Consuming Darkness, Arising Light

by Raingoddess400

Many, many years ago, a peace treaty between two lands that both possessed the element of Darkness was broken long before the darkness itself began spreading its corruption. Thus, bringing about a war between the lands' leaders. More years passed, and now it's time for the children of South Park to prepare and stop the approaching darkness that plans to engulf the entire world.

48. Chapter 47: Starting Over- Pt 1

Chapter 47: Starting Over- Pt. 1

? ? ? and Stripe

Humans are insignificant, unintelligent, indecisive, selfish, prideful...well that also applies to spirits, but unlike humans, spirits aren't weak. It's no wonder half or if not most of the human population were corrupted to serve the Dark Lord. Referring to that bastard as 'Master' is almost as infuriating as being a part of this human teenager's body, but at least there was free will regarding the Dark Lord's title. Being contained within a fragile body has been quite a hindrance, free reign is only granted whenever this body undergoes too much stress. It very seldom happens, which is vexing.

For twelve years, there have been a mere total of three times, three times the spirit has gained control of this body. Today marks the third. The spirit thought luck was on his side at last when he saw a horde of enraged monsters swarming. It reminded him of a similar predicament that occurred five years ago at South Park, though at that time, Craig kept his emotions at bay. He didn't panic too much to the point of losing his composure. Although the spirit missed out on the fun, at least he was able to closely observe Kyle Broflovski. The spirit had been keeping track of the time, primarily because he was waiting to see how long it would take until Craig's anxiety got the best of him. It was approximately twenty minutes in when both the monsters and Kyle started acting strangely. All of the creatures suddenly stopped attacking the boy, and he, too, ceased attacking them. He stood as if he had abruptly arrived on foreign land and had lost all hope. That day would've been a good opportunity to kill him, though the attempt would've ended in utter failure due to the immortal child's perceptiveness. Even to this day, the spirit isn't sure if Sharon noticed Kyle's inactivity or not, she'd seemed far more focused on eradicating the monsters instead of checking on him. Since she's the descendant of the Queen of Darkness, the spirit will give her the benefit of the doubt.

"Oh right." The spirit just remembered something thanks to the recollection, and it makes him smile with evil anticipation. "I can kill Kyle today." It would be bad if the monster takes him to the Dark Lord. He'll only bring about more disasters if that happens on top of if he continues to live. No one will stand in his way this time due to the monster's restriction spell, however the downside is that he's unable to harness this body's Light magic. He can't even extract a pinch of it from Craig's Magical Core, since it's overtaken by Dark Magic. The spirit doesn't think it's unusual, it's only natural that the strong exceeds the weak. Instead, it's a huge letdown not being able to use the Light attribute at his disposal as well. He has no other choice than to rely on...his other half's help. He straightens Craig's lips into a line, looking not too pleased with the idea. For now, he'll regard the Inner Guardian by his bestowed pet cognomen, despite it being ridiculous. "Stripe."

Stripe clenches his fist over his chest after hearing the stern call of his name. When he quickly looks up at the viewscreen, thinking Craig had returned to his senses, he is stricken with fresh fear when he sees not only the sky within his domain is still a foreboding black color, but his host's silver eyes staring at Kyle. Why him when the monster has Leopold and Raven in its clutches? Seeing as how they haven't used Teleportation Dash to escape and nobody is attacking the monster anymore, it seems they've all been paralyzed again. "Y-yes, Master Craig?" Stripe nervously utters.

"..." Did he just refer to his host as 'Master'? How laughable. "Dispel the paralysis from my body."

Stripe gets the feeling that Craig's urgency isn't so he can stop the monster, but to go after Kyle instead. "Please don't hurt Kyle."

The spirit narrows Craig's eyes. "Hurt him? No, I'm going to kill him." He doesn't care when the monster slams Leopold and Raven to the ground, the force of the impact shaking the building. He especially doesn't feel any sympathy at the panicked screams and shouts that follow. The humans should've been more prepared to lose an ally or two one day.

Stripe gapes at his viewscreen in absolute horror. "N-no...Leopold...Raven..." Tears well up in his eyes.

The monster laughs, though it falls silent when it sees a hint of white and sliver light peeking out from underneath its big hand. Knowing instantly who the culprit that saved the human and Dark spirit is, it raises its hand with an annoyed frown, then turns its body around. "You're willing to completely exhaust yourself for your comrades? That's quite commendable, yet also foolish."

