Content Warning: Disturbing imagery and descriptions of gore.
Carol was sitting on her throne, surprisingly not caring much about what had just happened. She was instead recalling a late memory with her father.
"I want to know everything about the world, you see. That's the first step toward people truly understanding each other. We're almost there, let's go."
Carol stood up. "Yes, Father. I will go."
The other three Autoscorers were on their podiums once more.
"And through the transmutation of memories into power, I will complete the Apocalypse of All Creation." Carol said.
"So, what do we do now?" Chris asked.
"I doubt mere retaliation would be enough." Tsubasa said.
"Then we know what to do." Rui said, walking up and looking up at Micha. "We kick her ass!"
"Tsubasa-san, Rui-san, Oneesama." Shuri spoke. "Maia-san and I will recover Kirika-chan and Shirabe-chan first. Can you three hold her off until we get back?"
"I got the gist of it." Rui said, punching a fist into her hand.
"Of course!" Chris grinned. "Who do you think you're talking to?"
"Time for a counteroffensive!" Tsubasa declared.
Shirabe was watching as the others got ready to fight… not remembering the fact that the others could still see her while she was "exposed."
"Avert your eyes, men!" Maria shouted.
Genjuro, Fujitaka and Ogawa all closed their eyes and looked away from the screen.
"I better not see a peep, Ogawa, or we'll be matching eyes soon." Jeanne said, hand resting on her knife.
"O-Of course."
"W-Wait! Why me too?!" Hibiki asked, as Miku covered her friend's eyes.
"Oh, sorry." Miku apologized, taking her hands off. "I got caught up in the moment."
"I can't coordinate the battle if I can't look at the screen!" Fujitaka shouted.
"Why are you objecting so desperately?!" Aoi yelled at him.
"This is only until we can extract Shirabe and Kirika." Maria huffed. "And in any case, Tsubasa and Chris should be able to handle this on their own. Meaning that with Rui, Maia and Shuri backing them up, they can't fail."
"Glad to see you got so much faith in us, Maria." Maia said, as she took off her cape and wrapped Shirabe in it before picking her up.
"We'll bring them back to the base before rejoining our sisters in combat." Shuri said, as she wrapped Kirika in her cape. "The men can open up their eyes now."
"Wait, I have a question!" Hibiki said as the male members of SONG looked back at the screens. "How are you two transformed when Tsubasa-san and Chris-chan are too? You guys didn't achieve X-Drive this time, so how?"
"Cause Elfnein's a freaking genius." Maia said, before pointing to the gem below her neck. "Say hello to the Proto-Gears."
"Proto-Gear?" Shirabe asked.
"They're artificial Relics." Shuri explained. "While visually identical to the actual Relics, these ones are made from the leftover residue Elfnein had when repairing Ame-no-Habakiri and Ichaival."
"You can't transform into a Symphogear with these things, but they have a different use with us. They act like a power source for our weapons, meaning that we'll be able to transform whenever we want, and Elfnein made them so that we can't go over the dangerous sync rate too." Maia continued.
"She did the same with Gungnir too, Hibiki-san." Shuri said before Hibiki could ask. "It's how Rui-san could transform while Elfnein-chan continues to work on repairing Gungnir."
"In other words, we can fight alongside you guys at the same level now!" Maia finished.
Micha tossed out dozens of more capsules, summoning more Alca-Noise. Tsubasa, Chris and Rui stared them all down.
"Let's warm up by dispatching all of these weaklings." Tsubasa said.
"Time to take out the trash!" Chris agreed.
Rui held up an arm, tightening the gauntlets. "Let's go for a spin!"
(Insert BAYONET CHARGE by Ayahi Takagaki and Nana Mizuki)
The three of them charged at the Alca-Noise. Tsubasa slashed them apart with skill and precision, Chris filled them full of explosive crossbow bolts, and Rui obliterated them with devastating kicks. Tsubasa increased her weapon's size until it was a massive broadsword, cleaving through the Alca-Noise like butter. Chris fired several shots that caused the Alca-Noise to explode into red dust. Rui alternated her flaming kicks with her electrical ones, burning and shocking the enemy.
"Ame-no-Habakiri and Ichaival, all statuses green!" Fujitaka said. "The statuses of the Proto-Gears are keeping the sync rate at 100!"
