Sympho-Saber: Song of Swords
S1:EP10 – Hunting a Traitor
Touma gave a sigh as he walked along the raining streets, he had his umbrella but it was still annoying that he was kicking up small splashes of water, "I must really be in a rut if I'm taking a walk while it's like this…" He trailed as he kept his pace.
As Touma walked however he soon noticed that Miku was out fairly early as well. He wondered why she was even this far out from Lydian, especially in the rain.
Miku herself was lost in thought, recalling the other day how she had essentially blown up at Hibiki regarding the whole secret thing. Before she could think any further she could have sworn she heard someone else and turned, soon seeing Touma.
"Hey there Miku," Touma decided to try and play it cool, "I was wondering if…"
Miku didn't say anything before turning away and going to hurry off.
"Ah wait, wait!" Touma called out as he tried to hurry after her, which was his first mistake.
SPLASH!
Miku turned in surprise when she heard the smack and gave a light gasp, "Touma, are you okay?"
"Ow…" Touma gave a groan, his umbrella still held up despite him being on the floor, he had ended up slipping when trying to catch up to Miku. He gave a light chuckle as he began to slowly lift himself up, shaking his clothes a bit, "Guess I'll have to head home soon."
"I swear you're still clumsy despite it all," Miku sighed as she walked over. Admittedly this was what she wanted, as she at least wanted to hear from Touma why he'd break his promise. "Touma I…" her eyes began to trail off as she soon noticed something in the alleyway off to the side, "Huh?"
Touma looked over before giving a light gasp, "Eh?!"
Lying before the two in the alleyway was Chris who was collapsed and completely unconscious. She had managed to just barely escape Finé but didn't get too far in terms of trying to hide.
"Touma…" Miku spoke up again before looking at her friend, "I have a favor to ask."
Touma turned in a bit of confusion, "A favor?"
Watching the two from high up was Desast who was currently perched on a building, giving a chuckle as he saw the two friends walk over to Chris, "Seems like you're in good hands," He said before standing up and glancing back, "You sure that you wanted to help her that much?"
Calibur was standing behind him, his portal of darkness already open, "That's correct, you taking care of any stray Noise is fine. She's instrumental in making sure my plan goes off without a hitch."
"So we're getting to this story's climax already?" Desast asked.
"More like this chapter's in a sense," Calibur replied, "Let us make haste."
"Right, right," Desast said as he walked through the portal alongside Calibur.
"I'll never give up on myself… I'll never give up on myself…"
Rintaro repeated this as he was in Section 2's training room by himself for the day. He was currently on one knee, hand planted to keep him from falling over as he sweated heavily. All three of his personal Wonder Ride Books were in his Swordriver, indicating what he had been doing.
Normally Daishinji would have restricted him from Wonder Combo training, but even the swordsmith knew that Rintaro was approaching that level soon.
Rintaro meanwhile thought back to his early days as his teacher's pupil as he caught his breath.
"Can I become a strong swordsman like you?"
"Rintaro, the path of a swordsman has no end. Don't ever slack!"
"Of course!"
"I must become stronger to avenge my teacher…" Rintaro spoke up with a shudder as he picked himself up. He gave a yell as he tried to unsheathe Nagare only for a backlash to occur, the books power overwhelming him and knocking him back. Despite this he kept trying in unsheathing the blade to attempt to activate the transformation, "I have to master the power of the three books he left me…"
"A sudden Noise attack…?"
"Correct."
Daishinji was currently in his workshop, but he wasn't working on the usual blades he would do. No he was working on the enlarged blade that belonged to one of the prior Swordsmen, the Dogouken Gekido. He was currently running maintenance on it before moving to test its sharpness.
"There were also faint traces of the user of Ichaival," Sophia said as she watched him work, "But there were no casualties."
"Given what Rintaro mentioned that Finé woman say…" Daishinji trailed, "Alongside everything else too…"
"It's too early to say," Sophia admitted, "But we might be able to breathe easily."
"Regardless, I'll need to pick up the pace," Daishinji admitted as he continued his work on Gekido, stopping every now and again to inspect his progress, "I should at least have Gekido ready in that time."
"So you have a candidate for it already?" Sophia asked.
"Yes, there's only one person who can handle the tremendous strength of this sword," Daishinji gave a nod, "Still…"
"…Something on your mind?" Sophia asked.
"It's a bit selfish," Daishinji admitted as he stared down at the massive sword, "But the fact that this might be her defecting… well, it just puts the odds better in our favor."
"Do you not believe in Saber and the others?" Sophia asked.
"I do… it's just…" Daishinji trailed off before giving a sigh, "If we end up having more allies there's a better chance we'll make this out of what might potentially be coming."
"Well I did say she could stop by anytime… but this was not how I expected it," Touma muttered as he was currently on the first floor of his bookstore, having kept the shop closed for the morning after Miku requested to bring Chris over to help her out. However complications came when the need to make sure Chris' clothes were cleaned came up. Miku didn't have any spare clothes aside from her gym uniform, so Touma offered some of his spare running clothes since he had a few old pairs he barely used lying around.
Regardless Touma knew personal privacy was important and had Miku take care of Chris' clothes while also tending to any potential injuries. Touma couldn't help but be a bit relieved that his family had decided living at the shop was the best choice, so he was fully prepared to care for anybody who needed it.
His thoughts then shifted to the voice message he had missed from Genjuro, warning him to be on alert due to a Noise Alert early in the morning alongside Ichaival being active. That told him exactly what he needed to know, so he was glad they didn't take Chris anywhere else but here.
