Date A Re:Live
Chapter 49: Movie Chapter: Ars Install, Part 2
By : Tohka_Yatogami
...
Summary
Even a similar story can take it's own path. Shido and Mana are amnesiac siblings living with their friend Kotori, however the past catches up to Shido when he nearly runs into a space quake, and his world changes as one girl asks... "Are you here to kill me?" (Stronger Ratatoskr, weaker DEM, games & movie are canon to story) [Shido/Tohka/Harem]
Here we go, the Ars Install Movie is about to come to its stunning conclusion, everyone's gonna be fighting under their RPG classes (minus the Arusu sisters since they're still able to use their powers) while Maria and Marina finally conclude their long awaited final battle. I won't say what, but I can assure you after their battle ends, there won't be another... though if that's because someone's gonna die or something else? That's something you'll have to read to discover.
Now for answering last chapter's guest reviews, here's my response to Seeker213: "Ah, so that's the part I didn't recall about the definition. Gonna write myself a reminder to go and fix that when I've got the free time. As for where they ended up? I won't say anything more just yet, but boy is there gonna be a whole ocean of potential for Westcott to use there, especially with how the dark spirit power grew bigger. The only upside for the heroes right now is the fact DEM's remnants are in a mess and he's gotta clean up."
"As for Tohka's parents? Sorta, they were kept there more for the same reason Tohka was kidnapped too, Westcott considered that due to being the First Spirits' children, Mana and Shido having spent a long period of time around them may have affected them in some manner, so they were study samples. Problem is without the Takamiya siblings, he never got a chance to conduct them, so they were pretty much in storage. I will say this, as he realized who Tohka was a while back, had Choronzon not shown up... then that hostage situation probably would have happened."
"Not everyone appeared in the Spirit Online/Offline story based on the illustrations I found since I don't think there's a translation for it yet to tell me if the others are there as well. I can say that Shiori, the Yamai twins, Miku, Natsumi, Tohka and Nia are definitely there though, so their outfits are the same as in that story, while I gave Nia's to Mana because Nia's still not sealed and couldn't join them (She would have loved it though ^^), that's why I went with Black Mage for Natsumi as Witches are closely related to them."
"As for why Yoshino was made a Thief? Aside from having trouble on deciding what to make her class, I felt how Thieves are often nimble and more of a supportive class (they do tend to be lock pickers), which fits how Yoshino will fight but doesn't like conflict, not to mention that a few of the classes aren't meant to match with their Spirit on purpose for the sake of giving Marina a slight advantage. Admittedly it isn't the most sound of logic, but... *shrugs* no one's perfect. For the Arusu Quest SS? I actually am aware... it's just I forgot about it until you mentioned it, my bad ^^;"
OK, now to actually begin the start notes. *sighs* Once again, as I seem to be thematically doing since Season 2 began... forgot to tell you what the arc emotion was, so I better amend that now. This time the emotion is "Trust", representing how the Arusu siblings see once another. Maria trusts Marina, something that everyone things she shouldn't be doing, while Marina has no trust to Maria which everyone finds expected for various reasons due to being a member of the DEM. It makes you wonder though, why does Maria trust Marina at all?
Either way, while I won't say how, I'll admit what I had planned for the Ars Install arc originally isn't what I've got now that we're actually here, and the arc emotion actually is somewhat responsible for that. During Season 1, I mentioned a certain thing about Marina's character, while usually I pull twists like the one with Tohka's parents, those are planned ahead of time. This twist I've had in mind in a while based on part of what I said back then that I think ended up becoming a better idea due to what happened since.
To give an example of an idea that wasn't originally planned? The Ethereal Form actually was the result of me talking with someone, I don't remember the PM chain I talked with them in and who's it was, but it lead to me creating it. Originally, the Choronzon arc was going to have Tohka simply learn to control her Inversion and replace the negative influence, but not necessarily by making despair turn to hope. What was gonna happen here was Marina was just gonna escape after being beaten, but now? There's two possible outcomes I'm implying, and you won't find which one's true until the chapter ends :3
Well, that's all I really need to say, other than I have a special announcement to make in the end notes. With that cleared up, time to start the Maria VS Marina battle we've been waiting for since this story began, and everyone fighting the virtual DEM automatons in their video game forms! ^^
A/N: To anyone who asks why the movie chapters no longer have parts in their chapter titles? Aside from giving them a more movie feel to them, I found out that Rio Reincarnation's name is too many characters to let me add "part" and even a single digit number into the chapter name.
"Alright everyone, are you ready to begin?" Maria asked.
Everyone gave a nod.
"Alright, then here we go. Let's start with some enemies based on the DEM's old Myrmidon automatons so things aren't too hard for most of you." Maria replied, soon getting everyone ready.
"OK, summoning them now." Maria smiled, a bit excited about what she was do.
However, the moment she hit the buttons... she wasn't getting a result. She blinked confused and kept hitting it a few more times until she got a message pop up in front of her, she looked closer to read it and it said the following:
{Administrative Command conflict, please wait for the other administrator's actions to fully execute before resuming. If you have problems, talk to the other administrator and see if your commands are opposing one another.}
"Wait, what? That can't be right... no other person has admin status in here but me." Maria said confused, wondering what the problem was.
"Well you've always been two faced, haven't you? After all... you stole that face from me!"
Everyone all turned at the sound of that voice, one that they all knew too well... and one that only confirmed a worry they had for the last three weeks.
"Oh my god, it can't be." Shiori gasped.
"Marina..." Maria breathed.
"Where are you, show yourself!" Tohka shouted.
Marina laughed loudly, her voice echoing throughout the virtual realm.
"Oh, I'm not hiding. You just need to look a bit higher." Marina answered.
Everyone looked up, and soon they saw a virtual cube floating in the air, the sight of Marina looking down at them with a smug look on her face. She wasn't in her Astral Dress at the moment, and she was using her hands as chin rest.
"Hello there Ratatoskr trash, it's so anything but nice to see you all, I only got three days without seeing your ugly mugs while you got to experience three weeks without viewing my glorious one." Marina mocked, soon standing up.
"And as you've probably realized, since I'm still here... so is the man you hoped kicked the bucket. Boy did lady luck ignore you. Now, since I'm actually here, I think I'll use the fact my 'sister' and I share the same data to my advantage." Marina smirked darkly.
Marina jumped down, her eyes shining menacingly.
"And that advantage is... using this realm to delete you all forever!" Marina shouted unhinged.
Marina soon reequipped her Astral Dress, and as she dove down, the entire virtual realm suddenly gave warning signs that had it go into lock down as the sky turned red and tons of DEM automatons of the stronger kinds form around them.
"Prepare yourself, because Marina Arusu has been added into the installation, and you're the infection that I seek the purge from the system!" Marina replied, laughing madly at the sight of everyone's confused states.
"Marina, stop this! We don't have to fight each other-"
Maria suddenly was suddenly struck across the cheek, a purple marking left from a weak venom used as a warning signal to her.
"Shut the hell up you peace loving bitch, I've had it up to here with you... you seem to think I'm someone good. Someone who has good, someone you can make your friend and trust. I'm sick of that part of you, especially because you look like me. It's time you face reality... by dying from my own hand!" Marina screamed with pure rage.
