Authors Note: Gonna start working on the character sheets and their original cards after next week. I have a test coming up so I got my hands a little tied up.
Reviews:
Guest: Me alegra que te haya gustado. Veremos que tan fuerte es Allister con 3 monstruos a su disposicion.
Shin Mikuni: I don't know when you'll read this but I'm glad you're enjoying the story. I know the start was a big wanky, but at the time, I didn't know how serious I was about the story since I didn't know how popular it would get. And it blew up, so I started taking it seriously and fixing grammar errors in every chapter. Also, are you the person I met on AO3?
Akira: Thank you
Lord Ri The Husbu King: Oh no, they hate each other. It's just I don't think they're the kind of people to stoop so low to insult each other at every opportunity. They would just throw each other petty insults and see who is better than the other. Sarcasm here and some back-handed comments there. Prelati wants to get Raiden and will stop at nothing to get him. And once she does...what will she do? Also, yeah, Terunosuke is the kind of brother who pretends he doesn't care who you are dating but will silently judge you for it. He is also the Rider with the strongest armor in terms of pure defense. Raphael's attack would have hurt everyone else except for him. Unless he took multiple of them. Yeah, I know Ragnarok is more than just the war. But here, it's pretty much treated like an event. You'll see what I mean when we get to the last season.
moniura2005: Right, I guess antagonists just make up their weaknesses with their powers. Look at Noble Red, for instance. Yeah, Hazuki is pretty much full-on cult leader mentality right now, believing every word he says and his followers believe them as well. It's a good thing that Hajime doesn't have this messiah complex. Also, yeah this one I got from Fate. I was partially inspired by Madara's goals when making Hazuki. As well as other villains, but we'll see that later on. The Neo Excalibur shows the darkness of one's heart. Just like it did with Yosuke. It's able to tell the turmoil of a person's heart. So yes, Terunosuke didn't kill Atticus. But he says he did. We'll see more of this as the story progresses until we get a clear picture of what happened that day. Wei is a victim. His family was killed by Bragard and the only hope he had was the promise to see his family again by Hazuki. He's the last full-blooded Liang that's still alive. As for Yomi and Despia...you are on the right track. But we'll get a full explanation later on in the story. But you are halfway there with that theory. Hazuki believes that the ability to choose is what makes people evil because we can choose whether we want to do something good or bad. Or at least, that's what he thinks. So his solution is to remove that from everyone along with the Curse of Balal and have them live their dreams as empty husks in the new world. But I agree. Good or bad is subjective. And we'll tackle these problems later on in the story. Whether something is good or bad or whether there was never a choice to choose.
Caballero lector rojo: Me alegra que te haya gustado. Tenia ganas de poner a estos dos a combatir. Los desastres han peleado contra Bragard y ahora contra los Iluminati. No lo haran con Noble Red por obvias razones. Pero ya veremos cuando XV venga. Si, las personalidades se meclan mas o menos. Por eso ahora Terunosuke es menos agresivo y mas comprensive y Allister es mas emotivo y abierto con sus emociones hasta el punto de desear buscar a Elsa. Sobre Ragnarok aprenderemos mas a medida que pase la historia.
Tenzalucard123: The ones wielding the power of God stand at the top. And even without Allister. We will see what our snake boy can do now that he has Takeru's power.
Chapter 95
Into the Mind
"What?! Hamaguchi is hurt too?! Is he okay?! Will he be alright-desu?!" Kirika fussed upon hearing the news of the battle in Okinawa. It had been three days since the massacre in Okinawa, and the three girls who were dispatched to aid had now returned to HQ.
Tsubasa chuckled, remembering Hamaguchi's reaction when he learned Kirika had been hurt to be the same."He's fine. Don't worry. And I believe you owe him a date?"
"Oh...I do." Kirika mumbled, blushing at the thought.
"No, you don't!" Jades scooped her up in his arms, much to her chagrin."No one is dating my baby sister! She's too young!"
"Onee-chan! I'm 16!" Kirika tried to squirm out of his arms, but his grip was too strong."I'm a big girl now-desu! I can date who I want!"
"No! She's in her rebellious phase too! No! I refuse to let my baby girl grow up anymore!" Jades began to bawl his eyes out, refusing to let go until Maria chopped him on the head, making him release the blonde.
"Stop it, Jades. You're embarrassing her." Maria chastised him.
"Embarrassing all of us, more like it." Raiden folded his arms, tapping his foot.
"Sorry..."
Genjuro chuckled at the exchange of the FIS siblings before turning his attention to the girls in front of him."So Hajime-kun and Hamaguchi-kun suffered injuries in their fight. But Chiaki Nakahara was neutralized?"
"She killed herself." Tsubasa elaborated, her expression briefly souring."But Kuroiwa mentioned she used her Swan Song. On top of that, she used her Divine Powers, transforming into that beast that you can see in the recordings we collected from the civilians."
"That is concerning." Genjuro rubbed his chin."And to think she not only managed to get her own version of the Ignite Module but also used the X-Drive form to her advantage. I hate to say it, but she's incredibly talented when it comes to Symphogear."
