Their Symphogears and willpower restored, Tsubasa and Chris took to the skies next to Hibiki. Their X-Drives shone in the sky.
"They look so awesome!" The little girl said, watching the screen.
"Looks like we saved the day again!" Yumi said, hands on her hips.
"To save people, and be saved… It's a nice feeling." Shiori said.
"It's like we're fighting right there alongside them!" Kuriyo added.
Miku nodded, as she watched the screen, before speaking softly.
"You can do this, Hibiki."
The girls were floating in the air, staring down Finé. Their sisters looked up in amazement.
"With these gears, born from our friends' songs, there's no way we can lose." Hibiki said. "Their song is what gave Chris and Tsubasa the strength to stand once more. Songs grant more than just the power to fight. They give life!"
"Is that why I'm better?" Rui realized, holding the leg-splint in her hand.
"Our weapons resonate with the relics." Maia remembered. "That must be why you're back in top condition. Hell, I feel powered-up as well!"
"Me too." Shuri said, feeling the energy flow through her.
"High-level phonic gain?" Finé scoffed. "Just like what happened two years ago."
Who gives a damn? Chris yelled… though she didn't open her mouth.
"Telepathy, too?" Finé asked. "Even with the limiters on your Gears released, you don't stand a chance!"
Holding up Solomon's Cane, she summoned several Noise to the battlefield.
I've had enough of your tricks! Chris clenched her fist.
Was it you who let the Noise loose on the world?! Tsubasa asked.
The Noise are autonomous weapons that were created by mankind, who had lost their common understanding to slaughter each other. Finé explained.
People created them to kill each other? Hibiki asked.
The gates to the treasury of Babylon are being held open. Finé continued. They used to only escape through that door once a decade at most, but I've made it happen constantly. They're simply a power source for me.
You're still spewing that incomprehensible bullshit?! Chris had a look of irritation on her face.
Rui, Maia and Shuri just watched as the Noise shot at the girls, which they easily dodged.
"I feel like we missed out on a long conversation or something." Maia said, as Finé lifted Solomon's Cane skyward.
"Descend!" She cried, as a beam of green light shot upwards, exploding into smaller bursts that summoned horde after horde of Noise. It was like a sea of them. The Symphogears went back-to-back-to-back in the sky, while their sisters did the same right below them on the ground.
"They're everywhere!" Hibiki said.
"No problem! I'll blast them all into tiny pieces!" Chris boasted.
Tsubasa smirked, as Chris rushed off into battle.
"Tsubasa-san." Hibiki said, causing the blue-haired girl to turn to her. "I… did something terrible…"
She looked at her hand. While she had mostly lost control of herself in that moment, she still remembered. The feeling of the claw piercing Tsubasa's chest. The blood splattering on the stones.
Tsubasa smiled at her. "Don't worry about it."
Hibiki looked at her in surprise.
"You listened to me when I called out to you. You came to your senses." Tsubasa said. "Be proud of your strength."
"Tsubasa-san…" Hibiki said.
"We fight together, Tachibana." Tsubasa said.
"Right!"
The two flew off after Chris, joining the girl in battling the hordes of Noise. Down below, their sisters had grouped up. They had already made a battle plan. Shuri would fire her shots into the crowds of Noise, while Rui and Maia defended her from any that got too close.
"Think you can handle this many?" Maia asked, standing on Takemikazuchi.
"Well… Might be tough if one more shows up." Rui said, looking around at the Noise hordes.
"Hm. Then that'll have to be the one I take care of." Maia said, cracking her knuckles.
"What, you're fighting too?" Rui asked, getting into a stance and activating Kagutsuchi.
"...I feel a little left out." Shuri muttered, tightening her grip on Okami.
The Noise charged at them, but they never stood a chance despite their insane numbers advantage.
Takemikazuchi's speed was far superior to all of them, as Maia sped right through their ranks, slicing them to ribbons. Flipping off her board, they split into the twin broadswords, cutting them down left and right. The rocket boosters on the blades practically let her fly, just like her sister.
Rui's flaming kicks and electrical strikes were too much for the Noise, as they disintegrated with every hit. Jumping into the sky, she delivered a kick into a crowd that lit several of them on fire, launching them into others and starting a sea of flames. Likewise, an electrified stomp sent literal shockwaves through the ground, piercing through multiple Noise in a chain reaction.
