No! I'm not gonna lose like this!

His eyes flashed a brilliant gold, and the center ruby embedded in the cuirass of the Dragon King Armor gleamed. The spell was broken; R.D. was freed as a red-lined image of a dragon taking flight materialized in front of his chest. A blazing, ring of fire expanded from his back, burning brightly.

R.D.'s gauntleted right fist shot up to his eye level as he stared down the charging entity. He could feel the power as Godhand activated and condensed, causing the metallic plate over it to slide forward over his hand as the golden claw-pieces to angled upwards over it. Beneath the extra plate, his hand shone brightly, erupting into a blazing reddish-orange color as it was charged with heat, flame, and light.

"This hand of mine is burning red! It's loud roar tells me to grasp victory!"

The back thrusters ignited with the burning circle of flame, propelling him forward to meet his opponent as he thrust his hand out to meet Dragon Drive FINAL's attack. A red aura of power ignited around him, contrasting to the bright green aura of his enemy's.

"Bakuretsu God FINGER!!!"

The blazing red Bakuretsu God Finger struck the shining green fists of Hell and Heaven, meeting with a thunderous crash that echoed throughout the Eternal Sanctuary.

Hugo flew backwards, repelled by the sheer impact of the two mightest forces of the realm. The green wind burst in all directions, scattered by the blow.

To R.D., as the blows hit, the world seemed to slow down. FINAL's strong movements dragged to a halt as the world about him faded away, losing detail slowly.

Soon, he could only see a blank void before him, shocking white.

His voice was crying out in rage, fear, and desperation as their fists met, and their auras clashed against one another. His voice seemed to echo until it was lost as the light generated from the two auras brightened. It wasn't long before the only thing R.D. could see was the burning glare of Dragon Drive FINAL.

And soon even that was lost amongst the blazing light. He could no longer feel the combined fists of Hell and Heaven, could no longer feel the lashing winds, could no longer even feel the armor around his body. With a start, he realized that his armor was gone and he was floating in a sterile, infinite void.

"All right," a familiar voice said. "We don't have much time."

To his right stood a certain young man in a denim jacket, hands slid casually in his pockets. "You need to do what I say, when I say it. Got it?"

R.D. blinked, feeling the void stretch on for eternity. What the? Wasn't that...

"... Matt?"

"Hey." Matt held up a hand in recognition. "But enough plesantries." He quickly glanced about him. "I can't talk for long. FINAL's gonna find out what I'm doin' soon, so we need to chat quicklike."

Matt was here? This didn't make any sense. Matt Willard was Dragon Drive FINAL. Dragon Drive FINAL was Matt Willard. Right?

... as Matt would undoubtedly say, on a 1-10 scale, this ranked a solid 13 on the Weird Shit-O-Meter.

R.D. turned to his right and stared at his friend.

"What the hell is going on here? I thought you were Dragon Drive FINAL."

"Well, technically, yes, but logically, no." Matt raised his hands to gesture in his own confusion. "It's like this, okay? When I got really pissed off and unleashed that power, for a while, I was just, like, insane with power." He glanced down. "But after a bit I wasn't that angry anymore. It was like...it was like Dragon Drive FINAL had become a seperate entity, and it was using my body to cause destruction. I've got to stop it before it fucks up the entire Multiverse."

Matt glanced back up. "When your attack hit FINAL's attack, I was able to establish a mental link with you, with what power I've got left. Here's what we're gonna do. When I break this link off...I'm gonna lower FINAL's defenses. That's your only chance. You've gotta kill me."

R.D. frowned. He already didn't like this plan. But he made a vow and he had no choice.

You're too stubborn to die, Matt.

Finally, R.D. looked away.

"... I don't think she'd forgive me if I did."

"...I don't want to die."

Matt couldn't bear to look directly at his friend anymore. "...there's too much left to do with my life. I don't want to end it now. But I made a vow a long time ago, R.D.. I said to myself that I would prevent the Multiverse from being destroyed. And if I've gotta die so that everyone else can live...I'd rather get it over with right now."

He pushed his glasses up his nose. "...she'd understand."

"I made that vow too," R.D. replied, "We all did when we joined you."

R.D. looked up into the vastness of the white void, their mental link. This could be the last time they ever spoke to each other. Something had to be said, questions had to be asked before it was time to end the battle.

"What will happen when it's over?"

Edited by RisingDragon on September 20, 2007 at 12:54:49.

"I dunno...hopefully you'll be able to get out of there. If not...I dunno."

