Patreon LogoYour support makes Blue Moon possible (Patreon)

Full Circle (Razgriz x Candira)

Kittan couldn't help but genuinely smile at Yoko's response; he was genuinely trying to help cheer her up, this much was true. But he would be lying if he said he didn't have ulterior motives. Yoko was easily hottest babe on this whole damn ship, and he would do just about anything if it meant getting into those skimpy booty-shorts of hers. He resisted the urge to ogle her legs and the way those pink stockings of hers hugged her thighs so perfectly, something he'd admired from afar every since teaming up with them.

He noticed the fire in her eyes as she stated giving the Beastmen hell; he was utterly glad to see her getting even the slightest bit more feisty. Just the way he liked her. "Damn right we'll give 'em hell; we'll send those mutant freaks back to whatever hole they crawled out of".

Though her comments regarding Simon made his pleasurable expression falter; that kid was going to get them killed if he kept moping around the way he did. At least Exodus could fight if he was pissed; sadness like Simon's seemed to make Gunmen just not respond at all. Or at most, to a severely restricted capacity. "Don't worry, I'll do what I can" he then replied to request as she walked off. He and Simon were going to need to have a talk real soon.

*Some days later*

The Dai-Gunzan kept making its journey across the desolate lands; many had since lost track of just how long it was they'd been traveling. Ever since Yoko had chewed out Exodus for running off on them, despite it being a very legitimate reason, the veteran of war seemed to lighten up a bit. The two of them didn't really talk all that much, giving Kittan himself ample opportunity to try and put the moves on Yoko to get her to fall for him.

The eldest Black Sibling had tried to talk to Simon, attempting to make the kid snap out of his funk; the digger just didn't want to, though, and that frustrated Kittan to no end. Of course, he had his opinions about what happened that day; he felt Simon was to blame - not Exodus - for letting Kamina die. But out of respect for Yoko and the crew, he kept to his opinions to himself. But seeing Simon like that just made him want to shout at him to man the hell up; yeah, it was hard, but people needed to let things go. There's death in a war, that's just how it goes.

Just then, the entire ship jolted and ground to a halt - again. Nearly everyone on the ship fell over from the sudden stop; there was a fair commotion as to what happened now. Ron and his crew had been trying to patch up the shoddy workmanship on the engine of the fortress, but things just seemed to keep breaking down, no matter how many spare parts they had lying around. They'd only been running for so long without interruption because of the 'band-aids' they'd performed to keep the ship from falling apart. "Another engine failure, ladies and gentlemen" Ron's voice played over the ship-wide intercom system.

Kittan himself had been eating breakfast when it happened; the jolt made him and several others face-plant into their trays, faces covered in food. "Lousy piece of junk....." the man grumbled, wiping his face off with his shirt and hands. Nothing was left for him here, so he decided to use this opportunity to talk to Simon, see if he could get through to him. Making his way to Simon's room, he banged hard on the door, saying rather roughly, "Simon! It's Kittan! You and I need to have a little chat!" Whether the digger was actually there or not remained to be seen, but that was where he was found before, so it was natural for anyone looking for the kid to check his room.
 
Yoko for her part had been slowly getting back to her normal self with Kittan and Exodus' help. Though she and the big man rarely talked, she took comfort in his presence, knowing that if they ever needed each other, they'd be there. Kittan, she had to thank for making her smile more often, reminding her that she needed to be herself and move on. She'd probably never fully be over Kamina, but at least now she wasn't crying whenever she was alone--so that must have been a positive step, right?

Now as the ship screeched to a halt, she practically flew off her feet into closed door. "Oww..." She rubbed her cheek and opened the door to the mess hall, having seen that people who had been eating their food were now wearing it. She arrived just as Kittan had left the room, leaving her there to eat with a group of supers who she'd become fond of.

Meanwhile Simon was in the hangar, staring at his gunman. Usually the gunman repaired itself once he got into battle mode, but lately, the machine had been refusing to work the way it used to, meaning he'd had to spend time on the maintenance for it. But he was so angry. Why wasn't it working!?
 
Exodus too was in the hangar, helping perform maintenance on several Gunman that the Supers used. He was still very much, albeit just as silently, impressed by the vast collection of tools the Beastmen for maintaining their Gunman. It certainly made things a lot easier, and with Exodus and Ron's combined knowledge of the mech's machinery, most of the machines in this hangar received significant upgrades.

