Dusklord's Final Stand

Explosions rippled around her as Lilly was smashed through the roof of the storage area. Metal and stone rained down around her. She was hurled upwards, coming to a stop in the floor above where they had been fighting. It was a corridor of some sort. She groaned and shook her head, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened.

A moment ago, everything had been fine. She'd been winning the fight, forcing the Shadow Lady back. Then, suddenly, it had started to rain shadows. Drifting, formless things which had dropped down from above. As each one had hit her, the Shadow Lady had grown stronger. Her aura of darkness had become deeper. Knowing when she shouldn't be standing around watching a villain power up, Lilly had launched into an attack as soon as she'd realised what was happening.

The next few minutes were chaotic and full of pain. She'd been hit...? Yes! She'd been hit several times. She remembered getting thrown around, smashed against the walls and the roof before being hurled upwards. Her whole body was a mass of aches and bruises.

Rising from the shaft which she had punched via her ascent, there came the Shadow Lady. Darkness broiled around her like a living thing. Tendrils of it gripped the metal, hauling her body upwards. It was cold near her, particles of frost seemed to linger in the air.

"What did you do?" Lilly demanded.

"What I had to do to win," The Shadow Lady growled. "Your fire burns hot, girl, but it cannot hold me back now. With such power, I can smother your flames. Resist this!"

She gestured and a wave of darkness rushed towards Lilly. Firebird growled and threw up her hands, projecting a blast of heat and light. But, just as the Shadow Lady promised, this time her power didn't shrink away from the light. The two met and clashed, struggling for dominance for a single instant only. Then, Lilly's flame was washed away and the darkness crashed into her. She was torn from her feet, tumbling and twisting. Shadow was all around her, subsuming her, trying to break her down. Coldness speared through her, sending shivers racing down her spine. She flared her power and tried to break free, but it was no good! The hottest fire she could project was simply smothered by the darkness which surrounded her. The ocean of shadow lapped at her power, leeching her dry. Stealing away her light. She was getting colder. It was hard to think. Her mind was shutting down. What was this overwhelming power?

"Before heat and life and light, there was this," The Shadow Lady said. "This ultimate darkness. this primal shadow. This is the oblivion which existed before the dawn of your existence, and the fate which awaits all at the end of it. This is what I was. Before it was stolen from me. Before I was made lesser. Now, I can only approach it briefly, only with stolen power. But now, just for a few hours, I will be as I was then."

Lilly tried to scream. The shadow poured down her throat like a liquid. She was drowning in it. It was filling her up. She was swirling, vanishing into it. Her power wouldn't come. Her heat and fire couldn't throw back this darkness. This was darkness as it once had been. It had no fear of the flame. It was everywhere, it was everything. She was tumbling and twisting, alone in the void.

Then, suddenly, she wasn't. She didn't know where he came from, just that one moment she was alone and the next she felt him next to her. His shadows were warm, enveloping her and forming a barrier between her body and the greater darkness. For a moment, there was nothing else and then she felt him pull her free. The world flickered back into being as Lilly collapsed to the ground. Her body felt cold and she was shivering. She swallowed, trying to force herself to stand. Dusklord was between her and the Shadow Lady now. His arms were crossed, and his eyes were full of fury.

"Lilly," He said. "I'm sorry it took me so long. If only I had been here sooner I could have-"

"You're damn right you should have been here sooner!" Lilly said. "A few minutes would have been perfect! We could have won then! Now she's done something else and she's gotten so much stronger! That's your main problem, you're always so... dramatically slow! It's how I've always foiled your plans!"

Dusklord blinked. However he'd expected her first words to go after finding her again, this wasn't it.

"It's not that easy! Good villainy doesn't just happen! You can't just waltz in whenever you feel like it! You need to set it up! Build drama!"

"You're not being a villain this time!" Redwing staggered over to stand by his side. "Hang drama! Our job now is just to make sure that things don't get worse! Could you have come at worse time?"

"Well, speaking strictly in terms of drama, I could have arrived just in time to see you killed and be motivated by your death to swear eternal vengeance. That would have been a pretty big bummer."

