Chapter 11:
White wings cut through the black night, illuminated like silver as the moon and starlight softly glowed upon them. The destination…the ancient black building that stood tall before the large body of water that lay in its wake below. The reflection upon the water looked like a towering black obelisk shooting straight up out of the earth, much like an ominous tombstone. There was little wind tonight, not really much of a breeze either, and the reflection stood still and unsettling. However, it didn't affect the fallen angel in the least, he'd seen too much over the past three hundred years to be phased by a mere reflection.
He was flying high over the dark city when the view of the rooftop came into view. It was a flat roof, like a large battling platform, a fitting place for the demon's grave, he thought and slowly descended on the rooftop. From above, he looked like a small light in a sea of black, for he was dressed in his usual pure white attire…and if he was planning to ambush the demon, he should have stuck to black as apposed to white.
The area was plain…Krad seemed to be the only being on the surface, but a slightly pining feeling in his head told him that he wasn't alone.
"So…you decided to show after all."
The voice was the same as he remembered, he must still be in the form of Xilef, the demon was walking up to him from in front this time, not bothering to sneak up on him from the back as Krad had suspected he would.
"As if you gave me much choice…" Krad replied crossing his arms and glaring at the demon.
"Hmm…you know…I never did understand when you started caring for the Kaitou's well-being…could you possibly explain that to me?" The demon asked curiously.
"No." Krad said blankly and glared. He was not about to grace the demon with small talk, he just wanted to rip its heart out and go home.
"Aww…spoiled sport…" The demon pouted then returned to his irritating grin, "Well now, I see you agreed to come alone…good, so a demon really can play by the rules. I'm glad to see you were listening…because our evening alone together should be something shared just between us."
"Enough talk…" Krad growled and calmly pulled out a feather glaring at the target.
"Slow down there tiger, I can see you like it fast, Hm?" The demon chuckled and Krad waited to throw the feather for a bit longer, "As you can see I detest physical violence…I prefer the legendary tactic of mind games…it's no secret right?" The demon asked cocking a smirk.
"Hmph…could have fooled me…with the condition you put Dark in the other night…I had figured you for a barbaric monster." Krad retorted and the smile on the demon's face lessened a bit.
"So you admired my handy work…a one time thing I assure you…you must know how difficult it is to get the disgusting color of blood off of white clothes." The demon added sending a sharp pain through Krad's chest. That was a low blow, to bring up ancient history of a time when Dark's blood often stained the ice demon's hands. "But then again…were I not in the form of Dark's mortal enemy…I most likely wouldn't have resorted to slowly breaking the Kaitou's bones one by one…or have been driven to relish in his agonizing screams of pain. Hmph, talk about barbaric…I almost lost it for a moment there, I had the most unkindly urge to-" But before the demon could finish he had to dodge a fast spear of magic from the angered angel. "Oh…did I strike a nerve?" He asked with a smirk, pleased at the ice demon's reaction.
"Next time I won't miss!" Krad growled and another ball of magic formed in his hand.
"Heh, I beg to differ…" The demon laughed and his hold on Krad's head resumed causing the angel to groan and the magic in his hand vanished. "Hahaha! Not so tough now are you, Krad Hikari?" Suddenly a lance made of dark magic struck from behind the demon, it skewed right through his chest, but who?
"Now that's just not fair is it? I'm afraid I can't let this continue any longer…"
This form was dead, and the demon quickly dissolved the lance and reverted to the form of Adel. The kaitou! Dark was here, and with a smirk on his face of satisfied pleasure to take the demon by surprise. But how? He never sensed the thief's presence nor did he see him, though seeing him would have helped little considering he was wearing and all black jump suit with a black trench coat on top. Dark slowly landed and crossed his arms as the demon gave his full attention to him. "You…"
"What? Did you actually think I was going to let you get way for the other night?" Dark asked with a laugh.
"Grrr…" The demon growled and shot a look back to the recovered and smirking Krad, "I said to come alone!"
"Yeah…well guess a demon can't play by the rules…sorry to disappoint you." Krad said with a devious grin.
"Grrr…Damn you!" The demon growled and chanted a teleport spell…but nothing happened, "What?"
