G'day, fellow readers! It's been a week since I left for Australia. And so far, I'm enjoying every moment of it!

I was in the countryside for the first few days before travelling to the city for my uni's orientation programme, and I've only just got back to my countryside campus. The downside for the moment is that I can't get any Internet access in the dorm rooms I'm staying for the next six months, but only around the campus itself.

However, please don't hesitate to leave me a message or review; I'll still be around to write as much as I can. But it might take a while for me to actually update myself and keep in touch.

So anyways, here's the second half of the previous chapter as promised. Again, I want to give a special thanks to Victory's Raconteur for helping me with this chapter, as well as the other writers who were willing to contribute their OCs into this story - I am proud to say that all of you are officially a part of Light.

The only characters I own are Phelan, Maia - and a certain OC who I chose to bring back as a surprise. Enjoy! XD


Chapter 11: His True Enemy – Part Two

Like every other seasoned warrior, Phelan had his moments – where he felt like a wolf with a broken fang, or a squirrel that had just lost his tail.

This one was no exception as he sized up Scar, his heart racing and senses ablaze. To his disappointment, the brown-black chipmunk had it all.

Huge, hollow bat-like wings that already gave him the advantage – on or above the battlefield. That smug, over-confident sneer on his face, giving his teeth a dangerous glint and Phelan a temper that was enough to fry an egg on his own forehead.

And the fact that Scar revealed himself as a vampire, meaning he probably had a range of superpowers and the night was on his side.

The current score so far: Scar, three; Phelan; zero.

I'm not going to let him intimidate me! I don't care if he's the result of a Twilight rip-off; I'll find his weak spot and make him wish he never came here!

Casting all fears aside, Phelan took a huge step forward – but stayed rooted to the spot.

Already he could see Scar kick off from the ground and lunge straight towards him like a bullet, his vampire fangs bared for the kill.

He fell for it! Just as I did when I fought Rhodas back in the forest!

He leapt. And he had to time it just right.

And just as Scar made a quick sidestep to the left in mid-air, Phelan drew his sword a second too late, his worst fears confirmed.

The blade missed Scar by several inches, yet Phelan felt his fist make contact with the brown-black chipmunk's chest. There was only one chance to attack, and Phelan concentrated his full energy into that swing, bringing his fist deeper into fur and skin. The impact was like punching through a brick, but Phelan felt its worth as he landed on his feet, while Scar crashed backwards into the ground, the wind knocked out from his now-smouldering hoodie.

The hellfire had burned a hole through the fabrics, showing off the stinging scorch of black-and-brown fur.

With his yellow eyes burning in a furious snarl, the vampire chipmunk got up and ripped his hoodie off, his ravaged chest a trophy filled with countless scars.

My my, thought Phelan, feeling a surge of confidence return to him. At least he doesn't sparkle in the moonlight.

From the sidelines, the Arch stood patiently, knowing that their presence was as helpful as a Greek chorus. Phelan's spirits rose as he saw Rhodas punch the air, cheering with a loud whoop.

"I taught him that move, you know? Never thought I'd see it being used on another set of paws, but he is a fast learner!"

Aaron said nothing, but Phelan caught his smile and hidden wink.

"And just whose side are you supposed to be on?" Kira asked, tapping his foot impatiently.

Rhodas did a perfect impression of a cheerleader. "Scar, Scar, he's the man. If he can't do it, who cares?"


Scar's clothes weren't the only thing singed to a crisp by Phelan's hellfire. The smirk on his face hadn't changed a bit, but his eyes no longer shown with that predator's pride.

"That was your best attack? Top notch – for novices and cowards!"

"Look who's talking, for someone who had to hide behind a girl's skirt to call me out into battle!" Phelan called out, carefully twisting his foe's words.

"Tell me, did you beg the Darkness for mercy so that he could spare your life? Or perhaps he thought you weren't good enough to stand in his way? Why would he bother killing you if I could do it myself?"

Let him crow all he wants, thought Phelan as he bared his wolf-like teeth. He can beat me in a match of words, but the real fight's about to commence!

