Phew, this one again took a while! But you're all about to see multiple fights unfold in this chapter!

Just for a little warning before you read: this chapter will contain some minor violence. In fact... this might be the first time I'm ever adding bits of violence in a story of mine, now that I think about it.

Anyhow, enjoy! ;)


Chapter 6: Good vs Dark

[BGM: Alcamoth, Imperial Capital – Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition]

"I can't believe this…" Arusu muttered, sitting in the living room with his arms crossed. "We've got clones of ourselves and Pit roaming about… and they could be anywhere!"

"I'm actually more curious about what Pandora said about the Mirror of Truth…" Zelda pondered. "Does it really reflect the truth within the person looking at it?"

"Hmph, I highly doubt it." Arusu scoffed. "I mean, me, as a sadomasochist like how my clone is?! I may like to go all out with several destructive spells, but I would never go that far."

The other Heroes blinked in surprise. "…Your clone behaves like a sadomasochist?" Eleven asked.

Arusu nodded in response. "From what he said to me back at the Labyrinth, he wants to be punished, but at the same time, he likes to see me suffer."

"…Oh my."

Jewel pondered for a bit, until she spoke up, "I think I might know why Pit and my Bodyguards' clones all have such twisted personalities." everyone's attention turned to her. "It could be because the Mirror of Truth reflects someone's… dark side." she paused for a bit before saying that last sentence.

"What do you mean?" Eight asked.

"Well… It's quite a spiritual thing, but it means that somewhere deep inside your subconscious, there's a certain personality of yours that you never show it to anyone around you, but it's there, hidden and locked deep inside of you. This locked personality is often a wicked and twisted one… just like the ones that the dark clones are showing."

The others' eyes widened in a mixture of astonishment and fascination by this information.

"Actually, now that I think about it…" Trifle mused. "My Special Team, the Allies of Justice, told me about something similar about what they've experienced in the Metaverse. Something called 'Shadows', which they said that these embody a personality what the person has it doesn't like, and thus they deny it having this personality. In a way, it's like these dark clones are the Shadows of their other selves, so what Jewel said isn't too far-fetched."

"So, you both mean that…" Solo began. "In Arusu's case, somewhere deep inside of him that he never shows it because he either dislikes it or denies it… he's secretly a-"

"Yes. A sadomasochist." Jewel nodded, finishing Solo's sentence. "But don't worry, this personality of his is locked away, and that's why he never shows it. His clone, on the other hand…"

"And that's not all that the Phantom Thieves told me about Shadows." Trifle interfered. "They said that the more you reject your own Shadow, the more powerful it becomes." everyone shuddered. "Hey, at least these clones aren't Shadows since they only live in the Metaverse… but still, we've got to hunt them down no matter what!" he proclaimed with determination.

"We're all with you, Trifle." Shulk nodded in agreement.

[BGM End]

"Everyone!" Palutena suddenly came in, with Pit right next to her. "I've located Dark Pit!"

Hearing this, the group immediately stood up from their seats. "You have?!" Melia asked.

"Wait, what about our Dark clones?" Eleven asked.

"They're nowhere to be seen at the moment." Palutena replied. "So let's focus on Dark Pit for now!"

"All right!" Trifle grinned, and with that, the group grabbed their weapons and rushed to the gates along with Pit to take off, where they ended up in a cloudy sky lit by the sunset.

"Where is he?!" Pit asked… and was suddenly greeted by Dark Pit flying upwards in front of him the moment the gang stepped out. "Ow!"

"There he is!" Trifle hollered as the gang watched Pit maneuvering around Dark Pit's shots before charging towards him and slashing him, but he dodged and then the two angels proceeded to clash their bow blades with each other until Dark Pit flew away.

[BGM: Dark Pit – Kid Icarus Uprising]

"Look who finally caught up!" Dark Pit chuckled, dodging the incoming fire that the gang was throwing at him.

"What is your problem?" Pit questioned as he and the others gave chase, pelting Dark Pit with shots from their weapons with some hitting and others missing. "Are you with the Underworld Army?! Is that why you have it out for us?" Pit interrogated his clone.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Dark Pit shot back. "I just don't like the idea of someone copying my act."

"What?! But you're a copy of ME!"

"Come on now. Think about it. If I was a copy, why would I kick my own butt?" a smug smirk was shown on Dark Pit's face as he said that.

"He's got you there…" Jewel pointed out.

"Not helping!" Pit retorted as they kept on firing at Dark Pit. Eventually, their chase after Dark Pit led them to flying into one of the many tornadoes surrounding the area and down to the surface… where the Underworld Army came to greet them. "Great. Now the Underworld Army's here too." Pit muttered as they began taking out the Underworld monsters, but still keeping a lookout for Dark Pit.

"You're a real go-getter, Dark Pit. I like that." Medusa's voice suddenly came, surprising the gang.

"Is that so?" Dark Pit asked.

"Yes, though I AM curious how you plan to best your doppelganger. Of course, destroying Pit and his friends would be a snap with a little help from me."

"Don't make me laugh."

"Did I say something funny?"

"You've got me confused with the other guy. THIS Pit is no pawn. I'll take care of him, but only after I finish you!" and then Dark Pit proceeded to focus his attention on the Underworld Army instead and shoot them down, leaving the gang astonished but they were still in hot pursuit of him.

"Hmm… Now this is a little…bizarre." Medusa mused.

"I know, right? The mouth on that guy! I'd never talk like that!" Pit said.

"That's not what I meant."

"Sorry." Palutena said. "He can be a little thick."

"The Mirror of Truth created Dark Pit. So his allegiance should be to the Underworld Army, just like how the Dark Heroes are allied with me."

"Wait, our dark clones are actually allied with Medusa?!" Eight's eyes widened.

