Disclaimer: I do not own the copyrights to Gundam Wing, Endless Waltz, Sailor Moon, Trigun, Evangelion, Lupin the Third, Outlaw Star, Rurouni Kenshin, G-Gundam, any other Gundam Series, Stephen King's The Dark Tower series, any movies, books, or any songs that are used in this story. All copyrights belong to their respective owners.

Notice to Readers: To understand certain parts of this story, you'll have to read the other stories before this one. It is recommended by not required.

The DarkTower

Anime's Unite

Chapter 23: Epilogue

000

The war had ended; it was finally over for the Fellowship of the One. They had all witnessed the spectacle, the tear that appeared in the sky and pulled in all of the Obsessed, their machines and creatures. All of them were sucked into it as if the tear itself were a black hole, but what really amazed them was what happened to the Dark Tower. Its exterior flaking away to bright ivory and all around them, the world changed.

The sky became bluer, the clouds whiter, the trees and grass greener. Even in the City of Nash, everything changed; the wall that once surrounded the city came down and vanished into nothingness. The streets became new and paved (so did the sidewalks) and the buildings began to shimmer and shine as if they were built yesterday. At first it was thought that it was some kind of miracle when the Seven Guards told the truth that it was the greatest spell of King Talbot Kyros.

After the battle was over all the members in the Fellowship of the One met back at the Ivory Tower as the cities and towns all over Mydar celebrated with song, dance, drink, and fireworks that light up the night sky brighter than the stars. Even at the Ivory Tower, the interior as well as the exterior had been restored to their old glory. The floors were marble white, statues of Goddesses, gods, angels, heroes, and heroines of old literature adorned the spiral ramp up the heights of the tower. Even the islands were the tower sat became greener and richer, while the lake became its glorious blue that it once was.

On the Eve of the Independence Day of Mydar, the Fellowship of the One feasted in the dinning hall, all of them expressing their great relief that the quest, the battle, and the war were finally over. They all shared their won war stories, how the Earth Forces of the Fellowship managed to defeat three agents in order to knock out that communication hum. Then there was the story among the space forces that really worried the children of the Shuffle Alliance as well as the parents of the Preventer Teens. The Preventers talked about fighting the massive forces of Zaku mobile suits including their prize leader and soldier, Char Anzabar.

"Real pain in the ass" Zechs remarked, "But a worthy opponent."

"Shame I couldn't have fought him." Heero added

Then Talbot Kyros spun his story about how he defeated the lord of the Obsessed among the clouds. Talbot had no regrets about killing Dark Eagle, he had to do it, and there really was no choice. Despite all of Vash's prattling about not killing he still couldn't understand Talbot's position on it. It came down to a simple choice, either kill and be free or loose and go back to slavery. Talbot even put it quite bluntly to the members of the Fellowship that if he lost, none of them would be able to get home.

Even that struck a very deep and sentimental chord with the different groups, except the Evangelions. Shinji did think about the prospects and he didn't like the very idea of it. Thinking about his home back on earth in the year 2015, some home it had become, and that was when Shinji made a very important decision of his life, but he wouldn't voice it until later.

The next day after the Independence Day feast, Talbot Kyros took the Fellowship down into the basement of the Ivory Tower. There they were brought to a very special place that King Talbot spoke of, "The Vault". A plain and not too clever name but it sufficed for its purpose.

The door to the vault was enormous with only a single key hole and a non-traditional one at that. It was a vertical and thin rectangle. The only one who had the key was Jake the Key Master who kept the key hidden in a small pouch in the lining of his jacket so that if he were caught, the Obsessed wouldn't have found it.

Jake gave the key to Talbot who opened the great door to the vault. The door sunk into the wall and down into the floor in a movement of mechanical precision. Yet, after the door opened their eyes opened wide to see the treasures that lied beyond. There were mounds and mounds of gold coins piled like sand dunes in the vault, while along the walls were gold bars stacked one on top of the other like bricks for a house. Over the dunes of gold coins were jewels of diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and opals with swords that had golden hilts decorated with jewels that stuck out of the gold coin dunes like dead trees.

"Take what you want." Talbot Kyros said to the Fellowship that aided in his freedom.

