A/N: Okay. Those Deviantart drawings I keep promising in the previous two chapters...I can't focus on them because I was waiting for weeks for the notice to start my new degree (luckily I got it), and it was supposed to be two Valentine's Day drawings with this story's pairings. Don't worry, I can work on it in my free time and post them next year. In the meantime, enjoy this (almost) final chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own Cross Ange or any of its characters and original plot, excluding the original characters I created for this story. Cross Ange and all its rights belong to King Records (Japan), Sentai Filmworks (USA), and Sunrise/ Bandai Namco Entertainment (Japan). This fanfiction is meant for entertainment only and not for profit. This story contains heavy language, blood and violence, and mild sexual themes not for audiences under 16-18 years old.
CHAPTER 42: BE SET FREE
Despite the fact everyone can see that Aura has now been freed, Aurora and Haven are still shocked to realize that the spacetime dimensional merge is increasingly proceeding to be past 90% and soon to be fully complete in minutes, about to engulf and destroy the entire world and the DRAGONs with every life inside. Worse, from Cynical and Tusk's contacts, Embryo has captured and taken both Ange and Rush away, possibly out of this world. All that's left is Alektra's condition since she hasn't said anything when she followed Embryo to the Dawn Pillar. "Okay, engine repairs are complete!" Mei informed the Aurora's control room through the intercom.
"Roger, Initiate restarting all systems!" Pamela acknowledged. Feeling the entire ship pulsating with whirling noises from the engines, the DRAGONs that helped carry them off the sea release their grip and flew away once both the Aurora and Hades flew to the sky, all riders that are still okay to fly and the DRAGONs flew around their transportation and Aura once the giant DRAGON joined them. However, every one of the Aurora received word from not one of their riders but surprisingly Salia through the Cleopatra Ragna-mail's radio informing them that Embryo has gravely wounded Alektra and left her to die before taking Ange and Rush away. Although a few believed that she is lying, they can tell by how worried and desperate she is by her tone of voice when she noted, and with Chris and the Theodora Ragna-mail apprehended on their side, perhaps they could get answers from Salia and Alektra.
But by the time they arrived at the hangar and the opened launch bay the second Cleopatra landed, they see in dread that Salia was speaking the truth.
"Alektra!" Maggie cried the second she, and Mei ran towards the Ragna-mail, watching Salia carefully raise Alektra off her lap, missing her prosthetic and her stomach bleeding through her pilot suit possibly from being shot or stabbed.
"Get a stretcher!" Salia begged once she held Alektra's only arm over her shoulders and jumped off Cleopatra before laying her down inside the hangar. With Tusk, Red Death, Ammo, Moon, and Apache looking away for privacy as soon as Momoka arrived with the stretcher and medkit with Cynical's help, everyone steered clear and watch Maggie and Hyacinth standing closer to Alektra's bloodied side with the former getting her medkit ready, all hoping that they can still save Alektra while she is unconscious. But when Hyacinth is prepared for inspecting the second she carefully pulls the stomach area of her pilot suit, she spots something that made her gasp her surprise, alarming the others including the men. "…There's no wound. It's perfectly fine." Hyacinth revealed.
"What?" Salia blinked in shock like the others. But her blood is still there and dried up.
"You're right. Her heart's even breathing…" Maggie noted when she first looks at Alektra's side to see there is not a single wound, not even wanting to comment on her friend bearing blood due to the seriousness of this situation when everyone heard a quiet groan from Alektra to see her weakly shudder and blink her nearly dull purple eyes.
"…That…. bastard." Alektra muttered, unable to see the others above her backing away from the stretcher with a terrified gasp or scream as if she is back from the dead but not acting like a zombie. She did feel like she was dying back at the broken Dawn Pillar, but then she remembered….
… 'I never wanted to do this to you and your current allies…but I cannot stop my sanity from breaking.' Alektra heard Embryo's last downhearted words towards her when he impaled his Ripper blade through her left abdomen, surprisingly but luckily not deep enough to feel it popping the tip out of her back before he backed away with his weapon and walk towards his machine, leaving Alektra fallen on the ground. But she saw something. Just a split second and through her slowly blurring vision, she could've sworn she saw Embryo's blade dimly glowing a tint of green light when he stabbed her before it was gone when Embryo snap the same fingers holding his weapon to disappear as soon as he sat on the Hysterica. Suddenly, although it was brief and her hearing will go off from starting to lose consciousness, she heard Embryo tell her something before leaving her to her supposed death.
"I want you and your friends to live, unlike our other selves…This is goodbye, Alektra." …
'So that's how…what do you mean?' Alektra wondered, finding herself having a headache and feeling tired to almost go back to sleep, but she must know where she is and if she is safe. "Salia…" Alektra whispered.
"I'm here, Alektra!" Salia's eyes welled up the tears streaming down her cheeks when she blinks. "I'm so sorry, I acted such a fool!"
"That's for sure. You're just as hard-headed as me. Almost like…I have you as my little sister, the same as I have Rush as a little brother." Salia gasped from feeling Alektra's only hand reaching closer to clasp it on her right cheek, tiredly blinking her purple eyes to keep herself awake. "We're such hard workers, tend to get emotional…even our taste in men. That's why I didn't want to drag you into this. I'm sorry…I was too harsh..." Salia sniffled but she noticed the silence and her hand almost fell off Salia's cheek.
"Alektra?" Salia opened her eyes to see Alektra's eyes closing shut with a smile, but her chest is moving up and down, almost worrying everyone if not for the chortle from her mouth.
"Don't worry…I'm only tired. Just…give me a smoke later…" Alektra tiredly assured without opening her eyes, bringing the others to sigh their relief before Salia backed away and allowed Maggie and Hyacinth hurriedly pull Alektra's stretcher through the Aurora heading to the infirmary. Watching her mistress leave until the three women are gone from their sight, Salia sensed a presence slowly heading towards her side and looked to see Ammo sadly joining her to either attempt to tell her something, or wanting to comfort her by nervously reaching his opened arms for her. Due to what happened, Salia needs his consolation when she lightly slams herself on him and wraps her arms around his body, nearly making Ammo fall backwards and softly gasp his surprise.
"I hope Alektra makes it through, Ammo." Salia sobbed on his shoulder, too guilty for everything she has done to not look up, but she can feel Ammo slowly embracing her and his cheek softly resting on her head as she cries. What matters is that Alektra will make it out alive. Suddenly, Aurora shakes violently inside and outside and almost sends everyone and everything falling out of place.
"What the!" Tusk gasped.
"Dimensional merge is now 99% complete!" Lizardia announced. Everyone grabbed onto whatever they could as the shaking increased tremendously… but only stopped a few seconds after. Inside the launch
"The tremor stopped…" Apache realized, carefully picking up Hilda while Red helped both Ersha and Vivian to their feet the same as the others, right after everyone heard a woman's voice speaking but not revealing herself, speaking with such wisdom in her voice.
"A rift between time and space. A vast ocean of imaginary numbers. You'll find Embryo there."
"Hey, who's there!?" Hilda demanded.
