OOC: [App stuff]
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Character appearance-
Character/Series: Yoko "Machi" Machi, Bokurano
Click here for a close up. Click here for full body. She also has a small scar under her left eye from acid burns.
Character age- 13
Character history- [The first few paragraphs are a mix of canon and my own personal fanon]
Yoko Machi grew up in a small suburb of an alternate Japan. Her parents are fishermen and thus during the fishing were away a lot when she was a child. This left her with her brother, who is three years older than her. He would always bully her as a child - for some reason, he just had a bad attitude, throwing around crude humor and swears at an early age and, at some point, becoming a bit of a sadist. She knew, however, from some of his instances of being kind to her and declaring that only he could bully his little sister, that he was a good person somewhere really really really really deep down. She put on a happy smile for him and took his verbal torment, developing a quick tongue and a wit of her own to match.
Overall, life for Yoko Machi was incredibly normal for her first twelve years. She got up, verbally sparred with her brother, went to school, and enjoyed herself like a child should. She saw no reason for these happy days to end.
…Until, that is, a fighting robot showed up in her world.
Yes, a fighting robot. Two, actually. The news reported in a nearby town two robots materialized out of nowhere! Apparently from reports, a person appeared shortly before, asking a small group of young adults if they would help him pilot it. According to the story, the pilot defeated the other robot…and then quickly explained to those he told that they would need to pilot it as well - for other robots would be coming and attacking. Those he recruited agreed…and then were teleported from the cockpit they didn’t see the man again. They did see, however, a small floating bug-looking thing that called himself Dung Beetle. He was to be their support - the one who would get them to the robot when the time came and aid them with any questions they had. It didn’t seem to be a problem.
But the first pilot hadn’t found enough other pilots, as it seemed. The group he originally recruited had only five people. The Dung Beetle panicked and sent out widespread messages, traveling from place to place and explaining the plight of the fighting robots. He got many to sign the “contract” to join, including Yoko’s brother…and, because she didn’t want him to go alone, Yoko herself. Even though he only needed fifteen pilots, he had an entire legion of recruits.
After the first battle, however, it became clear that this wasn’t a wholesome fight to save the world. No, it was something much darker. The one piloting the robot…suddenly died after winning the battle. There was no reason for it - he just did. All the other recruits suddenly got nervous and Dung Beetle reluctantly explained what he had been keeping: The robots run on life energy. After a battle, win or lose, the pilot dies. If the pilot doesn’t show up after 48 hours…the battle ends with the opposing robot as the winner and the loser’s entire reality is destroyed. That’s right - they were fighting other humans from different parallel universes.
Obviously, this caused problems. The pilots scattered, trying to find ways to skip their turn if they were next or scam others into the contract in hopes of it not getting to them. They turned on each other, killed each other. One of Yoko’s cousins who had signed the contract on a whim went crazy at the thought of it. Two more of her relatives - an uncle and another cousin - were injured in a riot and sent to the hospital. Yoko suddenly found herself terrified - she didn’t want to die…and she didn’t want her brother to die either. Taking matters into his own hands, her brother tried to bribe the Dung Beetle to make sure they were both far down in the line up so they wouldn’t have to worry about piloting the robot. This, however, had disastrous consequences. They indeed won their fifteen required battles, but before the Dung Beetle announced one of the pilots had to be transformed into a Dung Beetle themselves and act as support for another world. He could choose who - and he chose Yoko’s brother. Neither brother nor sister could act against it.
Though the contract was still ongoing, Yoko’s brother - now just calling himself Dung Beetle as well - teleported to the world he would have to support, none too happy. To his surprise, his sister insisted she go along. She couldn’t let him go by himself; not only would he be lonely, but she pitied the poor pilots who had to work with him. One of the other pilots of their world, Garaku, went with, for he was the last one chosen for a battle. He would pilot this world’s robot and it would be their world’s final victory. He would demonstrate to the new pilots just what they had to do - and he would find the new pilots in the first place. Dung Beetle would stay out of the way until he’d found said pilots.
An issue came up on where Yoko would live, though. At first she thought she would have to find a job and an apartment, but as luck would have it, she saw someone there she recognized - her father. As it turned out, in a one-in-a-million occurrence, she had an “alternate” family in this world. Though her brother didn’t exist there, she did and so did her mother and father. Dung Beetle capitalized on this and teleported the other Yoko into a sort of suspended animation; the girl wouldn’t even know she’d been gone and his sister could take her place during her short time there. Yoko didn’t like the idea, but she knew she had to.
Of course, while she was there she had to keep up appearances. Her other’s parents had signed their daughter up for a nearby summer camp - a self-study scientific thing - and Yoko had to go - not that she minded. She wanted to meet other kids her age and relax again. The robot battles in her own world had gone on for many months and she’d spent her thirteenth birthday thinking she could die at any moment; but though she’d fooled her other set of parents, she was afraid that somehow others in this world would see her as an outsider. Still, she attended the summer camp, surprised to find only fourteen other children there, most around her age. The small group formed a bond early on, giving each other nicknames to “break the ice.” Most of the kids soon went by names other than their given ones. Yoko’s fears were for nothing.
The group consisted of Takashi “Waku” Waku, Masaru “Komoda” Kodaka, Daiichi “Daichi” Yamura, Mako “Nakama” Nakarai, Isao “Kako” Kako, Chizuru “Chizu” Honda, Kunihiko “Moji” Moji, Maki “Maki” Ano, Yosuke “Kirie” Kirie, Takami “Komo” Komoda, Aiko “Anko” Tokosumi, Kanji “Kanji” Yoshikawa, Jun “Ushiro” Ushiro, and Ushiro’s younger sister, Kana “Kana” Ushiro. As for Yoko? She became Yoko “Machi” Machi. She happily accepted the nickname and began referring to herself with her family name. Though most only received nicknames based on their real names or settled for their real names to begin with, something about the ritual pulled the kids together. Their similar ages, all of them being thirteen except for ten year old Kana, helped them find common ground as well. Machi found herself drawn to Ushiro - he was distant, cold, and abusive to Kana, and yet…yet she believed he was a good person deep inside. He was like her brother - putting up a kind of front. She wanted to find out just what was behind that front. (And okay, she found him cute.)
It was a week after the program began that the trouble started. The group was exploring on a shoreline, looking for seashells and rocks and crabs and all the other things middle schoolers liked to find. Machi, however, was the one that suggested it: They should go and explore a nearby cave. Ready for adventure, they all trekked over to it, though Waku, who seemed to take up the leader position, didn’t think they’d find anything. The cave was, indeed quite dark and they all decided to head out…but Kana saw a light at the back. Pushing through the small opening, they were surprised to find a camp! It had chairs and computers and a tarp and a bed - all inside the cave! A sound from a different entrance signaled they had a visitor - and it was Garaku.
He introduced himself as Kokopelli. Machi told him everyone knew about the cave, so it wasn’t a surprise they found him. When Waku asked what he was doing there…he only asked them if they’d like to play a game.
Machi froze. She knew what kind of “game” he was talking about - he had to recruit people for this Earth’s robot battling - for the parallel universe battles! She didn’t want her new found friends to be swept up into this…but of course Garaku - no, Kokopelli - was sly. He just said they’d be testing a new game - a game where they took turns piloting a robot and saved the world from invaders. It was just a game. Machi felt sick. He was going to trick her friends into fighting - and dying. But she couldn’t say anything without sounding like a lunatic or revealing herself. What would they think? Before she could come up with a plan to protect them, they’d agreed - one by one, they set their hands on the device that sealed the contract. When it came to her turn, she thought she could save the remaining - Ushiro and Kana - by pausing and saying she had a bad feeling. Maybe they would trust her judgment - maybe they would leave and she could confront Kokopelli and get him to find replacements. Her brother - Dung Beetle -, he had to be able to alter the order somehow. He had to be able to save them.
But Waku, ever the loud-and-excitable, pushed her hand onto the device. Now…now she was in the contract. She brushed it off, but inwardly panicked. She didn’t want to be drawn up into this again.
As it went, Ushiro said Kana couldn’t join. He didn’t want her to have fun, after all. Kokopelli hesitantly said it would do. He told them he would take care of the first and see them later. Before Machi could approach him, they all blacked out and awoke on the beach again. Waku dismissed it as a dream, but when they all talked about it, the group insisted it had to be real. While discussing it, the ground started to shake. The kids all ran outside and saw it: the black giant robot. Machi knew what was coming. Another robot appeared as well, as did her brother. She feigned the same interest as the others and they were all teleported to the cockpit. Machi had never been inside the robot from their world, so this was entirely new to her. Fifteen chairs floated about the cockpit, and Kokopelli sat in one of them. Each empty chair…was another dead pilot…
They watched the battle, slowly realizing with the damage to the camp that this was not a game any longer. It was a fight to survive. Kokopelli won the fight and they were all transported out - but Komo mentioned later she thought she head him say, “I’m sorry.”