Touma perked up when he heard a noise from the back room that led to the stairs, soon seeing Miku peak through.
"How is she?" He asked.
"As comfortable as she can be," Miku admitted, "I'll go back in a minute, how much longer for the clothes?"
"Should be done soon," Touma replied as he checked on his watch, "Just make sure and see what kind of material it is before deciding to either hang or use the dryer."
"Thanks again… even though…" Miku paused before looking down.
"Its fine, she needed help and the store was the closest," Touma answered as he stared down at Brave Dragon, fidgeting with it in his hands, "Besides, if anyone has a right to be angry at someone it's you. Hibiki and I broke our promise to you. Even if we weren't allowed to say anything due to it being government business, you have every reason to be hurt."
"…" Miku wasn't sure what to say, "I'll go check up on her."
"Please do," Touma gave a nod, "I'll make sure the store stays closed to make sure she isn't bothered."
Miku gave a nod before heading back to go upstairs, after a couple of minutes it wasn't long before Touma would be able to hear some shouting.
"Sounds like she's up," Touma remarked before he got a surprising call, once he paid attention to the ID, "Hello?"
"Kamiyama-san, is this a bad time?" Tsubasa's voice called from the other line.
"Not at all," Touma waved it off despite no one being there, "Did something happen?"
"Oh it's just… I have a break right now," Tsubasa mentioned, "So I figured it might be the best time to ask you something."
"What would that be?" Touma asked.
"I was wondering if… if I could join in on your training sessions with Daishinji," Tsubasa inquired, "While I'm still recovering I'm allowed to do light training so long as it isn't too strenuous."
"Hmm, I'm sure he wouldn't mind honestly," Touma admitted, "I'll run it by him just to be sure though."
"That would be appreciated," Tsubasa admitted, "I'll let you go though, I'm sure you have to get back to running the store, and I need to meet with Hibiki as well."
"Alright, take care," Touma said before hanging up and working on the manuscript he was slowly but surely making headway through. While he wouldn't say anything immediately to Section 2, the battles of both the Kamen Riders and Symphogear Wielders had inspired him in his story. After getting a good bit through his first draft he smacked his lips slightly. Realizing that he could use a drink he decided to head upstairs to make some tea.
On his way to the kitchen he noticed the room where Chris and Miku were talking had its door closed. Once at the kitchen he began to work on enough tea for several people, figuring it was the least he could do. As he worked he managed to pick up their conversation from what he could hear, noticing Miku mentioning her fight with Hibiki over the latter's lying. He glanced back every now and again, noticing that enough time had passed to where Chris' clothes were now washed and dried with Miku taking them over to the room Chris was in.
"A fight… I don't really understand that," Chris remarked as she started to fully dress herself.
"Have you never had a fight with a friend?" Miku asked.
"I have no friends. My parents were halfway around the world when they were taken from me," Chris admitted, "And I've been alone ever since. I've never had any friends…"
"That's awful…" Miku looked down.
"And the one person who I thought understood me was really just using me all along," Chris nearly hissed out, "No one ever treated me as an equal. Adults are all trash. They didn't listen when I said that it hurt. They didn't listen when I told them to stop. They didn't listen to anything I said!"
Touma began to slow down on his tea making when he heard this, 'Chris…' he thought as he stared down, 'You're really just a victim of all of this just like everyone else, huh?'
"I'm sorry," Miku apologized.
"Hey, you should just beat the shit out of whoever it was you fought with," Chris answered in a more genuine tone, "Once you make it clear who's stronger, everything's settled. Then all you have to do is make up."
Touma had to keep from making any kind of noise when he heard those words. Yep, that was definitely the same girl he met that night that tried punching him when she first saw him.
"I can't do that," Miku admitted.
"I don't get it," Chris muttered as she looked out the window of the room she was in.
"But, thank you," Miku replied.
"Huh? But I didn't do anything," Chris pointed out.
"No," Miku shook her head, "Thank you for caring about me. Um…"
"Chris, Chris Yukine," Chris introduced.
"You're not a bad person, Chris," Miku smiled.
Chris was taken aback by this statement, merely turning away, "Really..."
"I'm Miku Kohinata," Miku introduced before taking Chris' hand, "If it's all right with you, I'd very much like for us to be friends."
Chris pulled away, remembering Miku as the person she got involved in via the crossfire back when she confronted Hibiki, "I did terrible things to you."
Before anything else could be said however, a low growling could be heard as Chris looked down, blushing a bit when she realizing it was coming from her.
"Are you hungry?" Miku asked before heading for the door, "I'll get some food for us."
"Y-You really don't have to," Chris managed to speak up.
"Nonsense, it looks like you have a lot on your mind, some food will do you some good," Miku pointed out before exiting the room, leaving a confused Chris to ponder Miku's words. She then went over to the kitchen to see Touma.
"Sounds like she's doing better," Touma said in a low voice, "I made some tea for myself but there's enough if she wants it."
"That sounds good," Miku admitted, "I'm going to go to Flower and get some Okonomiyaki for us."
"Rintaro did mention that place was good," Touma admitted before giving a sigh and bowing, "Listen, Miku… I'm absolutely sorry about breaking my promise to you. Hibiki also feels the same way."
"Honestly I should have been more open to you two about how I felt, especially Hibiki…" Miku trailed before giving a bow, "Even though it hurt, I know I'm being selfish… and I'm sure my words and actions haven't been the best especially to Hibiki."
"I don't think there's any right or wrong to this," Touma replied as he finished up the tea, "What matters is that we've come to an understanding. Though maybe you should let Hibiki know, it's not like she's mad at you for this though. She's just worried."
