Guilty Crown Visual Novel (Speculation in Progress!)

[Burnout]

Huh, really? Should be worth a look.

[Erlkonig]

Hmm, we're going to need to reconsider Daryl now. He's fine as an opponent early on, but it seems he has a change of heart in the last episodes. Should he do the Heel Face Turn in every route, or can we have him as the Big Bad of one route?

Man, changing the final boss depending on the route would be awesome.

OUMIYA SHUROU
MAKOMINE SEGAI

[Burnout]

We'll have to see how it plays out, for now; But it's not quite clear how far his change of heart goes in the anime. It's a combination of a growing affection for Tsugumi, and hatred for Gai - He could still turn on the other Endlaves in a misguided attempt to kill off Zombie Gai while you're effectively disarmed.

Also, while we're at it...Given how Gai's been playing fast and loose with the Void Genome's abilities, the player might unlock new powers depending on his Tyrant/Kind King leanings. Just like Gai, a Tyrant can fuse Voids, on a smaller scale - Representing his iron will and control over the Guilty Crown. A Kind King can extract/summon Voids at range, though the rest of the 'rules' still apply...After all, the hearts of his 'subjects' are never quite far from his mind.

Either way, the battle against Steiner V3.0 is a very close one...The PC wins by either busting out a powerful combined Void to overwhelm his defence (Tyrant), or by unexpectedly summoning Voids from nearby students, despite being momentarily disarmed. (Kind King.) While it's unlikely that the player's screwed up as badly as Shu, the sheer guilt of having led his men to their deaths is a time for deep soul-searching, in either instance.

It doesn't seem like Daryl is going to be the final Boss...He's like Jerid to the player's Kamille, a recurring enemy who is ultimately outstripped by the hero. I do hope we see rather more of him, though. (I did find the 'pair the spares' aspect they're angling for to be rather out of the left-field, though.)

Affection points would also change the sequence of events: If Inori's the main heroine, she helps you escape, and things play out like Episode 18. (Though we might go with a crystal storm instead of her new Wolverine-esque powers.) If she isn't, she gets captured by Gai when he first makes his appearance, and the route's heroine helps you escape.

In this instance, the interlude that follows would have the PC being patched up by Tsugumi/Ayase instead.

Depending on how the next few episodes go - It does look like Shu's going to meet up with the Undertaker remnants - The critically wounded player might just get ferried away in their Humvee, while in a near-coma. He's not going to be doing much more than bleeding out and going into shock for a while, after all. (Shu seems to be doing pretty well without his arm, though.)

[ItsaRandomUsername]

With the release of the Lost Christmas demo we can have an idea as to how we'd like the development to go.

http://www.nitroplus.co.jp/game/lost_x/story/trailer/

Also, Endlave stealth-systems are now canon.

[ItsaRandomUsername]

Since the show is now over, we are free to speculate on how to improve and what possible directions we can now take the story in.

[TypeWannabe]

Any other route is preferable to the anime?

[Lycodrake]

Anime went similar to HF and Fate routes, so...go with one like UBW? XP
I dunno, haven't watched much GC... ^^;

[ItsaRandomUsername]

Plus, y'know, in either the Ayase or the Tsugumi paths if Shu lives he gets to keep a girlfriend. Assuming we don't somehow figure out a way to give Inori a Good End.

[Erlkonig]

Plus, y'know, in either the Ayase or the Tsugumi paths if Shu lives he gets to keep a girlfriend. Assuming we don't somehow figure out a way to give Inori a Good End.

You do that, I'll be machinating a Mana End. I mean seriously, goddamn, there were times where if Shu hadn't been so attached to Inori a Mana end could've been coming.

[ItsaRandomUsername]

http://gelbooru.com//samples/1134/sa...37.jpg?1344788

Shu's pinned.

[Burnout]

Well, Guilty Crown has just concluded it's run, and I have to say: That was *something*. Not necessarily something good, but something.


With regard to the flashback:


A long, long time ago, there was a brilliant young man named Ouma Kurosu. He was a biotech genius, and his life's goal was studying the so-called 'Apocalypse Virus', the bizarre crystal cancer; Outbreaks had been happening around the globe, and it was only a matter of time before it became an epidemic.


