With his legs weighed down like covered in concrete, Mew drags himself upstairs to talk to Auris. He has no good way of speaking to her now and just has to hope being himself will suffice.

He's fortunate she walks out of Shina's room on her own, albeit with a face covered in tears.

Mew empathizes with her loss, but can't hold himself back for very long. He has to talk with her about the "witch" of the "higher-ups", a notion which brings her fury right back into focus.

But she doesn't not choose to act out here of all places. She lures Mew to the basement so they can speak privately.

And warns him that if his answer is not satisfactory as to WHY he's being so callous now, she'll kill him.

Mew's forced to betray Riku by revealing that him and Lunis are having a kid. Auris is devastated, moreso that Mew would use her grief to try and wear her down.

But that's not his goal at all, as he stresses how they couldn't have been expected to ignore the "higher-ups".

And that's the problem, in Auris' eyes. Mew continues to follow the same road Sarajin did, even taking upon acts of selflessness to hide his own selfishness.

Mew just wants Riku to not be able to stress out about his own damn kid getting a chance to be happy.

And yet Auris believes there's zero guarantee that Mew will not wind up suffering the same fate Sarajin did, and worse yet, his actions will wipe the rest of the universe out too. Meaning, everything they did will have been for nothing.

Mew's sick of being compared to Sarajin and lists the one key difference that'll separate the two of them...He'll make it back alive.

This wording breaks Auris a little, who curses him out for saying it like that.

Mew begs for the one chance he needs to put it all together. Auris remarks how one chance is all it'll take to fail. She wants to have some guarantee he knows what he's doing.

Mew wants to just talk with the "higher-ups". He doesn't know how to word it yet, but he doesn't plan to fight.

Auris finally sits back and realizes how perhaps there's a better chance of Mew succeeding than she initially thought, as he's defied the impossible a few times already.

Auris admits to the name of the witch...Yukari Yakumo of Gensokyo.

Mew's stunned, but is urged by Auris to move quickly while he has the time to spare.

Mew leaves, thanking her for this chance. As he heads out to the front door he runs into Lunis, quickly evading her with a vague "congratulations" to confuse her.

As he prepares to leave to find Saturn though...He senses Gabriel standing beside the door outside, waiting for him.

Gabriel overheard their conversation and wastes no time on Mew's jokes now. He draws his sword, ready to stop him with death if necessary.

Mew knows how this'll go because of last time...Only for Gabriel to swiftly pin him down in three moves, all the while aghast that he would attempt this foolishness.

Gabriel knows what it feels like to stand before the "higher-ups", having helped Sarajin on a mission for them once before.

He didn't see any humanity that could be appealed to, and thinks all Mew will manage to do is repeat the mistakes of the past Sarajin made.

And he cannot let him do that, not when Kairi especially is suffering.

But Mew doesn't think Gabriel would be able to kill him to change anything, and that does indeed prove to be a bluff on the samurai's end.

Even knowing it might be a foolish move, Gabriel chooses to put his faith that Mew can prove him wrong.

As a repayment of an unmentioned debt, Gabriel will stay behind and try to keep the others from getting suspicious as to why he's gone.

He even plans to call Saturn ahead of time to get Mew a ship ready for when he arrives.

Mew continues onward, but along the way he thinks about Maria and decides to stop by her friend's place to check on her.

Mew's proud of how big she's gotten already and how happy she is with friends, thus wishes her well with a hug and moves on without much guilt weighing him down.

He arrives at Saturn's place and with little fuss or muss, she decides to take him to his destination.

Its a quiet trip overall, surprisingly, until they arrive over the planet Gensokyo is hidden within. Saturn forces the window of the ship shut and wonders what the heck Mew's doing.

She thinks its totally out of character for him to be so quiet and not throw out a wisecrack at her at least, since they've never gotten along and all.

She senses he's stressed out about something and while Mew doesn't want to talk about it, she forces him to because "A hero can't be a hero when they're stressed".

Mew admits the possibility that he might not be coming back.

Saturn guessed that was the case, and then nearly smacks Mew for it. Sadly she doesn't believe he CAN be put down, cause he's a cockroach.

But despite that, she admits that everyone seems to like being around him. His existence is a contradiction of many things, but that makes him interesting.

Begrudgingly, she has gained some manner of respect for his will.

So with that speech done with, she lets him go to do what he needs to. Mew thanks her, and promises to make it back on his own so she can resume her own business.

