2023-12-10: Purgatory ~ABYSS~
- Log: Purgatory ~ABYSS~
- Cast: Takeshi Todo, Yuka Ohta, Gai Kurenai, Rikka Takarada, Akane Shinjo, Kaworu Nagisa, Mari Makinami Illustrious
- Where: Jupiter
- OOC - IC Date: December 10th U.C. 0097
- Summary: While many of the heroes are busy fighting the reborn Zonuda, there is another threat that must be addressed. A hero wears his heart as a suit of armor, his trauma a shield writ with scars. His agony empowers him, the power of Cosmic Law drives him. This is Takeshi Todo's-- Conqueror King Gridman Sigma's-- final stand. In his desperation to achieve his goals, he may make a mistake he can never take back... Unless he is brought back from the precipice.
KTS: Kaworu Nagisa has deployed in Evangelion Unit Beta. KTS: Will Barrier activated! (But will not apply until relevant Morale threshold.) KTS: Akane Shinjo has deployed in Kakuseijin V2. KTS: Gai Kurenai has deployed in Ultraman Orb Origin. KTS: Rikka Takarada is now subpiloting for Akane Shinjo. KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious has deployed in Evangelion Unit-04. KTS: Will Barrier activated! (But will not apply until relevant Morale threshold.) <Pose Tracker> Takeshi Todo has posed.
The Silverion Crusher has fallen and with it, Conqueror King Ruin King J-Der. Kosuke Entouji, Liger Shishioh, Koutarou Taiga, Soldato J-002 and Tomoro-0117 have been recovered and purified. The division ships that make up the Crusher have been destroyed, the zero cores of the crew retrieved. The path to the Compressed Jupiter and the King of Ruin should be clear.
But not everyone is accounted for. Two most important operatives remain missing from the purified Zero Cores, as the wreckage of the Crusher drifts through space.
In the vacuum of space, a woman floats. She looks out at the wreckage. A diamond of light glows on forehead, as she reaches out to her last ally.
>>Todo-kun. We're the last one's left. We have to hold out until it's finished. I'm going to do the last thing I can.<<
Mikoto focuses the power of the Oath Over Omega into herself, and her body shifts. Her skin hardens, as she bypasses the regular transformation into a Zero Core. Her body remembers, after all these years. It remembers what Pasdar did to her, the day he crashed to Earth and killed her parents. It remembers the form she was made to take. The Primeval's last gambit.
It's all too easy to become it again. It's terrifying, the way it doesn't hurt. The way it feels familiar. But it's for the mission. It's for the sake of Cosmic Law.
Wordlessly, she drifts toward the wreckage.
It's then the sensors aboard the Mizuha go off- and Swan White at the operations desk calls out. "We're getting two HIGH POWER Z0 similar particle readings!" She yells, to the Chief on the Bridge, Shigeru Akamatsu.
"Two? Where the hell are they!?" He yells. The pilots have had no time to rest- and not everyone's reported back in. But they can't afford to stop now. "Everyone get ready to sortie!"
<Pose Tracker> Takeshi Todo has posed.
Amidst the wreckage, a man sits hunched over a computer screen, his face lit by the dull glow of too many monitors. Backup power is all he needs for what must be done. Pushed into a situation where the only solution is a last, desperate defense... It's not a feeling he likes. Even the certainty of Cosmic Law can do little to push back the anxiety in his heart.
But, anxiety is an old friend to Takeshi Todo. He can work through it-- especially now, when he's moments from finishing. A few keystrokes more...
A voice resounds in his mind. One that belongs to his last ally capable of conversing. Takeshi glances up from his work and sighs as the words ring in his brain.
>>Todo-kun. We're the last one's left. We have to hold out until it's finished. I'm going to do the last thing I can.<<
"I know," he answers in spoken word; it's not as if he can use the Limpid Channel like a semi-evoluder can. For all of Triple Zero's blessings, he is still fundamentally an ordinary human. "It's surprising that they had a solution even for the Silverion Crusher... Though I suppose it's hard to expect anything less from GGG. But... they won't be able to so easily counteract something they've never seen before. That..."
The image glints in his glasses as his pinky strikes the enter key one last time. A baleful, digital star flashes across the screen and then winks away to be processed. Takeshi Todo pushes up from his console, his own body beginning to blaze with the light of dawn. "...I am certain of. Now. Come along, everyone. It's time for us to end the world."
He vanishes into the largest computer screen. But one after another, the others flash images of grotesque monsters-- kaiju-- before winking off as well.
<Pose Tracker> Takeshi Todo has posed.
"The other one..." Someone wearing Takeshi Todo's face-- Gridman Sigma-- murmurs quietly at his terminal. He's been a quiet supporting force on Mizuha's bridge for the whole of this journey, but now, with the end drawing near, he's been abuzz with a nervous energy that only now seems to have come to a crescendo. "...The other, we have confirmation of as well," Sigma says, bringing the image up on screen. It is, of course, Conqueror King Gridman Sigma, blazing with the dread light of creation and destruction, translating in from a yawning digital portal as if moving from two-dimensional to three dimensional space. "But... Something's wrong. That's--"
More gateways appear, five more in total. From each one emerges a kaiju, ones which have not existed for decades by now. Sigma's face goes pale as each of the kaiju dissolves into a haze of quantized light, swirling towards their creator in a chaotic, multicolored replica of Gaogaigar's own electromagnetic tornado.
"Takeshi," Sigma breathes, "He's fusing with his Kaiju. Takeshi... What did you do...?" He pushes up from his seat and vanishes into the computer systems in a flash of light. He'll be better able to support them all from inside.
In moments, something terrible emerges from the coccoon of digital chaos. No, rather, the coccoon condenses, forming a shell around the form of the Gridman within. Most are familiar with Powered Gridman, how the Electric Superhuman is able to don an armor of like-minded souls to achieve greater power, but this...
Its right arm blazes with flame. Its left exudes a freezing mist.
Its wings are razor sharp. Its legs seem to blur and flicker as they form.
Its chest is guarded by a monstrous, leering skull. Its head is encased in a rictus deathmask with eyes like volcanos of cosmogonic light.
With a roar, the last of its static coccoon disappears, shattered to the four corners. Gone is the meager form of Gridman Sigma, now there is none other than...
~~CONQUEROR KING - ZERO EMPEROR GRIDMAN SIGMA~~
"Welcome, guardians of life," Takeshi Todo's voice reverberates, backed by a quintet of rattling whispers. "I regret to inform you that the only place your cosmic train is taking you... Is on a one-way ticket to oblivion."
...On each of the team members' computer screens and cockpit HUDs, a window pops open. The other Takeshi Todo, the true Gridman Sigma, speaks: "...We need to pry that armor off of him if we want to stand a chance of purifying Takeshi. But... Those monsters are symbols of his isolation, his desire to destroy the world that rejects him. Those feelings, amplified by Triple Zero, will have produced much more potent power than they once did. Be careful, everyone."
KTS: Yuka Ohta is now subpiloting for Gai Kurenai. KTS: Takeshi_Todo has deployed as a Boss for 6 opponents.
<Pose Tracker> Yuka Ohta has posed.
3G has a number of talented individuals in every field, most with their own eccentricities. Between that and the far more lax structure, at least when compared to a so-called 'proper' military, it's an environment Yuka thrives in. You'd be forgiven for being unaware, of course. She's still not incredibly active on the social scale, outside of movie nights and the like. She's had a lot of productive time on her hands lately, sparking with inspiration and writing new code. Updating her support drones, both in terms of hardware and software, to a new custom set... If pressed on why, the main reason has to be just that she wants something her higher ups won't be able to interfere with. And sure, a talented individual could probably get into it, but in her expert opinion, the people back home at NERV don't have anyone that's comparable with her. As for the hardware side, she also wanted to give them a more pleasing form, instead of the uncomfortably utilitarian design they had before. And so, now each drone has been remade, each one made to look like a mechanical kaiju of some variety. Though... something with the appearance of a miniature Gillvalis probably isn't the most comforting sight for most people to observe flying around their peripheral vision or mech sensors. Oh well, that's the one assigned for remote injection of malicious code anyway.
So it goes that she's doing her part to support everyone now, when Sigma, at a nearby console, speaks up and dematerializes himself. The other... Takeshi Todo. If she's feeling particularly honest, Yuka's wanted to meet him for a while. Though ideally it would have been under less dire circumstances, we can't always pick how these things unfold. Still... she can't help but think how it's a good thing she's been doing those overhauls. "I'll see what I can do about pinpointing some weak spots and getting our combat team the openings to handle this."
She doesn't give voice to it, but... under different circumstances, the idea of bonding with one's kaiju partners would be quite appealing. Having a connection and trust deep enough to facilitate it, that's something she can get, given her own relationship to kaiju. An arm curls around the little one sitting on her lap, as a matter of fact. "ElectroKaiju Emperor Sigma." She doesn't really expect anyone else to call him that, she's just talking to herself, mostly. Helps her keep the anxiety down.
A simple wave of her updated drones are sent out alongside those who are fighting directly, mostly camera units for now, to get her more detailed imaging. Should allow her to offer tactical suggestions, while she gets the others loaded up with something a little... different. She can't strain the bonds Takeshi has with his kaiju, that's a given. Nor would she try, as someone who understands the life of someone on the Outside. But that doesn't mean Yuka has a lack of bite for this situation.
<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.
Far away from the Division Fleet, as the Silverion Crusher is overcome, two new stars blossom - and wink out just as quickly. Not stars, then, but distant explosions.
Taking a break after the destruction of the Crusher, Gai Kurenai sits up on the Mizuha bridge, alert, and turns to look in that direction, removing his hat and pressing it to his chest. His moment of silence is interrupted by the baleful cry of the New Machine Species Zonuda, and he sighs, rising from his seat and heading over to Sigma's position to watch his screen, leaving his hat behind.
He watches Takeshi's mirror of Gridman Sigma take form and vanish along with the summoned kaiju into the coccoon of digital energy, drawing the Orb Ring from his coat as the true Sigma speaks to them from the computer. "Don't worry, Sigma-san. I won't let Todo-san's heart's cry go unanswered any longer." He looks over to Yuka, nodding in encouragement. "Call out, and I will hear you." Then he turns to face the coccoon as 'Zero Emperor Gridman Sigma' emerges, and hardens his gaze - before thrusting the Orb Ring forward and disappearing in a swirl of light.
======
Within the Inner Space, Gai scans a single card in the Orb Ring, and the Voice of Light announces: "AWAKEN, ORB ORIGIN!" The scan transmutes the card into prismatic energy which in turn forms the knife-like Orb Calibur, which Gai grabs and raises aloft, spinning its wheel-shaped guard and pulling the trigger.
The Inner Space collapses into a pristine azure sphere like the marble of a ramune bottle - and Ultraman Orb explodes outwards from within, Rising with right fist outstretched.
======
Coalescing in front of the Mizuha, Orb announces himself: "The Galaxy's Light is calling me!" The Orb Calibur, now at its true greatsword scale, appears in his hands with a flourish of energy, and he glides through the void to join his comrades and confront this apocalyptic form of Gridman Sigma.
"How long did you workshop that one, Todo-san?" He calls out to Takeshi, in words that are resonant and audible despite not appearing on any communications band. Despite his taunting, though, Orb cannot help but feel trepidation at the sight of this form. An armour of kaiju, all fused together - powers combined to become more than the sum of the parts involved, and then augmented with the unending flame of the Cosmic Source... This is going to be rough.
Fortunately, Orb has a pair of aces up his sleeve - or rather, waiting in his holster for the right moment. For now, though, he simply swings the Orb Calibur wide, a wave of light crashing off the edge of the blade towards the Zero Emperor!
KTS: Yuka Ohta targets Gai Kurenai, Akane Shinjo, and Kaworu Nagisa with Insight L2. KTS: Yuka Ohta shares insight with Gai Kurenai, making his next attacks more accurate! KTS: Gai Kurenai targets Takeshi Todo with Orb Calibur Crescent Energy Wave! KTS: Yuka Ohta shares insight with Akane Shinjo, making her next attacks more accurate!