"Oh yeah about that…" Dark said with a nervous laugh, "Sorry that I was late Krad, but I had a wonderful idea about putting up a barrier spell, ya know so that all three of us get to spend some quality time without being interrupted." Then Dark turned and glared his eyes at the demon, "Like a cage if you will…where no one comes in…and no one goes out…"
For once the demon felt an extreme amount of annoyance and fear. Taking on the two angels at once was something he wanted to avoid at all costs. But now it seemed he had no choice…very well, he saved a special identity just for such an occasion. "Then what are you waiting for…come and get me." The demon said returning the smirk to the kaitou.
"With pleasure!" Dark yelled and lunched himself at the demon and suddenly as Dark tackled him, the demon wrapped his arms around the thief and the two fell from the roof of the four story building, "WOAH!"
"DARK!" Krad screamed as the two fell to the long drop. He ran to the edge but suddenly two black winged figures shut upwards in a frenzy of energy blasts and punches. The two were moving so fast and in such a blur that Krad couldn't make out what the hell it was!
"ARG!" Dark grunted as a blast clipped the side of his shoulder, then counter striking the demon in the face with a right hook, sending him sprawling backwards and Dark blasted his own magic at him, only for the demon to do the same, canceling the spells out. "Damn you!"
"Heh, you first Kaitou!" The demon smirked and the demon tackled Dark in mid air and the two went into another sharp drop, resulting in the two pulling away at the last second and taking off in two different directions as they almost met face to face with the roof.
Two Darks! No way! One Dark was more then enough! Krad thought to himself as he gazed at the two winged thieves floating in the air glaring at each other.
'But…which one is the real Dark?' Satoshi asked awe struck at the sight.
'How should I know! The demon makes and exact copy of the original! Grrr…this is annoying!' Krad growled looking up at the two Phantom Thieves.
Suddenly, at the exact same time, the two Darks clashed together again at full speed. Each pulling the same moves as the other, rotating between punches and energy blasts as before.
The real Dark seemed to have the upper hand for a moment before a hand punch to the gut sent him sprawling to the ground and hit hard with a crash. He sent out a loud scream of pain as he hit the hard surface, but it was short lived as the demon dove down and sent a blast of dark energy into him at close range.
Dark's head was swimming in pain as he was roughly picked up by his neck and tossed onto the ground a few feet away. Thank God his wings weren't broken or he'd had never escaped the next and most deadly blast of energy aimed at his head! Quickly Dark rolled to his side and with a mighty flap zoomed back into the air sending his own attack into the demon hitting him head on and sending the monster head first into the ground.
"How'd you like that, Demon?" Dark growled and whipped a small amount of blood from his mouth with his sleeve.
"Arg…" The other Dark grunted and slowly got to his feet looking back up at the other Dark, "I don't know…you tell me…DEMON!" He screamed and sent another blast up at the winged figure in the air.
"What!" Dark exclaimed and quickly used a feather to split the blast in two, 'Demon! He called me the demon?' He thought quickly to himself.
"Krad, what are you waiting for? Finish it!" The Dark on the ground called out to Krad who looked on at the two in confusion.
'He's trying to make Krad attack you!' Daisuke exclaimed from within.
"WHAT! Wait Krad, I'm the real Dark! He's the fake!" The Dark in the air exclaimed pointing down to the Dark on the ground.
"What! Krad don't be fooled, if you attack me you'll hurt Daisuke! Kill him!" The second Dark yelled and stared at Krad with a pleading face.
"YOU DAMN DIRTY DEMON! DON'T YOU DARE BRING DAISUKE INTO THIS!" The Dark in the air roared and landed next to the other Dark. "Krad if you never believed me once in your life believe that I am the real Dark!"
"How dare you! Krad you know that he's a liar! Don't make the mistake and kill the wrong one! Krad please!" The other Dark countered.
"Ah…" Krad groaned and stepped back a bit, and the two Dark pointed at each other at the same time.
"KRAD KILL HIM!" They both shouted at the same time.
