Chapter 6
The Dark team was riled up about the next match, and everyone was waiting for Dark Pit to show up. When the doors slammed open and the room went silent, everyone gasped when they saw Livn' Hell, without her team's customary armour on. She was clad in her usual attire; black bodysuit, cut off above her knees and around her shoulders, and her signature midnight purple tunic, topped with a blazing red laurel crown and matching earrings and silver ruby encrusted necklace.
"Where's Dark Pit?" Ayden questioned her immediately, flinching when she glared at him. "And why are you here?"
"He's trying to talk Featherbrains out of something," she replied, addressing the whole group as she spoke. "And I'm his stand in."
"What's the dispute about?" another Dark Fighter asked.
"Honestly, if I knew what it was about, I'd tell you," Livn' Hell sighed, looking for her treasure chest. "But if I had to take a guess, I'd say it has something to do with my being here in general."
As she found her treasure chest and opened it up, Darren heard her shout something that he was sure would be highly punished for if Lady Palutena didn't consider her as 'an exception'.
"Alright," Livn' Hell shouted, her anger swelling ever higher. "Who thought it'd be funny to take my Wolf Claws?" No one said anything. "Whoever has 'em, I need 'em back right now!" No response. Calming down a little, Livn' Hell looked at every Fighter in turn.
"Does anyone happen to know where they are, or who took them?"
Darren slowly raised his hand, and when Livn' Hell saw how terrified he was, she instantly softened.
"Hey, kid," she said quietly, sitting down beside him and smiling. "It's alright, I won't get mad at ya." He didn't respond and just tried to avoid her eyes.
"What's your name?" Livn' Hell asked.
At this point, he finally found the courage to look her in the eyes.
"D-Darren," he stammered, trying desperately to hide his fear of her.
"I'll let you in on a little secret, Darren," she whispered. "Livn' Hell is only my stage name. My real name is Alexis."
Darren seemed to forget his fear for a moment, but it only came back when he realized what she was going to ask him.
"Now," Alexis said, changing the subject rather abruptly. "Do you know who has my Wolf Claws?" Nothing. "It's okay, Darren, I won't get mad at you."
"Pit," Darren replied, his fear making his voice tremble a bit. "He took them earlier."
Alexis nodded appreciatively and straightened up.
"Of course he did," she sighed heavily, and before leaving, she ruffled Darren's hair. "Thanks bud, you're a life saver."
The Dark team was silent while they listened to Alexis as she stomped through the lobby, around a corner, and began screaming at Pit.
"Give me my claws," she screeched at the angel. "No, I... Just shut up and listen to me!"
"Alexis-."
"You're not a part of this, Pittoo. Now give me my Wolf Claws you damned idiot!"
There was a loud slap, and the Dark team broke out in hysterical laughter when they heard Pit scream like a helpless little girl. Alexis walked in casually with her claws armed and heaved a sigh of relief.
"Hey, Alexis," Dark Pit shouted, entering the armoury. "Get your armour on."
"Gotcha," Alexis replied happily, turning to her treasure chest once again.
Dark Pit looked at Darren, who didn't have a weapon yet. The rookie was looking at the ground shamefully, and he got an idea, but Alexis had noticed this too and was already handing Darren her new Aquarius Blade. The boy looked at her in shock and opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off.
"You keep it," Alexis said with a laugh. "I've got too many weapons as it is."
"Now that we're all prepared," Dark Pit announced, turning on the spot to look at the rest of his team. "Let's try to win this match for the record breaker."
"Not just any record breaker," Alexis added, giving Dark Pit a pat on the back. "The first record breaker with me in it. It'll sure be something if we do win this match, though."
"Why? We've got you on our team now, so why would we lose?" Darren said thoughtfully.
The whole room went silent as Alexis looked at Darren as if the answer to his question was obvious. Dark Pit knew what she was going to say an instant before she said it.
"Her sister Diana is on the Light team," he whispered in Darren's ear. The rookie didn't seem to understand what he meant. "She's Murdr'd."
Darren now knew what this meant. Livn' Hell and Murdr'd could match each other in power and in strength, and they were much more powerful than Pit and his twin combined, even if it was only one of the two sisters, they still wouldn't stand a chance. Whilst Darren was lost in thought, Alexis walked over to him and slung one of her arms across his shoulders. He looked at her in shock as she raised her voice and shouted the one sentence that anyone would expect from her.