Machi found she couldn’t sleep at all in the coming days at camp. She was restless and went outside to talk to Dung Beetle. He told her to call him brother when they were alone, but she feared being discovered. They spoke in the robot’s cockpit, regardless - Dung Beetle could hide in whenever he wanted, with all his teleportation powers, after all. Machi expressed her worries and he shrugged them off - it had to be someone, so why not these kids? When she told him she was in this Earth’s contract as well, he momentarily went silent…but told her that was impossible. She was from another world and therefore couldn’t take part in this contract. It was…impossible. She had nothing to worry about. While she had no reason to question her brother, this didn’t ease her thoughts.
The next robot appeared shortly after. Waku mentioned he heard someone calling his name and Dung Beetle appeared, telling them their magazine had been loaded. He teleported them to the cockpit and he scanned their minds. A chair appeared for each child. Machi was surprised to count out fourteen, one for each of them who “touched” the contract. She knew she couldn’t be in it, but she went along anyway, claiming a chair no one else claimed. Kana, who had been brought along, sat with Maki, who claimed a baby crib - for she was going to have a little brother soon, after all. The kids mused on what to call their robot and Maki came up with the name Zearth. They were protecting The Earth, but that sounded lame - they needed to give it a cool code name. The robot had its name.
The opposing fighter appeared soon after and Waku took control of the robot. Using his soccer skills, he was able to kick a piece of Zearth’s armor that had been knocked off into an opening in its underbelly - obviously the weak point. Each robot had one somewhere on its body. Destroy it and the battle was won - or so Dung Beetle said. Machi knew what really won the battle was killing the opposing pilot. During the battle, the neighboring mountains were peppered with laser fire from not only Zearth but the other robot. People died…and it was again clear that this wasn’t a game. With victory at hand, the fifteen children were teleported out of the cockpit and on to Zearth’s outer shell. Waku was excited, screaming out to the world. He seemed ready for anything. He suggested the head back as he stared out at the ocean and Ushiro patted his back, telling him to be quiet - he was embarrassing them.
…and then Waku fell right off Zearth and into the water below. Machi knew this was coming - but everyone else didn’t. All of them - Ushiro included - thought Waku had been exhausted and the other boy’s gesture had sent him spiraling off the edge to his death. Machi couldn’t tell them that Waku probably died on his feet right after he suggested they leave.
For obvious reasons, camp was cancelled and the kids kept the truth about Waku’s death a secret, wanting to protect Ushiro and keep the robot away from the adults. They fabricated a story about how he and Moji had gone down to the shore to see the robots battle and Waku had gotten too close to the rising waves. He’d been pulled under and Moji had to run away, for the battle was getting too close. It was yet another lie.
A few of them kept in touch, but Machi couldn’t find a way to get to their houses. She didn’t even have their addresses, after all. In the flurry, no one had remembered contact information. She didn’t need to worry, though. Soon enough…another robot appeared and they were all summoned. Kodama said he was the pilot - he heard the voice right after Waku died but didn’t want to mention it at the time for obvious reasons. They all sat in their chairs and braced themselves for the fight - but this one took place in Kodama’s neighborhood and it was filled with people. To everyone’s surprise, he didn’t seem to care about the people below. He was fighting to save ten billion people, he said. Who cared about ten thousand? Daichi and Nakama were particularly disturbed by Kodama’s flippant behavior. He went on like that, not caring who he killed - until he accidentally crushed his father’s car. Seeing the father he loved dearly dead, Kodama went berserk, fighting for real now, but still dismissing the lives he was destroying. Machi found it amazing what the robot was already doing to her friends. Kodama located the weak spot and destroyed it, crying at his father’s death.
Daichi then said that they should quit the game. Waku was dead. The town was destroyed. More would die if they continued. Dung Beetle told them they signed the contract so they couldn’t…and at that point Kodama dropped from his chair, dying instantly. Their surprise was evident so Dung Beetle explained that the robot ran on human life force. He was actually surprised they didn’t know. Machi…blamed Garaku but also herself. The reason why they were probably chosen was because she was near them - she was used as a way to find pilots. She’d gotten her friend into something that they couldn’t get out of. Daichi confirmed it - he heard the voice right after. He was the next pilot. Dung Beetle explained the real rules to them - the time limit and the cost of the battle. None of them took it well. Machi felt horrible.
A week or so passed and Machi found herself growing more and more nervous. The next battle arrived and Daichi seemed ready to pilot Zearth - nearly. He refused to attack until all the people could evacuate, something the other pilots decided on doing as well in the future. He worked throughout his battle to protect an amusement park. As it turned out, he was going to take his three younger siblings there the day of the attack. It was cruel. He protected the park, but like the others died. Before he did, he asked Dung Beetle what happened to Kodama’s body. Dung Beetle told him he’d teleported it back to his family. Daichi requested his body be teleported elsewhere - inside the robot, as he mentioned. He didn’t want his siblings to think he’d died, just gone missing.
The next pilot was Nakama. Again, Machi didn’t hear much from the others, just feeling guilty about the three who had already died. Two and a half weeks passed before the next battle and when they were all summoned Nakama looked like hell. The kind, shy, soft-spoken girl looked like she hadn’t slept in days. She prepared to fight the new robot, but it stepped back. Apparently it was giving the citizens time to evacuate. Nakama strangely requested she be transported back to her home - for only one hour. If the battle began, she would let herself be teleported back. An hour later, on the dot, she appeared…with clothes. She’d made everyone battle uniforms, even Kana. She tried to make some for Daichi, Kodama and Waku as a memorial, but she hadn’t enough time. She thought…it would help them be confident. With girls on one side and guys on the other, most of them changed into these clothes. Only Kako and Ushiro didn’t. Ushiro found it a waste of time - and Kako declared they were just death clothes. He freaked out and said he for one didn’t want to die - only for Nakama to yell she didn’t want to either. Sobered up, everyone sat and awaited the battle. Before she fought, though, Nakama used Zearth’s soul-sensing abilities to find a classmate of hers. Apparently while she was in her house, her mom came in and told her one of their neighbors had been missing. Nakama located her and saved the girl. She then fought and easily defeated the next robot. She too died.
Kako was chosen as the next pilot and he wasn’t happy about it at all. Machi could tell he was freaking out more than the others - she’d seen it happen enough. Only a few days went by and he’d shut himself up already. Dung Beetle just wanted to make things worse - he mocked Kako, saying everyone was keeping stuff from him. Machi berated her brother for doing so when he told her, but he didn’t care - he just wanted to see all of them break. He told her to go home; her “job” was over, after all. She said she couldn’t do that - she was worried about him, after all. To further convince him, she told him of her love (at least she thought it was love - she hadn’t experienced love before) for Ushiro. Dung Beetle said it wouldn’t matter. All of them were still going to die.
Very shortly after, the JSDF (Japanese Special Defense Force) approached Machi at her house, telling her to come with them. They took her via helicopter to an island military base, telling her of the casualties in the previous battles. So far…it totaled over ten thousand dead. Most all of the other pilots - and Kana - were at the base when she arrived, the rest trickling in, ending with Kako and Chizu, who arrived together. Komo stepped forward and said it was her fault. Her father, a military general, stood behind her. She’d let a little slip to him and confessed everything. A man named Mr. Sasami explained they would be placed under government protection as VIPs and examined. The army would take care of any future robot attacks and Zearth would be placed under military care. They all underwent physical examinations and were sent home. They were supposed to figure out a way to get out of their houses the next day and report right back there. Her “parents” were working anyway - she didn’t have to worry.
They were introduced to Captain Tanaka and Captain Seki, two military members who would act as the kids’ connection to the JSDF. When the kids explained they didn’t know where Zearth was, they were just pawns, they summoned Dung Beetle. To Machi’s annoyance, he didn’t come when she called, but when Kana did. Dung Beetle made it perfectly clear that the military couldn’t control Zearth - they couldn’t use it to fight their own wars. Captain Tanaka was able to calm Dung Beetle when he got too riled up, severing a man’s fingers via a complicated teleportation. She was able to negotiate a deal - the JSDF could see the Zearth and in exchange they wouldn’t do anything else. Dung Beetle liked her gall and let them examine it. It did little good - they simply couldn’t find out anything. It was impossible to take off the armor and something just seemed to will them away. A futile effort.
In the middle of examining Kako, the next robot appeared. Everyone was teleported into the cockpit, including Captain Tanaka and Captain Seki, but Kako was still freaking out. When the enemy moved, so did he - he didn’t care about where he stepped, he just wanted to get away. The JSDF tried to fight the other robot but failed - it was up to Kako. But he wasn’t going to fight - he was going to run. No one had the heart to call him out. It tore Machi up to watch another of her friends break. Kirie, out of all of them, called him out on it and Kako began to beat him in a rage. They all tried to get him to stop, but no one could pull him off…until Chizu walked up to him while he wasn’t paying attention and stuck a knife in his jugular. She sliced it and Kako stood still for a moment before the wound hit and he died. Machi yelled at Chizu, who said he was going to die anyway. Chizu brushed it off and said she would pay the price. Dung Beetle pointed out they were one person short now…but Ushiro said they could use Kana. Already disturbed and angry at Chizu killing Kako, Machi berated Ushiro too, saying he was “just like her brother.” It was thus far the closest she’d come to revealing her secrets. Zearth suddenly started moving and Chizu said she’d take care of the enemy - she heard the call already, after all.
