"I feel a presence. A presence I've not felt since…" I muttered to myself.
"What are you talking about?" Yen Sid asked.
"Ike… he's here," I said, walking off and climbing down the tower. My spiffy new coat ruffled as I jumped from staircase to staircase, eager to find Ike… eager for my answers.
After leaving the tower, I went over to the luminous train tracks. I saw a shimmering just ahead, and knew Ike had just gone through the barrier. I pursued him, once again balancing on the train tracks. I made it to the barrier and passed through back into the normal Twilight Town. Ike was already at the tunnel under the Sunset Hill.
He appeared to be walking slowly, and his silver cloak dragged slightly behind him. I ran up to him, my footsteps echoing through the empty town. I stopped short to shout at him.
"You! Ike! I want answers!" I shouted, jabbing a finger at him.
"Sorry, I don't have any answers for you. Not now, anyway," he replied, continuing his slow gait. "Be careful. Don't let the darkness swallow you."
"What are you talking about?" I asked, frustrated with Ike's unreliability and cryptic comments. "The darkness holds no grasp over me!"
"Believe what you will," Ike said, stopping at last, "but know the truth. You have a heart steeped in darkness. If you don't turn away from that path, it could consume you."
I made the hand seals for the Katon: G?kaky? no Jutsu, then breathed fire at him. He didn't seem to move, but once the flames had died down, he was still standing there… unscathed…
"I want answers, and I want them now, dammit!" I demanded.
"You'd turn your blade against me for nothing more than answers? Then so be it…" Ike muttered, finally drawing his sword. It was brilliant… a single-edged sword made of some sort of yellow stone. And there was this odd indentation on his blunt edge, but I wasn't sure what it was.
"Know this: if you choose to fight me, you won't like it. You'll undoubtedly be hurt… maybe even killed," he said. "Sorry, but I don't know the meaning of restraint. I'll try and hold back, though."
"I don't give a damn! If I have to fight you to get my answers, then I will!" I yelled indignantly at him. "Stop acting like you're superior!"
"But I am…" he muttered, turning around. I couldn't see his face since his hood was still up, but after leaving the tunnel, his coat shimmered in the twilight. "You don't have a chance."
"Oh, yeah?" I asked, charging at him. Ike didn't seem to be reacting; he just stood there. I planned to cut his torso in two, like I had done to the Keyblade man, but at the last moment he knocked my attack aside with his own sword! He just stood there, even though I was wide open! I jumped back.
"How could you deflect an attack so fast?" I asked him.
"Oh, did you say something?" Ike asked, picking his ears. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention."
"You…" I growled. "Don't underestimate me!" I sheathed my sword, then made the hand seals for the Chidori. I looked down and closed my eyes.
Focus… concentrate. Move all your energy to your hand and…!
"Is that the best you've got? I'm disappointed…" he muttered as the noise of a thousand chirping birds surrounded me. I opened my eyes, looked up and stared straight at his hooded eyes.
"Give me the truth. Who are you?!" I shouted.
"The truth? The truth is you can't handle the truth," Ike said coldly. "You're weak. An insignificant speck beneath my notice, really."
"Oh, YEAH?!" I shouted, charging at him as fast as my feet would move. A thousand birds chirped around me on my approach, blazing across the train tracks. Ike didn't move until the last minute again, this time grabbing my electric-crackling wrist. He then twisted it, throwing me and whacking me in the back of the head with the blunt edge of his sword. I went flying across the train tracks…
"Ow…" I muttered, staggering to my feet. Ike was probably about a hundred feet away.
His strength is staggering! It's otherworldly... but I don't sense anything odd from him!
"I told you, that's pathetic. You can't change direction after executing that skill, and you're severely limited to two times per day," he said. "However, there are other techniques that aren't so restrictive."
He held out his wrapped hand, and a sphere of crimson energy began to form. It swirled and compressed, forming a perfect sphere in his hand.
"That can't be…" I muttered. "Rasengan…"
"You think you're strong, but you're not. Leave now, or I'll use this," he said, referring to his Rasengan.
"Like it matters! I've still got my Chidori ready!" I yelled at him. "So bring it!"
"So be it…" he muttered, charging at me. I mirrored his charge, watching his cloak flap around in the wind. He was faster than me, and we met each other sooner than I expected. Our forces clashed, Sasuke vs. Naruto style, which ended in me being thrown back I don't know how far.
How can someone stand against the Chidori? He's stronger, better, faster than me… I thought to myself. I won't let him beat me! I WILL get my answers!
I felt some sort of accursed strength flow into me as I passed through the barrier. I recovered, grabbed one of the railroad tracks, and threw myself back to the battle with Ike.
NEW Ability!
Jake – Rai no Juin (Cursed Seal of Lightning): Jake's Cursed Seal, unintentionally given to him by Ike. It normally rests as three lightning bolts in a circular pattern on his shoulder. When used, it glows yellow as it spreads across Jake's body, forming in a jagged pattern. As with other Cursed Seals, the Rai no Juin gives Jake greatly increased abilities depending on how far he lets it spread.
After I had caught up with Ike, who once again had his back turned, I gave him a palm slam to the back. He skidded forward, but very little. Ike then jumped backward and turned around simultaneously.
"So… that's your way," Ike said, unsurprised by my cursed seal. "Don't walk down that path. It'll only lead to ruin and despair."
"What would you know about the darkness?" I snarled at him.
"I know the power of the darkness. I know what it costs…" he muttered. "I know what it's worth. And trust me; the darkness isn't worth what it costs."
"And what does it cost?" I snarled again, getting ready to fight.
"Your self, your being, and in the end, your heart," he said. "You don't know the power of the darkness, but you now know what it costs. It's your choice."
"I don't care. Give me my answers!" I shouted, charging at him with my sword outstretched. He simply knocked it aside, though, and once again sent me skidding across the train tracks. I got up faster, once again ready to charge at him.
Ike had dashed over to me. He attacked me, but I defended against his attack. We attacked and parried each other several times, which ended in us being thrown across the train tracks in opposite directions.
"Impressive," Ike sneered at me.
"Shut up!" I shouted, making hand seals. I blasted him with Katon: Kary? Endan, which engulfed the entire bridge. He disappeared and hammered down from above, attempting to cleave me in two. I managed to block the attack, though the force made me drop to my knees. I recovered fast enough to thrust his stomach, but Ike grabbed my sword with his spare hand.
His blood flowed down my sword, but I didn't care anymore. Ike put one boot on my sword and jumped back, bleeding all the way. He was unfazed; though… it was almost like that cut didn't affect him!
"Are you ignoring your pain?" I asked.
"No… I was already wounded there," he replied.
"What?" I asked.
"Some wounds will never heal," Ike said cryptically. "Well, then, I suppose it's time I ended this."
"Let's see you try!" I shouted, using Bunshin no Jutsu to make three clones. These clones will confuse him, I thought.
"Pathetic," he said in response to my technique. "I have slain thousands; three clones won't hinder me."
"Then bring it!" I snarled at him. In an instant, Ike had slain my three clones. He then held his blade to my throat, though he had his head down.
"I told you… pathetic," he repeated. He then turned his sword around, hitting me with its blunt edge and sending me flying across the train tracks. I recovered after skidding for a little bit, but once I had managed to do so, Ike was… gone.
I let the dark, cursed strength leave me… exhausted from the usage of my cursed seal, I felt like I was about to faint. I fell face first onto the train tracks, mashing my communicator just before I passed out.