To refresh everyone, the Nextgen Series ends with the Kids Next Door forever running up to meet Kael. Their "adult" selves are separate entities who have their own children in the Third Gen Tales. But one has to wonder if there was ever an end to their journey. What would they do if it should finish?
The Spirit World was as fantastical as Sephiroth imagined. To think he was probably the first Fallen Nimbi in 2,000 years to lay eyes upon the realm of the gods. He assumed that tremendous tidal wave of energy wasn't a natural phenomenon even here, but it was more than apparent that was where he needed to go.
A psychic grasp bound Sephiroth before he could get much closer. The culprit responsible was a golden-headed imp with twin tails and a silver body, her gold eyes in a sharp glare. "You won't get any closer to Father!"
"So, back off!" Azelf flew up and slashed her tails at Sephiroth, imbued with enhanced Armament Haki. Sephiroth fought free of Uxie's hold and slashed at the Firstborn of Knowledge, but her keen Observation enabled swift evasion. Sephiroth's speed began to falter as a thick wave of boredom fell over him, courtesy of Mesprit, the Goddess of Emotion.
"You won't be getting any farther without a will to fight!"
"AAAAAAAHHH!" Mesprit was overwhelmed by a Fear Scream. She was stunned to see that it was Marshadow. Azelf, her ears covered, flew to slash him with her tails, but twin icicle whips lashed the Willpower Firstborn in turn. Verglora blew a concentrated blizzard at Azelf, but she cut across the air and slashed them. Uxie, sensing two foes around her, evaded Hoopa's gigantified fists as well as energy forks cast by Gourmerry. Uxie grabbed Gourmerry in psychic and threw her into Hoopa, who conjured a portal to redirect her at Uxie, but the Knowledge Goddess pushed her right back through and swerved Gourmerry around to ram Hoopa. "What's wrong with you guys?!" Mesprit shouted. "Why can't I feel anything from you?!"
"They're being controlled against their will!" Azelf could tell, the speed of her tails matching Verglora's whips. "And I think the one responsible is the same being attacking Father right now."
"That Nimbi's getting away!" Uxie tried to fly after Sephiroth, but was seized in a pair of giant chopsticks conjured by Gourmerry. While she held Uxie in place, Hoopa bombarded her with fists.
The maelstrom of power spiraling from Arceus's domain was indescribable in Sephiroth's eyes. Time and Space folded onto their selves as Kael meshed Dialga and Palkia into a ball. Arceus hurdled a planet-sized ball of millions of condensed elements and compounds, but Kael ripped it in half with a karate chop and willed them to slam back into Arceus.
"Hey, Sephy! Thanks for clearing out all those other gods for me." Kael smiled, flicking the Dial-Palkia ball over to him. "Can you get rid of these two for me? I wanna play with Arceus a bit more."
Sephiroth spared a remorseless look for the Gods of Time and Space. He dropped down, raised the Infinity Trident, and pierced their diamond and pearl skin as though it were tissue. The universe was ruptured by spatial rifts, and almost all mortals fast-forwarded to elderly age, reset to infant age, and cycled through again and again. "Don't worry, that should only last a few minutes!" Kael said. "The universe doesn't need these gods, anymore, so it'll fix itself. But I guess a deal is a deal… you can try to kill me if you want. If you stab me with that trident, I'll go right down. If that's what you want~"
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. You plan to target the multiverse, don't you? Do you have the power to breach into other worlds?"
"I can't go that far until I decide a Guardian. Now that I'm free, my three candidates can start the game! I was going to elect you and the rest of those assassins as my knights, but I guess you're the only one available now!"
"I would think you'd have the power to bring them back to life. And breaking Lucci and Wade out of prison should be a cakewalk."
"So far, I only have enough freedom to attack the gods. I'm not able to hurt mortals or other spirits. But given enough time, I might be able to steal their jobs. It would sure help if you would've finished off the last of those Firstborn."
"It seems like your underlings are already on that case. In fact, wouldn't they be more suitable guards? You've wrested control of them from the Guardians, haven't you?"
"There's one unaccounted for. Wait, two actually, where's…oh, right! Synthia's so tiny, I can never see her most of the time! Victini's a lot smaller than I remember, too, haha! But the important one is Skaios. He's the only one that can resist my control; I need you to go back and kill him!"
"You assume I'm just going to do that?"
"Ha ha ha! Are you not?"
"Sephiroth!" Arceus echoed, ensnared and strangled in giant rubber bands of energy. "There is something you must know. The curse that was implanted on your people… I had it lifted 24 years ago. Their souls do not stay bound to their bodies… they are automatically reincarnated instead. But we chose not to tell you in the hopes you would not make your burdens any heavier. If you would pray for salvation. I am… sorry."
"In the end, you really are divine pranksters. At least this one seems more honest about it. Heh…alright, Your Highness." Sephiroth spun to the exit. "I'll take care of that nuisance for you."
