Shimmer and Sunset were flying through the skies of Canterlot City, both of them trying to figure out where this plot that Neighsay was about to unveil was going to take place, but unfortunately, Shining Armor hadn’t contacted them at all in the last couple of hours, so either they imposed a communications blackout for the duration of their operation, or he was found out. Shimmer hoped it was the former and not the latter, the last thing she wanted was for Twilight to hear that her big brother was killed, not after everything she had been through.

Both girls hovered in the air above the city, Shimmer with her metallic wings, and Sunset with her flaming dragon wings. They decided to stay at this position, figuring it would give them the best position to jet off in whatever direction they needed to in case something happened.

“Dammit, Neighsay’s going to get what he wants, and we’re up here twiddling our thumbs!” Sunset complained.

“I feel the same way, but we can’t just go off and get outmaneuvered when it counts, we’ll have to keep an eye out.” Shimmer looked at her ruby crystal. “Do you feel anything?”

}}} I feel a stirring in this city, my Father is on the move. But I cannot pinpoint him, it’s incredibly frustrating. {{{

The Sunsets kept their eyes open, scouting the area from their vantage point, looking for any sign, any little thing that could give them a hint as to where to go. Just then, Shimmer’s cellphone went off, she quickly brought it up and raised an eyebrow. It wasn’t Shining Armor like she was expecting, it was Celestia. The armor on Shimmer’s index finger retracted so that she could touch the screen, once she swiped it, Shimmer immediately answered, “Hello?”

There was no immediate answer, but Shimmer could hear sobbing on the other end.

“Celestia, what’s wrong?! Are you hurt?! MOM, ANSWER ME?!” Shimmer blurted out in a panic.

“Sis, what’s wrong?!” Sunset asked.

“Mom – Celestia – she called me and she’s crying! Please say something, you’re scaring me right now!” Shimmer pleaded.

Sniffling could be heard on the other end, along with shaky breaths as if Celestia was trying to muster up the strength to speak. {S-Sunset…s-she’s dead…}

“Who’s dead?!”

{M-Maria…s-she’s…she was killed…!}

A stone dropped into Shimmer’s stomach, her heart sinking with it. Maria Mare, the mayor of Canterlot City, Celestia’s girlfriend, was dead…

“Hey, Sis, what’s wrong, you’re pale?” Sunset asked.

“Maria Mare…she’s dead…she…she and Celestia were girlfriends…”

That was all Sunset needed to hear to understand just how bad it was, she may not have known Celestia as well as her pony twin, but Celestia was a kind person, and she was nice to be around, so she felt an ache in her heart for Celestia.

“I’m…I’m sorry, we’ll head back to you,” said Shimmer.

{Don’t you dare! Listen, Maria managed to tell me, right before she died, that Neighsay’s plan is going to happen at the Metroscrape Mall, it’s being newly constructed so I don’t know if you know where that is, but it should be in west Canterlot. She also mentioned something about downtown, but…she couldn’t finish…Don’t let her sacrifice be in vain, Sunset…}

Shimmer’s left hand tightened into a fist, shaking with rage for what Neighsay had done, and vowing within her mind that she would make him pay for everything he had done. “I won’t, you can count on us. We’ll take him down.”

{……Just…Just be safe, come back alive. That’s all I ask, both of you.}

“We will.” The line went silent, Celestia had hung up. After a quick internet search, Shimmer was able to locate where the mall was. “We’re not that far away, twenty miles at best!”

“Then let’s hightail it!”

Without wasting a second, the twin Artifact wielders blasted across the sky, creating a dual sonic boom as they raced to the location where Neighsay was, and hopefully, the Darkness and Sombra wouldn’t be there.

Then again, since when is my luck ever that good?

Unfortunately, it seemed that fate wasn’t going to be kind to her. The lights throughout the city went dark, and in the distance a flare went off. After that, several lights kicked back on, but not all of them, it seemed as if they were switching specific ones on, each of them in sequence like a trail towards the city proper.

“Shit!”

“Yeah…Yeah…Look, I’m sorry, I’m busy tonight…you know I can’t tell you! J-Just – sheesh – you sound like Mom used to. ‘Where are you going, when will I be back’, damn!”

Sombra, or rather the Darkness, sat in the back of a sedan, Young Blood was sitting in the passenger’s seat while another of their team was driving the car. There were two more behind them, each carrying a member of the Blood Kings, Sombra ordered his strongest to come with him, he anticipated a double cross, as the Darkness, a creature of treachery and chaos, it would be quite stupid if the demonic entity expected trustworthiness from a man of the cloth.

“Okay…Okay…I love you guys too…Order a pizza and I’ll see you later. And don’t wait up for me…” Young Blood chuckled. “‘Cause I know you two will, so I better not catch you passed out on the couch like last time. Alright, ‘night.”

“Girlfriend? Girlfriends?” Sombra/Darkness asked.

Young Blood glanced over his shoulder as he put the phone away. “Nah, my sisters, I’m kinda the only adult in the house, so doing this has made it somewhat easy to keep us afloat and from keeping the cops from separating us.”

“Hmm.” Sombra/Darkness grunted. <^> Perhaps I will show Young Blood the pleasures of what his family can offer? <^>

“You fucking bastard! When I get loose, I’m going to choke the shit out of you! I’ll make you my bitch!” Sombra shouted from the depths of his mind.

