Welcome to another chapter of my story. This is it, the moment you've all been waiting for! The final battle between Daniel "Danger" Duck and Dabble "Nix" Duck, it's a fight to hear by heart. It's been about, what, over a year? I really need to do this type of thing faster. Nonetheless, I finished the chapter. No amount of college, distractions, cool video games, and writer's block will stop me from finishing this sucker! Maybe slow me down, but no stoppage!
Anywho, this will be a grand battle and hopefully worth the wait. Lots of drama, action, and fighting! It… will… blow… your… mind! Oddly enough, the fight will only last about 5 minutes… or will it?
I also like to thank Jessi for helping me with a few ideas and Artemis Panthar for beta reading it.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Loonatics; I do own some of the ideas though. I also own Nix and the salesmen.
Chapter 11
"When you thought you couldn't get any more cliché' than this, it suddenly goes into a whole 'nother level!" Mimic12455
The Church became silent, as if the entire room froze in a moment in time. In one part of the large room, in the aisle between the benches, stood Daniel "Danger" Duck, glowing with power thanks to the gauntlet Tech made for him. On the other side currently covered in dust and debris is Nix, the Psychopathic duck and brother of Danny, a mix of confusion and shock evident on his face.
Nix couldn't believe what just happened as he pushes off the debris that fallen on him. Stunned by the fact that Daniel stopped his attack with ease and sent him flying into the wall with a single shot. His mind tried to grasp what has happened. This shouldn't be happening, he thought. This shouldn't be happening! His shock turns to anger. He flips off from his fallen position and cries out in primal rage. The purple aura emitting from him crackles to life like a bonfire.
"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Whether it was his voice, power, or a combination of both, the force of it causes the entire building to tremble and almost all the glass in the church to shatter. The rubble around him flew away like a flock of birds. Nix charges at Daniel with nothing more than hatred on his mind. In Daniel's mind, however, is something different.
"Wow," Daniel thought. "Everything is going so slow."
In his perspective, everything seems to be going at a slow pace. The glass, his brother, the debris, everything seems to be going incredibly slow. His body almost feels as though it is going through water. He also feels his mind pulsing, giving him a tingling sensation in his brain. This is because he is thinking at a pace never thought possible by some. He is now thinking at a rate of a 3GHz super computer… though that doesn't mean he's smarter. All it does is allow him to think of more things within a shorter amount of time.
"This must be what Rev goes through when he's running or something." He looks around from his spot. "It's like that one movie… where the guy is in this computer thing and he could dodge bullets and see things go in slow motion. What was it called? The Matric? Gah! This is going to drive me nuts…"
He shakes these thoughts away.
"Wait a minute, I'm in the middle of a fight here! I got to focus! Ok, lets see… Nix propelled himself toward me. Not good. He's about 3 feet away right now and closing. Damn. Got to defend myself of course. He looks like he's going to do a lunge with that stick of his. I better dodge it." He smirked. "I may actually beat him. I got to thank Tech after I'm done."
Getting back to reality, the battle begins. Nix, just as Daniel predicted, lunged his staff. Daniel dodges to his right and slams his fist into his brother's stomach. Stopping him on the spot. Grabbing his tank-top, Daniel throws him into the benches. Nix falls through the old benches. Only to bounce back up, flipping over Daniel. He lands on the ground and whirls around, delivering a left strike with his staff. Daniels blocks with his right arm and grabs the staff with the left. Twisting around with Nix in tow, he smashes him against another bench seat.
Nix grit his teeth in anger. In a flash, he grabs Daniel by the arm. He lifts him over his head with great strength and rapidly slams him into the ground over and over again. Daniel quacks out before the 5th slam, appearing 10 feet above Nix, who became unbalanced. A random egg forms in his hand.
"Special Delivery!" Daniel shouted. He throws it at Nix. Nix rolls out of the way as the egg impacts the floor. The egg hits the ground and explodes in a cloud of orange powder. The cloud spreads all around the lower area.
Having trouble breathing, Nix jumps and rebounds off the walls to the second floor balcony to regroup.
