BAM!
Raven skidded back from Darkness after he deflected another attack from her. She wiped her mouth with her backhand, as she breathed heavily.
'He's tough. Very tough,' Raven thought, as Darkness' laugh snapped her out of it.
"I have to say, I'm impressed. You've learned so much in such little time. Your a natural! Your form, your skill, your strength, it's exemplary! Your masters have taught you well," Darkness said, as his hands were glowing red and black mists around them, since Raven would occasionally attack him.
Raven straightened up, as she concentrated wind and water around her hands, and said,
"Thanks, I guess."
It was a bit awkward for Raven to thank the same person that she was fighting. Then Darkness looked at Raven with a softer expression, as his eyelids lowered and he held a kinder smile on his face, which made Raven a bit nervous.
"I can teach you much better than they can. If you want, I can show you all that I know. You'll be able to master not just your default powers, but much more... light and dark," Darkness said, and then he extended his right hand towards Raven, as the energy on that dissipated.
"Come with me Raven, and you'll learn all that you want to know and more," Darkness said, with a kind smile, but a dark glimmer in his eyes.
Raven looked at Darkness in surprise. She thought about what he was saying, and her concentrated power around her hands started to slowly fade away.
"Come Raven, and your friends won't get hurt... especially Lloyd," Darkness said with a smirk.
Raven looked down, as the power around her hands faded away a bit more, and then she slowly started walking towards him. Darkness' smirk widened, as Raven stood a few feet away from him, while looking down. Raven slowly raised her head to look at Darkness, eye to eye.
Darkness stood waiting for Raven's response, but then his eyes widened as his smirk faded, when Raven raised both hands towards him, and a dense amount of purple energy emitted from her hands suddenly.
"No," Raven said calmly, as the purple energy burst from her hands in a wave towards Darkness.
Darkness immediately bended his knees and jumped to his left when the wave came for him. He was just barely able to dodge the wave, as it continued on it's way and hit the trees that were there, and cut them in various pieces. Then Darkness looked towards Raven, and noticed a ball of sound and wind rushing towards him. Darkness tilted his body back, and put his right hand on the ground, as he leaned back and the attack missed him. It hit some trees behind them, and on contact, it burst and the skin of the trees were shaved off.
Before Darkness could get up straight, Raven was in the air above him, slashing downward at him with a shadow-formed blade with a water-formed sharp edge. Darkness placed his left hand on the ground, and then he pulled himself into a handstand, as his right leg, charged with gray energy, kicked at the shadow blade. For a moment, Darkness and Raven stood in a struggle with the shadow blade and Darkness' charged-up leg, but then Raven had to back flip out of the way, when Darkness kicked with his other foot.
As Raven landed, Darkness flipped over on his feet and quickly stood up. Raven ran towards Darkness, and she charged her right hand and arm with purple energy, as she readied herself to punch him. Darkness looked at Raven with a near stoic expression and a hint of annoyance in his eyes. Right before Raven was going to make contact, Darkness reached out and grabbed her wrist with his right hand in a firm grasp, as black energy emitted from his hand. Raven tried to wriggle out of his grasp, but then she felt that her purple power was being drained. She continued to struggle to try to get out of Darkness' grasp, but she ended up on her knees, pulling away as hard as she could.
When Raven was on her knees, weakly trying to pull back, Darkness slowly started to smile, as it turned into an amused grin.
"M-My power... I can't... too weak," Raven said to herself, as she still continued to pull back, although she barely had strength to do so.
Darkness chuckled slightly and said, "My my my, your such a fighter aren't you? But I should expect no less from the daughter of a Black Mambian, and a powerful Sensei."
Raven looked up at Darkness with whatever energy she had left with irritation and weakness. Darkness only smiled sweetly, and then he pulled Raven up to her feet. He wrapped his free arm around her waist to keep her up, and then he looked up into the sky and said,
"Come now."
Raven, weakly, lifted her head up so that she could see who Darkness was calling, but then she heard a swift movement behind her. Darkness heard it too, and he grabbed Raven firmly and jumped away, as they turned to see who was there.
"Sensei Garmadon!" Raven said in the loudest voice she could since she still felt weak.
Sensei Garmadon stood where they were standing, with his spear-stick in his hands downward, like if he just finished an incomplete strike. He looked up towards Darkness in irritation, as he looked towards Raven in concern.
"Don't worry about her. She's just a little weak from having her power absorbed. She'll recover," Darkness said, with a small smile on his face.
Garmadon looked towards Darkness with disdain, and said, "Let her go Darkness."
Darkness smiled smugly and said, "Let her go Darkness..."