"Tch. Too bad she chose to be crazy and evil." Chris clicked her tongue."They all had a choice and chose to become what they are today. Fanatic psychopaths who won't stop for anything until they've killed everyone around them."
"Chris-chan..." Hibiki grabbed her hand.
"Yeah, I know..."
"Speaking of talented..." Genjuro cleared his throat, trying to ease the tension."I saw Hamaguchi-kun in action. He was pushing back Femme with nothing but his creativity. If he was trained, I'm sure he'll become stronger."
"Well, he said one of his reasons to fight was Akatsuki." Tsubasa smiled knowingly at the blonde, who was now completely red.
"When did you start enjoying teasing others, Tsubasa?" Yosuke folded his arms.
"I can be a little silly too sometimes. Right?"
"Of course."
Kirika pulled Shirabe close to her, whispering in her ear."We have to train too-desu!"
"But we haven't recovered yet...And we don't have LINKER." Shirabe pointed out.
"But Hamaguchi-kun was fighting so hard, right? I can't just do nothing after he fought a battle to the death. It wouldn't feel right if he does all the work."
"Are you really going on a date with him? He's a pervert."
"Maybe a little, but he's really sweet and compliments me all the time." Kirika blushed, grabbing her face dreamily."And we understand each other pretty well since we're both slackers-desu. And he can be such a gentleman too...And Tsubasa-san said he was thinking of me to give him motivation..."
"I suppose..." Shirabe drawled, not at all convinced."But I'll keep my eye on him. He may be Hajime-san's friend, but he still drugged us. So I'll help you train. But we need to come up with an excuse for-"
"We need to go to the bathroom-desu!" Kirika grabbed Shirabe's hand, pulling her along before anyone could ask questions.
"The hell was that?" Chris arched a brow.
"Bathroom problems...I guess? Maybe it's that time of the month." Raiden said, receiving a smack on the back of his head by Maria."Ouch! Maria-nee!"
"You can't be saying stuff like that about girls." Maria shook her head."It's rude. You should know better if you ever want to date-"
"Sorry! I'm late!" Elfnein jogged over to the group, clearly out of breath."W-welcome back! How did it go?! Is Hajime-san alright?!"
"He is." Yosuke replied, a little taken aback."I know you're not the type to hold grudges, but I'd figured you wouldn't ask about him after how he was with you before he left."
"I understand he was going through a lot." The girl waved her hand with a sunny smile."I don't hold it against him. I just hope he's safe and sound."
"Well, about that..."
After telling her what had happened, her face was completely white, drained of all color. Somewhere along the explanation, Genjuro and Tsubasa had to leave since they had to meet with someone who they didn't bother to name. "Impossible...Chiaki mixed both Deck and Relic and even accessed the X-Drive...?"
"A miracle born from a curse." Raiden muttered, earning their attention."I guess miracles can take all kinds of shapes, huh? Not always for the better."
"But the Divine Power part is concerning." Tobias scratched his hair."How can they have progressed so far to be able to control it like that...?"
"The Disasters have gotten stronger. And we've seen how capable of the Bavarian Illuminati are." Yosuke remarked, frowning."It's a battle of 3 sides. But if these guys can all use Divine Power..."
"We'll have to wait and see." Jades huffed."I was hoping we could count on Hajime-kun. He would be of tremendous help."
"Speaking of him, what about his Shadow Rider?" Raiden reminded them."Can we even fight something like that?"
"Too many variables. Too many unknowns." Yosuke surmised."We have to find a way to gain the advantage again. We're hoping that Sakamoto's weapon will be able to help us. If Dienheim can reverse-engineer it. Speaking of him, where is he?"
"He's in his room. Has been for days." Elfnein sighed."He's refusing to leave and doesn't even want to speak with me."
"After what he did..." Hibiki lowered her gaze."I guess he feels pretty guilty..."
"He fucking better. He almost killed us!" Chris threw her arms up.
"Yukine..." Yosuke sighed."I don't disagree, but he's...still learning."
"Learning? What is there to learn? He was acting like Bragard." Raiden clicked his tongue, receiving a gasp from Elfnein.
"Raiden-san!" She exclaimed, disappointment in her voice.
"I'm sorry, but it's true." Raiden didn't bother hiding his anger."He nearly killed us with that move. He was going to drop a meteor. And if we weren't pulled in by the gravity toward the core, we would have died by the explosion."
"But he's still learning, Raiden-san." Hibiki repeated."I mean, he was born from that incubator, right? He's not like the rest of us. He's probably confused. We can't judge him from that."
"I agree..." Jades ruffled his hair."The poor kid is like what, 3 months old? He just looks like he's 16. Besides, the Overall made him with Bragard and Carol's personality traits. Let's just say Carol wasn't as bad as we thought she was, Bragard is still a monster. He probably doesn't know how to act."
"That's true...I guess." Maria slowly nodded."He's not all bad. He saved me before. He's just a little...self-destructive. He believes too much in his regeneration. It's a miracle he can regenerate his head. But he's too reckless."
