The sky was dark and the rain flooded the streets, pink from the mere presence of Draco Cantus.

But pink water flooding the town was the least of Joshua's concern. He'd already evacuated Shibuya (because he didn't travel back through a year's worth of timeloops just so Neku could die in a flood).

As Draco Cantus came ever closer, Joshua thought about all that'd happened this time around.

How Shiki got her head bitten off by Ovis Cantus.

When Rhyme became Aeschyli Cantus.

When Beat sacrificed himself to save Rhyme and kill her Witch form.

Even if the methods and order were different, the end was ultimately the same as all the other timeloops. They were all dead.

And it was all the Megumi's fault.

Channeling his hatred for the hive-mind creatures, Joshua reached into his subspace pocket and pulled out a rifle.

This time, things would end differently.

The dragon Witch drew closer, screaming its song of anguish.

Joshua took aim, picturing Neku's smile from countless loops ago.

And fired.

OoO

The earth shook, and the younger children in the bunker clung to their parents. Neku turned to his own parents and tried to quell the icy dread that'd taken up residence in his heart.

Joshua said they'd be safe, and for all his faults, the other boy was never a liar.

But then, why did he feel so unsure?

"You'd be a powerful Magi, Sakuraba Neku- the most powerful Magi to ever exist! You could make any wish, and it would surely come true, no matter how impossible. You have that much potential."

At the time, he'd tried hard to ignore Gumi's words. The life of a Magi, spent fighting Witches until they themselves fell into despair and became Witches...that wasn't the life for him. Apparently Joshua agreed, or he wouldn't have worked so hard to keep Neku from making a contract with the furry black alien.

But if he had the potential to bring absolutely any wish into fruition...then maybe he could put an end to all of this.

His parents began talking with another couple, and Neku used the opportunity to sneak away. Once he was out, at the top of the stairwell leading to the surface, he took off running.

Wherever Draco Cantus was destroying things, Joshua would be there without a doubt. And wherever Joshua was...

Gumi would also be.

OoO

Joshua grunted as his body hit a building with enough force to make a good sized crater on the side of it. Though he didn't feel pain, the force of the impact still rattled his bones.

He struggled to get to his feet, then rotated the shield attached to the gauntlet on his left arm. Around him, time froze, and everything took on a blue tint.

He jumped and sprinted like a blur of white as he set his plan into motion, placing guns and mines and grenades at various intervals, until he had emptied his subspace pocket and all weapons were surrounding Draco Cantus- a ring of military-grade weapons all focused on a single target.

He jumped back just in time, as his magic wore off and the flow of time continued.

The weapons discharged in a cloud of smoke and heat and fire, and even Joshua had to close his eyes to keep the smoke and shrapnel from getting in them.

He'd never used this much power before- magical or physical- and his soul gem, which had relocated itself onto his shield, was already a dark purple. Almost black.

As the smoke and debris started to settle, Joshua took a moment- just a moment- to tap a grief seed to his soul gem. There was no way Draco Cantus could've survived that much firepower, right? Not with how much he'd exerted himself to do it, right? Right?

But as he heard the shuffling of rock moving, Joshua already knew that Draco Cantus had survived.

In fact, it didn't look like Joshua had damaged it at all.

And his soul gem was still too dark. He didn't have enough power to do something like that again- not unless he wanted to become a Witch himself.

He didn't even have the power to travel again. This was his last chance.

His last chance to save Neku.

And he failed.

He failed, and Draco Cantus would destroy everything, and Neku would die, and the world with him.

As Draco Cantus swiveled all three of its heads to search for its attacker, Joshua let himself sag against a ruined building, trying and failing to force down the despair and hopelessness he felt at the situation.

"Oh god...Neku...Neku, I'm sorry...I'm so, so sorry I'm a failure and-"

"Hey! Gumi! Get over here! I'm going to make a contract with you, and I've decided on my wish!"

No. Please no! Even if he couldn't stop Draco Cantus, he still had to stop Neku from becoming a Magi!

"Neku, what are you doing!? Go back to the evacuation center!"

"Well, this is good news."

"I'm sorry Josh, but I can't go back- not now."

Tired and ready for death, Joshua turned to his side, where Neku was steadily coming closer. The Megumi hopped out and landed on the boy's shoulder.

"So, what is your wish, Sakuraba Neku? With your Imagination, you could wish for anything, you know."

"Yeah. I know that. That's why..."

"Neku no!" Joshua cried out, desperate for Neku to listen and stop what he was doing.

But Neku just smiled at him apologetically.

"I wish for the power to prevent all Witches from ever being created- in the past, in the present, and even the ones that will be!"

There was light, as the contract was formed and the Megumi made an expression that could have been disbelief.

"Sakuraba Neku, your wish is granted, and with it, you've received your power. But do you know what you're doing? Do you want to become a god?"

Neku nodded his head, and in a flash of dark blue light, he was in his own Magi uniform. It was entirely black, save for the vibrant indigo soul gem hanging down from his choker and resting above his where his heart would be.

