Evangelion Shinji and Warhammer40k
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Chapter Two
And become legend!
Alerts rang all over NERV. The cold orange liquid began to drain, and various
security links disengaged. Up on the control center Misato Katsuragi stood at
her station, with a backpack by her feet. Shinji had been very adamant that no
harm should come to his things and begged for her to make sure of it. It seemed
like such a reasonable request in light of sending him out of saving the world.
She found it strange, that it felt somehow difficult to refuse anything he asked.
Outside, the Angel continued its rampage. Various more complicated and presumably
important things happened. Stuck hearing the echoes of in in the entry plug,
Shinji could only wonder as to why it was all necessary. What was wrong with a
weapons system that you could activate with the turn of a key? If he was the
only one who could pilot it, then shouldn't they have had the courtesy to keep
it already warm so he could just jump in and ride out?
He breathed deep. Because... he felt the words were right... it was more than a
machine. Artificial human. Machine-spirit, what have they done? He closed his
eyes and gripped the arm controls.
He was afraid. Of course, he was afraid; he admitted to himself. It was all so
new, unplanned, and he might die. At the very same time, the sweet adrenalin was
starting to flow. He closed his eyes. He was blind. The future was waiting for
him. He felt... impatient.
He felt himself moving. "Insert the entry plug!" he heard.
"Commencing injection of LCL into the entry plug...!" next.
Shinji abruptly shot up, awake. Thick orange... goo... was flooding the cockpit
at a rapid rate. "What in the Warp?!" It quickly filled the space up to waist-
high. His orderly mind noted how needless it was. His clothes... he'd be stuck
washing this muck off for hours. For humanity he'd have gone naked into the
thing if they'd asked. Hm. Perhaps he had best never to let them know that. He
held his breath as it flowed over him.
"Don't worry" came Ritsuko's voice over the comms. "After your lungs fill with
LCL, it'll directly supply you with oxygen. You'll get used to it soon."
Trusting her, he exhaled and took a deep liquid-infused breath. It slid down his
throat as a reverse sneeze. He gagged, but remembered just in time that vomiting
into this stuff would be a tremendously bad idea. "I feel sick..." he said.
"Endure it!" said Misato. "You're a boy, aren't you?"
"It tastes like blood." he replied dizzily. Oh, perhaps it was too oxygenated as
well. He blinked, his eyeballs unused to having a substance pressing down upon
them. "No... not like blood..." he said after a few more swallows. "I know what
blood tastes like. It's like it, but something lacking. It doesn't convey that
life..."
"Shinji... I don't need to hear this..." Misato ground out.
"LCL is a super-nutritious soup, for lack of better term, that is likely the
perfect condition that brought out life in the first place." Ritsuko couldn't
help but to put in. "It will protect you, absorb shock, and is essential to the
maintenance of the Evangelion."
Ritsuko was nearby, all business. "Japanese has been fixed to the system as the
fundamental rules for the operation of Eva. All initial contacts are all right."
She bit her lip. She was actually hoping it wouldn't be, Gendo be damned.
Two of them! she shouted in her mind. I need to get rid of this one before he
comes into his bastardly fullness. Even if he did know his mother and father.
"Beginning connections..." said a young male voice from the bridge.
Shinji felt his head turn inside out. The inside of the entry plug began to
flare into a pulsating series of colors, stark lines that looked like nerves
somehow, and finally resolving into a view of the outside. It was the world as
the Evangelion could see it. Small screens showed the people in the command
center.
"The connection of the A-10 nerve is operational."
He heaved forwards, only barely managing to hold back his stomach.
"Shinji, are you okay?" Misato asked as she saw him put his hands to his hand
sway from side to side.
"My mind bears a great pain!" he hissed. "Ritsuko-san... I take back my words.
My lungs are filled with liquid. How is it that you can understand what I speak?
My thoughts go directly to a vox... I'm impressed. I'm very impressed." My mind
to your mind. My eyes are yours. Give yourself to me, machine spirit.
"That's surprisingly perceptive of you, Shinji." she added.
"Maybe too perceptive, because like I said, MY MInd BeARS a GrEAt PAIN!" It was
a storm raging within the confines of his consciousness. Winds, or as far as he
could equate them with, were carving away at the inside of his skull! At the
center of it, his brain felt like a burning mass of tissue being warped by the
changing pressure.
No! You can't eat me! No!
"Ritsuko..."
"It's... incredible." was the only thing the scientist could say.
"The mutual lines are connected." Maya breathed out. "The connection is at 40
percent... there! It spiked again. Sixty. Seventy. It's rising!" She put her
face closer to the screen. "It's falling again."
Shinji screamed.
He felt his flesh being flayed from his bones. He felt his will being drained
away from his soul. He felt naked and lost in the middle of that maelstrom.
FEED! it said. HUNGER! PAIN! HURT! HURT! HURT! MOVE? NO! MOVE! HURT! PAIN!
KILL!
"Everything's still at primary sequence, sempai! The Evangelion is still
deactivated. I don't get why he's getting this. Usually the feedback only goes
the other way."
"Ritsuko...!" Misato's feet touch the bag at her feet. "Maybe we need to stop
this. He's hurt even before he's faced the Angel..."
"No!"
Two voices said that. Ritsuko looked up in surprise at the main screen. There,
Shinji, his face grimacing, tears mixing with the LCL, stared back at her. His
pupils were dilated. "I will..." his eyes rolled up in his head and he fell back
on his cockpit.
-
Howl.
A boom.
"THE EMPEROR PROTECTS!"
The storm abruptly broke apart.
A lash of wind blew outwards from the center. The mind was bright and empty, and
there in the middle lay slumped over a young boy; still ten, still in his white
shirt and black shorts.
Something dropped from the heavens. It smashed upon the ground of the mindscape,
splintering it, sending cracks out to and far past behind the boy. Under the
smoke was great shape, rising to its feet. Out of the fog of his uncertainty
strode in all his might, in all his surety, in all his vast will - the Space
Marine.
A figure tall, bulky and red, the eagle gilded on his chest armor gleaming under
an unseen sun. His left hand carried a chainsword, already longer than the boy
was tall. The right had a Bolter. His mere fist was larger then the boy's entire
torso.
He stepped forwards, a giant of righteous vengeance. His face was set in grim
and deadly purpose.
The boy looked up, tears in his eyes, and sniffled. "You came. You followed me."
"Always, commander. Always. The Emperor protects. His Legions shall send his
glory to those who are worthy."
The Space Marine hefted his sword up, as if to cleave the boy in two, then
stabbed it into the ground in front of him. The Space Marine set his hands on
the hilt and knelt.
"I am forever at your command." He bowed his his head. "I shall stand against
the darkness. Let your enemies be mine."
And when he raised his head again, Shinji stood there, in his current age. His
eyes were dry. His hair moved slightly to a suitably dramatic breeze. He was
still so small and insignificant as standing compared to a kneeling Adeptus
Astartes.
"How are you here?" he asked. "Didn't I leave you with Misato-san?"
The Space Marine idly tapped his fingers on the hilt.
"Oh, right! Right." Shinji added sheepishly. "Not made of plastic. But I've never
been able to think of any of you this distinctly without seeing something to focus
on." Strangely too, Shinji didn't think much of his own imagination. Antics and
conversations were just... natural. To visualize them in his mind, he felt that
perhaps making them move would leave them as puppets. He didn't want that. He
let them be as the wished to be, or as far as that was possible.
"When you had her blood to your lips and let its red cover your eyes, you swore
an oath, a Blood Angel oath, to protect her forevermore. I am here, and let me
protect you as I have sworn. Let the Emperor's Will protect us all."
The Space Marine stood up again, pulling his chainsword out of the ground with
very little effort. He brought it up and pointed it at the distance. "And
TOGETHER we shall SMITE the ENEMIES OF HUMANITY!"
Whoosh.
-
"... humanitas. This is the world that should..." Shinji opened his eyes wide
and it was all as one. He was awake and in control.
"The rate of synchronization has dropped... and holding at 66%! All harmonic
values are normal, sempai." said Maya. "It's all under control."
"It -will- function!" the blond-haired scientist stated most emphatically, and
tinged with a little regret, glancing at Misato.
"Shinji, can you hear me?"
"I am... fine. I'm fine, Misato-san. Must have been travel lag."
"... are you sure?"
Like hell it was... Ritsuko thought at the exchange. Her Evangelions had never
exhibited that behaviour before. It seemed like the natural fact of existence
that the Evangelions were built to go wild.
"I can do this! Please!" His cheek twitched. "We have no more time to waste.
Please, trust me..."
The one in charge of Operations gave her own approval. "Prepare for launching!"
Shinji. I don't care about being brave. Please, live.
-
-
-
The Evangelion shot up the delivery system and emerged right behind the Angel.