"Oh, that's just lovely…" Arusu groaned.

"Hmmm… I wonder if the mirror cracked before the copy was complete." Palutena guessed.

"So that explains it!" Medusa exclaimed.

"So if Dark Pit isn't with the Underworld Army…" Shulk began. "Does that mean we don't have to fight him?"

"The problem is that Dark Pit is fundamentally wicked and destructive." Palutena replied.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Pit chimed in.

"Well, at least he's not like our clones." Solo said.

"True, but he will still attack anything." Palutena said.

"He does seem pretty aggro." Pit pointed out.

"He was created from you, Pit. He could very well be manifesting your…dark side. And I believe the same goes for the Dark Heroes too."

"Oh dear… Jewel and Trifle were right…" the whole gang except Pit, Jewel, and Trifle thought alarmed.

"These five's very existence is unnatural. They must be eliminated."

"OK… I mean, it's still weird to pretty much all of us five who were cloned, but it makes sense when you explain it." Eleven said, and they all resumed their pursuit of Pit's dark reflection come to life as they flew through a rocky canyon region, where they shot down a few Monoeyes, Miks, and Petribombers.

Then, something came into Pit's mind as he began asking Palutena, "Let me get this straight. The Mirror of Truth was replicating monsters. So, now that it's broken, the Underworld Army can't generate new troops, right?"

"If that were the case, their numbers would be shrinking. But that's not happening." Palutena replied as she was also thinking the same.

"Then where else could Medusa be getting her reinforcements from?"

"I really don't know. But there's something very strange about them."

"Like their faces?" Trifle asked, shooting down a few Handoras.

"I'm talking more about their interior. Specifically, their souls."

"So how do we get to the bottom of this?" Zelda asked.

"Well, one thing's for certain. Medusa's the source of all this trouble. But Dark Pit and the Dark Heroes present the more immediate threat. For now, just keep the heat on the former! …And then we can be on the lookout for the evil Heroes."

"Got it!" Jewel nodded as they next chased Dark Pit down a rocky pass.

"So you all defeated Pandora, hmm?" Medusa asked the gang, a smirk donning her face.

"Of course!" Pit grinned.

"You don't seem too upset that we took out one of your top commanders, Medusa." Palutena noted.

"Pandora may be gone, but her powers live on in Dark Pit."

"Another astute observation from the supreme leader of the Underworld." came Dark Pit's sarcastic reply.

"My, aren't you prickly. Even so, your power of flight seems to outlast Palutena's."

"I can't say I'm not envious." Palutena replied with some slight disappointment.

"Don't let her get to you!" Pit defended.

"However, who's to say that his power won't eventually run out?"

"Yeah! After all, your flight power only lasts for five minutes!"

Unfortunately, this made Palutena get even sadder due to feeling offended. "Pretty horrendous fuel economy, huh?"

Arusu glared at Pit. "Way to offend your own goddess, dummy…" he muttered.

"Oh, uh, I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean it like that." Pit quickly apologized.

"I guess we're both bad at flying." Palutena sighed.

Everyone continued their journey, but they seemed to have lost sight of Dark Pit while they were flying through the rocky pass. That is, until they suddenly caught sight of him flying behind a Zurret at the distance.

"Look over there!" Pit pointed.

"What's he doing with that?" Palutena asked, and right on cue, Dark Pit manned the Zurret and opened fire at the gang, as they yelped and quickly flew out of the way.

"Using us for target practice!" Pit shouted.

"Not bad, not bad!" Medusa chuckled, amused by the scene as the gang dove down towards a rock and hid behind it, where Solo peeked from the side and aimed his staff at the Zurret to fire a shot that hit it square in the eye, killing it instantly and forcing Dark Pit to fly away.

"I took it down. Let's resume our chase!" Solo said once he saw Dark Pit flying away and they all immediately resumed the chase, but then everyone soon came upon what appeared to be some abandoned ruins.

"What is that place?" Melia wondered.

"They look like ruins of some sort." Palutena answered.

"We'd better land soon, then." Pit said.

"And I'd better get started on deploying my troops." Medusa snickered. "And let the Dark Heroes know to start assuming their posts…" she thought.

"Come on! Is that really necessary?!" Pit complained as everyone began their descent.

[BGM End]


[BGM: Ruins of the Temple – Kid Icarus Uprising]

The gang landed in the ruins. "Somewhere within these ruins is Pittoo." Palutena said.

"Uh…gesundheit?" Pit blinked.

"No, Pittoo. As in Pit Two. As in Dark Pit. Pretty great nickname I came up with, huh?"

"But not as great as Ptooey, right? Riiiight?" Pit joked, only to once again be met with an unamused silence from the others, while Trifle facepalmed as usual. "…Uh, anyway." Pit awkwardly changes the subject. "So, the plan is to find…Pittoo and take him out."

"And same goes with our dark clones, right?" Eight added.

"Correct." Palutena said. "And Pittoo might try to escape, but we can't let him get away."

"Understood!" Pit exclaimed as everyone made their way to what appears to be a fountain, finding multiple paths to head to.

"Sooo… where to now?" Pit wondered.

"Pittoo could be anywhere, but following Underworld troops might lead you to him. They're none too pleased with Pittoo for absconding with Pandora's powers." Palutena advised.

"Got it!" everyone else nodded as they decided split up into five teams of two before taking off to each of the five paths, while Medusa was holding a snicker.

"Heh… Little do they know that my troops can also lead them to the Dark Heroes too…" she thought.


With Eleven and Jewel…

They had followed a Monoeye and approached some ruins that belonged to a temple. "This must have been a temple." Palutena guessed.

"Judging by its structures, it could have been." Jewel stated.