- - - -
Meanwhile, Ace recovered from his recent injury from Nix. Taking out his sword, he walks next to the cage. He knew Danger Duck could handle his brother or at least hold him off till Ace got there. Either way, this would give Ace time to get Lexi out of here. He readies his sword.
"Here goes." He said. He makes a few slices on the cage and stops. The bars fall onto the ground with a loud clang. He smirks and says to himself, "Nothing to it."
He jogs over to Lexi. There were a number of scorch marks on her forehead where the headband is set. Judging by the size and darkness of said marks, she must have been electrocuted a number of times. The thought of anyone doing such a thing to her made him grit his teeth in rage. What he wouldn't give to wipe the floor with Nix and bury him 6 feet under. However, he had more important matters.
Ace tries to untie her from the cross. "Don't worry Lex, I'll have you out of here in a sec." After a few moments, he realizes he can just shoot them off. "Oh… right." He burns off the ropes, catching Lexi just before she fell. He sets her down on the floor gently and checks for a pulse. He feels one. Sighing with relief, he takes off the headband attached to Lexi's head.
"You'd think Nix would get a headband that would stay on someone's head," Ace remarks. Next he tries waking her up.
"Lex, this is no time for a nap. Wake up!" He says while lightly shaking her. She opens her eyes, groaning something about having a headache.
"Wha," she says groggily. "… What happened?"
"Long story short: Nix captured you, we came to save you, Duck is fighting him, and we need to get out of here and help Duck out." Ace helps her up. She wobbles a bit, but gets back her sense of balance. Ace's communicator bleeps to life, indicating a call.
"Ace, are you there?" It was Tech.
Ace response, "Yeah Tech, I'm here. What's the dilemma?"
"We're having difficulty getting into the church. This mercenary has us pinned down thanks to all those clones of his." Sounds of multiple explosions are heard. "He must have made thousands because they keep popping out of nowhere!"
Distress becomes evident on Ace's face. "What about Rev and Slam?"
"Rev is ok, but I'm not sure how long he can continue without getting hit. Slam is tiring out, but holding out at the moment."
"Ok, we'll be there as soon as we can. Just hold out a bit longer."
"That's good, but what's happening in there? I've been trying to contact Duck, but I've been getting interference."
Ace sighs in displeasure. "Well… When we found Lexi, we had to fight Nix. He incapacitates me and Duck went after him. I just recovered and freed Lexi."
"That's good to hear-" a faint whistling sound is heard in the comm. link. "Oh crud!" The connection cuts off as a sudden sound of static fills the air, followed by a thunderous tremor that made the ground under their feet quake.
"Tech, what happened?" Ace asks, but receives no answer. "Tech, answer! TECH!" Still no reply. Ace feels as though the atmosphere is crushing him like a giant hand. Lexi is no different, apparent by the wide eyes and hands covering her mouth.
"Ace… You think tha-"
"No," he said, lowering his COM link. "Tech can take lot of punishment. He'll be alright, for now." He glances toward the door. "We need to get out of here."
Lexi nods. "Right, lets go."
- - - -
Things were not going very well for Nix. He didn't expect his brother to gain the upper hand like this. With the gauntlet's power, Daniel is tossing him around like a rag doll.
'At this rate, the battle will be over with the hero victor-' his thoughts are interrupted by a sudden kick to the back of the head. Nix is sent flying into the wall with a loud thud. He quickly recovers, but his aura disappears. He kicks Daniel, but he quacks out of the way. He appears 10 meters away.
"Give it up," Daniel said, folding his arms. "I got you by the tail feathers." Nix, although bleeding in a number of places and slightly hunched over with exhaustion, simply chuckles. This causes Daniel's eyebrow shoot halfway up his forehead.
"You think I'll simply relinquish myself after all the effort I put into making my plan a reality?" Nix asks. "If so, then you're foolish for thinking so." He straightens up.
"Nix, get real. You can barely keep up with me now." A wary little half-smile curved Daniel's lips. "What makes you think you can beat me?"
There was a moment of silence.
"… Because, till now, I've been holding back my power."
This caught Daniel's attention. Holding back? He must be joking. The look on Nix's face, however, told otherwise.
