//------------------------------// // Episode 1 Part IV - To the Surface! // Story: Pierce the Heavens // by The Truth of Chaos //------------------------------// -BREAK- Kamina felt another claw brush against his skin. The cut was insignificant compare to the others though. His body already had a tally of twenty cuts, five of which had inched a few centimetres deep. He started to pant, his stance turned defensive as the diamond dog Chomp proved more than match for the man. "Not bad." The alpha commented, before shrugging. "But not good either. I'm starting to think this is all you have Kamina!" He said with a sinister smile as he pounced forward with his paw outstretched. Kamina quickly side stopped, narrowly missing the attack, and curved his elbow into the back of the moving dog, sending him into the ground. After landing, however, the dog used his powerful paws to lift himself within a moment with the momentum after the collision with the floor, and sent his foot right into Kamina's face. The blue haired devil took the powerful punch full force, and fell backwards. Before he hit the wall, however, there was the surrounding diamond dogs, who simply lifted him back into the improvised arena. The hero of freedom struggled to stand, but a man never backed down, no matter the circumstances. "You don't give up, so you?" Chomp commented, before snickering. "Why do you persist?" "Because I can't stand a person like you winning this fight!" He answered, his glare as strong as his words and he ran up to the alpha and sent his own fist flying into his face. The dog took the blow as his head turned from the force of the blow, but after taking a single step back, he did not inch. He started to laugh. "You know..." He started, daring to stand in front of the man without even bother to defend himself. "You took Tigs by surprise, then again, he is a stupid fool. And that ball of iron you used did help with the force. As for Pata, well, he always was a fatso." He stated, before poking Kamina's chest, the man unwavering as he held eye contact with the alpha. "I however am in a totally different league. I had to defeat ever dog in this room and more to achieve this status. You did well to fend me off this far, but you can't win." "Say what you want!" Kamina shouted back, slightly startling his opponent. "But I will not lose. Because I can't. There are a few people I need to see before I die, you see..." He inched forward, the finger on his chest bending, but it still left a cut, blood starting to seep from it. "And no matter how much blood you spill, it isn't going to matter. You will never break my will." The dog smirked, and sighed. "Finally, a challenge." He grinned and pushed Kamina away, giving him time to ready himself for the second round. "Let's see how long your will holds out..." He then raised his claws and took on a very predatory expression, the sadist smile from before turned into a insane grin. "BEFORE I RIP IT APART ALONG WITH YOU!" He pulled back his fist and sent it right into Kamina's chest. The man grunted and took a few steps back, before slingshotting back and sending his own fist right into Chomp's chest, making the dog jump back. Kamina then turned, running at the wall of Diamond dog, and grinned. They looked at him oddly as he turned around and fell towards them. On instinct, they grabbed him and sent him back into the arena, like a thick piece of rubber string. Kamina used this momentum to come running back, and before the dog could react, he was close lines by the force of Kamina's outstretched arm. If there was one thing Kamina could do right, it was improvise. As the dog was down, he took a few steps back, walking near the warden's body. He glanced down, and as he saw the dog fluttering his eyes open and groaning, he raised his foot and slam it into the dogs head, knocking him out once more. Chomp began to rise, grunting as his paw covered his face, blood dripping from his muzzle. Kamina took this time to kneel down, and picked up two very valuable things. "Why you... Huh?" Chomp looked at Kamina, stunned, and then grit his teeth at this new problem. "You know, you were right. Fighting you one of one does seem like a one sided fight. But..." He said, spinning the chain of two iron balls in each hand, both of them gaining speed as they twirled around his hand. "... With this, I think it would be a much fairer fight. Iron balls versus tooth and claw, right?" He stated with a grin, before letting out a battle cry, as he ran towards the canine, spinning the chains more rapidly. It was now that he went on the offensive. Chomp, now worried about the power of each of his weapons, now did his best to avoid their hit. Kamina did not relent, as the weight of the iron spheres carried him closer and closer to the dog. It was then that the first stuck hit, colliding with the dogs left arm. The alpha knew that if he did not raise it, it would have likely crashed into his chest, and that could have been fatal. But after hearing a loud crack, he wished he never even needs to make the choice. "GUAAAARRRRRGGHHHHH!" He scream, as the painful sensation of his arm breaking tweaked through his nerves, the many diamond dogs int he room flinching in imaginary pain. He alpha's arm dropped to the side, gritting his teeth as he could no longer feel his hand. Looking down, he saw it bend slightly downwards, making the dog's eyes flinch at the sight. Glared at Kamina with newfound rage, he lifted his finger and pointed at the smirking human. "GET... HIM!" He cried out, and every diamond dog heard the call, each other of them readied to pounce. Kamina looked around, his grin turning upside down as he glanced around with wide eyes. He was surrounded, and he knew that even with his weapons, this fight probably couldn't be won. But even so, he held up his weapons, ready to fend off the attackers, when a small sound reached his ear. "KAMINA." He looked to the entrance of the cavern, and grinned widely. As he looked around, he saw everyone else was looking there too. 