Whoo! This chapter here... is a long, doozy of a chapter. This one, I had help from my good friend to ensure things are as they should to the best of our abilities. Especially due to the fact that Symphogear XDU is giving more possible backstory to the characters in some way, but only in Japanese... The language in which we cannot read! I mean, I understand Japanese, but I do not read the kanji! Though I am happy there are people translating the event stories and Memoria Cards to the best of their abilities on Youtube, in which I do so respect. Sadly, not all of the stories are up, same with the Memoria cards...

Now then! Enough jibber-jabbering here, peeps. Let us start this chapter!

After dealing with Picora's wave of Shadows, the Symphogear Users and Phantom Thieves found out that his acquaintance was Picora's very own Shadow. Before they could even get information out of him, however, the real Picora recalled his Shadow and instead summoned out cognition version of the Gear Users. To make matters worse, he managed to force out each girl's Shadow right out of them and into the cognition, thus weakened the users, and got the group in another battle.

Fist clashed against blade, as Joker raised his dagger to block Shadow Hibiki's attack. The guy held his ground against his opponent, as he protected the still recovering Gungnir brawler.

"Joker!" Hibiki called in worry, as the pair separated.

"Man... She hits harder than you back before we teamed up," Joker stated.

"Why...?" Shadow Hibiki spoke, catching their attention. "I wasn't the one who killed any of those people. I didn't summon those Noise. And yet... And yet! Why the hell am I the one being blamed for their deaths?!" The cognition suddenly shot towards Joker once more, who brought his weapon up to block another punch. The strike this time felt much harder than the previous times, Joker felt his arm go a bit numb from the contact. "I'm just as much of a victim as anyone else! I wanted to live just as much as everyone else! So why?! Why is my life a sin?!"

"What...? What is she saying...?" Hibiki breathed out, shaken by those words.

Her Shadow wasn't the only one saying such a thing. The other Shadows were saying similar stuff during their own battle against the Phantom Thieves.

"Kanade's death... is because of me..." Shadow Tsubasa spoke, swinging her sword down at Queen, who managed to catch the blade between her hands. "Had I been stronger, I would still have my Kanade. Had I been stronger, I wouldn't need such weak things as friends. Had I been a proper blade from the very start, I would never feel this wretched pain!" With each statement coming out of her mouth, the cognition pushed the blade down even harder, as Queen struggled to keep the sword away from even her mask. A sword was then tossed at the Shadow, who distanced herself from Queen to avoid the weapon.

"Thanks for the save," Queen thanked the real Tsubasa, who recovered as much of her strength as possible.

"Think nothing of it. But why did she spout out those words?" she asked, facing her counterpart.

At Chris and Pixie's side, the adult thief was avoiding as much arrows and bullets as she could from Shadow Chris, all while carrying the real Chris on her back.

"My mom and dad... They died because of music," they heard the cognition say. "I lost everything because of music. My parents, my dignity, all of it! It's all because of music!" Shadow Chris then unleashed a 'Mega Deth Infinity' at the pair.

Pixie widened her eyes at the sight of the many large missiles, and instinctively jumped towards one.

"Wait, you crazy?!" Chris gasped, tightening her grip on the woman.

"We've done crazier!" she said, managing to land on the first missile and run down the projectile to the next missile, and the next, and the next, until she managed to land safely on the ground. The missiles all struck the building she was once on in a large explosion.

Chris let out a breath in relief. "We actually lived through that..."

"It's all because of music..." they heard Shadow Chris speak again. "Not only did I lose everything, I even inflicted pain onto others. Because of me, Solomon's Cane was activated, and many innocent people died! All music is good for is destruction. So I might as well destroy everything with my song!"

"Had I not be blinded by my own justice, I wouldn't have caused so many hurt," Shadow Maria said, unleashing 'Infinite Crime' at Noir and Maria. The thief summoned her Persona and used a Gun Skill to deflect the blades, as well as knocked away any sword she missed with her axe. "Had I not been so stupid and naive, lives would never have been lost! My sister would still be alive! It's because I was so naive and blind, I almost helped a psycho succeed in destroying this world! My sins will never be atoned!"

Maria's eyes widened as she heard those words from her counterpart's mouth. "What... What is she saying...? Why is she saying all those things...?"

Like with Pixie, Panther carried Shirabe on her back and was running from the many buzzsaws that came their way, courtesy of Shadow Shirabe. "I hate hypocrites. Everyone back in that lab... they pretend to care about us, when in truth they care about the next Fine. We've been experimented and tested on, and some of us even broke down, and yet they thought nothing of us!"

"Yeesh! Your life is way darker than mine!" Panther exclaimed, managing to use her grappling hook to gain a better distance away from their opponent, as she landed on a building. "Okay. You stay here and recover your strength. I'll try and stall for as much time as I can."

"No... I can help, too," Shirabe told her.

"Not in your condition! Look, just stay here for a bit. I'm telling you this as your senpai." Without another word, Panther jumped back down and faced the cognition once more.

"The only friend I have was Kiri-chan... She who stayed by my side throughout everything, as I did for her. I would do anything to repay that debt! Even if it means killing you!" Shadow Shirabe got into 'Extreme Sigma Style: Forbidden Full Moon' and made her way towards Panther. The red thief dodge rolled away from the dangerous wheel and summoned her submachine gun, firing bullets at the girl.

Over to Kong and Kirika, the former was standing his ground against the latter's Shadow, clashing his staff against her scythe.

"I don't want to be alone- death! I want to be with my friends, my family- death! Without them... What's the point of ever living- death?!" Shadow Kirika shouted with each strike.

'Hey, hey... Don't tell me these are...!' Kong thought, as he did everything he could to protect Kirika, who was baffled at her Shadow's words.

With Skull and Miku, the thief had carried the girl bridal style and was running as fast as he could, avoiding the many beams being shot at them.

"Hibiki has suffered so much... And yet, what did I ever do to help her? All I've ever done for her is stay by her side, and was that ever enough?!" they managed to hear Shadow Miku say.

"Hibiki? What's Hibiki have to do with that?!" Miku asked Skull.

"I don't know! We've never faced these sort of Shadows or cognitions before!" he answered.

"I was always so weak. Unable to do anything for the person I cherish! I'm supposed to be her sunlight, and yet I am always and forever will be in her shadow!" Shadow Miku shouted, unfolding her Armed Gear and tossed it at the pair in 'Reminiscence'.

"Behind you! Jump!" Miku shouted in warning.

Skull took the warning and jumped as high as he could, avoiding the Armed Gear as it flew past him from below.

"Goemon!" Fox shouted, summoning his Persona to summon an icy wall and block Shadow Kanade's 'Stab Meteor'.

"Sorry, Fox," Kanade apologized, slowly recovering from the forced separation.

"It's fine. Just take as much time as you need to recover," he told her.

"Tsubasa's dead... Because I wasn't brave enough to do what was right," they then heard Shadow Kanade say. "Had I done what I should've, Tsubasa would never had died!" The wall was starting to crack, and Fox quickly took Kanade in his arms and used his Persona's skill to create footholds, as he jumped away from the aftermath of Shadow Kanade's attack. "I have to be stronger... Even stronger! Music is only used to fight! There's no other role for it but that!" Shadow Kanade swung her Armed Gear around, sending fiery energy slashes at the pair before jumping upwards with her spear forward in a 'Starlight Slash'.

With his Persona's ability, Fox gave himself a boost in speed and managed to avoid the energy slashes before bringing his sword up to block the spear as best as he could, before angling himself to have the foe soar past him and Kanade.

As for Lioness, Sophie, Mona and Serena, the thieves did all they could in they power to protect the weakened girl, as they blocked her Shadow counterpart's 'Fairial Trick'.

"My sister died... Because I wasn't good enough," Shadow Serena said. "I survived from using my Swan Song, but for what? I couldn't save my sister, my friends. I'm the weakest amongst the Gear Users! I try and try to get stronger, but no matter what I do, it will never be enough!"

"What is she saying? In fact, what are any of them saying?" Serena asked.

"Mona... These Shadows!" Lioness spoke.

"Yeah, there's no doubt about it," Mona said.

"What's going on?" Sophie asked.

"These Alca-Gear Shadows are speaking out the girls' deepest, darkest secrets, the part of them that they hate."

"And they need to face that part of them..." Lioness glanced at her keytar on her back. "Any chance my Seidr can help them recover faster?"

"I don't know. I'm not an expert on these things!"

"It's possible!" came Elfnein's voice in their ears. "Seidr is the relic that's connected to the Metaverse, the relic that is connected to cognition."

"And from what that Picora guy demonstrated, if you can use the relic well enough, you might hasten their recovery," Oracle said. "Seidr can help boost their Relics' power; surely the same can be said for their recovery!"

"I hope we're right," Lioness said, calling her rapier back and bringing her keytar up front.

"Oh... I'd rather not have that~" came Picora's voice.

Next the group knew, a clarinet sound was heard, and a hole opened up under Lioness's feet.

"Wha-?! AAAHHHHH!" the thief screamed as she fell in, and the hole closed up.

"Lioness!" Thieves and Gear Users alike all cried out in worry. Unfortunately, that one moment of worry was enough for the Alca-Gear Shadows to land a heavy hit on them.

"Joker!" Hibiki cried out, mustering up enough strength to rush by his side. Once she got to him, she saw signs of carbonization on his body.

He wasn't the only one; all the thieves got affected by carbonization.

"Skull! You guys!" Miku cried out.

"Not good! Not good!" Oracle exclaimed. "That guy didn't call them 'Alca-Gear Shadows' for nothing; he mixed those cognition with Alca-Noise!"

"He even did that?!" Tsubasa gasped.

"You're all too scattered out; I can't protect you all at once if they try anything dangerous. At the very least, I can only delay the carbonization as best as I can. You girls need to get up and fight!"

The Gear Users knew the support Phantom Thief was right and mustered up enough strength to stand and face their counterpart.

"Joker, Noir, Pixie! You three need to heal the others of that stuff! Sophie, you're the only one unaffected. I need you to do something else."

"We... know..." Noir struggled to say, in great pain from both the carbonization and Shadow Maria's attack. Said Alca-Gear Shadow jumped up and whipped her Armed Gear down at her. Noir closed her eyes and braced herself for the hit, when she heard the attack hit something else. She slowly opened her eyes and saw Maria standing there, an energy shield in front of her. "Maria!"

"I'll do whatever I can to protect you! We have to get to the others!" she said.

Noir nodded and summoned her Persona. "Come, Milady! Help us!" Milady waved her fan and cured her master from the effect, much to the thief's relief.

"I... No matter what I do... I can never make up for what I've done," Shadow Maria said, getting her counterpart and Noir's attention. "A monster like me who hides from her problems... can never be forgiven!" She then used a 'Divine Caliber' to break through the shield, much to the original Maria's surprise as she jumped back to avoid the attack.

'She broke through my shield?!' she mentally gasped.

"Go now, Noir! I'll be okay!" she then shouted to her partner.

Noir decided to trust Maria and ran as fast as she could to the closest carbonized thief.

"No matter what... no matter how hard I try to hide it... I will always make a horrible mistake, and will never be forgiven for it!" Shadow Maria shouted, rushing at the original Maria with her Armed Gear.

Maria brought up her own Armed Gear and clashed blades with her Alca-Gear Shadow. Just as she did...