<^> Really? Because it looks like you’re my bitch in this case. Heh-heh-heh! <^>

The cars approached their destination, the Metroscape Mall was halfway constructed, with concrete walls devoid of any markings of what outlets were going to occupy the spaces within. The group pulled into a space that was used for the workers to enter, situating themselves by the foreman’s office. Once there, all three cars emptied, revealing Young Blood, Sombra, and nine other members of the Blood Kings. Without fear of anything, Sombra walked towards the building, the rest of his crew had their vials of Tar ready to drink, just in case things went south.

The moment they entered the building, Sombra went full Darkness Armor, startling his “minions”. He could feel through the shadows of the unfinished structure that there was only one person inside, the Darkness wasn’t sure if this was stupidity or strategy, either was possible right now.

“Hey, do we need to take the Tar now?” Young Blood asked.

“No, there’s only one. I don’t sense anyone else…” The Darkness took a moment to think a bit more, something wasn’t right here. But, still, he couldn’t pass up the chance to obtain the Prism of the Brothers, this could be his only chance of ending his battle with Angelus once and for all. “Come, we’re wasting time.”

The Darkness led the group further in, the older teens hadn’t ever been inside of a mall that wasn’t fully constructed, it was really creepy. The emptiness, the long corridors, and the unnaturally loud echo of their footsteps, it made it feel like an army was wandering around inside. If this was a horror movie, this would’ve been about the time where the monster comes out and tries to kill them, however, the one leading them and subsequently protecting them, was by far the scariest and strongest monster on the face of the Earth, so if there was a monster, then Sombra would scare it off, or kill it.

Then again, we all got somethin’ that can turn us into monsters, so, win-win? Young Blood thought.

The group continued walking until they made it to about the center of the mall. It was built like a rotunda, there was a large hole where the roof or some kind of topping was to be placed, so it gave a nice view of the night sky. And right below that was Neighsay, dressed in his Cardinal robes, hand clasped in front of him and looking as calm and cool as ice.

“Young Blood, is he the one?” The Darkness asked.

“Yeah, that’s him,” Young Blood confirmed.

Young Blood and the rest of the crew got into a semicircle to surround Neighsay and walked up towards the man. “Cardinal Neighsay, we finally get to meet in person.”

“Indeed,” said Neighsay, “I’ve heard much about you from Mr. Blood, so it’s wonderful to see that you value my information enough to come personally.”

The Darkness crossed his arms and narrowed his glowing gaze at him. “Do not patronize me, I came here because you know you have something that I want. My only question is, how a mortal like you got their hands on it.”

Neighsay raised an eyebrow at the odd way he spoke, as if Sombra was saying he wasn’t mortal either. That’s when it hit him. “I don’t think I’m talking to Sombra right now. I feel as if I’m speaking to the Darkness.”

“You are, I’m through playing the obedient creature. I’m taking command of everything.”

“Wait, what?!” one of the Blood Kings stated.

“Hold on, what’s he talking about?! Does that mean that Sombra’s gone?!” another asked.

Young Blood looked at Sombra, all this time he thought he was dealing with a man, but he was really dealing with a monster. “You mean…that you’re alive?! That ‘the Darkness’ stuff, it isn’t just some freaky power, you’re alive?!”

“Of course, I’m alive you peon! Did you honestly think a mere mortal like Sombra could wield such power?!” The Darkness glared at the rabble around him. “And if you want a place in my new world, you’ll keep quiet and do as I say.” The entity of chaos and evil turned his attention back to Neighsay. “Now that you know who you are dealing with, what do you say now?”

Neighsay smiled. “I say this is good, get the middleman out of the way. Now, I think there’s something here that you want.” The Cardinal reached into his robe and pulled out the Prism of the Brothers for all to see, holding it out for the Darkness. “This is what will turn the tide in your war against the Angelus, correct?”

The Darkness’ eyes were glued to the Artifact, he was practically drooling at the sight of it. “Yes, at long last I can put that wench out of her misery and seal her for the rest of time!”

The Darkness reached towards the Prism, but Neighsay drew back. “There is something I need from you though, before we end our transaction.”

The Darkness’ eyes shined with malice. “Mortal, do you think you’re in any position to bargain?!”

“Oh, I think I’m in the best position to bargain oh great entity.” Neighsay reached into the other side of his robes and pulled out another Artifact, one that the Darkness had not seen in many millennia and wished he would never see again. “I assume you know what this is?”

“T-THE SIPHON!!!” The Darkness practically shrieked as he jumped back like a scared cat. “HOW DO YOU POSSESSES THEM BOTH?!!!”

“Oh, I have more than that, much more.” The Prism shined in Neighsay’s hands, bathing him in golden light until he was fully transformed into his armored form. “I possess the powers of the Angelus herself. Now why don’t you be a good monster, and get inside your prison?”

The Darkness raised his right hand and unleashed a torrent of dark energy towards Neighsay. The Stealer of Light raised the Siphon up, and as if sensing that which it was meant to contain, sprang open and began absorbing the energy of the Darkness. The Darkness quickly cut off his attack, realizing that this mortal was going to suck up all his power before he had the chance to land a fatal blow.

The Darkness looked to the members of the Blood Kings and shouted, “KILL THAT MAN BEFORE HE KILLS US ALL!!!”

All of the Blood King members quickly took their Tar, and almost immediately, the ten were transformed into Blacknights. However, Neighsay wasn’t fazed by this, the Stealer of Light raised the Siphon up and the Artifact activated. Before they realized what was happening, the essence of the Darkness that was used to transform them was ripped off their bodies and absorbed it into the Siphon. “I think now’s about the right time. Send the signal!”

