All right! No lie, this is the last chapter for the main story plot! I hope you enjoy the longness of it, this took quite a while to write up. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara or the Tales of the Abyss characters
Chapter 13: Never Forgotten
Ignoring the pain blasting in his head, Tadase raced to Amu's side and collapsed to his knees beside her as Hiroto stepped away from her.
"Amu-chan! Amu-chan!" Tadase cried as his eyes trembled uncontrollably though Amu didn't answer.
Rima cupped her hands over her mouth in horror, her eyes trembling as Yaya looked away. Kairi was horror-stricken as Utau slowly shook her head in disbelief. Ikuto was wide-eyed unable to react or move. Nagihiko and Kukai stayed where they were, looking hopelessly over at Amu.
Tadase gingerly reached out towards her but was stopped by an overpowering pain that was pounding in his head.
Tadase's breathing was heavy and uneven as his body started trembling while clutching his head.
Everything was starting to blur around him as his head was throbbing with unbearable pain; making everything spin in his mind. It was too much for him to bear as he felt the overwhelming feeling of passing out.
Thoughts and feelings whirled around like a storm in his head as he felt like his head was going to split open.
"How Ironic."
Tadase flinched, snapping out of his pain momentarily as Van looked down at Amu with amusement. "I believe this is what was supposed to happen six months ago. The truth is that we were aiming to bring the Joker into custody. But risking one's self for another is a sacrifice made in vain. It's useless to cling to such trivial feelings such as those."
Tadase slowly lowered his hands away from his head and onto the ground as he stared at the ground uncertainly before gritting his teeth and slowly balled his hands into fists.
"But I am surprised. You held out much longer than I would have expected. You've caught my attention, Hiroto…No, Tadase. I would expect no less from my student. Why not join me again and I'll make the pain in your heart disappear. Without feelings of remorse to hold you back, you can become even stronger." Van said extending a hand towards him.
Tadase was silent for a moment as Van lifted an eyebrow, awaiting his answer. Tadase kept his gaze locked on the ground before him; his expression unreadable.
"Tadase!" Ikuto called, unsure of what Tadase would choose at this point but refused to let him be used by Van again.
"No…"
Van and Sync looked at him in surprise as Tadase slowly stood up, his bangs shadowing his eyes so he couldn't make out his expression.
"I already said that I don't need you. That statement still stands. These feelings in my heart aren't trivial in the least or a weakness; they are what keeps me going; what makes me strong."
Tadase then turned to look at Van with a confident expression on his face, his ruby eyes shining brightly. "I am willing to risk everything to keep from losing the people who mean most to me. I will defeat you, no matter what. To protect those I cherish most and everyone's Heart's Eggs!"
"Tadase…" Ikuto said, moved by his words.
"All right, Tadase!" Kukai said pumping his fist into the air as the others stared at him in awe and surprise.
Van stared at him in shock before giving a small grin seeing the sparkle in his eyes. "I see… So you've remembered."
Tadase didn't say anything as he just stared confidently at him through unwavering eyes.
Suddenly, an X-egg flew out from the cloud of X-eggs and flew over and stopped in front of Tadase.
He looked at it in surprise before it suddenly lost its X and turned back into a white egg with a golden orb in the middle with smaller orbs surrounding it, lined with a blue stripe.
Tadase widened his eyes in surprise. "A Guardian egg? Wait…this is the egg that…"
A crack formed in the middle of the egg before it suddenly broke in two pieces, revealing a chara with short, spiky blond hair and bright blue eyes. He wore a blue uniform with white lining on the front with silver armor on his shoulders and around his arms and legs and had a long black cape with a white design on the back.
The new chara smiled at Tadase as he did a knight's salute. "Congratulations, Tadase. You finally remember what's most important to you and are willing to put your life on the line to protect those dear to you. That's the mark of a true knight."
"A knight?" Tadase said in surprise as Flynn smiled confidently and nodded.
"My name is Flynn; born from your desire to protect those you care about most so to not lose them and to be more valiant. Even before, you wanted to protect those you cherished, to keep them close as to not lose them like your memory. But when you doubted your judgment, your wish to protect vanished, unable to trust yourself or others. But you have even overcome that. Now let's give them a battle they'll never forget." Flynn said as he unsheathed his tiny sword and raised it towards the sky.
Tadase stared at him for a moment before smiling. "Yeah!"
Flynn then flew back a little and did the unlock gesture as Tadase nodded before his body started glowing with a brilliant light.
"My own heart: Unlock!" Tadase cried as Flynn went back into his egg and was absorbed into Tadase's heart.
A light washed over Tadase's head and flowed down to his toes, washing out all the black dye from his blond hair, returning it to his initial hairstyle and brought back his antennae that bounced back up into place. He stretched out his arm as white armor clasped around his arms and his legs. He was clothed in a blue uniform with a flowing blue cape that was rounded at the ends. In the middle of the uniform was a golden orb that was surrounded by eight smaller orbs in the middle of a black circle.
"Character Transformation: Imperial Knight!"
"What…!" Van cried widening his eyes in shock.
Tadase stood confidently with his arms by his side; his body bathed in light from his Character Transformation before looking down at Amu; who was still unconscious.
He smiled softly at her before bending down on one knee beside her and gently placed a hand on her head. His hand glowed with a soft green light which spread through Amu's entire body.
Once the light faded, Amu stirred slightly before slowly opening her eyes halfway to see Tadase smiling warmly at her.
"Tadase… kun…?" Amu mumbled.
"Don't worry, I'll protect you this time for sure, Amu-chan." Tadase said as Amu opened her eyes more as they started trembling in emotion before Tadase stood up.
Ikuto grinned before leaping over beside him. "So are you ready to give it a team effort, kiddy king?"
Tadase stared hard at him before softening his expression as he unsheathed his sword that was attached to his belt. "Just this once."
Ikuto smirked at him as Tadase smirked back before both sprinted off towards Largo who was the closest to them.
"Slash Claw!" Ikuto cried as he slashed Largo across the chest, not dealing any damage but sent him staggering backwards.
Kairi quickly got out from under him before lunging towards him.
Largo gritted his teeth before swinging his scythe at Kairi with a flaming strike. "Feel my power."
He then sent several more fiery slashes at Kairi, who did his best to block them all with his swords.
"Writhe in the flames of hell, Brimstone Tempest!" Largo cried as a fiery inferno erupted from the ground.
Kairi quickly darted to the side, out of the way of the attack before charging towards him with his swords out in front and slashed him with a flurry of slashes.
"Secret Technique: Thunder Blade!" Kairi cried, slashing through Largo's armor and successfully knocking Largo's helmet off his head revealing blue hair and eyes and cat ears.
Ikuto narrowed his eyes. "Heh, so you even got me too, eh?"
Largo narrowed his eyes while gripping his side before swinging his giant scythe at Ikuto, who merely dodged the attack by jumping high into the air.
"Too bad you're not as fast, you giant lug." Ikuto said tauntingly as Tadase brought his sword in front of him.
"Holy Lance!" Tadase cried raising his sword towards the sky as light spears came raining down on Largo.