"I can't exactly blame him for that." Yosuke chuckled."If I was impervious to most attacks, I would take a few risks as well. Especially if I can protect my teammates. But his is not infinite. He'll run out of lifeforce if he does it too much. Not to mention he's not exactly a smart fighter."
"What do you mean?" Hibiki tilted her head.
"Bragard used his abilities to the maximum. And planned accordingly his every move. Carol was much the same, wasn't she? Cunning, creative, smart. Arguably, two of the smartest people we've ever met. Dienheim is basically their child. So he should have some of their smarts. Despite him not being able to properly use Alchemy due to Bragard's soul being corrupted by Hazama Liang, his Broken Alchemy in the form of Dark Matter should be able to give him plenty of versatility. Meaning he's got tons of potential. But like Maria said, he focuses too much on taking foes head-on and trying to overwhelm them with power alone. As we can see, if didn't work. As it stands, it's only us 3 and him as Kamen Riders. Until Adachi wakes up from his coma and Kuroiwa heals up."
"I wish I could help." Tobias slumped his shoulders."I should be able to do the same thing Hazuki can. And yet..."
"No, it's okay." Maria patted the Autoscorer."It's not your fault. We'll figure something out. But we need to-"
Suddenly, the alarm went off and they received a call from Aoi.
"Guys! It's Kirika-chan and Shirabe-chan! They're using their Symphogear without LINKER!"
"What?!" Jades screamed.
"I can't believe we got beaten..." Prelati fell onto the bed, tired."Basically, I thought we had the advantage in numbers..."
"Seriously...Owie..." Cagliostro grimaced at the cuts she had received, sprawling on the couch.
"You okay, St. Germain?" Raphael placed his shoulder on the albino's shoulder.
"I lost against someone like him..." She clenched her fists."I lost to an oppressor...A child, for heaven's sake."
"He's no normal kid." Raphael said, rubbing her back."None of them were. My Excalibur was..."
The silver-haired knight showed them his blade. It was half black now."I don't know what's going on with it, but it seems to be...corrupting itself somehow. And yet, my best attack was used against me."
"What the-" Prelati mumbled."Stop using it so much! Are you insane?! You don't know what kind of side effects using the blade has!"
"She's right." St. Germain shook her head."The real Excalibur had incredible power. This is just a fragment of it and yet, it holds a tremendous amount of power. That being said, we also don't know the full scope of it. Do not use that attack unless absolutely necessary."
"He was about to kill you." He pointed out."It was a necessary risk. One I'm willing to do as much as it takes to protect you."
"You never change, do you...?" St. Germain sighed."Always risking yourself to look out for us."
"I think that's sweet. We need a knight to protect our backsides." Cagliostro winked at him."Such a gentleman."
"Basically, I appreciate your help. But that doesn't mean I support you putting yourself in danger for our sake. Either stop using that sword or I'll make you regret it."
"You're one scary woman, Lady Prelati." Raphael laughed in good nature."You might want to change that. I don't think that boy Raiden will like that."
"He can play hard to get all he wants. It will be more rewarding once I get my hands on him."
"Still, what can we do?" Cagliostro changed topics."I mean, those portals are a problem. And the other one is incredibly durable. And that's just two of them alone. If Kamen Rider Femme is dead, then where is Code Cypher?"
"Presumably, he's still wounded from his battle to the death with Takeru Sakamoto." Prelati supplied."If he were there, we would have been seriously in trouble. St. Germain, what should we do about them? You saw the number of people they have recruited already. If they collect more..."
"For now, let's focus on our mission." St. Germain stated."We failed to secure a good source of Divine Power, but we still have our original plan to get it. Once we do, we may be able to go toe-to-toe with the Anti-Messiah."
"But isn't Divine Power from a God stronger than no God at all?" Raphael inquired.
"Don't forget, Hazuki Kaburagi is still human. I doubt he's mastered the full capabilities of Divine Power, which can give us some time. In the meantime, let's not mention our failure to the Lodgemaster or the Mistress. The last thing we need is to report our failure."
"Basically, I agree."
"Yup!"
"No complaints here. So, what now?"
"Let us rest for now. Also...I think we're close to finishing up our special weapon."
"What were you thinking?!" Jades dropped to his knees, bawling his eyes out as he hugged Shirabe and Kirika."I almost had a heart attack!"
Maria, on the other hand, was more upset."You could have gotten seriously hurt! What were you thinking?!"
"If we can increase our sync rates enough, then we won't need LINKER." Kirika said."We could have helped back there. But because we couldn't..."
"But that's..." Jades frowned."That's no excuse to go doing reckless stuff like this...We lost enough as it is."
"He's right!" Hibiki nodded, equally as worried."You need to take better care of yourselves! One mistake and you could die!"
"What do you know?" Shirabe scoffed."You were blessed with your sync rate without even knowing what it was. You couldn't understand us."
"Hey, now that's not fair." Jades chided her sternly."Hibiki-chan is different from you. But that's not her fault. You know better than to blame her."