"You know it, as well as I do. Your sins will never be cleansed." The Airgetlam User widened her eyes in shock at such claim.

With Pixie and Chris, similar to Noir and Maria, the latter had up her Reflector to protect the older thief, reflecting the bullets and arrows away from the pair.

"You healed up yet?!" Chris asked.

"In a moment..." Pixie wheezed, as she summoned her Persona and healed herself from the carbonization. Once she was recovered, she got up on her feet. "I'm going to assist the others for a bit. Do you think you can hold her off long enough?"

"Yeah. I'll show this fake!"

Pixie nodded and was about to make her way to the thief closest to them, when she turned back to Chris and warned, "Be careful with what you say or do."

Before the Ichiaval user could ask what she meant, the fairy-dressed thief was already on her way.

''Be careful with what I say or do'? What the hell is that supposed to mean?' she wondered.

"I hate music... I hate it, I hate it, I hate it! Everything might as well be destroyed with it!" Shadow Chris shouted, firing off a 'Billion Maiden' at the real Chris.

Chris countered with 'Queen's Inferno', firing her arrows at the missiles, which exploded into large bursts of smoke, and thus blocked Chris's view of her counterpart.

"Damn it... Now where did she go?" she questioned.

"Why do you bother even liking music again after everything you lost because of it?" she then heard. "You know as well as I do. Music has brought nothing but pain. And now... you will die with it." She heard the sound of a gun cocking behind her and...

BANG!

On Joker and Hibiki's side, the latter was doing everything she could to prevent their opponent from getting to Joker.

"Destroy... Destroy! I'll destroy everything! If my life is a sin, then I might as well destroy it all!" Shadow Hibiki shouted.

"No! That's wrong! Just because you were told your life is a sin doesn't mean that it is!" Hibiki told her. "Every life is precious. Living is never a sin! If you can just see reason, you will realize that there is something worth living for! Don't let what others say keep you down!"

"Yeah... And you would know, wouldn't you? Because that's what you've always been doing!" Hibiki flinched at the Alca-Gear Shadow's words, the one moment her opponent needed as she activated the booster on her legs and sent a powerful kick at the Gungnir User, sending her flying into a building.

"Hibiki!" Joker shouted, relieved from the carbonization thanks to Fortuna. He brought his attention back to Shadow Hibiki, who charged at him with her fist reeled back. Joker brought his dagger up to block the expected punch, when Shadow Hibiki's booster activated on one of her legs and kicked him in the gut. The thief gagged at the kick, and was downed, affected by carbonization once more. "D-... Damn it..."

"These fists... only exist to destroy," Shadow Hibiki said, shooting herself upwards. "If I'm not allowed to exist, then nothing and no one should! All those who looked down on me... I'll kill them all!" As she shouted those words, she shot herself back down, fist in front of her, making her way towards Joker for the killing blow.

Just as it seemed to be the end, Hibiki made it to the thief first and got him out of the way, and the Alca-Gear Shadow crashed into the ground instead. The Gungnir User skidded across the ground, holding Joker protectively. "Are you okay, Joker?" she asked.

"I will be..." he answered.

The girl looked back at their opponent, a saddened look on her face. "Why is she saying all those horrible things?"

"That's because... everything she's saying... are what you've been hiding within yourself." Hibiki looked at him in shock.

"Wait, what I've been hiding? What do you mean?"

"Shadows are the versions of ourselves we keep down in our hearts. The true versions of us," Joker explained. "There have been many enemies we had faced where while the real version held one type of persona, their Shadows were more honest and truthful to their hearts and actions. From the honest kindness they have, to the deplorably horrible person they are, to just what they try to keep down because it is what they feel is a weak side of them. This Shadow is your honest self. The version of you that you hate to admit, but it is a part of you."

Hibiki was speechless at those words. Everything their enemy was spouting out... they were her inner thoughts? No... That couldn't be true!

On Tsubasa's end, the sakimori was facing off against Shadow Tsubasa to the best of her abilities, protecting Queen as best as she could.

"I'm a sakimori... I'm nothing more than a blade! As a blade, I will cut down anything that gets in my way! Even if they're my own allies!" Shadow Tsubasa shouted as they clashed swords.

"That's wrong! As a sakimori, it's my job to protect the innocent and weak!" Tsubasa exclaimed, knowing well from Queen that and the comms that her opponent was speaking her inner thoughts. "As a blade, I steel myself to protect everyone, and fight alongside my comrades!"

"And yet you still pointed your blades at the very people who fight with you," Shadow Tsubasa said. "You say you protect everyone, especially the weak. Then tell me, what happened back when you and Tachibana first met?"

Tsubasa widened her eyes a moment in hesitation, in which her opponent took to her advantage, as she summoned a second sword and struck the Ame no Habakiri User.

"Instead of fighting alongside her like a sword would to its master, you pushed her away. Simply because you didn't accept her as Kanade's replacement. You pushed her away, and even raised your blade against her, who didn't want to fight you. What sort of sakimori do you claim yourself to be?"

"I admit, I was wrong back then," Tsubasa said. "And I see now, that Tachibana is nothing like Kanade! And for that, I am grateful to have her as my comrade!"

"You're grateful you have her as a comrade, you say. When you never put your complete faith in them in the first place." Tsubasa raised a brow in confusion at those words. "Don't play dumb. Did you really forget why your father passed away?"

The Gear User glared at her Shadow upon bringing up that subject. "My father died a good, honorable man! He died to bring me back to my senses, and protect me from my grandfather!"

"Is that truly what you believe or have you been telling yourself that so you don't face the truth? Surely you heard from those thieves; I am you, the you you've rejected, and I know you don't believe you're the blade you claim to be. That Picora guy is right about one thing; you are a murderer, and a monster! And you will die alone like one!"

Hearing those words made Tsubasa's blood boil, as she shouted, "I am anything but either of those! And I am not alone!"

As she said that, Queen, recovered thanks to Noir, leapt over her and summoned out Johanna. The thief got on her Persona and smacked the Alca-Gear Shadow away with the back of it.

"Impeccable timing, Queen. Now come, let us defeat this lying foe," Tsubasa stated. Queen stayed silent, and simply looked at the bluenette. The swordswoman noticed the look and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Tsubasa... A Shadow never lies about who they or their real self truly are."

On Kanade's side, her situation was just as bad as Tsubasa's, as she and her Alca-Gear Shadow got into combat.

"That Tsubasa over there? She is not our Tsubasa! Knowing that, you still went and replaced our Tsubasa!" Shadow Kanade shouted.

"I know she isn't our Tsubasa, and I didn't replace her!" Kanade argued.

"So you say, and yet what have you done?! Not only that, but you went back to singing your songs, when all it's done is distract you from being strong! You were weak back then, and you will forever be weak! I know who I am, who you are, but do you?!"

Kanade gritted her teeth at those words. "Shut up! What the hell would you know?!"

"Kanade! Be careful!" Fox shouted, as Pixie just arrived by his side to heal him.

"This is getting dangerous..." the older thief said as she healed him up. "Those girls don't know what they're doing."

"That's why we have to help them." The pair then looked at each other and nodded, and split to do their business. Fox in assisting Kanade, and Pixie in healing another carbonized thief.

After managing to recover from the carbonization again, Joker rushed to Skull and Miku to heal his fellow thief.

'I hope Hibiki doesn't do or say anything she'll regret,' he thought. Before he left the brawler to heal the others, he advised her to accept her true self, but as things are, he can only hope she did exactly that.

The guy arrived at the scene of the battle and saw Miku fighting her dark side quite a distance away from him, while Skull lied on the ground in pain nearby, part of his body carbonized.

"Skull!" he called, rushing to his side.

"Joker! Man, am I glad to see you," Skull said, wincing in pain.

"Hold still. I'll get you healed up. Fortuna!" Joker summoned his healing Persona and relieved Skull of the carbonization.

"Thanks, man," Skull thanked, getting back on his feet and rushing to Miku's aid, while Joker went to the next comrade.

"Don't you get tired of always being weak? Of constantly being in the dark?" Shadow Miku questioned her counterpart, as the pair shot lasers at each other. "All this time, you were called Hibiki's sunshine, and yet there was never a time when you shone bright enough to help her."

"That's not true!" Miku retorted. "I had helped Hibiki, just as much as she helped me! I sealed away Solomon's Cane, I saved her when the other Hibiki was far into the dark, I helped stop the will of god and the world snake!"

"But was it all enough?" Shadow Miku questioned. "Even though you've gained so much power, can you really say you were always there for Hibiki when she needed it most? Can you truly say that you did everything you could to keep her happy, even during the darkest of times?"

"Of course I can!"

"Even if it meant joining the enemy at the risk of hurting the one you love?" Miku was taken aback by that. "During the times when you could've kept believing in Hibiki, when you could've stayed strong against the enemy, you instead got instantly swayed over to their side when promised to become an equal. What would've happened if those miracles never occurred? What would've happened if Hibiki didn't think of using the old Shenshoujing's laser to remove the gear off us? What would've happened if Hibiki didn't succeed in separating Shem-Ha from us? She may say we're her sunshine, but we're not. We're just moths attracted to her light!"

"No... That's not true at all!" Miku exclaimed.

"Is it really?! How many times have we tried to help our light, only for our help to end up hurting her instead? You really think shadows like us have any right whatsoever to be with the light?! The only thing people like us do is be attracted to the light, consume its brightness, and cause trouble for those we cherish! People like us have no right to coexist with the light!"

"NOOOO!" Miku cried, her mask unveiling her eyes, and her tears displaying the plea to stop saying such things. Her vulnerable state is what the Shadow was looking for, and she fired a powerful 'Annihilation' beam from her weapon, about to make a collision course with Miku.

"Eat this- death!" Kirika exclaimed, unleashing 'Kill Juliet' at her counterpart. The dark version spun into 'Calamity Ring: Tinkerbell', deflecting all the attacks before they hit her. "Death?!" Kirika looked shocked at how easily her attack was deflected.

"Sasuke!" Kong shouted, summoning his Persona to unleash a Ziodyne down onto Shadow Kirika, electrifying her and stopping her attack. Sasuke then took this time to leap forward and kick her hard in the gut, knocking her a good distance, before skidding to a halt. "Man your Shadow is one tough cookie," Kong then muttered, enduring the carbonization.

"We just have to defeat her, right- death?" Kirika asked, holding her scythe ready.

"Without killing her, yeah," Kong replied, seeing the Shadow Kirika charge at them. "Sasuke, boost us!" Sasuke responded, enveloping himself and Kirika in a green aura, boosting their evasive skills. Kirika picked up the infected thief and dodged to one side as Shadow Kirika slashed at the two. She then set the guy down and launched herself at her other self, unleashing 'Sealed Strike: Pinocchio'. Shadow Kirika responded with the same move, their additional arms countering each other.

"You rely on everyone too much- death," Shadow Kirika spoke up, startling her other self. "You are so desperate to do everything to keep them safe, but in truth, it's because you are a lonely girl who can't do anything but run away without your friends- death."

"Wha-What are you talking about- death?!" Kirika demanded, only to get caught off guard and get stabbed a couple times by her dark counterpart, causing her to fall to the ground. She landed on her feet and additional arms, only to push herself away as her Shadow pursued, crashing her arms into the ground, cracking it.