Before she fought the enemy, Chizu avoided its attacks and started away from the battlefield, saying she was going to her neighborhood, even though it wasn’t yet evacuated. She prepared to use Zearth’s soul-sensing ability to locate someone…and then fire a laser at an entire block of housing, killing everyone inside. Despite the other pilots’ and Captain Tanaka’s and Captain Seki’s protests, Chizu continued, repeating the process five more times in five other locations. When Captain Tanaka tried to get her to stop, she calmly said for the past month she’d been planning this out - she had men she had to get her revenge on. They were…fated to die. She also revealed inadvertently that she was pregnant. Machi watched in absolute horror as Chizu fired on a group of evacuees just to kill one of the men who had wronged her. Chizu told her she could hate her if she wanted - she just had one more person she had to kill. She pinned a car down and a man got out - along with a woman…Chizu’s older sister.
Chizu tried to kill the man but that was no good. Her sister got in the way. She stopped and had Dung Beetle teleport her out of the cockpit. The other pilots heard her confrontation with the man - Chizu’s former teacher - how he’d seduced Chizu and gotten her pregnant. Her sister still told her she couldn’t kill him; she couldn’t destroy her own life like that. Chizu demanded Dung Beetle teleport her back and when she returned to the cockpit she was inconsolable, crying into her hands and saying she couldn’t kill her sister. The other robot approached but Chizu did nothing. Zearth was attacked again and again and she still just sat in her chair. Machi ran up to her and grabbed her shoulder, demanding she fight back. After all she did, she had to or it would all be for nothing. Machi began to breakdown herself, crying as she tried to get Chizu to listen to her.
When the enemy robot nearly hit Chizu’s sister, the girl finally snapped back to life, attacking it without mercy. Chizu asked Machi before she continued if she would be willing to pay the price as well - and Machi answered after a moment’s hesitation that she would. Even though she wasn’t part of the contract, she meant that. If she had to…she would fight and die for this Earth. Chizu screamed at the other robot as the fighting continued and most of the other pilots cried as she did. They couldn’t stand to see their friend lose herself as she had. When she defeated it, she gave Kirie her knife and told them to keep a close watch on the lights on the robot’s face - for they’d discovered those lights represented the pilots’ lives.
And when Chizu died, two lights went out. In a sick twist of fate, her baby had been contracted as well. Machi knew right then that her brother had been right - she hadn’t entered into the contract. No one else knew. She…couldn’t tell them.
After this, though, both Captain Tanaka and Captain Seki signed up for the contract. They didn’t know which of the others wasn’t bound by the contract besides Kana, but they knew they were two pilots short and they wouldn’t ask both who’d escaped to step up. They were soldiers, so they were ready to give their lives. While they waited for the next battle with Moji up to pilot the Zearth, the remaining pilots and Kana discussed the last battle. As it seemed, if the current pilot was killed, someone just had to take their place. Machi pieced it together in her mind - it didn’t count if someone from their own world killed one of their pilots - only if someone from another world did. They got to know Captain Seki and Captain Tanaka, along with each other. They were all friends - mostly - but they didn’t know much about each other’s home lives. Kanji’s mother, as it turned out, was dead. And so was Ushiro’s. She’d died giving birth to Kana. Machi suddenly understood why Ushiro hated his sister so much.
Dung Beetle shared with Machi that Nakama had hypothesized Moji was on “his side” during her battle. It was the kind of blackmail she used to get him to safely teleport her classmate. Some of them were starting to suspect someone was conferring with Dung Beetle - like Machi. Dung Beetle again told her to go back home - then he wouldn’t have to put up with any of this. She coldly asked if he was having fun. Obviously her brother enjoyed tormenting her friends. He denied it vehemently and cut in saying Moji was going to be the next pilot anyway so none of that mattered. At first Machi thought Dung Beetle had made it so - but Moji had requested it. He wanted his body teleported to a hospital when he was done. He apparently had a friend with a heart disease, one who he matched for a transplant. Nagi, said friend, had been sick for quite awhile, and his other friend Tsubasa had been worried about him. He was going to let Nagi have his heart so he and Tsubasa could be happy.
In Moji’s battle, which took place a week after Kako and Chizu’s, the enemy robot was designed to pin them down. It clamped on to the Zearth and made it so they couldn’t move, then began whittling away at them with its weapons. He was in the end able to win by detaching the cockpit from the main body and attacking that way. The initial attack did little but damage the enemy’s vital spot - but it provided the JSDF with the opportunity to strike. The damaged vital area couldn’t withstand the attack. Curiously, the “vital spot” was identical to the Zearth’s cockpit. Machi had a bad feeling her friends would soon discover just what the purpose of these battles was for…but there was little time to worry about that now. Moji thanked everyone and then was transported to the hospital. He died shortly after, but not before they were able to get his heart out and into Nagi. With another friend dead, Machi didn’t know how much more she could take. She didn’t know if she could make it to the end.
Maki was the next pilot chosen to fight, but her battle didn’t come until weeks later. Her brother…had almost just been born. Still, she stood against the enemy robot. This one oddly enough moved as soon as the battle started, rushing away from the town to the coastline. She was able to beat it, though it took some doing, and extract its vital point. She paused before crushing it and asked if she could wait like that for a whole day. Dung Beetle scoffed at her - and then Zearth was attacked by a fighter plane, one neither Captain Tanaka nor Captain Seki had seen before. Dung Beetle told them they were on Earth - but Maki opened up the vital point of the enemy robot, revealing a cockpit identical to their own with pilots inside. Dung Beetle explained the horrible truth - the “pruning of parallel worlds” that everyone was involved in. At the end of every battle, a new world died - ten billion people per battle. It wasn’t crushing the “vital area” - it was killing the pilot that won the battle. Maki could see with Zearth’s power all the lives she was about to end and it almost overwhelmed her…but for her baby brother, she fired Zearth’s laser and destroyed the cockpit. With her last moments, she told Ushiro to take care of Kana…and she used the soul-sensing ability to find her brother entering the world. She died seeing his light.
Kirie was chosen immediately after but he said he didn’t think he could fight. During his weeks in between battle, he talked with Captain Tanaka and, surprisingly, met with Chizu’s former teacher, Mr. Hatagai. Whatever they discussed angered him so much that he stabbed him with Chizu’s knife - though non-fatally. The JSDF detained Mr. Hatagai, hoping to keep him away as long as they could. When it came time for Kirie to battle, he still seemed hesitant but asked Dung Beetle to teleport him out onto Zearth’s arm. Everyone thought he was going to kill himself…but then the other pilot appeared on her robot’s arm as well. She revealed to Kirie her cut-covered arm - and for some reason this renewed his strength. At the end of his battle, he requested if they could ever talk about this, his shut-in cousin Kazuko be told about his bravery. He wanted her to know there was something to live for. Machi inwardly decided then that she would do just that if they made it through this alive.
The next pilot was Komo. Her battle presented a very tricky problem. Taking place a week or so after Kirie’s, it was interrupted when the enemy used a sensory technique to see inside their cockpit. Suddenly the other robot ceased its attack and a black Dung Beetle creature appeared in their cockpit, informing them their pilot had requested to be teleported out. He’d fled. Mr. Sasami discovered via this other Dung Beetle and their own that this man had a daughter around Komo’s age that had been killed in the last attack. He wasn’t able to kill a girl that age and fled. If the battle didn’t end in 48 hours…both worlds would be destroyed. They searched for him, but in the end had to reveal Komo was a pilot in order to set a trap. Her father convinced her mother to leave their house just in time, as it was burned down by angry townsfolk who’d lost relatives in the attacks.
Through luck, Komo had a piano recital two days after her battle started. They leaked this information to get the enemy pilot to hopefully show up. The wait was nerve-wrecking, but the sudden disappearance of the enemy’s robot - with only minutes to spare - told them Komo won. Her father carried her body out himself.
With only five of the original fifteen children left, Anko was the next pilot chosen. Several days following the previous battle, Kirie attacking Mr. Hatagai came back to haunt them. Apparently he had reasoned out that those who went to the summer camp were involved with Zearth. The military couldn’t hold him any longer and he leaked all their names to the news. TV crews swarmed their houses and the JSDF got them to the base as fast as they could. Only Anko wasn’t there, which worried them slightly - for her father was a TV anchor. Who knows what he could’ve found out? The group watched the news for any sign of their friend or more leaked information, but instead saw a cameraman talking to Machi’s “father.” He was completely ignorant about the entire thing, confirming his daughter was at the summer school camp. This was one case where she wished her other self’s parents weren’t like her own - both fathers were completely oblivious. This one played right into the media’s hands. Dung Beetle appeared shortly after and said Anko’s father wanted to talk. His news crew agreed to put out the story the JSDF wanted to release - nothing would be kept from him except what would happen to his daughter. The story they were putting out was that there were two pilots - Komo and Anko. They piloted Zearth, the robot that was sent to the kids by a mysterious entity. They were told they were fighting an alien invader and could not hand it over to anyone else. The military had no part in the battles and in any case could not pilot the machine. It had attacked the town during Chizu’s battle because an alien entity had escaped and it would have been worse if it had gotten away. Anko would do the interview with her father and his news crew.
