A Man's Romance

Jayr POV - Earth, Underground Area - 1007 AFA-SW

Feeling the excited pulse coming from this mini-type Gunmen, I grin and with my right hand I grab the Core Drill, I push into it my Spiral Power and turn it, and instantly, the image of a smooth and more circular green spiral gauge appears on the panel that quickly start to fill as it turns clockwise.

At the same time, the mini-type Gunmen opens its eyes and mouth releasing an energy beam of green light from them, then as it lifts off the ground it starts to transform, releasing arms from its "ears", and legs from the neck area.

(Image Here - Jayr's mini-type Gunmen)

With now a full-blown smile forms on my face, I grab the handles on the side and instantly I feel a mental link form between me and the mini-type Gunmen and understand that it will follow all the movements I will think of, I'm basically using Spiral Power as a conduit of my will, it is like I became the brain, the Spiral Power the electric signals sent by the brain, and the mini-type Gunmen the body that will move according the the order of the brain, 'In fact, once I get a little more used to the Spiral Power, I can command this mini-type Gunmen even without holding on the handles... But let's stop thinking about that boring stuff and let's focus on the fun part!'

And so I quit thinking about how all this works and focus on enjoying the moment, I start by simply moving the mini-type Gunmen's limb one at a time, feeling the sensations and checking the response and precision of the movements, and I have to admit, that it is quite surprising.

As the mini-type Gunmen's arms, hands, and legs slowly wave and twist around as I continue to check the limits of its movement, I can't help but think impressed, 'Holy...! It's the same feeling as moving my own body, I even receive feedback on what the mini-type Gunmen feel, I can feel the earth under its feet and its tremors, the air currents as they split on its fists, not only that, but this mini-type Gunmen follows the exact same movement I think, basically once I get used to the different proportions, I can easily use the Martial Art I'm most familiar with Pankration... Hell, I can even use my Cosmo Techniques with it if I really want to...'

Soon, the mini-type Gunmen's movement under my control start to become more harmonious, fast, sharp, and deadly as I try the various kick and punch routines that I had practiced countless times since I was a 5 years old kid, of course, not everything works as the Lagann's proportions aren't quite right for this kind of movements, but even so, the Lagann is way more agile than I thought.

At the same time, as I control the mini-type Gunmen with my Spiral Power, I realize, 'This mini-type Gunmen is almost like a wand from Harry Potter Universe, with this I can channel and control my Spiral Power more easily to centralize the effects for more complex results...'

After that, I try to bring out the drills, starting from the hands, and as soon as I will it, they come out from the hands and start to quickly spin ready to drill through anything in my path, I also try to further control them, and soon with a little input of my Spiral Power I'm successful as I can manipulate the drills however I want, make them bigger, smaller, split them so that they come out from the mini-type Gunmen's fingers and shoot them as homing missiles or even funnels, 'Basically the only limit is my imagination...'

And realizing this, I try to do something different, and as soon as I use the Spiral Power to send the input, the mini-type Gunmen's palm splits open and from it, a Spiral Ball shoots out that quickly starts to hover around Lagann and it continues to spin, then under my command the Spiral Ball shoots out painting the air with complex trajectories, then I try to will it to become bigger, but this time it doesn't work.

Seeing that, a frown forms on my face as I try to figure out why it didn't work, and after looking at the Spiral Ball zooming around, something clicks in my mind.

Soon I will the Spiral Ball to turn back and land in mini-type Gunmen's hand, then I try once more focusing only on the Spiral Ball in Lagann's hand, and the effect is immediate, 'So to change the size they need to be in contact with the mini-type Gunmen... But besides this, I have full control over everything else...'

Then I order the ball-shaped drill to retire, and at the same time, I mutter, "Interesting... It seems that even if all the mini-type Gunmen have the same basic abilities, their drills still have some individual differences caused by their pilots' unconscious preferences and desires... Gurren Lagann has its famous large, bulky drills for sure because that is the form Simon is most comfortable with, meanwhile, the cooler-looking Lazengann primarily uses long, slender drills that can change angles in mid-extension and can be used as whips that are more battle oriented, for sure because of Lordgenome's preference and vast experience as a Spiral Warrior... Meanwhile, mine is able to turn the drills into balls and use them as homing projectiles... But the curious thing is that this mini-type Gunmen already had the perfect setup to be able to do so..."

