Helena followed the story, keeping her eyes on the night grass. When Alasea was finished, Helena looked up and said, "What's so bad about that?"

"Nothing, really," Alasea said. "I think it was because of what you had been through prior to that that Matt tried to keep you from fights, but there's nothing wrong with it. I think R.D. and Matt might not have told you about it before is because it wasn't too big of a deal to them. You were Matt's Stand for less than a day. I can see why it'd be easy for them to overlook that."

Helena sighed. "Well, I guess I have to get the whole truth from Matt, then. But if that's the kind of stuff he's keeping from me, I don't see what the big hassle is."

Alasea gave her a small smile. "You'll find out soon, I'm sure," she said, before standing up. She held her hand out to the other teenager. "Come on, let's get some sleep. I get the feeling that between Matt and Kamina, tomorrow's going to get crazy."

Helena smacked her cold fingers around Alasea's hand. "That's for sure."

The two girls returned to their sleeping bags, entirely unaware of the eyes that had been watching them during the clandestine meeting with the two teenage boys.

Night quickly turned to morning, with a bright and blazing sun appearing over the horizon to cut through the morning fog. As they gathered around to see Leeron's work, Kamina whistled. R.D. couldn't blame him. The car before them was markedly different than before--though it retained the same black color scheme it had before, the smooth contours and sharp angles of the frame had been made more pronounced, giving it a more menacing look. The front of it had changed drastically; the squared headlights had been altered to take on angled, glaring shapes. The indentures between the grill and the bumper combined to give the impression of a confident, yet sinister grin. To complete the new look on the outside, emblazoned on the hood in bright crimson was the burning, bespectacled skull symbol of the Gurren Brigade.

"I told you he'd get it done," Yoko said with a smile.

"Looks even better than before," Hugo said. "And it's got a lot more punch for greater speed. What do you think?"

Matt's mouth hung open, frozen, his upper lips curled with joy.

Helena waved her hand in front of Matt's face. "Hello?" she asked. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Not now, Helena," he said, softly. "I'm on my honeymoon."

Kamina slapped a hand on Matt's shoulder in a hearty gesture. "Well, don't just stand there!" he said boisterously. "Go check it out!"

And with that, he pushed the boy forward, towards the rebuilt car. Inside, the dash looked vastly different--the steering wheel shared the same Gurren Brigade emblem in its center, the various meters were replaced with computerized interfaces like the ones seen on Leeron's computer. There didn't seem to be any corresponding monitor for the fuel gauge.

"Oh ho ho ho hooooh." Matt traced over the hood and the dash with his fingers, fondling all the new equipment like the breasts of a woman. Oh baby. Now he was playing with power. "It's like my car beat up and ate KITT!"

"Who's KITT?" Helena asked, but Hugo just tapped her leg with his pickaxe. "Don't ask," he said.

"Its his car?" Simon asked, looking over at the group.

"Yeah, the piece of junk was on his property in the village," R.D. said, easily falling into line with their bullshit story as Ileyna walked up to check out the inside of the car.

"Are there, like, secret gadgets in here?" Matt asked Leeron. His voice ran fast and hot. "Like oil slicks? Or missiles? Or tacks?"

"No," Leeron said, shaking his head. "There wasn't enough room to add any weapons. I was able to make it operate like a Ganmen, and its much sturdier now."

"Be grateful for what you've got, Matt," R.D. said. "And try not to get this one wrecked."

"Wait, this runs like a GANMEN?" Matt said, pointing across his side at the revamped Firebird. "What kind of power source does it got?"

Leeron was about to answer, but seemed to be unsure. However, Kamina, of all people, seemed to have the answer.

"All you need is a man's soul!" he declared confidently. "Your car will run on your fighting spirit!"

Was...was Kamina actually SERIOUS? "Kamina, my man," Matt said, waltzing over with a sliding gesture, "the old car didn't run on spirit. Actually, I don't know what it used to run on, but it definitely wasn't my sense of self-worth."

"That doesn't matter!" Kamina replied. "Now your car is like a Ganmen! Your determination will allow it to move for you!"

Alasea wondered if the man had any kind of touch with reality. But despite the overbearing attitude, she could see why people would follow him. He looked like the kind of person who could overcome any odds.

R.D., on the other hand, had a better idea of what Kamina was talking about. He'd have to fill Matt in on that later.

"Well, whatever. Now that the car's working again, we should get ready to go after Jigitalis and get back the shards," he said.

"I just hope he's got what we want," Hugo said, chambering his pickaxe. "Otherwise, I've got no clue where we can head next."

"Ileyna can still track the shards while we're moving," Helena said. "Way better than walking, like we were before."

"I think I felt something earlier," Ileyna announced. "I'm really not sure though. It was at the edge of my senses, and I can't feel anything now."

