Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Okay, we just broke through the last layer! Get the crane ready!”

The man’s voice was firm, easily raising itself above the hum and rumbling of machinery in the naturally formed cave. His team members, who had been puttering to and fro cataloging everything they could about the general area, quickly moved out of the way, allowing a small crane to drive up to the hole that lay in the middle of the cave. 

With the push of a lever the hook descended into the hole, the crew waiting with baited breath as the seconds ticked by. After what felt like an eternity a clank was heard from the bottom of the hole.

“Alright, bring her up!”

With a pull of a lever the arm began to raise their find out of the frozen depths. Soon enough the object breached the surface, frost and ice falling from it as the hook fully retracted.

The object it had fished up almost looked like a fossilized spine, covered in crimson scales. An orb of energy sat dormant in its centre, dull and lifeless.

The researchers gathered around, amazed. 

“This is it?”

“Yes… a complete Relic.”

“ Something far too valuable for you humans to possess.”

An ephemeral and unearthly voice echoed throughout the cavern, causing the team to whirl around, trying to find the source.

“What was that!?”

“I-I don’t know! I-“

The researcher’s words quickly turned to a scream as a beam pierced his chest, the rest of his body dissipating into particles of light. The researchers, in their shock, could only turn to look at the source.

A tall, cloaked figure stood at the entrance to the cave. They stepped forward, their gaze lying solely on the relic. They took only a second to direct their gaze to the researchers. “You are in my way.”

From beneath the cloak an Armored hand scattered small, crystal-like objects across the ground in front of them. Emerging from the points on the ground where the crystals landed were amorphous, blob-like creatures, some humanoid and some completely alien.

“A-Alca-Noise!”

The cavern was soon filled with screams as the Alca-Noise charged forward, slamming into the researchers and causing them to explode into red mist. The cloaked figure calmly walked forward as their Alca-Noise slaughtered the researchers, unphased by their dying screams.

Soon they stood in front of the relic, raising their hand from beneath the cloak and setting it against the object.

“ Yes… with this, everything will be as it should be…”

The figure drew out another crystal, shattering it in their hand as space began to warp around both the figure and the relic. In moments they both vanished into thin air, as screams echoed throughout the cave…

“…ki…biki…Hibiki!”

Hibiki slowly came to, yawning as she raised her head from the desk. “Miku?”

The other girl smiled, setting her pen down. “Did you have a nice nap?”

Hibiki blinked. Nap? What was she-

Oh. Right.

“Oh man, I’m so sorry Miku! Here you are helping me with my homework and I went and fell asleep on you…”

Miku shook her head. “It’s fine. You pushed yourself pretty hard in training this morning.”

Hibiki chuckled. “Well, I can’t let you overtake me, ya know? You’re doing really well when you’ve only had your Faust Robe for a few months. But that’s my best friend for ya!”

“Well, between all of you I have great teachers… and besides, I said I’d walk beside you, right? So I need to catch up.”

Hibiki giggled. “Well, you’re doing a pretty good job so far!”

Miku smiled back, though it quickly turned mischievous. “Hibiki?”

“Yeah?”

“You did it again.”

Hibiki cocked her head. “Did what again?”

“You called me your ‘Best Friend’.”

Hibiki took a second to process what Miku said before a massive blush broke out on her face. 

She had called Miku, her Sunshine, her Best Friend instead of her updated label: Girlfriend.

To be honest it was still hard for Hibiki to believe. That they had confessed to each other that night, beneath the shooting stars. That they could finally put these feelings they had bottled up for so long into words… or in Hibiki’s case, the feelings she had finally realized. 

“I-it’s still new, ya know?”

“Whatever you say.”

Hibiki was about to say something when the ringing of her phone interrupted her. Actually, that wasn’t her phone. That was-

Her S.O.N.G communicator.

Her expression hardened as she picked it up, Miku picking hers up as well. The pair nodded to each other as they picked up.

“Hibiki-kun, Miku-kun, I need both of you to report to HQ right away. The other Gear users are already en route.” Genjuro’s commanding voice boomed out of the communicator. It was his serious voice, the kind you only heard him use when talking about action movies or if something bad had happened.

“Roger!”

The pair quickly got to their feet, throwing on coats and shoes before heading out the door. As soon as they got out the front door the honk of a car drew their attention. 

“Ogawa-san!”

Hibiki and Miku barrelled into the back of the car, Ogawa pulling out right after the girls got their seatbelts on.

Miku frowned. “The commander sounded worried… what do you think happened?”

“I don’t know… Ogawa-san, do you know anything?”

“Just the basics. I’ll let the commander explain in full when we get to HQ.”

Hibiki nodded, looking out the window as the scenery passed by. Things were finally starting to return to normal after the battle with Shem-Ha, but she couldn’t shake this bad feeling in her gut…

That something major was happening again.

—

“Now that everyone’s here, let’s begin!”

Hibiki and Miku wound up being the last of the Gear users to arrive. Hibiki expected some gentle ribbing about it from Chris, but she was silent. All of them were silent, actually. Like there was this oppressive aura on the whole group.

Not that Hibiki could really blame any of them. They literally fought a God barely even a couple months ago. They must have figured, just like Hibiki, that things would calm down for the foreseeable future and that they could focus on their normal, everyday lives.

“Four hours ago, we lost contact with a UN expedition team in the Arctic.”

Tsubasa frowned. “An expedition team?”

“Yes. About a week  ago we detected a powerful relic signature from a cave below Mount Erebus.”

“But for the UN to want to send a full expedition…” Maria gasped. “Do you mean?…”

Genjuro nodded. “Yes. The signature was powerful enough that we believe it to be a complete relic. That’s why the UN was so quick to send a team to retrieve it.”

Chris clicked her tongue. “But seeing as how you lost contact with em, I’m guessin things aren’t going according to plan?”

“No… at first we just assumed it was just interference, either from the weather or the cave formation they’re operating in. But if it were that simple we would have heard from them by now.”

“So you want us to go in and investigate?” Tsuaba inquired.

“Yes. We’re going to move out in-”

Elfnein gasped. “C-commander! We just received a message from the Arctic expedition team!”

Genjuro spun around. “Put it on screen!”

The room was turned silent as a message flashed across the screen at the front of the room.

Location Compromised

“T-they also sent a video file! Playing it now!”

The message disappeared, replaced by a video feed.

Fujitaka pressed a few keys in front of him. “It looks like security camera footage, probably from one of the ones set up on site.”

The group watched in silence as the relic was brought up from the ice.

Kirika frowned. “What even is that thing dess?”

Shirabe cocked her head. “Some sort of sushi?”

Chris sighed. “Yeah, I don’t think it’s food.”

They watched on as one of the team was evaporated by a beam of light, watched on as the rest of the team was slaughtered by Alca-Noise, and watched on as the cloaked figure disappeared along with the Relic. The video cut out as an Alca-Noise destroyed the camera.

Hibiki gasped. “No way… everyone there is…”

“Interefence is gone… but… “ Elfnein hesitated. “...Not picking up any life signs…”

“Damn it… we were too late… “ Maria could only sigh at the news.

Genjuro narrowed his eyes. “This is now officially the worst case scenario. Not only was the entire UN team slaughtered, but a third party has now acquired a complete relic, one of which we have no idea of what it can do.”

Tsubasa frowned. “That cloak will make it nearly impossible to identify whoever that was… the only information we really have to go on is that they’re either an Alchemist, or at the very least allied with one.”

Genjuro sighed. “I’ll need to get in contact with the UN. They’re probably going to lay some of the blame on us for not responding fast enough, but that’s just how it is. As for the rest of you…” 

He turned around to face the girls again. “All of you can go on like normal for now, but keep your communicators nearby. You’re all on standby for the time being. We don’t know when the enemy might choose to act.”

“Roger!”

A week had passed since then, and everyday the bad feeling Hibiki had just got worse and worse. It was like the calm right before the big climax in an action movie, waiting for the last pin to drop.

“Hey, Hibiki?”

“Yeah Miku?”

“Going on a date is no fun when your partner is just in their head all the time.”

Hibiki blinked, suddenly remembering where she was. She had suggested to Miku they go on a picnic date since the weather was nice, so they had packed their things that morning and set up on a hill in a nearby park.

“Oh… sorry Miku… it’s just…”

The other girl gave a small smile. “You’re worried about what happened, aren’t you?”

Hibiki nodded. “Yeah… I thought things were finally going to go back to normal, ya know? But now we might have a new enemy… and I just have this bad feeling in my gut about it all…”

Miku hummed, picking up a sandwich slice and passing it to Hibiki. “You know, you don’t have to bear it all yourself. I’m always here for you.”

Hibiki smiled, accepting the sandwich. “Thanks Miku. I guess I just have this bad feeling… what if my fists aren’t enough this time?”

Miku raised her hand, gently laying it over Hibiki’s clenched fist. “Then maybe your hands need to be open instead of closed… and even if that doesn’t work, then I’ll take your open hand myself.”

Hibiki could feel her heart beat just a little bit faster. Man, what did she ever do to deserve Miku in her life?

Just as she was about to say something in response an explosion in the distance interrupted her.

Both Hibiki and Miku shot to their feet, food forgotten. As if on queue, their communicators rang. The pair quickly picked up.

“Alca-Noise have appeared in the city! We already have a chopper on its way to pick you up. Rendezvous with Tsubasa and the others at the scene and eliminate the Alca-Noise!”

“Roger!”

No sooner did the two girls hang up than the chopper in question showed up, whipping up a wind with its blades as it lowered itself to the ground. Once it was only a few inches off the ground the side door opened.

Hibiki beamed. “Chris-chan!”

The girl scoffed. “Don’t make such a big deal of it. They just happened to pick me up first is all. Now come on! We gotta get moving.”

Hibiki and Miku hopped in and Chris closed the door behind them. As soon as they were in the helicopter ascended and began flying in the direction of the explosion.

