Apologies for the wait, everyone! Did a bit of work on my other stories, and had a bit of a hard time on the boss fight in this chapter. Specifically on the surprises that is to come here. I admit, it may feel somewhat rushed, in a way, but I feel I had dragged this story on for long enough. ... In a way. So! That being said, do enjoy the many surprises that is to come!
Upon hearing of the Shadows appearing at Tokyo Skytree, the Symphogear Users and Phantom Thieves immediately found a spot in their respective areas to transform and get to the place as fast as they could. At the very destination, there were Valkyrie, Hecatoncheir, and Ganesha rampaging about, harming many people. Unlike the precious times the Shadows attacked, Picora watched over the destruction from up on the tower.
"Heh. I doubt those Gear Users or thieves can defeat this group of enemies this time. And if they do, I still have a secret weapon," he said, looking at an object in his hand. A clarinet, to be exact, only it was not a normal one. From the corner of his eye, Picora noticed some figures entering the area. "Well, well, well. Here they come."
The people who arrived to see the damages were Kanade, Tsubasa, and Chris's team.
"The hell?! This place really is crawling with Shadows!" Chris gasped in shock.
"Doesn't look like there are any Alca-Noise around, either. Regardless, we need to get the civilians out of here!" Queen exclaimed.
"We'll handle the evacuation! You three go!" Tsubasa told the Phantom Thieves.
Neither side objected to the roles given and split to their jobs.
A few minutes into the battle, with the civilians all safely evacuated and less than half the Shadows taken out, as well as the arrival of the rest of the Gear Users and Phantom Thieves, Picora decided to start the next act.
"Seems now's a good time," he spoke, bringing the clarinet up to his mouth and played a few notes.
Back down below, the Shadows started acting a bit strange, as they all stood or hovered in place. Seeing them act like so confused the thieves and Gear Wielders alike.
"Huh? What happened to them?" Kanade asked.
"Careful. Something's not right with them," Fox warned.
As if on cue, gems fell from above and broke, summoning Alca-Noise in the area.
"Speaking of the Alca-Noise," Pixie sighed.
Next they knew, a rumble came, and popping out of black and red liquid was the boss Shadow. To the Gear Users' surprise, this Shadow was a long red dragon.
"A dragon?! For real?!" Maria gasped.
"Not the first dragon we've dealt with!" Mona exclaimed, as the group prepared themselves for the big battle.
"Lioness, I'm sending you the piano! The Gear Users need all the boost they can get in this fight!" Oracle said through the comms, as her Persona brought out the said instrument near the group.
"Got it, Oracle!" Lioness answered, sheathing her weapon and stepping away from the group. The moment she did though, the unexpected occurred, as a Valkyrie suddenly got to her face and swiped her sword at her, pushing her farther away from the group, as well as the piano. "Gah!"
This sudden movement caught the others off guard. "Lioness(-san)!" Joker and Hibiki cried out, as they tried to regroup with her, only to be blocked by some of the Shadows.
"Hey! Out of the way!" Skull shouted, as he summoned out his Persona and used a multi-hit Electric Skill on them. Before the skill could hit them, the newly summoned boss Shadow flew over and took the hit head-on, increasing their surprise, though for different reasons.
"It took the attack?!" Shirabe gasped.
The Phantom Thieves were quick to recover from their surprise, as Queen shouted, "Move it! Hurry!"
That snapped the Symphogear Wielders out of it, as Skull's Persona's attack got reflected off the Shadow and headed towards them. They weren't able to move out in time, but Oracle did manage to put up her Final Guard and blocked the deflected attack.
"W-What was that- death?!" Kirika gasped.
"That Shadow... It deflects Electric Skills!" Kong explained.
"Shadows do that?!" Miku gasped.
"Various Shadows have various weakness to certain elements. Likewise, they have certain strengths against them," Noir explained. As she said that, Kanade and Tsubasa were reminded of back when they teamed up with Queen and Fox against the Balor, how their flames didn't seem to affect it much at all.
"And if that thing's tough against Electric Skills, let's see how it is against Wind!" Mona exclaimed. "Come, Zorro!" At his call, his Persona was summoned out, and unleashed a Wind Skill against the dragon Shadow.
Up above, Picora simply smirked, as he played another note on his clarinet.
Down below, some of the Ganesha acted up and moved to take Zorro's attack head on, increasing the others' surprise, especially the thieves.
