Chapter 5: Pandora's Labyrinth of Deceit
After resting up a bit from the invasion of the Reaper's Fortress, Pit and Riku were once again sent out for another mission by Palutena. They exited through the same door as before, being deposited in a rather bland looking part of the sky hovering high above the ocean. The morning sun was up, but floated behind the two heroes as they moved through the air. Pit was kept in place for a few seconds, puzzled by why he and Riku were brought to this spot.
"The Reapers certainly did a good job hiding Pandora's maze…" Palutena comments in a rather impressed tone of voice, followed by Pit asking as he looks around "This doesn't look like a maze, Lady Palutena." "…I can definitely tell there's something nearby." Riku comments as a shiver goes through his skin. As Palutena takes Pit towards a particular part of the sky, a cross shape rift is torn open, revealing a swirling green void inside of another dimension.
"Whoa what?!" Pit says in shock as Palutena throws him towards the rift with her control over his flight. Riku follows close behind while the goddess comments "This is a space pocket Pit. Got to admit, Pandora is pretty crazy to put her base of operations inside one of these, right?" The angel looked around the void, feeling dizzy due to the combination of colors and movements, and as the rift behind him sadly closes he murmurs "I think my head's going to start spinning…"
"You'll be fine Pit, just take in some deep breaths and relax." Palutena says, and in turn Pit comments "Assuming the air is even breathable…" He was barely holding onto his sanity as the vortex changes to a weird tunnel composed of black and grey hole-filled walls that wave back and forth towards a white flash of light. At this point a few members of the Underworld Army start to make their presence known, forcing Pit and Riku into action.
This time, Pit had a rather odd weapon grafted onto his right arm. It was a rainbow-colored series of tattoos that reached towards his shoulder and left swirling mist around the arm as he prepared to use it in combat. With it he was able to fire off white orbs of energy that contained small traces of a neon aura around the edge. The Monoeyes and Miks that tried to attack were dealt with swiftly as the two heroes transitioned yet again, this time going into a another vortex that cycles through all the colors of the rainbow coming from two tunnels.
"Ugh, I don't think I can keep this up Lady Palutena…" Pit bemoans as the multiple transitions start to get on his nerves. Palutena wants to reassure her young angel that everything would be ok, but as she points out "Knowing Pandora, this labyrinth could go on for quite a while Pit" "But I only have five minutes of flight time!" Pit exclaims as his face contorts into a panicked expression.
"Calm down Pit and focus on ahead, there's still enemies to deal with." Palutena distracts Pit by pointing out the approaching Underworld Army, and the angel turns forward and works in unison with Riku to take them down with projectiles from afar. After clearing out another wave, another transition begins to occur, but instead of the environment changing a new element is introduced in the form of an eight-sided aquamarine passage.
Protrusions of blue and yellow metal pillars are all around the tunnel as the two heroes head in deeper, and they are forced to split apart and swerve around the protrusions while fending off the Underworld Army as they attempt to sneak in a few shots from afar. Pit takes a couple sphere blasts from the Monoeyes due to being psyched out from everything happening in the Labyrinth, and Riku quickly chimes in by saying "Pit, you can't let Pandora's tricks get to you."
"I know that, but I've never dealt with anything this twisted before." Pit says while sounding rather annoyed at Riku for saying anything to him about the maze. Palutena also chimes in by mentioning "Quite frankly I don't whether to be impressed or worried. She really put a lot of work into this maze…" Pit exclaims in disbelief towards Palutena "I think you should be worried for my safety here!"
"Why should I, you're perfect fi-…Whoa there!" Palutena's reassuring comment is forced to end as she sees Pit about ready to crash straight into a fake wall, which would have done who knows what to the young angel's body had he hit it. After Pit was jerked to the right, he flipped around and found his heart beating slightly and his expression left blank in disbelief. "…Uh-oh, I think we lost Pit." Palutena comments in a semi-worried tone of voice, but then Pit sighs out and murmurs "…I'm going to be so happy once we're done here."
Riku then flips around, cutting down two Miks with his blade before he swings to the right and flies forward to catch up with the angel, saying to him now that they had escaped the first wave of foes in this tunnel "Pit, if you're worried about your power of flight running out, just know that I'll be here to make sure you don't crash and burn."
