Kamen Rider Ixa R: Symphony of Hearts

by BlazeCore

Noise and Noise Kaijin have run amok, causing several tragedies for mankind. Kamen Riders and Symphogear users are fending off these foes but their power may not be enough. Through research and development, a new system shall be born to help these two powers. Sing and play the chained symphony through the hearts of the brave! Arise, Kamen Rider IXA R! R&R for story progress

15. Chapter 9: Catastrophic Score

Chapter 9: Catastrophic Score

Disclaimer: The Kamen Rider Franchise and Symphogear belong to their respective owners. OCs belong to their creators.

---

Akakishi was seen in a void with no direction of falling. He slowly opened his eyes with a half-lucid stare and reached out to a light, but suddenly darkness started to engulf him, covering him.

But the redhead did not panic as the darkness crept and made him think only one thought:

"Warm…"

Then he closed his eyes as the darkness consumed him, and the sounds of a cacophony of music notes from a variety of blaring instruments could be heard, echoing through the dark void.

Suddenly, a pair of red massive, glaring, pupiless eyes opened from the darkness.

---

"Ah!"

Books fell onto the ground with Miku standing in front of them with open hands, a result of not grabbing them properly.

"Huh? Miku? What's wrong?" asked one of her and Hibiki's friends who had blond hair.

The girl stared at her hands in confusion before shaking off what happened earlier as nothing. "O-Oh, it's nothing, I must have blanked out for a moment." Miku said with a smile before bending down to pick up her books to be put away.

---

(Sanctuary- Tamaki Nami)

/Bokutachi wa mina kitto Te wo nobashiterun da/ - /Surely we're all Reaching out our hands/

From a cloud of black ash, a young man with red hair walks out. Then his face is shown to be Akakishi as both of his eyes glowed blue and green though there is a momentary red glint. He walks forward with the Reverse IXA Knuckle on his left hand. Then he stops as the floor gives way, causing him to fall from the starry night sky.

/Tooku tooi basho e to/ - /To that place far, far away/

The scene shifts to Hibiki who stood on top of a tower of rock looking toward the sky. Then the scene turns to her back as wings sprout out of it. She flies off the pillar of rock and into the sky.

Akakishi reaches out to her, while Hibiki flies toward him in the opposite direction. When the two collided a flash of light occurs. Then the title appears with the two turning into silhouettes.

Kamen Rider Ixa R: Symphony of Hearts

/Kaze ni fukare aruite yuku/- /I walk, blown by the wind/

Akakishi is shown on his motorcycle looking towards the blue sky as the wind blew. Then a silhouette of a man with red compound eyes came to his mind. The wind picks up and he turns around.

/Umare kita imi wo shiritakute/ - /Wanting to know the meaning of being born/

In front of him now is a woman with blond hair in a white cloak with her hood on. She smiles deviously towards him as her left bright yellow topaz eye reflected an image of a shadowed figure with blood red eyes wielding a golden sword.

The scene changes to Hibiki who is staring to the sky at the Lydian Academy. Then an image of Kanade and Tsubasa fighting in the Zwei Concert incident appears in her mind.

/Tatoeba ushinau toki ga kitemo/ - /Even if, for example, a time comes when I lose something/

The scene changes to Miku who watches a meteor shower then reaching out to the same shower.

A shift to Kanade and Fen where they are shown watching a concert performed by Tsubasa. Eiji also watched Tsubasa except he was in the situation/observation room with Genjuro and the other members of the Second Division. Then Gentarou is shown walking the streets with his friends with Tridoron passing the group. Then Chris passed the group, catching Gentarou's attention.

/Dakishimeru koto ima, erabou/ - /I'll choose now, what to hang onto/

The mask of Ixa R shatters to reveal Akakishi's bleeding face. As he falls into an unconscious state, several colored chains wrap around his body and drag him into a dark abyss. As ash gathers and dissipates, Hibiki reaches out to Akakishi while he falls in the deep abyss, but she fails to grab his hand as a glass wall blocks her way. When the redhead disappears into the darkness, Hibiki sits in a fetal position with a sad look as chains of orange bind her. Then the scene transitions to the site of battle where several broken items belonging to the Kamen Riders and Symphogear users lay behind the amber-haired girl. Tsubasa is seen restrained in blue chains as she closes her eyes. Yoku is also seen with yellow chains covering her and her chained hand reaches out. Amelia hugs her legs as purple chains wrap her, burying her face in her knees. Liam, Lian, and Leah sit together with lonely looks as chains of icy blue restrain them together. Finally, Natsuko and Fuyuko are binded together in white and black chains respectively with their eyes showing no light.

Instrumental

The scene shows off three scenes of Akakishi and Hibiki hanging out with Miku, from their younger forms to their current ages. Then Hibiki opens her eyes and stands up, breaking apart her chains before transforming into her armored form. She punches the glass, shattering it. She jumps in and reaches out to Akakishi who slowly opens his eyes.

Tsubasa sees Eiji who reaches out to her and she reaches out to his hand with her chains shattering as she transforms into her blue Symphogear form.

Yoku's outstretched hand is grabbed by Shinnosuke who embraced her in a protective hug, causing her chains to break apart and her yellow Symphogear to take form.

Carter is then seen placing his hand on Amelia's shoulder, causing her to turn to him as her chains shatter and her dark purple Symphogear to form, and then he pulls her up to stand.

Takumi arrives and hugs the three siblings, shattering their chains and transforming Leah into her ice blue Symphogear form. The siblings smile at his appearance.

Shotaro and Phillip hold Natsuko and Fuyuko's hands, pulling the girls out of their shared lifelessness and looking to their male partners, causing their chains to shatter and their white and black Symphogears to form.

Smiling, Akakishi reaches out to the girl and their hands grab each other, shattering the redhead's countless chains and transforming him into Ixa R.

Then the scene transitions to the armored form of Ixa R with several shadowed Kamen Riders at his side. Four are revealed to be Kamen Riders Kabuto and Kamen Rider Eternal at his left and Kamen Rider Super 1 and Kamen Rider Stronger at his right.

/Bokutachi wa mina kitto/ - /Surely we're all/

Hibiki charges into the fray of battle swinging her fists into each Noise in her way with practiced ease. Then Ixa R kicks down a large Noise before punching a Noise in sync with Hibiki. Then his armor transformed into its Gungnir Relic Score form with a glowing orange aura and Hibiki gains energy gem-like parts on her armor.

/Te wo nobashiterun da/ - /Reaching out our hands/

Tsubasa jumps in by cutting down several Noise with the blades on her legs. Next, Kamen Rider OOO lands and supports the singer by cutting down foes with his sword. Then the two transform into their Bond Score forms, Tsubasa gaining new armor respective to OOO's colors while OOO gains a blue glowing aura and blue circuitry.

/Nakusenai mono ni mukatte/ - /Turning to something we can't lose/

The next scene shows off Kamen Rider Kabuto in his unmasked form clashing swords with Kenzaki in her armored form.

Then Kamen Rider Fourze is shown with his Rocket Module active as he flies into battle.

Kamen Rider Kuuga II follows him with Amelia as they enter their Bond Score forms.

Kamen Rider Faiz enters in from another direction with Kamen Rider Cryo, Kamen Rider Crisis, and Leah following him.

Next, Double jumps in with Natsuko and Fuyuko following close behind him.

Finally came Kamen Rider Eternal standing with Kanade at his back.

/Kagayaita yume dake wo/ - /Just pulling in/

Ixa R takes out a fuestle and equips his Reverse Knuckle while Hibiki pulls out the piston on her gauntlet.

/Taguriyosenagara/ - /A glittering dream/

The two run through the long range attacks of the Noise and punch forward, ending the scene with a view of their knuckles.

/Tooku tooi basho e to/ - /To that place far, far away/

The camera shows the armored hand of Ixa R reaching out and the armored hand of Hibiki grabbing it. The hands lace their fingers as the armors transition off. Suddenly the hand of Akakishi lets go, causing the amber haired girl to reach out to him.

Hibiki falls to her knees hugging the redhead's wounded and unconscious body, his armor cracked and in pieces along with parts of hers. She looks up in angered determination as the Symphogear users support their injured male counterparts or vice versa, their armors heavily damaged but ready to bring the fight to the blond woman and her Sympho-Riders.

---

"A… A black Score?" Hibiki stared with fear of the dark Score that Ixa R created, the smoke-like aura flowing out of it was unsettling.

"As if I'm letting you transform again!" shouted the girl as she swung a whip and knocked the Score out of Ixa R's hand, catching his attention. "Hey Punch! Clock him!"

(Audiomachine - Kill 'Em All (Kevin Rix))

Kageyama broke out from the rubble and shouted, "With pleasure, ojou-chan!" She charged at the Kamen Rider covered in darkness. She swung her fist in a deadly hook to his head, but Ixa R quickly caught the attack and held it in his right fist. "Wh-What?!"

Then she swung her other fist, but he quickly position his blade crest to intercept it.

*CLANG*

*SPLRRRRT*

This caused her armored fist to be cut on the blade and split bleeding open. "Ugh?! What the hell?!"

Ixa R lifted his left leg and kicked into her abdomen extremely hard, sending the woman flying. Then he jumped forward at incredible speeds to kick her again in midair, this time downwards into the concrete ground, creating a large crater. The Sympho-Rider coughed blood as her armor could not absorb the explosive force that the young Rider employed.

"Gh…"

Then the shadowed Kamen Rider stood over her still before bending his body back.

"What the? What the hell is he doing?" wondered Chris in confusion as she stared at the oddly postured shadowed Rider.

Hibiki also stared at her suddenly violent friend with worry until she heard a noise. "Huh? That noise…" She listened closely before realizing that Ixa R was taking in deep breath.

Suddenly, his body lurched forward towards Kageyama.

"ROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" screamed the shadowed Ixa R as a blast of noise smashed in the downed Sympho-Rider, creating an explosion that shook the area around him.

HOWL BREAKER

"Ugh!" grunted the Nehustan girl as the shockwave slammed into her.

"Uwaah!" shouted Hibiki as the shockwave sent her tumbling back a bit more.

Ryoko also had to crouch down as the shockwave slammed into the tower where she was hiding.

"What power… At this rate, this won't end well for everyone." Ryoko muttered with a low tone at this unexpected situation. She then took out a communicator and held it to her mouth.

---

Meanwhile, outside of the site of the battle gone wrong.

"Leah!" shouted Cryo as Faiz charged in after Crisis was sent tumbling back from a punch to his mouth guard.

"Already on it!" shouted Leah as she kicked forward, launching a blue-edged blade from her heel and straight at Kiba.

