2024-06-23: What Does 'Ultimatum' Mean?

• Log: What Does 'Ultimatum' Mean?
• Cast: Mujina, Sizumu, Juuga, Onija, Wing Combine Force, Koyomi Yamanaka
• Where: Team Dynazenon Training Grounds, Outside Nouvelle Tokyo
• OOC - IC Date: U.C. 0099-06-23
• Summary: After twelve thousand years, a reintroduction. After twelve minutes, an ultimatum.

---

<Pose Tracker> Mujina has posed.

        The sun was finally setting on what was, apparently, a day of training for four amateur pilots.

        At least, that's how it looked from afar, from the tree line overlooking the river where the team with the red, Kaiju-like machine had been training.

        he four figures sitting among the trees had been watching for some time now. Well... Some of them had. One of them was currently leaning against a tree, not particularly engaged with what was happening down below. She'd watched for a bit, sure, but...

        There was only so long someone struggling to control something could hold her interest, really? Still, she glances down from time to time, with a bored expression on her face, blue eyes not really paying attention to anything.

        Still, there's a movement below that seems to get her notice, for a second. "...It looks like they're finishing up." She says, her tone flat.

        She casts a gaze to the smallest of her comrades, as if waiting for guidance on what happens next.

<Pose Tracker> Sizumu has posed.

SUNSET

There's someone sitting on the opposite side of that tree, where its shadow casts a long dividing line across the landscape. His hat tipped down, one leg sprawled out and the other bent at the knee to his chest, he might look for all the world to be resting. But he's not.

He's just waiting.

Red eyes with shimmery purple pupils watch the way the dying sunlight glints like jewels along the river surface. But the only indication that he is awake and aware is the way his head tips fractionally as his tree-bound companion turns her gaze towards him, gold braid spilling over his shoulder.

"Then you should introduce yourselves," he suggests, innocuous and calm. "Shouldn't you?"

Five feet in front of them, two taller silhouettes stand next to each other, one of them gesticulating wildly.

"He pisses me off! I'm gonna go yell at him!"

"It'd really be better if we take a calmer approach. I should make the introductions--"

"What? Hell no! What?! You'll just screw it up with your--"

The more aggressive man flaps his fingers and thumb up and down in a yapyapyap gesture. The two stare each other down for six seconds.

"... The usual way?"

"Fine. Rock--"

"--PAPER--"

"Scissors--!"

""SHOOT!""

A breeze blows dramatically across the grass.




"Oh no--"

                                -+-

So anyway that's why the first thing the freshly-formed Dynazenon Team hear interrupting their training session is a very loud, very belligerent,

"OI! DUMBASS! OI!!"

They need only look up to see them -- four silhouettes in white and gold; the one in front, a man white wild scarlet in a side-cut hair and pointed pink-red eyes steps forward, proudly jabbing a middle finger in greeting as if to make sure there's no doubt who just greeted them.

The other standing beside him, a tall bespectacled young man with black hair and glasses and a considerably gentler demeanor, just sighs. Yellow eyes crack open. And he offers a small, warm sort of smile as he looks down, his attention focused on one person alone:

"... I never thought we'd meet again like this, Gauma."

Towards the back, a young man with tan skin and a hat tipped at a jaunty angle just lingers in silence, red eyes cast off somewhere distant.

<Pose Tracker> Wing Combine Force has posed.

        The training regimen had started with the usual regimen of Yomogi Asanaka learning how to make Dynasoldier move "like a person". Standing. Balancing. Toppling, and getting back up, over and over, to the tune of Gauma's insistent coaching.

        ...After the first hour of it, Gauma's words started to feel the same as the noisy chirping of cicadas and crickets and the rushing of the water. Blending into nature itself. All the while...

        ...Could you blame Yomogi for feeling unfocused on what the meaning of all this business with Dynazenon could be? For spending time on this, when the question gnawing at him wasn't something this could even solve?

