Chapter 18 - A Golden Experience PT2

If there was a worst case scenario planned out for this operation, then what Genjuro had been seeing from the main monitor would likely be it.

The Monitor had to be split into three smaller screens which showed him the most important events going down at the Chemicals facility, one of them being Hibiki herself taking on the Noise and preventing them from getting close to Ryouko who stood near Durandal, with no way out thus had to remain in position. Fortunately, Hibiki's training under him had resulted in her fighting prowess becoming MUCH more prominent and developed, allowing her to fight against the Noise with ease.

Genjuro ESPECIALLY approved of her destroying the heels her Symphogear getup had for better balance.

Never had been fond of seeing women in heels fighting, though he could admit to saying that women who COULD fight in heels, had to have some SERIOUS martial skill.

All that before she performed what could only be described as a ballad of destruction against the various Noise striking at her from all angles, forcing her to keep on her toes lest she got knocked down then overwhelmed. Still, for someone who still had yet to fully control her Symphogear's power effectively, Hibiki had been doing a fairly wonderful job keeping the enemy at bay so far, but how long would she be able to hold out? That had been the question which Genjuro and the other Division 2 Members had in the backs of their minds.

Though, this scenario got rivalled by the other two as well in terms of priority, the second one showcasing the facility surroundings. Although it had been hard to see in a visual sense, scans from their satellites had shown there to be all sorts of militia hidden within dark corners of the building rooftops, with varying numbers yet all of them were focused solely on the Chemicals facility, and would likely only act up should they be able to escape the Noise successfully. Genjuro was willing to bet that they were Sniper experts too, ones who also had a hand in the death of the Defence Minister.

If that was the case, then he would be willing to bet that these guys would stop at NOTHING to get their hands on Durandal, hence why he had been coordinating a much larger task force for an eventual rescue attempt. They couldn't have put all their resources into one Convoy after all, and this time it was decided that instead of him being in a Helicopter or cooped up within the Command Room, Genjuro would lead the operation from within one of the cars. He didn't want to be someone who was known to be too shy to join in the fight himself should the need arise, especially if it was against human opponents.

That left the third screen, and also the one which a LOT of the members paid attention too…

"So, THAT's the one whose fighting SHADOW at the moment…?"

"Who the heck is he, and what is that Relic…?"

"Is it even one Relic…?"

Questions like these filled everyone's minds right now as the screen showed both SHADOW, as evident by his black coat fluttering about wildly due to his erratic, high-speed movements, along with another boy in a more… glamorous yet deadly kind of Relic (Genjuro wasn't sure if it were a Symphogear or a Synchrogear given its design, hence why he called it a Relic, something his colleagues agreed with him on), duking it out viciously just like Hibiki and the Noise. 'No, it's not like her fight at all…' Genjuro thought to himself upon further reflection. 'It's not like hers, where she's a martial artist fighting some wild thugs called Noise… these two… it's something else…' To the man, it took a while before he figured out just WHAT this fight reminded him of the more that he viewed it with the rest of Division 2 whilst their forces took their time mobilizing:

A no-holes-barred territory battle… between two alpha predators.

Something which arguably seemed all the worse thanks to this information.


SLASH-SLASH-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-SLASH-SLASH-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-SLASH-SLASH-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-SLASH-SLASH-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-SLASH-SLASH-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-SLASH-SLASH-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-SLASH-SLASH-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-SLASH-SLASH-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-SLASH-SLASH-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-SLASH-SLASH-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-SLASH-SLASH-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-SLASH-SLASH-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-SLASH-SLASH-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-SLASH-SLASH-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-SLASH-SLASH-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-SLASH-SLASH-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-SLASH-SLASH-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-SLASH-SLASH-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-!

Those right there, those were the sounds of two metallic weapons furiously clashing away against one another, grinding against their adversary's forms to create sparks on more than one instance whilst their wielders repeatedly tried to get the upper hand on one another. Both SHADOW and Sun, their eyes practically GLOWING with the energies of their bestial companions, they blurred throughout their section of the battlefield, leaving a mixture of different blurry trails (black and red for SHADOW whilst golden and silverish for Sun) in their wake, making it nearly impossible to view them with a simple human eye. In fact, the more they moved, the more they generated a Dust cloud beneath their feet, their strikes having enough force to literally RIP through the air around them.

Yet, despite their downright SAVAGE duelling skills, neither fighter got ahead of the other in terms of the overall fight itself, something which constantly bugged the two males immensely as two boys filled to the brim with their own sense of pride… as well as pride amped up by male testosterone.

"Ugh, hold still so I can clobber you!"

"You first, I insist."

Sun growled as he swung his Staff above his head like a helicopter blade, then performed an underarching swing, sending a long, large trail of debris and dust at his opponent due to the force of the shockwave behind the swing being great enough to do so. However, SHADOW countered this by swinging his blade downwards, which released an arc of Purgatory Flames the size of a small car. The moment the two attacks collided, the latter extinguished the former all too quickly, all before shooting straight towards Sun who held out his Gourd in front of him. The flames soon made contact with it, as the Gourd's cork got pulled out and a suction force erupted from within, pulling the flames inside and sealing them within, completely harmless.

'Hah, even if he's strong, there's no getting past my Gourd…'

A smug smirk formed on the male idol's lips when he saw the flames having completely been absorbed, thinking that the attack had been pointless. Thus, he then made to glance back at their user for a bit of gloating about his pointless move… only to find him having completely vanished. His eyes widened at this as he frantically glanced about to see where he had come from… only to notice a growing shadow (pun intended) forming over his head. Looking upwards, Sun WOULD have made to strike back at the offender… only, his face lost all its colour when he saw EXACTLY what it was that was about to hit him.

