Part 1:
An inevitable disaster approaches, but suddenly...
Chapter 10:
Comrades and Traitors
Hibiki and Miku's POV:
Lydian
Leaving their class, Hibiki and Miku walk through the halls of Lydian, for once not to rush off on a mission at Section Two, but just to live their normal lives for the moment. While they head to their next destination, Hibiki listens to all the other students singing the school's anthem and she can't help but hum the tune to herself. "What's up? Is the school anthem stuck in your head?" Miku asks.
"Just hearing the school's anthem makes me feel safe." Hibiki responds, "It really puts my mind at ease. It's like, I can just relax, knowing everyone's here with me. I feel at home here, even though it's only been two months."
"So much has happened over those two months, though." Miku adds, Hibiki agreeing with her. "By the way, have you heard from Kana at all today? I could've sworn I saw her earlier."
Hibiki shrugs, "Maybe Sensei called for her for a special mission?" She suggests. "Knowing her, she'll probably be back later." Miku would be worried, but she knows Kana well enough to know she can handle herself if things get difficult. That and Hibiki's lack of worry puts her at ease, even if she was still a little curious.
Kana and Genjuro's POV:
Finé's Mansion
Kana arrived outside the mansion before transforming out of her Symphogear and contacting Genjuro and the others. "I've arrived at the mansion." She says into her communicator.
"Excellent work Kana-kun." Genjuro says in response on his own device. "Just to be safe, stay out of sight until we arrive. We should be there momentarily. If anything happens, let us know ASAP."
"Understood." Kana replies, hiding in the nearby trees as to not be spotted by any enemies. However, while she waited for reinforcements, she saw a recognizable figure run into the mansion, grasping their side as if they were in pain. "Chris-san? Oh shoot! I forgot to get that dart back." She wanted to run in after her, but just as she went to do just that, Genjuro and the others arrived.
"Remember, stay on your guard!" Genjuro states to the agents, "We don't know who or what could be waiting for us inside that mansion!"
"I saw Chris-san go in just now." Kana says, running to the group from the trees. "We should hurry before something happens to her."
"Agreed." Genjuro replies, "Ogawa, Kana-kun and I will look for Chris-kun, you and Serena-kun's group search for as much about Finé or her plans as you can." The agents agree, splitting off into different directions to look throughout the mansion.
Entering the room she last confronted Finé, Chris is surprised by what she sees: destroyed furniture, broken devices, and several dead soldiers in pools of dried blood. "What happened in here?!" Chris asks herself aloud.
Chris is suddenly snapped back to reality as she hears footsteps and a familiar voice heading her way, "Chris-san?" The voice called out.
Turning around, she was met by Genjuro and Kana. It doesn't take Chris long to see that, out of context, this looks as though she killed these people, or at least that's how Genjuro's serious look and Kana's look of concern made her feel. "I can assure you, I didn't do this! Someone else..."
Just then, several agents ran into the room, worrying Chris until they ran right past her. When we went to face Genjuro and Kana again, she was met with a pat on the head from the commander. "We know this isn't your doing." Genjuro reassures Chris, "This was done by someone who's been with both you and us from the beginning."
"Commander Kazanari!" One of the agents shouted as to get his attention, "There's something here you need to see." The agent was referring to a note written in blood that read "I Love You Sayonara" upon one of the corpses. The agent tried to take the note back to the commander, but unknown to all, this only lead to spring a explosive trap on the group.
When the dust settled from the trap, Chris found herself beneath Kana who tried to push her away from some falling debris that ended up being caught by Genjuro. "Get off of me!" Chris angrily shouted, getting up to dust herself off and reel from another sharp pain in her side. "Just what the hell was that?!" Chris asked, still rattled by the sudden events that just occured.
"Well, I neutralized the explosion using a martial arts technique." Genjuro answered.
"That's not what I meant!" Chris interjected. "She has a Gear of her own, but you don't! So why do you keep trying to help me?"
"Having a Gear or not has nothing to do with it." Genjuro answers while dropping the debris he caught away from the group. "I'm doing it because, compared to you, I'm still an adult."
