A/N: I hereby present to you...the chapter we've all been waiting for! Secrets disclosed! The Lord of Darkness unveiled! Without further ado, please read on before I spoiler you all! Also, don't forget to review! :D
Chapter 38: In Which Secrets are Disclosed and the Lord of Darkness is Unveiled
"It's busting Yami time, then," Ammy muttered to herself, mostly because she had no one else to talk to. At this point, she would have given anything to have someone to talk to, even if it was Sakuya or Urashima Tarou. Suddenly she got an idea.
"I'M FIGHTING YAMI NOW! HE'S A FISH IN A BOWL, AND I'M, UH, FIGHTING HIM! AND HE…GAVE BIRTH TO ALL DARKNESS, OR WHATEVER. AND WAKA'S FROM THE MOON TRIBE! AND…AND…SNAPE KILLED DUMBLEDORE! SPOILERS!"
She waited, but apparently Sakuya's Guardian Saplings didn't have any power within the ark, so there was no scolding from Sakuya. Plus, all those things had been spoilered already.
"Damn Celestials…talking too much about things we already knew," Ammy grumbled. She neglected to omit first-time Okami players from the "those-who-already-knew" list, because they obviously didn't. Deciding enough time had been wasted, she stepped into the portal and was beamed to someplace on the ark that looked more like it was a secluded dome in the sky than any sort of place on a ship.
Ammy's ears were greeted with the clash of lightsaber and sword on metal. In the center of the dome was a giant ball, which was being viciously sliced at by a vaguely pinkish shape. Ammy's eyes followed the green lightsaber (which was really the only source of light besides the weak glow of the brush god constellations) and watched as it struck the giant ball in the wrong place and flew out of its owner's hand over the edge.
"Oh no! Pillow Talk!" Ammy exclaimed. She then turned to the pink figure, who had stepped back and was breathing heavily. "By the way, I hope in your explaination you tell me why the hell you named your lightsaber that."
"You ask too much of me, ma cherie," Waka , managing a small grin. "I don't have much time for explanations, so I'm afraid I'll have to leave out some of the more…insignificant details."
"Geh," Ammy muttered. "You're just sidestepping me again. I already know about Yami and the Day of Darkness and that you brought the Ark of Yamato to the Celestial Plain and that we fought Orochi together and everything else, but I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THOSE STILETTOS, DAMMIT."
Waka sighed and shook his head. "Ah, ma cherie, you forget that this information is for the benefit of those who are unfortunately not blessed with long life and longer memory, or those who have not already played the game or been spoilered by walkthroughs."
"No, it's just cuz you like to tease me."
Waka pretended not to hear her and tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Also for those who are naturally dim-witted and hot-headed," he said. A wide, evil grin spread across his face. Ammy wanted to slap him. "You know, I like to imagine our little bouncing friend heard me and is currently spouting nonsense and cursing my name to the heavens."
"Wow, you really are an egregious asshole."
"I try."
Yami, whom they had completely forgotten about the entire time, apparently did not appreciate being ignored, and all of a sudden the platform trembled and the lights flickered, revealing Yami's true form. It was nothing much more than an elaborately decorated ball, but before Ammy could make some smartass remark, it roared and sucked out all her hard-earned brush powers.
"AAHHHH DAMMIT!" she screamed. She trembled and fell to the floor, watching helplessly as her beautiful brush powers disappeared into Yami. "My…my powers…my strength…my weapons…" she lamented. Yami roared again and opened up at the top, revealing on a small, square platform in the center of the ball a man smiling smugly on a comfy office chair.
"Why hello, Amaterasu."
"You…" Ammy sputtered, glaring at the man. "Of course it would be you. Clover."
"Monsier Inaba-sama?" said Waka, his eyes wide with surprise.
Atsushi Inaba smiled down at them. "CEO of Clvoer, actually. What, were you expecting someone else?"
Ammy thought about the fish she remembered being as Yami and became thoroughly confused. "I mean, I'd always wondered why the final boss was a fish, cuz to tell you the truth I always thought Orochi would be the final boss, but this…?"
"We thought it'd be more fitting," Inaba explained, "since we've been antagonizing you throughout the game."
"That's true," Ammy said ruefully. She thought about the snowballs, and being wakened from being a statue, and her half-assed smiting power that could only be used whenever a thundercloud was near. She wished she had it now, even if there were no thunderclouds available.
"Why…Why did you wake me from being a statue?" Ammy demanded.
"You were getting lazy," Inaba answered. "You were making your way towards becoming exactly like one of Fuse's lap dogs, and then what use would you be as a deity? You neglected your country. It was time for you to go out and save Nippon."
