Chapter 25

He smirked. "Next to the wielder of the Monado..." He grabbed me. "None of our powers will work."

"Andrew!" shouted Shulk, drawing the Monado. A symbol began to flash on it.

"Andrew, I'll-"

"NO!" I replied. "It's me he wants to kill! Stay out of it, Shulk! You won't even be able to hurt him!"

"Heh..." Jake leapt away a long distance, and we landed a bit away from Frontier Village. He let go of me and moved back. We began to circle each other.

"That hawk eagle... I hope it made you stronger." He lunged, fast. Too fast. I slowed time and our weapons met.

"OTHERWISE THIS WILL BE YOUR GRAVE!"

I grunted, pushing him back. "For the last time... there is absolutely no way this can end in no more bloodshed?"

"Nah," he smirked. "I live for battle. IT'S THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS!" he howled, as his aura appeared, the ghostly demon materializing. "SHOW ME! SHOW ME EVERYTHING YOU HAVE!

"AND I WILL STILL KILL YOU! AND THEM! AND EVERYTHING, EVER!"

I looked at him. "But why though?"

He growled. "You're asking me why? BECAUSE I CAN!"

I groaned. "Fine..." I roared, morphing into my Soul Trigger state. "I don't want to die.

"If you're the one lying there in the ground dying, now it was your fault."

"THEN COME ON!" he shouted.

My blade met the ghost demon's and his spear at the same time.

We forced each other back.

"LET'S DO THIS, OUTSIDER TO OUTSIDER!" he screamed.

I smiled. "RAH!" Our weapons clashed, with intensive force.

"TRY AND KILL ME, FELLOW OUTSIDER! TRY!" yelled Jake, forcing me back.

"IT'LL MAKE CRUSHING YOU SO MUCH BETTER!"

This guy is a psycho, I thought. But I couldn't resist smiling again.

"BRING IT ON!" I shouted, moving skywards before descending towards him. "RAH!"

The ghost demon swung, but I deflected it with ease and moved on to attack him. "Hah! GOOD, YOU'RE PUTTING UP A FIGHT!" yelled Jake, and he stabbed me with his spear.

I flinched for a moment, and in that moment he unleashed a blast of Ether that threw me into a tree. "Ow!" I grunted, before raising my sword to block a ghostly sword. "Ugh!" I leapt away as he stabbed for me.

"Still running away? What a shame. Even though it's only been about 3 hours since we last fought, I thought that you'd be much stronger than this," grunted Jake.

"What were you expecting?" I panted, before sending shockwaves at him. He evaded with ease and stabbed the ground. I grunted, rolling away from the burst of Ether from below.

Ether... isn't that what weakens the Time Slow and Soul Trigger powers? I thought. To both of us! "What...?"

"So you finally realized it, stupid dense Outsider," laughed Jake. "I've been weakening you all this time with my control over Ether. It affects me too, but... not as much."

How come this sounds like a boss cliche or something? I wondered. Probably because it is... "Great..." I spread my wings, moving into the sky. Suddenly, my vision sharpened to an extreme despite my lack of glasses.

Is this because of that hawk eagle thing's blood? I thought. When we fought it and it went into me because reasons... probably plot convenience because if this was a story, this might be the only way I could fight this guy!

Eh. Or maybe just a coincidence. I don't know.

I howled, lunging. I stabbed with Stab Strike, and Jake's demon raised its sword.

"Huh...?" Jake let out a gasp as he and the ghost demon together were forced backwards. "What...?"

I breathed out. Time was slowly returning to normal in my eyes. "RAH!" I howled, using Whip Slash. I cut the ghost demon apart, and it faded away.

Jake staggered, though his aura remained. A large smile crept into his face. "Nice!" he shouted, his spear impaling me as I slashed him. His expression didn't change, and he blasted me away with another burst of Ether.

I groaned, slowly recovering from hitting a tree. "Ugh...!" I let out a gasp, and time reverted to normal. "Huff..."

"This... THIS IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" he roared, stabbed the ground. I took to the air from instinct, and the Ether rushed upwards at me, like a volcano erupting.

"UGH!" I fell from the sky and lost my form. "Unh..." I rose, shaking. "Huff..."

Jake laughed. He was suddenly slower and his aura faded away. "It's no fun if I can power-up and you can't." With those words he moved in with a wide swing using his spear.

I grunted, just managing to meet his attack. "Ah...!" I slid away and he cut me with the sharp part of the weapon. "Ugh!"

"Hah!" He spun his spear in his grasp, and a green version of him materialized, rushing forward.

A clone?! I let out a grunt, raising my sword to deflect a stab. "Huh...?" The real Jake was leaping at me over his clone.

"RAH!" He stabbed, and I just moved so he cut my cheek instead of stabbing my face.

The clone cut me, and I staggered from the blow.

"Come on... use them Arts you're capable of using!" he yelled. "Show me everything! I want to have the time of my life when I finally kill you, you know."

I groaned. "You...!" I grunted as Jake stabbed the ground. I just dodged an eruption of Ether, and the clone and the real person came in at the same time.

I used Cross Slash, cutting the clone of Ether and forcing Jake back, the attack coming out from instinct.

