Hello Fanfiction readers! It is I, Ashbel Longhart, back to bring you readers another chapter of my Faiz story! It's been about a month since I last updated but compared to last time, this is an improvement so hooray! Now before I continue any further, as always, cue the disclaimer!
(Disclaimer: I do not own Senki Zesshou Symphogear G or Kamen Rider Faiz. I also don't own any songs that appear in this story either. They all belong to their respective owners. All I own is this story and my OC's. Please Enjoy.)
Alright, so to recap. Last time, the focus was mostly on the girls since the chapter before that was mostly on Haru so it balances out. Genjuro's group managed to track down where Maria and the others were hiding so the team planned to infiltrate there hideout. But to the surprise of many, Dr. Ver was still alive and was working with the enemy and stole Soloman's Cane. If that wasn't enough, Dr. Ver is also working with Smart Brain and he revealed that Maria herself is the newest reincarnation of Finé!
What happens now? Well you'll just have to Open Your Eyes For The Next Faiz to see and find out. Let's ride!
Kamen Rider Faiz: Song of Paradise
Second Verse
Song 5: Home Is Where Happiness Lies
(Last Time)
'What am I fighting for? I swore I never lie to myself, and yet...'
"Whatever happens, all we can do is fight for the ideals we believe in."
"Even if we humans cannot control it, does that matter if it can become a heroic figure for us all?"
"They say third times the charm. Let's see if that's true."
"What the hell's going on? Why can't we deal enough damage?"
"The output of our gears are dropping!"
"Then what is that monster?"
"So to steal the Cane, you pretended to be attacked and went missing?"
"Just in time, Finé."
"Finé?"
"The name means 'The End' as I'm sure you already know. It is the name of our organization, but that's not all. It is also the name of the girl standing before your friend."
"Wait, you mean she's..."
"That's right. She is a newly awakened, reborn Finé!"
"Well...shit."
(Now)
The sound of battle echoed throughout the night. Through trained ears and looking through a pair of binoculars, the onlooker quickly and easily located the source to be the abandoned hospital.
"Seems the party has already started without us." A voice said next to him and the onlooker turned to face none other than Psyga.
"They didn't heed your warning, onii-chan." Another voice to his other side made the onlooker turn to face a completely grey colored creature. And the grey part was used literally as the color covered the being's form from head to toe.
The creature's body was similar to that of a human, a woman more precisely. But from then on, things got strange. Features resembling that of a crane were clearly seen on the body, shown among the upper legs, body, and head.
"What're we gonna do now, aibou(partner)?" Psyga asked his so-called partner.
"You already know what we're going to do." The onlooker, Kamen Rider Orga, took the 'binoculars' in his hands and snapped then apart before combining ends together and strapping it on the left side of his belt before standing up and making his ways towards his Rider Machine, the SB-000V Golden Stallion.
"True, but I thought I just ask." Pysga said before he grabbed the handles of his SB-315F Flying Attacker and took off into the skies.
The grey female creature that was with them, known as an Orphnoch, underwent a change. The shape of the crane head design morphed to look more feminine as the face is more human-like now. Her winged collars also extended and protruding upward in a flying pose. Once that was done did one more significant change occur. The legs of the Orphnoch changed to crane-like legs that appear in place of the original Orphnoch-humanoid legs as a pair of wings appeared behind her waist.
Now done changing, the Orphnoch too took to the skies and followed after Psyga. And Orga himself was not too far behind as he followed them on ground, driving towards the abandoned hospital with one goal in mind.
'Maria...'
(Insert masterpiece by Mami Kawada)
(Intrumental) The song starts as blurry images play at high speed appear. While some images were hard to make out, the image of a fire and ruins, the Relics, the Rider Gears, the Wolf Orphnoch's hands covered in blood, and then the caged Nephilim could be made out before the title appears.
(To aru nichijou wa parallel world ikusen mono jikan ni) The scene shows Hibiki in class, staying after school, but to her surprise, she wasn't the only on there. The camera expands outward to show that with her in the class is Tsubasa sitting next to her right Chris sitting next to her left, and sitting in the back in the far corner is Haru looking out the window.
(Onaji mono nado nai masutaapiisu de orinasu jikuu e) We then see the hooded man leaning against a display window of a random store. He lifts his head up to reveal violet colored eyes before the scene changes to the Crane Orphonch up on the roof a building, looking ready to jump and take flight before the scene changes again to Psyga in the air, flying around.
(Kakinagutte hakushi no shinario ni pensaki ga kooru) The scene then changes to the 2nd Division's new submarine base as everyone else worked on monitoring the data and info in front of them while Ogawa stands next to Genjuro who had the Delta Gear in a brief case in hand.
(Originality mezase! douse kono michi o yukun dakara) The scene then changes to the hidden base of the organization, Finé. Professor Nastassja, in her wheel chair is seen monitoring the Nephilim, Shirabe and Kirika are seen together as their Relic necklaces shine under the light. Maria is seen holding a damaged Relic piece in her hands as she thinks about her late sister and a certain boy that held a special place in a heart. Finally, Dr. Ver is seen grinning madly wielding Soloman's Cane as a shadow of the Nephilim is seen behind him.
[Shinjite] (Kakenukete) [Tooku made] Haru as Faiz and the girls in their armor are seen with their weapons drawn. Across from them is Maria and the others, donned in their armor with their weapons out and ready as behind them were the Kamen Riders Neo-Alpha, Pyron, and Seeda.
[Kanjiru] (Daichi o kette) [Daichi kette] Both groups stare off at one another before both groups move and attack.
(Nanika no tame ni kogare, ikiteru kanshoku wa kitto) Chris is seen facing off against Kirika who throws scythe blades at her while she counters with bullets from her gattling guns. Meanwhile, Hibiki is seen facing off against Shirabe who throws saw blade at her while she punches and kicks them away.
(Darenimo makenai chikara ni Naru) Tsubasa and Maria are seen clashing weapons until they are broken apart by the sudden appearance of Orga who pushes Tsubasa back before he turns to look at Maria before clashing weapons with her as the Crane Orphnoch and Psyga are seen facing off against Dr. Ver and the Nepilim.
(Shiawase tte tabun kono shunkan onore ga shiru) [When I believed it] Haru is seen facing the three ene my Riders by himself until Kanade and Genjuro as Kaixa and Delta appear to help him, each Rider taking on another Rider.
(Kono kandou o atarashii peeji ni kizamu) [I can go to the next stage] Explosions litter the entire area as Haru was pushed back only to bump into Orga and Pysga. The three Riders look at one another before they all jump up and kick forward towards their intended targets; Haru at the enemy Riders, Orga at the Nephilim, and Pysga at Maria and her girls.
[It's only my thing, 'highest masterpiece!' hoo] Everyone looked up at the three kicking Riders as their kicking feet glow brightly, blinding everyone until the camera moves to show off the moon surrounded by the ring of rubble of its broken piece before the song ends.
(2nd Division Headquarters)
All was mostly quiet in the control room of the 2nd Division as up on the screen was Maria, having been recently revealed to be a newly reborn Finé.
"So they didn't just adopt Finé's name just because they use heretical technology." Aoi began as she typed away at her station.
"The reincarnated Finé herself is leading the organization." Sakuya finished for Aoi.
"So the ghost from that ancient past once again stands in the way of we who live in the present?" Genjuro said as he looked up at the screen and at Maria. "Must we fight each other again, Ryoko-kun?"
(Outside)
There Maria Cadenzavna Eve stood, standing perfectly on her spear as it hovered just slightly above the waters. From the background, the sun rose from over the horizon, giving everyone quite the amazing view of her.
"This can't be..." Hibiki said as she looked on at Maria in disbelief. This woman was the newest reincarnation of Finé? The same woman she and the others had defeated many months ago?
"But, Ryoko-san said..." Hibiki remembered it clearly, the last words the last Finé, Sakurai Ryoko, said to her.
Believe in the song of your heart.
She remembered so clearly as if the words had been spoken to her yesterday. She didn't know if the one who spoke those words were either Finé herself or Ryoko, but Hibiki thought they had finally come to an understanding. Yet here Finé was, standing before them again as an enemy.
"Reincarnation." Dr. Ver said, pushing up his glasses as he was about to explain but someone already beat him to it.
