Part 3:
Believe in your justice and follow the path it creates
Chapter 4:
Fall of the Kamuis
Maria's POV:
Flashback:
F.I.S. HQ
Some time before the Queens of Music concert that would set F.I.S.'s plans in motion, Nastassja pulled Maria away from the group to give her something. "Serena's Airgetlám?" Maria asks.
"A damaged Symphogear can never be incorporated into a mission. Take this." Nastassja answered. Maria was still unsure as to why Nastassja gave this to her. "You will be forced to carry lies into battle with you. This is a little something to keep you safe."
Just seeing what remained of her sister in her grasp, Maria couldn't help but tear up. "Thank you, Mom. I'll be alright." Maria says, grateful for the doctor's gift. "I hope I can shine just as strong as Serena."
S.O.N.G. HQ
As Maria ate lunch with her sister, those words from her memory echoed in her head. "Strong..."
"Everything okay, oneesan?" Serena asked. "You've been awfully quiet for a while now."
Hearing Serena's concern for her snapped her out of her train of thought. "I'm fine Serena. Just lost in thought is all."
Serena knew something was bothering Maria, but before she could press her elder sister further, an alarm went off and a single word appeared on the nearby monitor. "Alca-Noise!" Looking to one another with a nod, they both ran to the command center to find out what was happening.
Genjuro's POV:
S.O.N.G. HQ
"Alca-Noise signal detected!" Sakuya reported. "Narrowing down the signal."
"Elfnein-chan's information has improved our tracking precision greatly." Aoi added.
In no time, they had visual on the Alca-Noise and saw Hibiki, Kana, and their friends surrounded by Alca-Noise. "It would seem Kana-chan and Hibiki-chan are about to enter combat with the Alca-Noise." Sakuya said. "Do we have any other wielders nearby that could assist?"
"We can't send in Kirika-chan or Shirabe-chan in their current conditions. And without functioning Gears, we can't send in Chris-chan, Tsubasa-san, or Maria-san." Aoi said. "The closest wielder we have right now is Serena-san who is currently on base, so Lilith can easily send her in. If we need to send in more reinforcements, we'll get in contact with Kanade-san."
"All that remains then is for those two to evacuate the others and deal with the Alca-Noise." Genjuro adds. However, they may have more problems on their hands than they thought.
"Besides, I know just how to make stubborn brats like you fight."
"Tch. Looks like we have no other option now. Let's do this Hibiki!"
"Right!"
"You are the ocean's grey waves."
(Road Taken (Roar) begins to play)
As Kana emerged in her Gear, the agents of S.O.N.G. noticed that Hibiki wasn't transforming. "Hibiki? What's wrong?"
"I can't sing..."
"Quit screwing around already."
"What do you mean you can't sing?"
"The holy words won't come to me... Gungnir won't respond to me!"
"She isn't refusing to sing." Sakuya said.
"She can't?" Aoi added.
"Ogawa! Lilith-kun!" Genjuro says, turning to the ninja.
"On it!" They replied, knowing what to do and running straight for the exit, bumping into Maria and Serena on the way out.
"What's going on?" Maria asked.
"We're going to help Hibiki-san and Kana-san!" Ogawa said.
"We need to go assist them Serena." Lilith said, getting a nod from the Airgetlám wielder as they continued down the hallway, with Maria following right after them before they all vanished.
Kana and Garie's POV:
In the City
Everyone looked at Hibiki with the same concerned look she gave herself. "Why won't the holy words come to me?"
"This situation is already troublesome as it is. And with Hibiki unable to fight..." Kana looks over to Garie, who had a wicked grin on her face which could only be trouble. "Things may only get worse..." In that moment, Kana got an idea. "How pathetic." Kana says, much to the group's surprise. "Making hostages out of random civilians just to provoke us into fighting you? How desperate do you have to be?"
"Are they not with you two?" Garie asks, confused by the dragon girl's taunt.