"They took the hit this time?!" Panther gasped out.
Rather than getting injured, though, the attack seemed to have done nothing to the Ganesha.
"And worse, they're immune to wind," Pixie added.
Taking advantage of their stupor, the Alca-Noise went in to attack, specifically the thieves. Tsubasa and Maria's sixth sense caught on, and the two blocked the enemy attack with a 'Blue Sword Lightning Punishment' and an 'Empress Rebellion'.
"We can be surprised at this later! Someone needs to aid Lioness!" the sakimori shouted.
"I'll go!" Queen said, summoning out her Persona.
"I'll come with you!" Kong said, hitching the ride.
Just as Queen revved Johanna's engine and started moving, however, more gems fell from somewhere and hit the ground, summoning more Alca-Noise before them. Without having any chance to take in their sudden appearance, the newly summoned enemies struck the two thieves, causing them to fall off Queen's Persona, as it reverted back into her mask.
"Wha-?! Queen! Kong!" Skull cried out in worry, as he and a few others rushed to their aid, noticing the carbonization on their bodies.
"They need healing!" Serena exclaimed.
"We got it!" Noir said. As she was about to summon her Persona, Pixie tackled her down, saving her from another Alca-Noise that almost struck them both before striking it down.
Having the last of these abnormal reactions of both the Alca-Noise and Shadows, she reached to the comm in her ear and asked, "Oracle! What is going on with these things?! They're acting different from usual!"
Oracle also knew something was wrong with both the Shadows and Alca-Noise alike and was already in the process of looking up the problem. However... "I-I don't know! I want to say that something is controlling them, but I can't pinpoint where from!"
"We're having a similar problem over here!" Elfnein informed from headquarters.
"We don't know about the Shadows, but the Alca-Noise are acting strange!" Sakuya exclaimed.
"The fact that they went after the Phantom Thieves specifically, twice at that, especially says it," Aoi added.
"The mastermind might be nearby! Hold out as long as you can until we find this bastard!" Genjuro told them.
"Easier said than done! What about Lioness?!" Chris asked.
"Worry not. The Realizer is capable of handling herself," came Lavenza's voice. "For now, try finding out the person responsible for controlling all those Shadows and Alca-Noise. They can't be too far. And beware of the Vritra; it's absorbed the Alca-Noise."
The group looked at the boss Shadow in question, and saw that it has indeed started to consume some of the carbonized foes, gaining its own boost.
With the thief in question, she was having a horrible time against her group of Shadows. Bad enough the Valkyrie and Hecatoncheir can handle physical attacks and Ganesha to guns, but Valkyrie can block Ice Skills, Hecatoncheir absorb Curse Skills, and the Ganesha could boost its own power to deal even more deadly attacks. Not only that, but the Ganesha have some regeneration ability. Even if she does use Leo's Fire Skill at these guys, if the skill failed to burn them to ash, the other Shadows would gang up against her while giving the Ganesha time to recover.
'What the hell?! They weren't this smart before!' she thought, distancing herself from the enemy. As she did that, some of the shooter Alca-Noise came up from behind her and fired some shots at the thief. Lioness noticed the attack in time to avoid and block each ammo, as well as cut the foes down. 'Shit! These things are acting more strategically than before.' She looked around the area and saw some Shadows and Alca-Noise positioned around the piano, as it to defend it. No... not defend it... 'Even preventing me from giving the Gear Users the boost?! Damn it... When I get my hands on the person responsible, I'll-'
Her thoughts were interrupted as a Ganesha unleashed a Nuke Skill at her. As Lioness leapt up to avoid the hit, a couple Hecatoncheir fired what seemed like bullets at her, in which she quickly responded by summoning out Alanna to block. Thankfully for her, Alanna is immune to guns. Unfortunately, a Valkyrie came at her from behind and had her horse ram into the thief's back.
"Gah!" Lioness let out a pained cry at the hit. When she glanced behind her, she saw the Shadow going to jab her blade into her and managed to raise her rapier in time to block the strike, the enemy's blade sliding across her's as it passed her head. "Persona!" Her mask bursted in blue flames and struck the opposition, taking form of her beastly Persona as it unleashed powerful flames at her. Lioness then used Leo's back as a footing to jump higher, in hopes of escaping from the mob of enemies. Once she took it to the air, though, she suddenly started hearing the sounds of music playing through the battle sounds.
