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Full Circle (Razgriz x Candira)

Simon was definitely startled when Adiane made her return; even more so was that Nia once again fearlessly faced her down. "Nia...Is more like bro than me. Even by herself, she never backs down" the digger thought to himself; even now as Adiane held her, she never seemed to distinctly hate the General. But when she cried out in pain, Simon felt something. Something he hadn't been able to feel for a while: The fear of loss. If Nia was killed, it would be like losing Kamina all over again.

"No....No I can't! I won't!" he stated refusingly as that fear rooted itself in him firmly, spreading through him like ice; he took off to the back of the ship fast as he could, where the Lagann sat in a pile of garbage. But he would soon find the problem unresolved as he climbed into the machine: No matter what he did, no matter how he begged, the little mech simply would not activate.

Meanwhile, Exodus' rage fueled his ever-quickening pace; he smelled blood in the water, that much was certain. His single-minded focus pushed his body, far beyond what he should be doing in his current condition. But he didn't care; Adiane was here and he was going to murder her. Pay her back for all the suffering she caused, for taking everything he knew away from him. Even the glimpse he caught of the red-haired crackshot would not give him pause; he simply barreled past her and out onto the deck.

It took him no time at all to spot the Gunmen she was in; its image was forever burned into his mind. That and her damned ugly face, the face of a monster. "ADIANEEEEEEE!" he shouted, leaping straight at the General's Gunman with no regard to the fact she held a hostage. His body collided with the Gunman's shoulder, making the frame reverberate with the impact. Through some stroke of luck, his massively enhanced strength crushed the frame of the arm holding Nia and forced the Sayrune to release its captive due to a malfunction; however, with that the young girl would begin to fall a great height. He paid that no mind though and after climbing to the top, started pounding furiously on the mech and shouting "COME OUT, YOU DAMNED MURDEROUS BITCH! COME OUT SO I CAN CRACK YOUR FUCKING SKULL WIDE OPEN!"

Simon, on the other hand, quickly gave up on trying to start up on the Lagann and ran back to try and help Nia however he could; he would arrive just in time to see Exodus madly rush the General. "Oh god...." Simon muttered; what came over him? He knew Exodus had a chip on his shoulder...But this was different. This was a cold-blooded killing instinct, what else could it be? However, his eyes soon snapped as Nia began to fall; no, he wouldn't let her die! Even with how fast he ran before, it was like the wind was beneath his heels; giving a great leap, he managed to catch Nia. But his landing was less than perfect; on impact, his ankle rolled and he forcibly turned himself so that he would cushion the girl's descent.

But while some were horrified by the sheer brutality and crassness of the giant's actions, Kittan was grinning from ear-to-ear. Now THAT was how you got shit done. "Come on, guys! Can't let him have all the fun! Let's finish her off for good!" he then bellowed and charged forward in his own Gunman; others soon followed, strangely emboldened by Kittan's words. With this many compared to her one, this would be an easy victory.

Oh, how wrong they were....
 
Yoko, for all her prowess as a warrior, was nowhere near fast enough to head off Exodus. He flew past her, but even as he did, she could feel his rage burning the air around him. Shit! Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! It was one thing to attack her with a plan; it was another entirely to charge in blindly. Had he learned nothing from the past? And now, not only did Adiane know where Exodus was, but the crazy bastard was crushing her gunman with his raw power. This would not end well.

The redhead made it out on deck just as Nia was falling. "Nia!" But, thankfully, Simone caught her. Nia groaned and then pushed herself up off of the digger. "Oh, Simon! Are you ok?"

Since the two of them were fine, Yoko returned her attention to the impending disaster. Adiane had used Sayrune's tail to strike Exodus. "Well, well. Lookie what I caught here! I've been looking for you, Exodus!"
 
Simon groaned as he sat up; all he could say was, "Y..yeah, I'm fine" as he rubbed his head; he could feel his ankle starting to swell though and knew that it was sprained. What a surprise, he thought dejectedly; figures he couldn't even save someone without messing up.

Exodus, meanwhile, was not in his right mind; his overwhelming urge to slaughter the Divine General left him blind to any form of impending danger. The tail appendage of the mechanical titan hit him with bonecrushing force, piledriving the man/beast into the deck. His body bounced once and rebounded, leaving a definite dent in the material of the Dai-Gunzan; on the rebound, he managed to flip himself upright and land on his feet.

