Hiding in my Skin, Broken from Within

Chapter 22: Our Beginning

penultimate chapter let's gooooooooooooo

Content warnings: Long chapter, blood, some swearing. NUDITY/SENSUALITY AT ONE POINT (not too explicit). Hints of PaluPit (that one's more on the platonic side really), Bayotena, and Cloudnetta. Also expect some surprises at the end.

Oh, and I'm sure it's pretty well implied but I wanna make it explicit: assume wherever the Smashers go to free one of their own, they do a total clean sweep and free every Spirit in the area too, even the ones I don't explicitly namedrop (except for Fiora for this fic as she stays in her Mecha form; the Hom form is the ONLY Spirit I'm omitting, and one other will be replaced). No Smasher OR Spirit left behind. Some characters that aren't Spirits proper have been made into a Spirit (Morgan, and a character you'll see next chapter... hint they've appeared in chapter 13, and they're NOT Elma, who appears here instead), and I even included some Spirit Board Spirits (like Black Shadow, Lao, the Squid Sisters and Elma) and shop Spirits (like Pyra). Bandana Dee usually is evolved from regular Waddle Dee, but they're also separate in this fic too. Lastly, the Fierce Deity Link Spirit (the last Dark Spirit before Bayonetta) was replaced with Lao, as a more metaphorical way of representing darkness. It was gonna be Malos from Xenoblade 2 originally, as a more literal example and also to complement Mythra being the final Light Spirit before Palutena, but since Elma's coming with the team in charge of saving Bayonetta...yeah.

Title Namesake - Our Beginning from the Persona 5 OST (Which is also in Smash Ultimate!)

Hiding in my Skin, Broken from Within

Chapter 22 - Our Beginning

Once everyone headed up the stairs and into the portal, they emerged on what looked like the original cliffs they first faced Galeem at, only there was a sea of light and dark clouds where the ocean once was, with a luminous path meandering above the cloud ocean. In the skies above, Dharkon, situated on the left, was firing beams of dark energy at Galeem on the right, who countered with their own beams of light energy. Swarms of fake Crazy and Master Hands assisted their respective cosmic beings, fighting the Hands on the opposing side. The Smashers only watched.

"This war between light and darkness has gone on long enough," Marth said. "We have to defeat them both, or we'll all cease to exist..."

"Any ideas on what to do next, Shulk?" Simon asked him.

"Hmmm..." Focusing, Shulk's eyes began to glow blue as a vision came to him. Once it was finished, he took a deep breath and began, "We... can't go for Galeem or Dharkon individually in the hopes of attacking them both. In order to get access to Galeem, the balance of light and darkness must be disrupted so that the darkness overpowers the light; and vice versa for being able to attack Dharkon."

"Okay, but how do we do that whole disrupting thing?" Snake questioned.

"Apparently, freeing Spirits captured by Galeem will increase Dharkon's power, and the converse applies to increasing Galeem's power," Shulk explained. "And as I've implied, you don't want that outcome."

"Why not?" Dark Pit asked with a shrug, his tone somewhat dry. "We just kill one, shift the balance again and go for the other, right?"

"...Wrong." The blunt graveness of Shulk's reply made the normally cool headed Dark Pit stiffen in fear and gulp nervously. Shulk continued with, "If, for instance, Dharkon is defeated first, Galeem will absorb Dharkon's Spirits as well as their own and carry out their original plan of... erasing us 'imperfect' beings and restarting the multiverse." Glancing at Mario, he somberly told the plumber, "I've seen the other outcome too... if Galeem dies first, Dharkon will spread their corruption like a deadly disease... and unfortunately, Mario, you're their first victim. It... isn't a merciful end."