        Dyna Soldier topples onto its back again. The wince of pain has at least become duller, the more Yomogi learns to brace himself. Gazing skyward, he watches the trails left in Dynawing's wake, and just wonders to himself...

                ((...Could any of this ever help me find out what happened to her sister...?))

        ...By compare, up here in the skies, Gauma's commands are the only noise Yume Minami can hear - and they come infrequently. Aren't they rather simple? Gain height, and do an outside loop. Of course, she thought - and her hands found the controls that'd raise up her altitude. It's not like she had any piloting experience - it's not like she'd ever had an interest in flying up to this point. ...But it's here in her hands. It's something only she can do, it seems. And isn't that...

        ...Isn't something like that a blessing not everyone has...?

        The negative g-forces as Dynawing pulls into an inverted dive lift Yume up bit by bit, even with the machine's mysterious harnesses. It feels like she's floating. Here, in the most perilous part of the maneuver, where a normal person would feel their blood pumping - Yume can't help but feel a little serene. Closing her eyes and taking in the lift. At the absolute lowest point of the loop, her eyes open sharply, and she takes in the sight of Yomogi's Dynasoldier flopped over in the riverbed. Between Yomogi and Koyomi, Yume can't help but wonder to herself...

                ((...Am I the weird one for being motivated to give this my all...?))

        ...Maybe that's unfair to Koyomi, who seems a little more befuddled by all this. Maybe that's even unfair to Yomogi, who has to have the most complicated machine of the four to try mastering.

        ...But as Yume makes her landing on the "runway", she pulls herself from the control area, taking a slightly curled up seat on the nose of Dynawing, glancing between the other three - and for now, at Gauma a moment.

        "I wonder what those three really think about this kind of responsibility..." she says, too far away for anyone to hear.

        ...And then, of course - her attention is drawn to the opposite side of the river, at the four distant watching figures. One of them is loud. Yume's eyes narrow, wondering just what exactly someone that aggressive is getting mixed up with.

        Another of them is quieter - and Yomogi is the one close enough to hear that he addresses Gauma specifically. Blinking once, sitting atop Dynasoldier's "nose", Yomogi just asks Gauma, "...Are these the ones you mentioned before...?" He can't help but turn just as much notice to the two similarly-dressed ones who haven't stepped forward yet - who almost seem like they don't want to get involved...

<Pose Tracker> Koyomi Yamanaka has posed.

Standing on top of the bridge at the...practice grounds? Sure? that the Dynazenon Team use, Gauma of the lost days is barking instructions into a megaphone. Down to his side, Chise Asukagawa has parked her elbows on the railing, looking up at the spinning curl of Dynawing's flight. She releases a low whistle. "Yume's really into it, huh...."

"Yeah," Gauma says, while Yume comes in for a landing. "Maybe it'll be time to try the more advanced commands soon..."

Dynastriker takes a sharp bend in the riverbed to come into view, kicking up plumes of dust as it charges straight the hell at the bridge. It pulls up short quickly, wheels squeeling in protest.

Chise and Gauma blink boredly. Koyomi leans out the front 'window'. "...good brakes," he says, limply. Chise's winding up to scamper down and give him a few thumps on the back, when shouting starts.

"Whoa!? Yes!? Hi!? Hello!?" Chise yelps, nearly jumping out of her boots. She shrinks down to the side, inching toward Koyomi. Gauma, though...

Gauma freezes for a moment, then whirls, clutching Dynadiver's control box in one arm. "Onija..." he says, first, and then his eyes to the others, each in turn. "I knew it had to be you...you'd show yourselves sooner or later."

He's braced like he expects Onija to lay into him straight away. "Yeah," he answers Yomogi. "They're the Kaiju Eugenecists. Kaiju-users. Like me."

<Pose Tracker> Mujina has posed.

        It's just a suggestion, but...

