Hugo looked up at Simon. "While we're moving, you can tell me more about this thing." Another brazen tap on the Lagann's stumpy leg.

Meanwhile, Matt was examining the bigger Ganmen, fists on his hips. He has certainly seen stranger looking robots, but this seemed downright cartoonish. Of course, GaoGaiGar wasn't like any robot he had seen, but at least that looked imposing. Plus, he had driven the thing - he knew it could kick ass. Could the "Gurren" do anything cool besides punch other weirdass robots?

"Uh... well, there's not a whole lot I can tell you about it," Simon said nervously.

"You'll have to forgive him," R.D. said. "Hugo tends to get interested in anything related to machinery."

"Ah, he'd get along great with Leeron then."

"Okay, we're ready to go!" Alasea said, coming back with their gear. Curiously, R.D. noted her making a sweeping motion behind Helena's back as she stepped up, but no one else seemed to notice it.

"Thanks," Helena whispered, slinging her pack over her shoulder.

"I just hope this thing can fit two people," Matt said to Kamina, pointing at Gurren. "And I mean comfortably, not the 'everybody's cramped' style of fitting."

"Don't worry about it!" Kamina said, waving it off before clambering up the Gurren's leg before entering its mouth. When the Gurren activated, it reached down one hand for the others to climb aboard, while Yoko, Ileyna, and Hugo joined Simon in the Lagann.

"This ought to be interesting," R.D. muttered as he stepped onto the proffered hand along with the girls.

Well, at least Kamina wasn't lying about the space inside the cockpit. Matt had wiggle room, that was for sure. He kinda hung near the seat and did all he could to not touch Kamina, whose hands were wrapped around some mechanisms that let him control the arms of the Gurren.

He just hoped Kamina had enough insight to make sure the robot's hand stayed in the same place when it was carrying people.

"All right," Hugo said when Ileyna placed him inside the Lagann. "What kind of capabilities does this thing have? Weapons, engines, battery...things like that."

"Ah, well..." Simon looked a little helpless, but he tried to answer Hugo to the best of his abilities, though the power source and engines were completely beyond his understanding. Shouldn't he know better than him, though? That one boy said he was like a Ganmen himself...

"Well, this is moving better than I thought," R.D. commented, sitting on the edge of Gurren's palm, one leg propped up while the other dangled loosely over the edge.

"Is that all you know about it?" Hugo glanced at Yoko. "What about you? What do you know about this thing? Or if you want, you can tell me about that rifle you have."

"You're a curious little thing," Yoko said lightly, looking back at Hugo as he stood in Ileyna's lap. For the most part, the younger girl said nothing, distinctly keeping her eyes away from those of Simon and Yoko. "No, I don't know much about Lagann. Leeron could tell you more."

"I've heard that name already," Hugo said. "Who is he?"

"He's our team's mechanic," Yoko said. "He's gifted with machines and maintains our two Ganmen."

"Really." Hugo turned about, scanning the whole internals of the Lagann. "Think he can fix a car that's nearly been destroyed?"

"Eh? What's a car?" Yoko asked, both her and Simon looking confused.

Ileyna blinked in surprise.

Hugo blinked as well. "...it's something you ride in," he said after a moment. "Like the Lagann. But you roll around on wheels. And it's powered by an engine."

"Really?" Simon said. "That sounds weird."

"Well, I dunno, but Leeron was able to fix the Gurren, and he had never worked with an intact Ganmen before that, so he should be able to fix your... car," Yoko said after a moment.

Hugo growled something to himself. "All right." He turned away from Yoko and stared at the wall of the cockpit rising around him.

Gurren and Lagann plodded on, and within moments, they had gotten out of the fog, which was dissipating as morning progressed. In the distance, they could see something--a large, light blue box, like a Ganmen devoid of its limbs.

R.D. squinted a bit, lifting a hand up to shield his eyes from the sun. "Those look like people around that box," he said. "Either of you see them?" he asked the girls on the hand with him.

"I do," Helena said. She crawled away from her spot and laid a hand on the edge of Gurren's finger, shielding her eyes as well.

"I do too," Alasea said, holding a hand against the Gurren's thumb to balance herself as she stood up to look over R.D. and Helena. "I guess that's the rest of their team."

"Two of them look like kids," R.D. noted with a frown.

"They can probably pull their weight," Helena said. "Why else would they be part of the team?"

"A lack of options?" R.D. quipped dryly, gesturing halfheartedly to the wasteland they were traveling through.

Helena leaned back on her haunches. "You've got a point."

"Well, at least Ileyna will be able to play with someone closer to her age while we're here," R.D. said, relaxing a bit.

Helena looked at the girl now. "Yeah," she said, smiling. "Finally a chance to get away from the boring adults, huh?"

"Yeah." He glanced over to the side a bit. "Well, if she can get over her nervousness. She looks petrified down there in Lagann."

"You'd think she'd be better adjusted by now. Especially after that fight with Re-Tuul."

R.D. scowled at the mention of the demon's name. "Well, she never has done well with meeting new people. She should warm up to them pretty soon, though."

"I hope so," Helena said. She scooted back across Gurren's hand to look out at the distant people.

It wasn't much longer before the Gurren and the Lagann had arrived at the Gurren Brigade's camp. R.D. was right in his earlier assessment; the blue box was a Ganmen that had been cannibalized into a house. Or at least a single room. There were four people waiting for them outside of it.

The most notable was the tall man standing behind the group, with teal hair, a girlish face, and the pink vest over bluish-purple clothing, one arm draped over his waist while the other propped his chin up in a remarkably feminine-looking pose. Standing in front of him was a serious-looking boy with slicked-back black hair, tied off into a ponytail, and white clothing. The last two were indeed young children, one boy and one girl, both younger than Ileyna, with the girl holding on to a stuffed rabbit.

Alasea studied them a bit, noting the boy's unruly red hair and the girl's curly pink hair, the similar features of their faces despite the vastly contrasting expressions on them--a cheerful smile on the boy, a mask of indifference on the girl--and concluded that the two were siblings, likely twins.

"Ah, Kamina," the serious boy started as Gurren lowered its hand to the ground, followed shortly by Kamina and Matt disembarking. "Were the Ganmen harassing these people?"

"That they were!" Kamina said, clapping Matt on the shoulder as Simon helped Ileyna and Yoko out of his Ganmen, earning smiles from both girls. "They were true men who stood their ground and fought back, even though they didn't have Ganmen of their own!"

Alasea leaned over to R.D.'s shoulder and whispered. "He does realize me and Helena are girls, right?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure he really cares," R.D. muttered back.

"Well, don't get me wrong," Matt added, sliding juuuust enough forward for Kamina's hand to slip off his shoulder. "Those Ganmen were tough dudes. If Kamina and the others hadn't shown up, I dunno how the fight would've gone."

"Still, that's quite brave of you," the boy said. "Reckless, though."

"Yeah, we get that a lot," R.D. noted. "So, introductions all around?" he asked, looking aside to Matt.