"Besides, it's not just her, Yukine or Tsubasa." Yosuke added."Chiaki Nakahara had high sync rates. The other only person who needed LINKER was Chao-Xing."
"But...I can't stand being useless." Kirika closed her eyes in frustration."Even Hamaguchi-kun was doing his best to protect Okinawa. And he's a new Rider. How can I sit down and do nothing while he's fighting to protect other people so hard?"
Maria looked at Jades, grabbing his hand."We have to let them do this.
"What?!" Both Jades and Chris gasped.
"Maria, be reasonable," Yosuke warned.
"I'll make sure they don't do anything dangerous." Maria eyed the purple-haired young man."We don't know when the LINKER we'll be ready. So for now, we have to do what we can."
"Actually, there may be a way." Elfnein raised her hand."Tobias and I have been talking about this for a bit now, but we may have found a way to solve the missing piece of the puzzle."
"Missing piece?" Shirabe asked.
"Are you serious-desu?"
"We came up with this after Bragi brought it up regarding his memories to see if he had access to the Second's memories. We thought...what if there was a way to figure out which part of the brain a Symphoger is connected to in order to minimize stress." Tobias explained."I never met him, but he seems to know his stuff."
"Perhaps a little too much." Jades rubbed his nape."Sure, Bragard and Fine were the ones helping him, but I guess he did have his moments."
"So what is this missing piece you mentioned?" Yosuke brought the conversation back on track.
"Right. The missing piece is Maria-san's Airgetlam." Elfnein responded, alerting the pinkette."One of its abilities is the control of energy vectors. We noticed it would occasionally shine in battle. That was the aforementioned ability to visualize the electrical signals between your brain and the Gear. It's possible that it was also working to mitigate the Gear's stress on you at that time."
"Your sync rate, compared to Kirika-san and Shirabe-san, has increased exponentially." Tobias picked up the explanation.
"Well, Maria has always had the highest sync rates out of the three of them." Jades nodded, eyeing his little sisters."Seems your hard work has paid off, girls."
"Yay!" Kirika beamed.
"So, I guess when you mentioned the brain, you meant that you need to analyze the traces of electric signals in Maria's brain, right?" Yosuke surmised, receiving a nod from homunculus and his creator.
"But how can this be done?" Maria asked the million-dollar question.
"We need to go get Junior out of his room and make him help us instead of sulking all day about his ego." Chris declared, receiving a nod from Raiden.
"Hold on, before we think about tormenting my nephew anymore..." Elfnein chuckled awkwardly."I may have a solution to our problems."
The prince, meanwhile was busy analyzing his computer for any data he could find about the Second. He was desperately sorting through files looking for...anything. There had to be something he could use. It pained him to have to rely on the Second, but he had no choice. He had to become stronger. And the secret of that was finding out about what the Second was planning with Helheim as well as the Qlipoth tree. Whatever it is, it was connected to Adam. If he could find a way to learn more, then he could-
"Wait...do what? And for what?" Bragi stopped typing. It was the first time since he first woke up from his birth that he didn't know what this all was.'What am I even doing this for?'
He shifted his gaze to the card they were inspecting. He hadn't made much progress just yet. But there was a way to be able to use Takeru's card to their advantage.
'But still...What am I doing, really?'
In truth, he didn't know. After all, his real purpose had been to be a vessel for Bragard to use. And that failed. He was a creation made of the DNA of two remarkable Alchemists with memories that didn't belong to him at all.
'What am I? Who am I? Am I really Prince Bragi Third Dienheim, or...' He glanced over to his tiara.'Am I all of that just because of the Second? Are all of my achievements only possible because of him? Do I have a real goal and reason to exist?'
He didn't know why he was thinking about all that now. It never occurred to him to question his existence. He just thought he was meant to be special. Privileged.
'The taste of defeat truly is a disgusting flavor.' He muttered, leaning back on his chair and closing his eyes as he readied to take a nap.
'What's my purpose...Mama...? Am I just here to make a mess and make everyone's lives difficult? Even if I manage to weaponize this card, what else am I supposed to do after? Am I not meant to be perfect?'
"What the hell is this?" Raiden couldn't help but ask what was in everyone's head upon seeing a helmet connected with wires.
"Oh, this?" Elfnein chuckled at his surprised expression."This is a "Direct feedback system" left behind by Dr. Ver which we tried remodeling with a few elements of Alchemy."
"You make it sound so simple." Raiden deadpanned.
"Ah, I'm sorry." She giggled sheepishly, making the bespectacled boy blush slightly before hiding his face.
"So what does it do?" Yosuke asked, making the Autoscorer respond.
"By converting one's consciousness into electric signals and transmitting it into the brain of another, it allows direct observation."
"Huh. Really?" Chris looked genuinely interested."So you can take a look at people's brains? Like...VR?"
"Something like that, yes." Tobias nodded."But the brain is like one giant labyrinth. The absolute worst that could happen is the observer's mind-melding with the subject, pretty much leaving them brain dead."
"I'll do it." Maria volunteered.