Adiane's words only served to anger him further; made worse was the fact that the numerous scars covering his body did the worst thing imaginable: They opened. Red liquid trickled freely from the tears, covering his body in streams of red. Some of it started to get into his eyes, making his rage escalate as he tried to clear his vision; however, the blood only worsened and made him howl and thrash in agony. "I'LL RIP YOU APART, PIECE BY PIECE, BITCH!" he bellowed, the frustration evident in his tone.

All at once though, the other Gunmen soon tackled Adiane, dogpiling on top of the giant scorpion mech. "Gotchu now, freak!" Kittan shouted with glee before adding with a smirk, "You ain't going anywhere! We have you pinned". Not realizing two critical factors that might make things even worse for them. And as fast as Ron was trying to work, he could only pray that they might hold Adiane off long enough to get this ship restarted.
 
Adiane wasn't alone in this particular instance. And as strong as Exodus was, his fury only turned her on. Her hideous tongue ran over the lips to her extra wide mouth. She grinned and growled as she started to fend off the humans in their gunmen, but she was overwhelmed by the numbers. It was at this point, that viral and the other gunmen she'd brought with her to fight emerged, attacking at random.



"Kittan, you idiot! Get out of there!"

Yoko sighed and made her way to a better vantage point, trying to find a good place to dispatch the general from. It needed to be fairly stable and a little higher up. So she stuck to the outskirts, providing cover to a few of her comrades. She ran, hoping against all hope that she could do what she needed to do.

As she ran, Nia helped Simon up and tried to help him get to safety. Neither of them were fairing super well, but he certainly had it worse. The little princess held his hand as she ran through the battle with help from Yoko's cover.

When she was in position, the redhead sniper took aim and worked on causing a malfunction in the cockpit.
 
Kittan was a tad too late in reacting to Yoko's command; right after Adiane had quickly shoved them off her Gunman, displaying the skill belonging to only that of a General, more freaks arrived to assist their leader. "Damn it to hell..." the spiky-haired man muttered; with the Dai-Gunzan's radar systems offline, it was impossible to receive any kind of warning from Ron. And the onboard IFF system gave no heads-up to incoming friendly units; it only pinged when they were nearing a point of interest or if there were hostiles approaching. He would need to see Ron about changing that...If they got past this battle, that is.

The deck became a battleground once more, friendly and enemy Gunmen duking it out to take the flagship or destroy it in the process. And from the relative safety of the bridge tower, Ron was busy as hell with his team of humans and knowledgeable Supers about getting the last pieces in place. Fingers flew furiously over keyboards, commands being sent to the engine room to fire the main turbines and get this ship mobile once more and to cycle the necessary fluids keeping the engines functional. A stray round from a Gunman-mounted cannon slammed into the thick glass of the viewport, causing a massive spiderweb of fractures to blossom from the impact point and everyone present to flinch hard. Resuming their work to shake off the sudden scare, Ron pleaded mentally "Just a little longer...Hold them off just a little more" as he shouted into a microphone "Status!"; he was so close. "Engine core at 90% maximum charge! Startup in thirty seconds! All systems nominal!" someone in the engine room shouted in reply back through a loudspeaker.

Simon, meanwhile, saw that things were getting crazy and knew neither he nor the princess were safe. With another burst of energy that came from nowhere, the digger leaped to his feet and took hold of Nia's hand before haphazardly dragging her back into the hallway of the bridge's interior. Unfortunately, he made it about two steps past the threshold before the adrenaline wore off and he stumbled, rubbing at his sprained ankle but holding back any exclamations of pain. Even if they were out of danger...There was still one last wild card.

Exodus' fury continued to boil over, blocking out any voices of reasons and his mind almost completely succumbing to an inhuman rage. Through bleary, blood-clouded eyes he could barely make out Adiane's mech under a hail of fire from Yoko's rifle; and despite the mind-breaking agony of his body's current state, he leaped towards the Gunman once more, intent on tearing the General out somehow and breaking her in the every sense of the word. Unfortunately, someone else had a clean shot on Adiane herself; right as the bullet flew from the muzzle, the giant had already been in mid-leap. Both projectiles were headed for the same destination, but even with all of his strength and power, he just couldn't match the force of the depleted uranium bullet. And that came to pass; the high-mass round pierced his left shoulder, causing him to emit a high-pitched shriek and his bloodied body to flop against the armored torso of the Sayrune, leaving quite the red mark on the metallic surface as he fell to the ground, howling in pain and writhing.
 
