Part 3:
Believe in your justice and follow the path it creates
Chapter 8:
What You Fight For


Miku's POV:
Lydian


After an interesting encounter last night, Hibiki, Miku, and the other wielders return home and continue their lives as usual, or as normal as they could with three other Autoscorers who could make their move at any moment. However, Hibiki had something else to take care of. "Maybe I shouldn't have done that." Miku says.

"Nonsense, Miku." Hibiki said, trying to reassure her friend. "If anything, I owe it to you for giving me the courage to face it, rather than run away."

"Really?"

"Really! Thank you, Miku." Hibiki answered, getting up and heading for the door after seeing her sunshine smile. "Okay, I'll be going now! I'll see you later!"

"You're still worried, aren't you?" Kana asked, walking up to Miku after Hibiki left, slightly startling her. "Sorry to scare you like that."

"It's fine." Miku says. "You're right though, I am a little worried for Hibiki."

"I mean, I know I'm not one to talk since I hardly knew the guy," Kana stated. "But I guess all we can do is hope that him willing to talk to Hibiki is a least a sign that he wants to make things right."

"I hope so." Miku agrees.

"Say, you doing anything today?" Kana asked.

"Nothing important at least." Miku answers. "Why?"

"I figured, if you weren't busy, we could get some Okonomiyaki at Flower like old times after I was done at S.O.N.G. today." Kana said. "It's been a while since we've hung out, all things considered."

Miku smiles. "I don't see why not. Thank you." She says, walking out of Lydian to S.O.N.G. with Kana. "So what is it you need to do at S.O.N.G.?"

"Elfnein-chan just wanted me to help her with some tests on my new Gear." Kana said, which intrigued Miku as to what the alchemist had in store for Kana.


Kana's POV:
Astral Plane


"You are the ocean's grey waves"


Upon getting her Symphogear back from Elfnein, Kana transforms into it to begin testing with Lilith. Before that, she warms up by swinging her blade around. "Yep. The Yato is just how I remember it feeling." Kana says, looking at her blade and smiling. "I'd argue it feels better than ever honestly. Thank you, Elfnein-chan."

"You're welcome, Kana-san." Elfnein said. "Now then, time to test if you can use Fólkvangr's power outside of the Radiance Module."

"Shouldn't we test if the Module itself works first, Elfnein-chan?" Kana asks.

"While it may be easier to access than the likes of the Ignite Module, it's still a very draining form to use." Elfnein explained. "So for now I want to focus on leaving it as a last resort. I plan to work on it as much as I can to avoid this issue completely in the future."

"Understandable." Kana says. "Alright then, let's do this!" Kana closes her eyes and tries to use the Fólkvangr infused into her Symphogear to teleport with all of her might, but nothing happens. "Am I doing something wrong."

Lilith tried her best not to laugh. "For starters, using Fólkvangr isn't the same as using a dragonstone to transform." She stated. "When you're using it, you need to calmly focus on where you want to go. Of course, it'll take some time to do correctly. For example, when I was still getting a hang on it, I would sometimes get sent various heights above where I would hope to be sent."

"Wait, so that one time when you showed up with Kanade-san wasn't how you planned to do it?!" Kana asks, surprised to hear the truth as to why they fell from the sky to save Hibiki when she first awakened to Gungnir.

"Yeah... Not one of my finest uses of Fólkvangr, but it made do..." Lilith answered, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head. "But since then, I've become far more accustomed with its power..." Suddenly, Lilith disappeared and reappeared behind Kana. "To the point I can use it without much thought."

"That's amazing, Lilith-san!" Miku said, impressed by Lilith's mastery of Fólkvangr.

"Thank you, Miku-chan." Lilith said. "Now then, let's start with something simple: short-range teleportation." Lilith walked a short distance away from Kana. "Try to warp to me. Remember: Calm mind and don't force it to happen."

Kana nods before taking a few deep breaths and closing her eyes. Suddenly, a bright light starts to engulf her, causing her to vanish. When she reappeared, she wasn't next to Miku anymore. "Did it work?" Kana asks, not hearing any response, causing her to open her eyes and see that she teleported further away from Lilith than she had planned.

