Long wait? Long chapter just for you. :)
The Anti-Spiral, still in its humanoid black and white form, grunted in annoyance. It had been a mere five minutes since their fight began, and Madoka seemed to have the upper hand. Of course, the Anti-Spiral could always summon its Grazenboma to completely stomp her into the ground, but simply crushing her like that would not make her feel true despair. No, they had to fight and defeat her on an even playing field in order for those bearing Spiral power to truly disappear. As it thought this train of thought, Madoka had fired yet another arrow, to which the Anti-Spiral dodged and extended its long, black arm for a punch. Madoka jumped up into the air and fired off multiple arrows, to which the Anti-Spiral blocked by splitting its arm into five appendages as a shield.
"Impressive, magical girl." The Anti-Spiral bemused. "With all that power at your disposal, I can see why the Incubators had so desperately wanted you to make a contract." Madoka had nothing to say to it and only fired another arrow with a determined stern look on her face. "But you're not at quite your full strength are you? The power of the Spiral may have freed you from our control, but your strength isn't nearly as what it would be without the suppression we had put on you. You have no chance of defeating us the way you are now."
"I'm not planning on defeating you by myself!" Madoka replied, taking aim once again. The Anti-Spiral tilted its head in a questioning manner, wanting to hear what she had to say. "I'm only going to hold my own here before Homura-chan and the others arrive. When we all work together, then we'll defeat you." The Anti-Spiral responded to that by splitting its right arm into the five appendages again and shot them towards Madoka. They grunted in how naïve this girl was in how she could believe that her companions could make it here. The Anti-Spiral remembered that they still had one other option to deal with the other life-forms in the labyrinth thanks to Madoka's actions. Keeping their cold, stoic expression on its face as they attacked Madoka once again, a plan formed in their mind.
"So you wish for your comrades to assist you in this fight? Very well then. You have made a terrible mistake freeing their souls, magical girl!" The Anti-Spiral thought as they continued to fight.
It was as if the tables had turned from Adiane's best day to worst day ever. Ten seconds ago she was about to pound this girl's head in the water, her territory! Now thanks to that light, she had suddenly become just as fast as her! In the water!
"Stinking human!" Adiane cried out. She moved in Sayrune to lure Sayaka away to strike her, but Sayaka could still keep up with her. Adiane growled at her new look. Sayaka was glowing with the green light. She was still in her magical girl outfit, but her Soul Gem was no longer on her body. She glared at Adiane with a fierce, determined look as she raised her upgraded cutlasses. Ten of them rose upwards in the water, and her cutlasses changed form. They grew in size, almost as big as the Sayrune, and spikes appeared on their sides.
"That's it! I'm done playing around!" Sayaka screamed. "Madoka, my best friend needs my help…and you're in MY WAY!" She threw the large spiked cutlasses at Adiane with incredible speed, and Adiane charged towards them, intending to smash through the cutlasses despite their size.
"Not again!" Adiane cried out. "I won't lose to a human again! I won't let my pride be sullied anymore! FOR THE SPIRAL KING! BLOODY CLASPER!" She screamed as her mecha changed form and spun towards the incoming strike, intending to repel the cutlasses away and strike Sayaka at the same time. Before Adiane reached the cutlasses, Sayaka smiled. The cutlasses then moved away from Adiane, much to her surprise. Nonetheless, she continued to spin towards Sayaka.
She fell terribly short of her target, and did not notice the swords striking her from behind, stabbing through the mecha's wings, and sending her backwards at a high pace out of the water.
Cytomander grunted as his target became even bigger than he was. The red-headed she-ape's spear had grown to a gargantuan size. It was as big as his Shuzack now! Growling, he charged forwards towards the giant spear the redhead was standing on.
"So, you've gotten control of some Spiral power!" Cytomander smirked. "Don't get too cocky just because your weapon is now just as big as I am! Do you honestly think you're a match for a trained soldier?!" He shouted as he zoomed towards the spear. At incredible speeds, he slashed through various points on the giant spear. He laughed as the chain connecting it split into two each time he sliced through it. "Now fall and let the real master of the skies-bacawk?" He stuttered with shock. Kyoko Sakura wasn't falling. She was still atop the giant spear, smirking and bearing her fangs at him. He looked in shock at the broken pieces of the spear as a green energy formed around them. Suddenly, more spears emerged from the broken pieces!