From the edge of the rotunda’s roof, a lone figure rose, the Magdalena. She pointed a gun-like object into the sky, and immediately pulled its trigger. The weapon fired off a glowing round into the air, when the flare reached a certain height, it burst into a bright white glowing orb. A couple of seconds after the flare went off, all the lights in the mall switched on at the same time, flooding the insides of the hollow temple to consumerism with light. The Darkness hissed, the armor disappeared and left his host completely bare of its best defensive and offensive weapon. With a flick of Neighsay’s wrist, several bright lights went off above him, and much to the horror of Blood Kings, the lights transformed into generic Sentinels, five in total.

“Kill the lost ones, leave the Darkness to me,” Neighsay ordered.

The Blood Kings immediately whipped out their pistols and opened fire on Neighsay and the floating Sentinels. Of course, their efforts were futile as the weapons of mortals had no effect on beings like Neighsay and Sentinels, the bullets just harmlessly bounced off their bodies. The angelic warriors brandished their glowing swords and took off for their individual targets. Without any mercy, two of the Blood Kings were cut down, one slashed in half right down the middle, the second was cut twice, once down the middle and again across to form a cross, neither one had the chance to even utter a scream.

The third fired their gun multiple times, trying to slow down or even wound the Sentinel. But it was just wasted effort as the Sentinel sliced off her head, the fallen cranium found itself staring at her feet before the lights in her eyes dimmed. While the fourth was getting eviscerated, having their stomach torn open and letting their entrails spill onto the floor, Young Blood rallied to Sombra, all of whom were looking for some way out. That’s when Young Blood spotted it, a hallway which was dark, the lights hadn’t switched on.

“THERE!” Young Blood shouted as he pointed. “They must’ve not finished that part!”

They needed no more words, only action, five Blood Kings ran behind Sombra – rather, the Darkness – and the moment they got into the shadows, the Darkness was able to tap into its powers. Once the Sentinels were done killing their comrades, they began their pursuit of the remaining Blood Kings and Sombra down the unlit corridor. The angelic warriors were the only source of light in the hall, which made them easy targets. The Darkness summoned its pistols, time seemed to slow for a second as the entity of destruction turned around and began unleashing a barrage down the narrow hallway. The Sentinels scrambled to dodge, but they had little to no room to move around, allowing the Darkness’ hand-cannon pistol’s dark bullet, upon striking one Sentinel, made its subsequent explosion all the more impactful. Once the dark bullet struck, the detonation destroyed three Sentinels at once, reducing them to golden particles.

The smaller rounds pierced through the heads and bodies the last two, eliminating them on the spot. The Darkness stopped for a moment and dismissed his guns, he held out his right hand and created four balls of inky black substance. The entity of chaos and destruction floated spheres towards the remaining Blood King members.

“What’s this?” Young Blood asked.

“Concentrated version of the ‘Tar’, either take it now or die at their hands!”

The others looked to each other, reaching a consensus that if they were going to live, they needed to take it. All five of them popped the balls of Tar into their mouths and nearly threw it up. However, the essence of the Darkness worked, transforming them into five Blacknights, now they had to escape.

“Hey, what was that back there?! Was that the Angelus?!” Young Blood asked.

“No, that mortal used the Prism to steal the Angelus’ powers, and now freely wields them! With that Siphon, he can do the same to me and imprison us both!”

“Doesn’t sound like a bad thing right now if you ask me! You trapped Sombra inside his body and are using him like a fuckin’ puppet!” Young Blood accused.

The Darkness stopped, turned towards Young Blood, and with a tentacle, lashed out at him. The tentacle wrapped around his neck and forced him against the wall. “Listen here, mortal, ALL OF YOU!” He shouted. “If that so called ‘Cardinal’ gets my power – yes, he will imprison me as he has the Angelus, but with BOTH of our powers, he’ll become an unstoppable, all-powerful being!!! So, for the sake of your world, and all the mortals you hold dear, we must prevent this at ALL COSTS!!” The Darkness released Young Blood and glared at him, and then to the others. “Do you understand that much?!”

Reluctantly, they nodded. They didn’t like the fact that they were helping this demonic being, not after what they heard he did to Sombra, but right now, he was right. If they didn’t help the Darkness, then everyone in the city, indeed the whole world, would fall under the control of that rogue priest. With that established, Sombra readied to open a shadow portal to get them out of there, but the hallway immediately lit up, once again diminishing the Darkness’ powers.

Down that same hallway, Neighsay was flying towards them, taking his leisurely time to get to them. The group ran down the hall, coming to a dead end, at least it would be for anyone else. The Darkness brought out its hand-cannon pistol and fired a charged shot right at the wall, blasting a hole in it ten feet wide.

As soon as they exited the wall, they were flooded with light. Their eyes hurt as their bodies hissed from the intense brightness that was hitting them. From what shade they were able to create with their arms, they were able to see what was making all that light. There was a line of cops, each one armed with a modified riot shield. The shields sported lights and a reflective surface, allowing for more like to be reflected towards their target. To the sides and behind the police were large searchlights that were pointed right at them, the police were in a phalanx formation, ready to hold the line despite their being clearly outmatched.

The Darkness and his minions didn’t take the time to assess what was going on and instead charged forward recklessly. Three of them came close to the police line, however, just before they could raise their claws to the police, something shining gold pierced right through one of the Blacknights, hitting them right where their heart would be. The weapon that struck the Blacknight was impaled on the ground before them, a bronze spear, the Spear of Destiny. That same spear floated up and spun as it flew upwards, the second Blacknight looked up as well, just in time to witness the Magdalena grasp her Spear of Destiny, she twisted around in midair and came down with an overhead slash, landing before the Blacknight.