The gold and black armored woman deflected the sword with her left gauntlet which twirled in the air. Then Leah grabbed the sword and swung down on Kiba who caught her weapon with ease.

"What?!" The brunette shouted in shock before she was pulled in by the black and gold-lined armored Sympho-Rider and received a headbutt right on the forehead. "Ugh!"

The blue armored Symphogear user crashed on her back in a daze while her brothers charged in to strike.

"Lian! Now!" shouted Cryo as he charged forward with his brother following close behind. The two brothers simultaneously struck forward which Kiba noticed and quickly dug in her heels and stabbed her sword down. The attack successfully landed on the brunette's chest but did not make her stagger back. At the moment the attacks landed, her body armor gained a layer of hardlight shielding.

STALWART GUARD

"...?! She didn't budge?!" shouted the ice-blue Rider in surprise.

Kiba stabbed forward and muttered, "Enough talk."

"Predictable!" shouted Faiz before he knocked the sword stab away from Cryo. "You two!"

"On point, boss!" shouted Cryo since he was expecting Faiz's interference. Then he quickly pressed the ENTER key on his phone along with Crisis also back in the fight and Faiz.

=EXCEED CHARGE!=

*WHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIR-DING*

Then the three phone Kamen Riders swung their swords down at the same point and sent Kiba skidding back a bit, enough to shatter her hardlight shielding.

TRI SPARKLE SLASH

"Ugh! So three is my limit…" Kiba commented as she held the smoking spot where she was hit.

"Ugh…" Cryo held his arm which shook from the recoil of hitting the gold and black Sympho-Rider. "How hard is her armor?!"

"Worry about that later, brat." Faiz advised as he helped up Leah and they readied for another combination attack. "Just focus on fighting."

*BOOM*

Suddenly, the Kamen Riders, Symphogear users, and their opponents stumbled from a powerful shockwave and turned to the origin point.

"What the hell was that?!" shouted Cryo in confusion.

"From experience, nothing good." Faiz said with a cautious tone.

Drive and Chase broke their sword clash and also turned to direction of the explosion.

"Wait. Isn't that where Hibiki and Akakishi are?" asked Yoku as she realized where the source was.

"Along with Ryoko and Durandal…" Drive muttered with a bad feeling in his gut.

*BEEP*

Kiba, Gotou, and Chase heard their in-built communicators activate with their superior's command.

"Yes, ma'am? What?! Punchhopper is down?" shouted Kiba with wide eyes in shock. "Understood! Chaser! Gotou! Ikuze!" The black and gold trimmed warrior jumped off to the source.

"Hai!" Gotou responded before she summoned a set of bladed wings on her back. Then she flew off after her senior.

"Changing mission parameters." Chase muttered as she ran toward the origin of the shockwave.

"Wait! Chase!" shouted Mr. Belt as the purple Sympho-Rider turned into a blur that sped off.

"Oi! Kiba! Get back here!" shouted Faiz.

"Save it, Takumi! Something's gone wrong!" responded the black armored brunette as she continued to jump and run towards the source.

"She's right! We need to go head there as well! Whatever is over there… it's nothing like we have faced before!" shouted Mr. Belt as he analyzed the amount of energy being emanated from the chemical plant. "These readings? It can't be… Did Durandal activate?!"

"What?! The sword that created a canyon regained its original form?" Double (Right) asked while turning to Drive.

"Wait, Phillip! What do you mean by canyon?!" Double (Left) asked his partner.

"It's exactly what he meant, Detective." Fuyuko deadpanned. "Are your ears decorations?"

"Yes. That can be only the reason why that shockwave took place. Someone activated the sword, but…" Mr. Belt drifted off in thought.

"But what?" Natsuko pressed.

"I do not know… but I theorize something has gone wrong with its awakening." Mr. Belt stated with a grim tone.

---

When the smoke cleared, Ixa R stood over the unconscious body of Kageyama who bled a lot from her mouth and nose.

"He took out Punch with just a yell?!" shouted Chris in shock.

"Ugh… Aka…?" asked Hibiki as she slowly sat up and stared in shock at the shadowed Kamen Rider who stood up straight and turned to Chris with Durandal in his left hand. Then he held his right hand out, causing the black Score to break out of the rubble and into his hand.

"Ugh!" Chris quickly summoned more Noise to distract the youngest Kamen Rider.

But he slotted the new Score into the Ixa R Driver, overlapping on top of the Gungnir Bond Score and causing a new reaction from his armor and a roar from the person within.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Thousands of black chains burst from his body and smashed through the Noise surrounding him, disintegrating them all. The chains then flew at the Nehustan girl and she quickly jumped out of the way. Meanwhile, Hibiki held her arms up but the chains flew by her, leaving no scratches.

=SHAzzzzTERzzzzRED CHzzzzAINzzzzZZzzED BURzzzzzzzzST: DURANDAL=

The chains wrapped around the shadowed Ixa R and a scarf made of the chains took form.

Then the shadowed Kamen Rider roared as he charged at the silver haired girl with a fistful of chains reeled back.

"Tch!"

The shadowed Ixa R punched forward and the chains glowed and exploded into sharp pieces that rapidly and continuously slammed into the girl.

SHRAPNEL DISSONANCE

"AAAAAAGGGGHHHHHHHHH!"

Chris could only scream in pain as she and her armor took the powerful attack and was sent flying into one of the buildings, demolishing it.

Dismissing the chains, Ixa R stood silent with Durandal still in hand as he turned to face Hibiki.

Hibiki stood up and stared at her friend covered in darkness and chains. "Aka…" muttered the amber-haired girl who looked a bit hesitant to approach him.

Suddenly, Chase and Kiba appeared behind the shadowed Ixa R with their blades aim at his head. The moment they swung their weapons, Ixa R turned around quickly with another fistful of chains ready to counter. The two sword wielders were unprepared for the retaliatory punch that the shadowed Ixa R threw against their attacks.

SHRAPNEL DISSONANCE

"What?!" shouted Kiba in shock as she was overpowered.

"RAAAAARRRRRR!" roared shadowed Ixa R as his punch forced forward with the second set of chains exploding into shards that struck both Chase and Kiba, throw them into different piles of rubble.

From an intact building, Goto stared down a targeting reticle as her cannon readied to fire.

*CLINK-CLINK*

"Target locked!" Goto shouted with a reticle in her right iris homed in on the shadowed Kamen Rider.

ASTRA: CANNON FORM

"Firing!" She spun the dial on her buckle, activating the cannon attached to her chest.

In response, the shadowed Ixa R blocked the beam of energy with his right hand, holding his ground with ease.

"Naïve!" Goto yelled as she took a couple of cell medals and swallowed them to increase the firepower of her cannon.

ASTRA CELL BURST x5

In that instant, the berserk Kamen Rider struggled to hold back the laser and he was pushed back.

Goto felt confident she could hold back the unknown being who had taken control of the golden sword known as Durandal. But she didn't realize that the Rider held up the sword with the intent to attack now.

"GRrrrrrrr…" growled the shadowed Ixa R as the sword charged with energy and then he swung it into the beam, splitting it.

SILENCE CLEAVE

"What!?" shouted Goto before she quickly jumped out of the way of the attack, forcing her to eject and sacrifice her cannon which took the sword swing.

The sundered cannon exploded into a large blast that sent the nearby Goto flying into another part of the factory.

"AAAAHHHHHHH!" screamed the cybernetic member of the Sympho-Rider group before she crashed through a wall.

*BAM*

"Gh… What power…" Kiba muttered as she got up from her place with some of the chain pieces embedded in her armor.

Chase also got up and looked to see her hand wielding her sword was shaking. "This feeling… Even Muramasa is afraid."

The shadowed Kamen Rider stood straight and looked at the right hand which blocked the laser, showing damage which bled a glowing red liquid and sparks. Then the shadows started twirling around the damage and suddenly it was no more.

"That black aura can heal him? Or… Is Durandal healing its host?" Kiba muttered upon seeing the phenomenon.

Then Ixa R quickly appeared before the downed Chase with Durandal raised above his head. Chase closed her eye to brace for impact but it did not come.

*CLANG*

"Stop! Aka! This isn't you!" shouted a female voice.

Chase opened her eye to the sight of Hibiki holding Durandal's blade in place while the shadowed Ixa R appeared to struggle against her strength. Noticeably, the girl glowed with a golden aura around her.

"Please! Don't lose yourself to whatever this darkness is! Turn back into the kind Aka I know!" begged the girl with a worried look as she held the blade with her hands.

"You…" Chase muttered before an image flashed in her mind.

"We are your friends!" shouted a male voice.

"Go…"

"Go?" said the young woman who did not realize why she said Go's name just now.

Hibiki talked to Ixa R and it appeared that the shadowed Kamen Rider was listening to her.

"Please… come back Akakishi." Hibiki begged with a pleading voice as her golden aura was somewhat taken in by the shadowed Kamen Rider.

"Hi… bi… ki…" Ixa R stopped struggling with Durandal and lowered the blade, causing his massive shadow aura to dissipate along with Hibiki's golden aura.

"Yes… I'm right here, Aka." Hibiki said with a smile as she raised her hands before walking towards him.

"She managed to stop him?" wondered Kiba as she stood up and watched in awe.

"Kiba!" shouted Faiz who entered the scene alongside Cryo, Crisis, and Leah. "What do you think you're- What the?!" Faiz turned to the shadowed form that held the golden sword faced Hibiki who approached the individual. "Tch, what the hell is that brat doing? Crisis! Follow my lead!"

Faiz took out a chip from the watch attached to his wrist and replace the chip on his phone.

"Un." Crisis mimicked the same action and took out a chip with glowing blue circuitry from his wrist and placed it into his phone.

=DEFORMATION!=

"Keep that guy busy! I'll get Orange girl out of the way!" ordered the red photon Rider.

"Understood."

Both photon Kamen Rider quickly activated the times of their watches, causing the inner motors to rev up.

=START UP!=

"?! Matte! Takumi!" shouted Kiba who reached out to Axel Faiz who ran in with Axel Crisis following behind him.

"Wah?!" shouted Hibiki in confusion after she was grabbed by Axel Faiz.

Ixa R turned alert and growled at Hibiki being taken before something hit him. The berserk Kamen Rider looked around in confusion before being hit again and again in rapid succession. Then a blur quickly wrapped a rope of grey photon around him, restraining the blackened Kamen Rider.

=TIME OUT=

=DEFORMATION=

"Hn!" Crisis held the photon rope tight to keep the shadowed Kamen Rider in place.

CRISIS BIND

"GRRRR…." growled Ixa R as he turned his head to glare at Axel Crisis as his form started to pulse and the shadow aura formed again.

