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Full Circle (Razgriz x Candira)

What Yoko saw before her threw her for a loop. What the hell was she seeing? It looked like Exodus had been born with a set of identical siblings who'd undergone some horrible changes at first. Before her and Ron was a screen full of experimental data. Suddenly the sniper felt sick to her stomach. The things that Exodus had told her about his life thus far were duplicated with the...specimen before her. What the hell was going on?

"Well, what could you hope to gain from this data?" she asked, looking back at the mechanical engineer. "And what is going to happen to them?" she asked, gesturing to the clones before her. "What am I seeing?"
 
Ron was oddly silent for a moment, looking over the clones of their friend with a mixture of intrigue, disgust and scientific curiosity. Honestly, he had no idea what to glean from this information; there had to be something though. Concrete proof of why Exodus was who he was, what the potential dangers of such extensive genetic engineering were, and a plethora of other possibilities crossed the mechanic's mind.

"Honestly, Yoko....I have no clue. Maybe I gain nothing from it, maybe I figure out some kind of viral bomb we can use against the Beastmen. As for these guys, I'll keep them here for now; they appear to be dormant, after all". Truthfully, he wanted to just flush them out and leave them rotting in the sun; however, maybe they could indeed get some worthwhile information. Maybe a way to help Exodus get his rage under control; Ron had an inkling as to the source of his outbursts, but he would need to run some tests, whatever those would be, to confirm his suspicions.

Taking a deep breath, he then decided to tell Yoko his suspicion, "But some searching around, and especially these things here, have led me to one likely conclusion: Exodus' body is degenerating at an unbelievable rate. I think it's the source of his outbursts, making him revert to that mentality of his".
 
Yoko frowned, her eyes closing for a long moment. What Ron had said was disturbing and somehow offensive. Still, she couldn't deny that difficult decisions needed to be made, and they needed all the advantages they could get. Her eyes opened and she turned to face Ron, a mixture of emotions all vying for a position on the surface.

"He's going to hate every bit of this. But we have to tell him about it. The longer we wait, the worse it will be. If what you say is true, it could lead to some desperate thoughts on his part. Whatever you do find out...be sure to break it to him carefully."

She felt sick--light-headed and nauseous. Exodus had gone through so much pain in his life. He'd endured so much. The man had dedicated his life to the eradication of beast men and to the death of the Spiral King. It was all he had to live for. What would happen when he found out that he might be turning into the very thing that he hated? What might happen if he found out he might die?

He would expect her to follow through on her promise to kill him, and she just wasn't sure she had the heart to do it. Then again, she'd done things that she had never thought she might do in this war for survival. She'd seen things that she never wanted to see. She just had to keep hoping that there would be another way. Because if she let her thoughts stay on this route, she doubted there would be anything left in her that could feel anything other than a piercing and unceasing pain.

"Why did you show me this?"
 
Ron realized that none of this was easy to say; hell, he himself was secretly wishing he never found this place. But now that he did, he needed to try and make the best of it even if it meant potentially doing some things that he might be disgusted with himself for. He didn't what those things might be exactly, but he had a feeling that there were going to be some nasty surprises when he got around to digging through the data itself.

"Believe me, Yoko, I don't like this any more than you do; but like I said, we might be able to figure something out from this. And that means, for the moment, keeping our dear friend out of the loop. But I will try to be as gentle as I can; though I may need you to help me, since I've seen you able to calm him down from a psychotic rampage". Little did Ron know about Yoko's connection with Exodus' long-lost lover and squadmate, both in appearance and personality. Ron also knew of the plight; he didn't know for sure, but if his suspicions were right...No, he didn't want to think about it.

When Yoko asked her next question, Ron simply stared up at the camera for a moment as if he were caught off guard; instead, he pushed a code in and let the panel slide into place to hide the clones before taking the elevator back up to the control room. When he stepped out, he gave his answer, "Because....You're someone who understands. Simon's got enough on his plate, and the others...Well, I'm still leaving it up to Exodus to tell them about himself. When he chooses to do so is his prerogative".

