Super Robot Wars U: Deluxe Edition

by Hero-of-Winds

My most epic tale returns with more content! And fewer spelling/grammar/paragraph/continuity errors (hopefully)! "There are two constants in the countless realities that make up the multiverse: if conditions allow, humans will inevitably come into being, and no matter what humans will never be able to stop fighting. Two worlds, one flourishing, one ruined, are testament to that."

153. Chapter 105

Sorry this one took so long – I've been getting into other games. Anyway, today we get an extended version of the fight involving Chouginga Gurren Lagann, plus a few extra things...

---

Chapter 105 – Show of Power! DREAM's Unfettered Wrath!

Ryoma, Hayato and Benkei had seemingly sacrificed themselves, but it was worth it – the Chouginga Dai-Gurren had escaped the Death Spiral Field, and transformed into Chouginga Gurren Lagann. And with the deaths of Jeremiah, Four, Mari, Master Asia, and Gai Daigoji fresh in his mind, Simon's resolve blazed as never before.

The planet-sized colossus raised one of its hands, which sprouted drills from its fingertips. It then rocketed up at the nearest Ashtanga and grabbed one of its faces in a manner not unlike God Gundam did.

"We'll show you the power...OF MANKIIIIIIIIIIIIND!"

Chouginga Gurren Lagann crushed the face, causing it to explode spectacularly.

"Now THAT's a real God Finger!" Chibodee cheered, excited that the tables had now turned in DREAM's favor.

"Hold it, we've got more enemies incoming!"

Numerous Ashtanga-sized Seraphs floated in from golden Thresholds and hastened to the side of the black battleships. In unison, the Atik Yomin and Anti-Spiral ships fired massive energy beams at their single foe...but it was protected by a massive barrier much like those of the Ashtangas themselves, only far stronger. Meanwhile, a few other full-sized Ashtangas began to grab nearby planetoids and began to toss them at Chouginga Gurren Lagann, heedless to the dispersion of their atmospheres.

"Now they're throwing planets at us?!" Mylene exclaimed. Simon, however, wasn't the least bit intimidated.

"Captain, it looks like a powerful Spiral field is completely neutralizing the enemy attacks!" one of the crew exclaimed.

"Of course it is!" Simon cried defiantly. "As if little pebbles like those are gonna be enough...to STOP US!"

The sunglasses on Chouginga Gurren Lagann suddenly detached from their owner and immediately transformed into a boomerang shape, which the colossus grabbed.

"GURREN BOOMERANG!"

The machine channeled Spiral Power into its weapon and wound up for a massive throw.

"CHOUGINGA...DAI! SETSU! DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!"

It threw the boomerang with stupendous force, and it spun like a saw blade, slicing several Ashtangas and Seraphs in twain, causing them to explode as well.

"Is this Simon's true power?!" Haman exclaimed, awestruck at how easily the planet-sized colossus was dealing with these foes that been all but untouchable a short while ago.

"Incredible..." Char gasped. His father, Zeon Zum Deikun, couldn't have possibly imagined a human like Simon when he first came up with his Newtype theory...a human with the power of a god. He then turned and saw the gigantic Space Gunmen leap out and fire off numerous beams and artillery rounds, taking out a significant portion of the Anti-Spiral fleet.

In response to this, several Ashtangas suddenly let out a monstrous, hissing cry and fired a swarm of missiles, while two Seraphs unleashed a number of white light orbs. But Simon confidently braced himself.

"I told you before," Simon cried; "There's no way that...Ggh?!"

Unexpectedly, the missiles somehow passed straight through the field as if it wasn't even there and struck with their full might, though the colossus was only staggered.

"We've been hit?!" Dayakka exclaimed, baffled to no end by this seemingly impossible occurrence; "What's the status of the shields?"

"They're holding steady!" one of the crew replied; "Our readout says they're still blocking the Anti-Spirals' shots completely!"

"But they're obviously hitting us!" Gimmy called out - the entire Dai-Gurren Brigade had been teleported to Chouginga Gurren Lagann's bridge during its transformation.

"They're using probability fluctuation shells to negate our chances of blocking," Lordgenome explained grimly.

"They can even mess with probabilities?!" Darry gasped. "But...isn't that the domain of the gods?"

"This still isn't the full extent of what Atik Yomin and the Anti-Spiral can do," Enoch said rather nonchalantly from within Neo Granlif. "Even now, they're holding back."

"So, you would sacrifice your own to continue forward?" the voice of the Anti-Spiral boomed once more as a great light formed not too far from the massive weapon; "As we expected - it is exactly what you people of the Sephirot have done in the past - your death instinct drives you to evolve, no matter the cost. Because of that, you pose a threat to the infinite realities and must be destroyed."

"You think we'd accept extinction just because of bullcrap like that?!" Simon retorted.

"Then see for yourselves," the Anti-Spiral said ominously; "The direction the countless universes are headed because of you..."

"Man, I wish I had some popcorn right now," Izumi quipped as the light engulfed them all...

---

Spiral Power and the other energies of the Sephirot do not simply induce evolution - they are the very energies that keep everything in creation together. As a species evolves, it gathers more energy into itself.

However, energy must eventually flow from areas of high density to areas with lower density. As the species gathers more power, its death instinct, the need to disperse that energy, grows stronger and stronger. Eventually, they cannot resist it anymore, and they destroy themselves.

But you humans...you continue to deny it - and by denying your species its desire, you cause your energy to escalate...possibly beyond amounts sufficient to destroy your home universe. If left unchecked, your species will draw more and more realities into yourselves. Eventually even the Great God will be consumed in your lust for evolution...and should that happen, the resulting dimensional anomaly will devour all creation, and only nothingness shall remain.

That is the true Spiral Nemesis...

"...Damn it...that's...I don't believe it..." Simon gasped, his eyes bloodshot, his face sweaty and his body shaking...as if this whole lecture was physically painful for him to hear. The digger had heard a similar diatribe before, but there had been no mention of man's death instinct, nor anything about mankind consuming the Great God.

"Simon, he's lying!" Viral shouted. "Don't listen to his garbage!"

"No...the Anti-Spiral is telling the unvarnished truth," Lordgenome said, leering at the light; "And Simon understands this fact instinctively. All who come to wield vast amounts of Sephirotic energies know this better than anyone."

"It is true," Go said grimly. "Ryoma and the Getter Team knew it as well."

"I could see that happening as well," Koji said uneasily, feeling a twinge of guilt coming from Mazinkaiser.

"But there is another truth," Lordgenome then said. "And it is that Nia is out there waiting for you."

Simon immediately shook off his distress as he remembered the whole reason for coming here.

"She is struggling to maintain her physical form," the Spiral King continued; "All to ensure that the people of the Sephirot and our two Earths will not be destroyed."

"Yeah...that's right!" he cried as his resolve blazed once more; "You're absolutely right!"

Chouginga Gurren Lagann surged with still more power as numerous drills extended from its body.

"What foolishness," the Anti-Spiral said contemptuously; "This is but another manifestation of the death instinct - the fleeting emotion known as love is but a desire to unite with another soul. You would risk destroying all creation for that?"

"No!" Simon replied defiantly; "We'll save them...Nia...our universes...the great god...we'll protect them all!"

"We don't want to live in such fear of a tomorrow that might never be that it prevents us from acting right now!" Zero bellowed, riled up by Simon's words.

"Being forced to choose between two evils isn't how we do things!" Lacus added, her heart swelling with resolve.

"We make our own choices, and carve our own way to the future!" Taiga roared, his heart blazing with courage.

"THAT'S the way DREAM rolls!" Simon finally cried. The numerous drills extending from Chouginga Gurren Lagann's body suddenly shot outward in a manner not unlike sharp tentacles. However, the remaining Ashtangas and Seraphs retreated into Thresholds, leaving their opponent alone in the pocket reality.

"The enemies are retreating into some sort of Threshold!" one of the bridge crew replied.

"Be careful," Lordgenome warned; "They're using a Random Schrodinger Warp to sneak up on us."

"Whaaaaat?!" Kouji exclaimed. "Just hearing you say that makes my head hurt!"

"They're using multidimensional probability variation to approach us from multiple points on the time axis," Ruri chimed in.

"Layman's terms, man, layman's terms!" Tetsuya said, utterly befuddled by Lordgenome's explanation.

"Who cares?!" Boss yelled. "Just blow 'em to BIIIIITS!"

"Affirmative," Lordgenome said with a twinge of eagerness in his voice. "Preparing to fire on all possible entry points along space and time axes."

As he said this, numerous smaller drills extended from the first set of drills that Chouginga Gurren Lagann had extended. The tips of these drills opened up, revealing charging green energy.

"Calculating probability space of enemy reappearance...near past -10, near future +8."

"Found 'em!" Viral said excitedly as he viewed a screen full of blinking dots; "Their numbers are off the charts!"

"Will the main cannons work?" Dayakka asked, still confused by all this.

"I dunno, but I say we teach 'em a lesson about just how determined DREAM can be!" Yoko said, grabbing hold of a trigger.

"The lady's right!" Gimmy said excitedly as he took hold of another trigger. "Maelstrom Cannon, ready to fire!"

"Megavortex Cannon, standing by!" Darry chirped as she gripped a third one.

"I am sending the data to all of you," the biocomputer chimed in as he began to upload data to DREAM's machines; "Your weapons should be able to work in a similar way once you've processed it."

"What the hell is all this?!" Hyoma exclaimed as strange data appeared on his viewscreen inside Combattler. "Chronometric levels? Planck Time Coefficients?!"

"Just ignore it...that means we've got a lock on them," Leeron said, his voice giddy with excitement; "And that we'll hit 'em dead-on no matter where OR when they appear!"

