NEVER DIE.

@spiral-chronicler​ PIERCED: ┖❝ˢᵖᶦʳᵃˡ ᵗʳᵃⁿˢᵐᶦˢˢᶦᵒⁿ❞┚ ★★—action meme: ʻleans in to kiss but then stops themselves.ʼ

THE ONE THING YOU CHOOSE        FOR YOURSELF - -

An enemy was simply the wall that insisted on blocking the stars from view - grudges were a thing of the past, and far too heavy to be a driving force to move ahead.     If there was anything the other half of his soul had taught him, it was that straight up or straight ahead were the only two directions available - and the snaggletoothed jerk beside him was decent enough proof of that. It was simple enough, you show your teeth, and he had a set of his own.         Raise a hand against those set alight by his flame, and he’d show no mercy. Share your loyalty and passion for the stars and tomorrow, and he was simply a man. The vaguely beastly bastard, while the demonic lord DEIGNED to say it aloud, had done more to burn up and bust out of the ashes than the rest of them, and had even extended his hand to that dumb little brother once again making himself miserable in the dirt.       A languid hellfire gaze ripped from the stars above, instead whipping around to reflect sunspot pools, lips parting as he prepared to exclaim something likely profound, only to record-screech in speech and soul. Less than a hair’s length away, the undue heat of eternal breath against a hellion’s mouth, with all signs pointing to a clash of spirit and fire, though the visual he had a reference to was.. not the same at all.         And then a retreat - a mistake? Nah, bullshit. The furry didn’t make small ones.

                         “Oi, Fluffbutt, ya’ got something to say?             Sayin’ it with your body is what a man’s all about, yanno!”

🚀—“Jｏｉｎ ｗｉｔｈ ｙｅｓｔｅｒｄａｙ'ｓ ｆｏｅ ｔｏ ｓｍａｓｈ ｆａｔｅ,

                                                    💫 — ａｎｄ ｇｒａｂ ｔｏｍｏｒｒｏｗ'ｓ ｐａｔｈ

                                                                             ｗｉｔｈ ｏｕｒ ｏｗｎ ｈａｎｄｓ!”

  To say that he was relieved to see the arriving frame of Simon the Digger, in all of his proper stride, correctness of expression, and aura of warmth and capability - would have been an understatement (and one that might have wounded Avant.) The Beastman regarded Simon cordially, without ceremony, and gestured with a mere glance towards the weakened Spiral Warrior.

   Avant and Simon conducted an unsteady exchange, with the Digger’s compassion leading the forefront of the uncanny encounter. Viral watched his comrade’s visage closely, to assess the effect that witnessing one of his own reflections in such a state, might induce.

   Yet again, his very presence was referred to with a diligent contempt - but it didn’t dislodge Viral’s intention to look after the harried veteran. Avant’s Spiral-ravaged body heaved forth more cosmic feedback, and the blond was all the more determined to have the ailing specter taken to a sickbay. Eventually, the phantom reached a point of exhaustion, and his form was abruptly unwilling to endure consciousness a single moment more.  

  Just as Avant fell, the Beastman extended a thickly muscled forearm and prevented the veteran’s frame from collapsing onto the ground.

  ❝He was a handful even before you arrived. It’s no wonder that he’s too exhausted to continue. His Spiral Toxicity is beyond anything I’ve ever seen. Not even Lordgenome had such symptoms. Let’s take him to Triage 3.❞

   He didn’t foresee opposition in Simon, and Avant’s figure was a negligible weight in his arms, a Beastman’s strength was often augmented ten or times that of a Human’s biology. The translocation pad that the Spiral Commander had used would be utilized again, and the three of them would be transported within moments, to the sickbay most apt at dire cases. 

    Triage 3 was the name of the facility within the Chouginga Daigurren that most efficiently addressed the worst of health crises. There were two medical bays located on the same deck, with staffing and resources capable of attending the appropriate degrees of injury or conditions. Avant was admitted without delay, accompanied by Viral. Neither Simon nor any of the senior staff of the Chouginga, such as Leeron and other field specialists, would meet protest if they too, arrived to assist with Avant’s admittance.  