"Aura!" Salamandinay gasped. From outside the Aurora and Hades joining its side, both ships, Aura is found glowing golden with a matching orb of energy encasing all over the ships and the DRAGONs in its shield and under her wings through the space storm.
Much like when she, Tusk, Ammo, and Vivian arrived in the DRAGON's world, Ange couldn't remember how she fell asleep or unconscious only she remembered she was almost strangled to death when Embryo grabbed her and about to pull her back and fall off Vilkiss. Waking up with cold sweat, Ange hurriedly rise to sit and find herself in some strange luxurious-looking room she was sleeping on a massive bed, dressed in not the pink pilot suit of Tusk's mother but her favourite white and blue dress. 'Where am I…and where's Embryo?' Ange wondered in suspicion as she ran toward the door that is luckily unlocked. But the second she found herself in a steel hallway with other doors she rather ignores, she saw what shocks her in puzzlement.
All over the walls on both sides, countless Mana screens popped out and unveils some scenes that Ange had to double-take to further induce her confusion. Each of those screens showcases the events Ange knows that she and her friends from Arzenal, Haven, and the DRAGONs have done…but what confuses Ange is that every one of the Haven doesn't seem to appear in any of the Mana screens and instead either replace them with different people or none at all, only showing her friends from Arzenal and the DRAGONs.
'What the hell are these?' Ange wondered as she quickly walks through the hallway leading her to the light at the other end, watching every one of these strange scenes continuously replaying to compare their differences.
Some of the screens involve a different underground organisation of Norma sympathisers, unlike the Haven, with one of them who is a different blonde man with blue eyes strangely protecting Hilda like he's her knight and piloting a bulkier, pure white machine looking like a Ragna-mail, others show the First Squad battling the DRAGONs alongside a boy a bit older than Ange but dressed like a male Norma and piloting a blue, red, and black-coloured unit, a few more of the previous scenes but the unfamiliar boy was replaced with a group of male and female soldiers riding pre-Mana military air aircraft, and one shows Tusk alongside another brunette boy wielding a key-shaped weapon and two strange companions fighting against both Embryo, wielding only a simple rapier than his Ripper blade, and a femininely-looking taller man with ruffled pink hair, dressed in black leather and wielding a threatening-looking scythe.
Speaking of Embryo, instead of Rush and the former's children, some of the visions show the enemy having a male servant working for him and she can tell that their relationship is strictly professional than Embryo and Rush's sincere friendship or love, the same goes to his children's. One servant is a man taller and more muscular than Embryo with white hair clashing his all-black attire fighting against Hilda's alternate lover, another is a man with black hair, burning orange eyes and dressed in a black Roma coat over his almost all crimson clothing, and the last is a slim and young man possibly also Ange's age with long, silver hair, eyes shielded by his shades, and dressed in the Diamond Rose Knights' uniform, both the latter two servants seem to have negative relationships with the possible male Norma in their scenes.
Are these visions some alternate versions of her world but Rush and the Haven don't exist? Ange doesn't understand.
By the time she managed to run out of the hallway and from the place, what she sees where she is made her gasp. She found herself in some open grassy cliff filled with thousands of tombstones to be a graveyard, and instead of the blue sky, the entire place over the revealed floating island is surrounded by a space void filled with multiple planets, countless stars, and two planet Earths are slowly merging against each other. "Is this…Arzenal?" Ange wondered aloud.
"Welcome, Ange, to the original Arzenal." A familiar voice spoke from above, and Ange looked up to see who but the Hysterica flying to the ground in its Destroyer Mode with its pilot standing on his feet inside his cockpit. But even from her position, Ange noticed as she gasps her surprise and anger that Embryo has somehow changed himself, mostly his clothes. Instead of his suit, Embryo is now wearing a dark green and red-trimmed trench coat with cuffed sleeves releasing the white, ruffled sleeves, dark green baggy pants stuffing its ends through his high-heeled, black leather boots, white gloves, black hooded cloak over his outfit, and on the right side of his face is a golden half-opera mask that still shows his eye. "The two dimensions and the two humanities. The world of Mana and its Tuner. This is where it all began and where it will all end."
"I won't let that happen, asshole!" Ange hurriedly ran away and head back through the inside of Arzenal, knowing the inside like the back of her mind.
"There's no logic in escape. This isn't the Arzenal you knew before. I know. Why don't I tell you a little story." Embryo sighed, not bothering to chase after Ange running inside when he had Hysterica landed. "This island once hosted the world's greatest particle research lab as part of the organisation working to save the old world from the original humanity who ruled with a mercilessly iron grip. I discovered and engineered many brilliant things here. Unified theory. Supersymmetric particles. And the Multiverse, which I showed you earlier. The expansion to travel to other worlds was supposed to be the dawning of an amazing new era. I tested the Ragna-mail to travel to these other worlds. However, from being sabotaged, the concentrated burst of inflation caused the system to malfunction, sending me and this island to be lost in the dimensional rift."
Ange managed to find herself upstairs and out onto a balcony but stopped to end up almost bumping into Embryo from out of nowhere, seated on a table while drinking a cup of tea, with the Hysterica hovering over and in front of the balcony.
"But, that is when everything takes shape," Embryo continued after setting his teacup on the table's surface before rising from his seat. "You see, time stands still on this private garden of eternity that gives me knowledge of our worlds' alternate versions with their histories and events. I returned to the old world, already broken more than before, and execute the sinners who made themselves corrupted tyrants to me and others, before manipulating your world. Ending wars and reinventing humanity. Unfortunately, not only that failed, but I realized that there are things in our world that we're NOT supposed to do in its alternate versions, such as me resurrecting your brother and killing you…but I care less about such petty rules for the world order, the same as you."
"Yeah, fucking right!" Ange growled, about to punch Embryo only to be sent flying back and landed on the floor with a bit of blood out of the corners of her mouth by Embryo's punch.
"You saw those other alternate versions of our world, didn't you; how my other selves are obsessed with using such disgusting attempts to force you to be his wife to mate. I rather thank your other selves for rejecting those weak idiots than become like him." Embryo reminded, watching Ange hurriedly climb on her butt to wonder at her confusion about his words. Surprisingly to her, she did remember those visions from earlier and realized something was odd; any of those scenes with Embryo, regardless of these alternate versions, show him not only bearing his Ripper state and no family but mostly attempting to forcefully seduce Ange to be his wife in ways that made her shudder in repulsion, luckily those things didn't happen to her when she glared at Embryo before her.
'If Embryo didn't have his family and Rush, he would be a creepy rapist to ME!?' Ange cringed.
"Yes, I would be like you thought of me." Embryo sighed in repulsion, surprising Ange with his reactions and possibly reading her mind if not for noticing something slipping off his right sleeve to be his Ripper blade dangling its hoop on his wrist. "Thankfully, I purposely disregard what I should've done to you just to not be like them. Starting with killing you right now."
"Like hell, you are!" Ange barked, scrambling back on her feet, and proceeds to run away from him.