Pit glances at the teenage Overlord and nods in an appreciative manner before Palutena mentions "Well that's good to hear…Considering the nature of labyrinth I was worried I wouldn't be able to extract you if things took too long." The angel then exclaims in disbelief "Wait, what?! You sent me without an extraction plan?! Are you insane Lady Palutena?!"
"Hehe, don't worry about it Pit, I should be able to get you out later. Pandora's powers are likely just interfering with my own." After saying this Palutena tugs Pit to the left to get him away from another fake wall, and Pit feels a bit of a sting on his back while murmuring out "Ow! Ow! Can you please be a little more gentle? I'm going to lose my wings before the power of flight can even run out!"
"Boy, aren't you just full of complaints today Pit. I guess we could just go back to the Reaper's Fortress…" Palutena is using her jovial tone to try and get Pit to change his attitude, and the angel quickly stutters out a reply of "S-Sorry Lady Palutena, I'll be good now, I promise!" The goddess chuckles, and Pit lets out a tired sigh as him and Riku dive down into a triangular tunnel. As multiple yellow doors block their paths, the two heroes have to make sure they go through the only one that opens up to continue advancing.
Meanwhile, Riku hears a slight chuckle coming from the black dragon Takashi, who comments to the teenage Overlord in his head "Heh…Those two are like an older sister and her younger brother. Kind of reminds makes me wish Sodenko and I had this type of relationship when we were humans. You can't tell me that this doesn't get a laugh out of you, Riku." The dragon was trying to plead to the teenage Overlord's emotions, but Riku merely replied with "They're funny, yeah, but that's not going to elicit a laugh from me."
As Takashi let out an annoyed sigh, Riku glanced up and saw that Pit was staring at him in a puzzled manner, and after a few seconds of awkward silence the angel turned forward and said "…Lady Palutena, I wasn't the only one hearing that, right?" "No Pit, I heard that conversation as well. It seems Riku has a couple little friends watching over him." The goddess' response surprised both Riku and Takashi, with the black dragon in particular mentioning to Riku "Wait, those two can hear me? But I'm connected to YOUR mind."
"…I probably should have told you that Palutena and Pit are kind of sharing residence in my mind as well. Anything you say, they can hear as well, I guess." Riku comments, and Palutena says in a straightforward tone "Yeeeep. So Riku, are you going to introduce us to your friend or is he going to do it himself?" In response the black dragon let out an embarrassed cough and answered with "Sorry for not doing this sooner. It's a pleasure to meet you Palutena, I am Takashi."
Takashi and Palutena then engage in a conversation for a bit, while Pit comments in a subdued tone of surprise towards Riku "You're just full of surprises, aren't you?" "I get the feeling it comes with the role at this point." Riku dryly replies, and as Pit blasted down some more of the Underworld Army and entered a cylindrical chamber that had a prismatic effect on it's walls he said "Well, that's just another thing story for you to tell me once we get a moments rest."
As Pit is kept circling around the chamber, a series of silly looking hands with pointed pinkish claws for feet clamber across the walls, turning their red eyes towards Pit and…Not doing anything out of the ordinary besides that. The angel glances at them and says "Ummm…Hi?" Palutena then stops her conversation with the black dragon for a moment by mentioning "Oh look, it's a swarm of Handoras"
"Pandoras?! She's learned to multiply herself?!" Pit immediately goes into a panic and starts blasting down the Handoras with his Violet Palm, and while the goddess appreciates the enthusiasm she comments in a serious tone of voice "No Pit, Handoras. They're hands created by Pandora. Not exactly a subtle joke, is it?"
Pit lowers his Violet Palm and rubs the back of his head out of embarrassment towards his mistake while commenting "For a trickster, that's pretty weak on her part." "Anyways, time to take you out of this part of the labyrinth." Palutena says after a chuckle, and with her guidance Pit is sent towards the hole in the center of the room with Riku following behind. The Handoras don't put up any resistance as the two heroes entering a tunnel of pure light.