"Finé is able to awaken her consciousness within any who carry her genetic sequence, existing within an eternal moment while continually being reborn throughout history." Chris explained, she and the others already knowing about Finé's ability to reincarnate multiple times all in order to achieve her one goal.
"But then," Hibiki spoke up, realizing something. "What happened to the singer known as Maria?" Finé is able to reincarnate as long as there was someone carrying her genetic sequence. But when she does awaken, she completely replaces that person's soul as seen with the previous Finé they all fought month ago.
"That's something we'd all like to know." Dr. Ver said as he looked on over to Maria.
'I managed to keep the Nephilim safe. A good start.' Maria thought to herself. 'But should be my next move?'
*BANG!*
"Guh!" Maria grunted in surprise when a bullet made out of energy whizzed past her head, grazing her cheek. She then heard more shots coming towards her and she used her cape to form a protective barrier around her as she looked to see who was shooting at her.
Standing on the bow of the submarine, the sharpshooter was none other than Haru with his Faiz Phone in Blaster mode.
'Damn, too far away to get a proper shot.' Haru thought as he gave up on trying to shoot down Maria and tried to think of a new plan when suddenly, Maria threw the box cage containing the Nephilim into the air only for it to seemingly disappear into thin air. Maria then leaped off her spear and onto the bow, landing perfectly on her feet as she raised her right hand into the air and her spear came flying into it.
(Insert Ressō Gungnir)
"Shooting without so much as a warning, you have no manners for a so-called hero of the people." Maria said in a taunting tone as she pointed her spear at the Rider.
"I don't need manners when dealing with enemies." Haru said as he slid his Faiz Phone back into his belt before snapping his arm out, preparing to fight. "And if you're really Finé's newest reincarnation, then that's all the more reason for me to kick your ass."
"You think you can defeat me all by yourself? I'd love to see you try." Maria said as she held her spear with both hands, ready to engage. "Now show me, Kamen Rider Faiz, why you are Smart Brain's most wanted!"
Haru held up his hands the second Maria shot herself towards him and her mouth started moving as a song came out. She thusted her spear forward, the tip closing in on his chest, but at the last second Haru spun to the right and continued spinning until he threw his left arm out for a backhand towards her face but his attack was stopped by Maria's cape. Said cape then sprung to life and pushed him back, creating distance between the Rider and the Symphogear user as Haru was left crossing his arms in front of him while he skidded back. At the same time, Maria had jumped into the air and was soon coming down towards him, swinging her huge spear down. Haru knew he would no be able to dodge this so instead of trying to find a way to avoid the incoming attack, Haru stomped his right foot down, stopping himself from being pushed back as the cape retreated back for Maria to come down upon him with her spear swinging down. The weapon found its way to him and sparks flew indicating damage. Maria smiled confidently but that smile was soon wiped away as her spear had stopped on Haru's shoulder, not going down further as the Rider himself had grabbed her spear. Seeing Maria's stunned look, Haru used this chance to punched her face before backhanding said face again. And before Maria got the chance to pull her spear back, Haru kicked his right foot up and struck Maria's left armpit, sending a huge jolt of pain through Maria enough to make her cry out as her grip on her spear loosened and Haru used this chance to kick her back, making her let go of said spear.
Now with Maria's spear in his hands, Haru used the end of it to hit her stomach, making her stumble back as she held her gut before Haru held it properly and swung towards her only for Maria's cape to protect her again as the spear bounced off the solidified cape. Said cape moved aside for Maria to appear and kick Haru away, making him let go of the stolen spear as he landed and skidded back on his back while said spear was returned to it's rightful owner. With her weapon back, Maria rushed towards Haru who was getting back up as Maria's cape wrapped itself around her spear before it solidified into a cone and spun like a drill. Seeing the Symphogear using coming towards him fast, Haru tried to dodge at the last second but the drill-spear still ending up hitting him across the chest, sending him stumbling back. Turning around, Maria dashed towards him and used the same move again. She had expected Haru to dodge to left or right or even jump to dodge. If he did, then Maria would release her cape that was wrapped around her spear and use it to catch him. So imagine her surprise when Haru instead ducked and slid under her, surprising her and dodging her attack as while sliding under her, Haru grabbed one of her legs and dragged her down, making her face plant on the steel surface of the submarine. While her nose stung with pain, Maria didn't have a chance to shake it off as Haru dragged her up and slammed her down again, still holding onto her leg. Haru went to drag Maria up again but she swung her spear to make Haru let go of her and he did, only as she was brought up mid way did Haru lean back, let go, and kicked her back all in one instant.
Maria flew back before landing on her back and skidding to a stop. She quickly got back up and held her spear at her side while she stared down at Haru who flicked his wrist a few times.
'He strong, but that's to be the expected.' Maria thought. 'After all, he is the true Hero of the Lunar Attack, the one who stopped the shard of the moon from falling to Earth. I should expect nothing less from such a man.'
Despite being an enemy, Maria respected the one known as Kamen Rider Faiz. The Rider was proving to be quite a challenge yet Maria still kept singing as she gripped her spear and charged towards Haru once again as the Rider responded back by raising his fists up.
*POW!*
"Guh!" Kanade grunted as she was pushed back by a punch from Pyron. Looking up, the Pi themed Rider had already closed the distance between the two and threw a punch aimed for her head though Kanade managed to dodge the bow, albeit barely, by moving her head to the side. At the same time, Kanade swung her swung her Blaygun and scored a hit across Xiao Li's chest, sending the enemy Rider reel back. Kanade then slammed her palm against the top of the Blaygun in order to push the blade forward towards Xiao Li but just as the tip of the blade neared the Smart Brain Rider, Xiao Li slammed and locked his feet into place before swinging an arm out to deflect the incoming sword before shooting out his other hand and delivered a hard punch to Kanade's chest. Kanade herself let out a gasp of both surprise and pain as she was sent back with her feet skidding across the ground. She soon came to a stop only to then fall to her knees, holding the spot where she was punched.
"What the hell?" Kanade said as she looked up at Xiao Li who relaxed his form. "You were not this strong the last time we fought."
"Smart Brain made some adjustments to our Gears so we could better keep up with people like you." Xiao Li said. "While my Gear is still outclassed by yours, I can make up for it with my martial arts. I've long since finally gotten used to this suit."
"Well good for you." Kanade said as she got up while brushing off imaginary dust from her chest armor before holding up her Blaygun. "But just because you got yourself an upgrade doesn't mean you'll win."
"We shall see." Xiao Li said as he leaped towards Kanade, flipping over to perform a flying kick only for Kanade herself to jump up, spin around to build momentum, before she kicked the incoming Rider away from her as said Rider crashed into a cargo truck. Kanade landed back on her feet as Xiao Li quickly got up to his feet while he looked up at Kanade in surprise.
"You're not the only one with a few cool tricks." Kanade said before she brandished her Blaygun and charged towards the Pi themed Rider.
*BAM-BAM-BAM!*
"Kuh!" Tsubasa grunted as she used her sword to deflect incoming Photon bullets. She had been doing this with her opponent, Seeda aka Armel, for quite a while now.
'He's trying to keep his distance.' Tsubasa thought as every time she tried to get in close, Armel would always jump back to create distance between them. From what she heard from Haru, the man under Seeda was, while very proficient with firearms, was not so good in close quarters combat.
'Judging from the way he handles that sniper rifle, he must have always finished a job from afar. He's never had to face anyone up close. And Kanade will use that to her advantage.
Another bullet was heard firing and once again, Tsubasa quickly reacted and deflected the shot before she dashed forward. But when she did, Armel went and leaped backwards to create as much distance between them as possible. Deciding that there was no other way, Tsubasa used as little energy as possible as to make sure the recoil of her Symphgear wasn't too strong to boost herself with said boost being her ankle blades acting as boosters to propel herself further with greater speed. Armel was surprised by this and acted quickly, bringing up his rifle an firing a shot but Tsubasa was quick, ducking under the Photon bullet as it took a few strands of her hair before Tsubasa took out a knife from her armor and threw it at the theta-themed Rider. The knife flew at the speed akin to a bullet but Armel was familiar with that speed and quickly moved his head to the side to avoid getting skewered through the helmet as the knife flew past him harmlessly. Coming up at the end of his back step, Armel raised his rifle up and aimed at Tsubasa. Since the girl was so persistent in getting close, he'll stop trying to run and wait for her to get close enough to where there was no way she could dodge an incoming sniper round. Armel easily calculated the distance and just when Tsubasa was close enough, he went to pull the trigger...only to find that he could not move his finger. In fact, his whole body was frozen stiff, much to his surprise. While trying to find the reason, he never looked to see that behind him, the throwing knife Tsubasa had thrown had peirced his shadow.