"So, Ange and Rush are in some kind of dimensional rift?" Cynical asked Aura right after she revealed the purpose of her reappearance and helping them cover inside this
"Yes. A place outside of all universes which cannot be reached through singularities." Aura explained.
"But how do we get to a place like that?" Hilda demanded.
"Villkiss. Its spacial temporal jump system is unlocked..." Just as Aura was about to continue, the entire ship suddenly shook violently that almost sending everyone falling over again and they heard Aura groaning in pain. "Time is short. Make haste while I delay the merge until you'll kill Embryo."
"But Ange is the only one who can control Vilkiss! Even if we have her ring, it's still her blood!" Salia objected.
"No," Aura assured. "The Ragna-mail were designed to guide humans to a bright future. It should respond to a strong will that stands for the people." Everyone lowered their heads, musing about what did she mean. A strong will? Other than Ange, who should be the one with the strong will to get to her? Suddenly, Hilda turned her attention to Tusk.
"Tusk. It should be you." Hilda demanded, surprising Tusk when she point at Ange's ring he was holding this whole time. "You heard me. I hate to admit it, but you're closer to Ange than every one of us."
"She's got a point." Red Death agreed. "Even with your embarrassing confession earlier, you should be the one to help us locate Ange with Vilkiss." Tusk softly gasp his surprise, but immediately understood his given role to nod his acceptance.
As far and fast as she can to run away when she exited the original Arzenal, Ange can tell that Embryo will always appear closer to her location even if he is walking at his own pace. "Vilkiss! Vilkiss!" Ange called but she can tell it won't come back to her when she almost fell over the edge of the floating island, nearly falling through the void below and almost losing her life forever. "It's no use, Ange. You don't have your ring to call Vilkiss here." Ange turned and heard Embryo informing her when he walks towards her.
"Damn you!" Ange angrily charge and swing her leg hoping to kick the unmasked part of Embryo's face only for him to catch her ankle with his left gloved hand, the same time as her dress was torn to shreds without anything cutting it, leaving her naked right as Ange was too late to react from Embryo releasing her and slap her right cheek with the same strength as he strikes her other cheek earlier, sending her naked body flying to the side and landed painfully on the ground.
Without giving her the time to get back on her feet, Ange painfully blinked her eyes and witness some thorned vines materializing and wildly reaching for her wrist before she was held with her arms outstretched, gritting her teeth by how the thorns prickling her wrists for droplets of her blood to spill on the grass. From her bounded position, she can see that she flew multiple feet away from Embryo, who glared at her with a murderous sneer.
"Let me go, you bastard!" Embryo listened to Ange yelling at him from her position with muffled gasps of pain from the thorned vines scraping her wrists but shaking off her threats as unimportant. She is still going to die by his hand. Looking away from Ange to the Arzenal, where the last guest should be, Embryo summoned two Mana screens, the first showing where Rush is still unconscious and the second show Aura trying to stop the merger at the other Earth by delaying time with the colossal bubble of golden light protecting itself, the primates' ship, and the Haven's Hades. But the sight of Aura's wings starting to disintegrate the longer it stalls itself from her power and the merger shows that it won't be long before they will be exterminated.
'Look, Ange…it's the climax.' Embryo mentally scoffed, flicking his fingers of the same hand to throw the Mana window of Aura to hover in front of Ange to reveal her reaction.
Everyone can feel Aurora starting to shake some more even from the Hades when Red Death and Cynical's transmitters switched on for a panicking operator from the other ship informing that the merger is slowly reaching 100% completion. But the Aurora ship has something more important. "Vilkiss. Please lend me your strength! I need you to take me to Ange." Tusk pleaded once he sat onto Vilkiss with his hand holding Ange's ring. But no matter how many times he tried to activate it, Vilkiss remain unresponsive.
"Why won't you help us!? You've protected Ange all this time! Are you really going to let that monster kill her?" Tusk demanded, feeling like he will cry tears of anger and sorrow.
Utae, Utae
Ima fututsu no negai wa
Tsuyoku tsuyoku
Embryo heard Ange singing Eternal Story and looked up to dismiss the Mana screen he was looking at, a bit surprised when he noticed the anger and defiance had returned in her expression and voice. Must be a last act of desperation. 'Very well, then…' Embryo's sneer darkened, walking towards Ange with his hand gripping his Ripper blade although his fear of his Ripper state returns when it somehow activated by itself from his face and skin glowing his veins and his teeth sharpened. '…I'll play.'
Ten no konjiki to kirameku
Towa kataran
Even knowing that Embryo is going to kill her instead of raping her as she initially presumed, Ange must be strong until her friends back in the other world will do something to save her, with singing Eternal Story as her only choice for a call of help. But when she tries to sing further, Ange immediately choked and her voice strangled in croaked gasps that stop her from singing by the suddenly harsh atmosphere threatening to crush her inside out, recognizing it to be from Embryo's powers when he tortured her back in Misurugi, unable to see Embryo leisurely walking towards her.
'Tusk…please save me!' Ange begged as she continues to cry in pain, feeling a tear fall over her left cheek.
"I must save Ange! Vilkiss!" Tusk yelled, unable to notice a teardrop fall from his closed eyes and land on the stone of Ange's ring. As if it heard his plea, Tusk opened his eyes in time to notice Ange's ring suddenly shining brightly as well as Villkiss's console switched on by itself as everyone witness Villkiss changing colours from white and blue to black with red linings. 'I heard her…I heard Ange calling me!' Tusk mentally realized in surprise.
"Vilkiss changed colour!" Apache gasped.
"Woah, cool!" Vivian cheered.
"We must make haste!" Salamandinay informed Tusk with her attention shifting to the others to see him, Salia, and Hilda nodding in agreement with Salia being the first to run towards Cleopatra and mount on its seat. Those who decided to stay put can smile at Salia's determination to avenge Alektra even if she is being treated by Maggie and Hyacinth by joining Tusk and Salamandinay.
"Sir Tusk, please save Lady Angelise." Momoka pleaded in worry.
"I will, Momoka," Tusk assured.
"Hilda?" Chris called Hilda and hand her the ring to activate Theodora, Rosalie staying on the former's side. "You should take Theodora. Make sure Embryo pays for what he did."
"Got it. Thanks" Hilda nodded with a smile, putting on Chris's ring and running to mount it on the green-trimmed machine in time to hear Rosalie calling for her. "And you'd better come back alive!"
"Salia!" Ersha called as she, Vivian, and Ammo joined to stand beside Cleopatra where Salia is shown to be prepared herself. "Please be safe."
"Pop quiz! Who's going to win? You guys!" Vivian grinned.
"If you win and survive this, I'll owe you dinner," Ammo promised with a wink and a smile. Salia smiled and nod her agreement before everyone backed away and prepared to watch them launch.
"Let's jump, Villkiss!" Tusk called. Upon command, everyone watch red lightning sparkling and crackling from Vilkiss before it grew towards Enryugo, Cleopatra, and Theodora, shining with a nearly blinding light that still require the rest to shield their eyes although they almost went deaf by the sudden bang of a thundering noise ringing the entire launch bay. From their closed eyelids, they can assume that the sudden light is quickly dimming until it is safe for everyone to open their eyes and see that all four of them had vanished.
