(Previously on SAKIII) "As expected from my rival." Gilgamesh spoke up, replacing the katanas with the spear and scythe, "But I shall claim victory in this fight, and take that Keyblade!"
"You couldn't before, and I won't let you take it now!" Philia answered, brandishing her claws, "You will not win, Gilgamesh!"
"I also have a say in this fight!" Hibiki added, "After all, you are using my friends weapons, including Kanade's spear. I won't let you disgrace their Symphogear!" The two girls roared as they leapt at Gilgamesh, continuing the fight.
In the concert hall, Flair and Tsubasa stepped into the stadium itself, and stopped as they gasped at the sight of something near and on the stage; a crowd of people, their bodies seeping dark vapors, as a trio of dancers were working the stage.
"What is going on?!" Tsubasa asked, but Flair and Samson, looking at the stage, could recognize the threat of the situation.
In the forest, Hinata was almost complete with dealing with the Cyber Heartless, while Chris was backing off, slowly but surely. "Almost away from range." Chris grimaced. However, a cocking of a gun made her stop, her eyes lit up in horror. Right behind her, without her looking back, the muzzle of one of Reaper's guns was pointed right at her head. The man himself had just snuck up behind her and had her while in a disarmed position.
"Seems like you were not meant to survive this game of cat-and-mouse." Reaper stated, "Time for you to die, mouse." Chris gritted her teeth as her eyes looked behind, still effected by the Cyber Heartless in the area. Hinata was trying really hard to take the last out, unaware of the situation Chris was in.
(Insert 'OVER THE TOP' , Mikutan ver.)
One Dream One Wish
(In a dark environment, with a treasure chest in front, something glowing within it from the grooves. Flair & Samson appear first on one side during 'One Dream', followed by Hinata on the other side during 'One Wish')
If you want it, gotta go
Over The Top
(Philia approaches the chest from the center, producing her Keydagger, slamming the tip onto the top of the chest, unlocking it and opening it up, causing the environment to be blinded by the golden light.)
(Music intro)
(As streaks of color fly by through the golden light, the symbol of SAKIII appears, with the name 'Sword Art Kingdom III: Heart Sisters'. This is followed by the Heartiel Gummi Ship flying into the screen, shifting to the back-view of the ship as it flies through deep space, with multiple worlds beyond the horizon, before igniting its boosters, and flying towards the worlds.)
Settin' sail, and heading for the unknown
(In front of a light blue background with her name in bold lettering, Philia is throwing her dagger up before catching it and holding it in a pose. Shifts to a magenta background with Flair & Samson's names, as the former twirls a cap on her finger, before getting snatched and eaten by Samson.)
Cuttin' through the winds and waves as I go
(Shifts to a pale green background with Hinata's name, who holds her hands behind her back, as she smiles innocently as she looks from one side to the screen. Shifts to a yellow background with Tinker Bell's name, as she flies close to the screen, writing down on an unrolled scroll of paper, before raising her pen and winking at the screen.)
Gotta keep it up, never stopin', no
'Cause I'm aiming to get there first, yeah
(Mistress Gretinal's hologram appears on the bridge of the Heartiel, pointing the girls towards their destination. Tink dives into Philia's clothing as the trio touch the bubble that contains the Star Shard, which shines brightly, transporting them to the new world.)
It's all or nothing, no to worry
Do it later, right now I'm livin' free
(Images of characters from other worlds flash across the screen, like Lightning and Snow, Vaan, Balthier and Fran, E. Gadd and Palutena, shadowy images of characters of other worlds, ending with the six main series heroes, with Sora, Donald & Goofy appearing together.)
When your foes look like they will overwhelm you
It means your heart's saying 'This is what you can't do'
(Philia stands opposite side to PHox, who points his cleaver at Philia as he makes a malicious grin. She responds by looking at a Chain of Memories card containing the picture of Castle Oblivion, frustratingly looking at it before closing her eyes, as a shadowy image of a dark version of her appeared behind her.)
Despite all that, to run is not an option
(In Gretinal's study, the Keyblade Master stands at her desk, with her SeHa Girls assistance, and her students, standing on the sides in front of it.)
One step closer, feel the satisfaction
(In an underground facility in the Realm of Arrival, Astro Boy is in a sleep state as he is cocooned in a machine, before his eyes flash open.)
You think I'm rude? Here's my appreciation
(In the main lab of Dr. Tenma, the said doctor stands there, in front of the dark machine gathering Dark Data from all the worlds, with Maleficent, Pete, Tears, and four shadowy figures right behind them, with intimidating glowing eyes.)
When things are gettin' tough
Just gotta smile
(Swarms of Cyber Heartless stand on level upon levels of stone, glaring down at the Heart Sisters, with Philia's eyes shadowed, before she looked up with a grin. She, Flair and Hinata ready their weapons, before charging at the Heartless.)
If you are goin' on your way
And your looking for a fresh brand new day
Than, make sure your only thought you have is 'Yes I Can!'
(The trio of girls demonstrate their skills in combat, taking out the Heartless with their teamwork. This is followed by Samson grabbing Philia, and tossing her into the sky, who made her Keydagger shine as Tink worked together with her to perform a boosted Airstepping technique that shot her at a larger Cyber Heartless.)
As you're on your way, marked maps will be made
Yes! With every step that you will take
(Tears suddenly appeared, grinning eerily as she swung her claymore at Philia, who blocked with her Keydagger, but got sent crashing back down towards her friends. She grimaces as she struggles to get back up through the dust cloud. She suddenly saw a hand, and looked up to see Sora appear next to her. She blushed, but smiled as she took it, while the rest of Team Keybladers joined around the Heart Sisters, before charging forward at Tenma's leading enforcers.)
Just lookout all you've been through
Look ahead a new horizon in view
(Hinata, Donald and Asuna gang together as they fight hard against Widowmaker & Reaper, matching magic and melee with their firearms and combat equipment.)
Shining brightly, oh who knows what's waiting for you.
(Flair, Samson, Goofy and Kirito burst through their fight as they deal with their own fight against King Boo and Painwheel, their finishing attack creating a massive explosion of energy.)
'Dream livin'' that's the way make like a hurricane
(Philia, Sora and Yui fly right out of the smoke of the explosion, coming at Tears, who points her claymore at them as a dark meteor comes down towards them. Sora unleashes a Keyblade beam, Yui unleashes a cyclone with her tessen, and Philia enters Soul Burst: Sora, unleashing Ragnarok from her Kingdom Key Keyblade.)
Now! Gotta make your mark today
(The attacks collide as one against Tears dark meteor, creating a shockwave of light and darkness, as the scene fades into white.)
One Dream, One Wish
Your dreams don't run away
Go for the knock out
(In Saitama/SAO world, a somber Kotone Takemiya is walking along the street, carrying her school bag. She stops as a light hits her eyes, as she looks up to see the back of Philia, as the screen focuses on her. She turns and smiles back at the screen.)
Over the Top
(She jumps and lands between her friends, striking a pose with her Keydagger raised high, with Tink above her, and Team Keybladers and Gretinal standing behind them, and deep space in the background.)
Concert Hall
Standing at the entrance, looking down at the rows and rows of bleachers facing the stage, Flair, Samson, and Tsubasa looked at a crowd of civilians as they were cheering and roaring at a couple of characters dancing on the stage. While it wouldn't stand out if it was just like this, the dark aura emanating off the crowd certainly wasn't normal.
"What is going on?" Tsubasa asked, "There are not suppose to be any performances happening now, and what is with that darkness coming off of the crowd?"
"This is not good." Samson growled, "Those are High Crowds!"
(Insert 'GET READY' from Tribe Cool Crew OST)
All of a sudden, the trio heard the music coming from the stage, and started to feel the shockwaves that followed. They could see the familiar dancing Heartless grooving the stage, their stomps and punches unleashing shockwaves that infected the crowd, and caused the two girls to brace themselves.
Suddenly, the two heard Genjuro speak from their earpieces as he called out, "Tsubasa, Flair, our scanners are detecting an unusual yet powerful phonic gain from those Heartless in front of you. It seems their dancing is infecting the crowd with that energy, and is converting them into the same energy signature as the Heartless."
"That's what the High Crowds do." Flair answered, "Their dancing and shockwaves infect people, damage areas, and if left unchecked, will infect the world in darkness."
"Then we have to stop them before they do any more damage to the place or the people." Tsubasa stated, readying her katana.
Samson wound his tendril around her arm, stopping her as he stated, "Hold it, lady! That brute force will not work on these Heartless."
"Samson's right. Crowd High are unique in which they cannot be defeated in normal combat." Flair informed her, "The only way they are stopped is through the power of Dance Stage."
