Finally they returned to the Altar of Dawn. Aku was getting frustrated, thundering. He swelled to a huge shapeless mound and dozens upon dozens of different beasts spawned from it, heading right toward her. Cleo fuddled for the Salamander rune.
Aku did the same spawning thing in the SJ video game, Shadow of Aku (PS2, GC, 2004) (Four references! :O). I know Cleo already used the Salamander rune in the first round, but since all other runes had been used in the second round, with Salamander left, I might as well have her use it again. It's pretty much the best rune against this form.
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?! HOW CAN A LITTLE CHILD BE THAT POWERFUL?! IT'S NOT POSSIBLE! YOU WERE AT MY MERCY FROM THE BEGINNING, I SHOULD HAVE KILLED YOU THE MOMENT I FIRST DRAGGED YOU INTO THIS REALM! I HATE YOU!"
You can't really blame him for throwing a fit. He, as a powerful demon lord, was getting his ass kicked by a little girl. Nonetheless, it's satisfyingly amusing to see him really lose his composure like that.
"Now is your chance! Do it Cleo!" Jack commanded. She ran at Aku, screaming, sword ready to strike him down... Something made her stop, something she noticed in the distance. "What are you waiting for?! Cleo, what is wrong?" Cleo couldn't stop staring at the strange sight that caught her attention. It wasn't there before, she hadn't seen it until now, but she knew in an instant what it must be. She had learned about in astronomy. And it was getting bigger... closer...
It suddenly felt like a strong wind was growing, but it was no wind, it was a pull in gravity. "Aku... what have you done?!"
"That last laser attack wasn't aimed at your friends..." he answered with a sneer. "That was my ace in the hole... LITERALLY!"
If this doesn't tell you it's a black hole, despite the obvious hints, you need to go back to science class.
"Oh my fierce deity!" Midna cried out. "What is that?!"
"It's a black hole!" Finn exclaimed. "I knew Aku would pull off some sort of cheap ass exit strategy as usual, but nothing like that!"
Aku was never officially killed off (simply because the cartoon was discontinued) and I don't intend to do so, even if I have the privilege in a fanfic. Every time Jack fights Aku with the sole purpose of destroying him, the demon always manages to escape. The black hole was the only thing I could think of that would rid the Twilight Realm of Aku as one of his attempted exit strategies which would then backfire on him. Yes, I know it makes this too much like a Garlic Jr. fight, but I seriously couldn't think of anything else.
"Sayonara, you brat! Time to meet your demise!" Aku's last word seemed to echo in Cleo's head... something started to click. A diamond shaped light appeared on her forehead again.
There was a large stone spike floating in darkness, a glowing triangular sigil began to trace itself within a circle, the spike planted down and a spell circle formed around it with the sigil in the center, the darkness was rapidly sucked into the ground and was gone completely, leaving behind a spiraled hollow where the spike rested.
She opened her eyes and felt another spark ignite inside her. Feeling it grow, she lifted herself back up with fresh new determination. "I know what to do... I don't know how I know this, but I do."
"What is it?" asked Jack, starting to sound hopeful.
"A seal, I just have to seal the black hole!"
"How will you accomplish that?"
"There's a pattern, it just came to me... as though from a distant memory..." With the mysterious vision of the new (correction, Cleo thought, old and forgotten) spell circle still fresh in her mind, she activated the Rune of Skribal.
This whole thing is the biggest call forward to BT. The vision she had is of the Sealed Grounds from Skyward Sword, with the sealing spike and everything. I had said before that the game hadn't been released yet when this story took place, so the way she said it seemed like a distant memory confirms that, even then, she managed to get in touch with Fi's memories as her happiness incarnate. 'Aku's last word' obviously means demise which happens to be the name of an evil demonic being that was sealed away in that game. And of course this is the one and only time the Rune of Skribal was put to truly epic use.
She traced the sigil in mid-air, it had to be a complicated one in order to make it strong enough to seal something this incredibly powerful. While drawing, she rapidly retraced parts of it that were being sucked away.
Imagine doing this in a DS/3DS game, how fast you have to draw and redraw a complex pattern within a limited time. I tried to make this task in the fanfic sound very hard in video game terms since this is the last thing Cleo had to do in the final fight.
"Finn, Midna... ...Jack... I failed you all..."
