"Proto-Gungnir's signal… disappeared…" Fujitaka said slowly, seeing the signal gone on the monitor.
"We're… we're not picking up anything." Aoi reported.
"That… that can't be true!" Elfnein said, tears flowing down her eyes. "Rui-san… Rui-san is…!"
Genjuro closed his eyes, gritting his teeth.
"Holy crap…" Forte's eyes were wide as plates. "She's… Susanoo actually…"
Lala somberly looked at the Symphogear wielders, feeling pity for them. She clasped her hands together in silent prayer.
The girls were all in complete shock. Maia was still gripping her partner's weapon, hands shaking. Chris was the first to recover, breaking the silence.
"God dammit…" She dropped her guns, kneeling down and slamming her fist on rubble. Tears were falling down her face as she screamed. "GOD FUCKING DAMMIIIIIIT!"
Tsubasa turned away, facing Susanoo. "Everyone… we still have to defeat that monster."
"Tsubasa…" Maria said quietly, noticing her shoulders shaking with each word.
"I swear on Ame-no-Habakiri… I will avenge you, Rui Tachibana!" Tsubasa declared, drawing her sword and rushing at the huge creature. While her legs were still shaking from the lacerations, all the pain in her body was numb, replaced by a desire for vengeance.
"Wait, Tsubasa! You're still-!"
Maria called out, but it was drowned out as Shuri screamed and aimed Okami, unloading every last bullet in the chambers at Susanoo. They all exploded into ice, seemingly encasing it. Tsubasa jumped skyward and slashed down, shattering through… but it did no damage, only breaking the ice.
"Wha-?!"
Susanoo threw a flaming fist forward and she was struck in the air. Sent crashing into a building side, her transformation dispersing as she fell to the ground.
"Tsubasa!" Maia shouted. She quickly rushed over to her, still holding Rui's weapon. No, I'm not gonna lose you too! Never!
"Shuri-san, what should we-?" Shirabe turned to Shuri, only to see that their field leader had fallen to her knees, eyes wide and unresponsive with tears running down her face.
With all the chaos unfolding around them, Hibiki, through hyperventilating breaths, turned to look at Susanoo, which was preparing to fire again.
Her vision turned red, as her teeth clenched and sharpened. She practically ripped off her pendant, and clicked it. There was no announcement as it started glowing blood red.
"You monster… how dare you…?!"
Her voice became raspy and rageful, as dark red energy started to crawl up her body. The Relic sharpened and impaled her, but she barely paid notice as the power spread through her.
"Is she…?!" Kirika realized what was going on.
"That shouldn't be possible…" Maria said.
"I'll kill you… I'LL KILL YOU!"
With a burst of power, Hibiki shot forward at Susanoo, enveloped by her berserk state once more. She looked even more demonic with the added traits of the Ignite, somehow merged into the form. A state of perfect imperfection.
"H-Hibiki-san…" Shirabe said in shock.
Susanoo swung its blade down at Hibiki. She sped to the side, dodging the strike. It shot out a stream of fire, but she pushed straight on through. It smashed its fist on top of her, seemingly stopping the girl.
Only for the hand to explode in shrapnel and fire, as Hibiki tore out of it in fury.
Letting out an inhuman scream of rage, Hibiki dug her claws into Susanoo's chest. Instead of passing right through the flaming body, she started ripping and tearing into the body. Once she had torn through most of it, she plunged her arm as deep as she could. Hibiki managed to grip tight, as she ripped through the fire. Susanoo let out an odd cry that resembled pain, as Hibiki dug in further.
"She's… harming it…?" Lala said in surprise, as Forte was left speechless at seeing it all happen.
Hibiki kept tearing into Susanoo, not stopping her demonic roars as she kept on ripping it apart. There was no blood from the monster, but the flames were landing all around them, burning out seconds after hitting the ground. The others couldn't tell Hibiki to stop. The shock of what was happening was still overwhelming, but part of them wanted Susanoo to suffer for what it had done.
With one last roar, Hibiki ripped out what resembled a core, with flaming cables connecting it to Susanoo's solid body parts. With a pull, the flaming wires all snapped, as the larger flames all started to fade. A resonating crack rang out through the area as it was shattered in Hibiki's palm. Once Hibiki crushed the core, all that was left of Susanoo was a husk of metal. Breathing heavily, she fell to her knees, as her dark transformation started to fade and the metallic rasp in her voice disappeared. She was back to normal, with soot stains on her torn clothes. Seeing that Susanoo had been destroyed, Lala and Forte quietly retreated back to report things to Tesla.