Panting heavily, Cloud keeps his extended arm aimed at Leopold and Raven, a white and silver aura glowing dimly around his hand. It starts flickering rapidly for a few seconds. Once it disappears entirely, he quickly covers his mouth with that same hand when he lets out several harsh coughs. Streams of blood slip from in between his fingers.

The monster grins, sensing that he's out of magical energy, much to the other's dismay. "We will be generous and put an end to your suffering." Before it does anything, multiple black vines slither around its body. It growls, angered by the interference. It chomps cleanly through the vines. It opens its mouth, preparing to fire a red beam at not just Cloud, but at Henrietta, Ingrum, and Wendy as well.

"Hurry up and free me," Craig demands impatiently.

"...Okay..." Stripe clasps his other hand over his fist and closes his eyes. His body casts a white aura around himself.

/ /

Leopold swiftly appears in the middle of the monster and its chosen targets, looking a bit nervous, but also resolute. In addition to saving them, it seems Cloud's magic nullified the paralysis spell from his and Raven's bodies.

Cloud lowers his bloodied hand from his panting mouth, a thick trail of blood slipping down to his chin. "L...Leopold..." he says weakly, though his concern is strong.

"You've saved me twice now." Blue auras shine around Leopold's hands and he sticks them out. "It's time Aah returned the favor." Cloud frowns. He understands how his host feels, but he doesn't need to put himself in harm's way like this just to save him, Henrietta, Ingrum, and Wendy.

"How pointless," the monster scoffs, but its mouth didn't move when it spoke. The red dot pulsates and grows, appearing like a blood-colored sun. "We will be more than glad to accommodate you and incinerate you along with them."

It fires out a wide and large beam, brightening half of the area in a crimson glow. Leopold feels his resolve quickly fading, there's no way he can block an attack of that magnitude. He sees his friends' horrified faces, but...he can't hear what they're saying. It's not because of the deep humming of the beam, he can't hear that either. This...numbing sensation feels very familiar, it's as if he's been poisoned yet again. Tears come to surface in his widened eyes.

"Leopold, move!" Cloud shouts with whatever bit of leftover energy he has.

Before anyone knows it, a massive shield appears before Leopold and the advancing beam, then it instantly gets blasted to shards. The teen blinks in shock. Thick and pointy vines wrap around the monster's head, tightly this time based on the grunt it lets out. Unfortunately, the spikes aren't sharp enough to properly damage its eyes. It raises one hand and rips the vines off with a single tug. However, another batch of vines swiftly coil around its head. It tears those off too only for more to reemerge promptly after. It lets out a furious roar as it continues to pull apart the vines that seem to be never-ending.

"Now's your chance, Leopold!" Raven says.

"Don't even bother!" Suddenly, a vague outline of black smoke manifests on the monster's shoulder. It clears to reveal Craig, who looks at Leopold with a scornful glare. "Let an actual competent person handle this." Ignoring the blonde's pained frown, Craig calmly ambles closer to the monster's head, unafraid of potentially falling off of it or getting hit by its frantically moving arms. The gust knocks the hood off his head and his dark locks flutter wildly in all directions. He stops, staring intently at the side of the monster's big head. He sees an opening that's within arm's reach the second one of the vines spilt apart, and he thrusts his dagger right in that spot. He leaps off of the monster before his weapon detonates, exploding only half a portion of its head, all of its eyeballs included.

The monster goes completely rigid. "G-guh..." Its arms drop to its sides. "I-impossible..." Its body begins to disintegrate.

Life returns to Kenny's eyes. He appears dazed for a moment. He blinks twice. He soon notices Stan and his left fist shrouded in a white aura dangerously close to the noirette's face. "W-what the..." Kenny tries to unclench his fist, but he can't even move a finger. How the hell did they end up in this kind of position if they're still under the paralysis spell? And why was he about to punch Stan?!

Stan is greatly relieved to see Kenny back to normal, though his smile is lackluster.

"Kenneth?"

Kenny recognizes that voice, as well as the presence next to him. "Yuna? What the hell happened?"

"I'm afraid we're going to have to save the explanations for later. Based on the explosion just now, it seems the monster's eyes have been destroyed, which were its weak points. Now we just have to wait for it to disintegrate entirely, then we will be free to move again."

