The Drill That Will Pierce The Darkness! (Gurren Lagann X WoD)

Argo barks happily as he rushes alongside you. Your face is set and focused, sweat dripping down your skin as you pump your arms in the morning sun. You keep your breathing measured and in rhythm with your legs. Your black shorts and matching t-shirt feel light on your body. Your body simply feels good in general right now. The strain on your muscles, the burning sensation in your joints, and even the sweat collecting on your brow improve your mood to an immense degree.

Of course, having a four-legged running mate certainly attributes to it. You smile down at Argo, picking up the pace as the park entrance comes into view. With a quick jump, you cross between the two trees you use as an impromptu Start/Finish Line. Argo jumps with you, spinning in place when he hits the ground while barking happily at you.

You jog in place while reaching down and scratching Argo between his ears, his brown fur soft under your nails. His thin tail wags happily behind him while his tongue hangs out of his mouth.

"Ok boy. Ready for another lap?" you pull your head away for Argo to bark again while turning towards the sidewalk path around the park. You nod while preparing yourself for another run. This would be your sixth one. Normally you do three or four, but you're finding the exercise very rewarding today. The exertion of your limbs helps keep your mind off...other things.

You shake your head and start walking again until you notice that Argo isn't following you. You walk back and stop next to him while following his muzzle. It's pointed towards the entrance watching as another dog, a black great dane, came running into the park. Argo barked and met it halfway, the two of them sniffing each other to say hi. You stopped jogging in place to watch the exchange with a smile on your face. Looks like Argo's made a new friend. You follow after him and see something shiny around its neck. It turns out to be a collar with a metal name tag on it which means...

"Basker!" the dane's ears prick up and it turns to look up at the owner of the voice. A young man with well-groomed straight hair stepped forward and knelt to pat Basker the head. He wore white nylon sweatpants with a black stripe down the sides, with a matching t-shirt. His head turned up to you, his gaze obscured by the sunglasses he wore. He smiled while standing up and waving at you, "Hey there! Haven't seen you out here before."

You shrug, "I'm usually not up this early on a weekend. Usually, sleep in to recharge from work."

"I hear that," the man shakes his head, "it's hard for me to get up and do anything when you just got done working on a big project seven days in a row? Name's Jacob. You?"

"Dean," you hold out your hand to shake and he reciprocates. His hand isn't as big as yours but his grip is firm enough to match you. You let his hand go and point behind you, "You planning to run too? I was just about to do a lap so..."

"Sure," Jacob starts to stretch his legs, "I'll run with ya. Just don't be too shocked when we leave you in the dust."

Well someone sounds cocky.

Argo growls before rushing back to the trail. He looks at you with his mouth closed and ears pricked up. You nod and go to stand by him, the exhaustion from earlier suddenly gone at the prospect of a friendly contest. Jacob and his dog do the same at your side. He looks at with a confident smile, "Ready?"

"Fuck yeah," you return the smile and take off. Surprisingly, Jacob manages to keep up with you the entire way. Both of you end up neck and neck the entire run around the park. Which made things come down to your faster, four-legged companions. The lead changed constantly, with Argo overtaking Basker in speed, but the dane did better on the corners. Eventually, it came down to stamina and who had enough energy saved for the last sprint.

And, unfortunately, Argo lost out. Basker ended up crossing the trees by the tip of his nose with the rest of you literally right on his tail. Basker started barking happily while running up to his panting owner who had his hands on his knees. Argo slowly pads up to you, his head down and tail between his legs. You scratch behind his ears while breathing heavily, "Don't be sad, boy. This just means we've gotta get you some more training, right?"

That seems to perk him up cause his tail starts wagging again. You hear running water and see Jacob audibly gulping down water from a nearby fountain. He sighs heavily when he finishes, looking your way with an exhausted but happy look, "Goddamn! Think you could go a little easy on a guy?"

"Sorry," you apologize but question what he means. Were you really running that fast?

Jacob prepares to say something before a ringing sound comes from his pocket. He pulls out his cellphone grimaces, "Fuck! Really? Why me?!" He turns to you, "Hey, Dean! You got any plans for later? A buddy of mine needs a sparring partner and I don't want to end up in the hospital. Hate to ask since we just met and all, but...well you seem pretty tough."
You tilt your head while crossing your arms, "Sparring? Is your friend learning Martial Arts or something? And, why would he want to fight with a complete stranger?"

"First, he's in boxing practice," Jacob holds up two fingers, "Second, yes he would. The dude's an adrenaline junky and there's a girl he wants to impress there to watch him. Please? You'd be doing me a big favor."

Well...you don't really have any other plans. And he seems like a good guy. On the other hand, you did just meet him...

[] Go with him. Why the fuck not? It never hurts to make new friends.
[] You'll decline. You just met the guy and he could be leading you into something sketchy.
- [] What will you do now? (Write in)
[] Write in...

You agreed to go along, much to Jacob's glee. The man seemed like he would jump for joy the moment you said you'd go with him. A quick break at the water fountain and a moment to take care of your dogs and you're following the man to his gym. Along the way, you exchange small talk with the guy. You learn that he's been in Dallas since he was born and is a "free spirit". At your obvious skepticism, he explains that means he makes money doing random odd jobs online. When you ask how that's been going for him, he gives you a bunch of half-answers.

Then he asks what you do for a living....and goes quiet when you tell him. He pouts for a bit but you manage to get him to open up by asking about the man you're going to meet. Well, sort of. He remains vague, only giving you half-answers and a name. The guy's name is Creo, and he's been Jacob's friend for a while. He got really into boxing sometime after the two of them dropped out of college, and has been trying to become professional for a bit. The girl, Meghan, is someone who Jacob met during one of his jobs. The two turned in fast friends and he brought her to the gym Creo goes to.