It turned and looked; more curious than anything, at this strange parody of a
being that stood unmoving before it.
Shinji shut his eyes, letting the feelings was over him. "Is this what it's
like?" he asked softly.
'Its sight to your sight. Its might to your might. Yes. This is very much like
how a Black Carapace should feel.' the whisper was faint, like from a distance.
'To feel like a Space Marine...' he answered back inside.
"Shinji? What are you doing?! Move!" Misato yelled. "It's on you!"
Shinji blinked his open open only to see the Angel drive a fist right at his
face. For some reason, the Angel switched from inspection directly to intent
aggression. The young teen felt his teeth dig inwards.
"Gah!"
The Evangelion spun back, receiving the full force of the haymaker. It staggered
and clutched its face. There was a flash - and abruptly it was flying. Hot,
dense energy pressed upon its armor, and sent it hurtling through the streets
until it smashed to a halt upon a building.
The Eva let out an irritated 'hurrr...'.
"shinji...? shinji? can you hear me?"
"...i can... hear you... Misato-san."
"Don't think about fighting for now. Just walk! Think of walking!"
"Think of... walking..." Shinji replied robotically. The Evangelion reached up
and dug its fingers into the building it had sunk into. Slowly it pushed itself
out of its odd nest and fell to a crouch. It shook as it attempted to lift one
leg... then both knee joints. The Eva slowly stood up on its own feet.
It slid one foot forward. Then, the other. "It's walking!" rejoiced those in the
command center.
The Eva pitched forwards and fell on its face. "Ow."
"shinji...!"
"I'm trying! I'm trying! It's not obeying!" Why? Why must you fight me, machine
spirit? Don't you want to destroy this enemy before you? I can taste your hatred
of it.
Unit 01 could only just return to a kneeling position when the Angel, having
leapt impossibly high to the night sky, landed on its back; slamming it deep
into the concrete. "...gaaah!" Shinji bounced out of his seat and off the entry
plug walls. "Seat belts! Why are there no seat belts?!"
It grabbed at his wrists and began to pull at the Evangelion's arms. Inside,
Shinji stretched his own arms out and bent forward at the waist. "AAAH!" he
screamed hoarsely as the Angel began to drag the arms past the limits of their
joints' rotation.
"It's not your arm, Shinji! Keep your concentration. It's not your arm!" There
was a snap. The Evangelion's arms dropped uselessly back with a thud. Inside, the
pilot slumped at his cockpit, his eyes and expression dull.
"How is the Eva's protection system?" he heard through the vox.
"It hasn't activated! The signals aren't responding." said a young female voice.
He had a feeling she would be important to him later somehow.
"AT field hasn't developed!"
Shinji felt this strange pressure, an innate wrongness in the taste of LCL. Even
without seeing, he rolled, just as the Angel drove a spike of its energy attack
into where his head should have been. That feeling bathed him again, and the
Eva moved its body, wormlike and undignified, out of the way of another stab.
"That's it, Shinji-kun!" Misato cheered. "Dodge it, Shinji-kun!"
"AAH! What should I do? What should I do?!"
"Retreat, Shinji! We can -"
The Eva flopped over on its back and managed to kick out at the Angel as it
approached. It then slid back on the concrete, pushing on using its feet like
oars. "Charge the enemy? What?!"
"... I didn't say that."
"How do I do that WITHOUt ARMS?! What? Fine! YEEEEEEAARRRGG!!" The Evangelion
barely got out of the way of another energy blast. "Is there a knife? I can hold
it in MY TEETH?!"
"The pilot has gone hysterical." noted Fuyutsuki. "He only hears what he expects
us to be demanding from him."
"My god..." Misato breathed out. On the screen, the Unit 01 in all its purple
insanity ran up to and headbutted the angel, its horn actually snapping off from
the impact. The broken edge left a gash on its strange white mask. "... what have
we done?"
"What am I doing? What in THE CHAOTIC HELLS am I doing?!"
"Cut the feed." said Gendo.
"Sir?"
"We have no need to hear lunatic ravings." Those at the bridge looked up at him,
amazed at his apparent disrespect, but all it took was a bland stare back to
send them chastised properly back to their duties. Makoto dutifully did the
commander dictated.
The Evangelion managed to headbutt the Angel once more, as it recovered from its
surprise at the sheer unexpected natured of the attack. It caught Unit 01's head
in its palm at the third try.
Flash!
Its spear-like attack went directly into the Eva's eye. And again!
"The front area of the head is cracked!" exclaimed Maya.
Ritsuko pressed her palms on the metal of her console. It was simultaneously
better and far worse than what they had all been expecting. "The armoring won't
stand any more."
'SACHIEL'.
Shinji heard it in his mind. A name? No; a purpose.
The attack went into the Evangelion's eye and out the other side. What looked
very much like blood spurted forcefully out the back of its head. Red EMERGENCY!
hexagons sprang into many displays.
"Head damaged! Status unknown!"
"The control lines are dropping one after another!"
"The pilot... no response."
Darkness.
-
-
-
The commander's room, NERV, was a large space filled only by a single desk. Up
at the ceiling was a glowing etch of the Qabblistic Tree of Life. The floor was
polished to reflect it. Gendo was already there, in his usual pose, staring
straight ahead.
Kozo Fuyutsuki had known Gendo long enough not to be impressed with it, or of
anything about the man. "The pilot is still unconscious, Gendo." he said. Of
course the man wouldn't react. "I have the contents of what he brought from
his... home." That brought some attention. So the boy doesn't fit exactly to
your scenario, does it?
The subcommander walked up to the desk and reached into the folder he brought.
"It was all unimportant articles; clothing, money, two notebooks that seemed to
serve as recipes books, other things. Then, this." He laid on the table four
large glossy photographs.
They showed disproportioned figures. One was a grim-looking man in dark red
armor with enlarged gilded pauldrons. Another was a female figure in smoky black
and white armor with a disapproving pointed mask. Another still looked similar
to the first but with armor in black, adorned with spikes; its face scarred and
clearly Evil in some manner. The last was a green monster, half man-beast and
haphazard machine parts, its teeth comically oversized.
"We scanned them thoroughly, Gendo. They're nothing more than plastic and paint.
TOYS. Your son plays with TOYS, Gendo."
The bastard scoffed a bit. "At his age?"
"Why not? He's barely into his teens." The older man's voice was suddenly all too
weary. "He's still a child. Isn't that what we call him? The Third Child?"
Gendo Ikari stared down at the figures, past his steepled hands. "These were not
part of my scenario..." he had to admit. "But an insignificant one. They only
show his continued immaturity."
"This reminded me again too keenly that we are placing the burden on the world
upon childrens' shoulders. It was bad enough with Rei, but... Yui would not want
you to do this, Gendo."
"It is far too late for that, sensei. You know as well as I that if we do not
defeat the Angels humanity has no hope."
-
-
"Shinji-kun has recovered consciousness." Ritsuko said to Misato as they boarded
the truck back to NERV from their inspection of the battlefield.
"How is he?"
"No external wounds. He is somewhat confused in his memory." At the captain's
look, she added. "They said there is no worry about mental contamination."
Misato looked out at the spread of devastation in their path. "To have this
happen so suddenly to him... that he could actually recover this fast is a
wonder."
"Quite so. A severe burden was imposed on his cranial nerves."
"His MIND, Rits-chan. His mind. We did this to him."
-
Meanwhile, back at the hospital, Shinji stared up at an unfamiliar ceiling. In
the past few days, it was all that he had to distract himself with. His head
felt hollow, like something was missing, and he couldn't remember just what it
was he was supposed to regret.
There was knocking at his door. He turned and said "...come in." Do people
actually need to knock at hospitals? In his hospital gown he felt no privacy
whatsoever. The room was merely an illusion of it.
A face framed by combed brown hair poked into the doorway. She was older than
Shinji, but not by so many years. As his flat stare met hers, Maya Ibuki shivered
with guilt. She entered the room reluctantly.
"Um. Hello, Shinji Ikari-kun. My name is Maya Ibuki. I work for NERV."
He smiled slightly. "I remember you."
"Um... I don't think we actually met before."
Shinji closed his eyes and inched back on his bed to a more comfortable sitting
position. "I remember your voice. You were there. It was battle and chaos and
you were there." He opened his eyes and gentle amusement was in them. "I don't
think I can forget your 'dame desu', Ibuki-san."
She looked away embarrassed. "So... how are you feeling, Ikari-kun?"
Shinji brought his arms up. He distinctly remembered them breaking. The NERV
doctors told him that it was the Eva's own arms that broke and sent pain signals
to his brain; but he dimly knew he dislocated his own arms himself. "I feel as
fine as I think I could be, Ibuki-san."
"That's good. Sempai... that is, Akagi-san, sent me here to tell you that you've
been released from the hospital. I'll give the reports from here to her later."
