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."

159. Final Chapter Normal

At long last, we've reached the finale - at least for the Normal route. It's been a long time coming, but here we have the finale for SUPER ROBOT WARS U: DELUXE EDITION! Of course, this isn't the True Ending, just a Normal one. Alos, this chapter is also almost 25,000 words, so I hope you're comfortable wherever you're reading this!

---

Final Chapter (Normal) - Dream

The return of the Shin Getter team was, while a cause for great excitement, also a puzzling one for DREAM. They were sure that they had seen Ryoma, Hayato and Benkei perish. How they had survived, and exactly what the fight they were involved in since their disappearance entailed, was a question that was on everyone's minds as they returned to the Chouginga Dai-Gurren's hangar to prepare for the final showdown with Metatron.

"So, after you used that Giga Drill attack to destroy the Death Spiral Machine," Murrue inquired as she, Yurika, the Shin Dragon team and Michiru stood in a circle around the three Getter pilots; "You were warped to Outside?"

"Yep," Ryoma answered. "From there, we began battling horrors unlike anything we had ever seen. Even the Invaders were tame-looking compared to the freaks that are lurking out there even now."

"Most people would go mad just by looking at 'em," Benkei added.

"What's worse," Hayato said, "it seems like they're constantly trying to break into other realities. They may even be going for Eden Vital, considering that they possessed the last of Atik Yomin's generals."

"Then Deathless Amon is just another one of these Outside entities," Gai said, shuddering at the thought. "An enemy even greater than Atik Yomin..."

"Don't worry about 'em," Ryoma said with a confident grin; "Our comrades are fighting 'em right now so you guys don't have to."

"That's right," Yurika said; "The ones who fired that blast that came out of that portal – you said they were comrades. Who were they?"

"Other Getter Teams, right?" a voice came from nearby. They turned and saw Musashi standing there, his face beaming. "I got a peek through that portal just before they attacked, and I saw the face of an enormous Getter on the other side. I'm betting that's your leader."

"Musashi!" the three Getter pilots exclaimed in unison. They ran over to greet their old friend with a mix of both manly embraces and hearty slaps on the back and head.

"It really is you!" Ryoma said with great elation.

"Now you owe US an explanation!" Benkei said, turning to Murrue.

"We passed through Hell to get here after we beat the Anti-Spiral," the captain of the Archangel said. "And so the Flame of Hope joined up with us."

"I guess that explains why all of the Devilmen that died in our fight against Cadney and the Demon Busters are with us," Hayato said thoughtfully. "Well..."

"Hey," Kei interrupted; "Does this mean once we stop Metatron, you guys will have to go back?"

The three pilots of Shin Getter looked at each other and nodded.

"I'm afraid so, Kei," Benkei said; "It's the ultimate destiny for every incarnation of us." Kei started to tear up and rushed into her adoptive father's arms. Michiru could only lower her head.

"A life of endless battle," she said; "You're really going to go back to that?"

"We know it's to protect you all," Ryoma answered; "so we don't mind. And it's kinda fun to fight alongside other versions of ourselves. The stories they told us when we had time to relax would take years to retell!"

Michiru's face lit up as the implications of this dawned on her.

"Wait a second," she exclaimed; "If all of them are all versions of you three, then..."

"The Getter Team from the Celestial Calendar is there too," Hayato said. "They said that they still think about you a lot, Michiru."

Tears of joy began to flow down the cheeks of the Saotome Institute's last survivor as she imagined the smiling faces of the Getter Team she had know for so long.

"Thank you, Hayato," she said. "Truly...thank you..."

---

"We really destroyed all of Atik Yomin's forces?" Roux said as she climbed down from the cockpit of the Gundam MK III. She, Kamille, Judau, Tara, Lowe and Gai Murakumo were all working in their mechs, while Masakado stood nearby, polishing and sharpening his sword in the traditional manner.

"All except for Metatron himself," Kamille said. "Iophiel and Lucifer don't count, since they're on our side."

"I can't believe we actually defeated an enemy force more numerous than the stars in the sky, or grains of sand on the beach," Judau said, almost awe-struck by the thought.

"Yeah," Lowe said. "Even if that Final Demonic Special and Merkabah finished the rest off at the end, it's still pretty mind-blowing."

"And all of them were once humans like us," Tara said somberly.

"Tara?" Roux exclaimed. "You're seriously sympathizing with them now?!"

"Tara is correct," Masakado said; "Every one of those soldiers was once a human being. They willingly surrendered their lives as mortals to fight and protect the cosmos." For a moment, everyone looked down at the ground, as if ashamed.

"Or so they believed," Gai said bluntly. "And their leaders had no qualms about killing innocent people, and with the exception of Iophiel, none of them seemed to be against it."

"Gai..." Lowe murmured.

"Even if they were lied to, following Metatron was their choice, so we shouldn't beat ourselves up about their fate," the mercenary continued. "If anything, we gave them exactly what they wanted – death." Everyone looked at each other as they sought to make sense of these seemingly conflicting statements.

"We have to stop Metatron for their sake as well," Tara said. "After all, he still used them for his own ends. Compelling others to commit atrocities makes you just as guilty as those who commit them...if not more so." This seemed to satisfy the present company, and it came just in time too.

"Attention, all hands," Taiga's voice came over the warship's loudspeaker, "We will now be traveling to the center of Eden Vital! All hands, to battle stations! I repeat, we will now be traveling to the center of Eden Vital! All hands, to battle stations!"

"It's time," Judau said to the others. "Hard to believe it's finally going to be over after this."

"Yeah," Roux said, glancing over at the ZZ Gundam's pilot as the Chouginga Dai-Gurren hummed in preparation for dimensional transfer; "We can finally go home once we win."

---

DREAM's ships reappeared in an incalculably vast space that could only be surmised to be the very center of Eden Vital. Its appearance seemed to change from moment to moment - it would be like the inside of a hollow tree at one moment, the innards of a colossal fleshy organism the next, and a crystalline starscape with floating platforms after that. But one thing was constant in this chaotic realm - the form of Metatron hovering over what appeared to be a gigantic blue Threshold, his arms raised up and out as if greeting something from above.

But unlike the others, the blue Threshold here had a clearly defined border - it was made of some eldritch metal, and shaped almost like a compass. Golden and green energy seeped out of the portal, and was being drawn into Metatron's wings of light as he uttered words in a language that was not native to any world.

So, that's the Prime Crossgate, Bian thought as he looked down at the massive Threshold. I never imagined I'd see it myself, even though my research and experiments continually supported its existence.

"Metatroooon!" Janus roared as loud as he could, hoping to get his doppelganger's attention and to break his concentration.

"Jaan!" Iophiel cried out.

"Big brother!" Rei called out, the lingering memories of Metatron's younger sister flaring up within her.

The three cries did their job - Metatron's wings suddenly dimmed as the flow of gold and green energy came to a halt. He lowered his arms and chuckled a bit as DREAM quickly surrounded him, though made no immediate moves to attack. Even to the very end, they were hoping that they could reason with the head of Atik Yomin.

"I have to say, I'm impressed with you lot," Metatron said frankly; "Another few moments and tzimtzum would have begun with no way to stop it. Even when every last one of my troops went to all that trouble to stall you, you still managed to reach me."

He turned around and looked up at Zig.

"Iophiel...I'm glad you came," the angel said in a tone that was sincere, yet insincere; "At least I'll see your face one last time before the end."

Something's wrong...he doesn't seem like himself, even if he has lost his mind, Rei thought.

"Then it's not too late...please, Jaan, forget about the ritual!" Iophiel cried back in desperate hope. "Go back to the sweet, kind man you were back then!"

"You know that I can't," Metatron replied, shaking his head. "We've seen too much, you and I. We've seen the birth, life and death of too many universes to turn back now!"

"How can you make that claim?" Athrun asked.

"Yeah! How long have you even been at this?" Kouji asked, leering at his foe.

"I suppose that since you came this far," the leader of Atik Yomin replied with a little smile; "It's only right that I give you answers."

"As you were most likely told, Iophiel and I managed to survive the death of our home universe thanks to the TZIM and TZUM. In a way, Euzeth Gozzo's plan worked perfectly - but it was we who ended up being the recipients of that god-like power, not him. Our bodies ceased aging, and we gained powers that we hadn't imagined ever possessing."

He waved his hand, conjuring a sun the size of a golf ball that floated just inches above his palm.

"But the reason we were able to survive," he continued, "is that each of them contains all the energy necessary to create a full fledged universe...if not more." The tiny sun began to shrink as more minuscule stars formed in his hand – before long, one could see a cluster of small galaxies shimmering and swirling in place.

"An entire universe?!" Tara gasped.

"Indeed, the cores of the TZIM and TZUM are entire realities," the angel said; "Your universe was roughly that size perhaps no less than a nanosecond after its expansion started. More importantly, it still receives energy from the Sephirot. THAT is the reason behind its limitless power. The same goes for the S2 Engines of your Evangelions and the Angels."

"You still haven't answered our first question," Ruri interrupted. "How did you arrive at the conclusion that mankind subconsciously wished for death? We understand that we supposedly confirmed it for you, but..."

"I'm getting to that," Metatron sighed, still seemingly heedless to his beloved's deep concern. "After eons of observing other realities thanks to the powers Euzeth tried to acquire himself, my beloved and I began to notice several consistent patterns in the rise and fall of man as well as the life of their universe." The angel caused the galaxies in his hand to float upward and orbit DREAM. As they did so, the galaxies began to turn into images of past events, drawn from the memories of the entity beyond the portal. First, images of war, greed and suffering manifested before the mech pilots' eyes.

"First, the catalyst for the human race's ultimate extinction was always due to the death instinct seated in the minds of those who wield power – physical, political or otherwise," he explained; "This instinct, this desire for self-annihilation is rooted in - among other things - the conflicting emotions of curiosity and fear. As a result, the death instinct manifests itself as hubris, greed and belligerence."

Immediately after came images of nuclear war, environmental destruction and other disasters.

"Second, the more advanced the species was at the moment of its extinction," the leader of Atik Yomin said, "the more damage it dealt from the fallout of its demise. In most cases, it wouldn't even extend beyond Earth. Those universes, we left alone."

"Isn't that right, love?" he said, casting his gaze toward Iophiel.

"How often was that the case?" Harry Ord asked the priestess.

"The vast majority of cases were that humans would destroy themselves before they could develop and implement the technology needed to survive beyond Earth for a long time," Iophiel replied solemnly. "Perhaps only one in a billion trillion trillion universes ever had a humanity that migrated beyond the Moon."

"That...sounds a lot," Kamina said, trying to wrap his head around a number that large. "I think."

"But if there were forces who successfully opposed the death instinct," Metatron then said; "the species would be able to advance further and travel further, though the hubris, greed and belligerence would never disappear entirely. It would manifest again after enough time had passed, and the cycle would repeat itself. Only when the death instinct finally won did the endless waltz cease!"

An endless waltz, Amuro thought; I feel like I've heard that term used...perhaps another version of myself heard it.

"You saw that for yourselves," Metatron continued; "Gym Ghingnham, Wong Yunfat, Muruta Azrael, Seele, Britannia, and even the Jovians...they were all enslaved by their death instinct!"

"Then why were you HELPING them?!" Kira yelled angrily.

Metatron hung his head in sorrow.

"...Because no matter how hard Iophiel and I tried to warn people...they would NEVER listen," he said. "For all our power, we couldn't change human nature...the same mistakes would be repeated over and over again no matter what we did. Only after failing countless times, and then seeing you reject the paradises I offered, I realized the truth..."

He looked back up, a glimmer of madness in his eyes.

"This was just the way things are," he cried; "How they're supposed to be...this is what mankind WANTS!"

"Again with that bull?!" Ryoma cried, already tired of Metatron's diatribe.

"Don't you see?" Metatron continued; "The people you call 'evil'...they are the ones who are doing the will of nature and the Great God. It's so-called 'heroes' like you...like Iophiel and I were...like our parents and the Steel Dragons...THEY'RE the one who are defying nature!"

"What?!" Kamille gasped.

"You delay your species' inevitable demise," the angel ranted; "Thereby allowing them to advance further and further, making the fallout of mankind's extinction worse and worse when it finally occurs!"

"So, you're saying we oughta sit on our hands and do nothing while bullies like Rau le Creuset, Dr. Hell and the Zonder show up?" Goldymarg retorted. "Or that WE should start bullying people?!"

"...Man, and I thought IZUMI said some stupid stuff!" Ryoko said, shaking her head in disgust.

"You claim that those who cause meaningless death an destruction are good, and those who prevent it are evil?" Jiro said indignantly; "What a load of crap!"

"Jaan...we decided to spend eternity watching any realities that developed intelligent life and seeing how they played out, in hopes of prevent that tragedy from repeating itself," Iophiel added, her voice starting to tremble from dismay. "Yet now...now..."

"You're not enlightened, you're insane!" Janus cried. "I can't believe I was stuck with a piece of you!"

Metatron shook his head, yet smiled rather ominously.

"...I knew you'd say as much," he said with a chuckle. "After all...you haven't lived as long as I have. But through seeing all that, and after seeing the birth of monsters like your cosmos-sized Gurren Lagann, the answer dawned on me - the reason and ultimate goal of evolution and the death instinct..."

The angel's wings flared up.

"...Is so that a single being can BECOME the Great God's will, and to reshape reality as they saw fit! That was Euzeth's ultimate plan, and that is what I have been striving to prevent for countless eons...but now you've shown me that even trying to stop THAT is futile!" the angel roared.

"That's not what we wanted!" Guy said. "All we want is..."

"You rejected your own ideal worlds!" the leader of Atik Yomin cried. "You were so intent on pursuing limitless power that you cast aside worlds of peace, tranquility, and happiness! That's why I..."

He then smirked again and then started laughing - quietly at first, building up to a disturbing, maniacal cackle - the laugh of a man teetering on the edge of sanity, finally pushed into the abyss of madness.

"Jaan...you mustn't!" Iophiel cried out, realizing what was about to happen. "If you do that..."

But it was too late - green and gold tendrils of light extended from out of the portal and stuck themselves into various points on the angel's body. As the energy from the entity beyond the Threshold poured into him, Metatron's form began to change violently and grow at horrific speeds.

In a matter of moments, something new loomed over DREAM - a white, gold and silver clockwork monstrosity trillions of light-years across. Extending from its central body were four perfectly symmetrical figures of aged, limbless men with ornate crowns on their heads and great trumpets sticking out of their mouths; Each one sat on a gyroscope of sorts, which was attached to the central body via great golden tubes; The central body itself was a great glass sphere with folded wings inside, spinning like a fan, while its upper body vaguely resembled a four-winged being with a golden halo, flanked by two child-like trumpeting cherubs. In the center of it all was another gyroscope filled with all sorts of weird golden and silver tubing, all growing out of Metatron's back and limbs.

"Is that...the Great God?" Shinji gasped.

"No...the Great God has no material shape," Kaworu replied, equally awe-struck. "This is..."

"YES, THIS IS IT! NOW I TRULY AM ONE WITH THE GREAT GOD! I AM THAT WHICH CONTROLS FATE, TIME AND SPACE! I AM THE SUPREME BEING...THE ATIK YOMIN!"

"Aaaaand he's officially lost it," Koji sighed. "So much for trying to talk things out."

But then, Metatron let out words no one was quite expecting to hear, and in a voice that wasn't quite his:

"...OH, HOW WE HAVE WAITED FOR THIS MOMENT! EONS UPON EONS WE WAITED, BUT NOW THE POWER WE HAVE SOUGHT IS FINALLY OURS!"

It took DREAM a second, then they realized just what had happened, but it was Masakado who gave that realization a voice.

