Symphogear: A Cybernetic Touch

by striberx

As the fight against the Noise and Magia continue on, new heroes don their new abilities and suits to fight against them. But because of this, ideals clash, bonds began to break and all could be lost. But with a simple touch of something that nothing can fight against, these heroes and heroines will prevail.

17. Chapter 17: Epilogue to Ragnarok

Senki Zessho Symphogear: A Cybernetic Touch

~A tale of the valkyries and the beasts that follow them…~

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Chapter 17: Harmony of Heroes -Epilogue to Ragnarok-

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WARNING: I own none of these characters sides from my OC(s). All rights go to their respective owners and properties.

This is nothing more than, well a fanfic, a story made up by a fan for entertainment and knowledge.

Everything in this fic is not canon and is only meant to give the audience a new idea of the works of each of the franchises in this story.

So please support me, my work and have some fun. Now enjoy the story. ^w^

---

It had been a few hours since the attack at the tower as Maria and Dr Nasstaja were now back in the hovercraft. But they weren't alone as Gai and Ver were along with them, with Maria heavily glaring at the madmen.

"This is unacceptable… I didn't think you two would resort to kidnapping…" Maria glared as she pointed to a small cage with someone inside it.

"Let me go free! Please! I want to go home!"

"She has potential. Why wouldn't we take this chance?" Gai smirked, "Plus this'll be such sweet revenge…"

Within the cage, Miku was distraught as Gai smiled at her despair.

"Now, now, Gai. That's no way to treat a young lady." Ver said before he kneeled down to Miku's eye level. "You see… we need your help. And we know if you do this, you can save that which is also important to you…."

"Y-You mean…"

"If you do this, both your best friend and brother could be saved from that which is haunting them inside…" Ver stated, "Now doesn't that sound like a good deal?"

Miku was conflicted by this offer. The young maiden kne how dangerous they were, but at the same time they were effective in their plans.

"Cody is being consumed by Ark, and Hibiki is dying from her own relic. No normal methods can be done to save them." Gai added on, knowing what Ver was planning.

Feeling a burden on her, Miku gave her answer which made Dr. Ver smile with glee.

---

(SONG: DOWN BY LAW - THE RAMPAGE from EXILE TRIBE)

/Prelude/

We see various objects ranging from the Relic pendants to Progrise Keys fall from the sky before we see the different light grasshoppers appear and form the current logo.

/ME & YOU

kakenuketa BAD TIMES/

It soon transitions into one of the Relic pendants as we see reflections of moments of Cody, Hibiki, Tsubasa, Balto, and Chris from the prior arc.

/CHANGE THE GAME

hitorikiri ja koe rarenai/

Dr. Ver then stands up with his hands raised into the air, transitioning the scene to show the Noise flying overhead before jumping to show Section 2 with Tsubasa and Balto standing there all.

/tōmawari no hibi o wakachi

au imi oshiete kureta/

The background quickly darkens to show the gunner falling to his knees and howling to the sky, afterwards it then transitions to show Cody hanging out with Hibiki and Miku before he turns to see Ark-One glaring at him in the reflection of the mirror.

/Kimi to mita ano mirai-zu o shinji teru

sure ENOUGH (UH, UH HUH)/

It finally shows Chris standing in the remnants of Fine's mansion as she recollects the memories of her parents.

/imasara iranai REASON kienai ganbō

yowakina kanjō matomete LET IT GO/

Afterwards a swing of the black Gungnir transitions the scene to show Maria standing alongside Shirabe and Kirika, who had also transformed into their Gear forms.

/nani ga okite mo KEEP YA HEAD UP/

Afterwards, another swing of the Attache Arrow shows the remaining three members of Metsubojinrai before showing Naki alone as she reached out for Balto. However Gai then grabs her by the head as he transforms into the Thousandriver for him to use against Cody.

/Akogareta mirai made sā, ikō WE CAN MAKE IT (UH HUH)

toman'naide (UH HUH)/

It then transitions into a fight between Thouser and Zero-One Shining Hopper as they clashed, Thousand Jacker to Authorise Buster. Meanwhile in the sky, Shirabe and Hibiki were battling as the former sent out several saws at her. Luckily, Hibiki is able to block before landing a stronger punch on the girl.

/mata kyō mo sekai wa kawaru keredo/

It then transitions into Vulcan Assault Wolf fighting against Neferiti only for him to tag in with Tsubasa who had her hands full with Maria as they clashed. Afterwards, the Valkyrie Fighting Jackal and Kirika double-teamed Chris who was more than ready to face off with them.

/YOU'RE MY FAMILY (UH HUH)

bure nai negai to DREAM/

It then shows Zero-One standing alone in the Lunar Ruins as he sees all four members of Metsubojinrai alongside the feral Vulcan and Neferiti.

/WE ARE DOWN BY LAW don'na toki mo tatakau koto kara nige tari wa shinai/

With a heavy heart, Zero-One begins to fight the six dark Riders down as the camera spins around while he fights each one individually.

/WE ARE DOWN BY LAW don'na kabe mo koete iku kara

WOO WE DO IT FOR REAL/

Just when he thinks he's alone, Hibiki, Tsubasa, and Chris arrive, Team Zero back as one as they stood at the ready.

/Interlude/

The four then hold hands before charging into battle against their enemies, the camera panning to showcase them all beforehand.

/WE DO IT FOR REAL/

The opening then ends with them posing in the city lights with the broken moon behind them.

---

Within Section 2, Cody was fast asleep, having being put under before Ark could take hold of his anger as Hibiki sat there. It had been 2 days since the incident, as the tower everyone was at, was attacked by AIMS and GUN.

While many people were saved…. Miku didn't make it. Cody almost went berserk at that before Tsubasa came to stop him. They all searched for hours upon hours and while they couldn't find a body, as far as they know a Noise could've taken her too.

"DAMMIT! DAMMIT, DAMMIT, DAMMIT!" Balto roared as he started punching the wall in rage.

"Easy Partner. I know you're upset over it too." Naki said in his thoughts.

"How could I not be?! Those bastards just made things worse for them!" Balto hissed out, as he was angered that Gai and Ver would go so far as to kill Miku just to get back at the duo, "When I get my hands on that old coot, I am going to tear him limb from limb!"

"We don't even know if they actually attacked her because of that. As far as we know? It was a feud battle."

"You're right…" Balto said before taking a deep breath.

Tsubasa finally walked in as she saw how hard Balto was on himself, but that was also because she had just come off of visiting the distraught Cody and Hibiki.

XXX

EARLIER…

"MIKU!" Cody and Hibiki shouted in utter shock and fear. Hibiki tearing up but before she could move, the ache from her Relic reacted as she dropped to the ground, swiftly disabling her gear before it could harm her.

Zero-One on the other hand, was shocked as he saw the smoldering area where Miku once was. The grasshopper Rider soon felt his malice take over before he turned towards his attention towards the surviving G.U.N. and A.I.M.S members. As he marched over towards the cowering soldiers, Zero-One took out his Authorise Buster and readied it. The grasshopper Rider was ready to draw blood, his eyes glaring with hate while muttering out 'Die' over and over again like a mantra. He could the feeling the malice pouring out of him once more, but at that point, he couldn't care less.

Yet the moment he raised his axe, it was countered by Tsubasa's own sword, with the blonde hissing in anger as he attempted to overpower the sword user.

"OUT OF MY WAY!" Cody howled out.

Tsubasa shook her head, "Don't do this, Cody-san…. If you do, you won't be able to live with yourself." She said to him, trying to snap him out of his anger.

"They killed my sister… they killed Miku in cold blood! I won't let them have that!" He said as his belt began to shiver and shake as Ark was attempting to break free once more.

Fearing what could happen, Tsubasa used her Shadow Weave to immobilize the boy. As he was unable to move and was left wailing with such heartache, Tsubasa struck him in the neck, as the boy collapsed in her arms, unconscious.

"Forgive me, but I couldn't forgive myself or Miku should you be lost to Ark again…" Tsubasa said, as she gently placed him down.

After reaching the ground, Tsubasa could only look to see Hibiki stand nearby, tears racing down her face before the brunette dropped to her knees. Tsubasa responded as she hugged her as the Gungnir user wailed and cried out from the loss of her best friend. Unfortunately for them, the Noise refused to back down and tried to attack Hibiki and force the remaining Riders and Gear users to fight them off.

"She's in your hands!" Chris called out before she leaped into battle, firing as many shots as she could to destroy the Noise.

'Little by little, things are becoming twisted. Becoming broken.' she thought as the Noise continued, 'Who's the bastard behind this?!'

As she gunned down the flying Noise, the others were focused on the incoming hoard of Magia coming for them. Returning to Chris, she was unloading her whole arsenal on the incoming Noise, trying her best to divert the monsters' attention to her.

'I was the one who activated Solomon's Cane, does everything always end up being my fault?' she questioned herself as the blasts hit their targets, "I…. I WON'T RUN ANYMORE!"

She then summoned two missiles and aimed them right at the two carrier Noise.

MEGA DEATH… FUUUGGAAA!

With one blast, she was able to destroy them, but the attack left her completely winded and in pain.

XXX

"I don't know what we can do now other than give them both time…. This was just as heartbreaking to them as when Miku-san and Tachibana lost Cody-san back then… for now we can only hope they both can comfort and heal one another." Tsubasa said with a heavy sigh.

Balto merely snarled, his lupin voice sending a look of fear down his girlfriends spine before he recompsed himself, "You're right. They need us. It's just… it's hard to imagine how much pain the two are in…"

Though, nearby Chris was standing against the wall, her own fist bruised from her own relief of anger as blood dripped from her lip as she bit it too hard.

'This truly is all my fault… If I didn't let that staff get away from me… They wouldn't have any power to do this! And then maybe everyone wouldn't be so hurt….' The archer mentally chastised herself.

Chris felt so much shame and blame for herself for losing the Staff of Solomon. She had to fix this before more lives and friends were lost. Without a word, the archer made her way out, knowing what to do next yet was unaware that a certain falcon was watching her from afar.

As for Cody and Hibiki, the brunette watched the blonde sleep, tears dripping down his face as she cleaned him up. She too was heartbroken, as without Miku here, she didn't know what to do as she was lost. Without her sunshine, she was having a hard time being able to cheer up, just like when Cody was lost.

Regardless, she vowed to make things right.

"I promise… I won't let you be sad either, Cody." Hibiki said to herself as she leaned down to peck his forehead before she made her way out, knowing that whenever they find FIS, she'll be there.

XXX

At ZAIA HQ, Gai was overlooking something while Dr. Ver was looking over much of the later Gerald Cadenza Eve's research.

"Did you find anything?" The CEO asked.

"Yes, I did… I found the exact way for our plan to succeed. Turning that girl into our secret weapon was the right choice." Ver grinned madly. "Even a way that could help us control Ark."

"Good. Because so far, she's exceeding many of the combat trials we've put out for her." Gai observed, "As for recovering anything on Project Superior Overlord?"

"Indeed, we do. Just need the boy's full potential. So don't kill him until we know it works." Ver said, as he pulled up the schematics of Shining Hopper and whatever the Assault Grip would give him, "Besides, looking over the files of the late great Dr. Gerald is a dream come true. At least speaking with Thaddeus wasn't a total waste of time."

He smirked before turning towards Yua, "How is your training with your new form?" he questioned her.

"I'm… finished with it… Sir…." Yua said, now almost robotically due to the implants and torture she recieved from it.

"Good…. I can't wait to see his despair, knowing you can't be saved either." Gai grinned deviously as this would give him such a good sense of revenge.

XXX

Meanwhile at FIS, Maria slammed her fist into the glass, her fist still bloodied from the previous battle.

"I have stained my hands with blood and taken lives." she growled, "What hope is left for me, Serena?"

Shirabe watched from afar, as this entire battle was taking its toll on everyone. Even she was beginning to question everything.

"Please, tell us what happened 'Mom'?" she asked the old professor.

"I attempted to try and take your three out of this fight, but as figured, we cannot escape until Frontier is unleashed…" The professor sighed.

"That is true…" a sinister voice spoke as Dr. Ver arrived with the Staff of Solomon in hand alongside a couple of Battle Raiders, "We believe we should save as many lives as possible before the moon falls in a decade, do we not? However, Nastassja tried to sell us out to the man who allowed Daybreak to happen."

"You and I both know that Gai is more responsible for that, than us…" She glared at the madman.

"There's more." the man himself said as he arrived in his Thouser armor, "We know you have hidden the truth about FIne's sould from us. You placed up an illusion of your own making, simply because your old colleague's granddaughter was left in your hands by his death…"

Nasstaja turned away, not wanting to speak any further from that. Though Kirika heard it from afar, knowing that if what they said is true? Then what happened to her and Shirabe fully means that she is the next host for Fine.

Maria felt more guilt fall upon her, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, girls."

"But if you're not Fine, then-" Shirabe spoke up.

"You know, I only complied because of my disdain for the Hiden bloodline. Meanwhile you roped Dr. Ver into this with this lie." Thouser spoke before placing his hand on the old woman's shoulder, "How tragic would it be if I turned you to the police, leaving these girls all alone…"

"Do that, and then Section 2 will know everything and our location." Nastassja threatened with a glare.

"Did you really think this betrayal would go this far? We had only just retrieve the Nephilim's heart and it was almost lost to us forever." Dr. Ver added, interrupting the old woman, "So what's it going to be? Nastassja Sergeyevna Tolstaya? Or should I go with your maiden name… Nastassja Robotnik?"

XXX

At a family restaurant, Balto was eating a lot before he looked up.

"Hey, come on guys, it's my treat." He offered towards the rather conflicted Tsubasa.

Balto merely raised an eyebrow, "You know, I wouldn't exactly mind if you gained a pound or two, right?" he teased her.

"Erm… right. It would be odd…" Tsubasa nodded, it seemed she didn't get the teasing or seemed to pay attention to it.

"Right, can't eat anything past 9 to avoid screwing with Ogawa's meal plan for you." he realized before he sighed.