He then dives at the atmosphere of the planet, managing to breach the barrier to arrive in Gensokyo proper.

Having finally arrived here, he's enraptured by the very same beauty Alex must have seen a year ago. But he has important things to accomplish, and goes straight to the Hakurei Shrine to get Reimu's help in flushing out Yukari.

The shrine maiden and her friend Marisa are sitting at the shrine chatting about summer heat until Mew drops in, surprising the two.

They vaguely recall Alex Whiter because of his appearance until Mew corrects them. Mew then cuts right to the chase and asks about Yukari.

Marisa disappoints him by stating how hard it is to find Yukari...Only for the Phantasm to just suddenly plop in unannounced.

Yukari wastes no time recognizing Mew by his title not his name, putting Mew on edge. More surprising though is that Marisa and Reimu are in the know about the Phoenix titles.

Yukari wishes to settle matters here quickly as she has recently come to adopt a baby into her care and they are a troubling bundle of joy.

Reimu's prepared to accuse her of kidnapping but that's not the case, the child just happened to wander into her realm and she could not find the parents.

Mew has to get Yukari to focus, and Yukari immediately accuses him of coming for vengeance on Alex Whiter's behalf.

As much as Mew would like to fulfill that request on Alex's part, he focuses on the seriousness of his mission, telling Yukari what happened to Shina's child and also why that brought him here to meet the "higher-ups".

Yukari wonders how he exactly plans to persuade her to take him there, to which Mew admits he doesn't have any plan except to force her if necessary.

Yukari is fine with that, wanting to see the strength to his will in person. She proposes a normal fight, outside the Spell Card Rules.

Reimu of course is upset that she'd break the rules, but as Yukari notes...SHE made the rules, thus she can break them.

Besides, Yukari summons a barrier around her and Mew's battlefield so the shrine won't be harmed.

She then aims her glare at Mew, prepared to show him her full power from the start.

Mew knows not to underestimate her given she defeated Alex, so decides to not rush in until she gets some idea of how her powers operate in direct combat.

Yukari starts off stealing his sword and teasing him with it until he manages to operate some trickery to get it back. He then starts shifting between Light and Dark Form, though only manages to damage Yukari's parasol after some time.

Yukari then pauses the battle temporarily to discuss the "why" of Mew being here. Not the direct reason for his appearance but rather...why he's here NOW.

He mentions in surprising detail the sadness his friends and family back home shed for Shina Aurora, and how he should have been there to comfort her.

She believes though that Mew cannot confront his fears and is instead choosing to die doing what he does best: Fighting.

And this death wish is disguised with a mask pretending to be in search of the truth.

Mew thinks she's talking shit given she's not been there to see how everyone's feeling, yet Yukari retorts how she's ALWAYS been there, and always shall be.

For she is the end of tales, and at this moment offers Mew the chance to choose his end now...Either to be felled by her hand, or to return home, of which she offers a gap to the Aurora household.

Mew sees visions of Joe Dark and Kairi comforting a near comatose Shina by her bedside. Mew feels a brief tinge of regret at what he's forced upon them, but knows that if he went back now it'd really be cowardice on his part.

Yukari closes the gap and prepares to walk Mew down his chosen path of death, using fiercer attacks to put him on edge.

She even starts to manipulate the Border of Light and Dark to keep Mew from getting the most out of his two best forms.

Mew starts to lose his strength as her assault refuses to end, her mercilessness lacking restraint.

Mew falls to his knees and drags his fists against the ground, knowing that if he could just push himself into Chaos Form, he'd win.

He begins to curse how weak he's been against so many foes in his life, and how he's never accomplished an important win on his own merit...

The weight of his failure comes crashing down upon his heart, making him quite nearly prepare to accept his fate at Yukari's hands.

Yet Yukari does offer a surprising bit of wisdom, in that he has an answer to his own lacking strength, and if he cannot realize that by now then he truly deserves to die as weak as he's always been.

Mew struggles to recognize that strength, which causes him to be greeted by a familiar voice...Alex's.

Alex's voice echoes in his mind, nudging Mew to recognize the strength of his heart over his power.

And thus, it finally all clicks in Mew's head.

He stands, concentrating on the power of light and darkness within his body.

The power of Chaos Form requires a balance of emotions along with that of light and darkness...So if Mew himself cannot balance his emotions, he will just achieve that balance with the bonds of emotion he's gained from all his friends and family.

