Tokyo Woods


A little over a week has passed since Maria and Miku's encounter with the mysterious wielder of the Nehushtan Armor. While the former would still be taking it easy due to her wounds, the latter instead used the week to become stronger, but unlike before where she kept to her own devices, she sought out Shinji Ogawa, one of Section Two's best agents, to train her. While she struggled to get the hang of Ogawa's training initially, over the past few days, Miku had been improving her senses, speed, and overall agility as the lessons continued, and today, she was determined to prove that her training was paying off.


In a forest area close to Lydian, Miku sat on the ground, meditating next to a wooden training sword. She calmly sat still with her eyes closed, slowly breathing in and out as she listened to the sounds of nature surrounding her. She listened to the sounds of animals scurrying about, bugs and birds chirping as they flew by, the wind blowing around her... and the sound of footsteps swiftly and softly approaching her.

Hearing that noise, Miku's eyes shot open as she quickly grabbed the wooden sword and blocked the attack from Ogawa. The combatants exchanged a look between each other before they engaged in a proper sword fight, where they were mostly matched blow for blow, even though Ogawa was still able to outpace the Wielder and force her onto the defensive for brief moments in the fight. Seeing that the tide of battle was no longer in her favor, Miku had an idea on how she could fix that.

Thinking quickly, Miku backed away from Ogawa and, once she had enough distance between herself and the agent, she snapped her sword in two, holding the now sharp-tipped sword in her hand as she stashed the broken tip in her pocket. Ogawa was confused by Miku's action, but couldn't think about her intentions for long as she charged at him, forcing the agent to dodge her barrage of slashes. While she was unable to land a hit on Ogawa, Miku still managed to get the agent right where she wanted him.

While Ogawa was distracted, Miku switched to a single-handed grip on her sword and pulled out the broken tip of the sword, throwing it close enough to Ogawa for the tip to miss his body and stick into the ground behind him, causing the agent to suddenly both stop his retreat and hinder his agility as he was stuck in place. Confused, he looked back and saw the broken tip from Miku's blade, making his eyes go wide as he realized what the Wielder had managed to pull off.

Shadow Weaving

With her opponent immobilized, Miku switched back to a two-handed grip on her sword as she rushed towards Ogawa to deal one strike to his stomach that knocked him flat on his back. Ogawa reeled from the hit for a second, before looking up to see Miku standing over him with her broken sword pointed right at his face, as she had a serious expression on her own.

"Yield." Miku said in a very serious tone, keeping direct eye contact with Ogawa.

The agent however, did not give a serious stare back, but rather, a warm smile and a slight chuckle. "Well done, Miku-san." He said, holding out his hand to ask for help back up onto his feet, which Miku gladly took as she helped her teacher up. "You've made impressive strides in your training, and it's only been a little over a week since we started!"

Miku chuckled, blushing from Ogawa's praise. "What can I say? I have an amazing teacher."

"If you're able to learn the basics this fast, I can't wait to see how you'll improve after you learn the more advanced techniques!" Ogawa said, which made Miku freeze.

"Th-That was just the basics...?" Miku asked nervously.

"Of course!" Ogawa replied. "You didn't think proper ninja training was going to be that easy now, did you?"

"I... I mean... Well..." Miku stumbled on her words, which made Ogawa chuckle.

"There's no need to be ashamed of thinking like that, Miku-san. When I was first getting trained, I had a similar reaction when I heard that all I had learned at this point was the basics. But even still, considering you managed to pull off a technique like Shadow Weaving on the fly as you did in our sparring match, you're quite a ways ahead of the average ninja in training." Ogawa stated. "That aside, now that you've made it this far in your training, expect things to get a lot more complicated than before, meaning I'm not going to pull my punches as much as I have been."

"Like I said before, I won't let you down, Ogawa-san!" Miku said confidently.

"That's what I like to hear!" Ogawa replied with a smile. "Although, as you are still in school, don't let this training take priority over your school work, as well as your work as a Wielder. I'm sure you'll be fine, but it's better for me to make sure you have a positive balance between this and your current work-life balance."

"Understood!" Miku replies.

"Good. Then we're done with training for today." Ogawa said. "Let's head back to base."


Section Two HQ


Returning to base, Miku and Ogawa stop by the base's cafeteria to grab bottles of water for themselves, talking as they drink on their way to the command center. "By the way, Miku-san, I meant to ask this earlier, but how exactly did you manage to pull off Shadow Weaving in our fight?" Ogawa asked. "I only briefly went over it once as a demonstration. Were you able to learn it that fast?"

