Disclaimer: I don't own anything that doesn't belong to me.
Bug-Ohi spread her wings and took to the skies, zigzagging all over the place to dodge Caesar's eyebeams. She reached back, pulled off her wings, and threw them at the Roman tyrant like a giant throwing star. Caesar quickly raised his shield to block the attack, deflecting the wings, but while his vision was temporarily obscured Arackaiserin darted behind him and lashed out with her ponytail, driving her stinger into his back. He cried out in pain, and the arachnid giant grinned…
And was startled when Caesar whirled around, lashing out with his sword. She was forced to bend over backwards to dodge the strike, which passed so close over her it nearly scratched her carapace. Bracing herself against the seafloor with her pincers, she brought her legs up and wrapped them around Caesar's sword hand, holding it in place as her stinger lashed out again and again, trying to penetrate his armor, only for him to block her strikes with his shield. In an impressive feat of strength, he lifted her off the ground with a single arm and threw her away, only for her to be caught by Bug-Ohi.
"Are you all right?" She asked in concern, landing in the water as Gokami Pharaoh charged at Caesar, engaging him in a sword fight.
"I don't believe it… He withstood a direct infusion of my venom," Arackaiserin said in disbelief. "He doesn't seem to be debilitated in any way!"
"I don't feel strong as I should be either," Bug-Ohi admitted. "It must be because neither of us are really here, we're just possessing constructs made by our mortal components."
"That would make sense," Arackaiserin agreed. "That means neither of us can use our full strength. No Arachnid Armaments for me, and you can't use any of your auxiliary Divine Insects."
"And without Shin or the ShinLiner, I can't summon the Shin Saber," Bug-Ohi complained. "We'll just have to make do without, I suppose."
"It's a good thing we aren't alone in this fight, then," Arackaiserin added.
As Caesar and Gokami Pharaoh locked blades, Asterix leapt off his perch on the Egyptian mecha's shoulder, landing on the flat of her blade and running up its length. As the swords parted for another clash, he leapt off and arced through the air towards Caesar, drawing his sword. "Ready for a close shave, Julius?"
"No thanks, I already have a barber!" Caesar retorted, thrusting his shield forwards. Asterix drove his sword into it, giving himself a handhold, and clung to it for dear life as the annoyed Emperor tried to shake him off.
"But can he cut a soul from your body? Jiruma Magi Magiine!" Bug-Ohi cried, casting an exorcism spell.
Caesar cried in agony as the magic sank into his body. His figure distorted, and for a second it looked as if the Alexander Parka Ghost was being pushed out of his back…
Only for it to snap back inside. "Not… Good enough!" Caesar snarled, firing his eye beams at Bug-Ohi, cutting across her chest and causing her to cry out as sparks and flecks of webbing flew.
"Then maybe this will be!" Arackaiserin snarled, charging up her stinger with magical energy and thrusting it at Caesar.
The tyrant caught it on his shield, the barb driving into the shield right next to Asterix. "Hey, watch it!"
"I'm afraid that won't work-" Caesar started, only to shout as Gokami Pharaoh drove her sword into his back.
"Hurry, do it now!" Cleopatra commanded Thotep, who hurriedly finished the last touch on a scroll, rolled it up, and threw it out of the cockpit, where it enlarged, unfurled in the air, and blasted Caesar in the back with glowing hieroglyphics. At the same time, a powerful blast of magical energy exploded out from where Arackaiserin's stinger was embedded in the shield, causing Asterix to wail and desperately hold onto his sword to keep from being thrown off.
"Damn… It's still not enough!" Arackaiserin cursed as the Parka Ghost again started to manifest, but was still mostly inside of Caesar's body and was fighting very hard not to be removed from it.
"Let's try this again! Jiruma Magi Magi Magiine!" Bug-Ohi chanted, casting an even more powerful spell at Caesar.
Caesar howled as his body was engulfed in multiple rings of light, the colors of three magical powers washing over him and causing him to convulse in agony. His scream started to distort and echo in stereo as the spirit of Alexander screamed as well, the power of the triple exorcism forcing him bit by bit from his host…
"N…NO!"
With a shout of defiance, the spirit of Alexander snapped back into Caesar's body, and a tremendous blast of energy exploded out from him in every direction, flinging the three mecha away.
"No! It didn't work!" Nefer cried.
"Incredible… Just how powerful is Alexander's soul?!" Gozim whispered in disbelief.
"That… Should have gotten him!" Bug-Ohi gasped.
"Our magic is weaker too, since so much of it is being used to maintain these bodies… If we were here for real, this would be over by now!" Arackaiserin snarled.