Once he gathers all their emotions and hope together into one, he explodes with power and achieves a new form...Chaos Hope Form.

Within seconds his new power pushes Yukari on the defensive, with her cracking a smile as glimmering as the morning sun.

She can only praise Mew for managing to drag himself out of the abyss, believing now more than ever that his title of Phoenix of Rebirth is fitting.

She reflects upon her goals and the path she took to reach this moment. Her heart has always been unclouded by doubt. Her path was that of justice...

But today, Mew has understood and walked that path with far more confidence than her.

Even mounting her best defense possible, she falls to the hammer of karma Mew swings down upon her. Her barrier shatters, and for a brief moment the Youkai Yukari disappears...Bringing back the "girl" Maribel, who hallucinates the presence of her old friend Renko overlaid on top of Reimu.

Maribel apologizes, and Yukari returns, crashing upon the ground half-dead and at Mew's mercy.

Mew doesn't plan to kill her though, despite Reimu smacking him on the back of the head and claiming otherwise.

Yukari confirms that Mew isn't like that, and stands up, grossly stitching her body back together and promising to fulfill her end of the bargain.

She prepares a gap to deliver Mew to the realm of the "higher-ups", ensuring that he's ready beforehand.

However Reimu's not satisfied by these events, and demands that once this is over Yukari's going to talk.

Yukari agrees, but for now bids Reimu farewell as she ferries Mew to the realm above the realm of the gods...

They go to the white void overlooking the entire omniverse...The Outside.

Here, Yukari lets Mew make his final preparations while she sends the call out to summon forth the "higher-ups" of which, only its leader Futanji responds.

Futanji is taken by surprise at the presence of Yukari, let alone Mew. Mew is overwhelmed at the dragon's presence, understanding now how he could be seen as a destroyer of universes.

Futanji, however, does not speak in the tone of an enemy, but remains calm and polite as he allows Mew to speak his mind clearly.

Mew musters up his courage and presents his blade calmly to the dragon. He asks for his world to be given sanctuary from destruction, and in exchange he shall offer his services to the "higher-ups".

Futanji knew this matter would come to be discussed ever since Justek executed his plans...But he is sullen to say that he must deny Mew's request, because of a promise he made to Sarajin long ago.

Futanji refers to Sarajin as a former friend, going so far as to confirm that Mew sees him as a dragon, which is the form he's perceived as only to those who see him as a friend.

Mew can't believe the so called destroyer of universes could be acting so...friendly, and finds it easier to speak with him over time.

He asks Futanji what deal he made with Sarajin. The dragon confirms how despite Sarajin making a grave error that cost him his body, the selflessness he shared allowed him to make a few more decisions before passing.

One such decision was allowing his successors to not be interfered with by the "higher-ups". Sarajin wanted his successor to learn on their own how to be an Elemental Overlord, only judging them if they went too far out of line.

Yet Alex Whiter had failed his expectations, becoming the Phoenix of Destruction.

Though Futanji puts some of the blame squarely on his own shoulders, for he feels the trial he put Alex under pushed him over the edge.

Its finally confirmed to Mew that Alex was indeed involved in the destruction of the Marvel Universe, though just how much of it was him or not remains to be seen...

Mew wonders why he would've been judged though given the nature of the "higher-ups". Futanji does not feel misjudged by Mew's accusation, and even recognizes the weight of the lives he's taken.

His body is permanently tied to all worlds, like a million beating hearts against his flesh. He feels the pain of their deaths with every world he's forced to snuff out. He considers all worlds and their people his children, and wishes he could be spared the duty of putting them down...

But there is a terrible truth to unravel from what he's forced to do. It starts from the beginning, with the "Big Bang" or what in actuality is called the "True Birth", for the energies restraining the Big Bang were in fact the egg from which he was born.

But from the light came a shadow...Akumu Jigokuryu. The two dragons dueled for the right to forge creation, of which Futanji ultimately won.

However, the blood spilled poisoned the landscape of creation, creating what all life knows as "space". Thus, Futanji was forced to create atmospheres to separate the worlds from space. The stars one sees in the sky are the equivalent of electrons in the two dragon's bloodstreams.

The millions of worlds out there are closer together than one would think, but are separated by the power of imagination. Those with greater drives and imagination can shorten the gap between worlds, thus keeping travel between different biomes at a minimum.

This connection to the universe is a weakness to Futanji, which Justek had nearly exploited to finish him off about a year ago.