'Is that... a clarinet?' she mentally questioned. As soon as her feet hit the ground, Lioness pulled out her sniper rifle and examined her surroundings through the scope. 'Where is it coming from?'
Up above, Picora noticed Lioness's strange movements, until he saw the girl pointing her gun seemingly at the Vritra. 'She thinks she can hit the Shadow as it moves about like so? Well, why not. I'll allow her a free shot. It's better than her giving those damned Gear Users the power to take down the Shadows.' He directed his eyes back to the main battle with the rest of the group, just in time to see . 'Oh! They healed their carbonized allies. Well then, let's try carbonizing them again. This time... the healers.' He played his clarinet, controlling the Shadows and Alca-Noise into formation for the latter to get to Pixie, Noir, and Joker.
How wrong he was about Lioness, for the female thief was truly pointing her sniper rifle right at him; the man in a cloak, much similar to the ones worn by the puppet decoys from before.
"There you are..." she muttered. "Showing up in the middle of the fight, unlike all those fakes that appeared before." She noticed the eccentric-looking clarinet he was playing, the jewel on its bell glowing. "Could that be...?" she started.
In the midst of his own battle, Kong noticed the girl pointing her rifle at something. "You see something, Lioness?!" he questioned, backing off from an attack that nearly hit him and Sasuke.
Lioness ignored his words, trying not to have the enemy from up top to notice her. Fortunately, he seemed to be distracted by the main battle to notice her pointing the barrel of her rifle up at him. "That instrument he's holding seems important..." she muttered to herself. "Best take that off of his hand. Actually, I'll just take his hand off, altogether." She squeezed the trigger, and fired the shot high at the enemy's hand.
Picora suddenly heard the gunshot, and could tell by the sound waves that it was heading towards him. He just barely saw the bullet coming at him, and pulled himself away from the direct attack. Unfortunately, the bullet struck a part of his clarinet as a result, in which the mouth piece cracked and broke off the whole instrument, falling off of the skyscraper.
"No!" he roared, seeing the damage taken by the attack. His expression demented and livid, as he looked down at where the attack struck, and saw Lioness there.
"Missed," she grimaced, before hearing an agonizing sound. She turned to see Vritra glaring down at her, about to strike with its tail.
"Lioness-san, look out!" Hibiki screamed, as she dove in and managed to pull the girl out of the way as the boss Shadow brought down its tail, nearly crushing the two. They rolled to a halt, right by the very skyscraper that Picora stood upon.
"You okay?" Hibiki asked. "What did you do?!"
"Found the mastermind directly above us, playing an instrument. Shot at him," she answered, startling Hibiki a bit. "And no, I didn't kill him. He dodged my attack. But..." There was a clattering nearby, and she saw the piece of the instrument she had shot off fall to the ground near them.
"What is that?" Hibiki asked.
"A piece of that clarinet he was playing," Lioness answered, pushing the brawler Gungnir User off of her to stand up. Once on her feet, the thief walked over, and picked up the piece. "I thought it was important, so I shot at him, and ended up breaking this off. I think his instru-" Before she could finish, she felt a pulse, and her body suddenly locked up. Her eyes were dilated, her mouth open, unable to shut. She had only grabbed ahold of it, and already felt a power surging from it, consuming her.
"Lioness-san, what's wrong?" Hibiki questioned, standing up to see her frozen in place.
Over to the Vritra, to the others' surprise, the boss Shadow suddenly started roaring in agony. It was not like how the Shadows before it was getting consumed by carbonization; the way it was wringing in pain seemed different. Not just it; but the other Shadows as well.
"What's going on with them?!" Tsubasa demanded.
"I dunno, but it can't be good," Pixie answered.
"It looks like it's losing its mind!" Skull noted.
The Vritra's roar was echoed with another roar and outcry near them. They all turned to see Lioness screaming up into the sky, her expression showing she was in pain. As if that wasn't surprising enough, even her two Personas were acting up, with what seemed like an unusual dark aura engulfing them. The object was still clenched in Lioness's hand, and started to glow.
"What's happening to Lioness?!" Miku questioned.
"I don't know!" Hibiki answered. "She just picked up that thing!"
"Where did she get that?!" Chris demanded.