The dozens of cannons were fully charged at last, and thrummed with green Spiral power.

"LET'S DO THIS!" Simon yelled with a hot-blooded cry; "WE'LL PUNCH HOLES THROUGH THE PAST AND FUTURE ALL AT ONCE!"

As if on cue, hundreds of portals opened up all around them, but nothing was able to pass through them - Chouginga fired every last energy beam in its arsenal...and each one struck its target dead on, causing hundreds of gigantic explosions at once.

"Incredible!" Leeron swooned. "There's so much energy, it's like a galaxy is forming within our engines!" Numerous Ashtangas and Seraphs, most of them smoking from the damage they just received, dropped through more portals, and immediately started spitting out more grunts.

"Looks like they've finally taken the hint!" Tara cheered eagerly, hyped up by all these feats of hot-blooded defiance of physics; "There's nowhere for them to run or hide now!"

"Everyone, cut loose and hit 'em hard!" Simon called out to his friends. "Don't let up for a moment!"

"All units, standby for launch!" Zero ordered before he was teleported to the cockpit of the Shinkiro...

---

"GOD...RAMUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

As the screaming power of Raideen's God Voice finished off a swarm of Mugann and MP Ashtangas, Akira couldn't help but be awed at the might of the Spiral - it was filling both him and the iron god's power source with such immense levels of energy that he could use Raideen's "forbidden" attack with little or no harm to his body.

But as Akira relaxed inside his cockpit, he couldn't help but notice a blinking button on the iron god's controls that had remained off until now. He backed away from the crowd of enemies as Mazinkaiser swooped in and unleashed a Fire Blaster at a pair of Cherubs.

"That was pretty sweet, Akira! Looks like Raideen and Mazinkaiser make a great team too!''

When Akira pressed the button, a new set of carvings appeared on his viewscreen. They depicted the winged being pointing in the direction of the surviving Mu, while Raideen appeared to be turning toward them. Meanwhile, a wounded Zeus appeared to be limping toward the sinking landmass, and a giant resembling Hell King Goldon stood between Raideen and the hooded men.

"Raideen...what is this?" the iron god's pilot exclaimed; "You never showed me this before!"

"Akira, you okay in there?" Koji said, wondering why Akira had stopped fighting; "This is no time to space out!"

"So this is...what really happened?" Akira gasped as Raideen explained the events in the carving through telepathy. "The people of Mu destroyed themselves?"

"That is correct, human," a Cherub suddenly said as it barreled into the iron god. "Our lord Metatron's warning about the dangers of abusing Mutron did not fall on deaf ears; its pilot heeded our warning and turned Raideen on his creators."

"Akira! Don't listen to that thing!" Koji yelled as he turned and fired off a Photon Beam at the Cherub.

"Those scientists refused to accept the truth of the death instinct," the angel said, as if trying to demoralize Akira; "They sought to one day resume their mad uprising by sealing away Raideen until another pilot could be chosen!"

"Quiet!" Akira roared. "GOD ALPHA! RAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" Raideen let out a howl laced with psychic energy, blasting the enemy angel to bits. Somehow this triggered an Ashtanga to appear just above them.

"Even if the people of Mu did wipe themselves out," Raideen's pilot declared; "Mankind is not so weak as to simply curl up and die like that!"

He turned Raideen toward the gigantic faceship.

"GOD BIRD! CHAAAAANGE!"

Raideen shifted to its Godbird mode and began to swoop around. The Ashtanga let out a bellow and reached out with its arms to try and grab him.

"Where's the weak point?!" Akira growled as he avoided the arms. His words were answered by the Ashtanga letting out an agonizing moan as Mazinkaiser plunged its large Kaiser Blade into its side.

"Made one for ya!" Koji called back. Raideen's pilot grinned, and wheeled the Godbird around.

"CHOUJIN SET!" he cried as he made Raideen accelerate into the robot blasted straight through the Ashtanga's barrier, burrowed into its flank at the point where Koji had stabbed it, and then out the other side. The monstrosity's faces let out a silent scream before exploding...

---

"TAKE THIS! GRAN NOVA FIRE, FULL BURST!"

Neo Granlif released a torrent of beam fire and Gran Fire at a number of Atik Yomin troops and MP Ashtangas, sending a cascading, disruptive ripple through the reality's spacetime continuum as the Exogenesis Engine thrummed with energy.

This attracted the attention of an Ashtanga, which grabbed hold of a large, rocky planet roughly the size of Mars and heaved it at the white machine.

But before Janus and Tara could move to avoid it, something appeared in their way - Masakado. His body was glowing with green light, and he held out his hand to stop the oncoming planet.

"Masakado?!" Tara exclaimed.

The planet suddenly stopped moving as Masakado's power seemed to completely negate its momentum.

"It's time I pulled my weight against this enemy!" he declared. With that, Masakado dove into the planetoid, which suddenly began to twist and change as the familiar shape of the samurai's stone giant form began to form from it. However, its body quickly grew larger and larger - until it was finally about two-thirds of the size of Chouginga Gurren Lagann.

"So, this is the power of the Spiral...it's quite something!" the now planet-sized colossus laughed.

The Ashtanga responded by firing more missiles from its mouths, but the gargantuan warrior was ready for them. He drew a gigantic stone blade and readied a defensive stance. When the missiles were close enough, he swung with all his might, shooting a powerful green energy wave from his weapon. This wave cut the missiles in twain, and struck the Anti-Spiral warship, shattering its field and dizzying it.

With his next move, Masakado lurched forward.

"DEADLY STRIKE! ZANKANTOU INAZUMA JUURYOKU OTOSHI!"

With one strike, Masakado slashed the monstrosity in twain, causing another tremendous explosion.

"Wodan was always the better swordsman," Xengar chuckled. "It's a shame he used his skills for his own selfish gain in the first war."

"Wodan?" Janus asked. "Who's Wodan?"

"We never told you, did we?" Xemmey said with a knowing smile. "Masakado is actually Sanger Zonvolt's twin brother, Wodan."

"Sanger – the guy who you inherited those memories from, Xengar?" Tara said in surprise. "He never mentioned anything about a brother!" But as they took in this information, a pair of hand MP Ashtangas closed in to grab them. The two artificial intelligence programs sensed it, and quickly moved Neo Granlif away, causing the hands to grab nothing but empty space.

"Keep your eyes on the enemy, you two!" Xemmey scolded.

"How about saving the surprise reveals for when we're not fighting an army capable of devastating a solar system?" Janus quipped as he readied a Gran Claymore. Xemmey and Xengar looked at each other and grinned awkwardly.

---

"You hear me, Anti-Spiral?!" Guy screamed as Genesic GaoGaiGar, wreathed in a faint orange and green aura, plowed through dozens of Mugann and MP Ashtangas; "You aren't going to get away with this!" The rage and grief flowing through him – grief from the murder of his father at Raphael's hand - was almost turning Genesic into a savage beast as it brutally tore through the Anti-Spiral enemies.

Meanwhile, Domon saw the Zeta Gundam, Vincent and Black Selena getting hammered by blasts from two dozen Anti-Spiral troops. Akito, Kamille and Rolo were also overcome by their anger at the Anti-Spirals as they fought. While Genesic GaoGaiGar was nigh-unstoppable – almost as much as Chouginga Gurren Lagann - their machines were no Super Robots.

After ax-kicking a large Mugann in half, the Gundam Fighter turned to aid his comrades.

"CHOKYUU! HAOH! DENEI'DAAAAAN!" he cried as his machine became a blazing whirlwind of fists. He rocketed forward, smashing through the Mugann. Once they were safe, the martial artist hurried to their sides.

"Guys, try to calm down!" he called out to them. "It's making you fight recklessly!"

"Aren't you pissed?!" Akito said, almost appalled that Domon could be asking them such a thing; "Master Asia, your mentor, he..."

"Of course I'm pissed about losing our friends," Domon answered, "especially my Master! But I'm trying not to let those feelings cloud my judgment, and neither should you! Or would you make the Getter Team's sacrifice a pointless one?!"

The three other pilots looked at each other in surprise.

"That's the last thing I ever expected to hear from you, Domon," Akito said.

"You guys were pivotal in teaching me that, believe it or not," the Gundam Fighter replied. "Schwarz Bruder - no, my brother Kyoji...he may have had to explain it to me, but you taught me by example."

"We did?" Rolo exclaimed, though Akito and Kamille seemed to get it. Domon nodded. As the group finally managed to regain their cool, they saw that a pair of full-size Ashtangas were teaming up on Genesic GaoGaiGar, grabbing whatever planets, asteroids and other gigantic objects they could get their hands on.

"I think Guy needs a reminder too," Kamille said. "Let's blow those big jerks away!" The four rushed off to help the King of Braves, who was just getting smashed by a moon-sized chunk of rock.

"GEKIGAN FLAAAAAAAARE!" Akito cried as he spurred the Black Selena into a charge, his Distortion Field at maximum power. He plowed into one of the faceships via the eyes on one of its faces.

"RAAAAAAGH!" Kamille roared as Zeta Gundam became shrouded by a field of psycho energy generated by his machine's biosensor. He whipped out his beam saber and rocketed forward, and swung it once he was close enough. Its blade grew longer and wider as it did so, and it carved a deep gouge in the Ashtanga.

"UWOAAAAH!" Rolo cried as he zipped right onto the Ashtanga, and jammed his Needle Blazer into a sensitive area, causing further damage.

"That's how you do it!" Domon cheered. "Now, it's my turn!" He closed his eyes and focused his will, his Gundam once again turning a blazing gold.