She looked again at that young face, barely more than a boy, unnaturaly calm.
In her mind, he was still screaming. "If- if there's anything more you need,
please just ask."
Shinji tilted his head to the side. "Actually, if I could bother you for a
favor?"
"Yes, what is it?"
"Two favors, actually. The first, please call me Shinji. Ikari-san feels like my
father somehow." He turned his gaze to the window. The sound of crickets chirped
passed between them. "The second... there is another. Who was that other pilot?"
"Her?" Maya bit her lip. "Ayanami Rei. I don't really know much about her."
"She was injured. Is she here?"
"I... don't know. I guess I could ask."
"If she is, I'd be really grateful if you could take me to see her."
-
She was there. Shinji dressed in his old familiar clothes and slowly followed
Maya out. She kindly kept her steps close to match his. "There are so many in
the hospital..." he said after a while.
"There were many injuries in the Angel attack. We had to move some people as one
of the other hospitals was wrecked." She turned to look at him, and said in a
tone only he could hear. "If it wasn't for you, there would be more. Please
don't worry about it. You're a hero, Ika- Shinji-kun."
He nodded. So, the ordinary people weren't to know about the Evangelions or its
pilot. They could better live their lives in ignorance. Still... so many. He
clenched his fists.
He saw people on wheelchairs. People who had lost their legs. People who had
their heads bandaged. People with both limbs in casts. He should look like them.
It seemed unfair. He wasn't fast enough, strong enough; and others would suffer
in his stead.
They reached
a room much like any other in that hospital. Maya's NERV card let
them past doors and doctors. Inside there, Rei lay, clad now in hospital
green. Sunset was there, and under it she looked still even more helpless. Shinji
grit his teeth.
"Ibuki-san... please... could you wait outside?"
She hesitated at the expression on his face, but nodded and left.
-
Shinji walked into the room. At first, he thought she was asleep, then saw she
was merely staring outside. He went to stand beside her bed and waited.
Minutes later, slowly, she turned to face him.
He was struck again by how familiar she looked. The protective feeling welled up
again. Her paleness, blue hair and red eyes... otherwordly. She stands in always
in moonlight, he thought. "Ayanami-san..."
She made no reply.
"Do you know me?"
"You are the pilot of Evangelion Unit One." Her voice was barely more than a
whisper.
"I am Shinji Ikari. You are?"
"I am Ayanami Rei, pilot of Evangelion Unit Zero." She replied blandly.
"How long have you been a pilot?"
Rei tilted her head a bit, as she attempted to remember. She closed her eyes and
shook her head slightly. She had no way of quantifying her earlier years. She had
never celebrated birthdays, so had no means of checking the passing of years.
"I do not know..."
Shinji absorbed the odd certainty in her reply. He clenched his fists again. "You
would have gone in my place." He bowed. "For that... I thank you."
"You defeated the Third Angel." she said. It was obvious. Otherwise, they would
not be talking. "I would not have been able to."
"That is immaterial. You would have gone anyway. Thank you, Ayanami-san."
She could only nod. Someone being grateful was to her not a part of her reach of
experience. Instead, she observed him; Commander Ikari's son. Some part of her
was naturally curious.
A meaningless silence extended between them.
"How bad are your injuries, Ayanami-san?" Shinji asked. She told him.
"How did you get them...?" She told him the complete truth again, thinking that
now that he was a pilot their security clearance should allow it.
Evangelions. Machine spirits. Created by man, for war, that causes only pain. He
remembered dimly his own experience. Everytime she was asked to, she went in.
Everytime she had to wrestle with its machine spirit. This time, she lost badly.
Shinji abruptly unclenched his fingers. There was only one other Evangelion he
knew of. Why her? Why must they send Children to solve their problems? It stank
to him of irresponsibility. She knew her duty. Others feared theirs.
"I won't have it!" he said suddenly. "No one should suffer as you have suffered!"
"It is my duty."
"Your duty is to humanity. Humanity must prove itself worthy of your sacrifice!"
He stepped closer to her bed and loomed over her. "I am Shinji Ikari."
She nodded.
Shinji held his thumb up to her. "Bite it." he said.
Rei tilted her head to the other side question. Again Shinji offered the
appendage. Seeing no other choice, she complied.
"With all your strength. Let there be blood." She followed orders, and he winced
in the sharp arrival of pain, as her teeth bit down to the bone. "Can you taste
my blood?"
She nodded, her lips still around it. Rei knew the taste of blood. Somehow, his
was... different. She let go, and red stained those lips as he took away his
thumb.
"I have tasted your blood." he told her, letting the wound drip to the floor.
"Now you have tasted mine. Let me share your suffering, let your pain be mine
and my pain be a part of yours. Together, to each our burdens will lighten."
The cloud covering the sun passed, and abruptly brought the room into deep
golden brilliance. "I am Shinji Ikari and I swear to you I will not let you
suffer any more. I will fight anyone, even my father, who wants to hurt you once
more. I give my word, Ayanami Rei. You don't have to live like this... it's
wrong! We should not suffer like this. This world is not made for suffering!"
"It is my duty."
"Then it will be my duty to protect you."
"Your duty is to pilot the Evangelion."
"I will pilot the Evangelion to protect you."
She shook her head. The two concepts were mutually exclusive. "You do not
understand. As you are the son of commander Ikari, I must protect you." But he
had sworn to it. It was a paradox, in a life that until then had never known
doubt or uncertainty.
"The enemies of humanity will -die-. Under -my hands- they shall be -broken-.
You will not need to suffer for their sake."
He stood there, the golden sunlight draped over him like a cloak, and spilling
over his determined face as if in halo. There was a feeling that she couldn't
identify. And, deep frustration. The paradox still applied. That he wanted to
defeat the Angels and at the same time protect her. No. It was irreconcilable.
And she couldn't tell him!
Her head burned.
"Then I must thank you, pilot Ikari." She bowed slightly. "Know that I will still
do my utmost to protect you as well."
He smiled at her. "Be well, Ayanami-san. Be well." He bowed to her, lower. "I
must go now."
-
Maya Ibuki waited there, some distance away from the door. She was trying hard
not to look at him.
Though some may have accused her of pining away for her sempai, at heart Maya was
just a closet romantic. She felt drawn to people burning with purpose and shining
in brilliance, like moth to a flame; drowing, burning, dying in their presence.
Though he had asked her to leave, she just had to listen in. And there, that was
something so deep, so... romantic, so soulful, in the thematic meaning of the
word. She nearly squealed at seeing it. He meant it. And best of all, he actually
had the Evangelion to do it.
'You're a Hero, Shinji-kun...' she said silently as he walked beside her.
Shinji's unease could only grow. He desperately needed the emotional security
the presence of his four 'figures' could bring. He was indeed happy when Misato
arrived later, his backpack slung over her shoulders. He never even noticed that
his wound, like in the Evangelion, had already completely healed.
-
"I'm not going to live with my father?" he asked her.
"No..." the woman replied sadly. "I guess he just has too much to do, still. He
lives alone in a gloomy old apartment anyway, some people tell me."
"Just as well. I might poison the bastard."
"Shinji!"
He smiled genuinely. "Joking, joking. The truth is, I don't mind being alone. All
places are the same." As long as he had his figures and imagination, all places
can be painted in awesome. Tch. A place presumably filled to the brim with all
sorts of monitoring equipment. How could he possibly think himself alone in there?
Misato frowned slightly. They were standing in front of an elevator. She backed
away at seeing the Commander in it.
For a second, Ikari and Ikari locked eyes and wills again. Shinji backed down
first, looking down, at Gendo's shin. The man looked satisfied and walked on.
'Yes...' Shinji thought. 'Give him what he wants. Let him become part of MY
scenario rather than dancing to his.'
Misato grimaced. "I'm beginning to see what you mean, Shinji-kun." Her face lit
up as she got an idea. "Could you wait around here for a moment?" She rushed off.
Minutes later, Misato was at a telephone. "What?!" Ritsuko said from the other
side.
"As I said, I've decided to take charge of Shinji-kun. I've even got the full
agreement from my superiors." Her eyes squinted and she grinned catlike. "Don't
worry, Rits-chan. I'll try not to take advantage of a minor."
"That goes without saying!" the reciever yelled at her. "To even start thinking
about it... Misato!"
"Sheesh. Can't take a joke." She turned to see Shinji some distance away, at a
vending machine. Such a pity, she thought he might actually disobey and listen
in. How boring. But maybe boring is good. After what just happened...
-
"So I'm going to be living with you...?" he asked while in the car.
"That's right!" she replied cheerily. "I'm your direct superior in terms of NERV
activities anyway, so it's more convinient this way."