Up top, Picora looked down at the scene, his teeth gritting in anger after what he lost, but also looked concerned at the happening down below. "What the hell is up with that girl?" He suddenly felt the remain of his clarinet start to glow and pulse with energy. He looked at it, then to the girl, and back, and widened his eyes in shock. "No... she can't be!"
Back at S.O.N.G Headquarters, the alarm was blazing as the screens were activating with many indications.
"There is a massive burst of energy coming from two positions; one from up on the skyscraper, and one from Lioness's position!" Sakuya shouted.
"The energy... I am detecting Aufwachen Waveforms!" Aoi called out.
"Aufwachen Waveforms?!" Genjuro echoed, shocked at this.
"The power used to activate relics, if I recall," Lavenza stated. "But why would it activate at the Realizer's position?"
"The waveform is going ballistic!" Aoi shouted.
"It is going to try and merge with Lioness!" Sakuya shouted.
"What?!" Genjuro gasped, as Elfnein and Lavenza were also shocked by this news.
Back at the scene, Lioness's Personas reverted back to blue flames and practically slammed themselves back on the thief's face in mask form. The girl then started to especially feel intense pain from her head, even worse than back when she first became a Persona User, as she gripped onto her mask and tried so hard to pry it off, only for it to be stuck on her face. Lioness's body then glowed along with the piece of the relic, becoming consumed in a dark purple and fiery blue column of energy.
'The... The hell...?! My body... my head... my soul...! It's all getting... torn apart!' Lioness painfully thought.
"Why bother fighting?" At the sound of a voice, she snapped her eyes open, and found herself in a white area. Not at the skytree, not the Metaverse, and certainly not the Velvet Room. There wasn't even another being in this white area.
'Where am I?' she wondered.
"Why bother fighting?" came the voice again.
Lioness looked around to pinpoint the source. When she looked behind her, she was surprised to see a shadowed silhouette standing behind her. More so, the figure was...
"You're... me?" she questioned.
"Don't you think you've had enough?" the figure spoke. "Fighting these pointless battles, changing the hearts of oppressors... and for what? What will you be rewarded with when it's all over? Certainly not your parents, nor him."
"And just what do you know about me?"
"More than enough. After all, I am you. The you who keeps wondering if it was all worth it. Saving the world from destruction, after all the shit you've been forced to go through. All the losses you've had to experienced ever since you gained that power. And just when it seemed like you were living out a normal life, here you are. Back in combat that you've wanted to be away from, all so that you do not have to suffer seeing another person die in front of you."
Lioness looked down at those words.
Meanwhile, in reality, the Joker, Hibiki, and the others could only stare are the pillar of flames and dark energy, concerned for the thief stuck within.
"Lioness-san!" Hibiki cried out.
"Oracle! Are you getting to her?!" Joker questioned through the comms.
"It's no good! I can't connect with her!" Oracle informed.
Just then, Mona's ears twitched, as not-cat heard something coming. He turned and immediately managed to tackle Serena down, avoiding a sword strike from one of the Valkyries.
"We can't forget we're still in the middle of a fight!" he said, killing the Shadow off with a sword strike of his own.
That brought everyone's attention back to the fight at hand.
"He's right. For now, we have to believe Lioness will be oka-" Pixie was cut off by the sound of feet landing on the ground. Everyone looked back and was shocked to see Lioness kneeling on the ground, covered in nothing but black.
"L-... Lioness?" Queen spoke first.
"Lioness! You gave us a spook for a second there!" Skull shouted.
"Wait. Something's not right," Fox said.
"He's right. Everyone have caution!" Tsubasa warned.
Just as soon as the warning came, 'Lioness' opened her red eyes and let out a screechy roar, one that caused everyone, including the Shadows and Alca-Noise, to flinch. The thief rushed at a group of enemies and jumped right into the center, taking out and tearing each one of them apart, limb from limb.
"Whoa! What happened to Lioness?!" Panther gasped.
"She's acting like she's in Rage!" Mona exclaimed.
"Everyone, can you hear me?!" came Genjuro's voice through their comms.
"Master?" Hibiki spoke.
"Listen to me! Lioness-kun is in possession of a relic! You must get it out of her hands at once!" At those words, the Phantom Thieves and Gear Users were baffled at what they heard.
"A relic?! But how?!" Chris questioned.
