"It's those girls!" Hibiki said.
"Yeah… but what could they be planning?" Tsubasa said.
"Well, let's see if their bite is as good as their bark." Maia said.
"We can't fight them here!" Shuri whispered.
"No, she meant let's see if their singing matches up to their challenge." Rui said.
"Erm, do you know them?" Miku asked.
"Yeah…" Hibiki said.
"They are the Symphogear users who declared war on the world." Tsubasa said. "Our enemy."
"Then they're allies of Maria-san?" Miku asked. "The one who was controlling the Noise at the concert arena?"
"Yes… although…" Hibiki muttered.
Jeanne sat on a crate in the warehouse hideout. She rubbed a cloth on an ebony hunk of metal, while a second one laid nearby.
"Performing maintenance?" Ver asked, walking up to her while holding Solomon's Cane.
Without even turning her head, Jeanne aimed the gun right at Ver's face.
"I might be missing an eye, but I'm still a good shot."
Very chuckled, though kept his hands raised out of instinct. "Though I wonder if you'd actually be able to pull the trigger on those."
"What are you talking about?"
"Well, you haven't exactly used them, have you?" Ver said. "Those are in the exact same condition that you received them. Your only real experience with firearms was from the facility, and those were training weapons that were non-lethal."
Jeanne grit her teeth, before putting the handgun down. "What do you want, connard?"
"Well, there's a bit of an issue." Ver said. "Haven't you been listening?"
"What are you talking about-?"
She stopped, listening carefully. She heard footsteps and shuffling outside.
"Damn it, we've been found out?" She said, standing up.
"It seems so." Ver sighed. "And our only Symphogear here at the moment doesn't want to stain her hands."
He made a gesture to the airship behind them, but Jeanne already knew who he was talking about.
"I'll take care of it." Jeanne said, putting her handguns into holsters on her belt.
"Can you?" Ver asked. "Or are those empty words?"
She tightened her fist, vaguely wondering if she should punch him.
Kirika and Shirabe walked up to the stage. As they got ready to challenge Chris, Kirika pulled down an eye and stuck out her tongue. Actually getting irritated by the juvenile taunt, Chris growled.
"Kiri-chan. What is our objective?" Shirabe reminded her.
"To steal the pendants made from relic fragments, dess!" Kirika said.
"So we don't have to do it like this." Shirabe said.
"I heard that whoever's standing on that stage at the end gets one wish granted, dess." Kirika said. "How could we miss this opportunity?"
"Real cute." Chris said. "If you wanna pick a fight with us, we're ready for you!"
Shirabe sighed. "I'll go along with you just this once. But don't forget that this is-"
"I know." Kirika said. "This time we're gonna succeed for sure, dess!"
Maria was still in conflict with herself, as Nastassja watched her.
"It's time for you to decide, Maria."
Outside, Jeanne and Ver were hiding behind several boxes as the armed forces spilled into the warehouse.
"Then let's hear our challengers sing!" The MC said, before realizing that she forgot to get their names. "Um…"
"Tsukuyomi Shirabe, and-"
"Akatsuki Kirika, dess!"
"Okay!" The MC said. "They'll be performing Orbital Beat, The Zwei Wing song, of course!"
The techno beat started to play as the two got ready.
Now praying for your painful cry…
"This song…" Hibiki said.
"Isn't it Tsubasa and Kanade's?" Miku asked.
"What are they trying to do here?" Tsubasa said.
Fu-ooh, yeah …Fly
"They've got a lot of fucking nerve…" Maia said, frowning.
Rui and Shuri said nothing, as they watched the performance unfold.
Explosions rocked the warehouse, as Jeanne covered herself from the debris. Inside the airship, both Maria and Nastassja were shaken up, but fine.
"It has begun." Nastassja said. "Come, Maria!"
Even the thousands of millions of prayers, even with the warm light
Are a dark devilishness like a jail that swallows up everything
Like karma, like tripping
You aren't able to just throw away the experience from you
And so I become true to myself and run right through
Reach, reach, to the speeding pulse of our connected burning hearts
Strongly, strongly, just gazing at the Sirius of the heart
I will overcome this darkness
Coughing from the flames, Jeanne looked carefully over the crates, aiming her gun. The head of one of the soldiers was in her line of fire.
...so why was her hand shaking? Why couldn't she pull the trigger?