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
The Silverion Crusher has been stopped. That's some small relief... but only a small one, for they aren't given any time to enjoy it. Rikka hasn't even had time to change out of her Dive Suit yet when the call goes out - two remaining signals, opportunistically appearing when everyone's exhausted and worn down from the difficult battle just moment ago.
Rikka shuts her eyes and groans, running a hand through her hair. She's not sure she's ready for this. Both she and Kakuseijin V2 are worn out... but, it's not like there's anything else she can do. Regardless of it all... she has to fight. But she can't fight alone. Rikka looks toward Akane.
"...Ready to go back in there?" She asks.
And soon enough, for the second time today, Rikka finds herself seated Kakuseijin V2. She sits back for now as they launch, focusing her attention on the screen.
There before them is Takeshi Todo, in the form of Gridman Sigma... but he isn't alone for long. Kaiju appear, and together they merge. Rikka grimaces. It's like she's looking at a twisted form of Gridman's full combination.
Rikka glances toward Kakuseijin V2's screens as the true Gridman Sigma appears.
...An armor of isolation...
Rikka reaches for the controls, giving them a gentle squeeze.
"...We'll save him. Because he's deserving of that, too." She says - for Akane, and for Gridman Sigma. She never really knew Takeshi... but his situation is one she can't really look away from. She might not know him well enough to put on a performance like she had once before, but she's not powerless.
"We aren't going to let ourselves be stopped here. ...Takeshi!" Rikka calls out. "We're here for you!"
A phrase with so many different meanings. Who's to say which one applies the most here and now.
"Alright. I'll do what I can from here, too." Rikka replies to Yuka's announcement with a nod. "Akane... let's do this."
She's ready to offer her the full breadth of her support, all for the sake of saving a like-minded soul.
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Rouse Spirit Command targeting Akane Shinjo KTS: Rikka Takarada targets Akane Shinjo with Sound Spirit!
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"... Yeah," Akane affirms, as they prepare to launch. "Barely, but... I think I'm more worried about how I'd feel if I didn't go back out there, this time." (... A feeling she may have learned from the woman in the other cockpit.) Besides -- the alternative is the end of the world. Sometimes, you just have to do it.
Gripping the Linker Gel in her cockpit tightly, Akane looks at Takeshi's new form. It's... familiar, in a sense. Not literally -- but Akane has always spoken the language of kaiju much better than the language of humans.
"... yeah, this is what I would have done in his shoes, too," Akane admits, rubbing at the back of her head. She'd said as much to Guy, once -- and then Alexis had later done just that. To draw all things into yourself -- that's what it is to be a kaiju user, one supposes. The 'power of combination'...
She breathes in and out slowly, steadyingly. So this is what it is to be a human in the face of kaiju...
... She considers something, for just a moment. As one whose heart can take a kaiju's shape... could she force the issue? It wouldn't be the first time... she remembers what she did with Leina, on the Garuda. Getting her to eat...
... in hindsight, though, that was sort of messed up. And even ignoring the practical risks...
... she doesn't know the words yet. It's not her intuition -- not the shape of her heart.
The best thing she can do is be where she is. "... Okay," she murmurs, quietly. "If Gridman can't be here right now to save you... I guess we're stuck paying the debt back by doing his job." In spite of herself, she smiles.
"I'm counting on you," she says over the comms, to Yuka. A moment later, she adds, for everyone -- "But... I want you guys to count on me too, okay?"
Usually, Akane lets Rikka take point, but here... she's the kaiju expert, isn't she? So rather than kick things to Rikka immediately, she comes in with a full-speed boost, aiming the Kakuseijin's feet for Takeshi.
KTS: Rikka Takarada's sound spirit flares with her performance, raising Akane Shinjo's Morale! KTS: Akane Shinjo targets Takeshi Todo with Dive Kick! KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. <Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
The battle against Ruin King J-Der and its Silverion Crusher has ended, but that doesn't mean they can relax. Kaworu has just returned to the Division Train with Unit Beta when to call goes out that two more enemies are approaching.
"I see... Wave tactics," Kaworu muses. He considers the viewscreens from within the entry plug, and specifically the enemies that have come to greet them. Even without them, though, there's only a few people left it could be.
He sends a brief message to Alouette to encourage her with Mikoto. Then he turns Unit Beta around to emerge back on the battlefield.
Kaworu listens to Gridman Sigma--the actual Sigma--as he gazes upon the Zero Emperor Gridman Sigma. He makes a low, thoughtful hum at the kaiju merge.
<"I see. That's good to know,"> he says when Sigma advises them on the armor and the nature of the kaiju that comprise it. <"Akane, why don't you try reaching out to him?"> She and Takeshi share some distinct similarities--and while talking to him might not help now, while he's still under the thrall of the Dawn, it could well help later. Rikka's already reaching out to him, even, and Kaworu smiles to hear it. Well--smiles a bit more than usual.
To Takeshi himself, when he speaks of their cosmic train's one-way ticket to oblivion, he smiles faintly. "'And Scorpio saw his body turn bright red and burn into a beautiful flame, lighting up the darkness of the night sky. He's burning now too,'" he quotes.
At least one person is sure to recognize the reference: Mari Makinami Illustrious, voracious reader, would no doubt recognize the lines from Night on the Galactic Railroad. It's a famous Japanese story, though, so several of the others are likely to know it too.
The scorpion was caught by the weasel, and in fear, the scorpion ran away and fell into a well, where it would end up drowning to death. It lamented that it hadn't let the weasel eat it, since at least its death would serve as sustenance to someone else, and prayed to God that in the next time They let them not waste their life, but instead use it for the good and happiness of all. And so Scorpio burst aflame... That was the story two children told each other on the Galactic Railroad.
Regardless of who recognizes it, though, Unit Beta draws her Heat Rapier. Her orange gossamer wings, which jut out from her back pylons, narrow and propel her forward until she can slice that blade across one of the kaiju as she passes swiftly by.
KTS: Kaworu Nagisa: Will Barrier Activates. KTS: Kaworu Nagisa targets Takeshi Todo with Forward Stab!
<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.
"Oho. So now we arrive at the final line of defense."
In a certain way, Mari Makinami Illustrious has to appreciate Triple Zero's sheer level of zealous commitment. She doesn't have to like it, but there's a certain purity of purpose there that deserves, if nothing else, to be acknowledged.
"It's not like I don't understand where you're coming from," she muses to herself as she slips into the entry plug of Evangelion Unit-04 with the softest splash of LCL. Her descending trajectory sees her effortlessly floating into the throne of her Eva, one long leg crossing over the other as the chrome-bound beast begins to come alive in a kaleidoscopic swirl of patterns and colors.
"... but where you're coming from, alas, has no place here anymore."
Gloved fingers lace together, stretching up and over Mari's head in a languid stretch; as restraint bolts chu-CHUNK open to free Unit-04, it follows its master's movements as yellow eyes flash with light.
"Here we are at the final lap, partner," announces Mari to her Eva, a grin on her lips. "Let's make it a mad dash~!"
As Gai Kurenai foregoes secrecy and Ultraman Orb emerges from the depths of space, the polished white form of Evangelion Unit-04 ejects into the cold vacuum's embrace soon after. S-Type equipment igniting, Mari's ineffably cheerful <"WAHO~!"> fills the communication lines as she jets towards the form of their destroyer -- Takeshi Todo in the Dawn-touched form of Gridman Sigma, donned in the regalia of his kaiju.
At the sight - at Takeshi's words - Kaworu Nagisa offers up a quote. And it simply reinforces Mari's grin as she grips her controls.
<"'If I could be like that scorpion and do something for the benefit of all people, I wouldn't care if my body burnt up a hundred times over,'"> she recites in turn, just as Evangelion Unit-04 unholsters one of its assault rifles. Gridman Sigma appears upon her window screen, and bright blue eyes narrow.
<"How symbolic~. Aye aye, cap'n!">
And with that, Mari opens fire on the Zero Emperor as her Eva rapidly approaches
<"Wearing your heart on your sleeve today, I see!">
KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious: Will Barrier Activates. KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious targets Takeshi Todo with Assault Rifle - Single Fire! KTS: Takeshi Todo charges into the attack! KTS: Takeshi Todo partially guards Gai Kurenai's Orb Calibur Crescent Energy Wave, taking 1575 damage! KTS: [Mirage] Takeshi Todo's Time Has Lost All Meaning activates, and he slips into a mirage. KTS: Takeshi Todo fails to parry Akane Shinjo's Dive Kick, taking 0 damage! KTS: Akane Shinjo has engaged Takeshi Todo! KTS: Takeshi Todo blocks Kaworu Nagisa's Forward Stab, taking 1750 damage! KTS: Kaworu Nagisa has engaged Takeshi Todo! KTS: Takeshi Todo blocks Mari Makinami Illustrious's Assault Rifle - Single Fire, taking 2940 damage! KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Akane Shinjo Takeshi Todo says, "Hrmph. A professional can crank out lines like that whenever he feels like it. If I couldn't come up with perfect dialogue after everything I've been through, I'd be a pretty poor listener." Is he... getting inspiration for this-- for all of this-- from someone in particular? %R%RThe Zero Emperor responds to the Giant of Light's attack with a rushing charge. Clad in dawnlight, the colossus hurls his body at Ultraman Orb, his form a veritable sledgehammer of force as it surges forward. The crescent energy wave breaks against his body, scattering motes of cosmic power as the Zero Emperor hurls a vicious left hook into Orb's cheek.%R%RBut Gai Kurenai is hardly the only one in this fight. Someone speaks-- to /him./ Takeshi laughs, "You came all this way for me? Why, that might be the first time someone's /ever/ gone so far just for /me./" Somehow, you can hear his teeth click tight in a grimace, "You're all really here to stop the King of Kings, to end Triple Zero, aren't you? I'm just a stop along the way. Not that I intend to allow any of you past me!" The V2 hurls itself at the Zero Emperor, diving leg-first at the colossus. But then--%R%RReality itself seems to stutter.%R%ROne moment the massive fused kaiju is there. The next, it's gone--%R%RAnd it's grabbed the V2's leg, pivoting only to hurl it bodily into the wreckage of the Crusher. "Gridman... To save my heart a second time, is it? But I have no doubt now that I am doing what must be done! There are no shadows, no doubt left in my heart, only this blinding, all too-certain light!!"%R%RA spear lances in next. Kaworu. Another he knows, one whose presence he has felt time and time again. The one that Cosmic Law itself seemed to recognize. "So you know already. That's right, if I am to die, then let me burn my life out and save all universes yet to come in the process!?" The lance crashes into a rime-coated left arm, even as Mari's barrage smashes into a wall of burning heat. "If you both already understand, then die already and let this broken reality be mended! When all returns to nothing, we can forget our suffering, and all can begin anew!"%R%RTwo hands clench into fists, blasting Kaworu's Evangelion with blistering cold, and Mari's with a wave of catastrophic flame...!%R%R"That's not right, Takeshi," Sigma's voice calls, firmly. "You can't just run away from your pain. The promise of Triple Zero is--"%R%R"As if YOU can lecture ME about running away!?" Takeshi's voice boils over with rage. "Where have YOU been!? Stealing my face. Hiding behind it like a coward! You have NO RIGHT!"%R%RSigma grimaces. "...I'm here now." He shakes his head. "Yuka-san... I've identified some of the kaiju. Flamelar and Blizzalar are obviously the arms, but the way he dodged the V2... Only Mecha-Gilarus could do that. He can manipulate time itself, to some degree. But he can't dodge what he can't see coming...""
<Pose Tracker> Takeshi Todo has posed.
"Hrmph. A professional can crank out lines like that whenever he feels like it. If I couldn't come up with perfect dialogue after everything I've been through, I'd be a pretty poor listener." Is he... getting inspiration for this-- for all of this-- from someone in particular?
The Zero Emperor responds to the Giant of Light's attack with a rushing charge. Clad in dawnlight, the colossus hurls his body at Ultraman Orb, his form a veritable sledgehammer of force as it surges forward. The crescent energy wave breaks against his body, scattering motes of cosmic power as the Zero Emperor hurls a vicious left hook into Orb's cheek.