"I plan on it," Miku admitted before turning and heading for the stairs, "But first I think I'll get us some lunch."
"Sounds good, be safe out there," Touma said as prepared a tea tray before carefully walking towards the room they had left Chris in. He stopped when he heard the door slowly crack open.
"I know she's just trying to be nice but…" Chris slowly looked around before spotting Touma and staring at him, "You…" She gave a glare, "What are you doing here?"
"I uh…" Touma trailed unsure of what to say before giving a smile, "Welcome to Fantastic Bookstore Kamiyama, you're currently in the living area above the store. And I have tea?" He nervously asked before holding up the tea tray.
"Fine but we have it downstairs," Chris replied, "That way if you try anything funny I can just walk out."
"Uh… sure…" Touma trailed before slowly heading downstairs with Chris following behind him. He eventually made it to the ground floor and put the tray on his main desk, pouring Chris a cup before handing it to her.
Chris though was distracted by the layout of the shop, all the plush toys, the posters, especially the diorama, "I… this is a bookstore?"
"The books we use for sales are in the back," Touma mentioned, "But my parents wanted a fun place for kids to just relax and have fun so they designed the front end like this."
"So why exactly help me?" Chris asked.
"Because you needed help," Touma replied, "Miku also insisted we take you here to make sure that you were safe."
"Her again huh," Chris remarked as she took the cup, though she waited until Touma had poured himself some tea and drank a few times. Taking a sip she blinked in surprise, "This is good."
"Well I couldn't live on my own without knowing a few cooking things," Touma admitted with a light chuckle.
"I was about to say, you look around my age," Chris noted before noticing his wording, "So what happened to your parents?"
"Oh, they're traveling," Touma said as he set his cup down, "They're still the owners of the store but can manage the legal stuff from out of country. I'm pretty much the guy running the front end though. We still talk from time to time though, but their jobs make them pretty busy."
"Don't you hate them?" Chris asked suddenly, "They left you alone you know."
"Well yeah they did," Touma agreed, "But they left me this store to run and just told me to follow my dream. Honestly giving how hard they're working on their dream jobs, it inspires me to keep working towards my dream."
Chris raised an eyebrow, "Your dream?"
"I want to be a novelist," Touma admitted as he put a hand on his chin, "Recently I've been stuck in a rut but ever since I became Saber I've gotten so many ideas. Almost too many honestly… I might need to make it a series."
"You really like reading don't you?" Chris asked.
"Well of course, books are filled to the brim with tons of unknown knowledge and experience," Touma replied, "Then you've got all kinds of people using the knowledge of the world to create their own worlds through stories. And those stories can be anything so long as you set your mind to it."
"Jeez," Chris nearly rolled her eyes at how passionate was getting.
"It's why I can't forgive the Megid," Touma admitted as he became a bit more serious, "Books, scripts, writing in general… it should be used to further knowledge, to help others, to entertain, not to destroy and take advantage of others suffering…"
"Well we can at least agree on one thing," Chris admitted, "I absolutely hate those freaks, so welcome to the club."
"Why do you hate them?" Touma asked.
"I..." Chris was ready to speak when she cut herself off.
A loud siren began to wail however catching their attention as a result.
"What's going on?" Chris asked.
"It's the Noise alert I think," Touma said as he stood up, his communicator ringing, "Yep, it's Noise alright." He put a finger to his mouth before initiating the call, being linked up to Hibiki, Tsubasa and Rintaro's communicators, "Touma here."
"Tsubasa here, Tachibana's with me."
"Rintaro here."
"We've got Noise, and plenty of them," Genjuro replied, "There's no doubt there may be some Megid involved as well. It's probably related to the incident this morning."
"Roger, we're heading their right away," Tsubasa spoke up.
"No," Genjuro called suddenly, "Until I get the all-clear from the doctors, you're staying off the front line."
"But…" Tsubasa started.
"Please protect everyone here, Tsubasa," Hibiki finally spoke up, "Then I can focus on what's ahead."
"There's no need to worry Tsubasa," Rintaro reassured, "Touma, Hibiki and I will handle it."
"That's right, I'm just about to head out," Touma said as he hung up before seeing Chris already at the door, "Chris?"
"Damn it!" Chris yelled as she bolted out the door.
"Crap!" Touma called out as ran out, hastily locking the door before seeing Chris in the distance, "Jeez!" He called before he noticed all the people running around, "Damn it there's too many people." He quickly looked around before noticing a large enough alleyway that wasn't occupied, "Let's do this!"
[BRAVE DRAGON! DIAGO SPEEDY!]
Chris had ran, she ran as fast and as far as she could until she could just barely breathe, hunching over and panting as she tried to catch her breath. She had managed to find a more open area by a river bank, since she knew exactly why the Noise attack was happening.
"It's my fault that so many people…" She gave a scream as she gripped her fists, falling to her knees as she let tears fall, "I didn't want it to end like this! But every single time I try… Every single damn time…"
"Then you should just die."
Chris turned in surprise, soon seeing a Piranha Megid leading a large amount of Noise. This Piranha Megid was unique in it having a more feminine voice.
Chris composed herself as quickly as she could before turning, "I'm right here. So leave the others the hell out of this!"
"Very well, we'll slaughter you from all sides in that case!" The Piranha Megid gave a laugh as the Noise launched forward.
Chris began to dodge against the Noise's simple patterns, "Killiter Ich-guh" due to her previous outbursts and running like mad she had ended up straining her voice causing her to cough out instead of finishing her holy chant.
The aerial Noise from above launched downwards as a result of her misstep.