"I guess I'll find out when the time comes," R.D. said, looking back at his friend. His eyes stared into Matt's for a brief moment when a sudden thought came to him. Matt and Helena were unusually close during their adventure, ever since the girl had regained her body.

"You loved her, didn't you?"

He looked away. "We're wasting time. This link isn't gonna last any longer."

A sigh.

"...what do you think?"

"Judging by your reaction... I'd say yes," R.D. said, frowning. After several more moments, he held out his arm to the person he considered his best friend.

"It's been a hell of a time, Matt," he said, smiling slightly, "Give'em hell."

Matt's hand smacked R.D.'s, and he shook it firmly.

He allowed himself a smirk.

"Rock on."

In that instant, the void was dismissed, and reality returned to that decisive moment within the emerald hurricane.

Dragon Drive FINAL, its attack countered by the Bakuretsu God Finger, was repelled, arms flying apart as it shot back. Now was R.D.'s chance...he had to finish it now, and for good.

The void dissolved, and the spectral vision of Matt he saw faded from view, replaced by the hateful gaze of Dragon Drive FINAL. His eyes narrowed and his expression hardened as he pressed forward. The Bakuretsu God Finger shoved forward, causing Hell and Heaven to miraculously break, and the entity was thrown back.

"This one's for Matt, you son of a bitch!" R.D. roared into the emerald hurricane as eyes flared gold.

He reared back and activated the restored cannons on his armor. Twenty hexagonal pistons formed around his forearms as rings of light materialized around his wrists. The hip cannons swung upwards and aimed directly at FINAL's chest, even as a line of energy was sucked into the torso barrel.

Thunder crashed as all five weapons were aimed at Dragon Drive FINAL, and without another thought, R.D. fired. Rays of gold, beams of emerald, and waves of red and azure plasma erupted from the Dragon King Armor, and R.D.'s yell escalated throughout the Eternal Sanctuary as he fired again and again at Dragon Drive FINAL, never relenting.

The beams smashed relentlessly into Dragon Drive FINAL's armor, driving it out of the dispersing hurricane, propelling the entity out into the open of the Eternal Sanctuary.

"YEAH!" Hugo shouted, raising his weapon. "KICK HIS ASS!"

Many of the shots fired missed, as his aim was unguided by his armor. The beams streaked through the air in a dazzling display, but despite the large number that missed, even more struck Dragon Drive FINAL dead on. One final blast from the torso cannon sent the entity careening through the prismatic skies.

The three cannons were ripped away, disintegrating into motes of material that were swept up in a prismatic aura. The dragon-wing propeller formed on his back, his armor enlarged to end in a circular, clawed hand with two spikes, and a crude, angular mask materialized on the right side of R.D.'s face.

The rotor issued a gout of silver flame as it spun rapidly, causing R.D. to rise off the ground. The evolved Shell Bullet split open and gathered energy into the accelerator. R.D. glared at Dragon Drive FINAL as he swung his right arm out, and his face, matted with blood, contrasted to the blazing golden glare in his eyes.

He rocketed forward, propelled by the flame and rotor, and streaked across the ground before lifting upwards in a sharp rise. His right arm swung up in a vicious uppercut as his fist shone with power.

"THIS FIGHT IS OVER!!!"

The fist struck Dragon Drive FINAL directly in the chest, and golden rays of light, blazing like the sun, erupted from his clenched hand.

Dragon Drive FINAL doubled over as R.D.'s last supercharged punch smashed into its body.

From the point of impact, cracks burst along the chestplate, streaking in erratic directions.

Then, the explosive results-Dragon Drive FINAL shot backwards in a tremendous arc, sailing through the air. Its form hurtled toward the temporal rift torn in the prismatic sky, still increasing in power and draw.

Almost like a bag on the wind, it drifted into the abyss without much fanfare, wings frozen in wide place, body spread evenly apart.

"...no..." Hugo began running toward the edge of the island, keeping FINAL in sight. "Matt, no!"

The explosion of force released by Shell Bullet Burst repelled R.D. backwards just as it sent Dragon Drive FINAL hurtling towards the rift. His armored body smashed into the main island of the Eternal Sanctuary, displacing much of the temple ruin there as his body cratered.

Quickly R.D. pulled himself out of the crater as the evolved Shell Bullet disintegrated from his form. He saw the fateful plummet of Dragon Drive FINAL, and his eyes widened in shock and horror.

"Matt!" he screamed, powerless to stop his friend from being lost into the abyss.

X nonchalantly tossed a limp body off to the side. He gazed behind him dispassionately at the burning village behind him. He sighed, eight villages and no one had any information on Tracer, the Templar that had defeated him. Of course, he thought to himself, maybe he had killed them too quickly for them to mention anything important; he made a mental note to let the civilians of the next village live a little longer.