…
The Kids Next Door knew their destination as soon as they set foot in the Spirit World. In fact, for most, it was their first time seeing the realm of the afterlife, but they had no time to marvel at the fantastic, spiritual sights. Running headfirst toward the center of the heavy weather, they almost questioned if this was even a good idea. …Especially once they fathomed the results of the weather. "Hey… young'uns?" Mason spoke hoarsely, his body tall, old, grey, and bald? "I don't think we can fight like this."
"Baba, ba baba, mate!" Sheila chirped, reduced into a baby on Mason's back. Since Mason was too feeble to move, Haruka—grown into an adult—used her mature strength to carry them on her back.
Cheren's lower body had been dimensionally inflated, his shoes quaking the ground as he ran. "Nebula, can you use bending to fix this?"
"I can't even see where anything is…" Nebula had been compressed into a very thin, almost 1-dimensional stick, carried in Suki Crystal's inflated head (while the rest of her was shrunk tiny).
"Sompding tewwible hasth happenthed!" MaKayla squeaked, reduced to 2 years old as she sat on Miyuki's head, in which said head had been dimensionally bent into a chair. "Gah Diahga and Gah Pahkia had bin kiwwed!"
"Dialga and Palkia were killed?!" Vweeb exclaimed, his nose having been inflated dramatically as it "ran" alongside them. "That's why our ages and dimensions are screwed up?!"
"ARE WE STUCK LIKE THIS?!" Melody's throat and mouth were inflated while the rest of her was shrunk.
"So, this is the beginning of the new age of humanity…" Maddy Murphy was a perfectly round ball. "We'll look back at those proportioned days with longing…"
"Can someone explain THIS TO US?!" Quill Ramsey and Eddy Flores were melded into each other via pink energy.
"I guess you went into a portal at the same time and had your dimensions fused?" Aurora wondered, reverted to 7 years old.
"Good thing we psychics are immune to age wegwession." Sunni hissed, reverted to a big-brained baby. "Their doom shall come, and victowy shall be mine."
"You might wanna get that ego checked." Anthony replied, now a big strong adult.
"I'm certain this will wear off in minutes!" Index squeaked, her young self chewing on a larger Goombella's head. "We just gotta keep moving and hold on!"
"You can hold on a little less!" the Goomba said.
"LOOK!" an elderly Nagisa pointed. They had finally caught up with the Newborn, horrified as they engaged the Triforce Trio in a duel to the death. "AZELF! MESPRIT! UXIE!"
"CHEREN!" Azelf exclaimed. "YOU LOOK RIDICULOUS!"
"Gourmerry, what're you doing?!" Yuzu shouted, her Newborn trying to claw into Azelf with the Bare Hands technique, which Azelf countered with palm grabs. "STOP! I command you to stop! Return to your Pokéball!"
"Synthia, no!" Rupert panicked as Synthia shrunk Mesprit to ant size, allowing Teeny Victini to try and burn her with small sparks of fire.
"Hey! Bad Victini!" Romeo scolded.
"Uhhh…" Miko looked as Bolypius was simply bouncing in her Magearna body, unable to float and join the fight. "Er, doing great… Boly!"
"It's useless, maties!" Skaios said. "They need me!" The Free Born flew to the center of the scuffle. He spread a field of wind to envelop all the Newborn. "Come on, mates! Yer better than this! Get ahold of yourselves and wake up! You don't like that bigheaded bloke! You ain't wanna listen to him the first time! Be free! Just like ya were back then! BE FR-"
The operatives paled at the one-winged shadow that descended, its trident casting a four-colored streak. "SKAIO…" Cheren couldn't get the word out by the time Sephiroth was inches above the Sky God, his Infinity Trident ready to…
Midna zipped out of Dillon's shadow and swat Skaios out of the way. She hoped she could land a quick blow on Sephiroth while he was holding the trident… but a millisecond before, its four prongs stabbed her. The operatives didn't know how to respond… and neither did Skaios, after he realized what happened. "…heehee." The last expression on Midna was her grin to Skaios… before her shadow faded. At that moment, all regions in the universe experienced a bleak twilight.
"Ahhh…that Midna came in handy with her clone again, eh?" Old Mason smiled.
"That… wasn't a clone…" Dillon choked.
"D…Dillon?"
"Midna…w…WHY?!?"
"AAAAARRRRRGH!" Skaios' rage wouldn't find its mark as Sephiroth Shaved away, stashing the trident away. Maddy, just after Cheren kicked her ballish form up to him, reverted back to proper shape as her Gold Fist flew like a comet. Smirking, Sephiroth absorbed the punch with his palm: Maddy sensed a strain in him, and yet he absorbed the attack much better than Lucci did. "?!" She realized Sephiroth was compressing gravity around her fist, but thankfully, Aurora Uno launched up and slashed his arm with Galaxia. The strike of lightning, laced with her own Ice-Fire, compelled Sephiroth to release Maddy. She lashed a round of blows against the Nimbi, but Sephiroth matched with his katana—Sunni seized and dragged him to the ground, allowing Cheren to stab him in the chest. Sephiroth withstood the blow and lashed his katana, Cheren blocking with the Mirror Shield, and Sunni grabbed his neck in psychic in attempt to twist it.