"While it may not have gone as planned, we have confirmed that you can use Fólkvangr's teleportation outside of the form, so that's one less problem for us." Lilith said after she walked over to Kana while smiling with pride. "Now it's just a matter of getting enough control to make use of it on the battlefield. Of course, I'll still be around if things get out of hand and you all need a quick escape."

"Right." Kana replies. Suddenly, the Alca-Noise alarm goes off, causing the group to return to S.O.N.G. HQ to find out what was happening.


S.O.N.G. HQ


"What's the situation, Genjuro-san?" Kana asks.

"Alca-Noise were detected underground in the utility conduits." Genjuro said. "Kirika-kun, Shirabe-kun, and Hibiki-kun are there currently."

"Shouldn't Lilith and I get the others there and help them?" Kana suggests.

"You're still beginning to grasp Fólkvangr's power within your Gear, Kana." Lilith interjects. "It's best not to risk sending everyone to their deaths if you can't fully control it."

"It's great to hear the Fólkvangr relic works through your Gear Kana-kun, but Lilith-kun is right." Genjuro said. "For now, we just have to hope those three can handle the situation until we get there."

"I just hope Hibiki's meeting with her father went well..." Kana says to herself, concerned about how it could've went and what it could mean for Hibiki's emotional state in this mission.


Hibiki, Kirika, and Shirabe's POVs:
Utility Conduits


(Genkai Toppa G-beat begins to play)

Hibiki and the Zababa duo transformed before entering the utility conduits and prepared to face off with the Alca-Noise and whoever else could be there. "You're here." Micha said, greeting them from a nearby platform. "I'm afraid I don't have time to fight you toda-" She was cut off by a punch she narrowly avoided from Hibiki, which frustrated her. "You didn't let me finish!" She shouted as she summoned more Alca-Noise to create distance between herself and Hibiki.

Hibiki did not care about the Alca-Noise as she simply tore them apart as she approached Micha again, but Shirabe was able to notice something during Hibiki's rampage. "She's crying?"

"Yeah, something's definitely wrong dess!" Kirika says, both of them having their suspicions with how Hibiki was acting before they entered the conduits.

As for the Gungnir wielder, she did everything she could to try and hit Micha, but the Autoscorer just taunted her as she dodged. But Hibiki could care less about Micha right now, for someone else was on her mind. "How can he say he wants to start over, like it's that simple?" She thought. "You were the one who ruined it, Dad! You were the one!"

"She's going in too deep!" Kirika says, concerned by Hibiki's abnormal recklessness.

More Alca-Noise appeared in front of Hibiki, but she just continued to tear them to shreds. "It was all your fault, Dad!" As the punch connects with the last few Alca-Noise, several painful memories resurface in her mind, which quells her rage and only tears remained. "No... It was my fault, too..."

But while Hibiki was distracted in her own head, Micha takes advantage of her vulnerability by launching Hibiki into a nearby railing with a fire crystal and knocking her out cold. Seeing this, Kirika quickly rushes over to check on Hibiki. "Please be okay." She says aloud to herself.

"You aren't going to sing?" Micha asked, aiming her arm at Kirika and Hibiki. "If you don't... You're as good as dead!"

Micha fires a giant beam of fire at the two wielders, leaving the only conscious one of the two to brace herself for the attack, but it never came. Surprised, Kirika opens her eyes to see why the attack wasn't coming, and was met by Shirabe with her Asgard technique doing the best she could to stop it. "Kiri-chan... Are you okay?" Shirabe asks while struggling to keep up Asgard.

"No... Of course I'm not okay!" Kirika replies, before realizing that this was exactly how Chris felt the night she was powerless to protect the people she cared about.


"The girls we were supposed to protect ended up protecting us instead. How could anyone consider that 'okay'?"


In that moment, Kirika knew she couldn't just stand by and be helpless. "I'll have to use the Ignite Module..."

"No Kiri-chan!" Shirabe pleads. "Are you forcing yourself to use it because I'm a burden?"

While the Zababa duo disagree on how to fight Micha, the latter is enjoying herself until she hears Phara's voice. "You shouldn't waste time like this." She said.