"You don't get it when I say it once. Guess I'll have to beat it into you!" Kyoko yelled. She outstretched her hands towards the mecha, and the spears immediately flew towards Cytomander. Grunting, Cytomander swatted them away, slicing through them in the process because of the Shuzack's spiked arms. However, the same result from before occurred, and the broken spears reformed into more spears! "I said we got bigger things to worry about more than you bastards!" Cytomander immediately started twitching at the absurdity of it. A mad grin was plastered over his face as he struggled to speak.
"Spiral power? T-The power of the Spiral did this? H-How the hell did that Spiral power show up here?" He looked at the redhead before his face immediately regained its angry expression. Having enough of it all, Cytomander charged towards Kyoko on top of her giant spear in the sky. "You've had your fun you naked she-ape, but now I'll end this with one blow! DEMOLITION…DRIVE!" He shouted as he arrived near Kyoko as more spikes began appearing all over Cytomander's body.
Unfortunately for him, charging straight at her was exactly what Kyoko wanted him to do. She thrust her giant spear towards the Shuzack as the spikes came out, and it shot him along with her forward, stabbing through a part on the mecha's body along the way.
"Wha-what in the world is this?" Guame stuttered. His impenetrable Gember had suddenly found itself knocked back by giant muskets being fired at him! On top of them was the blonde human, now radiating a green swirling energy around her. Her drill-styled hair that was once still, began spinning. "You're such a fool!" Guame shot back at Mami. "Don't you realize that power will ultimately be the end of you?!"
"No." Mami replied, firing one of her giant muskets again. "Before we met Kamina-san, we were weak." She continued, remembering what Kamina told her from Homura's memories. "We lacked the will, the perseverance, and the strength to move onwards no matter what happened." She said this as the image of her going berserk when she found out the truth of magical girls turning into witches flashed in her mind for a moment. "But Kamina, no matter what happened, always had a smile on his face. He gave us the courage to stand up against anything in our way. We wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for him."
"He what? What in the world are you talking about now?!" Guame shouted, trying to charge forward to damage one of the guns. Mami simply leapt with grace and landed on another one some distance away.
"If you say that this power we have will be the end of us, you're wrong." Mami replied, firing again, once again hitting the Gember. "We'll stand against whatever tries to hurt us. But this time, we won't just do it with hope." She continued, merging all her giant guns into one bigger gun. "We'll do it with the fighting spirit that Kamina-san gave us! As long as we have him, we will no longer succumb to despair!" The giant cannon that Mami created began to light a green light. "SPIRAL…TIRO FINALE!" Mami shouted, firing the giant cannon. A light-green burst of energy fired from the gun, and shot towards the Gember in a spiral. The blast was a direct hit, and it knocked the Gember back a long way.
"DAMN YOU KAMINA!" Thymilph shouted, attempting to throw another punch towards Gurren Lagann. However its fist was caught once again, and Gurren Lagann prepared to bring its foot down on its anti-counterpart. "Even with the Anti-Gurren Lagann that voice gave us! Why can't we defeat you?! I'm one of the Spiral King's four generals!"
"You'll never understand you freak!" Kamina shouted. Two small drills appeared on Gurren Lagann's fists as Homura pushed the two bars forward. The shining green Gurren Lagann managed to land a hit on its anti-counterpart's right arm, blowing it off.
"He's right." Homura replied, making Gurren Lagann dodge another laser blast from Thymilph. "We have something that you'll never be able to have." Homura stopped time again, and ran up towards the mecha. Unfreezing time, she blew another punch to the Anti-Gurren Lagann's left arm, blowing it off as well. "It's something greater than despair, and hope. It's also a part of our fighting spirit, the will that kept me moving forward all throughout the struggles!"
"You damn dirty HUMANS!" Thymilph screamed as he charged forward in one final act of desperation. Unfortunately for him, that's exactly what Kamina and Homura wanted him to do. A drill materialized on Gurren Lagann's right arm, and Homura plunged it into the Anti-Gurren Lagann's chest. Thymilph could only look at the damaged controls inside his mecha beginning to spark with electricity, then looking upwards at Gurren Lagann in fear.
