"And so, the puppet with two faces, who had wanted to plunge everything into silence, was defeated by Clockie and his friends after they joined forces."
"Dreamville overcame its crisis once again..."
As the narration slowly faded, the episode she had been recounting gradually reached its end.
Robin closed the book in front of her, her heart still stirred.
No matter how many times she revisited it, the story moved her just as much as it had back then.
Perhaps that was why this crossover episode held the highest rating out of all ten thousand-plus episodes of Clockie.
"And then? And then?"
But once Robin finished, Kohane kept urging her on.
"At the very, very end, wasn't there still that memorial song that only appeared once in the entire series?"
Kohane looked extremely excited.
"That song? Let me think. How did it go again?"
Robin closed her eyes and searched through her memories.
But the moment she remembered it, she could not help recalling the scene from back then.
At that time, she had still been very young, and her brother had often stayed by her side, singing that song together with her.
Now the siblings had gone their separate ways, and she did not even know where her brother had ended up.
An inexplicable sorrow rose in Robin's heart. Yet at that moment, a soft hum sounded beside her...
"What can we do right now? What can we do?~♪"
Robin froze, then turned and realized it was Mr. Trash Can, leaning against the wall.
That line just now had come from him.
Noticing Robin's gaze, he merely folded his arms.
"What? Was there a problem with my singing?"
"Uh... no. Not at all."
Robin realized she had been rude, but more than that, doubt still lingered in her heart.
That voice just now sounded somewhat familiar...
And when Mr. Trash Can saw her thoughtful expression, he knew he could no longer stay here.
"You continue, then. I still have things to do."
After saying that, he turned and walked away without caring what Robin did.
Robin watched his small figure retreat; he barely reached her waist.
If I'm wrong, that would be awkward.
Rather than chase something she was not sure of, it was better to finish the task in front of her.
And so, under Kohane's expectant gaze, she softly sang the memorial song from the end of the crossover episode.
"What can I do right now, right now~♪"
"I can hear a voice of heart from beyond the galaxy~♪"
"At beginning, anyone not a hero, not a hero~♪"
"Just a tiny star in a different form~♪"
"Collision encouraging each other~♪"
"Let's overcome the darkness that stands in our way~♪"
A beautiful, vibrant song slowly flowed out from within the carriage.
Mr. Trash Can stood outside, silently listening to the movement inside.
Only when someone came to call for him did he wake as if from a dream and begin moving again.
"Everything is ready, but if those things are equipped, they may hinder the train's agility."
The person who had come to call Mr. Trash Can looked troubled.
From the darkness that had surged over earlier, it was clear that the situation outside was anything but simple.
Faced with such a situation, ensuring agility should have been the top priority.
Then why were they installing those special components between the train cars?
"It's fine. Everyone just needs to attach those things."
Mr. Trash Can continued giving orders. "As for whether it's agile or not, that isn't something we need to consider."
Hearing Mr. Trash Can's words, that person could not help feeling puzzled.
After all, no matter how one looked at the things they were installing, they were special creations resembling armor.
Then why did he say that was not something they needed to consider?
Could those weapons and pieces of equipment possibly not be meant for them?
For a time, many questions rose in his heart.
But the situation was urgent, and now was not the time to get to the bottom of things.
They were about to approach Penacony. There was no time left to hesitate!
After that person left, Mr. Trash Can stood there alone, quietly watching the dream city in the distance.
This dream...
"Should end."
CLATTER! CLATTER!
Along with the sound of the train running and the singing from the carriage behind him, his words were gradually swallowed up.
The Compass was about to reach Penacony!
...
GASP!
With a deep breath as though returning to life, Hubert Reed, who had been lying on the ground, instantly opened his eyes.
The sharp pain in his mind made it feel as if his consciousness had left his body and only just returned.
He could not muster even the slightest bit of strength. Even his own body responded with an obvious delay.
It was as though his consciousness was constantly readjusting to this body.
"I..."
Controlling his sluggish body, Hubert held his head and slowly stood up.
Even now, the scene he had glimpsed earlier still remained in his mind.
Two colossal figures had been fighting within Penacony.
Oh, wait.
It could not be called fighting. How could one side beating the other count as fighting?
In any case, what Hubert wanted to say was that something beyond belief had appeared in Penacony.
After all, although Penacony was called the world of sweet dreams, everything inside it was not as vague and drifting as an actual dream.
It all had its own proper rules.