'Which one is real?' Krad screamed in his head, 'If I hit the wrong one…then Dark and Daisuke's lives are in danger! What if I just hit them both? Grrr, damn this conscience! No…I have to choose…Damn it!' Krad stepped back a moment and pulled out a deadly feather…he planned to take out one of these Dark's with one hit…but which one?
"Krad! What are you waiting for?" the one on the left screamed, "You know I'm the real one!"
Suddenly, Krad's gaze turned to the Dark on the right with a glare.
'AH! Daisuke he's gonna hit us!' Dark screamed in his head with a worried look on his face.
'Do something! Um…anything! I know, do something that the real demon would never do!' Daisuke shouted in a panic.
'Something…the real demon…would never do?' Dark asked curiously then smirked.
"Okay, go ahead Krad…shoot me!" The Dark on the right said crossing his arms and smiling.
Krad looked over at him in shock and amazement.
"Wha?" The other Dark said also surprised at the action.
"Go ahead! You haven't been able to kill me, let alone hit me, over the past three hundred years! So go ahead, shoot!" Dark said still smirking and tapping his foot, "What, lose your nerve? Come on I dare ya! I'll even give you a clear shot, even you can't miss this!" Dark said and opened his arms wide to make himself a nearly impossible to miss target.
'DARK! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?' Daisuke screamed in Dark's head, 'I SAID DO SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY, NOT PISS HIM OFF!'
And indeed, Krad was pissed off.
'EVEN IF HE DOES BELIEVE YOU'RE THE REAL ONE, THEN HE'LL HIT YOU ANYWAY FOR BEING AN ASS!' Daisuke ranted and Dark cringed a bit.
"Ow! Daisuke could you keep it down!" Dark shouted out loud and clenched his fists again, "AND WHAT DO YOU MEAN I'M BEING AN ASS?" Dark demanded seeming to be having a shouting contest with himself.
Suddenly Dark felt the spray of warm blood on his face. Krad had struck…he really hit him! Wait…this wasn't his blood…Quickly Dark turned to the other Dark beside him that was now floored to the ground and had a large hole in his head.
"Eww…" Dark cringed and backed away from the corpus a bit, "Krad, that's disgusting! Could you have possibly thought of a more barbaric way to…ACK!" Dark stopped suddenly as he felt a sharp blow to his stomach, "AH!" he yelled and fell to his knees clutching his stomach, "H-Hey…what the hell was…that for?" He gasped trying to recover the air that was knocked out of him.
"That was for being an ass…Dark Mousy…" Krad growled and glared down at Dark whom he was confident was the real Dark after that stunt he pulled…because only the real Dark would have been brave enough to taunt Krad to actually hit him! And only Dark could piss him off enough to do so without killing him.
"Owie...WELL I WAS ONLY TRYING TO MAKE SURE YOU DIDN'T HIT THE WRONG ONE!" Dark yelled trying to stand, in vein. 'Damn Krad threw a mean punch!'
"Dark…I knew who the real Dark was the moment that one asked me to kill you quickly. So the taunts weren't necessary…" Krad said much to Dark's amazement. Then a smile crossed Krad's face, "But I will say, I do appreciate you giving me an excuse to knock the crap out of you. I'd been wanted to do that for a while." Krad said with an evil grin.
"Owie, damn you Krad…that really hurt!" Dark said now able to stand but still clutching his stomach and wincing in pain.
"Oh, you're such a baby…I was even kind enough to hold back on that punch…" Krad said with a sigh.
'THAT WAS HOLDING BACK?' Dark shouted in his head, 'If that was holding back, then what was full strength? PUNCHING A HOLE THROUGH ME?'
"You're hopeless…" Krad sighed and shuck his head.
"I couldn't agree more…" Suddenly, Krad felt a sharp blast of magic to his chest and was thrown backwards, "But quite clever Dark…I am to say the least, impressed…" The false Adel said and grabbed Dark by the throat holding him up in the air cutting off the blood and oxygen supply to Dark's brain…but due to the punch to the stomach, he really wasn't recovered enough to fight back effectively. He grabbed the sorcerer's arm in an attempt to throw him off of him, but this remained only an unsuccessful attempt.