Speaking of the big guy, he was down in his makeshift training room; claw marks and dents covered a fair portion of the metallic surface. Spots of blood in varying sizes could be seen casting their crimson shine as light bounced off them. And the man himself was hunched over, the red fluid leaking from the corner of his mouth. The characteristics traits that signaled his transformation were there, but they seemed...more subdued, like they were being held back. His now-golden eyes focused with unimaginable intensity on a crude portrait he'd etched into the metal of the one person he despised: General Adiane. However, he soon felt his rage overcome him again and within moments only dents remained where the etch had been, the sounds of metal being bent reverberating throughout the empty room.

"Thirty-seven seconds.....Better, but hardly anything useful" echoed Sovereign's voice within the veteran's mind as Exodus hunched over, the crash from the rush of the kill making him fall to all fours. Sweat dripped from his forehead, coating his forearm in a shiny film as his chest heaved with heavy, ragged breaths. Dried streaks of red coated his knuckles and ran down the sides of his mouth, his body feeling incredibly pained from the extreme exertion he was putting himself through. "Take a breather, Exodus; can't have you going permanently apeshit, not that it's not fun to watch beat the hell out of everything in sight" the deceased giant commented with his usual brutal humor. "Thirty-seven seconds, eh....Not much of a window. But there's no time to rest; who knows when Adiane might find us again" Exodus thought mentally as he pushed himself into a hunched standing position; he'd secluded himself so much he didn't even realize that Adiane had already paid them a visit, and that someone who also knew the Divine General was now aboard this ship.
 
Yoko sighed as Ron told her what she least wanted to hear. "I don't like keeping this a secret. It won't be easy on any of us. But I guess...well, he'll have to understand. He didn't tell us about him, after all. Not right away, anyway." She sighed and put a hand on Ron's shoulder. "Well, let's close it up for now. Speaking of Exodus...have you seen him around recently?" She frowned a little trying to remember the last time she'd seen him. He'd been in the infirmary then. He should have recovered by now, though. Shouldn't he?



Nia liked to wander around the ship, exploring and finding out what people did. They usually enjoyed her company, answering her many questions about the ship and their people. It was fun to learn new things each day. This area of the ship was one she hadn't seen before. They were pretty deep into the ship--an area where not a lot of people were...so then, what was all the noise? Where was it coming from.

Just when it stopped, the little princess came to a door. When she opened it, she saw someone she never thought she'd see again.
 
Ron nodded as Yoko voiced her disapproval for his thoughts; he didn't like it either, but he certainly wasn't doing it to spite Exodus for his reclusive nature. Not that he blamed Yoko, for he could see how one might be a bit hurt after learning something as horrific as that about someone a person had come to care about. But when she asked about Exodus, Ron was noticeably puzzled; he simply replied, "I'm sorry, but I have no clue where he is. I would suggest the infirmary; though if he's not there, then I really don't know what to say".

It wasn't that Ron didn't care and he really didn't mean to sound so dismissive of the giant's well-being, but he had the task of getting the Dai-Gurren up and running again on top of this new discovery. It was a lot, even for him, to handle. "Though if you do find him, could you let me know how he's doing? I worry about him, the poor thing".

Exodus was just about ready to go again, to try to bring out the more primal portion of his psyche and attempt to contain it. He didn't want to black out, but he knew he needed the extra power...Especially if he ever got his mitts around Adiane's scrawny little throat. "When I find that witch....I'll break every bone in her body one by one and tear her heart out through her chest" the half-breed fumed mentally.

However, a slight scraping reached his highly-sensitive ears; he turned his head to see a little girl standing at the door to the room. How did she find him? He'd never seen her before in his life; the softness of the scrapes thought maybe it was Gimmy or Darri, but this girl...She was new. Her scent also had a disturbingly familiar quality to it, and even though he couldn't quite place his finger on it, it made hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. "This girl...She's dangerous somehow" is what his instincts told him. His now brown orbs glared at her, uncertainty and defensiveness present in his tone as he growled "What the hell.....Who are you? And what do you want?" He then turned completely around to face her, letting the young princess see the extent of the damage to his body even in the relatively low light. A burn mark on his massive chest from where Ron's electric gauntlet shocked, the dull red marks that marked the side effect of his augmentation, and various other battle scars that told a storyboard of abuse to those that knew the plight of battle.
 