"Gods no! We just happened to be walking home together." Kana explains. "And the way I see it, having both Hibiki and I fight you would be overkill. So let them all go and I'll fight you. Or are you too scared to face me alone?"
Garie was surprised by Kana's bluff, but ultimately complied with her request and had the Alca-Noise move back to allow the other girls to leave. "Let's go!" Kuriyo shouted, grabbing Miku and running, the others following close behind her.
Kana watched them escape, relieved they were out of the danger now. "Good. That's one less problem." With a warm grin, Kana turned to face Garie once more. "Thank you. You know, you may be my enemy, but I can respect the fact you're willing to fight fair."
Garie starred blankly at Kana for a moment, before showing her sinister grin once more. "I believe you have the wrong impression of me then." Suddenly, Kana's legs were frozen in place by Garie's ice magic before the blue autoscorer turned to the escaping group. "Allow me to fix that."
"You... You wouldn't dare!" Kana says, fearing what Garie was about to do.
"Guess what dragon spawn? I dared." Garie says, pointing her hand in the direction of the group, sending the Alca-Noise right after them. "Now you wait here while I get your friend in a fighting mood."
"We won't let you!" A voice shouted, followed by several daggers flying out towards Garie, a few of them connecting with the ice surrounding Kana's legs, freeing her. When they looked to see who it was, they were met to the sight of Serena and Lilith. "Are you alright Kana?"
"Yeah. Thank you Serena." Kana says.
"I won't allow you to interfere!" Garie shouts, summoning several more Alca-Noise to distract the Kamui siblings and Lilith.
As they dealt with the newly summoned Alca-Noise, Garie ran off to deal with Hibiki and the others. One of the first few Alca-Noise struck the ground next to Hibiki, knocking her off her feet, destroying her shoe, and making her lose her grip on her pendant. But as the pendant went flying into the air, Ogawa arrived on the scene with Maria in tow, the latter of which grabbed the Gear and began to transform.
"Granzizel bilfen Gungnir zizzl"
(Ressō Gungnir begins to play)
Kana and Serena were both surprised to see Maria's Black Gungnir return, doubly so when Maria immediately used its lance where it's signature black cape was missing. However, in that moment of surprise, one of the Alca-Noise snuck up to attack the unsuspecting Serena. "Serena look out!" Kana says, blocking the attack with her sword.
Serena and Lilith both looked on in shock. However, it was not what Kana did that surprised them, it was the fact her Gear, unlike Tsubasa's and Chris', did not start to disintegrate upon contact with the Alca-Noise. "Kana! Your Gear!"
Even Kana was in shock, quickly dispatching the Alca-Noise before anything could happen. "My Gear didn't break on contact?" But now was not the time to linger on that fact, Garie and the Alca-Noise needed to be taken care of as soon as possible. "I'm going to help Maria-san."
"Be careful Kana." Serena said as Kana left.
Immediately, Kana activated her augment of Maria's Gungnir and quickly killed off some Alca-Noise sneaking up on her. "Figured you could do with some assistance." Kana says.
"Much appreciated Kana." Maria said, destroying a few more Alca-Noise in the process.
As the two wielders fought back to back, Garie couldn't help but be genuinely amazed. "It's just one surprise after another. That piece of junk we abandoned is proving to be more useful than we thought."
The two wielders took care of the Alca-Noise with ease, Kana defending them both from a few that got close to Maria. "Now Kana!" Maria shouted, charging towards Garie, the dragon girl sending several small dragon shots flying towards Garie as a distraction as Maria went in to strike her directly. Despite this, Garie easily blocked both Kana and Maria's attacks. "That won't stop me!" Maria detaches the head of her lance, forcing Garie to leave herself open to Maria's shorter spear.
But even with her hands holding back the separated lance pieces, Garie was still able to form a barrier to stop Maria's assault. "I think you need to chill!" Garie says, forcing Maria back towards Kana. "That settles it. You're up first." Garie made direct eye contact with Maria, which immediately put both wielders on guard. "Snack time!"