'Please be all right, Ange…Rush.' Everyone prayed.
Not closing their eyes when the light took them away, Tusk, Salamandinay Salia, and Hilda looked around and see that they are no longer inside Aurora's launch bay and instead found their units flying through a shimmering, beautiful tunnel that is made of a void filled with countless stars zooming past. "Woah." Hilda gasped.
"What is this place?" Salia asked.
"It's the dimensional rift. Ange and Sir Rush must be close." Salamandinay answered. Like the others, she would wonder how to locate Ange and Rush. Time is running short. Luckily, she somehow got an idea when she starts to sing.
Kaze ni toban El Ragna
Sadame to chigari kawashite
Kaze ni yukan El Ragna
Todorokishi tsubasa
Tusk, Hilda, and Salia could faintly look over their shoulders, startled by Salamandinay suddenly singing her song. Hopefully, whatever Salamandinay thought, it could help them find Ange and Rush.
As if it happened in her head the second Embryo slowly reduce the agonizing energy crushing her into nothing and kneeled above her body, almost screaming from seeing his half-masked face glowing in his veins and eyes, his sharpened teeth flaring in a mad glower, Ange gasped from suddenly hearing a familiar song. Sala's song! Making sure Embryo cannot hear her thoughts by following Rush's advice, Ange's fear quickly changed to reclaim her rebelliousness when she found her voice to continue singing.
Hajimari no hikari
Kirali kirali
Owari no hikai
Lulala lila
Embryo watched Ange sing under him and continue to show nothing but her anger towards him, even if she is trying to not show fear of Embryo's Ripper blade held over his head and about to jab the blade through her heart or head.
Kaesan el ragna
Sunadokei wo
Toki wa afuren
Lulala lila
"Wait!" Salia gasped, managing to hear a soft voice singing a familiar tune and slowly growing louder when the four are flying deeper. "That song!"
"Ange!" Tusk realized, the other three listening to Salamandinay and Ange's songs blending until it becomes the same tune they heard whenever they would fight each other before Arzenal's destruction or saving the DRAGONs' world from Embryo's Space Time cannons. It was when Hilda heard Theodora's radar beeping and looked up to gasp her surprise.
"I found something over there!" Tusk, Salamandinay, and Salia followed her direction see they were heading straight to a familiar island floating in the middle of the dimensional rift. Arzenal! 'Ange, I'm coming for you!' Tusk promised, the four units accelerating as fast as they could head straight to the floating Arzenal.
BANG!
The sound of a gunshot and Embryo feeling something small but strong hit the side of his Ripper blade stopped not only him from mutilating Ange, surprisingly reverting from his Ripper state, but also Ange from singing Eternal Story when she gasped her alarm before both looked at the source to see whom they were hoping to see, aiming his gun at Embryo's blade, and not showing any crude expressions in his bold scowl of seeing Ange naked and held by the painful thorns. 'Rush!' Ange's relief changed into dismay at seeing Rush without his bandages and his left fingerless gloved hand; revealing his drastically agonizing-looking scars made by a blade on the initially bandaged side of his face, his hands, and his body she was told from Tusk about Rush's past and abuse from his late family he killed. A faint glimmer of light flickered on Rush's left hand where Ange spot a small but noticeable golden ring on his ring finger.
"Good thing I woke up in time, and I told you that you look good with that mask. But what's with those Mana screens showing our fun times but with random people inside, Em?" Rush grinned, seeing Embryo's expression shift from surprise and relief at seeing him standing, albeit aiming his gun at him and Ange before a confident grin flashed on his half-masked face.
"Those are other versions of our world where you and your people don't exist, and me being the answer I asked you and my family. They disgust me all." Embryo answered with exasperation hissing through his teeth, both men ignore Ange staring at them smirking their cruel delight at each other with their weapons in hand.
"Yeah, I find those people not as brutal and fun as the Haven and I'm glad I got the better you than Ange's weak-ass genocidal rapist you kept saying you hate them. Now I should save Ange to calm her tits and don't suck our battle unless you want me, babe?" Rush exclaimed, his smirk darkened with lust directed at Embryo when he and Ange immediately blush in horror and anger at Rush's obscene words…with the latter accidentally reading the Human Killer's perverted thoughts relating to what he jests and wiggled his eyebrows now free from years of those bandages when he did.
"RUSH!" Ange and Embryo yelled in bafflement, the latter swiftly climb and ran over Ange without hurting her and she is left to watch Rush and Embryo now fighting each other like their first fight from the attempted execution only quicker and stronger than before but Rush seems to be enjoying fighting Embryo by the confident grin showing his teeth, trying not to wince from the thorns seeping deeper through her skin. "Don't worry, Ange! Just stay there and I'll get you out!" Ange heard Rush shouting to her after he leapt away to shoot a few of his bullets only for Embryo to swing his elongated Ripper blade, after pressing his gloved thumb at the largest gem between the guard and blade and deflecting them away from him before both men dashed to each other and block each other with Rush's gun against Embryo's sword-dagger hybrid.
"How can I move from here, Rush?!" Ange argued in anger, but inside she is praying for Rush to be careful, seeing Embryo shakily pushing himself closer to send Rush back and almost falter yet she heard some strange noises from above and behind her to look and crane her neck back for her, Rush and Embryo whom they looked to their sides in surprise seeing a Singularity appearing from outside the floating island and four familiar units soared past it, seeing Vilkiss, Sala's Enryugo, and Salia and Chris's Ragna-mails with the latter controlled by Hilda. "Ange!" Tusk yelled when Ange spot him riding Vilkiss towards her.
"Tusk!" Ange gasped in happiness, her upside-down vision watching Tusk throwing a pair of shuriken towards her, cutting the thorned vines off her wrists before he sends Vilkiss flying towards her, upside down and without falling off.
"Em!" Noticing that Vilkiss is about to fly straight towards them, Rush swiftly sprinted and bounded off his feet to grab Embryo with his left arm, hearing him groan in shock and pain, for both men to fly farther in time for Tusk to grab Ange and rolled their bodies to land on the grass with Rush on top of Embryo lying under him.
Tusk muffled his voice in alarm when he manages to steer Vilkiss back in position over the island, joined by Hilda, and hurriedly lowered Ange to sit on his lap before she could punish him for accidentally getting his face squished between her legs again. "S-Sorry! I didn't mean to!" Tusk apologized, both he nor Ange didn't see Hilda silently making gestures in anger towards Tusk for witnessing how he caught Ange.
"I don't care…you're just in time." Ange sadly chuckled from her smile. Thank goodness they're here before Embryo could kill her.
"Well, I'm not the only one going to save you," Tusk assured, looking to his right with Ange following his direction to see Hilda stopping what she was doing to wave a hand at her in happiness before she steer away to join Salia and Salamandinay when Ange and Tusk looked back at each other with the latter pulling something out of his suit's pocket to see him holding both Ange's ring and the pair of panties she gave him as his lucky charm before the battle. "Here. I should give this back to you." Ange sniffled from her smile when she nodded her agreement as Vilkiss landed at the island, at the same spot Embryo almost ripped her alive.
