CHAPTER 4

On The Way Down

Yoko had teleported her friends to a concrete port, one of many that jutted off the city's coast. To their east Zearth and the Echo battled on the horizon, far enough that they could barely be seen above the morning fog. The urban skyline was visible to the west, where columns of black smoke reached up to the iridescent hole carved into the dark blue sky, like the legs of a spider ready to ensnare the city.

Most of the group was gathered in the middle of the pier. Aiko and Maki, on the other hand, were on the port's ledge, observing the choppy seas. Maki had taken off her coat and given it to her blonde friend, leaving the tomboy in the t-shirt and swimsuit she was wearing when she first arrived in Zearth's cockpit.

"Brother, please," Kana begged, "Keep it together."

"What is that girl's problem?!" Ushiro screamed the moment he realized Yoko had cut him off. "Is she trying to get herself killed!?"

Kana warily backed away.

Aiko mused, "Now that I think about it, that might be the case."

Ushiro took a deep breath and regained his composure. "What do you mean?"

"When we were at Komo's house the other day, she asked me if I hated her for drafting us into this war."

Maki added, "She was acting strange at the mall as well."

"So, the signs were all there," Ushiro fumed. "How did we not see this coming?"

Kanji speculated, "Probably because we were occupied with our own concerns." He was sitting on a concrete divider near Maki and Aiko, working on his laptop. "But how about we assign blame later? Right now, we have a city to save."

"Not yet." Ushiro walked towards the edge of the port and pulled out a pair of binoculars. "First, we need to figure out a way back into Zearth. I don't trust Yoko."

"Good luck with that. Getting into Zearth without Yoko's help would require one of our chairs, and none of those are anywhere near us right now."

Ushiro did his best to appear professional. "Somebody, give Waku and Kodama a call. There's a chance they're still at home and in reach of their chairs."

"Actually, I just remembered the chair piece trick," Kanji speculated. "If only I had the foresight to carry around something like that."

"Hold on," Daichi interceded, before opening his coat and reaching in.

"You have a chair piece?"

"Maybe." Daichi pulled out a set of keys. "I'm think my Vespa is currently linked to Zearth's teleporter. Hopefully, that means this'll count."

"Huh. That… that might be worth a shot."

"Okay, so we have a plan." Ushiro glanced over his shoulder at the rest of the group. "Daichi, Moji, Kana, I want you stay close to me. It might be a while before we can get into Zearth, so Yoko will likely need medical attention by that time."

"Understood," his friend and sister replied.

Ushiro pointed at Komo and motioned her to come over. "In the meantime, I'll need you to help me watch the battle and figure out the Echo's moves."

"Of course." Komo walked up to Ushiro's side and took his binoculars. Daichi, Moji, and Kana followed her not long afterwards.

Ushiro focused his attention to Zearth and the Echo while giving one last order. "Kanji, you'll be coordinating search-and-rescue efforts for the rest of the team."

"Got it." Kanji looked up and clapped his hands. "All right, class, gather around!"

Everyone outside Ushiro's group huddled behind Kanji. Aiko playfully tossed Maki's coat over the tall boy's face, who pulled if off in a bemused manner before uploading a map covered in red and green dots.

"Okay, let's start with the basics," Kanji explained. "Red dots indicate disaster zones, where the Echo's attack made impact. Green dots are first responders."

"Let me guess," Maki said, "We focus on the disaster zones with the least amount of first responders."

"Exactly. Right now, there aren't many places that require urgent attention, so we won't have to spread ourselves thin. The buddy system should suffice."

"Sounds good to me. Dibs on Aiko!"

Kanji, Maki, and the rest of the group continued discussing their plans. Meanwhile, Komo and Ushiro watched the battle. The two titans were engaged in a melee brawl, with Zearth using its superior reach to keep the Echo's massive fists and flexible arms at bay. Occasionally, the Echo took a step back and launched a crescent of energy from its moon, and Zearth would counter with a volley of lasers. Once the resulting explosions faded into smoke, they would lunge at each other once more to start the cycle anew.

"What's your assessment?" Ushiro asked Komo.

