Kingdom Hearts: Chaos Angel
Episode 16: Even Deeper
"Here it is…" Sora came to a stop against the large double-doors of the mansion.
"Whoa… TAZ owns this place!" Rob blinked, looking upon the mansion in slack-jawed awe.
"Yeah," Sora looked over the looming building, not forgetting his own fascination with it. "At least, that's what he said. A time warp sent him straight into Kingdom Hearts."
"Kingdom Hearts? Uhhh…what's that?" Maya asked as she suddenly appeared behind them.
"The Heart of all worlds," Sora answered calmly, ignoring Rob's sudden flinch of surprise. "Where the darkness lives and the light escapes into the worlds. Taz said some technology allowed him to shape Kingdom Hearts and the End of the World into this mansion. Maybe that's why the Chaos Saints were so adamant about meeting here…"
"Chaos Saints?" Rob whirled around, glaring at Sora. "What the hell do they want? That Axel guy, that blond bitch that keeps mocking us…"
"Chaos Saints? Who are they?" Maya asked.
Both Rob and Sora turned to stare at Maya. She stared back, perplexed. "What? I've never seen these 'Chaos Saints' you keep talking about. Although there was that one guy…"
"What guy?.!" Sora and Rob shot at the same time.
Maya jumped back a bit at the desperate tone in their voice. "Hey! All I know is that some hooded guy swept in while I was trapped on that Kagato guy's ship and he started blabbing about the power of chaos, the end of darkness and light…"
"I get it," Rob interrupted. "Sounds like them. Sora," He turned to the chocolate-haired boy. "You think Taz might know some more about these guys?"
"Maybe… he didn't seem to want to tell me much about them, though," Sora shrugged. He grinned. "It's worth a shot."
"All right, then! Let's just go," Rob shoved his hand forward, giving him a head start in pushing the giant doors open. The three of them walked inside.
-------
"Hello?.!" Rob called out, scanning the empty halls of the mansion. "Taz? WHERE ARE YOU?"
"Shut it, Rob," Sora chided, walking at slower pace than the dark boy. "This mansion's huge. So in all likelihood, Taz will find you first." Sora paused suddenly; an idea had begun to form in his head. He suddenly plowed ahead and raced up the stairs.
"Whoa," Rob flinched as Sora passed him, before revving up his shoes and skating to catch up to him as well. "What's the rush?"
"Taz might know where the keyhole is," Sora answered, trying to pick up speed as he dashed through another set of doors. Rob and Maya both followed in hot pursuit.
"I thought you just told me that Taz was more likely to find US first," Rob skated alongside Sora, a grin playing on his lips.
"Well, I changed my mind!" Sora resolved as he rushed ahead; however, Rob simply skated, allowing him to keep up with Sora easily.
Maya, on the other hand…"HEY! Wait for MEEEEEEE!" She wailed, struggling to keep up.
------
"Th-that is not advisable, Miss Oni!" a panicked Vexen gibbered. "The girl is still very much unstable!" The scientific Chaos Saint and the seraph were elsewhere in the mansion inside a living room with a giant table. As Riku had returned with the 9th Chaos Saint, she immediately released her to do as she pleased.
(Better for her to vent her instability now than when it could actually cost us,) Oni's double-voice answered coolly. (Besides, there is little need to worry. It is highly doubtful that both she and her target won't emerge alive. Black Ghost's silly plan was only to serve as a catalyst to the dark boy's descent into darkness.)
"Didn't you say BOTH Keyblade masters had to be alive in order for the Chaos Angel to show up?" a very irritated Riku snapped from the corner of the room, where he sat in sulky silence.
(Your angry façade is amusing, but I can tell you're only worrying about Sora), Oni's malicious grin widened. (Don't. He's one of our most critical pieces. Sora's power over the light has already been awakened. The dark boy, however, needs a bit more coercing.)
"What do you mean by that?" Riku raised an eyebrow, not sure he liked the sound of that.
(You'll see, my dear boy, you'll see.) And with that Charlotte/Oni left the room.
--------
Sora burst through yet another door, coming across a large, empty foyer. He skidded to a stop, looking around.
"It's… too quiet around here," Sora commented quietly, as Rob burst through the doors and skidded to a stop alongside him. The elder Keyblade master noticed a complete lack of… life around this mansion. No Heartless, no Vivi, no Taz… not even a single encounter with the Soulless. He felt a faint touch of darkness…
…and turned to see Rob, his face etched in a deep caricature of consternation. Sora would've laughed at the comic expression on his face had Rob not spoken the following words: "It reminds me of home."