"To be honest, Ogawa-san... I had Kuriyo help me practice the technique the past couple of nights..." Miku admitted as she nervously scratched the back of her head. "It took a while for me to get it to work, with a lot of trial and error... and maybe some bandages..."

"That would explain where some of Kuriyo-san's scratches came from..." Ogawa said.


A couple hallways later, the master and student arrived at the command center's door. Once it opened, they were greeted to the usual sight of the agents at their computers, Genjuro, Nastassja, and Ver at their desks, Kirika, Shirabe, and Kuriyo lounging on the couches, talking with someone that surprised both Miku and Ogawa to see up and about.

"Maria!" Miku gasped. "You're okay!"

"I mean, my injuries weren't exactly fatal, so I was going to be okay regardless." Maria joked.

"O-Oh yeah... The doctors did say you were going to be fine..." Miku replied as she chuckled nervously.

"Wait? Were you worried that Maria wouldn't make it, Miku-san?" Shirabe asked.

"Of course I was worried!" Miku answered. "It was my fault she ended up in the hospital in the first place... If I didn't shoot lasers in a moment of blind rage, Maria would've-"

"With or without you attacking the Noise in a brief moment of blind rage, that woman with the Nehushtan Armor more than likely would have seriously injured me to the same degree. So don't blame yourself for my injuries, Miku." Maria interjected as she walked over and put a hand on Miku's shoulder. "Besides, the only time you did hurt me that night was when I actually deserved it."

Miku blushed with embarrassment when she realized what Maria was referring to. "Y-You didn't deserve that, either..."

"Let's agree to disagree, then." Maria said. "Regardless, I'm better now, and you have no reason to worry about me... Unless I get injured again, and hopefully it won't happen for a while-!"

As Maria was still talking, Miku suddenly hugged the Gungnir Wielder, which took everyone by surprise, even Kuriyo, who was used to Miku's softer side. "As long as I can fight, I'll be damned if I let you, or anyone else at Section Two, get hurt like that again!" Miku declared.

"I love the enthusiasm... But could you loosen your grip a bit? I can't breathe..." Maria said with a wheeze in her voice.

"Oh! Sorry about that!" Miku gasped, letting go of Maria, allowing her to catch her breath.

"That has to be the first time I've seen Hina hug someone outside our friend group, let alone that tightly..." Kuriyo said.

"Miku-san's definitely changed from how she was when she started as a Wielder." Shirabe stated. "Considering how much she's talked to us this last week and a half compared to the previous months, and now this, that night in the city park really changed Miku-san for the better."

"I wonder if that's how a hand feels during a firm handshake dess..." Kirika wondered aloud, getting confused glances from Shirabe and Kuriyo. "What? Am I wrong? She made Maria gasp for air! Maria!"

"Never change, Katsu. Never change." Kuriyo chuckled.

"Commander! We have a problem!" Sakuya shouted, getting Genjuro and everyone else in the command center's attention. "It's Defense Minister Hiroki! He's been..."

"WHAT?!" Genjuro gasped as various images of a car wreck and several men who had been murdered appeared on the main monitor. "Who could've done this?!"

"Several extremist groups are claiming responsibility for the assassination, but outside of their word, we have nothing that proves their involvement." Aoi reported.

"Hold on a moment. Wasn't Dr. Sakurai supposed to meet with Hiroki today in Nagata?" Ver asked.

"She was, yes." Genjuro answered. "Why do you ask?"

"While I'm not one to show concern for her of all people, but the fact she's not back yet and Defense Minister Hiroki has been killed has me a little worried..." Ver stated.

"Aww. You worry about me, Johnny?" A familiar voice teased as the door to the command center closed. It was Ryoko Sakurai, holding a briefcase. "Maybe next time I go to Nagata, I can take you with me so you don't have to worry about me. Hehe."

Trying his best to not show his irritation at Ryoko's teasing, Dr. Ver took a deep breath to calm himself before speaking. "One: If I had to rank everyone in this room in terms of how much I care about them, you're at the bottom of my list." Ver stated. "And two: I was worried that you had been caught up in Defense Minister Hiroki's assassination due to your tardiness."

"I'm sorry, what?!" Ryoko gasped. "Hiroki's been murdered?! By who?"

"We're not entirely sure yet." Genjuro answered. "This just came to our attention before you arrived, so we haven't had much time to investigate."

"That being said, it's a relief to see that you were unharmed, Dr. Sakurai." Nastassja said, before looking down at Ryoko's briefcase. "And judging by that case, it would seem that you were already on your way back before this happened."

