The chapter begins with Shining planing to split up his troops to frustrate Azure Raven even further. Normally it wouldn't be a good idea but things are far from normal. Eventually he decides who to take into the center of madness and counting the interviewers is a nice gesture. The resistance is fierce but the unicorn can feel that he is getting closer to the imagination thing itself. He knows that his own power returning is likely a sign that he is getting closer to the safe zone were Nameless could be at full power.
Eventually they reach a large and scenic hall that could be one possible background for the final battle. While the elevator is slowly arriving the allies take care of the present enemy troops and then... another Commissar arrives out of it that again isn't able to finish his sentence. No, nobody does kill him mid-sentence this time but Shining knows already what he is going to say. The unicorn has read enough stories to already know which cliché the imagination thing will use next. In the end Shining's allies are more then able to take care of this surprise attack but the unicorn would have preferred if just for once they had found a non-lethal way to take a Commissar down. It is nice to see that even after all these years of struggle and war, the rebels do agree with the unicorn on this issue, if only to insult Solomon by NOT letting this sick ruining gag play out again and again. Shining also decides that they should split up again to divide the attention of the imagination thing and soon enough his group has gotten smaller again. But his allies didn't all die like Azure Raven likely intended.
Gilda also decides to go with them, she is on Nameless's target list anyway and being close to Shining might be the only way she could survive this ordeal. Down there they encounter another trap, this time in the form of landmines but Shining's shields do provide reliable cover. However the trap also contains a second phase were smoke and the gas mask that were supplied earlier are intended to make the allies shot at each other. Thankfully they are too smart to fall for that and soon enough they continue their path past enemy fire, a shielded Spetsnaz team and way too many doors.
Eventually they do find the imagination thing in a strange cross between an arena and a command center. The core of the Iron Curtain is also visible from here and Nameless did play dress up again, this time he wears a ridiculously expensive armor full of medals and fire rubies. It is rather telling that many machines are abandoned and there is little doubt that the imagination thing did keep itself busy by eating his own men in the meantime. Then before Shining's very eyes Azure Raven devours one of his men in a nightmarish scene were he eats the light of existence of his victim before tearing the remaining shadow apart just because he can. The very idea of this technician gets eaten and Shining nearly breaks down from seeing this. But the interviewers are there to calm him down again. Besides the rebels that are under Mother Deer's protection, nobody does even remember what just happened and it is safe to say that they are better off this way.
Apparently the imagination thing is looking for inspiration and ideas to steal in other timelines as well but he isn't satisfied with what he had found so far. One seems to be the human world, another is a science fiction themed one, one is the Lantern Pony timeline, one seems to be based on Mass Effect, there is also the timeline were Luna's and Celestia's roles are reversed and Celestia was the on who turned into a Nightmare and had to be sealed away and finally there is the one where AJ is the Element of Magic. Azure Raven likes the brutal battles of some timelines but in comparison the other versions of this world are too boring for his tastes. He is still certain that the takeover of this world is only a matter of time and is already turning his attention to other targets. Here is a hint: First win your current battle and then you can look forward to the next one.
But that facade of calmness instantly and creepingly cracks when he snaps that Gilda SHOULD have died a horrible death as a sacrifice to the more sadistic shadows who watch. In fact he continues his insane logic that Shining is the villain that murdered a Diamond Dog that had killed one guard and was attempting to kill the unicorn as well. Under normal circumstances it would be self-defense at worst. But Azure Raven is unable to admit that he is wrong so everybody else MUST be villains trying to undermine him: Mother Deer, the Alicorns, the dragons, his mortal sorta-brother, the allies, his mother Pandora, Gilda, his own troops that fail to follow his insane orders, Shining's friends and Shining himself. No matter how much he needs to twist logic and reason, he will always blame them and completely ignore his own horrible crimes. He also did notice that the interviewers are keeping Shining's sanity together and (as usual) claims that it was all part of his own plan. Then he actually puts a good trap together by taking to Shining inside his mind, dropping his shields while he is occupied Azure Raven finally orders his own troops to attack. But thanks to the interviewers the unicorn is able to reactivate his own shields in time. This time Nameless even thinks of guarding his own troops with shields but Shining as the real master of shields is able to drop them again.
Here the downside of controlling the Hooviet's every action is very clear as Azure Raven's troops just react a lot slower then the allied ones. This is the first time that the imagination thing puts any effort into protecting his own troops but that is likely only so because he is almost running out of them. He needs at least some of them to keep Shining's allies busy so he can have the showdown with his nemesis. Even after all that went wrong, he still insists on having a final battle exactly as scheduled. At this point the unicorn realizes what the Doctor meant. As long as Azure Raven is allowing magic to work here (so he himself can use it), the unicorn is able to do so as well and the imagination thing has the disadvantage of not being able to control and predict Shining like he can with everybody else. Finally the unicorn charges forward and Nameless is forced to activate his own shield and flees towards the door of his Iron Curtain. The rebels stay behind to fight off the remaining Hooviets while Shining realizes that this could be the last time he sees them in this world. Maybe they will find their piece in the next world.
It turns out that the Iron Curtain is created by a huge generator across a walkway. It will be a bit harder to fight here then expected. Amusingly the unicorn is able to deflect Nameless's latest attack and causes him to roll into the next room. Shining already knows that there the final boss battle will take place complete with locking them inside with him and playing boss battle music. After all the battle against his helicopter was also right out from videogame logic and Shining isn't even sure from which game that one was stolen. After one final confidence boost the unicorn and his friends venture inside and there is no surprise that Nameless tries to kill Shining's friends first. But Audience shots his weapon out of the air even before he can finish his first sentence. The imagination thing breaks down, lamenting that Shining's friends have neither Mother Deer's blessing nor the immunity of the unicorn. How are they still resisting him? Even his attempts to directly control them fails because the bonds between these six are just stronger then his mind control.