Largo let out a silent cry as Ikuto rushed at his look-alike and slashed him across the chest with his razor sharp claws, slashing through his armor.
He fell to his knees and dropped his scythe to the ground with a loud clack; breathing hard.
"Show your enemy no mercy… With shallow feelings… You'll never defeat… him…" Largo muttered under his breath before his body started to disintegrate back into individual X-eggs.
Tadase looked at him in surprise before rushing over to him to hear him better. "What do you mean? Defeat who?"
"Farewell…" Largo mumbled before fully disappearing as a blue strand of hair gently fell to the ground where he once stood.
Tadase widened his eyes while looking down at where Largo use to be before closing his eyes, thinking of his words and trying to understand them.
"King!" Kairi called as Tadase glanced over at him and gave a two-finger salute before rushing off towards Rima and Yaya.
"Take this!" Tadase cried as he attacked Arietta's monster with several glowing strikes from his sword.
Arietta let out a cry before falling off her monster and hit the ground hard as the monster let out a roar before turning on Tadase and rushed at him, claws out in front.
Tadase quickly ducked out of the way before sending his sword straight through the monster's chest.
"No!" Arietta cried as the monster let out one last roar before its body broke up into individual X-eggs.
A small orange tabby cat dropped to the ground and shook itself before running off.
Tadase noticed movement in the corner of his eye and glanced over to see Arietta rushing at him.
He quickly jumped out of the way as Arietta sent a blast of pink energy at him from her doll and landed a little ways off from her.
"Now!" Tadase cried as Rima and Yaya smiled and nodded.
"Juggling Party!"
"Go! Go! Little Duckies!"
Arietta widened her eyes in horror as she was struck down by the flurry of attacks.
She collapsed to the ground on her back as she stared up at the sky through hollow eyes while breathing heavily. "Van…I…lost. I'm…sorry."
Rima widened her eyes as Arietta's body broke up into individual X-eggs and a long golden strand of hair fell to the ground.
"Searing Sorrow." Legretta called upon a ball of flame and hurled it at Utau.
Utau twirled out of the way of the attack but stopped as several walls of light appeared around Legretta before sending multiple fiery shots from her guns. Utau had no time to dodge as Legretta pummeled her with several shots before unleashing one final blast from her guns, which seemed to be a stream of light.
"This end now… Prism Ballet!"
Utau was caught off guard and took the blow full-force and was sent hurtling towards the ground.
"Utau-chan!" Tadase cried as Ikuto rushed past him and jumped up into the air, catching Utau in his arms before landing gracefully on the ground.
"I-Ikuto…?" Utau said as Ikuto gently set her back on her feet before lunging towards Legretta.
"Slash Claw!" Ikuto cried as Legretta blocked the attack with her guns.
Ikuto locked his claw with Legretta's guns as Ikuto narrowed his eyes at her while Legretta stared at him blankly.
"You may have the same face as Utau…" Ikuto said before wrenching his claw away from her before hitting her guns out of her hands with one swift motion. "…But you're nothing compared to her."
Legretta looked at him in somewhat of surprise as Tadase jumped into the air as his body became consumed in flames.
"Rising Phoenix!" Tadase cried as he shot down towards Legretta. When Tadase landed, he sped straight through her in a flash of movement, leaving a trail of fire behind him.
"Burning Phoenix!" Tadase said as he swung his sword in triumph as Legretta's body burst into individual X-eggs and flew out of the way leaving a long strand of blond hair on the ground.
Kukai and Nagihiko struggled to get off the ground as Asch started towards them, his black sword glistening in the light.
"Hah!" Tadase cried as jumped in front of him just as Asch came down with his sword and locked swords with him.
Asch narrowed his eyes at him as Tadase swung their swords apart before jumping back over to Kukai and Nagihiko and plunged his sword into the ground.
"Guardian Field!" A light glyph appeared underneath them as Kukai and Nagihiko suddenly felt their energy return.
Kukai picked himself off the ground and grinned, giving Tadase a thumbs up. "Thanks! Now leave the rest to us!"
Tadase nodded as Nagihiko smiled before walking over and stood beside Kukai, facing Asch.
Asch narrowed his eyes again before bringing his sword out in front of him before plunging it into the ground.
"Rending Saber!" Asch cried as a burst of energy erupted from the ground around him.
Nagihiko jumped out of the way before sending blue energy orbs shooting down on him.
Asch quickly brought up his arms to shield himself as Kukai saw his chance.
"Golden Victory Shoot!" Kukai cried as he kicked a ball of golden energy at Asch.
Asch was too distracted by Nagihiko's attack to react to Kukai's attack hurtling towards him at a lightning fast speed. He widened his eyes in shock as the attack hit him head on, sending him flying across the arena.
Nagihiko charged up his power jump before shooting towards Asch with amazing power and speed.
"Beat Dunk!" Nagihiko cried as he slammed a blue orb of energy into Asch's chest causing a giant explosion.
Asch let out a cry before falling to his knees as his bangs fell over his eyes.
To Nagihiko's surprise, Asch started chuckling slightly as he looked up at him through dark orange, golden eyes.
"Looks like I'm going to disappear too…" Asch said as his body started to slowly disappear and separated into individual X-eggs, leaving a long violet strand of hair in his place.
Nagihiko didn't know what to think from that last comment. They supposedly had no heart or thoughts of their own. Then why…?
"That only leaves one…" Tadase said as he turned towards Hiroto.
Hiroto stared back at him with empty, lifeless eyes before straightening his posture.
"Sync." Van said extending his hand as Sync obediently floated over to him and landed in the palm of his hand.
In Van's hand was a small glowing device that whirred to life once Sync hovered above it.
"Now, behold the true power of chaos." Van said as Sync was enveloped by a globe-like orb as dark energy brimmed from the surface.
Sync then floated down over to Hiroto and was absorbed into his body causing his hair to turn from black to green and his body to glow with green energy.
An evil grin crossed his face as Hiroto's eyes were suddenly filled with life before he slammed his hands together causing the ground to shake briefly.
"Sync!" Tadase called coming forward. "You don't have to do this!"
"Shut up! Van's plan will destroy all Heart's eggs, finally freeing this world from such pitiful dreams and emotions. In time, those worthless people end up just letting go of them anyways because they're weak." Sync said as Tadase narrowed his eyes.
"Sync, why do you hate this world so much?" Flynn asked appearing spiritually beside Tadase.
"I was born because of Heart's Eggs. I'm only an experiment, I'm only half-completed! Once my usefulness has ended, I'll be thrown away, just like you! If Heart's Eggs hadn't existed, I wouldn't have been stuck with this pathetic life!" Sync spat.
"Are you telling me you've really gained nothing since you were created?" Tadase asked as Sync narrowed his eyes at him.
"Not a thing. I'm empty, just like those X-Replicas. But it doesn't matter. I don't care who it is, as long as I can finally be freed from this accursed world! I may be inferior, but my power is more than enough to eliminate you!" Sync shouted as he brought his arm above his head as Tadase closed his eyes.
"If that is truly how you feel…" Tadase said sadly, remembering similar words coming from his mouth before looking at Sync with a determined expression. "…I will defeat you with all I have!"