As they pierce through the light, they end up…Outside in the sunny skies above a glistening lakeside? Pit and Palutena were both caught off-guard by that, though the goddess notes Riku's lack of reaction as she says to the young angel "Pit, I hope you aren't thinking this is real." Pit twitches for a moment, showing that he was indeed fooled as he says to the contrary "N-Not at all Lady Palutena."
After flying through this sunny expanse for a bit, everything suddenly becomes pitch black save for Pit and Riku, but this effect lasts but a few seconds before the two heroes find themselves back in the tunnel from earlier, though it was clear that they weren't repeating the past when they see two passages waiting for them up ahead. "How many more tricks can Pandora throw at us?" Pit says, showing a slight boredom at Pandora's deception.
"Who knows, we haven't even found a spot to land yet." Palutena comments, and then as her murmuring can be heard quietly in the background she says "I'm going to have you go left up ahead Pit, I THINK that might be the way to Pandora." Pit comments in a saddened tone of voice "I wish you were a little more certain Lady Palutena, but I guess you're just as blind as I am this time…"
"Sorry Pit…" Palutena sounded disappointed in herself for being unable to do more, but then uses her powers to move Pit towards the left tunnel. Riku follows while commenting towards the goddess to cheer her up "You're doing a fine enough job Palutena. So long as you keep your wits about you, we'll find Pandora eventually. I just wish I was able to do something more, but Pandora isn't tied to an element, being the goddess of calamity and all."
As the two heroes travel through the leftward tunnel, Palutena's smile can be felt as she warmly says "Thank you Riku." Pit comments as well by saying in a complimenting tone "Whenever I'm in trouble Lady Palutena, you're always there to guide me. I don't know what I'd do without you around." "Thank you, Pit…" The goddess felt even more touched by the young angel thanking her for her help.
"Heh…Those two are perfect for each other, whether it be as an older sister and younger brother, or perhaps as something more…" Takashi's comment causes Pit to blush slightly, and the black dragon then mentions "Wouldn't you agree, Sodenko?" The white dragon was silent in response for a few moments, followed by her murmuring out in a gentle tone "Brother…How often did I hurt you when we were young?"
"…Quite often, why do you ask?" Takashi says in a puzzled tone of voice while Riku listens on, his and Pit's bodies flying into an illusionary landscape resembling the gorgeous depths of space itself. "There has never been a point where I have ever treated you with respect, is there? …I'm sorry, I have been a terrible sister." The apologetic remark caught Takashi and Riku by surprise, with the black dragon cracking a grin in the other realm that showed a little bit of pride towards his own sister for admitting her mistakes for the first time, even if it was two-thousand years overdue.
"Hate to interrupt the tender moment, but I've almost got a peg on Pandora's main base!" Palutena exclaims, and after being distracted by the conversation between the two dragons Pit turns forward and notices a couple launch pads on a single broken asteroid. Choosing to take the left one, Pit and Riku are launched towards a fake asteroid, puncturing through it to end up in an almost digital-like realm with wire green and black walls close by where they fly.
Some more Underworld Army soldiers show up again, but once more they prove the futility of their actions by being dispatched of immediately. As the tunnel starts becoming bright and the colors invert, another eight-sided tunnel appears before the two heroes, and all it took was one more wave of resistance before they exit through it and Palutena comments "We're finally at the landing spot."
There was a single empty chamber and a lone platform for Pit to land on, and the angel almost couldn't believe that this place would be so vacant after all the other mayhem Pandora had sent his way. As he sets foot on the ground, he lets out a merry sigh of relief, only for him to be caught by surprise as the chamber's gravity is flipped entirely, and with Palutena's power of flight abruptly removed Pit falls face first against the hard ground below. He lets out a quiet but pained "Ow…" afterwards.
He rises back onto his feet, with Palutena commenting "Well, guess I should've known better, but at least we're here now." Pit rubs the sorest part of his chin and comments "Yeah. Hopefully the tricks will stop here, but considering it's Pandora…" "It'd be against her nature to stop. At least we won't have to deal with her again after this mission." Riku says as he slowly glides down beside Pit, showing that he was unaffected by the gravity switch.