"Of course it does, Taz influenced this place…" Sora answered. He then remembered back to the family portrait he'd seen upon entering the mansion. "Do you two live together?"
"Yeah," Rob answered. "Me, my sister, Taz, Ken, Charlotte, Clara, and our adoptive parents. We did a lot together… we managed the church, we went traveling, we did so much… but lately, we've been drifting apart." Rob's mind drifted back to distant memories.
"I don't know what happened, but once the Heartless appeared on Earth, things became tense around the house… the church as well." Sora listened as Rob continued, "We all feared that one day our house would be gone, too. Devoured by the Heartless, just as so many other places had been. There were fights between siblings, Charlotte was becoming more sadistic than normal… but there was never anything strong enough to push everyone away." Rob smiled slightly at this fact. Unfortunately, the expression faded almost as swiftly as it appeared. He turned to Sora with a snarl as he continued. "Maybe I've been oblivious to it like my sister, but since then we have grown… hateful of each other. My older "brother" Ken betrayed us, thinking we would be too dangerous with the Keyblade. Charlotte is now possessed by some form of a psychotic angel… and Team Rocket kidnapped Clara…" he clenched his teeth. "No TELLING of what evils they've done to her. All I want is for us to be together again! All I want is to GO HOME!" With those words, a dark aura resonated from his heart so strongly that even Sora felt it.
"Calm down!" Sora shouted. "You'll find a way to reunite your family… I promise! I'll even help!" He added resolutely.
"Thanks, Sora," Rob smiled sadly.
"There you are!" The door swung open, almost in indignant pain as Maya stomped towards the two of them. "I can't believe you two were such meanies and lost me!"
"Meanies?" Sora forced himself not to giggle.
"I guess you don't care about me at all, do you?" Maya pouted. It didn't last long --almost instantly shifting to prideful boasting. "That's too bad, because I found Taz!"
"You did? Where?" Sora and Rob asked in unison.
"Right here," Taz stepped out from behind the girl, a congenial smirk on his face. "I take it you've missed me?"
"Taz!" Rob shouted with glee as he raced towards his old friend/family member, squashing him in a tight bear hug.
"Easy on the lungs, mate," Taz strained; Rob was (unwitting, Taz hoped) crushing his lungs.
Rob let go and backed away slightly. "Since when have you gone with the British accent, man?"
"Since I've been here. I always wanted one," Taz shrugged, the smirk still plastered on his face. Rob rolled his eyes. "Now, mate, you could do well and tell me what the hell took you so long. This bloke here has even less sense of direction than you do and he STILL beat you," He jerked his thumb in Sora's direction.
"Hey!" Sora cried indignantly. Maya giggled.
Sora straightened himself haughtily. "Where is everybody? Vivi? Peter Pan? And didn't Sara sneak back here?"
"Lesee here," Taz thought aloud as if checking off a grocery list. "Vivi went back to his home world, said something about 'a new friend', Peter Pan went to go chat with Wendy again, and I ain't seen Sara for more than five seconds before she threatened to rip my lungs out if I told you where she'd gone."
"Okay," Sora nodded, somewhat satisfied. He'd have to heckle Sara on a later date the Keyhole was top priority. "Speaking of sense of direction, you wouldn't happen to know in which general direction the Keyhole was, would you?"
A mischievous sparkle shone in Taz's eye. "I believe I might have some idea. Follow me, my duckies." He marched over to a door on the left, seizing the handle and rushing inside.
Sora and Rob exchanged glances before following him. Maya shrugged resignedly, before also tailing the other three.
----
As she watched them go, she felt a pang of sadness clench her heart. There they were, hopeful in their ability to save the world, and probably oblivious to the fact that she existed anymore. The man known as Slade had promised her her life back, free of these defilements installed by Black Ghost, if only she would destroy her adoptive brother. It was no easy task, and at first she refused, but only after Slade made it clear that Rob would doom the world did she agree. If only to make the job easier, she focused her hatred on her target. Perhaps despising him would make it easier.
Steeling herself for the task ahead, Clara silently followed the four of them.
----
"You know, I've noticed the distinct lack of other people around you, mate," Taz commented to Rob as he led the small group down a flight of stairs into a deeper part of the mansion. "You can't be that anti-social, seriously?"
