They soon arrived at the Dragon's Gate as Nergal stood in back. "Ah...it seems even Limstella could not stop you all." Nergal said.

"There's nowhere left to run, Nergal." David said.

"You're too late anyway. The gate is already opened. I will claim the mighty quintessence of dragons. I will become stronger and move ever closer to perfection." Nergal said.

"You're...no longer human, are you?" David asked.

"It doesn't matter in the long run. I have come this far and you all shall die before me." Nergal said.

"You're joking right? You're clearly outnumbered." Pearl said.

"Oh am I?" Nergal said as appearing around him were many soldiers who resembled the now deceased Black Fang commanders.

"Lloyd and Linus Reed, Ursula… even Uhai. All of them are Morphs?" Hope asked. "That's despicable!"

"These morphs you see before you, I've given them the abilities and appearances of the people whose essences I used to craft them before the original's deaths. Well, that's not entirely true. I've made them far more powerful. This is the ideal plan for hypocrites like you. Especially you, Eliwood. You continue to regret causing harm to anyone, even enemies. However, no matter the reason, once the deed is done, it's done. Whether you enjoy it or not is irrelevant-the result is the same." Nergal said.

"It is not the same! If you feel no horror for taking someone's life... then you...you yourself are not alive!" Eliwood shouted.

"Besides...you probably don't know this but...the originals were at least twice as skilled as these fakes." Rainbow said.

"Why don't you judge for yourselves?" Nergal said, sending the morphs at them.

"Here we go, this is it!" Hope said. "Push forward to Nergal, don't let any of the Morphs stop you!"

"That was an obvious objective to start with." Hector said as he cut one of them down.

"Besides, not like we're going to lose to a bunch of fakes!" Natsu said, taking down another one.

"Seems I overestimated my soldiers' resilience. Fine then. Be prepared. You are to be witness to a power that overwhelms all!" Nergal declared.

"No...it is here where you will meet your end for all of the lives you toyed with." Eliwood said.

"There's no way out of this, Nergal. One way or another, you're gonna die here." David said.

"It will be all of you who will perish!" Nergal said, firing a bolt of magic right at them.

Eliwood blocked the magic bolt with Durandal. "David, let's end this together!" he said, charging.

"Right behind you." David said.

"I've had enough of your meddling!" Nergal said, firing at David. David, however, went into his second God Mode state as he powered through the blast.

"It's over, Nergal!" Eliwood said as he and David cross-slashed through Nergal in an X Formation.

"Why? Why must I lose? Gaa... Not like this... I will not die...like this. With my last breath... tremble...and...despair. Hwah ha ha... Ha... ha ha ha…" Nergal groaned before falling dead upon the ground.

"It's...finished." Hector said.

"At long last...all of this is over." Lyndis said.

"Hmm…" Natsu said, smelling the air. "This smell. It's like...No...We're not done yet." he said as fire streamed from the dragon's gate. "He didn't fail. I can smell a dragon coming through!" he said as three dragons emerged from the gate. "And they're all fire dragons."

"So these are dragons." Eliwood said. "Nergal's final warning… this is what he meant!"

"If we don't stop them, everything in Lycia will be burnt to ash." Athos said.

"Then we have no choice. We're going to have to defeat them ourselves." Sectonia said.

"No! You cannot fight three dragons, they'll kill you!" Athos said.

"Trust us Lord Athos, we can take care of these guys." Hope said.

"Hope, I know you like to keep a positive outlook and I would agree if it was one...but dragons aren't exactly known for being easy to take down." Jexi said.

"Then you should be glad." a voice said as Bramimond appeared before them.

"Bramimond!" Athos said.

"You...I need to borrow some of your power." Bramimond said to Leonora.

"Me? For what purpose?" Leonora asked.

"Resurrection of someone who can even things for you." Bramimond said.

"I apologize, but I'm afraid I'm incapable of that power. Besides, who would you request?" Leonora asked.

"I never said you would be the one bringing someone back." Bramimond said grabbing onto her as she felt power go into him as he held his hand out as appearing before him was a revived Ninian.

"Ninian? But that can't be. When did she have the time to…" Eliwood started.

"There is much about me you know nothing of. Now, girl with the exalted blood of dragons. Use that power to appease them." Bramimond said.

"But...my power is…" Ninian said.

"Can you not feel it? Your power returning?" Bramimond said.

"…What? …Ah… …Yes… … … … …I will try." Ninian said. "Fimbulvetr!" she shouted as the ice spell struck and killed two of the three dragons. "No more. That's...enough."

"Wow!" Bow said before Ninian fainted.

"One dragon still remains. Leave the girl to me. I shall tend to her." Bramimond said, collecting her.

"Well...like I was saying. One dragon...we can definitely handle that." Jexi said. "Let's put an end to this...once and for all!"

"Charge!" Adora called as the heroes attacked the dragon, to which the legendary beast breathed fire at them.

"This beast...has breathed its last!" Eliwood shouted as they pushed against the large dragon before Eliwood, Lyndis and Hector jumped up and cut right through the beast as it gave one final deafening roar before falling before them all.

"Whew. It's finally over." Hope said.

"Yep...looks like it." Jexi said, noticing the heroes clad in a film of light.

"Well, it looks like this is it, guys. It's been a crazy ride, but I'm glad we journeyed with you all." David said.

"Same with us. May our paths cross again someday." Eliwood said.

"Well done, all of you." a voice said as Elbert's spirit appeared from Leonora.

"Father…" Eliwood said.

"Eliwood, my son. I am terribly sorry for putting you all through all of this." Elbert said.