With expertise, Shuri fired shot after shot into the crowds of Noise. The bullets exploded into icebergs, encasing several groups of Noise. Shuri fired another shot into the chunk of ice.
"Boom."
The shot exploded, shattering the ice as well as any of the Noise inside, as was to be expected from a round comparable to an anti-tank round. The ice shrapnel shredded any poor Noise that were nearby. But from her blind spot, a Noise pounced at Shuri from behind. Shuri jumped backwards, but there was no footing for her and she fell.
"Shuri!" Maia yelled, connecting the blades again to form the hoverboard. Holding out her arms, she caught the girl in them, falling to a knee. "You alright?"
"U-Umm, yes!" Shuri responded, flustered.
The two landed on solid ground, as Rui backed up to them. While they had taken out several dozen Noise, the hordes were still incredibly large.
"Ugh, there's no end to them." Maia groaned.
Rui thought for a moment, before an idea popped into her mind.
"Shuri, fire as many ice shots as you possibly can into one huge chunk." Rui said. "Doesn't matter if it's at the Noise or at the ground."
"Um… what will that do?" She asked, loading in the ice shots.
"Trust me on this. I got a plan." She said. "Maia, we need to keep defending her until then."
The two nodded as they rushed off into the crowd once more. Explosions of flame and electricity broke through some of the Noise, while others were sliced apart. Meanwhile, Shuri kept on firing the shots over and over again, until all of her remaining bullets had created a mound of ice almost as large as half of the Kadingir.
"Okay, I'm out!" Shuri called over. "Now what?!"
"Maia, get us up there!" Rui said.
The blades became the board once more. She pulled Rui on, before grabbing Shuri as well as they soared up to the top of the ice mound.
"What's your plan, Rui?" Maia asked.
"This." She pressed the red button on her belt, before jumping off the board.
"Rui?!"
Engulfed in flames, she smashed through the center of the ice mound, before the flames expanded, melting the enormous chunk of ice and sending huge waves of water at the Noise. But when the waves subsided, the Noise were unaffected, but drenched.
"Damn it. It didn't work!" Maia cursed.
"No, I haven't done it yet." Rui corrected.
She pressed the yellow button on Kagutsuchi, engulfing her leg in electricity. She slammed it into a puddle, and the arcs of electricity coursed through the water that was scattered around the battlefield, frying any Noise that was soaked. Which was to say, all of them. Rui had cut down their numbers to barely anything with one attack.
"That was incredible." Shuri complimented.
"It was nothing." She said, blushing a bit from the praise.
"But it was amazing!" Shuri said.
"Please stop." Rui groaned.
"Guys? You might want to see this." Maia said from atop a pile of debris.
The two quickly made their way to her, to see Finé aiming the sharp tip of Solomon's Cane at her gut.
"What the hell…?" Rui muttered.
To their shock, and Shuri's horror, Finé impaled herself with the cane. But no blood came out, and her skin grafted in a tendril pattern onto the cane, which began to crack.
"God that's disgusting." Maia groaned.
"I think it's about to get worse." Rui said.
Sure enough, all the Noise in the vicinity started to merge with Finé. Solomon's Cane summoned more as they merged with her.
"The Noise are swarming over her?" Hibiki asked, as she and the other two hovered over their sisters.
"No, she's drawing them in!" Chris realized.
A huge blob of Noise shot at the Symphogears, who flew out of the way. An equally large one shot at the twins, but Rui was ready. She slammed her leg into the ground, causing a huge spire of stone to fly up, creating a makeshift shield.
"Come, Durandal!" Finé roared.
The ground shook, as Rui, Maia and Shuri got to more solid ground. Looking back, they saw that Finé had taken on a more serpentine and Noise-like form that towered over them. Her human body was on the tip of the serpent's head, and she held Durandal in her hand. She fired a blast of energy at the town, creating a massive explosion.
"HOLY SHIT!" Rui yelled.
"The city!" Hibiki shouted.
"You have invoked my wrath." Finé boomed. "I hope you are prepared for what is to come."