"Humans turn to the gods in times of need and forget them in times of prosperity." Medusa said with a clear hint of venom in her voice. "They really are a fickle bunch."

"I can't say she's not completely wrong about that…" Eleven thought, as he and Jewel opened fire at the two Zurrets among the ruins before they went down the hole to get to the temple's underground area, hoping to find Dark Pit as they had their weapons ready… but as they headed forwards, they saw someone else instead waiting for them that made Eleven's eyes widen.

[BGM End]

"So we meet again, Darkspawn…" it was Dark Eleven, leaning his back on one of the columns.

Eleven's expression then quickly changed to an angry one, especially for being called by his most hated name again. "You!" he growled.

"Oh boy…" Jewel trailed. "What if he restrains us like he did to you last time?"

"Oh, relax, princess. I won't be using that skill again." Dark Eleven replied, stepping away from the column. "I shall make this a fair fight this time." he took on a battle stance.

"Huh, so you actually brought the Dark Heroes in here." Palutena said to Medusa.

"Heh…what makes you say that?" Medusa casually replied, chuckling as she and Palutena got ready to watch this battle unfold.

[BGM: Yorimashi Between Dreams and Reality ~ Necro-Fantasia – Touhou: Antinomy of Common Flowers]

Eleven immediately ran over and swung his club at Dark Eleven, but his eyes suddenly glowed just like last time and Eleven's arms were frozen in place, as he would then grab his good counterpart and throw him to a wall. He then fired a Kafrizz at Jewel, who moved out of the way and swiftly ran up to Dark Eleven to slash him with her claws before he could react and kick him to a column, then she fired a charged shot at him, only for him to stop it in place when his eyes glowed again and sent it back at Jewel by using some sort of telekinesis.

"Gah!" Jewel cried as she was hit by her own shot and knocked to the ground, and then Eleven got back up while growling and charged for his dark clone to slash at him, only for him to once again stop his arm in place and attacked him back with Falcon Slash.

"Hahaha! There's nothing you both can do!" Medusa laughed. "Dark Eleven can simply use his telekinetic powers to stop physical and ranged attacks and easily attack his opponents back!"

"Telekinesis…" Palutena mused, and then it hit her, "Hold on! The real Eleven doesn't even have this ability!"

"The Mirror of Truth doesn't only create copies, you know. It can also grant a unique psychic-themed ability for every perfect copy that comes out of it!"

"Oh my… I didn't know about that…"

"You can thank Pandora for that!"

"Nnngh…" Eleven groaned. "Except…" he charges his sword with electricity. "She will NOT be thankful when I rain on my copy's parade!" he proclaimed and thrusted his sword towards Dark Eleven, unleashing Zapple at him.

"Hmph, is that the best you got?" Dark Eleven smirked, getting ready to stop the lightning bolt coming at him… only for nothing to happen and he was hit by it as he kneeled over in surprise. "What…?! Why it didn't wor-" he began, but was interrupted when Jewel fired a forward-dash shot at him from behind before Eleven fired a Big Banga spell, causing him to get launched up and right through the ceiling where he flew out of the ruins' underground area, and then Eleven launched himself up to him with a Kaswoosh and whacked him straight to the ground with the club.

"Looks like you can't use your telekinesis all the time!" Jewel grinned as she also got out of the ruins, and used her Lightning Topaz to rain a lightning bolt on Dark Eleven while he was getting up, leaving him paralyzed in place as Medusa gasped at that.

"So they have figured it out." Palutena commented. "From what I understand right now, Dark Eleven can use telekinesis, but only for so long. And when this power has reached its limit of usage, he turns into a glass cannon."

"Glass cannon… my foot!" Dark Eleven scowled after recovering from the paralysis and attempted to use his telekinesis to stop Jewel's charged shot coming towards him… "ARGH!" only for a massive headache to hit him by this attempt as he held his head in pain, before he got hit by the shot that sent him back, where Eleven proceeded to slash him repeatedly.

"And trying to overextend its limited usage results in a massive headache, it seems." Palutena added.

"Ugh…" Medusa groaned in disappointment, and once Dark Eleven was left dazed, Eleven unleashed a Gigagash on him to finish him off… and destroying a good portion of the ruins by its sheer force in the process too.

[BGM End]

"Dang…" Jewel awed by Gigagash's destructive power, as she saw Eleven putting away his weapons while standing in front of a pile of rubble where his evil counterpart was buried in.

"Good riddance." he said.

"Get out of here, you two! Hurry!" Palutena ushered, as the two complied and ran off, right as Dark Eleven emerged out of the rubble, panting and glaring bitterly at his good counterpart.

"This… isn't… over!" he growled and then disappeared into a portal.


Arusu and Melia…

They followed a Daphne for their path, and found themselves walking along a large trail leading to a tall mountain. They treaded carefully along the trail, thinking they'd find Dark Pit possibly on the top of the mountain, but… guess who they found instead on their way up.

"Finally, you've made it!" Dark Arusu exclaimed, as he was standing on top of a pillar before jumping down. "You came here to punish me, is it?"

"Here we go again…" Arusu thought exasperated.

Melia raised an eyebrow. "I don't think I understand. By the way you said it, you really want us to defeat you, do you?"

"Heh, but that's where you are wrong here." Dark Arusu grinned wickedly as his eyes began to glow. "Want to know why?" some small parts of the floor suddenly cracked and floated up to Dark Arusu's level. "Because I'll be burying you two in this place alive before you can do that!" he declared, soon followed up with insane laugher.

Arusu sweatdropped. "Great, not only is my dark clone a sadomasochist, but he's also ax-crazy…" he muttered.

"And what's wrong with a little ax-craziness now and then?" Medusa teased.

