Chapter 9: The Fall

Lily yelled in anguish and threw her sword at Ark’s container. The sword shattered the glass and stopped the transference process. Lily breathed heavily before smiling at Ark and collapsing from exhaustion. James growled and pressed the distress call that sent a signal directly to King Cole, since all of the lab rats were down. Ark charged out of the container grabbing Lilith’s sword, running towards Lilith’s collapsed body.

“Come on now.” Ark muttered and May formed from the mist next to him.

“Here let me help.” She said to him, grabbing an arm and helped Ark carry her through out the halls going towards the cells. When a couple guards ran out and aimed their guns at him. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The guards’ bullets flew at them, but seemingly in slow motion. Ark dodged the bullets and flew past the guards, using his free hand to deliver quick blows to the back of their necks and rendering them unconscious. He continued running while May continued to carry the unconscious body of Lilith. They continued onwards as alarms blared an the voices of the guards shouted in the distance. The shouts reminded Ark of something something that had happened a long, long time ago. As the voices got closer and closer, Ark saw the entrance to the cells when a figure stepped out from around the corner the figure turned towards Ark and May and blocked their path, showing himself to be Cole.

“Why Are you still in my way!? You know what nevermind Just GET OUT OF MY WAY!” Ark shouted at Cole, charging him. Cole swung at Ark with his new axe.

“I don’t think I’ll be getting out of your way anytime soon. Kitsune.” Cole snarled at Ark. Ark growled his ears and tails came out.

“May, take Lilith. Get to the cells find my sister and Kaito and meet me by the exits.” Ark told May handing her Lilith. “GO! NOW!” Ark shouted pulling out his katana attacking Cole.

“That old katana again? You’ll need to do better than that if you want to stop me!” Cole boasted to Ark and jumping at him while swinging the 6 ft axe. When the two weapons met in midair, the ringing echoed throughout the halls. Ark knelt down, the momentum, weight, and sheer size of the axee was almost too much for him to block. Ark thrust his arm out deflecting the strike and sending it slicing across the wall. It tore up the lights’ circuits an through the wall. The lights around them flickered. He jumped forward slicing at Cole. My speed and mobility with my katana should be able to beats his strength and defense with that axe. Ark thought using the dark shadows to his advantage. Ark’s katana was going straight for Cole’s face when he suddenly smirked.

“And getting close was your fatal mistake!” Cole shouted, laughing maniacally. He thrust out his right hand and aimed it at Ark’s arm.

“TAKE THIS!” Cole shouted a black arrow shot from his hand striking Ark’s shoulder.

“Agh!” Ark shouted in pain jumping backwards the arrow in his shoulder dissipated leaving a black wound in Ark’s shoulder. Ark winced at the pain but kept the katana held steady in his hand.

“I’m not done yet.” Ark muttered readying his katana for another strike Cole doing the same with his axe.

“Then show me.” Cole threatened his axee glowed with a black flame around it. Ark’s katana glowed, a golden light shone around it.

Ark and Cole charged, swinging their weapons at each other in unison their weapons meeting again, the light and noise from it echoed once again this time echoing down the hall reaching the ears of a certain unconscious girl.

In the dungeon

May carried Lilith throughout the dungeon looking through all the cells looking for Kaito and Rin. Lily’s unconscious self woke up to the sound of ringing through the halls. “ARK!” She cried our in shock.

“Save it. You don't get to mourn him! YOU caused all of this!” Rin complained.

“Ooooh sister, You've got it all wrong. Who do you think saved his magical ass, huh? I did.” Lily retorted with a snort of annoyance. “And if you hurry up and stop arguing with me you'll be saved as well. But, if you want your body to be swaying from a rope in the Gallows, then be my guest sweetheart.”

“Fine. Whatever, but don't think for a second that Ark cares about you like that.”

“Jesus! Cat fight, much?!” James said, coming into view. “Don't think about doing anything, any of you. Yes, even you, “mist lady”. IF you want to see Ark come to any harm, then please, try to fight me. But if you want him to live, i suggest you come with me quietly. No fuss, not drama, just…….. Silence.”