A noise that seems to tangle together, and even a freezing silence
Your heartbeat is like a carol that drowns out everything else
Ver held up Solomon's Cane. "Check the escape route. I'll take care of this."
"But-"
Jeanne simply stopped herself. Now was not the time to disagree. The flames ironically made good cover as she ran outside, and saw that there was no one. She winced as she heard the pained screams from the men inside.
Rather than betraying, rather than hurting
Your heartbeat, I wanted to live purely
Let me sleep now with that dream
She looked at the gun in her hand.
Would this be what she would have wanted? She remembered her auburn hair, and wide smile. How she was practically best friends with Serena…
Her irreplaceable little sister.
Mel…
In the moment we connected hands, we smashed paranoia.
Hotly, hotly, I play a refrain of memories
Beyond fate
Kirika and Shirabe finished singing, to a clapping and cheering crowd. Shirabe looked surprised at the standing ovation, though Kirika waved out to them.
"Tsubasa-san…" Hibiki said.
"Why must we, the singers of songs, fight each other?" Tsubasa wondered.
Maia looked at Tsubasa, and thought to herself.
A few months ago, you would have cut them down with no hesitation. Look at you now. She smiled. You've grown up, Tsubasa.
"Um… does anyone see Rui-san?" Shuri asked.
Sure enough, the elder Tachibana twin was gone.
The screams had stopped, but Jeanne leaned against the building, unresponsive. She hadn't moved once.
"The huge bang we heard came from this building, right?" A voice said.
"Maybe they're doing some kind of construction work." Another said.
"If we don't get to practice soon, Coach is gonna give us an earful." Said one more.
Jeanne widened her eye, as she looked around the corner to see some young boys on their bikes.
Damn… if Ver finds them here…
She looked at the gun in her hand before coming out from behind the corner.
"Oh?" One of them said. "Who are-?"
She pointed the gun at them. "Leave."
They shouted in fright, turning around and quickly biking away. Once they were out of sight, Jeanne felt disgusted with herself.
"I just pointed a gun at children… it was to keep them safe, but-"
BANG
Jeanne cried out as she fell onto the ground. A painful stinging sensation was in her leg.
"Gck?! What-?!"
A lone soldier held a smoking gun.
"Don't move." He said. "I'm taking you in."
Growling, she snatched up her dropped weapon and aimed it at the man.
"Put your weapon down." He ordered.
Jeanne's arm remained shaking, but she slowly moved her finger towards the trigger.
"I can clearly see that you don't want to do this." The soldier said. "So please, come quietly-GAH!"
He was cut off as a Noise latched onto him from behind, turning him into carbon. Jeanne dropped her gun, both out of horror and relief.
"A thank you would be nice." Ver said, walking out of the warehouse.
She didn't answer him, as she put her free hand on the bullet wound. The pain was unbearable.
"I'll treat that." Ver said. "After we finish taking care of the last of the pests."
He pointed and Jeanne's blood ran cold, as she saw one of the boys from earlier had biked back out of morbid curiosity. She wanted to yell at him to run, but the pain was overtaking her ability to speak.
"Well, we can't have any witnesses now, can we?" He said, raising Solomon's Cane.
"Stop, Ver!" Maria yelled through the comm link. "That boy has nothing to do with this! STOP!"
Jeanne closed her eye and turned away. She turned off the comm link in her ear, but it did nothing to silence Maria's scream of despair.
The performance over, Kirika and Shirabe stood on the stage with Chris and the MC.
"With those amazing voices, even the champion has to sit up and take notice!" The MC said. "I can't wait to see how they scored!"
"You had to gang up on me to stand a chance, huh?" Chris asked them.
Before Kirika could retort, the two received a message through the comm link.
"Our hideout has been discovered." Nastassja told them. "We were able to fend off the intruders, but since they've identified our location, we can't stay here any longer. We will be relocating shortly. Regroup at the designated location."
"Hold on! We're this close to getting our hands on the pendants!" Kirika said.
"This is an emergency." Nastassja said. "Regroup. That's an order."
Kirika grimaced, as Shirabe grabbed her arm and the two ran off the stage.
"All right! It looks like the results are in! Oh?"
"Hey!" Chris yelled. "Are you running away now?!"
"Shirabe!" Kirika said, as the two made their exit.
"I'm sure they'll be fine with Maria there. But I'm worried about her." She said.
Up on the seats, Tsubasa stood up.
"Let's go after them."
