Author's Note: Some details about some of the characters
I named Despia after the Despia Branded Deck in Yu-Gi-Oh, which is my favorite archetype. Yomi's name means underworld in Japanese. Need I say more?
Nationality-wise, I decided to make the new members of Noble Red from different countries as well as their ages.
Angelo Romano(24) and Reina Romano (15): Italian
Amy Regulus(15): British
Psykos(5): Technically created in Germany
Reviews:
nickseverino8: maybe. I don't think so. If I do, it's probably just the main story.
triscythe59: I think they would get along. Shinji is like Hibiki in which they both don't want to fight, but aren't afraid to clench their fists if they have to to do what's right.
Lord Ri The Husbu King: Nah, I would never. That's my favorite beginning-of-the-season fight out of all of them. Yeah, Bragi might not be the easiest to get along with, but he has a lot of stuff that affects him. Thankfully he's got Miku now and she's doing her best to make sure he learns more about life and helps him as much as she can. Vice versa, he's willing to do anything to keep her safe. As we'll see later on in the season if you know what's coming. To be honest I think Vanessa is a little too old for Hazuki. The guy is like 18/19 and Vanessa strikes me like she's 25 or older. If anything I think she'd be a better match for Terunosuke. Idk I feel pretty bad about Elsa too. She's such a sweet cinnamon roll and that's why I ended up pairing her with Allister. He considers himself a monster and rightly so, since he's an assassin and basically made a deal with the devil (Loki) to do what he must to change the world. It's ironic, I agree. Now he understands how Takeru felt. And no, you're the only one who wants Yomi dead already. And he hasn't even done the major stuff he'll do later on just yet.
SoutaAmetsuchi: lol yeah. Even Hajime called him weird. He's one big weirdo.
moniura2005: Yeah, Yomi is the guy who wants to have fun, no matter how others feel and Hazuki is willing to sacrifice whoever he has to to achieve his goals. Actually, there is a reason why Jormungandr wasn't mentioned. You'll see later on. He's part of his plans, but we'll see. Yes, Hazuki is confident that Setsuna will willingly join him. What could he mean? Does he have a plan for that? And yes, Yomi is a sociopath and borderline psychopath. I would say he's even worse than Chiaki. Chiaki did the things she did because she had a "reason" for it. Yomi just does it because it's fun for him.
501awezome: Merry Christmas to you too and happy holidays! To be honest, I had considered it. But then again, I am already enjoying a nice little vacation away from school and I'm not working as much at the moment, so I have a lot of free time to write. So I decided to use my spare time to continue writing because once I start school up again my time will be limited. So it's fine. After all, for an author, their readers are their gift. So it's a Merry Christmas to me lol. The show must go on. Also, I have heed your words. Though you might not get what you expect if you get what I mean.
Tenzalucard123: Yeah, Hajime just had to go into that room and make things embarrassing for both of them. And Miku is not letting that go. Never. At least, Bragi and Hajime are...not killing each other. Miku and Hibiki are keeping them in peace for now.
SkyKing01: I like this idea and I was thinking of using it. Maybe in the OVA, I'm planning. Mainly because Chris and Alternative are left out and the others are dead so it's kind of weird.
Guest: Un amante del caos...me gusta. Interesante.
Guest: Mas o menos. Ya veras mas adelante.
Chapter 114
Inherited Sins
Noble Red plus Terunosuke and Allister were standing outside of a hospital room, watching the body of a teenage girl with brown hair in a comatose state on a hospital bed, attached to all sorts of machines.
Allister was currently talking to one of the doctors he knew. A client he had worked for a while back and was cashing in a favor.
"I'm glad we were able to find your body, Amy." Vanessa patted the robot toy on her shoulder."We're so lucky Elsa-chan's boyfriend is so caring."
Elsa fidgeted, still not used to being teased like that."We're very grateful to him..."
"And of course, to you too, handsome." Vanessa eyed the dark-haired man, who kept his distance from the group, arms folded."Thank you."
"Don't think too much of it." Terunosuke waved his hand dismisivally."We're just keeping our end of the bargain and helping you out. We're allies, after all."
"Still, thank you so much," Amy said, her voice cracking.
"How the hell are we gonna transmute her soul back into her body, though?" Psykos asked what everyone was wondering.
"Can't you just possess her body?" Reina asked, cocking her head to the side.
"No! Absolutely not!" Amy cried out."He's not getting anywhere near my brain!"
"Besides, how is that going to help? Even if he enters her body, that's not going to do much." Angelo asked his sister, who gave him a cat-like grin.
"I just thought it'd be funny."
"You're terrible..."
"I'm all skin and bones, though..." Amy mumbled, distraught to see the condition of her body."And my hair is so long now...The last time I checked myself in the mirror, I was even shorter than Reina. I wonder how long it's been..."
"Don't worry. We'll fatten you right up. We'll eat tons of incredibly tasty food that you won't know where to even begin." Vanessa reassured her.
"Can we get blueberry pies?" Amy asked with a hopeful tone in her voice.
"As many as you want."
"Alright, I talked to the doctor. The guy owed me a few favors, so I managed to pull some strings. He'll keep your body here and make sure it's well taken care of. So when we find a way to get your soul back into your body, you'll be able to use it properly."
"Thank you so much, Allister-san. Truly." Said the British girl, spinning around on the woman's shoulder.
"We even managed to find your Mom and contact her. Of course, we couldn't tell her who we are. She didn't ask more questions except for the location of where to find you. For all she knows, you're just in a coma. It's astonishing she hasn't lost hope of finding you after all these years." Angelo remarked."But as they say, hope is the last thing we should lose."
"It's been so long...since I was separated from my Mother..." Amy said, her mood shifting.
"But you're so close to getting home. All we have to do is get you there. We'll find a way to get you in your body again."
"Well, with that done, we have work to do." Angelo clapped his hands."Millaarc, Elsa, Psykos, and Reina. You're all with me. Amy and Vanessa. You girls go together. Let's see what SONG is truly capable of."
Meanwhile, all members of SONG were gathered in the command center of HQ, currently being briefed on the explosion by the docks.
