Æ
Akari's eyes opened slightly at the ringing of a telephone.
For a few moments- she lay there in bed confused. Where was she...? Why did everything feel unfamiliar...?
Wait, no, not everything.
The arms wrapped around her definitely were familiar.
But the voice in the other room distantly answering the phone wasn't too familiar. Familiar and yet not familiar...
Akari closed her eyes and thought for a moment. The last thing she remembered was... Shoutmon. Right. She opened her eyes and looked over her shoulder. There he was, right beside her.
Before that they'd...Right. That. That explained why she could see a stray sock lying half over the edge of a desk.
Wow, how had that happened- 'Focus' she scolded herself, 'Focus Akari. Before that we...had dinner...and then...'
Ah- right. Before that they'd gone through a debrief with the Ikari's- the head operators of NERV 1 and now apparently the highest ranked officials in the world what with the UN having been obliterated by twelve simultaneous explo-
"Sions." She said aloud as it all came back to her.
They were in a Doomed Timeline.
Her, Shoutmon, Kaiyumi, Simon, Agumon, and Kristy.
All of them had fallen into a Doomed Timeline.
And Yuu of all people had delivered the news via radio.
Akari sighed.
"It's going to be a long day," she muttered even as Misato knocked at the door and called into the room:
"Hey! Your friend Kaiyumi just called. She says to get down to NERV right away."
The screen cut black, and text flew in from the void-
A logo of words...
Then-
A Team's flag...
The two logos spun around, as if in an orbit around a sun...
There was a clash of lightning in the shape of a Z as the title Logo formed for all Meta Audiences to see:
NEON GENESSIS EVANGELLION
VS.
DIGIMON: XROS WARS
Topping it off, an old fashioned record spun into place behind the logo as the theme song kicked off.
*cue Innocence (TV Ver) SAO OP2*
*Cue Title Theme (Xros Wars)*
"X0VA-9! YOU WILL (NOT) DIE!"
Following the usual title card came a set of text that faded into existence.
TIME LINE STATUS:
DOOMED.
TIME UNTIL ERASURE:
8 HOURS 16 MINUTES.
"As of this moment," Kaiyumi explained to her fellow Time Travelers, "I have obliterated all traces of the inter dimensional coordinate Black List, and yet have not been able to open a stable time gate."
"That's not the news I wanted to hear when I woke up this morning," Shoutmon grumbled as he sipped at some coffee. "So I take it that this is the Bad News?"
"That's the good news, actually," Kaiyumi scratched at the back of her head nervously. "The bad news is that as of ten minutes ago, satellite scans revealed that the Sun this Earth is orbiting is in it's dying throes."
"..." Everyone in the room- not just the time travelers- paused at that remark.
"So basically...?" Akari asked.
"The Sun is going to go Super Nova and instead of being erased by the timeline," Simon said harshly, "we're all going to be fried to a crisp in a split second."
"And that's if we're lucky," Kaiyumi amended. "Long distance scans are picking up Tower Wavelengths from the Solar Radiation."
"Meaning?" Shoutmon asked.
"Meaning that if the Sun doesn't go Nova within the next hour," Kaiyumi glanced at her watch and let out a slight hiss, "we're going to be pelted down upon by Towers built out of this world's own Sun the hour after it. And even if we manage to beat those..." She shrugged, "well, it's not going to matter much. The Sun will either explode from the loss of mass or it just simply won't even be there anymore."
"Okay," Shoutmon amended his earlier comment, "I take back what I said before. THAT. Is not the news I wanted to hear when I woke up this morning."
Agumon simply slumped his head towards the ground and groaned, "We're doomed."
"Soooo..." Asuka ventured forth a sound into the silent cafeteria, "the sun's going to go super nova."
"Don't remind me," Shinji sighed.
"Honestly, if it wouldn't be killing us flat out," Asuka continued on regardless, "I'd actually be amazed that something like this was happening within our life time. And if I could watch it safely from space?" She let loose a "wow" and giggled slightly, "Can you just imagine how amazing that would look?"