"Right you are, Doctor!" Ryoko said with a finger gun, before placing the case on one of the couches next to her, opening it to reveal a green memory chip. "The classified documents from the government are safe and sound. All that we can do now is make sure our mission is successful, for Hiroki's sake."


With Ryoko now back at Section Two HQ, herself and Genjuro gathered all of their agents, including the other two scientists, the Wielders, and Kuriyo, in the same room for a mission briefing. "From the Noise appearing around the Lydian Music Academy's High School, and by extension, around the Special Disaster Response Team, Section 2's headquarters, the government has concluded that their target is Sacrist D, Durandal, which is being kept here on the lowest level of the facility: the Abyss."

"Durandal?" Miku asked.

"It's one of the few remaining complete relics, which the Japanese government was given by the EU in exchange for assuming some of their defaulted bonds, after their economic collapse." Ryoko explained.

"And where exactly is the Japanese government wanting to move it to?" Ver asked. "Last I checked, this base is one of the most secure facilities in the country."

"There's a special vault deep underneath the parliament building in Nagata that is used for storing relics like Durandal, more commonly referred to as the 'Memory Ruins.' The government has decided to move it there." Genjuro stated. "Regardless, as low as we are on the totem pole of command, we don't really have a say in their decision."

"Durandal is scheduled to be moved from our headquarters at 0500, tomorrow morning." Ryoko stated, as she pulled out the memory chip from before. "The details are on this memory chip. For now though, it is best that everyone gets some rest before the mission tomorrow, especially the Wielders, as it is more than likely we will encounter Noise on the way to Nagata and we'll need all four of you at your best."

"'All four of us'?" Miku asked. "Does that mean Maria's coming back already?"

"This is news to me as well if that's the case, Miku." Maria replied. "I was told to rest until next week so my injuries could fully recover, so I wouldn't be able to fight as effectively as I'd be able to normally."

"I should probably clarify that misunderstanding." Ryoko chuckled. "I did mean four of you, Miku-chan, but I was not referring to Maria as said fourth Wielder."

"Then who did you mean, Ryoko-san?" Miku asked.

"Why Kuriyo-chan, of course!" Ryoko answered proudly.

When Ryoko said this, Miku looked over at her roommate in shock. "Kuriyo?! You can wield a Symphogear too?!"

"Well... Not exactly, Hina." Kuriyo chuckled nervously, before the realization finally kicked in. "Wait! Does that mean the government approved of Project Kerberos?!"

"They sure did!" Ryoko cheered. "And dare I say, the timing couldn't have been better, now that we get to test our hard work in the field!"

"Hold on, I'm so lost. What is this 'Project Kerberos'?" Miku asked.


With everything regarding tomorrow's mission settled, the meeting was adjourned and everyone except the scientists, Genjuro, and the Wielders stayed behind. When all of the agents left, a logo of a three headed dog, each head individually colored yellow, blue, and red, appeared on the monitor with the text "Project Kerberos" beneath it. Alongside the logo's debut, Ryoko pulled out a device and held it up for everyone to see.

"After the incident at the final Zwei Wing concert, I set out to try and recreate the Symphogear relics that were used by the late Kanade Amou and Tsubasa Kazanari. But, due to only having fractions of former Wielders' relics, I couldn't simply recreate their Gears." Ryoko stated. "However, the moments where I was beginning to lose hope in recreating their Gears, prior to our friends from F.I.S. coming to work with us, I discovered that, despite only having fragments of the relics, there was still more than enough power to combine them together with some fragments that we still had on hand from a third Symphogear relic we used to have, the magic bow, Ichaival, to create a new type of Symphogear relic. And this, Project Kerberos was born!"

"While I have several questions about what this relic can do, I'm still lost on how I'm only now hearing about this whereas everyone else is acting like they've heard about this for months." Miku said. "How long have you been working on this?"

"Well, I worked on the relic's base about a little over a year ago, which was then put on hiatus after being completed. But after Kuriyo-chan's tests revealed that she was more than capable of Wielding a relic, almost to a similar degree as Tsubasa-chan in the case that she wouldn't need LiNKER to use it, we almost immediately got to work testing it out with her." Ryoko explained. "And so, for the past month or two, it was mostly trial and error getting everything to work, but over the last week, Kuriyo managed to get the Kerberos System working without any flaws, which made getting approval to add the Gear to our arsenal a piece of cake!"

"As for how you didn't know about it Hina, I technically told you about it multiple times over the last month, but you were still a little... You know." Kuriyo stated, which Miku immediately knew what she meant.

"I guess that makes sense now as to how I didn't know..." Miku said, with an embarrassed blush on her face.