Garie darted towards Maria, forming a sword made of ice around her hand with the intent of breaking Maria's Gungnir. In the brief moment she looked at Maria, Kana could tell her Gear would vanish the moment Garie's attack would connect which would not be a pretty sight for anyone. And so, Kana did the one thing she could do. "Watch out Maria!" Kana shouts, pushing Maria away from Garie's attack, taking the strike head on which sent her flying into the air.
For everyone present and at S.O.N.G., excluding Garie, time practically froze as they watched Kana fall to the Earth. Her Yato Symphogear, their newly found line of defense against the Alca-Noise, was broken from a single attack. "KANA!"
"She sacrificed her Gear in order to save you." Garie scoffs at Kana's bravery. "How foolish."
"You dare... Call my sister foolish?!" Serena was practically seeing red after Garie's heartless comment, her anger growing when Garie just looked at her with another sinister grin. "I'll show you who the foolish one is, by taking that dumb look... RIGHT OFF OF YOUR FACE!" Serena attacked Garie with FAIRIAL†TRICK, striking the Autoscorer left and right while she prepared one more dagger and threw it skyward, finishing her rage-fueled assault with XANA†TEARS. "How's that for foolish?" Serena said with a smirk.
However, once the dust settled, Garie was nowhere to be seen, only a puddle of water where she once stood, which greatly concerned the wielder. Suddenly, Serena heard a sinister chuckle before Garie appeared right in front of her with the same ice blade she used on Kana. "Missed me!" Garie teases as she slashed Serena's Gear and knocked her over to Kana's unconscious body, dusting off her hands before turning to face Maria, who had blood running down her face and breathing heavily. "So that is your limit?" Garie asked, letting out a sigh of disappointment. "If those two weren't here, I'd be very upset. But you know what they say, you win some-" Garie suddenly conjures another ice blade, spins around, and perfectly cuts Lilith's Fólkvangr in half. "And you lose some."
"H-How?" Lilith asked, shocked that Garie was prepared to counter her.
"It was obvious that you were going to attack me out of anger as well. I wasn't about to sit there and let it happen again." Garie said, pulling out a capsule in the process. "Until next time!" And just like that, Garie vanishes without a trace.
Meanwhile at S.O.N.G. HQ
Everyone present looked on in horror at the aftermath of Garie's attack, equally in shock at the fact Garie was able to just vanish afterwards. "Spatial teleportation... Is that alchemy as well?" Sakuya asked aloud.
"She was able to create a new form of Noise in the modern era. That means she's more than capable of interacting with extradimensional space." Elfnein answered, entering the room with the other Symphogear wielders.
"Forget that! Are the others okay?" Chris asked before she saw both Kana and Serena being carried into the car Ogawa arrived to the scene in, her heart sinking as she kept looking. "No..."
"Kana-chan and Serena-san were fighting off the Alca-Noise when Maria-san joined the fray with Gungnir." Aoi explained. "However, Kana-chan and Serena-san's Symphogears were broken by the Autoscorer."
While they were surprised to hear that Maria joined the fight for a moment, the shock of losing two more Gears to the Autoscorers was far greater. "But why isn't Lilith bringing them back with her relic?" Kanade asked.
"Much like the Airgetlám and Yato Symphogears, Ms. Lilith's Fólkvangr was also broken by the Autoscorer when she tried to fight them." Nastassja explained.
"But then... That means..."
"Our means of quick transportation to and from combat has also been disabled." Sakuya said, finishing Tsubasa's sentence.
Maria's POV:
In the City
Maria looks down at the Gungnir pendant, angry at herself for letting two of her allies, both of which were family directly and indirectly, be defeated and for being unable to do anything about it. "If only I hadn't let go of Gungnir... No. I can't blame my failure today on past regrets..." Composing herself, Maria gets up and walks over to Hibiki and her friends. "Are you hurt?"
"We're fine. But you're a mess Maria-san..." Kuriyo said bluntly.