Landing on the ground with cat-like grace, Craig turns to face the headless monster. He gives it a smug smile. "I'll give you props for putting up a decent challenge unlike the other freaks. At least you knew how to utilize the darkness' power. If not, you would've suffered a quick death just like them."

The monster grits its fangs, irate by his words. "You dare speak with such arrogance when you only got the best of us with sneak attacks?"

Craig broadens his smile as he narrows his eyes. "That's called seizing the opportunity."

"..." The monster's fangs slowly begin to relax. Its burly body is halfway gone. "Seizing the opportunity, you say?" It is its turn to smile, appearing sinister. This confuses Craig. "Do you mean like this?" The monster spins around and stretches out an arm towards Tweek. Even though it lost its eyesight, it still managed to somehow detect exactly where Tweek is standing. Perhaps by sensing his magical energy. The teen is unable to move out of the way and is captured within its grasp. He is unfazed, his glistening eyes appear to have darkened even more. It pulls him towards its crumbling body. "We initially wanted to kill you first since you'll prove to be a hazard in the near future thanks to your magical energy." Its hand suddenly starts bubbling as if it is simmering over a flame. "A shame we do not perceive even a hint of fear from you, rather it seems you are incapable of showing any emotion when it comes to your own well-being. No matter, your death will be swift." Tweek remains inexpressively silent.

Leopold grits his teeth and balls his hands into fists. He runs at the monster and Raven conjures up more vines but from one hand. They dart towards the monster's arm.

Craig's lips form a line again. "It would be pretty bad if Tweek dies. Had it not been for the paralysis and his lack of experience, he would've taken care of the monsters just as easily as I did." He will put a little bit of faith in Leopold and Raven. They should be able to stall the thing for the remaining fifteen seconds that it has left to live. During that time... He looks over at Kyle, and his lips spread into a malicious smile.

Raven's vines are the first to reach their target. They wrap around the monster's thick wrist. She grips them and gives them a forceful tug. The arm doesn't budge, just as she expected, so with her other hand, she summons a clear barrier around Tweek's whole body, just in time too before a bunch of spikes poke out of the monster's hand. They pierce the barrier instead, breaking it. "Tch." The monster grits its fangs again. Leopold jumps up to its arm, stumbling when he lands but manages to stay on it as he rushes towards its hand. He channels magic down to his hands as he presses his fingers together, his blue auras shaping into blades. Once he's standing on the large hand, he stops and starts slashing at it, hoping that doing so will cause the monster to lessen its grip on Tweek. "You persistent ant." It raises its other arm, intending to squash Leopold like the ant it depicted him as, however it stops. It feels itself losing its tactile senses, conscious of the rest of its arms and body breaking apart into black particles, much to its horror.

"N-nooo!" It hollers. It releases Tweek. Leopold notices and instantly stops what he's doing. He ceases the flow of his magical energy, causing his aura blades to disappear and he jumps for the other blonde, catching him in his arms bridal style. "We refuse to die without killing at least one of you vermiiiii-" The monster's loud voice filled with rage cuts off when its mouth crumbles away. Shortly after, what's left of its body follows suit.

The black raindrops pick up a slight pace, sounding over the void of sound with its rapid yet gentle pattering. Black colors some of the grey in the clouds, leaving only a speck of grey left. The progress of Enhanced Purification had already been ruined by the contaminated particles of the previous monsters that were killed.

Leopold lands safely to the ground, flinching when he hears someone collapse.

"L-Leo?" Leopold looks down at Tweek's face. "You're..." A tear leaves one of Tweek's eyes and slowly trails down his cheek. "You're alive." Although he isn't smiling, the relief in his voice conveyed what he's feeling.

Leopold smiles faintly, feeling tears resurfacing in his own eyes. He hates that he worried his friend to the point of shedding a tear. "Yeah." He gently squeezes Tweek's arm in a comforting gesture. "Aah'm so sorry for worrying you."

Tweek's frown deepens sadly. "When I saw how large the beam was, I knew it was going to be impossible for you to block it. My mind instantly went blank. I...I didn't wanna see you and the others get killed."

Before Leopold can explain that they lived thanks to Raven, he hears Stan suddenly yell, "Get the hell away from him!"

Stan, accompanied by Kenny and Yuna, run to where Kyle is at. 'Craig's' tall silhouette is standing behind the redhead, holding a dagger against his throat.

"You three best stop right there or else I'll silt his throat."