"Huh, well, I suppose it would have." Lilly shook her head. The words they were exchanging were just filler. It was the feeling, the sense of being together again that made her lips curl into a smile. She could feel his presence by her side, and her heart beat faster.

The moment of levity faded. The two of them turned to face the Shadow Lady, her power swollen and gorged. Dusklord looked concerned. His face was pale normally, but now it was like a sheet.

"She's sucked down the power of everyone she could," He told Lilly bluntly. "The last time we fought, she took both Alister and myself on and won. This time, she's considerably stronger. Can your flames...?"

"No, I tried. Whatever happens to make her weak to them, she's ignoring it now."

"Damn. Then I'm afraid things don't look very good right now. As she is now, there's no way we can beat her. We can't run away either - she's faster. Even if all of us ganged up on her, she'd win. I must say, this isn't what I was hoping to run into during this rescue."

"Rescue? I did most of the rescuing on my own," Lilly grinned, though her heart was beating fast. "Though, I suppose I'm glad to have you along. You can maybe catch a bullet."

"So glad my services are so high in your mind," Dusklord said. "But really, we're in trouble here."

"I know."

"Do you have any brilliant plans? Last minute heroic twists? Some kind of willpower based super form that can turn the tides?"

She turned to him.

"Really?"

"It's more common than you'd think!"

"No, I don't have anything like that. Where are Alister and Frostfire?"

"Both of them are keeping the way out clear. A bunch more Enforcers showed up and they're going crazy. Without Dogma to command them, they're just targeting everyone who is not a machine."

"In that case, we have only one chance," Lilly said. "If we can get her up and onto the surface. Outside of the bunker. We get her there and just maybe we can win."

"How? What are you planning?"

"I don't have time to explain it," Lilly said. "Just trust me, it's our only chance now."

"Hah," Dusklord laughed. "Facing a creature as terrible as this in a doomed fight with only only hope being a last ditch effort. I hope word of this doesn't get out. It'd really ruin my reputation."

"Well, let's worry about that later. Are you ready?"

"Oh yes."

"Then let's go!"

She flung herself forward again, a blast of fire igniting in her wake. Wings of flame unfolded from her back and she powered towards the ancient goddess. The Lady in Black saw her coming, of course. She gestured and a wave of shadow rose up to crash down upon her. Redwing braced, holding her power tightly around her body, The barrier struck her, and she felt its cold touch against her skin. It was all over her, all around her, trying to overwhelm her and force her down. She grit her teeth and powered through, smashing through the other side an instant later. The Shadow Lady growled in annoyance, and this time she summoned a host of tendrils to snatch and grab Redwing where she flew. Before they could, Ducklord interceded with a flurry of blades that sliced through them in a great rain. The tendrils were severed, writhing and flapping and Redwing blasted through.

She hit the Shadow Lady with full speed and full power. Fire played around her body, smoke and ash trailed in her wake. Her brown hair was burning like copper, and her body was haloed by heat and light. The Shadow Lady felt Redwing's fist plough into her gut, the force hurled her backwards but she caught herself with a nest of tendrils. She unleashed a blast of dark energy which erased the space where Redwing had been but moments ago. The desperate heroine ducked to the right, and then to the left as a second blast was unleashed. A flood of darkness smashed into her and hurled her backwards. A thousand spears ripped themselves from the Shadow Lady's aura and flew like machine gun fire at Redwing. She snarled, but Dusklord was there a moment before they landed. He raised a barrier of his own darkness, holding it steady as they battered into it. His face was taut with effort, grunting with each blow. Cracks started to form and Redwing could see how much focus he was throwing into it.

