Infinitely Loud

by tonbonkittybon

A boy's life takes a drastic turn when he discovers a power that could change the world around him. - opening chapters occur during No Such Luck- (Loud House AU x Infinite Stratos event rearrangement)

41. My Name Is

Back in the hospital, Ichika and Lincoln were sound asleep. Their bodies remained still, but their consciousnesses were moved to their respective IS subspaces. There, they were having different epiphanies about everything they've experienced this semester.

For Ichika, his epiphany started in an ankle-deep reflection lake. He was staring at the clear blue sky, wondering just how he got to this point. As soon as the water tickled his ears, he slowly stood himself up, "Ngh...Uh...where am I?..." He surveyed the surrounding area. There was barely anything here, just a few rocks, a barren tree...and a young woman. Dressed in white, holding a large fancy hat to conceal her face. She was staring at the sky longingly, as if to listen for something calling to her.

"Weird..." Ichika thought, "I've never seen her before, but I feel like I know her..." He slowly approached her.

But at that moment, the young woman brushed her hair back. "Can you hear them?..." she said, "They're calling..."

Ichika looked up to the sky. He saw nothing but clouds and blue. There was no sound coming through, just the pitter-patter of the water. He wondered what, or who, was calling out to him.

Little did he know that it was all five of his friends. They just weren't physically calling him, as they were trying to pin down the Gospel.

Houki was trying to engage the Gospel, but it kept squirming away and going after Rin, who kept it at bay with her twin blades. There were two occasions where when it was about to launch an energy attack, Rin charged her cannons. When the Gospel released its blasts, Houki timed her katana's energy shockwaves with the Gospel; she swung her blades the instant the Gospel fired, and interrupted its attack, giving Rin the advantage she needed to pelt the IS. The second time it was hit, the Gospel changed tactics and flew off, forcing Rin and Charlotte to give chase. The Gospel flew across the sky trying to shake Rin and Charlotte off, but they were ready to keep it at bay. They chased the Gospel, continuing to fire off several rounds at a time until it saw Laura standing by herself on a small island. It charged at her while avoiding Rin and Charlotte's shots.

"It's faster than the data let on!" Laura said as she and Cecilia's drones tried to veer the Gospel off course. But all their shots were dodged.

"I'm recalling my drones!" Cecilia said, "Let it come to you!"

"Understood!" Laura detached the rail cannon and prepared to defend herself with it.

A half second before the Gospel collided with Laura, Cecilia was able to knock her rifle on its head. That caused its to slam right into Laura's cannon, which in turn fired and hit the Gospel square in the chest. It was flung backwards in the water, but its energy blasts were released. Cecilia managed to avoid most of them, but Laura stayed still and blocked almost all of them.

"Switching to standard settings!" Laura said while reverting her IS to its default 1st Shift armaments, "What is everyone's status?!"

Charlotte saw Cecilia engaged in bullet-to-bullet combat, trading energy blasts for energy shots with no hits between any of them. "I've got it!" Charlotte called out her twin shotguns and fired on the Gospel, but it quickly dodged and fired its energy blasts on Charlotte, forcing her to manifest her shield against it.

"Moving in!" Rin boarded her new mobility board and honed in on the Gospel at twice her top speed, while she and Cecilia continued their shots on the rouge IS. It wasn't until Rin got in a hit that the Gospel decided then to unleash an energy blast at the least mobile pilot, namely Cecilia. It followed her and kept firing, forcing Cecilia on the defensive.

Charlotte deployed her shield and rushed to Cecilia's side, while Houki and Laura moved in to distract the Gospel, ironically doing just what it wanted them to do, as it was able to outmaneuver them and fire off a round of energy blasts at point blank range.

Cecilia was able to escape the scuffle and release her drones. From there, she was able to read its movements and decipher its overall strategy. "It's been playing us!" She shouted as she saw the Gospel destroy one of her drones by dodging Houki's sword waves.