"Alright. Everyone is here. Let's keep this short." Genjuro said, turning to the screen showing the flaming boat."There was an explosion at a SONG research facility disguised as a cruise ship."
"A floating laboratory?" Kirika asked.
"I guess the research was something too dangerous to handle in the city." Shirabe assumed.
"I mean...judging from that explosion, I guess it was a safe bet," Jades remarked.
"Right." Genjuro nodded."We were investigating the recovered remains of the Autoscorer, Tiki."
"Wait, Tiki?" Bragi blinked."Huh. So her body survived the explosion?"
"Apparently so. As we weren't able to find any remains of Adam or Lilith. Through analyzing the destroyed Antikythera Gear and the Autoscorer that housed it, we were hoping to shed some light on the goals of Adam Weishaupt and the Bavarian Illuminati. Since their goals are a little more ambiguous, at least in comparison to the Disasters of Valhalla."
"So what caused the explosion then?" Raiden inquired.
"It was probably a safety mechanism triggered by researchers who delved too far." Ogawa guessed.
"At any rate, the Tiki was capable of recording the movements of the planets and deducing various phenomena based on the data collected."
A map appeared on the screen, zooming in on Antarctica.
"The last data salvaged before the explosion was the coordinates to a particular location there. Specifically, Lake Vostok, one of the largest lakes in Antarctica." Aoi informed them."There's a Russian research station located nearby.
"There are lakes in Antarctica?" Hamaguchi scratched his head.
"Of course there are" Sakuya chimed in."It's just that they're mostly covered in snow and ice."
"Huh. And people complain about global warming..."
"Actually, the Earth's climate is not static and has undergone many significant changes in the past." Elfnein corrected him."So I wouldn't say global warming is not a problem. The point is that these changes have been especially stark in recent years, as much of the polar ice has melted."
"You're making it sound like they found something under the ice." Chris gave her an incredulous look, and when no one said anything for a solid five seconds, she gaped."Wait, really?!"
"No way! Did they find a caveman?!" Hamaguchi grinned."I thought that was only a movie cliche!"
"Nothing as extreme as that..." Aoi deadpanned at the boy, typing something on her console and pulling up a picture of a scorpion frozen in ice."This is what they found. This scorpion belonged to a species that lived in the Middle East thousands of years ago. A species which is now extinct."
"Middle East...?" Yosuke's eyes widened slightly."How did that get all the way to Antarctica? Tectonic shifts?"
"We're still investigating the details, but the most likely scenario is that it was brought there by a prehistoric civilization."
"And there is another point of concern we found." Ogawa said, bringing more news to the table."After Bragi-san managed to tell us as much information as he could thanks to burning Bragard's memories, we put our agents to work and they've been investigating remnant cells of the Bavarian Illuminati that went to ground after its collapse."
"Did you find them?" Bragi asked."The Second's experiments?"
"Unfortunately, no, But we did get intel that indicates that Adam and Lilith wanted to use the Divine Power to achieve a specific goal."
"We know they wanted to become rulers of the world, to the point where they were willingly backstabbing each other for that power." Tsubasa stated."But to what end?"
"The reason was that they wished to destroy "the Sarcophagus which will surface from the abyss of time". " The red-haired quoted."Our next mission will be recon in Antarctica. Taking into account that this intel originates from the Bavarian remnants, this could very well be a trap. So I want you all to be in perfect shape. The operation will begin in a week."
"Yes, sir!"
A week later, SONG was dispatched to the Antarctic, the submarine following the helicopters in the air carrying the Symphogear and Kamen Riders in different helicopters. Hajime, Hibiki, Tsubasa, Yosuke, Chris, and Bragi were in one, and Maria, Shirabe, Kirika, Raiden, Hamaguchi, and Jades were in the other.
Hajime pulled the doors open, and everyone was immediately exposed to the cold.
"It's freezing! I'm so cold!" Hibiki immediately began to shiver."Warm me up, Hajime!"
She clung to her boyfriend, noticing how oddly warm he felt."Oh, wow. You're actually pretty warm!"
"Yeah. It's Dragreder." Hajime said, seemingly not freezing like the others.
"Let me see." Chris grabbed his arm and noticed how hot his temperature was. She immediately clung to him as well. Tsubasa and Yosuke looked at each other and joined in to keep themselves warm.
"What is this? I'm not a heater..." Hajime grumbled, unable to move due to the amount of people grabbing him."Hey, hellspawn, you better not join in."
"I wouldn't touch you with a 10-foot pole, bastard. Besides, I'm perfectly fine." He said with a smug smile."I have my gravitational field around me, keeping the cold air away from my body. I could extend it."
"Wait, what?!" A tick mark appeared on Chris' forehead."Why didn't you say so sooner?!"
"Because you all seem very content clinging to the Boy Wonder. I didn't want to interrupt." He said, folding his arms and whistling.
"Wow, you're petty."
"Huh?! Why didn't we go with Blacky-kun then-desu?!" Kirika shivered uncontrollably.
"It's because we thought Jades could help us with the cold." Maria eyed her boyfriend, who was sitting far away from the others, sulking in the corner. On the opposite spectrum to Dragreder, Destwilder was making Jades' body temperature as low as possible, and since he was resistant to the cold, he had no problems with being in Antarctica. But this resulted in the others not wanting to get anywhere near him.
"I'm sorry..." He mumbled.
"Whatever. We'll survive. Probably." Raiden put on the hood of his uniform in an attempt to cover his ears."I guess the cold weather doesn't stop here, not even in summer."
"Summer? Bro, it's like super duper winter up in here!" Hamaguchi exclaimed.
"No shit, dumbass. It's cold in here all year long." Chris scoffed at him."Once we all transform, we should be fine and-"
Suddenly, a blast of energy shot out from beneath the ground, clearing out the clouds and allowing the sunlight to come through.
"The fuck...?"
"I'm already freezing, but that still gave me chills..." Tsubasa muttered in shock.
"Aw, shit." Yosuke clicked his tongue, watching as the ice below started to crack and a yellow arm broke through the ice."That's gotta be the Sarcophagus."
