Notes: Umm... this chapter was completed and posted on the tumblr webfic a long time ago. And actually this fic is on hiatus. However, I'm finally mirroring it to AO3/FFN. Sorry for the wait!

LOADING PT.9_THE_FIFTH_DARK_DEVA… COMPLETE█

Tanaka towers over me, and he's beefier than me too. You'd seriously think he was the Ultimate Wrangler and not the Ultimate Breeder. Did this bear of a man really spend his entire school life breeding cute critters?

Seconds pass, until one, two, and then three moments later, it's too late to even make a sound of acknowledgement. Not that there's much I can say. Now that I'm face-to-face with Tanaka again, the memories from the island are all coming back in a rush. And not just those. The memories from Ultimate Despair, too.

I slide my gaze from Tanaka to Sonia. She opens her mouth, about to launch into a fiery speech no doubt, and immediately Tanaka clamps one hand over her mouth. He sneers across the room at me.

Finally, my throat muscles decide to work. I take in a gulp of air and speak up.

"Hey, what's your deal? We came here to sa-"

"Silence," Tanaka cuts me off. His nostrils flare, and he narrows his eyes, looking first at Sonia and then back at me.

"You smell as foul as the underbelly of a dragon," he declares. "A bit like unwashed hamster."

Then he looks back at Sonia, peering at her still with the narrowed eyes.

"You're not very good shapeshifters, are you?" he continues. "Especially this one." He taps his cheek. "Your face is all wrong. Or," his smirk deepens, sending a burst of anger through my body, "maybe there are limits to how many aberrations in your true form you can hide?"

My brain fires a signal, and my muscles move halfway before I have to physically dig in my heels and stop myself. I take a deep breath and loosen my fists, finger by finger. Tanaka's comment may have struck a nerve, but if this is the Tanaka from the simulation, it's not like he'd remember how we all changed.

"At least let Sonia speak," I say eventually. "Gagging half the people who freed you won't make it any easier to find out what's happening to you."

Tanaka's attention switches back to me, and he laughs again.

"This is pathetic," he says. "The both of you have neglected to properly study your targets. The Souda Kazuichi I know would not refer to the Nevermind princess in such a way. Though," a flicker of a smirk ghosts across his face, "I admit I had always wondered about his roots."

I ignore the jab. "Yeah, well, the Souda Kazuichi now is different to the one you remember," I say, putting both hands on my waist and standing up straighter. I'm starting to relax.

The Tanaka in front of us isn't all here, sure. He doesn't trust us, and he seems to think we're impostors. But you can't doubt someone without conviction, without some memory or impression to compare the people standing in front of you to. Tanaka remembers us. Even if it might only be the us from the simulation, it's a start. It's something we can build on. And that means that our journey here was worth something.

Tanaka regards me suspiciously as my grin continues to widen. I catch Sonia's eye, and she seems to have made the connection too. Though she's being held down, she, too, seems to be holding in some joy of her own.

Needless to say, we're both failing.

"What is it?" Tanaka demands, his voice low. Objectively, nothing has changed about the situation. Tanaka is still much bigger than me and he's still holding my partner hostage. But relief is coursing through my veins now. If I could handle shadow demons, shadows of my past, and even Sonia shooting at me, I'm sure I can handle Tanaka Gundam.

"Don't think you can hide anything from me, you lowly denizens of the Underworld." He narrows his eyes now, staring directly at me, and each subsequent word is like he's slowly pulling out a blade from under a cloth made of the finest silk. "Where. Are. My. Four. Dark. Devas. Of- argh!"

His hand whips to his head, releasing Sonia from her gag. But that's only a temporary respite as he buckles, falling to his knees, pulling her down with him. His other hand flies to his head and he cradles his head in both hands, holding himself upright on one knee.

Tanaka's elbow is still clamped around her neck. Sonia's struggling, but whether it's due to Tanaka's iron grip or her awkward position, she just can't break free.

I'm rushing forward before I know it. Tanaka glares at me with his one visible red eye and throws one hand out.

"Begone!"

"Let her go!" I retort, grabbing his arm that's grappling Sonia and trying to pull it away. "You're choking her!"

A brief flash of alarm crosses Tanaka's face and he lets go like Sonia's a hot poker. He takes one step, then another, back, his hand wandering back over to his forehead again as he stares down at the floor.

"What manner of sorcery are you performing?" he rasps out.

I rush forward and help Sonia up. After a few moments, she's fine, and she lets go of me, supporting herself against the wall.

I keep my eyes on Tanaka.

