TRY AGAIN | Ken Sato | Ultraman Rising

10. The Greatest Thing

Hana carried her hand over the knob of the door and slowly opened it, dropping her bag and coat on the hanger before making her way to the living room deck where Kenji was seated. Behind him was the Emi still encased in her shell and Professor Sato in his pod, he was currently unconscious in the healing process.

She walked up next to him and put a hand on his shoulder, "Shouldn't you get some rest? I'm sure he'd like that." He put his hand on top of hers and let out a deep sigh. "I'm sure you're right, but I want to be here when he wakes up."

She understood his intentions, pulling up a chair of her own and taking a seat right next to him. Hana only stopped in her tracks when she heard a faint clanging in the distance, and her head swerved over to the open view to the horizon.

"What? What's wrong?" Kenji asked, standing up as she did so too. "I just heard something," she said and the noise came back a second time and this time Kenji heard it. "No, no, no," he muttered, slowly walking over outside, "Where did the sound originate from, Mina?"

"From the east, a mile away" she answered. Before the two could properly see what was coming a crackling noise caught Kenji's attention and he turned around to see Emi's egg beginning to hatch.

Emi spread her wings out with a yawn, her eyes adjusting to the brightness and smiling when she recognized Hana and Kenji standing in front of her.

"Those wings are new," Hana commented. They watched as Emi began crawling closer to the edge of the deck, standing up to her full height and looking off intently at something making their way closer through the water.

"It can't be.." Kenji muttered, the image of gigantron's silhouette making its way over looked like a scene out of a fever dream. Gigantron died, or at least that's what they were thought to believe.

Before anyone could say another word Emi jumped off the ledge of the deck. "EMI!" Hana shouted in fear, watching as the baby kaiju spread it's wings and began flying over to gigantron in the distance.

"We gotta go after her, Mina, take care of dad" Kenji said, ready to transform when the sudden sound of Mina's warning bells caught their attention, "Danger! Take evasive action."

Hana looked up at the sound of whirring and her eyes widened at the sight of rockets beginning to close in on them.

Kenji hollered something on the lines of 'MINA, SHIELD', taking Hana in his arms as he tried to run back inside.

...

When her eyes flickered open all she saw were stacks of debris. Hana immediately shot up to her feet, frantically looking around for signs of Kenji, Mina and professor Sato. Her eyes fell upon Mina, a chunk ripped from her body and the light gone from her eye.

Hana grit her teeth, taking Mina in her hand and walking over to try and find professor Sato. She pushed off chunks of debris until she found the pod where professor Sato was perfectly sleeping.

She let out a sigh of relief and took a seat on the ground, closing her eyes for a fleeting moment. It felt like she had gotten the wind knocked out of her, it'd only take a little while for her to get back on her feet.

Whilst mustering up all the strength she had left she sucked in a sharp breath and stood up. She knew Kenji was already out there fighting for Emi, she needed to be there. Her feet carried her over the edge of the dock and she transformed, boosting herself with flight as she zoomed through the sky.

She didn't exactly know where she was going but she assumed that if she flew in where she felt they'd be she'd end up somewhere near them. And she was right.

She was caught by surprise when she saw Kenji shoot back after a blow from a robot suit–not one of gigantron. She landed next to him and blocked a beam headed his way just in time.

"Hana??" he practically shouted, getting back up to his feet as he went to help her. "You're a real jerk for not waking me up earlier to help you" she said. "You were knocked out cold" he clarified. "And you didn't slap me awake?"

She directed her attention back to the fight and narrowed her eyes at the mecha suit, "now or never" she muttered. Her feet carried her to charge at him, her fist connecting with his head and knocking him back for a moment before carrying out a punch to her gut.

He pulled out a long glowing blade and swung it down on her but she caught it just before it cut into her shoulder. With a loud grunt she ripped the blade from his hands and threw it to the side, charging up and sending a kick that left him flying.

Kenji ran to her side as she clenched her shoulder, feeling the searing pain envelope her.

"Are you alright?" He panicked, trying to grab her shoulder but immediately removing his hand when he saw her wince. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine" she panted, resting her shoulders back in an attempt to ignore her pain.

"I've got a better idea" Kenji said, moving her good arm to one position as he did his arm. A light beam erupted from their arm movement directed right to the robot suit followed by a beam of light from Emi and Gigantron.

The shield that the robot suit had been using to shield itself finally broke and he was sent back flying.

Kenji held onto a wincing Hana, she clenched her arm but she couldn't ignore the giant gash swelling with pain. She needed medical attention, fast.

A sudden strong ripple through the water caught their attention and when Kenji turned back and saw the beeping red light coming from the suit it dawned on him. "He's planning on self-destructing," Kenji said breathlessly, "he's going to destroy us all."

His eyes met hers and for a brief moment she saw the contemplation. Before she could say a word he turned around and began running towards the robot suit.

"KENJI!" She yelled after him, outstretching her hand in an attempt to stop him but her injury prevented her, her fingers just barely grazing his hand.

She began to run after him but was stopped by the feeling of claws encircling her waist. Gigantron had taken hold of her, Emi following right after them with tears in her eyes.

She could see the forcefield he had made around him and the robot suit now set to self destruct. Her and the two kaiju frantically headed over, Gigantron's grip on her now gone. She banged against the forcefield, begging for him to get out. He turned back to face the three, though he wore a mask she could tell the expression he had on his face.

He sported a small smile

Then all she saw was blinding white light.