"You two have been in my way since you first entered the Realm of Shadows and killed Verruckt…I was this close…This close, to coming to this world with an identity! With a body of my own that I was so close to taking over! My power is nothing like it once was without a body…so now Dark…" The demon began and suddenly the same paralyzing jolt of energy he had felt the first time he'd fought the demon surged through his body once more, "I think I'll take yours!"
'DARK!' Daisuke screamed from within the Thief.
'No…Daisuke…stay…away!' Dark demanded pushing Daisuke farther away from his consciousness hoping to protect him.
The hold on Dark's throat never ceased, nor did the painful energy that was paralyzing his body…but the demon appeared in his vision less and less as he felt him seeping inside of him, WHAT THE HELL WAS THIS! Dark wanted to scream but couldn't find a voice to speak with.
Then, all at once, the hold on his mind and body released! Something had pushed the thing off of him and out of him. Dark fell to the ground coughing and trying to force his eyes to focus; the thing was gone! Quickly and despite the mild headache, Dark jumped up and turned to his right and found Krad lying on his side on the ground unmoving. Krad? Had Krad knocked the thing off of him? Wait…that thing was in the possession stage…which means…
"KRAD!" Dark screamed and ran to him quickly kneeling down beside him, "Krad!" He shouted again and as soon as he put his hands on Krad's shoulders he felt a shock of energy push his backwards and he fell back catching himself with his hands. "Krad…no…no way! YOU DIDN'T!" Dark shouted as Krad's body slowly began to move.
Dark felt a small ounce of hope swell up inside of him that vanished as soon as Krad slowly stood up and turned to him. His eyes…no…those weren't Krad's eyes…these were blood red eyes, these were the demon's eyes. Krad had… he really did it…he must have made contact with the demon when it tried to merge with Dark. The demon was inside Krad!
"Grrr…GIVE HIM BACK!" Dark screamed and jumped to his feet, "GIVE HIM BACK NOW!"
The demon merely smirked and turned to admire this new form, a form of new flesh and blood, he finally had a permanent identity, and it was Krad Hikari. "No…I don't think I will…" The demon replied calmly and turned back to Dark with a smile. "I rather like this form…the form that defeated Verruckt…it's quite powerful. And this time…" He said as his grin turned into an evil scowl, "There's no need to open the portal to the world of light…which means, there's no need for you." He said and raised his hand sending a blast of ice magic towards the thief.
Dark, already enraged at this demon acting as though Krad's body was his own personal possession, dodged swiftly to the side never taking his eyes from the demon. Then quickly took to the air to avoid another encounter with harsh demon magic.
"You know the reason I didn't take your body earlier?" The demon asked and confidently took a step towards Dark, "Because I wanted to see the full extent of your abilities…to see if you were a more worthy host then your other half. But…" The demon smirked starring up at Dark, "when I saw how easy it was to deceive and break you…I decided it best to destroy you."
Dark glared down at the fake seraph and growled under his breath and landed swiftly, "Give…Krad back now…and this is the last time I'm going to ask you nicely…" Dark said dangerously and created a spell of his own in his hand.
"And I already said…I won't." The demon laughed, "And you know what else, Dark Mousy? This is the exact same way I was able to take over Verruckt…" He said with a smile playing on his angelic face.
"What?" Dark asked glaring at the false Krad.
"That's right…Verruckt summoned me from within the painting's fabrication…the center of the my prison that the two mages guarded for centuries lied within the depths of Galseran. So in an attempt to stop the war so he could be with his precious Xilef…he formulated a plan to free me and use my powers to take control of the war and stop it. But…that didn't go very well…" He replied and stepped a bit closer to Dark who was backing up a bit, "Xilef found out and tried to stop him…but he was too late…I was free and the first available body I saw was Xilef. But Verruckt, the fool he was, stepped in front…and I over took him instead. Ironic isn't it? Because after that I did end up taking Xilef's life after all…" He said and laughed again, "Life is a cruel and endless story…history always repeating itself…so you know what that means Dark?" The demon asked now only and inch from Dark's face, and before Dark had time to react and take to the air again, "That means as Verruckt took Xilef's life…" Suddenly a blade of ice formed in Krad's hand and drove itself right through Dark's gut, "I'm going to take yours…"
"Ah…" Dark gasped barely as his body shock a moment with surprise trying to take in what just happened. Dark's side began to bleed heavily with blood, and it hurt even worse as the demon in Krad's body yanked the sword out roughly.