Hibiki, Shuri and Maia nodded.
"Miku, you should stay here." Hibiki said, as she stood up. "We may have to fight them."
"O-Okay." She said, as the four ran off. She clasped her hands together. "Hibiki… I really don't think this is..."
Kirika and Shirabe ran through the school grounds. But before they could leave, they were stopped by several students carrying whale floats. They watched them pass, annoyed that their path was impeded.
"Dammit!" Kirika cursed "What should we do, dess?!"
"You know, you could have just walked around them." A familiar voice said.
They looked to their right to see none other than Rui leaning against a tree, arms crossed. Shirabe grabbed Kirika's sleeve out of instinct.
"I got to say, it's pretty impressive." Rui complimented. "You two run into enemy territory, challenge Chris and then dip? Takes a lot of nerve to do something like that."
Kirika was flabbergasted. "How did you-?!"
"This was the quickest route out of the school grounds." Rui said, pushing herself off the tree. "It was easy to predict which way you two would go."
"How did you do the whale thing, dess?!" Kirika demanded.
"...that one actually wasn't me." Rui admitted. "It was pure coincidence on that part. But it does help me with stalling you two out."
They took a step back, as Tsubasa and Maia appeared once the whale floats had passed, while Hibiki, Chris and Shuri came from the initial path the two had run down.
"Kirika-chan and Shirabe-chan, right?" Hibiki asked.
"Six on two… you have the advantage in numbers." Shirabe said, before looking around at all the students and civilians. "But think about what you stand to lose by fighting us here."
"How can you use such dirty threats?" Chris demanded.
"And just after how cheerfully the two of you sang earlier…" Shuri said sadly.
Kirika looked around, before speaking. "I just don't want to fight you here."
Everyone looked surprised at that, as Kirika pointed at Chris.
"I know! A duel, dess!" She said. "I will challenge you to a fair duel!"
"This isn't the 18th century." Maia said, raising a brow.
"Why?" Hibiki shouted. "It's not like we have to fight every time we meet… or do we?"
"Make up your mind! (Dess!)" Chris and Kirika both said at the same time, before getting a bit embarrassed.
"We will notify you of when the duel is to take place." Shirabe said. "Goodbye."
She took Kirika's hand and started to walk off with her.
"Hey!"
Shirabe turned back, to see Rui was the one that had spoken.
"I just wanted to tell you something." Rui said. "I'm sorry."
The others all looked at her, with varying degrees of surprise. Rui Tachibana? Apologizing?
"What happened that time? I wasn't in control." Rui said. "I don't expect you to forgive me, but know that I didn't want to do it."
Shirabe and Kirika didn't say anything, before walking away and disappearing into the crowd.
"Rui-san?" Shuri asked. "Why did you-?"
"It was something I had to get off my chest." Rui said, looking at her hand. "If I ever fight them again, I want it to be a fair fight."
"A bit surprising, coming from you." Maia said. "But I get why you wanted to apologize."
Before anyone else could speak, the comm link beeped.
"Are the six of you together?" Genjuro asked. "We've detected the emergence of Noise. They seemed to have disappeared since then, but please investigate the general vicinity just in case."
"Roger." They all responded.
"...Roger." Hibiki said, a little late.
After the investigation, the girls were all in the Sector 2 HQ. Rui, Maia and Shuri were already in their SOUL uniforms on standby. As everyone else was working, Genjuro was deep in thought after receiving the investigation report.
An abandoned hideout and traces of many people killed in a Noise attack… This is different to the previous attacks. What could it mean?
"Commander!" Sakuya said. "The government's data processing center just finished the analysis. Displaying on main monitor."
The screen showed two waveform patterns for Gungnir.
"Comparing Aufwachen waveforms." Aoi said. "Scanning for differences. None found, even at one-trillionth precision."
"It's the genuine thing, huh?" Maia said, arms crossed.
"That means, the black Gungnir used by Maria Cadenzavna Eve is exactly the same as Hibiki's."
"The same as mine…" Hibiki said, putting a hand on her chest.
"But how?" Shuri asked.
"It's possible that Ryoko-san stole part of the Gungnir and provided it to the American government." Sakuya suggested. "And they used that to create their Gungnir."
"She coulda rebuilt it from whatever remained after the concert too." Maia said. "Ryoko might have been batshit insane, but she was also a genius."