A few hours ago, he had settled somewhat. His no longer held a psychotic look, but instead his visage was consumed by either apathy or boredom. It was hard to tell. His energy aura too had settled down. It still radiated enough for someone to tell which dimension he was in, but anything more specific than that was impossible.

"Time for the next one."

The rift grew in power and scope. Slowly, the broken islands of the Eternal Sanctuary were noticably pulled toward the rift, while it continued to greedily draw lesser mass into its realm. It was obvious to see that, soon, all within the Eternal Sanctuary would be devoured.

The ground beneath him roared in protest, and R.D. staggered, dropping to one armored knee as the island shifted, being drawn into the abyss.

"Dammit!" he shouted, looking around fearfully. Time to go... but how do they escape? Not knowing the answer, R.D. ran and leapt off the edge, falling roughly to the island that Hugo was on.

---- Mountains of Germany ----

Kalmar finished charging his attack when he heard Blazen shout. "I have it covered!" he responded quickly before unleashing his massive orb of corrupted fire at the beast's exposed underside. If they were lucky, it would distract the beast long enough to finally end it.

---- Quebec Research Compound ----

LCPL. Jones nodded and quickly brought his rifle up, "Let's move out." The Marines quickly formed up behind their commander and continued down the darkened corridor.

"Aye, Sir." When the roar echoed down the corridor the four Marines snapped their weapons up, prepared for the oncoming assualt.

---- Shayol Ghul ----

Daemonus listened to the Khaglessi recount his battle, taking mental notes on the warriors that had been resurrected. "So, the rest of your kind has been brought to life. They shall serve Ziatoch well."

Daemonus looked over the courtyard at the hundreds of creatures running around on various errands. The multitude of different creatures that inhabited this place could have easily spread across the continents. Yet Ziatoch did nothing but bide his time.

"Did you destroy any of these resurrected warriors?" Daemonus' voice bounced off the black walls of Xobelisk, as dark and emotionless as his voice.

"Damn it!"

Hugo smacked the ground with his foot, as hard as he could. He couldn't even bear to look up at the floating body of FINAL anymore.

"...damn it..."

The Mettaur didn't glance up as R.D. landed on the same island as him.

"Hugo!" R.D. shouted, running over to the Mettaur. "Come on! We have to go!"

R.D. spared a brief glance at the dimensional rift that was left by the rage of Dragon Drive FINAL. "Matt and I managed to beat him, but we've got to go or else we're lost too."

===In Shayol Ghul===

Re-Tuul sneered as he followed Ziatoch's greatest minion. "No," he spat violently, a bit of black blood in the saliva, "I didn't. It was me against six thousand hellish freaks. What'd you expect!?"

It was clear Re-Tuul was a bit ticked off. However, he quickly reigned in his anger. "And us? Did Diablo take the Dragon and Willard for us?"

===In Germany===

The Devil Guardian roared in fury as its body was scorched by Blazen's flames. The monster's jaws opened wide, and even as the white flames shredded at its underside, a massive wave of dark power was unleashing in a violet-black wave of energy aimed at the God of Fire.

As the Demon Hunter's attack finished scorching the underside of the Devil Guardian, the man shot upwards. He roared as he summoned his greatsword and slashed powerfully at the belly of the beast, hoping to either further wound the creature or burst through into it.

---- Shayol Ghul----

Daemonus shook his head at Re-Tuul, "Anger does not befit you. I still would have expected more from one of the Khaglessi."

The dark man continued walking as the demon asked about RD and Matt, "No, Diablo achieved his final form, but was slain at the hands of the Dragon and Willard."

Daemonus once again shook his head, "Failures."

"After Diablo's defeat, I sent Xazax and Terranox after the pair, along with portion of Ziatoch's army. Xazax came back to us half dead, and Terranox did not return at all."

Re-Tuul's jaws split open in slight shock. The Khaglessi then sneered, a gray tongue snaking out to lick his lips. "Is... that... so?" he growled.

Diablo, Xazax, and Terranox all bit it!?

"Well then, I guess the brats' powers have increased."

Well this is just great, he thought angrily, He's growing too powerful. At this rate he'll reach my level of power. He's already on his way to matching any of the Seven in strength.

"Yes, it is so." Daemonus' voice rebounded down the darkened halls, sending various minions scattering in pure fright. The sight of Ziatoch's most powerful minion sent many black hearts jumping.

"We will need to crush these boys before they do something.. drastic."