Author's Note: This fanfic is my attempt at closing the story to the anime, which was left on a cliffhanger to mimic the "ending" of the original manga. The subtitle, Saigo no Butai, translates to "Last Performance" or "Final Act". I chose it to follow the theme set by season two, Dai ni Maku (which means "Second Act"). Like the anime, I am using more characters from the original videogame and elements from the manga to continue the tale.

Acknowledgements: Thank you to my beta-reader Sybil Rowan for her technically keen eye, attention to detail, and friendly support! And thanks to my readers here, too!

Disclaimers: The anime Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpucho: Tou and all its characters remain property of © Majin Production Committee, Shuuhou Imai, Shinji Ishihira, Asmik Ace, AIC Spirits, and many other talented people. The videogame Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpuuchou and all its characters remain property of © Nintendo and its professional creative staff. The manga Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpuuchou remain the property of © Asato Kina and GanGan Wing. All rights reserved. Any original characters and events remain property of the fan fiction author and should not be used without permission. No infringement is intended by this not-for-profit fan story that was written solely for fun.

Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpucho: Tou「Saigo no Butai」

Opening - Pray for the Future

The end. Did any story ever begin with the end?

Tatsuma Hiyuu did feel a sense of finality to his world, weightlessly floating there in the void. The darkness around him was still, and silent, save for the hush of the air. It was completely empty. Somehow it seemed peaceful, comforting. Despite that, he felt ill at ease, and unable to allow himself to be seduced by those wistful sensations. Something always called him back.

For a moment, he wondered if he were actually dead. Perhaps this place had trapped him forever in limbo, a wandering soul from a life left unfinished. Yet at that pondering, he felt no fear. The concept of death, though foreign at times to his youthful mind, never scared him. After everything he had endured, he might almost welcome the passing; it would mean he could be with his family again. That wasn't such a bad notion. But something always called him back.

Tatsuma suddenly realized what that something was – the echo of Kyouichi Houraiji calling his name.

It seemed like a memory from years ago; or maybe it had never even happened? Had it all been a dream? The voice sounded so distant now, but he was certain it was Kyouichi. And he sounded concerned, upset. But why? What had happened that would cause his friend to sound so worried? Maybe I did die?

As if in response, thunder resounded hollowly in the distance, a harbinger to a storm on the rise. It was strange, but it almost sounded like laughter, a rich, evil chortle in response to his sad thoughts. Someone was mocking him, amused at his human distress.

No, he told himself surely. This isn't any afterlife. No Heaven or Hell is waiting for me... All sense of serenity vanished.

It hadn't been a dream, nor an old memory. It was now, and happening for real within the spiritual dimension the Dragons existed in. The tempest was looming closer, smoky-black clouds illuminated with purple lightning. Tatsuma knew it was no ordinary storm; he could feel the power emanating from the eye. It was Munetaka Yagyuu – and he was coming for him.

"How foolish."

A cold, detached tenor voice boomed from the sky; it was Yagyuu, but the tone lost all trace of earthly passion. It was an otherworldly evil addressing him, taunting him like some malicious demon.

Tatsuma pressed his shoulders back and drew his knees to the fore to halt his forward levitation. There was nothing in the darkness beyond but the storm over space; behind him it was empty and black. But below there were irregular cliffs shrouded in churning fog, and they were real enough for him to settle on. Heedless to the torrential wind pulling at his blue hoodie, thrashing his hair, Tatsuma squinted to see into the gales, yet there was no evidence of the man or beast within. The voice echoed through the void, as if it was the void itself.

"In the end, the people of this world are all like sakura flowers. They bloom for a short time, then fall – leaving behind only ugly corpses."

The threat hit home, and Tatsuma's brows lowered in anger as a flash of light flickered through his yellow eyes, now glinting like topaz gems. He hated to hear the god-like manner in which Yagyuu spoke of everyone, and it spurred his rage. And his power.

The battle was far from over, but Tatsuma knew it was his battle from here on out. That's why Kyouichi called his name in alarm, because he understood Tatsuma's intentions. When Yagyuu had fled the battlefield, Tatsuma knew he had to pursue him, without fail. It had been hard to look back and see the frightful worry on his friends' faces. Although it was difficult to accept, for all of them, Tatsuma was sure his friends would understand. As long as the power of the Yin and Yang existed, it was the responsibility of the Golden Dragon to fight and regain order.

Tokyo had already been razed to the ground, and he had no idea of how far the Apocalypse had spread. But he knew his friends and their families, and everyone he had ever known, had suffered too much already. He could not ask them to give any more, not for a responsibility that was his alone now. Their part in this story had ended.

However the story was not yet finished, and the tale would begin again from the end. For his friends, he would continue to fight. To protect them, he had to finally kill Munetaka Yagyuu.

In response to the hostile statement, Tatsuma unflinchingly said, "Then I will be the blossom that does not fall."

He had to believe it; he had to be resilient.

Suddenly, the wind changed direction, and the stone beneath his feet began to quake. And from the depths below the foot of the cliffs, like a rising tide from the River Styx, the scorching flames of the Yin Dragon rose. Lightning seared the sky to meet the celestial beast, and the power that was now Yagyuu soared up before Tatsuma. The white-hot light formed the jagged outline of a Dragon, which coiled upward like an enormous serpent. Hovering over the teenage boy, the beast bent it's head down, crackling like electricity, to gaze on him approximating a deity, much to Tatsuma Hiyuu's offense.

Tatsuma growled low in his throat. Yagyuu had fled because he had lost the original source of his power when Tatsuma had rescued Ryuuji Yashiro. He was under the impression the evil-doer had been hiding from him, unable to fight, because, until now, he'd been quiet. Tatsuma realized during that time Yagyuu was merely regaining strength.

Tatsuma met the awakened challenge. With no effort, the Golden Dragon's energy spilled from the body of the Vessel, engulfing the high school student in power so pure it was sheer sunlight. As Tatsuma's body instinctively leaped for Yagyuu in attack, the light shot to the sky in the spiraling form of another Dragon.

The Yin Dragon sailed higher for its own better position from which to defend. Except the Golden Dragon had velocity from Tatsuma pushing off the cliff-side, and it crashed into the opponent with jaws wide. The sound of eerie roars mixed with the claps of lightning and the drone of thunder as the two starry beasts fought. Yin and Yang coiled and clutched at each other savagely, until the Golden Dragon's fangs sunk into the Yin's outstretched, long neck. Tatsuma was vaguely conscious of his desire to reach the end, and with his anxious thoughts, the Golden Dragon dragged the Yin down towards Earth, mindless of any risk to itself.

The two dragons fell, the light of their bodies convulsing, integrating, as if one massive lightning bolt was severing the night sky in search of dreadful ground to strike. From afar, it must have looked like a falling star. But strike ground they did, the Golden unwilling to release its prey, and the battling roars died away as the Dragons fell to Earth.

Note: Chapter is titled after the first track on the © ACID album of the same name, in no small part due to the fact the instrumental piece was the inspiration for this scene. Music was composed by member Yuuta Amari, and no infringement of copyrights is intended.