"Fat chance! Harrowing Gale!" Sync cried as lunged towards him as the green aura around him grew more intense.
Tadase darted out of the way, knowing he'd be knocked out right away if he was hit by Sync's special attack.
"You're not getting away! Stone Dragon Ascent!" Sync cried as pillars of craggy rock erupted from the ground below.
Tadase jumped out of the way as Sync chased after him as he wound up his fist for a punch.
Tadase blocked Sync's punch with his sword and swung him away.
Sync charged towards him again before attacking with powerful punches and kicks.
Tadase did his best to block each attack with his sword as Sync continued to attack with great force.
"Die!" Sync shouted as he jumped up into the air and dove straight at Tadase.
Sync wound up his leg as it glowed with green energy as Tadase quickly ducked out of the way and swung his sword at him. Sync blocked it by creating a small shield from his arm and threw off Tadase's attack before his fist started glowing with a white light.
"Dragon Shot!" Sync cried as Tadase charged forward as well.
"Beast!" Tadase cried as he sent an energy blast at him in the shape of a lion head.
Both attacks collided with each other, sending both of them flying apart. They stood on opposing ends glaring at each other with intense looks.
"You're efforts are in vain, you won't stop me or Van!" Sync said as he pointed his arm towards him. "Thunder Blade!"
Tadase immediately looked up before jumping out of the way as a giant spear of lightning hit the ground where he once stood, creating a electrifying shockwave.
"If you keep running away, you'll never stop me!" Sync shouted challengingly as he shot towards him using Cyclone Blaze.
Tadase stepped out of the way of the attack as Sync skidded to a stop before coming down on one knee and placing his hand firmly on the ground. He was breathing heavily before glaring over at Tadase.
Sync narrowed his eyes at him before rushing towards him again, his body brimming with green energy. "Why won't you say anything!"
"You're not just a tool, Sync. Why can't you see that?" Tadase asked as Sync grinned mockingly at him.
"Are you trying to say 'I am who I am?' Peh, I told you I mean nothing, my existence means nothing!" Sync cackled as he swung his leg over at Tadase, who quickly ducked out of the way.
"Sync, that's not true! You're still..." Tadase started but Sync cut him off when he successfully struck him in the side with his leg and sent him crashing to the ground.
"You will not change me! I stand resolved! I'm tired of this world; everyone can just die along with it!" Sync spat as he sent a powerful shot of wind from his hand.
The attack collided with Tadase; sending him flying backwards.
Tadase got onto one knee and plunged his sword into the ground as he leaned up against it, trying to catch his breath while staring at Sync intently.
"I guess I really have no choice then…" Tadase said pushing himself back onto his feet as put his sword in front of him. "If you really do despise this world so much, then I will put an end to this right now!"
He pointed his sword towards the sky as it glowed with intense energy, taking on the form that of a giant blade of light. He then swung his light blade to the side as it began charging with power, shining brighter and brighter.
Sync thought nothing of him as he leapt high into the air and shot towards him while preparing a Dragon Shot.
"Now we end this! Radiant Dragon Fang!" Tadase cried as he swung his sword towards Sync and unleashed several blasts of light from his sword in the shape of dragon heads that shot towards him in a circular motion.
Sync widened his eyes in horror as the attack came at him like a rushing typhoon.
"GAAAAHHHHHHH!" Sync cried as he was hit full blast by Imperial Knight's special attack.
Tadase sheathed his sword as Hiroto landed on his feet but quickly fell to his knees, gripping his arm in pain as Sync separated himself from his body causing his hair to turn black again and his eyes to turn hollow once more.
Hiroto took a couple of deep breathes before closing his eyes as his body turned transparent.
"Van…Destroy…all Heart's eggs…" Hiroto mumbled almost incoherently before breaking up into multiple X-eggs.
Tadase softened his expression as he watched Hiroto fade away as a strand of dyed black hair fell to the ground before blowing away in the wind.
Although Hiroto was a created copy of him, he couldn't help feel a little sad and sorry for him. He was still a part of him since he was created by using his DNA and only being created as a pawn and nothing else was sad in itself. Tadase knew that feeling hurt; to only be looked at as a tool and not an actual person. Even if Hiroto was just a monster, he must have felt a little sense of sadness in his being.
"Sayonara, Hiroto Sateda." Tadase said softly while closing his eyes as a gentle breeze blew through his hair.
"Tadase-kun!"
Tadase looked over before finding himself suddenly engulfed in a hug by Amu, the impact nearly knocking him over.
"A-Amu-chan?" Tadase said in surprise while looking down at her with a soft and surprised expression as Amu looked up at him with a relieved smile.
"It's you, it's really you! I-I… I'm so happy!" Amu cried before burying her face into his chest as her shoulders started trembling.
Tadase widened his eyes slightly before softening his expression and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
"Amu-chan…"
"GAAHHH!"
Tadase and Amu whirled around to see Sync writhing in pain as the orb he was inside seemed to be spewing dark energy in all directions.
Sync gripped his chest in agony as several jolts of dark energy seemed to escape his body and was flying out in spasms.
The energy that was escaping from Sync's body seemingly attracted a large quantity of X-eggs as they hung in the air around him while chanting.
"W-What's happening to him?" Amu asked worriedly.
Tadase shook his head. "I don't know… But it looks like he's losing control…"
"That's correct."
Tadase turned his gaze over to Van as Sync continued to writhe in pain.
"Sync was the first stable experiment that I created. Unfortunately, like he said before, he is not a perfect specimen. His body can only handle so much after a while and will start to disintegrate due to an overexertion of power," Van explained as more dark energy came flying out of Sync's body causing Tadase's eyes to widen in shock.
"His body cannot control the X-egg energy that was injected into his being any longer and is slowly destroying him. It's a shame to let go of such a fine specimen, but I can create many others."
Amu stared at him in disbelief before crying out, "You monster! How can you say that? Sync may be twisted, but he's still a living being!"
"All he wants is to be freed from this world and dying is essentially the only way to do so. He has no true owner. He has no attachment whatsoever to this world and he'll disappear once I succeed in my plans." Van said indifferently.
"He does have an owner…" Tadase said while gritting his teeth as his fists trembled beside him before rushing towards Sync.
Multiple X-eggs flew into his way and shot streams of dark energy at him.
Tadase jumped out of the way and landed back over beside Amu.
"Tch! They won't let me get through!" Tadase said in frustration.
"Amu-chan!" Dia said as she flew over to Amu's side.
"Dia!" Amu said in relief before looking over at the hoard of X-eggs. "Ready?"
Dia nodded as Amu smiled.
"My own heart: Unlock! Character Transformation: Amulet Diamond!"
"Shooting Star Shower!" Amu cried as she sent a shower of stars from her globe, negating the X-eggs' attacks and stopping them in their tracks.
"Go, Tadase-kun!" Amu said as Tadase nodded a thanks before rushing past the immobile X-eggs and over to Sync and slammed his sword onto the orb's surface that imprisoned Sync.