The Fallen Nimbi unleashed a burst of gravity to repel his foes. "You mangy cur!" Skaios cursed. "Kael sent you to kill me, DIDN'T HE?!"
"Does that mean you've taken his side?" Cheren asked. "Or have you been playing CP0 all along?"
"Not necessarily." Sephiroth brushed some dirt off. "I enjoyed working with them. They were excellent comrades. But I know they never would've accepted this. I had personal reasons to destroy the gods of this universe, but with the Supreme Born, I can see more. Learn more. He's the one who taught me Rokushiki… and if he could help me travel the multiverse, I can grow even stronger. Plus, I wonder what other worlds live under corrupt gods? Perhaps they need a savior to end them as well."
"Corrupt gods?" Nagisa rasped. "You're using those words… knowing full well Kael is way more corrupt than the ones you killed?!"
"Well, that was only a means to an end. Now that we've removed those gods, the multiverse is just around the corner. I'll hold more power and knowledge than I could've ever imagined. And you kids can be part of it, too. If you win Kael's game, that is…"
"Skaios… keep trying to help the Newborn." Cheren ordered. "We'll have a talk with Kael… after we deal with you." Aurora, Maddy, and Sunni stood firmly beside him. "After all you did to the gods and our friends, CP0 deserves justice. No matter how this day ends… I won't sleep well until you're gone."
"Then I'll personally see if you're worthy of Kael's power. This time… I'll hold nothing back!" (Play "One-Winged Angel" from Final Fantasy VII!)
Sephiroth ascended to the air, bathed in a warm light. The flash blinded them, the Nimbi becoming a shadow. His shape grew and morphed, and once colored in, they were awed at the divine entity: his torso was bare and his white hair rose like embers, defying gravity. His waist had become a cloud, from which grew six, enormous, divine feathered wings. His right arm was replaced with a dark-red, demonic wing, and two halos were at his back, a sun symbol at the top of one. "The true form of the Fallen Nimbi…" Index's eyes shone. "A form that not many achieve…"
"You mean like how Morgiana's race can become Red Lions?" Nagisa asked.
"True forms are an aspect that some races have." Morgiana gazed. "Still… it's hard to believe such majestic things are mortal."
Still, the KND had faced many such entities before. The operatives rose against the angel bravely.
Final boss: Safer Sephiroth
His left arm raised skyward, Sephiroth summoned a storm of meteors, every operative taking measures to defend or evade them. Sunni grabbed several meteors and threw them back, Sephiroth swatting them away with his wings—Maddy came flying from behind one, ambushing Sephiroth with gold knuckles to the jaw. The angel repelled her skyward, and as Sunni threw Cheren at him, Sephiroth used Life Return to stretch and stab his hair at the leader. Cheren spun and sliced the strands, but his Haki-imbued blade couldn't reach Sephiroth as he projected a diamond-like barrier, made from his own chi and strengthened by Iron Body. Thankfully, Cheren could use Sephiroth's "cloud" like a foothold, the boy defending himself as the feathered wings bent up to cut him. He hoped the distraction would benefit Aurora as she rocketed around him, thrusting her sword and stretching a long icicle from it. Sephiroth used his free hand to smash the ice, but Aurora could still launch forward, strike his arm, then his back before she was repelled.
Lola Stork carried MaKayla up to the sky, so she could Rewind Maddy back to Sephiroth. The Nimbi was prepared as he forced all his foes to the ground with intense gravity. Nebula joined in, struggling to undo the gravity. This would become tasking as Sephiroth flicked raining Finger Pistols at the backup operatives. Sunni and Maddy were able to push their selves up, the former grabbing Maddy and raising her up, directly beneath the angel. The Murphy pulled back her fist and threw it into Sephiroth's cloud crotch—"PLEASE don't write that again!" Maddy was wrapped in two of his wings, but Cheren used quick-charged Skyward Strikes to slash them, and Aurora would shoot up as well to cut and burn the wings.
The gravity wore off, but Sephiroth flew several meters back, performing the Humming Bird to project two clones of himself. Cheren couldn't distinguish them, even with Observation, but Maddy's better skill and Sunni's psychic could see the truth. Both girls flew for the Leftiroth, Sunni hurdling Maddy further for a momentous punch. Again, Sephiroth applied the Diamond Body technique; Maddy smirked, opening her palm and softening it as she touched Sephiroth's belly with Paper Haki. Sunni could seize this chance to ram psychic force into him, the angel's body compressing as he hacked saliva. Aurora helped Cheren catch up with an Ice Road, angling it upward as they joined hands, stretched swords, and performing a cyclone maneuver, Sephiroth blocking with his demon wing. Aurora swiftly threw her brother over it, his blade aimed for Sephiroth's head, but he tanked the cut as he bit Cheren's leg, using Spider Bite to stun him. Aurora quickly grabbed and threw him for Sunni to catch, landing a quick cut on Sephiroth before his gravity could crush her.
