"This must be the place." Bayonetta said as she and the group looked at the large temple in the distance. As they made their way and began crossing the bridge before an unnatural sandstorm appeared and destroyed the path.
"'Haste makes waste,' is it? Detours aren't my style, but I suppose there's no choice." Bayonetta said.
"Guys, look over there!" Klonoa said, pointing to a revealed hidden path part of the way they came. They made their way through, and upon reaching the other side, they saw the sky was red and there were multiple familiar avian infernals perched up on parts of the rocky area. "Whoa…that's a lot of birds."
"Are those all who I think they are?" Lysithea asked.
"A whole flock of Malphas." Simon said.
"I'd recognize the rancid air of Inferno anywhere…an unexpected chill in the middle of the desert." Bayonetta said as a temple with vines from Inferno latched onto it came into view. The group climbed their way to the top as they saw an image of B3 and a much larger version of Malphas hovering over her as a vision soon entered the group's minds.
"What was it that Jeanne used to say… 'Your lack of conviction is your weakness.' Here's the proof of my conviction…" B3 said as she stood on a circle and held her left arm out before cutting it as blood dropped onto the circle and activated it as multiple hands popped out and latched onto B3 as she looked up with a determined expression. "ZILDAR VPAAH!" she chanted as a red pillar shot into the sky and formed a magic circle as flying out of it was a much larger Malphas as it hovered over B3 as she brandished her dual fans. "I'm coming, Jeanne." she said as the vision soon ended.
A magic circle formed on the same spot as Bayonetta stepped onto it. "ZILDAR VPAAH!" she chanted as a pillar shot into the sky and formed a circle as popping out of it was the large Malphas as it possessed a pair of trailing fabric ribbons attached to its wings and the majority of its body appeared to be a pale blue-grey.
HARBINGER OF FINALITY
MALPHAS
Malphas then dived down towards Bayonetta before disappearing in a flock of feathers as its symbol appeared on her back.
"This should make getting around a breeze." Bayonetta said just as Homunculi appeared before they were soon dealt with help from Malphas as it was seen circling around and flying towards the group as Bayonetta leaped into the air and jumped onto it, and the group soon following as they flew into the eye of the storm and landed on the other side of the temple. "Sometimes the scenic route actually pays off."
"You call this the scenic route?!" Chris questioned.
"Welcome, Arch-Eve Origin. I trust you and your companions are having a pleasant journey?" Singularity was heard saying.
"It seems someone would rather we weren't. Perhaps you've got something more interesting in store?" Bayonetta asked as she and the group walked into the temple.
"Always gotta be a thrill seeker, don't you Bayonetta?" Connor asked.
"Oh, don't tell me you're all not enjoying this." Bayonetta asked.
"Are you kidding? I'm never around all the time when the Hero Alliance has all the fun." Connor said.
"Well on the bright side, at least this adventure will help us become stronger before we head back to our multiverse." Kiana said.
"Yes, I'm finding this exciting myself." Simon said.
The group then began making their way through before entering a room as a Volutus charged in from a part above as the group managed to defeat it before continuing on and entering a larger room that had the wind flowing through and several strange large windmills scattered around.
"Still windmills don't do much for the decor." Bayonetta said.
"Let's get them spinning again." Narve said. "Although these ones might be a bit hard for my Windstorm to blow through…"
"Save your magic for the rough stuff, my dear." Bayonetta said. "ZILDAR!" she chanted, summoning Malphas as it flew around and released a gust of wind with its wings onto each of the windmills as the door ahead slid open, allowing the group to proceed. The group made their way through the temple, fighting through more Homunculi and avoiding traps as they soon reached a room that was filled to the brim with gold and treasure.
"Get a load of all this gold!" Travis said. "Nami's missin' out on this haul."
"Quite a collection… Enzo might actually shut up for once if he saw this." Bayonetta said.
"Don't get any ideas yourself, Travis. We're not here to steal anything from a counterpart of Bayonetta." Lysithea said.
"You're no fun, Lysithea…" Travis slumped.
"Ooh, look up there!" Klonoa said as the group looked up to the top of a set of stairs to see a Chaos Gear floating on the altar. "Is that one of the Chaos Gears you guys mentioned?"