"You..." he bellowed; "You are Euzeth Gozzo!" With a great show of will, he caused a planetoid to form underneath him, and he melded with it, allowing his gigantic stony form to reappear.

"WE ARE NOT JUST ONE EUZETH GOZZO," the voice of the tyrannical scientist said, his words seeming to come from billions of mouths at once; BUT ALL OF THEM. WE ARE THE EUZETH GOZZO."

"So he's just like the Great Emperor of Darkness," Koji murmured; "A combination of all the Euzeth Gozzos across the cosmos. Why else would he refer to himself in the plural?"

"VERY PERCEPTIVE, WARRIOR OF MAZIN," the controller of Atik Yomin said.

"So that was your plan," Bian said with a scowl. "You were waiting until Metatron's will was weak enough for you to seize control!"

"NOT QUITE," The Euzeth Gozzo said; THE 'ME' OF THAT WORLD IMPLANTED A FRAGMENT OF HIS SOUL INTO JAAN SHADDAI LUCKFIELD AT THE MOMENT OF HIS DEATH."

The visages of the aged, limbless men that extended from The Atik Yomin's body twisted into forms resembling Euzeth's mask.

"THAT FRAGMENT THEN GRADUALLY WORMED ITS WAY INTO HIS PSYCHE, AND SO SUBTLY THAT IT COULD ONLY HAVE BEEN INTERPRETED AS A GRADUAL CHANGE OF OUTLOOK. THEN, ONCE HE HAD LINKED WITH THE GREAT GOD, WE WERE CALLED TOGETHER AS 'THE EUZETH GOZZO' ONCE MORE."

The winged, child-like cherubs on The Atik Yomin also adopted visages resembling the mask worn by the evil scientist.

"THE MOMENT YOU REJECTED YOUR IDEAL WORLDS," The Euzeth Gozzo said; "WAS THE MOMENT WE NEEDED TO TAKE CONTROL. IF NOT FOR YOU, OUR SON WOULD NOT TAKEN THAT FINAL STEP."

"Wait, YOUR son?!" Janus, Tara and Iophiel exclaimed.

"THAT'S RIGHT," the singular multitude of Euzeths laughed; "JAAN SHADDAI WASN'T THE SON OF BROOKLYN LUCKFIELD...BUT OUR SON! THE SON OF EUZETH GOZZO! HE KILLED HIS OWN FATHER WITHOUT REALIZING IT, YET ALLOWING HIM TO REMAIN ALIVE, JUST FOR THIS MOMENT!"

"Then why did he give them to Kusuha and Bullet?" Kyosuke demanded; "or did he force Kusuha to conceive him?!"

"OH, IF ONLY HE COULD HAVE," The Euzeth Gozzo sighed; UNFORTUNATELY, HE HAD TO FIND OTHER WAYS TO MAKE SURE HIS GENES PASSED TO THE CHILD...WAYS THAT ONLY ARUBBOTH'S MAGI-SCIENCE COULD PROVIDE."

So that's how he did it, Bian thought. He used Brooklyn as a surrogate father...he used a magi-tech serum to replace Brooklyn's DNA with his own...so that also means Nadija is his daughter!

"Does it matter how he did it?" Excellen said, hiding a deep rage in her friendly tone even as she pointed Rein Weissritter's Howling Rifle at The Atik Yomin. "It matters that he's going to end all life in the cosmos."

"ON THE CONTRARY, EXCELLEN BROWNING. WE HAVE NO SUCH INTENT," The Euzeth Gozzo replied.

"No, he just wants to strip all living things of their free will," Ryoma said. "And force them to live a life that he alone decides for them."

"BETTER THAT," The Euzeth Gozzo replied, "THAN TO LIVE AN UNPREDICTABLE EXISTENCE, WITH NO APPARENT RHYME OR REASON, ONE WRITTEN BY A BLIND IDIOT...AND BETTER STILL THAN WHAT MY FOOLISH SON BELIEVES IT IS THE PROPER PATH!"

"I've had enough of this crap!" Kouji cried. "We're not gonna let you OR Metatron have your way!" With that, Mazinger Z rocketed forward, shifting to the form it had used against Hell King Goldon and readying a Reinforced Rocket Punch. But as he took aim, suddenly thousands of Nadija copies appeared, and the closest one immediately conjured a whirling vortex of wind.

"HEAVEN-SENT TYPHOON!" it cried, sending the whirling attack straight at Mazinger. Kouji frantically broke away, just barely avoiding the attack.

"What...are those?!" Asuka exclaimed as she looked around at the thousands of eerily smiling angels. "I thought we beat all of Atik Yomin's troops?!"

"They look just like...Nadija," Rei murmured. "But they're dolls..."

"...THE FINAL GUARDIANS," The Euzeth answered; DID YOU REALLY THINK WE WERE GOING TO LEAVE OURSELVES COMPLETELY UNPROTECTED?"

"Each of these seems to be on par with Atik Yomin's generals," Xemmey said. "Based on the fact that one of them used Raphael's ultimate attack."

"Papa! Big brother!" one of the copies of Metatron's sister called out.

"We'll protect you!" another said.

"Hurry up so everyone can be happy!" a third said.

Janus looked on in particular horror. Nadija – the one who had comforted him in the moment of greatest despair, rejecting her blood brother as a result...these beings were an insult to her!

"Euzeth!" he bellowed; "Where's the real Nadija?!"

"FEAR NOT," the controller of The Atik Yomin said with a sardonic chuckle; "SHE IS WITH THE GREAT GOD NOW, AS ARE ALL THE SOULS WHO HAD BEEN RESTING HERE IN HEAVEN."

"That explains why Heaven was so empty," Akira muttered.

"...AND ONCE WE TAKE COMPLETE CONTROL OF THE GREAT GOD," the tyrannical multitude of scientists continued, "THEY...THEY..."

But before he could finish, the form of Metatron started to twitch and writhe, while the faces on the cherubs and old men started to warp and twist, seemingly trying to resume their former shape.

"The Atik Yomin's form is becoming unstable!" one of the Chouginga Gurren Lagann's operators called out.

"WHAT?! NO!" The Euzeth cried as his inner struggle continued; "YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE..."

Suddenly, the tone of The Atik Yomin's voice changed as one of the cherubs and two of the old men turned back to their original shapes.

"GET OUT," The Atik Yomin growled; "GET OUT OF ME! I WILL...I WILL..."

"It sounds like Metatron is fighting with Euzeth!" Alia exclaimed.

"Are we supposed to root for one of 'em?" Boss asked.

"One wants to eliminate all life from the cosmos," Fudo replied; "and the other wants to strip us all of free will! Like hell I'm rooting for either of 'em!"

"This is our chance!" Masakado ordered; "If we attack the core while they are distracted, victory shall be ours!"

"The core seems to be surrounded by a barrier of pure Sephirotic energy," Ruri said, "just like Atzilut Guneden was. But Omoikane is unable to measure its power...trying to punch through it is probably a waste of time."

"What's generating the barrier?" Taiga asked. "Find it!" GGG's support crew immediately went to work to find the source, and didn't take long at all.

"The barrier seems to be bound together by the four figures extending from The Atik Yomin's core," Mikoto said to everyone once the analysis was complete. "Destroying them should disable the barrier."

"The Atik Yomin most likely also has rapid regenerative abilities," Xengar chimed in; "I postulate that we will have to destroy all four figures within a single unit of Planck time. We must split up, but coordinate our attacks to absolute perfection."

"Planck time?" Koji asked.

"A unit of Planck time is the shortest amount of time that can be measured," Dr. Heaven suddenly said to his grandson as his image appeared on Mazinkaiser's control console.

"I wonder if we'll have enough power to destroy a single figure if we split up," Yoko said.

"I'm sure we can!" Guy called out. "As long as we have courage, and believe in ourselves and each other, there is nothing we cannot accomplish!"

"This space is very similar to the Super Spiral Space where the Anti-Spiral's world was," Lordgenome chimed in; "Furthermore, the pure, unfiltered energy of the Sephirot is flowing through the Prime Crossgate. We should be able to use the full extent of our powers here. Focus your wills, and your power of shinka shall grant you the power you need to fight back against The Atik Yomin."

"All right, then!" Simon cried. "Let's do it, guys!"

With a heroic roar, Simon made Chouginga Gurren Lagann absorb a massive amount of Sephirotic energy, allowing it to ascend to the form it had taken in the final battle against the Anti-Spiral...

"TENGEN TOPPA...GURRENNNN LAGANN!"

The rest of DREAM did the same, causing their machines to grow even larger as well, though they did not have the same demonic appearance they had during that battle. Indeed, they all soon achieved a size on the same magnitude as Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann had been, although The Atik Yomin still towered over them.

"No way!" one of the Final Guardians said as it and the others did the same, "we won't let you harm our papa and big brother!"

"Everyone, this is it!" Janus called out. "Once we beat this thing, our war will finally be over!"

"Give it everything you've got," Tara added, "...and if it's not enough, give more! Give not just 110 percent...not even 110,000 percent..."

Neo Granlif flared out hundreds of rainbow wings as the Exogenesis Engine went into full drive.

"...GIVE INFINITY PERCENT!"

---

Nadija couldn't see anything – the darkness surrounding her was too bright. Her smell was overwhelmed too by an intoxicating foul stench, and her ears were assaulted by an utterly cacophonous silence. She even felt as if she was being stabbed by a hurricane of needles while simultaneously being caressed by her mother's gentle touch. All of these contradictory sensations were simultaneously overwhelming the girl to the point where she was silently begging for it to end, even if it meant death.

And then Nadija realized it: she already was dead...and that she had been here before, uncounted times. Yet this time, she didn't want to go.

Not yet, she thought. Not yet! Big brother is...big brother is...

Her feelings of desperate hope started to emanate throughout the bright darkness...

---

One quarter of DREAM managed to reach one of the columns on the front right corner of The Atik Yomin - this one still had Euzeth's mask on it. But they couldn't get close enough – there were too many Final Guardians in the way.

Not that Rei planned to let that stop her.

Standing atop the Wunder, the girl took aim at a Final Guardian with Unit 00 F-Type's AT Field-launching sniper rifle and pulled the trigger. The round struck the Nadija copy in the head, blasting away half of it in one shot – a feat that would not have been possible were it not for the energy of Eden Vital that super-charged everyone in DREAM. The twisted angel giggled unnervingly as its body burst into cosmic dust, which was immediately pulled into The Atik Yomin. Rei was too busy setting another round to see another Final Guardian nearby raising a miniature sun overhead for a Megiddo's Solar Flare.

Luckily, someone else did.

The twisted angel yelped when a lance was thrust through its chest – Asuka's Lance of Cassius. As Super Unit 02 yanked the weapon out, the Final Guardian also burst into cosmic dust. Rei quickly turned around to fire, only to see the human-like Eva standing where her foe had been.

"Thank you, Asuka," Rei said with a little smile.

"Hey, I would have saved any of our companions," the redhead replied with a huff as her Evangelion landed next to Rei's while pulling out a positron rifle; "Don't think I'm treating you special."

"I never wanted special treatment," Unit 00's pilot said as she took a shot at a Final Guardian who was fighting against the Strike Freedom. They continued to fire at the enemies, not saying anything for a bit. But eventually, Asuka did speak up.

"Man, these Final Guardians are creepy," she said.

"I know," Rei replied; "Especially because I knew the real Nadija."

"You did?" Asuka said with surprise, even as she blasted apart a Final Guardian that was charging at them. "But isn't she Metatron's little sister or something?"

"Her soul was inside me," the pilot of Unit 00 answered; "just as Yui's was. That's why I viewed Janus as a big brother."

This fact was understandably confusing to Super Unit 02's pilot, and her expression, which was shared by her Eva, said it all.

"I'm sorry, what?" Asuka exclaimed, shaking her head. "If my mom was in Unit 02, then Shinji's mom would have been in Unit 01...can someone explain this to me?"

"Rei was created," Ritsuko explained, "along with dozens of others, to be a vessel for the soul of Shinji's mother, and for the Evas' Dummy System. But through an incredibly unlikely fluke in the process of the cycle of souls, Nadija's soul was stuck to Yui's when the latter was reincarnated."

"Even so, I am not Yui Ikari," Rei said as she spotted an ice-wreathed Final Guardian approaching Asuka and took it out with a single head shot.

"I am Rei Ayanami."

Asuka looked in the direction Rei had fired, and realized she had been saved.

"Okay, so we're even now," Asuka grumbled before muttering a few choice curse words in German.

"Look alive, you two!" Misato shouted as the Wunder started to move, preparing to force its way through the line of Nadija copies. "We've gotta take out that barrier!"

---

Another part of DREAM reached the other front figure, this one on its left - it had the original head of an elderly man. It didn't take long for Miki, her body empowered by the blazing light of the Sephirot, to tear her way through six Final Guardians with her blade and get within striking distance of the figure.

"Time to start slashing this thing apart," she muttered. But as she readied her blade to attack, she heard voices in her mind.

"Miki..."

"Miki..."

"Sis!"

Miki gasped when she recognized the voices.

"Dad? Mom? Taro?" she gasped. Fudo overheard Miki's gasp and flew over to see why she had stopped.

"It's wonderful here," Noel's voice said in a voice filled with contentment and peace; "Everyone is here with God."

"But it won't be truly complete without you," Miki's mother said, her voice also filled with tranquility.

"Yeah! Come on!" Taro called out.

"What's going on, Miki?" Fudo asked, getting in Miki's face. "We have to start damaging this thing!"

"My family...my family is in there," the catgirl demon said, pointing to the center of The Atik Yomin; "They say they're with God. They sound...happy."

"Don't be fooled, Miki!" Fudo exclaimed, grabbing his beloved's shoulders; "Metatron and Euzeth are just trying to..."

"Fudo!" a voice sounded in the Devilman's head.

"Wamuu?" he exclaimed, also turning toward The Atik Yomin.

"Is that you, man?" Gabi's voice said.

"What's taking you so long?" Kukun called out. "Get in here!"

"Wamu...Gabi...and Kukun too," Fudo muttered before shaking his head. "N-no! It's all a trick!" Meanwhile, Maou Dante closed in, his horns crackling with demonic energy.

"Big brother!" a gentle female voice called out to him.

"Or...ga..." he muttered, though he refused to cease his attack.

"It's okay, Dante," Dante's little sister said; "We're all here together...but we're not complete without you. Please, just stop resisting."

"Damn you, Atik Yomin!" Dante roared as he unleashed a bolt of demonic energy from his horns that cracked part of the figure. "How dare you play with our hearts again!"

Nearby, the Titania and Nightingale were also approaching the figure when Haman also heard the voice of a lost loved one:

"Haman..."

Char's right-hand woman gasped when she heard it – the voice of her father Maharajala Khan, dead as a result of the coup on Axis after the One Year War.

"Papa..." she gasped. Char sensed Haman's unease.

"Haman, you heard Fudo and the others," the leader of Neo Zeon said as he sent out his funnels. "It's all a trick by The Atik Yomin! It's using the voices of our loved ones to break our resolve!" Sure enough, the heir to Zeon heard the voice of someone who had died:

"Casval...there's no need for you to fight anymore...come, and sleep in God's embrace."

Char scowled – the voice was that of his father, Zeon Zum Deikun. Somehow, he had figured he would be hearing his father's voice again as soon as he had realized what was happening...yet he had also wished that it was not so.

"You sound like my father," he replied, as he mentally sent the funnels to attack the figure; "but you're not him! This isn't what he wanted for humanity!" The power of the funnels increased further as they channeled Char's anger at The Atik Yomin for trying to mess with his emotions...

---

Another group reached one of the rear figures – this one also had the mask of Euzeth Gozzo on its face – and at the vanguard of this group were the four surviving Steel Dragons.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" The Euzeth Gozzo exclaimed; "IF YOU INTERFERE..."

