"All systems green. Launching network jammer in T minus 300 seconds. It is done. I'm sorry, but we no longer have the time, or even the words, to fully explain ourselves. Forgive me… Finé... Aiba… please reach her…"
Aiba blinked several times, having finished charging. In her small hamster-like form she sat up, looking around.
"Good morning, Aiba." Lala said, pulling the wires off of her tiny body. Elfnein smiled, watching the little relic wake up.
"Good morning, Lala, Elfnein. Though I suppose it's more appropriate to say good afternoon." Aiba said.
"Well, with how Antarctica is always in total darkness during Summer, Lala guesses that makes sense." Lala smiled.
"Was there any success in reading more of my memory files?" Aiba asked.
"There wasn't, unfortunately." Elfnein shook her head. "With how much information you contain, it only would take several lifetimes to go through it all. Not to mention that a lot of the old files are in ancient untranslatable text, or outright corrupted."
"Lala is wondering why you don't delete them." Lala she asked.
Aiba was silent momentarily. "I'm not quite sure myself. There's something telling me that keeping those files is important."
"Not deleting it is fine. Lala was just curious." Lala said, patting Aiba on the head.
The door opened and Jeanne walked in. "Is everything good?"
"Aiba is clear to go." Elfnein made an "ok" symbol with her hand.
Jeanne held out her hand, letting Aiba hop on. Raising her to her face, she inserted the little eyeball in her socket, blinking a few times to make sure she was working properly.
"Ugh. Tu as froid." Jeanne shivered.
"Apologies, but being in the Southern Hemisphere means that I will be colder." Aiba said.
"What is the situation like outside?" Lala asked.
"We're approaching now." Jeanne said. "The Commander asked for all hands on deck."
SONG's submarine floated through the icy waters, as the bridge crew got to work. Forte was sitting on one of the desks, sipping a cup of hot cocoa as she watched the snowfall.
"The magnetic flux around the Pole of Inaccessibility is converging fractally!" Fujitaka reported. "Raising threat level from three to four!"
"It's progressed far beyond our initial simulations." Aoi said. "It seems it will emerge almost exactly when the Gear users and SOUL get there!"
"From cross-referencing the intel with our observations, we can assume the Sarcophagus is a relic of prehistoric civilization." Ogawa said.
"Mm." Genjuro's arms were crossed.
"Aiba, can you see anything?" Jeanne asked.
"Unfortunately not. The cold temperatures and winds are making vision difficult, even for me." She said.
"Energy readings from the subglacial Vostok Lake are skyrocketing!" Elfnein reported. "The numbers won't stop going up!"
Lala narrowed her eyes. What is this uneasy feeling?
"Here it comes, huh?" Genjuro asked before holding a hand forward. "All hands, prepare for the emergence of the Sarcophagus!"
High above the icy land, the helicopters from SONG flew above. The doors opened and Hibiki immediately started shivering. "It's freezing! I can't feel my face! Who the heck said it was summer in the southern hemisphere?"
"D-D-Dess!" Kirika agreed.
Rui shivered, before slipping on the Kamen Rider Kuuga gloves that Chris had given to her for her birthday.
"This is Antarctica. It's cold all year round." Chris pointed out. "Once we put on our Gears, the thermal insulation field-"
"Cut the science lesson, Chris!" Maia shouted, as a burst of red energy shot up through the ice, parting the clouds.
"I'm already freezing, but that still gave me chills." Tsubasa sweatdropped, seeing the display of power.
"Save the quips for later, Tsubasa-san." Shuri said, looking down as a huge golden machine rose out of the ice.
"That's the Sarcophagus?" Shirabe asked before turning to Kirika. "Kiri-chan, what's a sarcophagus again?"
"Who the heck would know that? Don't ask me, dess!" Kirika said.
"Did you not listen to Lala's words earlier?" Maria sighed, before making a fist. "Though you should always expect the unexpected! Let's go!"
All nine girls jumped out of the helicopters, diving towards the sarcophagus.