Sephiroth rose even higher, the operatives grumbling at his cheap tactic. "Hey… guys?!" MaKayla panicked. "I sense something big coming!"
The operatives braced their selves, wondering what she meant. …There was a twinkle in the sky… a tiny light that slowly grew. It would look awe-inspiring from a different angle… but from here, it was an impending disaster. The gargantuan star burned through the "spirit" version of Pluto. It flew past Neptune and melted it into an ocean. It pierced Uranus at just the right point to make a big, "POOOOOOOOT." It grazed Saturn's ring and turned it into a boomerang. It punctured Jupiter, turning it into a second "Uranus." It grazed past MÄR… not the planet, but the manga Gamewizard's been reading, at just the right distance to kill Rapunzel; serves her right for killing one of his favorite characters!
Alas, the falling star would fall past "Spirit Earth" and eventually hit the sun. They couldn't let that happen. Sephiroth's shadow cast powerfully against the star. "NEBULA!" Cheren screamed. "Use bending to make me bigger! I'll use the Mirror Shield to bounce it!"
"I don't know if I have the stamina to make you big enough!"
"I'll help!" Wendy readied her wand. "ENGORGIO!"
"DILLON, WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!" Mason screamed; Dillon had asked Sunni to teleport him close to the star and a safe distance from Sephiroth.
"HERE GOES NOTHING!" The star expanded Dillon's shadow against the ground as he seized Sephiroth's in Shadow Possession; Sunni telekinetically kept a hold on Dillon to ensure this stays in effect. Meanwhile, Nebula expanded Cheren's dimensions with Wendy's magic to help. When the star was close enough, Sunni quickly teleported herself and Dillon, breaking their grip on Sephiroth, who used Diamond Body to withstand the star. Cheren, however, was thankfully able to catch the brunt of it on his Mirror Shield, bouncing it straight back to the sky as it burned through Sephiroth again. The effort of drawing in the star, plus defending himself, seemed to strain Sephiroth just enough for him to sink close to the ground. Cheren couldn't move well in his enlarged state, so the girls shrank him back down, while Sunni threw Aurora and Maddy to whale on Sephiroth.
"That was a miracle." Goombella sighed in relief. "He can't last much longer after that. But make sure to watch out for his Descend Heartless Angel attack! That'll knock your HP down to 1!"
"I can't say the same for them!" Arianna pointed in panic.
Skaios was shrunk down to Synthia's level, pierced by an array of Light Spears while he himself bombarded her with thick air molecules. Regardless, he had a harder time focusing his "Will of Rebellion" over the Newborn in this state. Hoopa trapped Uxie inside the Universe Book and forced her to survive several heavy battles in the Star Wars, but the Knowledge Goddess memorized the tactics and formations used to outmaneuver the historical Troopers. Gourmerry wrestled Mesprit to the ground and vomited a stream of bad recipes into her mouth, sickening the Emotion Goddess. Azelf flew hoping to help her, but Miko Kubota thwarted the Willpower Goddess, slashing a holographic sword from her Hinobi Gauntlet.
"MIKO, what're you doing?!" Quill shouted.
"IT'S NOT ME!" Miko screamed, Azelf defending herself as Miko's right arm swung violet hammers and maces. "I didn't know Boly could do this! Grrr, get off, you stupid glove!" Her efforts to rip it off were in vain. Jennifer skated to kick Magearna, but Marshadow served as her defense, Screaming to stun the skater with fear.
Sephiroth remained grounded for 10 seconds while he took Maddy and Aurora's onslaught, the former leaping to wrap an arm around his neck and haul it to the ground. Aurora froze his wings to the surface, both ensuring the assassin was totally immobile. "They got him!" Shino said. "Now's your chance, Killua."
The sniper and the Sheikah had been very far away. Killua whistled a tune as the Whistling Arrow orbited him, maintaining full concentration on the distant angel. "WHEW!" When the moment was golden, Killua ordered the arrow to fly. Leaving a blue streak in its wake, the arrow was bound to find its mark. Maddy kept Sephiroth down, knowing this… but she paled at seeing the assassin's smirk.
In reality, Sephiroth used Life Return to burrow a single strand of hair through the earth, digging its way to Killua. Once beneath the boy, it shot up at a perfect angle and punctured Killua's sole. "UUUMP!" His shattering concentration caused the arrow to whip right back in his direction, now leaving a red streak. Killua knew this was the drawback of the arrow, but to think CP0 had such excellent concentration over it. And now, he himself was about to learn what happens to those that don't.