Wealthy, anoymous sponsors approached him, and promised to fund his research - As long as he worked with an old friend of his, Keido. Unknown to him, his work was being adapted into refining the disease, not curing it: Keido's research was a parallel one, intended to weaponize the properties of the Apocalypse Virus. While Dad was book-smart, he wasn't very bright - And remained entirely oblivious to the true nature of his sponsors.


Flash-forward to Lost Christmas. The fruit of Kurosu's research was the Void Genome, intended as a cure to the virus: Properly used, it can draw out the infection and destroy it, via genomic resonance. Unfortunately, his luck ran out, and he found out *exactly* who he was working for...Now that he'd suceeded beyond his wildest dreams, Keido promptly put a bullet in his head, after congratulating his oldest friend for his discovery.


Daath's plan is basically Evangelion's Instrumentality, using the matter-mimcry and consciousness-transfer abilities of the Void crystals in place of Tang. The problem was Mana; When she exploded, she infected most of Tokyo, putting their plans on back-burner until she could be cloned. She's important, because she's the only one with such incredible levels of control over the virus.


If you have the Void Genome, you can control Mana. (Hence all that Adam and Eve references.) If you control Mana, you control the Apocalypse Virus...And if you control the virus, you control...THE WORLD!


Yuu, the Daath cult leader, is the user of the *first* Void Genome - which was later refined into the one you were using, by Kurosu's research. As they hadn't ironed out the kinks yet, it had a lot of side-effects; It stopped his physical aging, for one, but it's not enough to initiate their plan himself. Someone else, with *another* Genome, will have to do it.


Gai was one of the many genetically-modified kids meant to be 'Adam'. He's a super-soldier, and a physically perfect specimen - But he escaped the facility, and well, we all know what happened next.


The only wildcard in the *entire* convoluted scheme was you. Daath never expected that you'd get involved, or get the Void Genome meant for Gai. It's taken them *years* to synthesize a third one, but they don't have time to wait: They need to bring about Armaggedon now, or they'd never get another chance. That's why Gai's been dispatched to take your Genome - The third one has *just* been completed when Haruka swipes it.


Inori is a clone of Mana - And a resounding success, as she bears part of Mana's consciousness. Let's...Let's ignore the part where she went Witchblade, shall we? Because that was incredibly silly.


Right, when we last left off, the player was busily bleeding out after being downed by GAITWO. As it makes absolutely no sense for him to be Gai, he's effectively a puppet that bears the same memories: In fact, his body is made of Void crystals mimicking the qualities of flesh. Daath never intended that their Adam would have free will, after all; The way he is now, he's *perfect*. A ruthless King with no mind of his own, tasked with enforcing their will.


This is where things diverge:


In every route except Inori's and Mana's, the Undertakers help the PC escape, with the revolving cast of Souta, Yahiro, Arisa et all (If the last one stayed loyal, which shouldn't be difficult unless you really messed up.) Inori, the first priority, is captured by GAITWO.


In Inori/Mana's route, the two are separated from the others in the bombing run. Inori confesses that she's in love with the PC - The Undertakers are coming to rescue them, but they need a distraction. Inori provides that distraction, and the PC is recovered. Mana's variation of the scene is fairly similar - But it becomes obvious that her flashes of emotion are actually Mana's submerged personality and affection showing through, instead of Inori developing a personality of her own. In this instance, she ends it with a loving "Onee-chan will protect you," before shredding dozens of soldiers and Endlaves with Void crystals.


The other routes have the player retrieved much earlier, bleeding out and feverish in the truck as his love interest administers first aid. Fortunately, it's a clean cut - But the PC is feeling very, *very* low. A Tyrant is near-catanoic...He can't believe that he's played right into the hands of the enemy. Every move he could make, they've accounted for...And thanks to him, they're going to end the world.


A Kind King is more: "Oh God, *so many people dead*. And they *trusted* me...What have I done?"


Fortunately, all hope isn't lost; Haruka has used her access privileges to enter Tokyo with the army - She's stolen the third Void Genome, and is intent on bringing it to Undertakers, or the UN forces...The last, best hope to stop GHQ and Daath. Unfortunately, Segai (And Daryl, if the player didn't defeat him in the assault on the tower) is in hot pursuit. They're really pulling out all of the stops to see her dead - They have Endlaves, air support, Segai...The list goes on.