GUNGNIR! AUTHORIZED
RELIC BATTLE MODE; READY
"Balwisyall nescell Gungnir tron~"
"Henshin!"
(Insert ALL LOVES BLAZING by Aoi Yuuki)
KAGUTSUCHI! GUNGNIR MODE
The Tachibana twins were the first ones to finish transforming. The two sped downward with their fists outstretched. The sarcophagus raised an arm and met their strikes, pushing them back.
"It matched their strength?" Maria said, surprised as the two landed with the others. "But our spirits are stronger!"
The machine fired another beam of red energy, as they all jumped out of the way. The blast hit the ice, forming several pillars with spikes on the tips and green flames at the base.
"The hell is that crap?" Chris asked. "What do we do?"
"The only thing we can do!" Maria said. "Stop them!"
"Spread out and approach!" Shuri ordered, aiming Okami. "Prevent it from approaching the observation station at all costs!"
She fired several shots at the sarcophagus as the others scattered. Shirabe and Kirika fired several saws and blades at it.
Alpha Style: 100 Saṃsāra
Kill Juliet
But with surprising agility, the coffin jumped skyward. This let Hibiki jump forward, placing her hands on it and throwing it back. Chris took aim, firing an array of missiles.
MEGA DETH PARTY
"OREYAAAAAAAAH!"
Rui dove in from above, her leg glowing red and forming a cone around her.
CRIMSON SMASH
Rui's foot smashed into the coffin, before the missiles exploded around her. She jumped out of the smoke, landing at Chris' side.
"Heads up!" Rui shouted.
The sarcophagus raised its head, charging a beam of red energy.
"It didn't work?!" Chris shouted, as she and Rui dodged. The blast formed several more spiked pillars of ice.
SONG were observing the battle, making sure things were going smoothly.
"It fiercely attacks anything that gets close to it." Ogawa noted. "Can we really call that a sarcophagus?"
"It's not attacking. It's defending." Genjuro corrected. "I can certainly see a sarcophagus possessing the functionality to keep grave robbers away."
"If they're going the extra mile, it's probably the real deal then." Forte said.
"Commander! It's exhibiting new behavior!" Aoi shouted.
"Aiba, can you scan that thing?" Jeanne asked, only to get no response. "Aiba?"
Her eye started to shake, almost glitching out as Aiba stared at the coffin growing spikes. What is this emotion? Is this… Am I feeling fear?
The spikes on the sarcophagus launched, morphing into small flying drones. They started zipping around, blasting at the girls. This didn't stop Hibiki, who rushed forward and smashed through the drones without issue. With a spinning kick, her scarf tore through an entire row of them. Rui jumped into the air, kicking off a drone and zipping to another, kicking off and repeating her attacks.
"It's trying to pin us down!" Shirabe said, skating alongside Kirika.
"Not if I can help it, dess!" Kirika picked Shirabe up as they spun around, launching Shirabe's saw blades at the drones.
Shuri and Chris were gunning down as many of them as they could. Shuri shot a beam of energy from a railgun, while Chris peppered the air with gatling gun fire.
"We don't have time to swat away all these hornets!" Chris shouted.
"Then we'll clear a path!" Tsubasa shouted. "Neesama!"
"Yeah! Let's cut down these freaking Fin Funnels!" Maia agreed.
The two raised their blades, calling down a rain of smaller swords to slash through a large group of the drones and clearing a path towards the sarcophagus.
"There's an opening!" Elfnein called.
"Run in!" Lala added.
Hibiki and Maria were the first to run forward, drawing their fists back. Hibiki formed a huge gauntlet while Maria created twin blades.
"Fast! Short!" Hibiki jumped into the air.
"Straight! Direct!" Maria did the same.
Their weapons started to rotate, turning into drills. Grasping each-other's hands, the two shouted as they drilled forward, piercing into the sarcophagus and shattering the gem on the chest.
"It worked! Keep it up!" Tsubasa shouted.