But Gai Kurenai is hardly the only one in this fight. Someone speaks-- to him. Takeshi laughs, "You came all this way for me? Why, that might be the first time someone's ever gone so far just for me." Somehow, you can hear his teeth click tight in a grimace, "You're all really here to stop the King of Kings, to end Triple Zero, aren't you? I'm just a stop along the way. Not that I intend to allow any of you past me!" The V2 hurls itself at the Zero Emperor, diving leg-first at the colossus. But then--
Reality itself seems to stutter.
One moment the massive fused kaiju is there. The next, it's gone--
And it's grabbed the V2's leg, pivoting only to hurl it bodily into the wreckage of the Crusher. "Gridman... To save my heart a second time, is it? But I have no doubt now that I am doing what must be done! There are no shadows, no doubt left in my heart, only this blinding, all too-certain light!!"
A spear lances in next. Kaworu. Another he knows, one whose presence he has felt time and time again. The one that Cosmic Law itself seemed to recognize. "So you know already. That's right, if I am to die, then let me burn my life out and save all universes yet to come in the process!?" The lance crashes into a rime-coated left arm, even as Mari's barrage smashes into a wall of burning heat. "If you both already understand, then die already and let this broken reality be mended! When all returns to nothing, we can forget our suffering, and all can begin anew!"
Two hands clench into fists, blasting Kaworu's Evangelion with blistering cold, and Mari's with a wave of catastrophic flame...!
"That's not right, Takeshi," Sigma's voice calls, firmly. "You can't just run away from your pain. The promise of Triple Zero is--"
"As if YOU can lecture ME about running away!?" Takeshi's voice boils over with rage. "Where have YOU been!? Stealing my face. Hiding behind it like a coward! You have NO RIGHT!"
Sigma grimaces. "...I'm here now." He shakes his head. "Yuka-san... I've identified some of the kaiju. Flamelar and Blizzalar are obviously the arms, but the way he dodged the V2... Only Mecha-Gilarus could do that. He can manipulate time itself, to some degree. But he can't dodge what he can't see coming..."
KTS: Takeshi Todo targets Gai Kurenai with Cyber CQC! KTS: Takeshi Todo targets Akane Shinjo with Cyber CQC! KTS: Gai Kurenai fails to parry Takeshi Todo's Cyber CQC, taking 4510 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Takeshi Todo's Hyperdevil Survivor activates, causing Sparkle! KTS: Takeshi Todo has engaged Gai Kurenai! KTS: Takeshi Todo targets Kaworu Nagisa with Left Hand of Blizzard! KTS: Takeshi Todo targets Mari Makinami Illustrious with Right Hand of Flame! KTS: [Spirit Defense] Akane Shinjo's Believe activates, and the spirit endures. KTS: Takeshi Todo has activated the Daunt Spirit Command targeting Akane Shinjo KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious's Will Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage. KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious fails to evade Takeshi Todo's Right Hand of Flame, taking 4680 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Takeshi Todo's Hyperdevil Survivor activates, causing Sparkle! KTS: Takeshi Todo begins a Formation attack! KTS: Yuka Ohta shares insight with Kaworu Nagisa, making his next attacks more accurate! KTS: Kaworu Nagisa's Will Barrier activates, negating 1000 base damage. KTS: Takeshi Todo anchors Kaworu Nagisa, forcing him into close range. KTS: Kaworu Nagisa blocks Takeshi Todo's Left Hand of Blizzard, taking 2200 damage! KTS: Takeshi Todo has engaged Kaworu Nagisa! KTS: Takeshi Todo begins a Formation attack! KTS: Akane Shinjo blocks Takeshi Todo's Cyber CQC, taking 2460 damage! KTS: Takeshi Todo has engaged Akane Shinjo! <Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.
That speed - it's too much!
"GYAAH!" Orb cries out, knocked around by Zero-Sigma's blazing body-slam. Drifting backwards, the Crusader of Light rights himself, crystal eyes glaring at Sigma as he silently reconsiders his approach.
"You think you're going to be allowed to die, with all that power in you?" He demands, closing in on the kaiju-armoured facsimile of the Hyper Agent. "How do you know you won't be stuck waiting for life to emerge in the next one so you can wipe it out there too?"
The Orb Calibur vanishes, and Orb lays into Takeshi with his fists, striking once, twice, three times at the armoured Conqueror King's sternum!
KTS: Gai Kurenai targets Takeshi Todo with Orb Close-Quarters Combo!
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
...Rikka can't help but smile just a bit, as Akane expresses her feelings. It's a familiar one.
Rikka settles in... and then frows, as Akane admits that this is what she would've done, too.
"...I'm glad it never came to that." She murmurs. She smirks a little, too. Paying the debt back to Gridman... that's a good point, too. "If you put it that way... I guess we have to give it our all. I don't want him to regret having gone back home more than he has to."
Akane leads - with a kick!
Meanwhile, it seems that Kaworu has recognized the similarities, too - and Rikka listens with interest as he and Mari recite familiar lines.
"Oh, I recognise that one..." She comments with interest.
...And it's relevant, it seems, to their current situation.
Still, she shakes her head.
"If it was just about defeating him, I wouldn't be here." Rikka replies. "We're here to bring you home - you and everyone else. That's just as important to me. I can't ignore someone right in front of me. Maybe I don't know you... but that doesn't mean I can't try to."
She frowns, though - he's already proving pretty serious, and there's no telling what else he has up his sleeves.
"I'm going to focus on optimizing for defense, for now... That should let you get in as close as you want." Rikka notes for Akane. "If you need anything specific, let me know... I'll trust your judgment here and get it cooking up."
Akane is the kaiju expert, after all - and Sigma has already identified some of the kaiju involved in Takeshi's amalgamation. She trusts her intuition when it comes to figuring out how best to approach him.
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Mari Makinami Illustrious KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Gai Kurenai KTS: Rikka Takarada targets Akane Shinjo with Sparkle!
<Pose Tracker> Yuka Ohta has posed.
A bright smile is given to those who can see it. "I hope I'll be of help. So we can all rely on each other." Odd for Yuka, perhaps. But she's not feeling any of the usual weights on her heart right now. She can put everything into saving a person who is in many ways, a lot like her. Not for the first time, she's caught herself thinking that she could have been in those shoes, grabbed by a Hyper Devil in her teenage years or earlier. Kaiju have long been both her shield from loneliness, and the medium by which people pushed her aside to begin with. But those are thoughts she isn't dwelling on right now, with the work in front of them. "Thank you Sigma, that helps immensely. Since he's gathered a wide variety of abilities... but that gives me an idea. They probably cover for each other's weaknesses, but I don't think it's a perfect overlap." That just isn't how Takeshi thinks... at least, not with her read on him. So finding the kaiju that isn't covered as a starting point, and working their way back from there, sounds like the best play. Just have to find it.
For now though, she sends out the Gillvalis-esque drone. Gridman being a semi-digital existence, he should be particularly vulnerable to what she can do here. Though knowing his talent with computers, it won't last very long. "I think I can distract him for a moment, but you'll all need to be quick on taking advantage of it!" The malicious code she's making use of it a simple trick, comparatively speaking. So simple he might have overlooked the very idea. The drone's delivery to him is... honestly really twisted. A patch of code, inserted to interface with Takeshi's memories and bring them to the forefront in an immediate way. Or more succinctly, flooding his visual feed with images of all his own kaiju, mixed with a few lines to disrupt his audio pickup. Even if he cuts it from himself quickly, that stil buys valuable seconds he can't predict.
KTS: Yuka Ohta targets Takeshi Todo with Nullify! KTS: Rikka Takarada sparkles, reducing Akane Shinjo's incoming damage! KTS: Akane Shinjo has activated the Rouse Spirit Command. KTS: Akane Shinjo has activated the Enable Spirit Command.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"Huh -- can you hook me up with that one when we get back home?" Akane asks Rikka, when she recognizes the poetics. She really ought to get better-read.
Takeshi's comment back about Gridman gets a nod. "Yeah. Or as many times as it takes," she replies to Takeshi, as Kakuseijin V2 stays in Accept Mode just a bit longer than usual, just a bit more steadily.
(Some of this is practical -- Takeshi's approach to combat requires more mobility and less raw offense at this stage of the fight. ... Some of this, though, is that Akane sees the malice she inherited and desperately wants to do something to reach out to it.)
Akane hangs onto her heart as best she can -- and her butt, as Takeshi hurls V2. She pulses the boosters just enough to hit feet-first and absorb much of the shock rather than just take it; it's better than anothing.
Akane listens to Takeshi... and ultimately concludes, "I think... people who are really, really sure of what they're doing are the kinda people who definitely don't know what they're doing," as she closes with Takeshi a second time. "All universes yet to come, though, huh..."
Setting herself forward just a bit, Akane lets her lip quirk up slightly. "... Haven't you heard? This universe isn't half bad."
Sure, she's got doubts. Sure, she's got reservations and unresolved feelings. Who doesn't? ... But this universe is still the one where she experienced so much kindness. How much kindness does it have to offer in turn, for how many people? Why cut that short?
Rikka tells her she'll focus on optimizing for defense -- and Akane nods back. "All right -- I'll let you know. Right now... I think I just need the claws."
It's so much different than playing operator, Akane reflects, as she boosts toward 'Gridman Sigma' again, with the support of... Gridman Sigma. V2's arms come up, and its claws -- still in the straight, undeployed shape of Accept Mode -- come down.
KTS: Akane Shinjo targets Takeshi Todo with Claw Slash! KTS: Takeshi Todo fails to parry Gai Kurenai's Orb Close-Quarters Combo, taking 2850 damage! KTS: Gai Kurenai has engaged Takeshi Todo! KTS: Yuka Ohta nullifies Takeshi Todo's defensive abilities. <Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
You're all really here to stop the King of Kings, to end Triple Zero, aren't you? I'm just a stop along the way.
"That's right," Kaworu replies calmly, which might seem like an unhelpful contradiction to what Rikka says. Until: "But that doesn't mean you lack significance. Your partner is very worried about you."
Takeshi's counter to his and Mari's quotes give him slight pause, however. (That and the way the fused kaiju blinks in and out of reality. That's quite a special ability.) He'd intended that as a counter to what Takeshi had been saying, but the way he takes it... "Oh? So you see yourself as the Scorpio in this scenario?" No need to ask 'why'; that's the very nature of the thought distortions caused by the Dawn. "However, Scorpio's flame is one meant to warm the hearts of the living, not chill the graves of the dead. There is no good or happiness in extinction. I can promise you this, Takeshi Todo."
Kaworu knows better than most, after all.
The Heat Rapier clashes wth that frozen left arm, seemingly a representation of their discussion. That antarctic cold blasts forward around Unit Beta, creating a bluish cast to her pale gold armor, in turn stiffening up her joints and forcing her long white hair to clump. The shimmer of her A.T. Field keeps her from being frozen solid; it ironically likewise helps that they're in the vacuum of space, which is actually a poor conductor of heat.
"Perhaps you'll forget," he adds softly. "But not everyone will."
That one, Mari's certain to be the only one to understand.
He's silent when Takeshi lashes out at Sigma; that's something for the two of them to work out. He glances at Yuka's drone and smiles slightly at its data burst--and at how Akane offers her insight to Takeshi in turn, a joint advance on body and soul. He takes that joint opportunity to have Unit Beta whirl her Heat Rapier around, its plasma conductors shattering the rime that's built up on it, and *thrust* at the Zero Emperor's left arm. On successful contact, it will explode with incandescent energy, potentially weakening its defenses.
KTS: Kaworu Nagisa targets Takeshi Todo with Blade Bomb! KTS: Takeshi Todo parries Akane Shinjo's Claw Slash, taking 1200 damage! KTS: Akane Shinjo has engaged Takeshi Todo! KTS: Takeshi Todo blocks Kaworu Nagisa's Blade Bomb, taking 1770 damage! KTS: Kaworu Nagisa has engaged Takeshi Todo! <Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.
When all returns to nothing, we can forget our suffering, and all can begin anew!
<"Ho-hum--">
The little, resigned exclamation is the last thing Mari Makinami Illustrious manages to get out before a broiling wall of flame collapses upon her, defiant of the absolute chill of space. Eva-04's thrusters ignite, but it is a second too late to clear the carnage in time: there is a shimmer of octagonal formations pulsing out a rotating prism of colors as the Evangelion's A.T. Field activates, the sound of a strangled gasp amid furious bubbling. And then...