Silence had fallen over everyone. The sounds of the destruction were slowly starting to fade as SONG's agents had arrived to take everyone back.
"Hibiki!"
Miku ran out of one of the cars towards her friend, who was still staring at the ground. She put her hands on her shoulders.
"Are you-?"
Hibiki looked up, tears on her face, her eyes hollow.
"Miku… Oneesan… she's… she's…"
Miku's own tears started to fall as she pulled Hibiki into a hug. Nearby, Maia watched the two, after making sure that Tsubasa had been safely put into the ambulance. She held up Kagutsuchi in its charred state. Her hands were shaking.
Partner…
A few hours had passed since the battle with Susanoo. Almost all of the Wielders were brought back to the base to recuperate from the fight.
Almost all of them.
"We've reviewed security footage of the battle, and found two of the TEC agents." Aoi said.
"What were they doing?" Genjuro asked.
"It looked like they were just observing, before they left once the giant flaming machine was disabled." Fujitaka said.
They looked at the footage, seeing the expressions on the two. It was hard to tell through all the smoke and flames, but it resembled… unease?
"I'll run further scans to see what I can find." Aiba said.
"What's the status of the wielders?" Genjuro asked.
"Tsubasa-san took the most damage from pushing herself a bit too far. She's currently resting, but she won't be able to fight for at least a few days and will require support when walking." Elfnein reported in a shaky voice. "The others all took much less damage, but will be in fighting condition soon enough. I suggested that they all get some sleep, but…"
"That's not something they can do right now…" Fujitaka said, a pained expression on his face. Aoi had her hands over her mouth, trying to push down her sobs.
"...as for the search?" Genjuro asked.
"I… I had Aiba scan the place, at least ten times." Jeanne said, looking down. "...nothing. Not a single trace of her."
"I'm sorry I couldn't do more."
"There wouldn't be a chance for us to… find her body…" Ogawa said, remembering Susanoo's flames.
Elfnein's own sniffles had grown louder, reflecting everyone's emotions. Genjuro let out a deep sigh, keeping his fists clenched.
I failed them all as a teacher and commander… Rui-kun…
Against the suggestions of Elfnein and the doctors, the girls were all out of bed. Maria, Kirika and Shirabe sat outside Tsubasa's hospital room, while the others were all inside. The former FIS members gave them space, as the others had known Rui longer.
"I can't believe… she can't be…" Kirika said quietly.
"I don't want to believe it myself." Maria said, looking at her pendant. She remembered the conflicts she had gotten into with the girl back when she was a part of FIS. While Hibiki was the one that pulled her over to the right side, it was Rui that kickstarted things in the first place.
Shirabe herself was completely silent, simply reminiscing the times she and Rui traded cooking tips, remembering happy memories that would never happen anymore. Rui was the one that gave her the wake up-call, letting her know she was wrong… now she was gone.
"Um, Akatsuki-san? Tsukuyomi-san?"
The two looked up to see Kuriyo, Shiori and Yumi walking up. The three all had dried tears on their faces, no doubt having heard the news.
"We're sorry for coming in like this, but we have something to give you." Kuriyo said, handing over a bag to Maria.
"Isn't this…?" Maria widened her eyes.
"It belonged to Rui, yeah." Yumi nodded. "She left something inside for all of you guys."
They walked off to give them some space, as well as mourn separately.
"...are you going to look inside?" Shirabe finally spoke.
"No, not yet." Maria looked towards the door of Tsubasa's hospital room. "Give them a few more moments first."
"I haven't heard anything… are they okay, dess?" Kirika asked.
"They knew Rui-san much longer than we did… they're devastated…" Shirabe said.
Inside, absolutely nothing was being said. All six of the girls present were either looking down or at the wall. Hibiki was sitting on the floor and leaning against a wall, while Miku kept an arm around her. Chris and Shuri were both sitting in chairs, silent. Maia was sitting on the edge of Tsubasa's bed.
"So…" Maia was the one that broke the silence.
Some of them looked up at her, acknowledging she said something. But for once, Maia found she was speechless. She couldn't think of anything to say. What are you supposed to say in a situation like this?
Tsubasa spoke up to help her sister. There was something she needed to say, after all. "Tachibana… I'm sorry."