She fired another blast at the girls, which they barely dodged. Chris fired back an onslaught of missiles, but the top of the head closed up like a shield, preventing any of the shots from making their mark. Finé responded in kind with several dozen mini-blasts of her own. Chris dodged a few of them, but several landed direct shots on her.
"Oneesama!" Shuri called up.
Tsubasa swung her blade down, shooting a beam of energy.
Blue Flash
The blast slashed right into the head of the creature, but it repaired itself almost instantaneously. Hibiki delivered a devastating blow, but it yielded similar results.
"Even with your Gears' limiters released, they are still just toys made from mere fragments of relics." Finé said. "Did you really think those pathetic fragments could match the power of a complete relic?"
Chris and Tsubasa had a moment of genius as they conversed an idea with Hibiki. Meanwhile, Finé kept on blasting at the town. Rui, Maia and Shuri stayed behind the large stone spire, but it had begun to crack.
Back down in the bunker, it began to shake as furniture fell over. The survivors could only hope that the room would stay stable.
"Hibiki…" Miku said.
"They'll be all right, won't they?" Kuriyo asked.
Miku creased her brow and nodded.
Genjuro watched the screen, watching as Finé caused more destruction.
"The red dragon of Revelations… The scarlet woman, Babylon." He muttered. "In the legends, she is the harbinger of destruction... Ryoko."
Up on the surface, Hibiki had finished discussing the plan with Tsubasa and Chris.
"We can do it!" She said, as the other two nodded. They dodged several more projectiles from Finé, before diving towards her.
"We'll clear the way for you!" Tsubasa yelled.
"Can't hold back now!" Chris shouted.
"I know!" Tsubasa said, as Chris rushed forward.
Tsubasa tightened the grip on her enormous sword, concentrating. It increased in size exponentially, cracking with energy. With a shout, she swung downwards with all her might.
Blue Flash DESTROYER
An astronomically large sword beam smashed right into Finé, before exploding on impact. The hole started to seal itself up, but not before Chris managed to fly on through into the inner area. Finé widened her eyes as Chris sprayed missiles in every direction. She quickly opened the defenses to let them fly out harmlessly, but Tsubasa was already waiting with her sword raised. Slashing down, it created another explosion that knocked Durandal out of Finé's hands. Chris fired several shots at it to keep it in the air, knocking it towards Hibiki.
"That sword is the key!" Tsubasa yelled. "Now's your chance! Grab it, Tachibana!"
"But…" She looked at her hands, worried that she would lose control again.
"You got this, Hibiki!"
Looking down, Hibiki saw that Rui had come out from behind the rock with the other two.
"Take that damn sword, and give her a good one for me!" Rui shouted, giving Hibiki a thumbs-up with one of her rare genuine smiles.
Eyes shining with resolve, Hibiki flew forward and caught Durandal in her hand.
"The Durandal!" Finé shouted.
Durandal's power began to flow into Hibiki, but the unbelievable overflow slowly started turning her into her berserk form once more.
"This is bad!" Sakuya said, watching the monitor, before hearing footsteps and turning. "Miku-san, where are you going?!"
"I'm going out to the surface!" She announced.
"That's crazy! It's too dangerous!" Aoi stated.
"Hibiki… will always be Hibiki for me. She'll always watch out for me." Miku said. "I want to support her, so that she doesn't fall into darkness again!"
Everyone seemed almost surprised at Miku.
"I swore I wouldn't just stand helplessly by while she fights for me! That I'd fight for her too! Like Rui, I want to be there for Hibiki!"
They all seemed to share similar feelings as Miku, before they all nodded.
"It's not looking good." Maia commented, watching Hibiki struggle to keep in control. The berserk form was nearly covering her entire body, except her face.
"Can she do it?" Shuri asked Rui, who didn't respond.
The ground beneath the three shook. Looking down, they saw that the survivors had all come to the surface.
"So they're all still okay." Shuri said with a sigh of relief, worried that the tremors could have hurt them.
"This is a battlefield!" Genjuro shouted at Hibiki. "You can't afford to waver!"
Hibiki grit her teeth as slowly looked at her friends on the ground.
"Focus on yourself!" Ogawa called up.
"Remember who you are!" Sakuya added.
"Remember what you want to become!" Aoi encouraged.
