After much fighting with Kaneda and a killer satellite, Tetsuo sets himself up with the containers in the Olympic Stadium. Kaori (Tetsuo�s girlfriend) enters looking for Tetsuo. She finds him writhing in pain in a randomly placed stone chair. As Tetsuo begins to loose control of his new arm, the Colonel arrives. He tells Tetsuo that his only hope for freedom from the intense pain is to return to the hospital. Tetsuo refuses and attacks first the Colonel, then Kaneda when he arrives. The three Children appear and kneel before the remains of Akira. They want to use Akira to stop Tetsuo. Akira has already reacted to Tetsuo's "development". It's important to make use of Akira's power cleverly to fight Tetsuo's�
Meanwhile, Tetsuo loses control of his power completely. The gigantic blob that he becomes goes through different phases; at one point, it slightly resembles a baby, representing Tetsuo going back to his original state in an unnatural way. The bottles containing Akira burst open and Akira regenerates himself. His full power bursts forth, recreating the phenomenon that demolished Tokyo 38 years ago, giving Tetsuo the only peace he can ever know.
Kyoko (one of the Children) teleports the Colonel to safety, but Kaneda is caught in the explosion. The Children sacrifice themselves to save him, as well as giving them the chance to be with Akira one last time. Inside the explosion, Kaneda experiences several flashes of Tetsuo's life: riding down the highway in Kaneda's wake, the first time he met Kaneda, and the strange experiment that gave four ordinary children psychic abilities.
Kaneda finds himself on a mound of rubble, surrounded by water and demolished buildings. Everything that was caught within the explosion has imploded (becoming a new universe or even a new dimension). This is best shown in the scene where Testuo�s doctor realizes that Akira has returned, and is then devoured by the small room surrounding him as it too implodes. The final particle of the blast drifts down to Earth and lands in Kaneda�s hand, as it then disappears forever. Kaneda rides off with his remaining friends into the silent, desolate remains of Tokyo.
In a place that is no place, voices are heard. Masaru and the other Children realize throughout a very confusing soliloquy that this is not an end, but a beginning.
Tetsuo is heard one last time, as he finally understands his place in life and becomes one with his inner self.
"I am Tetsuo."