Dark energy shot out from the orb upon contact, sending pain rippling through Tadase's body.
Tadase let out a cry of pain but didn't let up on his attack as more dark energy poured out from the surrounding orb.
Sync slowly opened up his eyes to look at him. "What are you doing…? Why are you trying to save me…? I'm nothing but a half-completed experiment…nothing more than garbage."
Tadase winced as shots of pain went coursing through his body as he struggled to break through the orb's surface.
"Don't talk like that! You are still my chara, even if you don't think so," Tadase said while wincing before giving him a weak smile. "I won't allow you to disappear, no matter what…"
Sync stared at him for a moment before smirking as he closed his eyes. "You're such a soft-hearted fool…"
"Tadase-kun!" Amu cried as Tadase pressed his sword harder on the orb's surface as dark energy continued to spark out from it, rippling through Tadase's body.
Sync let out another cry of pain as his body went through more spasms as the dark energy in his body increased its intensity, threatening to destroy his body.
Tadase narrowed his eyes as he desperately tried to concentrate on breaking the orb. 'I won't let him disappear…'
Sync gripped his chest in pure agony as he let out another cry of pain as more X-egg energy pulsed from his body. An image flashed over Sync causing Tadase's eyes to widen and tremble in emotion.
"NO!" Tadase cried as he lifted his sword above his head and came down striking the surface with such intensity as a crack suddenly formed on the surface. Before he realized it, the barrier suddenly shattered, sending dark X-egg energy to rush past Tadase, nearly blowing him away.
More dark energy escaped from Sync's body as it looked as if he'd hit his limit.
"Sync!" Tadase cried as Amu's body started glowing.
"Negative Heart: Lock on!" Amu cried as a heart appeared around Sync.
"Open Heart!" With that, Amu unleashed a powerful light from the Humpty Lock onto Sync, consuming him in light.
Sync let out another cry as Amu's Open Heart slowly cleansed his body of all X-egg energy, releasing him from the searing pain.
Tadase watched in awe as Sync's body was cleansed as his body turned white with light.
Once the light faded, Sync stared up at the sky with a dazed look in his green eyes, feeling both exhausted and warm on the inside. He felt so light now; it was a wondrous and new feeling to him he didn't even really know how to describe how he felt at that moment.
A small grin appeared on his face before he started laughing.
"Finally… It's finally over. I can finally be freed from this… pathetic world." Sync mumbled as the two halves of his egg appeared around him.
Amu's eyes started trembling, not understanding why Sync was still talking like that even after the Open Heart. Wasn't that supposed to cleanse eggs and charas of all negative emotion?
She glanced over at Tadase and was surprised that he didn't look the least bit concerned but held an intense look before Amu looked back up at Sync.
"Sync… Why are you still…?" Amu started but Sync cut her off.
"You still don't understand a thing…I was created as a tool and out of X-egg energy…" Sync mumbled as Amu's eyes trembled in emotion.
"I never wanted to be born… But now… I can finally go back…"
Before he could finish, Sync went back into his egg as it sealed itself closed. His egg was black and had an orange symbol on the front, the same symbol that was on Tadase's mask when he was Hiroto. His egg suddenly started to glow softly as the black color along with the orange symbol was erased, turning it light blue as a crown pattern suddenly appeared on the front much to Amu's shock.
Amu's eyes widened in disbelief as Tadase watched the egg intently.
"No…it couldn't be…" Amu mumbled.
A crack formed in the middle of the egg as a familiar lavender-haired chibi king with blue eyes popped out of the egg with a triumphant smile.
"I'm…back…!" Kiseki announced before slowly closing his eyes as exhaustion suddenly hit him and allowed himself to gently fall towards the ground.
Tadase rushed forward and Kiseki gently fell into his hands.
Kiseki opened his eyes again to look up at Tadase. "Tadase…"
"Welcome back, Kiseki." Tadase said as he gave him a warm, welcoming smile as Kiseki's eyes started trembling.
"I'm…glad to be back…" Kiseki said before falling asleep due to exhaustion.
Amu and Dia smiled as the two reunited despite being completely shocked that Sync was actually Kiseki.
Tadase then looked over up at Van who was looking down at him with frustration radiating from his eyes.
"It's over, Van! The God-Generals have fallen; your influence over Kiseki is gone…You have nothing left so give yourself up!" Tadase said pointing his sword at him.
Van was silent for a moment before a grin appeared on his lips as he started laughing.
An evil grin appeared on Van's lips as he started laughing. "You think you've defeated me just because I don't have any more lackeys? What a foolish way of looking at my predicament. Have you forgotten that I still have thousands of X-eggs at my disposal?"
The others gathered around Amu and Tadase as Van pressed a few buttons on the keyboard as the machine started vibrating and opened up a side door, revealing three colorful Guardian Eggs.
"My Guardian eggs!" Amu cried. "Ran! Miki! Su!"
"Amu-chan!" all three of them cried, their voices muffled from inside their eggs.
"What are you planning to do with them?" Amu demanded.
Van grinned broadly. "I originally planned to use them as my experiments like Sync. But then I discovered that they possessed far more power than I expected. So instead, I used them as the main power source to my machine. With their power, I will be able to eliminate Hearts' eggs once and for all!"
Amu's eyes trembled in disbelief before glaring defiantly at Van.
"Give them back!" Amu shouted as she rushed towards him.
"Amu-chan!" Tadase called as Amu jumped onto the platform that Van was standing on.
"Let them go!" Amu cried as Van smirked.
Suddenly, a purple lightning bolt came crashing down in front of Amu, sending her flying backwards.
Tadase quickly came up behind her to steady her and glared defiantly at Van.
"What are you planning to do?" Tadase asked as Van turned his back to them to type in a couple of commands into the machine.
The machine started vibrating causing Ran, Miki, and Su to cry out in pain.
Amu tried to rush forward, but Tadase grabbed her arm to prevent her from just throwing herself in harm's way since they didn't know what Van was truly capable of.
The cloud of X-eggs hanging overhead started circling and purple lightning came raining down into the lightning rods once more, lighting up the whole arena.
"I refuse to give up when I'm so close to succeeding. I will crush all of your childish dreams, just like they did mine!" Van shouted over the crash of lightning as Tadase and Amu flinched in shock.
Van grabbed a loose cord of some sort and plunged it into his chest as waves of dark X-egg energy pulsed from it.
"W-What are you doing?" Utau cried as Van let out a cry of pain as huge quantities of X-egg energy went pouring into his body.
A crooked smile appeared on his face and let out a chuckle. "To think you'd push me this far. It seems I have no choice but to unleash this terrible power into my body."
"If you do that, the X-egg energy will eventually destroy you!" Ikuto said.
The X-egg energy went coursing through Van's body causing him to writhe in pain. The dark energy surged through his body, snapping his hair tie and allowing his medium-length hair to fall onto his shoulders. The sleeve on his right arm burst, revealing his arm had turned a dark purple color and had dark blue veins running up his arm that seemed to glow. Dark blue jagged feather-shaped stones protruded from his left shoulder, making him look more like a monster.
"W-What's happening to him?" Yaya said clinging to Kairi's arm.