"I will not allow you to have your way, Euzeth Gozzo!" Bian roared Bian said as he charged energy into a small cannon on Valsion's left arm.

"CROSS SMASHEEEEER!"

The cannon fired a white beam that was soon joined by a spiraling pair of smaller beams, one red and one blue that sped at the figure and struck it, breaking off a chunk of the mask.

"THINK ABOUT IT, BIAN ZOLDARK," the combined scientist cried as the trumpet on the figure's mouth area unleashed a stream of energy balls; "MAN'S GREATEST FEAR IS THE FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN! IT IS THAT FEAR THAT IS THE SOURCE OF ALL ILLS! AS THE NEW GREAT GOD, WE WOULD ENSURE THAT YOUR ENTIRE FATE WOULD BE KNOWN TO YOU, FROM THE MOMENT YOU ARE BORN!"

"You would have us live our lives as automatons, all joy stripped from our existence?!" Elzam said as he fired off a barrage of beam shots from Aussenseiter's twin rifles, breaking the trumpet clean off after several hits.

"SUCH THINGS WOULD BE MEANINGLESS IN THE WORLD WE WOULD BUILD," The Euzeth said as the broken instrument shattered, forming more Final Guardians that immediately rushed at the group.

"So you do plan to strip our lives of meaning," Excellen said with a smirk that hid her distaste for her foe and his way of thinking. She fired off several physical rounds from her Howling Rifle, taking out several of the Final Guardians.

"YOUR LIVES ARE MEANINGLESS ALREADY!" the wicked mastermind ranted; "THE GREAT GOD IS A BLIND IDIOT THAT ISN'T EVEN AWARE OF WHAT IT DESIRES! YOU ARE PUPPETS FLAILING RANDOMLY AND WITHOUT RHYME OR REASON!"

"It would be nothing more than an exchanging of masters," Kyosuke said as Alteisen Riese closed in on the figure; "Even if free will is an illusion, it is an illusion that gives us the will to live!"

Once it got into striking distance, the demonic red mech jammed its heavy stake into the figure.

"AND WE WON'T LET YOU TAKE THAT FROM US!"

Kyosuke started firing the Revolver Bunker rapidly, pounding The Atik Yomin's figure and creating larger and larger cracks in its armor. Nearby, Mu la Flaga was closing in to damage the figure himself.

"IF WE LOSE CONTROL HERE," The Euzeth cried; "OUR FOOLISH SON WILL BECOME THE GREAT GOD, AND ABSORB ALL THINGS INTO HIMSELF!"

"Then we'll stop him too!" Mu yelled as he fired off every weapon that the Perfect Strike had, blowing the head off the figure. But to his dismay, it immediately regenerated all of the damage it had suffered.

"Whoops...forgot that we have to destroy all four at the same time," he muttered as The Atik Yomin began to counterattack with a wave of energy balls...

---

Big brother...

"Na...dija?"

Why? Why are you trying to absorb everything? That's not the way!

"I have to...save them..."

But if you do that, everything that's nice will disappear too! There won't be any flowers, trees or animals left! They didn't do anything! They're not smart enough to really do things that people do! And even then...

"No...it's not that they don't know any better...it's that they know EXACTLY what to do! Nadija, thank you!"

Huh?

"There's no need for me to consume all living things...just those that don't know how to be what they are...that is the source of the contradictions!"

Big brother, you didn't let me...

"Yes, the creatures that don't know how to be themselves...are those with intelligence..."

---

"Damn it!" Simon growled as Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann was repelled by three dozen extremely large Final Guardians, which were quickly blasted apart by a mouth blast from Zig and his mate; "How are we supposed to break down all four of those figures at the same time with all of these grunts flying around?!"

"I have to admit," Leeron sighed as Neo Granlif flew over beside them, "even our drill isn't big enough to do that; plus, coordinating our attacks in this mess is awfully hard."

"We can't give up, Simon!" Iophiel said from atop Zig; "We've come too far!" Several more Final Guardians tried to attack the caelceti from behind, only to get slashed in twain by the giant stone blade of Masakado.

"I know," the digger replied, clutching his controls tightly. "The end of our journey is just beyond this last wall, but it might be too hard for us to drill through."

Masakado cleared his throat and stepped forward.

"If you cannot pierce it," Iophiel's guardian said, "then you must cleave it!"

"Masakado?!" Simon exclaimed.

"I shall destroy all four figures with one stroke," the masked warrior said.

"You can seriously do that?!" Tara exclaimed. "Then why didn't you do it in the first place?!"

"I was hoping I wouldn't need to...but it seems I have no choice now." With that, Masakado removed his mask, which was absorbed into the stony form of the shell he had formed around himself.

Iophiel, however, realized with a great deal of dismay what the cost of Masakado's attack would be.

"No, you mustn't!" she cried. "You'll..."

"Live well, my Szekhina," he said as his stony shell began to glow and grow; "and thank you, dear brother, for fighting with me one last time." As this was happening, Zig and his mate suddenly turned to their offspring, and they exchanged a few cries and nuzzles before parting.

"Xengar, what are they doing?" Janus asked.

"I believe...that Zig and his mate were saying goodbye to their children," the AI answered; "It seems they plan to sacrifice their own lives as well." As Masakado's rocky body continued to change, Zig and his mate flew towards Masakado, and seemed to be absorbed into his form, causing it to grow more rapidly and change shape as well.

"I see," Xemmey said; "Zig and his mate are going to empower Masakado's attack...using their own bodies as an energy source."

When the transformation was complete, something quite different was in its place: a well armored mecha with a very thick design. Its body was still made of rock, but they now resembled uncut gems. Its shoulders and upper body area were colored like milky cloud diamonds, ruby red drills stored on the backpack, jet-black legs, cinnabar-red crystalline spikes on its shoulders and legs, and sapphire accents on its arms and legs. Its forehead was adorned with a single large red crystal horn that glinted in the light that The Atik Yomin was giving off.

"Look! Is that Masakado?!" Shinobu exclaimed as Final Dancougar looked up at the colossus.

I've seen that machine before, Tetsuya thought; or was that another me?

"The Thrudgelmir..." Kyosuke gasped; "Masakado's custom Grungust Type III..."

"I AM WODAN...WODAN YMIR ZONVOLT," Masakado yelled, bellowing his true name; "THE SWORD OF THE SABBATH MAIDEN!" As he did so, some of the spikes on Thrudgelmir's left shoulder popped off, whirled several times and formed into the hilt and handle for a sword, which the rocky mecha then grasped with both hands. This caused the handle to sprout an incredibly long energy blade – one very similar to the one Neo Granlif made when it used its Saint Inferno...only this one was easily trillions of lightyears long. The drills on its back began to spin wildly, causing the mech to start moving forward.

"EXOGENESIS ZANKANTOU..." Wodan roared; "HOSHINAGI NO TACHI!"

The rocky Super Robot accelerated rapidly, rocketing forward. As it neared its maximum velocity, Sanger's disfigured brother let out one last cry:

"CHEEEEESTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAUGH!"

Thrudgelmir itself seemed to echo this as it swung the unbelievably long energy blade, its visage suddenly turning savage and feral as it let out a howling roar that was mixed with bits of the caelceti's haunting cries.

The attack seemed to cleave straight through The Atik Yomin, immediately smashing all four of the figures to bits and causing the fabric of spacetime in the realm to quake. The barrier surrounding The Atik Yomin's core vibrated wildly, then disappeared with a crack like ten billion simultaneous peals of thunder.

"The barrier's down!" Kira called out. "He did it!"

But DREAM wouldn't get to stare at Thrudgelmir for long – it was rapidly coming apart, its gem-like body eroding like a sand dune in the wind, except from the legs up. What was more, Wodan himself was undergoing a similar breakdown.

"There is nothing," he sighed contentedly, "that my Zan...kantou...cannot...cut..."

With those words, the body of Iophiel's guardian crumbled quietly into glittering cosmic dust that scattered on the winds of Eden Vital.

"Masa...ka...do..." the priestess muttered as she dropped to her knees in dismay, knowing that the last remnant of her old life aside from Jaan was gone forever.

"Thank to them, we can attack the core directly," Tara said, holding back her own tears. "We won't let their sacrifice be in vain!" However, Metatron's body, which was still being fought over between The Euzeth Gozzo and its original owner, suddenly started to writhe and scream.

"NO," the voice of every Euzeth Gozzo in the cosmos cried at once; "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, YOU FOOLS?! WE ARE...WE ARE..."

Suddenly, the masks on the cherubs shattered, while golden tendrils burst out from their mouths and rushed violently at something – Iophiel. It was merely moments between them springing out and grabbing their target, even though the distance between them was trillions of light-years.

Understandably, the still-weakened priestess couldn't react in time, and found herself being pulled toward the godly entity.

"Big sis!" Tara cried as she watched Iophiel be pulled into the body of The Atik Yomin. Janus, realizing what had to be done, spurred Neo Granlif forward even as more Final Guardians began to pour from The Atik Yomin's core.

"Out of the way, you fakes!" Janus roared as the white mech pulled out its Gran Cutters and sliced through hundreds of the Nadija copies. It wasn't long before they had caught up to the tendrils, only for them to seemingly disappear into thin air. But Janus kept going, and was soon gone from sight as well.

"Neo Granlif has descended into The Atik Yomin's core," an operator on Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann said. "Should we continue our attack?" Almost as soon as the operator had said that, more foes began forming from The Atik Yomin's core...very large, very large foes.

"What the?!" Domon exclaimed as he spotted some of them coming; "Devil Axis?!" Indeed, numerous scaled-up copies of the Devil Gundam fused to the asteroid were approaching them. But it wasn't the only thing.

"Cathedral Lazengann?!" Simon cried out as a massive copy of Lordgenome's transformed ship rushed at Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and somehow equaling it in size.

"Freaking GENESIS too?!" Athrun groaned as he spotted numerous copies of PLANT's doomsday weapon floating toward them while firing off powerful beams of gamma rays that would incinerate entire universes worth of planets.

"There's Armaros and Providence Gundam too!" Hyoma exclaimed as Combattler V was attacked by a copy of Hyperion's brother and Rau Le Creuset's Gundam simultaneously.

"Even the Z-Master's here," Guy said as a scaled-up copy of the ultimate Zonderian closed in, firing powerful gravity waves from its hand.

"They're just Einherjar," Dante said as he clashed with a copy of Gilgilgan; "Replicas of foes you fought before!"

"We've got no choice!" Lelouch called out as he blasted through several copies of the Galahad. "Break through the enemy's line and strike Atik Yomin's core directly!"

"But what about Zifell and Olendra?!" Ohgi exclaimed. "If we destroy the core while they're inside..."

"They'll be fine!" Koji said confidently as Mazinkaiser sliced through an Einherjar version of Hell King Gordon.

"They've supported us throughout our own journeys," Daisuke called out as Grendizer charged up a Space Thunder blast; "Now it's time for us to support THEM!"

Basara grinned and immediately started to play Dynamite Explosion, with the rest of Fire Bomber soon joining in. But it wasn't long before the entire Varauta fleet started belting out the tune as well, filling the void with Spiritia and charging everyone with even more power as they all unleashed attacks to break through the cloud of Final Guardians and Einherjar...

---

The soul of Wodan Ymir Zonvolt still held on in spite of the loss of its body as it drifted through the void beyond all spacetimes. But he knew that it would not last much longer. The only thing that remained was to wait for a certain someone.

An unknowable span of time passed before something entered the range of his senses – a golden entity the size of an entire cosmos. It began to emit waves that translated themselves into sounds that the floating soul could comprehend.

Hello again, Wodan, came one set of waves that sounded like the voice of a young man, although he detected undertones that only a being of incalculable age could give off.

"You two..." Wodan muttered.

You performed admirably, came another, translating to the voice of a teenage girl, who also had the same undertones as the young man.

"Have I earned...my redemption?" the soul said.

Many times over, the male waves said kindly.

"Good...very good," Wodan chuckled.

Your soul is unraveling, the female waves said with some concern; They will forget you.

"I was...prepared for that," the soul replied as he felt himself starting to disperse. "But now I can..."

As he said this, he suddenly stopped dispersing. He looked up, and saw that the golden entity was cradling him in its colossal hands and covering it with a soothing energy that seemed to be akin to a gentle tide flowing in and out.

For their sake, the male waves replied, we won't let you disappear. You will be reincarnated once their struggle ends. That way, you can begin anew...

---

Iophiel blinked several times as she came around - only to find herself in a space very different from the one surrounding the Crossgate. It was somewhat dark, though a band of red shone on the horizon, shrouding the landscape in a lovely twilight that seemed to be neither clearly dusk nor clearly dawn. The ground was covered with thick, lush grass covered in dew and interspersed with a variety of trees – some in full bloom, others fruiting, and still others doing both at the same time. The only noises that could be heard were the chirping of songbirds and the sound of a creek flowing by. As she sat up, she saw the form of Metatron sitting at the brook, still glowing white, even as a little songbird perched on his finger. He was sitting beneath a incredibly huge tree with thick branches and dotted with every fruit imaginable.

"Hello, love," he said.

"Don't 'love' me, you cad," Iophiel said angrily; "I know what you are...you're using my Jaan's body to become the Great God's will!"

Metatron chuckled as he gently stroked the songbird's head with one finger.

"You're referring to The Euzeth Gozzo?" he said; "I subsumed him and his infinite selves. I have their knowledge and memories, but my will is my own. And I have you and DREAM to thank."

"What?" the priestess exclaimed.

"Try as they might, even all of the Euzeth Gozzos in the infinite realities couldn't completely control me while The Atik Yomin was linked to the Great God," the angel explained; "Then as you worked on disabling the barrier, their grip on me weakened further. When Masakado finally shattered it, I was able to overwhelm those arrogant men myself."

A glimmer of hope returned to Iophiel's eyes.

"Then...you'll stop this?" she said; "You'll stop trying to become the Great God's will?"

Metatron shook his head.

"Stop?" he answered; "Why should I?"

Iophiel gasped.

"It's almost over anyway," the angel continued as he gently stroked the bird's head again; "Soon, I will have completely become the Great God's will. Once I achieve that, all intelligent beings will meld with me."

"And then what?" the priestess asked angrily. "There will be no living things left!"

"I said all INTELLIGENT beings," Metatron said with a kind smile. "Only those who are not plagued by contradictions will remain."

"What do you mean?" Iophiel said, suddenly confused. "You said all creatures are plagued by contradictions."

"I was wrong, and Nadija reminded me of that simple reality," the leader of Atik Yomin said as the songbird on his hand preened itself. "It is only beings with intellect and true consciousness, especially humans, that are cursed with the desire for things that contradict each other."

That couldn't be what Nadija meant, Iophiel thought.

"...To have absolute free will," he said; "Yet have true peace...to be with others, yet to be alone...to know, yet to remain ignorant...to change, yet to stay the same. As a result, we have no idea how one is supposed to be human."

He flicked his hand a little, causing the bird to take wing and fly off toward the sun.

"Of course, other living things don't have this problem," the angel continued. "A bird always knows exactly how to be a bird..."

A fish jumped out of the creek and landed with a splash as Metatron stood up.

"A fish knows just how to be a fish..."

Iophiel spied a small ant carrying a pebble in its jaws as it worked its way toward a small anthill.

"Even an ant knows how an ant should act. But because humans are unable to completely define ourselves, we cannot grasp what is truly important. As a result, we succumb to our death instinct."

The angel approached her and clasped her left hand with both of his own.

"But that all ends now," he concluded; "Once we've seen this through, every being cursed with intelligence will become one with me and the Great God...one with every soul from every world. Meanwhile, the rest of the infinite realities will go on existing as it should, and we'll be able to witness it all of its beauty and magnificence from the House of the World."

