Content Warning: Eye related gore.
The trio at the Kazanari residence could only watch in horror as the writhing darkness consumed Shuri.
"What's going on…?" Maria asked. "What's happening to Shuri…?"
Tsubasa turned to her sister, who seemed to be fighting down her terror by analyzing the situation. "Neesama, do you have any ideas on what's happening to her?"
Maia grimaced. "Well… when Shuri had that violent reaction after cutting her finger on Dáinsleif, I did some more research. I went back to all the cases of Hibiki going berserk, and remembered both of the cases are thanks to either emotional vulnerability… or lethal wounds."
"Lethal wounds…?" Maria said. "Then does that mean…?"
"I think whatever Dáinsleif did to Shuri lay dormant in her, undetectable." Maia said. "That is, until…"
"...you're saying her death was the trigger." Tsubasa realized.
"It's the only thing I can think of." Maia said. "And the body manipulation and healing properties that the berserk form has means that Shuri's wounds mean nothing."
The two wielders looked back at the darkness, which was slowly starting to subside.
But… why did she have that violent reaction in the first place? Maia thought. That part I still don't know. Elfnein said that the relic would never have that sort of reaction normally. Why did it work on Shuri?
The darkness converged on a single spot, before dispersing. Shuri stood in the center, hunched over. Her teeth had sharpened into monstrous jaws, and her arms had turned into demonic red claws with eyes all over them. Red cracks were all over her body, glowing the same monstrous color as her eyes. Her entire body was made of the same berserk darkness that once overtook Hibiki and Maria. Shuri was breathing with a metallic rasp in her voice, like steel being shredded apart.
"What should we do?" Maria asked, tightening the grip on her weapon.
"We need to subdue her." Maia said. "Approach her with caution."
Tsubasa was the first to step forward, her blade in her hand. "Shuri. Stay calm. We're going to help-"
Shuri's head snapped up as she roared. Her arm bent at broken angles, before bursting with blood. It morphed, before creating a massive dragon head that charged at Tsubasa. The blue-haired wielder quickly brought up her sword, keeping the dragon jaws open.
"Maria!" Tsubasa called.
"Right! Sorry about this, Shuri!"
The girl swung her whip sword, decapitating the dragon head. Shuri screamed in pain, as her arm whipped back towards her. The sound of tearing flesh rang throughout the courtyard, as a new hand burst through the bloody stump.
Shuri roared, before her other hand morphed into a massive fist, slamming straight into Maria. She managed to block it, but was knocked straight into the courtyard wall.
"Maria!" Maia shouted.
Shuri charged up a ball of energy in her hand, before throwing it forward. Tsubasa swung her blade like a baseball bat, deflecting the ball of energy skyward.
BWOOM
They looked up, eyes wide. The size of the explosion was enough to destroy several city blocks. If Tsubasa hadn't knocked it away, the Kazanari estate would be nothing but a crater.
"Neesama!" Tsubasa created a knife.
"Good call!" Maia created one of her own.
Shuri charged forward, and the Kazanari twins jumped over her. She whipped around to jump towards them, but the moment they had a clear shot, Tsubasa and Maia threw their knives into Shuri's shadow. The monstrous girl tried to move, but found herself completely frozen.
Shadow Weaving
"Good thing we used two." Maia said as she landed. "I dunno if just one would be able to hold her."
"We have her in place now." Maria said as she walked up, holding her shoulder. "But now what do we do?"
"Not only is most of SONG busy, I don't know if we have the solution." Tsubasa noted. "I don't know what… Neesama?"
The two wielders watched as Maia walked towards Shuri, stabbing her sword in the ground and leaving herself unarmed.
"Hey… can you hear me, Shuri?" Maia asked, staring at her mutated friend. "This isn't you… can you come back to us?"
Maia deactivated her Relic Battle Mode, alarming Tsubasa and Maria. The dagger Maia threw dispersed, and Shuri's body started to shake, though she remained frozen.
"... Maia… please… get away…" She managed to choke out.
"I'm here, Shuri." Maia said, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. "You don't want Chris to see you like this, do you?"
Maia turned back to Tsubasa, nodding at her. The younger Kazanari reluctantly let the knife disappear, freeing Shuri. She slowly lumbered towards Maia, before grabbing her shoulder with a demonic claw.
