The Origins of J. M. Darkly (Part 2)

Note from author: (Ok, you know the drill by now. The only things in this story that are mine are Darkly and the stuff that pertains to him. So let's get started.)

Chapter 4: Shadow of the Demon

He ran. Jack Mist Darkly ran as fast as he could without any idea where he was going. When he started this quest he thought he could beat anyone who got between him and Darren, and then he could kill that monster. However, he couldn't even see Sephiroth before that insane warrior threw him into a wall and buried him. Darkly was forced to second guess himself for the first time in years. Could he really kill Darren if he was defeated so easily by a dead man?

Darkly ran for about an hour before he finally stopped to take a rest. After a few breaths he looked up at his surroundings. It was amazing he was in some kind of forest. Except the trees were leafless and generating white light. It was late at night and the light from the trees was the only light source in the area.

He walked through the forest for a short time until he reached a small lake with a giant sea shell looking building on the other side. He walked up to the lake and sat down close to water. Looking into the water at his reflection, Darkly checked the image in the mirror like water for any sign of damage. Darkly found no marks but saw something much worse. His hand shot up to his left shoulder and grabbed nothing but air.

Darkly lowered his head in shame. "I am sorry, father. I forgot your sword back in town." Darkly continued to stare into the lake with shame. He had messed up so bad in just one day, he couldn't believe how foolish he was. Just then, Darkly heard the snap of a twig behind him. He pulled out a knife and swung around at lighting speed...only to be met with the sight of a three barreled gun pointed at his face.

A man dressed in a red cape, red head band, black shirt and pants, and golden claw like armor on his left hand was pointing the gun at Darkly. His golden emotionless eyes stared down at the young ninja. Darkly's eyes, on the other hand, were full of surprise and fear. He dropped his knife as he looked into the gun just about 2 inches from his forehead. However, Darkly had nothing to worry about.

After Darkly had dropped his knife the man lowered his gun and placed it into it's holster. "It is rude to draw a blade on someone who saves your live." The man's voice was just as emotionless as his eyes. He grabbed something from under his cape and held it out to Darkly with his armored left hand. With both shock and joy Darkly saw that the man was holding his sword. Darkly took his sword from the man and tide the sheathed sword to his back.

The man spoke again, "My name is Vincent. I'm a friend of Tifa's. She sent me to find you and return your sword." Darkly felt a an aura from Vincent that was faintly familiar. "Those are some interesting eyes you have. Why do you, Cloud, and Sephiroth all have similar eyes?" Vincent's expression didn't change as he replied, "So...you can sense the power generated by people, interesting. To answer your question the three of us, Cloud, Sephiroth, and myself were all created in similar ways."

Darkly waited for Vincent to finish however after an moment he realized that the origins of his birth was something Vincent wouldn't disclose to just anyone. Darkly looked back into the lake at his reflection. "Thank you for saving me." Darkly spoke with a heavy heart. Vincent analyzed Darkly for a few seconds, trying to sum him up.

