VOTOMS Ep. 4: Battling

The satellite continues to monitor Chirico, and Rochina’s men initiate rescue value B. As Chirico watches the battle, he staggers off and passes out due to the intense heat from the fires. Several men in hazmat suits appear and use fire extinguishers to cool down Chirico’s Scopedog. As soon as they leave, Gotho arrives and wonders who put out the fire. He takes Chirico back to his house to tend to his wounds. Chirico doesn’t say anything, and Gotho says he understands how people like Chirico are forced to fight and become so used to killing that they don’t know how to do anything else now that the war is over. Coconna comes in and asks for work, but Gotho says he has nothing and tells her to leave. She sneaks back in to talk to Chirico, but Gotho throws her out again. Gotho asks Chirico to sign up with him as a Battling jockey. Battling is a black market sport where ex-VOTOM pilots fight each other in ATs. Chirico, believing that he values nothing in the world, decides to sign up. Gotho takes Chirico to see a Battling match for himself. At the Battling arena, Gotho spots the Phantom Lady and tells Chirico that people talk about her as if she were the Grim Reaper. Chirico and Gotho then go into the crowd to watch a match between a Scopedog and a Purple Bear. The Scopedog dodges the attacks of the Purple Bear and knocks it out with a punch to win the match. As Chirico walks through the arena, he senses a bloodlust in the pilots and feels comforted by it. Vanilla approaches Gotho and says he knew he would try this, but Gotho tells him to mind his own business. Gotho takes Chirico to meet the other VOTOM pilots, and they all laugh at Chirico for being so young. A man named Bomo asks Chirico about his rank and unit in the war, but Chirico says he forgot. Bomo yells at him and tells him he’d better be careful. Chirico says that Battling is all play fighting, and Bomo grabs him by the shoulders. Gotho steps in and says that Chirico and Bomo should fight in a Battling match. As Gotho and Chirico leave to pick out an AT, Conin spots Chirico and recognizes him.

Gotho takes Chirico to the AT hangar and tells him that Battling is all hand-to-hand combat without live ammo. He warns Chirico to be careful because he’s already angered all of the other pilots. Chirico picks out a Scopedog and begins to examine it. He stops when he senses intense hatred from nearby. Conin goes into the pilot’s room and asks Bomo about Chirico. Bomo says that Chirico is just a punk, and Conin says that he wants to take care of Chirico himself. Conin then calls Iskui to inform him that Chirico is still alive. Iskui meets with Oriya and Borough, who is now disguised as a priest. He wonders if the military is helping Chirico, and he issues an arrest warrant for him. A Battling match is fought between a purple Scopedog and a Strong Bacchus. The Strong Bacchus pilot knocks down the Scopedog and pulls the pilot out of the cockpit to win the match. After the battle ends, Chirico enters the arena with his Scopedog. The next match is announced as a real battle with live ammo, and Gotho says he never signed up for anything like that. Conin enters the arena, and a maze rises out of the ground. Chirico and Conin enter the maze to hunt each other. Conin spots Chirico several times and shoots at him. Chirico lays down on the ground and waits for Conin to approach from above. He fires at him and blasts open the cockpit. Conin retreats while Chirico hides behind a wall. Conin smashes through the wall and destroys one of Chirico’s legs. He then tells Chirico that he should’ve died on Lido. As Conin fires, Chirico punches the exposed cockpit and smashes Conin. The battle is over, but Chirico is shocked by Conin’s appearance and his last words. Gotho, Vanilla and Coconna each try and get Chirico to sign up with them, but several police helicopters land in the arena and arrest Chirico.