"Why are you holding back?" Daniel asked, glaring at his brother in suspicion.
Nix thought for a moment. "… I suppose telling you won't make any difference in the outcome of the battle." For a moment, Daniel thought he saw his brother's eyes change shape. He dismisses it, probably his imagination. "You perhaps already know, whenever you see me with my glowing purple aura, I am faster and stronger than I originally was. That ability is what I call Nocturnal Enhancing Bio-stimulus or "Dark Elevation" for the sake of simplicity."
"Wow, that so amazing. I would have never thought of such a great name." Daniel remarks sarcastically. There was a sound of an explosion outside.
Nix glares at him. "… Talk less Daniel, you'll live longer. As I was saying, it acts as a stimulant. Thus, gives me great power." He lowers his head slightly. "… At a price."
"What do you have to pay, an arm and a leg?"
"My life span."
Daniel, despite what recently happened, look at his psychotic brother in alarm. "What?"
"That's right." Nix looks up, seriousness in his eyes clear. "With each use, my existence slowly declines. The more I use, the faster I'm expected to depart this life. At my current rate, I'm expected to die within the next 10 years."
"… I see." There wasn't anything else Daniel could say. Not only was his brother trying to kill him and his friends, he's willing to put anything including his health on the line just to get what he wants. Daniel doesn't know whether to feel pity, sorrow, or hatred for him.
The shady villain shakes his head. "But I wouldn't be worried about my life. For as I said, I have been holding back. So far, I've been only using half of my power. I think it's about time I let it all out and finish this pointless battle." Soon, the purple aura reappears on Nix. It becomes different this time. It starts to envelop him like snakes, obscuring any details on his person. The iris of his eyes were glowing a bright violet. This transformation ended quickly. His body looks like one big purple shadow. He looks at Daniel with his big glowing eyes full of evil malice and says, "Time to respire your last breath, brother."
That look gave Daniel the chills, even more so than before. He can tell by just looking at Nix that he's going to take much pleasure causing him pain. It didn't matter; Daniel would gladly take a few hits if it meant stopping his brother from completing his ludicrous plans. He readies an egg in his hand and says, "we'll see about tha-"
"Duck!"
Both fighters stop and glance to where the feminine voice came from; Lexi and Ace came out of the office downstairs and were looking up toward Daniel. While he often received help from the others in the past and would gladly receive it, this actually causes the situation to be a lot more distressing. This is due to three factors: one is that Ace and Lexi came just as Nix has fully powered himself. Two, Ace is one of Nix's prime targets. Three, said psychopathic duck is looking at Ace… and grinning.
Daniel sees this and shouts, "Ace, lookout!"
Nix jumps off the balcony, landing in front of Ace. He kicks his leg straight up, into Ace's jaw. The impact sends him flying into the air. He crashes hard onto the ceiling.
"You son of a-," Lexi, in anger, tries to brain blast Nix at point blank. Nix spins his staff with one hand at high speeds, deflecting the shot away from him.
"Bitch." Nix finishes. He starts walking toward her, but receives a sudden roundhouse kick to the head via Daniel's foot. It hurls him through a bunch of chairs and into the wall. Daniel throws a pair of his eggs at him. They explode on contact and cover him with a gooey binding agent. Daniel glares at him, and then glances at Lexi, who blinks in mystification.
"Duck…" Lexi says, "are you aware that you're… glowing?"
He looks up without a word and lifts his arms in front of him a moment later. Ace, who finally pealed off the ceiling, fell into his arms. Daniel quickly gives Ace to Lexi.
"Take Ace and get out of here."
"But what about-"
"Go!"
"But-"
"NOW!"
She steps back in fright. She never saw Duck act so forceful. She stares back at him, his aqua eyes pleading for her to leave. She nods and reluctantly leaves. Daniel looks back at his crazy sibling. The goo that held him turning to vapor, he stands up and glares back at Daniel.
"You can't protect them forever Daniel," Nix said, "It's only a matter of time before I eliminate those blasphemous rabbits." He looks at Daniel's gauntlet with a smirk. It starts to flicker and spark. "And that device of yours appears to be running out of power. This is your last moment to admit defeat."