"We can wonder about that later!" Maria said. "That being said, how are we supposed to get the relic off her hands?"
"Why? What's wrong with her having it?" Noir asked.
As if to answer her question, after dealing with her portion of Shadows and Alca-Noise, 'Lioness' made eye contact with the group and charged at them. Instantly, both Kirika and Shirabe stepped up and blocked her oncoming assault, only to get sent flying back upon her strike.
"Akatsuki-san! Tsukuyomi-san!" Serena cried out in worry.
"Lioness! What'd you do that for?!" Kong questioned as he approached her.
"Stop! Don't approach her!" Tsubasa warned.
The warning came too late, for the girl changed her target to Kong, and kicked him away, straight in the gut.
"Yo! The hell?!" Skull gasped, as 'Lioness' changed her target to them, as they desperately avoided her attacks.
"Wait, what are you doing?! We're your friends!" Panther exclaimed.
"It's no good!" Kanade said. "She's completely taken over by the relic; she can't hear you right now!"
"Then what do we do?!" Serena asked.
"We knock some sense into her!" Chris answered, firing some missiles at the possessed thief.
'Lioness' simply let out a roar, her face seemingly lit in blue flames, flames that shot towards the missiles and destroyed them before they hit her.
"No way!" Chris gasped in shock, as the thief went to strike her down.
"Chris-chan!" Hibiki quickly tackled Chris out of the way, having 'Lioness' charge into some Alca-Noise behind her instead, as she went and murder the enemy.
"She can't tell who's friend or foe in this state," Miku informed the thieves.
"Maybe if we use Amrita Drop," Noir suggested.
"It's worth a try, if we can even get close to her, or even hold her down," Joker said.
"Leave it to me- death!" Kirika exclaimed, recovering from the hit she took earlier and jumped in the air. "Hold still, Lioness!" From her shoulder armor, she shot out her grapple chains at the thief.
The possessed thief pulled her arm back and tossed it forward, throwing something at the grapple chains that pinned them to the ground. That something... being a rapier.
"Even an Armed Gear?!" Tsubasa gasped. She quickly recovered from her shock upon seeing 'Lioness' rush her way and brought her sword up to block her strikes. Despite her attempts, eventually enough, even she was knocked away.
"Sorry, Lioness!" Maria shouted, tossing her whip sword the thief's way.
"This is for your own good!" Panther exclaimed, doing the same with her whip.
Both weapons wrapped themselves around the girl's arms, the blades from the sword embedding themselves into her skin as Lioness struggled to free herself from the binds.
"Now, Joker!" Oracle cued in.
"Fortuna!" Joker summoned his healing Persona and used an Amrita Drop on Lioness. Usually, the Amrita Drop would heal a single person of any status effect, including carbonization. However... Lioness's condition was not that of a status effect, as she grabbed onto the whip and whip sword and, using tremendous strength, pulled the users of both weapons forward.
"Whoa!"
"Wha-?!"
Like ragdolls, Maria and Panther were both being tossed and swung around, hitting Shadows, Alca-Noise, even buildings and the floor. Soon enough, Lioness released her grip on their weapons, and sent them flying away.
"It didn't work!" Queen exclaimed to Oracle in the comms. "Isn't there anything else we can do?!"
"I... I don't know," the younger thief answered.
"Usually, this happens when a Gear User is attempting to use two relics at once, or when they attempt to go in Ignite Module and arrived in an incomplete state," came Elfnein's voice. "But this? This is different. All we can do is wait and hope for the best."
"But that can't be! There has to be something we can do!" Hibiki exclaimed.
"Hey, look out!" Skull shouted, for Lioness went and charged at the brawler Symphogear User.
Hibiki was too slow to react and got tackled down by her. Getting choked by the possessed girl in one hand, Hibiki, trying to pry Lioness's hands off her, looked to see the thief raised her other arm, a rapier in hand.
In Lioness's mindscape, the girl was still getting chatted up with the shadowed figure of herself.
"You would've been better off letting Yaldabaoth have his way," the figure said. "At least then you would've been at peace. You would've reunited with your parents you've longed to see, be with the man who died saving you and your friends."
As the figure spoke, Lioness stayed silent.
"You know I'm right. Give in now, and I will set things right. While I cannot say you'll be returned to your world, at the very least, I'll relieve you of the pain you've been holding deep within."