Shinji looked out the window. "Convinient..." he repeated. A Nerv officer's home
would be under far less scrutiny. The risk of blackmail was the reason behind all
those privacy clauses. Very convinient. He nodded. It would do.
They stopped at a convenience store to pick up some supplies. The young teen
noticed that Misato was driving out of the city. "Um... where are we going?"
She giggled a bit. "It's a special place."
There up on the bluff and the darkly setting sun, they beheld Tokyo Three. The
signs of battle were clear; streets ripped up, buildings torn down. That man-
shaped depression there? Oh he knew that too. There were very little lights.
"It's... kind of desolate, isn't it?" he muttered sadly.
"Sh... watch."
An alarm rang throughout the city, reaching them even at the outskirts. And then
slowly, with measured elegance, homes and hopes began to rise. "The buildings...
are growing!" he had to say. "This is great!"
"This is the Fortress City for interception against the ANGELs; 'Tokyo-3'. Our
home ...... and the home which you protected."
Shinji dug around his pack and brought out the four Warhammer figurines, as if
to let them see. He felt their rush of welcoming voices enter his mind and fill
his soul.
"Death to the enemies of humanity, commander. Glory to the Emperor!"
"Dat was good stompins' dere, ah?"
"Glory to YOU, bright lord."
"It is well that we are in your hands once more."
Misato looked over at his supremely relieved face. Were those... tears forming
in his eyes? "You know, when you forced your backpack on me, I thought you might
be hiding some dirty secret. But, Shinji-kun... aren't you too old for toys?"
"Men are forever boys, and we are never too old for toys, Misato-san."
She chortled. "I guess that's true enough."
-
Misato said something about his things having arrived, and having moved there
only the other day, herself. he thought about that. Either she lived somewhere
else or was new to city. In the former, he felt guilty as the chances were likely
that he'd demolished her previous apartment. In the latter, is was all so apt
that it followed just behind the first Angel attack in so many years.
"T-tadaima..." he said upon crossing the doorway. I'm... back. It was traditional.
He knew the value of tradition.
"Okaeri...!" Misato replied with a smile. "Welcome home, Shinji."
Gah!
"Well... the room is somewhat untidy." she said. "Well, you know how it is."
Chaos! Such CHAOS! Beer cans, bottles, snack food wrappers... scattered all
around. Wait, was that a panty? Chaos!
He went over to place the food in the refrigerator as she'd asked. More beer!
What kind of life does she lead anyway? 'See?' whispered a buttery voice. 'She
hurts. Deeply.' An alcoholic drinks to forget.
Oh, Misato-san. No one should suffer like this, too. What can I do to help?
Well, first things first. I don't care if she thinks it presumptous. One might
guard oneself against Chaos. Demons of untidyness! Fear me! I have come, with
the mop of justice and the sponge of truth! I shall cleanse you from this home!
Let it be sanctified with the sweet scent of the Emperor's soap!
Misato watched him go at it, the young teens's face delighted and occasionally
cackling ominously.
She prepared the food; instant meals, while he worked. Maybe rooming with this
crazy kid wouldn't be so bad. "It's not so bad to eat with others, isn't it?"
she asked him once done. He looked very... satisfied.
He nodded. "Friends and family make even the meanest dish into a banquet."
Oh? "Could you tell about them? How did you live without your father?"
"It actually seems better that he left me in the first place. We were pretty...
normal... out there."
Misato smiled. "I'm happy for you."
They then played jan-ken-pon; or rock-paper-scissors, for chores. Misato thought
herself pretty good at it. Meanwhile, Shinji tried desperately to lose. "Ookay.
I'll do everything except laundry."
"Aw, don't be like that, Shin-chan."
"Really, it's okay."
"No, it's... wait! You're trying to guilt me into backing out of our agreement,
aren't you? Your reverse psychology won't work on me!"
"But... Misato-san."
"Lalalalala! Not hearing you. Go take a bath and wash those thoughts away."
At the point, Pen-pen came out, a tiny bath towel on his shoulders. He stared up
at Shinji who was about to enter. The two stared at each other for a while, with
Misato looking on as a third party.
After some more time, Shinji asked "Emperor penguin?"
"Wark!"
"Hail!" "Wark!" A hand and a flipper were raised in salute. Shinji went into the
bath. Pen-pen went into the fridge. Misato was left denying what she just saw.
Shinji stared up at another unfamiliar ceiling. "This too... I don't know
anything about this city. What should I really be doing here...?" In another time
he would have asked why. Here, the future was still hazy, but there was one
constant. The Angels are Enemies of Humanity. They must be destroyed. The how
was the only thing puzzling him. He had to destroy Gendo's foul scenario in the
meantime.
He closed his eyes. I wish I could actually pray to the God-Emperor. I wish
someone could actually hear me.
But the future is not built on wishes.
-
"Synchrograph has reversed. Pulses are flowing backward!" Maya shouted.
"Cut the circuits. Stop them!"
"No.. no way. The signal is being refused." she continued. She looked back to
her sempai. "...it can't be received!"
"Unit 01 is totally silent!" added in Makoto.
"Damn it! So much for this last best hope. Stop the operation!" Misato brought
her authority in despite the look on Ritsuko's face.
"Im... impossible." the scientist said, looking over Maya's console. They both
said it. "It's... totally out of control."
The Evangelion roared.
All electronic feeds to the cockpit was still shut down. Even the recorders were
jumbled. No one could hear Shinji say to himself... "Let its might be my might.
Let its fury be my fury. DEATH TO THE ENEMIES OF HUMANITY!"
The Evangelion rose up and lunged at Sachiel. It slammed against a red barrier.
"We have won." said Fuyutsuki.
"AT-field..." Ritsuko breathed. "As long as that's up, the Eva can't touch the
Angel."
"Evangelion is spreading its own AT-field! It's neutralizing it!" shouted Shigeru
Aoba over at his console.
"Arms fully restored!"
And the Evangelion PUSHED, and AT-field and all, the Angel went tumbling back
the street. Unit -1 roared once more and crouched. It punched at the ground;
and the streets cratered deeply even before its fists touched it. Inside, Shinji
screamed. "PAIN! HURT!
KILL!"
Past the red in his vision, people walked past. He thought of all those he knew;
and there was Minase who had hurt, Rei who is hurt, and Misato and all the others
who will hurt. "I will... I will... NEVER LET ANYONE SUFFER AGAIN!"
Shinji felt a presence, approving, and the madness faded away. He felt the power
of the machine spirit overflow within him. The Evangelion leapt, in one bound
crossing the distance. Sachiel had its AT-field up; but as both AT-fields met
they shattered.
Unit-01 grabbed it in a flying tackle. Buildings in their way crumpled into
rubble. Its eyes glowed with primal fury. As the Angel stood up, the Eva got it
right at what passed for its jaw. Backhand across the same place, sending the
Angel reeling. Hard punches right over its face. Knifelike palm thrusts to just
below the ribs. More and more wild punches. Finishing off with a shinbone groin
crushing kick extravaganza. The Angel had no expression and no genitalia, but one
could almost see a 'gleep?' on its bonelike mask.
Both Gendo and Fuyutsuki sighed fondly. Yui.
"RRRRAAAH!"
The Eva brought a two-fisted Kirklike smash over the back of the Angel's head,
driving it to the ground. Once there, it stomped on its head, pushing it into
the concrete and the metal beneath. Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! It looked like
a child pitching a fit, but each one sent the city to shaking.
Weakly, the Angel lifted up its arms and caught the EVa in a double energy smash,
sending it all the way across the street again.
Both Eva and Angel got up to their feet, and stared at each other over the
distance. The power cable had snapped, and only barely a minute remained; and
they stood there and stared.
Then, a roar. The Evangelion pitched forward in a full run. Sachiel blasted
away at it with another double energy attack. Unit 01 merely plowed through
and SWATTED it aside with the back of its hand.
The Angel still had no expression, but even those below could see its astonishment
and fear. It threw bolt after bolt, and the Eva kept on swatting them away until
with one final lunge Unit 01 roared and headbutted it once more. The jagged end
of its broken horn drove deep into Sachiel's bonelike mask, and ichor flowed
out from the cracks. It slumped against the Evangelion, stunned senseless.
Unit 01 twisted its fingers into a clawlike shapes and stabbed at the Angel's
chest. Incredibly, it seemed to want to pull out the core. Sachiel screeched at
the realization. It expanded and wrapped itself around the Evangelion.
Self-destruct.
Chaos reigned in the command center for a few moments as the sensors tried to
recalibrate. "What happened to the Eva?!" Misato screamed.
Then there, amids fire and screaming darkness, walked the Evangelion Unit 01. It
lifted its face to the heavens and ROARED.
Within, Shinji breathed heavily; or at least gurgled LCL. "That's done... dat's
done." He began to chuckle, then laugh. "DAT'S DONE! WAHAHAHAHAHA! DAT'S DONE!