If Hibiki heard her, she didn't show any indication that she did.
"If I was stronger… your sister would still be with us… we wouldn't be in this room, trying to discuss this. Forgive me for this failure…" Tsubasa was trying to keep her composition.
She wanted Hibiki to lash out. Scream at how she hated her. Maybe even hit her. It would never make it up for how Rui wasn't with them, but in the back of her mind, she hoped that it would somehow help the guilt go away.
"It's… It's okay, Tsubasa-san…" Hibiki said, almost murmuring. "Oneesan… she wouldn't want you to think like that… you tried your best to help us… you would've… done the same as her…"
That was what they all expected Hibiki to say, but it didn't help the mood lessen in the slightest. In fact, Tsubasa felt the guilt creep up even further, as she leaned back on her pillow.
"That moron…" Chris grit her teeth. "Why did she always have to play the hero…?"
"She always was that kind of person…" Shuri said, her tears flowing freely.
"Rui…" Miku said quietly, remembering her friend.
Hibiki was remembering her sister, and everything she'd do for her. The times they spent together were now just a distant memory…
There was a gentle knock on the door.
"Sorry, but can we come in?" Maria's voice came.
"Yes, you can, Maria." Tsubasa said.
Maria entered the room with Kirika and Shirabe. The others saw the bag that she was holding.
"That's… Oneesan's bag…!" Hibiki realized, standing up.
"Your friends gave it to us." Maria said. "It looks like Rui was with them before the attack started. And… she left something inside."
Maria gave Hibiki the bag. She opened it up shakily, to see a box inside. Putting it down, she took off the top to see there were several keychains, each with small tags that had each of their names.
"This is…?" Maria picked up the one that had her name, labeled Saber.
"Kamen Riders, dess?" Kirika said, picking up Kiva.
"But why for us?" Shirabe asked, holding up Drive.
"Because this is how the Chunnigure always does things." Chris smiled through her tears, holding up Geats.
"It's just like her." Shuri nodded, holding Ex-Aid.
"But I don't understand it." Tsubasa said, holding Blade in her palm. "Aren't these something she likes herself?"
"Yeah, but it's the meaning behind them." Maia was holding onto Decade. "Why she chose these to be her gifts."
"These ones… I think Rui bought them for us because we remind her of these ones in particular." Miku was holding Zi-O, softly smiling. "She was always thinking of us."
Hibiki shakily held up a keychain of Fourze, who was holding out a fist, as if ready to do the friendship handshake with her. She read the label.
To Hibiki, the greatest little sister in the world.
That was the last thing she needed to see, as the floodgates opened again and she wailed. Miku pulled Hibiki into another hug, as the others looked at the younger Tachibana apologetically, all wishing they could've done more.
Chris looked down at the keychain of Kamen Rider Geats.
I swear… I'll make them pay if it's the last thing I do… I know we all will. Not just for you Rui, but for Hibiki…
With the TEC, Lala and Forte had returned back to base, to see Starlit waiting for them.
"Welcome back, you two." She said. "How did it go?"
"Susanoo's been destroyed." Forte reported. "I dunno how that happened, but Hibiki Tachibana killed it."
"Destroyed?" Starlit repeated.
"Lala saw it too." Lala said. "But… it also killed one of them…"
Starlit was silent, gently putting hand on Lala's shoulder. "Are you alright? You're shaking."
"I don't think Lala's going to get used to any of this, even by the time we succeed." Forte said.
"Lala's okay…" Lala said. "Lala will just push through… for a better world…"
Starlit smiled. "You're a strong girl, Lala."
Forte then noticed something off about Starlit, before looking at her wrist. "Wait, your bracelet is gone. Where's your Elekleid?"
"I went on a small mission using it, but pushed myself too far again." Starlit said. "As of now, I'll no longer be an active fighting member of TEC."
"W-Wait, just the two of us now?" Forte asked. "I mean, I'm pretty sure we can easily kick their asses, but…"
"There is another option…" Starlit said. "But it's not one that Tesla and I hoped to resort to."
The Sun had risen. Hibiki was sitting atop the SONG submarine, hugging her knees to her chest. Clenched tightly in her hand was the keychain of Fourze; the last gift from her sister.
"Hibiki?"
She looked up to see Miku walk up, before sitting down next to her.
"How do you feel?" Miku asked.
"...terrible." Hibiki looked out at the sea.
"Do you… want to talk about it?" Miku asked.