"What?!" Jades gasped."No! It's crazy! What if something goes wrong?!"
"Then it's better for me to do it." Maria said, smiling at her boyfriend."Only Kirika, Shirabe, and I have that within our minds. So if anyone is taking a risk, it's me. That way, if something goes wrong, they'll be safe."
"Maria..."
"You take risks to protect us." Maria placed a hand on his cheek."So let me take a risk as well. We're almost there. One more step, and we'll be able to complete the LINKER."
"But, Elfnein..." Raiden frowned."You'd be at risk too..."
"It's the least I can do." Elfnein nodded with a solemn expression."I want to be able to help you do this."
"Yeah, but can't we just send Bragi there-"
"Raiden-san!" Elfnein pouted cutely, folding her arms.
"Raiden, you made her upset." Jades shook his head in disapproval.
The brown-haired boy looked at his friends, who were all staring at him. Some stifling their chuckles.
"Damn it..." Raiden caved."Fine. Okay. But just be careful, okay?"
"Of course." Elfnein smiled, her cheeks adopting a red tint as her heart began to accelerate. 'Again, I feel like I have butterflies in my belly...'
Raiden wasn't doing much better. He was flustered, just standing in front of her without saying anything.
"He needs a lot of work." Jades muttered to Maria, who nodded.
"True. But I'm sure we can work something out..."
"So, uh..." Raiden started."How's the weather?"
"It's very nice, isn't it?" Elfnein immediately responded.
"They both need a lot of work..."
Jades turned to Maria, grabbing her hands and leaning in for a kiss, which she happily returned."Be safe in there, okay?"
"Naturally." She pecked him on the lips."I love you. Take care of them while we're doing this."
"With my life."
"Thanks for paying for us, Jades-san." Miku thanked the silver-haired man after he bought them all ice cream after school was done for the day.
"No need to thank me." Jades chuckled, sitting next to Yosuke on a separate table."I'm technically the adult here, so it's only right for me to treat you kids to something."
"Really?!" Kirika beamed."Then, if that's the case-"
"Finish your first dessert before you go on ordering more." Chris shot her down, causing the blonde to deflate.
"Someone gets it." Raiden nodded sagely."Thank you, Chris-san."
"You just do it to be a wet blanket, though." Shirabe poked him on the cheek, accidentally smearing some ice cream on him.
"Hey! Watch it! It's cold!"
"So, Tachibana, how's Adachi?" Yosuke asked the cream-haired girl.
"He's...the same. Hasn't woken up yet." Hibiki sighed, making Miku frown at that."Hamaguchi-kun usually tries to reassure me he'll wake up, but..."
"We just gotta have faith," Shirabe said.
"I can't believe Nakahara-san is dead..." Miku muttered, rubbing her arm."I know she tried to kill me, but still...I didn't wish death upon her."
"She took a lot of lives." Chris huffed."But I guess us wishing them death makes us equally as bad as they are, huh? She wanted to kill you, right? Why did that even happen anyway?"
"She thought I was trying to take Hazuki away from her." Miku grumbled in disdain."Though, upon further reflection, she could have just kept him..."
The group exchanged worried glances with each other, followed by a pause.
"Our next story follows up Stephan, who lost one of his legs in a civil war in his country."
They all focused on the television displaying the news. Apparently, Stephan had come to Japan to get a prosthetic leg so he could play soccer again.
"Good." Yosuke nodded, allowing himself a smile."Sakamoto made the right call at the time. He really did it."
"I hope he watches over Stephan as well." Jades folded his arms."And the people he saved. One thing is clear, he can be proud that those people can live their lives in peace."
"Yeah..." Chris's eyes were glued to the screen.
"Chris-chan?" Hibiki tilted her head.
"Do you guys think there was a right choice at all?" Chris asked, lowering her gaze to the rings."Do you think...all of it was worth it?"
"To be honest, that's not up to us to say." Yosuke shifted his gaze to her, giving her his full attention."Only Sakamoto could answer that for you. That being said, I believe if he were here today, he'd be happy that he was able to give those people a second chance. And keep you safe. Whether something is right or wrong, that's up to the people involved. He ordered you to shoot his leg off and decided to carry the guilt for you."
"I guess...I just really miss him." Chris closed her eyes, trying not to tear up."Every night...even if I have Hibiki or Senpai around, it's...it feels really lonely. I know we're not supposed to do this, but sometimes we would just sleep together and cuddle. Tell each other about our day and just talk until we would fall asleep. Now my bed feels like it's 100 times bigger than it used to be. Sometimes I go to his apartment just to clean up and make sure everything is in order...maybe some part of me still hasn't processed it and I think...he'll come back home with his goofy smile and...and that he'll tell me how much he loves me...I can't believe I won't get to feel that way anymore..."
"Chris-chan..." Hibiki and Miku sat next to her, hugging her for some comfort.
"We were going to get married. Dummy said he was planning it already." Chris covered her eyes, not wanting people to see her in her most vulnerable state."And now..."