        The woman stands after the suggestion is given, her disinterested expression not changing despite her prompt response. her comrades fall into the same routine they always do. She only watches as to know the outcome- to know whose lead she's following.

        And when the yell comes out, a woman with medium length pink-brown hair stands a bit back from the two up front, but further forward than the young man in the distance, looking down at the pilots.

        er eyes linger on Gauma for a moment, before taking in the rest.

        It's hard to tell what she's thinking, looking down at them, and she doesn't seem interested in offering her thoughts. The other two are doing the talking. That's fine.

        She'll introduce herself when the time comes. She can leave the rest to the talkers.

<Pose Tracker> Sizumu has posed.

The young man lingers towards the back, content to stay in silence. One might forget he's even there, for all he seems like he's in his own little world.

Yet whenever that purple-pupil'd stare falls on any of them, it's like he's looking right through them.

He's an element of the background. In the foreground? The man Gauma identifies as Onija just sort of STOMPS forward to obliviously (rudely) block out the two behind him. There's an overwhelming impression that being rude just kind of comes to him like breathing, especially as he makes a foul face at Gauma's words.

"Go to hell! You didn't know! We totally surprised you, asshole! I saw it!"

And here, he shoves his right fist up and slaps the bicep of his arm with his left hand in the classic forearm jerk.

Maybe he just really wants everyone to know that yes, he knows every obscene gesture--?!

"-I- knew your -FACE- would piss me off sooner or later!" Onija snaps a look back towards the other three, pointing emphatically at Gauma as he does.

"C'mon! Let's just kill him and get it over with already!" He looks at the woman, his expression -expectant-.

"You're with me, righ""There's no reason we have to fight right now."

Onija makes a face as the bespectacled young man cuts him off; for as calm and warm as he is, he still manages to talk over his redheaded comrade like it was nothing, which seems to just make Onija -madder-.

"Oi! I won, I get to decide--"

But the bespectacled man doesn't even so much as pay attention to Onija, just taking a step forward -past- him.

"We're Kaiju -Eugenicists- like you," he says, calmly. "It's rude not to introduce us to your new friends, you know."

He looks past Gauma, towards the others. His gaze lingers on Yume, and then Yomogi, before offering a smile that closes those yellow eyes briefly shut.

"I'm Juuga," he offers.

He gestures behind him where Onija is currently complaining at the woman lingering in the back. ("Hey. Hey! Hey!! Mujina! Get my back here! Mujina!! Come on! I won, you saw--")

"This is Onija, Mujina..."

And then, he gestures towards the hatted young man lingering in their shadows. He looks up, gaze lingering on Yume.

He looks away towards the sky shortly thereafter.

"... and Sizumu."

Juuga looks back, his smile persisting.

"We're Gauma's comrades-in-arms."

Onija's features contort visibly.

<Pose Tracker> Wing Combine Force has posed.

        It's a little tricky for Yomogi to get Dynasoldier moving when he's standing on top of it like this - really, he's hesitant to do anything of the sort, given how easy it'd be to slip off - but he at least raises the upper body enough to let him actually see what's happening a little easier.

        "The Kaiju Eugenicists..." Yomogi repeats. "...So you're saying they're the ones who-"

%"So you're the ones who are responsible for the recent kaiju uptick?" Yume says, a little more boldly and directly. She doesn't actually move from her seat - her expression doesn't change much - and yet, all four of the Kaiju Eugenicists are met with that piercing green stare. She makes sure they see it, whenever they turn to look at her. Juuga, especially, gets the full staring contest.

        "Are you going to explain why you're doing this? What you even mean by calling yourself a "Kaiju Eugenicist", and why it's not what Gauma's after?" Winding a lock of hair through her fingers, Yume's digits curl into what isn't quite a fist. She won't move from Dynawing's nose, even if it's impractically far away from the Eugenicists - even though she has to raise her voice a little more than she'd like, and still might not be in earshot of Sizumu and Mujina.

