A/N: Thanks to my 3 reviewers, The White Raven013, Texmaris and Micro chibi baka-san for their reviews, they are greatly appreciated. After much though I've decided to post this story just for fun rather than for the responses; though they're appreciated, it's not the point of this fic, rather than to just tell a story. So without further ado here's MY favorite chapter among others, Chapter V of Downpour.
Also, the first Four chapters have been edited and reviewed by yours truly, so any grammatical errors spotted and such have been corrected and some things might have changed slightly, but nothing major. I have no beta, so please forgive any insaneness.
Chapter V: Dark Descendant
He walked through a dark corridor, feeling nothing but the hallow breeze of darkness all around him, a door opened and if not for the blindfold on his face it would have blinded him; it was a large white circular room that greeted him, a window on the far end, the young man of long silver hair and a dark coat stood in the middle.
"All right then, this shall be the second test run for Specimen 0…" Hojo said through a speaker from the window at the far end; the boy's blood boiled, he hated this man with a passion, it was because of him all of this happened, that he's trapped in this place, in darkness.
"Begin!" the man ordered, two doors opened and Shinra special forces, 3rd and 2nd Class SOLDIER, came into the door, ten in total; Hojo began his recording, smiling devilishly as his heart raced with anticipation. The young boy simply stood there, not motioning to do anything "Would you rather die?" Hojo asked, indifferently "You shall bring a new age of man, your freedom shall be assured…someday…" he cackled devilishly, as he always did, loud and obnoxiously.
"Go to hell…" a sword materialized in his right hand, black, red and blue, the Soul Eater, a fitting name for a sword that fed on the darkness in everything.
One SOLDIER charged in, his broadsword in hand, he thought of cutting the boy's head clean; no such luck. As he tried to bring his sword down, the cloaked boy dodged to the side, slicing the half the man's body and neck clean off, a sweep of blood falling on the white floor.
"Next…" the boy smirked; the other SOLDIERS were enraged and moved in for the kill, as they did the boy seemed to dance around them at dazzling speed, slicing off arms of two more right off.
"Isn't it wonderful?" Hojo said, more to himself than to his assistants, or Xaldin, a man of long hair in braids and a muscular build, the personal guard to Hojo and third Nobody to be made "How he moves with such grace and power; that is true darkness, move like an unseen shadow and strike with unmerciful coldness…" the man smiled a devilish smile and looked on.
One came from his left side and was about to land a blow, but his Guardian, a shadow as dark as night with demonic yellow eyes, appeared behind the boy and grabbed the attacker by the face, the SOLDIERS stopped cold, the one in the dark shadow's grasp was yelling, muffled as it crushed his skull clean, the room slowly filling with red.
"That shadow? A remnant of the original Specimen 0?" Xaldin asked.
"Yes…because of the cloning process it took a human form first, but…that Guardian is the colossal Heartless created by that foolish man when he gave up his heart for power…and now this boy carries his darkness…his heart unfazed…oh how I wish to dissect it…" Hojo began to stir, something that worried everyone, it's as close as to the act of sex the man will ever get, though rumors of that happening only once keep flying around.
The boy and the Guardian butchered the remaining 6 SOLDIERS, as the boy sliced them clean, the Guardian threw them around forcefully, happily smashing one against Hojo's window, an action that made Hojo smile all the more.
"Two left…" the boy muttered, he looked to his side, the Guardian excited over the new hearts it will soon harvest "…Fine…" he jumped upward and disappeared from the sight of one of the two SOLDIERS, then sliced one of them clean in half, blood spilling everywhere, a pool forming; the other man lost his nerve and began to run, screaming: "Demon!" the boy shut his palm and a dark flame appeared, he shot it and hit his target, the man screaming in agony until it died down.
"Well done…" Hojo smirked, smiling widely, the instruments not even at mid-percentage, while Xaldin tried to hold his lunch in; blood always made him queasy.
"Do it…" the Guardian stretched it's long arms and cracked it's neck, 10 tendrils came out of it's back and stuck themselves into every dead SOLDIER, then took they're hearts out "They'll never suffice…" the silver haired youth muttered, the shadow in pure ecstasy "…hearts don't fill me…and the darkness is empty…I'd soon rather die than be your puppet Hojo!" the last yelled as he looked at the man dead on.
"My dear boy, if you ever hope to accomplish anything, you shall become my puppet…although…I'll have to crack that impenetrable Guardian first…" he smirked "Then and only then shall I be able to play with you…" the man chuckled darkly, the boy clearly disgusted and offended, as was Xaldin, and he decided, enough was enough: he charged dead on and jumped toward the window, intent on breaking through, but out of the doors the SOLDIERS' poured in from came the man in the bandana and coat, broadsword in hand; the Guardian took the lead but was blocked with the man's sword, while he kicked the boy while in the air. When they landed the man quickly grabbed the silver haired youth by the neck, he struggled for air, as did the Guardian, when the man let go the Guardian disappeared, the boy coughing.
"Very good…take him away would you?" Hojo said, wiping his brow with a cloth, clearly excited from all the commotion, Xaldin followed afterwards.
"Yes sir" the man stated, taking the other by the arm and pulling him out.
~o~
The boy walked alongside the taller man in silence, down the pale corridors of the Shinra building, the one beside him broke the silence though.
"Well…how do you like your stay at the Shinra building?" he asked, dripping with sarcasm, his tone serious still.