"But you're not, so it isn't," Caesar bragged, raising his sword as energy started gathering it. "You fools really thought you stood a chance? I'm the greatest conqueror of this age, imbued with the power and spirit of the greatest conqueror of all! I stand above all of you, a Titan reborn-"
He was cut off by a very large menhir to the face.
"You talk too much!" Obelix shouted, already unearthing another massive stone to throw.
Roaring in insensate fury, Caesar unleashed his blade in the direction of the city. The three mecha cried out in horror, struggling to intercept it, but they needn't have bothered. Obelix's hands clapped shut on the energy blade just before it could plow into the pier he was standing on, holding it in place.
He yawned. "Huh, is that all? Are we going to get started anytime soon?"
"YOU-" Caesar bellowed.
"OY, JULIUS! HERE'S THAT SHAVE YOU DIDN'T ASK FOR!"
TCHAC!
Asterix delivered a mighty chop to Caesar's face with his sword as he flew past, causing the tyrant to howl in anguish, dropping his weapons as he clutched his face, blood gushing through his fingers. Asterix laughed triumphantly…
And then realized he was heading right for the water. "I did not think this throooooooough!"
"Hang on, Asterix!" Casually throwing the energy blade away and causing it to bisect a distant hill, Obelix started spinning his arms like wheels, ripping out and hurling menhirs through the air one after another.
The elongated stones hurtled through the air in staggered intervals, the first one appearing right beneath Asterix. He ran along its length and jumped off, landing on a second menhir beneath him, then a third, and a fourth, and so on, using the menhirs as floating steppingstones to traverse the length of the bay before finally dropping onto the far shore, striking a pose as he landed. Confetti fluttered down from above, and a group of very impressed sailors on a nearby ship applauded, three of them holding up tablets with X carved into them.
Cleopatra laughed. "Well done, Asterix!"
"The Gauls really are as incredible as the history books say," said an awestruck Bug-Ohi.
"I'm starting to wonder if maybe I should read some of those books," an impressed Arackaiserin commented.
"You should," Bug-Ohi agreed. "There's about 40 of them, and they can be a little contradictory and some of them are downright weird – a lot of scholars like to pretend the one with the alien invasion never happened – but they make for fun reads."
"Damn you… damn you Asterix, damn you Gauls, damn you ALL!" Caesar shrieked, removing his hand to reveal that a massive, ugly gash had been cut through his face, running through an eye and ripping his mask in twain, the two pieces tumbling into the water below. "No matter where I go, no matter what I do, you somehow find a way to foil my plans… And I'm through with it!"
The earth began to shake, the water surged around him, and a red aura blazed up around him. "I am Gaius Julius Caesar, son of Venus, ruler of the Roman empire, leader of the greatest army in the world… And I shall be made a fool of no longer!"
His cape disintegrated, his skin turned red, and a third eye opened in his forehead, though technically it was the second eye since his first eye had been cut out by Asterix.
"Oh no, he's turned red! That means he's getting serious now!" An alarmed Bug-Ohi commented.
"I had no idea," Arackaiserin deadpanned.
Caesar crouched into a fighting stance, aura still billowing around him. "The true power of Alexander has awakened within me… You stand no chance against me now!"
"… Something's wrong. He hasn't picked up his weapons," a worried Thotep noted.
"And he isn't attacking us either, he's just… Standing there," Akilah murmured.
"I don't trust this…" Gozim growled. "That stance… I see no weaknesses."
"Neither do I. I think he wants us to attack him," Mark agreed.
"Then we must not give him the satisfaction," Cleopatra said. "Let him come to us!"
"Or we could just do this," Bug-Ohi suggested, powering up her left arm and firing rapid shots from her Ant Buster while Arackaiserin did the same with her pincers.
Caesar's hands lit up with auras resembling an Eagle and bull and moved through the air almost faster than the eye could see, catching every energy bullet before they could strike him.
Arackaiserin scowled, disgruntled. "I hate when they do that."
"Yeah, but can he handle THIS?" Obelix shouted, hurling dozens of menhirs at Caesar.
Once again, Caesar blocked and deflected every projectile.
"It would appear he can," Getafix said mildly, stirring his cauldron.
"At least I'm doing something!" Obelix snapped, embarrassed.
"So am I. I'm brewing up something very special…" Getafix murmured.
Caesar chuckled. "Oh? So none of you are brave enough to test my new strength up close? No matter. I already know how to take out two of you with one stone, thanks to the power of the eye…"
His third (second?) eye bulged and stared at the alarmed Arackaiserin. "The spider sorceress Aranea is the one generating those remote bodies you are using… If I take out her avatar, the backlash will cause her spell to break and make the other one dissolve as well!"
"That's… Right," Arackaiserin stammered, startled. "But… There's no way you could possibly have known that!"