In the aftermath, Evangelion Unit-04 remains, its chrome armor smoking and glowing gradiant hues of orange heat along the plating that constrains it as it hovers in space's vacuum. Mari's voice comes out in soft, almost happy huffs -- but she finds her voice again soon enough.
<"... Ah, ah, ah!"> Despite the huff of her recovering breath, Mari's chiding comes through clear as day, complete with a complementary cluck of her tongue. <"I'd... happily die for with the right motivation... but your sales pitch is just too soft for a life as luxurious as mine, y'know~. Besides -- 'forget our suffering'? I'm not about to let you get away with a heinyaaous crime like that!">
Unit-04's assault rifle is re-holstered; at this point, she can afford to just throw it aside when she can rely on a ready resupply. Instead, blue eyes narrowed, smile still stubbornly steadfast, she -pushes- on the hand-controls of her Evangelion once more.
<"'Burn my body so that it may become a beacon, to light the way for others as they search for true happiness,'"> she recites, a variation of Kaworu's earlier lines as if to underscore the words the other Evangelion pilot is offering. <"There's no true happiness without suffering, King of Kaiju. You may forget that, but the universe won't.">
Perhaps you'll forget. But not everyone will.
Mari allows herself a small smile.
And Evangelion Unit-04 -hurls- itself at the Ruin Emperor.
<"Maybe there's some beautifully cold comfort in a static world where nothing can affect anything--">
One shoulder pylon, still aglow in heat, hisses open; a progressive knife ejects, flipping through the weightlessness of space before Unit-04 snatches it from the vacuum--
<"--but I prefer my world dragged and dirtied through all the ugly muck and mire of life uninhibited!">
--and -hurls- it at the elbow joint of the Zero Emperor's right arm.
The still-cooling form of the Evangelion comes crashing in from above seconds later, heel-first, to SLAM into the hilt of that knife, and -wedge- it into that joint firmly. Not enough to remove the limb entirely -- but enough to wedge that knife in -firmly- and create a weakpoint along the joint that hopefully Triple Zero cannot so swiftly repair. In preparation.
<"'Burning as a beacon' to help you find true happiness, though -- nyaow that's a bit more appealing as far as pitches go~!">
KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious targets Takeshi Todo with Progressive Knife Thrust! KTS: Takeshi Todo successfully avoids Mari Makinami Illustrious's Progressive Knife Thrust <Pose Tracker> Takeshi Todo has posed.
"I'm not the one who'd get stuck with that job," Takeshi replies as Orb's fist hammer at his colossal form's torso. The Zero Emperor reels back-- but the eyes on its chest flash. A crackling arc of raw, electromagnetic madness erupts from the skull emblazoned there. It blasts outward in a bolt of lightning, crashing into Orb with a sizzle-pop of bursting static. "Human hearts are too weak to endure eternity. That's why... the King of Ruin, once this universe and all of humanity is extinguished, will be able to stand vigil all on its own. An eternity of loneliness, for the sake of all life across all of time! What's one universe of tainted miracles and broken time compared to the infinite potential of stable, unblemished creation!?"
The Kakuseijin comes right back in, no matter how hard Takeshi hurled it away. The soul within "Sigma" clicks his tongue, "You're trying to save someone you don't even know... You hear her, don't you? That beast-woman. My sins can't be forgiven, so best I just wipe the slate clean!" Moments before impact, something materializes in the Zero Emperor's right hand: a claw-like sword of incredible scale and vicious sharpness. The V2's claw clatters against the blade, turning aside at the last moment so the strike scrapes against the colossus' flank instead of hitting it dead-on. Then, with a twist, of his body, Takeshi drives that sword at the V2 in a cleaving blow. "This universe... We fought hard for it as well. For all its kindness, for all its beauty, it still needs to go. Reality itself-- the very energy that exists in the matter that makes up your bodies-- demands it. Cries out for destruction!"
"This universe is in pain. Why should our little miracles, our small joys be worth that...?"
A blade snakes in, hurled by the one he called 'Beast-Woman.' Swinging his own sword, he deflects the projectile at the last, sending the progressive knife sailing into the debris field. "If suffering meant happiness, then this world would be a hell of a lot better than it is!" Takeshi bites back. "Excusing all the pain, all the guilt, all the agony of sins unforgiven and crimes unpunished-- just for a few moments of 'true happiness' is a broken philosophy!"
But then the other Evangelion makes its presence undeniable. Takeshi raises a shield of rime, but the blast of that erupting rapier tears through in a cascade of heat and light, blowing the Zero Emperor's arm back in a flurry of sparks. "They aren't the only ones 'living.' My life will burn for the countless lives to come in universes much less broken than this one. And unless you're saying you're going to go around telling them all what a monster I am-- well. I guess at that point I won't be around to know, now will I?"
But then... Something appears in his vision that shouldn't be there. Hallucinations climb across his field of view. Monsters that are all pieces of his own heart-- Takeshi recoils as he sees them. "What the hell... What do you think you're doing, tampering with MY MEMORIES!?" With a roar, the halo of cosmic power surrounding Zero Emperor Sigma's body erupts in a catastrophic wave of dawnlight flame, threatening to swallow up both of the Evangelion units-- and if they aren't swift, the Ultraman and Kakuseijin as well.
"You still know how important those are, those scars," Sigma observes quietly. "But... this pain, is it so great that you want to take everything else with you, Takeshi...?" He sighs as his partner rages, observing: "The blade is Bagira's, a razor-sharp weapon that Takeshi gave to it, but I suppose he's fixed the aiming issue now that he can wield it himself. The one on the chest... Devil Phazer, the electromagnetic kaiju. If I remember correctly... The skull ornament, itself, was a weakness."
...With the aura of dawn in a momentary lull, now would be the time to try and exploit it, Sigma leaves unsaid. "How ironic. The same tactic we used against Pisa Sol..."
KTS: Takeshi Todo targets Gai Kurenai with Electromagnetic Devil Phazer! KTS: Takeshi Todo targets Akane Shinjo with Bagira Blade Slice! KTS: Takeshi_Todo Changes attack to Kaworu Nagisa and Mari Makinami Illustrious with Cosmogone Catastrophe. KTS: Akane Shinjo blocks Takeshi Todo's Bagira Blade Slice, taking 2940 damage! KTS: Takeshi Todo has engaged Akane Shinjo! KTS: Takeshi Todo begins a Formation attack! KTS: Takeshi Todo rattles Gai Kurenai, making his next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Gai Kurenai blocks Takeshi Todo's Electromagnetic Devil Phazer, taking 4050 damage! KTS: Takeshi Todo begins a Formation attack! KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious fails to charge. KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious's Will Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage. KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious partially guards Takeshi Todo's Cosmogone Catastrophe, taking 3480 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Takeshi Todo's Hyperdevil Survivor activates, causing Sparkle! KTS: Kaworu Nagisa has activated the Resupply Spirit Command. KTS: Kaworu Nagisa's Will Barrier activates, negating 1000 base damage. KTS: Kaworu Nagisa blocks Takeshi Todo's Cosmogone Catastrophe, taking 4080 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Takeshi Todo's Hyperdevil Survivor activates, causing Sparkle! <Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.
"That unblemished potential - " Orb begins, before the Devil Phazer's eyes crackle with electromagnetic energy that lashes out at him! Grunting with exertion, the Orb Calibur appears in his hands and spreads a disc of light before him, trying to mitigate most of the energy raking his body.
He hangs in the void for a moment.
"Without sentient life... all that would be left in the universe is an empty place, its inhabitants incapable of wondering at its beauty."
The Giant of Light shakes his head. "Wisdom is a gift to life, granting it the ability to exceed its beginnings and discover the mysteries of the universe. Without it, all that's left is meaningless chaos running rampant."
He draws back the Orbcalibur, rotating the wheel guard so that the elemental emblem of Fire lights up on the disc. "I didn't let the Bezelve use her puppets to do that... and I won't let the Cosmic Egg do that either, even if its power is the foundation of the universe! ORB FLAME CALIBUR!"
He lunges at the Blizzalar arm, following up Kaworu's explosive strike with a blazing swing of his own!
KTS: Gai Kurenai targets Takeshi Todo with Orb Flame Calibur!
<Pose Tracker> Yuka Ohta has posed.
Tampering with his most precious memories does hurt. Honestly it makes Yuka feel a little sick inside... but the fact he still had that reaction to it speaks volumes all its own. "What does it matter, whether we know you or not? Reaching our hands out means we can start getting to know you afterward. And who judges whether a sin is unforgivable or not? That's not what we do." Well... sometimes you can't save people. Sometimes they just don't want it. But that's not the same thing. Right now, she's always willing to offer her hand. To try and help people in need, regardless of what they've done in the past. Even if she's just lab support on the back lines, she can still do that much.
Definitely, once this is all said and done, she'll try to talk to him. Strictly, the only kaiju she's made are artistic, and not living. But there's no doubt that he still loves the creature's he's made. That's a foundation they can work from to try and push a friendship of some sort. Hopefully he'll be able to forgive her, once he's free of the Oath.
Of course, now that her package has been delivered, there's little need to keep Gildrone active and at risk. Takeshi will break from its alterations any time, and she shouldn't leave it in the line of fire. Instead, she's got a few cameras studying the structure of the skull mark from different angles... "I'll keep looking for other potential points of interest, but there's no better time than now, to see if the original design holds. Akane, Mari, Kaworu, while he's still breaking out, start on that ornament but be wary of unforeseen countermeasures. Try to converge your moves with a staggered approach to catch him on the back foot, a mix of close quarters and ranged shots is probably best, and try to aim it... there."
KTS: Yuka Ohta targets Akane Shinjo, Kaworu Nagisa, and Mari Makinami Illustrious with Insight L2. KTS: Yuka Ohta shares insight with Mari Makinami Illustrious, making her next attacks more accurate! <Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
Kaworu casts Mari a small smile of his own. As usual, they're in perfect sync. That, too, is friendship.
"There are no sins for which one cannot atone. There is always hope," Kaworu insists gently to Takeshi, even if he speaks of unforgivable sins to Rikka and Akane. "You'll see this plainly soon enough."
Heat Rapier and rime shield clash, sending off cascades of sparks. "Why would I do that? You don't seem particularly monstrous to me," Kaworu says with mild but genuine surprise to the man currently made up of several monsters. "Though the rest is true. At that point, you would no longer be 'you' as you are now."
They clash off one another. "There's something you're misunderstanding, though. It may be the influence of the Dawn, but I have a feeling that it's borne not from that but your own pain. In that way, you remind me of someone else whose pain overwhelms him at times. He thinks so little of himself, and at times, the cruelty of the universe shreds at his soft heart." His voice warms with boundless tenderness: "But he's wonderful."
But Takeshi reacts poorly to Yuka's drone's doings, and the sunrise glow explodes outwards in rivers of flame. It does indeed swallow up Unit Beta. Though her A.T. Field shimmers and keeps her from being melted or scorched outright, some of that force makes it through anyway. And ultra-heating something after freezing it is very bad... She doesn't shatter outright, but several hairline cracks appear in her armor.
Orb comes in then to follow up Kaworu's attack with a swing of his blade. Unit Beta, reflecting Kaworu, gives him a decisive nod, moving to one side to give him more space to strike--but that nod is really for Orb's assertion on sentience being a means to appreciate beauty. Just as important is Sigma's data on the Zero Emperor--in particular the skull ornament.
<"A fine idea," he says to him and Yuka both. "Then allow me to take point.">
Unit Beta whirls the Heat Rapier up and around, holding it parallel to her masked face, then sweeping to one side to pull it back and thrust it forward towards that skull. It might not be a decisive strike with how much of Takeshi's armor still remains, but it might still strike hard.
KTS: Yuka Ohta shares insight with Kaworu Nagisa, making his next attacks more accurate! <Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
"Sure." Rikka replies with a nod and a smile to Akane's request. She'll be happy to. It's something for the future - and the future, right now, is important to strive for.
In her position, Rikka hangs tight even as the Kakuseijin V2 is shaken and hurled about.