"I can't… control…"
"Neesama!" Tsubasa shouted.
She was about to run forward, but Maria held out an arm.
"Tsubasa… do you see your sister's eyes?" Maria asked.
Tsubasa looked closely as Maia turned to face them, silently telling them not to move. Her eyes were completely full of faith and confidence. There was no fear, even as Shuri slowly moved her fanged mouth to her neck.
Maia wrapped her arms around Shuri, causing her to stop.
"Wake up, Shuri." Maia said softly.
Shuri slowly closed her fanged mouth, before falling to her knees. Tsubasa and Maria both watched as Shuri's monstrous features slowly disappeared, one by one. All that was left was Shuri, back to normal. Her clothes were shredded, along with a huge gash on her shirt, but that didn't matter to her at the moment.
"Maia…?" She said quietly, her voice losing the deep reverb. "What… what am I…?"
"Shh." Maia pulled her into a hug. "You didn't do anything. We stopped you before we could. We're here, Shuri."
"I… Maia… I…"
Shuri closed her eyes in Maia's embrace, breathing softly. Maia smiled at her.
"So she dropped the honorific, huh…?"
Back down in Neptune's Palace, the girls were all in shock at seeing Dr. Ver again. The maniacal doctor laughed, his hands on his waist. "So you're just loading yourselves with previous-gen LiNKER and hoping it won't break on you?"
Chris grit her teeth in irritation, while Kirika and Shirabe just stared at the man with annoyance and disgust. Jeanne silently reloaded the clips on her firearms.
"My LiNKER was made with love!" Ver cackled. "It's so pitiful seeing you forced to rely on that garbage that I can't stop laughing!"
"If anyone's pitiful here, it's you, dess!" Kirika shouted.
"You stopped my shot…" Chris said quietly, as Ver grinned. I'll pay back the shame I was put through a million times over!
"Wait a minute, dess!" Kirika spoke up.
"You can't hurt the doctor!" Shirabe said.
"What did you just say?!" Chris asked.
"He's the only one who can make LiNKER!" Kirika said.
"Verily!" Ver laughed. "If anything happens to me, you'll be out of LiNKER for good-!"
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG
Ver's mutated arm was held up, as several bullets fell to the floor. He had blocked all the shots with minimal effort. The man scoffed, looking to see the culprit.
"Jeanne!" Shirabe said, seeing her friend holding up both of her guns. The barrels were smoking, as Jeanne was breathing heavily.
"Why can't you just stay in hell, you slimy bastard?!" Jeanne yelled, scrambling to reload her clips, her hands shaking.
"How are those ribs, Jeanne?" Ver taunted, causing the girl to slip up momentarily.
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't just ignore me." Carol said, holding several capsules. She threw them on the ground, summoning more Alca-Noise.
(Insert TRUST HEART by Ayahi Takagaki)
"Even if the two of them won't fight, I will!" Chris declared, firing off a storm of bullets at the oncoming horde. She turned her fire to Ver, who quickly cowered behind Carol. A shield blocked all of Chris's attacks.
"I cannot determine if this man is friend or foe. Master, your orders?" Leiur asked.
"I'm neither!" Ver shouted. "I'm a hero!"
"Then go and give my greetings to all the heroes that came before you!" Chris shot back, before preparing two missiles.
"You imbecile!" Ver screamed.
Chris raised a brow, not firing her weapons.
"I don't know what you're thinking, but if you fire those, the whole facility, me included, will be crushed by seawater!" He said.
"I fail to see the issue with that!" Jeanne said, her gun cocking. "How about we try it out?!"
"No thank you!" Ver scoffed, tossing the object in his hand up and down before grasping it tightly. "Perhaps a small blessing from the hero will convince you otherwise!"
Before anyone could react, Ver swung his arm forward, chucking the object in his hand… straight at Jeanne's face. The girl shouted as it tore through her eyepatch, landing directly in her bad eye. She fell to the ground, knocked out.
"JEANNE!" Kirika and Shirabe shouted, kneeling by their unconscious friend. Blood was gushing out of the wound. Ver smirked, before turning to Carol and Leiur.
"Leiur, let's get this over with." Carol said.
