Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann X: So this is the Heavens.
Chapter one: Later, Buddy.
Blades clashed with bone shattering force as the crimson robot known as Gurren leapt over its allies to confront the charging white Enkidu. Sharpened metal head-crest met with giant sunglasses, sending sparks flying around the two weapons as the mecha strained against each other.
"Kamina! This time I'm getting my helmet back before we're through." hissed the beastman commander, Viral. His catlike eyes burned with anger but the thrill of fighting with his rival caused him to grin regardless, showing off his shark teeth. Long, dirty blonde hair whipped around his face with every movement. His clawed hands clutched the controls and manpowered them with brutal efficiency.
"You still whining about that? Jeez, what a baby." mocked the blue haired human who piloted Gurren. His cocky expression, bare, well defined chest and blue tattoos marked him out as a confident and strong young man.
Viral took no notice of the naked ape's provocative words, instead choosing to study his rival's gunmen. The crimson armour, yellow eyes and smirking face, Viral hated it all. It then struck his notice that Gurren had no head. That is to say, that damned miniature gunmen wasn't combined with it like usually.
"Where's its face!" roared the beastman. "Damn you! Where did your head go?"
Kamina smiled broadly. "Now!" he shouted. "Get going, Simon!"
Both pilots turned as the cliff face nearby exploded and a small mecha shaped like a drill rocketed out and into the sky towards Team Dai-Gurren's goal. It soared through the air with the bullets from the fortress gunmen, Dai-Gunzan, zipping past it in an attempt to shoot the drill mecha down. The bullets all missed and Lagann smashed its drill into the top of the battleship. Green spirals of energy began to surround the Dai-Gunzan, showing that the plan was working.
"What are you trying to do?" gaped Viral, anger and indignity bubbling within him at the humans' insolence.
"We merged 'em. We combined our Lagann with your Dai-Gunzan" Kamina stated, pleased with Viral's appalled look.
"You what!" spat Viral.
Kamina grinned manically. "That behemoth now belongs to us."
"Damn you, Kamina! This was all a set up!"
The fight intensified with Viral's anger. Kamina matched strike for strike. "Yep. Sure looks that way. I put all of our luck, and our mettle to the test!" The dual gained more speed until both mecha were near blurs as they span around each other with vicious attacks.
"What the-" Viral blurted, amazed at the level of skill that Kamina was displaying. Last time they had fought, Viral had wiped the floor with that piece of junk. "How did he get so good so fast? Damn!"
Second by second Kamina was forcing Viral back. Gurren's relentless assault was only slowed when another gunmen leapt up behind him. Kamina didn't have time to turn and meet this new horned threat but even as the beastman descended toward him, the mecha was shot from the sky by a familiar weapon. The gun slinging redhead, Yoko, sat upon the back of Iraak's Ainzer.
"Well, I gave you my word. I've got your back, Kamina, so go for it!" Yoko smiled at him. Kamina took a last look at her scantily clad body before she was carted away by Iraak as they sought out more foes.
Kamina risked a look to see how Simon was doing. He didn't seem to have made any progress with controlling the giant gunmen. The Dai-Gunzan was firing randomly around itself, hitting both friend and foe.
"What's the matter? What's the hold up?" Kamina shouted through the communication channel to Simon.
"I'm trying!" replied the boy frantically. "But it's not working!" the pilot seemed to grow more confused and desperate by the second. "But why? Why is that keeping my from concentrating? Damn it!"
Kamina had no idea what Simon was talking about but Viral interrupted his thought before he could even guess at his bro's words.
"Ha. You've blown your endgame, fool." His Enkidu signalled to the other beastmen. "Ignore the small fry! Return to Dai-Gunzan!"
The beastmen forces turned back toward their battle ship. Viral leapt toward it too but was knocked to the ground by the Gurren's shades. The glasses dug into the ground and due to their strange shape, managed to pin Enkidu flat on the floor.
"You're not going anywhere!" bellowed Kamina. With Viral out of action he addressed the other members of Team Dai-Gurren. "You guys keep the gunmen pinned down! I'll see what I can do about Simon!"
As the members of Team Dai-Gurren chorused an acknowledgement of the order, Kamina powered up Gurren, leaping into the sky, running at the mecha's top speed then jumped again through a hail of bullets. This time he hit the deck of the Dai-Gunzan and proceeded to run across the deck toward where Simon's Lagann was embedded. A series of powerful jumps sent Gurren hurtling up the battleship's tower but it never managed the last ledge, instead hitting it hard. Kamina was fired from his cockpit and sent violently across the floor. At the last moment he managed to flip himself so that he landed atop of Lagann's head. The movement was a testiment to Kamina's agility.