At that moment, Leah felt a massive chill through her body. "*GASP* LIAN-NII! WATCH OUT!"

The shadowed aura started to move through the rope and created cracks of darkness through the photon.

"What?!" Crisis softly shouted before the darkness engulfed his photon rope and he quickly let go before it exploded. The force of the explosion sent him flying back.

UNCHAINED RAGE

"Lian!" shouted Cryo as he caught his brother.

"Ugh…" groaned Crisis as some of his armor showed cracks from the impact of the explosion.

"Brat! You'll pay for that!" shouted Axel Faiz before he charged at the shadowed Ixa R.

=READY=

=EXCEED CHARGE=

*BAM*

AXEL GRAND IMPACT

*DING*

Then an explosion took place with the PHI symbol expanding out before disappearing. But the shadowed Rider barely budged from the punch to the chest and growled at the red photon Kamen Rider.

"?!" grunted Axel Faiz before he took a chain fist to the chest.

SHRAPNEL DISSONANCE

*BOOM*

Taking the full brunt of the attack, Faiz crashed hard into the ground, creating a small crater near the Cryo siblings. His armor restoring back to its previous state.

"Boss!" shouted Cryo.

Faiz lifted himself up despite the hard hit done to him. "I'll live! Tch. The bastard packs a one hell of a punch…"

"Stop! I was trying to help Aka!" shouted Hibiki who held back Faiz by holding his waist.

"Hibiki?!" shouted Leah in surprise.

"Aka?" repeated Liam.

"As in Akakishi? Tch, of course the brat got into some sort trouble…" Faiz muttered as he readied himself.

"TAKUMI!"

*Bonk*

From his blind spot, Kiba decked Faiz in the armored cheek, knocking him flat on the ground.

"Gah! What the hell was that for, Kiba?!"

"For making the situation worse! Hibiki-san is the only one keeping him calm and now you pissed him off!" shouted black armored woman as she pointed at the shadowed Rider who raised his sword above his head, causing the younger members to break out into a cold sweat.

"Ano… Kiba-san… Inui-san…" Hibiki muttered as she tried to point out at the still present threat.

"Uh Boss?" asked Leah as the light gathered from the gold sword.

"Saying that from experience?" responded Faiz with a scoff.

"Sir…" Crisis added in an attempt to get their leader's attention.

"Oh, like you're any better." Kiba also scoffed.

"Boss! Hate to break up your flirting-" Kamen Rider Cryo shook Faiz's shoulder as he continue to stare at the inevitable attack that was about to happen.

"OI!" shouted the two as they turned to ice-blue Kamen Rider with a pair of glares before seeing the ominous glow of Durandal.

"Oh s**t!" cursed Faiz.

"Take Cover!" shouted Cryo as he and the group quickly dodged another sword wave that created a massive gash in a road and combusted into an explosion.

RENDED RHYTHM

---

"Wh-Wh-Whoa!" shouted Yoku as the Tridoron tried to stabilize itself from the ground quaking and the road breaking from a distant shockwave.

"What in the world in going on over there?!" shouted Drive as he drove his Rider Machine at high speed with Yoku hanging on.

---

The Kamen Riders, Symphogear users, and the Sympho-Riders hid behind some rubble while the Shadowed Ixa R just stood there after attacking.

"Phew… That was a close one." Cryo breathed out as he caught his breath.

"Hah… Hah… Ugh… I did not sign up for this." Leah muttered with a frown at their situation.

"Is this really the time to complain, kid?" asked Faiz as he turned to the youngest sibling.

"No Boss, but we need to come up with something to help Aka!" Leah pointed out.

"Yeah, does anyone have any bright ideas for holding him down before, y'know… He f**ks our s**t up?" asked Cryo as he turned to the group while Crisis kept watch on the shadowed Ixa R.

"Trying to come up with something… But I can only think about hitting him until he's down." Faiz stated with a frustrated tone.

"Which is a horrible plan considering he could take us all on due to Durandal's power…" Kiba pointed out with Chase nodding in agreement.

"Hey, I'm trying!"

Hibiki appeared near the two veterans and attempted to state her plan, "Minna, calm down! Just let me talk to Aka again and I could get him to let go of the swor-"

"HELL NO!" shouted the pair, interrupting the amber haired girl who winced.

"The last thing we need is to put you in danger, kid!" shouted Faiz as he got close up in Hibiki's face.

"And with his current state, I doubt Ixa R will listen to you again, Tachibana-san!" Kiba added as she pushed Faiz away.

"So we're going to hit him until he drops his sword!" shouted the red photon Kamen Rider as he pushed the brunette away.

"Matte, I believe restraining him and removing the sword is the best option, Takumi." The red eyed brunette pointed out.

"I say hitting. The kid can take it after all." Faiz stated as he pounded his fist.

"Not when he can recover from our attacks! So we should restrain him!" Kiba argued back.

"H-Hey! Please! Stop fighting!"

While Kiba and Faiz argued and Hibiki tried to calm them down, Crisis saw Ixa R readying to swing his sword again in their direction.

"Incoming!" Crisis warned before the group dodged another sword wave that obliterated the pile they were hiding behind.

RENDED RHYTHM

"Well, great going! Now he knows we're still alive!" shouted Faiz after he got on his feet.

"You were the one yelling!" Kiba yelled back.

"Can you guys save the lovers' quarrel for later?!" shouted Cryo who dodged a smaller sword slash wave from Ixa R.

"OI!" shouted the arguing pair.

"Yeah, what big bro said! We need a plan and fast! Eep!" shouted Leah before she yelped and leaned back to duck under a horizontal sword wave.

"Aka! Stop! We're your friends!" shouted Hibiki as she grabbed Leah and pushed her to safety.

"Friends is a bit of a stretch considering we have our enemies here. Whoa!" Cryo noted before he quickly rolled out of a vertical sword wave. "But hey, they count! Listen to your girl, Aka!"

"Eh?! We're not dating!" Hibiki denied with a blush.

"Could've fooled me." Cryo joked before Crisis quickly pulled him down to duck under another sword wave.

*CLANG*

"See, Takumi? We can't beat him down if he keeps on this assault! Ugh!" shouted Kiba as she barely deflected a blade wave with a heavy swing.

"Tch! Fine! Cryo! Hold him down!"

"Gotcha, Boss!"

=EXCEED CHARGE=

"Aka! Hold still!" shouted Cryo as he smashed his charged fist into the ground, causing several blue wires to wrap around the shadowed Rider similar to a net before freezing him still.

CRYO NET

"Phew! That should hold him." Cryo said with a sigh of relief.

"Don't relax yet." Chase advised as she landed near the ice vein Rider.

"What do you mean? My net is obviously-"

Then the shadowed Ixa R broke out of the ice and roared loudly.

"Never mind. Berserk or not, Akakishi is one tenacious dude." Cryo commented.

"Evade!" shouted Chase as she pushed the eldest twin out of harm's way.

Then the group of temporary allies were forced to jump out of the way of another sword wave and explosion.

RENDED RHYTHM

"And that tenacity is going to be the end of us." Crisis added grimly.

"Yeah… You got a backup plan, Boss?" Leah turned to Faiz but noticed he wasn't there. "Boss?"

*BAM*

The group turned to Faiz who was punching Ixa R in the face with his camera knuckle-duster though it did not make him budge like before. Ixa R growled in response and swung his sword at the red and blue circuit lined Rider. Kiba quickly intervened and blocked the sword strike.

"You always go for the reckless approach!" Kiba complained before she shoved off the sword.

Then Faiz punched the shadowed Rider in the face mask again. "Save it! Cryo, you and Crisis use a combined net to hold him down again. I'll keep him busy! Leah! Kiba! Chase! Tachibana! Back me up!"

"Hai!"

---

Back at the surveillance van, Tomoko fell to her knees and covered her ears.

"Tomoko!" shouted Ryusei as he ran to hold the girl steady.

"Please… make it stop! Make it stop!" screamed the group's goth who could not take the piercing sound.

"Make what stop, Tomoko?"

"That noise… It sounds so disconcerting… So… broken." Tomoko muttered in fear as she hugged herself.

"Noise? What noise?"

"Ah! The cloud cleared up!" shouted JK.

"What is that?" asked Shun who saw the black shadowed individual holding Durandal.

Kengo quickly typed in a few commands on his console which zoomed in on the individual.

"That's…" The Kamen Rider Club analyst typed in another command and the computer ID'd the individual. "Ixa R!"

"What?! What happened to him?"

"Hey… isn't that the Durandal?" asked Haru who pointed at the sword.

"Yeah, but it doesn't look like what we saw before." Ran noted at the complete shape of the sword.

"An activated Complete Relic… And a Kamen Rider who can connect to the power of the Relics…" Yuki listed off and turned to Kengo with a worried look. "And now he's out of control!"

"Aw crud… that's a recipe for disaster!" Shun grabbed his head while in the cockpit of his KingDizer.

"I'm going to help them!" shouted Gentarou who grabbed the Fourze Driver. "Ikuze Ryusei!"

"All right, Kisaragi, but don't die!" shouted Ryusei as he equipped his Meteor Driver.

"Don't worry, I'm more than ready!"

=3=

=2=

=1=

"Henshin!"

---

The battle against the berserk Rider had not yielded any good results with more of the surrounding area decimated.

Hibiki deflected a sword wave while protecting Cryo who was knocked down.

"Daijoubou?" asked the brown haired girl as she turned to the ice Kamen Rider.

"I'm fine! Leah now!" shouted Cryo as he got up.

"Hai, Liam-nii!" answered the girl as the group dodged from another attack from the berserk Kamen Rider. Then she kicked a knife out of her heel which hit Ixa R in the head.

"Grrr…"

But the attack only seemed to anger him before the sound of a charge and ping was heard. Leah grabbed her kicked knife and transformed it into whip sword.

"I'm taking that sword!" shouted the light-blue haired girl as she swung the extended blade at Durandal it coiled around the blade.

PHOTON COIL

Upon landing, Leah pulled her sword's hilt back with Cryo, Crisis, and Hibiki quickly grabbing her hands and helping her pull.

"IKEEE!" shouted Hibiki and Cryo as they pulled hard.

In response, the shadowed Ixa held his ground and channeled the sword's energy to cut the photon wire coiled around it.

Suddenly, Faiz and Kiba flanked him with their respective weapons lit up into blades of light.

=EXCEED CHARGE=

SPARKLE SLASH

"Hah!" shouted Faiz as he swung his red sword at the right side.

ORGA STLASH

"Ragh!" shouted Kiba as she swung her golden sword at the left side.

In reaction, Ixa R pulled Durandal in a back grip and used it to block Kiba's attack and used his right arm to catch Faiz's sword. Both blades fail to budge him as he channeled energy into himself.