"Well," Rei said as she sat down at the table with a large tray stacked high with all sorts of food, "if we somehow survive this, and we get to join Shoutmon and everyone else," she picked up a fried chicken leg and bit into it, talking as she ate and yet somehow still being understandable despite that, "then maybe you can take one of those Stargates Shoutmon mentioned, connect it to a black hole, and then throw it into a sun just to see what happens!"
"You mean...intentionally blow up a solar system?" Asuka asked.
Rei nodded in agreement.
"That..." Asuka paused for a moment as she considered that, "That actually sounds like it'd be fun!" She glanced at Rei's plate of food and eyed a creme filled pastry curiously. "Are you going to eat all of that?"
"Probably not," Rei shrugged.
"Damn it," Shinji groaned again, "everyone's turning into Rei now that we know we're all going to die."
"Isn't it great, Shinji?" Rei giggled.
Shinji simply planted his face into the table with a thud and a clatter of metal forks.
TIME UNTIL ERASURE:
6 HOURS 18 MINUTES.
Quartzmon circled the sun as he selectively pulled massive chunks of it out and transformed them into towers.
He had to be careful- one wrong move and the entire thing could go nova and incinerate them all without a moment's notice.
It would be just a little bit longer before the earth noticed the sun growing dim- and by the time it did, all of the sun would be entering the atmosphere as his Towers.
Oh- and as a part of himself as well.
He chuckled silently, satisfied with his Tower count- and then dove into the remainder of the sun- calling upon his powers and abilities to merge himself with it.
His hardened Quartz Crystal body began to melt- and with it- began to reform.
It had taken the frost of a cold-fusion star to turn him into this form in the first place- and it was with the heat of a dying star that he would leave it yet again.
The sun became completely absorbed into his being, and with it's increased mass, Quartzmon's body shifted into a different shape as he guided his Towers down to the little blue planet below.
It wouldn't be blue for long, he chuckled.
The Alarms buzzed- and everyone knew what it meant.
"Towers incoming!" Maya read off the radar count- "Ten...Twenty...Forty-Three signals!"
"Get the pilots to the Evangelions right now!" Kyoko shouted.
"They're on their way!" A tech replied.
*cue Nikopol, Gurren Lagann OST*
The sky darkened above the world as the City of Tokyo-3 transformed into its defense mode. The light blue of the early morning faded into the black of night- and then not even the stars could be seen at all.
The Three Evangelion Units- 01, 02, and 05- stood at the ready along side ShineGreymon: Omega Mode.
[0:10]
Then the sky lit up a brilliant orange as the incoming Towers descended towards the surface.
There wasn't any chance of a repeat performance of yesterday's shooting stunt- there were simply too many of them all at once to successfully pull that off.
The first wave impacted the city streets- and transformed into those familiar forms from yesterday.
DeltAntylamon hoverd to a stop near ShineGreymon:OM's head, grimacing, "Well," Akari said from within her Xros, "Here we go."
"Let's make sure it's a good one, eh?" Shoutmon said from within his Xros, "Be careful out there."
"Will do," she nodded in agreement, and drew her axes.
"Here we go..." Rei tightened her grip around her controls, "Let's make sure we put these guys down for good!"
"Right," Shinji and Asuka nodded.
[0:30]
The Ground below my feet, elevated. Instinctively programmed, THERE FOR ME!
"GO!" ShineGreymon roared forward- Drill-Sword spinning through the first of the Towers.
The Ceburumon shattered into orange cubes this time rather than the usual multicolored ones- but nothing else happened as a result.
No Thoughts, My Visions clear, Not too complicated! I'm here because you're here!
"DELTA WAVE SPIN!" DeltAntylamon let loose a spiraling wave of energy into the Towers.
The Evas leaped into action as well- 01 and 02 using their Prog Knives to slash through the Towers and their obvious Hourglasses.