NOW WE GETS TA STOMPS GENDO!!"
The Eva made another roar, even louder, that sounded somewhat like "WRAAAAAAAAA
UUUAAAARRRGGGHHH!" It lifted on foot and drove it deep into the pavement. Then,
in an exaggerated walk forwards, the other and even deeper. Once more, and - it
slipped.
It lost its balance and fell. Its unarmored face bounced off the ground once
more. It had lost power. Shinji, his sync ratio briefly passing 100%, knocked
himself unconscious.
"The system has been recovered. The graph is in the normal position." said Maya.
"Survival is confirmed." said Makoto.
Misato urged them on. "Begin Pilot Recovery! The survival of the pilot is to be
our utmost priority!"
-
"Shinji..."
"Yes, Misato-san?" The young teen turned to see his new guardian silhoutted
against the open crack of his door. "Is there anything you want?"
"No... no. Shinji. What you did today was a praiseworthy thing." she said
somberly. "You should be proud."
"T-thank you, Misato-san."
"Thank YOU, Shin-chan." And then she closed the door fully.
In the darkness, Shinji stared up again at the ceiling. Shadows from the street
made strange figures up on it. He tried to trace out images that were familiar.
" ...I still needs to stomps Gendo..." he said softly, before falling asleep.
-
-
-
Author's note:
Well, I think I'll leave it like that for a while.
And become legend!
Alerts rang all over NERV. The cold orange liquid began to drain, and various
security links disengaged. Up on the control center Misato Katsuragi stood at
her station, with a backpack by her feet. Shinji had been very adamant that no
harm should come to his things and begged for her to make sure of it. It seemed
like such a reasonable request in light of sending him out of saving the world.
She found it strange, that it felt somehow difficult to refuse anything he asked.
Outside, the Angel continued its rampage. Various more complicated and presumably
important things happened. Stuck hearing the echoes of in in the entry plug,
Shinji could only wonder as to why it was all necessary. What was wrong with a
weapons system that you could activate with the turn of a key? If he was the
only one who could pilot it, then shouldn't they have had the courtesy to keep
it already warm so he could just jump in and ride out?
He breathed deep. Because... he felt the words were right... it was more than a
machine. Artificial human. Machine-spirit, what have they done? He closed his
eyes and gripped the arm controls.
He was afraid. Of course, he was afraid; he admitted to himself. It was all so
new, unplanned, and he might die. At the very same time, the sweet adrenalin was
starting to flow. He closed his eyes. He was blind. The future was waiting for
him. He felt... impatient.
He felt himself moving. "Insert the entry plug!" he heard.
"Commencing injection of LCL into the entry plug...!" next.
Shinji abruptly shot up, awake. Thick orange... goo... was flooding the cockpit
at a rapid rate. "What in the Warp?!" It quickly filled the space up to waist-
high. His orderly mind noted how needless it was. His clothes... he'd be stuck
washing this muck off for hours. For humanity he'd have gone naked into the
thing if they'd asked. Hm. Perhaps he had best never to let them know that. He
held his breath as it flowed over him.
"Don't worry" came Ritsuko's voice over the comms. "After your lungs fill with
LCL, it'll directly supply you with oxygen. You'll get used to it soon."
Trusting her, he exhaled and took a deep liquid-infused breath. It slid down his
throat as a reverse sneeze. He gagged, but remembered just in time that vomiting
into this stuff would be a tremendously bad idea. "I feel sick..." he said.
"Endure it!" said Misato. "You're a boy, aren't you?"
"It tastes like blood." he replied dizzily. Oh, perhaps it was too oxygenated as
well. He blinked, his eyeballs unused to having a substance pressing down upon
them. "No... not like blood..." he said after a few more swallows. "I know what
blood tastes like. It's like it, but something lacking. It doesn't convey that
life..."
"Shinji... I don't need to hear this..." Misato ground out.
"LCL is a super-nutritious soup, for lack of better term, that is likely the
perfect condition that brought out life in the first place." Ritsuko couldn't
help but to put in. "It will protect you, absorb shock, and is essential to the
maintenance of the Evangelion."
Ritsuko was nearby, all business. "Japanese has been fixed to the system as the
fundamental rules for the operation of Eva. All initial contacts are all right."
She bit her lip. She was actually hoping it wouldn't be, Gendo be damned.
Two of them! she shouted in her mind. I need to get rid of this one before he
comes into his bastardly fullness. Even if he did know his mother and father.
"Beginning connections..." said a young male voice from the bridge.
Shinji felt his head turn inside out. The inside of the entry plug began to
flare into a pulsating series of colors, stark lines that looked like nerves
somehow, and finally resolving into a view of the outside. It was the world as
the Evangelion could see it. Small screens showed the people in the command
center.
"The connection of the A-10 nerve is operational."
He heaved forwards, only barely managing to hold back his stomach.
"Shinji, are you okay?" Misato asked as she saw him put his hands to his hand
sway from side to side.
"My mind bears a great pain!" he hissed. "Ritsuko-san... I take back my words.
My lungs are filled with liquid. How is it that you can understand what I speak?
My thoughts go directly to a vox... I'm impressed. I'm very impressed." My mind
to your mind. My eyes are yours. Give yourself to me, machine spirit.
"That's surprisingly perceptive of you, Shinji." she added.
"Maybe too perceptive, because like I said, MY MInd BeARS a GrEAt PAIN!" It was
a storm raging within the confines of his consciousness. Winds, or as far as he
could equate them with, were carving away at the inside of his skull! At the
center of it, his brain felt like a burning mass of tissue being warped by the
changing pressure.
No! You can't eat me! No!
"Ritsuko..."
"It's... incredible." was the only thing the scientist could say.
"The mutual lines are connected." Maya breathed out. "The connection is at 40
percent... there! It spiked again. Sixty. Seventy. It's rising!" She put her
face closer to the screen. "It's falling again."
Shinji screamed.
He felt his flesh being flayed from his bones. He felt his will being drained
away from his soul. He felt naked and lost in the middle of that maelstrom.
FEED! it said. HUNGER! PAIN! HURT! HURT! HURT! MOVE? NO! MOVE! HURT! PAIN!
KILL!
"Everything's still at primary sequence, sempai! The Evangelion is still
deactivated. I don't get why he's getting this. Usually the feedback only goes
the other way."
"Ritsuko...!" Misato's feet touch the bag at her feet. "Maybe we need to stop
this. He's hurt even before he's faced the Angel..."
"No!"
Two voices said that. Ritsuko looked up in surprise at the main screen. There,
Shinji, his face grimacing, tears mixing with the LCL, stared back at her. His
pupils were dilated. "I will..." his eyes rolled up in his head and he fell back
on his cockpit.
-
Howl.
A boom.
"THE EMPEROR PROTECTS!"
The storm abruptly broke apart.
A lash of wind blew outwards from the center. The mind was bright and empty, and
there in the middle lay slumped over a young boy; still ten, still in his white
shirt and black shorts.
Something dropped from the heavens. It smashed upon the ground of the mindscape,
splintering it, sending cracks out to and far past behind the boy. Under the
smoke was great shape, rising to its feet. Out of the fog of his uncertainty
strode in all his might, in all his surety, in all his vast will - the Space
Marine.
A figure tall, bulky and red, the eagle gilded on his chest armor gleaming under
an unseen sun. His left hand carried a chainsword, already longer than the boy
was tall. The right had a Bolter. His mere fist was larger then the boy's entire
torso.
He stepped forwards, a giant of righteous vengeance. His face was set in grim
and deadly purpose.
The boy looked up, tears in his eyes, and sniffled. "You came. You followed me."
"Always, commander. Always. The Emperor protects. His Legions shall send his
glory to those who are worthy."
The Space Marine hefted his sword up, as if to cleave the boy in two, then
stabbed it into the ground in front of him. The Space Marine set his hands on
the hilt and knelt.
"I am forever at your command." He bowed his his head. "I shall stand against
the darkness. Let your enemies be mine."
And when he raised his head again, Shinji stood there, in his current age. His
eyes were dry. His hair moved slightly to a suitably dramatic breeze. He was
still so small and insignificant as standing compared to a kneeling Adeptus
Astartes.
"How are you here?" he asked. "Didn't I leave you with Misato-san?"
The Space Marine idly tapped his fingers on the hilt.
"Oh, right! Right." Shinji added sheepishly. "Not made of plastic. But I've never
been able to think of any of you this distinctly without seeing something to focus
on." Strangely too, Shinji didn't think much of his own imagination. Antics and
conversations were just... natural. To visualize them in his mind, he felt that
perhaps making them move would leave them as puppets. He didn't want that. He
let them be as the wished to be, or as far as that was possible.
