Song of the Crystal Gems Chapter 5
The sound of clashing metal rang throughout the darkness of the night sky and pierced the dull humming of London's traffic. Two women exchanged precise strikes. Each aimed at the other's openings, only for the other's blade to deflect it.
Tsubasa hated to admit it, but her opponent was as skilled as she was tenacious. Phara's attacks flowed from one to the other, as if she were dancing in line with the music. But at the same time, inhumanity marred her beautiful sword style. Phara's limbs bent beyond what a human could hope to achieve, making a stance impossible for a human to emulate. It was effective but uncanny.
Tsubasa jumped away from Phara, and swung her sword in the air in a flash. A sharp gust of glowing blue air flew towards the mannequin. It was her Blue Flash attack, a blue wave of energy created by slashing the air. It was sharp enough to cut through steel and the Noise alike as if they were butter.
But Phara blocked the attack with a one-handed sword. As she did so, a smug grin crossed her porcelain face. "It looks like that is all you have. I knew I was stronger than you, but this display is pathetic." The mannequin taunted while leaping towards Tsubasa and clashing with the blue-haired girl's sword. The force of the attack launched the two towards the street.
Tsubasa gritted her teeth, the force of Phara's attack threatening to snap her katana in two. Thinking quickly, Tsubasa kneed Phara in the stomach. The force of the attack allowed Tsubasa to launch herself away from the woman and onto the bridge. Tsubasa glared at Phara before spreading her arms like wings, her lips moving to a song.
I solemnly close my eyes in a moment of calm, and sheath the blade which I live by
Due to my mastery of dueling, you'll now sleep without ever knowing you've died
Phara saw glints of blue light in the reflection of her sword. Looking up, the Autoscorer saw blue blasts of energy in the shape of javelins coming towards her like a hailstorm.
It was Tsubasa's One Thousand Tears attack, which was aiming to skewer her. Phara smirked. "The lyrics that you are singing; they are wrong about one thing! You are no master of the blade!"
Phara dashed around the street to dodge Tsubasa's attacks. The storm of blades exploded on impact with the streets, kicking up debris. But Phara weaved around the blades with her dance, deflecting every javelin that she couldn't dodge.
With an evil smirk, Phara's palms opened up to launch many crystals out of her and onto the street. The crystals cracked when they hit the pavement. Then, red portals formed all around her, and familiar monsters with grid-like faces popped out of them.
Tsubasa narrowed her eyes at the sight of the monstrosities, raising her katana parallel to the street. "How are you able to summon the Noise!?" She scrutinized Phara. "We destroyed them all in the Treasury of Babylonia!"
Phara smiled evilly at the Symphogear adaptor, pointing her sword at the warrior. "If you want to know how they were made, I will gladly tell you... if you beat me, that is!"
Tsubasa grunted at the declaration but complied with her wish. She began running at the woman in the green dress, slashing at any unfortunate Noise that got in her way.
How would you like your name on your gravestone? Tell me now
A stanza from the death poem for your agony says: ah…it was inevitable
Tsubasa cut through the Noise with perfect slashes. When one of them tried to cut her down, she jumped back into a handstand. She then spun around, her leg-blades scything through her opponents.
After clearing a good chunk of the opposition, Tsubasa landed back on her feet, only to see a red Noise with a glowing arm lunging towards her. Tsubasa was about to guard with her sword but remembered the warning she received from Ogawa. This new type of Noise could destroy their Symphogear's armor.
Deciding to take caution, Tsubasa instead dodged under the red Noise's arm. She then lunged upwards, swinging her sword upwards towards the Noise's arm, severing it from its body. While in the air, Tsubasa then aimed her katana downwards towards the Noise's face, piercing right through it.
Before Tsubasa could pull her sword out of the dissolving monstrosity, she was hit by a strong gust of wind from the side, blowing her off the bridge and into the Thames River.
From the generator's rooftop, Maria looked on in horror at the sight of her partner being blown into the river. Maria screamed at the river in a panic, yelling out, "Tsubasa! Don't you dare give up on me!" while climbing down the roof from a ladder on the side of the building.
Phara looked over the railings of the bridge and into the darkness of the river with a cold look on her face. With an annoyed look on her face, Phara responded, "And here I thought that you were just a pretty face. It seems that there is some intelligence somewhere in that head of yours."
She pointed her sword at the water. At her silent command, the Noise jumped off the bridge, falling into the water in search of the warrior clad in white and blue armor.