"Damn it! You idiot! What were you thinking!?" Yoko had the presence of mind to squeeze the trigger one more time, causing a short in Sayrune's cockpit. Much to Adiane's dismay, she was now unable to control most of her gunman's functions. Her howls of defeat and rage could be heard as she was forced to retreat once more. The one silver lining was the fact that Exodus, the thorn in her side, seemed to have been felled by friendly fire. One of his own had done her job for her. Poetic.

Yoko, meanwhile, rushed to Exodus' side. So much blood! Why was there so much blood? His shoulder had been hit, right? Not his neck or heart? There was a chance to save him, then. So why was he bleeding so damn much?

As the beastman forces began to pull out, Yoko reached Exodus. "Don't you dare die from something so stupid! I will never forgive you, you son of a bitch!" She doubted the wound would kill him, but she was being irrational and panicking while one of her closest, most emotionally distant friends lay writhing in pain at her feet. She stayed by him, providing cover until the threat was gone. It wasn't until one of the supers came to help that she realized she was crying.

Nia, meanwhile, was watching the battle's end with Simon. She was terrified by everything that was happening, and it was a good thing that Simon had saved her. But it was the sight of this battle that truly showed her what these people had been living through and fighting for. Her determination battled through the fear and she helped simon to his feet. "I am sorry that I couldn't help. I even put you in danger. This isn't right. My father can't keep doing this. I need to tell him. He has to stop!"
 
Within moments after Adiane's retreat, it seemed like all systems were back online for the flagship; arms along the side of the control bridge swept over the deck and knocked off what few enemy Gunmen remained. And as a testament to their resolve, cannon fire rang out in quick succession to persuade the hostiles to never come back. And it seemed like victory was theirs...Until the eyes fell to the deck.

Some of the Supers had jumped out of their Gunmen and formed a circle around Exodus, hoping to keep the others at bay so that he wouldn't lash out. "Come on" a Super resembling a large bipedal bull said to the redhead, urging her to step away from the thrashing giant. Speaking of, the enraged Goldeneye seemed to gain some semblance and suddenly leaped to his feet, a massive hand clutching the free-flowing wound in his shoulder. Exodus was lucky the bullet hadn't gone an inch lower, otherwise he'd have lost his whole arm. His lips were pulled back into a snarl to reveal his reddened teeth, his namesake hues tweaking and shifting back and forth wildly.

He then smelled something...lacking, even through the blood that coated his nostrils. Adiane...She was gone! "No!" he barked harshly before turning to gaze at the empty land ahead. "NOOOOOO!" he bellowed as several Supers tried to restrain him, only to be thrown aside before he fell to his hands and knees. Even with his rage driving him forward, his body was starting to fail on him and the lack of adrenaline to mask the agony wasn't helping.

Simon knew that Nia was telling the truth, but couldn't compel himself to answer; however, upon hearing their comrade's roar of frustration his head snapped quickly in its direction. "Exodus...?" he trailed off, wondering what was happening before standing up to see what all the commotion was.
 
Yoko stopped firing when the Supers made their ring. She wiped away her tears and let herself be guided slowly away from Exodus. She stood a few feet away now, safely among the Supers who were trying so hard to protect Exodus and the crew of the Dai Gunzen. Yoko stared, upset, and worried, and just...helpless. She'd gone from being steadily miserable about Kamina's death, to being in almost constant fear for Exodus' life.

She flinched at his roar, at the way his scream filled the air, chilling her. She knew the significance of Adiane's escape for Exodus, but she had acted in the manner she'd thought best for everyone. Still, the pain he felt was more than just from her bullet. Without a word, she melted into the crowd, disappearing.

Guilt washed over her as she walked away. There was no way for her to make this up to him. He was beyond her comfort, beyond wanting it. Maybe it was time she stopped seeking him and trying to help. It was clear that she meant no more than a memory to him now. She walked past Simon with a rather dead look in her eyes and stopped behind him.