"So wait, this Kerberos System thingy is actually the pieces of three Gears in one dess?" Kirika asked. "How does that work?"

"The details are rather complicated, so I'll keep it brief: Phonic Gain is channeled through all three pieces, but the Gear that ends up being used is all decided upon by whichever piece is facing up towards the Wielder's face." Ryoko stated, pointing at the device as she went over the various parts of it. "As for what it can do? I'll leave that to Kuriyo-chan to explain on the battlefield, should we need to fight Noise tomorrow. Regardless of when that first fight takes place however, with this device, Kuriyo-chan is now a Wielder just like all of you!"

With that, Ryoko handed Kuriyo the Kerberos Gear pendant, which she put around her neck proudly before looking over at her fellow Wielders. "I'll make sure that I won't let you all down out there!" Kuriyo said.

"That's what I like to hear!" Genjuro says. "With that settled, you all should go back to your dorms and rest up. Even if there's a chance we have a safe escort mission to the Memory Ruins, it's best that you all be on your A game. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" All of the Wielders shout in unison.


Lydian Dorms


"I still can't believe I never knew about this Kerberos System until now..." Miku said to Kuriyo as they walked back to their dorm for the night, the Kerberos System still on her mind.

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Hina." Kuriyo replied. "If anything, it's better that you're finding out now rather than during the testing trials. 'Cause knowing you, I'm sure you would've been a nervous wreck watching me go through those tests."

"Instead I was a vengeful one..." Miku sighed.

"Yeah, well, if it makes you feel better, you not being a worrywart made things a lot easier for me. Hehe." Kuriyo chuckled. "But enough of that. What's done is done and the only thing left to do now is to move on."

Hearing this Miku gave a warm smile to her friend. "Right!"

"There they are!"

Suddenly, the Wielder duo heard a familiar voice shouting in their direction, revealing none other than Yumi and Shiori, the former of the two looking rather annoyed in comparison to the latter who only sighed at Yumi's overreaction. "Y-Yumi? Why are you shouting?" Miku asked.

"Where have you two been?" Yumi asked. "We've tried calling you both countless times today and neither of you picked up your phones, nor were you anywhere to be found, almost like you completely fell off the grid!"

Miku and Kuriyo both checked their phones when Yumi said this, and sure enough, they had 99+ missed calls from her each, whereas they only had about 10-20 from Shiori. "Whoops... Sorry about that, girls..." Kuriyo said nervously. "I guess Hina and I got so caught up in what we were doing that we couldn't hear our phones going off..."

"And what exactly were you two doing?" Yumi asked, squinting her eyes in intimidation.

"Sprinting./Studying." Miku and Kuriyo said in unison. "I mean studying./I mean sprinting."

"So were you studying or sprinting?" Yumi asked skeptically.

"Well, technically both?" Miku shrugged.

"You see, Hina has been feeling down lately because she really missed being on the track team, and because of this, she was also falling behind in her studies." Kuriyo explained. "So, I came up with the idea to become a personal trainer of sorts to help her study and train her legs to get back to their prime like when she was in track. I like to call it: 'Speed Studying'!"

"If that's true, then where have you been 'Speed Studying'?" Shiori asked. "I never saw either of you out on the track here at school."

"Well, that's because... We went to a personal gym in town!" Hina answered, rolling with Kuriyo's story.

"And where exactly is this gym?" Yumi asked.

"It's... Umm..." Kuriyo struggled to think of an excuse, so Miku stepped in to save her.

"It's on the edge of town near the countryside." Miku said. "A friend of my dad runs the place, so he was more than happy to let us use the gym."

"Uh huh..." Yumi replied, still skeptical. "Well then, maybe the four of us can all go there together sometime? I'd like to see this place personally."

"M-Maybe some other time, Yumi." Kuriyo said, grabbing Miku and heading for their dorm. "For now, we're really tired, and we've got a lot of stuff to do tomorrow, so we're gonna hit the hay. NIGHT!"

With that, Kuriyo slammed the door shut on Shiori and Yumi, leaving the two of them equally confused and concerned. "What was all of that about?" Shiori asked.

"I don't know..." Yumi replied. "But something about this gym Miku's dad's friend owns seems fishy..."

"You think they're lying to us?" Shiori asked. "But why would they? We're their friends, aren't we?"

"Whatever it is, it's clearly something they don't want us knowing about..." Yumi stated. "Either way, I will find out what they're hiding and bring it to light, or my name isn't Yumi Itaba, Ace Detective!"