Chris was starting to get annoyed with the commander, "An adult? I hate adults! Especially my dead parents! I'm nothing like those idealistic cowards!" Chris rants in her rage, "Rescuing refugees? Saving the world through the power of singing? What adult worth a damn would waste their time on such wishful thinking?!"
"Wishful thinking, huh?" Genjuro rhetorically asks.
"You really want to stop all wars? Just beat the shit out of anyone that even has the gall to think about fighting!" Chris says, "That's clearly the only answer that makes sense!"
"Do you really believe what you're saying is right, Chris-san?" Kana interjects, "Then let me ask: What would you do if that plan fails to successfully end a war?" This question causes Chris to hesitate for a proper answer.
"You asked if real adults would waste their time on wishful thinking?" Genjuro asks, "To the contrary, it's because we are adults that we have our own dreams and ideals. When you become an adult, you grow up and become even stronger. Not to mention, you could also have some extra cash on the side. But the best part of becoming an adult is being able to make all your childhood dreams come true, making them become more important than ever."
"Do you think your parents went to war just out of wishful thinking? No way." Kana said, "They threw themselves into that hell so they could make their dreams of changing the world for the better with their songs a reality."
"Why... Are you..." Chris tried to ask, wondering why these two cared so much about how she felt.
"They wanted to show the undeniable truth that dreams can come true." Genjuro added, approaching Chris as he talked. "Although you have said that you hate your parents, I have not doubts that they loved you more than anything." Tears started to well up in Chris' eyes, letting them out once Genjuro gave her a warm hug that Kana also joined in on.
After some time passes, the agents all exit the mansion, getting back into their vehicles, but suddenly, Chris declines to go with them to Section Two's HQ. "You can't come with us?" Genjuro asks, only to get a quiet but certain answer from Chris.
Kana puts her hand on Chris' shoulder, "You're not as alone as you might think, Chris-san." She says, "Even if you walk your own path, it'll eventually cross with ours."
"Considering how little you seem to know about the cruel reality of the world, you seem to have quite the imagination to think former enemies can team up just like that." Chris retorts.
"You're a rather difficult one, aren't you?" Genjuro asks, throwing Chris a communicator right after.
"A communicator?" Chris questions, "Why did you give me this?"
"It can also be used for public transportation and for purchases at vending machines, to a certain limit." Genjuro answers, "I'm sure it'll come in handy for you."
Genjuro goes to start his car, Kana going to enter the passenger side. But Chris gets their attention once more by shouting "Kadingir!" which confuses the two, but Chris continues. "Finé mentioned something she called 'Kadingir'. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but she said it was 'complete'."
"Kadingir?" Genjuro asks himself aloud. Kana also remembers slightly hearing that word when she saved Chris from Finé, which also reminded her of something she had to do. "I see. We don't have a moment to lose. We must strike first."
"Before that, There's something I need to do first." Kana interrupts, walking up to Chris again. "Forgive me for this."
"What're yo-!" Chris tries to ask before Kana suddenly yanks out a tracking dart from her side, causing Chris to scream from the sudden pain. Immediately, Kana goes in to heal the wound, causing Chris to calm down slightly, "What the hell did you do that for?!" Chris shouts, visibly angry from the sudden attack.
"I noticed that you were limping when you entered the mansion, which made me realize you still had this in your side." Kana explains, showing Chris the tracking dart. "This was how I managed to follow you back to Finé the night I saved you from her."
Chris wanted to retort on that comment, but she couldn't deny that Kana did save her. "Hmph! Next time you do that and make me suffer for weeks on end, well, let's just say you won't be walking for a month! Do I make myself clear?"
"Crystal." Kana replies, returning to Genjuro's car while waving goodbye to Chris. "I'm ready now, Commander."
Genjuro was still trying to process what just happened, but snaps himself back to reality and heads back to base with the rest of the agents.
Section Two HQ
Returning to base, Genjuro's first priority was to fill in the other wielders that weren't present in the raid about their findings. "Yes. Tsubasa speaking." Tsubasa says, answering the call, "Kanade is with me currently."
