AN: Once again, I apologize for the significantly long wait I've put you guys through. I would also like you guys to know that this will no longer be the only story I'm writing. Those that are currently following me will receive notifications when their first chapters are up.

REVIEW RESPONSES:
Anonymous FF Guest #1 (the one mentioned in the previous 2 chapters): Please, spare me the theatrics. And yes, there was a confirmation of Season 3 of the series, but it ended up being cancelled and the second movie (which came out in theatres 4 months ago and was released on Blu-Ray/DVD today on August 29th), "Sora no Otoshimono Final: Eternal My Master" took its place.

FF Guest Archenoid (normally an FF member, but inexplicably couldn't log in when posting the review): Thank you. While I am determined to get this story finished, I may start work on the other stories I have planned at the same time. So, I may end up not being entirely dedicated to this story anymore. Needless to say, I will still finish it.

Anonymous FF Guest #2: No, of course not! Rest assured, there will be more to come. This will probably end up being as long as Dark Skies (21 chapters). As for the fate of Tomoki and Ikaros, I'm not going to say anything. We'll get there eventually.

Anonymous FF Guest #3: No, I haven't read the Percy Jackson series. Even if I have, I'm not sure I would be interested in making such a crossover.

Darth Sky Commander: Thank you. I will do my best to try and finish this.

FF Guest Valentine: Thank you so much! It means a lot to hear feedback like this.

Achos remained where he was, with an impassive look on his face. He was waiting for Nymph and Astraea to make the first move. However, they too stood their ground. Nymph's face stayed hardened, not willing to let her emotions get the best of her.

I hate to see that look on your face, she thought, words that she kept in her head and decided not to say to Achos. I hate to see you always unhappy. I want to see you smile... I want to see a real smile and not a fake one... but I'll take you down if I have to.

"Achos, please, don't do this!" Daedalus pleaded. But Achos wasn't swayed in the least by her words. He was severing his emotional ties and, rather frighteningly, it wasn't difficult for him to do so.

"I'm done with my life here," he declared. "No more pain and suffering. Everything will be quiet once more." Astraea tightened her grip on Chrysaor. She wasn't having this anymore.

"I'm tired of hearing your bullshit!" she screamed, charging forth with her sword.

"Astraea, no!" Daedalus cried, but it was already too late.

The battle had started.

Tomoki seemed to be catatonic. He couldn't do anything but sit and stare at the plate of food in front of him. He'd long stopped eating his breakfast. Sohara's death just completely destroyed him, making his sanity slowly slip away. Chaos, as usual, had a curious expression as she looked at Tomoki.

"Hey, Mister? Are you alright?" the little girl asked, tugging on the sleeve of his pajama sweater. His dark expression unchanged, he turned to look at Chaos, who was slightly taken aback by how grim he was.

"Not really," he admitted. Everyone's dead... Sugata, the President, Hiyori, and Sohara... All gone.

They're dead. And they're not coming back.

Suddenly, a muffled but loud boom came from outside, and Tomoki's expression finally changed into one of surprise as he looked up, wondering what could have caused a sound that loud.

"Did you hear that, Mister?" Chaos asked. Tomoki looked at her again and nodded.

"Yeah. Let's go check it out."

Yet again, Chrysaor's blade collided against Achos' shield, and the resulting force created an aerial shockwave. Achos then swiped Nemesis at Astraea, but she managed to avoid the sword just in time. Nymph took her place and charged in for an attack, but Achos stopped it short as he slammed his shield into her, sending her crash-landing into the ground. Tomoki and Chaos, who were about to exit from the doorway, moved back as Nymph slid across the gravel towards them and stopped right in front of the doorway. In shock, the two looked up to see Astraea and Achos engaging in fierce aerial combat.

"Achos, Astraea!" Tomoki screamed. "Stop this, NOW!" But neither one of the angeloids listened to him. They continued to strike at each other with their swords, both of their blades clanging against each other loudly. As they continued to fight, Nymph struggled to stand up. Not being able to find the strength to stand, she settled for rising on her knees and tilted her head back to look at Achos, letting loose a blood-curdling scream as she fired Paradise Song.

Clearly, Achos had pissed her off.

Astraea, having heard the scream and turning back to look down, she quickly dashed to the side to avoid the oncoming blast. However, having already noticed the attack before Astraea, Achos didn't waste any time in activating Aegis. It would have been perhaps more convenient to use Aegis-L, but knowing that Nymph's attack was powerful and that it would require a lot of energy to fend it off, he knew that using the regular Aegis would be the best way to defend himself while still having enough energy left to fight. What he didn't notice though, was that Astraea had taken the time to move behind him. Accelerating straight at him with Chrysaor at the ready, Achos turned behind him after hearing Astraea cry out, and by that point she was dangerously close to him. Deactivating Nemesis, Achos lifted his shield to his face to block the strike. Then, pulling his arm back, he landed a fierce blow to the right side of Astraea's face. She skyrocketed towards the ground, creating several dust clouds as she collided into the street below numerous times.

Turning around again to check on Nymph, he noticed that she was not too far from him, already firing Paradise Song for a second time.

Damn it! he mentally cursed, raising his shield and activating Aegis-L. He managed to barely defend against the attack, but by the time it had subsided and he deactivated Aegis-L, he lost a significant amount of energy. As a last resort, one that he didn't want to use as part of the last bit of compassion he still had left, he activated Tycho and aimed it at Nymph, seeming to momentarily struggle with his aim.

"Achos, don't do this, please!" Tomoki pleaded. However, Achos ignored him and fired the weapon, a single plasma projectile racing towards Nymph. With no time to for her to react, she took the force of the impact and crashed through Tomoki's roof. Achos waited for her to retaliate, but after a few seconds of waiting, she didn't emerge from the house with a now-noticeably damaged roof. He deactivated Tycho and looked down at Tomoki, Daedalus, and Chaos for what he believed would be the last time. And, rather surprisingly, there was a look of sadness on his face. Tomoki grit his teeth, but didn't say anything to Achos. With nothing to say either, he turned, looked up at the sky, and accelerated at full speed, heading towards the Synapse. Daedalus watched blankly as Achos' form seemed to grow smaller and smaller, and then disappeared completely from sight.

"It's over now," she said quietly, still staring up at the sky. "It's all over."