"It's love." Homura finished. A giant green blast of light green energy erupted from Gurren Lagann's drill and through its anti-counterpart's body. The force of it sent it flying backwards at an incredible speed. Right then and there however, something strange happened. The spacial walls around them suddenly burst with the sound of glass shattering. Then the Gember, Sayrune, and the Shuzack came flying out of those holes, then slamming into each other, causing a massive explosion. It was so bright that Kamina and Homura had to shield their eyes for a moment. When the light faded, they saw all their companions minus Kittan come out of the respective holes in the labyrinth.
"We did it." Kyoko uttered. "We took those bastards down!" She looked down and took a better look at her new body. "My Soul Gem's gone…This is insane!"
"We're not zombies anymore!" Sayaka added, looking at the energy she was radiating. "I don't get it but…I think we're human again!"
"This is amazing…" Mami remarked, her too taking the time to marvel at her newfound strength. "It's like we've grown beyond human, but if our Soul Gems are now gone, why are we still alive? Shouldn't we all be dead now? Akemi-san, what do you think?" Mami asked. Homura looked at her, then back at her hand, which now didn't have a Soul Gem. In all her honesty, she didn't know what to feel. Ever since they beat Walpurgisnacht, it was like Homura felt like an entirely new being. Even more so after this power came, she felt strong. One thing was for certain, they were no longer ordinary magical girls. But that didn't matter to her now.
"Who the hell knows and who the hell cares?!" Kamina shouted inside Gurren. "What's important is that you guys are all right! Now we just gotta find Kittan and we'll be ready to face that Anti-Spiral bastard!" Kamina practically took the words right out of Homura's mouth. Aside from looking for Kittan, their goal did not change because of this. Homura continued to look onwards with a determined face. She didn't have time to waste pondering where this power came from. All that mattered now, was saving Madoka.
As if on cue, the instant she thought about Madoka, a bright light shined throughout the labyrinth, though this one was different from before. This light shined almost as bright as a sun, and was the color of any normal light. Then a familiar voice came from the light.
"I can assure all of you that you are no longer normal magical girls." The girls and Kamina knew that voice all too well. It was the Anti-Spiral. "Your Soul Gems have been exposed to too much Spiral power, and have thus shattered. The power of the Spiral has now been invested throughout your bodies. You are all pure Spiral life-forms now. However that is what will be your downfall!" Suddenly, something happened. Red lines appeared where the light was, and suddenly everyone in the room began to clutch their heads. A strange, confusing sensation began lingering throughout their heads.
"What…what is this?" Mami uttered, beginning to feel dizzy. Her view began to get more and more distorted.
"I feel…so weird…" Sayaka added, feeling the same thing.
"What…the hell….is this?" Kamina barely uttered, looking at the white light with an angry look on his face with all his might.
"A multidimensional labyrinth." The Anti-Spirals replied. "If you are willing to become Spiral life-forms, then you shall perish like Spiral life-forms! You will spend the remainder of your days in this hell of infinite possibility." The red lines then appeared to be contracting. At least that's what it looked like to them. The group began to lose all their senses of the current situation, and it got harder to fight against it with every passing second.
"No…." Homura barely uttered, fighting with all her might to stay awake. Unfortunately, she couldn't hold out against it. Only one final thought lingered in her mind before her consciousness disappeared along with everyone else's.
"Madoka…"
He was about to strike it big. Whatever happened yesterday, and whatever happens tomorrow means absolutely nothing to him. The only thing that matters now, at this very moment was his prey. He leaned down on soft patch of grass near a bush. Kamina, was about to hunt down the biggest meal they would ever eat.
"Okay Kamina, you got it in your sights." Said Yoko, who was hiding next to him as Kamina aimed down the rifle. "Shoot it!" She whispered. Kamina did so, and before they knew it, that massive boar fell on its side. Grinning, Kamina walked towards the fallen animal along with Yoko. "All right! I gotta admit, you're really getting the hang of sharpshooting Kamina!"