    The incapacitated warrior was divested of his attire, which would be processed and stored along with any of his belongings - save for what Simon might assure could remain. Avant’s bandages (once it was revealed what was contained beneath them, could not be addressed with conventional treatment) would be exchanged for fresh wrappings, and his weary frame would be clothed in a soft, insulated sleepsuit. Its design was not far from the typical Ganmen pilot’s jumpsuit, save that the seams were nearly imperceptible to the touch, and the collar was flat, to maximize comfort. The insulation helped to apply slight pressure, stabilize temperature, and assist a body in maintaining homeostasis.

  Avant was taken to the room far to the corner of the medical bay. It was a circular space, fitted with heavy, golden panels forged from the very same alloy that composed the Chouginga’s hull. The panels absorbed ambient Spiral Energy, and would serve to keep the energies that were generated in that room, contained within that space. It would be the perfect place to let Avant rest, without allowing further outbursts to disrupt the ship’s functions.        

  Hundreds of tests would be conducted on his slumbering form - from typical diagnostics to deeply probing Spiral Scans. The results were daunting to the medical staff, they reported the grim reports to the leaders of the Chou Dai-Gurren Dan. They stood outside of Avant’s current lodgings, and Viral arched a pale brow at the findings of the illuminating tests.     

   ❝There were no biological responses?

              But there was Spiral Resonance feedback?❞

   The Beastman would share a look with the Digger, before setting a heavy hand against Simon’s bicep. The results affirmed Avant’s claims of being deceased. It was the same in Kamina’s situation. Kamina, as well, was an entity comprised wholly of Spiral Energy and willpower. The state wasn’t even that rare, for those aboard the Chouginga. There were simply those existences that could not be contained within the narrow fields of “alive” and “dead”. For some souls, existence could transcend these narrow vectors - and the Chouginga, with its isolated reality, possessing a sub-dimension that did not disrupt the timelines and progress of other worlds or realities, was the perfect place to carry on one’s great adventures. Even beyond the grave.

   ❝Oi, Simon. Stay with him, if you like. I’m going to let Kamina know that we have another reckless fool to look after.

                                      Keh! Heroes are troublesome as hell.❞

   It was a decision he made on behalf of all of them. Avant needed to wake to someone other than a Beastman who once so ardently campaigned against Humankind. And Simon might appreciate some time alone with this person - Simon was the only person who might fully comprehend what Avant’s heart had been through. …also for Kamina’s sake. He would need to know who it was that had arrived to this wild conglomeration of beings and timelines. And Viral… for himself, he chose to depart so as not to see the expression of recollection on the Digger’s face, if the subject his part in Kamina’s demise came into conversation. 

    Avant’s arrival deserved the introduction of a kinder, more complete present. And the revealing of an endless future that they built together. Looking back was no way to move forward. Those were his thoughts as he stepped into the Observation Deck, where he’d last heard Simon and Kamina reported to be - prior to the chaos sparked by Avant’s appearance.

.  

                                   🐾—ɪ'ᴍ ʜᴇʀᴇ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜsᴇ ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ʜᴇʀᴇ ,                                           ‘ǝɹǝɥ ǝɹ'noʎ ǝsnɐɔǝb ǝɹǝɥ ɯ'I

                                             ʏᴏᴜ'ᴠᴇ ɢᴏᴛ ᴀ ᴘʀᴏʙʟᴇᴍ ɴᴏᴡ!”                                              “!ʍon ɯǝןboɹd ɐ ʇoƃ ǝʌ'noʎ

THE ONE THING YOU CHOOSE        FOR YOURSELF - -

Sans the blazing cape and signature eyewear, back bare and open, cool ink almost luminescent against the glittering starscape he currently sat before, cross-legged, a broad grip on each thigh, as though poised and ready to jump to his feet if necessary.      He had not followed his heaven-breaking little brother, even though there was always a way - not with this nagging buzz in his ear. Simon could handle it, whatever it was, of course - the nausea in the pit of his stomach and a sweltering heat - the tinkling of metal, the image of a familiar bracelet around a skeletal wrist...          The memories would not leave him, so the great LEADER decided to allow them to run rampant - it wasn’t fear that bade him pause, but something else, that he couldn’t quite identify.       His belief in the impossible was not something he had been born with, as much as he would punch the concept into everyone around him, but cultivated and encouraged - his old man was the pinnacle of what he had aspired to be.... but that was an absolute, he didn’t doubt the fact... so why...?         A sigh, immediately warped into a high-pitched scream as the wavering FWIP of energy coughing up an entity onto the deck sounded behind him, causing strangely sharp teeth to grit, agitation shot askance, ready to tear into the perpetrato- -           Ah, it was just the fluffball.   A small ‘Tch’, and the great man continued to brood, waving off the intrusion with minimal effort - if it was the talking bear-trap, that meant whatever he had contained hadn’t eaten him, which was good, but with his little sibling nowhere in sight... then Simon must still be with whatever had caused the scare.