At that moment, Chase appear in front of him with her sword aimed at Ixa R's left hand which held the blade.

"Target! Acquired!" Chase announced as she swung down.

"RAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHH!" roared the shadowed Kamen Rider as he unleashed another explosive wave from his body and yell.

The yell interfered with the sword swing and throwing the one-eyed Kamen Rider off her feet along with her fellow attackers.

UNCHAINED RAGE

*BOOM*

The group crashed on the ground hard from the explosion with some groans and grunts.

"Itai…" Hibiki groaned as she got up and rubbed her head.

"*Groan* There goes that plan, Big Brother." Leah said as she sat up somewhat exhausted in spirit. The ongoing fight just seemed hopeless with each clash.

"Ugh… Damn it! We had it close that time!" shouted Cryo as he pounded his fist on the ground.

"Tch. So much for your plan, Kiba." Faiz grunted before dodging another sword wave.

*CLANG*

"Save it, Takumi." The brunette responded with a growl as she protected Faiz by deflecting a sword wave. "We need to get that sword some other-"

*HONK*

Honking its horn, the massive Revolgarry slammed into the berserk Kamen Rider, forcing him to hold it otherwise he would be run over.

"What the hell?!" shouted Cryo as he stood up in shock.

"Yo! Did we miss the party?" asked Double as he slide-braked his motorcycle next to the group of Kamen Riders and Symphogear users. Natsuko got off the vehicle to help the downed members.

"Nope. You just saved our asses at the right time, Hidari." Faiz said as he massaged his neck.

"So, who's giving you guys so much trouble?" asked Natsuko as she helped Hibiki up and she turned to the shadowed berserker.

"Arigato. And… it's Aka."

"Wait, what?" Natsuko asked with a frown as she turned to the Berserk Kamen Rider who was holding back the heavily armored from running him over. "How did-"

"Incoming!" shouted a voice over their communicators.

Hearing the voice, the Revolgarry stopped its wheels and reversed, causing the Berserk Rider to stumble a bit in confusion.

*BAM*

Suddenly, a familiar red sports car rammed right into the side berserk Kamen Rider, pushing him into a chemical plant chimney.

---

Inside the Tridoron,

"Shinnosuke! What were you thinking?! You just committed vehicular manslaughter!" Mr. Belt chided Drive for his action.

"I'm pretty sure that law doesn't apply to Kaijin, Belt-san." Drive waved off with an unconcerned tone.

"Demo (But)… I'm pretty sure that was a person you rammed, Shin-nii…" Yoku pointed out with a sweatdrop on her head. The girl's hair was a bit disheveled from the wild ride she went through.

---

Everyone just stared at the red sports car that just rammed the opponent that gave them so much trouble.

"Was that-?" Cryo questioned.

"Yes." Crisis quickly answered with a deadpan tone along with Chase who nodded with a blank look.

"Did they… Just run over Aka?!" asked Leah with a horrified tone.

"Akaaaaa!" screamed Hibiki as she grabbed her head in somewhat exaggerated horror.

"Ooh… that's going to leave a mark." Natsuko cringed.

"I've been hit with a car. Still hurts just thinking about it." Double(Joker) muttered darkly.

"Not the worse you've been hit with, Shotaro." Double(Cyclone) pointed out.

"But getting hit by a Rider Machine is a different story. They were built to smash through buildings with little damage to themselves." Fuyuko pointed out as she stood next to her sister after leaving the armored vehicle.

"Not helping, Fuyu." The redhead twin deadpanned to her sister.

"Humph, the kid can take it. Worse he'll probably get is a bent spine." Faiz grunted dismissively with an armfold.

Kiba gave a disapproving look at the rude Rider before smacking the back of his head. "That still isn't a good thing, Takumi!"

"Ugh!" Faiz raised his head and pushed his face in front of Kiba. "And why do you care?"

"Because I have to make sure he and Tachibana are alive for my superior!" Kiba shoved back.

"Good to know where your damn loyalties lie!" growled Faiz as he shoved back in response.

"At least I care!" Kiba argued back.

Chase and Crisis observed the clashing exchange and sighed.

"Are they seriously arguing right now?" asked Double(Joker) with a dumbfounded tone.

"They say that people who are close argue the most." Double(Cyclone) pointed out.

"Close enough to stab each other." Fuyuko sarcastically pointed out.

Then there was the sound of metal creaking, catching Crisis's attention.

"Wait. Does anyone hear that?" asked Crisis with a suspicious tone.

"What do you mean by that, Lian-nii?" asked Leah.

"Wait, I hear it too." Double(Cyclone) added as he held a hand over the right side of his helmet.

---

"Well, if you are done ignoring traffic regulations, please back up so we can check on the poor soul you ran over." Mr. Belt stated after lecturing Drive for his reckless approach to stopping the unknown attacker.

Then a black hand grabbed the hood of the Tridoron and then the shadowed figure pulled himself up and glared with his crimson eyes.

"Huh?!"

"KYAAAAAHHHH!" screamed Yoku at the sight of the shadowed person pinned by the Rider machine was still active and very angry.

"RAAAAAGGGGHHHHHHHHH!" roared the shadowed Rider as he summoned energy from the palm of his trapped hand and blasted the grill of the Rider Machine.

"AAAHHHHHHHH!" yelled both Drive and Yoku as they felt the car flew through the air.

"Shinnosuke! Eject!" shouted Mr. Belt.

"No time! I'll just transform!" Drive shouted as he quickly pulled out a longer Shift Car that had an LED on its back.

"W-Wait! Not that one!" shouted Mr. Belt.

=FIRE ALL ENGINES!=

=DRIVE! TYPE: TRIDORON!=

The Tridoron soon flashed and then disassembled into smaller parts than attached onto Drive, changing him into a heavily armor version of his red armor with the tire now attached on left side of his chest. He held Yoku protectively as they landed and rolled on the ground.

"…!" Chase grunted in worry as the two landed.

"Detective-san! Yoku-chan!" shouted Hibiki as she ran to the pair.

Chase also quickly followed after the orange armored teen.

---

The Faiz group and Double members quickly readied themselves in front of Ixa R who gave off a large amount of darkness.

"Is it me, or is he more pissed than usual?" asked Cryo who did not like their chances.

"If you get run over with a car, you would be too." Faiz scoffed since the shadowed Ixa R was just getting more annoyingly stubborn at this point.

"I'm pretty sure I would be dead, boss!" Cryo retorted.

"Focus, you two! He's coming!" shouted Kiba as the shadowed Kamen Rider roared and charged at the nine.

---

As the two sides fought, Hibiki and Chase helped Drive and Yoku sit up.

"Yoku-chan, Daijoubou?" asked Hibiki as she checked on the bluenette.

"I'm fine, Hibiki-chan." Yoku said with a smile despite being a bit scuffed. Noticeably, her armor did not gain a significant change and instead glowed.

"Eh? Your armor…"

Yoku also looked at what armor she could see and also noticed the glow.

"H-Huh? What's going on?!"

"Ugh… Belt-san, is Yoku all right?"

"Yes, but that isn't the time, Shinnosuke!" Mr. Belt made a serious face. "You have to change out of Type: Tridoron! Otherwise-"

*BZZZT*

Then a surge of electricity overtook Drive and Yoku and shocked them heavily despite their armors' protections. The sudden surge forced Hibiki and Chase to back off, lest they share the same fate.

"AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!" screamed the pair.

"Ugh! C-C-Compatibility R-Rejection!" grunted Mr. Belt as his systems were trying to adjust to the energy overlord but the programs were getting overwhelmed along with his circuits.

"Yoku-chan!" shouted Hibiki as she reached out to the girl who was constantly being shocked, but Chase quickly pulled the girl back from a stray lightning bolt that struck before her.

"Don't be reckless! That amount of energy could hurt us despite our Symphogears' defenses!"

"But… They'll be hurt badly if we don't do anything!" Hibiki protested which the one-eyed Chase silently agreed.

---

As the group of nine fought Ixa R once more, so they could distract him from Hibiki and Chase as they attend to the Drive pair. Though their attacks continue to fail against him due to the power of Durandal.

*ENERGY CHARGE AND DING*

"Take this!"

Cryo activated a charge to his photon sword and swung a wave of ice blue energy that froze Ixa R upon contact.

FREEZING WAVE

Sadly, the freeze did little to inconvenience Ixa R as he broke out and tried to attack Cryo but Natsuko quickly blocked his way and used her white sword to stop the berserker. Double quickly covered his partner by kicking the berserker away from her.

"Hah… Hah… Great, our best bets aren't doing anything and now our backup is suffering a compatibility rejection." Cryo groaned despite his exhaustion.

"Tomari-san does have a tendency to go for a hard hitting form as soon as possible." Double(Cyclone) noted as he ducked under an attack.

"Now's not the time, Phillip!" shouted Double (Joker) as he struck Ixa R in the chest while Fuyuko and Natsuko struck him in the ribs.

"Fuyuko!" The redhead called out as she readied her white sword which glowed.

"Right!" The bluenette responded as she charged her black sword with an energy cyclone.

Then the twins dashed forward with Natsuko jumping high over Ixa R, and then Fuyuko swung her sword creating an dark air blast. The berserk Rider weathered through the wind blast as it passed through him. Unknowing to him, Natsuko caught the air attack with her sword, changing its color to white and she swung at the shadowed Rider. Ixa R took the attack to his back, causing him to flinch and turn to the redhead. Once more, he did not notice the other twin receiving the air blast with her sword and changing its color to black. The two soon created an exchange of volleys with the air blast, each time making the cyclone more impactful and faster.

CYCLONE EXCHANGE

Taking each shot forced the berserk Kamen Rider to hold his ground, temporarily stopping his movement.

"We need a plan! The twins' can hold him but not for long!" shouted Double (Cyclone.)

"You think we haven't tried?!" shouted Faiz who was about to argue with the two-in-one Kamen Rider.

Leah shivered and she shouted, "Incoming!"

"RAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHH!" roared Ixa R as he summoned a blast of air from his armor's cracks.

UNCHAINED RAGE

The twins were caught by the shockwave and thrown off their rhythm of attacks.

"Fuyuko! Natsuko!" shouted Double (Joker).

"We're fine!" The redhead assured the group as she got up.

"And focus on Ixa R! He's going to attack!"

Then Kiba jumped from above and swung down on Ixa R who quickly parried the attack with his helmet's horn.

The black and gold Sympho-Rider landed backwards with her sword in front of her. "Keep fighting! We have to keep him busy or he'll attack the defenseless ones!"