Lioness remained quiet. At first, the figure assumed she got to the girl and inched closer, when a chuckle was heard.
"My god... To think I'd experience this again," Lioness said, running a hand through her hair.
"What?"
"You say you're me, and yet it seems you don't know everything you should," she continued. "You're right. I did go through a lot of things no one should've. Been accused for many crimes, got beaten for things I never did, even got branded without anyone knowing the real me. And yeah, I even got tempted at one point to lead the world to destruction. But exactly what kind of answer is destruction? It's not going to bring back the dead. And the people who died? My parents, my mentor... Akechi... They died, so I can live, so I can right the wrongs of criminals, and live my life in peace. I go on the path of despair and destruction, and I'll only smear over their deaths! I decide what I do with my life. Not my Personas, not god, and especially not you! That being said, I recall there's a fight to win, and a bastard to capture. Now get me the hell out of here!"
Back in the real world, 'Lioness' was about to jam her rapier straight through Hibiki, when the possessed thief suddenly let out a pained screech and got herself off the Gear User, holding her head in pain.
"Now what's going on?!" Kong asked.
"The relic in Lioness's possession! It's suddenly stabilizing!" Sakuya informed the group.
"That's not all," Aoi called. "These signs... These energy signatures...! Lioness is-!"
"Silentio perire Seidr zizzl~"
That chant caught everyone by surprise, as the black shadow around Lioness suddenly shone in bright light.
In a transformation sequence, in the same white area now surrounded by staff and music notes, Lioness- no, Guren floated there. Blue flames rushed to her hand, in which she caught, and the flames materialized into her Lioness mask. She tossed the mask down below, causing it to hit and materialize the floor in a burst of blue flames. As she landed on it, a white, black, and dark purple outfit appeared on her, with dark purple gems attached to it. She even had her rapier in hand.
Appearing in a burst of blue flames before her was Alanna, who charged at her user with her blade. Unflinching, Guren got in battle position and thrusted her rapier right at the sword, causing the Persona to burst in flames once more, and the gems on her body to disperse off her. The flames and gems collided before making way back to her. As the fiery gems approached her, she kicked a few, causing them to instantly melt and form into dark purple armored boots. She then deflected a few more gems with her rapier, causing them to travel up her arms and turn into dark purple armored gauntlets.
Leo then appeared behind her and, with a roar, guided the remaining gems over to Guren. Once close enough, the lion Persona bursted into flames and scattered the gems. As they passed the girl, they instantly attached themselves to her, forming into a black tailcoat draped over her shoulders with white and dark purple shoulder armor keeping the coat over her, as well as a black skirt with the Phantom Thief insignia attached to it. Her rapier then changed into a keytar and got strapped onto her back. Her Phantom Thief mask reappeared in her other hand, in which Guren slapped onto her face, and had headset gears attach themselves onto her head. Lowering her hand, her eyes flashed yellow for a moment. Guren placed the keytar in front of her and played some nice notes, before putting it back on her back and posed.
To say they were shocked would be an understatement. No one in the area believed what they saw.
"That... That form..." Shirabe stuttered out.
"No way..." Serena breathed out.
"Lioness-san... is... a Symphogear User?" Hibiki questioned.
Up above, Picora was especially speechless, jaw dropped and eyes wide open. "Wha-... Wha-... WHAT THE ABSOLUTE HEEEEEEEEEELL?!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. Due to how high up he was, no one heard his voice. "How?! How the hell is this possible?! That thief is also a Symphogear User?! If she's a user, let me see her survive this!" He brought his clarinet up, which glowed and regrew the mouthpiece. He played some notes on it, and caused the Shadows and Alca-Noise to act strangely once more, in a way that they all charged at Lioness. Even the Vritra charged at her.
"Lioness! Enemies incoming!" Joker warned.
Lioness didn't need her leader's warning. In fact, she didn't even need to fear the enemies at all. Turning the keytar to her front, she started playing on the instrument.
(Insert: Tear Off Your Chain by Galneryus (keytar solo cover))
A few seconds into her playing, the enemies stopped in their tracks, now looking around in wonder and confusion. Not only that, but as she played, the Gear Users felt an amazing boost in power well up in them, more than ever before.
"What are you waiting for?! Hurry up and take them down!" she shouted.
That snapped the rest of the Phantom Thieves and Gear Users out of their stupor, as they went back to fighting their foes.