Even Scar was able to pick up on his opponent's thoughts. He spread his wings to their full length span and laughed maniacally.

"I've been going too easy on you. You wanna play hardball? Let's go!"

He kicked off once more, heading a second time for a direct attack to the chest. Phelan blocked it again with his flaming sword, but gasped in shock as Scar caught the upper hand, gripping onto the wolf-like chipmunk's paws and gave them a sharp wrench.

He was fortunate enough not to have felt any bones being broken, but Phelan held onto his sword; his only chance for survival.

Scar darted forward, close enough to kick Phelan in the chest and send him sprawling face-first into the dirt.

Furious, Phelan retaliated with a barrage of dark orbs, hurling one after another in rapid-fire succession.

They all missed Scar by a wing's tip, and it was the grating pitch of Scar's laughter that drove Phelan to carry on his firing.

A series of claws slashed downwards, causing Phelan to hold off the attack while he struck out helplessly at thin air, a cold shiver trickling down his spine.

I might as well be fighting with my own shadow! How long can I hold up against him?

Not only were his opponent's wings beating itself to a blur against the darkened sky, they bent to Scar's every command that he moved with the speed and delicacy of a hummingbird.

A deranged, psychotic hummingbird bent on drinking the life force out of him like nectar.

The pains in Phelan's chest grew heavier along with his breathing, while Scar seemed to be darting in and around of the battle with such ease. He parried another blow from the vampire-chipmunk's claws, but the shaped whizzed past him at breakneck speed that Phelan didn't realize it until it was too late.

And then he let out an anguished scream.

Scar had slashed him from the back, raking his claws across the wolf-like chipmunk's trench coat.

Phelan wasn't sure what he felt more; the pain – or the dumbfounded shock that nobody had done such a cowardly thing to him before, least of all in combat.


Meanwhile, Soron was going head to head on in a brawl with Faolan.

The arctic-timber wolf was bulky in size, but he was much nimble as he whipped his tail, sending Soron flying into a nearby tree trunk.

"You know, you're much like your brother. I mean, he's not as skilled as you in the art of hand combat, but-"

Faolan didn't get a chance to finish as Soron launched himself from the trunk, digging his claws into the wolf's pelt and hit straight into him like a battering ram.

Though his senses were still a little foggy, the hazel-brown chipmunk could hear a series of high-pitched war cries from above. He craned his neck up and saw the little brown bat plunging downwards like an arrow, baring her tiny fangs.

Soron quickly conjured up a flare just as the flying creature came aiming for his throat. As the light engulfed the little bat and blinded her, she missed her bearings and flew a little too low, crashing into said tree.

"Cheap trick! Cheap trick! Can't see, can't see!" the bat screeched as she yanked herself free and dug her claws deep into the soft earth to cushion the impact of her landing.


This time, Phelan was much prepared.

As Scar dived in for another aerial attack, Phelan got down into his hunter's crouch and pounced – at the right moment where Scar came in too low, thinking that he had an open spot.

The weight was just too much for the vampire-chipmunk to carry, and they were seconds away before the ground hit them hard. Scar howled in agony as Phelan raked his claws in deep, scoring long scratches into the soft, leathery-like folds of his wings.

"Get off me, you mutt!"

A well-known theory in judo is that the bigger you are, the harder you fall. This also seemed to apply in aerodynamics as Scar executed a swift barrel roll, shifting all the extra weight towards the centre of gravity.

Which in this case, Phelan was now inches away from freefall, holding onto Scar's wings for dear life. Horrified, the wolf-like chipmunk was slipping fast from his grasp, his paws glistened with sweat.

With a cruel grin, Scar stretched out his hind legs and kicked hard at the struggling lump of fur.

And watched – while his falling enemy could do nothing but hold hopelessly onto thin air.


The pain is only momentarily – right from the moment where your back slams hard into the ground, and you can't gather enough breath to fill your lungs; because it takes a moment to realize you've broken some bones.