She kept pursuing her, thrusting her arms endlessly at her as she kept a distance, all the while hearing Shadow Kirika continue to speak, "You were always a crybaby- death! Without them, you run away- death! You try to act like the elder sibling to Shirabe, but you are using her- death! Same goes for Maria, Serena, and all those other girls- death!"

"That's not true- death!" Kirika exclaimed, only for her footing to slip, almost causing her to fall, and saw her Alca-Gear Shadow self find an opening to strike. Fortunately, Pixie arrived in time and hastily healed Kong. The moment he was relieved of the carbonized effect, the monkey-masked thief unsheathed his blades, and blocked both of Shadow Kirika's arms with his blades. The real Kirika was able to regain herself physically, but she was very shaken up by what her Alca-Gear Shadow self was saying.

"You would do anything to keep them close to you- death. You would even kill yourself if it meant keeping them alive, because you feel your life is meaningless without them- death!" Shadow Kirika taunted.

"No. That's not true- death. That's not even remotely true-death!" Kirika exclaimed. "Kong, why is she saying this- death?! This isn't who I am- death!"

Kong grimaced, before kicking Shadow Kirika in the gut, and pulled out his crossbow. He fired at her, and landed a couple arrows at her, until she transformed her arms to her scythe and blocked all the other shots. Once they had a good distance from her, Kong answered his partner's question. "I get the feeling that your Shadow might be telling the truth."

"What? What are you saying- death?!" Kirika exclaimed.

"Shadows are the true version of ourselves. The part of us that we lock away and refuse to admit. That's why... There's no way your Shadow can ever tell a lie about you."

Kirika widened her eyes at this revelation, refusing to admit to the truth. "I..."

To Shirabe and Panther's side, the Shul Shagana User was doing everything she could to protect her partner thief, deflecting her opponent's buzzsaws with her own.

"There is no one in this world you can ever trust aside from Kiri-chan... That's what you've always envied about her," Shadow Shirabe said.

"What do you mean?" the original Shirabe questioned.

"Exactly as I say. Since you were young, you claim you couldn't get close to any of the other kids because you were shy or anti-sociable, but we know that's not true. You just couldn't get yourself to trust the other kids, because for all you know, they could be like those scientists. Kiri-chan was okay, since she was the only one who even spoke to us, and the only one who is blunt with her emotions. Everyone else? You never bothered putting your complete trust into. Not even to Maria-san or Serena."

"That's not true!" Shirabe denied.

"Is it really? Remind me, what happened the day you initiated Dr. Ver's plan to completely stop the moon. You had doubts on Maria-san's trust in Dr. Ver and went against order!"

Shirabe knew she was referring to when the Noise launched an attack on the aircraft carrier and retorted, "Wrong! I did it so Maria-san didn't have to suffer! So she wouldn't see innocent people die for a cause we believed was good!"

"Then how about when you went against orders in SONG? You and Kiri-chan were told to remain on standby when the Autoscorers first attacked, and instead disobeyed when you should've remained."

"Are you telling me to I should've let Chris-senpai die?!"

"Should it matter? As long as Kiri-chan is there, no one else matters!" Shadow Shirabe shouted, splitting her compartments via 'Reverse Gamma Style: Reckless Swastika Finish' for four buzzsaws and charged at her light counterpart.

"You're wrong!" Shirabe unfolded her compartments in 'Gamma Style: Swastika Kasha' for a pair of waldo arms and countered against the Alca-Gear Shadow's attack. "Doing that would make me no different from Dr. Ver! Other than that, exactly how am I envious of Kiri-chan?!"

"Because she believes in the good of people too easily. While you're always in doubt, Kiri-chan is the exact opposite of you. How do you think she's able to get along so well with the other Gear Users, while you're only comfortable around her? You never have any trust in people, and you know why? Because of what happened to our parents when we were young!" Shirabe raised a brow in confusion at those words. "You may have forgotten, or think you did, but I remember it. Our parents were murdered in a car crash. We were lucky enough to survive and were taken in by FIS."

"Yes, that I remember. They told me when they took me in."

"And if I tell you they were the ones responsible?" The Shul Shagana User took a pause at that. "You've had little faith in others, and you never realize why? You never consciously question how conveniently those people found you and took you in? It's because FIS was the one who killed out parents!" At those words, Shirabe widened her eyes in shock, distracted just long enough for her counterpart to launch her Armed Gear forward, unleashing a pair of shockwaves in 'Beta Style: Spiral Wave' that hit the girl. "The reason we lost our parents, our memories, and everything about ourselves... The reason FIS found us so easily... It's because they were the ones responsible! All to get their hands on the next Fine!"

Shirabe painfully got back up. "That... can't be... Mom and the others would never-!"

"How much longer are you going to suppress those memories? Remember it!" Shadow Shirabe combined her Armed Gear into a giant buzzsaw and came at Shirabe with 'Beta Style: Giant Saw Judgement'.

Shirabe could only watch with wide eyes, as the attack neared her. She was tackled away from the attack by Panther, who was recovered from the carbonization thanks to Joker, and skidded to a stop.

"You okay?!" she asked Shirabe.

"Y-Yeah..." she answered. "Just shaken up. Shadows must really like to mess with you back in your world, don't they?"

Panther looked at her in confusion. "How do you mean?"

"That Alca-Gear Shadow... has been saying nothing but lies, and is trying to get in my head. If this is how the Shadows in your world were like, it must've been annoying."

The red thief went silent, realizing what Shirabe was saying, and the dangerous direction she was going. "Shirabe-chan... A Shadow may pull stunts to bring our guard down... but they never tell a lie."

As for Serena and Mona, the girl did everything she could to keep her dark counterpart at bay, while waiting for someone to come and heal Mona up.

"Out of all the Gear Users, you're the weakest of them all. You think having a strong heart is good enough? Where was such strength when our sister died protecting us from that Karma Noise?!" Shadow Serena questioned.

"I know I'm inexperienced compared with everyone else, but I am not weak!" she retorted. "Back then, I didn't have a choice but to risk using my Swan Song, if it meant saving my sister!"

"And yet she still died... because we were too weak-willed!" Serena looked at her counterpart in bafflement at the claim. "You say you didn't have a choice but to use the song to stop Nephilim, when in truth, you weren't strong enough to stop that monster in the first place. And worse, you had only delayed the inevitable! You almost got us killed because of your weakness!"

"No... No I did not!" Serena shouted, tossing her Armed Gear up at her Alca-Gear Shadow. The Shadow only tilted her head to the side, avoiding the blade as it continued on up. The dagger then stopped in mid-air and descended down on the enemy via 'Xana Tears'.

Shadow Serena sensed the attack coming and simply swiped her own dagger behind her, deflecting the attack. That was just what the original Serena wanted, as she followed up by summoning two more copies of her Armed Gear and tossed them in the air. The two daggers spun and circled around each other, as though creating a portal of sort. With 'Ignis Fatuus', the portal then rained down multiple blue shooting stars right at the Alca-Gear Shadow. Shadow Serena responded by leaping towards the portal, gathering energy from the moon above to create purple balls of light around her. She then brought her Armed Gear forward, signaling the light to shoot towards Serena's attack via 'Warm Lunalight'. Not only did the dark counterpart's attack blocked off of the light counterpart's, some of the remaining lights even made their way to the real Serena, and struck her hard.

"Kya!" Serena cried out as she fell.

Wincing in pain, she looked up and saw the foe standing before her, Armed Gear in hand and raised. "And now, because of your weakness, you will die!" Just as she was about to bring the weapon down, though, a burst of wind pushed her back.

"Not if I have a say about it!" Mona exclaimed, cured from his carbonization thanks to Noir.

"Mona-chan!" Serena called, relieved for her partner's condition.

"You okay, Serena?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm okay."

"You would've been better, if you weren't so weak," Shadow Serena shouted. "And yet, here you are... Getting help from a cat. How much weaker could you possibly get!"

"I am not weak!" Serena denied.

Her strong denial worried Mona, as he knew very well the consequence in denying one's own true self. "Serena! Be careful with what you say and feel about this!" he advised.

"But, she's saying all these hurtful things! Things that are not in the least bit true at all!"

"I know, but you can't let those words get to you. Especially when they're the truth." When Mona said that, Serena turned to him, bewildered with those words.

"What... What do you...?"

"Listen to me very carefully... A Shadow is a person's truest, honest self. While these Alca-Gear Shadows are Picora's cognitions, they are also powered up by your Shadow! As such, to say that what she said isn't true... That is not true!"

Serena didn't know what to say about what she had just heard, nor did she know what to think of it. Did she really see herself as weak deep down? Even after everything since meeting the Maria of this world? No... There's no way that was possible!

Back with Chris, she managed to avoid a headshot from Shadow Chris thanks to her helmet and resumed her gunfight with the Alca-Gear Shadow.

"Music does nothing but destroy everything we care about! If our song only exists to destroy, then we should never have gotten involved in music in the first place! You know this, and yet you still sing!" she shouted.

"Because you're wrong! Music didn't destroy anything at all!" Chris retorted.

"You're denying the past? Denying all the pain you have caused because of your 'love' towards music?" That made the Ichaival User take a pause. "The fact that you're singing your song only shows that you don't care of the damage you've done in the past. That you are nothing more than a monster!"

"No! That's not in the least bit true at all!"

"Oh, is it? You were used by Fine to summon Noise, you were fooled by Carol into going Ignite and gave her exactly what she wanted, and you even attacked your own friends and the people you were supposed to protect!"

Chris knew her Shadow self was referring to when she had to switch to Dr. Ver's side to get Solomon's Cane, and when she shot Stephan's leg off to save him from being carbonized. "I did those for a good reason!" she reasoned.

"And having a 'good reason' means it's right? You know better than to be that naive. Or can it be that you believe you are the exception because of all the shit you've gone through? You're not just a monster; you're an immature brat!"

That ticked Chris off big time. "Shut up!" She summoned a large crossbow-like sniper rifle with a targeting scope and fired a powerful shot at her enemy via 'Red Hot Blaze'.

Shadow Chris responded to the attack by summoning out her own sniper rifle and used 'Red Hot Rain' to fire a laser along the attack, causing it to explode before it hit her.

"The fact that you're denying what you really are truly says it all. You think bygones can be bygones so easily, and yet when confronted with it, look at yourself now!

"I said 'shut up'! You don't know a single thing about me!"

"Except I do know, more than you would ever think."

"Lies! You can say whatever you want, you can act like you're me, but you're not! Not one bit!"

This caught Shadow Chris's attention, as a small smirk formed on her face and she tilted her head. "Oh, I'm sorry. Care to repeat that~?"

"Sins can never be erased so easily, and yet here you are, acting as though everything you've done is forgotten. Do you truly think humans can forget and forgive so easily?" Shadow Maria questioned Maria, as the pair locked blades with each other.

"So you say... except my comrades have all accepted me for who I am!" she retorted.

"Your comrades? And what of everyone else? What of the people who once admired you, only to find out who you truly are? What of the people whose loved ones had passed because you were too stupid to realize you were in the wrong?!" When Shadow Maria said that, Maria's mind flashed back to when she first revealed herself to the world as a Gear User of Gungnir, as well as the innocent children who died from Dr. Ver's hands. "Do you really think they believe the false report so easily after seeing you control the Noise? Had it ever crossed your mind that the family of those kids had been searching for them, not knowing what became of them?"