影縫い (Shadow Weaving)
With Armel frozen, Tsubasa had no trouble closing the distance between them as she went and swung her sword. But just as the blade neared towards the theta-themed Rider's chest...
*RATARATARTARATARATARATARATA!*
Tsubasa was stuck by gatling rounds as the each shot caused a mini-explosion, sending her flying back as she rolled on the ground before stopping.
"Tsubasa-san!" Hibiki cried out in worry for her friend before she was forced to duck under a swipe from a Riotrooper. The piston of her gauntlet pulled back before she punched the attacking Riotrooper and sent it flying back as the piston powered punch sent said trooper flying into a group of more Riotroopers. With that out of the way, Hibiki turned to see Tsubasa getting back up, using her sword for support, before looking to see who had shot her.
"I'm starting to wonder how you're one of the best mercenaries in the world." Jack said as he looked down at Armel, removing the throwing knife from his shadow thus freeing the Smart Brain Rider.
"Shut up!" Armel exclaimed, flustered and angry that he had to be saved. And since he couldn't take this anger out on his comrade, he'll settle for Tsubasa as he grabbed his rifle and aimed at her.
"She needs help!" Hibiki said as there was no way she could reach Tsubasa in time, not with this many Riotroopers in the way.
"Then I guess it's time for the white knight to step in!" Chris said, having recovered enough to get back into the fight as she transformed her gauntlets into their crossbow form and shot energy arrows at incoming Riotroopers before using her sword one to aim towards the two Riders Tsubasa was facing. But while she was focused on saving Tsubasa, she and Hibiki forgot about Dr. Ver.
'I believe it's about time.' Dr. Ver thought to himself as he glances up into the sky.
(Insert Gokuren Igalima)
As soon as Maria stopped signing did another voice appear signing in its place. From up in the air, a trio of spinning saw blades flew down towards Chris who saw them and was soon forced to dodge them along with Hibiki when the saw blades flew towards her as well.
"Take this!" A voice exclaimed as the owner belong to Kirika, seemingly appearing out of no where as she attacked Chris while singing.
Just when Chris was finished dodging the saw blades did she see Kirika attacking with her scythe. She quickly leaped back to avoid the scythe as said weapon slammed into the stone road, kicking up dust that hid Kirika from view. Chris landed back on the unfinished road and not a second sooner did Kirika appear from the dust cloud, swinging her scythe with deadly speed, forcing Chris to dodge as best she could.
Seeing her friend in trouble, Hibiki ran in order to join the fight only to see in the distance Kirika's partner, Shirabe, somehow skating towards her at high speed before the armor pieces on her head opened up and a barrage of saw blades were shot out towards Hibiki who managed to punch and kick the incoming saw blades, destroying each and every one that came towarrds her while others simply flew past her and struck some Riotroopers behind her, forcing said troopers to stick back lest they get caught in the cross fire. Seeing as her barrage did not work, Shirabe flipped up as both of Shul Shugana's large buzz saws combine into a large mono wheel-like vehicle which Shirabe rode with the intent to ride into Hibiki.
Extreme Σ Style・Forbidden Full Moon
Seeing the incoming giant buzz saw, Hibiki panicked and jumped out of the way as Shirabe crashed into the side of the unfinished road. Hibiki did not want to think if she had been hit by that attack.
Back with Chris, she was not doing so well. Just when she thought she dodged the blade of the scythe, Kirika used the shaft to hit Chris' side before pulling back and striking Chris from under the chin, sending the girl rolling back.
"Chris-chan!" Hibiki cried out in worry as she hurried over to her friend's side.
"Chris!" Haru, seeing what had happened, cried out in worry before he was forced to cross his arms to block a kick by Maria.
"If you know what's good for you, you stay focus on our fight." Maria said as she pulled her foot back and swung her spear at the Rider.
"Tch!" Haru clicked his tongue in annoyance as he was forced to focus back on his fight with Maria, dodging the spear before charging back in.
"You two made it just in time." Dr. Ver said as Kirika and Shirabe went over to the doctor's side.
"Don't get the wrong idea." Shirabe said. "We didn't come here to save you."
"Ouch, harsh." Dr. Ver said, faking pain.
"Daijōbu ka(Are you alright), Chris-chan?" Hibiki asked as she helped Chris up to her feet.
"I'm fine," Chris assured the girl before cursing. "But damn! My sync ratio's is so low that I can barely move now."
"Hang in there." Hibiki said before looking around. "But where did they come from?" To her eyes, the two Symphogear users just popped up out of nowhere.
(End Song)
(2nd Division Base, Inside)
"They had reinforcements!?" Genjuro exclaimed in surprise as both Kirika and Shirabe both just seemingly appeared out of nowhere which shouldn't be possible. The only logical explanation for this...
"Search for any other enemies in the area!"
"We're on it!' Sakuya said as he and Aoi typed away at their stations. "But..."
"All signals, including Aufwachin waveforms, were jammed until the moment they arrived!" Aoi informed the commander.
Genjuro grunted in a bit of frustration. "It must be heretical technology beyond what we possess."
"Commander!" Suddenly, Sakuya spoke up. "We're picking up two flying unknowns heading towards the battlefield."
"Nani(What)? What is it? What do you mean unknowns?"
"Well, sir, it's not some sort of plane for these signals are too small." Aoi said as she looked at her screen. "If anything, they appear human."
"What did you say?"
(Back outside)
Back on the bow of the submarine, both Maria and Haru were still going at it though it was clear that Maria was having some trouble from the way she held her arm while Haru was in better condition.
"What's wrong? You're looking a little tired over there." Haru called over to the Symphogear user, taunting her.
'This guy...!' Maria gritted her teeth as she held her spear in her right hand while her left hanged loosely by her side. At first, the battle had been pretty even, but when Haru saw the girls in trouble did he take on a more aggressive stance against her.
Unlike before, Haru had actually baited her, using a 'come on' gesture to make her attack first. She didn't know what the Rider was planning but she obliged and attacked first. That was her mistake. She didn't know that when worse comes to worse or the situation called for it, Haru would, without any ounce of hesitation, fight dirty.
When she attacked with her spear, Haru dodged by dashing forward, surprising her as Haru dashed past her and grabbed her left arm before he started to continuously punch her armpit as each punch sent a massive jolt of pain. Gritting through the pain, Maria turned and swung her spear but Haru released her arm in order to duck and move under the swing before he kicked the back of her knee, getting a cry of pain as Maria was forced down to her knee. Once down on her knee did Haru finish up by spinning around and kicking her face, sending her flying back across the bow and to present time.
'I can barely feel my left arm.' Maria noted in her mind as the punches she took to her armpit of all places had left the arm hanging and useless. She could still move it but that would be forcing it and sending jolts of pain every time she tried. Not only that but after getting kicked in the back of the knee, Maria was noticeably standing mostly on her left leg. She did not think that seeing his friends in trouble would make the man in front of her so vicious. And not only that...
'My Gear is getting heavy.' That was a bad sign, Maria noted. If her Gear was getting harder for her to handle then that could only mean one thing.
-Your sync ratio is dropping- A sudden contact from Nastassja all but confirmed her suspicions. -We have already recovered the Nephilim. Return at once.-
"Tch! So this is as far as I can go?"
-You and the girls must return now. Radars picked up fast moving objects heading your way...it's them.-
"Them? You mean-?"
*VROOM!*
Before Maria could finish what she was about say, the sound of a loud motorcycle roaring drew not only her but everyone's attention. Turning, everyone saw something moving and ramming through Riotroopers. Upon closer look, it was none other than...
"Orga!" Haru said in surprise at the sight of the golden Rider.
Indeed, it was the black and gold Kamen Rider, ramming through Riotroopers that were the way of his Golden Stallion which made other Riotroopers move out of the way. A few Riotroopers on motorcycles attempted to stop him but the Rider grabbed something from his bike and pulled out what appeared to be a high-tech looking saw-off shotgun before using said gun to fire powerful Photon Shots at the riding Riotroopers trying to stop him, sending any crashing and burning both figuratively and literally.