"Those are the enhanced Symphogear, and Proto-Gears?" Aoi asked.
"Project Ignite is about more than just repairing damaged Symphogear and creating extras." Elfnein said, as she walked in. "I also turned up their power output and adjusted the barrier power to resist their disintegrative power."
The proof was shown as the battle continued on-screen. Several of the Alca-Noise grabbed Tsubasa's blade, which flickered with red electricity. But the blue sentinel drew her weapon out of their grip, before rushing forward and slashing them apart. The weakness of the Symphogear system was gone.
"And increasing our potential fighters by 3 was a logical decision as well." Elfnein said, as Rui punched an Alca-Noise and obliterated it in a single shot.
Maia and Shuri landed a safe distance from the fight, gently putting Shirabe and Kirika down.
"You two, return to the base as quick and safely as you can." Shuri ordered, as she handed the two long coats to cover themselves. "You'll… want these."
"I guess you need the capes back, dess." Kirika said, as she and Shirabe took off her cover and slipped on the coats.
"I perfectly understand just why Maria had one before." Maia chuckled, putting her cape back on. "Looks badass."
"Stay safe, okay?" Shuri said, before she and Maia turned to rush back to the battlefield.
"We gotta leave the rest to them, dess!" Kirika said as she pulled Shirabe along.
Shirabe looked back. Would we just get in the way?
Chris created her gatling guns, before unleashing the hailstorm of bullets upon the Alca-Noise. Tsubasa got on her hands and spun around to shred apart the enemy with the blades on her ankles.
"Tsubasa!" Rui shouted, kicking away another Alca-Noise.
"Right!"
Tsubasa created a huge sword, before rushing in a circular motion around Rui and a group of Alca-Noise. With her increased speed, she created a whirlwind, trapping the enemy inside. Rui bent her knees, before jumping straight at the whirlwind. She kicked off of Tsubasa's sword, launching herself into the Alca-Noise and kicking them. But she didn't stop, she kept rebounding off of the Alca-Noise and Tsubasa's sword from every direction, gathering speed with each hit.
"DYAAAAAAAAAH!"
She kicked right through the horde on the last hit, skidding to a stop. Tsubasa jumped away from the whirlwind and slashed through them, landing right next to Rui.
SPEEDROP
An explosion went off behind them, engulfing every one of the Alca-Noise.
"When did you come up with that one?" Chris asked, still unloading her unlimited supply of bullets into the Alca-Noise.
"I mentioned the idea when Tsubasa and I were practicing with swords." Rui said. "I like talking strategy."
Tsubasa switched her attention to Micha, who was watching everything from above. She jumped at her, drawing a katana from her larger blade, before unleashing slashes laced with lightning.
Blue Sword Lightning Punishment
Micha quickly dodged the attack, as it destroyed the rooftop. Chris created two massive missiles on her shoulders, firing them straight at the Autoscorer.
MEGA DETH FUGA
They hit Micha dead-on, engulfing her in an explosion.
"Heh, piece of cake!" Chris grinned at her work.
"Oh, are we too late?" Maia asked, as she and Shuri landed nearby. "Damn, I wanted a little more action."
"Hold that thought, Neesama." Tsubasa said, looking through the smoke. "It looks like you'll get that chance."
"What-?"
The smoke cleared, to reveal a golden shield had protected Micha. Creating it? None other than Carol.
"Sor~ry." Micha apologized to her master.
"It's fine." Carol said. "I could tell from absorbing that attack that this is more than you can handle. It's my turn."
"Carol-chan!" Hibiki shouted, seeing the screen.
"Carol…" Elfnein said quietly.
"Oh, so the final boss shows her face already?" Chris said.
"Pretty sure that would be breaking the game sequence, but whatever." Maia said, adding onto Chris's comment.
"How convenient." Tsubasa said. "We'd like to put an end to this as well."
"Be ready, everyone." Shuri said.
"Advancing our plan takes top priority." Carol said to Micha, too low that the others couldn't hear her. "Leave this to me and retreat."
"Okey-dokey!" Micha agreed, before jumping and shattering a crystal. In a flash of red, she was gone.
"You're just going to run away?!" Chris yelled.
"Rest assured, I'm more than capable of handling the five of you on my own." Carol said.
"Given your stature, I find that hard to believe." Tsubasa said, holding up her sword.