At this point, the sun started to set, and the massive tree Metatron was sitting under disappeared, though something else appeared in its place – a lovely, if simple hut constructed of long straight logs and woven with tree branches dotted with fruits and flowers. It had four wooden doors, one on each of its four walls. Soft golden light could be seen peeking through minute gaps in the walls and roof.

Then, stars appeared in the sky – except they were not stars, but souls that flickered and twinkled like them. They descended in an orderly fashion and began to orbit the hut as if trying to find a way in.

"This is the House of the World," the angel said; "but only the one who becomes the Great God's will can dwell within it. That means it's all mine...no, all ours."

"Ours?" Iophiel exclaimed.

"That's right," Metatron said; "I want to share this loveliness with you, and to share the duty of guiding existence. We can live here for all eternity – just you, me, and all intelligent beings, while everything else goes on, untroubled."

"Jaan...I..." Iophiel stammered, unsure of what to make of this display of affection. The two edged their faces closer together as if to kiss.

But suddenly, the entire landscape rumbled as a great crack formed in the sky. It was as if something was trying to break in from the outside...and after three hits, something did: Neo Granlif.

"Hands off my big sister!" Tara roared as the robot's fist smashed Metatron in the face. The beautiful landscape quickly fell apart as if it had been a glass dome, revealing a white void around them - a void so absolutely silent that it would deafen almost anyone.

"You...how dare you...why do you interfere?!" Metatron growled as he got up, and wiped silver blood from his cheek. "My love and I were going to have paradise together! And all of these souls..."

Metatron shook his head in frustration.

"How many times must I say it before you understand?! Union with the Great God, as its will or otherwise, is man's greatest desire, and as the one who will become its new will, I'll make that wish come true!"

The angel's wings shone as something formed around him - a silver and gold colored version of Neo Granlif that was three times larger than it and had no legs - but instead was held up by a long, snake-like tail.

That machine...is that Granlif Judecca?! Iophiel thought; That's the machine Euzeth Gozzo was planning to use back then...has he really subsumed them?

"Drop the act, Euzeth," Janus said. "You just want to rule over everything, manipulating them to your twisted desires."

"Euzeth is gone," Iophiel suddenly cried. "That's my Jaan! He overcame Euzeth's control, yet subsumed their memories and knowledge! He's not going to destroy everything!" Neo Granlif's pilots stopped, but remained on guard.

"That's right – only those with intellect shall be returned to the Great God forevermore," Metatron said, sensing the wavering of his enemies' resolve. "The countless souls of intelligent beings want nothing more than to overcome the contradictions that plague them...only through becoming one with the Great God can solve that! But those who lack intellect – plants, animals, insects, and other beings...they know exactly what it means to be themselves! They don't have the same problems we do!"

Tara, however, shook her head.

"And you fell for this, sis?" she said. "You seriously think that just because Metatron changed the criteria of what needs to disappear from the cosmos makes what he's doing right?"

Iophiel turned and glared at Granlif Judecca.

"Here's a question for ya," Janus asked the angel snidely as he readied Neo Granlif's blade. "Why would something as powerful as the source of all things even change form in the first place if it wanted to revert back to its original form?"

Granlif Judecca summoned its own sword – one that closely resembled Neo Granlif's own - then rushed at its foe with its sword keened to kill, only to have its attack parried.

"Why is there a cycle of life, death and rebirth at all?!" the pilot of the white Granlif yelled; "Did you ever think about THAT?!"

"And you know the answer?!" Metatron retorted, firing beams of flaming energy from Granlif Judecca's eyes.

"I sure as hell can't say we know...but I do know what we believe!" Tara replied as Neo Granlif raised a barrier to deflect the beams; "We believe that the souls that make up the Great God WANT to live, breathe, love and even to struggle!"

Neo Granlif's chest opened, and fired a series of small energy spheres from it, forcing Metatron's mech to jump away.

"You know how people say 'you can't see the forest for the trees'?" she continued as Neo Granlif closed its chest and pulled out its beam tonfas; "Well, you've got the opposite problem - you're so wrapped up in the big picture that you can't see the details! But Jan and I saw this when we lived our regular, ordinary lives and during our battles - our classmates, our friends, our loved ones and our comrades in DREAM! They all wanted to live!"

"The pain, the joy, the sadness, and the love of individual people living their lives," Janus added as he and Tara's robot lunged at Granlif Judecca, who blocked with its sword; "Somewhere along the line you lost the ability to see that! And because of all that, you lost your will to live!"

"...Maybe I am," Metatron replied with a sad grin. "Even so, for my beloved's sake, I will...I will..."

Granlif Judecca opened its chest, revealing a weapon that was almost exactly like Neo Granlif's: an Exogenesis Cannon. But as he tried to charge it up, the snake robot was pounded in the face by shots from Neo Granlif's beam weapons.

"Shut your goddamn mouth!" Janus roared indignantly. "Do you think that's what she'd want from you?! Haven't you thought about her feelings at all?! No! All you really think about is yourself! You're no different than your twisted old man!"

"Don't you DARE compare me to him!" Metatron roared as the snake mech stood up and charged up another Exogenesis Cannon blast and unleashed a flurry of Gran Bits, firing rapidly at Neo Granlif. But when it fired the blast, the mech separated in a flash, dividing into the forms of Granlif Yggdrasil and Lifthrasir Titania.

"There's one big thing we've learned about love in our lives. It's not just about protecting the ones you care about or being willing to die for them..."

The two mechs suddenly sped off in different directions at incredible speeds. Metatron looked left and right to try and catch them, but he was soon struck from behind by Lifthrasir.

"It's about listening to them!" Tara yelled. She quickly swooped back, allowing Janus to strike.

"It's about respecting them!" Janus cried as Lifthrasir moved in to attack again.

"It's about helping them grow as a person while accepting that which they can't change easily!" Lifthrasir's pilot cried as Janus rushed in for the fourth and final strike.

"It's even about yelling at them when they're about to do something STUPID!" Granlif's pilot roared as the white Super Robot sliced off one of Granlif Judecca's arms.

"And that's the thing that you were supposed to re-learn," Janus concluded as they landed in front of Granlif Judecca and reformed into Neo Granlif; "You didn't cast your soul fragment out...it separated itself from you in order to remember what love and friendship were really all about!"

"Then you lot destroyed any hope I had gained," Metatron grunted as he struggled to keep his sacred armor upright, baffled as to how he could be losing here; "By rejecting the paradise worlds I gave you, you proved that you're nothing but self-righteous hypocrites...you showed me that love and friendship are merely the desire to become one with another soul...and death means union with all other souls..."

Iophiel shook her head in both rage and despair – her beloved was lost after all.

As if sensing Iophiel's rejection, Janus made Neo Granlif summon the Gran Claymore, but this time it began to curve a bit like a scimitar. With Xengar's help, the young man grasped the blade and wound up as if to throw it.

"Now, fly like a swallow!" Xengar bellowed. "ZANKANTOU!"

"DAI!"

Neo Granlif held the sword over its head, with one hand on the handle and the other on the blade.

"SHA!"

The mech leaned back a bit.

"RIIIIIIIIIIIIN!"

The mech heaved the sword forward, causing it to spin rapidly like a boomerang. It struck Granlif Judecca in the shoulder, cutting straight through it like a buzz-saw, sending the severed arm sailing.

The sword morphed back into its huge claymore form as Neo Granlif then charged at Metatron's machine, which was still reeling from the earlier strike.

"Now, your sword shall become a bolt of lightning!" Xengar declared. Neo Granlif then flew up toward its staggered foe.

"ZANKANTOU...SHIPPU JINRAI!"

With two powerful cuts forming a cross, Neo Granlif sliced through Granlif Judecca's head and torso and sent it flying.

"Now, the final blow!" Xengar said as the sword grew even wider and longer. "This blade of sacred lightning...experience it and be rent asunder!"

"ROAR, NEO GRANLIF!" Janus cried as their machine rocketed towards Metatron to finish his machine off.

"SHIP-CLEAVING SAINT...INFERNOOOOO!" he then yelled as he went into a dive.

Neo Granlif's eyes flashed as its mouth opened and let out an awe-inspiring roar as Janus and Tara bellowed the final word together.

"...CHESTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Janus swung the blade down as hard as he could, slicing Granlif Judecca right down the middle and through its core, causing an explosion equal in the power to a billion FLEIJAs going off at once.

"You want to die? Then go ahead," Janus spat contemptuously as Neo Granlif turned around to face away from the explosion.

"Just leave the rest of us out of it," Tara added.

But as the explosion faded, they saw that Granlif Judecca was still there, albeit heavily damaged – as was its pilot. And immediately, all three sensed that something horrible was about to happen - especially when they heard what was now Metatron's voice come from within:

"I'm...afraid...that is n0 lOng3r aN OpT10n."

"Jaan...?" Iophiel asked uneasily.

"Ja4N 5h4DDA1 aND 3UZeTH g0ZZ0 aR3 n0 M0Re," Metatron said, his voice now a mix of his own and countless others; Y3T 7H3Y 4Re 4L5o HeR3 W1THin u5. W3 4rE TH3 AT1K Y0M1n."

Suddenly, Neo Granlif's pilots and Iophiel felt themselves being pulled violently toward Granlif Judecca.

"Crap, did we mess up?!" Janus exclaimed. "Did our attempt to finish him off just destabilize him?!"

"No...it's something else..." Iophiel grunted. "It's become...the death instinct personified..."

"4nD 5haLl r3tUrN 4ll t0 u5..." The Atik Yomin moaned as Granlif Judecca began to collapse on itself as well; "L3t S1s3n3G tz1MTzUm...bEgIn..."

---

Outside the body of The Atik Yomin, Janus and Tara's friends all struggled to resist the all-consuming flow of siseneg tzimtzum, even as they continued to chip away at their foe, which was still bigger than anything they could have imagined. They were swarmed by countless Einherjar and Final Guardians, protected from annihilation only by their own shinka power.

The Atik Yomin itself had changed as well – its old form had been sucked into itself, and it was now nothing more than a sphere of swirling black, white and shades of gray that seemed to constantly sprout and retract different human faces all over its body, not unlike Jinmen's shell. It also had a wild array of light wings of every conceivable shape, but the same monochromatic coloration. It had also become much smaller, and was now only somewhat larger than the foes that struggled to defeat it.

"What the hell is going on?!" Domon grunted as God Gundam was suddenly drawn closer to The Atik Yomin; "Is he seriously he trying to pull us in?!"

"The Atik Yomin...it's going out of control!" Nia cried. "At this rate, it'll trigger a True Spiral Nemesis that will consume everything!"

"It is just like what happened to me..." Gepelnitch gasped. "He is becoming a black hole that will swallow all life..."

"How ironic," Ryoma said with a smirk that hid his own frustration; "Metatron said he was trying to prevent this exact thing from happening, but now he's the one causing it!"

"It's like he's become the death instinct incarnate!" Leila said.

"Debating at this point won't matter!" Kouji cried, firing Mazinger ZERO's engines to their maximum; "We have to do something to help Janus and Tara out, even if it's only a little bit!"

But he was soon awestruck by a new sight - hundreds upon hundreds of blue and green planets appeared out of nowhere, drawn toward the massive form of the Atik Yomin. Oddly, they seemed to be on the same scale as DREAM.

"Those planets," Murrue gasped as she also witnessed this phenomenon; "They all look like...Earth!"

As the crew of theshipsstared dumbfounded at the sight of the hundreds upon hundreds of Earths appearing in rapid-fire succession, they continued to be drawn towards The Atik Yomin. Never in their wildest dreams had they ever thought something like this was possible. But then, one of the Battle 7's bridge crew was brought back to attention by a series of beeps coming from her console.

"Captain, I'm receiving hundreds of signals matching those of our ships," the crew-woman exclaimed; "And they're all coming from those duplicate Earths!"

Indeed, approaching from the different Earths were thousands of battleships, many of which looked eerily familiar - the Archangel, the Eternal, Nadesico, Ra Cailum and even Chouginga Dai Gurren.

"Those battleships...a lot of them look just ours," Bright gasped.

"That is because we ARE you, in a way," the voice of they knew sounded over DREAM's communicators.

"What?! Another Lordgenome?!" Simon exclaimed, shocked to hear the Spiral King's voice coming from an outside communication source. "But aren't you..."

"It's kinda complicated," said another familiar voice, coming from the pilot of a pink Evangelion; "By the time we got done explaining, everything would lose its form and be smashed together...and there's no way we're letting that happen...not after you went through so much to defeat the Anti-Spirals!"

"Mari?! You're alive?!" Yoko cried. "But...how?"

"To put the cause of this situation in as simple terms as possible," came a fourth familiar voice; "The collapse of the infinite realities has forced all of these Earths from parallel timelines to appear together."

"...Ruri?!"

The Nadesico's viewscreen was quickly taken by the image of a somewhat older Ruri, with longer pigtails and a captain's uniform similar to Yurika's own.

"Hello, Yurika," the alternate Ruri said in a cordial tone; "It's nice to see that you avoided that fate in another timeline. Do you like this version of the Nadesico?"

"Save the talk for another time," came the voice of Suzaku, originating from the Lancelot Albion; "If this thing isn't defeated somehow, all of our struggles will have been for naught." But when the image of the voice's owner appeared on-screen, it wasn't what they expected...it was someone wearing the mask and garb of Zero.

"Suzaku?! Why are you..." Lelouch gasped.

"Hear us, children of all the Earth Spheres!" an alternate Char Aznable called out from what looked like the Hyaku Shiki.

"Our worlds are in danger of total dissolution and collapse...but we still have a chance!" an alternate Lacus proclaimed from within her own Eternal. "Those who cannot fight, but still wish to live as their own person rather than as a part of a formless, chaotic mass...let your hopes and dreams take wing, and send them to the guardian fighting at the center of this monstrosity!"

"And those who can fight," came the voice of GGG's own Taiga Koutaro; "Face forward, and give every last drop of power you've got to keep this fiend, born from the worst parts of ourselves, from winning!"

As the hundreds of parallel DREAMs let out a great roar, the hundreds of Earths began to shine with a brilliant light, which streamed into The Atik Yomin even as the countless battleships and mechas unleashed their full arsenals on the godly entity before them.

The final battle was on...

---

In a unlit void far from any known cosmos, the droning of hideous bone flutes and the pounding of monstrous drums resounded. A veritable ocean of shapeless, constantly flickering masses of eyes, mouths and tentacles of almost every size imaginable played on at least one of these blasphemous instruments, while they clumsily writhed and swayed in a hideous semi-parody of a ritual dance. In the midst of this mass was something unfathomably, unimaginably more vast than even the largest of the musicians, though it had no definite form; it was simply a darkness that was somehow darker than the void around it.

In the midst of this chaotic mass, a shining figure appeared, a tiny glint of light in the midst of the infinitely infinite blackness. It began to communicate with the other players in a voice that was not a voice, but directly to what one might consider their minds.

Ia! Nyog'Sothep!

Ia! Nyog'Sothep! The Ruling Darkness...He who reigns over the black planets, came the reply of the musicians, who did not cease their unnatural rhythm and melody even as they responded.

Alas, our efforts have come to nothing, the light said, seeming to address the darkness. The cosmos I had planned to serve to You has become TOO ripe, thanks to a certain someone. It will not serve as a meal for You.

The mass of darkness seemed to writhe in rage.

Be at ease, Master, the light said. There are plenty of other multiverses for You to feed on, We must simply find another.

The mass of darkness ceased writhing, resuming a calmer, flowing manner.

Yes, this is but a temporary setback, the light thought. Lord Nyog'Sothep WILL feast...