"Looks like it. Guess the Homunculi haven't got to it yet." Ragna said.
"We should grab it before they get here though." 9S recommended.
Just then a barrier appeared as a Cumulonimbus spawned in front of them.
"Yep, always knew things like this are never easy." Kiana said.
"Oh, come on!" Hilda said.
The group quickly dealt with the Homunculus as the barrier was soon dispelled, allowing the group to walk up the steps as the Chaos Gear floated down into Bayonetta's hand.
"And that makes four…quite a handful, these." Bayonetta said before putting it away as she and the group walked down the steps. "If all this effort doesn't make for a happy ending, I'll have some harsh words for that girl. Even more so if she's not keeping an eye on Luka. For some reason that kitty is scratching around in my mind. What has come over me?"
"No idea. You've never met her before in your life, right?" Raphael asked.
"Not in the slightest." Bayonetta said.
"Yet she knew us in her world." Ace said. "Makes you wonder how similar her world is to ours."
Just then the whole room began to shake before a hole opened in the floor as the group fell through just before Simon and Bayonetta activated witch time around the area.
"I thought this was all a bit too easy." Bayonetta said. "ZILDAR VPAAH!" she chanted, summoning Malphas as the group hopped onto it and began flying their way through the cavern.
(Cue- The Flying Demon- Bayonetta 3)
"We'll focus on any obstacles in our path, you just focus on flying us out of here, Cereza." Simon said.
And so they did, breaking through any crystals in their way to get to the end of the tunnel. Malphas even helped out with his talons, feather-like missiles and his whole body. Jus then multiple Stratus that were latched onto parts of cavern then flew after the group before they were shot down as Malphas then flew upward as a new type of Homunculus appeared and attacked the Infernal, causing the group to lose balance and fall off as they slid down a sand stream.
"I think we just met one of the Homunculi leaders attacking this world." Lei said as the group saw Malphas fighting it. They reached the end of the sand stream and jumped back onto Malphas as the new Homunculus chased after them and used lightning attacks. Just as it attacked, Malphas threw a piece of rubble just as the Homunculus closed in before firing a barrage of feathers at it. Malphas continued flying as it was then hit with another lightning attack before the Homunculus leaped at Malphas and chomped into it, causing the group to fall off and land on a large platform of some sort as Malphas' symbol disappeared from Bayonetta's back.
(end song)
"It's pretty dark in here." Al said.
Bayonetta approached the edge of the platform and touched a barrier of some sort as it appeared and traced her hand along it before pulling out her guns and firing, only to have no effect.
Just then rumbling was heard as torches slowly began to light up.
"Find what you were looking for?" Singularity asked. "You all won't be the last people destroyed by greed." he said as the group got a good look at two identical Homunculi. The one on the left had purple armor as its humanoid body resembles a female centaur with blank facial features save for a canid-shaped helmet, talismans covering its breasts, along with a defined midriff, with its right arm being humanoid and the left arm draconic. The outlines of Stratus homunculi can be seen behind the humanoid torso's back, and on the dorsal ridge of the draconic head, along with the hind legs. The draconic head itself features white fangs, a green tongue, and a black armored snout with pink ribbons flowing right behind the head.
The lower draconic body is entirely covered in black chitinous scales, save for the joints at the limbs, along with a sharp, segmented tail. The one on the right had white armor and had its humanoid arm and draconic arm on the opposite.
Heavy Tandem Combat Unit
CIRROSTRATUS
CIRROCUMULUS
The group then turned to see a figure in the shadows on the platform next to them as stepping out of it was Jeanne B3.
"Princess?" Jeanne B3 asked as she ran forward before being stopped by a similar barrier. "Curse this damned wall!" she said before using her spear to try and attack it to no avail.
"Relax, Jeanne. I'm not your princess, but my friends and I did promise our mutual friend that we'd come for you." Bayonetta said.
"Risking your existence for the sake of another… You all clearly have no understanding of your parts in all of this. Ignorance makes you all weak." Singularity said as Cirrocumulus landed on Jeanne B3's platform and Cirrostratus onto the groups.
