Chapter Twenty: When Two Are One Part One

Onyx eyes gazed off into the distance, the goldenrod hero carrying his weak comrade, taking careful precautions as to not hurt her anymore than she already was. Damien was able to have battled to a stalemate against Mario while Lia defeated Carnage. However, there was one final battle remaining and Damien knew that this was the most important one yet. Donatello looked behind him and dashed towards the canine duo, allowing the Angel to ease the Redclaw Leader into his arms.

"I take it that you were both successful in defeating your opponents." the raven stated.

"Thankfully that's the case. Carnage has been defeated and Mario let me go free. I wasted as little energy as I could against him but he's a formidable opponent." the hound explained.

"Of course he is, I was the one who trained him to be one of the elite fighters but he must've have held back on you. You would be severely injured but gladly, that isn't the situation right now."

Damien nodded before looking at the horizon, his brother's power could be sensed in the canyons down below. The vermillion male glanced back to see Lia rise to her feet on her own, the jackal shaking the pain off.

"So are you ready to team up and fight your brother?" the female said with determination, stretching her arms in preparation for the upcoming battle against Darius.

The hero looked at his comrade, looking back at all the obstacles they faced to get to this point ranging from Carnage's invasion of the Redclaw village to their encounter with Phoenix in the rainforest to their adventures within the city. They had stuck with one another so much but this was something Damien had to do alone. There were answers Damien had to learn from his brother and things he had to say to him as well.

"I'm ready to face Darius but I'm going to do this by myself. We have a score to finally settle. It's time for me to return the favor for all that happened in the last eight years of my life." the younger Angels sibling spoke.

Donatello nodded to his godson and they respectfully bowed down to one another as teacher and student. The raven took two steps back and smiled at his pupil. Lia walked over and playfully punched the hound's shoulder as they looked at each other, crimson hitting their faces. The dog walked over and embraced his dear friend for a brief moment, releasing her as amber met ebony.

"You better not lose to him or I'll kill you!" the jackal exclaimed, the male getting the message of confidence.

"Don't worry, I won't. I've trained too hard to lose at this point." the dog whispered before turning his back and dashing off towards his destiny.

Damien sighed as he slid down the pathway, a solemn expression on his face. As much as he would have loved Lia and Donatello to back him in this battle, it just didn't feel right for them to interfere.

Hopefully I can end this battle quickly so I don't get taken advantage of by G.U.N, their men are still probably out here just in case Darius loses.

His onyx pools gazed forward, trees obstructing his vision from the outside. Though it was true that he lived for the moment, the vermillion dog was planning for the future in his head. Could he describe what mixed emotions he had in the depths of his heart? No, it was that mind boggling. His feet just carried on as if they had a mind of their own.

Even if he didn't kill his brother, it would be just as sweet to see his pain stricken face covered in his wine colored blood. Damien sighed, maybe he and Nightshade were truly compatible when it came to their hatred for the elder sibling. But who knew one better than the other? The canine's claws flashed from fuchsia to a devilish ebony combined with a deep violet, a clearing visible in the distance.

This was where the dog had to not turn back and give up. The game of cat and mouse was coming to a close. Damien escaped the forest to be greeted by a vivid lime colored plain and a few meters away was his onyx counterpart, sighing nonchalantly.

"Darius, this little game of cat and mouse is over. Time for the mouse to die."

Darius just sighed and muttered:

"Yes the mouse shall die," Darius unsheathed his ebony and ivory blades, "but the mouse isn't supposed to chase the cat brother."

"Your humor is stale but ah well, you were never much of a comedian anyway."

A ball of violet flames sparked within the hand of the dog, aimed straight at the older Angels sibling. Damien threw the projectile and Darius gracefully back flipped from its range, descending deeper into the canyon below. In hot pursuit, the golden dog dashed and leaped after him, landing on the rocky and uneven landscape.

The canyon was covered with deep blue crystals that shined under the moon's light, stalagmites and stalactites lining some of the caverns that could be found at the sides. Numerous sources of sparkling fresh water were spread along the floor with some gushing geysers to add to the natural theme of this majestic place.