"Dance Stage?" Tsubasa echoed, confused.
"Using the power of dance, song, and the light in our hearts, we can use a performance to destroy those Heartless, and save everyone." Flair explained, glaring at the High Crowds.
"It's not too far off from how Symphogear is powered by phonic gain." Genjuro stated, "Do you think you can handle it?"
"Maybe…" Flair answered, "Wish Philia or Hinata were here to join us."
"Hey, girl! Can you dance or sing?" Samson questioned the blue-haired girl.
"As a matter of fact, I can." Tsubasa answered.
"Tsubasa is actually a world-wide famous idol." Genjuro stated, "If you need her help in this Dance Stage, then she would be an excellent addition."
"That's perfect!" Flair cheered, "Let's make our way to the stage, and dance away those High Crowds!" She raced on ahead, with Tsubasa having questions as she raced after her, her armor glowing as she removed her Symphogear.
Park
Chris slowly turned her head around, and looked at the muzzle of the shotgun Reaper held in her face. "Death has come to claim you." he told the girl, "And there's nothing you can do about it."
Chris thought things through very quickly. Her body was still affected by the remaining Cyber Heartless Hinata was fighting off. She could call to her, but she was too busy taking on the Heartless to do anything. Even if she could, she wasn't sure if she could make it in time before this guy pulled the trigger. In this situation, there was only one thing she could really do; a last-ditch effort.
"Sorry, but I've stared death in the face, and still lived to tell about it." She told Reaper, "And this time will be no different! Armor Purge!" Her body glowed brightly, catching Reaper off-guard, and her armor exploded off of her body, shooting in every direction. Her attack was successful, as she not only damaged Reaper and sent him flying, but also caused Hinata to notice her and evade the armor pieces, while they shot at every Cyber Heartless, damaging them enough to be destroyed.
"Chris!" Hinata called out, racing to her, as she noticed that not only her armor vanished, but every fabric of clothing from Chris as well. She covered her chest as she grasped her relic in her other hand, rising to her feet as she was able to move again. "What did you do?" Hinata asked, "Where are you clothes?"
"It'll come back soon. Forget about it!" Chris argued, turning to see Reaper vanish into dark smoke, flying away from them, "We need to stop him, and fast!"
"Okay, but it is rather embarrassing to see you in nothing but your birthday suit." Hinata stated, blushing as she looked away.
"Hey, it couldn't be helped!" Chris argued, blushing angrily, "It was the only thing I could do in that situation!"
"Okay, then I'll go on and pursue Reaper." Hinata told her, "You stay here and wait until your dignity comes back." She took off like the ninja she was, with Chris shouting, "Don't say it like that!"
Hinata had her Byakugan activated as she raced through the treetops, in pursuit of Reaper. "If Reaper has his hands on all the armor pieces around here, then we gotta stop him from leaving the area with it."
Hinata finally left the small forest in an open area, seeing Reaper stop and turn to her. She questioned the reason for him stopping, when her senses kicked in, and she looked up to see four large green needles drilling in from the sky, coming at her. She barely avoided them, but one hit the side of her shoulder, and she felt the burn from the hit. The needles hit the ground, but she saw them unfold into a familiar beast. Noise, and of a flying variant.
Hinata landed on the ground, bracing her burnt shoulder as Reaper gave a low chuckle, raising his two shotguns, and shooting them at her. She evaded the attacks, and rushed at him, summoning Thunder Twin Lion Fists from her hands, and shooting them at Reaper, striking him with the electric attack. She then felt one of the Noise swoop in from behind, and she performed a backflip to avoid it as it swooped underneath her. She landed on her feet, and saw the Noise fly above her, circling along with the others above her like vultures, while Reaper stood in front, recovering from the attack.
"You were foolish to think you could take me on alone, child." Reaper warned her, "And it will cost you your life today." Hinata sweated a bit, fearing that he was right.
Bridge
The battle between Philia and Hibiki against Gilgamesh continued, the large man readying Chris's gun as he flew about the field, unleashing energy shots at them. They kept in pursuit, evading the shots with their footwork and endurance, Hibiki getting close first, and unleashing a powerful punch that sent Gilgamesh flying. Philia followed this up with Nova Blast, firing fireballs at the flung opponent, who spun around, pulling out Tsubasa's katanas, and slashing the fireballs out of existence.
"That won't work on me!" Gilgamesh shouted, regaining himself on the ground, before coming back at Hibiki, who attempted to block the slashes. The force behind the blades was too great, and she was sent flying in a scream, crashing to the ground.
"Hibiki!" Philia shouted, before noticing Gilgamesh come at her. He brought down the katanas in a cross-slash, but Philia caught them with her dino-claws. The force of the attack did pressure her, but she leapt back as Gilgamesh's blades hit the asphalt, causing rubble to fly. He regained himself as the two ended up in a dancing clash between claws and blades, neither one giving an inch. "Nova Flame!" Philia roared, and she expelled a large stream of flames from her mouth, burning Gilgamesh and forcing him to back off.
"Yes! Just what I expected from my rival!" Gilgamesh shouted, replacing his katanas for the scythe. He leapt high, and spun like a wheel with his scythe out, shooting towards Philia, who panicked and leapt to one side, evading the attack. Gilgamesh flew back to the air again, and came down at her once again with his spinning scythe.
"Comin' behind you!" Philia heard Hibiki shout from behind, and she saw her come in, her song in full force, and her right gauntlet's springs pulled back, before they retracted, amplifying her punch, and causing a powerful shockwave to be made from the clash of fist and scythe. They pushed off each other before a few seconds, before both Gilgamesh and Hibiki got blown back, Gilgamesh toppling over, while Hibiki landed on her feet.
"Thanks for the save there, Hibiki." Philia thanked the singing fighter, who gave her a thumbs up in response.
The two heard Gilgamesh rise up, before noticing that he reproduced the spear. "You are skilled, little lady, but I am not going to let you get in the way of my fight with my eternal rival!"
"You are using my friends's weapons, and fighting against a friend of mine." Hibiki responded, "That's MORE than enough reason for me to fight you!"
"You have always been a constant thorn in my side, Gilgamesh." Philia growled, her body glowing, "But now, you are getting in the way of saving this world from danger. I'm not showing any mercy!"
"Mercy is for the weak, and I am not weak!" Gilgamesh growled, getting into a fighter's stance with the spear, "Give me everything you have, for I shall give you my all!"
"You asked for it!" Philia retaliated, "Advance Burst: Wargreymon!" Her body bursted with energy, and a shining symbol appeared in the sky above her, looking almost like the sprinkled its energy down onto her, as her claws transformed to become more armored, with sharper claws, while from her back, two halves of a hexagonal shield appeared, attached to her like a beetle's wings, the sun-symbol on the face. She swiped her claws as flames circled around her, before with a final swipe, she blew them away.
Hibiki was too focused on Gilgamesh to be amazed at Philia's Advance Burst, while the treasure huntress pointed her right claw at Gilgamesh, who shot at them spear-first, with Philia and Hibiki roaring as they charged at him, as well.
Concert Hall
Sitting in the rafters above the stage, Tears was watching the High Crowds dance, and watching the darkness forming from the cheering crowd, totally addicted to the energy. "That's it. Keep up the dancing, little ones." Tears spoke quietly, raising her hand to reveal the darkness slowly gathered within, "My daddy wants all the darkness he can gather, and I plan to get all I can. Besides…" She raised her other hand, revealing miniaturized fragments from the Nehushtan Armor, "…I already gathered all the fragments in this area. I'm just killing time till I get word from my minions on if they collected their fragments.
Just then, she detected something, and looked down to see none other than Flair and Tsubasa racing onto the stage, and her eyes narrowed. "Great, those light-wielders are here." She growled, "I could just stop them, but I'll just watch to see how well they can handle my High Crowds without their leader."
On the stage, the two ladies came to a stop as they witnessed the High Crowds up close. The shockwaves from their punches and stomps caused the two to brace themselves against the attack. "This pressure…is this really the power of their darkness in dance?!" Tsubasa questioned.
"It's sickening, but we have the remedy!" Flair answered, concentrating as she gathered energy into her feet, and drew a circle around her with it, leaving a glittering aftermath behind. She examined the High Crowds, and felt the level of dance skill they needed to defeat them, "Perfect! We can beat them at our level. Also, it seems you and I are perfectly able to do it together, Tsubasa. Samson-."
"I gotcha. I'll give the extra dance steps you need, but I'll keep myself hidden." He read her mind.
"Right, cause we need to give some cute and cool in this dance." Philia followed up, "And I gotta be the cute one here, while Tsubasa can be the cool one."
"Cute? Cool? What are you talking about?" Tsubasa asked, confused at their talk.