"So, she needs encouragement, huh?" Maia realized. "If that's the case…"
She and Shuri nodded.
"You can do it, Hibiki-san!" Shuri shouted. "Believe in yourself!"
"You got this, Hibiki!" Maia cheered on. "I got a feeling this'll work out!"
Everyone… Hibiki thought.
Tsubasa and Chris flew to Hibiki's side.
"Don't give in, Tachibana." Tsubasa encouraged. "Show me that you can stand on your own two feet!"
"We believe in you! That's why we're putting everything on the line!" Chris said. "What's gonna happen if you don't believe in yourself?!"
"You help people!" Shiori called up.
"You save people!" Yumi said.
"You showed us that today!" Kuriyo finished.
Despite all the encouragement from her friends, Hibiki struggled to control the power.
"You infuriating worm!" Finé shrieked. "I'll silence you once and for all!"
Tendrils shot out of her monstrous form, but the energy barrier that Durandal created was far too dense for her to penetrate. Hibiki roared as she raised Durandal skyward.
"HIBIKI!" Miku shouted.
"GO!" Rui shouted.
In the center of her mind, Hibiki heard her best friend and sister's voices.
That's right. Right now.. I'm not alone!
"Bikki!" "Hibiki!" "Tachibana-san!" Her friends cheered on.
That's right! I won't give in to the urge to destroy!
All of her berserk energy surged into the scar on her chest, disappearing. Now back in her pure X-Drive form, her wings grew in size, shining gold. She raised the sword above her head, with Tsubasa and Chris's support. The blade created an enlarged energy construct of itself that would put most skyscrapers to shame.
"Where did she get that power from?!" Finé demanded.
"It's the power granted to me by my friends' singing voices!" Hibiki declared. "SYMPHOGEAR!"
SYNCHROGAZER
Hibiki swung down the sword with all of her might. Finé could do nothing to stop it as it smashed into her monstrous form, causing ruptures to ripple throughout.
The power of two complete relics locked in a fight to the death… Finé could only marvel at the power, before it turned into panic. What's wrong, Nehushtan?! Regenerate! I… WILL NOT BE DESTROYED!
Everything turned white for Finé, as the explosions finally engulfed her.
Hours had passed. People had come out of the shelters and started to clean up the destruction. The calamity had passed. As for Finé herself?
She was being carried by Hibiki, to her friends and the remnants of Sector Two.
"Why do you… persist with…" She barely choked out.
"That little screwball." Chris muttered with a smile.
"That's my sister, through and through." Rui said, chuckling.
"You should smile more." Chris said.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"I get that a lot." Hibiki said, sitting Finé down. "Even my friends tell me I'm weird. Let's end this here, Ryoko-san."
"I am Finé." The woman said.
"But Ryoko-san is Ryoko-san." Hibiki insisted. "I'm sure we can still understand each other."
"The Noise were created by mankind in ancient times." Finé said, standing up and walking forward. "We lost our common tongue, but rather than join our hands in unity, we raised them in war. How could mankind ever hope to understand each other?"
"So, people made the Noise." Hibiki said sadly.
"I had no choice but to thread this path!" Finé said, angrily, tightening the grip on one of the chain whips.
Chris made to move forward, but Tsubasa held out an arm. Rui stepped forward, but kept her hands in her pockets.
"We can understand each other!" Hibiki said. "It's more than just words that connect us together."
Silence passed. No one said a single word. It seemed Hibiki's words made it through to her.
Until Finé turned around and lashed her whip. Hibiki dodged it and rushed forward, aiming her fist right at Finé's chest.
"I shall be victorious!" Finé declared.
Hibiki realized that Finé didn't target her on purpose, and turned around to see that the chain shot out of the atmosphere and pierced the broken part of the Moon. With all of her power, Finé pulled the chain, sendinging the broken chunk of the Moon onto a crash course towards Earth.
"I'll bring down that shard of the moon, and lay waste to all you vermin who dared stand in my way!" Finé screamed, having reached her wits end as her armor cracked off of her. Everyone looked up at it in alarm and horror.
"Though my body may die here, my soul will live on! As long as the relics retain the potential to emit an Aufwache waveform, I can be reborn, time and time again! No matter the place, no matter the time, the next time I set foot on this Earth, I shall unite it! I am the timeless priestess, frozen in an eternal moment! Finé-!"
