"ALRIGHT KID!" Max said while throwing a punch towards Geno. The Blue Bomber was back and he was ready to bring him to a proper end with a proper fight. "Show me what you got!" A BANG echoed out from Max's punch, a shockwave with the force of a bullet shooting towards Geno.

"What the-?!" Geno didn't know about Max's Overdrive, so this was new to him. He extended his right arm forward, creating a hexagonal shield in front of him. This shield did withstand the force of Max's punch, but it still made him slide back a great distance.

"What did this guy eat?!" Omega asked.

"Right…" Hermit realized that Geno and Omega were unfamiliar with Max's true power. Wordlessly, she sent the previous data of her and Ano's encounter to Geno, with Omega serving as the conduit to receive this information. This way, they would be informed on what to expect.

"Heh…" Geno smirked as he received the data. "So you just got bigger? Is that it?"

"You know what they say. The bigger they are…the harder they fall." Omega added.

"Oh, you're actually talking this time?" Max tilted his head. "How funny. Let's see how much you talk when-!" Max was about to draw his fist back to strike again, but before he knew it, Geno was in front of him. "…?!"

Geno drew his fist back, lightning sparking around his hand. "Lightning Knuckle!" He thrust his arm forward, striking Max right in the chest with this punch. The electricity caused Max's body to seize up. Geno continued his assault, aiming numerous kicks at Max while he couldn't move. "Million Kick!" Every kick hit harder than the last, the final one being a roundhouse to Max's cheek that caused the larger man to stumble back, bruised.

"Oh, you're got some kick to you this time, too?" Max felt those hits, but he was grinning. He held his arms out, multiple guns appearing in front of him. "Devil's Wheel!" These guns fired upon Geno with a relentless bombardment of bullets.

Geno sped forward, appearing as a streak of blue light as he weaved through the incoming bullets. His left arm was leading the charge as he prepared to punch Max again, but this time, Max beat him to it. Max's right arm grabbed his, and he then slammed his left fist into Geno's helmet for a strong hit. Max used his superior strength to pin Geno to the ground. "Gnk!"

"You must not have faith in your firepower if you think you can take me in a fist fight." Max grinned while holding Geno's left and right arms. "So I'll show you what happens to people wo think they can take me!"

"No…I have faith that I can do this." Geno said while grinning towards Max despite his position. "You still have no idea what we can really do."

"We?" Max quickly glanced at Hermit and Ano, but they were still down and not making any moves whatsoever. "Who the hell are you-!?"

Omega then appeared from Geno's left hand. His head replaced Geno's left hand in their merged state and he grinned. "SURPRISE!" This was his first appearance to the Goldstones, so imagine Max's surprise when this being used his sharp maw to chomp down on his arm. Omega had a tight grip and Max screamed in pain, released Geno, but Omega did not release him.

"What the hell!? W-What are you!?" Max growled.

"Your downfall." Geno said as his right arm turned into a bright emerald sword. "Life Sword!" He swung his blade forward, landing a clean cut across Max's chest. Max howled in pain and Omega released him, allowing him to stagger back.

Max had a large gash on his chest. He was bleeding and couldn't stop it, but he stared at Geno with shock. "Now I get it…you were never a single person. You're a person and an FM alien merged into one. Now it explains everything…no wonder you're so annoying. FM Aliens can do a bunch of shit with the right person. You and that one must be a perfect match, Blue Bomber."

"Took you long enough to finally figure it out." Geno said while rubbing his cheek where Max hit. Yeah, if he weren't merged with Omega, he'd be down in a single punch with half that effort.

"Unfortunately for you…you're playing fair. And I don't have to." Max said while summing two guns in front of Hermit and Ano. "So, you're going to make a decision. Your friends, or you."

"…" Geno narrowed his eyes.

"He's desperate, kid." Omega said. "Hermit already dealt a lot of damage…and he's still a problem, but he's reaching the end of his rope. You can't dance around him, you need a decisive blow, or coming here would've been for nothing. If we can't stop him now, he's going to completely disrupt everything!"

Geno had a choice to make. "…Fine. Hit me."

"Heh. You're a fool!" Max took this opening and closed in on Geno, punching him numerous times. Each hit had a BANG echo out. He then hit Geno with an uppercut to send him skyward, only to then leap up and slam him into the ground. Geno hit the ground on his back, and Max stood over him, relishing in the damage he dealt. "If you choose your friends, you could've beaten me! You should've been selfish!"