"WHAT THE FU-?!"

BOOM!

Before he finished that sentence, Sun legged it by diverolling to the side out of sheer desire to not get hit, not because it would have damaged him in any way. What could have installed something like this in him, one might ask? Whelp, how about a giant, black and red futuristic-looking PILE BUNKER about to launch it's Stake at him whilst falling towards his position? Yeah, that seemed like something anyone would want to avoid, especially if the stake's size alone would have been enough to shred through any normal person's entire freaking torso.

As such, Sun's form got sent flying through the air when he miscalculated the shockwave's range, thus got propelled far further than he had intended but nevertheless he managed to stab his Staff into the ground and use it as a means of slowing his momentum. By the time that he had stopped, Sun planted both feet onto the ground whilst yanking his weapon free before looking back to where the Pile Bunker had been located, only to find SHADOW standing beside it with his sole unoccupied hand (the Pile Bunker seemed to be attached to his right arm somehow) pointing at him, Schlagen already manifested from the Purgatory Flames with a round a second away from being fired.

'Fuck!'

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

A couple rounds got fired from the large cannon-like rifle which flew at Sun at incredible speeds, and if he hadn't uncorked his Gourd in time to absorb them the blonde did NOT want to know what kind of pain they could dish out. Both weapons vanished in Purgatory Flame swirls as SHADOW switched over to his Twin swords Vertrauen and Stolz, igniting their blades in his Purgatory Flames. Wasting no time, SHADOW burst forth in a mad dash, creating an explosion of said flames from his feet to use the explosive force to propel him faster. Quickly mid flight, SHADOW twisted himself around rapidly and repeatedly, becoming a LITERAL wheel of fire that sailed towards Sun with the ferocity that a Dragon was known for.

'Tch, this isn't going to get me anywhere I'll have to absorb him entirely into my Gourd, only then can I end this tediousness and get back to helping Chris!' Sun thought, not wanting to continue this any longer than necessary… Although, part of him DID want to crush SHADOW beneath his feet for 'damaging' his 'place' at the centre of HER attention, but compared to protecting his childhood friend that grudge had been only a secondary priority. However, just as he made to uncork his Gourd again, Sun noticed something which caused him even further shock: SHADOW actually changing the target of his spinning attack and hitting the ground between them instead, resulting in a HUGE ass explosion of Purgatory Flames in front of him that cloaked SHADOW's visage from his sight. 'WHAT?!'

[Tch, damn tricks! Sun, keep an eye out! He'll rely on sneak attacks like before!]

A war entered his mind from his partner Wukong, although it may have arrived a few moments too late since, after feeling heat coming from the soles of his feet, Sun glanced downwards to notice black splotches appearing beneath him, causing him to curse once again in his mind as he found himself unable to react to the following in time.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOOM!

The sound of eruptions exploded into existence, filling his eardrums with their presence and resulted in Sun's senses becoming temporarily fizzled out, like a computer screen briefly morphing into a more static visage, as the eruptions sent him FLYING up into the air… where his instincts told him that their maker had been. Therefore, Sun quickly listened to them as he, after flipping himself around, swung his Staff towards the direction his instincts had told him a minute killing intent had been located… for a black gloved hand to grasp his Staff's shaft at the last second, causing Sun to go wide eyed as his gaze met the crimson, blazing one which SHADOW sported as their gazes locked together… and NOT for the romantic kind.

"I see now… Now I get it…"

"What are you talking about, what do you get? Is it why you apparently seem infatuated with me? Please, I know I look good, but I don't swing that way, dude."

"... You're broken."

"?!"

SHADOW bit back a snarl when this revelation became clear to him, the hand which he grasped Sun's staff with trembling as the blonde boy gaped at his words. To be fair, with that broken ass power of his, he should have been able to have dislodged them by now, but since he didn't it had confirmed a theory of his that had been developing since the first battle they had ever fought in. Now with that reaction, it had all but confirmed it, along with the following words that he spoke next. "Now I get why I feel so… angry when I see you. There's very few people who can piss me off like a certain someone can… Tsubasa and now you make that cut. How… how can someone be so broken that they don't even understand their own problems? You're so broken, so busted to the point where you no longer recognize yourself, that it's freaking pathetic…"

Now apparently done with this conversation, and likely unable to stomach looking at Sun so closely anymore, SHADOW flung his arm backwards, allowing the two to separate. The black dressed male didn't worry about anything like the landing, since he just controlled his propulsion by making varying sized eruptions from the soles of his feet till he landed gracefully on the ground below. He had been thinking about it since the two of them had first fought that night Tsubasa had nearly killed herself like an idiot, but SHADOW had been getting a strange feeling of… well, anger like he had just stated. He didn't understand why he'd felt it it at the time, but now that he had exchanged blows with him again, SHADOW had finally figured it out, utilizing a combination of his ability to read people to judge their characters, and the old saying that when two powerful fighters clash, they can understand each other's thoughts simply through an exchange of their fists.

Meanwhile, Sun himself growled in anger, genuine and murderous, after he had recovered from his shock and performed multiple backflips, landing just as gracefully as his opponent had done. However, that just served to infuriate him all the more, his fury bubbling within him like a pool of lava about to erupt from within its volcano. His form even started to glow with an ominous, golden aura… with a slight tint of light green to it, whilst his eyes gained a bright blaze that almost surpassed the sun in terms of sheer brightness, just as he burst forth to continue the fight between them, SHADOW responding in kind with his flaming Daito.