'Right right, they're dogs. Excellent hearing.' Kamina thought to himself, before dashing towards the tunnels. Two diamond dogs instantly jumped in the way, and Kamina began to spin the iron balls. "GET OUTTA MY WAY!" He shouted to the high heavens as he smashed the balls into the dogs, denting their helmets and knocking them out, both of them falling to the ground. He ran outside, and turned to the cavern, seeing a herd of the dogs running towards him. He span the chains and iron balls, before throwing them into he oncoming force. They smashed into the first few, and created a domino effect. As the crowd of dogs collapsed on each other, Kamina reflected the call. "CORN CHIP?!" He called out, using each inch of his voice to call to her. It wasn't long after he heard her reply. "KAMINA!" Smirking, he heard he voice echo from the tunnel on his left. "KEEP CALLING CORN CHIP!" He stated, racing down the tunnel, before glancing back. The diamond dogs were starting to pick themselves up and chase after him, in which he simply laughed. "Let the games begin!" He stated, picking up the pace. Looking down, he saw the majority of his cuts and did not feel a thing. 'Must be adrenaline.' He thought to himself. 'I need to do this quick!' "KAMINA!" He heard more than one voice this time, as he raced down the tunnel, but the ones he took all when the same way. Looking back, he saw that one of the more agile dogs had almost caught up with him. Quickly he looked in front of him and narrowly dodged a cart in front of him. As the next on came up, he smiled and grabbed the edges, and jumped into the air, stand on his hands on the cart. The dog crashed into it, causing it to carry it's momentum and blast forward. The blue haired man yelped as he dropped into the cart, before poking his head out and started laughing as the cart took a drop downhill and picked up speed. The dogs seemed to lose chase after him as he glanced forward. "KAMINA!" It was a collection of voices now, and close too. His eyes went wide as a dead end and a sharp turn right came into view. He began to brace himself and hopped out of the cart seconds before it crashed into a wall, tumbling along the rock hard ground and right in front of the turn into the cells. He felt his adrenaline leave him as pain shot through every inch of his body. "Kamina?!" Cried a familiar voice. Grunting in pain, the human managed to open his eyes and gaze into the cavern. Looking at him in shock were a group of creatures, ponies, unicorns, winged ponies and the bird lion thing from before. Each were dirty, and he already guessed they were fellow prisoners. Taking a deep breath, Kamina struggled to his feet. He felt the need to collapse, but before he could he was lifted up once more by the ponies he knew. Harvest and Corn Chip rested under his hands, and he smiled at the duo until he found the strength to stand. "Urgh... That was a rough ride..." He muttered, limping towards the rest of the group. "You're covered in cuts!" One of the winged ponies said, visibly shocked. "Don't tell me you fought the dogs!?" "Nah, just three. Tigs, Pata and Chomp. Well, I knocked two of them out easily, the third not so much." He stated with a grin, the group visibly paling. "We dug that 'gunmen' thing up, like you asked..." Corn Chip commented. Kamina's eyes widened as he stood tall, finding new strength to continue. "Where's my drill?" He asked, looking to Corn Chip. Using magic, she lifted it from the hoof of her grandfather, who was looking on in pride, and into Kamina's hands. His fist clenches around the item, and he dashed towards the cell room, eager to see his mech. Stopping right in front of the cell, he almost squealed in delight. Before him was a head. But unlike the powerful and smooth faced Lagann his brother Simon found, the head before him was more of a jagged skull. The paint of crimson, and the eyes closed in deep sockets, the large blood red skull had spiky silver teeth coming down from the upper jaw, the lower jaw missing entirely. The top of the head was covered in the same material that Lagann scalp was, but this material was silver, and a vertical beam of metal curved over the top of it's middle. As he grew closer, the drill began to hum, and the top of the mech came off, with the metal beam curving into the back of skull, and the divided protective metal came down on each side. He walked up to the mech and glanced inside. It seemed similar to Lagann's inside, but older and a tiny bit rusty. The spin on dashboard had a lightly cracked screen to boot. Grimacing, he began to climb to the top of the mech. As he climbed to the edge of opened skull, he stood tall on the narrow surface, balancing perfectly. "All of you!" He started, as everyone's attention was drawn to him. "These mutts took you from your home, your families, and your lives. But no more! For I, the mighty Kamina, shall liberate you from these hounds. They will know pain as you did, and know fear as you did! You shall return to the surface free, without chains or irons. After all..." He dropped into the cockpit of the mech, and raised his drill. "WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM!?" He placed the drill into the dashboard. The machine roared to life, but it was momentary. It struggled to stay on, the power not reaching it' scull potential. The eyes were still glued shut. But Kamina would not waver. Thinking of the one thing that gave him confidence, he took a deep breath. 