The two remained silent as they began to reflect on what was happening.

"Man, I didn't expect everything to go so poorly this year…" he lamented, "First the FIS, then Ark's near re-surface, and now Miku died during our battle."

"I'm just more worried about how Aldrich-san and Tachibana are reacting over all of this." Tsubasa said softly with worry.

Balto nodded sadly before looking down in shame, "I wish I wasn't reduced to a mindless mutt for several months, I could have prevented all this, but instead I went out like an idiot and played into their hands. Now everyone's paid the price because of it."

"No! You cannot blame all of this on yourself!" Tsubasa shook her head, "This happened because of two madmen and their egos!"

The gunner said nothing at first but nodded, "I'm sorry for almost spiraling like that again. I just…"

"I know. Everyone is torn up over all of this… but if we let them get to us, we won't be able to save anyone else." Tsubasa said to him, placing her hands onto his.

"You're right." he agreed before looking up and smirking, "Say, you got a little something on your face." he joked.

"Huh?" Tsubasa blinked as she attempted to feel or wipe it off.

He soon landed a quick kiss on her lips, before he licked his lips, "Got it, you had a bit of food on your mouth so I got it." he joked.

Tsubsa smiled as she giggled in response, "Thank you Balto. I needed that."

"Yeah…" he noted with a smile, "Still, you did taste good."

XXX

"Mom… Maria…" Kirika muttered, "What these two are saying are lies, right?"

The scythe user was hugging her legs in fear as she sat there. They had to be lies, right? But… if they aren't then Kirika is starting to lose her soul. No! She didn't want that! She doesn't want to leave Shirabe and lose who she is! But if she doesn't cooperate, they'll hurt Shirabe, Maria and Mom.

"It's true…" Maria was forced to admit as it made Kirika look up to her, "I am no host to Fine, and we've been having second thoughts about the plan to save mankind. 'Mom' tried to get the help of G.U.N by sharing what we knew about the Frontier, hoping that the bridges burned by my grandfather were rebuilt. Clearly, we were wrong…"

"Then what do we do? What… can we even do at this point? Nobody trusts us, and we have the entire world against us." Kirika questioned the older woman.

"For now, all we can do is go along with it…. I have a plan already that could unite us all to end this feud." Maria said, "Whatever happens, please be strong Kirika."

"If those negotiations succeeded, we would have lost the upper hand, that was why you two staged a war between A.I.M.S and the Noise, didn't you?" Nastassja correctly pointed out.

"Oh please, we protected you from Thaddeus' old crew." Dr. Ver stated with a smirk.

Kirikha and Shirabe were ready to fight, but Maria stood in the way of them and the two madmen.

"Maria, are you seriously siding with them?!" Kirika accused.

"Kirika, please. Trust me at least. This is the only way…" Maria pleaded to her.

This made Thouser laugh, "I should have known this would happen!"

Shirabe glared at the golden warrior, "And what does that mean?"

"I see that you believe that we are in the right, aren't we?" the crowned Rider asked the false Gungnir user.

"Yes… it's truly the only way to stop all of this…." Maria nodded with gritted teeth, "You cannot protect the world with half-hearted devotion. We can't fulfill Serena's wishes like this. Only through brute force can we maintain justice."

"Maria!" Shirabe said with disappointment as she frowned, "That very force would be used to oppress the weak."

All three girls stood against each other for a while before the old professor sighed, "Very well. This is the decision of Maria Cadenzavna Eve herself, and not the false Fine, I trust?"

"It is, 'Mom'." Maria nodded.

"Then… we will follow." The old professor nodded.

She soon began to cough hard with blood coming out of her mouth, leaving Kirkha and Shirabe worried for her.

"Leave the rest to us." Thouser said as the pair made their leave, "You should rest well, Nastassja."

The CEO led the old professor to the nurse's bed, as he smirked deviously knowing that everything is going to plan.

XXX

Maria on the other hand, went back to her room and began to curl up in her bed. She felt sick giving into Gai and Dr. Ver's demands, but at this point she felt like she did what she had to do.

As she sulked, the girl looked towards her prized possession; a small black hedgehog plushie that had red quills and yellow eyes. She began to hug it tightly while she mulled over her decision.

"Mr. Shadow. Did I truly make the right choice?" she asked the plushie, "Would this really be what Serena would have wanted?"

Maria had this plushie ever since she was small. Something she and Serena made together but the younger sister was secretly making it for her big sister. It became her best friend, comfort helper and counselor for the idol for many years as she told every secret and more to it.

Maria stared at the plushie as if it was responding to her question before she sighed out.

"You're right… This isn't what she would want… But what can I even do now? I'm practically a global terrorist. Nobody wants to trust us or even me after everything… And with us having that girl here, we can forget about Section 2's help." Maria groaned out.

She soon looked at the plushie for an answer, hoping that likely her old friend would know something. But nothing came to her, well, nothing that she didn't think of yet. However, she soon felt like the plushie was saying something to her, surprising her.

"Do.. do you really think this would work?" she asked the plushie. The light from outside softly shined on its eyes as that brought her to smile before hugging him happily, "Yeah… That will work. Thanks Mr. Shadow!"

"M-Maria-san?" Maria heard a cautious Kirika call her out.

"Hm? What is it, Kirika?" Maria asked the short blonde.

"Why were you talking to a toy hedgehog-desu?" the scythe wielder pointed out

Maria smiled softly, "Guess I never told you, huh? This is Mr. Shadow! He was made by me and Serena…. And is a reminder of not only better times but my sister as well…" She informed her with a soft smile.

"That's so cute." Kirika praised her as the two began to talk.

Maria soon felt her heart at ease as she conversed with Kirika. Perhaps the next few days would not be so bad afterall…

XXX

"What's this?" Hibiki asked as she looked at the broken phone in her hands.

"We found this some distance away from the Sky Tower." Genjuro explained

"This was Miku's RisePhone!" Hibiki gasped.

"We analyzed as much data that we could recover from the device." Izu explained as she showed the recovered data, "Before it's destruction, the RisePhone was moved away from the tower at a steady speed."

"So Miku is still alive! We have to find her!" Hibiki said with worry.

"Indeed, but I fear that those who took her might have been our enemies." the former Kamen Rider could only speculate.

"Ver…. Gai…" Cody hissed in anger, his fist clenching tightly.

"Now then, I think it's time that you six go through some proper training." Genjuro noted as he looked towards Hibiki, Tsubasa, Cody, Balto, and Nefertiti. The swordswoman and the gunner gulped in fear of this, much to the others' confusions.

"Hah? Why am I apart of this now?" Nefertiti questioned.

"Because, if it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have had the data we had on the Frontier, nor would Balto have returned to us." Genjuro explained, "That is why in my eyes, you are a part of this team as any other."

The red-bird rider sighed out, "Fine, fine…"

"Just, one thing please Genjuro-san? Please have mercy on us." Balto pleaded, "I know I haven't been training since the whole dog thing but-"

"What was that?" Genjuro asked with a mischievous grin, sending fear down the gunner's spine.

"I don't think we're going to be able to get out of this without some new bruises…" Cody grimaced to the gunner.

XXX

TWO WEEKS LATER…

"Sir! We found their airship!" One of the Humagear workers said, turning to Genjuro as they put the location on screen, being almost right in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle.

"It's close by! Full speed ahead!" Genjuro declared.

The group all nodded as they began to make their course to the location. Alongside doing so, messages to the others to get on one of the Section 2 helicopters to make sure everyone is there. This fight was what they needed and now they're going to end this.

"We'll get ready to assist them!" Tsubasa declared as she and Balto rushed out.

"Tsubasa-san, Balto-san! I-"

Neferiti stopped Hibiki and grabbed her by the tie, "Do you want to die that badly?!"

Cody turned around, "Stay here. Okay? You can't leave this place." He could feel his hands shake with fear, "Please… I can't lose you too."

After fixing up her tie, Neferiti and Cody arrived to the scene as they arrived to find several Metsubojinrai and several Trilobite Magia attacking the FIS and A.I.M.S soldiers in their way.

"Damn it! Can't they just leave us alone?" Cody hissed in annoyance upon seeing the rogue Humagears.

Meanwhile, Maria felt disgusted by the acts of genocide the terrorists enacted on the soldiers.

"Is this what you really want? Is sending our enemies against each other really necessary to protect the weak?" Shirabe asked the false Gungnir user.

Maria stayed silent as she watched. But as for the young twintails girl, she had enough. Even if FIS come after her, her heart would be in the right place. The silence was all Shirabe needed to hear as she ran and slammed on the door button, opening it up as she leapt out of the airship.

"Shirabe, what are you doing?!" Kirika gasped.

"If Maria is suffering, I will set her free." Shirabe declared.

Various Shul Shagana tron…

As her relic glowed, she gained her Gear Armor as she soon landed on the cruiser ship, singing aloud as she began to deal with the Noise and the Humagear attacking the innocent people on board. Even stopping the Raiders whenever they attempted to intervene.

"Seems like we now have a true traitor… Men? Do what you wish, just don't destroy her relic." Thouser waved off as he didn't care if the girl lived or not, appalling Kirika at this.

"Shirabe!" The scythe user said, ready to jump into action only to be stopped.

"If you want to bring her back, I got just the thing…" Dr. Ver offered with a sadistic grin.

"Fine! Just please don't hurt her!" Kirika said, as she was willing to work with them for this.

XXX

"Heh, so that buzzsaw girl is here?" Raiden observed, "Fine, I was getting bored anyways!" he declared with a smirk.

"Just remember, we must obtain Zero-One if we want to gain Ark's power." Horobi stated.

"You'll have to go through us, birdbrain!" Vulcan declared as he quickly took out his Attache Shotgun and combined it again with his ShotRiser

FUSIONRISE!

"You know, I always wanted to pull this off." the gunner said as he soon charged towards Raiden, firing shots from both his AttacheRiser and the Authorise Buster's gun mode.

"Che, out of the way, mutt!" Raiden scoffed out with annoyance.

"Sorry but you're dealing with us together." Nefertiti said, as she landed next to Balto.

"Che, I can handle you both with ease." Raiden got out with an amused chuckle, "Hope this time you'll keep me entertained…"

"No, the faker is mine!" Jin declared, glaring at the red falcon Rider.

"Aw, what's wrong junior? Angry that I wear it better than some robot?" She smirked at him.

"Says you, tube baby!" he shouted, which struck a cord with Nefertiti.

"Okay… now you're going to pay…" She glared at Jin as the two bird riders flew up into the air, battling against one another.

"Now, the fun can begin, Talbot!" Ikazuchi grinned, "And Naki! I…. hope things have been well?" He said, as he could sense her presence within him.

The AI of Naki responded in kind, "I mean, what can I say at this point? Sorry old friend, but Balto and I are a team now." Naki said. Even though he could not hear her, Ikazuchi could tell that she was within the wolf Rider's head.

The dodo Rider clicked his tongue, "Fine, well at least if I kill him, I can at least extract your brain chip from his cold dead head."

"Oh geez, already planning for murder. You never changed since your creation, have you?" Vulcan noted before he grinned under his helmet, "I guess that why you're a dodo, because you're too dumb for your own good." the wolf Rider quipped.

"That's it!" Raiden howled in anger, lunging at the gunner with its blades, ready to kill him, only to run into a double blast from Vulcan's guns.

"Thank you for proving my point." he chuckled.

From afar on the ship, Shriabe continued to deal with the enemies, using what she could not to bring any harm to those who were human but it was difficult. Luckily, an ally soon arrived as Kirika landed by her side, already armored up.

"Kiri-chan!" she cheered.

At least… At first she cheered. But that relief was soon replaced with confusion as Kirika placed a needle gun to her neck and injected a red liquid into her. Suddenly, Shirabe stumbled back as she felt her transformation start to weaken..

XXX

EARLIER…

"LiNKER?"

"This is Anti-LiNKER actually, it's a drug that's meant to lower a girl's sync rate with their relic." Dr. Ver told her.

"Meaning, using it will force you girls out of your relics without much harm." Gai added on. "Go ahead, use it to save your friend."

Kirika looked at the red vial, knowing that while it would stop Shirabe's gear and leave her vulnerable. The scythe-wielder had to do this if it meant saving her friend from any horrible fate, as well as give her feelings to her friend before she was lost to Fine's will.

XXX

"I can't… maintain… my Gear…" Shirabe gasped, stumbling back as her transformation canceled out.

"Forgive me Shirabe… But this is all for you." Kirika frowned softly, "I could disappear at any time! I have to leave something behind before that happens, or you'll forget me one day!"

"Kiri-chan…"

"Even if I disappear, as long as this world remains then so will the memories we share!" the scythe wielder declared, "That's why I'll protect the world as the doctor wishes!"

But before she could do anything, Tsubasa's blade came against her neck.

"I suggest you answer my questions…" Tsubasa requested from the buzzsaw relic user.

Shirabe was silent for a moment before responding, "I've started to question everything we've done… and realizing my mistakes… I only want this to stop so I don't lose my family again…"

Tsubasa was a bit surprised to hear this. The saw-girl's tone showed concern not just for the other gear users but also a look of worry for those on the ship. The swordwielder knew that the girl was truly trying to help and change the mistakes.

"Hey! What is that?!" One person shouted to earn their attention, as the girls looked back up to the FIS Ship as a soft purple glow was coming from it.

The Riders and Symphogear users quickly got ready for battle, only to soon hear… a song.

Rei Shénshòujìng rei zizzl

Zero-One flinched upon hearing that tune. He knew that voice so well he could tell the difference from a roaring crowd to that soft voice.

"That voice… no… it can't be…"

As the glow fell off of the ship, landing was someone new. She had the same Symphogear undersuit, but with a purple addition on it. Two large purple armor shins were on her legs with two wires off of her back. She had a jaw-esc helmet that seemed to be able to become a visor as on the back of her head was an odd device that looked like an eye and a controller.