"That's in the past! Plus, those families should already be compensated for their loss!"

"And you think that is enough?" Shadow Maria kicked her light counterpart away. "You think if you continue fighting as you are now, you'll make up for the grave sins you have committed? No matter the amount of good you do, your crimes will never be erased!"

"What would you ever know?! You say all these things as if you had been in my shoes... Even if you are my Shadow, don't mistake it for us being the same!" Maria shouted.

Like with Chris, Shadow Maria looked at Maria with a small smirk. "We are not the same, you say? Please, elaborate more on what you mean~"

"You can't be me! There's no way that is true!" Hibiki shouted at her Alca-Gear Shadow, blocking her every moves.

"Oh? And why is that?" Shadow Hibiki dared ask.

"Because I never want to hurt anyone! Only if it's last resort! These fists... They're only used to connect with others; not for destruction!"

"And yet, how many times have you attempted to connect with your enemies? How many times have you ended up killing off the people you so desired to connect with?"

"No! I didn't kill any of them!"

"Deny it all you want. Even if they were the ones responsible for their own downfall, it does not change the fact that you, especially, also played a part in them."

"You're wrong! You don't know anything!"

"Oh, but I do. After all, I am-"

"No! No you're not!"

"I am not a monster or a murderer!" Tsubasa shouted, clashing blades against Shadow Tsubasa. Queen was trapped in a cage of swords that the Alca-Gear Shadow had called upon via 'One Thousand Tears'. The blades were so close to each other, there was barely room for Queen to move without accidentally cutting herself.

"Still denying it, even after Queen told you that we Shadows never lie about who we really are? Aren't you so desperate to hide your true self," Shadow Tsubasa said with a smirk.

"Lies!" Tsubasa shouted, distancing herself from the Alca-Gear Shadow. "No matter what you say, you are not-!"

"Don't finish it, Tsubasa!" Queen shouted, interrupting her. "I know it's hard to accept but-"

"Stay out of this!" Shadow Tsubasa stabbed the ground with her blade and rushed toward Queen. Cutting through the ground, she then slashed upward, creating a blue fireball that rushed towards the thief.

"Queen!" Tsubasa rushed to her partner's aid and, in a 'Sudden Flash', cut the attack in two, having the flame go past the two girls. "You claim to be me, and yet you're attacking someone who clearly is unable to fight at the moment!"

"This coming from the girl who did the same? It's even more ironic that you're telling yourself this."

"Wrong! No matter how much you know about me, you're-!"

"You know nothing about me!" Kanade shouted at her Shadow self.

"So you say, except I do know, for I am you!" Shadow Kanade retorted, an evil smirk on her face, especially with the route her other self was leaning towards.

"No! You are not! You're-!"

"We are nothing but Hibiki's shadow, attracted by the sunlight, but never to actually reach her. And even so, after everything that happened, you still think there is a chance for you to be with the unreachable sun?" Shadow Miku questioned. "You know as well as I do, no matter what we do, we can never be with Hibiki!"

"Shut up! You don't know that! Hibiki and I are-"

"-never meant to be. No matter what we do to get close to her, the distance between us will never lessen."

"That is not true! Stop talking like you're me! You're-"

"You cannot handle being lonely- death!" Shadow Kirika exclaimed. "Your life- our life- is worth nothing if you're lonely- death! This world means nothing if you're lonely- death! You're too scared to be by yourself, with nothing but pain and misery to torment you- death!" She charged forward, about to swing her scythe at the vulnerable Kirika, who barely blocked and held her ground to her power.

"I... I don't like this- death," Kirika muttered. "Seeing this side of me... this lonely, scared girl. I hate it! I hate seeing this side of me! I wish... I wish it wasn't a part of-"

"You've always have so little faith in other people. The Phantom Thieves are no different," Shadow Shirabe said. "In fact, you have such little faith, it will only be a matter of time before you start losing your trust in Kiri-chan."

"That is not in the least bit true!" Shirabe exclaimed.

Shadow Shirabe didn't stop there, as she then said, "Poor Kiri-chan... What would she do if you ever stop seeing her as even a friend?"

"Stop it! That will never happen! Stop talking like you know it will happen, when you're not even-!"

"Compared to the other Gear Users, you're inferior to them all! Even if you have a strong connection to Veigue, even if you can do Ignite like your sister and her friends, no matter what you do, you will always be weak compared to them!" Shadow Serena exclaimed.

"You're wrong! Stop saying such horrible things!" Serena cried out.

"You know I'm right. After all, we are one and the same!"

"Don't say that! That's a lie! We are not the same! You're not-!"

"PERSONA!" The Phantom Thieves all shouted at the top of their lungs. Once their Personas were summoned, they each did their signature Showtime Attack at the Alca-Gear Shadows, distancing them from the Gear Users.

"Stop running away from the truth!" Joker shouted. Not just at Hibiki, but also in the comms to the rest of the girls.

"The truth? What are you talking about? These things are only telling-!"

"We've already told you the Shadows never tell a lie," Queen interrupted Tsubasa.

"Shadows are the honest part of ourselves, and often times, the part of us that we refuse to accept," Noir said.

"However, it does not change the fact that it is a part of us," Fox added.

"That's right. That's why, rather than refusing what is the most horrible of truth, we have to face them head on. You need to face your Shadows, your hidden darkness! No matter how hard it is!" Mona told them.

"But... They..." Miku could only say, not wanting to accept that the Shadows were truly their inner selves, yet at the same time couldn't deny it.

It wasn't just her; the rest of the Gear Users felt the same, as they looked down, conflicted with the situation at hand.

One thief ran a hand through his hair in irritation. "Jeez, you girls and your Shadows. You're all just mixed bags of nuts! For example, Kirika!" Kong shouted, pointing at the Igalima User, who jumped slightly in surprise at the call-out. "What's wrong with being lonely?! You act as if it is a sin you shouldn't have. I've had many times when I was lonely. I'm a total otaku, after all. It comes with the trade!"

"But... if what you say about Shadows is true, then you can see what I am like if I am lonely- death," Kirika stated. "You know my backstory- death! You know what I almost did to myself when I realized I wasn't Fine- death! I'm so horrible of a person, I would kill myself to prevent myself from being lonely- death! I hate myself for thinking that way- death!"

"You're right, that is extreme. But it shows just how much you care for those around you." He turned to the crumpled character on the ground, and reached out a hand to her. "A person who refuses to be lonely like you just shows how much you care for those closest. It shows that you are a person anyone is glad to have around, because you are not one to abandon them. You know the importance of having people around, and keeping them close to you. So stop your denial streak, and appreciate the fact that you don't like dancing alone!"

Kirika looked startled at Kong's words, not realizing that he looked at it from a different angle. Instead of seeing how lonely she was, he only saw that she wanted friends around her, and shouldn't be ashamed of such a feeling. It made her feel a bit better about herself, and it made her find the strength to get back up. She took Kong's hand, and he pulled her up onto her feet, as they saw the Shadow Kirika come at them with her multi-bladed scythe, unleashing several boomerang blades at them. They parried the attacks together, ready to fight the Alca-Gear Shadow head-on.

"The only reason why you have such little faith in others is only because you're cautious. I don't know what you went through, but I know what it's like to be isolated," Panther said to Shirabe. "You don't know who to trust, who you can call a friend, and so made everyone your enemy. The only exception to that is someone who spoke out to you first, someone who isn't afraid to speak out her thoughts to you when no one else did. But, it's also because of that someone, your world expanded, didn't it?"

"My world... expanded?" Shirabe repeated in a questioned tone.

"That's right. Through that someone, you've met other people whom you can call friend. And though you are still cautious around them, it is only because you don't know them well enough. Because you want to protect your special someone at the very first sign of trouble. There is absolutely nothing wrong in being cautious to protect the people close to you, instinctively or otherwise! That is why..." She held out a hand to Shirabe. "If it's for a friend, it's okay to be overly cautious. Just let them do all the trusting instead, then."

Shirabe was speechless at the blonde's words. After hearing what her Alca-Gear Shadow had said, she assumed Panther would say otherwise, especially when, deep down, Shirabe also had a bit of suspicions on the thieves. They were from another world, one where Noise don't exist, and instead encounter problems with adults and other troublemakers in the worse way possible. Despite that, Panther didn't let it bother her, and encouraged Shirabe that it was okay to be cautious, especially if it was for her friend. The Shul Shagana user took in a breath and exhaled, her mind now clear of such worries.

The pair then saw Shadow Shirabe, recovered from the Showtime, coming at them with 'Sigma Style: Giant Blade's Fall'. The pair leapt up to avoid the attack, determined to get back to fighting the Alca-Gear Shadow.

"So what if you think of yourself as a monster?!" Queen demanded Tsubasa, her fists pushing back against Shadow Tsubasa's blades, the enemy who recovered faster from the surprise attack. "Your grief for the loss of your Kanade made you point your sword at Hibiki! You got brainwashed into not saving your father from being murdered by your grandfather! There is no shame in blaming yourself for what you did!"

"I... No!" Tsubasa cried out, crippling to the floor. "I... I can't be that person anymore! I allowed my hatred... my weakness... I can't be the person that allowed Kanade and my father to die! I can't!"

Queen looked back at her, giving Shadow Tsubasa to pull back and toss some more of her blades at the thief. She saw it coming, uppercut one blade into the air, and kicked the other into the wall nearby. The first blade spun upwards, came back down, and Queen caught it. She came to Tsubasa's side, and stabbed the sword into the ground at her knees, causing her to look up at her.

"Stop denying your true self!" Queen barked at her. "You think it's easy to try and be more honest with yourself, it's not! The me before I became a Phantom Thief was an obedient girl, just listening to adults, never stepped up to save the people close to me, and always do as told. Had it not been for others, Guren would've been blamed for something she had no connection to!" She was referring to what Kamoshida did, and what Makoto never did to save her. "Do I deny that person? No! Even when I became true to myself, and decided to make my own path, I can't let go of the fact that I was weak and worthless, and nothing but a teacher's pet, and Guren and Haneru bluntly told me at one point." She sensed danger approaching and turned to see the Shadow perform 'Blue Flash' at them. Queen charged forward and called Johanna out, unleashing a nuclear blast that blocked the attack. However, in the process, it sent Queen flying off of her Persona, falling onto her back.

"But you and I are different!" Tsubasa stated. "Because of me, and what I couldn't do, my father, and Kanade, both died. How can I allow myself to accept a murderer and a monster like that?!"

The Alca-Gear Shadow sent a dagger at Queen, who avoided it, but not fully. The dagger hit her shadow on the ground behind her, and she became paralyzed, under the effect of 'Shadow Weaving'. "I won't let you avoid me any more!" Shadow Tsubasa declared. "I will be the murderer and the monster! I will kill your friend, and you will be helpless to stop her!" She leapt up high, summoning a gigantic sword to unleash 'Heaven's Wrath'.

"You and I are the same!" Queen told Tsubasa. "It's okay to accept the past mistakes, and the results of what they created. But ignoring who we were is not going to help us in the slightest. Use what you did wrong as a way to keep being who you are now! Use the bad to create your own justice!"

Tsubasa's eyes lit up, looking to Queen, who was helpless as the large sword was coming at her, pushed by the Alca-Gear Shadow. 'Use the bad...to create your own justice.' The words echoed in her ear, and it gave her the strength to move again.