---

In spite of the pull created by The Atik Yomin, DREAM was fired up as never before. Their enemy was going for broke, but they had been prepared to put it all on the line from the start, and now was that time. The other versions of themselves, along with the four surviving Steel Dragons, were working on dealing with the troops that The Atik Yomin was summoning, leaving the DREAM of the Universal Century and Celestial Calendar to attack their final enemy directly.

The first to close in was Basara Nekki, who was accompanied by the rest of Fire Bomber, as well as Gamlin, Max, Milia and the Protodevlin.

"C'mon, everyone! The future needs our song!" Mylene cried.

"There's no way in hell we're gonna accept a world without music!" Ray said. Veffidas agreed by striking her snare drums.

"Indeed!" Milia said. "The melody that guides the cosmos shall not be silenced!"

"Our burning passion and iron will shall ensure that all creation remains alive with music!" Max said.

"HEY, ATIK YOMIN!" Basara cried, somehow inspired by Max's words. "LISTEN TO MY NEW SONG!" With that, the rock star began to play something new...something more bold, more intense and empowering than any song that he had ever played before. It was a song whose title Janus had suggested so long ago...

Hagane no Passion.

"Such an invigorating melody," Gamlin muttered as he found himself banging his head to the music; "To think that he'd been saving this for last!" Indeed, when combined with Basara's innate Anima Spiritia, this song served to fire up all of the DREAMs involved in this clash beyond all clashes to even greater heights, while the entity that would consume all suddenly started to crack in numerous places, weakening its armor.

In response, The Atik Yomin let out an unearthly moan and sent out a swarm of white attack drones vaguely similar to Hi-Nu Gundam's Fin Funnels, which made a beeline for Basara's red Valkyrie. But the rock star easily avoided the beams they fired without missing a beat.

As Basara continued to play, Kira and Athrun closed in to attack The Atik Yomin's core.

"Go for it, Kira!" Mirallia cried out.

"Our future...now's the time for you to seize it for us!" Sai added.

"Do it, Zala! You too, Yamato!" Yzak called out as he slashed through a copy of Providence Gundam.

"No," Kira said as he prepared to fire off everything in the Strike Freedom's arsenal; "We'll seize it together!"

"Yeah!" Athrun said as he did the same; "The future of all that exists and is yet to exist...we'll take hold of it as one humanity - Naturals, Coordinators, Newtypes, Devilmen and demons all!"

With a heroic cry, the two Gundams let fly every projectile they could muster. At the same time, the Archangel fired off its Lohengrins, striking The Atik Yomin with force beyond reckoning. This served to shatter its armor further. In response, the berserk entity sent out more attack drones to blast the mobile suits and ship. While Kira and Athrun were able to dodge their beams, the Archangel was struck several times, although it held together well enough.

As the two Gundams flew off to help with fighting the grunts, the Astray Red Dragon and Astray Blue Frame D closed in.

"Looks like once we beat this guy, my contract will be complete," Gai said as he dodged past a Final Guardian and slashed it with one of his blade DRAGOONs. "I almost can't believe it's happening."

"Yeah," Lowe said as he cut through an Einherjar of the Astray Noir. "What do you plan to do next, Gai?"

"As much as I'd like to say 'I'm going to quit being a mercenary forever'," the Combat Coordinator replied, "I suspect there will still be a demand for Serpent Tail's services for a long time."

"You're probably right," the pilot of the Astray Red Dragon said with a sigh; "In fact, I just thought of something the Junk Guild would need you for."

"We can talk about it after we've secured our future," Gai replied.

Lowe nodded and grinned as he charged in, Astray Red Dragon's Caletvwchs crackling with energy. Meanwhile, Gai sent out all ten of his machine's DRAGOONs. Two of them, which assumed shapes resembling paper airplanes, began firing powerful beam shots at The Atik Yomin while the Combat Coordinator grabbed the two largest ones to use as swords. The other four followed along closely.

"Hachi, disable the limiters on the Caletvwchs!" Lowe said to his AI companion. "We've got a future to seize, and they're a small price to pay!" The quantum computer complied, and the the dragon-shaped manipulators began to crackle even more. All three of the manipulators let fly a massive beam blast that smashed through The Atik Yomin's form, but caused them to short out.

"Now, let's finish this with style, Gai!" the Junker then called out as his machine pulled out the Gerbera Straight. The two Astray mobile suits then unleashed a rapid sequence of slashes, each machine taking a turn slicing through their enemy, with the Blue Frame swapping DRAGOONs with each strike. Finally, Gai and Lowe rushed at and past each other with one last slash. The Atik Yomin let out a moaning roar as its wounds spewed out silvery ichor that formed into more Einherjar and attack drones, forcing the two Gundams to back off.

Next to approach were Mazinkaiser and Mazinger ZERO – Mazin Emperor G and Grendizer were off somewhere nearby, tangling with a number of Einherjar resembling the great generals of Mycenae. As the two Mazingers closed in, Kouji heard his machine let out a low bass rumble.

"I hear ya, ZERO," he said. "This thing is going to consume all potential if we don't do anything!" He then turned to his counterpart.

"Hey, Koji!" he said; "Let's teach this thing the true power of so-called 'contradictions'!" Koji grinned. Mazinkaiser let out a rumble of its own, one of eagerness.

"Alright, Kaiser," Mazinkaiser's pilot said; "Time to go all out...MAZIIIIN POWEEEEEEEEER!"

Seven lights flashed on Mazinkaiser's chest, causing it to change – it gained pupils and irises that were calmer and more human compared to ZERO's demonic eyes, and became surrounded by a golden-red aura.

"The ultimate Mazins of light and darkness," Kouji said as ZERO and Kaiser hovered side-by-side; "together, we'll seize the future for all existence!"

The eyes on the two supreme demon gods flashed, causing a strange extra-dimensional space to surround them and The Atik Yomin's core.

"Let's do this, Kaiser!" Koji said as his own body blazed gold with heroic spirit while his machine's fists began to spin.

"KAISER KNUCKLE!"

Kaiser dashed forward, but with such speed that it disappeared from sight before reappearing in front of The Atik Yomin and bashing it with a punch that was backed by the whirling force of the Turbo Smasher Punch. ZERO then rushed in and delivered a punch of its own, sending The Atik Yomin spinning and disrupting its attempt to pull all existence into itself.

The two Super Robots then dashed past each other at stupendous speeds as they punched their enemy, too fast for even the most keen-eyed of the group to keep up with. To anyone who would observe them, they seemed to be boson jumping.

After a few passes, the two Mazingers stopped and grabbed hold of one of The Atik Yomin's seeming immaterial light wings and pulled it down into ground that had somehow formed underneath them through pure expression of their will. They slammed into it with the force of thirty Big Bangs, creating a wide and deep crater. The impact was so forceful that the heat generated caused the rock inside the crater to turn into magma.

They then rose up, and started to charge energy into their heat sinks.

"This is the true power of Mazin!" Kouji yelled.

"This is the power of mankind!" Koji cried before he and his counterpart let out one final cry.

"ZERO TO INFINITY...DOUBLE BREAST NOVAAAAAAAAA!"

The two Mazingers unleashed colossal blasts of energy from their chests, piercing through the space they had created and searing through The Atik Yomin's core even as it was sent spiraling. But even as a titanic explosion heralded the conclusion of their attack, the two sensed that their foe was far from finished.

But as The Atik Yomin resumed trying to consume everything, Shin Getter, Shin Dragon and the two Getter Robo Gs piloted by Michiru and Musashi closed in.

"Go, Kei, Gai!" Ryoma called out as it landed atop Shin Dragon's head; "Michiru, Musashi! Let's unite our wills!"

"Yeah!" Musashi said as his machine melded with Shin Dragon.

"For the sake of all that is," Hayato and Gai Daidou called out as cables began to connect Shin Getter and Shin Dragon.

"And for all that will be!" Go and Michiru cried as one as the latter's machine melded into the gigantic Getter as well.

"To connect past, present and future!" Benkei roared. Once again, Ryoma grinned as he prepared to let out a heroic cry.

"GETTEEEEER SHIIIIINE!"

All of the pilots started letting out hot-blooded cries as the energy surged around Shin Dragon.

"SHINE!" Go yelled.

"...SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARK!" all eight pilots roared as Shin Dragon lurched forward, rushing in at speeds millions of times faster than light. It rammed into The Atik Yomin, causing its form to destabilize further, and for its pull to be disrupted again.

Moments later, the Brave Corps moved in to attack next.

"Listen up, Brave Corps," Taiga said. "This is your final mission...defeat The Atik Yomin, and grab hold of tomorrow!"

"Understood!" Guy, Mamoru and the various Super AI machines replied as they charged in. The Dragon Brothers and Sisters had performed Symmetrical Docking while Mic Sounders XIII had shifted to his Boom Robo form.

"This being...it surely is the embodiment of every wicked impulse intelligent beings can have," J said as King J-Der joined them.

"Perhaps this is what the Zonderians were truly afraid of," GenRyuJin said.

"It doesn't stand a chance against us!" GouRyuJin laughed.

"That's right," Guy said, "as long as we hold strong and belive in the oath sworn through courage, we will not fail!" Genesic GaoGaiGar let out a lion roar of its own in agreement.

"Commence all-out attack!" Big Volfogg called out. "4000 MAGNUM!" As he fired off a staggering amount of bullets, GenRyuJin and GouRyuJin prepared to unleash their ultimate attack.

"THE FREEZING SLEET! THE ROARING LIGHTNING!"

"THE HOWLING GALE! THE SCORCHING FLAMES!"

A dragon head formed of each respective element formed on the arms of the combined Dragon Brothers.

"MAXIMUM TOU LONG!" they roared as the elemental dragons rushed at The Atik Yomin, digging deeply into its body.

"HIKARI TO YAMI NO MAI!" TenRyuJin cried, firing a torrent of missiles from its missile launchers that struck The Atik Yomin and scattered countless reflective shards. They immediately followed up with a barrage of lasers, peppering the godly entity with an all-range attack even the seemingly infinite souls that composed it couldn't keep up with.

Finally, it was Guy's turn. Inside Chouginga Gurren Lagann, the two podiums that GGG had used to activate its ultimate weapon appeared.

"Miss Swan!" Taiga called out to the blonde woman as he yanked a green brooch off of his neck and used for Genesic's ultimate attack; "The keys that the Chairwoman of the UFN gave us!"

"Yes, sir!" Swan replied, pulling a similar red brooch off her own neck and approaching the other. The two brooches opened up and extended some odd material that arranged them into intricately designed keys.

"For victory and mankind, by the oath sworn through courage!" the two cried out in unison, raising the keys over their heads before dramatically inserting them into the slots.

"GOLDION CRUSHER - OPERATION..."

In perfect sync, the two turned the keys, as if starting the ignition on something.

"APPROVED!" Taiga cried as the tops of the podiums spun, the ink forming into the two Japanese characters for the word "victory".

"THIS IS THE KEY TO VICTORY!" the man then screamed.

"SYSTEM CHAAAAAAAANGE!" Goldymarg cried as he shifted to his Marg Hand form.

"CRUSHER CONNECTO!" Guy roared as the Marg Hand connected to Genesic's arm and then grabbed the shaft of the Crusher; "GOLDION...CRUSHEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!"

Immediately the hyper-charged G-Stone began funneling energy into the massive hammer, causing the hammer head to start expanding, its parts connected by a box-shaped mass of golden energy that began to grow rapidly...and soon exceeded even its usual maximum, growing to the size of The Atik Yomin before it had collapsed into its current form.

"HEY, GUY - LET'S BREAK STUFF!" Goldymarg cheered excitedly as his face appeared again on the hammer's handle.

"YEAH!" Guy replied with equal fervor. With that, Genesic GaoGaiGar prepared to bring down the hammer on the entity that would consume all creation.

"THE ATIK YOMIN," the leader of the Brave Corps screamed; "HIKARI NI...NAAAAAARREEEEE!"

The Atik Yomin screeched as the hammer of golden light came down on it. The impact caused a huge ripple to course through the fabric of the dimension's spacetime...yet when the light faded, the godly entity was still there, but it was clearly starting to look worse for wear – it was missing several dozen light wings, and the faces started to change less frequently.

Still, Heinel couldn't help but be awestruck by The Atik Yomin's resilience as Godor, Voltes and Combattler closed in to attack next.

"To survive an attack like that," the Boazanian noble said; "How could something like this exist?!"

"We gave up on trying to make sense of this stuff a long time ago, Heinel," Daijourou said. "But I suppose we're fighting on a level beyond the conception of most people..."

"In this space," Kosuke said, "it seems that infinity itself is a measurable quantity."

"We can debate it later," Hiyoshi said.

"My brother is right," Kenichi said as he pulled out Voltes' sword; "What's important is that we defeat The Atik Yomin before it consumes everything...TENKUU KEN!" A bolt of cosmic lightning appeared from out of nowhere and struck the sword, charging Voltes with vast power.

"CHOUDENJI...TATSUMAKIIIIII!" Hyoma cried as Combattler unleashed a pink tornado of Super Electromagnetic energy that caught The Atik Yomin and started to swirl it around.

"CHOUDENJI...BAAAAAALL!" Kenichi yelled as Voltes sent the sphere flying, striking the incarnation of mankind's worst impulses and paralyzing it to the spot. Meanwhile, Combattler raised its arms and began to spin.

"CHOUDENJI SPIIIIIIIIIIN!" Hyoma then cried as Combattler whizzed off to strike the paralyzed Atik Yomin. Meanwhile, Voltes and Godor charged forward as well, their blades crackling with power.

"TENKUU KEN..." the leader of the Voltes team called out as the Choudenji robot and protector deity of Boazan leaped up; "V NO J..."

The brothers' mechs came down and slashed, creating a pulsing V with their blades without interfering with each other

"...FINAL SPINNING SLAAAASH!" Hyoma roared as Combattler V pierced The Atik Yomin, causing a gigantic explosion. The three mechs landed on a crystal platform and posed dramatically, even though they all sensed that their foe was far from defeated.

But The Atik Yomin wouldn't get to rest for a moment, as the Shuffle Alliance closed in to attack the godly entity themselves while the Choudenji mechs and Boazanian war god withdrew.

"You feel that?" Sai Saichi said, glancing at the back of his hand as the Ace of Clubs crest began to pulse. "Our Shuffle Crests are crying out! We've gotta defeat this thing, no matter what!"

"Not that I needed reminding," Chibodee said, his Queen of Spades crest glowing as well.

"The future of all that is and will be is on the line," George added as his Jack of Diamonds crest shone brightly.

"And it's up to us, as DREAMers, to secure it for all," Argo said, his Black Joker crest throbbing.

"Ready, guys?" Domon cried as he held up his King of Hearts crest. "This is the Shuffle Alliance's final battle!" With that, the five Shuffle Alliance members charged in. But they were soon joined by three other mobile fighters.

"Allenby! Rain! Master!" the King of Hearts exclaimed.

"You're not doing this without us!" Allenby said excitedly.

"We may not be members of the Shuffle Alliance, but we're DREAMers too!" Rain added. Master Asia simply nodded and grunted, but that was all Domon needed. With that, all eight Gundams began to glow gold, and quickly formed up.

"Our spirits are aflame," they chanted in unison; "if we feel the fire, then there is nothing we cannot defeat!"

They raised their clenched fists together, the backs of their hands shining brilliantly.

"THESE HANDS OF OURS ARE BURNING RED! THEIR LOUD ROAR TELLS US TO GRASP TOMORROW!"

A powerful energy sphere that far exceeded the might of the original attack formed before them.

"ERUPTING! FINAL SHUFFLE...DOUMEI KEEEEEEEN!"