Garmadon looked at Darkness confused, as did Raven. Then Darkness tilted his head to the side, waiting, and then Garmadon realized what he meant.
"-Sign- Let her go Darkness, please," Garmadon said, unamused.
Darkness took a moment to think about it, and then he slowly released Raven's wrist and her waist, as she slowly slide to the ground onto her hands and knees. Then Darkness aimed his hand towards Raven, and black rope shot forth from his sleeve and wrapped around Raven's arms and torso. Raven tried to wiggle out of it, but to no avail.
"Darkness! I asked to let her go!" Sensei Garmadon said, as he took a step forward.
"Yes you did, and I let her go momentarily. Honestly Garmadon, do you really think that I'm just going to let her go this time? I let you people keep her long enough, and I don't regret that since she's much stronger now. I came here to retrieve the Purple Kunoichi, and that's what I'm going to do! I'm not leaving without her now," Darkness said, as he stepped in front of Raven and stood looking at Sensei Garmadon with his signature smile.
"It's too bad I'm not giving you a choice," Sensei Garmadon said, as he raised his staff and took another step towards Darkness.
Darkness spread his arms outward, and said, "Let's see how far that goes."
Verpentine and Vampires:
"Slap her on the FACE!" Andrex yelled out to Marcell, as he kicked a blue-eyed lizarian on the face.
"I'm trying! She's avoiding me!" Marcell yelled back, as she continued to pursue Kerrie, who kept avoiding her in combat.
"Coward!" Bronze yelled, as he punched a red-eyed lizarian in the face.
"Coward, coward. So inaccurate," Kerrie said, as she chuckled.
Marcell looked at Kerrie suspiciously, and that made her pay more attention to the others and her people. Then Marcell decided to help the Vampires and Verpentine, while Kerrie watched from a distance behind the army of lizarians.
'I'm no coward. I just know when to attack, defend, and hide... especially from Marcell,' Kerrie thought, as she continued to watch.
Darkness and Garmadon:
-Biff!-
"Arg!" Sensei Garmadon yelled out, as he was smacked back by Darkness from another energy whip to the torso.
"Come on old man! I thought you had more fight in you. Your son certainly has," Darkness taunted, as he whip the ground near him and it cracked.
"You think this is all I've got?" Sensei Garmadon said, as he held his chest since the last attack knocked the wind out of him momentarily.
"Really Garmadon? You can barely stand now. What more is there?" Darkness asked with a smirk.
"Leave him alone!" Raven yelled out, as she regained more energy to at least stand up.
Darkness turned to her and said, "I'll be with you in a minute dear girl. Be patient."
Raven grew more frustrated since she couldn't help but watch, since Darkness drained her powers, and the ropes prevented her from recharging much.
"Rah!" Sensei Garmadon yelled out, as he charged towards Darkness, who chuckled.
Sensei Garmadon attacked Darkness with his spear stick, and was deflecting and blocking his energy whip. Darkness was more amused and intrigued at Garmadon's fighting style now, since he was using more skill and power than before.
"I guess you really do have more of a fight to offer," Darkness said, as he and Garmadon stood in a struggle with their weapons to push the other back.
"There are those who are 'more than meets the eye' Darkness," Sensei Garmadon said, as he pushed Darkness a little back.
"Yes, true. But there are those who are 'more than what they seem,' Darkness said.
"Ye-wait, that's the same thing I just-AH!" Sensei Garmadon said but then Darkness' weapon burst into pure energy that smacked Garmadon back a couple of feet to the ground.
"Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!" Darkness laughed, and then he started walking towards Garmadon.
"Sensei Garmadon!" Raven called out in worry.
"Oh, 'Sensei' Garmadon. Nice," Darkness said, as he stood next to Sensei Garmadon.
Sensei Garmadon was leaning on his elbows, trying to get up, but he stopped when Darkness stood next to him. He looked up at Darkness in slight anger, as Darkness looked at him in amusement.
"What's the matter? You give up now?" Darkness asked, as he placed his hands in his pockets with a smirk.
Then Sensei Garmadon smirked and replied, "Actually, I've decided to tag out, and let him finish this."
Darkness arched an eyebrow, and then he heard something land not too far behind him. He turned around to see the Golden/Green ninja looking around at the situation, and then turning towards him with a scowl.
"Lloyd," Raven said in relief to see her love.
Darkness looked towards Raven from the corner of his eye, and he could see the love in her eyes for Lloyd. He looked towards Lloyd, and he saw that Lloyd turned towards Raven with those same eyes of love. Darkness smirked and lightly chuckled seeing this love between the Purple and Green ninja.