"Hibiki here." Hibiki adds, joining the call.
"Very well," Genjuro responds, "And Ryoko-kun?"
"She hasn't reported in." Aoi reports, "We haven't been able to get in touch with her since this morning." Hearing this, the commander, as well as Kana, can't help but wonder about Ryoko.
"I'm sure Ryoko-san will be fine!" Hibiki interjects, "If anything happens, she'll just go all 'Bang! Boom!' like that time she protected me!"
"Sakurai-san has no combat training." Tsubasa says, "I doubt she'd be able to do something like that."
"But, don't the Commander and Ryoko-san have all those crazy superhuman abilities?" Hibiki asks, remembering the barrier that the doctor summoned to save her from the Noise during the Durandal escort mission.
Before they're able to think about it further, a third call shows up on the screen. "Oh, I finally got through!" Ryoko said. "Sorry about that! I accidentally overslept, then my communicator started acting up..."
While everyone else just brushes it off as Ryoko just being her carefree self, Genjuro and Kana are both suspicious of Ryoko. "Are you alright?" The commander asks, "Are there any problems on your end, Ryoko-kun?"
"I just overslept, well, that and missing the garbage collector, but..." Ryoko answers, "Did something happen?"
"That's good to hear." Hibiki says, relieved to see nothing was wrong.
"Then that's okay." Genjuro adds, "However, there is something I wanted to ask you about."
"My, aren't we in a hurry?" Ryoko teases, "What did you need to ask me?"
"Kadingir." Genjuro answers, "Would you happen to know what that means?"
"It's an ancient Sumerian word that refers to a divine existence." Ryoko answers, "In a sense, it refers to a tower that reaches for the heavens."
"If someone had built such a tower, wouldn't we have noticed it?" Genjuro asks, making the other wielders in the call curious. "Regardless, we now have our enemy right where we want them. If we can simply gather more intelligence, victory is assured. We shall strike at the smallest gap in their defence with everything we've got. We cannot miss our chance to land the finishing blow!" Hearing his speech, the wielders in the call agree before logging out to investigate on their ends.
"I have a few errands to run on my end," Ryoko says, "After that, I'll head right over." Saying this, Ryoko logs out of the call.
When she leaves, the agents get straight to work on finding any details they can. "I don't care how small or how unimportant it may be, we need every piece of information we can find about Kadingir!" Genjuro states. Suddenly, the Noise alert goes off. "What's happening?"
"We've detected three massive flying Noise!" Sakuya reports, before another one is detected, "No, four!"
"Contact the wielders and inform them right away!" Genjuro orders. "Kana-kun, you head out to the helipad and rendezvous with Hibiki-kun!"
"Right away, sir!" Kana says, running to the exit from the command center to head to the surface.
"Should I go with her, Commander?" Serena asks.
"No." Genjuro answers, "Considering how many wielders we have, it may be in our best interest to keep one nearby in case they attack the school."
"Understood Commander!" Serena responds, "I'll go ahead and wait above ground until further notice." With the commander's approval, she too leaves the command center to await her next orders.
Kana and Hibiki's POV:
Outside Lydian
Getting outside, Kana does as Genjuro asks and heads out to get on a helicopter to meet up with Hibiki on the way to take care of the flying Noise. As Kana enters the helicopter, Genjuro calls, informing the wielders of the current locations of the flying Noise as they move. Seeing their movements, Sakuya realizes something, "The trajectories of all four Noise intersect at the Tokyo Sky Tower!" He reports, "If the Kadingir is a tower, then could it be the Sky Tower itself?"
"The Tokyo Sky Tower serves as a central control node for our radio-based communication and video transmission." Genjuro states, ordering the wielders to head straight for the Sky Tower, regardless of if this is a trap or not.
"The Sky Tower?" Hibiki asks herself aloud. "But from here, that's..."
Suddenly, a helicopter appears to interrupt Hibiki's train of thought. "Overcoming hopeless situations is our job!" Genjuro states of the communicator.