"Let's make this quick, boys," Alexis shouted, getting more into her Livn' Hell character. "LIGHT ASS IS ON THE MENU TONIGHT!"
Within seconds of her saying this, the doors to the arena swung open and Darren ran out with Alexis and Ayden, of whom were cheering loudly, including Darren, whose spirits had been lifted.
The Rail Temple lay before them, and as soon as the game started, Darren took off in pursuit of a Light Fighter that had caught his eye. The Fighter had a Ninja Palm, and Darren having his new Aquarius Blade, knew that his opponent wouldn't stand a chance. He ran in for a melee dash attack, but the Fighter dodged and continued on toward Ayden, of whom was already occupied by another Light Fighter equipped with a Magnus Club. Darren ran after Ninja Palm and tackled her from behind. The Fighter yelped in surprise and turned on him as soon as she regained her balance. Darren recognized the Light Fighter as Lunar, the most experienced female Fighter on the Light team, other than Murdr'd. He dashed around behind her and attacked from behind, sending her flying up, up ,up, until a wing-shaped gravestone replaced her.
Without waiting for where she reappeared, Darren searched around for another enemy. Just as he caught sight of someone with a Darkness Bow, one of his teammates shouted at him.
"Duck!" Alexis shouted, dashing forward and sending a charged shot straight for someone behind him.
It turns out that Lunar could really hold a grudge during a match. Darren watched in awe as Alexis slashed up the Light Fighter with amazing speed. A wave of horror swept over him as he saw the brute with the Magnus Club break away from a melee clash with Ayden and head directly for Alexis. Darren was too far away to run in and help, but he ran in anyway. If he could get there and help his teammate, he wouldn't have to worry about whether he was fast enough or not.
Before he could go more than three steps, he saw what Dark Pit had told him about last time. Alexis kept one of her claws slashing furiously at Lunar, while she blasted the Magnus club brute with a powerful charge shot. Darren kept running and got there in to knock Magnus Club back with a melee dash attack. Alexis finished Lunar off and looked at him gratefully.
"Thanks," she said, helping Ayden up after being knocked to the ground one too many times.
Within minutes, their team was losing badly, although it had seemed like they were winning.
"Dark Pit is here," the announcer boomed as Ayden was sent flying and replaced by a traditional wing-shaped gravestone.
Alexis kicked away the Light Fighter with the Darkness Bow and ran toward the light sound of Dark Pit's theme that had started up.
Moments later, the life gauge that belonged to the Light team was dropping rapidly. Darren looked around and saw that Alexis had successfully collected all the pieces of the Daybreak.
"Pit is here," the announcer bellowed as the sound of Dark Pit's theme increased by the presence of both angels.
Darren saw a flurry of pink and blue as Pit sped past him with a pair of Fairy Orbitars, apparently not noticing him. He took this chance to sneak up behind him, blasting the Light angel with a forward dash charged shot. He mentally threw a party when it hit the angel square in the back of the head. Rushing up, Darren ran in for a melee combo and caught a glimpse of Alexis coming his way. She was still far away, so Darren did his best to keep Pit focused on him.
As soon as Alexis came in and attacked with furious melee combos, another Light Fighter came racing toward her for about the fiftieth time in the whole match. The Fighter had a pair of Beam Claws, and Darren froze. He'd entirely forgotten about Murdr'd, the Light team legend. When Darren regained his senses, he ran over to intercept the Fighter before she could reach Alexis. He knew that if Murdr'd so much as interfered with Alexis's targeted victim, they would end up losing the match. It was a good thing that Darren had come in when he did, because just when Murdr'd was going to slash him to pieces, Alexis defeated Pit and the match was won.
When the teams were teleported back to their respective armouries and headed out into the cafeteria, the other members of the Dark team were cheering and giving Darren pats on the back. He was puzzled as to why they were congratulating him when it was Alexis who had won them the match. Almost as if it were on cue, Alexis walked up to him and swung her arm up over his shoulders again. Just like in the armoury, she raised her voice to the rest of the crowd in the cafeteria.
"To Darren," Alexis cheered, throwing her left fist in the air, followed immediately by thirteen others. "Livn' Hell specials for the team; my treat!"
