Five months since Crash, Alex and Shina still haven't wound up on the next world. Alex realizes how much time has passed and worries that they might run out of time given how many artifacts they still need to find, let alone the Cosmos Drive itself.
With little much else to do in this air sphere Shina's spending most of her days sleeping. But now, uncertain of their destination, Alex wakes her up and has her reactive the aura trail.
Lucky for them the next planet is close by. Its another Earth, curiously though, Japan is completely gone here. Shina has her suspicions, and so does Alex, but they choose to wait until they get a closer look.
Once again entering the atmosphere has the trail go cold, so Alex suspects dimensional play at work here.
As they try to go to America, they're suddenly rammed by a battleship. Alex uses some magnetism to get them to walk along the side for a bit, where they find out the name of the ship is the "Super Mayship".
Shina ID's this world as the Guilty Gear world from that, and Alex dreads that news because of just WHO runs this ship.
He climbs to the top alone and finds out the ship's under attack by a massive fly Gear, a monster with reptilian and machine-like features.
He fights it for a bit, assuming victory will make it easy to get information off the ship's captain. Shina joins in soon enough with the Gunslinger Drive and together, they dispatch of the Gear.
The ship's captain thanks them and invites them in to get a reward. Alex wants to go alone, but Shina forces herself along with him.
Its inside that Alex's dread comes true, as the ship's captain, the chivalrous and manly Johnny, quickly woos Shina, to which she's barely able to muster a response.
But when it turns out Shina's underage by a year, Johnny immediately drops the charisma and treats them respectfully, saying he does genuinely want to repay them.
Alex gives Shina the stink eye for being taken in by Johnny's eight-pack and the two head further into the ship.
Alex inquires about the artifact but Johnny knows nothing about it. He then introduces his guests to his crew of Jellyfish Pirates, AKA, his family.
He tells them to relax for the moment until they can find whatever information they need. Alex decides to go to the news stations for hints on what era they're in. The presence of a young girl named May at this moment is throwing off his sense of time too.
Shina, meanwhile, uses her friendliness to get along with the Jellyfish Pirates...Except for May, who immediately suspects her of being a hussy wanting to get in Johnny's pants.
Shina quickly diffuses any suspicions by explaining why she's here. Talking about family, especially, seems to resonate with May, who is having worries about her own heritage lately...
Shina and May then quickly become friends and hang out for a little while longer.
Alex, meanwhile, continues to wait patiently for any good news to pop up. During this time Johnny slips in and decides to have a chat with him regarding Shina.
Though Alex doesn't want to hear it, Johnny has some surprisingly perceptive wisdom to offer. He suggests that Alex needs to pay more attention to Shina's emotions, as the longer their journey goes, the more she'll miss her family.
Johnny also teases Alex about having a crush on Shina, but Alex doesn't take him seriously...for the most part.
The news is then hijacked by an entity called a Valentine, specifically, the brown-skinned and stoic Ramlethal, who declares war on the entire world.
Having finally realized what time period they're in, Alex goes to Shina, who confirms that there's still no aura trail, meaning the artifact piece is likely in the Backyard.
With that in mind, the two of them decide to cut out quickly and find the "hero" of this world, Sol Badguy, to ask for his help in getting to the Backyard.
After a few days of information gathering and reconnaissance, the two find Sol and his companion Sin wandering around in Neo New York.
Against his better judgment Alex lets Shina handle talking to him. Sol tries to brush them off without a care until Sin mentions Ramlethal.
Sol gives them five minutes to say anything useful before he leaves them. Shina talks about the artifact and where they need to go: The Backyard.
Not only does the artifact's magical output put Sol on edge, but the mention of the Backyard gets him wanting to have nothing to do with their crap.
He tries to leave but in desperation, Shina calls him "Frederick", which clearly angers him. Sol then starts accusing Shina of being a "Valentine" too, citing how they can take whatever appearance they want.
When Sol's about ready to get aggressive, Alex steps in to defend Shina. Shina runs off and Sin gives chase, while Alex fights Sol to get him to calm down.
However, when it becomes clear Sol isn't possessed by the strange aura, Alex grits his teeth and charges his power, calling him a dumbass. Sol does the same.
Alex gets dangerous and starts unleashing a lot of his power that he hadn't had to use in the last two worlds. But he underestimates Sol's intelligence on multiple occasions, as the man manages to figure out how his elements work rather quickly.
Alex continues to stand against every relentless attack though, until Sol decides to throw 50% of his power into finishing Alex off with Dragon Install Sekkai, a combination move that sees him unleashing a hellish dragonic power throughout his body.
Alex's nearly burned to cinders from this move, and Sol retreats, certain he's down for the count. But Alex, gritting his teeth and painfully aware of what'll happen if he doesn't let go of his pride...Activates the seven triggers of his sword for the first time in years.
Unleashing his Phoenix Form, Alex vows to show Sol the true power of an Elemental Overlord. Sol activates his Dragon Install fully in retaliation.
Meanwhile, Sin's caught up with Shina but refuses to capture her, believing that Sol's just being a stubborn jackass like usual.
The two quickly get along and become friends. But then the eruption of Alex's Phoenix Form causes Shina's senses to go crazy. From the cover of a building, her and Sin peek out to see how the battle's escalated.