But suddenly he draws two further weapons and blasts Gilda into the door behind her and this time she is not getting up again. It is a harsh reminder that he is far from harmless. By now Shining is angry enough to interrupt Azure Raven's cruel monologue with a blast from Dima's gun. In turn the imagination thing activates their boss battle music, apparently a version of One Winged Angel. It is a bit ironic if you think about the fact that the villain who is associated with this theme has MUCH more then one wing. The ensuring battle is fast and chaotic as the group of friends attack Azure Raven from all sides while he fights back with his overpowered weapons. It is pretty clear that he is making up most of it just in the middle of the battle, making his horn and skull immune against crossbows, changing the property of his sword without hesitation and just pulling out more powerful weapons once his current ones are knocked into the abyss. The background for this battle seems to be more of a hindrance for him then for his enemies.
He does manage to hit the group a few times but for now the injuries are just minor. Since the imagination thing is fighting dirty, there is no need to not abuse his own weakpoint. Soon enough the group begins to mock him which allows them to land a few more hits while he is distracted. While he continues to throw powerful magic and weapon blasts at them but his aim gets worse and worse the more frustrated he becomes. Gag also manages to show amazing accuracy by apparently mere accident and even without his crossbow, Audience's aim is flawless. Azure Raven continues to increase the sheer amount of fire and magic further and further until he finally traps Shining in another Death Dome so that his friends are not able to help him. By now the imagination thing is just sick of this battle and tries to devour the unicorn. He really should have done this from the very beginning instead of trying to have this final battle. Shining isn't even able to describe this abomination and he can hear the individual shadows that are all part of this amalgamation, some still believe in the Hooviet Empire while others just want to finally die.
At this point Azure Raven regrets that he didn't make SURE that Gilda was actually dead and she uses one of his dropped weapons to fire at the Iron Curtain core. He tries to kill her swiftly in return but even now Gilda is resisting him and she refuses to just lay down and die. But eventually he is able to overpower and impale her, yet it is too late for him. The Iron Curtain continues to fall apart and Shining now keeps him trapped within his own Death Dome unable to do anything about it. Unlike the last struggle under this dome, this time the unicorn has a chance to win and by mere accident he manages to push another one of Nameless's berserk buttons: calling him a failure.
We see a flashback of the previous defeat of the imagination thing, of a time when it took the form of an Alicorn Princess that sparkles so much that a certain book series about vampires would be envious. Besides that she also has a completely over the top cutie mark, just like Azure Raven would have later on. Several fictional characters had overwhelmed her, apparently including Hercules, King Arthur and Daring Do. It is clear that they just fought an epic and gruesome battle for the fate of the realm of fiction and now Pandora is ready to seal the imagination thing within her box. The fake Alicorn laments that she was only doing with for the good of everybody but the Draconequus knows the truth already. Her child wanted to make every single story about herself, unable to accept the fact that others were the main characters of their own stories. Pandora is certainly sad that she wasn't able to raise her child into a better character and has to admit that there is nothing behind the façade of power. The imagination thing's unwillingness to accept that it can be wrong utterly destroys all the stories that it comes into contact with. It makes both her and her stories dull, boring and empty.
As the fake Alicorn Princess is beaten, Shining finds himself back in the present and can hear voices demanding Azure Raven's death. Likely more of the shadows trapped within him. The group doesn't waste any time and finally shatters the Iron Curtain into nothing. The resulting explosion knocks Shining's friends aside but Nameless isn't quite done and begins to transform into Father Deer. He literally goes One Winged Angel as the transformation begins with one wing erupting from his back. It does him little good however as the stalker is standing right behind him. Even the wolf calls him a failure but Azure Raven didn't see coming that Shining is ready to sacrifice himself so that the stalker might erase both of them.
At first it seems that the imagination thing might still be a match for the wolf but his attempt to create a weapon to destroy the wolf fails utterly. This time the stalker charges at Nameless and leaves behind a wound that slowly bleeds out all the stolen existences. While Azure Raven is is able to trap the wolf under his Death Dome, it is able to slowly break it apart further and further. He really should know that the same trick only works once as the stalker keeps adapting.
Meanwhile the wound of the imagination thing is getting worse over time and begs for Shining's mercy. But after all the horrible things he has done, the unicorn is unwilling to just forgive him like that. So Nameless switches to taunting his opponent and the threat against Twilight's life is too much for the caring brother. In turn the unicorn is so disgusted that he creates a shield around Azure Raven and slowly crushes him into dust. Thankfully the interviewers are able to calm him down again by reminding him that this would doom ALL of Nameless's victims as well. It is painful for Shining to admit that for one moment he turned into a merciless psychopath but he will not waste anybody or anything on the imagination thing. So he traps Azure Raven together with the stalker, who takes him apart bit by bit. Even his final words as almost impossible to understand, it is like Nameless is trying to give a warning but lacks the ability to understand his own words.
The struggle between the imagination thing and the wolf is very one sided and soon enough the stolen existences are freed. Shining tries to console his wounded friends and eventually the stalker finishes Nameless with a neck bite. And finally the timeline restores itself to how it was originally with all the characters that should be part of the story, rejoining with it. Gag's wing will be healed, Dima will be brought back to life but everybody will forget what has happened in this altered timeline. The stalker is surprisingly informative and fair and tells Shining the most basic information he needs to know before he becomes part of the original timeline again.