Daniel never breaks his gaze. Instead, he slips into a battle stance with an egg in each hand and says, "Shut up and fight."
"Very well, let us conclude this battle." Nix spins his staff around himself and charges forward with blinding speed. Daniel quickly reacts by quacking out, leaving the eggs behind. The eggs hit the ground and expand into two boulders. Nix kicks off of the boulder, bouncing into the air where Daniel reappears. He thrusts the other leg into Daniel's chest.
Daniel hurls backward, but quacks out before hitting the wall. He appears behind Nix and, using the momentum from before, slams his elbow into his back causing an audible crack. They both fall into what's left of the podium, breaking it into little pieces. Nix, who had Daniel on his back, pushes hard off the ground and launches into the air with enormous strength; slamming into the ceiling.
Nix fell to the ground while Daniel stuck to the ceiling like glue. The pain shot into his brain like a bullet; his back felt like it's on fire. He quacks out and appears on the ledge of the balcony.
"Dodge this!" He said, forming more eggs in his hands. Looking up, Nix finds multiple egg-shaped projectiles raining down toward him. He jumps out of the way of the first wave as they impacted the area. More came as he zigzags and leaps past them and the surrounding objects. The explosions varied from egg to egg; some exploded while others simply cracked, spilling their contents onto the floor. The chances of one of them being lethal were low. However, Nix didn't want to chance it and did his best to avoid all of them. The few that did hit were simply filled with yolk, water, or some orange substance that he really didn't want to know.
Deciding to put a stop to this, he ran up the wall with the trail of bombarding eggs behind him. Once he got high enough, he kicks hard off the wall, kicking off the other wall on the other side, and sails at Daniel full force. This catches him off-guard for a moment before regaining his self-control. He throws more eggs at Nix, hoping to stop him before he gets too close. With a quick shout, Nix deflects the incoming eggs with his staff and thrusts his leg into Daniel's face. The impact causes Daniel to tumble backwards, dropping the egg he had in his hand. He recovers in mid-fall and flips back just as the egg hits the ground. It causes a huge explosion behind, which he uses to propel himself at Daniel.
Daniel quacks out of the way while Nix bounces off the wall and lands on the floor.
The surrounding area appears to slow down as the fighters pick up the pace. Daniel appears behind Nix to deliver a kick to his head, which leans out of the way and he kicks with his right, but Daniel hits the leg with the base of his palm, halting it successfully. Daniel jabs with his left, hitting Nix between the eyes. Nix retaliates with a quick blow to the stomach via his staff. This pattern continues, exchanging their bombardment of punches with incredible ferocity with no sign of letting up. Bruises, blood, and cuts pile up on their bodies like sand in an hourglass.
Nix throws his staff at Daniel, who catches it, and sidekicks him hard in the chin, sending him off the balcony and dropping the staff, which Nix grabs in midair while running forward. Using the forward momentum, he jumps off the edge of the balcony and follows Daniel in the air, who quacks out before hitting the ground.
Nix lands in the middle of the room and looks around. Fifteen seconds pass, there is no sign of Daniel anywhere.
"Where are you Daniel," Nix says loudly. "Don't tell me you're giving up already. The fun has just started." With a sneer, he begins walking down the aisle.
Daniel sat behind a pillar nearby, his back pressed against the marble column. Out of his mouth came short, quiet gasps. Beats of sweat ran down his face, mixing in with the blood seeping out of his wounds. His orange and black feathers are a mess. If he had a shirt, it'd be torn to ribbons by now. His body is no longer glowing orange; he looks at his arm.
"Time's up," he thought grimly. The gauntlet Tech made for him no longer works. He lost his edge, no longer able to keep up with his brother. If he went out there now, he'd be dead for sure.
He looks at the blue bandanna tied to his left arm. The bandanna was given to him from his sister Beckatha before she passed away. She used to keep it with her for good luck. He took it off and held it in his hand. "What should I do?" He gazes into the piece a cloth for a moment.
He recalls what she told him, remembering the day she gave it to him before they both went off to stop their brother.