"I think we do know what we're doing. Stopping you and Tormal from tearing the Colorverse apart." Connor said.
"Sounds like someone has led a rather solitary life, doesn't it?" Bayonetta asked.
"Indeed. And we'll waste no more time on this foolishness!" Jeanne B3 agreed.
"I think not, Arch Eve. You'll be keeping me company until the very end. Now…let your oblivion be defined." Singularity as the twin Homunculi latched back onto the outer pillar and both the group and Jeanne B3 readied themselves for battle.
(Cue- Catastrophe- Bayonetta 3)
Several Homunculi then appeared as Mari took note of the platforms the group and Jeanne B3 were on as they resembled scales.
"Simon, Bayonetta, you both need to be careful when summoning Infernals on this platform because the weight will shift and cause the one we're on to sink into the clouds below and if we don't put weight on this one, it will cause Jeanne's to sink." Mari said.
"So we can't let this side get too light or Jeanne's in trouble." Bayonetta said.
"Might be a bit hard because there's a lot of us on the scale already." Giovanna noted.
"Not if I have anything to say about it. APACHANA NAPTA!" Simon chanted as Hekatoncheir's hands appeared, three of each flying under both platforms and holding them in place.
"Good thinking, Simon. That will hold the platforms in place." Maria complimented.
"Just keep me covered while I do my thing." Simon said as he danced.
"Understood!" Seele complied as she and the rest of Team XDR attacked the Homunculi while protecting Simon.
After the minions were dealt with, Cirrostratus and Cirrocumulus joined the fight themselves. Cirrostratus onto Jeanne's, and Cirrocumulus onto the groups.
"Here comes the big fish." Zero said.
"I think some of us should support Jeanne, just in case." Vent advised.
"We can't, not with the barrier still up!" Lysithea said, avoiding Cirrocumulus's lighting breath and counterattacking using Swarm Zephyr.
"Tch… forgot about that." Vent noted, supporting Lysithea with charge shots from his ZX-Busters.
"We'd better finish this fast and find a way to help her with Cirrostratus before she gets caught!" Mai said as she stabbed Cirrocumlus with her spear.
After some damage was done, the twin Homunculi jumped back onto the center pillar and switched to opposite platforms.
"They switched dance partners!" DW noted with Cirrostratus now their opponent, Cirrocumulus now tangling with B3 Jeanne.
"Damn, these two really know how to fight in sync!" A2 said, dealing heavy slashes with her Type-4O Blade.
"I guess that's to be expected with twin Homunculi." 9S said, perfectly dodging an attack from Cirrostratus before countering with an explosive blast from Pod 153.
"Dark Hold!" Zero called, stopping time around the Cirrostratus as his Z-Saber grew in size. "You're finished!" he said, gliding through and impaling it.
"And here's another one from me!" Vent yelled with his ZX-Buster Sword in his hands and delivered a plunge attack from above onto Cirrostratus. "Zero, one more for good measure?"
"Yeah, let's go!" Zero said as the two Hunters delivered a double X-slash onto Cirrostratus.
The twin Homunculi switched one last time as Jeanne B3 finished off Cirrostratus While Bayonetta fired a few shots at Cirrocumulus before sending it falling into the clouds below with Madama's heel as the barrier soon dispelled.
(end song)
"That takes care of that…" Avlora said as the group looked to B3 Jeanne, but suddenly Cirrostratus' body started twitching.
"Alert: Life signs still detected in enemy." 042 said.
"Oh crap, Cirrostratus was playing dead!" Connor said as he instinctively fired off a shot from one of his revolvers, which Jeanne B3 avoided, as the bullet hit the homunculus' draconic hand only for it to still grab Jeanne and began to assimilate her.
"Jeanne!" Bayonetta said as she and the ranged members aimed at Cirrostratus, but hesitated to fire.
"Forget about me. You've all got to kill this beast…and me. Do it now!" Jeanne B3 said.
"You die, this world dies!" Connor said.
"Quickly, damn it! Please…" Jeanne B3 pleaded.
Just then, a harpy demon flew past them and sliced through both the Cirrostratus and Jeanne B3 before landing on the platform behind them as it was revealed to be B3.