But Azelf wouldn't let that happen. Breaking away from her duel with Miko's arm, she Torpedo Spun toward the arrow and caught up. The Willpower Goddess whipped her tail to flip the arrow down, succeeding as its color faded and it dropped… but at a cost. Her tail grazed the arrow's point. "Nnh…?!" From her tail, her body began to crack like glass. "Ch…Cheren…" She turned and put on as best a smile as she could. "Don't lose… the will to fight." She fell and shattered into shards.
"AAAAAAAHHH!" At that moment, everyone became Haki users: their bodies would blink in and out of black, iron color. It was almost like an Invincibility power-up in a game: strong, but limited and blinking. Unfortunately, the same applied to Sephiroth, who regained a boost of strength and pushed off his constraints, whipping Aurora away with his wings and seizing Maddy in his hair.
"deSCINDHARVEST Angel." Sephiroth uttered in an echoey, indiscernible tone. He gripped Maddy's chest in his hand, channeling a reddish-pink chi. Maddy screamed as her Haki and stamina shattered, and her health barely hanging by a thread. Sephiroth hurdled the girl away, but Sunni mustered a soft psychic bubble to catch her.
"I said to watch out for the Descend Heartless!" Goombella shouted.
"But he said Sin Harvest!" Sunni argued.
"He said Descend Heartless, HE JUST SAYS IT WEIRD!!"
"Quit shouting!" Melody shouted, watching as Cheren and Aurora returned to duel Sephiroth on their own. "Maddy, I'll try to heal you!" She quickly bent water over the Murphy. As soon as the revitalizing took effect, Maddy felt energy course back through her. "WHOA! That worked faster than I thought!"
"Maybe that move's weakness is that it's easy to undo as soon as the target gets a good treatment." Index deduced.
"That's fine by me!" Maddy raced back to the fight, Sunni joining. Seeing them coming, Sephiroth slashed Tempest Wings, airwaves from his wings. They cut clean across the ground, and even if the four could evade them, Sephiroth intentionally targeted the backup operatives, requiring them to scramble to evade. The kids negated whichever Tempests they could, and as Aurora elevated Cheren to Sephiroth's level, the hero lashed out at him with the Soul Surge technique. Anger fueled Cheren, thinking of Azelf as he aimed to make Sephiroth suffer as much as possible.
"CHEREN, STOP!" Aurora tried to grab her brother and pull him back. "He's using Iron Body now, you're wasting energy!"
"Dammit!"
Down in the Microverse, Skaios struggled to fly and grab onto Synthia; touching the light spirit would restore his normal size. But light was faster than wind as Skaios soon learned. "WHAT THE-?!" Two monumentally-sized continents seemed to come colliding with the little spirits.
And with a burst of Synthia's chi, Sheila Frantic was suddenly falling into the amoeba-filled space. "WAAAAAH!" Skaios flew down to catch her.
"What are ya doin' here?!"
"Oi was 'ere to help ya! She's a lightbender, ain't she? So, maybe you needed me."
"I…" Skaios cocked a brow in realization. "Aye, that's true!" He withdrew the Spirit Ball from his bandanna. "Yer the Pirate King! Maybe… Ay need YOU to help me save the Newborn!"
"Ya reckon then?"
"Ay do! Catch me, Pirate King! We'll put a stop ter Kael's plans together!"
Mesprit had run herself emotionally dry trying to fight Marshadow and Verglora, so Sectors IC and JP surrounded her in protection. Uxie was able to knock out Hoopa and Boly, Sector Q and SA ready to protect her from other threats. "Hey, what's…" Index gasped seeing a different tiny light chasing Synthia around. Once it finally made contact, Sheila and Skaios exploded back into existence. "HAHA! Guess what the Pirate King's got now?!"
Sheila captured a NEWBORN! She was probably the best pick from the start, but she's strong enough already!
"Sheila, yer not an airbender, so we can't go too hard on your chi or ye'll wind up like Fybi."
"You don't know who I am, do ya? Goin' hard on me chi paths is what Oi do best. Now, here's where you're gonna—huh?"
"What's happening now?!" Cheren exclaimed as the Spirit Earth began to rotate. Soon, the sun was rising over the horizon.
"He's rotating the 'planet' with his gravitybending?!" Maddy exclaimed. "How strong is this guy?!"
"You may have deflected the first star… but try an even bigger one!" Sephiroth rose and, his gravity surging, began to draw in the sun.
"CRAAAAAAAAAAP!" Aurora screamed.
"Looks like we need to gigantify the Mirror Shield again!" Maddy exclaimed. "Sunni, psychicbenders can alter sizes, too, right?"
"No we can't!"
"What?! I coulda sworn you could; we even got into Skaios' kingdom that way!"
"That was Vweeb, silly, your mind's playing tricks on you!"
"YOU'RE THE PSYCHIC, SO THAT'S YOUR FAULT!"
"QUIT FIGHTING AND PULVERIZE HIM!" Cheren demanded.
