"Coming of Autumn"
1 day after Heart Detonation
Clearleaf Forest
The two red moons gleamed eerily as Rayman and Frank walked through what was left of Clearleaf Forest. It had been one day, but the sky had not changed. The dead world had never woken, so morning had never come. The remainder of Clearleaf Forest had changed since Rayman had last seen it. The forest he remembered was green and vibrant, sun shining through gaps in the many trees, glinting off rivers that sprang forth with life from dazzling waterfalls. However, there was only a trickling, weak flow of dirty water against a monotonous tan earth now. The trees had turned white, their browned leaves snapping off in the pathetic breeze that remained from a world past. Wispy dust blew around the forest, seeming to beat the trees down into submission. Rayman found it surprisingly hard to see what had happened to the once beautiful and inviting forest he'd seen so long ago.
The two stopped at a small stream of water, watching the subtle, lifeless flow of the water as it crept down the slightly slanted ground.
A Hoodlum? But how did it...?
"So," Frank said. "Who exactly are we looking for? Everyone's turned to stone, aren't they?"
"Maybe," Rayman said. "But then why wasn't I? Or you, for that matter? It's possible that they're still moving, and we need all the help we can get."
It doesn't matter what it's doing here. A Hoodlum is a Hoodlum, and I won't allow them to do this!
"Okay, but who—" Frank could hear the displacement of air behind him. Something was leaping from one of the trees, and coming toward him. Frank paused, waited for a moment, and then turned awkwardly to the right. He saw a silhouetted figure land hard at the ground in front of him. Without thinking, Frank slung his blunderbuss off his back and fired. The figure was fast at recovering from having missed however, because it easily dodged the bullet. Frank turned and saw the blurred shadow run up a tree, then back flip off, changing its position to a kick.
"Trying that again, are you?!" Frank barely aimed, firing at the quickly approaching figure. The figure held out its hands, and frank and Rayman could see a brief flash of sparks before the bullet hit the figure's stomach. Its momentum lost, it fell back, hitting the ground on one knee. A green can flew from it at the same time. Incredibly, the direct hit to the stomach hadn't torn through like it should've, and it hadn't even made an entry. Clutching its stomach, the figure turned and darted into the cluster of trees. Frank growled looking after it, then saw the green can.
"I'm not letting you get away!" Frank muttered, touching the can. Energy surged through him, and he took a quick glance at his twin machine guns and followed the character into the trees. Feeling helpless, Rayman ran by, purposefully kicking the can as he went. He felt the old sense of speed that he'd first experienced in the Fairy Council almost two years ago. Despite the circumstances, it was comforting to be home again.
The trees here had their roots exposed. They were tangled on each other, forming strange, gnarled versions of their former selves. They passed by in a blur as Frank hopped after the mysterious figure that'd attacked him exclusively. Not getting any closer, Frank roared in frustration and anger and fired both his machine guns at the figure. The wild, un-aimed shots all missed, burning through the twisted trees. The figure jumped (fell?) down suddenly. Frank was there in flash, and he realized that it was a low clearing in the forest. The figure was there, but it had turned and seen Frank come in, too. Rayman was a ways behind still. A spark leapt from the figure's hand, followed by a flame.
"A fireball?!" Frank cried out in surprise. The figure threw it, then jumped further into the forest. Frank used his enhanced speed to dodge the fireball easily, then began to follow. Then, looking up, he stopped.
Rayman jumped into the clearing and saw Frank watching the other side.
"Where'd that person go?" he asked.
"Into the forest," Frank readied his two guns. "But we, unfortunately, have bigger problems." He then pointed to an advancing army of Hoodlums.
"Great," Rayman grumbled. "But...something seems different about them." The Hoodlums Rayman knew first of all wore brown and tan clothing, and would've started firing and running around when they saw Frank and Rayman. These ones wore black and navy blue, and they walked at the exact same pace in a perfect line, the blunderbusses firmly at the ready position.
"Their eyes!" Rayman exclaimed suddenly. In place of the regular Hoodlum's eyes, these Hoodlum's eyes were red, and they did not dart around, but remained locked in the center, watching Rayman and Frank.