"Marina..." Maria breathed, shaking a bit.
Marina soon motions her arm forward, causing all the automatons to give mechanical roars as they rushed forward in preparation to strike Shiori and the others.
"Come on everyone, time to fight back!" Tohka shouted, rushing ahead of the others before stopping.
"Adonai Melek!"
...but nothing happened, making Tohka sweat before she was suddenly struck by a virtual Bandersnatch and knocked back towards the others, her stats showing her HP decreased slightly. Marina and the Automatons all stop to laugh mockingly at the sight.
"Maria... I have a feeling you'll still answer this, but please don't tell us we can't use our Spirit powers right now?" Tohka asked worriedly.
"Well... the classes I gave you to train under may have been set so you couldn't use your powers by accident, and by extension locked away due to Marina having authority that makes my actions conflict with hers. That's not a problem, right?" Maria asked before chuckling nervously.
Everyone gave fearful stares towards her.
"I'm not helping, am I?" Maria sweated as she laughed nervously.
The others all shake their heads.
"Yeah, I didn't think so."
"Oh, I beg to differ. You're definitely helping me! Helping me in killing you all that is!" Marina cackled.
"Marina, stop this! There has to be a-"
"Shut up, will you just wake up already!" Kaguya screamed loudly.
Maria turned at the louder of the Yamai twins.
"She's been with the DEM for years, only aided us for her own profit against Choronzon, and she's done horrible things. She doesn't have any good in her, stop treating her like she's someone who can be redeemed because she's made it clear she's as rotten to the core as Westcott. Do you believe he gets redemption!?" Yuzuru asked.
"I... I..." Maria stuttered.
"My sister's right Maria, we all know what we have to do. You need to realize that yourself." Yuzuru added.
Maria stared at them, unable to reply in any manner.
At that moment, Shiori looks at the virtual Automaton enemies before them and soon turned to face the others.
"Everyone, we may not have our usual powers, but we aren't powerless either. Right now, fight like we're the characters in a video game, because that's the power we have right now! That is how we'll fight back!" Shiori replied, drawing out a sword.
"Of course, it isn't our usual way to battle, but we can still do it. Let's do this!" Mana smirked.
Everyone began rushing at the Automaton enemies with the fighting gear and weapons they currently had on them, the DEM based enemies did the same.
Tohka stopped briefly and looked at Maria who could only stare at Marina who gave the same cruel smirk she usually did towards her, Maria's face showing how conflicted she looked... and causing Tohka to remember something, what Shido said when the two still didn't remember each other back on her Birthday half a year ago.
Tohka, who was currently in her Inverse Form, grabbed Shido's head tightly with her left hand.
"You claimed that you didn't come to kill me and that you couldn't kill anyone. The fact you're here now proves that it was nothing but a lie. There's no other reason you'd be here you mongrel." Tohka stated.
She gave the same stern look she usually did, but to Shido's eyes? It was the sad look she saw her briefly during her attack against the DEM wizards.
"...Your face, how come you always look so sad?" Shido asked.
Tohka's suddenly flinched at that comment, she knew that wasn't the face she was making... and yet it was the one she always hid. She couldn't understand it, how was Shido able to see right through her mask?
"...You bastard, are you trying to trick me? If that's the case, then I'll destroy you so not even dust or memory remain!" Tohka stated angrily.
Tohka felt intense rage towards Shido, his words were starting to push her to the point where she began to consider going against her usual refusal to summon Nahemah just to kill him.
Shido sees her angry face, and soon responds to it with a serious face.
"I'm not trying to do anything, and it's true! I have no reason to kill you, or even just hurt you!" Shido shouted.
"Quit lying!" Tohka screamed with rage.
"Every human has tried to kill me, and one of my own kind tried to murder me, even when I begged her to not to! I'm like this now because of her! This whole world just wants me dead, and I won't lose to it!" Tohka shouted angrily.
"I swear that's not true!" Shido replied with an equal shout.
"Why else would you come here then!?" Tohka yelled, now trying to just prove she was right in her rage.
"I was looking for my little sisters, I have no idea where they are or if they're OK!" Shido shouted, hoping that convinced her.
She simply swiped her hand, destroying the viewpoint's fence border and anything that would normally keep Shido from falling from a long and possibly near-fatal drop.
"I'm in no mood to joke around." Tohka spoke venomously.
Shido grunted more before he finally had it with her inability to trust him. So he stood up, and moved closer to her face which caught her off guard.
At that moment, he decided he was gonna make her see how honest he was, and not even give her any chances to respond again him.
"Neither am I! If you want proof then I'll talk to you, I don't even care what we talk about! Hell, you can just ignore me if you want to!" Shido shouted.
Tohka tried to reply but was stopped as he kept going without any fear, and all because of one thought in his mind that seemed to pulsate the intensity of his words' message towards her.
- I won't let you make that face again! -
"But know this, I'm not like every other human!" Shido continued...
- I won't let you make that face again! -
"Because... because even if the entire world rejects, that won't change the fact that I accept you!" Tohka screamed.
Tohka's eyes suddenly widened at that.
For the first time since Shido had her, Tohka had actually been surprised and rendered completely speechless.
Tohka soon breathed and looked at Maria, putting a hand on her shoulder to the AI's surprise.
"Hey Maria, let me give you some advice." Tohka stated.
"Maria... sometimes you gotta really fight to get your point across, to show how deadly serious you are about something." Tohka answered, smiling a bit.
Maria silently gasped.
"If you just try to talk to her, Marina's not gonna hear you, and the others won't see your way either." Tohka added, lightly nudging her fist onto Maria's shoulder.
Tohka soon ran to join up with the others.
As she just stood there, Maria took heavy thought on Tohka's words to her... sometimes you have to fight for what you want. It wasn't until she remembered how they had reached this point in their journey to save the Spirits that she finally understood it.
- (*Sword Art Online II - Light Your Sword) -
'Sometimes you have to fight... that's exactly what we've been doing against the DEM!' Maria gasped, memories flowing back into her head.
Shido's fight against the DEM forces alone to rescue Tohka...
Shido and Tohka working together to rescue Origami from Jessica...
Shido, Mana, Tohka, Origami, Mana, Mikie and Ryouko all facing against Yoshinon and then later the Nidhoggr...
Shido and Mana and the first three sealed Spirits against Kotori when Saya possessed her, then Minerva and the Hydra...
Everyone against Kurumi, and then the Deus...
Shido and the Spirits efforts to save Rinne after her powers went crazy...
Tohka's efforts to save Natsumi...
All of Ratatoskr teaming up to destroy all three of the DEM satellites...
Tohka and Shido's efforts to help the Yamai twins...
The combined efforts of everyone to win against Miku in the Ten-Oh Festival...
And then all the Spirits trying to save Shido from Choronzon, including herself...
'All I've been doing is throwing around words, not once... not a single time have I truly showed Marina and the others how I've felt. Just why I believe there's good in Marina, and I've let myself hesitate for it.' Marina thought.
"Alright, if that's what I need to do..." Maria whispered to herself.
Maria turned to Marina, giving a serious look that made the DEM AI raise her eyebrow a bit, and in a single moment, Maria rushed forward and equipped her Astral Dress. Before Marina even knew what hit her, Maria landed a blow on her.
"What!?" Marina gasped.