"We've got you now!" The Piranha Megid laughed before suddenly yelping as it was grabbed and thrown backwards into a building.
SMASH!
In an instant the ground in front of Chris was torn up and curled forward, the aerial Noise impacting against it and saving Chris. In front of her was none other than Genjuro who swiftly stomped his foot again, creating another stone barrier that blocked Noise from the side. With quick reflexes he grabbed Chris before leaping to a higher building to give them some room.
"Are you alright?" Genjuro asked.
"Get away from me," Chris hissed out as she moved away from the commander of Section 2.
"Gah, how dare you!" The Piranha Megid hissed out, the water bubbling nearby before suddenly its Piranha familiars launched out of the water to join it, it looked up at the building that the two were on, "I'm killing you now traitor!"
"So you're calling me a traitor huh," Chris narrowed her eyes.
"Of course, I'm part of the hunting pack!" The Piranha Megid shouted out, "We'll make sure you suffer before we kill you!"
"This story won't be going the way you think it will!"
Chris and Genjuro perked up at that, soon seeing Saber riding down the road with the Diago Speedy, continuing to speed up further and further as he sheathed his sword and tapped his book.
[BRAVE DRAGON!]
"Wonder Break!" Saber announced as his body and bike lit on fire, the fire forming a dragons head as it launched towards the Piranha Megid.
"Get him!" The Piranha Megid yelled out as it had its familiars launch forward, several of the Noise also attacking due to Saber's presence.
Despite this the fiery dragons maw opened wide as it rammed through the familiars and Noise while rushing straight for the Piranha Megid.
"Not today!" The Piranha Megid managed to barely dodge out of the way, but was sent rolling as part of it caught on fire as a result, "Gah! It burns!"
"Yes!" Saber skidded to a stop before pumping his fist, "It worked!"
"Like I'm letting you take this from me," Chris said before noticing the amount of Noise still in the area, "Killter Ichaival tron~!"
In a burst of light Chris had donned her Ichaival Armor and brought out her crossbows, firing homing arrows to easily take out the flying Noise that were nearby. She then leapt away and landed near Saber.
"Chris?" Saber glanced at her.
"I can take care of myself," Chris answered, "You're friends with that Miku girl right? Go and make sure she's safe since she's out and about alone."
"Crap you're right!" Saber realized, and he knew all too well that Chris could handle herself. And while Miku was smart, she was still a sitting duck due to not having any protection against the Noise. But there was still the other issue, "But the Meg-"
"Shut it!" Chris snapped at him, "That thing is after me so let me give it a piece of my mind!"
"Fine," Saber gave a nod, "But promise me you'll be alright."
"Huh?" Chris gave an odd look at that but gave a groan, "Fine, I promise I'll be alright… so long as it gets you off my back."
"Good enough for me," Saber chuckled, figuring that Chris would be tough to crack. He then revved the Diago Speedy before taking off.
"That was a mistake," The Piranha Megid hissed out as it brought out more Piranha familiars, "A little girl like you thinks she can take me alongside all these Noise?"
{BILLION MAIDEN}
"I'll take you all on!" Chris shifted her crossbows to their chaingun forms before unleashing a flurry of rapid fire bullets against the Piranha Megid and the Noise. She then noticed that Genjuro was still watching, "Hey, when I told the bucket head to run off I also meant you too! Go help other people I've got this!"
It wasn't long before Chris' song and slaughtering of the Noise and Piranha Familiars were starting to attract the others from all over the city towards her.
Genjuro could only relent as he watched Chris tear through the Noise and Piranha Megid's familiars, 'I guess I couldn't save her this time, either…' He thought before realizing she was right. She had it under control so he needed to make sure any stray citizens were alright. Using his strength he leapt towards a building and landed only to attract the attention of several flying Noise.
The flying Noise began to spin, planning on dive bombing towards him before a sudden sound was heard.
[TOWA NO FUSHICHO!]
[MUGEN ITTOTSU!]
Suddenly an orange flaming slash rocketed towards the Noise before curving upwards, it transformed into a phoenix that suddenly launched itself through and destroyed the Noise.
Landing nearby was Falchion who remained crouched before slowly turning towards Genjuro.
"A new Rider…?" Genjuro questioned as he stared at Falchion, "Who are you?"
Falchion stayed where they were, remaining silent before slinging their sword over their shoulder.
Genjuro quickly drew out his communicator, "Sophia, why didn't you alert me that a new Rider has appeared?"
"A new Rider…?" Sophia asked, "That can't be as we're getting no readings other than Saber's and Blades'."
"What?" Genjuro asked, but he was sure that the Rider was standing in front of him, and his eyes widened, "I've got to go!" He quickly dodged out of the way while hanging up, avoiding a slash from Falchion, "Who are you?!"
Falchion gave a silent scoff before spreading their free arm out, fiery phoenix wings emerging from their back before they took off into the sky.
"Just what's going on?" Genjuro questioned.
Chris wasn't the only one mowing down Noise as Blades was currently dealing with any Noise as he rode through the streets on his Ride Gatriker. He gave a light gasp however when his pathway forward was blasted apart. He was barely able to react, the Gatriker getting tipped over and sent tumbling as a result of the blasts and debris.
Blades groaned as he tumbled off, "Ugh…"
"Butt out you failure of a swordsman!" The blasts had come from none other than Zooous who was in his Megid Form already, prowling the rooftops when he saw Blades rushing towards where the Noise were converging.
"Zooous…" Blades hissed out through gritted teeth as he began to pick himself up, "You dare show your face again."
"I should be saying that," Zooous called out as he hopped down to street level, "If you think I'm going to fight you then you're wrong."