"Since when were you an Ace Detective?" Shiori asked to herself


Meanwhile


In the middle of the forest, in a mansion far away from the main city of Tokyo, Finé sat down at her computer in her main laboratory, looking at a monitor that showed Evelyn's vitals and x-rays, smiling as she went over them. "Well, that's good news." Finé said.

"What's good news, Lady Finé?" Evelyn asked.

"Aside from the fact that your injuries are all patched up, which I had no doubts about, it seems that the data from your battle with the Shénshòujìng and Gungnir Wielders remained intact, despite the damage the former's laser had done to the hard drive." Finé stated. "Which means we don't have to start our plan over from the beginning!"

"That's a relief." Evelyn said. "So does that mean we're ready for phase two?"

"Not quite yet. There's one last piece of data that we need to collect." Finé answered, pulling up a monitor that had eight special symbols lit up on it, as well as one faded symbol. "If things go according to our plan, we should be ready for phase two as soon as tomorrow."

"I won't let you down, Lady Finé!" Evelyn replied, bowing respectfully. "I won't let myself be humiliated by that Shénshòujìng Wielder again!"

"While I appreciate your enthusiasm, just try not to get yourself killed out there." Finé chuckled. "For now, though, go get some sleep. Those Wielders can be unpredictable, so it's best that you're at your full strength, so that victory can be assured."

"Understood, Lady Finé!" Evelyn said with a salute before heading off to her room. "Goodnight, Lady Finé."

"Goodnight, Evelyn." Finé replied, waving her off before returning to her computer. "It's a shame he doesn't see the same potential in you that I do, Evelyn. When our plan works, I'll make sure that he gets his just desserts... Even if he's been a very valuable business partner..."

As she said this, Finé brought up a file on her computer labeled...


VH 4/15/2043
PROJECT "HRF-KA"
LAB RESULTS
LOG #24


"Doesn't hurt to have a plan B..." Finé said to herself.


Lydian


The next day, all of the Wielders, and a handful of agents, stood outside of the main entrance to the central wing of Lydian, the agents and active Wielders lined up in front of a row of cars while Ryoko, Genjuro, and Maria stood before them. "We've set up various checkpoints on our route, under the pretense of searching for the assassin of Defense Minister Hiroki." Genjuro stated. "We'll be heading straight to the Memory Ruins. Kirika-kun and Shirabe-kun will come with Maria-kun and I in the helicopter, while Kuriyo-kun and Miku-kun will go with Ryoko-kun. Everyone else: You know what to do."

"With all of that settled, it's time for 'Operation: My Way is The Highway' to commence!" Ryoko cheered.


Getting to their assigned places, the group set off towards Nagata. For the most part, things were going smoothly for the convoy, but that didn't mean any of the Wielders or agents were ready to lower their guard anytime soon, not until the relic was successfully at its destination.

"So far so good." Ryoko said aloud.

"Let's just hope it stays that way, at least while we're on this bridge." Miku added.

"Umm, Hina? Ryoko-san?" Kuriyo said, getting both of their attention. "We've got trouble up ahead!"

Looking where Kuriyo was pointing, Miku and Ryoko saw the bridge start to fall apart, which made Ryoko swiftly swerve out of the way of the newly-formed hole in the bridge, which the agent to the left of the trio's car was unable to avoid as they fell into the water below.

"I'd suggest finding something to hold onto if I were you." Ryoko said to the girls.

"Why?" Miku asked, which Ryoko responded by tightening her grip on the steering wheel and saying...

"I'm a very mean driver."


"We're under attack!" Genjuro said over comms. "We don't have a visual on the enemy, but it's more than likely Noise!"

"Guess they caught up to us sooner than we expected!" Ryoko replied, before letting out a sudden gasp as she heard the sound of a manhole cover bursting open and sending the agent behind them flying. "What was that?"

"It's the Noise! They're attacking from the sewers!" Genjuro shouted.

"Incoming!" Miku shouted, seeing another manhole cover explode and shoot another agent's car into the air, heading right for them.

"Hold on!" Ryoko said, masterfully maneuvering the car out of harm's way, before eventually correcting herself back onto the road. "Genji? Don't you think we should retreat? If there's an explosion at the chemical plant up ahead, then Durandal will-"

"I know!" Genjuro interjected. "But so far, the Noise have only been attacking your escorts, which means they're being ordered to avoid damaging Durandal by a third party!"

"Don't tell me..." Maria gasped, coming to a conclusion as to who this third party may be.

"She's back?!" Miku added. "But I thought my laser put them out of commission!"

"If whoever is controlling the Noise is the same person from the park, then we clearly underestimated what they're capable of." Ryoko said.

"Our only option is to head towards that chemical plant and make an environment where the Noise's options will be limited!" Genjuro stated.