"I'd say they're evenly matched the most part." Komo proclaimed. "The Echo has better ranged attacks, which gives it a bit of an edge. However, it also has inferior hand-to-hand skills, and the fact that it always backs away before launching its ranged attack could point to a weakness we can exploit."

"I agree. It doesn't want to be near those crescents when they explode," Ushiro nodded. "So, you think Zearth would be more effective in Melee Mode?"

"Probably."

The ends of Zearth's forearms popped off and fell into the ocean, leaving the black behemoth's arms at roughly two thirds of their original length. Seconds later, Komo, Ushiro, and the others heard the forearms crack and splash, a testament to the distance between them and the battle.

"It appears Yoko would agree with you," Ushiro noted.

While Zearth took another lunge at the Echo, Kanji finished explaining his plan to his friends. "All right, time to head out," he concluded. "Everybody ready?"

"Yep. It's showtime!" Maki gleefully answered before she ran over the edge of the port and leapt into the ocean.

Aiko walked up to edge where Maki had jumped and spread her arms out like wings. Wind swirled around her body, growing more intense until she was completely enveloped in a small tornado that glowed a faint lime green. Through the vortex of clouds and dust, Aiko's silhouette could be seen leaving the port and floating in the air.

A vortex of water that vaguely resembled a Chinese dragon rose out of the ocean. Maki's silhouette could be seen in the dragon's head, which shimmered with sea-green light. It splashed onto the port and slithered into the city. Once it vanished behind a building, Aiko's tornado flew in the same direction at high speed.

Komo took a moment to watch the rest of her friends follow the dragon and tornado, with Kanji staying behind, and then returned her attention to Zearth. She found it reassuring that her friends were as still dedicated to saving lives as they had been during their first Zearth encounter all the way back at the nature camp.

It didn't take long for the kids to realize that they weren't on the beach after they logged out of Yoko's game. Instead, they were in the middle of a road that led uphill to their camp's main lodge, which was still crowned with blazing flames.

"Kana, what are you doing!?" Ushiro yelled when his little sister ran to the lodge.

"Saving our teachers!" Kana shouted back.

"Are you crazy?! You'll just get yourself killed!"

"Not if we help her out," Waku retorted as he and Maki followed Kana's initiative. "Hey, Kana, wait for us!"

"Um, guys? I'm kind of with Ushiro on this," Kanji called out. "I mean, we can't just run into a burning building without a plan!"

"We don't have time!" Waku argued before he heard something crumble.

He, Maki, and Kana stopped running and watched a chunk of the lodge's wall collapse into a fireball. Afterwards, the three cautiously backed away from the building.

"What kind of plan are you thinking of?" Waku warily asked Kanji.

"Something, anything that doesn't involve a blind rush," Kanji answered while he and Aiko joined the four. "I'm open to ideas."

"Make it quick."

The rest of the kids gathered around Waku, Kanji, and the girls, all except for a boy in a yellow jersey with curtained light-brown hair.

"This is crazy," the brunet in yellow uttered. "You guys have a death wish!" He then turned around and stormed off.

A small blond boy in an orange tie-dye t-shirt watched as the brunet vanished behind some trees. "Huh," he remarked. "Looks like Kako couldn't handle the heat."

"Forget about him, Kodama," Daichi told the small boy. "We need to focus."

Another part of lodge crumbled into flames.

"Okay, enough talk!" Waku declared, "Let's go!" He and Maki ran through the gaping hole that used to be the lodge's front entrance. Kana stayed behind, shaken over how willing she had been to recklessly risk her life just a minute prior.

"I'll get the first-aid kit!" Moji declared as he ran off in another direction.

"Aiko," Kanji ordered, "Follow me."

"Got it," Aiko said before she and Kanji approached a metal bench on the patio in front of the lodge's entrance. "You think this'll work?"

"I sure hope it does."

Kanji and Aiko each grabbed one end and carried it over to the hole their friends had jumped through. They tilted it onto one side and wedged it into the hole, making sure it was propping up the roof above. Once they were finished, they heard a rafter collapse inside, followed by a panicked yelp.

Aiko jumped through the hole and cried out, "Maki!"