        Yomogi, on the other hand, has eased Dynasoldier close enough to hop off its nose, standing in relatively comfortable proximity to Gauma and Chise. There's a momentary look of concern at the latter, given she doesn't have a machine of her own - it's up to the four of them to protect her, so to speak.

        No matter how much closer Yomogi steps, Sizumu feels like he's the exact same distance away as when he started, and there's an apprehension in his eyes. At Mujina, on the other hand, having Onija up in her face - there's sympathy instead. He almost wants to tell her, "Good luck there," but he stops just short of saying it. (He doesn't really want to be dealing with Onija himself.)

        Instead, he too confronts Juuga, simply asking, "It doesn't sound like you're comrades in arms to me. ...Did you have a fight with him?"

        Yomogi then gives Yume a knowing look - who breaks her scanning-like observation of the Eugenicists to lock eyes with him in turn. They say one of those things nonverbally that probably doesn't translate too clearly to a thought - they understand some little something, and Yomogi just nods, knowing Yume's not troubled over this.

        ...so now, not wanting to look directly at the bickering duo at the back, and feeling like Juuga's covered by the others, Yomogi can't help but stare at the faraway Sizumu. It's not the sort of analytical stare of body language and direction Yume seems to have...it's just...where he feels like he needs to look. That's the least understandable Eugenicist, so that's who Yomogi tries to get a better read on. And...failing to.

<Pose Tracker> Koyomi Yamanaka has posed.

Chise nearly crumbles when she receives that look from the rear. Is this...the enemy....

She finally does crack and scamper away, skittering behind Yomogi as the high schooler appears. "Yomo..." she says, with anxious worry, her fire-red hair and bright blue eyes peeking out from behind his back.

Koyomi remains sat on the Dynastriker's hood, eyes peering out from behind his bangs. He can't quite bring himself to repeat their names for himself. He doesn't want that attention, or that...connection.

Though, he does involuntarily flinch when Juuga placidly states that Gauma was once their comrade-in-arms, eyes flashing from Juuga to Gauma. What about that phrase bothers him goes unspoken.

Gauma doesn't have the sneering anger of Onija, despite the firebrand demeanor that brought him together with Yomogi and Yume. He does straighten up and dare to match Onija's glower, though, shoulders square and jaw set. And he does shout when he answers. "Sure, come give me a shot! Bring it on, you're welcome to give me everything you've got!"

...Juuga stops this from proceeding as it's incredibly obviously going to.

Maybe it's the fact that he's the other adult here that prompts Gauma to look at Koyomi first, even though the Real Alive Adult looks even more like he wants to melt into the floor than Yomogi or Chise does. "K, Koyomi," he answers for himself. Unconsciously his gaze flicks to Mujina before burying his gaze 12,000 meters into the ground.

Chise...hides fully behind Yomogi rather than introduce herself.

As for Yomogi's question...

....Gauma grits his teeth rather than answer it.

<Pose Tracker> Mujina has posed.

        Onija stares at her and he gets the wonderful, enthusiastic response of "Huh?" Mujina stares back at the angry man, with a completely blank expression. Fortunately, Juuga cuts him off. Unfortunately, it doesn't stop Onija from continuing to yell at her.

        Mujina winces, and looks away, a light frown "That's between you and Juuga, isn't it?" Her voice is quiet and unemotional, compared to Onija's yelling. "I didn't play for it."

        She hear Juuga mention her name, and Mujina just assumes that saves her the effort of introductions. She steps slightly past Onija, but not ahead of Juuga. She can see those green eyes turning to her, but staring elsewhere. That's fine. Being center of attention isn't her role either.

        What is her role, exactly?

        It's the man whose eyes track to her for just a moment, before burrowing into the ground that gets Mujina staring at him for a moment. That's not the reaction an enemy should have, surely? ...Weird.