"Since when can Sarcophagus shoot out energy beams, though?" Hajime pondered.
"Kiri-chan, what's a Sarcophagus again?" Shirabe asked the blonde, who gave her a stupified look.
"Why are you asking me-desu?! How would I know?!"
"Yeah. Why are you asking her? Normally you'd ask me." Raiden chimed in.
"You said you're tired of when people ask you questions."
"Yeah, but...asking Kirika? Seriously?"
"Hey! What does that mean?!"
"Whatever the case, this just made our jobs a lot easier." Maria took charge, glancing at the silver-haired man."Jades, get ready. We're in your terrain, so you better show off, okay?"
"Right, right." He chuckled.
Without wasting more time, they all jumped off the helicopters, activating their transformations in a rainbow light. The Sarcophagus stood up, winding its fist back in anticipation.
"Balwisyall Nescell Gungnir Tron..."
"Kilterr Ichaival Tron..."
"Imyuteus Ame No Habakiri Tron..."
"Seilen Coffin Airgetlam Tron..."
"Zeios Igalima Raizen Tron..."
"Various Shul Shagana Tron..."
"Henshin!"
(Play All Loves Blazing)
"You ready?!" Ryuki clasped his hands together, allowing Hibiki to put her feet on his fists."Blast away!"
With all his might, he threw Hibiki toward the moving object as she activated her thrusters, increasing her speed and smashing her fist against the sarcophagus'. Their attacks canceled each other out, knocking them back.
"The thing is strong!" Hibiki landed back with the group.
"But we're better." Knight said."Let's move out!"
In an instant, the sarcophagus fired another beam of energy, prompting Alternative to reflect it away as everyone scattered around. The beam struck the ground, forming several crystal pillars.
"What is that?!" Chris said, glaring at the pillars.
"Who knows, who cares?" Ryuki huffed."Just in case, try not to get hit by that."
"A good strategy." Tsubasa nodded."Stay separated but help each other if you need to! Keep its attention away from the observation station!"
"Yes!" Everyone roared, rushing into action.
"Jades, build us a path!" Knight hollered.
"Gladly!" Tiger inserted a card into his visor.
Frost Vent
Using his control over ice, Tiger created brides of ice, which everyone used to slide over and jump around. Shirabe unfolded her armored twin tails, shooting dozens upon dozens of buzzsaws.
Alpha Style: 100 Samsara
Kirika's scythe generated two extra blades, hurling them forward.
Kill Juliet
Abyss leaped into the air, activating a card of his own.
Shoot Vent: Abyssturret
A double-barrel machine gun with the head of Abysshammer appeared in his hands, pulling the trigger and releasing a barrage of bullets from the barrel and torpedos from the side compartments. The beast jumped in the air, avoiding the attacks, but Hibiki expected this and threw it back to the ground.
Strike Vent: Dragclaw
Ryuki slid on a ramp of ice, leaping into the sky and thrusting his fist forward, shooting a stream of fire in the shape of Dragreder at the creature. For good measure, Chris shot several missiles in conjunction.
Mega Deth Party
However, much to the surprise, the Sarcophagus stood tall once more, shooting a beam of energy at Chris.
"Repel!"
Chris was suddenly pulled by a gravitational force right into Alternative."Thanks for the save."
"No problem, but..." Bragi narrowed his eyes at the now multiple crystal pillars around them."This is one fancy sarcophagus. No, I guess it's not that normal."
"What do you mean?"
Knight and Maria attacked from the sides, but the creature rolled out of the way, making them nearly crash into each other. The Sarcophagus fired a beam at them, but Tsubasa conjured a giant sword, slamming it on the ground to block the attack.
Heaven's Wrath
"I don't know how much you know about these things, but no sarcophagus is going to start shooting back like it's a fucking Warmachine." Alternative swallowed the lump in his throat."My point is, whatever is hiding must be extremely important."
Tiger formed a fist of ice, punching the air and lunging the ice construct at the creature. However, it started doing something new. Several spikes sprouted from its body, shooting them at the group like projectiles.
Copy Vent
Raia copied Kirika's scythe, twirling it around to deflect the laser beams that the now drones fired at them.
"I noticed you copy my scythe a lot-desu!" Kirika landed behind him, covering each other's backs.
"I hate to admit it, but you have the coolest-looking weapon out of all of us." He complimented his sister.
"What?! What about me?!" Abyss cried out.
Sword Vent: Abyss Sabers
Now equipped with his serrated blades, the shark-themed Rider chucked them at the drones like boomerangs, slashing through several of them before they returned to his hands.
"Yours are okay. I guess."
"Aw, come on!"
"Everyone! Get back!" Alternative clapped his hands together, concentrating his energy. They knew what was coming, so they did as instructed and kept a safe distance away from him as the drones gathered around him.
He formed a black sphere of energy with a negative sign in it.
Negative Discord Karma Orb
He spun his left hand before chucking the sphere around, controlling it with his gravity. The gravitational force began to pull everything around him, forcing the drones to break to pieces as the ball of energy grew before slamming it against the Sarcophagus and bursting into an explosion of energy, causing it to stagger back.
Maria and Hibiki took this chance to attack in unison, concentrating their Phonic Gain in their gauntlets and forming two drills, slamming them together against the Sarcophagus, sending it skidding backward, pieces of its core shattering.
"Nice one!" Maria gave Hibiki a thumbs up.
"Right!"
But the creature was resilient and jumped into the air to swat them away like mosquitos.
Red Vent: Chao Gate
Using two cards in unison, Ryuki swapped places with Hibiki and pushed Maria out of the way.
Nasty Vent: Howl of Chaos
Ryuki appeared in front of the girls, taking a deep breath before releasing a loud, powerful roar. The force of the roar was enough to send the sarcophagus rocketing to the ground. To their surprise, the thing got up again.
"Just how tough is it?!" Ryuki grimaced, teleporting away from one of its attacks. However, the sarcophagus switches targets, shooting a beam of energy directly at Kirika and Shirabe. Hamaguchi and Raiden stood in the middle trying to protect them, but Alternative was in front of them.
