Even with the influence of the Hot Spring, it was quite some time before the dark angel stirred and groaned, blinking open his red eyes. Almost immediately, his left hand shot out in search of his bow as he sprung to his feet, his eyes burning and searching wildly for his assailants as he set himself in a defensive position. He spun around and had to stop his fist mid-punch before he processed he was looking at his lighter counterpart.
"Whoa, whoa, easy!" Pit urged, and Dark Pit stared at him for a moment longer.
"Pit?" he finally asked with guarded confusion.
"You'd know better than anyone," the white-winged angel replied, tapping his chest with one finger. "Relax. You're safe now." It took a moment, but Dark Pit seemed to accept this. He straightened up and relaxed his stance, crossing his arms as he observed his twin.
"Okay," he said gruffly. "Where are we? What are you doing here? And where are those stupid monsters that ambushed me?!"
"Uh..." Pit frowned. "So they really did catch you. Let me start at the beginning." He launched into his story, starting with the dream Palutena had sent him, detailing Skyworld's invasion as best he could, and explaining the situation with the Elements. "And I just got this Earth charm or whatever," he went on, pulling it out for Dark Pit to observe. "Viridi says she's going to show me to some place I can use a base to rest and recover." Dark Pit's expression remained stoic, but he nodded.
"Hmph." He shrugged. "Sounds like you've got your hands full. Well..." he smirked. "Those things made it personal, and I owe them a beating."
"Pittoo?" The revival of the nickname earned him a scowl, but Dark Pit didn't openly protest. "What do you mean?"
"I mean two Pits are better than one, right?" he pointed out. "Sounds like Viridi isn't helping you because she's a coward. Which I wish I could say surprised me. And if you go bounding off into the unknown without thinking like you usually do, I may find myself dead without even trying. So I gotta go along and cover your butt."
"I'd like the company," Pit agreed, knowing better now to find the hidden meaning behind his counterpart's words. "So maybe you can at least come with me to this new base?"
"Sure," Dark Pit nodded. "I wanna have a word with Viridi anyway."
"And you probably don't want to be wandering around out there without a weapon," Pit noticed, and his twin again shrugged. They headed back out the tunnel they had come in through and emerged into the cool night air as the moon began to rise over the horizon.
"About time!" Viridi snapped as they started away from the Sanctum. "Good to see you alive, Pittoo," she added.
"No thanks to you," the dark angel growled. "What the heck are you doing?!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" the goddess demanded, and Pit flinched at the burning anger in Dark Pit's eyes.
"You're seriously sitting around doing nothing? Some part of me hoped Pit was exaggerating when he said you weren't giving him any aid in battle. You almost let him get killed!"
"You're lucky I'm helping him at all!" Viridi retorted, and Dark Pit clenched his hands into tight fists. "I'm not attracting that thing that attacked Skyworld."
"Coward," Dark Pit shook his head. "Why are you so worried? That thing's gonna come after you anyway."
"What makes you so sure?" Viridi inquired sharply.
"One, that thing came after me. Two, it invaded Skyworld. Three, it's after the world as a whole since it wants these Elements. Four, you don't have a chance against it."
"Shut it!" the goddess growled. "I've got some of the best commanders and my Children are more competent than the Underworld freaks and your Centurions combined! I can handle-"
"No, you can't!" Dark Pit interrupted loudly. "You want to know how I know that? Because it managed to beat me and Pit. He's single-handedly defeated your entire army. And you know I can do anything he can."
"Errrgh..." she groaned. "If I didn't need Pit to beat this thing, I'd drop you both right now."
"So you really do need me," Pit realized. "You know none of your commanders can beat it and you're afraid to try. So you're making me run around and do everything for you!"
"Shut it!" she snapped again. "Don't you want to save Palutena? This is the only way you can. So both of you, stop complaining and be glad I'm giving you any help at all!" Dark Pit rolled his eyes and Pit sighed.
"I guess she's right," the white-winged angel mumbled. He could tell Dark Pit wanted to disagree with him, but he held it back. "Okay, Viridi, can you just tell me where this base is? After that, I'll head for the next Sanctum."
"Fine," she said flatly. "Head northwest. Once you get there, I should probably send you to Phoenix Mountain since you won't survive there without my help anyway."
"Then let's just get moving," Dark Pit grumbled, starting in her indicated direction with Pit hurrying to catch up.