The barrier shattered as The Shadow Lady hit it with a blast of energy. Dusklord gave a shout, a tendril wrapped around his throat and yanked him towards a wall of blades. His hand was shrouded in darkness as he raised it, conjuring a body-tight shield which saved him at the last moment. But hew as hurled to the ground and crashed to the floor before he could recover. The Shadow Lady snarled but Redwing hit her with a blast of flame, the light searing through one of her barriers. Her body turned to mist and flowed across the room. Redwing felt her presence behind her again and turned at the last moment, but it was too late and the Shadow Lady's fist rocked her world. She staggered to the left, the impact flowed through her body. Then she took a second strike, and a third. Each one shook her to her bones. The fourth hit came but this time Redwing was ready and grabbed the other woman's wrist. A flash of flame jumped from one to the other and the Shadow Lady was set ablaze. As she tried to deal with that, Redwing kicked off, grabbing her and tackling her upwards.

Smash!

They went through the roof, into another chamber. Stone and metal shuddered around them. Redwing could taste blood in her mouth, her vision wasn't too good anymore. The Shadow Lady hit _hard. _But she had to keep going! Had to find their way to their surface, it was the only chance they had now!

They crashed through another roof and then a third. Lilly was burning hot, drawing out all of her power as she'd done in the castle. This time though, her foe was not helpless. Talons of shadow crawled across her body, they hooked into her skin, cut her and battled to suppress her aura. She was having to fight it off. She wasn't going fast enough, she wasn't picking up enough speed!

They smashed through a fourth ceiling, but now they were moving at a crawl. The Shadow Lady had managed to flip the situation and now she was struggling for control. Redwing grunted, throwing her back into the fight but it was too little and she felt her enemy flip her around and hurl her into a wall. The impact cratered the reinforced blastdoor. Before she could pick herself up, the Shadow Lady laid into her with a series of strikes and blows that punished her and drove her back further into the wall. Impact after impact rained down on her, her power flickered out, a shockwave of flame and force to defend her. But the Shadow Lady met it with a nimbus of darkness and defused it.

"Get away from her!"

Dusklord roared as he ascended through the hole they'd torn in the floor. He gestured and a wave of darkness poured from his hands. The Shadow Lady turned, deflecting it with the motion of a finger.

"Your powers are advancing rapidly," She said. "But you forget that what you have was once mine, and I had it for longer."

Dusklord's answer was to hurl himself at her. Her aura ripped at him with a thousand blades but his own countered, turning each and every one of them aside. He put his whole power not into offence but defence. Holding her at bay with all that he had. As he closed, his fist lashed out, taking her in the chin. A follow up caught her in the gut, and a third motion swept her feet out from under her. The Shadow Lady collapsed to the ground and Dusklord summoned his power. Tendrils of darkness wrapped around both of them and pushed them upwards, through the next roof. Reinforced metal and stone parted like an afterthought to allow them through. Dusklord was trying to bind her, to hold her in place as he had done before. But she was so much stronger now and after a moment, his bindings simply snapped. A lance of shadow ripped from her finger and speared him through the chest. His eyes went wide, pain flashed through his power. The shaft entered his front and exited via his back.

Dusklord fell to his knees, his hands closed around the weapon which had impaled him. The Shadow Lady stood up, shaking her head.

"You will not die," She promised him. "Such as this could not kill blood of my blood. But you will not interfere again."

Dusklord shook his head, his teeth clenched in pain. His body felt heavy, the ragged wound in his chest burned with pain. He gasped, forcing his lungs to work. To breath. Through vision heavy with fog, he saw the Shadow Lady turning back towards the hole in the floor. Back towards Lilly.

_No, _he thought, it can't end like this. I refuse to let it...refuse to let it go like this...

He urged his body to move, but it couldn't. The wound he'd taken would be fatal to one fully mortal. His body had simply shut down while it tried to repair it. He'd be able to move again in ten, twenty minutes. Not nearly quickly enough. He cursed himself, and cursed his powerlessness. Hated the feeling of be trapped in his own flesh. He raged, reaching deep within for something, anything that he could use.