"You fought, sang, and nearly got yourself killed. We should be the ones asking if you're okay." Yumi added.
Maria simply chuckled at the people she was trying to protect being worried for her. If anything, it was a nice change of pace from being public enemy number one a few months ago. "Your Gungnir-"
"This Gungnir is mine!" Hibiki shouted, quickly grabbing the pendant from Maria's hand. "This power is supposed to be used to protect people! I was the one it was given to! It's my Gungnir!" In that moment, Hibiki realized what she said, being met with the unflinching gaze of Maria. "I'm sorry."
Maria wasn't too surprised by Hibiki's outburst as the latter would've thought. She knew exactly why Hibiki lashed out at her. If anything, Hibiki was right to be mad. "That's right. Gungnir is your power. So don't avert your eyes from it!" Maria says to the younger Gungnir wielder, turning her anger into sheer confusion with a little bit of discomfort at being looked at while Maria still had blood all over her face.
Carol's POV:
Château de Tiffauges
Following the battle, Garie returned to base, being met by a slightly annoyed Carol. "Garie..."
"Please don't look at me like that." Garie said. "Sure one couldn't sing and the other couldn't sing for long, but I still managed to take away the songs of the dragon spawn and her sister. Not to mention how I was able to break their means of teleportation. So if anything, I did more than what was expected of me."
"At least it's clear you haven't forgotten why you were created." Carol says, before her thoughts return to what Hibiki said to her the night they "fought"
"I don't want to use a power that is meant to help people for fighting."
"So you'll try to save others and just get yourself killed, too?!"
"But next time, be sure to destroy her songs as well." Carol tells Garie. "Any further delays will affect the plan."
"The release of the ley lines... Say no more." Garie said, before posing innocently, "Leave it to little ol' me!"
"You can take Micha with you. She's specifically optimized for combat. Understood?"
"Okie dokie!" Micha answered for Garie.
"She wasn't asking you!" Garie barked, annoyed that not only her accomplishments were brushed aside, but she now had to work alongside someone as chaotic as Micha.
Lilith's POV:
S.O.N.G. HQ
The next day, Kanade, Tsubasa, and Chris met with Elfnein and the others while the other wielders were either recovering or off duty. On the screens in front of them was footage from the battles with the Autoscorers. "Garie, the one who attacked Kana-san and Hibiki-san yesterday, and Leiur, the one who fought Chris-san, as well as Kana-san again." Elfnein said. "There's also Phara, who Tsubasa-san encountered in London, and Micha, who has yet to show herself. These are the four Autoscorers under Carol's command."
"So we're not even strong enough to handle playing with her dolls?" Chris asked, annoyed at just how strong these things were compared to them.
"Then these mechanical dolls are sort of like knights guarding a princess?" Ogawa added.
"I don't have any record of their specifications or their details." Elfnein answered. "But..."
"Given their ability to overcome a Symphogear in battle, it's clear they possess inhuman strength." Tsubasa said.
"Regardless, dealing with supernatural threats is our duty." Genjuro added. "Elfnein-kun has proposed a plan by which we may fulfill that duty." Hearing this, everyone present looked back to Elfnein as a screen appeared behind her in red letters. "Project Ignite."
After the details of the project were shared with the group, Lilith started to worry about how this project would affect Kana. "Is this really possible? This 'Ignite module'?" She asks.
"Theoretically, yes, through the application of alchemy." Elfnein answered. "Taking a great risk to achieve a great reward. That is what the magic sword Dáinsleif."
This did not help to ease the dragon's worries. As she went to question this project further, suddenly, the Alca-Noise alarm went off. "Alca-Noise signal detected!" Sakuya reported.
"Location identified." Aoi reported. "Putting it onscreen now!"
Just then, two screens appeared on the big monitor. On one, it showed Miku and Hibiki running. On the other, it showed a girl with long red hair and a sharp-toothed smile chasing after them, which immediately shocked the wielders and staff. "Micha has finally been awoken as well." Elfnein said.