Before the blade struck Queen, Tsubasa got in front and blocked the impact with her twin blades, causing shockwaves to explode from the force between the offense and defense. Shadow Tsubasa looked surprised she even made it there. Tsubasa was being pushed back, but thanks to her quick footwork, she unfolded a blade on one of her legs and managed to slice the dagger holding Queen down, allowing her to hold from behind as the two put their strength together to fight against the attack. They struggled for a moment, before both girls roared in a war cry, and they destroyed the giant sword, causing the Shadow Tsubasa to fall.

"I... hate to see me become a monster like my grandfather, or the one too weak to save Kanade or my father," Tsubasa admitted again. "However, I can't just ignore this side of me. I have to allow these titles that I shunted aside to be part of who I am, right? And I can use them as a means to be better than the person I was!"

Queen smiled at this, happy to see she had acknowledged her own true self.

"This Shadow makes me think of the portrait I made of you," Fox stated, watching as Shadow Kanade stood back up, recovering from his Showtime. "The one that questions which version is the true version of you. I think I have a good name for it."

"Is this really the time to name a picture?!" Kanade demanded.

"There's always a time for art to be given a name. I shall call it 'Reflection of Twin Truths'."

"... Huh?"

"You told me about how you lost your Tsubasa. I also know that the one here lost this world's version of you. While foolish to believe that any version of someone dear to you could replace the one you had before, I understand the temptations of wanting to accept that version. I did, at one point, after all." To him, he was thinking back to the time Dr. Maruki warped his cognitive reality, placing him in a time where he and his sensei were still master and student, and that the man was not evil in the slightest. "I myself have been tempted by the chance to have a false version of the one I once knew. It may be a foolish belief, but I feel that both the false and the truth are one in the same. Tsubasa could very well believe the same thing; that you, and the one she knew, are one in the same."

"So you are saying she replaced me?!" the Alca-Gear Shadow questioned, charging at Fox and Kanade. "I am not her Kanade's replacement! And she isn't a replacement of my Tsubasa!" Her spear clashed with Fox's katana, the latter parrying each blow she unleashed.

"I am not saying you should forget that they are not the true versions of the ones you knew! They are of different timelines, and different results. Like drawing two pieces of art that are entirely different, both can start at the very same spot on the canvas. In other words, at their core, and at one point, they are the same!" Fox ducked underneath a thrust, and slashed right past Shadow Kanade, who fell to her knees, with the real Kanade watching her. "And as for her singing making her weak, her duets with Tsubasa being false dreams, there is no such thing. Music is art, and art comes in many forms. Your music, as I have heard, as well as what I have witnessed in seeing you with Tsubasa, are all genuine and powerful. They display the emotions of strength and true beauty. You may feel you might be weak, but one must have weakness in order to display true strength!"

That last one struck Kanade. To display true strength... she must have weakness? So then... it was okay to be weak? Her mind then thought back to when she first fused with another relic, and was the first Gear User to wield a second relic. Alone, she was weak; she nearly gave in to her inner darkness, to the relic. However, it was because of that, Hibiki and Maria stood by her, and helped her control Brisingamen. Now feeling confident in accepting the weakness she held, the regret she had buried deep within herself, Kanade looked on, a determined gaze in her eyes.

Mona pulled out his slingshot, and sniped the daggers the recuperated Shadow Serena tossed at him and Serena. "If you think you can't help because you are weak, you are dead wrong! I know, cause I felt that same thing, and still do!"

"So you understand what I mean," Shadow Serena stated, unleashing a 'Silky Ray' at the pair, in which Morgana held his scimitar up to block as best as he could with his small body. "I know I am weak, and anything I can do, others can do better. What can I do better than others? Nothing! I was special in my own world, as I was alone and able to fight without anyone who is stronger than me to show up! When they do, I feel inferior! That's why I cannot get over my weakness!"

"You still can... be part of the team, regardless! I mean, I thought I was able to be of great use to the Phantom Thieves. I knew about the Metaverse and Shadows. I knew how to be a Phantom Thief. And yet, my role was taken by people like Pixie, Lioness, and Oracle. All I can do was turn into a car. I wasn't even human. And when I tried to fight by myself, I was useless! But..." Once the attack ended, Mona charged in with his scimitar, as the Alca-Gear Shadow sent more daggers at him, guiding them about as he parried them one after another. "I still have a purpose! I still have a place where I belong with all of my friends! They are like a family to me, and they accepted me as part of the team! And I've had my times to shine, and so have you, regardless of how strong the others are! As long as I believe in myself, I can still help, even if I am weak!"

Serena was touched by Mona's speech. Even though he knew he was weak, he also knew he still had a purpose on his team, a role to play for them. Thinking about it now, it was the same for her. When she first met the Maria of this world, she seemed so different from the Maria she knew, mainly because she was older than the last time she saw her sister. When she met Maria's team, she felt out of place, and upon seeing their strength, without a purpose. However, that didn't stop any of them from opening up to her, making her comfortable and be a part of their group. Maria especially did everything she could so the two would have more sisterly moments together, even went as far as to get her away from FIS when they planned to use her to lure out Nephilim. In the end, though, because of her love for her sister, because she wanted to put an end to her friends' suffering under the hands of Dr. Adolf and his Nephilim, she gained the power to go into X-Drive form, healed her friends, and destroyed Nephilim for good. Compared to the rest of the team, she may be weak. But... even she has a role only she can play.

"You can say what you want about your weaknesses, but having that as an excuse to kill your other self is unnecessary!" Noir exclaimed, her axe head bound by Shadow Maria's whipsword, engaging the pair in a tug-of-war.

"You think I don't have a right to end my life?! I can never atone for my past actions, nor can I forgive myself for all the death and bloodshed I have done!" the Alca-Gear Shadow barked, causing Maria to shut her eyes and cover her ears from seeing and hearing her copy say such things.

"Who says you have to?!" Noir's words made her open her eyes again. "I certainly am not forgiving myself for many things! You're the Shadow of Maria, so you at least remember me telling you about my past recently!" Both did recall during the time in the cafeteria with Haru, Mona, and Serena. "I wanted to save my father from his corrupted heart, and I joined the thieves because we were after the same goal! However, I was inexperienced, and none of us knew any better, as my father was killed by another person. I may have not been fully involved, but I can't forgive myself for not fully saving my father."

"That was only one life you couldn't save!" the Shadow retorted, whipping her whipsword as she brought her weapon back, before preparing 'Serenade', charging at Noir. "I was responsible for the death of MANY people! That's totally different!"

Noir charged right at Shadow Maria, the two clashing blades with each other over and over again, like a dance of death. "There are other things I can't forgive myself, either!" the thief exclaimed through their fight. "Like the fact that there was so much corruption the Phantom Thieves and I couldn't stop before defeating the man who caused the murder of my father and many others! Or when we faced a powerful foe that was too strong for us, I just gave up on fighting against it! I almost got manipulated into a reality that had all my desires, but at the cost of forgetting the person I was proud of! Had it not been for Joker and the others, I would have not been able to save anyone, and I could never forgive myself for my own weaknesses!"

Noir backed off from a swing of the Shadow's blade, pulled out her rocket launcher, and shot her point-blank, causing the two to be forced away from each other from the explosion, the Phantom Thief skidding to a halt next to Maria, who was listening to everything she had been saying.

"Even if I can't forgive myself for my weakness, though, I still fight," Noir continued, "All I can do is embrace the fact that had it not been for my friends, I would've given up, or gave into my grief or desires. My mistakes in the past are still there, and there's no changing what I have done. All I can do is accept it, learn from what my friends helped me through, and use it as a way to move onward. I'll own my errors, and use my weakness to be stronger!"

Maria didn't know what to say to this. Even though Noir had given up on reality and herself at one point, here the girl was, still fighting as a thief instead of cowering away from what had happened. If she, a rookie thief, can move on from the greatest mistake she had made, then what was holding Maria back from doing the same?

"Shut up! What would you ever know?!" Shadow Maria demanded, tossing her Armed Gear at Noir in 'Empress Rebellion'.

Her conviction reignited, Maria stood back on her two feet, and countered her Alca-Gear Shadow's attack with 'Silver Gospel'. Shadow Maria was baffled by the counter, and her weapon reverted back to its sword form.

"I can't run or hide from the sins I have committed, and I don't know if I can ever move on from them or forgive myself for my foolishness. However, that doesn't mean I will continue to run from them. I'll proudly shoulder my burdens to my grave, and give a proper apology to the many people I have caused trouble to!"

Noir smiled at Maria's newfound dedication.

Shadow Chris recovered from the Showtime surprise and fired a 'Mega Deth Fuga' at Pixie and Chris. The thief of the pair called her scythe back for her sniper rifle, took a knee, and sniped two shots at the rockets, causing them to explode. Chris endured the shockwave of the explosion, before looking back at Pixie, who got back up again and glared at the two red-armored girls.

"You know, I am sick and tired of your tsundere personality, right now," Pixie said to Chris.

"What?!" she questioned exasperatedly. "I am not being a tsundere! I am nothing like her!"

"Except that Shadow is a part of you; the you who still believes that music is a destructive force of nature," Pixie retorted, walking towards Chris. "The damage it has done in your life, not to mention how you used said music to causing untold damage, it proves that deep down, you know that it can be used to do tons of harm, and you think that's a bad thing."

"You don't think I know what I did with my singing before?!" Chris barked angrily, pointing a gun at Pixie. "I'm not the same person as I was then! I not a monster like that 'fake' is telling me!"

"But you are an immature brat, just like she pointed out. You are clearly showing that right now."

"SHUT UP!" Chris's hand quivering, almost tempted to pull the trigger.

"Oh? You plan to pull the trigger on another person close to you? Is this also all for a 'good cause', too?" Shadow Chris questioned, slowly recovering from the Showtime surprise. Her words caused Chris to lock up, realizing what she is doing, and feeling her whole being fall apart.

Pixie reached out, smacked away the gun out of Chris's hand with one hand, before slapping Chris's face with the other. Before she could fall over, the adult Persona user grabbed her by one arm, and in a sudden moment, pulled her into an embrace.

"You, of all people, know the good and evil sides to music. You have experienced both ends, and try too hard to deny that you might create more hard choices with your singing's destructive power," Pixie told her, her tone serious and angry, yet gentle. "As a doctor myself, I know that medicine can be used in many ways, too. From treating a person's ailment, to have to make a mercy kill to prevent a patient from dealing with so much pain. It is never easy when I chose to do something like that, knowing it will cause harm, and cause those close to them to hate me because I had to makes a judged call. But I accept the fact that I have caused pain and suffering with my medical skills, as much as I have done all I could to heal. Your music is no different."

Chris didn't think about how Pixie's medical skills might've been related to music. She had known people like Pixie, especially those who rescue those during warring times in her past, who did everything they could to save a person's life, and knew that sometimes, they had to make a hard decision like she did. It hurt her to make those actions, and deep down, even if people forgave her, she still felt like a monster for making such actions. Tears began to well up in her eyes as she asked, "Are you telling me... that I have the right to think of music as destruction? That it's okay to be a monster?"

"How you view yourself is up to you," Pixie answered, pulling back from Chris, and crouching down to her level. "But you have to accept every bit of you, everything you have done, and everything you might do in the future. And it starts with accepting that darkness you hate; the one the Shadow represents."