Miku frowned. “Do you know how evacuation is going?”

Chris shook her head. “No idea. I barely had time to think after I got the call before this guy picked me up.”

“Ya know, I kinda wonder sometimes how they get these helicopters to us so quickly. Like, we get a call saying there’s Alca-Noise, and then a helicopter picks us up like, right after.” Hibiki wondered out loud.

“They probably send the helicopters first, then call us. At least… I think…” Miku offered in way of explanation.

“I guess that kinda makes sense…”

“Alright, we’re at the drop zone! Get ready to disembark!”

The pilot’s voice snapped the three girls to attention. They nodded at each other as the helicopter came to a stand still in mid air. Hibiki yanked the door open, wind blowing in her face as she looked down towards the ground.

“Let’s go, Miku, Chris-chan!”

“Right!”

“Don’t have to tell me twice!”

With that the three girls jumped out of the helicopter.

As they fell Hibiki reached her hand towards her neck, grasping the pendant that hung around it. Then, as they always did, words filled her mind.

And she sang.

~Balwisyall nescell Gungnir tron~

With the Holy Chant spoken, Hibiki became engulfed in a sphere of energy.

Hibiki passed through a circle of energy, becoming engulfed in a light grey and orange body suit. She assumed a fighting stance, orange gems on her suit glowing brightly as a large boulder appeared in front of her. With a battle cry she sent her fist flying forward, shattering the rock with a single blow. At the same time, the gems on her arms glowed even brighter, transforming into mechanical white armor. She slammed her unarmored fist into another rock as more armor now appeared on her left arm, a screen displaying ‘SG-r03 Gungnir’ before being covered by more armor plating. Hibiki jumped, kicking two more rocks, and when she landed armored boots materialized around her feet. With one final loud cry she thrust her fist into the air, smashing through a massive boulder that had appeared overhead. It shattered into particles of orange light, which fell onto Hibiki’s body, each one forming more armor. One final light fell onto Hibiki’s head, forming a headpiece along with a long, flowing scarf. She slammed her fists together, energy crackling between them as she drew them apart. With one final cry she struck a pose, scarf flowing in the wind behind her.

With a cry Hibiki readied her fist, smashing through an airborne Noise before slamming into the ground, sending out a shockwave that wiped out a good portion of the Noise around her.

It also dealt quite a bit of damage to the street, but who really cares about that, right? It’d probably be fixed in a day or two.

Probably.

The shock of that day remains in my heart

Bitterly piercing me with many pains

(Tears roll down)

The song filled Hibiki's mind and heart as she shot forward, smashing through another group of clustered noise with a single punch. She jumped, avoiding the swipe of a Noise behind her before countering with a kick. Then, just before the noise disintegrated, she triggered the Power Jacks on her leg, shooting her up into the air. She punched through another flying Noise before bringing her foot down on a larger Noise below her as she landed.

“I won’t let that happen ever again”

Swearing that, I clench my fist once more

Miku let out a yell as she slashed through a pair of Noise with her fan, flying up into the air to avoid a strike from another Noise. She whipped one of the cables on her arms forward, shattering the Noise in response. She flew further up, deploying her fan and letting it unfurl into its full form.

[ Shǎnguāng ]

Beams began rapidly firing from each mirror on the fully unsheathed fan, wiping out a horde of Noise on the ground.

“There’s a meaning to this power”

I kick out swiftly, follow through, and amass it

For the sake of your smile

Chris jumped away as a Noise lunged at her, firing a barrage of crossbow bolts as she twirled around in the air. When she landed she changed to her ever trusty gatling guns and began spraying into the horde of Noise.

[ Billion Maiden ]

Then Chris turned her attention upward, to a group of Noise that were approaching Miku from behind. Two compartments on her skirt armor opened, and a barrage of small missiles were fired from them.

[ Mega Deth Party ]

The missiles wiped out the flying Noise in a series of explosions. With her friend now no longer in danger of being attacked from behind she turned her attention to some of the other airborne Noise, blasting away at them to provide cover for Miku.

( Ready, Ready )

( Fight now, Fight now)

I’ll hold on to what I love

Hibiki was still tearing through the Noise on the ground, punching and kicking at any Noise that was unfortunate enough to cross her path. The ground shook as a massive, building sized Noise appeared from around the corner of the street. Hibiki narrowed her eyes. She couldn’t let that thing run around, or there’d be way more damage. Objective in mind, Hibiki steadied herself, before…

(Knock out!) It’s because I want to tell you, too

She shot forward.

(Knock out!) The words “Don’t give up!”

The hands we close will create tomorrow

The large Noise roared as it brought an arm down, smashing through a building in the process as it swung at Hibiki. She easily avoided the hit by jumping into the air, using falling rubble to propel herself up even higher. She clenched her fist, her arm morphing as a metal shell popped over her fist and a pair of rocket boosters emerged from the armor on her elbow.

(Knock out!) We’ll head beyond our overlapping pasts

(Knock out!) And to the other side of our tears

Hibiki used the boosters on her belt to ascend even higher, shooting up and above the large Noise. It let out a growl as it whipped one of its tentacles up, trying to whip Hibiki out of the air. She avoided the attack by using the jacks on her feet to propel herself backwards.

I saw the kind of person

(I will, you will!”)

Hibiki activated the rockets on her gauntlet, shooting towards the Noise at high speeds. Energy crackled along her fist as she drew her arm back.

Who risked their life

(I will, you will!)

With a cry Hibiki slammed her first forward, tearing through the center of the Noise with ease. 

In your eyes, as well

The Noise exploded as Hibiki landed, probably taking out some of the small fry with it. Hibiki’s arm returned to normal and she turned around-

Only to find a Noise about to smack her right in the face.

Hibiki braced for impact-

An impact that never came. Because the instant before the Noise attack it had been cut in twain.

Hibiki smiled. “Tsubasa-san!”

Tsubasa nodded. “And that’s not all.”

“Deeeeeeeeeeess!”

Kirika came barrelling in, slicing through a pair of Noise with her scythe while Shirabe fired a rain of buzzsaws at the ones behind it. Maria also jumped in, tearing apart a larger Noise with her whip-blade.

“Don’t let yourself get distracted Tachibana! Together, with blade and spear, we’ll rend these Noise asunder!”

“Right!”

With that, Hibiki and Tsubasa rejoined the battle.

On a nearby rooftop, a cloaked figure watched the Gear users battle the Alca-Noise.

“So, this is the strength of those who defeated Shem-Ha… it is not to be underestimated. However…”

They held out their arm, the Relic they acquired in the Arctic materializing in their hand. It hovered in their grasp, its core shining with light. 

“With this… not even they can stand in my way. No one and nothing will stop me. Now roar… roar Gjallarhorn! Echo your cry and tear open the path to the future!”

At the stranger’s command the Relic pulsed, its core growing even brighter until the light became blinding…

With the last of the Noise defeated the Gear users gathered around.

Kirika fist pumped. “That was an easy win dess!”

Chris grinned. “Obviously. A few Alca-Noise ain’t anything to write home about anymore.”

Tsubasa frowned. “That’s true, but the summoner never revealed themselves…”

Maria nodded. “Yes, that is rather concerning… this whole thing can’t help but feel like a trap…”

As if on queue the air suddenly chilled, a shiver going up Hibiki’s spine. Something was wrong. It was-

A noise caused the group’s attention to turn behind them. There was… a crack in the air. Before anyone could comment more cracks appeared before they suddenly shattered, a hole appearing in the very air. It began sucking in everything around it that wasn’t nailed down, including…

“Everyone, get back!”

The Gear users jumped away before they could get caught by the vacuum, all except for one.

“Miku!”

Miku, having been the closest to the hole when it appeared, hadn’t been able to get clear before she got caught in the hole’s suction. Try as she might, even though her gear allowed her to fly, she was just barely able to keep from being sucked in entirely.

“H-Hibiki!”

Miku was slowly losing ground, getting closer and closer to the hole with each passing second. Her gear was straining, and sooner or later, something had to give.

Unfortunately, that something was Miku’s gear.

Sparks flew from the legs of the suit before they gave out entirely, Miku now being sucked towards the hole.

Hibiki didn’t even need to think about what she did next. Her body moved before she even could start to think about what she should do.

“ MIKU!!!”

She jumped forward, ignoring the yells from her teammates. She wouldn’t, she couldn’t, lose her Sunshine. Not again.

Just before Miku got sucked into the hole Hibiki managed to grab her hand, using her other hand to grab onto a light pole that was nearby.

Hibiki grit her teeth as the hole fought to suck them in, even as she tried to pull them out. If she could even just throw Miku clear…

But she couldn’t. Hell, it was everything she could do to keep them anchored to the light pole. The suction was just too damn strong.

“Hibiki… you have to let me go! Or we’ll both-”

“Never! I’m never… never letting you go again!”

“Hibiki!”

The others could only watch on, powerless as the light pole began to creak, starting to come out of the ground. Hibiki’s mind was racing, trying to figure out what she could do. She wasn’t letting go of Miku ever again, so that wasn’t an option. But what else could-

Hibiki blinked. Of course. The answer was so simple.

“Hibiki, you have to-!”

“Miku!”

Hibiki turned her head, meeting Miku’s gaze. Hibiki smiled. “I’m never letting go of the things I love ever again.”

Miku didn’t say anything, a silent understanding coming between them. They didn’t need words to convey their feelings… sometimes Hibiki wondered if they ever did. Their eyes, their hearts, they told each other everything there was to tell. All Miku did was smile. It was a small little thing, so fragile and ephemeral. But it was precisely for that reason that Hibiki would do everything she could to protect it. 

Hibiki let go.

She heard screams and yells as they were pulled towards the hole, but Hibiki didn’t care. All she did was pull her Sunshine into a tight hug, one that Miku returned with great fervor. No matter what happened, the two of them would face it together.

The pair disappeared into the hole.

“Tachibana! Kohinata!”

“That damn dummy!”