Caesar laughed. "Thanks to the Eye of Alexander, nothing is hidden from me now… This must be what it was like for dear, departed Argus!" He grinned. "It's thanks to him that I have obtained this power… And so I will honor him by avenging his death, starting with you!"
He dashed forwards at startling speeds. Reflexively, Arackaiserin thrust her stinger at him before he could get close…
And when a smirk formed on his face, she realized far too late that was exactly what he wanted.
Immediately stopping on a dime, Caesar swiftly shifted into his stance from before. His right hand, engulfed in aura shaped like an eagle wing, came down in a chop that cut through her stinger, causing the barb to dissolve into webbing. As Arackaiserin reeled in disbelief, Caesar's left fist, engulfed with aura shaped like a bull's head, slammed into her gut, causing her to spit out webbing, and then he brought both hands together and hit her with an energy blast shaped like a lion's head, sending her flying.
"Arackaiserin!" Bug-Ohi cried… And gasped, as part of her body started to unravel. "What-"
"No… I… I won't…" Arackaiserin, who was also unraveling, grit her teeth and concentrated, willing her body to knit itself back together. "That… was close. I don't think I can take another hit like that."
"The heck kind of move was that?!" The horrified Nefer exclaimed.
"This stance makes me completely unstoppable," Caesar bragged, getting into it again. "It is the ultimate combination of defense, offense, and magic!"
"Wait… Oh! I've heard of something like this!" Bug-Ohi exclaimed. "There was once a powerful demon lord who had a similar stance! With one hand, he could deflect an attack, with his second, he could inflict a crushing blow that could pierce any armor, and then he could finish the combo with a virtually unstoppable magic blast! It allowed him to counter up to three attacks at once, leaving his adversaries virtually helpless against him!"
"Were they able to beat him?" Cleopatra asked him concern.
"They were," Bug-Ohi confirmed. "There's no such thing as a truly unbeatable technique, after all."
Caesar grinned. "Oh? Care to test that?"
Bug-Ohi narrowed her eyes. "Sure thing."
Without warning, she pulled off her wings and threw them at Caesar. The Eagle aura forming on his right hand, the tyrant bought it down a chop that split the giant throwing star in half, the wings dissolving into shreds of webbing. As Bug-Ohi charged forwards, he thrust his bull aura-encased left fist at her, but she countered it with her mantis blade, the fist smashing into it and destroying her right arm. He then fired the lion blast, but the mecha responded with a charged up shot from her Ant Buster, creating an explosion.
Before the flames dissipated, she launched forwards in a flying kick, but Caesar hopped back, quickly getting into his stance again. Bug-Ohi smirked. "Just as I thought."
Arackaiserin blinked. "What do… Oh! Yes, I see it now."
"Ah! Of course! Well played!" Thotep realized.
"What is?" Asked the confused Nefer.
"Didn't you notice? When Bug-Ohi tried to kick him, instead of countering it with his stance, he dodged instead," Akilah observed. "While that technique of his is very strong, allowing him to counter up to three attacks at once… He can't use it again immediately afterwards!"
"Well spotted," Caesar admitted grudgingly. "Unfortunately, you are unable to take advantage of this slight weakness. Thanks to the power of my eye, I can read your body movements and anticipate your attacks. Even if you can survive all three hits of my combo – unlikely considering how weak all of you have become – you won't be able to land a meaningful blow during my brief moment of vulnerability."
"I could throw a menhir," Obelix pointed out.
"I repeat, you won't be able to land a meaningful blow during my brief moment of vulnerability," Caesar said bluntly.
"Hey!"
"Don't worry, Obelix," Getafix muttered, smiling to himself as his potion bubbled and changed color. "Almost ready now…"
"Let's see if we can't make you eat those words," Cleopatra decided.
Gokami Pharaoh advanced, raising her sword, moonlight shining off the blade.
Caesar laughed. "You don't learn, do you?"
He swung his right hand through the air, striking the silver sword and deflecting it. He threw his left fist forward next, colliding with the crocodile drill tail, the two powered up appendages grinding against each other, sparks flying, before both recoiled, forcing the two combatants to take a step back. Caesar recovered faster, however, and fired his lion blast…
Only for his shield, discarded and forgotten, to suddenly fly between them, hurled by Bug-Ohi. Caesar's eyes widened in surprise as the lion blast struck the shield and rebounded as the shield shattered from the force of the attack, slamming into his chest and pushing him back. "GAH!"
"Everyone, I suggest you get out of the water!" Getafix yelled, tipping his cauldron over into the bay…
And causing it to flash freeze in a matter of seconds, the three mecha heeding his words and leaping out of the water just in time. Caesar, still reeling from his reflected attack, wasn't so lucky, and the ice froze around his thighs, trapping him in place. "What-"
"NOW!"