"Forgive me…my weakness failed you again…" B3 said.
"No… you've grown stronger than you know…Cereza…" Jeanne B3 said as she breathed her last along with Cirrostratus as B3 looked at the group. But just then, Cirrocumulus popped out of the fog below, revealing itself to not be dead either, as it began devouring its own twin.
"Eww! What the heck is it doing, eating its own partner like that?!" HIlda gagged.
"Fusion maybe?" Starlight guessed.
The Cirrocumulus finished devouring Cirrostratus before diving into the clouds below as lightning crackled from it.
"Starlight's right, we've seen this before! If a high-level homunculus absorbs the power of an Umbra Witch, then…!" Giovanna said as snake-like heads began rising out of the clouds.
B3 then acted swiftly. "ZILDAR VPAAH!" she chanted, summoning Malphas as she hopped onto it and flew towards the group as they hopped on as well. "I'm not the woman I used to be. Now watch, Jeanne…. I'll never bow to anyone again…not even myself!"
The group rode on Malphas as they escaped the underground temple. They soon burst out of the ground with their new pursuer hot on their tail.
Having devoured its partner with Jeanne B3 inside, the group bore witness to the new foe right before them. Its cyan body is made out of fused Strati and ornate, armor-like chitinous parts. It has a perpetually upturned canid headdress, revealing its eye and protecting a weak point on top of the headdress. It has four snake-like appendages serving as arms. Stratocumulus' body is decorated with pink, cloth-like strips of energy, with multiple serving as a mock "veil" over a weak point on its torso. A flower-like growth resembling the one seen on Iridescent on its back appears to be its main core.
Giga Cryptid Decisive Unit
STRATOCUMULUS
The group then saw Tormal on Stratocumulus' shoulder.
"Singularity… what's going on? Killing the Jeanne of this world this time should have precursor this world's destruction." Tormal said.
"It is as if this world rejects its destiny. Unless… Could there be a new Arch-Eve?" Singularity asked.
That's when the group realized it. B3, having found her resolve to be defiant towards her timidness and apprehension, inherited the title of Arch-Eve from Jeanne B3.
"(I'm glad you found the resolve to fight, just like how I did thanks to her.)" Maria thought with a smile before briefly glancing at Serena who smiled back.
"You're right about that fog face." Hitomi said. "Now your fake body there's got the unfortunate luck of facing down two really pissed-off Umbra Witches!"
"You've fucked up big time." Simon said. "Go for it, Cereza." he said.
"DO O IA BAYONETTA! CNILA D COMSELHA ODO ANANAEL!" Bayonetta said, opening a summon circle in the sky as Phantasmaraneae fell out of it. "MALPRG ROR MICAOLI IALPON ILS! FAFEN NIIS!" she said, pulling out her heart as the blood dropped onto the Infernal before it was engulfed in a purple light, its appearance now changed as the spikes on its body became crescent moons and now had horns on its lower body as it now emitted purple flames.
IGNITER OF CREATION
THE PHANTOM
"Listen well, mistress and company! This superheated body can only last a few minutes!" The Phantom said.
"We've got five minutes." 9S said, forming a digital countdown timer.
"Plenty of time.'' Connor said.
"Five minutes is all we need." Kiana smirked.
"Especially with Malphas helping too." Simon said.
"Feel the rage of Malphas!" B3 said.
"For Jeanne!" Bayonetta added.
"Allow me to sing for you! Joule, a little help please?" Maria requested.
"You got it, Maria!" Joule complied, appearing beside Gunvolt, flew above Maria and showered her, The Phantom and Malphas with Septima sparkles from her wings.
"Feelin' a bit inspired to sing after seein' B3 cast off her doubts?" Connor asked Maria.
"Yes. I was just like her during the time Carol and the Autoscorers threatened our world." Maria replied. "In order to properly combat the one that attacked me, I had to use a repaired Airgetlam relic, the one Serena, who was a spirit at the time, gave me during the Frontier incident. Like the other Bayonetta said, I'm no longer the woman I used to be, and will fight to protect everyone's faith, including myself."
"Maria-neesan…" Serena whispered.