"Marina, I'm gonna make you see how I feel, but this time... I'm not gonna tell you, I'm gonna make you feel it firsthand!" Maria declared.
"You actually want to fight me?" Marina asked surprised.
Marina smirked at that, cracking her knuckles as she stared intensely and gave a toothy grin.
"Alright, if you really want me to smash you out of commission, then I'd be stupid to ignore you. It's time we end this battle once in for all, and only one of us will come out of it alive!" Marina replied.
"No, neither of us are gonna die, not when I win this... I'll make you see exactly why I believe there's good in you. After all, I'm the proof that's the case even if you don't realize it yourself!" Maria screamed.
Marina shows a surprised face before getting serious again.
At that moment, the two rushed forward at one another and clash heavily, a storm of leaves and poison mist spreading out around them.
- (*insert song end*) -
'I won't give up, no matter what!' Maria thought.
Shiori shouted as she spun around, cutting a few Bandersnatch enemies into pixels, she stopped to stare at the remaining enemies which included all of the common models of DEM automatons.
"So, all of you wanna play then? Well..."
- (*Garo the Animation - Leon Garo Shoukan*) -
"Then I'd be happy to oblige!" Shiori declared.
Shiori rushed forward, slashing against every Cheshire enemy she could before they could disappear, and soon parrying against some Bandersnatch units before spinning around and cutting through all of them.
"I may be a lady right now, but I can still swing a sword like a bad ass. You ready for some more!?" Shiori shouted, rushing towards the fleet of enemies.
Soon she suddenly stopped as a Jabberwocky dropped into view, making her sweat in worry.
"OK, you on the other hand... you might be a problem for me." Shiori sweated.
"No worries, Shiori!" Tohka shouted.
Tohka screamed wildly as her fists glowed and she flung them forward like a crazed lunatic flailing their arms for no reason.
Shiori watched, blinking as she recalled his date with her Inverse Form where she did a similar action, and then her eyes widened as she remembered the end result of what happened after she had finished punching the game machine.
"TAKE THAT!" Tohka yelled, punching the Jabberwocky.
After a few seconds, the Jabberwocky exploded entirely, causing the other automaton enemies to suddenly gain cartoon eyes of shock and worry, slightly stepping back a bit.
Tohka sighed with a smile, sparkles shining around her.
"Ah, I feel a little better now." Tohka said cheerfully.
"Oh, that's good. Say... how about doing that to every other nearby Jabberwocky unit?" Shiori replied with a sweat drop.
Tohka makes a cat like smile towards the said enemies suddenly began to run away, only for Tohka to charge at them with a yell as she holds her glowing fists out to smash them into the fleeing Jabberwocky enemies.
Mana jumped high before swinging down her sword and cutting a few Myrmidons apart, soon rushing forward to cut across a few Minotaur enemies. She gives a mighty shout as she rushes forward, thrusting her sword like a spear through a few more.
Yoshino runs forward, taking a dagger to cut across a few Myrmidons, though she gets knocked back slightly as one bites her.
"Ow!" Yoshino cried.
"I've gotcha Yoshino!" Origami shouted, soon making a praying motion and chanting.
Yoshino feels her wounds vanish and becomes refreshed, resuming her charge against the ant like machine enemies.
A few Centaurs charge at Kotori, and she screamed before swinging her axe, hitting them into a group of Cheshire enemies who all explode upon the former crashing into them with their armor's heavy weight.
"Time for your shot." Kurumi joked, firing an arrow at a few Alice units.
The Alice automatons all make their barriers to defend, preparing to fire at Kurumi, only for black fireballs to suddenly hit their shields with poisonous flames, they turned to the sight of a smirking Natsumi blowing on her staff as it smoked slightly.
"Kaguya, Yuzuru, you're up." Natsumi smirked.
"Hell yeah!" Kaguya cheered.
Kaguya yells as she jumped forward, slamming her lance though a few Alice units' shields, while Yuzuru grabbed a rope with a grappling hook and threw it forward at the remaining group.
Yuzuru soon hooked one and spun to take out the other, soon catching her rope's hook as Kaguya landed besides her, the twins giving each other a high give.
"Now, go lightning strike!" Miku shouted, making lightning hit down on a group of Jabberwocky.
"Thanks for the opening Miku!" Mayuri smiled as she ran by, soon swinging her hammer hard, breaking through the remaining Jabberwocky.
- (*insert song end*) -
Everyone saw all of the remaining Jabberwocky units vanish, and everyone gathers together.
"Alright, that takes care of all the enemies." Shiori sighed in relief.
""Hey, where's Marina?" Mayuri asked.
Tohka blinks at that, soon chuckling embarrassing.
"I... may have, sort of, convinced her to fight Marina alone?" Tohka blushed.
"Really!? Dear god, I can't believe you did that Tohka. We need to help her!" Mana exclaimed.
However right before they could, a new enemy based on a DEM Tarasque unit drops into view.
"What the? What's with the turtle?" Kotori asked,
"Oh no, I remember this thing... the super shielded automaton that Tohka had to defeat by dropping from accelerated free fall to cut through its defenses." Natsumi groans, a small vein having formed on her head.
The Tarasque roars, walking towards the group slowly.
Back in the real world, Reine's fingers rapidly typed across the screen as they tried to get through the system and into the virtual realm with no success, her forehead sweating heavily from the stress.
"What's going on, why can't we get into the system? We're completely locked out!" Mildred asked worriedly.
"I'm not sure, these readings say Maria's the one keeping everyone locked in. Even if she does have the authority, it doesn't make sense considering her personality." Matthew replied.
At that moment however, while Kotori and Tohka's parents were scratching their heads with their own explanations, the others all suddenly went wide eyed as Matthew's words caused them to realize the only possible explanation.
"Oh god, there's only one being that shares enough data with Maria to been considered as her by our systems. If she's here then that means..." Matthew gasped.
"I knew it, as much as I wanted to somehow be wrong, that man is too dangerous to simply die from a black hole." Reine gritted, staring at the screen.
"Marina's taken control of the virtual realm."
Back on the Arbitel, Westcott watched as Marina's presence in the virtual realm sent him the remaining information that he needed to create his reverse coordinates to create a path back to Earth, giving a smug smile as he did.
"Transfer at 90%, and we'll have a way to attack Ratatoskr once we can break down the walls of that realm to create an opening." James replied, watching the statistics of the transfer.
"Hmm... I get the feeling there's more to having Marina there than you've been implying Sir Westcott." Chinami replied, spinning a pencil in her hand while spinning a few more on top of the first.
Jessica stared at what Chinami was doing surprised.
"Can you teach me how to do that?" Jessica asked.
"Is it that obvious? Good, I was hoping it was." Westcott chuckled, making Chinami raise her eye towards him.
"Interested are you, then I guess it's time I tell you a secret that only Ellen's known until now, and that I'm sure Jessica managed to figure out a while ago just from me using a minor and unspecific implementation."
Chinami tossed her pencils and they landed on her head, still spinning as she sat down and put her hands on her chin. Jessica's jaw dropped open as she saw that, making Chinami look at her oddly before she turned.
"This should be good, let's hear it." James replied.