"Aiko, wait!" Kanji called out before he noticed the bench shift from where he had set it up. He pushed up against it and hoped he'd be able to keep it up long enough for his friends to make it out in one piece.

"This stupid plan isn't going to work," Ushiro grumbled while he and the rest of the group watched the action unfold from outside.

"Maybe," Kodama smirked, "But it might be entertaining to watch."

"What was I thinking when I tried to fight an Echo by myself?

"I'm not sure I was thinking, at least not clearly. I was young and impulsive, haunted by everything my friends had gone through because of the Echo War.

"Yes, I know it wasn't my fault. It was Zearth who chose them as its pilots. I was merely a messenger, yet I couldn't help but wonder what their lives would've been like had they not been selected. Aiko said she didn't blame me for anything just a day prior, yet I still questioned if she was only trying to be polite.

"Yeah, guilt and trauma do have a way of sticking in one's mind, don't they? Like a cancer, such thoughts may never go away once they manifest, but that shouldn't stop you from staying strong and fighting them back."

Yoko briefly wondered how her friends' rescue efforts were going. Then she refocused on fighting the Echo.

Yoko thought she had the Echo's moves figured out. She got Zearth to tackle it while it was winding up for a double hammer fist, shoving it into the ocean and sending waves of whitewater in every direction. The Echo's torso was visible above the choppy waters, like a chain of otherworldly islands.

Zearth knelt and started pummeling the Echo's head and abdomen. Yoko made sure that the black behemoth didn't strike the Echo's chest or shoulders, for she knew that any damage dealt to the crescent moon would trigger the energy attack that had been chipping away at both Zearth's armor and her coat.

Then the Echo's moon started glowing white, the sign that it was charging its attack. Yoko realized that while Zearth had been busy dropping blows, the Echo had grabbed one of its moon's horns and broke off the tip. She panicked, and Zearth reacted by standing up and launching lasers into the Echo's moon. The moon's glow grew more intense, reminding Yoko that attacking the Echo while it was charging would further power it up.

At first, Yoko cursed herself for not realizing the Echo would be willing to not only damage itself to trigger its ultimate attack, but also risk firing said attack at close range just to get Zearth out of its face. Then she contemplated teleporting her friends back inside and letting them take Zearth's reins.

As the Echo finished charging, Yoko decided that she'd take the blow before bringing her friends back in. She figured there was enough of her coat left for her to survive the impending blast. Then the Echo's glow grew more intense than she had previously seen. She realized the blast was going to be more devastating than expected, and she only had enough time to brace for impact and regret her decision not to teleport her friends when she had the chance.

The crescent-shaped wave of energy ripped through Zearth, shredding layers of chest armor and cleaving the clouds above in two. Yoko heard and felt the blast rattle the cockpit, but much to her shock, she didn't feel the attack rip apart her chest. Instead, she felt a hand gripping her shoulder.

Yoko looked behind and saw that the hand belonged to Kana, who lost her grip as she collapsed to their knees. Her coat shattered, leaving her in teal polka-dot pajamas.

"Kana!" Yoko gasped. She tried to get up but stopped when a sharp pain reminded her one of her ribs was broken.

Kana fell over, but Moji ran up and caught her before she hit the floor. Daichi and Ushiro were nearby, assessing the situation.

"Easy there." Moji assured the girl as he got her back on her feet, "I got you." He then guided her to the wooden school chair two seats to Yoko's left.

"I'll be fine," Kana choked out between pained breaths. "Help Yoko."

"H-how did you get in here?" a baffled Yoko exclaimed. She struggled to get the words out as the pain she accumulated over the course of the battle finally registered.

"My keys," Daichi replied.

"Oh, right," Yoko coughed and chuckled. "Glad I reminded you of that."

Ushior walked up to Yoko, grabbed the Contractor off her lap, tapped his earpiece, and said, "You there, Komo?"

"I hear you loud and clear," Komo's voice answered.

"Good. Don't forget—" Ushiro was interrupted by the Echo kicking Zearth in the chest, pushing the black behemoth away. "Don't forget the plan."

"Keeping a close eye on the enemy as we speak."