"He's gotta pull out of it on his own. That woman...she is the sole reason he's losing his mind. And if it ends him, he's going to kill her with his bare hands." And then she was gone, suddenly very tired.

Nia frowned looking after Yoko. It was clear the woman wanted to be alone, but she needed help. Exodus, however, was someone who more clearly needed to be helped.

"Simon...what's happening? It looks like we won, but somehow, it feels like we lost so much more..."
 
Simon just stared blankly at Yoko as she stood beside him, unsure of what to do; it was like everyone was just...crumbling. Bro wouldn't let them do this. He'd find a way to make everyone smile again, to make even the most hopeless situation seem like nothing. And ironically...it would be Nia's next words that helped spur him into action. Yes, something was lost. Something very important. But now, he realized, was not the time to weep and mourn. It was time to get things back into action.

"Nia...I want you to go talk to Yoko. She could really use a friend right now. I'll be there myself soon enough." he then said to the Princess, a surprising strength not seen in a while making its return; before the girl could reply, he walked as best as he could out toward the bellowing feral giant. Exodus, on the other hand, had lost his former clarity; Yoko was correct in her assumption. The fact that Adiane had managed to escape, along with the horrifying state of his body, left the Goldeneye deeply conflicted and psychologically 'broken'. As the Supers that watched over Exodus saw Simon approach, they tried to hold him back; however, the look in his eyes made them realize that the digger might get through to him. And so cautiously, Simon was allowed to approach; Kittan then shouted "Simon, what the hell are you doing!?! Get away, he's fucking pissed!"

Simon just turned and looked at the man in the spiky Gunman, "Yeah, he is. He has every right to be, too. Adiane put him through hell, Kittan...It's natural to want revenge." Kittan just sat there, confused as ever; what did happen to this Exodus guy? No one ever talked about him around anyone, not even the Supers.

"What the hell do you know...Just because I told you, don't think you understand!" Exodus barked angrily; Simon just replied "No, I won't....I won't ever understand what she did to you. What you had to endure. But I know this...Your comrades don't want you to do this. Not to yourself. You even said that you hoped I would never become like you. That you understood my pain. Seeing you here, like this, now I understand." And for those moments, Exodus and Simon just stared at each: One with a barely-contained rage, and the other with a look of renewed determination.
 
Being Exodus' friend was exhausting at times. For how nice of a guy he was, how good it had been to have him as a confidant, when Exodus lost it, he really lost it. And it was a drain on her emotions, her intelligence, and her physicality. She made her way to her room feeling weighed down by the world. It was like trudging through mud. Her head felt light and heavy at the same time--was that possible? There was an intense pressure in her skull, but it was making her feel light-headed.

Watching Simon fall apart had been horrible. Watching it happen again to Exodus....it was simply too much. One after another, the people she loved most were being ripped away from her--ripped apart. She was just too tired to try to help them anymore. If she kept trying to save everyone else, she would fall apart too, and that wasn't going to help anybody. Better to start thinking of herself a little more and everyone else a little bit less.

Honestly, though? The idea had her close to tears. She slipped into her room, set her gun down and sighed heavily, just about ready to collapse into bed when she heard a knock. Frowning, the redhead came to the door to find the Spiral Princess standing there.

Surprised, Yoko took a moment to get around the idea that the girl was there. "Nia? Well this is a surprise. Is there something you need?"

Nia nodded. "May I come in, Miss Yoko?" Once inside, the princess took the sniper's hand. "Miss Yoko, I can see that you're very sad. I know that you care about Simon and Mister Exodus. It must be very painful to see them this way...But it seems to me that you're not being true to yourself by leaving things be."

The diminutive girl was correct, and Yoko knew it. She was not the type of person to let those she loved suffer alone. But sometimes, she knew, you simply couldn't help. The realization was what made hr want to cry the most. "I guess you figured me out pretty well, huh? It's very hard to see them this way. But I know in my heart that I can't help either of them. They have to be the ones to realize their own strength, not me."

Nia frowned. "It doesn't seem right, but I'm sure you know what you're talking about."

Yoko chuckled and sat down on her bed. "Trust me on this one, Nia. It's best to let them figure it out."

"I'm not sure I agree with you, but you know them better than I do."

The girl nodded and sat close to Yoko. "Is there anything I can do to help you?"