The energy sphere blasted forward with incredible speed, striking the monstrosity dead-on and sending it reeling. This allowed the Wunder and the Evangelions to move in for their own attack.

"All right, Eva pilots of Class 2-A, let's take attendance," Misato barked.

"Do we have to do this every time?" Super Unit 01's pilot groaned.

"Hopefully this is for the last time," Asuka said. "Once this is over, I hope we can get on with our lives."

"Kensuke Aida and Unit 04?" Misato said.

"Present and accounted for!" Kensuke cheered.

"Rei Ayanami and Unit 00!"

"Here," Rei said quietly.

"Hikari Horaki and Unit Heurtebize!"

"Present!" Hikari chirped.

"Shinji Ikari and Super Unit 01!"

"Heeeere," Shinji grumbled.

"Asuka Langley Soryu and Super Unit 02!"

"Here," Asuka said, shaking her head at how ridiculous this still was even as she was going along with it.

"Toji Suzuhara and Unit 03!"

"Let's get on with it already," Toji said. Misato grinned.

"Okay, class," she said. "Today's assignment is to seize the future for everything in existence by defeating this thing! I'll provide you with any help you need!"

"Yes, ma'am!" all of the Eva pilots said in unison with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Without wasting any more time, the Wunder opened fire on The Atik Yomin, keeping it pinned to the spot.

"Shinji, you and I will take point as usual!" she ordered. "The favorite and Aida will be attacking from the rear! Hikari, Suzuhara...follow our lead!"

"Understood," Rei said.

"Let's do it, you guys!" Kensuke said. With that, Asuka summoned the Spear of Cassius and rushed in. With a loud cry, Shinji unsheathed Unit 01's blade and charged in as well, even as it pulled out a sub-machine gun of its own. After switching the sword to its weaker hand, the purple giant began firing a hail of bullets. Meanwhile, Rei took aim with her sniper rifle while Kensuke readied his positron rifle.

"Man," Hikari grumbled. "I'm class rep..."

"Don't try t' fix what ain't broke, Hikari," Toji sighed. Heurtebize and Unit 03 whipped out machine guns and opened fire and began to close in slowly.

Both Unit 00's and Unit 01's shots struck their mark, pinning down the godly entity. Unit 02 used the opening to jam the Spear of Cassius into its body, stabbed several times, then jumped away as Hikari threw her own spear, while Toji fired off another positron rifle shot. Rei and Kensuke then followed up with another pair of their own sniper rifle shots, sending The Atik Yomin reeling. Finally, Unit 01 leaped high into the air with sword keened to slash through its foe.

"Go away, and let us live our lives!" Shinji cried as he brought down the blade, slashing a deep gouge in The Atik Yomin's core. The massive entity let out a wail of rage and pain and lashed out with golden tendrils that the boy tried to block with his Eva's AT Field as he withdrew, only to be ensnared by them.

Thankfully, Great Zeorymer was nearby to rescue him – the combined Hakkeshu robot slashed through the tendrils with Rose C'est La Vie's beam swords.

"Thanks, Masato!" Shinji said as he flew away to help deal with some Final Guardians that were attacking the Wunder.

"This is it, you two," Miku said as Great Zeorymer turned to face The Atik Yomin. "Are you ready?"

"We really have no choice," Yuratei replied; "It's either fight back or be consumed."

"Masaki Kihara made Zeorymer as a tool to dominate all things," Masato Akitsu said; "But we'll use to protect them and their future!"

MEI...OOOOHHHHH...

Just as it always did, Kihara's ultimate creation touched the two orbs together, creating a titanic explosion that seemed to consume The Atik Yomin. But when the light faded, the godly entity was still there. It let out a moan as it fired off more attack drones that rushed at Great Zeorymer as well as the Nadesico, which was closing in along with Aestivalis protectors.

"It's almost over, everyone!" Yurika said; "Just hang in there for a bit longer!" As she said this, the enemy's attack drones launched a massive assault, pounding the ship repeatedly and causing the people on board to almost fall down.

"Status report!" the captain said as she regained her balance.

"That last attack knocked out the Phase Transition Cannon," Ruri said after a quick check. "It's completely unusable."

"No problem," Yurika said confidently as she turned to the screen. "We don't need it to secure our future...right, my darling Akito?"

"I guess so, sure," Akito replied awkwardly.

"Come on, Akito!" Jiro said; "Put some spirit into it! We're up against an enemy beyond anything Gekiganger ever fought! Even the prehistoric civilization from the movie was nothing compared to this!"

"Yeah!" Hikaru cheered.

"Same old Yamada," Izumi chuckled. "Guess he's got..."

"Zip it, Izumi," Ryoko said before her fellow Aestivalis pilot could finish her joke. "Let's just finish this guy off so we can all go home!" With that, all of the Aestivalis charged up their Distortion Fields and rushed forward as one.

"DYNAMIC..." Jiro and Hikaru called out. "FINAL GEKIGAN...SPECIAAAAAL!" The five Aestivalis simultaneously rocketed forward, blasting through The Atik Yomin, dealing tremendous damage. Meanwhile, the Nadesico moved into position to finish the job.

"Ruri, raise the Gravity Blast's output to maximum!" Yurika ordered.

"Yes ma'am," the ship's engineer replied; "Charge will be completed in...wow, it's charged already."

"I suppose we should have expected as much," Minato giggled.

"Who cares?!" Yurika said, filled with the passion of Gekiganger. "Let's seize our future!"

"Ready to fire, captain," Ruri said. Yurika took a deep breath before giving the order.

"ONE SHOT KILL! ULTIMATE GRAVITY BLAST, FIRE!"

The Nadesico belched out a titanic blast of gravitational energy, striking The Atik Yomin with the force of a quadrillion collapsing black holes. But the entity sprang back into its normal shape, although a few hundred of its countless light wings winked out. As the ship turned to face down other foes, W-0 and the Black Knights, with Nunnally and Suzaku close at hand, approached the almighty entity.

"Just what is this thing?" Yukiya said as he dodged an Einherjar of the Vercingetorix; "Is this really the embodiment of the death instinct?!"

"Not sure how, but I feel a lot of negative emotion coming from it," Ayano said, "but more than anything, else, I feel a hunger coming from it."

"Biggest appetite in all the cosmos, then," Ryou chuckled.

"We won't become its meal, nor will anything else," Hyuga said as he readied the Alexander Liberte's blade.

"W-0, this is our final mission!" Leila ordered. "Protect our tomorrows, and the tomorrows of all things!"

"Understood!" the rest of the Wyvern Squad replied as they moved into attack positions. Ryou moved in and chopped at The Atik Yomin with his Knightmare's ax, while Hyuga and Ayano slashed at it with their swords. Meanwhile, Leila, Yukiya and thousands of Alexander drones hung back, firing off countless bullets charged with Sephirotic energy that peppered the godly entity.

The Atik Yomin moaned and sent a number of Final Guardians at them, forcing them to back off. However, their place was soon taken by the Ikaruga and the Black Knights.

"It's almost over," Kallen said. "We just need to beat this thing, and then..."

"And then our true battle begins, Kallen," Zero said.

"What do you mean?" the Black Knights' ace exclaimed. "This IS our final enemy, isn't it?"

"Zero is right," Suzaku said. "This thing may be the incarnation of our worst impulses, but destroying it won't make the world's ills disappear."

"We have to make sure our worlds do not succumb to those ills once this is over," Nunnally said. "That will be our job as Black Knights...no, as DREAMers!" Kallen, motivated by Nunnally's words, spurred the Guren SEITEN forward, firing off bursts of Radiant Wave energy from her mech's claw. Suzaku followed suit, firing off shots from his VARIS rifle, and Nunnally charged up a powerful energy sphere in the Code Geass' hand as she closed in. Lelouch, meanwhile, hung back and fired off a liquid crystal, then fired his machine's main cannon, scattering beams that destroyed the incoming foes that were trying to get in the way.

"You who call yourself the Ancient of Days," the prince said as both he and the Ikaruga charged their main cannons for a powerful shot, "we won't let you take our future from us!"

"You said it, Zero!" Masato Shikubu's voice came over his communicator. Lelouch turned and saw Final Dancougar hovering next to the ship.

"You can count on us to help you with that!" Ryo said eagerly.

"Shinobu, let's hit that foe with a blast of our own!" Sara said.

"A Final Dankuuhou seems to be in order," Alan suggested. "With all of the power of Instinct we can muster!"

"Sounds like a plan!" Shinobu said as the Black Wing's head split open, revealing a charging energy ball. Lelouch grinned and turned his attention back to The Atik Yomin, which was getting slashed at repeatedly by the three other Knightmares.

"Ohgi," he ordered, "fire on my mark!"

"FINAL DANKUUHOU," Shinobu bellowed as the energy ball Final Dancougar was charging reached its full size; "YAATE YARUZE!"

"Fire!" Lelouch cried. The Shinkiro and the ship fired off their blasts at the same time as the Super Robot unleashed a massive energy blast. The three other Knightmares quickly dodged out of the way, allowing the blasts to strike their target directly, sending it reeling. It let out an unearthly moan and sent out several golden tendrils to try and seize its foes – only for them to be slashed apart by several of DREAM's Gundams from the Universal Century – the Hi-Nu, Zeta and ZZ, with the Ra Cailum close at hand.

"We've got this thing on the ropes, Commander Ray!" Judau said excitedly. "It's definitely getting weaker!"

"We can't let up," Kamille said. "Everyone's futures are riding on this fight!"

"Indeed...mankind is on the verge of a tomorrow unlike any other," Amuro said. "We can't let this thing steal it from us! Please, lend me your power, you two!"

"You got it!" Judau said, focusing his will into the ZZ's biosensor. Kamille did the same, and both Gundams were soon surrounded in pink auras. Meanwhile, the Ra Cailum moved closer to Hi-Nu Gundam, and released the Hyper Mega Bazooka Launcher into its hands. The Atik Yomin, sensing this, turned its attention to the three Newtypes and sent a wave of attack drones after them.

But they didn't get far, as many of them were quickly shot down by a barrage of micro missiles and Funnel Missiles, some of which then veered toward the godly entity that had released the drones. More beams quickly followed, blasting the rest to cosmic dust.

"I'll help too!" Hathaway said as the Xi Gundam swooped by. "Let 'em have it, you guys!"

"Show them the strength of Gundam, you three!" Char said. "The symbol of mankind's potential!" Invigorated by Char's words, Judau and Amuro let out heroic cries as they charged up their machine's ultimate blasts. Meanwhile, Kamille readied his machine's own powerful beam gun.

The strength of the Newtypes' will caused a green and pink aura to surround them, and it flared out behind them, forming into the shape of a mobile suit...the original RX-78 Gundam, with the three actual Gundams forming the tip of its beam rifle.

Amuro, Judau and Kamille fired off their three beams simultaneously, and the blasts began to arc and orbit one another as green particles began to spark off them. The Atik Yomin tried to repel the blast with a wave of golden tendrils, but they were incinerated by the three Gundams' combined attack, which pounded the godly entity, and left a deep hole in it.

But before it could counterattack, The Atik Yomin was interrupted by an attack from above – a massive rainbow beam saber blade sliced through it.

"The Turn A is a Gundam too!" Loran shouted. "And as one of the Moonrace, I want to see where mankind will go as well!" He let out a cry and slashed sideways, seeming to cut straight through the middle of The Atik Yomin. But it managed to pull itself together with more golden tendrils.

"Such determination to complete its objective," Akira Hibiki muttered as he closed in next after Loran and the other Gundam pilots withdrew. "I suppose we should expected as much from the incarnation of mankind's worst impulses."

The Atik Yomin turned toward the ancient Super Robot and let out a wail that the last descendant of Mu felt not just in his ears, but in his mind...

"I hear you, people of Mu," he muttered as he recognized the language being screamed and moaned in his mind. "I hear your desire to be one with everything...but not like this! I will protect the world you struggled against Mycenae and Atik Yomin to keep safe...and all other worlds too!"

"GOD VOIIIIIICE!" Akira then bellowed, his voice dropping a few octaves as energy started crackling all over Raideen.

Even if this kills me, the descendant of Mu thought as he summoned up every ounce of will he could muster, I will use all of Raideen's power to stop this thing! Finally, he bellowed as loudly and heroically as he could...

"GOD….RA-MUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

Raideen let out three waves of golden circles as well as the sound of pure destructive power...the God Voice. But even the vast amounts of Sephirotic energy infusing the area couldn't keep the psychic backlash from piercing his body on the cellular level, gradually shredding his outfit at the same time. Finally, Akira coughed up blood as the attack ended, and felt himself black out. Raideen itself suddenly went limp, its own form taxed by the power of the hyper-charged God Voice.

But the attack struck The Atik Yomin and disrupted its massive form further, causing it to to shudder and waver as it let out a cry of pain and rage. It lashed out at the immobile Raideen with more golden tendrils, only for them to be shredded once again – this time by a barrage of spinning blades.

"Hey, Hibiki!" Fudo called out as he, Dante and an army of demons and Devilmen approached. "You okay in there?!"

"I sense he is unconscious," Dante said, "but alive."

"Somebody get him and Raideen to safety!" Fudo called out. Several demons and Devilmen complied, moving the Mu-forged mecha to the relative safety of Agira's back. The massive Devilman then turned and flew off toward the Nadesico. With their companion's safety assured, the leaders of the Demon Tribe and Devilman Army turned back toward The Atik Yomin.

"Now, let us continue his work," the demon lord said to the remaining demons and Devilmen. "We have managed to regain our lost humanity after millions of years, and have found new partners to live with us!"

"A new dawn is coming, for both of our peoples," Fudo said; "The people of the Gold Moon and Silver Moon...a dawn filled with hope!"

His eyes turned more feral.

"And there's no way in Hell or Heaven that we'll let this thing take it from us," he snarled excitedly; "Am I right?!"

The collective of monstrous but valorous individuals let out a howling cheer.

"So, let's do it!" Fudo roared as he turned to face their mutual enemy; "Hit this thing with all you've got, and seize tomorrow with whatever you can!" With that, the combined forces of the Demon Tribe and Devilman Army, collectively over a hundred thousand strong, went on a vicious attack, swarming The Atik Yomin like a hive of killer bees and using whatever weapons their forms had given them to pierce, slash, smash, burn and inflict any other sort of injury imaginable. The godly entity wailed and moaned in rage as it grabbed some of its attackers with golden tendrils and pulled them into itself, only to get zapped by a combined energy blast from Dante and Fudo.

The sacrifices of some of these demons were not lost on Simon and the Dai-Gurren Brigade, who were closing in with Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann...but they also recognized that those sacrifices were not in vain.

"The Atik Yomin is getting weak," Viral said. "I bet we can finish off here and now!"

"But Janus, Tara and Iophiel are still in there," Yoko cried. "If we destroy it, they'll be gone too!"

"Believe in them, Yoko!" Simon said. "Believe in the Janus and Tara that believe in themselves!" Yoko grimaced, but seemed to understand that the pilots of Neo Granlif had known the risks of diving in.

With a surge of will from everyone in Team Dai-Gurren, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann's green flame aura turned into a sea of flaming blue energy which began to grow at speeds far exceeding that of light. In a matter of seconds, a giant made entirely of the blue energy, save for a red energy cape and pair of sunglasses made of the same red power, loomed over the others – only The Atik Yomin exceeded it in size, and even then it was only by about a quarter of the energy giant's height.

Thus was formed, for a second time, the pinnacle of Simon's might - SUPER Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Without wasting any more time, the energy giant cast off its cloak and raised its arm high.

"TAKE THIS...FINISHING BLOW!"

In an instant, a drill of a size that defied measurement burst from its hand – even its target was smaller than it now.

"CHOU...TENGEN TOPPAAAAAA!"

"GIGA..."