"Just stop talking."
Finé felt a powerful kick to her back that knocked her right into Hibiki's fist. The impact of the two strikes caused her body to slowly break down.
"Oneesan..." Hibiki said.
"Sorry, Hibiki." Rui said. "But it felt good kicking her with the leg that she broke."
Hibiki sighed, before looking at Finé. "That's right. Wherever, whenever your next life may be… Please pass on this message for me: You don't need strength to unite the world. We can become one, beyond the limit of words! Even in the future, we can join our hands in unity! I won't be there to tell them myself. But you can, Ryoko!"
"Don't tell me…" Finé said, shock in her eyes.
"But before I can entrust the future to you, I must protect the present!"
Finé didn't respond, but closed her eyes. When they opened again, they were no longer gold, instead being a familiar shadow of violet. "You really are a hopeless child."
She slowly started to crumble, but looked at Rui. "And you. Don't stop being an amazing sister to her."
Rui held out a thumbs-down to Finé, before slowly turning it into a thumbs-up.
Smiling, Finé tapped Hibiki's chest. "Believe in the song of your heart."
She finally became dust, and the wind blew her away. Sector Two shed tears for her. Despite all the horrible things she had done… she was still Ryoko. Shuri helped wipe Chris's tears away. But there was no time for them to mourn for long.
"We calculated the trajectory." Sakuya said. "It seems that impact is unavoidable."
"If that thing falls here…" Maia said.
Hibiki started to walk forward.
"Hibiki!" Miku said.
"l'll stop it somehow." She said, before turning around with a smile. "I'll be right back. So don't give up on living!"
Miku was about to say something, but Rui stepped up first. She held out a fist.
"You'd better not pull some faked death crap." Rui said. "Get right back here after saving all of our asses."
Hibiki chuckled, before returning the fistbump. "I know, I know, oneesan. I promise."
With a running start, Hibiki took off, spreading her wings once more. They heard her start to sing her Superb Song, causing concern to spread through the group.
"You should go as well, Tsubasa." Maia said. "She could use the backup."
"I was already planning on it, neesama." Tsubasa responded, spreading her wings as well.
"Oneesama?" Shuri asked Chris.
"I know, I'm going, I'm going!" She laughed, as her wings glew. "The idiot really wants to be a hero that badly, huh?"
The two flew off after her. Once they had reached Hibiki, the three started to sing a song together.
"It's such a wonderful song…" Shiori said.
"Yeah…" Yumi added.
"They're going to be fine, right?" Shuri asked Rui and Maia.
"It takes a lot to kill them." Maia said.
"Don't worry." Rui reassured. "My sister doesn't break promises."
But as if to prove Rui wrong, the chunk of the Moon exploded from the power exerted from the Symphogears. An enormous explosion lit up the night sky.
"No…" Miku started to cry.
"Oneesama… the others..." Shuri put her hands over her mouth.
"Are perfectly fine, thanks for asking!"
In a cloud of dust, the three girls landed, all of them alive. They transformed back to normal, as everyone let out sighs of relief and cheers.
Shuri practically jumped on Chris in a hug.
"Oneesama… oneesama…" She sobbed.
"I saw you out there, Shuri." She said. "You use that weapon almost as good as I would have. I'm proud of you."
The praise made Shuri happy as she hugged Chris tighter.
"But maybe… lighten up…?" Chris breathed out. "Did you get… stronger?"
Maia pulled Tsubasa into a soft hug.
"I always knew you could do it, Basa." Maia said.
"Is it fine if I can admit to you that I was scared?" Tsubasa said. "I thought it was going to be my last performance."
"You can admit that to me." Maia said, patting her on the back. "Now, the whole world is your stage… I think Kanade would have been proud of you."
That got the tears to start, as the sisters embraced, leaving only two sisters left. Miku watched the Tachibana twins from close by.
"You did come back." Rui said.
"I can't break my promise to you, oneesan." Hibiki said, before pulling her into a hug. "Thank you."
"For what?" Rui asked.
"For always believing in me."
"We're sisters, Hibiki." Rui said, softly smiling. "That'll never change."
"Look… it's shooting stars." Miku said.