"Cleo..." She looked up at the lost spirit beside her. Jack didn't sound the least bit sad, instead he sounded like he was smiling. "Let us inflict one more strike on Aku." She stared at him in mild confusion. "I just figured out how I was able to protect you before... and how to pull it off on command. It was the same way the Skribal Sword came to you, because of our bond. It gives strength to the sword. If the Essences of Light can merge into it, then I can too. If we are to win this fight, I must become one with it."
"Wait, Jack! We don't know what could happen to you!... You could die..."
"...As a samurai, it is necessary to make the ultimate sacrifice if need be... I am sorry I was unable to fight alongside you in my present condition until now... but, it has indeed been an honor aiding you..."
I don't intend to kill off Jack either, despite the fact that he will follow his noble code to the very end and help Cleo at the cost of his life. I won't deny that I had been using a few Deus ex Machinas in this fanfic, with the Skribal Sword returning to Cleo, Oni giving her a second chance to fight, the Essences of Light reviving, the sudden revelation for a seal, and finally Jack giving her a powerful boost. Most of them are excusable because she's otherwise up against impossible odds. Don't forget she's still an eleven-year-old (granted an amazingly skilled eleven-year-old with super-soldier genes from her father and smarts from an intelligent spirit, but an eleven-year-old nonetheless) who needed a God in a Machine in these situations, because realistically there's no other way.
"Finn... you can let go." He still had his arms wrapped around her middle and, catching a glimpse at her chest, quickly let go and looked away.
"Thisisn'twhatyouthink!" Finn explained, red-faced.
Accidentally like his dad.
After a build up of power and energy, the cocoon of light shrank, like it was condensing into something solid. Then it burst into an brilliant explosion and out popped a body. The light engulfing it melted away revealing human limbs, white robes, wooden sandals, a katana at the hip, a head hidden beneath a straw hat. The man floated back down, unmoving until his feet touched the ground. He looked at himself, his hands, down his own body, and at his feet. He lifted his head, his face finally showed from the wide brim of his hat, a kind Asian face with shining black eyes, and a thin scar across one of them.
For those who never watched SJ, this would be the first time readers see his true self (in a descriptive way). The scar was not really there in the cartoon, that little detail was only seen in an anime-like official art of him from Fusion Fall (Windows, 2009), an MMORPG game in the Cartoon Network universe with anime revamped characters exclusive to the popular channel.
"Cleo, you are right. You did fight at the full potential you should ever have as a child. You are nowhere near my level of skill yet."
"Will I be as strong as you someday."
"With time and discipline, then yes you will..." A big smile grew on her face.
And Jack was right. She became incredibly skilled by the end of BT.
The giant insects that were left in this realm and gave up the fight started a new life in the robot town.
I wrote so many different happy endings for the different characters and places in the Twilight Realm in one big paragraph. But this sentence wasn't in it at first. I suddenly thought about Aku's army and knew some readers are going to wonder what happened to them. This idea came to mind.
The group was back at the base of the Blue Crater Volcano. They were now standing before the second Mirror of Twilight, the one that started the whole mess.
"So this is where you came from Jack?" Midna asked.
"Yes..."
"That would mean that it leads straight to Earth's alternate universe. You know, where Aku rules the world," confirmed Finn. "Speaking of which, whataya suppose happened to Flamebrow?"
"If I know him, he will have already found his way back there from wherever the vortex sent him."
"I'm guessing he's still feeling sore about it," Finn said, half amused yet anxious.
"Well, of course. His defeat by a child was indeed, quite humiliating for him. Aku's threat of revenge is not to be taken lightly."
"So you're saying he'll come back?" Cleo asked. "To get me?"
Jack didn't answer, nor look at Cleo. Instead, he turned to Midna. "Princess, Cleo once told me that you are the only one who can shatter the mirror. Without it, Aku cannot possibly return to exact his revenge on my friends."
"But with the mirror gone, does this mean..." Cleo trailed off.
Jack then turned to Cleo. "You knew this was coming. I too will return to that world and continue my quest to find a way back to the past. It is time we parted ways... forever." He walked up to her and kneeled down. "But even if we never see each other again, we will always be close... here." He pointed at each of their hearts. Cleo stood there for a moment and then they embraced one another.
