What Lies in Shadow.

Sparky walked out of the gym, his fur damp with sweat. 6-2-5 walked out with him, the cool breeze felt good on their wet fur. They had been working hard, even 6-2-5. 6-2-5 breathed deep, and said, "Well, see ya later Sparky."

Sparky patted 6-2-5 on the back, "Yeah, good night 6-2-5."

Sparky watched as 6-2-5 turned and walked away. Sparky waited awhile and began to walk away. He walked down the main street of Kokau town, the cool breeze making his step lighter. His only thoughts at the moment were getting home to Clip.

Sparky thought of Houdini, he hadn't seen Houdini in a while, Sparky hoped he was okay. Though Houdini had spoken of something that wanders the night, Sparky had never put any weight into it. Yet Sparky occasionally found himself checking behind his shoulder, afraid to see the creature Houdini spoke of. Clip and Angel had told him countless times that Houdini was mad, that nothing was wrong. Yet Sparky knew that they were merely hiding their own fears, they couldn't ignore all the disappearances. Not only Houdini, but others as well. Yin and Yang disappeared before Houdini, Kixx hadn't been to his own gym in a while, for that matter he hadn't see Splodyhead or Slushy in awhile either.

Sparky shook his head, they may have left with most of the others. Sparky recalled that many of the experiments had left Hawaii, or Earth for that matter, to find their true home. Most of them left, only a few of Jumba's experiments remained on the island.

'And now there's something hunting us?' Sparky thought, 'Nonsense...many of them may be fighting the Dark Hand, like Stitch was...'

Sparky turned down a dark street, the street was Glove, he was on his way home. He stopped, there was no light. Sparky had never been afraid of the dark, yet this was just creepy. It seemed like dark silk, stretched across the path, barring his way from safety. Sparky took a deep breath, and focusing, he pushed the energy of electricity into the palm of his hand, creating a little globe of light. The ball gave him sufficient light, and he ventured into the street.

The light cut a path through the darkness. Yet it seemed to do no good, somehow it seemed to stretch on. Sparky fought back the sense of dread he was feeling, then he thought of Clip, and pushed on through the darkness. It seemed never ending, then Sparky saw the end, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Yet when Sparky emerged from the dark, he knew something was wrong. 'This street,' he thought, 'this isn't the street I turned on to...'

He looked around, he knew this was a different street. He felt a twang of panic, he searched for a street sign, it read 'Pine'. Sparky didn't know what to do, 'How did that happen?' Yet he recalled the words Houdini had told him once, "It always begins in madness, the hunt...it becomes maddening...it never ends..."

The wind suddenly howled, and Sparky lost it. "Hello!" he shouted, "Is anyone there?"

"Yes, Sparky, I'm here."

Sparky searched for the source of the voice, from the woman who spoke it. It was so soft, almost melodious to hear. Sparky had never heard such a delicate voice, so beautiful. His ears seemed to tingle with its sound.

"Listen close child, soon you will not hear me. I have only to relay this message."

Sparky nodded, "Yes, yes, but where are you?"

"That is not important, what is important is that once it begins, run...do not stop...go to where the heart is..."

Sparky was confused, "What? Where the heart is?"

"You must go...now...run..."

Sparky didn't want the voice to leave, "Wait...don't g-."

"HE COMES, RUN! FOR THY SOUL, RUN!"

"My dear Sparky, we meet at last."

Sparky heard the voice, it pained his ears. It reeked of filth and torment, fouling the air it occupied. Sparky turned, and saw a cloaked man, standing in the middle of the street, watching Sparky, 'No,' Sparky thought, 'Observing me...'

Sparky turned to face the man, yet he felt a wave of fear rush over him. Sparky could sense the man's power, it radiated from him, overwhelming Sparky. Sparky instantly knew, that this man was infinitely more powerful than Sparky.