The drill began to spin.

"DRILL..."

The giant's feet began to shoot off energy in order to rocket forward.

"BREAAAAAAAAAAAAK!"

The Atik Yomin, still reeling from the rest of DREAM's blows, couldn't put up a barrier in time to stop Simon's ultimate drill. The attack bored straight through the core, and Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann burst out the other side. It retracted the drill and dramatically pulled in its cape as an explosion equal to a trillion Big Bangs seemed to consume The Atik Yomin.

And when the godly entity reappeared, it was clearly looking to be in bad shape...there was a massive hole in its form that was struggling to pull itself back together.

"Ev3rYtH1ng...aL1 sh4LL b3c0Me oN3 w1Th m3," The Atik Yomin moaned. Suddenly, it unleashed an uncountable number of golden tendrils that grabbed the Final Guardians, Einherjar and attack drones it had sent out over the course of the battle...and pulled them back into itself.

And to DREAM's dismay, all of the damage they had caused was regenerated before their very eyes.

"Damn it!" Dayakka cried, slamming his controls. "All of our effort...for nothing!"

"How did it regenerate so fast, though?" Jun Hono exclaimed.

"My conjecture is that as long as energy flows from Eden Vital through the Prime Crossgate," Inez Fressange suddenly chimed in, startling the Nadesico's bridge crew. "It'll probably regenerate no matter how much damage we do, even if it has to devour its own troops."

"Gah!" Megumi cried. "Don't do that!"

"Sorry," the blonde scientist said; "I just thought you'd need a bit more exposition before this was over."

"So, this thing is no different from the giant Invader that Stinger and Cohen turned into," Ryoma quipped.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to destroy the Crossgate!" Yurika said. "All units, focus your attacks on the Prime Crossgate!"

"No! You mustn't!" Bian suddenly cried as the Valsion sped and stopped in front of the Nadesico. "Do that, and the cosmos will fall apart and decay into nothing!"

"What?" Murrue said. "But if we don't cut off the flow of energy to The Atik Yomin..."

"Without the constant flow of energy from Eden Vital," the Magus-General said, "all things would be quickly obliterated as a result of cosmic entropy!"

"You sure, Bian?" Kamina said, "I say we..."

"No, big bro," Simon interrupted; "He's absolutely right. Still, there's gotta be a way." As DREAM renewed its struggle, several of them tried their hardest to think of a solution to the cosmos' predicament.

"Say," Paul exclaimed after a minute or two, "didn't The Atik Yomin change forms after Janus and Tara dove into it to rescue Iophiel? It only started acting like this after that point..."

"Of course!" Zero exclaimed, "They're fighting it from within!"

"Just like Guy and the Brave Corps did with the Z-Master, if what we were told was right," Alia said. "But if it's intentionally trying to devour everything, any attempts to get inside it would simply result in our annihilation."

"So what kept Janus and Tara from getting annihilated?" Amuro said. "Somehow I sense that they're still alive, but..."

"The Exogenesis Engine!" Haruhi exclaimed. "They must be protected by the Exogenesis Engine somehow...and since it is derived from the caelceti's special dimensional travel organ..."

Those who were part of this conversation turned toward Zig's children.

"We'll go," Paul quickly said as he steered Mimir Alatreox toward the caelceti. "Our machine is equipped with a TZUM, so it might be able to work with their organs."

"Plus, we can use the Exogenesis Blade," Alia added. "It might be the only thing that can damage The Atik Yomin without it regenerating." The captains of the various ships looked at each other, then back at the two young pilots.

"All right," Murrue said. "Be careful, you two." With that, Mimir Alatreox landed on the largest of Zig's children. As if they understood Paul and Alia's intentions, the caelceti spurred

"We've done all we can," Exsedol said with a sigh. "It's up to them now."

"No," Haruhi said; "Even if our attacks don't actually destroy it, they still interrupt The Atik Yomin's efforts to consume all existence. We can't let up!"

With that, DREAM renewed its assault on the godly entity that would consume all things...

---

Inside the heart of The Atik Yomin, Neo Granlif and its pilots were struggling to keep themselves together, even as what had once been Granlif Judecca continued to pull them in. It looked similar to its outward form – a massive sphere of rapidly shifting whites, blacks and grays that extended and retracted countless different human faces.

"Damn it all - this can't be how it ends!" Janus grunted as he held on to Tara with all his might; "We've come...too far to lose now!"

"1 w1LL c0n5um3 3v3rytHiNG!" the voice of The Atik Yomin babbled, its voice like a chorus of trillions; "4Ll shaL7 b3 p4r7 0f m3..."

More and more pieces of Neo Granlif started to fall off - the legs, the weapons, and even the head were yanked out by the tentacles and by the sheer force of siseneg tzimtzum, leaving only the cockpit floating helplessly.

But before the two could finally be drawn into The Atik Yomin, something burst in from outside the dome – Mimir Alatreox and Zig's children...along with the Angel children.

"Paul! Alia!" Tara exclaimed, happy to see her cousins again, even though she wondered just what it could do in the face of all creation collapsing. That concern was soon answered as the thirteen caelceti began to sing a long, loud yet soothing melody while their bodies began to emit an tremendous amount of energy, which flowed into Neo Granlif. Meanwhile, Zer and the other Angel children rammed into the sphere that was once Granlif Judecca, sending it spiraling away before securing Iophiel and returning her to the safety of a caelceti's back.

"This warmth," Janus said as he and Tara ceased their frightened embrace; "It's the same as back during our fight with the Anti-Spiral, but it's even more intense..."

"Hey, my controls!" Tara then gasped, overjoyed to see things going their way again. "They're being repaired! What's going on, Xemmey?"

"We're receiving a tremendous amount of Sephirot energy from outside," Lifthrasir's AI explained; "But there's no way even the entire population of our two worlds could produce this much power...could it be that..."

Tara and Janus quickly realized the answer to that as well. The two clasped hands as if performing a tango in a manner not unlike J and Renais, gazed briefly into each others' eyes before facing forward with new-found resolve.

"...Xengar, Xemmey, rev the Exogenesis Engine and remove all the limiters on Neo Granlif!" Janus commanded; "Open the floodgates and pump every last drop of energy coming in directly into us and the machine! We're not gonna waste one drop of everyone's hopes!"

"But, Janus, if we do that HERE..." Xengar warned.

"That's not gonna happen!" Tara declared boldly; "We're not going to fall apart...and we aren't going to cause a true Spiral Nemesis either! Hopes and dreams don't bring about death!"

As the battered Neo Granlif began to absorb energy, its two pilots concentrated, putting their everything into taking in the obscene influx of power. And as they drew in the power of those outside, the energy from Eden Vital itself also began to flow into them rather than The Atik Yomin.

But since they were at the center of The Atik Yomin, the energy the received was unfiltered - and with this energy came a veritable tsunami of information - memories, emotions, and knowledge gathered by the countless souls that made up the core of the Sephirot, as well as those who were outside.

Meanwhile, Neo Granlif's shattered body began to regenerate and glow with every color conceivable to the human eye. Iophiel and the Angel-children could only look on with awe and wonder at what was about to be born.

As the last bit of the god-like robot finished regenerating a indescribable sensation filled Janus and Tara. Their hearts and minds, having been just at the brink of despair, then at the heights of hope, suddenly felt completely at peace.

Iophiel quickly realized that the two had evolved spiritually a second time.

"1 d0N'7 unD3rST4Nd...wHy Do yOU 5T1Ll RESis7?!"The Atik Yomin cried out, shocked by the sudden turn of events.

"The linking of hearts and souls; the union of everyone's feelings and wishes as one even while accepting their separate shapes and individual wills," Tara answered, her eyes blazing with the wisdom of all creation. "THAT is what the ultimate goal of evolution is!"

"No! I MusT bEcomE tH3 oNlY 3XI5TeNCE!"The Atik Yomin screeched as it charged at Neo Granlif; "OnLY tHEn c4n tH3 C0n7raD1c710N5..."

"No! Those contradictions aren't a problem!" Janus retorted calmly but defiantly; "They're all just different sides of the same coin...they're who we are!"

Neo Granlif charged up a Gran Nova Fire and blasted the desperate entity, sending it reeling.

"Life and death; joy and sadness; male and female; light and shadow; change and stability; they're all opposites!" Tara continued; "But without their opposites, those things have no meaning...and you're just destroying that meaning by mashing everything into one entity!"

"If our death instinct is the desire to become a single formless mass," Janus then declared; "Then we'll show you the desire of live as individuals, and to find balance in a world of extremes...OUR LIFE INSTINCT!"

TZIM/TZUM system Synchro level OVER activated, the two AIs said in unison; All enumerations, simultaneous activation...Exogenesis Engine, Infinite Overdrive...

As Mimir Alatreox flew toward Neo Granlif, its body began to fold in the same manner as it did before, with the TZUM that served as its power source quickly accommodated for some of the more unusual changes. By the time it reached Janus and Tara's mech, the transformation was complete.

Neo Granlif reached out and gripped the transformed mech, and then opened up its chest to reveal the Exogenesis Cannon, which immediately began to charge up, creating a sphere of myriad colors.

"Quark-gluon plasma field generated!" Xengar called out. "All output limiters disabled!"

But instead of firing the blast, the white machine pressed Mimir Alatreox against its chest with both hands, the prongs somehow fitting neatly in Alatreox's body. The sword handle began to absorb the colossal energy inside the sphere of quark-gluon plasma - and as the energy flowed through their machine, it in turn, flowed through Paul and Alia. The two youngsters grimaced as the godly power filled every cell in their bodies, causing their eyes to turn blue-on-blue again. After several seconds, their bodies turned a brilliant white, and numerous pairs of rainbow light wings sprouted from their shoulders, while their eyes shone a lustrous gold.

In desperation, The Atik Yomin tried to stop the attack with a wave of golden tendrils, and managed to wrap them around Neo Granlif's arms, preventing them from pulling out the handle.

"No! Not now!" Paul cried as both Mimir Alatreox and Neo Granlif's bodies started to crackle, sizzle and sputter as the limitless energy of their final attack started to overwhelm their physical structure. The pilots themselves also seemed to be struggling to hold together, as they all started bleeding rainbow blood, their veins slowly starting to burst.

"W3 wI1L n07..."the godly entity moaned;"We w1Ll NoT..."

Suddenly, it stopped, and retracted not just its tendrils, but all of the faces on its body. After several moments, something else extruded from the form of The Atik Yomin – the fully body of a girl that Janus, Tara and Iophiel recognized.

"Nadija?" the priestess gasped.

I'm...doing all I can, Nadija said, her voice clearly reflecting the immense exertion of her will; to suppress...The Atik Yomin...

As she said this, the faces of Euzeth and Metatron peeked out of the form of The Atik Yomin and started screaming silently.

Do...it, Nadija grunted; Before everything...is gone...my big brother is already...

But before she could finish her plea, Nadija's form was absorbed back into The Atik Yomin's body.

"Janus..." Tara said, turning to her co-pilot and beloved.

"I know...we'll end this together," Janus replied. "We made a promise to Enoch to end his existence entirely, if there was no other option."

"I'll help," an unexpected voice came from over Mimir Alatreox's communicator.

"Iophiel?!" Tara exclaimed.

"Paul and Alia can't handle this by themselves," the priestess answered; "But if I'm with them, they should be able to." With that, the five turned to focus on delivering the final blow.

As Neo Granlif charged up its Exogenesis Zankantou, the bodies of Zig's children began to glow with a new multicolored light, which channeled itself into the almighty blade. This energy merged into the sword, causing it to grow larger and larger. Somewhere along the line, the blade split into two halves, but they began to spiral around each other, forming a beautiful double helix. Inside Neo Granlif's cockpit, the two pilots, their bodies blazing with energy and sporting dozens of wings, saw a glowing blade form where their hands were clasped.

"FINAL BLOW..." the five roared in unison as they raised the blade over Neo Granlif's head. "...INFINITY PERCENT...EXOGENESIS...ZANKANTOU!"

With one great swing, the double-helix blade streaked towards The Atik Yomin's heart even as Neo Granlif's body began to fall apart.

"GEKIRIIIIIIN..."

Paul and Alia strained with all their might to hold themselves together...

"...DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!"

The Atik Yomin again raised more golden tendrils to try and block the attack, but to no avail - the hopes and dreams of every single soul in the infinite realities was beyond anything anyone could hope to block. The form of The Atik Yomin exploded dramatically, all of the energy it had absorbed being expelled at once...

---

When everything had finally settled down, Neo Granlif was in a shambles - one of its arms had again been broken, and the rest of its body was falling to pieces as well. What was more, Janus and Tara no longer felt the incredible power that had flowed into them during that final attack, the wisdom of all creation forgotten as quickly as it was learned. But one other thing was obvious.

"I don't understand...we beat it, but something's still wrong," Tara said warily as she and Janus finally separated. Indeed, the white space was starting to slowly break down as if it were a piece of paper set aflame.

"Stopping The Atik Yomin's core stopped sisineg tzimtzum," Iophiel explained as she floated over to Neo Granlif's good arm. "But now the Sephirot itself is dying."

"What?!" Neo Granlif's pilots exclaimed.

"When Granlif Judecca forcibly connected itself to the Sephirot, the stress of so much energy flow destabilized the Tree's energy channels to the point where it could very easily fall apart," the priestess explained. "But I believe I can save the Sephirot by repairing the damaged channels."

The priestess closed her eyes, and suddenly extended three pairs of massive light wings.

"You've got all your power back!" Janus said. "Awesome!"

"We'll help you, big sister!" Shem called out as he and the other Angels reverted to their human forms and flew over to their caretaker's side. "We can fix the Sephirot channel-thingies too!"

"There's a catch, isn't there?" Tara said uneasily.

"Yes, this will cost us our bodies and souls," the former leader of Atik Yomin replied.

"Wait a second!" Janus exclaimed, suddenly alarmed at the prospect of Tara losing her big sister just as she was used to having her around; "If you sacrifice your bodies and souls, you'll never be able to..."

"It's okay!" Zer chirped, clutching Iophiel's legs. "We'll get to be with big sis and each other forever and ever and ever!"

"Janus Olendra...Tara Zifell...thank you for everything," the angel said. "Let this dance serve as a token of our eternal debt to you..."

"Sis!" Tara cried, reaching out helplessly.

With that, the priestess, the children and the caelceti all began to glow. Shem, meanwhile, whipped out a flute and began to play a tune Janus recognized - it was the same one he had heard inside King Shitoel. The children also began to dance in the same manner, this time with Iophiel in the center, while Shem danced around her, playing happily as if heedless to the decay of all creation going on around them...though it seemed that very decay was slowing down.

And just as before, the music built up, and the dancers' steps became more pronounced, more like leaps and bounds, while the whales from beyond the stars began to circle more quickly. But this time, Janus and Tara saw that the space around them was expanding again...the decay was being reversed.

With the final note, the dancers ended in the same arcane formation as before, then disappeared in a massive flash of light. When the light faded, the beautiful, peaceful field with the creek had returned, along with the large hut. For a moment, there was only silence as the souls floating in the sky ceased moving. Then, the four doors on the House of the World opened, revealing a glorious light within, and the souls started streaming in.

However, a bunch of them did not try to enter immediately – they stopped and hovered in front of Neo Granlif's two pilots.

"Looks like everything's fixed now," one of them said as it changed into a familiar form.

"Mu!" Janus exclaimed. "And you guys!"

"We just came to say goodbye before we passed on," Kamina said.

"Pass on..." Tara muttered before she realized what that meant. "Oh, that's right! You've been trapped in Hell for who-knows-how-long...and now you can finally return to the Great God so you can be reincarnated!"

"Guess this is really goodbye, then," Janus said with a forlorn sigh.