"Yeah, yeah." Micha agreed. "But still... They piss me off!" Micha increased the power behind her attack and broke Shirabe's Asgard, knocking herself and Kirika into the tunnel wall and leaving them unconscious alongside Hibiki across the charred tunnel. "I'm leaving. Sing for me next time!" She said as she vanished from sight.


Ogawa's POV


Some time after Micha disappeared, S.O.N.G. arrived to take the unconscious wielders back to be healed. Meanwhile, Ogawa and the other field agents did what they could to assess the damages. "It would seem all of the major damage was done by Hibiki-san and the others' various attacks." Ogawa states. "But then in lies the question, what were the Autoscorers after?"

"Ogawa-senpai!" Serena said, "You may want to see this!" After a quick walk over to where his partner was, he was surprised by what she found. "Despite everything being seriously damaged, this remained intact. Any ideas as to why?"

"One does come to mind, and it may be exactly what the Autoscorers were after." Ogawa says, piquing Serena's interest as he calls over another agent. "Contact the commander at once!"


Kana and Hibiki's POVs:
S.O.N.G. HQ


Once they were recovered, Hibiki and the Zababa duo were taken to S.O.N.G.'s medical wing to be healed. Minutes later, they all regained consciousness. "The examination results came back." Elfnein reported. "Your injuries aren't serious, but you need to rest."

"Thank the gods." Kana sighs with relief.

"I'm glad to hear that." Miku added.

"It's all Shirabe's fault dess!" Kirika suddenly blurted out as the group look over to see the Zababa duo refusing the even look at one another.

"You were too reckless, Kiri-chan!" Shirabe retorted.

"You jumped in without thinking dess!" Kirika continued to lecture.

"You think I'm just a burden, don't you?" Shirabe argued.

"I never thought I'd ever see those two fight." Miku stated.

"Yeah." Kana agrees. "To be honest, I've always been jealous of how well they get along, but now..."

"Please stop." Elfnein pleaded. "You need to calm down if you hope to recover, let alone be able to control the Ignite Module!"

That comment got them to at least stop arguing, but their quarrel with one another still continued in silence. Seeing this, Hibiki approaches the duo and brings their hands together. "I'm sorry, you two..." She says. "I was the one who screwed up first."

This turned the attention away from their anger and back to the concern they had for their ally during the battle. "What happened with you back there dess?" Kirika asked.

"I saw my father again..." Hibiki answers. "In my memories, he was the kindest and coolest person I knew, but the man I saw was nothing like him."

"What do you mean?" Shirabe asked.

"He was oblivious to the pain he caused us." Hibiki answers, clenching her fist near her chest. "He was irresponsible and downright pathetic." Hibiki turned away from the girls to hide her tears. "I couldn't bear to look at him. If I'd known he'd be the way he was, I wouldn't have wanted to see him again..."

"It's all my fault..." Miku chimed in, tears forming in her eyes. "I was the one that made you go see him..."

"It's not your fault, Miku." Hibiki reassured her best friend. "It's all my dad's fault and no one else's." Despite this, Miku still felt she shared some of the blame for Hibiki's tears, but the latter was not going to allow her sunshine to suffer. "It's okay. Everything's just fine. So don't cry, Miku."

"For Hibiki's father to have caused her this much pain on top of everything she already had to deal with..." Kana thought to herself. "Not even my worst nightmares could image what my life would be like if Papa was the same way."

After their checkups were finished, the Zababa duo were free to leave. Kana walked out with them as she was tired from training and ready to head home. As for Kirika and Shirabe, despite everything, their quarrel remained strong, much to Kana's dismay. Before they fully left the ship, however, Elfnein walked up to the girls with two injectors in her arms. "I'm giving this to both of you."

"Model-K?"

"The Autoscorers are likely to strike at any moment." Elfnein continued. "But take extreme caution when using it. While it does strain your bodies, we lack the means to properly supply four wielders with enough LiNKER all of the time." With that settled, the Zababa duo and Kana take their leave, but the latter stays back a second to talk with Elfnein. "How goes training Fólkvangr's power and the Radiance Module?"