“Ummmm excuse me, but I think you can’t really do anything to harm me.” May retorted to James, setting Lilith on the floor. Lily snarled at James, her ears falling back with rage an her tail tucking between her legs.

“YOU! Have such nerve!”

“Thanks, darling. Glad to see you still love me.”

“That wasn't a COMPLIMENT!” She screamed, grabbing her sword an thrusting it into James’ chest. At the touch of the blade, he dissipated. Lily stared in shock. “Shit…… Illusions of Reality.”

“Indeed.” James said, coming up behind her an sending his dual-sided scythe into her back.

Back in the Hallway

Ark jumped backwards, his stamina rapidly depleting. Cole smirked.

“See! Without your friends and that traitor you’re nothing Maybe if I kill them you’ll finally see just how hopeless this is.” Cole said to Ark.

Ark had nearly run out of magic power, his chest had two more black wounds, and his arm was covered in cuts.

“I will never let you hurt them. Not my sister, not my friends, and definitely not Lilith.” Ark said protestantly, enshrouding his katana with gold energy

“Fine then, I won’t hurt your little crush, but that doesn’t mean I won’t kill the others.” Cole said with a dark grin on his face.

“Then let’s continue this fight.” Ark growled. He charged at Cole his golden blade, striking at his head. Cole barely deflected it using his magic as a shield. He then shrouded his axe in his dark magic and sliced at Ark who swiftly jumped over it, the axe striking the wall again making the whole building shudder and lights fell and the circuits in the wall fizzed and sparked.

“Now It’s OVER!” Ark shouted unarming Cole by knocking the axe out of his hands. He then sliced straight for his heart. Cole smirked, a negative space opening around them. Ark tried to speak but no words came out everything had frozen including Ark in midair.

“Well then, if I hadn’t done this, that could’ve killed me!” Cole smirked getting up, Ark’s blade inches from his chest.

Cole walked over to the wall and removed his axe. By removing the axe, the negative space dissipated. Ark fell to the ground, his katana sliding away from him. Cole laughed at him maniacally.

“Now, let me finish this.” Cole raised his axe when a loud scream pierced through the hallway and reached the ears of the kitsune. Ark stared, the scream was originating from the dungeon and the voice sounded awfully familiar.

“W-wait, that was Lilith…...” Ark said his eyes going white.“YOU SAID YOU WOULDN'T HURT HER!!!” He screamed, slamming past Cole and knocking him flat onto his ass. He ran in the direction that the scream had come from. But Cole tripped him using his axe.

“Not so fast you’re mine!” Cole shouted lifting his axe for the final strike.

“NOPE!” A voice shouted from behind Cole, who turned around just to get a frying pan to the face.

“Ack!” He shouted before falling to the ground his face bruised and blood came out of his nose from the strike. Ark got up and looked behind Cole to see Kaito holding two frying pans.

“Kaito?! Thank god, where were you?! And, why do you have frying pans?” Ark asked his own wounds starting to close as his katana evaporated into mist.

“No time for answers. You heard that scream, right? Well, that was Lilith. We need to go NOW “ Kaito said, urgently dragging Ark to his feet.

“It came from the dungeon.” Ark told Kaito running with him they ran down the stairs that led to the dungeon. The door burst open as Ark an Kaito came crashing through. Lily’s eyes we're slowly draining of their crystal blue color to a lifeless gray. “A-Ark…….” She said, her voice barely a whisper. She reached her hand, stained with her own blood, to Ark's’ face. “I'm……. Sorry………” She said. Tears streamed down ark's face as his eyes turned to and oceanic blue with remorse.

“Lilith….. Please, don't go!” He pleaded. Lily only smiled an shut her eyes as her last breath escaped her lips. Ark, now on his knees, shut his eyes tight an opened them, they were now a blood red rimmed with an oceanic blue. A new emotion: heartbroken rage. “You……” He said, turning towards James.