"*Growl* …?" The shadowed Ixa R took notice of the power surge from Drive and Yoku and then he saw Hibiki's worried face. "…!"

Hibiki soon felt something and turned to the berserk Rider. "Huh?"

Chase took notice at her reaction and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Aka… He's acting differently."

"Song… Wrong. Rhythm… disrupted. Too much… Noise. Must… Restrain. Must… Retune…" Ixa R muttered out in broken rhythm.

"Huh?" Cryo wondered with befuddlement.

"Is he… talking?" Natsuko added with similar surprise.

"Sounds more like a corrupted machine than a person, Natsuko." Fuyuko commented with wariness.

Faiz raised his arms in anticipation. "Keep your guards up! We don't know what he's-"

*BAM*

Suddenly, shadowed Kamen Rider forcefully shoved Faiz into a nearby debris pile and stomped towards the direction of the downed pair.

"Boss!" shouted Cryo and Leah.

"Faiz-san!"

"Attack! For the Boss!" shouted the ice-vein Kamen Rider.

"Wait! We need a plan!" shouted Double again but the siblings did not listen to him.

Cryo, Crisis, and Leah charged at the berserk Kamen Rider with the whole intent to avenge their leader.

But with one raised arm, Ixa R swung down the sword and created a shockwave that threw the siblings off their feet and crashing into different parts of the combat zone.

"…!" grunted Kiba as she readied her sword. "Double! Tachibana-san! Chase! Get Yoku-san and Tomari-"

*BAM*

Taking no time to act, Ixa R tackled Kiba into the ground and then punched her face into the ground to leave her dazed.

Double, Nastuko, Fuyuko, and Chase stood in front of Hibiki with their weapons raised in caution and alarm.

"Get ready…" muttered Double as he raised his fists.

"Aka…" muttered Hibiki with worried eyes as he approached her and the others.

"AAAAAARRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!" screamed Drive and Yoku as the electricity from their bodies increased exponentially with stray bolts flying over the place and some towards Hibiki.

With one great leap, the shadowed Ixa R quickly shielded Hibiki and Chase by holding the Durandal backhanded to block the lightning.

"He… protected us?"

As he blocked the attack, the shadowed Kamen Rider summoned a black chain in his left hand that slowly turned clear as glass and threw it at Drive and Yoku. The chain multiplied and wrapped around the car Kamen Rider and the yellow Symphogear user. The chains quickly pinned them down on the ground, and absorbed the excess electricity from their Score.

SILENCING CHAIN

"Tomari-san! Yoku-san!" shouted Hibiki in worry.

"Ugh!"

The shadowed Kamen Rider pulled on the chains, redirecting the excess electricity from their armors into himself.

Faiz, the Cryo siblings, and Kiba got up from their thrown positions and saw that the shadowed Kamen Rider was absorbing the electricity.

"…?! He is redirecting the disharmonious energies back into himself?" wondered Double (Cyclone).

"But that gives us a chance! Pile on Ixa R!" shouted Cryo as he jumped on Ixa R.

"Wait, Liam-nii! He's-" shouted Yoku as she reached out to him.

*BZZT*

"-still discharging energy…" The youngest Cryo sibling muttered.

Crisis slapped himself in the face from how impulsive his brother was since it was not guaranteed that their armors could ground the discharge.

"Hablargargegrara…" Cryo managed out as something electricity sparked out from his shocked armor.

Kiba gave Faiz an unamused look.

"Did you make him this reckless or was he always like this?"

Faiz shook his head and sighed. "No, he was much more impulsive before I got through with him."

The pair stared at the twitching Cryo as he was tended by his siblings. "I'll take your word for it."

"You two keep an eye on Akakishi. We'll deactivate Drive's Tridoron form!" Double (Joker) told the twins. "Come on, Tachibana-chan!"

"Ah! Hai!" The light-brown haired girl nodded as she ran off.

"Yeah, keep an eye on the guy who tried to kill us…" Natsuko muttered as she kept a careful distance from Ixa R.

"Technically, he's doing a really bad job of it. Makes you wonder if he is serious about hurting us." Fuyuko noted on Ixa R's rampage leaving surprisingly less casualties.

Double ran to Drive's side and forcibly pulled out the Tridoron shift Car.

=NICE DRIVE!=

Then Drive's armor disassembled back into light and Shinnosuke groaned as he laid on the ground.

"You alive, Tomari?" asked Double (Joker).

"Ugh… I feel like I just ran through a thousand marathons but also a caffeine crash…" The detective said.

"I'll say that's a yes." Double (Cyclone) noted. "He'll be feeling really sore tomorrow."

"Yeah, but that's the least of our problems, Phillip. You alive in there, Professor?" asked Double (Joke) as he looked down at the Drive belt.

"Yes, fortunately. Thank you for the assistance, you two. I will need to have to do a thorough diagnostics when we get back to base. I knew there was going to be a heavy backlash, but that exceeded my parameters." Mr. Belt stated with his face also in a state of discomfort.

"Yoku-chan! Daijoubou?" asked Hibiki as she held up the bluenette girl.

"Ugh… Give me- *Yawn* -five more minutes…" Yoku tiredly said.

Hibiki let out a breath in relief. "Yokata… At least you're okay."

Chase gave a look at Ixa R who finished discharging the excess energy. Everyone who could still stand were ready to fight him again, but he didn't move. "He's not moving…"

"Huh?" Hibiki turned to the one-eyed female and then turned to Ixa R.

Faiz and Kiba slowly approached the shadowed Kamen Rider and the Phi Kamen Rider waved his hand in front of Ixa R's mask.

"Takumi!" semi-shouted Kiba who disapproved his reckless action.

The red photon Kamen Rider ignored her in favor of gaining the Shadowed Kamen Rider's attention by snapping his fingers next.

He then moved his hand down after not getting a response despite being so close. "She's right. The kid's not moving."

"That's… good, right?" asked Cryo who kept his distance with his siblings after recovering from the initial shock.

"Dunno if absorbing that energy short-circuited him, but we should be able to remove this damn blade from him." Faiz suggested as he pointed at Durandal which was still held in Ixa R's left hand.

"…I dunno, Boss. He reacted pretty poorly when we tried to take the sword from him earlier." Leah pointed out.

Kiba nodded but stated her piece. "I agree with Takumi on this. As much as I regret it. We should remove Durandal from Ixa R while he is still incapacitate-"

Suddenly, a certain gem whip wrapped around Durandal.

"…?!"

"I'll… be taking that sword!" shouted Chris as she pulled hard on the golden blade, stretching out the Rider's arm as he held the sword in a death grip.

"Wait, Ojou! Don't-"

*CLINK*

Suddenly, the shadowed Kamen Rider grabbed the gem whip with his right hand, stopping gem whip from pulling more.

"Gr…" Ixa R's red eyes glowed brighter with rage.

"Ah-" Leah started with a horrified look.

"-sh*t." groaned Cryo as he slumped.

Crisis and Double just facepalmed.

"Forgive… Never… Forgive…" The shadowed Kamen Rider glared at Chris who froze in shock.

"What is this? Why? Why am I afraid of this musclehead? He's nothing!"

"You're nothing more than a speck of dirt!" screamed the lavender-haired girl as she frantically swung another orb of energy at the shadowed Ixa R with her free whip.

NIRVANA GEDON

With a roar, Ixa R charged and smashed his helmet into the attack. An explosion took place and engulfed the Kamen Rider. Chris smiled at her apparent success while the others stared in shock until Ixa R ran out of the smoke, unfazed by the attack and charging right at her.

"Wh-What?!" The girl shouted in shock at her attack rendered ineffective.

"Unforgiveable… Kill… Kill…" Ixa R growled out as he tore the sword out of the whip wrapped around it. Then he raised it above Chris, ready to cleave her in two. "KILLL!"

"AKA! STOP!" shouted Hibiki as she reached out but she could not reach them in time.

"*Gasp*!" Chris gasped as she could not escape the sword swing aim at her head until someone blocked the path of the weapon, causing a small shockwave.

*CLANG*

The clang echoed out as everyone saw that it was Kenzaki who intercepted the blow. She strained her arms just to hold the attack before pushing the sword down and elbowing the shadowed Ixa R in the face mask and then kicking him away.

"You okay, kid?" asked the armored woman as she turned to the younger girl.

"Kenzaki…san?"

"Honestly, I leave you for ten minutes and suddenly you managed to let this happen." Kenzaki joked though she was wary due to struggling against the strength of the shadowed individual before her.

"How am I responsible?! That black and red idiot grabbed the sword and turned into that!" shouted Chris.

"Wait, this person is Akakishi?" asked the brunette, widening her eyes while turning to Chris before turning back to the shadowed Rider. "That form… it's like what happened to me!"

Then the Rider charged forward again with a glowing Durandal ready to swing. Kenzaki quickly summoned to cards which were a SLASH and a THUNDER.

"Hah!" shouted Kenzaki as she swung her lightning enforced sword.

LIGHTNING SLASH

The clash of blades caused an explosive force of energy that shook the area around the Riders. Kenzaki skidded back from the clash and felt her arms shake.

"Damn… I actually felt that… So this is the strength of Duran-" Kenzaki said while looking up. Inches in front of her, was the shadowed Ixa R wielding Durandal poised to stab. Kenzaki widened her eyes as the sword moved forward towards her head.

*CLANG*

Then a second golden blade swung up and clanged under Durandal, causing the wielder to miss and swing the sword up. Then a back kick smashed into the chest of the shadowed Ixa R and sent him flying into some rubble, burying him in it.

=HYPER CLOCK OVER=

"Didn't I say talking out loud would leave you open?" asked Hyper Kabuto as he stood in front of Kenzaki.

"Yeah. Yeah. Hasn't shut me up yet." Kenzaki snipped back as she stepped forward with her sword resting on her shoulder. "And thanks for the save, Tendou."

"Thank me after we incapacitate Akakishi." Hyper Kabuto stated as he wielded his sword at the ready.

"Gotcha." Kenzaki responded as she wielded her sword at the ready. "Heh, feels like old times, Tendou."

"Hmph. Commander, are you getting this?" asked Kabuto as his helmet was directing a camera feed for the Commander who couldn't see through the debris.

---

"Clear as Crystal, Tendou. Is that really Akakishi?" asked Genjuro who stared at the screen with a bit a sweat dripping down his cheek.

"Yes. It appears that form of his is similar to what happened to Kenzaki." Kabuto stated.

"Kengo here. I believe it's some form of Aufwachen Waveform overload. Ixa R can't handle the energy from the activated Durandal, so it's literally overtaken him. The good news is that removing that Relic should return him to normal. The problem is the removal."