Was there? Well...maybe. What would it be? "I don't know, Nia. Simply being around someone who isn't falling apart might be a nice start."

Before long, the two were getting along better and Yoko seemed to be doing a little bit better. She was explaining a good amount of the outside world to Nia, playing at teaching. It was kind of fun, and it kept her mind off of what was happening around her. That was a nice touch.
 
As the Spiral Princess and Yoko talked out their troubles and got better acquainted, the situation was still a little tense on the bridge. Simon and Exodus continued their staring deadlock, as if waiting for one another to flinch first. Many had been surprised by the digger's resurgence in will, but were glad he seemed to have pulled himself out of his depression. Though it seemed that the bottled rage and sadness had flowed into the giant and made him this...thing. This unapproachable monster whose only thoughts lay in murder.

Eventually, it was Exodus who broke the silence, "Well?!? You just going to stand there looking stupid or are you going to say something?" Simon just sighed, "Exodus, listen..." but he was interrupted by Kittan "Now hold on a second! Can someone explain to me what the hell is going on here?!" It was at this Exodus snapped and stood up, bellowing "YOU KNOW WHAT TO KNOW!? I'LL TELL YOU! THAT BITCH ADIANE IS THE CAUSE OF EVERYTHING!" He then continued, every syllable laced with inhuman anger as his body trembled, "Now everyone...LISTEN UP! I'm not repeating myself! You want to know the truth? Why I lose my cool the way I do?" He then paused and looked around at everyone, "And don't think I don't hear the whispers! I was made by the Beastmen, turned into one of them! Ripped from my family and experimented on! As were the Supers that help you now! We were created in a lab, to be superior versions of those we face now! Well, they succeeded! They wanted a monster, and now they have one! They have an army of monsters, ready to TEAR THEM LIMB FROM LIMB!" He of course was refering to the Supers, some of whom looked quite perturbed at being called 'monsters'.

Exodus then pointed to himself and explained everything that happened: How they'd escaped, how the other two of his kind were eradicated, and how he swore he'd never rest until Adiane lay bleeding and broken before him. Many of the humans seemed absolutely mortified by the raw bloodlust in his voice, but the Supers just nodded in agreement; though they did wish he wouldn't upset their new comrades so much. It was alright to be mad at their enemies...But this was a blood oath. Like Yoko had said...He would kill Adiane and every one of those damned things that got in his way, even if it cost him his life.

When Exodus finished, nearly all of the humans just stared in absolute shock and horror. They knew those bastards were cruel...But this was different. This was the definition of inhuman. And to think some of their own was created to be some kind of super drone, designed to counter the humans and wipe them off the face of the planet. "There...Now there are no secrets." the half-human snarled angrily as he then pushed his way past the others; at this, Kittan stated "Alright...I think I can safely say you beat most of us in the 'having a crappy life' department. Even still...Calm the fuck down. You'll get your chance again."

Exodus just stopped, his head turning to glare daggers at the eldest Black Sibling, growling "Calm down...You dare tell me to CALM DOWN!?!" Kittan grimaced and shot back, "You're goddamn right I do! You got every reason to be mad. Hell, I'm not even sure mad begins to describe what you feel! But you leave the others out of your sights; they're on YOUR side." Exodus just gave a huff and shot back "For now." before walking off. Naturally, this just left everyone confused. "Hey! What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Kittan yelled out after the giant; it was then Simon who spoke up once more, strength finally being noticeable in his voice "Well...We can't worry about that now. Kittan, can you handle things from here?" Kittan was obviously more than a little surprised at this, but just sighed and said, "Sure, kid. Go try to talk some sense into him before he hurts anyone."

The digger just nodded and let this go; he wasn't going to see Exodus. Not yet. Right now he needed to go check on Yoko...Make sure she was alright. And maybe show her that now he was alright. Well, more alright than usual, but alright nonetheless. And as Kittan started directing people to get their things stowed, Simon the digger touched his pendant in contemplation. He knew Kamina needed him to step up, and now was definitely the right time to do so. And after checking in with Ron to find out that all the systems were back online for the flagship, he made his way down to Yoko's room...And onto a very interesting sight.