The man stepped forward, his entire features covered by his cloak. "Wandering the night is dangerous you know...after all...you may run into a stranger..."

The figure cackled under his cloak. Sparky found the sound repulsive, "Who are you?"

The figure looked at him, "For you my son, I will have many names. You will call me demon, curse my name. Yet one thing you will know and understand, you will fear me...before our little affair is done..."

The figure took a step towards Sparky, and Sparky took a step away. The figure cackled again, finding some fascinating joy in this activity. Sparky hated that noise, and he realized, that he barely knew this person, yet Sparky already hated him.

The melodious voice was back, "FOOL! RUN! MAKE HASTE FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE HEART! YOU CANNOT BEAT HIM!"

The figure, stopped, as if he heard the voice too, "You...still meddling in my affairs?" Then the figure looked at Sparky, "Pay no attention to her, make no mistake, nothing can protect you...nothing can protect you from the weight of your own sins..."

Sparky stared at the man, "What do you mean, my sins?"

"MAKE HASTE! USE YOUR WITS! EVADE HIM! GET TO THE HEART!" The beautiful voice screamed.

The cloaked figure snapped his fingers, and the melodious voice was gone. The cloaked figure looked to Sparky, "Now, isn't that better, just you and me now..."

Sparky wasted no time, he turned and began to run, heeding the voice's advice. He turned the corner, and was staring right at the cloaked man. The cloaked man waved his finger at Sparky, "Tut tut, running away from company. Have you no manners?"

Fear overtook Sparky, and he felt the rush of electricity run through his veins. He concentrated, and sent an electric jolt to the cloaked man. The man swished his cloak and rebounded the lightning, and rushed Sparky. Sparky was ready, and spread his energy through to his hands, and pounded them into the ground. The electricity spread, lamp posts erupted, lights on the street blinked out, and the cloaked man toppled over, and began to fall towards the deadly ground. Sparky grinned, 'Not so tough after all, eh?'

However, the figure seemed to sprout legs from his back, and he stood, long sinuous black legs supporting him, giving him the appearance of a spider. He raised himself, stretching the dark legs. He looked at Sparky, "You may be able to manipulate the lightning, but I can manipulate the darkness itself..."

The figure raised his hand, and the dark seemed to coalesce into a lance. Sparky let loose his hold on the ground, and prepared to face his opponent. Yet the cloaked man raised his arms high, and more dark lances appeared around him, all pointed at Sparky. The figure flung his arms forward, and the lances came flying at Sparky. Sparky thought quickly, and generated a field of electricity for a shield, but it was no good, the lances shot through, mostly missing, yet one cut through Sparky's arm.

Sparky screamed, it was a small cut, yet it seemed to burn, like fire had been set in his blood. Sparky looked at the man, who smiled back at Sparky, "Well, we're off to a good start, you haven't tried to escape yet, good. Maybe this will be easier than I thought."

The darkness around the cloaked man swirled, and began to spread towards Sparky. Sparky knew he must run, he lifted himself and ran the other way down the street. The figure sighed, and brought the darkness around himself, and disappeared.

Sparky ran, turning down streets running randomly, trying to escape the cloaked man. He turned down an alley, and recognized the street, he was not far from home. Still the fear clutched him, it seemed nowhere was safe, it seemed like every alley held only death, as if every street led back to the cloaked man.

Sparky shook his head, "No, no I have to be brave. Where the heart is?"

Sparky thought for a minute and realized, "Clip, I have to get home..."

He turned and ran down a street, and ran face to face with the cloaked figure again. The figure snickered, "Come now Sparky, it's still a long way home. Do you think you can avoid me for much longer?"

Sparky turned and ran the opposite direction, the way he needed to go to get home. He ran, his legs feeling the strain. He clutched his right arm where the lance had hit him, and felt the warmness of blood. He grimaced as he touched the wound, yet ran on.