"I see. Thank you, Kengo-kun. Tendou. You and Kenzaki will have to incapacitate Akakishi and retrieve the activated Relic by any means necessary. And do it quickly. There's no telling what sort of damage his core will receive if we let him wield that sword too long."

---

"Understood." The red beetle rider responded.

"RRRAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!" roared out the shadowed Ixa R as he burst through the rubble and charged at the two.

"Ike!" shouted Kenzaki as she charged forward.

"Un." Kabuto nodded and followed her lead.

"S**t! Grab everyone and run!" shouted Faiz as he picked up Shinnosuke onto his shoulders while Crisis held up Yoku and ran.

Hibiki made a distressed face and protested, "Wait, but Aka-"

Natsuko quickly grabbed her arm. "Trust us, Hibiki! You do not want to be anywhere near when those two fight!"

"Waah!" yelped the light brunette as she was pulled from the battle site with the others.

Chris looked ready to stand her ground before Kiba and Chase quickly hooked their arms around hers.

"What?!"

"You're already outmatched so leave it to them!" shouted Kiba as they dragged the protesting girl away from the inevitable crater.

The two veterans charged forward and smashed their blades against Durandal, creating a massive shockwave that shook everything around them.

---

Back on the bridge, Eternal, Kuuga II, and Amelia finished tearing apart the last Large Noise.

"And… That's 499!" yelled Eternal as he sliced down into the Noise, cutting it in half.

"Hah… Hah…" Amelia breathed out as her shaking knees gave out under her. "No more…"

Kuuga also fell on the ground with a tired groan. "I thought training with Mr. Godai in mastering 2000 skills was tough… But this comes close!"

"Come on guys! The mission's not over!" shouted Kanade. "The guys' over there still need help!"

Eternal turned to the redhead and responded, "Kanade, I really doubt it's going to be as bad as what we went-"

*BOOM*

The four turned to the sound and saw a small mushroom cloud form in the distance.

"I stand corrected." The white Kamen Rider announced upon seeing the cloud.

"W-Was that the chemical factory?" asked Amelia who made a horrified expression.

"That isn't a chemical explosion, but whatever happened over there isn't good…" Kuuga II noted.

"Kanade! Eternal! Come in!" Genjuro shouted in the communication line.

"Old man? What's up? Did the transport team get attacked?" asked Kanade as she covered her ear piece.

"Yes! And Durandal has been activated!"

"What?!" shouted Fenrir.

"Isn't… that a good thing?" asked Amelia with a confused tone.

"Not really. Durandal has a lot of legends of being a super powerful sword." Kuuga II noted as he cupped his chin in thought.

*BOOM*

The group turned to the distance as another explosion echoed.

"Especially one where an attempt to break it created a gorge." The beetle Kamen Rider said with a worried tone.

"It what?!" shouted the blond teen with shock.

"Everyone focus! Seems like we've got an out of control Relic to take down! Who's the wielder, Commander?" asked Eternal as he got on his motorcycle.

"Ixa R."

"…Repeat that, sir. I think I misheard." Eternal said with a calm tone.

"Ixa R has gone out of control upon retrieving Durandal. The details are unknown but we do know that he will continue to rampage in the chemical plant." The commander said with a grave tone.

Eternal placed his hand on his mask and groaned loudly.

"What's wrong, Fen?" asked Kuuga II as he got on his motorcycle.

"Aka's in trouble again, Carter. I'll give him the riot act later. First, we need to stop him before he destroys the chemical plant…"

"Un. Oyaji, who's stopping him right now?" asked Kanade.

"Currently, Kenzaki and Kabuto. But they are having trouble." Everyone looked at each other with worried looks with the exception of Amelia who looked worried and confused.

"Okay…" Eternal sucked in some breath at the news. "That's actually really bad."

Amelia soon paled at what the older teen said and worried what they were going to fight against. Then she felt light-headed.

*Bam*

"Amelia!" shouted Kuuga II.

---

The intense battle between the shadowed Ixa R and Kamen Rider Kabuto and Kenzaki could be felt. Ixa R tried to strike one, only to miss and be struck from two different angles. Despite all the punishment he took, Ixa R just got back up or stood strong. Also, there was the major problem that he stubbornly would not release the sword.

"Okay… Just how stubborn is he that he will not to release that sword?" Kenzaki wondered as she ducked under a horizontal sword swing while Hyper Kabuto jumped over to land an overhead strike on the shadowed Rider's shoulder.

"Very, from the looks of it." Hyper Kabuto noted as he quickly evaded a sword wave from Ixa R.

"Got a plan? Because if Akakishi keeps this up, he will blow up the chemical plant along with all of us." Kenzaki pointed out as she evaded easily all of the sword slashes sent her way along with Hyper Kabuto.

"I'm thinking, Kenzaki. The best I can come up with is to match the power of that sword."

"Which is going to be a problem since no one here is strong enough. Heck, we might not be able to build up enough power before he blows this place up!"

"Which is why we need to think… a solution will show itself if we keep fighting." Hyper Kabuto pointed out as they gracefully dodged another sword swing.

---

"They're just… toying with him." Leah muttered in awe at how Kenzaki and Hyper Kabuto were easily evading the shadowed Ixa R's onslaught.

"Humph, with those two, they can handle a berserker like that kid with ease. Especially since they trained him themselves." Faiz stated. "Which gives us time to think of a strategy."

Cryo turned to the red-photon Kamen Rider with an incredulous look. "No offense, Boss. But I don't think we got anything in our belts that can handle Aka. We tried everything."

"Knocking him out didn't work, he tanked everything. Even our finisher attacks." Crisis noted.

"Restraining him didn't work, he just tore them off." Leah added.

"Running him over with two Rider Machines stopped him temporarily." Double (Cyclone) noted. "We might need more."

"…Phillip. How about we try something that won't permanently injure our kouhai?" Double (Joker) stated with a facepalm.

"Unless we can miraculously calm him down, we don't have any other option that won't lead to running him over." Fuyuko said with a sarcastic tone.

"Hm… How about I try talking to him?" Hibiki offered, causing the group to turn to her with shocked looks.

Kiba sighed at the option. "Tachibana-san, while I do not doubt he may hesitate to attack you, none of us want you to risk yourself considering Ixa R's current agitated state."

"RAAAGGGGGGHHHHHH!"

*BOOM*

"But we have to do something! Aka's in pain! I want to help him!" Hibiki insisted.

The group looked at each other with unsure glances before turning to the girl.

Kiba looked both worried and conflicted at the girl's insistence. "If we can get you close enough, can you calm him long enough for us to remove the sword?"

"I can!"

"Tachibana-san. I need you to be sure with this. I can't guarantee your safety against him." Kiba said while holding the girl's shoulders.

"As I said before, I can! I won't let Aka be hurt again! I won't let him suffer alone again!"

Kiba stared at the young girl and smiled reflectively, "If only there were more people like you…"

"Kiba-san?"

"Nothing. Takumi?" The black armored Sympho-rider turned to Faiz.

"I heard ya! So, we're just going for the talking option?"

"I'm not happy about this either. But it's the only one we have left." Kiba pointed out as she stood up with her sword ready. Chase followed her motion with her own sword ready.

"Hibiki, I'm normally all for crazy plans, but how are we supposed to get through that?" Natsuko pointed out that there was still an ongoing battle between the two veterans and Ixa R.

"We'll just need to distract him while discussing our plan to those two." Double (Joker) stated with a serious tone.

"Hey guys? Why's that armored chick charging into that mess?" Cryo asked as he pointed at the Nehustan girl who suddenly ran back into the fighting.

"What?!" Kiba saw the armored girl ran into the fray. "What the hell is she- Forget it, we need to go stop her!"

"Too late, she's got one of those energy orbs ready!" shouted Leah.

"And it's a big one! Hit the deck!" shouted Cryo.

---

"Take this!" shouted the Nehustan girl as she threw the massive orb of energy at Ixa R.

"Chris?!" shouted Kenzaki in shock.

ARME NIRVANA GEDON

The massive energy orb slammed into the shadowed Ixa R and slowly engulfed him. Then an explosion of a larger magnitude took place from the orb, decimating the surrounding area and knocking several of the fighters off their feet. The Kamen Riders quickly protecting their Symphogear partners. Smoke billowed from the crater created by the explosion.

"Hah… Hah… Don't underestimate me! I have a complete Relic as-"

From the smoke, a hand shot out from it and grabbed the girl by the throat. She grabbed the arm but she could not break its hold. As the smoke dissipate, the shadowed Kamen Rider stood before her and lifted her on her feet.

"Rrrrrhhh…" Ixa R growled as he poised the golden sword to stab the girl in the chest.

"Chris! Let go of her!" shouted Kenzaki as she charged at Ixa R.

"Tch!"

=HYPER CLOCK UP!=

"Forgive me, Akakishi. But this has to be done." Hyper Kabuto muttered as he approached the seemingly frozen Kamen Rider.

The red beetle Kamen Rider struck the hand that held the girl, forcing it to loosen its grip and he pressed down on the buttons of his Zecter.

=1! 2! 3!=

"Rider kick."

=RIDER KICK!=

Hyper Kabuto slammed his foot straight into the shadowed Ixa R's chest, sending him flying fast despite the high-speed dimension that the red beetle rider was in.

Time soon resume at a normal pace, Kenzaki caught the girl who was freed while Hyper Kabuto stood in front of them. Ixa R slammed through the closest chimney, leaving a large hole.

=HYPER CLOCK OVER!=

"Ugh!" grunted Kenzaki as she landed on the ground. "Did you get him?"

"Of course. That was the only way to stop him." Hyper Kabuto turned to Kenzaki. "Who is she to you?"

"…A promise." The woman with Spade armor stated with a protective tone.

The armored girl quickly stood up after struggling out of the woman's arms. "Let go of me! I had him!"

Kenzaki was not in the mood for the girl's attitude and grabbed her by the arm to force her to look her in the eye. "No, you didn't! You recklessly put yourself in danger for what? To prove a point? If Tendou hadn't interfered, you would have gotten hurt! Or worse! Is that what you want?"

"…" The younger female turned away and grit her teeth in frustration.

"Just stay out of the way, please. This battle is too-"

Hyper Kabuto stared at the hole that Ixa R crashed through because he felt something was off.

---

Off the side, everyone else stared at the hole with varying degrees of wariness.

"Man, after all of this is over, Aka's probably going to be sore tomorrow." Cryo joked.

"Considering he took a full force Rider Kick from Tendou, I wouldn't be surprised if he's out-cold." Faiz deadpanned.

Kiba gave the two an unamused look. "Are you two seriously joking right now? Ixa R could either be dead or he could be angrier."