The other pilots awaited the report anxiously, knowing if they pulled this off it would save them a lot of grief. A special report on an interview with a Zearth pilot came up, however, four hours ahead of schedule. A boy named Junji Karita stepped forward, claiming to be a “chosen” pilot. He made up his entire story, saying Japan would use the Zearth to attack other nations and controlled many other robots as well. He said nothing about the nature summer camp, instantly taking heat off the other pilots. Only Komo was involved, according to him. Anko was teleported back and she was furious. They watched the boy exit the studio on TV, people crowding around him.
And then they watched a man with a gun get close enough and shoot him in the head. He died after two days in a coma.
As a sign of respect, the kids gave Junji Karita the nickname of Katari. He was involved in this too, now, even in death. The man who shot him had been a guard given an unfamiliar gun by a man at a victims’ meeting. He’d turned himself in already. The remaining pilots had to remain on the military base now. They’re families were all brought in and given a short explanation of what was going on and aid to leave their homes. During their time before the battle, the kids stayed inside, lamenting their current situation. They were hated. Machi shared with the others a secret news report she’d heard - apparently foreign spies were being sent to kill the pilots. The whole situation was making political situations tough - a war was imminent.
They could still sway this report in their favor, though - during the next battle, a news crew would broadcast from the cockpit and Anko would give the first interview…during battle. It would be a message from the pilots to the world. Anko demanded her father be the one to interview her and he accepted. They still needed someone to play Komo, though, as they expected her to be there. Machi was chosen since Komo had a similar build. She was given a wig and makeup to cover up her freckles. Kanji, Ushiro, and Kana could stay in the cockpit, but out of sight. They would stick to their original story - except of course the military was involved now, but only to protect the pilots - but with three pilots instead. They moved everyone to a base up north so they could stay away from civilization.
The next robot appeared very short after - only two days later. Machi made sure to stay on her chair and be seen mostly from the back - too good a look at her face would ruin everything. The new opponent, however, moved too fast for Anko to get a hold of. It revealed its secret weapon soon - tentacles dipped with acid. It melted off a bit of the Zearth’s armor and both girls feared what would happen if it got to the cockpit. Anko tried and tried to pin it down, but nothing was working. The world was watching them lose. The fears Anko and Machi had come to fruition when Machi heard a hiss above her and looked up to see a tentacle had penetrated the cockpit. The acid spewed down at her and she was paralyzed in fear and shock. Anko leaped at her though and shoved her out of the way. It destroyed her chair and a drop splattered on her face, giving her a scar beneath her lower left eye. However, that didn’t compare to what it did to Anko. The girl had saved Machi, but her legs were drenched in acid. Machi couldn’t tear her eyes away from them - nor could she shut out her friend’s agonized screams. She supported Anko as the lay on the ground and again Machi was wrecked with guilt. Even Ushiro seemed to show some reaction to this, wincing as Kana hid her face in Kanji’s jacket. Anko’s father, however, told them to keep filming.
Machi yelled at him, but Anko stopped her. Mr. Tokosumi removed his jacket and set it over Anko’s destroyed legs. She said they were numb now and she could continue. Machi continued to support her and her father stayed by her side. He received reports from the studio - calls were coming from all over the world for the pilots of Zearth. They were supporting them now. Anko murmured to herself that she was just like an idol now. It was obvious she was keeping her mind off the pain any way she could. Anko was able to focus on the battle long enough to catch one of the enemy’s acid-dipped needles. She threw it back, pinning it to the ground. She grabbed its cockpit in Zearth’s hands and Mr. Sasami told the camera crew to leave now. Dung Beetle refused to teleport them, saying he needed to let off some steam. Had Anko not needed her, Machi would’ve stood up and hit her brother across the cockpit. Mr. Tokosumi, however, said he knew what was going to happen, as did the director back at the studio. He learned from Komo’s father. The footage had been stopped. Machi stepped back and let father and daughter hug. The camera started again and Anko spoke to the people of Earth, apologizing for everything and explaining best she could. She kept the others out of the fight, saying her contract would not finish until she defeated all the invaders. Anko was fast weakening and they cut the footage after her final apology for all the lives lost - and then she crushed the cockpit of the enemy robot. She died in her father’s arms. From that point on, Mr. Tokosumi told them if they needed anything, he would help.
The world gave the Zearth pilots its sympathy now. Anko had done more than she could ever know.
Only four of the fifteen children remained and Kanji was the next chosen pilot. Winter was already upon them by this point - six months had passed since the start of the battles. Unlike the previous battles, Kanji stayed near town, specifically Chutenro Tower, a tower his father and late mother had designed. This opponent attacked not Zearth but the people around it. Seemingly harmless scrap flew and landed around the tower, trapping people around it. The enemy then disappeared. Kanji stayed watching, but the enemy didn’t show up. The evacuations were speeded by new volunteers, but it would mean nothing if they couldn’t find the enemy. It was another long term battle. Kanji refused to rest, even when Machi and Kana had dinner teleported in. They both slept in sleeping bags in the cockpit while Kanji waited for the enemy. Ushiro kept awake with him. About ten hours after the start of the battle, they found the other robot - in Hawaii. It had transformed into a canon-shape…and it fired. The first blast didn’t hit Zearth, but the area around it. Kanji and Ushiro quickly realized the pieces of scrap were meant to be a lock-on. The enemy could fire once every fifteen minutes and it took fifteen more to reach them - they had a half an hour before it attacked again.
But no one could think of anything. The American military sent troops to deal with it, but every bit of artillery was wiped out. Bombs didn’t work - nothing did. And Zearth couldn’t move because the attacks would then hit the people - and Chutenro Tower. Kanji revealed he just wanted to destroy it with his own two hands, for it was a dangerous building and it was constructing it against her better judgment that made his mother kill herself. The next attack didn’t hit them either, but it was getting much closer. In preparation, Kanji redirected all of Zearth’s armor to the front of the robot and stood his ground. It was able to withstand the next blast but was badly shaken. It went on like this for nearly the rest of the day. Captain Tanaka told them at the suggestion of the American military, they were going to use a nuke on the enemy robot. It would take ten hours to get there - and they had to stand up to it until then.
Kana and Machi were sent back to the base at this time to get sleep in something other than a sleeping bag. Ushiro opted to stay behind. Machi found even though she was in a nice comfortable bed she couldn’t sleep at all. Everything might have just disappeared while she slept… Kana couldn’t sleep either, as it seemed. Out of the blue, Kana asked Machi what she thought of Ushiro. She was able to avoid the obvious and told her he reminded her of her brother. She shared her own philosophies about family love and how she believed it was the root of caring for all people. It was something she believed her brother would understand one day, for he cared for her. Machi expressed that she hoped Kana could show Ushiro that too. Before they could say anything else, one of the workers, Mr. Tate, told the girls that Zearth’s leg had been blown off.
That would mean nothing for the next battle, for the robot could regenerate between them, but now? Machi and Kana were teleported back to the cockpit to find Kanji looking worse for wear. He was still able to balance Zearth and used the fallen leg as more armor. They received word from the soldiers in Hawaii - they were dropping the nuke now. It, sadly, had no affect. Ushiro told Kanji they had to use the Zearth’s lasers with a suitable lock-on. Though Kanji understood what Ushiro was getting at, Machi did not, so he explained - they needed to lock on to a soul. As it was impossible to lock on to one unless Kanji knew the person, Captain Seki volunteered. He said he was more than ready to give his life if it meant helping him. They had a crew of 23 including Captain Seki, for just using him would be an obvious trap. All those who volunteered to go had lost family in the Zearth fights. The kids were told these other 22 volunteers had been signing up as potential Zearth pilots in case they ran out. One of the volunteers talked to Kanji before Dung Beetle teleported them into enemy range - he said he was proud to help him in his fight. Machi knew that Kanji must have been feeling horrible - he too would cause the deaths of people he knew.
Again holding back tears, Machi watched as Kanji locked on to Captain Seki, who had gotten right up close to the enemy’s cockpit. Kanji fired…and the enemy was destroyed. All the volunteers and Captain Seki obviously died. In his last moments, Kanji said he wanted to be teleported to the top of Chutenro Tower to die - and he wanted Ushiro to take care of Kana and remember “what they talked about.” Machi didn’t know what that meant. He started to say something to her as well, but stopped. He wished them all good luck and was teleported away. They waited for word to come of who would be the next pilot - though Machi already knew. Kana wasn’t in the contract and neither was she: It would have to be Ushiro…
I did use a copy-paste of my Dive app, cutting certain things out. :D;
EDIT: I APOLOGIZE FOR BEING SO LONGWINDED.