"Right away."
Leiur ran forward, weaving in-between the Alca-Noise. Chris fired at her, but the Autoscorer was dodging expertly.
I can deal with this myself. Chris thought. I don't need the help of my kouhai!
"You won't hit her by shooting wildly!" Shirabe called.
"Calm down, dess!" Kirika shouted.
Chris ignored them and kept shooting her shots, aiming dangerously close to Shirabe… before Kirika hit away her guns with her scythe.
"You want to take us down too, dess?" Kirika asked in a low voice.
Reality hit Chris like a truck, before she looked around in realization. "Where are they?!"
"Not here…" Shirabe said, gently wiping away the blood on Jeanne's face.
The smoke cleared to reveal a burning hole in the floor.
"They got away?" Chris said.
"We're sorry." Shirabe said. "I just feared we'd run out of LiNKER if something happened to the doctor."
"But we won't hesitate anymore, dess!" Kirika said, walking towards Chris. "Next time, if we work together-"
Chris pushed Kirika back. "I don't need help from my kouhai. Screw all this holding hands and pretending we're best friends. I'll get this done myself. You two just make sure Jeanne's alright."
The two sadly stared at her, as Chris grit her teeth in anger.
I've got to, or how can I call myself their senpai?
"Intruders lost." Fujitaka said. "Unless they do something reckless, we won't be able to track them from here."
"If only we'd known Dr. Ver was being held there…" Aoi said.
"And he still has the Nephilim's power. This is getting messy." Fujitaka said.
"Keep searching for them." Genjuro said.
Elfnein looked up at the screen. "We prevented Carol from obtaining the final piece she needed for the Château de Tiffauges, the Yantra Sarvasva, but she still keeps going…"
"Explain this to me!" Elfnein had demanded. "I helped build the Château de Tiffauges because I believe that's what our father wanted! No one said anything about taking the world apart!"
Carol looked up from her throne, a rather bored look on her face. "Indeed, the Château de Tiffauges is the culmination of alchemic science: a World Destructor. Consider it a giant flask."
"You lied to me?" Elfnein asked, hurt.
"And what if I did?" Carol asked in return. "You have no power. Do you mean to stop me?"
"But…" Elfnein tightened her fist. "But I still love the father in my memories. You must love him too."
Carol pushed down as gasp. "What are you-?"
"He'd never want you to take the world apart!" Elfnein shouted. "I can't let you do something he wouldn't want!"
Carol slammed her hands into the armrests. "You're just a replica of flesh implanted with my memories! Know your place! You have no right to call yourself his daughter or speak on his behalf!"
Elfnein flinched, and Carol leaned back into the throne with a sigh.
"I release you from your duty to construct the Château. Leave, and do as you wish."
Carol opened her eyes to see Leiur looking down at her. She was in the Autoscorer's arms. "Did I pass out?"
"It must have been another rejection." Leiur guessed, letting her master stand up. "You lost consciousness during our retreat. Hardly surprising, given how many high-level phonic gain users were present, but…"
Carol stared at her hand, flexing her fingers. "Don't worry." She then turned to Dr. Ver, who was standing nearby. "I've know of you, Dr. Ver. You were one of the parties involved in the Frontier incident. What are you doing here?"
"Those selfish bastards decided to pretend that neither the Frontier incident nor my wonderful contributions ever took place at all!" He said, offended. "I lost all rights, even my very identity! They threw me in here as a recovered part of the Nephilim!"
"Your left arm?" Carol asked, watching the mutated arm pulsate.
"I didn't stop Ichaival's attack with my arm. Rather, the moment it hit me, the Nephilim absorbed and assimilated it into itself!" Ver explained, flexing the mutation.
"You're a fascinating man." Carol said. "Come with me."
"You mean to take me out of here?" Ver asked. "Then bring me to the center of the chaos!"
"The center of the chaos?" Carol asked.
"That's where a hero truly shines!" Ver grinned.
Carol raised a brow, before holding out a hand. Ver seemed equally surprised, wiping his Nephilim arm on his coat briefly before shaking it. He did have some dignity left, after all.
"You'll have to tell me all about this Nephilim on the way." Carol said, a deviously curious smile on her face.
"Do you really have time to spare?" Ver asked.