With that, the members (Apart from the Seven Guards) were like kids in a candy store and everything was free. They all went in with sacks, piling them into their bags, pockets and jackets. Yet, while stepping over the gold coin dunes, they felt the coins dip further down as if the vault was deeper than what was originally thought, which was one question that Lupin had to know the answer to.

"Talbot?" He asked, "How deep is this vault?"
Talbot cupped his chin, "As I remember building this tower, I think I designed the vault to be 60 feet wide, 70 feet long, and 180 feet deep."

"That explains a lot." Lupin commented as he went back to collecting his own swag from the vault.

Though during the whole event, the only one not getting any of the riches was Inspector Zenigata who stood at the vault door watching Lupin and his crew filling up on their gold and jewels. The Inspector only wished that he had a camera and his men to catch Lupin in the act, but then Bartleby the Spy stated a very valid point to him.

"Technically," he said to Zenigatta, "Its not even theft since our king is giving it to them as well as to you."

"It just doesn't feel right." Zenigatta said

Then Talbot approached him, and gave him a very logical explanation, "I had brought you all here to help me and I do believe that applies to you in your involvement."

Zenigata simply shrugged and then went wild as he piled the gold into his pockets and hat.

"Never thought I'd live to see the day." Lupin smiled as he filled the last of what he could carry into his bag.

000

After the fill of gold, precious stones, and topped off with a good night of rest, it did seem like it was time to go back but there was one request that several couples within the Fellowship made to King Talbot Kyros. There were four couples, Vash the Stampede and Meryl Striffe, Nicolas D. Wolfwood and Millie Thompson, Gene Starwind and Melphina, and then Lupin the Third and Fujiko requested that they be married. The request was strange from Talbot's point-of-view, though he did see something like it for the Peace Gun couples as well as Gene and Melphina, but Lupin and Fujiko? He snorted at the fact that the two of them had been such an on and off relationship and they come to him asking to be married. Wonders really would never cease. ON the other hand with Wolfwood asking to go ahead with a marriage to Millie, it was rather odd since Wolfwood himself was a priest. However, it was that reason that they asked Talbot, because since he was a king he could marry them.

"Good point." Talbot thought to himself, and then smiled at the couples, "Alright, I'll do it. Let's get to the planning."

Planning a wedding with just one bride and groom is usually al large task taking weeks even months, making sure all the details were right. In the case that was given to Talbot Kyros, it was an enormous undertaking especially with not one, but four brides and grooms in the same ceremony. Then again, they never had his magic on their side.

All it took was coming to some agreements as well as designing some dresses and everything was set. It was just with a stroke of his pen that Talbot's magic came through once again. The ceremony was held at the gates of the Ivory Tower amongst the gardens of roses under the very sunny skies.

It was such a beautiful ceremony, the rose bushes in full bloom of such colors as red, white, yellow, orange, and pink. Chairs set up for those attending who looked up at the brides and grooms with admiration and happiness for them.

Vash was dressed in a suit that was a cross between his old red coat and a tuxedo. Wolfwood's simply had a different shirt and the right tie for the occasion while he wore his regular suit jacket (with the crosses on each sleeve) and pants. Gene went traditional with just a plain regular tuxedo. Lupin went completely extravagant with a very high class kind of tux, but that as Lupin. Of course, all the brides wore white (even Fujiko) of all different styles and designs. Meryl's was simple, short train, slightly loose fitting, with a semi-transparent veil. Millie's was somewhat like Meryl's but the train she had was a lot longer. Melphina's was a simply white Chinese silk dress that shimmered in the afternoon sun. Last of all there was Fujiko who had a dress of such extravagance that it would have rivaled Princess Diana's gown when she married Prince Charles. Of course for those four couples, the rings were certain never a problem, for one there were planet of them in Talbot's vault and the fact that he made some for this occasion.

Talbot began the ceremony, "Throughout the ages, love has been such a great guiding force. Even song writers have tried to sum up what love is, its effect over us, its drive for us and why it's there. Some have said that love is like oxygen, love is a many splendid thing, love lifts us up where we belong, all you need is love. And here among us we see examples of that great love.