"It looks like the X-egg energy he's absorbed into his body is twisting him into some kind of monstrosity." Kairi said narrowing his eyes.
Ran, Miki, and Su let out cries of pain as Van used the machine to transfer all the X-egg energy he collected into his body.
Van smirked an evil and crazed grin as he glanced up at the Guardians. "I commend you on making me use this power on myself. But…everything ends now!"
He stood up and threw his arms wide as a huge amount of dark energy came flying from his body, nearly blowing Tadase and Amu off the platform.
Tadase got in front of Amu protectively as he unsheathed his sword, pointing it at Van.
"Stand back." Tadase said.
Amu looked at him in shock before smiling and shook her head as she went over and stood beside him.
"You already protected me enough, Tadase-kun. This time, we'll fight together." Amu said as Tadase looked at her in surprise before nodding with a gentle smile.
"Okay."
"No matter what you do, you still will not stop me!" Van shouted as he sent a burst of dark energy from his hand.
"Twinkle Shield!" Amu cried as she brought up her globe microphone to block the attack.
Though she was able to stop the attack, the force still sent her flying off the platform. Amu flipped over and landed gracefully on her feet over by the others as Van lowered the platform until it rested on the arena.
Tadase lunged at Van with his sword out in front of him as Van pulled out the sword he had plunged into the ground earlier and raised it to lock swords with Tadase.
They pulled apart before Tadase charged at him again, striking Van with powerful blows but only to be blocked by Van's master swordsmanship.
"Hmph. Have you forgotten? I'm the one who taught you how to fight. Do you really think you can outdo me?" Van said as Tadase narrowed his eyes.
"Farewell, Ancient Requiem!" Van cried as he sent a powerful blast of energy from his hand, sending Tadase crashing to the ground over near the edge of the platform.
Tadase jumped back onto his feet as he raised his sword towards the sky. "Holy Lance!"
Van created a shield in the shape of a dome around him as spears of light came cascading down on him, but failed to deal any sort of damage.
He then charged at Tadase as his sword started glowing with a dark energy.
"Slash Claw!" Ikuto cried as he came spiraling towards Van from above.
Van stopped in his tracks and raised his arm to block Ikuto's attack as Tadase lunged at him from below his guard.
Van smirked before smirking and threw Ikuto off and struck Tadase with his sword, sending him flying back.
"Juggling Party!" Rima cried as she sent a barrage of clown pin missiles at Van.
"White Wing!" Utau cried as she sent a flurry of white feathers raining down on him.
"Duckie Dash!" Yaya cried sending out her army of rubber ducks.
All the attacks resulted in a powerful explosion, engulfing Van as smoke and dust rose up all around him.
Once the smoke cleared, Van stood as if he was unaffected as he opened his eyes as Kairi suddenly lunged at him from the side.
"Special Technique: Thunder Blade!" Kairi cried as attacked Van with a flurry of blows from his swords.
Van brought up his sword to block his attack before striking him down with a powerful swing of his own sword, sending Kairi flying backwards.
"Blaze Shoot!" Nagihiko cried while sending powerful shots of blue energy at him.
"Golden Victory Shoot!" Kukai cried, sending a powerful blast of golden energy at Van.
Van lifted up his arm and created a barrier in front of him, blocking the duo's attacks.
"Ground Dasher!" Van shouted as he sent craggy rock shooting out of the ground at them.
"Shooting Star Shower!" Amu cried as she sent a shower of stars, negating Van's attack.
"Negative Gate!" Van created a large black orb causing everyone to slam into the ground due to the crushing gravity of the orb.
Van grinned before both Tadase and Ikuto lunged at him from behind on both sides.
"Hah!" Tadase cried as he and Ikuto came down on Van with sword and claws.
Van blocked both attacks by putting up his arm to block Ikuto's claws and locked swords with Tadase with his own.
"You all are pretty persistent…all very strong willed. But that's still not enough to triumph against me!" Van said blasting Ikuto away and striking Tadase down by the sword.
"Tadase-kun, are you okay?" Amu said rushing to his side as he leaned on his sword while breathing heavily.
"Yeah, but at this rate, we won't defeat him. He's absorbed too much X-egg energy, making him far too powerful." Tadase said as Kairi and Nagihiko attempted to attack him, but ended up being blown away.
As the battle raged on, Kiseki had woken up and slipped unnoticed over to the machine, trying to figure out how to free Amu's Guardians from the machine.
"Why should I, a King, have to do all the work here?" Kiseki grumbled as he proceeded to determine which switch would release them.
As Kiseki looked over the control panel, he failed to notice a figure coming up behind him. A shadow loomed over him but before he could react, a hand reached out and grabbed him.
"Hah! Gotcha, you little pest!" Dist said smugly wearing a pair of strange goggles of some sort.
"Ah! Release me at once, you reaper!" Kiseki commanded as a mad-mark appeared over Dist's head.
"How is one so beautiful as myself a "reaper"? A "rose" suits me much better, you little pest!" Dist said as he tightened his grip around Kiseki.
"Go! Go! Little Duckies, go!"
Suddenly, little rubber ducks flew over to Dist and started pecking him causing him to squirm and squeal.
"Gah! S-Stop! Get away from me! That hurts!" Dist cried, releasing his grip on Kiseki.
"Sync-dono, are you okay?" Yaya asked coming over to Kiseki as a mad-mark appeared over his head.
"Don't call me that! I am not that ruffian, delinquent any more!" Kiseki shouted. "Now help me figure out how to release those commoners!"
"Roger!" Yaya said with a salute before looking over the control panel.
After a few seconds, Yaya's face turned frustrated before she fell on her back waving her arms and legs.
"This is too hard! Yaya doesn't understand any of this gizmo junk!" Yaya cried.
"That's not helping!" Kiseki shouted angrily before another bolt of purple lightning came crashing down, causing Kiseki to fall back onto one of the buttons on the control panel.
A tiny alarm went off as Kiseki sweatdropped. "That doesn't sound good…"
Suddenly, the parts of the machine that held Ran, Miki, and Su's eggs in place lifted, freeing them and allowing them to come out of their eggs.
"Hmph! I am a genius!" Kiseki said proudly as Yaya looked at him with a dull expression.
Once the machine's power source was cut, all the lights dimmed as the lightning rods stopped flashing and eventually died off.
"Freedom!" Ran cheered.
"Amu-chan!" Miki called as she and the others flew over to Amu.
"Guys!" Amu cried in relief as the three of them tackled her into a hug.
"Are you all, all right?" Amu asked as the three of them nodded.
"We're a little drained, but we're still willing to help!" Ran said as Miki and Su nodded in agreement.
Amu smiled in relief as Tadase slowly gathered himself off the ground and stood up before turning his gaze on Van, who was currently fighting with Kairi and Kukai.
Amu looked over as well as the others tried their best to fend off Van's attacks. Her eyes widened when a dark aura surrounded Van.
'He's powered by X-egg energy, so that would have to mean that…' A sudden thought struck her as she turned towards Tadase.
"Tadase-kun, Van is still using X-eggs so we can still purify that energy!" Amu said.