Shina's so awed by Alex's power...but also confused as to the presence of fourteen other auras around him.
Sol tries to end this in one more punch, but is baffled by the presence of Alex's soul shields. Alex grins confidently and then starts wailing on Sol, but it is very difficult to knock this stubborn bull out.
Sol also manages to quickly piece together the timing between the soul shields and, with a combination of applying force to keep Alex at bay and AoE flames, he manages to wound Alex and tear through his shields.
Throughout the battle Alex grows increasingly frustrated, his mind restrained by a lack of killing intent.
At one point Shina considers jumping in...Only to realize she's nothing in strength compared to Alex now.
Once one set of shields is down, Alex stalls for time until he can use the other set, then tries to take out Sol with one desperate attack.
Sol, impatient at this whole affair, busts out the Saint Ontario, a powerful white flame made of foreign energies that is toxic to the soul shields.
Alex loses a few shields and is starting to get pissed. In a moment of pain-induced anger, Alex is about ready to use the Blazing Overlord Fist when suddenly...
Their battle is stopped by the arrival of the King of Illyria, Ky Kiske, one of Sol's...ahem, "friends".
Alex thinks this is bullshit but the fight does just simply end there, nothing he can do about it, not even cuss Sol out, as Shina comes walking in to set him straight.
With Ky here they can still focus on their mission, as capturing and interrogating Ramlethal will help them get to the Backyard.
Ky talks Sol down for starting a fight in a populated area, but Sol continues to insist Shina is a Valentine. Ky disagrees, but can't divulge why for now.
Sol and Sin board Ky's ship and prepare to take the fight to Ramlethal. Ky, however, stays behind and talks with Alex and Shina.
Alex is put under arrest for the fight he starts, much to his complete and utter confusion. But Ky agrees to pardon Alex if he helps them stop Ramlethal.
After introductions, the two board the ship to go on their merry way.
Their destination is the crater that was once Japan. But before they can prepare for battle, Ky has a brief chat with Alex.
His intelligence determined nothing on either Alex or Shina. Thus, left with no other choice, Alex explains how they're from another Earth and why they're here.
But he refuses to explain why they know about the Backyard, only hinting that he doesn't want to spill information like that because of any spies.
Ky's a little surprised, but chooses to accept Alex's honesty as him being worth trusting.
Shina's then allowed in, immediately asking about the Phoenix Form. Alex decides not to explain it right now, as he just wants to relax and recover.
A few hours late they arrive in Japan and Alex, Sol, Shina and Sin walk out to find Ramlethal. Space is warping in this area, and there's a huge influx of aura in the air that's screwing with Shina's senses.
Ramlethal descends...Right as Sol recognizes from the Backyard's presence that they've fallen for a trap.
The four fight Ramlethal to the point of incapacitate. Curiously, she does not display that strange aura either...
Its then that its revealed what her goal was...To distract Sol while an object known as the "Cradle" emerges over a town called Babylon...And wipes out its population with a time space distortion.
Shina's senses go haywire, but before she faints she recognizes that the artifact is in the Cradle itself...Making their mission a lot tougher than expected.
Ramlethal then takes advantage of the confusion to grab Sol and try to take him out with a self-destruct before he can pose a threat to "Mother".
Fortunately Ky has some surprising back-up...Another Valentine, known as Elphelt, appears and disables Ramlethal. They then capture Ramlethal and bring her in for interrogation.
While Shina sleeps, Alex decides to use this spare time to warn Ky, Sin and Sol about the strange aura that's been following them wherever they go.
Ky's not too concerned given Sol's strength though. Alex just figured it was fair to give them the heads up now.
There's not much for them to do until Ramlethal wakes up, as much as it pisses Sol off not to force some answers out of her.
Alex decides to check up on Shina, and after he playfully fiddles with her face a bit as payback for earlier shenanigans she wakes up.
Shina's glad everything worked out, to some extent. Alex wants to get the artifact back from the Cradle but as Shina points out, its still in the Backyard. So like it or not, they just have to wait for time to pass until they can attack the Cradle. It'll only take a couple more days, thankfully.
Ramlethal then wakes up and immediately resorts to trying to kill them all again.
Buuuuuut Elphelt shuts her down again. Then they start getting into an argument about emotions and the horrors of what they've been forced to do, with Shina providing the occasional input.
Ultimately Ramlethal's put back in baby jail again and now comes the tough part...Figuring out who will interrogate her.
Sol is immediately voted out because he's violent. Alex is ALSO voted out for similar reasons, though he claims he's not anywhere near as violent as Sol. Shina...begs to differ.
Shina and Sin are chosen instead, cause they at least respect the Valentines as people, not tools of war. But that'll all wait until tomorrow, its time to rest.
Except for Alex though. He's caught moon gazing by Elphelt, who is having trouble sleeping because of Ramlethal's attitude.
Much as Elphelt's womanly charm bewilders Alex, he sits there and forces himself to listen to what she has to say.
After sharing his skewed opinion on humanity a bit, Alex admits Shina would be better off having this talk...
The next day Sin and Shina go straight into the interrogation room and use their rather...interesting methods to try and get Ramlethal to open up.
Ramlethal stonewalls her way through their antics and it annoys Sin a lot. To try and remedy this though, Sin gives Ramlethal a puppy to try and bond with.