Pit and Riku head through the door in front of them and start to traverse through Pandora's base, but as they do so they are greeted by a rather bored sounding, passive but feminine tone of voice "Ah, so we have a couple of adventurers." Pit immediately looks around and exclaims "Pandora, the goddess of calamity!" Her voice could only be heard through the telepathic connection the two heroes had with Palutena.
"We decided to make ourselves at home, hope you don't mind." Palutena says in a taunting tone of voice, and Pandora replies dully "Go right ahead, it doesn't bother me at all. But just for future reference, the whole 'goddess of calamity' thing is so old school…The new me prefers simpler things, like yoga, macrobiotics, reflexology…" Pit leans one hand against his chin while saying "I may not know what half of those things are, but it sounds like you need feet for them."
"…Quite the smart-mouth, aren't you?" Pandora notes, following up by saying "Besides, you and the human you are with are more responsible for causing calamity these days than I am." "That's crazy talk!" Pit exclaims with a not very thought out answer, while Riku goes silent for a few seconds. Pandora then stops talking afterwards, and Riku and Pit run through the base to try and find the newly proclaimed "goddess of not-calamity".
It doesn't take long before the two find a room with five doors blocking their ways, forcing Pit to take pause and glance back and forth at them all. "Ho boy…Do I have to pick one?" He asks, followed by Palutena commenting "You have a 20% chance of continuing on Pit, but I can't pick which one is the right door." "Just to be safe, don't go through a door all the way." Riku advises afterwards.
"But what if opening a door causes a trap to activate? I could end up cut in half, dropping into a pit, or having a pie thrown in my face!" Pit's priorities were clearly skewed by the fact that he seemed more worried about the pie than the other two options. Pandora then chimed in by saying "A pie in the face? What do I look like to you, the goddess of immature pranks?"
Riku folds his arms together and points out to the calamity goddess "And yet you set up those fake walls for us back in the flight section." Pandora responds cleanly with "That was a deceptive prank, not an immature one. There is a clear difference, little human." The teenage Overlord sighs and then looks at Pit, saying to him "Anyways, lets try the second one from the right first." For once, he didn't feel certain about his decision.
Pit slowly approaches the door Riku suggested, and it opened up due to his approach. Thankfully, behind that door was the way out, which was a small passage with another door at the end. "Hmm…Lucky guess, congratulations." Pandora said in an unsurprised tone of voice. "Good work Pit, now keep moving on." Palutena said in a praising tone, followed by Riku glancing up with a raised eyebrow despite not having anything to say.
Pit smiled, though a little bit of nervous sweat was trickling down his face as he advanced onward. After a couple more rooms and a little bit of resistance from the Underworld Army, the two heroes end up in a wide-open room with a fresh atmosphere and a bunch of ramps scattered around. There was another door on the other side, and a golden two-wheeled vehicle at the center of the room. The vehicle was armored and had three horns at the front of it that made it look like a beetle.
"A vehicle of the gods? What's that doing here?" Pit comments as he leaps down and dashes for the vehicle. Riku leaps down and follows while Pandora comments "I may have discarded that title, but I was once a goddess, with all the perks that entailed." Pit leaps onto the beetle tank and grabs onto the handles, then glances up and says "Well no, I'm just wondering why you have one of these when you don't have feet."
"…You are just going to keep rubbing that fact in, aren't you, little angel?" Pandora sounded a tiny bit annoyed that Pit brought that matter up again. Pit revs up the engine of the beetle tank and starts to drive it through the area, testing it's maneuverability and firepower on the Underworld Army by running them over and blasting them with the little turrets. He was clearly having fun as his joyous chuckling echoed throughout the room, and Riku just stood in place with arms folded and said "…I hope he doesn't forget our mission."
"Eh, it's alright for him to take a break. Besides, I'm just looking at the craftsmanship of this room. How did you pull it off Pandora?" Palutena asks after responding to Riku's remark. Pandora answers with a delighted sounding "With plenty of sweat, tears, and hard labor. I was so tired when all was said and done, but I just LOVED how it all turned out. Perhaps you will find your way to the race-track soon."
"But how can you build something without any hands?" Pit asks while zipping past Riku, his voice becoming quieter as he goes farther away. Pandora sarcastically replies "…From now on I am just going to ignore any comments regarding my lack of limbs, thank you very much. Though just to shut you up…The minions did it."