Phelan clenched and unclenched his paws against the feel of smooth soil, his eyes welling up in failure.

I'm going to die right here and now. I... I failed to protect Soron – and Maia. My Maia.

But this was nothing compared to the torture he experienced a year ago.

My strength... my powers... they abandoned me in the face of evil! Why?

A tiny, yet all-too-familiar voice crept maliciously into his head.

Because you... were afraid to face the truth. Yesss... you knew what would happen if you called on your strengths again!

A wave of terror washed over Phelan, the pain now replaced by an icy sense of dread.

You! I banished you – kept you imprisoned in my memories! You're supposed to be-

Dead? Forgotten? Well, sssorry to disappoint – but how can you kill that which will make you... ssstronger?

No way! Forget it! I didn't need your help back then, and I don't need it now!

It was useless to fight against the ominous presence; now it filled every crevice of his head like running water. He relished the thought of how comforting it was.

Everything felt so soft... so numb... so mesmerizing...

Let me sssshow you... teach you how to win...

He didn't have the strength to stand, so he stalked the ground on all fours; a low, rumbling growl emanating from his throat like a rabid wolf. As he grasped his fallen sword for support, it flared once more in his paw, singeing the grass underneath to a crisp and giving off a foul, acrid smell. He picked himself up, the blade of shadows now poised at neck level.

He had returned – stronger than ever.


Though he remained as stoical as the grass under his feet, Aaron knew that the white-clad chipmunk with watching the battle with far more enthusiasm than the rest of the Arch put together.

"What can you sense, Kira?"

"Anger clouds his judgement. Violence rekindles his soul. He no longer thinks with his heart, but the unconscious part of his mind has taken over him completely."

The look on Aaron was that of utmost concern; but this was too unnatural – even for a leader.

"Then, it's just as I have feared," he said, prompting Rhodas to swivel his head puzzlingly.

"Every swing he takes, every step he makes, brings him closer to becoming the creature he once despised."


Scar had also noticed the change in the air, but kept his eyes fixed on the fight that lay ahead.

"So, by fighting me, you have turned back into the assassin who once served as the Darkness' lapdog. I see no point of keeping that which opposes our cause alive, so I've no choice but to kill you."

A harsh, grating laughter resounded from the wolf-like chipmunk, an eerie resonance in his tone as though he spoke with two voices.

"You would kill me?"

The last of Phelan's kindness left his fading green eyes as he stared Scar down with blood-red moons.

"You stole my line. And for that, you will pay tenfold."

He had turned too. Not from chipmunk to vampire, but from protector to destroyer.


The first thing that jolted Maia back into consciousness was not the sight of a bloodthirsty Phelan; it was that low, guttural voice that caused her to jerk upright in sudden alarm.

This was not the same chipmunk who comforted her in that dark closet.

Her fear kicking in, Maia ran to catch her former comrade, who had stumbled to his feet.

"Soron! Something's wrong with Phelan!"

"Gee thanks Maia, that's a real help. I had no idea until you told me, princess," said Soron, rolling his eyes.

"So does that explain why I can't understand a single thing that's going on, yet you're the one with a splitting headache?" Maia retorted, watching Soron rub his throbbing head.

While Soron would have loved to give that prissy white chipette a piece of his mind, yet there were better ways to use what remained of his conserved strength.

"Listen to me carefully, because I'm only going to explain this once," he snapped, looking out onto the front lawn where a shadow seemed to have crept over Phelan.

"When our pal here fought the Darkness about a year ago, it seems that Phelan didn't just beat him – he banished the Darkness into the deepest part of his subconscious mind – the place where all forgotten memories go to waste. But tonight, the fight is making him do things he won't or can't even remember doing at all. It's pushing him to his breaking point. And right now, I'm afraid we're close to being too late."

"Too late for what?" asked Maia, though she already knew the answer she dreaded to hear.

"If the Darkness has taken control of Phelan's subconscious by now, he'll be able to project himself through Phelan by means of those forgotten memories. His words, his thoughts, his actions will no longer be his own. And then... the chipmunk we know will disappear forever."