"Do you Vash the Stampede, Nicholas D. Wolfwood, Gene Starwind, and Arsene Lupin the Third, take Meryl Striffe, Millie Thompson, Melphina, and Fujiko Mine to be your wives, to love, honor, cherish, in sickness and health, forsaking all others, till death do you part?"

"I do, with all my heart and soul." Vash answered

"You bet I do." Wolfwood smiled and looked to Millie who kept her gaze forward at the king.

"Without a doubt, I do." Gene said with a smile

"I certainly do." Lupin smirked

"And do you Meryl Striffe, Millie Thompson, Melphina, and Fujiko Mine take Vash the Stampede, Nicholas D. Wolfwood, Gene Starwing, and Aresne Lupin the Third to be your husbands to love, honor, cherish, in sickness and health, forsaking all others, till death do you part?"
"With all my heart." Meryl said with solemn happiness

"Yes." Millie said in that same childish voice

"I do." Melphina answered

"I do." Fujiko answered

"And now the rings." Talbot instructed, "Place the ring on your partners left hand and say 'with this ring, I thee wed'."

All four couples did exactly that, though the rings for the men were simple gold bands, the women were a little more decorative. Meryl's ring had three stones in it, an oval ruby in the center with two small diamonds on its outer edge. Millie's was very similar, except hers had an oval sapphire instead of a ruby. Melphina's was a very finely cut diamond that sat upon its own in its reflective beauty. Last of all, Fujiko's had three pink diamonds that were cut into the shapes of hearts.

The rings were put on and the lines were spoken.

Talbot started again, "If there is anyone here who thinks that these couples should not be joined together in matrimony then speak now or forever hold your peace."

There was a moment of silence and no one spoke up.

"Then by the power vested in me by God and the Lands of Mydar, I pronounce you all man and wife. You may kiss the brides."

There was no hint needed for that as all the men took their new wives and kissed them with the audience cheering for them. So it was that those four couples were man and wife. Even Vash the Stampede was shedding his own tears of happiness for the day. But they soon dried up when it came time for the cake.

It was such an occasion especially when it came ot the speeches by the best men. In the case of Vash and Wolfwood they were each others best man, while for Gene Starwind it was Jim Hawking, and for Lupin it was Jigen. Of course most of these men didn't exactly have a way with words so the speeches were quite short.

Vash had commented, "It seems that this day proves that this world is made of…LOVE AND PEACE! But seriously, I did have a feeling that Wolfwood would get together with Millie, it doesn't exactly take someone with telepathy to see that."

Wolfwood rebounded Vash's speech, "I can say this and only this to you, my friend Vash the Stampede. It's about time you got together with her, needle noggin!"

Jim Hawking said, "I don't know what to say for the first time in my own life, so I'll say best wishes for you both."

Jigen only said jokingly, "Congratulations Lupin. Now if you can keep her around long enough for the honeymoon!"

Of course, the tossing of the bouquet is always fun to watch. All four of them were tossed and nearly all members of the Sailor Senshi dove for three of them while the fourth one landed in Haruka Tenou (Sailor Uranus) lap. When that happened she looked to Michiru who only smiled at Haruka, who was starting to blush.

After that it was all over, the time had come for all of them to go back home. Yet, as Talbot pulled out his pen and paper for his tear spell, Shinji stopped him.

"What is it, Shinji?" He asked wondering what was on the Eva pilots mind.

"I do not wish to go back." Shinji said, "I want to stay here."

Talbot completely understood Shinji's request. After all there were so many bad memories in that place, and the world had just become dead, leaving behind only himself and Asuka, at least before they came to Mydar. So, it seemed to be almost an act of cruelty to Talbot if he were to send Asuka, Shinji, and Misato back to that place.

"What about the others?" He asked referring to Misato and Asuka

The two of them approached, "Asuka and me wish to stay as well."

"Very well." Talbot smiled as he wrote the spell, but as he did one of the Gundam Children asked a very important question.

"Will we ever see you again?" Julia Rodriguez asked

Talbot smiled as he placed his hand on her shoulder, "I wish you could, but it's hard to explain my reasons why that won't be possible. Because we all have our own challenges to face, and I have mine here and all of you have your challenges ahead of you. I only hope that you will rise up to face them."

Of course, Julia couldn't grasp Talbot's reasons, but she simply accepted them. She understood that there were reasons for things to happen even though they cannot be understood clearly.