Immediately, Kanade sprinted for the exit. "Kanade! Where are you going?" Tsubasa asked.
"Hibiki-chan and I are the only active wielders left until this 'Project Ignite' whatchamacallit is done, and I'm not about to let her and Miku-chan get hurt while I can still help!" Kanade said, continuing her sprint as soon as she stopped talking.
Hibiki and Miku's POVs:
Abandoned Construction site
Without warning as they casually walked in the rain, Hibiki and Miku were suddenly attacked by Micha and some Alca-Noise, forcing them to run to try and lose her. "Stop running and sing for me already! Or are you trying to lead me to a place where it's easier for you to sing?" Micha said, pondering the thought for a second, before getting excited. "Why didn't you just say so?" Without hesitation, Micha sends the Alca-Noise after Hibiki and Miku and into an abandoned construction site.
Soon after, one of the Alca-Noise destroy the stairway the duo were climbing which sent Hibiki stumbling down and right in front of the Autoscorer. "If you won't give up and starting fighting me, I'll just have to take away the things that you love." Micha said, pointing to Miku above them. "And if you refuse to fight even after your dear friend is being torn to shreds, then I'll just move on to the townspeople, including all the doggies and kitties!"
Hibiki had enough of this Autoscorer's threats and finally pulls out her Gungnir pendant. However, much like with Garie, she is still unable to summon forth Gungnir. Annoyed by Hibiki's struggle, Micha orders the Alca-Noise to move closer to Miku's position, but before they would advance further, Miku turned to Hibiki. "Listen, Hibiki! Your songs don't exist to hurt people! And I know that you've always held your hand out to help people, not to harm them! I know that personally because I fought you, and you saved me!" Hibiki was taken aback by Miku mentioning that day on the US battleships. "And I'm not the only one. There are many people who were saved by your songs. They're still here today because of them! So don't be afraid!"
Before Miku could say anything else, Micha gave the order to the Alca-Noise to strike, destroying the platform Miku was standing on and sending her falling to the ground below. From there, time seemed to slow down for the Gungnir wielder, who roared as she ran to save her sunshine and, finally, began to sing once more.
"Balwisyall nescell Gungnir TRON!"
(Genkai Toppa G-beat begins to play)
As she fell from the crumbling platform, Miku could only reminisce the times that Hibiki used Gungnir to save her, and smiled. "I love your songs. Please sing them for everyone." As she was prepared to accept her demise, Miku suddenly felt something grab her, or more accurately, someone: Hibiki.
Successfully reaching Miku in her Symphogear, Hibiki lands safely on the ground, debris and water falling behind herself and Miku. "I'm sorry." Hibiki says. "I was running from this power and its responsibility. But I won't hesitate anymore. So please, listen to my songs!" With a newfound resolve, Hibiki steps away from the shadows and out into the clearing before placing Miku on her feet. "Here I go."
"I'll be waiting for you." Miku replies as she steps away from the battlefield to safety.
With that, Hibiki charges towards Micha, who summons a horde of Alca-Noise in Hibiki's path, but the Gungnir wielder makes quick work of them before continuing towards the Autoscorer. At first, both parties were evenly matched, but Hibiki was quick to get the advantage, landing a punch that sent Micha flying. With her advantage firmly in place, Hibiki goes in for a second punch, but as the punch connects with its target, Micha explodes into water, shocking Hibiki.
"What a shame... It was just an illusion reflected in the water." Garie said, emerging from the shadows with a sinister grin on her face.
Suddenly, Hibiki sees Micha's figure emerge from below her with a hand stretched out and a smile on her face. Micha shoots a red crystal from the palm of her hand towards Hibiki, but before it could connect with her, she was tackled out of the air by Kanade onto one of the nearby broken platforms. "K-Kanade-san?"
(Chasing Daybreak (Thunder) begins to play)
"I made it just in time. Thank god!" Kanade exclaimed.
"Hey! That was supposed to hit you!" Micha cried, upset by Kanade's last-minute save.