The big guy paused in his work, lifting the dark goggles he wore for torch welding to watch as Simon stared emptily at the Lagann. The poor kid was so young, and he knew the wounds would persist for some time. Sadly, Simon was the only one who could fix Simon; Exodus and the rest of the crew did what they could, but that was only so much.

Kittan, meanwhile, was getting fed up with trying to find Simon; he'd since left the kid's room, knowing by that point the digger was absent from his room. After asking around, he'd heard that Simon had been seen in the Gunman hangar. So that was where he went, intent on talking some sense into the kid.
 
There was a war raging within the diminutive digger. He still blamed himself for not being good enough, for not being able to save his bro and not being able to get himself together fast enough to finish the job. If he had, his bro might have lived. But he'd failed. And now it was up to him to take Kamina's place. But he simply couldn't do that. He wasn't Kamina and he knew it. He would never be able to fill the hole Kamina had left in the hearts of everyone here, and he would never be able to pick up the slack Kamina had left behind on his own. there was just no way. But he had to try.

He bent to examine the little gunman but found that it was useless. The gunman wouldn't and couldn't tell him anything, and at this point, he was just tired. And angry. It seemed like no matter what he did the anger just wouldn't go away.
 
Kittan arrived at the hangar, and after some more asking around, found the distraught kid trying his damnedest to figure out why Lagann wasn't responding to his controls. Kittan didn't know for sure what was going on either; that wasn't the reason for his visit though. He was going to try to snap Simon out of his funk, one way or another. Unfortunately, the situation would show a much less caring side than Kittan normally expressed, and likely prove to be more detrimental than if he'd just let Simon keep doing what he was doing. "Simon!" Kittan said in a slightly elevated tone; he decided to approach him calmly at first, then calm out swinging if the kid wouldn't listen. "Still can't figure out what's wrong with this thing, huh?" Simon just stood there, looking at Lagann hopelessly, like he'd all but given up on trying to make it run. "Leave me alone" Simon mumbled; he just wanted to be alone. Kittan grimaced and replied, his hands clenching slightly, "What was that?" "I said leave me alone" was the digger's response, albeit a bit more audible than the last one.

Kittan's teeth clenched and he turned Simon around to face him, his tone aggravated and aggressive, "Listen, kid, you've done nothing but mope and drag your ass around the ship these past few days, and I'm getting tired of it!" Simon's eyes widened a little in surprise, but still held that crushing hollowness behind them. "Kamina's dead, he's dead because I failed to protect him. He was my bro....". Kittan then grabbed the scruff of Simon's shirt and pushed him up against the face of the Lagann, the kid's feet dangling in the air, "You know what, people have been trying to tell it's not your fault, but you don't seem to listen!" Simon just stared at him, seeming extremely unsure of how to reply, only managing to get out, "But...." " No buts, Simon! This isn't just a war, kid! This is a fight for survival! People are going to die! Those things out there, they don't show any remorse in exterminating us! And if you can't get it together, then you're just going to join Kamina in the dirt! And then what? You'll be spitting on the sacrifice he made to protect your sorry ass!"

As right as he was on many points, the way Kittan was going about it seemed a bit harsh; however, maybe that's just what Simon needed. A good proverbial slap in the face. "What you don't seem to understand is that Gurren Lagann, that mech of yours, isn't just one person. It's about teamwork!" A small group started to form around them, clearly curious as to what was going on. "It's not like anyone asked you to pilot it, so butt out..." Kittan's grip on Simon tightened, "So what, you think you're just going to pilot it by yourself?" "Yeah, by myself. I'll fight harder and do it for me and Bro....". "So what? Now you think you can take on the Beastmen alone? In a machine that needs two people? Now you think you're Mr. Invincible or something?" "Kittan......Enough" a gruff voice then said; both the digger and the eldest Black Sibling turned to see Exodus pushing through the throng of onlookers, his arms crossed in front of him and his gaze wordlessly reinforcing his point: Back off.