And there's something worse in the shadows of the universe...The Poison.

The Poison digs its into the roots of all worlds, seeping out from the beings known as "Blanks".

After briefly explaining the concept of "Authors" and "Blanks" to Mew, Futanji goes on to explain The Posion in greater detail.

It is created when an "Author" uses a "Blank" to defile the ingrained nature of a world's individual reality. In essence, by violently defiling the natural laws set in place with their depravity an "Author" is making the fabric of reality bleed to create The Poison.

The more The Poison continues to spread, the more the individuality of a world's people is lost, as the laws sets in place keep unraveling.

And it spreads fast too. Dangerously so. And once The Poison is fully ingrained into a world, the only way to stop it from seeping out into space and thus other worlds is to destroy said world.

If a "Blank" is noticed ahead of time though, then the other two "higher-ups" go in and banish them to The Outside where they can do no harm.

It is thanks to their enigmatic presence that the "Authors" do not tend to know of them ahead of time to plan for their arrival, and also why they give up upon losing one "Blank".

It is imperative that The Poison not be allowed to spread beyond one world at the most, for if it were to consume an entire universe, then it would be able to spread to other timelines as well.

Though Futanji assures Mew that less and less "Blanks" have been appearing over time, he dreads the idea that there's something in the wait.

Mew's starting to understand perhaps why Futanji had to destroy the Dragon Ball Universe, but that is incorrect.

It was the actions of those who inhabited that world committed that forced them to intervene, as they would have threatened the barriers separating the universes. Ultimately, the end of Dragon Ball was entirely on its gods, the Zenos.

Mew thinks that Beerus might want to know this stuff, but its not so easy for Futanji or his colleagues to do so. His size specifically prohibits him from manifesting in the present reality, while the fact that the other two are no longer recognized by reality means they can only appear in emergencies.

Futanji has his regrets over how this system operates but there's only so much he can do to keep it functioning. Sarajin helped alleviate the burden for the time, and because of that The Poison has not won.

Mew's starting to get that Sarajin was a great guy, and Futanji finds that he does miss him even now...

Mew tries to offer his aid against The Poison but Futanji continues to decline.

Another being appears to help reassure Mew though of the future...The Chronicler.

Or as Futanji refers to him as...God. And he does not take kindly to the fact that Mew knows him by another name casually.

After Mew's literally reconstructed from the atomic level, the Chronicler assures Futanji that they know each other.

Mew's shocked he was God this whole time though. The Chronicler has a laugh at this, while Yukari's put on edge by his presence.

The Chronicler assures Mew that he's done so much to help the universe already that he deserves to enjoy that peace. Besides, he knows full well that when the universe truly needs his help again...He'll be ready to continue the fight.

Mew has to admit he's got a point and besides, he's come here to get what he wanted...Reassurance for his friends and family.

He asks Yukari to give him a gap to take back home, and she complies, while the Chronicler dismisses Futanji from his duties.

With just these two beings left to see each other face-to-face, they begin to speak.

She sees past his bullshit and calls him what he truly is...Evil.

Yet he denies it, stating there's no evil in creativity and art.

But that's not what he's doing. He's playing with lives and sees no worth in anything beyond the exploitation of their worlds.

The Chronicler has no fear of her now, as she's played out her role and is left resorting to whimpering barks.

But Yukari notes her actions have robbed the Chronicler of the Phoenix of Destruction, and he cannot hope to rely on his other two "Blanks" to pick up the slack.

The Chronicler, however, has released control on Mew and Riku long ago and chosen to the focus on the one pawn in the game Yukari failed to recognize...The TRUE Phoenix of Destruction, his FOURTH "Blank".

He will leave Mew and Riku be for a while, genuinely wishing them happiness.

This is merely the end of Act 2 of his plan...The Fiction Assimilation Plan.

Yukari vows to stop him every step of the way, but the Chronicler laughs at that.

For he controls the words and the story. He has more eyes to utilize than even her gaps do.

In the end...she is data to be manipulated, and he is the programmer of all fiction...God.

He leaves to pursue his goals, but Yukari smirks...For she still has one secret laying in the wake. One last hope to turn the tides against the Chronicler, someday soon...

Little did the two realize, they were being observed by Alvis, who comments that thanks to Yukari they have escaped the Cycle of Destruction.

Yet this is only the beginning of the end of everything. But to save the future, they have to wait for the future, and the saviors that shall be born to triumph.