Once Tusk hurriedly leapt off Vilkiss and allowed Ange to take the seat, they spot Rush and Embryo's bodies, don't know if they should grin their amusement or gawk their shock at seeing their ally forcing their enemy to lie on the ground and him lying on top of the other when Tusk caught Ange. But to their horror and anger, Hysterica somehow materialized above the two in a flash of light and, without its pilot, flew away in its Destroyer Mode to start its aerial fight against either Salamandinay, Salia, or Hilda.
"Rush!" Tusk called, watching Rush hurriedly climb on his hands and knees and look over his right shoulder.
"Tusk!" Rush's surprise immediately changed to release a cry of pain when one of Embryo's legs between and under Rush's swiftly swung upwards and send him flying over him, landing his back painfully on the grass while Embryo speedily hopped and flip his body to land on his feet, glaring his rage at Tusk to automatically get into his Ripper state, gritting his shark-like teeth and his green eyes glowed brighter to hide his pupil like his Mana-infused veins.
"YOU LITTLE APE!" Embryo furiously charged towards Tusk, who managed to hear someone calling him from above. "Sir Tusk!" Looking up, Tusk successfully caught Salamandinay's sword that she threw it at him before flying away in time for Tusk to block Embryo's Ripper blade.
Hearing a snap of the opponent's fingers, Tusk noticed three familiar Ragna-mails appearing out of nowhere and in the sky, remembering that they were destroyed earlier before the three pilotless units also join Hysterica against the other four machines including Vilkiss, forcing them to split and fight Hysterica and the three Ragna-mails one by one while Tusk and Embryo start parrying their attacks in each strike, with Rush hurriedly getting on his feet with his scarred hands grabbing his gun and ran after them, making their physical fight a 2-in-1 fight.
"Good thing you're here, Vilkiss! We got one last fight to win!" Ange sighed in relief, grabbing both Vilkiss's handles with her ring returned to its place, watching Villkiss immediately shining a bright white light all over it and her inside the light as well, collecting Ange's amazement once the light fade to show that Villkiss has now change colour back to white, but it still retained the red streaks and golden gears. At the same time, Ange realized she is now wearing a pure white pilot suit.
Instead of questioning itself, somehow sensing that it is impatient to fight and win this battle, Ange smiled. Better than fighting naked. "Let's go, Villkiss!" Ange declared, rocketing off the island and joining her friends against Hysterica and the three, rebuilt Ragna-mails with Vilkiss flying straight to Embryo's unit. Hopefully Tusk and Rush will kill Embryo at the same time she will destroy his machine.
"You and your savage kind!" Embryo growled, viciously swinging his blade with Tusk trying to keep up in each strike, almost falling backwards from the surprisingly strong strength. "I will never forgive you!"
"I should say the same to you!" Tusk responded as he and Embryo clash their blades again before Tusk pushed him back in time for Rush to shoot a bullet at Embryo from his location, alarming Embryo to summon a Mana forcefield with his free hand to block the bullet but unknowingly leaving himself open for Tusk to quickly swing Sala's sword and sliced the same arm off his shoulder, shocking Embryo with his glowing eyes looking at where he lost his arm, bursting some blood out of his now missing limb. But when Tusk is ready to stab straight through Embryo's body, both he and Rush who ran towards them witness Embryo quickly catch his discarded arm with his shark-like teeth and twirl his body to swing his leg and hit Tusk's right cheek to send him flying before leaping back to avoid Rush swinging his gun like a club, alarming the scarred gunner to ran towards Tusk.
Pulling the boy up to his feet, Rush and Tusk glared at Embryo ferociously glaring at them and biting his detached arm harder, like a predatory animal catching its prey in its jaws, which the limb somehow glows a matching colour of Mana until it disappeared in seconds while another flash of light green light ejected from the torn sleeve and reveal Embryo's arm as it was but no longer bearing a sleeve and glove, revealing his glowing veins on his barred skin.
'He's not using his clones?' Tusk noticed in dread, his terror of Embryo's unexpectedly sadistic actions, surprised that he managed to bring his arm back, returned.
"Tusk!" Rush quickly pushes Tusk away, sparing him from getting shot by Embryo who teleported behind Tusk and shoots a bullet before he disappears and reappears around Tusk and Rush numerous times to disappear as fast as a blink of an eye, shooting bullets at Tusk who cannot block at any of them while hitting his gun at Rush's instead of his Ripper blade dangling on his wrist. "As punishment for your people's sins and my children's deaths, you will die more than what Aya and Khalifa were forced to get!" Tusk heard Embryo yelling his vehemence at him as he continues to unsuccessfully avoid his bullets.
When Embryo's unit somehow summons the rebuilt Eirene, Victoria, and Raziya units and sends them flying straight towards them while Hysterica proceeds to fight Vilkiss, Salia was forced to fight Irma's old unit when she had Cleopatra draw its sword and clash it against the other's sword, sparking light or blue bursts of energy from the strike. "Hello, Salia," Salia gasps her surprise at hearing Embryo's voice chuckling through Eirene, its red eyes bear a glowing green light just like Hysterica. "Are you here to avenge Alektra?"
"Yeah…That's why I'll kill you so she'll stay alive!" Salia's false happiness lasted for a few seconds before her anger for his betrayal resurfaced when Cleopatra rebounded its blade and knocked the Eirene back, readily raised her unit's sword over itself and was about to slice through the other Ragna-mail. "Get ready! This one's for Alektra!"
But instead, Salia froze in shock at Cleopatra stopping before she could give the killing blow, hovering the sword over the two Ragna-mails, unable to notice how Cleopatra's red eyes also glow green like Embryo's unit. 'What's going on?' Salia wondered as she tried to get her control back but Cleopatra refuses to do anything when she helplessly watches the machine turn around and aims her beam rifle at Salamandinay fighting against Tanya's Victoria farther from her.
"Get away!" Salamandinay heard Salia crying towards her from her radio, alarmed by the desperation in her voice, and saw her Ragna-mail firing a beam bullet at her, forcing her and the Victoria Ragna-mail to back away from almost getting shot. "What the hell? He did something to Chris's machine!" Salamandinay heard Hilda's radio grunting as she resumes her fight with the pink-trimmed Ragna-mail.
From her sights, Salia and Hilda are having difficulty controlling their respective Ragna-mails who are now hovering but unable to fight, as if Embryo got them under his filthy hands like puppets.
Ange soared Villkiss to chase after Hysterica and both units twirled around while clashing their swords and conjuring their beam shields on their other arms. But to Ange's chagrin, she can feel that Embryo is going to overpower Vilkiss by how she is strangely pushing backwards. "You're only human, Ange…and humans can only suffer with pain and sin themselves to death, no matter how much we try to change to survive. I've seen it all and it's unbearably terrifying even more than you would imagine." Ange heard Embryo speaking through the Hysterica, just like he did to the other resurrected Ragna-mail, with his voice gritting in anger and sorrow.