"But in order to do that, we need to first figure out to immobilize him. And even so, purifying all that X-egg energy is going to take huge amounts of energy and power." Tadase said as Amu gave him a determined smile.
"We'll just have to find a way!" Amu said as Tadase gave her a soft smile and sighed.
"I guess there's no use arguing." Tadase chuckled.
Tadase spotted something hurtling towards him from the corner of his eye and quickly put up his hand and caught whatever was thrown at him.
When he looked down at his hand, he was surprised to see the Dumpty Key glowing softly.
He looked up to see Ikuto standing off to the side.
"Ikuto Tsukiyomi?" Tadase said in surprise as Ikuto smirked.
"I think you can put it to better use than me right now." Ikuto said as Tadase widened his eyes in shock.
"Ikuto…" Amu said as Tadase clutched the Dumpty Key tightly in his hand.
"I understand…Thank you." Tadase said as Ikuto let out a small grunt in acknowledgement.
The Dumpty Key started shining brightly as Tadase opened up his hand and let it float up out of his hand and over to Amu.
The Humpty Lock seemed to resonate with the Dumpty Key and started shining just as brightly.
Van paused and glanced over at them questionably as everyone looked over at Amu.
Amu closed her eyes as the Key and Lock drew closer to one another, feeling the power resonating within in them.
"Dumpty Key…Humpty Lock…Lend me your power!" Amu cried as the Dumpty was inserted into the Lock.
"Unlock!"
The arena was suddenly engulfed by light as Van shielded his eyes.
"W-What is this power…?" Van growled as the light grew more intense.
"Amu!" Rima called as she shielded her eyes with her arms from the light.
"What's happening?" Kairi called out.
As Amu watched the images scroll by that the Dumpty Key had unlocked, tears weld up in her eyes and quickly wiped them away with her sleeve. She then closed her eyes and placed her hands over her heart. (Note: I'll put what she saw in a bonus chapter :3)
'Tadase-kun…You've gone through so much pain in these last six months…I had no idea. But now…I understand.'
"Amu-chan."
Amu opened her eyes to see Tadase standing in front of her, still as Imperial Knight with Kiseki floating beside him.
"Tadase-kun…I…You…" Amu said slowly, remembering all the things she saw, feeling guilty about all the things that Tadase had to go through by himself.
Tadase smiled softly at her before extending his hand to her. "Let's go, Amu-chan."
Amu's eyes trembled in emotion before smiling back at him and reached out to take his hand. "Yeah!"
Ran, Miki, Su, Dia, Kiseki, and Flynn gathered together as they were engulfed by light.
Once their hands touched, the light around them burst as they cried out,
"My own heart: UNLOCK!"
"Character Transformation: Amulet Maiden!"
"Character Transformation: Royal Guardian!"
Amu looked down at herself to see her clothed in a white gown that draped down into pink flower petals. The gown was lined with golden fabric and wore white boots and white gloves. She wore a silver clover-like clip, the same design on the Humpty Lock in her hair.
Tadase glanced down at himself as he wore golden armor with white clothing. He wore a small golden crown that wrapped around his forehead. He also had a small red flowing cape and wore golden arm and leg braces.
"What is this?" Amu said in surprise.
"…A Joint Transformation." Tadase said in awe.
"Whoa…" Nagihiko said as he, Rima, and Yaya stared at the two of them in awe.
Kukai whistled in amazement as Kairi and Utau looked at them in awe as well.
"Amu…Tadase…" Ikuto said in awe.
"W-What?" Van said in shock.
"Amu-chan!" Ran, Miki, Su, and Dia called as Amu widened her eyes in surprise.
"Everyone is inside me?" Amu said in awe as she placed a hand over her heart.
"Just because you were able to unlock the power of the Humpty Lock, does not mean you will defeat me. I still have countless X-egg energy flowing through my veins!" Van said before charging towards them.
"Amu-chan, this transformation won't last long. You have to hurry now." Dia said.
"Too bad you won't be able to use any of that power!" Van said appearing right in front of Amu.
Amu let out a gasp as Van came down on her with his sword.
"Amu-chan! Look out!" Miki cried.
"Divine Streak!"
A powerful beam of light shot out from the side, catching Van off guard and sent him flying across the arena.
Tadase then jumped over in front of Amu, his sword glowing softly.
"Tadase-kun!" Amu said in relief as Tadase gave her a determined smile.
"Don't worry, I promised to protect you. Leave the fighting to me and when you see your chance, finish him off." Tadase said with a confident smile.
Amu's eyes trembled with emotion before giving him a confident smile back. "Right!"
"Let's go, Tadase!" Both Kiseki and Flynn said.
"Right!" Tadase said as he held his sword in front of him before charging towards Van.
Van quickly got off the ground and gritted his teeth in frustration before rushing towards Tadase as well.
"Raging Blast!" Van shouted as he thrusted his arm forward as a ball of energy formed in his hand.
"Distortion Blade!" Tadase cried as he swung upwards causing a massive explosion field before swinging downwards, creating a ghost blade to appear that slashed through Van's body.
Van let out a cry before sending a blast of energy at him.
Tadase put his sword out in front to block the attack, but was still flung backwards from the force.
"No matter how many times you try, the result will still be the same. Just give up." Van said stepping towards the fallen Tadase.
"Tadase-kun!" Amu cried.
"Angel Cradle!" Utau cried as she began singing her cleansing song.
Van paused as the dark aura surrounding him suddenly turned golden as a look of pain crossed his face.
"GAAHHHH!" Van cried as he gripped his chest in pain while flailing his sword around wildly in his other hand.
"What's going on?" Yaya wondered.
"Utau-san's Angel Cradle is meant to cleanse X-eggs and since Van absorbed X-egg energy into his body…" Kairi explained.
"Then it's being purified." Nagihiko said.
"Unfortunately, Van had absorbed a large quantity and Utau-san's attack won't be enough to purify all of it." Kairi said.
Tadase rose back onto his feet as he smiled confidently and pointed his sword at him. "This is the end, Van!"
Van glared at him furiously. "That's what you think! This is far from over!"
Van charged at Tadase wildly as Utau's song was still affecting him.
"Duckies Scramble, Go Go!" Yaya cried as she sent her army of rubber ducks at Van all at once.
Van stopped abruptly as Yaya's ducks came at his face, blinding him.
"Tightrope Dancer!" Rima cried as she sent a barrage of tightropes raining down on him, entangling him.
"Slash Claw!" Ikuto cried as he lunged at Van with his claw.
Van managed to block his attack with his sword but still stumbled backwards from the force.
"Beat Dunk!" Nagihiko cried as he slammed a blue energy ball into Van's chest, causing him to be blown backwards.
"Lightning Blade!" Kairi cried as he came down on him with a powerful wave of energy from his swords.
"Golden Victory Shoot!" Kukai cried as he kicked a powerful golden ball of energy at Van.
Both of their attacks combined with each other and hit Van with a powerful blast of energy.
Van let out another cry of pain as he stumbled back a few more steps and doubled over slightly.
