Chapter XVII: Passion:Convergence
Midnight, December 25, 2039, has come. Shu and his three friends watched in disbelief as Mana awakened and a stream of pink energy along with snowflakes started to spread across Earth. The scenic view resembled an apocalyptic Christmas.
She awakens with an arm stretched and a hand over her yawning mouth, "Top of the morning, Triton." Mana greeted Gai as the latter acknowledged her return.
"Welcome back, Mana."
After greeting Gai, Mana caught Shu's presence before running blithely to Shu to hug him.
"Shu, you're here! You've changed your mind!" Mana hugged Shu while smiling seductively. "I had a rough time, you know. This horrible girl was holding me back because she wouldn't let me out! But, it's ok now. I ground her up into dust. She thought she could stop me but I made her body mine." Saying that they can finally be together, Mana gloated that she has fully taken over Inori's body, whom she called a fake and a monster.
Even though he couldn't see her doing it, Shu felt Mana caressing his back with one hand. "She was a headstrong little beast, especially for a man-made monster."
Having heard enough, Shu's face contorts angrily. "SHUT UP!" He pushes Mana down and gives her a look of condemnation.
Looking up with confusion, Mana gasps. "Shu?"
"Inori is not a monster! She's got more love in her than you ever could! You've taken her face and voice but you're the monster! She's the real human!" Shu angrily berated Mana, who cast her eyes down with rejection.
"He's right! You have Inori's body but you're not her! I know Inori! I even cooked a wonderful meal with her for Shu and Heath!" Ayase chastised Mana. "Do you even remember that evening?! I doubt it because you weren't there, Mana! You don't have those cherished memories that Inori had!"
Heath furrowed his brows. "Give us back Inori now!"
Akiko nodded. "And crawl back into the grave where you belong!"
Shaken with dejection, Mana muttered. "You're so mean, Shu. You can't even see how much your sister loves you. I couldn't stop loving you even after my body was destroyed. And yet here you are still refusing to give me your love! SHU!" Enraged at having been rejected a second time, Mana's face contorted menacingly, her teeth clenched, and her eyes contracted, revealing small clear red crystals inside her irises. Mana threatens to make Shu pay, only to be stopped by Gai. She then swiftly faced Heath, Akiko, and Ayase. "And you three can just butt out! This is between me and Shu!"
Ayase scowled. "Screw you, Shu's business is ours! And as far as I'm concerned, your actions not only caused Lost Christmas, but you took away someone close to me!" She screamed as she prepared to attack Mana but Heath and Akiko stopped her.
"That's enough now," Gai interjected as he offered a helping hand to Mana, who took it. "You leave these four with me. You focus on the world." As he held Mana close, he stated he would kill Shu before drawing Mana's Void, which is revealed to be a sword similar to Inori's with a darker complexion.
After Gai drew out Mana's Void, the platform underneath Shu and the others started to shift and several columns moved upward where floor pieces used to be. As more columns rose around them, Shu, Heath, Akiko, and Ayase moved around and saw Mana standing atop a shifting floor while gazing down on them with contempt.
"You hurt me quite badly, Shu. Twice now. You're a cold and heartless boy. When you hurt people like this, you better be prepared to be hurt twice as much. You can apologize, but nothing will make me forgive you."
"Bring Inori back!"
"It's too late, Shu," Mana coldly muttered as the room altered its interior. A spotlight beamed from the ceiling over the platform Mana stood on. It was revealed to be a map of the world and also doubled as a dance floor for Mana to perform her apocalyptic ballet show.
With Mana beginning the Fourth Apocalypse, the battle was set for the others. Gai set his sights on Shu, Heath, Akiko, and Ayase.
To further accentuate her dance performance, a classical song seemingly played while Mana danced and jumped across floor plates where she selectively 'attacked' a geographical location on the floor map. Without a care in the world, Mana gracefully hopped and danced around random map spots. During her performance, she postured in a ballerina-like stance as if waiting to hear the adulation and cheers of the crowd in her head. As she danced, Mana's power resonated on a worldwide scale, encasing most of Earth's life in crystal.
The world's city populations being crystallized included but are not limited to: London, United Kingdom; Paris, France; Shanghai, China; Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Bangkok, Thailand; Jakarta, Indonesia; Phnom Penh, Cambodia; Vientiane, Laos; Melbourne, Australia; Singapore; Hanoi, Vietnam; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Manila, Philippines; Seoul, South Korea; Moscow, Russia; Athens, Greece; Florence, Italy; Stuttgart, Germany; Pharos, Alexandria, Egypt; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Sofia, Bulgaria; City of Brussels, Belgium; Washington DC, United States; Los Angeles, California; San Antonio, Texas; Las Vegas, Nevada; Chicago, Illinois; Detroit, Michigan; Phoenix, Arizona; Portland, Oregon; Madison, Wisconsin; Orlando, Florida; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Providence, Rhode Island; Hartford, Connecticut; and New York City, New York; and Boston, Massachusetts.
"What is this?!" Shu frantically asked.
"It's the Fourth Apocalypse, Shu," Gai answered. "It's the selective evolution of all life on this planet."
"That's twisted! We can't let this go on any longer!" Heath declared.
"You three take care of Shu!" Ayase said as she looked up and narrowed a fierce gaze toward Mana. "Leave Mana with me."
"Ayase, you wouldn't," Heath muttered as Ayase put a finger to his lips.
"I promise this won't take long. Someone has to put an end to her shitshow performance," Ayase said as Shu nodded with approval.
"Be careful, Ayase. Who knows what Mana's capable of," Shu said as he conjured Yahiro's Void.
"Don't worry. We can handle Gai as long as Shu is with us," Akiko reassured her.
"Ayase, don't do anything stupid," Heath said as they shared a kiss.
"Hey, I should be telling you that," Ayase said with a wink. With that, she slipped past Heath and used her Void to jump high on the dance floor where she faced Mana. "Hey, I'm canceling your lame ballet show, Mana!"
Irked by being rudely interrupted, Mana scowled while curling her lips. "Who do you think you are? I was expecting Shu not a second-rate loser like you."
"Shu's busy with your boyfriend! He's letting me put your ballerina ass in your place! Now, I can finally avenge my parents' deaths since you and GHQ took them away from me!" Ayase declared, taking a judo fighting stance while vehemently glaring toward her. "Your performance ends here, Ouma Mana!"
"You can't stop the inevitable apocalypse, but try your worst!"
"That's right! Remember the name of the one who's about to serve you your prissy ballerina ass!"
As Mana beckoned Ayase to attack her, Ayase initially accepted the challenge. Making full use of her Karmesin armor, Ayase unleashed a flurry of kicks, which were augmented by her Void's power. Evading most of Ayase's kicks, Mana flew into the air and flung a barrage of crystal shards. Spinning her kicks like a drill, she crushed the crystal shards with the force of her legs. As Mana dove toward Ayase, Ayase jumped up and landed a spinning kick into Mana's face. Having landed the first hit, Ayase seized Mana's right arm and tossed her with a judo throw.
After slamming Mana on the platform, Ayase tried to use kickboxing on Eve. Conveying annoyance on her face, Mana scowled at Ayase, evoked a menacing stare, and repelled her with a powerful wave.
While planting her feet firmly on the platform and resisting Mana's force, Ayase smirked. "Well, well, lucky me. This 'second-rate loser' got the first hit on you!"
"Feh, lucky shot," Mana spat saliva mixed with blood.
"Don't make any excuses when I beat you into submission!"
Initially perturbed by Ayase's remarks, Mana decided to toy with her psychologically. "Aww, what's wrong, poor girl? Do you miss your precious parents that much? Heh, what if I told you they weren't in heaven, but are burning in hell right now? They're paying for their sins just like the rest of humanity have and will. There's no room for sinners in my new Eden!" Mana openly mocked Ayase's family in front of her. "Ooh, you miss poor daddy? Don't worry I'll be reuniting you with him very soon. You can cry to him about how failed to avenge his death! Because you're nothing but a failure!"