He stuck close to his twin, his staff held at the ready as they walked across the hills and into the field, bound for what was apparently a forest. The moon was just under half-way lit, and clouds wisped across it to obscure what pale light it did give them. The angels walked in silence, and Dark Pit kept the same brisk pace for quite some time. Pit had to admit, he was actually happy to have his twin's company again, especially since he hadn't seen the dark angel since he defeated Hades.
Even so, there seemed to be something of an awkwardness hanging over them. While he doubted Dark Pit completely despised partnering with him, there was something else there, some unspoken issue they hadn't resolved, and pondering it for a moment gave Pit an answer he couldn't argue with but didn't want to bring up, especially with Viridi likely watching them.
"So..." Dark Pit finally spoke up, like he couldn't take the silence any longer. "These things just attacked Skyworld out of nowhere, sent you tumbling, and Palutena specifically told you not to try to save her while they invaded."
"Pretty much," Pit agreed.
"And then you didn't see any of them until you got to the Sanctum where they ambushed you and almost killed you. Several times."
"Yeah."
"Not to mention they swarmed me and knocked me out, locked me in some sludge-filled glass prison, and we have no idea who they are or what they want."
"Basically."
"Wonderful..." Dark Pit sighed heavily. "Well, what do we know about them? Maybe that'll help lead us to some sort of answers."
"Maybe," Pit nodded. "They're not anything I've ever fought before. They're definitely not Forces of Nature and I highly doubt they're from the Underworld, especially since Hades and Medusa are toast and I'm pretty sure we took out any of their other commanders." He frowned, counting off on his fingers. "Got Twinbellows, the Hewdraw, and Phosphora fried Thanatos, then Pandora..."
It seemed that despite his best efforts, he'd accidentally managed to bring up their problem anyway.
"She's finished," Dark Pit said rather dully. It seemed they both wanted to just move on, but the awkward tension in the air surrounding them wouldn't allow them to.
"You never did let me thank you," Pit finally said quietly, and they both came to a stop.
"You saved my life," Dark Pit replied. "Like a moron. I owed you. I repaid my debt. End of story. Not to mention if you died, I'd be done for anyway, and that would mean your... what you did would have been pointless."
"But still," Pit insisted. "I... I don't remember much of what happened. But I went after you because you had helped me. I wouldn't have gotten into the Chaos Vortex if you hadn't opened that rift."
"So, what, is this a battle of who owes what?" Dark Pit snorted. "Can we just forget it?"
"I doubt it," Pit said, catching his twin off guard. Dark Pit turned to face him with crossed arms and a steady gaze.
"We needed Palutena," he said flatly. "I just wanted to prove I wasn't your enemy. Get that out of the way, keep you from coming after me later. Not to mention I wanted to make sure you didn't get yourself killed."
"And I didn't! I don't know if I would have lasted without you. You helped me. You got me to where I needed to go to save Lady Palutena. I couldn't just let you die!"
"Why not?!" Dark Pit snapped. "If you'd managed to get yourself killed, it wouldn't have mattered anyway. I didn't ask you to save me!" Pit remained steady and silent even as Dark Pit scowled at him, breathing heavily.
"Yes, you did," the white-winged angel finally said, and Dark Pit flinched. "'Help me.' That's the last thing I remember." They remained silent as the dark angel dropped his gaze. "And I don't regret answering that. I'm glad you and I are allies now, Pittoo. And I like to think of you as a friend." It was several moments before Dark Pit finally looked back up. His red eyes met Pit's blue gaze, his face serious and solemn. Without a word, he offered his hand, and Pit took it.
"Let's just start over. All that stuff before you got turned into a ring didn't happen. I don't owe you, you don't owe me. I'll fight with you to fix this mess. But from there, I don't know." He paused. "And if it comes down to it, don't save me if it means killing yourself. Because seriously, it won't matter. It's stupid for us both to die if we don't have to." Pit sighed lightly, but nodded and shook his twin's hand.
"We've got a clean slate," he agreed. "Thanks, Pittoo. After everything, I'm glad it's you I'm fighting with." Dark Pit attempted a smirk, but traces of a true smile made it in as well.
"Don't get all sappy on me," he replied as he pulled his hand back. "C'mon. Let's get going before Viridi yells at us for taking too long." Pit laughed and they both started toward the forest once again, side by side as the weight around them was lifted. Despite the chaos that had assaulted his life and sent him on this death-defying journey, Pit couldn't help but smile.