"You got that right!" Kamina replied, looking around at his surroundings. It was a wide-open wasteland around a watering hole in the sunset. Animals were beginning to flee the scene after hearing the gunshot, and the area slowly became quiet. It truly was a paradise, the place he was at. He didn't understand it, but all his worries were gone. It felt strange to him, but for some reason, he felt like something was taken from him, and yet he couldn't put his mind on it. He quickly looked back down on his fallen prey, and remembered what they came here for.
"Looks like you two struck it rich!" Came a deep, masculine voice. Kamina and Yoko immediately turned around. They saw a man approaching them, along with a small boy. This man was very big in stature. He had a silver ring on his arm with a diamond ornament attached to it. His hair was a slightly darker blue than Kamina's. "You'd best be proud of yourselves. We'll be having a feast tonight!" Kamina smiled softly and nodded and looked down at the fallen boar. He was right. That man was his father after all. "Come on son!" His father continued, walking towards the beast and attempting to lift it along with Yoko. "Let's get this thing back to the campsite! Simon's probably already gotten the firewood ready!"
"Right. No problem at all dad." Kamina replied.
After about a half an hour of heavy lifting, they finally made it to the campsite to where Simon was. It was in the clearing of a dense forest. By the time they got there, the moon was already in the night sky. Kamina's father went to help Simon get the campfire going. But something lingered in his mind. For whatever reason, Kamina just couldn't figure out what that nagging feeling in the back of his mind was. He looked up towards the sky. Kamina stood directly under the big ball of white light. It looked so far away. He couldn't understand it, but it felt like it was…calling to him somehow.
"Hey, are you all right?" Yoko asked, walking up to him.
"Wha?" Kamina flinched for a minute, breaking out of his trance.
"You were spacing out there for a second Kamina." Yoko continued, frowning. "That's not like you. At all."
"Sorry. It just feels like there's something on my mind for some reason." Kamina responded. "I don't get it, but I feel like something's…just not right if you get what I'm saying." He got a loud, masculine laugh as a response to that. Kamina looked and noticed his father walking towards him, along with Simon.
"Not right? What's not right is you two not joining us in eating the beast you shot down for us today Kamina!" His father replied.
"We only could have gotten this meal by coming to a place like this." Simon added, motioning towards the mutilated boar. "It's great that we finally found a place where the beastmen won't be able to find us. You were right bro! The surface is awesome!"
Kamina could only softly smile at his companions. Those feelings he felt earlier slowly faded away. The people he loved and cared for the most were right in front of him right now. Hell, he kind of felt stupid for doubting himself for a second there. This was the paradise he always wanted. There was nothing else he needed to strive for. All he needed to do was stay here with them forever.
"W-What's going on?" Madoka asked, shocked at what was happening. Behind the Anti-Spiral were images of her friends. They were all in some kind of daze. They had all stopped moving, and only looked ahead as if they were half-asleep. "What did you do to them?! What's happening?" The Anti-Spiral smiled in response.
"They are now being held prisoner in extra-dimensional space, because of you." The Anti-Spiral turned around and showed another image of what looked like some kind of tree. "Since their souls were trapped inside their Soul Gems, the magical girls could not enter the multidimensional labyrinth. It would only have worked on the two pure Spiral life-forms. Freeing their souls is what allowed this to be possible. Now they are trapped in a series of universes that are created instant to instant as they are perceived." The tree behind the Anti-Spiral appeared to grow, with more and more branches growing on it by the second. "So long as they possess intelligence, they cannot break free."
"And we assume that they will not be able to invoke Spiral energy in this state?" Said another familiar voice. Madoka turned around in shock to see, among the millions of Incubator corpses, one was standing with its tail wagging softly. The small creature was eyeing both of them.
"K-Kyubey?" Madoka uttered.
"Oh? You still live, Incubators?" The Anti-Spiral bemused.
"We won't deny that you exterminated a large portion of our race with that attack of yours, Anti-Spiral. Buy only a fool would send their entire race out to fight an opponent they do not know everything about. We now see that we ourselves are no match for you in battle. In fact, our fight with you was our last test. We must thank you for that, Anti-Spiral."
"What are you saying?"