Yoko nodded as she turned to leave. "We all do, Ron. Try not to stretch yourself too thin, alright?" she smiled softly and then left the genius to his work. As soon as she found Exodus, she needed to make sure he was alright for herself. That he knew what had happened to her. By this time, she was nearly certain that he knew something wasn't quite right with him.



Nia stood before a battle-scarred giant who looked strong enough to flip a gunman. Impressive and intimidating were small, feeble words to describe the being before her, but she knew that he wouldn't harm her. At least not right away. His injuries surprised and frightened her a bit, but she kept a brave face. "I'm sorry to interrupt you sir. My name is Nia, and I was just looking around. If you don't mind, would you please tell me your name?" the princess asked.

Something about his face was so familiar...but what was it?
 
"Nia........" Exodus repeated; the name was alien to him, but for some reason did strike a chord. It was like he'd heard it before, but couldn't recall the source or even match the face to the name itself. Even though she seemed innocent enough, something about her wasn't right. His eyes couldn't pick out any distinguishing marks or signs; though perhaps it was due to fatigue that he felt this way. What troubled him most was her scent; she carried the scent of something dangerous. She smelled mildly of Beastman, and even though he could tell she wasn't one...Was she another Super? Exodus had seem some smaller ones in the past, but not like this. No, she couldn't be one. In fact, he was almost completely certain she wasn't.

"I don't give my name so willingly to people I don't know. I've not seen you here before, and your smell is laced with that of the Beastmen and something that makes my skin crawl and hair stand on end. Just who are you, really?" Exodus then asked, stepping forward to the girl a little so as to get a better look at her. "Exodus...Careful with jumping to conclusions. You're incredibly weak right now; for all you know, she could kill you with a flick of her finger" he then heard Sovereign advise him in his mind; Exodus just replied, "That's why I want to figure out who she is. Something about her is not right...Not right at all".
 
"Simon saved me," the princes said, happily, thinking of the boy who'd saved her. "I am the daughter of the Spiral King, and the kind people aboard this ship have allowed me to stay for awhile longer. Will you please tell me who you are, sir? You seem familiar somehow..."
 
Exodus just about froze when that name left her lips. Spiral King...She was the Spiral King's daughter. His hands clenched and his gaze hardened dangerously. "Oh, little girl...You really should have not said that" Exodus heard his comrade comment; Exodus then walked towards her, his eyes traveling down as he loomed over her petite frame. "So...You're that bastard's kid, huh? Funny you should mention him....".

Without warning, his hand shot out and roughly grabbed her arm, pulling her closer and holding her tightly so that she wouldn't run, "That must be what makes you seem dangerous to me...You smell of him. That's the unfamiliar scent that makes my hair stand on end and my blood boil. So, how about you tell me where that son of a bitch is hiding. He and I have a score to settle".
 
Fear registered in Nia's eyes as the large hand gripped her arm a little too tightly for comfort. Something about this man wasn't quite right. There was something about him that told her he was dangerous. At the same time, however, there was a feeling of familiarity that she could not ignore. She was certain that he would not harm her, but she was well aware of his capacity to do so--especially if he didn't recognize her at all.

"I promise, I don't know where I am or how I got here. I would be happy to lead you to him if you could only take me with you." She frowned and sighed. "These people aboard the ship have told me of their world that is so different from my own. I cannot believe that father would do these things without a good reason, but I cannot deny that they're being done, and they don't seem to be right. I want to hear from my father why this is happening. I want to know why it is that humans are treated this way when they haven't done anything..."

Sad, strange eyes looked into his own and she felt a wave of nostalgia wash over her. "I don't mean to be rude, sir, but have we met before?"
 
Exodus never released his grip on her, his eyes never leaving her; still, he had enough sense left in him that he could feel this girl had no intention of harming him and even if she did...Well, the results wouldn't be pleasant. And eventually that sense won out, causing him to loosen his grip but not let her go; she might have some pressure marks on her arm but those would fade and not bruise her, though she might feel a tad sore. That didn't really concern him; he was still more curious as to why the Spiral King's daughter was here of all places.