Chris wiped away the tears from her eyes, and nodded in understanding, before they turned together at the Shadow Chris, who gritted her teeth, and readied her arrow guns for another assault.

Shadow Miku also stood back up, and glared at Skull and Miku, especially the thief. "It doesn't matter what we do... In the end, someone like us can never-!"

"Shut your trap, bright light! We all know all that shit is just half the truth!" Skull called out.

"What would you know?! You were never here to know the crimes I have made against my friends!" Shadow Miku barked back. "The actions I chose that I thought was doing right, only for it to be used against my friends! It's HER fault for not admitting the truth that is deep within her!" She pointed her weapon at Miku, who clasped her ears and shut her eyes, wishing not to be accused of this.

"I told you to shut your mouth! You think I don't know what it feels?! I have effed my life up over and over because I was doing the right thing!" Skull barked. "I had my leg broken because I was trying to do the right thing! Noir's dad died because we got used by people, thinking we were doing something for everyone, and were labeled as criminals because of it! Hell, we even made a freakin' different reality because someone deceived us, and I was brainwashed into believing in it!"

Miku looked at Skull, as he glared at her Alca-Gear Shadow. "Me and everyone of the Phantom Thieves were taken advantage of, sometimes even turned against each other, or had the populace we tried to protect turn against us! And who knows if that'll happen again. It's not fun to think that way, but after the past, we know it might happen. But we're prepared for those consequences, because we have each other's back!"

"But my actions almost killed Hibiki, along with my friends! You don't know what would happen if you did the same!" Shadow Miku barked. "You never turned against your friends, and those closest to you!"

"To hell with that, cause I DO know!" Skull retorted. "I was brainwashed into a reality that I wanted, but our leader, Lioness, and a couple others did all they could to snap me and my friends back to reality again! I hesitated to give up that life, but I'm glad I did. If I didn't, I wouldn't have made it to save our leader's life when it counted. And guess what? He knew we would come, because he knew who we were deep down, even if we didn't know for a while. And that's why I know that even if I was turned against them, they would smack be back straight again, 'cause they need me! Hibiki's the same to you!"

While Shadow Miku looked irritated at his words, the real Miku was in awe. She really didn't expect words like these from him, especially since, and she was shameful to admit it, he wasn't exactly a bright person in the slightest. Then again, all he was doing was just speaking from the heart, in his own straightforward way. It was almost Hibiki-like to see him say such things, which were honest and truthful to her. If Hibiki was in this position, she had to admit to her fears, and go at them; the shortest and quickest route forward.

Snapped out of her sorry state, Miku wiped the tears away from her eyes and joined Skull. "He's right..." she spoke. "Hibiki knows me better than that. No matter what happens, she will always believe in me, just as I do in her!"

As soon as Shadow Hibiki recovered from Joker's Showtime, she instantly went to attack the leader of the Phantom Thieves, who blocked and parried her attacks with both his knife and pistol.

"Don't divert your eyes away from the truth, Hibiki!" he told the real Hibiki. "Just because your Shadow is saying all these things you don't want to hear, things you want to disagree with, doesn't mean you should turn away from it!"

"But... My fists..." Hibiki spoke.

"They're for connecting people, I know. And remind me, how did you use that fist to reach out to me?" The Gungnir User looked up at the defending thief upon those words. "Deep down, you feel isolated because of the label many people placed onto you. You know that, but don't want to accept it. And likewise, deep down, you wish those people would just disappear because they don't know you as well as you want them to know you. I should know, because I felt the same way!"

"How could you possibly know what I've gone through?! You're leader of the Phantom Thieves, you're surrounded by friends who have your back and never betray you!" Shadow Hibiki questioned.

"You're Hibiki's Shadow, aren't you? Then shouldn't you know about how the Phantom Thieves first came to be?" Hibiki recalled the conversation they had at the helicopter, when they went to fight against enemies at Rainbow Bridge. "Because of that false charge placed on me, everyone- my family, my friends, my neighbors- they all turned their backs on me! As if that wasn't bad enough, when I was transferred to Shujin Academy, no one approached me because of my false record. They all believed in the reports over me. I was depressed that they chose a stranger over someone they truly knew, but at the very least, I don't regret trying to save that woman! At the very least, I stayed true to the person I am! I still made friends with great people, people who always have my back, both in and out the Phantom Thieves! It was thanks to them that I am who I am today."

"You've been put on a false charge just to save someone else. But me? All I did was live, and yet I was still treated like a monster!"

"You think you're the only one who was treated that way? Lioness was, too!" Joker shouted. "We told you about how she was cursed, targeted by the enemy god into being the Realizer she was. Each time, no matter how small, whenever a crime occurred near her, the police always arrested her without a second thought. She only lived, minded her own business, and yet trouble always made her way to her! No matter how many times she tried to explain she was not the culprit, no one believed her! And each time the crimes get piled down onto her, so did Lioness's anger towards the world, and her coming closer to fulfilling her fate as the Realizer! Despite this, she always fought against that impulse to bring the world to ruin! Because she still had us; friends who would never turn away from her! Shouldn't the same be said for you, too, Hibiki?!"

Hibiki slowly widened her eyes at his words. At one point, Joker and Lioness were like her- no, worse than her. At one point, due to an incident, Joker became isolated from everyone, even his own family. Hibiki had her mother, her grandmother, and Miku to cope against the isolation, but Joker had no one. Even at his new school, no one dared approach him, all because of the false charge. Despite this, Joker still found friends, allies in the Phantom Thieves, just as Hibiki did with SONG. Not just them; Joker also managed to find allies outside the group, just as Hibiki did at Lydian and in parallel worlds.

As for Lioness? She had the whole world turned against her, and she had wanted to bring the world to ruin. Like Hibiki, no matter how loud she cried out to the world, no one had listened to her. Yet, despite the impulse to destroy the world, despite the fate she was forced into, the chances she had, she never did that. And like Joker and Lioness, because of her connections with other people, Hibiki became the person she was now.

"Shut up!" Shadow Hibiki shouted, knocking Joker's weapons out of his grip and kicked the guy straight in the gut, knocking him into a building, and once again inflicting carbonization onto him. "You thieves think you know everything, don't you? Don't get all high and mighty with me!" She then leapt over to Joker for an axe kick, with the Gear on her legs extending out for additional impact.

She struck, but not the thief. Instead, Hibiki stood, arms up and blocked the blow. "I... I may have wanted to deal the pain that was deal to me at one point... To get back at everyone for cursing me just because I lived through that event... But, that is not the me now!" She pushed her Shadow back, who landed on her feet.

"You still choose to deny me?" she questioned.

"Not anymore. Joker's right; I can't run from the truth any longer! That is why... like how I reach my hand out to other people who are hurting, I want to reach out to you! My hidden darkness!"

Shadow Hibiki gritted her teeth and charged at them with her fist pulled back. Hibiki charged back, also with her fist pulled back, and collided fist with her dark counterpart.

"Fortuna!" Joker took advantage of their battle to heal himself back up once more. As he got back up, he felt his legs go a little wobbly, and took a knee.

'Running low on energy...' he thought. 'No time to recover. Hibiki needs help.' He hit his legs to get some feeling back and rushed into the fray.

He wasn't the only one; the rest of the thieves were also feeling fatigue catching up, both from the carbonization and constant use of energy and stamina for their Persona's skills. And their Symphogear partners all noticed the exhaustion catching up to them.

"Are you okay- death?" Kirika asked Kong.

"Yeah. Just tired," he answered. "What do you say we end this with a big one?"

"Is that your Fantasy Trick talking- death?"

"More of a gut feeling. Shall we?"

"On it! Death!" Kirika exclaimed.

The two then stood back-to-back and raised a hand in the air. "Persona!" Sasuke appeared above them, brandishing his blades together. The two blades then suddenly merged into a double-edged scythe, in which he spun above his head, and created a multitude of scythe blades that spun like boomerangs as they homed down at Shadow Kirika, who tried to block the blades with her own scythe. The persona then split his weapon in two, tossing the twin scythes downward, with Kirika and Kong chasing the pair. The two grasped hold as green lightning formed from the blades, doubling in size, and spun around each other, roaring out battlecries as they flew towards the Alca-Gear Shadow. The two did a cross slash with their scythes and appeared on the other side of Shadow Kirika, crossing their weapons in front of each other, as green lightning explosion consumed their opponent. This was 'Dancing-Scythe Storm: Jack Ripper'.

Shadow Kirika took a knee, incredibly weakened from the unexpected combo attack. "What... What was that... death...?" she questioned. She heard footsteps approaching from behind and looked to see Kirika standing there. "What...? Here to tell me that you're not alone- death? That you beat me because you had help- death?"

"Not even close- death," she answered, shaking her head. "You're right. I do take extreme measures to ensure I don't even feel alone- death. That's why... I won't deny that part of me any longer- death." Shadow Kirika looked at her in confusion. "Because that part of me that feels alone and would do anything to get rid of that feeling... That's you, isn't it- death? If that's true, then you must feel even more alone than me- death. More so, it means that I was never alone to begin with- death. Because you were always with me- death."

"Saying that... Don't you realize you're still denying the loneliness in you- death?!"

"No I'm not- death. Because that loneliness is you- death. And I am done denying it- death." Kirika held out a hand to the Shadow. "Come back- death. From now on, no more lonely feeling- death. Just you and me, together- death!"

Shadow Kirika only stared at the Igalima User in shock, her eyes slowly starting to water. She blinked, and her yellow eyes turned green as her counterpart's. "In this case, it's me, myself, and I- death," she said, accepting the hand. The moment she did, the two Kirikas glowed, and the Shadow reverted back into the original.

"I guess so- death," Kirika said.

"Whoa! What's with the new look?!" Kong gasped out.

The blonde girl turned to him in confusion, before looking down at herself, finding herself in an attire very similar to Kong's. "What the death?!"

Over to Shirabe and Panther's side, they saw Kong and Kirika managing to pull off their combo attack and turned to each other.

"You wanna try our duet?" Panther asked, to which Shirabe nodded. "Right. Let's make them kneel before us!"

The two girls then posed in a seductive way, with the Gear User asking, "Will this pose work?"

"Perfect, Shirabe!" Panther answered, winking at her, as Shirabe also winked, both causing a seductive wave, drawing Shadow Shirabe's attention and immobilized her in infatuation. Panther then leapt high as Shirabe's mechanical ponytails discharged saw blades into the air above her.

"Carmen!" Panther summoned out her Persona, who was then surrounded by the sawblades, and she danced around like a flamenco dancer, encasing each and every blade in flames, making them burn bright red and orange. She then pulled herself to one side as her user summoned her whip. "You've been bad!" She then whipped every blade with such speed and ferocity, they rained down at the immobilized enemy, consuming her in the exploding flaming saw blades.

Panther landed next to Shirabe as the latter stated, "We are the roses..."

"... with burning hot thorns!" Panther finished, the two striking another pose together. This was their 'Flaming Alpha Style: 100 Thorn Bouquet'.

Covered in burn marks, Shadow Shirabe took a knee in defeat. "How... is that possible...?" she questioned. "I thought you... have little trust in her, too."