This plays out pretty much the way it does in the anime; The Undertakers meet up with Haruka, and are pinned down by gunfire. Mom relates the problem - Using the third Void Genome will infect the would-be King with a terminal case of the Apocalypse Virus. The *only* perfect Genome was the one directly made by Kurosu...The one Gai is now possessing. It's a death sentence, either way - But the main heroine of the route volunteers to use the Genome, both to get them out of their immediate predicament...And also because she doesn't want you, the PC, to suffer any more. You've already lost an arm - She doesn't want to lose *you*, too.


In the ensuring scuffle, the Void Genome goes tumbling within reach, as you stagger out of the truck; A Kind King's fuelled by the thought that his friends are in trouble. A Tyrant refuses to be beaten, no matter what. And then...


VOID ARM TIME!


To allow for some weapon damage and more interesting fights, your Void has an unusual effect: It can create copies of any Void you've used the Genome on before, starting from now. Your Void arm's almost more spiky and crystal-ly as a Tyrant, while it's significantly smoother and more blue as a Kind King. In a GLORIOUS series of events, you deal with the attacking Endlaves, *and* Segai...Who dies with a man inside him, the way he always wanted.


In the reunion that follows, the group meets up with the UN forces, in preparation for the final assault on GHQ's compound - As in the show, the Undertakers (And you) will infiltrate the base, and hopefully shut it down from within. You'd have to kill Gai and Daath and a *lot* of other people, but that's the King's burden!


This is time for tearful partings and farewells, up to and including a last cuddle with your love interest before the final battle. Amusingly, you'd get Haruka's feedback on the route's heroine, and your Tyrant/Kind King status:


As a Tyrant, Haruka thinks you've become more assertive - As a Kind King, she observes that you've become more mature...But gentle, just like Dad. Similarly, she's a little sad if the heroine is Inori, because she's aware of the inherent tragedy; She approves of Ayase, because she feels that Ayase is the kind of spirited girl that suits you...But she's a little startled if Tsugumi is your love interest, given that Tsugumi is still deliciously underage. (Tsugumi starts calling Haruka 'Haruka-mama' at this point, too.)

The assault on GHQ is a BIG one. Commander EAGLEMAN is longing for a crack at the cultist bastards, and his flagship launches *everything*.


E! VERY THING!


Unfortunately, the Leukocyte and a rain of Void arrows from Gai decimate the numerically superior UN forces - But with Arisa's Void, you create a massive shield umbrella that preserves *some* of the fleet. If you don't have Arisa present, you bulk out the numbers with Tsugumi's decoys, as misdirection. Either way, as commandoes go into the breach, you use Souta's Void to enter the base, riding a powerful hovercycle into battle. (Because fuck that Segway. That is *not* how the King rolls.)


All-out war rages outside, as seven shades of hell breaks loose. GHQ forces are just as well armed (And technologically superior), but the Americans are holding nothing back - It's absolute slaughter, but it really could go either way...Unless you find a way to decapitate the leadership, first.


The final doorway into the inner chambers is guarded by Daryl, now in the titanic Gespent, and the Ghost unit - He's literally frothing at the mouth, now, longing for an epic duel with you. He even has a new weapon: The VOID GENOME EMULATOR, which...Uh, we didn't actually see what it does, in the anime. Daryl is actually *piloting* the Gespent, due to the delicate mechanisms - He's controlling it directly, instead of by remote.


The problem is, you DON'T HAVE TIME to fight him. With sufficient points, though:


A Tyrant can fuse Arisa's Void, Souta's Void and Argo's Void into a powerful shockwave generator that one-shots Daryl's Gespenst. Daryl, after all, can't fuse Voids - You've surpassed him so thoroughly that he has no hope of catching up. Alternatively, with his supreme fighting skills, a Tyrant can simply plough through the Endlaves, carving them into pieces - Before stabbing through the cockpit with Yahiro's Void.