"It's that guy!" Kanade said, she and the others recognizing the Rider.
"Orga!" Both Shirabe and Kirika both said, the latter speaking with a worried tone while the former was more akin to a growl.
"So that's the infamous golden Rider that's been causing you trouble?" Dr. Ver said as he pushed his his glasses and looked at the riding Rider that was heading their way. "Did you say that every time he appears he goes after Maria?"
That seemed to snap both girls into action as extra blades appeared on Kirika's scythe while the head attachments on Shirabe opened up to reveal saw blades. Kirika then swung her scythe, sending the extra blades out like spinning blades disks while Shriabe shot out her buzz saw blades towards the incoming Rider.
Kill・Juliet
α Style・100 Saṃsāra
Orga saw the incoming blades flying towards him but not once did he attempt to slow down or change directions to dodge. Instead, he did the opposite but speeding up and continuing straight. Everyone thought the Rider crazy until a barrage of Photon bullets destroyed all of Shirabe's saw blades and something flew down and knocked aside Kirika's blades before flying away to allow Orga to pass.
"Nani!?" Kirika cried out in surprise before she and everyone looked up to see what had stopped their attacks.
The culprits themselves flew down to the ground with one turning towards where Hibiki and the others were while the other turned towards Dr. Ver and the girls.
"That Orphnoch!?" Kanade said, staring at the Crane Orphnoch that was currently facing Dr. Ver and the girls. She and the others hasn't seen that Orphnoch since the battle with Finé.
"You!" Hibiki pointed a surprised finger at Psyga.
"Yes, me." Psyga said as he pointed a thumb to himself before striking a pose that looked like someone surfing. "Kamen Rider Psyga...sanjou."
Out of everyone here right now, it was Haru who recognized the pose Psyga was doing.
"Hey! That's Den-O's pose!" Haru exclaimed while pointing a finger towards Psyga.
"Onii-chan, go!" The Crane Orphnoch said before Orga drove past her and Psyga and pressed a button on his bike.
BATTLE MODE
At that announcement did Orga's bike undergo a transformation. The only way to describe the transformation was that the motorcycle changed to what appears to be a skeletal horse with boney metal wings. The edges appeared sharp, meaning that could cut as boosters from the back ignited and before everyone's eyes, Orga and his transformed bike took off into the sky.
"Saseru ka(No you don't)-desu!" Kirika said as she and Shirabe prepared another attack to stop the airborne Rider only to be stopped themselves by Psyga who turned around and used the Blasters of his 'Wings' to shoot at them which forced them to block the incoming bullets as they were also forced to protect Dr. Ver. The did not like the man one bit but they needed him alive.
"Ah ah ah, not so fast you two." Psyga said, waving a finger as if to berate the two girls as Orga was already on his way towards where Haru and Maria were at.
"Psyga," The Rider in question turned to the Orphnoch by his side. "I'll handle these two."
You sure?" The Orphnoch nodded. "Okay then. Guess I'll keep myself busy with you people." With that, Psyga went and pointed over to Hibiki and Chris.
"Eh?" Hibiki was, of course, confused at why the white and blue Rider was pointing at them.
"I'm pretty sure Orga gave your boyfriend a warning the last time we met."
"B-Boyfriend!?" Hibiki's face completely went red as she almost dropped Chris. "Haru-kun's not my b-b-boyfriend!"
"He's not?"
"He's not!"
"Huh..." Psyga then looked towards Chris. "Is he your boyfriend?"
"W-What!? N-No! No way!" Like Hibiki, Chris's face also went red.
"Eh..." Psyga then looked around until he spotted Tsubasa who was closer to them after having been knocked back by Neo-Alpha. "What about you, Miss Pop Idol?"
"E-Eh!?" Tsubasa, who had been focused fending off Neo-Alpha, Seeda, and some Riotroopers, turned to the white and blue Ruder with a red flushed face. "N-No! We're just comrades in arms!"
"Eeeeeeh? And here I thought Faiz had a Harem going on." Psyga said. "Sorry, I assumed since you three are always with him."
"And how do you know that!?" Hibiki, Chris, and Tsubasa all exclaimed at the Rider.
"Uh..." Psyga then pointed to the Crane Orphnoch next to him. "She's been stalking Faiz for a while."
"O-Oi! I was not stalking him! I was spying on him!" The Crane Orphnoch exclaimed.
"Aren't they the same thing?"
"No!"
"You sure?"
"Yes!"
"I don't believe you."
"Aaaaargh!"
"Huh..." Kanade looked at the scene of the Crane Orphnoch hitting Psyga through said Rider didn't seem the least bit effected. "If this were any other time, I'd probably be laughing right about now." Even as Kanade made that comment, she did not forget about her fight with Pyron and turned to kick the enemy Rider back before running over to the others. "Okay, I don't know why you two are here but could you move out of the way so we can get to four-eyes over there?" She pointed to Ver when she said that. "We need to take him in."
Psyga pushed the Orphnoch hitting him away as if she were nothing before saying, "Sorry, no can do. Orga's got dibs on the guy."
"Excuse me?"
"My aibou kind of wants to kill this guy so I can't let you take him." Psyga said. "He says 'a death where he's accomplished nothing is more fitting than being locked up in a cell where he can possibly escape from.' end quote."
"Hoh? So the infamous golden Rider wants my life?" Dr. Ver said, not looking the least bit bothered at what Psyga just said. "I can't help but feel quite honored."
"You know, if it wasn't for the fact that my aibou specifically told me not to touch you since he wants a crack at you first, I would have punched you already." Psyga said before turning back to the others. "Anyway, back to the main topic, my aibou gave Faiz a warning telling him to stay away from Maria and the others. You guys being here means you've ignored it."
"You expect us to just stay back and let you three handle these people?" Tsubasa said. She and the others had been told the warning Orga gave Haru and quite frankly, it was absurd. Their enemy was wanted by the entire world and not only that, but they're working with Smart Brain.
"Yeah, that's pretty much it." Psyga said.
"And what will you do if we don't listen to your warning?" Kanade asked rhetorically. She had a feeling what going against Orga's warning entailed.
"Well, let me put it in a way you all can understand." Pysga said before he pointed at the group, brought his arm back...and drew a line across his neck with his thumb while tilting his head a little to imitate the loss of a head. It didn't take a genius to know what Psyga was saying.
(BGM: Masked Rider 555 BGM-Psyga, the Power of the Threat) (A/N: Basically that one song that played when Psyga fought Kaixa in the movie.)
"Kisama(You bastard)..." Kanade narrowed her eyes at the threat Psyga gave them. Now seeing that the white Rider was not going to play nice, she decided to do something about it and charged at the Rider that stood in their way.
With her Blaygun still in hand, Kanade swung her sword at the Rider who simply stepped back to narrowly avoid the Photon blade. Kanade swung again and Psyga once again simply stepped back to narrowly avoid the blade. Kanade rushed in at her opponent to get closer as she swung her Blaygun again, but Psyga finally decided to fight back by actually moving in closer so that he and Kanade were now face to face, or rather helmet to helmet. Kanade was surprised by Psyga's sudden close up and it costed her as as the enemy Rider grabbed her arm and delivered a knee strike to her gut, making her bend over a little before Psyga went and punched the joint where her upper arm and forearm met, making Kanade cry out in pain as she dropped her Blaygun due to the pain that shot through her. Psyga then released her and punched her in the chest, mkaing her stumble back before Psyga spun around and kicked her back, making her land on her back as she skidded back to the others.
"Kanade!" Tsubasa cried out in worry for her best friend before she glared over at the white Rider. Gripping her sword with both hands, she charged at Psyga.
Now Tsubasa was fast, even her friends and comrades agreed on this. Combined that with her long experience as a Synphogear user, she was a strong asset to the team. Yet once she was close enough to swing her sword at Psyga, before she could blink the Rider had jumped and used his left foot to knock her sword back, leaving her surprised and wide open for the Rider's right foot to strike her across the face. Psyga was not done yet as he spun around two times and repeated the same move, landed two successful kicks across Tsubasa's face as the third kick struck the side of her head, making her spin as she was knocked down to the ground both in pain and disoriented.
"No way..." Hibiki could not believe her eyes. The fight barely started and already both Kanade and Tsubasa, the most experienced fighters of the group, were knocked down.