"No worries. Just feel the music with all your heart, and your body and voice will follow along." Flair explained, "So let's do it, together, Tsubasa!"
"Okay." She replied, not sure what was gonna happen, but focusing herself, all the same.
Flair's feet glowed as she turned to the Crowd Highs, who stopped and turned to her. "Dance Stage On!" She shouted, stomping the ground, and making the light dance energy shine all over. In an instant, Flair and Tsubasa's attire transformed into their dance form.
Flair's Dance Stage attire composed of a tight maroon crop top, exposing her midriff, with a lavender open zip-up, short-sleeved hoodie, with a pair of purple hearts on the lower parts. She wore baggy pants that matched her top, with yellow stripes on the outer sides, and black dance shoes. She wore a lavender and periwinkle bow on the right side of her head, and had purple mascara.
Tsubasa's attire was one she remember wearing back when she was with Zwei Wing. Her attire consisted of a light blue, high-collared crop top with white shorts and a low-belted pleated skirt cut diagonally from her left hip, with a large light blue bow and left wing on her bustle. She also wore white and blue stocking up to her thigh, and light blue boots, the left one reaching to her knee and the right reaching to her ankle.
(Author's Note: Lyrics sung by Tsubasa will begin with 'T:', Flair will be 'F:', and both will be 'TF:')
(Insert 'Give Me!' From 'Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE')
The stage transformed from the power of the Dance Stage, becoming a large circular platform above the main stage, the spotlights on the two of them. Tsubasa and Flair were back to back, their eyes closed, snapping their fingers to the beat of the music. Then as the music really kicked in, the two snapped their eyes open, and sidestepped into a dance that mirrored each other, their bodies and feet in sync. Then, Tsubasa led the singing.
T: Sunao ni naritai sou omou tabi sunao ni narenai
Kakkoii to iwareru tabi No Way! No Way! kanashikatta
(Tsubasa starts to sing as the two mirror each other with vogue dance.
The two dance towards one another, ending with Flair in front of Tsubasa.)
F: Dare datte sou yo watashi mo sou
Watashi to chigau anata ga mabushii
(Flair sings in replacement as they raise an open palm to the audience, before bringing their palm to their chest. The two twirl and dance to one another's sides, grabbing their hands, raising it high as they look to each other, then to the audience, before letting go.)
TF: Give Me! motto Cute ni
(They placed their hands on their chest to the rhythm, before striking a cute pose together.)
TF: Give Me! motto Cool ni
(They placed their hands on their chest to the rhythm again, before striking a cool pose together.)
TF: Give Me! motto chigau
Kagayaki ga hoshiku naru
(Flair and Tsubasa dance their way together, back to back as they perform descending jazz hands.)
TF: Give Me! massugu-sa mo
Give Me! bukiyou-sa mo
Give Me! watashi ni nai
Kagayaki ga hoshiku naru
(The two continued mirroring their 'house and vogue'-style dance off one another, drawing in the crowd slowly but surely, their singing and dancing in sync with each other.)
TF: Ima sugu ni Please Give It to Me!
(The two came together as they grabbed each other hands, twirled, faced the audience, and posed with their arms crossed in front of each other's wrists, their hips bopped to the beat of the music, before Flair slid-stepped in front of Tsubasa.)
F: Uso nante tsukenai tsukitakunai don'na riyu demo
Uragirarete kizutsuitemo Always Always shoujiki-sa o
(Flair started to sing, but this time adding her jerkin' footwork-style dancing in the appropriate moments, with Tsubasa dancing behind her. She threw in her vogue in the second verse of singing, before she and Tsubasa circled around each other, switching positions.)
T: Hikari to kage seihantaina
Watashi to chigau anata ga shiritai
(Tsubasa utilized her idol dancing as she sung, Flair lightening her dancing as she performed behind. Tsubasa and Flair used their footwork as they came side-by-side again, as the platform rose into the air, floating into the crowd, as light showered from above.)
TF: Give Me! gekko no you ni
Give Me! taiyou no you ni
Give Me! motto chigau
Kagayaki ga hoshiku naru
(The movement of the platform didn't faze the pair as they danced in mirror to one another as they sung, bringing in the crowd with their voices and their dance styles. The audience's darkness started to vanish, as the platform rose into the air, the large viewing screens around the stadium turned on, revealing the two on screen.)
TF: Give Me! sono himitsu
Give Me! kojiakete
Give Me! ten'ni iretai
Nanimokamo hoshiku naru
Hora hayaku Please Give It to Me!
(The spotlights continued to shine on them as more appeared, changing colors to a slow beat, like a rainbow, changing the colors of the sparkles raining down from the sky. The girls were enjoying themselves as they sung and dance together, and it was infectious. The two ended with Tsubasa guiding Flair in front of her, where she crouched down to make sure her partner's upper half was seen.)
(In the song break, Samson fanned out his tendrils, as he used them to help Flair perform her unique breakdance style, mixing in her other dance styles in her solo, with Tsubasa backing off to let them take the stage for a moment. Flair then backed off next to Tsubasa's side, Samson's tendrils vanishing, reverting to normal hair again.)
Give Me (x4)
(Tsubasa took center stage, using her own dancing, with Flair dancing behind her, matching her movements, which were mixtures of her idol dancing skills with her combat acrobatics.)
T: Motto Cool ni...
Watashi to chigau anata ga (F: anata ga)
TF: mabushii, mabushii...
(Tsubasa continued singing as she danced, before Flair came in to sing with her. They poked their finger to the beat at the crowd as they sung the last line.)
Give Me! motto Cute ni
Give Me! motto Cool ni
Give Me! motto chigau
Kagayaki ga hoshiku naru
(The two repeated the steps and moves from their first chorus as the platform descended down towards the crowd, just above their heads.)
Give Me! massugu-sa mo
Give Me! bukiyou-sa mo
Give Me! watashi ni nai
Kagayaki ga hoshiku naru
(The platform floated back towards the stage as the two mirrored each other's dances, from house to vogue, to even adding jerkin' footwork move into their dance.)
Ima sugu ni Please Give It to Me!
(The platform landed back to the same place as the two came together, back to back with their back arms raised together in a 'V', their hips bopping to the beat.)
Please Give It to Me!
(The two pulled away from each other, twisting and coming around with a jerkin' footwork step, before striking another pose, stretching their inside hand high while their outside hands twisted behind the backs of their heads to hold their other arms up.)
Please Give It to Me!
(They grasped each other's inside hand as they lowered them, pulling away, before coming together as they each struck an individual pose, with Tsubasa with her eyes closed as she held a hand-raised cool pose, while Flair held a wink with an outstretched-hand cute pose. The crowd cheered as the song ended, fully free of the darkness.)
The light of their Dance Stage gathered up, encasing the two girls's feet, before they spun and stomped the ground, the wave of energy hitting the High Crowd Heartless, destroying them. In their place, a new hairpin rapier suddenly appeared, and flew over to Flair, who took it and examined it. The rapier looked mechanical, mixtures of white and blues, with a blue gem on top, and an almost katana-like blade for a rapier. From the two's perspective, it was as if it came from Tsubasa's Symphogear. And based on the connection Flair got, the weapon was called 'Heavenly Wing Clip'.
The scenery went back to normal as the crowd continue to cheer for the pair and their song and dance routine. Tsubasa and Flair stood their, waving to the crowd for appreciating their performance.
"It never gets old at how much fun it is to do a Dance Stage." Flair stated eagerly, looking to Tsubasa, "You were a lot of fun to dance with!"
"I agree. You were quite the performer." Tsubasa admitted, "I would even say that you could perform duets as an idol with me."
"You really think?" Flair asked, intrigued at the thought.
"Enough of the chatter!" Samson told the two, inaudible and unseen to the crowd, as he sneakily pulled out the tracking device for the armor fragments, "We may have stopped those High Crowds, but it seems like the armor fragments are nowhere to be found."
"Meaning this was a distraction for our enemy to grab the fragments to get away." Tsubasa realized, frowning as she kept waving at the crowd.
"We gotta get moving and see if the others found the other fragments." Flair decided. The two said their farewells to the cheering crowd, before running to the backstage, in order to get back outside.
Park
Hinata was desperate to get close to Reaper, firing off Twin Fire Lion-Fists at him, but got repelled as a flying Noise appeared, and blocked the attack, destroying itself at the same time. Reaper took advantage of the interference to point to draw his shotguns at her, pulling the trigger. The shotgun shots sent Hinata backwards, crying in pain.
"Your death will be imminent. Your death will only make me stronger." Reaper told her as she flew, "And no one will save you from what is to come."