Character appearance-
Character/Series: Yoko "Machi" Machi, Bokurano
Click here for a close up. Click here for full body. She also has a small scar under her left eye from acid burns.
Character age- 13
Character history- [The first few paragraphs are a mix of canon and my own personal fanon]
Yoko Machi grew up in a small suburb of an alternate Japan. Her parents are fishermen and thus during the fishing were away a lot when she was a child. This left her with her brother, who is three years older than her. He would always bully her as a child - for some reason, he just had a bad attitude, throwing around crude humor and swears at an early age and, at some point, becoming a bit of a sadist. She knew, however, from some of his instances of being kind to her and declaring that only he could bully his little sister, that he was a good person somewhere really really really really deep down. She put on a happy smile for him and took his verbal torment, developing a quick tongue and a wit of her own to match.
Overall, life for Yoko Machi was incredibly normal for her first twelve years. She got up, verbally sparred with her brother, went to school, and enjoyed herself like a child should. She saw no reason for these happy days to end.
…Until, that is, a fighting robot showed up in her world.
Yes, a fighting robot. Two, actually. The news reported in a nearby town two robots materialized out of nowhere! Apparently from reports, a person appeared shortly before, asking a small group of young adults if they would help him pilot it. According to the story, the pilot defeated the other robot…and then quickly explained to those he told that they would need to pilot it as well - for other robots would be coming and attacking. Those he recruited agreed…and then were teleported from the cockpit they didn’t see the man again. They did see, however, a small floating bug-looking thing that called himself Dung Beetle. He was to be their support - the one who would get them to the robot when the time came and aid them with any questions they had. It didn’t seem to be a problem.
But the first pilot hadn’t found enough other pilots, as it seemed. The group he originally recruited had only five people. The Dung Beetle panicked and sent out widespread messages, traveling from place to place and explaining the plight of the fighting robots. He got many to sign the “contract” to join, including Yoko’s brother…and, because she didn’t want him to go alone, Yoko herself. Even though he only needed fifteen pilots, he had an entire legion of recruits.
After the first battle, however, it became clear that this wasn’t a wholesome fight to save the world. No, it was something much darker. The one piloting the robot…suddenly died after winning the battle. There was no reason for it - he just did. All the other recruits suddenly got nervous and Dung Beetle reluctantly explained what he had been keeping: The robots run on life energy. After a battle, win or lose, the pilot dies. If the pilot doesn’t show up after 48 hours…the battle ends with the opposing robot as the winner and the loser’s entire reality is destroyed. That’s right - they were fighting other humans from different parallel universes.
Obviously, this caused problems. The pilots scattered, trying to find ways to skip their turn if they were next or scam others into the contract in hopes of it not getting to them. They turned on each other, killed each other. One of Yoko’s cousins who had signed the contract on a whim went crazy at the thought of it. Two more of her relatives - an uncle and another cousin - were injured in a riot and sent to the hospital. Yoko suddenly found herself terrified - she didn’t want to die…and she didn’t want her brother to die either. Taking matters into his own hands, her brother tried to bribe the Dung Beetle to make sure they were both far down in the line up so they wouldn’t have to worry about piloting the robot. This, however, had disastrous consequences. They indeed won their fifteen required battles, but before the Dung Beetle announced one of the pilots had to be transformed into a Dung Beetle themselves and act as support for another world. He could choose who - and he chose Yoko’s brother. Neither brother nor sister could act against it.
Though the contract was still ongoing, Yoko’s brother - now just calling himself Dung Beetle as well - teleported to the world he would have to support, none too happy. To his surprise, his sister insisted she go along. She couldn’t let him go by himself; not only would he be lonely, but she pitied the poor pilots who had to work with him. One of the other pilots of their world, Garaku, went with, for he was the last one chosen for a battle. He would pilot this world’s robot and it would be their world’s final victory. He would demonstrate to the new pilots just what they had to do - and he would find the new pilots in the first place. Dung Beetle would stay out of the way until he’d found said pilots.
An issue came up on where Yoko would live, though. At first she thought she would have to find a job and an apartment, but as luck would have it, she saw someone there she recognized - her father. As it turned out, in a one-in-a-million occurrence, she had an “alternate” family in this world. Though her brother didn’t exist there, she did and so did her mother and father. Dung Beetle capitalized on this and teleported the other Yoko into a sort of suspended animation; the girl wouldn’t even know she’d been gone and his sister could take her place during her short time there. Yoko didn’t like the idea, but she knew she had to.
Of course, while she was there she had to keep up appearances. Her other’s parents had signed their daughter up for a nearby summer camp - a self-study scientific thing - and Yoko had to go - not that she minded. She wanted to meet other kids her age and relax again. The robot battles in her own world had gone on for many months and she’d spent her thirteenth birthday thinking she could die at any moment; but though she’d fooled her other set of parents, she was afraid that somehow others in this world would see her as an outsider. Still, she attended the summer camp, surprised to find only fourteen other children there, most around her age. The small group formed a bond early on, giving each other nicknames to “break the ice.” Most of the kids soon went by names other than their given ones. Yoko’s fears were for nothing.
The group consisted of Takashi “Waku” Waku, Masaru “Komoda” Kodaka, Daiichi “Daichi” Yamura, Mako “Nakama” Nakarai, Isao “Kako” Kako, Chizuru “Chizu” Honda, Kunihiko “Moji” Moji, Maki “Maki” Ano, Yosuke “Kirie” Kirie, Takami “Komo” Komoda, Aiko “Anko” Tokosumi, Kanji “Kanji” Yoshikawa, Jun “Ushiro” Ushiro, and Ushiro’s younger sister, Kana “Kana” Ushiro. As for Yoko? She became Yoko “Machi” Machi. She happily accepted the nickname and began referring to herself with her family name. Though most only received nicknames based on their real names or settled for their real names to begin with, something about the ritual pulled the kids together. Their similar ages, all of them being thirteen except for ten year old Kana, helped them find common ground as well. Machi found herself drawn to Ushiro - he was distant, cold, and abusive to Kana, and yet…yet she believed he was a good person deep inside. He was like her brother - putting up a kind of front. She wanted to find out just what was behind that front. (And okay, she found him cute.)
It was a week after the program began that the trouble started. The group was exploring on a shoreline, looking for seashells and rocks and crabs and all the other things middle schoolers liked to find. Machi, however, was the one that suggested it: They should go and explore a nearby cave. Ready for adventure, they all trekked over to it, though Waku, who seemed to take up the leader position, didn’t think they’d find anything. The cave was, indeed quite dark and they all decided to head out…but Kana saw a light at the back. Pushing through the small opening, they were surprised to find a camp! It had chairs and computers and a tarp and a bed - all inside the cave! A sound from a different entrance signaled they had a visitor - and it was Garaku.
He introduced himself as Kokopelli. Machi told him everyone knew about the cave, so it wasn’t a surprise they found him. When Waku asked what he was doing there…he only asked them if they’d like to play a game.
Machi froze. She knew what kind of “game” he was talking about - he had to recruit people for this Earth’s robot battling - for the parallel universe battles! She didn’t want her new found friends to be swept up into this…but of course Garaku - no, Kokopelli - was sly. He just said they’d be testing a new game - a game where they took turns piloting a robot and saved the world from invaders. It was just a game. Machi felt sick. He was going to trick her friends into fighting - and dying. But she couldn’t say anything without sounding like a lunatic or revealing herself. What would they think? Before she could come up with a plan to protect them, they’d agreed - one by one, they set their hands on the device that sealed the contract. When it came to her turn, she thought she could save the remaining - Ushiro and Kana - by pausing and saying she had a bad feeling. Maybe they would trust her judgment - maybe they would leave and she could confront Kokopelli and get him to find replacements. Her brother - Dung Beetle -, he had to be able to alter the order somehow. He had to be able to save them.
But Waku, ever the loud-and-excitable, pushed her hand onto the device. Now…now she was in the contract. She brushed it off, but inwardly panicked. She didn’t want to be drawn up into this again.
As it went, Ushiro said Kana couldn’t join. He didn’t want her to have fun, after all. Kokopelli hesitantly said it would do. He told them he would take care of the first and see them later. Before Machi could approach him, they all blacked out and awoke on the beach again. Waku dismissed it as a dream, but when they all talked about it, the group insisted it had to be real. While discussing it, the ground started to shake. The kids all ran outside and saw it: the black giant robot. Machi knew what was coming. Another robot appeared as well, as did her brother. She feigned the same interest as the others and they were all teleported to the cockpit. Machi had never been inside the robot from their world, so this was entirely new to her. Fifteen chairs floated about the cockpit, and Kokopelli sat in one of them. Each empty chair…was another dead pilot…
They watched the battle, slowly realizing with the damage to the camp that this was not a game any longer. It was a fight to survive. Kokopelli won the fight and they were all transported out - but Komo mentioned later she thought she head him say, “I’m sorry.”