The Blacknight howled in pain as a bright red gash appeared across their chest, spewing blood like a fountain. The divine weapon made it near impossible for the wound to heal quickly, so the damage was severe. However, what resolve the Blacknight had left spurred them on as they tried to attack the Magdalena. But before they could get the chance, the Magdalena thrust upwards with her Spear of Destiny, piercing the lower jaw of Blacknight as the point of the spear exited at the top of their head. Magdalena retracted her spear and twirled it around to shake the blood from it as the hulking creature collapsed onto the asphalt. Without missing a beat, the Magdalena thrust out with her spear, the weapon glowed and immediately extended forward, like a snake, coiling and winding, the spear tip found its home right in the brute’s head. Magdalena whipped the weapon around, the extended portion returning to its original length.

“What the hell?! How did she do that” a female Blacknight asked.

“The Spear of Destiny! They have that, too?!” The Darkness exclaimed in genuine fear.

“Oh, sounds like you’re afraid.” Sombra snarked.

<^> That weapon can kill you! I won’t be able to heal you if that woman lands a fatal blow! <^>

“After all the shit you put me through, sounds great!”

“UUUGGGHH!!!” The Darkness grunted as he slammed his fist into the ground, creating shockwave that disrupted the line, lessening the amount of light that was being reflected at them.

With the opening created, the two remaining Blood Kings and the Darkness took off down a street, a street that was oddly dark. In fact, as they continued, they realized that the city itself looked dark.

“I don’t like this! Something’s not right, why is the city blacked out?! That’s, like, giving us home field advantage or somethin’!” Young Blood commented.

The Darkness had to admit, this was foolish, the shadows made him stronger, gave him the advantage. Why would they intentionally make it easy for him to gain power and, if he so wished, pull the city into a blackhole. No one would be stupid enough to do this unless…

“IT’S A–!!!”

Just like inside the mall, the lights for the entire block were turned on. Streetlights, store lights, every light bulb that was plugged into a socket was shining bright and lighting up the entire area. The Darkness tried to create a portal, but it wasn’t going to happen, from the rooftops, Sentinels appeared, as if lying in wait, further adding to the suspicion that this was a trap. The Sentinels created bows and arrows of light and rained down death upon the Darkness and the Blacknights. The denizens of the shadows danced like their lives depended on it, dodging one deadly arrow after the next. With little recourse, they ran, bounding from car to sidewalk, doing all they could to avoid getting hit with a light arrow.

They arrived at one end of the street, showing that it was dark down that way. The Darkness knew this had to be part of their plan, but what choice did he have? All the Darkness needed was a few moments to create a portal to get them out of there and then they could plan their next move now that they knew about Neighsay and his scheme. Once they hit the shadowed area, that block was turned on as well, forcing them to continue to find a shaded area. Young Blood spotted an alley and pointed to it, silently telling them to go that way.

However, when they were about to divert towards the alley, Sentinels would rain down arrows of light that would block their path, making them go the way the Sentinels wanted them to go. Up above, on the roof tops, there were cops, each one had a radio in hand and once their targets got in range of a shadowed area…

“Targets are at block C-7, hit the lights!”

The moment he said that the block lit up. This was how they were able to get the lights on just as the Darkness and his team got in range, with the Darkness’ powers reduced by the light, it made it hard for him to even try and break through the street so that they could get into the sewer, and with the Sentinels firing light arrows down on them, they weren’t giving them a chance to think about how else to get away, they just needed them to think about running, keeping them in a state of panic and confusion as they tried to get away and cut off each of their ways out.

Shimmer and Sunset had to change their direction when they saw the trail, whatever was happening they were too late to stop it at the start, but hopefully they could prevent the final part of Neighsay’s plan from taking hold. Before either of the Sunset twins could get to the edge of where the lights were turning on, they were stopped by a line of Sentinels. About ten of them were generic ones, but at least three of them were unique, and two of which Shimmer recognized.

Israfil, the Burning One, his hands blazing with flames, and Kutiel, the Bringer of Holy Water, had spheres of water surrounding her the size of baseballs. The third was one that was, after a second to think, was familiar, he was at the Precinct 17 incident. His name was Hadriel, the Bringer of Winds, and the air was already getting a bit turbulent thanks to his power.

“I remember you three, what are you doing?!” Shimmer asked.

“Sorry, but we’re on orders to keep anyone from interfering with this operation,” said Kutiel. “Please wait a moment until we are done.”

“I think you know we can’t, we know that Angelus’ not calling the shots! You can’t be alright with what Neighsay’s going to do! He’s going to take the Darkness’ power for himself, he has no intention of just locking it away!” Shimmer stated.

A look of irritation formed on all the Sentinels’ faces.

“We know…” spoke Hadriel.

“Doesn’t mean we like any of it,” said Israfil in disdain. “Look, we can’t go against him with the power he has from our Mistress, he hasn’t given us the order to kill you, so go back and protect our Mistress from having anymore of her power taken!”

“Yeah, and in the meantime, Neighsay gets the Darkness and becomes way too powerful! Sorry, we’re not letting that happen!” Sunset’s hands caught fire as her eyes glowed. “So, move or we’ll go right through you!”