Down in the murky waters of the Thames River, Tsubasa reoriented upwards, holding her breath the best she could. She tried to make her way up to the surface, but she saw some inhuman shadows illuminated from the streetlights above.
Knowing that it was likely the Noise, Tsubasa summoned a katana to slash her way through to get to the surface. She cut the first Noise that attacked in half, turning it into red mist in the water.
Tsubasa was about to reach the surface when the water around her began spinning at high speeds, taking the warrior along for the ride. This shocked Tsubasa, who wasn't expecting to be lifted into the air. Shouting out in surprise, Tsubasa yelled out, "W-What is this?"
The water rose from the river's surface, creating a small water spout. The Noise that was already in the river was there for the ride, rotating around in the water spout.
Phara smirked at Tsubasa's reaction. With her aerokinesis, making a typhoon to lift the Symphogear user into the air was child's play. Now, the blue-clad warrior was vulnerable to the Noise rushing in with the waterspout's current.
But Tsubasa defied her expectations when she threw a sword into the air, which became larger. The sword then fell back down into the water sprout, gliding along with it. Tsubasa quickly climbed on, balancing on it as if it was a surfboard. This way, she could act without having to fight against the current.
That wasn't the only thing that Tsubasa did though. Tsubasa took a deep breath, then spread her arms. Spears of blue light appeared once more, flying through the water as if they were torpedoes. They flew around faster than the Noise could swim through the airborne whirlpool, piercing through the Noise from behind.
Traces of the howling wraiths stretch madly beneath the moon
Tonight, I feel pity for the sharpness of my fangs
As much as Phara loathed to admit it, that was an impressive move from the singer. But she still had to finish her part of the plan. "My goodness. You keep defying my expectations, I'll admit. But it's about time we ended this," Phara said coyly. She then dispelled the tornado, causing the water to fall back down towards the river and creating waves.
Tsubasa rode her sword-surfboard and glared down at the mannequin. "I have to agree. Let us finish this bout!"
Out of the corner of her eye, Phara saw Maria arriving at the bottom of the ladder, who then looked out towards the battle at hand. That gave her an idea that could end the battle here.
With a sadistic smirk, Phara rushed towards Maria, who looked shell-shocked at what was going to happen. Without her Symphogear, Maria didn't have any hope of dodging in time.
Tsubasa's eyes widened when she saw what Phara had in mind. Tsubasa yelled out in alarm for her partner, "MARIA!"
With the speed of a sonic boom, Tsubasa jumped off her sword and towards the path Phara was taking, using her sword to block Phara's own. But she had already fallen for Phara's trap.
Phara had deliberately slowed her attack so that Tsubasa could block it in time. When Phara's sword collided with Tsubasa's, the warrior's sword shattered into pieces.
"Sword Breaker. A conceptual weapon that shatters any sword there is," Phara explained, preempting Tsubasa's question. The calm of her voice did not match the sadistic joy of her expression.
The loss of her sword dumbfounded Tsubasa for only an instant, but that was all Phara needed for her finishing attack. Phara aimed her sword towards Tsubasa's pendent, which housed Ame-No-Habakiri, Tsubasa's Symphogear. A quick but hard thrust shattered the pendant and sent Tsubasa flying backward into Maria. Her Symphogear broken, Tsubasa's armor dissolved in Maria's arms, much to her horror.
At the sight of Tsubasa in Maria's arms, Phara shook her head in mock-disappointment. "Tsk, tsk. And here I thought you would be a worthy opponent. But that bout was over so quickly."
Maria looked down her chest and saw Tsubasa unconscious on top of her. She glared as hard as she could towards Phara, "What is your goal here!? Why are you attacking us!?" Maria wanted answers from the woman responsible.
Phara shook her head in denial. "I don't owe weaklings like yourself any explanation. Be content dying ignorant," she said in a cold voice. Phara then pulled out her broadsword and pointed it in Maria's direction, making the pink-haired woman grit her teeth in response.
Maria looked down at Tsubasa lying unconscious in her arms with regret in her eyes, 'Tsubasa, I-I'm so sorry. If I wasn't so weak, this wouldn't have happened. Please, forgive me!'
XXXX
Opal couldn't for the life of her remember where she heard the word "alchemy" before. She knew that she doesn't have the best memory, so it may be something that Amethyst or Pearl knew about.