"It's JAPAN!"
"NI-PPON," Inaba stressed, irritating Ammy even more. "But now you've failed to prevent the Day of Darkness, and everyone's faith in you is diminishing. We made a huge mistake trusting you for this position. And now, I'm afraid it's time for you to be erased."
Inaba pressed a button, and a laser beam shot out at Ammy, who was still defenseless on the ground. She closed her eyes, prepared for the worst…
But it never came. Either that, or death didn't feel painful at all.
She opened her eyes, and in front of her was Waka, deflecting the deadly beam with his remaining sword.
"Amaterasu!" Waka cried. He slid backwards a little from the strength of the beam and the slipperiness of his stilettos. They didn't have very good traction. "I cannot reset my actions, nor undo the past," he said. "But know that my faith in you has never wavered since that fateful day you put your trust in me, all those years ago. And you must remember, there are others who feel that way as well (thoughnotnearlyasmuchasme)."
There was a blinding flash, and Waka's headpiece fell to the ground with a clatter.
"Phew," he said. His hair was shiny and glorious. Ammy would have squealed if she had the energy. "One more thing, Amaterasu," he panted. "Take these…these geta, not stilettos, mind." She stated at him with wide eyes while he took them off and passed them to her.
"Waka…" she said, her eyes shining with what might have been tears. "You're really short."
He sighed. "YES, I KNOW."
"Enough," Inaba yawned, and pressed the laser button again. As the laser charged, Waka said to her, "About the secret of my geta, I—" But before he could finish, the deadly beam blasted him into the air and off the edge, falling down the same path as his beloved lightsaber flute, Pillow Talk, which he also had not explained to her.
"Well, that's that," Inaba said. "Any last questions, Amaterasu?"
He'll be fine, he's Waka, after all, Ammy tried reassuring herself, and turned to Inaba, her heart burning with worry, fear, and anger. "Yeah. Why didn't you have me fight Lechku and Nechku in the ark? They were much more badass bosses than Blight, let me tell you."
Inaba raised an eyebrow. "Would you like to fight them now?"
She thought about it. "To tell you the truth, not really."
"Good," Inaba said, stretching his hands out in front of him. "Because you would need a partner, and I knocked your only chance of one off the stage."
At this, Ammy was filled with rage, and she flung herself up and into battle. Since she had no weapons, she made do with kicking the giant outer core Inaba surrounded himself with, while making sure not to get caught by his hammer. It was much easier with Waka's stilettos, which were basically weapons anyway. After one brush power was returned to her, all her weapons and stuff returned, for which she was glad.
"ALRIGHT! POWER SLASH TIME, BABY!" she cried, but her line disappeared as soon as she drew it. "What the hell?" she said, and checked her menu. Under brush powers, the only one that was there was Rejuvenation.
"Damn, I forgot this was a power," she grumbled, and, with even more reason and determination, she whipped at Yami with her rosary beads until she earned her true Power Slash. She then earned Bloom, and used it to open Yami's outer protective layer. Inaba was no longer inside, instead being replaced by the fish-in-a-ball that Ammy was used to. Disappointed, she still flung at the ball with all her might until she killed it.
"SUCCESS!" she shouted, grinning madly, until Yami transformed into a ball with green stripes instead of red, and then she glowered.
Yami floated towards her with fire all around, so she couldn't get close enough to attack. When it stopped burning, however, she hit it with a full barrage of beads.
"YES," she cheered when another brush power emerged. "GODAMMIT, WHY DO I GET ALL THE USELESS ONES FIRST?" She scowled at her newly obtained Cherry Bomb power. When she at last obtained Waterspout, she doused Yami's flames and power slashed until it changed into its blue stage.
This one took a while only because she could only attack it when it shot things at her as a slot machine, but in the end she prevailed and gained back Galestorm, Inferno, and Matrix power.
"I hope that's the last one," she muttered, but groaned when Yami transformed yet again into a dumb-looking yellow form. It stood upright on its thick legs, and then wiggled and grew flimsy arms.
"What. The hell," said Ammy. As per usual, her lame brush powers came first, but at last she earned the smiting power, which was all she really cared about.
"DIE, MUAHAHA!" she shouted joyfully, grateful for the thunderclouds placed conveniently in the sky. Yami's arm things became lightning rods, and she electrocuted them. Yami flopped over and the fish-in-a-ball plopped out onto the ground, where she viciously attacked it. With one last fling of the rosary beads, Yami was thrown into the air, and this time it didn't change.