Kittan snarled a bit and dropped Simon onto his feet before leaving; he'd said his piece, now it was up to Simon whether to accept it again. Exodus then turned and said to the stragglers, "Alright, move along, nothing to see here. There's still work that needs to be done". No one wanted to risk tangling with someone like him, so they just listened and rather quickly disbanded. Exodus approached the digger and said in a calmer tone, "Simon.....I don't agree with how Kittan handled that, but he does make a good point. You can't bottle yourself up. Look what it did to me; you don't want to go through that". Simon just nodded and started to sulk off, not even making it two steps before meeting Rossiu, who stood in front of him. The young boy from Adai Village had come in to check on Simon; he'd long since considered him a good friend and hated to see him beat himself over something that he had no control over. "Hey Rossiu, a quick question. Where was your God to help save Kamina? Oh that's right, your God is a Gunman. It makes sense right, because I guess that means your God killed Bro! Isn't that right?" Rossiu shocked and hurt at Simon's question and subsequent declaration. Exodus clapped a hand on the digger's shoulder, uttering "Simon....." before he could go any further. Simon just sighed and shook his shoulder free, sulking off back to his room as he said, "I'm sorry, Rossiu. That was uncalled for.....Have to get stronger. Have to get better".

Back in the cafeteria, a few young men were talking about who they thought should be the new team Leader now that Kamina was gone. The position wouldn't be easy to fill, but they all had one person in mind: Kittan. "Definitely Kittan. I mean, he's the reason we knew where to go to help out the others. He rallied the other villages to fight, instead of hiding". Another then added, "Yeah, don't need a mopey kid like Simon leading us. Even if Kamina was his "Bro", the fact is he can't keep it together. Though that big guy, the one with all the scars, might be good too. I heard rumors around that he led his own squad at one point". A third let out a 'Tch!' before saying, "Are you kidding? After he ditched us when we got attacked? We don't need a meathead deserter leading Team Gurren, who knows what kind of trouble he'd get us into". The second one nodded, realizing the point, "Yeah, you're right. Damn overgrown bastard....."

What these three young boys didn't realize or didn't seem to be too particularly concerned about was that their comments were well within earshot of none other than Yoko herself. What it even worse was that there were other Supers there as well who respected Exodus as a figurehead around which their continued their own resistance and aided that of the humans. A few of the Supers grew noticeably angry when they spoke of Exodus in such a disrespectful manner, not to mention their insensitivity toward's Simon's plight.
 
Yoko stood up and walked over to the table, her hands on her hips. "Just what the hell do you know about it?" she growled. "You have no idea what happened to Simon or Exodus, so I suggest you keep your mouths shut. And just who exactly are you to say who should lead and who shouldn't? If memory serves you all were the least useful in our last battle," she said, crossing her arms. Several supers stood behind her, glaring at the offenders.

"Simon needs time--he's just a kid, okay? And Exodus didn't leave us in the middle of a fight. He couldn't have known we'd be attacked. He had his reasons, so just drop it. Or take it up with me," she said, fire back in her eyes.
 
The three of them looked up as Yoko and her friends walked over and started chewing them out about their opinions; the boys on the sides stood up to face, followed by the one in the middle, who seemed to be the leader of the little clique. They weren't trying to act cool or anything like that, they were just voicing their opinion on who should be leader. This girl had the nerve to mouth off to him, did she? Well, if she wanted to duke it out with words, he'd be more than happy to oblige.

The boy in the center then replied, seemingly unfazed by the presence of those who could easily break him in two backing up Yoko, "I think I'll take option two, since you're here trying to act all high and mighty. But a little lesson in courtesy, sweetheart? It really ain't polite to butt in on other people's conversations like that, especially when they don't concern you".

He then took a step closer, closing the distance between himself and Yoko that much more before continuing, "Yeah, you might be right. We may not know a whole lot about your big boyfriend or Simon, but we know what we see. The truth is, toots, the big guy left us a man down and the kid's a wreck. Yeah, Kamina's loss is sad and it hit everyone hard. Hell, I looked up to the guy, because he knew how to inspire people. But face it, Kittan's the next best thing. He's a leader.....Just who do you think it was that rallied the other villages to come help you beat that stupid gorilla?"
 
Yoko's eyes narrowed and before she could control the impulse to slap the bastard, she did it. No regrets on her part. She glared at him with a ferocity that would have frightened a super. "And you talk about me learning manners? Kittan is a great guy, but watch your mouth when it comes to talking about people you don't know the first thing about! For goodness sake, who still calls women 'toots'? Jeez..." she rolled her eyes and stormed off, the Supers staying in place as if to prove a point.
 