"When you had her blood to your lips and let its red cover your eyes, you swore
an oath, a Blood Angel oath, to protect her forevermore. I am here, and let me
protect you as I have sworn. Let the Emperor's Will protect us all."
The Space Marine stood up again, pulling his chainsword out of the ground with
very little effort. He brought it up and pointed it at the distance. "And
TOGETHER we shall SMITE the ENEMIES OF HUMANITY!"
Whoosh.
-
"... humanitas. This is the world that should..." Shinji opened his eyes wide
and it was all as one. He was awake and in control.
"The rate of synchronization has dropped... and holding at 66%! All harmonic
values are normal, sempai." said Maya. "It's all under control."
"It -will- function!" the blond-haired scientist stated most emphatically, and
tinged with a little regret, glancing at Misato.
"Shinji, can you hear me?"
"I am... fine. I'm fine, Misato-san. Must have been travel lag."
"... are you sure?"
Like hell it was... Ritsuko thought at the exchange. Her Evangelions had never
exhibited that behaviour before. It seemed like the natural fact of existence
that the Evangelions were built to go wild.
"I can do this! Please!" His cheek twitched. "We have no more time to waste.
Please, trust me..."
The one in charge of Operations gave her own approval. "Prepare for launching!"
Shinji. I don't care about being brave. Please, live.
-
-
-
The Evangelion shot up the delivery system and emerged right behind the Angel.
It turned and looked; more curious than anything, at this strange parody of a
being that stood unmoving before it.
Shinji shut his eyes, letting the feelings was over him. "Is this what it's
like?" he asked softly.
'Its sight to your sight. Its might to your might. Yes. This is very much like
how a Black Carapace should feel.' the whisper was faint, like from a distance.
'To feel like a Space Marine...' he answered back inside.
"Shinji? What are you doing?! Move!" Misato yelled. "It's on you!"
Shinji blinked his open open only to see the Angel drive a fist right at his
face. For some reason, the Angel switched from inspection directly to intent
aggression. The young teen felt his teeth dig inwards.
"Gah!"
The Evangelion spun back, receiving the full force of the haymaker. It staggered
and clutched its face. There was a flash - and abruptly it was flying. Hot,
dense energy pressed upon its armor, and sent it hurtling through the streets
until it smashed to a halt upon a building.
The Eva let out an irritated 'hurrr...'.
"shinji...? shinji? can you hear me?"
"...i can... hear you... Misato-san."
"Don't think about fighting for now. Just walk! Think of walking!"
"Think of... walking..." Shinji replied robotically. The Evangelion reached up
and dug its fingers into the building it had sunk into. Slowly it pushed itself
out of its odd nest and fell to a crouch. It shook as it attempted to lift one
leg... then both knee joints. The Eva slowly stood up on its own feet.
It slid one foot forward. Then, the other. "It's walking!" rejoiced those in the
command center.
The Eva pitched forwards and fell on its face. "Ow."
"shinji...!"
"I'm trying! I'm trying! It's not obeying!" Why? Why must you fight me, machine
spirit? Don't you want to destroy this enemy before you? I can taste your hatred
of it.
Unit 01 could only just return to a kneeling position when the Angel, having
leapt impossibly high to the night sky, landed on its back; slamming it deep
into the concrete. "...gaaah!" Shinji bounced out of his seat and off the entry
plug walls. "Seat belts! Why are there no seat belts?!"
It grabbed at his wrists and began to pull at the Evangelion's arms. Inside,
Shinji stretched his own arms out and bent forward at the waist. "AAAH!" he
screamed hoarsely as the Angel began to drag the arms past the limits of their
joints' rotation.
"It's not your arm, Shinji! Keep your concentration. It's not your arm!" There
was a snap. The Evangelion's arms dropped uselessly back with a thud. Inside, the
pilot slumped at his cockpit, his eyes and expression dull.
"How is the Eva's protection system?" he heard through the vox.
"It hasn't activated! The signals aren't responding." said a young female voice.
He had a feeling she would be important to him later somehow.
"AT field hasn't developed!"
Shinji felt this strange pressure, an innate wrongness in the taste of LCL. Even
without seeing, he rolled, just as the Angel drove a spike of its energy attack
into where his head should have been. That feeling bathed him again, and the
Eva moved its body, wormlike and undignified, out of the way of another stab.
"That's it, Shinji-kun!" Misato cheered. "Dodge it, Shinji-kun!"
"AAH! What should I do? What should I do?!"
"Retreat, Shinji! We can -"
The Eva flopped over on its back and managed to kick out at the Angel as it
approached. It then slid back on the concrete, pushing on using its feet like
oars. "Charge the enemy? What?!"
"... I didn't say that."
"How do I do that WITHOUt ARMS?! What? Fine! YEEEEEEAARRRGG!!" The Evangelion
barely got out of the way of another energy blast. "Is there a knife? I can hold
it in MY TEETH?!"
"The pilot has gone hysterical." noted Fuyutsuki. "He only hears what he expects
us to be demanding from him."
"My god..." Misato breathed out. On the screen, the Unit 01 in all its purple
insanity ran up to and headbutted the angel, its horn actually snapping off from
the impact. The broken edge left a gash on its strange white mask. "... what have
we done?"
"What am I doing? What in THE CHAOTIC HELLS am I doing?!"
"Cut the feed." said Gendo.
"Sir?"
"We have no need to hear lunatic ravings." Those at the bridge looked up at him,
amazed at his apparent disrespect, but all it took was a bland stare back to
send them chastised properly back to their duties. Makoto dutifully did the
commander dictated.
The Evangelion managed to headbutt the Angel once more, as it recovered from its
surprise at the sheer unexpected natured of the attack. It caught Unit 01's head
in its palm at the third try.
Flash!
Its spear-like attack went directly into the Eva's eye. And again!
"The front area of the head is cracked!" exclaimed Maya.
Ritsuko pressed her palms on the metal of her console. It was simultaneously
better and far worse than what they had all been expecting. "The armoring won't
stand any more."
'SACHIEL'.
Shinji heard it in his mind. A name? No; a purpose.
The attack went into the Evangelion's eye and out the other side. What looked
very much like blood spurted forcefully out the back of its head. Red EMERGENCY!
hexagons sprang into many displays.
"Head damaged! Status unknown!"
"The control lines are dropping one after another!"
"The pilot... no response."
Darkness.
-
-
-
The commander's room, NERV, was a large space filled only by a single desk. Up
at the ceiling was a glowing etch of the Qabblistic Tree of Life. The floor was
polished to reflect it. Gendo was already there, in his usual pose, staring
straight ahead.
Kozo Fuyutsuki had known Gendo long enough not to be impressed with it, or of
anything about the man. "The pilot is still unconscious, Gendo." he said. Of
course the man wouldn't react. "I have the contents of what he brought from
his... home." That brought some attention. So the boy doesn't fit exactly to
your scenario, does it?
The subcommander walked up to the desk and reached into the folder he brought.
"It was all unimportant articles; clothing, money, two notebooks that seemed to
serve as recipes books, other things. Then, this." He laid on the table four
large glossy photographs.
They showed disproportioned figures. One was a grim-looking man in dark red
armor with enlarged gilded pauldrons. Another was a female figure in smoky black
and white armor with a disapproving pointed mask. Another still looked similar
to the first but with armor in black, adorned with spikes; its face scarred and
clearly Evil in some manner. The last was a green monster, half man-beast and
haphazard machine parts, its teeth comically oversized.
"We scanned them thoroughly, Gendo. They're nothing more than plastic and paint.
TOYS. Your son plays with TOYS, Gendo."
The bastard scoffed a bit. "At his age?"
"Why not? He's barely into his teens." The older man's voice was suddenly all too
weary. "He's still a child. Isn't that what we call him? The Third Child?"
Gendo Ikari stared down at the figures, past his steepled hands. "These were not
part of my scenario..." he had to admit. "But an insignificant one. They only
show his continued immaturity."
"This reminded me again too keenly that we are placing the burden on the world
upon childrens' shoulders. It was bad enough with Rei, but... Yui would not want
you to do this, Gendo."
"It is far too late for that, sensei. You know as well as I that if we do not
defeat the Angels humanity has no hope."
-
-
"Shinji-kun has recovered consciousness." Ritsuko said to Misato as they boarded
the truck back to NERV from their inspection of the battlefield.
"How is he?"
"No external wounds. He is somewhat confused in his memory." At the captain's
look, she added. "They said there is no worry about mental contamination."
Misato looked out at the spread of devastation in their path. "To have this
happen so suddenly to him... that he could actually recover this fast is a
wonder."
"Quite so. A severe burden was imposed on his cranial nerves."
"His MIND, Rits-chan. His mind. We did this to him."