"What's THAT supposed to mean?" Rob retorted.
"We're not anti-social! We have lots of friends!" Maya chirped. "There's Sonic the Hedgehog, Cloud, Tifa…"
"Sonic?.! As in THE Sonic the Hedgehog?" Taz gaped, amazed that Rob would have befriended such an unusual celebrity.
"How many other Sonics are there?" Rob countered, a rare grin lighting his face.
Sora simply listened as the other three chatted on, catching up with each other like old friends. The elder Keyblade Master looked around, trying to find—or even sense the presence of—the Keyhole. They seemed no closer to finding it than they had when they'd arrived. Did Taz really know where the Keyhole was?
"Umm Taz?" Sora gestured, looking around and spotting an all too familiar Heartless crest. "I don't think we're in Earth's section of the Mansion anymore…"
Sora suddenly stopped.
A feeling of malevolence washed over him.
"Sora, what's wrong?" Maya asked, blinking.
"I feel like we're being watched…" Sora trailed off.
Rob must have felt it too, his body tensing in response. "We're… being followed?"
At this revelation, their stalker found it useless to hide any longer. She walked out into the open…
And everyone except Sora dropped their jaws in shock as Clara walked somberly into view. The girl in question looked no different on the outside than she did several weeks ago when all this began. The same pleasantly cute face and shoulder-length brown hair still greeted them. The same casual style of dress she always wore (Khaki pants plus blouse) still adorned her small frame, surprisingly neat and tidy.
"…Clara?" Rob ventured.
For a moment, Rob saw what was distinctly different, distinctly evil about her… her eyes were different. Modified like a robot's, looking positively murderous…
In the span of a single second, Clara swept forward with a concealed blade and attempted to slice Rob in half.
She missed only by a mere inch.
"Wh-what are you doing?" Rob gasped in shock as Clara whipped around and tried to slice him again. This time his Keyblade was ready, as he blocked Clara's second attack. No doubt his heart would've been pierced had he been just half a second too late. "Wh-why are you trying to kill me?"
"You ruined my life!" Clara stabbed down again, and Rob deflected the attack once more.
"Clara, this isn't like you!" Maya shouted. "Why are you doing such mean things?"
"Yeah! Umm.. what she said!" Taz added.
"I… I want my life back…" Clara replied with perfect calm as she used her attached blades to slash at Rob again. The boy tried furiously to block her assault, barely succeeding. Clara pivoted on one foot and leapt into the air with unnatural grace. Twirling her body, she slashed powerfully with the gleaming blades, very nearly leaving a deep gasp across Rob's shoulder.
"Urgh!" Rob crumpled under the blocked attack. Clara landed and swept a foot into his chest, knocking him backwards with unnatural strength. Rob strained to get up. "What's wrong with you! What did Team Rocket do to you?"
"Look at me!" Clara cried, showing her arm and revealing her veins, now very obvious and metallic. The blades were still jutting from her skin. "I'm not even human anymore! I've been turned into a cyborg!"
"What?.!" Rob gasped. Just like those cyborgs he met that had been melded from Black Ghost…
"They told me you were going to destroy the world! Leave me and all of our friends ugly and defiled by the darkness forever!" Clara declared, hunched in a fighting stance.
"That's a lie 'they' told you and you know it!" Sora suddenly challenged the girl, his Keyblade ready. "That doesn't give you any reason to kill your family!"
"I can't even FACE my family anymore!" Clara raged, nearly sobbing. "He's the only thing standing in the way… then I can see them again… and not be cursed by this… ugliness!"
"How can you be so shallow?" Sora asked, growing more disgusted with this girl.
"Just get out of my way…" Clara hopped into the air, curling herself into a ball. In this form she charged towards Sora.
Ignoring the strange sound effects of this equally weird attack, Sora jumped up and swung his blade and knocked Clara out of the sky. Unfortunately, he learned too late of what those sounds were.
A flurry of tiny rockets zoomed towards Sora, and before the boy could react, the rockets pummeled him against the ground with rapid explosions.
Clara turned on her heel and headed towards the cringing Rob again with a Stomp Stomp STOMP STOMP.
Taz and Maya, however, had enough. Maya went first, twirling a dagger before she screamed "Thunder!" A bolt of lightning struck Clara, harming her and causing some of her implanted circuits to sizzle slightly. Taz then whipped out his magic-based shotgun, firing at her with a powerful blast. He cringed visibly at the loud TWANG the projectile made when it struck Clara's chest.