"...I miss her." Hibiki said. "I want her to be here with us."
"Yeah… me too."
"All those times she was there for me, you, everybody… I still remember it all." Hibiki said.
"I remember how it was like when we first met." Miku chuckled.
Hibiki smiled. "She beat up one of the bigger kids on the playground, and you got really scared because you thought it was me that did it."
"Well, you never told me that you had a twin back when we first met." Miku pointed out. "That's not the sort of thing that should slip your mind."
"And even after she met you, I remember all that you would say to each other was like "Hi" or "Hey" and nothing else." Hibiki recalled.
"That's because we weren't really friends yet." Miku said. "It took a while before we were really on speaking terms."
"Then it was the three of us sticking together…" Hibiki smiled. "She always looked out for us even after we got into Lydian."
"Do you remember that one girl that made fun of my hair?" Miku recalled.
Hibiki winced, remembering that Rui had confronted the girl. She tried settling things peacefully, but when the mean girl didn't back down, Rui had swiftly knocked her out with a roundhouse kick to the face. Yes, Rui did get in trouble for it, but it was a surprisingly light slap on the wrist considering she only got an hour of detention for kicking someone in the face.
"I remember she looked so confused when I chewed her out for it." Miku chuckled. "She was so used to people getting mad at her for doing bad things, that she got caught off guard when I was mad at her for what she thought was a good thing."
"But thanks to that, Oneesan got a lot better at handling situations. I have to thank you for that, Miku." Hibiki smiled.
The two sat in silence once more, looking out at the sea. Miku looked down to her side to see that Hibiki's hands were still trembling. She quickly grasped Hibiki's one of hand to help it stop. Hibiki felt the warmth, and it helped quite a bit.
"...Miku, can you promise me something?" Hibiki asked.
"What is it, Hibiki?"
"Promise me… you won't leave me alone…"
Miku smiled, gently pulling Hibiki into a hug. "I'll always be here for you."
Hibiki thought she'd start crying again, but found that she wasn't. Standing up, she had a determined expression on her face.
"Hibiki?" Miku stood up as well.
"I'll stop them… I'll stop TEC's plan for a new world… I'll do it for Oneesan."
"Well said, Tachibana."
Hibiki and Miku turned around to see Tsubasa. She was still in her hospital gown and using a pair of crutches, while Maria and Maia were helping support her. Chris, Shuri, Kirika and Shirabe stood nearby.
"You know, you could've just stayed behind." Maia chided her sister.
"Come now, this is far less reckless than anything you've done, Neesama." Tsubasa said.
"Fair enough."
"What are you all doing out here?" Hibiki asked. "Tsubasa-san, you should be in bed-"
"Don't bother, Hibiki." Maria sighed. "We've told Tsubasa the same thing at least a dozen times."
"We saw you were still down, dess, so we were kind of eavesdropping to make sure you were okay." Kirika rubbed the back of her head.
"But it looks like you're… mostly doing okay." Shirabe said.
"We did overhear what you said." Shuri said. "And we'll stand by your side to the end, Hibiki-san."
"Everyone…" Hibiki said, touched.
"Rui was our friend too, Hibiki." Chris said. "And we wanna bring in those jerks at TEC, just as much."
A few of the others looked at Chris in shock. She had actually used the names of the Tachibana twins, instead of her usual word choices of "Dummy" and "Chunnigure."
"Whoa, you're really serious about this one." Maia muttered under her breath.
"Then… all of you… will help me stop TEC?" Hibiki asked.
"You've always been the one to reach out and help us, Tachibana." Tsubasa said.
"We're only merely returning the favor to someone we all owe a lot to." Maria smiled. "Both you, and Rui."
"Thank you, everyone." Hibiki smiled. She held out her hand towards them. "We'll stop TEC together… For Oneesan."
Without hesitation, everyone placed their hands atop Hibiki's. It felt slightly hollow, with there being only eleven of them, serving as a painful memory of their fallen friend. But as if to fill the hollow feeling, Miku put her hand on top of everyone's.
"For Rui." Miku said.
"For Rui!"
Determination practically surged through all of them, as their spirits were all lifted. They would bring TEC to justice, in the name of their fallen friend.
A promise that they all believed.
A/N: Nothing much to say for this one. Here we have a cooldown chapter after what happened. The Author's Notes are gonna be short often, as I won't have too much to say.
Feel free to leave a review and update the TVTropes page. See you all next time.