"Where exactly are we?" the dog mumbled to himself.

"Welcome to Crescent Canyon my dear feeble brother. A magnificent place to truly test each other's skills. You see, this place is able to amplify the control of gravity using the moon and the crystals that line this place. These crystals can also change the shape of liquid like objects such as water and as you can see, this area is filled with many sources of sparkling water." Darius explained, jumping down a few feet in front of Damien.

"So this is your idea for a battlefield? Fine by me! Let's just end this once and for all." Damien exclaimed to his family member.

"For once, we can both actually agree on something."

The golden haired dog attempted to flare his arm in flames however he could only get sparks of black and purple, the miniscule fireworks not impressing his brother. Quickly, he took to the offensive by powering his dual broadswords with positive and negative energy. Darius swiftly dashed towards Damien, thrusting his sword forward which Damien easily flipped over. Upon landing, his leg shot out and tried to kick his brother in his jaw, Sekkyoku blocking the powerful foot.

"Nice try but hand to hand just isn't going to work while I have extensions of my entire body. Swords provide an ample offensive and defensive strategy, all swordsmen know that." Darius explained.

Combining the powers of Shoukyoku and Sekkyoku, he pushed the hero away, Damien colliding with a stalagmite. Darius sailed through the air and sliced downwards, his opponent rolling out of the way before charging up violet gales of wind. Unable to dodge, the gray hound was blown away by the powerful hurricane of lavender. The Angel attempted to give chase however, he was forced down to the ground by some unknown force along with his brother.

This must be what he was referring to when he said that these crystals amplify the powers of gravity. I feel so heavy as I'm being forced down to the ground.

Suddenly, the duo of canines were propelled into the air, their bodies floating now due to the change of gravity. The gray dog flew over and tried a horizontal slice though Damien countered with a sidestep and push. A halo of small meteors floated around the hero like a halo, descending upon Darius in a shower of combustion. The flaming rocks pounced upon the dog, burning his fur and staining it a charcoal color. Finally, gravity regained its control as the two floated down to the ground, Darius landing in a pool of water.

Using his affinity over electricity, Damien took control of the electrons around his brother and created shackles of static to hold him in place. Darius gritted his teeth, unable to free himself from this trap. He had to admit that Damien had expanded his powers extremely since their last encounter. Like molding clay, a sphere of dark energy began to form in his hand as Damien's Dark Repulsion sprang to life within the palm of his hand.

"I'm not going to use all my energy on you so do me a favor and fall already!"

In a mad dash, Damien zipped towards his defenseless brother and shot his arm out, the strike missing his mark as the water underneath his brother's feet caused him to ascend, the element morphing to form a column. Ebony pools gazed up at his brother and another idea formed in his mind. He plunged his hand into the pillar before sending electrical currents up, the voltage combined with the water resulted into the frying of Darius.

The Devil quickly jumped off before any more damage was done and prepared his broadsword to stab right through the skull of his brother. The Angel's eyes widened though he was able to back step out of the way, going right into a spinning top. Embers ignited around him, turning him into a flaming hurricane which was headed straight for Darius. Stabbing his swords into the ground, the dog released all the energy within his blades into a Posinegi Burst that sent his opponent flying into the air.

Forming another Dark Repulsion in his hand, Damien used his affinity over fire to spark his feet like jets were under his feet. He shot down towards the ground, extending his arm towards his older brother. Sadly, Darius was quick to shield himself as much as he could by putting his swords in the way of the attack. The dome of energy violently ripped at the ground, crushing the earth beneath Darius' feet. The two brothers flew back from each other and shook the fatigue off.

"You're pretty good brother but I still have yet to show you all that I can do." Damien declared.

"I'm glad, I was thinking that this was all you had to offer minus Nightshade." Darius replied with a sadistic grin.