"DON'T YOU EVER FUCKING MOCK MY FAMILY, ESPECIALLY NOT MY FATHER! YOU DON'T KNOW THEM! AND THE ONLY ONE GOING TO HELL IS YOU, YOU BITCH!"
"Heheh, so I managed to strike a nerve. Good, now I know how to beat you! Still, just for that cheap shot, you've forced my hand," Mana chortled. "Why don't I just get to the point and grant you a quick death?"
"Shut up and just do it!" Ayase yelled as she headed off to pummel Mana but a bright golden light radiated from Mana and blindsided her. "Damn it! Me and my big mouth!"
As the golden veil finished enveloping her, Mana emerged with a modified form. While her physical appearance largely stayed the same, she gained golden features in her hair and her outfit. Her long pink hair gained golden streaks on her hair and the hair tips. Mana's purple crystal crown and wrist crystals gained gold features. Six crystallized feather wings are sprouted from her back and have gold in the feathered areas. Finally, her ballerina corset and dress turned completely gold, which shone a blinding flash of light across the spacious platform. Her body shimmered with gold dust that radiated off her brilliant and graceful form. Every other participant briefly paused and witnessed Mana's golden ascension.
"I thought I could use a change. My regular power wasn't going to get the job done. So, why not go for a gold standard? This will be enough to crush you like the little bug you are."
Standing up, Ayase clenched her fists tightly. "Damn it, this could be trouble."
"Any last words before I end you, sweetie?"
"Yeah. Gold looks awfully gaudy on you."
"Oh, you'll be eating those words."
"Enough! I'm sending you back to your grave, Ouma Mana!"
"No, I'm going to kill you!"
"You first!"
Ayase and Mana quickly charged and headed each other off. Both unleashed a flurry of kicks and punches as the force from their blows shook the platform they fought on. When they flew high into the air, Mana attacked Ayase with fiery crystallized feathers from her wings. They were as beautiful as they were deadly, given how sharp the crystallized feathers seemed to be, their edges dangerously reflecting their surroundings like a well-polished blade. Spinning herself while in mid-air, Ayase kicked away and nullified the fiery crystallized feathers.
"Don't get too comfortable! I can conjure more than that!" Mana boasted as she conjured and tossed homing crystallized comets, which Ayase dodged and flew around to redirect the comets toward their user. Having caught onto Ayase's strategy of redirecting her comets, Mana manipulated light purple aurora lights, which moved toward Ayase.
As Mana's light beams headed toward Ayase, the beams fired energy beams and crystallized projectiles. Finding herself caught between the comets and the projectiles, Ayase lured the comets toward Mana's projectiles. At the last possible second, Ayase narrowly escaped the crossfire, letting the projectiles crash into and obliterate the comets instead.
Acting as the opportunist, Mana quickly flew into Ayase and tossed her on the platform. When Mana summoned more aurora lights, the lights unleashed more crystallized shards. Fighting to survive, Ayase hastily outran the shards heading toward her.
"You won't escape and keep this up! I'm going to savor seeing you skewered!" Mana maniacally laughed over Ayase's plight.
"Yeah, laugh it up, chuckles. We'll see who laughs loudest!" Ayase yelled as her Void and armor augmented her running speed, allowing her to outpace the shards tailing her.
Fighting away from the king's throne, Shu fended off Gai's sword strikes using Yahiro's Void. While Shu kept Gai occupied, Heath and Akiko, both fused with their humanoid Voids, attacked Gai from the sidelines. Heath hastily swung his Void's katana at Gai, who defended himself with his Mana's Void. Akiko dove toward Gai while swinging her ko-naginata. Tucking his head from Akiko's Void weapon, Gai hopped far away, creating a distance between him and his three opponents.
"The apocalypse is the next step for mankind: perfect consciousness forever preserved in crystal," cited Gai, who meticulously scanned the apocalypse crystals surrounding them.
As they resumed their battle, Shu struggled to keep up with Gai but he still managed to interact with him. "Why have your objectives changed from Roppongi?!"
The former Funeral Parlor leader merely scoffed in response. "You'll never understand!" Then, in an action that shocked and dismayed Shu and his friends, Gai merged with Mana's Void. Despite having no other Void to merge with Mana's, Gai instead used his augmented body, done thanks to Da'ath's improving him after his revival, as a Void that allowed him to undergo a terrifying monstrous transformation.
During his physical transformation, Gai's body violently contorted and his physique grew. His complexion became pale like snow as hardened white scales with some black markings from Gai's human clothing quickly formed all over his body. His arms morphed and extended into gigantic white wings with purple crystallized feathers growing out of them and shining with radiant violet light. There are some purple crystals on his white wing claws. Also on the beast's wings are black markings, which were seen on his human form's clothing. While covering his face, Shu, Heath, and Akiko attempted to attack to stop his transformative state, but he revealed his face and scared them with red glowing eyes and sharp teeth glaring at them. He let out a beastly snarl as his mouth grew into a long reptilian snout, warping his human face into a dragon's visage. A long white tail grew from his back and struck the ground with unrelenting force. Alongside his expanding wingspan, Gai's silver hair grew into a long silver mane relative to his gargantuan size as it started at the back of his head down to near the end of the tail. Three purple crystallized horns, with the middle head crest shaped like Mana's sword Void, are formed on the back of his head like a tri-horned crown. His legs and feet grew into pitch black-scaled three-toed feet armed with ivory white talons. The horrifying abomination towered over Shu, Heath, and Akiko, who looked up with trepidation. His red right eye, matching his right side with purple crystals like his human form, and his left bluish silver left eye, also featured in his human form, painstakingly scanned his three adversaries with deadly intent. Raising his head, the draconic beast was larger than the largest theropod dinosaur.
"Oh, shit. We're fucked," Akiko muttered as her mouth went agape as she became overwhelmed with apprehension.
"It just keeps getting worse," Heath gritted, falling into a greater state of shock and despair.
"I wasn't counting on this, but I'm not going to let this deter me from stopping you, Gai!" Shu boldly called out the dragon.
After completing his draconic transformation, Gai's draconic facial features contorted as his sharp teeth were on full display. Opening up the skin flaps of his gigantic wings, Gai flew above and glowered below at his enemies. Then, after letting out a high-pitched bellow, the beast breathed in and expelled purple crystallized shards from his mouth toward Shu, Heath, and Akiko. Shu quickly summoned Aneko's shield Void, which stopped any incoming crystal shards from striking him, Heath, and Akiko. As they evaded the incoming shards, the draconic monster bellowed deeply and summoned numerous portals around him before launching a flurry of purple crystallized swords shaped like Mana's Void at the enemy trio. The trio quickly dodged the Voids before they could hit them. At the same time, Shu materialized Yoshitsugu's sword Void, which he used to shatter numerous of Gai's crystallized swords.
Coming close to being decimated by Gai's deadly crystal barrage, Shu, Heath, and Akiko took cover behind debris that crashed from the ceiling, which the beast tore down with his tail.
Gai finally spoke, and despite his large beastly appearance, his tone and speech sounded the same. "There's no escape for you three. You won't prevent the inevitable apocalypse. There's no stopping an event beyond your control. And Inori is far gone from your reach, Shu!"
"Nothing's out of my reach as long as I'm still alive, Gai! I'm saving Inori whether you like it or not!" Shu quickly protested while readying the sword and shield Voids.