Charlotte fired her shotguns at the Gospel, but the Gospel avoided all her shots and flew past her. The Gospel avoided all of Cecilia's rifle shots and slammed into her. Charlotte rushed to Cecilia's defense and barely managed to fend off the Gospel, "At this rate, we'll never shoot it down!"

Back in the hospital, Lincoln was having a mental trip of sorts. He was on a cliff, staring at the ocean being illuminated by a strangely shaded sunset, a sunset that glittered with every single color known to man. That could only mean one thing...

Lincoln made it. He has made it to the one place where he could drop his emotional baggage and never look back. He's at the ends of existence, aka the Unseen Horizon. He should be happy...yet, he wasn't.

"I made it..." he whispered, "I finally made it..."

"You can't," someone sat beside him, "at least not yet."

"Hm?" Lincoln looked behind him, "Oh...you."

"'Oh, you.'? Really?" The lookalike girl was slightly revolted, "That's all you gotta say to me? After I saved your ass, like, three times now?"

"Well...no, but..."

"You know, your manners are all over the place," the girl sat down beside him, "One day, you're telling me flowery compliments, and then the next day, you're gonna give me the bird."

"What gave you that idea?"

"Things..." the girl drifted off into the glimmering horizon, "Please tell me you weren't thinking about dumping your baggage here..."

"I was..." Lincoln nodded.

"After you promised to use it to make you stronger?!"

"Well, things change. All too often."

"Doesn't mean you have to!...Does it?"

"Man, I don't know anymore..." Lincoln sat silent, staring at the still sun, wondering if he could own up to his own personal promises.

Meanwhile, the Gospel took the fight to the Pacific Ocean. The girls had been lured far away for any help to arrive from the mainland, but that didn't stop them from chasing them. It circled around them, trying to whittle them down with its energy balls. But at one point, the pilots grouped together and launched their long range attacks simultaneously, in a widespread assault that the Gospel could not dodge. The pilots reassumed formation, but their assault did not stop until Houki was able to slam her katanas on its shoulders.

"I got her!" Houki screamed, "I need back up-Ugh?!"

The Gospel grabbed hold of her swords and got into a power struggle, lifting them high into the sky.

Laura immediately guess that the Gospel planned to finish Houki off and warned her, "Houki! Release your Unfolding Armor now!"

"Houki!" Cecilia and Charlotte shouted.

"No!" Rin rushed to Houki's defense when she saw the Gospel getting ready to charge another energy blast.

But Houki reacted quickly, releasing an energy blade from her feet, flipping herself over, and slamming her feet down. She chopped off both wings of the Gospel, causing it to lose flight and fall to the ocean.

The other pilots gathered around the splash zone.

"Nice one!" Rin cheered.

"No," Cecilia said, "That was just the wing units. It'll get back up soon."

"Then, we must prepare for extraction," Charlotte thought.

Laura noticed that Houki hadn't moved a muscle since her strike. "Are you all right, Shinonono?"

Houki felt somewhat vindicated, partly because she was able to participate in a mission with zero casualties, but mainly because she had struck down the rouge IS that struck down Ichika. She didn't look up when she answered, "Yeah...I'm just fine."

Back in IS subspace, Ichika was suddenly in a sunset version of the reflection lake. All the trees and boulders were removed. He couldn't discern what was happening to him, but he felt urged to walk forward. His feet treaded the water very lightly for what seemed like forever. During the trek, he felt the wind in his hair. That wind contained a slight breeze that made a strange ephemeral sound...the sound of his name. He looked straight on ahead, as if someone was calling out to him. He finally stopped when he saw a silhouette.

It looked like the silhouette of a pilot of a mechanical Valkyrie, with a large prominent sword. Ichika wondered why he was brought to her. He maintained his gaze at the strange pilot, trying to find the right words to say to her.

But she spoke first, "Ichika, do you desire power?"

Right when she asked that, the Gospel let out a deafening cry. It released a violent aura from within the ocean and kicked up a massive hurricane. It surrounded itself in a giant green barrier and sprouted angelic wings of pure, concentrated energy.