"Believe me when I say you don't the half of what he's done; though I would be lying if I said I wanted an explanation" he replied, a hint of a snarl in his tone to convey the vengeance in his voice; ignorance was truly bliss, it seemed. But he left it at that, not wanting to give her any more information lest she be a spy or some sort of guise like that strange fox woman and her army of rabbit girls at the hot spring. Even so, she seemed to be far out of the radar. "But no, we haven't met before...Trust me, I never forget a face" he then replied to her question, finally uncurling his thick digits from her arm. "Though it seems asking why you're here would be pointless, it's definitely got me curious" Exodus mused mentally; he heard Sovereign chuckle and add, "Not bad, you're learning control. For a moment, I thought you were going to turn her into a wall painting". Morbid as ever, it seemed...even in death.

There was a moment of silence from him before his stomach growled; he'd been ignoring eating, and truthfully his appetite wasn't anything exceptional, but now his hunger returned. "Excuse me..." he then said to her and went to move past her; however, before he got even three steps behind her he felt an enormous pain shoot through his torso. This forced him to double over and fall to his knees, a hand shooting up to cover his mouth from coughing and feeling warm, iron-scented fluid leaking between gaps in his fingers to create small droplets on the floor.
 
Nia was visibly relieved as the large man loosened his grip. It seemed that he still didn't trust her, though, because he continued to hold her. He claimed that they didn't know each other, and it made sense--how would they have met if he was with the humans aboard this gunman? But she knew that she'd seen a face like his before. She couldn't shake the feeling that somehow they knew each other. One thing was for certain, however; her father had caused this man a great deal of pain.

Frowning the girl bowed her head to him. "I'm sorry. I know my father is responsible for much pain. It doesn't make sense to me that he would do the things these people say because he's hurting them and making them so sad...but I know that they happened and I'm sorry." She looked up at him again and watched as he let her arm go, the area he'd been holding feeling just a little sore. She stepped aside as he excused himself, wondering who he was when he doubled over in apparent pain. She gasped and hurried to his side, leaning toward him.

"Sir?! What's wrong?" And then she saw the blood. "Oh, no. Please stay here, I'll go get help." And with that, she was running as fast as her princess training would allow her to.
 
As Nia took off with a surprising burst of speed for someone her size, Exodus actually tried to reach out but she was long gone. His coughing continued, splattering more blood onto his hand and consequently the floor; once the fit subsided, Exodus looked down to see his hand covered in a film of red. His head and chest pounded with pain at each heartbeat, and his muscles felt like they were on fire; slowly he rose to his feet"You're getting worse, you know...This is the second attack in a matter of weeks. How much blood have you shed so far?" he heard Sovereign ask in his mind; Exodus just mumbled, "A lot, I know...But that's no reason to stop".

Truthfully, Exodus didn't know what was going on; maybe he was pushing himself too far, but he needed to be ready in case Adiane or any Beastmen ever showed up. He didn't want to be a liability; Simon was dealing with his own problems and Yoko was already pissed at him for his lone wolf antics. "You still haven't told anyone, either...Maybe now would be a good time" the veteran heard his former comrade say, to which Exodus replied, "Not a chance in hell; I can't afford a war on two fronts". "Who says it would be? Those friends of yours seemed pretty easy-going about it". "I also wasn't trying to kill their team when I told them....". "They deserved it, Exodus..."

Damn if Sovereign couldn't be insightful at times. A long silence persisted as Exodus tried to think of a retort, but nothing could be made. "Look, I'm not going to try forcing you to do anything; much as I'd like to throttle you right now for being an idiot, all I can do is nag at you. Something I hate doing, by the way". "Sovereign...I'll tell them. Just not now; the last thing they need to hear is that I'm some aborted, failed experiment designed to destroy them". "Urrgh....Fine. But take it easy....You're no good to them dead or broken".
 
Nia ran, calling for help as she did. The first person she ran into was a random engineer. Worried, the man called for a doctor and possibly Ron or Yoko if either of them could be spared. He let Nia lead the others to Exodus in a matter of minutes. The doctor arrived on the scene first, followed by Nia and Yoko. Ron would come when he could.
 
As the minutes ticked by, the pain didn't seem to lessen; in fact, it steadily got worse, which made his heart beat faster. He was soon forced to put his back against the wall in an attempt to crutch himself upright, lest he collapse to his knees. It wasn't good when he got riled, for any reason...Anyone who'd seen him in a riled state knew that he was dangerous. A hand came up to clutch at his heart, the nails digging into his skin as he gripped the flesh tight and a pained gasp leaving his throat.