A Kind King, however, can create the Kaledioscope; At the player's level, it's not just a beam reflector, but a *physical* mirror that turns the barrage upon the attacking Endlaves, devastating their ranks. Or, he could induce Genomic Resonance that jams the signal, crippling the movement and offensive capabilities of most of the machines...Everyone except Daryl, who's hard-wired into his Gespenst.


Without either, the player's forced to run for the exit, using Ayase's legs to cover the distance, or Tsugumi's clones to absorb gunfire, while the others hold off Daryl and his forces. Either way, this is the last time the player meets him, as the PC runs into the ever-shifting maze.


On Inori/Mana's route, the player hears a voice guiding him unerringly on - On any other route, Souta's Void blasts apart obstructions, and Kanon's Void allows the PC to chart a path to escape.


Daath (And Yuu) is waiting for him at the end. In this instance, he doesn't offer the player a choice: Instead, he refuses to let the 'pretender to the throne' pass, musing that perhaps they should've put their trust in a Tyrant instead. He thinks that a Kind King is too soft to rule...But either way, as long as the player refuses to submit to the rule of Daath, he must be *crushed*.


A Void duel follows. Yuu has had years to grow accustomed to his powers - The player has had mere months. This makes for a particularly interesting fight, especially as the Daath cultists provide Yuu with all the Voids he needs, to even the playing field. The PC has more raw *power* than him, however...


There's multiple ways to resolve the duel. A Tyrant can seize control of the cultists, combining their Voids into a one-shot Ultimate Weapon that disintegrates Yuu and all of Daath in a single blow. He can also stun Yuu with a Void Genome punch before impaling him on Yahiro's shears and slicing his Line of Death...


-Or a Kind King can use his empathy to pull Yuu's Void (A bow) out, and KILL HIM WITH IT, after blinding him with Argo's Void. An even more metal ending would have the main character momentarily disarmed, in a clash of swords - But stabbing Yuu with a spike of Void crystals, formed from his own infection.


In their routes, Ayase and Tsugumi have their own Void-specific finishers; Yuu strikes a hologram clone instead of the player, and the PC takes the chance to deal a fatal blow. Ayase's limb enhancements allow the PC to break right through Yuu's guard, and spring forward faster than he can respond for the kill.


Either way, as Yuu falls, he EXPLODES INTO TREATS. The Daath cultists go into convulsions, screaming as they erupt into crystals - And in mere moments, the room goes from 'full of people' to 'statue garden'.


At the far end, great double-doors swing open.


The way is open. The PC may now proceed.

[ItsaRandomUsername]

Let's...Let's ignore the part where she went Witchblade, shall we? Because that was incredibly silly.

Because Wolverine!Inori.

As it makes absolutely no sense for him to be Gai, he's effectively a puppet that bears the same memories: In fact, his body is made of Void crystals mimicking the qualities of flesh. Daath never intended that their Adam would have free will, after all; The way he is now, he's *perfect*. A ruthless King with no mind of his own, tasked with enforcing their will.

Sound logic. And I'm a little disappointed that the show never really talked about that. So to see us address it like this is good news.

Your Void arm's almost more spiky and crystal-ly as a Tyrant, while it's significantly smoother and more blue as a Kind King. In a GLORIOUS series of events, you deal with the attacking Endlaves, *and* Segai...Who dies with a man inside him, the way he always wanted.

*whistles* Nice touch. Like the way you think.

She approves of Ayase, because she feels that Ayase is the kind of spirited girl that suits you...But she's a little startled if Tsugumi is your love interest, given that Tsugumi is still deliciously underage. (Tsugumi starts calling Haruka 'Haruka-mama' at this point, too.)

That has the potential for a well-placed light-hearted moment. But hey, if there's the chance that everyone is going to die Haruka can't really complain that much. Besides, a few years later and that age difference won't mean much.

Also, talk about looking at that nickname from a different light if you're playing in the Tsugumi route. :3

And at this point Ayase is thoroughly dere-dere for you if you're in her route.

riding a powerful hovercycle into battle. (Because fuck that Segway. That is *not* how the King rolls.)

You, sir, made me laugh heartily because of this.

A Void duel follows. Yuu has had years to grow accustomed to his powers - The player has had mere months. This makes for a particularly interesting fight, especially as the Daath cultists provide Yuu with all the Voids he needs, to even the playing field. The PC has more raw *power* than him, however...