It seems to have some minor effect on her, so Sin and Shina leave her alone for now. Sol, however, is pissed that they're playing around and not getting info out of her.
Sin, Alex and Shina collectively call him out for his grumpy attitude, and Sol even reflects on this in private with Ky.
Meanwhile, the Conclave, a trio of three enigmatic figures in charge of the Cradle, plot their next move. They are worried about Sol, as should be expected...But they are also aware of the Phoenix of Destruction, AKA Alex Whiter.
They were tasked with guarding the artifact piece by a "phantom", and Chronus, the leader of the Conclave, vows to manifest the artifact's power in order to achieve victory over all their enemies...
Another day later, since there's not much else to do, Shina tries to work on pulling Alex out of his shell by having him make friends.
Alex tries to stonewall her efforts until he's reminded of the friendship he lost with Mario, Luigi and Driad and decides to maybe try and make a couple friends here...
Unfortunately, Shina's first suggestion is to go try and make friends with Elphelt.
They have a run in with Sin along the way and, after waking Elphelt up from what seems to be a bad dream, have a brief talk with her some more about emotions.
Sin chooses to believe Elphelt's feelings are real, and wish they could help Ramlethal do the same. That's part of why Sin came here, to recruit Elphelt to help.
But Sol comes in and calls it a waste of time, and that they need to be putting their energy towards finding the Cradle.
However with the government not being trustworthy due to the nature of the Conclave, there's not very many allies they can turn to for help.
But Ky does have one solution...They'll travel to the independent nation of Zepp and use their secure line to contact one of Ky's allies, Leo Whitefang.
For once, Sol's glad to see some competency, and leaves to discuss matters with Ky.
This leaves Sin, Shina, Elphelt, and a reluctant Alex to go back to try and help Ramlethal open up some more.
Sin's next plan of attack? Have her try and get an opinion on a...very delicious looking burger.
Ramlethal's opinion? Its salty.
HUGE SUCCESS! ...Apparently. Sin decides they should then host a party to help Ramlethal express her emotions more.
Though what to celebrate, exactly? As it turns out, funny enough, by the timescale of her world Shina's birthday was just a couple days ago.
What's freaky to Alex though is that by his calculations, that would put his and Shina's birthdays on the same day...
But there's more important issues to tackle. After being called out for being a party pooper, Alex snaps and decides he's not just going to have fun, they're going to have so much FUCKING FUN they'll never forget this day.
Shina and Elphelt are nervous about what that means but in all honesty, Alex doesn't cause too much mayhem.
There's a buffet of food, and a harmless game of Go Fish. Harmless celebrations all around.
Even Alex has to admit he's having some fun, albeit only to himself.
Late at night though, when everyone else has practically settled down, Alex finds Shina by herself drinking what she claims is soda, but is actually some wine she stole out of Ky's pantry.
She's heartbroken that this is the first birthday of hers where she won't be celebrating with family. She longs for the days when she'd receive presents from her sister, enjoy a cake, and smile...
She worries that time's slipping away faster than she realizes, even after Alex ensures her they're fine for now.
Shina starts to slip unconscious from the wine, and leans against Alex, hoping he'll continue to listen to her ramble...
Alex feels uncomfortable, as he knows he's not fit for this. Everyone else, even Sol, would be better at this job.
Once Shina's asleep, Alex leaves the room in anger towards himself, cursing himself for not just empathizing with her plight...
Once they land in Zepp he decides to get off and maybe find something that'll allow him to vent some steam. He winds up stumbling into Sol and Ky's meeting with President Zepp and the revived Zato.
Zato offers information on the Conclave due to his revival at their hands. The Conclave plans to revive Justice, the ultimate Gear from the Crusades, and bind their souls to it to become the gods of a dystopian world.
Sol calls bullshit on all of this, but before he can get anymore answers...Zato's shadow Eddie pulls Alex out of hiding.
Alex's innocence is confirmed by Ky, though Sol is annoyed he's here to begin with.
But there's more important things to take care of now. A person known as "Bedman" is launching a solo attack on the floating continent. And while Ky offers to help, Zepp declines...As this hunt is his, and his alone.
...Not that Alex knows the first thing about respecting authority, as he decides to come along anyways, worried about the strange aura screwing things up.
Zepp is a little miffed but figures he can use this opportunity to show Alex how to respect his elders. They dash along the continent towards the reactor where Bedman's occupying his time.
Bedman starts communicating telepathically with the two, using his strange powers to quickly start piecing together who and what Alex is exactly beyond just a redundant anomaly.
But Bedman isn't allowed to get too deep, as his infiltration is soon blocked by the presence of the original Elemental Overlord. Feeling that presence makes Bedman break down, as he feels like he just perceived the image of "God".
Zepp and Alex fight Bedman as the strange aura slowly breaks out over his body. Zepp calls Bedman weak and honestly he's not really wrong as a comparison between the two.
Despite beating Slayer the immortal vampire and standing toe-to-toe with Sol, Bedman is losing to Zepp even WITH the strange aura power-up.
Alex feels slighted that he was worrying for nothing, but at least its fun to watch Zepp kick-ass.
After unleashing his ultimate move, Agni XII, Zepp knocks Bedman out and takes him in to be interrogated...For as much good as that'll do.