He closed his eyes, seeking within. Was there anything he could use? Lilly knew that he put up an act. He played his role in the city as if it were some sort of great game. The charming crime master who never hurt anyone who couldn't afford it. That was what he projected. But it wasn't what he was. That was an act. He was more than that, he was a person. Someone who had fled his home rather than challenge his own brother. Someone who had fought his mother rather than allow her to run loose. Someone who, despite what he might have said if anyone asked, cared. He cared about other people. About his followers, about his people. His friends even. But caring wasn't enough now, was it? He needed to go deeper. He needed to find more. Some source of strength. Some power that would let him raise again.

But what did he have? Love? Was the power of love worth anything at all outside of sappy romances? Did he even love Lilly? Maybe he did. He'd never felt like this with another woman, that was for sure. Accounting for all of the times they'd fought each other as hero and villain, they'd been courting for years. How did he feel about her? She was sexy, arousing. Her voice, her body, the way she moved and spoke when she was in the mood, all of it aroused him. But that was just attraction. Was there more to it? Did he truly love her?

Did he want to lose her? That thought was razor edged, tearing through his defences very much like the spear which had torn through his chest. He imagined what it would be like to be here, helpless, and watch her die. To have come so close only to lose her now was the ultimate defeat. He could imagine the grief, the horror, and then the emptiness which would come afterwards. He might well survive, but Dusklord would not. He would be a different person, a worse person.

His hand flexed, his fingers managed to ball into fists. He was digging deep, searching his core. Forcing himself to confront things that he had never thought about before. Who was he? What did he really want out of life? Beyond the games, beyond the masks, beyond the acts, what did Alexi actually want?

He wanted to live... he wanted a happy live. Not too boring and not too exciting. He wanted to be respected, he wanted other people to look up to him, and he wanted to be someone worth looking up to. Having respect wasn't enough. It had to be earned. Not out of fear like his mother and father had done. Not even out of loyalty like Alister had done. Because of his actions. Because of what he had done.

In the end, the ultimate irony was that Dusklord deep down wanted to be a hero. Just not the sort of hero that Lilly was. A hero to people who had nowhere else to turn. People on the dark side of the city. People who'd used up all of their last chances bar one. He was the final chance, he offered his followers one last way. He collected those that others would regard as lost causes. He gave them purpose, helped them to forge a future. Yes, it was against the law, but hang the laws! People mattered more!

People always mattered more.

The thought brought a surge of strength. A surge of confidence. Dusklord reached out for every last shred of power and strength left in his body. He called out to every shred of his being. Everything he was, and all of his hopes. His ambitions, his dreams and his goals all came down to this one thing. He took them all and burned them, letting them fill him with new strength. It wasn't something that would last. Just for a little while.

But it would be enough.

The Shadow Lady paused, froze in motion as Dusklord pushed himself back to his feet. His hand closed around the spear which impaled him and it broke, shattering into a thousand shards which rained down to the ground. A patch of shadow covered the wound.

"I see you are more like your father than I thought," She said.

Then, he hit her. Hard. With his whole body. His aura burned around him, and he roared, uttering a wordless cry of both pain and fury as he burned himself in layers just to oppose her. His corona of darkness was deeper and blacker than it had ever been, equal even to her own. It flowed more easily than it ever had before. There was no constructs now. No time for constructs. It was primal force, the same way that his other's worked. For the first time in his life, he met her as an equal.

The Shadow Lady was ripped from the ground, hurled through the air. Her body tumbled but only for a moment because Dusklord caught it with his aura. Driving her upwards, the two of them rising together, faster and faster. They spiralled around each other. She was fighting him, becoming more and more serious, but he was winning. He was pulling out everything, burning himself as fuel for his own power. The strength of mortality was that it was so brief, but as a source of fuel there was none finer. And so he burned. He fuelled himself on himself. Driving her upwards, shattering ceiling after ceiling. Living darkness broiled around them, the air split with the power of their passage. They were moving faster and faster, screaming towards the surface.

But the problem with using yourself as fuel was that you were a limited resource. Even as he burned, Dusklord could feel himself slowing down. His mastery of the moment slipping away second by second. He was burning himself, and each part of him that went weakened the rest. The Shadow Lady was clawing back control. In a moment, it would all be over.