She shook off her sense of deja vu when she heard Chris holding her hand to her ear, talking to someone. Currently, the trio of Opal, Chris, and Elfnein was near a bridge, illuminated by the street lights. Chris was yelling into her headset, asking Tomosato," What do you mean Garnet is fighting with the enemy? And if Garnet is the one fighting them, then where is Pearl and…"
Chris's eyes widened when she started to say the two's names. Chris looked closer at Opal. With the light coming from the streetlights, Chris was now able to see two gems on her chest and forehead. The same two she had seen a few days ago, if differently colored.
"Pearl? Amethyst? Is that you? How did you get like that?" Chris questioned Opal, causing the four-armed woman to smile down at the white-haired teenager.
"It's quite impressive that you caught on so quickly. The answer is yes and no, Chris." Opal answered the white-haired teenager, who looked confused.
Elfnein wanted to ask Chris who Pearl and Amethyst were, but decided there were more important things to worry about. She saw Opal's eyes looked upwards and widened. Elfnein looked at what she looked at and gasped.
In the blink of an eye, the giant newcomer scooped Elfnein and Chris into her arms and jumped. Elfnein caught glimpses of some golden projectile raining down on the spot the three of them were standing on. The resulting explosion created a dust cloud that obscured her vision.
Chris jumped out of Opal's arms while giving Opal a small nod, "Thanks for the save. But it looks like we have trouble coming this way, so look sharp!"
The dust cleared, revealing an ominous red outline with a black center at the point of impact. The Noise appeared out of the circle and began charging towards the three of them. Chris looked over her shoulder and looked at Opal with the look of authority in her eyes. "Stand back and protect Elfnein! I'll handle these guys, got that?"
Opal nodded, and held Elfnein between her bottom left arm and her chest, securing the girl from harm. Seeing Opal protecting Elfnein, Chris smiled and turned back at the charging Noise with a wide grin on her face. Her lips moved to a rhythm as she formed chain guns attached to her forearms.
A discount sale of lead bullets just for you, as nothing else cures stupidity
It's time for the rodeo, baby; the pistol fire party is starting, so get yourself dancing
Chris began shooting bullets out of her chain guns. The bullets soared through the air, before reaching their targets, tearing the Noise apart like they were a wet newspaper. Each bullet eviscerated several Noise at once. But they kept coming without end.
Chris ran along the outside of the perimeter of the collection of Noise, shooting any that try to escape her wrath. Some of the Noise try to stretch themselves over Chris's barrage of attacks to reach Chris, but the red warrior slid onto the ground and under the attacks and shot the Noise from below.
Long-range or short-range, it doesn't matter
So long as these hit you
It's a base-filled homerun, so start praying
Let me look cool, baby
While Chris was eliminating her enemies, Opal watched her with both disbelief and amazement. She had never seen a human as proficient in combat as the human she was watching right now. But out of the corner of her eyes, she saw some more Noise coming from the bridge. The Noise was outside of Chris's view, unable to see the danger lurking above her.
Chris jumped over a stretching Noise, shooting the attacker when she saw a single white arrow flying above her. Sparing a second to look, she saw the single arrow split into several smaller arrows, piercing through the Noise hidden on the bridge above her.
Chris looked down towards where she left Opal to see the Gem in question holding a bow the size of Chris's body, the tall gem looking like she had released the string on the weapon. Elfnein was on the ground, standing close to Opal's legs.
Chris's eyes widened when she realized that Opal saved her from the surprise attacks.
That should have been impossible, Noise couldn't be destroyed without a Symphogear on hand! But the Gem proved that she could destroy Noise, making Chris wonder exactly what else they can do.
Chris then shook her head free of these thoughts. She had to focus on the battle now, she could ask questions later. She nodded her head in thanks towards Opal and began mowing down the Noise once more. But this time, she had help from Opal.
Eventually, a Noise had managed to get past both their bullets and arrows and was about to strike the human. Chris didn't have enough time to dodge, so she raised her gun to block the attack, confident that she'll be fine. But Chris felt a familiar feeling around her waist and was pulled towards Opal by a purple whip.
This time, Chris was ready, and so managed to land on her feet next to the four-armed woman and Elfnein. "Not that I don't appreciate it, but what gives? I could have blocked that!" Chris asked the taller woman, who put her top right hand on her chin, in thought.
"I'm sure that Pearl and Amethyst know better than I do, but I have a feeling you shouldn't touch those monsters," Opal explained, a bit confused herself. She didn't have the best memory, so she easily forgot important information.