He does thank Alex for the assistance nevertheless, saying with his help they'll be able to stop the Conclave after all.
Alex returns to Ky and Sol to deliver the news that they can use Zepp's phone line. Alex then decides to avoid Shina and go for a walk for now.
But once nighttime rolls around, Ramlethal is greeted by the presence of Bedman in her mind...
Meanwhile though, Shina wakes up feeling a slight stupor from the wine...And unfortunately, Sin's caught her in this state.
They both laugh it off but it turns sour when Alex's name comes up. Sin respectfully drops the matter and the two wind up talking about their mothers a little.
Even someone as dim as Sin can sense that Shina's got some emotions she's bottling up and suggests she try being a little more...aggressive at times.
Shina doesn't think she can be that type of person, but Sin respectfully disagrees. Speaking of emotions, the two of them decide to try and see how Ramlethal feels after the party.
She's not much different overall, but there's a subtleness to her words now that suggests something is changing within.
After discussing the beautiful sky, and how Sin's simple-minded but colorful view of the world contrasts Ramlethal's sheltered and stoic view...Bedman makes his appearance known by killing Ramlethal's dog.
This was done in an attempt to teach Ramlethal the meaning of replacements, which he demonstrates by making another dog right there.
However this only winds up causing Ramlethal to experience her first emotion: Grief.
Bedman is baffled by how things are proceeding and Shina's presence here isn't helping things much.
Him and her have a brief chat about their motivations for being here. He deduces that its illogical for Shina and Alex to have chosen to work with Ky and Sol when the Conclave has what they need.
But when Shina allows Bedman to peek into her mind, he discovers that she fights for family...Much like he does. And realizing this baffles him further.
Shina refuses to loosen her morals just to save her family. And that even if its a harder road, she's going to do the right thing by helping stop the Conclave.
Bedman sees them as two sides of the same coin and decides to not confuse himself further by confronting her, and retreats to his master.
The next day, Alex is called out by Ky with an urgent message. Their ally, the Gear scientist Dr. Paradigm, wishes to speak with him in private.
Over the phone, Paradigm reveals he wants Alex to come to Illyria Castle because there's someone who wishes to meet "The Phoenix of Destruction"...The Gear Maker, That Man.
Alex makes his way right over to the castle and speaks with Paradigm. That Man is meant to be a secret weapon against the Conclave so his presence IS concealed, but Alex is able to enter a secret portal meant for him to get to his realm...
That Man greets him in earnest, but Alex cuts right to the chase of what he wants.
That Man was aware of his fight with Sol through his subordinate Raven...But he's known about Alex even longer than that. Or rather...of the "Phoenix of Destruction".
Hearing that title makes Alex believe That Man somehow got possession of the artifact. But that's not true...to an extent. That Man was simply the first the stone was offered too.
But before That Man can divulge more of what he knows, he wants to test Alex. The nature of that title "The Phoenix of Destruction", rattles That Man to the core...Its as if those words are the antithesis of reason, a hymn to death and oblivion.
He wants Alex to fight I-No and Raven, but under two conditions...No using Phoenix Form, and no killing them.
Alex fights I-No first, the harpy quickly getting under his skin, and him getting under hers in equal measure.
Though its a little tough, Alex does manage to power through her ultimate attack Megalomania and knock her out.
But she's then quickly shuffled out and Raven attacks without a moment's hesitation. Now Alex is faced with a perplexing question...How do you stop a man who cannot die, or feel pain?
Alex tries to talk him down, but he has nothing to offer the man. He tries to use his elements in creative ways, but Raven's a fast regenerator. Even using the Gaia Temporis barely helps as Raven also has a powerful grip over time and space to keep Alex on his toes.
Though his body tries to fail him multiple occasions, Alex clings on to a desperate desire to see the truth and through his perseverance...Manages to trick Raven into activating his ultimate technique, which reduces him to ash, and then using the Gaia Temporis to escape at the last moment.
But before he can recover, Alex traps his ashes in a quickly put together vase, as Raven proved that he can only reform if there's space for him to grow back in.
Alex collapses and wakes up on a bed with That Man floating next to him. Having used some elemental magic for a quick recovery, That Man decides he can trust Alex now.
But Alex isn't wholly convinced that he'll be able to trust HIM. Thus, to ensure there is no doubt, That Man casts his hood off and reveals his true face...
So that now, he can tell him and him alone the tale of his mistakes...The tale of Asuka R. Kreutz, Frederick, and Aria.
Throughout this story Alex learns of their friendship and the pains they went through to keep it together...And the betrayals Asuka was forced to commit in order to save the world from an entity known as the "Universal Will"...Including the creation of Justice, and the annihilation of Japan that began the century long Crusades.
Alex finds himself relating to Sol/Frederick's part in the story more than he cares to admit.
When the tale is through Alex understands Asuka's plight and admits that while he committed crimes, he REALLY had no choice in the matter, given the nature of the Universal Will.
Now the Universal Will is seeking to fulfill its plans through the use of the Valentines, while the Conclave will use Justice, AKA Aria, to make the world their own.
But Asuka has one more question to ask of Alex..."If the world you knew were to end tomorrow, what would you do today?"
Alex answers that he would save the world or die trying. Asuka admires that answer.