The kid reeled and fell back into the arms of his buddies that caught him; he placed a hand on his cheek, which stung rather harshly from how hard she struck him, feeling unnerved now at her lethal gaze as her golden hues bored into his soul. But he was still young, and like many young boys, his temper would make him act with a fair degree of irrationality.

As the redhead turned to leave, he rose again and proclaimed, a hint of hesitant anger in his tone, "Hey! Don't you walk...." he started to say, but faltered when one of the larger Supers stared him down, as if daring the young one to make his move. The Super's head, one having distinctly wolf-like features, leaned down to stare wit even greater intensity, the bright yellow orbs gleaming. And with that, the little confrontation was quickly settled, the little trio leaving after the leader straightened himself out; he'd get her back for hitting him though. Somehow, some way.


As soon as Exodus had finished his work after watching Simon leave, he felt his stomach rumble; truth was, he was starving. Strange, considering his appetite was fairly weak despite one might think it would be considering the size of his body. He'd shower after he ate, as he hadn't had much food as of late; he'd noticed that after the talk with Yoko,seemed to help him become a bit more lively. Not a huge jump by any stretch of the imagination, but enough to be noticed. His face, arms and torso were covered in grease streaks, small lacerations on his fingers from hitting against the gears in the mechs, and other bits of evidence of his labor in the Gunman bay.

Little did either the veteran of war or the curvy sniper realize that they would meet each other once more, though the circumstances of their meeting would be very.....thought-provoking. Right as Exodus turned the corner, his momentum, combined with the fact that he'd somehow managed to trip over his own foot like a clumsy moron, would make him bump into none other than Yoko; their bodies collided and fell to the floor, him on top of her. And he would have landed square on her, had his reflexes not made his arms shoot out and catch himself; now here they were, his large form hunched over the redhead's well-developed figure.

Had this been anyone else, Exodus would have been able to get right off; however, as he looked at her, his mind floated back to the beach where he and Harbinger consummated their love for each other. It was because of Yoko's uncanny resemblance that he simply froze, his brown hues gazing into her golden eyes; could this moment be any more awkward? Of course, if someone came by and happened upon them while they were like this. But, for the moment at least, they were alone in a relatively untraveled corridor of the ship, so they would be able to work this out in relative privacy.
 
Yoko was finally calming down after her little tussle with the kids in the cafeteria. Just who did they think they were anyway? They may have had a right to state their opinions, but that didn't mean she had to tolerate them bad-mouthing her friends. She took the corner a little faster than she might have normally, so the impact was enough to make her literally bounce off of Exodus as she slammed into him. She gasped and fell down straight on her back. "Ow..." She groaned and braced herself for impact from the muscular veteran. When the impact didn't come, she looked up at Exodus, shocked at how close he was, and the fact that he wasn't moving.

Her golden eyes wide, the redhead stared up at him for a long moment, wondering what was going through his mind. He reminded her a little of Kamina. He was charismatic when he wanted to be, strong, and handsome. It took her a moment before she cleared her throat. "Ummm...hi."
 
The pause as they stared into each other's eyes, each holding a look of surprise and mild bewilderment as they waited for the other to make a move. Or at least, that's how it would seem; Exodus was playing back the beach memory, except for some reason now it was him and Yoko. He gazed at her, almost like he was in a trance, his brown orbs slightly glazed over. Her voice, however, seemed to snap him out of his stupor and bring him back to reality; he blinked several times and now fully realized the rather compromising nature of their position.

"Ah.....Sorry, stupid me didn't watch out" he said as he pushed himself up before helping Yoko to her feet. Well, he didn't if it was possible to get any more awkward than this; what made it was was that his flashback had made his manhood start to swell just a little. The sensations, brief as they were, felt so real; he turned his body a little just so that the ever-so-slight bulge in his pants wouldn't be noticed by her. He felt disgusted and ashamed with himself; even as his irritation started to make the slight swell in his crotch disappear, the self-loathing at his perceived weakness would persist. He wasn't ready.....Besides, even if he was, she was still probably attached to Kamina and he was better than trying anything while the loss was still fresh. How could he compare to someone who clearly had a large impact on her life? He was a beast, a filthy animal, no matter how human he might appear to be. There was no way she'd ever want him. Ever.

