Disclaimer: PoM and ToS do not belong to me.
"A huge void in your heart. It is filled not by darkness, but kindness from others."
Anxiety tugged at Skipper's heart as his team and the lemurs approached the meeting point with the baboon. Marlene had to stay at the zoo, for obvious reasons. The others were grinning with excitement at finally unlocking the mystery of the Devil's Arms. Though Skipper also maintained a grin, his thoughts were focused around the young penguin standing to his right, subtly trying to stay away from Rico, who held the last arm. There was only one way to find out what would happen, right?
"At last!" The baboon cheered as the eight animals entered the clearing. She grinned from ear to ear, her grayish fur projecting the moonlight. Instead of looking more appealing though, it looked somewhat eerie, ominous. Everyone seemed to be shivering but her, "Give the last Devil's Arm to me and I will finally be free of this curse! Then you can have them back."
"Rico," Skipper instructed, and the crazed penguin obliged, handing over the final Devil's Arm, the Heart of Chaos. The friendly smile on the baboon's face curved into a deadly smirk.
A book levitated from it's hiding spot. It held it's spot in the air in front of the baboon. She flipped through it's pages, stopping close to the center, and began chanting in some long forgotten language of gibberish as a look of seriousness crossed her expression. A dark aura surrounded her body, and the smirk returned to her face.
She picked up Nebilim, holding up the two blades and throwing her head back, "Muahahahahah... hahahahahahaha!" Skipper's brow raised, confused, "At last, the dark lord has risen!" His eyes widened, as did everyone else's, he's sure. Her eyes, once a deep green, were now a deep crimson. Her grayish fur darkened. Her teeth seemed to sharpen. All in all, Skipper thought she matched the description of a vampire pretty well.
"The dark Lord Nebilim, who made these weapons in the first place?" Kowalski asked, amazed. The baboon nodded, "That's impossible! The dead can't come back! At least, not yet," Oh great, Skipper thought. Kowalski had an idea. Odds are they were going to be fighting undead monsters next week. Considering they see next week, that is.
"Oh, honey, but it is," The baboon smirked, "The dark lord has been reborn, just now. The power of Nebilim shall turn this world to darkness that abides by the order of evil."
"You deceived us..." Private whispered in disbelief.
A sudden rage overcame the Skipper, "You... monster! We won't let you get away with anything! Right boys?" All four of the penguins flipped into combat stance, ready to face their opponent.
Her smirk fell, replaced by a threatening scowl, "You do not stand a chance against the power of the Devil's Arms!" Her eyes began glowing, making her look all the more threatening, "All who interfere shall be consumed by darkness!"
In her grasp, Nebilim started glowing. She outstretched one hand, holding the blade, and charged forward. The eight friends jumped out of the way. Skipper looked to Julian, who landed next to him.
"Get the other lemurs and climb into the trees! We'll handle this!"
"But-"
"Now!" Julian didn't hesitate, running towards the other lemurs. Soon enough Skipper was watching them climbing the nearest tree. At least those three were safe. He then turned back to the battle, to see his men had picked themselves up and were awaiting orders. Skipper charged forward, his team following suit. The baboon easily knocked them backwards. Skipper flipped in midair, landing on his feet. A look to the side revealed that the others had done the same thing.
Rico, true to his nature, regurgitated a rocket launcher and attempted to blow up the treacherous baboon. She merely jumped up and flipped over the missile. Then, using Nebilim, she created a wave of energy and sent it surging towards the psychopath. Rico was knocked backwards, into a tree.
"Rico!" Skipper yelled, then glared at the wicked sorceress. She smirked, proud of herself, until...
"Young lady!" The familiar voice boomed through the air. The penguins and lemurs covered their ears (or earholes, whichever works). There, at the entrance of the clearing, stood Darla and the other two baboons, all three staring angrily at the fourth baboon, "This has gone on long enough! You will-" Whatever she would have said was lost, as another wave of energy knocked all three down at once. The possessed baboon laughed at her former boss.
"You don't understand, do you? I don't work for you anymore. I am the all powerful Nebilim, ruler of darkness, and the lady of evil! I don't listen to you!" She snarled. Skipper glared, trying to figure out just how to defeat her, when she suddenly cried out and fell down. Pinning her was none other than young Private, who discreetly grabbed the twin swords as she kicked him off. "How dare you! I shall destroy you all!"
Skipper sled over to Private, who picked himself off the ground carefully, "Are you alright, soldier?"
"Nevah mind that, sir. Use this and beat that evil demon-lady," Private handed over Nebilim to his leader and friend. Skipper took it, slowly running his flipper alongside it. He could feel... evil power, flowing through it. It almost overwhelmed him, but something kept him ground to reality. The innocent eyes of his friend, protecting him from Nebilim's dark influence. He looked up to see the newborn Lady Nebilim scoff, summoning Soul Eater out of nowhere.
"It doesn't matter, I'll destroy you anyways!" She snapped. She jumped into the air, bringing down her sword on Skipper's head. He held up Nebilim in a cross form to defend himself. The Lady jumped back, swinging Soul Eater again, only to become locked with Nebilim, which Skipper had put up at just the right moment.
