As the eight heroes and heroines passed through the rift, their senses became disoriented, as though their minds were trying to adjust to their new environment, before they found themselves landing on solid ground, or at least what they believed was solid ground.
Quickly getting their bearings, V-Force, Dragonheart, Fireguard, Responder, Red Nova, Fighting Fury, Songbird and Vixen looked around, with the mystic holding her staff out as it let out a pulse of light, illuminating the almost suffocating darkness that was around them, allowing them to see where they were, finding themselves standing on a large platform made of a dark rock in a vast void, where the only light they saw came from the portal above, showing their world as the chains seemed to come from the darkness around them and enter the rift.
But their inspection of their surroundings came to a halt as the heroes sensed something powerful almost overbearing, causing them to turn around and see that, only a few feet from them, was a large, dark throne made of the same black stone they were standing on, and above the throne was a massive column, where V-Force's eyed widened to see the chained form of Kari bound to it, her eyes meeting his with a look of guilt and pleading, before a dark chuckle caught his attention, looking down to see the occupant of the throne.
The being was the same size as the creature Kari had turned into during her ascension, covered from head to toe in dark robes, with the only signs of what he was being the dark metal gauntlet that covered his claw like hands, the dragon like shoulderpads, and the glowing red eyes that were seeing from its hooded head.
"Zhaitan..." Vixen said in fear as she gulped, before adding as she got a better look at the Dark One. "His... his avatar, at least..."
"And so, the honoured guests have arrived, at last." Zhaitan said as his avatar's head turned up and looked at the heroes, most were nervous at seeing the supposed God of Darkness before them.
All but Davis, who merely glared at the Dark One, walking forward a few feet, much to the worry and horror of everyone around him, including Kari, where the maroon haired hero then demanded. "What do you want with Kari?"
"It is not just the girl I desire, but you as well." Zhaitan replied, not only shocking everyone, including Davis, but also adding to their concerns as they realized Kari's abduction was to bring Davis here, where he then asked in anger. "What do you want with us?!"
"Once, my brethren and I ruled over all in eternal darkness, until the Light came." Zhaitan began to say, where Davis and the others saw that around the darkness, images began to appear of a time long past, where the Dark One then told those around him. "The Beings of the Light helped bring about the Multiverse, and we fought them, to reclaim our rightful dominion and cast out the Light, a war that has continued to this very day."
The rest of the heroes were shocked by this, with even Vixen intrigued, especially at hearing that not only were there more than one being like Zhaitan in existence, but those fighting them as well.
Davis, however, kept his glare as he then said. "You didn't answer my question."
A dark chuckle left the Avatar, causing Davis to glare more, before Zhaitan replied in an amused tone. "No, I didn't. Interesting, you're much quicker than many of your counterparts."
The words caught Davis, the other heroes and even Kari by surprise, before the Dark One continued his explanation. "At the height of our war, the greatest of our kin set forth to end this blighted existence and return everything to our Darkness, but two of our enemies, great champions... and lovers, challenged it, a battle that ended with all of their destructions, our brother and his enemies shattering into shards and spreading across the Multiverse."
"And yet, as though still bound by their duty, a shard from each of the warriors latched onto one of our brother's shard, the light of both keeping his darkness back, and in pairs, these clusters scattered about existence, being reborn as two humans, referred by many mortals, due to their ability to harness the powers of the warriors and my brethren, as Ascended." Zhaitan then said, where Davis and Kari's eyes began to widen as they came to understand what was happening here.
"And whenever the Ascended come into existence, they always appear as the same two individuals." Zhaitan then added as the images around them changed, showing different worlds, different people, with some of the heroes and heroines even seeing themselves in the images, some with strange creatures around them.
And yet, there were always two people they could see constantly in each and every image, Davis and Kari.
It was in that moment that both Davis and Kari felt a sharp pain in their heads, with Davis gripping his head with his right hand, while Kari cried out in pain, concerning the others as they looked at the pair, where flashes played before their eyes.
Your darkness ends here...
We will not let you succeed...
THIS WRETCHED LIGHT SHALL FADE...
When the flashes faded, Davis and Kari panted heavily, trying to comprehend what they saw, as though witnessing a fight from three different perspectives, before they heard Zhaitan speak once more.