"Repel!"
He held the attack successfully as Chris, Tsubasa, Knight, and Jades gathered around.
"Alright! Hold that bastard off Junior while we-"
"What the-"
However, his attack was completely ignored, and the beam hit everyone in the vicinity.
All of them were now covered in the crystals, leaving them powerless, except Ryuki and Tiger, who were the only ones who weren't hit by the attack.
'What the fuck?!' Bragi was conscious, gritting his teeth.'It can ignore the laws of physics!'
"Does that actually help you see better?" Psykos asked, watching on as Elsa used her hands as if they were a telescope.
"Surprisingly, yes." She responded.
"Guys...you're too close...I can barely breathe..." Angelo grumbled, having Elsa, Millaarc, Psykos, and Reina on top of him and at his sides.
"It's freezing, babe. You're just constantly emitting heat and this works out, right?" Millaarc kissed his cheek.
"Hey, paws off my brother, you big-chested whore." Reina grumbled.
"At any rate, they kind of went down easily, huh?" Elsa said in an effort to prevent an argument.
"Not like we'd do any better against that big thing." Millaarc sniffed, rubbing Angelo's shoulders to warm her hands."But I bet Angelo would be able to handle it just fine."
"They're not beaten. Remember, these are the people that took down the brass. We can't judge a book by its cover."
"Leave it to a former Soldier in the Mafia to be analytical about these things." Psykos complimented him.
"I wasn't just a Soldier. I was a Made Man. Almost made it to Captain." He said with a grin filled with pride.
"Angelo, I need to tell you something," Satan spoke in his mind.
'What is it?' He asked in his mind.
"That Rider with the black armor. The one who has a grasshopper appearance...He's practically drenched with the essence of Bragard. And I am also sensing the Qlipoth tree essence in him."
'Wait...you mean...?'
"That has to be Bragard's son. On top of that, he must have traveled to Helheim like Bragard did and gotten his hands on a Fruit. If I'm right, he probably managed to get one of us."
'Us?'
"The Seven Princes of Hell. Formerly, it was me, Mammon, Asmodeus, Leviathan, Beelzebub, and Belphegor. We all plotted to take over Helheim, but Beelzebub and Mammon were blinded by their ambitions and rushed in because he wanted to take everything for himself. Since this messed up our plans and coordination, we were beaten by Hel and her siblings and turned into Relics, forced to fuse with the Qlipoth tree. I suspect that this child must have gotten his hands in one of the others. As for which one, I cannot tell."
"Do you think his father fused him with one of them? Like you and me?"
"No. I faintly sense their presence. But they're not fused with him. I suspect he came in contact with them, but that's about it."
'Wait, you just named six. What happened to the last one?'
Satan said nothing, which Angelo took as an indication that he wasn't going to tell him.
"Satan told me that the dude with black armor is Bragard's son."
"What?!" All of them gasped.
"Let's go kill him then!" Millaarc said, removing herself from his back.
"Fuck yeah!" Reina seethed."I can't wait to tear him to pieces and make him eat his shit!"
"We're not going down there. There's too many of them."
"What?! But surely if we work together we can take them out!" Millaarc tried to reason with him.
"Yeah!" Reina agreed, despite hating the fact he was siding with her."If I use my ability, then-"
"Your ability can work, yes. But only on the men. And those girls are pretty strong together. Millaarc, I'm sorry, you won't do any better than she would. Don't even get me started on you, Psykos. Your Liquid Metal is strong, but you have the frail body of a random kid we have. Even if you get the body of a Rider right now, we're still vastly outnumbered. And frankly, even with Satan's powers and in Wrathful Mode, I'm not confident enough to take them on together. These are the same people who took down Adam and Lilith."
"So what do we do?" Elsa asked him.
"We proceed with the plan. Take notes on their abilities right now. So when we face them in the future, we know what we're dealing with." He placed a hand on top of hers."Trust me. There is no one else who wants him more dead than me. But taking this risk...it's not a good idea."
"I agree with him."
They all heard Vanessa's voice in their minds.
"Vanessa?"
"I agree that rushing in blindly is a bad idea." Vanessa nodded on the other side."Amy-chan agrees. For now, we follow the plan."If they defeated the Lodmaster and the Mistress, they must be formidable opponents. Do not underestimate them. Our objective is the Sarcophagus. Revenge comes after."
"Guys!" Ryuki cried out, only to be smacked away by the walking coffin.
Tiger rushed toward it, his claws clashing with its arm.
Blaze Vent
Ryuki made a beeline toward the sarcophagus, his fire so intense it melted the ice as he traveled in a straight line. He slammed his fist against the sarcophagus, knocking it back. He began to throw rapid punches at it, forcing it back with each attack."Jades-san! Your claws!"
"Right!" Tiger turned around, rushing to his friends' sides and slashing through the crystals."My claws can cut through anything! The ultimate offense!"
Once he freed them all, they all came back to their senses.
"That was intense..." Shirabe muttered, still in a daze.
"We can't get hit like that again," Maria remarked.
Alternative wasted no time and dived head-first toward the danger."Like hell I'm letting this asshole play hero again and dangle it over my head!"
Accel Vent
Alternative began slashing at the monster with his sword on the ground, while Ryuki sliced at it in the air. Their constant attacks were forcing the monster on the offensive, shooting a beam at the ground to force them to back away. It spawned more drones, shooting them at the group.
"Not this again!" Knight huffed, activating a card.
Nasty Vent: Sonicbreaker
Darkwing flew above them, releasing a supersonic screech that paralyzed the drones for everyone to attack.
Advent: Dragreder
Advent: Psycho-Rogue
Both monsters began bombarding the creature from afar, fireballs and missiles attacking nonstop.
"Tsubasa-san!" Raia grabbed her attention, and Tsubasa nodded.
Swing Vent: Evilwhip
He lashed out his whip, wrapping it around her arm before swinging her into the skies. She flipped upside down, unfolding the blades at her ankles and spinning at high speeds, resembling a small blue tornado, slashing through the drones.