                        “So yer’ still in one piece, eh, Furry?                                             Simon went ta’ save ya, yanno - don’t scare him like that.        So, what’s the emergency, you cough up a hairball you couldn’t clean up yourself?”

Lilting octaves hosted nothing but a teasing tone, though the uneasiness in his demeanor was an easy thing to read to those who knew the language.            Two fighting spirits clashing against one another, that’s all they had been, and Viral was the kind of guy who held his ideals close to whatever kind of weird heart they had given him - If Simon said they weren’t fighting, now, then he could care less who took the blame for what, no matter what, he believed in that boy, and it would grant anyone amnesty in his eyes.

THE ONE THING YOU CHOOSE        FOR YOURSELF - -

There was no trusting it, the bright-ass glowing circle of fuck on the floor - the pride in his little brother was overflowing, but that didn’t stop the great Leader from refusing to follow.             IF HE COULDN’T REACH A DESTINATION ON HIS OWN TWO FEET,                             WHAT KIND OF MAN WAS HE? The Great DEMON LORD had, in all actuality, been stuck on the Observation Deck for a solid five hours, now, unable to find his way anywhere more interesting, or not completely filled with foreheads and their endless words.

        A quick adjustment of those signature shades, a hidden gaze trained solemnly at the teleportation pad in front of him.

              HE WASN’T GONNA STEP ON IT, HELL NO.

                           “Mm - ! Good luck, Simon!”

Yᴏᴜ ᴛᴀᴜɢʜᴛ ᴍᴇ ᴛʜᴇ cσurαgє ᴏғ ѕ t α r ѕ ʙᴇғᴏʀᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ʟᴇғᴛ  - ʜᴏᴡ ℓ ι g н t ᴄᴀʀʀɪᴇs ᴏɴ єndlєѕѕlч, ᴇᴠᴇɴ ᴀғᴛᴇʀ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ.

                                                         ☆═━┈ ┈ ┈ ┈ ┈ ┈ ┈ ┈ ┈ ┈━═☆

                                      ᴡɪᴛʜ sʜᴏʀᴛɴᴇss ᴏғ breath, ʏᴏᴜ ᴇxᴘʟᴀɪɴᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ i n f i n i t e;                                       ʜᴏᴡ rαrє ᴀɴᴅ вєαυᴛιfυℓ, ɪᴛ ɪs ᴛᴏ ᴇᴠᴇɴ e x i s t.

 The legendary Kamina utilized Simon’s shoulder to steady himself, to which the Digger certainly obliged. The correction surprised him almost as much as the odd surge he felt at the pit of his stomach, when it happened, though. He was listening, of course, but more closely, he was watching the Dai-Gurren Bridgade’s founder.

                  ‘Is Aniki feeling all right…?’

  There had been plenty of times that his heart had stirred in zeal for the impassioned encouragement that flowed so easily off of Kamina’s tongue - when it had seemed for so long, that Simon’s existence merited only derision and dismissal. Of course, he considered himself well enough grown past that clumsy stage of himself. He was cool, these days. Collected. Confident. And he stood next to this man as an equal. Probably. All right, mostly.  

    Still, it was a bit of a thrill, somehow, to be the one to steady Kamina’s steps for once.

  “Starsick? Eh? That’s pretty cool, Aniki. Is that really a thing?           Sometimes solar winds give a little push, if we’re hit broadside.”

   Cool. Collected. Knowledgeable. Certainly someone Kamina could rely on, just as the Dai-Gurren Dan relied on him.

  There was an uneasiness in the depths of his thoughts; he attributed it to Kamina’s condition. He looked tense? Or at least uncharacteristically pensive. Distracted by something. …and now, he confessed to being disoriented?

      “Aniki, did you wanna sit down for a – .”

   Abruptly, the vessel’s systems rippled as if rapidly distributing an immense surge of energy. His personal Gan-Comm unit, housed within his right pocket, buzzed and issued a warning bleep! as the Bridge hailed him by protocol. The Digger, Commander-Chief of the Chouginga, withdrew and examined the succinct report, brows furrowing at each event thus unfolded. He summarized it for Kamina,   

      “After detecting a chart-busting amount of energy, a Spiral Net was tripped around the Bridge Crew Lounge.

