Stands Within: Fate Of Time

Chapter 10: The Darkness Within

Noah got up, and scoffed, saying, "You really think you can beat me with a simple powerup? Even when it's 2 Stands merged together into one?"

Keith took hold of his cap and pulled it downwards a bit, saying, "It's actually Darkheart's final evolution, just like how the eclipse was Flarelighting Solarity's final evolution piece."

"Seriously, though, how did you manage to resurrect yourself?"

Keith walked a little closer, and said, "It was just my body which disappeared. Not my soul. I thought you would've known from when dark things appeared near the others."

"You possessed them?"

"Precisely."

Keith was within Noah's range now, and the both of them exchanged a heavy punch. Blood suddenly splattered out from his hand, and he staggered back a little bit. He silently screamed as Darkheart slapped a black symbol down on the ground. By the time Noah realized that it was an attack originally used by Kenntaro, the ground split into multiple pieces as he was sent flying into the air. Keith leaped up to reach him and smashed him straight into the ground.

The dust scattered all over as Noah landed on the ground. He summoned Eclipsing Solarity, and ran straight towards Keith, having charged his full power. Keith didn't hesitate to attack, and the both of them barraged each other, Darkheart's 2 arms apparently keeping up with Eclipsing Solarity's 8 arms.

Keith sneaked an explosion in, and it blew both of them away from each other. Keith blinded Noah, then hit him with a flurry of punches. He stepped back a bit before rushing in and landing a punch, then jumped back and noticed that Noah was trying to get up.

"Giving up now, Noah?" Keith asked, a menacing tone coming from him. Darkheart's full body was revealed, and there were multiple rings of symbols all around it. "I have to say, you're pretty resistant."

"I wouldn't die from all these attacks."

"Oh, really? How about this?"

Keith pointed at Noah, and a small beam suddenly shot out from his hand, piercing his shoulder.

"Wha-"

He was cut off by another beam, this time piercing his hand. A symbol appeared where the laser hit the ground, and Keith started to be lifted off the ground, like Giorno with Gold Experience Requiem.

"We've been in your arena for too long. Darkheart: The Darkness Within."

The area around the two of them suddenly became all black, with a bit of light emitting from both of them. Keith teleported behind Noah, and smashed him straight in the skull, causing him to fall.

"Not fighting back?"

He retaliated by creating a light area, but it failed in the presence of eternal darkness. He tried to shoot light beams, only for them to disappear in the dark.

"It is true that light can win against the dark. However..."

Dark vines emerged and took hold of Noah.

"What if the protagonist is the one with the dark and the antagonist is with the light? Surely the antagonist will win, right?"

Keith got closer to him, and said, "Noah, I would've forgiven you if you didn't resort to committing manslaughter. I could've helped, because I felt the same thing."

"What makes you think I can take back my dead family?"

"What makes you think I can take back the loneliness and suffering I endured throughout 2020?"

Noah thought for a moment, before using Eternal Light. The space began to distort, but Keith didn't even flinch a single bit. The surroundings then got back to normal, and Noah said, "How do you like that, huh?"

"I'm impressed with the power you can harness. However, it ends here."

Keith held out his right hand, Darkheart doing the same, and Noah decided to use Time Distortion, an ability only he could use. Time went to a standstill as Noah saw the past and the future. He walked over to Keith, and was about to behead him, when...

"Don't even think about laying a finger on him."

Noah turned to see who was talking. He assumed it was Keith, but it wasn't possible, since he was within the confines of the distorted time. However, he saw Darkheart moving as if it controlled time itself.

"If you can master time itself, then I can master death itself. A master of a certain element of the universe can only be defeated by another master."

Darkheart spoke as if it were a god from another dimension. Noah asked, "Wh- Just who are you?"

"What matters is not my identity, but my mastery. I am the True God of Death, Abyssal Darkheart."

"Hmph. Such a silly name for such a godly Stand."

"You would be surprised to know that Keith contains most of the power to make him eligible to wield Death itself. However, he was incomplete."

"Let me guess, the missing piece was Kenntaro's Abyss?" Noah asked, his life force slowly being drained away.

"Correct. What made you transcend to the point where you got hold of time itself?"

"I waged war on time."

"Futile. Time can only be destroyed by all the other Masters of the universe."

"Then I'll prove you wrong!"

Noah tried to land a hit on Abyssal Darkheart, only to find that he was encased in an invisible barrier. Keith then spoke, "Your reality is nothing but a fraud. I have to say, though, your power exceeds that of the Reality Masters Lei Lao Shi and Bryan. Had they been together, they wouldn't have been killed that easily."

Noah stepped back a little as Keith got closer. Time returned to its original state as Abyssal Darkheart got in front of him and started its final attack on Noah.

"ATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATAAA!"

Noah was barraged with a power hard enough to wipe out an entire planet. It was only part of its power, as it continued to the point all his bones broke.

"ATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATAAA!"

Just like Gold Experience Requiem's barrage and Jotaro's 3-page Ora barrage, Noah was getting relentlessly beat down by Keith's Abyssal Darkheart.

"ATAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!"

Noah was blasted into oblivion with that one final punch, and Keith was all by himself again.

"If only I could rewind time." he thought.

He suddenly had an idea. If he could control death, he could also control time. He took a stance, and said,

"Take me back to the time when Noah's hatred for life reached its peak."