The two stared each other down, neither willing to back down. Any change of pressure on the blades could impact the fate of either evil baboon, or good penguin. And, consequentially, the fate of the world. And then, Skipper broke the lock, spinning around and striking Lady Nebilim on the side. She screamed out in agony, dropping the blade and falling to the ground.
"Uah!" She cried. Her entire body shook as her fur lightened. Her teeth descended to their original length, and her eyes turned from red back to green. The dark aura left her body, hovering above her as she writhed in pain.
Skipper looked down at her, "Is it over?" The dark aura moved from it's spot, flying past Skipper, "Whoa! What the-?"
The darkness hovered above Private, who stared at it in a hypnotized state, "...He is calling."
"Who?" Skipper felt his anxiety and worry for the youth grow.
"Nebilim... he wants to devour our souls and turn us into creatures of darkness..." The aura began to descend on him, the Private's eyes darkening to red as the Baboon's had, "...This boy's loneliness and isolation... it is a fitting darkness for my body!"
Skipper's eyes widened. The lemurs jumped down from the tree. Kowalski gasped, "Skipper! Private's being possessed!" The seven animals stared helplessly at Private, "If we don't do something soon, we'll lose him, forever!"
"The Necronomicon..." The voice of Darla wheezed over the group, "If you can disrupt it's power, Nebilim's hold over the child will fade ...hurry..." Skipper didn't waste time. He grabbed the book, noticing the evil energy radiating off the page. Hoping it would work, he shut the book.
Private's eyes went back to blue as he snapped out of his trance. He turned to the others, "I... what was I doing just now?"
"You were possessed by Nebilim," Darla didn't mince words. She stood up, brushing the dirt off of herself, "It seems you are a vessel worthy of the dark lord. Congratulations," The Private quivered, then burst into tears. Skipper was taken aback, though Rico didn't hesitate to comfort him. Darla's voice and expression softened, "You've been hearing the voices of the weapons, haven't you?" The boy didn't stop crying, but nodded.
"T-they kept trying t-to get me to join them. I didn't want to, I swear!" He continued sobbing into Rico's shoulder. Skipper walked up to Private, pulling him from the psychotic penguin. He looked up at Skipper with his big, curious eyes.
"Why didn't you tell us?" He wondered aloud. It wasn't like Private to keep secrets, especially when something's hurting him.
Private looked down, not crying anymore, "I was scared... you would be, too! If you started hearing voices. Especially after she told us that story..." His eyes widened, "Am I really going to be the next lord of darkness?" Darla sighed.
"No, sugah. She just made that story up to scare ya. It seems she knew all along," They looked back to the unconscious baboon, "Skipper? Would you mind arranging a one-way ticket to Hoboken as soon as possible?"
"Not a problem, after all the troubles she caused," Skipper glared at her, then returned his attention to Private, "Ya know, you could have just told us to stop, and we would've."
"But I didn't want to trouble anyone."
"You wouldn't be. If I had known these things were torturing you, I would've stopped collecting them- well, I wouldn't have started collecting them," Skipper stared at Nebilim in disgust, then threw the two blades backwards. One blade's hilt hit Mort in the head, knocking him over. Skipper didn't even look back.
Private smiled, muttering his thanks. The two were interrupted by Darla, "This stupid book has never caused anything but trouble!" The group looked over to see her destroy the book with a spell. She then turned to the others, "I'll make a treasure chest to hold these things, and prevent them from using their powers. In the meanwhile, I entrust them to the penguins," Private whimpered.
Skipper glared at her. "Why us? These things torture Private! What makes you think we'll watch them?"
"Because there will be more victims like your friend unless you help me. Besides, I don't trust the lemurs, and I've just met the otter. And you'll give them back for the same reason you don't want them. I trust you," Skipper looked to the pile of weapons, then to Private.
After a moment of mental debate he sighed, kneeling down to look Private in the eye, "Listen to me. We won't let these things bug you. We'll drown out their voices. I'll... be right by your side, I promise," The boy looked up at him."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
"Why are these things targeting him in the first place?" Kowalski asked Darla. Instead of the baboon replying, Private spoke up.
"I think... it's because I'm different. Too different from you guys to fit in, too alike to fit in anywhere else. I thought that made me alone," He smiled, "Now I know better."
Darla grinned at the sight of the four penguins together, "Ah, ain't that sweet? I'll come pick them up when the chest is done. In the meanwhile," She turned back to her former assistant, "I'll be dealing with you," She picked her up, hulling her over her shoulders and leaving to return to the zoo. The rest of them followed.
Skipper turned to watch Private converse with Rico, who he hadn't been spending much time with. Things were going back to normal. Young Private was going to be okay.
He would make sure of it.
And... the end.
NOTES: There is some actual dialogue from the game in here. Abyssion (Nebilim) is the hardest boss in the ToS game. Yes, harder than the final boss. Shocking. Well, at least this chapter turned out okay. I hope.
In Kowalski's chapter, she mentioned the Dark Lord rising again. Though it's now obvious, she meant herself, not Private. Odds are she was able to hear the voices, too.
Marlene couldn't be in this chapter because it takes place outside the zoo. Poor Marlene.
The reason it only took one hit to defeat the baboon was because Nebilim rejected her in favor of Private. Had Private actually been fully possessed, it would've taken a lot more to beat him.
Well, now I'll have to work on my next story. Farewell!