"And our chances of this plan working?" Ryoko asked.

"Not a clue!" Genjuro answered. "I'm more or less playing this by ear!"

"Are you sure that's a good thing to do when something important like Durandal is on the line?" Maria asked.

"Like Genjuro-san said, as risky as it is, what other choice do we have?" Miku replied.


Chemical Plant


With Genjuro's plan, the remaining escort and Ryoko's car headed for the chemical plant, where the former was ambushed by Noise, forcing the agents in the vehicle to bail and let the car crash into one of the buildings at the plant, which confirmed Genjuro's theory when the Noise started to back away from the fire left from the vehicle's explosion.

"What do you know! The Commander's plan worked!" Kuriyo cheered. "We should be good now ri-AAAAAAHHHHH!"

Suddenly, Ryoko's car got flipped over by a crystalized whip, leaving the trio and the relic stuck in the middle of the chemical plant with a growing horde of Noise staring them down, while the culprit of the attack stood atop one of the units and stared down at them menacingly as they crawled out of the car.

"Looks like you were right, Hina." Kuriyo said. "It's the woman from the other night!"

"Of course it's her..." Miku sighed. "As much as I would love to have a round two with her, we need to keep Durandal away from her and her army of Noise. Help me get it out of the car."

"On it!" Kuriyo replied, helping Miku get the case containing Durandal out of the back seat. However, while they were doing this, the armored stranger pointed a finger at the car, causing some of the Noise in the horde to charge at it. "Move, move, move!"

Quickly, the trio ran away from the car before it could explode from the Noise, barely being able to avoid the shrapnel, but they were still blown away by the blast, causing both Wielders to hit the ground hard.


Meanwhile in the helicopter, Genjuro and the others were unable to see Ryoko, Miku, or Kuriyo.

"That smoke is keeping us in the dark..." Genjuro sighed. "Kirika-kun! Shirabe-kun! Go help them deal with the Noise. And be careful about the one in the Nehushtan Armor. We may know a good deal about her relic, but we're not sure what she's capable of."

"Aye, aye, sir!" Kirika replied with a salute before herself and Shirabe jumped out of the plane and activated their Gears.


Back on the ground, more Noise kept coming for the group. While Miku at the very least could handle the Noise, neither she nor Kuriyo had the space or time to activate their Gears, leaving Ryoko with one option: Before the Noise could reach them, she held out her hand and put up a barrier that defended herself and the Wielders from the Noise

Getting up off of the ground, Miku and Kuriyo both looked over at Ryoko in shock. "Ryoko-san?!"

"We're pretty much out of options." Ryoko said. "This should be able to buy you some time. I'd suggest taking advantage of it before we all die."

"Then that's exactly what we'll do!" Miku replied as she pulled out her Symphogear pendant. "Ready, Kuriyo?"

"Way ahead of you, Hina!" Kuriyo answered as she pulled out the Kerberos pendant, adjusting it so the relic piece sitting in a blue spike was pointed up towards her face. "It's time to put all of those tests to good use!"


"Kerberos Engage! Ame no Habakiri!"


(HEARTTRAIL begins to play)

Miku and Kuriyo were engulfed in balls of light as they activated their Gears. Once the light dissipated, Miku was in her Shénshòujìng armor, whereas Kuriyo was in something completely new to everyone (except for Ryoko who was able to see it in the testing phases).

Kuriyo's main armor was very similar to the other Wielders, despite the mostly white coloring with varying shades of blue which also appeared on her headset, her spiked gauntlets, her leggings and her underarmor. One major change in comparison to the other Wielders, however, was that, while she still had her pendant active on her chest, the piece that allowed her to change which fragment was pointed at her face. As for her weapon, Kuriyo pulled out a blue single-handed blade from a compartment on her back that served as its scabbard.

"Let's show them what we're made of!" Kuriyo shouted, charging into the horde of Noise alongside Miku to fight them and their leader.

"So that's what the Kerberos System looks like..." The armored stranger said to herself, watching Kuriyo hack and slash away at the Noise with relative ease. "Impressive... for a couple of shards barely holding together. Let's see how they hold up to a real challenge!"

Saying this, the stranger raised her hand into the air and conjured a large yellow ball of energy covered with various colors of lightning. Once the ball was finished forming, the stranger tossed it into the air before jumping after it and spiking it down towards Kuriyo and Miku with a bicycle kick, causing the ball to split into two balls, each ball going after their own target.