"Very well, it's quite the tragic story... in the sense she has no idea. Back when I created Marina, she was very insistent of considering me her father just because I had a hand creating her, at first I didn't care about it much as it made her work harder. Then one day... she went as far to kill the predecessor to [Angel] just to try and impress me by stealing a Sephira Crystal." Westcott began, soon recalling the memory.
Westcott was in his office, and soon he saw Ellen come in.
"Ellen, what do I owe this unexpected visit?" Westcott asked.
"Ike, we have a very surprising report. While as usual, the Sephira Crystal was stolen by [Phantom] before we could retrieve it, the [Angel] was just killed." Ellen answered.
Westcott raised an eye upon hearing that.
"And just how is that a surprise." Westcott asked.
"There were no Wizards or any of the Adeptus numbers present in the area of her death, nor did we even know that was her current location. By all means we had no methods or knowledge to prepare a proper attack. What we did have however is footage, and its who killed her that was a surprise. It was none other than the Marina AI, show somehow created an Android Body, gave it spirit like ability related to poison, and fully overpowered her." Ellen answered.
Westcott soon showed some surprise to that.
"Are you serious? That program did all of that, without anyone knowing? Hmm... that must have been another one of her attempts to impress me, she always-"
Westcott suddenly stopped, and taking a moment to think... he smirked.
"Wait, perhaps we could use this to our advantage." Westcott stated.
"How so Ike?" Ellen asked.
"Perhaps for the sake of our goals... I should finally humor her wish for me to acknowledge her label of calling me her father. That way, we can fully bend her to my will." Westcott answered, giving a sinister smirk.
Ellen's eyes widen at that, soon nodding as she managed to realize what he intended.
"She's already come back, I'll show you to where she is right now." Ellen replied.
"Please do so, this will be one of my greatest manipulations yet." Westcott smirked, standing up.
Ellen soon led Westcott to the room where Marina was currently in, and soon they opened the door to see Marina sitting in the room where she had been created, she had been gripping her clothes and trying to avoid shedding any laser fluid tears... she quickly turned around the moment she heard the two come in, showing a face of fear that clearly showed she expected that she'd get scrapped for what she just pulled.
"Sir Westcott..." Marina said quietly.
"...You've heard by now haven't you, go ahead. Do whatever you want, I don't care anymore, like you never had." Marina stated, shaking a bit with a slightly angered look on her face, the sight of her laser fluid tears struggling to not leak out.
"On the contrary, I'm here to congratulate you." Westcott answered, making Marina's eyes widen a bit.
"What you did was sneaky, underhand, deceptive and a betrayal of many. You lied, cheated, stole and disobeyed orders all to take something for yourself... just like I'd have done in your shoes." Westcott praised, a sinister smirk on his face.
Marina turned at him in shock, Ellen just giving a silent nod of approval.
"To think you would be so much like me, even down to having managed to kill a Spirit. Perhaps I underestimated my daughter too much." Westcott stated, causing Marina's eyes to widen.
The AI wasn't sure she had heard him right, did he just call her his...
"Weren't you the one who said you'd do anything to hear that?" Westcott answered, repeating something she had said to him once before.
"Father, you..." Marina said, her eyes shaking before smirking and looking at him.
"I told you I'd do it, and I did. So why don't we talk about an idea I have to truly smash Ratatoskr to oblivion. I think mother would like it too." Marina chuckled, giving the same cocky tone as Westcott.
Ellen made an odd face once she heard that.
"What did you say?" Ellen asked, making Marina raise an eyebrow.
"You never told her that part? Wow, for a married couple you two barely show it half the time." Marina asked Westcott, making Ellen's go white as she showed shock to that comment.
"Ah, now mother gets it." Marina snickered as she raised a hand near her mouth.
"W-What!? Don't call me that, I'm not listening to it!" Ellen screamed, making Marina smirk while Westcott just watched amused.
"Stop smiling, both you!" Ellen screamed.
While all of that was going on, Westcott looked at Marina, hiding his own deceptive expression behind his current face.
'Enjoy your illusion for now, you'll only aid me up until the moment I can throw you away and use it to my full advantage. Unlike you, Ellen obeys me without question because she understands Human nature the same as me, and agrees with me she will do anything I ask.' Westcott thought.
Marina soon smirked as she caught Ellen's Caledfwlch in her hand, giving a mocking laugh in response.
'I have no permanent need for an emotional machine like you, wanting a bond so desperately. All that makes you is a useful tool until the day your use runs out.' Westcott mentally smirked, a dark mist coming off his right hand briefly.
Westcott smirked as she finished her story, and soon everyone gave their own reactions.
Jessica made a sound of awe, and soon smirked. That sounded a lot like an old torture technique she had less use for in the field of DEM related work.
James showed some surprise, but soon chuckled a bit.
Ellen, already having been there was indifferent to the entire story and showed no real reaction to it.
Chinami looked before voicing her reply.
"Good riddance, I was questioning why you'd consider something based on a Spirit your daughter. The current Angel stopped being my cousin/would-be sister when she became one and killed my aunt and uncle." Chinami bluntly stated.
"And that won't be much longer, so... let us enjoy the show." Westcott responded.
The Tarasque enemy roared as it knocked the entire group back.
"Man, this thing is tough. How do we beat it?" Mana asked.
"Hey Tohka, how did you beat the Tarasque unit you fought before?"
"Well, I had it toss me up so I could use a nearby wire to slingshot me fast enough that Sandalphon could pierce its armor. I don't think that'll work here though." Tohka answered.
Everyone sweat at that, only for Origami to widen her eyes as she got an idea.
"Hey wait, I think I've got it! No armor's unbreakable. We just need to keep striking the same area. Eventually the stress on that area of the armor will cause it to break!" Origami shouted.
Everyone looked at her in shock.
"Yeah, that might just work. Who should do what though?" Miku asked.
"You me and Natsumi will stay back, I'll heal and you rotate with fire and ice spells in combination. When I need to heal the others or there's an opening, that's when you first. Anyone with close range weapons, take the front, anyone with long range in between us." Origami explained.
"Alright, let's do this!" Shiori declared, rushing ahead.
- (*Sword Art Online II - Gunland*) -
The other close combatants all rush forward with Shiori in the lead as the Tarasque prepared to strike.
"Natsumi, have anything to keep it still?" Origami asked.
"You've got it, paralysis curse go!" Natsumi shouted.
Suddenly a black mist hits the Tarasque, causing its movements to be completely locked by a curse taking the form of chain markings.
"Go!" Shiori screamed loudly.
Shiori jumped into the air and swung her sword in a spinning motion against the Tarasque's forehead.
Mana lunged forward before swinging her blade straight down in the same spot.
Mayuri soon focused a flame on her hammer before smashing it down and continuing the pattern of striking the same spot. With Yoshino jumping off her shoulder as a boost for spinning her dagger across it.
"Ready, aim... fire!" Kurumi shouted, firing a trio of arrows right at her bulls-eye.
Kotori threw her axe like a boomerang, and it cut against the Tarasque before ricocheting back to her, leaving Tohka an opening to rush at the mechanical beast and make her fists glow as she charged her attack.
"Take this and this and that!" Tohka screamed angrily, smashing her fist into the machine's noggin multiple times, soon jumping back as she felt tired.
"Switch with next group, I'll heal you all back up!" Origami shouted.