"You're right, I did," Shirabe answered. "But, trust grows, just like doubts and suspicions do. I may not remember what happened exactly in that accident, and I may never remember. But, I am glad it happened. Otherwise, I would never have met Kiri-chan, Maria-san, and all my other friends. That event may have made me suspicious of many people, but I will learn how to trust each and every one of them, through Kiri-chan, who helps expand my world. Of course, I'll stay cautious around them, for the sake of the people close to me."

Shadow Shirabe was silent, as she lowered her head with her eyes close and a small smile forming on her face. "Kiri-chan... always is the start of our life," she said, looking back up with her now-pink eyes.

Shirabe nodded in agreement, and held out a hand. Her Alca-Gear Shadow took the hand, and the pair glowed. Like with Kirika, not only did the Shadow return to the original, Shirabe also donned an outfit quite like Panther's.

On Tsubasa and Queen's end, the former had just unleashed her own 'One Thousand Tears' at their Alca-Gear Shadow, who deflected and avoided the blades. As she did, she suddenly stopped in her tracks, unable to move, much to her own surprise. Shadow Tsubasa glanced down and saw one of the blades on her shadow, immobilizing her via Tsubasa's 'Shadow Weave'.

"Now Queen, let's show her our resolve!" the Ame no Habakiri declared.

"Time to display our justice! Johanna!" Queen shouted, summoning her Persona underneath her. She spun the bike around, ready to charge at the enemy, while Tsubasa hopped onto the back of the bike, placing her hands on the parts of Queen's shoulders that didn't have spikes, while her legs produced blades, wrapping them around the sides and front of Johanna.

"Let them taste our blade, Queen! Gun it!"

"You got it!" Queen revved the engine, and gunned forward.

As they drove onward, Tsubasa's blades ignited in blue flames leaving a stream behind them. With a bound off the ground, they flew into the enemy, pierced through her and carried her along with them. They continue to drive with Shadow Tsubasa pulled by them, before Queen leapt off as Tsubasa brings herself into the driver's seat of Johanna, bring her to a screeching halt, causing the Alca-Gear Shadow to fly off. As they topple, Queen brought Nuclear energy into her fist, before punching it at Shadow Tsubasa while the real Tsubasa gathered flames of her blades, and launched them towards the enemy.

"Blade..."

"And Fist..."

"...of Justice!" they shouted together, their attacks colliding with the enemy, creating a explosion of nuclear and blue flames. Queen landed right next to Tsubasa, and the pair struck a pose with their weapons. This was 'Pope Joan's Calvary Blade'.

Shadow Tsubasa dropped her blades and fell to the ground. Footsteps approached her, and she looked up to see Tsubasa walking towards her.

"Coming to... finish the job, I see..." she assumed. "Very well... Do it."

"I won't," Tsubasa said. "There is no meaning in fighting an enemy who's lost the will to fight. A blade I may see myself as, I am no murderer. Even if it is to myself."

Shadow Tsubasa scoffed at those words. "So you still want to avoid me..."

"Not avoiding you. If I truly am to be a monster, I will be one... for my friends. I will grow out of my blade into a beast, and fight by my comrades' side."

Shadow Tsubasa widened her eyes slightly at those words, before letting out a sigh, as her eyes turn blue. "From a sakimori to a beast... Quite the monstrous point of view."

The two Tsubasas then glowed, as the Alca-Gear Shadow went back inside the original, and the latter's Gear changed into Queen's outfit.

Shadow Kanade kicked down an enlarged version of her Armed Gear at Kanade and Fox with a 'Spear Orbit'. The original Gungnir User retaliated by raising her own Armed Gear in the air, generating pulsing light energy into it. She then tossed her light-coated spear in 'Sagittarius Arrow', making it collide with the large attack and destroyed it, as well as pushed Shadow Kanade back.

"Kanade, this scene... It's sparking my artistic side!" Fox stated, charmed by the light show his partner's attack had caused.

"Then let's remedy that!" Kanade answered, readying her spear once more.

The Gear user leapt up, as Fox shouted, "Goemon, strike!", summoning his Persona next to Kanade, who threw her spear, which multiplied before their eyes. With a wave of Goemon's weapon, the spears became encased in ice. They landed all about the weakened Kanade, the ice consuming the scene, freezing her in place.

"A masterpiece!" Fox declared, already with pencil and drawing book as he quickly drew the scene before him.

Kanade landed right next to him, and looked at his drawing. "You work good!"

"Now for the final touch!" Fox declared, placing his utensils away as he readied his katana, while Kanade readied another spear. They charged forward, and in blinding speeds, pierced right through Shadow Kanade, coming to a halt on the other side. Kanade whipped her weapon to one side as Fox sheathed his blade, causing the ice behind them to shatter into mist, along with the enemy. This be their 'Glacial Meteor' attack.

"Pure beauty!" Fox declared.

"Mixed with a bit of mayhem!" Kanade finished.

Weakened, Shadow Kanade jabbed her spear down, refusing to fall. "H-... How... can this be...?" she questioned. "He's not even a Tsubasa... How can you have beaten me...?"

"Because holding onto the past isn't the answer," Kanade spoke. "I guess deep down, I still thought of my Tsubasa. Deep down, I had been cursing myself for how weak I was, to not have done as she did, and give my life to the people who both swore to protect together. Even after the Tsubasa from this world came around, I still found it hard to let go and forgive myself for being weak. But... not anymore. When I went back to entertainment, I kept wondering what my Tsubasa would've done if she was with me. But now... I can let go of those thoughts."

Shadow Kanade's eyes widened at those words, as she struggled to her feet. "Are you saying... You're going to forget our Tsubasa?! How much more cruel can you get?!" She rushed at Kanade with another spear in hand.

"That's where you're wrong." Kanade managed to avoid the spears, and hugged her Alca-Gear Shadow. "From now on, I'll do my career as a memory of her. No longer will I wonder what she would've done, as I will instead only think of her. Our Tsubasa... she would've wanted that."

Tears formed in Shadow Kanade's now-red eyes, and trailed down her cheeks. "I just... miss her so much..."

"I do, too. Let's both continue remembering our Tsubasa, as we continue to grow." Shadow Kanade nodded at those words and glowed, returning to her original self, as Kanade's outfit changed into Fox's.

On Serena and Mona's end, the former was at a standoff with her Alca-Gear Shadow, as the pair continued controlling their Armed Gear and collided blades against each other. As they did so, Shadow Serena noticed something.

"Where's that cat?!" she questioned.

"I'm not a cat! I am Mona!" came a voice. Shadow Serena turned and saw the not-cat thief with his Persona behind him. The Persona sucker punched her, causing her to be dazed.

"Serena, we should finish this quick!" Mona called out.

"Alright, Mona-chan!" Serena answered.

Mona took on a posture and shouted "Transform!" He then leapt up and turned into his van form. At the same time, Serena summoned her sword, coming from behind the Mona Car, before stabbing it into the ground, creating a beam of energy along the ground, wide enough to be a road for the van.

Serena leapt into the driver's seat and held the wheel, before realizing one thing. "Wait, I'm not old enough to drive!" Her feet could barely touch the pedals as she tried to scrape them.

"Don't worry. Leave it to me! Zorro!" Mona summoned his Persona from behind, who gathered wind with his rapier and used it to push the Mona Car forward along the stream of light. The wheels shined brighter and brighter as they zoomed along the stream, before Mona became a bright comet. The car and his 'driver' roared as they charged at Shadow Serena, and barreled right through her, causing an explosion of light. As they came out the other side, Mona reverted back to his humanoid form and was caught by Serena, who skidded to a halt.

"We did it, Mona-chan!" Serena cheered, jumping up and down in joy from their 'Silky Road' move.

"Easy, Serena!" Mona cried out, getting shaken by her jumping.

"This... can't be possible..." they then heard, turning to see Shadow Serena slowly getting back to her feet. "You... You were weak... Yet how... can you be so strong...?"

Serena set Mona down and walked over to her Alca-Gear Shadow. "You're right. Maybe I am weaker than my sister and our friends. But that doesn't mean I will just sit back and let others fight for me. I may have accepted Mona-chan's help, but it's not because I was weak to do anything. If anything, it's okay to be weak, because even weak people like me and Mona-chan still have important roles to play. I can't say anything about the past, but from now to the future, I'm fine being weaker than my sister and the others, if it means still having a place to be with them."

Shadow Serena was silent at those words. "So you're actually okay with being weak?" she asked.

"Of course. For even the weak has a place in a team, in a family," she confirmed.

A smile formed on Shadow Serena's face, and the Alca-Gear Shadow's eyes turned back to teal, and her body started to glow. "You've really grown out of your weak self..." she said, going back into Serena, as her outfit changed into that quite similar to Mona's.

Shadow Maria fired many copies of her Armed Gear at Maria and Noir in 'Infinite Crime', in which the latter two had done their best to avoid or block.

"Maria, let's show her what we can do!" Noir called out.

"Agreed. Let's give her grace and destruction!" she nodded in agreement.

Noir jumped as Maria created her whip sword, extending the blade like a snake as Noir landed and rode onto it, soaring above the daggers and Shadow Maria, to the enemy's surprise. The thief then pulled out her grenade launcher and fired a few shots down at the foe, blasting her, before leaping off Maria's weapon as the Airgetlam User shot it down, piercing Shadow Maria a few times.

"Let's bid them adieu, Milady!" Noir declared, summoning her Persona to her side. She tipped her hat and pointed at Shadow Maria, with Milady charging up her attack.

"The Coup De Grace!" Maria shouted, retracting her whip sword, charging the blade up with energy, before whipping it forward into a thrust, just as Milady shot a blast of Psychokinetic energy. Both of their attacks collided into Shadow Maria, creating an explosion of energy, while the two ladies walked away from the scene coming together to give each other a high-five. This was their 'Empress Masquerade'.

Shadow Maria fell to her knees, completely beaten. "So... After all this time... Now you're killing off a part of your own self..." she spoke to Maria.

"I may have committed a lot of sins in the past, but even I wouldn't kill off my own darkness," she retorted. "I may have been accepted by my friends, but I guess I never really truly accepted myself after all I had done. After all the mistakes I made, I never forgave myself for them, and only took in other's words. While I may have accepted my weak self, I never fully embraced my past actions, as they continued to haunt me. Ever since I was taken into SONG, I never really had the chance to apologize for my misdeeds, and instead took advantage of the false report they had made for me. After this is over, maybe I'll do another surprise show with Tsubasa. This one, to apologize to everyone for all I had done while I was blinded by my own sense of justice."

Shadow Maria's eyes had softened, and changed from yellow to cyan. "Took you a while to accept that," she said, going back to where she belonged. The moment Shadow Maria returned, Maria's Gear changed form into Noir's thief outfit.

Shadow Chris charged at her original self and Pixie with a pair of double tri-barrel gatlings, refusing to give either a chance to do anything, as she tried to shoot them both down.

"Chris, shall we give them the medicine they deserve?" Pixie asked the girl, who was protecting them both with her Reflector.

"I thought you would never ask," Chris answered, raising her pistols upward as she gave a smirk at the approaching enemy, and the missile launchers from her sides opened up. "Blast 'er full of holes!" she then shouted, undoing her barrier as she blasted her missiles forward in a barrage via 'Mega Deth Party', much to Shadow Chris's surprise. Pixie had leapt high above her and summoned her scythe, spinning it in front of her as she unleashed a cyclone tunnel towards the enemy, causing all missiles to spin into it, and pepper away at her.