Nobody, well, aside from THAT woman had ever pissed him off this majorly in a long ass time, and generally he considered himself to be an easygoing, generous kind of dude who loved to sing for his fans. However, what this dude said to him… it struck him, it had stuck harder than any of the previous blows done to his person. Perhaps what had been said had simply been the tip of the iceberg on a whole LIST of problems that were finally starting to showcase their effects on him, but Sun could no longer stand it. Regardless of the method to this destination, those words struck some old ass things… things which he had LONG since buried and tried to forget about, to the point where Sun didn't know what they were anymore, only that they should stay LOCKED up FOREVER.

But, despite this, one thing became clear to him as he held his Staff in a helicopter spinning motion to block a flurry of fiery blasts born from the Daito's rapid thrusts, whilst the Cloud on his back thrummed dangerously.

That this guy… had become MUCH more of a threat to him than Sun could have ever thought possible.


(Play OST - Gekisou Gungnir)

Hard at work, harder than she had done for pretty much a lot of things in her life… THAT would describe her current status all too well, Hibiki would think to herself. If she even had the CHANCE to think by the way.

"Hah! Graaah! Hoh!"

Battle cries, grunts and roars came out of her so often now, that Hibiki Tachibana almost had to wonder if she had discarded the rest of her native language just for those sounds alone as she threw an elbow downwards, slamming it down on top of a lunging slug-like Noise's head. The resulting impact sent it crashing into the ground, turning into dust the moment that Hibiki stomped on it's head, all before she jumped into a spinning Helicopter kick that smacked another Noise, one more humanoid in shape, in the side of it's head. After this, it got knocked onto its back with Hibiki rushing over, raising a leg up high and then bringing her heel down on it's head, smashing it into nothingness and reducing the Noise to dust.

Sensing an attack coming from behind, Hibiki flipped backwards, avoiding another Slug Noise when it lunged forth with the intent to try and pin her to the ground. After avoiding it, she placed her hands atop it's form and twisted herself about in a repeated 360 rotation, which resulted in her slamming her feet into two extra slug Noise to knock them aside, before she flipped into the air and smashed her right leg onto the Noise beneath her, reducing it to carbon.

'Noise have always shown up in large numbers in the past time me and T-I mean SHADOW go up on missions together… but this is ridiculous!'

Whilst thinking this after dealing with a bunch of slug Noise, Hibiki then noticed a humanoid Noise shooting straight for the case containing Durandal whilst she hadn't been looking and had been distracted, something which had been quite a common occurrence during this entire battle. Her strategy had been as follows: fend off the Noise whilst remain within close proximity of Durandal… something which she had some trouble doing since she had been on her own to fight the Noise, any surviving help from their escorts would have been useless against the Noise and Ryouko had been a scientist, not a fighter, hence as long as she stayed within Durandal's proximity, Hibiki's job of protecting her would be made MUCH easier.

On the downside, Hibiki kept getting distracted by small groups of Noise every so often, which meant that openings for the Noise would present themselves, and they'd take EVERY one of them.

Nothing which did much good for Hibiki's annoyances, after all.

'Got you!'

In an attempt to stop the Noise from getting too close, Hibiki launched herself into the air and performed a Flying Kick, becoming quite LITERALLY a human missile that SLAMMED into the Noise with the force and impact of said WMD. This resulted in the Noise, obviously, becoming nothing but Carbon, to which Hibiki then used it's disintegrating body as a means to backflip into the air and then land on a crouch like a monkey, all before getting back on her feet and assuming a fighting stance.

Seeing as how she could still hardly make out the ground surrounding her due to the number of Noise surrounding them, Hibiki internally wanted to groan at the frustration of it all, yet kept her internal feelings to herself for the sake of the mission. 'There's just so many of them…' she thought, watching warily for any signs of aggression from her opponents. So far however, none went and made any moves in the next couple seconds, something which made Hibiki wonder just who was controlling them. 'Was it… that girl I heard Genjuro mention after that mission where Tsubasa San fell under…?'

Finally, a series of movements caught the Symphogear Wielder's attention, prompting her eyes to shift over in their direction like an animal weary of predators watching them. A second later, 2 humanoid Noise and 2 Slug ones jumped out from within the crowd assembled around them, all coming from different angles, prompting Hibiki to jump up at them and proceed to royally beat the living daylights out of them. Up in the air, Hibiki targeted the first humanoid Noise by slugging it across the face with a right hook, twirling into a roundhouse kick to catch the appendage of its partner and kicking it down into several of its buddies who tried to use this chance to get in close. One could wonder why they hadn't just swamed her all at once instead of just standing there like immmobile targets, but in hindsight if Hibiki DID take pot shots at them like that then it would eventually lead to her being seperated from Durandal long enough for it to be stolen, plus Ryouko's life could be in more danger than it was now, so that was something.

'I still don't have full control over Gungnir… If only I could call out this thing called the 'Armed Gear' that everyone's been talking about!' Hibiki thought this as she pummelled away at her opposition, still doing her best to keep on singing in order to power the Symphogear's abilities. To her, it still felt 'slightly' weird to sing during a fight, but nothing near as when it had first happened though she still found it a little uncomfortable with the Gear 'helping' her sing by manipulating her vocal chords and mouth area. Genjuro had explained that this feature had been put in every Symphogear as to help their users sing to an optimal level, so even those with less than capable voices could still sing if they managed to activate a Relic or a Symphogear themselves.

But by the time she did deal with the last of the aerial Noise…

"You're wide open, newbie!"

SLAM!

"Gah!"

