The Final Battle

The Final Battle is a chapter in When the Cold Breeze Blows Away.

In this chapter,

Returning Characters

 * Edward John Smith (survived after the Battle for the Multiverse, despite being confined into a wheelchair)
 * Thomas Andrews (leader and commander of the Free Worlds Fleet)
 * Tomislav Vlahović (killed for real by Alexander Pepper, Victor Nevarez, Torvivum Zuskelgar and the Jedi masters, the Sith lords, the Avatars and the Original Defenders with his outer shell grabbed by the damned souls)
 * Torvivum Zuskelgar (defeated by Alexander Pepper, but decided to ultimately defeat Tomislav Vlahović)
 * Victor Nevarez (brutally killed by Alexander Pepper, but decided to ultimately defeat Tomislav Vlahović)
 * Vlad Demonic (deceased by committing suicide via hanging with body possessed by Tomislav Vlahović)

Mentioned Characters

 * Frank Keegan
 * John McCrae

Transcript
AUGUST 31st, 2045 -- CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA, USA

EXEGOL WAS WHERE it all ended. They'd turned the planet into a fortress. Everywhere in this barren, desert wasteland planet had AA guns mounted and ambushes in place for the ground troops. It wasn't safe to be over or in, but our job was to crack that nut, and that's what we did. Even in the last hours, the Coalies fought hard, like cornered rats. Trying to get through their air defenses in order to take out their radar was like trying to sneak a steak past a rottweiler.

It was the sort of fight where your spacecraft gets shot up so bad that the only things holding it together are spit and prayers, and you ran out of spit. Maybe Ryan Edwards was watching over us as we fought. That's the only thing that could explain how we stayed in the air. I still would rather have had him fighting with us, though. The best of the Coalition of the Red Star was waiting for us in Exegol. They knew the war was over, but if they were going to hell, they wanted us for an escort. Me, Alexander Pepper, Thomas Andrews, Nathan Bradford, the Preschool Girls and the rest of the Alliance didn't like that idea so much, but then again, I don't think they were expecting us to.

I was walking around in circles, nervous to think that something would wait for us to come in store.

SEPTEMBER 1st, 2045 -- SOMEWHERE IN VENUS

"I failed you, Vlahović. I have been careless. When I witnesssed Supreme Leader Nevarez raising his Darksaber to execute Lord Commander Albrecht, I assumed he was dead," begged Demonic for an apology. "I do not deserve your mercy."

"Who would have imagined Nevarez changed his mind and spared Albrecht for such wiseful decision to prevent himself from being a cliché dictator like myself?" questioned Vlahović.

"Vlahović? If you just let me," suggested Demonic. "I will prove you I still deserve your trust."

"Please do Demonic," approved Vlahović. "Go now."

"Yes, Vlahović."

As Demonic departs from him, Vlahović began to possess the latter's body and was forced to kill himself by hanging as punishment for having Nevarez deliberately murder Albrecht.

After the deed is done, Vlahović shouted from the window, "I want Reginar Albrecht dead. Now!"

With that, the ducangers, the Chaos armies, the GLU terrorists and the Global Confederation forces march together in one army, knowing that they would either work together or face failure with ultimate betrayal.

SEPTEMBER 2nd, 2045 -- EXEGOL

Lord Commander Reginar Albrecht stared out the viewport, hands clasped behind his back. They’d made it through red space without incident and had entered normal hyperspace. Streamers of light rushed by, illuminating the beautiful, perfectly ordered bridge and the faces of its officers.

Albrecht loved this ship. The Lord Trethium's Wrath was officially the mobile command center of the Supreme Leader, but he didn’t know it like he knew it. The Supreme Leader had no idea the modifications that had been made, no idea how special it was.

Admiral Firmus Piett approached. "Entering the Unknown Regions, sir." A simple announcement. It used to be the late General Vincent Turner’s job to inform Albrecht of such things, except Turner wouldn’t have been able to resist adding something ingratiating. ''Would you like me to prepare your personal shuttle? Shall I have a ground team waiting? May I fetch you a hot beverage?'' Albrecht smiled unkindly. He’d been so glad for an excuse to kill the sniveling rat.

The massive ship came out of lightspeed. Exegol loomed before them, dark and hazed, crackling with power and ferocity. Albrecht’s hands began to shake, and he clasped them even tighter. His life’s work had led him here. He took a deep breath to steady his voice and said, "Soon, all free worlds will bow before us. Our Supreme Leader will rise again."

Then he said normally, "Well, at least we can introduce some elements of democracy if we could win the war. Well, whatever."

"Hey!" shouted Pinkalicious Pinkerton. "Just save it for Vlahović himself."

"Right," apologized Albrecht. "Sorry. Guess both Coalition and Alliance worlds are free worlds too."

"That's okay," said Pinkalicious. "Remember: that's what our beloved Supreme Leader Nevarez told us so. I admit your words are real. Coalition worlds are free worlds like that of the Alliance's own."

"Well, you got that right," Albrecht said as nodded with a smile, just as he did agree. "Once we win the defense on Exegol, my Supreme Leader told me that we can redeem ourselves from Yavin 4's destruction. That way, it'll be fine."

Alexander Pepper's Xi-class light shuttle exited hyperspace. The planet Exegol was finally before him, shrouded with dark clouds that flashed bright with lightning. The instruments on his console beeped warnings about the approaching atmosphere.

His shuttle dipped below the cloud line and he gasped. The Immortal Armada spread out before him, even more vast than his vision had led him to believe, shining bright in relief against the perpetual storm, stretching as far as his eyes could see. The vessels were based on older models of various classes, from the days of the Galactic Empire, but all of them had red accents along the hull of their vessels. Planet-killing antimatter weapons attested to a much greater ordnance capability than his Alliance friends were expecting.

"He's on approach." said the unnamed Female Sith Officer.

"All ships rise to deployment altitude." Lord Commander Reginar Albrecht ordered as an emergency siren can be heard wailing. He'd been out in the multiverse for his whole career, only communicating with Exegol rarely.

His ship wobbled a little—gravity well! He compensated quickly, and cruised to an altitude considerably below the Sidiousist Sith fleet. Exegol was a horror of a planet, but its atmospheric anomalies might confuse the Destroyers' sensors and keep them from noticing his tiny shuttle. In fact, he was counting on it.

Moments later he was on the ground. The air was hot, the soil fissured with dryness. A dark building breached the clouds ahead of him, and for the briefest moment he considered giving in to terror. Such malevolence radiated from the building that he knew exactly what—who—he would find inside. Even more terrifying was the fact that the presence was familiar. As though some form of it had been watching him, maybe his whole life.

Confronting fear is the destiny of a Jedi.

Pepper pressed on. He stepped beneath a massive monolith that seemed to hover in the air. He would trust his own lightsaber to light his way.

Pepper removed the lightsaber from his belt and ignited it. He startled a bit when the section of floor he stood on detached from the rest, began to descend. He looked around, alert to any sight or sound, but all was as silent as death.

Then a rumble sounded, too distant to identify. The lift settled, and Pepper stepped off. He raised his weapon, and its blue light snagged on huge stone faces, sparking with electricity. He knew, without knowing how he knew, that the statues commemorated Sith Lords who had come before. This place of evil must have been here for over a millenia, maybe millennia, for the air was heavy with the weight of time and dark secrets.

Pepper was suddenly aware that he was not alone. Figures scurried in the shadows, but he sensed no immediate threat from them, so he continued on. A few more steps took him past a dizzying array of lab equipment—monitors, tubes, some kind of tank, all empty and abandoned.

Just like the planet’s surface, the floor here contained fissures, and light flashed deep down—Pepper couldn’t tell how deep—as though Exegol’s entire crust had formed around a core of electricity.

Meanwhile, I could only gasp in pain as I tried to pick myself back up, noticing my battle armor was now severely damaged. Still functioning, but now completely jagged.

Now the flat desert sands of Exegol looked like as if it was D-Day in Normandy. It's now filled with trenches, sandbags, barbed wires, Czech hedgehogs, anti-tank batteries, anti-aircraft batteries, machinegun nests, bunkers, searchlights, floodlights, distress flares, defensive bots, sea mines, landmines, anti-tank mines, dragon's teeth fortifications, sniper towers, civil defense sirens, communications towers, field hospitals, ammo depots, pillboxes, cheval de frise, watchtowers, and defensive walls in and around the surface.

Also included are the sculks from Minecraft, including sculk catalysts and sculk shriekers. Not to mention, Exegol has now deep dark cities of deepslate, basalt, soul fire, soul lanterns, candles, skeleton skulls and mysterious frames. Even then, woodland mansions, pillager outposts, monster spawners that spawn so many hostile mobs from the said game, strongholds, desert pyramids, igloos, jungle temples, swamp huts, ocean monuments, end cities, Nether fortresses, and bastion remnants.

I looked over to Steve Rogers and Tony Stark; who were both knocked out, then to Victor Nevarez, his uniform barely took any damage and he had a scar on his face, before turning back to me. "In all my years of conquest– violence– slaughter– It was never personal." He paused as he glanced over the land once more. "But I'll tell you now– what I'm about to do to this stubborn, annoying little universe– I'm gonna enjoy it. Very, very much." He ended with a cruel smile.

As if it were a signal, the Immortal Armada hovering above Victor showed the ground with light, before out stepped his allies.

Thanos' "children", The Black Order.

And the leader of the Legion of Evil, Quintessa; who could only give a cruel smile as she held her hand up to signal their army to rally behind them.

The roars of the Jurassic Park dinosaurs (except Blue), Outriders, Chitauri Gorillas, and Leviathans echoed.

The screeches of the B.O.W.s, Beetle Drones, Parademons, Xenomorphs, Vrils, Nazi Zombies, White Walkers, and Feral Ghouls (from Fallout) followed after.

The Decepticons, Nobodies, Heartless, remnants of New Group P365, Black Changelings, Evil Toys (from Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots), Romulans, Buster Baxter's aliens (from Alien: Assembly Required, a Flash game for Arthur), Mordor Orcs, Dol Guldur Orcs, Gundabad Orcs, and Uruk-hai all hungered for blood.

The People's Liberation Army, the Russian Armed Forces, the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Korean People's Army, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, the Empire of the Rising Sun Armed Forces, the Wehrmacht, the Confederate States Army, the Sinestro Corps, the Black Lantern Corps, the Red Lantern Corps, Terminators, Stormtroopers, Dai-Shockers, Enclave Soldiers, Stormcloak Rebels, Thalmor Elves, Card Soldiers, Sidiousist Sith Troopers, Combine Soldiers, the Covenant loyalists, the Helghast Army, Metro Bandits, Raiders, Battle Droids, the Haradrim, Easterlings, Dunlendings, Variags, Chitauri, and Sakaarans all marched in anger.

And all of them had one goal in mind:

Destroy the Grand Alliance.

The Supreme Leader's cruel smile turned into a nervous look. "Oh darn. I knew they were just slacking out," snapped Nevarez to himself as I panted quietly for a few moments, before I willed my body to lift itself back up, as I rose to defiantly stand against the Supreme Leader's massive army, all by myself.

If needed to be, I was willing to take on their army alone if I had to.

For our world. For our friends.

I was willing to face the end.

Jack Phillips and Harold Bride, former wireless operators for the RMS Titanic (now serving for the Ministry of Communications for the Republic of Avalon), saved me, and now they're using the newly-restored Marconi telegraph system, now also upgraded to communicate with so many heroes across the multiverse.

Suddenly, the voice of Arthur Maxson said, "Hey, Sarge, you read us?" as I froze mid-step before confirming that I had heard a voice among the brief sound of static on my earpiece.

"Sarge, it's me, Col. Miller. Can you hear us?" said the voice of Colonel Miller as I was shocked by the familiar voice that I could not answer, nor noticed the orange glow behind me.

"On your left." Soon, the voice of Sam Wilson became clear to me as did the portal behind me before I turned to it. The bright glow of the portal obscured my vision briefly before I could see three figures walk through.

The brave form of T'Challa; the Black Panther and the King of Wakanda stood forward, followed by his sister Shuri, and Okoye of the Dora Milaje standing beside him. No words were needed as the King gave me a brief nod before the flying form of Sam Wilson, the Falcon flew above us as more portals opened around us. Victor took notice of the orange gateways opening on his foe's side of the battlefield, alarmed.

From the portal of the ruined planet Titan, Doctor Stephen Strange levitated to the ground followed by Drax the Destroyer with his knives drawn, Mantis in a stance while Peter Quill the Star Lord flew beside them, his mask receding before the two swinging forms of Peter Parker, Spider-Man and Edward Brock, Venom landed on the ground, their own masks receding as they looked over their reinforcements with smile and smirk respectively.

I smiled with relief as more of the portals continued to open and with T'Challa standing firm before he shouted a familiar chant.

"Yibambe!" T'Challa chanted through a brass megaphone. His fellow Wakandan soldiers also chanted the same word. Even their King had to chant again, and again, and again. Even his soldiers had to do the same.

"Yibambe! Yibambe! Yibambe!" they said respectively.

Soon enough, fleets of aircraft appeared above them from not just Wakanda, but from the various Ravager factions of the multiverse and the remaining Asgardians.

Below them, Bucky Barnes; the Winter Soldier, stood armed with Groot by his side along with Wade Wilson, Deadpool and Dante with his companion Trish. M'Baku followed with his own tribe, the Jabari ready for battle.

The Asgardians marched forward as Valkyrie leads them, now riding her Pegasus with Korg and Miek as Wanda Maximoff, Scarlet Witch landed beside them, her body covered with a red aura.

The Masters of the Mystic Arts led by Wong all proceeded to ready their own spells for battle while Thor could only grin with pride as he called Stormbreaker back to his hand.

Tony Stark, Iron Man could only gap in surprise while Steve Rogers, Captain America held a huge smile as he watched all their friends appear before them. Both of these expressions doubled when another suit of armor appeared and revealing Pepper Potts who gave her husband a smile.

Doctor Strange looked over their forces before turning to Wong with a smile. "Is that everyone?"

"What, you wanted more?" Wong said with exasperation getting a chuckle out of Baroness Von Bon Bon; who is carrying an XM29 OICW and is now wearing a black combat uniform plus a red beret with a skull on it.

They were all interrupted when a loud stomping sound echoed before-

CRASH!

The giant form of Scott Lang, Ant-Man stood tall and proud as he walked outside a giant portal before he uncurled both his fists, revealing Bruce Banner, Professor Hulk who grunted as he landed on the ground with his fists ready. James ‘Rhodey' Rhodes in his War Machine armor flew beside him with Rocket Raccoon on his arm, grinning as he readies his gun.

SpongeBob, wearing his army outfit from "The Krusty Plate," a SpongeBob SquarePants episode, spoke to me, "You know what I'm thinking, J.H.?", followed by his hearty laugh of a dolphin chirping.

"We are ready. Definitely ready," I said.

As their armies marched forward, their ships flying overhead and their leaders prepared, the war cries let out by them could be heard across the land, perhaps even the world itself as the fate of the entire multiverse hanged in the balance.

I stood firm and proud as my friends rallied next to me as we glared at our foe. Victor's glare came back in full force as he and his allies realized that the real fight was just beginning.

As the heroes took their places, their powers, weapons and forces ready, the Avalonian High Captian, E.J. Smith, blew a Titanic officer's old whistle to give a huge, yet short announcement I'm going to make.