As Talbot continued his spell, there was a tearful farewell between two old friends. It was between Shinji Ikari and Kaworu Nagisa. The two of them knew that it would be the very last time that they would even see each other. They hugged each other while they spoke softly.

"I'll miss you, my friend." Shinji wept

"I know, Shinji." Kaworu whispered, "May your days be happy, because the time I was with you, they were among the best. I am glad that I had this one last adventure with you."

Talbot finished writing his spell. He rose and looked at all the members of the Fellowship and felt that ache in his heart that comes when people are forced to leave one another. In that time Talbot could only say one thing as he was about to make his signature symbol on the paper.

"Thank you all, my friends." He said to them, "Thank you all. Farewell and good-bye."

He laid his pen down upon the paper and made the curly-q. He held the paper in his hand high above his head until it began to glow and send out a great flash in which the paper along with all the members of the Fellowship, with the exception of the Seven Guards and the Evangelions, vanished along with their ships and their suits.

"Good-bye." Shinji uttered for Kaworu Nagisa as a single tear fell from his face.

000

In the world of present day Tokyo, where the Sailor Senshi lived, life returned to its staggering normality. The Starlights returned home to where their princess was waiting for them. Though among the Sailor Senshi (at least the Inner Senshi) they couldn't help but reminisce about their adventures in Mydar. At least that was until Usagi's love Momoru Chiba returned from his studies in the United States.

As soon as he returned, all of the Senshi gathered together and hold him about their adventures. First through the tear and to the world of the Preventers and then to the Lands of Mydar, it seemed so incredible that Momoru wondered if Usagi was making it up. Then again, they've faced some weird things in the past before. So he simply sat back ate some treats, drank his tea, and listened.

000

Back in the lands of Mydar, Shinji, Asuka, and Misato stayed behind where they moved to the City of Nash. There Shinji and Asuka began to live their normal life as regular teenagers. Shinji had already entered the music club and had received first chair for his cello. Asuka on the other hand joined the swim and dive teams. Not only was she good at it, but it gave her an excuse to stroll around in a swimsuit. Misato last of all became a teacher at the school, a teacher of history.

Though in their class, Shinji noticed a girl there. A girl with reddish brown hair and hazel eyes, it was on the first day that Shinji and Asuka came to class that this girl turned to him and said:

"Hi!" She smiled brightly, "My name is Mana Kirishima."

Shinji blushed brightly at this girl, because of the way she smiled at him, but it felt so good in the way she was smiling at him. But, little did Shinji know that a few seats behind him, Asuka was looking at the two of them with very spiteful eyes. Though Shinji didn't care because he felt a strong attraction to this girl named Mana Kirishima.

000

In the year F.C. 87, the Shuffle Alliance returned to training for the 20th Gundam fight which would only start in a little over a year. With that prospect hanging over them they trained their hardest and sharpened their skills like knives. Yet, they never forgot about their adventures together and the bond that they had as fighters. Nor did they forget that when the time comes, they would give it their absolute best against one another.

000

Preventer Report:

Officer: Johan Peacecraft Rodriguez

Code-name: Preventer Star Dragon

Date: June 28, A.C. 216

Report: All of the Preventer officers as well as the Preventer Teens have returned to our own worlds safely. Our adventures in the Lands of Mydar had been reported by Officer Quatre Raberba Winner. Despite our return and encounter, it is my personal belief that this is the last adventure that the office of Preventer will have with the tears. However, the consensus among the officers is that it was the best way to end it all.

000

For the Lupin Crew, since Fujiko and Lupin were married and they had more than enough treasure to last the rest of their lives, the four of them got back into Lupin's Mercedes-Benz in Monte Carlo (which is where they came back to after leaving Mydar) and headed upon the French roads to Paris. Obviously Zenigatta was two steps behind as Lupin was already halfway there.

Yet, he couldn't' help but also think that it was his last adventure through the tear. Then he decided not to think about it since he knew how much fun his new wife would be now that the woman he love was finally his, all his.

000

In the Toward Star World, the crew of the Outlaw Star had found themselves back on the bridge and in the middle of space. They had asked Gilliam where they were and they found out that they were in the exact place that they were when they encountered the tear. With that, they simply set course back for Sentinel-3 knowing about the bags of gold they had in their cargo bay.