"Not done yet!" Chris shouted as she summoned two more missiles from behind her, prepping them to launch.

Pixie landed onto the right one. "Ready to fly, Cordelia?" she asked, summoning her Persona onto the other missile. Both crouching down, ready to go, as the thief then signaled, "Fire away, Chris!"

"Take this!" Chris roared, sending the two missiles with the two riding it. As they flew, Cordelia enchanted both missiles with Bless energy, before the pair pushed off of them, causing the pair of projectiles to angle downward at Shadow Chris's feet. They backflipped back to their Chris as Cordelia returned to being a mask, while the missiles connected with the feet of the target, creating a massive explosion with a mixture of white energy shooting into the sky. Chris and Pixie watched the results of the damage with smug demeanor.

"Take your medicine..."

"... And die," Pixie and Chris said. This was their combination 'QUEEN FAIRY DETH'.

Shadow Chris was down on the ground, gravely injured from the combined attack. She slowly gasped for breaths, as she saw Chris approaching her. "... Come to finish the job, are you...? Go ahead then. Use the music in you... and end me..."

Chris tightened her grip on the guns she had in her hand, careful not to pull the trigger. She then dropped the pair of guns on the ground, right near her Alca-Gear Shadow, much to the latter's surprise. "I won't," she spoke. "I'm done making excuses for myself, pulling triggers at times when it doesn't need to be pulled. Especially not to someone so close to me."

Shadow Chris raised a brow at this. "And what makes you think I won't finish the job instead?" she questioned.

"I don't. How I view myself and music is up to me, just as it is to you. If you want to pick up my gun and do the job, then do it. But me? ... Pixie's right. I have to start accepting every bit of me. Even the me who made the wrong choices for a good cause, and the me who still think of music as destruction."

The Alca-Gear Shadow was baffled at this. Was her real self serious? No... What was she saying? She was her, after all; of course she knew she was serious. Shadow Chris closed her eyes for a brief moment, as they changed to a purple color. "I'll shoot you if you ever change your mind," she said, going back to where she belonged.

Chris held back a chuckle at those words. "What kind of farewell was that?" she questioned, as her attired transformed into one similar to Pixie's.

Onto Miku and Skull's end, the pair were running/gliding as fast as they could to avoid Shadow Miku's beams.

"You won't escape!" the Alca-Gear Shadow shouted.

"Damn! I guess you really don't let up, after all!" Skull said to Miku.

"Not sure what to say to that..." the girl admitted, slowly coming to accept that their enemy was a side to herself. "We need to find an opening!"

"Leave it to me! Captain Kidd!" Skull summoned out his Persona, who faced Shadow Miku and unleashed a strong Electric Skill at her. The skill struck, and the enemy was paralyzed.

"Gh! I... can't move...!" she said.

"Yes! Strike!" Skull cheered, as he and Miku turned back to the Alca-Gear Shadow.

"What did you do?" she asked him.

"A little thing called paralysis! Rarely comes through for me, too. Now, what say we show this Alca-Gear Shadow what we're really made of!"

Miku nodded in agreement to this, and they both got into starting positions, like they did in track. "Ready?" the Shenshoujing User started.

"Go!" Skull answered.

At his call, the pair dashed as fast as they could, circling around each other as they did. They readied their club and Armed Gear, and whacked Shadow Miku as they dashed through her. They circled around from opposite directions, and did another dashing whack with their weapons. They did this a couple more times, their running speeds too quick for the enemy to counter. Finally, they skidded to a halt together.

"Totally tenderized! Get 'em, Captain Kidd!" Skull summoned his Persona above the two.

"Final charge!" Miku followed, folding out her mirror fan in a full circle and tossing it up high. Captain Kidd took aim at the Armed Gear with his cannon arm, and fired a bolt of lightning at it. The attack became amplified by the gear, and it scattered out lightning beams that struck in multiple parts of where Shadow Miku stood, blasting her hard with the continuous fire.

"Don't come back!" Skull declared, pumping his fist, while Miku placed a hand over her heart, sighing in relief. This was their own combination attack, 'Lightning Flash'.

Shadow Miku was lying on the ground on her back, unable to lift even a finger. Miku looked to her, then to Skull, unsure if it was safe. Once the guy gave her a thumbs up, she hovered over to the Alca-Gear Shadow, who looked at her upon her approach. "Do you really think... this changes anything at all? Even if you beat me, later in this fight or any of the next fight you will be in... You may be of no help to Hibiki at all."

"I know. But that's only because I didn't believe her enough, isn't it?" Miku said. "All this time, I always worry about Hibiki, who has more experience to these battles than I do, and is practically bound to SONG. But really, I should've had more faith in her, shouldn't I? Because Hibiki will always return to me. Rather than doing all I can to protect her, at the very least, I have to ensure there is a home for her to return to. And if I am ever asked to assist her, then as her sunshine, I will do exactly that, to the best of my own abilities."

Shadow Mike stared at her original self, her eyes turning as green as Miku's. "You better not go back on your word... I don't want to see you or Hibiki sad again." As she said that, her body glowed, and she returned back to Miku.

"I won't," she said. "That time... is the last time it will happen." As she said this, her Gear glowed, and turned into that of Skull's thief clothes.

"Whoa! The hell?!" Skull gasped upon seeing the change.

Back to Hibiki and Joker, the two of them did all they could to fight against Shadow Hibiki, who proved to be quite the adversary for them. And it didn't help that Joker got carbonized three times by this very opponent, and used much of his energy for his Persona skills.

"What do you say we end this battle?" he asked Hibiki, knowing that he has just enough strength for one more skill, or a combo move.

"Right!" she nodded.

"I won't let you!" Shadow Hibiki shouted, charging at them at full speed.

As she charged at them, Joker and Hibiki initiated their 'Tachibana-Joker Style: Phantom Strikers', as the former tossed the latter towards the Alca-Gear Shadow and summoned Arsene, who flew right into her, and granted her his wings. The two Hibikis both threw their punches at each other, their fists connected as they tried to overpower the other, even using their rockets to increase the output. Hibiki let out a war cry, as the Curse-element energy around her grew, and she finally managed to push the Shadow back, knocking her right into a building that crumbled down onto her. Hibiki landed on the ground, with Arsene leaving her, and Joker catching up to the Gungnir User.

The pair waited for a few moments, and heard the sound of debris being moved. As the smoke and dust cleared, they saw Shadow Hibiki managing to push a debris off her, and weakly got up.

"I'm... not done yet..." she spoke. "Not until... everything is destroyed..."

Hibiki looked at her counterpart with a saddened look on her face, and approached her. The Alca-Gear Shadow saw this approach and raised a fist. She punched forward, and her hand was caught in Hibiki's, who then pulled Shadow Hibiki into a hug.

"Just stop. It's over now," she said.

"How... can you say that...?" the enemy questioned. "Didn't you want to get back at this world? For all the hurt it had caused you?"

"Maybe I did, once. But, that was back when I was a weak, frightened girl, who didn't know better. Now, I'm different from how I was back then. Now, I have friends who are happy that I'm alive, people counting on me to do what's right. Now, I see value in my life. I never did see those kids who bullied me again, but if I do, rather than leading them towards ruin, I will stick my chin up and laugh at them! I'll tell them, 'Yes, I'm still alive. And I don't care.' Because their opinions, no matter how painful, they don't matter. Because I-... We have friends way better than them."

Shadow Hibiki was silent at those words. Tears slowly formed in her eyes, as they turned orange. "I guess your fists... really can reach out to enemies," she said, her body starting to glow.

"Not 'enemies'; just people who want to be friends deep down," Hibiki corrected, as her Shadow merged back within her, and her attire transformed.

With the battle now over, the team regrouped, where they all took notice of all the Gear User's new attire.

"Whoa! You all look like us!" Panther gasped.

"I can only assume this is what happens when you finally decided to accept your Shadow," Mona said.

"Well, I do feel a large amount of weight taken off my shoulders," Maria stated.

"Yeah. It does feel kind of refreshing," Shirabe said.

Tsubasa looked to the tower. "Now, we need to find Lioness, and a way inside," she said.

When she said that, Skull looked around and noticed something. "Uh... Speaking of which, where's Sophie?"

Everyone else looked around at the question, and noticed they were actually missing one other thief.

"Where'd she go?!" Serena asked.

"Sorry for the wait." At the familiar voice, the group all turned and saw Sophie approaching them.

"Where the hell did you go?!" Skull demanded.

"Oracle sent me on an errand. Didn't you hear?" she questioned.

"An errand?" Queen repeated, as all attention went back to the navigator.

"Oh yeah, I forgot," she said.

"How the hell did you forget something so important?!" Skull questioned.

"I mean, we were in the middle of that big battle! And I was doing my best to keep track of everyone's health and stamina, as well as made sure none of you died from that carbonization thing! All the blood just rushed through my head!"

"That was a tough fight," Chris admitted.

"Death..." Kirika sighed in agreement.

"So, what were you doing while we were fighting?" Joker asked.

"I was looking for this." Sophie reached into her pocket and pulled out something. That something was a photo of a woman, one shockingly familiar to most of the Gear Users.

"T-That photo!" Hibiki gasped.

"No way..." Miku breathed out.

"Hm? You know the woman on this photo?" Fox asked.

"Not me," Kanade answered.

"Nor me," Serena followed.

Just then, the tower had reacted to the photo, and the entrance that had disappeared at the start of the battle reappeared before them.

"What the-?! Where did the entrance come from?!" Chris questioned.

"Whoever on that photo is has to be important," Queen deduced. "Otherwise, we wouldn't have gotten entry into the tower."

"Important..." Tsubasa repeated.

"Let's find Lioness first. You can tell us who the woman is after we get the whole team back together," Joker suggested. No one disagreed with him, and they all made their way into the tower.

With Picora... Let's just say from where he was, he saw the whole battle, and was clearly unamused with the outcome.

"What... the... effin'... HELL?!" he shouted. "How?! How is that possible?! They were THE perfect opponents for them, and yet not even they got the job done?! What does it take to kill those murderers?!" he questioned, seething in rage. As he watched on from the crystal ball, he noticed something else. "Hang on... Wasn't there another member with them?" As if on cue, said member arrived back on scene, presenting the thieves with something in her hand. His eyes widened at the sight of the item. "How the hell did she get that?!" he questioned, as the tower's entrance opened back up, granting the thieves and Gear Users entry. This made Picora so furious, he knocked several things off his table. "This is ridiculous!"

"Temper, temper, Picora," his Shadow spoke.

"You! You told me those things could handle those people!" he shouted.

"I did. But clearly, I had underestimated their strengths. And as much as I can say that the Shadows in the tower should be more than enough to stop them in their tracks, for one thing, I've a feeling those new attire of those girls aren't for some new fashion."

"And what's the other?" Just as Picora asked that, Shadow Picora waved his hand at the crystal ball, which showed Lioness fighting against an army of Shadows from where she was, and was seemingly beating them all without breaking a sweat. This made the alchemist pick up the thing closest to him and toss it at a bookshelf, causing it to tumble down and fall. "All I am asking for is justice, and I can't have that?!"

"You will, you will. It's more that you've been waiting it out for too long," Shadow Picora said. "You know what they say. 'If you want to get things done right, you have to do it yourself.'"

Picora knew his Shadow was right. Perhaps, it was time for him to act.