"I know everything my foes are doing." Carol said. "Time will not be an issue."
"I'm not telling you not to use your power!" Genjuro shouted. "I'm telling you to use your head too!"
The wielders had retreated to the sub monitor room to contact HQ. Chris was arguing with Genjuro, while Kirika and Shirabe were using the medical kit to tend to Jeanne's eye. The girl had woken up using some colorful language in French that would not be appropriate for print.
"The new Symphogears are designed to fight Carol!" Chris said. "When should we use that if not now?! You're making my head hurt, old man!"
"Remember, you're at the bottom of the sea!"
Chris kicked the wall in rage. "Don't bring your logic into this!"
As Chris continued to get angry, Kirika and Shirabe were talking to Jeanne.
"How does it feel?" Shirabe asked, putting away the extra bandages.
Jeanne slowly moved a hand to her face, feeling the wrappings. "It's fine. Thank you, Shirabe."
"But the hunk of junk that the doctor threw at you is still in there, dess." Kirika said with a frown. "We gotta get it out."
"I feel fine right now." Jeanne said. "I'd rather have it safely removed at HQ than one of you two doing it."
"...you're in so much pain, huh?" Kirika deadpanned.
"I am."
"I thought so, dess."
"But I have another question… are you okay, Jeanne?" Shirabe asked.
"I just said that I-"
"No. I mean… you freaked out when you saw the doctor again." Shirabe said.
Jeanne's hands shook. "Sorry, I lost control back there. Just seeing that damn trash again just… he almost killed me before…"
Both Shirabe and Kirika took a hand each, gently grasping them until they stopped shaking.
"You don't have to worry, Jeanne." Shirabe said with a smile.
"We'll make sure he won't hurt you again." Kirika nodded. "That's a promise from the both of us, dess!"
Jeanne smiled, a tear at the corner of her good eye. "You two…" Seeing the two she considered sisters just as much as she did for Mel filled Jeanne with determination. I'll beat that damn LiNKER formula out of Ver if it's the last thing I do.
"Here are the blast doors for each block and their respective switches." Aoi said as the three of them joined Chris at the monitor. The display showed quite a lot of information.
"I can't remember this many at once!" Kirika shouted.
"Then let's each remember half of them, okay?" Shirabe suggested.
Kirika smiled in relief, before Fujitaka reported. "Found traces of the intruders in the security systems!"
"Just what I was waiting for!" Chris shouted.
"Is this what's left of her?" Maria asked.
She and Tsubasa were standing over the damaged remains of Phara. Ogawa stood nearby, as did Maia. Shuri was unconscious on her back.
"Yes. This is what remains of the Autoscorer that Tsubasa-san delt with." Ogawa reported.
"Is it still operational like this?" Maria asked.
"Let's find out." Maia said.
She walked over and kicked Phara's face, leaving a noticeable crack. The kick seemed to bring her to life as her eyes rolled back into their proper position.
"Oh hey, it does work." Maia said, taking a few steps back.
"Forgive my earlier rudeness." Phara said. "Your song was sublime, Little Miss Sword."
"My song?"
Phara laughed as her face grew more maniacal. "A wonderful, cursed melody that made me feel as though I were being ripped apart!"
"Okay, that's creepy as all hell." Maia said as the others shared looks while Phara continued to laugh.
"A cursed melody… Carol said the same once before." Tsubasa remembered.
"So she knows something." Maia concluded, before kicking Phara again to shut her up. "Alright, much better."
"Don't do too much damage, Maia." Maria said. "We're still going to need to get all the info she knows."
Chris's team was running through Neptune's Palace, with Kirika lagging a bit behind.
"Just how far do we have to go, dess?" Kirika asked.
"Why haven't we caught up with them yet?" Shirabe said.
"Are you sure this is the right way?" Chris nearly shouted into the communicator.
"Yes! But they're moving away from you, cleverly avoiding closer tracking." Genjuro said.
"It's as though they know your exact location, and which way you're heading." Aoi observed.
"Wait…" Jeanne's eye widened as everyone realized it as well.
"Did they hack into our HQ?" Fujitaka suggested.
"Could there be a mole among us?" Genjuro said.