"Can't you do something about it?"

She half-expected Soron to leap straight into action, but instead, the hazel-brown chipmunk heaved a sigh of defeat.

"I was cocky, brash and over-confident once. That's why I couldn't defeat the Darkness. Even now, I'm afraid I'm no match for him. And if I jump in to save Phelan, Scar might use this to his advantage – after all, they're still fighting the duel on their terms."

A thunderous, agonizing scream rent the air, sending cold shivers down their spines. Nobody knew how it happened, but Scar was rolling on the ground; trashing about like some feeble, helpless worm; trying to stem the dark, rich fountain of red spurting out of the bloodied stump on his back. He was shouting curses at a smirking Phelan, who was now holding onto the tattered remains of Scar's right wing.

It caught fire in one second, the next, all that remained was a handful of ash in the wolf-like chipmunk's flaming paw.

Tears were already flowing freely down Maia's cheeks, tears she tried desperately to hold back as she realized the truth.

If Phelan won the battle, the Darkness would possess him completely like a mindless puppet.

But if Phelan lost his Faustian contract, he was on a one-way ticket to serving the Black Arch for a bleak eternity.

Either way, it was definitely clear who would emerge the victor.


The vampire chipmunk was losing blood by the second, from which he drank, swallowed and licked from every wound. Despite having lost his right wing, it was enough for Scar.

Or so he thought.

He hovered feebly a few inches from the ground, before he dropped like a rock; his remaining other wing still beating furiously to match his breath and cool down the beads of sweat perspiring from his brows.

"I'll fight you – even without my wings! I already had the upper hand before you set foot on this lawn, you pathetic excuse for a chipmunk!" Scar screamed again.

"That's the problem with your stupid kind – you never know when to give up. Perhaps I ought to make this easier on you."

The single, fiery sword materialized once more in Phelan's paws, but he grasped firmly onto the weapon while he stretched his arms wide. Now there was a sword in both paws, and a tyrannical grin that crept across the corrupted chipmunk.

"Two hits; I hit you. And then, your pretty head hits the ground."

There was no way now he could lose, not even as he watched Scar flare back to life with his arms engulfed in flames of darkness.

"You didn't think you were the only one who could control fire, did you?" sneered Scar.

The vampire-chipmunk's fiery arms gave him a more sinister touch. Sinister, but not swift enough. Phelan easily dodged Scar's full-frontal swipe attack, leaving his opponent to fall down on all fours. Even as he whirled back up, Phelan drew his swords, striking back in retaliation from Scar's hand-to-hand combat tactics.

Scar might've been the one with muscles, but without the use of his wings, he now found himself at the mercy of Phelan's enhanced speed – the chipmunk was fighting with the strength and ferocity of a lunatic! And to add insult to injury, it was impossible to dodge those claws that seemed to strike from a hundred directions.

Blow after blow rained down on Scar; he was quickly becoming Phelan's punching bag.

The vampire-chipmunk made a last desperate attempt to deliver a killing blow to Phelan's throat, but it was a futile effort against a much powerful and evasive opponent. Even as he held up his paws to defend himself, Scar knew with a sinking thought that the game had already ended in a checkmate.

That was when Phelan moved in close with his swords and sliced Scar's other wing clean off from its joints.

By now, the pain was unbearable as Scar went down like a rock, but nothing could compare to humiliation he felt as Phelan stamped down on his face, rubbing his foot into the brown-and-black chipmunk as the tang of his own blood mixed with the dirt and grass.

"Do you fear me, or do you fear death?"

Scar was crying – whimpering like a baby; but most of it were tears of hatred.

"I would rather die than to face dishonour. Do it! Strike me down! Kill me now!"

For some unknown reason, the creature that was once Phelan froze in his tracks.

Kill?

The word sounded like a forbidden delicacy; it rolled off his tongue with the sweetest of ease, but why this sudden hesitation? Would the taste of blood and death be just the same as he once remembered?

And then he heard the voice again, burrowing deeper like an ant into the anthill of his mind.