As she explains herself to the angel, Riku glances behind him and notices a Skuttler bonking himself on the head with his bone club before Pit ends up running him over with the beetle tank. "…I imagine it took quite a while to get the job done." Riku dryly comments, and Pandora murmurs "It's the unfortunate result of the minions having such tiny brains. Oh well, what are you going to do?"
After Pit has destroyed enough of the Underworld Army, a bounce pad appears in front of the door they need to enter through to continue onward. Pit gets off of the beetle tank and runs to the bounce pad while Riku leaps up to join him. It was there that the young angel asked "So Lady Palutena, why are we going after Pandora again? She doesn't seem to be causing trouble." Palutena quickly explains "Have you ever heard of the Mirror of Truth, Pit?"
"Not really, no." Pit bluntly replies. "Well perhaps Mrs. Know-it-all here can tell you!" Pandora exclaims, leaving Palutena taken aback for a moment before she says to the two heroes "The Mirror of Truth makes of a copy of whatever stands before it." Pit smiles at the thought of this and says "So, hypothetically speaking, it could turn one ice-cream sundae into two?"
As Pit licked his lips and held his hands together in content thought, Pandora sarcastically stated "And that's why you're one of the great minds of our time." "Sorry to disappoint you Pit, but the Mirror of Truth works by copying what's in your heart and creates beings identical in nature. In other words…" "Pandora has the power to create entire armies for Medusa." Riku finishes the sentence off in a serious tone of voice as he and Pit finish crossing the pits in the next room.
"Then we have to destroy it! …But wait, does it just copy the body, or does it copy the soul as well?" Pit had a rather interesting inquiry about the whole ordeal, to which Palutena said "That's a good question. Pandora, would you be willing to tell us?" Pandora bluntly comments "Do I LOOK like a strategy guide? In case you haven't noticed, this ISN'T the Ask Auntie Pandora hour!"
"She makes a good point, especially when she yells." Pit comments after cringing slightly from the tone of voice Pandora took. Afterwards, Riku and Pit cross through a few more rooms in the labyrinth, including one where the floors were bouncy and a beetle tank race track. After clearing that room and finding one where the floor needed to be shot at to reveal the way, Pit commented "With all this stuff around here, it's almost like Pandora is trying to make an amusement park."
"An eeeevil amusement park." Palutena says in a spooky, drawn out tone of voice. Pandora then chimes in bluntly with "Now that's just misguided generalization. Not everything created by the Underworld Army is evil. I mean after all, you had some harmless fun back there, isn't that right, little angel?" Pit folded his arms together and hesitantly admitted as fond memories flow through his mind "Well…I guess so."
"I knew an evil scientist who once tried to pass off being reformed by creating an amusement park. Turns out he had planned to mind control the world with alien energy." Riku comments towards Pandora, and the supposedly ex-goddess of calamity says "And?" Which leads to the teenage Overlord mentioning "Your still trying to cause confusion and mayhem with this little 'amusement park' of yours. Old habits die hard, don't they?"
"Big deal, so I'm making some trick rooms here and there, haven't you ever heard of a fun house?" Pandora comments in a dry tone of voice, and Palutena says in turn "There's nothing fun about creating an army for Medusa, Pandora." Pandora replies by pointing out "It's not my fault Medusa dropped the mirror into my possession. She could have easily given it to Tanatos but noooo…"
"Well whatever the case may be, you have the Mirror of Truth now, so for the sake of stopping the Underworld Army from growing any further, I will defeat you and destroy the mirror!" Pit exclaims triumphantly, and Pandora dully says "If you say so…" She then drops the conversation, since it wouldn't be much longer before Pit and Riku would reach her room.
A couple more bridges are crossed, and the two heroes end up going through a short dark passage to end up inside a large, wide-open room with a purple hazy atmosphere and a single six-sided mirror at the very opposite end of the room. With Pit running up ahead, Pandora emerges from behind the mirror, showing herself to be a rather large blue ember with rugged pink-rimmed white eyes and a yellow ring wrapped at the top of her embers.