“If you must…”

Israfil unleashed a torrent of flames towards the duo. Sunset smirked as she got in front and used the power of the Ember Stone to take the brunt of the flames, and with a single move, dispelled the flames into embers. Kutiel fired off her water balls but Shimmer came in with her own flames, creating a shield out in front of her that evaporated. It was right around there when they realized that they were now surrounded by the Sentinels.

“Sunset, I think it’s time to get draconian on their asses,” said Shimmer.

“Way ahead of you, Sis!”

A pillar of flames erupted around Sunset, and from those blazing fires emerged a mighty dragon, roaring its fury into the air and buffeting all around her. That moment of disruption was enough for Shimmer to create two katanas and jetted for a generic Sentinel, with single swipe, she cut down the angelic being, reducing it to particles of light. Without missing a beat, she tossed her left katana at another one, nailing it in the head and killing it as well. Shimmer morphed the katana into a claymore and lobbed off the head of third.

Dragon Shimmer whipped her fiery tail towards one of the generic Sentinels who were trying to attack her from behind and wrapped it around him. With a flick of her tail she smashed the Sentinel she had trapped into another one that was coming at her left, and with another flick she smashed him into another on her right.

“I’m gonna beat a motherfucker–” With a flap of her wings, Dragon Shimmer flew up, somersaulted, and threw the Sentinel she had at another, knocking both out of the air. “–with another motherfucker!”

Dragon Shimmer inhaled and exhaled a huge fire blast, she whipped her head around and bathed the area in intense flames. Thanks to Dragon Shimmer’s power, she could command the flames to not harm those who she saw as a friend, which allowed Shimmer to fly through the flames and cut down the few that were too busy trying to back away from the fires instead of her sword. When they were done, only three remained, Hadriel, Israfil, and Kutiel. Dragon Shimmer floated behind her twin sister, growling and snorting flames from her nostrils.

“You sure there isn’t any way for you to go against his orders?” Shimmer asked.

“Unfortunately, no” Hadriel answered dejectedly.

Shimmer sighed with contrition, these beings were only doing what they were ordered to do, well, more like forced to do. The Keeper of Balance dashed towards the trio, Hadriel commanded the winds to spin around them, creating a thick wall of wind that managed to stop Shimmer’s blade from getting closer to them. Dragon Shimmer came up behind her, cocking back her right claw into a fist, and setting it on fire. The draconic beast slammed its large fist into the wind barrier, she ignited her left fist and began bashing at the barrier with it as well. Twin flaming fists were striking against the wind sphere, creating thunderous sounds with each hit.

Kutiel raised her hands, commanding the water in the air to solidify, when she was done, five dozen water blade constructs floated in the air around them. With a wave of Kutiel’s hands, the shards descended upon the twin Sunsets. A few of them landed in Dragon Shimmer’s back, piercing her black, leathery hide and making her roar in pain. She quickly bathed her body in flames to evaporate the water blades, Shimmer was a smaller target, so she had a slightly easier time dodging or deflecting the water blades.

Hadriel waved his hands to and fro, and in so doing, a tornado formed around them. The wall of wind rose high into the sky and down to the ground, causing damage down below. Dragon Shimmer and Shimmer glanced down and watched as some houses and businesses were getting torn up and tossed like pebbles.

“STOP, YOU’RE GOING TO KILL THE PEOPLE DOWN THERE!!!” Shimmer yelled.

“Our orders were to prevent anyone from interfering, no matter who it is, no matter what we had to do,” said Hadriel.

Dammit, this is taking too long! Shimmer thought.

}}} Sunset, I know you wanted to wait and use that form for when we faced Neighsay, but if we don’t use it now, and power our way through, we won’t be able to stop Neighsay! {{{

Shimmer gritted her teeth, Witchblade was right, but if she used it, that would mean leaving Sunset behind. She looked up at her draconic twin and locked eyes with her, it was strange, perhaps it was because they were growing closer, perhaps it was due to some interdimensional energy that linked them, or perhaps it was Shimmer’s magic? Whatever the case may be, Dragon Shimmer nodded to her twin, and Shimmer nodded back.

Intense crimson light enveloped Shimmer, in an instant, her armor and physique had changed into her Crimson Form. Shimmer entered a kind of runner’s stance and aimed for Hadriel. A spark of crimson lightning ran up her body, the only warning sign the Sentinels got before Shimmer took off, faster than a bullet, blurring until she was nothing more than a crimson beam of light. Hadriel tried to react, but he was a second too late. Shimmer pierced through the Sentinel, appearing behind him and holding two bastard swords.

Israfil and Kutiel hovered where they were, wondering what she had done to their Sentinel colleague. As if by delayed reaction, several red lines appeared over Hadriel’s body, the lines then caught fire and separated, showing that Shimmer had slashed the Bringer of Winds multiple times. The pieces caught fire and turned into ashes, canceling the tornado, and saving the people on the ground any further harm. Shimmer dismissed her blades and took off straight for downtown, putting a great amount of distance between her and the two Sentinels.

“How did she–?!”

“We have to–!!”

“Do nothing!” Dragon Shimmer announced as she slammed her fist into Israfil, sending him plummeting downwards. She rounded on Kutiel and unleashed a deluge of hellfire onto her, forcing the Bringer of Holy Water to create a shield of water. Go on, Sis, I can take these guys!

The Darkness and his remaining Blacknights were driven into the one spot where Neighsay wanted him to be, downtown. To be more precise, the middle of downtown, right where city hall was. Several lights kicked on from different angles, from the rooftops of the skyscrapers, to the helicopters flying in and shining even more light. Multiple officers lined up and shined their lights as well, cutting off any exit down the three different streets, all of them convinced that this was the land stand against the vile Sombra and his Blood Kings.