YOU'VE GOT A PROBLEM NOW?
The battle began in earnest then-with the Towers launching attacks at their opponents even as their companions were cut down with simple attacks.
The speck of fear grows in your eyes, You'll meet your death in no disguise,
Meanwhile- everyone inside NERV's Terminal Dogma watched the fight progress with tense nerves. Even if they somehow won this fight- the Sun had vanished. They wouldn't last long at all without it.
It may come as a small surprise, There will be no compromise... FOR YOU!
The First Wave was defeated unseen- as the Second Wave came in fresh to replace those who had been slain.
Kristy closed her eyes as she held onto her Xros Loader in prayer- wishing her hardest for a Miracle to occur.
No problem can't be solved, Temporarily, Then soon it gets forgotten, that you exist,
The Second wave was half way defeated when the much thinner Third wave came through.
Sounds echo underground, Nauseating, I'm here because you're here!
But behind them was the massively bright, rippling humanoid form that couldn't be anything BUT Quartzmon.
YOU'VE GOT A PROBLEM NOW!?
He sat there in the sky watching as his Towers were quickly dispatched- and were quickly replaced by the Fourth, and Final, wave.
The speck of fear grows in your eyes,
Shoutmon narrowed his eyes towards the annoying light source that had descended towards them. 'Who the heck is this guy?'
You'll meet your death in no disguise,
Unit 05 drilled through another tower, and Rei scowled at the intense aura the newcomer gave off. 'He better not be Adam reborn...'
It may come as a small surprise,
DeltAntylamon took to the sky- preparing to circle the unknown being with a Record Scratch.
But before she could even get close- the bright Quartzmon let off a wave of intense heat that sent her flying back towards the ground- as well as incinerating his remaining Towers and pushing everyone into the ground with something else as well...
There will be no compromise... FOR YOU!
A Gravity Wave.
"GRAAHH!" The Evas were shoved into the ground- unable to move from the sudden increase in Gravity- and ShineGreymon: OM broke apart into his three parts.
As everyone came to a rolling halt- so did the song- and everything stood still as the glowing thing chuckled at the prone forms scattered across the city floor below him.
"W-What the hell is this!?" Asuka shouted to nobody in particular, "Why can't we move!?"
"I am Quartzmon!" The being shouted, "And you all have met your reckoning!"
"By Gravity huh?" Shoutmon grumbled as he lay on his back, staring up at the bright solar being. "Funny, I didn't think Quartzmon had access to Gravity powers."
"When you absorb the very essence of a sun, the funniest things appear again!" The Being chuckled, somehow hearing Shoutmon's comment from so far below.
"Yeah, but...see..." Shoutmon frowned, "I just don't get it at all."
"W...What?"
"Shoutmon!" ShineGreymon hissed at him, "Don't antagonize the giant sun monster!"
"Why the hell are you able to do that?" Shoutmon asked- "For one thing- the only way you could Xros yourself with something like that is if you had a Xros Loader, which I know YOU don't, but Gravimon does..."
The Being stopped chuckling, and said rather seriously: "You see, it's a Doomed Timeline. The Universe Doesn't care what happens in a Doomed Timeline just so long as it ends up being erased."
"Yeah but..." Shoutmon protested, "there's still some sort of order to it, isn't there?"
"No," The being insisted, "There is not."
"Okay, but bare with me here," Shoutmon rolled back onto his shoulders and then flipped forward onto his feet even despite the gravity well barring down on him. "So even IF you can Xros with a damned Sun without a Loader and gain all it's powers! Then wouldn't you gain the power to PULL things in, rather than push them away?"
"..." Everyone went silent at that comment.
"I mean- COME ON!" Shoutmon rolled his shoulders a bit as if to stretch them out, "Suns are massive things that PULL planets into orbit, not PUSH them!"
"W...Where is he going with this?" Shinji asked.
