released a massive blue laser from his blade, which went through its head. No sound was made when the beast went out, leaving nothing but ashes and burn marks behind.
With the danger averted, Pit dropped the blade to the ground, immediately following after it as he collapsed as well.
Dammit, Pittoo! You're stronger, you're better than that.
He heard noises, he saw shapes coming towards him as he tried to fight off the fog that was consuming his mind, but soon succumbed.
No you, no me.