"It's not sorcery," I say. Then, before I can stop myself, I crack a smirk and continue, "it'stechnology."

But now's not the time to bask in satisfaction. We need to figure out what to do. We need a plan to get us all out of here.

Would the escape command work on Tanaka? I'm not too sure.

Briefly, my mind flashes back to Hinata. Can he see us right now? What would he suggest to do? But if he hasn't opened up a connection by now, he probably doesn't see the need to… or can't without destabilising the system further. God knows we messed it up enough just now. We're on our own.

Tanaka looks back up at me, and the expression on his face could corrode metal.

"Are you all right, Tan-" Sonia starts to say, but I stop her with one hand.

"What is your name?" I ask.

Tanaka sneers at me, but it's a feeble imitation of him at his best. "Now you're acting more like Souda. Are you stupid or just deaf?" he asks. "Surely you heard the princess address me."

I ignore him. I can work with this. "What's the last thing you remember?"

The intensity of Tanaka's glare weakens, but it's no less baleful. "And why would I share that precious information with a pair of impostors from Hell?"

"Answer the question, Tanaka. If you answer it, we can get somewhere. It'll help us figure what's going on. What do you think's going on, anyway?"

"What is this interrogation?" Tanaka retorts. "There is no way you are Souda Kazuichi. This conversation is not going anywhere until you answer my question from earlier. Where are my Four Dark Devas of Destruction?"

Tanaka's pretty stubborn about them. Well, considering the tower, I can see why. I had been trying to gloss over the topic, but he's made it clear that we won't get anywhere until we tell him. That just makes my next words all the harder to get out.

"It's been years, Tanaka." I bite my lip, casting about for a way that gets the truth across clearly but gently. I don't think I succeed. "The world has changed."

Tanaka's face grows impassive. It's the only indication he's listening.

"I don't think they made it."

Though it kinda feels hypocritical after what Sonia and I went through, I'm not mentioning the despair years at all. If the tower represents what's inside Tanaka's mind, then he must have some memories of Ultimate Despair within him. Perhaps he's struggling to deal with them now. Perhaps he knows exactly just how we changed the world.

But that'll only distract us now. And as long as we know it's temporary, putting our past aside for now's not running away. I have to remind myself of that. Sonia and I made a promise to deal with everything after we get out. We can include Tanaka in our promise too.

Tanaka doesn't move for a while, his face and posture frozen. I exchange glances with Sonia, the both of us unsure of what to do, unsure of whether even the smallest step will set him off. Eventually, he straightens up, and utters just three words.

"What utter balderdash."

Then he stalks out.

We chase after him, of course. I don't know whether Tanaka has something he can use to protect himself, and who knows when the demons might come back. Who knows if he knows all about the traps in the basement dungeon as well. Wouldn't want him to take a wrong step.

Sonia's ahead of me. To her credit, she seems to have a lot more worry over Tanaka's welfare than I can muster up right now. (I can't help it. Now that we've found him, I just want to get out of here as quickly as we can. No point exposing ourselves to even more danger.) She hurries after him, her light jog on its way to catching up to his striding long steps.

"Wait, Tanaka-san! We can help you escape this place!"

Tanaka stops and whirls around. "And you think you can achieve that by thr-"

He doesn't get to finish his sentence.

There's a loud booming sound, then a roar, or maybe they were the same sound, blended together. The ground shudders, throwing me forward into Tanaka, and cracks that make the ones from earlier, before we entered the Abditory, look like ants snake across the walls. I peel myself from Tanaka and jump back, accepting Sonia's offered hand and pulling myself back up.

"C'mon!" I yell at Tanaka. His expression is dazed as he takes both our hands and stands up.

Compared to this, the shaking before was nothing. I know instantly in my bones that it's bad news. Even Tanaka must have some idea, as he's sticking close to us now. We all run upstairs, me pulling a stunned Tanaka along, and he passes through the archway a split second before the stones that form it come crashing towards the ground. Or, at least, that's what I assume from the noise. There's no time to be looking back now.

Tanaka seems to have regained his voice, at least.

"What have you done?" he demands, voice rough from exertion but accusing even as his grip on my hand tightens.

Oh, wouldn't he just like to know?

We continue running, Sonia broken off from us to lead ahead and me dragging Tanaka on like our lives depend on it. Well, to be honest, they probably do. As quickly as Sonia and I can rattle off the escape command, it can't take Tanaka with us. And I know the both of us would rather die than leave him here.

