My first update of the new year is for my first story. This particular part is pretty much preliminary action, which should segue into some of the more epic stuff I'm expecting (and probably you, too). With that out of the way, enjoy.

Also...it's from the show. You'll know what I'm talking about.

Chapter 16: The Ultimate Light Part 2

In the field...

Kirby was frantically trying to escape Dyna Blade's fury. Since when did she fire lasers, anyway?

"I gotta get to those rocks," said Kirby, panting like crazy. He had been running for what felt to him like an hour, though it was actually around 6 minutes. And he continued running for cover, dodging laser blasts seemingly every 3 seconds. One of them got incredibly close to hitting him. The force of the explosion at his backside knocked him forward, very far and very fast. Right into the rocky area. He immediately took cover.

"I'm safe. For now," Kirby said while catching his breath.

Dyna Blade was definitely frustrated. The concentration of rocks was too dense, so she flew around in circles, desperately searching for an opening. Nothing. She moved away from the rocks.

"...Did she leave?"

A thunderous flap of wings. Kirby braced himself for the strong gust of wind that followed.

"Oh, great."

A thunderous flap of wings. A stronger wind gust. One final flap. A tornado began forming.

"Oh no." Kirby held on tightly to a boulder. He could feel his body becoming lighter and rising. He could see other rocks flying upward, one by one. His rock was next.

Kirby tumbled helplessly upward, his screams becoming fainter and fainter until Dyna Blade heard it no longer. Pretty soon, the tornado died out and the rocks began to plummet. One of them plummeted onto the mighty bird's head.

Very, very hard.

So hard that it broke her hover and she ended up on the ground. Rock Kirby landed in front of her beak.

So, you wanna play rough, huh? Try this!

Dyna Blade groaned and began rising again. As she did, Kirby jumped straight up into the air, grew to roughly thrice his normal size, hardened, and landed with great force on Dyna Blade's back. 12 times.

By the end, Dyna Blade was half-buried. Kirby returned to his normal Rock form.

"Give up yet?"

Dyna Blade lifted her head and looked directly at Kirby. Her eyes shone bright yellow.

"Uhh..."

Meanwhile, at the beach..

Sukama and the girl that took him in (he learned that her name was Violet) had finished eating soup and were putting their bowls in the sink. Up until this point, besides the asking and receiving of the name Violet, there was silence. As Sukama was about to leave the sink, he noticed the strange girl looking directly at him. Into his eyes. They exchanged stares for a few seconds. Sukama couldn't sense a soul behind her purple, almost glazed-over eyes.

Violet began advancing on him.

"Hey, what-?" With each step forward Violet took, he moved a step back. He felt nervous, scared, and even guilty for almost liking it. Violet cracked a smirk.

"You're cute."

"So I'm told."

"By-"

"By my girlfriend."

Into the dining room.

"I'm better for you than her."

"You're so sure."

Violet chuckled and her pace quickened slightly.

"I've seen the way you looked at me. You know you like me."

"You know that whole 'head says yes, heart says no' thing, don't you?" Sukama felt a distinct, gentle warmth in his chest as he said that. Which is why he tripped and fell backwards onto the loveseat in the living room. He was cornered with nowhere to go except up. Or straight.

"I have a feeling this will change your mind."

Violet inched closer and closer to Sukama's face. The two could feel each other's hot breath on their faces. Sukama leaned his head as far back as he could, to no avail. When their lips were less than a centimeter away from each other; when they were so close, the very presence tickled, Sukama raised his right fist. Violet turned to look at it.

It was glowing brightly.

"My fist and my heart are in unison. My head is outvoted."

In a flash, Violet was sent flying through the roof of her house at high velocity. She landed hard, face-first, on the sand a few meters away. Sukama hovered close by, fist still glowing, watching her.

"That's not all you got now, is it?"

Sukama smirked. Violet chuckled (though muffled, Sukama could still hear it). She got up slowly and brushed the sand off. Then she turned to look at her assailant.

Her eyes were glowing red.

"You'll pay for that, you cute bastard..."

Meanwhile...

Chisakimaku and Chisakumaki now stood in the woods, awaiting their assailant. They had very recently been struck out of the sky by an invisible force. A sharp force, which was able to slice the Spirit Cloud clean in half. Whoever or whatever did this was a definite threat.

A bush rustled. The unknown creature growled once more. The enemy appeared.

He was short; no taller than Chisakimaku. He wasn't human; undoubtedly a creature. He was dark like the night and wore a navy blue, flowing cape. His figure was mostly hidden due to this, but the two spirits could see that he had deep, yellowish-gold eyes and a dark, cerulean headband. And a sword, likely where that "force" originated. It wasn't very long, but it was menacing, just because of what it could do to a cloud. The blade was narrow and purple, emanating dark energies, and the hilt seemed to be made of pure darkness.