Exodus then heard footsteps approaching, his wide panicked eyes shooting to see three people approaching them. A man he recognized as one of the doctors on the ship, along with Nia and...Yoko. Great; he didn't want her to have to seem him like this. It was why he secluded himself in the first place. "Ge...get back. Stay...stay away, for your own sake" he muttered, his eyes fixed on them. His mind was at war with itself; he partly recognized them as friendly, but the beast within treated them as hostiles. And he didn't want the beast to win out...No, he wouldn't let the beast win. His whole point of this training he was taking, was to conquer and control this monster he'd become, but he knew he wasn't there...Not yet.
 
The fact that he was coughing up blood was easily the first thing that Yoko noticed. But his overall appearance suggested that he'd been going through some kind of hell. His body looked beaten and the room looked like it had been attacked somehow. If she didn't know what Exodus was capable of, she might have thought that they'd somehow missed an attack on the ship.

His words, however, did register. She turned to the doctor and Nia and blocked them. "Get out. Ron and I will handle it. Get out of here," she said, frowning at the others. They seemed confused and frightened but did as they were told. "It'll be alright," she said. And with that, she closed the door and stood by it, taking a gun from nearby for her protection. "What's happening, Exodus? Talk to me, please," she said, her golden eyes locking with his.
 
Exodus just stood there, his back against the wall as Yoko took charge and ordered Nia and the doctor to leave. He breathed heavily through his nose, his massive chest rising and falling dramatically as he tried to calm himself down. "Breathe, damn it....Just breathe. She's not a threat" he mentally told himself; though his body tensed up noticeably when she took up a weapon. A low snarl left his lips, his gaze sharpening rapidly to bore into her eyes. He knew she was only taking insurance to protect herself, but this...beast, animal, whatever it was...registered it as a threat, that she was going to shoot to kill.

After she asked him to talk, to know what was happening, their eyes just stared into each other. Waiting for one to make the first move; he just prayed that if he turned, she would be a quick enough shot to take him down. For those few moments, the tension was so thick one could cut it with a knife; the giant's body then noticeably relaxed. Not by much, but enough; he wanted to tell her nothing was wrong, but Sovereign spoke to him again "She'll see right through that lie, you know. You look like hammered shit. You can try telling her that anyway, but I don't see the point. And I don't think you do, either".

Exodus grimaced at this; damn it, when did Sovereign become the voice of reason? Well, in his own way his brutal honesty always made him serve that purpose, Exodus supposed. His reply might be welcome news, depending on how the buxom sniper took it. "Yoko...I can't. I can't keep doing this. I didn't want you to see me; to find me. Not until I learned control...I need to control this rage, or else someone I care about, someone on this ship could die. You've seen what I am...When I get mad enough, I lose control. I hate that feeling...More than you know. I don't want anyone else hurt because of me".
 
Yoko knew that he was going through something he had to get through on his own, but it still felt like a punch to the gut to find that he didn't want anything to do with her until he'd worked it out. He'd been a good friend, a support. She was worried about him, but she knew better, too. It was best to let him sort through his issues on his own....but after what she'd seen today...After what Ron had shown her. She felt as though he needed to know what they'd found. Keeping it from him seemed foolish.

But then it would be one more weapon that he would use against himself, wouldn't it? As if he didn't already curse the part of him that seemed feral. And he hated that he lost control. Why hand him information that would cause him to suffer?

"Exodus...I know that you need to work this out on your own, but you need some help. You need to take breaks because you're pushing your body too hard. And before you even start fighting with me, I saw you coughing up blood. It's a sign you've done too much for today." She sighed and put her hand on her head. "I worry about you, Exodus, but I can't make you stop what you're doing. I can only ask you to be careful. If you really want me to go away, you know where to find me. I have a hard enough time keeping myself together these days. I can't go around taking on everyone else's problems, too."

She turned to leave him feeling cold and empty and so sad so suddenly. She was losing another friend. And she simply didn't have it in her to watch. "I don't think I can help you any more. No matter how much I wish I could..."
 
The veteran's open mouth, protest ready to fly as always, was almost immediately quashed when she mentioned that she saw him cough up blood. He was trying to be careful; hell, part of the rationale for locking himself away was so that he wouldn't hurt anyone on this ship.