A white blur sped through the air in a manner akin to how Hibiki herself had done earlier, slamming a foot into her side… or rather, she would have had Hibiki not reflexively positioned her forearm in a tucked in position in front of said attack, which turned out to be a kick. In the end, it resulted in Hibiki blocking the surprise attack, although a loud gasp of pain escaped her whilst doing so. The culprit themselves, Hibiki didn't recognize her personally, but upon seeing the white attire that she sported, she remembered when Genjuro had filled everyone in after the whole mission involving Tsubasa's coma where she'd seen an image of the user of the Nehushtan Armour as they called it. This person and that girl, they were completely identical, therefore it confirmed to her the person's identity. "Y-You…!" She struggled to say whilst in the middle of her Singing.


Meanwhile, back down below with Ryouko, the woman stared at the battling girls for a long time, wondering which of them would eventually come out on top and take the Relic for their own. What she thought right now, nobody would be able to say considering how blank faced she was, whereas if those who knew her as Ryouko had seen that expression she was making currently they would have wondered if she were an entirely different person. 'These two… their compatibilities are both similar, yet they couldn't be any more different…' she thought, her scientist mind weighting multiple possibilities and outcomes this situation could arrive at. 'For one, Hibiki's Gungnir Fragment shouldn't be able to possess enough power in order to stand toe to toe with more completed relics, yet here she is able to do so despite not being able to fully control the Symphogear. That alone warrants investigation into the strength of her 'Song' for it to be able to drag this kind of power out of it…' she thought to herself, wondering if it were due to how the Relic known as Gungnir was practically fused within her being, resulting in her being the first ever complete fusion between human and relic. A feat she hadn't ever considered possible previously.

As she pondered this information and what she was currently witnessing, the sound of rattling reached her ears and drew her attention, a gasp escaping her lips when she looked to the source and saw it was the case containing Durandal. The locking mechanism which responded to whether or not the Gear had become responsive or not, had switched from red to green, the Relic within bursting free by shooting right through it, rising up to the skies above till it reached about 200 feet. "The Durandal… is it responding?! But, to whom…?!" Ryouko exclaimed softly, yet it didn't contain the shock and the building amazement inside of her one bit.

She wasn't the only who noticed the Relic's activation, which took the form of it starting to bathe itself in a brilliant, golden glow. The wielder of the Nehushtan Armour also noticed it, a wry smirk forming on her lips after she kicked Hibiki away from her. "So, that's Durandal, huh?" she mused to herself, quickly jumping forwards through the air with her arm outstretched to reach for it. Her smirk continued to persist as she got closer and closer to the device, the device which would change everything for her, the thing that would be the best chance for her to finally, FINALLY earn HER approval…

SMASH!

"Guh!"

...Only for a certain female Symphogear wielder to smash right into her by jumping into the air, falling through it until she were close enough to her first target, and then finishing things up with a combination of front flip, and lastly a heel to the the girl's back, sending her crashing into the ground. 'Wha?! I thought I-When did she?!'

"No way will you be getting your hands on Durandal!" Hibiki declared loudly, leaving the girl gobsmacked, thus unable to consider the option of using her purple energy whips to pull Hibiki towards her and, more importantly, away from the glowing Relic. Also, was it just her, or did it's glow gert even brighter the closer the rookie Symphogear user got to it? A question like that was able to flash through the minds of the girl along with Ryouko as well… a question which soon got answered in the following moments.

RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-!

(OST end)

The sound of something being rung filled the air, dominating all sounds and causing every battle within the Chemicals facility to halt their progress. Everyone, even the duelling SHADOW and Sun, paused what they had been doing upon sensing a COLOSSAL energy surge get released from the Complete Relic known as Durandal, which turned itself into its true form whilst Hibiki landed on the ground with it, her face hidden by shadows: A golden coloured longsword, with blue as a secondary colour. Both its edges looked to be sharp enough for use, making it a double edged one, with a V shaped tip. It had a guard shaped kind of like an old fashioned, european style exterior door, with the hilt being rather ornamental in its golden appearance.

However, these features soon became the LEAST on everyone's priority lists when, after slowly raising it to the skies above, the Complete Relic erupted instantly like a brilliantly roaring lion, shooting a beam of golden light up into the skies which changed its colour, illuminating it to give the skies s brilliantly golden tinge to it. Accompanying this, came a rapidly rising powerful presence, one which pretty much dominated the scenery around it with a thick, almost throat-crushing sensation which gripped the onlookers in its vice-like grasp.

And as for Hibiki…

"Guuuh… uuurgh… GUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!"

When she raised her head up and let out a loud, animalistic roar that could only come from berserk maniacs, it ended up showcasing her facial features… or rather a lack of them. What is meant by this, was that Hibiki's face had become completely encased in darkness, her eyes two pools of hellish red where no pupil or iris could be seen with a similarly coloured hollow interior within her mouth. A golden aura enveloped her, swirling around her like a second skin trying to overlap with her own as the Relic, Durandal, surged with more power, it's newest wielder drawing out more and more with each passing second.

Yet, the more she saw this, the more furious that the white haired girl became, as evident by the wrathful malice in her eyes as she glared viciously towards Hibiki whilst pushing past her shock. She had even glanced behind her at the brown haired Ryouko, noticing the completely MESMERIZED, almost to the degree of yandere obsession, which only further aggravated the girl it seemed.

"D-Don't think… that you're something special in any way, you little BRAT!"

With that yell, one which carried all the rage and, dare anyone mention it desperation in it, the white haired girl aimed the Staff in her hands which she'd used to summon the Noise in the first place, and did just that by aiming at the space just behind Hibiki. In the next second, multiple Noise appeared behind her, ready to chop the young Symphogear user up into confetti under the Staff's dominion... Well, that was what the girl had hoped for anyways, as sadly life just HAD to be a cruel bitch to her… well, it wouldn't be the first time, but still.