"Didn't think I'd miss that one." His voice was medium-pitched. Almost like Circuit's, but a tad deeper.

"Who are you?" asked Chisakumaki, cautious.

"My dad calls me Luite. And as far as I know, he hates your guts."

"Where's the other one, chi?" asked Chisakimaku. Behind her, the Spirit Cloud rejoined itself.

"Come on, Zix!"

Chisakumaki was knocked into a tree, hard. Once there, glowing, piercing red eyes confronted her light blue ones. Zix was also consisting of nothing but darkness. Darkness in the form of a leopard.

Chisakumaki's hands started to glow brightly with a pink shine.

“I'll take whatever this thing is.” She phased through the tree before Zix bit her face off.

“Good. He was longing for a little fun.”

Chisakimaku launched a ball of light at Luite. He blocked it with his sword and the two watched it fall to the ground and disintegrate slowly.

“You're not winning, chi.” The light between them finally died after several seconds. As soon as it did, Luite disappeared. Chisakimaku quickly took to the air, looking around the dome for her opponent. She heard the brandish. She heard the slash. A long, narrow line imprinted itself in the dome's wall and almost instantly vanished, creating ripples in its darkness.

The tip of Chisakimaku's left ear had been sliced off.

She started to fly as fast as she could. The slashing continued. Each and every slash either missed completely or grazed the fur. Her hands glowed like her counterpart's. Luite appeared in her flight path, sword in hand. The two flew into each other. There was a loud clang. Her light could block the blade, and she proceeded to do so.

Chisakumaki was faring rather evenly as well. Zix was blindingly fast with his strikes, but Chisakumaki's pinker light ensured that she could hold her own. But she still didn't know how to actually defeat it.

Meanwhile...

Jigglypuff had been fighting the possessed Mewtwo for about a minute. He had become significantly stronger; if she had retained her previous strength, she would've perished 50 seconds ago. But her hat had yet to shine. Still, she was surviving.

The almost-totally dark environment was made bearable by tiny dots of light that seemed to be miles away, like stars. This meant that as Mewtwo fought, his body wavered in and out of Jigglypuff's sight. This was the most she had seen him fight hand-to-hand. He punched, kicked, grabbed, and lashed his tail, only sometimes utilizing his dark forces; and his psychic powers weren't used at all. Maybe only the true Mewtwo could use them. Maybe they didn't work. Either way, the battle was intense.

“You're holding back,” the spirit said, throwing a flurry of punches at the puffball. She caught both of his paws.

“That's not my fault, believe m-”

Mewtwo's knee found itself in Jigglypuff's face. He grasped her head, held his free palm in front of her face, and accumulated darkness in it, slowly. She stared at it, frowning, thinking about how much it would hurt.

“If I said I had expected more...”

The small star-like dots began to blink out, one by one.

“I'd be lying.”

An uppercut, accompanied by a dark explosion, sent the Spirit Hunter flying straight up (though it really didn't feel like it). The blow hurt, but the aftermath - the flying and intense burning - hurt more. Much more. As the possessed one warped to Jigglypuff's position, she stopped herself and hovered in mid-air (though it really didn't look like it).

The hat's glow grew brighter.

The spirit attempted to strike her with his tail. By attempted, I mean failed. Jigglypuff moved out the way and Pounded him in his side. Really quick. Really hard. By this point the star-like dots were increasing in volume, improving visibility.

The spirit winced and almost immediately tried to kick her in the face. Jigglypuff's response was a Pound to the parallel side. Mewtwo held the newly-struck side. She was actually hurting him. Pain that hadn't been felt in centuries. And she was just a foolish rookie...

“I won't be defeated by the likes of you...”

Mewtwo became a burning ball of dark essence. And disappeared.

Meanwhile...

Violet was 15 yards in front of Sukama, hovering, panting, angry. A brief tussle had just ceased. Violet tried to attack Sukama after her face met the sand, but failed. Sukama was much too quick in the air, and her berserk assault was a tiring waste.

Sukama stared into her glowing red eyes. If it weren't for the fact that his friends could've been dead by then, he'd feel pity and possibly remorse. Instead, he felt anger and impatience. Never a good combination.

“Listen, Violet, I don't have time for this! Just tell me how to get out of here so I can help my friends!” he yelled.

“Am I not good enough for you...?” She whispered, but he could still hear her. She almost sounded sad. Sukama almost cared.

“I really don't think you'll like my answer, which you should know by now anyway.”