Pandora forced a rather disturbing smile as she dully stated "You made it. Yay." Pit stops in place in the center of the room and says the ex-goddess' name. While he was standing there, the young angel suddenly swung his arm out in an over-the-top manner while proclaiming "Underling of Medusa floating before me! It's time for you to atone for your crimes!" When the second sentence rolls around, Pit turns his back to Pandora and then glances over his right shoulder, flicking his hair up while putting on a cheesy grin.
Pit then rises onto his tippy-toes and twirls around while spreading his wings, an inexplicable background of orange and radiant light appearing behind him as he proclaimed "I am Pit, servant of the goddess of light!" With arms outstretched, Pit then proceeded to swing his right arm forward and freeze in a battle-ready pose while proclaiming confidently "And you. Are. History!"
Riku approached Pit from behind with a rather blank expression on his face, and both Pandora and Palutena were utterly speechless until the goddess of light stated "…Well, that came out of nowhere" in a completely dumbfounded tone of voice. Pit then stood upright and looked a little embarrassed for his routine, but then immediately firmed his expression and held his Violet Palm towards Pandora ready for battle.
Pandora flared up as though ready to fight as well, and as she opened her mouth to launched and attack Pit quickly responded with a fully charged shot from his Violet Palm. The attack hit Pandora square in the head and she responds by…being launched back first against the ground? Pit was completely puzzled by this and commented "H-Huh? That's it?" Pandora dryly admitted ""Well duh…I am an ex-goddess of deception and calamity…Not exactly much of a fighter. So here, I'll give you what you want…"
Pandora then warps in front of the Mirror of Truth, using her mind to pull it around her body and causing it to shine with a bright light as Pit's reflection alone can be seen in it due to Riku making his presence scarce for a moment. As the Mirror releases blinding flashes of light, Palutena proclaims "Pit, destroy the mirror!" The angel wastes little time in running towards the mirror while letting out a powerful cry, leaping towards the Mirror while extending his right foot out to kick it apart.
But as he gets close to the Mirror the light starts to fade away, showing Pit's reflection perfectly yet again for a few seconds. Before he can kick through the glass, the eyes of the reflection glow red and the body is surrounded by a dark aura, puzzling Pit as his kick goes straight through the center of the Mirror of Truth. The glass is shattered, but another Pit flies through the air in the opposite direction Pit was going. The young angel lands on the ground and flips around alongside the other Pit, letting out a gasp of "What the…?"
The other Pit stands on the ground with an almost overconfident posture, his clothes, wings and hair being completely black in comparison to Pit's holy design. Glancing over his shoulder, the other Pit let out a single "Hey" in an overtly smug tone that sounded slightly deeper than Pit's own voice. As the dark aura fades around his body, the other Pit flips around and holds one hand on his hip while Pandora floats towards him from behind, commenting in a delighted tone of voice "Ohoho, I love it when a plan comes together. Let's get down to business, shall we? This here is Dark Pit, and he'll be your escort out of this life!"
As Pandora's body floats dangerously close to Dark Pit, the black angel casually raises his left fist up and backhands Pandora's square in the face, blowing her away as she lets out a surprised proclamation of "No!" As the ex-goddess of calamity tumbles along the ground for a few seconds, Dark Pit brushes off her declaration by saying to her bluntly "Speak for yourself." He then summons forth his own Violet Palm in his right hand and turns towards her as she rises back into the air, her body becoming red out of anger.
"You FOOL! You were created to serve me! Your opponent is over there!" Pandora says in an outraged tone of voice, and with teeth grit and his fist clenched in disbelief Dark Pit proclaims "You're A boss, Pandora. But you're not MY boss!" Pit glances back and forth at the two as they begin to engage in battle, and while scratching the back of his head he asks "Wait, so was creating Dark Pit Pandora's plan all along?"
"Well, having an angel on your side CAN come in handy. And he's quite the little scrapper, wouldn't you agree?" Palutena replies in a humored tone as Dark Pit gets in close to Pandora and punches her square in the face with the energy from the Violet Palm, causing her to force a teleport that takes her right behind the real Pit, where turns red and opens her mouth ready to suck the angel into her vortex of despair. Pit turns around to fight back, but with the suction dragging him towards her he wasn't able to focus well enough.