Carol chuckled. "I see. Well, I would hate for you to make excuses later about how you couldn't bring yourselves to go all-out against a child-"
"HAAAAAAH!"
Carol looked up to see Rui diving at her at an incredible speed, leg outstretched with two wing-like armaments on her ankle. In response, Carol quickly brought up another shield. Rui clashed against it, and the impact was so strong that it created the symbol for Gungnir on the pavement below.
DARKNESS MOON BREAK
However, Rui was unable to break through the shield, so she backflipped off and landed back next to her allies.
"Damn it." Rui cursed. "Thought I could get the drop on her."
"Really?" Carol asked. "Did you think that would work?"
"You talk a lot of shit for a brat." Rui simply said. "I'm gonna enjoy putting you in your place."
"You seem way too eager to kick the snot out of a kid, partner." Maia said, as the other three sweatdropped in agreement.
Carol held out an arm, before summoning a harp. "Show me your full strength!"
The girls got into stances, clutching their weapons as Carol strummed her instrument. Several wires wrapped around her body, as a light began to grow.
Back in the base, SONG was keeping an eye on the battle, before they picked up something alarming.
"An Aufwachen waveform?!" Aoi shouted, before running through the scans again. "No, it isn't… but it's a very similar energy pattern!"
"Don't tell me… she's activating a relic?" Maria asked.
"Is that… the Faust Robe of Dur da Blá?" Elfnein realized.
(Insert Senkin Dur da Blá (Off Vocal) by Inori Minase)
There was a bright flash of purple light, before Carol stood. She was now garbed in a purple and black outfit with a matching hat. It had four gems of red, yellow, green and blue. Most noticeable of all though, she was no longer in the form of a child, and had become a tall woman.
"This should be sufficient, I take it?" Carol asked, in a deeper, more mature tone as she gestured to herself.
"Oh that's total fucking bullshit!"
Everyone (even those watching from HQ) turned to Maia, who was the one that had yelled.
"When you transform you get those?!" Maia shouted, pointing at Carol's… much more developed upper body. "That is just not fair!"
No one knew how to react to Maia's little rant. Carol herself had an unreadable expression on her face.
"...we're going to have to talk about your insecurities later, Partner." Rui said. "We've got bigger PROBLEMS!"
She shouted the last word, as they all jumped out of the way. Carol was swinging her arms around, and wires attached to her fingertips tore up the ground and buildings. Tsubasa and Maia quickly got down to avoid being beheaded, as the wires ripped through a gas main behind her, causing it to explode.
"Getting bigger won't save you!" Tsubasa declared, before she ran towards her foe.
"Screw your growing cheating bullshit!" Maia yelled, running right behind her sister.
Chris landed away, staring down Carol. "I like it when my dinner puts up a fight!" She shouted, before unleashing a hailstorm of bullets with her gatling guns. Shuri created the same weapons and joined her sister.
Carol waved her arms, before creating two summoning gates. She unleashed a massive stream of fire and burst of water. The Kazanari and Yukine twins dodged them, but surprising them was that Rui ran straight towards the fire attack.
"Rui!" Tsubasa shouted, before the flames engulfed her friend. She couldn't run to her, because explosions forced her away.
SONG was analyzing the fight, trying to get a read on the Tachibana lost in the flames, they were noticing something unbelievable.
"She isn't singing..." Fujitaka said. "...and yet her energy output is off the charts."
"And it doesn't seem to be a concentrated energy source like the weapons that SOUL uses." Jeanne noted. "Where does it come from?"
"Memory combustion." Elfnein answered.
"Memory?" Fujitaka asked.
"Carol and the Autoscorers derive their power from the chained transmutation of the electrical signals in the brain commonly referred to as "memories." Recently created memories lack enough memories to effectively convert to offensive power, requiring them to supplement them with memories stolen from others, but Carol's long life has given her centuries of memories in reserve."
"Which is how she wields such tremendous power." Maria realized.
"What happens to the memories that are used this way?" Genjuro asked.
"They are combusted and lost." Elfnein said. "Carol intends to finish things with this battle."
"So she's like Revice, huh?" Rui's voice came in through the comms. "Then I'm gonna light a bonfire in that memory bank."
Carol widened her eyes, as while the stream of water dispersed, all the flames seemed to be getting absorbed into a single point. That point being right under Rui Tachibana's foot. She held one hand out, the other on her waist.