As they fought, back at headquarters, Genjuro and the others were still baffled with Lioness's new form.
"Lioness-san is... a candidate?!" Elfnein gasped.
"All pulse and energy level are stabilized," Sakuya informed.
"Phonic Gain level also stable. And compatibility level... is perfect?!" Aoi added in a puzzled tone.
"B-But how?! A person from another world is a perfect candidate for a relic here?!" Genjuro questioned.
"So you say, but is the same not true for one of your members?" Lavenza pointed out, causing the commander to mentally rescind his statement. "Still, this is very unusual. I never thought the Realizer would also be chosen for this power. Or... perhaps it actually makes sense." At those words, everyone turned to her in confusion. "I believe this is said many times already, but due to circumstances, cognition is stronger in this world, especially around the Phantom Thieves. And since one of them is well adept to music, your cognition of what makes one a possible candidate for a relic had gone through, and thus made this fusion possible."
"But that can't be. We never explained what makes a person chosen to wield these relics."
"Perhaps so. Or perhaps, it is not the Realizer whose cognition is affected in this mindset."
Back on the battlefield, thanks to the boost Lioness had given, the Symphogear Wielders and the Phantom Thieves had cleared the area of Shadows and Alca-Noise, leaving only the main boss. The Alca-Shadow glared down at the humans before it and let out a roar, causing lightning to rain down on them all. The Gear Users grabbed a Phantom Thief buddy and managed to jump away from the lightning strike in time. Lioness, on the other hand, ceased her piano playing and placed the keytar behind her, charging straight at the Vritra as it rained more lightning bolts specifically at her.
Lioness could tell from when she was playing that unlike the other Shadows, this one was not controlled by the music that the mastermind was playing. If anything, it may have gotten some kind of power boost from it. Plus, she could tell the Alca-Shadow was specifically aiming for her with those bolts. This was not the time to be playing music.
"Hey, you damn dragon! You want me?! Come fight me!"
The Vritra let out a powerful roar in response to her challenge and breathed out flames at her.
The Gear Users and Phantom Thieves all widened their eyes, for the flames seemed too big for her to avoid.
"Lioness, get out of there!" Queen cried out.
"Roar, Leo!" Lioness shouted, and her mask lit in familiar blue flames, and her beastly Persona was summoned out, much to everyone's surprise.
The thief/Symphogear user rode on top of Leo, who leapt over the massive flames. Her sniper rifle then appeared in her hand, in which she reloaded. Once the pair were close to the Vritra, Lioness leapt off Leo, who slashed the red dragon Alca-Shadow right in the face, knocking it down as he proceeded to gnaw and maul the boss. In the air, Lioness fired several shots from her rifle around the Vritra. As she landed neatly on the ground, Leo returned to her side, and she turned her back at the injured Vritra, who slowly got back up, angered by the mauling. As it got back up, Lioness twirled the rifle and pointed it at the enemy without facing back to it and fired. Upon the last shot, a chain reaction occurred, one that caused Curse energy to crack along the ground where she shot her bullets, before exploding upwards, with Leo roaring next to his master. If one could believe it, this was her Symphogear Attack; Wild Greed Terror.
Everyone was shocked to see this development. Not only was Lioness able to use a relic, a Symphogear, but she was still able to use her Persona in that form.
Oracle was the first to snap out of her shock upon seeing a signal right where the Alca-Noise was. "The fight's not over yet!" she informed, bringing the others back to their senses as well, as the smoke cleared and revealed the Vritra now weakened by the attack. "I'll send the virus!"
"No need," Lioness said, dismissing her sniper rifle and Persona, and bringing her keytar up in front of her again.
(Insert: Deathfire Grasp Solo by Pentakill (keytar))
As she pressed down the keys, the Vritra was suddenly struggling in pain, and the alchemy circle on its chest started glowing. The circle then slowly moved, lifting itself off of the Alca-Shadow's body, hovering in front of it. "Now! Someone break it!" Lioness shouted.
Joker took point, as he took out his gun, pointed it at the target, and fired. The bullet struck the alchemy circle and destroyed it, causing the Alca-Shadow to succumb to the carbonization, and dissipated away for good.
With the fight now officially over, the others regrouped back with Lioness.
"Lioness! Are you okay?!" Queen asked her.
"What the heck was that?! How are you using a gear?!" Chris asked next.
