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Aizawa couldn't wait for Toshinori to be mentally sound enough to pilot with him.
It had been an emergency when Toshinori and Aizawa entered their Jager again. The Endeavor, piloted by Todoroki Enji and Takami Keigo, were fighting alongside the other two remaining Jagers -Edgeshot, and Godzillow- against two category four Kaiju when the disaster hit.
It was like the Kaiju already knew how their Jagers worked and how each Jager fought , because once Edgeshot and Godzillow made contact with one of the Kaiju, the other went in for the kill. It was an ambush and soon Godzillow was thrown under the water and destroyed, the pilots were lost.
Toshinori and Aizawa watched through helicopter camera feeds as Edgeshot began using its special techniques to try and fight both Kaiju by itself, while the Endeavor was commanded to stay back unless absolutely necessary. Edgeshot could only take so much more damage, the mech was simply not designed to fight two Kaiju of that category at the same time.
“This is insane Marshal! Edgeshot can’t do this alone! The Endeavor is going in NOW!” Enji had snapped as he and Keigo began to run to help Edgeshot. Toshinori tensed and looked over to see Aizawa’s jaw was tensed, it seemed that every nerve in his co-pilot’s body was ready to fight.
“The Kaiju have breached our helm! Water is coming in! Endeavor! We need back up!” One the Edgeshot’s pilots, Kamihara screamed as water sprayed all around him and his co-pilot. “Not sure how long we can keep fighting them off!”
“Just hold tight Edgeshot! We’re coming for you guys!” Keigo assured as he and Enji put their weapons online and engaged in the fight.
Then, the next thing they knew, was a bright new ape-like Kaiju coming right at them, making the fight 3 on 2.
The pilots prepared, Edgeshot got back on their feet, one Kaiju eliminated, making the fight 2 on 2, an even fight. Though no one could predict said Kaiju would let out a powerful EMP that shut both digital Jagers down in an instant. The EMP even reached the base and shut all the tech in the Shatterdome. Toshinori and Aizawa looked around in shock as everything went dark and Hizashi frantically moved around to try and get everything back on. Emergency power put on dim lights for everyone to be able to see beyond their noses. “Shit! It’s going to take me hours to get everything back online!” He shouted as Nezu grimaced.
“We don’t have hours! Edgeshot and Endeavor are dead in the water and we can’t talk to them! There has to be something you can do Yamada, otherwise we’re going to lose them too!” He snapped and Hizashi looked over to him with a stressed look in his eyes. He really couldn't do it faster.
“I can’t get them back online in a matter of minutes! Not with everything in base shut down too! All the Jagers are digital!” He was frantic, he'd rather not have four people on his conscience.
That’s when Toshinori remembered something he's been told about his old Jager when he arrived.
“Not all of them, sir!” He choked out, the three turned their heads to him… they knew where he was going with this. “The OfA is Nuclear, she’s analogue.” The blonde then looked over to Aizawa and swallowed. “Aizawa.. I know you don’t trust me yet, but-” Aizawa cut him off with a raise of his palm.
“Shut up and get your suit on, just don’t fall into the rabbit hole again.” He warned, the firm look made Toshinori urgently nod before looking to Nezu for permission to suit up. The marshal chuckled and turned to Hizashi.
“Yamada, prepare One For All. Aizawa, Yagi… why are you two still standing here? Go suit up!” Both pilots wasted no time and took off running in order to suit up and get deployed as soon as possible. With Edgeshot’s cracked helm being flooded with water, they didn’t have a whole lot of time before the pilots inside would drown.
Toshinori had to begin breathing deep breaths as he threw his suit on, he hadn’t talked to Aizawa since the drift failure… he was terrified at the thought of losing his head again like last time, but he couldn't afford to dwell on it at the moment. His comrades were surrounded by Kaijus.
Toshinori tied his hair up and shoved his helmet on. Upon entering One for All’s hanger, he saw Aizawa already entering the helm and began to pick up the pace.
Don’t chase the rabbit… don’t dwell on the past Yagi.
The first words Nana ever told him before they began his first drift… Toshinori thought about it and nodded at nothing, he entered the helm and saw Aizawa activating the console. The man turned around and looked at him with his black piercing eyes, warning him once more.
“Remember what I told you.” He reminded and the blonde nodded again.
“Don’t chase the rabbit.. I know… I won’t do that again.” He promised, stepping on the left side of the helm. “Let’s go help the others.”
Aizawa stared for a few moments before joining him on the right side of the helm and initiated the sequence to start the neural handshake with the blonde. He could hear the older pilot take in a deep breath like he was attempting to relax as the computer started the countdown for the neural handshake.
The drift began and Toshinori felt like he was falling through a tunnel.. He began seeing images of his struggle in the streets, his first encounter with a Kaiju… the fear filling him, but not taking over. Not this time. This then blended into some of Aizawa’s memories, the man witnessing the death of his best friend, his nonstop training until his hands bled - this horrible grief and determination to become a Jager pilot and him fixing One for All… the very reminder of the jager brought him back...
Nana...
“Toshi listen to me!” He heard her… Nana screaming at him as flashes of the damaged One for All became more vivid… Red warning lights and deafening alarms made her voice nearly silent.
Toshinori could barely breathe, he was back there again. He was there . Some tears slid down his face until he heard Nana continue, “Let me go Toshi! Don’t dwell on me, don’t chase that rabbit!” He let out a shuddered breath and nodded at her.
“Neural handshake successful.”
Toshinori gasped for air as if he ran a mile, feeling wet trails rolling down his cheeks when he opened his eyes. He glanced over to Aizawa, the man remained stoic, but the tall blonde heard his co-pilot’s thoughts ‘ We’ll talk later. ’ Toshinori nodded a bit startled, it's been a while.
No time for that, after all... They still had to go assist the other two jagers, other things could be resolved later.
What mattered was that One for All was ready to kick ass and help it’s fellow jagers.
“One for All’s systems are all operational, ready for deployment on your command Marshal.”
"Permission granted, get your asses out there!"