"What. Have. You. Done!?" Tanaka says, again, straining to make himself heard over the din. There's a big shake just as he finishes the question, throwing me, at least, a few inches up into the air, and it cuts off the end of his sentence and sends it up high. I only realise it as it passes through my senses and then, immediately, away from my thoughts.

It's just like when we were being chased by the horde. I can only focus on the next step we have to take.

"Later!" I yell, stumbling as a piece of stone gives, but pushing myself up with my other leg. My knee creaks in protest and it feels like I'll be paying the price for months to come. (Though whether I actually do will be interesting to observe.)

The candles on the wall have all gone out. But even with the crumbling and cracking, it's getting brighter and brighter faster than I expect. That's the only extra detail I register as I pull Tanaka and myself along, ducking and dodging bits of the ceiling falling in all around us. It's loud, but actually, isn't it a bit too loud? And surely the crash of rocks falling doesn't ring out and echo like that? Is it the demons wreaking havoc?

No matter. Sonia isn't looking back, but I knows she's thinking the same thing as I am. We've run before and we can do it again. And who knows, if the demon creatures really are waiting for us, maybe Tanaka might have some control over them. Even if it's because he's become corrupted just like the rest of them. Anything to get out of here. Anything's possible after we get out of here.

There's no warning as we break through the circle. It feels about as sudden and refreshing as plunging headfirst into cold water. Unfortunately, I can't savour the feeling for even a moment, as we're confronted with what must have been the source of all this destruction. No, it's not the demons.

It's a jet-black, snorting, twitching, tail-swinging, huge motherfucking dragon.

The dragon towers over us. I didn't use that word on purpose, but it's strangely appropriate now as I realise that it might be even taller than the tower was high. Was, because it's nothing more than mountains and mountains of rubble now. The shock of the dragon's appearance must have sent it tumbling down. It's a wonder the basement survived as long as it did.

The memory of Hellhound downing her concoction and expanding crosses my mind. If we hadn't been so rash, could she have–?

"The circle," Sonia breathes, then backs into the both of us, her shoulder hitting my neck.

I come back to my senses. One of her hands is held up in warning, and the index finger of her other hand points and directs us behind a slab of rock. When we're all behind it, as well as we can fit anyway, I let out a sigh of relief. It hasn't noticed us yet.

Now we just have to figure out what we can do.

Should we run? Try to get far away, maybe back to the plains that we first arrived at, and figure out a way to escape together from there?

No. My gut's screaming at me that this tower is linked to Tanaka. No – it might even be Tanaka. I still don't understand fully what Sonia was getting at when she was trying to explain her theory, back when we were first exploring the tower, but I think I'm starting to get it, in my own way. One thing's clear: we can't take Tanaka away from his tower. And if it means dealing with the dragon, the ultimate demon, the culmination of all the fiends that plagued us, hell, I dunno, so be it.

So we have to stay. But that only leads to two options: hide and figure things out, or fight and defeat the dragon.

The corners of my mouth drag down as I realise the impossibility of either.

"Tell me now. What- what did you do?" Tanaka asks, and his voice is shaking now. Am I wrong? There's no surprise in his tone.

Did he expect the dragon?

I think of the painting on the walls of the entrance hall, probably now destroyed by the dragon's rampage, and of what I saw after Hellhound exploded. The movie reel in the void flashes through my head as well. Sonia's saying something, but the images are so bright and vivid, all my attention is wrested towards them. How much of them was a story and how much was real?

"SOUDA-SAN!" Sonia's scream cuts into my thoughts, and I look up just in time to jerk to my right to avoid a piece of jagged rock flying over. It hurtles past me and slams into one of the remaining pieces of wall with a loud CRACK. I don't turn back to look, but there's probably not much of that wall left after that collision.

I look further up instead, and my heart stops. All of a sudden I feel like I'm ten again, back in the garage, snot flowing down my chin, trying to ignore my stinging palms and butt and get a clear look at how to fix the bike I broke. I have to tell myself a few times that it's all in the past before I can wrench my gaze away. Making eye contact with a dragon is nothing like I have ever experienced.

(Or is it?)

But that's not what's important right now. We've been noticed. Our break is over.

I look at Sonia. I suppose my question is clear in my eyes, because her expression ripples before settling onto fierce determination. She hoists up her rifle and unclicks the safety. And I nod, because what else could the answer really be?

Of course.

We fight.

"Wide awake I can make my most fantastic dreams come true." – Lorenz Hart

EXECUTING PT.9_THE_FIFTH_DARK_DEVA… END

LOADING PT.10_FINAL_BOSS…█