A few of the officers threw flashbangs towards them, causing their morphed bodies to forcibly revert to their human forms. The Darkness was still trying to hang onto its armored form, but the effort to keep it on was preventing him from using his other powers, but even if he could, the constant exposure to light had severely weakened him, the Darkness doubted he could even dive into a shadow to escape.

From the sky, the Magdalena appeared in a flash of light. She landed on the ground in a flourish, her cape flapping in the air. Young Blood and the last remaining member of their entourage pulled out their guns and began firing at the holy assassin. Magdalena dashed towards the two, to the assassin, the bullets were flying at half their speed as she nimbly moved out of their way, for the ones she couldn’t dodge, she used the Spear of Destiny to swat the bullets away. Unfortunately, they had to reload, giving Magdalena more than enough time to close the distance. She used the butt of her spear to knock the Blood King bodyguard off his feet, that split second he was airborne, she flipped the spear around and plunged it into his heart, slamming him and the blade of her weapon down into the asphalt all at once.

Young Blood, to his horror, watched his comrade die in less than a second. He quickly snapped out of it, reloaded his weapon, and began firing again. The bullets flew and Magdalena deflected them again and again as she approached, she charged for him, but either by luck or cosmic fate, he tripped over his feet and fell backward, narrowly missing Magdalena’s lunging thrust at the last second. The holy assassin was thrown off balance and stumbled to a stop, granting Young Blood enough time to pull out a second gun and fire again. The bullets hit Magdalena in her right thigh and left shoulder, with a third hitting against the armor on her chest. The next shot hit her in the head, but the mask she was wearing prevented the shot from being a fatal shot but did succeed in dazing her from the impact.

Young Blood raised both guns in preparation to end at least one of the threats to his life. However, he didn’t get the chance as Neighsay teleported behind him and impaled the young man with a glowing sword of light through his chest. Young Blood looked down in shock at the glowing sword, dropping his guns as his body grew weak. Neighsay dismissed the weapon and let Young Blood fall, unceremoniously, to the ground.

“That was sloppy, Magdalena,” said Neighsay.

“Apologies, Master Neighsay, I shouldn’t have overextended like that,” said Magdalena.

“Indeed, don’t let it happen again. Now then…” Neighsay turned to his head to look straight at the Darkness. “We have some unfinished business.”

“Mortal fool! I will not be imprisoned and used! Sorry, Sombra, but it looks like I won’t be exclusive to your line and anymore!”

“YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!”

The Darkness concentrated all his power to form his armor around his right arm, creating razor sharp claws and leaving the rest of his body exposed. The entity of destruction and chaos readied to tear Sombra’s head off, a host of either Angelus or the Darkness could regenerate their host’s body from almost any severe injury, but if their head was taken off by a supernatural weapon, such as the Spear of Destiny, the Angelus’ power, the Witchblade, or the Darkness himself, then it was game over, and that’s what the Darkness was after. It would mean finding another host and waiting another twenty-one years to reemerge into the world, but it would be worth it, hopefully by then Neighsay would be dead.

Before he could enact his desperate attempt, Magdalena tossed her Spear of Destiny into the air and put her hands into a prayer position. “In nomine Domini: Adiuro te. In nomine Domini: Adiuro te. In nomine Domini: Adiuro te. In nomine Domini: Adiuro te. In nomine Domini: Adiuro te.” The Spear of Destiny released bolts of lightning that snaked its way towards the Darkness. The lightning twisted around his arms and legs and transformed into construct chains.

“DAMMIT!!! WHAT IS THIS??!!!”

“A spell to keep you bound, and while that holds you, I can finish the job.”

A flash of light went off in Neighsay’s left hand, when it faded, the Siphon of the Angelus was in it. He held the Artifact up and the device immediately opened upon sensing the Darkness. The black essence of the entity within Sombra was quickly being drained by the second, to the police who were holding their protective line, Neighsay could imagine this as being a moment of triumph, and they were partially correct, it was a moment of triumph, for Neighsay anyway. More and more of the Darkness’ essence was being absorbed, the armor flickering into shadows before falling apart.

Deep inside Sombra’s mind, the shackles that the Darkness had placed on him were snapped and he could finally regain control of his body. The blackness in his eyes was gone as his regular eye color returned, finally back in the driver’s seat, Sombra took stock of what was happening and frowned a bit. “I should probably thank you.”

“Oh, and why’s that?”

“‘Cause you just helped me get free of that asshole of a demon,” Sombra answered.

“Huh, well, you’re welcome. Do you wish for me to kill you when this over, you’ll only be put in jail after?”

Sombra looked around at the police and then to Neighsay. “You really goin’ to use the Darkness and Angelus’ powers? For what?”

Neighsay walked closer so that the officers in attendance couldn’t hear what his true plans were until it was too late. “Indeed, I am, I will bring about a world that will be free of sin, will be freed from the idiocy of people not fearing God’s wrath. Well, I will be His instrument, I will manage this living world and He can worry about their souls once they pass! Repent or be judged, those are the only choices I’m afraid.”

“You can’t take people’s right to be assholes away! Even I know you can’t have too much order; you mess things up! Gets borin’ and it gets stale! It won’t work!” Sombra argued.

“Well, with the power to control the night and day, that won’t be a problem. And in a little bit, you’ll see what that’ll look like.”