Machi found she couldn’t sleep at all in the coming days at camp. She was restless and went outside to talk to Dung Beetle. He told her to call him brother when they were alone, but she feared being discovered. They spoke in the robot’s cockpit, regardless - Dung Beetle could hide in whenever he wanted, with all his teleportation powers, after all. Machi expressed her worries and he shrugged them off - it had to be someone, so why not these kids? When she told him she was in this Earth’s contract as well, he momentarily went silent…but told her that was impossible. She was from another world and therefore couldn’t take part in this contract. It was…impossible. She had nothing to worry about. While she had no reason to question her brother, this didn’t ease her thoughts.
The next robot appeared shortly after. Waku mentioned he heard someone calling his name and Dung Beetle appeared, telling them their magazine had been loaded. He teleported them to the cockpit and he scanned their minds. A chair appeared for each child. Machi was surprised to count out fourteen, one for each of them who “touched” the contract. She knew she couldn’t be in it, but she went along anyway, claiming a chair no one else claimed. Kana, who had been brought along, sat with Maki, who claimed a baby crib - for she was going to have a little brother soon, after all. The kids mused on what to call their robot and Maki came up with the name Zearth. They were protecting The Earth, but that sounded lame - they needed to give it a cool code name. The robot had its name.
The opposing fighter appeared soon after and Waku took control of the robot. Using his soccer skills, he was able to kick a piece of Zearth’s armor that had been knocked off into an opening in its underbelly - obviously the weak point. Each robot had one somewhere on its body. Destroy it and the battle was won - or so Dung Beetle said. Machi knew what really won the battle was killing the opposing pilot. During the battle, the neighboring mountains were peppered with laser fire from not only Zearth but the other robot. People died…and it was again clear that this wasn’t a game. With victory at hand, the fifteen children were teleported out of the cockpit and on to Zearth’s outer shell. Waku was excited, screaming out to the world. He seemed ready for anything. He suggested the head back as he stared out at the ocean and Ushiro patted his back, telling him to be quiet - he was embarrassing them.
…and then Waku fell right off Zearth and into the water below. Machi knew this was coming - but everyone else didn’t. All of them - Ushiro included - thought Waku had been exhausted and the other boy’s gesture had sent him spiraling off the edge to his death. Machi couldn’t tell them that Waku probably died on his feet right after he suggested they leave.
For obvious reasons, camp was cancelled and the kids kept the truth about Waku’s death a secret, wanting to protect Ushiro and keep the robot away from the adults. They fabricated a story about how he and Moji had gone down to the shore to see the robots battle and Waku had gotten too close to the rising waves. He’d been pulled under and Moji had to run away, for the battle was getting too close. It was yet another lie.
A few of them kept in touch, but Machi couldn’t find a way to get to their houses. She didn’t even have their addresses, after all. In the flurry, no one had remembered contact information. She didn’t need to worry, though. Soon enough…another robot appeared and they were all summoned. Kodama said he was the pilot - he heard the voice right after Waku died but didn’t want to mention it at the time for obvious reasons. They all sat in their chairs and braced themselves for the fight - but this one took place in Kodama’s neighborhood and it was filled with people. To everyone’s surprise, he didn’t seem to care about the people below. He was fighting to save ten billion people, he said. Who cared about ten thousand? Daichi and Nakama were particularly disturbed by Kodama’s flippant behavior. He went on like that, not caring who he killed - until he accidentally crushed his father’s car. Seeing the father he loved dearly dead, Kodama went berserk, fighting for real now, but still dismissing the lives he was destroying. Machi found it amazing what the robot was already doing to her friends. Kodama located the weak spot and destroyed it, crying at his father’s death.
Daichi then said that they should quit the game. Waku was dead. The town was destroyed. More would die if they continued. Dung Beetle told them they signed the contract so they couldn’t…and at that point Kodama dropped from his chair, dying instantly. Their surprise was evident so Dung Beetle explained that the robot ran on human life force. He was actually surprised they didn’t know. Machi…blamed Garaku but also herself. The reason why they were probably chosen was because she was near them - she was used as a way to find pilots. She’d gotten her friend into something that they couldn’t get out of. Daichi confirmed it - he heard the voice right after. He was the next pilot. Dung Beetle explained the real rules to them - the time limit and the cost of the battle. None of them took it well. Machi felt horrible.
A week or so passed and Machi found herself growing more and more nervous. The next battle arrived and Daichi seemed ready to pilot Zearth - nearly. He refused to attack until all the people could evacuate, something the other pilots decided on doing as well in the future. He worked throughout his battle to protect an amusement park. As it turned out, he was going to take his three younger siblings there the day of the attack. It was cruel. He protected the park, but like the others died. Before he did, he asked Dung Beetle what happened to Kodama’s body. Dung Beetle told him he’d teleported it back to his family. Daichi requested his body be teleported elsewhere - inside the robot, as he mentioned. He didn’t want his siblings to think he’d died, just gone missing.
The next pilot was Nakama. Again, Machi didn’t hear much from the others, just feeling guilty about the three who had already died. Two and a half weeks passed before the next battle and when they were all summoned Nakama looked like hell. The kind, shy, soft-spoken girl looked like she hadn’t slept in days. She prepared to fight the new robot, but it stepped back. Apparently it was giving the citizens time to evacuate. Nakama strangely requested she be transported back to her home - for only one hour. If the battle began, she would let herself be teleported back. An hour later, on the dot, she appeared…with clothes. She’d made everyone battle uniforms, even Kana. She tried to make some for Daichi, Kodama and Waku as a memorial, but she hadn’t enough time. She thought…it would help them be confident. With girls on one side and guys on the other, most of them changed into these clothes. Only Kako and Ushiro didn’t. Ushiro found it a waste of time - and Kako declared they were just death clothes. He freaked out and said he for one didn’t want to die - only for Nakama to yell she didn’t want to either. Sobered up, everyone sat and awaited the battle. Before she fought, though, Nakama used Zearth’s soul-sensing abilities to find a classmate of hers. Apparently while she was in her house, her mom came in and told her one of their neighbors had been missing. Nakama located her and saved the girl. She then fought and easily defeated the next robot. She too died.
Kako was chosen as the next pilot and he wasn’t happy about it at all. Machi could tell he was freaking out more than the others - she’d seen it happen enough. Only a few days went by and he’d shut himself up already. Dung Beetle just wanted to make things worse - he mocked Kako, saying everyone was keeping stuff from him. Machi berated her brother for doing so when he told her, but he didn’t care - he just wanted to see all of them break. He told her to go home; her “job” was over, after all. She said she couldn’t do that - she was worried about him, after all. To further convince him, she told him of her love (at least she thought it was love - she hadn’t experienced love before) for Ushiro. Dung Beetle said it wouldn’t matter. All of them were still going to die.
Very shortly after, the JSDF (Japanese Special Defense Force) approached Machi at her house, telling her to come with them. They took her via helicopter to an island military base, telling her of the casualties in the previous battles. So far…it totaled over ten thousand dead. Most all of the other pilots - and Kana - were at the base when she arrived, the rest trickling in, ending with Kako and Chizu, who arrived together. Komo stepped forward and said it was her fault. Her father, a military general, stood behind her. She’d let a little slip to him and confessed everything. A man named Mr. Sasami explained they would be placed under government protection as VIPs and examined. The army would take care of any future robot attacks and Zearth would be placed under military care. They all underwent physical examinations and were sent home. They were supposed to figure out a way to get out of their houses the next day and report right back there. Her “parents” were working anyway - she didn’t have to worry.
They were introduced to Captain Tanaka and Captain Seki, two military members who would act as the kids’ connection to the JSDF. When the kids explained they didn’t know where Zearth was, they were just pawns, they summoned Dung Beetle. To Machi’s annoyance, he didn’t come when she called, but when Kana did. Dung Beetle made it perfectly clear that the military couldn’t control Zearth - they couldn’t use it to fight their own wars. Captain Tanaka was able to calm Dung Beetle when he got too riled up, severing a man’s fingers via a complicated teleportation. She was able to negotiate a deal - the JSDF could see the Zearth and in exchange they wouldn’t do anything else. Dung Beetle liked her gall and let them examine it. It did little good - they simply couldn’t find out anything. It was impossible to take off the armor and something just seemed to will them away. A futile effort.
In the middle of examining Kako, the next robot appeared. Everyone was teleported into the cockpit, including Captain Tanaka and Captain Seki, but Kako was still freaking out. When the enemy moved, so did he - he didn’t care about where he stepped, he just wanted to get away. The JSDF tried to fight the other robot but failed - it was up to Kako. But he wasn’t going to fight - he was going to run. No one had the heart to call him out. It tore Machi up to watch another of her friends break. Kirie, out of all of them, called him out on it and Kako began to beat him in a rage. They all tried to get him to stop, but no one could pull him off…until Chizu walked up to him while he wasn’t paying attention and stuck a knife in his jugular. She sliced it and Kako stood still for a moment before the wound hit and he died. Machi yelled at Chizu, who said he was going to die anyway. Chizu brushed it off and said she would pay the price. Dung Beetle pointed out they were one person short now…but Ushiro said they could use Kana. Already disturbed and angry at Chizu killing Kako, Machi berated Ushiro too, saying he was “just like her brother.” It was thus far the closest she’d come to revealing her secrets. Zearth suddenly started moving and Chizu said she’d take care of the enemy - she heard the call already, after all.
