Chapter Text
The Dark Presence is winning. It’s over. Or not totally. Jones has an idea. A risky idea, but an idea. He takes the Rift gun, calibrates it to reality. But when he’s about to use it, the huge demon slams Godzilla on the floor, making Jones fly and dropping the Rift gun far away. The blonde man coughs and cleans the dust off his clothes.
“Oh no no no, I lost the rift gun.” Jones said.
“Jones, we need to retreat, the Dark Presence is getting closer and stronger.” Hope approaches him and pulls his arms, gesturing for him to leave.
“I need to get the rift gun.”
“Are you crazy ?? It’s too dangerous.”
“Yes it’s dangerous but do you think I will let this monster destroy all realities? Not on my watch.”
“Jones, it's too dangerous, you’ll get killed.”
“I know kid,” He looks in the direction of the creature. “But someone has to do it.” He releases his arm from Hope’s grip and runs toward the rift gun.
“No ! Jones !! Come back !!”
He ran, dodging the beast tentacles, Godzilla’s stomps, the falling debris. He saw the purple light getting brighter as he approached it. He just will get it in time. But the Dark Presence saw him and sent insects toward his direction. Jones hides behind debris from the wall, then shoots at the insects, but there are too many. One of them managed to attack the man from the side, slightly injuring him. Hope was running after him, helping him kill those insects. She throws a bomb, killing many of them.
“Jones ! Jones, are you ok ?”
“I told you to stay away, Hope.”
“I won’t let you risk your life, please. I don’t want to lose anyone else again.”
“Hope. I know what it's like to lose someone, believe me, and I don't want to lose anyone else again. I would never get over it if anything happened to you.”
“I know but if we stick together, nothing will happen to us.”
“Damn, you’re really stubborn.” He looks at the monster. He knows that it’s risky, but he also knows that, no matter what he does, Hope will never leave his side. “Ok, you can come with me, but you must be careful, you promise ?”
“I promise you, Jones.” said the blue haired woman.
Jones and Hope run toward the rift gun. Jones was holding the girl's arm, to make sure she stays safe and close to him.
“Jones ! I can see the rift gun over there !”
But before they could reach it the Dark Presence threw a tentacle toward them. They flew away, which caused Jones' head to hit a rock, knocking him out.
“Jones !!” Hope approach him. She checks him and notices that he’s still alive but unconscious. She looks behind her, she can see the rift gun. She knows it’s risky but she needs to reach it. She doesn’t know which reality Jones’ chose before he lost it, she doesn’t know the risks of what the rift gun can summon, but she knows it's the only solution. The ninja girl runs at full speed towards the rift gun. She’s close, very close. Thanks to her parcours skills, which she learned alongside Kendo, she managed to dodge the creature's attacks as well as the insects. But she didn’t notice that the Dark Presence would easily trap her, and Hope didn’t think about it.
Meanwhile, Jones gains consciousness again. The man was totally lost but he managed to regain his composure. He called Hope several times, deeply worried.
“Hope ? HOPE !!!”
His eyes widened. He finally found her, running toward the danger. A giant tentacle seems to watch her movement, as if the multiple members of the Dark Presence had their own consciousnesses and mind. The blond boy staggers but manages to get back on his feet and runs with all his might. He doesn't want to lose anyone else, he doesn't want to lose Hope, even if it means losing his own life. Despite a terrible migraine, unsteady steps, and blurred vision, Jones still manages to run. He would do anything to save his mentee, his daughter. He’s close.
Hope reached the rift device and took it. She calibrates it to the reality chosen by Jones. This opens a rift. Strangely, it was red.
“Yes ! Yes !! It worked !!” the blue girl exclaims enthusiastically. But the tentacle, which seems to have its own control over its body, gathers momentum to strike the young girl. This blow could be fatal for her. “HOPE ! LOOK OUT !!” Jones manages to reach and without thinking he pushes her out of the way and pushes Hope out of the tentacle's path, taking the blow of the latter (like Daigo but stronger). Hope falls from a small cliff and loses consciousness for a while. After a while, she woke up. She saw a strange cube. A red cube. It had an odd aura, but that was the least of her worries. All she wanted was to know if Jones was still safe and sound.
“Jones ? JONES !”
As Hope was desperately searching for Jones, she could hear someone coughing. She runs toward the sound, and… She found him, but he was badly injured.
“J-Jones ? OMG JONES !!” screamed the young woman, running towards her mentor. She crouched down beside him and assessed his condition; his body was pierced by sharp debris. He got them when the monster threw him. And due to his situation, he could barely move. “J-Jones ?”
“H-hey kid…” he was panting as he spoke.
“Jones… Everything will be alright. I-I saved us. I bring that weird thing you wanted to summon. It’s done, we did it !”
“Gre… Great job kid…” his panting was getting worse.
“You will survive uh ? Don’t die on me please.”
“H-Hope”
“I-I-I will… I mean, we will heal you and you’ll stay with us” her eyes are starting to water.
“Hope…” his voice getting weaker.
“You… You didn’t have to save me, I-I-I was handling the situation very well.”
“Hope, kiddo,” the more the time passes, the more blood he coughs up. “I-I just want to tell… to tell you that… you’re a strong woman, you’re…you’re talented and smart… And I have always been… proud of you and I’m… I’m glad to have been your mentor…”
“D-don’t say that like you will die…”
“You’re…” with the last of his strength, he placed his hand on her cheek. “You’re my… daughter… And… I… I will always love you as if you were truly mine… Hope… I…” He looked at her one last time then... His hand fell, his eyes went blank, his heart stopped, it was his last breath.
“J-Jones ?… DAD !!!” she shakes him thinking that maybe he will wake up or at least show a sign of life but no. Nothing.
