Doppelganger Ending
NOTE: For increased immersion, I highly recommend listening to the following theme whilst reading this ending. It is an instrumental version of Godsmack's I Stand Alone (which was used for the Dahaka's theme in Warrior Within): watch?v=50CAgy6QC70
Despite the two Princes seemingly matching each other blow for blow, the Doppelganger knew sooner or later that the Prince would tire from exhausting so much energy. For all his bravado and prowess, he was still merely a mortal man.
Noticing an opening in his opponent's guard, the Doppelganger took the opportunity to strike and stabbed the Dagger of Time into the Prince's gut with his left hand.
The Prince cried out in pain as his body started to turn yellow, knowing there was no way he was going to survive this final fight now.
To the Doppelganger however, he could only smile in grim satisfaction (knowing exactly what was going to happen next).
As the Prince's body turned yellow before his own eyes, the Doppelganger used his sword to knock the Prince's time-slowed body off his feet before leaping into the air and slicing him in half, a spine-tingling scream being the final sound uttered by the former Prince of Persia as he faded into dust, a great change taking place as inexplicably, the Doppelganger found himself returned to normal and his placement in the timeline restored.
The 'Prince' landed on his feet with careful precision, letting out a sigh of satisfaction (his centuries-long quest finally achieved).
And with the limitless power of the Sands of Time completely in hand, nothing would stop him now from preventing any further threats to his existence (as he cleverly sealed his duped sand monster army back into the Hourglass, having no further use for them as he played hero in front of the populace and granted a vast funeral gathering to all who had fallen in the conflict, having not visibly aged a day).
It was the perfect disguise and served as an effective fresh start with his restored mortality, most being none the wiser.
However, the 'Prince' had failed to learn any of the major lessons his deceased former duplicate managed to realize in the intervening centuries that he'd found himself trapped on the Island of Time, struggling to remain alive among the sand monster ranks, returning to engaging in pointless wars with weaker nations out of boredom in no time flat. It ended up raising questions from suspicious citizens, but it hardly mattered to him as the 'Prince' hired out professional assassins to silence all who dared oppose his rule within Babylon.
And as the 'Prince' prepared himself to lead his royal army into battle, he knew deep down why he relished the thrill of combat so readily.
It proved an entertaining way to keep his skills sharp and for the first time since his youth, he was finally free to carve out his own destiny and demonstrate to the world why nobody makes an enemy of a King of Persia.
THE END?