"Possibly a million things wrong while being ax-crazy or insane." Palutena said.

"I wasn't asking for your opinion." Medusa deadpanned, as Arusu then readied his sword and so did his dark clone, while Melia readied her staff.

[BGM: The Legend of KAGE – Touhou: Concealed the Conclusion]

Melia proceeded to add flare to her orbitars before firing shots from them at Dark Arusu, but his eyes glowed while stabbing the ground with his sword to make a wall of stone slab rise up in front of him and block the shots, and then he punched the slab hard enough to make its middle part crack and get launched towards Arusu and Melia.

The pair quickly rolled out of the way, but before they could attack back, Dark Arusu began to telekinetically pelt them with large rocks that were pulled off from the ground as they were forced to dodge by running up the mountainous trail. "I SHALL CRACK YOUR BONES! AHAHAHAHA!" Dark Arusu laughed madly, and then he pounded his fists to make two large rocks compress Arusu and Melia into a literal rock sandwich as bone-cracking sounds were heard from them while they screamed, and a feeling of pleasure rushed through Dark Arusu by hearing those 'sweet' sounds.

"Oh dear… His sadomasochist insanity is quite unsettling." Palutena shuddered.

"You might find it unsettling, but I find it to be quite enjoyable." Medusa smirked. "…Even if sometimes he can go a bit overboard."

"Well, anyways… Dark Arusu has geokinesis as his unique power, huh? You know, I don't think we've seen this elemental power ever mentioned until now."

"Sometimes, you just have to give props to the Author for coming up with new things, for once."

Uh… Thanks, I guess? Anyways, back to the fight…

Arusu managed to get out of the rock sandwich trap along with Melia by blowing all the rocks up with Boom, and then he charged for his dark clone to fire a forward-dash shot at him, but he blocked it with his shield and used his geokinesis powers again, this time making a rocky pillar rise out of the ground to send Arusu into the air where he casted Zap to rain a lightning bolt at his good counterpart.

"Come on, now! Are none of you going to land a hit on me?" Dark Arusu taunted as Arusu landed on the ground in front of Melia, in which she decided to take the risk and use Healing Gift to pass some of her health to Arusu in order to heal him before launching a Flare Impulse at Dark Arusu, only to be met with a wall of stone… and then she suddenly got impaled on her left thigh by a rock stalagmite that rose from below her.

"AAAAAAAGH!" she screamed in agony.

"Melia!" Arusu gasped.

"YES! Now THIS is pleasurable!" Dark Arusu chortled.

Arusu glared daggers at his evil counterpart. "You call THIS pleasurable?!" he snapped. "That's it! Now you've REALLY made me angry!" he ran over to Dark Arusu as he attempted to launch him into the air again with the same method, but this time the good Hero was ready and jumped over the rising rocky pillar and managed to land a clear double slash at his clone with both his sword and blade weapons.

"Yagh!" Dark Arusu yelled, only to laugh in pleasure right after. "Oh, who am I kidding? That felt good!" he grinned sadistically. "Why did you stop? Go on! Keep at it!"

Arusu growled, and on instinct, he decided to use Kacrackle Slash directly at Dark Arusu, but he just made another stone slab rise up in front of him, resulting in Arusu hitting the slab instead and covering its cracks in ice.

"Really? You decided to use that? Pathetic!" Dark Arusu teased, not knowing that the ice in the slab's cracks would actually have an effect that would counter his powers as he punched it… and… the slab crumbled apart completely. "Wh-what?!" Dark Arusu couldn't believe that, unaware of an aura surrounding him as he began to feel strange, but dismissed it.

This strange aura just happened to have come from Melia, who used what strength she still had within her to unleash Mind Blast on Dark Arusu to temporarily neutralize his aura of feeling pleasure when he receives pain.

"How is that possible?!" Medusa questioned.

"Sounds like someone didn't pay attention to science classes…" Palutena snarked. "Basically, its starts when water seeps into a rock's cracks, which expands when it freezes, and makes the cracks in the rock bigger. This can split even the biggest rocks in half over time due to how fragile they became by the ice, so what Arusu did was pretty smart thinking in a scientific way."

Medusa looked annoyed. "Do I look like an uneducated little brat to you?!"

"No way…" Dark Arusu whispered, still in total shock by what just happened as Arusu smirked and proceeded to slash him repeatedly, and thanks to Mind Blast's effect, Dark Arusu didn't feel any pleasure within him with every blow he received and was grimacing in agony.

"Where's your pleasure now?" Arusu teased and ended the fight by landing a Kazap on Dark Arusu, as he was launched away collapsed to the ground.

[BGM End]

"Urgh…" Dark Arusu growled, standing back up while staggering a bit. "I swear on my life… I will make sure to crush and bury you when the time comes!" he made a portal from behind him and ran in, as it closed right after.

"Hmph. Good luck with that." Arusu scoffed, but then he heard an agonized moan from Melia as he turned around in alarm. Apparently, with Dark Arusu gone, every change he had done to the terrain was magically repaired, including the stalagmite impaling Melia's thigh. However, that doesn't change the fact that she now sported a severe and bloody injury on that spot, and she was even tearing up by the pain.

"N-Nnnngh…" she groaned, limping in agony as Arusu ran up to her to support her.

"My goodness… What a horrible wound she has…" Palutena whispered.

"Don't worry, I can heal her instantly." Arusu said and casted Fullheal on Melia, and nigh immediately, the wound on her thigh was gone and a scar was in its place. "There. It's a shame that healing spells don't get rid of scars, though." he lamented.

"It's okay…" Melia replied, and then smiled at him. "Thank you, Arusu." he couldn't help but smile back.