"Need a lift?" Kana jokingly asks as she opens the door to the helicopter and helps Hibiki into it. Once she enters the aircraft, they waste no time and head straight to the Tokyo Sky Tower.
Tokyo Sky Tower
Arriving above one of the flying Noise, Hibiki and Kana get into position to drop into the horde of Noise awaiting them below "You ready Hibiki?" Kana asks, to which Hibiki answers with a simple yet determined nod. Prepared, both girls fall from the helicopter and begin to sing.
"Balwisyall nescell Gungnir tron"
(Watashi to Iu Oto Hibiki Sono Saki ni begins to play)
Without hesitation, Kana instantly activated her augmentation to boost herself and Hibiki and the dive straight towards one of the four flying Noise, destroying it with a single combined attack.
At the same time, Tsubasa and Kanade arrive at the scene, transforming into their own Symphogears and destroying as many smaller flying Noise as they could. Once they reach the ground, Kana and Hibiki group up with the wielders of Zwei Wing. "It seems the enemy has the advantage in this battle!" Tsubasa states, assessing their situation.
"What if we use the helicopter and strike from above?" Hibiki suggests, before said helicopter is destroyed by several small flying Noise.
"There goes that plan..." Kanade says.
Immediately following the helicopter's destruction, the Noise force the wielders to take a defensive approach as the giant flying Noise continuously generate more and more smaller Noise. "How are we supposed to deal with Noise that can fly?" Hibiki asks, discouraged by their disadvantage.
"Stay focused, Tachibana!" Tsubasa interjects. "If we fail, then the enemy will breach the country's borders!" The four prepare for the next wave of Noise to attack, only for them to be defeated by a barrage of gunfire. Surprised by this, the group turns to see the source of the gunfire and are met with none other than Chris Yukine, transformed into her own Symphogear.
(Makyū Ichaival begins to play)
"I only came here so this piece of junk would shut up!" Chris explains, trying to make herself look cool. Her arrival on the scene was met with excitement from Kana and Hibiki, but Kanade and Tsubasa were not as excited to see her, given their past encounters. "Don't get the wrong idea! I'm not your ally here!"
Just as she says this, Genjuro's voice comes through Chris' communicator. "She is here as backup. Even if she's a little late." This embarrassed Chris, but Kana couldn't help but laugh at the timing.
"Backup?" Tsubasa asked Genjuro.
"Yes, it's the Symphogear user wielding the second relic, Ichaival: Chris Yukine!" Genjuro answers.
Hearing the good news, Hibiki runs over and hugs Chris, "Thank you so much, Chris-chan! I knew you'd join us sooner or later!"
"Just how stupid are you?!" Chris asks, "Did you not hear a single thing I said?!"
"Regardless of your reasons for being here, we should focus on dealing with the Noise for now." Tsubasa interjects.
Finally breaking free of Hibiki's grasp, Chris heads straight for the Noise, "I can do this alone! Just stay out of my way!"
"Why am I not surprised?" Kana says with a sigh.
"Let's leave the airborne Noise to her." Tsubasa suggests, "We'll handle the ones on the ground!" The group agrees with the plan and spreads out to take care of as many Noise as they all can.
They all fight the Noise to the best of their ability, getting boosted by Kana whenever they were nearby her while Chris was left to her own devices. This cycle was broken once the fighting caused Kanade and Chris to run into each other. "Just what are you doing?!" Chris says, visibly annoyed by the interruption, "Stay out of my way!"
"You can't be serious, can you?" Kanade asks, "You seriously wish to fight these things by yourself?"
"I've always been alone." Chris retorts, "And last I checked, we were never friends." Kanade was starting to get annoyed with Chris. "We may not have a reason to fight each other now, but there isn't any reason not to fight, either! Don't think I've forgotten about what you did to my leg not too long ago. You can't expect people to just-"
Chris is interrupted by Hibiki grabbing her hand, "Yes we can!" Hibiki objects, "We can settle our differences with anyone." Hibiki takes her other hand and grabs Kanade's, confusing both her and Chris. "All this time, I've been wonder why I didn't have an armed gear. I always thought I was an incomplete fighter because of it. But not anymore. Because, since I'm not holding any weapons, I'm able to hold your hands like this instead. Thanks to that, I'm able to make peace with everyone!"