Two enormous figures could indeed clash violently inside Penacony, but...
That could only happen within a dream woven by someone else.
In normal Penacony, something like that should never happen.
Have I been staying up too late writing scores lately? Is there something wrong with my head?
Only after Hubert spent quite a while recovering did this thought occur to him.
After all, he had suddenly lost consciousness and collapsed on the ground.
And he had even dreamed such a bizarre dream of two giant figures fighting in Penacony.
It could not help making him wonder whether he had not been resting enough lately, causing this sort of thing to happen.
But when he prepared to open the window and breathe in some fresh air, he froze on the spot.
Brilliant light-rain was falling continuously from the sky.
This scene was extremely similar to what Hubert had just dreamed.
Those two enormous figures seemed to have been bathing in this light-rain as they traded punches and kicks inside Penacony.
Could it be that I'm still dreaming?
Hubert swallowed, moving step by unsteady step closer to the window.
And when he arrived near the window, he finally witnessed the truth behind the light-rain.
One face after another, flashing with brilliant light, was falling from the sky.
And those faces felt faintly familiar to Hubert.
The moment he thought about it, goosebumps rose all over his body.
The faces falling from the sky were the mentors, professors, and students of Penacony Paperfold University College.
No matter what, that was still the school he had graduated from. Of course he recognized these people he had once spent day and night with.
"This isn't rain at all! It's..."
Hubert racked his brains, but still could not find a single word in his memory that could accurately describe the sight before him.
This matter had already surpassed physical phenomena and exceeded the rules of Penacony's dreamscape.
It was practically like...
BOOOOOOM!
Just as Hubert was still thinking, the violent tremor brought by a sudden, tremendous sound made him jump.
What happened now?
Hubert sat on the ground and looked to the side in shock.
But when he turned his head toward the source of the tremor and thunderous sound, he froze completely.
A gigantic smiling face was currently lying upon the earth.
That face had smashed straight through this building and sunk into the ground.
At this moment, Hubert was sitting at the broken edge of the building, staring blankly at the scene before him.
This is fake, right? This is a dream, right?
"Am I still not awake?"
A sliver of desperate hope suddenly welled up in Hubert's heart.
But that sliver of hope was soon shattered.
The fallen DESTRUDOS was preparing to climb up again. However, the principle of kicking THEM while THEY were down held true anywhere, anytime.
So in the next moment, Hubert saw a massive foot, like a fortress, stamp down hard onto that smiling face.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The foot rose and fell again and again, each impact thunderous.
DESTRUDOS's face was completely stomped into the ground beneath that trampling.
But this was utterly useless against THEM.
A dazzling radiance lit up, and the power of the MOMENT OF LIFE acted upon THEM.
LIFE-MOMENT ERUDITION TUNE
Through the chains of ORDER that DESTRUDOS could perceive, this power successfully calculated how the next stretch of time would unfold.
Including when and at what second the other party would move next, and exactly how much force they would use—all of it was perfectly clear to THEM.
And so THEY found the opening in the other party's attack and launched a counterattack!
At the moment that foot was about to fall, DESTRUDOS attacked from an eerie angle to intercept it.
This move could be called extremely tricky. Under the influence of the surrounding buildings, it was very difficult to notice that THEY would actually strike to stop it in this instant.
And the force THEY used was also extremely precise. With just one strike, THEY forced the massive Trailblaze Brave to withdraw.
Only after the other party had put some distance between them did DESTRUDOS pull THEIR head out of the ground.
Mud was still sliding down that smiling face, making THEM look somewhat ridiculous.
[AGAIN.]
After rallying, THEY merely said this calmly to Trailblaze Brave.
Hubert took all of this in. Looking at the two figures confronting each other not far away, his mind had long since gone completely blank.
Only when something warm flowed down his cheek was his consciousness called back.
He reached out and wiped it. The fresh red on his fingers did not surprise him in the slightest.
After all, to him, what was happening before him was far more shocking.
"Is this still Penacony?"
After both sides rallied, they began a new round of combat.
Only after the two figures left this place did Hubert finally see Penacony, which had already become half-ruined.
The impact caused by the battle between the two sides had already reached a terrifying scale.
Every move and every strike could inflict extremely severe damage on the buildings around them.
The fact that Penacony still looked like this at all was already fortunate.
At the very least, the shape of the whole city could still be made out.
But if this continued, even the Memoria on this planet might not be dense enough to sustain the battle between the two.
Everyone inside Trailblaze Brave understood this.