Chris continued shooting her crossbows into the skies, but some drones had gathered behind her and were about to attack from behind when a wall of ice formed in front of them, sprouting spikes and piercing through them.
"I got your back, Chris-chan." Tiger reassured her, landing behind her."You just focus on blasting these things to hell."
"That's my intention!"
Hamaguchi created water as his feet, using it to skate around and keep up with Maria. She spun her bladed whip around on top of her, and Abyss used his powers to clad it with pressurized water, increasing its striking abilities and cutting through the drones like butter.
"Not bad, eh, Maria-san?!"
"Don't get cocky, now." She chided him."Keep your guard up."
Shirabe and Ryuki swung yo-yos and blades respectively, keeping a steady rhythm as if they were performing. They switched places. Ryuki would be at the front then switch with Shirabe, guarding the rear. With her buzzsaws, she could clear a wide area of drones and Ryuki would shoot out fireballs from his gauntlet.
Kirika swung her scythe, hurling several extra blades from it into the air. The drones dodged these attacks, but the blades circled back thanks to Alternative, using his Repel to repel them back into them.
"You're not missing any attack when you work with me, Kirika-dono."
"Can you go to the arcade with me when we get back home? There's this cute plushy I want to get but I suck at the game-desu! Maybe you can help me with your gravity powers!"
"Okay, that's just abuse."
"Tachibana, you okay over there?!" Knight asked, slicing through the drones with his Winglancer.
"No problems here!" She responded, her fists smashing through the drones with ease. Knight noticed a drone heading from above to attack the girl and he hurled his lance at it, piercing through it and destroying it.
"Watch your every direction, Tachibana. That means your head too."
"R-right! Thank you for that!" She gave a quick bow.
Advent: Darkwing
Darkwing attached itself to her back, helping her glide in the air and close the distance with the sarcophagus, delivering another powerful punch and knocking it back. However, the beast began to rotate like an armadillo, heading straight for Knight.
Alternative jumped in the air, chucking a sphere of white energy at it. However, he noticed Hibiki and Ryuki were too close."No, you idiots! Get away!"
Positive Harmony Karma Orb
The attack exploded and pushed them all down into the icy waters. The sarcophagus grabbed them hostage, sinking into the water due to the pushing effect of the attack. Ryuki was upside down and could not move his arms, only able to kick his legs to no avail. Hibiki wasn't doing much better. Since she was underwater, she couldn't sing, so her energy output was dropping.
"Oh, fuck!" Abyss didn't think twice and dived into the water with no hesitation, sliding a card into his visor.
Final Vent: Abyss Dive
Abyssodon shot a pressurized water Typhon from its mouth, propelling Abyss toward the sarcophagus and delivering a powerful Rider kick to its back, forcing it to release his friends. The shark monster swam over and began slashing at it with its bladed nose before bombarding it with its full arsenal, pushing it toward the surface, and taking it back to land.
Abyss grabbed Hibiki and Ryuki's hands, swimming at great speeds toward the surface. Abyssodon was swatted away, but Knight and Raia, using their Final Vents crashed into it, sending it flying higher into the sky.
Hibiki gasped for air, and Ryuki helped her up so Jades could grab her and pull her out.
"Thanks, Hamaguchi..." Ryuki sighed in relief.
"I ain't letting my best friend and his girl die before the wedding. I'm the best man, remember?"
"We can talk about that later." Ryuki rolled his eyes, staring at the sky."How do we deal with that?"
"I mean, why the hell don't you guys go Survive and Ignite Modes?" Alternative brought up a decent point.
"Oh, yeah. We could do that." Kirika nodded.
"I want to try something else, though." Hibiki grinned at her friends."We just gotta aim for its weak point. The damaged core that Maria-san and I did earlier."
"Fine!" Alternative sighed in exasperation."I guess we can do that...But I'm taking the lead this time, Boy Wonder."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night."
Alternative snarled, but took out his Link Vent, as did everyone else.
"Wait, but it's a rotating, moving target!" Shirabe pointed out."What if we miss?"
"Leave it to me. I'm the gunslinger of the group for a reason. This is a piece of cake for me." Chris jabbed her thumb against her chest.
"Alright, we'll go on Yukine's signal! Everyone! Get ready!"
As if detecting their intent, the Sarcophagus released a horde of drones to protect itself.
"Gear Blast!" The girls' Symphogears vanished, reforming into condensed bullets around them.
Link Vent (x2)
Co-Link Vent(4)
"Oh, yeah! Chris-chan! It's almost your birthday!" Hibiki reminded her.
"Why the fuck are you bringing this up now?!" Chris said, focusing on looking through her scope."Shut up and let me aim!"
The boys fired their combined attacks, taking the form of multicolored spheres that rotated around a black orb as if it were a sun with planets around it.
Orbital Elemental Bullets
The attack completely disintegrated the drones, and the attack had entered the sarcophagus to make it stop spinning, revealing its core and allowing Chris a clear path to aim."THERE!"
The six girls thrust their fists into the air, shooting their condensed gears out in the process.
G3FA: Hexa Revolver
The six gears turned into beams of energy and they all swirled into a massive rainbow-colored beam, striking the core and piercing through it, combusting the previous attack inside of it and creating a huge explosion that cleared out all the clouds, revealing the sky.
"Alright! We did it!" Hibiki cheered.
"Phew. That went well." Yosuke allowed himself to breathe again.
"Awesome! You were pretty good there, babe! Without the skirt, I can see your ass without having to pretend I'm tying my shoe!" Abyss shamelessly pinched Kirika's butt, causing her to squeal."Love the pole-dancing in your transformation sequence, by the way. Leaves nothing to the imagination. Very big fan of that."
"HAMAGUCHI!" She growled, her cheeks crimson red as she tried to hit him, only for him to move out of the way."YOU PERVERT!"
"Hey! We told you to keep your hands off her, pervert!" Shirabe, Raia, and Tiger all focused their attention on Abyss, chasing him around in the snow.
"W-wait! Time out!" Abyss pleaded for his life."I thought we were celebrating! It was a little spank! That's it! I'M SORRY! HAJIME, HELP ME!"