"Its...okay." Eliwood said. "I'm just glad you will live on in a new life." Eliwood said.

"You hear that? You better take good care of him." Hector said.

"You don't need to worry about a thing. I do not mistreat the souls I hold with me." Leonora said.

"We look forward to next time...warriors from another world." Lyndis said before they finally vanished.

"Well...did it work...or are we trapped in another year here?" Eddy asked before they saw themselves on the beach. "Yeah, we're back."

"Finally! I never thought I'd be so happy to see a beach!" ZS cheered.

"Yes. We escaped from the time trap. But...I don't understand why Homura sent us all back in time. With her abilities, she could have easily just captured me and then escaped." Madoka said.

"'Cuse me, but y'all look like ya need some explanations." a voice called out as the group turned to see a face familiar to some of them.

"Sawyer? What're you doing here?" Scarlet asked.

"Hey, you're that guy from the Ultra Hero Battle." Kaminari said.

"Hehehe. Sheriff "Sawyer" Star, Past Universe. I'd say it's nice ta meetcha again, but seems to me you've just gotten through some tough business. What say we discuss this in yer ship?" the mercenary suggested.

The Galaxy King, several minutes later…

"Anarchy Kings?" Jexi asked.

"Yep, that's their name. The association's been investigatin' 'em since the fall of one of their front companies awhile ago. They're a group that wanna take down the Color Gods and "usher a new age of peace" or somethin' like that." Sawyer explained.

"I see. That would explain how they know about Madoka but why target us? Last we checked, we had nothing to do with any of this." Eijiro said.

"From what we've learned, these guys worship these guys called "Anti-Gods", a group of deities that can defeat the Color Gods...and apparently, yer group's a dead ringer for 'em. The Kings see y'all as an insult to their masters, puppets created in their image by the Color Gods. They're...not exactly sane, and that's what makes 'em dangerous."

"Give me a break… How are we expected to take any of this seriously?" David asked.

"Anti-Gods? Well...then they're following fake rumors. Because these Anti-Gods they believe in...they don't exist." Madoka said.

"Exactly. It's all just one big propaganda. Anyone who falls for that doesn't have a will of their own to be swayed by that so easily." David said.

"Yeah. And ah guess these four keys they're huntin' after to unleash them are a myth too?" Sawyer said as Madoka suddenly dropped her cup as it broke.

"Whoa, hey, Madoka? You okay?" David asked.

"The Anti-Gods don't exist but...those keys...they do unlock something that could be much more dangerous than those gods they believe in." Madoka said.

"*sigh* So I guess we're gonna end up getting involved in this, anyway." David said.

"David, what's up with you?" Hope asked.

"I don't know… I just don't think there's really a point to anything those guys are doing. I… I just don't have it in me to take anything he said seriously. I feel like something else is really going on." David said.

"Maybe, but Ah really don't wanna see what those keys unlock." Sawyer said. "That's why y'all gotta get those keys first."

"I know two gods who hid two of the keys: Yellow and Crimson." Madoka said.

"So the first two keys are hidden in the Warrior and Hero universes." Hope said.

"I can contact them and get an idea of where the keys are located." Madoka said.

It was a little later as Madoka contacted Yellow first.

"Ah. Pink...and other great warriors. It's been far too long." Yellow said.

"Yellow. I need to know...the keys you all hid long ago...where did you hide yours?" Madoka asked.

"I hid it on a world that repeats a certain history. One that involves...pirates." Yellow said.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." David said.

"What's wrong? You don't seem that interested in going." Jesse said.

"Don't get me wrong. I'd love to jump at the chance to see it all for myself. It's just that one point I'll have to meet...him." David said.

"Ace." Hope said. "I know what you're nervous about. We've all seen how he….dies."

"And you've warned us that you may lose control when it happens." Ichiro said

"That's right. And after tangling with Nergal, I'm afraid I'll end up being pushed to the edge. If that were to happen, I trust that you all know what to do." David said.

"...Yes. We'll do whatever it takes...we promise." Mark said.

"Jexi, it's understandable if you want to head to the warrior universe first." Hope said. "I'm just worried because of David."

"Hope...I don't show favoritism. But...if something like that starts to happen in front of him...I'll just have to beat him to the punch and relieve his despair!" Jexi shouted. "I've seen that event happen twice now. Seeing it a third...it would still sting but...I'm not going to do nothing this time."

Hope looked at Jexi and smiled. "You know what? Me neither. I'm not gonna just stand by and watch as one of my best friends falls into rage. I've Witnessed that event twice too, and one of those times, I stood up for Ace. So… I'll do it too. I'll face that despair with you, Jexi!"

"This is the first time I'll see this...but even so, I won't be hesitant! We'll face that despair...and overcome it together!" Mark declared.

Hope looked to David. "So David.. What do you say?"

"Everyone… I understand your intentions, but you don't have to go through all of that for my sake. I've already done so much for you all." David said.

"Which is why we're doing this, David. You've helped so many, including us. Now it's our turn to help you." Hope said.

"You've always been the one to pick up the slack when the rest of us don't put in enough effort so...it's time for us to carry the weight we put on you and your team." Jexi said.

"But more than any of that...you're our friend." Mark said. "We never leave our friends when they're in need. Never."

"Everyone...thank you." David said. "Now, let's get going. That first key isn't going to salvage itself.""

"You got it." Hope said. "We'll have to keep Luffy and the others here while we're in the other Great Pirate Era."

"Yeah. Still...this is gonna be fun." Jexi said.

To be continued...