"Whoo, she really IS a cyborg," Taz commented under his breath.
Clara snarled as she stood up again. "See? SEE! Look at what's happened to me! How ugly I've become! And this is only the beginning!" She leapt towards Taz and smashed him with a powerful roundhouse. Taz was sent careening into a pile of boxes that scattered everywhere upon impact.
"Ow." Taz stated. Another box promptly hit him on the head, adding insult to injury.
"Soon this whole WORLD will be ugly! Twisted by darkness…!" She unsheathed her blades from her arms again and charged towards Maya. The older girl attempted to block the young Clara's attacks, failing miserably. Clara swung the blade in wide arc, leaving a large gash along Maya's side.
"Augh!" Maya crumpled to the ground, tears welling up in her eyes.
Rob stood up. His teeth clenched. His feelings were an incoherent jumble, although the one thing he was certain of was burning rage . His darkness growing ever stronger…
And then he spoke, his hatred apparent in both his neon orange eyes and his speech. "If you so desired to purify the world, you should have joined Brother Blood," His voice was low, almost guttural.
Stomp Stomp STOMP STOMP STOMP. Rob's Keyblade was out, and before Clara had even the chance to react, a powerful slice severed quite a bit of her chest. "You have the gall to kill your own family!" SLICE! "To believe all that CRAP Black Ghost told you!" SCHHHINK! "You… you aren't Clara anymore! Just some HOLLOW SHELL to torment me and all those I CARE ABOUT!" SLICE!
The darkness was racing through his veins, driving every move he made; Rob aimed his Keyblade. "DIE, DAMN YOU!" The finishing blow came in the form of an almighty blast of darkness that hit the girl squarely in the chest, sending her back a good twenty feet. Clara fell to her knees, her head hung over, almost as if she were dead.
Without warning, she began to rise again. She floated in the air, a great amount of heat gathering around her body. She screamed in fury as the heat seemed to incinerate her, exploding with power.
"Clara!" Maya cried. "No!"
The resulting attack knocked our heroes askew, but Rob only clenched his teeth as he slid back from a near-unsuccessful block.
The explosion faded.
All was quiet.
Clara was gone. No body, not even any ashes.
"Clara…" Maya whispered.
"She was gone before we even saw her again…" Rob muttered. "That… THING couldn't have been Clara." The darkness flowing through him continued to gain power, in spite of the battle having ended.
In turn, so did Sora's light… and that light was loathing the darkness in that moment. "What's wrong with you?" Sora challenged. "To go and… and do that to her like that! Ever think there could be a better solution!"
"There was no better solution…" Rob's face contorted into a lopsided, dark grin. "It was either her or us. I would've preferred to go with her, anyway. She was a whiny, selfish brat."
"What's gotten into you?" Maya pleaded with her twin brother. "You're… being twisted!"
"Is that it, huh?" Rob's grin fell, nearly feral rage taking it's place. "Was SHE right?.! Was she right to kill ME! Was she right to try and kill us ALL over FALSE LIES?.!"
"You're totally twisted, mate," Taz added, still weak from his trip to Boxing Land.
"Look at you! You sound just like Ansem!" Sora bellowed. "You're going into the
darkness with no respect for those around you! Just like he did!"
"Shut up," Rob snarled, his tone laced with acid.
"You're going out of control. Let me help you!" Sora aimed his Keyblade.
"Oh NO you won't," Rob bellowed. "You and your stupid light! Thinking you're better than me… or the rest of the world! All of the ignorant shall taste DARKNESS!" With that, Rob lunged, hatred gleaming in his eyes.
Sora, however, was faster. Recalling his light spells, Sora let loose a concentrated beam of holy energy squarely into Rob's heart.
"AUGH!" Rob doubled over in immense pain. The darkness was now swirling about him, giving him a far more wicked aura. He looked up at Sora with hateful eyes. "C-c-curse… you…" And with that, Rob disappeared in a muddled flash of darkness.
Sora and Maya stared blankly, both refusing to acknowledge Rob's fate. That is, until they spoke.
"Things are going so wrong…" Maya sniffled. "M-maybe they're right. Maybe Rob IS going to doom the world."