"W-wait, but how would they know that?" Chris asked, wanting to know how the Gems knew when they didn't even hail from this Earth. Chris then saw more Noise coming towards the three of them, and so pointed her guns toward their direction, preparing to shoot.
"That is a matter for a different time," Opal answered when she saw the Noise approaching, readying her bow. Elfnein stepped back to let the two fighters have enough space to fight.
"Look out!" Elfnein shouted while pointing out into the night sky.
Chris spotted a familiar glint of gold flying at them at high speeds. She raised her arm to aim the chain gun and fired at the gold coins speeding towards their location. The bullets collided with the coins, causing an explosion that created a large smoke cloud.
Coming out of the smoke was Leiur, clad in her golden clothing. Landing on her feet, Leiur posed at the three on the sidewalk, causing the two fighters to aim their weapons at the mannequin.
"I am surprised," the Autoscorer said in a dull, unemotional tone. "I had thought this would be an easy fight, but it appears that I was wrong." Then, with her visible eye narrowed on two enemies before her, she raised her hands and said, "Let's fix that."
Leiur then shot gold coins at both Chris and Opal at the speed of a shot gun's shrapnel, forcing Chris to block the shots with the chain guns attached to her arms. Meanwhile, Opal summoned a white spear from her forehead and spun it at high speeds, deflecting the coins. The two of them struggled to defend themselves and Elfnein from the onslaught of gold coins.
Some of the Noise from before were closing in on the three of them as well. However, neither Chris nor Opal could move from their positions, or else Elfnein would get hurt. Chris cursed herself. "Damn it, what do we do!? We're sitting ducks like this!" She shouted in desperation.
Zeios Igalima raizen tron
The sound of a young girl singing brought the attention of the three fighters. Leiur looked in the direction of where she heard the song coming from, only to duck backward. A green scythe passed over her body, the blade mere inches from her face. Leiur jumped away from the attacker to get some room.
The newcomer was a young high school-aged girl with blonde, messy hair, and was wearing green and black armor. On her head, she wore a witch's hat. The girl grew a wide grin while looking back at Chris, Opal, and Elfnein, putting her hand on her head in a salute. "Don't worry, the calvary is here, dess!" The girl then flinched as green lightning coursed through her body, shocking her.
"What are you doing here Kirika!? I thought I told you to go home! And you're using your Symphogear without LINKER no less!" Chris yelled at Kirika while lowering her impromptu shield. She then put a palm to her face when she realized something. "And if you're here, then that means Shirabe is here, isn't she?"
That was when a twin-tailed, black-haired girl rolled in wearing pink and black armor and roller skates. The girl skated into the battlefield, slicing through the Noise with pink and black buzzsaws. But the action caused pink lighting to flow along her body as well, causing the girl to groan in pain.
Even so, Shirabe forced herself to roll her way over to Chris, her face showing worry, "Senpai, are you okay? And who are these people?" She asked while looking at both Opal and Elfnein in question. Chris didn't seem to be too on guard around the two of them.
Chris pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "I'll introduce you to each other later. Get out of here before you hurt yourselves any more than you already have."
Kirika hopped back at Chris's location, with a look of denial on her face. "We're not going to do that, senpai! We can't just leave you here. I'm sure we can win if we all worked together!" Kirika shot back, refusing Chris's order. Shirabe nodded her head in agreement with Kirika.
As the girls talked, Leiur stared at them, studying their movements, waiting for a good moment to strike.
Chris was about to argue more with the two of them when she felt an arm on her shoulder. She looked up to see Opal shaking her head. "While I admire your desire to protect them, they will fight even if you try to stop them. You might as well let them join us."
Chris grunted in frustration, but she knew that Opal right. Kirika and Shirabe are too set in their ways to turn around now. "Fine, but we have to end this quick, alright!? You two can't be in that armor for too long!" She ordered the two girls, who both nodded towards Opal in appreciation for convincing Chris.
In response to the four fighters teaming up, Leiur threw out enough crystals to equal a bowling ball in size if put together. When the crystals broke, more Noise appeared, while Leiur pulled out more coins between her fingertips, ready to fire them.
XXXX
Carol would have to admit it. If she was an average human, she wouldn't stand a chance against Garnet's combat prowess. Good thing she wasn't an average human child anymore. She dodged Garnet's first punch and floated away from her.