The pilots could feel themselves being pulled into the giant hurricane.

"What's happening?!" Houki struggled to maintain her balance.

"Is that what you call 'getting back up'?!" Rin quipped.

"Get back, everyone!" Laura bellowed, "It's shifted into secondary form!"

The Gospel let out a powerful laser that everyone dodged, but it broke its barrier and released a sharp wave of energy that no one could dodge.

Laura mounted her rail cannon, "Houki, Rin, Charlotte!"

"Gotcha!" Houki shouted, "You two with me on the frontline! Cecilia and Laura bring up the rear guard!" Right when the Gospel escaped and slammed its wings right into Houki and shot its energy blasts at Charlotte and Rin.

"Boy, this escalated quickly!" Rin griped.

Back in IS subspace, Lincoln was mulling over what this entire semester amounted to.

"So, what is your plan now?" The girl asked.

"Well...I can't just drop everything..." Lincoln thought, "...not when there's a crisis of epic proportions looming over the world."

"The world, Huh?...What about the world?"

"It's where my friends reside..." Lincoln said before he had a sudden epiphany, "Huh...It's where my friends reside."

"Uh, stop saying that?" The girl seemed creeped out.

"But I'm dead serious," Lincoln said, "It is where my friends reside. But my friends are right here in front of me... and we all became friends for a reason. Everything happens for a reason."

"O...k..." the girl scooted back a bit, "And what be-ith thy reason for creeps?"

Elsewhere, Ichika took a moment to collect his thoughts and form them into a coherent answer to the pilot's question.

"Ichika," the mysterious pilot asked again, "do you desire power?"

Ichika nodded.

"Why do you desire power?"

"To protect my friends..." Ichika answered, "...my comrades."

"Your comrades?" The pilot seemed puzzled at his choice of words.

But Ichika remained resolute, "Yes..."

"Why do you desire to protect your comrades?"

Ichika took a deep breath. Then, he answered, "I've reflected over the past semester, and I've come to realize something..."

"This world is consumed with so much irrational violence and hardships," Lincoln ended up monologuing, "Everyone, my friends...we all came together because something horrible happened to us..."

"We came together because of something that came as a result of the world lashing out at random people," Ichika said.

"There's so much you have to fight against in this world," Lincoln droned on, "And there's so much you can't rely on. And I wanna help them find that little bit that you can rely on."

"I want to aid my comrades in that fight, to help them, to be with them. And...to walk with them," Ichika said, "That's what I need the power for."

"Yes...I see," the pilot said to Ichika in return.

"I don't quite understand," the girl chuckled, "but it sounds like your mind's made up."

"That, it is," Lincoln nodded, "which is why I can't linger here any longer."

"Yes," the young woman said, "you have to go."

Ichika was back in the daytime reflection lake, listening to the same young woman he saw earlier.

"It's like fate," she said while taking his hand, "You forge your own path your heart, walk your path with conviction, and never stray from it."

"Fate..." Lincoln muttered, "...you know, you might have a point..."

The girl sat down beside Lincoln, "So, what now? You going back out there?"

Lincoln stared out into the glistening night sky. The many colors glittering in the ocean seemed to entrance him in a serene state of mind, "I think I'll hang here a little bit."

The girl leaned her head against his shoulder, "Alright, Romeo. You do your thing," and then twirled the VR gear set in her hand, "I'll do mine."

The woman released Ichika's hand, "So, what will you do?"

"I have to help them," Ichika said and turned to walk away.

"It is up to you now," the woman responded.

Ichika nodded. After a flash of light, he back in the real world. He was sitting up in the hospital bed. "Whoa..." he muttered, "What did I just..." He turned to his left, "Lincoln? Hey? Lincoln?"

Lincoln was standing by the window, fully deployed in the Suite with his face completely covered by the helmet.

Ichika started to wonder, "Uh, are you still in there? It looks like someone else is taking over..."

The Suite remained motionless.

Just then, their door was forced open by Hana, "Orimura! Loud! Emergency!"