“Calm down, ya clam.” He said. The red stone in the shaft of his scythe glowed and Lily’s dead body disappeared and was replaced with the real Lily. She was bound up by vengestone in a corner an gagged at the mouth. Rin was also bound up next to her an May was in a “ghost chamber” that kept her in place.

“ARK!” Lily tried to shout through the gag to no prevail. “Leave! It's a tra-!”

“Enough!” James flung Lily hard against the wall, causing her to pass our. “There. Can’t have the most powerful among us interfering with my business. Now, lets dance, kitsune. Show me what you can do, an I'll show you what I can do~.”

“You have no idea what you're messing with!” Rin shouted with a smirk.

“Alright, let’s dance.”

“Alright, let’s.” Ark said. The mist thickening around his right hand. He reached into the mist and pulled out… … a boom box.

“So what kind’ of songs you like? Hip hop? Punk Rock? Classical? Maybe some good ‘ole rap?” Ark asked putting the archaic device down and was about to punch in a song. Everyone stared at Ark including James.

“ARE YOU SERIOUS?!” They all shouted in unison.

“No, no I’m not.” Ark smiled then went back to his angry face. “Now I am.” he said drawing his katana from the still thick mist.

“Oh, stop with you're childish tricks, boy. You’ll never know true power, even if it smacks you straight in the face! Do you know Thanos? The legend of how he was defeated by a team of sixteen heroes? Well, even they hardly beat him.In fact, they lost to him at first. He had all of these stones called the Infinity Stones, placed them into a gauntlet, and decimated half of all life. They stripped him of his power an released the stones to places they would never be found, in weapons that hold power stronger than any GOD could ever dream of possessing! This it why you will never truly beat me. I AM THE HOLDER OF REALITY! AN A LONG AS I REIGN, YOU WILL NEVER TRULY LIVE!” James ended before disappearing into thin air. Lily an Rin were then free from their bonds. Rin ran over to Ark, practically tackling him as she jumped into his arms to hold onto him.

“Oh my gods, are you okay?!” She asked, fussing over his current state. Lily took that moment to shroud herself in the darkness of the room to make her escape.

“Yes violet I’m fine. But where did Lilith go?” Ark asked looking to where Lilith’s body once was. Kaito came out from his hiding spot right behind Ark and Rin startling her.

“Ah! Oh, hey Kaito.” She said just as a shoulder bumped into her own. “I think I found her.” She said, grabbing the invisible shoulder. Lily frowned an revealed herself.

“Damn. I thought I could escape without being noticed.” Lily said with a casual tone, as if she hadn’t even tried to escape.

“Okay, so how are we supposed to escape know? There are guards running around and then James is lurking with an infinity stone.” Ark asked.

Lily sighed softly, her body slowly morphing to her male personality. “First of all, its Liam, right now. Second, leave the guards to me, okay?” He said, getting up and slowly summoning his chains of darkness again. He sighed with relief as his eyes went to a soulless black and caught fire with the mystical blackish-purple flames. He sent the chains out in front of the group and they went to work, chaining up and slashing away every unsuspecting victim. Through the carnage a single guard watched in fear as Liam drew closer and closer to him at the end of the hallway. He looked behind him to see Rin with her ears and tails out, Kaito wielding his dual frying pans, and behind them all Ark watched making a smug cat face before he was silenced. Liam glared at the single guard before smirking and sending his chains at him. He dragged the guard closer to himself before putting his blade up to his neck.

“Okay. You are going to send your king a message for us.Tell him that we will no stop, we will not rest, until our world has been brought to justice! Once we leave, you are free to go.” He said before setting the guard down, albeit still chained up. “Now we only have moments to spare-. LOOK OUT-!” Ark turned around with just enough time to see James slicing at him with his scythe.

Kaito pushed Ark out of the way the scythe, hitting his shoulder and cutting down his arm. Kaito fell to the ground. James stood above him, the scythe covered in red blood.