Standing in front of everyone, alive and well, was Miku Kohinata. But now, she was a relic bearer and fighting alongside FIS.

"Kohinata?!" Genjuro got out, just as shocked as everyone else.

"Miku…" Zero-One got out, but right before he could run to her, a swipe from those wires lashed out, stopping the boy.

"Ah-ah-ah, boy! You're not gonna have a wholesome reunion here." Gai's voice came from the ship.

"GAI! Leave my sister out of this!" The grasshopper rider howled out in anger.

"Hehe, oh if you're mad about this? Why not say hello to an old friend again?" Gai snickered as landing next to Miku was none other than Yua.

But what made the boy's skin crawl and his face grow pale as the young woman had a controller headband around her head. Her eyes almost lifeless as bruises and more appeared on the woman's face. Seems every time she attempted to help, Gai would respond in kind.

"BASTARD!" Zero-One howled out in utter rage.

"You made her use the Shénshòujìng to form a Gear?" Natassja questioned the mad doctor.

"Mom, you should be in bed!" Maria worried.

"We could not get the full power of the gear as it was. So why not make it a gear and see how well a symphonic gain could help? After all, Lydian is chock full of potential Gear users." Ver chuckled out as he looked to Gai, seeing the man cackle madly at how he affected Zero-One's mentality from all of this.

"But I thought that relics could only be used by girls?" Maria noted.

"Symphogears, definitely." Gai noted before looking towards the data on the wolf fossil, "However, the gods aren't the only ones who left their mark on history. There are also the legendary beasts across history. The Leviathan, Cerberus, the Bakuwaga, Anasi, even the great Sun Wukong, all monsters and yokai have always existed and just been forgotten. I refer to these as the Ultimate Lifeforms…"

He then named these relics a title that would stick even long after he was gone.

"Primalgears… That is the secret to the Progrise and Zetsumarise system. They house the remnants of these lost beasts and empower them to the soldiers of the modern era."

"Regardless, if only it were so easy to sync a person to a Symphogear or a Primalgear using LiNKER alone." Dr. Ver noted while Gai continued to laugh in the background, "If it were, then we could have produced an army of both."

"Then how did you get her…" Natassja questioned the doctor, to which he responded with…

"Love!"

The old doctor was shocked, "What does love have to do with this?"

Gai, having recovered from his glee, smiled wickedly at the woman, "Everything." He then leaned down to the controller microphone to the two girls. "Run wild, my dears…" He ordered the two.

"Acknowledged…" Yua responded as she held up a new key, but it wasn't a Progrise key, but a new zetsumarise key as it showed an egyptian jackal.

HUNT!

AUTHORISE!

KAMEN RIDER. KAMEN RIDER.

From the Shotriser came the mechanical jackal hound. It howled out as it stood in front of the two girls, protecting them should anyone attack.

"Henshin…"

Yua pulled the trigger as the Jackal turned around and walked up to her, only to 'bite' down on her as it disassembled and created the bodysuit. Afterwards, the pieces reformed around her body, creating her new armor.

SHOTRISE!

FI~GHT~ING~ JA~CKAL~!

[Deciding fate of a battle like a Valkyrie]

As the armor let out steam, it was much different from the other forms they've used or had. It was much more mechanical, as it was fully metal silver and metal gray instead of the white and orange. Gray armor was slimmed down on her forearms and waist as gold accents were applied onto the pipines. But her helmet was fully like that of the jackal hound as the soft remnants of her old visor cat eyes were behind a slight knight-esc cage on the visor with two large golden ears on the back of her helmet. This was her new power, Valkyrie Fighting Jackal.

Afterwards, she summoned forth a large bronze scythe and spun it around before slamming it's pommel on the ground.

"Yua-neesan…" Cody got out in shock, only to soon feel a powerful strike as Valkyrie was even faster than before, as she used the pommel to hit him before charging after the boy.

"Kid!" Balto got out in shock, only to dodge an incoming beam from Miku as the young girl began to sing and fight as well.

Dr Ver was impressed by this display, "This Miku child wished more than anything else than for her childhood friends to not have to fight anymore. The LiNKER simply conveyed that wish to the Shénshòujìng." He soon smiled wildly at Miku holding off Team Zero, "It worked so perfectly, I could hardly believe it!"

"Miku! Stop fighting! This doesn't need to happen!" Tsubasa said, dodging the beams as she still held onto Shirabe.

"No… This… must happen…. No more fighting…" Miku responded softly, as tears raced down her cheek.

"We have located Miku Kohinata. She seems fine but there are no signs of Chris." Tsubasa reported.

"We know…. Try your best not to harm Kohinata." Genjuro sighed.

"Fine?! Does that look like fine to you?!" Zero-One roared in anger, "How the hell do you think Hibiki is feeling right now?!"

"Don't let your anger cloud your mind. We know they could've done much worse things to her when they took her away. But as long as we can get her back, safe and sound, then she will be fine." Genjuro responded.

"Then I should probably hold her down then!" Vulcan declared, activating the Trapping Spider key.

TERRITORY!

After a quick shot, the wolf Rider was now swinging around and trying his best to fire enough web to hold down the brainwashed Miku.

But soon, a few small drones came out of the leg armor, firing at the gunner before firing at the webbings to free her. Afterwards, Miku tried to get away while the wolf Rider was pursuing her. He fired another blast of web at her weapon to try and jam it, but the mind-controlled girl was able to dodge and fire a blast that knocked the wolf Rider into the water.

"Balto!" Tsubasa cried out while Neferiti flew towards where the wolf Rider was.

Miku on the other hand began to float as the armor leggings formed a cylinder around her as it began to charge.

Genjuro, seeing this knew it would be troubling as he gave an order, "YOU TWO! GET OUT OF THERE NOW!" He shouted to the group.

"What?!" the ruffled bird Rider asked as she put the wolf Rider back on the ship, near Shirabe.

Soon a large, powerful beam shot out at Shirabe and the two Riders. Luckily, before they could get hit, Chris arrived and stepped in with her reflectors.

"Chris!" Zero-One cheered.

However, upon contact, the archer noticed it started to give away too quickly. Whatever this attack was, it was able to bypass any of the gear's defenses!

"We need to do as Genjuro says and flee!" Tsubasa said as the group began to flee, some using their thrusters while others were holding onto either Tsubasa or Nefertiti to flee.

Soon the last reflectors that Chris left behind gave out as the powerful beam followed suit. Tsubasa attempted to slow it down as she summoned the larger swords to make barriers, but the beam kept powering through it. They all needed a new escape.

"Shirabe, run! That beam will erase you both!" Kirika cried out.

"The Ichaival's Reflector was able to hold back even the Kadingir's mon-shattering laser!" Chris reminded the scythe user, "Doesn't matter how powerful it is, I can hold it back!"

"It won't work this time! We need a new plan!" Tsubasa shouted out.

"A ramp! Make a ramp!" Shirabe chimed in.

Realizing this, Nefertiti quickly made a run for it alongside the others. Tsubasa afterwards placed a sword down to create a ramp and allow the quartet to escape unharmed. This allowed Kirika to reason with Miku.

"Don't shoot Shirabe-chan, she's with us! She's our precious friend!" she pleaded.

"Aw, but little Kirika. She easily joined them the moment she leaped out of our ship!" Ver's voice came on the intercom, "As far as we're concerned? She betrayed us, thus an enemy too."

"And unless you want to join her? You best get back to the ship." Gai's voice added on with that threat.

As Kirika struggled to answer, Shirabe called out to her.

"Kiri-chan, you can't save the weak the doctor's way!" she pleaded with her friend. "We all need to be responsible for what we do… But if we can't protect those who are unable to fight, then why are we even doing this in the first place?"

"That maybe true. After all, we're quite powerless in the face of our impending doom." the mad doctor explained as he stood at the window holding the cane, "And the research data regarding Symphogears, Primalgears, and relics hardly belongs to us alone. But if we have one advantage. I'd say it's Solomon's Cane!"

'That Cane…. If it wasn't for me losing it…. None of this suffering would happen…' Chris gritted within her thoughts.

Afterwards, he began summoning Noise left and right, prompting the remaining members of Metsubojinrai to transform the ship's Humagears into Magia. This forced Chris to focus her firepower on the former, blasting her arrows at any Noise that got near her.

"We need to deal with this nuisance before we can obtain Zero-One…" Horobi ordered the remaining members.

"Ugh, this guy is gonna be a real pain…" Ikazuchi groaned out.

On the other hand, Miku soon fled the scene whole the fighting continued.

"Can we really do nothing?" Tsubasa asked.

"Tsu, Zero-One, focus on saving the soldiers! We got Metsubojinrai and the Noise!" Neferiti declared as she and the archer quickly shot down several Magia.

"Miku…. I swear… we'll save you…." Hibiki called out, a heavy frown on her face and a heavy pain in her heart.

"Yua-neesan… I'll save you too…" Zero-One said softly, as he sees the woman leaving as well.

However she soon spotted a large fist flying towards her and quickly deflected it, revealing it to be Vulcan in his Punching Kong form.

"I got your older sis. Just go and save Miku!" the wolf Rider said.

"Let's do this, Hibiki." The young rider said to her, as the two knew they had to do this to save their friend.

Hibiki smiled with a nod as she left the command ship. Genjuro wanted to stop her, but he knew this time he couldn't do much. Hibiki soon took a breath to sing, knowing that she and Cody needed to be the ones to save Miku.

Balwisyall nescell Gungnir tron

As that song rang out, Miku flinched as she turned to see Hibiki once more in her gear. But it was obvious to all it was hurting the brunette as her body was glowing brightly just like before as the shards of her relic within her body reacted to the change.

"Hibiki, no!" Miku cried out in terror, as she fired the beams at her friend, attempting to stop her from fighting.

"Miku…. I can't just let this slide anymore. This pain I'm feeling from my song, is also how much it hurts me to see you and Cody suffering. I won't let either of you two feel that pain again, even if my body is to be destroyed by my song!" Hibiki declared as she dodged the beams.

Zero-One seeing this nodded as he felt the same too. Even if Ark consumes him, he cannot let either Miku or Hibiki suffer. He will let Ark consume him if it means keeping the sisters he cherishes and the girl he loves safe.

The grasshopper Rider blinked a bit from realizing that statement…. He…. He loves Hibiki. Not as a friend, no… This feeling of love was much more intimate than it seemed. He loves her like a woman, like a girlfriend.

As he looked towards Miku, he realized what he needed to do.

Zero-One closed his eyes as he soon found himself in a black void, thousands of voices speaking into the boy's ears.

"Blood for the Blood God!"

"Humanity will suffer!"

"The darkness comes for all!"

As Cody looked around, he was soon confronted by a mass of nanites swirling around him. This was Ark in it's true form.

"Ark… I wish I didn't have to call on your power but…" he said to the mass softly, "I need your power to save Miku. Only your strength is enough to fight the Shénshòujìng. So, when I let you out, when I become Ark-One again… We're doing it under my control, do you understand?"

He soon heard it speak within his thoughts.

V3Ry W3ll th3n. Sh4ll W3 b3g1n?

"Yes… Let's." Cody sighed as he opened his eyes, letting himself go as Ark activated within him. It quickly de-activated the Zero-One transformation before the boy once more changed into that accursed blood red kaijin. Only this time, it was different. Hell-Rising Hopper lacked a belt of any kind, almost signifying it to be a lesser version of Ark-One.

This transformation horrified Genjuro and delighted Horobi. Cody had once more let the monster within out, and it listened to him.

Miku was just as horrified as she shot at him, but the moment the beams hit him, the pieces of the armor were gone but only briefly as it formed back on him again, repairing the damage the form had.

"Hibiki…." Hell-Rising Hopper called to her, briefly takiijg on a more controlled yet still possessed tone before his voice returned to normal, as the girl turned to him, "Let's save Miku." He said to her with a nod.

While Hibiki was thrown off by this, she knew that he wouldn't call on Ark's power for a reason. Despite this, she felt a bit guilty. Miku had been forcibly transformed into a Symphogear user, while Cody had been forced to shake hands with the very AI that ruined his life. It felt unfair, why were the people she loved being taken away from her?

But those thoughts needed to wait, as the two of them dodged yet another beam. Miku's eyes showed fear and pain as tears raced down her face. She desperately wanted to save them both, and right now, they wanted to save her.

Hibiki leapt upward as she dodged the lasers as she struck and smacked down either a Noise or Magia that approached her as she dealt with the drones, making sure nothing stood in their way. Hell-Rising Hopper followed up as he glared at the Magia as they bent to his will, blocking the lasers with their bodies as it protected the two friends.

He then rushed ahead, dealing with the Noise as he cut them down with his clawed hands, before grasping one and holding it up as it was struck with a beam as well, destroying the Noise in hand before continuing his rampage.

Miku had to stop them as she kept firing off the lasers from her drones and the staff in hand whenever they got close. Hell-Rising Hopper blocked a swipe as Hibiki jumped off of his back and gripped the visor, shattering it to reveal Miku's face.

But they backed off quickly as she fired off the stronger beams, only to fly up and summon the cylinder to fire another powerful blast. Seeing this, the two jumped from Noise to the Magia that Hell-Rising Hopper created to help them get higher and higher. As they were now on the same airlevel, Miku fired the blast but the two dodged it.

"Yes, that's it!" Ver gleed, pressing his own button as a few reflection mirrors came out.

One took the blast but it soon began to redirect it through others, funneling it through each mirror as the beam effect grew more and more. He truly wanted this outcome to happen to channel more of the relic's power.

"Miku! I swear it! We won't stop until you're saved!" Hibiki shouted to her, as they dodged more of the drones and lasers.

"But I wanted to be the one to save you two!" Miku responded as it seemed she broke through whatever control they had on her, but she wouldn't have control for long. "You two are always so selfless and rush ahead to help others. But you both still suffer for it! I cannot keep watching and waiting for the day you two won't come back to me. So if I must stop you myself, so be it!" She wailed.

