Maria looked down on the situation from above.
"You… made her use the Shénshòujìng to form a Gear?" Nastassja asked as she wheeled into the other pilot seat.
"Mom, you should be in bed!" Maria said.
"Though we require that to lift the seal, it also possesses the power to lead men astray." Nastassja said, ignoring Maria before glaring at Ver. "This is doubtlessly your doing, doctor!"
Ver smiled, not even bothering to fight her claims. "I simply used it when the time seemed fit. That girl Maria brought back is apparently an old friend of Human-Relic Fusion Specimen One. "
"Lydian's students were all carefully selected for their potential to be Symphogear users." Nastassja recalled. "So you put her under the influence of your LiNKER, then forced her to fight without even knowing what was happening."
"Ah ah ah." Ver pushed back his hair with a smirk. "That's not quite right. If only it were that easy to sync someone with a Symphogear using LiNKER alone. Were that so, we could effortlessly mass-produce Symphogear users."
"Then how did you get her…" Nastassja asked.
"Love!" Ver declared.
"What does love have to do with it?" Nastassja demanded.
"She wished, more than anything else, for her old friend to not fight anymore." Ver said simply, a twisted grin on his face. "The LiNKER simply conveyed that wish to the Shénshòujìng. It worked so perfectly, I could hardly believe it!"
Miku let out a scream as she drew a large blade.
"Kohinata?" Tsubasa said.
"Why does she look like that?!" Chris yelled.
"Looks like Miku took a little trip to the mad doctor's lair." Maia said, tightening the grip on her blades.
"How dare he…" Shuri said, eyes shadowed by her hair.
"She's just a disposable Symphogear user driven into battle by LiNKER." Shirabe said. "She was prepared even more hastily than we were, so she must be vulnerable."
"Those bastards…" Chris muttered.
"I have located Kohinata Miku." Tsubasa reported into the comm link. "She's fine."
"Fine?" Maia asked. "Basa, I know you can be a bit airheaded sometimes, but does that really look "fine" to you?"
"How are we gonna explain this to that dummy?" Chris asked.
"...you know she can hear and see this, right?" Maia asked her.
"Resorting to this… Ver you fils de pute!" Jeanne cursed.
"Hibiki-chan…" Aoi said, looking at the stunned girl.
"The FIS went too far." Sakuya said.
Hibiki only stared at the screen… before they all heard laughter.
"Heh… heh heh…"
"Hah hah… ahahahahahahaha!"
Everyone turned to see Rui had started laughing. Miku's eyes didn't change, but they slowly moved to look at Rui.
"You've got to be kidding me." Rui said with a frown. "This is what you're doing now? Fighting us? Don't make me laugh."
Miku didn't respond.
"What happened to the girl that I made the promise to? What happened to the girl that wanted to protect my sister as much as I did?" She asked.
Rui tightened her fist, before stomping once, electricity crackling around her.
"Where the hell is she… where's my friend, Miku Kohinata?!" Rui demanded.
The visor on Miku's face snapped shut, before she took off, rushing forward without touching the ground.
"RRAAAAAAAGH!"
Rui ran forward to meet Miku head-on.
"Leave this fight to me!" Chris shouted, as she tossed Shirabe to Shuri.
She crossed her arms, before bringing out her crossbows and running alongside Rui. Miku fired a blast, as Chris jumped over it while Rui slid under. Getting up, Rui tried to kick Miku, but the girl simply ran past her.
She ignored me? Rui thought.
Chris aimed her crossbows right at Miku.
QUEEN'S INFERNO
An array of energized crossbow bolts rained upon Miku, but the girl managed to dodge each and every one of them. Miku jumped off the ship and flew across the water, as Chris chased after her. Rui grit her teeth in anger as she wasn't able to follow them. Tsubasa watched, and Kirika saw an opening.
"I got-!"
As soon as she turned around, Tsubasa's blade was at her throat again.
"...nothing, dess." She finished.
"Just stay put, kay?" Maia asked, before she turned to Tsubasa. "I'm gonna go support Chris. You, Rui and Shuri keep an eye on these two."
"Send Yukine my apologies that I can't support her." Tsubasa said.
"Yeah, got it." Maia said, before stepping on her board and taking off.
Chris continued to unleash bolt after bolt at Miku, though the girl sped past, dodging all of them as they pierced the water's surface. After one more array, Chris landed back on the ship, and her crossbows morphed into gatling guns.