Hinata looked beaten for a moment, but instantly flipped herself in midair, landing on her feet, her palms raised as her magic bracelets glowed. Her Byakugan was active as she glared at Reaper, who sighed in frustration. "Don't consider me someone so easily beaten." She muttered, "I won't give up, even if my friends aren't here. That is my Ninja Way!"
Yes, the words that were taught her by Naruto. The inspiration by both him and Philia to stay true to those words. She wouldn't give up, no matter the enemy. That said, it was a difficult situation. Flying Noise above her, more of which seem to appear, and Reaper in front. It wasn't gonna be easy for her, but she had to figure out a strategy to overcome this situation.
Three of the flying Noise turned into drills, and shot down at Hinata, who saw them coming with her special eyes. She could see Reaper making a move, and was gonna catch her off-guard. That's when out of nowhere, an energy beam shot out and destroyed all three attackers. Reaper looked up in shock, but Hinata smiled. As she flipped through the air before landing before, her Byakugan caught the attention of her partner in this park.
(Insert Symphogear G OST 'Bye Bye Lullaby')
Back at where she was at before, Chris was knelt on one knee, holding a crossbow-like sniper rifle, the muzzle smoking from the attack she unleashed, her armor fully back to normal. "Those guys never play fair, do they?" She asked, her eye peering through the scope of her lens, straight at the flying Noise, before speaking through the earpiece, "You'd better be grateful, Hinata."
"Thank you, Chris." The kunoichi answered, "Can I count on you taking out the rest and joining up with me?"
"Who do you think you are talking to?" Chris answered, "Just soften that freak show before I arrive."
"Right!" Hinata answered, before shooting right at Reaper, who crossed his gun-wielding arms in front of him. Cyber Heartless appeared in front of him, composed of Neoshadows and Soldiers. He then turned to smoke, and slithered around the enemies, while Noise fell from the sky, shooting at Hinata. However, the singing gunner from the distance unleashed her 'RED HOT BLAZE' again, firing her long-ranged attack from afar, striking down all the Noise before they got close.
Hinata got to the Heartless, and mixed in her Gentle Fist techniques with her magic, striking back the Heartless with all they had. She then performed a backflip as she performed an Eight-Trigram Vacuum Palm, sending a powerful gust that sent the Heartless flying. She then switched it to a Twin-Lion Thunder Fist, shooting the lightning lion heads at the Heartless, destroying all of them quickly.
"Fool…" Reaper suddenly appeared, his smoky body trailing around and appearing right behind Hinata, prepping his shotguns. Hinata wasn't even fazed as she looked behind, her Byakugan looking at his body, and noticing the areas she could hit. She twisted around as she kicked one shotgun that was pointed at her face away from her, before using her Gentle Fist to palm-strike Reaper just below the neck, striking him physically, and forcing him to fall backwards. He fell on his back, but spun himself back onto his feet, before shooting his guns at Hinata. She went on the run, evading the bullets that came at her, until Reaper ran out of bullets. He threw the shotguns at her, who blocked one, but the other struck her leg, and she fell to one knee. She looked up to see him produce two more shotguns from out of the ethereal, and pointed them at Hinata, ready to shoot her full of lead.
Suddenly, Chris appeared out of the trees, crossbows at the ready as she unleashed 'QUEEN'S INFERNO', firing off energy arrows down at Reaper, who got peppered hard by it, before turning into smoke and running away.
Hinata rose to her feet as Chris landed right next to her. They looked to each other, before looking at Reaper, who chuckled as he asked, "Let's see you deal with this." He created dark vapors across the floor, and out from it came a half-dozen of the Dark Hybrids made by Tears, the Black Noise, who shot at the two like rope, forcing the girls to leap up. Hinata unleashed her Twin-Lion Fire Fists, while Chris fired more energy arrows, causing an explosion of damage to the ground below. However, when the smoke cleared, the Black Noise didn't look like they took a lot of damage.
"Have fun." Reaper told the girls, before turning into vapor, and vanishing into the trees.
"He's getting away again!" Hinata noted, as the two girls landed.
"We've got bigger problems here!" Chris argued, seeing themselves in the middle of Black Noise. She switched to her miniguns, unleashing 'BILLION MAIDEN', trying to destroy them, while Hinata saw two of them pounce at her, and she struck them away, getting burned in the process. She seized her urge to complain, and kept up her guard.
The two fended back the enemies for a while more before the two got the feeling, and Hinata declared, "Let's go, Chris."
"Let's send them to hell!" Chris responded, returning her guns to pistols as she readied her rocket launchers from her armor. They unleashed 'LION INFERNAL PARADE', with Hinata conjuring up flaming lion heads, and sending them into the sky above, growing in size. Chris then fired her missiles, sending them into the lion heads, and they spewed them out all around the field, causing the Black Noise to be destroyed by the flaming inferno.
When the flames and monsters vanished, the two calmed themselves as they looked to the direction Reaper left. "Can you continue tracking him?" Chris asked.
"Unfortunately, my chakra is running low, so I can't use my Byakugan." Hinata answered, closing her eyes to rest them, before looking at Chris, "What about that detector?"
"No good. I destroyed it when I purged my armor." Chris answered, holding up the same device, which was shredded down an angle by a flying piece of armor. The two girls sighed as they looked depressed, before looking at each other, and smiled. Despite their differences in personalities, they did show that they were rather compatible on the field of battle.
"We should check and see if the other were more fortunate than us." Hinata told Chris.
"Yeah, and hopefully that idiot is able to find something with your leader with her." Chris hoped.
Bridge
"Fall before me!" Gilgamesh shouted, unleashing another 'Meteor Fall' technique from his spear, sending turbine winds at Hibiki and Philia. "Brave Shield!" Philia shouted, causing the two halves of the shield on her back to come together in front, forming a shield for the girls to endure the attack. The attack had no affect on the girls, but as soon as the shield split itself again, Hibiki came immediately through the crack, and kicked the spear out of Gilgamesh's hands. His grip on the spear was too strong, but it sent his arm to one side, allowing her to punch Gilgamesh in the face, sending him reeling.
Gilgamesh's eye's glinted, causing Hibiki to realize he was about to retaliate. He summoned out Chris's gun, pointing it directly at her face. Hibiki fearful expression showed she couldn't escape in time, and saw it charging up. "Hibiki!" Philia used her Airstepping technique to quickly come to her side, and pulled her away from a direct hit to the face. However, the two still got shot by the energy bullet from the attack, and they were sent flying, hitting the ground together.
"Time to win this duel!" Gilgamesh shouted, summoning out both the yo-yo and scythe. He spun like a wheel with the scythe, and at the same time, spun the yo-yo to become a buzz-saw that spun horizontally around Gilgamesh. He came flying at the two, who got up and immediately rolled out of the way. They did get sheered by the buzz-saw, but were still able to recover. Gilgamesh continued the attack as he turned around and came at Philia again, who produced her Brave Shield again, and barely blocked it. The force of the attack did send her flying into the air, and she looked down to see him turn as her shield retracted behind her back.
"Philia!" Hibiki shouted, seeing her fall. She didn't respond to her cry, as Philia dove headfirst, her armored claws in front of her, and started to spin. "Great Tornado!" she roared, and spun like a drill as she angled her way down, meeting Gilgamesh's attack. The two pushed off against each other, trying to overpower the other. But after a while, Gilgamesh started to get spun by Philia's drilling attack, starting to make him spin out of control. The large man ended up out of his attack, and got flung upwards this time, causing Philia to plow right underneath him. Hibiki was already in play, and she launched at high speeds towards Gilgamesh, and with a single punch, send him flying down to the ground hard, causing him to gasp and drop his weapons.
"Just stay down after this!" Philia shouted, coming out of her attack, before raising her hands in a V-formation, and gathering up a large sphere of energy in between, "Terra Force!" She flung the energy sphere at Gilgamesh, causing an explosion that made him roar in pain.
Philia and Hibiki stood on either end of the attack, waiting and hoping the attack did the trick. The answer? No. Gilgamesh was able to slowly get back up, having used his katanas for defense against the last attack, taking part of the blow.
"You gotta be kidding me!" Hibiki exclaimed, shocked to see him still able to continue.
"Not bad, my rival." Gilgamesh stated, turning to her, "But you haven't won yet! I still stand, continuing the fight!"
"You really are a pain in the butt, Gilgamesh." Philia sighed, "And thanks to you, I bet the armor pieces are long gone. Just for that, I'm gonna put an end to this fight. Get ready, Gilgamesh!" She unleashed her Finisher, where she leapt into the air, her right claw weapon coming off her arm, and connecting with the left claw. They glowed together before forming the head of Wargreymon from it. It then shot out a large sword from its mouth, and she raised it high. "Transcendent Sword!" She shouted, the spiritual image of a paladin-like behind glowing right behind her, wielding the same blade up high.