Kyle winces when the blade is pressed against his skin. A bead of blood oozes out of the small and thin injury.

"I'm Really Sorry, Kyle. I Wasn't Able To Stop Him." Luke may have sounded ashamed of himself, but he's currently glaring at the human that's holding his host at knifepoint, still unable to fathom how his viewscreen got momentarily obscured by a blinding spell. It should've been impossible to do since the link connected to his host is imperceptible to anyone but themselves. Perhaps...there is a hidden power within 'Craig's' eyes.

"It's okay. I'll just wait for an opportune moment to use Teleportation Dash."

"Don't even think about doing that." Kyle is startled not by the suddenness of 'Craig's' voice, but by what he just said. Did...he just read his mind? "Teleportation Dash isn't instantaneous. The second I sense you trying to escape, you'll find yourself choking on your own blood."

A nervous drop of sweat slides down the side of Kyle's face. "How did you-" He is silenced by the slight pressure against his throat.

"I can kill you right here and now, but the reason I'm not going to do that just yet is because I want you to suffer a little bit."

"Master Craig-"

"I am not your beloved 'Master' Craig, so shut it."

Stripe blinks in confusion. "Then-"

"I said," the spirit controlling Craig slowly slides the dagger across Kyle's throat a bit, making him hiss. A little more blood seeps out of the cut. "Shut. It."

Stripe says not another word out of fear.

Kenny is equally concerned and perplexed by the way Craig is behaving right now. It feels like he missed out on a lot of things. "Is he possessed?"

"We don't know," Stan says, frowning nervously at the back the other noirette's head. "He just started acting like this outta nowhere." He clenches his katana's handle. He may still be tired, but it's not going to stop him from protecting his super best friend. After surviving against both a mass of monsters and seven big ones that were boosted by the darkness, he is not going to let Kyle get killed by the hands of one of their friends.

"Stan." The aforementioned teen turns his head towards Yuna's direction, who is scowling at 'Craig'. "Tell Kenneth everything that happened while he was brainwashed." "I'll go and retrieve Kyle," she tells him through telepathy, so 'Craig' doesn't catch wind of what she's going to do.

Stan doesn't think that is a good idea. He's not underestimating Yuna, he actually believes that she'll execute her plan without fail. But...what if she isn't quick enough? He doesn't want anything else to happen to Kyle. Unfortunately for him, he hears his super best friend let out a cry of pain, making his insides tighten uncomfortably.

'Craig' chuckles. "Damn, that was satisfying."

Stan's blood boils. "Craig, you son of a-" Kenny dashes off, the Light and Dark auras emanating separately from his black and white gloves indicating that his fists are tightly clenched. Stan sticks out a hand, but fails to stop him. "Kenny-" Yuna hurriedly follows after her host. Gritting his teeth, Stan erupts into a run behind them.

'Craig' bursts out laughing as he cocks his head back. "You all must really want Kyle to die." He wordlessly casts a black barrier around himself and Kyle.

"Let him go!" Kenny strikes it with his left fist. It suffers a big crack, which soon shatters. 'Craig' grins. The broken shards swiftly float back in place as if they're moving in reverse. Yuna stops beside Kenny. 'Craig's' barrier now looks as though it didn't have a gaping hole in it just a second ago.

"Don't worry, I will." Looking away, 'Craig' turns around, forcing Kyle to turn around along with him. The bright white glow from Kenny's black glove allows him, Yuna, and Stan's approaching form to see an all-black dagger lodged in the middle of Kyle's chest, the blood-leaking cut on his throat, and the look of immense pain on his face, two thick strings of blood leaking from his mouth. He's barely holding his dark green and silver-colored pistols, engraved on each side of the upper part are three yellow stars. They look like they might fall any second. "After I deal the final blow, that is." Craig's' smile widened creepily when he said that.

Kenny and Yuna are stunned, overwhelmed by many emotions. Kenny is mostly in disbelief, now certain that Craig is possessed, perhaps by one of the monsters that wasn't killed. It must've gotten to him while no one was looking. Yuna hates seeing one of her comrades wounded by another, and it's very confusing how the entire time Craig has been acting like this, she's been unable to discern why. However, she's not alone in this regard. It pisses her off, especially since they endured one predicament only to undergo another one right after. Craig's silver eyes are a key reminder that he is not doing this because he wants to. She then wonders what Stripe has been doing all this time while his host was acting like a heartless maniac.

