They had gotten through all the obstacles that had been thrown at them. They had fought against countless dragons, and slayed five True Dragons without so much of a blink of an eye. Makoto, Kaede, and Ryou had fought tooth and nail to protect the past, present and future, only for it all to be laid in ruins now. Their friends were dead except for them and the three teams of Unit 13, with Mio and Julietta hanging on by a thread. Yuma was put down after being morphed into a being that had the first four True Dragons they fought together shoved into him, and the original data the ISDF had on Fomalhaut. He was drunk off of power from the five True Dragons in him, and was hellbent on killing them get the final data he needed to become the ultimate weapon for mankind.
That battle almost ruined Makoto. He was reluctant to even fight Yuma after everything they had been through together; from helping out in Atlantis to their silly dates around Tokyo. Makoto pleaded with Yuma to stand down before he had to level his guns at him as Yuma lunged at him first, and an all out brawl transpired. Gun shots rang out as Makoto shot at Yuma, and metal with clash against thick, dark claws as Yuma would try to land a hit on Makoto as Kaede would block his attack. Ryou was a bit at a lost, attacking from the distant with his summons to try to distract Yuma if he focused too much on one of his other teammates. The rest of the Unit had stayed behind in the Parliament building, keeping back any dragons that had flocked towards them.
As a final blow from Kaede connected with Yuma's chest, he crashed on the tiled ground blood, and skidded to a halt. Blood dripped from his mouth as he wheezed. His rib cage had been crushed by the blow that she landed, puncturing his lungs. Makoto had dropped his guns and rushed over to Yuma as he laid dying in his arms and stained his already dirty coat with blood. Yuma, while blood pooled from his mouth, wheezed as he told Makoto that he wished that they could start over and rekindle with one another without the threat of dragons over looming them. Ryou and Kaede lamented with him as Makoto placed Yuma back down onto the floor, holding back a sob while doing so. He would have time to grieve later. The rest of the Unit regrouped with them, and were shocked at the destruction of the area as their eyes rested upon where Yuma laid. They all knew what had happened and who the victors were.
Mio, in her dying breaths, directed them to where the final True Dragon was in Chidorigafuchi Park. As sorrow gripped their hearts, they rushed into the area and saw Allie – no, ND – waiting for them patiently. Her violet eyes watched them intently as they approached her, weapons already drawn. A lot of people had died for them, and others died for them to get there. Truth be told, they were all lucky to be alive and in one piece as they stood in front of the final True Dragon needed for the Dragon Chronicle, the 2nd Dragon: ND.
Allie grinned at them menacingly. She was the cause of all the disaster that had befallen them today, and had spun the wheel of humanities fate earlier than it was suppose to be spun; her Dragonsbane had littered the land in bright pink petals that reminded Makoto of the cherry blossoms that had bloomed on the trees in Tokyo recently. But unlike the blossoms, they were deadly, and had killed everyone who couldn't survive Dragon Sickness dead where they stood. None of them in Nodens knew that she was the culprit for the spread of the Dragonsbane in present time – but it all made sense now Makoto had mused to himself.
"The time for you to evolve... and become the vessel for VFD." Allie began, as she faced the blossoms, her Dragonsbane petals floating gently around her. "You shall consume the True Dragons... and lead this universe into a new plane of existence." She explained. Chuckling, the Dragonsbane petals began to whip around her as if they were in a tornado, and she chuckled. "Yes, that is how this should go. I am glad to see you have finally accepted the logical route." Some of the members of the Unit held their arms up to their faces to block the petals from hitting them, as Allie turned to face the group. Makoto gripped his guns, his nerves finally shaking him to his core. He never wanted to fight Yuma, let alone Allie. Yuma meant so much to him. Not only was he his own rival, but was someone that was much more than just a friend to him. Allie had been nothing but kind and supportive to all of them. She pushed them gently in the directions of their goals, as well as gave input into any issues they may have in their daily lives, when they weren't chasing down dragons and traveling through time.
Looking to his side, he could see as Kaede brushed her snow colored bangs from her face and behind her ears, and adjusted the gauntlets on her hands. Ryou stood on the other side, drawing a few of his cards as he prepared himself for the battle ahead. He had a frown on, and he pushed his googles up his face slightly as he rubbed his eyes with his free hand. He had been crying at some point, and Makoto could see where the tears had stained his cheeks. The rest of Unit 13 behind the first team were preparing themselves in their own ways, as Allie slowly floated into the air. Pink tendrils of energy flew freely from her back as her hands were spread palms up.