It seemed Nia and Yoko were getting along quite well; thinking back, he realized now just how much her comments about Kamina must have upset her. And how they shoud have upset him...But she didn't know him. Not like they did. He stood out of sight around the doorjam, listening to what he caught of the two's conversation. For a moment, he was considering just leaving them be...But the sadness in Yoko's voice made him peek around the corner and knock on the door. "Hey, you two. Hope I'm not intruding." was all he said; honestly, he was glad to see that Yoko found someone she could talk to.
 
Yoko and Nia looked to the door as Simon knocked. Yoko stood, feeling lighter than she had when she entered, and opened the door to find her digger friend looking somewhat together again. She blinked in surprise, not really sure how to take this change. Certainly it was wonderful, but how had it come about? And what was he doing here? Looking for Nia, maybe?

"Well hello, Simon. I haven't seen you in awhile. Looking for your girlfriend?" she asked, teasing him just a little. Nia waved behind her, smiling, and blissfully unaware of the meaning of the term. She was, after all, a girl and Simon's friend. The redhead smiled a little and stood aside. "Come on in. I sure am popular today." When the digger was in, she closed the door behind them and went to sit next to Nia on the bed once more.
 
At the girlfriend comment, Simon blushed rather noticeably and didn't say a word; sure, he thought the young woman was very pretty...But girlfriend? Still, he just laughed nervously and let himself be welcomed into the room. Honestly, though...Seeing Yoko smile again, however temporary it might or might not be, made him glad that he managed to pull himself out of that hole.

"No, it's nothing like that. I...I mostly wanted to come down here and see how you were. I know what happened up there...and what's been happening for a while now...really stressed you out. Heck, thinking back, it stressed me out. But I just wanted to let you know..." The little digger grinned confidently and said with a very determined tone, "That you don't have to worry about me anymore. I know now what he was trying to do...And he succeeded. I'm going to do his memory proud, Yoko. You'll see!"
 
Yoko was taken off guard by Simon's determined declaration. What seemed like seconds ago, he was beating himself up and lashing out at everyone. Suddenly, he was full of confidence. It seemed too good to be true, but it was just so good to see him with a little fire in his eyes again...she'd just have to take what she got. Still, she wasn't really sure what was going on in the diminutive digger's mind. What did he think he understood? And how did he plan on doing Kamina proud?

"Simon..." She watched him for a long moment and hugged him "I hope that's true. I've missed my friend." She smiled and watched as Nia stood and hugged Simon, too.

"I'm so glad you both seem happy now."
 
Simon's redness deepened even more as he felt the sniper's arms wrap around him and pull him close; this was even more pronounced when she stated that she 'missed her friend'. He didn't really know what to say at the moment, so he just hugged her back; to be truthful, he was also glad to have gotten himself out of that hole.

His redness was even more pronounced when Nia joined the hug; it was something he wasn't really expecting. But still the attention was nice. Plus it reinforced the fact that this was the right thing to do. He needed to step up. Take charge. But do it in his own way.

Little did the digger realize that he was going to get quite the opportunity to prove himself.
Back in the Capital, the Spiral King sat in his throne before General Guame. "Guame...How unusual to see you out of the line of duty." Genome commented dryly; the armadillo-esque creature adjusted his pipe and replied, "Yes, well, I'll be heading back out soon enough. Just wanted to meet you in person and tell you Adiane failed. She was driven back. Nearly killed your little poster child." Genome snorted derisively and stated, "I let her go out because I expect her to die. At least she can be useful and die an honorable death. Now have you come to gloat? Or was there something you wanted to tell me that I didn't already know."

Guame just chuckled, "You know me better than that, Genome. No, I have a plan to exterminate those monkeys once and for all. I just hope you don't mind losing the flagship." This comment made the Spiral King smirk, "Those apes desecreated it when they bested Thymilph. Destroy it if you must...Though knowing you, you'll try to recapture it. Now go."

Outside the throne room, Guame stared out from the balcony to the horizon, all the while chewing on his pipe as if in thought. Which he was...Mostly of how he was going to pull this off. Shouldn't be too hard; even with the Supers those apes had under their flag, his forces would easily overwhelm them. And with the bait he had in mind...Victory was assured. And then for no reason at all, he stated "Must be aggravating still being stuck here. Perhaps if you were more competent in battle strategy, you might be allowed to leave."
 
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