Chapter 24: Confronting the Dark One (Part 2)

On Mobius.

A large group of dark beings had assembled themselves into ranks, preparing to charge at thier enemy. Armed with multiple weapons such as swords, guns and other deadly weapons, they charged at our heroes at full speed. The sound of thier heavy footsteps rang through the planet as the monsters raced across the decayed plain. On the opposite army, Seb was in his suit of armor. Flames surrounded his body, giving him a second set of protection. His axe was ready to deliver a multiple set of blows.

Zac was still in his usual attire. His size made it easy for him to dodge his foes attacks, as well as launching a quick flurry of knife stabs. He got into a stance where he could through multiple daggers of ice at his foes. Next to him was David. Covered in armor tempered from mythrill, it let off bright shines of light. His mace was poised to knock his foes away. Across from him, Toxic had multiple laser blasters at his disposal, as well as some swords. Veneno had the same sort of equipment, as well as a large plasma rifle.

Behind them, was a huge force of various creatures, animals, humans and robots. As both sides charged at each other, The Dark One watched. Both sides collided, bodies quickly fell, thier blood and oil staining the ground. As the ones with long-range weapons attacked, Veneno had gotten back from they fray, used his cane to launch himself into the air, before firing several rounds of plasma at a group of enemy targets. He reloaded his weapon and continued to fight on the ground with his sword.

Seb was hacking away at anything that got in his range, slicing them clean in half. All around him, his foes closed in, before he clenched his fists and released a large explosion of flame, incinerating anything that was around him. Zac had created large pillars of ice, which pierced through the ground and anything standing near it. Many daggers were flying through the air, many of them hitting their mark.

"C'mon! Let's see what you've got!" Zac yelled.

More enemies closed in, before Zac created a wall of icicle spikes, skewering anything that was in range. He pushed it forward, mowing down many of the enemy soldiers. The Dark One smiled. All of them were simply giving him more power! Every second he observed, the eaiser his victory would be. After all this, he would eliminate all of the enemy troops...along with any of his own. There only needed to be one life-form in this dimension...

"Dark One!" Joshua yelled.

The vampire turned around, his red eyes focusing on his prey. It seemed the foolish boy had come by himself. How could one child overthrow the almighty Dark One?! He pointed at Joshua and laughed.

"So, the battle between the Ultimate Gamer of the present...and the evil of the past begins. Look around you, Joshua. This is my domain. My power flows from this sanctuary of mine! Your foolishness to challenge me here shall be your undoing! Submit beneath my will!" The Dark One yelled.

Joshua looked up at the Dark One. Not moving back an inch in fear. In fact, he stepped forward, glaring right back at the evil one. His body glowing with an aura of holy light. It shone brightly. Behind him, John and Dakoda walked out next to Joshua.

"So...It seems you are not alone...Those two...They dare defy the supreme lord of darkness?! If you wish to throw your life away by siding with this fool, then I shall grant you your wish! Imagine, three members of the same family...felled by my hand. This will be a day to remember, when all hope was destroyed! Bwahahahahaha!!!"

Dakoda walked up, next to Joshua, his cape still. His face was one of determination and confidence. On the other side of Joshua, his 'father' stood beside him, his sword drawn, held with such strength it could rend a foe in two. Joshua looked at his 'family' and nodded. The Dark One retreated to the darkness above them, before a large, black scorpion landed on the ground before them. Hatred was in it's eyes.

"Prepare to witness...true suffering! I will crush you!"

The scorpion lunged at Joshua with it's talons, only to find them repeled by his blades. It's stinger, poised to strike was intercepted by Dakoda, who with a clean slash of his sword, made it fall to the ground. Green slime, along with dark purple blood stained the floor for a few seconds, before it vanished. The tail still writhed maddly, and still attempted to strike Dakoda, who quickly gave a down-ward thrust, ending the stinger's life.

"If this is the best you've got, I'll see you fall yet!" Joshua yelled.

Joshua and John leapt high into the air. Thier swords, they quickly hurled downwards, which in turn pierced through the monster's head. Lots of slime and blood splattered everywhere, before it all vanished. In it's place emerged a large serpent, it's eyes instantly followed Dakoda, before it let out a stream of fluid poison. It hit it's mark, causing Dakoda to fly through the air and collide against the floor with a loud thud. He found the poison, eating away at his flesh.