"It wasn't our original intention, but the space-time bypass that allowed us to arrive in our sabotaged core allowed us to test one thing. You mentioned before that your kind have possessed Spiral power before correct? By facing you in battle, we were able to proceed with the final test of Spiral power's real potential. If that power could defeat us in our strongest form, then it has truly proven itself. It has even done something we once thought was impossible. You know that all of our minds throughout our race are linked together, even without the core, correct? It's how we were able to band together and face you in battle. So it's only natural, during that one particular instant, we all felt the same thing. Even if it was for an instant, the fact remains that our race, incapable of producing emotions ourselves, all felt the emotion of despair for that one instant under you."
"Of course. Nothing can stand unbroken under our power." The Anti-Spiral replied, once again taking on an emotionless tone. "What is your point, Incubators?"
"It is clear to us now. Compared to the power of the Spiral…the system of magical girls turning into witches is completely unneeded. With the souls breaking free of their Soul Gems, we have gained far more energy than the witches would give us."
"That energy will lead to the destruction of your universe. We have warned you of this multiple times. The Spiral Nemesis will devour your universe into nothingness in one instant!" The Anti-Spiral yelled.
"Then our race shall make the halting of the Spiral Nemesis its next mission. We seek different things Anti-Spiral. The only thing you wish for is to keep this universe in a perpetual state of now. That goal will in turn, protect the universe. But it will not evolve it. That is the goal of us Incubators. Everything we do is for prolonging the life of this universe, as well as evolving it. You have rejected evolution, while the universe itself is built upon evolution. You seek the present, while we Incubators seek the future. And a universe without evolution…" Having heard enough of the Incubator's foolishness, The Anti-Spiral lifted its dark finger and readied a small red orb of energy. "…I would say is not a universe at all." After the lone Incubator finished its speech, it leapt in front of Madoka as the energy beam fired from the Anti-Spiral. Without warning, another burst of green light flashed from Madoka's Soul Gem. That light directed itself onto the Incubator, who in turn began making the "Kyu" noise that Madoka heard it say before. The light shined brighter and brighter on the Incubator, until it faded away.
But the Incubator was no longer there. Instead a new being stood in its place. It had a humanoid form whose skin was a pure white. On its head were two long ears with yellow rings floating around its ends. Its eyes were a pure red. There was no mistaking it. Madoka could hardly believe her own eyes.
"K-Kyubey….you've become a…." She uttered, finding it hard to speak.
"You took a humanoid form?" The Anti-Spiral questioned, fascinated at what just occurred in front of them. The now humanoid Incubator looked at its new body with fascination as well as the green light faded away from its body.
"It's unbelievable…" The humanoid Incubator stated. "We were able to change individual growth energy into species evolution energy. This is something that could never have been possible before. It's all clear now. Human emotions…are worth nothing compared to the power of the Spiral. Madoka!" The Incubator turned to face her. "This could not have been possible without the Spiral power and karmic destiny inside you!"
"I…I don't understand at all!" Madoka shot back. "My power…did that to you?"
But before she could question the now humanoid Incubator further, the Anti-Spiral started chuckling. It then turned into a laugh. A monstrous laugh.
"You have shown me a most interesting phenomenon, Incubator." The Anti-Spiral stated. "However, evolving was a terrible mistake." As soon as the Anti-Spiral said that, the Incubator felt something in its mind. Suddenly, it itself began to feel its own conscious slip away!
"This…can't be….We're…."
"The instant multidimensional space is perceived it is made real. You of all beings should know that better than anyone, Incubator." The Anti-Spiral replied, smiling. "Taking human form means you have forever trapped yourself. And not just you. The mindset of your entire race is linked together. With that, you immediately sealed the fate of your race to the labyrinth of multidimensional space." The humanoid Incubator then collapsed on the ground as Madoka looked in horror at it, and then at the Anti-Spiral, who in turn smiled back at her. "Almost all of the gaps have now been filled. Spiral power will never be generated from them again. The only thing left now, is to defeat you, magical girl. You are finished. All of you."
"Crap! They actually found this place!" Kamina's father shouted. At the sudden shouting, the entire group turned around. Just over the horizon were a small horde of gunmen moving towards them, whom Kamina assumed were all piloted by beastmen. "We can't stay here." Kamina's father continued. "We have to go; we don't stand a chance against them!"