"I am always ready to face you!" Gilgamesh answered, making hand signals like a ninja, before magically producing two more sets of arms, wielding all the replica Symphogear weapons once again. He shot energy arrows from the gun, while hurling the spear, which multiplied, replicating Kanade's 'STARDUST FOTON' technique. Philia angled her massive sword, before swinging it, destroying all the attacks and spears at once. She then flew down at Gilgamesh, who leapt up at her. They both made war cries as they came at each other, with Hibiki fearing that someone might actually die.
Suddenly, a burst of green light came from Gilgamesh's waist, and he looked down to see the glow, exclaiming, "Not now, Enkidu! Not before the climatic finale!" There was no change, and as Gilgamesh and Philia's weapons closed in on each other, there was a bright light, and Gilgamesh vanished, the replica Symphogear weapons fell without an owner, and dissipated into nothingness. Philia hit the ground, her weapons glowing as they turned back to her Keydagger, and turned to look up to see a green sparkling light bouncing about the air as it shot into the atmosphere. "This duel is not over!" The girls heard Gilgamesh shout, "We shall meet again! And we'll settle this once and for all, Philia!" With these final words, the green light disappeared into the atmosphere.
"I'm sure we will…" Philia sighed, as Tinker Bell appeared from her pocket again, flying as she placed her hands on her hips.
"That guy never quits!" She growled, "Exactly how many times have you fought him?"
"I've lost track." Philia answered.
"Are you okay, Philia?" Hibiki asked, running to her side as her body glowed, and she reverted to civilian attire, "I was worried you might've killed him in that last attack!"
"Nah, that wouldn't be enough to kill him." Philia answered, dismissing her Soul Armament and reverting to her normal look, "But it would've settled our duel. There will always be next time, until he stops pursuing me. Still, what really annoying timing he has."
"Yeah. The tracking device is not showing any signs of the Nehushtan Armor pieces." Hibiki stated, pulling out the said device, and pointing it all around.
"Sadly, we failed to stop the enemy from getting them." Philia sighed, rubbing her head in frustration.
Just then, the communicator in their ears activated, and they heard Genjuro's voice call out, "Girls, report on your status."
"Flair, Samson, and I are okay." They heard Tsubasa's voice respond, "Unfortunately, the armor pieces were taken away while we were dealing with the dancing Heartless."
"High Crowds?" Philia asked.
"Yeah, but don't worry." Flair assured her, "Tsubasa and I used Dance Stage to clear them out and save people."
"Dance Stage? What are you talking about?" Chris asked.
"I'll explain later." Hinata answered, "As for our side, we sadly had the same results. Reaper ended up escaping with the shards before we could claim them."
"Seems like we've all failed." Philia sighed, sounding disgruntled, "Only we had to deal with an annoying presence that came and went. Ten guess at who it was, girls."
"Don't tell me; I can tell by your tone that it was Gilgamesh again." Flair guessed.
"Wow, first try."
"Seriously?! He came back here again?!" Samson growled.
"It's okay. He already left." Hibiki stated, "But what about the Nehushtan Armor?"
"We still have a chance, even if it is small." Philia responded, "They have the soul of Finé, and all the shards, but they still need one more thing to bring it all together; a place where the soul and armor hold a connection with."
"Right, like maybe the location where you defeated Finé." Hinata guessed.
"The ruins of the old Lydian Academy and Kadingir!" Genjuro answered, "It was where we stopped Ryoko once and for all from destroying the moon."
"She tried to destroy the moon?!" Hinata asked.
"That's a really complex subject, there." Chris responded, before saying, "We'll make our way over there, immediately."
"We'll be joining you, soon." Tsubasa answered.
"Same here!" Hibiki followed, looking to their ride, which thanks to Gilgamesh's intervention, was totaled, "But we will need a new ride."
"I'll send a helicopter to your position." Genjuro responded, while from the other two positions, The other pairs went to their motorcycle and van, respectively.
"Please, be careful, Hibiki." Miku's voice called to Hibiki, "Old Lydian hasn't been a great place for you in the past."
"What does she mean by that?" Philia asked.
"Well, a lot happened in a short period of time the second time I went there." She answered, not wanting to talk about that time she faced another kind of beast there.
"We shouldn't reminisce, right now." Tsubasa ordered, putting on her helmet, "Let's meet up at the destination."
"Roger!" The girls all responded, and the communicator went off.
Old Lydian Academy Ruins
By the time the Tsubasa and Chris's teams came together at their destination, night had fallen. The area clearly looked like an explosive battlefield took place long ago, with wall barricading an area from being trespassed. Chris and Tsubasa were in their Symphogear, ready to fight as they arrived to see Tears, Widowmaker, and Reaper standing together, Tears holding up the sphere that was Finé's soul, while a large sphere containing all the armor shards was right behind them. At the same time, a helicopter was off in the distance, getting closer and closer to them.
"Took your time, light-wielders." Tears greeted the girls, "You're just in time for me to try out the full extent of what your world's darkness can fully do, so I can bring the whole world to darkness."
"We won't let you do that!" Tsubasa answered as the four girls brandished their weapons. Reaper and Widowmaker readied their guns, pointing them back at the girls.
When the helicopter flew over the girls, Hibiki and Philia leapt out, Hibiki back in her Symphogear again, landing like superheroes, before straightening themselves to face the enemy. Tears merely huffed at the sight of them. Philia readied her weapon, but Hibiki stepped forward a few steps.
"Well, well, if it isn't the little girl who just wants a chat." Tears sarcastically greeted, "What's up? Are you planning to want to 'talk things out' with me?" She gave a queenly laugh, mocking the fist fighter.
Hibiki looked sadly back at her, before shaking her head in response to her question, and shifting her expression to a serious one as she replied, "I do plan to. I want to. You may absolutely want nothing to do with whatever I have to say, but I'll still want to talk."
She looked back at Philia, before back at the villains again, as she continued, "But after fighting against Gilgamesh, I realized something; There are some fights that have to be fought in order for us to talk. So before I talk…" She placed her fists up as she finished, "…I'm gonna stop your plan!" Philia smiled at her, as did everyone else, appreciating her ability to find a middle ground between her beliefs and what needs to be done.
"This child is a broken record." Reaper noted, his finger over the triggers of his shotguns
"She will soon learn that she will no longer be able to speak when the night is done," said Widowmaker, smiling as she peered through the scope at Hibiki's heart.
"Stand down, the both of you." Tears stopped them, "You were not given permission to kill them. That would be my job, as well as my experiment." She held the soul of Finé in front of her face, stating, "The first thing I want to do is make sure this soul is properly prepared."
"What are you talking about?" Chris questioned.
"Seems like a little light ended up in this villainous soul." Tears stated, "That pollution will wreck my experiment if left unchecked."
"There's light…in Finé's soul?" Philia asked, everyone looking a bit surprised.
"Let me just get rid of that, okay?" The lavender-haired girl held up her free hand, which started to spark, before flicking the soul. In an instant, the light particles within the soul shot out, scattered, and vanished from sight.
"Ryoko!" Hibiki cried out, about to run towards them, but Philia grabbed her shoulder to keep her from charging recklessly in. The other two still had their guns on them.
"That's better." Tears stated without even feigning regret, turning the light-free soul towards the sphere of armor shards, "Now to combine this with this armor." The soul left her hand, and entered into the sphere, going into the direct center of the shards. The shards then began to react, coming together around the soul, almost like a 3D jigsaw puzzle, before the soul was encased in the now newly-reformed Nehushtan relic.
"The relic is complete!" Tsubasa gasped, shocked to see it come to realization.
"And now for the final touch." Tears finished, spreading her arms out, gathering up darkness from within, growling as she did so, before she flung her hands forward with a 'ha!', and poured darkness into the relic. "The darkness of the Heartless, with such a strong piece of equipment and soul. Now, begin the Dark Hybrid!"
The darkness swelled to a massive volume, which was unfazed by the villains, but the heroes shielded themselves against the shockwaves. The darkness then began to shape and morph into a new form. It had a voluptuous humanoid figure, wearing a skin-tight dark purple dress that hugged that said figure, a steely-colored Heartless Emblem embedded on the belly button area, a muddy lavender metal skirt flowing from her waist, and stockings and detached sleeves. Black Metal pieces were attached on her shoulders, knees, below the chest, and elbows. While that would make it attractive, the remaining features made it less than appealing. The arms and legs were black with red markings, dragon-like with talon feet and claws, which held a amethyst-colored spiked whip, which upon closer inspection, was its tail. The head was even more hideous, looking like a serpent dragon's head, flat and wide, with a crown-like headpiece wrapped around the top.