"No." Geno shook his head, groaning a bit from Max's hard hits. "This was the right play." His left hand was charging Ether. Just as Max closed in for a punch, he pointed it forward.

"Nice cannon, but that just means your friends will-!" He was going to use his guns to fire on Hermit and Ano, but nothing happened. "Huh?!"

"Did you forget?" Hermit said with a wide grin. "I can take control of your guns whenever I want. The only one in danger was you."

"Wait!" Max did forget. He was so focused on the Blue Bomber's return, because he stopped him from killing Hermit and Ano. It was unlike him to make such a mistake, but when he entered his Overdrive, his fighting instincts were pushed up as well. He turned his head to Geno, but he wasn't there anymore. "Wh…!?"

Geno was behind Max, his cannon arm pointed forward as it surged with Ether. "Get off my planet. MEGA BUSTER!" He fired. A gigantic sphere of raw ether exploded from his arm, rocketing across the sky as it struck Max. Max did try to use his physique to overpower and toss the sphere upwards, but…

"SNAKE BITE!" Ano was waiting for his moment to strike. He may have gotten beaten pretty badly and he was frail, but he wasn't done yet. While Max was attempting to rectify his mistake, one of Ano's snakes bit into his ankle.

"GNK! No…!" Max felt his body going numb. "I'm a Goldstone! I don't make mistakes! WE DON'T LOSE…!"

"…If you never make a mistake, you'll never grow. The three of you may be strong…but we have more experience than you do! That's what makes such strong, and that's why we won't lose to you!" Geno yelled. Max could only scream as he was consumed by the Mega Buster, which exploded on him. The tower shook from this explosion, and when it faded…Max was back to normal, KO'ed….

"We did it…" Ano couldn't believe it. "We beat a Goldstone!" He was so excited, showing off his childish side. But after a victory like that, how could he not be excited?

Geno slowly approached Hermit, extending his hand out to her. "Are you okay?"

Hermit only had one working arm right now, but she did take Geno's to help herself up. "Just fine. Thanks for showing up…but we can't relax just yet. We still have a problem. We have to hack into the Tower, but he completely destroyed the only means of doing so…"

"So we're still up the creek…" Ano groaned.

"Don't worry. Leave that to me." Geno said, turning into a streak of blue light and diving into the destroyed terminal.

"Huh? What's he doing?" Ano scratched his head.

"…Ah!" Hermit realized. "We can't physically connect to the terminal or system because access has been cut off. But…he's going directly into it…which means…"

.

.

Homura, Kleene, and Asuka all slid backwards from Kamara's might. Kamara wasn't entirely able to land fatal blows on the biggest problem to her: Kleene. However, Kleene was still suffering damage from her AoE attacks, and she couldn't afford to waste too much of her Ether on fighting when she was the sole reason they were staying in the fight. "She's wearing us down slowly…" Kleene said while panting.

"I am aware." Homura had one eye shut. They were on the receiving end of a lot of damage, but they weren't able to land a decisive blow on Kamara. "If we take too much time, she will finish us off. But I cannot find an opening…" She glanced back at Lowell, who was down from Kamara's Fatal Strike. He wasn't dead, but if they didn't finish this battle, they all would be.

"No openings? I'll make one!" Asuka said as lightning sparked around her body. "Raijin Tempo, times three!" She charged ahead at lightning speeds, zipping forward to strike and strike Kamara. Kamara was easily able to keep up, reading her movements with ease and deflecting them with her sword. "Come on…!" She was switching to water based attacks, aiming to use the blunt force to try and gain an edge, but she failed.

"Is that the best you can do?" That wasn't Kamara's voice. Asuka stopped cold and she turned around, only seeing Sarisse standing before her. "I thought you were better than that?"

Asuka's eyes widened, but she shook her head. "No…I got hit earlier…this is more of that nightmare stuff! You're not real!"

"I'm very real." Sarisse said while stepping forward. "As is your failure to do anything to help. I put my faith in you, and how did you repay me?! Huh!?"

Asuka internally cringed from this. Her heart was still wounded by Sarisse's death, true, but…. "I…I'm repaying you right now! BY FIGHTING WITH ALL THAT I AM, SO I CAN SAVE THIS PLANET THAT'S OUR HOME!" She then threw her fist at Sarisse. It was a hit and the woman vanished, but she powered through the nightmare with her own force of will. She couldn't let the fear of her mistakes weigh her down. She had to punch them down and keep moving forward!

