Chapter Text
(First timeline, Day 100)
Before all of this, Takumi Sumino would have been content with living a normal, boring, mundane life. Any hope of that was long gone, though.
His life now was anything but normal. Though, in fairness. He imagined that his existence was never normal to begin with.
But at least he knew now what he had to do.
At first, Takumi had resigned himself to awaiting his death. Or, at least, that would have been the case. But then the Boy of Undying Flames, who he could finally have a conversation with, offered a solution….
To redo the past 100 days all over again.
Usually, time-travel would be considered both outlandish and impossible. But Takumi’s cryptoglobin had become increasingly more powerful (with every foe that he defeated and absorbed) to the point where he could actually do this. And actually, the prospect was fairly promising. It wasn’t as if he had an alternative…
Well, he technically did, but said alternatives would be either to accept death or go to the Artificial Satellite station with the remaining survivors. And, truth be told, Takumi had a really bad feeling about that.
Now, here he was…. Watching as his last few friends soared into the sky in the escape pod heading for the Satellite. He remained on the planet, his mind made up.
He thought back to everyone he had lost at the hands of the Invaders and Eito (Takumi unconsciously snarled at recalling the misanthropic man he once thought was his friend)...
Hiruko, Moko, Ima, Nozomi… Sirei and Nigou also died, but their deaths didn’t scar him as much…
Ima Tsukumo. Admittedly, Takumi had his differences with Kako’s older twin, but he wouldn’t deny that Ima truly cared about his sister (even if it was to an extreme degree). Takumi would even say Ima was his friend. He never deserved to die.
Moko Mojiro. Takumi never truly got the chance to know her properly… but he wished that he did. Moko was a good friend to Nozomi. Moko dying made Nozomi sad… and seeing that saddened Takumi.
Hiruko Shizuhara. Takumi admittedly thought that Hiruko was quite cold and ruthless… But a part of Takumi felt that she truly was a good person deep down. Appearances could be deceiving. Eito proved as much when he revealed himself to be figuratively Satan in human form. In any case, Takumi had hoped that he and Hiruko could have been friends, before Eito robbed Takumi of that chance.
Nozomi Kirifuji… Karua Kashimiya. His Nozomi. His Karua. The woman who was the most precious person in the world to him. The woman who meant the world to Takumi. Her death set Takumi’s world on fire. He had held her in his arms, never wanting to let go. Afterwards, in a blind fury, he had mercilessly killed the Supreme Commander of the Invaders (well, Kako did, but the injuries the Commander had already sustained at Takumi's hands would have killed her anyway). He also slaughtered swarms of her minions that day. But even if he had killed thousands… It still wouldn’t have made up for Nozomi.
Takumi found his resolve, and he was ready to make things right.
He harnessed the power of the cryptoglobin in his veins… and he disappeared.
Takumi then found himself in an unknown space… As he floated, a bright light consumed him. He presumed he was going back to the start of the 100 Days at the Last Defense Academy.
This would be a long road, but Takumi was prepared to see it through. No matter how long it took, no matter how many resets he needed, he would save those he cared for.
And so… Takumi’s adventure was about to begin again…
(2nd Scenario Route)
Takumi had been partially successful. At the very least, he had managed to save Nozomi… But Darumi, Kyoshika, and Kurara were all dead.
Darumi was the first to meet a cruel fate, having been brutally murdered by V'ehxness, the wicked Futuran tyrant who styled herself as the Paragon of Hope.
When V'ehxness returned on Day 15, Kyoshika, in a virtuous display of self-sacrifice, volunteered herself to detonate the Undying Flame Bomb. She had no regrets, and Kyoshika concluded her crusade of justice with a smile, even as she was incinerated. A true hero to the very end.
Takumi almost thought it was worth it, but Kyoshika's efforts were as valiant as they were futile. V'ehxness, though not unscathed, had survived, rendering Kyoshika's sacrifice null and void.
As if to rub salt in the wound, The Paragon of Hope emerged once again to claim another life: Kurara Oosuzuki. Takumi had managed to rescue Gaku from his fate… But not without damning Kurara to her own.
During these dark times, Takumi had spared the life of a Futuran known as Eva, the Paragon of Nature. Alas, her life thereafter was worse than death. She had been subjected to Sirei's “behavioural correction” and became a shell of her former self, enslaved by the SDU.