"I dunno," Rei started to laugh, "but I like it!"
"See, it only makes sense to me that you're BLUFFING about these Gravity powers coming from the sun," Shoutmon's face gained a rather dangerous smirk to it. "But I don't think you're lying about being named Quartzmon...I just think that name...Quartzmon...it's always sounded a bit stupid to me."
"What. Was. That." the Being flared dangerously.
"I think..." Shoutmon summoned his microphone stand and stabbed it into the ground before shouting into it: "THE NAME RUSE IS A DISTRACTION! YOUR [REAL-NAME! IS! GRAVIMON!]"
"NOOO!" The being shuddered in revulsion as its bright glow faded to a more reasonable aura- revealing the body behind to be scowling at them. "You weren't supposed to figure it out at all, Shoutmon!" Indeed- the face and body was that of Gravimon's, and he was practically fuming at them.
"He's really mad, isn't he?" Akari asked from within DeltAntylamon.
"Uh huh," Kaiyumi nodded in agreement.
"Well hold on now, you're the one who Xrossed yourself with a sun here," Shoutmon held up a finger, "So let me get this straight. Weren't you the one who just said that, basically, the universe just doesn't give a crap about making sense anymore because it's a doomed timeline?"
"YES!" Gravimon howled at Shoutmon, "How many times do I have to repeat it!?"
Shoutmon's smirk broke into a wide grin, "You shouldn't have told me that."
"-Wait What-!?"
*Cue Bakusou Yumeuta*
Shoutmon exploded into a pillar of golden light- shooting up straight into the air as the amazing energies within his Omega Necklace (long since a part of his body) ignited once more.
[0:05]
"Oh... Crap In a Hat." Gravimon swore as every combatant on the ground shot into that golden pillar as beams of light.
[0:10]
The golden light condensed down into a brilliantly blue and white orb of energy that had spiraling images of Space and Time within it's cloudy structure.
A glint in my glaring eyes flares up like the nose of breaking the harmony,
Lights shot across the globe from all walks of life- every living being on the planet was being drawn into that massive Xros.
They snuck in, those hearts unchanged from the days we dreamed in the garage,
Then- without warning- the Earth Vanished from beneath Gravimon- being pulled straight into that spiraling blue orb and- seconds later- the Moon came hurtling own from its orbit as it entered the Xros.
That's right, there will never be a tomorrow that's like today; I'm roaring with sensitivity,
Gravimon could only stare on at it's shimmering form in awe as the King of the Digital World intentionally invoked a Third Impact within the controlled space of a Digi-Xros.
My singing heart plays this bet, certain proof that I'm alive!
With a blast of light- the sphere exploded into brilliant blue light as a figure emerged from the steam.
What I gain, I lose; What I gain, I lose;
The arms of Units 02 and 01- The legs of KinGRavemon and OmegaShoutmon-
Even on the nights I cried alone, among these changing times,
The Crimson V-Crest topped with DeltAntylamon's emerald shades- the torso of Shine Greymon-
Everything is right here, Everything;
The Angelic wings formed by Unit 05's four legs- Victory King X7's helmet-
"FUSION IMPACT! VICTORY KNIGHT: XROS ELEVEN!"
I should still be able to go on by myself!
With a triple spark of blue light and the telltale BAM BAM BAM PCHOO- the Digi-Xros vanished from sight- leaving behind only a trailing set of fire tracks leading up into the void- perfectly forming an "11" in the space left behind.
Gravimon looked upwards- and then shot up after VKX11-
A Pure light comes through the dark night, My life is crying that these times are eternal,
-Who was drilling up into the heavens with a massively blue sparking drill- pulling in a thick, black, gooey mess around it like some sort of cake batter.
Look, you're always reflected in the depths of my heart,
There was another triple flash of light- and the tell tale explosion of fire tracks-
Just keep embracing the truth you should Protect!