Deciding to end the fight as quickly as possible, Carol conjured a red glyph in the air. A red-hot blaze of fire shot from it towards the Crystal Gem. Carol fully expected Garnet to dodge or even block the attack. Yet to her surprise, the woman jumped into the inferno without any hesitation. The black smoke of debris came from the destruction of the street Garnet used to be on.
This caused Hibiki to yell out, "G-Garnet-san! W-why…" in despair. Why would her savior jump into an attack? That would be suicide! And after making such a big entrance as the Gem had doesn't make sense! Unless…
Carol made a shield glyph in front of her. It was just in time too, since Garnet's fist came out of the smoke, clashing against her energy shield.
Carol looked more closely and saw that the arm that the fist was attached to was longer than it was before. 'So, she can change her body's shape at will? Interesting…'
The smoke cleared and revealed that Garnet was unhurt from the attack earlier, with nary even a burn on her. The Gem ground her teeth in frustration. She had failed in her attack, so she had lost her chance at taking out the mastermind right then and there. She pulled back her arm, returning it to its original position.
That was when Garnet turned to block a surprise attack from behind. The ice shattered when the attack contacted Garnet's gauntlets. Carol was a bit annoyed that her Autoscorer was unable to end the strange woman.
"W-Where did she…" Hibiki questioned, not seeing the new enemy approach until it was almost too late.
The new fighter was one of her Autoscorers, Garie. She was pale like the others but had her short brown hair tied up by a headband and wore a beautiful blue dress.
Carol had Garie in position close to her location for three reasons. One reason was to gather memories to fuel her Autoscorers. Another was to eliminate anyone spying on them.
The third reason Garie was close by was in the event she needed back-up. Carol is really glad that she came up with the back-up plan. While Carol was confident that she could defeat Garnet, she didn't want to lose any more memories than she needed.
Currently, Garie jumped back with a glare when her attempt at a surprise attack failed. She tried to pierce the woman's back with her hand covered in an icicle, but she underestimated the durability of Garnet's gauntlets.
The glare that was on the Autoscorer's face soon turned into a bloodthirsty grin. "My, my, we have a fighter here, don't we? That'll just make it all the more satisfying when I see you look on in despair as I destroy you!"
That was when from deep underground, a fountain of water broke through the asphalt of the street, pipes stuck out from the ground while spraying high-pressure water.
The attack caught Garnet by surprise. The fountain hit the Gem by her chin while sending her high into the air, a look of pain on her face.
Garie smiled at the sight and stepped into the rushing water from the pipes. She used her hydrokinesis to make the water rush out even faster than before to push herself up at high speeds towards Garnet, forming another sharp icicle in her hand.
"G-Garnet-san! I-I'll try to help!" Hibiki yelled out in worry. She can't just stand by and do nothing anymore when Garnet needs her help. She hesitantly grabbed her Symphogear pendant, Gungnir, and tried to sing the words to it.
But nothing came out of her mouth. The words just won't come to her like it did so many times before. "H-Huh? W-Why won't it…" Hibiki asked herself, holding her pendant in front of her face, disbelief showing. Hibiki even tried to force the lyrics to come out of her mouth, but it was for naught.
She didn't understand why she couldn't make herself transform to save Garnet, who was flying in the air, about to be attacked by a sadistic-looking Garie.
Just as when Garie was about to strike the Gem's chest, Garnet reoriented herself in the air to face Garie. She twisted her body out of the way of the attack and grabbed Garie's wrist.
Before Garie could get her arm free, Garnet twisted her body once more and threw the surprised Autoscorer towards the street below them. The impact created a crater and a cloud of debris and dust.
Garnet touched the earth with her feet, and took a defensive stance, waiting for the dust to settle before making another move.
From the cloud of dust came the sound of a music box's gears turning."I thought tonight would be a fun night with Master, but you just had to come and ruin it, didn't you?" Garie seethed with irritation.
Garie came out of the crater, no worse for wear except for some dirt stuck on her clothes. She did, however, have a look of pure fury donning her porcelain face. She motioned her hands in the air, making another blue glyph, about to manipulate the water around the two when Carol yelled out to her subordinate.
"Garie, that is enough. We will return home at this instant." Carol coldly ordered Garie, to which the Autoscorer reluctantly followed. Carol pulled out a teleportation crystal.
But as the young-looking blonde was about to crush it onto the ground, Garnet ran at her as fast as a speeding race car, with a look of urgency on her face. "I am not going to let you get away!"