"Why you...!" Chris pried herself from Hibiki before she transformed her crossbows into gatling guns and started firing at Psyga who responded by grabbing the handles of his Flying Attacker and taking to the skies. This did not stop Chris from trying to shoot him as she moved her guns to follow the flying Rider but said Rider were just too fast for her guns to follow as every time her bullets were about to reach him, Psyga would flying a different direction. Chris was soon forced to stop shooting when Psyga fired back, hitting the area in front of her and kicking up some dust that blinded her. As she unconsciously went to rub her eyes, Psyga landed right behind her as the handles of the lying Attacker moved under Chris' arms while Psyga's arms grabbed them while being over Chris' arms, locking her arms and preventing them from moving as Psyga took to the skies and dragged Chris along with him.
"T-Teme(Bastard)! Hanase(Let me go)!" Chris demanded as she struggled to get free of the flying Rider.
"Well since you asked..." Psyga playfully said as he flipped over and flew down towards a truck. Chris soon saw what Psyga was going to do and paled.
"O-Oi-!"
"Ask and you shall receive!" Psyga said as he then released Chris and dropped her on the truck as she crashed through the roof of the cargo. Psyga then flew back up before he fired Photon bullets at the truck and the results were...explosive.
*BOOM!*
(BGM End)
"Chris-chan!" Hibiki screamed as the explosion engulfed the entire truck her friend had crashed into. Then, from the flames, Chris's form could be seen flying out as she flew out and rolled out he ground before coming to a stop. Soon after, her armor lit up before dispersing, leaving Chris in her normal cloths as her Symphogear had been deactivated. Hibiki called out the girl's name again as she ran to the white haired girl who was wavering between conscious and unconsciousness.
"Uso(No way)..." Tsubasa said in disbelief as she looked over to Hibiki supporting Chris. "Yukine...lost?"
"And so easily." Kanade said as she tried to push herself up but forgot the punch Psyga gave to her joint and fell back down. Chris was weakened, yes, but to have knocked her out of her Symphogear so easily, and yet the Rider did it with little to no effort. She now understood why Haru was so cautious around the white Rider.
A whistle that came from the lips of Neo-Alpha aka Jack got Psyga to turn to him and the other Smart Brain Riders. "I have to say, you're quite the fighter."
"I wouldn't get so impressed yet." Psyga responded back in English as he pointed to the Smart Brain Riders and did the same action he to the girls: bringing his arm back and drawing a line across his neck. "You guys are next."
"Well, Smart Brain does want you and Orga. So I guess this works out for me too." Jack said as he smiled behind his helmet before opening fire on Psyga who quickly took to the skies.
"And now he's fighting the guys from Smart Brain." Kanade said as she finally got up to her feet while holding her right arm. She helped her best friend up while looking towards the Crane Orphnoch and said, "What's with you guys? Your friend beats us up before moving onto our enemies?"
"We do our own things." The Orhphnoch said before turning her eyes on the ones in front of her, specifically Kirika and Shirabe. "I know it's not going to matter, but can we please just talk this out without resorting to violence?"
"We protect what justice can't protect." Shirabe said.
"If you already talking won't work then why ask?" Kirika asked.
"Because my onii-chan will get angry at me if I just attack you two without knowing if we can't just talk things out. And since we can't..." The Crane Orphnoch didn't even finish as she practically shot herself towards the three.
Seeing the Orphnoch coming, Kirika and Shirabe too shot forward to meet with the Crane-themed Orphnoch. Kirika attacked first, swinging her scythe only for the blade to meet the foot of the Orphnoch, stopping said scythe blade before the Orphnoch then used said blade to jump into the air in order to avoid a barrage of saw blades sent by Shirabe. The Orphnoch landed behind them and while it spared a moment to glare at Dr. Ver who didn't appear the least bit frightened by the grey colored creature, the Orphnoch quickly turned to face the girls before her wings sprouted from behind her, covered in power. With a wave of her arms, the Orphnoch sent her powered wings at the girls who both jump to avoid getting scissored by the wings. The Orphnoch drew her wings back and dashed forward to engage both girls in close combat.
(Meanwhile, with Haru)
Both Haru and Maria watched as Orga landed his transformed bike on the bow of the submarine and skidded to a stop. The transformed bike then turned back into Vehicle mode before Orga got off and stood before the two as the winds blew not only Maria's cape but also Orga's mantle and cloak.
"Orga..." Maria said as she glared at the black and golden Rider.
"Maria..." Orga turned to the woman and the Rider simply gazed at her. It went on like this for what seemed like a long moment before the Rider looked away from her and turned to Haru. "I thought I told you this was my problem?"
"Sorry, but this isn't just your problem." Haru said. "I don't know what your connection is with this girl but if what Dr. Ver said about her is true, then this also became my problem. I've fought Finé before and if she's truly back, then I'm gonna finish what me and the girls started."
"Your problem, huh..." Orga said as he hung his head a little, as if thinking and soon came to a decision from how he raised his head a second later. "Then allow me to make it no longer your problem and to make due on my warning."
And as soon as Orga finished saying that did he run towards Haru. Seeing the Rider coming towards him, Haru held up his fists as the golden Rider came up to him and threw a punch. Haru ducked under it and moved behind him before throwing a punch of his own but Orga was quicker than Haru thought as he turned around and caught his punch before he threw it up to leave Haru open for a punch that struck his ribs and a little too close to his armpit, making Haru cry out in pain as he stumbled back holding the place he was just punched. Orga didn't allow Haru to recover as he quickly closed the distance between them and tried to strike him across the face, or rather helmet, with an elbow strike but Haru kept blocking said attacker. That's when Orga grabbed his shoulders and brought him in close for a knee to the chest before delivering an elbow strike across his face, making Haru spin back and fall to his knees. Haru felt disoriented but shook his head and went to get back up to his feet, but Orga was already there to stop him by kick one of his legs back to force Haru down on his knee again. Haru went to try and get up again but just as he was halfway up, Orga went and punched the side of his neck! This greatly surprised Haru but that surprise was overshadowed by pain as Haru fell to the floor and started coughing. But even as Haru lay there coughing, Orga showed no mercy as he went and kicked Haru's head, making the Rider roll back to the edge of the bow.
Once Haru was taken care of did Orga turn back to Maria who couldn't help but gulp both in nervousness and a bit of fear. She had been fighting with Haru for quite a while and yet the Rider in front of her took him down in no time at all!
Suddenly, a strong wind blew followed by the sound of propeller blades pinning before an airship suddenly appeared out of nowhere!
"What is that!?" Haru cried out in surprise before coughing again.
-Maria! Get on!-
No sooner did that transmission reach Maria's ears did a tow line come down. She didn't take it at first, instead glaring at Orga who just kept looking at her. Gritting her teeth, she transformed her spear back into her gauntlets and grabbed the tow line with her good arm before she was flow away from the submarine.
Orga watched as the Symphogear user flew away from him. His hand went to his Orga Stlanzer but no sooner did it reach for it did it drop away from it, choosing not to take it out and use it to shoot Maria down. Both he and Haru watched as the airship flew over to where Shirabe and Kirika were, still fighting against the Crane Orphnoch before two tow lines were dropped down. Seeing it, the girls chose to abandoned their fight and grab the lines with Kirika grabbing and carrying Dr. Ver as the three were lifted up and flew away as right before everyone eyes, the ship disappeared into thin air. There wasn't even the sound of the propeller blades spinning.
"Dammit, they got away." Haru said, frustrated a bit that that couldn't capture them. He then turned his head to Orga who was getting back on his bike. "Oi! Do you realized what you've done? You helped them escape!"
"Best they escape than be in jail." Orga said, confusing Haru.
"Huh?"
"I've already said it before; Maria and her group are my problem. You and your group are to stay away." Orga said as he turned to the Rider on the floor. "You go against my warning again, a punch to the neck is the least I'll do to you."
BATTLE MODE
At that announcement did Orga's bike transform and soon, he flew off.
With Psyga and the Crane Orphnoch, the Rider kicked back a Riotrooper until he saw Orga leaving.
"Looks like it's time I get going." Psyga said as he turned back to the Smart Brain Riders who were all on their knees as the ashen remains of Riotroopers surrounded them. "Guess I'll see you guys next time." And with that, the Rider took to the skies and following close behind was the Crane Orphnoch, having sprouted her wings to fly with Psyga.