-And high up in the Temporal Storms above a knotted, twisted, glowing white mass of a timeline VKX11 exploded out of the Doomed Timeline branch with a cloud of frost and giant icicles.
There's no reason; My trembling soul, AH!
Gravimon blipped out of the time line moments later- and immediately spaced out as an imaged forced itself into his head:
TIMELINE STATUS:
ALPHA
But more than that- there was now a boy in front of him as he turned away from the monitor that said that- clad in black and wielding two swords- rushing towards him with a roar of anger and killing intent.
It's generally a lie when I say I have no regrets; I spit on the roadway, Accept it! I just need to be that much stronger and waste my effort once more!
So confused was Gravimon that he tried to block the attacks with the swords suddenly in his hands- but he couldn't do anything- he fumbled and missed a step- the blades came down and then-
Yeah, When I realize that I'm not clever enough to fool myself as I am-
The boy's twin sword strikes were felt in reality as he snapped out of it- VKX11 was barring down upon him with massive Progressive Sabers that looked like twin versions of the Star Sword that Xros Four signature-ly used- except in white gold.
Right now I think, feel; and I certainly wouldn't if there were an answer.
This time- Gravimon didn't even have a sword to block with- he was battered left and right as VKX11 fought him with all the pent up rage of a Doomed Timeline against the one who had doomed it.
Those I meet, I part with; those I meet, I connect with,
Gravimon tried to throw a solar flare at them- but failed when all it did was burn his own hands.
The Brilliance of the youth I'm cuddled up with, even on guileless days,
He had failed- and he felt it- their status had been switched- Now Gravimon was the doomed one and the Victory Knight was the Alpha status- WAIT! NO! They were meant to be BETA!
Everything is right here!
He was slashed left before he could do much about this realization.
Everything is Beautiful!
He was slashed right before he could even process the horror of the fact that the universe he had created was meant to be Alpha- not the old universe-!
But I'm still fighting!
Then came that signature attack style- Star Burst Steam- Sixteen strikes in rapid succession.
And Gravimon felt it twice over due to that echo of another world that he had briefly connected to.
Even if we're swallowed by the raging ways of every repeating day, We'll still be here, without waking up from the dream.
He felt every strike twice over as realities overlapped- Damn it! What was this strange synchronization of events!? He shouldn't be feeling this at all!
The voices of my friends always reach me, I have no choice but to keep going in the city wind-
With a final strike that was tied together with a strange rope of energy- A Time Line! How novel!- Gravimon found himself suspended in space as VKX11 kicked away from him and spread its wings fully- 11 wings- how poetic.
And if shaking off loneliness; the way of Life I believe in, Ahhh!
Shoutmon- inside the Xros narrowed his eyes at Gravimon as he crossed his arms and built up the energy for this next attack.
While wandering... (I gain)
And then he saw it- a golden meteor shooting over Gravimon's head, heading straight towards a build up of glowing blue light.
The unchanging courage to keep changing things,
Shoutmon closed his eyes, understanding what that was and what he should do with that information...
And the strength to stay here without losing or changing anything...!
"ELEVEN VICTORIZE!"
VKX11 uncrossed their arms and fired off a brilliant ruby red laser beam of light from the V Crest that happened to be shaped exactly like the Xros Heart Logo that had been in use since day one.
A Pure Light comes through the dark night, My life is crying that these times are eternal,
Gravimon's face twisted in a way that expressed the fact his eyes had just gone very wide- and then he was hit by the laser and then BLASTED towards the very universe that had been created by his own plans and machinations right after the point of the universe's birth.
Look, you're always reflected in the depths of my heart! Just keep embracing the truth you should protect!
He hit the Stargate- obliterated it- and was sent flying into the wide open rift-
VKX11 fired a secondary laser blast- and pushed Gravimon through and through faster and faster-
Even if we're swallowed by the raging ways of every repeating day!
Gravimon got but a glimpse of that universe before he exploded into thirteen fragments and then exploded even further from that explosion.
