This final chapter is dedicated to Celena Schezar and Rikku142, this story's faithful fans.
Crush
All that was left to do is hope for the best. Nothing else seemed to work, so Dante welcomed any last resort. He swung his jacket into the fire and set it ablaze. Dante ran with the blazing inferno to the other side of the room. The evil Dante chased him all the way, keeping distant. It was hesitant of the flame.
Dante quickly opened the coffin and stepped inside. Leaving the door opened, he placed the flaming jacket on the floor inside the coffin, and the coffin was set ablaze as well. Dante could feel the intense heat of the fire all around him and his arm was beginning to burn, but he didn't care. This was his only chance.
The Doppelganger Dante also recognized this as its final opportunity to end the fight. It got on hands and knees and inhumanly crawled toward the coffin. Finally, it leapt into the air in a charge against Dante.
"…Let this work…"
Dante raised his hand and slowed his surroundings to a dismal pace. Even the flame grew cold from its like of movement, but thankfully it did not go out. He stepped out of the coffin slowly and stood by the coffin door. He watched his reflection hurtle through the air at the most minimal pace into the coffin. He saw the creature hit the back of the coffin, and saw a slow look of confusion come across its face. Then, Dante slammed the door shut on it, and thrust Rebellion deep into the coffin, until it pierced both the Doppelganger and the back wall, locking it inside.
"Gotta love Quicksilver mode, baby…"
The end approached. The blazing coffin brought the shadow creature into its physical form; a form where pain was very real. He could hear his own screams coming from inside. He could see the blood begin to drip out from a crack in the bottom. It was nearing the end of its existence.
"No… this shadow is yours… It is very much a part of you!"
The voice was the envoy of a pain that crept into Dante's body; the pain of his adversary, the pain of his shadow. He could feel himself on fire, even though the flames were nowhere near him. Then he could feel the coldness of death. The creature in the coffin was beginning to die.
The feeling started as just a cold tingling that rose up into his spine. It grew into a freezing tempest that brought him down. It felt as though the very force of gravity had betrayed him.
"This is how shadows die, Dante… Let it crush you."
Dante's face was pressed firmly against the floor. It should've gone through, but its surface was too solid. How much more could his body be forced to take? Did the creature in the coffin feel this as well? No, for him it was worse, as he was probably confined to an even more painful position… He felt his teeth begin to shatter; his toes, one by one, began to snap into the floor.
"Let it crush you! Let your soul become a shadow! Only through the death of your pain can power be achieved…"
Dante's knees broke, and the skin on his legs began to tear away and merge with the floor, becoming large, black swirling pools.
"So…this is…it… I… die here?"
The last thing Dante felt was his skull shatter. His eyes worked for a few seconds after his death. His last sight was his own blood on the floor.
"So you prevail after all… I guess… I was just too weak. But the light is strong within you… You are worthy."
Dante's body was now tumbling down through the air. Above him, he could see the room where he had "died"… the room inside his soul. He continued to fall through darkness and light, and passed out before he hit the bottom.
It lay flat on the floor, across from him, when he opened his eyes… Dante raised his head to get a better look at it; and it did the same. It was another reflection…
"Damn it! How much must I suffer? I'll kill you all!"
The rage was focused into a single punch. It soared through the air. A punch like that had the force to crush anything it came into contact with; shadow or not. But it did not cause the foe to perish. Instead, it was matched with another punch of equal force.
Dante was amazed at the foe's power and reflexes. And the foe seemed curious as well. Then Dante had an idea.
"Try this!"
Dante jumped onto the floor into a break dance. The other Dante did the same, with the same level of skill.
"I knew it! Nobody can match my skills. You must be me."
The familiar voice came unto him again.
"Yes… You see now. This is your shadow. It knows only how to obey because you have conquered its darkness. You have overcome its will… I'm truly blessed to find someone appropriate enough for the power that consumed me. Use this 'Doppelganger' style well, Dante."
"Of course… two times the attack force. I can get used to this."
Dante walked out of the same room where he had faced the Doppelganger originally. All "eyes" were on him, shining brightly. He then walked into the blue teleporting light that had waited for him all this time. He was now ready… to make Arkham face his shadow as well.
"Follow your light Dante. It is not darkness, but light that creates a shadow."