"Is that why you abducted and abuse her, planning to kill her?" Ange heard Sala's voice from her radio when she watched Enryugo fly around and dodge Raziya's beam bullets before Sala rammed straight into the other. "You are right that the old humanity was heartless and violent, and you surprisingly had the love from those who wished to save you and made you less of a pathetic man, but your sins to both our people are inexcusable."
"Sala." Ange gasped.
"Ange isn't the type of girl who wouldn't be taken by an insane doucebag like you!" Hilda chimed in, trying to get Chris's Ragna-mail back in control but it remains unresponsive.
"Hilda…Yeah, what they say!" Ange's smile at Hilda's remark shifted into a determined glower, pushing Hysterica back by swinging Vilkiss's sword upwards and quickly kicking its leg straight to Hysterica's stomach. "I'm not going to let everybody have their way with me!"
Hearing Ange's bold words like the initially selfish person she used to be collected Salia's surprise. "She's right…neither will I." Salia decided aloud, tightening her grip on Cleopatra's handle. "As Aura said, the Ragna-mail you created response to the people's will. It's my life…and no one will control me anymore!" Her declaration somehow prompt her ring and Cleopatra's screens to glow as brightly as Ange's ring and Vilkiss did, astonishing her in awe as she sensed Cleopatra is no longer in Embryo's control and changed its black colour into the exact blue colour as her old Arquebus but retaining the dark blue linings, thankfully she can still fly it when she back away from the Eirene Para-mail hurriedly shooting a beam bullet to it.
"Same for me! I'd be damned if I'm gonna let some asshole get and kill me and my friends!" Hilda also declared, witnessing Chris's ring and Theodora glowing like the others, only the black colour of the machine changed into red and retain the green linings, yet unlike Salia, its sword extends a beam of red light like Ange's, managing to get into the Ragna-mail's controls like Salia.
With a furious cry, both Hilda and Salia soar their machines to Irma and Tanya's old Ragna-mails with Hilda swinging a horizontal slash of beam energy through Victoria's stomach and Salia jabbing Cleopatra's sword straight through Eirene's, both destroyed units exploded into heavy balls of fire with Hilda and Salia backing away in time.
"You're right, Embryo, I am a human!" Ange suddenly spoke, hearing Embryo's voice gasped his surprise from the Hysterica who raised its head, both it and Vilkiss clash their blades as violently as they can to release nothing but countless sparks of pinkish-red energy from each strike. "I'm a glitch in your system because I'm too stubborn to do what you and everyone say. That's what a human is!" Hysterica flew backwards and fire its beam bullets at Vilkiss who deflected them with her pink beam shield and flew closer in time to sever the entire right arm and rifle out of the machine in one slice. "I get it now; why the Norma were born and only as girls."
"Submit!" Flying closer to the last Ragna-mail who caught, Salamandinay had the Enryugo fire her Seiran straight through the Raziya, splitting the machine in half before the Enryugo flew back in time to avoid getting exploded when the Raziya did.
"Human beings, inside and outside the Haven, can't escape from your torture and mind games because it's in their genes. But Norma are women so that they can bear children who can rise and kill you one day." Ange theorized, lifting her ringed arm to smile at her ring. "Maybe Mother knew that to give me her song and this ring; So that I can end this corrupted world and the psycho who created it!"
Not once that Rush and the ape ever managed to gun and strike him down with their bullets and blows of the other's sword, yet they are the ones bleeding from receiving his attacks, due to teleporting and avoiding each of their moves until he can hear and guess that Rush ran out of bullets, Embryo listened to Ange's theorizing about the Norma's birth and her declaration from the Hysterica's radio when he blocked a strike of the monkey's sword, using his frustration as the distraction for Embryo to swiftly swing and climb his body on top on the boy, shocking the brunette before he was thrown over his feet and crashed into Rush by Embryo's legs grabbing him by the neck and spin his body to touch the grass-filled ground with his hands, an aggressive wrestling move, and watching both men fell and tumbled on the ground by the unexpected move.
'That's her theory?' Embryo wondered, panting and hurriedly standing on his heeled feet the same as Rush and his comrade hurriedly get themselves up, the former looked at him in disbelief when he mouthed 'What the 'fudge', Em!?' for his stunt, making Embryo chuckle from his smile when he thought about Ange's words. Thinking deeper about that theory…Embryo can agree with her.
"…Thank you, Ange…" Embryo, surprising Tusk and Rush that he is not even mocking her in sadistic sarcasm when they heard him, agreed with his smile no longer bearing his insanity but still in his Ripper state curled into a furious sneer only towards Tusk and dashed towards his opponents with his Ripper blade in hand. "Then kill me to prove your theory right, for your fallen comrades!" Without command, Hysterica unveiled the Space-Time Cannon ready to fire at Ange and Vilkiss.
"Fine! That's your call!" Initially surprised of hearing Embryo demanding her to kill him, Ange immediately accepted when she unlocked the controls to unveil Vilkiss's Space-Time Cannons, not even needing to sing Eternal Story for Vilkiss to automatically glow golden and charge the cannons before both Hysterica and Vilkiss fired their blasts at each other. Although both their energy blasts of spacetime are overwhelming, Ange needs to push herself further.
"Burn in hell!" With nothing but rage, Vilkiss increased the tenacity of its blast and overpowered Hysterica's shot, destroying the machine's lower half and its wings once the light and spacetime grew brighter than the sun for seconds until it dismisses into nothing, showing the burnt remains of the Hysterica's upper half with only its left arm.
"What?! That's absurd!" Tusk and Rush heard Embryo gasp his horror, too focused on Ange almost destroying his Ragna-mail and somehow reverting from his Ripper state. A nudge of his right arm alarmed Tusk to look and see Rush staring at him with a confident frown and nod his head at Embryo's distraction. Tusk doesn't need Rush to say it when he nodded back and ready Salamandinay's sword.
"Mother, Father, and our fallen people…" Tusk declared, running past Rush towards Embryo, and leapt off the ground right when Embryo noticed but couldn't block his Ripper blade from Tusk's sword slicing through his body from above his head. "This is for you!" Suddenly, Tusk felt a hand grabbing the back of his pilot suit and froze with a gasp of shock from finding himself flying and thrown away from Embryo, only catching a white blur zooming towards where Embryo last stood.
The second he received the monkey's sword slashing him horizontally, crying his pain and anger from seeing red from his blood bursting out of his head and body but luckily not completely split in half, cursing himself as a fool who didn't block that attack, Embryo speedily thrust his Ripper blade forward. But hearing a grown man's voice gasping when he jabs his blade, Embryo's glowing eyes widened in dismay at seeing himself impaling through's the area between Rush's left shoulder and the heart, blood releasing from Rush's mouth like the area of his white suit when he managed to get himself stabbed and threw his comrade away from them and behind.