"What was that?" Blades questioned as he fully stood and took a step forward, pointing Nagare towards his opponent, "Why confront me then?"
"I just wanted to rough you up a bit and distract you," Zooous replied, "We're here to deal with a traitor and we can't have you Swordsmen or Wielders getting in the way."
"A traitor…?" Blades asked.
"That being said I think we're good," Zooous chuckled as he turned to walk off, "Even if the Noise and Megid don't kill her I'll make sure I rush over there and do it myself."
"Rintaro, it's most likely the Ichaival User they're talking about," Sophia spoke up, "Try not to do anything reckless, please."
"But…!" Blades started as he gripped his fists before working on controlling himself. The temptation to try and access his Wonder Combo there and then was tempting. But he recalled even his last attempt at trying to draw out the sword ended in failure. Taking deep breaths he realized that if he fought for himself it would only end as badly as last time. There was really only one option as he drew out Lion Senki from his Driver and began scanning it against the tip of Nagare.
[LION! MM-HM! LION MM-HM!]
[LION! NARUHODO, NARUHODO! SHUUTOKOU SANSEN!]
"I won't let you do as you please!" Blades yelled out before slashing forward.
A slash of large water hurtled towards Zooous who barely turned before perking up, quickly raising his arms to defend himself as he braced against the slash of water. He gave a light gasp as he began to slowly slip in his defense. He yelled as he swung his arms, splitting the wave and sending it crashing in two pieces behind him.
"Oh? What's this?!" Zooous called out with a hint of excitement.
[NAGARE BATTOU! SEINARU LION PEGASUS~!]
Blades came floating through, arming himself with his two book form of Lion Pegasus while slashing forward. He gritted his teeth as Zooous had managed to block with one arm before he hopped backwards to avoid a grab from the self proclaimed king of animals.
"I figured that wouldn't work," Blades admitted before giving a soft chuckle, "But I got your attention, did I not?
"So you've got a bit more bite in you," Zooous chuckled slightly before cracking his knuckles, "Maybe you will be worth slaughtering after all."
"I swear by Suiseiken Nagare that you won't have your way!" Blades called out as he took another step forward.
"You're too loud, way too loud," Zooous chuckled before taking a step back.
"Wait a minute!" Blades called out as he was ready to charge forward only for several Noise to land near him due to his loud proclamations, "What?"
"Like I said, too loud," Zooous gave a laugh, "But well, you've at least made this interesting… so I guess I won't leave yet…"
"I won't give up on myself," Blades steeled himself as the Noise launched towards him, giving a yell as he rushed to defeat them.
Hibiki was currently making her way through the streets to try and find a sign of any Noise attack but wasn't having luck as Chris was drawing nearly all of them towards her. That was until she heard a familiar scream, her eyes widening as she hurried towards the source.
"Tell me where she is!"
"Let go!"
A Piranha Megid with a heavier voice was currently trying to keep hold of Miku, though she was trying to slip free from its grasp.
"Miku!" Hibiki called out when she saw her friend like this.
The Megid noticed Hibiki before holding Miku close and holding its blade near her, "No sudden movements!"
"H-Hibiki!" Miku called out before giving a squeak when she was held tighter by the Megid.
Hibiki gave a glare towards the Piranha Megid, "Let Miku go!"
"No, I'm going to use this girl as a hostage to make sure the traitor doesn't make any rash decisions," The Piranha Megid called out.
"What?" Hibiki asked, "Miku has nothing to do with this!"
"Calibur saw her helping the traitor this morning, our mission here is to eliminate the traitor," The Piranha Megid explained, "And she'll make the perfect bait to force the traitor to surrender!"
Hibiki narrowed her eyes at the Megid's words, there was only one thing that made sense and that it had to be Chris that the Megid was talking about. She figured that this was why Miku was absent from school but that wasn't the pressing matter. The issue was trying to find a way out of this situation. She couldn't let it get away with Miku but… 'If I try to sing and activate my Symphogear that monster might hurt Miku… I can't risk that.'
Miku meanwhile was trying to remain calm while trying to figure out a way out of the situation, her eyes ended up catching something off to the side and she knew what she had to do.
"Hibiki…" She started as she tried to remain calm, "I'll find a way out of this, all you need to do is beat this guy."
"Eh?" Hibiki looked at her friend in surprise, "But…"
"That confident," The Piranha Megid remarked before laughing, "Too bad I've got a tight grip on you."
"Once I get out of here, I'll run as fast as I can and get to safety," Miku mentioned, "There's no way it can catch up to me."
"Like you're faster than me," The Piranha Megid gave a low chuckle.
"Stop, that's too dangerous!" Hibiki called out as she kept where she was.
"I used to sprint for the track team, remember," Miku reminded, growing a bit more confident after she confirmed something by glancing around, "Trust me."
"But I…" Hibiki started.
"I'm relying on you," Miku replied, "I know it's dangerous. That's why I'm asking you. Because the only one I can trust with my life is you, Hibiki. I said terrible things to you. I don't expect you to forgive me. But I want to be with you. I want to fight alongside you and Saber."
"You, fight?" The Piranha Megid interrupted before starting to laugh, its grip loosening.
"You can't, Miku…" Hibiki trailed in fear, taking a step forward before noticing something was off and suddenly realizing the wording. Miku had said Saber, not Touma…
"I don't care. I can't let you shoulder this burden alone," Miku replied, "I won't hesitate anymore!"
"Are we done with this melodrama?" The Piranha Megid asked as it began to loosen its grip further so it could easily shift and carry Miku off.