        And for that moment, weird is fascinating, before her attention drifts back towards those who are causing a scene.

        "...looks like Juuga won." She mutters, given that Onija's whole murder plan has been defanged by Juuga's social aptitude.

        She isn't sure where Juuga is going with this, and casts a momentary glance toward Sizumu, before scooting backwards to let him talk.

        "...Hey," she whispers, leaning over to Sizumu. "We can leave after this, right?"

<Pose Tracker> Sizumu has posed.

That's between you and Juuga, isn't it? I didn't play for it.

"Pfeh! What kinda team player are you?! O-oi! Where are you going! Mujina!!"

This is the fruit of Onija's futile efforts to bully Mujina onto his side. He's still just kind of trailing after her going "Mujina! Mujina!! Mujinamujinamujinamujina oi oi oi" before Juuga's introductions, fortunately, distract him; the redheaded Eugenicist snaps a glare at Gauma's new teammates, those small irises ablaze like he could just burn holes through -all of them- if he just -looked at them mad enough-. He stares at Chise hiding behind Yomogi. Then Koyomi, stuttering out a greeting. His expression curdles.

"Tch! Lame," is his assessment of them all. He helpfully underscores all this by spitting and looking to the side.

Juuga, having somehow seized the means of conversation through sheer personable persistence, takes the forefront during the introductions (Onija largely just glowers during this time, face overshadowed and thunderbolts crackling behind him as he mutters obscenities in Gauma's general direction).

For his part, Sizumu just... watches. Them. The environment. Anything. That detachment persists, right up until the moment he feels eyes on him. That red-eyed stare turns.

And for all that Yomogi fails to get a read on Sizumu, that single, nonchalant glance his way makes it feel like Sizumu has already sized -Yomogi- up entirely. That unflappable stare holds for one whole second.




And then Sizumu just sort of lifts his hand and waves. His expression doesn't shift a single inch.




Juuga, at least, seems to take everything well in stride. He even offers a polite greeting of, "Good to meet you," when Koyomi actually manages to introduce himself. Are evil kaiju users supposed to be polite--??

His expression only falters when Yomogi asks that question: Did they have a fight with him?

It fades, towards something bittersweet. He's silent for a moment. And then:

"We did," he says. "It's complicated."

("The hell it is!")

"But it's nothing we can't come back from."
("The hell we can!")

"You asked why we're doing this, miss," Juuga continues, looking Yume's way. "It's because this is the way the world ought to be. People used to need kaiju; they still need them. Kaiju deserve to steer the world. It's what we all believe."

("i just wanna kill as many of you bastards as i can!! i'm gonna kill you gauma--")

"... And it was what Gauma believed, too."

Juuga looks back Gauma's way. The wind rustles that black, feathered hair.

"You can join us again, you know. Just like old times."

The moment hangs for three poignant seconds before--

"Fuck that!"

Onija finally shoulders his way past the background, shoving past Juuga to jab one ring-cluttered finger Gauma's way.

"That bastard turned on us! No moron would take a traitor like him back!! Just you watch, Gauma! I'm gonna kill you and your dumb noodle arms!"

Juuga, bewildered, just mouths '... Dumb noodle arms?'

MEANWHILE, IN THE BACKGROUND

Mujina leans over to Sizumu. Sizumu tilts fractionally her way. He considers the scenario playing out with detached curiosity.

His answer is the apathetic shrug of his shoulders.

"Probably?"

<Pose Tracker> Wing Combine Force has posed.

        It's one thing to decide, "it's the right thing to give these people a hand".

        It's another thing when one of them starts actively hiding behind you. Yomogi feels the muscles in his back stiffen, a faintly choked little "Ah-" escaping him when Chise guards from the possibly-hostile Eugenicists right behind him. At this moment, he's her shield-

        In a way that he wonders, (Is that really what someone like me is for...?)