--
"Danny," she said, taking out the bandanna. "Before we go, I want you to have this." She gives it to him.
"What is this, a tissue?" He asks. She shakes her head.
"No silly, it's my lucky bandanna."
"Lucky bandanna? Since when to girls wear bandannas?" This earned him a smack via Beck's hand. "Ow!"
"We're having a family moment Danny, don't ruin it. As I was saying, I had that bandanna for as long as I remember-"
"Then why are you giving it to me?" Giving her a questionable look.
"I have a feeling you're going to need it more than I do." She said with a smirk.
"Oh ha ha. Can we go now?" Just as he was going through the door, she stops him.
"Before that, you have to promise me one thing." He looks at her for a moment.
"… ok sure. What is it?"
"If I can't be there to stop Dabble, promise me you'll do it for me."
Danny gives a smile and nods. "I promise."
---
Daniel remembers the promise he made to her sister, but he has doubts. Can he really keep that promise? The situation looks grim; His teammates are battling against an army outside, his brother is now a pumped-up freak of nature, and his only advantage shorts out. If he ran away now, then he'd still be alive but would leave his friends behind with that monster. If he stays here, he'd be-
He quacks out just as Nix strikes the pillar, turning it into rubble.
"You can't escape me! I'll hunt you down like the vermin that you are!"
Daniel reappears behind some rubble.
"This is going nowhere," he thought bitterly. "I can't sit by and watch him kill my friends. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if that happens. Even if I die, I'll make sure he's coming with me." He ties the bandanna across his forehead. He felt ready, the fierce veracity returning in his eyes. Says to himself, "Rambo, eat your heart out."
"Daniel," Nix yells out. "Come out and PLAY!" Suddenly, he gets hit in the back of the head with one of Daniel's eggs. It covers him in orange goop.
"Tag," Daniels said. "You're it!" He quacks out and reappears on one of the boulders he made earlier.
Nix turns around and glares at his brother.
"I will enjoy killing you!" He leaps at Daniel, who quacks out of the way before Nix brought his staff down, smashing the boulder into rubble. Nix flips back just as an egg hits where he stood. Looking up, he finds Daniel on the remains of the podium.
"Come on," Daniel said in a fake cheerful tone. "Hit the duck and win a prize!" He disappears and reappears on a statue. Nix simply blurs out before Daniel's eyes.
"Hey, where did he-" He gets cut off when Nix grabs him by the neck and tosses him into one of the pillars on the right side of the room. The collision paralyzes Daniel due to the pain, his body appearing limp. Nix leaps over and lands in front of Daniel.
"A valiant effort Danny," Nix says with no sympathy behind it. "But it was all for nothing. You see, not only am I older than you, but I'm also stronger than you. If that bitch of a sister couldn't stop me… what makes you any different?"
Anger boils in Daniel, clenching his fists till they bled. That last statement was uncalled for.
"I'd say it's been nice knowing you, Daniel," Nix said, lifting his staff over his head. "But frankly, I just don't like you.
Daniel quacks out before Nix brings down his staff, the impact crushing the ground and forming a small crater. When he tries to pull out his staff, it won't budge. Looking down, he finds out why. It's covered in orange goop. Nix yells out in aggravation. Daniel re-emerges on the other side of the aisle. A look of immense fury appears in his glowing eyes. He puts his hands together. With all his power, he concentrates on putting as much energy as he could into forming this egg. It forms, trying to become bigger and bigger. Daniel, however, compresses it from becoming any bigger. Pretty soon, it starts changing color from orange to red… to blue.
Nix chooses to leave the staff and just use his fists. Just as he turns around, Daniel finishes powering up his attack.
"This is for my sister!" He hurls the oddly colored egg with all his might at Nix.
The egg speeds at Nix at unbelievable speed, catching him off guard and hitting him square in the face. In a short flash, it bursts out in a blue flare, enveloping Nix's head. He staggers back, growling in agony with one hand covering his face.
Daniel looks in mystification. He forms two more eggs in his hands. Instead of the usual orange color, they were now glowing blue. It feels different from the usual eggs he creates, not feeling the chaotic energy that usually emits from them. This feels more calm, controlled, and powerful. Is this a new power?