'Don't worry, Simon...' He thought to himself as he placed his hands on the drill. 'I'm coming!' Turning the drill once more, spiral energy surged from Kamina's will and into the machine. Rust faded into dust as the lagann class mech repaired itself in an instant. The dashboard crash sealed up, and the power bar span to full. The eyes of the mech opened. Clasping his hands into the mecha handles, he ordered it to move forward with his moving legs and arms. It did move, but not in the way he expected. The small mech leaped forward, his arms outstretched, as he jumped from the cell her was already in, over the group, and into the wall of the other. "What the hell?!" Kamina shouted, looking down at the controls. He pushed himself gently off the wall, but was sent flying when the gunmen physically punched the wall, launching itself and tumbling onto the ground. "Eh?" Kamina said, simply stunned, as he looked up at the group. Each of their expressions differed, but all held a degree of worry. They all looked towards the tunnel entrance with wide eyes as the constant barrage of incoming barking could be heard coming down the tunnel. Kamina instead used one hand to get up, and even then the mech lifted from the ground, bounced off the ceiling and landed on the ground upright. "This thing is out of control! How the hell did Simon-!" Kamina began to to shout, before a memory crossed his mind. Using his imagination, he created a size chart in different between the two brothers. He saw himself almost dwarfing the boy, and began to marvel his own good looks before the sound of barking broke his thought. "Alright..." He said with new found will. "Gentle... Slowly... Smaller...." He muttered to himself, readying his own figure gently into a defensive stance. The mech copied his slow movements perfectly, their synchronisation matching up with every gentle and small movement he did, with Kamina soon in complete control. A herd of dogs began rushing inside the cavern, one after the other, racing towards the group, until the small mech jumped in the way, Kamina grinning widely. "DON'T TAKE ME LIGHTLY, DIAMOND DOG PUNKS!" He cried, running towards the herd. "WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM?!" The gunmen then jumped forward as Kamina pushed forward with all his strength. "ULTIMATE CRASHING CRANIUM... IMPACTTTTTT!" The lagann type mech leaped towards the group in a spinning headbutt launch, the heavy metal mech slammed into the dog. The heavily armoured diamond dog was sent spinning backwards, as were others, with the skull mech smashing them threw the tunnel. When Kamina pulled the breaks, the dogs did not stop flying backwards and dashed into a dead end with the tunnel, crowding up and lying unconscious. Kamina brushed off his mech, and smiled smugly. "Faito." He stated, patting the mecha dashboard. "That's your name, 'fighting spirit'!" "YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE!" Kamina, along sigh every other creature in the room glanced up to the entrance of he cavern. There stood Tigs, holding up the wounded Chomp, who was gritting his teeth in angry and fear of Kamina's new weapon. "You will never find your way out of our maze, and the way to the surface is a couple of miles away. You'll never find a way ou-!" "Goddamnnit SHUT UP ALREADY!" Kamina interrupted, before he pointed to the ceiling. "There is no boundary that a man cannot pass! If there's a wall, I'll break it down!" He then grasped his fingers into a fist, his mech bringing it's own arm down and a fist clenched right in front of Faito. "If there is no path, I'll make one with these hands!" He shouted, before running towards the dog duo. "After all, just who the hell..." He raised his fist, and Chomp only narrowly jumped out of he way as Faito punched Tigs in the gut, carrying him along with the momentum, until he reached the cave wall. "DO YOU THINK I AM!?" He cried, before the arm began to spin, using Tigs as a cushion against the rock and dirt as it began to drill through it with the spinning, onwards and upwards. Chomp could only look on in shook, and the ponies in awe as he smashed a tunnel towards the surface. 'My journey... Isn't over yet!' The light of the surface burst into the recently made tunnel. Tigs fell off Kamina's fist and onto the green grass, his eyes spiralling as he felt dizzy and sick. Kamina smiled as he once again saw the light of day. The ponies from below marvelled at the sight, while Chomp stood shocked and stunned. Stardust piped up with a hearty smile. "Kamina... He's quite a guy." The hero of freedom sighed as the roof of his mech opened and the fresh air breezed against him once more. His journey was just beginning. Ending Song - TRUST (Original Mix)