"Heroes of the Multiverse!" I shouted through Captain E.J. Smith's old brass megaphone, just as I was about to summon Thor's hammer, the Mjolnir, to my hand. Then I said again through the megaphone in a soft-spoken voice, "Together."

Thor's thunderous battle cry roared throughout our side as Optimus Prime yelled "CHARGE!", with Godzilla, Gamera, and Kong roaring in unison while Clifford the Big Red Dog howled loudly, just as whistles blow louder to signal the start of the battle, and then we charged forward, the ground pounded from our footsteps shaking the dark desert planet itself as our air forces flew along with us!

Nevarez, not wanting to be undermined by all of this, simply growled and held his Darksaber up towards the enemy, signalling his villainous forces to charge towards their foes, followed by Quintessa shouting "Get them!", General Steppenwolf raising his axe and yelling "FOR THE DARK EMPEROR!" and King Ghidorah roaring, before he joined along with them.

The heroes continued to charge forward as they began what was perhaps their final battle.

The Battle for the Multiverse.

They were truly in the endgame now.

Once, the heroes were simply universes apart, but now, they were together, to fight as one.

Up above, Captain Chesille Sabrond stood on the bridge of the Deathshead, looking through the viewport at the rest of the Sidiousist Sith fleet. They held formation slightly above everyone else, as the only Destroyer to have already made the climb.

Lord Commander Reginar Albrecht had tasked her crew with observing the ascension and reporting any anomalies. The fleet was a beautiful sight to behold. Together, they were going to conquer the entire multiverse, and Sabrond was going to play a major role in the Immortal Armada.

She'd have to continue distinguishing herself. Sabrond was under no delusion that captaining a Xyston II-class Star Destroyer would be enough, as every ship that comprised the Immortal Armada were unmanned and fully automated. Somehow, she'd make sure that Albrecht and the Supreme Leader saw her as one in ten thousand.

Sabrond could do it. Somehow. She had come this far. And she was just getting started. "Incoming transmission on a fleetwide frequency," said her comms officer, flicking a switch to open the channel.

"Captain!" said one of her technicians. "We have Alliance craft incoming." Captain Chesille Sabrond of the Deathshead smiled. She'd been drilling for this moment for years. "Commander Albrecht?" she asked, though she knew what he would say.

Albrecht appeared on the bridge holo. "Use everything you've got to stop them!" Albrecht said. "Yes, Commander." She turned to her crew. "Ready the defense cannons!"

As Poe's X-wing exited hyperspace, and he finally caught his first sight of Exegol. What a dung heap. It was the deadest, ugliest thing he'd seen in a long while, and he wondered if it had always been this way, or if building a colossal fleet of Sidiousist Sith Star Destroyers and Dreadnoughts here had killed the place. Beside him, his tiny squadron popped into view—the Tantive IV, Finn's lander, and several more fighters.

They dived into the cloud cover, and nearly collided with the Sidiousist Sith fleet. Someone gasped into their comm. Their triangled hulls were enormous, but they grew ever smaller as their number stretched into seeming infinity. "Look at that fleet." said Poe drily.

"Great dark seas," Aftab Ackbar said. "Look at that!" He angled his Y- wing closer to Poe, determined to keep his new acting general alive at any cost. "No sign of the Falcon or allies," Tyce said from her own Y-wing. ""Just find that navigation tower," Poe ordered. "Help will be here by the time we take it down!"

Please be here by the time we take it down.

Now I'm hearing voices of Alliance and Coalition troops continuously using commands.

"There's a machinegun nest! We're pinned down!"

"That bunker's got us bottled up!"

"Move up and secure that bunker!"

"Bangalores! Hurry!"

"Get out of the open, people! Go! Go! Go!"

"Use the craters for cover!"

"We're getting pinned down."

"They've got wire right across our path!"

"We can't get past that bunker!"

"They're ripping us up! You have to take out those machinegun nests!"

"We're taking mortar fire!"

"That bunker's got the entire approach covered!"

"Get into the trenches!"

"Grenade!"

"Suppression! Gimme some suppression fire!"

"We can't stay here! Move! Move! Move!"

"Cut the wire!"

"We need some help here!"

"Hold your ground! Keep firing!"

Soon, more voices are heard while we battled.

"Fall back! Fall back!"

"Pour fire on the lead tank! Keep it hot!"

"They're breaking through!"

"We need some help here!"

"They're rolling right over us!"

"We're gonna have to fall back!"

"Look out! They're coming through the left!"

"Find cover! Now!"

"Hold your ground! Keep firing!"

"Somebody give us some help here!"

"We can't hold here much longer!"

"Get down! Get down!"

"Heads down, people!"

"We're exposed down here. Think you can do something about it?"

"Carlos - Communications Officer, and In-Flight Entertainment."

"Good morning, Devastator!" Carlos spoke on the PA system. The Coalies in that Xyston-class Star Destroyer are a bit distracted.

"Huh? Who's speaking on the PA system?" said Captain Günther Lindemann of the Devastator.

"For God's sake, Carlos! Don't distract them!" shouted Tim at Carlos. "Just cancel the rollcall now! And you don't need that in-flight entertainment. This is war!"

"Ah, crud. Well, I guess that rollcall has to wait. Don't try to haul up on someone else's ass," Carlos advised to everybody.

"Forget it, Emperor Zuskelgar II. You made Emperor Palpatine himself look like a charming hero, y'know," D.A. slapped Ralphie in the face, calling him "Emperor Zuskelgar II," just as what Nevarez referred to Pepper. "Too bad you didn't get a rollcall, buddy. It's cancelled, 'cause you're just A BUNCH OF MALARKEY!!!" She slapped him harder in his other check.

"¡Hija de puto! Mistress Dorothy Ann Hudson," said Carlos, "What are you doing!? You slapped Ralphie in the face!"

"Guys, that's enough. Let me speak through the PA system with a fake grownup voice. And a British accent. I can handle this so I can pretend that I'm the captain of this spacecraft. That way, I can hijack this son-of-a-gun Star Destroyer as fast as I can. Don't get attention on 'em," said Arnold Perlstein. "This will be the final test of my redemption from being to blame for the How Can I Help Make the World Great essay competition that Vlahović had done to me by framing myself up."

He then clears his throat and began to speak in a faux and deep British accent voice on the PA. "Attention crew! This is your captain speaking."

"Everyone, please report to the bomb bay immediately for a historical occasion that's something very special today. We have some slices of birthday cake, pints of ice cream, bottles of beer and wine, and kilograms of various cheese types prepared just for you, because we also have a big and very special birthday celebration to commence in a few moments. Thank you very much for your cooperation."

"Happy birthday," said a Chinese general to a Russian officer while swimming on a lake in the other side of Exegol with a frown on his face.

"Just do the rollcall again, Hudson! For God's sake! Let us all do it! And you, Ramon! Don't do that so-called 'in-flight entertainment' thing, for the love of the Ancients! And you too, Tennelli! Don't forget to be on your rollcall, damn you!" Keesha angrily shouted while she shoots a Webley Mark VI revolver at the air as a warning shot.

"Oh fine. Let's get on with it, Franklin," said Hudson.

"Thank you. Anyways, let the rollcall recommence."

"Whatever."

"Commander Keesha Franklin - reporting for duty."

"Wanda Li - Science Officer."

"Jyoti Kaur - Flight Engineer."

"Dorothy Ann 'D.A.' Hudson - Mission Specialist."

"Tim Wright - Robotics Specialist."

"Arnold Perlstein - Security Officer," said Arnold, back to his normal voice of a child. "Everyone safe?" Liz nodded in agreement. "Good. Job's done." He left out, yet D.A. said with the words, "Goddammit. I hate rollcalls."

"Carlos Ramon, Communications Officer," Carlos said. "And... In-Flight Enter--" Tim interrupted Carlos before he can pick up where he left off.

"Ugh! For God's sake, Ramon," said Tim. "You don't need in-flight entertainment. This is war! Be careful with the PA system please."

"Sorry," said Carlos. "There's really nothing else more to say for myself."

"Thank you," said Tim. "Now please let Ralphie do his rollcall."

"And who the hell's behind me, you guys?" questioned Ms. Frizzle.

"Ralphie Tennelli - Chief Maintenance Officer."

"Goddamn right, Tennelli," spoke Carlos. "We did made a good rollcall. Plus I know what it meant."

"I see that, Ramon," replied Ralphie. "I didn't know that not all CMOs are janitors. Most of the time, they direct maintenance managers and supervisors and coordinate all property maintenance functions."

"Huh. Damn straight," said Keesha.

"I told you, you stinky diaper. Even though no one can forget about you since you finally got your rollcall, I am NOT in the mood of rollcalls at all," D.A. said to Ralphie angrily. "I don't care if you did."

"Can it Hudson. We're gonna do another rollcall with Ms. Frizzle first. The Master Defenders, the Klassixes and the Original Defenders are gonna follow suit later on," spoke Keesha. "And now it's time to bring Darth Trethium to justice. Once and for all, dammit."

"Whatever, Franklin," sarcastically spoke D.A.

Now that the rollcall for the eight kids is complete, it seemed that Arnold isn't just the security officer. He's also the captain. Now he's filled with more confidence than ever before.

"Supreme Leader Victor Nevarez of the Coalition of the Red Star, here we come," Arnold declared to his fellow classmates, his teacher Ms. Frizzle, and all the Master Defenders, the Klassixes and the Original Defenders, just as he was about to go full steam ahead for the Devastator.

Inside the Lord Trethium's Wrath's command bridge, Albrecht frowned as more spacecraft popped out of hyperspace all around them, even more than the Deathshead had initially reported. The Alliance had managed to cobble together a small fleet, one he wouldn't underestimate. Their ships were like bloodsucking insects. Tiny and annoying, but relentless until they'd been properly squashed.

"How did they manage to get here?" Admiral Piett said. Albrecht muttered under his breath, considering. The short-range defense cannons wouldn't be enough against this swarm of flies. Then he addressed the bridge. "I need another transmission channel to the fleet!"

It took a few seconds. Exegol's atmosphere made fleet-wide transmissions tricky. It also messed with their sensors, which meant they'd need visual confirmation to eliminate the Allied threat. And that meant scrambling fighters. He would do whatever he had to, use whatever resources at his disposal, to end this final, futile act of democracy. "You're on, Lord Commander." said Masir Trach; his communications officer.

Albrecht cleared his throat and said, "Nothing will stop the Immortal Armada from ascending! Scramble all fighters! Cannons: Fire at will!"

"Dang it!" Welcome to Exegol!" said Poe as he banked hard with thousands of simultaneous antimatter cannon blasts lighting up the sky like a nova. To his left, a fighter was stripped of its hull, debris flying off in all directions, until it finally exploded into a fireball.

A quick glance around showed that they'd lost several fighters in just that first volley, and with sensors so unreliable, he had no idea who. This was the price of leadership.

"Watch your starboard, Wexley!" said Seftin Vanik as he flew his A-wing around and warned Temmin Wexley to watch the starboard of his X-wing before flying by him. "Whoa!" said Wexley.

Poe did not have the luxury of grief or regret. Finishing this mission was all that mattered. "Get to their altitude!" he yelled into his headset. "They can't fire on us without hitting each other! Don't give up! Help is coming!"

Following Poe's lead, the squadron dived hard, dodging blasts all the way, toward the endless sea of Sidiousist Sith Destroyers. They swooped into the corridors created by the ships' hulls, almost daring them to fire.

"Heads up!" shouted the pilot as a structure rose before them in the distance, tall, silvery, and imposing. "There it is!" Finn yelled. "Poe, I see it. I've got a visual on the nav tower." "Lander," Poe responded from somewhere high above. "Prep to unload the ground team at the base of the tower."

"Incoming TIEs!" Wexley warned, and Poe was glad to hear his voice. That was one survivor confirmed. His relief was short-lived. Hundreds of Sith TIEs screamed toward them like giant predator birds, with wicked red and black lines across razor-sharp wings. "I see 'em! I got you, Finn!" said Poe.

Finn stared through his quadnocs as his team piloted the lander Fortitude toward the planet's surface. He'd used this ship for a few missions before; it was sturdy with decent shields and lots of space for quick crew transport—even if that crew was a bit unconventional.

A Sidiousist Sith TIE fighter dived toward them, and Finn flinched, but the Fortitude's guns blasted it out of the sky.

He glanced across the crowded cabin at Rose, and their eyes locked. "I'm sure glad someone made time to add a defensive arsenal to this troop carrier," he said.

"Only because I knew I'd be on it too, as part of the ground team," Rose said, completely deadpan. "I mean, if it were just you." Finn laughed in spite of himself. "Uh huh." Rose turned away to hide her smile. Truth was, Finn had a lot of friends on board, and Rose had just saved all of them.

Albrecht was pleased. They'd already destroyed numerous Allied fighters. The remaining ships were a skeleton squadron, incapable of mounting any real offensive.

"They're targeting the navigation tower, so the fleet can't deploy." said the unnamed colonel. Admiral Piett gasped. "We need to get those unmanned ships out of there."

Fortunately, Albrecht always had a backup plan. "Then we won't use that tower. Switch over the source of navigation signal," he ordered. "To this ship." His modifications were going to come in handy even sooner than he'd hoped. "We'll guide the fleet out ourselves."

A light flashed atop the tower as Finn and his crew approached in the lander. Then the light went off and stayed off. Watching it through his quadnocs, Finn got a bad feeling.

Jannah approached his shoulder. "Finn, we're good to go," she said. "Thanks for doing this," he told her. She started to say something, but an alarm beeped in the cockpit. Tyce's voice filtered in over the comm. "The navigation tower," she said. "It's been deactivated!"

"What?" Finn exclaimed. "They're not transmitting from that tower anymore," she clarified. "Those ships need that signal," came Snap's voice. "It's got to be coming from somewhere." Finn's gaze was inexplicably drawn upward, to the side. The Mega-class Star Dreadnought, the only one not part of the Sidiousist Sith armada. The Lord Trethium's Wrath.

"They figured out what we're doing. Call off the ground invasion." came Poe's order, which was a smart move, because if the fleet had transferred the signal, it meant they knew Finn and his team were coming. Except... "Wait," Finn said. "The signal's coming from that giant flying wing above." "How do you know?" asked Jannah. They locked eyes, and Jannah nodded. "A feeling," he confirmed.

Finn spoke into the radio: "The nav signal's coming from that massive command ship. That's our drop zone." "You want to launch a ground invasion on that Mega Star Destroyer?!" said Tyce, unbelieving. Finn would have atmosphere, gravity, and a plucky unit of former stormtroopers ready to take the fight back to the bullies. What more did a fellow need?

Luck, he supposed. Or maybe the Force. "Well, I don't want to," Finn said. "But we can't take out that ship's nav system from the air. Give us cover. We got to keep that fleet there till help arrives." He leaned over the pilot's shoulder and pointed. "The command ship. That's our landing zone."

As he and Jannah hurried toward the rear hold to explain the plan to the rest of the landing team, he heard Poe's voice over the comm: "You heard the General. All wings, cover that lander!"

Albrecht watched through the viewport, perplexed, as the bulky Allied craft dived toward the ship. Was this a suicide maneuver? If so, it was folly. An impact would avail them nothing. The Fortitude careened into their hull and kicked up sparks as it screeched across. It came to a rough stop against a communications array. The ramp began to descend.