The others continued to frantically run around and gather things for an attempt to escape. But amidst the pandemonium, Kamina knew something was wrong. He looked at the horde of enemies in front of him, and instinctively reached for his back, as if something should be there. There wasn't. The only thing Kamina felt was his bare back as he continued to reach for an object that wasn't there. He couldn't understand it, but seeing those enemies stirred something inside of him. He just wasn't sure what it was.
"Looks like it's gonna be a tough fight Kamina." Said a voice to his right. Kamina looked in the said direction to find another familiar face. It was his father. But something was different about him. Instead of a silver ring, he wore a gold ring with the ornament of a skull on it. He also wore a bright red cape. "What, did you lose your sword? Yeesh, you're going to piss off the village chief!"
"What the hell? Why do I have two dads?" Kamina asked. Kamina's "father" laughed in response.
"Two dads? Kamina, I thought I raised you to be smarter than that. You know full well that only one man was responsible for giving life to the Mighty Kamina!"
"Wha? I'm…not getting you at all old man! There are clearly two of you here!" Kamina shot back, pointing at the other one and back at him.
"Right son. Now, which one of us is the one whom you've looked up too all these years?" Kamina looked even more confused at that. "Which one encouraged you to roam the surface, free from the ceiling and walls, and truly live like a man?" He gestured over to the panicking group, point at the other father. "I'm sure the man you wanted to become is far different than that loser! You're in charge of your own destiny son! What is it that you truly wanted to become?" Kamina's father yelled with pride. Kamina's face immediately turned into one of shock.
"Dad…It can't be…"
"SON! Are you out of your mind?!" The other father yelled as he grabbed Kamina's hand and started dragging him away. "We need to leave now! We don't stand a chance against the beastmen! We're going to find a new place, and this time the beastmen won't find us! I'll make sure of it! We'll constantly live as the only survivors!"
"The mighty…."
"Hey son, are you listening?! You can't hope to fight against the beastmen! They are the ones who will continually trample all over us! No matter how far we go, we will never match up to to them!" The other father continued rambling.
"Kamina…"
Kamina's real father watched as Kamina began to struggle to get away from the other father's grasp. He smiled as Kamina broke free, much to the shock of his other father. The look on Kamina's face suddenly turned into one of controlled anger and determination.
"WOULD RATHER DIE THAN RUN AWAY FROM A FIGHT!" He yelled, punching the fake father in the face and into the ground. An explosion of green light then enveloped the area, devouring the gunmen in the distance. "That's the way Team Gurren rolls." He uttered. He suddenly felt something being placed on his back. He looked behind him and at his true father, putting the cape on him again, and handing him his sword.
"Son. You've become strong. Stronger than anything I could ever hope to be. What matters is the man you truly wish to become. What is the destiny that you strive for? That was an answer that we could not find in the walls of Jiiha village. I'm glad you found the courage to go to the surface Kamina. You've become a man of a high caliber!" Kamina's father said, gently.
"Yeah dad." Kamina replied, grinning. "Thanks for everything. I made sure that your efforts to go to the surface didn't go to waste. If it weren't for you, I'd still be living in the pits. Your soul was a big part of Team Dai-Gurren too dad!"
"Oh that's right! That team of yours has certainly has gotten a lot bigger hasn't it?" Kamina's father replied. "No wonder it needed a name change!" He then started laughing, and before Kamina knew it, he was laughing as well. However, this laughter only lasted a short while, before Kamina looked on towards the distance, along with his father.
"You've got friends waiting for you in this place, don't you Kamina?" Said Kamina's father, smiling softly.
"Yeah. The magical girls. Kittan. They need my help." Kamina replied, with a soft smile on his face. "Thanks for everything, dad."
Turning away from his father, Kamina held his sword up towards the sky. The sky then seemed to twist onto his sword in a spiral. Before Kamina knew it, his body began to gain armor. The red and black armor of Gurren Lagann. After taking one last look at his father, he leapt towards the sky and soared.
"Let's go! My friends!"