As he charged head-on with the draconic monster, Shu valiantly fought off Gai's crystallized shards with his sword and halted many with his shield. Letting out a bellowing screech, Gai fired shimmering crystals toward Shu, who narrowly evaded getting struck down. At the same time, Heath used his katana Void to cut down the crystallized swords. Swinging her ko-naginata Void, Akiko wiped out a barrage of crystallized swords.
From the corner of my eye, I witnessed Gai turn into a gigantic monster and wield untold power that minimized Shu, Heath, and Akiko's efforts. However, as those three fought with all they have, I was left to contend with Gai's psychotic girlfriend.
As I gazed forward, I saw Mana flying forward at high speed as we collided with unimaginable force. At the same time, I flew toward her with a head full of steam. Our head-on collision created a shock wave that rattled the entire Ward 24 facility. With the facility being too small to contain our unrestrained powers, we glided upward past the ceiling and flew around the skies of Ward 24. As Mana relied on her wings to carry her, I relied on my Karmesin armor to grant me flight and firepower capabilities, which lasted me this long.
Both of us were driven with conviction. Mana still wanted Shu to build her Eden beneath the ashes of the world and the human race. But, I was passionately driven to avenge my parents and protect those I love!
As we clashed many times, we engaged with fierce determination. Once we came into blows, Mana grappled with me. Using our hands, we locked into a struggle and flew around each other. Amid the power struggle, our bodies crackled with energy surges sparking off our bodies. I watched as our chests jiggled during our power struggle, which would've annoyed me under normal circumstances, but not when my life was on the line!
Once we collided again after being a few seconds apart, we scornfully faced each other. Wearing an angry scowl on her face, I kicked Mana's chest and spin kicked her away.
Recollecting herself, Mana spitefully remarked. "I know exactly what you want! You can't fool me! You want to fuck Shu for yourself just like that monster!"
Scoffing aloud, I fired back. "I hate to break it to you, but I'm not interested in Shu in that way! I already have a lover! His name is Heath Jones!" When Mana flew toward me, I quickly swerved away and grabbed the psychotic freak's arm while bashing my knees into her gut.
"Ugh, you fight dirty! I know so much about Shu's abilities, but not yours!"
"Good! Now, you don't know what I'm going to do next!" I chuckled while taking a Muay Thai fighting posture. "This way I can beat you up so badly and bruise that pretty face and perfect complexion of yours!"
"Shut up!" Mana screamed while forging crystallized sea urchins, which she tossed at me that I fortunately dodged and learned the hard way when they exploded like land mines. As she tossed many in mid-air, I narrowly dodged these sea urchin bombs as they exploded
Having figured out Mana's weakness is being insulted, I decided to play some psychology with the unhinged brat. "The way you're reacting toward me, you're like a petulant child! Your mind since your revival hasn't fully matured yet, so you can't think straight now!"
"Be silent!"
"I'm not going to be soft on you like Inori! I'm going to verbally and physically beat your pretty little ass!" I openly vowed, showing absolutely no regard for Mana's life, but in the back of my mind, I had to be consciously aware of causing too much damage to Inori's body.
As our fight pressed on, I noticed Mana's mood shifting into a calmer mindset, which put me on edge.
"Yes, I recognize your voice. You were in that Endlave when you helped destroy my crystallized garden! I'm going to make you pay and reunite you with your weak family, Shinomiya Ayase!" Mana seemed to now recall my voice while I piloted my Steiner Endlave to destroy her crystallized vines. So, she not only remembered my voice and name but with this knowledge, our battle had become more personal. Our fight escalated while fighting in the night sky above Ward 24. I knew if I didn't finish this fast, Mana would undoubtedly take me down.
With a gallant cry, I collided head-on with Mana and knocked her far back. Our fight continued with no signs of stopping until one of us was dead.
Walter, Argo, Shibungi, Tsugumi, Oracle, Jessica, Kai, and Danielle continued fighting Daryl's Endlave, who is protected due to his Void Genome Emulator, allowing him to use his own Void while piloting. In response to Daryl's Gespenst Endlave, the Native Trinity's Endlaves combined into a singular Endlave named Godasiyo, which was the same height as Daryl's Endlave and resembled a totem pole.
Amid the fighting, Tsugumi and Oracle helped confirm and relayed Kenji's location to Shibungi, who headed off to find the hacker.
As he went all-out in his attack on Joker, Panther, Crow, Violet, and Sophie, Keido reveled in his achievement while fighting his enemies. As he quickly fended off the Phantom Remnants and their Personas, he openly declared that he had finally outshined Kurosu.
"If you can hear me Kurosu, I've taken your dreams and taken credit for your work! You were such a fool to trust in me!" Keido disparaged his late colleague and declared a premature victory.
"You're wrong! You'll never be a small percentage of the man Kurosu was! You not only stole his work but perverted them as you see it!"
Keido scoffed irritably at Haruka's sight. "And you'd know? You must admit Kurosu was quite the fool. He was a loser in the grand scheme of things."
"No, the only loser I see is you! The fact that you can't stop talking about Kurosu shows that he's on your mind right now! He's beaten you even from beyond the grave. Why? Because his son is about to bring GHQ down into shambles!" Haruka openly reprimanded Keido, who started to gnash his teeth.
"Face facts, Keido. You're not top of your game as you'd like to believe," Joker astutely noted Keido's usually calmer demeanor subsiding and giving way to eccentric behavior. "This form of yours is making you erratic, which will be your own undoing."
"We'll see after I've finished your legacy, Amamiya Ren. Then, the Phantom Remnants will truly be purged," Keido stated as he clashed head-on with Joker, who defended against the GHQ leader's sharp fingers with his dagger.
As Joker recalled Raoul, the Persona bombarded Keido with dark blasts. Utilizing Celestine's power, Panther unleashed a fiery wave that burned Keido's back. Crow flew down and attacked Keido with his jagged swords. Violet narrowly struck Keido with her rapier as the mutated Keido jumped high over the group. Sophie went for an aerial attack while swinging her yo-yos at Keido.
"You cannot defeat me, Phantom Remnants! Your legacy dies and GHQ shall continue to prosper to see the birth of a new world!" Keido boasted as the Phantom Remnants continued their assault on him.
As the fighting went on, Haruka raced over to shut down Keido's security protocols through his computer.
Amid the intense fight against Arisa, Queen went on an offense while dodging the giant woman's impulsive attacks. At one point when Arisa charged for a head-on attack, Queen sidestepped and let Arisa crash into the north wall of the spacious room.
Yelling and attacking with blind fury, Arisa was met with resistance from Shinchū, Akane, Joaquin, Horkew, Kurachi, Yuko, and Ito. While Akane fired rounds from a machine gun, Joaquin ensnared Arisa's legs with her whip, which unleashed and electrocuted the giantess. This caused the giant woman to double over and fall to her knees. As Kurachi prepared to fire an explosive shell from her rocket launcher, Arisa brushed Kurachi away with her hand.
As Arisa turned to attack Akane and Joaquin, Horkew mounted the giantess' back and bit the back of her neck, causing her to scream with fury. Attempting to shake Horkew off, Arisa bellowed and threw herself into a wall, which shook the entire room.
"Horkew!" Akane and Joaquin cried out together as their wolf companion clung tightly to Arisa's neck. When they headed to rescue the wolf, Shinchū tossed strings loaded with blue flowers, which exploded in Arisa's face. This also scared Horkew enough to let go and jump off Arisa's back.
"ANNOYING PESTS! I'LL KILL YOU!" Arisa bellowed. As she raised her head, Ito slashed her face with his double katanas. Then, using his Void katana, Ito slashed Arisa's right palm. Using his real katana, he attempted to slash her left eye, but Arisa used her shield Void to stop Ito's blade strike.
"You're not looking so hot now, madam ex-president!" Yuko called out Arisa's attention.