"Considering how many times Aka stood back up, I don't think he's going to be down for long…" Hibiki noted with a sweatdrop. Behind her, Chase nodded in agreement with Leah, Natsuko, and Fuyuko.

"Yeah… I think we should be-"

Suddenly, Leah felt heavy chills in her back so badly that she broke out in heavy sweat.

"Leah?!" Cryo held his little sister so she wouldn't fall over.

"We need to run…" The girl said with a fearful tone.

"What?" Cryo didn't hear it correctly but Crisis did.

"WE NEED TO RUN!" The brunette yelled to the gathered group.

Then a beam of red light exploded from the top of the chimney, and everyone realized that the danger just became worse.

"Holy-" Cryo started.

"Move! People! Move!" Double (Joker) shouted.

---

Hyper Kabuto turned to Kenzaki with a warning. "Kenzaki! Run!"

"…! Chris! Move!" shouted Kenzaki as she pulled the girl to her feet.

The blade of red light soon crashed down upon the three as they quickly got out the way.

"Minna! BRACE YOURSELVES!" shouted Kiba as she quickly dragged Hibiki by arm from the zone that was about to be hit.

"Wah!" yelped Hibiki.

Everyone far away also quickly took cover or ran to the side to evade the massive attack.

CATACLYSM GUILLOTINE

The slash cleaved through the opposite building and even split the nearby sea enough that one could see the floor below.

"Ugh! What the hell was that?!" shouted Chris as she landed next to Kenzaki.

"Nothing good. He's gotten serious…" Kenzaki muttered.

"No, it's worse…" Hyper Kabuto noted.

Ixa R soon appeared in front of the three with both hands on the golden sword's grip. As he held it, there was ominous red cracks over his shadowed form.

"He's going critical! He won't be handle that much power any longer!" The red Kamen Rider stated with an urgent tone.

"Let me guess, he's going to go boom?" The girl guessed with a deadpan tone.

"More than that… this island's going to be one big crater if we don't take him down now." Kenzaki stated with a certain tone. "And yes, I'm talking from experience."

"Kenzaki, focus. He's making his move!"

The shadowed Kamen Rider summoned a large amount of chains and smashed them into the ground, creating a massive debris cloud that made it hard to find him.

"A smoke screen?" Kenzaki muttered as she moved her back to Hyper Kabuto with her sword in front of her.

"He's planning to take us out in this next attack…" The red beetle Kamen Rider muttered. "And my Hyper Clock Up is still recharging, so I won't be able to intercept it."

The silver haired girl grit her teeth in frustration. "You got to be kidding! He's still one Kamen Rider! The same weak one who has to rely on others to fight!"

Then she ran out into the cloud out of impatience to fight the berserk Kamen Rider head-on.

"Chris, wait! Kuso!" Kenzaki cursed as she ran after the girl.

Hyper Kabuto also followed the brunette while knowing who Ixa R was likely to attack. "Kenzaki! That girl is the target of his rage!"

"You think I don't know that?! You and I both know that Akakishi always holds a grudge against people who put his friends in danger!"

"Come on out and fight me, you coward!" shouted the girl out of foolhardy arrogance.

In response, Ixa R appeared next to the Nehustan girl, reeling Durandal for another swing and summoning another massive blade of red light. She turned to the sound of the blade igniting the air, but she could not move fast enough to fight back.

"Chris! Habanai!" screamed Kenzaki as she called upon two cards.

MACH

THUNDER

Ixa R swung down on the girl, creating a massive explosion of wind that blew away the smoke cloud he created. Hyper Kabuto was thrown off his feet and crash far from the impact.

CATACLYSM GUILLOTINE

*CLANG*

*SPLISH*

Chris felt a warm liquid on her face but no pain. She slowly opened her eyes and looked up to see Kenzaki standing in front of her but there was a lot of blood falling from the young woman and her sword's blade cleaved in two. She quickly smashed her free fist into Ixa R's abdomen throwing him back.

"Heh… Made it." Kenzaki said with grit-teeth smile despite receiving a massive cut through her chest plate. Then she fell to her knees before turning to the girl behind her. "*Cough* Huff… Huff… You all right, kid?"

"You… Why?" Chris said with a stunned look.

"Didn't I say it before, Chris? I promised that I will protect you, and that's a promise worth keeping!" responded Kenzaki with a reassuring smile. Then she shakily stood up despite the wound.

At that moment, shadowed Ixa R charged forward and swung down Durandal, forcing Kenzaki to block the strike with her broken sword. Then shadowed Rider pushed forward as the armored brunette tried to hold her ground before she punched him in face mask, sending him reeling back. Then she fell to her knees in exhaustion and pain from her injury.

"Even if my body breaks, I will not fail in protecting you." Kenzaki said as she stood up again despite her state.

"Why? Why would you protect me despite my treatment of you?"

"*Chuckle* Because that is who I am. Just a fool willing to protect anyone, even if it meant my suffering. That and I made a promise to protect you." The brunette responded with a confident smile.

"Gr…" The shadowed Ixa R growled as he got back up from being hit.

"Akakishi. I know you can't forgive her for attacking your close friend, but as long as I am around, you will never lay a hand on Chris!" Kenzaki declared as she breathed in.

---

Meanwhile outside of the battlefield, who managed to get close enough to the battle, they saw the pink hue of the sky.

"What is that?" asked Amelia as she stared at the sky

"That's… a Zesshou!" shouted Kanade who recognized the pink hue.

"But who's singing it?!" shouted Kuuga II.

"Never mind that, just focus on getting there!" shouted Eternal as he revved his motorcycle to increase speed.

---

(Insert OST: Superb Song)

Gatrandis babel ziggurat edenal

"…! No…" The girl in the Nehustan armor muttered with shock. "Kenzaki-nii! You can't!"

As Kenzaki sung, her armor glowed and summoned two cards that load into the device on her left gauntlet.

FUSION JACK

EVOLUTION KING

The two cards fused with her being, changing her armor into its golden form with the 13 Cards of the Undead enhancing her.

Emustolronzen fine el baral zizzl

"Ugh!" Hyper Kabuto broke out of the rubble he was thrown into and saw the pink hue of the environment, realizing what it meant as he turned to the sight of the Spade Sympho-Rider singing the Swan Song. "…! Kenzaki!" He shouted as he ran to the woman, time around them slowing to a crawl.

Gatrandis babel ziggurat edenal

As the world around the group was now a pinkish hue, Kenzaki mentally said, "Gomen, Tendou. Seems like we'll have to wait on our next match."

Emustolronzen fine el zizzl

She slowly walked forward with her sword reforming into its golden state, and she reeled it back to strike.

As Kenzaki's sword increased in size, she gave a glance at the group of Symphogear users and Kamen Riders who took notice.

"Tachibana-san…" The black and gold trimmed Sympho-rider called out.

"Un…" Hibiki nodded as she readied herself.

"Forgive… I WILL NEVER FORGIVE!" shouted the shadowed Ixa R as he clashed Durandal against Blade's sword. Then a blood red blade exploded forward against Kenzaki's golden sword.

CATACLYSM GUILLOTINE

The laser blade was split apart into something akin of a laser show but with the lasers being extremely deadly.

"Dodge!" shouted Faiz as the group quickly jumped out of the way of the reflected lasers.

"Ugh! I know this isn't what you wanted… So wake up, AKAKISHI!" The blades created an explosion of light and darkness that blew apart the ground around the group.

FATE DEFIANCE

When the smoke cleared the Kamen Riders and Sympho-Riders slowly stood up and they stared at the sight of the shadowed Ixa R standing still with more red cracks over his dark form. Kenzaki fell to her knees, coughing blood. Ixa R slowly moved forward and held his sword above his head, ready to swing and end the enemy before him.

"Now! Minna!" shouted Kenzaki in defiance as she spat out her blood.

Suddenly, Kiba appeared behind Ixa R and grabbed his lifted arms to stop him from swinging down. Double and the twins helped her restrain one arm while Faiz and the Cryo siblings used a wire to restrain the other. The berserk Kamen Rider struggled weakly against the united grapple hold.

"Tachibana-san!" shouted Kiba as she held the shadowed rider back.

"Hai!" shouted Hibiki as she suddenly entered between Kenzaki and the shadowed Ixa R with her leg readied for one target.

Ixa R saw Hibiki and subconsciously stopped his struggle. At that moment, Chase struck his fingers with the flat end of her sword, loosening his grip.

"IKEEEE!" Then the amber-haired girl kicked as hard as she can into the pommel of the blade, knocking it out of the hands of Ixa R. Kiba and Ixa R fell on their backs as the golden sword flew high into the sky like a shooting star.

"Hurry! Get that sword!" shouted Kiba after pushing off the inert Ixa R and handing him to Hibiki. The group shook out of their stupor and prepared to chase after the sword.

=HYPER CLOCK UP=

Suddenly, Hyper Kabuto quickly appeared near the gold sword before securing it into a spare case. He landed before the group as his speed-up timer ran out.

=HYPER CLOCK OVER=

"Durandal has been secured."

"Hah… Hah… Thank goodness, it's over… It's finally, over…" muttered the black and gold trimmed Sympho-Rider as she fell on her rear.

Everyone seemed to agree and some fell down in exhaustion and from the release of tension.

"Holy crap… not going through that again…" muttered Cryo as he laid on his back.

"Same here, nii-san…" Leah said as she also rested on her back.

Faiz placed his hands on his hips in disagreement. "Oi, you brats shouldn't relax yet. We still have the enemy here." Faiz pointed to Kiba who gave him a dirty look.

"Boss. Look." Crisis pointed to Ixa R which everyone turned to the Kamen Rider as his shadowed form slowly dissipated.

Ixa R's blackened armor soon fell apart to reveal his civilian form though there was obvious signs of damage on his body. Hibiki continued to hold him so that he wouldn't fall over. Unknown to the two, the Black Score in the Ixa R Driver shot out and landed far among the debris.

"Aka…" The girl muttered out to the bruised redhead.

Akakishi opened his eyes slowly and turned to Hibiki with squinted eyes. "Ugh… Hibiki?"

"Daijobu… I'm here, Aka." The girl reassured as she helped him sit down.

"What…happened?" asked the redhead as he placed his hand to his face, trying to recall what happened. "I remember… grabbing the sword…"

"Eto…" Hibiki scratched her cheek while trying to think of something to say. "You might have went a bit out of control."

"A bit?" Akakishi looked up and noticed the amount of damage done to the chemical plant. "What in the world… This… is all my doing?! What did I…"

"*Cough* It's all right now, Akakishi…"

Akakishi turned in the direction of the familiar voice and widened his eyes at what he saw. "Kenzaki… sempai?"