The ocean below them turned black.

“It's all his fault...he never said you were so...” Violet gazed at the perfection she could not attain and exhaled longingly. It hurt to look at him. She eventually continued: “Fine. If I can't be yours...you'll never be anyone else's.”

“Only time will tell, now, won't it?”

The sun was split in half. One half remained the same. The other half looked like it was being eaten by darkness. As a result, half of the landscape was dark, the other half, light.

And wouldn't you know, Violet was on the dark side.

“Go to hell.”

Sukama quickly flew back, avoiding a burst of the darkened ocean. The burst was quick and from what he could tell, very hot. There was a visible amount of steam coming from the water. He sensed more coming and flew fast. His flight path (and by consequence, the bursts of water) were in a large U-shaped pattern. As he flew, Violet watched and smirked. This cheered her up plenty. She kept her smirk when the U ended, 200 yards to her left. It began to dissipate when she saw him racing towards her.

The glowing fist that started it all.

Sukama's 200-yard-long flight took a little less than 4 seconds. But what would've been a mighty blow was blocked. By a wall of reinforced hair.

“...That wasn't supposed to happen.”

The hair proceeded to wrap itself around his neck and strangle him. Violet was visible again. Despite the darkness.

“Forget time. You're going down.”

Sukama painfully reached for his halo and desperately attempted to slice through the hair. He couldn't die from suffocation (as far as he knew), however, being unconscious now, especially around her, was unacceptable. It took a little while, but the halo cut through, and Sukama broke free. Violet shot a dark red laser from her eyes. Sukama dodged the laser, which just barely missed his hip, and threw his halo at her. It went straight through her chest, exiting out the other end and returning to Sukama's head.

Action halted.

Sukama waited.

Violet laughed. She didn't hurt. She didn't bleed. The landscape was getting darker, and Sukama was running out of time.

Meanwhile...

Kirby was hanging on to the back of Dyna Blade's head for dear life. Whatever came out of her eyes knocked the rock right out of him, and made him fly several thousand feet. This was the only way to avoid it. He'd been doing this for about a minute now, and his nubs were giving away from the great bird's violent flailing.

He needed a plan, and fast. But, then again, what could he possibly do from behind Dyna Blade's head? All he could do was hold out and wait and pray that the flailing would tire her out before him. So far, no such luck. Whatever diabolical force had taken over her essence seemed to have eliminated fatigue. Normally she would've at least slowed down by that time, but not this time.

Dyna Blade stopped her rampage and began a speedy ascension. Kirby didn't want to think about what was coming up. At the pinnacle of the flight, Kirby was able to see through the “sky”. A scattered jumble of dark and gray was on the other side. He also just noticed how curved the “sky” actually was. It was stranger than he originally conceived.

Dyna Blade did half of a loop and began a speedy decline. Kirby was running out of options.

Let go, he thought, and she'll tear me apart. Stay on, and I'll be a whole lot shorter. She was, in fact, falling head-first. There's no way out of this one...if only I could...hey. Yeah, that sounds like it could work. Nubs, don't fail me now.

The plain was coming up fast. Kirby needed to time it just right for it to work. Otherwise...

Five seconds until impact. Kirby shifted what little body weight he had the appropriate way.

Four. He was ready.

Three. He loosened his grip.

Two. He was set.

One-and-a-half. He let go.

Dyna Blade had created the area's only crater. A large mass of dust, rock, and dirt rose up and fell in all directions. The dust lingered for a bit. Kirby groaned slightly and let go of the great bird's tail feathers. Any earlier, and he would've slipped off. He was a lucky one.

Kirby rushed to Dyna Blade's head for inspection. She was weak, but conscious. He took the time to re-inhale another boulder and become Rock Kirby. Before he delivered what would've been the final blow, he needed to make sure that the real Dyna Blade wasn't still in there. He needed her to open her eyes. He didn't want to get too close, but he had to know. The wait wasn't too long. Her eyes were still piercing red. A split-second before Kirby prepared to end it, she blinked, and he saw the mother's gentle, purple eyes. She was there. But how was she going to get out?

“Dyna Blade!” Kirby inched closer. “Are you okay?”

She looked like she was trying to cry, but wasn't able. It was heartbreaking.

“Don't worry. I'll get you back to your kids...somehow.”

Dyna Blade smiled weakly. Then, without warning, and with no transition, she cried out in pain. Her eyes became more intensely red than before. Luckily for Kirby, she couldn't get up.

Meanwhile...