"Sorry but this is one story you aren't a part of!"
[JACKUN-TO-DOMAMENOKI!]
Suddenly three glowing seeds hit near the Piranha Megid's feet, the seeds glowing bright before vines erupted and cut the Megid off from Miku. As Miku took a few steps forward, the Megid was ensnared by the vines.
Miku quickly rushed off as fast as she could, "I'm counting on you two!"
Saber was currently standing behind the Megid, his left forearm pointed outwards as he had assumed Dragon Jackun form.
"Touma!" Hibiki gave a smile.
"Now, let's finish this guy off!" Saber called out.
"Right," Hibiki said as she grew a more determined look, taking a deep breath, "Balwisyall nescell Gungnir tron~!"
In a burst of energy Hibiki assumed her Symphogear armor, leaping towards the Megid and giving a yell as she punched directly against it. The force from the attack had managed to blow away the vines while launching the Megid backwards.
The Piranha Megid yelled out as it was thrown against the ground, "No!"
"I won't allow you to hurt my precious friends," Saber spoke up as he glared behind his mask, raising up Rekka.
"No! I won't let her get away!" The Pirahna Megid managed to stand up before it leapt onto a nearby building with great speed. It continued to leap at great speeds in order to try and catch up to Miku to capture her again.
"Oh no," Hibiki called out as she saw this, "Touma!"
"Yeah we need to get going!" Saber agreed as he readied himself to bring out Storm Eagle.
A multi-legged Octopus-like Noise with a fairly large head suddenly slammed into the ground in front of them. It then launched out its tendrils to try and strike at the two, the Rider and Wielder hopping back while batting away the tendrils.
"Crap, did it get attracted by all of our fighting?" Saber asked.
Hibiki gave a glare, "Out of the way!"
The multi-legged Noise responded by sending its tendrils out, lashing and tearing up the ground the Rider and Symphogear Wielder were standing on.
"Hibiki," Saber called out calmly as he stumbled but found his balance, aiming and firing bullet seeds at the Noise. While they weren't causing heavy damage they were doing enough to force it on the defensive, "Go after Miku, I'll deal with this one!"
"Right, I'll leave it to you!" Hibiki gave a nod as she launched up into the air using the boosters on her lower back. She was determined to catch up to the Piranha Megid before it could even lay another finger on her friend.
"Now then," Saber called out as he removed his current story book and drew out the Storm Eagle and Kobuta 3 Kyodai books, "I'll take you on!"
[REKKA BATTOU! TATSUMAKI DRAGON EAGLE!]
[ZOSATSU! SANPIKI NO KOBUTA!]
"Come on keep up the pressure!" The Piranha Megid called out as it pointed its bladed arm forward to command more Noise to attack Chris. That was before noticing nothing was really reacting, "Huh?" It looked around before gasping, "Where are all the Noise?!"
Several arrows were launched towards it causing sparks to fly as it was sent staggering back. Chris had aimed with her right arm that held her crossbow to fire those off. She was currently stepping on the last remaining Noise, her left arm holding her chaingun as she was tearing it to pieces with its rapid fire.
"Sorry to say but those were nothing!" Chris called out with a smug grin, "Your pathetic piranha's too!"
"What did you say?!" The Piranha Megid called out before leaping towards Chris and slashing at her.
Chris quickly dodged out of the way, retracting her chain gun back into crossbow formation as she began firing off at the Piranha Megid.
"Nice try but it won't work!" The Piranha Megid leapt up high into the air only to notice the arrows curving, "What?!"
"You really think you can escape from me?" Chris asked.
The Piranha Megid let out a yell as it summoned more piranha familiars to take the hits for it. It gave a sigh of relief as the smoke began to form from the explosive hits, no arrows hitting it.
{MEGA DETH PARTY}
The high pitched squeals of missiles were heard as they suddenly pierced through the smoke, dozens of missiles all striking and hitting the Megid, juggling it further and further, "Impossibl-!"
BOOM!
The Megid had exploded from the rapid bombardment of heavy artillery, Chris giving a sigh as she let her weapons drop a bit, "That takes care of that."
[TENKUU NO PEGASUS!]
Blades summoned several star projections as shields, the fight with the Noise and Zooous having lasted quite a while. The Noise were easy to deal with, but for the most part he was playing defensive once Zooous entered the fight. All he could do was try and get a hit in before dodging, which was annoying the Megid Leader to no end.
"Quit running coward!" Zooous called out as he smashed through the star projections.
[PETER FAN! MM-HM! SHUUTOKU ISSEN!]
Blades scanned his third book on his sword, it glowing bright blue as he lashed out, bringing out a spectral chain and hook as he lashed at Zooous. It had managed to work for a bit before Zooous grabbed the chain with both hands before snapping and destroying it.
"Not good enough!" Zooous yelled out as he gathered energy before launching a fireball at Blades.
Blades gave a yell as he braced against the fireball, being blasted backwards and sent tumbling. Despite this he slowly but surely managed to start to stand, "I won't…"
"What do I have to do to get you to be more serious?" Zooous questioned before stopping to question why Blades was even fighting so hard in the first place. Especially since he could tell it wasn't in blind anger like before, "Oh… you don't even know her and yet you wanted to stall me. I wonder what would happen if I targeted those you actually did care about."
"You wouldn't dare…" Blades hissed out.
"You better man up then," Zooous pointed towards the Swordsman of Water, "Otherwise I'll slaughter your precious allies."
"Don't you dare," Blades stood up fully and gripped his sword with both hands, "Don't you dare lay a finger on them!"