Now, he finally decides to answer questions relating to his knowledge of the artifact.
Alex learns a few things. One, that the person who approached Asuka did everything they could to conceal their gender, but seemed to be quite intelligent, perhaps even moreso than Asuka himself.
Two, the being came with a warning that the "Phoenix of Destruction" was a threat to the whole universe.
Three, that Asuka felt tempted by the artifact's power when it was displayed in front of him. This confirms what Alex learned from Cortex, that the artifact's have some sort of mind-control effect to them...
So its imperative now more than ever to stop the Conclave, and Alex vows he'll do it even if it means having to destroy Justice to do so.
Asuka then sends Alex back to Zepp via magic, and in his solitude, speaks once more with the enigmatic phantom that had approached him before...
The phantom critiques Asuka for his blind faith in Alex, and also how he lied about the nature of his relationship to Aria and Frederick.
Asuka refutes any accusations of jealousy, and condemns the phantom as a monster.
The phantom cares little, as in their eyes, any who hold even an iota of reverence to the Phoenix of Destruction are the true monsters.
Asuka says they'll be brought to justice, and the phantom laughs...Finding it fool-hearty to bind them to such a...human concept.
Upon Alex's return the plans already been set in motion to attack the Cradle and foil the Conclave's goals. Dr. Paradigm, in coordinate with Leo and the united world military, will gather in the Black Sea with beacons that'll lure out the Cradle.
Sol, meanwhile, shall ride a high-speed rocket to the Cradle's beacon spot and work alongside a secret weapon to destroy Absolute Defense: Fellion.
Alex believes he could just handle the shield himself but Sol still doesn't trust him yet. So with a shrug, Alex goes on ahead with Shina to the battleground.
Shina's being very off-handed with her remarks towards him though, and Shina winds up having to spell out why. She's clearly annoyed at how he handled their recent conversation.
Alex, meanwhile, suspects that Shina's holding out on him regarding her emotions. He offers to be a shoulder to lean on again but Shina insists that she's fine.
Alex is left wondering why the hell he even cares to begin with, and decides to drop the subject.
After joining up with Leo and Paradigm, they go over some last minute details and then prepare to wait. But soon enough Bedman appears again, cutting through the beacons like butter.
Alex and Leo go out to confront him, but have trouble holding Bedman down in one spot. The tide turns when Johnny arrives to provide back-up alongside the Super Mayship.
Johnny helps Alex and Leo pin down Bedman, who gets increasingly infuriated at having to exert effort against such lower beings.
The strange aura appears around him again, breaking the deadlock around him.
Alex manages to help Johnny and Leo survive Bedman's wrath until Paradigm's trump card plants the final beacon in place, just in the nick of time.
The Cradle appears above the battleground, as does Asuka. Though Asuka alone cannot defeat Fellion...Him AND Frederick can.
Sol arrives, pissed off as hell by Asuka's presence, but he focuses said anger into punching a magic seal Asuka sets up before the barrier.
Through some magic formula bullshit nobody but Sol and Asuka understand, Fellion shatters. Leo then commands all ships to unleash everything upon the Cradle.
It seems like history will change for the better, but that can never be so easy...The Cradle survives the onslaught, which allows Chronus the opportunity he needs to revive Justice then and there.
The beast roars to life as a titan far unlike the last incarnation of Justice, but just as deadly...Its birth creates a powerful rift to the Backyard as it makes its escape, consuming hundreds of the ships in the fleet as it leaves.
Alex prepares to activate the Blazing Overlord Fist while telling Leo and Johnny to withdraw their forces. But in his last moment of defiance, Bedman grabs hold of Alex and tries to drag him to the Nightmare Theater so he won't interfere.
Alex breaks the warp with the Gaia Temporis and Bedman retreats, capturing Asuka instead so the plan can continue.
Alex then grits his teeth and curses himself for not killing Bedman when he had the chance. But now Justice is gone, and he needs to flee.
But Shina, it seems, has other plans, as she begins slowly advancing towards the Backyard. Alex grabs her and drags her away kicking and screaming.
Meanwhile, Sol is saved by Elphelt at the last second, who also attempted to enter the Backyard to kill Justice again.
Both Alex and Elphelt are forced to listen to these furious and painful objections as they drag their captives away to safety back in Illyria...
There's an air of melancholy back at the castle as everyone licks their wounds and tries to think of what they're next move will be.
The only fortunate thing coming out of all this is that Justice can't mobilize fully until its charged, which'll require a MASSIVE energy source the likes this world might not be able to produce.
Alex assumed the artifact would've done the job for it, but it STILL hasn't gone off, which is suspicious as hell.
Elphelt decides to go ask Ramlethal for info, and after stating how much the world means to her, even Sol's willing to let her try one more time.
Then, in a moment of silence, Shina suddenly slaps Alex across the face in anger. Alex figured this was coming, as Shina calls him out for letting Justice get away.
But Alex came prepared for their little spat this time, as he not only can properly say he DID have a plan but failed to pull it off cause of Bedman...But also that Shina DIDN'T have a plan and was putting her life at risk with no guarantee she'd make it out.
Alex then starts bluntly making fun of her for trying to pass off her actions as heroic when no, they were foolish and outright suicidal.