Hell-Rising Hopper then blocked a much stronger blast as parts of the armor were gone, only to slowly repair itself as he looked at Miku.

"But this is where it leads to, Miku! Me and Hibiki are now risking our lives and hearts to save you from this! We love you Miku and we know how dangerous it is. But if danger rises, we can't ignore it! Because now it's bringing you into the center and we rather risk ourselves if it means you can be safe!" He responded heartily.

As the trio fought, Horobi watched on with utter disgust. This boy shouldn't be the vessel. He's using such power to save two worthless human girls? No. This cannot stand anymore.

"Horobi, what's wrong?" Jin asked.

"Unfit…" Horobi said with a heavy glare. "He is unfit for Ark's vessel…"

"Tsk, should have known a goody two-shoes wasn't good enough." Ikazuchi noted while he clashed weapons with Nefertiti.

"Ark will be removed…" Horobi said, slashing a Noise away as he began to rush towards the battle Hell-Rising Hopper was taking part in.

Even though he was fighting, Hell-Rising Hopper quickly noticed and blocked the attack by the scorpion rider.

"Stay out of this!" The blood red rider hissed.

"You are no longer fit to hold Ark… Relinquish it now." Horobi demanded.

"Grr… did you have to do this now?! I'm kinda busy here, so buzz off!" The young rider hissed, striking the Humagear away from him, forcing him to focus on Horobi.

"You will relinquish it. And I didn't even ask for your opinion." Horobi said, as the two began to fight.

As the scorpion Rider continued his assault, the blood red rider was having to also chime in to help Hibiki. But the moment he had his back turned, he felt something piercing his side. Horobi stabbed the boy with some kinda of vial as nanomachines began to fill the vial that was within his body.

Growing weaker not only from the stab wound but the current power leaving him had the body unable to fight much longer as the armor began to break down and flee into the vial.

"Cody!" Hibiki cried out, as Miku saw this and fired a blast at Horobi in retaliation as the rider backed off from the weakened boy.

"This is more than enough…." Horobi said as he soon falled back turning to the other members, "We're done here. Fall back." He ordered the others as he left the Magia to continue to fight.

"Hey, get back here cowards!" Vulcan roared.

"Don't you worry, dog. We'll deal with you later and get Naki back." Ikazuchi said as Metsubojinrai soon left the battlefield.

"Bastards!" Vulcan hissed as he rushed over to the weakened Cody who was losing the blood red armor. "You okay kid?"

"In pain… but Miku…" Cody gritted as he looked up to see the two girls fighting still.

"Miku! Please! Let's just go home!" Hibiki pleaded to her friend, "You don't have to fight!"

"If it means I can save you both, I'll do it!" Miku said as she fired another beam, striking the Magia that Hibiki was riding upon.

Yet the brunette leaped just in time as she lunged for her friend and hugged her tightly, causing the two to plummet together.

"H-Hibiki!" Miku called out.

"No matter what happens, Miku. I love you so much!" Hibiki said, closing her eyes tightly as the heat and pain throughout her body, made her feel like she was about to be torn apart.

And as the two plummeted, the funneled power of the Shenshoujing was finally shot out towards the ocean, as the two girls were caught in the blast, horrifying the group as they were worried they just lost them.

"HIBIKI! MIKU!" Cody shouted in terror.

But the blast ended as they saw the girls free falling and unconscious, yet both very much alive. This made Nefertiti take action as she flew towards the two, swiftly catching them before they could plummet any further.

"G-Geez! How much does this brunette eat?!" She groaned out, struggling a bit to carrying Hibiki in her arms.

"Hibiki!" Cody called out before he took out the Blustering Hawk key, yet just before he could use it, the Breaking Mammoth ship rushed by and helped Nefertiti to land on it, as in the cockpit was none other than Izu.

"Izu!"

"Do not fret, Cody-sama. I am here to assist." Izu said with a surprising smile on her face, as the boy sighed in relief.

But it wasn't over just yet as soon from the depths of the ocean, something began to rise. From the waters was a large, almost continent sized landmass. Complete with several mountains, trees, land and even some architecture alongside a large twin towered-esc pillar. This was the thing Ver was searching for, Frontier.

"Izu, get everyone back here. We need to regroup and learn what we're dealing with here." Genjuro ordered.

The assistant Humagear nodded as it landed softly to allow everyone else to board before flying off back to Section 2's submarine as Frontier was now fully awakened and ready for whatever schemes FIS has.

XXX

As the FIS ship arrived to Frontier, Dr. Ver took in the view.

"Ahh~ finally! Everything is almost in order for our goal." Dr. Ver said in delight. "We may have lost our gear and user for it. But this is a great trade off."

"If everything is what you need… I'll be taking my leave for my goal…" Natassja said with a nod before she fell to her knees, blood coming out of her mouth.

"Mom!" Maria got out with worry as she kneeled to her side. "Dr. Ver, please!"

"Hm? Why should we now that we have Frontier?" Gai questioned the young woman, "If she's going to die then do it. It at least leaves one less person we have to watch over."

"What are you saying?! We need Mom!" Maria got out, confused by all of this.

"My, my… did you honestly think we were helping her?" Dr. Ver snickered, "That old bat was only needed for awhile. I'm more shocked that the poison took this long to do her in, after so much of it is pumped into her system."

"POISON?!" the girls gasped.

"You sons of bitches!" Kirika roared but was stopped by the controlled Yua, "How could you do this to her!"

"Now, now there. We do need you girls for all of this. Maybe for once, we will actually help and give the antidote for it, but only when everything is paid off. Intervene and we'll just have her killed on the spot." Gai threatened the two girls.

"If you need a babysitter… I can assist." From afar came Chris as she approached the group.

"Ho~? And why should we trust you?" Gai questioned only for Chris to toss the Zero-One Driver to them.

"Because, don't you need this as well?" She questioned them.

"This… How did you?!"

"Let's just say, they didn't make it back to their base when they took off." Chris stated.

XXX

Earlier….

As everyone boarded the Breaking Mammoth, Chris looked at them all before looking to the floating island of Frontier.

"Chris! Come on!" Tsubasa said, holding her hand out to the archer.

As Chris looked to her, she turned her head as Balto was helping Cody board the ship, only for Chris to yank the boy back and smack him away as she took the driver from him.

"Hey! What are you doing, Chris?!" Balto snapped at her only to see her pointing her guns at them.

"I'm doing what is right… And right now, you guys are in my way…" The archer frowned at them.

"Che, of course… This is about the Staff, isn't it?" Nefertiti scoffed. "You're willing to go back to them after everything they've done?"

"Yeah… And I'm willing to shoot you all down if I can get it…" she said, soon aiming her gun at the unconscious Miku and Hibiki. "Now you best get on and leave, otherwise I will kill them."

XXX

"Well, if you wanted this so badly, why play around with us until now?" Ver questioned the archer.

"This was the only way both of us get what we want. Now, are we going to just chat and wait for them to get here, or are we going to get moving?" Chris questioned the scientist.

"Yua? Collar please." Gai ordered as the controller woman handed him one of the collars they used on Balto, but altered. "Put this on. If we see any betrayal, it'll activate and take off your head. If you want us to trust you, then you will put this on."

Chris soon did so without hesitation, adjusting the collar to make sure it wouldn't chaff.

"My, my. You're truly serious about it all." Gai noted with a smirk as she handed him the driver, "Very well then. Let us get to the control system, Dr Ver."

The doctor nodded in response as FIS soon made their way further into Frontier, though not too far behind a certain bluenette and clone were watching from afar.

"Yukine…" Tsubasa gritted softly.

"Easy now… Let's just remain afar and watch. We'll report back when we know their plans." Nefertiti said as it seemed the three of them were doing this on their own after the threat that Chris gave them.

"I got eyes on them from here." Balto reported as he watched the group from his position, "Any plans?"

"For now, watch and observe. We can't act recklessly now that they have more than one hostage over this thing." Tsubasa ordered.

"Just hoping the kid doing okay." Balto noted as they had to leave Cody, Miku and Hibiki with Izu as she headed back to base.

XXX

Within the submarine that was making its way towards Frontier, Cody was patched up by Izu as he looked over Miku and Hibiki with worried eyes.

"Cody-sama, please do not blame yourself over it all. At least they're alive." Izu said to him, trying to cheer the boy up.

"I know Izu… It just hurts me so much to see all of that happen…" Cody grimaced, his hand against his chest with a worried heart. "And Yua-neesan… Just what did that bastard do to her…?"

"I believe that I detect a similar system to how Vulcan was controlled." Izu reported, showcasing the scans of both Yua and Balto.

Cody gritted in disgust, his fist clenching tightly enough to almost draw blood, "Gai is gonna pay for everything… I swear it.."

"As he will, Aldrich-san." Genjuro said, walking in to check on the three. "Izu, what did Horobi just do to him?"

"From what I can see, about 70% of the Ark was extracted from Cody, leaving behind a small portion of the AI's power behind." the assistant Humagear reported.

"Any idea if it could do any harm or do what it did before?"

"At this point, I am not sure." Izu sighed.

"I see… At least we can assume that it won't take control over him now." Genjuro nodded softly as he turned to the boy, "I'll ask you the same thing I asked you before you joined us. Do you still want to be in this fight, Cody?"

As Cody thought on this, he walked towards Hibiki and held her hand tight. He thought about the life he could have had if Ark was not a part of him, of the years he lost and the current allies he has now. More importantly, he didn't want the woman he now loved to face the threats against humanity alone. Not anymore.

"I do."

Genjuro smiled as he looked to Izu and nodded. She responded in kind as she walked over to Cody as she handed him what looked to be the same device that Metsubojinrai used, but also with the remnants of the Cyclone Driver that Genjuro used to have.

"We were able to reconstruct it with not only the remnants of my old driver, but from what we could use from Naki's old body and armor. Think of this as the Zero Unit Driver. An extra power for you to use, should we be unable to get the Zero-One Driver back." Genjuro informed the boy.

Cody took the new driver, looking at it as he turned back to Hibiki as he smiled softly to her. "I'll tell you how I feel about you when this is over, Hibiki…" He said softly.

One kiss on the forehead later, Cody placed the belt on and turned to Genjuro, "Let's end this fight." he stated.

As they left, Hibiki began to stir slowly…

XXX

Returning to Frontier, FIS arrived at the central control area. It was filled with unknown technology, let behind by those who came before even humanity existed. Filled with a single sphere that seemed to be the control unit along with several blank screens was all that was needed as it even had a single indent that was the same size as the Zero-One Driver.

"Ahh, we're here… And it seems you were right about it, Dr. Ver. Somehow Zero-One is tied to these… 'Custodians' that you discovered." Gai said to the doctor.

"Indeed, but we can look into all of that later. First things first…" Ver said, as he injected himself with something only for his right forearm to change and alter to resemble a bit of what looked to be the Nephilim as he placed it against the sphere.

"Ahh… There we go… Yes it seems not only that, but the Nephilim was indeed part of this whole place. Hehe, my genius truly cannot be rivaled other than yourself, Gai Amatsu. Now, we just need to do some alterations to the systems and we can begin with the plan." Ver said as Gai nodded, looking to Maria and Kirika as they remained by their side as Chris looked after Natassja.

"You two will be on guard as our guests arrive here soon. Do well and your precious 'Mom' will have her cure." Gai ordered the two.

"W-What about Shirabe?" Kirika asked.

Gai didn't care either way, but for the plan, maybe drawing more of those relic users here would suffice.

"Do what you wish should she come." Gai waved off as Kirika sighed in relief, knowing she could be 'saved' as she left to wait for her friend.

Maria though looked worried. Who's to say that these two madmen will actually help them save Natassja? As far as she's concerned, they won't hold up their end of the bargain.

"Tell me, what exactly is your plan doctor?" She asked.

"Why to save humanity, of course." Ver responded.

"Yes, I get that, but… how?"

"Why, we're gonna use Frontier to basically remake the great flood from long ago. You know… the one about Noah's Ark?" Ver grinned deviously.

It all clicked at that moment… they were planning on wiping out humanity.

"How will that save humanity?!" Maria shouted in shock.

"Why, whoever is left is going to need guidance. And who's better than the two most capable men on the planet?" Ver shrugged, "But do not fret, you and your friends and even that Section 2 brat will be needed. After all, how else are we going to repopulate the planet?"

Maria retched in horror. Was that the only reason they made sure the girls were all well and healthy? To be simple baby makers for these madmen?!

Even Tsubasa, Nefertiti, and Balto were disgusted by this revelation.

"I'm gonna snap those bugs in two…" Nefertiti hissed in disgust.

"Get in line, I'll be busy tearing these two a new assholes if they even think about touching those girls." Balto snarled, letting out a primal growl.

"Now, Gai. If you will? Plant the driver." Ver requested as the madman nodded and did so, bringing Frontier to life.

"Tsu, think we should move in?" Balto asked Tsubasa.

Tsubasa placed her hand against her ear, as it seemed Genjuro was sending her directions before she nodded, "We got the clear to move in. Let's stop this."

"Good." he noted as he activated the Assault Wolf key, while Neferiti did the same with the Burning Falcon key.

ASSAULT BULLET!/INFERNO WING!

OVERRISE!/BURNRISE!

"Henshin!"

SHOTRISE!/SLASHRISE!

READY? GO! ASSAULT WOLF!

BU~RNI~NG~ FAL~CON~!

As the two gained their armor, that made FIS turn to them as they were ready to brawl.

"I should've known you would stick to us like glue…" Gai frowned. "But no worries, we have ways to deal with you all."

BREAKHORN! ZETSUMETSU EVOLUTION.

HUNT! AUTHORISE!

"Henshin."

PERFECTRISE!/SHOTRISE!

THE GOLDEN SOLDIER THOUSER IS BORN!

FI~GHT~ING~ JA~CKAL~!

Soon, Thouser and Valkyrie appeared to face off against the Section 2 Riders, while Chris stared down Tsubasa once more.

