The end of the arc is getting close. I believe it will be just one or two more chapters after this.

Chapter 36:Enter the Darkness

The three climbed up the stairway, preparing themselves for whatever they might find at the top. What they saw was a Yellow Ideya in the center of the platform.

"There it is,"NiGHTS said softly."The Ideya of Hope."

"This seems...a little too easy,"G&W said as the other two advanced, then suddenly, the platform started rumbling. G&W facepalmed"I just had to say it, didn't I?"Leon fell over face first as NiGHTS looked around frantically.

"He's coming!"she shouted, then saw an ominous figure rise above the platform and towered over them."Wizeman..."The other two stared in shock.

"That freaky thing is Wizeman?"Leon asked in surprisingly calm voice, eyebrow raised. Wizeman had a head that was made out of metal, with no visible face on it, many large and jagged metal spikes jutting from the top in every direction. His six color changing eyes blinked from within his metallic hands, which hovered around a large robe big enough to make up five theater curtains.

"...That thing's a freaking skyscraper..."G&W muttered.

"You fools,"Wizeman boomed lowly, grabbing the Yellow Ideya in one of his hands.

"HEY! That's mine!"Leon shouted angrily, glaring at the Nightmare God. He chuckled deeply.

"Do you truly believe you can take it from me, Leonokas?"he asked, causing their eyes to widened.

"You-you know who I am...?"Leon asked.

"Hmm, it would appear Xinlon didn't do a good enough job wiping your memory..."Wizeman mused."I see you still recall small traces from the past."

"What are you talking about, Wizeman?"NiGHTS demanded."What do you know about Leon's past?"

"Leon? Your human name?"Wizeman asked, ignoring NiGHTS."Hmm, not a good job at all..."Getting angry, Leon threw a distortion sphere at Wizeman, hitting a spot on his robe, but this only made the dark god laugh.

"The battle with Xinlon has weakened you severely, it seems,"Wizeman said."Enough of these games."He moved his hand to grab Leon, but he jumped out of the way, forming his hammer in his hands. Wizeman then fired a beam at him, but Leon quickly warped out of the way, avoiding the beam completely."Hmph, as stubborn as ever."Leon then reappeared."If I can't be rid of you just yet, I'll simply take the next best thing."All six hands flew at NiGHTS. She quickly started to fly around frantically, trying to avoid them all, but she was eventually caught. G&W and Leon quickly ran forward to free her, but were knocked away by a red blur. They both looked up to see Reala, smirking with his arms crossed.

"I thought we'd gotten rid of this guy!"G&W shouted, quickly standing up. Leon then rose to his feet without using his hands, a pissed off look on his face. But before either could do anything, Wizeman pulled the entire platform from it's foundation with his magic, knocking the two of them off their feet again, and bringing them far over the Dark Sea. Content with his work, he sunk into the abyss, Reala following obediently.

The two fighters threw themselves to their feet, not knowing what Wizeman had done. But they quickly realized what happened when they looked back to where the stairs were, noticing they were no longer there. Leon looked forward again, then quickly stood up and ran to the other side, seeing nothing but darkness over the edge. He shouted in anger, stomping his foot. G&W calmly walked up and looked over the edge himself.

"Now what do we do?"Leon asked angrily.

"How should we proceed?"G&W muttered."We could try to jump in after them, but NiGHTS said something about losing your soul and-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"He was too late to react when Leon wordlessly jumped off. He stared silently as the teen disappeared into the darkness, and it was then that a very rare event happened. Game & Watch swore."...Crazy son of a bitch..."With a shake of his head, he reluctantly jumped after him.

XXXX

The two found themselves in what appeared to be a corridor of a gothic castle, creepy decor everywhere they looked. There was just enough light for them to see the room clearly. After a moment, they looked at each other and nodded, then Leon formed his hammer and G&W pulled out his key, then they ran forward. NiGHTS was in here somewhere, and they wouldn't stop until they found her.

XXXX

End of Chapter

Next chapter, The Infiltration of Castle Nightmare.