There's multiple ways to resolve the duel. A Tyrant can seize control of the cultists, combining their Voids into a one-shot Ultimate Weapon that disintegrates Yuu and all of Daath in a single blow. He can also stun Yuu with a Void Genome punch before impaling him on Yahiro's shears and slicing his Line of Death...


-Or a Kind King can use his empathy to pull Yuu's Void (A bow) out, and KILL HIM WITH IT, after blinding him with Argo's Void. An even more metal ending would have the main character momentarily disarmed, in a clash of swords - But stabbing Yuu with a spike of Void crystals, formed from his own infection.


In their routes, Ayase and Tsugumi have their own Void-specific finishers; Yuu strikes a hologram clone instead of the player, and the PC takes the chance to deal a fatal blow. Ayase's limb enhancements allow the PC to break right through Yuu's guard, and spring forward faster than he can respond for the kill.


Either way, as Yuu falls, he EXPLODES INTO TREATS. The Daath cultists go into convulsions, screaming as they erupt into crystals - And in mere moments, the room goes from 'full of people' to 'statue garden'.

You know, while watching that episode I was actually entertaining the thought of Shu hijacking some of the cultists in order to commandeer their Voids for use against Yuu. I immediately realized that that Shu wouldn't do that sort of thing because of principle. For a Tyrant MC, on the other hand...superior choice is superior. But, again, there's nothing wrong with killing someone with their own Void, for I like that delicious irony. Or using your own crystal cancer to impale your opponent. That shit is cash.

tl;dr the options available to the player based on the points system/love interest of choice is a good idea that should be pursued.

[ItsaRandomUsername]

Wait, hold the fuck up. Do my eyes deceive me? Do I see DAN EAGLEMAN in that scenario?

Oh yes.

And a more large scale battle with 'MURICA and GHQ and the Undertakers infiltrating their base?

Oh yesssss.

[Burnout]

Wait, hold the fuck up. Do my eyes deceive me? Do I see DAN EAGLEMAN in that scenario?

Well, the idea would be that COMMANDER EAGLEMAN is a relation. Also, it doesn't make sense for the Undertaker remnants to consist solely of Argo, the big guy, the guy with the glasses, and Kenji. This is the battle to end all battles, against a world-ending threat...Everyone's going to get involved. Don't forget, as far as they know, Gai has literally joined forced with the Devil, and declared himself Anti-Christ.

[ItsaRandomUsername]

Regardless, an EAGLEMAN is an EAGLEMAN and a welcome addition to any plot.

One thing that got me in the end was Kenji's sudden appearance. What the hell was he doing there? Why was he going against Undertaker even though he was allies with them before (okay, maybe that has something to do with him being naturally Chaotic Neutral with an inclination towards Evil, but still, some clarification in-game if he still plays his role would be nice)? Also, I'd ideally like to expand more on his bopping around with Undertaker in the past and what he was doing with them during the time he had his appearance way back when and then was apparently put on the bus by the plot.

He always gave me a Hannibal Lector kind of vibe before, but now he's also apparently a skilled hacker. Go figure. Depending on PC choices the player could have a fairly interesting dynamic with him when Undertaker recovers him and he's part of the crew. Could be wariness, could be intrigue, could be veiled disgust, whatever - it could go other ways.

Oh, and if on a Tsugumi route we could go for her and him having an intensely bitter rivalry, if not filled with reigned-in antagonism because Gai is in charge of things.

[Burnout]

The PC limps into the chamber beyond, to find a room made ENTIRELY of hexagons and more hexagons - And Inori, too, crucified amid Void crystals. GAITWO informs the PC that...


-He's too late.


(In Inori's route, the PC is *just* too late; She has time to call the player's name, painfully, before she's swallowed up by Void crystals.)


Released from the cross - Now in her glorious dress - Mana is reborn...And she's *so happy* to see the main character. So, *so* happy...There's just the little matter of the end of the world...


GAITWO watches the reunion. He likes watching.