He then just stared blankly at the redhead as she made her case; hadn't they done this several times already? Both of them concerned for the other? This merry-go-round of emotional to-and-fro? Locking himself down was done precisely to let her not worry. She had her plate full with Simon's own problems and as much as he did appreciate everything she'd done for him, this was something she couldn't help him with. That no one, not even the Supers, could help him with.

He could hear the anguish in her voice, feel how the weight of what he was doing to himself was affecting her. But ultimately she was right; he was beyond helping. For reasons that he both already knew and had yet to find out. "Yoko...I didn't want you to see me like this. If that girl Nia hadn't come down here...." he started to say, but cut himself off; nothing he could say would make this right. "I think we both know this is a one-way trip, Yoko...For me at least. I can't kid myself any longer; the next time Adiane and I meet...I probably won't be coming back. But regardless I have to do this, Yoko; I can't slow down. I can't hesitate, not even for a second or she'll kill everyone. The sacrifices made to get us this far will have been in vain, and I won't let that happen...Just like I know you won't either".

Part of him wished he could have said something more soothing, but nothing could be said; the truth was there and they both knew it. Little did Exodus realize that perhaps the time for him to test his mettle was coming quickly, perhaps far sooner than he could have anticipated.
 
She felt her emotions threatening to spill over as he told her he was sure he wouldn't be coming back from all this. She spun around to face him and yelled, "NO! No more! I will NOT let anyone else who's close to me die! If you go out there you had better come back, damn it! Otherwise don't bother going at all. I know I can't help you with what you're going through, but you can be damn sure that I'm not going to let you just die. And I'm sure as hell not going down, so don't you dare!"

With that, she spun around and ran off, choosing to remove herself from the situation before she spilled over and got too much involved. She couldn't do anything so it was best to just say her piece and then go. She had, and so she let him be, knowing he didn't want her to see him like that. She told the doctor to go in and see if he could help Exodus but not waste his time trying if Exodus said no. She ignored Nia, who was still obviously worried at this point. Still, she decided that it would be best to stay away from the man for now. He hadn't wanted to be disturbed, and no matter how familiar he looked, he scared her quite a bit more than she dared admit to herself.
 
(I was thinking maybe after this post is when Adiane strikes...Up to you, since she's your character to play and all)
Exodus recoiled a bit from the sudden outburst; sure, he looked like hell but it wasn't like he was TRYING to get himself killed. All he said was that if he died, he died. But he wouldn't go down on his knees and beg for his life; a niggling ran through him that she knew something he didn't. Then again, she'd been pretty pissed at him before for his recklessness and complete abandonment of his own sense of safety. "Yeah, that must be it..." Exodus mumbled mentally; he hated this series of hills and valleys, how his 'relationship' - if one could even consider it as such - with Yoko rarely reached a high point.

He was always dragging her down, even when he tried his damnedest to alleviate concerns about him. And it seemed telling the truth as he saw it wasn't going to work either; it sucked, because he would rather surrender to the Beastmen than lie to an ally, especially one who could see right through his ruses. He hated that girl; why did she have to come down here? This was an ass-end of the ship, a relatively unimportant place where no one would disturb him...Or so he thought.

When the doctor did come in, he was promptly told - "politely" of course - to go away. He heeded Yoko's words and left the big guy alone; last thing he needed was to be torn apart or something. Ron had arrived just after Yoko and heard the entire thing, but stayed back and out of sight in hope she could try to get through to him; he was disappointed that she could not and that Exodus would be so stubborn, but he supposed that there was nothing to be done except fix this ship and keep moving. Thankfully, in that respect...He was almost done.
 
Not long after this somewhat dramatic event, alarms began sounding and people were called to battle stations as something strange happened on the horizon. Water began to swirl around them--waves that had no place being there before. Gunmen were being detected, though no one had spotted them yet. Yoko hurried to the bridge to get the lowdown when a monolith of a gunman appeared and launched out of the water, onto the deck of the Dai Gunzen.

"Prepare to die in the name of the Spiral King, humans!" There was no mistaking that voice to anyone who'd heard it before. It belonged to general Adiane, the villain of Exodus' stories--the woman responsible for the death of so many. As it was, no one on board the giant gunman really knew who it was but for two people--Nia and Exodus.