Images of his past swam before his mind's eye. His childhood, his time as a teenager. When he had first come to New Ember City and realised the freedom that it gave him. He remembered it all, experiencing it like new in that moment. He recalled first meeting Lilly, and how the two of them had clashed again and again. Foes, but not enemies. They had exchanged banter, thrown verbal darts at one another. But it had always been a game to them, and he had enjoyed every moment of it.

He smiled, a genuine smile, and then reached for the last of himself. One final burst of speed and power. That was all it would take.

But before he could burn it too, a different sort of fire seared past him. Lilly was rising on wings of flame. Like a primordial missile, she struck the Shadow Lady, lending her strength to his. The balance was tipped again, and together the two of them managed to keep her moving, smashing through room after room even as she struggled.

"You weren't about to do anything stupid, were you?" Lilly asked. He had no reply, but she grinned. "We're almost there now! One more push!"

The two of them pushed with everything they had, throwing their whole might into one final burst of power. Dusklord felt his body brimming with pain, but it was enough. The final room shattered, and they rocketed through dirt and stone. Then, just when he felt that he had nothing more to give, they were free! Rising, rising through the night sky. Stars glittered, the moon hung above.

He had no power left to try and catch himself as he fell, but he felt Lilly hook his body into her arms, her wings spreading as they broke both of their descent. They landed on the ground, next to the hole they'd punched from below. The city was distant, they were on the outskirts somewhere. Lilly was holding Dusklord in her arms like he weighed nothing, grinning at him cheekily.

"You know, I sort of feel like things are reversed," She said to him. "Pretty sure you're supposed to be holding me after a dashing rescue. Hero regulations and all that."

"Not a hero," Dusklord grumbled, "Just doing what had to be done..."

"For tonight at least, you're a hero," She said with a wink.

But then there came an explosion of darkness as the Shadow Lady landed. The damage to her body was already repairing. Dusklord felt a deep put open in his gut. He didn't know what was supposed to happen once they got to the surface, but it clearly hadn't! She was totally fine, and he'd burned all of his power. Even Lilly looked on the edge of exhaustion.

He found his strength, managing to stagger to his feet.

"An effort that was commendable," The Shadow Lady said. "I have to admit, the two of you have pushed me far beyond what I expected. You, Alexi, are showing signs of greater power still. And you, Redwing.. you burn like a star against the night. But even a star dies in the end. This marks the final resistance you will give. Surrender now, and I will not take your life. But one way or the other, you will know defeat."

"Defeat?" Redwing said. "You don't understand, do you? You've already lost! The moment we came above the surface, the moment we pushed you here, you were beaten."

"Explain."

"When I was in Dogma's custody," Lilly said, "There was someone there who helped me. One of his henchmen. I asked them to do two things for me. The first one was to get me one of the machines that let us deactivate Dogma's collar. The second thing was to get word out to one specific person. I told him to wait above as a final measure. If we broke free, and we were clearly in distress, I asked him to be ready to intervene."

"But you didn't know how long it would take you to break free," Dusklord said. "Who do you know who would be willing to wait unseen for days or longer, and also have the sort of power that could help against someone who could beat you?"

Then, suddenly, something heavy smashed into the ground behind the Shadow Lady. She growled and turned, lashed out with a dozen whips of darkness that were edged with blades. They sliced outwards, but met solid stone. A rising wall of stone that was not a wall at all. It was a body. A massive person made of stone. Jagged crystals grew from their chest and shoulders. They looked lumpen and misformed, as if someone had started with a person but kept adding more and more. Their finger tips were made of steel. Their eyes burned with vivid crimson light. Lines of magma traced themselves through their skin. Copper patterns danced across their face. They rose up and up, like a giant. A war golem from some ancient legend.

But this was no legend, and this was no golem.

It was far worse.

The creature of stone and fire and metal, the world's number one hero. The immortal guardian who had existed since the dawn of man.

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Author's Note: Thank you all for sticking with me for the last few chapters, I know they've been combat heavy, but we're finally at an end to that. Next chapter should wrap things up for this, and very soon the story itself will be done.