"Hey, Hana," Ichika said, "What's the big deal?"

"No time to explain-oh..." she stopped when she saw 'Lincoln' was awake, "Hello, there."

The Suite simply turned and left the room.

"Hey, where are you going?!" Hana grabbed both their hands, "We have an emergency!" She dragged them outside and showed them the tiny light show in the distance, "That's the Gospel!"

"Huh?!" Ichika gasped, "Oh, no! What are they doing?!"

"They're gonna chip away at its shield until it can't hold it anymore," Hana said, "Then, they're going to extract the captive."

The Suite looked at the Gospel fighting with all its might to keep the other pilots at bay. It clenched its fists, trying to control itself.

But Ichika remained calm, "I see...a risky plan, but with a slight chance of success."

"Huh..." Hana breathed, "How are they going to get her out?..."

"Think about it," Ichika said, "If Margo's trapped in the Gospel, then destroying it would sever their link. The same with Laura and her IS when it went berserk."

"But...but Laura had that giant armored robot," Hana worried, "The Gospel is just like any other IS, with really thin cockpit protection."

"All the more reason why you have to get out there now," Ichika pressed, "I can't imagine what kind of pain that girl's in. But there is a chance we can get her out."

"Yeah, but..." Hana was about to say something when they heard a giant explosion shake the surrounding area, "What in the world was that?!"

"Over there!" Ichika pointed to the ocean, where the Gospel had just encapsulated Cecilia witching its wings and seemingly crushed her shield energy.

"Oh, my..." Hana panicked before seeing the Gospel fire off a laser three times bigger than the one Margo used against Lincoln, "What did that thing see in Margo to pull off something like that?..."

"Definitely something traumatic..." Ichika said, "We have to get over there and stop it," before looking at a boat in the river, "What's that thing doing there?"

"It's how I've been able to sneak the others out of the resort without being caught," Hana grabbed their hands, "Come on, we don't have time to lose!" and shoved them on her boat.

Houki and Laura had gone after the Gospel after Cecilia had crashed on an island. They traded places taking long range and CQC as they saw fit, but it wasn't long before the Gospel overwhelmed them by firing a mega laser right at the mainland. Charlotte blocked the laser by herself, and Houki moved in to attack, but the Gospel rotated the laser right in Houki's direction and hit her square on.

"Charlotte, take mid-range!" Laura shouted, "Rin, with me on the frontline!"

"Boom-bam, baby!" Rin screamed as she kept firing her cannons on the Gospel.

The Gospel kept dodging the bullets and kept blocking Laura's attacks, until one of its punches found its way to Laura's head. Laura reacted by unconsciously launching the AIC on the Gospel, giving Rin and Charlotte time to surround it and lower its shield energy. But it broke the AIC easily by overloading its wings and releasing a massive aura, right before releasing a massive barrage of energy blasts that all hit the pilots head on. But they held on to their grit and kept fighting, finding a way to break through the shield.

But Cecilia and Houki were out cold. They both had visions of the lives prior to the semester. That one brief moment in time where they spent one full day with their parents...absolute bliss. Immediately followed by confusion, anger, despair, and everything in between when their lives were upended by a disaster that forced them into the world of the Infinite Stratos. And they had no one to rely on but themselves.

Now, here they were, being forced to relive the same, uncomfortable coldness of it all.

"I feel alone..." Cecilia thought, "Mama...Papa...where did you go..."

"I miss them..." Houki thought, "I miss them so much..."

Just when they were about to sink into the abyss of their minds, they felt someone reaching out for their hands and pulling them upward, rapidly out of the darkness and into the light.

Though Houki felt it literally, "GUH...HHH...HHH...hhh...hhh...Wha...what...happened..."

"Easy, Houki...take it easy..."

"Huh?...AH?!..." Houki looked over her shoulder.

It was Ichika. Ichika pulled her out of the water.

"Wh...what are you..." Houki couldn't talk. She was too busy gasping for air to pick herself up.