Harbinger's Hunter

Thankfully, with how flashy the attack was, Kuriyo was able to see it coming just as the balls were formed and dodged out of the way, but when she did, she saw the ball redirect itself back towards her, forcing her to keep dodging. "Hina! Watch out!" Kuriyo shouted to Miku, who didn't have time to get out of the way of her ball and was forced to guard herself, taking the blast as the ball exploded in front of her and sent her flying into one of the nearby buildings in the plant. "Hina!"

"One down. One to go." The stranger said with a smirk as she hopped off of the unit and started to walk towards Kuriyo as she kept dodging the other ball. "Now then, with her out of the way, let's see how long you last with both me and my attack overwhelming you!"

"Don't get cocky!"

Hearing this new voice, the stranger looked around in confusion, but when she looked up, she noticed several lights gleaming through the cloud of smoke, which turned out to be hundreds of buzzsaws raining down towards her.

Alpha Style: 100 Saṃsāra

(PRACTICE MODE begins to play)

The stranger dodges the buzzsaw rain to the best of her abilities, and as a byproduct, the buzzsaws destroy the energy ball, causing it to blow up away from Kuriyo and Miku. Once the rain stopped, Shirabe and Kirika emerged from the smoke, the former standing with Kuriyo while the latter checked in on Miku. "Miku-san? Are you okay, dess?" Kirika asked.

Miku coughed as she was assisted to her feet by Kirika. "I wasn't ready for that attack, but I should still be able to fight." Miku answered. "Thanks for the concern, though."


Back with Kuriyo and Shirabe, the former let out a sigh of relief as she watched the ball explode. "Thanks for the save, Tsuku!" Kuriyo said, giving the Shul Shagana Wielder a thumbs up.

"Anytime, Kuriyo-san!" Shirabe replied, before pointing at the stranger in the Nehushtan Armor. "Need any help dealing with her?"

"Once Ryoko-san and the relic are out of harm's way, I'll gladly take the assist." Kuriyo answered. "But if you can help Hina with that for now, I'll call for backup if I need it."

"Alright, but be careful!" Shirabe said.

"You got it!" Kuriyo replied, giving another thumbs up as she watched Shirabe leave, before looking over at the stranger with a serious expression. "Now to make you pay for that cheap shot on my friend!"


Kuriyo charged at the Nehushtan Armored stranger, engaging in a fight that was proving to be a lot more even than either fighter would've expected. However, once the shock of Kuriyo's rush own on the stranger wore off, the stranger was able to make up ground and eventually knocking her into a nearby building.

However, as this happened, the case the relic was in started to shake, before eventually bursting open as the sword relic started floating and glowing in the air. "No way… It's awakening?!" Ryoko gasped.


Now that she had Kuriyo on the ropes, the stranger dusted off her hands as she prepared to finish her off, but just before she could, she noticed the relic floating in the air out of the corner of her eye. "Consider this your lucky day, lady. My prime objective just saved your life!" The stranger chuckled as she ran off towards the Durandal relic. "Time to make Lady Finé proud!"

Once she was close enough to the relic, the stranger jumped for it, but just before she could reach it, a purple laser shot her out of the air. "Not on my watch!" Miku shouted. "Kirika-chan, now!"

"On it dess!" Kirika replied as she lept for the relic and grabbed it by the hilt. "I got it! Wo-Woah!"

With Durandal in Kirika's hands, both it and the Igalima Wielder were surrounded by a bright yellow aura that took everyone by surprise. "Kiri-chan?" Shirabe asked, but Kirika didn't respond.

Without saying a word, Kirika raised the sword above her head as the entire relic was engulfed in a yellow light, transforming the relic into a completely golden sword. As for Kirika, compared to her normal, carefree expression, she was grimacing as she struggled to handle Durandal's power.

The stranger scoffed at Kirika. "You don't deserve to hold that relic! You can barely control it!" She said, summoning more Noise next to Kirika with her cane, ordering them to attack.

"Oh y-yeah? Then let me show you how wrong you are!" Kirika retorted as she turned to face the incoming horde of Noise, slowly bringing down the sword upon them. "DEEEEESSSSS!"

Seeing the sword's destructive power on display, the stranger froze in panic. However, just before she could be eradicated by the blade, a purple bolt of light shot towards her, eventually tackling her out of the way of the sword's path of destruction, only having to deal with the shockwave from the sword's impact rather than the main explosion.


When the stranger opened her eyes again, she saw the destruction caused by Durandal around her, as well as Miku laying on top of her. "Oh… Oh good, you're still alive!" Miku sighed.

"Get off of me!" The stranger shouted before pushing Miku off to the side. "Why in the world did you save me? I was literally seconds away from killing your friend earlier, not to mention how I injured you with an attack from behind before that!"