        He doesn't move away, but at the same time, doesn't make some heroic, protective gesture by sweeping his arm out or anything. Instead, looking back over his shoulder, Yomogi assures Chise, "I don't think they're dangerous right now, don't worry. Besides. We have Dynazenon, and they don't have a kaiju."

        ...That prompts Yomogi to ask, "You all don't have a kaiju right now, do you? It doesn't...feel...like..."

        Yomogi falls silent. Eyes locked with Sizumu. A faint vibration of nerves rippling across his lower back.

        "Ugh, I'm gonna be sick," Yume asides, a hand rising to her mouth the longer Juuga's clear explanation is contrasted with Onija's rambling. "Needing kaiju? For what? All I've seen them do is run around making a mess...putting people in danger."

        "Gauma - you don't think the same thing...do you? Otherwise, you wouldn't need us. I just get a bad feeling about all of them. Even the quiet ones back there." Yume's heel drags across the front taper of Dynawing's fuselage. Compared to when it's part of Dynazenon, the airplane seems a little light and insubstantial. Like all of the four machines, it was clearly meant to be a part of a whole. Is that the difference between what they're doing, and the kaiju...?

        Her foot curls inward, as though to hold onto Dynawing. It wasn't like this was completely meaningless and defenseless on its own, though. It could fly. It could shoot. And it compels Yume to say, "Don't underestimate us just because we work together," to Juuga and Onija alike. The latter, especially, makes her usually low-affect expression sour just a few percentage points. "Isn't that right, Yomo...gi...?" Only now, does Yume realize that Yomogi's been staring off into space - no, to someone who may as well be space...

        To Yomogi, the arguments Juuga and Onija lay out feel like they're a million miles away indeed. After all, the way Sizumu's staring...is someone even allowed to look there? Is someone even allowed to see something like that? ...what is Sizumu even seeing?

        His arm can't raise up to defend Chise. But what it can do is cover his own heart. As if that's where what he needs to protect. That simple wave feels like it could reach into it, if Sizumu so desired...but the bondless connection is terminated once Sizumu turns to Mujina instead. And so, he finally registers that Yume's calling out to him.

        ...What were they all talking about?

        "Ah. Yume. ...Sorry, I was just...making sure none of them were about to cause any real trouble." It's an excuse, and they both know it, but once more, words escape what Yomogi really meant. "...You all aren't here to actually cause trouble, are you?" Yomogi asides, over at Sizumu and Mujina. "...I mean, despite what...he's saying. If you do, it's probably a bad idea...?" Trying to convey this without being too threatening, Yomogi fiddles with his control box, and raises Dynasoldier's right arm up- its claws gleaming in the sunset light.

<Pose Tracker> Koyomi Yamanaka has posed.

For a little girl? Everyone's bigger and stronger. Still, she peers back out once Yomogi points out things aren't as bad as Onija's acting like. "Yeah...?" she says, slowly.

Gauma grunts. "Kaiju are part of this world, sure," he says to Yume, acknowledging some of what Juuga said. "But running the joint?"

He rounds again on Juuga and Onija. "I'm not interested." His eyes are clear, piercing green despite the thick bags under them.

Koyomi's head tilts up, finding Gauma's bold posture on the bridge. Turning them down...

"So bring it any day, any time," Gauma adds, writing checks for the whole group to cash. "Dynazenon'll be there."

<Pose Tracker> Mujina has posed.

        "What!?" Mujina asks, as if expecting Onija to come up with an argument beyond calling her name. Like. Literally anything.

        Mujina's facial expression is unreadable as Juuga says it's what they all believe. She doesn't meet anyone else's gaze after it's said though.

        It's when a question is directed at her when she looks up. Are they not here to cause any trouble? ...Why were they here. Introductions, right?

        Well. They're introduced now, aren't they?

        Unfortunately, Gauma and Onija have picked up the fight again.

        "...Hey, we've done what we came for, right?" She says, more at Juuga than Onija.