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaa…." She said, as the fire concentrated and was absorbed into her foot.
"What the…?" Carol said, stunned.
"Toh!" Rui jumped into the air, before outstretching her foot and diving at Carol again. "Toreyaaaaah!"
Carol quickly brought up another shield, and Rui's foot crashed against it. Rui managed to recover, and landed safely.
"Pathetic." Carol said.
Rui smirked, before turning away. The spot that she kicked glew white, before creating a massive explosion in the air.
RIDER KICK
But the attack result was short-lived, as wires shot out of the explosion and tore through more of the gas mains, blowing them up and knocking them all about in an explosive chain reaction. The wires wrapped around Rui's leg, before throwing her into the ground next to a downed Tsubasa. Carol created several more magical circles, before they all shot out yellow blasts of energy at the two. Maia quickly got in front of her sister, before they all detonated upon impact.
"No!" Chris shouted from atop the roof with Shuri.
"Do you think such paltry songs will satisfy me?!" Carol shouted, before shooting more wires at Chris and Shuri. Chris managed to jump out of the way, but Shuri cried out as one of the wires dug into her arm and leg, drawing blood.
"You little shit!" Chris roared, before aiming her weapon at Carol, shooting out two massive crystal spikes.
GIGA ZEPPELIN
They split apart into hundreds of projectiles, all aimed at Carol. But the alchemist simply spun her wires in a spiral to shred every one of them, before creating a drill and shooting a tornado of wind at Chris and Shuri, catching the two in the whirlwind. While the two were stuck, Carol rushed at them, slamming her drill fist into both of them at the same time, sending the two crashing into the ground next to Maia and Tsubasa. Maia tried to stand up, before spitting up blood into her hand.
"Shit. So we trade off the protective barrier for this power boost…" She realized, before weakly clenching her fist.
"Not yet!" Maria shouted. "They're not done yet!"
"It's only now we'll see the full potential of the Ignite Modules." Elfnein said.
"Ignite…" Hibiki muttered.
"To hell with this…" Chris cursed, slowly standing up. "Shuri, are you okay?"
"I'm-" Shuri winced, holding her wounded leg and arm. She couldn't stand.
"She probably caused a broken bone or two, I'm gonna guess." Maia said, looking at Shuri's state, before coughing herself.
"Can you still fight, Neesama? Rui?" Tsubasa asked.
"Not at the moment, no." Maia said, wiping the blood off her mouth. "I took too many of those hits when I shielded you two. I'll need a couple of minutes."
"I've got plenty of fight left in me." Rui said, though it was clear she was slowly tiring.
Tsubasa frowned, before turning to Chris. "Are you alright, Yukine?"
"Yeah." Chris said. "Just okay enough to still pull out our trump card."
"If you have something up your sleeve, now's your chance to show it." Carol said, standing atop a building and looking down at them. "I'll crush all your hopes without mercy."
"Then I'll be their final hope." Rui said, walking between the Symphogear users and Carol, getting into a fighting stance. "Do what you need to do. She won't get past me."
The two nodded, before Chris turned to Tsubasa. "We're in this together, right?"
"Of course." Tsubasa reassured. "I'd never let you go alone."
"We're here for you two." Maia said, as Shuri nodded in agreement. "You got this."
Their sisters stood up straight, before shouting the activation command. "Ignite Module! Bakken!"
The two clicked their pendants, before removing them from their chests and holding them up.
Dáinsleif
The pendants spoke the robotic announcement, before they floated into the air. They changed shape, until they sharpened into a four-spiked design, with a single tip glowing with power. They shot at the users, piercing them where the pendants once rested. At that exact moment, Shuri started to breathe heavily, placing a hand on her chest and wincing. Her eyes were flicking red.
"Holy shit…" Maia muttered, as the two of them were choking at the astronomical power flowing into them.
Rui had turned to watch, as her pupils shrank. Tsubasa was crying from the pain as the aura surrounded her. She remembered Elfnein had given her the rundown, but she didn't expect this.
"This power…! It's ripping me apart…!" Tsubasa choked out.
"Project Ignite." Genjuro said.
"And people told me I had a flare for dramatics." Maia chuckled.
"As you are aware, the Symphogear possesses functions that can turn the tide of battle." Elfnein said.
"The Superb Songs." Tsubasa said.