BILLION MAIDEN
While Miku managed to avoid most of them, a few of the bullets struck her chest, and she fired back a few blasts of energy with the fan-like weapon in her hand.
How is she this good already though? Chris asked, seeing Miku deflect and dodge her infinite rain of projectiles.
"I programmed some battle patterns directly into her brain." Ver informed Maria and Nastassja. "She's simply executing a series of instructions, unhindered by her will. All made possible by the Shénshòujìng's Symphogear and the artificial interface provided by my most excellent LiNKER!"
"However, an artificial consciousness can never prevail against genuine willpower." Nastassja shot back.
Maria just looked down at the battle, before looking away.
"The Ichaival is overwhelming the opponent!" Fujitaka reported.
"But then…" Aoi said, not finishing the sentence as Hibiki watched the screen in concern. Miku took several more bullets dead-on, but kept on fighting.
I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…
She felt a hand on her head, and saw Genjuro had reassuringly patted her.
Shisho...
"I'm sorry."
Hibiki turned and saw Jeanne walk up.
"I know for a fact that Maria or Mom didn't order this." She said. "It was obviously the work of that slimeball Ver."
Hibiki looked down at Jeanne's hand, which tightened into a fist.
"You don't have any reason to believe me, but I'm asking you to put your trust in me for this. Put your trust in Maria." Jeanne said.
Miku took to the sky as Chris flew after her, firing bullet after bullet.
This is so tough… I may be doing this to help her, but I still owe this girl my life! Chris grimaced.
"Incoming!"
Miku was rammed into the back by a hoverboard, as Maia flew next to Chris's.
"Where was the support earlier?!" Chris yelled.
"I was watching from a distance until I was ready to fly in and save the day." Maia said, shrugging with a smile. "Had to find the perfect opening."
"You could've done it earlier, jerk!" Chris yelled.
Miku was sent falling, but recovered and landed back on the deck, causing a large shockwave that the others felt. Shuri protectively put her arms around Shirabe to shield her, since the girl was weak and depowered at the moment.
Why is she…? Shirabe thought, confused.
Chris landed back on the deck with Maia at her side. The lower parts of her armor opened up, and unleashed a spray of missiles at Miku.
MEGA DETH PARTY
Miku tried to fly upwards to dodge the attack, but Maia was already there waiting for her.
"Back down you go!"
She kicked off her board and delivered a wicked axe kick on Miku's skull, knocking her back down into the path of the missiles. There was a massive explosion on the deck, as smoke rose from the crater in the steel. Takemikazuchi swooped down and caught Maia, as she sat down on it and let out a breath.
"Well timed, Chris!" Maia gave the girl a thumbs-up.
"You could've been a little softer!" Chris shouted up at her.
"Oh, but enough missiles to take down a whole fleet of military jets wasn't?" Maia shot back down at her.
Rui narrowed her eyes, and walked slowly towards the indent, keeping her fists up the whole time.
"Miku…" Hibiki leaned forward in concern as she tried to look through the smoke.
"It's not over." Jeanne said, arms crossed.
Rui had approached the crater, Chris having run up next to her as backup. The smoke had cleared, and Miku was laying in the torn up steel. Rui slowly reached down towards her.
"I hope you know how to treat a girl. Be gentle." A speaker came from Miku's Gear.
"You…" Rui recognized the voice. "Ver! You son of a bitch, when I get my hands on you, I'll tear off your-!"
"Now, now, there's no need for that kind of talk. I merely seek to advise you." The voice chuckled. "If you try to forcibly remove her Gear, I'm quite certain the neural interface will cause irreparable brain damage. I made sure that you wouldn't be able to pull the same trick you did on Maria."
"You sick fu-!"
"Get back!" Chris yelled, pulling Rui out of the way, as Miku stood up quickly and held up her weapon. It unfolded into a fan and started to glow.
"Watch out, Yukine!" Tsubasa shouted.
"Oneesama!" Shuri yelled.
"Partner!" Maia yelled, standing back up on her board.
The fan unleashed several beams of energy that Chris and Rui were barely able to dodge.
Flash
Chris skidded back towards the others, with Rui in her arms.
"You've still got more up your sleeve?!" Chris said, almost annoyed as she put Rui down. The Tachibana calmed down at learning just why Miku was helping them now. She wasn't in complete control of her actions.
So she didn't betray us… Rui thought, relieved. She'd have to apologize once this was all over.
Miku hovered in the air, putting away her fan as her Symphogear changed in shape. Several panels slid out of her leg armor, before they formed a complete circle. It started to pulse with violet energy.