"She broke free?!" Even Kamara was surprised by this. "But how…"

"I just lived through my worst nightmare." Asuka said while panting. "Right now…the only thing that scares me is failing this mission! I won't make another mistake so grave again!"

"That's the spirit, Asuka!" Homura grinned. "Your days on this planet are numbered, Kamara Goldstone!"

"Mistakes…?" Kamara stared at the women standing before her. "I am a Goldstone. We do not make mistakes. That is why we are so feared across the Cosmos. That is why it takes more than one person to even stand a fighting chance against us. If you think I'm going to let my siblings down, you have another thing coming!" The room suddenly turned pitch black, much to everyone's surprise. "NIGHTMARE RUSH!" Kamara moved faster than anyone could keep up with, especially in the dark. A flurry of slashes struck Asuka, Homura, and Kleene all at once, knocking them down to the ground. The light returned and Kamara moved to strike Kleene down, but Homura quickly sprang up to intercept her. "You again?" The most irritating one…

"Homuran…" Kleene gave an exhausted smile.

"I am the Sword of Edens…" Homura said while swinging at Kamara. The two of them entered fierce sword combat, their blades clashing as sparks flew all over. "I have sworn by this blade, that I would not let another life fade away!"

"I will not fail my siblings or the name we've created for ourselves!" Kamara shouted in turn, glaring at Homura. "We've come too far to fail at all! This cosmos is a cruel place, and we only have each other! I don't care what happens to humankind, but as long as my siblings are safe, that's all that matters! AND YOU. ARE. IN. THE. WAY!" Every word came with a slash that Homura could barely defend. The last one did strike across her side, causing her to cry out.

"You care deeply about your siblings. I can feel that in each strike, however!" Homura planted her feet on the ground. "My strikes are for those of the Eden's Zero and of this planet! To the humans and androids that have lost their lives fighting a battle that never should have occurred! This blade is for everyone standing behind me!" She held her blade up, the Ether within it spiking greatly. "Warrior Maid Single Sword Attack…"

Kamara was about to counter Homura before she could attack, but Asuka grinned. All of that water on the floor was intentional, and Kamara was standing in the middle of it. "This is for Sarisse…" She allowed lightning to spark from her hands and she slammed them into the water. The electricity was conducted through the water, which caught Kamara by surprise as her body was suddenly paralyzed, leaving her wide open.

Homura dove forward at a speed Kamara wasn't prepared for. "Kitsune Perfect Circle Strike!" A crescent moon appeared from the way Homura slashed Kamara.

"Ngk…!" Kamara sustained heavy damage from this attack. She stared to tip backwards as her body returned to normal, but she forced herself to stay on her feet. "I'm…not…!"

Homura quickly turned around, surprised that Kamara was willing herself to remain standing. But she saw everything in slow motion. Kamara was off balance. There was a thread in her mind she was visualizing. Without questioning it, Homura moved forward in a single swift motion, slashing her sword against Kamara once last time. Homura imitated a perfect Fatal Strike. "Please. This fighting does us no good…fall."

Kamara's eyes rolled back into her head at the Fatal Strike. She tipped over and finally collapsed right next to Lowell. She didn't even have any final thoughts as she lost consciousness…she just fell…

.

.

"S-She's too strong…" Rebecca was on her hands and knees, panting as Athena stood before her and Weisz, who was also in his Overdrive at this point. Rebecca was also panicking, because every time she used Leaper, Athena was just ready for whatever correction she tried to make.

"I don't get it…" Weisz panted. "We can't get past her…"

Athena flipped her hair. "Of course you can't. I'm not going to make the same mistake twice and allow you to get the better of me." She then swung her hand forward, an explosion of light catching Rebecca and Weisz, throwing them off to the side. Athena had no reason to hurt Pino unless she tried to fight. "Do you want to use your little EMP?" She asked the Light of Eden's.

"Don't…" Rebecca shook her head. They tried that…and it ended badly for Pino. Rebecca didn't want that if she could control it.

"Heh." That response alone told Athena all she needed to know.

"I only have one rewind left…" Rebecca grimaced, slowly making her way to her feet. Athena only sustained some damage. "If we can get a solid hit…but…" She was losing faith. "I don't know if we can. Every time I try something, it fails!"