Another kick from the Echo forced Zearth further back. Ushiro was able to recover from the blow and stabilize the black behemoth's balance. He then silently commanded it to get down on one knee and retrieve one of the forearm-spears it had detached and left embedded in the ocean floor.

The Echo slowly rose up to its feet. Its body was glitching at a near constant rate except for its moon, since the energy attack always undid any damage inflicted upon that structure. Zearth stopped pulling its spear out of the ocean and took a moment to fire some lasers at the moon. Per usual, the structure absorbed the blast and started glowing.

"Hold on," Yoko exclaimed. "Did you just deliberately trigger the Echo's—"

"I know what I'm doing," Ushiro stoically replied while keeping his sights on the enemy. "Tell me when, Komo."

Yoko watched nervously as the Echo's moonlight grew more intense. Ushiro, on the other hand, showed no sign of fear.

"Now!" Komo yelled.

Zearth fired a volley of lasers that struck the Echo's moon at the exact moment it launched its energy attack. The iridescent titan's torso was completely engulfed in the ensuing explosion. Yoko breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that Komo could still read the patterns that rippled across Echoes' bodies and use them to anticipate their attacks.

The Echo staggered out of the explosion's smokey aftermath. Its shoulders and chest were now as glitchy as the rest of its body, covered in cracks and craters like an actual moon. Meanwhile, Zearth stood up, the spear fully reintegrated into its left arm, restoring the limb to its original length.

"Let's end this," Ushiro muttered.

Yoko sat and watched while Ushiro guided Zearth's attacks against the Echo. All the while Moji's glowing purple hands phased through her body in search of injuries. The black behemoth blocked its enemy's haphazard swipes and punches with its spear-like left arm while using its shorter right arm to punch whenever Ushiro saw an opening.

Yoko admired Ushiro's discipline and precision in handling Zearth. Watching him slowly gain the advantage over the enemy was every bit as satisfying as Moji's hands literally pulling out her pain.

Zearth finally landed a punch that split the Echo's front open, giving Ushiro and the others a glimpse of the iridescent colossus's writhing black innards. The black behemoth then impaled the Echo with its longer limb. Ushiro waited for the enemy's arms to go limp and fall to its sides in slow motion, then commanded Zearth to pull its limb out in an upward motion. The move violently ripped the Echo's torso into two halves that splayed open like the wings of an oil-soaked vulture.

There was something amongst the Echo's biomechanical guts, a small white object that resembled a sphere made of lotus petals. Zearth opened the claw on its right arm, grabbed the sphere, and pulled it out of the Echo's body.

"Echo Core extracted," Ushiro announced.

With a twist of its wrist, Zearth severed the long thin cable that connected to Core to the Echo. Ushiro and the others watched as the Echo fell backwards in slow motion. It landed in the ocean with a thundering boom, sending more waves in every direction. The glitching stopped and its colors faded into shades of ashen gray, leaving behind a barren mountain range of a corpse.

Ushiro took a deep breath before walking back to the chair between Yoko and Kana. He sat down and set the Contractor on his lap. Moji withdrew his hands from Yoko's body and returned to his seat. Daichi leaned up against his moped.

"That was reckless, Yoko," Ushiro told his freckled friend.

His eyes were hidden behind his visor, but Yoko could still feel their furious glare, even as she avoided looking at him.

"I know," Yoko replied. "It really was reckless, suicidal even."

"Not just that. What you did was selfish. Even if we defeated the Echo after it killed you, we'd still be down an admin."

"Anyone can become an admin as long as you have the Contractor."

"But we wouldn't have your experience to guide us."

"I've taught you guys enough about Zearth. You can figure out the rest without me."

"That's not true."

Yoko finally looked up at her friend. "Why do you even care? Just let me die and atone for my sins."

"Atone?" Kana retorted, "You'd just be hiding from your sins if you died."

Yoko's hands trembled. "Do you have any idea what it's like having to with everything I've seen and done over the course of this war?"

Ushiro took another deep breath before continuing in a gentler tone. "I think we know enough." He removed his visor and looked directly at Yoko with solid black eyes surrounded by scar tissue. "It's not just you. We've all been scarred by this war, yet we're still fighting, because we're all that stand between our world, our loved ones, and oblivion."