In Tsugumi, Ayase and Inori's route, Mana's an antagonist; She's still several shades of crazy, and it's clear that she's possessing Inori. As always, Inori's affection values determines how creepy she is. With a high affection score, she's willing to offer the PC another chance - With a really, really low one, and if this is the *third* time you've rejected her, she's spiteful, even vengeful...And she's much more willing to go along with the whole 'Apocalypse' thing.


In Mana's route, however, she has a much more sympathetic treatment - She tearfully admits that she was calling out to the PC all the while, whenever she could, and she's awake at last...After so long in the darkness. The clear implication is that, in Mana's route, she doesn't actually have any idea of the entire convoluted plot - She came back just to meet you again, and has been 'struggling awake' inside Inori all the time.


In this instance, Mana was always Inori's true personality. It's just taken a long time for her to finally come awake.


In any other route except the BAD ENDS, the PC rejects her...After all, he *already* has a love interest. A Tyrant is unwilling to let Daath end the world; He's also notably more - "Come to your senses! If you do this, everyone - Everything! - will be destroyed! It'd be the end of everything!" than his counterpart.


A Kind King has slightly more success trying to talk her down...But it's *very* hard for Mana to take 'no' for an answer, and she can *tell* he's been 'unfaithful' to her in his hesitation. She decides to *make* him hers, by bringing about Instrumentality, where there will be no-one else the player can turn to but her.


It's only in Mana's route where the PC has a real chance of succeeding - She just want to be with the player, and if he can take her out of this terrible place, everything will be well...


-Until Gai shoots her in the back with his now-innate 'Void assault rifle' power. Mana screams as Voidstuff coils around her; Manipulated by the irresistible power of the Genome, she's little more than a broadcast station for the Apocalypse Virus...And GAITWO is the one pulling the strings, though he's little more than a puppet of Keido himself.


It's clear that the only way to thwart the Apocalypse - To save the world - is to kill Gai. Without him, Keido has no way of controlling Mana, and no way of completing Daath's conspiracy. If Mana isn't the heroine, the player has to kill *Mana*...But Gai isn't going to let him past, without a fight.


It's ON now.


We have a quick cutaway to see how everyone else is doing - If Daryl's Gespent is still active, the plight of the Undertakers is decidedly more desperate. Argo, your classmates, and the girl who isn't the route's heroine can (and probably will) all die.


-------------------------------


Argo is incinerated when a stray shot from Daryl ignites the fuel tank behind him, after downing several Endlaves with an oversized chaingun.


Tsugumi can be killed when Daryl - annoyed by her attempts to hack his Endlave - turns his guns on the trailer, shredding it and everyone else inside.


When controlling her Endlave directly, Ayase dies in the final barrier-busting blow; Already wounded and coughing blood from being raked by gunfire, she's caught in the Gespent's explosion.


--------------------------------------


If Daryl has already been downed or weakened, they're still hard-pressed by overwhelming numbers of Endlaves and soldiers, all trying to get past and murder you. If you *really* screwed up, there might even be some former students with Void weaponry...Though that actually might be more silly than effective. Either way, the Undertaker remnants are pushed to the very limit...And outside, the point-blank battle between the UN forces and GHQ has become a two-way slaughter, though UN forces are faltering under the Genomic Resonance corrupting everything.


On his flagship, Commander EAGLEMAN has received authorization to launch nuclear missiles. Refusing to commit genocide, he orders in the reserve - Deploying his personal Endlave to reinforce the assault, as his flagship begins to bombard the coastline. His Endlave is, of course:


http://www.toptenz.net/wp-content/up...wolf-chaos.jpg


AMERICA, FUCK YEAH!


Meanwhile, you're beginning to realize that you're in *trouble*. Gai was a super-soldier before he got the Void Genome; He's faster than you, stronger than you, and is armed with a sword that can cut through anything, as well as the equivalent of an integrated assault rifle.


On a *good* day, he'd kick your ass.


Today is not a good day.


You're significantly more tired, already wounded from your duel with Yuu, and you had YOUR ARM CUT OFF less than a few days ago. Worse, it's really hard to hurt Gai - You can't one-shot him with Yahiro's Void, because he isn't really alive. Worse, he *chips* instead of bleeds; You're striking Void crystal, not flesh. The Resonance is greatly speeding up your virus's cancer - Your body is *literally* turning into crystal, one agonizing inch at a time.