He cut himself off, derailing and shutting the wild cyclone that was his mind; he was thinking about this too much and frankly the subject wasn't a pleasant one. He rubbed the back of his head, asking with his face flushed a mild yet noticeable shade of red as he turned his head to look upon her once more, "Are you...alright? I didn't hurt you, did I?"
 
Yoko didn't notice the bulge he was sporting, but she had seen the look in his eyes and she wondered briefly if it was because of her or if he was locked in some memory of long ago. The realization that she wanted it to be her hit her like a ton of bricks and it took her a moment to react once he moved out of the way. She stood up slowly, shocked at the direction her thoughts had turned for a brief moment. She had been wishing that he'd want her as much as he longed for whatever he'd been thinking of at that particular moment.

Before she could get caught up in what that meant and where it had come from, he was speaking to her. "Well, it hurt to fall, but I don't think I'm injured or anything. I'm made of tougher stuff than that," she said with a smile. She remembered, then about what the boys in the cafeteria had said and frowned a little. "Hey, Exodus...I think maybe there's something you should hear..." she put a hand on his shoulder and told him about her little run-in with the boys. "They're probably still mad at me, but I'm kind of worried they're not the only ones who are thinking that way...I just thought you should know."
 
(Sorry about the delay.....)

Her little comment about what she was made of seemed to humor Exodus, as a barely-noticeable-yet-obviously-there smirk crossed his lips. He briefly entertained the thought of telling her just what it was he was thinking about, but her next words made him pause, his face now in an expression of slight puzzlement as she explained what had happened in the cafeteria. The little bastard deserved it for talking to her like that; though he couldn't truthfully disagree what the young man had stated, either. Even if it was for a very good reason, albeit one that he didn't discover until he got there, he shouldn't have left them in a bind like he did.

However, before he could give a response to what Yoko had told him, or even so much as thank her for keeping him in the loop, the alarm sounded. A verbal warning played across the ship that sensors picked up Beastmen units starting to surround them; in moments, everyone was mobilizing to defend the ship as it was unfortunately still immobilized due to the engine failure. Hordes of people soon flooded the previously deserted hallway, all heading to battle stations to hold off the attackers.

Here, Exodus showed just on how much of a dime his mood could change; he'd missed his chance to slaughter those bastards last time, so now in his mind he needed to tear them in two twice as badly. His body tensed, his hands and jaw clenching in rage; it was like even the mention of Beastmen was a switch for him, transforming him from a relatively calm-minded, quiet man into a bloodthirsty, savage animal. He then turned from Yoko wordlessly and ran with all his fervor towards the upcoming battle, intent on making the ground run rivers of red. If this was their land, then he'd water it with their blood.
 
Without a reaction to her news, Yoko had no idea if what she'd said meant anything to him, or if it was helping to fuel the raging bloodlust he seemed to develop whenever the alarm sounded. Thankfully, it wasn't for anyone on board the ship...but it was still directed toward someone. She didn't wish what had happened to Viral on anyone, but frankly, if anyone deserved it, it was the beastmen. Especially after what had happened to Exodus' Trio.

Well, time to stop being reflective and start shooting people. "Here we go again," she said, her disciplined body running toward the hangar and her rifle. She'd act as support this time around as well, using this time to prepare herself. She saw Simon getting ready to pilot Gurren Lagann by himself...was that even possible? But Rossiu quickly came after him climbing into the cockpit before the young digger could launch. "Be careful, Simon," she muttered, worried. Soon enough, she was engaged in battle herself, supers joining her.

((That's okay. I've certainly made you wait enough.))
 
The battle commenced almost immediately; humans and Supers alike dropping from the bay doors of the Dai-Gurren in Gunmen, ready to fight to protect their newly acquired home. Several in the Bridge Tower were manning the scanners, all of them reporting an even larger attack force than before. Well, it was safe to assume that the human hijacking of a General's flagship had gotten the attention of the Beastman forces. The ground forces were deployed almost instantly; human controlled mechs dropped from the belly of the titanic fortress to meet their assailants in furious combat.