So everyone was working hard to speed up the process.
However...
...
"This guy is way too tough."
Falcon said helplessly.
They had fought for so long that even he already felt somewhat tired, yet the fellow before them could still seize opportunities.
"True. When I punch it now, hardly any light-rain bursts out anymore."
Sam-3000 said as much.
Every swing of her UFO-like fist could make a large group of people separate from the other party's TWENTY-FOUR MOMENTS.
And the more people were separated, the weaker the other party's power became.
During the constant battle just now, Sam-3000 had found chances to hit the other party each time.
By now, when she swung another punch, the other party basically no longer had ordinary people splitting away.
"Then why is this guy still standing so stubbornly?"
Sam-3000 did not understand.
In her perception, DESTRUDOS's aura had already reached its weakest point.
Normally speaking, THEY should have already been defeated.
But why was this guy still standing?
"Could this fellow be a cockroach?"
Welt guessed.
That trait of being impossible to kill no matter what did seem more or less similar.
"Cockroach? What's that?"
March 7th was somewhat curious.
"It is an extremely terrifying creature!"
Sora said this with great seriousness.
"Indeed."
Welt pushed up his glasses.
Then Welt explained to March 7th what kind of terrifying spirit of nature a cockroach was.
It scared March 7th so much that she hid behind Himeko.
This simple interruption eased the originally heavy atmosphere somewhat.
However, they still had no clue how to resolve the most important matter.
DESTRUDOS and cockroaches might both count as special spirits in a certain sense.
Ultimately, though, the two were still different.
"Living beings die when they are killed, but DESTRUDOS is not like that."
Clearly, in his perception, THEY were already in THEIR weakest state.
Yet THEY were still stubbornly stuck at this point.
"There is definitely some reason."
Sora pondered.
In his understanding, there was absolutely no such thing as something that could never be killed.
Putting aside everything else, take LONG, the AEON of PERMANENCE.
THEY were named PERMANENCE, and THEY were also one of the oldest AEONS.
Normally speaking, THEY only needed to continue existing, and THEY would have been able to exist eternally.
Yet in the end, THEY had fallen somewhere unknown, just like AKIVILI...
So even the AEON known as PERMANENCE had fallen. What right did DESTRUDOS have to be the exception?
This fellow must have used some method to create THEIR current special state.
But what method?
Sora's mind began operating at full speed. He went through everything from the first time he had faced this fellow until now.
However, he had no way to obtain any useful key information from it.
Could they only keep wearing THEM down like this?
And at that moment, Capy Baba, who had been silent all along, spoke.
"Squeak~" (Could it be the ordinary people who were separated from THEIR body?)
Capy Baba proposed a hypothesis.
And that hypothesis made everyone frown.
"The ordinary people have already been separated out. How could they still affect THEM?"
In terms of causality, the ordinary people who had been separated out already had nothing to do with DESTRUDOS.
Once their consciousnesses returned to their bodies, people could wake from the land of STILLNESS.
They should no longer have anything to do with DESTRUDOS.
"Squeak, squeak, squeak!" (But THEY still exist here, do THEY not?)
Capy Baba asked back.
DESTRUDOS, who still existed here, could pull ordinary people in once, and therefore could pull them in a second time.
Not to mention that the root of THEIR birth was the peace ordinary people craved within death instinct.
So here in Penacony, the root of DESTRUDOS's existence was still incomparably stable.
Under the UFO's separation, THEIR power had indeed reached its weakest point.
But the root of THEIR existence had not been affected.
Therefore, the state THEY were currently in was...
Dead, yet not completely dead. Alive, yet not completely alive.
It was a superposition of life and death, and also the most difficult state to break.
"Is that how it is?"
March 7th was already having some trouble understanding.
She looked toward Himeko with a pleading gaze, trying to get confirmation from her.
Himeko nodded. This might explain why DESTRUDOS had been able to stand firm until now.
Then at this very moment, the matter before them was:
"The question is how to affect the root of THEIR existence."
In other words, how to make the people of Penacony break free from death instinct.
"Use an overwhelming threat to rouse their desire to survive?"
A proposal was raised, but it was quickly rejected.
"Destruction and chaos often appear in civilization alongside extreme threats."
Some people, in the face of enormous danger, would choose to release the desires in their hearts.
Of course, some might say those people were a minority, but with DESTRUDOS existing now, this was something that would absolutely happen.