Just before Darren could sit down to enjoy a plate overflowing with waffles, French fries, blackberries and chips, the lights in the cafeteria went out, leaving everyone in absolute darkness. Seconds later, Darren felt soft feathers brush against his cheek, followed very closely by a muffled shriek from Alexis. Before he could process what was going on, both teams were teleported back into the Rail Temple.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Ayden, Brett, Darren, Melaya, Taylor, Desirae, Rosa, Dalton, Keyt, Cray, Drake and Lunar were all gathered in the Rail Temple, all of them looking just as bewildered as Dark Pit felt. Somehow, though, his gut instinct was telling him that whatever reason they were gathered here for wasn't going to end well at all. The Light team was also amongst the crowd of people, which included Diana, but as Dark Pit recounted all the members of his own team, his heart stopped when he realized Alexis was missing. Everyone went silent as they all heard Alexis's clear shrieks coming from the centre platform above them.
A centurion strong-arm held Alexis on the ground, and her hands were tightly clasped together by a pair of stainless steel handcuffs. Pit had armed himself with her Wolf Claws, making this scene all the more heart pounding.
"Livn' Hell," Pit announced, his voice echoing throughout the entire arena, "You are guilty of committing an act of attempted murder upon Viridi, the goddess of nature-." No. Stop! This won't solve anything! "As punishment for your crime, you shall take your soul and your weapon to the Underworld and never return."
Dark Pit couldn't stand to see this happen, and without any hesitation, he flew up the nearest grind rail to the platform and launched himself between Pit and Alexis. The Wolf Claws came down, and Pit realized all too late who it was, but Alexis was faster. She swept Dark Pit's legs out from underneath him, and the strike from her own Wolf Claws slashed all the way from her left shoulder, down her chest, to the right side of her waist. She fell back onto the ground, blood welling from the three claw marks, her eyes already glazing over.
"Pit, you stupid idiot!" Dark Pit hollered, punching his twin square in the jaw and rushing to Alexis' side, choking on his own words. "Hang in there, Alexis, please. We'll get you to the infirmary in time, you just have to be strong!"
"I've been the strongest I can be for too long Pittoo," Alexis whispered, her eyes looking at him, but he could feel her presence quickly slipping away. "There are times when the strong have to give in to weakness. Besides, I promise you I won't be gone forever. I'll see you again sometime. When that is… Only time will tell."
Those were the last words he heard from her before she let out a sigh and fell still.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
The wall of flames separated the two of them, and tears streamed endlessly down his cheeks as he called out to her.
"Alexis," Dark Pit cried, feeling his fear threatening to swamp him as the flames blocked his view of his closest friend. There was no response.
After a while, the fire parted and disappeared to reveal her lying motionless on the ground with three diagonal slashes across her chest.
"No!" Dark Pit screeched, waking up in a cold sweat, hot tears dripping down onto the sheets of his bed.
Burying his head in his hands, he tried to convince himself that it was all just a dream.
'She's not dead, she's not dead, she's not dead!'
The faint chatter from a group of centurions caught his attention, and Dark Pit looked up to see them gathered around someone, and it seemed as though they were contemplating something important. When they finished, Lady Palutena came in, followed by Pit. He glared at his twin with such hatred that he stuck quite close to his goddess for fear that he'd attack him at any moment.
"How is she?" Lady Palutena asked the centurions as she approached. "Anything?"
"I'm afraid she's still unresponsive," the head centurion replied.
Dark Pit tried to get a better look at who they were talking about, but he couldn't see past Lady Palutena.
The goddess heaved an exasperated sigh and turned to leave as the centurions pulled the covers over the person they were talking about. Lady Palutena noticed Dark Pit was looking at her with a worried glint in his eyes, and she went over to him, trying her best to sound cheerful, knowing she would have to tell him at some point.
"It's good to see you're awake," Lady Palutena said gratefully. "I was starting to fear for the worst."
"Who were you talking about?" the dark angel demanded, his tone flat and direct. When Lady Palutena didn't answer, he moved on to a different topic, and it seemed he had a strategy to get the information he wanted to know. "Where's Alexis? Is she okay?"
Pit watched anxiously as Lady Palutena lowered her head as if in doing so she could avoid Dark Pit's strategic questions. The goddess looked up when he began to get out of his bed, and before she could think of what to say, it all slipped out.
"Pittoo, I'm sorry to have to be the bearer of bad news, but we may not be able to save Alexis."