"Hey, I got you, I got you," Ichika carried her to the nearest rock formation and set her down. Then, she massaged her sternum and rubbed her head to calm her down and relax her breathing. The same way her aunt used to calm her down.

"It's...I... really..." Houki was completely lost for words.

"It's ok, really," Ichika said, "My wounds are all healed up. I can fight too," he waved his hands and accidentally called out his IS's new shield, "Uh-I mean..." he instantly put it back, "...yeah..."

"Your IS?!" Houki gasped, "It's different!"

"Oh..." Ichika nodded, "Well, I had a dream, and then...this happened..." His HUD projected several information screens, one of which told them everything they needed to know:

BYAKUSHIKI: UPGRADE COMPLETE

2ND SHIFT: SETSURA

INCREASED MOBILITY WITH 4 ADDITIONAL ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE THRUSTERS

INCREASED DEFENSIVE CAPABILITIES

PARTICLE BEAM CANNON AND ENERGY CLAW SHARED WITH REIRAKU BYAKUYA; SEPARATE PLASMA SHIELD ATTACHMENT ON LEFT ARM

"It's...wow... I..." Houki stuttered.

Ichika looked at her hair, "To be honest, you look cuter with your hair down. But I didn't wanna skip out on the holiday season, so..." He handed her a white box wrapped in a red bow tie.

"Wha...what... is..." Houki trembled as her hand slowly reached for the box. She was trembling so much that she knocked off the box, spilling the lone content inside, "Aw...aww..." What she saw made her spill tears: a red-and-white ribbon made of mulberry silk. She clutched it in her hand, "It's beautiful..." She was instantly reminded of her fifth birthday, how she received her first ribbon from Tabane in similar fashion.

"You stay here and recover," Ichika stood up and faced the Gospel, "I'm gonna do what I can," and then he took off into the night.

Meanwhile while, Cecilia woke up to see Lincoln kneeling down beside her, "Mmm...Lincoln?...What are you..."

The Suite did nothing. It simply knelt there, smoking from the recent blasts it took head on.

"What happened to you?..." she sat up, "You look hurt..."

The Suite shook its head and cupped its hand around hers.

"What are you...HUH?!" Cecilia saw her IS glow a brilliant golden light. And all of a sudden, her shield energy shot up, "What is this?!"

Back in IS sub space, the girl muttered, "Oh, that's just the energy I got from when I saw how the Gospel was about to encapsulate Black Bunny Hop within its wings and how I kicked her out of the way so he could take the hit so that I could super charge the Bad Beat Call, which we really do need to rename, and all that massive damage just so happened to have dropped me right beside you."

But Cecilia was able to read into the Suite's newest ability and was taken aback, "I... I don't-"

"Lincoln!" Ichika shouted, "I need backup!"

The Suite stood up and flew off into the fight.

Cecilia stared in awe as Ichika fired off several shots from his left hand right to the Gospel's helmet when it was about to release its laser on Rin. It released on him, but he was able to completely block it with his Setsura shield. The Suite snuck a few cards behind its wings and guarded against its energy blasts.

Cecilia turned to Houki, who had already dried her eyes and donned her new ribbon. "Houki," she said, "You know what we have to do, right?"

"Yeah," Houki steadied her resolve, "I'm going to fight for everyone. Ichika, Lincoln, the captive pilot...I'm even gonna fight for you. I'm gonna fight with everyone."

"Oh, I'm touched," Cecilia said, "I think that ribbon might've fitted your hair and cleared your head."

"Fashionable as always, aren't you?" Houki quipped.

"Not as fashionable as..." Cecilia was caught staring at Houki's glowing green aura, "...your...IS..."

"What's this?" Houki questioned until her IS popped up several screens showing an overcharge in morale and recovery. One screen in particular revealed what she had done:

POWER SYNC 100% — KENRAN BUTOU ONLINE

Houki gasped, "This is the Akatsubaki's special ability!" As her shield energy was charged to full capacity, "Oh my..."

"I hate to interrupt your momentous discovery of newfound powers," Cecilia said while concentrating her drones at the Gospel, "but don't we have a job to do at the present?!"