It's different, too, focusing on support. She doesn't mind it - there's something to being able to devote her full efforts to backing everyone up.
"Got it." Rikka replies with a nod, as Akane says she'll need just the claws. Her comment on the universe... Rikka cracks a smile.
"That's right." Rikka confirms, as Takeshi comments on her trying to save someone she doesn't know. It isn't the first time - it won't be the last, if she has anything to say about it. "...Yeah. I hear her. It hurts to face it, but it's better than running away. Like he said... there's always hope."
That blade is strong...
"Hang in there..." Rikka mutters through gritted teeth. "Keep pressing the attack, everyone - we have to be getting through."
KTS: Kaworu Nagisa targets Takeshi Todo with Rapier Wave! KTS: Rikka Takarada targets Akane Shinjo, Gai Kurenai, and Kaworu Nagisa with All-Out. KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Mari Makinami Illustrious KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Mari Makinami Illustrious KTS: Rikka Takarada orders an all-out attack, raising Kaworu Nagisa's Skill! KTS: Yuka Ohta shares insight with Akane Shinjo, making her next attacks more accurate! KTS: Rikka Takarada orders an all-out attack, raising Akane Shinjo's Skill! KTS: Rikka Takarada orders an all-out attack, raising Gai Kurenai's Skill! <Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.
<"Ho ho! Cheeky little bastard still has the bite of life in him, I see!">
This is the alarmed - excited? - proclamation of Mari Makinami Illustrious as she sees her intended offensive cut off at the final stretch by the sudden swipe of a sword. It puts her in a bad position, primed as she is to crash in with a follow-up strike -- and it's a position that she pays for as anger and power swells in cosmic ripples. Flame from the universe's dawn crashes -towards- Unit-04. It can't mount an escape fast enough--
<"Don't excuse the pain -- EMBRACE IT!">
--but Mari doesn't go for evasive maneuvers. No -- as if to make a point, she dives straight -in- to the maelstrom of Oath Over Omega, disregarding her own safety and sense of comfort and well-being in favor of driving through that power she is so opposed to with eyes wide open.
Dawnflame crashes against the Evangelion. It melts away at armor plating. The A.T. Field does its job of filtering out the corruptive power from reaching Mari's whimsical heart...
<"GHHK---AAAH!">
But it does little for the pain.
If only Mari could say the feeling of being cooked inside of her Entry Plug was an unknown experience -- but the heat that surges in frothing fury through that LCL is a familiar friend, greeting her warmly with an agonizing embrace that ignites her neurons with a delirious dance of pain. She tosses her head back; she grits her teeth, choking out. Blue eyes widen behind red-rimmed glasses.
But it's all soon chased by a delighted smile.
<"Still... protective of those befouled human memories... eh? That's... wonderful to hear~,"> Mari gasps out, hands gripping onto the controls of her Evangelion. She might not have managed to push past that offensive before she was overwhelmed... but, even with Unit-04's armor melting, even with pain searing, she hasn't stopped. So as Sigma's information filters through -- as Yuka offers her advise to breaching through to Takeshi -- how can she not suddenly find herself flashing canines in a wild, tooth-bearing grin?
<"Your wish is my command, Yuka~!"> <3
She can't stop, not when she feels so alive.
<"Humans shouldn't have existed, you're right,"> she remarks, an agreement she made with him long ago, back on Triple Zero's assault on NERV. <"But it's that forbidden existence that lets them enjoy the forbidden pleasures of life. Desire, ambition, happiness, progress and growth... even the poison that is a contented life.">
Rapidborers snap into place with the one-two "reload" pump of Eva-04's arms. The trio of drillbits on either gauntlet spin with an intensity that sparks winding, electric light in the dim cosmos.
<"... Or maybe, how about the small and self-satisfying joy of knowing people care enough to risk their lives for yours?">
And, thrusters engaging, Unit-04 HURTLES after the Zero Emperor just behind Unit Beta, both arms notching backwards at the elbows like a feline pouncing through space.
<"GANGWAY, TABBY CAT! ALLEY----OOOOOP!">
And, fresh on the back of Kaworu's rapier thrust, Eva-04 seeks to -land- on Takeshi Rapidborer's first, driving all six drillbits as fiercely as it can deep into the Devil Phazer's skull even as Mari shouts above the din:
<"Don't you want to taste that forbidden fruit again?!">
KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious targets Takeshi Todo with Rapidborer - Pulverizing! KTS: Takeshi Todo fails to react to Gai Kurenai's Orb Flame Calibur, taking 7480 damage! KTS: Gai Kurenai has engaged Takeshi Todo! KTS: Takeshi Todo fails to react to Kaworu Nagisa's Rapier Wave, taking 3750 damage! KTS: Takeshi Todo fails to react to Mari Makinami Illustrious's Rapidborer - Pulverizing, taking 4320 damage! KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious has engaged Takeshi Todo! <Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
The blade comes for Kakuseijin V2, and Akane trusts in Rikka's defensive optimizations, bringing up the Mirror Shield. It's not enough to stop it; certainly Takeshi has the power advantage in this equation. But it's enough to slow it.
"Yeah... you're right. Everyone wants to destroy stuff. It's part of living," Akane replies, working through it. She asides to Rikka, "After this next exchange, I'm throwing control back to you. Focus up 'til then -- we need something big." Synapse Attack is such a strange feeling, always -- there's intentionality to it, but at the same time, it's intentionality in the hindbrain, the pilots' spare brainspace working through the problem subconsciously as much as consciously.
"... But I think it's better not to rush to the end. I'll show you what Gridman showed me: the power of a finite life!"
Yuka suggests a staggered approach, and Akane nods -- "Right!" she affirms, giving a couple of the others a chance to move ahead before her. Once she does, though, she guns it forward again, not wanting to commit to a heavy attack yet; she'll need the room to move -- and the energy -- for what she's planning next. One of those claws, still in Accept Mode's 'forward' stance, fires off on a chain toward Takeshi. "... We need something to dissolve some of that armor," she says, a little quieter.
KTS: Akane Shinjo targets Takeshi Todo with Chain Punch! KTS: Takeshi Todo fails to react to Akane Shinjo's Chain Punch, taking 3330 damage! <Pose Tracker> Takeshi Todo has posed.
"Ghh--" The Zero Emperor lifts its frigid arm to meet Orb's strike, hardening the limb with an encasement of glacial ice. But as frost flash-boils, his scattered attention is focused entirely on keeping that limb intat. "Life... Serves as an entropic accelerator," Takeshi grunts out. "Intelligent life more than any other. But these 'miracles' it keeps bringing about; THOSE are the problems--"
A chain crashes into his right arm, entangling briefly around the wrist. Takeshi grunts as the V2's attack knocks his other limb aside. "The power of a finite life... All our lives are finite. Sometimes we don't get to decide when it gets to end!"
Dazzled still by the images plaguing his vision, distracted by the Ultraman occupying one arm, Takeshi is out of position for the triple-attack on the insignia emblazoned across his chest. With a shout, he's blasted clear of his engagement with Orb by Kaworu's rapier. "He-- khh-- needs to learn, sometimes, you need to tear the universe to shreds instead to stop the hurt--"
That beast woman. "Ghaaaah!" Takeshi yells as her Evangelion tackles him bodily, a sextet of drills carving hard into the skull insignia, momentum driving him back through the debris field before he connects with something solid, a leftover chunk of the divided Silverion Hammer. With a roar, another pulse of electromagnetic force throws her back, but the skull is cracking. Crumbling, even. His chestplate and left gauntlet are in awful states. "@emit "Ghh--" The Zero Emperor lifts its frigid arm to meet Orb's strike, hardening the limb with an encasement of glacial ice. But as frost flash-boils, his scattered attention is focused entirely on keeping that limb intat. "Life... Serves as an entropic accelerator," Takeshi grunts out. "Intelligent life more than any other. But these 'miracles' it keeps bringing about; THOSE are the problems--"
Dazzled still by the images plaguing his vision, distracted by the Ultraman occupying one arm, Takeshi is out of position for the triple-attack on the insignia emblazoned across his chest. With a shout, he's blasted clear of his engagement with Orb by Kaworu's rapier. "He-- khh-- needs to learn, sometimes, you need to tear the universe to shreds instead to stop the hurt--"
That beast woman. "Ghaaaah!" Takeshi yells as her Evangelion tackles him bodily, a sextet of drills carving hard into the skull insignia, momentum driving him back through the debris field before he connects with something solid, a leftover chunk of the divided Silverion Hammer. "Gh-- the one who decides if a sin is unforgivable... If the universe doesn't have that right, then who does!?If it's me, then I know what my answer is! Forbidden fruit... Even before all this, that's never something I've been able to allow myself to take! The world where I belong DOESN'T EXIST! Saying you'll all just accept me... Is just painful!" With a roar, another pulse of electromagnetic force throws her back, but the skull is cracking. Crumbling, even. His chestplate and left gauntlet are in awful states. "Phazer... You've done well, but... One more. We can push one more time," Takeshi breathes, the skull disintegrating even against the regenerative power of Dawn. But it seems to cackle as Takeshi lifts both arms, charging one with cold and one with heat, and melding the antipodal energies together in a crucible of electromagnetic power-- in a twisted mimicry of the Ryu Brothers' own final attacks. "Hope. Maybe for me... But not for all of you! Rage, Flamelar! Rampage, Blizzalar! Antipode Cluster..." He brings his hands together, as if forming the Hell and Heaven, only to roar-- "SUPERNOVA!"
...And unleash a catastrophic stream of potent and oppositional energies. Hot and Cold race together to make vicious use of physical principle, a wave of constantly inverting temperatures that can shatter all before it!
...
"Takeshi..." Sigma murmurs, his voice quiet, dark, "Are you..."
Are you... trying to die?
KTS: Takeshi Todo has activated the Enable Spirit Command. KTS: Takeshi Todo targets Akane Shinjo, Gai Kurenai, Kaworu Nagisa, and Mari Makinami Illustrious with Antipode Cluster Supernova. KTS: Takeshi Todo has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious fails to retreat. KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious fails to evade Takeshi Todo's Antipode Cluster Supernova, taking 5580 damage! KTS: Takeshi Todo completes the Formation attack! KTS: Akane Shinjo partially guards Takeshi Todo's Antipode Cluster Supernova, taking 3105 damage! KTS: Takeshi Todo completes the Formation attack! <Pose Tracker> Takeshi Todo has posed.
"Ghh--" The Zero Emperor lifts its frigid arm to meet Orb's strike, hardening the limb with an encasement of glacial ice. But as frost flash-boils, his scattered attention is focused entirely on keeping that limb intat. "Life... Serves as an entropic accelerator," Takeshi grunts out. "Intelligent life more than any other. But these 'miracles' it keeps bringing about; THOSE are the problems--"
A chain crashes into his right arm, entangling briefly around the wrist. Takeshi grunts as the V2's attack knocks his other limb aside. "The power of a finite life... All our lives are finite. Sometimes we don't get to decide when it gets to end!"
Dazzled still by the images plaguing his vision, distracted by the Ultraman occupying one arm, Takeshi is out of position for the triple-attack on the insignia emblazoned across his chest. With a shout, he's blasted clear of his engagement with Orb by Kaworu's rapier. "He-- khh-- needs to learn, sometimes, you need to tear the universe to shreds instead to stop the hurt--"
That beast woman. "Ghaaaah!" Takeshi yells as her Evangelion tackles him bodily, a sextet of drills carving hard into the skull insignia, momentum driving him back through the debris field before he connects with something solid, a leftover chunk of the divided Silverion Hammer.
"Gh-- the one who decides if a sin is unforgivable... If the universe doesn't have that right, then who does!?If it's me, then I know what my answer is! Forbidden fruit... Even before all this, that's never something I've been able to allow myself to take! The world where I belong DOESN'T EXIST! Saying you'll all just accept me... Is just painful!" With a roar, another pulse of electromagnetic force throws her back, but the skull is cracking. Crumbling, even. His chestplate and left gauntlet are in awful states.