"Shit!" For the first time, Jack sounded angry as he got up and shouted, "Everyone, fall back! We're leaving!"
Whatever Riotroopers remained heeded his orders as all the remaining Riotroopers and the three Smart Brain Riders all took their leave, having taken too many losses to continue. And soon, the only ones left were Haru and the others.
"They're gone..." Hibiki said, a bit out of it.
"What about Maria and her group?" Kanade asked as her Kaixa Phone was connected with Genjuro and the others at the base.
-We've lost track of them the second their escape ride vanished.-
"Must be more of that heretical technology they have." Kanade guessed before she pressed the 'END' button and canceled her transformation. Soon after did she fall down to her butt in an unladylike manner and let out a sigh filled with exhaustion. "It's safe to say that this mission was a failure."
"Yeah..." Tsubasa muttered as she looked over to where Haru was, worried. She had seen the fight between him and Orga. For Haru to be taken down so easily greatly surprised her.
"...dammit." Haru muttered as he laid there on the bow of the submarine.
(With Maria and her group)
With everyone having been down on the battlefield, it was Nastassja who was piloting the plane. Next to her was a Relic necklace hooked up to a device.
'I acquired stealth technology while analyzing the capabilities of the Shénshòujìng.' Nastassja thought as she glances at the Relic next to her. 'But even if out advantage is great, it is also a fleeting, fragile thing.'
Suddenly, Nastassja started coughing. She covered her mouth with her hands to cover her coughing and when she removed her hand, there was blood on it as a speck of blood, her blood, was on the corner of her mouth.
"I must hurry. Our advantage is not the only thing which is fleeting and fragile." Nastassja said grimly.
Meanwhile, in the back room, Dr Ver is seen being pushed against the wall by Kirika who knelt down and grabbed the man by his coat.
"What the heck's wrong with you? If they take control of the base, where are we supposed to hide until we execute our plan!?"
"Stop it." Maria said. "Whatever you do, it's pointless now."
Kirika did as told and let go of Ver but not before telling the man, "It's your stupid fault."
"You surprised me. Don't I even get a chance o apologize?" Ver said and Kirika just stomped her foot down angirly at him.
"Maria, are you alright?" Shirabe asked, noticing that Maria was holding the upper side of her ribs under her left arm.
"I'm fine, my arm's just been punch a bit too much by Faiz." Maria said as she rubbed the spot and winced. "He kept punching my armpit and kicked the back of my right knee. I didn't know he could fight like that."
"Wait, he punched you in the armpit and kicked the back of your knee?" Kirika asked and Maria nodded. "Isn't that just like how Orga fought when you managed to piss him off that one time?"
Maria blinked at the blond girl said and thought back to a previous encounter she had with Orga and his group. He had been strangely angry at the time and seem to snap when she said something. That's when he started attacking places such as the back of her head, her neck, her joints, and etc. Thinking back to her fight with Haru, she noticed the similarities.
'They do fight similarly. Is it a coincidence?' Somehow, Maria doubted that.
Suddenly, a small screen on the wall lit up to show Nastassja as a speaker next to the screen projected her voice.
-Fortunately, we were able to protect our treasure. However, now that they've taken control of our base, we have nothing to feed the Nephilim. This is a huge problem.-
"It's calm now, but who knows when it'll get hungry again and run wild." Shirabe said as she looked down at the living Relic in its cage.
"We may no longer have a food source, but we haven't lost all our options yet." Ver said as he got up and fixed his coat. He looked at the Relic necklaces around Kirika and Shirabe's necks and he smirked.
"What the heck are you looking at?" Kirika said.
"Nothing, nothing." Dr. Ver said. "Now then, let's access our current situation, shall we?"
"Our Base has been taken and with it, we've lost the food necessary for the growth of the Nephilim. The Relic fragments that would serve as its sustenance have fallen into the hands of the 2nd Division. However, we only had the few remaining fragments we reclaimed from our former facility. In other words, we would have had to refill our stock before long either way."
"And given that, I'm sure you've also considered how to solve this problem." Maria said.
"Problem? I never thought of it as such." Ver said, confident as he looks over to the Relic pendents hanging around Kirika's and Shirabe's necks. "After all, we have Relic fragments all over the place these days."
"You don't mean to feed our pendents to the Nephilim?" Shirabe asked, wide eyed.
"No, no, of course not." Ver said. "Your Gears are too essential to our forces to give them up just like that."
"Then you mean the Relics from our enemies." Maria said, seeing what Ver was saying. "Then I'll go and take their Symphogea-"
"No! I won't let you!" Before Maria could finish speaking, Kirika spoke up to stop her as she turned to her and Shirabe.
"Not a chance." Shirabe added in her piece. "Whenever you use your power, Finé's soul grows stronger while yours fades out more and more! I-no, we won't let that happen."
"Girls..."
"Then what do we do?" Dr. Ver asked yet his face showed that he already knew the answer.
"We'll do it!" Kirika said, speaking for both her and Shirabe. "Protecting Maria is the reason we fight!"
"Then I guess we'll leave it to you two." Ver said before motion Maria to follow him. "Now come. We need to get that wound of your checked out."
Maria didn't follow right away even as the doctor took his leave. She instead turned to the girls and said, "Be careful, you two."
"Don't worry! You can count on us!" Kirika assured with Shirabe nodding in agreement.
(With Haru and the others)
"You okay there, tiger?" Kanade asked as she looked down at Haru who was still was on the floor.
"Well, I got punched in the neck and got my ass beat by Orga. How about you?"
"Got my ass handed to me by that Psyga guy. He even beat Tsubasa and Chris here." Kanade said as the mentioned girls plus Hibiki were all on the submarine with them.
"You three alright?" Haru asked the girls.
"We should be asking you that." Tsubasa said as she looked down at the Rider who had long canceled his transformation.
"I've been through worse." Haru said before a door hatch suddenly opened not too far from them and coming out was Genjuro.
"Is everyone alright?" Was the first thing Genjuro asked.
"Shishou(Teacher)," Hibiki and the others looked towards the man. "When we fought Ryoko-san, I felt that, even though we didn't agree on many things, we could still reach a level of understanding. But now..."
"If they don't understand, just keep beating them until they do!" Genjuro said. "You of all people must know that there are things stronger than words!"
"I didn't understand a word of that!" Hibiki said while everyone just sighed.
"You don't have to, kouhai. The old man's just been watching too many movies again." Kanade said.
"But even still, I'll give it a shot!" Hibiki said, pumping herself up.
"Heh," Haru smiled seeing the girl pumping herself up and finally sat up to place a hand on Hibiki's head. "Well, if anyone can do it, it's you Hibiki."
Hibiki blushed a little as Haru started rubbing her head. Kanade watched in amusement before turning and smiling when she saw the envious looks on Chris and Tsubasa. Genjuro, meanwhile, just smiled and shook his head in amusement.
(The Next Day)
"So this FIS is an organization Finé made when she conspired with the Americans? And that Ver guy used to be a part of it?" Haru said,talking to Genjuro through his Phone.
-That's right. It seems that when you and the girls defeated her months ago, a lot of their scientists went rogue with Dr. Ver being one of them.-
"Is there anything you found about the guy? Anything that might hint at his motives?"
-We've looked through his history but we haven't found anything worth noting, sadly.-
"Hmm, well, I guess that's fine, for now. Let me know if you find anything."
-Will do.- And at that did Haru end the call.
"Now then," Haru began as he looked up at the 'WELCOME' sign that was hanging on the Lydina School gates. All around him were both students and regular people all coming and going through the gates. Fliers were being handed out as various stalls can be seen lined up amongst the sides.
"Time to check out this culture festival Hibiki and the others have been working on." Haru said as he tugged on a leash connected to the collar of a chihuahua dog. "Come along, Chaco. And stay close to me."
Chaco, former pet dog to former Lucky Clover Member Mr. J, let out a small, cute bark before the two entered school grounds.
If you haven't guessed, after days of preparation, the school culture festival was now on full swing. Even if their enemies were still at large, the girls were still students and they had worked hard on this. And since this was a culture festival, Haru decided to come by and check it out. As for why he brought along Chaco, he just deiced on a whim to bring him along and there technically wasn't a rule that you couldn't bring pets on campus.
