Kay… First time writing about Viral from TTGL, so don't kill me with fire. Of course you'll find language, violence, maybe some 'content', if you know what I mean, and anything else crazy and odd that you might or might not expect from a person called Floquito.

Read, Review and Rejoice!

Minka belongs to me, no stealing please.

Viral and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann are © Gainax

He lay in his bed, white sheets and spread, alone. It was hot in the desert, but despite the fact, Viral was curled tightly in the blanket. He was awake, golden eyes alert in the darkness of the small room. He sat up, golden hair brushed away from his eyes, staring at himself for a moment in the mirror across from the bed.

Immortality wasn't all it was cracked up to be, apparently. The last beastman had burned out hundreds of thousands of years ago, and the last human had wilted away and died a few thousand years behind him. Roissu, Yoko, even Simon, everybody was gone. Thinking of those numbers, those years, Viral closed his eyes tight and curled his legs up to his chest, resting his head against his knees.

"The last one… I'm all alone."

Those years had crawled by, alone and abandoned. At first, Viral thought he could put up with it, he wasn't that social anyways. But as the years dragged into decades, then centuries and millenniums, he thought he would go mad, or implode or something, with the loneliness that suffocated him. He let out a sigh, deep and shaky, and flopped back down onto the bed. He curled himself tightly into the multiple layers of blankets, trying to remind himself of the warm nest from his kittenhood, or try to see what it felt like to be embraced.

Then, he wept. It sounded more like a frightened, crying kitten then anything else, but either way, tears rolled down his cheeks and were absorbed by the white sheets, a few strands of golden hair sticking to his damp face. He clung haplessly to the blankets, hanging on; afraid he might fall asleep forever. Maybe that would've been nicer then facing an eternity of loneliness, or maybe his sleep would be riddled with miserable nightmares like the last times he had slept at all.

At last, worn and exhausted, he began to doze off, the dry desert wind slowly lulling him to sleep. But his ears picked something up, a tiny sound, and he jerked up into a sitting position. It sounded kind of like scratching… Something was scratching on wood with quick, jerky movements, as if it were frightened.

tssssssht tssssssht tssssssssst

It continued for some time, getting quicker. More desperate, almost, then began to fade. It was coming from the front door. Viral quickly got out of bed, not bothering to put on a shirt, and quickly made his way downstairs to the door. Swinging the door open roughly, he stared out into the emptiness of the desert. He stood there, stunned for a moment, then the adrenalin wore off, and he suddenly felt extremely tired. His shoulders slumped and another tear welled in the corner of one eye.

"Is that how lonely I really am?" He thought. Viral took a step forward, intending to peek around the corners of the house to see if there was something out there, but instead, he stepped on something soft and cool. He recoiled, and looked down at the porch, only to nearly faint a moment later, but almost too shocked to do so. There, lying on the porch was a hand, white as new paper, clawing at the wood. It seemed to be sinking deep into the wood, into the ground. He wanted to scream, but his throat felt as small as a straw and coated with sandpaper.

Without thinking, he grabbed the hand; cool, almost cold, to his touch. Pulling, trying to get whatever was literally sinking through solid ground back up. He found himself panting; the ground seemed to be pulling whatever the hand was attached to into the ground, sucking it up, but he tried.

A white forearm slipped out from the ground, and Viral briefly wondered if whatever he was pulling up was dead, and if he should just let it go. But the hand that was clenched in his paw gave an encouraging squeeze, so he continued his struggle. Another hand soon came through the ground, and held onto his paw. This time, Viral felt the tight muscles in the arms, and he knew it was struggling to pull itself out as well.

After what seemed like forever, up to the things' waist was visible. This was the first clear look he got, and quickly realized it was a woman, pale as new snow, with golden eyes rivaling his own. She had crow-black hair and was dressed in black clothes that contrasted sharply with her white skin.

Her eyes were intense as she told him, "Don't let go."

"No, I won't." Viral reached forwards and wrapped his arms around her waist, leaning back to pull her out. Suddenly, there was a jerk and she was pulled backwards as the ground bubbled and made disgusting slurping noises as it tried to suck her back down.

She suddenly kicked at whatever was down there, and seemed to land a good shot, because it suddenly released its grip, sending both of them springing backwards. Viral landed on his back flat on the floor, and the woman landed semi-on top of him, but she quickly rolled to the side and onto her back. They both lay there; breathing hard and listening to the thing under the sand gurgle and growl, before fading away.

"A-Are you alright?" Viral asked, leaning on his elbow to take a good look at her. "Oh god, what the hell was that?"

She lay silent, her breath slowed to normal, or below normal, he wasn't sure. Her eyes were closed, and she wasn't moving aside from the slow rise and fall of her chest. He had no idea how long she had been struggling or running from that thing, he just wished he had gotten to the door sooner before she had been sucked under so far. She was surely not a human, displaying some animal-like characteristics like a full three sets of shark-like teeth, much like his, which he saw during the struggle, and the white skin was a sure sign she was no human. But there was barely a chance she could be a beastman either, the last one but Viral burned out so long ago.

Taking a deep breath, he couldn't help but slump down beside her once he knew she was alive. He found himself drained of all energy; the double shot of adrenalin took its toll.

Curling up close beside her, Viral felt a calming wave, like being warm and relaxed, a feeling he hadn't felt in a long while. Just before he fell asleep, he heard her stir the slightest bit, just turning her head a to the side.

"Thanks… My name's Minka."