The others nodded and rushed behind the long-range row, Origami chanted a spell as white light healed them.
Natsumi prepared her black fire spell while Miku created an icy gale, the flames struck before the mini-blizzard quickly cooled off the heated metal, doing its own damage from the sharp icicles hidden inside.
"Here goes!" Kaguya shouted as she charged.
Kaguya lunged forward and stabbed her lance right at the DEM machine enemy's sweet spot, and this time... the sound of a small crack was heard. Everyone looked to see the armor finally cracked, but only a little.
"Yes, we're starting to break through!" Kotori cheered.
"Let's go!" Shiori cheered loudly.
Shiori and Mana did a few rotations in order of combination sword strikes.
Yoshino jumped and stabbed her dagger into the crack before backflipping away.
Tohka jumped overhead and screamed as she slammed her fist down.
"Yuzuru, tag team with me!" Kurumi shouted as she ran ahead.
"Right." Yuzuru replied.
Yuzuru threw her grappling hook forward, and Kurumi grabbed it as she swung her ahead and into the air. Yuzuru whipped her rope and the hook swung down, scrapping into the Tarasque's head.
Kurumi turned in midair, noticing a small hole before taking a metal arrow and firing it into the spot.
"Miku, Natsumi, aim for that arrow! It's more affected by temperatures!" Kurumi called out as she ran from the Tarasque.
The others all do the same.
"Here's a little fire to warm you up!" Natsumi declared, firing off her fire spell again.
"And a little ice if it's too hot for you!" Miku giggled, charging her ice spell from her wand.
The fires aimed directly at the arrow, and the Tarasque roared as fire was seen spewing out of its insides, especially from the arrow.
Immediately after, the icy blizzard aimed and quelled the flames, but some of the Tarasque's armor froze on certain spots outside.
"We've got it, now let's-"
Origami's words were interrupted as the paralysis curse faded, Natsumi checked her current magic and saw she didn't have enough mana for the same curse.
"Oh no, I'm too low on mana!" Natsumi shouted.
"How are we gonna beat it now!?" Tohka asked worriedly.
The Tarasque began to charge at them, and everyone prepared to guard against it, only for Mana to jump ahead to their surprise. She shouted as she revealed a hidden shield, and the Tarasque rammed into it... leaving her an opening to slam her sword on the cracked area, soon causing the cracks to spread as she kept it jammed inside. The Tarasque roared as its armor cracked more, with Mana forcing it in as it tried to eject it.
"Come on... come on!" Shiori breathed.
Everyone saw the Tarasque's HP drop down slower and slower, it soon roared and prepared to charge at them, only for Mana to shout and use both hands to dig the blade in deeper, and soon the machine enemy gave a final roar as it exploded.
- (*insert song end*) -
Everyone cheered as they did it, soon only for them to fall onto their butts tiredly.
"That was way too hard to beat." Yoshino groaned, her arms shaking from the soreness of swinging her dagger so wildly.
"I don't think I have any strength to use my recover spell. We'll have to wait for a while, and only then can we help Maria." Origami sighed, falling on her back.
"No, I think we should let Maria fight her own battle." Shiori replied.
Everyone minus Tohka, who had an idea of what she would say and simply smiled, looks at Shiori with a confused expression.
"I think I get why you said that to her now, you can tell she wasn't gonna give up on her belief that Marina had some good in her, didn't you?" Shiori asked.
"Am I really that obvious? Yeah, I did. After all... that's no different from what you did for us, wasn't it?" Tohka answered before giving a cheerful smile.
All the other Spirits minus Mayuri blushed, with the latter simply chuckling at that.
"Yeah... so let's believe in Maria this time, if she is right then we should give her the chance to prove it." Shiori stated.
Marina yelled loudly as she released a wind of poison gas at Marina, the Ratatoskr AI dodged it before motioning her wire crystals towards her and digging two of them into the ground, causing a storm of vines and a leaf twister to blow towards Marina.
"I won't lose!" Maria shouted.
"You've got some spunk today, don't you!?" Marina commented.
As the vines wrapped around her, they suddenly rotted instantly with the sight of acid sludge coating their withered forms and Maria smirking at them.
"Our powers are exact opposites, you create life but I'm the one that can kill it with almost no trouble with my venom!" Marina smirked.
"Yeah, but at the same time because I was born from your data, I know all the ways you can use it. Fighting like this we'll never get anywhere... I think you know what I'm suggesting don't you?" Maria stated.
Marina's eyes widened.
"Pure close combat? Nothing but our wires, fists and feet?" Marina asked surprised.
"There's no way we'll ever break this stalemate otherwise." Maria answered.
Marina stared before sighing, soon giving a smirk as her eyes reddened slightly and she cracked her neck.
"Alright, time to beat you so badly, you won't be a pulp, you'll be outright virtual juice!" Marina shouted in agreement.
"Then here we go." Maria replied.
The two stared at each other, the virtual world's environment corrupting more from Marina's influence around them, causing the land they were on to distort and almost seem like an arena made of virtual energy. This was their first and final battle in a direct manner.
- (*Sword Art Online - Swordland*) -
Maria shifts her foot, and the two used that as their signal to start, and they both shout as they begin colliding their wires with one another.
'Her large number of wires work better when it comes to grappling and slashing, she'll probably grab some of my attacks as her method of blocking.' Maria thought, seeing her dark counterpart's method of attacking.
'While she doesn't have as many as me, her wires can strike like she's using telekinesis on a bunch of spears, so she'll be able to strike at me with piercing attacks, and those crystals can also guard like a shield. If I wanna get through, I gotta force her to use too many to guard against me!' Marina thought, doing the same as she read her good counterpart's movements.
Their wires keep colliding, nothing getting through as their flurry rushed through one another. Eventually Marina snuck her fist through, decking Maria in the face as she was knocked back.
"GOTCHA!" Marina smirked, getting through her wires as she began to punch and kick through her without any effort.
"You don't even know how to fight, the advantage is mine and all mine!" Marina laughed.
Maria slides back a bit, soon reaching the range of the others' view.
"Maria... come on, you can do it!" Tohka cheered.
"Don't give up!" Mana shouted.
"Maria!" Shiori yelled.
Marina screamed as she prepared for another attack, and soon Maria looked at them briefly before she gasped.
'Marina's right, but there's a difference... I may not have my own way of fighting, but I don't need to.' Maria thought, soon making a serious face.
As Marina's next attack came, Maria soon shot one of her wires forward, using her hands to swing it a certain away.
Everyone had their eyes widen in shock as Marina was knocked back, but what was truly strangest about it was... it was the same motion Tohka usually swung Sandalphon. Maria had motioned her body the same way to strike back!
"That was-" Marina gasped.
Marina shouted and thrust all her wires forward, and soon Maria motioned her wire crystals together to form a barrier like when Origami used Metatron's Zohar formation. She rushed across the field, soon stabbing her wires at Marina, causing the crystals on them to break.
Marina tumbled a bit, coughing before she suddenly saw some of her wires twitch before flopping down uselessly. She growls before grabbing them, and then ripping them right off, soon swinging her fist at Maria and attacking with the small bit of wires she had left.
"Damn you!" Marina screamed.
"Marina, I will make you see... I will! No matter what you try to tell me, no matter what you say or how different you claim us to be, you and I are sisters!" Maria shouted.