"Your world isn't my world," Yoko meekly argued.

"Perhaps," Kana added, "But you have friends in this world. You don't have to suffer on your own. We're here for you, whenever you need us." She got off her seat so she could walk over to Yoko and lay a gentle hand on her freckled friend's shoulder.

Ushiro put his visor back on. "All we ask is that you be there for us."

Daichi and Moji gave Yoko reassuring smiles as the cockpit's light returned to full illumination. Numerous small screens appeared around the one displaying the Echo's remains, screens that showed Yoko'a friends hard at world rescuing civilians from the battle's collateral damage. The sight was enough to make Yoko tear up for a bit.

"Right." Yoko wiped away her tear. "Sorry for letting you guys down."

"It wasn't all bad," Ushiro smirked, much to Yoko's surprise. "You did better than I expected fighting the enemy."

"Thanks," Yoko smiled back. "And yes, I will keep fighting, for everyone's sake."

"Hey guys?" Kanji wondered through his friends' earpieces. "Sorry to interrupt, but could someone let me back in?"

Yoko turned her earpiece on and replied, "Sure thing! If anyone else who wants back in, just say 'Aye'!"

While Yoko waited for her friends to respond, she recalled her first impressions of them when they first met at the camp. She remembered how she didn't find them all that special; no extraordinary qualities, but nothing bad either. Then she walked them through their first Echo battle, and their reactions showed her just why Zearth had chosen them to be the saviors of their world.

The main building of the camp's lodge was nothing more than a burnt-out concrete half shell. The bench had been reduced to a mass of twisted pipes and wires. The kids were on the lawn beyond the lodge's patio, gathered in a circle around their unconscious teachers. Nakama was kneeling next to the younger woman, hard at work searching for and bandaging wounds. Moji was likewise treating the elder teacher. Kana was standing between the two, an open first-aid kit at her knees.

"How am I doing?" Nakama asked in a rushed and worried manner.

"You're doing fine," Moji assured her while keeping his focus on his teacher. "We're just patching up basic stuff. Paramedics will do the rest. Kana, more alcohol!"

"R-right!" Kana bent down and grabbed a bottle out of her first-aid kit. Her hands were trembling as she poured the contents of the bottle into the sponge she was holding.

"I can't believe nobody died," Ushiro said as he watched his little sister hand her sponge to Moji.

"You almost sound disappointed," Maki chuckled. She was leaning up against a tree, exhausted.

Kanji added, "You guys did have some close calls, though."

"You can say that again."

"I am so mad I ruined this," Aiko moped while running her fingers over her shredded blouse. "I bought it just for this stupid camp!"

"Oh, don't be like that," Kanji assured the blonde. "You were awesome back there, tackling Maki out of the way of danger and whatnot."

"You're complimenting me? That's a first."

The kids heard something shuffle. The turned to see Yoko limping her way out of the trees beyond the far end of the lawn. The black coat was gone, leaving her in her usual gym shorts and a rose-print tank top. She was clutching her right arm, which was caked in partially dried blood, as was the left half of her face.

"You guys were amazing," she uttered in a whispered tone.

"Yoko," Kana gasped. "You're hurt!"

Yoko looked down at her bloody arm and laughed through gritted teeth. "Yeah, my arm's probably broken."

"Stay there!" Moji glanced down to make sure his teacher was still breathing before he got up. "Nakama, keep an eye on them while I get Yoko. Kana, more bandages!"

While Moji ran over to Yoko, Kana rummaged through the first aid kit. "I can't find any," she stammered. "We're out of bandages!"

"Hold on!" Aiko shouted as she ripped the remains of her blouse off her shoulders. "Hey Moji, will this work?!"

"Couldn't hurt," Moji said while getting Yoko's good arm over his shoulders and guiding her to the ground.

Aiko ran over to Moji and helped tend to Yoko. Meanwhile, Komo walked away from the rest of the group, pulled out her phone, and dialed the emergency number.

"Hello?" she said after the operator answered. "Yeah, it's me again. It turns out we're going to need three ambulances at Furusato Camp, not two."