-
Meanwhile, back at the hospital, Shinji stared up at an unfamiliar ceiling. In
the past few days, it was all that he had to distract himself with. His head
felt hollow, like something was missing, and he couldn't remember just what it
was he was supposed to regret.
There was knocking at his door. He turned and said "...come in." Do people
actually need to knock at hospitals? In his hospital gown he felt no privacy
whatsoever. The room was merely an illusion of it.
A face framed by combed brown hair poked into the doorway. She was older than
Shinji, but not by so many years. As his flat stare met hers, Maya Ibuki shivered
with guilt. She entered the room reluctantly.
"Um. Hello, Shinji Ikari-kun. My name is Maya Ibuki. I work for NERV."
He smiled slightly. "I remember you."
"Um... I don't think we actually met before."
Shinji closed his eyes and inched back on his bed to a more comfortable sitting
position. "I remember your voice. You were there. It was battle and chaos and
you were there." He opened his eyes and gentle amusement was in them. "I don't
think I can forget your 'dame desu', Ibuki-san."
She looked away embarrassed. "So... how are you feeling, Ikari-kun?"
Shinji brought his arms up. He distinctly remembered them breaking. The NERV
doctors told him that it was the Eva's own arms that broke and sent pain signals
to his brain; but he dimly knew he dislocated his own arms himself. "I feel as
fine as I think I could be, Ibuki-san."
"That's good. Sempai... that is, Akagi-san, sent me here to tell you that you've
been released from the hospital. I'll give the reports from here to her later."
She looked again at that young face, barely more than a boy, unnaturaly calm.
In her mind, he was still screaming. "If- if there's anything more you need,
please just ask."
Shinji tilted his head to the side. "Actually, if I could bother you for a
favor?"
"Yes, what is it?"
"Two favors, actually. The first, please call me Shinji. Ikari-san feels like my
father somehow." He turned his gaze to the window. The sound of crickets chirped
passed between them. "The second... there is another. Who was that other pilot?"
"Her?" Maya bit her lip. "Ayanami Rei. I don't really know much about her."
"She was injured. Is she here?"
"I... don't know. I guess I could ask."
"If she is, I'd be really grateful if you could take me to see her."
-
She was there. Shinji dressed in his old familiar clothes and slowly followed
Maya out. She kindly kept her steps close to match his. "There are so many in
the hospital..." he said after a while.
"There were many injuries in the Angel attack. We had to move some people as one
of the other hospitals was wrecked." She turned to look at him, and said in a
tone only he could hear. "If it wasn't for you, there would be more. Please
don't worry about it. You're a hero, Ika- Shinji-kun."
He nodded. So, the ordinary people weren't to know about the Evangelions or its
pilot. They could better live their lives in ignorance. Still... so many. He
clenched his fists.
He saw people on wheelchairs. People who had lost their legs. People who had
their heads bandaged. People with both limbs in casts. He should look like them.
It seemed unfair. He wasn't fast enough, strong enough; and others would suffer
in his stead.
They reached
a room much like any other in that hospital. Maya's NERV card let
them past doors and doctors. Inside there, Rei lay, clad now in hospital
green. Sunset was there, and under it she looked still even more helpless. Shinji
grit his teeth.
"Ibuki-san... please... could you wait outside?"
She hesitated at the expression on his face, but nodded and left.
-
Shinji walked into the room. At first, he thought she was asleep, then saw she
was merely staring outside. He went to stand beside her bed and waited.
Minutes later, slowly, she turned to face him.
He was struck again by how familiar she looked. The protective feeling welled up
again. Her paleness, blue hair and red eyes... otherwordly. She stands in always
in moonlight, he thought. "Ayanami-san..."
She made no reply.
"Do you know me?"
"You are the pilot of Evangelion Unit One." Her voice was barely more than a
whisper.
"I am Shinji Ikari. You are?"
"I am Ayanami Rei, pilot of Evangelion Unit Zero." She replied blandly.
"How long have you been a pilot?"
Rei tilted her head a bit, as she attempted to remember. She closed her eyes and
shook her head slightly. She had no way of quantifying her earlier years. She had
never celebrated birthdays, so had no means of checking the passing of years.
"I do not know..."
Shinji absorbed the odd certainty in her reply. He clenched his fists again. "You
would have gone in my place." He bowed. "For that... I thank you."
"You defeated the Third Angel." she said. It was obvious. Otherwise, they would
not be talking. "I would not have been able to."
"That is immaterial. You would have gone anyway. Thank you, Ayanami-san."
She could only nod. Someone being grateful was to her not a part of her reach of
experience. Instead, she observed him; Commander Ikari's son. Some part of her
was naturally curious.
A meaningless silence extended between them.
"How bad are your injuries, Ayanami-san?" Shinji asked. She told him.
"How did you get them...?" She told him the complete truth again, thinking that
now that he was a pilot their security clearance should allow it.
Evangelions. Machine spirits. Created by man, for war, that causes only pain. He
remembered dimly his own experience. Everytime she was asked to, she went in.
Everytime she had to wrestle with its machine spirit. This time, she lost badly.
Shinji abruptly unclenched his fingers. There was only one other Evangelion he
knew of. Why her? Why must they send Children to solve their problems? It stank
to him of irresponsibility. She knew her duty. Others feared theirs.
"I won't have it!" he said suddenly. "No one should suffer as you have suffered!"
"It is my duty."
"Your duty is to humanity. Humanity must prove itself worthy of your sacrifice!"
He stepped closer to her bed and loomed over her. "I am Shinji Ikari."
She nodded.
Shinji held his thumb up to her. "Bite it." he said.
Rei tilted her head to the other side question. Again Shinji offered the
appendage. Seeing no other choice, she complied.
"With all your strength. Let there be blood." She followed orders, and he winced
in the sharp arrival of pain, as her teeth bit down to the bone. "Can you taste
my blood?"
She nodded, her lips still around it. Rei knew the taste of blood. Somehow, his
was... different. She let go, and red stained those lips as he took away his
thumb.
"I have tasted your blood." he told her, letting the wound drip to the floor.
"Now you have tasted mine. Let me share your suffering, let your pain be mine
and my pain be a part of yours. Together, to each our burdens will lighten."
The cloud covering the sun passed, and abruptly brought the room into deep
golden brilliance. "I am Shinji Ikari and I swear to you I will not let you
suffer any more. I will fight anyone, even my father, who wants to hurt you once
more. I give my word, Ayanami Rei. You don't have to live like this... it's
wrong! We should not suffer like this. This world is not made for suffering!"
"It is my duty."
"Then it will be my duty to protect you."
"Your duty is to pilot the Evangelion."
"I will pilot the Evangelion to protect you."
She shook her head. The two concepts were mutually exclusive. "You do not
understand. As you are the son of commander Ikari, I must protect you." But he
had sworn to it. It was a paradox, in a life that until then had never known
doubt or uncertainty.
"The enemies of humanity will -die-. Under -my hands- they shall be -broken-.
You will not need to suffer for their sake."
He stood there, the golden sunlight draped over him like a cloak, and spilling
over his determined face as if in halo. There was a feeling that she couldn't
identify. And, deep frustration. The paradox still applied. That he wanted to
defeat the Angels and at the same time protect her. No. It was irreconcilable.
And she couldn't tell him!
Her head burned.
"Then I must thank you, pilot Ikari." She bowed slightly. "Know that I will still
do my utmost to protect you as well."
He smiled at her. "Be well, Ayanami-san. Be well." He bowed to her, lower. "I
must go now."
-
Maya Ibuki waited there, some distance away from the door. She was trying hard
not to look at him.
Though some may have accused her of pining away for her sempai, at heart Maya was
just a closet romantic. She felt drawn to people burning with purpose and shining
in brilliance, like moth to a flame; drowing, burning, dying in their presence.
Though he had asked her to leave, she just had to listen in. And there, that was
something so deep, so... romantic, so soulful, in the thematic meaning of the
word. She nearly squealed at seeing it. He meant it. And best of all, he actually
had the Evangelion to do it.
'You're a Hero, Shinji-kun...' she said silently as he walked beside her.
Shinji's unease could only grow. He desperately needed the emotional security
the presence of his four 'figures' could bring. He was indeed happy when Misato
arrived later, his backpack slung over her shoulders. He never even noticed that
his wound, like in the Evangelion, had already completely healed.
-
"I'm not going to live with my father?" he asked her.
"No..." the woman replied sadly. "I guess he just has too much to do, still. He
lives alone in a gloomy old apartment anyway, some people tell me."
"Just as well. I might poison the bastard."
"Shinji!"
He smiled genuinely. "Joking, joking. The truth is, I don't mind being alone. All
places are the same." As long as he had his figures and imagination, all places
can be painted in awesome. Tch. A place presumably filled to the brim with all
sorts of monitoring equipment. How could he possibly think himself alone in there?