"Shut up!" Marina shouted.
Soon the two rushed at one another, smashing their fists into the others' face, and sliding back as they were knocked back. Marina soon panted, growling before her restored wires grew back.
Maria looked back at her with a gentle stare, her wires and crystals repairing themselves as well.
'Shido... Mana... Tohka... Origami... Yoshino... Kotori... Kurumi... Rinne... Rio... Mayuri... Natsumi... Kaguya... Yuzuru... Miku... Commander Reine... Vice-Commander Kannazuki... Shiizaki... Minowa... Nakatsugawa... Mikimoto... Kawagoe... and everyone else in Ratatoskr... please, give me your strength, just for this one moment! This is the one and only time I beg of you all for this!' Maria thought, breathing heavily as she readied herself.
The two Arusu siblings rush at each other, smashing their wires into each other, punching with their fists, and delivering strong kicks as they neared their limits. Marina shouted as she decked Maria in the face, it looked like it was over... until Maria through all her wires into a single spot and slammed her head onto Maria's chest right after.
"What... the... hell?" Marina gasped.
"This fight is... over..." Maria gasped, looking at Marina.
Marina coughed violently, and soon fell over, the lower half of her body cracking as she fell on her back, clearly defeated and she saw a system message.
[You are defeated]
Marina's eyes shook in surprise as her Astral Dress was forcefully dispelled, she had been... beaten.
- (*insert song end*) -
The others all stared in shock, and soon enough... Tohka finally ended the silence.
"She won." Tohka breathed.
"She won!" Origami cheered.
Everyone soon celebrated and shouted happily, while Marina's eyes closed as she looked away.
Westcott soon saw the end result, and turned to James.
"James, how much data has been transferred?" Westcott asked with a smirk on his face.
"Everything, we can disconnect her now. Would you like to do the honors?" James answered.
Westcott smirked, and soon a virtual screen showing the activation command appears.
"My pleasure." Westcott stated.
He hits the button, and soon the screen shows a message saying {Activating Protocol - Marina Arusu, Final Extinction}, and soon a skull marking appears on the screen before it laughs with a macabre tone.
Maria limped a bit over to Marina who still couldn't move due to the damage she had received on her lower body having incapacitated her. Maria's Astral Dress vanished as she looked at her dark counterpart.
"...What are you staring at me for, you won so just finish me! If you let me live then all I'll do is betray or come back and give you more trouble!" Marina shouted, upset she had lost and angry that Maria seemed to be showing sympathy to her.
"I won't, you may think I'm a fool, but you've never even considered... why do I even believe you have good in you? I'm surprised you've never pieced that face together in all the time you've known your data lead to my birth." Maria replied.
Marina growled at her, and Maria soon kneeled near her.
"It's because you-"
Suddenly, the entire virtual realm began to shake heavily, starting to have pieces of it starting from the outer realm. Marina suddenly lurched her head forward as she felt something in her programming get disconnected.
Taking a moment, she realized it was her link to anything DEM related and she panicked, only shortly after that... a projection of Westcott came out of her systems as he stared at her with a look she knew all too well, his face of using someone.
"Father... what's going on?" Marina asked worriedly.
"Oh, this is a little something known as me cutting you off the branches... is a simple AI like yourself able to understand that?" Westcott replied mockingly.
Marina's eyes shook.
"Oh, it seems you get it. Though if you still don't get all of it... it's simple, you lacking your Inverse Power data in the spare body was no accident, not was that disconnection. All these years and you were never even able to tell that I never cared. You were just a tool who gave itself an easy way to be manipulated. Now you've finally used up any use you had... so it's time for you to be thrown away, and I'll take all my enemies and Ratatoskr with you." Westcott cackled.
"No, that... that can't be... you said I was your..." Marina breathed.
Marina shook as tears of laser fluid shed out of her eyes, both of sadness and rage.
"YOU TRAITOR!" Marina screamed.
"Of course, it's who I am. No... it's human nature to do this, and I did it well." Westcott smirked, soon laughing as the virtual realm shook more.
"The entire virtual realm, it's about to collapse!" Shiori gasped, seeing it break apart.
The breaking areas got closer, and soon enough... an abyss formed under Marina, causing the former DEM allied AI to fall in. Maria gasped before she dove in and reached out for her. Marina look surprised as Maria grabbed her, and barely hung on to a piece of virtual land.
"Maria?" Marina asked confused.
"Everyone, forgive me... I'm not coming back, it's time to show you all the biggest part of living. Being willing to give it up your life to save the lives of countless others! I am Maria Arusu... an AI, a Spirit, a Hero, a sister... and a friend." Maria stated.
The others got near Maria's location, and she looked at them. She shook her head, and putting her hand on Marina's she accessed the administrative controls.
"Admin command... send all non-administrators out of the game. Lock all system access, great full authority to admin Maria Arusu." Maria stated.
"Wait, Maria what are you-" Shiori began.
Suddenly everyone but the Arusu sisters were sent out of the virtual world, and Maria continued her commands.
"Block all access in or out of the virtual realm, purge all access to non-administrators still in-game permanently at full level access denial. Activating... virtual realm reboot, do not send warnings to admins currently in game, after reboot grant administrative privileges... to Reine Murasame." Maria said, shedding a tear.
"What?" Marina gasped.
Westcott's hologram tried to remove himself, but found he couldn't. At that moment both Maria and Marina's bodies floated upwards in their Astral Dress states.
Back outside, everyone saw Shido and the others appear on the arena transporter.
"Huh? You're back, glad to see... wait, where's Maria!?" Reine gasped.
"She's still inside, what is she doing!?" Shido begged.
Reine checks and they get a visual, she tries to force them both out... but a message states her action was invalid.
At that moment Reine gasped.
"What is she doing!?" Mildred screamed.
"She's... sacrificing herself to protect us!" Matthews answered as she realized what she was doing.
Everyone gasped in horror.
"No Maria! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Tohka screamed, trying to reach at the screen in vain. Sakura hugged her daughter as they all watched.
The world continued to shake around them, and soon changed between colors and turned into blocks as the reboot process began. Westcott panicked as he couldn't get the hologram of himself to disconnect from the game.
"Maria, why... why aren't leaving? Just forgot about me!" Marina screamed.
"No, I won't. I'm not leaving my sister to die alone. This is the end for both of us, I'll be going to the world beyond with you." Maria answered.
Marina went silent at that.
"Why... why do you care about me so much?" Marina asked.
"I never got the chance to tell you, so it's time... why I believe there's good in you. It's simple, because your data led to my birth. If there was no good in you... then how would I have had any good in me?" Maria answered.
"What?" Maria said in shock.
"Not just that, you and Westcott don't believe in bonds, but... wasn't your wish to have him accept you as his daughter exactly what we call a bond?" Maria asked.
Marina's eyes widened at that, and that's when she realized it... Maria was right. The very thing she hated, she had it all along and didn't even know. Maria was so sure there was good in here, because she always had proof... Marina herself was that proof.
- (*Date A Live - If We Meet Again*) -
Marina looked at Maria, who looked at her with a smile as she cried. At that moment, she moved her hand and hugged Maria.