"There's definitely noticeable progress." Kana confirms. "While it's not entirely perfect, I am getting a handle on Fólkvangr's power for use in combat."

"And the Module?" Elfnein asked.

"I haven't really tested it yet..." Kana admits. "I wanted to have as much of a grasp on Fólkvangr's power as I could before I worried about the Module. But once I feel comfortable with that, I will start training with the Module ASAP."

"Good." Elfnein said. "Could I ask that you keep an eye on those two for the moment? I just worry they'll go berserk if they attempt the Ignite Module in their current mental states."

"Way ahead of ya, Elfnein-chan." Kana replies, giving her a thumbs up. "I can't call myself their senpai if I didn't do what I could to help them, right?" The two chuckled before Kana waved goodbye and caught up with the duo.


A short time after Kana, Kirika, and Shirabe left.


A knock was heard on the door to Hibiki's room in the medical wing. "Come in." Hibiki says.

"Hey Hibiki-chan. How you feelin'?" Kanade asked as she entered the room. "I heard about what happened and thought I'd come check in on you."

"Hello Kanade-san." Miku greeted.

"I'm doing okay." Hibiki says. "Thanks for dropping by though."

Kanade smirked, "I may not know exactly what you're going through, but if you ever need anything, just give me a call and I'll come over as soon as I can. I know Miku-chan'll always be there for ya, but still."

Hibiki softly chuckles. "Thanks, Kanade-san."

"Anytime." With that, Kanade left the room. "Good night, Hibiki-chan."


Meanwhile


"The enemy's objective was to look at the power conduits?" Genjuro asks Ogawa over the phone.

"Yes, sir." Ogawa said. "After the drop in electricity caused by the destruction of our power plants, power is being priority routed to government facilities. If they map it all out..."

"They'll be able to find routes that cannot be seen above ground." Genjuro says, finishing Ogawa's train of thought.


Micha's POV:
Château de Tiffauges


Back at the Château de Tiffauges, Micha shows the remaining Autoscorers the fruits of her recent excursion. "Check this out!" Micha shouts as she throws down a map of power conduits she managed to steal during her run-in with the wielders.

"You certainly know how to put on a show and get results." Leiur complimented.

With the map delivered to the Autoscorers, Micha gets off her podium and heads for the exit of the Château de Tiffauges. "Where are you going, Micha?" Phara asked. "The memory installation will be finished soon."

"I know what my mission is! And I'll make sure it gets done." Micha barks. "In the meantime, let me do what I want."


Kirika, Shirabe, and Kana's POVs:
In the city


After leaving the base, Kirika, Shirabe, and Kana walked home, the former two forgetting entirely that an entrance to the Astral Plane was on the base, but too angry at one another to care as shown by the fact that they had Kana walk in between them as to avoid making eye contact. "Don't you have something you want to say to me, Kiri-chan?"

"You're the one who wants to say something, Shirabe!" Kirika barked.

"Gods... Here we go again..." Kana sighs. But as Shirabe was about to respond, fire crystals rained all around them. "Of all times to come back, she chose now?!"

"What's happening?" Shirabe asks.

"She's trying to get us to fight dess!" Kirika adds.

After the explosions end, the trio look around for their foe, finding her standing atop a damaged torii. "Looks like we don't have a choice... Let's do this!" Kana said as she pulled out her pendant.

"If you think we're just burdens, you're in for a surprise!" Shirabe says to the Autoscorer, taking off her bandages and pulling out her own pendant as well.


"Various Shul Shagana tron"


(Genocide Saw Heaven begins to play)

The three charge at Micha with everything they have. Shirabe fired buzz saws from afar while she advanced with Kana and Kirika, the former of the two trying her best to keep the majority of Micha's attention. Despite all of this, Micha seemed to have the upper hand the whole time. "Is that all?" Micha asked. "If anything, you two were stronger before you enhanced your Gears." While Micha taunted the Zababa duo, Kana tried to land a sneak attack from behind, but Micha dodged it with ease and sent Kana flying towards Kirika and Shirabe. "You stay out of this, Dragon spawn! I only want to hear them sing!"