"Chris… is all of this worth it just to get that Staff again? What about all of the wonderful memories? The friends you made? That song you sang!" Tsubasa questioned the archer.

"I'm sorry, but I need to do this." Chris said rather cryptically.

"Now then, it's time you two return to your master." Thouser said to the two Riders, "Maybe this time I'll keep you both on shorter leashes."

"Fat chance, freak. I'm not somebody's pet." Nefertiti frowned.

"Sorry pal, I said it before, but I am never coming back to that place." Vulcan agreed, "We're our own people now, and for me? I'll gladly let down my life if it means protecting the world!"

"Then guess I'll be the one to tell your woman that you fell in battle." Thouser said, charging ahead as he clashed against the two, pushing them back with his might.

Neferiti responded to this by dashing towards Thouser, blitzing him hard enough to stun him. This opened him up to an incoming axe swing from Vulcan.

As that struck him, he backed up before pulling his pummel hammer and pressed the trigger for an attack, as it soon spawned out the mechanical animals that the keys summoned that Thouser has taken himself, pointing to the two riders for the constructs to attack them.

Vulcan in turn activated his Shooting Wolf Key, summoning his mechanical wolf to fight off the other mechanized beasts. He then fired a powerful shot at Thouser's head, after which Neferiti flew in and dealt several slashes to the golden Rider.

Valkyrie in response to this, swung her scythe around and went on the offensive, keeping Vulcan busy. In response to her scythe, the wolf Rider switched the Authorise Buster into it's axe mode and sweeped it in front of himself. She was much faster than before, and even more so than Cody using Shining Hopper, making this much more difficult than it needed to be. It didn't help that he was wielding a much heavier weapon than normal.

Meanwhile, Tsubasa and Chris were fighting against one another. Bullets and swords raining out and clashing against one another as the two gear users were in a bout. Tsubasa was confused as to how this was happening after everything, she needed to know Chris's thoughts. But the swordswoman soon noticed a collar around Chris's neck, one that was obviously manmade.

"They put a bomb on you?" Tsubasa gasped.

"Just a reassurance I gave them. I no longer care if it means my own death, just as long as I can put an end to all of this." Chris responded to her.

"But why Chris? Why do this when we gave you everything? We could help you with this problem like many others!" Tsubasa said to the archer, begging for her to help her friend.

XXX

Returning to Section 2, Cody was gearing up to head into Frontier as he soon noticed Shirabe coming his way.

"Take it even you have some business needed to take care of?" Cody questioned the bunny girl as she nodded to him. "Then hang on tight, we'll get you there."

Soon, the pair got onto the Rise Hopper as Cody activated the Rising Hopper Key while he placed on the new driver he was given.

JUMP!

"Henshin!"

Various Shul Shagana tron…

Once he pulled the lever, the key was opened and the standard cybernetic grasshopper appeared. Afterwards, it wrapped around the boy and broke apart before creating a black and yellow version of the standard Metsubojinrai Rider armor, with a new helmet that resembled his original Zero-One helmet.

ZERO RISE!

RISING HOPPER!

[A Jump To The Sky, Turns Into a Rider Kick.]

TYPE-01.

After the pair transformed, Zero-One drove off towards the rising island of the Frontier. Though as the sun shined on them, the armor he wore was much different from his usual sleek Zero-One suit, as it looked more steampunk-ish, as armor pieces were attached by straps, as the only thing that did remain from the original suit was his mask. This form as known as Zero-Gata

"So Hibiki wants you to fight in her place?" he asked Shirabe, "I can imagine that she has a lot of faith in you."

"Yeah but…"

She then thought back to what Hibiki had asked of her…

XXX

EARLIER…

"You wish for me to fight in your stead?" Shirabe asked the Gungnir user.

"Please…" Hibiki pleaded. The girl was still recovering, but she could sit up just fine. "I can't just let them do this all alone… Cody needs someone to watch his back."

"That is what I dislike about you. Your claims about protection and heroism are the words of a hypocrite." Shirabe dismissed, "What makes you think that I can aide that boy?"

Hibiki lowered her head, fiddling with her thumbs, "After the Terror of the Angels incident… My family and I were constantly harassed. Slander going on about it all, news outlets always coming to try and 'interview' me about it, my school and classmates spread rumors about me from it all… Even my dad left because of it, leaving just me, my mom, and my grandmother… Even now, I don't want to lie about how I feel. If I did, I wouldn't be able to hold hands with anyone anymore."

"Are you serious about holding hands with others?" the buzzsaw user questioned her.

"I do… because I know by holding someone's hand, I can try to understand them and listen to their hearts. Don't you have someone you want to protect as well?" Hibiki looked at the young girl.

Shirabe fell silent as her mind drifted towards Kirika. A brief blush soon reaching her face as she did so.

"Very well, I'll keep your love safe." she said.

"Thank you… And I hope you can reach out to yours as well." Hibiki smiled.

"In exchange, you may as well confess to that boy if we come back alive." the buzzsaw user noted, "You'll never know what you had until it's taken away from you. I can assume you know that feeling all too well."

Shirabe noted before she left the recovering gear user. Hibiki sitting there confused for a moment, only to soon blush brightly as she cupped her cheeks with embarrassment as she groaned out knowing the truth.

XXX

"...Regardless, I have someone I want to save in the Frontier." Shirabe affirmed, "And I won't let them down."

"Heh, seems there's more good in you than you thought, huh?" Zero-Gata chuckled out. "Well don't worry. Both of us will get there, just you wait."

He then put pedal to the metal and jumped off the runway and onto the Frontier, where they were met with several dinosaur-themed Magia and Noise.

"Ready to put these fossils down and into oil?" He said, turning to her.

"Lets." she stated before she jumped off and created a large buzzsaw for her to ride on and quickly cut through several of the hoard like butter.

However, much to their shock, there was someone leading this hoard.

"Kirika-chan!" Shirabe gasped.

Zeios Igalima raizen tron…

As the green sphere kept her safe, her body suit and armor quickly formed around her, afterwards she grabbed her scythe and spun around for a pose.

"Desu!" She got out before pointing her scythe at the two, "Shirabe… I can't let you or him proceed further. So please, just go back-desu"

"You go on ahead." Shirabe told Zero-Gata, "I'm sure you'll be able to stop Thouser and save Maria."

"You sure?" He looked to her as Shirabe nodded.

"The LiNKER can only synchronize with me with my Gear for so long." she told him, "Go, Kamen RIder."

Cody smiled behind the mask as he nodded, driving off as he raced past Kirika and her small army as it seemed she had full control over it all.

Shirabe then looked up to her friend as she shook her head "I can't do that Kirika. You know as well as I do, that this is all wrong! Please don't do this!" Shirabe pleaded to her friend.

Kirika frowned softly, her bangs covering her eyes for a moment, "Why…? Why can't you do this for me?" She questioned before she leaped into the air, aiming at her friend as the Magia and Noise followed her lead, "Why can't you do this for me, before I lose myself!?"

Shriabe jumped back as she fired off several saws at the Magia and Noise, cutting them down before she started to skate around their attacks.

"What are you talking about, Kirika? What do you mean by 'losing yourself'?" Shirabe questioned, as she made a short spin to use her skirt to cut down more of the enemies.

Kirika flung her sickle blades at Shirabe, causing the buzzsaw girl to deflect before the two landed, glaring at one another.

XXX

Returning to the battle, Chris and Valkyrie were fending off the trio of Tsubasa, Vulcan, and Nefertiti. As the wolf Rider quickly grabbed his Attache Shotgun, he began to use it in tandem with the Authorise Buster with the former's burst damage allowing him to keep the jackal Rider at a good enough distance for him to swing his axe.

'This is muder on my arm.' he thought to himself as he held both weapons.

"Told you, you should be working on your arm strength instead of your dates." Naki responded in thought.

'Yeah, yeah. I got it mom.' the wolf Rider mentally groaned.

"On your six!" Nefertiti said, soon coming in to block a quick swipe from Valkyrie as the jackal rider was now covered in black smoke, before it began to expand around the two.

"Great, so she even has this…. Thanks for the assist." Vulcan noted.

"Any ideas?"

As the Rider pair stood back to back, Vulcan closed his eyes and sniffed the air. He soon caught a faint whiff of Valkyrie's scent heading towards them.

"Duck!" he shouted.

They were able to dodge an incoming scythe swing, which allowed Neferiti to fire some feathers at the area. Once they saw sparks in the distance, the ruffled bird Rider knew she hit her target.

"On your left!" Vulcan called out.

Nefertiti swung her blade, striking the jackal rider as it did enough damage to remove the black fog around the two, as she was kneeling on the ground, weakened. Though before they could do much, Thouser strikes the two, pushing them back.

"Hmph, starting to think this is about to go south… But trust me, I will be back…" Thouser said, striking the ground to make a smokescreen as he fled with Valkyrie, leaving the two riders now there alone.

"Che, coward." Nefertiti spat out with annoyance.

"Well at least that's two less headaches to deal with." Vulcan pointed out.

The pair then rejoined Tsubasa as they encircled Chris, unaware that Dr. Ver was watching the quartet from a distance.

"Che! Stay out of this! This is just between me and senpai!" Chris hissed at the two, though Tsubasa was the only one to catch what she said and now realized her plan.

XXX

As this was all happening, Maria was watching the battles unfold from within the control center… and she hated it.

"How could this be?" she asked, "Kirika and Shirabe got along so well! It's all my fault. I didn't fight to witness this!"

"Hmph! Then I guess its best to move the plans along.." Ver said, soon walking up to Maria as he approached the console, before placing his hand on the Zero-One Driver, activating Frontier and his plan.

Suddenly, the Frontier itself created a large hand that grabbed the broken moon and pulled it down. But that wasn't all as the energy output surged through the floating continent as it expunged it into the waters below.

From that, a tidal wave emerged as it began to rush out and from the size of it, it would literally submerge the entire world, destroying everything and everyone as the mad doctor cackled out in delight.

"Finally! With this, I can be the hero I've always dreamed of becoming!" Ver cackled out in delight.

"Maria!" the false Gungnir user heard from her commlink.

"Mom?" she called out.

"I've analyzed the Frontier's particulars and have found something that might prevent the fall of the moon." the old professor said as she tried her best to operate the crystal-like console in front of her. "It's our final ray of hope, and we need your song to set it free."

Ver grins before he notices an odd change in the energy system for Frontier. He clicked a few buttons before realizing who it is. "Che, still not dead yet? Fine! Then let's see how long you can last in space!" Ver shouted, using Frontier to send Nesstaja's area as it was literally shot into space.

"P-Please… Save the world with your song!" the doctor encouraged Maria before her communications soon flickered out, leaving Maria alone once more.

"MOM!" Maria cried out.

"Now, with her out of the way! Let the reign of Ver commence!"

"As if I'll let that happen!" From the entrance stood Cody, in his Zero-Gata armor as he seemed ready for a fight. "I'll be taking my driver back, you mad-doc."

"So, the Kamen Rider finally makes his entrance." the mad doctor chuckled, "What brings a fellow hero-"

"Shut it!" the grasshopper Rider snapped at him.

"You did all of this… All of this suffering, death and crimes… Because you wanted to be a hero?" He noted off before shaking his head, "You're no hero… No real hero would do this! Annihilating humanity and letting only a select few survive. Does that sound like a hero to you?"

"Not in the same terms you see heroes-"

"Then what the hell, man! What the actual hell!" Zero-Gata roared, "Every single life on this planet is precious! And you doing this doesn't make you a hero. Ver? You're just another monster like the rest. A 'hero' is someone people look up to, to be inspired and work for a better tomorrow!" He then gripped his fist, "And the only ones who will stop you… is us!" he declared with every fiber in his body.

Maria was surprised, despite staring failure and death in the face, Zero-Gata stood firm in his ideals until the very end. Ver, angered by that proclamation, made the mad doctor send out several Noises at the boy, intending to kill him for daring to challenge his heroic plans!

Steam poured and vented out of Zero-Gata's body before he sped off, leaving his electrical lines behind him as he struck the first Noise before kicking off of it. He soon grappled the next one before slamming its head into the metal floor before getting up to punch through the next Noise's body.

"Che! If you even dare continue, I'll blow that archer's head clean off!" Ver shouted out, holding up a trigger that he was ready to push, making the Rider stop.

XXX

As he said this, the collar began to blink, which put the pressure on the trio.

"What do you seek that is worth being collared like a dog?" Tsubasa questioned her.

"My redemption." Chris said, "I'm the one who caused all of this…. The death of Kanade. The separation of that idiot and her boyfriend. The torture and trauma he faced under ZAIA and more… I literally have an entire dictionary of sins that cannot be forgiven… But I can atone for one, by taking that Staff and destroying it.. And if it causes me my head? So be it…. It's what I deserve after everything."

"Do you think the others would want that?" Vulcan questioned her, "There's no way you can atone on your own."

Tsubasa nodded, "We will aid you, no matter how much you reject it. That's our duty as your senpai. We know you can't fly with only one wing."

As she said this, the image of Kanade standing by the swordswoman and the wolf Rider's side gave them some hope.

Chris looked on, eyeing to see no trace of Ver nearby before she pointed to her neck, "Then I got an idea. I'm sure he wouldn't even keep his end of the deal anyways…"

The trio nodded as they saw Dr. Ver return with a drone to witness their battle. The quartet knew it was time.

"Kazanari… sempai, Vulcan… senpai…" she noted, "Let's settle this in one round!"

The archer soon activated her weapons while Tsubasa and Vulcan unsheathed their blade and blaster. The four then fought as hard as they could before they prepared one final attack. Chris and Tsubasa sent out several large missiles and sword projections, while Vulcan and Neferiti charged at them with their weapons charged with elemental energy.

MEGADEATH PARTY

ONE THOUSAND TEARS

BURNING RAIN!

MAGNETIC STORM BLAST!

The attacks soon met, and a large explosion that hit all four of them flew out across the area. Genjuro quickly saw their signals disappear from the radar while Dr. Ver was left cheering at this.