"Look at that, you really weren't just some naive believer... I was just a blind idiot. Then let us finish this together sister. For our last moments, is that... alright with you?" Marina asked, crying heavily.
"Yeah, it is... goodbye everyone." Maria whispered, soon crying the same tears.
The two soon looked forward.
"This is who we are!" Both shouted, soon glowing brightly. Maria felt her memories flash before they shared themselves with Marina.
Marina kept laughing as she attacked the program in the virtual realm of the Fraxinus, seeing it start to glitch op as she kept attacking its data.
"That's it, time for you to finally die!" Marina smirked.
Marina threw her cables back as they charged electricity, and then launching them forward to stab through the white mass of a program... however said mass suddenly extended to grab them to her shock.
"What the?" Marina gasped.
The white mass' glitches soon cause its shape to altar, and the program begins shifting into a more humanoid form, but one that didn't have any definite features and seemed more like a mannequin made of white data.
"Don't... hurt... friends. Leave... alone!" The program spoke in a female voice, surprising Marina.
"Impossible, my attacks caused you to copy my data and evolve!?" Marina shouted, her eyes shaking in disbelief before the white program attacked her, making her own body glitch.
" No, damn you... damn you stupid program!" Marina screamed in rage.
The white program screamed as Marina suddenly saw most of the virtual realm's color change from the black she painted it from invading back to the original white, signifying her losing control of the ship's systems.
"This can't be!" Marina screamed.
"Here it goes..." Shiizaki breathed, hitting the enter key.
Soon all the data was transferred to the nameless AI, and it felt its body twitch as it suddenly gained a physical form and blinked as her eyes opened.
"This is..." The AI gasped, soon realizing her awareness.
"I feel like I'm alive!" The AI smiled.
"Hmm... a name, what should we call you?" Reine thought.
"I have a suggestion." Kannazuki interjected.
Everyone looked at Kannazuki, and soon he suggested the name she'd have for the rest of her life.
"Considering her outfit's similarity to a nun, and the fact she gained this form by copying the other AI whose name was Marina... let's use a bit of that name to link it to an important church figure." Kannazuki stated, showing a picture of the Holy Mother Mary.
"One form of the Virgin Mary's name is Maria, so... how about we call her that?" Kannazuki asked, looking at the AI.
Maria thought about the name for a moment... Maria.
"Do you like it?" Kannazuki wondered.
"Maria..." Maria replied, soon giving a smile as she nodded.
"I love it! From now on, I'm Maria. My full name will be Maria Arusu." Maria smiled brightly.
"It's too late, this is the power of survival of the fittest! I am at the top of this law of the jungle!" Westcott declared, his ugly mug smirking wickedly through the clock face.
"And now, the world will submit to me forever!" Westcott cackled, his laugh echoing throughout the area.
Inside the Deus, Marina was about to finished the countdown.
"Three, two, one-" Marina was suddenly cut off as she heard the sound of something being cut, she stared to see that it was... her control orb before her.
Maria suddenly smiled as she waved, Marina having not even seen her as she gloated with Westcott at their 'assured' victory.
"No! How, how did you know!?" Marina gasped.
"You told me, not a good idea to get so angry you leave an opening. Especially one that shows the entire Deus' support for its full powers, maximized controls and connection to Cassiopeia are stored in the crystal I just broke." Maria giggled.
Marina's eyes shook before she growled.
"You stupid defective little-" Marina began, however she suddenly felt odd.
"Wait... no, don't disconnect me-" Marina screamed.
Marina was ejected from the Deus' systems as it could no longer contain her, Maria smiled and vanished shortly afterwards as she was qualified for the forced ejection.
"Hey there, my name's Maria Arusu. I'm an AI that runs the organization's computer matrix." Maria greeted as she introduced herself to Katie.
Katie gasped as she looked at Maria with widened eyes.
"You're an AI? An actual artificial intelligence?" Katie asked surprised, Maria nodding.
"Whoa... that's kinda cool. Uh, my name's Katie Nakajima, and uh... I'm not really sure if I'm gonna be good here. All I really did according to Claudia was apparently save a Spirit from some bad DEM people?" Katie replied as she twiddled her fingers.
Maria stares in shock.
"What did you do?" Maria asked.
"Uh... stole one of their dropped rifles to shoot their flying realizers and make the Spirit get away?" Katie asked, making Maria's jaw drop.
"Yeah, not really impressive, is it?" Katie continued, twiddling her fingers more.
"Not impressive!? Katie, you hit moving targets that tend to normally have a 30% hit rate!" Maria answered, making Katie show shock this time.
"See, no wonder they want you to join. We don't have anyone with such amazing long-range potential and the accuracy for it." Maria continued, trying to fully express just how shocked at Katie's skills she really was.
Katie blushed a bit.
"Y-you really think so?" Katie asked, making Maria nod.
"W-well... if you think so, then I will join. I've never been too good at much besides being accurate with throwing sports balls and such, so... if it helps people then I'll do it. Thank you." Katie replied, smiling slightly.
Maria soon felt Katie hug her, making Maria blink as she felt something strange. Katie soon ran off after her three friends while Maria felt her chest. She blinked once more, and after a while...
"So strange, I don't have a heart and yet... my chest feels so warm? Is this what it means?" Maria asked herself.
"Is this what it's like to live? To feel what you do, to experience this warmth?" Maria wondered.
The two closed their eyes, and soon the sight of a life line representing them both flat-lined.
They both fell into the virtual realm's light as it compressed and soon vanished in a giant explosion, after it ended... the Virtual Realm was restored to the state it had been when everyone had first been inside of it.
However, this time... Maria and Marina were nowhere to be seen, not was Westcott's hologram.
- (*insert song end*) -
Meanwhile back on the Arbitel, Westcott tried to get into Ratatoskr's systems, but when he tried to, all he got was the following...
"[Access denied, you are completely forbidden to enter this system.]"
"This is... what did they do?" Westcott asked, growling heavily.
He soon sighed and turned around.
"No matter, we don't need Ratatoskr's systems wrecked to crush them effortlessly. We have everything else Marina got for us." Westcott stated.
The sight of Westcott smirking as the coordinates, and all the DEM's automaton and weapon data entered his eyes.
Everyone in Ratatoskr stared at the result before them.
"What happened... tell us Maria's OK, tell us she made it! Please!" Mana begged, looking at her aunt.
"I-I'll check... she can't be gone, she had to have left a backup." Reine answered.
Reine checked, using every method of searching, even a hair from her AI body, but in the end each result was the same... a message saying no related data identified, but the full message didn't connect until the virtual realm ejected one of the crystals from her Astral Dress' wires. Reine soon collapsed onto her knees.
"...No." Reine breathed.
"She's gone!" Tohka whispered, soon crying into Shido's chest as he hugged her and cried with her.
"That can't be, Maria can't be dead. She had so much life left to live. It can't be over!" Miku stated, soon breaking down and crying as well.
It was only moments when the rest of Ratatoskr's staff all followed suit.
Meanwhile with Rinne and Rio, the former suddenly froze for a moment before looking at the sky.
"Mama?" Rio asked, wondering what had her attention.
"Rio, I don't know why... but I feel like something happened, and when we get back home we aren't going to like it." Rinne answered, turning to Rio.
Rio felt her mother hug her, and while she didn't know why... she hugged back almost as if she could now tell.