Once they used such a method, DESTRUDOS would be able to rally again and recover to THEIR full-power state.
Do not forget: when THEY began performing ORDER, the first change to appear was the desire for struggle.
If they did that, it would practically be helping the other party recover THEIR power.
After this proposal was rejected, no one knew what to do.
Facing this monster born from human death instinct, the best method seemed to be...
"Sealing."
After all the people connected to DESTRUDOS passed away one by one, perhaps this fellow's immortality would be broken.
But the problem was...
That would take far too long.
Who could guarantee nothing unexpected would happen during that time?
But this seemed to be the only way to deal with DESTRUDOS's immortality.
"In that case, let me..."
Seeing the atmosphere fall somewhat silent, Sora made a decision in his heart. Yet before he could finish speaking, another person's voice suddenly cut in.
"This isn't over yet!"
Along with it came a familiar whistle.
A train that greatly resembled the Astral Express, yet had slight differences, circled around Trailblaze Brave.
It was...
"The Compass?!"
Sora, Himeko, and the others immediately recognized what it was.
This thing, so similar to the Astral Express yet fundamentally different, could only be the Compass.
Only, the Compass's outer appearance seemed somewhat different from when they had once ridden it.
"If we are to deal with someone born from Penacony, then of course Penacony must resolve it personally!"
CLACK! CLACK! CLACK!
As the special equipment installed on the Compass clattered into motion, the Compass straightened into a blade-like form.
Sora had Trailblaze Brave grip it in hand. Path power flowed into it, and a sword edge instantly appeared above it.
[WHAT IS THIS THING?]
DESTRUDOS looked at the Compass now in Trailblaze Brave's hand, incredulous.
THEY actually sensed a familiar fluctuation of ORDER from this thing!
Most importantly, this thing was also giving off an unprecedented threat!
What exactly was this thing...
...
"Mr. Sunday, Mr. Sunday! Look!"
Misha kept calling Sunday's name.
In his hand, he was holding some special parts as he ran over with light steps.
At a glance, one could tell these parts were puppet parts. There was no need to ask where they had come from.
Of course, they were from the already-defeated DESTRUDOS.
However, the fact that these things existed meant...
Sunday frowned. "That bastard Sora still hasn't dealt with that thing?"
How long had it been?
When that fellow had fought him back then, he had not dragged things out like this.
The memory of his past defeat was still vivid in his mind. Sunday even remembered every detail from back then.
And because of that, he could not help caring about these parts.
You beat me that quickly, so why are you taking so long against this thing?
Are you looking down on me?
For no reason, Sunday turned his head away, too lazy to keep looking at these parts that made him feel irritated.
"Misha, you should move around less too. It's just the two of us here."
Sunday even found himself advising Misha not to keep looking for these things.
After saying that, he sat there quietly, recovering the strength in his weakened body.
However, not much time had passed before a finger suddenly poked his back lightly.
Sunday frowned and turned around, not knowing what Misha was planning to do now.
"Ta-da!"
But Misha directly shoved something in front of him.
It was a round thing, but behind it were two wings decorated with mechanical gears.
"This is..."
Sunday picked it up, somewhat stunned.
"I-I saw you were in a bad mood, so I used the twenty-four parts I just collected to make you a little thing. I hope it can make you feel a little better."
Misha said it shyly, a little embarrassed.
As a mechanic, using parts to make a little thing was very simple for him.
If this thing could make Mr. Sunday feel a little better, that would be good.
Sunday silently fiddled with the thing Misha had made for him.
The center was built up from several gears, so it looked somewhat layered.
And the wings decorating the back could also move in a simple way.
However, because it had been stained by DESTRUDOS's black mist, at a rough glance, it looked rather like a trash can with wings.
When that thought emerged in his mind, Sunday could not help laughing.
"What even is this thing?"
That said, the more he looked at it, the more it really did seem like one.
And when Misha saw that Sunday's mood had finally improved a little, he also looked somewhat happy.
Though only the two of them were still quietly waiting here, the atmosphere was much better than before.
Especially Sunday. He even took the initiative to start talking. "Misha, thank you for being willing to comfort a failure like me."
Misha grew anxious the moment he heard that. "Not at all! Mr. Sunday is not a failure!"
Hearing the other party's words, Sunday merely smiled faintly, his golden eyes looking toward the sky above.
But since the conversation had opened, he naturally would not close it so easily.
Some things had been bottled up in his heart for far, far too long. It was time to let some of them out.