Exodus, being what others might consider to be "insane" or "reckless", didn't go out into the field of battle in a Gunman; his massive form dropped to the ground below. It was only due to his extreme durability that he survived the otherwise bone-shattering descent. His body tensed up as he charged forward, his war gauntlets having been activated and coursing with energy. He leaped from Gunman to Gunman, using his strange creations to knock down a hostile Gunman before his gauntlets pounded the armor over and over. eventually breaching the cockpit and revealing the creature. As the battle raged on around, the two of them stared at each other, one with fright and the other with unbridled rage. Before he could even scream, Exodus' meaty mitt closed around the Beastman's throat, crushing its trachea from the sheer force of his grip and throwing the pilot out to die. He then climbed in, deciding to use this Gunman against them. It was a stout mech, resembling a brown boulder more than any tangible creature, but it would work, despite the gapping hole in its cockpit. Exodus had the mech look around, and finally found the weapon it had been using: A dirtied double-bladed battleaxe. Exodus' Gunman picked up the weapon and immediately went work, using his skills and current armament with almost sickening glee. The edged weapon was swung with great force, cleaving any enemies that stood before him in two with an almost inhuman savagery.

And despite Yoko's unheard words of caution to Simon, the young digger and Rossiu charged recklessly into battle; the drills of the Gurren Lagann smashed through enemy Gunmen. "This one's for Bro, you mutant bastards!" Simon cried out as he ripped the glasses off of the Gurren's face and hurled them with enormous strength, the deadly boomerang shredding through a line of enemy Gunman and turning them into smoldering piles of wreckage. His movements aggressive, his rage-bridled passion unchecked, he pushed his Gunman as hard as he could, trying to slaughter as many as he could.

For a moment, Exodus and Simon seemed both to be one in the same, each suffering a traumatic loss and focusing all that pain and agony into the heart of the enemy.
 
Yoko continued to provide cover fire for her teammates, supers aiding in the attempt. "Hang in there, guys!" It was a massive swell of enemies, and Exodus was ripping through them with vicious and reckless abandon. Simon was doing his fair share as well. Despite what those boys in the cafeteria said, there could be no denying how much both men were dedicated to the cause. Or how much of an impact they actually made. But then the fighting came close to a ravine, and Simon was driven back toward the edge. Things weren't looking great for the little digger, but everyone else seemed to have their hands full until the last moment.
 
The fighting continued; the enemies continued to pour in from multiple directions. However, the Super/human combined resistance group seemed to hold quite well against the seemingly endless tide. For every friendly Gunman that was destroyed, the humans and Supers ended the lives of fifteen enemies. A brave fight it was, a true testament to the adage of having one's back against the wall, and how that would give them the strength to fight back against anything that threatened them.

Simon was a particularly shining example of this; in his mind, he felt that he had nothing left to lose, so he fought harder than he'd ever fought before. Rossiu was having somewhat of a hard time keeping up with the digger's erratic movements, but managed despite his relative inexperience in piloting these things. Seemed like those hours he put into trying to become a better pilot were paying off. Explosions rang out around them from the friendly artillery fire as the Gurren Lagann dropped mech after mech, seemingly unstoppable in its rampage. However, as they unknowingly backed up towards a seemingly infinite abyss, Simon lost his focus. And as a result, a well-timed strike by the enemy caught the little Lagann square in its face, forcing a detach from the Gurren and sending it hurling over the edge.

Kittan and Exodus, who were both by Simon's side when this happened, managed to catch glimpse of the little Gunman careening into the darkness. "Simon!" Exodus cried out as Kittan dove with his own Gunman to try and catch the tiny mech; however, the eldest Black Sibling could only watch as Lagann fell, disappearing into the endless blackness below. "Damn it....." Kittan growled, righting his Gunman before slamming a fist into the control panel. However, he turned to see an axe coming at him and ducked; the blade grazed the top of his mech, a loud crunching soon heard. He turned to see an enemy impaled by the blade, Exodus' hijacked Gunman holding the weapon that nearly took his head off. "Keep focused, Kittan! I don't want you following after him!" Exodus shouted angrily, ripping the bladed weapon from the hostile machine and letting it keel over. Kittan grimaced, but let it slide, knowing the man was just watching his back. The two turned and saw more enemies approaching them; both then charged forward, hacking and slashing their way through the hordes and increasing the distance between themselves and the ravine.

As the conflict raged on above, Simon just fell down the deep ravine, not even bothering to scream. He figured this was how it would end; well, at least he'd see Bro again. However, a small part of him wanted to keep fighting, to keep Kamina's legacy alive; it was this part that forced the Lagann's legs to form into springs and right itself, cushioning the impact to a still-painful but nonlethal landing. Simon felt his body jar from the impact; all he could say was, "Ow......" as he held his head; talk about a wicked headache. He wondered though, what would make this Gunman do such a thing; he didn't even have a hand on the controls. But he was glad to be alive regardless and let the matter slide.