Turning away and facing Yuko, Arisa's face contorted angrily. "YOU DARE MOCK ME?! I'VE SURPASSED YOU, PEASANT! I WILL BECOME THE QUEEN EVE OF THE NEW WORLD!"
"And who's going to worship you when humanity is largely wiped out? No one you know and most certainly not me!" Yuko scoffed, running headlong toward Arisa while swinging her sickle Void forward, which collided with Arisa's barrier. "If you're so great, why do you need a shield to protect yourself from a lowly bug like me? You've grown larger but you're still that insecure little princess who's always been jealous of me!"
"JEALOUS OF YOU?! ME?! DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!"
"I'm not trying to be funny. I'm just telling you a truth you don't wish to adhere to. I know what I'm telling you is hurting that fragile ego of yours. I'm right?!"
As Arisa screamed furiously, she augmented her shield, preventing anyone from attacking her. However, Arisa's shield Void partially came down into pieces when Queen crashed into it with her Agnes. When Arisa tried to regenerate as much of her shield as she could, Queen launched herself off her motorcycle and punched Arisa's face. As Queen's punch connected with Arisa, Arisa's face twisted with pain and anger. With uncurled lips and gritted teeth, Arisa unleashed an unrelenting attack with her eight arms, wiping out obstructions in her path, including Anges, which was destroyed by one of her fists.
Witnessing her Persona's destruction, Queen angrily screamed, only to get punched by one of Arisa's fists. Then, she was on the receiving end of a barrage of punches pummeling her. Her left arm was broken by one of Arisa's punches.
"Makoto!" Akane cried out as she fired several rounds into the arm that injured Queen. Shifting her attention toward Akane, Arisa prepared to attack her, but Queen quickly sprang up and caught Arisa with a punch so powerful that it knocked Arisa back.
Unfettered by her enemies damaging her goddess body, Arisa hollered. "YOU DARE BRUISE MY BEAUTIFUL BODY?!"
Queen retorted furiously. "WILL YOU PLEASE SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY?! NO ONE CARES WHAT YOU THINK, YOU UNGRATEFUL BRAT! YOU SORELY DESERVE AN ASS-WHIPPING!"
Both Queen and Arisa immediately went at each other, unleashing a flurry of punches. Everyone witnessed the two former student queens pummeling each other over dominance. As a few of Arisa's blows connected and injured other parts of the Phantom Remnant's body, Queen was able to parry most of Arisa's blows. Then Queen caught Arisa leaving herself wide open for an unsuspecting attack. Taking this chance, Queen landed an uppercut square into Arisa's jaw, which packed enough power to send Arisa sailing into the ceiling.
When Arisa fell from the ceiling, Queen jumped high and pummeled her with a flurry of hard-hitting blows. After each punch, Arisa felt her body convulsing. One powerful punch connected with Arisa's abdomen, causing her to double over and spit out bloodied saliva. She then punched Arisa and sent the eight-armed giantess crashing and rolling over the floor.
While Arisa tried to recover and stand, Queen gripped her injured left arm and ignored the gaping hole on the right side of her abdomen. Upon seeing Queen's grueling injuries and wounds, Akane headed over to treat her, but Queen beckoned her away.
"Don't come near me, Akane-chan! I don't want you getting killed at my expense! I…" Queen gritted as she struggled to stand as the blood loss took its toll on her.
"Makoto," Akane muttered.
"DAMN YOU, YOU LITTLE SHITS!" Arisa vitriolically cursed at her enemies. "No, I can't let myself be defeated like this… not by the likes of you bugs…!" As she intently glared forward, Arisa caught Queen doubling over and bleeding. Like a shark smelling blood, Arisa laughed with depravity and prepared her last move. "Hehehe… HAHAHAH! I'M NOT FINISHED YET!"
When more crystallized feathers came toward me, I dodged and shattered as many with my Void as I could. Mana quickly swooped in and collided with me, knocking me down. When she attempted to fall on top of me, I kicked my feet into her gut and knocked her away. Then, I sprang up and took her down with vicious body shots and a roundhouse kick that busted up the side of her face. When I saw blood coming down her head wound, I smirked.
"Aww, did that hurt? Here let me make it all better!" I proceeded to punch her face, giving her a nosebleed. When I attempted to punch her again, Mana caught my hand and tossed me overhead, but I was lucky enough to land on my feet. However, I wasn't so lucky when she flew forward and headbutted my gut, not only pushing me away but knocking the air out of me.
"You're going to pay for this, Ayase! Sooner than later, I'm going to reunite you with your daddy!" Mana threatened as she insulted my father and kicked me away. "Yeah, that's right. I'm calling him your 'daddy' because I bet he was as pathetic as you are! Tell me, did he die with fear? Did he die knowing he'd leave you without legs to stand on?! And how can we forget your dear mommy for dying because you were too weak to save her! Poor little Ayase, now you want to be a big girl and honor their sacrifices." She then knelt and grabbed a lock of my hair as she pulled me in front of her face. "You're out of your league, Shinomiya Ayase. Your daddy and mommy are dead. This monster's body belongs to me, the rightful Eve. And Shu and all of your friends are going to die for turning me down. Any last words before I snuff you out?"
"Yeah, this!" I quickly headbutted Mana's face and I grabbed her by the top of her dress. "Don't you ever… AND I MEAN EVER MENTION MY FATHER AND MOTHER! DON'T EVEN SAY THEIR NAMES! I WILL NOT HAVE YOU DISPARAGE THEIR SACRIFICES! THIS IS BETWEEN US, YOU BITCH!" Clenching my fist, I punched Mana so hard I saw her land awkwardly on the ground and flip over.
As she slowly stood, Mana tossed crystallized feathers, which I wiped out with a barrage of kicks.
"I'll disparage whoever I want. As far as I'm concerned, all three of you are losers! And evolutionary failures are meant to die," Mana smirked while wiping blood from her lips. "Do you have any other fancy moves you want to pull out?"
Hearing this, I flew up out of her reach as she berated me.
"That's right you better run! You can't beat me with your fancy karate moves and your new suit!"
"I don't need those fancy moves to beat you! I've figured you out!" I taunted her as I saw her face contort with irritation.
"Figured me out how?!"
"First off, you're an absolute headcase and have a one-track mind when it comes to Shu!"
"No, I don't!" Mana shot back, tossing a crystallized homing comet toward me. "Shut up this instant!" As I saw the homing comet heading for me, I lured it into a crystallized wall where it exploded.
"See, what did I tell you? You react impulsively whenever I bring up Shu! You've proven my point!" I manipulated little miss psychopath with the god complex.
"Shut up already! You leave Shu out of this!" She tossed more crystallized feathers, which I effortlessly dodged while flying above her laughing.
"Heheh, what's the matter, sweetie? Am I giving you a hard time? But, seriously, why even come back? And what's with the gaudy ballerina outfit? God, I could've picked a better outfit than that!" I taunted the unhinged rose-haired mental case with more insults, which struck a nerve in her.
While shooting crystallized swords and missing me, Mana screamed in response. "Shut your trap!"
"Just so you could get into Shu's pants and fuck him? But, you can't get any with him, can't you? No, because you're not really Ouma Mana. You're just an artificial soul with her twisted memories placed in a doll's body! You're just a thing! You're GHQ's little doll project!" I got inside her head and laughed loudly.
"I said shut up! You have some nerve to think you know me!"
"I don't need to be a psychologist to figure you out!" I responded with a composed smile.
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!"
"What if I told you that Shu had someone else in mind? He likes Inori, who has some humanity to her! She's not a selfish brat who still can't over the idea of wanting to fuck Shu's brains out. You wish you could have Shu all to yourself, too bad for you he's taken! Guess what, honey? Shu hates you. But, do you also know what your problem is? You can't seem to decide between Shu or Gai! Pick one! You can't have your cake and eat it, too! But, the last time I checked you tried to kill Gai when you were kids!"