                 Viral authorized it, so it wasn’t a malfunction.

                Sensors report an anomaly in the net, with him.

      Besides me or Lordgenome, who the hell else could exude enough Spiral Power to soak the Chouginga and trip its transformation threshold alarms? Whatever it is, we can’t leave Viral in there with something like that.”

   Simon nodded at the bright-haired legend, and crammed his Gan-Comm. device back into his pocket. He was interested in hearing any suggestions for action that Kamina would take. He was concerned for the Chouginga’s safety, and everyone on board - and it unnerved him considerably to know that the vessel’s captain had elected to contain the mysterious anomaly, with him trapped as well, along with it.

THE ONE THING YOU CHOOSE         FOR YOURSELF - -

To pinpoint the sensation would be to tread backwards, along a hazy whirlwind of feats and victories, loss and gain - his was a gaze that looked up, and up, while Simon’s was one that ought to look forward, no matter the circumstance.           A strong grip, the hand not utilizing his sibling as the support he always would, raked almost roughly through his own sky-bred locks, as he searched momentarily, in the space before him, for the source of this disturbance.          The soft ‘clink clink’ of metal with each stride, a powerful, unyielding back - a voice, telling him he could choose when he was ready.... The sub-sequential despair, at unearthing his source of inspiration from beneath what could have been years of neglect.

            - - - but, why? He, the great Kamina-sama, had charged past the grief and turned it into a weapon, so now... there was nothing left to regret...?

         He was leaning more heavily now, those phantom recollections surging harshly against the confusion at their existence, on the proud curve where neck met shoulder, up until the electronic squeak sent him catapulting to a standing position, shades up and down in front of defensive crimson.

   Trying to decipher the space-tech speak that he was certain all those foreheads had pulled straight out of their asses was something that the Leader of the Dai Gurren Dan had chosen simply not to partake in, refusing a communication device for the sole reason that he surely did not want it go off in his pants, and thus cause a scene.

                      “Furry locked himself in a room with somethin’ big?         A man’s got no reason to butt in on someone else’s fight, if he’s picked his arena,                       but since he’s a Beastman, it doesn’t count as much.        waiting isn’t our style, but I know yer’ more than capable of making a hole when the time’s right - -            Anything else gets weird, and we’ll charge in and show em’ the strength of the Dai Gurren Dan!”

That cat didn’t just up and die, so there was likely a good reason he hadn’t called for backup, or wasn’t nya’ing into a communicator at the top of his furry capacity.            - - but only Simon was capable of what Simon was capable of.

Yᴏᴜ ᴛᴀᴜɢʜᴛ ᴍᴇ ᴛʜᴇ cσurαgє ᴏғ ѕ t α r ѕ ʙᴇғᴏʀᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ʟᴇғᴛ  - ʜᴏᴡ ℓ ι g н t ᴄᴀʀʀɪᴇs ᴏɴ єndlєѕѕlч, ᴇᴠᴇɴ ᴀғᴛᴇʀ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ.

                                                         ☆═━┈ ┈ ┈ ┈ ┈ ┈ ┈ ┈ ┈ ┈━═☆

                                      ᴡɪᴛʜ sʜᴏʀᴛɴᴇss ᴏғ breath, ʏᴏᴜ ᴇxᴘʟᴀɪɴᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ i n f i n i t e;                                       ʜᴏᴡ rαrє ᴀɴᴅ вєαυᴛιfυℓ, ɪᴛ ɪs ᴛᴏ ᴇᴠᴇɴ e x i s t.

    The warmth that permeated throughout the observation deck reached Simon’s perception as well, from the doorway of the space. The radiance was not borne of any star overhead, yet its light was just as pure. Just as engulfing as the sun’s grace from back home. He knew the sensation well enough; after all, it had been the light by which his spirit had grown, once, long ago, planted deep within the Earth. The Digger acquiesced to the gesture that beckoned to him, and he crossed the dark, reflective floor.

   The observation deck reigned atop the First Bridge of the Chouginga like a glass crown, filled with starlight. It provided an incredible, panoramic view of the Heavens, beyond - and the translucence of the hull allowed for rippling fragments of light to illuminate the space, within. It was humbling, in a way, to stand alone in that place, but it seemed to suit Kamina.