Seeing Kana get hurt was enough to anger Kirika. "How dare you dess!" She shouts as she charges at Micha alone, much to Shirabe and Kana's pleas not to. Ignoring them, Kirika slashes at Micha before firing a Kill Juliet while she was airborne and unable to avoid it. "Gotcha!"

But as the dust settled, Micha was unscathed and ready with several fire crystals. "Nope, I got you!" She retorted as she fired the crystals towards Kirika, who dodged the best she could. "You can't win unless you two work together."

Micha sent more crystals directly at Kirika, but she was unfazed. "If I can't dodge, then I'll block dess!" As she prepared herself to take the attack head on, a giant barrier appeared in front of her as Shirabe rushed to stabilize it. "Why do you keep jumping in without thinking?!" She asked, pushing Shirabe aside.

"So you do think I'm just a burden?" Shirabe retorts with a question of her own.

"No dess! It's because I love you!" Kirika cries as she runs forward to fight Micha once again. "I love you so much that I can't stand seeing you get hurt!" Shirabe was speechless upon hearing this. "I've thought that ever since you protected me. Everyone gets mad at us because they all care about us!"

The memories of every time they were lectured for acting brave plays back in Shirabe's mind, and she could see what Kirika was getting at. "They're all kind people who care about us..."

Micha is able to see that Kirika is distracted while talking to Shirabe and takes the chance to push her back with an explosion. "You can't hope to win by screwing arou-" This time, Kana was able to get the jump on Micha, who was upset by the interruption. "I thought I told you to stay out of it!" She pouted, trying to bat Kana away, but was surprised when she suddenly vanished before the attack connected and she reappeared behind her with a punch to her backside.

"Like I would listen to a bucket of bolts that acts like a child!" Kana retorted, angering Micha more.

While Kana kept Micha distracted, the Zababa duo kept talking. "Mom risked her life for this world. I'm not about to let myself die a pathetic death here."

"Then we'll just have to turn this around from pathetic to cool dess!" Kirika adds.

"We need the strength to face what we've done!" Shirabe says, as herself and Kirika come to the conclusion of what they need to do.


"Ignite Module! Drawn Blade! (Dess!)"


Much like the other wielders, Kirika and Shirabe remove their pendants from their chests, the pendant changing shape and stabbing into them. At the same time, Kana is again thrown behind them, worried by what she saw. "Please work!" Kana begged.

But Kana wasn't the only one interested in the transformations taking place. "This is it! A power without limit, growing ever stronger!" Micha shouted with excitement as she was engulfed in flames, revealing a new form of her own.

"She was holding back?!" Kana thought, clenching her arm in pain from Micha's attacks. "I'm not sure how much help I can be in my current state, but I'll do what I can! It's all up to you two now!" As she says this, she activates her augmentations of Igalima and Shul Shagana to provide the duo with as much power as they can manage and gets to cover.

As for Kirika and Shirabe, from within the darkness surrounding them, they held hands. "I'm sorry, Kiri-chan..." Shirabe says, apologizing through the pain.

"It's alright dess." Kirika replies. "But the others..."

"That's right... We need to apologize to everyone." Shirabe agrees. "And for that, we need to become stronger!"

(Just Loving X-Edge (IGNITED arrangement) begins to play)

The duo emerge from the darkness of Dáinsleif's curse with their Ignited Gears and begin to strike at Micha, who is still able to counter their newfound power with ease. "I am the strongest! You can't hurt me!" Micha said as she dashed towards the Ignited duo. "Sing more strongly! MORE VIOLENTLY!" She fired several fire crystals from her hands at Kirika, who did her best to deflect them, which left her wide open for Micha to come in and punch her into a nearby wall, sealing off any chance of escape with more crystals.

But as Micha was about to turn Kirika into ashes, Shirabe quickly fires her own volley of sawblades at the Autoscorer from behind. "We have to stand and face it, or we'll never overcome it!" She shouts.

While it may not have done much to Micha, it gave Kirika the opening she needed to get out of the corner she was stuck in as Micha jumped into the air to rain more crystals upon the duo. "You can't win if you keep running!" Micha taunted as she continued to send down crystals.