"Sir," hollered Admiral Piett. "They're invading our ship; they've landed a troop carrier!" "Jam their speeders!" Albrecht commanded. "I can't," said Masir Trach; his comm officer, even as his fingers flew across the console, trying everything he could think of. He looked up at Albrecht, confusion writ on his face. "Why not?" said Albrecht. "They're... they're not using speeders." said Trach again.

Finn and Jannah led the cavalry charge of nearly two dozen orbak riders down the ramp of the lander and onto the hull of the Wrath. "Not bad for one lesson!" Finn shouted to Jannah. "You had a great teacher!" she hollered back. "Keep going!" yelled Beaumont. The orbaks had been cooped up for hours, and they ran with joyful abandon, eating up distance at a dizzying speed. BB-8 kept pace, rolling so fast his markings were a blur, head canted forward with determination.

"You're doing great, buddy! The tower's up ahead!" Finn called down to him. He tossed a quick glance over his shoulder to check on his team. Behind Jannah's company of riders came the rest of his friends, pouring from the lander on foot: Rose, Connix, Beaumont—anyone who could hold a blaster. So far, so good.

Ahead of them, multiple Sidiousist Sith troop carriers landed and spit out dozens of crimson-clad troopers. They spread out in formation and began firing. Finn's rear team fired back, providing them some cover. One Sidiousist Sith trooper went down right away—Connix, no doubt, who was a crack shot.

He reached into the munitions bag hanging from the saddle. Homemade explosives, cobbled together with what the company could find on Kef Bir, but effective nonetheless. Finn sighted a squad of troopers, took aim, and tossed the bomb, allowing it to arc just as Jannah had taught him. It exploded into fire and black dust, knocking several Sidiousist Sith troopers backwards.

They were almost to their destination. Finn and Jannah grabbed their bags of explosives, jumped from their orbaks, and sprinted along the hull. BB-8 kept pace at their heels.

Another Sidiousist Sith troop lander touched down on the surface nearby. The ramp descended and out poured a company of crimson stormtroopers, who immediately began firing. Several of them engaged red jetpacks, which lifted them into the air so they could fire from a superior vantage.

Finn was really tired of jet troopers. He fired back, most of his shots going wide, as he and Jannah pressed forward. They had to make this happen fast. More trooper carriers would come. They would be overwhelmed in minutes. Or worse, the ship would simply leave atmo, instantly killing them all.

The orbak riders deployed around them and aimed a barrage of covering fire at the jet troopers. Finn and Jannah reached the nav deck. Ahead was a bunkerlike structure, built out from the hull to prevent interference from interior ship frequencies.

Back on the surface, Victor finds himself in an encounter with a furious Scarlet Witch.

"You took everything from me." said Wanda. "I don't even know who you are." said Nevarez as he took the Darksaber off his back. "You will." said Wanda again before she picks up some debris on the ground and tries to kill Victor with them.

"Those thrusters are hot. How are we doing?" said Poe over the comm. "We're going to blow our way in, and take out that nav tower!" said Finn. "All hatches are blast-proof!" said Jannah, whipping up her makeshift bow. "Alright, BB-8, you're up!" said Finn as the little droid extended a pilex driver and unscrewed a panel. "I'll cover you!" said Jannah as Finn began placing explosives with Jannah firing shot after shot with her bow and arrow, covering them. One shot hit a jet trooper, who spun up into the air, missiled into an oncoming TIE, and sent it crashing onto the Wrath's surface.

"Almost there..." Finn said, working as fast as he could.

Finn was not so caught up in rigging the nav bunker to explode that he did not notice how, one by one, the Star Destroyer thrusters began to glow blood red.

Finn then gave Jannah the signal, and they both ducked, hands over their heads, as Finn triggered the explosion. Boom! His ears rang with the blast, and pressure hit his back. Lights across the surface of the Destroyer went dark.

"Navigation beacon's shut down," a technician yelled. "Repeat, navigation beacon down. Immortal Armada, hold position. No deployment! Resetting all systems!" Now Albrecht was angry. These allied gnats were proving unexpectedly vexing. The Sidiousist Sith Star Destroyers/Dreadnoughts all powered back down to standby mode.

They were vulnerable now, but only for a few minutes. Their hulls were strong; the gnats' mission was futile. The Wrath would have to reset its nav systems to regain comms, but it wouldn't take long. The gnats had bought themselves so little time, he couldn't see why they'd bothered. Albrecht was going to enjoy destroying the last remnant of the allied strike team.

R2-D2 beeped in celebration as engine lights dimmed all across the fleet. "There it goes!" shouted Finn. "Nice one, Finn!" Poe yelled. "Nav signal's down, but not for long!" He swooped towards the Wrath, catching a glimpse of Finn and Jannah racing toward their orbak mounts, BB-8 at their heels.

"We're offline, sir!" shouted Masir Trach. "Reset the navigation signal! I want the armada deployed!" Albrecht demanded. "Ships coming back online in just a few minutes away, sir," said a technician.

Finn, Jannah, and BB-8 raced after the orbak company toward the lander. Blasterfire erupted all around them. But Finn came to a halt, realizing that every shot aimed at them was coming from a blaster. The deck cannons had gone silent with the reset.

BB-8 kept rolling after the orbaks, but Jannah turned. "Finn! Let's go!" "No, no, wait, listen." he said. "The crown cannons have stopped. They're resetting their systems." "So?" She looked toward the lander, back at Finn.

"So before they do..." Finn stared at the cannon. This had to be the worst idea he'd ever had. "Maybe we can do some shifty stuff." Yep, definitely the worst. He turned back to Jannah and said, "Jannah, go. I gotta do something. "No. I'm staying with you." He'd learned better than to argue with a determined woman. He nodded his thanks, and together they sprinted for the cannon.

"Still no Falcon or backup," came Snap Wexley's voice. R2 beeped a question to Poe. Off comm, he answered, "I don't know, Artoo. Maybe they didn't find any allies. Maybe nobody's coming." He stared out at the fleet, his own words echoing in his head. Maybe nobody's coming...

What would Leia do? He turned his comm back on and said, "We gotta hit them ourselves." "What can we do against those things?" Tyce asked. "Just stay alive! Whatever we can! Be fast, be precise, hit those cannons. You with me?" "We're with you," Tyce responded without hesitation.

"Right behind you, General," said Snap. Poe started flicking switches. "All wings, arm torpedoes! Attack formation!" He paused. Took a deep breath. "May the Force be with us." Led by Poe, their tiny squadron phalanxed toward a stalled Xyston-class Star Destroyer, firing on its vulnerable underbelly cannon. The hull lit up with explosions.

On the surface, as Nevarez tries to kill Maximoff with his Darksaber, Wanda manages to overpower the Supreme Leader by knocking the Darksaber off his hand, she then lifted Victor in the air, peeling off his armor and slowly tearing him apart.

"RAIN FIRE!" yelled Nevarez as he was being outmatched by the Scarlet Witch. "What?!" "What did he just say?!" said Lord Shen and Starscream respectively. "But my lord, our troops!" Corvus Glaive protested, pointing out that their own troops will suffer in the bombardment. "JUST DO IT!" shouted Victor as he grunted.

"Yes, my lord..." agreed Pinkalicious Pinkerton. "It's time. It. Is. Time." She smirked evilly as she pushes a big red button.

Up above, the Deathshead's weapons begin to charge up and start to bombard the battlefield below, and Maximoff then tries to shield herself, only to be knocked back by the blasts, sustaining only concussive force. As the lasers fall, Wong and the rest of the Masters of the Mystic Arts summon Tao Mandalas to protect their allies from the bombardment.

Across the field, I spot Spider-Man; who is on the verge of being overwhelmed by Outriders. "I got this. I got this!" said Peter as he's trying to fend off the Outriders. "Okay, I don't got this. Help! Somebody, help!" cried Peter.

"Hey, Queens, heads up." I said before I hurled Mjølnir over the throng, and Peter shoots a web and glides along, letting the hammer pull him out of danger. A laser blast knocks Spidey out of the sky, but Pepper Potts manages to catch him. "Hang on. I've got you, kid." She drags him above the fray, then tosses him to Valkyrie flying past, Peter perches atop Pegasus.

"Hey! Nice to meet you– OH MY GOD!" hollered Peter as Valkyrie spurs into high gear, dodging laser fire, but not fast enough, as the cannons knock Peter off the Pegasus and to the ground.

Rocket and Groot dive for cover. Groot wraps his branches around them both. "At least we're going out together this time." said Rocket.

The villains laugh in joy as the heroes are supressed by the relentless laser barrage, but they turn to face something in the sky as all the cannons stop firing at the heroes and start shooting at the sky.

"What the hell is this?" said Sam Wilson as he flies overhead. "F.R.I.D.A.Y., what are they firing at?" said Tony as he's searching upwards. "Something just entered the upper atmosphere!" said F.R.I.D.A.Y.

Rocket looks up at...a comet heading straight for Exegol. "I am Groot." said Groot in a nervous tone. Rocket grins, knowing what's coming. "Just wait for it." said Rocket. Suddenly, the bright light of thundering energy comes veering towards the Deathshead.

Boom! The comet tears through the Deathshead's command bridge; disabling all of its weapons and killing both Milon Lenwith and Captain Chesille Sabrond onboard, it comes right out the other side, revealing...Carol Danvers! I was surprised to see it while I was holding Mjølnir.

"Oh, yeah!" hollered Rocket as Carol flew up towards the Deathshead's axial superlaser from below and smashing through it, resulting in an explosion and the ship crash-landing in the ground. This ended the airstrike while a bewildered Nevarez looked on in shock, not long before sensing Pepper through the Force, he retreats back to the Sith Citadel.

Framed by the Wrath's viewport window, the wreckage of the Deathshead now lays burning on the ground as Carol swooped out of range of it.

Albrecht grimaced. There were bound to be casualties, and the Deathshead had been commanded by a mediocre captain with no real potential—that ship had been designated expendable after all. But he hated for the gnats to claim any sort of victory.

"Danvers! We're gonna need an assist down here!" I said to Carol in my comms. "Roger that, Sarge." said Carol in her comms.

Beneath the surface, Pepper came to a narrow stone corridor, and his gaze was pulled forward. A chill pimpled the flesh of his arms, because resting upon a dais was the shape from his vision. A chair with spikes curving up and around it, like a halo of giant thorns. The throne of the Sith.

Pepper stepped toward the dais. The rumble grew louder.

The corridor broke open into an an amphitheater as big as a hollowed-out mountain, brimming with robed figures. There were thousands of them, faceless in the dark distance, but pulsing with zealotry. Religious disciples, awaiting the return of the Dark Empire. As he approached, the rumbling swelled, became a collective, worshipful welcome.

"Long have I waited..." came a voice from his nightmares, deep, resonant, and slow, as though he had all the time in the multiverse.

Peepper turned toward the voice. A tall figure materialized, wearing a black uniform with a cape on the figure's back. His grip on the lightsaber tightened when he saw him. He was standing next to the throne.

Oh no! It was the Supreme Leader of the Coalition of the Red Star: Victor Nevarez! His power too devastating to contain as he was possessed by the spirit of the Dark Emperor of the Empire of Darkness; Torvivum Zuskelgar. The soul and personality of the Supreme Leader was completely overwritten by that of the Dark Emperor, allowing Zuskelgar to fully take control over Victor.

And the one who is watching Pepper and Nevarez's ultimate confrontation, Tomislav Vlahović? Well, he even has the spirits of the deceased leaders, generals and officers of the Global Liberation Union, the Global Confederation, the Chaos, and the South Vietnamese ducangers.

"Excellent. Let them have it," spoke Tomislav Vlahović with his voice so deep, scary and ghoulish that his fingers tethering like Mr. Burns. "Now, no one will know that once the Coalition and the Alliance lose too many men, the GLU, Confederation, Chaos and the ducangers will work together to unify the greatest goal: to create a new world order without any laws, even in physics. I will take over the multiverse and all will bow to me and Amattaken Rahaim -- no matter the cost."

He laughed evilly as he watched the confrontation being unfold. He stated, "Now, I will create an even more darker side of the force -- more darker than the dark side of it. More evil than the Sith. More evil than Palpatine himself. I will be a god."

I know Vlahović must've been doing this on every move.

"For my new heir to come." Victor added triumphantly. He radiated evil, but his feet twitched toward him. Pepper could not look away. There was something oddly compelling about him.

"I never wanted you dead," he said. "I wanted you here... Emperor Zuskelgar II." This was nothing Pepper wanted, he reminded himself, even as his feet threatened to step forward.

"You will take the throne," he assured him. "It is your right to rule here. It is your destiny. Our destiny." Several Dark Thunder Guards stepped forward. Pepper had a feeling these guards would prove more formidable adversaries.

Pepper forced himself to sound strong, to back away from the Supreme Leader. "I haven’t come to lead the Sith. I’ve come to end them." "As a Jedi?" the Supreme Leader said, his voice oozing contempt.

"Yes." said Pepper as Nevarez smiled. "No. Your hatred, your anger. You want to kill me? That is what I want. Kill me, and my spirit will pass into you, as all the Sith who ever lived live in me now. You will be Emperor. We will be one."

Up above, Finn and Jannah arrived at the cannon, began circling cautiously, like it was a wounded animal, ready to attack. "This is the command ship," Jannah said. "We take it out now, the whole nav system goes down for good." "Every single Star Destroyer and Dreadnought in this fleet!" Finn said. "All of them without shields! This could end them."

"Finn!" came Rose’s voice on comm just as he began climbing up the cannon. "Rose!" he said. He hoped she and the rest of the ground team were safely back on the lander. "The lander's leaving!" Rose said. "Where are you? What are you doing?" He reached the massive gun barrel. Finn said, "I’m saving what I love."

A long pause. Jannah whipped up her bow to take out a jet trooper winging their way, then pivoted quickly and did the same to a ground trooper. "Go without us," Finn urged. "We’re taking this whole ship down." Rose finally found her voice. "What? How?" "We're going to hit the command deck. Rose, please. Go."

"Rose," said Beaumont Kin.

"Rose." said Kaydel Ko Connix.

"I'll get the trigger!" shouted Jannah.

Back inside the citadel, The Supreme Leader said, "The time has COME!"

As one, thousands of disciples fell to their knees, chanting something in a language Pepper had never heard. Victor's kakugan eyes widened with zeal. "With your hatred, you will take my life, and you will ascend!" He grinned, showing gray teeth and oozing red gums. "Now. Raise your saber and strike me down."

Pepper frowned. His predecessor had warned him about this. "All you want is for me to hate. But I won’t. Not even you." "Weak. Like your friends." said Nevarez as Pepper shook his head. "My friends are strong. They will save me from you." As if reading his thoughts about Luke, the Supreme Leader said, "Palpatine made this very proposal before. But on that unfortunate day Luke Skywalker had his father Anakin to save him. You do not."

The cavernous room shook. Light poured down as a vast stone ceiling opened, revealing Sidiousist Sith Star Destroyers/Dreadnoughts silhouetted against a furious sky. The Allied fighters were gnats in comparison, darting in and out, dodging fire from monstrous antimatter cannons and Sidiousist Sith TIEs. Explosions lit up the sky. His friends were dying.