"Nah, you got yourself in this mess." Ryuki shook his head."You're an idiot. Why the hell would you do that with all of her siblings here?"
"Y-you asshole! How could you?!" Abyss was eventually caught, and the last thing they heard from him was the screams of terror when the 3 siblings got their hands on him.
A while later, the group returned to the submarine, wrapping themselves up with blankets. Hamaguchi was covered in bruises after they were done with him.
"You have to have some level of self-control, Hamaguchi-dono." Bragi chastised him."Come on, you're better than that."
"Man, leave me alone. I regret nothing." He mumbled, rubbing his bruised face.
Kirika sighed and sat next to him, getting inside of his blanket and cuddling with him."I hate seeing you like this-desu...But you're too much of a pervert sometimes."
"Yeah. I should probably stop doing that...But it's too tempting." He said, not at all willing to change his perverted ways."You're too beautiful, Kirika."
"No nasty moves under that blanket." Jades eyed him like a hawk."I'm watching you."
"Right..."
The door opened up, and Elfnein and Tobias rushed into the room."You guys did it! Good job!"
"Of course we did," Bragi said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Elfnein marched up to her boyfriend, who gave her a quizzical look.
"A-a-are you...okay, h-h-honey?"
"Huh..." Raiden's brain stopped functioning."Say that again...?"
"Are you okay...h-h-h-h-honey...?"
"Oh, look. She actually said it." Maria giggled.
"Aw, Elfnein-chan, you're so sweet, you might just give me diabetes." Jades coed, the scene warming his heart.
"I-is that bad?!"
"It's a figure of speech." He quickly said, calming her nerves.
"I'm...fine. Thank you for asking." Raiden patted the spot on the couch next to him and she sat down with him, leaning against his shoulder."I'm sorry...I'm still clueless about this relationship stuff."
"That's okay. So am I." She giggled, enjoying his head resting on top of hers, their hands intertwined.
"See? That's how you treat your girlfriend." Yosuke said, narrowing his eyes at Hamaguchi."Not inappropriately groping her at every chance you get."
"Easy for you to say, Yosuke-san. You don't even kiss Tsubasa so I doubt you guys even do more than that."
"What?!" Both Idol and Detective gasped.
"I mean...he's not wrong..." Hajime trailed off."I've never seen you guys kiss. Or act like a couple at all."
"They have their moments." Maria said, playing devil's advocate."But not often..."
Tsubasa huffed, standing up from her seat and making her way to Yosuke, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and pulling him for a deep kiss, earning several gasps from the group.
"So bold..." Shirabe gaped.
"I didn't know you had it in you, Senpai!" Chris guffawed.
"T-Tsubasa..." Yosuke mumbled, taken aback by the sudden kiss.
"It's okay if we do it in front of them." She reassured him, wrapping her arms around his neck."We're all basically family at this point, aren't we?"
Before they could lock lips again, they heard the sound of the alarm. All of them nodded at each other, rushing out the door to the command center.
"What's the situation?" Yosuke asked once the group made it to the command center.
"The carrier that's transporting the corpse is being attacked by Alca Noise and Mirror Monsters." Genjuro inromed them."
"That's why they get for refusing our offer to guard it." Chriss scoffed."What's the plan?"
"I'm sending Shirabe-kun, Kirika-kun, Hamaguchi-kun, and Raiden-kun to deal with this and protect the coffin as well as minimize casualties. This attack has to be part of someone's plan. We'll wait to see what move they make before we send the rest of you in."
"Wait. Let me go too." Bragi raised his hand.
"Bragi-kun?"
"The Mirror Monsters and Alca Noise are both creations of my Mama and the Second. It's my responsibility to deal with them as their son, is it not?"'
Genjuro could see the fire in his eyes, realizing he was not going to take no for an answer."Very well. But don't go too crazy in there. The carrier won't be able to withstand your wide-range attacks."
"Got it! Thank you, sir!"
Raia and Abyss flew on top of Exodiver while Kirika and Shirabe were in a missile pod, shooting towards the carrier. Alternative was further back since he was the last one to get out. The pod popped open, and the girls jumped off.
"Kiri-chan, you big dummy. You forgot your Linker!" Shirabe handed the LINKER over to the blonde.
"Oops! My bad!" Kirika playfully hit her head, taking the LINKER."Time to return the favor!"
The girls hugged each other, injecting the LINKER into their bodies.
"Zeious Igalima Raizen Tron..."
"Various Shul Shagana Tron..."
(Play Mikansei Ai Mapputatsu)
Abyss and Raia landed on the deck, immediately starting to fight off the Mirror Monsters."Man, I just can't get enough of seeing Kirika's transformation. It's so fucking good."
"Seriously?" Raia deadpanned."You never learn, do you?"
"Come on, what kind of guy doesn't ogle his girlfriend?"
Raia punched a Mirror Monster away, smashing it into another one."Not in front of her brother, at least!"
"At least I'm being honest. You know what kind of guy I am. When I feel a certain way, I say it. I don't like keeping things a secret."
'Except for the fact that we had sex, but he doesn't need to know that.'
Kirika skidded on the deck, slashing through the Noise with her scythe. Shirabe skated around, twirling as she extended her armor-twin tails to mow down the Alca Noise. She spun around, her skirt becoming a buzzsaw and helping cut through a group of Mirror Monsters.
Delta Style: Charming Axel Killer
The soldiers began to shoot at the Alca Noise and Mirrors Monsters. And while their bullets phased through the former, it did not harm the latter.
Advent: Abysshammer/Abysslasher
Both shark monsters rushed to help the soldiers, keeping the monsters at bay and allowing them the chance to get away.
A giant Noise emerged from the water, attempting to smash the top part of the ship, but a barrage of Dark Matter projectiles pierced through it and Alternative cut it in half with his Slashdagger.
"Nice! Bragi-kun is here to help us!" Kirika cheered. But her joy was cut short when something rammed into her, launching her against the wall.
"Kiri-chan!" Shirabe rushed to her side.