Now she's swinging too far in the other direction. Instead of not being serious enough, she's being TOO serious about getting her mission done and not thinking about the consequences should she fail.
Alex has to remind her that she only gets one chance at a family and that's it. Its not a right, its a privilege to have a family to begin with.
Shina panics about the time again, and how she doesn't know what she'd be without her family.
Alex has enough of her bullshit and yells at her for using those kinds of words against her. He DOESN'T have a family to go back to. He doesn't get to have a happy ending like she can. He's going to end this journey alone, just like he was before.
He refuses to let there be any innocent lives lost on his head, and that ESPECIALLY includes her. He finally nails it in her head that this needs to absolutely, positively stop being treated like a game. Cause she's only got one life and there's no second chances.
If she doesn't get her act together and grow-up, then the world's not going to wait for her to do so...But he pulls back a bit, emphasizing that if she does, she'll find the bravery and strength so great that no one will be able to stop her from saving her family...Not even him.
Shina runs off crying and Alex feels like crap for acting that way.
He doesn't get much time to think about this though as Sol quickly pins him to the wall, finally tired of the secrets he's been keeping from everyone.
What finally pushed it over the line for him was Alex using a line that Aria had once said back when he was Frederick.
Alex tries to pass it off as something Asuka told him, but according to Frederick, Asuka couldn't have heard of that line.
Alex then realizes the being tormenting him planted a trap by feeding that information to Asuka, possibly to turn Sol against him again.
Alex finally relents and starts revealing that he knows a lot more about this world than he's let on, but tries to justify it by mentioning how he can't just be generous with this information.
He looks Sol in the eyes, and finally understands that there's very little separating them apart. They're both monsters who shouldn't exist, and the fires in their minds demand they burn the world to ash...
And that's the biggest reason Sol hates Alex, because the universe is so cursed that it allowed another like him to exist.
Sol says nothing and throws Alex to the ground, then walks off to cool down.
Some time passes, and when Sol returns Ky is with him. No words are shared regarding what happened, as they need to focus on Justice...
Ramlethal appears and reveals that the Conclave plans to use Illyria Castle and St. Elmo's Fire, a massive lightning bolt as Sin puts it, to fuel Justice's true rebirth.
Thus there is still a chance to stop them once and for all, but its going to require another of Paradigm's secret weapons...
Leo works to help evacuate the city, while Sin, Sol and Alex talk to Paradigm about their final plan. They plan to make Justice "pop" by overloading it with energy from St. Elmo's Fire and another source that he refuses to divulge.
Sol and Alex will stand near Justice and then strike it down and claim the artifact when the time is right.
Alex has no idea where Shina is but refuses to find her himself. He's tired of handling her bullshit...
Meanwhile, Shina wanders through the halls tired and doubtful of herself. She accidentally runs into Ky and Sin having a reunion with a beautiful blue-haired woman. Sin calls her "mother" and from his earlier description she fits the bill perfectly.
Sin gets over his problems to call Ky "dad" for once, and then vows to his mom to return back alive.
Sin and Ky go on ahead to prepare while Dizzy accidentally runs her tail into Shina's path. The two have an unexpected meeting, of which Dizzy recognizes her from Paradigm's explanation of events.
Dizzy thanks Shina for helping her family so far, but Shina can't accept any of the praise when she's only sat around and almost gotten herself killed.
She doesn't believe she can contribute anything going forward and it hurts her so much to just be a burden when she should be the one putting in effort to save her family.
Dizzy relates to her a story from her past, and how she used to not know kindness and feared her strength. It wasn't until she met people like Johnny and Ky that she knew what it was like to have a family, or use her strength to protect something.
She tells Shina that power doesn't mean surrendering one's kindness. She can be kind AND strong, she just has to find something to believe in first.
Dizzy entrusts Shina with protecting Ky and Sin, and thought she has her doubts still, Shina thanks her for having faith...
Meanwhile, Alex and Sol gather at the top of the castle. Alex tries to talk to Sol, but Sol has him shut up so he can sort through some rather complicated feelings.
There may be some similarities between them, but there's one important difference Alex needs to understand. He still has his "Aria", and if he doesn't get his feelings straight regarding her before its too late then he's truly a dumbass.
Alex denies any sort of feelings but Sol doesn't buy it.
Sol doesn't make it anymore complicated than that though, as they need to save their energy to finish Justice off.
Justice soon materializes into position and prepares to make a move on the castle, as Sol and Alex are forced to watch for the moment.
Meanwhile the guard of Sin, Ky, Leo, Elphelt and Shina stand at the entrance in case of any intruders.
However, it soon becomes clear that they might have made a mistake. The Opus, the robotic knights created by the Church, have gathered in the hundreds here for protection...But they all have Gear cells inside of them, and Justice CONTROLS Gears with her willpower alone.
The Opus start attacking as Chronus begins merging his soul with Justice prematurely. Everyone divides their forces to deal with the Opus, with Elphelt in particular quickly coming under trouble due to her self-control being wrenched away by Bedman and his mysterious benefactor.
Its not all as it seems though. Soon, to the bewilderment of them both, Elphelt is consumed by that strange aura, the phantom denying Bedman and his benefactor the right to take part in their "play" any longer.
Ky winds up fighting alone, where he's ambushed with a few bullets to his back by another member of the Conclave, Axus.