"Another Gungnir Symphogear, created in accordance with the Sakurai Theory…" Aoi said, typing away.
"But that doesn't make sense." Chris said. "The American government was after Finé's research. If they had an institute like the FIS and the ability to manufacture their own Symphogear, why would they need to go after Finé?"
She put a hand under her chin in thought.
"Considering that they decided to renounce their own government's authority and go rogue, the FIS must have intended to monopolize all technology and information regarding the relics while establishing their own command authority." Tsubasa said.
"So they took it all before ditching." Rui summed it up.
"But why would the FIS go as far as to make enemies of their own home country?" Genjuro asked no one in particular. The question hung in the air, as no one could answer it.
Maria was sitting down, staring at the cracked relic in her hands. While she was deep in thought, Jeanne walked in.
"Jeanne!" Maria said. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." She said, sitting down next to her. The bandages were visible through the tear in her pants. "The bullet just grazed me."
"Thank God…" Maria breathed out. "If only I had the nerve to fight them, you wouldn't have-"
"It's fine." Jeanne reassured. "Because you're not the only one that hesitated."
She placed her handguns on the table, looking down.
"It's pathetic." She said. "We're fighting to change the world and I can't pull the damn trigger to save my life."
Maria let out a chuckle that was devoid of joy. "Perhaps we weren't meant for this role."
Jeanne sighed. "Sometimes…"
"Hm?"
"...sometimes I wonder if our sisters would have been better at this than us." She said.
Maria looked back at the damaged relic in her hand.
"...do you remember that day?" Maria asked.
"How could I forget that hell?" Jeanne said. "It's been burned into my damn memories…"
The entire facility shook, as the Nephilim rampaged. The concerned scientists were watching with curiosity and nervousness. A younger Maria and Jeanne were watching it unfold, with Serena and Mel standing behind them. Mel clutched the back of Jeanne's shirt tightly.
"The Nephilim's output is still fluctuating wildly." Nastassja said. "As we expected, it is impossible to control a complete relic that was forcibly awakened without the use of a song."
"I'll sing." Serena said, stepping up.
"No… You can't mean that song…!" Maria said.
"That's far too risky!" Mel said.
Serena smiled. "My swan song may be able to reset the Nephilim to its pre-awakened state."
"But that's too risky!" Maria said. "What if you're not able to suppress the Nephilim?"
Serena shook her head. "Then my big sister's here to take care of it for me, right? There are people from the FIS here to help us too. I won't be on my own. It'll be alright."
"Serena…"
"Though I never wished for the ability to don this Gear, I did wish to protect everyone once I found out I had it." Serena said.
"But-!"
"If you want, I'll go with her." Jeanne said.
"Jeanne?" Mel said.
"I'll make sure she stays safe." Jeanne promised. "Does that make you feel better?"
"Jeanne…" Maria said.
"But it's dangerous!" Mel said.
"Well, I can't have someone younger show me up, can I?" She chuckled, before rubbing Mel's head. "Don't worry Mel. Your grande soeur will be back before you notice."
"Thank you, Jeanne." Serena said, as the two ran off.
"Serena!" Maria called, but Nastassja stood up and stopped her from chasing them.
Serena and Jeanne made their way into the testing facility, and managed to find an open area that wasn't covered by flames. Serena had transformed on the way, as she stared down the Nephilim.
"I'm right here, Serena." Jeanne reassured her, briefly squeezing her hand. "You can do this."
Serena smiled and nodded, before taking a deep breath.
Gatrandis babel ziggurat edenal~
Emustolronzen Finé el balal zizzl~
Gatrandis babel ziggurat edenal~
Emustolronzen Finé el zizzl~
There was a huge burst of energy, as white light filled everything. Jeanne was knocked off her feet and cracked her head on the wall, slipping into unconsciousness. She tried to stand, but shrapnel shot into her eye, and the pain was too much for her as she passed out.
"..nne! Jeanne! JEANNE!"
Snapping back to reality, Jeanne looked up to see Mel shaking her.
"Ugh… Mel? What…? My eye..."
The fires were still raging around them.
"How long…?"
"Not long!" Mel said. "But there's trouble!"
Even though her vision was deteriorated, she could hear soft singing, as well as Maria's screams.
"Serena! Someone, please help my sister!"
Jeanne tried to stand up, but her body refused to comply.
"Damn it…"
She could hear the scientists yelling, but not caring about Serena. If only she could move…
Without warning, Mel gave her a hug.