"Tsubasa! Balto!" Zero-Gata shouted in terror.

"This is great! Hell yeah!"

XXX

Meanwhile, Kirika and Shirabe continued to clash with one another. Their battle still going on, though it was now just the two of them. Kirika's sickle was pressing against Shirabe's sawblade as sparks flew off from their contact.

"What did you mean by before you lose yourself?" the buzzsaw Gear user questioned her friend.

"I don't know how much time I have left… but…. I know its happening. I'll lost myself…. To Fine…." Kirika closed her eyes with despair. "But I don't want you to forget me… so I have to do this, so you'll remember who I am, and I die with my last thoughts about you, Shirabe. And hopefully my message will become clear…"

Kirika soon fell back before she held up another LiNKER tube, pressing it against her neck as it was injected into her body. But it wasn't over as the girl began to sing… Sing her Climax Song as that made the young Shirabe's eyes widen with fear.

"Kirika! If you do that, you'll overdose!" Shirabe shouted with worry.

"It doesn't matter anymore! As long as I can leave you about who I was… Then its fine by me…" Kirika said as she smiled with tears running down her face, "I love you Shirabe…. And I always will."

As Shirabe heard this, they knew that this may be the last time they see each other, and thus… they injected more LiNKER into themselves and sang their Swan Song.

Gatrandis babel ziggurat edenal

Emustolronzen Finé el balal zizzl

Gatrandis babel ziggurat edenal

Emustolronzen Finé el zizzl

Kirika raised her scythe as it grew in size, becoming more like an actual scythe made for death, while Shirabe created a large armor to protect herself. However, when she prepared to brace for impact, Shirabe suddenly called on Fine's barrier.

Kirika was, understandably, horrified, "You were fine's vessel all along, and yet I almost…" she muttered, "I just wanted you to be happy, but all I could do was make you cry."

As the attacks clash, Kirika's blade snapped off before the two fell onto the ground together. Both of them now not wanting to fight and canceled their gears before anything else could happen.

"I'm such a bad girl… I just want to disappear forever…" she lamented.

"Kirika… You aren't a bad girl." Shirabe smiled, "If I was just more clear in my mind, I would've noticed it all. You have nothing to be ashamed about… But we can work together to stop what Dr Ver is planning. For Maria and Mom's sake."

Kirika teared up as she nodded, but right before she could reach her hand out to Shirabe… the broken piece of her scythe came back down, stabbing Shirabe in the back.

"Shirabe…. SHIRABEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

XXX

Deep within a vast ocean, Shirabe began to sink to the bottom. As she did so, the girl noticed a figure approach her. At first it was hard to see who it was but the figure grew closer and closer until Shirabe knew who it was in front of her.

"F-Fine..." Shirabe got out.

"Seems we're both in a pickle, aren't we young one?" Fine said with a soft smile.

"Are you here… to take over?" she questioned her.

"I'd hoped I could just lay low like this without taking over anyone's soul, but I guess it wasn't meant to be." the priestess lamented, "I can't move on after taking a fatal blow like that."

"You're dying in my place?" Shirabe realized, "But why?"

"I am… You're too young to be lost like this. Plus… I wish to believe in that girl's words that everyone can unite and understand one another someday… Maybe it truly is time to just let humanity and the Earth progress without the need of some greater power watching from afar." Fine said as her spirit began to slowly dissolve. "Those of you who live in the present should handle this…"

XXX

Soon, Shirabe woke up, the girl now feeling better as even the wound was healed. As she regained consciousness, the buzzsaw user looked to the sobbing Kirika holding onto her tightly.

"You're crying, Kiri-chan." she said.

Kirika gasped as she soon looked to Shirabe, only to smile happily as she hugged her with joy, crying once again as Shirabe sighed before patting the blonde's back. She lived and now there was no reason for either of them to fight.

XXX

Ver smirked as he knew so far he was winning. Though with his last defense gone from that explosion, that left him unprotected as the boy rushed towards him, forcing the doctor to spawn more Noise.

"What's the matter, Zero-One? Getting tired of fighting mooks?" he mocked him.

"I'm going to make your face look like Picasso for what you've done, Ver…" Zero-Gata hissed in anger.

"Then do your worst!" Dr. Ver said before he transformed the cane into it's weapon mode.

As he broke through the Noise once more, the Rider clashed with the mad doctor once again. His fist clashed against the remodeled cane as the doctor did battle with the Kamen Rider. Though as they did this, Maria was listening in on Nasstaja's plan as the elder woman made sure to tell her everything.

She soon set up a camera and hijacked as many screens as she could. Once she saw that she was live, Maria stood up.

"I am Maria Cadenzavna Eve, also known as Maria Robotnik. In an effort to minimize the danger that would be caused by the fall of the moon, I impersonated Fine. The crisis we face was discovered three months ago, but was kept secret by the Guardian Units of Nations, the Bavarian Illuminati, and their associates. One of these associates is ZAIA Enterprise, the company that bought out Hiden Intelligence."

"Che! Tattletale!" Ver clicked his tongue in annoyance from hearing this upon the battle.

"Maria, I don't know what you're doing but keep going!" the grasshopper Rider said as he kept distracting the mad doctor.

Maria nodded, "The reason why was because this truth was more than inconvenient to the elite who dominated politics, the financial world, and now the natural order as we speak. "

She then thought back to what Dr. Natassja had told her…

"The moon is an observation device created by the Custodians to disrupt the unified language of mankind. When the Lunar Attack damaged some of it's functions, if those functions are restarted, it can be returned to a more stable orbit. Save the world with your song!"

"I harbor no illusions that you'll be willing to trust the words of a liar like me… which is why I am not the only one who wishes to reach out to you." she declared before she turned to Zero-Gata.

"My…" The Rider pondered out, knowing that while the people knew of the Rider, they needed more of a trusting face as he kicked the doctor away, before removing his helmet.

"My name is Cody Aldrich… Although, for years you have known me as Kamen Rider Zero-One. I was at first a tool for ZAIA who used me to sweep up and clean out any rogue Humagears or ones that needed to be destroyed after the merger between ZAIA and Hiden Intelligence. Gai used me to carry out his plans, to make sure that the world my family dreamed of would never come to pass."

As the people watched, many were now learning the truth, and even Miku was watching it from the safety of the Section 2 sub with soft tears in her eyes as she knew he was willing to risk everything to stop this plan but as well as finally put the past behind him.

"Yet… even with all of that, I truly do want to keep that dream alive. To not only have humans and Humagears not only coexist, but the rest of the world too. Which is why I plead you to trust Maria as right now, my team and I are fighting to save everyone."

Maria soon donned on her Gungnir Alter gear, as she took a breath and began to sing. Though as she did so, Hibiki watched from her bedside. The young girl feeling a pinch and clutch against her heart. She couldn't sit here any longer, not while her friends were risking everything to save the world. She got up and quickly put on her clothes, only for her door to open as Izu stood there.

"Hibiki-sama… Shall we go to Cody-sama, now?" Izu offered to her.

She smiled, "Come on, we got an island to catch." As she and the Humagear soon made their way to help the others.

Maria continued to sing but even she could tell there was little to no Symphonic Gain she was earning from her song. They needed this to help save everyone yet nobody was answering. Were they still not willing to trust her even with the help of a Kamen Rider?

Even Zero-Gata was beginning to be overwhelmed as this system wasn't perfected and was beginning to make it difficult for the rider to continue. That was when he heard a strange sound, the sound of grasshoppers chirping.

"Where's that sound coming from?"

Soon, from the console a glow came from the Zero-One Driver. It seemed to be resonating to Cody's will and declaration as it was beginning to break free from Frontier's hold that Ver placed on it as it shivered and glowed brighter.

Soon, a symphony of insects began to sing their song across the Frontier, which shocked the world as they heard them sing, even more so that they all could understand the song from something that wasn't even human.

Arasou dake ja tsukamenai

Towa ni iroasenai akashi wo

Mune ni ida ite

Sorezore no itami to

Sorezore no tsuyoi negai ga

Asu wo kaerukara

Zero-Gata was the most confused, but he pressed on as he placed his hand on the Driver. Soon noticed thousands of grasshoppers and locusts began to fly around him. Each one glowing golden and brightly as they fluttered around, taking hold of the Progrise Key before it too glowed brightly as from above him was a new construct, one that seemed to resemble both Shining Hopper but also certain additions from Assault Wolf, such as the center chest piece the gunner arms and the blue accents added on as it floated above him.

Zero-Gata soon took out the spare Assault Trigger he was given by Balto and looked towards his Shining Hopper Key. He recalled how the Assault Wolf key worked when attached to the trigger, so a thought came across his mind.

"What If…?"

He then attached the trigger to the back of the key, which all of the grasshoppers to corroless into the key as he pressed the Assault Grips trigger. Afterwards, he scanned it on the Driver itself as it still remained on the console.

HYPER JUMP!

[OVERRISE!]

'Alright, here goes… I hope this can help stop the moon from falling…' he hoped before he placed the key into the Driver.

"Henshin!"

As the belt center opened up, the Driver glowed brightly as the new construct above him flew towards the young rider as the golden grasshoppers enveloped him and the console. As he did so, the boy couldn't help but notice a version of himself wearing what seemed to be an open-chested robe, bathed in gold as he had a white turban with blue accents along the rims to make it resemble the grasshopper antennas and golden pants. However before Cody could reach out towards this man, the image just as quickly disappeared.

[WARNING! WARNING! THIS IS NOT A TEST!]

HYBRID RISE!

SHINING! ASSAULT HOPPER~!

[No Chance of Surviving This Shot]

Soon, the grasshoppers broke away as now standing there was Zero-One once more. But now in a new armor as it truly was a mix between Shining Hopper and Assault Wolf as the center chest glowed brightly alongside the eyes as they shined.

"My name is Kamen Rider Zero-One. The First Rider of the Custodians and the protector of Humanity!" Zero-One proclaimed proudly.

XXX

Meanwhile, within a dark crystalline cave, upon fleeing from the console room Dr. Ver soon approached Chris standing over the defeated bodies of the three warriors, still holding onto the Riders' respective Drivers.

"As promised, I took down the remaining members of Team Zero." she said, "Hand over Solomon's Cane as we agreed."

"Hmph, and here I thought you bit the dust? Color me surprised." Ver said, before only to smirk as he spawned a few Noise, "And sorry, but I need to keep this. Seems that Rider brat got everything back and I'm gonna need a way to escape now."

"Then give me the cane and we'll leave." she demanded again.

"Oh my dear… You really thought I was going to give it to you? Sorry, but you're no longer needed." He grinned out as he then tried to press the trigger… only for nothing to happen. Not even after rapidly pressing the trigger multiple times would work.

"Wait, why won't it detonate?!"

He soon saw his answer.

"Because it's broken." Chris revealed as she ripped the shattered collar off of her neck, "Villains like you double-cross as naturally as you breathe."

Out of fear, the mad doctor summoned several Noise to protect him. When she tried to use her Gear, she felt a pain course through her body.

"Anti-LiNKER always strikes when you least expect it!" he laughed as the gas version was leaking into the area.

"To hell with all of you! Armor Purge!" she roared before she disenaged her gear and used it's shards to take out the Noise he had summoned. "The cane!" she demanded, but the mad doctor had dropped it in the middle of the blast.

Luckily for her, Balto, Neferit and Tsubasa were still alive as the former two held their Riders in hand while the latter used the weaker version of her Gear.

"Y-You should've been dead!" Ver got out in shock.

"We're not too easy to ki-" Balto's speech was soon interrupted when he got an eyeful of Chris. He almost immediately held his nose to stop the blood from reaching it and kept his eyes shut, "I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING!"

'Ah shit, now my smells' all fucked up.' he thought to himself, 'I can't smell a thing with all this blood!'

"I know I did~" Nefertiti said with a growl of delight, causing Chris to blush and cover herself, though Tsubasa had her cheeks puffed out in annoyance as she glared at Balto before pinching his cheek in response.

"OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!" he whined.

"Jealous much?" Neferiti noted, "You know they'll grow if he-"

"DON'T! Just… don't…" the swordswoman hissed.

Chris sighed as her relic formed in her hand before her clothes finally returned. "Thanks… for that, senpai…" She said, blushing in embarrassment for having to say that in the open in front of Tsubasa and the others. "Sorry I put you all through so much… This was all I could think of to finally end this."

"It's fine. No use crying over spilled milk." the swordswoman reassured her, though Chris did catch onto her blushing.

"Hey, he's running, ya know?" Nefertiti pointed out as it seemed Ver weaseled his way out of their sight.

"On it!" Balto shouted before he chased after him on all fours before pinning him down.

"Get off of me, you mutt!" Ver hissed, slamming his monstrous hand on the ground as soon spikes shot out to throw Balto off, before he entered a hole to make his escape.

"I really wish I could track him." the gunner lamented, "But my nose is fucked."

"For now, we should head to the console room. They could use some help." Tsubasa noted.

"You mean the gaping hole in front of us?" the ruffled bird Rider pointed out.

"Leave that to us." Genjuro declared as he and Ogawa reached them.

"Genjuro-san!" Tsubasa, Balto, and Chris cheered.

"Tsubasa is right and the whole world could use you all for this. Leave this pathetic man to us adults." Genjuro noted before he chuckled at Balto's current predicament. "Also, Balto? You should get that nosebleed checked…" he noted before giving the boy some tissues.

"Right…" the gunner noted before he wiped his nose and blew into the tissue.

"How very… 'dog like' for you.." Ogawa added on with a heavy sigh. "I wonder how I'll need to report this to Yatsuhiro-san?"

Balto quickly froze, 'Crap, I forgot about that!' he thought as the color left his face.

"I'm pretty sure daddy's already got the shotgun ready." Chris chuckled.

"L-Let's just hurry, okay?" Tsubasa said, a heavy blush on her face from hearing such a proclamation by the two adults before they all made their way off.