"AND NOW, THE UNDEFEATED OF THE EAST'S ULTIMATE SECRET TECHNIQUE!"

The martial artist formed a sphere of blazing ki in his mecha's hands.

"SEKIHA TENKYO...GOD...FINGEEEEEEEEER!"

He fired off a massive blast that grew larger than ever before, courtesy of the Spiral Power within him. The blast turned into a gargantuan flaming Gundam hand that grabbed the Ashtanga the others had attacked.

"AND NOW," he cried as he closed his hand; "HEAT END!"

The hand squeezed, crushing the Ashtanga and causing it to rupture and explode, knocking the other one off balance and allowing Guy to get his bearings again.

"You all..." he muttered as Domon flew over to him.

"Hey, Guy – try to keep your head," the martial artist said; "A hero doesn't let himself be consumed by grief, right?"

The Evoluder smiled and felt his anger melting away, revealing the courage within.

"GOLDYMAAAARG!" he roared. Nearby, the golden mecha was bashing a Mugann away, but stopped attacking to prepare to link up with Guy.

"SYSTEM CHAAAAANGE!"

Just as before, the machine folded itself into an arm that could connect to Genesic GaoGaiGar. Guy shot off a Broken Magnum to allow the golden arm to connect.

"HAMMER CONNECT!" Guy bellowed as the Marg Hand connected to Genesic's upper arm. The hammer itself was different now – it resembled a huge claw hammer. In response, the surviving Ashtanga turned, grabbed another planetoid and heaved it at Guy.

"GOLDION...HAMMEEEEER!" Guy cried as his machine grasped the hammer, and swung it at the incoming planetoid, turning it into light with ease. It then rocketed at the Ashtanga, hammer raised high.

Father, Guy thought; Gai Daigoji...Master Asia...Four Murasame...Jeremiah Gottwald...Getter Team...all of you, lend me your strength!

Guy dodged past another thrown planet and then flew right into the front of the Ashtanga before swinging the hammer...

"HIKARI NI NAREEEEEEEEEE!"

Guy's weapon struck home, turning the colossal Anti-Spiral warship into light...

---

With everyone fired up, Mazinger ZERO was eager to come out and fight, and Kouji was happy to oblige – together, they punched and blasted their way through dozens of Mugann and MP Ashtangas. Nearby, UC Sayaka, Fudo and Dante were doing the same thing, albeit only a few at a time. However, the deaths of several members of DREAM's core forces still remained in the back of Kouji's mind.

Suddenly, a full-sized Ashtanga appeared behind UC Sayaka, which caught the Mazinger pilot's attention.

"Sayaka, look out!" he cried as the machine opened up one of its mouths and shot a huge red beam from it. Without hesitating, ZERO rocketed over to Artemis A's side, shoved it out of the way, and took the brunt of the Anti-Spiral ship's attack in its place. The blast's force was enough to somehow shatter the visor on Kouji's helmet – this caused some of the plastic to slash its wearer's face widen, starting just below his left eye all the way down to his chin. But ZERO's Regeneration Black Box quickly sealed up the wound and pulled the lost blood back in, leaving behind a ragged scar.

"Kouji!" Sayaka cried as she righted herself. But before the beam had even fully dissipated, Mazinger ZERO launched itself straight into the Ashtanga's mouth, which closed behind him. Seconds later, the black faceship's eyes bulged as it exploded in a huge fireball, courtesy of the Mazinger's deadly Breast Fire, while ZERO itself was only singed slightly. He turned to Sayaka as Dante and Fudo flew over to see if the god of demons and its partner were alright.

"Sayaka," Kouji pleaded as he cast aside his helmet and flew over to her, "try to stay away from those huge ships! I don't want to lose you too!"

"I'll be fine, Kouji," Artemis A's pilot replied, surprised by Kouji's concern. "I could have dodged that easily, thanks to your warning. But now look at you...you've got a big scar!"

"I don't think you fully understand his feelings," Dante said. "Kouji initially lost himself to ZERO just because Amon was going to...you know..."

"Dante..." Kouji murmured, remember that moment all too well.

"We demons took advantage of his feelings to draw ZERO out," the leader of the Demon Tribe said, "and it's something Psycho Jenny and I can't forgive ourselves for. Even if things worked out in the end, it was still an inexcusable act."

Sayaka shook her head, making Artemis A do the same.

"Even so," she said confidently; "I'm not going to run away from those things." Fudo and Dante grimaced, while Mazinger ZERO's pilot shook his head in confusion.

"But if I lose you..." Kouji said weakly.

"I guess that means you aren't prepared," Sayaka replied with a confident smirk. "You're not prepared to keep on fighting without me! The one who lost sight of himself when I was going to die...was you!"

Sayaka turned and spotted some Mugann and some new MP Ashtangas – ones that looked like rockets with teeth-filled mouths on the front. She drew her machine's bow and readied an arrow made of Photon Power.

"You're not mentally prepared to fight alongside me, Kouji!" she cried as she fired the arrow off. It immediately split into several dozen arrows, each of which pierced the enemies with ease, causing them all to detonate. She then turned to face her friends, her machine's arms crossed.

"But even if I were to lose you, Kouji," she said valiantly, "I wouldn't lose sight of myself!"

Kouji's confusion quickly turned to one of sheer adoration as he beheld this sight.

"Man, you really ARE my kind of woman!" he whooped as Mazinger grabbed hold of Artemis' hands. "No wonder I fell in love with you!" Sayaka grinned back. Meanwhile, Dante smiled as he thought back to the days when he and Medusa fought against the Gods...

"Main cannons to starboard!" Misato ordered as several hand-type MP Ashtangas closed in to grab the Wunder. "Don't let those Anti-Spirals get any closer!" The cannons turned and fired, blasting the black appendages away.

"Incoming enemies from below!" Midori cried suddenly; "They're..."

But she couldn't finish her sentence – a dozen Cherubs had appeared suddenly, passed through the gigantic whale skeleton's ribcage and started to attack the ship's hull directly.

You false humans and this vessel should not be here, one of the angels said; Your existence was supposed to end when your timeline was destroyed.

"Says you!" Takao yelled. "Get 'em off us, Sumire!" The woman grinned and spun the wheel, causing the Wunder to roll, throwing off the Cherubs. The ship then fired its cannons again, taking out three of them.

"They're attacking again!" Midori called out as the Cherubs started to charge up bolts of divine light.

"Raise the AT Field!" Misato shouted. "We're not gonna let these chumps do us in!" The bolts fired, but the vessel's AT Field went up in time, repelling the bolts.

Loathsome rogue Einherjar, another angel said; Return to cosmic dust. The angels then fired off solid missiles from their bodies. The missiles passed through the ship's barrier and struck it dead on.

"Damn it," Takao muttered. "More of those probability-fluctuation missiles!" However, Misato was more concerned with what the angels had just said. She also remembered that Simon had passed Mari's final words to her.

"Sumire," she muttered; "Kitakami...Tama...Suzuhara...and even you, Takao...you're all..."

"That's right," the ship's radar technician said, "everyone on this ship that you met back then are the same as the Einherjar that were created in New Arubboth. The Wunder is an Einherjar too."

"I take it there are versions of the Captain, Hyuga, Aoba, Ibuki and myself in your original timeline?" Ritsuko asked.

"Yes, but their Einherjar selves perished when we crashed into the Universal Century world back then," Tama said. Meanwhile, the Cherubs started hammering the Wunder with more bolts of divine light, even as they hurried to raise the field again.

"Our original selves died in our world's Fourth Impact," Midori said. "We're just soulless copies of what we once were, created from cosmic dust..."

"Don't say that!" a voice came over the communicator. They looked out and saw Super Evangelion Unit 01 slashing four Cherubs apart. It was wearing new gear for space and aerial combat.

"Shinji?!" Misato exclaimed.

"If you were actually made," Asuka's voice came over their communicator; "Then whoever did it must have had a reason to!"

"Asuka!" Midori exclaimed as Super Unit 02 smashed a fifth Cherub with a flying kick.

"But if your existence is an accident," she added as she whipped out her Spear of Cassius and pierced the angel with it, "then you're no different from us!"

"The fact is," Hikari chimed in as Evangelion Heurtebize took out another pair of them with a positron rifle; "Each person is a miracle!"

"The odds of your genes turning out the way they did is unbelievably small," Kensuke added as Unit 04's positron rifle blasted yet another Cherub into oblivion, "Plus, you somehow managed to hold on to your existence even after your original bodies were gone!"

"Against all odds, yer here, and yer alive!" Toji concluded as he used Unit 03's extra arms to grab and smash two more of the angels into pieces. "And dat's da simple trut' of it all!"

The Einherjar members of the Wunder crew looked at each other.

"Wow," Takato laughed; "when did those kids become such inspirational speakers?"

"I guess that's what happens when you hang out with people like our Captain and DREAM," Tama chuckled. They all turned and focused on their assigned tasks with a renewed vigor...

---

Rei had somehow gotten separated from the rest of the Evangelions, and found herself coming under attack by six Dominions, who were sending their chains out. Luckily, Cathedral Terra had given the Unit 00 F-Type some equipment for space combat, so she could make her Eva roll, dodge and weave away from the attacks. But as she dodged, the girl noticed something.

Their attacks, she thought as she narrowly avoided another chain; They're trying not to hurt me...could it be that they're actually attempting to...

But her wandering thoughts made her miss a chain wrapping around her Eva's foot. The next thing she knew, her machine was caught in the grip of five different chains – one around her neck, and one restraining each of her limbs. Then, the sixth Dominion closed in on Rei and passed through her cockpit.