Upon sensing danger to her presence, Hibiki's mouth twisted into a guttural snarl befitting an angry beast about to go on a blood rage after being forcibly awoken from its previous slumber. She then proceeded to twist herself around to face them, her arms practically trembling as if they were trying to hold up a brutally large boulder instead of a large sword, before… proceeding to bring it down on the white haired girl who could only stare in gobsmacked horror, sensing the sheer power behind that strike. 'That strike… there's nowhere I can dodge, cause if that hits then this place will…!' she thought, and whilst she would take this part with her to her grave, her face paled with small teardrops gathering in the corners of her eyes.


Meanwhile…

'No...NO! If that attack hits, then forget about the facility, Chris will be vapourized!' Sun's mind screamed at him when he saw the golden blade form and bear down on the white haired Chris, his eyes trembling wildly whilst his form remained frozen in place. No matter what his brain tried to do with the panic flooding his veins, not ONE of his bodyparts moved the way that he wanted them too, Sun just stood there, frozen in place by the terror within his own being. That blade, to him, looked less like a golden symbol of a sword's heroic might and more like a sinister, twisted sense of 'fate', one which would be soon claiming something irreplaceable to him. A literal golden nightmare, which to his eyes took on the form of something… evil, sick, twisted… wrong.

No…

Not this!

He couldn't allow this!

He REFUSED!

Nobody and NOTHING was going to take his friend away from him, NOBODY!

...

...CLACK…CLACK...CLACK...CLACK…CLACK…CLACK...CLACK...CLACK…CLACK…CLACK...CLACK...

For a moment, as Sun's eyes dilated into large, black pools of pure nothingness, time almost seemed to slow to a crawl for him. Nevermind the golden blade that had been descending slowly since the beginning, even the tiniest of insects seemed to be slower than a turtle to him. In this one moment, Sun heard nothing, he felt nothing, it almost felt like he had just lost his grip on reality… then again, who said he even had a firm grasp on reality in the first place?

Then, the next thing he knew for certain had been the sound of footsteps, louder than anything he had ever heard before, echoed throughout his surroundings, following something akin to a string finally snapping faintly within the deepest, darkest recesses of his being. They almost caused his eardrums to burst from the sheer volume and weight, a sensation which Sun hadn't felt in a VERY long time, and even as part of him wondered what the hell was going on, it almost felt like he didn't WANT to answer that question… even though, somewhere deep down, he almost felt like he had heard someone trying to call out to him. Was that even real? Or was it fake, just like this reality he had found himself in? Sun didn't know, he didn't know anything anymore. Yet, all the while Sun didn't dare to move, not when he couldn't even think straight anymore, the sight of his friend's impending demise completely dominating his mentality at the moment.

If that wasn't enough to make him question his own sanity at this moment, Sun suddenly got goosebumps, his whole form shuddering as if it were touched by an icy chill when he felt... what felt like a pair of arms wrap around his neck from behind, clutching at his right ab and left side of his abdominal region. He INSTANTLY wanted to move, to get away from those hands which gripped him tightly as if to say 'make one move and you will regret it', rendering him unable to. Yet, something deep inside of him SCREAMED not to let the owner of those hands keep him tied down for long, like they would do something that would irreversibly harm his situation, and like he had previously mentioned, Sun wouldn't be able to fix any of it…

Finally, he heard a voice, a sickly, serpentine and almost INHUMAN voice, whisper in a matching tone directly into his ear like it was RIGHT there behind him. "Tut-tut-tut… such a foolish little one, trying so hard to be what he will never truly be, all for the sake of something as lowly as companionship… worse still, is that he allows some old HAG to dictate what actions he should take. How utterly… DISGRACEFUL." The voice whispered softly, yet beneath that velvety softness there lay a disgustingly sickening sinister, twisted and mocking undertone beneath it which felt so much like the knives-stabbing-into-the-heart sensation that Sun had felt earlier when SHADOW had called him 'broken'. Even so, the voice continued, this time from his other ear. "So, what do you say now? Did this silly little game of playing 'human' work out as you wished before? Look around you, your 'foe' calls you out on your flaws like he knows you inside and out, your so-called 'companion' doesn't even give you the respect you deserve for your efforts, instead she wastes it on that forgotten 'relic of the past'. Therefore, why continue with this pointless endeavor, knowing that nothing will change? Are you willing to stop holding yourself back, now? Return to what you once were, to what you were destined to be…"

Afterwards, came the final nail in the brutally damaged coffin…

"...young EMPEROR."

… the coffin 'broke'.


GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG!

In one moment, the golden blade from Duranfdal had been descending towards a frozen, immobile and terror-stricken Nehushtan Armour user… the second, a blur appeared before her and held his hand out, and next thing everyone knew, something happened to the golden energy blade since it pretty much got obliterated into nothingness by some unseen force.

'Wha…?'

The expression which had formed over the girl's face, it resembled the one which was considered on the internet to be the 'surprised pikachu face' as she looked up from her position on the ground, at the person who had saved her at the very last moment. At first she couldn't see them very well due to the sunlight above shadowing them from view, but seconds passed and that sunlight stopped impeding her sight, allowing her to witness some familiar… but also VERY different eyes belonging to a certain blonde haired idol she knew. "S-Sun…?" she whispered, stunned at him.

However, something about him QUICKLY became apparent that made her wonder if who had saved her was REALLY her childhood friend or not, and that had been his eyes. In contrast to his previous demeanor whenever she was around him though, he just coldly stepped away from her, only glancing at her in passing as if she were just an insect on the road. She couldn't even be mad at him for having the gall to save her like some pathetic damsel right now, not when she beheld that gaze That was the feeling she had gotten from him as he walked away, his Gear no longer on his person due to him being in a pair of simple gym pants, barefoot and a white shirt, and then changed direction towards…

Where Hibiki was currently positioned, unconscious on the ground as she lay on her side.