"I see you learned a new trick," Nix said, recovering from his injury. "Interesting… but futile. It doesn't matter what trick you have up your sleeve." He launches himself at Daniel. "I CAN TAKE WHATEVER YOU HAVE!"
Thinking quickly, Daniel decides to just wing it and use this power while he still can. He puts all the energy he can into these eggs.
"Well take this!" He slaps both eggs in front of him just as Nix was right in front of him. The action results in a short implosion, followed by a large blue ball of swirling energy that shot straight toward Nix, who couldn't stop his forward momentum in time. It makes contact with him, impacting him with colossal power he never felt before in his life. The shock is so sudden; he didn't have time to scream while it hurled him backwards into the office. His screams became heard when he made contact to the wall and the ball of energy that carried him exploded, decimating the entire office.
Daniel stood there, his arms in the same position, in shock for a moment. Letting his arms and head go limp, he fell to his knees in exhaustion.
"Well," he says out loud while panting. "I may… get sued for… doing that." He stops for a moment to catch his breath. "But at least… it's over…" A feeling of relief flows into Daniel, thinking it is done. Looking up, he realizes how wrong he is.
Out of the office room with blood dripping from multiple parts of his body, Nix walked. His aura, no longer covering his body, is now barely visible. The large scorch mark on his chest, where the attack hit, is very noticeable. Though it is evident his body is incredibly drained, the glare he's giving Daniel shows he couldn't care less. Grudgingly, Daniel stood up, though having trouble staying up with his legs feeling like jelly.
"What will it take to make you say down," Daniel asked.
Nix replies, "I'll die… when I kill you and that damn rabbit!"
With a short battle cry, they both sprint toward each other as fast as their bodies could take them. They tackle one another, grappling with expectation to over power the other. Daniel quacks out with Nix in tow, reappearing above the balcony and Nix's back toward the ground. They impact the floor, rolling for a few moments, trying gain the upper hand. They roll until they were near the stained-glass window.
Daniel lets go with his right hand and starts punching Nix in the face. Without him noticing, Nix takes a nearby piece of debris and smashes it against his face, knocking Daniel off of him.
Nix grabs him by the neck, bangs him once on the ground, and lifts him up.
"Daniel," Nix sneers. He squeezes his brother's neck. "This will end. I have had it with your interference with my plans. I will be making sure you will be join our sister and with you gone, I will kill Ace and start the war once again. Then I, as the commander of the Duck army, will make sure every rabbit is wiped out from the face of the earth! NO ONE WILL STAND IN MY WAY!!"
"Dabble," he said with some difficulty. "No matter what happens… or what you do to me. I… want you to know only one thing."
Nix's glare deepens. "And that is?"
There is a moment's pause, waiting for Daniel's answer.
"… You will never succeed. You will… be brought down, along with your plans. You… will lose… you smug, selfish, backstabbing basta-"
Nix heard enough. He threw the battered Daniel through the stain glass window with great force. The echoing sounds of glass shattering rang through the air. Daniel, like a rag doll, flew through the window as it shattered around him. For a moment it was almost pretty, a thousand shards of glittering crystals. This scene gave Nix much satisfaction. It seems as though he has won. This was not to be, however, as Nix, out the corner of his eyes, saw a pair of glowing orange orbs fall through the air. His expression went from satisfaction to shock.
Daniel was dimly aware of his plummet to the ground and the shards of glass that surround him. Everything seems to be going in slow motion; it was like when he activated his gauntlet. The only difference this time is that he can't move his body and unable to think clearly. It felt like a dream. He faintly watches the explosion that came out the window he flew out of.
Daniel smiles.
'A parting gift," he thought, "from me to you, brother."
The last thing he saw was faint images of each of his friends and family: His mother Martha, sister Beckatha, his brother Dabble, his friends Ace, Tech, Rev, Slam, and Lexi…
Then everything went black.
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"Danny…Wake up…"This is the longest chapter I've ever written. Hope it was worth the wait.
That's it for this chapter; tune in next time for the conclusion!