"They don’t have long. No one is coming to help them, and you are the one who led them here," the Supreme Leader pointed out. Tears filled Pepper's eyes. The Allied fighters were losing badly. The Supreme Leader was manipulating him, yes, but he was doing it with the truth. This was his fault. "Strike me down, take the throne, reign of a new Dark Empire, and the fleet will be yours! Only you have the power to save them. Refuse, and your new family...dies."

The thought swelled in Pepper's head, until he was giddy with it. Emperor. Would that be so bad? Maybe taking on this mantle would be worth it. To bring peace. To save his friends. The whole multiverse would have no choice but to be saved.

Pepper stared, agonized, at the battle above him. "Very well," Nevarez said. "Finish them." "Wait!" he said. "Wait."

He paused, thinking Pepper was nearly his. But a presence was making itself known to him, even through the cloud of evil and rage and terror. He gazed off into the distance for a moment, probing, all the while shielding his thoughts. Romulus Augustus had given him lots of practice at shielding his thoughts.

He turned back to the Supreme Leader, filling his mind with thoughts of surrender. With resignation. His nemesis smiled indulgently. "Good..." he said. "It is time for a French boy to rise as an emperor. Strike me down and pledge yourself as a Sith."

Outside, something tingled at the base of Ruby Ramirez's skull, a familiar awareness...Pepper! He sensed her. He understood that she was there. Ramirez caught a wave of relief from him, of joy. Then, abruptly, nothing.

Ramirez was then seen sprinting for the monolith, ducked beneath it, launched herself into the shaft. Nothing would stop her from reaching Pepper.

She caught herself on one of the massive chains dangling from the ceiling and looked down. The floor was so far below him that it was lost in shadow. Too far to climb down quickly, probably too far to jump down safely. She would find the strength to make everything right, no matter what.

Ramirez called on the Force, and dropped.

Back inside the citadel, "The ritual begins!" the Supreme Leader cried out, and the mass of followers surrounding them responded with a ceremonial chant so loud and deep it shook the very ground. "He will strike me down...and pledge himself, as a Sith."

The lightning in the cavernous amphitheater intensified, reflected against his nemesis' kakugan eyes. He took one step forward. Another. Thoughts shielded from the Supreme Leader, he sent out his awareness, searching. There!

Pepper just had to stall a little bit longer.

The robed figures had not bothered Ramirez at all when she was here last, but this time they launched themselves at her with fury. She blasted them easily, one shot for every kill. Not long ago, he would have taken pleasure in this, but now she had only one consuming desire: Help Pepper.

"He will draw his weapon!" the Supreme Leader intoned. Pepper made his face blank. He unhooked his own lightsaber and ignited it. "He will come to me!" he said, and the crowd responded with a collective yell. Pepper stepped closer still. His nemesis' height intimidated him.

"He will take his revenge!" Victor boomed. Pepper continued to approach. His power was intoxicating. He found herself raising his weapon, almost against his will. If not for the other presence in his mind, bright and shining with light, he would not have been able to resist him. "And with a stroke of his saber... the Sith are reborn! THE JEDI ARE DEAD! Sorry about it. Not all of the Jedi. Just sparing the dark Jedi. Oh, and maybe the Sith shouldn't be acting out like Palpatine, because he's, well, too evil."

Pepper lifted his saber as if to strike—and reached for the connection he shared with Ramirez. Showed him. He acknowledged her, and Pepper’s lips parted in surprise. It felt different now. The connection was... right. Good. Like coming home.

Ramirez was similarly stunned, and together, they wasted a precious moment reveling in this new sharing. This is how it should have been all along. A true dyad.

The Supreme Leader had robbed them of this. "Well, anyways, please do it!" Nevarez screamed in a polite way. "Make the sacrifice! Thank you." Pepper lowered the lightsaber behind his back, as if readying for a massive blow. He reached for the Force. The effort made tears sting in his eyes. The Supreme Leader leaned forward with gleeful anticipation. He raised his hand... which was now empty. He had projected his weapon away.

Pepper watched his nemesis' dawning horror as he finally realized his mistake, allowing Pepper and Ramirez to come together. Their bond—refined in the fire of mutual searching, shared grief, rage and hate, but also of compassion and empathy—was the one thing he had not foreseen.

The moment Ramirez felt the grip of Pepper’s lightsaber in her palm, she knew it belonged to him, an extension of her very own self. She raised it slowly, relishing the feel of it before running for the throne room.

Pepper grabbed Romulus Augustus' lightsaber from where he had hooked it to his belt, behind his back. Ignited it.

Suddenly, he was surrounded by the Dark Thunder Guards and the Rhyme Bunch. They raised their blasters and fired. He deflected one blast with his hand, sent it careening into the abdomen of one of the guards, while whipping his lightsaber around to block the rest.

As Pepper used the Force to collapse a guard under his own weight, and then throw him back into the darkness. He deflected another blaster bolt, dodged another. He spun to face the final guard, but Ramirez got there first and tossed him aside like a piece of garbage.

They stood facing each other for the space of one breath, two, together at last. Ramirez was different. Relaxed. Unguarded. How had Pepper not noticed before that she had the long face and posture of her father, the warm brown eyes of her mother?

As one, they turned to face Nevarez, dropped into fighting stances, raised their lightsabers.

The Supreme Leader snarled. "Stand together, die together!" he said. Then he raised his black leather glove-covered hand and impaled them with the Force. Their backs arched against their wills, and the pain was breathtaking. Their lightsabers dropped from their hands and clattered to the ground.

The Supreme Leader yanked them toward himself, and they slid across the floor, helpless against his power, as he took, and took, and took. The Supreme Leader gasped. Stared at his hands, which had begun glowing red "The life-force in your body," he said, his voice tinged with wonder. "A godhood in the Force...a power like Heaven itself."

His gleeful triumphant thoughts washed over Pepper, as he struggled against his grip, unable to move. He had won. "Unseen for generations," he crowed.

"And now... the power of a demigod and a Preschool Girl empowers the one...true...Supreme Leader!" He raised his glove-covered hands, and called on all the dark power of the Force and the Sith who had come before him, and pulled their life from their very bodies. It poured from them like a river of light, leaving them weaker and weaker. Ramirez shrieks while Pepper grits his teeth.

The Supreme Leader cackled maniacally as his body strengthened along with healing the scar on his face, and becoming even more powerful that he could possibly imagine. At last. All those years, all that searching, he is finally ascending to near godhood. His kagugan eyes soon began to glow bright red, obscuring his black sclera and crimson irises.

"Hey, what do you think, Mr. Pepper?" talked Nevarez. "I say you you're just afraid, yet you still don't get it, pal. Hmph, I'm no god. I'm just a demigod like you. Probably it's only a matter of time to finish you off, and after this, I might not be ascending to godhood ever again. I'll be back to normal in no time. Goodnight, Mr. Pepper."

"Do you expect me to talk, Supreme Leader Nevarez?" asked Pepper.

"No, Monsieur Pepper," replied Nevarez. "I expect you to just give up and go home to your mama. Ya know what I'm saying, duh." He chuckled normally and quietly to himself.

"Yeah, boy," quietly whispered Nevarez to himself.

"Impossible." said Tomislav Vlahović in the distance with a concerned tone in his voice.

"Very funny, Mr. Nevarez," declared Vlahović. "Now it's my turn!"

"Oh no," spoke Nevarez. "What? What the heck am I just saying!? I was just going to take good care of these Preschool Girls. Oh, and I have a big buffet, all catered for all the Disciples. That's all. And what are you doing?"

"Since I witnessed your ascendance to near godhood, it's time for me to do the same!" screamed Vlahović in a more demonic voice.

"Oh rats," groaned Nevarez. "I admit. You are way more evil than I am."

Nevarez looked even more afraid (which could be Pepper's advantage) when Vlahović is about to ascend into near godhood too.

"That's right, Supreme Leader. You are very, very weak. Cowards like my own minions. You are a puny asshole whose mind is just old-fashioned and laughable, and I will not laugh at this. I only laugh at your very misery and agony, no matter what happens next, punk."

He laughs evilly, and he recites Dr. Hellman (from Corpse Killer, played by the late Vincent Schiavelli)'s words before the game's final boss battle by then, "Because, we are... THE... NEW...... ORDEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

And thus, his transformation into a very dark demonic being begins with dark green plasma-like shield filled with lightning arcs as he was screaming the word "order" in an extremely loud and long voice. Kinda send chills down my spine.

Good Lord! That reminds me of watching an Angry Video Game Nerd episode regarding Corpse Killer on the 3DO (a console that I didn't own at all, nor did I heard of).

Whilst transforming, he laughed evilly, more louder than Nevarez's maniacal cackle. His evil laugh is slowed, demonic, monotone and deep. Now he's a complete, gigantic, black-bodied ghost monster with kakugan laser eyes, blazing fire like Satan himself. Complete with red, orange and black aura around his body, and fangs on his teeth. His voice? Well, has come into an even more sheer tone of evil. Something that came out from my childhood nightmares. No, a thousand childhood nightmares of mine! At least Nevarez isn't like that, even though he's our enemy.

"NOW I AM EVEN MORE STRONGER THAN BEFORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" declared Vlahović, followed by an evil laugh.

"Oh dear," said Nevarez. "You more demonic than I am, and I don't like your kakugan eyes, just as I don't like those kakugan eyes that I had to this very day. Are you so proud of these--"

"YES I AM!!!" yelled Vlahović. "I AM THE MOST EVIL MADMAN IN THE MULTIVERSE!!!! MORE EVIL AND BETTER THAN YOU AND YOUR FEEBLE POSSESSOR, DARK EMPEROR TORVIVUM ZUSKELGAR HIMSELF!!!!!!"

"Blast it," said Zuskelgar's spirit. "At least I'm not like Palpatine at all. I was like Tomislav himself, but not too much. Those evil actions that I did long ago showed me that I was just a different guy back then. Now these actions failed my empire a lot."

Then Vlahović uses his dark magic powers to render both Nevarez and Pepper both immobile, and began to give a speech to the Confederation, Chaos, ducanger and terrorist remnants who recently teamed up together in the final battle.

"FELLOW BROTHERS AND SISTERS-IN-ARMS, EVEN THOUGH MY BODY IS PERMANENTLY DESTROYED, I, TOMISLAV VLAHOVIĆ, HAVE SUCCEEDED IN MY GREATEST AND MOST BRILLIANT PLAN EVER! AND I, TOMISLAV VLAHOVIĆ... SHALL! BE!! FOREVER!!! IMMORTAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" yelled Tomislav Vlahović, again followed by a long evil laugh. "AND NOBODY SHALL STOP ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Oh no! Vlahović has finally taken full power!

Meanwhile, the aerial battle is taking its higher intensity than ever before as Snap's console beeped. "Fleet's locking onto a navigation signal," he warned anyone who was listening. "They're gonna split!"

"Snap, they're on your tail!" yelled Poe. He looked over. "Yeah, I see 'em!" But he didn't see the other TIE, the one that came out of nowhere. "No, no, no," Poe yelled. "Snap, Snap!" A blast rocked his cockpit, and he screamed as he heard Poe yell, "NO!" Temmin Wexley was about to die... again. For real this time, I think?

Poe stared in despair as the burning wreckage of Wexley's X-wing slammed against the hull of an Imperial III-class Star Destroyer. Cries of terror and despair were lighting up his comm. They were getting torn apart.

"Alpha 3 is down! They're on my tail! I can't get... AHHHH!"

"They're everywhere!"

"Delta Leader's hit!"

"Losing altitude!"

"General, what's our next move?!"

"Poe, what now?!" Tyce called.

His people—his friends—were dying all around him. "My friends," Poe said, his voice tremulous. "I'm sorry, I thought we had a shot. But there's just too many of them." He'd learned nothing from Crait. Instead, he'd just gotten people killed again and again and again, but...

A familiar voice broke through on comms: "But there are more of us, Poe. There are more of us." It was Lando. He was back! But had he brought anyone with him? Poe's heart leapt in his chest as he flipped his fighter around, swooped over the hull of a Destroyer to get a visual on the atmosphere above.

He gasped. Ships were popping into sight all over the place. Freighters, fighters, medical frigates, longhaulers, from every corner of the multiverse, from every era Poe had ever heard of or not. Hundreds. No, thousands. The Free Worlds Fleet has arrived. Even AWACS Denali, AWACS Felina, AWACS Frizzle, AWACS Ghost Eye, AWACS Oka Nieba, AWACS Thunderbird, AWACS Torba, AWACS Yamagoya and other AWACses from the Alliance did join the fray.

"Look at this!" Poe hollered, "Look at this!" as Lando laughed and laughed. "The allies," Aftab Ackbar said. "They're here!"

"Lando, you did it. You did it!" screamed Finn as the comms erupted, as ship after ship began calling in. Thousands of resolved voices, crying out, refusing to be silenced.

"Millennium Falcon, standing by for orders," said Lando.

"Mon Calamari fleet, standing by," came another voice. "Phantom Squadron, standing by."

"Ghost, standing by."

"Anodyne Two, standing by." Poe was not the crying type, but as everyone called in, one after another after another, liquid pooled in his eyes. They had done it. The spark of the Alliance had become a fire.

"Alphabet Two, standing by."

"Zay Versio with Inferno Squad, standing by. Look at all these ships!"

"Fireball, here. Hi, everyone!"

"Cut the chatter, Kaz," a deep voice responded.

"Oh darn," sighed Nevarez worringly with deep regret. "I know I should've treated a lot of citizens from every Coalition-occupied territories better than that earlier today..."

As the Free Worlds Fleet finally stepped into the skies, the congressmen and congresswomen of the Republic of Avalon, such as Chief Officer Henry Wilde, First Officer William Murdoch, Second Officer Charles Lightoller, Third Officer Herbert Pitman, Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall, Fifth Officer Harold Lowe, Sixth Officer James Moody, Thomas Andrews, J.J. Astor, Bruce Ismay, Benjamin Guggenheim, Archibald Butt, Molly Brown and Master-at-Arms Thomas King, are leading the way in front of the more-than-28,000 spaceships from across the multiverse. That's twofold than that from The Rise of Skywalker that Lando's fleet can be counted upon.

"Alright everybody," Prime Minister Thomas Andrews spoke sternly, "Now it's time for our first order of business: to hit those weak spots; the underbelly cannons. Remember what General Poe Dameron said, every one we knock down is a world saved!"

"Roger that Prime Minister Andrews," said General Dameron.

Lando whooped as he and Chewie charged ahead, and a thousand fighters, frigates, and even well-armed freighters swooped after them. "Nice flying, Lando," came Wedge Antilles' voice, and Poe realized the old Rebellion captain, and his former flight instructor, was operating one of the Falcon's turret stations. He wished Leia could be here to see this.

Within seconds, the Millennium Falcon had taken out one of the Sidiousist Sith Star Destroyers. That ship made everything look easy.

"Hell, I've never been flying on that spacecraft before," spoke First Officer-turned-Congressman William Murdoch with a smile. "In my era, there wasn't any spacecraft at all, and I've never heard of that since it's just the early 20th century, but now the Infinity Project guys knew what it can mean."

Finn threw his fist into the air. "I knew Lando would do it. I knew it!" Jannah was gaping at the sky, forgetting for a moment that she was supposed to be laying cover fire.