"Too bad!" Sephiroth cast a separate surge of gravity around the ground. Not only were the operatives weighed, but meteors came raining. Nebula had no strength left to negate the gravity, Wendy and the mages had to fend off some meteors, and the timebenders were keeping the Rogueborn at bay.
"GAAAAH!" Cheren cried at the hopeless situation. "SKAIOS, DO… something?" He noticed another little problem. "W…WHERE'S SKAIOS?!"
"He just flew off with Sheila!" Mason answered.
"Sh…"
"Looks like you're out of options." Sephiroth smirked, the sun growing ever closer and brighter. "We all shall perish… and I will become Kael's Divine Angel. So long… Kids Next Door."
The kids couldn't do anything… they didn't need to do anything. The sun was inevitable. They would always feel hope as it shone in the sky. "…?" Something was odd, Sephiroth thought. Did they really give up the struggle like that? Why were they so patient. "…?!" Behind him wasn't a sun. It was a fist… big enough to crush this whole valley. "YAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Sheila and Skaios had flown as close to the Soul Sun as they could, amassing as much light as they could, with Skaios' chi to enhance her speed and carriable quantity. They fell with Sephiroth's gravity to enhance the journey as well. The assassin growled and repelled them, pushing the larger sun away… but Skaios was determined to keep carrying Sheila, pushing their Supernova Fist with all their might.
But because gravity stopped weighing the kids down, Sunni uplifted Cheren, Maddy, and Aurora to the angel. Aurora stabbed his cloud with Fire, Ice, and Galaxia's light, Cheren tried to lash Soul Surge on his back, but he imbued Diamond Body to that area—Maddy pressed it with Paper Haki, allowing Cheren to really lash out on him, blood spilling. The two leapt back as Cheren and Maddy both grabbed the Master Sword, coating it with a swirl of black and gold Haki. They spun and drilled into Sephiroth's back, the assassin roaring out in pain. Ultimately, Sheila's fist of wind and light pressed the angel… but it bent open gaps so all her friends would survive. Sephiroth was squished into the surface… as were the Newborn. (End song.)
When it was finally safe to reopen their eyes, Sheila's fist had ruptured much of the spiritual ground, exposing Coruscant beneath them. They had almost forgotten the Spirit World was being projected above there at the moment. The shore where the ops stood was safe, and the Newborn appeared to be knocked out… but Sephiroth, reduced to his humanoid form, was stranded on a platform floating above the pit. "Hur…" The Nimbi calmly drew the Infinity Trident. He considered using it during that final attack, but he knew those kids would've got to him. It was too late to use it now… but he wouldn't let them have it either. Sephiroth glanced above to his back-left… and saw a ripple in space-time, likely left by the death of said gods. "Heh…" With one last wave of gravity, he threw the trident, letting it "fall" into the rift… before it sealed. "Sorry… Kael… I'll have to join you… later…" With no strength left, Sephiroth closed his eyes and fell backward. The operatives merely watched as he returned to Coruscant… once more proving his title as a Fallen Angel.
No one had any strength left to go down and check on him. Not even Mesprit and Uxie. "Azelf… she's… gone…" Mesprit cried.
"Mesprit… you know what must be done."
"I know… but… I'm scared."
"We have no strength left… and we must stay together. This is the only way."
"What are… you guys talking about?" Cheren asked.
Their smiles full of remorse, Uxie conjured a psychic sword, and Mesprit formed a heart over Uxie's chest. "Emily… I hope we meet again."
"Anthony… I hope you and Harvey can make up."
Uxie stabbed Mesprit, and Mesprit ripped Uxie's heart. The children, horrified and dumbfounded, watched as their bodies shattered. (Play "Between the Forgotten Phantasm" from Cold Steel III.)
A great wave of divinity washed across the air… and the sky filled with pure, godly majesty. It was their first time seeing him, except for Miyuki. But it was obvious to everyone. Those infantile proportions, that crown head the size of a big city, those eyes the size of great lakes… Kael was miles above them, miles away, and yet he was ever so present. He held Arceus, bound in childish bands, like a model pony in his hand.
Sighing, Cheren sheathed his sword. He would be the first one to approach the god… not that he walked far, nor did he need to. At the kind of scale Kael presented himself, they may as well have all been a few inches from him. Cheren stopped when he felt close enough and called out. "KAEL… WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM US?! Why…why did you want all the gods destroyed?!"
"Eh…?" Kael was taken aback at the tiny boy's direct question. Mortals were awfully casual in the presence of such divinity… but Kael quite enjoyed that. The young god only smiled at the array of little kids and teens and replied, "I want friends!"
"F…Friends?"