While saying this, I continue to look at the palm on my mini-type Gunmen and notice smaller holes on its fingers from which it can release as many as ten of these ball-shaped drills, something I'm sure Simon's Lagann doesn't have, and even if I never saw Lordgenome's mini-type Gunmen, I'm sure that its previous form for sure has some difference from both mine and Simon's, and so I continue my conjecture, "It seems that when a mini-type Gunmen bonds with its pilots it also gains its own individuality associated with that individual..."

Done with the initial testing of mini-type Gunmen and my Spiral Power, it is finally time to get out of this depressing place, and so I close mini-type Gunmen's cockpit with the brain-like cover that quickly turns into a screen showing me the images of what the mini-type Gunmen see, and surprisingly, it has an almost 360° view of its surroundings, missing just a small cone under it, something that can be easily fixed by looking down.

Done with testing its capabilities, I use my Spiral Power to unleash the booster and make the mini-type Gunmen fly toward the ceiling, at the same time, I turn its hands into drills and start excavating my way out, easily drilling through the earth, and soon, after a few seconds, I get out from that underground space and find myself once again outside, under an enchanting red evening sky.

But as the mini-type Gunmen continues to rise up in the sky, my gaze turns back to the ground, and seeing its state so clearly from above, I can't help but mutter out loud, "Damn, there are huge craters all over the place, not only that but the plant life is very scarce, this planet is barely alive... it's like the Earth and the Moon had a child..." at the same time, I stop feeding the mini-type Gunmen's thrusters, and start to slowly float toward the ground.

As I slowly approach the ground, I mutter, "I can't continue to call you mini-type Gunmen... Hmm..." and start to think about what kind of name would be good, then my gaze moves to the sky, and even if the sun is starting to rise, I notice that the stars can still be seen, and unconsciously, my gaze lands on a familiar set of stars, then with a smile, I say, "Well, let's follow the naming sense of this Universe, and honor my most trusted partner at the same time... I call you after the constellation that always watched over and protected me. Your name shall be Cratergann."

In response to that the mini-type Gunmen once again pulses with power as if agreeing with the name I came up, showing the slight sentience that I always suspected these little guys had.

Seeing that, a smile form on my face as I say, "Very well! Nice to meet you, Cratergann! I'm sure we will do great things together!" and Cratergann once again pulses in response.

Once I softly land on the ground, I decide that it is finally time to make my move and complete the goal I set when I choose to come to this Universe while muttering, "The faster I complete them, the faster I can go back to my girls... And to avoid the combined wrath of Shaina and Milo for the long absence of the groomsman... You know that someone isn't to be messed with when your own scale of the pain you can endure is based on his signature technique... Now that I think about it the pain I felt when the mess with the Spiral Power happened can easily become my 15 on my Scarlet Needle scale... that sure was a whole new level of pain..."

And a shudder runs down my body as I briefly remember the insane pain I felt as my Cosmo, Magic Power, and Spiral Power got out of control and fought over dominance.

Then I focus my mind once more and sense the position of Simon's group, but just as I'm about to teleport nearby, I sense the ground under me violently shake as a result of something big and heavy crashing somewhere nearby, and I immediately realize what is going on, and mutter, "That was caused by some Gunmen falling on the ground as a result of their launch into action... This means that the Beastmen's Human Eradication Army is attacking some human settlement that was forced to surface somewhere, or it is just some of the culling they do to keep the human's number down..."

And knowing this, I quickly push my Spiral Power into Cratergann, and using the thruster I make Cratergann jump from the ground I'm standing over a nearby mountain, rushing toward the point of origin of those tremors.

I quickly reach it and find a huge hole in the ground revealing an underground village, that is currently under the attack of three big Gunmen, way bigger than Cratergann, as they randomly wreak havoc, breaking everything in their path and killing every human in their sight.