"Now for a name…" Tears finished, looking up at her creation, before turning to the heroines, and answering, "Ah, I have just the one; The Babylon Apocalypse, or for shorter terms, the Babalypse!"
Back at S.O.N.G Headquarters, Genjuro, Miku, and everyone else were horrified by what they just saw appear.
"That monster has far more energy surging in it than any we've seen so far!" The man at the computer shouted, "It's even emitting the same wavelengths as the Nehushtan Relic!"
"A fusion of Ryoko's soul, the complete relic, and the darkness of the Heartless." Genjuro summed up, "A monster that looked like it came back from the dead after so long."
Miku remembered that time. Back when Hibiki, Tsubasa and Chris all fought Finé, all of them nearly dying two times over, once from stopping Kadingir, and the second time stopping part of the moon from falling to Earth. She wouldn't forget the fears that came during the fight, and the despair and tears from the time she thought Hibiki to be dead. She wanted Hibiki and everyone else to win.
The Heartless hissed at the girls as they looked up at the monster that stood five times higher than any of them. "That's what the result of Finé's soul and the relic?!" Tsubasa gasped.
"It reminds me a lot of the forms she took in our final fight with her…" Chris growled.
"Heart Sisters, Symphogear girls, get ready!" Philia called out, "Time to destroy this monster!"
"Right!" they responded, and charged in.
(Insert Symphogear G OST 'Koi no Okehazama')
The Babalypse unleashed a crack of its whip at the charging girls, breaking the ground as it crashed. The girls went to either side, but the shockwaves of the attack did cause them to be pushed even further way, with Hibiki, Tsubasa, and Flair on one end, and Philia, Chris, and Hinata on the other.
Tsubasa went in with her song as she raised her sword high, and energy swords rained down from the sky, striking the Dark Hybrid with her 'One Thousand Tears'. It turned as Hibiki and Flair leapt up, their fist and rapier launched into it, damaging it. The Babalypse didn't even flinch, and retaliated by pulling back its whip and swiping at the three girls, who got struck and were sent screaming.
"Back off from them!" Chris responded, unleashing 'MEGA DETH PARTY', sending a swarm of missiles at the Hybrid, with Hinata unleashing Twin-Lion Fire Fist, while Philia unleashed Blizzaga. The trio of attack exploded on the opponent, who didn't flinch from their attack, and turned its long-necked head towards them, before unleashing a beam of crimson energy from its mouth, firing down at the trio. The three managed to avoid a head-on collision, but still got burned from the explosion and flown by the attack.
"Now this is a very strong monster for my daddy." Tears stated, seeing the six rise back up, and continue the fight, "This world does have some impressive powers within. And the malice of the soul is ever so strong. Ah~. What a beautiful sight!" She hugged herself, loving the sight of the monster.
"Are we needed here any longer?" Reaper asked, putting his guns away, "Seems like this Dark Hybrid is doing the job for us."
"Indeed. You two can exit back." Tears replied, unfurling one hand and pointing it behind her, causing a digital dark corridor to appear. She then summoned an orb of darkness with the very hand, and placed it in Widowmaker's hands, "Give this to daddy for me, okay? I'll wait around and see if I need to grab any more."
"Of course, Tears." Widowmaker replied, taking the orb of darkness, and wandering over to the portal with Reaper, "Let us know if they are dead or not when you come back." With that, the two entered the portal, and vanished, leaving Tears alone.
The girls continued the fight, with Philia leaping in and unleashing her Accel Raid Dagger Skill, damaging the Babalypse. She backed off as Tsubasa unleashed 'Blue Flash' with her sword, causing an explosion. It retaliated by twirling its whip around before crashing it down on the ground. Philia placed her guard up, but the force of the attack broke through, and she was sent flying. Tsubasa was far more lucky, and evaded the attack.
Through the debris of the attack, Flair and Samson unleashed their Hairball technique as they spun up the whip, avoiding the spikes, and flew into the air, hitting the Dark Hybrid in the face with their attack. They flipped backwards as they saw it unfurl what looked like whiskers from its neck, and shot beams of energy outward that curved in and homed in on Flair. Samson covered Flair, and the two got struck, hitting them and causing them to fall in pain. Fortunately, Tsubasa came in and caught the two, bringing them safely back down.
"Heal!" Philia shouted, raising her dagger high and using a Curaga spell, curing the wounds of the girls and herself, before charging in again, pulling out an Ether, and getting her magic energy back to normal again.
The Dark Hybrid continued firing homing energy shots from its neck whiskers, coming at the rest of the girls. Chris and Hinata used 'BILLION MAIDEN' and Twin-Lion Blizzard Fist to counter the attacks coming at them, while Tsubasa protect Flair by deflecting the shots with her sword. Hibiki merely ran right through, with Philia seeing her and following from behind, outpacing the lasers, and coming in with close combat combos. It tried to whip them down, but they backed off before they took a full blow from it.
Just then, the two felt the familiar energy, causing Hibiki to shout, "I feel it! I feel it!"
"I know, Hibiki. Let's do it!" Philia answered, initiating their Team Attack, 'Hibiki Style: Spear Key Strike'.
The two performed a backflip, coming together as they raised their weapons, Philia tapped Hibiki's gauntlet, shouting, "Time to unlock your limits!", Hibiki's gauntlet sparked with magic, producing rockets, and she charged forward.
"The fastest, shortest, path! Steady, straight ahead!" She shouted, as Philia flew along with her Airstepping behind Hibiki's slipstream, their unified powers amplifying the attack. They pierced right through the Babalypse without any entrance or exit wounds, coming out the other side as Hibiki came to a halt, Philia leaping over Hibiki, and the two raised their fist and weapon together.
"Did that work?!" Chris questioned.
"It did a good chunk of damage, but…" Hinata started, seeing the Dark Hybrid actually flinch from the attack, but still regain itself. It then threw its whip, and used what little muscles it had in the tail that was its whip to swish around, and strike the two on the sides, sending them crashing into the wall.
"Tachibana!" "Philia!" Tsubasa and Flair shouted together.
"Quick! We gotta distract it while they are recovering!" Hinata called out, before charging in.
"I got it! I got it!" Chris answered, unleashing 'QUEEN'S INFERNO', sending homing energy arrow at the opponent. Tsubasa and Flair saw what they were doing, with Samson calling out, "Come on! We know they're fine, but not with that thing breathing down their necks!" They charged in together to help aid their friends.
Meanwhile, Hibiki and Philia grimaced as they came out of being embedded into the wall by the last attack, battered up, but otherwise still able to continue. "Philia, are you okay?" Hibiki asked.
"I can manage…" Philia answered, "What about you?"
"I'm okay. Everything's okay." Hibiki answered, looking to see that their friends were fending off the Dark Hybrid, "We gotta get back and help out!"
"Yeah. This monster is one tough thing." Philia answered, "It'll take all of us to take it down." With that assessment in mind, the two charged in to join the battle once more.
Fighting the Babalypse was not an easy task, as it took their blows and retaliated with powerful attacks in response. It had its trick attacks from its whip, the energy shots from its neck whiskers, and the devastating beam that it fired from its mouth. While they seem limited, it was able to pull off the attacks with such force, that it didn't even need to move. The team only had to overwhelm it while avoiding the attacks in response.
"Tsubasa, let's bring down the blade on it!" Flair called out, feeling the energy for the Team Attack.
"I understand." She responded, and the two performed their 'Heaven's Guillotine', with Tsubasa summoning the gigantic blade, Flair leaping up the blade till Samson reached the grip and took ahold with his tendrils, Tsubasa doing the same. The three roared together as they united their strength together, and unleashed a heavy slash with their sword, which in most cases should've sliced anything down the middle. The Babalypse did get heavily damaged by the attack, but was not cut in two. Instead, it glared up at the two, and fired homing energy shots from the whiskers, striking the midair pair, causing an explosion that sent the two flying backwards, crying in pain.
"Flair! Samson!" Philia cried out.
"Tsubasa/Senpai!" Hibiki and Chris shouted together. All of them were horrified at what happened to them as they crashed to the ground. They were so distracted, that Chris and Hinata barely noticed the Dark Hybrid come around with its whip, and with a hammering crack of its whip, it struck the two girls and sent them back, practically in the same condition as the other pair.
"No! Chris! Hinata!" Hibiki cried out, now seeing them down.
"Hibiki!" Philia called out, and the blonde girl turned to see the monster aim its head at them, charging up its beam from its mouth, ready to make it more devastating.
"So much for that talk afterwards." Tears mocked Hibiki, "Even if you did survive, what good it talking to your enemy going to do? I never even planned to care about anything you say. Just die, you foolish little children!" With her final words, the Babalypse fired its attack, coming at the two horrified girls.