"Simon! Open the hatch!" he shouted to the shaking boy below him. Simon complied and the top of the little gunmen opened.
"Let's see you grit those teeth!" Kamina roared. Simon screamed as his bro smashed his fist into his face without holding back. The blow sent Simon painfully into the back of the cockpit.
"Why…Bro?" Simon whimpered.
"Have you snapped out of it yet?" asked Kamina, no trace of anger or reproach in his voice. "I give you my word that if you ever start to doubt yourself, I'll come and belt you one. So don't worry. I'm right by your side. Just believe in yourself. Believe in the Simon that I have faith in."
Simon's face brightened and set into a look of determined resolve. Kamina's inspirational speeches always gave him the strength to continue. Kamina was the only thing that kept him moving forward. "Right! You got it!" Lagann began to function more efficiently, the taking over of the battleship clearly quickening.
Kamina looked upon his handiwork proudly. Simon was a good kid and would go far. Kamina knew that he would one day become great; he just needed a bit of a push. Happy that all was going well he hopped back down and re-entered Gurren. He gave a satisfied sigh as he seated himself within the comforting cockpit.
He began to move Gurren forward. "You see? You can do it if you just-"
There was a blinding blue light that engulfed Kamina's vision that was seen from all over the battlefield. It emanated from directly below Gurren. The deck below him split and an azure laser ripped through the armour of Gurren then up across Kamina's chest. He screamed out in agonised pain as the beam continued to rip through him for several seconds. The cockpit became splattered with his blood.
The beam sent Gurren into the air where, unable to support itself against the devastating attack, a section of it exploded, throwing the gunmen violently back toward the ground.
Even before he landed, a mocking laughter caught his ears. The white Byakou rose from the deck, its polearm, the Alkaid Glaive at the ready. "Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha! You sad, pathetic little worm. You'll soon find that I won't hand over my Dai-Gunzan so easily!" laughed the giant ape within. He was one of the four Spiral Generals and the commander of the battleship Dai-Gunzan.
"Thymilph! Damn! I didn't see- argh!"
Kamina was sent flying again as his Gurren was hit from behind by something else. As he grit his teeth against the consuming pain he saw that it was Gurren's own shades, thrown by Viral's Enkidu.
"You forgot this. Have it back." taunted the beastman.
Kamina fought to stay conscious. "You…son of a-"
"Alkaid Glaive!" Thymilph struck out with his weapon, severing the Gurren's right leg.
"You're a very tenacious man, but now this is the end for you!" Thymilph howled. Enkidu grabbed the Gurren's arm and swung him around. Before Kamina could react Thymilph thrust his blade into the Gurren's back, emitting a harsh blue light as it tore through the armour. The glaive pierced the metal and ripped straight through Kamina's own flesh.
Kamina screamed with the unbearable pain that shot through his entire body. Blood gushed out of him, coating the screens around him in crimson. His scream died away as the dust cleared. His life readings all flat-lined and the world became silent.
"Brooooo!" screamed Simon. His grief disrupted Lagann's power output and sent the Dai-Gunzan into a crazed frenzy. Volcanoes erupted, spewing fire and smoke, causing the very earth to shake. The out of control battle ship began a slow march toward the magma that flowed from the volcano.
"What the hell is happening out there?"
"Dai-Gunzan has gone berserk!"
"If it keeps going, it'll fall into the volcano!"
"Simon, come in! Pull yourself together!"
Faint voices registered within a groggy, pain filled mind. Kamina forced himself awake despite the unholy pain that racked his body. "Argh. Can't a guy get a little bit of sleep around here?" he muttered as he slowly pulled himself up. It took every ounce of his might but he finally managed to get Gurren back to its feet. With slow, staggered movements the gunmen made its way toward the wayward battleship, willpower alone keeping both the pilot and the machine alive.
"Its no use." whined Simon, his world rapidly becoming consumed by sorrow and fear. "I can't do anything. There's just… there's just nothing I can do now."
"SIMON! Let's see you grit those teeth!"
Simon looked up with a startled gasp to see a giant fist flying toward him. The crimson arm wasn't attached to any body. It struck Lagann, battering Simon with the cockpit as though Lagan was a washing machine.
Through one of the screens an image of a badly damaged Gurren filtered through into Simon's rattled head.
"Bro! You're alive!"
"Listen. Just who the hell do you think you are, Simon?" Gurren pointed dramatically towards the heavens with its remaining arm. "Your drill is the drill that's gonna bust right through heaven and earth and even tomorrow. What are you sitting around here dawdling for? We've won, kid. That behemoth belongs to you now. You don't have to worry about anything."
Tears flowed from Simon's eyes. "Right, bro!" He pulled himself together and instantly the Dai-Gunzan came under his control. "Listen up everybody! Everything's gonna be okay now! Dai-Gunzan is ours! Come on aboard."