Breaking free from the hug, Hibiki slipped her hand into Miku's, as they all watched the meteor shower.
"...wait, does it count if it's pieces of the Moon-?" Maia asked, before receiving a sharp elbow to the ribs.
"Don't ruin the moment." Rui whispered.
Maia could only let out a small laugh. It was infectious enough that Rui and Shuri joined in as well. The sky grew brighter with the shooting stars as if it were celebrating as well.
"You know, I still can't believe that they managed to renovate the place so soon." Hibiki said.
It had been a month since the battle with Finé, and the city had repaired itself quite well. The destruction had been a blessing in disguise, as it let many advancements be made. Lydian in particular had been turned into a new school entirely.
"The wonders of modern day technology, I suppose." Miku said.
"I wish the construction took longer though." Rui said with a yawn.
"How is it that you became lazier than Hibiki?" Miku asked.
"Dunno. It'll change back to normal starting from today though."
"Ah, Chris-chan! Shuri-san!" Hibiki said, waving.
Walking up behind them, were the Yukine twins, wearing Lydian school uniforms.
"So this is your first day of actual school, huh?" Rui noted.
"Mmhm!" Shuri nodded. "I am a bit nervous, though."
"You don't have to worry about a thing, Shuri-san!" Hibiki reassured. "We'll help you and Chris-chan get used to the place!"
But that just seemed to tick Chris off, who smacked Hibiki on the head.
"Hey! What was that for?!" Hibiki whined, holding her sore head.
"I'm your senior!" Chris said. "So knock it off with that informal crap!"
"Oh sorry, Chris-chan." Hibiki said, rubbing the spot she was hit.
"Sorry, Chris." Miku apologized.
"Yeah, screw that." Rui bluntly said.
Chris looked like she was about to explode, as Shuri spoke up. "Uh, um, I don't mind it. You can call me what you want."
"Okay, Shuri-senpai!" Hibiki said cheerfully.
"Understood, Shuri-senpai." Miku nodded.
"What the hell is this?!" Chris shouted, before turning to Rui.
"What?" She asked in the most innocent tone possible. "Is there something wrong with me calling Shuri-senpai "Shuri-senpai?""
"You jerk!" Chris pulled Rui into a headlock, as the two started to tussle. Miku and Shuri could only sigh, while Hibiki saw someone come in by the school gates.
"Tsubasa-san!" Hibiki called over, before noticing someone was with her. "Oh, Maia-san? What are you doing here?"
"Well, I got nothing better to do at the moment." Maia said, tapping Tsubasa on the shoulder. "So I decided to check out how my baby sister's new school looks like. I'll be hanging out with y'all today."
"You're older by 8 seconds, neesama." Tsubasa reminded her.
"I learned a lot in those 8 seconds, thank you very much." Maia joked.
Tsubasa gave a smirk of her own. "So did you really come here to see me off, or did you want to see Shuri?"
That sent Maia into a spluttering mess, while Shuri blushed as red as Ichaival. "Wh-Wh-What?! N-No! I don't-! Tsubasa, who the heck taught you that?"
"She's currently in a bit of a conflict with Yukine, at the moment." Tsubasa said, pointing at the small scuffle.
Maia started to fake cry. "My best friend is corrupting my baby sister, nooooo!"
Eventually, Rui broke free from Chris's grip, and caught her breath.
"It's looking to be a fun new school life!" Hibiki laughed, seeing all her friends around her.
"I dunno about "fun", Hibiki." Rui said.
"But we're going to do this together, oneesan!" Hibiki said, grabbing her hand, before grabbing Miku's.
"You know better than anyone that you can't change Hibiki's mind." Miku said to Rui.
"Funny, I thought that was you." Rui said, before smiling. "So, you're gonna help Chris and Shuri settle in, huh?
"Mmhm!" Hibiki said cheerfully. "Because my song… is the song that connects everyone!"
Tsubasa, Maia, Chris and Shuri all smiled at that, before all of them walked into the school. Together.
And thus, the first verse of the Valkyries comes to a close.
A/N: And so ends Symphogear X2 Season 1.
I decided to take a leaf out of XDU's book for the ending of Season 1, since XDU is already a huge inspiration for my fic.
And we're not completely done. We're getting a little something tomorrow too.