"And the X-Drive Mode." Chris added.
"However, the Superb Songs are a suicidal power boost intended for direct combat." Elfnein stated.
"And for everything else, there's X-Drive." Chris said, holding up a fist.
"But that only works when extreme phonic gain is available." Ogawa stated. "We can't rely on miracles as part of our strategies."
"You're acting like it's useless!" Chris said.
"Have you forgotten the Symphogear's one other function?" Elfnein asked.
They thought for a moment, before remembering what had happened to Hibiki during the fights against Finé and the Nephilim.
"Hibiki-san going berserk is not a function!" Shuri said.
Chris walked forward and grabbed Elfnein by the collar. "You'd better not be suggesting what I think you're suggesting!"
"Hey, calm down." Maia said. "Elfnein, what's the full explanation?"
"The goal of Project Ignite is to harness that berserk power and transmute it into raw combat potential so you can face Carol." Elfnein said.
"Oh, Rui's gonna love this." Maia chuckled. "Harnessing berserk power for a super form? I know exactly what she's gonna call it."
Everyone in the HQ could only watch as Tsubasa and Chris were being overwhelmed by the power. Their choked cries of pain were unnerving, to say the least.
"The core of the Module is Dáinsleif, the murderous blade of legend." Elfnein said, pushing down her horror better than the others. "Its curse brings forth the darkness that exists within all hearts, artificially inducing a berserk state."
Tsubasa and Chris's screams had gone up another octave, as their eyes glew red.
"However, should the users have the strength of will to suppress the urge to destroy…" Genjuro said.
"The Symphogear will be able to defeat Carol's alchemy." Elfnein finished.
"Strength of will…" Hibiki said quietly.
"Tsubasa!" Maia shouted, as the two continued to scream. They could only barely think through the pain.
That idiot had to withstand this bullshit all that time?! Chris realized as her hands sharpened into claws with black energy, stunned that Hibiki had gone through all that pain.
Tsubasa's teeth started to sharpen as well. I feel if I lose focus for but a moment, I'll be plunged into the abyss…
"Dammit, I'm pulling the plug on this!" Rui shouted, reaching at Tsubasa's chest. But the moment her fingers touched the sharpened pendant, there was a spark of energy that forced her hand away. She tried the same with Chris, getting the same result. "Shit. Can't pull the same trick I did on Maria."
Maia quickly put a hand to her commlink. "What's the situation?!"
"Their mind can't handle the backlash from the system!" Fujitaka reported.
"Tsubasa-san and Chris-chan can't take more of this!" Aoi shouted.
"They're going berserk?" Genjuro asked.
Rui and Maia realized that if the two did lose themselves, the situation would become far worse, and the likelihood that they could stop it was extremely low.
"We should've tested this first…" Ogawa said.
"It would have had the same result no matter when they activated it." Jeanne said.
"Even so, you must believe in Tsubasa-san and Chris-san." Elfnein said.
"I can't just stand here doing nothing!" Maia yelled. "I believe in Tsubasa, but-!"
"Maia-san…" Shuri spoke, trying to even out her breathing. "We need to reach out to them."
"How are we gonna-?"
"You two, grab the pendants." Rui said.
"Do you know that'll work?" Maia asked.
"No, it's just a theory." Rui said. "You two have used their Relics before. Plus, you're the ones that they cherish the most, so you two are the only ones that could help them."
Maia still looked conflicted, but hearing her sister scream made the decision obvious. "Alright." Maia said.
"Like they did as well." Shuri said, using her rifle to support her limp. "Together."
"Yeah." Maia agreed. "On three. One..."
"Two…"
"THREE!"
The two reached forward and grasped the sharpened pendants.
Maia opened her eyes to find herself standing in eternal darkness.
"What the hell…?" Maia said. "What just-?"
She heard crying, turning around to see Tsubasa in the distance. A light shone down on her younger sister, almost as if guiding Maia.
"Tsubasa!" Maia shouted, running towards her. "Don't worry, I'm coming-!"
She was struck in the face and knocked to the ground. Her blood stained the blackness around her.
"Why did you leave me?!"
"I'm sorry…" Maia apologized, getting back up. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"
She would have broken into a run again, but her blood ran cold. This familiar feeling...
"No no no no no…" Maia muttered.
The scar on her arm started to bleed profusely, before the shadows grabbed her wrist.
