CHAPTER 18

The morning stretched far out into the starry night. Pit had been training the Centurions all day, preparing them to defend the temple in Pit and Palutena's absence tomorrow. Suddenly Hermes sped toward Pit, looking incredibly alarmed.

"Commander Pit! Zeus and Poseidon have been captured!"

"What?! Alright I will deliver the message to Lady Palutena immediately!" Hermes dashed off in a flash as Pit then exclaimed, "Alright men! We have an emergency! I want our best defenders at the gate of Skyworld. I want half of the troops to fly immediately to the Rewind Spring and defend it with your lives! You are dismissed!" Pit began to run furiously toward the temple. Was Palutena safe? His eyes darting absolutely everywhere he couldn't find a single trace of Palutena. "Palutena?! Where are you?!" Dark Pit emerged from a corner, out of breath.

"There you are! Pit we need to go, follow me." Grabbing his hand Dark Pit led him to the Lightening Chariot. "I think Palutena and the other Gods have been taken to the Underworld."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Use your head, will yeah? Why would they have been taken? Who would have taken them? Mesperyian is going to use their bodies to rebuild Hades right now!" Scratching his head Pit looked at him in confusion.

"I don't understand though. Why didn't Mesperyian kidnap the Gods sooner? And how in the heavens did she manage to take on three Gods? I think she had some help from an outside force."

"Now that you mention it, you do have a point. Regardless we need to go. Is the Great Sacred Treasure operational?"

"Unfortunately no, it's still in shambles from the battle with Hades. The cannon is the only part that really survived."

"Where can I repair it?"

"Well, you would have to go Dyntos, the God of the Forge. I doubt he would be very happy to see you though.."

"Oh gee, thanks. We don't have a choice; I will go to him immediately. If worse comes to worse we'll just have to use the cannon by itself. Here, it's dangerous to go alone, take this," Dark Pit handed Pit a small round object with a clip upon the back. "Wear this and I will know your location."

"Wait, how did you- where did you get this?" Blushing Dark Pit turned away from his lighter half.

"Well uh- when I was working for Hade's soul he had a lot of those laying around.. So I thought that I would help myself to a few.."

"Well how about that! Good work Pitto!"

"Don't call me that Pit-stain!" Laughing Pit smiled and began to head out until he froze midway into his step.

"Wait how am I going to get to the Underworld? There's only one Lightening Chariot.."

"I think a better question would be what we want to do first, find the Gods or repair the Great Sacred Treasure?"

"In all honesty I would rather find Palutena and ensure that she is safe above all else." Dark Pit frowned at this, crossing his arms.

"I was afraid you would say that. Personally I'm against you flinging yourself into danger like an idiot." Turning his back on the white angel Dark Pit then spoke, "Whatever happens to you happens to me. Even if the damn cannon is repaired and the Gods lose their bodies then the whole mission is pointless." Facing his doppelganger, Dark Pit smiled, "Don't die out there you idiot." Urging him toward the chariot he asked rather suddenly, "Oh! Where is the cannon by the way?"

"It's in Palutena's bedroom down the hall and to the left. You'll find it under her bed with a lock on it." Pulling out a small key on a string around his neck Pit snapped it off and threw it to Dark Pit. "That should open it. You can find an exo-tank on the platform below this one along with a map of Skyworld. That should get you to Dyntos."

"Alright then; good luck Pit." On that note the two angels separated. Pit whipped the reins with a loud crack as Dark Pit ran toward Palutena's room, the small silver key in hand. Bursting into the room he noticed that everything was neat and tidy. He also noticed one of Pit's feathers upon her pillow. "Really Palutena? Oh well none of my business." Reaching under her bed he found the expected case. Pulling it out he noticed that it was incredibly heavy and very large. Upon finding the keyhole he inserted the silver key only to have it shatter within his hands. "No way.. It was- fake? Did Pit know about this or was he fooled as well?" Scrunching his eyes in anger he screamed out, "Dammit!" He gripped the sides of the case and began to drag it with much effort. "How the hell am I going to drag this all the way down there?!" Looking around the room he searched for whatever he could to make the case mobile. "Damn, I don't have time for this!" Running out of the room he left the closed case there for about a minute or two. The loud whirl of an engine grew until the source of it could be traced to the entrance of the temple. Dark Pit rode the exo-tank into the temple, knocking over several vases and leaving tread marks upon the floor. Stopping abruptly at Palutena's door he hopped out of the tank and proceeded to drag the heavy case into the vehicle.

The exhilarated angel held onto the reins for dear life as the Lightening Chariot flashed by with increasing speed and force. "Hang on Palutena, I'm coming. This time I will save you." Approaching the underworld he noticed that the Underworld troops were scarcely there. "Where is everybody?" A thought then popped its way into Pit's mind. "The City of Souls! Of course, that's where they're heading! She must be heading toward the Rewind Spring." Cracking the reins once more, Phos and Lux gave it their all as commanded. The blue crystals around him shimmered within the pale moonlight of the cold night. Soon enough Pit found himself dodging enemy fire, yet not returning fire. The anxious angel couldn't have cared less about the mere low-level grunts. There was only one thought upon his mind: save Palutena. His cobalt eyes searched everywhere for any sign of his Goddess.

The final battle is underway! Will Hades be revived? Will the Great Sacred Treasure be repaired? Thank you for reading this far and please remember to review!