"Phazer... You've done well, but... One more. We can push one more time," Takeshi breathes, the skull disintegrating even against the regenerative power of Dawn. But it seems to cackle as Takeshi lifts both arms, charging one with cold and one with heat, and melding the antipodal energies together in a crucible of electromagnetic power-- in a twisted mimicry of the Ryu Brothers' own final attacks. "Hope. Maybe for me... But not for all of you! Rage, Flamelar! Rampage, Blizzalar! Antipode Cluster..." He brings his hands together, as if forming the Hell and Heaven, only to roar-- "SUPERNOVA!"
...And unleash a catastrophic stream of potent and oppositional energies. Hot and Cold race together to make vicious use of physical principle, a wave of constantly inverting temperatures that can shatter all before it!
...
"Takeshi..." Sigma murmurs, his voice quiet, dark, "Are you..."
Are you... trying to die?
KTS: Gai Kurenai has activated the Trust Spirit Command. KTS: Gai Kurenai has activated the Trust Spirit Command. KTS: Gai Kurenai fails to evade Takeshi Todo's Antipode Cluster Supernova, taking 7590 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Takeshi Todo's Hyperdevil Survivor activates, causing Sparkle! KTS: Takeshi Todo completes the Formation attack! KTS: Gai Kurenai has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Gai Kurenai has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Yuka Ohta has activated the Resupply Spirit Command targeting Gai Kurenai KTS: Kaworu Nagisa has activated the Attune Spirit Command. KTS: Kaworu Nagisa rushes into the attack! KTS: Kaworu Nagisa partially guards Takeshi Todo's Antipode Cluster Supernova, taking 3595 damage! <Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.
The combined crash of hypo- and hyper-thermal energies explodes outwards from Zero Emperor Sigma, and Ultraman Orb is consumed entirely by the blast!
"EAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"
The explosion fades away, leaving the Giant of Light drifting limp in space. The Colour Timer on his chest blinks in alarm, a pulse of psychic sound indicating that Orb is in deep trouble.
... But he hasn't discorporated yet.
======
Within Orb's Inner Space, Gai grits his teeth. "No choice. It's time, then."
(( OST: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkD-RNkzpT0 ))
He snaps his card holster open, drawing his two new cards. One gleams gold, depicting an azure-clad ultra. The other flashes rose, the image on it a familiar crimson giant in strange armour. The gold card is scanned first.
"Cosmos-san!"
ULTRAMAN COSMOS! Appears to Gai's left, stance stoic and serene, as he scans the second card.
"Gridman-san!"
In a swirl of violet particles, the image of PRIMAL FIGHTER GRIDMAN! appears to Gai's right.
"Grant me your boundless compassion and courage!" He turns his arms to assume the Grid Beam stance, then raises the Orb Ring to the swirling digital cosmos around him.
FUSION UP!
======
The limp Orb Origin suddenly explodes in swirling light from his Color Timer - white-blue light that suddenly changes hue to gold and pink, and the Giant... changes.
Floating there in the void, a slim, azure-clad Ultraman, armoured in the Techtronium Alloy used by Hyper Agents, cradling his still-blinking Colour Timer. The helm remains the same - including Orb's blue-crystal eyes, which somehow have a kinder radiance than they did before his transformation.
ULTRAMAN ORB: SPARK ECLIPSE extends an open palm to Zero Emperor Gridman Sigma. "Let the Light within me chase away Evil," he intones gravely - and then blurs towards Takeshi Todo.
"This has to end, Todo-san!" He calls out. "You don't need to suffer any longer!" Ultraman Cosmos's golden, purifying light swirls around his body as he closes in, and an image of Gridman's Tri-Juster flickers into being around his Colour Timer, violet light sparkling in its panels.
He reaches out to grab on to Gridman Sigma, the twin lights he's emitting reaching a crescendo - the combined power of Gridman's Fixer Beam and Ultraman Cosmos's power to break monsters free of the influence of Chaos.
"COSMIUM... CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGE!" Ultraman Orb roars - and the twin lights meld together and explode outwards, from him into Sigma.
It's Purifying energy. From a single source - so not enough to cleanse Takeshi yet - but it might just slow him down enough...!
Gai Kurenai transforms to Ultraman Orb Spark Eclipse
KTS: Gai Kurenai uses install KTS: Gai Kurenai has activated the Detonate Spirit Command, reducing the Ultraman Orb Spark Eclipse to 1 HP! KTS: Gai Kurenai targets Takeshi Todo with Cosmium Charge! KTS: Gai Kurenai anchors Takeshi Todo, forcing him into close range. KTS: Takeshi Todo fails to react to Gai Kurenai's Cosmium Charge, taking 4929 damage! KTS: Gai Kurenai has engaged Takeshi Todo! <Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
"Right - I'll be ready." Rikka replies with a nod. That doesn't mean she can sit idle, though - she gets to work setting up a Synapse Attack immediately.
"...That's not true." Rikka declares, as Takeshi roars that the world he belongs doesn't exist. "You belong in this world. Just as much as I or anyone else here does. Anyone who tells you you don't is lying to you - even if that person's you!"
She winces at the overpowering strength of Takeshi's attack - a combination of fire and ice, like his own version of Hell and Heaven. She trusts Akane to be able to handle it, to see them through it safely -
- and she can feel the changeover happening before it does, so used to fighting alongside her as she is.
"I have control!" Rikka responds without hesitation - and when she does, her current project is passed over to Akane. Rikka's already taken care of the easy, mundane parts - leaving only the more intricate, finer details that she's better at to put in order. She plunges her hands into the Linker Gel, holding on tight.
Only now does the Kakuseijin V2 transform into Active Mode, claws locking into position as the vats on its back begin to bubble.
"Break Synthesize! G-Set...!" Rikka calls out. "Akane - let's do this together! Synapse... Attack!"
And the claws launch out...!
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Akane Shinjo KTS: Rikka Takarada targets Akane Shinjo with Heart! KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Akane Shinjo KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Attune Spirit Command targeting Akane Shinjo KTS: Kaworu Nagisa has activated the Resupply Spirit Command. KTS: Kaworu Nagisa has activated the Resupply Spirit Command. <Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
Is Takeshi trying to die?
Kaworu thinks that's so obvious it's beyond questioning.
Unit-04 charges in behind Unit Beta, who folds her wings and soars up to circle overhead and give Mari the space she needs to engage those Rapidborers to full strength. <"Alley-oop,"> he echoes, almost playfully.
Yet as Unit Beta soars, Takeshi asserts that this nameless someone needs to learn to tear the universe to shreds instead. Kaworu's smile turns rueful; he says nothing. Until...
"So you yourself have decided that your sins are unforgivable?" he wonders. "Then in other words, you refuse to be accepted."
As if to make that rejection physical, Takeshi brings his arms up and charges them with the power of temperature extremes, which convert into electromagnetism. With a CLAP, those energies EXPLODE outwards, the two extremes ramming through all in their path. It crashes into Unit Beta too, shattering several parts of her armor and several parts beneath, exposing black and red beneath. Fortunately, there's replacement armor back on the Division Train--enough for one more battle after this for both Evangelions--but that doesn't help them now.
Briefly, Kaworu clutches his ribs, where Unit Beta's armor shattered and broke something underneath, as his breath hitches. He's good at riding through his pain--a contrast to Mari, who revels in it--but that doesn't mean that pain doesn't exist. But, even more importantly than that--
<"Ultraman Orb, Mary, Akane, Rikka--you still live,"> he states, though there's something in his tone that makes it almost, almost a question. Orb's transformation into his Spark Eclipse form is answer enough to that, and Kaworu smiles to see it. Rikka and Akane are readying a combination attack of their own--and Mari, of course, is indomitable at all times, as he knows.
So Unit Beta moves a short distance away, propelled by her A.T. Wings, to create the proper space for her Heat Rapier. Despite her bloodied and disheveled appearance, she stands with shoulders square and head high--the picture of elegance, no matter how much the battle would sully her.
<"Takeshi Todo... It's all right. Whether the world where you belong exists or not, it's all right for you to be as you are,"> Kaworu transmits gently, even as Unit Beta lashes forward with a series of blinding, lightning-quick thrusts that may well pierce through what remains of Takeshi's armor--all the better for Orb's purifying light to reach him within.
<"As you truly are.">
KTS: Kaworu Nagisa targets Takeshi Todo with Elegant Swordplay!
<Pose Tracker> Yuka Ohta has posed.
In some ways, it's comforting to be at a distance from the fighting... The obvious reduction of personal danger, at least in the short term, is great for a non-pilot. On the other hand, it hurts a certain amount, to rely on others to handle it. That's not her role though, so no sense focusing on it. It doesn't stop her wincing in sympathy though. Both from the attack, and some of the words. The part about a world he belongs to in particular, pulls at her. "...If this world isn't somewhere you can be appreciated for yourself, then it just has to become kinder in that way. Meter by meter, one person at a time. But... I've got faith, both in you and the world. I think there are people and places waiting for you, even if you can't see them right now." Maybe she has a slanted view, as someone who did find places she fits, and people who like her how she is. But it's all the more reason to keep reaching out.
A glance slides to Sigma, she's wondering if maybe sh could ask for some assistance, but... That line of thought never reaches her lips at all. Her camera units have all been fried by the stream, with only two even able to make it back to dock. And when she's about to send more out, she stops. There's a faint sound of a young, upset kaiju over her communications array. It's understandably scared, and she needs to take a moment to handle this. She'll leave a few words first though. "Everyone, you're nearly there. A little further, and... we can bring him home safe."
KTS: Yuka Ohta targets Takeshi Todo with Demoralize!
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"You're right! We don't! People have died on this voyage! Tons of choices get made for us. That doesn't mean it's not worth making the ones we get to until then," Akane replies to Takeshi, the fear starting to creep in -- but she swallows it down, moving to transfer control.
Even as the machine starts to invert itself, Akane continues speaking. "That makes it more important to make the most of what we've got here and now!" she insists -- even pleads.
After the machine settles and Akane affirms, "You have control!" to Rikka, she continues, "You know what, Takeshi?"
As Rikka rushes forward, Akane says, "Everyone gets to make that decision for themselves! And you know what else?" She leans forward, adding:
"I know just enough about what happened with you to know that you've got three friends who already gave you their answer on that kinda thing. I dunno them, but I bet they'll be mad if I have to tell them something that sucks when we get home."
The Synapse Attack works, specifically, to dissolve the Zero Emperor's armor, rather than aggressing on Takeshi himself -- relying on Akane and Rikka's familiarity with kaiju to differentiate kaiju from Hyper Agent. 'Peel off someone's armor' has always been in Akane's repertoire, after all -- and using kaiju as tools is something that, at this point, she rejects.
KTS: Akane Shinjo has activated the Enable Spirit Command. KTS: Akane Shinjo has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Akane Shinjo has activated the Enable Spirit Command. KTS: Akane Shinjo targets Takeshi Todo with Dual Synapse Attack! KTS: Yuka Ohta demoralizes Takeshi Todo, reducing his Morale drastically. KTS: [Spirit Defense] Takeshi Todo's Adjudicator of Cosmic Law activates, and his spirit is adjusted. KTS: Takeshi Todo fails to react to Kaworu Nagisa's Elegant Swordplay, taking 7150 damage! KTS: Kaworu Nagisa has engaged Takeshi Todo! KTS: Takeshi Todo fails to react to Akane Shinjo's Dual Synapse Attack, taking 8400 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Akane Shinjo's Stimulation activates, causing Designate L1! KTS: Kaworu Nagisa has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Mari Makinami Illustrious KTS: Kaworu Nagisa has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Mari Makinami Illustrious KTS: Kaworu Nagisa has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Mari Makinami Illustrious <Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.
But these 'miracles' it keeps bringing about; THOSE are the problems--
<"That's the blessed curse of the Fruit of Knowledge! The birthright of all Lilim!">
Mari drives drillbits into the density of that skull with reckless abandon. Her eyes are wide; her voice is a wild shout that carries above the horrific sound of grinding, crushing metal and cracking, churning kaiju armor. She looks, and sounds, as bestial as the very nickname Takeshi accused her with in these moments.
<"And it's YOUR BIRTHRIGHT TOO! You say there's no world you belong?!">
And she revels in that fact. That fact...