Tadase swung his sword to the side and was suddenly consumed in flames before swinging it out in front of him, pointing it at Van before charging towards him with amazing speed.
Tadase unleashed several powerful slashes of flames from his sword as Van tried to block them with his own sword.
With a powerful swing downwards, Tadase slashed right through Van's sword, breaking it in half.
Tadase jumped backwards into the air as his sword began charging with more fiery power.
"This is the end! Divine Phoenix!" Tadase cried as he unleashed a phoenix-shaped blast of fire from his sword.
Van was hit completely by the attack causing him to howl in pain as Amu took a step forward.
"Go for it, Amu-chan!" Ran cheered.
Amu placed a hand over her heart as her whole body started to glow and she was lifted up into the air.
"Divine Judgment of purity for a darkened soul…" Amu chanted as she formed a heart with her hands over the Humpty Lock.
"SACRED OPEN HEART!"
Amu then unleashed a wave of light from her body, engulfing Van and the entire field. The light then expanded throughout the skies, purifying the cloud of X-eggs hanging overhead, turning them back into regular Heart's eggs in an instant.
"Amazing…" Ikuto said staring up at the sky in awe.
"Ugh…What's happening?" Director Hoshina groaned as he was being helped out of the Easter building by Tsukumo and Manta.
"Ah! Director, you're finally awake!" Tsukumo said enthusiastically.
"What do you want us to do now, sir?" Chichimura asked.
Director Hoshina just let out another groan before rubbing his throbbing head. "Just…Take me home."
Van felt like he was floating in space as his body was fully cleansed of all the X-egg energy. He felt like he was being bathed in light as his body felt a rush of warmth flowing through him. Both his arms were back to normal but hung limply beside him as if they were paralyzed.
'How…? How could I be defeated…? My plan…it was perfect…Then how…?' Van wondered as he slowly closed his eyes.
"I'm sorry…my brethren…I couldn't avenge you…" Van muttered softly as a tear ran down the side of his face before fading away into the light.
Once the light faded, both Amu and Tadase's Character Transformation came undone as their charas floated next to them.
Small, sparkling balls of light gently floated down all around them, giving the atmosphere a warm, soft feeling.
"It's beautiful." Amu said as she caught one of the small balls of light in her hands.
Everyone else was looking up at the sky in awe, watching the tiny, sparkling, balls of light rain down all around them.
As all the purified X-eggs danced in the sky, expressing their gratitude, a sparkling, white egg was floating amongst them, darting from right to left.
"The Embryo!" Amu cried as Ikuto darted forward.
Before anyone else could react, the shining white egg flew off in a flash, disappearing once more and out of everyone's grasp.
"Aw, it flew away again." Su said in disappointment.
Amu just smiled. "There's always next time."
"That's the spirit, Amu-chan!" Ran cheered.
"Way to stay optimistic." Miki said as Amu giggled slightly.
Ikuto skidded to a stop before narrowing his eyes and let out a small sigh.
"You'll get it next time, Ikuto! For sure-nya!" Yoru said causing Ikuto to smile slightly.
"Ikuto Tsukiyomi!"
Ikuto looked over to the side to see Tadase toss back the Dumpty Key to him. He caught it in his hand and looked at Tadase in surprise.
Tadase stared hard at him for a moment before smiling softly and closed his eyes.
"I'll let you hold onto it a bit longer as a thanks," Tadase said before looking back up at him confidently as he pointed a finger at him. "But once that's over, I'll definitely come back for it and take it back without having it given to me, Ikuto Tsukiyomi!"
Ikuto stared at him for a moment before grinning.
"We'll see about that, Kiddy King." Ikuto said as he tossed the key into the air before catching it again and ran off.
Tadase turned back towards Amu, seeing her smiling up at the beautiful scene. His ruby eyes sparkled softly as he watched the small lights fall all around her, giving her an angelic presence.
"Amu-chan…" Tadase said softly.
OOOOOO
"No! You can't do this to me! Do you have any idea who I am? This is going down in my revenge journal!" Dist cried as he flailed around before being thrown into the squad car by the police officers causing everyone to watch sweatdrop.
"What a weirdo." Rima said as Nagihiko chuckled sheepishly beside her.
"That's one way of putting it…"
"So he was the one driving the car that hit you?" Kukai asked Tadase as he nodded. "No wonder the reports said the driver seemed drunk."
Tadase chuckled sheepishly while sweatropping.
"Ah! Where did Van go?" Amu said in alert.
"He must have slipped away while we were distracted. He is no longer in this vicinity." Kairi said pushing up his glasses higher up on his face.
"Boo! I can't believe he got away!" Yaya pouted while waving her arms wildly around.
"I wouldn't worry. He'll get what's coming to him at some point." Utau said as Iru smirked beside her.
Tadase looked down at the ground with an unreadable expression before clenching his fists.
Amu noticed this and looked at him in concern. "Tadase-kun?"
Tadase then ran out in front of them and quickly bowed apologetically as did Kiseki, surprising everyone.
"I'm sorry!" Tadase cried. "I said…I did such cruel things towards you all. I worried you for disappearing for so long and then hurting you when I came back. I truly regret my actions…and if there is any way you'll forgive me…"
"I too am at fault. For that was no way for a King to act. I too also apologize for my actions." Kiseki said humbly for once.
Everyone stared at the two of them in shock as Tadase stared hard at the ground.
"I know my actions can't be fully forgiven…But somehow…Could you all…?"
Kukai and Yaya glanced at each other before grinning and suddenly tackled Tadase shocking everyone and causing them to sweatdrop.
"Oh shut up, Tadase! Don't be so dramatic. Isn't it obvious that we already have forgiven you?" Yaya said with a wink.
"Yeah! We are friends after all, right?" Kukai said ruffling Tadase's hair.
"But…" Tadase said as Kukai flicked him on the forehead.
"Enough apologizing already," Kukai grinned. "We're just glad you're back, prince!"
Tadase widened his eyes as a crown appeared on top of his head in a flash of light.
"Don't…CALL ME PRINCE! It's King! Hahahaha!" Tadase announced triumphantly as fire appeared abruptly behind him. (I couldn't resist XD)
Amu and the others sweatdropped as Tadase laughed loudly, earning him some odd looks from people passing by.
"Though your king has been away for quite some time, never fear, for I have returned to my throne! That accursed Van shall pay for kidnapping the King! We will commence a search to bring that villain to justice in due time but for now, bow before my glory, commoners! HAHAHAHA!"
"He's back all right." Amu said while sweatdropping as all four of her charas let out a sigh.
Flynn let out an exasperated sigh before holding up his arms in defeat.
"My ambition has returned! Now, onto world domination!" Tadase said before Rima found a random bucket lying around and abruptly slammed it over Tadase's head.
Flynn then flew over and whacked the bucket a few times with his tiny sword before taking the bucket off Tadase's head to find his eyes swirling.
"Eh? Oh…" Tadase said before falling into a state of depression. "At a time like this…"
Kukai started laughing before slapping him on the back a couple of times to snap him out of it.
"That just means you're back to normal. That's all that really matters!" Kukai said giving him a thumbs up.