'Rush!?' Embryo mentally gasped in horror. What is he doing?! But he couldn't demand or pull back the Ripper blade off Rush when, even in his injured state, his scarred hands grabbed the hand stabbingEmbryo's Ripper blade through him while Embryo noticed the area around them immediately release what appears to be green smoke swirling around with them inside like a large cocoon, further increasing Embryo's horror for recognizing the ominous green smoke trapping them.
"…Well, Em…" Even when he purposely let himself be stabbed with Em's Ripper blade and threw Tusk away, hurting like hell, the sight of both his soon-to-be killer and last kill staring at him in such fear that looks like he will break down in tears again, especially while he is bleeding from getting sliced in half but surprisingly stays alive, seem to make Rush weakly smile his pleasure without hesitance of doing what he did, activating and dropping the gas bomb like the one he used to burn Emperor Jurai's body to trap each other in the cocoon of smoke, ready to change them into flames in seconds. "…Looks like I get to do…My Final Hell." Rush admitted.
"Rush, no! You're going to die! I can't let you lose your life for me!" Embryo begged. He was about to either grab Rush's hands away from the Ripper blade or the back of his suit with his free hand, planning to throw Rush away before he could activate the infernal flames from the smoke and follow him into Hell when he shuddered from Rush's hands now grabbing both Embryo's bloodied cheeks, not once that Rush show any emotion from the weak smile he can muster while he is still impaled but determined to take themselves to Hell.
As…that's the…end of… our story…
So that…we will be…
Embryo blinked and gasp in disbelief at hearing Rush singing the last two verses of his lullaby while he smiles his, managing to feel not only his eyes automatically shedding tears but feeling himself going numb to almost drop his hands off his blade and soon feeling his conscious and almost all his blood reducing, coating Rush's clothed body with his.
"…Set free…" Embryo quietly finished his song, closing his eyes and resting against Rush, not opening them when he felt something familiar and the excruciation of exploding inside and outside from the smoke changing itself into flames, first seeing white then reduced into black and then nothing…
Tusk grunted and whined after his bleeding body landed roughly on the ground from being sent flying away, managing to deal the killing blow when he heard Rush releasing a forced gasp and Embryo suddenly begging the other in panic, alarming Tusk to hurriedly climb on his knees and see Rush missing and the bubble of green smoke swirling around Embryo's last spot. He doesn't need to guess where Rush is but is distressed by what he is planning to do after seeing Rush's gas bomb hiding himself and Embryo inside for Tusk to quickly run towards it, hoping Rush won't activate the smoke bomb.
"Rush, no!" Tusk had just reached his arm forward when he stopped himself and backed away from the explosion that almost took him but was strong enough for Tusk to again fly a bit farther and land his butt on the ground from the explosion's wind, his violet eyes bulged wide in horror at the large fire that appeared before him. Although the flames and smoke were thick to hide them, Tusk's fear and denial grew into the realization of seeing pieces of what were supposed to be two bodies and some pair of limbs littered on the ground and starting to disintegrate through the flames that will slowly extinguish itself with time.
'…Rush…'
"You want to screw with me again…Give it a few thousand years!" Ange professed her determination and disgust as Vilkiss raise its right arm with its pink light-enveloped sword, and forcefully swung both the arm and the sword down through Hysterica, the impact sent the now inactive machine flying backwards before Ange, Hilda, Salia, and Salamandinay watch the machine, the last thing of their enemy, burst in a massive explosion alongside a sudden appearance of a Singularity crackling with blue and pinkish-red or violent energy in the sky, blinding everything in white light that consumes the entire world before the Singularity expands to now replace the space and star-filled void into the blue sky with white cloud until the singularity disappeared, the island Tusk and Rush were is no longer floating onto the void but rather placed in the ocean as it should be.
"Ange!" Watching Vilkiss, Enryugo, and the two Ragna-mails landing themselves behind and away from the burning area of the cliff, Tusk grasped his right arm on his bleeding left shoulder and ran towards Vilkiss with Ange hurriedly jumping off and removing her visor for the two to embrace each other. "Oh, Tusk!" They did it. They won the fight.
From above, the booming sound of rocket engines collected Ange and Tusk's attention to look up and smile in amazement at Aurora, Hades, and all the Gliders holding their trailers carrying the surviving refugees flying closer and both battleships land themselves in the ocean while the Gliders parked in Arzenal's landing platform, with Kaname and Naga's Ryuu-shin-kis flying around the sky and soon joining to park themselves closer to Salamandinay's Enryugo.
"We did it." Tusk smiled.
"We sure did." Ange agreed.
"You guys did it!" Ange and Tusk, with Hilda, Salia, and Salamandinay as well when they hopped off their machines, heard Vivian and Ammo's voices calling for them, spotting the Libertus crew walking towards them from Momoka with G. H. O. S. T, Cynical with Hyacinth, Rosalie with Chris, Ersha with Red Death, Ammo who quickly ran away from the group and raised his arms to wrap them around Salia who happily accept the hug in happiness, Vivian with Moon, Ular, and Hebi, Apache, Jasmine with Vulcan, Mary and Nonna, Mei with Inspector Emma Bronson, Lizardia holding Julio's hand to guide him as his eyes, Seri Ranka and Misty, and Maggie holding Jill's only arm over her shoulders and help her walk.
"You're all here." Ange's smile grew brighter at seeing their friends safe and joining them. "But how?"
"Time for a pop quiz! Does anyone know where the heck we are?" Vivian asked everyone.
"It does seem to be Arzenal." Emma Bronson mused, fixing her glasses when everyone heard the familiar, soft, and wise voice answer Vivian's question instead above their heads.
"I welcome you all to our planet; the True Earth." Everyone raised their heads and almost everyone gasped their amazement at seeing Aura flying above them with the surviving DRAGONs flying around or away from Aura to head to their homes. "Time and space are now liberated, which has returned everything to its rightful place. The dimensional merge has failed, and all living things are now free. This world has been saved and belongs to you now."
"Well, even if this is our new home, you both did it. You killed Embryo." Jill smiled a confident smirk at Ange and Tusk, the former grinned back. Even after missing her prosthetic arm and almost getting herself dead by Embryo, Alektra is still a stubborn woman but at least she'll live. Suddenly, Ange realized that someone is missing from their group.
"Tusk, where's Rush?" Tusk's expression immediately soured in sorrow, turning his head to the side, collecting everyone to follow and gasp in their horror and grief. As the sudden fire has gone down into some tiny flames from the burnt area of the ground closer to them, charred and withered body pieces familiar to belong to Embryo and Rush clustered on top of each other as nearly black kindling and both the former's blade and the latter's gun, with the addition of something that looks like a disc and the possible source of what killed them, have been broken into pieces and slowly melted against the burnt grass.
The sight of their corpses was enough for some of them to immediately shed tears with Ersha, Salia, Momoka, Siren, Misty, and Julio who can guess by their gasping but also as saddened by Rush's revealed death, feeling themselves being embraced by Red Death, Ammo, Kiyoshi, Robin, Seri Ranka, and Lizardia's arms.
"Rush…" Ange choked in horror, also releasing tears from her eyes when she felt Tusk sadly embrace her back again. Rush, initially someone whom she despised but also became one of her dear friends to the end, sacrificed himself to take down Embryo.