The Gunmen are all of the same models, their armor is mainly grey, short thick legs, and really long arms that can easily touch the ground, all armed with huge thick metal cudgels, their huge faces are a mix between a canine, and most probably a fox, and bull with their huge curved horns that come out from its temples, they are one of the most common Gunmen models of the Human Eradication Army, the Gozu.

(Image Here - Gozu)

Despise the destruction, and death caused by this grim situation, I can help but feel a huge excited grin form on my face, as I urge Cratergann to quickly jump into the hole, for one simple and pure reason, 'I'm about to have a true battle between mechas!! This is truly a man's romance!!' at the same time, I carelessly yell, "Stooop it!".

Then as Cratergann lands between them, the three hear my shout, notice my presence and stop their assault on the village and turn around to look at me, and one of the Gozu, the one standing in front of me, opens its mouth and asks in strange high-sounding voice, "Eh? Who the hell are you?"

But the other two behind me don't wait for an answer and start to attack me by swinging down the huge cudgels.

Of course, such a simple attack can't surprise me, so I easily make Cratergann jump out of the way, but at the same moment as I get out of the way and the Gozus' cudgels crash against the ground breaking it apart, the Gozu in front of me swings his cudgel sideways yelling, "Die!!" trying to take advantage of the fact that I'm mid-air to hit me, but with a smirk, I grip the handles tighter and input my Spiral Power into Cratergann, who in response, quickly act under my command.

In an instant, Cratergann raises its right hand and from its fingers, three Spiral Balls shoot out, one of which quickly rushes toward the incoming cudgel, breaking it into many pieces, then it moves under the Gozu and hits it from below pushing it up, out of this village, meanwhile, the other two Spiral Balls do the same thing to the remaining Gozus.

Then seeing that they are rising up too slowly, I input even more Spiral Power into the Spiral Balls, which quickly start to spin even faster and as they let out the usual green glow associated with the Spiral Power, the three Gozus are then quickly pushed out of the village and into the sky, and at this point, I input even more power into the Spiral Balls, that now glows brightly and efficiently drill through the Gozus' armor, making them flashily explode in mid-air.

I then open the cockpit to show that I'm a human, but also to look at the fireworks created by the three exploding Gunmen, and mutter, "Well, that ended way too quickly... But it was still a battle between mechas... which is way too cool!".

After taking care of the Gunmen, I quickly get out of Cratergann and start to help the people living in this village by freeing them from the rubble and taking care of the injured, while also directing the able-bodied in helping out.

But then things got a little strange as the people of this small underground village called Mattori started to worship me as some kind of god as it seems that this village's medical knowledge is almost totally gone and now they don't know how to deal with the most simple wounds and illness, and so people here die of something as simple as a fever or cold, or even an infection caused by some simple wounds that weren't treated well, add the fact that they also don't know how to write and read, and the result is a quite simple and primitive society.

So after taking care of the wounded, and removing the debris with my telekinesis to take care of it quickly so that I can leave this place, another foolish act that further cemented my status as a god in their eyes, I spent some time teaching them some very basic first-aid and treatments for the most common illness until I'm sure they got the basic down, something that took the rest of the evening, and even a good chunk of the night, so much that soon the people of this village are too tired and decide to go back to sleep.

Then after every person in the village fell asleep, I sit in Cratergann's cockpit and turning the Core Drill, I activate it once more, then I quickly focus on Simon's signal and use it as a reference to teleport nearby their position, once I'm sure of the coordinates, I continue to focus on Simon's presence, then holding the handles tighter, I remember something I have read on the wiki page back in the Arifureta's Earth and mutter, "Let's try this Universe's form of Teleportation!"

And as I continue to focus on Simon's presence, I urge my Spiral Power to open a hole in space-time, and in response, Cratergann jumps forward and crashes against an invisible wall for a few seconds before breaking open a hole in space-time and creates a corridor-shaped sub-space whose two endpoints are very close together but connect to far distant locations in real space.

Inside the corridor-shaped sub-space made entirely of bright green Spiral Power, I look at the scenery all around me with fascination, 'How peculiar... This corridor, this corridor negates the effects of time dilation, the speed of light, and instantaneous acceleration... In fact, I shouldn't even be able to normally move through this corridor with Cratergann, but my Spiral Power is strong enough to reinforce its armor enough to withstand the pressure of this space-time tunnel...'