"We'll stop Albedo" Yosuke reassured her, a small tear streaming down his cheek which he quickly wiped off. "I swear that. And, I know that it won't bring him back, but we can at least retrieve Magnugiga from him. We'll make Albedo pay for all the people he's killed. Including Sakamoto and Goro."
"I'm going to kill that fucker..." Chris seeded."One way or another. He ruined everything for me."
"Yukine, you are his next target. I don't think-"
"That's why I'll be the one to kill him!" Chris cut him off, pure anger in her eyes."If he comes at me, then fuck it! I'll make him pay for what he did to my Takeru!"
"Uh, did we come at a bad time?"
Chris glared at the newcomer, then froze upon seeing his face."Wait, aren't you..."
"Wei-kun!" Hibiki stood up from her chair. Wei was wearing his Lydian school uniform, and behind them, were two identical blondes. One of them had a blank expression on her face, while the other had a big grin.
"Liang-kun." Yosuke blinked, perplexed at the sight of the last full-blooded Liang."I didn't know you had come back from your trip."
"I came back a few days ago." Wei shrugged, approaching them."I managed to find a few of the people who were banished from our clan. You are looking at two half Liangs. These are-"
"For you." Yomi pulled a silver flower from his coat, offering it to Hibiki.
"Oh..." Hibiki chuckled nervously, accepting the gift."It's...pretty."
Chris slammed her fist on the table, glaring at the young magician."She's got a boyfriend, asshole."
"Oh, don't worry about that!" Yomi waved his hand dismisivally with a chuckle."I'm aromantic. So you don't have to worry about me stealing her from her boyfriend. Not unless she wants me to."
"Aromantic...?" Kirika scratched her hair, puzzled.
"It means that he has no romantic interests in other people," Raiden informed his youngest sister.
"Yeah, I'm not about that life." Yomi elaborated, showing them a card between his fingers. With a flick of his wrist, the card disappeared."My name is Yomi Kugisaki. And that one right there is my twin sister. Say hello, Despia."
Despia waved her hand.
"She's a mute, so she can't speak. But if you want me to translate what she says, then-"
Despia shook her head, giving him a few hand gestures.
"Oh? Do you want to be the one to tell them? You got your notebook?" He received a thumbs up."Great. Cool, cool. Well, she's not much of a talker anyway. So I usually handle that part, especially after our performances when we talk to fans."
"Performances?" Shirabe asked, curious.
"We work at a circus. We also have a YouTube channel where Despia uploads our highlights there. It's called Kugisaki Extravaganza. Feel free to subscribe, by the way." He winked at them.
"Seems you're doing good for yourselves." Jades commented."Wei-kun, do they know about..."
"All we know is that the Liangs are long gone except for my man Wei here." Yomi continued, sitting next to Miku and crossing his legs carelessly."And I heard you guys were friends with two more half-breeds like us. I was hoping I could meet them."
"Lingyun is not with you?" Wei asked the wielder of Gungnir."That's odd. Usually, you guys are inseparable, right?"
"A lot happened...he's not feeling well, but he'll be back," Hibiki told him with a smile.
"So he's not here. Man, what a drag." Yomi groaned."I came all the way here for no reason."
Despia quickly wrote down in her notebook."Forgive my brother's rudeness. ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ He was just looking forward to meeting Hajime Adachi."
"Meet Blacky-kun? But why-desu?"
"I heard he's really strong." Yomi said, not bothering to hide his motives."I just wanted to have a shot against someone who equaled the great Chao-Xing. Wei told me this guy is supposed to be super strong. And I wanted to see for myself. But hey, you're his girlfriend, aren't you? Uh...What was your name, again?"
"Hibiki Tachibana."
"Then, Biki-chan, why don't you fight me?" Yomi asked, excitement gleaming in his eyes.
"Hold on, I-"
"No way! Did you really come here to pick a fight with Hibiki?!" Miku scowled at the blue-eyed boy.
"Well, I came to pick a fight with Hajime Adachi. But his girlfriend must be pretty strong too, right? Come on, Biki-chan."
'What is this moron doing?!' Despia was fuming, trying to keep her face neutral.'How would he know she can fight just because she's Hajime's girlfriend?! He only says that because he knows she has the Gungnir, but there is no way for us to know!'
"Sure...I guess that's fine." Hibiki scratched her cheek."I don't mind sparing. Shishou is always telling me to practice whenever I can, so this can work out for me too."
"Cool! Now it's a party!" The battle-hungry magician smirked, jumping off his seat.
"Wait, seriously?!" Chris gasped.
"Is this really a good idea right now...?" Jades sweatdropped.
"I mean, it's just sparing, right?" Raiden turned to see the detective of the group, realizing he had been quiet the whole time. Yosuke had a thought look on his face. Raiden decided not to bother him and focused on the fight.
Hibiki and Yomi took opposite positions from each other, each of them taking a battle stance.
"For a magician, he's sure eager to get into a brawl," Shirabe commented.
Despis scribbled on her notebook, showing it to her."He's a bit of an adrenaline junkie. He often performs incredibly dangerous acts during our performances."