He managed to get the Lagann moving again; the little mech trudged up a muddy incline, the dirt floor seeming to not give way even under the Lagann's weight. HE reached the top and came across a most horrifying sight: Large crates lined the floor of this part of the chasm, but it was unknown how they got here or why they were even here in the first place. Simon at first jumped to the conclusion thought they were some sort of coffin; the eerieness of the abyss, combined with the fog that seemed to hangly lowly over the floor, certainly made it a plausible explanation, but they were unlike coffins that he'd ever seen. "What....What is all this..." he pondered aloud, his sight wandering from crate to crate, but feeling too frozen with fear to go anywhere near any of them.

However, the surprises would not be over for Simon, for soon something else would capture his interest. A loud crash was heard behind, causing him to turn around and squint to see what it was. Another box was sliding down towards; his eyes - wide with curiosity and apprehension - followed the box as it slid to a halt on top of a dirt mound about twenty feet in front of him. He got out of the Lagann and went to investigate, brushing some strands of raven-black hair from his eyes as he neared the source of the noise. He could see a faint glow just ahead of him; that must be what had crashed. Little Boota decided to make himself known now that they were out of harm's way, poking his head out from Simon's jacket pocket before climbing onto his shoulder; his little head cocked in curiosity before small squeaks could be heard. "I don't know, Boota....But I'm going to find out" Simon replied, seeming to understand what the pig-mole had said, grasping his now-pulsing green core drill that hung from his neck. Little did he expect what he would find inside.
 
Yoko managed to see Simon slipping over the edge in Lagann, heading for the ravine below. "Simon!" Eyes wide, she called out for the kid who couldn't hear her--couldn't hear anybody but his bro. Tears ran down her cheeks and she hurried to pay back their enemy, shooting with a vengeance. She needed to hurry so she could go help Simon. It couldn't go on like this...



In the valley below there were hundreds of containers just like the one that had fallen before Simon's eyes. Transfixed, the boy came towards the strange box, a small indent glowing in the spiral shape of a drill. Before he really knew what he was doing, he reached for the core drill and plugged it into the hole, turning it. Then, amidst a strange fog, the box opened to reveal a beautiful girl, dressed in strange, but fine clothing, surrounded by flowers.

She was different than anyone the digger had ever seen and took his breath away. Stunned, he watched as the girl opened her eyes and sat up. She smiled sleepily and opened her mouth. A soft, sweet voice emerged from her lips, "Hail, fellow. Well met. I am Nia, and who might you be, good sir?"
 
(Oh God, Nia's voice grates on my nerves! Sorry, but I hear her talking from the words you typed and it makes me want to tear out my hair, lol)
Simon's eyes were wide with surprise as the girl looked at him; her strange attire - a wardrobe of fine fabrics and golden, jeweled inlays - was far better in quality to his rather ratted clothes. But that was the furthest thought in his tormented mind right; mostly it was surprise and shock to see a human girl having been thrown down the side of the ravine in a crate.

Needless to say, Simon's cheeks flushed as he gazed upon this young female as the shock of her mere presence wore off; his only thoughts now consisted of how beautiful she was. He found himself to be quite nervous, unable to even do so much as form a coherent sentence as she sat up and addressed him. "H...hail, is that what you said..." he then replied, finding her choice of words off-putting before her next blunt compliment caught him off guard.

He waved his hands about in a flustered manner, shaking his head while replying, "G..Good sir? .....Oh no, I'm not anyone important enough to be called that..." The abyssal darkness seemed to grow even darker, as the clouds gathering high above their heads finally sealed the sun from view and robbed the ravine of what little illumination it possessed. The only source of light now came from the strange box this girl Nia had been asleep in, and even then it didn't do much to light up the surrounding area.

The distant sounds of the battle above them quieted to nothing, indicating the fight was by one side or the other; however, a small and light drizzle soon came down on top of them. It wasn't a heavy shower, not like it had been when Kamina died, but merely a light sprinkle, something that one of better disposition would happily enjoy.
 
(LOL! I know, right? That's why I always thought her character was annoying.)