We'll still be here, without waking up from the dream-
With a job well done- VKX11 nodded, and teleported out of that space after noting the temporal coordinates-
The voices of my friends always reach me! I have no choice but to keep going in the city wind-!
He appeared over his home universe- and descended towards the spot where the Earth once stood- and warped the fragments around him into a nice, even, double helix ring-
As if shaking off loneliness; the way of life i believed in, aahhh...
And then he de-Xrossed- Dropping the Moon into orbit around the ring and the Earth into the center- the breach of time had been healed.
There's no reason; my trembling soul- AHhh!
The camera zoomed out- revealing the Earth and Digital World orbiting the sun as they had not three years earlier- in perfect harmony.
The camera then zoomed into Tokyo-3, where Shoutmon stood on the streets, staring up at the bright blue skies with a grin on his face.
"Heh," he chuckled, "you really shouldn't have told me that, Gravimon."
THE DIGITAL WORLD_ _ _| DENIZEN'S PALACE_ _ _|
Nene Amano was playing a simple game with building blocks out on the garden balcony with her daughter, Nyarko, when a shadow arced over the sky.
"Huh?" Nene glanced up towards the sky where the Earth had been several years before- but now was- "Wait...What?"
It had just reappeared- out of thin air- in a flash of light.
"How...what..." Nene sputtered.
"This should be impossible...!" Echidna said- "But how is it-?"
Nyarko finally caught on and looked up, then squealed in delight, "Unca Shou!"
"..." Nene glanced down at her daughter, "Shoutmon?" she asked aloud.
The little girl with green eyes nodded happily, "un!"
"...Leave it to Shoutmon to find a way to resurrect a dead planet," Echidna said with a sigh.
"Indeed," Nene simply sighed in agreement.
To the citizens of the Earth- their escape from the Doomed Timeline felt like it had been a dream- the Second Impact and the Angels- all of the damage done had been undone.
The oceans were no longer blood red- the seasons had been returned to their proper order- and, most importantly to Rei Ayanami, the normal reproduction order had been resumed after what seemed like months of inactivity.
"Oi- Rei-" Shoutmon's had was placed on her shoulder before she could skip up the stairs into Terminal Dogma- "Don't think I didn't notice you messing around with things in there while we were Xrossed."
She glanced over her shoulder at him, "Am I in trouble?"
Shoutmon shook his head and flashed a smile at her, "You did a good job. I was a little distracted vaporizing Gravimon there, so I didn't have time to take care of all of that."
"Awesooomeee!" Rei clenched her right fist in victory.
"Ahhem-" A cough brought their attention up the stairs to Yui Ikari, "And don't think I didn't notice you undoing all of Second Impact's wrong doings by making us undergo a controlled Third Impact, King Shoutmon."
"Ah..." Shoutmon scratched at the back of his left ear, "Noticed that did you?"
"The whole world's noticed," Yui shook her head, "The seasons, the sea, and the sudden ring earth's gained and the changed star field... Plus the size of the sun is somewhat different..." She sighed, "So many changes to count off..."
"Oh right," Shoutmon glanced to his Wrister, "and you haven't even met the new Neighbors yet!"
"New Neighbors?" Rei asked, eyes widening hopefully.
"My Digital world," Shoutmon grinned.
"Dr. Ikari!" a voice called out from the room just beyond the stairwell- "We have an incoming transmission asking for the leaders of the world!"
"Right on cue," Shoutmon's grin widened a bit, "That'll be for you, after the whole UN thing."
"R...Right," Yui shook her head and turned to enter Terminal Dogma, "I'm Coming!"
"This..." Rei chuckled, "this I've gotta see."
"Same here," Shoutmon laughed, "I probably know whoever is on the other end personally!"
"There are benefits to being King, aren't there?" Rei asked.
"You're better off running for School President," Shoutmon chuckled, "being King isn't all it's cracked up to be."