Suddenly, a ghostly image of someone appeared in front, and with it, a wall made of translucent hexagons appeared, enduring the attack, until it died down. Hibiki and Philia were surprised at the sudden appearance of the ghostly person, while Tears was stunned something stopped the attack from killing the two. The person was a grown woman, beautiful, and wore a cleavage exposing priestess attire. Her long, platinum-blonde hair flowed down her back, and she had golden eyes.
"Who…?" Philia gasped.
"Ms. Ryoko!" Hibiki exclaimed.
From either sides, the other four girls were able to look up as they were shocked at the appearance of the person. "It can't be…!" Tsubasa muttered in shock.
"Finé!" Chris gasped.
Finé turned around, saw the two girls, mainly Hibiki, and with a blink, her eyes turned a purple hue as she smiled. "I was able to save you, even if it was momentarily." she spoke up.
"But…how?!" Hibiki asked.
"Maybe…" Philia started, not missing a beat, "…I bet this was the light that was within Finé's heart that Tears removed! It was strong enough to sustain a form?!"
"Only for a moment." Finé replied, "However, I used it all up just now. I can't hold this form much longer."
"No…" Hibiki muttered, sad to see her leave again.
"Hibiki, you were able to save me, even after what I did." Finé spoke to her, "With the song in your heart, you were able to punch through and convince me. Your words were why I never reincarnated in Shirabe's body."
She turned fully around, and knelt down to eye level with Hibiki, placing her ghostly hand on her shoulder, "Never lose that song. You were able to create miracles with it, even change me, who held anger for well over a millennia. I'm sure you can end the last of my villainy within this monster, too. Both of you can." She looked to Philia, who was surprised to see her address her. After a moment, Philia nodded in understanding.
"I…will never forget you, Ms. Ryoko!" Hibiki told her, "I will keep that song in my heart!"
"Thank you. And…" Finé gave a wink to Hibiki as she finished, "…I know we will see each other again, sweet little Hibiki." With these final words, she turned into a sparkling of lights, and vanished.
Finé may have left, but her words impacted the two. Hibiki glared back at Tears, and spoke out, "You see, Tears! My song in my heart and my words were able to reach out to her! They helped me not only help her, but I became friends with so many people, even if we were on opposite sides! Chris, Maria, Shirabe, Kirika… We may have fought each other, but through understanding each other, we became friends! And I won't give up on trying to reach you, Tears!"
"Hibiki…" Philia muttered. After everything that had happened, after seeing what miracle happened here just now, she was now fully convinced on Hibiki's belief to help Tears. She started to even think that Tears could even be spoke to, and saved from doing the wrong thing."
Tears clenched her teeth, grasping the bosom over her heart, feeling something in there start to swirl, and she fought hard against it. "Nonsense… Total nonsense!" She shouted, "Nothing you can say will change what needs to be done for my daddy! Nothing can you do will ever stop me from my goal! Destroy them once and for all!"
Upon her command, the Dark Hybrid reacted by spinning its whip above, before bringing it down, causing a shockwave that geysered the rubble and the two girls into the air. As it got them in the air, it began charging energy from its mouth, about to fire again.
Hibiki and Philia were in a flying position where they were only able to see each other. After a moment, Philia stated, "You know, with miracles like that, you might be onto something! If you are wanting to still find a way to reach out to Tears… Then I'll try, too!"
Hibiki was surprised she would speak about that at a time like this, but all the same, she beamed in joy, saying, "Yeah, I know you can, too!"
Unbeknownst to her, the area around Hibiki's heart started to shine, and Philia caught a glimpse of it, immediately recognizing it. However, just as she did so, a red silhouette started to appear, and the two turned to see the beam of energy fired from the Babalypse. From down below, all the human presence saw the impact and the explosion from the attack, causing Tears to grin, but for the girls to cry out to their dear friends, fearing the worst. Even Genjuro and Miku cried out at the sight of what happened.
There was a moments silence, as the smoke consumed the scene. However, from within, a song much like Hibiki's singing chant to activate her Symphogear came through the smoke.
"Burst-ier Hibiki Gungnir Soul."
"That chant…" Chris recognized.
"But it's not sung by Hibiki." Tsubasa followed up.
(Insert Symphogear G OST 'Seigi so Shinjite, Nigirishimete')
The smoke immediately dissipated as two falling light shot towards the Dark Hybrid. From within those lights, Philia's body glowed as an image of Hibiki appeared before diving into Philia's Keydagger. Her weapon shined as the keychain on the end detached itself, and transformed into the red relic pendant the Symphogear girls had, attaching itself to her chest. The remaining lights surrounded her arms, before transforming into Hibiki's gauntlets, setting themselves into place. Philia gave a one-two punch, before spinning around, and taking a fighter's stance like Hibiki would.
"What the…?!" Chris gasped, "Is she using Gungnir?!"
"No, she just gained Hibiki's Soul Burst!" Hinata realized.
Just then, Philia started to sing Hibiki's fighting song as she pulled back one of her fists, the piston on it pulling back with it. The moment she called out '3, 2, 1, 0!', she punched the head of the Babalypse hard, the piston recoiling back in, adding more power to her punch, forcing the Dark Hybrid into the ground. She kicked herself away from it, landing with Hibiki back onto the ground, the latter amazed at Philia's ability to copy her Gungnir. Philia assured her things were okay with a thumbs up. With that, Hibiki started to sing with her, and the two charged in at the target again.
"Come on, guys! We gotta give them coverage!" Flair called out to everyone, Samson using his tendrils to carry her to her feet, while Tsubasa used her katana as a support before finding the strength in her feet again.
"Right. Let's give them the openings they need!" Hinata followed, she and Chris rising to their feet as well, before using a healing spell to restore the stamina to all four girls.
"Let's break it in for them!" Chris declared, cocking her pistols, before the four followed the fist-fighters.
The Babalypse shot homing energy rays down at the oncoming two, who rolled and evaded as many of the attacks, before Hinata appeared and used her Vacuum Palm to counter the last lasers before they struck. The two girls got in close and unleashed a combo of punches and kicks in unison on the target. It tried to knock them with it spiked whip again. Tsubasa and Flair appeared, countering the blade with their weapons, struggling to overpower, but managed to angle the attack instead so it hit the ground away from Hibiki and Philia. The two pulled back a fist each, their pistons extending, before bringing in the punches together, and the pistons of their gauntlets amplifying their punches. The force was enough to actually send the Dark Hybrid scraping backwards along the ground.
"Impossible!" Tears growled, "Just moments ago, they couldn't even make it budge! Now, they are pushing it back?! Babalypse, obliterate all of them!" The Dark Hybrid responded by raising its head up high, charging up for its next attack, directing at Hibiki and Philia, who braced against the shockwaves of the charging energy.
"We gotta stop it!" Filia exclaimed, wondering the best way to stop the attack.
"Leave it to us!" Chris assured her and Tsubasa, indicating herself and Hinata, "I've got the feeling in me, here."
"Same here, but our attack wouldn't do much in this situation." Hinata pointed out, "If we were in the center of it, then…"
"Don't worry. I've been saving this attack for such an opportunity." Chris assured her, and from her Symphogear, she summoned out two giant missiles over her shoulders.
"What the…!" Hinata gasped.
"Get on one!" Chris shouted, as she activated the two missiles, unleashing 'MEGA DETH FUGA'. Hinata realized the plan, and hopped onto one missile as it launched forward. Chris was not far behind, leaping onto the other missile. Together, they rode them up to the head of the Dark Hybrid. They leapt off of them just as the missiles impacted the feminine beast, causing a great explosion. Hinata and Chris were hanging in the middle of the air, looked down to see that while it might've done damage, it wasn't stopping it from continuously charging its attack.
"Time to let loose our Team Attack!" Chris declared, switching her guns.
"Let's stop it, here and now!" Hinata shouted, creating fire lionheads from her hands. The two unleashed 'LION INFERNAL PARADE', sending a deluge of fiery missiles raining down from the sky, hitting the upper parts of the Babalypse's upper body, neck, and face, including a few going down its throat. The ubrupt explosions from the attack caused the energy it was charging up to backfire, detonating it within its mouth. The results was leaving it with a smoking mouth, as it swayed where it stood.
"It's not down yet!" Tsubasa noted, looking to Flair, "Flair, Samson, let's knock it off its feet!"
"We're on it!" The two answered as one. The two charged in, their bodies glowing as they prepped their own Team Attack, but with a twist. Tsubasa summoned the giant blade, and both she and Samson grabbed ahold of it, but instead of bringing it downward, they spun themselves sideways, and with sheer muscle power, they swept the blade at its feet, unleashing 'Heaven's Guillotine: Reversal'. The attack cut the legs, and caused the beast to fall over, its head lulling to one side, but it was still facing Hibiki and Philia, who were a bit of a ways from it.