Your one advantage is the simple fact you have more Voids...But he doesn't need versatility to wreck you. He keeps coming, like some inexorable engine of destruction, slicing apart clones, outpacing you when you use Ayase's mechanical limbs, cleaving through your shields. This is, without doubt, the most thorough ass-kicking you've ever taken.


Keido's viewing the fight through cameras, enraptured - He quotes Scripture, and wonders who will emerge as the God of the new world...Until Haruka limps into the room and shoots him in the back. Dying, he fumbles an injector from his pocket - The flawed fourth Genome he's completed - and stabs himself with it.


It backfires catastrophically, because - Let's face it - Keido's only good at cribbing off someone else's research. He dies a horrible, mutating death...And he doesn't even get to see the end of the fight. But it seems a foregone conclusion - While a Tyrant is a better swordsman, and the Kind King uses his Voids better, it looks like you'd be slain in the next exchange...


----------------------


INORI ROUTE:


Until, from far away, you hear a voice telling you not to give up. Your Void arm links with the crystals, and you draw forth a version of Inori's sword - Yet Gai remains confident that your copy is no match for the real thing. Both of you lunge, crossing blades in a final, thunderous stroke-


...And Gai's sword shatters, as your blade hacks through his weapon in an unstoppable arc. The momentum carries you both off the edge - He's still alive, impaled, struggling to claw his way up the blade and kill you...But in the final moment, something of the original Gai seems to return - Or perhaps he just knows that this is really the end.


He smiles at you, as he falls away into the bottomless abyss - Then the voidstuff curls around you, and bears you back up and away as you soar back to safety.


MANA ROUTE:


Just when his sword is about to carve you in half, Mana *screams* - A simple, desperate "NO!!!" (Or, alternatively, "TRITON! DON'T!") - and Gai hesitates. That's all you need. Yahiro's shears slice up and across him, in a crosswise arc that carves him in two...


-Both halves are still alive as they tumble into the pit, shedding Apocalypse crystals. But you swear he was smiling, glad that he'd been stopped.


TSUGUMI ROUTE:


Through sheer willpower, Tsugumi has out-hacked Kenji; Seizing control of the Leukocyte for just one moment, she directs it to fire at the Spire. A single discharge is all she can manage...And it's really all she needs. The entire chamber is *rocked* by the explosion, and debris rains down in all directions.


Super-soldier GAITWO might be, but he's caught off-guard as the platform groans, and collapses beneath the two of you. Souta's Void fires a single, point-blank shot/Yahiro's Void slices his hand off at the wrist - and he tumbles into the pit, still clawing at you. Before the darkness swallows him up, he murmurs "Well done."


AYASE ROUTE:


His blade comes down, and you *leap*. Straight up, an impossible leap - One fuelled by Ayase's Void. Gai looks up, but he's too late; At the apex of your leap, you're aiming a fully-charged Void Fusion down at him. For one moment, he actually sees a phantom of Ayase linking hands with you, with the legs she needed to fly at last...


He raises his weapon to guard, but the sheer force of the blast shatters the platform beneath him, and hurls his sword from his hands. His form is already disintegrating as he plummets to his doom...But even though he's missing most of his face, you can still see his smile.


-----------------------------


And just like that, you've won.


You've saved the world.


Well, *almost*.


There's still one last detail...


COMING NEXT:


THE ENDINGS

[ItsaRandomUsername]

http://www.toptenz.net/wp-content/up...wolf-chaos.jpg

I love you.

Best Guilty Crown idea ever.

[Burnout]

It's a game so American...

IT COULD ONLY BE MADE IN JAPAN.

[Erlkonig]

I love you Burnout.

Tbh, I'm planning on a fic that is more faithful to the (admittedly completely lackluster) canon, but this is amazing too. The Mana route idea and the whole "Inori was always actually Mana" thing is certainly different to my idea, but it's nice to see that you're taking her into consideration.

[ItsaRandomUsername]

Also, I commend you for suggesting that Haruka shoot Keido in the back like she should have done in the original series.

^
OMG Erl writing GC fanfiction? Nice. Don't forget about Vanguard, either.