Chisakumaki had Zix by the tail, after much difficulty. Her clothes were tattered and torn by the fierce battle beforehand. Zix had gotten most of the blows in because of its incredible agility, but now, finally, it was her turn. Her hands were bathed in a pink light as she flung the dark pet upward. She followed Zix's flight and punched it directly in its underside, producing a brief, white flash. Zix gave out a distinct cry of pain; a kind of muted, gurgling roar. To say the least, it was otherworldly. The sound was repeated when Chisakumaki punched it in its side. She quickly spun and kicked Zix in the same spot, knocking it away. Before it could recover, she flew after it and struck its back with both heels, knocking it straight down to the ground at high speed. It landed on its head. Chisakumaki's nose began to shine as she continued her assault as long as she was able.

Overhead, Chisakimaku and Luite were still duking it out. Glowing paws clashed against the dark blade over and over again. Chisakimaku lost part of the left side of her right ear, and was slightly bruised (!) but she wasn't ready to call it quits yet. Luite's cape was mostly tattered (reduced to ¼ its normal length) and his headband had been torn off, but he was good to go as well. They traded blows immensely fast. In 3 seconds, Luite delivered 33 slashes. Chisakimaku, whilst blocking and avoiding them, dealt 23 punches and 8 kicks. The last kick connected with Luite's chest. This was followed by a ball of light to the face. Luite screamed as the light burned him and completely disintegrated his cape. Chisakimaku took advantage of his anguish and stepped on him, taking him all the way to the ground.

Things were looking up.

Meanwhile...

Jigglypuff was now at Mewtwo's mercy. She was being tossed around like a ragdoll in a washing machine, and it was mortifying. And it was starting to hurt very badly. The background now had well-spaced narrow strips of light, so it was like silhouettes battling it out (well, one getting beat up by the other).

“Give up, Hunter! You've clearly met your match!”

Mewtwo hammered Jigglypuff into the invisible ground below. She almost lost consciousness. If she was supposed to be so strong, why did this toned-down fiend have so much of an advantage? If she got any stronger, he would likely do the same anyway. She quickly felt her desire to get up slipping away.

“Some savior you are. Get up and face your destiny,” the spirit said.

The battered Jigglypuff didn't move.

“I'm fairly sure that in the beginning, you felt that you had a miniscule chance of making it this far. You were apparently wrong. I'm also fairly sure that you won't make it past this point. I'm glad you're willing to prove me right.”

The spirit outstretched Mewtwo's paw to Jigglypuff's abused body, and formed a Shadow Ball, unnaturally dark. In a matter of seconds, the ball became a massive, crackling sphere of dark death, only parts of which could be seen due to the light. Jigglypuff remained unmoving.

“Last chance, puffball. The last chance for a second chance,” Mewtwo said, smirking.

Jigglypuff slowly rolled onto her back and opened her eyes. She stared at the doom above her and wondered how this could be dealt with. She still didn't get up.

“Not enough.” Mewtwo fired.

The heavily infused Shadow Ball fell, starting slow and gradually getting quicker. Jigglypuff squinted. No way it's over now. Not until she could see them again would she even consider the possibility of accepting defeat. As the doom sphere got closer and closer; as all the dark power became able to be felt; as all hope seemed lost, Jigglypuff shut her eyes.

White again.

At this point she couldn't tell whether her eyes were open or not. She didn't even know if she was alive. What she did know was that she could move. So she did. With almost no effort the Spirit Hunter stood up and took a look around. White. Familiar. That summed it up nicely.

Almost immediately, there was a voice. Unmistakably, it was a voice, but it was unfathomably soft. Softer than a whisper. So soft, a gender couldn't be attributed to it. So soft, it was like it didn't exist at all. But it could be heard, the translucent, faded voice.

You...born...rise...light...

“I don't understand...”

Her voice became like that which she heard. At the moment, that wasn't important. She didn't get it. What? What did it say?

Stage 1...is over...

In an instant, Jigglypuff could see what was really happening. She was assimilating into the monstrosity of a Shadow Ball. There was no pain, not even discomfort. She never felt better.

“What is this?” the spirit said with audible fright.

The black and purple and blue deathly mosaic of colors faded into white and teal and turquoise. The ball rose, with the Spirit Hunter inside, shining within her confines. Though the light wasn't the brightest ever, it hurt Mewtwo to be in its presence. His darkness, his essence, his being, it had to escape, and some of it did. Through his eyes. Through his mouth. Even through his nostrils.

Jigglypuff's ball contracted. Bathed in light, she started to shine completely white. She slowly rose. Mewtwo backed away. A ferocious cry. A mighty shockwave.

White.

Great. Now it gets interesting. Everything after this point is new to all of us. I think I can deliver the epicnessosity. We're winding down to the end of a genesis here. My first story is almost complete.

Hope you can stick around.