And rather than save Eva, Takumi had selfishly allowed Shouma to kill her. All in a desperate bid to learn the unvarnished truth: that the SDU were all artificial lifeforms, born to be the Exodus Project's instruments of destruction. Takumi's mother, his life in the TRC… Karua… None of it was real.
Despite that, Takumi pressed ever onward and resolved himself to defend mankind, in spite of their transgressions. To bolster the SDU's efforts, Takumi had even allowed Eito, who had opposed Takumi time and time again, to rejoin the team.
In one last struggle against the Supreme Commander, Takumi watched in utter powerlessness as V'ehxness destroyed all of humanity in a blink of an eye with an Undying Flame Missile. How ironic that the humans would be destroyed by an evil of their own making.
But this would not quell Takumi's determination. He lost mankind, but he still had the SDU… The only loved ones he had left. He would fight to protect them.
Finally, The SDU emerged triumphant as Takumi ultimately vanquished V'ehxness, avenging all of those who suffered and died at her hands.
But V'ehxness was not the last foe Takumi would face…
(Day 100)
At the beginning of this Day 100, Takumi made a decision. It didn’t matter what Sirei said anymore. Even if mankind was now gone, the people of Futurum deserved a future. He refused to let them die. He was going to stop the launch of the Undying Flame Missiles.
Nozomi destroyed Sirei and the SDU reclaimed their infusers. Nozomi was also finally free of the cryptoglobin. The SDU steeled themselves to stop the missile attack. Takumi urged Nozomi to leave the Academy, with the promise that her friends would return to her.
As Takumi and his team breached the Defense Room door (the surrounding Undying Flames now extinguished), they now found themselves within the Defense Room itself. Their objective was clear: Destroy the machine which Shion (The Boy of Undying Flames) inhabited and stop the attack.
But fate played one final, cruel trick on Takumi and his friends… Shion, more than likely against his will, tried to stop them. The Defense Room identified Takumi’s group as intruders and planned to intercept them. Three clones of Shion appeared before the SDU in skeletal suits of armour. The omni-directional attack would initiate in 300 seconds, and there would be no reasoning with Shion now. Takumi made peace with himself already. He knew he would have to kill Shion to stop the genocide, and that was what he was going to do.
He made up his mind… and so did his friends. In this final desperate hour, for better or worse, the SDU rallied behind Takumi. They would face this final battle together.
Of course, Yugamu reminded Takumi of something important. Before his destruction, Sirei had de-registered the former SDU members from the Revive-O-Matic. If death claimed any of them now, there would be no return. What made matters worse was that the armoured Shion clones were far more powerful than any foe Takumi faced previously. And it was safe to assume Shion would summon as many clones as needed to dispatch the intruders.
To put it bluntly, this was not a fight that the SDU could survive. But they would fight with everything they had all the same.
Since the Shion clones were far too powerful to defeat, the SDU resolved to attack the missiles themselves. They were incredibly durable, but the SDU did not falter. Sadly, Shion would not simply stand by and allow the missiles to be destroyed (he physically couldn’t). And sure enough, tragedy finally struck.
Gaku was the first to die, lamenting that his existence had been utterly meaningless. Takumi mourned his friend, but Hiruko encouraged Takumi to carry on his friend’s wishes, both metaphorically and literally. Takumi knew what he had to do. He rushed to Gaku’s corpse and stabbed it with his infuser, absorbing Gaku’s cryptoglobin.
Gaku would not be the only death that day. Shouma and Takemaru followed Gaku to the grave. They stood no chance against Shion. Shouma tearfully apologised to Eva, the woman he had befriended and murdered. Takemaru encouraged Takumi to end the war.
Shion then began to effortlessly crush Takumi’s friends. One by one, they all died. Yugamu… Moko… Ima…. Kako… Tsubasa… There was nothing Takumi could do to save any of them. But at least by absorbing their power, their deaths would have meaning.
Eito bought Takumi as much time as he could by distracting Shion so that his Leader could absorb the cryptoglobin of the fallen. Takumi did this and managed to even destroy two missiles. Then, Eito was swarmed by Shion’s clones and killed. Eito’s genuine smile never left his face, even as it went pale. Takumi couldn’t fully forgive Eito for everything that he had done, but he did silently thank Eito for his final act.
Hiruko was the last surviving friend by Takumi’s side. She distracted Shion long enough for Takumi to destroy the penultimate missile. There was just one left now…
Then Takumi heard Hiruko’s dying screams as she was killed by Shion. Hiruko managed one last smile. Her fight was finally over. She said nothing, but her last thoughts were of Takumi, the man Hiruko respected and trusted above all others.