"...I love you."
"Huh?"
She turned around and ran through the flames to Serena.
"Mel!" Jeanne screamed.
The flames parted, and she saw Mel try to pull Serena to safety, only for the ceiling to collapse on both of them.
"SERENA!" "MEL!"
Maria looked at the relic in her hand while Jeanne sighed.
"I'm sorry-"
"Don't." Maria said. "You've apologized enough. I know you tried your best. I wasn't the only one to lose a sister that day."
"...I'll go check on Mom." She said, standing up. But before she left, she spoke. "...no more hesitation. Let's see this mission to the end, no matter what."
Once Jeanne left the room, Maria clutched the cracked Relic, closing her eyes before putting it to her chest.
Serena… Unlike you, I may not be able to protect anyone with my song.
"We will soon be arriving at the rendezvous point." Nastassja announced. "Understood?"
Maria stood up.
"Okay, Mom."
The airship slowly landed right outside the remains of a large ruined tower. Kirika and Shirabe got out from behind a rock and walked forward to it, Maria and Jeanne walked out to meet them.
"Maria! Are you alright, dess?" Kirika asked.
"Yes." Maria said.
"Thank goodness." Shirabe said, before hugging her. "If Finé ever awakens inside you, we'll never be able to see you again."
"Even if I become Finé's vessel, I'll still be me." Maria said. "Don't worry."
Kirika joined the hug, while Jeanne crossed her arms with an irritated expression on her face.
"So Maria gets all the attention, hm?" Jeanne said. "I'd think one would be more concerned with the person that got shot a few hours ago, but nevermind, I see how it is."
"Wait, you got shot, dess?!" Kirika said, looking at her.
"It's a small scratch." Jeanne said, running a hand across her leg. "But I can't help but feel a bit insulted."
"Do you want us to kiss it better or something?" Shirabe said. "Maria always did that for us."
"N-No, it was a joke-"
"Alright, dess!" Kirika got down and lifted up Jeanne's leg. "A kiss will make the pain go away, dess!"
"Kirika! Let go of my leg-ow! Put it down! That hurts!"
Maria and Shirabe laughed as Jeanne scolded a sheepish Kirika.
"I'm glad you two are safe." Nastassja rolled out of the ship as Ver walked alongside her. "Now, let's be off before they catch up to us."
"Please wait, Mom!" Kirika said, running up to her. "We were unable to secure any of their pendants, dess! We can't retreat now!"
Shirabe walked up as well. "We promised to duel with them, so-"
Two slaps rang through the air as Natassja struck them both across the face.
"Mom!" Jeanne yelled, before she felt Maria's hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down.
"That's enough!" Natassja said. "While Jeanne has accepted it, the three of you need to realize that battle is not a game!"
"Let's stop there." Ver suggested. "We can still turn things around at this point, can't we? Personally, I'd like to make use of that duel they promised."
"A trick?" Jeanne asked. "You really are an utter slimeball."
Ver chuckled as he fixed his glasses.
An alarm went off in Sector Two's base.
"We've detected the emergence of more Noise!" Aoi yelled.
"Just like old times." Tsubasa said. "A warning shot to announce their duel!"
"Huh, why does that sound familiar?" Rui sarcastically spoke, as Chris shot her a look.
"Location identified!" Sakuya announced, before looking at the location information. "Wait, it can't be-!"
"What's the matter?" Genjuro asked.
"An unlisted address in Tokyo, Specially Designed Blockade Area!"
The girls all had varying expressions of shock, as Genjuro stood up. "The former site of the Kadingir?!
"It really is a game to them, huh?" Maia said, arms crossed.
"Let's move out." Shuri said to the others. "We should go from two directions. SOUL will go in first from the South, while the users will enter soon after from the North."
"Roger!" The girls all responded.
"Heh, you've really stepped up as a leader, Shuri." Chris said.
"I'll take the compliments later, oneesama." Shuri said.
Rui frowned as Maia and Shuri left the room to get to the jeep.
"Oneesan?" Hibiki asked.
"It's nothing." Rui dismissed, as she turned around. But before she left, she turned around. "Stay sharp, you three. I got a bad feeling about this."
Shuri carefully pulled the jeep to a stop outside of the tower. The Symphogear users had gone on foot, entering from the other side of the construction site.
"Well, that's definitely a sight for sore eyes." Maia said, hopping out of the jeep.