"Don't let up on the pressure!" Shuri added, aiming for the new opening.
Hibiki and Maria glanced at each other and nodded, only for the sarcophagus to dive towards them and swat them down into the ice. Kirika and Shirabe quickly skated over to the two downed wielders.
"Are you okay?" Shirabe knelt down.
"Get up, dess!" Kirika said.
Tsubasa, Maia and Shuri landed between the group and the sarcophagus.
"It's coming!" Tsubasa shouted.
"This is gonna sting!" Maia yelled.
"Oneesama!" Shuri called.
"I'll stop it!" Chris dashed forward, bringing up her arms and creating a reflective barrier. Rui landed with her, and put her hands on Chris' shoulders to help keep her in place. The blast of red energy created a massive explosion, forming several more pillars of ice where the wielders stood.
"Confirmed damage reduction from the Reflector!" Fujitaka announced.
"Finished analyzing the Sarcophagus' attacks!" Aoi said. "It's a directed energy beam at minus 5100 degrees! Wait, what?!"
"Absolute Zero is the coldest one can possibly get at minus 460…" Lala said in awe. "This is a temperature that should not be able to exist."
"It's interfering with the principles of the universe beyond the laws of physics…" Elfnein said. "The fields our Gears project can't handle that!"
"So it's cheating?!" Forte shouted. "What the heck do we do, then?"
Most of the wielders had passed out from the cold freezing their bodies. Rui was trying to reach out towards the others, but found her arm was struggling to move.
Damn it… Her vision started to blur as she closed her eyes.
Rui was sitting outside one of the windows of the Lydian classroom, listening to Hibiki singing for one of her make-up musical exams. She had her eyes closed with a smile, hearing her sister sing. It was nice whenever they got a chance to sing outside of a battlefield. The smiling continued as she heard the teacher compliment Hibiki's growth.
"Hey, what are you smiling about?"
Rui looked up to see Chris looking down at her, holding out a hand.
"Just being pretty proud of my younger sister." Rui said, as Chris pulled her up.
"You too, huh?" Chris chuckled. "I just got back from Shuri's violin exam. She got full marks."
"I guess this means we're doing proper jobs as the older twins." Rui smirked. "Anyways, you all good to go?"
"Why do you think I came over here?" Chris asked, before looking at Rui's face closely. "Huh, you're wearing the hair clips I got you."
"Why wouldn't I be? That's what hair pins are for, right?" Rui pointed out, as they walked out of the school grounds. "Besides, a lot of people appreciate it, since they can tell the difference between me and Hibiki much easier now."
"I don't need to look at hair clips to tell the difference between you and the dummy." Chris said.
"You thought I was her the first time we met." Rui reminded her.
"That's an exception!"
Rui laughed as they went into town. Unbeknownst to Chris, Rui was on a secret mission that the others assigned to her. Spend as much time as possible with Chris to distract her from the fact it was almost her birthday, giving the others plenty of time to prepare. Maia was doing the same with Shuri, as she spotted the couple from the corner of her eye as they left Lydian. Rui wasn't complaining that she was on distraction duty. It meant she and Chris would get to spend some time together. Though their first spot for the date would be a surprise when Chris asked for the best hobby store in town. Once they got in, she watched as Chris went over to the shelf with Figure Rise kits.
"You're interested in these?" Rui asked.
"I found myself kinda bored every now and then." Chris admitted. "Maia actually suggested these and showed me the ones she made from mecha anime."
"Of course she did." Rui chuckled, though she was secretly thanking her best friend. "So you're gonna grab one of the Kamen Rider ones?"
"Yeah. I told you I did check out a few, didn't I?" Chris said, looking through the boxes.
"Hmm…" Rui put a hand under her chin. "Mind if I make a guess which ones you like?"
"Huh?" Chris stepped back. "Sure, go for it. But there's no way that-"
Rui had picked up four Figure Rise boxes. The Kamen Riders were Faiz, Wizard, Build and Geats. "It's these four, right?"
"...how?" Chris asked, amazed Rui got it all right.