Arackaiserin fired ropes of webbing from her pincers, grabbing Caesar's wrists and pulling them to the sides. While in both their current states, it would be easy for Caesar to break free, she only needed to keep him immobilized for just a moment, just long enough for Gokami Pharaoh to drive her sword through his heart at the same time as Bug-Ohi drove Caesar's own blade into his back, the two swords coming out the other side.
Caesar howled in anguish, blood spurting from his mouth, and sagged, the ice around his feet and the two blades piercing him the only things keeping him from falling. Slowly, his eyes fell shut and his aura dissipated.
"… I'm sorry, uncle," Mark said sadly.
Cleopatra closed her eyes. "Farewell, Julius."
"Did… Did they really do it?" Asterix asked Obelix and Getafix, jogging over. "Did we win?"
"We can't have! I didn't even get to hit him yet!" Obelix complained.
Getafix narrowed his eyes. "… No. Something's not right."
Arackaiserin sighed in relief…
And stiffened, a horrifying vision flashing through her head.
The future… It hadn't changed!
"Everyone, he's not-"
Caesar's eyes shot open.
With a bellow of fury, his skin turned black, an aura of the same color blasting up around him, vaporizing the swords in his body, shattering the ice, and flinging everyone back.
"Oh no! Now he's REALLY serious!" Bug-Ohi exclaimed.
"YOU DON'T SAY!" Arackaiserin shouted at her.
Gokami Pharaoh was the first to regain her footing…
Not that it helped her any, as Caesar practically teleported in front of her, thrusting his fist into her chest and out the other side.
Everyone gasped in horror.
The Egyptrangers cried out, explosions rocking their cockpit.
"It didn't have to be this way, Cleopatra!" Caesar shouted, eyes alit with madness. "We could have been happy! I've seen it… The other timeline, the ones from which your friends from the future hail… The eye has shown me what could have been! We could have stayed together! My son, Caesarion… He would've been more than just a dream, but real, and hale and hearty, the symbol of our love and the union of our civilizations! We… We could have had it all! I would have even finally crushed those damnable Gauls once and for all!" He grinned feverishly, terrifying the Queen. "But… But it's not too late. Maybe… Maybe we can still make that future reality. Maybe we can try again!"
"No, you can't!" Bug-Ohi shouted. "Did your eye show you what would have happened after the happy ending you've imagined?"
Caesar blinked. "What happened after…?"
His eye glowed.
And then he screamed, ripping his fist out of Gokami Pharaoh's chest and staggering back, a look of terror on his face. "No… No no no no no… Brutus kills me?! You and Mark… You kill yourselves! And our son… Our little Caesarion… EXECUTED?!"
"Wait, we do what now?!" the startled Mark cried.
"Don't worry, our timeline isn't that one, it won't happen," Cleopatra assured him, although the hint of dismay in her voice indicated she wasn't entirely certain of this.
"No… This… This cannot be… The future… The future can change! I will not allow this to happen!" Caesar shouted.
"It's not going to," Arackaiserin told him. "The timeline where that happens is not this one. The future you envision could never happen anyway."
"But it happened in your world… And so many others!" Caesar cried, eyes widening in horror. "I can see them… I see them all… I cannot let this happen!"
He raised his hands over his head, rapidly beginning to amass a tremendous amount of energy. "I will destroy all worlds where my dream does not come true… Starting with this one!"
Everyone's eyes widened in horror as a colossal energy ball began to form. "He… He can't actually destroy the entire world… Can he?!" An alarmed Nefer asked.
"At the very least, he will destroy the entire city," Thotep said dismay. "We have to stop him!"
"Yeah, that's not happening," Akilah said with a grimace, looking at her controls, which were melted and on fire. "Gokami Pharaoh's shot."
"Perhaps… The others can…?" Cleopatra asked desperately.
Unfortunately, the other two mecha were no shape to help. "We have to… to stop him…" Bug-Ohi gasped, struggling to stand up, only to cry out and collapse as one of her legs unraveled.
"No strength left… Can barely keep us together…" Arackaiserin whispered, tears running down her cheeks. "Dammit… Was what happened before just a fluke after all? Can… Can we really not change the future?"
"Uh, Getafix, any ideas?" Asterix asked the druid uneasily.
Getafix stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I'm afraid, for once, I'm drawing a blank, old friend."
"I could throw a menhir at it," Obelix suggested.
"Yeah, I don't think that'll help this time," Asterix told him, causing him to pout.
"I believe the only thing that can save us now… Is a miracle," Getafix murmured, not sounding all that worried.
Clenching her teeth, Arackaiserin glanced at Gokami Pharaoh, lying motionless in the water with a gaping hole in her chest, eyes dead, small fires burning across her body. She looked at Bug-Ohi, her body literally coming apart at the seams, still struggling to raise her remaining arm in the futile hope of stopping Caesar. She looked at Alexandria, at the thousands of lives about to be snuffed out, including those of her component parts and those of her love.