"If you want to make a change, do it yourself."
She heard a young girl shout in challenge, before there was the snapping of bones. The darkness tightened its grip, and Maia Kazanari screamed as her arm was torn off.
Shuri blinked several times, letting her vision adjust. There she saw Chris, crying underneath a spotlight.
"Oneesama…"
She tried to walk forward, but found herself unable to move. She looked to see that her wrists and ankles were chained up by the darkness.
"No…" She desperately pulled at the binds. "No-!"
Shuri cried out, as an invisible lash tore across her body, ripping through her skin and clothes. She screamed as the dozens of lashes cut her from every direction. Blood was spraying widely in every direction.
"Oneesama…" Shuri sobbed, as a lash struck her in the back. "Help me…"
Rui couldn't even look anymore. The moment Maia and Shuri had made contact with the pendants, they too had started screaming in pain. They weren't taking on any berserk traits, but they were taking all of the power head-on.
"Come on you two… you can do this…"
Maia was lying in a pool of her own blood, clutching the stump. The only thing she could hear were Tsubasa's cries, which slowly started to grow fainter.
"I'm sorry… Tsubasa…"
She started to close her eyes.
"Don't give up on life!"
Maia forced herself to open her eyes, slowly pushing herself up with her remaining hand. She slowly stood up, her legs slightly shaking, but her will returned to her.
"Thanks… Kanade…!"
She broke into a run again towards Tsubasa. Right before she could reach her sister, the darkness enclosed around the light, snuffing it out.
"No!" Maia yelled, punching the darkness with her remaining arm. Cracks started to form throughout the pitch black space with every strike. "I'm not leaving you! I'm never going to leave you again! I promise you… TSUBASAAAAAA!"
With one final hit, the darkness shattered. Maia ran forward, pulling her beloved younger twin into a hug.
The whips kept on hitting her, leaving her body and clothes shredded, but the pain was dull now. Shuri was about to give up, but could see Chris running off.
Shuri winced, but shouted in determination. She ripped her hands and legs free of the cuffs, tearing the skin on her hands and feet, but she didn't care.
"I can't just keep crying…" She said, before she slowly started to run. "She was always there for me… I need to always be there for her...!"
She kept getting lashed, but she held out an arm. Red energy shredded the whips, letting her run free. They tried wrapping around her legs, but her blood transformed into monstrous jaws that chewed them into pieces. She reached out to her running older sister.
"Oneesama…" Shuri said. "ONESAMAAAAAA!"
She grasped her sister's wrist, as the darkness was purged from their minds.
The dark aura had subsided completely, as the pendants returned to normal. The Kazanari and Yukine twins were left breathing heavily, but they were all back to their right state of mind. While Shuri was simply holding Chris's wrist, Tsubasa and Maia were in a tight embrace.
"I'm sorry, Tsubasa…" Maia said, tears running down her cheeks. "I'm sorry…"
"Don't worry." Her sister responded with tears of her own. "I know, Neesama."
Rui let out a breath of relief. "They made it back."
Carol was watching everything from above, somewhat disappointed at the result. "It didn't work?"
"This isn't good…" Fujitaka muttered.
"They weren't able to activate the modules!" Aoi said.
"I guess my alchemy can't stop Carol after all." Elfnein said sadly.
"Don't worry, there's still hope." Miku said, holding up Elfnein's hand to show what she was carrying.
"Is that…?" Hibiki asked.
"It's the enhanced Gungnir." Elfnein said.
Hibiki took the pendant from Elfnein, smiling. "I won't let them destroy our Gear or our hope ever again."
Carol floated down to the ground they stood upon, slowly walking towards them. "Did you run out of strength? Or did you simply snap under the pressure?" She asked them. "Either way, I'll help you get back on your feet!"
She tossed a red capsule into the sky, summoning a singular, massive Alca-Noise that started spawning smaller ones.
"She's summoning more Alca-Noise?" Tsubasa said, as she and her sister wiped their tears.
The smaller Alca-Noise shot down to the city like suicide bombers, causing explosions everywhere.
"Either stand or fight, or sit there and watch the city burn." Carol said.
Tsubasa and Chris grit their teeth at their own weakness, almost begging for the power to win. Maia stood protectively in front of the two, holding up her blade with shaking arms.