Rui walked back into the shared hospital room she had with Hibiki, ready to turn in for the night. But when she opened the door, she found Hibiki still up, on her phone.
"Oh, good evening, Oneesan." Hibiki greeted.
"You should go to bed, Hibiki." Rui said, closing the door behind her. "It's late."
"I just need to make a phone call." Hibiki said, dialing a number before setting it on speakerphone. "You should listen too."
Rui shrugged, but walked over to her sister. She heard the phone dial before someone picked up.
"Sorry for calling this late." Hibiki apologized. "I just had so much stuff on my mind I couldn't sleep."
"It's fine. I don't mind." Miku's voice said. "Is Rui there?"
"Yeah, I am."
"Good. Hibiki?"
Hibiki nodded, before turning to her sister. "Oneesan… could you meet with Dad again tomorrow?"
"Wha-?" Rui raised a brow. "What the hell for? So he can see me, the failu-?"
"None of that!" Miku almost shouted, causing Rui to take a step back.
"Oneesan… I know you're scared." Hibiki said. "I know you don't know how it's going to turn out, but you remember what I always say, right?"
"Don't worry. You'll be fine." Miku said. "I know you tend to borrow catchphrases, and Hibiki's is no exception."
"Jeez…" Rui rubbed the back of her head. "I don't even remember when Hibiki first started saying it. Then I started using it sometimes and it doesn't work as well from me."
"That's not true." Hibiki said, shaking her head. "They're magic words that help me through any situation, no matter how tough. It's the same for you too."
"You're simpleminded, you know that?" Rui asked.
"I agree wholeheartedly."
"You two are ganging up on me again." Hibiki pouted. "I prefer the term "optimistic.""
The three of them shared a brief laugh, seeing it was just like old times.
"Man, I needed that." Rui said with a stretch.
"Glad to hear it." Miku said. "You should thank your sister for that."
"I will, I will. Good night, Miku."
"Good night, Rui. Good night, Hibiki."
"Good night, Miku." Hibiki said as the call ended. She turned back to her sister. "Oneesan… be honest with me. You want to make up with Dad too, right?"
"...yeah, I do." Rui admitted.
Hibiki pulled her sister close, so their foreheads touched. "I believe in you, Oneesan. You can do it."
Rui could feel tears threatening her eyes. She quickly wrapped her arms around Hibiki and pulled her into a hug so she couldn't see her cry. "Thank you, Hibiki."
Hibiki didn't need to see her face. She knew.
"You've had a mole in your midst all this time." Phara said to Maria and the Kazanari twins. "By the time you find out, it will be too late. Certain death awaits you."
"They've been able to evade us far too efficiently." Genjuro said. "And how did they determine the location of the relics? Have they been stealing data from right under our noses?"
"Could it be that mole you mentioned?" Fujitaka said. "An informant among us?"
Elfnein came to the same conclusion as everyone else, before paling.
"N-No! I haven't done anything!" Elfnein said. "It isn't me!"
"Enough. It is you, Elfnein."
The voice echoed throughout HQ, before an illusory projection of Carol broke off Elfnein.
"What is this?!" Genjuro demanded.
"But how…?" Fujitaka questioned.
"Carol…?" Elfnein said. "I'm… the mole? But how?"
"What is this mole you're referring to?" Ogawa asked Phara.
"In order to properly dissect the world, Master required several things." Phara explained, as her right eye went haywire. "Firstly, the enhanced blade's cursed melody. Our role as Autoscorers was to cause the Gear users to sing that song and record it in our bodies for later use."
"You mean the Ignite module was part of your plan?!" Tsubasa realized.
"That can't be!" Maria said. "I refuse to believe Elfnein would betray us!"
"...I don't think it's that straightforward." Maia said, finally realizing what that uneasy feeling she had was. "I think Elfnein had no idea she was the mole."
"However, Elfnein had no idea she was the mole." Carol continued to explain. "I simply hijacked her sight, hearing, and other senses."
"My own senses betrayed me?" Elfnein said, looking at her hands.
"We are both homunculi made from the same original body."
"First, Master took the cursed melody into her own body, creating the score." Phara went on. "The rest was simple. We only had to goad you into using the Ignite module."
"Were we dancing to your tune all along?!" Tsubasa shouted.