Carol's eyes widened, not expecting the Gem to know what the crystal does. She thought back to her previous theory, on if Garnet was made from Alchemy, making her eyes narrow. 'If I am correct, she knows of the crystal's teleportation ability from her creator. Che, how annoying…'
But before Garnet could reach Carol, Garie's condescending voice came out from behind Garnet. "I wouldn't move any further if I were you."
Garnet spared a moment to look behind her before stopping at the sight she was seeing. Garie had Hibiki in a vice grip and held an icicle up to the girl's throat. The icicle was sharp enough that when it touched Hibiki's skin, it cut through her skin, it made some blood come out.
"Now if you don't want this girl's blood on your hands, you will let us go, got it?" Garie demanded, not negotiating with the Gem, but ordering her.
Garnet hesitated before stepping away from Carol. The Alchemist nodded her head in silent thanks towards her servant before crushing the crystal onto the ground, covering the Alchemist in bright pink light. When the light faded, Carol was gone, leaving nothing behind.
Satisfied that her master was safe, Garie let Hibiki out of her grip and pushed the teenage girl onto the ground. Jumping away from Hibiki, Garie looked at Garnet with a condescending look on her face.
"Thank you for being a good girl! But I'm afraid that I'll have to leave now." Garie thanked sarcastically while pulling out her crystal and smashing it onto the ground, "Sayonara!" she said before disappearing as well.
After a few seconds of making sure the two wouldn't come back, Garnet jumped down from the street and into the crater that Hibiki was lying in. When the Gem touched down at the bottom of the crater, she was greeted by the sight of Hibiki struggling to stand up on her feet.
"You're hurt… Here, let me help you." Garnet offered while giving out a hand in Hibiki's direction. The brown-haired girl looked up at the alien with tears threatening to come out of her eyes.
"G-Garnet-san… I was useless out there, huh? I couldn't transform, and got myself caught in danger..." Hibiki asked, tears flowing out of her eyes, and onto her cheek. She hated the feeling of uselessness she was feeling right now, so she refused to accept Garnet's hand.
Garnet didn't know what to say to cheer Hibiki up, so she dispelled her gauntlets to pat the top of Hibiki's head gently like she sometimes did to cheer Steven up. Hibiki sobbed in self-loathing, not registering the hand on top of her head. The sounds of wailing sirens soon drowned out her crying.
XXXX
Leiur didn't want to admit it, but with the arrival of both Kirika and Shirabe, the battle would be more difficult than she anticipated. Now, the best she could hope for was taking out one of the Symphogears before escaping.
Shirabe made the first move. She shot multiple saw blades at the Autoscorer, threatening to cut her in half, forcing the Autoscorer to dodge.
That was when two horizontal saw blades came into the path that Leiur was using, forcing her to jump in between the space of the saw blades. Deciding to use this opportunity, Leiur aimed her coins at Shirabe.
That was when Kirika came rushing towards her while spinning into a green tornado of death. She was aiming her attack for Leiur's position in between the saw blades. This forced Leiur to aim for Kirika instead, and shot her coins towards where she guessed where Kirika's head would be.
It was successful, and the blows managed to daze Kirika long enough for Leiur to escape from the saw blades, and onto her feet.
When Leiur landed, however, she was then forced to jump out of the way of a red and white missile that she assumed Yukine Chris made.
The missile exploded under her feet, making a large cloud of dust in the process. That made it impossible for Leiur to predict a purple whip reaching out from behind the cloud. The whip wrapped itself around her ankle, catching the Autoscorer by surprise.
Before Leiur could try to get the whip off of her, she was flipped over Opal and was flying head-first towards the ground at high speeds. Leiur was barely able to break her fall with her arm.
If Leiur was human, her arm would have been devastated from the force of the impact with the ground. But as she wasn't human, her arm was intact, though Leiur could tell that her arm would need some minor repairs later.
Nevertheless, Leiur was able to detach the whip from her leg and retreated behind the Noise she had summoned earlier. At Leiur's command, the Noise made their charge towards the four fighters and Elfnein. She also gave cover fire for the army, shooting coins towards her enemies.
Shirabe went in front of the group and summoned a saw blade big enough to use as a shield to block the coins. Pink lightning covered her body once more, making her cry out in pain. "Ahh!"
Shirabe faltered at the pain, but she then felt the familiar feel of Kiraka's hands on her shoulders, supporting her against the hail of coins. "Don't worry! I got you Shirabe!" Kirika cheered her on with a determined grin, ignoring the pain of using her Symphogear.