XXX

Back within the console room, Zero-One, now fully revived in power, stood tall as Maria watched in awe as she couldn't muster up any song to unite everyone. Yet here he was, having apparently united potentially the whole of the insect kingdom to sing.

Maria fell to her knees, as she felt so powerless. He was able to unite a single species not even human to his voice, yet she couldn't even unite a family through her song. Was she that weak?

"Just what am I supposed to do… Serena?" Maria clenched her fist tightly, needing an answer, "My song can't save anyone!"

"Maria, this is our last chance to prevent the moon from falling!" Zero-One called out.

"Don't give up like that!" A new voice echoed in as she and the rider turned to see Hibiki now there, panting heavily as she finally made it.

"H… Hibiki?" Zero-One gasped.

The young girl smiled as she walked over, hugging the rider gently before turning to Maria.

"I know what it's like to be powerless… to think that there is no hope when things keep pushing you down." Hibiki said to her, looking to Zero-One with a smile, "Especially when you lose someone who means so much to you."

"But… how can you know?" Maria questioned, "How do you even stand up from all of that?"

Hibiki pondered for a bit as she took Maria's hands. "Because… if you don't all that love and care you gave them and they returned would go to waste. It can be difficult and hard, but we have a responsibility to move forward and do better for them and the world we live in."

Hibiki smiled happily to Maria, "I believe in others because they believe in me." She said, before soon the girl heard a song in her heart once more, as soon the Gungnir Atler Relic reacted and resonated with her.

Balwisyall nescell Gungnir tron…

Suddenly, the spear and armor disappeared from Maria's body, causing a large burst of light to emit from the area.

"What's going on?" Kirika questioned

"She's saving Maria!" Shirabe realized.

"I can assume that's Hibiki, right?" Neferiti asked the trio.

"Heh, that idiot. Guess she too found her song." Chris smirked.

"Yeah, it's just like her." Tsubasa agreed.

Soon, all over the world, the people watched the light of Gungnir float around the two girls.

"What's going on?! This shouldn't be possible!" Maria gasped, "Fusions aren't meant to be compatible with other relics! Is this the true power of your song?"

"Gungnir… it… it truly accepts me…" Hibiki said with awe, "No… the original wielder of Gungnir accepts me."

The two knew who she was talking about.

"Odin…" Maria and Zero-One said, speaking the name of the Allfather of Asgard.

With this declaration, Hibiki soon transformed into her Symphogear form once more.

"She's… she's attuned with the Gungnir?" Maria realized.

Soon the group felt Frontier shake, as the screens that were around them flickered before Ver's face appeared on it.

"You brats! I didn't know how much trouble you all would bring me! For that, if I can't be a hero, then no one can!" Ver shouted out with a cackle of laughter. "I've decided to revive Nephilim with all of this power. Wonder if it can even handle that much before exploding? And without his place you can't stop anything!"

"Shit, the Frontier's rising higher!" the grasshopper Rider realized.

"With his left arm connected to the Frontier, Ver can control it any way he likes." the former Gunginir user explained to the pair. "I beg you… I don't even have the right to fight anymore. Go in my stead, please!"

Hibiki nodded with determination as she and the Rider raced out of the console room, ready to fight. Though as they do, Maria looked down at the cracked gear of her sister's. A heavy feeling on her heart as she wondered what her sister would do now?

XXX

Outside, Hibiki and Zero-One rejoined the rest of her team, as even Shirabe and Kirika joined them as they all were on the flat surface of Frontier.

"Everyone!" she cheered.

Vulcan soon noticed the grasshopper Rider's new armor, "New form?"

"Yeah. Along with other things, but we can save that for later." He nodded to the gunner.

"Chris-chan, you did it! I knew you would bring it back!" The Gungnir user cheered, hugging the archer happily.

"O-Of course!" the archer said in a bit of an embarrassed tone.

"Careful, Chrissy. You're still blushing." Nefertiti smirked at the embarrassed archer.

"Shut it, you flaming chicken!" Chris snapped.

"Says the exhibitionist." the ruffled bird Rider pointed out.

"Um… Nefertiti-san?" Shirabe called out to the rider as she and Kirika bowed to apologize, "We're… sorry if we ever treated you poorly…."

The ruffled bird Rider looked towards her and looked away at first, however she soon sighed, "It's fine. You two and Maria were at least a lot nicer to me than that quack doctor or the crap CEO."

The two girls smiled happily, before hugging Nefertiti as she was trying to push them off of her.

"Now who's the one who's blushing?" Chris smirked.

"So, what's the plan?" Zero-One asked Tsubasa.

"Well, how about the freaking forming mountain right there?!" Chris shouted out.

As nearby the ground of Frontier began to grow in size as big as a mountain before changing shape into that of the Nephilim, as it roared loudly at them all.

"Ver's doing…" Nefertiti spat out with annoyance.

"Well, at least we got the numbers advantage, right?" Vulcan observed.

And as karma would have it, more Nephilim began to form around the others, each one gaining an addition to their body such as blades, armor, more arms and the likes. Seems Dr. Ver was intending to overwhelm them all.

"You had to ask." Zero-One groaned.

"Don't let them scare you. We can do this. Without him at the console, he can only divert and use so much power into these things. Don't falter, team up and let's take them down!" Tsubasa ordered, drawing her sword.

"On it!" they declared.

Soon, everyone began to spread out while they fought against the monster. Meanwhile, Maria was left alone, lost and wallowing in her failure.

"I can't do anything…" she lamented, "Because of me, Serena's song… Serena's death was in vain."

"Ma-... Mari… Maria…" Nesstaja's voice came in through her intercom.

"M-Mom?"

"Do….n't…. let her…. lo…ve…. g…o to…. was….te. She wa….s… so pro….ud… of you. Ser…ena….. wou….ld… fight…. un….til…. th…e… bitt….er… end…." The elder woman's voice came in and out of the static, getting too far to speak to Maria, but enough to have her words settle in.

Serena, while a pure and sweet girl, truly would do the same as Hibiki. She would help others and keep fighting until she couldn't anymore. Serena's song wasn't just a song for others, but for Maria as well. Maria soon closed her eyes and began to sing a song, the same song she and Serena used to sing.

As she sang, the people of the world soon felt a small sense of resonance and soon sent their thoughts towards the Frontier. It wasn't just humanity however, as many of the various animals across the world began to roar, to howl, to screech. Everyone was singing along with the song with her as for a moment, Earth was connected.

Maria soon opened her eyes as what made her shocked with surprise was the fact that Serena was standing there for just a moment, with a smile on her face before it faded and her cracked relic began to glow. With her confidence restored, she grasped it and looked towards the world.

"It's time to raise the curtain on the world's greatest stage!" she declared,

XXX

As the group were continuing to fight, it was becoming very difficult even with them all united against the several Nephilims. They were surrounded as Anti-LiNKER was flowing out from the monster's mouth to make the girls weakened a bit. This forced the Rider trio to step up in their place as they charged forth and fought against the Nephilims.

Ver meanwhile, was watching as he continued to flee from Genjuro and Ogawa, cackling madly from this outcome.

"Yes! They'll die and I'll take up those remains and use them! I will be a hero!" Ver cackled out in delight.

However, suddenly a burst of power soon knocked the Nephilims away. After that, was a song…

Seilien coffin Airgetlám tron…

A light formed around the group as it faded a bit, Maria was now there, bathed in white and silver as the relic barrier was around them all, protecting them from the mist.

"Maria!" Kirika and Shirabe smiled with delight, seeing their friend well.

"NO! You shouldn't even be able to use that useless relic!" Ver shouted, stopping in his tracks in shock.

'I have Shirabe, I have Kirika, I have Nefertiti. Mom and Serena are with me as well.' she thought to herself, 'With their support, a little miracle like this… IS NOTHING!'

She soon shouted as her armor formed.

"HENSHIN!"

Soon, Satellite Zea activated because of that call as it shot out one of the energy constructs towards the others. Suddenly, several cybernetic animals appeared to protect the group and, to the girls' surprise, fuse with them and the Riders.

For the girls, while their X-Drive was there, empowering the girls in the angel white with wide wings. But each one had a unique animal to them all.

Hibiki gained both Kong armaments on her fists but also Hopper additions onto her body. Tsubasa gained the Raptor blades on her sword but wolf additions and even a orange hawk wing on her other side. Chris gained the Hedgehog Revolver quills and more with some of the Burning Falcon additions too.

For Maria, she had the Blustering Hawk's additions with Freezing Bear added on as she looked more like an angel this time since the gear was already busted, while Shirabe and Kirika shared both a bunny and preying mantis additions on their bodies too. But that wasn't all as the Japanese Wolf Key that Naki had formed in Vulcan's hand alongside a brand new scarlet red key for Neferiti based on a crane.

"Let's do this, partner!" the wolf Rider declared as he swapped out his Assault Wolf key for this new key.

"On it!" the ruffled bird Rider agreed.

JAPANESE WOLF!/HERON!

AUTHORISE! KAMEN RIDER. (WARNING!) KAMEN RIDER. (WARNING!)

"DAI-HENSHIN!"

SHOTRISE!/SLASHRISE!

OTRHOS VULCAN!/BENNU NEFERITI!

[Awakening the instincts of two beasts long lost]

[Spread your wings and brave the flames of the past]

As everyone glowed and gained new power for their new X-Drive forms, a song began to sing out as everyone was harmonized and ready for this final fight.

/Takusu tamashī yo tsunagu tamashī yo

Ten wo habataku hikari

Yumi ni tsugaeyō/

As everyone sang, Zero-One and Hibiki rushed ahead first, uppercutting the first sets of Nephilim into their air before Chris and Vulcan fired upon the ones in the air, destroying them in the process. It was soon followed by Nefertiti and Tsubasa slashing at the one afar as Kirika, Shirabe and Maria dealt with the rest.

/[Hi/Ts/Ch] Nan'oku no ai wo kasane

[Hi/Ts/Ch] Warera wa toki wo kasanete/

As they sang, a few more Nephilim formed before they merged into a bigger one that shot out magma that was infused with Anti-LiNKER at them, only for Chris, Maria and Zero-One to make a defensive barrier to block it.

/[Co/Ba/Ne] Gensho no kodō no uta e to

[Co/Ba/Ne] Warerai wa ima kaeru/

When their voices came on, the trio of Riders charged in, punching, clawing or slashing at the large kaiju before they kicked it aside for the Gear users to launch their attacks at it, making a hole through the center only to see it reform its chest.

"Shit, talk about a resilient bugger." Vulcan observed.

"Then let's take it to a place where we can go all out!" Chris said, holding up the Staff of Solomon as she fired behind it, making a portal to the Treasure of Babylonia behind it. The group charged ahead, tackling the kaiju as they pushed through with it into the dimension of the Noise.

/Tsumugu tamashī yo ude ni tsutsumarete

Taiyō no yō ni tsuyoku

Tsuki no yō ni yasashiku/

As they continued the song, they began to strike and slash at the giant Nephilim, attempting to do as much damage as possible as the kaiju regenerated from their attacks. However the trio were relentless as Maria used her new found Gear and Progrise powers to cut through the Noise with minimal ease that approached them. She quickly delivered a powerful wing-like punch that decimated an incoming carrier Noise.

DIVINE†CALIBER

/[Ma/Ki/Sh] Wakitatsu mirai

[Ma/Ki/Sh] Monogatari wa owari e/

"Nice work, Maria-chan!" Hibiki cheered.

Afterwards, several smaller Noise came flying toward her but luckily, Zero-One appeared to assist her. The two soon flew forward and delivered a double kick through the monsters.

Soon several crystals came out of the Zero-One armor, acting as drones as they fired lazers or protected the duo from any attack as they continued to plow through the hordes of Noise.

S

H

I

N

I

N

G

ASSAULT IMPACT!

/[Ma/Ki/Sh] Soshite mata saku no darō

[Ma/Ki/Sh] Kiseki wa yagate rekishi e to

[Ma/Ki/Sh] Hokori kirameku darō/

Meanwhile, Kirika and Shirabe were completely in sync as they fought against the Noise. Saws and sickles fly out as they spun together like in a dance, as either snow or electricity was added onto their attacks from the Progrise Constructs on their gears.

FINAL OMEGA STYLE: LEAPING IMPACT

FINAL OPPRESSION: CUTTING NEVERLAND

"Wow, I'm surprised that these keys have synced so well with our Gears!" Kirika observed.

"It's because they actually were part of the Custodians and their systems way back when." Zero-One informed.

"Uhh… how do you know that?" Kirika questioned.

"Let's just say…. I saw a peak of it." He responded as it would be complicated to tell them he saw his past life.

"Explains why ZAIA and Hiden tapped into their power." Neferiti noted.

"Only one of them used it for actual benefits and the other for greed." Vulcan frowned.

/Nan'oku no ai wo kasane

Warera wa toki wo kasanete/

When a couple of Nephelim tried to reach for them, Vulcan took in a deep breath and let loose a sonic howl that quickly pushed them away long enough for Neferiti's feathers to fly towards them and burn them to ashes. The two of them then charged ahead, with Vulcan gaining snowy afterimages from his new speed while Nefertiti simply became a phoenix on fire as the two broke through a barrier of Noise.

/Kiseki wa yagate rekishi e to

Hokori kirameku darō/

Tsubasa began to zip through Noise to Noise, cutting them down with her new hexa-katanas. Chris chimed in with bullets that, once hitting the opponent, exploded with several pieces of shrapnel that flew out and striking Noise, only for it to continue until it made an explosion of a heart.

As this was happening, Dr. Natasja was working as hard as she could to reverse the console. A beam of golden light reaching the Lunar Ruins.

"Phonic gain projection successful." she noted, briefly coughing up blood as she laid there, dying. "Lunar Ruins and Curse of Babal restarted and confirmed operational. Adjusting the moon's orbit."

She then looked towards the visual on the crystal and smiled, "Gerald, I have a lot to tell you…" And like that, she passed away with a smile on her face, happy that she at least aided the girls one more time.