"Now's your chance!" The four girls shouted to the two singing girls. They nodded in approval, as Philia activated her Finisher, 'Hibiki Style: Spear's Violent Destruction'. Hibiki's right gauntlet and Philia's left gauntlet both transformed, adding rockets to them, which activated as they were propelled forward, going faster and faster with their fists forward, holding their last note, which turned into a war cry as they went straight down the mouth of the Babalypse, going through its entire body, before exiting out the other end, skidding to a halt, and raising their rocket fists upwards in victory.
(Song Ends)
Philia's gauntlet and relic glowed, reverting back to Keydagger form, as the two turned to see the Dark Hybrid completely defeated. It start to slowly turn to dark smoke, about to vanish before them. "We did it! Ms. Ryoko's darkness is no more!" Hibiki cheered.
However, just as the Dark Hybrid was about to vanish, the vapors ended up being pulled in a different direction; towards the outreached hand of Tears. She was taking in all the darkness, including the Nehushtan Armor, which, after absorbing all the darkness, was held in a miniaturized form in a dark bubble in its hand. "Well, that didn't do anything for me." She sighed, "Guess I'll just add this darkness to daddy's collection. He might even let me keep this armor."
"Where are you going with that?!" Tsubasa demanded, the six girls surrounding Tears from a distance.
Tears huffed as she answered, "Back to my daddy, of course. He needs all this darkness to achieve his goal. And I will make sure that happens."
"And what exactly is that goal of his?" Chris asked.
"Something beyond your feeble little minds." Tears responded, "And honestly, I'm tired of dealing with all of you light-wielders. It's time to get out of here." She turned around and summoned a dark corridor, about to walk towards it.
"Tears, wait!" Philia called out, causing her to stop and look behind her. Philia took a few steps forward as she started, "I know I can't reason with you, but I will tell you this; What your father has planned is dangerous. He might even use you as collateral damage for whatever he has planned with that darkness. And in case that day comes, when he uses you against your will, I will come forward and save you. Me, my friends, both here and far off." By the last part, she was talking about Team Keybladers.
There was a moment of silence, before Tears laughed out loud, turning to her as she replied, "Do you seriously think I would even think of asking for your help, let alone think my daddy will use me, like you say? He loves me, and needs me. So I will return that love by helping him with his goal, and nothing you can do will stop me!" With that, she walked into the portal, and vanished.
Philia looked down, a little disheartened, but half-expected this kind of result. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked to see Hibiki there, looking worried. "Are you gonna be okay?" She asked.
"Yeah…" the treasure huntress replied, giving a weak smile, "But I guess changing her won't be as easy as the rest of the people you've changed. But how do you do that, reaching out your enemy to accept you?"
"Well…I just don't give up on them." Hibiki answered, "I just know that if we are both human, we can understand one another. And eventually, I am just able to get my point across, and we are able to connect."
"Basically, she's just too stubborn to give up on someone when she sets her mind on trying to reason with someone." Chris summed up, "You don't know how many times she tried to reach out to me some time ago before I ended up giving into her madness."
"That's just how Tachibana works." Tsubasa sighed. Hibiki looked to both of them, confused at whether they were talking good or badly about her, while everyone else laughed at her expression, the tension of the fight now long gone.
S.O.N.G Headquarters, Command Bridge
The heroines had returned back to base, and were with Genjuro, Miku, and the others, reporting in on all that happened. As they came over, Hibiki's relic glowed, and produced a new Keydagger for Philia. It looked mechanical, its colors similar to Hibiki's Symphogear, with a teethed spear for the blade, a guard that looked like Hibiki's scarf, a silver chain, with the red relic on the end.
"I'm still amazed at how Philia was able to utilize Tachibana's Gungnir." Tsubasa noted, looking to the said girl.
"Indeed. You were even producing a phonic gain that was an exact replica of Hibiki's Symphogear." Genjuro noted.
"That's just how Soul Pacts are created." Philia noted, "And we just bridged the connection at that moment for you to share your soul with me."
"Will that cause any harm to Hibiki?" Miku asked.
"No worries. Soul Pacts are completely harmless. Hibiki is still Hibiki." The assurance made Miku sigh in relief, though a part of her withheld her jealousy from how Philia now had a piece of Hibiki within her.
Just then, Philia's pocket glowed, and she dug in to see the Star Shard starting to give off a pulsing glow. "Guess it's time for us to move on, now that things are safe here." Flair noted.
"Do you really have to leave?" Hibiki asked.
"We'll come back at some point." Philia assured her.
"But what about the Heartless around here?" Tsubasa asked, "What if they pop up again."
"Don't worry. The Cyber Heartless won't be around anymore, now that Tears and her cohorts are gone." Hinata assured them, "And the regular Heartless will probably be minimal. I bet even the Noise won't be around here, anymore."
"You're not asking us to baby you guys with all the little Heartless around here, are you?" Samson questioned the girls.
"Not a chance! We'll take care of the rest!" Chris answered confidently, "We're not that weak, you know!"
"We know. Samson just acknowledges your strength, that's all." Flair assured her, "In fact, I think he's taking a liking to you guys."
"Filia, don't tell them that!" Samson hastily told her, while the girls giggled at this.
"Still, we will see each other again." Philia assured the S.O.N.G members, "So take care of yourselves until then."
"Same, and I hope you are able to reach out to Tears." Hibiki said.
"After meeting you, Hibiki, I will do my best." She answered. Hibiki grinned, before leaping into her and giving her a hug, which Philia accepted. Hibiki pulled herself off Philia as the three girls backed away, waving to their new friends, as the Star Shard shined brightly. Within moments, they became a sparkling of lights, as they shout out of the ceiling, and into the sky, back to their Gummi Ship.
Dr. Tenma's Base
Tears gifted Dr. Tenma with her collection of darkness, holding the Nehushtan relic for him to examine. She joined Reaper and Widowmaker as they gathered at the container of digitized darkness, their collective darkness placed within.
"Excellent job to all three of you." Tenma congratulated the group, "Despite the setbacks from the light-wielders, you were able to produce this much darkness from a world." He turned to the trio as he stated, "Reaper and Widowmaker, I will be sure to reward you in compensation for your efforts. For now, be on standby until you are needed."
"Of course. But don't leave us waiting too long." Widowmaker told him, "We prefer to create more chaos soon."
"And I want some payback on that girl who got in my way." Reaper added.
"And you will get all that, soon." Tenma assured them, "For now, wait for my signal." With that, the two gunners walked away from the scene.
"As for you, my daughter, I will make sure to fix that armor up, and modify it for you to use." The doctor told Tears, "For now, head to the other world. Our newly-acquainted friend should be there, waiting for us."
"Of course, daddy." Tears answered, smiling at him, "Also, can I ask something, please?"
"What is it, my dear?" Tenma asked.
Tears paused, hoping what she was asking wasn't gonna anger her father, before continuing, "I am very curious about what you are gonna do with all this darkness. Can you tell me, pleeeeease?"
Tenma paused, looking back at her, before replying, "You wanna know what all this is for? Tell me, was this something you wanted to know on your own, or was this due to the light-wielders asking you?"
Tears felt uncomfortable at this question. She hated to admit it, but it was the latter. She was worried she was gonna anger her daddy for letting the light-wielders influence her. However, instead of lying, every fiber within her brain told her never, ever lie to Tenma, as she was instructed to always tell the truth and nothing but the truth. She had to be a good girl.
"…It was because the light-wielders have been asking." She admitted, "I don't give them a response, but mostly because you never told me, daddy. And I promise, even if you did tell me, I wouldn't tell them whatsoever. My lips are sealed."
"Even so, it's best you don't know." Tenma assured her, placing a hand on her shoulder, "If anything should happen to you, and you were forced to admit why I was doing this, it would cause all my work to be for naught. So the less people who know my plans, the better. And in that sense, only I know the true reason for obtaining all this darkness. This is for both of our safety, my daughter. You understand?"
"Yes, daddy." Tears answered, looking forlorn, but choosing to follow her father's orders.
"Very good. Now, hurry along and make your way to the next world. Gather up as much darkness as you possibly can." Tear nodded in response to her daddy's orders, and walked out of the room, leaving him alone to tap away at his computer, making sure to convert the darkness they gathered in a digital form.
The thought of his daughter's curiosity did somewhat stir him, but not enough to make any action. He knew she would never betray him whatsoever. After all, that's how he re-written her programming.
Next Time on Sword Art Kingdom III
Orb of Neglect! Saving True Smiles!