<"Sounds to me like what you need is a 'miracle' of your own!">
... and the fact that despite all that battlelust, she can still reach out to a person she has only known in violence.
This close to Takeshi, however, leaves Mari poorly positioned. Behind red-rimmed spectacles, her eyes widen as she watches oppositional forces of cold and heat collide with the clasp of the Zero Emperor's hands.
Antipode Cluster...
She begins a retreat--
SUPERNOVA!
-- too late.
All she has time to do is ratchet the Rapidborers back into place before Evangelion Unit-04 is consumed in a deluge of extreme, impossible temperature fluctuations, energies engulfing it until not even its silhouette can be seen.
Only the occasional flicker of the Eva's A.T. Field, and the screams of its pilot, rise above the tempest.
And eventually, even that screaming stops, until only the hazy aftermath of absolute heat and cold's collision remain. Silence lingers.
<"... hhh... hhhhh... hhhaaaaaaahh...">
Until hands - human hands, flecked with burn blisters and frostbite and ash and ice clinging to their fingers, -burst- forth from the hazy aftermath, chipped fingernails scraping against the twin triggers of two assault rifles as they bury against the chestplate of the Zero Emperor.
Ultraman Orb, Mary, Akane, Rikka--you still live, Kaworu observes -- almost asks.
<"... Of course~... not gonna... let the Kaiju King... get out of his miracle that easy~...">
Within the entry plug of Evangelion Unit-04, Mari is slumped forward, her panting hoarse; her glasses are fractured in an ugly scar along the right lens, a fact reflected in the blood that drools free and copiously from a wound at her forehead, trailing a wet, scarlet path all the way down until it smears its fading colors across her clenched teeth. Her arms glow an angry, painful pink-white, bubbles bursting along the limbs all the way to the mid-forearms where, coincidentally, the armored platings on Unit-04 have been melted and shattered from.
<"Nyeh heh heh... See that...?"> she wonders. The Evangelion's meaty hands almost look like they're distending for a moment, as if, freed from binding plats, they're trying to become something -else-. Fingers start to elongate and press downward like they were almost -- forming the fingers of a bat--
<"Your miracle's... coming. You can't... escape it now~. The miracle... of a world...">
--but they're still flexible enough to SQUEEZE on those triggers as Mari roars.
<"... WHERE YOU BELONG!">
And she fires. And fires. And -fires-. Even though her fingers burn in agony, she doesn't relieve the pressure from either of those triggers for a second, bullets bursting across the kaiju armor of the Zero Emperor's chest at point blank before Eva-04 begins to rapidly retreat as fast as its damaged S-Type thrusters will allow it, firing and firing and -firing- in an increasingly wider sweep to tear off chunks of armor -- chunks of Kaiju -- that Akane and Rikka weaken and dissolve while providing space for the rest of them -- Kaworu, Akane, Gai with his purifying power --
-- to all do what they do best.
<"The beacon's still burning bright for you, boyo! Time for you to get a GOOD LOOK AT IT!">
KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious targets Takeshi Todo with Assault Rifles - Forever Firing! KTS: Takeshi Todo fails to react to Mari Makinami Illustrious's Assault Rifles - Forever Firing, taking 7370 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Takeshi Todo has posed.
They all still live. After all of that, they all yet function.
This swiftly becomes Takeshi's problem.
Kaworu lunges in first, delivering stabs faster than the eye can see, wielding a rapier with preternatural mastery. He can't hope to defend against it, not in the span of time he has available to him. And so Gilarus gives its all, the Zero Emperor keeping up with unfathomable speed until finally its legs give out, dissolving in a haze before Kaworu catches him in the face with a final blow. "I tried being accepted. I was, and then all of this! Even if by some miracle you do 'restore' me, it's already over! Even if you all forgive me, do you think I can forgive myself!? At least this way... THIS WAY I can do something for the world--"
The one he already claimed to hate. The one controlling him like a sock-puppet, twisting his emotions with a dogma antithetical to life itself.
The other Evangelion comes next. Mari hurls herself into him like the beast that she is, the Enkidu to Kaworu's Gilgamesh. Savagery to civilization. Assault rifles roar, blasting into the Emperor's chestplate, ripping chunks away as the skull gives one last death-rattle before bursting in a wave of electromagnetic force, forcing her away. Devil Phazer's protection fails at last as it crumbles completely, the armor giving way with a final, mournful death-rattle. "A miracle... Knowledge? What has my 'knowledge' ever really given me!? All that it's ever been good for is destruction--"
His miracle is coming. Like a freight train, it's coming.
Ultraman Orb races in, reaches out, seizing hold of the staggering Zero Emperor. He blazes with the gentle light of twinned purification. At its touch, Triple Zero is stripped away. Takeshi screams, but then seems to sag-- "You're... right. It does need to... end." Takeshi breathes raggedly...
Until the ruined remains of his wings disengage and hurls itself at the Ultraman, receiving the full brunt of the purification and fading slowly back into cyberspace once the energy animating it is peeled back. Part of his heart, of Takeshi's heart, refuses to let his resolve break now. Not yet. "Stealgun... Thank you."
But Orb is not alone. There are others still. The Synapse attack races in, delivering a chemical mixture custom-built to dissolve the Zero Emperor into its component chemistry. "Those three... I..." Takeshi murmurs as the disintegration spreads up his arms... Which detach and accept erasure to spare its master. Blizzalar and Flamelar give one last roar before disincorporating. "Can they forgive me, for what I've done? For trying to destroy everything, can I--" There's doubt there, even if it's being swallowed up again by the encroachment of Cosmic Law and the catastrophic explosion of the last two kaiju.
All of that power, all of that effort, to strip away his protection...
"Hhhk--" And yet, in the rubble, the armor of isolation, forged from pieces of his own heart crumbling to binary ash all around him, Takeshi Todo is still there. The smoke slowly clears, parting to reveal him standing on barely any legs, hand stretched overhead... To meet the sudden opening of a digital gateway.
"I was... hoping it would have finished compiling by now, but... This will have to suffice." Takeshi wheeze as-- as something emerges from the doorway. It looks like a jagged, angry sun; a wicked, coruscating thing that seems to lash out at the universe itself. It races down, a shooting star of ill omen, and lands in Takeshi's outstretched hand, shedding a sudden, blinding light. It pulses through the surrounding space, something shifting fundamentally... as reality seems to crack around him-- and his own arm begins to dissolve, though that star continues to shine.
Image Ref: https://imgur.com/a/5jrSsa6
"No, Takeshi, that's-- you can't!" Sigma stammers, slamming his hands on his digital 'console.' "That'll destroy us all-- you AND us!"
"That, old friend, has always been the point!" Takeshi snarls as the very fabric of the universe begins to fray, the black of the vacuum turning white not with light, but with pure emptiness, all meaning stripped away. "The entire universe is nothing but information... And with the right power, with the right knowledge, it can all be deleted! All of it! You! Me! I had meant for this to be wielded by our King of Kings, but I'll just have to put it to use here instead!"
"That's--" Sigma shakes his head, "That's the program that Takeshi created to destroy the indestructible. Takeshi... With Gridman's help, he once used that to end a Hyper Devil. And now..." He clenches his hands, balling them into impossibly tight fists. With a blip, Gridman Sigma disappears, vanishing into a flicker of light. Did he run away...? Now, at the very last...?
...
A light races from division train to evangelion to evangelion to Kakuseijin, before erupting into the decaying vaccuum. It fades quickly, materializing into the physical form of Gridman Sigma, who lifts his own hand high...
And reveals the Acceptor on his wrist.
"Heh, come here to die with me? I'm surprised. I didn't think you'd run away, but I didn't think you'd go for the front row seats-- Hn, wait, that's--"
"An Acceptor, yes. Made from a power I borrowed to save you... And that's exactly what I intend to do with it! GRID--"
Sigma draws his arm back down and back, "--FIXER--"
"BEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAM!" Finally, he thrusts it outward, wrist upheld, releasing a brilliant rain of stars amidst a field of soft pink. Before it, the universe itself seems to mend, only for that terrible program to push back again. Back and forth, it goes, but...
"F-fixer beam...!? Another one!?" Takeshi gasps as the ray consumes him, stripping the dregs of cosmic power away, though it still burns defiantly in his eyes, coiling greedily around his soul. "Tch... Idiot, do you think that you can last for long against Cosmic Law!? Run while you still can, Sigma! You don't need to die here!"
"I'm not going to leave you. Not when you can still care enough to ask me. But you're right-- I can't... keep this up...!" Sigma grimaces. The power he borrowed from Gridman is finite, and against something like Triple Zero, it can't possibly win. "Hurry. Stop him... while I hold it back! I just need a moment. Just... make him drop his guard...!"
It's now or never-- if that terrible power is unleashed, who can say what it's capable of. Surely, even driven by Cosmic Law, it can't really be able to outright delete pieces of reality... can it?
...Whatever its dread light touches dissolves. Whatever the Fixer Beam touches is restored almost immediately. A war of destruction and restoration, with only one possible victor.
Make sure it's you. Bring this to an end.
<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.
Orb raises his arms to protect himself as Stealgun detaches from Takeshi and launches itself at him... but the kaiju disintegrates in the wave of purification energy he's emitting before it can strike and finish him off.
Still glowing gold-and-rose, the Ultraman observes the battlefield - Takeshi and Sigma clashing, Fixer Beam trying to mend what Takeshi's program is unravelling.
... Wait.
... Destroy the indestructible?
Orb glides over towards the clash, and gently places on hand on Sigma's shoulder, trying to buoy the fragmented Hyper Agent with his own strength. "Don't fight it," he murmurs.
"Turn it. Change it. From a program of annihilation to a program of salvation. Instead of destroying the universe, it'll destroy..." Sigma can figure out the next step, surely.
"Doctor Ohta! Do anything you can to help! Shinjo-san, if you can think of anything...!"
He extends his other hand towards the crackling, heartlike orb, wincing as its energy tears at its form - and golden light joins Sigma's Fixer Beam, wrapping around the program and helping suppress its devastating power.
Finally: He addresses Takeshi properly. "Look at how much you are loved, that Sigma will spend all of himself just to try and bring you home."
The flickering holographic image of the Tri-Juster around his Colour Timer blazes again with that roseate light.
KTS: Gai Kurenai targets Takeshi Todo with Cosmium Juster!
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
"We're hanging in there." Rikka confirms to Kaworu. "Good to see you are, too."
Akane makes a lot of good points - and in the end, their gambit seems to have worked, the kaiju peeled away.
"...It isn't over. It won't be easy. It'll hurt. But this doesn't have to be the end. You aren't the only one who's suffered because of this - can you really look at the people around you and think they wouldn't accept you? The people you're running from are the ones who'd understand the most what you've gone through!" Rikka counters.
...Unfortunately, Takeshi has one last gambit - a program to delete the world.
"No...!" Rikka gasps. ...Is this it...? What can they do?
...Fortunately, Sigma comes to the aid, with...
"Fixer Beam..." Rikka murmurs. It's her second time seeing it. It's no less amazing the second time...
...But right now, it's clashing against an equal power. The power to heal against the power of destruction.
"Akane... if anyone can reach him, it's you. You have control!" Rikka says, passing control back over to her. She'll put her trust in her. Rikka gives the controls a gentle squeeze. "I'm with you."
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
What is a world? What is the value of a world?
Isn't it to be the place where the ones you love can live in peace?
<"I see. Then what you truly can't accept--is this situation that you've been forced into."> Kaworu pauses. Then he points out to Takeshi, <"You truly needn't worry about that. We've purified and accepted many former Dawn Apostles. You and Mikoto Utsugi will only be the most recent. In that sense, you'll belong perfectly.">
He smiles over at Rikka as she confirms her wellbeing. <"Yes.">
But, while the Zero Emperor may have been breached--Takeshi himself remains, and he calls up a certain program. The smile fades from Kaworu's lips as he beholds it, matter dissolving around it. Like a vacuum decay...
In an instant, Sigma appears before him, though, and calls up his own Fixer Beam. Existence and nothingness do battle against each other, neither gaining or ceding ground. But Orb goes to Sigma's side and makes a suggestion--and Kaworu looks over to Mari in Unit-04.