The Riders all turned to see a girl with pink hair, holding a suitcase. Next to her was a young man wearing a school uniform with green hair, red sclera, and yellow eyes.
"We shall be your opponents-de-arimasu." Elsa declared.
"So you're the ones who summoned the Noise and Mirror Monsters." Raia deduced, receiving a nod from the young man.
"That's right." Psykos nodded, his eyes fixated on Alternative, as Elsa's."So, that's him, huh?"
"We'll leave it up to him to handle him. We got a job to do." Elsa said, keeping her mind focused on the mission as she rushed inside.
"We're going ahead, boys!" Kirika waved at Abyss before following behind.
"I'll watch over her," Shirabe said, skating after her sister.
"Guess that just leaves us 3 against you." Alternative landed behind the other Riders."I should have known there were 2 more Alchemists around..."
"To be fair, you'd have been wrong anyway...because there's more than just 2." A voice rang from above.
They looked up to see a young adult standing on top of the ship. He was wearing a form-fitting black shirt, a red leather coat decorated with black feathers, black jeans, and brown boots, his red hair weaving in the air, revealing his demonic horns.
"Y-you...!" Bragi's eyes shot wide open, remembering the face of the man in his father's memories."You're..."
"Do you recognize us, son of Bragard?" Angelo asked, looking down with a scornful glare."Good. Then you know it's time for retribution."
"You know this guy, Bragi-"
Suddenly, an arm of metal struck Abyss and threw him over the carrier and into the carrier.
"Hamaguchi!" Raia cried out, noticing a puddle of silver liquid near him. He jumped back as the liquid turned into spikes, nearly stabbing through him.
"This one has good intuition." He looked over to his friend, his arms morphing into two silver blades."Angelo, I got these kids. Have fun with that bastard."
"Gladly," Angelo said, his eyes turning black and his pupils crimson, his skin taking a paler tone, his hair turning white. To top it off, his hands transformed into demonic claws."Partial transformation."
"Listen, I-"
"Shut up." Angelo jumped down."I'm going to make you feel the pain we've felt for years!"
"Kiri-chan?! Where did you go?!" Shirabe carefully walked around the corridors of the carrier, feeling the ship tremble from the battles on top.
She heard someone run behind him and turned around, seeing nothing."You can't hide! I know you're there!"
"You're right. I am here." Elsa said, making her presence known."But so are they."
Shirabe gasped, realizing that where were Alca Noise behind him, shooting their attacks at her, sending her flying toward Elsa.
"Attachment!" Elsa popped open her suitcase, a wire shooting out and slotting into an opening at her tailbone."Claws! Rip her apart-de-arimasu!"
Shirabe was shot against the wall, knocking the air out of her after taking the attack head-on.
"It was good to separate us. Together, you're a formidable force, but alone, you're not that impressive-de-arimasu. I guess the Riders are the only ones who will pose more of a challenge.
"Don't...be so sure..." Shirabe's yo-yo rolled on the ground before turning sprouting sharp edges around it and destroying the Alca Noise in front of her.
Elsa clicked her tongue, lashing out her claw tail at Shirabe. To her surprise, Shirabe unfolded her twin tails and created two giant saws to block the attack. Elsa was sent skidding backward due to the force of the attack, letting Shirabe get the opportunity to shoot several buzzsaws at her.
Shirabe continued swinging her yo-yos at the Alchemist, forcing Elsa to leap around the narrow corridor to avoid the attacks. However, she then realized she was trapped in a web made of the strings of the yo-yos.
Beta Style: Prison Thread Dance
She smashed her claw-tail on the ground, shooting herself out of the trap, and continued jumping back to gain some distance. But Shirabe was relentless, chasing after her as if she was on a very important mission.
"Shirabe!"
Elsa gritted her teeth, finding herself surrounded from both sides. Shirabe swung her yo-yos, letting them enlarge and combine into a giant buzzsaw, shooting it toward the wolf-girl.
"Do you think I won't dodge this kind of attack?" She elegantly twirled out of the way, but this was all part of their plan. Kirika swung her scythe at the incoming yo-yos, her blade locking Shirabe's Armed Gear to her own."Impossible! This was part of your strategy-de-arimasu?!"
The Shul Shagana wielder was not going to allow her even a moment to think, shooting a volley of buzzsaws from her twin tails, forcing Elsa to focus her attention on them. Kirika took this opportunity to change the Armed Gear, forming a giant bladed spinning top and hurled it in her direction."Let it rip!"
Elsa lashed out her claw tail, striking the attack, but this only served to split it into two."What?!"
Shirabe was now controlling them with her strings as if she were a puppet master, performing a puppet show and moving her hands with elegance, forcing Elsa to stay on her toes. The attacks managed to box her in, and she screamed when they closed in on her, releasing an explosion that blew a hole through the wall.
"We won-desu!" Kirika swung her Scythe."We're having steak tonight!"
"If Hamaguchi can make it. I don't feel like cooking. I'm tired.
"You didn't win-de-arimasu!"
The girls turned to see the debris being blown apart, revealing the wolf-girl."I held back in accordance with my mission-de-arimasu"
"That's right, Elsa-chan. We can't have you guys blowing the ship and destroying the corpse by accident."
"Vanessa..." Elsa muttered.
"That's enough for now. Retreat." Vanessa said from the other side.
"Just like that?"
"Yes. I assume Psykos can't do much with the body he has right now and Angelo can't go all out without blowing the carrier to pieces. It's a bad situation. Besides, we don't want you to ruin your pretty face for your boyfriend, do we?"
Elsa blushed, shivering at the thought but nodded."Okay. I'll return for now-de-arimasu."
Without any more words, Elsa took out a vile and broke, teleporting away.
"We won then. For real this time?"
"I mean...we managed to fend her off, but...What about the others?"
Psykos continued to swing his enlarged metallic hands at the two Riders, keeping them at bay. He formed a ball covered with spikes, slamming it against Raia and knocking him against the wall. He grinned, shooting several spikes of silver at him.
"No, you don't!" Hamaguchi rushed to stand in front of him, sliding a card into his Deck.