"What made you think you could fight Sephiroth? If you can judge a person's power just by meeting them, I'm sure you could tell he was stronger than anyone you've ever met." Darkly just looked at the water not wanting to be reminded of his disaster of a fight. However, his rage at the whole thing was rising. "What is so horrible about him anyway?" Darkly blurted out in anger. "I've seen the faces of Tifa and the others. They are scared of him. Why?"
Vincent looked Darkly in the eye and said, "Sephiroth almost destroyed this entire planet once, and he was killed three times but came back to life each time."
Darkly stared at Vincent in shock. However, it wasn't fear or anger that rose inside him. No, it was excitement. Darkly formed a cocky smile as he looked off into space. He let out a small laugh, which surprised Vincent a little.
"So he really is that powerful, uh?" Darkly smiled wider at the thought. "If I can kill Sephiroth, than Darren will be a breeze."
He turned and walked past Vincent. "Wait!" Darkly turned to face the black haired man. "You cannot kill Sephiroth. No, the only one who can do that is Cloud. Stand down."
Despite Vincent's warning Darkly just smiled. "Is that so? Well, then I'll be the second to kill him." With that Darkly vanished.
Three hours later, Darkly walked into the runes of the old Shinra building. The lone ninja walked to the area where he first met Sephiroth. He looked around the area and cried out, "Sephiroth! Come out here and face me!"
There was no response for few seconds, but then Darkly felt a familiar aura behind him. He turned around and saw Yuki, standing at least 10 feet away from him. Yuki lifted his head to look at Darkly with a sadistic smile fairly similar to Sephiroth's.
"So, you were beat half to death and decided to come back for a rematch? You are a fool ninja." Yuki smiled away as he taunted Darkly. Darkly just smiled back and replied, "I am not here to talk to a masked puppet. Bring out the real you and go away." The smile left Yuki's face and he became enraged. "How dare you! I almost killed you last time! You think you can beat me?!" Darkly just ignored Yuki's anger. "Sephiroth beat me. You are just his body." That was the last straw for Yuki.
"You damn fool! Fine you want to die so badly then I will grant your wish." A black feathered wing grew out of Yuki's back and rapped around him. Almost instantly an enormous power could be felt all around. The flowers at Darkly's feet turn black and died. Darkly himself felt like he was being crushed by the power. However, this time a smile crossed his face as Darkly felt excitement instead of fear. He was ready to fight Sephiroth.
The black wing vanished and there stood the dark figure of Sephiroth. His bright green eyes and long sword were as intimidating as ever. He smiled as he looked at Darkly. "So, you came back did you?" The one winged angel lifted his sword and moved into his trademark battle stance. Darkly moved into his own battle stance with his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. Darkly glared at Sephiroth, "Bring it."
As if on command Sephiroth jumped forward and vanished from Darkly's sight. With god like speed Sephiroth swung at Darkly who just barely blocked it and was sent flying through the air. Sephiroth appeared behind him and with one punch sent Darkly into the ground. As the young ninja tried to get up Sephiroth landed in front of him. "You're just as weak as our last fight. What made you think you could do better?" Darkly looked up at him and smiled, "Because I don't fall for the same move twice." Suddenly the Darkly on the ground vanished with a pop. The ground under Sephiroth's feet shook slightly as something burst up from underground and rammed it's fist into Sephiroth's face. Darkly smiled wider than ever as he kicked the ex-SOLDIER in the side.
Sephiroth landed with a loud crash into a pile of ruble. Darkly smiled, "You call yourself the greatest? Please. I was never in front of you. It was a clone. I can't believe you fell for such a simple trick-" "I never fell for anything."
Darkly froze as he heard the voice come from behind him. As he turned around Sephiroth grabbed Darkly by the neck and lifted him into the air. "You never fooled me. I knew you were not really there. I just wanted to get you out of hiding." Sephiroth looked Darkly in eye as he continued, "This was all to show you that you don't stand a chance against Darren." "What?!" Darkly choked out. "That is the whole purpose of our fight right now. To show how weak you are." Sephiroth spun around and threw Darkly in to a pile of rocks.
Darkly slowly pulled himself out of the rocks. He breathed heavily as the anger built up inside him. "Damn it!" Darkly ran at Sephiroth and began throwing punches and kicks. But Sephiroth just dodged them all. Darkly threw one final punch as he screamed out in anger...only to have Sephiroth catch it with his hand.
Darkly looked up in shock at Sephiroth who had a look of disappointment. "Darren brought me back just to fight you? What a waste." Sephiroth lifted his sword ready to attack. Darkly's eyes widened. As Sephiroth swung down Darkly kicked his hand free from Sephiroth and jumped out of the way. However, he wasn't fast enough.
Darkly moved 20 feet away from Sephiroth holding his chest. Sephiroth's attack had not been enough to kill Darkly but it was a serious injury. Darkly held his chest as he tried to calm down. Sephiroth's power was much greater than he had thought. This man was most definitely a monster. Darkly kneeled down to catch his breath. "It's no big deal," he told himself. "I just have to fight harder. I can almost match his speed, I just need to move faster." Darkly jumped forward, moving as fast as he could and kicked with all his might, ready to send this monster flying...but his foot touched nothing but air.
"What!?" Darkly cried out as he landed on the ground. He looked all around but Sephiroth was no where around him. Darkly readied himself for the next attack, or so he thought.
"Quake3" Upon hearing Sephiroth casting his spell Darkly felt the earth at his feet shake and was thrown into the air as the ground exploded. In mid-air Darkly watched helplessly as a fire ball flew out of nowhere and hit him with unbelievable force, plowing Darkly into the ground. As he struggled to his feet the sky turned dark as a huge lighting bolt crashed down on Darkly making him scream with pain.
Darkly fell to his hands and knees, just barely keeping awake. Sephiroth landed right in front of Darkly as he was trying to stand. "So, this is all you have to offer? Pathetic. I have no more time to play with a silly ninja, " he raised his sword ready to cut J. M. Darkly clean in half. Darkly struggled to move but the shock from the lightning still left his body paralyzed. All he could do was watch as the sword came down...