Two other mecha's had passed by his. 'Tablet, what do I do?'
The screen had not showed him his command, and confusion mixed with anxiety grew inside him.
'Shit, doesn't matter now. I'll follow the other dudes.' He thought, as he pushed his gear shifter into sprint mode. His legs, also had to move as if he were roller blading.
Nagito, at the corner of his eyes, saw a small, flat vehicle with a long tube attached to it. As he turned his mecha's body, it had stumbled back, and the right arm became unresponsive.
The cockpit turned red, then panic set in. 'Fuck! That's a tank!'
"Tablet! What do I do?!" He pleaded again, but finally the screen responded.
[Access not authorized]
"Shit! Shit! What does that mean?"
It wasn't long until another shot was fired at the hip of the AVALON, making it kneel down completely.
[Eject now, you're in danger] the screen lit up.
After the shaking from getting shot, a glove compartment opened up, and a flaregun fell out.
Nagito panicking, hurriedly took off his crown and grabbed the flare gun, then hit the red eject button that appeared in the tablet screen. As he hit it, the top helm of the AVALON opened up, then he was shot out of his seat into the open air.
For a few seconds, he was launched approximately two-hundred yards away from the one-sided battle. Dissapointment crept in slowly after.
'I was not cut out for that. I didn't even get to do anything-'
His inner monologue was cut out as he crashed. A sharp pain emitted from his head as it hit the hard ground.
"Ow…" Nagito brushes the top of his head. He looked up as he hears footsteps. Cautiously, he checked what it was, thinking it might be an enemy. But he is relieved when he saw a light blue haired girl in the white uniform.
"Captain was right to be worried about you. A newbie piloting that thing." She looks at him with concern.
"Y- Yeah, I don't know why he let me drive it either." Nagito scratches his head, but the both flinch as another explosion was heard fr the same direction the AVALON was.
"Come on, let's get out of here." She says, holding her hand out. He takes it, and she pulls him up. Nagito follows her as they jog. Their steps feel uncanny with the mushy but solid grass.
"Hey- I haven't- gotten to know your name yet." Nagito said, gasping. She looked back at him, and responded.
"It's Lily. And you're Ashton, right?"
"No, I'm- I mean, yeah."
'Almost slipped up.'
From her pocket, she pulled out stick, and a holographic pad came out. From what it looks like, she was typing something before she put it back in her pocket.
As she caught him staring, she spoke up.
"It's a HaloLink. A new invention our squadron made a few months back."
"Huh. Got it." Nagito gathered that information. It looked handy from the outside. But there wasn't much to observe from, other than that.
It had been a minute since they started jogging. And he could finally hear the others. Him and Lily finally reach them, and reported what happened.
"So you're the kid Ryan let pilot the AVALON-4." He sounded dissapointed.
"S-Sorry, sir. But I-"
He cut him off. "Of course you'd crash it. With zero experience?"
"I have no idea what your captain was thinking anyways. But at least you didn't die."
'He seems not that mad.'
But he sighed. "We'll escort you back to the base."
Lily looked at him confused. "Sir-"
"Don't mention it. His life is as important as ours. We can't leave a comrade out here."
She nodded, looking back at Nagito. "Get in car."
He got in, but could tell there was tension in the group. Except for one guy in glasses, focused on his HoloLink with a dedicated look.
The ride began, and it was mostly quiet. Nagito could tell this group was on edge. Really, it made them seem more professional.
Nagito leaned back in his seat, staring at the blue, lightly cloudy sky. Temperature had dropped since the mission started, and it was a perfectly tempered day.
'How will I explain this to Ryan? I mean, it was a little bit of his fault for letting me actually pilot it.'
A bunch of questions were on his mind. Mainly coping with the awkward tension of being in a group of strangers. But in a bit, the base finally came into view.
As they reached the entrance and squadron 3's captain opened the garage, the awkwardness was gone. Apparently, most of the other squadrons came back already. The huge attack they thought had happened was a false alarm.
"Hello?" The captain spoke on the intercom. "Yeah, the kid got shot by a tank. The AVALON's still out there."
He suddenly felt a pang of guilt from breaking the AVALON.
The captain hung up the intercom, then turned to Nagito.
"They'll retrieve it soon after scoping out the area again. You're lucky the AVALON's are really high security. Or else you'd probably not be serving right now. Not that you had a choice anyway."
"Alright. What should I do now?"
"Go back to your living quarters. Your captain was alerted too."
The sliding doors closed, as their squad left him in the garage. But he followed after, going his own way. Thanks to scoping the place out earlier, he knows his way now.
But while walking alone, the silence was too quiet. The kind of silence that you'd have at late nights. Nagito got curious again.
'What would happen if I rewind?'
He paced around, then finally decided to go against the voice's order.
'How far back could I really go?'
His eyes lit up gold, then a sharp headache pierced his head. He lost his balance, getting on his knees, holding his head.
"Gah!" "Shit!" "Shit!!"
The pain was unbearable. Truly unbearable.
But it stopped for a moment. In fact, everything did. Nothing moved. Not even him. But he was conscious.
{Reaper, we talk again.}
He listened carefully, then spoke.
"Who are you?!"
Silence..
Then, {You don't know me, but soon you will. But in fact, I know you very well. But not you. If you want to keep this run going, then don't rewind. You'll regret it.}
Before he could respond, everything started moving again. Back to how it was. Bullets of sweat shot down his forehead. Gasping. But not long later, he passed out.