"That's right. And it will always fail." Athena said while rushing the two down. She wasn't going to give them the chance to fight back. She approached Rebecca to kick her, but Rebecca was fast enough to barely dodge. That's when Weisz used one of his tendrils to try and strike, but Athena was able to weave through them evade. "This room is hard coded to ensure you can't pull any of your tricks. How does it feel to fight while handicapped?"

"Shut it…we're not done yet!" Weisz grunted, even though he was admittedly hitting the end of his rope. He and Rebecca were reaching their limits. The two of them just weren't enough, but they had to try because everyone was counting on them!

"Happy, fire!" Rebecca released a full power Happy Shot towards Athena's back, but she blocked it with her shield. "Ugh!"

"How do you like this trick!?" Athena tossed her shield like a Frisbee at Rebecca, but she dodged it. However, the shield rebounded off the walls and gained more power and momentum. The shield was using its own Ricochet power to rebound powerfully! "I stole this trick from the Blue Bomber! I see why it works!"

"It's too fast and strong!" Rebecca groaned.

Weisz was trying to stop it with his tendrils, but it didn't work and he just felt it rebound off of him. The Shield continued to pummel the two of them, until Weisz finally caught it with his hands. It was close and he was pretty bruised from it. "This is tech…! So let's get rid of this damn thing!" He was going to modify it to be useless, but the moment he tried the shield exploded in his face. "GWAAAH!"

"Weisz!" Pino gasped.

"Did you really think I didn't plan for that?" Athena laughed as Weisz laid on the ground. "I knew you'd try and modify it the instant you got your hands on it. So I set it to explode the moment you tried it." Athena then placed her foot on Rebecca's ankle. "Things look pretty bad for you, huh? Now…why don't you use your last time power and repeat this process all over again? You don't have any options left."

"Ngh…" Rebecca never felt so cornered before, even with time powers. She didn't know what to do…and then the lights of the tower started to flicker. "Huh…?"

"What…?" Even Athena was confused. "What's going on?"

"Hey there." Geno's voice echoed through the Tower. "I heard this place needed to be shut down…so…"

"WHAT!?" Athena gasped. "You're alive?! But how!?"

"…!" Rebecca found her opening. She had one rewind left…so she had to make this count!

[Rewind]

This was her last chance. Rebecca had nothing left. If this failed, it was over. This plan involved watching as Athena threw her shield to the wall again. She scrambled to her feet while evading the shield. She did her best, but it still hit her in a few places, nearly making her fall over. "Weisz!"

"I can stop it!" Weisz said while reaching out for it.

"Not yet!" Rebecca said. "Endure it!"

"What!?" Weisz had no idea what Rebecca was talking about. This thing would take them out if they didn't stop it!

"Endure it!?" Athena laughed. "I won't let you get the chance! This is checkmate." She was going to double down on his as well. She held her hand forward and aimed it at Rebecca. "If this is your final plan, then I'm going to stomp it to dust!" The shield rebounded a little longer than it did before. Weisz trusted Rebecca and endured these attacks and then…the lights flickered. "Huh?"

"Hello hello!" Geno's voice spoke.

"No! You're alive?!" Athena gasped. And he was in the tower control systems! "What! No! You're supposed to be dead and gone, we got rid of you!" Just then, the tower's power was…shut down. "NO! Come back on! Max! What are you doing!?"

"PINO! WEISZ! NOW!" Rebecca exclaimed. They had no plan in mind, but they could see what Rebecca wanted from them. This was their opening. Athena was distracted by her plan going awry. Even though Athena's shield was a near unstoppable object, Weisz was just barely able to grab onto it to begin modifying it. The moment he did, Rebecca swooped in with all her might.

"HAAAAAAAAAAH!" She kicked the shield from a surprised Weisz's hands. It was going to explode, but he didn't know that. She did, and with all of the force and momentum it gained form how it rebounded off the wall…kicking it did hurt Rebecca's foot a lot, but it was worth it to see it soar through the air.

Athena let out a horrified gasp as she saw what was happening. She pointed her hand towards her shield, but then… "EMP: ACTIVATE!" Pino sprang into action, activating her EMP on Athena, which completely shut down her Ether Gear and Overdrive. Athena let out a scream as her own shield exploded against her.