"Boy, is Fred gonna be happy when he sees it." Gene smiled to himself as he looked over his shoulder to his wife who was floating naked in the navigation tube behind him. He only smiled as she looked back at him on their course back home.

000

Bernardellli Insurance Society Report

Investigator: Meryl Striffe

Report: This will be my last report regarding what I have come to call, "The Mydar Adventure". It will please the office to know that no damages were caused in our leave of absence from this world. It will also be noted that we have all returned safely to the village outside of L and R tower and our lives have returned to normal.

On a personal note to my co-workers, the ones who felt I would never achieve womanly happiness, I invite them to come and see the ring I've been given in marriage by the man I love. And that man is Vash the Stampede.

000

Jon woke up late in the afternoon with the heat and light coming through the basement windows. He stretched as he sat up sending out snaps and creeks from his joints as he stretched. It was summer which meant his sleeping hours were completely out of sync. He sat up and put his glasses on since he didn't want to put in his contact lenses because it would be the day that he finished it.

For Jon was a writer, at least he tried to be, then again a classmate of his (from creative writing) said that he was trying too hard. Maybe he was, but it wasn't important anymore, for in his writings he did fan fiction. He had been doing it for years, his most popular was his Gundam Saga (more specifically his Gundam Wing/G-Gundam cross-over), but the saga itself was about twelve stories long, including the one that he was about to finish that afternoon. Yet, he wondered if it was thirteen since there was an episode zero. Still, he didn't dwell too much on it as he came to his small office with his Dell Computer and his bookcases filled with DVD's, VHS tapes, CD's, cassettes, and books. It was his personal library as well as his office.

He sat down, turning on his lamp and beginning to pen the last section of the last chapter in his very last fan fiction. He, like the character he wrote about, wanted to get back to his original stories that he left for such a long time ever since he started fan fiction. He knew that if he was going to end his Gundam Saga, he may as well end it big. Thus the reason for the elaborate and lengthy story, then again he had been working on it since November, and it was already the end of June, which meant he had been working at it for about eight long months. Of course, there was the issue of whether he wanted to be a professional writer; it would have been nice, if it weren't such a difficult field to break into.

As he wrote he thought about his naysayer, for like many creative people, he suffered from very little creative support. Since there were those who said that he was doing rip-offs, or that he was doing too much of this or too little of that. There were even those in the fan fiction circles who criticized him a lot about using "rip-offs", but still when these pseudo-experts made such claims at him. He arrived at a very pertinent question, that being; "Isn't fan fiction itself a rip-off?" He had asked this of someone whom he had a nasty run in, but he never quite got an answer since he stormed out on him, because that person felt that he was still a "Noob", at least that's how it was written on the Instant Message window. It reminded him of a line from a song by the rapper Eminem that went:

Nobody ever gave a fuck before; all they did was doubt me…

Now everybody try to run their mouths and take shots at me….

He felt exactly like that especially with the slew of run-ins that he's had with hard-core Evangelion fans. Receiving nasty reviews and even death threats, it seemed that the only way to win with them was to simply not write Eva fics, but then he brushed if off. He laughed when he thought to himself that Eva fans are so stringent that they make the most hard core Trekkies look lenient.

At last after an hour of writing long hand and his right hand feeling like it was about to fall apart at the joints, Jon was finally finished. He picked up his papers into one stack, set them aside, and started up his word processor. It took him another couple of hours until he came to the end and tried to think of a way to end his last fan fiction. He knew that a great ending story (like a farewell episode of a great TV series) should have an even better ending. He contemplated it and thought and thought about it, until he decided that he wasn't going to end it in a typical was. He was going to end it with a "…and they lived happily ever after" kind of ending. He simply ended it. He reached up to the black keys of his Dell keyboard and typed in the very last line.

"The tears were closed and all was well across the sea of possibilities."

"I think that'll do." Jon said to himself as he started as he started up his music player and celebrated his complete and final Gundam Saga Fan fiction. He moved around the room as the screen for Microsoft Word held the title page of his last fic:

The DarkTower

Anime's Unite

The Absolute and Final End…