"Uh-right..." Houki sheepishly grinned and took off after the Gospel.

Meanwhile, Lincoln and the Suite were fighting against the Gospel as one knight, with the Suite acting as Ichika's shield to conserve energy needed for the Reiraku Byakuya. They flew all over the skies trying to land a solid hit on the Gospel, but no matter what they did, it always found a way to push them out of range. Several times, Ichika's sword strikes were avoided or blocked, and almost every time the Suite attempted to intervene, the Gospel dodged outright.

Laura stayed out of CQC range and acted the sniper, with Charlotte and Cecilia opting for midrange combat, and Rin and Houki joining Ichika and the Suite. But even with their best efforts combined, they could not subdue the Gospel at all. It continued to keep the pilots in check with its energy balls and its agility, using the Byakushiki and Akatsubaki's speed against them.

"Did you get it?!" Houki shouted.

"I see a clear shot!" Laura responded. She fired several powerful shots that nearly hit the Gospel.

But one of Cecilia's drones was able to land a hit, causing the Gospel to react by firing a mega laser in her direction. Charlotte, the Suite, and Ichika combined their shields into a mega barrier to deflect the laser, while Rin and Houki tried to capitalize on the opening. But it was useless, as the Gospel instantly converted its laser into a crushing energy aura wave that hit everyone.

"Ugh..." Ichika winced, "Everybody alright..." He said as his shield energy dropped below 5%.

"Not really..." Rin groaned.

"Dangit..." Charlotte griped, "It'll take a miracle to get her out!"

The Gospel flew up into the sky and prepared to fire off a round of explosive blasts. Houki rushed to Ichika's side to start the Kenran Butou, but she wasn't going to make it in time. That's when a hidden projectile flew in at supersonic speed and clocked the Gospel square in the head, causing it to misfire and send its blasts away from the pilots' direction.

"What was that?!" Cecilia asked, "Did anyone see what it was?!"

"That's a..." Rin mulled, "...a dumbbell..."

The Gospel turned around and flew in the direction that dumbbell came from, only to be met with a noisy guitar riff that short-circuited its wings. It tried to fire off a laser, but its wings were fizzled long enough for it to get hit with two rockets and an exploding pole arm.

The entire group then heard what sounded like a female rockstar's voice, "DID I HEAR SOMEBODY ASKED FOR A MIRACLE!"

"I think that was..." Cecilia twitched.

Rin brightened up, "Suit...Night...Akina! Kim!"

Akina and Kim had flown over on their ISs to aid the pilots in the rescue operation, and the moment they crossed into Japanese airspace, Strong Suit and Night Club had materialized.

"Zap zap!" Akina shouted as she continued to pelt the Gospel with bullets and rockets. When she saw the Gospel flying away from her, she tagged out, "It's all you, Kimmie!"

"Don't call me that!" Kim said as she flew ahead and reclaimed her pole arm. She met the Gospel and tried to grapple it, but it easily pushed her back and wrapped her in its wings. Night Club nullified its crushing attack with another tune, allowing Kim to escape with minimal damage and stage a counter attack, but the Gospel escaped.

Strong Suit hitched a ride on Akina, and the two joined with the rest of the party, "Wassup, my main peeps!"

"Whoa..." Ichika gasped.

"What are you all doing here?!" Charlotte asked.

"We got permission to assist all of you," Akina said.

"What?!" Rin exclaimed, "From who?!"

Akina pointed to the river where the party came from. There, by the entry point, was a boat, with Hana and High Card.

"Yes, I'm with Hana right now," High Card commed to the resort, "The live feed is now online." She tapped an app on her phone, and suddenly the first-person viewpoints of every pilot participating in the battle were streamed directly to the command center.

"Why's everyone here?!" Cecilia panicked, "Why're you here?! How did you get those ISs?!"

Strong Suit leaped off Akina and settled on one of Cecilia's wing units, "Because if the one thing that connects us all...Pain."