He was running, when he felt a tingling on his neck as his fur stood on end. He dodged to the right, and looked as a black lance struck the ground where he had once stood. He saw the lance retract and draw back into the figure, who was still chuckling. Sparky ignored him, and got up and ran. Yet as Sparky ran, his hair kept standing on end to warn him of the lances falling. They fell all around him as he ran, dodging left and right, trying to keep measure of the streets he passed. Marking them, remembering them, and yet pursuing onward.

Sparky looked up at a street sign, he wanted to cry, it was finally his street. He turned down it, and the figure stood at the other end, two houses away from Sparky's.

Sparky was so close, so close and yet the man blocked the way. The cloaked man spoke, anger edging his voice, "Now listen Sparky. We can do this the easy way, or I can hurt you more than you can ever imagine."

The cloaked man began walking to Sparky, Sparky stayed routed to the spot, afraid to move. Sparky found the courage to speak, "Why do you do this? I've done nothing wrong!"

The cloaked man stopped a short distance from Sparky, his bitter tone rang clear, "Nothing! Your sins are evident every time you look at your wife! You...defiling birth with a monstrosity..."

Sparky clenched his teeth, his anger began to boil, "How...dare you..."

The cloaked man did not stop, "I will tell you this though, your wife is quite lovely..." he chuckled, "maybe once I'm through with you...I will have my fun with her..."

Sparky lost it, his power fueled him, powered by his rage. The clouds above gathered, and the roar of thunder pierced the sky, and soon lightning flashed across the darkness above. "You...take that back...you will not lay a hand on her...so long as I stand..."

The cloaked man gathered his darkness, "Come now boy, do you mean to fight me?"

Sparky knew he couldn't win, he just had to get past the man. Electricity surged around him, prickling his skin. He saw the cloaked figure move, getting ready for battle, and Sparky noticed the figure's eyes, blood red in the darkness of the cloak. Yet Sparky paid them no heed, and began to pull the storm's wrath around him, gathering energy. The figure saw this, and launched a lance at Sparky, the lance scraped Sparky's face, burning his flesh. Yet Sparky barely felt it as he gathered up his energy. The figure launched lance after lance at Sparky, piercing Sparky's flesh, yet Sparky was consumed with the power of electricity.

Sparky felt his limit was reached, and he stretched forth his hands, and unleashed the power of the storm. A massive bolt sped towards the figure, blazing at speeds unimaginable. The figure raised his hands in an attempt to block it, but to no avail. The bolt slammed into him, and the figure was knocked back, and with a thud hit the ground. Sparky took this opportunity, and bolted for the house.

Sparky reached his house, burst through the door, quickly turned and locked it, and slowly sank to the floor. He held his breath, expecting the door to fly open, and the figure to be there to finish the fight. But nothing happened, and Sparky breathed a sigh of relief, "God, it's over..."

"No Sparky, not yet, our business is not concluded."

Sparky sat up, the horrid voice seemed to come from everywhere at once. He looked all over but didn't see the figure. Then he heard the voice again.

"You and I still have time together. Your penance is not complete."

Sparky got up and started for the bedroom, and stopped when he heard the voice.

"Oh Sparky, I wouldn't tell Clip if I were you, don't you think it best not to get involved?"

Sparky stood in the hallway, cold sweat pouring down his temples.

"Well Sparky, let's keep this game between us. Just you and me, right? I'll see you soon. But right now, I have other pressing matters to attend to, adieu."

Then all was quiet. The house was still. Sparky's breathing was all that could be heard through the house. He looked at the bedroom, and quietly went inside. He found Clip fast asleep, and stared at his wife. She was so dear to him, so very dear...

He turned away, and rummaged through his clothes and changed for bed. He softly crawled into bed, being careful not to wake Clip. He brushed his fingers through her hair, and laid his arm around her holding her close to him.

Yet Sparky didn't sleep, he kept a vigilant eye on the dark window, protecting his loved one, from all that waited in the shadow...