"Yeah…" Shuri said, looking up at the broken remains.
The tower loomed over them in a destroyed state, with several walls and cranes surrounding it. The girls slowly walked towards the walls, looking around for the enemy.
"Even with entire teams working at it, it'll take ages to dismantle the damn thing." Maia said, looking around at the construction vehicles parked all around.
"Is there a reason we can't just use explosives?" Shuri asked.
"On the off chance stuff goes wrong." Maia said. "One explosion could set off a chain reaction through that whole thing, since Tsubasa managed to blow it up by attacking only one small part. Dismantling it piece by piece is safer."
"Wish they could dismantle it quicker." Rui said. "The place is just a bad memory that I don't need."
The others didn't say anything as they got to the top of the hill. The walls were blocking them from entering.
Rui put a hand on the wall, before turning to Maia. "Is there like a secret entrance or something? How do we get in?"
"There's only one entrance, for security reasons." Maia said.
"Which side?"
"...the North end?"
Rui sighed. "I could jump over the wall though, and you could surf over. One of use would have to carry Shuri."
"Yeah, that works." Maia agreed. "Alright, then-"
BWOOM
They heard explosions and gunshots come from the other side of the tower, along with singing. Rui looked at a flip-up map screen on her wrist, that beeped and had red dots on the other side of the tower.
"Noise." She said. "Looks like they're using the Cane."
"Seems like the girls are already fighting." Maia said, before turning to Shuri. "What's the plan, boss?"
"It seems that our sisters have engaged the enemy. We should go support them since we'd have the element of surprise on our side." Shuri ordered. "Also, please do not call me that."
"How about chief?" Rui suggested.
"No."
"Captain?" Maia asked.
"Just use Shuri!" She shouted. "God! Now is not the time!"
Maia chuckled, before pulling out Takemikazuchi, letting Shuri and Rui get on with her. They sped alongside the perimeter of the wall, as the sound of battle grew louder. After a few moments, Maia brought the board to a halt, as they saw the battlefield below.
"Wait, they're not fighting those girls?" Maia said, stepping off Takemikazuchi. "Then who-?"
"The white haired bastard." Rui said, pointing at Ver who was standing on the cliff, holding Solomon's Cane. His back was to them and he didn't notice their arrival. They knelt down behind two large rocks. Rui put her hands over her waist, as her belt morphed into Kagutsuchi.
"Hey… partner?" Maia said. "There's something different…"
Rui looked down at her greaves, and to her surprise, they had transformed in appearance. They were no longer simple silver, and now resembled Gungnir's leg armor.
"Looks like making contact with the Gungnir relic gave your weapon an upgrade." Maia said.
"Handy." Rui said, tapping on them.
Shuri clicked her pen twice, letting Okami transform into its sniper rifle form. She laid down on the ground and put the barrel between the two rocks, aiming it at Dr. Ver's back.
"Give him a few minutes to do the whole "villain talking about their master plan" schtick." Maia said. "Once he's done, freeze him so we can take him in."
"That's the plan." Shuri said, as they listened in on the conversation.
"What are you plotting, FIS?!" Tsubasa asked as she cut down Noise.
"Plotting?" Ver repeated. "That doesn't seem very respectable. What we seek is the salvation of humankind!"
He pointed skywards at the Moon.
"We wish to save the countless lives that will be lost when the Moon falls down to Earth."
"The Moon?!" Hibiki yelled.
"Research organizations all across the world have been measuring the Moon's trajectory for three months!" Tsubasa said. "Why wouldn't they announce a possible collision-?"
"Why would they announce it?" Ver shot back. "News of a cataclysmic disaster that we are powerless to prevent would only throw the world into disarray. There are many reasons they would wish to conceal such an inconvenient truth."
I'm pretty sure this psycho is just spewing bullshit. Rui thought. But… why do I feel like it's not all fake?
"Could it be that the ones who know about it are secretly devising a way to save themselves and no one else?" Chris asked.
"What would you do if that was so?" Ver said. "Our answer to that is the Nephilim!"
The ground shook, as the girls started to lose their footing.
"Take the shot!" Maia shouted.
Shuri nodded, before aiming. She fired the freezing round, but something rose out of the Earth and protected Ver by batting it away before it could detonate, while also knocking Chris back. It was large and muscular, grey in color and had no eyes, but a jaw full of drool and teeth. There were cracks on its body that glew orange.