        Apart from the killing Gauma bit, but that just seems to be Onija's thing.

<Pose Tracker> Sizumu has posed.

All I've seen them do is run around making a mess...putting people in danger.

"They're just responding to the world."

It's the first thing the golden-haired boy in the back says directly aside from his brief asides with Mujina. And for however lackadaisical his tone is, his voice still has a strange way of immediately cutting through the conversation. Juuga stops trying to push his sales pitch over Onija's tirade; even Onija halts his ranting, looking aside and muttering an irritable "tch!"

And yet, for as much as that single statement cuts through the entirety of the conversation, it's -all- Sizumu says. There's no further explanation; no clarification. He just calmly turns his gaze back to the waters, watching how the river makes choppy, red-gold reflections of the Dyna-components.

Silence lingers on the parts of Juuga - and, most shocking of all, Onija - for three whole seconds before both of their attentions turn back towards the island of misfit Dynazenon pilots.

"Hey! Listen here you little shit!"

Onija just does so in a particularly blatant way.

This one's PROBABLY for Yomogi, indicated by the way Onija chin flicks in the poor kid's general direction.

"If I wanna fight, I'm gonna fight! I'll kill you next for mouthing off!"

"He's got a point."

"What? Shut up! What kinda point does this twerp have?!"

The summer breeze brushes westward.

It helpfully underscores the GIANT ROBOTS laying in that direction.

Onija stares at them in stark silence for a long time. Maybe he's digesting them. And their weapons. And the teeth.




"Oh. ... Yeah. ... Whatever."

Juuga just sighs.

"We're not here to fight," he insists, despite all redheaded evidence to the contrary. "And I don't think your current comrades want to fight either, Gauma."

There's something about the way he says 'current'; like it's a transitional thing. A moment in time.

A phase.

"And I'm not accepting your answer right now."

Juuga looks back towards Sizumu here, as if seeking some sort of confirmation. The gold-haired boy just offers a single nod.

It seems to be enough; with a smile, Juuga looks back, holding up a single index finger.

"One week. You can give me your answer in one week. Nouvelle Tokyo. You'll know how to find us."

Which may be an ominous thing to say, but fortunately, Mujina's put upon question manages to undercut the tension.

It's Sizumu who is the first to respond, tugging the brim of his hat over those strange eyes of his and turning his back.

"We can go."

And with that, he just starts -- walking off, just like that.

"... Right. We've done what we needed to do. Come on, Mujina."

Juuga lingers a moment, watching Yomogi, Yume, Chise and Koyomi. Watching -Gauma-. He offers another friendly smile.

"That's how it is. Think it over; all of you. ... Things are different this time, Gauma. We can change the world. Together."

And with that, Juuga turns to start walking away too, though not before promising politely: "See you guys again, soon."



Onija is still standing there, hands shoved in his pockets, glowering. He's not even remotely paying attention to the fact the others are leaving. He practically radiates a certain sensation. You know the one.

menacing
                                menacing
                                        menacing
        menacing
                menacing
                                                        menacing

it's by about the seventh menacing that he realizes the others are leaving without him and startle-stumbles a one-eighty after them.

"Hey! Wait for me! Dammit, stop walking off without me all the damn time! I'll kill you later, traitor--"

<Pose Tracker> Wing Combine Force has posed.

        Chin settled deep in one of her palms, fingers covering half of her face, Yume's faint leeriness has run out its course and turned into a tiredness. "You really came here just to taunt us...?"

        Why would they do that, unless this was all some kind of game? What advantage do they really get towards their goals? Couldn't they have just kept activating kaiju from afar until they did...whatever they wanted to do?

        It doesn't make any sense, outside of whatever their genuine faith in kaiju is, which also doesn't make sense...until Sizumu says it himself.

        "...Responding to the world...? ...Mmn. I think I get what you mean there. 'It can't be helped, as long as things are like this, they'll just keep coming'...something like that?"

