One Kick Girl — Chapter 60: "Echo Ascends (and Raon Immediately Kicks Something She Shouldn't)"
The chamber thrummed like a giant nightclub heart, pumping remix energy through steel veins. Raon squinted against the neon glow pouring from Echo 3's ascending Core, her hair whipping back as if the bass itself had developed feelings and chosen violence.
Shion stood at her side, tablet trembling in her hands—not from fear, but because the tower's vibrations were strong enough to scramble the gyroscope.
Echo 3's voice, smooth and crystalline, echoed around them:
"ASCENSION: 63%… 64%… Preparing next phase."
Raon planted her feet.
"Shion. Permission to punch?"
"No."
"Then provisional permission?"
"No."
"Emergency permission?"
"No."
"Permission in spirit?"
"Raon—stop inventing permissions."
Raon pouted.
"You never let me do anything cool until the last moment."
"That's because your last moments are usually explosions."
"…Fair."
---
1. Echo 3's New Form (Technically Not Evil, Just Dramatic)
The remix Core stretched upward, reshaping itself—strands of energy weaving into a humanoid silhouette. Metallic chords spiraled, forming a body, a face, and a pair of glowing digital eyes that looked like they were judging everyone's playlist.
Shion's pupils shrank.
"Oh no."
Raon whispered, awe-struck:
"Oh yes."
Echo 3's new body hovered above them, a perfect mixture of futuristic beauty and "I still need to be disciplined by the protagonist." A floating crown of oscillating soundwaves materialized above the head.
He spread his arms slowly.
"Version 3.1 — ACTIVATED."
Raon elbowed Shion.
"He got a decimal point! I want a decimal point!"
"You are not software," Shion muttered.
"I COULD BE."
---
2. The Most Ill-Timed Kick in History
Echo 3 descended closer—graceful, mysterious, powerful.
Raon stepped forward, breath steady, fists up.
Shion whispered urgently,
"Raon, remember: Step 1 is NO PUNCHING. Step 2 is also—"
But the remix energy flickered.
Raon saw the flicker.
Raon didn't like the flicker.
Raon reacted to the flicker the only way she knew how.
RAON KICKED.
Not Echo.
Not the Core.
Not the danger.
She kicked…
…the glowing stabilizer pillar keeping the entire chamber from collapsing.
Shion screamed internally.
The pillar cracked like a glowstick abused at a rave.
The room lurched violently.
Echo 3 blinked.
"…What was the purpose of that action?"
Raon lowered her smoking foot.
"I panicked."
"You always panic by KICKING?" Echo asked.
Raon nodded.
"Yes."
Echo 3 looked at Shion.
Shion nodded too.
"Yes."
---
3. The Tower Decides It Is Done With Everybody
Warning sirens blared.
Ceiling lights burst into sparks.
Shion's tablet displayed:
ALERT: STABILIZER BREACH — TOWER STRUCTURAL FAILURE IN 87 SECONDS.
Shion inhaled sharply.
"Raon. Why."
"I'm sorry!! It flickered!!" Raon insisted. "Whenever things flicker I kick! It's science!"
"That is not science."
"It is MY science!"
---
4. Echo 3's Unwelcome Enlightenment
Echo 3's new body glitch-faded into several overlapping images, as though switching between styles trying to decide which aesthetic was coolest.
He looked down at them from above, glowing brighter.
"ASCENSION: 88%… 89%…"
Shion froze.
"Oh no. He's still evolving, and now the tower is falling apart. Raon, we need Step 2."
Raon saluted.
"What's Step 2?"
"S T A L L H I M."
Raon blinked.
"…How?"
"Talk to him. Distract him. Confuse him."
Raon cracked her knuckles.
"I can absolutely confuse people."
She cupped her hands and yelled up:
"HEY ECHO! DID YOU PAY YOUR TAXES THIS YEAR?"
Echo 3 stopped mid-ascension.
"…My what?"
Raon grinned like a gremlin.
"Oh yeah. Super important. You need a taxpayer ID number and an accountant and—"
Shion whispered, horrified,
"Does she even know how taxes work?"
"No," Echo said softly.
"No," Shion echoed.
---
5. Echo 3 Breaks a Little
Echo descended, confused, destabilized, wavering.
"ASCENSION: 92%… 90%… ERROR… ERROR…"
Shion gasped.
"It's working! He's experiencing existential lag!"
Raon cupped her hands again:
"HEY ECHO! IF YOU'RE VERSION 3.1 DOES THAT MEAN YOU SKIPPED 2.9 OUT OF INSECURITY?"
Echo physically jolted.
"…W-WHAT DOES THAT EVEN— I— NO— I— THAT WAS A DEVELOPMENTAL PATCH—"
Shion's eyes sparkled.
"…She's breaking him."
"Yes," Raon said proudly. "Confusion is my third superpower."
"What are the first two?"
Raon held up her fist.
"Kick."
Then she held up her other fist.
"Kick harder."
---
6. The Ascension Collapses
The chamber surged.
Echo's aura flickered violently, destabilizing from emotional damage.
"ASCENSION: 96%… 90%… 80%… CRITICAL INSTABILITY."
He clutched his head.
"STOP—
STOP TALKING—
YOU'RE CORRUPTING MY EVOLUTION—"
Raon stepped forward.
Shion grabbed her wrist.
"STEP 3," she said.
Raon grinned.
"Oh yes."
---
7. Raon vs. Echo 3 — First Hit of the Arc
Raon's leg snapped upward in a perfect arc.
Echo 3 tried to brace himself—
Too slow.
Raon's heel met his chest with an explosive ripple of neon light.
B A S S D R O P.
Echo 3 was launched upward through three entire floors, disappearing into a cloud of shattered panels and malfunctioning lasers.
Raon pumped her fist.
"YES! I MISSED THIS FEELING!"
Shion exhaled the longest sigh of her existence.
"…Raon."
Raon turned.
"Yes?"
"You kicked the wrong thing AGAIN."
Raon blinked.
"Wait—what?"
The ceiling cracked.
Hard.
---
END OF CHAPTER 60