"Finger to trigger, Chewie," came Lando's voice on the comm. People had come from everywhere to help them. The whole multiverse was here. Finn watched as they swooped among the Destroyers, laying waste to the hapless ships trying to fight back. He shook off the moment of triumph with effort. Jannah resumed firing, while Finn got back to work on his shifty stuff. — For this, Albrecht had no backup plan.

"Where did they get all these fighter craft?" Lord Commander Reginar Albrecht demanded. "They have no navy." Admiral Firmus Piett was gaping. The light had gone out of his eyes. "It's not a navy, sir," the admiral said, and his voice shook a little. "It's just, people."

The tide was turning. Poe's patchwork navy pummeled the defenseless fleet. One Executor II-class Star Dreadnought listed sideways, smoke rising from its hull. It collided with another, and both dropped to the surface, helpless in Exegol's gravity. Another dropped after a pair of proton torpedoes hit it in the gut. Soon Destroyers were falling away all over the place. But the Sidiousist Sith TIEs remained viciously relentless, and they were still targeting Poe specifically. One threatened him head-on, but he was hemmed in between hulls. He gunned the accelerator, firing. Poe wasn't sure if he'd destroy it in time, or if he should wing away.

A Y-wing slipped into the assist position beside him—a precision move. Together they gunned the TIE, which exploded into a satisfying fireball. "So long, sky trash!" came a familiar female voice. He turned in his cockpit as the Y-wing screamed past.

"Who's that flier?" he muttered. "Take a guess, spice runner." said the female voice as someone also warbled at him in Anzellan, then added, "Hey, heyyyyy!" It was Zorii Bliss and Babu Frik! Poe's relief was so huge he almost choked on it. "Hah! Zorii, you made it!" This day just kept getting better and better.

Back inside the citadel, Pepper and Ruby Ramirez lay collapsed on the floor as Victor stepped out of the cloud of smoke. His kakugan eyes now glow with red power as he stood straight and strong now. Invincible. The Supreme Leader raised his voice to the throng.

"Look what you have made..." he said. Their chanted response was thunderous, and he stood, hands slightly raised, as if absorbing their worship as power. Ramirez forced her near-lifeless body over onto her hands and knees. Pepper remained limp beside her as she struggled to get to her feet and faced her enemy.

The Supreme Leader was not impressed as he telekinetically grabbed Ramirez with no more than a thought, exclaiming revenge for his first defeat at the hands of the Kids Club.

"As once I fell, so falls the last Preschool Girl!" said Victor in a deep, monotone voice before casting her away with such force that she tumbled end over end through the length of the arena, then disappeared into a flashing abyss. Pepper would have screamed, but he could barely draw breath.

"And maybe the last Inkwell Isle Girl, I don't know," he said in a high-pitched, nervous and normal voice.

"I hope they're not dead. They're just... well, imprisoned," talked Nevarez to himself in a more normal voice. "I knew Darth Sidious made a mistake that he did kill the last Skywalker family member -- Kylo Ren, or Ben Solo -- to hopefully end the Skywalker bloodline permanently, but hey. I'll just hide them instead while giving a few holes for some ventilation and some passage of food to them to keep them away from distraction."

He looked at the Disciples who were still chanting while cheering, roaring, whistling and applauding for him.

"Aw, shucks," he said to the Disciples in an affectionate voice. "You guys are so kind. Maybe a round of applause can be music to my ears, eh?"

"Everybody climb!" shouted Prime Minister Andrews as he commanded the Free Worlds Fleet to retreat to high altitude. "Congressman Ismay, count down from ten to one! This is a ten-second warning, because I can calculate that Nevarez's Force lightning storm will be unleashed later on!"

"Do not fear their feeble attack, my faithful." the Supreme Leader said. With Ramirez already forgotten. His lips spread apart into a nightmarish grin, and he lifted his face to Exegol's sky with the words, "NOTHING WILL STOP THE RETURN OF THE DARK EMPIRE."

"Ten!" Ismay counted nervously as the Free Worlds Fleet was climbing into high altitudes so that they can be safe from the Supreme Leader's Force lightning attack while Ms. Frizzle, her class, the Master Defenders, the Klassixes and the Original Defenders are still keeping the Coalition roundels on the Devastator to know that they're on the Coalition's side at the same time, "Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! C'mon, five! Four! Three! Two! Hurry up, one!"

Nevarez began to raise his hands as though reaching toward the air battle overhead. Even through his haze of weakness and exhaustion, Pepper could sense him draw on the Force. The Supreme Leader's power was staggering now. No, their power. His and Ramirez's. Tears streamed down his face as he used their stolen power to create a conduit of Force lightning. Writhing, crooked tendrils of light shot from his black leather glove-covered fingers, coalesced into a thick stream of red light that burst into the sky, flooding the Allied starships.

"Watch out!" shouted Congressman Butt as the Force lightning was being unleashed, the Allied starships that didn't make it were sparked helplessly against the onslaught, tilting on their axis.

Poe watched in horror as raw power shot up from the planet like a massive geyser, devouring everything in its path. Several fighters were suddenly adrift, their controls no longer responding. The Tantive IV trembled, as if fighting a tractor beam. It listed to the side, began to drop. Poe wanted to look away.

Leia's ship... he clenched his jaw and stared anyway. He would bear witness to this. The trembling intensified. One of the engines detonated. Explosions spread out along the hull, and suddenly the Tantive IV was dropping like a meteor, past the Immortal Armada and out of sight. Poe had just lost a lot of friends. He'd known Nien Numb his whole life.

Suddenly, the console of his own fighter was sparking, shocking his hand even through his flight gloves. "Artoo, my systems are failing!" From the droid socket of his X-wing came the sound of R2 screaming. Poe punched his comm. "Does anyone copy?" No response. Beside him, a sleek Nubian yacht trembled in the throes of wicked lightning, then dropped out of view.

Meanwhile, in the Devastator, Ms. Frizzle and her class, including the Master Defenders, the Klassixes and the Original Defenders, are witnessing a Force lightning storm.

"Whoa, that's a lot of Force lightning," said Wanda.

"Sweet Jesus," exclaimed Keesha.

Just as he was still unleashing an even more powerful Force lightning storm than ever before, he's overheating! Just then, he's jammed and frozen, playing a live-streaming Lance and Janice episode.

"Oh Lance!" spoke Janice to her lover Lance, just as Nevarez's jammed body was broadcasting a Lance and Janice episode with his soundwaves. "We've been in a honeymoon inside a jungle planet where so many aggressive animals and fairytale creatures live in harmony together."

"I know Janice, but we both came a long way through together," said Lance with an offscreen kiss as sad, romantic music plays. His butler, now wearing some 70s/80s rocker costume, was shocked about his master's malfunction.

"Oh, is this important, sir? It's almost time for my bass guitar recital."

"Gee, thanks Jonathon," Nevarez said with a normal half-chuckle.

"You're welcome, sir."

"Oh, that's just gonna hurt really bad," said Nevarez with a slightly nervous look. "Well, at least I can free myself from Torvivum soon. Hey, at least my Force lightning is designed to decimate only half of almost all the large Alliance spaceships that are still in low altitudes while stunning some of the others' crew members, but again, half of them. Because killing a lot of people is pretty bad."

"Damn, that was close," said Congressman Benjamin Guggenheim. "Looks like we made it to higher altitudes."

"And also, we are approaching near the Vanessa Hudgens," stated Congressman J.J. Astor. "Stand clear, Captain Quirino. We're ready for refueling."

"Roger that, folks. Captain Juan Miguel Quirino of the BRP Vanessa Hudgens, serving for the Philippine Space Force, reporting for duty," said Captain Juan Miguel Quirino of the Vanessa Hudgens in a pompous voice.

"That's right Captain Quirino," said Prime Minister Andrews. "I've designed this spaceship just for you long after some Infinity Project guys saved my life from the sinking of the RMS Titanic on the night of 15th of April, 1912, over a century before the end of the world as everyone knew it came along."

"You mean the Coalition of the Red Phoenix, Mr. A-- I mean, Prime Minister Andrews?" questioned Congressman Ismay.

"Yep."

"Hmph, so you are the crew and first class passengers of the former RMS Titanic, huh? Well, you came to the future to help us after that nuclear war almost screwed us up. At least you're helping the dying human race up," spoke Quirino. "Now, get in there and be on standby. We are about to put this war to a close."

"Wilco, Captain Quirino. This is Molly Brown -- Mike Bravo speaking," spoke Congresswoman Molly Brown, "We are on standby, preparing for another run almost promptly after refuelling."

"Much obliged, you guys."

Then a fly landed on his head and said, "Oh you darn fly! Get outta here!" He was using his Force lightning when he tried to kill the fly, but he unintentionally unleashed another Force lightning storm.

"Oops," spoke Nevarez. "Sorry."

"Ah phooey. I'm overheating again," said Nevarez with his kakugan eyes rolled whilst facepalming. "I didn't mean to do another round of Force lightning, and I--" He suddenly froze when an episode of Lance and Janice is broadcasted again from his malfunctions.

"I love you so, now and forever, Lance... and even your diabolical twin brother, Engelbert," said Lance.

After waking up from trance, what he didn't know is that there was an extremely more powerful Force lightning storm, and this time, destroying Alliance and Coalition aircraft and spacecraft, regardless of importance. Still, that same storm is still at a more lower altitude than Nevarez's. Could that be Tomislav Vlahović? Hmph. Judging by a more demonic and sinister evil laugh, it really is him. Not Nevarez.

"Wha-what's going on, Tomislav?" curiously spoke Nevarez. "How did you destroy some of my finest spacecraft and aircraft out here?"

"NEVAREZ, YOU PUNY FOOL! IT IS BECAUSE I AM USING MY OWN FORCE LIGHTNING STOLEN FROM YOUR DNA TO UNLEASH THE NON-STOP FORCE LIGHTNING STORM TO PUT AN END TO YOUR ATTEMPTED RISE OF A DIFFERENT EMPIRE OF DARKNESS THAT IS YOURS AND NOT MINE! MY EMPIRE OF DARKNESS IS MUCH BETTER THAN YOU!! FOR I HAVE WILLED TO DESTROY AUSTRIA, DESTROY THE EU AND NATO, DESTROY THE ALLIANCE AND THE COALITION, AND FINALLY, DESTROY RUBYISM!!! FOR I AM MORE EVIL AND BETTER THAN ZUSKELGAR AND PALPATINE!!!! TODAY, I AM ABOUT TO SEE WHO LIVES AND WHO DIES IN THIS MULTIVERSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM NOW DARTH GRIMM VLATOVI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND, I FOR ONE, AM GOING TO BE HER OWN DICTATOR, AND HER OWN SUPREME GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" screamed Vlahović with an increasingly sheer evil voice and an increasingly sheer evil look.

"Oh my. Now that is uttermost pure evil," worringly spoke Nevarez, followed by Vlahović's evil laugher.

The crew of the USS George W. Bush, like so many large Alliance spaceships, is now halved. The survivors are wide awake.

"Where am I?" said the captain of the USS George W. Bush. "What the heck is going on?"

Later, Frizzle was using her binoculars to keep watch on Alexander Pepper.

"What the hell just happened?" asked Ms. Frizzle.

"It's Alex! He's back!" answered Keesha in excitement.

"Hot damn! He's still alive!" shouted D.A.

"Damn, now this is some in-flight entertainment we're looking for," Carlos stated.

"Hm. You mean Alex and Vic?" asked Ralphie.

"Hell, yes."

"I know. But--"

"No buts."

"Forget it, gents," said Arnold. "We need to do something first."

"Hard-a-starboard, lads!" commanded Carlos through the PA system.

"Hard-a-starboard, sir!" responded Wanda.

Back inside the citadel, the Supreme Leader would not stop laughing as he took his throne, light still shooting upward from his fingertips. Pepper hated the sound—grating, smug, oddly familiar. He was near death; he knew it with certainty. He didn't want his laugh to be the last thing he heard.

He could hardly move, but he managed to roll over onto his back. His vision blackened with the effort. He reached for Ramirez—nothing. Their connection had weakened when the Supreme Leader stole their life-force. He'd vaguely sensed Ramirez falling, but it was like she'd fallen out of existence itself, leaving him carved out and broken. Pepper's limbs refused any order to move, much less stand, so he stared at the battle above. Not that it was a battle anymore. Explosions peppered the sky. Black debris rained down everywhere, trailing smoke and fire. The Tantive IV listed, then plummeted.

He had failed so utterly. The Supreme Leader's true power was a beautiful sight to behold, reaching ever higher, spreading out like a flower of light. In a way, he and Ramirez had made that. But the Supreme leader was using it for unspeakable evil. And now he was helpless. Dying. What would Leia do? The answer came to him gently, like a soft morning breeze. He had to give. He had to give everything. Pepper remembered his training, and he reached into the Force.

Steadied his mind. "Be with me," he whispered. His true power would always come from oneness. "Be with me. Be with me." The battle above disappeared. Instead, Pepper saw a perfect sky, vast with stars. Peaceful. Light-filled. It was like he was staring through a window to somewhere else, a place between places. "Be with me." His body relaxed. He embraced peace and calm, the way Romulus Augustus had taught him. Even Nevarez can do that in most situations -- which that didn't happen right now due to the losing battle.

Through the calm, came the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi: "These are your final steps, Alex. Rise and take them." Then the voices of Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, her son Ben Solo, and Rey Skywalker joined. Every word also has Mickey Mouse (the first Original Defender) and Wan (the first Avatar) joining in the chorus for the four Skywalker clan members.

"Alex,"

"Alex,"

"Alex."

"We're here for you, Alex."

He didn't recognize them all, but somehow, she knew them the moment they made themselves known to her. They'd been with her all along; she just needed to learn how to hear them. Like Leia had promised. More voices came at him fast but gentle, as though he lay at a confluence of the Force, possibilities, futures and pasts all stretching away from him, or maybe leading toward him.

The cosmos, time, energy, being—nothing was the way he'd thought it was.

"Bring back the balance, Alex, as I did." said the voice of Anakin Skywalker.

"In the night, find the light, Alex." said the voice of Luminara Unduli.

Presences filled his awareness, some recent, some ancient, some still anchored to the living in a strange way. Pepper didn't understand. But he accepted.

"Alone, never have you been." said the voice of Yoda.

"Every Jedi, every Avatar, every Original Defender, who ever lived, lives in you." said the voice of Qui-Gon Jinn.

"The Force surrounds you, Alex." said the voice of Luke Skywalker.

"Let it guide you." said the voice of Aayla Secura.

"As it guided us." said the voice of Ahsoka Tano.

"Feel the Force flowing through you, Alex." said the voice of Mace Windu.

"Let it lift you." said the voice of Ben Solo.

Zuskelgar had wanted Pepper for himself. But he chose to be their conduit. Their vessel. He was a Jedi. Peppper moved an arm. Then a shoulder. He let the voices surround him, fill him, strengthen him. He turned over, placed a palm to the ground, pushed up.

"Rise, Alex." said the voice of Adi Gallia.

"We stand behind you, Alex." said the voice of Qui-Gon Jinn again.

"Alex." said the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi again.

"Rise in the Force." said the voice of Yoda again.

He got a knee beneath him, leveraged herself up onto his toes. Pepper paused, crouched, gasping for air. His muscles didn't want to obey. Every movement turned his very bones to knives of pain.