Mami Tomoe sat in the car with her parents as they parked beside their apartment. The drive home had been a safe, smooth one, and she was glad. She knew that her happiness was a happiness that would last for a very long time. She got out of the car, and began to walk towards the inside of her house, behind her parents. Suddenly, she noticed something.
Looking up towards the sky, she noticed a bright, green star soaring across the sky. She then looked down, and saw a familiar looking drill hanging around her neck. Suddenly, everything came back to her. She then knew she had to make a choice. Either stay in this happiness, or do what she felt was right. She looked towards the door, where her parents were waiting for her. Then she looked at the star soaring in the sky. Looking back at her parents, tears filled her eyes.
"Oh goodness…" She said to herself, wiping her tears away. "How silly of me. I know what I have to do. I'm a magical girl of justice after all!" She added as she transformed into her magical girl outfit, and joined the star in the sky.
Sayaka Miki was having the time of her life. She softly listened to the peaceful tune of Kyosuke's violin until the song finished. She was backstage, and she was looking at the crowd of people who applauded his masterful violin piece. She couldn't be happier. This is what she always desired. The smile on her face grew even larger when she saw the ring on her finger. It was the eternal proof of a future together with him. But then something told her to look towards the sky.
A bright green star streaked across it. Sayaka didn't understand it at first, but then the memories suddenly came flooding back into her. Taking another look at Kyosuke, and then at the light, she sighed to herself, and looked at the ring on her finger once again, and then at the drill that suddenly appeared and hung below her neck.
"That's right…I made a choice to move on from this dream." She stated to herself, immediately transforming into her magical girl outfit. She joined the star soaring in the sky.
"Here sis!"
Kyoko Sakura looked at the beautiful crown of flowers her sister Momo had made for her. She was in front of her family's church, with her father and mother looking at their two children playing together. Kyoko's smile had never before been bigger as she looked down at her sister, who was hugging her. But then, she too, looked up towards the sky, and noticed the bright green star moving across it. It was at that moment when her memories returned as well.
"Oh yeah…What's in the past stays in the past…" Kyoko softly uttered, looking at her happy family, and then at the drill below her neck. She then grinned, and transformed into a magical girl. She too, then joined the green star moving across the sky.
"Homura-chan! They look amazing on you!"
Homura smiled at the compliment of her best friend. She looked at the yellow ribbons that held her braided hair in place. Adjusting her red glasses, she looked at Madoka and smiled. Here she was, living her regular, everyday happy life. Madoka was with her, as her ordinary everyday friend. The one who helped her become stronger after being released from the hospital. Those were the memories that she had, and the ones she would forever softly. At least, that's what she thought, before looking out the window at the green star soaring across the blue sky, when it all flooded back into her and hit her like a train. She sadly looked back at Madoka, who smiled in return.
"I see…I was having a wonderful dream. Away from the horrors of reality. The reality that I fought against." Knowing what she had to do, she instantly transformed and joined the light in the sky, not noticing the drill appearing below her neck before doing so. She flew towards the light, where she knew would lead her to the real Madoka, who was in danger.
"Brother! Look! She's finally doing it!" Kiyal shouted.
Kittan softly grinned at his niece Anne taking her first baby steps. He had to admit, when he heard he was going to become an uncle. It didn't really sink in for him. But when it did, it was a hell of a good feeling. He watched as the baby girl walked over to him. He picked her up as his three sisters and Dayaka all smiled at him. Then he heard a noise outside. He looked outside the window, and like the Spiral Magi, his memory came flooding back into him.
"Kamina you damn bozo." Kittan uttered softly before grinning. "Who the hell do you think you are, forgetting all about me again?" Kittan looked down at the small drill that appeared below his neck and smiled. Taking one last look at his family, he flew off to join the light. It may have been just a happy dream, but he was happy to see his sisters one last time. And unbeknownst to all of them, the humanoid Incubator saw the light in another location in the labyrinth, and joined it as well.
"You waste your time struggling, magical girl." The Anti-Spiral bluntly replied, assured that victory was in its grasp once again.
"I don't care how pointless you say it is. If I am to represent hope for magical girls everywhere, then I must not give in!" Madoka shot back, firing another arrow to which the Anti-Spiral's swiftly dodged. Their long, black arm extended and once again attempted to grab Madoka by the head. Madoka only just narrowly dodged it.