Before anyone could say anything Chris was already running forward. Heedless of her own safety, not caring about the potential risks, she threw herself forward, disappearing into the hole right after them.

The others moved to follow, but before they could the hole let out sparks… and closed.

Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. They could hardly breathe.

With a shaky hand Tsubasa raised her hand to her ear. “HQ… visual on Tachibana, Kohinata and Yukine… lost…”

Back at base, Fujitaka could only gasp. “Gungir, Shenshoujing, Ichaival… have disappeared…”

Genjuro grit his teeth. “Widen the search area! Look for even the faintest hint of their Relics!”

The bridge was silent as the search area on the monitor widened… and widened… and widened…

“...Detecting no traces of any of their relics… anywhere on the Earth…” Elfnein’s voice was quiet, barely holding itself together.

“Damn it… call back the other Gear users and raise the condition to Code Red.”

Elfnein could only silently nod.

“Hibiki-kun… Miku-kun… Chris-kun… please be all right…”

Hibiki groaned as conscience slowly returned to her. What had happened? They were fighting some Alca-Noise… then that hole appeared… and then Miku was getting sucked in-

“Miku!”

Luckily the girl in question was still in her arms, causing Hibiki to let out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness…”

Miku’s eyes slowly blinked open. “H-Hibiki?”

“I’m right here Miku… right here…”

They hugged for a while longer before standing up.

“Alright, first we need to assess the situation! I think. Pretty sure that’s what Master taught me.”

Hibiki looked around, only to frown. They were… in an alleyway? But they were just in the middle of the street. Plus, both of the Gears had disengaged, leaving them in their civilian clothes. Those two things already struck Hibiki as odd. 

The other thing that struck her as odd was the sounds.

People were talking, she could hear cars driving by… definitely not something you should be hearing in an evacuated area.

“Hey, Hibiki?”

Hibiki turned, seeing that Miku had walked over to the entrance of the alleyway. She walked over to join the other girl. “What is-”

Hibiki was stunned into silence. What they saw was a city… that was definitely not Tokyo.

“Hibiki… I don’t think we’re in Tokyo anymore…”

Hibiki’s mind was racing. If they weren’t in Tokyo… where were they?

Luckily, a nearby billboard seemed to answer that for her.

“Hey… Miku?”

“Yeah?”

“What’s Quinharbor?”

Chapter Text

Miorine couldn’t help but marvel at the sight of the Earth from orbit.

It looked so vast from up here. So much blue it was hard to imagine. In space, you didn’t have oceans. At most you had artificially made lakes or ponds, and that was reserved for places like Asticassia. It was hard to imagine that years ago she had wanted to run away to this place. She hadn’t known anything about the world, was only concerned with herself and getting away from everything.

“Feeling nostalgic?”

Miorine turned her gaze to the woman seated next to her. “Something like that.”

Sabina gave Miorine a nod before glancing down to her wrist. “At our current pace we should arrive in Quinharbor just ahead of schedule.”

“Good. It’ll give us time to prepare. Especially if the rumours are true…”

“That’s why I sent Maisie and Renee ahead. They’ll secure the area, and notify us when preparations are complete.”

Miorine nodded, gazing back out the window. She was making another trip down to Quinharbor to try and help soothe the populace. Things were still fairly raw, even if it had been years since what became known as the “Quinharbor Incident”. Though, she supposed, there were a couple other reasons she was going. First and foremost was raising some good will to GUND-ARM Inc. While people’s opinions were slowly changing, it was taking no small amount of work to get people to let go of their grievances with Gundams. They have taken so many lives… It's not easy making people believe that they can save lives too.

Some people, unfortunately, couldn’t be reasoned with.

There were rumours of an extremist Anti-Spacian group growing on Earth. It wasn’t Dawn of Fold, Miorine had already had that looked into, but they had found more than a little evidence to give the rumours some weight. Remnants, perhaps? She wasn’t sure. Regardless of their affiliation, they also seemed to harbour a great grudge against GUND-ARM specifically. According to one of Miorine’s best Agents, anyway. Was it dangerous for her to go down there with all this going on? Definitely. Was she still going to? Of course. She has to show that she’s not afraid of them… and maybe she could try and talk them down if it came to that.

The other reason? Well…

“ Hey, Miorine? Got a call. Pretty sure we both know who it is.”

“Thank you Eri.”

Miorine pulled out her phone, quickly tapping the video call indicator. The screen blinked to life, revealing a face she knew all too well.

“Miorine-san!”

Her wife, the love of her life, one Suletta Mercury.

Miorine huffed. “Suletta, how many times have I told you to drop the ‘-san’? We’re married, remember?”

Suletta giggled, scratching at her cheek. “I know, I know… it just doesn’t feel right not calling you that, ya know?”

“Well… whatever you say I guess. How are things down there?”

“Good! Mom’s doing good, and the plans for the school are going well so far. It’s just going to be a single room to start, but it’ll be much, much bigger than that in the future.”

Miorine smiled. “I’m sure you can do it. And how are you holding up?”

“Good! The pain is going away a little bit more every day. Pretty soon I’ll definitely be able to sweep you up in my arms!”

Miorine blushed. “W-where did that come from?!”

“Oh, I was watching this anime the other day and-”

“ Geez, can you two keep your flirting to when I’m not here? It’s cute and all, but too much cuteness can be a bad thing.”

Suletta beamed. “Ericht!”

“ Yep, it’s me. Forget I was here?”

She shook her head. “Nope! I actually had something exciting to tell you. We finally have better Wi-Fi out here! It’s not the best, but now you won’t be completely disconnected anymore when you come to visit!”

Eri was strangely silent. “ T-thanks… Suletta…”

Miorine grinned. If Eri could blush that’s probably what she’s doing right now.

“Anyway, enough about me. How’ve you been, Miorine-san? Have you been eating well? I know you tend to forget to eat sometimes when you get really into something.”

Miorine gulped. “O-of course! Just had a really nice meal before I left!”

Suletta narrowed her eyes. “Really?”

“Really!”

“Really?”

“...R-really?”

“Reeeeeally?”

Oh no… Suletta was busting out her ‘teacher’ voice. 

“...Yes?”

“Ericht?”

“ Nope, she’s been sustaining herself on instant noodles for… what, the past four or five days? ‘Too busy!’ she says.”

Curse you Eri! That one is coming out of your allowance… not that she got one. Permet Ghosts couldn’t really use money, after all.

Suletta sighed. “Miorine-san…”

Miorine groaned. “I know, I know… but things HAVE been hectic lately. All those rumours flying around have made this trip a lot more complicated than my previous ones.”

At the mention of the rumours Suletta frowned. “Are you… sure you should be going there right now? What if something happens?”

Miorine shrugged. “Then we’ll deal with it. I’m not letting the potential threat of some new group stop me from doing what I want to do. Besides, they might not even be violent.

She was pretty sure no one believed that, but hey, it was an option right?

Suletta sighed. “Just… be careful, okay? I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Miorine smiled. “Don’t worry. Sabina and the rest of them are quite good at their job. I’ll be fine.”

Sabina tapped Miorine’s arm. “We’ll be landing in five minutes.”

Miorine nodded, turning back to Suletta. “Alright, I need to get going. We’ll talk later, okay?”

“Okay! Oh, and you and the others should come visit after you’re done! The tomatoes are ready for harvest, so I’ll make everyone something tasty.”

The prospect of her wife’s cooking definitely gave Miorine more than a little motivation to get through this job. “Sounds good. I can probably afford to work from home for a couple days.”

Suletta perked up. “Great! Oh, it sounds like Mom needs something. Talk to you later Miorine-san! I love you!”

“I love you too Suletta.”

With that they hung up.

“Man, getting that excited by the idea of my sister’s cooking, eh? She really has you whipped.”

Miorine grunted. “Can it.”

“Man… what I wouldn’t give for a cute wife… we could have data storm dates, eat digital food, have digital-”

Nope, Miorine was not listening to any more of that. She tuned Eri out as they approached the elevator that would take them down to Earth.

Here’s hoping everything went well.

—-

“Everything good on your end?”

The man nodded to his comrade as he double checked his gun one more time. They’d probably only get one shot at this, so they had to be sure. Around them, other men and women were going over their own supplies, making sure ammo was concealed and stashed in various places for safe keeping.

The man looked down, pulling a picture out from his wallet. He looked at it for a few moments to steel his resolve before putting it away. It’s not like this was the first time he had fired a gun at someone, unlike some of the others here, but he didn’t want to get any innocent Earthians caught up in this.

“I see everything is proceeding according to plan.”

The man turned. “Yeah, things are progressing a lot faster than before. Though I suppose we have you to thank for that, Ms?...”

Before the man stood a teenage girl, though a cloak concealed most of her features. She was of average height, with a few strands of silvery hair poking out from under her hood. The most striking feature about her, though, was her heterochromatic red and blue eyes.

The girl grunted. “I believe we already agreed that my name would remain unspoken. All you need to know is that the people who provided you this equipment also want to see Miorine Rembran dead and GUND-ARM inc shut down.”

“Yeah, but-”

The girl narrowed her eyes, causing the man to stop dead in his tracks. There was murderous intent in that glare, and he didn’t feel like trying his luck.

“Okay, okay. We’re grateful to this sponsor of yours. We finally have a chance to end that string of curses once and for all thanks to them.”

She nodded. “Indeed. I come bearing one final gift. Think of it as an… added bonus.”

The girl passed the man a case. He cocked his head. Curiosity getting the better of him he opened the case, revealing a collection of… crystals? They looked like crystals. Along with a small staff, the head shaped like a golden dragon.

“I… what are these?”

The girl hummed. “Use these as a… last case scenario. Oh, but be sure to keep that staff on you if you do wind up using these. Once you throw these little guys it’ll be the only way for you to control them.”

This just made the man even more confused. “What are-”

“Everyone!”