"Wow… Underneath that aggressive cloak of his, Arusu is quite sweet and caring." Palutena thought with a smile, before getting serious again and telling the pair, "I'm glad that Melia's wound is healed, but that still doesn't change the fact that Dark Arusu really likes to go this far in terms of inflicting pain on others…and I can hardly imagine what he likes when he's the one receiving the pain…"

"I know, right? My dark clone is SUPER messed up." Arusu replied.

"If he was this messed up, I shudder to think how the other Dark Heroes are…" Melia trailed and then they walked off.


Solo and Shulk…

They followed a Specknose as it lead them to an open area, where they immediately took notice of a strange metal object. "Hey, what's that hunk of metal?" Solo wondered.

"It's a Cherubot. Another vehicle of the Gods." Palutena said. "Why don't one of you try it out?"

"I'll try it!" Shulk volunteered and got in the Cherubot, as it instantly sprung to life and changed into a mecha suit. "Whoooa!"

"Oh, wow…" Solo awed, marveled by the Cherubot's mecha suit mode compared to its previous hibernation mode.

Then, a few Underworld troops arrived in the area and so Shulk got to work on operating the Cherubot, firing rapid-fire shots from its plasma machine gun at the Handoras and punching the daylights out of the Skuttlers with the Cherubot's wrecking ball-like arm. "Yeehaw! This is great!" Shulk cheered enthusiastically, as the way the Cherubot operated heavily reminded him of the Mobile Artillery from back home.

"The Cherubot is both armor and weapon." Palutena explained. "Even jumping in it packs a punch! It will emit a shockwave when you do it so."

"Cherubot, you're my new best friend!" Shulk exclaimed, as he continued to clobber more Underworld monsters with it while Solo watched all of that from a safe distance.

"Well, he sure is having fun." Solo spoke to himself with a smile, watching as Shulk took care of all monsters until none more showed up, and once this did happen…

"How touching… A boy and his Cherubot." a bored voice suddenly rang from behind as Solo and Shulk turned around… to see Dark Solo casually leaning on the rocky wall.

"Oh… Dark Solo. I almost forgot he existed." Medusa said.

"Wow, how rude." Palutena said.

"Well, to be fair, if someone talks in a bored way and acts stone cold towards anybody, would you even want to remember them? Plus, he's monochrome. His colors don't really stick out compared to the others."

Dark Solo sighed. "I just wish that the Underworld Army would acknowledge me more… but that doesn't really matter since at least my comrades DO acknowledge me. Pandora did want us to be together just like our good counterparts, so whatever."

"You see what I mean?" Medusa asked.

"Um… okay…" Solo blinked before he and Shulk, who was still on the Cherubot, got ready for battle.

[BGM: Plastic Mind – Touhou: Concealed the Conclusion]

Shulk made the Cherubot charge towards Dark Solo to punch him, but he stepped to the side to avoid the punch before casting Kaboom at the Cherubot, making it stumble backwards, and then Dark Solo's eyes glowed as he first touched the Cherubot's surface with his free hand before jumping up and using Gigasword to slash the Cherubot in half as it exploded, while Shulk was knocked out of it and landed hard on the ground.

"What in the world?! There's no way a Gigasword would be that powerful!" Solo thought, before deciding to cast Oomph on himself and then he ran over to Dark Solo and slashed him repeatedly until the clone jumped back as his eyes glowed again… and a very bright light shot out of them, blinding Solo. "Gah! I can't see!"

"Blinding light?!" Palutena asked.

"That's only one of the things Dark Solo has." Medusa began. "He has Extra-Sensory Perception, or ESP for short, as his given ability. This means that his five main senses are enhanced to incredible results; for example, his vision sense allows him to shoot the aforementioned blinding lights and see through solid objects or very far away, his touch sense allows him to copy the strength of anything he comes in contact with… and so on!"

"So he basically has super senses?"

"Indeed. Because of this, he makes the perfect messenger of the Underworld Army… and in fact, it was thanks to his strong senses that my troops located you all in the first place!"

"He works as the Underworld Army's messenger, huh? I guess that's one way for him to draw attention."

Solo slashed his clone with Flame Slash, but he rose his shield to block it and then they both clashed their blades repeatedly as they were trying to slash at each other until Dark Solo did a Leg Sweep, doing a low kick forward while leaning on the ground with his arm to knock Solo off his feet before launching him away with a Kazap.

"Back Slash!" Shulk called out, attempting to strike Dark Solo from behind with a Back Slash, only for his eyes to glow as he sensed Shulk's presence from behind him and quickly turned around to slash the Monado Wielder away. Shulk landed next to another Cherubot and, remembering the conversation between Palutena and Medusa, an idea came up to him as he quickly climbed on the Cherubot and fired a shot at Dark Solo as he easily dodged it, but he didn't know that Shulk had a trick up his sleeve.

"Tch. You really think this will help you?" Dark Solo scoffed, running over to the Cherubot and getting ready to copy its strength again… but then Shulk quickly acted and made the Cherubot jump up and land to create a shockwave… which also emitted a high-thrilling sound so loud that it made Dark Solo stop in his tracks and drop his sword and shield to the ground to cover his ears. "AAAAAARGH! MY EARS!" he yelled in agony.

"…I get it now." Palutena said. "By having super senses, this means that all of Dark Solo's five senses are very sensitive as a result. Thus, this means he has a strong sense of hearing, taste, smell, and so on."

"Good grief, I didn't think his weakness would be his own senses!" Medusa exclaimed in exasperation.

"Well, it is an interesting ability on paper, but when he's exposed to things that he's highly sensitive to, this becomes quite a problem for him."

"You just made that up."

"So what if I did? Seriously, it's the truth."