"For now, anyway," Musashi quipped. "Maybe we'll see each other again in some other lifetime."

"Yeah," Kittan added. "Let's hope that happens."

"I'm just glad we were able to see our friends and loved ones one last time before the end," Lalah said. "But now it's time we were on our way."

The first to change back to his soul form was Kamina, and he flew into the damaged cockpit of Neo Granlif. However, it wasn't a complete transformation – the two could still make out faded images of the people they had once been.

"Take care!" he said. "And tell Simon and Nia that I wish 'em the best!" With that, he flew back out,and into the open door, joining the river of souls.

"Same here," Kittan said as he did the same. "Give my love to Yoko too, okay?" He followed Kamina into the open doorway.

"Please watch over Amuro and Char for me," Lalah said with a smile; "And make sure they don't start fighting again." With that, she departed as well.

"Tell Kei and the others that Musashi wishes 'em luck in the future," the Getter pilot said before passing on as well. Next to approach were Bian, Elzam, Kyosuke and Excellen. However, the ones who had once been demons now looked human again.

"You two have truly inherited the will of the Steel Dragons," the pilot of the Aussenseiter said.

"It's a shame I won't be able to see the worlds your efforts are bringing about," Bian said; "Take care of them, and treasure your friends." Janus nodded. With that, Bian's soul seemed to turn to Elzam's.

"Come, my friend," he said, placing a hand on Elzam's shoulder. "Cattleya is waiting for you."

"Of course," Elzam replied as he and Bian flew into the House of the World to be reincarnated.

"You did a pretty good job there, kiddos," Excellen said. "Big Sis Excellen is so proud of you!" Her image gave a thumbs-up gesture. Kyosuke just gave a snappy salute and drifted out of the cockpit.

"Thanks, I guess," Tara said, blushing a bit.

"You got yourself a real keeper, Tara," Excellen said, leaning in. "Don't let him go, no matter what!" Tara smiled, but then saw Kyosuke's soul poke his head back in.

"Let's go, Excellen!" he shouted, annoyed at Excellen's dallying; "I'd really like to be reincarnated in the same world as you, so move it!"

"Coming, honeybuuuuunch!" Excellen chirped as she followed her beloved out of Neo Granlif's cockpit and into the doorway that led to the Great God's location.

Next came the DREAMers who had perished in the battle against the Anti-Spiral.

"Not much we can really say, is there?" Four said. "Please tell Kamille and Fa that I wish them the best." With that, she departed.

"Same goes for Akito and Captain Misumaru," Jiro said as he floated near them. "And you two. Shame I won't be around for the weddings."

"I'll make sure the wedding band plays Aquamarine's theme when I walk down the aisle," Tara said.

"Whoa, slow down there, Bridezilla!" Janus exclaimed. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves! We still have to get home!" Tara leered at Janus, causing Jiro to laugh heartily as he flew into the doorway, while Master Asia's soul came to say his goodbye.

"You two are quite the power couple," the old martial artist said with a hearty chuckle of his own. "Thank you for being there for Domon, and for helping me see the error of my ways before the end. Take care of yourselves, and the Earth I loved."

"Hey, can we do that before you go?" Janus asked. "Just once?"

"Do what?" Tara asked. However, Master Asia simply sighed before taking a deep breath.

"Answer me, Janus!" he bellowed as he punched dramatically but without the intention to hit; "…THE SCHOOL OF THE UNDEFEATED OF THE EAST!"

"…THE WINDS OF THE KING!" Janus replied just as loudly. The two exchanged a wild flurry of strikes, though Janus wouldn't have been able to catch Master Asia's strikes even if the old martial artist had chosen to fully manifest his material form.

…ZENSHIN!"

"…KEIRETSU!"

"…TEMPAH KYORAN!" the two said in sync as they bumped fists. "LOOK, THE EAST IS BURNING RED!" Master Asia laughed heartily again, and gave Janus a quick bow before departing.

Finally, Gill and Haruhi approached their daughter and her co-pilot, keeping their bodies fully manifested this time.

"Tara," Haruhi said with a great deal of sadness. "It's time for us to go too."

The girl had known this was coming since she had laid eyes on them again in Hell, but her heart still hurt all the same now that the final goodbye had come.

"Mom...Dad..." she whimpered as she got up and embraced them both.

"Oh, how I wish we could stay," Gill said, squeezing his daughter.

"But you can't," Tara replied. "You'd just get in the way of the next generation, right? That's what Paul said you told him."

"Aye, that I did," Tara's father replied before turning to Janus. "Janus m'boy, I'm leaving m' precious Galloway girl in yer hands. You make her the happiest lass in all the infinite cosmos, ya hear?"

"Loud and clear, Gill!" Janus replied, saluting him even as he tried to hold back his own sadness. With that, the husband and wife turned to each other.

"Well...shall we be off, m'dear?" Gill said.

"Can't hold back the next generation," Haruhi said. With that, the two reverted to their soul forms and floated into the doorway leading to the next stage in the infinite cycle.

"They're gone," Tara said with a sob as tears began to roll down her face. "They're really..." Janus immediately took off his harnesses and hurried over to his beloved's side. With all the passion and love he could muster, he deeply kiss Tara on the lips, which suddenly jolted her from her sadness.

Even though Tara had lost her closest family...she still had the man she loved.

---

The crews of DREAM's various ships awoke from a daze. The last thing they remembered was fighting The Atik Yomin when a great blade had burst out of its body and sliced it in twain. Now the ships and the robots were floating back in what felt like "normal" space.

"Huh? Where are we?" Yurika exclaimed as she came around. "Ruri, get us a location!" The silver-haired girl shook off her daze and typed in several commands before breathing a sigh of relief.

"Good news, Captain," Ruri answered with a little smile. "It looks like we've returned to the vicinity of Jupiter...everything appears to be roughly as we left it. Temporal displacement is roughly three-and-a-half hours from our first departure to go after Nia."

"So we did it?!" Akito exclaimed, his eyes wide with excitement. "We actually won?!"

"Woo-hoo! Yeah!" Sai whooped, leaping from his seat with joy. The rest of DREAM all began to cheer and celebrate as well, victory obtained at long last.

"Finally!" Leeron said with a big sigh; "I actually thought for a bit that we weren't gonna make it home."

"I hate to spoil the mood...but we're missing some of our fellows," Ruri said in her usual monotone whenever something was wrong.

"Yeah!" Koji said, looking around and noticing that two of their mechs were not present; "Where's Shin Getter? And where's Neo Granlif? And Mimir Alatreox?"

"No way...they're still back in Eden Vital?" Simon gasped.

"Damn it!" Domon cried, slamming his fist against the side of his cockpit; "Of all the people that we had to lose..."

"Ryoma, Hayato and Benkei still have their own battles to fight," Go suddenly explained calmly; "That is what Shin Dragon says. But as for our friends Paul and Alia..."

"Hi," Alia's voice came. "We're here...somehow."

"What happened?" CC Sayaka asked. "Where are Janus and Tara?! Are they okay?"

"We don't know," Paul said. "Just as we were about to finish off The Atik Yomin's core, Alia and I were warped back into Shin Dragon's hangar, along with Mimir. As for our cousin, well..."

---

"Soooooo, we're stuck here?" Janus sighed as Tara fiddled with her control panel. There were still countless souls streaming into the House of the World, but it was no one they had known.

"Looks like it," Lifthrasir's pilot replied awkwardly, shaking her head and avoiding Janus' gaze. "It looks like we didn't think about getting us home when we used that Infinity Percent Exogenesis Zankantou. We don't have enough energy to open a Threshold."

But then she turned to face Janus, a little smile on her face.

"...But you know something? I'm actually okay with this."

Janus blinked several times, surprised to hear those words.

"...You are?" he asked.

"Mm-hm. I'm here with you, after all," Tara explained as she leaned back in her seat; "And we have the memories of everyone we fought alongside. We can check up on our friends whenever we want, even if we can't talk with them."

"Yeah, that's true," Janus replied, cheered up a bit. "This is the center of all existence, after all. Plus, I could see us living here – plenty of food and water." After that, the two young adults sat silently for a moment.

Suddenly, Tara got a devious glimmer in her eyes.

"Say, you wanna?" she asked.

"Wanna do what?" Janus replied.

"Let's do it," Tara said, crawling over to Janus' lap. "For all the time we've known each other, we never actually did it. If we're gonna spend eternity together, we should at least make life enjoyable."

"It?" Janus said as the meaning of Tara's words finally dawned on him. "You mean..."

"I'm all yours, lover boy." the girl said, eager to begin that most ancient of rituals. But the mood was suddenly shattered when the echoing voice of Koji suddenly came from every direction at once.

Heeeey!

"...Did you hear that?" Janus said, standing up and knocking Tara off of him. "That sounded like Koji." Soon, more voices rang out throughout Eden Vital.

You two lovebirds get back here right now, or I'll never forgive you!

Please come home, Jan...

Lelouch vi Britannia commands you...return to us safely!

Come back to us...we miss you...

Get your ass back here right now, Two-Face! You AND your girl!

It's too soon for you two to be gone...something wonderful is starting!

"They're callin' ya back," another voice, this one much clearer, came from nearby. The two looked up and saw three apparitions hovering before them.

"Hey, you guys are..." Tara gasped, momentarily forgetting about how their fun had been interrupted before it could even begin.

"The Gekiganger pilots?!" Janus and Tara exclaimed in unison as they recognized the forms of Ken Tenku, Joe Umitsubame, and Daichi Akira.

"We were, anyway," Joe said. "Now the heart of the Sephirot is borrowing our forms and memories to talk to you directly."

"So...thanks a load, you two," Daichi said. You followed the ideals that we held in life to the very end, and saved every sentient being in the multiverse."

"Perhaps humankind can evolve into a better version of itself without interference from outside forces," Ken concluded.

"Hey, we couldn't have done it without Xengar and Xemmey!" Tara chirped. "C'mon you two, get out here!" But to her dismay, the two AIs' images did not appear.

"Huh? Hey, c'mon, say something!" Tara cried, pressing the buttons on her control panel frantically. Janus also looked deeply worried about the fate. But unbeknownst to the two pilots, the images of the Gekiganger pilots disappeared, and replaced with something new.

"Don't worry about them. They're fine," one voice, a male, said.

"It'll take a lot more than that to bring down Sanger Zonvolt," said another man. The two pilots looked back up and saw some apparitions of two men and a woman, whose faces they recognized from past dreams.

"Hey, you're..." Granlif's pilot exclaimed.

"Ryusei Date, SRX pilot!" said one of the men, a brown-haired man in a pilot suit. "And these two are among my dearest friends."

"Bullet Luckfield...you're Jaan's parents, aren't you?" Tara exclaimed, pointing to the other two, a blond man and a blue-haired woman, all in pilot suits as well. "And you must be Iophiel's dad!"

"...Yes. We too, would like to thank you," Kusuha said, bowing respectfully. "You helped our children in ways we couldn't have dreamed of."

"Now we can finally return to the source without regrets and be reincarnated," Bullet said. "Isn't that right, Sanger and Calvina?" Just then, two more images appeared - this time ones resembling Xengar and Xemmey, only they wore pilot suits much like those of the other apparitions.

"Xengar? Xemmey?" Janus gasped.

"Yes...though I do wish we could spend a little more time with these two," the image of Sanger said.

"You remember the tale of Yggdrasil and the end of the world, right, Tara?" the image of Calvina said; "When the flames of Ragnarok and the cold of Fimbulvetr consumes everything else, Lif and Lifthrasir, the last two surviving humans would take shelter within Yggdrasil; they would survive to populate a new world risen from the ashes of the old."

Tara remembered the painting that Charles had liked. To think that it would suddenly become relevant again.

"Through your actions you have, in your own way, made the legend a reality," Sanger continued. "While evil has not departed from your worlds, they are truly free to decide their own fate."

"It was a honor fighting alongside you," Calvina concluded. "Now, go live in the peaceful worlds you fought so hard to forge!" As the apparitions disappeared, a rainbow Threshold appeared behind Neo Granlif. When the mech turned around, they saw that one of the young caelceti had survived – the smallest of them.

"Looks like one of them decided to stick around," Janus said with a smile. The creature suddenly morphed into a parrot, flew through Neo Granlif and landed on Tara's shoulder.

"Well, I guess we can put our fun off until we get home," Lifthrasir's pilot finally said with a giggle as she returned to her seat. The damaged white mech slowly turned around and flew into the portal...

---

After what seemed like the longest of eternities and the briefest of moments, Neo Granlif reappeared in normal space, near where their friends were gathered.

"Hey! They made it!" Chibodee called out, noticing them as he flew around in Gundam Maxter. The various mechs and ships gathered around the wrecked machine, all elated to see their friends safe and sound.

"We thought we'd never see you again!" "We missed ya!" "Welcome back, you two!" "Don't scare us like that again!" "Yeah!" "Wooo!"

"It's good to be back," Tara sighed contentedly.

"Man, I am SO done with fighting!" Kouji said with a long yawn, stretching out as much as Mazinger Z's cockpit would allow; "I'm ready to take a nice, relaxing vacation!"

"We may have defeated Atik Yomin and brought peace to our worlds," Tara then said. "But our battles aren't over yet - not by a long shot."

"What d'ya mean?" Toji exclaimed. "We stopped all da bad guys, right? Our worlds are gonna be peaceful from now on, ain't dey?"

"We gotta make sure that our worlds STAY peaceful, right?!" Janus said. "It's probably gonna be our toughest challenge yet."

"But I know we can do it," Tara said, "no matter how long it takes!"

---

Back in Janus' Earth Sphere, the world was ecstatic. The threat of total annihilation had been overcome, and hope was gushing from every corner – from human, demon and Devilman. But even as they celebrated their victory alongside the rest of the Earth Sphere's residents, DREAM knew that this was also the end of their time together.

"We really have to close the Thresholds for good?" Shinji whined. "It's not fair!"

"It's for the best," Zero said. "Until the day comes when we can truly overcome the death instinct, we probably should stay in our own worlds and do everything we can do to ensure that this hard-earned peace lasts. More importantly, we can't let the power to travel between realities fall into the wrong hands."

"I agree. It would be far too easy to abuse," Bright added.

"So I guess this is goodbye, then," Judau sighed.

"Hey, it's not like we're gonna forget each other, right?" Tamaki said, giving Judau a hearty slap on the back.

"No way! I'll never forget you guys!" Sai Saici cheered. "Not in a bazillion years!"

"Besides, we'll all see each other again in Eden Vital one day," Nunnally added, her smile full of hope. "And who knows? Maybe next time around we can all live in the same world together."

One by one, the team from Tara's world said their goodbyes to the ones from Janus' world and filed onto the Nadesico, Archangel and Eternal. Some were tearful, some were humorous, and some were last intense displays of manliness. Finally, only Tara and Janus were left, while the rest of the crew from the latter's world made their way back to their own homes.

"So, Jan," Tara asked. "What's it gonna be? I'm fine with whatever world you want - all that matters is that we stay together."

"Come on, you two! Get a move on!" Hikaru yelled over the Nadesico's loudspeaker. "The portal's gonna close any minute now!"

Janus thought hard, but then smiled.

"I say we oughtaaaaa..."

And in that moment, new worlds were born...

---

And that's it for the Normal route...no epilogue for now. Next time, we start things on the If/True route! Here's a preview:

-With the Great Emperor of Darkness defeated, DREAM prepares to confront Metatron on his home turf! But they'll still have to contend with Atik Yomin's generals one last time! But how will Janus' words affect the outcome of the battles to come? Is Atik Yomin really the true enemy? Find out what happens if Janus reveals his Outside nature in Chapter 110 (If/True): Eden Vital Under Attack! The True Face of Madness!