'Oh no, you don't!'

SHADOW, upon seeing this, ignored EVERY instinct in his body when they screamed at him to freaking RUN from Sun right now whilst he got up to immediately make to dash after his opponent, all in order to stop this guy from getting anywhere NEAR his comrade, however when Sun idly glanced at him SHADOW's eyes widened when all of a sudden, a HUGE sense of gravity overtook him as he fell to the ground facefirst, sliding across it to a halt. 'Ugh! What the hell…?! Where'd all this pressure come from?!' the male shrieked on his mind as he, once again ignoring his instincts, tried to get up after the blonde idol, however the pressure on his form quickly intensified in response, forcing him back onto the ground. 'This… this pressure…! It's just… just like when I felt… so helpless THAT time…!'

Seeing the sight of SHADOW completely immobilized, Sun made a rolling of the eyes motion at him, all before he proceeded to continue on his trek towards the unconscious Hibiki, who lay beside the now active Durandal. His footsteps created large indentations on the ground as he walked, his clothes fluttering due to some unseen force. When the golden haired idol neared the unconscious Symphogear wielder, he held his hand up as if it were the tip of a Spear, his left eye sparkling like a vibrant crimson flame. He wanted to END this thing: This thing which had caused him so much needless grief, this thing which had tried to take a possession of HIS away in the first place… this pathetic, sniveling little ANT whom he intended to END before she could EVER get the chance to do something like this again. Such a piece of garbage DARED try to take away what was his… she must REALLY like to court death, didn't she?

'Ugh... this isn't good…!' SHADOW thought, furiously gritting his teeth with crimson eyes ablaze like two pools of magma, as he continued to struggle against the oppressive weight on his back that kept him from moving all that well. Even as his body erupted into Purgatory Flames which began to 'fight back' against the oppression, he still couldn;t help but feel that they weren't working fast enough to counter this, but who could blame him? Things weren't going according to their plans, that was for sure, first Durandal apparently activated from out of nowhere, and now somehow his opponent had just pulled a whole 180 in terms of personality and demeanor as if he had some sort of schizophrenia… though, if he really WAS similar to him in terms of the Gear they use, then perhaps SHADOW could be like that too? No, focus, SHADOW, focus! Even under this state, the black dressed teen could hear the sounds of Sun's footsteps as he neared his companion, and SHADOW didn't have to be a genius to figure out what this 'new' Sun intended to do with Hibiki whilst she was unconscious, and it will NOT end well for her. Heck, he had supporting proof of this to be the case when he had briefly seen the look in his eyes when they had briefly locked gazes.

Those eyes… SHADOW gave an involuntary shudder when he recalled them, remembering their gaze as if they were two long, sharp daggers that pierced into his soul. Those eyes had NOT been the same eyes of the enemy that he faced before. No, these eyes were nothing but cold, empty and uncaring freaking voids, as if looking down on something that didn't count as even an insect on the railside. They held no humanity in them, as if Sun wasn't even human anymore. But, more than that SHADOW had also noticed that, somehow, those eyes 'fit' Sun better, as if this was the first time that he had managed to see behind Sun's mask, if even for a brief moment.

But… the thought that once again, he would be rendered helpless… unable to do ANYTHING to protect what he valued… it reminded him once again of THAT time… a time which had caused him no small amount of hardship, even if he was used to it…

Flashes of someone appeared in his mind, SHADOW couldn't tell who by the features they had, but he didn't need to. He just knew, based on the gut feeling that he had…

A flash of determination occurred behind his crimson eyes, setting his very SOUL ablaze as his struggling reached a new level of might, his Purgatory Flames increasing in their intensity as if to respond to the surging vengeful emotions searing through his chest. His palms slammed into the ground next to both sides of his head as he slowly, but surely, forced himself upwards. Sensing him fighting back so ruthlessly, the gravity intensified once again to try and keep him down, however SHADOW refused to let that stop him. He absolutely REFUSED to do something like that, for multiple reasons:

He had to get up…

He had to get up and ensure Hibiki's survival…

He had to beat that asshole Sun… before he would make the biggest mistake of his very life…

No matter the reasons…

He had…

TO GET UP!

"Grrrrrr…Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"

At last, the Purgatory Flames finally succeeded in their tasks of thwarting the pressure that had been keeping him mobile, allowing SHADOW to get onto his feet once more although he still stumbled slightly. Knowing that this would be classified as a state of emergency, and seeing that Sun was almost at his fallen comrade's position, it made SHADOW decide now would be the best time to summon forth his Dragon-shaped Phantom, the first time he had used this ability in a while since Kamoshida's Palace. The fiery Dragon that remained as large as it had been back then manifested after Purgatory Flames ROARED to life around him, allowing it to split itself and form into a separate being.

With a loud roar echoing from its fiery snout, the dragon's beady eyes focused on SHADOW's opponent who, after sensing the heat and 'presence' it had generated... simple paused for a couple seconds before moving on with his intentions for Hibiki like the beast wasn't even worth noticing, much to SHADOW and the beast's irritation. As such, SHADOW burst forth in a speedy dash like a human bullet, surrounding himself with his Purgatory Flames whilst his Dragon Phantom performed a similar action, rearing it's right claw backwards for a straight piercing strike towards it's wielder's prey. It's arm even released a constant stream of flames from its elbow like it were an engine thruster, empowering the thrusting force behind the following strike.

"GRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"

Even as the Dragon Phantom above him roared with a wrathful undertone akin to many thousands of vengeful souls about to finally settle a long overdue score, it's wielder's gaze surpassed it in intensity as he summoned his Pile Bunker onto his right arm, intending to use its thrusting power in order to punch a hole through this asshat's gut. Nothing else mattered to the male right now, no, more than that SHADOW didn't dare to hold back any of his power anymore, for this one strike would be intended to be the strike that would incinerate the enemy as quickly as possible. He didn't care WHAT Sun had become anymore, nothing would endanger Hibiki Tachibana whilst he was around! Anyone who tried would have to face the wrath of an angry DRAGON! With the flames surging around him, SHADOW believed that, now, Sun would HAVE to switch his focus on him instead of someone who couldn't fight back.

...

...

...

...

...

… THWAMP!

...Yet, as SHADOW and his Dragon Phantom neared his target, Sun just raised one hand, causing SHADOW's eyes to glimmer in excitement knowing that his flames combined with his Pile Bunker would SMASH right into his punk-ass face. Thus, from that movement SHADOW did not stop, going with all strength he attacked Sun with a straight thrust from his Pile Bunker, only for Sun's hand to not even be moved one bite by that strike. If anything, when the Pile Bunker's tip hit Sun's hand, he could sense that Sun's hand hadn't moved one bit... almost as if his power wasn't enough even for a warm up.

'Wha…?!'

Shock running through his system, SHADOW glanced upwards at Sun's face, resulting in their eyes meeting, one wide and the other completely blank, without any form of expression. There had been nothing in those eyes, not even a single sense nor trace of ANY humanity in them... and since they said that the eyes were like windows to the soul, then that said SO much to him at this moment. It was like looking at one of those statues one can see within temples, an air as if you were not worthy of even gazing at him.

And yet, the moment their eyes locked, SHADOW immediately understood something: that the 'Sun' he had seen until now, all of it has simply been one big 'act'. A Fake, a façade whatever one wanted to call it as. All this time, he must have been a monster acting as if he WERE human, acting as if he had emotions, because for the one before him there were none of those.

Yet, as SHADOW realized this, the 'Sun' before him proceeded to glance up and down his form, before he proceeded to speak in a tone not unlike his whenever he activated his Synchrogear. "... I see. So it seems that amusing little snake found itself a host. Very well, as a reward for you by showing me something amusing, snake, I will not kill your host. However, that is as far as my kindness goes." As 'Sun' said that he put his hand over at Tai's stomach

When he did this action, what could only be described as an explosion got triggered between him and SHADOW, pretty much blowing him completely away. His Pile Bunker had gotten blown to bits with nothing remaining whilst his Dragon Phantom howled in absolute pain and agony as it dispersed into nothingness, unable to maintain its form in the physical world any longer, much to SHADOW's shock and building horror. 'No... our combined assault... it didn't even faze him!' The teen realized as he got rocketed away from there, his body going through several of the still erect towers of the Chemicals Facility and firmly being embedded into a tower far away. Needless to say, the amount of force, impact and the damage he had taken all at once became hard enough to render him unconscious, by the way with his Synchrogear vanishing to reveal his human self for all to see.

His last thought besides the horror that his form had disengaged, had been the following: 'What the heck... what the heck is this guy...?'

With SHADOW, or rather Tai this point, knocked out Sun idly glanced his way for a moment, before turning to the ground where he saw the offense, the one who almost ruined everything. EVERYTHING! The young Hibiki Tachibana, still unconscious and still completely vulnerable to his attack. 'Sun' could not forgive her, thus once he now stood over the fallen girl's position, he positioned himself to strike. However, just before he could bring his hand down and spear her right through the heart...

WHAM!

"?!"

A surprised grunt escaped him when something slammed into him on the side and sent him away from the girl. It didn't even faze him, nor did it inflict any lasting pain, but the strike's impact DID end up sending him sliding along the ground about 4 meters from his previous target. Turning to look u[on the source of the attack, he saw his white haired companion standing there, looking at him in confusion whilst holding the Whips of the Nehushtan Armour. Obviously, those had been what she had used to attack him, but that soon became the least thing he prioritized as the white haired girl spoke.

"Sun, what is going on? You, you were going to kill her. You do not kill, EVER! What are you doing?" As Chris asked that Sun's expression began to change, as if he wanted to speak but his mouth was not working properly, his soul was moving and trying to reach out for something but it was not right. Nothing was right. He could not understand, he could not comprehend what was happening.

As a single tear could be seen flowing down one of his eyes things changed again.

"Alright now, I think that's enough... my pet."

All of a sudden, a silky, sultry and seductive womanly voice spoke to him from his right ear, causing his eyes to widen in slight surprise. To him, that voice seemed eerily familiar, and something within him churned in sheer revulsion because of it. However, before he could ponder on it any further, a clicking of a button got heard by his ears, before he gasped as an electric shock, a HUGE one surged inside of his system. MILLIONS of volts got released into him all at once, causing him to howl in pain as he stumbled about, holding the sides of his head as if there were multiple things threatening to split him apart. Eventually however, this came to a conclusion when, after jerking his head upwards, one could see the fire in his eyes recede from them like a banana peeling itself away, as he fell to the floor, out cold.

Standing before him, all sorts of questions rung through Chris's head, too many to be delved into at the moment which had partially been to do with the whole situation shocking and confusing her to the core. What the hell happened? THAT one however, managed to reign over the rest whilst she glanced about, soon taking noticed of the Durandal Relic. Just as she made to get it however...

"Leave it be, taking Sun back to our little residence is more important than that. Quick, before he wakes." a voice spoke to her from an in-built communicator and Chris, without hesitation, did as told. Grabbing Sun like a fireman would when rescuing a victim, she quickly hightailed it out of there, with all sorts of things in her mind resulting in nothing but pure, unadulterated chaos.