A sonic boom echoed through the sky, making many of the officers look up, wondering what that was. Neighsay knew what it was, and he cursed inside his mind, figuring out that his Sentinels weren’t able to stop Witchblade. Although, realistically, he doubted that they could, but he had hoped that would stall her long enough to finish the job.

I won’t be stopped like last time; I’ll finish it here and–!

At that moment, a crimson fireball exploded next to Magdalena, throwing her to the ground. The moment that happened, the Spear of Destiny’s construct chains disappeared as the weapon dropped and stuck itself in the sidewalk.

“NEIGHSAY!!!”

The next thing that happened was Neighsay getting punched in the face, the blow sent the Stealer of Light flying into the front doors of city hall and away from Sombra.

Shimmer’s eyes were glowing an intense color of gold, her anger boiling over. She only managed to punch him, but it was extremely satisfying, Shimmer glanced to Sombra who was a little wobbly as he stood, but then she narrowed her gaze.

“Just so you know, I haven’t forgiven you for turning me into your goddamn puppet,” said Shimmer.

Sombra shook his head and grinned a little. “Yeah, in hindsight, that was really shitty, sorry.”

Shimmer raised an eyebrow at that. “Wow, wasn’t expecting an apology from you.”

“Let’s just say I discovered that I might’ve not been in total control of my thought process…” Sombra admitted. “But we can’t let this guy get anymore of the Darkness!”

Shimmer and Sombra watched as Neighsay burst out of the front doors of city hall, the Siphon glowing with eerie black and purple light, showing that it had absorbed a good amount of his power.

“For real though, how much power did he take from you? Can you armor up and everything at least?”

Sombra concentrated, and immediately the Armor of the Darkness appeared over him. “Yep, although, not gonna lie, I’d say I got about twenty percent of my power left over from that.”

Shimmer stared at him with eyes wide with shock. “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! SHIT!” Shimmer glanced towards where Magdalena, or rather, Fluttershy, had been thrown from her attack, but now was getting back up. “Double shit…”

Magdalena raised her right hand, the Spear of Destiny shook, lifted into the air, and spun towards the holy assassin and landed perfectly in her hand. The brainwashed warrior walked until she was standing at the foot of the steps to city hall, where Neighsay began to rise into the air. There was no more need to pretend now, that much she could tell.

“It’s not all the Darkness, but considering what I have of the Angelus, it’ll be good enough for now.”

The Siphon opened completely, and the dark power flowed into him. Neighsay roared out as he felt the infusion of light and darkness mix within his body. An orb of black and white wrapped around him, the ground and air shook, it was as if the Earth itself was trembling at what such an unholy union was about to bring forth. The police, who were at first wondering if Witchblade had defected to Sombra’s side, were now thinking she had the right idea about attacking Neighsay. More and more power built up around the orb, which now unleashed bolts of black and white lightning all around the area, burning grooves into the buildings before it and the roads around it. Shimmer had to create a shield with the armor to block most of the indiscriminate bolts, Sombra had to do the same, both wielders of Artifacts standing firm as best as they could. The orb of swirling monochrome stopped releasing lightning and was now an orb of one-half white and another half black. The two halves slowly split apart, revealing the reborn man underneath.

His cardinal cloak was still prominent, now becoming a full cape and hood that draped over his shoulders, fringed with gold trimming and stitched with the gold sigil markings that formed a cross. His face was covered with a white mask, there were swirling, glowing crimson lines were carved into the mask, making it have a look similar to molten lava on the Earth’s crust. Around the eyes were feathery patterns of gold, purple, and red, arranged in such a way that it mimicked stain glass windows. The eyes were no longer crystal, now the sclera were black, with golden eyes that were made of light. Going further down, the armor had changed. The chest plate was primarily black, going down the middle it was bright white with golden edges that separated the black from the white. At the center of the chest was a triangle, the tip had an orb that showed a generic image of a man, to the right orb was a the symbol of the Angelus, and the left orb had the symbol of the Darkness, the lines leading straight to it. Around the waist was a ruby medallion that acted like a belt buckle, around the waist was a golden chain connected to the medallion, which was also black. The boots were white as snow, with gold greaves, around the ankles were two different wing sets. On the right were gold feathered, metal wings, and on the left were bat wings. The armor on his right and left arm were black, with red sigil marks on the sides, the armor around his hands were claw tipped and both colored white, with the knuckles sporting golden studs. The two halves of the sphere finally disappeared and revealed to all his wings, upon his right side, five white wings flared out made of white light, releasing feathers of light as he did so. On the left, were five bat wings made of dark matter, which released shadow embers. Neighsay had become the embodiment of order and chaos, light and darkness, he was beyond a normal human being, he was a demigod.

}}} What madness is this…! {{{

<^> The kind that I don’t like! <^>

}}} Oh, Father, I had hoped at least that much of you was absorbed by the Siphon. {{{

<^> Don’t get uppity with me, Son! Besides, we have more pressing matters to deal with! <^>

Shimmer and Sombra rolled their eyes at their banter, but the Darkness was right, this was a pressing matter. Neighsay placed his hands behind his back and floated towards the two Artifact wielders, it was hard to tell with the mask on, but they were no doubt sure that he had a smug look on his face right now, on top of all that, they were kind of scared right now, although neither one was going to admit it.

“I will give you a choice. Sombra, you can willingly give me the remainder of the Darkness that resides within you, and I’ll let you live, for a time. Witchblade, if you kneel before me, I will make you one of my enforcers, you will have command second only to me.”

“And, let me guess, you’ll kill us both if we refuse?” Shimmer asked.