The yin of the two shook his head and rushed towards the yang, coating his left arm in flame and his right arm in static. The other combatant jumped upwards and his brother gave follow, firing off projectiles of fire and electricity. They landed upon an upper level in the canyon underneath an array of stalagmites which Damien was quick to spot. The sunny persona lashed out a wave of embers at the rock formations above, the spikes raining down on the grim persona.

Darius slashed each stalagmite down before they hit him only to be crushed in the ribs by a fist of lightning from his family member. He grabbed the crimson eyed dog, throwing him overboard like a rag doll. Damien lined up at the edge and dived down, his two fists out to crush Darius into the earth. The gray hound slammed into the depths of the canyon, cracks weaving themselves from the epicenter of the crash. When it looked like Damien would end this, a geyser erupted beneath him and shot him the air, allowing his rival to move out of the crater.

I was so close again this time but he seems to be getting more lucky breaks this time around than me.

"This is getting very tiring don't you think Damien?" Darius questioned.

"I guess it is. What are you going to do about it then?" Damien asked, landing in the crater where his brother once was.

"I'll have to resort to one of my newest techniques and this one will be very good, I assure of you. Time to write the beginning of the end. Posinegi Balance." the crimson eyed villain muttered.

The gray hound extended his ebony and ivory broadswords towards the epicenter of the newly formed crater. Confused and clueless as usual, his feeble brother watched as a clear cerulean dome expanded from the point and elevated towards the sky. Damien dashed over to his brother like a bullet, his ebony claw engulfed in fuchsia embers.

Quickly to block, Darius watched as he staggered and stabbed his swords in the ground. The canine released the positive and negative energies into his Posinegi Burst, Damien cart wheeling as the blast grazed his ankle. Making distance would be key for Darius in this battle, then onyx and white lines appeared from where the two Angels brothers previously clashed. The lines then made their course into Darius' weapons, a small smirk plastered on his face.

"What the hell just happened? Posinegi Balance? Those lines just went from your Posinegi Burst and were drained into your swords." Damien said in a shocked manner.

"Confused are we? You see, my technique takes the chaos energies that we released and adds their power into my broadswords meaning that with every attack we fire that derives itself from chaos energy will just help power up my sword and then I can unleash a finishing blow of massive strength." Darius explained.

Damien just stood there and chuckled. His brother just nonchalantly yawned and gazed over his sibling. Damien extended his right arm over his head and formed an onyx and violet sphere in his hand. The ball began to cackle dark ebony static as it danced around his fingertips and it's light illuminated Damien like a candle.

"Not really because I also got my own tricks Darius and this one will end it without the mess. I win...Dark Repulsion Lightning!" Damien hollered as beams of electricity shot from the sphere, one of them headed towards Darius.

Darius watched as the lightning strike came towards him before dodging at the last second, the shots of electricity arbitrary so it was only luck that one came for the swordsman.

"Learn to control your attack better brother and it might actually be a real threat next time you use it." the blade wielder spoke.

"I'm tired of your damn mouth. Come on and give me the best you got." the half demon cried, watching as the chaos energy he wasted in his Dark Repulsion Lightning add to the strength of Shoukyoku and Sekkyoku.

"Are you sure you want to continue fighting or is there something else you want? Like answers about the past and what happened to our parents?" Darius asked, a smirk running across his face.

Damien stood in place, glaring daggers at his brother before turning his hardened expression to one of curiosity.

"I'm glad you've stopped attacking Damien, I knew you wanted to know information such as this." the villain proclaimed.

"Why don't you stop the damn chit chat and tell me what I want to know. Who the hell is this master you told me about when we first fought? What happened to the brother I once knew? Who killed our parents?" the hand to hand fighter cried, his teeth clenched and grinding against each other.

Darius clapped his hands before speaking:

"It wasn't that hard to ask. I knew you'd be interested to know how I killed mother and father."

To be continued…


A/N: And it seems that Darius has revealed that he was the killer of their parents but why did he do it and how? A great start to this epic battle and they have unleashed some pretty unique techniques so far but it will only get crazier from here. Next chapter gives us a look into Damien and Darius' past and reveals the grueling death of their parents. Review! Thanks! Bye.