“Please… Wake up ! WAKE UP!!” She collapses onto the body of the man who was like a father to her. She clung to him, as if she never wanted to let him go. She cried her heart out. “Dad… Stay with me… Please… I don’t want to be alone…Dad… Wake up…” The young woman wept bitterly. She couldn't imagine a life without Jones, without her mentor who had looked after her like a father.
Meanwhile, something spawn from the opened rift. The Dark Presence was standing in front of an old enemy of our heroes, the Cube. But strangely, it was red instead of purple. The creature, not liking its energy, shoots at it using the shard powers. The cube retaliates and fires a red flash in turn. The demon defends itself as best it can.
Back to our heroes, Night Rose and the Spirit Siblings were looking for Hope and Jones. They hadn't seen them since the beginning of the battle.
“Hope !!! Jones !!!” the red demon shouted. Kendo was behind when he could hear sobbing. He signals to the others who approach him and follow him, heading towards the sound of crying. They found them. And they notice what happened.
“Hope !!” Kendo approaches Hope, relieved that she’s alive, but then slows down, trying to understand what's going on. “Hope ? Hope what’s wrong.” The ronin approaches her and notices that her head is hidden in Jones’ torso. He noticed that her mentor was a bloody mess and his entire body was lifeless. Kendo now understands what happened. He crouches beside Hope and puts a hand on her shoulder. The blue haired woman lifts her head and looks at him.
“K-Kendo… I-I-I…” Before she could finish, he immediately hugged her. At first surprised, she then gives in and holds him tight in their embrace.
“Hope… What happened ?”
“Jones tried to save me” sobs “But it cost his life… And now he’s dead... And it's all my fault…”
Night Rose approaches them and crouches to their level too. “N-no Hope… It wasn’t your fault, my dear.”
“I-It is… I acted like an idiot and he payed for this…”
“Hope don’t say that please… It’s not your fault.”
Meanwhile, the Dark Presence got on his nerves. He uses Kong and throws him on the red cube, making it vulnerable. The artifact spins uncontrollably, it’s about to explode.
“We have to get out of here.” said Daigo.
Night Rose responds “Yeah we should.”
They start to run away. Kendo stands and takes Hope by the arm but she doesn't let go of her deceased father.
“Let me go, Kendo…”
“I won’t leave you here. I already lost a friend, I don’t want to lose you too.”
He manages to make her let go. Hope tried to hold on Jones again, but instead, she took his scarf.
She holds it in her hands, the only thing of Jones she has left. She then starts to run with Kendo far from the danger.
The Cube is about to explode when the mecha arrives and shoots in, throwing it on the demon chest. The monster screams of pain and explodes with the cube, freeing the zero point shard from his chest. The Master Demon is no longer.
The atmosphere became more breathable and pleasant again. The plants are returning, restoring the graceful greenery that was once the charm of this island.
Kendo takes a great breath of fresh air. “It’s over, we did it, the island is finally safe from the demons and their tyrannical leader."
Jade exclaims with joy “I can’t believe we made it, we finally made it."
The Spirit Siblings hug each other, finally happy of being free from the demon oppression. Everyone was cheering from their victory. Otherwise, Hope was happy too but… She misses him.
“I wished he was here, I wished he could see that we won.”
“I wished too.” Night Rose approached her “I’m sure he would be proud of you.”
Hope looks at the red scarf in her hands. She remembers when she used to steal it and wear it when she was younger. The zero point shard slowly falls from the sky toward the heroes. Hope carefully approaches it.
“Hope, be careful.”
She looks at Kendo “Don’t worry it shouldn’t hurt me.” She takes her gloves and put them, in order to hold the shard in her hands.
Daigo asks “So what now ?”
Hope looks at the shard in her hands. “I have to go.”
“What ? Where ? “Jade asks with worriness.
“I have to find the other shard, put the pieces back together and then the zero point is officially back… It’s what Jones wanted.”
“And… about Jones… What do you want to do with his… corpse…”
“If only I could bury him in his native reality. Close to his late wife and children. But I know it’s impossible. I can’t reach it and I don’t think it’s still here somewhere. So you can bury him here.”
“He will be given a tomb worthy of his name.” Night Rose said.
“Thank you guys.” She starts to cry again and hugs them tightly. She doesn’t want to leave, but she knows she doesn’t have a choice.
“We will miss you.” says Jade too.
“I will come back, when everything will be finally over.”
“We can come with you.”
“No… It’s not your battle this time. I have to do it myself.”
They all hug. It wasn't a goodbye, but a simple farewell. She doesn’t want to leave but realities and the zero point needs someone. She stepped out to open a portail with the rift gun. “I will come back one day, I promise you all.”
Kendo takes her hand before she could open it and leave. “Hope ! Wait !”
“Yes, Kendo?”
He looks at her, he looks deeply in her eyes. He doesn’t want her to leave. He wants her to stay. He wants to take the right time to express his feelings, he really wants to do it right now. But he knows that he can’t. Hope is mourning Jones’ death, it’s not the right moment.
Instead of expressing his feelings, he simply told her :
“Good luck, stay safe and… Come back soon. And I’m sorry for your loss. But deep down, I know Jones will always be with you and watching you.” The young man was holding a tear. Despite everything that had happened, he was happy to have known her and to have her by his side.
“Thank you, Kendo. I will miss you too.” In other circumstances, she would jump in his arms and kiss him. But her mind is only focusing on Jones’ and their goal. She opens a portal. She looks behind her one last time. Her friends waved at her. She wished she could stay longer, even forever, but she needs to accomplish her mission. She holds Jones’ red scarf tightly in her hand, then jumps into the unknown.