Before she fought the enemy, Chizu avoided its attacks and started away from the battlefield, saying she was going to her neighborhood, even though it wasn’t yet evacuated. She prepared to use Zearth’s soul-sensing ability to locate someone…and then fire a laser at an entire block of housing, killing everyone inside. Despite the other pilots’ and Captain Tanaka’s and Captain Seki’s protests, Chizu continued, repeating the process five more times in five other locations. When Captain Tanaka tried to get her to stop, she calmly said for the past month she’d been planning this out - she had men she had to get her revenge on. They were…fated to die. She also revealed inadvertently that she was pregnant. Machi watched in absolute horror as Chizu fired on a group of evacuees just to kill one of the men who had wronged her. Chizu told her she could hate her if she wanted - she just had one more person she had to kill. She pinned a car down and a man got out - along with a woman…Chizu’s older sister.
Chizu tried to kill the man but that was no good. Her sister got in the way. She stopped and had Dung Beetle teleport her out of the cockpit. The other pilots heard her confrontation with the man - Chizu’s former teacher - how he’d seduced Chizu and gotten her pregnant. Her sister still told her she couldn’t kill him; she couldn’t destroy her own life like that. Chizu demanded Dung Beetle teleport her back and when she returned to the cockpit she was inconsolable, crying into her hands and saying she couldn’t kill her sister. The other robot approached but Chizu did nothing. Zearth was attacked again and again and she still just sat in her chair. Machi ran up to her and grabbed her shoulder, demanding she fight back. After all she did, she had to or it would all be for nothing. Machi began to breakdown herself, crying as she tried to get Chizu to listen to her.
When the enemy robot nearly hit Chizu’s sister, the girl finally snapped back to life, attacking it without mercy. Chizu asked Machi before she continued if she would be willing to pay the price as well - and Machi answered after a moment’s hesitation that she would. Even though she wasn’t part of the contract, she meant that. If she had to…she would fight and die for this Earth. Chizu screamed at the other robot as the fighting continued and most of the other pilots cried as she did. They couldn’t stand to see their friend lose herself as she had. When she defeated it, she gave Kirie her knife and told them to keep a close watch on the lights on the robot’s face - for they’d discovered those lights represented the pilots’ lives.
And when Chizu died, two lights went out. In a sick twist of fate, her baby had been contracted as well. Machi knew right then that her brother had been right - she hadn’t entered into the contract. No one else knew. She…couldn’t tell them.
After this, though, both Captain Tanaka and Captain Seki signed up for the contract. They didn’t know which of the others wasn’t bound by the contract besides Kana, but they knew they were two pilots short and they wouldn’t ask both who’d escaped to step up. They were soldiers, so they were ready to give their lives. While they waited for the next battle with Moji up to pilot the Zearth, the remaining pilots and Kana discussed the last battle. As it seemed, if the current pilot was killed, someone just had to take their place. Machi pieced it together in her mind - it didn’t count if someone from their own world killed one of their pilots - only if someone from another world did. They got to know Captain Seki and Captain Tanaka, along with each other. They were all friends - mostly - but they didn’t know much about each other’s home lives. Kanji’s mother, as it turned out, was dead. And so was Ushiro’s. She’d died giving birth to Kana. Machi suddenly understood why Ushiro hated his sister so much.
Dung Beetle shared with Machi that Nakama had hypothesized Moji was on “his side” during her battle. It was the kind of blackmail she used to get him to safely teleport her classmate. Some of them were starting to suspect someone was conferring with Dung Beetle - like Machi. Dung Beetle again told her to go back home - then he wouldn’t have to put up with any of this. She coldly asked if he was having fun. Obviously her brother enjoyed tormenting her friends. He denied it vehemently and cut in saying Moji was going to be the next pilot anyway so none of that mattered. At first Machi thought Dung Beetle had made it so - but Moji had requested it. He wanted his body teleported to a hospital when he was done. He apparently had a friend with a heart disease, one who he matched for a transplant. Nagi, said friend, had been sick for quite awhile, and his other friend Tsubasa had been worried about him. He was going to let Nagi have his heart so he and Tsubasa could be happy.
In Moji’s battle, which took place a week after Kako and Chizu’s, the enemy robot was designed to pin them down. It clamped on to the Zearth and made it so they couldn’t move, then began whittling away at them with its weapons. He was in the end able to win by detaching the cockpit from the main body and attacking that way. The initial attack did little but damage the enemy’s vital spot - but it provided the JSDF with the opportunity to strike. The damaged vital area couldn’t withstand the attack. Curiously, the “vital spot” was identical to the Zearth’s cockpit. Machi had a bad feeling her friends would soon discover just what the purpose of these battles was for…but there was little time to worry about that now. Moji thanked everyone and then was transported to the hospital. He died shortly after, but not before they were able to get his heart out and into Nagi. With another friend dead, Machi didn’t know how much more she could take. She didn’t know if she could make it to the end.
Maki was the next pilot chosen to fight, but her battle didn’t come until weeks later. Her brother…had almost just been born. Still, she stood against the enemy robot. This one oddly enough moved as soon as the battle started, rushing away from the town to the coastline. She was able to beat it, though it took some doing, and extract its vital point. She paused before crushing it and asked if she could wait like that for a whole day. Dung Beetle scoffed at her - and then Zearth was attacked by a fighter plane, one neither Captain Tanaka nor Captain Seki had seen before. Dung Beetle told them they were on Earth - but Maki opened up the vital point of the enemy robot, revealing a cockpit identical to their own with pilots inside. Dung Beetle explained the horrible truth - the “pruning of parallel worlds” that everyone was involved in. At the end of every battle, a new world died - ten billion people per battle. It wasn’t crushing the “vital area” - it was killing the pilot that won the battle. Maki could see with Zearth’s power all the lives she was about to end and it almost overwhelmed her…but for her baby brother, she fired Zearth’s laser and destroyed the cockpit. With her last moments, she told Ushiro to take care of Kana…and she used the soul-sensing ability to find her brother entering the world. She died seeing his light.
Kirie was chosen immediately after but he said he didn’t think he could fight. During his weeks in between battle, he talked with Captain Tanaka and, surprisingly, met with Chizu’s former teacher, Mr. Hatagai. Whatever they discussed angered him so much that he stabbed him with Chizu’s knife - though non-fatally. The JSDF detained Mr. Hatagai, hoping to keep him away as long as they could. When it came time for Kirie to battle, he still seemed hesitant but asked Dung Beetle to teleport him out onto Zearth’s arm. Everyone thought he was going to kill himself…but then the other pilot appeared on her robot’s arm as well. She revealed to Kirie her cut-covered arm - and for some reason this renewed his strength. At the end of his battle, he requested if they could ever talk about this, his shut-in cousin Kazuko be told about his bravery. He wanted her to know there was something to live for. Machi inwardly decided then that she would do just that if they made it through this alive.
The next pilot was Komo. Her battle presented a very tricky problem. Taking place a week or so after Kirie’s, it was interrupted when the enemy used a sensory technique to see inside their cockpit. Suddenly the other robot ceased its attack and a black Dung Beetle creature appeared in their cockpit, informing them their pilot had requested to be teleported out. He’d fled. Mr. Sasami discovered via this other Dung Beetle and their own that this man had a daughter around Komo’s age that had been killed in the last attack. He wasn’t able to kill a girl that age and fled. If the battle didn’t end in 48 hours…both worlds would be destroyed. They searched for him, but in the end had to reveal Komo was a pilot in order to set a trap. Her father convinced her mother to leave their house just in time, as it was burned down by angry townsfolk who’d lost relatives in the attacks.
Through luck, Komo had a piano recital two days after her battle started. They leaked this information to get the enemy pilot to hopefully show up. The wait was nerve-wrecking, but the sudden disappearance of the enemy’s robot - with only minutes to spare - told them Komo won. Her father carried her body out himself.
With only five of the original fifteen children left, Anko was the next pilot chosen. Several days following the previous battle, Kirie attacking Mr. Hatagai came back to haunt them. Apparently he had reasoned out that those who went to the summer camp were involved with Zearth. The military couldn’t hold him any longer and he leaked all their names to the news. TV crews swarmed their houses and the JSDF got them to the base as fast as they could. Only Anko wasn’t there, which worried them slightly - for her father was a TV anchor. Who knows what he could’ve found out? The group watched the news for any sign of their friend or more leaked information, but instead saw a cameraman talking to Machi’s “father.” He was completely ignorant about the entire thing, confirming his daughter was at the summer school camp. This was one case where she wished her other self’s parents weren’t like her own - both fathers were completely oblivious. This one played right into the media’s hands. Dung Beetle appeared shortly after and said Anko’s father wanted to talk. His news crew agreed to put out the story the JSDF wanted to release - nothing would be kept from him except what would happen to his daughter. The story they were putting out was that there were two pilots - Komo and Anko. They piloted Zearth, the robot that was sent to the kids by a mysterious entity. They were told they were fighting an alien invader and could not hand it over to anyone else. The military had no part in the battles and in any case could not pilot the machine. It had attacked the town during Chizu’s battle because an alien entity had escaped and it would have been worse if it had gotten away. Anko would do the interview with her father and his news crew.