"Chris-chan!" Hibiki shouted.
Chris hit the ground hard, as Tsubasa ran up to her.
"Yukine!"
A Noise shot out some white goo at the two, rooting them in place with a web.
"I won't… let this stop me!" Tsubasa shouted, struggling to break free.
Shuri got up, yelling orders.
"Maia-san, we'll go help Tsubasa-san and oneesama." She said. "Rui-san, back up Hibiki-san!"
"Right!" Maia said.
"Gladly!" Rui said, cracking her knuckles.
The girls jumped away from their hiding spot. While Maia and Shuri went to support their sisters, Rui landed next to Hibiki.
"Eh? Oneesan? What's with your legs-?"
"Not the time, Hibiki!"
"That is how we will unite the people of the world and form one country and government to protect them!" Ver declared. "The Nephilim is our means to that end!"
The Nephilim barged towards Tsubasa and Chris. Shuri was fruitlessly pulling on the goop, while Maia tried cutting them free. Seeing it was hopeless, Maia turned to the Noise that was rooting the girls in place.
"Eat this!" Maia shouted, before slashing at it.
But to her shock, her sword bounced right off it, as if it struck an incredibly hard surface.
"This one appears larger than the other members of its kind." Shuri observed. "It must be too reinforced for your weapon to kill.
"God dammit!" Maia shouted, turning around. "Now what do we...oh crap!"
Looming above them was the Nephilim. But right before the monster could strike, Hibiki and Rui kicked it in the neck, knocking it back. The two landed and faced the monster.
"This is one tough son of a bitch." Rui said.
"Then let's fight together, oneesan!" Hibiki said.
Rui nodded, as the two charged. Nephilim slammed a hand down at them, but Rui jumped up and flipped, driving her heel into the creature's skull. Meanwhile, Hibiki unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks at Nephilim's gut.
"Hero of the Lunar Attack!" Ver yelled at Hibiki. "What do you seek to protect with those fists of yours?!"
"She doesn't have to answer you, you piece of shit!" Rui yelled, delivering a roundhouse kick to Nephilim's back, right into a super charged punch of Hibiki's that sent it tumbling into the rocks. Hibiki shot after it, Rui right behind her on foot.
"Though your fists may be able to protect a few, think of how many more lives they will take!" Ver shouted, summoning Noise from Solomon's Cane. They surrounded Rui, cutting off her route.
"Out of my way!" Rui shouted, delivering powerful kicks that obliterated any Noise that approached her. A huge group swooped in from the sky, as electricity gathered around her foot. She jumped into the air and delivered a powerful roundhouse kick that obliterated them. Landing on the ground, she was on one knee, breathing heavily at how much energy she had used.
"Rui-san!" Shuri shouted. "Look out!"
Rui looked up to see Nephilim right above her, jaws open and drooling. She raised her arms to try protecting herself, but knew that it wouldn't do her any good.
"Oneesan!"
Hibiki pushed Rui out of the way, before drawing her fist back and throwing a punch.
...only for Nephilim's jaws to clamp on it.
"Huh-?"
Time seemed to stop for Rui, as to her horror, the Nephilim tore Hibiki's arm off. There was an explosion of blood that splattered onto the Earth.
"Tachibana!" Tsubasa shouted.
"Hibiki-san!" Shuri yelled.
Rui and Maia were stricken into silence. Ver had a twisted grin on his face as he watched it unfold. Hibiki clutched her bleeding stump, the shock still preventing her from realizing what had happened.
But the Nephilim's crunches snapped her back to reality, as she finally registered what was happening. The fear all crashed onto her, like waves on a beach.
The pain and terror clouded her mind, and she was unable to hear the rapid approaching footsteps and shouts from her sister. The bloodcurdling scream Hibiki let out pierced the night, and would be a sound that would haunt Rui for the rest of her life.
A/N: Oops. There goes Hibiki's arm. I'm sure that's not gonna be mentally damaging at all for Rui. Not at all. Nope.
The name of Jeanne's sister is what I believe is her canon name, from the folks I've talked to. It could always be wrong, but then again, we never got the event officially translated.
And speaking of which, Jeanne's backstory adaptation for this fic. How is it? I personally think I managed to incorporate it well.
Anyways, next time... well, you guys have to wait and see what happens in two weeks.
Feel free to leave a review. See you all next time.