Stan, fueled by pure rage and utter desperation, grips his weapon with both hands as he closes in on the barrier. Being sure not to be so close to Kenny and Yuna so as to not hit them on accident—though he knows that they will dodge, he just doesn't want to risk it—he raises his blade high and slashes at the barrier with all his might. The deep and long laceration lasts for merely two seconds before it closes up, giving the impression that the barrier is healing itself. That doesn't stop Stan from slashing away at it. Perhaps if he damages it continuously, its durability will weaken.

"Keep at it," 'Craig' says, though not in an encouraging tone. More like, it was a threatening remark. "I'll inflict the same number of slashes onto Kyle." Appalled, Stan stops, the tip of his blade grazing the barrier. 'Craig' yanks his dagger out, making Kyle wince and causing more of his blood to spill. "So far, you've done a total of five slashes, was close to being six."

Stan lowers his arms, holding his katana with one hand.

Yuna gets another idea. "Let's strike it together with Light magic, Kenneth," she says. Kenny complies with a nod.

"You two sure you wanna do that?" 'Craig' asks, baiting them.

Something makes an explosive impact against his barrier from behind. It once again recovers from the blow. "Craig!" The black-haired teen jolts at the familiar voice, then frowns. The spirit is left bemused that the body reacted in such a way on its own. "Cut this shit out right now."

The spirit finds Clyde trying to sound demanding despite being obviously nervous comical, but he can't get the body to laugh nor to even crack a smile for some reason. What's with this sudden unwillingness? He decides to push the matter aside for now. "And what if I don't?"

"Then..." Clyde tightens his lips into a line, unsure how to respond. "Leon, do you have any idea what's going on with Craig?"

His Inner Guardian is silent for a couple of moments, upset that a certain someone hasn't prevented this from escalating this drastically. "No, But I Do Know How We Can Put An End To This. I'll Be Right Back." Leon teleports out of his empyrean sanctuary, leaving Clyde wondering what he has planned.

"There's no point talking to him," Raven says, walking up to 'Craig' and Kyle. "He is not Craig."

"Finally, someone said it," 'Craig' says flatly.

"So what do we do?" Tweek asks, ambling to stand beside Clyde. Leopold set him down minutes ago and is currently by Cloud's side, very concerned about him. Bebe is trying to wake up Wendy, Ingrum, and Henrietta, but hasn't been having much luck.

"We have no other option than to use brute force," Raven answers as she stops walking, feeling slightly regretful about her decision. She invokes a single prickly vine into her possession and wields it like a whip.

"But Kyle-" Stan begins to protest.

"I-it's fine." Stan, Kenny, and Yuna give Kyle a sad look, knowing the smile he musters is greatly forced. "It'll take...a-a lot more than this...to kill me. Ugh!" 'Craig' stabs him in the shoulder. The additional pain that flares throughout his body debilitates him of the last bit of strength in his arms, and his pistols fall into the puddle of blood on the ground. They glow in a soft green light and begin to disappear.

"Shut up. You're not fooling anyone with your pathetic tough guy facade."

'Craig' isn't fazed when his barrier is penetrated by Raven's vine, the pointy tip stabbing him in the back, though not deeply. He smirks, pleased, then tilts his head back to look at Raven. "Struck with no hesitation. For a low-class Dark spirit, you sure have keen combat knowledge." His barrier starts crumbling, and it shows no signs of regenerating this time.

"Hmph," Raven huffs, indifferent towards the compliment she received. She retracts her vine whip.

"His barrier is breaking," Kenny says.

"And it looks like it's not going to repair itself," Yuna says.

'Craig' lowers his head to glare at them. "Getting your hopes up, are we? Have you two become blind? I still have this fucker held hostage. Though..." His evil smile returns. "I think it's about time I kill him." His smile widening, before his barrier is no more, he presses his dagger back against Kyle's throat.

"No!" Stan and Kenny shout, them along with Yuna, Clyde, Raven, and Tweek preparing to stop him.

*Seven Minutes Ago *

Stripe

"What the hell are you waiting for?" Stripe spun around to see Leon, his hazel eyes narrowed at him. He looked and had sounded angry, but the more prominent emotion he was feeling was disappointment. "Do you want him to kill another human again? You know what you have to do in order to stop him."