Kanade is taken aback by Hibiki's words, but sees what she means. Following the other Gungnir wielder's example, Kanade drops her weapon and reaches her other hand out to Chris' free hand. Chris is hesitant to respond, but works up the courage to reach hers out, retracting it when Kanade goes to grab it. "What is this? Is her idiocy contagious or something?" Chris says, flustered by the sudden mood swing of the scenario.
"Seems so." Kanade says, chuckling, "And it looks like you've caught it too."
Chris is too embarrassed to retort Kanade's statement. Just then, one of the giant flying Noise casts its shadow over the group just as Kana and Tsubasa show up at their location. "Until we take care of the big ones, there'll be no end to the Noise." states Tsubasa.
"Then I have an idea. Something only I am capable of." Chris says, "Ichaival's specialty is its long-range, wide-area artillery. I'll use it to blow them all to pieces!"
"You're not planning to sing your superb song, are you?" Hibiki asks.
"Oh please, I wouldn't throw my life away that easily." Chris retorts.
"Then what exactly are you planning to do?" Kanade asks.
"I'll keep raising the energy output of the Gear, but suppress the actual release. After I overload it with energy until it reaches critical, I'll unleash it all at once." Chris answers.
"The only problem with that is you'll be totally defenseless while you're charging." Tsubasa interjects, "With this many opponents, it's far too dangerous."
"That is true." Kana says, "That just means we'll have to protect her while she does so." The others agree with Kana's plan, much to Chris' surprise.
"I never asked for this... But I can't back out now!" Chris says to herself, before turning to Kana who was about to join the others to fight the Noise, "Hey. Can you do that one red transformation you did at the factory again? I'm not sure why, but I felt stronger because of it."
Transforming into her augmentation of Chris' Ichaival, Kana smirks, "Way ahead of you, Chris-san!" She answers, "Besides, someone has to protect you from the Noise that get too close."
Chris grins at Kana, "Then let's get started, shall we?"
(Tsunaida Te Dake ga Tsumugu Mono begins to play)
Chris begins to sing while the others protect her in the city. "We're fighting together now." Hibiki says to herself. "I shall keep fighting by holding everyone's hands!"
"While it's vastly different from my Gungnir," Kanade thinks to herself, "I think her version suits Hibiki-chan perfectly."
While Chris was charging, Kana was able to notice that Chris was starting to groan in pain. "The boost from my augmentation must've caused Chris-san to charge faster than she anticipated." Kana theorizes, trying to think of a way to save her from her inevitable death. "Wait, what if I tried to absorb some of the excess power the same way I give everyone power?" Kana tries whatever she can to do just that. Much to her surprise, it worked as Chris' groans stopped and she had full control of her power once again.
With this, Chris was able to successfully charge her power to just below dangerous levels, firing several rockets and missiles towards the giant Flying Noise as Kana assists with her Dragon Charges, annihilating the Noise in a matter of seconds."It looks like they did it!" Kanade states, destroying the last Noise in her area.
"Was there ever any doubt?" Chris remarks. Once they're certain all the Noise were dealt with, the wielders regroup with Kana and Chris, to which Hibiki wraps them in a big hug in celebration. "Lay off, idiot! What do you think you're doing?!" She asks, pushing Hibiki off as they all transform back into their normal clothes.
"It's all thanks to you that we won, Chris-chan!" Hibiki replies, going in for another hug.
"Knock it off!" Chris frustratingly shouts, "Listen! I'm not you comrade or anything! I just want to fulfill my dream that I discovered after leaving Finé."
"You have a dream, Chris-chan?" Hibiki excitedly asks, giving Chris yet another hug "What is it? You have to tell me!"
Angered, Chris pushes Hibiki away again, "Shut the hell up, you idiot! You're so hopeless!"
"Gotta say, even if it was only temporary, it felt nice to fight with you and not against you." Kanade says, putting her hand out towards Chris like before. "What do you say we put our grudges behind us and call it even?"