"In the heart of a Jedi, the heart of an Avatar, and the heart of an Original Defender, lies his strength." said the voice of Kanan Jarrus.

The voices were becoming louder, even more powerful. Not only Rey and Ben joined in, the Original Defenders' voices and the Avatars' voices joined the Jedi's voices too.

"Rise." said the voice of Rey Skywalker.

"Rise!" said the voice of Ben Solo.

Romulus Augustus' voice became deep and insistent, rising above all the others. Followed by Augustus, the voices of the two most recent females, one Avatar (Korra) and one Original Defender (Elinor from Elinor Wonders Why), spoke in unison on every word. A well of power from which to draw: "Alex, the Force will be with you. Always."

He finally rose. Summoned his own lightsaber, which skidded across the stone and smacked into his hand. The blade ignited, and Pepper stood, full of strength freely given to him by those who had come before. The Supreme Leader gasped. Even then, Pepper now entered the Avatar State.

"Hey, what the heck is that?" questioned Nevarez with his head tilted like a curious dog. Even then, the spirits of the Jedi masters and mistresses, and even the spirits of the past Avatars, such as Aang, Roku, Kyoshi, Kuruk, Yangchen, etc., appeared behind Pepper in anger. The Original Defenders followed suit, all in anger.

The avalanche of light from his fingertips ceased. He rose from his throne and stepped forward. His eyes still glowed with red lingering power, yet still nervous and scared, knowing that he was realizing that he would soon be defeated. Behind Pepper, the spirits of the Jedi masters and mistresses, the Avatars, and the Original Defenders (in spirits and wearing normal clothing, unlike their physical forms in varied Battle for the Multiverse outfits), appear behind him as thunder and lightning flashed brightly and roared loudly at the same time.

While the spirits of all the deceased Sith lords and ladies appear behind Victor, he turned at his back at Palpatine in so much annoyance. "Except you, Palpatine. As the most evil Sith lord you are, you failed your Galactic Empire on purpose for doing those villainous acts that're beyond redemption and myself." Later, he uses his Force lightning to get rid of Palpatine's ghost, because he hates the latter for being a devil-in-person. This is the last time we get to see Palpatine as a spirit.

"DOGGONE IT. YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!" he screamed, then he cleared his throat again and turned his back, calling his butler guy Marple. "Jonathon? Jonathon!? Joooonathon!!" he called. A holographic call for Jonathon Marple began with the words given from the butler, "Oh, tally ho. How can I be of assistance?"

"Well don't just stand there, Jonathon. Can you kindly annihilate this little bug, please and thank you?" the evil Supreme Leader said politely.

"Bah, just kidding!" the butler on the hologram said, "Because you've reached my holographic voicemail. Please leave your name and a brief message. Ta-ta!"

The butler disappeared and Nevarez said with a slight chuckle, a normal half-laughter and a sigh.

"Fine, guess I'll have to do it myself then." he said, just as he rolled his kakugan eyes and to Pepper.

"Now, let your death be the final word in the story of the Alliance." Nevarez reached with his arms, sent purple-colored Force lightning zagging towards Pepper. He whipped up his lightsaber and blocked it. The impact nearly knocked him from his feet, but he reached for the Force, and stood his ground. His attack intensified.

"D'oh, bugger me sideways," whined Nevarez a bit cowardly. "Why can't my butler come here in person to help me!? How did that happen!?!?"

Then I ran inside the Sith Citadel and saw Nevarez unleashing an already-redoubled Force lightning attack on Pepper, yet he's just super afraid, just as if Courage (the Bagges' pet dog) was screaming at villains, Arnold Perlstein getting nervous on field trips, Marshall the Fire Pup afraid to go to a parachute training exercise, and I was afraid in the woods on a dark night.

"Oh, darn. Well, YOU ARE NOTHING!" he yelled in a much angrier, demonic, yet a bit nervous voice one final time. "A FRENCH BOY IS NO MATCH FOR THE POWER OF THE DARK SIDE! I AM THE LORD OF ALL VILLAINS." Pepper's wrist felt like it was going to break. But it wouldn't. Not today.

He cleared his throat, and his demonic voice slowly dwindled back to his normal voice while looking more nervous than ever.

"And maybe some bullies, those who were laughing at anyone inferior, mischievous guys, strict parents, snobbish rich people, criminals... and/or grumpy neighbors, I guess? Right? Right!?" he said with a nervous chuckle. "But it was all of Amattaken Rahaim's idea! Well, they think I'm no different than Palpatine, and so does Mr. Zuskelgar. But no, some people like you know my true colors. As a good, kind and generous general. I did any Coalition war crime as a last resort when all is lost, whenever it felt so necessary or what. Please, spare me! I'm just trying to avoid what Palpatine did the wrong things he had done to everybody! Come on."

As Pepper looked angrier than what he looked with a snarl, his face moved down in shameful defeat.

"Oh darn it for real, that's it. I give up all my evil plans. I surrender."

"Oh, right. I see you could be like that," stated Alexander curiously. Now his voice is now in an angrily, more demonic-ish voice similar to Nevarez's. Oh, nevermind. Actually, it was the voices of a thousand Jedi masters, Jedi mistresses and Avatars, like what Aang was saying to Ozai with the voices of a thousand Avatars before him. The difference is that Pepper's angry, demonic-like voice is more confident than Nevarez's (which in reality is the voices of a thousand Jedi masters, Jedi mistresses and Avatars). Creepy.

"And I," he said, reaching for more strength, for Augustus' lightsaber. It clicked into his hand. "I am the Lord of All Good Guys." He brought the second lightsaber to bear, crossing its blade with the first, creating an impenetrable shield.

Well, guess what? Pepper's using his double-wielded lightsabers, one of them was once belonged to Romulus Augustus! Oh, and not to mention, the past Jedi, the past Avatars and the Original Defenders are working together to help Pepper defeat Nevarez ultimately.

"What the--!?" Nevarez said in a slightly scared tone while still using the last of his Force to unleash a redoubled lightning strike on him in vain, just as Pepper is deflecting it.

"Darn!" he said in a still-normal, mildly angry tone... nervously. "Help! I can't deflect Alex's lightsabers!" The villains didn't want to listen, because they want to officially accept a surrender to us later on.

"That was just a freaking joke! What the heck am I supposed to do against a double-wielding lightsabered French boy?! On my own!?" he said even a bit more nervous and scared with his Force running out even faster while Pepper continued to step forward, pushing back against his onslaught. Then again. Every step was anguish. It was taking everything the Jedi had given him, everything he had.

Now his Force lightning got weaker, quieter and smaller. "Mommy!" he cried out with a dog-like whimper. "Have mercy on me! I have to surrender like everybody else! You're making a mistake! I've made a lot of mistakes! I'll give you everything! Money, fame, fortune, popularity, and even infinite power! I'm just a single man!"

Then his Force finally ran out. His lightning is no more, and Pepper is still unscathed. He stopped deflecting it, and he's free to finish him off with a final blow.

He gave his final speech in front of us, confessing to all of us that he admitted defeat... with a single tear in his kakugan eye.

"Oh, alright," he said. "You folks caught me. Well, you know what? I failed myself. Palpatine failed everybody else with the most evil intentions he had done to the Galactic Empire. I kinda acted out like that good-for-nothing devil-in-person crybaby named Sheev Palpatine. I admit, I was indeed the true grand mastermind of the Third World War, but not the Jedi-Sith conflict thing, but you're right. Like that doofus madman Tomislav Vlahović of the Belkan Grey Men who was the true mastermind of the USRAC War, the true mastermind of the Last Day, a full-scale biological/chemical/nuclear war between the two alliances we fought each other against is one of your generals, is actually a young lady named Maxine Dunwell, the female American attaché serving for the Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia who ordered all the newly-built Saudi nuclear weapons to be launched at Iranian major cities, responsible for killing countless quintillions of people, and I hated this idea. Well, you're just gonna have two choices, Alex. Either you kill me, or you spare me. If you kill me, then I'll be free from Zuskelgar and I'll be on my way to heaven with all my fellow comrades who fell before me, and when you pass away, I may have the right to forgive you, no matter what. And if you spare me, then I'd rather be called Alexander Pepper II, just like you, rather than to call you as Emperor Zuskelgar II, which is rather insulting I admit... or maybe I can be your servant as punishment for my own insolence. Please choose which fate can you choose to do this to me. Either way, I surrender and I'm accepting this somber fate from now on."

"Sure. Whatever you say, Alexander Pepper II," Alex said, "But I think killing you is better if you don't want me to fall for your tricks again."

"But I -- I don't do tricks at all! I'm just a normal villain who avoids being a complete monster, just to avoid those mistakes that jerk Palpatine had committed so long ago, and I swear that I--" This is another time (and not the first time) we all get to see his scaredy cat face. Just because of Pepper who was hesitantly about to kill Nevarez for these so-called 'tricks,' he was more scared.

"Uh-oh," the Coalition's Supreme Leader said in great fear, just as Pepper's dual lightsabers are fully-charged with tripled Force lightning, more powerful than his.

"Well, this stinks," he said. I will not forget his last words too, before he got badly wounded. Even though he said these words of fear, he seemed to accept his own fate now.

The lightning began to feed back on the Supreme Leader. It ravaged his face, and he tossed back his head in agony, and in denial of what was happening. Pepper pursued mercilessly, one foot in front of the other, absorbing power from the Force.

Finally, Pepper was ready. He gathered his strength, his faith in the Jedi past, his love of his friends, and he thrust it all at the Supreme Leader. He staggered backward, his own power reflected against him. It knocked him out and left a large electric wound on his stomach, just as he screamed in horror as he was disintegrated by his own lightning.

But before the Supreme Leader is no more, the dying Nevarez, mortally wounded, stopped screaming in agony when Zuskelgar's spirit was released from him, and so followed the spirits of all Sith lords, except Darth Sidious (the cold-blooded ruler of the Galactic Empire whose actions failed the Sith) so he had no choice but to commit his final act of his life: ultimately decimating the most man we can fight against: Tomislav Vlahović of the Belkan Grey Men.

Now Pepper, Nevarez, Zuskelgar, the Jedi, the Sith, the Avatars and the Original Defenders are working together to put an end to the most hated criminal we've seen.

He used the last of his Force to finally get this very pure evil madman off the face of the Earth instead of killing his opponent, Pepper. Looks like he finally chose to free himself from the evil master whom he possessed, putting him under his duress, by showing some more signs of mercy and silently commanded him and all the others to finally defeat Tomislav forever.

As Tomislav Vlahović was suffering from Force lightning, he became extremely more angry than ever before despite screaming in agony. Nevarez sighed in despair and sadness, knowing that he and Torvivum Zuskelgar does indeed have a tragic backstory and his honorable personality like him. I will not forget him either.

Now Torvivum Zuskelgar is joining the Jedi-Sith-Avatar-Original Defender chorus to ultimately defeat Vlahović. His redemption is now at hand! I can feel it! That's what it shows that even the Dark Emperor himself has done a lot of good things like Nevarez, Bradford and Pepper did.

"You know what!?" exclaimed Zuskelgar angrily. "That's it! I'm done with all those evil intentions like yours! Your ancestor was also behind the Kids' Club War, and now you're also World War III, the USRAC War and even the Last Day too! Even though I gained the highest impact on this multiverse that I shall hold dear with my sadistic natures, your deeds and actions are way beyond me, and you also left me with no choice but to admit that my ambitions with total destruction, hatred, spite and sorrow are even more than a completely futile and worthless excuse of a dark lord like myself. I had enough of those mistakes. damn it, I'd rather achieve the highest ascension world of my dimension by accessing the Grand Barrier and exiting the Perfect Omniverse for another one. I'm leaving for a new mini-dimension so I can clear up my own name. I'd rather be a drifter from now on, not a destructor. I AM REDEEMED. Now, goodbye, Vlahović."

And like collapsing stardust, what remained of the inner shell of Vlahović's soul coalesced into a single point, which then exploded with a massive shockwave that threw Pepper and Nevarez to the ground. The Sith throne shattered. The ceiling bouldered down around them, crushing thousands of disciples in the amphitheater. Anyone who survived are arrested for ten year imprisonment and/or a US$5,000 fine.

"Vicky!" I shouted. "Let's get the hell outta here!"

"Okay. Hurry and carry me before it's too late," spoke Nevarez. "I could've stayed there in Canceltown. Somewhere here on this planet. Of Exegol."

Up above, the Sidiousist Sith jetpack troopers were not letting up. Jannah was doing a great job of keeping them off his back, but Finn couldn't help getting distracted. Focus, Finn. Pepper or Rose would have had this thing rewired in half the time. One more splice, there.

"Okay, we're hot!" he yelled to Jannah. He jumped down from the cannon, yanking a handful of wires with him. He was almost sure he had the right ones. He handed two of them to Jannah. He would aim; she would fire. Finn touched his wires together, and the giant cannon barrel swiveled until it was pointed directly at the  Lord Trethium's Wrath's command deck. He looked up at Jannah one more time. This was it.

They weren't coming back from this one. "Never another kid," he said. "Not even one," she agreed. And with that, she touched her wires together. They sparked, and a split second later the cannon fired a massive pulse blast. Finn and Jannah waited, breathed. Had it worked? Maybe Finn should have aimed for a different— The hull came apart beneath them.

Albrecht wasted the few precious seconds he might have had to reach an escape pod in frozen disbelief. The floor of the bridge shuddered as though urging him to run. And he did, finally, only to discover that the corridor leading away from the bridge was buckled and impassable. Allegiant General Enric Pryde, Admirals Frantis Griss & Firmus Piett, and Jonathon Marple met Albrecht at the door that led nowhere. They exchanged a panicked look as an officer rushed toward them.

"Comms are down everywhere!" he said. "There are attacks on Destroyers and Dreadnoughts in all occupied systems!" said another bridge officer. "Overwhelming numbers of small craft!" This wasn't happening. It wasn't possible. His Supreme Leader had foreseen everything. The floor began to slant sideways. Several explosions drew Albrecht's gaze to the viewport.

He dashed forward, as though getting a better look might present him with a solution. The hull of the Wrath was dangerously tipped, and the Allied ships were recovering from the strange energy that had held many of them in its grip. It seemed as though all was lost. For the first time, Albrecht considered that maybe the Supreme Leader would not restore the glory of the Dark Empire.

He let that possibility wash through him, absorbed it, examined it. He was forced to conclude that he didn't care. It didn't matter to him one bit. In his last moment, Lord Commander Reginar Albrecht finally understood that the return of Sheev Palpatine was meaningless -- nor will Tomislav Vlahović -- if he were not alive to see it. All his efforts, his sacrifices had not been worth it. Torvivum Zuskelgar, Darth Vader, Darth Maul, and the other Sith lords and ladies? Well, they don't need Palpatine anymore.

It seemed the centuries-long Sith Reformation is complete. A true Sith cannot do any heartless actions like that bastard Palpatine himself.

The bridge exploded, claiming the lives of Albrecht, Piett, Pryde, Griss, and Marple.

Finn and Jannah clung to the Wrath 's hull together, ducking as flaming debris from the bridge tumbled past them. They couldn't hold on much longer. They'd lose their grip and missile to the planet's surface—if the Wrath didn't come apart first. He looked to Jannah. He was so glad they'd found each other. Two former stormtroopers, together and doing the right thing in the end. "You know what?" he yelled over the sounds of destruction.