Stripe frowned deeply. "I-I do know, but-"

"Your indecisiveness is going to be Craig's undoing." Leon crossed his arms, the anger diminishing from his eyes. He looked only disappointed now. "The repercussions for killing Kyle will be more severe than when he killed Clyde's mother. There are witnesses, Stripe, and they will tell Craig the truth. That he killed Kyle, a friend to both him and the others. How do you think he'll feel after being told that?" Stripe's black eyes started to water. "How heavy do you think the guilt will be? Who do you think he will pin the blame on? Himself? You? Or the both of you?"

"S-STOP!" Stripe covered his ears, streams of tears slipping from underneath his clenched closed eyelids and cascading down his cheeks. "Please..." he whimpered.

Leon's expression didn't change. "If you truly don't want your host to take the life of another human a second time, then prevent it from happening. Quit hesitating." Knowing that Stripe heard his stern reminder whether he wanted to or not, Leon went back to his own domain.

Stripe dropped to his knees, slowly removing his hands from over his ears and placing his palms on the smooth, healthy grass shadowed by the stygian sky. He balled his hands into fists, his nails scratching up the sod. The viewscreen was providing discomforting background noise throughout the endless landscape. He heard every word that was spoken, and every sound that came from a magical projectile or a sharp weapon hitting either flesh or a solid object. None of which were amicable exchanges between friends. He's almost certain that the person inside the house was hearing all of this too. If they were awake, that is.

An image of a young Craig lying on a white bed underneath a matching-colored blanket flashed through Stripe's mind, making his chest ache even more. He raised both hands and gripped his shirt with one hand and his other hand clasping over the other, the tears still flowing down his cheeks.

Half a month.

That's how long Craig had been unconscious for. But that wasn't the most frightening part. Every week, he suffered a fever for either three or four days. This was discovered after finding out that healing him alleviated the discomfort for that day only. The following day, he would fall sick again. It was confusing as well as worrying, especially since there were no other remedies Stripe could offer the boy. He could not give him any medicine to take, make him a bowl of chicken noodle soup to eat, nor give him a cup of either orange juice or apple juice to drink like his mother or father did whenever he became ill. Stripe did not create a house at the time, so they along with Tricia stayed within the temple in the Light Realm, and the only thing he could do was lower Craig's body temperature. It was better than doing absolutely nothing, Stripe thought. He wasn't forced to watch the child in the confines of a plastic cage anymore, stuck yearning to comfort him in some way but was unable to.

"Stripe...?"

Stripe was snapped out of his thoughts by the timid utterance of his name. He opened his eyes as he looked up and over at the individual, locking eyes with a pair of concerned grey-colored ones. The 15 year old girl's strawberry-blonde hair was down to her shoulders and was adorned with a sunflower hair clip. She was a bit tall for her age, being five foot six. The height was definitely hereditary since her and Craig's father was quite tall himself. The girl wore a white short-sleeved shirt and blue skinny jeans, on her feet were a pair of black flats. On her right wrist was a pretty pale blue bracelet with a sliver snowflake.

She took one step closer towards Stripe. "A-are you okay?"

Stripe gave her an emotionally afflicted smile. "I'm sorry for worrying you, Tricia."

He knew his response wasn't what the girl wanted to hear based on the developing frown on her face, but he couldn't give her his honest answer. He had so much on his mind right now and he did not want to sadden her as well.

Tricia diverted her attention towards the viewscreen. "If you're really sorry, then you should listen to Leon."

Stripe's eyes went wide in disbelief. So she overheard them talking. "But Tricia, I..." He frowned again, his hands faintly trembling. "I-if I do what he says, Master Craig will suffer very dire aftereffects."

"I know it's wrong for me to say that since I don't know exactly what you and Leon were talking about. But...if whatever it is, is able to stop Craig..." Tricia looked back down at Stripe, a strong sense of confidence gleaming in her eyes. "Then you have to do it. It's what he would want you to do, especially if it stops him from becoming a murderer."

Stripe grimaced, it's too late for that, though it's good that she did not overhear that her older brother had killed someone before. She must not know the real reason behind Mrs. Donovan's death either. Releasing his shirt, Stripe wiped his eyes and cheeks using his long sleeves, then stood up, facing the viewscreen. He saw Craig stab Kyle in the shoulder. He closed his eyes. "You're right. I will do it, for his and Kyle's sake," he told Tricia, who smiled a little. He opened his eyes and gazed into sliver ones. "Master Craig, please allow me...to take over." His body lit up in a white glow, then shrunk into a medium-sized orb. It hovered in the air as the light began to brighten brightly.