"Why aren't they firing?" Frank wondered aloud. "They're not even breaking formation! ...Well, alright, that just makes killing them easier!" He hoisted his twin guns up and started firing. Rayman began throwing his fists. After a few seconds it became apparent that something was wrong: none of the Hoodlums were dropping, or even appeared to be injured. Rayman slowed down his rate of fire and sent a single punch through one. The fist went up, then a section of the Hoodlum's body altered, twisting into a hole that the fist passed through, then came out of again. The Hoodlum didn't even break step. Frank's shots were going right through the Hoodlums, doing great damage to the already-dead trees.
"The attacks are going right through them!" Rayman called to Frank.
"So I noticed," Frank muttered. "Try this, then!" Frank held down both the triggers of his guns. Rayman watched them cease fire and then begin to glow and shake. Frank then jumped forward and threw his arms into an "X" in front of his body, producing a large, yellow tornado in front of him. The wind whipped up quickly, and the oblivious Hoodlums were swept into the vortex.
"We've wasted too much time as it is!" Frank yelled over the howling winds. "Come on!" He leapt through the tornado into the trees beyond. Deciding not to bother with wondering why they weren't being sucked up, Rayman followed.
The same blurred vision was at his side as Frank rushed through. He was moving even faster than he had been earlier in hopes to catch his attacker. Moving through, Frank could see the familiar silhouette ahead, panting. It looked up, saw Frank, and somersaulted off at incredible speed. Frank kept on moving, and he thought that he could hear Rayman close behind. There was a strange orange thing on the tree coming up...
"Uh oh," Frank suddenly felt himself going slower, and he knew that the effects of the green can had worn off. He had landed on the tree with that weird orange thing on it. Frank looked and saw that it was actually an orange can.
"Don't think that you're getting off that easy," Frank muttered, touching the can. As Rayman came up beside him (also now normal again), Frank pulled up his orange and blue sniper rifle, aimed, and fired. Despite the rapid somersaults, the shot hit, and Frank's attacker fell.
"Did you kill him?" Rayman asked.
"No," Frank replied. "Shot him in the leg. He may have information. Let's go." Frank ran up to a second clearing where his opponent had landed. The enemy was at the other edge of the clearing, clutching its leg. Frank could see a growing pool of blood coming from it. Rayman came up and saw the downed opponent. Then he noticed something else about the one they'd been pursuing...
Before Rayman could voice his thoughts, more altered Hoodlums came out of the trees to the west. This group however, had a leader. They suddenly stopped in a perfect line, and someone all too familiar stepped out of the trees.
"It's..." Frank stepped back involuntarily. "You." Dark Rayman looked at the wounded person in the shade of the withered trees, then at Frank and Rayman. He looked different then he had at Rayman's last encounter; now he had Rayman's clothes on, except that instead of being purple and red, they were blue and darker blue, as was his hair and gloves. His shoes were black, and his eyes glowed the same red as the new Hoodlums'. For the first time Rayman knew of, he spoke.
"Kill those two," he ordered. "Take the girl."
"'Girl?'" Frank echoed, then looked over at the wounded person. "Wait...so that person isn't with you guys?"
"Hmph," Dark Rayman sighed. "I don't give information to urchins." Frank grimaced.
"You'll regret that!" he raised his sniper rifle and fired. The shot hit Dark Rayman in his right eye. Dark Rayman took a few staggering steps back surprised. Strange black liquid hit the ground.
"Impressive aim for a novice," he regained his composure quickly. "Tell me, can the last of the regular Hoodlums do this?" His black right eye suddenly changed to dull red, which intensified until the bullet Frank had fired shot out of it. Frank saw it fly out and was thrown onto the ground a split-second later by his own bullet, now lodged above his right eye.
"Mm," Dark Rayman mused. "Guess not. Alright, finish him. I'll deal with my lighter counterpart." The entire group of changed Hoodlums advanced on Frank quickly, too quickly to even comprehend at first. The new Hoodlums didn't pause to question, didn't even think. If their leader pointed somewhere, then they were there right then. Now, however, they advanced slowly, as if cherishing the moment.