"If you won't sing for me, then the people's dying screams will be your elegy!" Carol declared.
BANG
Carol winced, as a bullet grazed her face. The one who fired it was Shuri, who was standing up with silent anger in her eyes. Curiously, all of Shuri's wounds were gone.
"HOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAH!"
A few of them turned around, while Rui smirked at the voice. Hibiki was riding a missile, garbed in Gungnir again, before she obliterated the largest Alca-Noise with a single punch. The missiles took out the rest of the airborne stragglers.
"That took you long enough." Carol said, wiping the blood off her face as the wound healed up.
Hibiki landed by her friends, determined expression on her face.
"Thanks for the support, Tachibana." Tsubasa said. "You're a lifesaver."
"Let's never talk about it again." Chris said, a bit embarrassed at her own weakness.
"So the star shows up late, huh?" Maia grinned. "You got a plan, Bikki?"
Hibiki nodded, turning to Tsubasa and Chris. "Try using the Ignite Modules once more!"
"In our current condition, we might not survive." Tsubasa said, frowning.
"Miku told me something." Hibiki said. "She said the power of the Symphogear saved her. If this power is really meant for helping people, then it should help us, the wielders, first of all! That's why we need to have faith! We can break the Dáinsleif's curse!"
"With my old, trusty companion Ame-no-Habakiri…" Tsubasa said.
"With the Ichaival that changed my life…" Chris said.
"And with the Gungnir!" Hibiki finished. "Let's believe in the song of our hearts! In our Symphogear!"
"Whoa, she's pretty good at those." Maia said, impressed at the speech.
"I should take notes." Shuri said.
"Heh, that's my sister." Rui smiled, before holding up a fist. "Show everyone that you don't need the FullFull RabbitTank Bottle to control the Hazard Trigger!"
"Really, Partner?" Maia asked. "Actually no, I should've expected you'd say that."
"I feel dumb playing along with a cheesy speech, but sure!" Chris said with a smirk.
"Let's do this one more time!" Tsubasa said.
The three of them grasped their pendants. "Ignite Module! Bakken!"
They clicked their pendants, taking them off their chests and holding them up.
Dáinsleif
Once again, the pendants all sharpened, before piercing them in the chest. While they all screamed in pain, their sisters didn't react this time. They were keeping their faith that they could do it now.
"This is just like what happened before…" Jeanne said, as Kirika and Shirabe (now in clothes) walked in.
Maria was keeping her faith in the girls as well, holding up a her fist. "Cut through that curse!"
"Shoot straight through it, dess!" Kirika said.
"Have courage, and punch it with all your might!" Shirabe shouted.
"Your sisters believe in you!" Miku shouted. "We'll all believe in you too!"
Miku made me realize the determination needed to wield this power. Hibiki thought. So I won't lose to some primal urge!
NONE OF US WILL! They all shouted in their minds.
The dark aura was absorbed into the sharpened pendant, before their bodies were covered by the red energy. It was absorbed into their bodies, creating a silhouette of a monster, before subsiding. Their white on their armor turned black, and gained a more sinister, sharper look, but was as heroic as always.
The Ignite Modules forms had been achieved.
(Insert RADIANT FORCE (IGNITED arrangement) by Aoi Yuuki, Nana Mizuki and Ayahi Takagaki)
"They did it!" Shuri smiled.
"..."
"What's up, partner?" Maia asked, as their sisters started to sing.
"I was joking about the Hazard Trigger thing. Didn't realize it would actually look like a Symphogear version of it." Rui said.
"Modules activated!" Fujitaka reported. "Initiating safety countdown!"
Maria clutched the cracked pendant in her hand. The power to break down evil…
"They managed to do it." Jeanne smirked, crossing her arms.
Carol tossed her arms out, summoning hordes of Alca-Noise from dozens of capsules.
"Approximately three thousand Alca-Noise detected!" Aoi told them through the communications.
"Three thousand?" Ogawa asked.
"Three thousand?" Hibiki repeated. "Is that all?!"
With a shout, she rushed forward at the enemy. The moment that she touched the Alca-Noise with her punch, they were completely obliterated. Tsubasa's sword increased in size, before she swung it forward and unleashed an electrified beam of energy.
Blue Flash
It shredded through the horde like wet paper, before causing an explosion. Chris decided to follow her senpai's lead, before unleashing a huge spread of missiles of all sizes at every Alca-Noise in her sight.