"Been there, done that!" Rei laughed- "Is there an opening in your Knights anywhere, Sir King Boss Man?"
Shoutmon laughed at her request. "I'll have to check and see!"
Kristy and Agumon sat on a hill top overlooking a cleansed blue ocean.
"Sooo..." Agumon began. "That was a thing."
"Yup." Kristy agreed, "That it was."
The continued to sit there for a few moments before she reached her hand out and put it over Agumon's.
"Agu?" She asked.
"Huh?" He glanced over at her in surprise- "MRF!"
She kissed him.
He kissed her back.
After a few moments of them holding just like that, listening to the ocean lap at the shore before them, they pulled apart.
"So..." Kristy said, turning her head a bit so he couldn't quite see the flushed look her face had taken on, "That was a thing."
"Yup," Agumon said blankly after a moment, processing what had just happened. "That it was."
She looked him in the eye and then asked, "Wanna go get a soda or something?"
He didn't blink as he answered, "Sure thing!"
The Earth had Returned- for everyone from the old Earth who had their lives displaced due to Quartzmon's plans, they now had a chance to return to the normal lives they once lived.
Emmit Brown- the Watch Maker- watched the happy emotions coming from the people preparing to board the trains leading back to earth with a neutral expression on his face.
"So Quartzmon is actually Gravimon...?" He asked aloud to his companion.
"Yup," Kaiyumi said flatly as she glanced at her watch. "Caught me by surprise...But I suppose we shouldn't be too surprised, really. Always two there are- a Master and an Apprentice."
"But there's nothing to stop the Master from being the Apprentice's future self, is there?" Emmit asked.
"Nope," Kaiyumi said flatly. Silence passed between them for a moment before she said simply: "It's time we send the letter."
Emmit simply huffed in agreement.
They vanished into the crowds not a moment later.
Miyako Kudo stared at the empty hill where her house had been on another earth that had since been destroyed.
"So..." She began as someone approached from behind, "Three years later and you finally do the impossible."
"We'll do it again if we have to," Akari said as she walked up towards the woman, fishing a bent, rusted key out of a pocket. "Taiki brought us here- made this place a safe haven. It's only right that we do the same for these people."
"You couldn't turn your back, could you?" Miyako asked.
"How could we?" Akari asked as she turned the little key over in her hand a few times. "Taiki never did. You never did. Kiriha never did. It's just not who we are."
"And look where it's brought us," Miyako frowned slightly.
"I'd say it's a pretty bright place," Akari said as she took a few steps towards the hill, and knelt down to dig at the dirt. "Lots of hope for a future, ya know?" She giggled a bit as she dropped that bent key into the small hole she'd dug and covered it up. "You never know what might sprout from a seed planted one day in the afterglow of a rain storm."
"Was that meant to be a metaphor or something?" Miyako asked, "Because if it was, you lost me after 'sprout.'"
"Sorry," Akari laughed slightly. "I was just talking off the top of my head, really."
"Keep doing that," Miyako smiled, just a little, "maybe it'll bring an end to all the darkness in the world."
"Let's wait and see what grows, then?"
"Shoutmon!" Nene and Kiriha called out as they ran over to greet their friend.
"Yo! It's been a while," Shoutmon grinned at them, "how's life been treating ya?"
"You and Yuu have both been missing for over two months!" Kiriha said sourly as he crossed his arms, "We've all been worried sick that you got yourselves killed!"
"Two months?" Shoutmon blinked, "But we've only been gone for Two days..." He frowned a bit, "And I spoke with Yuu yesterday an-"
"You did?" Nene asked, grabbing Shoutmon's hands in her own and looking him in the eye, "Is he okay? Did he say anything?"
"Ah..." Shoutmon paled slightly at Nene's reaction, "Well, honestly, he seemed more concerned about our predicament than his own. Apparently he's stuck in another Dimension with a broken time device, or something." He quickly continued on when he saw Nene's worried expression, "But hey! That's sort of why I'm here!"