Lady Nadija, your brother wishes for you to be by his side, the angel said. We shall take you to him presently. Rei tried to escape, but the chains kept her from moving her own body.

The angel reached toward the girl's chest and began to mutter ancient words in a language Rei vaguely recognized. Then she felt the angel's hand pass into her body and slowly work its way down to her crotch. She winced with great discomfort at being handled this way.

The Dominion's hand stopped at Rei's belly button, and then began to pull it out. But he was exerting a great deal of effort, as if he was trying to remove something from within her. Rei's discomfort turned to full-on pain – it felt as if the angel was trying to rip her entire ribcage out.

Fight him, Rei! Nadija's voice called out to her; Don't let them take me away! I don't want to...

But both Rei's agony and voice of Metatron's sister suddenly faded away as the angel finally yanked out a glowing, wispy sphere of white-blue light that was immediately enclosed in a cylindrical container made of energy. The Dominion then withdrew from the cockpit, leaving Rei with a feeling of awful emptiness.

And then she realized it – they had extracted Nadija's soul from her body...and that meant...

"We have what we came for," the angel said to its compatriots. "The doll is useless now." The other five Dominions then began to pull harder than before, pulling her Eva's limbs and crushing its throat, which did the same in turn to its pilot. She could only watch helplessly as Nadija's soul was taken through a Threshold, no doubt back to Eden Vital.

Thankfully, help was close at hand – in the form of Neo Granlif and Super Unit 01.

"Keep your hands off of her, you creeps!" Janus and Shinji cried simultaneously as they cut through four of the five angels with their respective swords – the ones that were restraining her arms, the one suffocating her, and the one holding her Eva's left leg. This allowed Rei to turn her rifle on the last one, and blast it to bits with a few remaining shots.

"Thank you, Shinji," Unit 00 F-Type's pilot said as her two saviors approached her to check and see if she was okay. "Thank you, big brother." However, she didn't realize that something had changed about her voice...it was droning again.

But Janus and Shinji did.

"Hey, Rei," Janus said warily, "I know you were in trouble there, but you're really sounding...listless."

"Rei, is my little sister still with you?!" Enoch asked frantically. "Please tell me..."

"I...am sorry," Rei said with a hint of sadness in her voice. "The angels...they removed Nadija's soul from me. She is most likely back with Metatron now..."

---

Metatron sat impatiently on his throne, watching the battle between DREAM and the combined forces of Atik Yomin and the Anti-Spiral. His eyes darted between different points on the screen while he mentally swung the view around, mentally tracking the position of every last soldier in the Anti-Spiral's dimension.

Just then, a heavily wounded Gabriel appeared. He sensed her arrival and turned to greet her.

"Welcome back, Gabriel," he said. "It's good to see you still in one piece."

"I wish I could say the same about my honor as a general," the icy High Seraph replied. "I can't believe I was routed by a bunch of redshirts! I could understand losing to the likes of the enemy that the Anti-Spiral's forces are engaged with, but..."

"You needn't concern yourself with that," Metatron said reassuringly, gently patting his general on the back. "What matters is that you were able to divide DREAM's core forces for a time."

"But the Spirals and their friends still defeated the Death Spiral Field," the Anti-Spiral said. "Even if it came as the result of a Devourer sacrificing itself."

Gabriel straightened up, and recalled the message that Iophiel had wanted to give her.

"Lady Iophiel told me to give you a message, my lord," she said. "She said to 'give mankind what they want'."

Metatron scoffed and shook his head.

"That's what we've been doing this whole time," he replied. "Their species desires death." But to his surprise, his subordinate shook her head.

"Maybe...maybe we've been wrong," Gabriel said, almost unsure of whether she really hadn't taken what she was about to say to heart. "Maybe it's not death they seek."

"Then what do they want?" the leader of Atik Yomin asked. But before Gabriel could answer, a Dominion appeared.

"My lord!" the lower-ranking angel said; "We've done it!" He held up the cylinder containing the light-blue sphere. Metatron's eyes widened with sheer excitement.

"You did it?" he gasped; "You actually managed to..."

Without wasting any more time, the angel leaped off his throne, snatched the cylinder from the Dominion and walked to the center of the room. In response to his thoughts, a strange tube filled with sparkling clear liquid rose from the floor. Next to it was a control console of some kind.

Within it was a girl in her early teens with long white hair, delicate features and pale skin, curled up in a fetal position. If Lordgenome or Nia had seen it, they would have recognized it as the very same kind of device that Janus had been sealed in.

"Finally..." he said, tears of joy flowing from his eyes; "Finally, I can hold you, just as you were back then..." He gently inserted the cylinder into a spot on the panel. The console hummed and whirred, then retracted the cylinder into itself. The liquid in the tube began to bubble and the console began to hum.

"Soldier," Gabriel said. "Is that..."

After a few moments, the liquid ceased bubbling and began to drain while the console let out a single beep. As the girl slowly dropped to the tube's floor, she opened her eyes.

They were bright blue.

"Big...brother?" she mumbled.

---

Elsewhere on the battlefield, Michiru was finding herself overwhelmed by a substantial number of Mugann and Principalities.

"GETTER BEAAAAAM!" she cried as Getter Q fired a pink beam from its navel at one of the Anti-Spiral grunts, destroying it instantly. But the angels and Anti-Spiral troops were hardly daunted by the loss of one of their number. They simply counterattacked, hammering the Getter robot with a barrage of beams and light bolts.

The robot survived the assault, but was battered and beaten heavily – though not quite as much as Michiru's heart over the apparent deaths of the Shin Getter team.

"Ryoma...Hayato...Benkei..." she muttered weakly. As the enemy troops prepared to finish her off, a wave of missiles crashed into them, sending many of them flying. This was quickly followed by a huge green energy blast that destroyed the rest of them

Michiru looked over and saw Shin Dragon and the Mazinger Angels heading toward her – although she immediately saw that Diana A was different...its Pilder now vaguely resembled a shrimp-like crustacean, while one of its feet was changed to a fin-like shape, and its Exceed Spear now resembled a trident.

"Looks like Diana A finally got its upgrade," Michiru said with a sniffle.

"Yeah, and it's about time, too!" Hikaru said excitedly. "Too bad this form, Marine Blue Mermaid, is technically meant for underwater missions – ol' chrome-dome Lordgenome had to modify it for space combat!" She spotted a pair of Powers closing in.

"Take this...TRIDENT MISSILE!" she cried as she aimed her trident at them. The center prong of the trident fired off and struck one of the angels dead-on. The second closed in, but was run through by Diana's new weapon for its trouble.

"Getter Q is in no condition to be fighting," Go said. "Please, Michiru, return to Shin Dragon."

"R-right," Go's genetic original said, and guided Getter Q to the colossal Getter. It landed in Shin Dragon's hand, and allowed itself to be absorbed into Shin Dragon's body.

"Sis is really taking the Shin Getter team's death hard," Kei said.

"Can you blame her?" Gai said with a sigh. "This is the second time she's lost them, remember?" Kei turned her focus to the interior of Shin Dragon, where she saw Michiru climbing out of her mecha, limping over a few steps, and then dropping to her knees and starting to wail and sob again. Kei grimaced as she felt her sister's sadness coursing through Shin Dragon and into her own mind, and realized she had to do something.

With nothing but her own will, Kei slowly willed her seat into absorbing her. She felt her consciousness drift through the colossal Getter for a while before reforming in front of Michiru.

"Sis..." she said, startling Getter Q's pilot.

"...Kei!" she exclaimed as Kei approached her. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be..." But she was cut off when her sister from another world helped her up and hugged her warmly.

"You can call me Genki, if it makes you feel any better," Kei said. "That's what our dad named me when I was born."

Michiru smiled tearfully, but shook her head.

"I can't..." she replied. "You and I aren't family."

"Of course we are!" Kei said emphatically. "In fact, I've got a great idea...when this is over, you can live with me, Go and Gai in the Universal Century world! That way, you and I can really be family! It'll be great - we can help build a better world with the Demon Tribe!"

Michiru thought about this – she had no one really left in the Celestial Calendar. Sure, there was Koji, Tetsuya, Daisuke, Sayaka, Jun and Hikaru...but the chance to be with someone from her family again...

"Okay," Michiru said; "Let's do that." Kei grinned and hugged her sister again just as something began to bulge out of the walls of the huge chamber they were in – a Getter Robo G...one of the hundreds that made up Shin Dragon. It automatically split into its component parts.

"What are you doing, Go?" the Shin Dragon pilot exclaimed.

"I'm giving Michiru the means to continue fighting," Go said, his voice echoing through the chamber. "If she truly wants to secure a future alongside us, she can use this."

"Go, I..." Michiru gasped.

"Hurry up and climb in!" Gai's voice said as Shin Dragon's body trembled from an impact; "You're still needed out there...and Kei's needed up here!" Michiru smiled again, and hurried over to her new mech, while Kei smiled and willed herself back to her place. Meanwhile, Getter Q was drawn into Shin Dragon's body.

As she climbed into the Liger machine, the woman couldn't help but feel nostalgic.

This cockpit, she thought as she quickly refamiliarized herself with the controls; It sort of smells like Hayato.

With a new feeling of resolve and courage, the last survivor of the Celestial Calendar's Saotome Institute launched out, with the Dragon and Poseidon machines following close behind. As she and the two other Getter G machines moved into formation, she let out a heroic cry...

"CHANGE, LIGER...SWITCH ON!"

---

The battle was wearing on, and DREAM was slowly getting the edge over the numerous forces of Atik Yomin and the Anti-Spiral. Without any proper commander, it seemed all but a foregone conclusion that they'd be able to overcome this foe and claim the right to advance forward.