Axus brutally shoots Ky's vital organs while mocking his justice, stating he played a puppet's game the whole time.
But as it seems as though Ky will perish, he stands tall against all odds and reinforces his beliefs in peace, refusing to succumb to evil...
But his eye is that of a Gears', and with that devil's power he strikes Axus down in one blow.
Meanwhile Chronus declares victory, defying both the Universal Will and That Man with his requiem against the world order.
But Paradigm's plan goes into motion. The moment St. Elmo's Fire strikes, Dizzy fires a Gamma Ray into a generator to overload Justice.
Chronus is forced to suffer the overwhelming power with the inability to escape. His fate seems certain, death awaits him...
But then he's approached by the hollow voice of the phantom, of whom he accuses of treachery. The phantom decrees that Chronus is only dooming himself by choosing to let himself be weighed down by "morality".
To truly draw out the artifact's power, Chronus must be willing to admit to his blasphemies, and let sin devour his mortal soul.
Only then, can he truly become "justice".
On the outside Alex and Sol unleash a combination attack to strike Justice down. But they were too late...
Justice rises from the ashes and begins to be consumed in a black aura. The artifact has finally taken hold of its owner, causing Chronus to fully fuse into Justice, and achieve a monstrous power the likes of which could easily end the world.
The God of Destruction declares the end of all mortal sin as it gazes upon Alex and Sol like they are ants.
Paradigm states that Justice, Chronus, whoever they are, has fully absorbed the power of St. Elmo's Fire and Dizzy's Gamma Ray. Now there's no hope to win...
Fortunately for him, Sol and Alex had a Plan B prepared far in advance. Plan "Beat the shit out of him".
They activate Dragon Install and Phoenix Form respectively and prepared to confront Justice and put an end to Chronus' delusions of godhood.
As Alex and Sol wage war against Justice, Alex quickly comes to realize with the Gear's increased power comes the ability to control stronger Gears.
He panics and tries to make a break back to the castle, only for Justice to impede his progress and call him a clever but naive fool.
Alex tries to get on the communicator to warn Shina, but he's too late.
Dizzy has already been caught in Justice's thrall, attacking Ky and Paradigm without any sense of control to her actions.
Worse than that, the purple aura is enveloping her, giving the daughter of Justice an even greater boost of power.
Alex keeps yelling at Shina to escape with her life until him and Sol can destroy Justice, but it feels like Dizzy won't be giving her much of a chance.
She's already attacking her own son against her will, and with such destructive power at her disposal its not like someone like Shina could do anything to her anyways...
She should just run away, she tells herself, just like she always has.
Silence breaks out, as Shina retreats into her own mind, repeating her words of cowardice like an echo. And she hates hearing herself speak like that anymore...
She's been spending this whole journey running away...Trying to use fantasy to escape reality, using this journey as an excuse to forget about her life at home, where people took advantage of her kindness. But in doing so, she's chosen to run away from what she actually loves and worst of all, she's running away from herself.
She's continuing to ignore her flaws and blame the problems plaguing her on others...Especially Alex. And its not fair to him in particular, as even despite all the crap she's pulled on him, he still wants to help her. He's rude, violent, but he knows who he is...And there's something admirable about that.
Shina looks at her bracelet and the second Drive her mom had gifted her. She doesn't feel worthy of it, as only someone strong can wield it.
However, remembering Dizzy and Alex's words hours ago, she realizes that maybe it doesn't matter if she's strong enough now...Dizzy doesn't need strength to save her, she needs kindness.
So even if she can't win, even if she can't make a difference...Trying is better than running away. One step forward, no more steps back...
She reaffirms who she is and slams down on the new Drive with newfound confidence.
Alex and Sol sense an immense power coming the castle and Alex recognizes it briefly as Shina's.
Shina, now garbed in the holy warrior armor of a Valkyrie, draws a mighty sword towards Dizzy and declares to the villain possessing her that she refuses to let anymore innocent lives be ruined by their actions.
Her and Sin then stand together against Dizzy, as Shina needs time to figure out this new power of hers.
Shina's able to use her aura to stave off Justice's control of Sin, but she can't just strike Dizzy too hard or she'll suffer permanent harm.
Soon into the battle though, as if responding to her wishes, Shina's blade turns ethereal and allows her to harmlessly cut through Dizzy and damage only her aura. Now, they stand a chance of saving her...
The fight against Justice continues to ravage Illyria apart. Chronus' will decries Sol and Alex as demons. Both of them have a laugh at the hypocrisy of that statement.
Chronus yells at Sol for hating the world, but Sol calls him out on the bullshit by saying that if he hated the world he sure as hell wouldn't be fighting him.
Sol prepares to fire the Saint Ontario but Alex stops him, as they can't risk feeding him more energy.
Meanwhile Shina continues to work out her new powers, learning how to grant Sin the ability to cleave through aura too, and getting used to the speed she wields.
Eventually, with some last minute help from Ky, Shina's able to cleave through the last of Dizzy's aura, rendering her unconscious.
Chronus then screams in confusion, believing that his power should be absolute.
Alex says he's absolute-ly outclassed.
Before Justice can wipe out the continent with a massive laser, Alex and Sol combine their Blazing Overlord Fist and Tyrant Rave Omega to punch a hole straight through Justice.