After some hesitation, Kanade receives her answer from Chris with a solid punch to the stomach. "Now we're even." Chris says, smugly shaking Kanade's hand before she could retract it from the gut punch.
As they all shared a laugh, Hibiki's phone starts ringing.
Miku's POV:
Lydian
Meanwhile, as most of the wielders were busy with the Noise at the Sky Tower, Lydian was under attack by its own horde of Noise. Section Two was prepared for this by keeping one of their wielders close to help with the evacuation. Meanwhile, Miku searched the halls of the school for any survivors that were left behind. "Hello? Is anyone still here?" She shouted, hoping for any response. As she runs through the halls, she notices the destruction caused by the Noise throughout Lydian's campus. "The school... Hibiki's home..." Suddenly, a small group of Noise break through the window she was looking through. Miku was too scared to move as the Noise darted straight for her, luckily, she was saved at the last second by someone tackling her to the ground out of the path of the Noise. "Ogawa-san!"
"That was close." Ogawa said, "We may not be so lucky next time."
The Noise try to get up to attack again, but they are quickly dealt with by Serena. "You two alright?" She asks, receiving nods from both Ogawa and Miku, "That's good. Then let's hurry and report to Commander Kazanari what we've found out."
"Right." Ogawa responds, "Everyone should be evacuated, so let head to the shelter." Once they start to descend into Section Two's HQ, Ogawa calls Genjuro. "Lydian has suffered extensive structural damage on the surface. However, thanks to Serena and Miku, casualties have been minimal. We're currently on our way to the shelter."
"Roger. Be careful." Genjuro replies.
"More importantly, Commander..." Ogawa continues, "We were able to identify the Kadingir." This surprises Genjuro. "Though we have no hard evidence, we have reason to believe that the true identity of the Kadingir is..."
Suddenly, the roof of the elevator car is destroyed as Finé breaks through and grabs Ogawa before he could finish his sentence. "I'm honestly surprised you managed to figure it out so quickly." Finé says, "Curious, what was the dead giveaway?"
"If you wanted to build a tower without anyone noticing, your best option is to build it underground." Ogawa answers as he struggles in Finé's grasp. "If that's how it happened, we can deduce that the elevator shaft leading to Section Two's headquarters is none other than the Kadingir itself. And the one who made this all possible is..."
"And here I figured leaking that information was a neat trick." Finé interrupts.
Just then, the elevator reaches the HQ and opens up, giving Ogawa an opening to strike, firing a couple bullets at Finé's revealed skin. However, this is proven useless as the bullets fall off of her and to the ground below. "The Nehushtan Armor..." Ogawa realizes as Finé just smirks at the attempt, grabbing him with one of the armor's vines.
"Ogawa-sensei!"Serena shouts, "Let go of him!" Serena charges at Finé, who wastes no time dodging the attack and grabbing her attacker with the other vine.
"Serena-san!" Miku shouts, worried for the agent's lives.
"Miku-chan!" Serena says, struggling to break free, "Get out of here while you can!"
But Miku refuses to leave them behind, pushing Finé in an attempt to free Ogawa and Serena, only for Finé to face her after throwing the agents to the ground. "How cute. You're trying to protect the people who used you." Finé said, much to Miku's confusion. "Did you ever wonder why this facility is situated directly under Lydian? It's so we could use you all to gather experimental data about the relics and songs. Not to mention, those Zwei Wing were great bait to lure you all here to begin with." Finé walks away from Miku, laughing as she goes to prepare the Kadingir.
"Even if they have to lie, or if they can't tell the whole truth... They're out there, putting their lives on the line for others!" Miku retorts, "I believe in Hibiki... I believe in them all!"
Finé slaps Miku for these comments, making her fall to the ground. "How annoying." She says, picking up Ogawa's keycard and walking towards where Durandal was being kept.
When she goes to unlock the door however, the keycard is destroyed right in her hands from a bullet shot by Ogawa. "I won't allow you to go any closer to the Durandal." he says, "Even if it costs me my life!"