"So tell me, when Shuri, Rui and I transformed and basically took turns kicking your asses, what then?" Maia asked.
"Admittedly, you transforming did throw Master off for a moment, causing her to think that perhaps the plan was doomed to fail." Phara said. "But since you three were far less in numbers, and would have been unable to defeat my Master by yourselves, the plan would have come to fruition nonetheless."
"So we couldn't thwart stage one." Maia concluded. "Shit…"
She kicked the Autoscorer in the head, and Phara's eyes started to glow green. Recognizing this, Ogawa shouted. "Get down!"
There was a massive explosion, but thankfully Ogawa had managed to get all the girls away in time. Odd green dust seemed to be floating down around them.
"So now that they've got their cursed melody, they don't need us Gear users anymore?" Maria asked. "Is that why she didn't mind telling us all that?"
"Ogawa-san! Call HQ right away!" Tsubasa shouted. "We must halt all use of the Ignite module!"
"I can't." Ogawa put down his communicator. "I'm not getting a signal. These floating particles must be chaff."
"I'm not getting through either." Maia said, tapping her earpiece. "They cut us off."
"So she jammed all communications in the area?" Maria said. "Damn it…"
"We need to get to them…" Shuri opened her eyes, a small red glint in her irises. "We have to warn them…"
"Please, lock me away!" Elfnein begged. "Put me in some solitary cell where I can't come in contact with anyone! But even then, I've already done what Carol wanted and leaked your information. You should just get rid of me! Please, just do it!"
Surprising Elfnein through her tears, was that Genjuro placed a gentle hand atop her head.
"I'm glad." Aoi said, with a breath of relief. "You weren't a bad person after all."
"The enemy just used you." Fujitaka reassured her.
"Tomosato-san… Fujitaka-san…" Elfnein said, looking at both of them.
Genjuro gently rubbed her head. "Your goal is to thwart Carol's plans, remember? You'd better see it to the end."
"Genjuro-san…"
"You're always welcome here." Genjuro reassured her. "No matter who might be listening in. And I know for a fact that all the girls would echo the same thoughts."
"O-Okay!" Elfnein said with a tearful smile.
Carol scoffed, as she stopped viewing the situation. Both Leiur and Ver watched as the alchemic calculations around her disappeared.
"She's just a tool, how dare she?" Carol said. She had just revealed who the mole was, and that she knew everything. Why didn't they lose their composure? She'll never understand their actions.
They heard rapid footsteps, as Chris's team arrived again.
"That's as far as you go!" Shirabe said. "Carol, Doctor!"
"You won't get away again, dess!" Kirika said.
"Unfortunately for you, I've already found a replacement for the final piece I need to complete the Château." Carol said, turning to face them.
She threw her arm forward, shattering several capsules that summoned Alca-Noise.
"As a hero, I wouldn't mind being a hit with the kids too, but I'm afraid I don't have time for you brats right now!" Ver said with a laugh.
"Who do you think you're kidding?!" Kirika shouted.
"Just ignore him, Kirika." Jeanne said, aiming her weapons.
As the girls pulled out their pendants, Ver briefly clenched his mutated fist. The patch on Jeanne's bad eye glew a bit.
"Zeios Igalima raizen tron~"
(Insert Overkill Scythe Hell by Ai Kayano)
Transforming with the others, Kirika dashed forward, slashing apart several of the Alca-Noise. Jeanne fired several shots, hitting the Alca-Noise dead-on. Shirabe jumped into the air, unleashing dozens of buzzsaws.
Alpha Style: 100 Saṃsāra
As they were cut down, Chris followed Jeanne's style, and duel wielded two SMGs in her hands, shooting up any Alca-Noise in her way. Leiur held out her arms, forming multiple coins into a pair of tonfas, charging at Chris. The user saw the Autoscorer coming, and jumped back to avoid the strike. Leiur kept up the offensive, keeping Chris on her toes, and dodging every one of her shots. The Autoscorer flipped back, landing in front of her master.
"Leave the rest to me." Leiur told her. "My little sister will be here soon."
"Fulfill your role, Autoscorer." Carol said.
"I'll be sure to put on a show when I do." Leiur promised.
Carol shattered a crystal, as she and Ver started to transport away.