        The breeze covers Yume's face in her own hair, and her apprehensive body language finally loosens. "Well, it sounds like you've said your piece. If that's all, then...goodbye." Yume pauses, and adds, looking down to the rest of the team, "I'm taking Dynawing home. ...mm, if any of you need a lift, speak now or forever hold your peace." ...She's holding up two fingers in a peace sign, while she says that. Mostly glancing Koyomi and Chise's way - Gauma's probably the type to grumble and do...whatever he does at night, and Yomogi...well...

        "Ah. I'll see you...tomorrow, Yume," Yomogi replies, just as Yume knew he would.

        "Don't wander anywhere shady this time of day, Yomogi."

        "Eh? ...I'm just going to go straight home. I wanted to walk, that's all. ...I don't even know what shady places I would find...?"

        "Is that so...?" Yume trails off.

        "Do you?" Yomogi asks, plain as can be.

        "Some," Yume says, "Nowhere I feel like going that often, though."

        "...I see." ...He honestly thought that would actually get under her skin just a little...

        Passengers or no passengers, Minami Airlines sets off with a noisy volume of exhaust, leaving Yomogi feeling a little...un-defended himself, despite Dynasoldier still being out and open. How can he feel like this giant machine he can't quite control, or even fully understand, is really a defense against such a hostile, aggressive man as Onija?

        His eyes are wide - he doesn't say much - but Yomogi really was just threatened with murder, wasn't he? The idea of it spreads like ice across his veins.

        He waits. He waits until they're all out of earshot, before suggesting to the others, "...We...shouldn't go home alone after that. Let's...go together until we have to split up, okay?"

        There's a faint tightness in Yomogi's voice. If you listen carefully, his breathing is faintly uneven.

<Pose Tracker> Koyomi Yamanaka has posed.

Chise has put herself in harm's way!! And...maybe made Yomogi also put himself in harm's way by doing so...? She keeps eyes mostly with Juuga, who is less scary than Onija. A young girl like Chise knows to recognize the danger of people like Onija, but Juuga doesn't scare her the same way. Of course, that is its own kind of peril...

Koyomi listens with eyes downcast. Traitor. The word reverberates in his head. Onija's theatrics about murder sound pretty serious, but there's something underlying them that bothers him, too. A truth Koyomi recognizes in his gut, if not his mind. He doesn't notice how tightly he's gripping the control unit for Dynastriker until his knuckles start to hurt.

Gauma recognizes it all, though, and keeps his staredown locked on Onija the whole time. He doesn't bend even under the tidal force of malice that nearly seethes off of Onija in clouds. "A week. Yeah. We'll be there," he says, and scoffs. He does wait though, back and tensions high, until the Kaiju Eugenecists are well and truly gone, before he turns to the rest of his team. "You heard 'em. A week. Brace yourselves. Next time, they won't be unarmed."

He looks up to Dynarex, and then as Yomogi takes it boards Dynawing. "...Yeah. Careful out there. I don't think they'll try anything, but that Onija's a real firebrand. Stick together tonight. I'll be in the usual spot."

So saying, Gauma returns Dynadiver to himself, shoves the toy into his pocket, and then stalks off, alone. The team he might have left with is already gone.

Chise sidles over to Koyomi, and though she tries to be casual as ever, it's unmistakable the way she hovers near his leg. "...no buddy system for him?" she asks, a shred of her usual teasing sarcasm.

Koyomi takes a long few seconds to answer, levering himself up to stand. "...no. Probably not," Koyomi says, quietly. "C'mon. Let's go back, too."

<Pose Tracker> Mujina has posed.

        Mujina starts moving as soon as Sizumu says they can go, not waiting for Juuga to finish speaking, not waiting to hear what the other side are saying.

        One week, in Nouvelle Tokyo...

        "Hey, is there anything to do there?"

        After all, they're going to have to kill a week now.