The vision that she, that Aranea, had foreseen was about to come to pass.
"… No."
The future could change.
Nushi had proven it right here, just a few hours ago, overturning millions of years of doctrine.
"I do not accept this."
She – or part of her, the dominant part, anyway – was the Princess Who Was Promised. The heir of Hera I. The mantle of Fate, the responsibility of safeguarding the future of everything in the universe, had come to her.
But...that's what she was told...
All her life...she'd been told what to do, by her people, by her mother, her ancestors, by destiny...
Was this really what she wanted?
Her eyes widened.
It clicked.
...what she wanted...
All her life...she'd only ever been following what others wanted...whether they be people, or fate itself...
and as she'd seen herself...fate and her did not always agree.
Someone or something had decided people's fates plenty of times...but time and again, people have pushed back against it... Because it's not what THEY wanted.
Was this what she wanted? To decide the fates of others?
...No.
She thought back to Nushi, her ladybug, her red love...
If...if she could change the future...fight destiny...so could she.
It wasn't hers...or anyone's place to decide the fate of others.
No...what she wanted...what her purpose...the purpose she decided for herself...
What she wanted was to help people.
To make a future where she, Nushi, Ariel, the others, everyone, could live happily...and make their own choices.
That was the kind of queen...the kind of hero she wanted to be.
Not one who decides futures, but...helps people choose and reach theirs!
"This future I have foreseen… I refuse it! It shall not come to pass!"
Her eyes glowed, and unbeknownst to her, so did the new piece of the Loom given by the Parcae.
And at that moment, something Changed. The world seemed to pause for a minute, listening to her words. The Tapestry of Fate opened before her eyes, the myriad strands of space time weaving together the future of everything stretching out before her.
And, as she watched, those strands unraveled before suddenly taking on a new configuration.
A new future.
And, as the tapestry suddenly snapped shut and reality rewrote itself to her wishes, she once again saw a glimpse of that distant, far-off dream… Of she and Nushi and Ariel together.
The Promised Triumvir.
Time seemed to stretch out, the world slowing down as the new paradigm was set. She could see every detail on the determined face of her lover, of the weary Egyptrangers waiting for the end, of Caesar's face twisted in a grotesque mask of triumph.
And then the familiar sound of a train horn sounded, and the ShinLiner emerged from a time portal behind Caesar, slamming through his back and tearing out through his front, causing the tyrant to cry out in pain and surprise and drop the energy ball he'd been forming on his own head, enveloping himself in a massive explosion.
Impossible, the Web murmured in disbelief and wonder.
Well done, my daughter, Arackaiserin, no, Aranea could have sworn she heard whispered for a moment.
Her eyes widened. Mother?!
"Kept you waiting, didn't I?" Shin's voice rang out from the cockpit of the ShinLiner as it arced overhead.
Bug-Ohi gave a ragged laugh. "You know, we knew you were coming right at this second… And yet it still feels like you were almost too late!"
"A time traveler is never early or late, but appears exactly when they need to be," Shin said with a chuckle. "Don't worry. I'm here now. Everything is going to be okay."
Rings shaped like clocks formed around all three mecha, and suddenly all the damage they had taken throughout the fight was undone, their injuries reversing themselves, until all three of them were back in their original conditions.
"Incredible," an astonished Thotep remarked as he and the rest of the Egyptrangers marveled at their fully restored cockpit. "His power over time has increased to this extent?!"
"That's not the only kind of power I possess!" Shin exclaimed, leaping out of the cockpit of his train. "Behold, the J-Power!"
And then, before everyone's incredulous eyes, he rapidly grew into a giant equal to all of them in size, finishing his growth just in time to deliver a haymaker to the stunned Caesar as he staggered out of the remains of the explosion.
"What… Another one?!" He cried.
"Amazing…" Whispered Arackaiserin.
"You go, Shin!" Bug-Ohi cheered.
"Why can't any of us do that?" Nefer complained.
"Hey Getafix, why haven't you ever made a potion that can turn me into a giant?" Obelix asked, equally miffed. "Sulfurix became a giant that one time, why can't I?"
"The answer is simple, Obelix," Getafix said sagely. "I don't want to."
Obelix pouted.
His dog nuzzled him sympathetically.
"I don't care how many of you there are," Caesar growled, powering up again. "I will eliminate all of you-"
"Nope," Shin said, throwing a punch.
Caesar sneered, bringing up his right hand to deflect the blow…
And got punched in the face.
"What?!"
Dazed, Caesar shook his head and focused on Shin. "Okay, I don't know how you did that, but you won't be able to do that again-"
Shin punched him in the face.