"Show me the light of life. Show me your evolution." She said. Large, pink wings sprouted her back as the petals swirled around her. "The True Dragon of creation and destruction shall finally awaken... VFD!" She declared, and a blinding light engulfed her. Makoto raised his arm to block out the light, and when he lowered it, a massive dragon, which looked more like a phoenix than anything to him, flapped its wings gently in the air above the group. He could hear Kaede gasp in surprise, and Ryou uttered a 'Wow.' under his breath. Its beak opened as it cried out to them, before swooping down to attack the group.
With weapons slicing ND's body, magical spells burning and freezing it, and bullet wounds in its wings, ND had finally fallen from the sky, and hit the ground with a loud thud. Makoto approached it with the twin swords that came from Chika and Rika's body, after Yuma had plunged his dragon claws through their bodies to receive them. The rest of the Unit surrounded the dragon with solemn looks on their faces. They all had a connection to Allie in some way or another, and this was the last thing any of them expected from her. ND cooed softly at them, and then Makoto thrust the swords into its neck. With one final shriek, it began to deteriorate back into Allie, and she laid on the grass. Her hands were place over her heart, and they fell to her sides as a piece of her dragon heart laid there for the taking.
"Take my heart, my heavenly children..." She coughed out wetly, her body slowly fading away into the petals of her Dragonsbane. Makoto placed his guns back into their holsters at his waist, as he crouched down onto one knee to take the specimen. It pulsed with life in his fingers, and he placed it into a container that Julietta had given him back when they first started hunting True Dragons. Allie's body had faded into her petals, and they drifted off in the wind that blew through the area. Makoto spaced out as he watched them drift into the distance, before the static noise in his ear snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Bring the specimen... to the R&D floor Makoto..." Julietta panted out. Pocketing the specimen into one of his empty pouches, he glanced around his team. Most of them were injured with cuts from her thorns, and a few of them had attacked each other in confusion. Those that had attacked their teammates were apologizing profusely to the others while trying to help heal them with medicine or magic. Makoto turned to see Kaede comforting Ryou, hugging him tightly with her weapons discarded on the ground a bit away from where they stood together. From where he stood, Makoto could see that Ryou's shoulders were shaking as Kaede held him, and she was rubbing small circles into his back with her fingers.
Makoto's brow furrowed. Allie had mentioned that if he became the 7th True Dragon would cause Dragons, Dragon Sickness, and Dragonsbane to disappear from existence. That peace would return to the world once more, and it would be as if Dragon's never existed. The idea of none of them existing was one that filled him with temptation to accept becoming the 7th True Dragon. But, as his eyes scanned the whole group, would they accept him becoming it to prevent all of this? To turn back time to stop all of them from suffering? To prevent all the deaths they've seen in the past eight hours? They all had fought beside him to 'defeat' the 7th True Dragon, which had turned into a ploy by Allie to turn him into the 7th True Dragon but maybe, just maybe, he could stop it. As he mulled over his thoughts, Kaede had approached him with her weapons strapped to her hip and Ryou still pulling himself together a little ways away.
"We need to head back." She stated flatly, her lip split open and several nicks on her right cheek. Ryou was in a bit worse shape than she was, and he had to limp over slightly reach them. Ryou had taken the blunt of an attack while riding on the back of one of his summons, but had landed on the ground at a funny angle. He brushed it off when Makoto asked him about it, saying that he would get someone to look at it later. "Julietta needs that specimen, and we all need to rest." Was his excuse, and Makoto nodded. He whistled to catch the rest of the Unit's attention, the sound echoing across the park. They all stopped chatting among one another, and turned to look at their leader. He would never get use to being the head of Unit 13, with all those eyes on him for guidance in such a bleak time like this after they had lost everything.
"We're going to head back to Nodens. We need to hand this specimen to Julietta before it is too late." A chorus of 'Yes, sir!' went around the group, and Ryou chuckled as Makoto ran a hand down his face. He dreaded them calling him sir, since he was barely older than the rest of them. With Ryou's arm slung over his shoulder, Makoto helped bring Ryou back to Nodens as Kaede rushed around to heal some of the other team member that still needed a bit of healing, and they all started their trek back to what they all had called 'home' for the past several months.