The cartoon didn't really have a real finale, it was simply discontinued with the defeat of Aku and Jack's return to the past never having been officially concluded. In almost every episode, Jack had been this close to either destroying his greatest enemy or getting through a time portal only to have that success yanked away at the last second. Because of this I could've had the story of SJ end differently this time in the fanfic. But I decided it would be best to just end the story the usual way.
She suddenly thought of something, a once in a lifetime chance. "Jack, before you leave for good, I need to ask you one personal question!"
"And what would that be?" he asked curiously.
"...What's your real name?"
Jack looked surprised at this. "No one has ever asked me that since I came to the future." He leaned his head next to her ear and whispered something to her too quietly for Finn or Midna to hear.
Cleo had her eyes closed, like she was trying to take the words into her mind before they could escape her. "...I-I'll remember that... always."
I also have no intention of thinking up a real name for Jack. I just stuck to the tradition of the cartoon and kept it a secret that I don't even know. But if I were in Cleo's shoes, I'd ask him the same question if I got the chance. I did use Jack's name in the Japanese name generator on the Rum & Monkey website to see what it would turn out and the result is Kuroda Kinji (surname comes first in Japan). However, that result does not confirm that it's his real official name, whether you accept that's the case or not is entirely up to your speculations.
They traveled back to the first Mirror of Twilight and said their goodbye to Midna. "See you later, guys," she bade. "Cleo, I want you to know that you will always be my dear sister."
"Thanks Mid," Cleo responded with gratitude.
There, Midna fully admits to Cleo as her real sister. The Twilight Princess had to accept that her twin, Veran, was gone and know that Cleo is closer to family than anyone else. Cleo, never having a sister herself, was happy to know Midna became one.
Finn and Cleo, after finding their way back home to their realm, had quickly gone into the bathroom before he could see Cleo, so they could clean up all the scratches and scrapes she'd gotten from her battle.
"Okay, that should be it," Finn said, finishing with the last cut. "You go on outside, I'll catch up with you."
The two parted and she ran into her dad. "What-Cleo, is that you? Did you do this to your costume on purpose?" he asked, looking at the scratches and messed up Link outfit.
"Uh, yeah. I thought I'd go for an authentic battle worn look."
"It looks realistic, that must've taken a lotta work." Cleo felt slightly worried that he might realize it was real. "Tell me, what kind of boss battle was it?"
"Um, it was Aku?"
David laughed. "I'll bet that wasn't easy." He rubbed her head.
Even though he doesn't seem to realize the injuries were genuine, I'm sure in the back of his mind, he knew there's something going on. Their father had been a mercenary long before his kids were born, so he would know real damage when he sees it. But he didn't press on about it because he also had a feeling that Finn and Cleo were wanting to keep it a secret and would only tell him the truth when they feel ready (he did think the Aku part was made up).
"Wait for me sis!" Finn came out of his room, wearing a blue shirt with a white animal hood and his green backpack. "It's adventure time!" Cleo burst out laughing.
I wonder how many people get the joke? Adventure Time with Finn & Jake (starting from 2010) is another Cartoon Network show and the main character is also named Finn, who's attire is what the Finn in the fanfic is wearing for Halloween. I never watched the show myself (I stopped watching CN ever since Toonami ended (1997-2008)), but I've seen a lot of merchandise and fan-made stuff, which means it's pretty popular.
They went to the door and the first Trick-or-Treater they met made Cleo stop dead and stare. It was an Asian boy dressed in samurai armor. "Trick-or-Treat?"
It took a second to get her voice unstuck. He looked so much like her friend. "Are you the new kid, Watai?"
"Yes, I am Eiji."
"Konichiwa, I'm Cleo," she gave a bow and he bowed back.
And here is the other book end to the mention of Watai, the new gym teacher, and his son at the very first chapter. A good way to end this story, oh wait, this isn't it!
"Can you give me a tour? This is my first Halloween," Eiji requested. Cleo happily agreed and they both ran off ahead while Finn followed behind as the sky turned into twilight.
This is the good way to end Skribal Sword. With the convenient start of twilight on Halloween.
Well there you have it! The Fanfic is now complete. I hope you enjoyed it and I will be continuing with my writing. The next story is going to be LoZ: Lands of the Dead, which is another crossover. It will be posted soon (I don't know when yet) on Deviantart under the same username, so stay tuned. ;D