"What is she…?" Shuri muttered.
The entire ship began to shake, all from Miku's energy.
"DESS!" Kirika shouted in worry.
This power… is it all from Kohinata…? Tsubasa thought.
"BRING IT ON!" Chris shouted at Miku's challenge, as her own Gear shifted in appearance.
Miku fired a huge blast of violet energy straight on towards the girls.
"Hit the deck!" Rui shouted, as she ran to the side to avoid Miku's attack.
Meteoroids
"Reflector!" Chris shouted, crossing her arms and summoning several yellow crystals.
Chris blocked the shot, and the beams shot out everywhere all over the ship, causing explosions and tearing up steel. The blast kept on firing, as Chris continued to defend. Shuri protectively put her arms around Shirabe, the latter simply watching.
"Shirabe, run while you can!" Kirika shouted to her friend. "Before she erases you both!"
"Erased?!" Maia repeated.
"What do you mean?!" Tsubasa demanded.
Chris kept on blocking the attack, but was starting to struggle. The reflector crystals were starting to shatter, one by one.
The Ichaival's reflector was able to hold back even the Kadingir's moon-shattering laser! Chris thought. I don't know what relic they used to make that Symphogear, but there's no freakin' way it's stronger than that!
"Pure and innocent. The beam of light that purges all evil." Shirabe said. "That Symphogear is made from the Shénshòujìng."
Shuri turned back and looked closer, eyes widening. The crystals weren't being destroyed…
"Oneesama!" Shuri shouted. "They're being erased!"
"I can see that, Shuri!" Chris yelled, being pushed back by the force. Her Symphogear started to bubble and smoke.
Miku increased the power, and Chris's reflector broke. She saw the white hot energy approach her…
...before a giant sword stabbed into the deck, blocking it.
"Run!" Tsubasa shouted, as she grabbed Chris by the back of her Symphogear, while Maia scooped up Shuri and Shirabe in her arms. Chris watched as more and more of Tsubasa's swords stabbed behind them, but Miku's blast kept tearing through the giant blades.
Shit… it's too fast for us to dodge to the side. And we can't outrun it either. Maia thought, knowing Tsubasa came to the same conclusion.
"They can't outrun it!" Hibiki yelled.
"Tsubasa! Maia!" Genjuro shouted to his nieces.
We're fucked we're fucked we're so fucked-
Maia was pulled out of her thoughts as one of Tsubasa's enormous blades slammed into the ground in front of them.
"You cut off our own escape?!" Chris screamed.
"Hold your tongue, or you'll bite it off!" Tsubasa ordered.
Maia stared at her sister, as Shuri heeded Tsubasa's warning and held on tightly to Maia and Shirabe. "What the hell are you-?!"
"Up!" Tsubasa shouted.
"Oh!" Maia realized.
At the last moment the two were about to crash into the blade, they changed directions to speed up the length of the blade, launching themselves sky high, and out of the way of Miku's attack.
"Holy shit, that actually worked." Chris said, eyes wide. "Where the hell did you learn that?"
"A little trick called "winging it," that neesama came up with." Tsubasa said with a small smirk.
"Hah, I'm so proud." Maia grinned, as they landed safely.
Miku used her visor to lock onto them, as she prepares to fire once more. Before she could, she heard a voice calling out to her.
"Stop it! Shirabe is with us, dess!" Kirika said, holding up her scythe. "She's our precious friend!"
Ver was about to speak to goad Miku, but before he could, Rui started talking.
"Friend? Don't make me laugh." Rui said. "You fucking kidnapped Miku, and put her through all this shit. And even then, that infighting earlier tells me that Shirabe didn't exactly obey orders. So tell me this then, can you really call her friend? Hell, can you really call anyone on this battlefield your friend?"
"Y-You're wrong…" Kirika stammered. I was the one who was too afraid to tell her the truth! I was the one that betrayed her!
Maia looked at Rui. While they were quite a distance away, she could read the expression on her friend's face. There wasn't any amusement in it all. She didn't like saying any of those hurtful things, even to the enemy, but she realized that if she couldn't win with her fists, she'd have to win with her words.
"You can't save the weak the doctor's way." Shirabe said.
"That may be true." Ver said into Kirika's communications. "After all, we're quite powerless in the face of our impending doom. And the research data regarding Symphogears and relics hardly belongs to us alone. But if we have one advantage, I'd say it's Solomon's Cane!"
Several blasts of green energy shot out from the airship at the other carriers, summoning the Noise.