"Stop that!" Caesar shouted.
"Okay," Shin said, kicking him in the stomach instead.
"How… How are you doing that?!" Caesar grunted as he staggered back. "My eye, it should be able to let me read your body's movements!"
"Same way I was able to counter your other half's ability," Shin said, proceeding to throw a series of blows, none of which Caesar's guard was able to deflect. "Being able to read my movements doesn't mean squat against a master of time!"
"My other… You killed him?!" Caesar, or rather Alexander, cried in disbelief, briefly manifesting. "Impossible!"
Shin punched Alexander, and to the ghost's astonishment, he actually felt it. "Nope. Could have, but I left that to someone else instead. Had to make sure history ran on track, after all. You, however…" He grinned. "Nothing's stopping me from getting rid of you for good."
"No… You will not stop me… No one can!" Caesar cried, firing his lion blast.
"Patently false," Shin said, transforming the ShinLiner into the Shincalibur and slicing the lion in half, dissipating it.
Caesar, taking advantage of the split-second of cover provided by his energy blast, launched forwards, trying to hit Shin with his bull punch…
But Shin wasn't there anymore, and it took him a moment to realize the giant hopper was standing behind him with his back to them, sword out. "What… How-"
He was cut off when sparks and explosions wracked his body and blood spurted from a huge gash in his chest, causing him to scream in agony.
"Whoever controls time… Controls everything," Shin said dramatically, scarf billowing in the wind. "Allow me to demonstrate."
He threw the Shincalibur to Bug-Ohi, then pressed both sides of his belt.
MECHA TIME!
Several time portals opened around Caesar, and Jet Delta, Sai Fire, Jet Eagle, Dragon Caesar, Star-Shishi, GranTaurus, Green Blocker, Green Vehicle, V-Dump, Gingalcon, Green Hover, GoLiner 3, Green Mars 3, Time Jet 3, Tenkuujin, Pat Trailer, PatWing 4, Magi Taurus, RinChameleon, Birca, Kuma Origami, Kabuto Origami, GokaiRacer, FS-00, Zakutor, Green Ressha, Tank Ressha, Alligator Ressha, Paonmaru, Cube Elephant, Cube Octopus, Cube Fukorou, Chameleon Voyager, TigerLance, Dinomigo, Mach, Stanper, God Ibis, and Great Caelifer – the real one – emerged.
"Wh-what?!" Caesar exclaimed.
"My… I didn't realize there were so many green mecha," Arackaiserin commented.
"There's so many of them… Are these the vehicles used by my successors?" An awestruck Thotep wondered.
"Wait, hang on, what's God Ibis doing there? It's still a part of Gokami Pharaoh!" Akilah protested.
"He probably pulled him from a different time period, one where he isn't being used in battle," Cleopatra reasoned.
Nefer whistled. "Being able to control time is way overpowered."
"Heck, if you think this is bad, you should see how many RED mecha there are!" Bug-Ohi quipped.
"Allow me to give you a taste of the finale of Super Hero Senki, except this won't suck!" Shin declared, snapping his fingers.
"I don't even know what that means-" Caesar started to protest before all the green mecha attacked at once, bombarding him with cannons and lasers and physical attacks, his screams echoing across the city as he was engulfed in a brilliant emerald conflagration.
"He's still standing?!" Nefer exclaimed in disbelief as the mecha vanished and Caesar stumbled out of the blast, wreathed in green fire.
"Not for long," Bug-Ohi said, raising the Shincalibur. "Fin-Secting Move: True Shin-ing Nail!"
"Sting-ishing Move: Widow's Nail!" Arackaiserin cried, wrapping her ponytail around her arm, gripping what remained as it hardened into a lance dripping with poison.
"Full Moon Break!" The Egyptrangers declared, lunar energy coursing through their drill and sword.
The three mecha shot forwards one after another, each striking Caesar with their blades as they passed, causing him to howl as he was engulfed in a triple explosion.
"No… I will not… I will not be… Beaten…" Caesar wailed as energy crackled around him, his body clearly struggling to stay standing. "There are so many worlds left… To conquer…"
"There are," Shin agreed, pressing on his buckle, causing all the faces inside his chest to light up as energy crackled around his body. "But not by you. Shin Hero Kick!"
As he flipped into the air, the silhouette of every hopper and Green Ranger empowering him overlapped his body, blending to form a shining green figure which either looked like Kamen Rider 1 or Midorenger, depending on your perspective. Massive shimmering grasshopper wings spread from his back, and he slammed into Caesar's chest with a flying kick, knocking him off his feet, passing through a series of rings shaped like clocks as they flew across the bay, the two of them shedding mass and shrinking as the wings continued to grow in size and luminosity until by the time Caesar got slammed into a building on the harbor front both of them were human sized.