Chronus dies, screaming that such power can only be one that surpasses the infinite, and then Justice explodes to pieces.
The sun rises again on a new day, but the city's pretty damaged. Sol has hope that Ky can rally the people together though.
Though now Alex has to find Shina in the wreckage and the artifact too. So its not quite over yet.
Fortunately they manage to find Ky, Sin, Dizzy and Shina rather quickly. Shina's sleeping after using the last of her aura to protect everyone from the castle collapsing.
However, curiously, Ramlethal, Leo and Elphelt are nowhere to be found.
Elphelt is the first to reappear, but Leo warns them not to trust her.
She finally starts acting like a true Valentine, pretending like her time in subterfuge meant nothing to her. Sin and then Sol in rapid succession call her words bullshit.
Sol starts believing now that Valentine's CAN show emotion, and tries to reach out to the real Elphelt...But she's not listening. Not because Sol's efforts mean nothing, no, but rather...The artifact piece is lodged into her back.
Alex realizes what's going on and calls out to Sol to back away. Elphelt gives off a creepy grin and begins to transform, fusing her power as Valentine with the artifact's to become a fallen maiden-like entity with bloody tears rolling down her cheeks.
Through Elphelt, the phantom causing problems begins to address Alex, or rather, the Phoenix of Destruction, directly.
Alex and Sol's attempts to get answers on the phantom's identity fall flat, as they answer with riddles. But they make one thing clear...They've been familiar with Alex for longer than can be fathomed.
The phantom's words make it clear that they are from another world though.
Sin tries to get involved but Alex tells him to back off. The phantom is amused, saying Alex's acts of kindness are just a mask his true nature hides behind. That he, above any other, was the worst person to continue the legacy of Sarajin, the original Elemental Overlord.
The phantom calls Alex true evil incarnate, but Alex bites back by pointing out that he's not the one ruining worlds.
Yet the phantom has a counter to even that, remarking how Alex has just gone and changed history by killing Justice, while they have done nothing of a similar nature themselves.
The phantom derides the likes of those who stand with the Phoenix of Destruction, however, and says that if Sol chooses to stay and fight then he can die here too.
Sol refuses to listen to the phantom's bullshit and prepares to shut them up with Alex's help.
Before their battle can begin, however, the phantom extends their reach to this world and rebuilds Justice, delivering them to Bedman and the Universal Will in order to finally shut them up.
The phantom then reveals how the artifact's work in conjunction of who they possess. They are tied to the greater multiverse, and through that reach the phantom is able to connect those who possess the artifact to their selves who wield the greatest power. Even if its the slimmest possibility of such power existing, they can find it and exploit it.
And they will continue to do this, until the Phoenix of Destruction is erased from history, and his ruination never sees the light of day.
The phantom then leaves Elphelt to deal with this matter, but suspects that they will see the Phoenix of Destruction again in time.
Alex and Sol are too weakened to activate their stronger forms, but stand together to fight the possessed Valentine in one last fight.
They only manage to tear the artifact piece away when Ramlethal provides an opening. But even with the possession over, Elphelt's life is still in the hands of the Universal Will.
And without hesitation, the Universal Wall traps Elphelt in a cage and begins to carry her away. Sol uses the last of his strength to try and break her free, saying he refuses to be alone again.
This manages to bring the real Elphelt out momentarily, who proceeds to apologize to all her friends for her mistake. She did genuinely make friends with all of them, and if she has freedom for just a little while longer...Then she'll self-destruct, preventing the Universal Will from getting what they want.
But Ramlethal stops her in the same way she did her a while ago. Ramlethal tearfully vows to do whatever they can to rescue her, so they can learn what its like to be a family together.
Elphelt is dragged away, and Sol wastes no time rallying Ramlethal and Sin to prepare to go out and find her.
Alex realizes this is where they part ways, and thanks Sol for that last bit of advice. Alex refuses to lose anyone else again either.
Sol gives a goodbye in his own way and then heads off.
Leo and Paradigm depart to begin the reconstruction of Illyria, while Ky carries Dizzy to get her some much needed rest.
He thanks Alex and Shina for all they have done, and tells them they are welcome back anytime.
Shina wakes up not long after and after a brief catch up of events from Alex, is saddened that she won't get a chance to say goodbye to Sin and the others.
But they have their priorities, and besides, Sol and them will be fine against the Universal Will, right?
...When Alex tries to recall, his memories suddenly get fuzzy, even though it should be obvious what the answer is.
There's more important matters to attend to though, such as whatever the hell type of power Shina used.
Shina refers to it as the "Valkyrie Drive". She recognizes that while it closes the gap between her and him, she's still weak. Thus, in a moment of self-realization, Shina humbly asks Alex to help train her while they're going between worlds.
Shina recognizes that she can't let Alex do everything by himself anymore, so she wants to at least be assured she won't be a burden to him either.
Alex agrees after confirming no hesitation from her eyes, but warns her that he will be stricter than Hell. She doesn't care. She's finally ready to make the sacrifices necessary to achieve happiness on her own.
Thus they are off, to where? Who can say. What is certain though is that Alex has a greater idea of who their enemy is and what they're after...But he can't bring himself to tell Shina just yet, as he refuses to let her get wrapped up in his problems.
Part 4.5 Story 3 END.