"Solo, now!" Shulk hollered as Solo was getting back up, and as soon as he saw his clone covering his ears in agony due to them ringing on the inside, he wasted no more time in aiming his staff at him and firing a charged shot that went right through him.

[BGM End]

Dark Solo stood immobile for a small moment after the shot hit him, before he eventually collapsed to the ground. Shulk then got out of the Cherubot and he and Solo walked over to Dark Solo on the ground… and then he suddenly casted a Woosh spell to blow Solo and Shulk back.

"You'll…pay…for what you did…" Dark Solo snarled coldly, his ears still ringing as he got back up and picked up his dropped weapons. "I'll see you some other time…" he then disappeared into a portal that he made.

"Whew, if it wasn't for my idea…" Shulk sighed in relief before looking over at Solo. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Solo replied. "Well, I just hope we won't be seeing my clone again for a long time."

"Agreed." Shulk nodded and the duo walked off.


Eight and Zelda…

They were walking up a slope leading to an altar on the hill. "You know, it's such a shame that Dark Pit and the Dark Heroes are so obnoxious." Zelda said. "Just think of all the stuff you could get done with more than one of yourself!"

"That's a good idea." Palutena chimed in. "I mean, having a bunch of Pits COULD come in handy…"

"But at least you would never abuse your power, right?" Eight asked.

"Of course I would. That's part of the goddess job description."

"Goddess job description?"

"Oh, I haven't told you about it yet? Well, turns out that there is an actual school for goddessry in Skyworld. I even remember what number the subject for power abusing was! It was subject number 13, starting on page 95!"

Eight blinked. "…Okay."

The pair eventually arrived at their destination, and so they had their weapons at the ready… and it was then that they heard sounds of footsteps coming from the altar right up ahead, where the final member of the Dark Heroes emerged out of the darkness.

"Hmph, about time you made it." Dark Eight said, behaving harshly as usual as he drew out his sword. "Now, let's get this over wit-"

Before he could finish his sentence, cheering was heard from behind him as he turned around alarmed… to see two Skuttlers cheering for him on the sidelines. "H…Hey!" he stuttered as a light blush formed on his face and shot a Kaboom at the Skuttlers, causing them to get covered in soot. "Y-You idiots! I told you I don't need cheering, got it?!" Eight and Zelda couldn't help but notice that Dark Eight was acting more like a… tsundere right now. Well, turns out that this is his actual personality.

"Um… That was something…" Zelda blinked.

"Shut up." Dark Eight retorted, back to his previous cold attitude as he turned back to the pair. "Let's not talk about that, you hear me?" he then assumed a battle stance. "Let's just get to the fight already!"

"If you say so." Eight replied, he and Zelda glaring at Dark Eight before they assumed battle stances as well.

"Hmhmhmm, now this should be good." Medusa snickered.

"*sigh* I'll never understand you…" Palutena sighed.

[BGM: A Maiden's Illusionary Funeral ~ Necro-Fantasy – Touhou: Perfect Cherry Blossom]

Eight aimed his palm at Dark Eight and shot him, but he jumped to the side and slashed him, as Eight blocked it with his shield and then they both slashed each other several times by clashing their blades, until Dark Eight managed to kick Eight away. Just then, Dark Eight's eyes darted over to Zelda and glowed, where in his point of view, the whole world around appears to be frozen as he would see hollow holograms of Zelda periodically approaching him before she would slash him with her split bow.

"Too predictable." Dark Eight thought once the future vision ended and waited until Zelda got close to him before immediately rolling to the side while she attempted to slash him with her split bow just like how it occurred in the future vision, and then he knocked her away with a two-handed downward slash.

"Agh!" Zelda hit a wall as Eight got up and equipped his spear before running over to his clone, only for Dark Eight to look at him as his eyes glowed again, seeing a future vision of Eight hitting him with Mercurial Thrust, and once it ended, Dark Eight sidestepped to avoid the Mercurial Thrust before grabbing his good counterpart and performing a tomoe nage to send him slamming onto the same wall that Zelda was hit to.

"Now how is Dark Eight easily predicting what moves Eight and Zelda are about to use on him?" Palutena wondered.

"I was hoping you'd ask that." Medusa smirked. "Dark Eight's received ability was Precognition, which allows him to see how every attack is going before it even begins."

"…Sooo he basically has Shulk's Vision. That's not unoriginal at all…"

"I wasn't done talking! Yes, it is similar to that Shulk guy's ability, but unlike Shulk, Dark Eight is able to use this ability as much as he wants. By knowing his opponents' next moves and planning accordingly, Dark Eight is easily able to get the edge over anyone regardless of skill or experience, thus making him an efficient and tough opponent to deal with."

This bit of information now made Palutena quite worried. "Oh dear… I wonder how Eight and Zelda are going to fare against him…" she thought.

Zelda got back up and created a Phantom in front of her, sending it at Dark Eight for a Phantom Slash, but he blocked the slash and pulled out his own boomerang weapon to unleash Gigathrow, as that made the boomerang go through the Phantom and destroy it, and also knocked Zelda back. She quickly recovered and used Farore's Wind to teleport behind Dark Eight and grab him, blasting him with magical energy before magically spinning him overhead and throwing him upwards, and then she leaps up to him… but she didn't notice his eyes glowing again.

"I don't think so." he said, casting Zoom to rocket up into the air right as Zelda was doing a flying kick.

"What?!" her eyes widened… and then she got struck by a Zap spell from Dark Eight once he landed back on the ground. "GYAH!" she yelled and fell to the ground.

Eight immediately took action and fired a charged shot from his palm, blowing Dark Eight back before running over to his clone and stabbing him repeatedly with Multithrust. Dark Eight quickly recovered from the last stab and his eyes glowed, where he ducked underneath Eight's Clean Sweep attack and then kicked his good counterpart at… right where the sun doesn't shine. Eight gagged in pain by that while his body went completely stiff, giving Dark Eight the chance to slash him repeatedly before shield-bashing him in the face to knock him away.

