Geared Arm

[spearpunch]

Haaaaaaa!

[After the battle in Paradigm City, Hibiki's been practicing more with her newly-discovered Piston Punches, trying it out in the areas outside of Fort Alhambra.  Charge, prime piston, punch.  Charge, prime piston, punch.  Even if this doesn't seem to qualify as being her Armed Gear, the extra oomph her punches are getting from this is pretty evident.  But before long...]



Haaaaa...

This can get really tiring...

Comments

[herodrawing]

Hey. Is that a training montage?

[spearpunch]

[Oh hey, he's kinda right.]

It is, isn't it!

[herodrawing]

Cool! That's what heroes always do to get stronger.

So... what are you doing? To get stronger, I mean.

[spearpunch]

Just trying to get used to these things...

[She moves one of the pistons a little bit.]

Mr. Smith's robot probably can do it automatically, but I need to ready them every time. So I'm trying to practice so I don't forget to do it while fighting.

[herodrawing]

Oh yeah. Manually...?

[That sounds like a big bother.] Izuru realizes how many of Red Five's functions are also automated.]

Does it take much effort to move them?

[spearpunch]

I don't really think so...

[Another bit of movement and it seems easy enough for her... but considering how the Symphogear augments her strength it's hard to say.]

[herodrawing]

Aha! Do you think you can do that in combat, then?

Every hero needs a finishing move!

[spearpunch]

I already can! I used it to help out Mr. Smith when we were in Paradigm City!

[And she's damn proud of that! Too bad she didn't have more time trying to convince Schwarzwald though.]

[herodrawing]

Really? Awesome! Keep at it, then!

[itbelongsinamuseum]

[Alex had been doing some practice shooting nearby, looking up.]

I'd imagine that fighting with the kind of force you do would be...

[spearpunch]

Really, everything's been exhausting...

School was hard enough and I've had to miss out on a lot of tests and things because of the Noise. And I was even late turning in a make-up essay too.

[itbelongsinamuseum]

...Just ask for a break. Call in sick in school or something? Actually, shouldn't your superiors try to make time for you?

[spearpunch]

I don't know, Tsubasa never needed that and she has all of her singing stuff...

And me using Gungnir's supposed to be really super secret too.

[itbelongsinamuseum]

...I don't think Tsubasa is the right person to try to emulate.

[a_louse]

Busy practicing your Little O routine, I see.

[spearpunch]

[O hai Roger!]

You noticed the similarities too? I thought I was the only one!

[a_louse]

Piston punch is not exactly a popular weapon. Most mecha prefer more efficient, if less elegant solutions.

[spearpunch]

Even the Big O...

[That O Thunder was really cool, but unfortunately her "Little O" impression probably wasn't going to feature it any time soon.]

[a_louse]

The O Thunder was as much a surprise for me as it was for everyone else. Except Dorothy, and possibly Big O itself.

[spearpunch]

You didn't know?

But isn't Big O your machine?

[Ah! Wait!]

You didn't steal it did you?

1/2

[a_louse]

Do I look like a common thief? I'm afraid few of them are on Roger Smith's level of professionalism.

2/2

[a_louse]

Do you remember what Schwarzwald said? Megadei are not normal machines. They choose their pilots as much as their pilots choose them.

[beast_of_scripture]

[The wanton destruction around Fort Alhambra managed to summon a particular bookworm from his den.]

You certainly pack a lot of power.

[spearpunch]

That's at least what I'm trying to work towards. It's still not an Armed Gear, but it can still let me punch a lot harder!

[beast_of_scripture]

You might want to slow down a bit though...

[Considering the ground he was standing on was completely cracked and there were craters as far as the eyes could see.]

Maybe test it out on something else.

[spearpunch]

If you think it'll help I'm up for it!

[beast_of_scripture]

Let me see here.

[Theo pulls out a rather large-looking book from his sleeves, how it fit in there was a complete mystery. He flips through the pages, seemingly looking for something specific in it.]

Ah here we are, Nightgaunt. There's more than enough raw material around here.

[The Magus-in-Training starts rearranging some of the rocks into a pentagram formation before dropping a vial of...something into the middle of it. For some strange reason you might get a bad feeling about what he's up to Bikkie.]

Alright! That should do it, just tell me when you're ready to start!

[A really really bad feeling.]

[spearpunch]

A-ah... Theo...

[Hibiki's heard all about those crazy devil worshippers and pentagrams and all those other worrisome things.]

What are you doing?

[mc_of_mcs]

Oho, someone just unlocked a new move!

Looks like it's time to take five though. Here...!

[And what else does she give Hibiki other than pudding.]

Consider it a reward. You've been working pretty hard lately.

[spearpunch]

[Pudding! YES!]

Thank you Neptune! It's been hard but it's also really been worth it!

[As evidenced by all the craters and destruction around her.]

[mc_of_mcs]

Hehe, don't mention it. Someone'll probably have to explain all this later, but let's not worry about that for now.

[She peels open her own cup of pudding after sitting on a tree stump and digs in.]

So, how'd you come up with that?

[spearpunch]

Well, it was really simple! The Big O has those big arm piston punches, and I noticed my Symphogear has similar things on its arms too. So I tried to see if I could move them... and I can!

[mc_of_mcs]

Hmm. But, having to pull those back yourself every time gets tiring, doesn't it?

[spearpunch]

Yeah...

And I have to remember to do it every time I need it too...

[mc_of_mcs]

Well, don't give up just yet!

If it doesn't get any easier to use, maybe it has something like a Just Charge or Just Attack feature that comes with it. That's usually the case for these things.

[spearpunch]

E-eh?

[You're starting to confuse her now, Neptune.]

[mc_of_mcs]

Whoops, was getting ahead of myself there. How do I explain this...?

[She taps her own chin in thought.]

...You know how in some games, there are attacks that get powered up if you press the button at the right time? That's a Just Attack.

Just like that, a Just Charge is an attack that you release at the right time when you're charging it!

[not_a_prize]

Looks kind of like some of the old crossbows in the trophy room back home with how you tug it back like that.

[Peola looks pretty curious as she watches it all happen.]

But if archers back home could fire a whole bunch of arrows from bows that are as big as they are you can probably get used to this!

How much training do you do?

[spearpunch]

... This is really my first time of something like this...

[not_a_prize]

Wait... so you've never trained in your entire life?

[spearpunch]

[She was about to admit that, but then again...]

... No, not entirely.

I'm just new to fighting.

[She'd done training of another sort after Kanade's death, after all. It was a lot less showy but still exhausting, and sometimes even painful. Physical therapy could get extremely harsh and draining, but it was something she'd had to do if she'd wanted a regular life again, or to even so much as walk.]

[not_a_prize]

Well there's a lot of people willing to help if you ever need to ask. I mean if you know how to fight on instinct that's good... but a little training never hurt anyone.