Dusting herself off and helping Hibiki to her feet, Kanade smirked at the Autoscorers. "It was? I'm so very sorry about that... Not!" Kanade taunted.
"You're ruining all of my fun!" Micha shouted back in a tantrum. "I'm going to beat you up for that!"
Micha charged at Kanade at full speed, leaving Hibiki to fight Garie. "If anything, I'm glad she showed up. Because now I can finish what I started yesterday myself!"
And thus starts the fights between Autoscorers and Gungnir wielders. For a while, both parties are on par with one another. When one goes in for an attack, the other counters. When one tries to dodge or evade, the other is quick to pursue and keep them on their toes. It was practically impossible to say who was truly winning... Until Kanade's active dosage of LiNKER started to fade away. "Crap... Not now!"
Seeing the fear in her opponent's eyes, Micha began to conjure multiple red crystals aimed at Kanade. "I win!" She said in an excited manner as she sends the crystals flying towards Kanade, which explode on the ground next to her and breaks her Symphogear.
"Kanade-san!" Miku shouts in shock.
Hearing Miku's shout, Hibiki takes her focus off her fight with Garie and sees Kanade flying through the air. "No! Kanade-san!"
Hibiki tried to hurry to Kanade's side, but she soon found herself unable to move. "Now, now. You've run away from me long enough." Garie taunted, before seeing the airborne Kanade, and snarling. "Great. She finished her off and now I have to cut my fun short before she ruins it." Garie said to herself before conjuring another icicle blade. "You want to help your friend so badly? Fine. I'll give you a lift!" With this, Garie slashes Hibiki's Gungnir while simultaneously launching her out of her icy prison and straight into Kanade, causing the two wielders to bounce and skid across the ground, finally stopping near where Miku was hiding.
Miku couldn't believe what she was seeing. It was practically a nightmare, but try as she might to wake herself up, it was real. "Hibiki! Hibiki!" Miku cries, running over to the pile of Hibiki and Kanade, hoping she was okay, but she soon had her worst fears answered when neither of them moved. They had been defeated and left unconscious. "No! Please! Please wake up! HIBIKI!"
Meanwhile at S.O.N.G. HQ
Everyone at S.O.N.G. could only look at the monitors with nothing other than horror as they watched Kanade and Hibiki get ultimately defeated by the Autoscorers Micha and Garie respectively. Soon after, both Autoscorers dropped capsules and fled the scene. "The Autoscorers are withdrawing!"
"Get Hibiki-chan and Kanade-san out of there ASAP!" Aoi requested.
"I'm on it!" Ogawa said as he went straight for the exit.
Meanwhile, Chris, Tsubasa, and Lilith continue to discuss Project Ignite. "We can handle this. So please move forward with Project Ignite!" Chris says.
"We need those enhanced Symphogears!" Tsubasa added.
As this happened, Lilith finally spoke up. "Elfnein-chan? Once Hibiki-chan and Kanade-san are back, I would like to speak with you privately about Kana's Gear and its involvement in this project."
"Of course, Lilith-san." The Homunculus replied.
A/N: And with that, we end the chapter. In all honesty, this was one of the chapters I've been going between ideas on how I wanted to go about it, but overall, I'm satisfied with how it came out.
Before anything else, I should probably explain why I made Kanade's theme for this part "Chasing Daybreak (Thunder)" from Fire Emblem Three Houses. The reason for this is mostly due to Kanade's (and by extension, Serena's) amount of solo songs compared to the other wielders for reasons I shouldn't need to go into detail with. Of course, I could just go the easy route and not add a song title for them when they're the major character of a fight scene, but that's lame.
So, I decided to give them songs from Fire Emblem games I feel match the characters in question (seemed like the most fitting thing to do seeing this is a Fire Emblem crossover fanfic). I know the song titles in the fanfic doesn't add that much to the overall thing, but it's the thought that counts.
Regardless, Thank you for reading this chapter. I shall see you all in the next one!