"No… it can't be…" Sora sighed, before gritting his teeth in determination. "I'm going to see to that." He turned to Maya. "I promise… we'll get him back." He turned to follow Rob's trail. "Maya… tell the others to get off this planet. Get all of them off. I'll seal this world on my own. Should I fail…" He swallowed hard and tried not to think about the alternative. "Find Kairi. She lives on Destiny Islands. She's a princess of Heart. Maybe she can help in all this..."
"B-but," Maya stuttered.
"Don't worry about me. I'll get your brother back. I'll help you guys piece together what's left of your family. It's my promise to you… and your brother," Sora steeled himself. "The Mansion of Souls may be safe, but Earth isn't! Get as many people off as you can! Call the Titans! I've got this! GO!" With that, Sora sprinted off deeper into the mansion. Maya reluctantly turned and sprinted in the direction from which she'd come. She resolved not to think about her brother. Couldn't allow herself to think about him, because then her own heart would shatter.
"Ummm, guys? Guys? Maybe you can help me?" Taz called weakly, still sprawled in the mess of boxes littering the floor. Another box smacked against his forehead. Somehow, he had the feeling he'd never feel the same way about artificial packaging ever again. "On second thought, I'll just take a nap…" Taz muttered to himself as he slowly drifted into unconsciousness.
Only moments later, a being faded back into existence. Clara slumped to the ground, entirely exhausted of all strength. Such an attack had only caused her to fade out of existence for a mere few seconds, but she was foolish enough to try and hold it for five minutes. Lying on the ground, she was helpless as a red-haired guy calmly walked in.
Seeing the fragile girl lying helplessly on the floor, Axel chuckled inwardly. He scooped her up in his arms.
"I… I failed…" Clara whispered, tears streaming through her eyes. "I was so… weak. Ugly."
"On the contrary," Axel responded. "You were perfect. You don't have to worry about those guys. It's all part of the plan. Black Ghost gave you something without even realizing it."
"What's that?"
"Unbreakable will," Axel's grin softened, but didn't disappear. "Come with me. Not that you have a choice. I'm sorta late for a meeting with King Mickey and the Knucklehead."
Still cradling Clara, he walked out of the room
-----
"King Sephiroth…?" Goofy asked. "Where ya goin'?"
"I have urgent matters at the Mansion of Souls. I must meet with your king," Sephiroth strode past Goofy.
Donald, upon hearing this, rushed past Goofy and slid to a stop in front of the king. "Take us with you!"
"Out of my way," Sephiroth simply swept his sword at Donald and kept on walking, ignoring the fact that Donald dodged his attack unscathed. "This business is not for the two of you."
"Hey, you said King Mickey was going to meet us here!" Donald shot back.
"A change of plans," Sephiroth calmly answered. "Something has come up. Your friend Sora could be in danger."
"What!" Donald exclaimed.
"We need to go help!" Goofy added, walking to stand beside Donald.
"Not very wise," Sephiroth answered. He pulled what looked like a Gummi from his pocket and tossed it over to Donald. "Take this Navi Gummi and head to the planet it indicates. Wait there."
"Why!" Donald asked.
"You'll see when you get there. Your time to act will soon come," Sephiroth continued on his way and disappeared beyond the castle.
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"N-no… darkness…" Rob stumbled through random rooms of the mansion. The darkness was taking over quite easily, thanks to his terrible mess of emotions. All his friends turning on him, having to kill Clara… it was all in a shambles, the shards of his life scattered, and he couldn't decipher it. So he kept calling for the only thing that made sense to him. "D-d-darkness…" Everything was a blur. The tears, the hatred, all of that produced nothing save one big haze as he blindly wandered the halls.
And suddenly, he heard it.
Or rather, her.
Darkness.
"Huh… who… what are you?"
Shame Bob, you've already forgotten me.
Plunging your heart into that silly darkness of yours.
Rob slowly turned around to see Charlotte, as calm and sadistic as ever. Her four wings were folded behind her, "Charlotte… hate… you. All… your suffering and… I… hate… you…"
(Suffering?) Her double-voice was now more focused. (Foolish boy, you do not understand suffering. You're angsting like a fanbrat. Those WERE your decisions you made back there.)
"SHUT… UP," Rob strained. "I was… talkin' bout… YOU…"
(I do not suffer. Only endure. You… on the other hand, just rage like a toddler.)
"CURSE YOU," Rob bellowed. "This is… the DARKNESS… doing this… to me!"