"I gave you the Geats keychain as a gift, so that would be the first one you'd probably check out on a whim, drawn naturally by his charisma and gun style. Faiz would probably be your next choice due to the gunplay and loner attitude. Wizard you chose because he's red and acrobatic and stylish. Finally, Build would be the more unique pick because not only is he half red, you like cute things like rabbits, but also heavy weapons like tanks. And you respect both Tsubasa and Maia a lot, so you'd try something blue." Rui said, without taking a breath.
"...you're kind of a loser, you know that?" Chris chuckled.
"Hey, you're the one that chose to date this loser. So doesn't that make you a bigger loser?" Rui smirked, as they went to the checkout. While Rui offered to pay, Chris made sure she didn't since this was something she wanted to get for herself.
The two walked out of the hobby store, Rui carrying the bags since she had to at least do something if she couldn't pay for it. The girls walked down the busy streets, watching all the Christmas decorations that were put up. Said day was only a few sleeps away, and only a few days after that it would be the Yukine twins' birthday.
"Christmas, huh." Chris looked around. "It's always weird for me, with how close it is to my birthday."
"Be glad we're not the kind of people that lump in your Christmas and birthday gifts together." Rui chuckled.
"I'd kick you all out of the house if you did…" Chris mumbled. "Did you get anything for Shuri?"
"Yeah. You'll see what it is later." Rui said.
"Though I doubt it'll top what Maia got her…" Chris mumbled.
"Oh yeah? What did that horndog get her?" Rui asked.
"An apartment."
Rui blinked several times. "What."
"Maia strolled into our apartment a few days ago, told us she got her own place bigger than her old one, and asked if Shuri wanted to move in with her." Chris said.
"Wow, they never told me? I thought I was their best friend." Rui pretended to pout. Though I guess they want to make it a surprise for the birthday later. Get a big reaction from the others.
"Shuri moved out a while back." Chris said. "Even though Maia's place isn't that far, it was… pretty tough having to let her go."
"You alright?" Rui asked.
"Yeah, it's just… Shuri was always the little one between us. Now she's gone and moved out… Sometimes I feel less like a sister and more like a parent." Chris said.
"I can understand you there." Rui said, thinking about Hibiki.
"But since she moved out, it's been pretty lonely, being home by myself." Chris said.
An idea went into Rui's mind, though she pushed it down for now. Surely not, right?
"Hey… if you're up for it…" Chris started.
Rui turned around. "Up for what?"
"I could uh… use a roommate." Chris said, blushing. "So… I was wondering if…"
…oh. She really was asking it outright.
"Are you asking me to move in with you?" Rui asked.
"...yeah."
Rui rubbed the back of her head. "Well, I have been a bit too cramped in the dorms with Hibiki and Miku. I could use some of the extra space."
"So are you saying…?" Chris widened her eyes.
"Why would I say no to the girl I love?" Rui asked.
Chris stepped forward, hugging Rui. Rui wrapped her arms around Chris, gently rubbing the back of her head.
"So should we tell the others?" Rui asked.
"Nah, make it a surprise for them." Chris said. "I'll give you my spare key and you can "gift" it to me."
"Oh that's gonna be real funny." Rui grinned.
The two would've stayed there longer, ignoring all stares from pedestrians, before they heard an explosion go off in the distance. Separating, they looked up at the plume of smoke.
"What the-?!" Chris widened her eyes.
"That's on the lake… what's going on?" Rui muttered. She tapped the communicator, only to immediately wince as almost everyone was on the line at once.
"Everyone, keep calm!" Genjuro shouted. "I've arranged transport back to base, we'll explain things further here!"
They heard the roar of a car engine as a convertible drove up, with Lala as the driver. "Rui! Chris! Hop in!"
"Wait, you're driving?" Chris asked.
"Lala has every driving motion programmed in her mind and also a license by technicality." Lala said. "Hurry!"
"Alright!" Rui hopped in the back with Chris. "Step on it!"