Soon I reach the end of this corridor, and Cratergann once more opens a hole, and on the other side, I see my destination, a forest nearby a certain inactive volcano.

As soon as I arrive at my destination, I open Cratergann's cockpit and jump out, then I sit down next to my Cratergann and look at the night sky while enjoying the peaceful night as the sounds of the battle between Simon and the Beastmen from the trap bathhouse echoes in the distance.

At the same time, I think about what I just experienced, 'So that is the Perceptual Teleportation that can be used through Spiral Power... Quite peculiar, it is very different from the Teleportation I'm used to, the one that I use with my Cosmo or the one through the magic spell Porta, they are all instantaneous movement in their nature, but they all have their differences, the Cosmo's Teleportation is quite flexible and with almost no limit, I can teleport in every place or dimension I can sense with minimal to no preparation at all, but despise this it is very draining and the further away I want to move the more draining it gets...'.

While thinking that, I punch a hole in the ground then I use my Spiral Power to cast a basic water spell to create some drinkable water as I feel very thirsty, at the same time, I continue my reasoning, 'On the other hand, the spell Porta is quite easy to use and it doesn't even cost much, but it is very limited and also slower as I need to lose some time to cast a spell, I can only use it to teleport to a location I have seen before, and only in the Universe I currently reside, with it I can't move across Universes...'

I drink the cool water and look back at Cratergann, while I continue to think about my last experience, 'Now the Perceptual Teleportation used with Cratergann and Spiral Power can be said to be a mix between the two, with it I can use the Spiral Power to focus on a particular individual, object, or even known location and open a hole in space-time using a spiral power-powered vehicle, and with it, I can go anywhere, different place, different universe, even different time... But it comes with the drawback that it needs some time to create the corridor-shaped sub-space and open a hole in space-time, in fact, it is the slowest among the three methods, but it is also the one that strangely cost the least despise the fact that allows one to move across Universes, simply because Spiral Power is powered by will, desires and emotions, and as long as I have those I basically have an infinite amount of Spiral Power at my disposal...'

While I was lost in thought, time continue to quietly pass, and soon the sounds of fighting cease, and notice that the first lights of the day start to illuminate the area, at the same time, I sense the presence of many Beastman quickly approaching Simon's group position and feel the light tremors caused by the enormous Dai-Gunzan the mobile fortress of the Human Eradication Army Eastern Front, moreover, a new presence is now very close to the group, it should be, Viral.

And a few seconds later, I hear what appears to be Viral's voice as he yells enraged, "...Put on some damn clothes!!!"

Hearing that, I let out a chuckle and get up, then stretching my muscles a little, I mutter, "It seems it is finally time... I have to be careful and make sure that everything goes according to my plan without anyone realizing it..."

Then I jump inside Cratergann's cockpit and start to rush toward the place where the fight is about to take place.

Soon I land on top of a nearby mountain, just in time to see two big mecha, one red and black, the other white and grey, facing each other in an expansive plain ahead with a dry ravine as background, the ravine where I can spot the rest of Simon's group looking at the fight, seeing that, I nod and mutter, "Okay, for now, everything is like I remember..." then I focus on the two mechas.

The white and grey one has the usual torso face of all the Gunmen of the Human Eradication Army, but different from the Gozu I faced it is more segmented, and slender and has multiple joints that allow it to perform complex actions, such as throws, kicks, and various martial arts techniques, it also sports a sickle-like weapon, which is affixed to its head, that is Viral's personal Gunmen, with a totally badass name that almost gives me the urge to look down on everyone while saying, "Entertrain me, mongrel!" which is Enkidu.

(Image Here - Enkidu)

The red and black one couldn't be more recognizable, the Lagann head with a samurai-like helmet decorated with two horns that reminds me of a crescent moon, iconic triangular sunglasses on the torso head called glasscutter, and proportions quite similar to the human ones, allowing the same wide range of movements, and of course one can't forget the obviously causal 33 holes from which the iconic drill will come out, one on the head, two on the neck area, four on the back, four on both forearm, six on the waist with four on the front and two on the back, three on both knees and lastly three on both foot, it is of course, the titular mecha, Gurren Lagann.