"How sweet it is to love someone so strongly... It's too bad, that I'll have to end this moment temporarily," Darkness said, as he smiled with shuttered eyes towards Lloyd, who looked at him with determination to defeat him.
Sensei Garmadon was able to get up on one knee, but he stood on the ground breathing partially heavily. Raven noticed Sensei Garmadon's tired state, and she moved a few steps towards him, but stopped so that Darkness wouldn't notice.
"What are you going to do now boy? What is your plan of action? If you want to tell me of course," Darkness asked, as he stood with his hands in pocket, waiting for Lloyd's response.
"I'm taking you down first, and then I'm going to free Raven and save her and my dad from you!" Lloyd said, as he stood in a fighting stance.
"Heh heh heh, how funny. You think you can fight me now, huh? Well, let's see how much you've progressed," Darkness said, as he put himself into a fighting position.
Darkness and Lloyd stood ready to fight, as the dark borders came around their eyes during their stare down. A continuous wind began to pick up, and then their battle began:
Lloyd was the first to attack, as he summoned the Golden dragon and used golden fire from the dragon's mouth. Darkness smirked, and then he held his hand forward, as a dark, translucent shield blocked him from the golden fire. He started walking forward towards Lloyd, until the fire stopped and he removed his shield. Darkness realized that Lloyd wasn't in front of him, but then he noticed that there was a large shadow around him. He immediately looked up while shooting a red and black beam of dark energy upward. Lloyd was above Darkness and he dodged the attack. Then Lloyd saw Darkness appear on the head of the Golden dragon. Lloyd shot golden energy waves at him and beams, but Darkness was able to deflect them. Then Lloyd shot a more concentrated beam of golden energy at Darkness, and it actually hit him.
"Yes!" Lloyd said, but then his eyes widened in shock, as he saw that Darkness was still standing there.
Darkness blocked himself with his cape, and only his cape was damaged.
"What?! But I hit you, that's not possible!" Lloyd said in disbelief.
"Oh you foolish boy. You don't know what power I have. You don't even know what powers you possess. Your weak against me," Darkness said with his signature smile, and he started concentrating dark, misty energy in his right hand.
Before Lloyd could react, Darkness rushed towards him, and grabbed him by the neck with his left hand.
"You still don't know. You don't know the past, so you wouldn't understand... the powers you can possess," Darkness said, and Lloyd looked at him in surprise.
Then Darkness punched Lloyd with his charged up hand, which sent Lloyd to the ground, and made the Golden dragon disappear. Lloyd was able to do a back-flip and use a small burst of green energy from his hands to land safely on the ground. Darkness landed not too far in front of him, and then he started walking towards Lloyd.
"What do you know about the past?" Lloyd asked.
"You'll figure it out, and I don't have time to toy with you anyway," Darkness said, as he continued walking towards him.
Lloyd waited for Darkness to come closer, and then he yelled out,
"NINJAGOOO!"
Lloyd used spinjitzu towards Darkness, who took a couple of steps back. Then Darkness smirked and started to use spinjitzu as well. The two tornadoes, one of light and one of darkness, clashed, as a magnificent burst of various colored energies flew around and sparked immensely. Sensei Garmadon took this chance to run towards Raven, and try to cut off the dark ropes with his spear-stick.
"It's really tough," Sensei Garmadon said, as he tried to cut the sturdy rope.
"If only he didn't drain my powers. I could cut it myself," Raven said.
"Let's not focus on 'what if.' Let's focus on the situation now," Sensei Garmadon said, and Raven nodded.
-BAM-
Darkness and Lloyd were both smacked back by each others' powers, as they skidded back from each other. Darkness clothes were a bit torn and damaged, as was Lloyd's clothes. However, Lloyd had some bruises on him, while Darkness only had one on his arm.
"Very good boy. You've gotten stronger. I'm so proud," Darkness said, although his last few words were more sarcastic.
Lloyd snickered and said, "Yeah thanks. I was so looking forward to your approval."
Darkness chuckled, but then he noticed Garmadon trying to cut Raven's ropes. He smiled darkly and said,
"I don't think so Garmadon! Stop Him!"
Garmadon and Raven looked towards Darkness, and then something large landed behind them. Lloyd turned around, and his eyes widened in shock as he gasped. Garmadon and Raven turned to see who was there, but then Garmadon was smacked away from Raven. He landed on the ground, but when he looked up, Garmadon gasped at the beast before him.
The beast to be revealed next chapter.
So, I posted this chapter much sooner, and I may post another chapter tomorrow. I'm not sure yet.