"I'M GROWING TIRED OF YOUR CHATTY MOUTH! TAKE IT BACK!"
"Now that you can't have Shu, you decided Gai is your guy again? How fucking desperate do you have to be? I'm actually laughing. Not because I think you're funny, but that you're downright pathetic, Mana."
"YOU TAKE THAT FUCKING BACK!"
"Oh, please don't hurt me, little crybaby! I'm supposed to be scared of you? Oooh, please don't throw a tantrum! I'm sooo scared!"
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Mana vehemently screamed, which was already starting to annoy me.
"You're just a pathetic brat who hijacked my friend's body against her will! All I see is a desperate little brat who can't choose which guy she wants to sleep with! What? Am I not humoring you? I thought I could get a laugh out of you, Mana!"
"YOU'RE NOT EVEN FUNNY! I'LL KILL YOU FOR MOCKING ME!"
With momentum on my side, I landed in front of the seething Mana and gave her a taunting smirk. "Oh, and by the way, Inori is Shu's bitch."
"NO, SHE'S NOT! AND SHU…?! JUST SHU'T' THE FUCK UP ABOUT HIM!" As her screams echoed across Ward 24's roof, Mana quickly overpowered me as we descended back to Ward 24's rooftop floor and near the King's Throne. My descent happened as I was sent falling to the floor. Before I could get back to my feet, Mana quickly landed on top of my prone body and seized my throat. Upon wringing my neck, Mana strangled and slapped my face many times until my cheeks bled.
As I gazed up, I saw Mana's face contort into a nightmarish visage with her eyes bulbing open and her mouth aligned with beastly teeth. Her nightmarish face was straight out of some horror movie.
"AND JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT INORI! SHE'S DEAD NOW! DEAD! DEAD!" I felt Mana grabbing and crushing my neck with her bare hands. "INORI IS DEAD BECAUSE SHE IS WEAK! I AM NOT A PATHETIC WEAKLING LIKE THAT THING! AND WHEN I'M DONE WITH YOU, YOU'LL BE CAST AWAY TO DIE WITH THE REST OF HUMANITY!" As she continued slapping my face with hard slaps, I pivoted and viciously bit Mana's hand, and I bit down so hard that blood started seeping out. However, I paid for it when Mana, who reacted like a rabid animal, bit the left side of my neck with her teeth. As she bit me, I felt a cold and painful sensation being injected into my body from her bite. Little did I know and I really should've known better, but I was infected with Apocalypse Virus from the witch's bite. My eyes widened in horror when I saw crystals forming on my neck where the neck was made. With my survival instincts giving me a jolt of energy, I kicked the unhinged bitch off me and stood while grasping my neck. I cringed painfully when my neck throbbed and the crystals slowly spread on my neck.
"Oh, no! Fuck…!" I screamed as I felt my neck burning while the crystals began infecting me. This couldn't be the end of me.
"Ayase, I won't let the virus kill you before I do! I'm going to choke you out!" Mana screamed vehemently toward me as she went on the attack again. I instinctively raised my arms and wrestled with Mana, doing all I could to prevent her from ending my life.
When Gai swooped down and expelled devastating purple crystallized shards from his mouth, Shu, Heath, and Akiko evaded certain death from above. Shu used the shield Void to shatter the crystals and slashed the draconic beast's chest with the sword Void. However, the beast opened his wings and flapped them, unleashing a powerful shock wave that repelled the trio away. After overpowering them, Gai stood over his weakened adversaries.
Gai openly criticized Shu. "You made a grave mistake for refusing Mana. You're no longer worthy of having her or having the role of Adam."
As Heath and Akiko started to stir and make their move, Shu was down on his knees. Just as he was about to lose hope, Shu noticed a sky blue crystallized flower, exposed among a sea of malignant purple crystals, created and left behind by Inori's last tear. At that moment, he witnessed a spiritual vision of Inori, encouraging him not to give up.
"Don't give up, Shu. Not now. I know you're hurt, but you can still move. You can do it. Everyone's counting on you."
"Inori?" Shu muttered, hearing the faint voice of his beloved calling to him. When Inori held her hand out, Shu did the same as red strings psychically linked them.
"Everyone, it's all right. I want you to use me," Inori's spirit offered to Shu and his colleagues. With that, she sent a power that neutralized their enemies and gave their friends and allies a substantial energy boost. During their exchange, Shu managed to extract Inori's Singer's Sword Void from the flower, which baffled Gai who witnessed this miraculous scene.
As we felt Inori's presence, Mana and I both expressed opposite reactions.
I looked up curiously. "What's going on?"
"It can't be. That whore was supposed to be dead!" Mana screamed furiously.
"It's Inori?" I saw as Mana left herself distracted. Before I could attack, I noticed my neck wound quickly being healed and the viral crystals receding from my neck. "Oh my god! It's you, isn't it, Inori?!"
Inori's presence turned the tide as she disrupted Daryl's Endlave. Her presence even stopped Kenji's hacking abilities with Tsugumi and Oracle working together to overwhelm Kenji, just before Shibungi tracked Kenji's location and declared a "Checkmate" before shooting Kenji, who not before he gave one last maniacal grin, in the head.
With Walter's canine Void and Argo using Oogumo's weaponry, they were able to dismantle the remaining Endlave Ghost Units and Anti-Bodies. Several GHQ soldiers surrendered to Funeral Parlor. With his backup hacker killed, Daryl's Endlave was dismantled by the Native Trinity's Godasiyo. With his Gespenst destroyed, Daryl's mind was ejected from it and restored to normal. Jessica, Kai, and Danielle emerged from their Godasiyo and celebrated their victory over Gespenst.
After escaping his Endlave, Rowan helped Daryl escape and told Daryl that he's a good person with a kind heart just before closing the elevator doors. The last thing Daryl heard were gunshots, causing him to react with shock and remorse assuming that his friend is dead.
When Arisa tried her last desperate attack on Queen, Akane intervened and blasted off one of Arisa's eight arms with her shotgun. Kurachi blasted off another arm with her rocket launcher. Joaquin seized another arm with his whip. Shinchū blew off another limb with her flower explosives. Ito slashed off one arm with his double katanas. Swiftly cutting off an arm that tried to grab Queen, Yuko saved the Phantom Remnant just in time.
"DAMN YOU ALL! YOU DARE TO DESECRATE MY BEAUTIFUL GODDESS IMAGE! I WILL BE THE QUEEN OF THE NEW WORLD!"
"Not if we cancel your ceremony!" Yuko shot back as she slashed Arisa's face.
"THERE'S ONLY ONE 'QUEEN' HERE! YOUR DREAMS ARE ABOUT TO BECOME SHATTERED, 'PRINCESS'! NOW, EAT MY FIST OF FUCKING JUSTICE!" Queen roared at the false goddess figure.
Clenching her right fist, Queen swiftly punched Arisa so hard that her goddess's head and body exploded into pieces. Arisa's ravaged goddess body shrank back into her shield Void and returned inside her body. As a result of this, Arisa turned back to normal and was covered with bloody bruises from her opponents' assault.
Having exhausted herself of her energy, Queen sank to her knees and sighed. Akane caught and held her mentor in her arms.
"Makoto, please… hang in there! We can…"
"It's ok, Akane-chan. We did it… and I gave it my all… to save you… believe me, when I say, I have no regrets," Queen weakly muttered as Akane felt the warmth of Queen's blood soaking her hands, causing her to gasp and cry. "I just hope what I did makes Arisa reflect on her transgressions."
Queen's vision started to blur as her breath weakened and became shallower. When Akane held Queen's right hand, Queen's grip loosened and the life in her eyes started dulling out.