"AGH!" Eight yelled, landing on the ground in a fetal position with both his hands on his crotch for an obvious reason as he grimaced in pain.

Zelda, who was getting back up, had watched what happened and let out a light gasp. "Oh no… We can't lose this fight, no matter what!" she thought.

Dark Eight looked back at Zelda, seeing her getting up and bracing herself. "Hmm? You're still standing strong?" he questioned, walking closer to her. "You're really determined to beat me… aren't you?"

"Well, duh." Zelda replied. "Why did you even question it?"

This made Dark Eight's eyes widen… aaaand cue an attitude shift from him. "Hey! I-It's not that I wanted to, or anything!" he looked away from her with his eyes closed and lightly blushing again. "I was just impressed by your determination. Maybe. A little."

"…Is he really behaving like a tsundere?" Palutena wondered.

"Honestly, while I do like Dark Eight's ability and his form of combat, I'm not really that satisfied with how his personality turned out." Medusa sulked. "I guess the original Eight's soul was too pure and innocent for a more twisted personality within him…" she thought.

Dark Eight then shook it off, his attitude shifting back to harsh. "Ugh, what the hell am I even saying?! Let's get back to the fight already!" he thrusted his hands at Zelda, casting Kasizzle at her to send a wall of fire on her, but she used Nayru's Love to repel the flames away before using Din's Fire to guide a fireball towards Dark Eight, but he rolled away from it and struck her with an outward slash in the chest, making a tear appear on her top with a thankfully not-deep cut underneath it.

Zelda winced in pain by that, but she stood strong and proceeded to block every slash Dark Eight was throwing at her until she jumped back to quickly fire a Silver Arrow at him… but again, she didn't notice that his eyes were glowing as she was doing that, and thus she ends up missing when Dark Eight ran to the side to avoid the fired arrow and hit her with a Hatchet Man, and that was strong enough to disarm her.

"No!" Zelda cried, seeing her hands empty as her Goddess Bow landed a good distance away from her… and then Dark Eight proceeded to slash her repeatedly until she got hit to a wall… where she got her right hand impaled by the tip of Dark Eight's blade. "YAAAAAAAGH!" she screamed loudly.

[BGM End]

Dark Eight calmly watched Zelda collapse to her knees on the ground, wincing as blood started dripping down her hand. As for Eight, he was still lying on the ground in the same position described before, having a horrified look on his face after witnessing everything. He really wanted to get up and help, but the intense pain on his crotch prevented him from doing so, and he was left helpless as a result.

"Hmph. That was pathetically easy for me." Dark Eight scoffed. "…But you did put up quite of a fight, I suppose. So I guess this wasn't a complete waste of time." he then raised his sword up. "However… by Medusa's orders, it's time for me to finish my task!"

Zelda gasped as her eyes shot wide in horror, seeing that Dark Eight was about to bring his sword down on her… until a voice cried:

"Stop!" it was Eight.

Dark Eight stopped, and turned to look at his good counterpart with a raised eyebrow. "Hm?"

Trying his best to ignore the pain, Eight pleaded, "P-Please… don't do this…!"

"And why not?"

"I-I know… deep down… th-that there's some good in you…"

Again, another attitude shift from Dark Eight. "G-Good in me?! Don't be such an idiot!" he lashed out. "As an evil clone of you, I'm supposed to be against you! I'm working for Medusa along with my comrades for a reason, you know?!"

"Just ignore all that nonsense from him, Dark Eight." Medusa said. "Go ahead and do as I said to you. Kill them!"

And with that, Dark Eight changed back to his harsh attitude again and turned to face Zelda again as he was ready to bring his sword down at her for real this time while she looked away in fright…

*SLASH!*

…when all of a sudden, someone slashed through Dark Eight and he was knocked away from Zelda. The one who did that? Trifle.

"Get. Your hands. OFF. OF MY COUSIN." Trifle growled, shooting Dark Eight a dangerous glare while extending his free arm in front of Zelda in a protective way.

"Trifle…" Zelda whispered.


Earlier…

"Hey, Lady Palutena…" Pit began, as he and Trifle were grinding on a rail that led them upwards after walking along their chosen path for a bit.

"Yes, Pit?" Palutena asked.

"Do you think we could all start these missions closer to our targets?"

"I was thinking the same thing!" Trifle threw in.

"If it were possible, of course I would do that." Palutena said. "However, I can't just open up a door wherever I feel like it."

"You're right. Sorry about that." Pit replied.

"Plus, doesn't it feel good to get some fresh air and stretch your wings a bit? And feel the amazing freedom of flight for the case of Trifle and the others?"

"Well, it'd feel a whole lot better if that fresh air and flight freedom weren't filled with enemies!" Trifle stated.

The duo eventually made it to the top, where there were a series of platforms… with Dark Pit standing on the middle one.

"Hey there, Pitstain!" Dark Pit turned, pulling out his Silver Bow and dropping into a fighting stance.

"You know I can call you the same thing, right?" Pit questioned, dropping into a fighting stance as well.

"Wait, what about me?" Trifle questioned.

"Tch, I care less about you and the others with you. I'm more interested about him!" Dark Pit replied, pointing directly at Pit in the last sentence.

"Let's do this!" both opposing angels declared in unison.

"What am I, chopped liver?" Trifle thought. "Eh, I'll let it slide so I don't ruin the moment." he then got ready to help out Pit.

[BGM: Boss Fight 1 – Kid Icarus Uprising]

"Bring it, puppets!" Dark Pit shouted as he fired a charged shot from his bow at Pit, but he dodged it.