Neighsay shrugged. “It doesn’t need to end in death, that is up to you.”

Shimmer looked from Neighsay, to Fluttershy for a minute, and then back to Neighsay. “Release her,” Shimmer pointed a clawed finger at Fluttershy, “from your control, and I’ll kneel before you.”

Neighsay raised his right hand, wagged his index finger back and forth and clicked his tongue. “Tsk, tsk, now you know I can’t do that. Having the Magdalena at my side, along with the Spear of Destiny, will ensure my prosperous rule. I’m afraid that’s nonnegotiable.”

Shimmer wasn't sure if they could get away easily, and right now fighting him was probably out of the question. “Got any ideas?”

“Unfortunately…no,” said Sombra.

“Time’s up. Magdalena!”

The holy assassin twirled her spear around and dashed straight for Sombra. The Wielder of the Darkness summoned forth his twin guns and parried the attack with the blades at the bottom of the grips. Magdalena came in for another strike, but Shimmer dashed straight between the two, created a forearm blade, and deflected her friend’s attack. Neighsay sighed heavily and raised his right hand, pointing it right at Shimmer and Sombra as black and white energy swirled into a ball.

“Must I do everything myself?”

Before demigod could attack, a huge fireball roared out from his left and struck him. The ball of burning power carried him all the way into a skyscraper and exploded on impact. Shimmer and Sombra looked to where the attack came from and watched as Dragon Shimmer came flying in, right before she landed, the wielder of the Ember Stone transformed back into her human state, making a three point landing on the sidewalk.

“Sorry, I’m late, those last two were surprisingly slippery to pin down, but I got ‘em!” Sunset stated.

The Magdalena spun her spear and prepared to attack Sunset, but Sombra chuckled as he said, “Right on time.”

Just then, the howl of a wolf echoed through the streets. The searchlights were destroyed one after the other, a pair of red eyes zipped about as it went from one and to another, smashing them, and reducing the amount of light that was bathing the area. The being jumped high and took out the ones that were on the roof, and then threw something at the helicopters overhead, taking out their lights next. That same being jumped off one of the roofs and landed before Sombra and Shimmer. Sunset and Shimmer recognized the creature, one of the Servants of the Darkness that fought in the Precinct 17 Assault, Barbatos. The Servant let the whiptail from his armor shoot out and wrap around Magdalena’s legs, with a swift flick, the tail tossed her in the opposite direction of where Sunset’s fireball had sent Neighsay. She smashed into the side of car and left a body sized dent in it, if it weren’t for the fact that Shimmer knew the Spear of Destiny would heal her friend, she’d have taken Barbatos’ head right then and there. But right now, there was one question that needed answering.

“What the hell?! I-I thought I destroyed you?!” Shimmer exclaimed.

“Oh yeah…no, the Master opened a portal at the last minute and had me drop into it. Good to see you again,” said Barbatos. “I took out the lights like you said, you should be able to open a portal now.”

“Great work, Barb! Kid, other kid, get over here, quick!”

Sunset looked at Sombra incredulously, but a quick glance to Shimmer told her that this was their only chance and that they were now on the same side. When Sunset got close, Sombra and Barbatos looked at her with a bit of annoyance.

“What?”

“Could ya turn down the fire a bit, too much light!”

“Son of a mother…” Sunset mumbled as she willed her flames to dim a little more. “There, good enough?”

“Good enough.” Sombra took a quick, but mournful glance at the body of his second in command, Young Blood was just a kid too, and he was providing for two sisters. Now he was dead, and it was his fault, more specifically, it was the Darkness’ fault. “Sorry…”

“Sombra, let’s go,” said Shimmer.

No sooner had she said that did a pool of shadows open below them. All four occupants suddenly fell into the blackhole, vanishing from the area, and away from Neighsay. In the very back row of the police line, two officers quietly ducked out, knowing – hopefully – exactly where the group was heading.

Neighsay released a burst of energy that blasted a bigger hole than the one he made going in. The demigod floated out of the hole and returned to the spot where he was before being so rudely interrupted. He glanced about the area and his eyes narrowed with annoyance, that was when he noticed the Magdalena limping over to him.

“Can I assume they got away?”

“Sorry, Master Neighsay, a Servant of the Darkness ambushed me and took out the lights, allowing the Darkness to open a shadow portal. Forgive my negligence,” said Magdalena.

Neighsay was wondering how much of that negligence was her lack of training, or if Fluttershy was trying to fight his control in some small ways here and there. He figured it would be a problem, but in the long run, it was better to have the spear fighter with him, more to the point, it was better to have the Spear of Destiny close to him, and not in his enemy’s hands. On that note, there was something he had to take care of.

“Guardians of Canterlot City, enforcers of the law, do not fear me. I am neither the Angelus nor the Darkness, I am a man, a man of the Church who has subdued their power and now wield it as my own. Rejoice, for this is the dawn of the new world, and this city will serve as a shining utopia, a testament of what will be! Now, good men and women, kneel…”

The police that were witnessing this, they knew just by looking at Neighsay that there was no way they could defy him, if they even dared try, they knew that he could destroy them on the spot.

“Please…” Neighsay flared his dual sets of wings and radiated a powerful aura that bathed the area in his ethereal light. “KNEEEEEEEEELLLLLLL!!!!”

Without a way to fight back, and out of fear for what this man could do to the city and the people they loved, the officers were left with no choice, they all kneeled before the demigod that was Neighsay.

Next Chapter: The Final Showdown: Part 2 Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 36 Minutes