     Did he imagine hearing but the tiniest bit of weight in his brother’s words, just then?

        “Mm.         Even this view was out there, too, at the exact moment that we looked up at the moon, back then.                                ...ah. That’s not true, is it?   …this is a brand new sight…                             Before, these stars were shrouded by tyranny and fear.

     The glittering lights out there are countless, newborn wonders, who’ve been waiting all this time to unveil their colors.  It’s good that you’re up here, too. To greet them.”

    The Digger smiled at the allegory, his expression soft with a gratitude of his own. In the end: time and space, life and the afterlife - all of that, too, was connected - drawn by a gravitational will, towards the singular point within a Spiral. That single space - that single moment - it lived on endlessly through them. The feeling in his chest, the familiarity, as well as an electric curiosity for what was to come - it was living, like he knew it to be.

         Memory. Imagination. Creation. Manifestation. Dreams.

          And now, they called it home, too.

THE ONE THING YOU CHOOSE        FOR YOURSELF - -

Exhaled breath that held nothing but a boundless affinity, a broad palm spread across the span of his own nape, lids dropping as though in surrender at the onslaught of poetry sewn on such familiar, soft tenors.          They had aged, of course - the voice of a kid who had just wanted to go hide in the dirt, grown into the sort of man whose voice could be heard even further than the reaches of space and time.   It wasn’t a matter of holding a candle to that passion, as he had been content enough to start the fire himself, in an effort to allow the blaze to grow strong enough to take on any opposition.      It had been his selfish folly, as an older brother, for leaving the party early,

    - - and there was no reason to concern the grounded half of his spirit with what he couldn’t even call a regret.

                      “Mm! Mochiron!         Standing still isn’t like you, Simon - moving forward, that’s how the Dai Gurren rolls, ain’t it?    Seeing what’s ahead, that’s what we can do, n- h’eh - -?

”Rolling speech and a brazen grin, halted only momentarily by a glance cast askance, arm immediately extending to grip his beloved little brother on the shoulder instead, towards some unseen wave of what he could only describe as a warped familiarity - had they stopped, slowed down, sped up? The sensation of motion sickness couldn’t possibly be a thing on a vessel this large.            

                                 “Gonna get.. eh, what would that be? Starsick?”

               “ C‘mon don’t embarrass me like that,it’s not your time yet.” Yoko murmurs, obviously talking to her rifle as she attempts to fix it.she never lets anyone upgrade it or even get near it,Leeron had offered to fix it for her after their last fight,but yoko refused as usual, CLAIMING to know what to do. She did…sort of.good thing she managed to find an empty spot where she can work and COMPLAIN without being heard or TEASED about her IDIOTIC way of fixing a jammed up rifle.a FRUSTRATED sigh escapes her lips and the sniper simply punches the weapon  ( the usual method used when she runs out of ideas.) And there goes a bullet flying out of it’s barrel and..almost hitting someone. “ Ha !!  This never fails !! ” she almost yells in HAPPINESS until she notices the man who who INTERRUPTED her private moment,Yoko didn’t seem apologetic at all.instead, she aimed at him “ My aim is a little off, stand still I need a little practice. ” she jokes in order to piss him off a bit. 

THE ONE THING YOU CHOOSE        FOR YOURSELF - -

Idle curiosity, the enigmatic wandering of MAN rewarded with an immediate death sentence - the roar that erupted from deep within the toned, inked muscles of the great leader’s chest was high pitched and unseemly, immediately skipping back on a heel upon being made to evade the misfire.       With no real comprehension of how the damn gun worked, there was no way to know whether or not he was currently in trouble, or why she was so MAD that the crimson spitfire was just going to end his misery, here and now.

                “Oi - oi oi oi oI OI! COME ON, THUNDER THIGHS,  WHERE YA’ AIMIN’? Between the legs is a man’s passion,                   ya’ can’t just go firing that thing off!”

He crossed the distance between them, a dare to the blazing ruby in his gaze, staring down the barrel of the rifle in his brazen approach(His trust in her was far beyond the scope of reason, after all) - A strain of the shoulders, a soft heave, and he would hoist himself up onto whatever outcropping she had planted herself on, turning and squatting in a hooligan’s stance, a light brow arced high as sharp gesture was made back towards camp.

                “They said ya’ were having trouble with somethin’,                           is that it?”