"He summoned Noise?!" Tsubasa shouted.
"That fucking asshole!" Chris and Rui both cursed together.
Chris took off running towards the Noise. So long as Solomon's Cane exists, the treasury of Babylon is wide open!
"Rui-san! Maia-san!" Shuri said. "We need to take care of the Noise and evacuate any survivors!"
"Right!"
"Got it!"
"Tsubasa-san, can you take care of things here?" Shuri asked, as Rui and Maia went with Chris to fight the Noise.
"Of course."
"Then I leave it to you." Shuri said, before joining the fray with her friends.
"DEEESS!"
Tsubasa quickly blocked a strike from Kirika. Her arms were shaking slightly from Kirika's attack, but she stood strong.
"This is the only way I can leave something behind, dess!"
Miku was charging up more power with Ver's encouragement. But her energy levels suddenly dropped, before she flew off in a different direction.
"Damn, can we really do nothing?!" Tsubasa muttered.
Sector Two's submarine surfaced, as the fighting grew.
"Miku-chan is moving away from the battlefield!" Aoi reported. "Tracing…"
"Miku…" Hibiki softly said.
"Let Chris and the others handle the Noise!" Genjuro ordered. "We must prioritize saving lives!"
Jeanne kept her arms crossed as she watched the situation. She saw the soldiers being killed by the Noise, and she couldn't help but feel guilty. So much so that she didn't realize that Ogawa had left.
Tsubasa was still in her deadlock against Kirika.
I could break free. She thought. But if I did…
She glanced back at Shirabe, who still hadn't moved.
Thankfully, Tsubasa's dilemma was solved for her quickly, as there was another massive burst from the water. When it subsided, Ogawa had landed right next to them, before taking Shirabe into his arms.
"Shirabe!" Kirika cried.
"Ogawa-san?" Tsubasa said.
"Leave the evacuation to us!" Ogawa said. "You focus on capturing Miku-san!"
"Thank you, Ogawa-san!" Tsubasa said, as he quickly retreated. She quickly broke free from the deadlock, before kicking Kirika in the chest and flipping back. She landed on the carrier's launch system, stabbing it and using it to propel herself forward via her sword's leverage. Kirika watched, stunned at the tactic.
"Shirabe…" She said quietly, before running after Tsubasa.
"Kiri-chan…" Shirabe murmured, as Ogawa carried her to safety.
Sector Two continued to monitor the situation. Jeanne blinked several times, before leaning forward.
"I may be missing one eye… but is he running on the water?" She asked.
The camera feed showed Ogawa carrying Shirabe, all while running across the ocean with no problem. While Hibiki was equally as stunned, the rest of Sector Two was hiding some silent laughs.
"In order to run on water, he'd need to distribute his weight and run at a speed far exceeding that of human limits…" Jeanne said. "How-?"
"He's a ninja." Genjuro said.
"He's a WHAT?!"
Tsubasa landed on a separate carrier. She was about to start chasing after Miku again, before she heard Kirika yell.
"MUST! DIE!"
Kirika shot out several wires at Tsubasa. She deflected a few, but couldn't slash away all of them, before they wrapped around her and hooked into the ground. Two more harpoons slammed into the ground next to her, before she looked up and saw Kirika standing on a huge guillotine.
"I'll do this, dess." Kirika said to herself.
The extensions on her shoulders turned into rockets, as she propelled herself straight down at breakneck speeds.
The Slasher: Jabberwock
But right before she could bisect Tsubasa, several blades rained fire upon both of them. They cut into her bonds, loosening the hold. This gave Tsubasa the opportunity to dodge Kirika's execution blade.
One Thousand Tears
She spun around a few times, using her katana to cut away the remaining wires.
"What is it that you seek?!" Tsubasa demanded.
"Even if I disappear, I don't want Shirabe to forget me, dess!" Kirika shouted.
"The energy waves from Miku-chan's Symphogear appear to be able to disperse all other energy originating from relics!" Fujitaka reported.
"So the Symphogear are powerless against it?!" Aoi realized.
"How can we stop this relic slayer?" Genjuro questioned.
"We were complete fools to harness this power." Jeanne said, remorse in her voice.
Hibiki watched the screen, thinking that she was completely useless in this situation. She couldn't even help her best friend.
She gasped, realizing something. She can help!
"Shisho!" Hibiki said.
"What is it?" He asked her.