Shirabe smiled at the help she was getting from her second half. With Kirika's help supporting the shield, she was able to stop the projectiles from getting through.
Chris and Opal were hiding behind Shirabe's saw-shield. Chris looked over the side of Shirabe's saw-shield and saw the Noise approaching, making her clench her teeth in distaste. She looked back at Opal, who was starting to fuse her whip and bow. That gave her an idea.
"Hey, how much weight can that thing shoot?" Chris asked while walking up to the fusion. Opal looked confused for just a moment before understanding what Chris was asking for.
"I see what you're planning. Let's get started!" Opal said with some excitement in her voice. She always wanted to try this, but there was never a good moment until now!
The Noise that Leiur summoned was almost at Shirabe's saw-shield, so Leiur stopped shooting to find a better position. But as soon as she began running to a good vantage spot, Leiur saw something flying from behind the black and pink saw-blade.
Looking more closely, Leiur saw that it was Chris flying through the air, who flipped upside down with crossbows in her hands. Twirling around, Chris began shooting arrows down towards the Noise, who was in the process of attacking Shirabe's shield when they were suddenly attacked from above.
Without the Noise, nor her barrage of coins at their doorstep, Shirabe stopped shielding them, and with Kirika at her side, started eliminating the remaining Noise that survived Chris's airstrike.
Leiur saw Opal aiming her bow at the sky, her hand drawn back as if she had fired something. Leiur then realized that she had fired Chris into the air with her bow. 'That was an impressive tactic. I hadn't seen that one coming," Leiur thought begrudgingly.
Opal saw that Leiur was in a different position now, and so aimed her bow towards the Autoscorer.
At this point, Leiur was losing her energy at a faster pace than she wanted. She had hoped that this would be a simple affair, but the simple addition of an unknown player changed their plans entirely.
Chris, Kirika, and Shirabe finished slaying the last of the Noise that Leiur summoned, and pointed their weapons in her direction.
Leiur was about to aim her coins at her enemies when Carol's voice blared over their telepathic link. "Leiur, Phara, my orders are to retreat. We will revise our plan in person." Carol ordered with thinly veiled anger in her tone. Leiur wanted to continue fighting, but she knew not to disobey orders, and so took out her teleportation crystal.
Elfnein's eyes widened at the sight of the crystal. "You have to stop her from escaping!" She yelled, making everyone jump in alarm.
Before anyone could react, Leiur smashed her teleporting crystal onto the ground, a blinding pink light enveloped the mannequin, causing everyone to look away. When they looked back they saw nothing left of Leiur in the space she was previously occupying.
Chris ran up to the spot that Leiur was standing on, and yelled out in frustration when she saw that Leiur was truly gone. "Damn It! We were so close to beating her ass!"
Chris then turned around with an angry expression when she remembered something important. "Kirika! Shirabe! Get out of your Symphogears, now!" The white-haired girl ordered the two warriors while deactivating her own.
Kirika and Shirabe's faces turned pale at the sight of Chris's angry expressions. Gulping in fear, they deactivated their Symphogears in a flash of white light. When the light faded, they came out in their civilian clothing. All three of the Symphogears flinched in pain from the exhausting battle they had. "You two are fucking idiots, you know that? What were you thinking, using your armor without LINKER? You could have irreparable damage to your organs now!"
Kirika scratched the back of her neck in nervousness. "S-Sorry senpai! But when we saw the helicopter explode, we knew we couldn't just sit by and do nothing!" The blonde answered with a sheepish smile. "On the plus side, we managed to fight back the enemy, didn't we?"
Before Chris could continue to admonish the two of them, Shirabe managed to change the subject by asking, "Senpai? You still haven't introduced us to these people?"
Chris rubbed her temples of her head in annoyance. "Yeah, I guess I should introduce you. This is-" That was when Opal began splitting into Pearl and Amethyst. Both of them fell to the ground in exhaustion. "Huh, I guess I was right. Opal was the two of you put together." Chris stated to herself. This only confused Kirika, Shirabe, and Elfnein even more.
"U-Um, is this the Amethyst and Pearl that you mentioned before?" Elfnein asked while holding her box close to her chest as if it was a comfort item.
That was when the purple-skinned woman looked up at the incredulous look on the three's faces. With a shaky smile, Amethyst waved an arm at the three of them. "Yo! I guess we should explain ourselves, shouldn't we?"