"You're kidding, right?"
"Of course…I was thinking though…how'd you like a vacation?" he kept walking as he asked, hands in his pockets.
"What?" the boy spat, the man made no sense.
"I could say that I was ambushed by your Guardian…knocked out by you and you ran off…dodging every possible person and escape Hojo…"
"Hmph…you're the one who helped the other one, aren't you?" he asked, smirking "Why would you help me?"
"I like to see Hojo squirm, don't you?" he simply asked, this time the boy smiled "Besides…as unnatural as things are here, you're still human, aren't you? You deserve a life outside of this place…"
"What do you get out of this, other than pissing Hojo off?"
"Nothing yet" the man stated, simple.
"Fine…I'm in…" he sighed, even though he was so deep in the darkness, in his sorrow, he felt a small light at the core of his being, never snuffed by the dark, it gave him hope: for the future, for himself; the only reason he'd ever even consider such a thing.
"All right, but, we have to make it look convincing…" the man stopped and gripped the broadsword on his lower back.
"I'll go easy on you…" the boy said as Soul Eater and the Guardian appeared, fighting the man ferociously, he knocked him out and shed blood as he ran off toward the roof.
"…Good…let's see how this goes…" the man mumbled, almost unconscious, he threw a knife that flew to the end of the hall and hit the alarm, he then passed out.
"He said convincing…" the silver haired one said "Come Guardian!" he called, the shadow hovered next to him and the boy jumped on it's back, dissolving into the ground and quickly going up the floors.
~o~
He busted the door to the rooftop open, rain falling ferociously; it seemed that whenever Hojo's experiments were done, Twilight Town would be covered in darkness, dread and despair, like in a storm.
The boy walked to the edge, Guardian behind, he heard the footsteps of guards, Vexen's shrilly voice, Hojo's screaming and Xaldin's silent but deadly darkness.
"Where do you think you're going?! There is nowhere you can hide" Hojo yelled.
"Anywhere is better than here!" he yelled back, standing on the edge "Goodbye…you second-rate worm!" he threw a Dark Firaga at them, which Xaldin blocked, and then the boy jumped down, a smile on his face. Hojo ran to the edge, and the boy felt joy for the first time: he saw fear in Hojo's eyes, he saw failure and lack of power; the weak human that Hojo truly is. The Guardian appeared and took hold of the boy, landing him safely and he ran through the streets.
"After him! Don't let my precious sample escape!" Hojo demanded; the Alpha Heartless was present and jumped down as well; a pack of his cohorts appearing and using the boy's darkness against him tracked him down.
~o~
He knew he was being followed, but he couldn't stop, he knew freedom was simply a foolish dream that only happens when one is in the light, but he still had a drop of it left, he hoped he could be free, so he ran and ran faster, reaching the East side of uptown.
"…They're…coming…" he huffed, and the dogs materialized around him; the Guardian appeared and the dogs lunged at them. The great shadow batted and beat them off, while they tried to subdue it, to no avail. The boy took a chance to run, and hid in an alley while the Guardian weakened them.
"…I have to do something…as long as I reek of darkness…they'll come…" the boy sighed, his companion appearing "I'll have to seal my darkness away…" he confessed to it; the shadow simply hovered there, but nodded in understanding. He took a breath and concentrated on the light that his heart still emanated and on the darkness that circled it, he caused the light to shine and chain the darkness into it, the Guardian screeched in pain, as it's skin became rigid and strong, it also became chained, white bandages covering it's chest and mouth, it's tendrils become more spiked then before; it felt powerful, yet missed the comforting feeling of the boy's darkness "Please hold them off…catch up to me when you can…" though feeling sluggish, the boy jumped over the fence and kept on, while the hounds caught up to the lingering scent of the dark, the Guardian seemed mad, it never felt so constricted as now, and took it's anger out on the dark wolves.
~o~
He didn't know where he was, but houses were all around, the suburbs on the east side of Twilight Town. He was tired, hungry and weak; feelings he cast aside when he gave into the darkness, but now that he was semi-back to the light, his humanity had returned and even though he could still see the light that living beings emanated, which would be his saving grace, he deemed his eyes shameful for they showed how dark he truly was, how could he fit in?
"…I should've thought this through a little more…" he sighed.
As he walked he came up to a large house and something amazed him, the top floor, the attic emanated a great amount of light, the boy was in awe; it felt so inviting, so comforting, he felt compelled to be in that light and like in a trance he walked toward the house, looking for a way in. He found a small window on the floor, to the basement, and managed to open it and went inside. He collapsed beside a machine and felt exhausted for the first time in his life, and while completely drenched in water, cold and tired, he succumbed to a peaceful sleep.
~o~
The dark realm…
A white road of dead trees…
The man who began my nightmare…defeated…on the ground…
"Do not…shun the dark young one…it shall protect you…from that madman…take my darkness and live…do not run from it…it shall be your greatest weapon…"
I couldn't understand…darkness was a scary thing…bothersome and empty…how could it protect me?
"…I don't know what will happen to your light, but…hold on to it tight and never let it go…even those steeped in darkness…seek…re…"
My nightmare ended and a new one began then…
A shadow that followed me everywhere…a cold and unending feeling of loneliness and dread…I am now a child of Darkness…my unavoidable fate…and still the light…I can still feel it deep within…
A/N: Pointless, but Review please!