"That girl's song drips with blood." Ver said, chuckling. "The light of the Shénshòujìng, amplified by a human's phonic gain. If we focused that on the Frontier…"
He glanced at Maria, hoping she'd finish the sentence.
"Maybe this time we could break the seal?" Maria realized.
Nastassja violently coughed into her hand.
"Mom!" Maria shouted.
Nastassja looked into her hand, as there was now more blood than ever.
"Doctor! Help her!" Maria begged.
"It's a waste of perfectly good medicine, you know." Ver said. "But all right."
As Ver left with Nastassja, Maria tightened her grip on the controls. "I have to do this… I have to…"
Chris landed on one of the carriers, breathing heavily. Most of the noise had been defeated, and she was looking for stragglers.
But she took a step back, as she realized that she was standing in the ashy corpses of the soldiers. She looked down into one of their broken hands, seeing a pendant that had a picture of the soldier, holding up who she presumed was his daughter.
She hesitated briefly, wondering if she should let the emotion crack through, but clenched her teeth.
"I know…" She said, as if speaking to the deceased men. "This is my cross to bear…"
Miku hovered over one of the carriers, before stopping. Her visor's view was on the Sector Two submarine.
Because standing on top of it was Hibiki.
Once the submarine slowed to a halt, she spoke. "Let's go home together, Miku."
"...I can't." Her visor opened. "There's something I have to do."
As the two of them talked, Shuri stared up at them. Rui and Maia landed nearby, having taken care of most of the Noise. Chris was wrapping up the last of them, while Tsubasa was fighting Kirika on another ship.
"What's the situation?" Maia asked.
"Hibiki's talking to Miku, as we discussed earlier." Shuri said, remembering the comm link they had earlier.
"You want to use that beam to free her from her gear?" Genjuro asked.
"I'll do it! I can do it!" Hibiki said, determined.
"No! Absolutely not!" Rui yelled, joining the call.
"Hibiki-san, you must reconsider." Shuri said. "There are five of us in the field, I'm sure we'll be able to figure something out."
"Tsubasa-san and Chris-chan have their own battles to fight." Hibiki said. "I'm the only one who can do it!"
"Stay put!" Rui practically ordered. "I'll take care of Miku-!"
"That's a lie and you know it, partner." Maia had joined the call. "Miku in that state would kick your ass. She even ignored you earlier, remember?"
"But-!"
"Hibiki. You sure you can do this?" Maia asked her.
She nodded. "I'll get Miku back, even if it kills me!"
"I forbid you to die!" Genjuro shouted.
"Then I'll come back alive, even if it kills me!" Hibiki declared.
"That doesn't even make sense!" Rui yelled.
"Makes total sense to me." Maia said with a grin. "Go get em, Bikki."
"No matter what, I swear!" Hibiki said. "I'll come back!"
Sakuya pulled up several records they had on Hibiki's status. "Judging from past data and her current state, Hibiki-san can transform for another two minutes and forty seconds."
"That would be a tight time limit." Jeanne said. "She can't make any mistakes."
"We may be unable to help directly, but as long as we support Hibiki-chan, she can do it!" Aoi said, standing up.
"You'll have mere minutes before you overheat." Genjuro said, turning to Hibiki. "Can you seize victory in such a short time?"
"Determination can't be measured with numbers!" Hibiki said.
"You bet it can't!" Maia said. "You go out there and get Miku back, Hibiki!"
The two grinned and gave each other thumbs-ups. Rui sighed, a hand in her hair. "When the hell did you two get so friendly…? Just promise me you'll be careful, Hibiki."
"I promise, oneesan." Hibiki said. "I won't leave you."
"Hibiki-san, you'll have my full support during battle. Just say the word and I'll hop in at a moment's notice." Shuri said, Hibiki's own determination inspiring her as well.
"I got it, Shuri-senpai!" Hibiki saluted. "Thanks for the support!"
"Please don't call me that during a situation like this..." Shuri groaned as Maia chuckled.
"I hope they can end this without conflict, but I don't think it'll be possible." Shuri said.
"What makes you say that?" Maia asked.
Rui would've given a deadpan look at her partner, or snarked at her, but right now she couldn't.
Because her sister had just sung the transformation chant.
"Balwisyall nescell Gungnir tron~"
Hibiki and Miku shot off at one another, clashing and creating a shockwave. While the ground they were standing on stayed sturdy, the water made some ripping waves. While Rui and Shuri kept their eyes on the fight, Maia was deep in thought, thinking about Hibiki's plan.
"Hibiki-chan has reached phase B!" Aoi informed them.