"He threw me back after I dealt the killing blow," Tusk admitted, choking his words but cannot stop his eyes from crying his sadness. "I couldn't stop him in time."
"Rush told me, on the day we met, that he was eight years old when he decided and planned to use what he called 'the Final Hell' before he was rescued by the Haven and learned about everything in the old world, as his last action to kill the one who tortured us with his rules," Jill confessed, trying to keep a strong font but everyone can see that, by how her eyes closed shut to stop her tears from welling up, she is saddened to accept Rush's death. In Jasmine's case when she glanced at the ex-Commander, even if they have their differences, she and Rush do love each other like sibling figures. "Even before meeting Embryo, he is still wishing to die for us."
"And he kept that as a secret, even from us?" Hyacinth asked with her sleeved arms hiding her mouth, her hesitance to accept the truth broke when Jill sadly nodded her answer.
"He told me his reason when I asked him that same question; not wanting his people to go to Hell with him if he stayed alive." Everyone lowered their head, feeling nothing but sorrow that will shatter their composure for their last, fallen comrade.
Breaking the news of Rush's death, the victory on their side, and their new home and lives in the True Earth to the Haven and their refugees which also includes Sylvia who quickly joined her older siblings' side as the complete but orphaned Misurugi family, Hyacinth's husband and Seri Ranka's mother as the two surviving former rulers of the other Earth, with the Haven also as distraught and saddened of their ruler and Commander's sacrifice to win the war between humans, Norma, and the DRAGON, they spend their first evening in their new home creating a funeral for Rush by, repeating his Final Hell, burning his last remains, and unfortunately mixing them with Embryo's since everyone cannot guess which parts of the remnants belong to Rush, inside a makeshift coffin made out of some debris from the destroyed side of the DRAGONs' city, and allowed one of the DRAGONs willing to carry the burning coffin over the cliff they last fought each other, and flew away to find somewhere to drop it to the ocean, with the Ancient and Haven-humans, Norma, and DRAGONs watching it happen with nothing but melancholy that their friend, leader, or former enemy has passed on in a dangerous and suicidal but noble act.
After the forlorn funeral has ended until the evening has arrived for the starry night and full moon to come, everyone grouped in the centre of the city with Aura standing on top of her tower, looming over all humans and DRAGONs, with Haven and Libertus seeing some of their people will begin wondering what they shall do now with, especially when living with DRAGONs they initially thought as enemies or monsters. "Forgive me for asking you this now, Ange…" Salamandinay called Ange with a sad frown, gathering everyone's attention. "…But I'm curious to know what you will do now. Neither of our people will need to fight each other. And with the survivors the Haven collected, it seems that it will be a lot for them to have their new place here."
Ange mused, pondering how to answer that question with everyone not helping her by looking at her in curiosity. After thinking a lot, Ange got her answer when everyone didn't get to ask but watch in confusion of Ange running away from them and headed to the top of the base of Aura's tower, managing to collect some of the others' attention until she turned to stand in front of everyone.
"Hey, everyone!" Ange waved her arms over her head and called every human and DRAGON's attention towards her, all bearing surprise and curiosity of a confident scowl on Ange's face. "I can guess what you all are thinking; what is going to happen and what will you do now? Now that we are no longer living on our former Earth, not caring about the people who are still living there without relying on the Mana to survive or die, what we should be doing right now is living the way we wanted to!" Ange can see the shock on the humans' faces, but she smiled her appreciation at seeing most of the Haven humans immediately agreeing with their nods and smiles, including Sylvia who held Julio's hand since Lizardia and Moon joined Tiamat and Drake. "Which is why, from starting now, we shall make our own nation right here, where humans, Norma, and DRAGONs can live together with whatever we can on our will and make our own choices! No matter what!"
When she finished declaring, all of Ange's friends, the Haven, and the DRAGONs immediately respond with almost every human raising their fisted hands and the DRAGONs roaring their agreement, filling the night air with cheers and inhuman screeches of happiness.
"Yes, Ma'am!"
"What do you think, Alektra? That does sound nice now that all is over, and we don't need to fight the DRAGONs?" Jasmine asked Alektra beside her with a smile, patting her hand on Vulcan who happily barked his agreement, as Alektra grasped her hand on the stump of her missing right arm until Maggie, Doctor Voroton, and this Dr Gecko can help make a new prosthetic. Responding with a chortle from her smile, Alektra stared at only Ange standing at the base of the Dawn Pillar-like tower but now joined by her friends and siblings running and embracing her for her announcement.
Seeing her standing there and shouting at them with such pride brought back an old memory in Alektra.
'Ange acts a bit like you from that day, little brother.' Alektra wondered as she remembered and compared Rush's declaration of being the Human Killer those years ago to Ange's pronouncement of spending their new lives in their new home with the DRAGONs, slowly raising her head to stare at the star-filled sky noticeably different than the sky in Arzenal.
'We'll live our new lives for you…so have fun fighting in Hell you kept saying you want to do as your peace, Rush.'
A/N: Don't worry. There's still the epilogue and final bonus chapter that I will post at the same time. But I'm so happy that this story is coming to an end. I still can't believe that this took me almost two years (I know it could be less than a year and a half, but it feels longer to me). Even if it's not much, and I'm not as experienced in writing this as others who write amazing stories for this fandom, I can't thank you all enough to read this story that I hope you all have enjoyed. Here is my final trivia:
. In this story; Embryo DOESN'T split his consciousness/ have his true body stuffed inside Hysterica. He is simply stronger and powerful than his canon self to control his machine without doing so. Again, fuck his canon self.
. The question I know readers are going to ask: Does Rush have to die, even if he is the main OC protagonist?
Answer: Yes. Even before writing this story, I was curious about a protagonist who sacrifices themselves and the impact it could give, even if it happens in the ending, just to make it different. And I find it fitting for Rush's character.
- I did think of Alektra dying like in canon, but I decided that since she is a cool character to me and her death was averted in the two Super Robot Wars games that featured Cross Ange, I want to spare Alektra instead.
. In the Multiverse scene at the beginning of this chapter, since it was mentioned numerous times in this story but talked a little bit in canon, I added references to other Cross Ange fanfictions:
- Eric Michael Kline's Knight of Hilda (Since it is one of the inspirations for me to write Living Hell)
- Raggylad98's GLITCH IN THE SYSTEM (There is a second reference with this by Ange slightly saying the title in the final battle. Look for it.)
- Alien5703's Soldiers from Another World
- And my upcoming crossover with Kingdom Hearts, which I shall write sometime after this alongside some other stories.
[Because I lucid dreamt on two different occasions that Rush and Embryo ended up in the KH-verse and allying with Sora, Donald, and Goofy. [One lucid dream with Rush's version was dated 25/1/2022 and the other with Embryo's version was literally 11/2/2023 (last Saturday by the time this chapter was posted)]
... [Yes, I lucid dream my story ideas almost every time]
Final: With that, thank you all so much for reading and hope you like and review what you all think.