At least, until another angel entered the fray in a burst of holy flame.

"High Seraph Michael!" Guy exclaimed, recognizing the angel from his encounter back during the war between Euro-Britannia and the EU. Dante, Fudo and Kouji all grimaced – they recognized this figure from their battles as well.

"So, DREAM...you've made it this far," the angel said with a chuckle. "And I see you've managed to change Cathedral Terra to its humanoid form again."

"It's not Cathedral Terra anymore!" Simon retorted as the planet-sized warship-turned-robot slashed an Ashtanga with the sunglasses on its chest; "It's Chouginga Gurren Lagann! And I'll be happy to show you its power!" Michael started to chuckle rather unnervingly at this comment.

"You know," the High Seraph said, "that attitude seems to be why you've really got Lord Metatron so scared."

"He'd better be!" Koji shouted. "Once we rescue Nia and deal with the Anti-Spiral, his ass is next on our kicking list!"

"Of course, if he and the Anti-Spiral agree to return Nia and stop interfering with other worlds," Suzaku commented,"then we'll be willing to let him off easy." The rest of the group nodded in agreement in varying levels of enthusiasm.

"I'm afraid that's not happening," Michael said, shaking his head and shrugging. "If anything, you're close to pushing him over the edge."

"What do you mean?" Lelouch asked.

"Michael!" Tara interrupted. "I know what you really are! You're a servant of Euzeth Gozzo, aren't you?" The High Seraph raised an eyebrow at this accusation.

"I have been Lord Metatron's striking right head for eons," the angel replied. "How can you make such an accusation? Do you have any proof?"

"Here's a thought," Ruri chimed in; "You seem awfully excited at the idea of your leader going off the deep end. Samael wanted to do the same thing by killing Iophiel while she was merged with Tara, knowing full well that Metatron would go insane with grief. And Kushiel...well, he decided to side with Euzeth when we were working to restore our worlds to normal."

Michael didn't flinch.

"I should have listened to Lucifer when he warned me about you!" Enoch chimed in. "He told me that you were a snake, whispering false words into me and Tahra's ears, telling us of mankind's absolute inability to learn from its mistakes!"

In spite of Enoch's voice sounding almost exactly like Janus', the High Seraph immediately recognized it for what it was.

"Oh...you're the soul fragment he discarded," Michael said in an almost amused tone. "I see you obtained a will of your own. Then I assume you know what Lord Metatron would do if you got him scared enough."

DREAM wasn't sure what they meant, but Enoch growled.

"The final ritual," the High Seraph said; "The ritual of tzimtzum, only with all things rather than just humans."

"What?!" everyone in DREAM exclaimed simultaneously.

"My lord is afraid that Muge Zolbados and Euzeth might have been right," Michael answered; "That the ultimate goal of every living thing is evolved enough to usurp the Great God and remake all things as it wishes."

"And you've been pushing him toward that?!" Tara cried indignantly.

"I'm only nudging him in the direction he was already inclined to go," the angel chuckled; "That's what we of Atik Yomin do. Of course, should you defeat him, there are many among you who could claim that power for yourselves."

"What do you mean?!" Kei demanded. "Are you saying we should use our power to..."

"Like hell, we will!" Simon shouted. "We're not interested in ultimate power or controlling others!"

"That's it!" Kouji shouted; "You're going down, pal!" Mazinger ZERO let out a roar in agreement, and then the rest of DREAM all began to advance on Michael, even forcing their way through the enemy lines.

"If you would come at me with all you have," Michael said as his body began to glow white, "then I shall do the same." Just as Gabriel did, his body began to grow, twist and change.

When Michael's transformation was complete, he was easily the size of fifty Earths. His form was more snake-like than humanoid, though a pair of human forearms and a human face were clearly visible; a red-orange, pointed tongue hung limply from his mouth while his ears were hideously long, its spiraling lobes adorned with spear head earrings; the cranium was covered in scales that gradually went from a light peach to a blue-green; the arms seemed to be grasping the head with their hands, which bore sharp nails of heavily tarnished gold; like with Gabriel, the arms had sparkling round jewels at the elbow; finally, a thorny crown resembling wings was attached to the back of its head, while the rest of its body, including two long tentacle-arms dotted with hooked claws, made it seem like

someone had attached a scaly green serpent to the back of his head.

"Holy crap, he's gigantic!" Athrun exclaimed.

"WARRIORS OF DREAM," the colossal angel said, his voice somehow echoing even through the vacuum; "MAKE YOUR PEACE, FOR I SHALL SEND YOU TO THE EMBRACE OF THE GREAT GOD WITH ALL DUE SPEED!"

---

Metatron was overcome with emotion as his little sister Nadija, who had died in his arms uncounted eons ago, stumbled out of the tube, not used to having a body of her own for so long. He raced over to the girl and gently scooped her into his arms.

"Nadija..." he said with a sniffle; "You have no idea...of how I've longed of this moment..."

The girl stared wide-eyed at him for a moment, and then began to look around. These surroundings were understandably unfamiliar to her. It took her a few seconds, but the girl suddenly realized what was going on.

"Big brother," she asked; "Why did you take me from Rei Ayanami's body?"

Metatron couldn't understand why she wasn't grateful – she had been a prisoner in Rei's body! Bound to a flesh doll who bore the soul of another...a cosmic fluke! But it would be easy to make her understand, he thought as he carried her up to his throne.

"I did it because I wanted us to be together again before the end," he said kindly as he gently placed her there.

"The end?" Nadija asked, dreading the answer that was coming.

"The end of everyone's misery," her brother replied, running a finger through his sister's hair; "When my plan is successful, no one will ever be sad again. There will be no fighting, no pain...and no one will have to die. Everyone will be happy."

It was then that Nadija's innocent face turned to a look of anger...and disdain. It was not the look one gave to the sibling you had doted on all your life, and the very sight of it sent a chill of doubt down the angel's spine.

"And you plan to make everyone happy by killing them?" she asked. "That's not what my big brother would do. That's not what Mama and Papa would want you to do."

Coming from anyone else, Metatron would have just brushed it off. But coming from Nadija - who had been the light of his mortal life even after he had met Tahra, made him pause. Had he really been going about this all wrong?

Then he recalled the question Gabriel was about to answer...maybe that was the key to the current conundrum.

"...Gabriel...what does Iophiel think mankind wants?"

"Lady Iophiel seemed to imply that they want to have happy, peaceful lives as mortals," Gabriel replied. "She said that by pressuring them as we have, we've only forced them to grow stronger."

Metatron blinked as he considered this answer.

It was so simple, he thought, the answer was staring at me in the face all this time, but I was too blind to see it!

"I see now," the leader of Atik Yomin said with a wide smile; "Then if it's peaceful lives they want, it's peaceful lives they'll get!"

He turned, opened his arms and spread his wings as if in benediction.

"I'll give them PARADISE!"

With Michael on the battlefield, everyone's efforts were turned to attacking him, while the Atik Yomin troops and Anti-Spiral fleet were shifted to keeping the High Seraph from being overwhelmed all at once.

The first ones to break through the line were Mazinger ZERO and Mazinkaiser.

"MAZINGER ZERO AND MAZINKAISER," the High Seraph said as he turned to face the two Mazingers, "MAZINS OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS...WHAT A WASTE OF YOUR LIMITLESS POTENTIAL, FIGHTING FOR A TINY SPECK LIKE THE EARTH SPHERE." The angel opened its mouth, causing seven huge fireballs that burned like suns to form around him. They then flew at his approaching foes, but they dodged all of them.

"If you're implying that we should try and claim the power of the Great God," Koji said, "then we say no thanks!"

"As flawed as our worlds are, we'd rather change them the old-fashioned way!" Kouji said. "That's just how we roll!" Both Mazingers let out near-infra-bass rumbles in agreement.

"PITIFUL HUMANS," the titanic angel said as he willed the fireballs to wheel back around. "YOU WIELD THE POWER OF INFINITY, YET CONTENT YOURSELF WITH NOTHING. YOU TRULY ARE A PUZZLE."

One of the fireballs struck Mazinkaiser - then the six remaining suns arranged themselves in a sort of cross, but with two of them positioned perpendicular to the other four. They then all fired beams of solar fire and radiation as Koji immediately braced himself for what was to come.

"INCINERATE! MEGIDDO'S SOLAR FLARE!" Michael roared as a massive explosion rocked Mazinkaiser. The angel smirked a bit, but when the smoke cleared, Mazinkaiser was still there, and didn't suffer nearly as much damage as Dante did, thanks to the Spiral Power augmenting Mazinkaiser's already solid armor.

"Maybe we are confusing like that," Koji chuckled as Mazinger ZERO nailed Michael between the eyes with a colossal punch that would have leveled a city with its shockwave alone.

"But what ISN'T a puzzle is the fact that we're gonna kick your ass!" Kouji cried as Mazinkaiser flew over beside him. The two Mazingers then unleashed massive whirling clouds of dust, acid and Photon Power that managed to cover Michael entirely.

"ZERO TO INFINITY...DOUBLE MAZIN WHIRLWIND!" the two yelled together. When it was over, the scales on the angel's body were somewhat burned. The two Mazingers flew off just as Michael was getting his bearings again.

Next to approach were Grendizer and Mazin Emperor G.

"CHILD OF FLEED," Michael said to Daisuke as he and Tetsuya flew in, dodging bolts of divine light that he was firing; "YOU MUST REALIZE THAT ONE DAY, MANKIND WILL DISAPPOINT YOU, CORRECT? DO YOU STILL PLAN TO CONQUER THE EARTH IF THAT SHOULD HAPPEN?"