Tricia shielded her eyes with an arm. "Good luck, Stripe," she whispered.

*Present Time*

Hooking an arm across the upper part of Kyle's chest securely, 'Craig' leaps a good few feet away from his oncoming attackers. He puts his dagger back against Kyle's throat, away from the previous cut, then slides the blade across soft and tender skin until...his arm stops.

"What? Wait, this can only mean..." The spirit recognizes this abrupt loss of feeling. Stripe, that little bastard, he's trying to gain control of this body! "No! You fool! I must get rid of this evil-attracting brat!" The spirit tries to move the arm that's holding the dagger, but a sharp pain in the body's head hinders as well as pains him. "Ngh, d-damn it..." A punch to the cheek sends 'Craig' staggering back. He ends up falling onto his side, his dagger leaving his grasp. Just when Kyle's legs give out, Stan quickly catches him. He carefully lays him down on the ground, distraught by the wounds and the amount of blood he's steadily losing. His healing won't be sufficient enough, he doesn't have that much magical energy and the strength of his healing isn't that great. He looks over to where he remembers the Light casters were casting Enhanced Purification at, but it's way too dark to make out even a trace of their silhouettes. He shudders at the cold chill that runs down his spine.

"Wait a second, Kenneth," Yuna says, walking towards the teen who was about to approach the downed noirette. He isn't satisfied with punching him once.

"Why?" Kenny asks.

Yuna observes the black-haired teen. "The attribute of his magical energy is changing."

Clyde, Raven, and Tweek stop, watching the teen also. Yuna was right, his impure magical energy is altering, waning even.

"Finally!" Bebe exclaims with relief. Wendy sits up with a groan, startled when Bebe hugs her tightly. "I was so fucking worried." Before Wendy can ask what all happened after she passed out, Ingrum and Henrietta regain consciousness as well. Bebe separates from Wendy. "I know you three have a lot of questions, but there's not much time to explain. Craig... he's completely lost his mind and he's trying to kill Kyle!"

Wendy appears shocked. "What?!"

"So some crazy shit happened while we were unconscious," Henrietta deduces, sitting up. She yawns. "That was a good nap though." She sits crisscross.

"Cloud?!" A panic-stricken Ingrum scurries over to the still unconscious Light spirit. He instantly senses what's wrong with him without having to inquire anybody. "He has no magical energy left."

Leopold curls his hands into fists on his lap. "Aah've tried to transfer mah magical energy into his Magical Core, but..." He can't produce any Light Magic. Cloud has yet to teach him how.

Ingrum knits his eyebrows in confusion. "Why would he do such a senseless thing when he has Dark Magic?" He looks at the blonde, discerning the immense guilt and several other negative emotions weighing him down. Whatever his reason is, Ingrum doesn't mull over it any longer. He has something far more important to attend to. He turns Cloud over on his back and slips his hands underneath his body. He scoops him up with ease while rising onto his feet, holding him close, protectively even. "I'll handle it." Both of their bodies radiate in a vibrant pink glow, then they're gone, the lucent flower petals fluttering downward as they disappear.

"Tch, that jackass. Forgot all about me," Henrietta grumbles.

"Are they in some kind of one-sided relationship?" Bebe asks, curious. Based on what she's seen so far between the two Light spirits, it reminds her of how Clyde used to act towards her when they were children, except Ingrum shows his affection towards Cloud in a mature manner.

Henrietta shrugs one shoulder. "I don't know, and even if I did, it's not my place to tell." Although she's right, Bebe isn't content with the answer. Henrietta looks up at the sky and frowns. "Looks like we're back to square one." The three teens follow her gaze, Wendy feeling the most upset when they see a meager shade of grey in the clouds.

The rest of the group nears them. The first thing Bebe and Leopold notice is the absence of vibrant sliver eyes. Stan is carrying Kyle on his back. Kenny is holding his katana for him. Henrietta, Bebe, Wendy and Leopold stand up.

"I shall transport us back to our temporary lodging," Raven declares as they come to a stop.

"Actually, I'm gonna-" Henrietta gets cut off when two square-shaped Transportation Barriers engulfs them, and sends them to the hotel.

Only a saya remains seemingly discarded on the damaged rooftop.

(A/n: Peeped a certain anime reference in this chapter?)