The other pilots awaited the report anxiously, knowing if they pulled this off it would save them a lot of grief. A special report on an interview with a Zearth pilot came up, however, four hours ahead of schedule. A boy named Junji Karita stepped forward, claiming to be a “chosen” pilot. He made up his entire story, saying Japan would use the Zearth to attack other nations and controlled many other robots as well. He said nothing about the nature summer camp, instantly taking heat off the other pilots. Only Komo was involved, according to him. Anko was teleported back and she was furious. They watched the boy exit the studio on TV, people crowding around him.
And then they watched a man with a gun get close enough and shoot him in the head. He died after two days in a coma.
As a sign of respect, the kids gave Junji Karita the nickname of Katari. He was involved in this too, now, even in death. The man who shot him had been a guard given an unfamiliar gun by a man at a victims’ meeting. He’d turned himself in already. The remaining pilots had to remain on the military base now. They’re families were all brought in and given a short explanation of what was going on and aid to leave their homes. During their time before the battle, the kids stayed inside, lamenting their current situation. They were hated. Machi shared with the others a secret news report she’d heard - apparently foreign spies were being sent to kill the pilots. The whole situation was making political situations tough - a war was imminent.
They could still sway this report in their favor, though - during the next battle, a news crew would broadcast from the cockpit and Anko would give the first interview…during battle. It would be a message from the pilots to the world. Anko demanded her father be the one to interview her and he accepted. They still needed someone to play Komo, though, as they expected her to be there. Machi was chosen since Komo had a similar build. She was given a wig and makeup to cover up her freckles. Kanji, Ushiro, and Kana could stay in the cockpit, but out of sight. They would stick to their original story - except of course the military was involved now, but only to protect the pilots - but with three pilots instead. They moved everyone to a base up north so they could stay away from civilization.
The next robot appeared very short after - only two days later. Machi made sure to stay on her chair and be seen mostly from the back - too good a look at her face would ruin everything. The new opponent, however, moved too fast for Anko to get a hold of. It revealed its secret weapon soon - tentacles dipped with acid. It melted off a bit of the Zearth’s armor and both girls feared what would happen if it got to the cockpit. Anko tried and tried to pin it down, but nothing was working. The world was watching them lose. The fears Anko and Machi had come to fruition when Machi heard a hiss above her and looked up to see a tentacle had penetrated the cockpit. The acid spewed down at her and she was paralyzed in fear and shock. Anko leaped at her though and shoved her out of the way. It destroyed her chair and a drop splattered on her face, giving her a scar beneath her lower left eye. However, that didn’t compare to what it did to Anko. The girl had saved Machi, but her legs were drenched in acid. Machi couldn’t tear her eyes away from them - nor could she shut out her friend’s agonized screams. She supported Anko as the lay on the ground and again Machi was wrecked with guilt. Even Ushiro seemed to show some reaction to this, wincing as Kana hid her face in Kanji’s jacket. Anko’s father, however, told them to keep filming.
Machi yelled at him, but Anko stopped her. Mr. Tokosumi removed his jacket and set it over Anko’s destroyed legs. She said they were numb now and she could continue. Machi continued to support her and her father stayed by her side. He received reports from the studio - calls were coming from all over the world for the pilots of Zearth. They were supporting them now. Anko murmured to herself that she was just like an idol now. It was obvious she was keeping her mind off the pain any way she could. Anko was able to focus on the battle long enough to catch one of the enemy’s acid-dipped needles. She threw it back, pinning it to the ground. She grabbed its cockpit in Zearth’s hands and Mr. Sasami told the camera crew to leave now. Dung Beetle refused to teleport them, saying he needed to let off some steam. Had Anko not needed her, Machi would’ve stood up and hit her brother across the cockpit. Mr. Tokosumi, however, said he knew what was going to happen, as did the director back at the studio. He learned from Komo’s father. The footage had been stopped. Machi stepped back and let father and daughter hug. The camera started again and Anko spoke to the people of Earth, apologizing for everything and explaining best she could. She kept the others out of the fight, saying her contract would not finish until she defeated all the invaders. Anko was fast weakening and they cut the footage after her final apology for all the lives lost - and then she crushed the cockpit of the enemy robot. She died in her father’s arms. From that point on, Mr. Tokosumi told them if they needed anything, he would help.
The world gave the Zearth pilots its sympathy now. Anko had done more than she could ever know.
Only four of the fifteen children remained and Kanji was the next chosen pilot. Winter was already upon them by this point - six months had passed since the start of the battles. Unlike the previous battles, Kanji stayed near town, specifically Chutenro Tower, a tower his father and late mother had designed. This opponent attacked not Zearth but the people around it. Seemingly harmless scrap flew and landed around the tower, trapping people around it. The enemy then disappeared. Kanji stayed watching, but the enemy didn’t show up. The evacuations were speeded by new volunteers, but it would mean nothing if they couldn’t find the enemy. It was another long term battle. Kanji refused to rest, even when Machi and Kana had dinner teleported in. They both slept in sleeping bags in the cockpit while Kanji waited for the enemy. Ushiro kept awake with him. About ten hours after the start of the battle, they found the other robot - in Hawaii. It had transformed into a canon-shape…and it fired. The first blast didn’t hit Zearth, but the area around it. Kanji and Ushiro quickly realized the pieces of scrap were meant to be a lock-on. The enemy could fire once every fifteen minutes and it took fifteen more to reach them - they had a half an hour before it attacked again.
But no one could think of anything. The American military sent troops to deal with it, but every bit of artillery was wiped out. Bombs didn’t work - nothing did. And Zearth couldn’t move because the attacks would then hit the people - and Chutenro Tower. Kanji revealed he just wanted to destroy it with his own two hands, for it was a dangerous building and it was constructing it against her better judgment that made his mother kill herself. The next attack didn’t hit them either, but it was getting much closer. In preparation, Kanji redirected all of Zearth’s armor to the front of the robot and stood his ground. It was able to withstand the next blast but was badly shaken. It went on like this for nearly the rest of the day. Captain Tanaka told them at the suggestion of the American military, they were going to use a nuke on the enemy robot. It would take ten hours to get there - and they had to stand up to it until then.
Kana and Machi were sent back to the base at this time to get sleep in something other than a sleeping bag. Ushiro opted to stay behind. Machi found even though she was in a nice comfortable bed she couldn’t sleep at all. Everything might have just disappeared while she slept… Kana couldn’t sleep either, as it seemed. Out of the blue, Kana asked Machi what she thought of Ushiro. She was able to avoid the obvious and told her he reminded her of her brother. She shared her own philosophies about family love and how she believed it was the root of caring for all people. It was something she believed her brother would understand one day, for he cared for her. Machi expressed that she hoped Kana could show Ushiro that too. Before they could say anything else, one of the workers, Mr. Tate, told the girls that Zearth’s leg had been blown off.
That would mean nothing for the next battle, for the robot could regenerate between them, but now? Machi and Kana were teleported back to the cockpit to find Kanji looking worse for wear. He was still able to balance Zearth and used the fallen leg as more armor. They received word from the soldiers in Hawaii - they were dropping the nuke now. It, sadly, had no affect. Ushiro told Kanji they had to use the Zearth’s lasers with a suitable lock-on. Though Kanji understood what Ushiro was getting at, Machi did not, so he explained - they needed to lock on to a soul. As it was impossible to lock on to one unless Kanji knew the person, Captain Seki volunteered. He said he was more than ready to give his life if it meant helping him. They had a crew of 23 including Captain Seki, for just using him would be an obvious trap. All those who volunteered to go had lost family in the Zearth fights. The kids were told these other 22 volunteers had been signing up as potential Zearth pilots in case they ran out. One of the volunteers talked to Kanji before Dung Beetle teleported them into enemy range - he said he was proud to help him in his fight. Machi knew that Kanji must have been feeling horrible - he too would cause the deaths of people he knew.
Again holding back tears, Machi watched as Kanji locked on to Captain Seki, who had gotten right up close to the enemy’s cockpit. Kanji fired…and the enemy was destroyed. All the volunteers and Captain Seki obviously died. In his last moments, Kanji said he wanted to be teleported to the top of Chutenro Tower to die - and he wanted Ushiro to take care of Kana and remember “what they talked about.” Machi didn’t know what that meant. He started to say something to her as well, but stopped. He wished them all good luck and was teleported away. They waited for word to come of who would be the next pilot - though Machi already knew. Kana wasn’t in the contract and neither was she: It would have to be Ushiro…
I did use a copy-paste of my Dive app, cutting certain things out. :D;
EDIT: I APOLOGIZE FOR BEING SO LONGWINDED.