Even if they weren't present to see it, it was like both of them knew Maria and Marina were no longer with them.
~One week later
A large group in Tenguu City was gathered, Matthews soon was on a stand by something covered in a sheet and a picture of Maria and Marina at the side. This was their memorial service as everyone came to respect their passing.
"Everyone, my name is Matthew Johnson. I work under Ratatoskr as an analyst. Today... we're all here to pay our respects to one of my company's own, and someone close to her that she only managed to reconnect to at the very end. Their names were Maria Arusu, and her older sister Marina Arusu. They were born as AIs, but they were special, to anyone who knew them you'd wonder... 'are they really just programs?', I know I did, they felt as alive as all of us. When the Spacequake devastated our world, we all thought technology would be the answer to all of our problems. However, then we saw it create new ones... devastating problems." Matthew spoke, barely managing to not break down as he cried.
"When we nearly faced the end of the world, Maria and Marina both fought to save us. They were the right balance between organic and synthetic, that's what life should be, because people improves our lives as much as technology. We can't focus on one over the other, doing that is likely what led to Westcott becoming the man that damaged the world as he did. From here on, we'll have their sacrifice be our compass to our world finding its way, so I gave to you in honor of them... the Ratatoskr Squirrel Monument!" Matthew finished, finally breaking down as he sobbed.
Reine walked up, and soon pulled down the cloth to reveal the statue of two squirrels circling each other, one organic and one synthetic. She breathed and soon took the stand before she looked at everyone as they were sniffling.
"My name's Reine Murasame, I helped in Maria's creation so... as someone who knew her best I'll say this." Reine began.
"When Maria and I first truly spoke, I wondered... what powered Maria to make her seem alive? I don't know if we'll ever know, but I'd like to think it was bonds, bonds of friends and family. So, I promise this, from here on out... her memory will live in me, all of us! He'll power us, so we'll never forget her lessons, and so she'll never be forgotten. Marina at the very end called her sister her sister, proof of the bonds even machine life can have, they will... always be one of us." Reine explained as she cried.
Everyone sniffled, and soon stood up before bowing to the memorial, a bunch of black and white petals fell as if nature's way of honoring them. Soon enough, Tohka and Origami stood by the memorial and sniffled, Tohka looking at Maria.
"Hey Origami, your hair..." Tohka asked, realizing she styled it similar to Maria's.
"Consider it my way of saying I'll never forget our friend, because she touched all of our hearts. Let this be how they keep living on in them." Origami answered, sniffling heavily as she shed more tears.
Soon Shido walked between them, and it wasn't long before all the Spirits and Mana joined them in a group hug.
Meanwhile, back at the Ratatoskr base, while no one was present due to the memorial... the crystal that was once part of Maria's outfit soon flashes between white and black and soon dissolve into the screen as it suddenly lit up, and suddenly a bunch of words began being said, but the voices and words didn't make any sense.
- (*Ninjago - Season 3 finale, final scene's song*) -
Soon a white and black spark before crossing and taking a magenta color and then sparked upwards into the sky, soon clashing into some spirit power lingering in the air and taking the same magenta color and flying off into the sky.
At that moment, the shocker occurred as the computer emitted two familiar voices.
"You're vital to me." Maria spoke.
"You are vital to me." Marina replied.
Soon the magenta spirit power danced around before firing off across different parts of Tokyo, far away from Tokyo prefecture and Tenguu City, and soon they both spiraling together through the sky before they visit an area without people and a bright magenta flash goes off.
Soon on the ground, someone's eyes opened, and she looked around as she saw a lock of her black hair drop into view, making her gasp as she saw it.
- (*insert song end*) -
"I'm... not dead?" Marina gasped, soon seeing an image of Maria smiling by a lake flash through her head.
"Maria, we're... we're still here!" Marina teared up.
Soon she stood up, but as she put a hand on her body in the process... she didn't feel the cold skin of her android body's metal layer, she felt a warmth. The same warmth a living being felt through their skin.
"No way, I'm..." Marina breathed, her eyes which still showed the whitened pupils of a Spirit as they finally cried.
"We're alive!"
Whoa! How about that, I just threw a loop at you right there in multiple layers! The Arusu Twins are now official Spirits and they're flesh and blood, not just mere AIs or AIs in machine bodies anymore. Unfortunately, the others still don't know of this, but they will... in the Rio Reincarnation movie luckily, and that just so happens to be next on our agenda ^^
OK, since you've seen the revelation, which is Westcott has been using Marina as a tool all along and never cared for her in a fatherly sense, it's time for me to tell you all what my original idea for Marina after this movie was to anyone that's curious about it. Marina was originally going to stay evil, being the one Spirit that would always be an antagonist in the story... however, after a while I had a thought that made me think of a different idea because it felt more in-character to Westcott.
Westcott wouldn't normally care about bonds, even if he's married to Ellen in this story, the way it works is more like master and willing servant since Ellen's loyalty to him is scarily strong. When that came to my mind... I decided to make it so Westcott had been using her, his sweet talk about calling him his child? A lie for him to control her and use her until he had no need. Her old body still has the methods to get the last two dark spirit powers once Nia and Mukuro inverse, and he's got a way back to Earth now, he no longer needs Marina.
And now due to his efforts in trying to dispose of her, Marina is now their ally, though the others need to find Maria and Marina before they can actually start aiding the others... not to mention we only know where Marina is, but what about Maria? Though now it's official, every Spirit now opposes Westcott and the DEM, the only Spirit who ever considering allying with him now has no more reasons to. Though now that Westcott has a method to open a gate back to Earth... what will he do next?
Find out soon, and be ready for the Rio Reincarnation movie that's up next! Until then... stay awesome everyone! ^^
Alright everyone, it's time for that announcement! Before that though, I have something I need to say here, partially because I might forget it otherwise and I'll be saying it in a way that's too vague for it to truly be a spoiler. When this fanfic reaches Season 4, we will have a time skip, how long it'll be is the big secret for now, so you won't know until it happens :3 *giggles* Now for the actual announcement?
After the Mayuri Judgment movie, which will be the end of Season 3... Date A Re:Live will have a crossover with my story A Dragon's Heavenly Bonds! Oh, and the biggest part about it? Well... it's canon to both fanfics! Also, I'd like to give thanks to " Twilightiger1602" who helped me out greatly by offering me an OC to use as an antagonist during Season 3 of this story, but I couldn't, yet was perfect for this crossover. This will be my first attempt at a crossover story, so wish me luck when it finally happens.
-Spirit Bond Levels & Passive Abilities-
Tohka - 100%, MAX (Form a mana barrier automatically)
Origami - 97% (Teleport Dodging)
Yoshino - 95% (Dampen enemy territories)
Kotori - 93% (Healing from fatal wounds minus losing his head, doesn't work on wounds caused by blunt force)
Kurumi - 91% (Hide in his shadow, and only his)
Rinne - (Summon a weakened copy of Uriel)
Natsumi - 88% (Transform into Shiori)
Kaguya - 84% (Flight)
Yuzuru - 84% (Weight Manipulation)
Miku - 60% (Pain Reliever)
Maria - (Restore dying/withered/dead vegetation and plant life)
Marina - (Remove toxins or other harmful substances, either from a living creature or object)