"He's right, Hotori-kun. We're just glad to have you back." Nagihiko said as Yaya came up and hugged Tadase around the waist.
"It doesn't matter if you were a bad guy back then, 'cause Tadase is back to his normal self now." Yaya said with a broad smile.
Tadase couldn't help but smile and started laughing.
"Everyone…Thank you." Tadase said as Amu smiled at him with a small blush on her cheeks.
Nagihiko noticed this and smiled. "Oh, I just remembered that I skipped out on most of my dance practice today. I need to get back to that right away."
"Eh?" Amu said looking at him dumbfounded as Yaya quickly picked up on what he was implying.
"Oh! Speaking of which, Yaya has to go take care of Tsubasa-chan! You have someplace to go to too, right Kairi?" Yaya said turning to Kairi, who have her a puzzled look.
"What? No, I…" Before Kairi could finish, Yaya started pushing him down the street. "Well in that case, you can help me with Tsubasa-chan!"
"H-Hold on one moment!"
"Papa and mama must be worried about me, I should leave as well." Rima said.
"What's going on?" Kukai asked before Rima came up behind him and started pushing him down the path. "You have to come along as well."
"Eh? Why me?" Kukai said as Kusukusu giggled.
"Later, Amu-chan." Nagihiko waved before rushing off, leaving behind a dumbfounded Amu and a confused Tadase.
"Utau, do you…?" When Amu turned she found that Utau wasn't standing there anymore.
"Eh? Where'd she go? She was standing here a minute ago!" Amu said looking around frantically.
"Utau-chan had slipped away when she sensed the lovey dovey mood!" Eru said off to the side.
Flynn smiled before Kiseki floated up over to him with his hands on his hips.
"All right, let's get something straight. Tadase's true would-be-self is me, the king! You are nothing more but a commoner who should bow before the king." Kiseki said pointing at him as Ran, Miki, and Su let out exasperated sighs.
Flynn looked at him in surprise before getting on one knee and bowed. "All right then. It is my honor and duty to serve the King."
"EH?" Ran, Miki, and Su cried as Kiseki looked taken aback by Flynn's actions.
"Ugh…yes, yes it is," Kiseki said awkwardly before a mad-mark appeared over his head. "Wait a second, you're mocking me, aren't you?"
Tadase started chuckling as Amu sweatdropped while Kiseki and Flynn started fighting with each other.
"They kind of contradict each other, don't they?" Amu said as Tadase looked down at the ground softly.
"Amu-chan."
Amu looked up at Tadase, who was looking to the side with a soft expression on his face.
"I wanted to apologi- No…I want to thank you." Tadase said as Amu looked at him in surprise.
"Sohma-kun said I should stop apologizing, so…I'll say thanks instead. Thank you…Thank you for believing in me and helping me get back my memory." Tadase said as Amu blushed.
"I don't think I ever lost my memory, it was just sealed away. Over the course of six months, I wasn't able to remember a thing and became a totally different person. When you reached out to me, being with you…felt familiar, but I was unfamiliar with it because I couldn't remember.
"The accident that happened was a traumatizing event for me and was the thing that was keeping me from remembering because in fact…I didn't want to remember that event. And because of that, I couldn't remember anything. By not wanting to remember a part of my memory, it shut off all my other memories. It was after you pushed me out of the way of Hiroto's Cyclone Blaze that I finally came to terms with myself and accepted what happened during the accident…because I wanted to remember you."
Amu widened her eyes in shock as Tadase continued to smile softly at her.
Tears formed at the corner of her eyes but quickly wiped them away as to not look like a crybaby, though Tadase really isn't the one to judge.
"I…I'm glad…I'm glad you're finally back." Amu said, keeping her arm over her eyes as her shoulders started shaking.
!Flick!
"Ow! Hey!" Amu shouted as Tadase gave her an evil smirk causing her to flinch.
"Stop blubbering, stupid girl."
Amu stared at him dumbfounded before she and her charas pointed at him in horror. "Hiroto!"
Tadase's smirk disappeared as he started laughing well-humorously with his genuine smile as Amu looked at him dumbfounded, unsure what was happening.
"Just kidding." Tadase said with a wink at the end causing Amu to turn red as well as a mad-mark to appear over her head.
"Y-You…!" Amu seethed as Tadase just smiled before reaching out and took hold of her hand.
Amu immediately calmed down and let out a small gasp when Tadase suddenly pulled her forward towards him.
Tadase took a step forward and before Amu could react, Tadase gently placed his lips on Amu's cheek.
"Oooohhhh!" Ran, Miki, and Su said in shock and awe as Kiseki, Flynn, and Dia all had shocked looks on their faces.
When Tadase pulled back, still holding her hand, Amu blinked a couple times before finally registering what happened as her whole face went completely red, heating up.
"EEEEHHHHHHHH!" Amu cried completely flustered from Tadase's sudden "attack."
"T-T-T-T-T-Tadase-kun?" Amu waved her arms frantically, unsure of what to do or think about what just happened.
Tadase chuckled before giving Amu's hand a gentle squeeze while smiling warmly at her. "I'm glad to be back too."
Amu's eyes sparkled before looking down at the ground with a shy smile. "Yeah…"
"Tadase!"
Tadase and Amu looked over to see Tadase's parents rushing towards them with shocked and relieved expressions.
"Mother-!" Tadase was cut off when his mother ran up to him and engulfed him in a giant hug.
"Tadase! I can't believe it…It's really you!" she cried as hugged her son tighter, tears escaping from pure happiness. "I'm so glad…You're all right."
Tadase's eyes started trembling in emotion, feeling tears well up in his eyes before returning his mother's hug.
"Thank you…" Tadase said as his father came up and hugged him along with his mother, elated to have Tadase back, safe and sound.
Tsukasa stood off to the side, watching the scene with smile as he glanced at the card that was in his hand.
"Even though the King was lost…he managed to find his way back to the deck…because he never could ever be forgotten." Tsukasa said as he closed his eyes with a content smile.
Amu watched the reunion with a warm smile, a tint of blush still evident on her face.
"Nothing warms the heart like that." Miki said as Amu nodded placing a hand over her heart.
"Welcome home…Tadase-kun."
End
Oh my gosh! I finally finished the main story line! XD Hooray! This chapter came out pretty long...Over 11,000 words to be exact. O_o I had to fit a lot of scenes in here, so I apologize if I overwhelmed the readers. And yeah, no direct confession of love since I think that's way to cliche and all, and I don't like writing a lot of cliche moments. If I left some things unanswered, don't be afraid to tell me and ask what they are or if I should go back and add them in, 'cause I'm a forgetful person. I put up a fanart on DA of how Tadase looked as Hiroto and Sync as a chara, in case anyone is interested. Don't worry, it's not a suckish doodle. XD Thank you so much to whoever read, favorited and reviewed this story, that was great support. I'll be putting up a couple of bonus chapters about what the Dumpty Key showed Amu and what happened from Kiseki's point of view. Well, that's all for now, matta ne! XD
There is something that is bugging me though...This doc won't let me use a ! next to a ?. Or multiple exclamation points in a row. It used to let me do that. T^T