/[Hi/Co]Hibiki

[Ts/Ba] Nariwataru

[Ch/Ne] Oto wo

[Hi/Ts/Ch] Kanadeyō/

"The Noise is just never ending! We're going to be drained before we can finish off this kaiju!" Chris hissed as she noticed this would be trouble for them.

But that wasn't all as Nephilim began to glow brightly, its core shivering as they could feel the heat even from their place.

"I think it's about to explode and take us with it!" Nefertiti noted "We need to do something, now!"

/Hitorikiri no

Uta de wa

Shirabe ni wa

[Ma/Ki/Sh] Tōku/

"Cap, got any bright ideas?" the wolf Rider called out.

"Yeah… Chris? Open up an exit. We're gonna punch through this guy." Zero-One said, as the rest looked at him, "What? We do damage and the resulting energies combined with the erupting core cause it all to explode all at one, taking it and all the Noise out in one go."

"For once, that is an actually decent plan." Chris noted.

He then began to charge up his belt with ten different Progrise Keys, scanning each on in unison

BIT RISE!

BYTE RISE!

KILO RISE!

MEGA RISE!

GIGA RISE!

TERRA RISE!

With his belt fully charged, he then pressed the trigger.

ASSAULT CHARGE!

As the energy built up within him, he took hold of Hibiki's hand as she helped reach out and grab Tsubasa's as they continued to hold hands until it reached for Maria. She looked hesitant at first but soon took hold as well, before two large mecha fists appeared in front of the group.

/Hajimari no BABEL to wa

Sore wa tada no kaze datta/

Afterwards, the various cybernetic animals began to circle the Nephilim and create digital rings that lined up perfectly towards the fists.

シ

ン

フ

ォ

ギ

ア

テ

ラ

ー

ギ

ャ

ラ

ク

シ

ーブレーク

The engines of the relics, revved up and ignited as it launched the group towards the Nephilim at such speeds it was making a rainbow behind them all.

/Hoshi no ubugoe ga kawashita

Sabishisa no puronaun/

With a mighty roar, the heroes shouted out…

"Hikari ni…. NAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Before the mecha fists made contact with the Nephilim.

S

Y

M

P

H

O

G

E

A

R

TERRA GALAXY BREAK!

Afterwards, the fists broke right through the monster as Chris used the staff to spawn another portal, letting everyone go through it. The ten landed on the beach, badly injured, and with much of their armor heavily damaged.

"T-The gate…" Chris hissed in pain as the portal was still closed, yet everyone was weakened or ready to pass out as the gate remained open, "W-We need to c-close it!"

"W-We… have to… close it…" Cody said, wanting to stand but he couldn't as he looked to see his leg injured heavily, broken as bone were sticking out, leaving him unable to move now.

Yet when everyone thought this could've been it, a figure raced past them as Miku was running towards the cane. She was ready to help as she raced over before she gripped the staff and held it up high.

'Hibiki taught me that you don't need a Gear or a Driver to fight!' she thought to herself, "PLEASE, SEAL THE GATE!" she pleaded with the relic.

And with all of her strength, she threw the cane as it flew through the air and luckily right into the portal. From that reaction, it began to close up just enough for them to see the Nephilim erupt in a powerful explosion, engulfing the Noise and structures behind it as the gate finally closed just before the explosion reached their side. The threat was over.

The ten breathed a sigh of relief as their transformations finally dispersed, allowing them to collapse on the ground and finally take a rest.

"Never… doing that… again…!" Cody complained, flinching in pain from his broken leg.

"Preach!" Balto agreed.

"Are you okay?" Miku asked with worry.

"Gonna be bedridden for awhile.. But okay…" He said with a winced smile.

"Ne…. Cody?" Hibiki called to the boy as he turned to her.

"Y-Yeah?" he asked, confused as to what Hibiki was going to say.

However one long kiss on the lips from her said all she needed for her. The two shared it as Cody was now full red in the face as Miku gasped, surprised her friend would be so bold.

"Well it's about time." Chris sighed out with a smirk.

"Yeah…" Balto agreed.

"Do you think we should tell them those cameras were still working?" Maria asked the veteran members of Team Zero.

"I think we'll let them find out for themselves." Tsubasa said, waving it off.

Though Kirika watched, blushing softly before she took hold of Shirabe's cheeks and planted a kiss on her, as well, shocking the girl only for a moment before she returned it.

"Heh, guess they also had some feelings to confess as well." Nefertiti smiled before turning to the archer with a smirk, "Wanna try it too, Chrissy?"

"Not on your life, perv." Chris snarled.

"Tsun tsun!" Kirika teased the archer, earning a tired chuckle from everyone involved.

XXX

As the days pass by, things have changed. Frontier broke down and fully sunk back into the ocean, unable to be used ever again. The Tidal wave that, at first was launched, was countered thanks to Nasstaja's effort. However it seemed her trip to space and that last act was all her body could take as the satellite's confirmed she passed.

Dr Ver was captured thanks to Genjuro and Ogawa as the mad scientist was tried and placed in a very secure place that only the UN knows about.

As for Gai and ZAIA Japan, upon learning about the truth behind the Hiden Intelligence merger thanks to Cody's confession, soon made the UN look back on the documents and trial of it. After months of researching, they found out all of it was staged. ZAIA Japan had done everything in its power to make Hiden shut down and take every asset they have.

This has now lead to the termination of ZAIA Japan, the rest of the ZAIA brand will help reopen Hiden Intelligence with Aruto Hiden, who chose to retire as a comedian to help bring his family's company back from the dead, at the helm. This also has now made Gai Amatsu a wanted fugitive and been given a bounty.

But it wasn't all good news. Even with the four girls left of FIS giving everything they can about this, they were still tried by the UN and placed in custody. Luckily they are given some rights so that Section 2's Operators can visit them, but it will be a long time before they too are given freedom.

As of now, everyone was having a nice celebration with the girls of FIS through a webcam as everyone was celebrating not only Cody's fully recovery now, but also their completed mission from it all since everyone had to recover from that last fight.

"KAMPAI!" the group cheered as they raised their drinks into the air.

"Mmmngh! This meat is so good!" Kirika said in delight as they were able to be given some good food and meals for this party, even if the four of them were in a cell, at least they knew they had friends.

"Kiri-chan, you shouldn't eat like an animal." Shirabe scolded her, using a napkin to wipe her girlfriend's face from the juices that were on her.

"I mean, it's at least better than the two loons in the back." Chris noted as she pointed towards Cody and Balto having an eating contest in the background, with their respective girlfriends cheering them on.

"Speaking of, that new song you wrote and sent me? I like it. You got a good voice, Chrissy." Nefertiti smiled, as it seemed the two of them were exchanges notes and such to each other.

"S-Shut up!" the archer squirmed.

Maria giggled softly as she looked to Miku and Izu, "We still cannot thank you enough for everything… If you all didn't help, we could've been in the same situation as Ver." The former idol thanked, as it was thanks to Section 2 and even Aruto Hiden, who helped lighten their sentence.

"HA HA HA! I WIN, MUTT!" Cody cheered as he lifted his hands in victory.

"Ugh… not another bite…" Balto groaned out, it seemed he couldn't handle the bottomless pit of those two.

"Come on… I'll help make it better later tonight." Tsubasa smiled, pecking his cheek.

"I'm guessing you want me to help gain a bigger chest size after well… Chris." Balto pointed out.

Tsubasa blushed, slapping his face in response out of embarrassment, somehow making some of his food quickly return up his throat. Balto quickly ran towards the nearest trash can and hurled.

"Heh, I told ya. Weak stomach." Cody smirked with delight.

"Fuck you!" Balto cursed before he felt the food shooting up again. The poor gunner soon returned to blowing chunks for a bit before he finally felt some food stay.

Hibiki giggled, hugging Cody with delight, "That's my Cody!" Hibiki said with a smile.

"I believe it's time. The special program about it all is about to begin." Izu informed the others. This got everyone to relax and stay quiet as they looked at the tv to see the special.

"It has been several months since the group known as Team Zero helped save humanity from the threat of the Noise." a reporter noted, "Despite many obstacles, these ten young warriors went above and beyond the call of duty and helped save our planet from devastation."

"Man, just laying it on thick, are they?" Cody observed as Balto finally took a seat, wiping away some leftover bile from this mouth.

"Ugh… a-at least we don't have… t-to worry too much… Glad Tsu can still sing…" Balto sighed, knowing that her career is still safe. Although he still fear for the day the press would find out about their relationship.

"Come on, it's not like the world knows you two are dating." the grasshopper Rider noted before Balto noticed something on the TV.

"You mean like they do for you two?" the gunner asked as he pointed his thumb towards the screen, looking quite surprised.

As Cody turned back, the reporter was talking about each of them, as it showed the pictures of either the fight or when they changed, but what soon made him and Hibiki turn bright red was the fact they had a picture of the two sharing their first kiss.

"W-W-W-WAIT, WHAT THE HECK?!" he gasped in horror.

"And of course, one part that's having the world buzz with delight was this passionate kiss for these two heroes. It seems like this budding couple might have the world's attention for quite a while." The reporter said with a giggle.

"Oh my…" Miku giggled.

"Mou…. How am I this cursed?! Everyone is gonna haggle me for questions and such forever!" Hibiki groaned out with embarrassment. She quickly crawled up into a ball and began crying comedically.

"I can imagine why…" Tsubasa agreed, patting the poor Gungnir user on the back.

This was yet another tale of valkyries and their beasts as once again they took down another threat for all. People change, love blossoms and life continues. At least for a few moments, everyone was connected by a single song, and one that truly will be remembered forever.

XXX

In a secure location, a young woman was watching tv to pass the time. It seemed a new special was airing as it piqued her interest. Her long, silvery white hair shined from the moonlight as she watched.

At first it looked to be just the special about their enemies from Section 2. She was ready to just shut it off and continue with her duty until she froze up upon seeing someone.

"That… boy…" the woman said as she paused the screen that showed the image of Cody.

Her eyes widened with surprise as she walked over and gently touched the screen, tears flowing down her face.

"My dear…. So you did reincarnate…" The woman said, as she held up the small necklace around her neck, caressing it gently as it opened up to reveal a very old photo, one that showed the boy's face.

It truly was the same person, but it seemed life once again made things difficult for this woman as she knew that while he looked the same, he wasn't the same.

"Do not worry, I will find you…" she promised.

"Saint-Germain! We might've found what we're looking for!" A chipper voice chimed from afar, earning the woman's attention.

She closed the locket of her necklace as she took a few breaths. If this was true, everything would be put into place for them to end the troubles of this world once and for all.

---

A/N:

Striberx: AT LAST! Season 2/Symphogear G is finished!

HackerEX: And with a huge chapter too! Like, this feels like something I'd write length-wise. Like seriously, this one chapter beats all of my solo chapters at 58 pages long, 14 pages longer than CrossGen Act 4

Striberx: I was at first thinking of making them seperate chaps, like right after Miku was saved. But I figured just keeping it all in one chap to make this an epic moment not only for us but those who'll read it would be much more satisfying to do.

HackerEX: So, let's unpack well… Everything that happened. Do you want to start it off?

Striberx: Might as well. First off is how we went with this. We knew a lot of things had to be added and changed. One of it being what are we going to do with not only Miku's gear but the results of it. Cause for those who don't know, Miku's gear literally has the power to purge sins. Thus making her and Hibiki able to do so much stuff later on because of that, but also cures Hibiki of her relic fusion. We figured doing the same for Cody and having him purged of the original sin like them would help, but it would also purge out everything of Ark within him. He'll be cleansed and no longer susceptible to Ark taking over again.

HackerEX: However that doesn't mean that Ark's gone for good, since that's why we had Horobi siphon most of it out of Cody. This also potentially sets up Horobi becoming Ark-Zero too.

Striberx: Among other things. This way, we can still keep Ark around for when needed in the future but also to show that Cody is able to move onward with his life now that most of his problems are gone now.

HackerEX: Well, problems that are out to kill him that is. There's still the thing of well, having the world see you and your girlfriend kiss.

Striberx: Which was just a fun little moment we thought we'd add in. It may come up here and there, but it's mostly just for fluff. Next up is that big fight against Nephilim. We thought that this X-Drive needed more to it, so we added this new idea.

HackerEX: Plus, it incorporates more of Zero-One's powerset into it, which we haven't done in a while during this whole arc.

Striberx: As well as showing some connection to what Zero-One and his power is to this world. And its that its a item made by the Custodians. This was an idea that made me think on how it could connect with Symphogear. Thus by having his driver and power not being manmade but made by basically the gods of Symphogear, helped make this work.

HackerEX: On that note, the whole Primalgear concept. Honestly, this came to me on a whim. I mean, there are as many legendary monsters as there are legendary weapons, so I thought it would fit into the lore of Symphogear while also adding in the animal motifs of the Zero-One forms. This also means that yes, Balto's little wolf tooth is a relic too. Of which legendary wolf however? Well I ain't telling…

Striberx: At least not yet, it will be revealed in the future, most likely during XV. Also, the idea of the insects resonating to help make the construct of Shinning Assault Hopper was another thing. If the Custodians were the ones who made humanity, why not also have the rest of life find some connection through the Progrise Keys?

HackerEX: Finally, Gil!Cody, yeah that's more for the story of AXZ than this current arc, so I thought that both having it and Saint-Germain cameoing during the end would work beautifully.

Striberx: Yup. To which that season will explain more onto how Cody is connected more than also just Hiden's bloodline? There's always more secrets than you think. ;)

HackerEX: Anyways, hope you guys will get ready for the GX arc. No it will not contain a school made for card games, but it will bring in more elements of Zero-One.

Striberx: As well as my 3rd fav character, Carol being added in. :3 Alongside Metal Cluster too.

HackerEX: Also look forward to Cross Chronicles, since Balto is one of the heroes joining the battle, and a brand new collab between the two of us.

Until then, later minna!