The team Dai-Gurren members began to cheer but it was cut short as a blue beam zipped past them, blowing up the ground that it touched. Thymilph shot across the battlefield firing lasers as he went. A small vanguard of remaining enemy gunmen surrounded him.
"You damn dirty humans! I received that as a gift from the Spiral King himself! I'd sooner completely destroy it than see it fall into your filthy hands." raged Thymilph.
Kamina watched the general's progress with a weary eye. "That old furball doesn't know when to give up, does he?" He sighed and grabbed Gurren's controls once again, fighting past the pain just to grip the blood slick handles. "Simon, come on. Let's send these clowns packing. Let's combine. We'll use Gurren Lagann to finish off this last mission."
"Got it, Bro! I'm with you."
Lagann shot from its perch on the Dai-Gunzan, skidded across its deck toward the waiting Gurren. Retrieving the giant shades as he passed, Simon threw them to Kamina, cutting two gunmen from the air that were about to attack the crippled mech.
"Now, let's do it!" shouted Kamina, adrenalin filling his veins once again.
Lagann went into drill mode and smashed into the top of Gurren. With a flash of rainbow light, Gurren miraculously began to rebuild itself until it was back in an undamaged state. Extensions emerged from its arms and legs making the mecha taller than before. A helmet appeared over Lagann's head, the same helmet that Viral had been so adamant to retrieve.
Kamina extended the epicness with the beginning of a speech. "We brawlers are sustained by willpower! Even when mocked as reckless and crazy!"
Simon continued. "If there's a wall in our way then we smash it down! If there isn't a path then we carve one ourselves!"
Both shouted together. "The magma of our souls burns with a mighty flame! Super ultra combining Gurren Lagann!"
"Just who"
"In the hell"
"Do you think we are?"
The volcano exploded behind them as if on cue as they made a heroic pose.
"Stand your ground." ordered Thymilph to his underlings. Kill them now!"
Every remaining gunmen charged at Gurren Lagann as one.
"Eat this, cannon fodder!" roared Kamina. Dozens of drills shot from Gurren Lagann's body, each one skewering a beastman. The drills retracted and every enemy gunmen exploded into one fiery cloud.
"Damn you! Alkaid Glaive!" growled Thymilph. He shot off a blue laser at Gurren Lagann but the mecha simply held out a single arm before it.
"You'll have to do better than that!" called Kamina as the beam was absorbed into Gurren Lagann's hand.
"But… it can't-" stammered the ape.
Kamina's voice was quiet and strained as he spoke to Simon. "Listen, Simon. Never forget, just believe in yourself. Not in the Simon that I believe in. Not in the Kamina that you believe in. Have faith in the Simon that believes in you."
"Bro? What are you-?"
A green flash silenced Simon as the Gurren Lagann's shades popped off of its chest and into its hand.
"Finishing mooove!" roared Kamina as he threw the weapon towards Thymilph. Magically the shade split into two identical pairs that continued their spinning journey toward the general. They both hit, pinning both of the mecha's arms and legs. "GIGA!" the numerous drills across Gurren Lagann's body all returned back within it. "DRILL!" One giant drill emerged from its right hand, rapidly becoming larger than the mecha itself. Kamina pointed it at Thymilph. "BREAK!" the drill began to spin as Gurren Lagann charged forward. The mecha burst into green flames like a rocket, propelling the drill forward at high speed.
The drill hit Byakou ripping through the armour like butter. Gurren Lagann came out through the other side, leaving a huge hole through the general's mech. The drill shrunk in size then withdrew back inside of Gurren Lagann. Thymilph exploded in the background, lighting up the sky with flames.
The last of Kamina's strength seeped from his body. The adrenalin that had been supporting him left, leaving his weakened body to support itself. There was a bright light and a strange coldness that came over his body.
They had won. Everyone was safe now. He had faith in Simon to take his place. He didn't have time for regrets he only had a few breaths left, why waste them on regret?
"Later, buddy." he breathed with his last breath.
Then all became dark.
"What was that, bro…Bro?"
And then the rain began, to wash away the blood and tears…
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AN/ - Welcome to my new Fanfiction: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, So this is the Heavens. Basically it follows Kamina after his death, fighting through the Bleach universe.
I realise that this chapter was just a rewrite of episode 8 but I felt that that would be a good place to start the story. Next chapter is all original.
I will say that the Bleach element won't be how you know it as I am going in for realism. Between when Bleach and Gurren Lagann are set, a lot would obviously changed in the Soul Society. So expect a whole new afterlife experience.
Hope you enjoyed. Please review. I'll gladly accept any advice or ideas.
-FWF