But Pit is saved when Dark Pit fires off a charged shot from his weapon that hits Pandora's square between the eyes, throwing off her concentration as she's launched back. Dark Pit then runs forward, shoving Pit with his right arm while proclaiming "If you're going to be useless then get out of my way!" The young angel was offended as he said bluntly "Wow…He's a big jerk. Is he seriously my duplicate?"
"Sigh…The Mirror of Truth reflects what's in the soul. I guess I should have known better than to expect an angel to work for the Underworld Army." Pandora bemoans in a very defeated sounding tone of voice as she launches a series of purplish fireballs from the air down at Pit and Dark Pit. Pit sweeps across the ground to dodge the attack, and Dark Pit mirrors his actions perfectly. "At the very least, it seems Dark Pit has all of your experience. This is perfect, work together to take Pandora down for good!" Palutena explains.
"Roger that Lady Palutena!" Pit's obedient response causes Dark Pit to glance at him and let out a disgusted scoff before he focuses his sights back on the ex-goddess of calamity. Meanwhile, Riku is standing far away from the battle while saying to Palutena "I'll just sit this one out, those two can handle things on their own." The teenage Overlord then glances at the silver frame of the Mirror of Truth as it clangs against the ground, appreciating the fact that a copy of himself wasn't made from it.
Pit and Dark Pit worked in tandem against Pandora, whose attempts to fight back resulted in her either getting shot in the face with charge shots or being struck with a punch from Dark Pit, who seemed to prefer physical combat to the projectile based one Pit relied on. "This is really, REALLY irritating!" Pandora exclaims after being knocked to the ground for what was now the sixth time, and Dark Pit stoically tells her off with "Well you wouldn't be in this mess if you weren't such a failure, Pandora."
"How dare you, you insolent little co-GAAAAAH!" While Pandora was wasting her time responding to Dark Pit's taunt, the original Pit fired off one final charge shot from his Violet Palm, silencing her with a swift defeat. Dark Pit glances back in an annoyed manner and says "Took you long enough…" Meanwhile, Pandora collapses on the ground behind him, exploding into a pile of slowly collapsing blue flames that Pit looks at for a few seconds in surprise.
Pit then awkwardly walks up to Dark Pit, amazed that he's pretty much looking in a mirror when he sees how perfectly he was copied. "So hey…We may have gotten off to a rough start, but since you helped us stop Pandora…" For his efforts to try and communicate with his copy, Pit is swiftly kicked in the stomach by Dark Pit, the fierceness of blow winding the young angel and making him collapse onto the ground while Dark Pit brushes him off and exclaims in a peeved tone "And that's for ripping off my look!"
Pit was dumbfounded as he lifted his head up and saw Dark Pit run for Pandora's corpse, murmuring out in a weakened tone of voice "I'M the original here!" Dark Pit just ignores him as he dives right into Pandora's remains, taking a couple tumbles along the ground before bending forward with the blue flames of Pandora surrounding his body. Palutena exclaims in a puzzled manner "What are you doing?!"
The blue flames then subside as Dark Pit turns around and cracks a confident grin, his wings extending out with a dark purple glow as he takes off from the ground and says bluntly "Making sure that Pandora's powers don't go to waste." Dark Pit then flies up towards the ceiling, making Pit note as he tries to pull himself off the floor "He can fly?!"
Riku walks up beside Pit, leading to Palutena declaring to him "Riku, what are you waiting for? Go after him!" The teenage Overlord brushes one hand out and says "No offense Palutena, but I don't think Dark Pit's a problem." The goddess of light urgently points out "He has Pandora's powers! He's likely to join up with Medusa if we leave him to his own devices…Never mind, he's already gotten away now."
"S-Sorry it ended up this way, Lady Palutena." Pit bemoans apologetically, which is then followed up with Palutena summoning a pillar of light around him and Riku while commenting "It's not your fault Pit. All we can do now is pursue Dark Pit and hope he doesn't end up finding Medusa." Pit and Riku are swiftly called away from the labyrinth, their next missions to stop Dark Pit now made painfully clear…
Next Time: Duel of the Duplicates