"Tell everyone that I… love them all... And sorry I can't join them to celebrate liberating our country," Queen muttered as she turned her head and smiled. "...Haru… Leonard… kiddos… mommy's coming…"
"No, Makoto!" Akane cried out as she and the others hung their heads and paid their respects to the fallen Queen. When Queen drew her final breath, Akane shut her mentor's eyes.
"No, thank you, Makoto. Everyone will remember your selfless and noble sacrifice," Akane said, crying while holding Queen's hand.
Upon seeing the others honoring Queen's sacrifice, Arisa was left alone battered and defeated. Yuko gazed over her former rival with pitiful eyes. As she realized her loss, Arisa suffered a mental breakdown, refusing to come to terms with the reality of her situation. When Yuko picked her up, Arisa hysterically screamed and laughed, prompting Yuko to knock her out with a gut punch.
Realizing that Arisa failed, GHQ's forces abandoned her for being ungrateful, leaving her to be captured and arrested for her crimes.
Moments before her passing, Makoto opened her eyes inside her mind. She saw a white tunnel in front of her, which was a passageway to the afterlife. Then, she saw several figures waiting for her. When the light revealed their faces, Makoto's eyes teared up.
"It's you. I…I can't believe you're all…" Makoto cried upon seeing their familiar faces.
"Your years of pain and suffering are finally over, Mako-chan. We've been waiting for you," Haru spoke out with a sweet and loving tone.
"Now we can spend the rest of our lives eternally," a voice belonging to a red-eyed man with an unkempt dark brown hairstyle said. He wore a long-sleeved, buttoned white shirt with a black coat over it, dark gray pants, black shoes, and a silver necklace. It was none other than Leonard, who stood beside Haru and two kids.
"Mommy!" Two little girls cried out.
"I've missed you all. Finally, no more fighting. We're all together," Makoto said as she reunited with and embraced her family after losing them 10 years ago. During their warm embrace, Makoto shared a three-way kiss with Haru and Leonard as their spirits along with their daughters ventured into heaven and savored their eternal family reunion.
The final moments of Keido's battle against Phantom Remnants arrived when Sophie slapped Keido around with her yo-yos. Then, after Sophie kicked him in the back, she sent him crashing toward a platform. As Keido recovered, he got caught by Panther's pillar of flames.
"Go for it, you guys!" Panther rallied her friends. As the red-garbed woman moved away, Joker, Crow, and Violet made their next attacks.
Unprepared for what was to come, Keido saw Crow hastily rush forward while Joker and Violet swung high from the ceiling with a grappling hook. As Joker unloaded a barrage of bullets into Keido, Crow indiscriminately unleashed a flurry of sword slashes all over Keido. Assisted by Ella, Violet swiftly swooped down and slashed Keido with multiple strikes. Before Keido had a chance to even recover, Haruka shot him in the chest multiple times. The final blow came when Joker's Persona blasted Keido with a devastating attack that caused the GHQ leader to turn back to normal.
Having realized he had lost, Keido collapsed into shame and defeat.
"It's over, Keido Shuichiro. It's time for you to answer for your crimes to the authorities," Joker declared.
Just as the Phantom Remnants were about to apprehend him, Keido, in a desperate suicidal move, injected himself with the Apocalypse Virus.
"What are you doing?!" Haruka cried out until she realized what was in the injection serum. "Don't tell me."
"Heheh, don't flatter yourselves thinking I'll answer to the law or you, Phantom Remnants. Kurosu might have indeed lost, but I never said that I won," Keido muttered as he pivoted from the Phantom Remnants and faced Haruka. "Now run, Haruka." With that, he watched the Phantom Remnants escorting Haruka away as his body crystallized and broke down into dust.
Now wielding Inori's Void, Shu, Heath, and Akiko turned the tide of the battle against the draconic entity. While Heath and Akiko launched an assault on Gai, Shu swiftly overpowered Gai and slashed the center point of the beast's chest, inflicting a wound that brought him down to his knees.
Letting out a pained screech, Gai found himself left open to Shu, Heath, and Akiko's attacks. Heath stabbed the draconic beast's right shoulder. Akiko swung and slashed off sections of Gai's wings. As Gai forged summon circles, he unleashed another barrage of crystallized swords, but Shu quickly wiped them out with a swing from Singer's Sword. With a powerful swing from Inori's Void, Shu slashed Gai's upper body and brought him down.
Immediately cured of my infection thanks to Inori's presence, I didn't waste a minute questioning what happened and went on the attack against Mana again. Wherever that was Inori or some kind of divine intervention who healed me, I'm just thankful I can get my second wind.
For slapping and biting me, I paid Mana back by relentlessly pounding her face with unrestrained punches. Then, I delivered a critical blow and uppercut her chin, not only breaking her jaw but also knocking her around like a helpless ragdoll. As she came falling, I shot up and struck her body with an elbow shot.
"Consider this payback for almost killing me! No, this won't satisfy me!" I screamed as I physically tore off her two lower left wings. As she wailed with pain, I punched her head again but also managed to shatter that stupid crystal crown of hers.
As the crown shattered into pieces, I watched the little princess' face contort violently and become more unhinged than before. Her pupils dilated and shrank and a crazed grin spread over her face, which sent an unsettling vibe that had me on guard.
Then, she lashed out and had a meltdown."Heheheh, you destroyed my crown?! MY CROWN?! AND YOU THINK YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH THIS?! THIS ISN'T FUCKING OVER, AYASE! FORGET SHU, YOU'RE THE FIRST ONE WHO'S GOING TO DIE BY MY HAND! AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO STOP THIS!" Before she could put another word in, Mana flew into the air and fired a massive beam in my direction!
However, and probably due to Inori's healing presence, my Karmesin suit received enough power for me to create my own energy beam, which collided with Mana's. While our beams collided, they coalesced and grew into a Mount-Everest-sized energy sphere that remained stationary while Mana and I exerted our power, locking ourselves in a beam struggle of titanic proportions.
After injuring Gai, Shu and his colleagues witnessed the white-scaled beast turning back into normal Gai. When Gai recovered, he conjured Mana's sword Void and pointed it toward Shu, who readily brandished the Singer's Sword.
"People put their lives in my hands. I won't let them down. I'm taking Inori back no matter what! Gai if you're going to try and stop me, just know I'll do everything I can to take you down!" Shu waged his final war with his former friend.
When the swordsmen locked eyes, they hastily dashed forward and slashed with their Void blades. During the exchange, Shu noticed his swings and movements slowing a bit. He remembered Haruka warning him that the overuse of his Void Genome would hasten his deteriorating health. Recognizing the risks of the cancerous crystals destroying him, Shu still adamantly fought Gai while overcoming his health issues. In the back of his mind, on the other hand, Shu realized he had to finish this fight quickly.
As Akiko tried to intervene, Heath halted her from intervening in Shu and Gai's duel. As their blades clashed, Shu and Gai met with fierce glances. After pushing each other away, they collided once again as their blades met. The blade wielders were temporarily locked in a standstill until Gai jumped back and swung his blade toward Shu's abdomen, attempting to cut him in two. Pivoting just body just in time to dodge Gai's blade, Shu narrowly escaped being bisected and swung his Void blade toward Gai's head. Gai tucked his head and jumped back, distancing himself from Shu.
Shu and Gai then pursued each other, running across their battlefield. As Gai hopped into the air, Shu met him and swung his Void blade. Gai countered and stopped Shu's blade. The former friends narrowed their gazes while pushing their blades toward each other.
"Your well-being is weakening. You can't keep this up forever."
"I'm not done yet, Gai."
"We can drag this out as much as we want, but I'm finishing this once and for all," Gai vowed.
With fierce determination, Shu retorted. "I agree, but it's I who will finish this, Gai!"
"Then, let this be our final decisive duel, Shu."