Shin hit the ground in a superhero landing, eyes glowing and Cape and scarf billowing behind him as behind him, the building – and Caesar – exploded. "Time's up."
The entire Buzzing applauded. What else could you do for a one-liner as cool as that?
Caesar staggered out of the ruins, reverted to his original coloration, his armor disintegrating with every motion, one of his remaining eyes swollen shut. "No…" He moaned. "It can't… It can't end like this…"
There was a tap on his shoulder.
Caesar turned around and looked up into the face of Obelix. "Hi! Is it my turn yet?"
Caesar sagged in resignation. "I guess it can."
Giddily, Obelix grabbed him and started smashing him back and forth like a metronome.
Asterix winced. "Not a very dignified defeat, is it?"
"How often are they ever, for us?" Getafix mused, pouring some potion from his cauldron into a gourd and handing it to the dog. "Here, Dogmatix, take this to your master."
The dog happily scampered across the ground towards Obelix, who currently had Caesar pinned beneath his prodigious weight, the massive Gaul lighting up at the sight. "Oh! Does this mean-"
"No, Obelix, that's for Caesar, not you," Getafix said sternly as Dogmatix shoved the canteen into the dazed Caesar's mouth, who reflexively drank it.
Asterix gawked. "Getafix! You're giving him magic potion?!"
"I'm giving him a magic potion, not the magic potion," Getafix elaborated as the Bugrangers, Arachrangers, and Egyptrangers arrived to join Shin. "Queen Cleopatra and her allies! I do believe that if you attempt an exorcism now, you will have very different results!"
"What?!" Caesar spluttered, having finished the contents of the canteen.
"Obelix! Hold him steady!" Asterix commanded.
"Got it," Obelix said, picking Caesar up and gripping him in his arms.
"No, wait, don't-" the beaten tyrant protested.
Ariel produced her wand while the silhouette of Magi Green appeared over Shin. "Jiruma Magi Magi Magiine!"
Producing a scroll, Thotep chanted something in Coptic, the hieroglyphics flying off the scroll and striking Caesar at the same time as the two spells, causing him to cry out as the spirit of Alexander was slowly, inexorably pulled out of his body.
Aranea flexed all her limbs, firing strands of magic webbing which wrapped around the Parka Ghost and pulled hard with Antares holding onto her, tugging the spirit out of Caesar's body, until there was just a little bit stuck inside of him.
"No…" The ghost of the legendary conqueror cried, struggling to break free. "I will not… I will not be beaten! I can still-"
A golden sickle flashed through the air, and Alexander's last remaining connection to Caesar's body was severed, the spirit howling in anguish as he was fully exorcised, Caesar collapsing in Obelix's arms and reverting to his original form in the process. "Pass on, as you should have long ago," Getafix declared.
"Ammit! Come forth and pass judgment on this wretched soul!" Cleopatra cried.
The earth trembled, and the Ammit Bazooka emerged from the water, landing in her hands. "Whose soul shall I be judging tonight, Your Majesty?" The goddess asked hungrily.
Alexander shrieked in horror. "No! Not her!"
"Alexander III of Macedon!" Caesar announced, pointing the bazooka at the ghost.
Ammit moaned in ecstasy, licking her lips. "Oh, I have been looking forward to this for a long time, Alexander. You may have escaped my jaws once, but not again!"
"No… No, no, no, I have to get out of here!" Alexander wailed, trying to flee. The Eye of Horus slammed into him, but he managed to smash free…
"Magi Magika!"
Magical vines conjured by Ariel and Shin wrapped around his form, and Aranea bound him with more webbing, holding him in place. "No-!"
"Now, let the scales of justice determine your fate!" Ammit growled hungrily as the scales started swaying back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.
"What have I done to deserve this?!" Alexander cried.
Everyone stared at him.
"This! This specifically!"
The scales slowed down, finally coming to a rest…
With the heart side down.
Ammit's eyes flashed. "IMPURE!"
Alexander shrieked. "No, wait-"
"Divine Punishment! Heart-eating Purifire!" The Egyptrangers cried as Cleopatra pulled the trigger of the cannon.
Ammit's jaws opened wide as her head shot forwards, growing bigger and bigger until it was at least the size of the ShinLiner's engine car. Alexander screamed in terror as the immense crocodile head snapped her jaws shut over him, swallowing him whole. There was a flash of light in the shape of an anatomically correct heart, and the head exploded, taking the ghost with it.
The Egyptrangers dramatically turned their back on the explosion as Ammit belched. "Justice… Is with the gods!" Cleopatra declared.
Beautiful music could be heard off in the distance, and a familiar ship emerged from the ocean on the horizon, rising into the air and igniting as it turned into the sun, bringing forth the dawn on a new day.