"Why's that?" Kiriha asked.
"I need to get everyone for Xros Ten together," Shoutmon said with a slight smile, "I'm itching to splatter some more Towers...And besides that too..." His smile widened, "I think I know where Taiki and Sally wound up!"
SPACETRAILMON'S HANGER BAY_ _ _| THREE DAYS LATER_ _ _|
Shoutmon stepped through the door-way into the hangar bay that SpaceTrailmon resided in.
It had taken three days to get all the necessary supplies and gear together- to assemble the Team once more for one final (or several final) battle(s).
He smirked at everyone he saw as he walked through the bay towards SpaceTrailmon. Familiar faces new and old alike were here.
Akari nodded at him to go ahead and start off.
"Alright everyone!" He shouted once he got to the top of the ramp of SpaceTrailmon's bay entrance. "The first order of business is to rescue Yuu Amano from whatever mess he'd landed himself in! Alright?"
There was a resounding roar of approval from everyone in the room.
"Heh." Shoutmon smirked, "The SECOND order of business is following up on the lead we picked up from the latest adventure, you guys know the one," He pointed to the roof- where the Earth remained hidden from view- "Where we brought back the thing from the place in truly spectacular fashion!"
There was a second roar of approval at that.
"THIRD! We're going to go flying into this really big rift that we tore open killing another Gravimon!" Shoutmon continued, "And when we're through it! We're going to find Taiki and Sally, and we're going to [BRING THEM HOME!]"
He waited for the third cheer of approval to end before he continued.
"AND FINALLY!" Shoutmon concluded, "If we manage to track down Gravimon or Quartzmon or Ryouma or whatever the hell he's calling himself these days... We are going to hunt him down and we are going to [FINISH THIS FIGHT] that he started!"
The fourth roar of approval was the loudest thus far- and Shoutmon's grin turned into a smirk.
"Xros Heart...!" He shouted as pulled a rather dashing looking red cape out of a nearby box and threw it on over his shoulders: "LET'S ENGRAVE IT ON HIS HEART!"
The fifth roar nearly broke the sound barrier as the episode drew to an end.
MEANWHILE_ _ _| THE SPACE OUTSIDE THE DIGITAL WORLD/EARTH SOLAR SYSTEM_ _ _|
The Last Quartzmon hovered over the restored system and sighed.
"Such a shame. I wasn't actually expecting them to get out of that."
He turned to float into the void.
"I suppose I'll go tell that past me the coordinates for the SAO universe then..." He sighed, "then I'll go take my place there as well...Can't let stray time loops remain open, now can we...?"
The Last Quartzmon- dejected, broken, and ultimately beaten- resigned himself towards his final time loop.
Once he died, this Multiverse would finally be rid of his presence, save for the past hims that would muck things up in future events...
But that was all in the past for him.
"Lives too long," Quartzmon sighed as he accelerated through his own time stream to tell a certain Quartzmon about a certain dimensional coordinate. "The Prime Self in that new Multiverse will have to deal with Xros Heart once I'm gone..." he chuckled sadly, "but after that show of power...It's about damn time."
TO BE CONTINUED!
NEXT TIME:
X0VA-10! THE FINAL BOSS!
A.N.: WAIT: WHAT'S THIS!? We're already at CH85!? 0_0 X0VA-9?! Yup- well- this chapter's pretty short compared to the other X0VA's...But that's how things go! ^U^ Whoooooo! Did you see what Shoutmon just did there? ;) This development has been in the works since I had Taiki move the Earth and Digital World into that shared space all the way back in Cascade Side A! And this entire chapter...I've got to say... It's one of the moments I've been itching to write out the most! The songs I planed to use changed over the course of writing the Hunters arc, but...Heh... I'm glad it ended on the song I did settle on. Because...Well... ^U^ The lyrics just *FIT!* :33 Anyways...Enough of me rambling...! Onto other things!