"I guess there is never a dull moment with all these Liangs running around, eh?" Jades joked.
'I can't fight the strongest yet, but his little bitch should be enough to entertain me.' Yomi wasted no time in rushing Hibiki, throwing a right hook toward her face. To his surprise, she swatted his punch away, throwing a jab of her own that grazed his chin had he not jumped back. He lunged in once against, throwing a few punches she Hibiki was more than prepared to block.
"What the heck are those moves?" Wei gaped, baffled upon seeing Hibiki's moves."They're like...from an action movie or something."
"Yeah, she and the Old Man watch a lot of action movies."
"Movies...?"
Hibiki bent her knees, avoiding a horizontal kick from the magician. She swept his leg with a kick, causing him to drop to the ground, but he supported his weight with his left hand and kicked her in the chest, sending her staggering back.
"The first blow." Shirabe sat on the edge of her seat.
"He's fast! But Hibiki-san is still in this-desu!"
Hibiki quickly recuperated, dashing at Yomi with a few kicks that he barely managed to block. She kicked him, forcing him to block with his forearm, but then she lowered her leg and kicked him on the hip, causing him to wince. She took advantage of this and winded her fist back before punching him across the face, knocking him to the ground.
Despia unfolded her arms, not having expected to see her brother kiss the floor like that.
"Oh, gosh! I'm so sorry, Yomi-kun!" Hibiki immediately rushed to the young man's side. However, he suddenly jumped back to his feet, delivering a punch to Hibiki's gut, knocking the wind out of her.
"You dropped your guard, Biki-chan." He smirked, looking down at her.
"You were faking you were hurt...?" Hibiki took a deep breath, rubbing her belly.
"Not really. You pack one hell of a punch." He caressed his cheek."A little more and you would have knocked me out. But I am used to getting into fights like these. So I'm afraid things like that won't be working for me. Ready to continue?"
"Alright, then!" Hibiki made the first move again, going for several punches in quick succession. She knew what she was dealing with now, so she could afford to not hold back as much. Still, she was impressed. Yomi was able to start reacting better to her attacks. He started on the back foot, but now, he was fending them off fairly well.
"He's adapting," Yosuke said, earning the attention of the others."If he's a Liang, then he's probably a fighting genius, like Adachi."
"You're half right." Wei corrected him."Not all Liangs are fighters. Even among the ones with pure blood. Let alone half-breeds. Yomi is like Lingyun because he can adapt to his opponents as he fights. Before I met him, he told me he would get into underground illegal fights just for the thrill of it."
"Are you a fighter too, Despia-chan?" Miku asked the poker-faced blonde, who quickly wrote in her notebook.
"No. I wasn't born with that ability. Half-Liangs don't always manifest a trait from the Liang Clan. For instance, my brother and I don't have either black hair or pink eyes."
"Now that you mention it, Setsuna-chan doesn't have either either...And Hazuki only has pink eyes while Hajime has black hair..."
Yomi was having the time of his life, a big grin on his face the more Hibiki pressured him. Her punches were strong. Despite her appearance, she was hiding a lot of strength. A truly worthy opponent. And Hajime was supposed to be stronger than that? His blood was boiling with excitement like a kid in a candy store. He hadn't had a fight like this in a long time.
He connected a punch against her thigh when she tried to kick him.
'What was that...? Hibiki jumped back.'It felt like electricity was coursing through me...'
'Good. I've accumulated enough charges.' His grin turned into a smirk, his right hand behind his back as a bolt of lightning appeared between his fingers.
'Idiot!' Despia panicked, rushing to stop the fight.'Are you planning to kill her?!'
Suddenly, everyone's communicators went off, prompting the fight to stop.
"Please, excuse me." Hibiki bowed, turning away to listen to her communicator. He then noticed a broadcast on television, showing what looked to be a hydra or something in the ocean.
'Huh. Guess some more interesting things are happening.' He flicked his wrist, turning off his attack.
"I'm sorry. But we have to go." Hibiki apologized."It was nice meeting you and sparring with you, Yomi-kun! I hope we can do it again sometime!"
"Oh, trust me. You're my favorite person to fight as of you." He planted his hands on his hips."Until I get to fight your boyfriend, that is."
"I'll let him know as soon as he's feeling better!" She promised."See you guys later!"
The group followed after him, except for Miku, who stayed behind.
'So that's the girl that Hazuki had his eyes on.' He examined her from head to toe.'Yeah, I can see she's his type. I guess she wasn't that good if he chose the fate of the world over her, though.'
"What were you thinking?!" Wei approached him, gritting his teeth, keeping his voice low since Miku was nearby."Were you trying to kill her?!"
"I got a little too excited." Yomi chuckled sheepishly."What can I say? Besides, that girl is a lot stronger than me. I doubt my discharge attack would have killed her. I feel like my strength has increased a lot from this fight. I can't wait for the next one!"
"But what if your sure-hit lightning discharge killed her then?!" Wei hissed, making sure his volume didn't attract Miku's attention.