"Yeah… I want lots and lots of friends to play with. But you know… this universe is just too small." Kael's godly hand, while small in his proportions, loomed above them like an alien spaceship that could crash down at any moment. "I want to go to other worlds and play with everyone there. The problem is the gods get in the way of that. Not just these gods, but gods across the multiverse. They would kick me out… they wouldn't let me back in… and I wouldn't be able to play with anyone there. So, I wanna get rid of the gods and replace them with my siblings! The Newborn would be the new gods! And now, I guess they are! Er, I still haven't taken care of some of them, but oh well! CP0 did a good enough job."
"NO, KAEL!" The Supreme frowned, focusing on Marshadow. The Newborn seemed to regain their conscience thinking. "We don't want this! The gods…the REAL gods are our family! My brother accepted me! I never wanted to replace him! I don't wanna destroy what he made!"
"Th-the other Firstborn…" Synthia cried, Gourmerry holding and comforting the little amoeba in sadness. "Meloetta, Jirachi, Celebi… they were all such good friends… I…I never wanted them to…sniffle…"
"V-V…Vic…ti…ni…" Romeo hugged the impish Victory Spirit to his chest.
"Rayquaza gave me a second chance…" Skaios growled. "We were ALL given a second chance. And we…we don't listen to you, anymore. The Kids Next Door are our masters… and friends…"
"Hmmmm…" Kael was conflicted, slightly. "That's not quite how I wanted this to go… I only wanted them to become your Guardians so you would be submissive. But if they stay your Guardians during the Game, that would kinda be cheating. That's why I was hoping you'd come up with me and we could watch together. But if you wanna play, that's fine, too."
"WHAT GAME?!" Cheren demanded. "What do you want us to play?!"
"It can only be…" Index began, "the game that decides a supreme ruler above all others. The Game of Thro-"
"Super Smash Brothers!"
Kael's answer knocked everyone dead with disbelief. ". . . . . . . . . . WHAT?!?!?!?!?!"
"Hahaha! In a Dimensional Fusion, far away, a bunch of different people come together and beat each other up! It's the funnest game in the multiverse! Other universes try to do it! I wanna do it, too! I want this universe to have a great big battle to decide who my Guardian is gonna be. Then, we're gonna go out and fight everyone in the multiverse. We're gonna decide who's the supremest being of all. And we'll make lots of friends doing it. It's gonna be fun!"
"So, you want us to fight the entire multiverse?!" Maddy exclaimed. "Not a chance! It was hard enough fighting 13 people from the multiverse…heck, not even 13. And that time, we were defending our own! We're not gonna be the invaders this time!"
"You mean… you don't wanna play?"
"Oi sure wouldn't mind EXPLORING the multiverse." Sheila shrugged. "Blimey, Ah bet I'd like beatin' up a few drongos, too! Pillage and plundering is what pirates do! But you… Ah dunno if Oi loike what you're cookin'."
"But I thought for sure… the winner of the Pirate War would play. Did you know? The Pirate War was the setup for this. I had one of my Candidates start it."
"Candidates?!" Cheren gasped. "You can't mean King K. Rool!"
"Not him, but my Candidate got him to help start the war! Skaios helped, too, but I don't think he remembered why he was doing it, hehe! It was fun, wasn't it? You got to beat up all those pirates, do cool things with your powers, and-"
"WE HATED IT! We lost a ton of friends, and other friends hate each other now, and… we never wanna do anything like that again!"
"But if that's true… why are you still Kids Next Door? Fighting people or making friends to help you is what you do. Even if you don't want to, you will. Even if the battles aren't fun, or if they ARE fun, you will. So, just have fun all the time!"
"You don't…you don't fucking understand a thing!"
"Well, I guess you don't have to play… but I already picked my three Candidates. Look! Two of them are here now!"
"…?!" Horror and hopelessness drowned their hearts. In the distance were titans far bigger than Kael. One had big, round ears… he was unmistakably the mascot and ruler of Disney. "Gosh!" Mickey Mouse echoed. "I found this odd stairway outside my castle and, hoho! I wasn't expecting to see you here, Kael!"
"Mickey…" Cheren knew him well… for trying to kill himself and the other KND leaders. Mickey put on a happy, friendly, open-hearted front, but from here especially, Cheren saw through his guise. But the other Candidate… was perhaps more terrifying.
The residents of Heaven's Hotel, the late parents of the current KND, listened to Kael's speech from afar. They wanted to be closer to support their kids, but as spirits, that luxury was forbidden. BOOM. The building quaked. BOOM. The spirits were in panic. "W-W-What's that?!" stuttered Shaunie, one of the newest residents.
"D-D-Dimentia…" Plex stuttered.
"It… can't be…" Dimentia was terrified beyond words.
King Bowser's monolithic feet stomped clean over the tiny, stick-like building. The Koopa's body was continental as it passed above the hotel… and, as his tail passively flailed left and right, it gently whacked the building off its foundation. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" The motion was accidental and simple. The spirits, with no time to plan or prepare, would scramble to flee or be crushed under the tower of rubble. "NIGEL!!" Rachel screamed.
"DADDY!" Fanny Drilovsky cried.