MEGA DETH QUARTET
The four largest missiles opened up to shoot out hundreds of more missiles that took out all the Alca-Noise in the sky.
"Heh, show-off." Rui chuckled, before she backhanded an Alca-Noise.
"Support them whenever we can." Shuri ordered, aiming her sniper and blasting away at the Alca-Noise.
"Now this gets me excited!" Carol grinned.
She jumped into the air before swinging down her arm. She shot an array of wires at Hibiki, shredding apart her own Alca-Noise as Hibiki jumped out of the way. She created a magical circle in her hand, blasting energy at Chris. But the Yukine managed to avoid it easily.
"It's like easy mode now." Maia noted, impaling a Noise on her giant sword.
Shuri put a hand to her ear. "Can I get a report?"
"Carol's alchemy is extremely powerful, but the three Gear users now wield a power that rivals hers." Ogawa said.
"I'm analyzing the battle, and it looks like we've already won." Jeanne said. "Though I wouldn't count our chickens just yet."
"You can do it!" Miku encouraged.
Wires wrapped around Hibiki's arm, but she grabbed it with her free hand and dragged Carol towards her.
"Bring down the lightning!" Genjuro shouted.
Tsubasa and Chris fired a sword beam and missile respectively, as Carol created a wire drill to deflect it. Hibiki rushed forward, becoming a whirlwind of flames as she pushed Carol back. The Alchemist found herself struggling, as she tried to anchor herself onto the ground below her. She grinned, feeling the two of them slow down.
"OREYAAAAAAAH!"
All of the concentration disappeared, as she felt something slam into her throat. She felt her strength leave her, as she saw Rui Tachibana was the culprit of the kick. Rui was using Kagutsuchi to absorb some of Hibiki's flames to empower herself, as the Tachibana twins shouted and drove Carol straight into a building, before kicking off of her and launching themselves skywards for the finale. Carol could only look up in pain, before both Tachibanas delivered a double diving kick.
The result? A massive explosion that destroyed the rest of the building.
Tachibana Style: Double Star Stream Spear
The smoke cleared, with both Hibiki and Rui standing, breathing heavily. Carol was back in her original robe, in her child appearance once more.
Hibiki slowly walked forward towards the girl. Rui nearly fell over, but Maia was there to catch her friend, letting her stay steady.
"You went crazy out there, partner." Maia chuckled, as Shuri, Tsubasa and Chris joined them.
"It's what I do." Rui said with a smirk.
"And I thought the dummy made a cheesy speech." Chris laughed. "You just topped that with something from that kids show you like, Chuunigure. You're so lame."
Rui could only flip the bird at Chris, though it was more of a teasing one.
"Carol-chan…" Everyone turned to see Hibiki holding out a hand to the defeated Alchemist. "Why did you want to take apart the world?"
Carol bat the hand away. "I can't remember. I already burned those memories to fuel my power to fight." She glared at Hibiki. "Don't think for one moment that your cursed melody could ever save anyone."
With one last smirk, Carol bit down on a green capsule.
"Carol-chan!" Hibiki shouted, as the girl keeled over, before burning up in green flames.
"Suicide?" Maia said, stunned, as Hibiki screamed in horror. Shuri put a hand over her mouth, while Tsubasa and Chris were rendered speechless.
Rui limped forward, wrapping her arms around her sister to try and comfort her. The initial shock wore down once the flames died, as Hibiki Carol's last words rang in her ears.
"A cursed melody that can't save anyone…?" Hibiki said, before looking up. She put a hand on sister's comforting arms. "You're wrong. I won't let that be true, Carol-chan…"
A/N: And here we have the new variation of the Relic Battle Modes, with the Proto-Gears. Essentially, a slightly weaker artificial Relic that lets the twins harness the power of Relic Battle Mode without risk of harming themselves. This was a WIP for quite some time.
I am going all out with the Rider references for Rui's attacks. I have no shame at all when it comes to that (and neither does Rui).
And with the Ignite, we have a little bit of an insight for the suffering that both Maia and Shuri have gone through, though a careful eye might have noticed something off in particular.
With that said, we're about to reach the halfway point of the GX arc. Get ready for probably the last bit of breather, like in canon.
Feel free to leave a review or edit the TVTropes page. See you all next time.