After finishing their brief conversation, Shu and Gai clashed blades once again. Heath and Akiko watched in awe of the duel. They opted not to cheer for Shu, allowing him to fully concentrate on finishing the fight with Gai.
Shu and Gai fiercely exchanged blade strikes in mid-air and on platforms where they landed. As they jumped into the air, Shu and Gai swung their Void blades at the same time. As their blades bounced off the other, Gai dove in for a killing blow until Shu bounced over him. When Gai turned, he and Shu's blades clashed again. Then, as he amassed enough power through his Void blade, Shu repelled Gai with incredible force. When Gai fell, he saw what gave Shu that boost.
"Inori?" Gai saw Inori's spiritual presence holding onto Shu as they came toward him. Once Shu let out a battle yell, Gai took a quick slash from Shu's blade.
"It's over, Gai. I've won," Shu boldly muttered.
After Shu delivered the fatal blow and destroyed Mana's Void, Gai had a passive look as he fell.
As a result of her Void's destruction, Mana sensed her connection with Gai severed. Her power rapidly declined. At that moment, Ayase pushed her beam back, which obliterated Mana's sphere.
Having been defeated by Ayase, Mana screamed. "NO!" As this occurred, her body quickly crystallized when her Void was destroyed completely.
"Take that. In the end, my passionate love for my loved ones overcame your desire for a new world," Ayase muttered as she fell to her knees and smiled. "I did it, mom and dad. We did it, Shu." She then noticed crystallized snowflakes raining from the ceiling. She looked down and saw Shu carrying Gai. "Shu!"
When Heath, Akiko, and Ayase rushed over to meet with Shu, they saw Shu holding a dying Gai.
"Shu, don't ever change," Gai weakly muttered as he presented Shu and his friends with a clear and endless crystallized and desolate world.
"Where are we?" Shu wondered.
"I hope we are not dead and sent to heaven," Akiko remarked.
"This is the point of convergence." Upon entering a vision shown to them by Gai, they found Gai standing on a crystallized stairway. "This is the world reborn and shaped by the apocalypse. What you see is Da'ath's Shangri-La. Everything on this planet would've become the bones beneath the new living flesh of crystal. Even I would've been encased in it. Even their king. This is the post-apocalyptic vision world Da'ath desired. If you hadn't stopped us, this would've been the new world." Gai then took Shu and his friends to the same church where Lost Christmas occurred where they saw a young Mana and Gai still there. "I've always been terrified of falling prey to selection. So, I resisted it and clung to Eve. I hid behind Mana. The day I died beneath Roppongi when I begged you to stab me, I believed I could free Mana from her curse that way. And maybe I would've had it not been the will of Da'ath. They won't allow Mana to die. They'll keep reviving her until she's fulfilled her fate. So, I realized there was only one way to save her. The only way for Mana to truly be put to rest is to allow them to fulfill her purpose. I decided to take on a gamble. I became their demon king and worked to bring about the apocalypse." Gai, who loved Mana and was afraid of being the second choice to Shu, took it upon himself to save Mana from Da'ath who kept reviving her. "I placed my gamble on you to put Mana to rest, Shu. I wanted you to stop it. I finally managed to give her peace."
Mana, now free from the Apocalypse Virus, addressed her brother and his friends. "I'm sorry, Shu, for putting you and everyone else through this ordeal."
Gai then faced Ayase and gave her a passive look. "Especially you, Ayase. I hope you'll become friends with Mana when the time of my passing comes."
Facing the cured Mana, Ayase answered with a frown. "It's going to take time, Gai. But, I can't forgive Mana now. She may have been used by Da'ath, but she still indirectly killed my father." She then passively smiled. "That said, eventually I'll forgive you and her, Gai."
Likewise, Shu and his friends began to forgive Gai as well. However, they didn't forgive Gai and Mana right away. Even as their friendship developed before Gai died and was resurrected, they needed time to understand their side of the story and remembered Gai did announce being an enemy to the world.
"I regret all the actions I took against you, Shu, and to you as well, Heath, Akiko, and Ayase," Gai humbly addressed them, showing genuine regrets for manipulating Funeral Parlor and the world all just to save Mana from Da'ath's schemes. "But, this is where my role ends, my friends." He then held Mana close to him as they started to crystallize. Before he perished, Gai turned to Shu. "The rest is up to you, go save Inori."
Finally at peace together, Gai and Mana faded away, and as Shu's vision ended, Gai's Power of the King returned to Shu's hand as a glowing mark.
Suddenly, Shu, Heath, Akiko, and Ayase heard footsteps followed by the sound of crystals forming and cracking like glass. Shu saw a weak and blind Inori wandering towards him, almost fully crystallized, sans her face and legs.
"Shu…? Please don't blame yourself. You've done so much. You taught me to feel so many emotions. Each one… is thanks to you…" Inori then collapsed on Shu's shoulder. "Shu… are you there?" She asked and put her arms around Shu. "Shu…"
Shu held Inori's cold flesh hands, which hadn't been encased in the viral crystals yet. When she felt the warmth of Shu's flesh hand, her eyes widened with shock and immediately recognized his gentle touch. "There you are. Stay with me forever, Shu. You know I'll always be by your side… right?"
"Inori. It's time for us to leave," Shu said, extending his crystallized arm as green markings glowed in conjunction with his Void power coursing through his arm. "We will move on together."
Then, Shu's friends realized he was about to sacrifice himself, but he reassured them not to worry. He then instructed them to leave. They didn't want to leave Shu behind but Shu reassured them he was right he needs to be.
"Merry Christmas," Shu and Inori said to each other as Shu's friends left the vicinity, leaving Shu and Inori alone. With Gai's power in addition to his own, Shu activated his Void and absorbed every remaining Void and the Apocalypse Virus, removing both from the face of the Earth. This also eliminated the virus that was debilitating his wellness. As a result of this action, Heath and Akiko's Voids were permanently removed. The Phantom Remnants' Persona powers were also gone since they were connected to Shu's presence, and thus, they were removed and restored the Phantom Remnants to normal.
He internally thought that he felt it happening. He felt all of the emotions and memories flowing into him. He felt his friends and his enemies, who were all born innocent and uncorrupted.
The resulting feedback of Shu's power destabilized GHQ Headquarters and the tower began collapsing. As Shu is completely crystallized, he has a vision of Inori who once again offers him the 'Guilty Crown', which was in the form of a Cat's Cradle.
"Take it," Inori's spirit offered the red 'Guilty Crown'. Taking it from Inori's spirit, Shu accepted it this time, thus trading fates with her, and screamed in anguish as the smiling Inori spirit faded from his vision.
"No, Inori!" Shu called to her as she vanished in translucent white light.
Suddenly, Shu found himself free of his crystal prison. The crystals along with Inori shattered away. Ward 24 collapsed and the remaining members of Funeral Parlor evacuated.
"But, Shu's not out yet!" Ayase cried out.
"I know that, but I'm not going to let you three die there with him!" Argo barked as he pulled a lever, which activated a platform and shifted Ayase, Heath, and Akiko away.
"SHU!" Ayase shouted for him as Heath held her back.
"I'm sorry, Ayase. Shu made his choice!" Heath said, sharing Ayase's fears and sadness.
"Damn that Shu! Why did he have to stay behind?!" Akiko cursed him behind tears and clenched teeth.
The survivors watched in awe as the towering headquarters toppled to the ground. Their battle is finally over, although Ayase can only weep. As they searched the rubble, they found Shu alive and well.
"Shu!" Ayase, Heath, and Akiko cried in unison as they pushed away the rubble burying Shu.
However, because Inori's soul merged with Shu's body, Shu became blind. Due to this disability, he had to settle on a sight cane and ended up wearing a prosthetic right arm to replace his missing organic one.