Kim opened her communication channel while pursuing the Gospel, "The pain of losing something near and dear to you..."

Night Club let out a sound cannon, "...and the pain of filling the void with what's in front of you..."

Charlotte understood what they meant, "...that's what connects all of us."

"Yep," Akina nodded, "We all endured something that tore our hearts in half. We're all here to mend the broken pieces."

"Oh, I gotcha," Ichika suddenly said, "We know what hurts us the most. We don't know how to comfort ourselves, but we can comfort each other."

Laura and The Suite looked up at the Gospel. "And right now," Laura said, "someone is in need of a major comfort."

"He's right," Houki took his hand, "and through that..." her IS started to glow again, "...we can win."

"Huh? Houki, what are you-" Ichika felt a comforting warmth envelop him, and in turn, he saw his energy restored, "My energy..."

"A return gift from me to you," Houki smiled, "Now, go and finish this mission!"

"Right," Ichika nodded. He turned to face the Gospel, which was floating high above them among the rising sun and letting out a battle cry. He pointed his sword at the sun and declared, "Our target is the person held captive inside the Gospel. Hit it with everything you got. When it's down, everyone gather round and extract the hostage. Are we clear?"

Everyone gave their approving acknowledgement.

"Then, let's go!" Ichika sounded off, and all 11 party members raced towards the Gospel.

"You hear that, Margo?!" Strong Suit shouted while commandeering one of Cecilia's drones, "We got the pieces to your heart right here! How's about letting your emotional walls down for a quick second and finishing up that puzzle of yours!"

The Gospel simply rose high above the sun and rained down its wrath upon the party.

"Well, we are here for you when it hurts the most, whether you like it or not!" Charlotte flew ahead with Night Club, and defended the entire group with his shield amplified by Night Club's tunes. The group spit up and covered various sections of the battlefield, ready to engage whenever needed.

"I hope you're screeching for a preaching," Night Club grinned wickedly, "'cuz this Fukuin will hit you like a sledgehammer!" She then played a haunting, cathedral-esque melody that somehow affected the pilots' wiring, basically giving them temporary solar energy recharge.

The Gospel caught on to that tactic and charged at Night Club, releasing a controlled energy barrage at her. The Suite successfully blocked the attack, while Houki struck it with her katanas' beam strikes. The Gospel tried to focus on Night Club, but Cecilia's drones and Strong Suit's dumbbells prevented it from getting a clear target, so it opted for an underwater strike instead. Houki chased after it, dipping under the surface to try and stop its attack. It was only after it emerged from the surface that Kim was able to halt its assault with a head shot. The Gospel immediately fired a laser at Kim, who was barely able to avoid the attack after recalling her weapon. Houki the engaged the Gospel in a clash spreading all over the ocean. Charlotte provided support from her gunfire, but even with that, the two could not get a solid grapple on the Gospel. Charlotte had to step in and pin it down with her pile bunker, but it caught her attack with one arm, and it caught both Houki's katanas with one wing.

Houki knew what that meant. She tried to maneuver her way out with Charlotte's Ignition Boost, but the Gospel maintained a strong grip on them both.

"Oh no you don't!" Ichika charged ahead full throttle, but the Gospel blasted Charlotte and Houki before engaging Ichika in a brief fight. He had to back off after it released a widespread homing barrage, "Laura! Cecilia!"

"Fire!" Laura and Cecilia shouted as they fired their snipers at the Gospel from the island, but their shots were completely avoided. The Gospel returned a laser that exploded the land between them, causing them to be rocketed into the ocean.

Strong Suit, Rin, and Akina blasted the Gospel from behind while it fired the laser, earning its ire and a powerful aura that knocked Strong Suit off the drone. The Suite launched an entire deck of cards at it while catching Strong Suit, and Ichika and Kim charged it one more time. But the Gospel repelled them all and tripled its energy output, launching a massive amount of energy blasts that honed in on every single person. Everyone tried to dodge the blasts, but they were almost all caught up in the crossfire. The Gospel launched one more laser right after, this time targeting the Suite who was the only person to dodge all of its blasts.