"It looks as if we aren't the only ones who have achieved a great victory," Mibojin said as everyone reverted to normal. "The gods of Egypt have once again triumphed over Apep the chaos serpent, allowing the sun to rise once more."
"Until next time, when it starts all over again," Goro commented with a hit of unease.
Ariel shrugged. "A lot of big cosmic stuff happens in cycles. Can't be helped. Given their track record so far – and the fact that the sun still rises in our own time – I don't think we've anything to worry about."
"Wait, the sun almost didn't rise? Chaos serpent? What are you talking about?" Asked a confused and somewhat concerned Aranea.
"Oh, right, you weren't there for that," Nushi realized. "So, apparently every night the Egyptian gods travel to the underworld and battle a giant serpentine abomination named Apep, and if they lose it'll eat the sun and the world will be engulfed in eternal darkness and chaos."
"What?!" Antares exclaimed. "How big is this serpent?"
"Big enough that it's head is the size of a mountain and it could probably wrap around the entire planet," Shin told him.
"There's a bunch of other giant beasts down there, but Apep is probably the biggest!" Ariel chirped.
Antares looked as if someone had just killed his first-born child in front of him. "You encountered an absolutely titanic beast, one so great even the gods have difficulty defeating it… And I missed it?!"
"Don't worry, Antares, there'll be other great beasts," Aranea reassured him, patting his shoulder as the scorpion warrior burst into tears. "There's still that one legendary monster on your planet, Lesath's Bane. You've always talked about fighting it, remember?"
"Well, assuming it hasn't been killed by the Swarm," Scorpio pointed out as Antares considered this, setting the warrior off again. Arachne gave him an exasperated look.
"With this, the Roman Empire has been defeated once and for all," Cleopatra declared. "This is a momentous occasion. We shall throw a festival, and all of you are invited!"
"Awesome!" Ariel cheered.
"Well, I suppose it'll be a good way to end Philia's birthday party before heading home," Shin commented.
"Will there be boar?" Obelix asked hopefully.
Cleopatra chuckled as Asterix, Getafix, and even Dogmatix rolled their eyes. "Yes, Obelix, there will be boar."
"Yes!" Obelix cheered, thrusting his arms into the air…
And accidentally flinging Caesar way. "Oops."
"OBELIX!" Everyone shouted.
"Gotcha!"
A pair of huge, burly arms shot out, catching Caesar before he could hit the ground.
Mark gasped. "Brutus!"
"Oh yeah, I forgot about this guy," Nefer muttered as a rather sizable number of Roman soldiers filed in behind Brutus… And behind the heroes, hemming them in.
"Julius! Are you okay?" Brutus asked his Emperor in concern.
"I've… Been better," Caesar groaned.
"Is it just you in there now? No ghosts of ancient conquerors?" Brutus asked.
Caesar shook his head. "No. The spirit of Alexander is gone."
Brutus sighed in relief. "Good. That means when we finish sacking the city and taking over Egypt, it'll be you in charge, not some dead guy!"
"What?!" The heroes exclaimed.
Brutus leered at them. "What, you thought that we would just walk away when this is all over? Dream on! Alexander is in disarray, and now that I've rounded up the troops and reclaimed our leader, it'll be easy for us to finish the job, especially since the lot of you are too worn out fighting that giant monster to take us all on!"
"We aren't as worn-out as you might think," Gozim growled.
"You want to go? We'll take you on!" Akilah bellowed.
"Oh boy! I barely got to fight ANY Romans today!" Obelix said gleefully.
"Druid, I need more potion, I'm out," Asterix told Getafix.
"Wait, do we REALLY need to do this? Hasn't there been enough fighting already?" An exhausted Nushi asked.
"She's right, uncle! Please, let it end already!" Alexander pleaded.
Brutus guffawed. "Please, like that's going to do any-"
"Brutus, put me down."
Brutus blinked. "What? But Julius, you-"
"I can still stand, Brutus. Put me down, now!" Caesar commanded.
Reluctantly, Brutus put his master down. True to his words, Caesar stood tall before them, able to hold himself up despite the massive beating he'd taken, though from the exhaustion on his face it didn't look like he'd be able to manage it for much longer.
"… That's kind of impressive, not gonna lie," Goro admitted.
"He is truly a formidable individual," Antares agreed.
Cleopatra looked her rival and former lover in the eyes in frustration and disappointment. "Is this how it's going to be, Caesar? Is this the only way it can end between us?"
Caesar narrowed his eyes and reached for his sword. "I'm sorry, Cleopatra, but there's only one way I can see this ending…"
Everyone tensed.
The Emperor drew his blade…
And threw it at Cleopatra's feet.
"I'm done. You win."