"This had better be good." Maia said, having lipstick kisses all over her face and neck, with her hair and clothes a complete mess. "Shuri and I were busy when this happened."
Shuri also had lipstick marks, but only on her face. Her clothes and hair were notably less messy.
"You're the worst." Shirabe deadpanned.
"Don't bother. She'll see it as a compliment." Rui snarked.
"Why am I getting insulted?" Maia asked. "If anything, I was the love victim here."
Tsubasa had her face in her hands, while Chris patted her senpai on the back in sympathy.
"Let's just move on…" Maria stepped forward as the door opened.
Everyone had arrived at the bridge, with the screen showing a cruise ship that had burst into flames. There were several firefighter boats attempting to put out the fires.
"There was an explosion at a SONG research facility disguised as a cruise ship." Genjuro explained.
"A floating laboratory, dess?" Kirika said.
"Was it researching something too dangerous to handle in the city?" Shirabe asked.
"Yes. We were investigating the recovered remains of an Autoscorer." Genjuro said.
"Yeah, it's who you're thinking of." Forte told the surprised members before pulling up Tiki's remains.
"Through analyzing the destroyed Antikythera Gear and the Autoscorer which housed it, we were hoping to shed some light on the goals of Adam Weishaupt and the Bavarian Illuminati." Aoi said.
"It's possible the explosion was a safety mechanism triggered by researchers who delved too far." Ogawa guessed.
"We asked Saint-Germain about it, but she said not even she knew everything." Jeanne said. "The Lodgemaster Adam seems to have kept quite a bit of knowledge hidden from her."
"The Autoscorer called Tiki was capable of recording the movements of the planets and deducing various phenomena based on the data collected." Elfnein said, typing a few times as the map showed a red dot on the bottom of the Earth.
"Is that Antarctica?" Tsubasa asked.
"The last data salvaged before the explosion was the coordinates to a particular location there." Fujitaka explained.
"Specifically, Lake Vostok, one of the largest lakes in Antarctica." Aoi specified. "There's a Russian research station located nearby."
"A lake? Where?" Hibiki put a hand up to try looking closer. "All I see is snow and more snow."
Rui was on the floor, wondering where she failed in educating her sister as Chris patted her on the back.
"Most of that snow is Lake Vostok." Fujitaka clarified. "It's just hidden under lots of ice."
"The Earth's climate is not static and has undergone many significant changes in the past." Elfnein said. "These changes have been especially stark in recent years, as much of the polar ice has melted."
"You're not gonna tell me they found something under the ice, right?" Chris asked.
"I'm afraid they did." Aoi said.
"It's too big of a hope to pray it's Captain America, right?" Maia crossed her arms.
"This frozen scorpion was found near Vostok Station just recently." Lala said, bringing up the image.
"It was identified as a species that lived in the Middle East thousands of years ago." Fujitaka said. "A species which is now extinct."
"How did that get to Antarctica?" Maria asked.
"We're still investigating the details, but if Lala were to guess, Lala suspects that it was somehow brought there by a prehistoric civilization." Lala said.
"Tesla had a few mentions of that in his notes, but stopped really looking at them because it didn't help him." Forte added.
"And that isn't the only point of concern we found." Ogawa said, pulling up a monitor to show many different pictures of SONG agents across the world, as well as a few of Adam. "Our agents have been investigating remnant cells of the Bavarian Illuminati that went to ground after its collapse."
"The intel they found indicates that Adam wanted to use the divine power to achieve a specific goal." Genjuro said.
"And what goal was that?" Tsubasa asked.
"In order to become the ruler of this planet, he wished to destroy "the Sarcophagus which will surface from the abyss of time."" Genjuro said.
"What, dess?" Kirika asked.
"Surfacing from the abyss of time?" Shirabe repeated. "That sounds way too much like that frozen scorpion they found."
"Our next mission will be recon in Antarctica." Genjuro said. "Considering this intel originates from the Bavarian remnants, it's possible this whole thing could be a trap. We commence the operation in one week. I want all of you in perfect shape."