"Someone should keep their eye on the ball!" Rayman's head was knocked sideways as a dark blue fist smacked into it. Dark Rayman's very touch was poisonous, and Rayman could feel the searing pain in his face as another fist collided with it.
"The years haven't been kind to you, Rayman," Dark Rayman said as he advanced, his fists knocking Rayman back and forth. "I remember when you were strong. I remember when you knew that you were either strong enough to fight me or at least fast enough to run. But look at you now." Rayman was hammered down to the ground. "You're weak. It's not even fun trying to defeat you any more, because I'm so high above you that you're beaten to a pulp, I haven't broken a sweat, and the Dark Hoodlums haven't even killed Frank yet." Rayman spat on the ground, looking helplessly at the mob approaching Frank.
"Frank will live," Dark Rayman nodded. "The Dark Hoodlum's touch will change him into one of them. He'll be stronger, faster, and more loyal than a dog whose bone you hold. It'll be a good life for him, actually. All he'll lose is soul, his will...not a bad trade for 'being on the winning team' as that toad Globox would say...probably. I wouldn't know, he's a statue now anyway." Rayman spat out some blood on the ground. Suddenly, there was a flash of white light from Frank's direction. The Dark Hoodlums dissolved as an injured Frank stood up.
"What?!" Dark Rayman cried out. Suddenly, a fireball struck his face. He turned in anger to face his attacker. Rayman stood up and looked, too. He could see the leg wound first, and then noticed the slightly tanned skin, partially covered with intricate purple designs. A bushy purple tail flicked back and forth. Another fireball was readied in one hand.
"Good to see you again, Rayman," Ly said. "Wish that I could say the same for your dark side, here."
"When did you meet Dark Rayman?" Rayman asked out of curiosity, dodging a punch.
"Just now," Ly answered, throwing her fireball. "I pieced things together from your conversation."
"Enough!" Dark Rayman threw both his fists out, but a bullet in the face stopped him.
"Let's see you shoot that one out of your face!" Frank limped up. "Jerk!" Ly gave Rayman a questioning look and stepped nervously away from Frank. Dark Rayman stood up and looked at his three adversaries.
"Oh no," he said without enthusiasm. "It appears that I am outnumbered. Oh whatever will I do? ...This oughta' work." He suddenly drew into himself, and his features increasingly blurred, until he was just a dark blue blob in a vaguely-Rayman shape. Suddenly, the blob separated into three, each of which was redefined. Dark Rayman stood back up, now in the middle of Dark Frank, a blue and navy blue version of Frank whose eyes were an empty black, and Dark Ly, who was blue-skinned with dark blue designs where the purple should have been. Her normally bushy tail had been replaced by a long thin one, like a panther's, and her eyes were the same hollow black as Dark Frank's. A fireball lit up in Dark Ly's hand, but the fire was deep blue in color, almost black at the center.
"That certainly evened the odds," Dark Rayman laughed. "Well, in my opinion, at least. You guys didn't exactly get the good end of the deal."
"I've waited a long time to do this," Rayman muttered. Surprisingly, he charged, and locked hands with Dark Rayman. Frank and Ly watched in silence until a black bullet flew by Frank's head.
"Itching for a fight, Dark Me?" Frank pulled out his blunderbuss. "Me too!" He jumped to the right, firing while dodging fire. Ly turned to her double, who was tossing the black fire between her hands. She looked up and gave "you first" look. Ly grimaced and concentrated. Exhaling calmly, she felt the familiar warmth in her hand. Dark Ly gave a cruel smile and bent low, like a cat ready to pounce on its prey.
The man watched on the monitor as Dark Rayman and Rayman, Dark Ly, and Ly, and Dark Frank and Frank, all clashed simultaneously in the clearing. The fact that any of them had survived was surprising and unexpected, but that was alright. Dark Rayman was overly superior in power ant intelligence to Rayman, and so were the counterparts of the other two, even if they were mute. The destruction of the light was assured.
...Except, what was that light that had come from Frank? The man did not want to forget that, because he had been played by fate before. Overlooking one small detail can be your downfall. This time, the man would not take that chance. He turned away from the monitor and left. He had experiments to do.