Then the golden and scarlet armored woman was still kneeling as green blood poured from her body. Hyper Kabuto quickly ran to her side after leaving the Durandal Case to Double. Then she fell over and the Red and gold Kamen Rider quickly caught her.

"Kenzaki!"

"Sempai!" shouted Akakishi with distress in his tone.

"Heh, heh… You still- *Cough* call me sempai despite what I have done…" Kenzaki said as blood started to flow out of her eye lids.

"Kenzaki… stay still before help comes." Hyper Kabuto advised as he held her still.

"I do what I want-*Cough*" Kenzaki coughed out more blood.

"SEM-"

"Kenzaki-nii!" shouted the armored girl who ran to Kenzaki before Kiba and Chase who also carried an unconscious Gotou stood in front of her. "?! What are you- Get out of my way!"

"It's too late now! We need to leave! Now!" shouted Kiba who held the girl back from approaching the injured Kenzaki.

"No! We're not leaving her!"

"I know, but I have a feeling we can trust these people to help her."

"No, we can't! That's why we're fighting them!"

"Kid. Get… out of here before they catch you…"

"…! But-"

"That's not a request. Don't worry, I'll be fine… I'm immortal, remember?" The brunette said with a smile to reassure her charge.

The armored girl gritted her teeth before turning around, "Fine. We're leaving. We lost this fight…"

"Understood, young miss."

"Kiba… Chase… Take care of her, all right?" asked Kenzaki.

"Un." Kiba nodded as she turned to Goto with a silent command.

The Cell Medal Rider nodded and summoned another smoke cloud. Soon, the four escaped as Eternal and Kuuga II's vehicles arrived.

"Sorry, we're late! A lot near misses with all of those buildings… Those shockwaves didn't help." Kuuga II apologized as he ran to the group.

"Whoa… Did we miss the party?" wondered Kanade.

"Yeah…" Leah nodded.

"Where's the attacking group?" asked Amelia.

Double approached the arrived four while carrying the case holding Durandal. "They left. Had to with the losses that happened here. The good news, we manage to secure the sword. The bad news…" He turned to the destroyed area and the road ahead. "We won't be able to continue to the Government building."

"Minna! Gomen, we're late!" shouted Fourze before he and Meteor landed near the battlefield. "But we're here to help… Wait, the battle's already over?"

"Yeah… But with a casualty…"

"Casualty?" Fourze walked to the group and saw the wounded Kenzaki. "Ah! What happened to her?"

"A long story, Kisaragi." Kabuto stated before he approached the space Rider. "Can you bring out your medical tools?"

"Oh! Sure, sempai!"

=MEDIC ON!=

A yellow medical kit formed onto Fourze's left arm. He opened it and pulled out a syringe. "Here, one syringe full of healing Cosmic Energy."

"Thank you." Kabuto said before he took the needle and then stabbed it into Kenzaki's arm. Some of her injuries started to close and her bleeding slowed.

"Huh, that's some potent stuff." Eternal praised and then he turned to Fourze. "Could've used that stuff during our rougher battles back then."

"Then you don't have to worry now, Sempai." Fourze bumped his chest.

"So what's the plan now, Vice Commander?" asked Meteor since they still had a mission to complete.

"We retreat back to base. We have wounded and we have already received enough injuries from this disaster." Kabuto stated as he turned to the members who had to be supported by their allies due to their injuries. The Faiz group in particular received the brunt of the fight against Ixa R.

"Yeah… But what the hell happened here? What made Kenzaki use the Zesshou?" Eternal said as he turned to the seriously injured state of Kenzaki.

"Akakishi." Kabuto stated as he gestured to the shell-shocked Akakishi.

"Aka, stay with me." Hibiki said as she helped the redhead sit down.

"I… Kenzaki-sempai… Did… I do that to her?" asked Akakishi with a horrified face upon realizing who he attacked when he was unconscious.

"She'll be fine, Aka. Vice Commander is already attending to her. And it wasn't your fault, it was the sword." Hibiki assured him.

Akakishi turned to Hibiki with a distressed look and muttered, "But that doesn't change the fact that I was the one to do it."

"Akakishi." Hyper Kabuto approached the pair with the redhead in focus.

"Master! Is-"

The red Kamen Rider held a hand up as a command to tell the young man from standing up. "She's stable. But I need to know, did you notice anything wrong when you wielded Durandal?"

"No… I… don't remember…" Akakishi shook his head since his memories were just a blur from his sudden change into his berserk form.

Hyper Kabuto nodded. "I see… For now, get some rest. The Commander has already called for an evac group for everyone."

"Hai, Master." Akakishi nodded as he went back to his solemn expression before realizing something. "Ah! My Bond Score with Hibiki!" He looked at his belt and realized that the Score was missing from the slot.

Eternal stopped the redhead from standing up. "Don't worry, Aka. I'll go look for it. Just rest. You had a rough day."

"Okay, big bro."

"Let me help, Fen. Another pair of eyes could speed up the process." Kanade offered as she followed Eternal.

"Thanks, Kanade."

The two leave the pair as the Second Division now gathered along with medical staff arriving to help the injured. Genjuro's helicopter landed and Kabuto debriefed him on the situation.

---

"So a lot changed, but there are still mysteries to solve…" muttered Genjuro as he stared at Kenzaki's loading into an ambulance. Kageyama was also loaded into a different ambulance due to her injuries fighting Ixa R.

"But we do know the name of that girl… Chris." Hyper Kabuto stated with a serious tone.

"Chris? Are you sure that is the name of that girl with the stolen armor?" asked the Commander as he turned his second with an alert look.

"Yes. It appears that Kenzaki's last mission had more involvement than we realize…"

---

Nearby, a certain space Kamen Rider overhead the name with a certain recognition.

"Chris?" Fourze repeated before an image of a little girl with purple eyes and a happy smile instantly formed in his mind. "Wait… It can't be…"

Double (Cyclone) took notice of Fourze's reaction and placed a hand on his should. "Kisaragi-kun? Is something wrong?"

"I… It's nothing, sempai…" Fourze said though the name continued remind him of a certain girl whose features match the Nehustan girl. "It can't be… It just can't… Chris-chan couldn't be the same one… Could she?"

The space Kamen Rider stared at the night sky, unknowing what to do next.

---

"Hey! I think I found it!" shouted Kanade as she picked up the Black Score.

"Kanade, that's not their Bond Score. I think that's Durandal's Score." Eternal pointed out as he took the Score that played a part in the mess.

"Well, at least we managed to find it. Otherwise, who knows what would happen if the enemy-"

The Score sparked with dark energy before breaking apart, revealing the Gungnir Bond Score underneath.

"Huh?!" The two stared at the Score before looking at each other with concern.

They turned to Hibiki and Akakishi, where the light brunette was comforting the redhead, unknown to the revelation from the Score.

---

(God Eater Ost: God and Man)

Instrumental

Akakishi was seen laying on a tree in a ruined field covered in flames as his eyes reflected the night sky. He held his Reverse Knuckle but he appeared to be on his last legs since the light in his left eye was dimming.

/Memories keep flooding in showing the paths I should've taken, but

now that time has run away from me I cannot change a thing./

The scene shifts to Eiji who lied on the ground of a hill staring at the same starry sky while gripping two halves of a Red Medal. Next to him, Tsubasa sat on her motorcycle and looked up to the night sky while holding her relic necklace.

/I remember how you'd counsel me with wisdom of the ages true:

"Live your best life" you told me and "You walk the earth but once"/

Kanade was seen standing on top of a roof while looking at the sky with longing eyes. At her side sat Fenrir who stared at the stars as he held his Eternal Memory in his right hand.

/and now you've come, to see me once again,

I feel safe at last; Although I feel the end is coming closer unto me./

Tendou was seen looking at the sky on a cliff while the Kabuto Zecter sat on his shoulder. In the shadows behind him was Kenzaki who also stared at the starry skies.

/If I could only travel back in time, to peaceful days gone by./

Chris gazed at the sky from a mansion window with a look of melancholy. The camera changed views to Gentarou in the streets who was looking at the starry sky with a smile.

/But this is my price to pay: to not survive beyond this very day./

Carter sat on his motorcycle leaning forward with his elbows on the handlebars. Amelia sat behind him with her back leaning on his. The two partners also stare at the sky full of stars.

/Oh, the pain is lessened when you're near, there is no fear.

I'm whole again as in days gone by, if only for a while./

Shotaro rested his arms on a guard rail while staring at the sky with Natsuko at his side also staring at the stars. Behind them was Phillip who peered into a telescope while Fuyuko stared at the drawings of the constellations he drew.

/But it hurts to have to leave you so, I don't want to go./

Yoku was seen sitting on a bench stargazing with Shinnosuke who was laying on the meadow with smiles on their faces.

/Could this sacrifice cost me my life?/

Leah stood on a terrace while staring at the sky with her brother Liam and Lian at her sides. Behind them sat Takumi who also stared at the sky.

/Oh, just to live my life again, to treasure every little moment then,

satisfied, I'd leave you all behind, accepting of my fate./

Akakishi smiled a bit before slowly closing his eyes in peace as the light of his cybernetics slowly dim to black.

/But I am full of grief, to leave this life so incomplete.

My dream is coming to the end./

Then a hand held his hand and he opened his eyes while feeling the energy it granted. He opened his eyes to see Hibiki with a relieved look before pulling him to his feet. Akakishi was taken by surprise but stood up with a smile. They turn to see their friends and allies approach with smiles on their faces as the dawn of morning came. The scene then fades to a white.

At that moment it transitions to Akakishi sleeping in a pod showing that he smiled from the dream as a tear fell down.

---

One verse ends and the Shattered Symphony sings to the next:

Beliefs are questioned

"How can I protect when all I do is hurt those close to me?" Akakishi asked himself as he placed his head in his arms.

Suspicions are raised

"Could Hibiki have been the cause? Or Gungnir?" wondered Fen as he held the Gungnir Bond Score which sparked with dark energy.

And an inevitable encounter

"You!" Akakishi turned to the Nehustan Girl as she stood at a higher elevation.

"Yes… And this time… No second chances." Chris muttered as she summoned an orb.

Next time on Kamen Rider Ixa R: The Will to Protect

"Aka?" Miku muttered while staring at the face from within the broken mask.

---

Author's Note: Okay… I'm just frustrated how long I took, but I'm glad I like to point out… You can't deflect a sword that was fabled for creating a gorge with just a Rider Finisher!

Sorry that I took too long, this chapter had me questioning how I choose position the characters and how to show that not everyone will be pushed over just because the main character went ballistic from the power.

I'm just glad to be done with it.

I'll try to get the next few chapters out so that I could reach the end of Season 1 of Symphogear.