Guard Vent: Abyss Sphere
Abyss covered himself in a sphere of water, as the spikes went inside of it but stopped before even touching him.
"Huh? What was that?"
"I stopped them with my water pressure. And I can also do this!" Abyss clapped his hands together, shooting a pressurized water beam. Psykos formed a small puddle of liquid silver, forging a wall. But to his surprise, the pressurized water was able to cut through, slashing his arm off in the process.
"God damn it! I just got this body too!" He cursed to himself, watching as blood began to pour from the wound.
Psychic Vent
He noticed the same metal spikes from earlier shot from above, glowing in a purple aura.
He quickly enlarged his hang, grabbing them, and adding them back into his body.
Sword Vent: Abyss Slashers
Abyss appeared from the corner of the wall, forcing Psykos to quickly form two blades of silver from his still-working arm, parrying the slashes.
Copy Vent
Raia copied the blades, coming from above. The parasite created an extra arm out from his back, making his fingers as sharp as blades, and quickly moved them, forcing Raia to parry as fast as he could with the blades.
His body, though, grew tired quickly, due to not being used to this amount of exercise and began losing his speed. The slashes continued and left lacerations all around his body, until he sprouted spikes from his body, forcing the Riders back, some of them cutting their skins.
"Holy fuck..." Psykos panted, feeling his host growing weaker.'This body is about to die!'
Suddenly, a massive fireball impacted against Abyss, the shockwave of the attack enough to knock him and Raia out of the deck.
Hellfire
"Angelo!"
Angelo was currently battling with Alternative on top of the carrier and gave him a thumbs up."Get out of here! Now!"
"Right!" Psykos noted, breaking a vial and escaping.
"You helped your ally escape..." Alternative breathed, his blade clashing with the demonic claws.
"Unlike you, I care deeply for my friends. I cannot understand why these people decided to side with you, since you're a monster, just like your father. He ruined our lives and took everything from us. Since he is no more, you'll have to pay for his sins. You do not deserve happiness"
He kicked Alternative back, creating a ball of magma in his hands and chucking it in his direction. Alternative responded in kind, shooting several dark matter spheres and combining them into one, forming a larger one to block the attack.
But this was all a distraction since Angelo had leaped into the skies, holding his right arm out."Sever!"
From his claws, several slashes were shot toward Alternative, forcing him to parry them with his sword as he started to run down the ship. Angelo's left hand began to glow in an intense light.
"Repel!" Alternative repelled all the slashes away, afraid that one of them was going to hit the carrier.
"Do you think you stand a chance to last against the ghosts of your past? You will suffer the same pain and suffering we all fell at the hands of your father, Bragi Third Dienheim! Merry Christmas, motherfucker! Dissect!"
"Dissect...?" Bragi blinked at the name of the attack. A large slash went in his direction, and since his repel was still in cooldown, he opted to just swing it back at Angelo with his Slashdagger. To his shock, the slash cut clean through his sword and arms, slashing part of the ship and partying the seas as it traveled down the ocean.
'Huh...?' Bragi looked down at the stumps on his arms, confused."What was that...? I couldn't block it...?"
"And happy end of your life!" Angelo formed flesh-like thrusters in his back, blasting fire from them and propelling himself at high speeds toward Bragi."It ends with this! I will slay the devil and put an end to this nightmare!"
However, he hadn't accounted for one thing. Alternative's healing factor. And he was too late when he felt his fist crash against his face, magnifying the attack by making his fist heavier and pulling Angelo toward it. The attack sent him crashing through the ship, sliding on the water surface until he sank fully into it. Bragi was about to chase after it, but noticed a purple light in the water, indicating that Angelo had teleported away.
He heaved a sigh, falling on his rear as his brain struggled to process all the information he had received.
"Are you guys alright?" Shirabe and Kirika jogged over to Bragi as Abyss and Raia slowly came over to the group.
"Yeah, but they got away." Raia informed them."You?"
"Same here." Kirika nodded.
Alternative abruptly stood up and began to walk away."That's fine. A minor setback. Let's get going. We have no more reason to stay here."
The girls and boys exchanged worried glances but said nothing.
Back in HQ, they reported back to Genjuro and the others and explained what they'd learned.
"So those were the people that Bragard experimented on..." Genjuro rubbed his chin."To think they fell at the hands of the Bavarian Illuminati..."
"If I'm not mistaken, most of them were deemed as failures. So I'm not surprised that he got rid of them. But that guy with the horns..."
"He cut straight through your sword and arms." Hajime remarked, his tone neutral and not at all antagonizing to avoid setting Bragi off."The previous slashes weren't too much for you, but that one in particular was stronger for some reason."
"Maybe he charged it up?" Jades offered.
"Whatever it was, there are probably more of them, hiding." Tsubasa furrowed her brow."We must stay alert, even if they were experimented on against their will, we can't-"
"Sorry, I have to use the bathroom." Bragi excused himself, rubbing his belly.
"Are you okay, Bragi-chan?" His aunt quickly checked up on him in concern.
"Yes."
"You sure you're fine?" Hibiki grabbed his arm."If you're upset, it's okay. It's not your fault this happened..."
"Yeah, I'm fine. I think I ate something bad today. I have indigestion." He quickly explained himself with a small smile before walking out of the room, leaving everyone puzzled, except for Elfnein.
'But...you can't get indigestion...' Her eyes softened.
Bragi went to the first bathroom he could find and locked the door, his legs giving up on him as he fell on his rear, leaning against the door.
"Unlike you, I care deeply for my friends. I cannot understand why these people decided to side with you, since you're a monster, just like your father. He ruined our lives and took everything from us." Angelo's voice was fresh in his mind.
"I can't even look at Serena in the face." His voice echoed in his mind of his time when he spoke with Miku."The Second killed her family right in front of her..."
He hugged his knees and began to sob quietly, tears streaming down his face as he grabbed his head, unable to contain his emotions any longer.
"I'm sorry...Miku-san...How many more lives were ruined...because of him...?"
The first battle between Noble Red and SONG. And there are more to come. Also, happy birthday to Chris!