Miku chuckled upon hearing this question. "Sure, you were about to kill her, and you did get a cheap hit on me while I was distracted, but while that would normally give me no reason to put my life on the line for yours, I just couldn't let it happen." Miku answered. "Not to mention, the image of you being torn to bits by Kirika using Durandal would've left me traumatized, so I guess it saved us both a lot of trouble. Hehe."

"And the image of me just killing you now despite the fact you saved me? Did you ever stop to think about that one?" The stranger asked.

"Considering I used to be in a mindset where I would've killed you without a second thought for everything you've done, the fact I'm still alive should be more than enough proof that you would not have killed me." Miku answered. "Am I wrong?"

"...S-So what if I didn't try to kill you now?" The stranger asked, disturbed by Miku's straightforward answer. "Just because I didn't, doesn't mean I won't do it next time!"

"We'll see about that." Miku retorted. "For now though, it might be better for you to get out of here before the others come over and beat you senseless. I'm sure Kuriyo would love to get back at you for the beating you gave her."

"You're letting me go?" The stranger asked. "Why?"

"To be honest, I don't know." Miku answered. "Part of me wants you to come back with us to HQ and have you answer for what you did to Maria in the park, but another part of me wants to fight you without any Noise or my friends getting in the way. If my friend was here, she'd probably say something like 'Anime told me that it's better to spare your enemies for a better fight next time!'."

The stranger turned away to run off, but before she did, she looked over her shoulder at Miku and squinted. "...You're weird, you know that?"

"You're not the first to say it, and I'll be damned if you're the last." Miku chuckled, turning away to head towards her friends. "Now get going already, so that I can properly kick your ass next time!"


With that, Miku and the stranger parted ways. However, on her way back to Finé's mansion, the stranger thought about how Miku saved her life. "I don't get it… When Lady Finé had me watch them from a distance to prepare for our first fight, she was nothing more than a bloodthirsty killer, hellbent on destroying everything in her path, but now she's willing to put my safety and the safety of her friends before herself…" She stated. "With the others, it was easy to categorize them as the average hero type and have no issue fighting them for Lady Finé, but with that one, it makes me question everything I knew about Section Two. Now I can't help but wonder…"

Am I really doing the right thing? Are they really the enemy like Lady Finé says?


A/N: And with that, we end the chapter!

As you saw at the beginning of the chapter, Miku's training with Ogawa has been going pretty well (as far as the basics and then some are concerned). And, as mentioned in the chapter, Ogawa's still leagues above Miku without her Gear. If he were to go all out on Miku in their training, it would be a while before she would catch up to him.

And before we get to the big reveal that was the Kerberos System for Kuriyo, I just wanted to address Maria's existence in this chapter. As previously mentioned, her wounds weren't as severe as Tsubasa's in canon, so Maria would be able to leave the hospital a lot sooner than Tsubasa did. That being said, she still has to be on leave as a Wielder until her wounds fully recover. Medicine may be way better in Symphogear compared to real life, but it ain't about to make stab wounds a walk in the park... (don't think too hard about the analogy used...)

But that aside, allow me to explain the Kerberos System a little bit, now that it's actively part of the AU now:


The Kerberos System: A 3 in 1 Gear hybrid forged with remains of the Gungnir, Ame no Habakiri, and Ichaival relics. Wielder is able to switch between the three, but they will be vulnerable during the switch. Switch vulnerability decreases as the series continues.

To activate: User must say "Kerberos engage! (insert name of selected gear here)!" while the chosen gear points up towards the user's face.

To alternate: User must say "Switch! (Insert name of selected gear here)!" after twisting selected gear to be facing the user's face.

User can give inactive Gears to allies, but they will be a lot less durable and less powerful than under the original user's control. Additionally, User will not have access to those gears while they are in use by allies. These gears can be added to other Wielders to give them additional abilities, or when used on people with the same gear, doubles their power. (These won't be shown in the Fic for a while, but I figured I'd add the note here anyways so that it doesn't come off as a Deus Ex Machina when it happens, and considering who is using this Gear, I'm sure at least one of these parts were expected.)


That should cover everything important about the Kerberos System for now, so I hope you're as excited to see how it develops as the series continues!

Lastly, while the main inspiration for the Kerberos System was the Mechvaranus System from XDU, the Gear armor is more based around how the Symphogear System's armor sets usually look rather than the Mechvaranus System's. (I know it doesn't really matter since this is a fanfiction and there's no visual aid, but I felt the need to specify regardless.)

Regardless, that should cover most of the major parts of this chapter. And with that being said, I'll see you all in the next one!