Daisuke grimaced – how had Michael known about his last resort?

"I have nothing to say to you about that, wicked angel," he replied. Tetsuya raised an eyebrow in surprise - he had not heard anything about such a plan. However, he shook his head as if to shake off any doubts about Daisuke's goodness.

We can ask him about it later, he thought, once we've dealt with this menace.

The two Mazingers stopped and began to channel electricity into their heads. They then aimed the bolts at Michael.

"DOUBLE LIGHTNING BUSTER!"

The two bolts struck dead on, striking and searing the morphed angel's tongue. But before they could follow up, they spotted the Archangel coming under attack, and broke away to help the imperiled ship while Shin Dragon charged forward.

"SHIN DRAGON," Michael said as he shook off the worst of the bolts' aftereffects; "ONE STEP REMOVED FROM THE EMPEROR. WHY NOT EMBRACE IT?"

"Getter Emperor is not a power mankind needs," Go said as he leered at the angel. Shin Dragon rumbled just within the low range of human hearing.

"Go, what are you talking about?" Kei asked. "What's Getter Emperor?"

"IT IS THE INEVITABLE FUTURE OF GETTER, CHILD," Michael answered. "EMBRACE IT, AND..."

"Nothing is inevitable, Michael of Atik Yomin," Go said, still maintaining his composure. "Mankind will find a way to avoid relying on Getter. But for now, Shin Dragon is needed." He then turned his attention to his friends.

"Let's hit it with everything we've got," he said.

"Right!" Gai said before pulling on his transformation lever; "CHAAAANGE, SHIN POSEIDON!" This caused Shin Dragon to change into Shin Poseidon, which immediately began to spin the three turbines on its body.

"GETTER TRIPLE CYCLONE!"

The machine generated three powerful tornadoes of Getter Rays and Spiral Power that whirled and hammered Michael with full force and started to twist and warp his massive body.

"My turn!" Kei cried as she yanked on her lever; "CHANGE, SHIN LIGEEEEER!" Shin Poseidon quickly shifted to Shin Liger, which immediately rocketed forward.

"DRILL MISSILE!" she yelled, firing off the drill on the mech's front. This burrowed into one of the red jewels on Michael's arms. Finally, Go silently yanked his lever, causing Shin Liger to change back into Shin Dragon. Getter energy immediately began to froth in the gigantic mech's mouth as it prepared to unleash a tremendous blast.

"GETTER...BEEEEEEEEEEAM!"

Michael raised a barrier to try and repel the blast that burst from Shin Dragon's mouth, but he couldn't get it up in time, and found himself being pushed back. However, a pair of Ashtangas rushed to his aid by placing themselves in the beam's path, with one of them sacrificing themselves in the process. The other fired off a salvo of probability-nullification missiles, forcing Shin Dragon to fall back.

As the High Seraph regained his bearings, he spotted Genesic GaoGaiGar headed toward him, with Goldymarg close at hand.

"WE MEET AGAIN, GUY SHISHIOH," Michael said.

"Yes," Guy said; "We haven't seen each other since that day in the EU. But since then, the G-Stone has realized its true potential!" Galeon let out a roar that made the entire dimension shake.

"INDEED," the High Seraph said as he prepared to unleash another Megiddo's Solar Flare; "AND THAT POWER IS QUITE SOMETHING. WOULD YOU USE IT TO RESHAPE ALL THINGS?" But as he launched the fireballs, Guy quickly held up Genesic's hand.

"No!" he cried. With astonishing ease, the Evoluder managed to block all six fireballs before pressing on. "The realities are as they are! I only wield Genesic's power to protect my friends and the worlds we love!" As if that were a signal, Goldymarg flew in and against shifted to the Marg Hand mode.

"CRUSHER CONNECT!" Guy cried as he grabbed the improved Goldion Hammer and held it over his head. "GOLDION...CRUSHEEEEEEEEEEER!"

As it did in the initial encounter, the hammer's head, formed entirely of energy, grew to enormous size, though not quite enough to be larger than Michael. As Guy prepared to swing, he let out a heroic cry:

"Michael of Atik Yomin...HIKARI NI NAREEEEEEEEE!"

The hammer connected with the High Seraph's arms, and began converting them into light as Michael moaned in agony. But then, with a burst of sheer will, the angel managed to blow Genesic GaoGaiGar back with a wave of pure force, preventing the attack from wiping him out completely.

As Guy righted himself after the tremendous attack, the Battle 7, Gamlin, Max, Milia and Fire Bomber swooped in to try their luck with the mighty angel.

"FIRE BOMBER," Michael rumbled as he fired off several bolts of divine light; "YOU DON'T FULLY UNDERSTAND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ANIMA SPIRITIA, DO YOU?"

"Of course we do!" Mylene said; "It's a holy melody created to purify the corrupt and strengthen the human spirit!"

"It's a tool perfectly situated for dealing with the likes of you!" Gamlin said.

"We Zentradi were granted its power by our creators for the sole purpose of defeating you," Milia said.

"Now, it's time to fulfill our race's ancient duty," Exsedol chimed in.

"IT IS A POWER NOT MEANT FOR HUMAN USE," the angel replied. "BUT SHE WHO SINGS THE MYTH TAUGHT IT TO ZYFLUD. THE ONE I SERVE CANNOT ABIDE THAT."

"She Who Sings The Myth..." Basara muttered, as if he had heard that term before.

"That doesn't make sense," Max said, shaking his head in bewilderment; "Euzeth tried to use the Hymn of the Sabbath Light to..."

Michael's eyes flashed wickedly.

"IT SEEMS I'VE SAID TOO MUCH," he bellowed; "DIE, AND RETURN TO THE GREAT GOD!" He opened his mouth and charged up a huge amount of divine energy within it.

"Raise the Pinpoint Barrier!" Exsedol ordered as the beam fired. The ship, already in humanoid form, raised its shield just in time to repel much of the force while Fire Bomber and the other VFs dodged out of the way.

"A huge blast, huh?" Max said. "Well, two can play at that game!" With that, he contacted the ship.

"Let's try the Sound Buster Cannon again," he said. "Fire Bomber, get to the turret of the Macross Cannon. We'll cover you!" Mylene felt uneasy – the last time they had used it, it had only made things worse.

"No worries," Sivil said. "No Spiritia Black Hole this time – not with Anima Spiritia to help." Feeling reassured, Fire Bomber's bassist joined her band-mates as they landed atop the Macross Cannon. Meanwhile, Gamlin, Max and Milia flew together.

"Let's use our reaction bombs," Max said; "We can't afford to hold back against an enemy of this caliber, and we don't have to worry about civilian casualties here." With that, the three VFs fired off single missiles, which struck Michael's face with the sheer force of nuclear warheads – enough to momentarily stun the angel.

At the tip of the cannon, Fire Bomber began to play a rousing round of Dynamite Explosion, which caused the cannon to charge far faster than normal.

"The line of fire is clear, sir, and cannon charge is at 150%," one of the bridge crew said. Exsedol cleared his throat as he prepared to shout.

"SOUND BUSTER CANNON...FIRE!"

The Sound-Energy-enhanced blast ripped from the Macross Cannon's barrel and tore through several dozen MP Ashtangas as well as through Michael himself. It was enough to force Michael backward again, though he was able to stop his flight.

As he regained his bearings, he was suddenly hit from behind by a pair of spherical hadron blasts, courtesy of the Shinkiro.

"LELOUCH VI BRITANNIA...THE FIRST BEARER OF THE ZERO..." he growled as he whirled around, trying to swipe the Knightmare with his great tail.

"Scheming angel!" Lelouch cried as he managed to dodge the massive limb; "Your time has come!"

"YOU HAD A CHANCE TO RESHAPE REALITY TO HOW YOU WISHED IT," Michael said; "YET YOU WASTED IT ON MAINTAINING THE STATUS QUO. WHY?"

"The status quo HAS been changed, Michael," Lelouch replied proudly. "The people of the Celestial Calendar have begun to look to the future rather than the past."

"YOU HAVE CHANGED NOTHING," the angel replied as he spun his tail again. "ALL YOU HAVE DONE IS REPLACED ONE SET OF RULERS WITH ANOTHER. YOU HAVE FAILED TO CHANGE MANKIND'S FUNDAMENTAL NATURE."

Lelouch smirked when he heard , it was not he who responded, but Nunnally, who came streaking in to deliver a great slash that cleaved part of the tail off.

"You're right – our work to make a better world has only begun," she said as the Code Geass whirled its blade and pointed it at Michael dramatically; "But if Metatron has his way, all of the blood we've shed will have been for nothing! That's why we fight you!"

"SO, SECOND BEARER," Michael growled as he turned and fired bolts of divine light at the siblings; "YOU CHOOSE TO WASTE THE ZERO'S LIMITLESS POWER ON A TINY FRACTION OF SPACE AS WELL?"

"It's not a waste!" Nunnally replied as she dodged them while Lelouch shielded himself with the Shinkiro's barrier; "If this power helps me protect the people and the world I care about, then it's worth it!"

Michael chuckled as he sent several hundred Mugann and MP Ashtangas at the pair. Just then, Suzaku came streaking in, and quickly began to cleave his way through the swarm with his MVS swords to get a crack at the High Seraph himself.

"SUZAKU KURURUGI...ACCURSED BOY," Michael boomed as he unleashed yet more bolts of divine light; "HOW DO YOU LIVE WITH YOUR SINS? WHY DID YOU STOP LELOUCH AND NUNNALLY FROM RESHAPING REALITY TO MAKE IT BETTER?!"