"Roger!" They all said.
Hibiki's eyes were instead focused on the picture of Adam in his monstrous form, remembering the words he spoke.
"Hope was crushed today. In your tomorrow, in your future, lies only despair!"
Hidden behind a snowbank, two cloaked figures were watching the battle unfold. One held out her hands for a makeshift telescope.
"Wow… They sure went down easily, huh?" One had pink hair.
Her companion with blue hair sniffled due to the cold temperature. "Not like we'd do any better against something that big, but I was hoping they'd put up more of a fight."
A ringing was heard in their ears, as a third member came over the line.
"How is it? Everything going to plan?"
"The Sarcophagus has resurfaced."
"Was the Lodgemaster really trying to destroy that thing so he could rule the planet?"
"Well, we can't ask him now. But in any case, his goals are not our goals." There was a screech of tires on the other end. "We're not trying to destroy the Sarcophagus. We want to use it ourselves. This is a battle to take back our future. And that's why we have to win. Oh, and Millaarc, Elsa, do be sure to keep an eye out on those three in particular. They always seem to throw a wrench into things."
"Understood." Elsa nodded. "We'll keep an eye on them, Vanessa."
Within her cell, Saint-Germain was silently leaning against a wall, before opening her eyes.
This premonition… Something is about to happen…
"All nine Gear users are still comatose!" Aoi shouted. "They won't last!"
"What about Shuri's Ignite abilities?" Jeanne asked, not wanting to vocalize the cost.
"She needs to take a lot of damage to counter that much power." Lala said. "And we can't risk it if she doesn't have that power to regenerate anymore."
Genjuro frowned, and turned to leave.
"Commander!" Ogawa called after him.
"Don't worry. I wore extra-warm underpants." Genjuro said. "I'll be back before I even feel the cold."
"That's not it, though!" Ogawa said.
"If that's the case, let me go with you." Forte said.
"Forte!" Lala turned to her friend.
"I'm not just gonna stand here and do nothing!" Forte declared. "Elekleid or not, I can help!"
The screen lit up, as they all turned to it. Aoi zoomed in. "A flare! The Sarcophagus has halted its advance."
Going in closer, they saw that some of the researchers had stayed behind. One of them had shot the flare.
"What are you doing?!"
"Those girls must be freezing out there!" He loaded in another flare. "What if they catch a cold?"
Hibiki started to stir, her fingers twitched with small movements. The warmth of the flare slightly grazed them before the cold returned. The Sarcophagus blasted at the research facility, making the men run. "I knew this would happen!"
Hibiki barely opened an eye. "Everyone is here…"
She clenched a fist, raising it and shattering the ice trapping her, jumping upwards.
"I have to fight for them!" She declared.
She landed, ready to keep fighting. A bullet shot at the sarcophagus, bursting into ice, before missiles slammed into it, shattering it into shards. She turned to see the others had broken out as well.
(Insert Rikka Ryoran by Aoi Yūki, Nana Mizuki, Ayahi Takagaki, Yōko Hikasa, Yoshino Nanjō and Ai Kayano or B.A.T.T.L.E G.A.M.E by Kamen Rider Girls and Rider Chips)
"You wanna be a hero that badly?" Chris asked.
"Well, that probably comes with having a superhero big sis." Maia chuckled, while Rui rolled her eyes.
"You're not the only one on the battlefield, Tachibana!" Tsubasa said, increasing the size of her blade.
"Welcome back! We'll be fighting my hardest in our own way!" Elfnein smiled. "So don't worry!"
"With all of you behind me, I can fight on!" Hibiki smiled.
"Rui! Lala thinks it's time for you to show the new upgrade!" Lala said.
"You don't need to tell me twice!" Rui grinned, raising her wrist. "Elekleid, Henshin!"