XXXX
"Leiur, Phara, my orders are to retreat. We will revise our plan in person." Carol ordered over their telepathic link. Phara followed her master's orders and lowered her sword. Phara looked at Maria condescendingly before digging into her sleeve.
"I do hope that you provide an adequate fight next time. This bout was quite disappointing," Phara said while she took out a teleportation crystal. She then dropped it onto the ground and shattered it. A blinding pink light enveloped the mannequin, causing Maria to look away.
When the light faded, Phara was gone, leaving only the two girls behind on the street. Maria stood back up with her edge up, worried that Phara would come and attack.
After a few minutes of nothing, Maria allowed herself to let her guard down. She then began to treat Tsubasa's injuries the best she could, including using her concert outfit to cover Tsubasa's private parts.
It was soon after that task was done that Tsubasa woke back up in a daze. Maria smiled in relief that Tsubasa was okay. "Tsubasa! You're okay! Are you hurt anywhere?" Tsubasa smiled at the sight of Maria being worried over her.
"I think I'm fine, just a little sting that's all." The blue-haired idol sat back up and raised her pendent to check, She gasped in shock, alerting the pink-haired idol. Tsubasa turned to show Maria that her pendant was cracked, her eyes widened in shock. "With this broken, I don't think I will be able to use my Symphogear anymore." Maria could only look on in horror. Tsubasa now doesn't have any defense against the Noise.
Tsubasa stood back up to use her communicator, to contact S.O.N.G. HQ to tell them that her Symphogear had been destroyed.
It was soon after that when UN agents came rushing down the streets in their cars. When they arrived they got out of their indiscreet vehicles and pointed their guns in the two idol's direction.
One of the agents began speaking, "We've been briefed on the situation. However, Maria Cadenzavna Eve, the restrictions on your activity are still in place."
Hearing the agent's words, Maria knew that she didn't have another choice. She walked to Tsubasa and took her headpiece. Talking into the communicator, Maria talked to Genjuro. "Commander Kazanari, I'd like to formally request my transfer to S.O.N.G.! I may not possess a Symphogear of my own, but given this crisis, I can't remain a false idol any longer!"
XXXX
When the Autoscorer clad in gold teleported into her podium, she knew that her master will be disappointed in her failure to destroy a Symphogeat's pendant. But what Carol said next surprised even her.
"Leiur, I assure you that I am not disappointed in you. Through no fault of our own, we had received faulty information that had cost us the chance to destroy a Symphogear. Those strange creatures got in the way of our attack."
That was when Phara decided to speak up. "Master, if I may speak, when I infiltrated the concert invisible, I overheard one of S.O.N.G.'s agents somehow got information from his headquarters that we will attack today and that the Alca-Noise can destroy their Symphogears."
Carol narrowed her eyes when Phara gave her explanation, thinking it over. "That shouldn't be possible. Not even the Illuminati knows of my true intentions with the Château de Tiffauges, so not even one of their defectors could have warned them."
A look of realization crossed Garie's face. "Oh! When I first entered the scuffle with the maroon woman, she sensed I was there even though I was sure that I had no presence to alert her. There is something off about her."
Carol nodded in agreement to the mannequin's deduction. Thinking it over, Carol made some theories in her head. "She might have heightened senses that can catch on to whatever may be trying to sneak up on her," Carol thought aloud. "But that wouldn't explain how they knew we would attack today. It also doesn't make sense why they didn't get Kazanari and Eve out of the concert hall sooner. Kazanari might've been able to escape with her Symphogear intact otherwise."
Garie sighed in exasperation at the mystery that they are facing. She complained loudly, "I just wish we could have a fortune teller for this so he can tell us. This is just too much work for us to do."
Carol's eyes widened when Garie complained, forming a theory in her head. "That actually may be it! I have heard rumors that the Illuminati had been researching methods to predict the future. I had thought that it was a waste of time. But if these Crystal Gems are some kind of alchemical creation, it would explain how they knew about our attacks!"
The three active Autoscorers hooked onto Carol's theory with awe on their faces. Garie had a big, proud grin at helping Master come to her theory even though she was just complaining.
Carol clenched her fist and looked up at the ceiling. With a dark look of determination in her eyes, she yelled in defiance, "You have made an enemy today, Crystal Gems! I, Carol Malus Dienheim, will not be defeated by some parlor trick! Any future you predict, my alchemy will surpass and destroy!"