"Lioness!" Oracle called, appearing next to the group and went to hug her cousin. "I'm so glad you're okay!"
"Yeah. Same here," Lioness said. "I'm sure you guys have questions, but first..." She glanced back at the tower, where the baffled Picora still stood. "There's still someone we need to capture."
Before they could ask who, the Symphogear User Phantom Thief brought her sniper rifle back in her hand aimed at the mastermind. She fired a bullet, and it struck the guy right on the shoulder, causing him to fall, screaming.
"Gyah! Aaaaahhhhhhhhh!"
The group all looked up at the sound of screaming and saw the man above them.
"Miku!" Hibiki called to her bestie.
"I got it!" Miku answered, flying up to catch the guy.
"Lioness! Why did you shoot him?!" Maria questioned.
"How about the fact that he has the other half of this thing I'm using, and that he's the reason we and the Shadows are here?!" Lioness replied, much to the others' shock.
As Miku came down safely with the injured Picora, the guy held his shoulder and cried out in pain. "Ow! My shoulder! My poor shoulder! It hurts!"
"Save the drama act!" Lioness said, approaching him. "You're coming with us, you'll tell us how you got the Shadows here, and you will send me and my friends back to our world!"
"Whoa, Lioness! Don't you think you're going on a bit too strong?" Panther told her.
"Yeah. Then again, considering the trouble this guy had put us through..." Skull trailed off.
"Don't encourage her," Pixie said with a light sweat drop.
"But in any case, as Lioness said, we will take you in for questioning," Tsubasa said.
Picora only glared at the group and scoffed. "Tch. I guess there's no point in faking then, is there? Though I have to say, you really think I'll tell you anything? After what you people did?!"
The group looked at him in confusion.
"What are you talking about? This is the first time we've met you," Chris said.
"That may be, but it doesn't dismiss you of the crimes you people did!" Picora exclaimed, puzzling the group.
"'Crimes'?" Queen repeated, looking at the Symphogear User.
"What are you talking about?" Shirabe questioned.
"Yeah! If it's about the Frontier Incident, Shirabe, Maria-san and I have already repented for that- death!" Kirika said.
"Like hell I care about that, you damn murderers!" Now that accusation caught the group off guard.
"M-Murderers?" Serena repeated.
"Hang on! We never killed anyone!" Chris said.
"It's true, they didn't," Miku supported.
"Surely there's some misunderstanding," Hibiki said.
"All I need to understand is that you Symphogear Users are my enemies, and that I will have revenge for what you did!" Picora said.
At those words, Joker and Lioness looked over to Oracle, who noticed their glances and nodded. Suddenly, the ground started to shake, and everyone struggled to keep their balance.
"Whoa! The hell?!" Skull shouted.
"What's going on?!" Kong gasped.
"An earthquake?!" Kanade guessed.
Suddenly, they all felt their head hurt slightly.
"M-My head..." Serena groaned.
"Serena!" Maria quickly rushed to her sister's side.
The Phantom Thieves, though, felt something off about headache. "This... This headache..." Joker spoke.
"Something's off... about this..." Pixie said.
Soon enough, the shaking stopped, much to everyone's relief.
"Was that an earthquake? That was some timing," Panther stated.
"And at a low magnitude, at that," Tsubasa added.
Mona and Lioness looked up and were shocked to see what happened to their surroundings. "Wait, what the heck?!" the not-cat thief gasped.
"You're shitting me... For real?!" the thief/Gear User questioned.
This caught everyone's attention, as they, even Picora, turned to the pair.
"What's wrong?" Oracle asked.
"Guys... Look around."
At Lioness's words, they all looked, and were just as surprised to see what they saw.
"H-Huh?!" Chris gasped.
"What is this?!" Kanade questioned.
"This... This cannot be!" Fox exclaimed.
All around them, the city was in black and red, with strange boney structures poking out of the ground or buildings. Even the sky was red.
"What... What's going on here?!" Hibiki gasped.
Tsubasa turned to Picora. "You! What did you do?!"
"Me?! I'm not doing any of this!" he said. And from his tone, Tsubasa could tell he actually meant it.
"If not you then..."
"This... It's happening here?" Noir questioned, bringing all eyes to the Phantom Thieves.
"The Metaverse... It exists here," Joker informed. "And it's eroding reality."