"AAAAHHH!" Hoagie Gilligan hugged his dad as they fell.
"NOT AGAAAIIIIN!" Amalthus was on the verge of climbing back up the hotel from the Underworld, only to fall again.
Bowser, though he didn't know why, sported a satisfied smirk.
It was his and Mickey's first time seeing Kael at a proper size for a Firstborn. Small, infant-like, but still brimming with power. He sat cutely on the spiritual earth, wagging his skinny feet. "It's time for the Game to begin!" Kael cheered. "First, you guys have to put your hands on my crown and I'll make you my official Candidates! You're gonna conquer lots of people… and at the end of June, all your armies are gonna fight. Whoever wins gets to rule it all."
"Yeah, yeah, I was already startin' on that." Bowser growled. "I'd rather just burn this mouse right now!"
"You can't do that, yet, or you won't win!"
"Don't worry, Bowser! We'll be able to square off soon-hoho!"
"I'll roast you like melted cheese, you little rodent!"
"These two are… just gonna conquer everything until one wins?" Maddy asked hoarsely.
"We… have no choice…" Mason choked.
"If you don't wanna fight," Kael spoke, "you can just surrender to one of them. It's easy."
"Go fuck yourself." Nagisa rasped.
Cheren gazed hopelessly at the competition above them… and at Kael… holding a bound-up Arceus in his other hand. Their once-Supreme God was a toy to this child… and so were they. Even trying to deliver a speech about friendship, about right and wrong, Cheren knew that would never get through to Kael. There was no choice but to fight… "Fine, Kael. I'll play your game. But I…I won't make my operatives play."
"That's okay." Maddy stepped forward. "I'll play, too. Wouldn't be my first time… I'm used to it."
Sheila and Mason shared a nod of affirmation and stepped forward. One by one, their friends joined… some more hesitant than others. Sector Q held back the longest, mostly looking to Quill or Miko for an answer. …But as Quill looked to an upset Boly, then at a regretful Miko… the Q Leader bravely stepped forward, his friends following. Sunni, meanwhile… could only stay behind. "But I have one request, Kael." Cheren said. "…You let Arceus live."
"Well…" Kael glanced at the little god. "Okay. He'll be fun to play when I'm bored. Now I can invite my 3rd Candidate!"
Another titan had risen in the distance… a shape most recognizable. It was Cheren?! But he was still here. …No… it was someone identical, but different. "Hooooolyyyyyy shit." Nerehc Onu echoed, watching his step as he crossed the spirit plain. "What the fuck did I step into…?" His shaded eyes fell upon the Positives. "Cheren? Guys? …Boy, you lost some weight."
"Nerehc…?" A sparkle of hope was restored inside Cheren, knowing this was a Candidate they could trust, but the fact was still… "YOU WERE ONE OF KAEL'S CANDIDATES?! How long did you know this?!"
"About a day ago… I meant to contact you at some point, but…"
"Originally, I considered that Evan kid." Kael said. "He had the right guts for it, but then he joined up with you guys, so I figured the KND might as well be the 3rd army. Problem is, Cheren and Nebula were already Firstborn Guardians, so they couldn't be mine… but Nerehc conquered a lot of people in his Pirate War, too! So, it's him now, haha!"
"I don't really get this whole thing, but…" Nerehc reached to put his hand on Kael's head, "we just gotta win like we always do, eh, Cherry?"
"Heheh…" Seeing Nerehc's casual smile, Cheren remembered what it meant to smile himself. "Yeah… we do."
Bowser and Mickey laid their hands. Golden, crown-shaped crests appeared over their chests. "And with that… Super Smash Bros. begins!"
"Ho? I thought it was called somethin' else." Mickey said.
"Sounds like an awesome name to me!" Bowser boasted. "Let's do it! SUPER… SUH-MAAAAAAAAASH BROTHEEEEEERRRRRS!"
Kael placed Arceus inside the black circle on his belly… enveloping the creator like a black hole. Though the KND had some relief, the very atmosphere only made them feel insignificant. It made them long for a better outcome… where these things didn't exist…
…
The destruction of Dialga and Palkia ruptured the Sea of Worlds and the River of Time like bursting dams, cascading into an array of different timelines and possibilities. And in one such possibility, the Kids Next Door married the people they wanted and gave birth to kids of their own, kids who would become the new heroes. Cheren taught his son, Perry the way of swordsman and leadership. Sheila lay asleep on a beach while her son, Jason ran around and jumped on her. Chris and Maddy taught their feisty daughter firebending and Haki. Wendy and Romeo bid their daughter a good day at school as Aria dove off their Sky Island home.
In another time, another universe, another possibility, this was reality: the Nextgen KND had happily grown up and entrusted the fate of the universe to their kids. But the future of this reality, the future of the true Nextgen Kids, remained uncertain once again. Even if they won, what would happen then? Would they be fighting for eternity? None, not even the gods higher above knew for sure. The only way to know was to turn the page.