"Better by whose standards?" Suzaku retorted; "Yours? If a world controlled by the whims of a single person is what you view as 'better', then there really IS no way we can compromise!" After passing through the swarm of Anti-Spiral troops, he rushed in at full speed, slashing Michael all over the place at breakneck speed before switching to his VARIS rifle and taking aim.

"Stop messing with other worlds!" he cried before firing. The bolt streaked through space and struck Michael's left eye with surprising force.

"That's the way you do it, Suzaku!" Kallen chimed in as she and the Ikaruga closed in from behind.

"BLACK KNIGHTS," the High Seraph boomed as Kallen fired off several Radiation Wave Blasts from the Guren's energy claw; "YOUR BLIND LOYALTY TO THAT MAN AND HIS FOOLISH IDEALS WILL BE THE DEATH OF YOU OF ALL. WHY NOT SAVE YOURSELF THE TROUBLE AND PERISH NOW?"

"Damned if we do, damned if we don't, is it?" Ohgi replied. "That's not how DREAM does things! We refuse to accept the idea of a no-win situation!"

"Preach it, Ohgi!" Tamaki whooped.

"Ready the hadron cannons!" Zero's deputy ordered. "Full charge!"

"YOU WON'T GET A CHANCE TO FIRE!" Michael roared as he opened his mouth to fire off another Megiddo's Solar Flare. This time, however, he was interrupted by a hail of Spiral-enhanced bullets from a number of Alexander Drones as well as from the Alexander Liberte's and Esperes' assault rifles.

"Go ahead and charge up, you guys!" Leila called out. "We'll hold him off until then!"

"WE MEET AGAIN, LEILA BREISGAU," the angel chuckled. "IF NOT FOR YOU, MY LORD'S PLANS WOULD HAVE SUCCEEDED." But it wasn't Leila who answered him, but Hyuga.

"Who are you talking about?" the Alexander Liberte's pilot said; "Metatron? Euzeth? Or someone else?"

"Akito?" Leila exclaimed.

"Call it a hunch," her subordinate said as he drew his blade; "But I think he's a servant of an enemy that's yet to show itself."

"THINK WHAT YOU WILL," Michael replied as he swiped with his tail. "I'LL DESTROY YOU ALL THE SAME!" The attack demolished most of the drones, but Hyuga and Leila were both able to avoid the attack by dodging in opposite directions. But as the tail passed, Hyuga fired his mech's slash haken, which found a gap in between two of the dragon tail's scales, and pulled himself onto the gargantuan angel. He then jammed his blade into the tail, and carved out a significant chunk of it. Meanwhile, Leila continued to pepper Michael's face with bullets.

"Clear out, you two!" Ohgi called out to them after a few moments; "We're ready to fire!"

The two sped away just as the Ikaruga's cannons fired, pounding Michael with Radiant Wave energy just as Final Dancougar approached. A quartet of Cherubs flew after the Ikaruga, forcing it to change its target.

"CYBER BEAST FORCE...WIELDERS OF INSTINCT'S MIGHT," Michael said as he turned to face the combined robot; "WHY NOT WIELD THAT POWER TO CLAIM THE POWER OF THE GREAT GOD?"

"You're the same as Muge Zolbados, aren't you?" Masato said indignantly; "You think life's just a big game!"

"THAT'S RIGHT, MASATO SHIKUBU," the angel chuckled as he fired yet more bolts of divine light; "IT'S NOTHING BUT A GAME...BUT ONE WITH THE ULTIMATE PRIZE FOR THE VICTOR!"

"Well, we're not interested in winning," Ryo replied as Dancougar dodged the shining projectiles, "if everything else suffers as a result!"

"THERE ARE WINNERS AND LOSERS IN EVERY SCENARIO," the High Seraph replied; "THAT IS AN UNALTERABLE LAW OF THE COSMOS."

"Well, if there HAVE to be losers," Sara shot back; "We'll make sure that YOU'RE one of them!"

"You said it, Sara!" Shinobu cried. "YAATE YARUZE!" With that, Final Dancougar drew its sword, even as it began to glow blazing pink.

"Give us the likeness of love's soul," the five pilots chanted in unison; "The blade that cleaves the dark world!" The sword's glow started to lengthen drastically, turning into a massive energy blade.

"FINAL DANKUU KOUGA KEN!" the Cyber Beast Force's leader cried as Final Dancougar swung the blade; "YAATE YARUZE!"

The sword came down, slicing another deep gouge into Michael's face. He let out a roar, causing spacetime to ripple in such a way that it sent Dancougar spiraling away. But he didn't get long to rest as Amuro and the Ra Cailum approached.

"AMURO RAY," the High Seraph snarled as he turned and shot off some fireballs at Hi-Nu Gundam; "YOU WHO EMBODY THE NAME OF 'GUNDAM'...YOU WASTE YOUR POTENTIAL."

"I think I've used it plenty well, thank you very much," Amuro retorted as he dodged the flaming spheres, whipped out the Hi-Nu's bazooka and fired off a shot. The Ra Cailum added its own guns to the mix.

"YOUR WORLD HAS FALLEN TO DEMONS!" Michael laughed; "AND MANKIND TEETERS ON THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION! HOW CAN YOU CALL THAT USING IT WELL?!" Amuro winced a bit – he could understand the angel's point, and a twinge of doubt came to his mind. Hi-Nu seemed to respond by reducing its output somewhat.

"Call me morbid," Bright interrupted; "But I'm thankful that things turned out like this!"

"Bright..." Amuro gasped.

"The people who corrupted our system – people like Wong Yunfat, the Titans, and the self-centered rich residents of the Colony Nations...they're all gone, thanks to the Demon Tribe," Bright proclaimed; "While this was hardly the optimal outcome, mankind has been given a chance to start again, and avoid the mistakes of the past!"

Bright's optimism re-awoke Amuro's drive to keep fighting – for he could see that his old friend was right as well.

"YOU ARE TRULY DELUSIONAL, HUMAN," Michael replied with a scoff; "YOU ONLY SAY THAT BECAUSE YOUR WIFE AND CHILDREN YET LIVE." But these words only angered the Newtype ace.

"Be quiet!" Amuro shouted; "I won't let anyone call my good friend delusional, especially not the likes of you!"

"Send out the Hyper Mega Bazooka Launcher!" Bright commanded, as if sensing his old friend's righteous fury needed an outlet. The huge gun shot off the ship's catapult, and Hi-Nu Gundam caught it and quickly took aim. With Spiral Power backing it up, the cannon charged in no time.

"There!" the Newtype ace cried; "I'll pierce through you with this!" With that, he fired the cannon, sending out a massive beam of pink and green energy, blasting a hole in Michael's left arm, causing its grip to slacken. The High Seraph fired more bolts of divine light, and nearly scored a hit against Amuro, had he not quickly used his Fin Funnels to create a barrier to block the attack.

Next to approach was Neo Granlif, who sent out some Gran Bits.

"SO, THIS IS WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN..." Michael chuckled as he shot some divine bolts of light at the combined robot.

"What do you mean?" Tara asked as she made Neo Granlif's light wings cover the machine, reducing the damage of Michael's attack.

"THAT WAS MEANT TO BE THE FINAL WEAPON OF THE STEEL DRAGONS," the High Seraph said; "IT'S ALMOST A SHAME IT COULDN'T BE USED BACK THEN."

"So, you knew!" Janus cried indignantly. "You knew about Euzeth's plans!"

"IT DOESN'T MATTER," Michael said."EVEN IF YOU DEFEAT ME, YOU CAN'T STOP LORD METATRON." With that, he charged up for another Megiddo's Solar Flare.

"We'll see about that!" Tara shot back. "And we'll stop YOU first!" With that, the machine began to charge up the Exogenesis Cannon.

"Quark-gluon plasma field generation complete!" Xengar bellowed after a few moments. "Exogenesis Cannon output set at 35 percent!"

"The line of fire is clear of allies!" Xemmey said. Just as Michael fired off the wave of fireballs, Neo Granlif managed to finish charging the deadly weapon.

"This is where it ends for you, Michael!" Janus cried before he and Tara let out a heroic cry together.

"EXOGENESIS CANNON, FIRE!"

The beam that was unleashed from Neo Granlif's chest was far stronger than anything that had previously been used by DREAM - unlike the shot that struck Lando, it was concentrated into a house-sized sphere that flashed every color conceivable to the human eye, and several that only their evolved eyes could see. It blazed across the void, punching through hundreds of Anti-Spiral and Atik Yomin troops before reaching Michael and exploding with enough force to send visible ripples in the fabric of spacetime that sent several Ashtangas reeling as well.

But to their amazement, Michael was still alive, though now he was clearly missing a few parts, including his tail, one of his hands, and about half of his face. Still, there was no doubt that the angel was on his last legs - as was the army, as only a smattering of angels and Mugann remained, as well as two crippled Ashtangas.

"Simon! We've worn him down!" Tara called out. "Go ahead and finish him off!"

"I'll take you up on that!" Simon replied. For a second time, Chouginga Gurren Lagann extended its drill tentacles - and managed to puncture Michael and the two remaining enemy ships at once, paralyzing them with a dose of Spiral Power. It quickly retracted the tentacles as the two drills on its shoulders suddenly shot off and stacked on one another, forming into a single huge drill. This gigantic drill then attached to the massive machine's right hand.

"Together, Viral!" Simon called out.

"CHOUGINGA!" the two pilots bellowed in unison as the massive drill began to spin.

"GIGA...DRILL...BREAAAAAAAAAAAK!"