"Why do you resist us so?" The Anti-Spiral's asked. "You becoming what you would have become would end up in the universe's destruction. You would even sacrifice your own existence for a temporary happiness. By siding with us, you would have become a true guardian of the universe!"
"There is no such thing as a guardian who would intentionally kill others to prevent a future that may not even come! I'll never side with you, and my friends will come! You can be one-hundred percent sure of that!"
The instant she said that, a green light briefly flashed in her Soul Gem once. Madoka noticed it and looked down at it. The Anti-Spiral noticed the flash as well. The light flashed again. And again. It kept flashing faster and faster as Madoka smiled. She knew who it was, and that they were coming soon. The light flashed even faster until finally, her Soul Gem shattered, and out came Gurren Lagann, who grew to its massive size. Madoka looked up at the giant mecha with sheer joy on her face. Kamina and Homura both came out of Gurren and Lagann respectively to greet her. Homura instantly rushed up to her in an embrace as Kamina grinned.
"Good to see that you held out kid!" Kamina stated.
"We're here to save you…Just like I promised." Homura replied softly. Madoka nodded in agreement. Suddenly, more lights came out of Madoka's soul gem, when four drills appeared and landed in front of the Anti-Spiral. In each of those drills, was one Spiral warrior. Mami. Kyoko. Sayaka. Kittan. The Anti-Spiral was in pure shock.
"Impossible! Sentient life-forms cannot escape from a multi-dimensional labyrinth!" It cried. Kamina only smiled as he put on his glasses.
"You made a huge mistake underestimating us pal! Look and be amazed! Listen and be amazed! You my friend, have the honor and terrible misfortune of facing the mighty Kamina and Team DAI-GURREN!" Kamina shouted enthusiastically as the others all mentally prepared themselves. "No matter what ceiling is thrown over our heads, we'll never retreat and never surrender! That's the way team Dai-Gurren rolls!"
The instant Kamina said that, the drills that housed the Spiral Magi and Spiral Warriors zoomed towards Gurren Lagann. A bright flash of light appeared in the massive spacial labyrinth. For a brief moment, the Anti-Spiral could have sworn they saw the image of a flaming skull with black glasses in a split-second. But they didn't focus on that as their opponents had grown big. Very big. They continued to grow, until a new giant mecha was formed in the deep labyrinth. It looked similar to Gurren Lagann, but there were major noticeable changes. The shoulder guards had become giant and had sharp blades, as well as the glasses on Gurren. The mecha had seven faces, each of them resembling that of an eagle. The mecha radiated Spiral energy that flashed different colors of red, blue, yellow, green, black, and pink.
"Even if we are trapped in a cycle of turmoil…" Homura cried out.
"Our wishes and hopes will push us onwards!" Mami called out as well.
"Even if the universe will throw ultimate despair in our way…" Sayaka screamed along with them.
"Our sheer willpower will make us who we are!" Kyoko continued for her.
"We'll be the light shining through the infinite darkness!" Madoka yelled.
"We'll continue to fight…!" Kamina cried out, before all the Spiral warriors screamed with him. "AND DEFY ALL WHO WOULD DENY US OUR PATH TO OUR OWN SALVATION!"
"PUELLA MAGI GURREN LAGANN!" Kamina screamed. That was the new mecha's name. The name that represented hope, and fighting spirit. The entire Dai-Gurren force shouted one last thing before their final battle began.
"JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK WE ARE?!"
Yeah, I'm not dead. LOL. Not only has November been a busy month for me, but this was one of the most important chapters I had to write. I had so many ideas for this chapter that I wanted to do, but unfortunately I couldn't fit in everything. In fact, I originally tried to tie this in with Gurren Lagann canon by writing a scene here, but I'll talk more about that after the fic is over.
Also, I noticed some mistakes that I missed in some early chapters, so you can expect me to go back and correct some of those once I finish the fic.
I'll try and get the next chapter uploaded before Christmas, but no promises, seeing as I'm really busy. But don't you worry folks! This fic is almost done, and I'll see through it to the end! Just who the hell do you think I am?!
Next Chapter: Tengen Toppa!