(Image Here - Gurren Lagann)

As I was focused on admiring them, the fight starts with Gurren Lagann pulling off its glasscutter and wielding them as a blade rushing toward Enkidu, who in response, draws one of its long katanas, and the next moment, the two start their clash, moving with a speed and agility unbefitting of their weight and size, it is just like watching two normal sized martial artist fighting, if you ignore the fact that the earth shakes with each one of their movement.

After a few quick clashes, Enkidu gains an advantage as it is able to lift off the Gurren Lagann, who is now comically spinning in mid-air, with an upward slash of its katana, then it follows after its prey and tries to impale it with its katana, but Gurren Lagann is able to catch it by biting the blade between the teeth of Gurren's face and grab it with its hands to stop its further advance.

But this doesn't stop Enkidu as it slams its free hand on Gurren Lagann's body making them accelerate toward the ground, where they soon crash upturning the earth and raising a huge cloud of dust, but through my other senses, I can clearly feel that their fight isn't stopping, as Gurren Lagann is able to free itself and start once more clashing with Enkidu, this time using the drills on its forearms to fight of Enkidu's katanas.

Soon, the cloud of dust clears away and reveals the figures of Gurren Lagann and Enkidu as they lock their weapons in a brief moment of stall, I hear Viral's voice coming out of the Enkidu as he yells, "You! Hurry up and hand over my helmet!!" which is replied by Kamina's voice as he yells back, "After all that annoying yapping, that was all you wanted?!" at the same time, Gurren Lagann pushes more forcer into its arms and breaks Enkidu's katanas.

Seeing his weapons destroyed, Viral yells, "It seems you want to make us your enemy until the bitter end. Very well! So you want to feel the power... of our capital?!"

And right at that moment, from the distance, the shell of a huge-caliber cannon flies toward the two fighting Gunmen causing an enormous explosion that sends Gurren Lagann flying comically with its limbs spread wide as it rotates mid-air until it crashes into the dry ravine, nearby the rest of their group that was spectating the fight.

Then, I feel the tremors in the earth growing stronger as a huge shadow approaches, it is enormous, as big as a hill, and as it gets closer, its form gets clearer.

It resembles a massive navy blue battleship on two legs, the front of the ship looks akin to a huge blade, and the bridge is shaped very much like a body, with windows arranged in the shape of eyes and a mouth. It also has functional arms on both sides, it is the mobile fortress of the Eastern Human Eradication Army under the command of General Thymilph, the Dai-Gunzan.

(Image Here - Dai-Gunzan)

As it advances, the huge battleship shoots another round of shells at the still-stunned laying on ground Gurren Lagann, which can only raise its arms to shield itself, as the explosions once again raise a huge cloud of dust.

After the dust clears away, Enkidu appears behind Gurren Lagann, and as it pulls off the sickle-like weapon affixed to its head, Viral yells, "Do you believe it now? The power of our capital!" and slams it down to attack Gurren Lagann, but the red and black macha is able to rise and get out of harm's way just in time.

Seeing his attack dodged, Viral once again yells, "Surrender and return my helmet!"

But as Gurren Lagan grabs back its sharp glasscutter, Kamina yells back, "Why don't you give up! Just stick with being weird!"

And at the same time, the Dai-Gunzan arrives behind the Enkidu to give it support, turning the Gurren Lagann situation from bad to worse.

Then as the huge shadow of the Dai-Gunzan is cast over them, Viral comments while laughing, "Muha, ha, ha, ha, see this? This is the migrating fortress-type Gunman... Dai-Ganzan!"

At the same time, from the Dai-Ganzan, a deep and heavy voice comes out that says, "Looks like you're having a hard time, Viral"

Quickly the Enkidu kneels and Viral says, "Yes. I humbly apologize."

Looking at this scene from the distance, I grow serious and mutter, "Now, I have to focus, and make sure that nothing goes wrong... They should come out safely of this first encounter, but anything can happen..."