"Who are you calling puppets?!" Pit questioned while firing arrows at his clone.

"Yeah, like he said!" Trifle threw in and joined Pit by firing shots from his arm, but Dark Pit dodged them.

"Palutena says jump, you all jump. She says fight, you all fight." Dark Pit said. "It sounds like a very satisfying existence. For her, that it."

"You're wrong!" Pit shouted as he split his bow, with Dark Pit doing the same as they proceeded to slash at each other. "I and my friends have absolute faith in Lady Palutena!"

"The Mirror of Truth doesn't lie. I'm a reflection of your true self. So maybe your faith in her isn't quite so absolute after all." Dark Pit said as he jumped back and flew up to fire arrows at the duo, but they dodged.

"What would you know about faith anyway, you treacherous blackheart?! Lady Palutena always guides me and my friends the right way. That's why we follow her! And the Mirror of Truth you mentioned?! It's nothing more than a pane of lies. Pandora was just using it as bait!"

"…I really should have called out Pit to join us in our conversation from before…" Trifle thought, looking quite astonished at Pit's words that were spat out at his dark clone.

Dark Pit just rolled his eyes in response as he landed back down. "Looks like I touched a nerve. Methinks the puppet doth protest too much." he then knocks Pit away with his Electroshock Arm before reflecting Trifle's charged shot back at him by pulling out his own set of Guardian Orbitars.

"Oh, will you give it a rest already?" Pit retorted as he was getting up.

"OK, fine. Do what you want. Or rather, keep doing what she wants. But I, for one, refuse to be a puppet. These wings take ME wherever I want to go!" Dark Pit proclaimed, dodging a sword beam from Trifle and retaliating by flying over to him and slashing him away.

"Not if we take you down first!" Pit exclaimed, and then the fight resumed normally…

"YAAAAAAAGH!"

[BGM End]

But then Zelda's loud agonized scream when she got impaled in the hand before was heard throughout the area, forcing the three to stop fighting as they looked over at the source where Zelda's scream came from: the altar on the hill.

"That sounds like…!" Trifle's eyes shot wide in horror. "ZELDA!" he quickly used the grind rail to go down, much to Pit's astonishment.

"Trifle, wait!" he called out. "What about-?!" sounds of flapping wings came from behind him as he turned around to see Dark Pit starting to fly away.

"Consider this match a draw!" Dark Pit said. "I'll get you and the others next time!" he flew away.

"Hey! Get back here!" Pit yelled.

"No, let him go." Palutena said. "Rushing over to Zelda's aid is more important now. I've already let the others know about that, and they're all waiting back down at the fountain."

Pit sighed. "Alright…"


Back in the present…

"Hey! Trifle!" Pit's voice called out as he and the rest of the group came running up. "What happened in here?"

Solo then looked over to the left, and saw Eight's dark clone lying on the ground a few feet away from Trifle and Zelda. "Look!" he pointed for the others to see.

"So all of our clones were in this place, after all." Eleven surmised.

"Nnngh…" Dark Eight groaned and got back up while holding on to the side of his waist. "You two got very lucky there." he said coldly, referring to Eight and Zelda. "But I'll be back some other time to finish the job… and that's final, you hear me?!" he activated a portal with his free hand and walked in, as it disappeared afterwards.

A moment of silence occurred in the area, until Zelda and Eight broke it by wincing in pain due to their main injury they suffered each during their fight with Dark Eight, as that caught the others' attention as the Loyal Bodyguards went to check on Eight while the rest went to check on Zelda.

"Hey, Eight…" Arusu began calmly. "What did your dark clone do to you?"

"He kicked me…in the crotch…" Eight groaned, leading his comrades to wince in response.

"Oooh, I think we can somehow feel your pain…" Eleven grimaced.

"Yeah, but…" Eight shot a glance at Zelda, who was hiding the bloody injury on her hand from the others while tearing up. "I think Zelda had it worse than me…"

It cuts over to the group kneeled down next to Zelda, as she wouldn't stop crying and was keeping her injured hand hidden from them.

"Zelda, are you okay?" Trifle asked in concern. Zelda remained silent unfortunately, aside from her quiet sobs escaping her mouth.

"I can tell that you're hiding something from us." Melia said. "Please, show it to us." she requested as politely as she could.

Nodding sadly, Zelda pulled her injured hand away from her back and showed it to them, causing them to gasp in shock and horror, including the Loyal Bodyguards aside from Eight.

"Oh my gosh…" Trifle breathed. "Did Eight's clone really just do tha-" he was cut off when Zelda suddenly hugged him tight while crying into his chest. Trifle was taken aback by that, but soon looked down sadly at his cousin and hugged her back. "It's going to be okay. We're all here now." he whispered softly to her, as everyone else watched this whole tear-jerking scene with looks of sympathy.

"Those dark clones… They're in for a big fall, for sure." Palutena growled under her breath. "Alas, we need to get back to stopping Medusa first." heavenly lights surrounded everyone. "…But first, we need to get Eight and Zelda patched up." everyone was then extracted.

To be continued…


This was yet another chapter where writing fighting scenes proved to be quite of a challenge for me, especially for the fact that I had to write five of them, and they all had to be different! But now that I looked at my final results, I think I'm satisfied with how they turned out!

While on the subject on that, I actually had a blast writing the dialogue for the Dark Heroes during their battles to match the personalities I gave to each of them! So, how do you all like their different personalities (and their psychic-related abilities)? ;D

After being distracted by Pit and the Loyal Bodyguards' dark clones, our heroes are going to refocus on taking down Medusa. But first, they must go after another one of her commanders, who is... quite the goofball. See you next time!