Δ 4
"I think I can..."
"I think I can..."
"I think I-- I can't do this."
The wall of rocks surrounding him on either side are too thick. He was lucky to escape being crushed by that last cave-in, but that will all amount to nothing if he's trapped between the rocks with no hope of ever escaping. His drill chips on the boulders, and there's no way a fourteen year old boy could be strong enough to push it through. He must have been crazy to try this. He isn't anyone special, anyone strong enough to finish what Kamina was killed trying to accomplish...
Absent-mindedly, Simon clutches at his chest, as though expecting his fingers to close around something that isn't there.
"This is stupid. There's no point to this. There's no reason to keep trying, I already failed." Again, he clutches at his chest, only to find nothing there, and tosses his useless drill to the ground.
"Are you missing something, Simon?"
Simon doesn't turn around. It's obvious who will be there. And it's equally obvious that this isn't really happening.
"Giving up...that doesn't seem like you."
"It's not giving up," Simon snapped, turning around. "I can't do it. I'm not like you, aniki! Don't tell me to believe in myself, because I don't know what it means!"
He reached for his chest again, and this time, there was something small and solid clenched in his fist, shining through his fingers with green light.
"I know that this isn't real," he muttered.
Kamina stood on his box and for a second he towered over Simon, the shadow from his cape framing the cave except for the pall of the green light. But then he jumped down and he was just a man again.
"None of this is real. But the truth is there in your soul!"
Simon slowly unclenched his fingers, to reveal that in the palm of his hand he held-- the small green rock he had found earlier, that he had tucked away in his cloak as a keepsake.
But now it was glowing and blinking steadily with green light.
"This story isn't the story that suits you. But the person who is really waiting for you at the end isn't a person you would let down." Kamina paused, and then slapped Simon on the back so hard he nearly dropped the stone. "Heh, not bad, kyoudai!"
"What are you talking about--" Simon began, but Kamina had turned his back so that Simon was looking up into the face of the Gurren Brigade symbol.
"Don't forget, Simon. Don't believe in me who believes in you..."
Believe in me who believes in myself!
[Simon stood, pulling himself out of the rubble of the cave-in. His body ached as it hadn't a few minutes prior, and the cave was no longer swathed in green light, but the stone was still clenched in his palm. He held it tightly, and then picked up his drill from the floor.]
It's only a mountain. I can dig through to the other side.
I think I can.
No.
I believe I can.
I believe I can!
((I'll do this disclaimer again! For the first half, Simon is dreaming. The second half, he's still in a cave-in in a tunnel under the mountain! Most characters, therefore, probably won't be able to respond.))