"I don't know. She would have died, I guess. Which, in hindsight, it would have been better because then I would have given our cousin more of a reason to fight me! And there is no greater fight than one over revenge! How tragic!"
"You're insane..."
Yomi simply winked at him, hands in his pockets as he approached Miku, who was about to leave."I'm sorry. You're...Miku Kohinata, right?"
"Oh. Yes." Miku bowed slightly."Kugisaki-kun, right? How can I-"
"A rose for a rose. Call me Yomi, by the way." He reached for his jacket, pulling out a black rose."For you, madam. I do believe black suits you best, based on your hair color and your eyes."
"Wow...it's so pretty..." Miku marbled at the rose, gingerly taking it."Do...you just carry these everywhere?"
"Nah. It's all about magic!" He twirled his hand, clapping his hands, and in the blink of an eye, he had a handful of tickets, handing them out to the girl."Here you go, Mi-chan. Should be enough for you and all of your friends to come see us at our next performance. I'll gladly save you all the best seats, so don't hold back on me, alright?"
"Thank you so much, Yomi-san..." Miku bowed with gratitude."But for now, we should head for the shelters. If what they're saying on television is happening..."
"Sure, we'll be there." He reassured her. With that, Miku began jogging away, leaving the cousins behind.
"Mmmmm. I wonder if I can hit her from her with my discharge." He leveled his index finger, aiming at her back.
Despia stood in front of him, giving a few hand gestures."I doubt the boss would be pleased if you were to kill his girlfriend."
"Ex-Girlfriend." He corrected her."Besides, in the new world, that's not gonna matter, so who cares? Those are some cute girls, though. I wonder if I can get my hands on them. There's like, what? 6 Symphogear plus Mi-chan? I could have a different girl every day and I'd never get bored."
"I thought you said you were aromantic?" Wei pointed out.
"I said aromantic, not asexual. It's the best. No feelings, no attachments. I just have fun with a girl and move on. Pretty ideal, if you ask me. Usually, that's what I do. I have some fun with a girl and the next day I don't even remember her face."
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. All of those girls have boys they love." Wei warned him with a frown."Play with fire and you'll get burnt."
"Fine by me." He grinned twistedly, electricity sparking through his hands."I hope I get close to the sun and get a nice tan."
"You really are twisted, aren't you?" Wei clicked his tongue."I get we're supposed to be doing this for the better of the world, but we shouldn't do more than what we have to."
"And why not? It's fun, isn't it?" He refuted."For me, life is one big performance. You have actors who perform differently and show you what they have to offer, making things different and entertaining. Some more than others. For me, a person's worth depends on how entertaining they are to me. If they can't do that then...I guess they're just pointless. Besides, what's up with this high and mighty attitude, cousin? You should be reveling in the idea of making Hajime Adachi pay, no? After all, he's the reason your sister died."
"While it's true he failed to save my sister, Bragard was the one who killed her. I don't believe in pointless revenge." Wei said resolutely."I am willing to believe in the monster who can improve the world. But I won't do more than I have to. When the time comes, I'll do my part when Ragnarok starts. Until then, I won't do more than necessary."
"And here I thought all Liangs were interesting." Yomi sighed.
Despia shook her head in disapproval, but her brother ignored her.
"Anyway...Why don't you tell us more about this Bragard person?" Yomi glanced over his shoulder, eyeing the Liang."I think we could learn something valuable from the monster who brought the Messiah to his knees if we're to fight him when we get our powers. After all...we're the key players of Ragnarok. And we have front rows seats for the end of the world!"
The Bavarian Illuminati stood on the deck of their warship, staring at the nine-headed serpent from afar.
"That's one big Alca Noise." Raphael noted, sitting on top of Donatello."Lady Prelati, did you bring the Shadow Riders with you just in case?"
"I did." Prelati nodded.
"We may have failed to secure the Divine Power from the Anti-Messiah, but we still have other means to get it." St. Germain stood in front of them arms folded under her chest."And once we do, we'll right the laws of this world and put an end to all oppressors. Starting with him. For the sake of justice, we must. I can't afford to reconsider the steps already taken. Even if I must go alone."
"But you're not alone." Raphael shot her a smile."We're here with you. And we'll always be here by your side. Isn't that right, my lovely ladies?"
"Basically, you're right." Prelati nodded.
"It's because of you that we're here." Cagliostro winked at the white-haired woman."Wherever you go, we go with you. Besides, you should know this by now. Haven't you and Raphael been stuck like glue all of these years?"
"Yup. Since we were little kids." He nodded, rubbing Donatello's head. The horse huffed.
"You guys..." St. Germain muttered, a small smile gracing her features."Thank you. All of you. Prelati, did you also bring our ace in the hole?"
"Of course. But I wouldn't recommend us using it while the others are out." Prelati took out a crimson gem from her stuffed toad with the symbol of a dragon, shining brightly."I don't know if we'll be able to control it, but it should be an interesting experiment."
"Yes. If we can get it to work, then we'd have something else to our advantage." St. Germain remarked, grabbing the gem to observe it closely."Let's see how capable you are...Shadow Ryuki."