"...there's quite a lot of food stalls around here." Haru commented as he looked at a map of the school grounds handed to him by a passing by student.
"Haru-kun~!" Hearing his name being called, Haru turned and saw Hibiki waving towards him as she jogged towards him. With the girl was her best friend, Miku.
"Oh, Hibiki, Miku."
"Glad you could make it." Miku said before looking down at Chaco. "You even brought Chaco with you."
"Yeah, well, it's been a while since I took the little guy out of the apartment so I decided to bring him along." Haru explained as Hibiki and Miku knelt down to give the dog some petting and rubbing which the dog seem to like. "That's okay, right?"
"I'm sure it's fine." Miku assured him.
"Aww, who's a good boy?" Hibiki coo'd as she rubbed the belly of Chaco who was now done on his back.
"Alright, that's enough." Haru said as he knelt down and stopped Hibiki from spoiling the dog any further. "Didn't you say you were going to show me around campus if I came here? You may have been here for a while but this is my first time here."
"Oh, right!" Hibiki said as she shot up to her feet, grabbed Haru's hand, and dragged him away. "Come on! There's so much to show you!"
"Hey, you don't have to drag me." Haru said but he let the girl drag him anyway as he followed her with Chaco following behind. As for Miku, she simple smiled as she followed after the two, three if you count the dog.
Meanwhile, in another part of the campus, Haru was not the only one who came to the culture festival.
"This is so much fun! Everything here is so yummy!" Kirika, wearing a pair of green rimmed classes, said as she enjoyed some takoyaki she bought for herself and Shirabe.
"Jiiii~!" Unlike Kirika, Shirabe, who was also wearing a pair of glasses, this one with a pink rim, did not share the same enjoyment her friend was feeling right now as she glared over at said friend.
Kirika noticed this and asked, "What's up, Shirabe?"
Seeing as her friend could not guess what was wrong, she took her to a secluded spot where they could talk in private.
"Kiri-chan, our mission isn't to 'totally enjoy the hell out of this culture festival'."
"I-I know that!" Kirika said. "This is just another part of our investigation!"
"Investigation?" Shirabe repeated. Since when were they on an investigation?
"Everyone's attracted to delicious food." Kirika said as she took out a map of the campus. "So, working our way through this Gourmet Tour map of the campus is clearly the best way to locate an appropriate target!"
Oh, so that's what this is about...her friend just wants to eat. Now knowing this, Shirabe gave her friend an annoyed look.
"Y-You don't have to worry about me." Kirika assured. "I haven't forgotten the duties I'm entrusted with, not one bit!" But there was one problem right now. "What do we do now?"
Shirabe hummed in thought, also wondering what they should do. They both know that this school is where their enemies were attending yet they have yet to see a single hair of their enemies.
"Hm?" On second thought, Shirabe takes that thought back as in front of her, she sees none other than Tsubasa, minding her own business as she was walking down the open hall. "Kiri-chan, look. Perfect timing!"
"Eh?" Kirika turned around and too saw the bluenette. But her focus was soon switched to Shirabe when she went to confront the bluenette but Kirika stopped her by grabbing her and pulling her back. "Baka(Idiot)! We haven't prepared ourselves and we have no plan! There's no 'perfect timing' here!"
Seeing Kirika's logic, Shirabe nodded before she and Kirika both crept behind a pillar to watch Tsubasa from afar. But Tsubasa's senses were sharp, feeling the two girl's gazes on her. So when she turned around, both girls quickly hid themselves.
"Besides, what can we do?" Kirika said, picking up from where she left off. "We can't just steal it with her noticing!"
"Then let's take it by force." Shirabe said as she reached for her Relic pendent.
'I'm starting to wonder how did he make handling Shirabe look so easy?' Kirika couldn't help but think about the one person who could handle Shirabe and her antics.
With Tsubasa, she decided to act like normal while keeping her sense sharp. She took a glance behind her to see if there was anybody following her but that one glance costed her as Chris suddenly appeared from around the corner and bumped into one another, causing both girls to fall down.
"Ite(Ow)~!" Chris groaned.
"Not again, Yukine..." Tsubasa said as she hoped she and Chris bumping into one another wasn't going to become a habit. "What are you in such a hurry for?"
"I'm being pursued!" Chris said. "They're gradually closing in on me!"
"So you noticed it too, huh?" Tsubasa said as she stood back up. "For a while now, I've felt like I'm being watched."
"...huh?" Chris, getting up as well, let out a confused reply, not knowing what her senpai was talking about.
"Shit, was our cover blown?" Kirika said when suddenly, a trio of girls suddenly ran past them and towards Tsubasa and Chris.
"Finally found you, Yukine-san!" one of the girls said as she and her friends surrounded the two. While Tsubasa blinked in confusion, Chris looked ready to make a run for it but couldn't since the girls surrounded them.
"Please help! It's almost time!"
"...huh?" This time, it was Tsubasa's turn to be confused as she did not know what was going on.
(Meanwhile)
"Fucking traffic made me late." Kanade cursed under her helmet as she drove into the parking lot of Lydian Academy. Fortunately for her, she found a good parking space to park her Rider Machine.
"And here I hoped to get here before Haru-san." Kanade said as she took off her helmet. She had tons of plans when coming here to the festival. Though said plans were actually setting up a date for Tsubasa with said Rider. She could imagine it now, how embarrassed her best friend would be around Haru and how amused she will be feeling as she spied on the two. She even brought a camera with her.
"Welp, no use complaining. If I play my cards right, this Wingman Kanade can still get that date set up." Kanade smiled to herself as she took off jogging school grounds.
"Onii-chan! Hurry up!"
"Hm?" A voice caught Kanade's attention for a moment and she saw a girl who she guessed to be around Hibiki's age with a man around Haru's age. Unknown to Kanade since she's never met them, it was Kyoko and Yugo and the two were gesturing for another man to come over.
"I didn't want to come here."
"And why do you think we dragged you over here?" Yugo said as the second man walked over to them. "You'd be cooped up in the apartment all day if we hadn't brought you here."
"He's right you know." Kyoko said. "This is a chance for you to relax. Otou-san wouldn't want you to stay cooped up in your room all the time."
The man sighed, admitting that Kyoko had a point. Said girl then grabbed his hand and dragged him along.
"Come on, onii-chan. Put on a smile. It'll be fun, we promise."
"And for Kyoko-chan's sake, you better smile. You know how she gets."
"Alright, alright." The man relented as he followed the two to school grounds.
Now normally, Kanade would have minded her own business when she the girl speak up as it was none of her business what the trio were doing. But the second she laid her eyes on the second man of the trio, her entire attention was on the group. The reason?
The man Kyoko and Yugo were dragging to the festival looked exactly like Haru.
Slowly, Kanade reached into her jacket and pulled out her Kaixa Phone, dialing Haru's number. Her mind was still in shock that she barely noticed the line connecting until she heard Haru's voice.
-Hello? Kanade? What's up?-
"Haru...where are you right now?"
-Huh?-
"Where are you right now?" Kanade repeated, this time more clearly.
-Um, I'm currently with Hibiki and Miku watching some sort of singing competition in the auditorium. Why do you ask?-
As Kanade's eyes kept following the trio consisting of Yugo, Kyoko, and the Haru lookalike, she said, "I'll call you back." before she ended the call and followed the trio.
(With Haru)
"Kanade? Kanade?" Haru repeated the girl's name but the girl had hanged up already.
"Is something wrong?" Miku asked as Hibiki had an expression that asked the same question. Currently, like Haru had said earlier in his call, they were all in the school auditorium watching a singing contest called the Queen of the Stage competition. Apparently, which ever student or group won would get one wish granted by the student council.
The trio were seated somewhere at the top so they got a good view of the stage. While the girls sat to the left of Haru, Haru himself was currently holding Chaco in his arms.
"Just got a strange call from Kanade." Haru said as he closed his Faiz Phone and stashed it away in his jacket.
"Strange? Is she alright?" Hibiki asked.
"She said she'd call back so I'm sure she's fine." Haru assured the girl before he turned his attention back to the show in front of them.
"Yumi and the others would have loved to do this. Well, Kuriyo might be more reluctant than the other two." Hibiki said, a sad smile appearing on her as she thought back to her old friends, back when they were still alive. (A/N: I finally know the names of her friends. Thank god for the fandom.)