"When I was very young, I made an agreement with my younger sister about our future dreams. But when the time came to realize them, I discovered that our ideas were poles apart."
"Even so, it did not truly matter. My ideal would not be easily swayed by others. As long as I could save everyone, it would not matter if no one understood."
"As for the result..."
Sunday shook his head. If he was not a failure, then who was?
To a certain extent, this failure had even been forged by his own hands.
If this got out, people would probably laugh themselves sick.
"Mm... this is way too hard."
After listening to Sunday's rambling, Misha fell into thought.
The wish to save everyone was, no matter how one thought about it, not simple for a single person.
Sunday did not say anything more.
Hard? He was not afraid of hardship. He only feared a result that was doomed to fail.
So what if he had successfully forged the dreamscape of ORDER?
After he completely finished it, DESTRUDOS, formed from human death instinct, would swallow up his achievement.
Whether he succeeded or not, there was no possibility of his dream being realized.
Every time he thought of this, he wanted to argue it out with Sora.
At least that would let him forget the sorrow of failure.
But at that moment, he immediately heard Misha speak again. "In that case, why not do it together with your friends?"
"Friends?"
"Yeah. Just like how Clockie always goes to Brother Hanu and the Origami Bird for help when he runs into trouble."
"For something like building Dreamville, you should find friends and do it together!"
Misha's eyes shone with anticipation.
Hadn't Clockie said it? The bonds people maintained with one another would absolutely shine brilliantly in the future.
If everyone joined together, then they would definitely be able to surpass everything!
"So if you fail, then at worst, we reflect on it and correct it. Who hasn't failed before?"
Misha said as much. "If you don't have any friends, Mr. Sunday, I can come help you!"
After saying that, he showed off his slender arm.
Suddenly, Misha seemed to realize something. "Oh, right. Isn't Mr. Hoshigaki your friend, Mr. Sunday?"
"Tch. Who is friends with that guy?"
Sunday clicked his tongue.
However, his gaze turned thoughtful.
What Misha meant just now was...
...
"Even if death instinct drives DESTRUDOS to keep reviving—even so, even then, it does not mean there is no way to target THEM!"
The connecting door of the train opened, and Mr. Trash Can led everyone from Dreamville inside.
"What civilization relies on to continue for thousands of years is not the death instinct of choosing death and escape the moment something happens."
"It is the survival instinct in every person—the wish to do all they can, to build and maintain bonds with others."
Death could not solve anything. Only by living could one correct mistakes, and only by living could everything in the past have meaning.
If a single individual could not contend against an enormous death instinct, then...
"The survival instinct of the masses will surely allow civilization to cross beyond death and welcome new life!"
Mr. Trash Can paused slightly there.
"And sometimes, what certain people lack may only be a gust of wind—a wind that lets them rest briefly, then helps push them into flight."
The Compass was gripped tightly in Trailblaze Brave's hand, its cold sword edge incomparably sharp.
"So now, let us be that wind!"
And once Trailblaze Brave held this sword, DESTRUDOS was no longer immortal the way THEY had been just now!
Every slash that passed over THEM made a crack appear in THEIR body.
[HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? WHERE DID THIS SWORD COME FROM? AND WHY CAN IT HARM US?!]
DESTRUDOS staggered backward repeatedly, but it was no use.
Trailblaze Brave walked forward step by step. With this sword's support, its massive figure appeared even more majestic.
"The designer of this sword was a child who could not speak, and also the founder of Dreamville!"
Although he could not speak, the things he left behind influenced the present.
Even though he could not communicate with others, the bonds he built still connected countless people together!
So!
One sword—the steel wings shattered!
One sword—life and death were erased!
The final sword slashed out, directly carving a massive crack into DESTRUDOS's body!
And within that crack, two rays of light were flickering.
They were two Stellarons!
Above those two Stellarons, a special energy field was interweaving.
"Now!"
Of course Sora knew this was the moment!
His figure turned into a ray of light and flew directly out from Trailblaze Brave's chest!
[DO NOT THINK YOU WILL SUCCEED!]
Two faces suddenly appeared in the special energy field interwoven above the two Stellarons.
[I WILL NOT DIE!]
Facing the other party's cry, Sora simply pulled the levers on the Gotchardriver.
"[RAINBOW]..."
He kicked out, several figures following close behind him.
"Haah!!!!"
"[FEVER]!"
'[DUN—DUN—DUN—DUN—DUN—DUN—DUN]!!!'
---
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