This wasn't good…Dark's vision was starting to go…but one thing was for sure…his blood lose must have been extreme, but at least…Krad was starting to fight back again…trying to take control.
The demon dropped the sword and it vanished in a stream of light as the demon grabbed his head. "You…fool…it's futile…stop it and give up!" The demon growled as he began to step away from Dark who fell to his knees and held the wound to his gut with his hand.
'Dark…Dark quick, cast a healing spell or something! Dark, Dark can you hear me?' Daisuke screamed franticly.
'A…healing spell…right…uh…my head hurts…I…can't remember the spell…' Dark said mentally through his head trying to stay awake. "May…meine…meine Wunde…h-heilen…" Dark said trying his best to remember the spell. He'd said the correct incantation he thought, but he didn't have enough energy left in him to concentrate. Then he felt the warm feel of magic flowing through him and his wound slowly closing. '…Huh?'
'Just a little more…don't worry Dark, you'll be okay!' Daisuke said using his own energy to power the spell, "We can close the wound but…I can't replace the blood lose…we have to retreat!' Daisuke said as if it caused him great pain at the mere thought of leaving Krad and Satoshi in the hands of this demon.
'What?' Dark's senses slowly snapped back into place and he began to recover a bit as the magic flowed into him, 'NO! I won't leave Krad like this! I'm going to get him back!' Dark protested and the last phases of the spell began to mend what was left of the hole in him.
'I don't want to either! But we don't have a choice!' Daisuke repeated sounded more firm on the matter, 'you've lost too much blood, we can't take the chance! Next time we might not be able to heal you!'
'AND WE COULD LOSE THEM BOTH FOREVER IF WE DON'T DO SOMETHING NOW!' Dark screamed back to Daisuke and with much effort stood back up, 'I'm staying! I'm not abandoning Krad now or ever!' Dark said firmly as he could see that the demon was slowly regaining control over Krad. 'We still have a chance…Daisuke…let me use some of your energy again…'
'What?' Daisuke asked confused at such a request.
'I can't beat him out here…I have to go…in there…' He said looking over at Krad who seemed to be holding the demon back for a while as the two fought for control. 'If I can get enough energy, I can go inside of Krad's mind and destroy the demon from the inside. Please Daisuke, this may be our last chance!' Dark pleaded.
'…But…But Dark…in your condition….' Daisuke began only to be cut off by Dark.
'Don't worry about me!' Dark said firmly, 'I'm the Great Dark Mousy…and besides, in my astral form I can recover faster and aren't hindered with the restrictions of a mortal body. So please Daisuke…if Krad goes then Satoshi does too! Do you want that?' Dark asked and seemed to have struck a nerve with his host.
Daisuke never wanted Satoshi to get hurt…and it hadn't accrued to him till now that Satoshi was in just as much danger as Krad was. If they lost Krad then… 'Alright Dark…just make sure that you come back okay!' Daisuke begged as he finally gave in.
Dark smirked and began to approach the demon that was to busy fighting with Krad, to acknowledge the Phantom Thief closing the distance between them. 'Thank you Daisuke…I promise…'
Dark stood firmly as Daisuke's energy flowed through him as he concentrated on the spell, "Ich mochte helfen…" Then the Phantom Thief placed his hand on Krad's arm and suddenly was gone.
Notes from the Author:
Oh…sniffles you guys are great! Sniffles And to say thanks for being so understanding, I'm uploading a long 10-page chapter for ya! SKWEEEEEEEEEEE! We're coming into the home stretch of the Fic and I'll get to work on chapter 12 ASAP! Thanks for commenting and reading and here ya go! Chapter 11 of Distance number 3! ENJOY!!
General Kitty Girl
P.S. SKWEEEEEEEEEEE!! More chocolate! Dances This'll keep me going a while! THANKS EVERYONE!!