"I'm in position!" the girl shouted, "Whoever's available, move in now!"

The Suite ended up taking the blast head on, its wing shield being the only thing protecting him as it was skidded across the water right into an abandoned pier.

"Oh my!" Cecilia knew what that meant, "Everyone to the Gospel! Now!"

"We're coming!" Night Club and Laura said after shrugging off a blast to her back.

"On my way!" Akina shouted.

"Hurry!" Houki said, "We can't hold on much longer!"

The Gospel detected their movements and charged up another energy laser. But just as it was about to fire, Ichika activated all of his thrusters and flung himself at the Gospel, which was trapped immobile within the moment of firing.

"You won't get away this time!" Ichika screamed while readying an energy claw.

The Gospel aimed at Ichika, but a sudden combined shot from Cecilia's sniper, Laura's railcannon, and Kim's pole arm disoriented it.

"We're right here, you monster!" They said.

The Gospel was running out of time to release its blast, so it kept its target on Ichika, but one of Houki's ramming bits and Rin's cannon shots hit it directly, causing it to misfire above Ichika. Charlotte saw this opening and released her pole bunker again, joining with Ichika's claw. The two drove their hands right into the Gospel's stomach.

Ichika and Charlotte put their Ignition Boosts to the highest possible settings, so when their hits connected, they set off a massive explosion that dissipated the laser. There was so much force in the hits that they pushed the Gospel across the water, and slammed it right into the mainland, in same pier where the Suite crashed. Night Club stopped the music and signaled all party members to meet at the pier.

Charlotte missed her footing and rolled into a brick wall. But Ichika kept his sword firm on the Gospel's chest, locking the two in a power struggle. He grunted as he poured all his strength into his sword. The Gospel kept it at bay with just its hand. It slowly reached out its other hand to grab at Ichika's neck. Ichika braced himself for the worst.

But it caught the Suite's hand instead. It gripped it so hard, it felt like it was trying to cling onto any last bit of life it could possible have left. For a brief moment, the two ISs understood why it would do this, but only because of the pilot inside. It bounced off of her emotions and turned it into raw power.

The Suite had to free the pilot somehow. And the extra power it received from the laser was exactly how it was going to break her out. The extra power was going back into the Gospel, but only restoring its energy at the same rate the Reiraku Byakuya was taking it away. The net energy was zero, and its current energy was bordering between 1% and zero. It couldn't maintain its shielding any longer. It wanted out.

As soon as the Gospel's grip began to weaken, the Suite pulled hard. The captive pilot was slowly yanked out of the cockpit. Ichika's sword drove in deeper, reaching into the Gospel's insides, weakening its hold on Margo and allowing the Suite to pull the captive out with barely a scratch. Only after Margo was freed did the sword finally crush the Gospel's core, bringing its energy to zero and defeating it once and for all.

The wings disappeared. The Silverio Gospel was no more.

Ichika collapsed when his sword reverted to its physical form. He panted heavily.

Houki flew to his side and knelt down, "Ichika?"

"HHH...yeah...hhh...it's over..." Ichika breathed.

The Suite nodded.

The other pilots gathered round the Gospel. They saw its former pilot, Margo, seemingly in a sleep state of mind. She was out cold, but she didn't have any major injuries done to her. Lincoln and Charlotte lost their ISs, while the others were on the verge.

Ichika turned around to the other pilots, who looked just as relieved that they got Margo out safely. Kim shared a wink with Cecilia and Laura. Akina fist bumped with Rin and Houki. Strong Suit and Night Club gave Hana and High card a thumbs up. Ichika waved at Charlotte, signaling the end of the struggle.

But inside IS sub space, Lincoln saw everything. He was still coming to grips with the fact that it took crippling his sister, scarring the lives of his family and his supposed girlfriend's family, and endangering a friend's life just to bring this matter to a fitting conclusion. All of it...

..all of it resulted from keeping the past a secret. Lincoln no longer has a choice.

He has to tell.