Takumi absorbed the cryptoglobin of the last remaining corpses. It now dawned on him that it was all up to him now. If he died now, all would be lost. He ran as fast as he could to the final missile and destroyed it. Now… He just had to put Shion out of his misery.
He only had a minute left... Takumi had to hurry.
Shion’s clones failed to stop Takumi, but they did manage to significantly injure him on his way to the machine. But that didn’t stop Takumi Sumino. He boosted his hemoanima as much as he could… and unleashed one final Azure Blitz on Shion's capsule.
“THIS. IS. THE END!!!!!” Takumi roared.
With the machine weakened after Takumi’s attack, the young man impaled Shion’s machine. Then, using the last of his strength, Takumi drove his sword further into the protective glass. His thoughts moved to everyone he had lost on his journey: Darumi, Kyoshika, Kurara, Eva, Gaku, Shouma, Takemaru, Yugamu, Moko, Ima, Kako, Tsubasa, Eito and Hiruko… Then, finally, he felt Karua’s spirit giving him strength, as well.
With one last piercing roar, Takumi continued to thrust his blade as far as he could into the machine… and everything became bright.
…
…
The next thing Takumi remembered, Nozomi had rushed over to him. The sky was blue and the sun was beaming. Tears fell from Nozomi’s eyes as Takumi had one last conversation with her… He entrusted all of his hopes and dreams to Nozomi… and she even called him Takky. Takumi smiled. He saved Futurum and Nozomi, albeit at the cost of many lives, including his own. He was sad... and yet, He was also content.
“Don’t…. Run off on me…. Again…” Takumi spoke one last time to the one he cared for the most.
Takumi regretted the fact that he would be leaving Nozomi behind, but Takumi also knew that he would forever be with Nozomi in spirit. Nozomi would live on and find peace... Takumi was certain of that.
Then, he shut his eyes, never to open them again.
(Unknown Space)
Despite what he previously expected, Takumi did open his eyes again. He found himself floating in space again, like when he first went back in time.
He wasn’t sure as to how this happened. Did he somehow survive? No, He couldn’t have. His injuries were far too severe. So… Why was he still alive?
It dawned on Takumi that piercing Shion's capsule may have caused Takumi to absorb Shion's cryptoglobin. Takumi recalled that he had technically done this before, when he killed Eito in the first timeline. This time, it would appear Takumi absorbed Shion's power directly.
Takumi didn’t have much longer to ponder his circumstances, though. He found himself having visions that he couldn’t understand… at least, at first.
These visions showed him everything. They were not only visions of the second scenario, but also several other timelines. He even remembered all 100 ways that his journey came to an end.
From what he gathered, it seemed that Takumi had explored every option and choice that he could in his efforts to save Nozomi and the rest of his friends. Some roads ended well. Others…. Not so much. Takumi guessed that the SDU’s final battle with Shion was Takumi’s most recent timeline.
But what truly piqued his interest were the timelines concerning Eva and her sister, V’ehxness. In those timelines, he grew to understand those two much better, especially the latter. One timeline resulted in Takumi and Eva starting a family. Another timeline resulted in Takumi and V’ehxness dying together.
The Steady Fundamental timeline showed Takumi a future where he and Hiruko saved all of their friends, and they all made it to the Artificial Satellite together. This did seem to be a positive outcome at first glance, but Eva was still brainwashed, which Takumi now hated himself for allowing in the first place. Eva was also separated from her daughter, Kamyuhn. He also had to kill V’ehxness and several of the Futuran commanders. Takumi once deemed it necessary, as he saw them as enemies to be defeated….
But Takumi couldn’t just see the commanders as enemies, now. After all, They were people, too. People with their own family, friends, beliefs and customs. Was it really right to simply kill them just to save his friends?
And so, he began to wonder… could there have been another way? A way for mankind and the Futurans to coexist in peace, even with V’ehxness alive?
If Takumi truly wanted to find out, he would have to try again. In fact, he was prepared to try as many times as it took. Even if he had to spend eternity doing so, even if he had to die over and over again to do so… He would find a way to save everyone possible. He would keep trying… until he reached an ending where he was satisfied, and everyone could live beyond Day 100, to Day 101, Day 102, and all the other days beyond.
This seemed absolutely foolhardy, but Takumi felt he owed it to everyone to find a way.
And since he could stay in this unknown space for as long as he needed, he started to formulate a plan…