You don't remember, do you? You have forgotten what it's like to take a life.

No... I haven't.

Liar! When was the last time you committed the deed itself? That's right – when the blood of your brother's family was still fresh on your paws!

He couldn't bear to look at himself; couldn't bear to look at Scar, whose fate was now resting in his own paws – literally.

If you can't bring yourself to do it again, then you're nothing! My teachings – all gone to waste! And then we'll see – who's the real coward?

Coward, am I?

Only one way to find out.

Perhaps it's time for another lesson from the grave...

He raised an arm, his paw swathed in flames and darkness, and was just about to deliver the final blow when –

"STOP! STOP IT!"

He whipped his head around, looking for the source of that insignificant voice who dared to challenge him.

There was a loud, sharp yell of "No, princess!" but his vision was blocked by a blur of creamy-white fur as Maia ran and threw herself at him in a tight embrace, her words an incoherent mess through her sobs.

"I know you're still in there, Phelan! Don't kill him, please! You told me that you can still make a change for the better, even if you can't always get what you want! And I believe you – I'm begging you! Don't throw away everything you've stood for!"

She broke down in his chest, her warm tears soaking through his mahogany-brown fur.

To her relief, the bloody red that clouded Phelan's eyes now faded back into that familiar, friendly shade of green. He looked down at the bedraggled, snivelling chipmunk in disgust before lifting up his foot and helping Scar to his paws.

"Next time, you won't be so lucky. Now get out before I change my mind," growled Phelan.

There were no cheers. No celebrations of victory. Just silence.

Not even a single member of the Arch had stepped forth to help Scar, who trudged back to the group in silent, slow paw steps.

Exhaustion wore down Phelan's senses, and as he stumbled, Maia caught him with a gentle paw. He leaned on the chipette's shoulder, giving her a weary smile of thanks.

Behind him, Phelan heard his opponent call out in what seemed to be a voice tinged with bitter defeat.

"You were right about me, you know."

But before Maia could shout out another warning, Scar yowled a battle cry as he hurtled through the air, tackling Phelan hard.

There was no escaping the jaws of death this time, and as it sank into Phelan's neck, the wolf-like chipmunk summoned the remains of his strength to hit out at whatever was trying to crush him, but not before he felt the burning claws rake his cheek, and the unmistakable sneer of his enemy.

"I never know when to give up."


There was blood, and it ran hot and sticky from his head down to fur, trickling over his eyes that he couldn't tell whose blood it was.

All he could hear was the screams of Scar's fury, and Aaron's voice rang out loud and clear.

"That's it! I'm calling off this fight right now!"

He wanted nothing more than to lie down and sleep for a week – maybe even a year. But how could he possibly sleep with so much darkness around him?

And then he saw the unmistakable figure of Maia, while from a safe distance, a blur of black-and-brown fur was being ganged upon by six other indistinctive shapes.

But most of all, it was her voice that brought him back to reality, at least for a while.

"Don't die on me, Phelan! Please, just hold on for a while. I'll take care of you..."

As Maia huddled closer, it seemed to Phelan that her fawn-like sheen, her creamy-white fur had filled the sky while her eyes were the stars that shone brilliantly; she was the light incarnate he had been hoping to find.

The night, which was filled with the strife of earlier sorrows, now gave way to a new dawn.

And the wolf-like chipmunk smiled, knowing that everything had fallen back into place.


To Be Continued...

So there you have it; the fight between Phelan and Scar, and the return of the Darkness. What, you didn't think you'd see the last of him, did you? ;)

Now that you're reading this, I have a small confession to make: I actually wrote this chapter the week before I left, and it was my idea to post it once I'd settled down so that all of you would know I wasn't entirely off the grid! :)

Keep an eye out for the next chapter: the Chipmunks and Chipettes will be back, but I also promise plenty of fluffiness - as well as another songfic in the works (I haven't done one in ages, so I'm pretty syked about it). :)

See you soon, and please don't forget to review!

"Always trust in your stories."

~ Wind