<"Mary. The Dawn is a physical affliction that can be cured, as you know,"> he says. <"Let us enhance that cure.">
As if to explain what he means, Kaworu has Unit Beta thrust out an elegant hand. Shimmering light manifests before her, that very familiar shield of the Evangelion--but it acts not as a shield, but as a lens that fills in the space around Sigma. Like a satellite dish to pick up his signal and enhance it--to send out an even more powerful Grid Fixer Beam.
It's only half the dish, though. It could be one, but two Evangelions combined will shine far more brilliantly than one alone--and through them...
<"Let us flare Scorpio's flames so brightly, it outshines the Dawn.">
KTS: Kaworu Nagisa targets Takeshi Todo with Separation!
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"Didn't they already?" Akane asks Takeshi. She knows the script she was running -- Sigma told her a lot about how it went for Takeshi. While she doesn't know the particulars...
... well, she knows what Alexis was hoping to rhyme with.
It's when Sigma risks himself, though, that Akane feels real urgency. The loop of creation and destruction... risky, as she knows full well. When she was doing that sort of thing, it threatened to consume her entirely...
... which means they'll need to place their thumbs on the scale. "Right," Akane says, as yet again, the machine inverts, and yet again, she has control.
She streaks for Takeshi, not allowing herself to hesitate. Orb asks if she can think of anything, and Akane says, "... Honestly, I don't know what I'm doing. I think most people are just winging it," slightly deadpan as she moves not to engage Takeshi, but to defend Sigma and Gai with Kakuseijin V2's body. Sure, it's smaller -- more of a shield than armor -- but the best thing she can do is trust in them.
... And for that matter, the best thing she can do is encourage the same in Takeshi -- use his memory of his friends like a crowbar. "... Are you just doing this so you don't have to look your old buddies in the eye?" she fires off, as she sticks close to Gai. "Because, like, trust me. They're gonna be disappointed if they don't get to see you again."
KTS: Akane Shinjo has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Gai Kurenai KTS: Akane Shinjo has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Gai Kurenai KTS: Akane Shinjo targets Gai Kurenai with Fortify!
<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.
Miniaturized A.T. Fields bloom along the exposed arms of Evangelion Unit-04, semi-transparent sheathes that work like patchwork casts to maintain their more humanoid form. It's not the standard use of the A.T. Field -- it's something that lies beyond the conventional scope of their defensive use.
But then, defying convention is practically Mari Makinami Illustrious' raison d'etre.
Her breathing comes ragged and lively, chest heaving with every shuddering suck of air. Her arms still glow in sympathetic resonance with Unit-04; the assault rifles' barrels have been overworked so much that they have heated to melted slag. And still...
... and still, Takeshi brings out a trump card, to try to unwind his existence and theirs in an instant.
<"Hoo,"> huffs Mari, and despite that keen, narrow-eyed stare instantly recognizing the danger of such a thing -- there's still a smile on her lips, sharpened to a knife's rueful edge though it might be. <"Keeping an ace like that in your back pocket until the final moment... you're a dramatic son of a bitch, Kaiju King~. And you say you don't belong with the rest of humanity!">
She's not about to accept an end with quiet dignity, though. Neither have been Mari's place. Her eyes shut, slowly. Her smile fades. <"But I've got no interest in a flawless void."> She starts to rise, murmuring, "Input: Backdoor code..."
... before Gridman Sigma interposes, using power gifted by his fellow Hyper Agent to do what Hyper Agents do best--
Fix the things that break.
Mari Makinami blinks.
And a cattish curl of surprise and enthusiasm tugs at her bloodied lips.
<"Oho.">
The Fixer Beam wars. And Orb adds his light to the process, attempting to bolster the recreation that Sigma unleashes. Mari considers... and rolls one shoulder, and then the other.
<"Flaws are what make life so interesting, Takeshi Todo,"> she murmurs, turning her gaze up. <"Will humanity accept you again? Do you deserve it? Those are the questions you should relish having the right to ask! It's time for you to stop sweating the small stuff, and embrace the bad with the good!">
Kaworu reaches out to her; and rather than grip her controls, Mari grins bright as she -thrusts- both hands forward, fingers splayed.
Let us flare Scorpio's flames so brightly, it outshines the Dawn.
<"You took the words right out of my mouth, Tabby Cat!">
And Unit-04's all-too human hands -thrust- out as well, burnt by cold and ice alike; A.T. Fields splinter off those pulsating sheathes, blooming and growing in flowering patterns of octagonal petals. They position themselves alongside Unit Beta's, tilting and turning in every conceivable direction as they surround Sigma, Takeshi, Gai and that artifact of annihilating code; every pulse of light, from the Fixer Beam or from Gai, is caught and redirected, back towards the source; as Kaworu intensifies those sources of purifying power through his A.T. Fields, Mari makes sure that all that energy is recycled and rebounded -right back-, creating a perpetuating, intensifying star of warmth.
The light of a human heart, after all, doesn't have to just ward away the world.
It can help create a bright, shining beacon to true happiness.
KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious targets Takeshi Todo with Rapidborer - Savaging! KTS: Takeshi Todo fails to react to Gai Kurenai's Cosmium Juster, taking 4743 damage! KTS: Takeshi Todo has been defeated! KTS: Takeshi Todo fails to react to Kaworu Nagisa's Separation, taking 3600 damage! KTS: Takeshi Todo has been defeated! KTS: Takeshi Todo fails to react to Mari Makinami Illustrious's Rapidborer - Savaging, taking 5120 damage! KTS: Takeshi Todo has been defeated! KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious has engaged Takeshi Todo! <Pose Tracker> Takeshi Todo has posed.
Change it, Orb says as he adds his own dose of borrowed power to Sigma's own. Turn it from a program of destruction, to one of salvation. Sigma looks up at him, at the Ultraman over his shoulder, with eyes wide in surprise. To reprogram something that Takeshi made to eradicate the world... To change that 0 into a 1--
For a being like a Hyper Agent, that is... eminently possible. "I'll try," Sigma says wearily, "But I'll need an in. That program is as much a part of Takeshi as the kaiju are--"
But that means...
"The Fixer Beam, give me a moment of opening, and--"
The AT Fields flare. Takeshi makes a noise of surprise, "I don't know what you're planning, but it won't work. It's already too late, the program is-- nngh!!" The form Takeshi Todo takes now is nothing less than part of his soul given form and reinforced by Triple Zero. So too is the program hovering over him. Empowered by twin AT Fields, shining with the light of the soul, is it really much of a surprise when the twinned Fixer Beam can penetrate them both? It washes over the V2 Neuronoid, bathing it in soft pink light that pushes back the encroaching oblivion eating away at its form-- and conveys the words and presence of the young women aboard it to the distant Ruin Apostle.
"They... How could they-- when I've made the same mistake. When I can't stop, even when I want to, I--"
Now.
"Everyone... Thank you," Sigma says, softly. "Shinjo-san, I'm sorry again that I couldn't be a better teacher. Kaworu, Mary, I hope that you two can forgive me taking my leave before we could track down Duma. But, I have a favor to ask of you-- of all of you."
"Take care of Takeshi for me, would you?"
Sigma smiles as the Fixer Beam overwhelms his old friend. In that moment, the apocalyptic star seems to flicker, and then invert, bathing the world in the self-same soft-pink light as the Fixer Beam itself. The form of Conqueror King Gridman Sigma-- of the erstwhile Kaiju King, Takeshi Todo-- is pinned in a rictus, the embers of dawn yet flaring defiantly in his eyes.
There is still something left to be done. But Sigma knew that all along. He had prepared for this moment.
"I'm coming, my friend. You'll be yourself again soon." Sigma lifts his left arm as the light of his Fixer Beam fades, though it may still pulse from the purified star and from Orb himself. "Access..."
A fist is slammed into the Acceptor. Sigma smiles as his body turns to light, "Flash."
One more time, Gridman Sigma races towards the one who had stolen his face, whose face he himself had stolen. Access Flash is the power to unite two hearts, and these two fit together like pieces of a puzzle.
...
In an instant that lasts an eternity, Gridman Sigma finds Takeshi Todo amidst a haze of eternal dawn. The two lock eyes for a long moment.
What specifically is said then and there is... perhaps, for another time. But it's sure that he communicates the cautious but eager camaraderie of a kaiju-blessed scientist, the love of an angel for humanity and the gleeful defiance of someone who is as much beast as woman-- and yet all too human. He brings the words of another Giant of Light, who believes only the best for humanity.
He confers the quiet determination of a young woman to love and know the world and its people, no matter how they reject their own happiness.
...And he conveys the resilience of one who is so much like him.
...And as one goes to reach a hand to the other, the sun finally, finally rises.
...
With an anguished scream, the Light of Dawn pours out of the Ruin Apostle's body, draining into the overwhelming radiance of the focused, cycled, and refined Fixer Beam. He convulses as if seizing, but slowly, slowly, his form shrinks down, the Giant fading away until only the man within is left behind, floating in a bubble of soft, pink light.
On his wrist, a familiar Acceptor.
Someone will need to rescue him before that light fades, after all...
Gridman Sigma is no longer here to do so himself.
<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.
Orb's Colour Timer is flashing more insistently now as Takeshi and Sigma finally reunite, and Gai allows himself to let go of the power.
Spark Eclipse is engulfed once more in light, dwindling down to the shape of a mere human - sheathed in a corona of light that seems to create its own bubble of air. Gai Kurenai drifts over to the unconscious Takeshi and pulls him into his aura.
At this size, limited only to the mere transmission of sound through atmosphere rather than the resonance of hearts, he can no longer tell the others what he's doing. Instead he gives each of them - the Kakuseijin, the two Evangelions - a firm nod, and stretches the Orb Ring out towards the Mizuha, the shield of light carrying himself and Takeshi towards the artifical atmosphere and safety of the Division Train.
<Pose Tracker> Yuka Ohta has posed.
When Yuka next gets an opportunity to focus, she can see things have gone to a new extreme. A program to... She considers that for a moment. She can't interfere with it directly. The Dawn makes quite certain of that. But there are other options here. Everyone can hear her speedtyping something in the background. "Y'know, that's true. Even when we've got a thoroughly tested plan, it still ends up with a lot of flying by the seats of our pants. But that's when some people shine most." Yeah, like right now. Hopefully this actually works.
"Hey Takeshi. From a programmer to a programmer, how about one last challenge?" Even like this, he has to have some pride in his art, right? She just needs him to take the bait. "You built all those kaiju, carefully, lovingly crafting each one like family. I made these kaiju-busting robots, despite adoring kaiju. But all the same, they're both like children of my own." Where is she going with this? She can't strengthen the Fixer Beam directly. But what she can do is call on a reliable friend or two. Or at least... something close. A stream of information feeds over to Sigma, compiled data from Sevenger and Windom sent to brace and support the Hyper Agent with their stalwart metal hearts. It isn't perfect by any means, but it's what she's able to do on short notice. And... sometimes that can be just enough to save someone's heart.
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Together, they all reach out - and the light of the Fixer Beam shines with them, washing over all. So strengthened, it's enough to outshine even the Light of Dawn.
"...We'd really suck if we said all that and didn't follow through. Don't worry." Rikka replies to Sigma's request. "Do what you have to do."
Sigma turns into light, two hearts unit...
...and, seeing the giant form fade away, leaving only a man safely enveloped in a bubble of light, Rikka breathes a sigh of relief.
She allows herself to relax. It feels like this long day is finally over.
"We did it." Rikka breathes out, and then smiles, directed at Akane. "...You did good."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
As Gridman Sigma and Takeshi once again reunite, Akane can't help herself but smile -- even as Sigma chastises himself.
"... Trust me, 'mid but enthusiastic' is a big improvement for me as far as teachers go," Akane chides Sigma, as yet again, she parts from a Hyper Agent -- at least for now. She winces, bracing herself for the worst, but --
... It's enough. Yet again, Takeshi Todo is made whole. An Acceptor unites hearts -- as it does.
Slumping slightly in her pilot seat, Akane says, "You did good, too," with a momentary sigh of relief. "We make a pretty good team..." She sounds exhausted, though -- she was never meant to accelerate past a light jog, and yet here she is, having an absolutely grueling run of it.