FicWad

Ness raced through the alleys of Fourside, trying to find the source of the screams. Please let me not be too late... he thought quietly. The screams erupted again, guiding him to the right. As he raced around the corner, the screams suddenly cut out. When he rounded the corner, he saw why. A hulking figure stood before him, holding a teenage girl violently. Up until a few seconds ago, she had been screaming. Now she had stopped, but only because the creature had ripped out her vocal chords. Her body convulsed, gasping for breath, and then lay still. The monster inhaled deeply, savoring the smell of death. Suddenly, it turned to look at him.


"Ah, Ness of Onett. I was wondering when you'd arrive." It proclaimed in a deep booming voice. Ness began moving slowly downwards into a fighting stance.


"Ah, Ness, don't you recognize me? We used to be such good friends, too!" the creature exclaimed, laughing. "Ah, well, I suppose I did look significantly different last time we met."


Ness appraised what he saw before him. The creature was humanoid, but large. It had human proportions, but it was pure sinew and muscle. Each finger was topped with a vicious claw. It was easily two heads taller than Ness. Ness grinned. He always enjoyed a challenge.


"I've never met you in my life." Ness said, looking into its pure black eyes. "If you won't be leaving this earth willingly, I'm afraid I'll be forced to send you along myself."


The creature sighed.


"As you wish."


It sunk low, bringing one hand up, and keeping the other in a guard position. Suddenly, the sound of sirens became audible, and police signals began flashing on the walls. The creature stood straight up.


"Ah, well, then. Another time." It leapt backwards and was gone.


The police were getting closer. Having no desire to be found at a murder scene with a dead body, Ness leapt onto a rooftop and was away.


The rain was falling on his skin, cooling it as it evaporated away. There would never again be another rain such as this. Though not enough to flood the world, it would make meteorologists sit up and take notice.


He and the creature circle each other warily. Here before him was the creature, who had once been his companion, and now was lost to darkness.


Ness jolted awake. Where were these dreams coming from?


"Hello, human."


The voice startled him. He shot upright in bed. He looked over in the corner, and saw an average-sized man with glasses looking back at him.


"Who are you? How did you get in here?" He demanded, as he slowly stepped off the bed.


"I come bearing a message from my master, whom you encountered just hours ago."


"Oh, really." Ness said, becoming more wary. "And what would that message be?"


"He says that you must make a choice-either you can back off and live, or you can pursue him and die. It's your choice."


"Generous of him, isn't it? Well, I certainly don't have any desire to die, and its been a long time since I played the hero."


The bookish man smiled, then opened his mouth to speak but was cut off when Ness continued. "However...I have a vested interest in stopping your master. And besides," he said with a weary smile, " I think, just this one last time, I'd like to play the hero, if only for old time's sake."


The man in the corner sighed. "Very well, then. Your choice is made" His eyes started glowing with dark light as the entire room became charged with energy. "I'm afraid that you will not live long with it." An aura of dark light built up around him.


Suddenly, ribbons of purple energy appeared and lashed out at Ness, but he was already in motion. He lunged forwards and leapt out the open window. The tendrils of power swerved to catch him, but were deflected by a hastily-raised shield.


Ness was falling from the seventh floor. The wind whipped by him as he plummeted. His brow furrowed as he concentrated. He hadn't executed this maneuver in years, but it was the only thing between him and some very solid concrete.


When he passed the second floor, he made his move. He shot a burst of psychic force downwards to slow his descent, and one across the street. He was forced into the side of the hotel, which he leapt off of to grasp a street lamp. His speed was such that he went around the pole several times before slowing to a stop on the ground.


He heard a loud crashing noise, and looked up to see a ball of darkness explode out of the room he'd just vacated. It fell sharply, but slowed to a stop and began moving forwards as it went. Tendrils of dark energy shot out of it, trying to impale Ness, who was already racing down the street. The bookish man was at the center of the ball of light, a look of sheer rage on his face.






Ness ran down the street. He leapt as a ribbon impacted the ground beneath his feet, and then ducked as another shot over his head. He rolled around the corner to keep another from catching him.


The man in the ball of light rounded the corner, and Ness dove at him. Startled by this shift in tactics, the man tried to bring his tendrils to bear, but was too late. Ness raced past them and slugged the man across the jaw. Raising a shield to defend against attacks, Ness brought his other arm around, and tried to make contact with the man's nose. He was startled to meet resistance as the man caught his fist.


Ness looked into the man's face with astonishment. His glasses were cracked, and his face was bloody, but there was a manic grin on his face. Ness pushed for a moment, trying to break the man's grip, but it was rock-solid.


"Not bad" Ness said with a grin, "It's been a while since I've had a real fight."


"I assure you, this one will be your last." The man responded before whipping his arm around, launching Ness over his shoulder and into a building. Ness managed to twist himself around to allow his legs to absorb the impact. He rebounded and landed in the street, graceful as a cat.


He came to his feet quickly and leapt forwards. He brought his foot up to impact with the man's chest. He jumped forwards, with the intention of striking him again, higher, but the man leapt backwards and brought his hand down, cutting Ness' foot's path short. Ness whipped around, attempting a back kick, but the man ducked it easily.


Ness' foe abruptly took the offense. He snapped his fist into Ness' face, making him stagger backwards for a moment. He then unleashed a flurry of blows at Ness' midsection, which Ness clumsily fended off, still reeling from the hit to the face.


In retaliation, Ness leapt into the air and delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to the face before landing and trying to sweep the man's feet out from under him. The man leapt over Ness' sweep, but that was exactly what Ness wanted. He straightened up quickly, then hit the man in the chest with an open-handed blow. Surprise and shock played across the man's features before he flew backwards into a building. Brick shattered and came tumbling down, but the man was up in moments.


"Impressive. That's far more damage than anyone's been able to do to me in centuries." He said as he brushed himself off. Then he jumped into the air. Ness leapt too, and they collided about ten feet up. Down they fell, a flurry of fists and dark light. They impacted on the street with such force that the pavement cracked, forming a crater.


The dark light seared once more and was silent.