"Huh!" Jake slid away with a smirk. "Alright..." His aura came back and he moved forward, stabbing. I used Stab Strike to counter, and somehow met his stab. "Geh...!" I slashed at him, though Jake was much faster, his stab lunging forward.

I moved so it just grazed my side, and he cut it across, inflicting another wound.

"Huh!" Jake kicked me away with a whistle. "This is boring and pointless. Ready to die yet?"

"I don't think so," I responded, rising again. I launched shockwaves at him, which Jake dodged with ease. "Damn," I muttered under my breath.

He laughed, and the ghost demon came back. "Come on, Outsider."

I groaned, my form flickering for a few moments, from my normal state to my transformed one. "RAH!" Finally, as I roared, I maintained my power-up. "HAH!" I moved into the air, and my eyesight sharpened again.

The ghost demon's sword met my sword, and I gasped as Jake's spear landed a glancing blow. "Ugh!"

"Hah!" He used the ghost demons to stab me and throw me into a tree. "RAH!" He lunged, the demonic aura surrounding him growing more intensive as the demon cut for me. I rolled away and Jake cut me with his spear again.

I groaned, slowing time. For one second he was slow enough to match, then he was as fast as before. I howled, stabbing. The tips of both our weapons met, sparks flying as they glanced off each other.

The demon slashed at me, and I deflected the attack using Whip Slash. "Huff...!" I swung at Jake, who leapt so high my swipe missed. "Huff...!" I blocked his spear's massive swing.

"RAH!" He moved away, stabbing the ground. I rolled away from a blast of Ether from below.

I panted, spreading my wings to take into the air. "Ugh!" I flew around, sending shockwaves at the spear user. His demon cut, forcing them back at me.

With a grunt I cut back, forcing them back at Jake with more speed and power.

Wait a minute... this is Ganondorf from The Legend Of Zelda, Ocarina Of Time! The hell?!

Are we going to play ping pong?!

Jake dodged the shockwaves, and let out a roar. A clone of Ether appeared, with a ghostly demon behind him as well.

I panted. "Well..." I muttered curses under my breath that my parents wouldn't approve of, and I grunted.

The real Jake leapt unto his clone's demon's blade, jumping at me, still in the air. "COME ON!"

I gasped for air, moving downwards, using Defensive Reversal to block one attack, and then Stab Strike to attack at Jake.

He moved his spear to block my stab, and I howled. "RAH!"

His eyes widened as I broke his spear and stabbed him, pinning him to the ground, blade piercing some part of his body, hopefully something lethal.

"UGH!" he roared as I twisted my sword in him. "You...! SON OF A-"

"SHUT UP!" I took out my sword, and two ghost demons stabbed me. "Ugh...!" I used my left hand and shattered the sword of a ghost demon with it, somehow.

I blocked the Ether clone's stab and cut it apart.

With a scream I coughed up blood on the ground, everything reverting to normal. Pain exploded throughout my entire body.

Jake's demon faded away, as well as his aura.

"Damn..." he cursed. "Should've known... that letting... him... do that..."

"W... what?" I managed, staggering. Blood pumped from all the wounds on my body, and I tore away the damaged right sleeve of my coat shirt thing. "Who is... him?"

He looked at me with a smirk. "Oh... you wish... finding the an... answers... in life... was... so easy..."

"I do, actually," I replied, stabbing my blade in the ground to steady myself.

"Well... you'll... find out..."

"Fine, then. I'll find out." I walked over to him. "It's over." I raised my sword.

"Andrew, stop!" yelled Shulk, through some trees. "Don't kill him!"

"Why?" Jake and I asked at the same time.

"He can't fight anymore!" he gasped. "So there's no reason to kill him!"

"You were fighting him, weren't you?" I growled. "What about Dunban? Now he's lost his whole right arm."

Sadness flooded Shulk's gaze. "But... that... that's no reason to kill this person!"

Jake laughed, weak. "Check... check it out... Outsider! This... this guy... wants you to spare me!"

"I won't," I replied, pointing my sword down at Jake. "Ready to die?"

Shulk gasped. "Andrew! NO!" He rushed forward, using the Monado to block my stab. "Don't... kill him...!" He struggled to lift the sword. "He... can't even fight anymore...!"

I let out another growl. "Move, Shulk. This guy has to die."

"No!" he shouted, unleashing the beam. "Don't, Andrew! Don't become a cold murderer! Don't just-"

I let out a roar, and used my left hand to grab Shulk. "SHUT UP!" I threw him away. "RAH!"

I slashed across Jake's throat, and he stopped moving, staring at the sky for forever.

"Andrew!" yelled Shulk. "Why?! Why did you kill him?!"

I growled. "You wouldn't understand. You think everyone has at least a bit of good in them, right? Well, I've got news for you. Not everyone is like that. Some people are evil. Or not good, anyway." I pointed at Jake. "Like this guy."

He stared at me. His eyes blinked, shock expressed clearly alongside confusion. "What?"

I gaves a slight hiss. "Come on... let's just... go back." Exhaustion flooded me, and my whole body was engulfed in molasses and with weights of 100 pounds of lead for each limb.

Shulk turned, head down, walking away.

I staggered after him.

I'm not a good person either, I thought. I'm someone who sins, over and over, and never stops.

I am the true villain of this story.

Thanks for reading!