"Obviously!" Kirika retorts. "Which is why..." Kirika used her scythe to swing on one of the crystals scattered across the battlefield, using it to confuse the Autoscorer and set her up to be bound in place by The Slasher: Jabberwock, combining the guillotine end of it with Shirabe's Forbidden Full Moon as both wielders closed in on their foe to end her.

Forbidden Wheel of Evil: ZABABA Eclipse

Initially, Micha was taken aback by this. "They're working together to achieve something they couldn't on their own?!" She said. But as the blades drew closer to her, Micha's surprise turned into excitement as she was destroyed by the combined attack.


After the battle


With Micha defeated, the wielders undo their transformations and wait for S.O.N.G. to arrive, the Zababa duo receiving another lecture for their actions. "Do you know how worried we were?!" Chris said.

"For once, why not try following orders?" Genjuro added. "It'll save you from yet another lecture I'm certain Dr. Nastassja is waiting to give you two."

"Guys, please calm down." Kana says, defending the duo. "Sure, it might not have been the best thing for them to do, but they had no other choi-"

"It's okay, Kana-san." Shirabe interjects. "They're right, we shouldn't have gone that far on our own."

"We'll be careful in the future." Kirika adds, surprising their Senpais and Genjuro.

"You're unusually remorseful." Genjuro said.

"The best way we can improve is by listening and trying to understand." Shirabe replies.

"We're really sorry." Kirika adds, both herself and Shirabe bowing to apologize.

Genjuro cleared his throat as he tried to recompose himself. "Well, as long as you know what you did wrong, that's fine..." He said, allowing the duo to return home having learned their lesson before letting out a sigh.

"They've really grown up without our help." Chris commented.

"You can say that again." Kana adds.

As they continue to walk home, Shirabe reflects on what she learned. "It takes more than strength to not be a burden to others. You also have to take responsibility for your actions." She says.

"Responsibility... means to do right by your own values." Kirika states, looking up the definition on her phone. "But wouldn't calling that 'right' just be the hypocrisy you hate?"

Just hearing that word was enough to remind Shirabe of what she said to Hibiki the night they met at the concert months ago. "For the longest time, I've wanted to apologize to Hibiki-san for saying such thoughtless words." She says, regretting ever calling Hibiki a hypocrite.

But as she beat herself up over her past actions, Kirika put her hands on Shirabe's shoulders. "You're not the only one who needs the courage to say she's sorry." Kirika says in reference to herself. "I may be Kana's bodyguard, but I'm yours first and foremost dess!"

Shirabe started to tear up when she heard this. "Kiri-chan... Thank you. And I mean it, from the bottom of my heart."


Carol's POV:
Château de Tiffauges


With Micha gone, the banner above her pedestal changed to match the same symbols that adorned the one above Garie's. Soon after that, the box that sat where Carol's throne once stood opened, revealing a resurrected Carol. "So you've awakened?" Phara said, greeting her resurrected master.

Carol's first observation upon reviving was the banners above Micha and Garie's pedestals. "I see... Garie and Micha are gone?" Carol asks.

"They died in a very flashy manner." Leiur said.

"What do we do now?" Phara asked.

"It should be obvious: We complete the Apocalypse of All Things." Carol answers. "My wish, for centuries, has been to kill every last miracle with my own hands." She clenched the fist of her new body, but moments later, she could see Hibiki in the medical wing of S.O.N.G.


"Did you hear? Kirika-chan and Shirabe-chan have gotten stronger. Way stronger than before. Wouldn't you agree, Elfnein-chan?"


Carol smiled as she heard this. "Yes... I do." She says, answering the question meant for Elfnein. "And that strength will hasten the end of the world!"


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

I'm sure it comes to no one's surprise, but Kana is able to use Fólkvangr's teleportation for combat purposes, and that skill is only going to improve as she does. That aside, there isn't much else to say about this chapter, other than the fact the next few are going to get, let's just say, interesting for a certain pair of roommates. :)

Regardless, thank you for reading this chapter. I shall see you all in the next one!