(No, you fool. YOU are doing this. You can't understand why everyone hates your whiny, pompous, immature self. They hate you for what you will become. You will become what they feared. So they alllll tried to stop you.) Charlotte's tone was mocking, only serving to further Rob's anger.
"Shut up!"
(No, I won't shut up. They tried to kill you, your darkness was too strong, you smelt conspiracy against your life. So you only did what was fair… strike first.)
"SHUT UP!"
(Soon all of humanity will hate you, too. You'll have to kill them to survive… annihilate their evil wishes! Isn't that right?)
"SHUT UP!" Rob fired a blast of darkness at her. She deftly dodged the attack.
(Oh look at that. I'm next on your hit list! Isn't that cute?)
"Shut up…" Rob drew his Keyblade. It appeared to have faded from its gold luster of the PokéBlade and reverted back to its original, dark form. "Die…" He took a slash at Charlotte, who dodged the attack. He swung again… missed. And yet again… still missed. Charlotte was simply too fast for him.
(Darkness means nothing to me,) Charlotte grinned as she landed nimbly atop Rob's Keyblade. Her foot caught him in the chest, smashing into him with a nasty kick. The boy crashed into the floor and tumbled to a stop against a nearby wall. Rob strained to recover before finally standing. He snarled before slamming the ground, letting a wave of darkness tear towards the maniacal teenager.
Charlotte dodged yet again, twirling daintily in the air before planting yet another kick against Rob's chest. Unlike last time, however, Rob only stumbled before recovering and charging again. "DIE, DAMN YOU!" He swept his Keyblade in a wide arc, bringing a vicious wave of darkness. However, Charlotte teleported out of the way, reappearing in front of Rob and smashing him down with yet another kick.
(And if darkness is nothing… then you… are less than nothing,) Charlotte's sneer dripped with malevolence. She charged him, energy billowing from her body. Rob barely managed to block the attack. Charlotte suddenly grabbed his arm and slung him down so hard he made a small crater.
Rob strained in fury and pain. She must be buried in darkness… must…
(As you are less than nothing…) Charlotte reared back for a powerful attack.
"PERISH IN DARKNESS!" Rob bellowed, summoning all of his strength.
The resulting blast left a gaping hole in the girl's chest.
Charlotte's grin disappeared in a flash, shifting into a contorted mask of shock and agony. She fell back, limply.
"I…" Charlotte began.
Rob straightened his Keyblade.
"I finally lost… to Bob…" Charlotte breathed. "I failed you, Miss Oni…"
Rob raised his weapon, ready to bring it down and end her life.
No you haven't.
Without warning, a powerful blast of pseudo-electricity burst from the artificial crater, shocking the dark boy. The blast sent him flying across the room, crashing into (and through) a few walls. He bounced twice before coming into a painful stop in the center of a room, rubble surrounding his aching body.
Everything hurt, every limb, every muscle was laced with agonizing pain that made the world seem somewhat dimmer. Rob groaned; it hurt entirely too much for him to even consider moving. He stared blankly into the sky…
The sky!
This realization made Rob flinch in shock… and then instantly regret it, as his body was racked by another wave of pain. He cried out.
Hullo, child, a calm but commanding feminine voice rang out. You are too weak right now to fight. Sleep, and let the darkness rule your planet.
"No…" Rob tried to summon the strength to move, finding he had not even the slightest ounce of strength left.
It is alright… the soothing voice answered. Look, deep into your heart. The wound there will flood the world in darkness. Rest my child. You will rise again. Rise again to end the darkness as you knew it.
Rob looked down at his chest. True to the voice's word, a vast river of darkness was ebbing right out of his heart, slowly transforming the ground below him. Speaking of that, he saw a shape forming right below him. A rounded edge… it looked like…
A Keyhole.
Rob was right on top of the Keyhole!
The source of that voice walked over to him, finally visible. From where he lay, she looked to be incredibly tall. Four powerful wings, a beautiful face, and a Chaos Saint Outfit that was oddly enough RED instead of black. In her arms lay a broken Charlotte. You, my child, have fought long enough. Rest in the darkness…
"No…" Rob cried again, tears forming in his eyes. The darkness was growing ever stronger. "No!" Excruciating pain.
And with that, Rob let out a shriek of anguish, one that could've shattered the heavens had they been close enough.
------
Slade's one eye widened, then narrowed.
Had anyone removed his mask right then, they would have been greeted by a devilish grin.
"Slade?" Hades glanced over at him.
Slade whispered, "It… has… begun…"