"Hibiki..." Miku looked at her best friend in worry. She knew her friend still blamed herself for what happened months ago.
"You shouldn't blame yourself for what happened." Haru said, getting Hibiki to look at him. "It was all the actions of a crazy woman who thought she could choose who had the right to succeed and who didn't. If anyone should feel sorry here, it's should be me for not arriving sooner."
"No, don't say that, Haru-kun." Hibiki said. "No one could've known my teacher of all people was an Orphnoch. There was no way anyone could have known. If I just acted sooner, been faster then-"
"Stop right there." Haru said before Hibiki could continue. "Perhaps you could have been faster. Perhaps you could have saved your friends. But you can't change what's already come to pass, no matter how much you want to." Haru then placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Like I said before, learn from your failures and grow on them. Improve yourself. Become strong enough so that no one can lay a hand on your friends. That Orphnoch may have killed your friends," Haru then looks over to Miku. "But she didn't kill all of them."
"He's right." Miku said as she placed a hand over Hibiki's. "I'm still here for you, Hibiki. And I always will."
"The same goes for me." Haru said as he placed a hand on Hibiki's other hand and gave it a good, reassuring squeeze. "As long as I still breath, I'll always be there for you." Chaco then barked as if wanting to be in. "And maybe Chaco too."
"Miku, Haru-kun..." Hibiki looked between her best friend and crush and soon smiled. "Thanks you guys."
"Don't mention it." Haru said. "As long as I'm here, I'll be sure to protect you and all those you care about."
"I don't know if I want your protection." Hibiki muttered but Haru heard it anyways.
"Oi. What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well, you can get pretty violent when you 'protect' something." Hibiki said as Miku nodded in agreement, fully knowing what Hibiki was talking about.
"Hey, my violence is justified."
"You threw a rock at a kid!"
"So? He threw that rock at you. I just caught it and threw it right back at him. Only with more power."
"He was bleeding from the head!"
"So? You should be glad I didn't aim for his eyes."
As the two continued to bicker with one another, Miku watched the two with a smile but soon frowned as a thought passed through her head.
'I'll be sure to protect you...' Miku repeated in mind the words Haru spoke. 'I wish I could say the same thing.'
"Now then, it's time for the next challenger to make her appearance!" All bickering and thoughts were ended as the girl in charge of the mic spoke through said mic as she waved her hand to the next 'challenger.' At first, no one appeared from behind the curtains until someone stumbled out. The someone was instantly recognized by the three.
"You've gotta be kidding me." Haru said in disbelief.
"Hibiki! Haru-kun! Isn't that...!" Miku asked, also in disbelief.
"No way!" Hibiki, like the two next to her, looked on ins disbelief at who was on the stage right now.
"It's Yukine." Came a voice from Haru's right, amking the three turn to see Tsubasa sitting down with them. "Sophomore of Lydian Private Music Academy, Yukine Chris."
(Insert Kyōshitsu Monochrome)
Soon after the girl took the stage did the music began playing. Yet Chris, standing there under the spotlight frozen and unable to look up could not lift the microphone in her hand to sing, making the audience before her confused. This of course worried the others.
"Chris-chan..." Hibiki let out a quite voice of worry as the others also looked on in worry.
Haru looked at the girls to his left and right before sighing. He then stood up, making the others look up at him, wondering what he was going until he opened his mout and shouted, "Chris!"
Said girl jumped in surprise at the call of her name and looked up to see Haru.
"Let your song ring throughout this entire auditorium!" Haru shouted loudly to the girl on the stage.
"Do you have to shout so loud?" Miku asked as Haru's loud cheer got people looking towards them.
"Sorry, I'm used to speaking very loudly when I'm encouraging the girls." Haru said before he looked back down to Chris and sent her a wink. This made said girl blush but from what, Haru didn't know but he thought the girl was very cute with that expression on her.
And then, encouraged by Haru's earlier cheer, Chris raised the mic in her hand to her lips and started singing.
Dareka ni te o sashinobete moratte
Itami to wa chigatta itami o shiru
Once the girl started singing did the audience all start to talk amongst one another and the comments they traded about the girl were all positive. Haru and the girls simply smiled down at the girl.
"So, you girls never told me." Haru began as the others turned to him. "How was Chris when she first started attending school?"
Monokurōmu no mirai yosōzu
Enogu o sagashite...demo ima wa
Naze darou, naze darou
Irozuku yo yukkuri to hana ga niji ni
Hokotte saku mitai ni
Hōkago no chaimu ni majitta kaze ga fukinukeru
"She was really shy around others." Hibiki said.
"She tended to avoid others when they wanted to get close to her." Miku added.
"But everything changed when she attended her first music lessons." Tsubasa said as she told Haru why Chris was on the stage on the first place.
Kanjita koto nai igokochi no yosa ni mada tomadotteru yo
Nē kon'na sora ga takai to
Egao ga ne...kakusenai
"So a couple of girls from Chris' class made her participate." Haru said after Tsubasa finished explaining.
"They noticed how much fun Yukine was having when singing so I supported the idea of having Yukine participate." Tsubasa said before gesturing down to Chris. "And look. Doesn't it seem like she's having a lot of fun?"
Haru looked down to Chris and indeed, the girl had an expression of enjoyment on her face.
Waratte mo ī kana
Yurushite moraeru no kana
Atashi wa atashi no
Seiippai, seiippai...
Kokoro kara, kokoro kara...
Aru ga mama ni
Utatte mo ī no kana...!
Taiyō ga kyōshitsu e to sasu hikari ga mabushikatta
Yukidoke no yō ni nazeka namida ga afurete tomaranai yo
Kon'na kon'na atatakai nda...
Atashi no kaeru basho
Atashi no kaeru basho
(Song End)
As soon as the girl was finished singing did the audience erupt into cheers and applause. As Chris took in the sight, she couldn't help but think...
'This is so much fun. I never knew I could enjoy singing this much.' Chris thought. And as she bowed to the audience, Chris soon realized something. 'Yes. I'm sure this is...the place I can call home.' Chris raised her head as soon as she finished her bow and once she did, her head unconsciously moved up to where Haru was who was smiling down towards her. Chris didn't know it, but she was smiling as well.
'See? I told you, you have a great voice.' Haru thought as he smiled down at Chris, knowing what the girl was thinking when she was singing her heart out.
"And with that, a new Queen of the Stage has been crowned!" The girl in charge of the mic spoke up, surprising Chris as the spotlight shined down on her again.
'Wait, I won? Just like that?' Chris couldn't help but think. Was her song that good?
"Now then, who'll be our next challenger?" The girl in charge of the mic said as she wrapped an arm around Chris, making the white haired girl a bit uncomfortable as the girl continued speaking. "Any challengers from the audience, feel free to jump in as well!"
"We'll do it!" Suddenly, a voice spoke up as a hand was raised. A spotlight shined down to see who had spoken up and two figures stood up, taking off their glasses to show who they were.
"Those girls!?" Chris exclaimed in surprise as she, Haru, and the others instantly recognized the two.
It was Kirika and Shirabe.
"We'd like to challenge..." Shirabe began.
"...the champion!" Kirika finished with a confident smile.
As the others stared at the two in disbelief, surprised at their sudden appearance, Haru had one comment to show what he felt right now.
'...oh son of a bitch.'
And...done! Wow, did not expect this chapter to turn out this long. It's only slightly longer than last chapter but still, wow. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed today's chapter. I had a lot of fun writing this one, especially the beginning part though I'm not too confident about the latter portion. I feel like there's more I could have done but for the life of me, I could not think of a way to show it so the latter portion ended being not so different to the episode, much to my displeasure. But nevertheless, the chapter turned out pretty okay to me. I fight scenes were really satisfying, especially when I wrote Psyga's battle scenes. Not to mention I finally feel like I have a way for the Smart Brain Riders to not appear too weak compared to the others but the change is slight at best. Like I said in chapter 3, there ins't a lot I can work with on these guys so I end up pulling a lot of stuff out my ass but in the end, isn't that how Fanfiction usually is?
Anyway, once again, I hope you all enjoyed today's chapter. Tune in next time for more as next chapter, things start to go downhill, in more ways than one. Wanna know what I mean, then you'll just have to wait. Until then, this has been Ashbel Longhart here, signing out. Till the next ride.