As it was the princess was rushing toward the main deck, hoping to remedy what was about to happen. Everyone on board was arming themselves, and the main weapons were trained on her gunman. Adiane, however, was in a strategic position. Where she was, if they fired the main cannons and managed to hit her, they'd also blow themselves up.
 
Elsewhere on the ship, Simon was surprisingly running to see what had caused the alarm; when he made it to the deck, he found an enormous Gunman standing there. And then it spoke; it was a voice Simon had heard. "Adiane...She's back? Why?" Simon muttered; she was back and it certainly seemed like she would be taking no prisoners. Though his thoughts were momentarily distracted when he felt Nia brush past him and go to confront the Divine General herself. What she might do had him worried. "Nia...She might in trouble here. Bro...What would you do?" Simon then asked himself. Part of him wanted to get to the Lagann; though with it not responding to him, he wondered if it would do any good. If he would do any good.

Ron was watching from the control tower, having been able to perform some miracle repairs and finally got the ship's main engine back online; however, the most power he could draw was to energize the cannons on the bridge. it would take a short bit for the power to fully amp up to its maximum and let the Dai-Gunzen achieve full mobility. As much as he wanted to blow her apart, doing so would be unnecessarily risky; when he saw Nia run out to confront Adiane, he hoped that maybe she could work her magic again. Though it didn't help when he heard some of the others say that this could be the break they needed to get the ship back online; some even talked about giving her to the General so that she'd leave them alone. "As if that will do anything..." Ron commented; he had a gut instinct Adiane was back with the intent to attack without restraint.

However, there would be a potential complication in the mix: Adiane's voice had echoed throughout the whole of the ship and reached the ears of the last person who needed to hear it. Exodus' hearing picked it up loud and clear, his body frozen in disbelief as the face of the one he despised most of all appeared before his eyes. The one freak who made his life, and the lives of so many others, a living hell. Who took away the two people he cared about most. "Adiane..." he growled, his hands clenching into tight fists and his eyes flashing with rage; so that frigid bitch was here, eh? "The only one who's going to die is you...With my hands around that scrawny throat of yours" Exodus added as he then turned and ran from his own confinement; despite his condition, he would do everything he could to end her here and now. Before she might spread herself further and cause more pain.
 
Nia ran out on the deck her cloud of silvery hair floating behind her as she spread her arms and legs as if to act as some kind of shield. If only she knew how truly naive she was being.

"Adiane the Elegant, stand down immediately. In the name of Princess Nia--" But before the girl could finish her command, Adiane cut her off.

"I don't give a fuck if you're the princess of the moon! I'm going to kill you, you presumptuous little brat!" And with that, the great claws of her gunman lashed out and caught the little girl in their grasp, lifting her more toward the cockpit. "The Spiral King threw you away, Nia. He doesn't give a damn about you. In fact, he left you in that canyon to die with all the other princesses who dared to disappoint him like you did."


Yoko was running as fast as she could toward the scene. Nia was going to get herself killed, and as much as the girl annoyed her with her optimism and overly cheery attitude in the midst of this war, Yoko couldn't very well blame the girl for acting the only way she really knew how. She had been trying to protect everyone--her new friends. She had been trying to help, and that was no cause for this kind of punishment. She only hoped she made it before Exodus made his way out of the bowels of the ship. She'd recognized the name of the general who'd ruined and destroyed so many lives. It would have taken Exodus far less time to realize what was happening and she was nowhere near as fast.


Nia, in the meantime, was dealt blow after blow as the claw squeezed her tightly enough to cause pain. If that weren't enough, Adiane's words were shattering her notions of reality and all that was true. What? Was that true? If so then all those other big crates had been...Oh God... Had her father truly thrown her away? Why would he choose to do that? And why would he want Adiane to hurt these people?

"I am sorry, but my father is wrong!"

"Insolent child! How dare you question the Spiral King?!"

"These people are good and kind. They haven't done anything to deserve this."

"Who cares? He told me to kill them, so I'm going to! And I'm going to start with you." The claw squeezed Nia more tightly now, causing the small girl more pain.

"If my father told you to kill yourself, would you do it?"

This only seemed to make Adiane mad, if not give her pause. "How dare you insinuate that I would ever be useless to the King!?"

How could this go any more wrong than it already had?
 
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