They were making their way back to the camp, now, to gather their stuff and talk about their target in this world.

"Ileyna can track the shards?" Rossiu asked, sparing a glance at the girl.

"That's the power she got from her own shard," Alasea said, nodding. "The power to detect the shards and take them from others, among other things."

"You can see how helpful it is," Matt said.

"You'd still be lost without me," Ileyna said, in a rare moment of self-confidence as she stuck her tongue out playfully at Matt.

Matt stuck his tongue back at her, twitching his head in pretend annoyance.

Ileyna broke out into a giggle, only for it catch in her throat as her hair flashed blue, a chime cutting through the air.

"I found it!"

Her voice was drowned out by the roar of a car's engine revving up.

Matt's eyes widened, and he could feel EVERY INCH OF MOVEMENT as his gaze swiveled towards the direction of the car.

The Firebird's engine roared again, and within the driver's seat, a girl with tanned skin and dark red hair, wearing a yellow shirt, a big pink hat, and overly-large gloves sat. She was leaning out of the window, displaying wide purple stripes on her arms as she stuck her tongue out at them while pulling her eyelid down in a common insult.

"Nyaaa~!"

And with a jolt, the Firebird took off, kicking up a thick cloud of dust at them, causing them all to hack and cough as it covered them. As it faded, they could see the Firebird taking off into the distance.

Kamina shook his fist violently as he yelled after the girl. "Damn you, Chitori! Don't think this is over!"

"Oh no," Matt said. He took a deep, loud breath, flaring out his arms. "OH, NO, YOU DIDN'T JUST JACK MY RIDE!"

"Matt!" Helena said, grabbing him by the shoulder. "Calm down!"

Matt's finger whipped at Kamina like an earthquake crack. "KAMINA! Let's go!"

Hugo exploded in mean, excited laughter. Another chamber of his pickaxe.

"All right! Let's go, Simon!"

"Eh?? But, Bro--!"

"Ileyna, keep tracking her!" R.D. ordered, following Kamina as he ran to the Gurren, ignoring Simon's feeble protests. Behind them, Ileyna lit up with her blue aura, extending wings of light to hover into the air.

"Oh, man," Simon muttered as he ran towards the Lagann, Yoko following him as the boy hopped into the cockpit, activating the mini-Ganmen with his Core Drill. With the two in their respective mecha, the two Ganmen blazed to life.

Hugo bounded into Lagann as Matt and Helena charged for Gurren. When Matt reached Gurren's leg, he leapt up, hopped off the thigh, and grabbed the lips of the cockpit, swinging inside.

Helena pushed aside her hair and cupped her mouth with her hands. "Don't be reckless," she shouted at Kamina and Matt, "you'll just get us all killed, okay?"

"Kamina doesn't understanding anything but being reckless," Yoko muttered as the cockpit closed up. Hell, R.D. and the girls barely got onto the mech itself before it tore after the revamped Firebird, shaking the ground with each step.

"Hold on!" Simon said as the thruster behind the Lagann ignited, sending it into the air--it was the only way he'd catch up with the Gurren at this rate. Beside it, Ileyna flew through the air, pulling ahead to track the Firebird, as that's where the Essence's signal was emanating from.

Wedo weaved in and out of blasts, carefully and gracefully dancing towards their source. Finally reaching the old mage, he slashed through him with his scythe.

"Hahahaha, my point!"

Dearg-due sighed. X's spiritual pressure had disappeared from NationStates General, which had annoyed Remnant. He'd wanted, after all, to keep tabs on X until "the Promised Day", but now that was impossible.

Of course X wasn't the only vessel that they needed to collect, only the most important. His body contained the fragment of the Queen that represented her soul. Other vessels contained different such fragments, some representing memories and others representing power. The mage before them held one such fragment.

Wedo noticed Dearg-due's foul mood.

"Whaaaat? There's no way that could have killed him. I know we need him alive for the ritual, I'm not stupid."

Dearg-due sighed again. "That's not what annoys me. Look again at the 'blood' on your blade."

"Eh?" Wedo replied. He glanced at his scythe. "Mud? But then wh-" He glanced back at the old mage and saw him crumble into dust before his eyes. "Then wh--"

He heard the sound of a teleport from behind. Swiveling around he saw the mage hovering behind him. On reflex, he took a soaring leap into the sky, prepared to swing. He failed to notice the purple aura surrounding the mage's arm.

"Crimson Judgement!" The mage yelled, and fired a titantic ball of red flame out of his arm. Wedo was hardly a speck compared to it. The ball completely enveloped him and impacted the ground.

Helena grimaced and she clamped down on the Gurren's hand as it thundered ahead. "Slow DOWN!" she shouted over the whipping wind, but the Gurren probably couldn't hear her.