Rui was surrounded by the two violet rings of electricity, before donning the Elekleid armor. However, there were several differences now. The armor was a bit more streamlined, completely covering all of Rui's legs and torso, with the chest a bit more heavily protected. Her wrists and boots were a bit bulkier, resembling the Gungnir armor of her normal Relic Battle Mode. The helmet had changed considerably, as the top had moved down to just above her eyes, letting her hair flow freely behind her. Her sideburns were flowing down, but her eyes were hidden by a silver visor. Upon the visor were two large red orbs with a compound-eyes design, resembling a certain line of masked heroes. A silver scarf was around her neck, flowing freely, ending off with the Gungnir crystal on her chest.
"Oh… my God, dess." Kirika said, eyes sparkling.
"Of course when everyone else gave their Gears a makeover, you just had to make yours even more obvious than you already make it." Maia sighed.
"As Rui-san's own form of Rebuild, the Elekleid has changed in design and even draws on a bit of Gungnir's strength." Elfnein explained. "Though she could've used it earlier, she insisted on saving it to make a big impact."
"You're a total loser." Chris chuckled.
"I'm your loser." Rui smirked under her mask. "But you guys can rag on it later. Cause the big guy is moving!"
The Sarcophagus started to lumber forward once more, spikes growing on the body. It launched them, summoning more of the remote drones. They combined into longer spires and shot at the girls.
Hibiki and Rui deflected them with their wrists, before running forward and dodging the rest. The drones smashed through the ice, cracking it and causing the icy water to surface. Tsubasa and Maia surfed on their blades, dodging the rising spires of ice and slicing through the bots. Chris launched two remote drones on her waist, defending her and Shuri, as they shot down several more with their bows.
GIGA ZEPPELIN
Maria drew her blade and spun it all around her, becoming a blade tornado that slashed through the funnels.
SILVER†GOSPEL
Shirabe retreated towards the research facility, providing protection for the workers. Her buzzsaws cut through the drones with ease. When they fired upon her, she spun her blades as a makeshift shield. While the blasts aimed at the workers, this allowed Hibiki and Rui to swoop in and get them out of the way. Kirika pulled back on her scythe and slashed forward, launching several blades, providing support to Shirabe while also cutting down a few on her own.
"Are you okay?" Hibiki asked the worker she saved.
"Heads up!" Rui shouted, letting one worker down. Hibiki looked up and saw that drones were ready to fire on one end, while the Sarcophagus was preparing from the other.
"From both sides?!" Hibiki realized.
"Incoming! Punch it!" Elfnein said.
"You're making no sense!" Hibiki shouted, drawing her fist back. She punched the blast from the Sarcophagus, while Rui covered the workers with an electric barrier. The blast dispersed into smaller beams that shot down the various drones.
"Nice one, Hibiki!" Rui gave her sister a thumbs-up.
"Adjusted the defense field on her fist!" Fujitaka shouted.
"It was a rush job, but Elfnein-chan made it in time!" Aoi said.
"Analyzing and reconstructing is the fundamental principle of alchemy! This is my way of fighting" Elfnein said with a small fistpump. "And with Lala-san's reactions helping me, it's all but guaranteed!"
Lala nodded with a smile, her fingers plugged into the dashboard and eyes glowing.
Using the opportunity, everyone else fired an attack from every angle at the Sarcophagus. Rui jumped into the air, making a hand sign before an orange eye symbol formed behind her. It converged into her foot before she dove at the Sarcophagus with a shout, shrouded in ethereal orange energy.
OMEGA DRIVE
The attacks were strong enough to send the Sarcophagus crashing on its back, breaking through the ice.
"Hurry to the SONG evacuation point!" Hibiki advised the researcher.
"Th-Thank you!" She nodded, running over to one of the trucks, as she and her co-workers drove off.
The Sarcophagus grew spikes and started rapidly rolling towards Hibiki. Seeing that the researchers were still evacuating behind her, Hibiki charged to face it head-on. "Not on my watch!"
With a boost of speed and her gauntlet increasing in size, she smashed her fist straight into it. The force of the attack was enough to disrupt the roll, but it slammed one of its arms into Hibiki, smashing her into the ice and forcing them both into the freezing water.