Athena tumbled along the ground, heavily damaged by her own technique. She was in a fit of rage and started to spring forward towards Pino. "YOU LITTLE!" However, before she could reach Pino, Rebecca used the lingering smoke as cover and appeared in front of her, clapping her hands together loudly. "…!?" Athena stopped cold, completely surprised by this.

"The Stunner Clap, was it?" Rebecca said with a smirk. She gave Athena a taste of her own medicine twice over. She then jumped back, planting herself on a wall, before using Leaper to push forward. She spun around and aimed a dive kick towards Athena. "I'M ENDING THIS NOW! HIGH LEAPER KICK!" Athena couldn't move since her body was so stunned. Rebecca let out a cry as she slammed her foot into Athena's temple, a resounding shockwave echoing out from the impact.

Athena started to tip backwards from this impact. "They…got me….?"

[Flashback]

A young Athena, Max, and Kamara were huddled together in an old, abandoned house. They didn't have anyone to look out for them or even a home to stay in. "Why doesn't anyone help us…?" Kamara looked to her older siblings, confused. "Mom and Dad are gone…but…."

"…Because nobody looks out for anyone in this cosmos." Max said with a frown. "Humans and androids just use each other. We can't count on them for anything…"

"But we can count on each other." Athena said while placing her hands on her hips. "If nobody is going to help us, then we should help ourselves."

"But how do we do that?" Kamara tilted her head. She was all for whatever her sister had in mind, but…

"We have to do things on our own to survive, no matter what." Athena stated firmly. "We've been on our own for years, and we've survived this long because we have each other. This just proves to me that we can literally do anything. No matter what happens to the universe, the only thing that's important to me is making sure the two of you are safe. I'm the oldest, so I have to look after you."

"Us against the universe, huh?" Max chuckled before putting his hand out.

"Us against the universe." Kamara also put her hand forward, overtop Max's.

"Us against the universe." Athena smiled, placing her hand over top her siblings. "I won't make any mistakes. I'll make sure we'll never go through these hardships again. As Athena Goldstone, I swear it!"

[End flashback.]

That memory played in Athena's mind as her back hit the ground. She was barely conscious. But she could see her opponents celebrating their victory, before scurrying over to the Core that was now unprotected to shut it down. "We lost…huh…?"

.

.

Shiki and Casey blew down the doors to the control center at the top of the Tower. The moment they entered the room, Prometheus and Pandora were waiting for them. "Prometheus! Pandora!" Shiki yelled.

"Ah, so you've finally made it." Prometheus said while slinging his scythe over his shoulder.

"You two are the only ones left, aren't you?" Casey asked while crossing his arms.

"Unfortunately for us, that is true." Pandora nodded. "The Goldstones have been defeated, and Aiden's Golden Knight Gear signal has stopped giving out a location. So I can only surmise that we are indeed, the only obstacles left before you."

"So once we defeat you, this planet will be free once and for all!" Shiki glared at the two androids.

"IF you can defeat us!" Prometheus snapped his fingers and two things happened at once: first, the Black Moon Star shared floated between him and Pandora, and secondly, a communication line appeared and Ziggy was seen on the other end.

"Grandpa!?" Shiki's eyes widened. He wasn't expecting to see Ziggy at all, but he had no idea where he was, still.

"Hello, Shiki." Ziggy said calmly. "You've done well to make it this far, but this should be your final stop. I have to see this with my own eyes. Prometheus. Pandora. Use the Black Moon Star and kill him."

"As you wish, Master Ziggy!" Prometheus and Pandora said at once. The two of them touched the Star Shard and black sparks started appear and the two androids gained a large boost in power. Shiki saw this before when Jigan did the same thing, and it was no different here either. He and Casey braced themselves as Prometheus and Pandora gained a substantial boost in power from such a tiny shard.

"KYAHAHAHA! POWER OVERFLOWING!" Prometheus cackled.

"This is more than enough to crush our foes." Pandora said calmly. "Although…" Something felt wrong…but she was not going to question the word of Ziggy.

"Here they come." Casey said while getting ready to fight. There was only one thing on his mind, though: The Black Moon Star. That's all he wanted. The liberation of Delta Ridge was merely an added bonus.

"I know." Shiki said while entering his Overdrive. "The people of Delta Ridge have lost so much; they've fought for so long. Android lives have been thrown away for small, selfish reasons. Well, that finally ends today. Because in the next few minutes…we're taking it all back. RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!