Chouginga Gurren Lagann rocketed forward, drilling straight through the High Seraph and the two surviving Anti-Spiral ships in one move, causing the ships to explode in a fashion more spectacular than anything DREAM had yet seen. It pierced through Michael as well, and he let out a cry of agony as his body was torn apart.

Simon calmed his nerves and exhaled, gently expelling all his remaining Spiral Power. When he looked up, he saw the holographic Nia begin to fade away.

"Nia!" he cried, worried that it was too late.

"Do not worry," Lordgenome reassured him; "With the interference of the fake gone, we can warp to the real Nia's location."

"Y'know, I was kinda looking forward to giving Michael a good ass-kicking," Judau said. "Well, at least he's not going to be a threat anymore."

"Regardless," Bright said, "now we can…"

"...Wait!" a new voice called out from every direction, interrupting Bright's sentence. They all looked around for the source of the voice again.

"It's him!" Rei exclaimed. Everyone looked ahead and saw something hovering before them, with great rainbow wings of light outstretched.

"He's finally here..." Janus said, recognizing the being's aura immediately.

"Metatron!" Tetsuya called out. "So, you've decided to save us the trouble of finding you!"

But the leader of Atik Yomin made no move to attack. Instead, he started to address his foes in a calm, almost penitent manner:

"I've watched your battles up until now, and it got me thinking...is it really possible to defeat you with pure might?"

"You oughta know the answer to that, pal!" Judau replied proudly.

"Yeah...it's a big, fat, NOPE!" Boss taunted.

"You're right," Metatron said frankly, catching everyone more or less off guard; "That's essentially the conclusion I came to. But I believe we can resolve this conflict peacefully, no?"

"He's throwing in the towel?!" Kouji exclaimed.

"No way...this guy's definitely up to something," Kallen said suspiciously, leering at Metatron.

"As a being who is one of the Great God," he explained; "I have the power to grant almost any desire. What if I offered you back everything that was taken from you, whether by my designs or by fate?"

"Everything..." Lelouch gasped; As much as his reason told him to be wary, his resolve to continue the fight wavered.

"Can he really do that?" Mirallia said, thoughts of Tolle coming back to her.

"What's the catch?" Murrue asked.

"No catch," Metatron replied in an honest tone. "You'll get to live peaceful, happy lives with your friends and loved ones - your existences will be as you claim to wish them...worlds where there's no need for you to fight. It is what you want, right?"

"It does sound nice..." Char mused, thinking about being with Lalah again. Indeed, just about everyone in DREAM seemed to like the idea, if only a little bit. But that was enough for Metatron.

"It's settled then!" the angel said eagerly as his body began to glow brighter; "Go, and be with those you treasure! I release you from your burden!"

A massive flash of light filled the universe they were in, swallowing DREAM entirely.

---

When the flash of light faded, Lordgenome opened his eyes and looked around. While they were in the same place as they were before, he noticed that everyone around him was surrounded by a thin aura of light, and their gazes were vacant and empty. He then noticed that Boota had appeared, and was looking around.

"Just what is going on?" the biocomputer wondered as he looked left and right. "Could this be..."

"You're absolutely correct...their souls are trapped in a special extra-dimensional space," the voice of Metatron came. He appeared just behind Lordgenome, walking down the stairs to his left. Coming down the stairs on his right was a humanoid figure that seemed to be made of living shadow - his only features were a pair of white eyes and a thin mouth. However, his body seemed to rapidly shift between abstract patterns of dark gray and black.

"This space consist of a series of universes that are perceived from moment to moment based on their individual ideals and desires," the shadow man explained; "As opposed to the collective will of the Great God."

"As long as they possess intellect and self-awareness," Metatron concluded; "They'll never be able to escape."

"So, we meet again, Metatron," Lordgenome said, leering at the two figures. "And you must be the Anti-Spiral."

"Indeed, I am," the living shadow said; "And how sad that a legendary Spiral warrior renowned throughout the galaxy has been reduced to a mere biocomputer."

Lordgenome fumed a bit while Boota continued to leer at them.

"Of course, it's only natural," the Anti-Spiral's avatar continued smugly; "The desire for evolution compels your companions to do whatever it takes for them to achieve their goals."

"When I fought you the first time - I fought alone, merely as the general of an army," the Spiral King replied; "That is why I was defeated. But it's thanks to these people that I can face you again...they were friends, not subordinates."

"So you came all the way to this space, between the tenth and eleventh gates protecting Eden Vital, just so we could finish you off?" the Anti-Spiral chuckled. He pointed his finger at the jarred head, and it began to glow with a red energy.

"I must say, you've been quite forgiving," Lordgenome said, accepting his fate but still desiring answered. "Too forgiving, one might say."

"Oh?" Metatron asked, motioning his cohort to lower his hand.

"Why in the world would you employ such elaborate, indirect methods?" the biocomputer asked. "You both possess vast power - crushing the Spiral races would have been a trivial matter for you. And yet, you are holding back...why? "

Metatron stepped forward and leaned on the console where Lordgenome was placed.

"Like you, Lordgenome, I was once a human," the winged being answered in a pleasant, genuine tone. "Because of that, I desire nothing than for mankind to get its most heartfelt desire before it consumes itself, and everything else, in pursuing it."

"If there is a way to prevent a true Spiral Nemesis forevermore without overpowering you," the Anti-Spiral added; "We had to try it."

"So by giving them a false paradise," Lordgenome said, "you believe they will be satisfied?"

"That's my hope," he said. "Otherwise..."

With an angry mewl, Boota suddenly leaped at Metatron, making the Anti-Spiral to reflexively fire the red energy blast to protect his ally. But with an equal amount of speed, the pig-mole suddenly began to draw Spiral Power from Lordgenome and into itself through its butt, negating the energy blast.

"What?" the Anti-Spiral exclaimed.

"So this little thing was the reason they escaped the Death Spiral Machine," Metatron said with a chuckle.

But to his further surprise, Boota's form suddenly began to change - in a matter of seconds, the pig-mole had transformed into a humanoid being - he had light pink skin with magenta hair and similarly colored stripes along his body. Perched on his still mole-like nose were a pair of rounded, orange sunglasses.

"It took humanoid form?" the living shadow then said, surprised even further.

"Ah, I see...so you converted all of your individual growth energy into Spiral Power and used it to evolve," Lordgenome exclaimed, marveled by the phenomenon he had just witnessed; "But to undergo such an extreme transformation..."

"I have you to thank, Lordgenome," Boota said before turning resolutely toward his two foes, who were suddenly chuckling. With a scowl, he wreathed his right hand in Spiral Power.

"Begone! I won't let either of you lay a hand on Simon!"

Boota lunged at Metatron, who caught the attack with his right hand, and slapped the evolved pig-mole aside.

"While that was a neat trick you just did, evolving was a fatal mistake," the angel said as Simon's pet got to its feet.

"Wha..." Boota gasped before he felt his own soul being drawn into the trap. Lordgenome also found himself caught by the power, and also found his mind fading.

"By evolving, he trapped himself in the Multidimensional Labyrinth," the Anti-Spiral said smugly. "Now DREAM has lost the power of the Sephirot forever. They are finished."

"We can only hope," Metatron replied solemnly. "If they do somehow break free - I'll have no choice but to perform the final ritual...and it seems that I'll need HIM to do that."

"I'll leave that matter to you," the living shadow said; "I must continue to watch the progress on the analysis of my messenger's data." With that, he disappeared.

---

Lordgenome wasn't the only one to escape the grip of the Multidimensional Labyrinth, at least temporarily.

"Tara?! Tara, snap out of it!" Janus cried, desperately trying to break his co-pilot out of her trance as the harnesses automatically removed themselves, He looked around and saw everyone's machines floating aimlessly in space...but to his great dismay, even the Brave Corps was affected.

"Xengar! Xemmey! Masakado!" he called out. "Someone, answer me!" Suddenly, Metatron appeared before him, inside the cockpit, giving Janus a close-up look at him for the first time.

"They can't hear you from where they are," the angel said plainly. Janus stared in shock - he had heard from Lelouch, Tara and a few others that Metatron looked like him - but seeing the resemblance for himself and Enoch chilled him to the core.

"You..." he gasped.

"I'm not surprised that you're immune to the effects of the Multidimensional Labyrinth, though," Metatron said with a little smile. "You're the one who holds my soul fragment, after all..."

With one swift move, the leader of Atik Yomin closed the distance between him and Janus, and grabbed Neo Granlif's pilot by the neck. His grip was unbreakable, but loose enough that Janus' airway wasn't constricted.

"...And it's time I took back what's mine."

"Even though...you threw it away?" Janus retorted, realizing that he couldn't hope to challenge the angel in combat.

"The infinite realities work in strange ways," Metatron answered; "Come along, now."

The two disappeared into a Threshold...

---

Tara Zifell, eight years old, was always excited for Christmas. It was the one time of the year where she got to see both sides of her family. It was so exciting, in fact, that it made her want to sing as she skipped her way home from school.

"Hashire sori yo, kaze no you ni, tsukimihara wo...padoru padoruuuuuu!"

As she said the last word, Tara felt a cold tingle on her nose. She then looked up and saw flakes of white gently drifting down from the heavens…

Snow.

---

Next time...

-As our heroes live idle, tranquil lives with other versions of their friends and loved ones in the Multidimensional Labyrinth, they seem to forget that those they left behind are depending on them! Luckily, those who have worked to catch up, and those have passed from the mortal coil aren't about to give up on DREAM! But even with the Flame of Hope's help, can DREAM bring themselves reject the false paradises they're trapped in and seize the real future they've been fighting for all this time?! Find out in Chapter 106: Trapped In The Labyrinth! What We Seek Is...! Stay tuned until then, mecha fans!