"There it is, there's the-" Zooous paused as he glanced around, "Over already? Fine then… you got lucky for today brat."
"What?" Blades asked as he tilted his head slightly.
"Next time you won't get lucky with me retreating like this," Zooous said before turning and vanishing.
Blades fell to his knees, using Nagare to keep him from falling forward as he breathed heavily. His transformation dismissed itself as he relaxed, slumping forward as he realized that his part in this fight was over.
"Next time…" Rintaro trailed as he looked downwards, gripping the grip of his Seiken tightly, "Next time I'll show you…"
Saber gritted his teeth as he held up his shield, now in his Dragon Eagle Butasan form. He was defending against the tendrils of the multi-legged Noise, slashing out with Rekka to cut through them after his successful blocks. Of course there were times where he'd have to make use of Storm Eagle's gliding to dodge back further than he normally could. As he made his way forward he was slowly cutting the multi-legged Noise down in size before backing up.
"I think I know just how to end this," Saber called out as he sheathed his sword before initiating his finisher and drawing it back out.
[HISSATSU DOKUHA! REKKA BATTOU!]
"Flame Dance Flying Slash!"
In puffs of smoke, paper versions of the three little pig brothers on the cover emerged, all of them rushing towards the Noise.
"With the large Noise weary and tired from its battle, the three piglet brothers erected a house out of straw," Saber called out as the pig brothers began to form a large house of straw all around the Noise, managing to make it just as big in seconds. They then entered the house as it shut closed, the house shaking as they began attacking the Noise, "But, with one swift motion the dragon burned the house and the Noise away!"
[DRAGON! EAGLE! SANPIKI NO KOBUTA! SANSATSU GIRI! F-F-F-FIRE!]
Saber gave a yell as he gathered fire and wind in his sword before launching it outwards, a large flaming tornado slamming into the straw house and igniting it. The Noise made multiple sounds as it was burned away.
"Now then…" Saber removed his story book to return to Dragon Eagle form, quickly taking off into the air to find Hibiki and Miku.
Hibiki meanwhile had been leaping above the city to try and spot Miku and the Piranha Megid, her thoughts on everything from before.
'I'm not the only one fighting,' she thought as she kept scanning, 'I wanted to use the power of Symphogear to help others, but that was my conceit. I'm not the only one giving it my all. Everyone else is too!'
"Don't die! Open your eyes! Don't give up on living!"
Hibiki thought back to Kanade's words, 'You can't save someone with just your own power. That's why, on that day, Kanade told me not to give up living. Now I finally understand her words!'
She was snapped out of her thoughts via a scream, soon spotting the Piranha Megid and Miku a fair distance away. While Miku was definitely fast, the Piranha Megid was catching up, it using its piranha familiars to attack from long range. It was purposely missing however, striking at the far sides of Miku to slow her down via fear.
'It's not out of survivor's guilt that I want to save others. It's because that was Kanade's dream! And ever since then,' She thought as she leapt forward, her leg armor shifting to form pistons, the pistons extending forward. She landed before they suddenly slammed backwards, the force from the pistons launching her forward at a faster rate.
Miku meanwhile was starting to get exhausted, having managed to find a pathway towards a park in her aimless running. At first she wanted to find a shelter but knew she couldn't let the Megid anywhere near it once she saw it was after her, 'I can't run anymore… is this the end?' she asked as she tried to run up a hill and make it towards the road only to collapse, glancing back to see the Piranha Megid chuckling as it got closer.
"Nowhere to run," The Piranha Megid laughed before sneering as it looked around, noticing the lack of Noise, "Damn it, it's over?!" It grew angrier at this, "I'll make you pay for wasting my time!"
"So this is it…" Miku managed to get out as she closed her eyes.
"Don't worry, because it'll all be over soon!" The Piranha Megid yelled out as it leapt high into the air.
Miku winced as she waited for the attack to come, 'No wait… I promised to see the shooting stars with Hibiki!' getting a sudden second wind she quickly stood up to try and avoid the attack.
"That won't work!" The Piranha Megid adjusted its descent as it went to strike at Miku.
"That's my line!" Hibiki yelled out as she pulled back her right gauntlet to form its piston before using her boosters to launch herself at the Megid.
The Piranha Megid turned around in shock, "What?!"
"HIYAH!"
Hibiki gave a yell as she punched the Megid directly in the chest, the piston launching inwards and creating an explosive blast that completely tore through it. A cloud of smoke formed which Hibiki soon exited, giving a yelp as she landed, managing to stick the landing but the force behind it had ended up knocking her off balance as she had landed near the top of the hill where Miku was.
Miku's eyes widened as she quickly rushed over to grab Hibiki, only to yelp as she ended up being dragged down with her friend. The two gave a series of yells as they ended up rolling down the hill, Hibiki's transformation dismissing itself soon after. Despite the fall however both girls had soon started to laugh.
"Jeez, I still don't know how Touma manages to do good landings when using that Eagle Book," Hibiki admitted.
"Jeez, I knew the Noise were scary but those Megid things are even worse… still, I'm alive," Miku admitted as she picked herself up and dusted herself off, "Thanks, I knew you'd come to save me."
Watching the two from above was Saber who was floating in the sky thanks to Storm Eagle. He had just managed to catch the end of the fight. But once he saw Miku suddenly tackle hug Hibiki alongside hearing her apology, he figured he'd wait it out for just a bit longer. He then noticed they were realizing how scuffed up they are and watched as they proceeded to use a phone to figure out what was going on. That was until they pointed it upwards to try and get a good angle only for both of them to see him in the air looking down at them.