Finé readies the Nehushtan Armor to kill Ogawa, but is stopped by another voice, "Stop right there, Ryoko." Genjuro says as he bursts through the ceiling between Finé and Ogawa's group.
"You still wish to call me by that name?" Finé sarcastically asks.
"Normally, I wouldn't lay a finger on a woman." Genjuro states, "But if you so much as touch any of them, it'll be the last mistake you ever make." Finé scoffs at Genjuro's heroism. "We've known what you were planning for a while now thanks to some assistance from our American neighbors. In order to bring you out from hiding, I made you think I fell for your trap by sending a majority of the Symphogear wielders to deal with it. Sending them all would've sure drawn your suspicions."
"You countered my scheme with a scheme of your own." Finé remarks, "You're quite the adversary, I must admit. But it'll take more than schemes if you wish to stop me!"
"Stop you?" Genjuro retorts, "I'll beat every last secret out of you without even breaking a sweat!"
Genjuro and Finé clash, the former having the upper hand throughout the fight. While Genjuro wishes he didn't have to fight his greatest ally, he is left with no choice as he counters every attack that Finé dishes out. "How is it that you can stand up to the power of a complete relic?!" She asks, taken aback by Genjuro's power.
"You really want to know?" Genjuro answers with a question of his own, "I eat, watch action movies and sleep! A true man needs nothing else!"
"But that shouldn't be possible!" Finé frustratingly retorts, "You're just a normal human being!"
Finé tries to counter by using Solomon's Cane to overwhelm Genjuro with Noise, but he quickly counters by breaking the ground and using the rubble to disarm Finé, "I can stand up to both the Noise, and you!"
"Genjuro-kun!" Finé says with Ryoko's voice, catching the commander off guard. With her opening secured, she pierces Genjuro straight through the chest, walking up to his unconscious body. "You can't fight your fate." She steals his keycard off of him and picks up Solomon's Cane once more, aiming it at Genjuro. "I won't give you the satisfaction of dying by my hand." As the group is left to take care of Genjuro, Finé enters the chamber that held Durandal to begin her plan.
In the Command Center, the agents watch as the other wielders destroy the giant flying Noise and Ogawa, Serena, and Miku come in carrying an unconscious Genjuro. "He needs immediate medical attention!" Ogawa says. Aoi wastes no time tending to the wound as Ogawa goes onto her computer to warn the other wielders. "We have an intruder. Her target is the Durandal. The enemy is Ryoko Sakurai." This comes as a shock to the other agents, unable to believe what they're hearing. "I managed to get through to Hibiki."
"I'll go on ahead and bring them here ASAP." Lilith says, teleporting with Serena to the Sky Tower.
"Hibiki!" Miku says, "It's the school! Lydian is under attack by the Noise!" Suddenly, the power goes out and the transmission is cut short.
"We're being hacked from the inside!" one of the agents report, "There's nothing we can do from here!"
"This could only be Ryoko's doing." Sakuya adds. All they can do now is hope that Hibiki got the message.
Hibiki's POV:
Tokyo Sky Tower
Hibiki hangs up the phone and turns completely pale from the news she received. "Hibiki? Is everything alright?" Kana asks, receiving no answer from her friend. "Hibiki! What happened?"
"We need to get back to Lydian... Now!" Hibiki answers, "The Noise are attacking the school." As the group is shocked by the news, Lilith and a slightly wounded Serena arrive. "Lilith-san!"
"I know." Lilith says, "We've come to get you back to Lydian. Quickly, grab on!"
"Wait, what do you mean 'grab on'?" Chris asks.
"Long story short, Lilith can teleport like I can, but she can do it way better than I can." Kana explains. "Come on! We need to go now!" Kana reaches her hand out for Chris to grab on.
Chris is hesitant to grab her hand, but eventually she grabs it and the group vanishes from sight.
A/N: I decided to introduce Kana's new ability now before I just randomly add it in the near future. Trust me, this isn't some "convenient one time thing is convenient" scenario.
Other than that, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. See you all in the next one!