"Distract him! I'll get Dakoda on his feet!" Joshua ordered.

Quickly racing around the room, Joshua's hands began to glow, before it released a white beam of light. It pierced straight into Dakoda's body, fighting back the poison and eliminating it for the time being. Dakoda quickly grabbed a herb from his pocket and rubbed it against his skin. The poison was gone, more or less. Getting to his feet, he charged at the snake. John was fareing quite well, lashing out a few swift slashes, before dodging the counter-attack. The Dark One was distracted, unable to see Dakoda rushing at it at full speed, before thrusting his sword forward, cutting deep into it's flesh. More green slime shot everywhere, before the Dark One bellowed forth a large cloud of smoke. Unable to see, the heroes were lashed with the tail, causing them to meet the wall.

"Augh...Not ready to give up...yet! C'mon!" Joshua yelled.

Getting to his feet, pushing aside his injuries, he drew a lightsabre from his belt, and concentrated. The monster snake lunged at him, hoping to swallow him, only to find Joshua leap into the air, and thrust the saber straight down through it's stomach. It let out a cry of fury, before it vanished again. The Dark One reformed in the middle of the room, groaning and slightly bleeding, his eyes glowing brighter.

"Hah...I'm...Not done yet...Gameboy Crystals! Come to me!"

"WHAT?!"

The seven crystals flew from Joshua's back-pack and headed towards the embodiment of evil. Within seconds, his wounds were gone, in fact, he continued to drain the power from the crystals until they fell to the floor, thier color and glow had vanished.

"But...how? The Gameboy Crystals..." Joshua muttered.

"As one of the inhabitents of this dimension, I can harness the power of those jewels...I have been here since the beginning...and I knew those jewels would be created to stop me...So, I devised a way to use the power for...my own ends!" The Dark One yelled, his voice growing louder. He laughed evily before pointing at the three heroes. A strange wave of dark energy surrounded them.

"I...I can't move! Augh! Hng! Dakoda! Dad!"

Joshua fell to his knees. The Dark One towered over all of them, his flesh began to bulge and ripple. His eyes began to duplicate, making millions of red beams looking down at him with anger. His muscles grew larger, his cloaks were torn to shreds and he grew more powerful. Many things were going through Joshua's head....

>Am I...going to fail?<
>What about our promise?!<
>Joshua!<
>Eiko...You can't let him win!<
>The...<

The voices of the past ran through his head, before he closed his eyes...

"Light...is the key. Give me something to look forward to, Joshua..." Rachel's voice broke through the darkness. Joshua got to his feet, brushing off the dust and turned, so he was facing the Dark One, his swords drawn.

"So...you continue to defy my will...So be it. Your power is nothing compared to mine...and without the Gameboy Crystals to aid you...You've already lost! Bwahahahaha!!!"

Joshua looked away, putting his swords into thier sheaths and faced back at his foe.

"Wrong! Those crystals...they may be a great source of power...but the power of the Ultimate Gamer in in my heart! The Ultimate Gamer's power runs through my veins. But that isn't the whole truth...The true power lies with my friends! I haven't a single doubt in my mind now! Dark One! I will send you to the eternal depths of Oblivion! You won't ever terrorize us again! For the crimes you've commited against this dimension...I'll it here." Joshua yelled

The sevn Gameboy Crystals began to regain thier color, floated to Joshua's hands and he clenched them into fists. He looked up, to find his foe heading into space. A black trail of energy behind him. He looked back at his friends, and teleported them back to the surface. The seven beams of light emerged from the gaps in his hands. Bolts of rainbow colored energy surged into Joshua's body. The energy pulsed through his muscles, his bloodstream and his brain. He grew stronger and smarter. Before the crystals cauesd everything to erupt in a bright flash of light. The transformation was complete. But...not what he expected. Normally, he would be Hyper Joshua...but now, his true form had awakened...The Ultimate Gamer.

Joshua's cap had vanished, in it's place was his hair, standing upright and glowing brightly with the colors of the rainbow. His eyes had remained green. His t-shirt had vanished, and a suit of cyber armor had appeared around his body, it radiated light through the dark room. His trousers had changed into black shorts. His shoes remained the same. No weapon was in his hand...yet. A flash of light erupted, causing a sword to fall from the heavens. It bore the Lightwalker crest. Reaching out to grab it, he flew out into space after his foe...