The man turned, a woman coming into the alleyway hideout they had been preparing at. “She’s started! She’ll be in the killzone in about 15 minutes!”

The man nodded. Then they needed to get ready. He turned back around to thank the girl once more-

She was gone.

The man frowned for a moment before shrugging. There were more important things to worry about. He grabbed a couple extra magazines, put them in a holster on his leg, and stood up. After some thought he also closed the case and picked it up. If she provided it to them he may as well use it. Something about it gave him a bad feeling… but the urge for revenge overshadowed that.

With that, he joined the others as they left the alleyway

—

“Man… I think I’m cursed…”

Hibiki sighed as she wandered the streets. Wherever this Quinharbor place was, she didn’t recognize it. Hell, she had never even heard of it before five minutes ago. She and Miku had decided to split up to try and figure out where the hell they even were. Luckily their phones still worked, so they were able to keep in contact.

Not so luckily, neither of them had made much progress. Every new street they turned onto was more and more unfamiliar to them. They could only guess they were somewhere in the west, and that was only because of how many people weren’t Japanese around here. How they got here from Tokyo? They were still working on that. Maybe that hole had been some sort of portal? But even if that were the case, their communicators should still have been able to contact HQ, but every time they tried all they got was static.

She was about to turn down another street when she stopped. Looked like a crowd was forming up ahead… and not a very happy one, if the signs and shouts were anything to go by. Hibiki fired off a quick message to Miku to let her know where she was before going over to investigate.

—

This really never got easier, did it?

Miorine had thought that, by now, she might be used to the insults. To the anger and sorrow and hatred and grief. But she wasn’t. Every sign that read ‘GUNDAM TOOK MY CHILD’S LIFE’, every crying person mourning a loved one, even the ones who were just against the Benerit Group or Spacians in general. As she slowly worked her way through each person, hearing their complaints and sorrows and trying to soothe them, she wondered if she could fix all these years of pent up emotion. She didn’t have the same gentle touch that Suletta had, even Shaddiq was far more clever than her when it came to political maneuvering.

But even so.

This was something she had to do. Something she needed to do. Something she would do.

She put on the best smile she could muster. “I assure you ma’am, we’re taking every precaution in our tests. We are working on bringing GUND back to what it was truly meant to do: save and rebuild lives. Our prosthetics are showing great improvements, and soon we’ll be able to get them to the people who need them.”

The woman, who was at first angry, could only sigh as tears pricked at her eyes. “But… Gundams took my son from me… what am I…”

“I am truly sorry for your loss. But we are making absolutely sure that Data Storms won’t be a problem when we eventually reach a phase where we can safely test on those who need it. We have… something of an expert in the field helping us.”

Out of the corner of her eyes she thought she could make out two younger girls in the crowd. They couldn’t have been older than 17 or 18… and they were Japanese? That was rare. Regardless, Miorine had more pressing matters to attend to.

Miorine spoke with the lady for a few minutes more before moving on. She whispered to Sabina, who was following closely behind her. “How are we looking?”

“No suspicious individuals yet.” Sabina responded. “Renee and Maisie haven’t gotten anything from the van either.”

“Good. Hopefully we can get through this without any-”

The click of a gun interrupted her.

“...Incident…”

She turned around, finding a man behind her… pointing a pistol at her head.

That wasn’t great.

More people emerged from the crowd, their guns pointed at Miorine as she slowly became surrounded.

Sabina grit her teeth. “Damn it… how did they get through our net?”

“No use worrying about that now…” Miorine mumbled, slowly gazing at the people who wanted her dead. There must be a way out of this… but how?

Her eyes widened. Ah, that was how.

Sabina was about to say something into her mic when Miorin raised her hand. Sabina frowned. “Miorine?”

“Let me handle this.”

Miorine let out a breath. She only had one shot at this. If she messed this up… well, she wouldn’t be getting any more of Suletta’s cooking any time soon.

“I assume you want me dead?”

The gunmen hesitated, surprise adorning their faces. This must not have been the outcome they were anticipating. But then, Miorine wondered what outcome that had been anticipating?

After all, with how shaky their hands were…

“Or do you?”

“O-Of course we do!” One of the men shouted. “You and your damn Gundams don’t belong in this world!”

“I see… is that how all of you feel?”

Their silence spoke volumes. 

“I want to ask all of you… have any of you taken a life?”

They hesitated. One of the women spoke up. “I-It doesn’t matter! I-I’m doing this for my son!”

Miorine sighed. “Was he a victim of a Data Storm? Perhaps the Benerit group? Spacians in general?”

The woman spoke after a moment. “H-he was a test pilot for one of the original Gundams… but they killed him! And now you want to use them to take more lives!”

Miorine shook her head. “I intend to use Gundams to save lives.”

“Liar!”

“You’re just a murderer!”

“You just want to exploit us Earthians!”

“I have multiple Earthians on my payroll, you know. They receive the exact same rates as any of the Spacians that work for me.”

“...You do?”

“Indeed. Some of them are even due for a raise here soon, for how exemplary their work is.”

“But your Gundams are the reason I lost my husband!”

“I am truly sorry to hear that. But that was back when Ochs Earth was wishing to use the GUND Format to create Mobile Suits. Now we intend to use it for medicine and prosthetics. Surely you know someone who could benefit from it?”

“... My brother lost his arm in an accident a while back…”

“You’re just going to make them for Spacians! Or… or make them so expensive we Earthians can’t afford them!”

“I intend to do nothing of the sort. I’ll make sure they’re affordable to Earthians and Spacians alike, and I’ll also ensure they’re affordable for whoever needs them.”

“Y-you’re lying!”

Miorine met that man’s gaze. “Am I?”

The man hesitated. Miorine was giving him the most honest look she could give, hoping against hope she could make him believe.

“Y-you’re… not lying…” 

“But she was still responsible for the Quinharbor incident! Her and that Gundam!”

Miorine sighed. “I’ll admit, that incident was in no small part due to my negligence. The person I had been working with at the time orchestrated events without my knowing. I swear to you, upon my very soul. I am sorry. I know those words aren’t enough, will never be enough, but they are all I have to offer. Those words, and the actions I take everyday to make sure that something like that never happens again.”

The gunmen were silent, looking at each other in confusion. Soon enough, one of them lowered their gun. “I… don’t wanna kill no one…”

“I got a kid round her age…”

“She wouldn’t have wanted me to do this…”

—

Man, this was not how Hibiki thought this was going to go down.

“Hibiki, what’s going on?”

Hibiki turned. “Miku!” 

Miku walked over, standing beside Hibiki. “I got here as fast as I could.”

“Thank goodness! They were talking about really complicated stuff and then those people drew guns and I thought I was gonna have to step in and disarm them but then the girl with white hair talked them down and-”

Hibiki paused to take a breath. “I suddenly realized how hungry I am.”

Miku giggled. “We’ll have to see about getting a bite to eat then. I saw a nice restaurant-”

Hibiki turned back and gasped. “Miku! Please tell me that’s not what I think it is!”

—

One by one they each lowered their guns. Miorine let out a sigh of relief. She was able to get through to them-

“I can’t believe this!”

Miorine flinched as another man forced himself to the front of the crowd. He was big, burly, a bear of a man. He held a rifle in his hand, some sort of case in another. 

“What, she says a few honeyed words and you all forget our mission? Our pain?!”

“I’m sure if we talk this out-”

“We’re beyond talking!”

The man set the case down, taking aim at Miorine with the rifle. “I woulda liked to talk to my kids, you know that? But I can’t! My son was taken from me by those damn Gundams, and my daughter was branded a terrorist and locked up! I can’t even get in to visit her!”

“I-I’m sorry-”

“You’re sorry?! Don’t make me fucking laugh! You don’t know what it’s like! Your damn daddy don’t know what it’s like! You on your high throne up in space… you don’t have the slightest idea what it’s like for us down here in the dirt and mud!”

What could Miorine even say? This man’s pain… It ran deep. Far too deep for Miorine to be able to do anything about.

“C-c’mon man… let’s stop this, yeah? This ain’t gonna bring em back-”

“I know it won’t! But guess what? I can at least send her to hell and get the revenge that-”

Before he could finish his sentence Sabina charged in, faster than he could react with being distracted. She knocked the rifle out of his grip and then swept his leg, knocking him to the ground. She quickly kicked the gun away, moving in between him and Miorine.

She nodded. “Thank you Sabina.” She turned back to the man. “Now cease and desist… please. If you all drop your weapons and walk away, I won’t press charges. Please… don’t start down a path you can’t turn back from.”

The gunmen began dropping their guns, one by one. Miorine let out a relieved sigh. Thank goodness that-

“You damn traitors!”

The large set man roared as he got up. “You’re siding with this… this Spacian trash!?”

“W-we’re not! We just-”

“If you won’t do it, then I’ll do it myself!”

Before anyone could react the man opened the case, taking out some sort of… crystal? Whatever it was he threw a handful of them at the ground in front of Miorine.

What happened next Miorine could hardly explain. Strange symbols appeared on the ground where the crystals shattered and from them emerged… something. It was hard to describe. They were amorphous, blob like… monsters? That’s the best word she had to describe it. Some took more humanoid forms, with arms and legs. Others were just blobs while others looked like insects.

“Eri… do you have any idea what those things are?”

“I’m as confused as you… I’ve never seen anything like it. I’m getting some sort of feeling from them… it’s like Permet, but it’s not. Whatever they are… they’re dangerous”

Miorine grit her teeth. Some kind of new weapon?

All of a sudden one of them shot a tentacle at her.

“Get down!”

Sabina pulled Miorine down, the tentacle going just above the block that held Eri’s consciousness, and right into one of the gunmen. They let out a scream as they just… evaporated into red dust.

Silence hung in the air before the surrounding civilians started to scream and scatter. Miorine shivered. If that had hit her…

The man let out a maniacal laugh. “I don’t know what the hell this is… but I can use it! She said I could control them with this thing…” He held up a golden staff. “So I’ll use them to kill the Rembran bitch and all you damn Spacian sympathizers!”

With an unspoken command the monsters began attacking the surrounding people, each one that came into contact with one of them being turned into more red dust.

“We’re leaving. Renee, bring the van around. Henao, Ireesha, get the data block out of here. I’ll handle the VIP.”

“Roger!” 

The three girls sprang into action, Sabina hauling Miorine backup while the other two girls rolled the data block with Eri inside into a nearby alley. 

“ You better not die on us! I don’t feel like being the one to tell sis that she’s a widow!”

If everything turned out well Eri wouldn’t have to. Hopefully.

They should be safe, Miorine reasoned to herself. This guy seemed to be after her exclusively.

Sabina grabbed her hand as they started to run, the monsters chasing after them. What even the hell was going on?!

They narrowly avoided another tentacle, watching in horror as it disintegrated the car that it hit. Yeah, getting hit by one of those was definitely not high on her priority list.

Miorine swore as she tripped, stumbling to the ground. Sabina swore as she turned around, only for her eyes to widen in horror.

One of the creatures was jumping straight at Miorine.

Miorine closed her eyes. So, this was how she was going to die, huh? 

“Suletta…”

“Don’t give up on living!”

Miorine’s eyes shut open as someone tackled her out of the way of the creature. They rolled along the ground for a few moments before coming to a stop. Miorine coughed a bit as she sat up, looking at her saviour.

“Are you okay ma’am?”

“Y-yeah… thanks…” It was one of the Japanese girls Miorine had seen earlier.

The girl grinned. “No sweat!”

“Hibiki!”

The other one ran over, dodging out of the way of another monster.

The girl next to her, Hibiki, lit up immediately. “Miku!”

Sabina ran over as well. “Who are-”

“No time!” Hibiki ordered, an action that stopped Sabina in her tracks. “You two need to get out of here! We’ll deal with the Alca-Noise!”

Alca… Noise?

“T-that’s insane! You two need to-”

Hibiki grinned. “Don’t worry! This isn’t our first fight!”

“W-wha-”

“Ready Miku?... Oh wait, I forgot! Do you have any LiNKER?”

“Yep! I always keep a couple on me in case of emergencies.”

“That’s smart! Okay, then let’s go!”

Miku withdrew a syringe filled with some sort of fluid from her bag, holding it to her neck. She pulled the trigger.

Rei Shenshoujing rei zizzl

The syringe clattered to the ground and the two girls became enveloped in light.

Miku fell, passing through a ring of energy that adorned her in a dark purple bodysuit. When she landed she stood up, a large mirror appearing behind her. The mirror flashed before breaking apart in several smaller mirrors, which began to circle Miku. Beams of light began shooting out of them, wrapping around Miku’s body. Her arms became adorned with brilliant white cloth, while more covered her body. They then converged on her legs, armor forming around her knees. A display on one of them showed ‘SG-i03 Shenshoujing’ before being covered by more plating. More cloth shot out from the bottom, giving the appearance of a dress. One final mirror circled Miku’s body, twin cables shooting out of the back of her arms as the mirrors passed by. With one final flash the mirror disappeared, a white headdress now adorning Miku’s head. She twirled around as she struck a pose.

Miorine could only stare in shock. Did those girls just… manifest armor?

Before she could even say anything one of the monsters jumped forward…

Only for Hibiki to land a mean right hook, causing the creature to burst into dust.

Another one charged, but this one Miku sliced in half with… a fan?

(Daylight) …The tomorrows when you suffer

(Eternal Love) …The tears from the past you grieve

And now Miku was singing.

“What the hell is going on!?”

“Whatever it is, we need to leave. Now.” 

Sabina hauled Miorine to her feet, starting to pull her away. It seems those monsters, Alca-Noise the girl had called them, were focused on those two girls now. 

Hibiki let out a yell as she began punching and kicking at the Noise that approached her. Miku slashed through more Noise right at her side, the two engaged in a dance as they battled the Noise, Hibiki’s fists and Miku’s fan tearing through them as Miku provided them with Phonic Gain.

I want to become someone that can shine upon and dry them away

(I believe you)

The man who summoned them grimaced. “W-what the hell is going on!? No one told me about this! In that case…” He reached into the case, pulling out the rest of the crystals. “Have the rest of them!”

He threw them all forward, creating a large mixture of land and airborne noise.

“Miku, deal with the fliers! I’ll take care of the ground!”

Miku nodded as she flew up, slashing through some Noise on her way. She narrowly avoided a Noise dive bombing her before slashing more apart with her Armed Gear. She turned, a large Noise approaching her. 

Even If I might encounter you from a different world

I’ll always be waiting for you without fail

She shot the cables on her arms forward, smashing the Noise until it turned to dust.

[ Cánxiǎng ]

Mirrors flew out from her skirt, firing beams at multiple Noise and blasting them away while she slashed at any that got close with her fan. On the ground, Hibiki was tearing through the hoards as they approached her, but there were just too many. She got an idea as she punched through another Noise.

“Miku!”

She looked down, and she knew what Hibiki was planning already.

She nodded.

( I Love You)

Hibiki broke off into a sprint, tearing through any Noise that got in her way. Then she’d turn, starting to gather the Noise up into a circle and beating down any that tried to get out.

“I will never hand you over”

Once again, I sing this to you

Miku slashed through the last of the airborne Noise before sending her mirrors down towards the ground. They began to follow Hibiki, stopping in the air at certain intervals.

Not so you can protect me

But because I will protect you

Hibiki jumped out of the way, the Noise now encircled by Miku’s mirrors. They began to spin around them in a circle, faster and faster.

(Believe in me)

All at once the mirrors fired beams of light at the Noise in the center, tearing through them all at once.

[ Liànyù ]

An explosion signaled their end.

The man who summoned them turned, trying to run away… when suddenly Hibiki appeared in front of him. “You!...”

“Sorry bout this!”

Hibiki punched the man in the gut, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to collapse to the ground. Hibiki let out a breath as she surveyed the street. Not as much damage as usual, surprisingly.

Miku floated down to the ground. “Hibiki!”

Hibiki shrugged. “Don’t worry, I was gentle. He’s just taking a little nap.”

Miku sighed. “That's fine I suppose. But I wonder… How did this guy get a hold of Alca-Noise?”

“We’ll figure that out when SONG-”

The cocking of a gun caused Hibiki to freeze.

“Freeze.”

Hibiki raised her hands up, slowly turning around. It was the blue haired girl from earlier, the one who helped the white haired girl escape.

“Who are you? What were those things? Did you know the man who used them? Are you part of the anti-Spacian group?”

Hibiki blinked. “Eh?”

“Sabina!”

The white haired girl stepped forward, lowering Sabina’s arm. “That’s hardly the way to treat the girls who saved us.”

Sabina frowned. “But Miorine-”

Miorine shook her head, stepping forward. “I’d like to properly thank you. If it hadn't been for you…”

“It’s no big deal! It’s what we do after all.”

“What you… do?”

“Yep! We’re with SONG, so don’t worry about anything! Oh, you might have to sign some stuff cause you saw our Gears, but everything will be okay.”

Miorine blinked, looking at Hibiki like she had just grown two extra heads. “SONG? Gears?”

“Yeah, ya know? Squadron Of Nexus Guardians? Disaster relief and stuff?”

Miorine stared at her blankly.

“Oh, how about-”

“Um, Hibiki?” Miku interjected. “I… don’t think they know what SONG is.”

Hibiki blinked. “Eh?”

Distant sirens snapped the girls’ attention away. Miorine sighed. “I’ll have to give my statement about what happened. Though I’m not sure what to do with you two…”

“It’ll be fine! Master and the rest of SONG are probably on their way here from Tokyo right now!” Hibiki blinked. “...Where is here, exactly?”

“Quinharbor. Though the fact that you’re here without knowing where here is is somewhat odd…”

Hibiki shrugged. “All I know is we were fighting more Noise over in Tokyo a few hours ago, we went through some weird hole, and now we’re here.”

“You were fighting more of those… Noise, in Tokyo?”

“Yep!”

Miorine went silent for a moment before nodding. “Something about this doesn’t add up… Sabina, take them to the van. I’ll ask my questions elsewhere.”

Sabina blinked. “Are you sure? They could be dangerous.”

“If they wanted to kill me they would have done it already. Besides, I owe them for saving me. I’ll repay them now by letting them keep those weapons of theirs under wraps. I’m assuming they’re something that people shouldn’t know about?”

Miku nodded. “That would be appreciated… Ms?”

“Miorine. Miorine Rembran. This is one of my bodyguards, Sabina Fardin.”

“It’s nice to meet you. My name is Kohinata Miku, and this is Tachibana Hibiki.”

Miorine nodded. “Are you going to stay in that to travel or-”

She was interrupted as the armor dissipated, leaving the girl’s in their civilian clothes. Well, that answers that question.

“Alright, you three go on ahead. I’ll give my statement and be along shortly.”

Sabina nodded. “You two, with me.”

Hibiki and Miku followed along, sparing one more glance back at Miorine before they disappeared from sight.

Miorine sighed. This day just got a whole lot more complicated.

—

On a nearby rooftop, the cloaked girl who gave the man the Alca-Noise watched the girls leave. She raised her hand to her ear.

“It’s me. Confirmed arrival of Tachibana Hibiki and Kohinata Miku. Power shown is within expected parameters. In addition, the newly created Noise are operating as expected. Just waiting for an opportunity to test out their other function.”

She was silent for a moment.

“...Understood. Will continue to observe.”

The girl lowered her hand.

“Symphogears… you won’t get in my master’s way..”

With that the girl turned, disappearing from sight.

Chapter Text

Miorine sighed as she stepped away from the police. She thought that the questions would never end. They had detained the man who summoned those monsters, but there were still a number of other people who had been with him that seemed to have vanished without a trace. According to the police, anyway.

Miorine shook her head. She had more important things to worry about. 

She pulled out her phone, dialing a number. By the time she had placed it to her ear Renee had already picked up.

“Heyo! You ready to go boss?” Renee asked

“I am. Could you bring the car around Renee?” Miorine checked her watch. 6pm already? This whole ordeal ate up more time than she thought.

“You betcha! On my way now. Oh, and by the way, I got Sabina and our two guests in the car. Sabina is giving em the stink eye, but I trust em. Too cute to be evil.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Miorine rolled her eyes. “I’ll be waiting by the corner.”

With that Miorine hung up, leaning against a nearby wall. Today had not gone according to plan at all. She had been planning on just doing a routine tour of Quinharbor, but instead it had turned into a chaotic mess. The gunmen had been one thing, but those weird monsters were another matter entirely. And then there were those girls who fought them while singing.

She needed some answers.

It wasn’t long before the van came into view. It was plain, white and unassuming. Everything you’d want in a potential escape vehicle. It rolled to a stop in front of Miorine, who opened the door and climbed inside. 

The mood was… tense. Her two saviours were fidgeting awkwardly in their seats, surrounded by Sabina, Ireesha, Hanao and Maisie. Sabina in particular looked like she’d stab them the moment they coughed funny.

“Where to?” Renee called back from the front of the van.

“Take us to Suletta.” 

Sabina frowned. “Are you sure that’s wise?”

Miorine shrugged. “Probably not. But with the way things are I’d rather a nice, quiet place to try and figure out what’s going on. Wouldn’t hurt for us to lay low for a little bit either.”

Hibiki fidgeted in her seat, sharing a glance with Miku. The girl seemed… uneasy. A far cry from how confident she had been while fighting.

Miorine gave them the warmest smile she could muster. “If it’s alright with you, could I ask the two of you some questions?”

Miku nodded. “Of course. Although we are a bit limited in what we can answer, we’ll try and answer your questions to the best of our ability.

Miorine let out an internal sigh. At least they were cooperative. “Thank you. Those monsters earlier… you called them Alca-Noise, correct?”

Hibiki nodded. “Yeah. Was this your first time seeing them in person?”

Miorine frowned. “First time? As far as I’m aware this is the first time they’ve ever even appeared.”

“ I can confirm that.” Eri chimed in.  “I’ve been doing a bit of digging, and there’ve been no reports of anything like those things ever showing up.”

Miorine was the only one who could hear her, of course, but it was nice getting some confirmation.

Hibiki cocked her head. “…Eh? But… What about Tsubasa-san’s concert? Alca-Noise wound up destroying the whole stadium. Or what about the Magical Girl incident in Tokyo?”

Miorine shook her head. “I’m not sure who this Tsubasa is or what this ‘Magical Girl’ incident is, but I have good information that there have never been any reports of these Noise monsters.”

Or reports of girls fighting them in mechanical armor. Miorine was starting to get a sinking feeling in her gut. What the hell was going on?

Hibiki frowned. “That can’t be right…”

“Miorine-san, I suppose you haven’t heard of SONG either?” Miku inquired.

“I haven’t. You said it’s some form of disaster relief organization, right?”

Miku nodded. “Yes. We work directly for the UN to take care of disasters all around the world. More often than not, Noise tend to be involved.”

“I’m afraid I don’t know what this ‘UN’ is either. It sounds like some larger organization?”

Hibiki gulped. “You don’t know about the United Nations?”

Miorine frowned. “United… Nations? As far as I’m aware an organization like that doesn’t exist.”

“Doesn’t… exist?”

Hibiki and Miku shared another look. Miorine recognized the anxiety in those eyes. At some point Miku had taken Hibiki’s hand into her own, though Miorine wasn’t sure whether it was to comfort the other girl or herself.

Hibiki finally turned her gaze back to Miorine. “B-by the way, Miorine-san, what exactly was it you were talking about back there? I didn’t really catch most of it, but I thought I heard you say something about Earthians and Spacians?”

Miorine blinked. “What do you mean? Wait… don’t tell me you don’t know about Spacians? It’s common knowledge that there are people living in space. They have been for a while now.”

Hibiki laughed. “Oh man, that’s a good one Miorine-san! People living in space… that’d be so cool!”

Miorine frowned. “I’m… not joking? Everyone knows about the Fronts, don’t they?”

Hibiki was about to say something when she noticed the look in Miorine’s eyes. “Oh man… you’re not joking, are you?”

It was Miku’s turn to frown. She looked over, making eye contact with Hibiki. Something was very wrong.

“If ya ask me this sounds like a parallel world situation.” Eri said, amusement in her voice.

Miorine blinked. “That… could be a possibility…”

“ Yeah, I know, completely ridic- eh? Wait, wait, wait I was joking! Everyone knows parallel worlds don’t actually exist!”

“Says the person living in a Data storm.”

“ ...I guess that’s a fair point…”

“Um… Miorine-san?” Miorine turned back to Hibiki. “Sorry, but, uh… who are you talking to?”

Oh, right. Miorine was the only one that could hear Eri. Man, that was annoying sometimes. 

“My… sister-in-law, I guess. I’ll explain later.”

Hibiki’s eyes flashed. “Sister-in-law!? Miorine-san, you’re married!? Who to? What kind of person are they? How long have you been together? Oh, and how long-”

Miku silenced Hibiki with a soft chop to the head. “Hibiki! Is now really the time to bring up personal matters!?”

Miorine couldn’t help but chuckle. The girl really did remind her of Suletta in some ways. “It’s alright Kohinata-san. We’ve been together for a few years now, though we only officially got married about a year and a half ago.”

Hibiki looked up. “Wow, you’ve only been together a few years and you’re already married? They must be really special then!”

“They are… exceedingly so. Though it’s a bit of a funny story, actually. We got engaged the very same day we met, believe it or not.”

“What-”

“Miorine, we’re here.”

Sabina interjected before Hibiki or Miku could respond.

The van came to a stop. Miorine exited the vehicle, a confused Hibiki and Miku following after her. They were in the countryside, the cool breeze blowing through the grass of the hill they were parked on. Further down the hill they saw a house. It was a small thing, built with white walls and a small picket fence surrounding it. There was a garden just in front of the house, and a patio out front big enough to house a small table and a couple chairs. As a gentle breeze blew across the field, Miorine couldn’t help but smile at the peace she felt.

It was home.

Miorine made her way down the hill, the rest of the crew following after her. She helped Sabina roll Eri’s data block up the wheelchair walkway attached to the patio and soon enough they were at the front door. Miorine let herself in. 

“Suletta?! I’m home!” Miorine stepped a bit further inside, letting the others make their way inside the house.

“Miorine-san!”

Suletta walked around the corner, joy resplendent on her face. She was moving better, Miorine noted, not leaning on her crutch as much. That always made the girl’s heart a bit lighter.

“I was so worried! I was watching the news and then those gunmen showed up, then those weird monster things appeared, and I didn’t know what was happening…” Suletta seemed on the verge of panic.

Miorine smiled, wrapping her wife in a hug. “I’m sorry for making you worry.”

Suletta sighed, returning the hug. “You’re okay… that’s all that matters.”

“ Oh, and what am I? Chopped liver?”

Suletta giggled, looking down at the keychain Eri used to communicate. “I’m glad you’re okay too Ericht.”

Hibiki gently elbowed Miku’s arm to get her attention. “Umm… did she just talk to a keychain?”

“Hibiki! Don’t be rude.”

Suletta seemed to finally notice their guests. “Oh, hello! Are you friends of Miorine-san?”

“In a way… they saved me from those monsters you saw.”

“They did?!” Suletta bowed deeply. “Thank you so much for helping Miorine-san!”

Hibiki waved her hands. “It’s fine, really. It’s kinda what we do, ya know? Though I guess you wouldn’t, since SONG doesn’t exist here…”

Suletta cocked her head in confusion. “SONG?”

Miorine sighed. “Yes… currently I think I’m going to operate under the assumption that they’re from… well, a parallel world. As crazy as that might sound.”

Suletta blinked. “Eh?”

—-

Chris was not having a good day.

First there was the usual pining for people that were way out of her league. THEN they decided to fall into some weird ass hole. THEN she winds up in the middle of goddamn nowhere when she decided to follow them in because of course she would who wouldn’t when they see the two people they care for the most fall into some weird ass hole-

Chris growled, shaking her head. Nope, she could worry about that later. Right now she had to deal with the fact she was in the middle of nowhere. Her communicator was fried, so that wasn’t an option. Beyond that… Well, she was fairly confident she wasn’t in Val Verde. That was a plus. And that was about all she had to go on. She also didn’t know how long she was out. Without any way to tell the time (because, of course, her phone didn’t want to turn on) she had no idea if she had been unconscious for very long or not.

Not having anything better to do she picked a direction and started walking. Maybe, with any luck, she’d find some form of civilization. But until then she’d have a lot of time on her hands. Worst case she wouldn’t find anything, and she’d have to survive out here in the wilderness for a while. Well, luckily enough the old man had given them all a crash course in wilderness survival just before the whole Shem-Ha thing. So she would definitely be able to-

That’s a road.

Chris blinked, then blinked one more time to make sure she wasn’t seeing things. Yep, that was a road. Huh… maybe lady luck was feeling merciful today. Now that she found a road, all she had to do was follow it until she found a town or something. Then she could figure out where she was, and she could figure out how to contact the others. If she was here, Miku and the dummy had to be here too.

Confidence restored Chris started following the road. If lady luck really was with her today, then maybe she wouldn’t be too far away from a town of some kind.

That was when she heard the horn. 

Chris twirled around, seeing a black van driving her way. Chris narrowed her eyes, chant at the ready. Just in case.

The van slowed down, coming to a stop beside her. The window rolled down.

“Excuse me… are you alright?”

The speaker was a girl with short, dark grey hair with blue highlights.

Okay. All Chris had to do was play it cool. And forget all those hitchhiker horror stories. Those were probably all made up anyway.

“Y-yeah! Just a bit lost… I guess?”

The girl cocked her head. “You… guess?”

“Yeah… I kinda just… woke up a bit away from here? If you could just point me to the nearest town then that’d be great!” Way to go Chris, you sound totally trustworthy.

“Um… the nearest town is still about 30 kilometres away. Even if you ran you wouldn’t make it there by nightfall.”

Chris groaned. Of course. Things could never be easy, huh?

The girl turned, speaking in a hushed voice to the driver. Sounded like a guy, from what little Chris could hear. Think she heard the girl call him Martin?

Before Chris could think much more the girl turned back to her and gave her a smile. “We do have to make a stop first, but we could give you a ride to town if you like.”

Chris blinked. “A-are you sure?” No matter how you slice it Chris was suspicious as hell. Why would they just… trust her like that?

“No problem! We got room. Admittedly it might be a bit of a squeeze, but you should definitely fit!...Probably.”

Chris sighed. “Well, it’s better than walking for literal hours. I think I’ll take you up on that, Ms…?”

“Nika. Nika Nanaura.”

“Yukine Chris.”

“It’s nice to meet you Chris-san! Just slide open the door and hop in back.” Nika pointed a thumb behind her.

Chris moved to the side of the van, sliding the door open. And wow, Nika wasn’t kidding about it being a tight fit. There were half a dozen people in here… and somehow one girl took up at least half the space. How did she even fit those two massive balls of hair in here?

“Excuse me…”

Chris got in and slid the door shut behind her. After a moment the van resumed moving, and an awkward silence fell on the group. It was broken by the polite voice of one of the girls. “You’re Chris-chan, right? I’m Lilique! It’s nice to meet you!”

“Y-yeah… you too…”

Lilique seemed to be the friendly type, which proved useful as she was able to introduce Chris to the rest of her friends.

“There’s ChuChu, Aliya, Till, Nuno and Ojelo. You’ve already met Nika, and Martin is up front driving.”

They all gave greetings of various levels of interest. 

Chris gave some awkward greetings back. “N-nice to meet you all…”

Chris suddenly remembered a question she had been meaning to ask. “Oh yeah, you said there was a stop you guys needed to make first, right?”

Aliya nodded. “Yes. We’re picking up a friend of ours and her wife for dinner.”

“I see…” A bit annoying that it’d be longer before she got to any sort of town, but not much Chris could do about it.

“After that we can make a pit stop in Quinnharbor and drop you off.” Nika continued.

Chris blinked. The hell was a Quinnharbor? 

“Might not be the best idea Nika.” Chuchu piped up. “Just saw on the news some weird shit is going on over there.”

Chris had a bad feeling about the way the other girl said ‘weird shit’. “What kinda weird shit?”

ChuChu grunted, passing Chris her phone. “Have a look.”

Chris took the phone, taking a look at the video that was playing on it. Her blood ran cold. 

“Alca-Noise?”

ChuChu blinked. “Oh, you know what those things are?”

“Y-yeah… you don’t?”

She didn’t hear what ChuChu said next, because her gaze had focused on something she saw in the background. It was far away and grainy, but she would recognize that anywhere.

It was definitely the dummy.

“Alright. You guys are making your stop, and then you’re taking me to Quinnharbor.”

—-

A cloaked girl stood in front of four Zoworts, looking over the mobile suits with muted interest. Their pilots were dead, their bodies strewn across the hangar floor. Her red and blue eyes flicked between them and she nodded. Yes, these would do.

She raised her hand to her ear. “It’s me. I’ve found suitable test subjects. Shall I send them after Tachibana Hibiki and Kohinata Miku?”

Silence.

“Understood. Will deploy and record data for later study.”

She hung up, looking up at the Zoworts. She drew four red crystals out from beneath her cloak.

“Now then… let us see if these new Noise work as intended…”

—-

Suletta cocked her head. “So you’re from a world where an organization called SONG fights monsters called Noise with armor powered by music?”

Hibiki chuckled. “That’s kinda basic, but… that about sums it up.”

Suletta nodded. “Okay.”

“You… believe us? Just like that?” Miku asked.

“I’ve seen some stuff that defies common sense. It’s not that far-fetched, I don’t think. Plus it reminds me of an anime I watched the other day!”

Hibiki laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her head. “I-It does, huh?”

“Right… now that that’s out of the way, I suppose proper introductions are in order.” Miorine stood up. “Myself and Sabina you’ve already met. The other four girls are my bodyguards as well. Renee, Maisie, Ireesha and Henao.”

The four girls gave waves of varying interest. Hibiki and Miku waved back.

Miorine smiled, setting a hand on Suletta’s shoulder. “And this is Suletta, the wife I was telling you about.”

Hibiki’s eyes lit up. “Really!? Oh, is it true that you got engaged the very first day you met!?”

Suletta laughed, a blush rising on her cheeks as she rubbed the back of her neck. “S-something like that… it was kinda by accident, but it was the best accident ever.”

Miorine cleared her throat, trying to hide her own blush. “Alright! Now that introductions are out of the way, we need to figure out our next course of action.”

Hibiki turned serious. “Right. So, the biggest problem I think is that there are Noise here. You said that the Noise had never appeared here before, right?”

“That’s correct.”

“So the problem with that is an Alchemist has to make them first. That guy who summoned them definitely didn’t seem like an alchemist, so he must have gotten them from someone else. And since Alchemy probably doesn’t exist in this world either…”

“We can only conclude that whoever supplied him with Alca-Noise came from our world.” Miku finished. “I’m impressed Hibiki. I didn’t think you thought stuff through this much.”

“Ahhhh, Miku! You can’t just say that!” Hibiki’s face turned red as she gave Miku a playful shove.

“But if that man did indeed acquire these ‘Alca-Noise’ from someone from your world, that would mean someone from your world wants Miorine dead.” Sabina pointed out.

“That… might not be the case.” Miorine put a hand to her chin. “Who’s to say that this person from their world isn’t working for someone from ours? There’s no small number of people that I made enemies of when I dissolved the Benerit group.”

Hibiki sighed. “So… we really don’t have any sorta lead?”

“Unfortunately not Tachibana-san. Our best bet would be interrogating the man who attacked me, but that would require pulling some strings to get an audience. That will take time, which is something we might not have much of.”

Everyone sat silent, trying to figure out a course of action. A blip from a certain keychain caught Miorine’s attention. 

“Eri?”

“ Bad news. I’m detecting four mobile suits incoming.”

Miorine’s eyes widened. “What?”

“Based on their speed they’ll be here in a few minutes. Can’t tell much else, not with what I’m working with. Ugh, If I was still in a Gundam I’d be able to tell you everything about em down to their specs…”

Miorine wasn’t too worried about that right now. What she was worried about was that four unidentified mobile suits were inbound right after an assassination attempt. Perhaps that guy had allies who were trying to finish the job? Damn it, she should have thought of that! But even then, how did they find them? She was all but certain they weren't followed...

Whatever. She could figure that out later. Right now there were more pressing matters to attend to.

“We’re leaving. Sabina, get the van ready. Maisie, Henao, go get Prospera and get her to the van. Renee, Ireesha, you two are in charge of getting Eri out there.”

The five girls nodded, jumping into action immediately.

Hibiki looked confused. “Huh? What’s going on?”

Miorine clicked her tongue. “We’re about to have some uninvited guests. Suletta, can you walk? We need to get clear.”

Suletta nodded, standing up. “Y-yeah!”

“We got Prospera…” A disinterested voice came from the other side of the room.

Maisie and Henao came around the corner, pushing the wheelchair containing one Prospera Mercury. She seemed a bit out of it, but she always seemed to be these days. Miorine shook her head. Worry about that later. 

“Everyone, move!”

The group exited the house in quick order, making their way towards the van. 

“Shit, they sped up! They’ll be on us any second now! Counting… four signatures coming from the west!”

Miorine looked into the air, spotting the suits that Eri was talking about easily. Four Zoworts, each fully armed and mounted on Tikbalangs. Peil Mobile Suits? Were those old hags behind this whole thing? Regardless, she wasn’t interested in sticking around to find out.

Hibiki looked on in amazement. “Miku? Are you seeing giant robots? Cause I’m seeing giant robots.”

“I am, but we need to go!” Miku grabbed Hibiki’s hand, pulling her along.

The Zoworts jumped off their flight units, using their thrusters to soften their landings as they landed next to the house. One of them raised its beam rifle, taking aim at the group.

Miorine could only watch in horror as the rifle charged. Maybe she could push Suletta out of the way? At least one of them should survive that way. Just as she was about to, she heard a song and the clink of glass hitting the ground.

~Rei Shenshoujin rei zizzl~

In a flash of light Miku suddenly appeared in front of her, adorned in the same armor she had been before. The Zowort fired and at the same time a large mirror appeared in front of Miku. When the beam hit the mirror it seemed to be absorbed into it, though the mirror quickly shattered and exploded. The shockwave sent Miku flying back a little bit.

“Guess that won’t work… Hibiki!”

“Roger!”

Hibiki, now also clad in armor, ran forward towards one of the Zoworts.

“Wait… you’re… going to fight?” Miorine looked on in wonder. Fighting the Noise was one thing, but fighting Mobile Suits? On foot?

Miku nodded. “Believe it or not, this isn’t the craziest thing Hibiki has fought. You just focus on getting everyone to safety. We’ll handle this.”

Miorine could only nod. What else could she do? “Just… be careful. Those things probably have pilots.” Miku nodded. 

Miorine turned back around, helping Suletta up the slope as Miku began to sing.

“Um… Miorine-san? Are they going to be okay?” Suletta glanced back towards them, worry clear on her face.

Miorine hesitated. “Probably. Anyway, we need to worry about us right now. Let’s keep moving.”

The Zowort in front began firing at Hibiki, but the girl managed to dodge each and every shot as she closed in on the suit. Hibiki jumped, kicking the suit's rifle from its hand with a rising kick. Then, using the jacks on her feet she jumped away, just in time for Miku to fire a volley of lasers at the suit. It staggered but recovered quickly, leaning down to pick up its fallen beam rifle.

“Oh no you don’t!”

Hibiki dashed forward, narrowly avoiding another blast from one of the other Zoworts before drawing back the piston on her right fist. She overheard Miorine say that these things were piloted, so all she had to do was yoink the pilot out! Easy peasy. Hibiki shot forward with a yell, the thrusters on her hips adding to her acceleration. She drew her arm back before ramming it forward, directly into the side of the Zowort’s chest. The piston shot forward, the force of the blow warping metal and blowing the cockpit hatch clean off. Hibiki grabbed a hold of the machine, swinging around to look inside.

Only to find no one.

Hibiki blinked. “Eh?”

These things were… supposed to be piloted, right? So where was the pilot?

“Hibiki, watch out!” Miku’s voice cried out.

Hibiki barely had time to register the Zowort moving before it punched her. Hibiki let out a yell of pain as she got sent flying, crashing to the ground and rolling to a stop. She shook her head as she stood up. Two of the machines, including the one that she had knocked the cockpit hatch off of, were aiming their rifles at her. In the background she could see Miku fighting the other two, dodging shots while firing back with blasts from her mirrors. Though, unfortunately, it didn’t look like they were doing much. They were definitely doing damage, just not enough.

Miorine, watching from up near the van, frowned. How were the Zoworts moving without pilots? “Eri, any thoughts?”

Eri was silent for a moment before speaking. “I… I’m sensing something. It’s permet, but… different. I think those things are… remotely controlled? No, that’s not right…”

“Eri!” She really needed a better explanation than that.

“I don’t know! It’s like it’s being controlled remotely via permet particles, but I’m sensing something from the suit itself too. It’s like… this white noise...”

Before Miorine could ask more, a yell drew her attention back to the fight.

Hibiki had leaped into the air, punching forward and smashing into the arm of one of the Zoworts. The blow was so fierce it knocked the suit's arm clean off. The suit staggered, but it was quicker to recover than Hibiki anticipated. It drew a beam saber with its remaining arm, slashing at Hibiki. The girl raised her arms, blocking the blow even as she was sent flying back into the ground. Miku flew over, landing next to her as she blocked another beam with a mirror.

Hibiki grimaced as she stood up. “How are these things so tough?”

“I don’t know… but this is going to be a problem. Those blasts are too strong for me to block consecutively. At this rate they’re going to overwhelm us.”

That was far from good.

But before Hibiki could even think she heard an oh so familiar voice.

“Oi, dummy! Get your head out of your ass and get serious!”

Hibiki turned. “Chris-chan?”

A black van was fast approaching them and, leaning out the side door, was none other than Chris. Once the van had gotten close enough Chris jumped out.

~Killiter Ichaival Tron~

Chris became enveloped in a sphere of light.

Chris fell, passing through a ring of energy that adorned her in a red bodysuit. As she landed a bow manifested in her right hand. She drew back the string, an arrow appearing. She shot the arrow before quickly drawing back and firing another one, and another one, and another one. The arrows began orbiting Chris, red ribbons trailing behind them. The ribbons wrapped around Chris, and in a flourish they transformed into mechanical red armor. Gauntlets formed around her hands, a display on her right arm showing ‘SG-r02 Ichaival’ before being covered. She clicked her feet together as a pair of heels formed on her feet and a headpiece formed on her head. Then the arrows began to collide with her body, forming skirt armor and chest armor. With a grin Chris struck a pose, a pair of pistols aimed forward.

Chris landed in front of Hibiki and Miku, quickly forming her gauntlets into crossbows. 

Hibiki beamed. “Chris-chan! How are you-”

“Fight now, talk later.”

Hibiki hardened her gaze, nodding. “Right!”

Chris pointed her crossbows forward, firing a barrage of bolts at the closest Zowort.

Gunpowder and smoke tickles the nose

Empty gun cartridges fly past with a jingle

The attack caused the machine to take a step back, giving Hibiki an opening to dash in. Another Zowort was about to fire at the Gungnir wielder, but Chris quickly transformed her crossbows into gatling guns and laid down a barrage of fire on the mobile suit. It successfully drew the machine’s attention and Chris jumped out of the way of the retaliatory beam rifle shot. 

If anyone captivated by my red heels

Wants a stray bullet to the brain

Just raise your hand

With a yell Hibiki transformed her hand into a drill, shooting forward and tearing the Zowort’s other arm off. Miku flew in right behind her partner, firing a barrage of lasers at the machine’s leg before slashing at it with her fan. The slash hit true, depriving the mobile suit of one of its legs as it toppled to the ground.

Even if I shed blood, even if I’m wounded

The winds we call time and my place with the people I call friends

The compartments on Chris’s skirt armor opened, firing a barrage of missiles at one of the other Zoworts. The missiles destroyed the suit’s legs, and it toppled over on top of the other one. She turned, quickly deploying her reflectors to stop an attack from the third Zowort.

Will ease the pain and form a scab

…It’s so warm

Chris transformed her guns back into crossbows, leaping into the air to avoid another beam rifle blast. She twirled, charging up energy in her bolts before letting them fly. 

[ Queen’s Inferno ]

The attacks spiralled through the air, taking out the Zowort’s legs and arms, leaving only its torso as it collapsed to the ground.

I gotta live out life and a hundred and twenty-percent

The past’ll be a little better if I do just that

The final Zowort drew its beam saber, charging at Chris while firing its beam rifle. Chris deployed her reflectors again, blocking the shot and twirling out of the way of the saber. She grinned as she leaped into the air, Hibiki coming in with a yell through where she was just standing. With a charged up punch the girl took out both of the Zowort’s legs, leaving it to collapse to the ground.

Hibiki grinned. “And that’s a wrap!”

Chris frowned. Something wasn’t right… that’s what her instincts were telling her anyway.

And they proved to be right. The Zoworts began to shudder, energy coalescing on top of them before four large Noise emerged from them.

Miku gasped. “Alca-Noise?! Were they… inside the machines?”

They could figure that out later. Right now they had to deal with em.

And the future’s always in these hands of mine

(Fire!) Doubt me? Stupid question! (Fire!) Don’t bother with greetings

Chris leaped back, two large missiles forming from her side skirts. With a cry she launched them.

[ Mega Deth Fuga ]

The missiles collided with the large Noise and exploded, taking them out before they had time to do anything.

“Miku!”

“Right!”

Hibiki jumped forward as Miku fell back. Hibiki punched one of the Noise, knocking it back as the other tried to attack Hibiki from behind. She dashed to the side using her jacks before jumping clear. Two lines of mirrors had emerged from Miku’s leg armor, connecting and forming a complete ring just above her head. Energy charged up and, a few seconds later, Miku fired.

[ Liúxīng ]

The massive blast tore through the last two Noise, a large explosion accompanying their end.

(Fire!) My whole body’’s a weapon, so

You’re having lead bullets for lunch!

The three girls landed next to each, as the smoke from the explosions billowed into the sky.

—

“Chris-chan! Is it really you!?” Hibiki cried out in excitement as her armor disappeared. She ran forward to glomp Chris-

Only to receive a slap in the face.

Hibiki blinked as she stumbled back, barely managing to keep herself from falling. “Chris-chan?”

“You goddamn dummy!!”

As her armor dissolved Chris stared hard at Hibiki, tears threatening the edge of her vision. “Do you even know how worried I was about you two!? What, you just fall into some weird hole and you think everythings going to be okay!?”

“Chris-chan…”

“And don’t you dare give me your ‘everything is just fine’ bullshit! We don’t know where we are, there are these Noise possessing these giant goddamn robots, and for a split second after you fell in I thought you two were gone for good!! How was I supposed to know it was some sorta portal or something!? How was I supposed to know we would live going through that!? How was I supposed to live in a world without the two of you!!” 

Chris panted, staring holes into the ground. She couldn’t look up. Not right now. If she looked at their faces then she’d definitely cry. And that wasn’t what they needed right now. She needed to be strong. She needed to be-

Her thoughts were interrupted when she was enveloped in a warm hug. She blinked, looking up… only to find that it was Miku.

“I’m sorry Chris. I’m sorry for worrying you.”

“Yeah, me too!” Hibiki bounded over, hugging the other two girls close. “I’m really sorry Chris-chan… I was being too selfish. I was only thinking about me and Miku… not about what would happen to the rest of you.”

Chris bit her lip, tears finally leaking out. “W-well… as long as you… understand…”

They stayed like that for a few moments more before finally separating. Chris wiped away her tears, taking a breath to steady herself. 

“Okay… I’m good. I’m uh… sorry bout that. And sorry bout slapping you.”

“No problem Chris-chan! I know you only did it cause you care.”

“Um… what the hell did I just watch?”

The three girls turned to find ChuChu watching on incredulously, the other newcomers giving varying degrees of shocked looks at them. 

Miorine sighed while Suletta just chuckled. “It’s… a long story.”

—--

In the distance, a cloaked figure watched on. She raised her hand to her ear.

“The new Alca-Noise performed as expected. All values are within expected parameters. The arrival of Yukine Chris was… unexpected, but it shouldn’t change the plan.”

Silence.

“Understood. Will proceed to Phase 2. How fares my sister?”

Silence.

“I see… so she has also progressed to Phase 2. Good. I’ll make preparations and depart for Asticassia immediately. Oh, and Master? What if Yukine Chris’s arrival does begin to interfere with the plan?”

Silence.

“Understood. I will eliminate any unnecessary variables as they become a problem.”

She lowered her hand, giving the group one last look before turning around. A hole in space opened.

“Suletta Mercury, Miorine Rembran, Tachibana Hibiki, Kohinata Miku… and Ericht Samaya. The pieces are all falling into place…” 

With that she disappeared through the hole as it closed behind her.