"Uh… crap," Saber muttered as he slowly lowered himself, trying to pretend that he had just been arriving, "Uh, uh, I just got here!"
Miku gave a bored stare, "Of course you did."
"You already got done with your fight?" Hibiki asked.
"Uh well, I managed to get here right at the tail end of everything, I also didn't want to ruin the moment," Saber admitted as he dismissed his transformation, walking over. He then looked up into the air and held his hand out as if holding a pen, "I mean, two childhood friends making up after a big fight? It's such a great ending to a story that I'd be devastated if I interrupted it!"
"Right, right," Miku rolled her eyes a bit.
"Well, looks like everything's going to be alright," Hibiki admitted with a smile.
The three friends had ended up regrouping with Genjuro, Ogawa and Rintaro while the rest of Section 2 were busy with the cleanup as the day grew later.
"Uh, Commander…" Hibiki spoke up, "She was sort of at the scene when I was fighting… and saw quite a lot of it…"
"No, it's my fault that I got involved!" Miku spoke up suddenly, "Not to mention well… that Megid thing I was told about was targeting me. So I couldn't let it hurt anyone else."
"I'll just read the details in your report," Genjuro admitted as he rubbed the back of his head, "Regardless given your prior involvement and your connection to two of our employed there's not much we can do. Most importantly though, I can't blame someone for thinking about other lives."
"I suppose all's well that ends well," Touma crossed his arms as he watched his two friends share a hi-five. He looked over at Rintaro who was quiet, "Hey, Rintaro-"
He was cut off by the sudden sound of a familiar pink car screeching onto the scene, Ryoko stepping out as she practically announced her presence to everyone involved, "The star of the party always arrives late! Now, where should I begin cleanup…?"
"I question how she still has her driver's license…" Touma gave a deadpan stare.
"Regardless, just leave the rest to us adults," Genjuro replied, "All of you have deserved a well earned rest."
Hibiki had decided her first order of business was to rush over to Aoi who was bringing over some refreshments.
"Oh Touma, can we stop by your place first? I left all my stuff there," Miku looked over to her friend, "Also I was um wondering about Chris."
"I uh…" Touma sighed as he rubbed the back of his head, noticing Genjuro perking up. "She ended up getting separated from me during all the commotion. And I didn't have much time to search for her once I was put on duty."
"Worried about a friend?" Genjuro asked.
"Yes," Miku gave a nod, "Her names Chris Yukine."
"She's not on the list of casualties," Genjuro explained, "I'm sure you'll be able to get in touch with her soon. Don't worry."
"That's good to hear," Miku sighed in relief.
"Touma, real quickly, do you mind if we could talk?" Genjuro asked as he gestured towards the side.
"Of course Commander," Touma gave a bow, he looked over at Miku, "I'll be right back."
"Don't take too long," Miku said.
"I won't," Touma said before heading off with Genjuro.
After a while the two had managed to find a corner to discuss some things privately.
"I can already guess what this is about, guess you won't wait for a written report," Touma admitted as he leaned on a wall, "I saw Miku this morning and we found Chris collapsed in the alleyway so we took her to my bookstore to help her out. After Miku left we talked a bit and then the Noise alert happened. I guess that the Megid were aware that Miku was involved."
"She said it was targeting her," Genjuro replied.
"Yeah, I'm guessing they wanted to use her as bait for Chris," Touma explained, "Given how a lot of the Noise were targeting Chris alongside that other Piranha Megid, it seems like this attack was to try and kill her."
"Then that means she isn't with the enemy anymore," Genjuro noted, "I doubt it'll be easy to find her though."
"Yeah, she's definitely the lone wolf type," Touma agreed, "So was that all?"
"Yes thanks for clearing the situation up," Genjuro replied before crossing his arms, "If it's alright with you, and she gives me permission, I'd like to have your friend help out more. Given she was targeted, her working with us a bit more directly will allow her to have better protection."
"So long as Miku agrees to it, I'm fine, and I'm sure Hibiki would be more than happy to not have to really dance around things with her anymore," Touma replied before turning to leave.
"Actually wait," Genjuro still remembered his encounter with Falchion, "I know Daishinji likes to keep things close to his chest, but I was wondering if he had told you anything about a black Seiken wielded by an orange Phoenix Rider."
Touma was a bit surprised by this and turned, "Eh? Where did that come from?"
"I was confronted by a strange phoenix rider after you left," Genjuro replied, "They had ended up saving me, but attacked me shortly afterwards."
"Huh," Touma said before shaking his head, "I don't think Daishinji's ever described a Rider like that before."
"I see," Genjuro gave a nod, "That's all then, have a good night."
"Right," Touma gave a nod before heading off.
Genjuro simply looked up at the night sky, "Things are only going to get more intense from here on out."
To Be Continued…
Author's Note: Now you might be wondering, wasn't this supposed to come out next month? Well this past Monday, Discotek announced that we were getting Symphogear GX on Blu-Ray later this year! So to celebrate I pushed S1:EP10 to the free Saturday this month. The update dates on the remaining months on my current schedule are the same, it's just the episodes got pushed up as a result.
Onto the episode, given we have both Megid and Noise I felt like we could do for a bit of a mix in opponents. That's why I had Touma take on the big boss Noise of the episode while Hibiki dealt the final blow to the last Piranha Megid. Also just because the Megid are monsters and sturdier than the standard Noise doesn't mean they're invincible against anyone other than Riders, as Chris showcased right here. But more importantly, Daishinji is beginning to make sure Gekido is in good condition. Which means Buster is very much on his way to making an appearance soon. Either way I hope you enjoyed this sudden update, and I'll see you all next month.