A smile like the sun broke out on her face. "I'm not sorry, either!" she hollered. The ship jolted. Pieces of the hull broke away, and suddenly they were sliding down the length of the Dreadnought. How long could you slide down a ship this size before finding open air? A couple minutes, maybe. As Finn slid, he held Jannah and breathed. He had no regrets. It had been worth it.

Someone tried to patch through to Poe from below, and he flipped his frequency to take the comm. "Finn didn't board the lander," came Rose's voice. "What?" "They're still on that massive command ship!"

All his relief at getting the fleet back online ebbed away. He could not lose Finn. He would not. He peeled his X-wing away from the attack and dove for the Wrath. The command ship was now pointed tip-downward, ready to spear the planet's surface. His buddy had done that. Scanners were near-useless in this atmosphere, so he could only do visual sweeps. There was a good chance the bridge explosion had taken Finn with it.

But Poe wouldn't give up, not until he had to. He'd just lost the Tantive IV and everyone on it. He needed to save as many of his people as he could. He buzzed by a comm tower, now thrusting parallel to the ground, and he almost missed the two figures huddling together on top of it.

"I see them!" he said. "I'll double back." "You won't make it, General!" Tyce warned. "Trust me, I'm fast!" he insisted, already turning his fighter around. "Not as fast as this ship," came Lando's voice. "Hold on, Chewie!" The Falcon meteored toward the Mega-class Star Dreadnought, then angled to come up from below.

Finn almost lost his grip when he saw the Falcon's hull rise below him. "Jannah!" he yelled, surging with hope. "I know!" They would have to time this just right. They'd have a few steps of running room along the side of the comm tower, and then nothing but air. They gripped hands. Not just yet.

Now! They took off running as Lando guided the hull closer. With all their might, they leapt, just as the Wrath finally succumbed to gravity and dropped toward oblivion, before it crashed into the surface of Exegol.

They landed hard on the Falcon's hull; Finn's ankle twisted. A hatch opened revealing Chewbacca, who waved at them to hurry. They sprinted across the top of the Falcon, Finn's ankle screaming with each step, and finally dropped into the hold.

"Chewie, you got the kids?" Lando hollered from the cockpit. Chewie roared confirmation, and the Falcon sped away. Finn collapsed against the wall. He couldn't believe they'd survived.

Back inside the citadel, the Dark Emperor was no more. Pepper gazed at the tumbled wreckage of the arena around him. He couldn't feel his arms and legs. Vaguely, he heard the clink of his lightsabers hitting the ground—when had he let go of them?

He reached for the Force one last time. Some of his friends were surely still up there somewhere. He sensed, Finn! And, Jannah? Giving absolutely everything was no big deal at all—compared to saving her friends. He reached for Ramirez too, but his legs gave out, and he crumpled to the ground.

Finn was running for the Falcon's turret stations, Jannah on his heels. Something rent his very soul, and he staggered, barely catching himself on the wall of the corrider. "Alex, no..." he whispered. Pepper has fainted. He had just begun to understand how his presence could weigh so strongly in his mind. He should have told him. He'd meant to. Now he'd never have the chance.

"Finn?" Jannah prompted, as agonized tears streamed down his cheeks. Chewbacca asked what was wrong. But Finn's breath had left him completely, and he couldn't respond.

Suddenly, Ramirez's fall had been caught on a jagged outcropping. Her ankle was twisted, and she was pretty sure she'd broken at least two ribs. But she had to get back to the throne room. Because she couldn't sense Pepper at all. The climb up was agonizing. Each time she reached for a handhold, a hot knife of pain stabbed her left side. Dizziness threatened to send her tumbling back into the abyss, but she kept on, one hand over the other, until finally her fingers grasped the top.

She hauled herself over the side. Paused a moment to catch her breath. Dragged herself to her feet. Ramirez made it only a few steps before she crumpled, forced herself to her feet yet again, limped forward. She could see Pepper and Nevarez now, both collapsed on the floor, and the pain in her chest was suddenly so much worse than that of a couple of broken ribs.

Ms. Frizzle, her class, the Master Defenders, the Klassixes and the Original Defenders watch the collapsing Sith Citadel in horror.

"A prayer. We ought to say a prayer from different religions," spoke Ms. Frizzle.

"Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thou will be done, on Earth as it is in Heav'n--" she prayed.

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over..." prayed Carlos in grief, sadness, nervousness and worry.

Before he died, he finally smiled at Pepper, showing forgiveness that it wasn't his fault, but it was indeed Tomislav Vlahović all along. This had to be another and last time to see Nevarez smiling at Pepper. But not in an evil way. His smile is just normal. Not looking cruel. The Sith lords and ladies, and the Jedi masters and mistresses, looked regretful for the mistakes of all sapient species committed for almost all time.

"Alex. I'm sorry. I'm must confess that I'm actually not the lord of all villains at all. I'm just inevitable, like Thanos said," stated Victor. "Monsieur Pepper my boy, it doesn't take a lot of war crimes in one's mind and body to know that's a bad idea. You saw I'd become a monster like Vlahović and/or Palpatine himself, and you stopped me like a man we both are to be to this very day, on this final hour of my entire life. I'm proud of you." Pepper agreed with a half-hug on the dying Supreme Leader.

"But... before I die, please, Alex. Please... just remember: tell the Alliance officials that you were right. I'll always be posthumously known as Alexander Pepper II in your book, and you are not Emperor Zuskelgar II at all," groaned Nevarez. "So, remember: there is no reason to ultimately destroy any two sides of the Force, whenever it's light or dark. They must be used together while handling with care at the same time as long it's only used for the good of all life in and around the multiverse. And... when your time of passing comes, well, I can forgive you at the very first moment there in the afterlife. Now please, do your best. Au revoir, Alex."

Pepper smiled at him back as he died with his eyes half-closed, only after he stopped breathing and his heart stopped beating. Later, he felt despair and frowned quickly as he stared at Victor's bloodied uniform, still worn on his lifeless, bloodstained body with a lightning mark, now laying over a slowly-growing, yet small-sized puddle of blood he was standing, kneeled, heavily breathed and screamed loudly while mourning the loss of his opponent, just like what Superman was screaming after defeating General Zod.

He cried, and I stepped near him, showing how guilty his near-pure good life would've been, showing guilt that he chose to kill him instead of sparing him. A sad mistake indeed! That's why, I had to start cremating him when we return to Earth.

"Pepper, you're not supposed to kill a surrendered enemy leader like this," kindly scolded Bradford to Pepper for that murderous act. "He just surrendered, and now you did the wrong thing to murder him rather than to take him in custody."

"I'm so sorry. I just felt a bit more stubborn than what I did about the Eiserne Zitadelle," Alexander said. "Even though he did destroy Yavin 4 as an extreme measure. I did the same on that too."

"That's okay, Alex. At least this war's over now."

Pepper did not mourn Darth Trethium. He would never mourn Darth Trethium. But he dearly would have loved the chance to get to know Nevarez. It felt like half of him was missing, and he supposed it was. And just when he'd discovered that precious connection, that incredible oneness, it was ripped away.

And Vlahović? Well, we hated him. I admit I liked Nevarez. But I hated Tomislav even more than him. I only hate what Darth Trethium was doing, not him as a whole. Even the Serbs, the Belkans, the terrorists, the ducangers, the Global Confederation citizens, the Remnantians, the high society members, the students, the teachers and the parents hated him a lot for failing him and for being too ultranationalistic. Unlike Nevarez and Vlahović, the Serbian madman's uniform is more bloodstained than Nevarez's, thanks to the Force lightning unleashed from both Sith and Jedi masters' spirits, including both Nevarez's and Pepper's.

Tomislav Vlahović's spirit -- badly wounded -- is now sent into eternal damnation, just as the damned souls' hands grabbed him. As punishment for the extreme evils he had ever committed and for not forgiving those at all with no shame or mercy. I learned that Nevarez isn't the only true mastermind of World War III. Tomislav Vlahović is also the other one who's being the same war. Also, Maxine Dunwell didn't just do that, it was he himself who commenced the Last Day's prelude events, such as suggesting auctions to secretly-built nuclear weapons to the Alliance and the Coalition.

Piercing shrieks nearly deafened my ears. The arms of the damned souls grabbed Vlahović to be trapped in a limbo between life and death. The baby Dark One is right. Nobody knew they were deceased, yet they were terrified and lonely. The only thing left to do for them is to grab anyone that ventures near, just because they want to be with them. Maybe someone must've done an experimental psychoactive weapon on the former Sith Citadel.

"Curse you, Pepper! You sick bitch! Rubističke svinje (Rubyist swine!) You completely foiled my plans forever and ever, even though I am dead just since the USRAC War was over -- thus cutting my own strings on Arnold Perlstein as my puppet for failing the fulfillment for the How I Can Help Make the World Great essay contest long ago, but now -- now, you and all your past and future generations will all pay for this and for every whim -- with or without any reason -- with all your blood, fears and hatred! Just like you, the late Elizabeth II, Nevarez, all the Preschool and Inkwell Isle Girls, Zuskelgar, and even everybody else, Ruby is nothing but only bring herself become total fool! Soon, even though I am dead, I'll have my posthumous vengeance once more, just as I'll strike where Ruby couldn't protect you all, Rubyists -- in your dreams! I succeeded my goals in cursing all the names of the Alliance and the Coalition, and I will do it again - even - and yes, even - when I am gone!! SOON, YOU WILL ALL WITNESS THE JAWDROPPING FACT THAT I WILL CONTINUE THIS HORRIBLE NIGHTMARE FOREVER AND EVER, EVEN LONG AFTER, AND NOT REALLY UNTIL, THE VERY END OF ALL SPACE AND ALL TIIIIIIIIIIIMMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" screamed Vlahović with his even more demonic voice (than what Nevarez spoke many moments ago) as it echoed and echoed loudly, then his voice laughed evilly. This is ringing my own ears so badly. I kneeled and grunted in agony as I felt like Tomislav is still haunting me to this day. Even for all generations yet to come. His spirit is reduced to ash. He's much worse than Freddy Krueger and many dictators in my book. Zelgius is also more evil for reactionary in my mind.

The spirits of Nevarez and Zuskelgar use their Force lightning moves together to ward ourselves off from the damned souls, knowing how to fix their mistakes of the past, just as we ran away from the damned souls' range. I even looked at Tomislav's emptied uniform. Also pooled with blood. Now being completely consumed by some acid. Was it something to represent a pure evil villain's defeat? We have to run back to the amphitheater so we can cremate Nevarez's body. We need to carry on soon, or he wouldn't make it to the afterlife.

I also looked at the spirits of Sheev Palpatine, Ngô Đình Diệm, Trịnh Thị Kim Chánh, Napoleon Pétain, Zelgius Chainblood, Lord Ahrukai, Amattaken Rahaim, Romuald Mubarak, Shan Yu, Vlad Demonic, Nguyễn Linh Ðan, Marco Méndez, Pastor Barton, Irene Engel, Wilhelm Strasse, Lothar Brandt, Rip Blazkowicz, Matthew Mercer, Vic Mignogna, Higgs Monaghan, Monica Rial, Jamie Marchi, Jad Saxton, Amon (or Noatak), Alexandra Owens, Shan Yu, Michael Heimeroth, Ashley Bernitz, Yuri Popov, and so many other Global Liberation Union, Global Confederation, Chaos and South Vietnamese ducanger officials, soldiers, generals and leaders, and also past real-life villains, now stuck in the damned souls' domain, screaming like either embarrassed girls or crying infants and/or toddlers. Not to mention, he is slowly but surely heading to the 9th circle of hell (treachery). The damned (such as Pontius Pilate, Orpheus, Electra, Francesca da Polenta, Paolo Malatesta, Semiramis, Ciacco, Clodia, Tarpeia, Gessius Florus, Fulvia, Boudica, Hecuba, Filippo Argenti, Emperor Frederick II, Cavalcante de Cavalcanti, Farinata degli Uberti, Attila the Hun, Pietro della Vigna, Brunetto Latini, Guido Guerra, Thaïs, Tiresias, Myrrha, Friar Alberigo, Mordred, Count Ugolino and many more) are screaming the pure evil Serbian man's name loudly. In agony. Tomislav Vlahović also joined them, just as the hands of the damned souls grabbed his limbs very tightly. I have to turn those bastards away. I looked back. I have to get away from those shrieks now. Otherwise, if they caught me, it would be every man for himself for me.

I ran away from them. Vlahović screamed in agony, just as he was tortured by the Dark Ones for being very, very evil. Now Vlahović is pulled away from the face of the multiverse forever. Tomislav Vlahović, the most evil man in World War III, is no more. And so did Nevarez, the least evil man who is the Supreme Leader of the Coalition of the Red Star. Even Zuskelgar, the other least evil man who ruled the Empire of Darkness too. At least their evil selves (while Tomislav is gone as a whole).

Pepper sobbed as he regretted his actions for murdering the said Supreme Leader and the said Dark Emperor (and not Tomislav himself). I comforted him.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, then I hugged him tightly.

If only the Sith and Jedi are to work together to battle against the haunting nightmares created by Vlahović. Well, at least he's dead. It seemed that Grimm Vlatovi is gone. We mourned the loss of Nevarez, but not our greatest enemy yet, the said leader of the Belkan Grey Men from the USRAC War of long ago.

Well, at least people can now sleep and dream well -- as long as Nevarez's spirit is redeemed as it was like Anakin Skywalker (Darth Vader) and Ben Solo (Kylo Ren) would've been -- and as long as we never listen to the evil Tomislav Vlahović at all. I hated him a lot more.

As we cremate Nevarez's dead body into ashes (even his bloodstained uniform and hat) on the same pit where Ramirez was trapped in, we were sitting down in sadness, when suddenly, a voice came to Pepper through the Force, clear and strong. "I will always be with you. So please, do not listen to somebody who is more evil than I am. More evil than Zuskelgar. More evil than Palpatine. That being said, that's Tomislav Vlahović himself," Victor said. He smiled. Let the truth of it wash over him. "Well, thanks for defeating Tomislav, my friend. I forgive you. Always. And always remember that everybody should not listen to him either, for no one's ever really gone," he whispered. He retrieved his lightsabers and sprinted from the ruined arena. I'll never forget what he said.

After his words' echoes faded away, the damned souls disappeared without a trace as thunder roared loudly, and the last of his Force lightning disappeared. Soon, heavy rain began to fall on the ruins of this desert planet, and only soft, quiet thunders are heard. Heavy rain could barely extinguish the fires left over from the war. That is the symbol of how the Sith and the Jedi are no longer enemies, but are indeed friends to each other. Light did not prevail over darkness. Both sides combined into good, something of which that prevailed over evil. What a reward for Nevarez himself. He's in a better place. His body, lifeless while fallen into the same pit where Ramirez fell down there, will be reduced into ashes, soon turned into dust. As we cremate his dead body, I was thinking about his skin burnt into flesh. Soon, his flesh and muscles will be reduced into bone and nothing else more let alone ashes, dust and small pieces of bone. Even his emptied black uniform will be charred, burnt and shrunk with marks and lines of soot. His blood was washed away by heavy rainfall. Those damned souls that I mentioned earlier (save for Lucifer, Tomislav and the non-Coalie enemies of our own to be in Hell) are being absolved as they all rise in Heaven. Why? Well, it's because of Nevarez's last hour redemption and as reward for putting Tomislav (the ultimate evil) to his final doom. As a result, rays of light shine upon the pit!