"You saw it... buried deep within your souls, fragments of their memories. And now, at long last, you both are right where we want you." The Avatar said as it stood up, a dark aura forming around its being as Zhaitan then said. "I will draw the fragments of my kin from you, help him reforge himself, so that he can finish what he started. But first, your friends will all have to die now."
"Not if we have anything to say about it!" Responder called back as he gathered a great amount of energy in his chest piece and cast it out.
Holding nothing back, Dragonheart, Songbird and Vixen joined in, each releasing their own unique energies alongside Responder's, striking at Zhaitan, giving it all they could, only to find their attacks, though striking the Dark One, did nothing to damage his form.
"I am a god. Your power is insignificant compared to me." Zhaitan said as he brought his hand up, sending out a powerful shockwave, causing the heroes and heroines to quickly scatter, less they got caught up in the destructive path of the energy that was unleashed.
Continuing to release his darkness, Zhatian laughed.
"Cower before me mortals! Know that everything you sought to protect will end in ruin!" He bellowed as the ground around the heroes and heroines continued to spike up with darkness, continuing to keep them in a defensive state.
But pushing through their fears, thinking of all they could lose, their friends, homes, families and loved ones, the group did all they could to fight back, with Fighting Fury taking a strong lead as he rushed toward Zhatian, his right arm reeled back as it glowed in orange energy, where he leapt at the dark being and slammed his fist into Zhatian's being, only to find himself in shock to see the Dark One not even flinch.
And before he could react, a gust of energy sent Fury flying back, caught by Dragonheart as they got away from their foe.
"Foolish child, you dare strike one as powerful as I?" Zhatian questioned, intensifying the dark energies flowing around the area, doing all he could to crush and destroy those before him.
The Avatar, however, did move when Davis shot at him, firing a blast of light energy at the Dark One, who brought his hand up, creating a barrier that easily blocked the attack, turning his head to face Davis as he smirked at Zhaitan.
"If what you said is true, then that means I Can hurt you." The maroon haired hero then said as he extended his light blades and rushed at Zhaitan, who still remained in place.
"You can, but without the girl, you are nothing!" The Dark One bellowed in reply as he held his hand out, firing a blast of dark energy at Davis, who quickly brought his blades up to block, groaning intensely at the power being pushed at him.
"Consider yourself lucky. Any other who would suffer my wrath would surely meet their demise. Unfortunately for you, the extraction of the shard will be far more painful." Zhaitan said as he pushed more energy into his attack, ignoring the fire blasts sent at him by Fireguard and Red Nova, seeking to immobilize Davis before he dealt with his allies.
Watching the scene before her, Kari tried struggling against her chains, finding that they were binding her power, where she looked up and saw Zhaitan easily smashing through the heroes, especially Davis.
'What have I done...?! He... I let him use me... I let myself get blinded by his promises and lies...' Kari thought to herself as she remembered all she had done, all the evil she had committed, before thinking in anguish. 'What was the point of all that then?! All the pain... the suffering... the deaths... I... I...'
Davis, meanwhile, kept his ground, refusing to give up.
He didn't care about being an 'Ascended' or some ancient war of Light and Darkness, all he cared about was saving Kari, and seeing her struggling against her restraints with teary eyes triggered something in him.
"I... I won't quit... I won't give up... I won't lose to you!" Davis yelled as his being began to pulsate with light, his wings growing larger, his eyes glowing brightly through his helmet, and his blades turning into pure energy, which shot out, cutting through Zhaitan's attack as it rushed towards the Avatar, whose eyes widened for a millisecond, before the entire platform illuminated in a bright light.
When the light faded, there was no sign of the Avatar, and the platform was falling apart, with those who could fly going to the air, while Vixen used her magic to help Fighting Fury and Red Nova take to the air.
Davis, however, looked around frantically, before he saw Kari, freed from the chains, but found her starting to fall into the black abyss, where he rushed at her with a cry. "Kari!"
'Save her, Davis, Damn it!' The maroon haired boy thought as he flew towards her with all his might, finding the memory of that day return to him, with him walking next to her no long after her parents died, Tai near them as the two fought some fresh air would help the brunette, before they passed a bookstore that happened to be there.
"Davis, do you mind if I go in here for a moment?" Kari asked with a soft smile, to which Davis replied with a smile. "Sure, I'll wait here for you."
He then watched her go in, unaware of what fate, or a Dark One to say, had planned.