"Bye-bye!" Ver cheerfully called. "Oh, and one last thing!"
Ver snapped his fingers.
There was an explosion of blood from Jeanne's eye wound, as she silently fell face down onto the ground. The red liquid was leaking out of her bad eye, forming a small pool around her head. She clutched at her eye, letting out blood curdling screams.
"Jeanne!" Kirika and Shirabe screamed.
"Aaaah, that was cathartic." Ver breathed out. Let's see if you can overcome that, Jeanne.
"I'm not finished with you!" Chris shouted, rushing forward.
Her reward was Leiur decking her across the face multiple times with her tonfas, knocking her away.
"You have to keep your distance, even if it cuts your offensive power, dess!" Kirika shouted.
"You're throwing off the rhythm!" Shirabe shouted.
In that moment of distraction, Leiur threw hundreds of coins. They barely managed to defend from the onslaught, before Leiur created two massive coins, slamming them together with Kirika and Shirabe in between. The two coins came apart and dispersed, letting both of them fall to the ground.
Chris stood up, her vision returning to her as she saw the scene before her. Her two kouhai, heavily wounded. Jeanne was bleeding out on the floor nearby, screaming her head off. None of them were moving.
"I.. I'm all alone…" Chris said, tears falling. "I can never even wish for friends, comrades or people to learn from, or people who'll learn from me… If I do… If I ever do…"
She pictured everyone else, before the image shattered to reveal a ruined city.
"This cruel world will slaughter everyone I care about, leaving me alone for good!" She fell to her knees. "This world is so cruel, so why… Why did my parents try to save it with their songs?!"
"If you have time to whine, then sing!" Leiur shouted.
The Autoscorer dashed forward, about to strike Chris again. The wielder didn't even try to defend herself.
So someone else did.
CLANG
Kirika and Shirabe blocked the strike with their weapons, even though they were heavily wounded.
"You're not alone, dess." Kirika said.
"We might be immature and weak, but at least we can stay with you so you won't be lonely!" Shirabe said.
Leiur swung her arm, shattering Kirika and Shirabe's weapons. The two fell back from the attack, but seemed to be handling it well. At the noise, Jeanne slowly started to get up. She was gritting her teeth, one hand on her bad eye.
"You two…" Chris muttered.
"It kinda hurt hearing you say you didn't want anyone to learn from you." Kirika said.
"Because we're relying on you to teach us a whole lot of things!" Shirabe said.
"They're right…"
Jeanne stood up, and Chris turned back to see her slowly walk forward, shakily aiming her gun at Leiur. Blood was still pouring from the socket, but she didn't seem to care.
"You're my senpai from SONG, so I still have a lot to learn from you as well." Jeanne said. "Invite me to a shooting range sometime."
Chris still had tears in her eyes, but she was smiling now. "I see… Well, if I managed to teach anyone anything, it's because I have great kouhai like you!"
Leiur took up a stance, as Chris stood strong.
"I'm not scared anymore!" Chris declared.
"I'll watch over these two." Jeanne said, putting one of her guns away. "Go on."
Chris nodded, as Jeanne walked back to Kirika and Shirabe.
"Are you two holding up alright?" Jeanne asked.
"Yeah…" Kirika said.
"But your eye…" Shirabe said.
"It'll be fine-"
Jeanne winced, as her socket began to glow.
To Kirika and Shirabe's amazement, the wound began to heal itself. Part of the flesh around the socket turned gold, before an eye formed. It had a pale green sclera, with a purple iris.
"I…" Jeanne looked at her hands. "I can see! I see with my left eye again!"
She looked at Kirika and Shirabe with a smile, who were both sharing her joy.
"Ignite Module! Bakken!" Chris shouted.
Dáinsleif
She clicked the relic, and let it pierce her chest. She screamed as the power threatened to overwhelm her, but she stayed strong.
They need me to show them the way. Chris thought. I can't let them down. Even if others forgive me, I could never forgive myself!
(Insert TRUST HEART (IGNITED arrangement) by Ayahi Takagaki)
In a burst of black, Chris transformed with the power of the Ignite module. She rushed forward, unleashing a flurry of crossbow bolts at Leiur. The Autoscorer spun her tonfas, blocking all the shots. Chris switched her weapons to SMGs, as Leiur rushed in. She traded blow for blow, shot for shot.