"Alright then, guess that means it's showtime!" Connor said.
"Let's do this." Ace said.
"Your stage now, Maria! Go for it!" Zi-O cheered.
(Cue - Shirogane no Honō *keep the faith* -Symphogear XV)
Once the music begins to play, auras began to flare up onto the Bayonettas, The Phantom and Malphas due to the combination of an Attuned song with Joule's Muse Septima.
Once Maria began her lyrics, the phantom started attacking the chest from below with his super-heated claws, homing missiles from his lower body, and a firey beam of death. Stratocumulus took a lot of damage from those attacks and soon started protecting itself from The Phantom's onslaught.
"Damn it! A filthy barrier blocks my flame!" The Phantom said.
"Well take it from here, Phantom!" Ignatz called as Malphas swooped in for himself and everyone onboard to attack. "Everyone, attack the sphere on its head!" he said, shooting an arrow at it.
"Take this!" Axl said, pulling out his Ray Gun and firing a laser at it.
"I'll back you up!" Kiana provided support with bullet fire from her Water Spirit pistols along with Vent firing charge shots from his ZX-Busters.
Amber and Dark Water blasted the Orb with a double Stingray barrage, which was followed up by 2B initiating 042's Laser Program firing three lasers with her two additional Pods.
Malphas tried to join in by firing his feather missiles, but Stratocumulus blocked with another type of shield.
"No effect… Is that a barrier?" B3 asked.
"Let's see it block THIS!" Hilda said as she leaped off of Malphas and right towards Stratocumulus' head. "Apocalyptic Flame!" she called before grunting and swinging Freikugle, shattering the weak spot on Stratocumulus's head in a firey explosion as it was sent tumbling to the ground.
"Phantom, there's another weakspot on its back! Go for it while it's down!" Noel called.
"Understood!" The Phantom said as it crawled along one of Stratocumulus' arms and struck at the weak point at its back until it recovered and Phantom jumped off. "Wind riders, there's no time to lose!"
"He's right, we only have two minutes and twenty seconds." 9S said.
"Lets give this thing all it can handle then!" Travis said.
Both Phantom and Malphas attacked from above and below, switching as Stratocumulus defended with barriers and used its snake arms to attack with ground shockwaves and fireballs in the air.
"Hurry, tamer of winds. I'm almost at my limit!" The Phantom said.
"Go for the prelude to the big finish, Maria!" Hilda said.
"With pleasure." Maria replied. "Serena?"
"Yes, let's end this together!" Serena replied back as the two Cadenzavna sisters summoned numerous copies of their Armed Gears and launched them upon Stratocumulus like a raging storm.
TWINKLE†RIVERRAY
Stratocumulus couldn't take the onslaught and was stunned, heavily wounded.
(Music Shift: Get to the Climax!- Bayonetta 3)
This gave The Phantom the perfect chance to race up Stratocumuslus's back and go right for its core. He began glowing blue as he began to crack.
"The endless flame that courses through me…can no longer be controlled!" The Phantom said as Bayonetta collapsed to one knee.
"Uh, what exactly does that mean?" Makoto asked.
"It means he's gonna blow!" Travis said.
"Everybody out, now!" Tsubasa shouted as Malphas flew away.
"Impressive, Arch-Eve. To think you contained such power inside." Singularity said.
"And such faith in each other too… but how long will that last? Who will betray you down the line?" Tormal asked before disappearing as The Phantom soon exploded, taking Stratocumulus with him.
The group couldn't get out of the explosion in time, as everyone was sent flying. The explosion turned into a black hole, sucking the group in.
"A black hole?!" Mei gasped.
"I didn't think getting sucked into the event horizon was how I would actually go out!" Connor said.
Just then, five figures appeared, revealed to be Baril, Pedrol, Natyal, Rugul, and Rime.
"Baril! Get them!" Rugulu said.
"Right!" Baril said, forming gigantic stone hands from the rocky formations in the area as they caught all of the group.
"Boy are we glad to see you guys!" Hilda said.
"Baril, I had no idea you could create something so huge!"
"Ngh… forming earth creations on a scale this massive is tolling." Baril said. "Please, hurry Natyal!"