Only then, can he help create the future that has been so desired. The dream...of the Dream Weaver.

Mew returns to Sancturia, just outside the Aurora household. Though things have been tough enough as is, his toughest battle is yet to come.

He enters and finds that everyone else who'd want to be here have arrived, and upon seeing him return there's judgmental gazes abound.

But its Joe Dark who strikes out first, grabbing Mew and pinning him against the wall in anger. For him this was the last straw regarding his lofty carefree life.

Mew tries to defend himself but Joe Dark continues to yell in his face until Kairi gets involved, forcing Joe Dark to let go...

Only so she can go and slap Mew as hard as she can across the face, calling him a "Bastard" and running out the door.

Auris decides to follow, though not before confirming that Mew managed to do the right thing.

Mew then has to explain that to everyone else, even though none of what he says sticks in Joe Dark's mind since he's out of the loop about the "higher-ups".

Ultimately he can't get too into what they talked about, but he assures Riku that him and Lunis will be able to have their child in peace.

Of course now the two have to admit that fact to everyone in the room, which does lift their spirits a bit albeit with some confusion on Joe Dark's end.

And in that confusion Mew's able to escape and go upstairs to finally do what he should have done...Comfort Shina.

He finds her staring out into space with none of her life present in her eyes. He does manage to get her attention, eventually, and she's happy to see him.

There's discomfort in the air as she talks a little about the loss of her baby, the confusion of how it happened, and the outspoken worries that she had done something wrong to deserve this.

Mew denies that she did anything wrong and wants her to know some comforting news...That he managed to defeat Yukari Yakumo, avenging Alex.

She has no response to that and instead has something else to say. After she lost her baby, she swore she heard Alex Whiter speaking, telling her "Not to worry, I'll be back soon."

This affects Mew, who recalls hearing Alex before against Yukari...

But ultimately Shina has to tell Mew not to try and waste his time fighting to make her smile. Sometimes...a person has to figure out how to be happy again on their own.

And she wants him to know that while she'll take some time to do so, she will be her old self again someday.

Mew nevertheless leaves her with the comfort that everyone will be there for her when she needs them, and that makes her the happiest she's been all day.

But then she grabs him by the shoulder and tells him forcefully to go after Kairi, cause he's got a duty to fulfill now.

He leaves downstairs and has a run in with Auris, who has failed to find Kairi...Though hints at where she is, leading Mew to run all the way to the place where they first met...the Pyramid.

Mew sees her sitting down and crying and tries to be respectful in his approach, only for her to put a wall between them with nothing but bitter disdain.

Mew doesn't want to be dealing with insults and tries to talk to her as adults would, but she believes he's lost that right after the shit he's pulled.

She gets up in his face, yelling at him for abandoning them when they needed him the most.

She just can't take him being this way anymore, because its a matter of luck whether he keeps coming back alive and its unfair to Maria, and its especially unfair to her.

But despite all the pain he's put her through he doesn't care. Her heart aches cause of him and he doesn't care.

She screams out loud wondering why she's in love with him, and Mew is stunned silent.

Kairi realizes what she's done and tries to take it back, and Mew tries to keep her from doing that.

However she makes it clear that she can't be in love with someone who treats their own life as expendable. He'll keep fighting until he dies, and she REFUSES to end up like Shina because of it.

But Mew hears her out...and tells her sincerely that he's done.

He faces the facts that all his business as an Elemental Overlord is likely done for now anyways, so he should cast all worries aside and just focus on being there for Maria and Kairi.

He apologizes for the way he's acted and how it hurt the people closest to him. The last year's been a lesson in just how important it is to keep people close to oneself, and its made him really come to appreciate his bonds.

And truth be told, he's sort of had a crush on Kairi too for a while.

Kairi throws herself onto Mew with a hug and makes him promise to never leave her alone again. Mew agrees, on one condition.

He just doesn't want peace time to mean lazy time, since they got to be ready to fight again if the need arises. Kairi thinks that's fair enough, begrudgingly, that's just the type of guy Mew is.

They then tease each other a bit on their flaws before calming down, deciding to go in for one brief kiss, the first of many for the new couple.

Though they REALLY are flustered over having done so, nervous that they may let their emotions flare out of control and wind up having a child early.

The two of them decide to head back, and along the way Mew can only wonder...Just what exactly their future will hold.

CHRONICLES END.