"It broke through the ice?!" Shirabe shouted.
Kirika slashed through a drone. "Looks like it, dess!"
"That dummy!" Chris muttered.
"She can't sing underwater, so the Gear output drops!" Maria remembered.
Without hesitating, Rui was ready to dive on in. But a vortex of water and wind burst through the ice, parting the clouds and letting sunlight through. Hibiki landed on her hands, taking several breaths with how long she was underwater.
"Are you alright, Tachibana?" Tsubasa asked.
"You practically swallowed the ocean." Rui hit her on the back.
"Never mind me!" She coughed, looking up at the Sarcophagus she had launched. "We gotta deal with that!"
Maia whistled. "You sent the big guy pretty far."
"We should aim for the damaged point on its throat. Focus all the Gears' power there!" Maria suggested.
"But it's a rotating, moving target! If we miss with our strongest attacks, we won't get another chance!" Shirabe said.
"Aiming is the sniper's job." Chris said. "Shuri?"
Shuri nodded. "We'll take aim and guide the others."
"Alright. Let's do this, everyone!" Tsubasa said.
"Right! (Dess!)"
Their armor all started to glow. Rui's Elekleid started to smoke. "Cast off!"
"Gear Blast!" Their armor sparked and disappeared. The helmet on Rui's broke away, showing her face. Their armor shards floated around them.
"We can help calculate the trajectory!" Fujitaka said.
"Wait! The drones are gathering around it!" Aoi shouted.
"They're acting as reflectors?" Chris asked, as she and Shuri put on targeting reticles.
"Distance: 1,500." Fujitaka reported. "1,200!"
"Chris-chan, Shuri-san, it's almost your birthday!" Hibiki said. "Once this fight's over-!"
"You can jinx yourself, but leave me out of it!" Chris shouted.
"I think it's a nice gesture, Oneesama." Shuri smiled.
"Is it time yet? Come on, dess!" Kirika grumbled.
"It's gonna squish us flat!" Shirabe added.
"Stay calm. Stay calm." Chris muttered to herself. "That goes for you guys too!"
"You can do this." Rui softly said to her.
The opening was clear for the Yukine siblings. They saw the shot aimed at the open hole.
"Target, locked on!" Shuri shouted.
"Now!" Chris yelled.
"G3FA! Hexa-Revolver!" Throwing their fists forward, the armor shards converged into a single beam of energy. It pierced through all the intercepting drones, striking the Sarcophagus' damaged throat. It went up in a massive explosion, blowing away the clouds and letting the sunlight shine down on the frozen continent.
"Gotchaaaaaaaaa!" Rui raised a fist, celebrating with the others.
Seeing that the danger was over and the remains of the coffin were unmoving, the researchers moved in to observe it. Jeanne, Lala and Forte were standing nearby. One of the men placed a heat detector on it, only for the coffin to smoke and open up.
"Lala!" Forte said. "You see anything?"
Lala blinked a few times, letting her eyes adjust before she zoomed-in on the center. "Lala… Lala thinks she sees something. Sending it back to base."
The others were seeing the camera feed from both Lala and Aiba's visions.
"That's a Custodian?" Genjuro said. "The body of an Anunnaki, beings once revered as gods…"
"Some might call it "Corpus Dei."" Ogawa said.
Suddenly, Aiba's footage went out. Jeanne could be heard from Lala's footage. "Huh? Aiba! Aiba, what happened?!"
The camera turned to Jeanne, showing that Aiba had fallen out of her eye socket, closing up. All the color from her had completely faded away.
A/N: And so the beginning of the end begins. We're finally at the final stretch of the story. Can't believe we're finally here.
The first chapter of XV begins here, and not only is it action-packed, but we also see a different POV than Hibiki's. XV's gonna be second place for how many original scenes there are, with only Lost Song (the completely original arc) having more. Expect more than a few changes as we go down the line.
Feel free to leave a review. See you all next time.