"Peace be with you!" declared Pontius Pilate.

"Elysium, so beautiful!" declared Orpheus.

"The divine light of justice!" declared Electra.

"Oh, perfect redemption!" declared Francesca da Polenta.

"Everlasting life!" declared Paolo Malatesta.

"Heavenly splendor!" declared Semiramis.

"I am at peace with you, oh Lord!" declared Ciacco.

"Blessed mercy!" declared Clodia.

"You are my comfort, my salvation!" declared Tarpeia.

"I humble myself before you..." declared Gessius Florus.

"Glory be to God!" declared Fulvia.

"My ancestors, I'm coming to you..." declared Boudica.

"The temple of Heaven! Glorious!" declared Hecuba.

"Lord, forgive my temper..." declared Filippo Argenti.

"Gracious, gracious, gracious Lord..." declared Emperor Frederick II.

"Serenity, sweet serenity..." declared Cavalcante de Cavalcanti.

"Delightful, so delightful..." declared Farinata degli Uberti.

"I praise you, oh Great One!" declared Attila the Hun.

"I am ever faithful to the Lord's command..." declared Pietro della Vigna.

"Benign Heaven!" declared Brunetto Latini.

"Prosperity in abundance!" declared Guido Guerra.

"I will be trustworthy, Lord," declared Thais.

"I am no longer blind to Your kindness, Lord," declared Tiresias.

"You've smiled upon me, oh Lord!" declared Myrrha.

"Glorious Virgin Mary, I see your face..." declared Friar Alberigo.

"Heavenly Father, Lady of the Lake, thank you!" declared Mordred.

"My God and countrymen, I suffer no more..." declared Count Ugolino.

Well, that reminded me of Dante's Inferno, an XBox 360 game that I played once before World War III happened, and I absolved all these poor souls like that in the past. Since I completed the whole game with all souls absolved, this was indeed a prophecy that something would save all these sad souls for a near-perfect utopia that the Ancients were willing to make once this nightmare is done.

The Coalies finally laid down their arms, and some of the finest raised their white flags, showing mercy and surrender - also their absolute will to submit to us -- the Alliance. They all rose both their two hands up, knowing that they finally threw in the towel. Now, nobody ever wanted to throw their own hats in the ring.

The job's done. We don't need to discuss about Victor Nevarez and/or Torvivum Zuskelgar's return. They're just different people with the same story as us. Not the same as Vlahović himself. Guess it's about time to return to the Grand Alliance HQ and discuss about Tomislav Vlahović's return instead.

I felt like the late Emperor Hirohito was right about weapons of mass destruction, only a century late. He said that the overuse of any kind of these weapons can bring end to a sapient species like myself. I can't believe we were caught in a nightmare much worse than the worst criminals - Palpatine, Vlahović, etc.

"Let's go home, lads," said a British medic as carries his stretcher to carry me for medevac. He and his medical team are sad about how Nevarez was just Vlahović's slave, even though the latter was his puppet. However, they heard some Star Destroyer engines whirling.

The Devastator landed in front of us. Landed to the ruins of the amphitheater that once stood, her widescreen wipers repeatedly moved left and right to carry away the rain. Carrying a badly-wounded Arnold Perlstein are Ralphie Tennelli and Jyoti Kaur. That's because of his broken leg. Ms. Frizzle, her class, the Master Defenders, the Klassixes and the Original Defenders, all holding umbrellas while wearing raincoats and rainhats carried from home, all smiled at me, Pepper, Bradford, and even the spirits of the Jedi masters, Sith lords (except Palpatine) and Avatars. Nevarez's Force spirit also smiled at me, showing forgiveness for the Alliance.

I felt content now. The war is over. He, even though his right leg broke, thus his shoe was removed and bandaged, smiled and he shouted at us in joy, "Woohoo! Son of a bitch, you did it!"

I smiled at him back.

"You should've seen yourself, it was damn amazing!" wooed Arnold.

"Well," spoke Ralphie. "I guess we're continuing this medevac of wounded soldiers, like you, Arn. So, yeah. The war's over."

"Damn right. Tomislav Vlahović should've stayed home today," spoke Arnold, despite lying down due to his severe wounds, happily, while D.A., Ralphie and Jyoti put him to the stretcher, carried by Tim, Wanda, Keesha, Carlos, Ms. Frizzle and Liz. "And I don't feel sorry for this loser. Not Victor Nevarez. He's redeemed now - like myself."

He laughed, and SpongeBob said, "Gary, I'm so proud of you. Proud of myself too."

Gary meowed with joy, knowing that home is going to be a perfect place to be. Where we can do hobbies. Even then, Exegol's flat desert, filled with some nutrients given from the rainwater, has also poppies from Earth, still grown by both sides as a symbol of remembrance. Small patches of grass came before the poppies grew throughout the war's near end.

"Fortress Universalis my ass!" declared Andrews triumphally. "The Coalies are down for the count!"

"Woohoo!" cheered Murdoch.

"We did it," spoke Ismay. "Son of a gun, we did it!"

"Congratulations!" spoke Brown. "You fought one hell of a war, Mr. Andrews."

"You did it!" wooed Lightoller. "I'm damn proud to have flown with you. For the first time that is."

"Mr. Andrews," said Benjamin Guggenheim. "It's been an honor to have flown with you."

"Constitutional Assembly Squadron," spoke AWACS Denali 1 (Layla Mabray). "That's all there is. You did it. Come on home, heroes and heroines. Earth's waiting for you."

Before I can continue this chapter, let me just read you a portion of something special about the war's end, and I quote: "Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from falling hands we throw. The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die; We shall not sleep, through poppies grow: In Flanders' fields." End quote. Lt. Col. John McCrae of the Canadian Expeditionary Force said this as part of his poem, "In Flanders Fields." I will not forget this, and this one has now a new meaning: that all villains should surrender to all heroes amicably.

8 DAYS LATER -- TITANIC CITY, AVALON

It's a sunny and cloudless early morning of September 10th, 2045. It's been eight days since we returned to Exegol with Nevarez, along with many other Sith lords, freed from Palpatine's solitude (and even finally, we ultimately destroyed Vlahović together) as a posthumous and honorary hero he is, long after his evil days are numbered (while Vlahović is still purely evil). The official surrender ceremony for the villains of the Coalition of the Red Star to the heroes of the Grand Alliance was held in Titanic City. Held in the frontyard of the Astor House with all the Congress of the Republic of Avalon standing beside of us. The former passengers and crew members of the RMS Titanic and the survivors of the Last Day, including those coming from the spared worlds, also attended the event, other than the heroes and the surviving villains.

High Captain E.J. Smith, Chief of State Nathan Bradford, the spirit of Victor Nevarez, Alexander Pepper, Bluey Heeler, and so many other Grand Alliance leaders and generals either finished doing their speeches or are awaiting for their turn to speak are sitting on first class dining saloon chairs. At the time, Prime Minister Thomas Andrews of the Republic of Avalon (who led the Free Worlds Fleet), is giving a speech for us all.

Even Arnold is holding his crutch with bandage still worn while still in his jumpsuit from his field trip to the International Space Station from "Kids in Space." He smiled at me while sitting in front of us, and now he's more decorated than his own classmates, more decorated than Ms. Frizzle herself. A brave hero despite his pessimism and fears of going to extraordinary field trips. This now-fearless 10-year-old boy now has two new medals added: a World War III Victory Medal and a Purple Heart. Now he's proud of me. I'm proud of him too. His redemption is finally complete. Being even more decorated than any other Grand Alliance member made the nearly-all-Japanese-American 442nd Infantry Regiment from World War II look like a failed penal battalion without any honors at all.

Even though High Captain E.J. Smith (now sitting on a wheelchair due to injuries after the Battle for the Multiverse) co-presided the event with so many Alliance officials doing so since Titanic City is the host venue for this ceremony, I was the main presider for this event. Right now, Prime Minister Andrews is speaking in front of the brave men, women and children of the Alliance, including the surrendered Coalition forces and officers, including the villains who were summoned earlier. I knew I defeated both Nevarez and Vlahović.

"When history called, you answered. From all walks of life, you came to defend peace and freedom," spoke Thomas Andrews on the lectern with a microphone, standing on the stage in front of all of us Alliance heroes, soldiers, generals and officers with the high-ranking ones behind him. All heroes are wearing the same exact Battle for the Multiverse outfits -- all cleaned up and repaired with their wounds dressed for the big day (while parents and teachers are wearing their semi-formal outfits) -- while the soldiers are wearing service dress uniforms and/or full dress uniforms. I smiled at Prime Minister Andrews with the war finally over. "I thank you. And the multiverse thanks you, and wherever your path takes you, know this: You will always be amongst a brotherhood and sisterhood of heroes and heroines."

Hours later, it was almost time for all of us to go near-separate ways. The war is finally over. Even we found out that Nevarez and Zuskelgar are right all along. They are just innocent souls, trying to rival those who fight for freedom, just for conservatism. Not like the purely evil Sith lord Sheev Palpatine at all. Neither would be like the other pure evil madman -- Vlahović.

"Ah," said Arnold. "This is it, fellas. And I'm sorry for that sadistic How I Can Help Make the World Great ceremony. I believe Vlahović is to blame for this kind of action. He framed me for this evil idea since that madman mind-controlled me."

"Well Alex," said High Captain E.J. Smith as he pushed his wheels on the wheelchair. "We've done our duty. We cremated Nevarez, and his ashes are scattered in and around the Hudson River in Titanic City to say goodbye to him. And Vlahović? Well, we'll never forgive this evil man. Even the Serbs hated him for his incompetence. Now our job's done. And I told you, you don't want me to live in a post-High Captain Smith Avalon yet. That'll be too cruel."

"Gentlemen," said Molly Mabray with a pat on my back. "Qyah! Your prodigal daughter returns!"

Finally, it ended. We could go home, those of us who survived. People could rebuild, and so could nations, but our work was all done.

As for me, well, I lived my life, which is all you can really ask a man to do. I'm proud of what we did, and what we fought for.

In our own way, we helped see the world through one of its darkest hours, and we didn't do it for glory, nor to impress pretty girls, nor to make our parents, teachers and families proud. We did it because it was what had to be done, and with the hope in the backs of our minds that it would never have to be done again.

And where will I be heading? Well, that's right. I'm going to Gyeongyeong. My own village. The place where I live in.

I can feel like a thousand guilts, remorse, triumphs and braveries through blood, sweat and tears. Yes. I said that. I've seen people giving birth, growing up, studying, marrying each other and dying in the fray, but never had I seen such a nightmarishly quick scale.

My head always plays Arirang on my brain. As if an earworm is stuck inside of me. I've lost so many comrades that fought with me. Even my dad gave his life to save me, High Captain Smith and everybody else who were fighting against Nevarez, Tomislav, Zuskelgar and my dark, guilt-ridden self.

Now let me end this chapter with one more monologue, just one last time. It's based of what Frank Keegan from Medal of Honor: Vanguard had said this to me, and I can tell you, I've heard that on the day after I beat the game before I went to the schoolhouse that morning, just before breakfast. And... well, it goes like this...

When the war ended, the Grand Alliance was not disbanded, yet only reorganized into the Grand Multiversal Council Armed Forces... and after seeing the fall of the Coalition of the Red Star, the Global Liberation Union, the Ducanger Order, the Global Confederation, the Hollow Infection, the Candy Zombies, the Lambent, and all other minor enemies of all three major alliances, we all returned home, and we'll remain an active group of soldiers defending the multiverse.

Over the years, you must remember how the arsenals of democracy answered the call of service throughout the world, in Korea, Panama, Vietnam, Palestine, Grenada, Kuwait, Colombia, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Libya, the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan, Southwestern Mindanao, Syria, Mexico, Ukraine... and many, many more.

We supported disaster relief when Tropical Depression Lising flooded Metro Manila and its nearby provinces for a week or two in the Philippines, in Luzon, due to the constant torrential rainfalls that made Tropical Storm Ketsana (or Bagyong Ondoy) a run for its own natural money, and were deployed in anti-Rubyist insurgent conflicts in Mars beginning in 2046. They are too deployed there still.

They call us the Grand Alliance of the Western Nations, or just the Grand Alliance, or the Alliance in short. But we didn't fight for our lives, for our proud families, for peace, for freedom, for choice, for life, for love, for kindness, for the multiverse, for joy, for the brighter sides, or for democracy. Together, we and all our allies didn't fight for anything. What we fought against defined us. With forces of light and darkness fighting side by side only for the purpose of doing good to all of the multiverse, we all fought against terrorism, sadism, masochism, fascism, ultranationalism, evil, crime, tyranny, cruelty, bullying, harm, hatred and oppression -- anything worse than death itself.

The governments, principals, and institutions that rose in their place were for free people to choose now that our names will forever etch in the memories of all generations yet to come -- as well as all past generations -- and for yesterday, today, tomorrow, and forever, even long after we were all gone...

Well, I can end this chapter with a sampling of my country's greatest traditional folk song (and also my lullaby when I was a wee kid), Arirang. And, yes my friend, it goes....

아리랑, 아리랑, 아라리요, (Arirang, arirang, arariyo,) ''아리랑 고개로 넘어간다. (Arirang gogaero neomeoganda.)''

That means... I'm going home soon. The hilly village of Gyeongyeong in South Korea... my home. Finally, the war is done. All done.

Trivia

 * The rollcall conducted by Ms. Frizzle's classmates in the Devastator is reminiscent to that from "Kids in Space" whilst in the International Space Station.
 * The death of Victor Nevarez is actually succumbing to a large electric shock wound on his stomach, just as Rey's final blow on Palpatine with his Force lightning seemed too grotesque and/or to be subject to copyright infringement from Lucasfilm, the creator of Star Wars.
 * Later, he would be cremated by Su Ji-Hoon and Alexander Pepper on the same pit where Ruby Ramirez fell.
 * The last words spoken by Tomislav Vlahović is reminiscent to Groundskeeper Willie's last words from "Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace" (a Treehouse of Horror VI segment) before being burnt into ashes and dust after suffering extreme heat from a furnace that Homer turned itself up.
 * The post-war speech delivered by Avalonian congressman Thomas Andrews is reminiscent to the final speech given by Colonel Davis from Call of Duty: WW2.
 * The third and final verse of John McCrae's "In Flanders Fields" is written in this novel before skipping the scene from the aftermath of the Battle for the Multiverse in Exegol to a surrender ceremony of the Coalition of the Red Star to the Grand Alliance in Titanic City, symbolizing the war's end and a peaceful way to have belligerents amicably end a conflict once and for all.
 * Zuskelgar's abandonment from being an omnipotental villain is a reference to what a drifter from Cosmos Quest was doing.
 * The closing remarks of this chapter are based on Frank Keegan (Medal of Honor: Vanguard)'s final monologue in Medal of Honor: Vanguard after you beat "The Crucible," the final level of Varsity, and of course, the said game.
 * The first words of Arirang are recited by Su Ji-Hoon to remind him of his country's traditional folk song and his lullaby when he was a kid.