'She needed you... and you let her slip away... this time, don't let go!' Davis mentally berated as he extended his arms, reaching out for the falling form that was Kari, before feeling a great relief as he caught her, causing him to act on his feelings as he held her close to him, refusing to let her go.
Kari, meanwhile, had her own flash of memory, remembering a day when they were younger, she had tried climbing to a tall tree, before she lost her footing and began to fall.
She expected a rough landing, but found Davis had caught her, leaving her staring up at the younger Davis and seeing the care and concern for her in his eyes.
And feeling his arms around her, Kari's eyes widened as he then said the same words he said to her back then. "No matter how many times you fall, I'll always be there to catch you."
Unable to hold back tears and letting her emotions flow, Kari wrapped her arms around Davis' neck, letting her feel out as she sob and said repeatedly as she remembered all she had done. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."
It was the sight the other heroes saw and heard as they flew over to them, with Dragonheart trying to hold back his own tears, seeing part of his sister once more, while Vixen and Songbird held their emotions back.
However, a loud roar caught their attention, with everyone turning to see something emerge from the darkness, only to realize that it was the darkness itself moving and taking form as a massive demonic face was seen, made of pure darkness as its mouth opened, letting out another roar as it stared at them with fearsome red eyes.
"I'm guessing that's the real Zhaitan?" Songbird asked in fear, getting a nod from Vixen, while Davis moved Kari so that she was hanging onto him from behind, holding his blades out to fight.
"I have planned for too long to fail now! None of you will leave here alive!" Zhaitan declared as two massive arms emerged from the darkness, before another sinister laugh was heard, causing the Dark One to sneer and for the heroes to feel another great darkness.
"You said YOU would SUCCEED, Zhaitan..." A voice that sounded like multiple people, ranging from a small child to a raging beast, said with a laugh as the heroes saw six massive red eyes open in a circle, before seeing two smaller ones, and one large, fanged mouth appear in the center, grinning at the mortals.
"They cannot leave... we cannot fail again..." Another dark voice said as dozens of glowing purple eyes were then seen on the other side of Zhaitan, along with many dark tendrils.
"Ok... now there are three of them!" Dragonheart yelled in panic, concerned for Kari and the others, leaving the heroes unnerved as, while they knew the portal was behind them, until the chains were cut off, there was no escape.
Kari, meanwhile, held onto Davis tightly, feeling responsible for all of this, but mostly for putting Davis in such danger.
'I...I want to save him...!' Kari thought as she closed her eyes tightly, trying to hold back her tears, before she felt it again, the same light as Davis within her, and this time, she reached for it.
Everyone then sensed it, even the Dark Ones as Davis looked behind him, seeing Kari's being begin to glow, her eyes still closed, before wings just like the maroon haired hero's sprouted out of her back, opening her eyes and looking into Davis', a feeling of understanding and trust forming between them as Davis looked back at the Dark Ones, both Ascended glaring at them with determined eyes.
"NO!" The Dark Ones yelled, expressing actual fear, where the tendrils, claws and other appendaged shot towards the heroes.
But before they could reach anyone, a massive blast of light shot out, blinding everyone and everything as it filled the area.
Back on Earth, as the remaining heroes, Elemental Warriors and cops were putting up a desperate struggle against the Shadow Demons, a sudden large flash of light was seen from the portal, where all the demons stopped moving and dissolved into shadows, much to the relief of those below, before the portal quickly closed, snapping all the chains and causing them to dissolve as well, before the remaining Protectors, Vigilant and StarCorps saw a sphere of light slowly descend to the ground, quickly running to it to see their friends safe and sound, with Davis and Kari panting, seeing the pair holding each other close and looking as though they wouldn't be leaving the other's embrace anytime soon.
"It's over..." V-Force said as he looked at the others, who let out their own sighs of relief, before the sounds of cheering filled the air as the civilians and officers of Odaiba gathered to cheer the heroes for saving them, while the members of the Dark Legion who weren't knocked out frowned as they were placed into police vehicles to be taken away.
Meanwhile, Quickshot and Cobalt Warrior were moving to arrest Kari, only for Marcus to hold his hand out, silently asking the pair to give them a moment as he looked at Davis and Kari, who just silently enjoyed the moment together, not knowing what the future held for either of them, but something inside told them they would find out together.