That happened about two days ago. Since then Creo's been a, to use Jacob's words, fucking wrecking machine. He was good before but now it was like he wanted to end every fight as soon as possible. Considering the only change so far has been Meghan's frequent visits to the gym...well what caused it is obvious.

"And, what do you want me to do about it?" you ask, still not completely sure what Jacob wants you to do. Argo and Basker were walking a bit in front of you, their leashes slightly taut as you kept pace with them.

"Remember how I said he's an adrenaline junkie?" at your nod Jacob snaps his fingers, "That means he gets bored easily. All you gotta do is outlast him. Don't have to win or even fight back. Just make the fight drag out, and he'll stop sending everyone in the gym to the hospital! I'd do it, but the last time we fought he laid me out in two hits.

At your continued glare, he pats you on the back, "Don't be like that. You look like you're way tougher than me, and they'll give you protective gear. You'll be fine."

"From what I'm seeing," you start as the two of you round a corner and an obvious gym comes into view, "this can all be solved if you just tell Meghan he likes her. Why don't you do that? Better yet, get Creo to stop and be open about his feelings?"

"Cause Meghan's socially awkward as all hell. She'll probably run the moment Creo tells her, and that'll cause even more problems," he stops in front of the door to the building, tying Basker's leash to a nearby lamppost, "Oh yeah, they don't let dogs in. You'll have to leave Argo out here."

You nod and walk over to one of the lampposts. Argo whines as you tie his leash to the structure. You scratch his ears to reassure him, "Don't worry, boy. I won't be gone long."

He barks and licks your face as you turn to follow Jacob into the gym. You go inside, go through the standard check-in procedure, and follow the sound of fists hitting leather to your destination. You arrive at a large room filled with weights, sandbags, speed bags and mirrors. A few people were going about their normal exercises. Some were running in place, some were jumping rope, others were punching the various bags in the room. A few of them waved to Jacob as the two of you walked in. Red protective gear littered the floor while a large ring stood in the center of the room. This is where your attention ended up shifting, letting you see a guy go down to the mat in a single punch.

You look up and see who could only be Creo. The guy's alabaster skin was coated in a sheen of sweat, yet he didn't look tired at all. His dirty blonde hair was trapped in a red protective helmet. His chest rose and fell beneath his red jersey, while his green eyes watched the guy he just knocked to the ground. After a few seconds, he walked forward and helped the guy to his feet. One look at his toned muscles makes you glare at the back of Jacob's, head hoping you convey your feelings of annoyance. He either doesn't notice or purposely ignores you.

Instead, he leads you over to the mat where a dark-skinned man in a gray sweatshirt and pants is standing shaking his head. He turns to the two of you as you approach, glancing at you before turning his gaze to Jacob, "Please tell me you're not doing what I think you're doing Jacob."

"Come on Mitch," Jacob shrugged while putting on his best smile, "I'm telling you, it's gonna work."

Mitch walked past him and spoke to you directly, "Look, I don't know what he's told you, but you can leave. We can handle this."

"You sure about that?" you ask based on your observations. A glance to your right shows that not a single person is stepping up to fight Creo. They're all keeping their eyes off the ring too.

Creo must notice this, cause he shoots a scowl at everyone else in the room. Then he comes to where you're talking to Mitch. He walks over and speaks to Mitch, but his eyes are on you, "Yo, Coach, Jacob. Who's this?"

"No one," Mitch is quick to say, "Just a stranger Jacob brought in. Nothing to concern yourself with."

Creo pays Mitch no attention, leaning against the ropes along the edge of the ring while smiling at you, "How's it going? Names Creo. You?"

"Dean," you cross your arms, "Dean Wick."

"Cool name. You work out?"

"A bit."

"Ever box?"

"Not really."

"Want to try?" this time his eyes dart off to the side at something else in the room.

"Creo," Mitch steps in between the two of you, "I told you not to pick fights."

"Come on, Coach," Creo rolls his eyes, "I don't see what the big deal is. No one else is stepping up to spar with me."

"That's what I've been trying to tell him. He just won't listen," Jacob chimes in.

While the three of them begin to argue, you follow where Creo diverted his gaze for a moment. At the far end of the gym sitting on a bench is a girl who you're sure is the poster child for nerdy. Glasses that block the glint in her eyes, curly orange hair that falls around her shoulders, a white t-shirt a few sizes too big for her with some brightly colored letters on the front, and jeans that bunch around her ankles. Her eyes are focused on the floor with the occasional glance upwards and wave small wave at someone who meets her eye.

You'd guess that'd be Meghan. She does look like the type to go running the minute you apply any kind of pressure on her. At least from here. You won't know for certain until you talk to her.

Either way, you're here now and at least two people here are expecting you to fight someone. Do you?

[] Fight Creo. You said you would and you're a man of your word. (Please Write in a Strategy if you choose to fight)
- [] Go easy on him. You're not trying to win. Just outlast him.
- [] Make him look good. Maybe let him win and outlast him.
- [] Fight him normally. You'll either win or you'll outlast him.
- [] Bring him down. Give a good showing and rock his world.
- [] Write in...

[] Don't fight Creo. This doesn't seem like something you should get in the middle of.
- [] Go talk to Meghan. She seems like she could use another friend...though this might piss off Creo.
- [] Do some regular training. You might as well get some exercise in while you're here.
- [] Talk to Creo while he does some training. Get to know the guy a bit
- [] Talk to Mitch. Find out what this place is.
- [] Just leave. You'll find something else to do. (Please Write in what you do instead)
- [] Write in...

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Finally got it in. Sorry it took so long guys. Writer's Block can be a bitch.