"Chien-Pao, you and other Three Treasures of Ruin please help guide the others to safety." Natyal said as her Perfect Link and Pokemon team did so.
"Wait, where's Bayonetta?!" Connor asked over the winds as they saw Bayonetta falling too close to the event horizon. "Not good, she's gonna get sucked in!"
But B3 would not allow it. She flew on Malphas before leaping across the rubble being sucked in and jumped out as she grabbed onto Bayonetta's hand and spun her towards Malphas before throwing her weapon as well. The added boost put Bayonetta onto Malphas's back, as B3 offered herself to the black hole instead.
"B3! No!" Noel called.
"Jeanne…did you see? I won…" B3 said as she soon fell into the black hole.
"Another version of Bayonetta gone…" Gunvolt whispered. "...God gacking damn it!"
"GV…" Joule whispered, already back inside Gunvolt's relic necklace.
It wasn't long before Malphas was flying the others back to Thule.
"There's still a chance we can stop this. We only have one Chaos gear left to find, and then it's off to the Alphaverse to stop both Tormal and Singularity." Giovanna said.
"Even if another Bayonetta dies?" Zi-O questioned.
"Zeo, the hardest part about this job you're gonna learn is… we can't save everyone." Connor said.
"Connor's right." Ace said. "I thought at first we could save anyone…but I learned that we couldn't the hard way in the end."
Zi-O sighed. "...Kinda figured you guys would say that. But you're right. The least we can do is to save as many as we can. And I'm not planning to give up just yet."
"And the best way to do that is to stop Tormal and Singularity before more people lose their lives." Starlight stated.
"Yeah." Zi-O nodded. "They won't get away with this. It's only a matter of time before we give them their just desserts. And I've got an ace in the hole with their names on them."
"We also need to find Spade. He wasn't anywhere in that world either." Noel said.
"We gotta find him soon, or else something bad might happen to him. Pursuing Tormal like this isn't healthy… but I don't get it. You guys made sure he wasn't gonna do anything rash?" Connor asked. "Do any of you know what happened that made him go after Tormal recklessly like this?" he asked the Shadow Knights, now all together.
"I'm sure you all remember Oersted's warning to us, before he faded away two months ago." Rugul said.
"Yeah. Word for Word." DW typed. "In every heart, the seed of dark abides. The Makings of a lord when watered well."
"With hate, sweet hate. She springs eternal." Connor continued.
"Sings… All-tempting draught. We'll drink of her again." Ace finished. "Is that what's happening to Spade?"
"Yes. Orested's warning dictated that even though Odio was defeated, enough hatred could reincarnate him into another vessel." Rugul said.
"And in the months that followed after his defeat, Spade was determined, with no more distractions, to finally end the nightmare plaguing him and us for all these years." Natyal said. "He wants nothing more than to kill Tormal, but… before we set out with him to find him, Rime had another vision."
"It was horrifying. The minute Spade cut down Tormal, his curse wore off and our anchor to the mortal plane vanished." Rime said.
"Thats right! Tormal's curse is Soul Container." Noel said. "He can mark any number of souls and create bodies for them as well. Xiaomei told us the only way to break the curse is to kill him but… that means…"
"The second Tormal dies, the Shadow Knights will cease to be able to exist in our world and pass on to the afterlife." Giovanna said. "Spade will think he'll finally be able to save everyone by killing Tormal, but in reality… he'll fail to save the people he considers his closest comrades."
"And that will be the tipping point for Spade." Connor said. "Just like Oersted. He'll lose everything. So that's what he's been after the whole time! He wants to turn Spade into a Lord of Dark!"
"But how would Tormal know about Odio and how he works?" Makoto said.
"Because Tormal IS Odio from another dimension." Ace realized. "Now it all makes sense."
"But… what made Tormal that way?" Noel asked.
"Why don't we track him down in the next world and find out?" Connor asked, before looking to the Shadow Knights. "And don't worry. We'll find a way to save you guys and make sure you keep living."
"Thank you. All of you." Rugul said. "You changed our fate once already by severing us from Tormal's control and ensuring Spade didn't have to kill us endlessly."
"Let's go help him then." Simon said.