"Beginning countdown!" Sakuya announced.
Hibiki and Miku traded attacks, before they both landed on the submarine. Hibiki was catching her breath, as she could feel herself start to overheat.
Rui clenched her teeth, as Shuri put a hand on her friend's shoulder.
"It's going to be alright." Shuri said, though she wasn't sure Rui heard her.
Hibiki was punched into the wall of the submarine, and held up her arms to defend herself as Miku's relic whipped at her.
"Right now, that relic in your chest is a deadly time bomb!" Genjuro said. "If you take a split second longer than projected, you're a goner! Don't forget that!"
"I think she knows that!" Rui practically screamed into the com link.
Hibiki managed to break free from Miku's attack cycle, before kneeing the girl and sending her back. Miku fired a blast from her Armed Gear, which Hibiki dodged, letting it blow up a smaller ship behind her. Miku shot out several more mirrors, which refracted more blasts of energy from every direction. It was incredible that Hibiki was able to dodge them while singing. The aircraft belonging to FIS had launched several more of the refractors, putting the pressure on Hibiki.
"She's almost within the danger zone!" Aoi announced.
Several rock-like objects were cracking across Hibiki's body, causing several of the girls to gasp.
"Is there anything we can do…?" Rui muttered, choking down the horror at the moment.
Maia stared up, looking at the refracting lasers, as well as Hibiki's flight path, before an idea clicked in her head.
"Okay, I think I got something." Maia said. "It relies on a theory though."
"At this rate, anything's going to help." Shuri said. "What do we need to do?"
"We just need to keep Miku in place." Maia said. "Hibiki can probably handle the rest."
Rui turned back to her. "And how the hell do you expect us to-?"
"Throw me."
The two of them looked at Shuri, who put down Okami on the ground.
"What?" Rui asked.
"I trust Maia-san." Shuri said. "This is a direct order from your leader. Just throw me at Miku-san."
"Are you insane-?!"
She was cut off, as Miku's visor opened and she screamed. The refracting rays seemed to be charging up as well. Deciding there was no time left, Maia turned Takemikazuchi into it's sword form. "Hop on!"
Shuri quickly jumped onto the flat of the blade, before Maria swung upwards with the rocket boost, launching the younger Yukine skyward. Shuri flew straight at Miku's back, before managing to lock her arms in an underarm grip on Miku, keeping the girl in place, and a bit distracted. At that moment, Hibiki flew forward and hugged Miku, pushing the two of them back. Shuri bit down on her tongue thanks to the extreme heat that was emanating from Hibiki's body. Thankfully, it was only momentary, as the refracting lasers converged and engulfed all three of them.
"Hibiki! Miku! Shuri!" Rui screamed.
"It's fine." Maia said. "They're all fine. We just need to catch them."
The beam blasted past them, hitting the surface of the water, but the two of them ignored it as they ran forward. Maia glided with Takemikazuchi, catching Shuri in her arms. Rui managed to catch both Hibiki and Miku with one arm each. Landing back on the ship, Shuri opened up her eyes.
"Did it work?" Shuri asked.
Maia looked over to see Rui set down Hibiki and Miku, both unconscious. She had used her jacket to cover them now that they were no longer garbed in their armor. She was holding onto Hibiki's hand, tears running down her face, at ease now that her sister was safe. All the rocks on her body had disappeared, and she was back to normal.
"Yeah. I say it worked." Maia said, softly smiling.
"Erm… you can put me down now." Shuri said, slightly blushing.
Maia hadn't realized she was still bridal carrying Shuri. She chuckled, letting the girl stand. "You're crazy, you know that?"
"You and Rui-san aren't exactly good influences." Shuri said. "And I trusted you."
"Yeah, but it was just a theory-"
The words died in her throat, as she stared out across the ocean. Shuri followed her gaze, freezing as well. The surface of the water that was struck wasn't just a random occurrence. Now, floating atop the water was a huge body of rock, with several large ruins covering the top, like an ancient city.
Jeanne was watching from the HQ, her eye widening. "They… actually pulled it off..."
The Frontier had risen from the depths.
And elsewhere, Chris Yukine shot Tsubasa Kazanari in the back.
A/N: Well, that just happened.
I'm sure what just happened with Shuri won't have any effects on future events at all.
The fight scenes themselves weren't too edited from canon, but you can't really fix something as good as Hibiki and Miku's fight in G.
Aside from that, despite this being a big chapter, I don't have too much to say.
Feel free to leave a review. See you all next time.