I was about to give up on all the warmth and strength I'd finally gained, out of fear of losing it. Chris thought. They stopped me from making that mistake.
Chris backflipped into the air, before forming a huge weapon.
Leiur's eyes widened. "That rifle-"
"Doubles as a club!" Chris shouted, as she brought it down on Leiur.
RED HOT BLAZE
This world gave me this bond I have with them. Chris thought. It takes away precious things, but it also gives back new things for us to treasure. I get it now, Mama and Papa struggled for peace all for the sake of tipping that scale in the right direction!
Chris jumped back, before she created two massive missiles. She launched both of them straight at Leiur.
MEGA DETH FUGA
Leiur shattered one of them with her tonfa, creating a plume of smoke. "Do you mean to kill everyone here?!"
Chris rode forward on the other missile. Leiur landed, and launched multiple coins, but Chris met them with an equal amount of shots from her miniguns. She overpowered Leiur, who jumped since she was out of ammunition…
…only to find herself right in the missile's path.
I can't avoid this missile… Leiur realized.
Several wires latched around Chris, pulling her off the huge missile. Kirika was the culprit, pulling her senpai out of the explosion radius. "Go, dess!"
The missile hit Leiur, carrying her with it.
"We remembered where the switches are!" Shirabe said.
She unleashed several buzzsaws, as Jeanne fired several shots. The switches were triggered, causing the blast doors to close and contain the missile explosion.
Chris landed safely thanks to Kirika. "We did it, dess!"
"I can't believe we pulled that combination off on the spot." Shirabe said. "That was insane."
"I can only cut loose because I know you all are backing me up." Chris said, turning to face them.
Jeanne smiled, gently pushing Kirika and Shirabe forward so Chris could take one of their hands each.
"Thank you." Chris said with a smile.
Kirika and Shirabe found themselves smiling as well, but the group couldn't celebrate for long. Neptune's Palace had begun to shake.
"Structural stability of Neptune's Palace is dropping sharply." Aoi reported. "The damage is spreading from where Chris-chan and the others are!"
"We're detecting a massive underwater object moving towards us at a high speed!" Fujitaka shouted, pulling up an image. "What is this?!"
The screen showed a giant Autoscorer covered in bandages.
"It's that humanoid weapon?" Genjuro asked, before standing up. "Have Chris-kun's team evacuated?!"
Chris was carrying Kirika and Shirabe in each of her arms, and Jeanne on her back. The former two were unable to keep their Gear forms, so Chris had to resort to carrying them. She was kicking off the walls of an elevator shaft, as the others kept an eye on the situation.
"Oh no… We're not going to make it…" Shirabe muttered.
"Did we achieve nothing working together, dess?" Kirika asked aloud.
"No giving up just yet!" Chris shouted.
She reached the top, landing just outside the submersible. Jeanne was the first to get off her, running to pilot the vehicle, as the other three jumped in behind her. She launched the submersible, driving towards the SONG submarine.
"Made it…" Jeanne said with a breath of relief.
"The shuttle sub has docked!" Fujitaka said.
"Surface immediately!" Genjuro ordered. "We need to move fast, depressurization be damned!"
The submarine started to rise at a rapid rate. The giant Autoscorer kept its pursuit.
"All hands to the bridge!" Genjuro shouted. "Brace for impact! Hurry, Tomosato!"
Aoi was rapidly typing away at her station. With a burst, the submarine breached the surface, as did the giant Autoscorer. She brought a massive fist down on the submarine, causing an explosion in the location she struck.
Rui was staring outside the hospital window. Hibiki was still sleeping behind her. She placed a hand against the window, taking a deep breath.
"Today's the day, huh…"
A/N: That won't be the last we see of Shuri's new abilities, just gonna say that now.
And Jeanne's new eye isn't just for show. There is a reason for this, and those that knew her story in XDU (which is likely none of you) will know why.
Aside from that, there's nothing much changed here. Next chapter though, there will be several more changes to the story.
On another note, Symphogear XDU is collaborating with Yuuki Yuuna is a Hero, which is beyond hype.
Feel free to leave a review. See you all next time.