"Whew... now THAT was a close one..."

Ryouko heaved a heavy sigh as she stood where Sun had once lay. However, even though she looked calm on the outside, INSIDE would be a completely different story since what she had seen today disturbed her on more than a FEW levels. It had been all she could do not to break character right then and there in order to start biting her nails in disturbed frustration, for this event did NOT bode well... for multiple reasons. 'Those fools, how had they failed to see THAT inside the boy? That THING... if it were to completely awaken, then I cannot even begin to imagine what will follow...' Ryouko thought, frowning slightly whilst behind her curious gaze, would lay the conflicting emotions of a warlord hearing that an alliance had been made against him by every other Warlord in his surroundings. 'This has to be dealt with immediately. I must be quick, I cannot let that thing to awaken fully otherwise, otherwise...'

Trembling a bit, having recognized just what was inside Sun, the doctor decided she had to hurry up with her objective. And she especially feared if 'they' sensed THAT existence, she was not ready at all to deal with them and she'd rather never have to. She knew just how troublesome they were, and over the years of living she had, Ryouko had seen them only a few times... yet to her, those were a few times too much. 'If they move, should I give them Sun without protest or should I kill him before that? What to do, what to do?' Moving forward Ryuku, also knows as Fine, went to check on Hibiki and the relic. It was not ideal, but she would have to see what was going on with Sun and try and figure out a way to seal THAT thing as tightly as she possibly can. Killing him might work, but if THEY sensed him and they found out that she killed Sun, well, she imagined that the Asian continent might get a new name then.

Vacant Space.

Taking a pause in eyeing this 'specimen' before her, Ryouko glanced over to Hibiki and the fallen Durandal, the Noise having pretty much vanished thanks to their leader having retreated when given the 'signal' earlier. Upon seeing her, Ryouko heaved a few sighs to get herself back in order. She had to calm down right now, as all those problems could be dealt with in time, but they couldn't be done with until\she had a proper control over herself. The best way for her to calm down however, would be what she did best: science, and right now she had two potential specimens to examine.

Thus, she did just that.

Gazing down at the unconscious Hibiki, this human/relic hybrid down there REALLY piqued her interest, and with this battle she had managed to gather some significant battle data on her Phone for... research purposes in the near future. She couldn't believe what she had seen, someone whom had managed to induce so much Phonic Gain that it had matched more than a concert's worth of people, thus being able to activate a Complete Relic without any prior preparation... The possibilities and theories that could be dug up by her on HOW this came to be, thanks to this event, pretty much made her all too happy to be a scientist. 'Not to mention, should THEY come into the picture, if I can recreate her apparent state for myself, and maybe some other future pawns, perhaps I can at least save SOME of the continent from destruction... oh, who am I kidding? THEY are monsters in ways I cannot even begin to imagine, so it would be best if this incident was swept under their radar as quick as possible...'

Finally, the third person in this little trio of specimens...

...Oh my.

Remembering the third person who'd been involved in all this, Ryouko did a glance over at the sole other male of the trio embedded in the tower a fair distance away, SHADOW, whom had caught her interest, and upon doing so she finally, FINALLY caught sight of the person underneath the Mask. 'Ahhhhh, so THIS is your human face, eh? My, you're a lot cuter than I had initially expected, young boy... if you were a few years older...' Upon seeing SHADOW's human form for the first time, Ryouko made a note to look him up for more information, to study his background and files so she could now FINALLY plan around his potential threats to her plans... whilst also gaining some delicious eye candy.

Hibiki was just a cute little thing to be sure, and little Chris had been an adorable little puppy for a while too, but seeing this manly specimen made her think of the 'pretty boy' type of person, and from what she had seen of his personality she believed that he had some... strong ties to young Tachibana too. 'My, Hibiki doesn't realize the catch she has with this one, does she...?'

Shaking her head, Ryouko decided to do some damage control instead of fawning over her new research projects and worrying about a potential new enemy. There was going to be MUCH work to do in the near future, plans had to be drafted up with this new information, and research needed to be conducted. This little event had brought MANY details to light that Ryouko felt like just DYING to figure out for herself... as well as use to her advantage for her plans.

Ufufufufufufufu…


Chapter end

Hey guys, sorry for the lateness of this chapter, I had stuff going on over at my end. But regardless, now I've managed to finish this climax of a chapter, so one more 'aftermath' kind of chapter and we should be done with this small arc. And BOY was there going to be some revelations this one, a small peak at Sun's true nature, someone moving behind the shadows, and an enemy that even Ryouko herself fears. If Chris didn't start her rebellious phase before, then right now should DEFINITELY give her a hard wakeup call to what is REALLY going on here.

Plus, as you all saw, as much as Tai/SHADOW tried to go at Sun when he was in this state, he couldn't even do a damn THING to him. Not even a scratch on him, which results in this fight being his loss. A full, complete and utter LOSS... as well as a MAJOR wakeup call for him, as he will need to start getting stronger by training with Vritra's powers in order to not let this happen again. For someone like him, to be swatted away like a fly such as in this chapter, one can only IMAGINE how he would take it. Originally, this chapter had ended a bit differently, but in the end one of my fellow writers suggested this way instead and, upon thinking about it, I decided to do it this way since, thanks to this, it also fits more with Tai's core characteristics. Don't worry, by the first season's end, it'll be explained.

Hope you liked the chapter, look forward to the aftermath chapter where I can tie these plot threads up and give at least enough info to tide you readers over till I can focus on those threads specifically. I'm REALLY going to enjoy writing this fic in the future... hehehehe

Peace Out!