His headphones, too, were black, save for the bright indigo fox-head icons on the sides of the ear pieces. The collar of his shirt hung low, exposing his soul gem along with his shoulders. The sleeves were puffed, but wrapped around his forearms like a second skin. His pants were also black, with blue-violet buttons and an array of pins going down the sides. There were nine white and indigo fox tails hanging from the back, wagging expectantly.

Last loop, Joshua was sure there was only one.

"Thank you, Gumi," Neku said, his expression as serious as always.

He took a few steps closer to Joshua, who'd now officially given up. His black boots crunched against the gravel, and in the distance, Draco Cantus had resumed wreaking havoc on Shibuya.

"Oh, Josh..."

Neku knelt down beside him and took his left hand, cradling it within his own hands. Joshua turned his head to properly look into Neku's eyes.

"I...I only wanted...to protect you...Neku..." he rasped, on the verge of tears.

Neku smiled at him, his eyes softer.

"I know, Josh. And now, it's my turn to protect you."

Neku bent his head and pressed his lips to Joshua's soul gem. Slowly, the darkness that had almost completely obscured the purple faded, and it shone brighter than it ever had before.

Joshua sat up straighter as Neku moved away and turned around, putting his back to him.

He spread his arms, and a mic stand appeared in his hand with a flash of indigo light.

"If Witches are born from despair," Neku began as he rose up into the stormy sky, "then they can be prevented with hope. With love. That's why," he raised the mic stand to be on level with his mouth.

"I'm going to love them all!"

With this declaration, a blue pentagram appeared under Neku's feet, and matching bolts of lightning flew in every direction from the microphone. Joshua could only watch as, in that instant, everything he worked for collapsed around him.

OoO

The two Magi, one dressed as a red samurai and the other yellow, lay under a tree together, the red one bleeding from a wound in his stomach and the other weighed down with guilt. Their soul gems were dark, growing darker as the yellow samurai's guilt increased and then made his dying friend's gem darken with sadness and guilt for causing this.

The miasma swirled in their gems before curling around them, consuming them, and both boys knew what to expect from the other Magi.

In a burst of brilliant blue light, the Composer of Soils came to take them, so they could be a part of His eternal symphony. So they could live in eternal bliss and peace, free from their pain. In a flurry of black feathers and flowing blue and black robes, with all the tenderness and care of a father holding his son for the first time, The Composer of Souls took hold of their soul gems.

The gems became brighter, cleaner, purer than they ever were, and then-

They broke, the shards disappearing into nothingness.

The two Magi vanished with serene smiles on their faces, ready to join their brethren in eternal paradise.

OoO

With Neku's wish, the sky brightened, the world already recovering from Draco Cantus as the Witch itself was struck with a blue bolt of lightning.

There was a man in its place, crying in anguish and despair even as his body gravitated towards Neku. The blond held him close, somehow managing it despite the height difference, and took hold of the soul gem on the man's right hand.

"Kitaniji Megumi, you are free from your contract."

The gem shattered, and Kitaniji Megumi disappeared.

Neku looked down at Joshua, who had tears trailing down his face.

Gumi spoke up, his voice ringing through their heads.

"Come with me, Sakuraba Neku and Kiryuu Yoshiya."

And then, they were on the astral plane, and it was beautiful, and there was a giant black and blue meteor flying behind them, too big to even be properly discernable.

"Do you see?" Gumi started. "Do you see it, Sakuraba Neku? That is your Witch. That is the result of the power of your wish and the Imagination of your soul. It will ultimately destroy the universe, and grant us with an almost infinite source of power. This is what you'll become as a result of your sacrifice."

Neku looked down at the black furred alien condescendingly.

"Seriously now?" He took in Joshua's awed and horrified expression.

"Seriously? Gumi, don't be an idiot. I wished to be able to keep all Witches from being born, remember? All Witches. Obviously that means me, too."

He held out his mic stand and yelled into it. A large bolt of lightning came from the mic and destroyed the Witch, leaving it a darker-haired version of Neku in his civilian form.

"But you can't do this, Neku- it goes against the laws of the universe!" Gumi exclaimed. Neku looked down at him again as the alternate version of himself disappeared.

"Well then, I'll just have to make new laws."

Neku took Joshua's hand and, with the other hand, pulled at the fabric of the universe, watching as it unraveled and broke apart.

OoO

The void was like the sky, if the sky were made up of blue and white sparkles of cosmic and divine energy.

Neku was there, dressed in flowing black robes with a blue sash and black feathery wings, surveying the paradise he'd created. Beside him, Joshua, dressed in white and gold, spoke up.

"Neku...do you even realize what you've just done?"

"Of course I do, Josh. I've become a god- something that may or may not even exist. A concept. Not even human anymore. And because of that, in this universe I've created where all Magi can be happy, it'll be like Sakuraba Neku never existed."

"And I'll forget all about you, Neku," Joshua said mournfully.

"Maybe you will," Neku responded softly, "but that's okay, Josh. I've thought of that already."

"But is that really what you want?" The other demanded, his body already beginning to fade from the void.

"...I only want your happiness, Joshua. And one day, you'll come back here, and I'll be waiting with open arms."

"Do you promise?"

"I swear."

"Then..."

"...yeah. It's a date."

Neku took off the bright orange wristband hidden under his sleeve and slid it around Joshua's wrist.

And then, Joshua woke up.