The Ward 24 siege was over. GHQ was now in ruins. Gai and Mana finally found peace. The Voids and Apocalypse Virus were purged from existence. Surviving GHQ personnel were apprehended and taken into custody. The survivors now looked forward to the next stage in their lives.
However, Shu chose to accept his fate as long as Inori was within him.
A/N: The siege is over and the big battles have been resolved. Gai and Mana have been defeated, Shu removes every trace of the Apocalypse Virus & Voids from existence to save & reunite with Inori but with a great cost. The cost of merging with Inori's spirit: inheriting Inori's blindness. So, a bittersweet ending for Shu.
But, will AnGC end on a full-on bittersweet end? The next chapter and the epilogue follow-up will determine the final fates of our story's protagonists.
Just to recap: Daryl's fight against the rest of Funeral Parlor and the Native Trinity gets summarized because it's the least important battle in the overall conflict. Beyond Daryl being saved by Rowan and Kenji getting killed, it's a throwaway fight. To think, in the actual GC anime, Ayase fights Daryl, which just shows Ayase's greater importance in AnGC.
The fight against Arisa was intense. No, calling it intense is putting it mildly. Arisa went absolutely nuts in her 'goddess form' in an attempt to assert her dominance and become Gai's Eve, which shows how laughably deluded Arisa had become. However, Queen gave her a jaw-breaking dose of reality while smashing Arisa's 'pretty' face and 'perfect' body. Although, this came at a cost with Queen/Makoto getting severely injured. And just before dying, she delivers the decisive blow and pops Arisa's goddess body like a balloon. Ultimately when it came down to the fight between the ex-student council presidents, Arisa lost her grasp of reality and Makoto lost her life. But, despite dying, Makoto gets closure and reunites with her loved ones in the afterlife. Arisa gets to continue to live her personal hell, though for how long? Well, all I can say is if you were bummed she didn't die, Arisa won't be getting a nice ending in the final chapter. Karma always comes back.
Speaking of Phantom Remnants, Joker and the others defeat Keido. Rather than accept defeat, Keido kills himself. It was a pretty straightforward fight. As you've noticed, there wasn't any flashiness shown by the Phantom Remnants. With this being a GC story and set in a post-apocalyptic futuristic period, the atmosphere is dourer and the soundtrack we've selected didn't include any P5 music.
Now for the main events: The fight against Gai took an unexpected twist with him turning into a dragon-like beast. Let me put this to rest: in the AnGC (and GC), dragons, wyverns, and other such fantastical beasts don't exist. Hell, if you notice, up until Gai turns into a dragon, the word 'dragon' is never mentioned in the story's text and said in dialogue. Even when Shu, Heath, and Akiko fight the dragon, they don't call Gai anything related to 'dragon'. The dragon form isn't even a true dragon. It's just a bigger Void construct created between the merger of Mana's Void and Gai himself. Then, we cap it off with Shu defeating Gai decisively in their final sword duel.
In the other half of the main event: Ayase and Mana's big fight was the former's time to shine and complete Ayase's character journey. And this is crucial for Ayase because Mana had no one-on-one opponent in the anime. Ayase, with her enhanced Karmesian suit and Void, gets the distinct honor of fighting the root of the Apocalypse Virus, Lost Christmas, and the death of her parents, especially her father. Mana also gets to proudly unveil a 'gold' form, tributing the likes of Super Saiyan and Golden Freeza. Then, Ayase went the Terry McGinnis route of playing head games with Mana and making her flip out to an insane degree.
If you noticed, I switched to Ayase's first-person POV for her fight with Mana. This was purely done to show how personal and crucial this fight was for Ayase. This is also a crucial callback to Chapter V when Ayase first received her Void. Since then, Ayase's journey has been built to this very moment.
Yeah, Ayase and Mana's fight got brutal just like Arisa and Queen's brawl. And so much screaming with those two fights. I hope no one's eyes (or ears if you're hearing their voices) bled. Haha.
Then, just when it looked like hope was lost, Inori's tear which created that crystal flower came to life and Inori's last spiritual essence reached out to Shu. And given a spiritual boost, our heroes turned the tide against the baddies.
Then, Gai shows Shu and the others a vision of Da'ath's idealized crystallized future. Then, after encouraging Shu to continue his growth into a better man, he leaves with Mana. Then, Shu takes on Inori's burden and uses his Void Genome's full potential to purge the Apocalypse Virus and every Void. Rather than let Shu sacrifice himself, Inori's spirit gives her cat's cradle and life over to Shu, who accepts and merges her spirit with him. Yeah, I know I'm just recapping here. In the end, it plays out nearly identical to Shu's fate in the anime.
And we end with a bittersweet ending like the anime… or do we? Well, AnGC is not over yet! The ending isn't going to play out entirely as the show did. Shu, Heath, Akiko, Ayase, and their friends will get their happy endings. There are still loose ends to tie up before we close AnGC, including Shu's condition.
All There in the Manual - Chapter XVII
-Mana's Void is called Eve's Regalia, being the patient zero of Voids relating to all the Voids being used throughout the story are genetic fragments/shards of Mana herself.
-Adam's Revelation is the name of Gai's dragon form. Eve's Transcension is the name of Mana's ascended form.
-The body structure of Gai's dragon form is shaped like a wyvern such as the dragons from Reign of Fire and Game of Thrones, alongside Mikhail from Drakengard 3.
-Inspirations of Mana's ascended form are from Super Saiyans and Golden Freeza. Another inspiration relating to her six-winged seraph appearance is from GuiltyKingOumaShu's concept of a dark alternate Inori as a fallen seraph connected to the Reclaiming franchise.
-One of the inspirations of Gai's dragon form is GuiltyKingOumaShu's scrapped concept of Daryl would have become a crystal dragon serving Inori in Reclaiming the Throne, a reason that it's scrapped is the author's fears of stretching the sci-fi genre too much alongside Daryl fans would not like this idea (relating to that author not a Dargumi shipper). It's been retooled to something different that Gai is the dragon in AnGC.
-One of the inspirations of Ayase vs. Mana is from GuiltyKingOumaShu's Mind Games, where it shows a scene in Ayase's mindset after the canon anime of Ayase fighting an 'evil Inori' in some dream.
-Originally in a previous chapter, I was going to explain how Makoto resolved her anger/PTSD issues and regained her old calmer self heading into the final battle. Allfather-Ford is giving me the chance to cover this tidbit here.
-Between Chapters VIII and XIV/XV, Makoto sought some counseling to cope with her insecurities and anger issues. She was reminded that despite losing her family, she still has friends she can depend on to pull her out of her turmoil. She was also encouraged to make amends with those she hurt. And after watching the news broadcasts of Shu and his classmates escaping through Loop 7 and resisting GHQ, Makoto realized that kids younger than her (and being roughly the same age as her when she first became a Phantom Thief) were still fighting GHQ while risking their lives. Also reminded that Heath and Akiko were fighting to stay alive, she couldn't maintain her grudge against Heath and Akiko's mother Hifumi. Once she made amends with Hifumi and Skyler in Chapter XV, she gave herself closure with the ones she hurt the most. By sacrificing her life, Makoto ensured Akane and Shu's friends could live, but also die fighting against GHQ. All of that anger she somehow still maintained, she took it out on Arisa, who was just asking for a beating after she selfishly betrayed her friends and caused many innocent people to die along the way. Through her honorable sacrifice, Makoto's entire arc (from P5 to AnGC) culminated with being reunited with her whole family. Like her father before her, Makoto died saving others' lives.
That wraps up this eventful chapter and concludes the Ward 24 siege. We're not done though. AnGC has one chapter plus an epilogue to tie up loose ends. Have no fear. We're not letting this story end on a downer.
Until then, post a comment (no shit-posts) and leave us a review. Later, readers!