Nia smiled and giggled softly, tilting her head. "I'm sorry, but could you tell me, please, how it is that you're the same as me?" Her bright eyes locked onto his as she reached out to him. Though she was beautiful, there was an otherworldly sense of obliviousness to her. She didn't seem to know much of anything, but she was cute.



Once the sounds of the battles died out overhead, there were only a few beastmen left in the area and they were making their way down the walls of the ravine to get to the little gunman that got away. Their general was determined to collect and analyze it. In the mean time, the humans were scrambling to get the repairs to the Dai Gunzan finished. Mobility was key. In the meantime, Yoko was putting together a small group of gunman to help collect Simon and Lagann from the bottom of the valley.
 
Simon froze, his cheeks turning bright red as her soft hands gently held his face. Her eyes captivated him, held him still like a frightened deer. To have such a cute girl paying this degree of attention to him....None of the girls in Giha Village ever gave him even so much as a second look, since he was a digger and all. Her question though, confounded him noticeably; how was he the same as her? Weren't they both human? "We..Well, we're the same in that we're both human beings". Her question was certainly an odd one, but he tried his best to answer it.

Soon the storm above had cleared, letting columns of light penetrate the darkness below; before long, the whole canyon was bathed in the glow of the sun, its indiscriminate warmth washing over everything that it could. Unbeknownst to Simon, an enemy Gunman was making its way down to where the digger and the strange girl were, its sensors detecting their presence and the pilot's intent to kill roiling beneath his flesh.
 
"Tell me, sir, what is a human?" she asked, tilting her beautiful head to the side. She let his face go and smiled as the sunlight bathed them through the mists of the strange valley.
 
Again, Simon was rendered speechless by Nia's completely out of the ballpark question; what did she mean "what is a human?" Her obliviousness might have gotten to him had her beauty and smile not affected him first; for the first time in a long while, he felt a warmth in his heart, like her presence was a push to help him continue to live. He then stated, his voice a low volume, "Well, we're human because we have arms and legs. Stuff like that"

Little did Simon realize that the enemy Gunman had now slid down soundlessly to stand in the ravine; the pilot inside saw two small blips on his radar and knew they were humans. So he felt it only his duty to exterminate them with the utmost prejudice; the mechanized death machine walked slowly and deliberately, the muddied ground somehow muffling the otherwise thunderous footsteps of the Gunman.

(That's one thing I also didn't understand; just what kind of an answer was that? Do the Beastmen not have arms and legs also? Or was I just seeing things?)
 
(LOL! I think it's just because he doesn't know how else to explain it. And in her original series question, her question has things like "you don't have claws or fur, etc" stuck in there too. Maybe the translation is just not as effective as the original script? BTW, I have no idea what else to have her say...She's so weird.)


Nia smiled. "I see...and where is this place?" she asked, looking around her, still sitting in her box. Her curious eyes roamed over Simon before moving towards her surroundings. She still did not see the gunman, and it wouldn't be long before it was upon them.
 
(Yeah, I know, but still....IMHO, it'd have been better for the writers to have him just to stay silent for a moment and switch the topic than give a half-assed answer like that. But, that's just me)
"W..Well, I don't know exactly where this is.....But this is the surface......The outside....." Simon tried to explain, still at a loss on how to answer her without making her even more confused than she seemed to be. Her actions led him to believe that perhaps she was from another underground village; though with the two villages he'd been in - his home Giha and the Priest's Adai Village - no one had clothing this....Clean? Well-preserved? He didn't know how to explain her attire, but it was certainly a very alien appearance compared to what he was used to.

The Gunman that had slipped into the canyon was almost close enough to where the pilot could see the two humans; his bug-like face had a devilish grin at the thought of how many pieces he would shred these pathetic apes into. However, the mech made a slight misstep and planted its foot right on top of another coffin, crushing it and the long-dead but unknown inhabitant flat, a sickening crunch resonating throughout the now-well-lit. Simon started and turned; he froze for a moment, shocked that a Gunman had somehow been able to sneak up on him. He then instinctively grabbed the girl by the hand and pulled her rather roughly from the crate.

Good thing he did, too, because a six-barreled machine gun popped out of the enemy Gunman's right arm and fired; the once pristine box was obliterated in a matter of seconds. Simon could feel his heart racing as the sounds of the shells seemed to nip at his heels before going under the gigantic machine and racing towards Lagann, all the while pulling this clueless girl Nia with him.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom