Before Madoka could even finish her sentence, Shirokishi sprang into action. A kick as fast, no, even faster than an Ignition Boost sent Madoka’s back slamming into the tree behind her.
“You’re—” A flash of light blinked by Madoka’s face, shortly followed by an energy explosion. “Did he lose control of his IS?! Or no, wait, is it echoes of Chifuyu—”
Madoka’s bewilderment was interrupted by Ichika, no, the IS Shirokishi continuing its attacks. On paper, the Kurokishi still should have had the advantage, but something deep, deep within Shirokishi was giving it power.
“Dammit! I won’t give up! Not ever!” Madoka wouldn’t back down. That was the destiny of those named Orimura. Their raison d’etre. And they’d let absolutely no one take it away from them. “Feel the might of Kurokishi!”
Once again, two forms clashed before the raging flames.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Oh where, oh where could you plebes be hiding?”
Bystanders scrambled for cover as a sudden IS battle broke out among the world-famous sightseeing spots of Kyoto’s old city. It just went to show how ineffective evacuation plans, public and private alike, could be.
“We’ve got you now, Daryl Casey! No, Rain Meusel!” Ling leapt out from between two buildings, her impact cannons already firing. But they still couldn’t pierce the Aegis.
“What kind of half-assed plan is that?!”
“Ugh! Cecilia, cover me!” As Rain went on the attack, Ling switched to the defensive.
Meanwhile, Cecilia’s bits aimed for the gaps opening in the Aegis.
“We can—”
“Not happening!” Forte’s wall of ice may not have been as strong as the Aegis barrier itself, but they were still quite the threat. Each time a beam pierced through one, it shattered into icicles which came flying back.
“Ling! Let’s fall back!”
“No! We can’t leave Houki behind!”
Houki still hadn’t recovered from the damage she’d taken, and they needed to protect her. That bond gave them strength—and also, now, a weakness.
“Let’s finish this!” An orb of flame swelled from Rain’s right hand. Just like in Squall’s fight with Tatenashi.
“Rain. Forte. Get over to the fight with Ichika. You’ve gotta see this,” Squall suddenly broadcast on an open channel.
Ling and the others heard it too.
“What did you do to Ichika?!”
“Excuuuuse me. I didn’t do anything at all. It’s all him.”
“What?!”
“Oh my, it’s getting pretty stormy over here. I’m going to have to hang up. Ta-ta!” Squall cut the connection.
“Hey, wait! ...Ugh, dammit!” Ling’s angry shouts fell upon deaf ears.
“So, what are you plebes gonna do?”
“We’re going, of course! You’d better not get in our way!”
“Wouldn’t dream of it. See you later, I guess.” Rain shot the ball of flame up like a firework, blinding the first years. When their vision returned, she and Forte were gone.
“What the hell was that?!” Houki had finally recovered, and caught up with Ling as she raged impotently.
“Houki, are you okay?”
“I’ll be fine. We need to catch up with Ichika.”
“Understood! Flank speed ahead!” Ling nodded, and the three sped off.
✦ ✦ ✦
Meanwhile, in battle with the Kurokishi—
Madoka’s Kurokishi had held the advantage at first, but unleashed from human restraint, the Shirokishi fought it blow for blow.
“Ahahahaha! This is just like fighting an AI! You’re nothing more than her ghost!”
The Kurokishi raised its buster sword Fenrir Blow to full power as it transformed into a sword-whip. At the same time, its lancer bits closed in, encircling Shirokishi.
“I’ll chop you to pieces!”
The energy blades of Fenrir Blow began to saw at Shirokishi’s armor. But just as even its emergency life support energy was about to run out, Shirokishi caught the blade in its hands.
“What?!” Madoka couldn’t hide her shock as Shirokishi began to speak.
[You have no right to such power.]
Shirokishi’s words pierced Madoka’s heart.
[You are a failure. Why? Because you were made too strong.]
Words someone had left behind in its memory.
“Shut up... Shut up, shut up! I’m... I’m an Orimura! The perfect Orimura Madoka!”
Madoka leapt for Shirokishi’s head, trying to twist it off. But Shirokishi—or Ichika, or both—caught her by her neck. Before she could even retaliate, it pressed her into the ground and slammed into her with a full-force Ignition Boost.
“Ugh!”
She coughed up blood as her back was ground into the earth. Still, the Shirokishi kept going.
[Those with no right to power need no power.]
The words came from Ichika’s mouth, but mechanically. Again, she felt them stab into her heart.
[Still a D aptitude. Chifuyu was an A at the same age.]
[Even the procedure to artificially raise your aptitude was a failure. And why?]
[It’s because you’re unloved. No one loves you. Not a single person. All you have is bottomless hatred. You have no future. No hope. Only despair. So...]
No, that was why!
“I am strong!”
Madoka slipped from Shirokishi’s grasp, and slammed her knees into the armor covering its torso, mindlessly kicking over and over like a child who knew no other way to fight back.
Whether Madoka’s half-prayer, half-curse had been heard, or whether it simply felt its armor beginning to give way, Shirokishi released her.
“Dieeeeeeeeeeee!”
Madoka switched her lancer bits into one-hand melee mode, and plunged them toward Shirokishi’s forehead. But her hope was in vain.
Shirokishi lopped off the tips of the bits, before plunging its blade down toward her.
“Ah...!”
As her breastplate was cleaved open, a locket fell out. Inside was a single picture of Orimura Chifuyu. My... My only connection! She couldn’t let it go. She couldn’t lose it. Without it, she was nothing. “......!” Somehow, she managed to snatch it out of the air. But at the same time, she left an opening for Shirokishi to attack again.