Misato frowned slightly. They were standing in front of an elevator. She backed
away at seeing the Commander in it.
For a second, Ikari and Ikari locked eyes and wills again. Shinji backed down
first, looking down, at Gendo's shin. The man looked satisfied and walked on.
'Yes...' Shinji thought. 'Give him what he wants. Let him become part of MY
scenario rather than dancing to his.'
Misato grimaced. "I'm beginning to see what you mean, Shinji-kun." Her face lit
up as she got an idea. "Could you wait around here for a moment?" She rushed off.
Minutes later, Misato was at a telephone. "What?!" Ritsuko said from the other
side.
"As I said, I've decided to take charge of Shinji-kun. I've even got the full
agreement from my superiors." Her eyes squinted and she grinned catlike. "Don't
worry, Rits-chan. I'll try not to take advantage of a minor."
"That goes without saying!" the reciever yelled at her. "To even start thinking
about it... Misato!"
"Sheesh. Can't take a joke." She turned to see Shinji some distance away, at a
vending machine. Such a pity, she thought he might actually disobey and listen
in. How boring. But maybe boring is good. After what just happened...
-
"So I'm going to be living with you...?" he asked while in the car.
"That's right!" she replied cheerily. "I'm your direct superior in terms of NERV
activities anyway, so it's more convinient this way."
Shinji looked out the window. "Convinient..." he repeated. A Nerv officer's home
would be under far less scrutiny. The risk of blackmail was the reason behind all
those privacy clauses. Very convinient. He nodded. It would do.
They stopped at a convenience store to pick up some supplies. The young teen
noticed that Misato was driving out of the city. "Um... where are we going?"
She giggled a bit. "It's a special place."
There up on the bluff and the darkly setting sun, they beheld Tokyo Three. The
signs of battle were clear; streets ripped up, buildings torn down. That man-
shaped depression there? Oh he knew that too. There were very little lights.
"It's... kind of desolate, isn't it?" he muttered sadly.
"Sh... watch."
An alarm rang throughout the city, reaching them even at the outskirts. And then
slowly, with measured elegance, homes and hopes began to rise. "The buildings...
are growing!" he had to say. "This is great!"
"This is the Fortress City for interception against the ANGELs; 'Tokyo-3'. Our
home ...... and the home which you protected."
Shinji dug around his pack and brought out the four Warhammer figurines, as if
to let them see. He felt their rush of welcoming voices enter his mind and fill
his soul.
"Death to the enemies of humanity, commander. Glory to the Emperor!"
"Dat was good stompins' dere, ah?"
"Glory to YOU, bright lord."
"It is well that we are in your hands once more."
Misato looked over at his supremely relieved face. Were those... tears forming
in his eyes? "You know, when you forced your backpack on me, I thought you might
be hiding some dirty secret. But, Shinji-kun... aren't you too old for toys?"
"Men are forever boys, and we are never too old for toys, Misato-san."
She chortled. "I guess that's true enough."
-
Misato said something about his things having arrived, and having moved there
only the other day, herself. he thought about that. Either she lived somewhere
else or was new to city. In the former, he felt guilty as the chances were likely
that he'd demolished her previous apartment. In the latter, is was all so apt
that it followed just behind the first Angel attack in so many years.
"T-tadaima..." he said upon crossing the doorway. I'm... back. It was traditional.
He knew the value of tradition.
"Okaeri...!" Misato replied with a smile. "Welcome home, Shinji."
Gah!
"Well... the room is somewhat untidy." she said. "Well, you know how it is."
Chaos! Such CHAOS! Beer cans, bottles, snack food wrappers... scattered all
around. Wait, was that a panty? Chaos!
He went over to place the food in the refrigerator as she'd asked. More beer!
What kind of life does she lead anyway? 'See?' whispered a buttery voice. 'She
hurts. Deeply.' An alcoholic drinks to forget.
Oh, Misato-san. No one should suffer like this, too. What can I do to help?
Well, first things first. I don't care if she thinks it presumptous. One might
guard oneself against Chaos. Demons of untidyness! Fear me! I have come, with
the mop of justice and the sponge of truth! I shall cleanse you from this home!
Let it be sanctified with the sweet scent of the Emperor's soap!
Misato watched him go at it, the young teens's face delighted and occasionally
cackling ominously.
She prepared the food; instant meals, while he worked. Maybe rooming with this
crazy kid wouldn't be so bad. "It's not so bad to eat with others, isn't it?"
she asked him once done. He looked very... satisfied.
He nodded. "Friends and family make even the meanest dish into a banquet."
Oh? "Could you tell about them? How did you live without your father?"
"It actually seems better that he left me in the first place. We were pretty...
normal... out there."
Misato smiled. "I'm happy for you."
They then played jan-ken-pon; or rock-paper-scissors, for chores. Misato thought
herself pretty good at it. Meanwhile, Shinji tried desperately to lose. "Ookay.
I'll do everything except laundry."
"Aw, don't be like that, Shin-chan."
"Really, it's okay."
"No, it's... wait! You're trying to guilt me into backing out of our agreement,
aren't you? Your reverse psychology won't work on me!"
"But... Misato-san."
"Lalalalala! Not hearing you. Go take a bath and wash those thoughts away."
At the point, Pen-pen came out, a tiny bath towel on his shoulders. He stared up
at Shinji who was about to enter. The two stared at each other for a while, with
Misato looking on as a third party.
After some more time, Shinji asked "Emperor penguin?"
"Wark!"
"Hail!" "Wark!" A hand and a flipper were raised in salute. Shinji went into the
bath. Pen-pen went into the fridge. Misato was left denying what she just saw.
Shinji stared up at another unfamiliar ceiling. "This too... I don't know
anything about this city. What should I really be doing here...?" In another time
he would have asked why. Here, the future was still hazy, but there was one
constant. The Angels are Enemies of Humanity. They must be destroyed. The how
was the only thing puzzling him. He had to destroy Gendo's foul scenario in the
meantime.
He closed his eyes. I wish I could actually pray to the God-Emperor. I wish
someone could actually hear me.
But the future is not built on wishes.
-
"Synchrograph has reversed. Pulses are flowing backward!" Maya shouted.
"Cut the circuits. Stop them!"
"No.. no way. The signal is being refused." she continued. She looked back to
her sempai. "...it can't be received!"
"Unit 01 is totally silent!" added in Makoto.
"Damn it! So much for this last best hope. Stop the operation!" Misato brought
her authority in despite the look on Ritsuko's face.
"Im... impossible." the scientist said, looking over Maya's console. They both
said it. "It's... totally out of control."
The Evangelion roared.
All electronic feeds to the cockpit was still shut down. Even the recorders were
jumbled. No one could hear Shinji say to himself... "Let its might be my might.
Let its fury be my fury. DEATH TO THE ENEMIES OF HUMANITY!"
The Evangelion rose up and lunged at Sachiel. It slammed against a red barrier.
"We have won." said Fuyutsuki.
"AT-field..." Ritsuko breathed. "As long as that's up, the Eva can't touch the
Angel."
"Evangelion is spreading its own AT-field! It's neutralizing it!" shouted Shigeru
Aoba over at his console.
"Arms fully restored!"
And the Evangelion PUSHED, and AT-field and all, the Angel went tumbling back
the street. Unit -1 roared once more and crouched. It punched at the ground;
and the streets cratered deeply even before its fists touched it. Inside, Shinji
screamed. "PAIN! HURT!
KILL!"
Past the red in his vision, people walked past. He thought of all those he knew;
and there was Minase who had hurt, Rei who is hurt, and Misato and all the others
who will hurt. "I will... I will... NEVER LET ANYONE SUFFER AGAIN!"
Shinji felt a presence, approving, and the madness faded away. He felt the power
of the machine spirit overflow within him. The Evangelion leapt, in one bound
crossing the distance. Sachiel had its AT-field up; but as both AT-fields met
they shattered.
Unit-01 grabbed it in a flying tackle. Buildings in their way crumpled into
rubble. Its eyes glowed with primal fury. As the Angel stood up, the Eva got it
right at what passed for its jaw. Backhand across the same place, sending the
Angel reeling. Hard punches right over its face. Knifelike palm thrusts to just
below the ribs. More and more wild punches. Finishing off with a shinbone groin
crushing kick extravaganza. The Angel had no expression and no genitalia, but one
could almost see a 'gleep?' on its bonelike mask.
Both Gendo and Fuyutsuki sighed fondly. Yui.
"RRRRAAAH!"
The Eva brought a two-fisted Kirklike smash over the back of the Angel's head,
driving it to the ground. Once there, it stomped on its head, pushing it into
the concrete and the metal beneath. Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! It looked like
a child pitching a fit, but each one sent the city to shaking.
Weakly, the Angel lifted up its arms and caught the EVa in a double energy smash,
sending it all the way across the street again.
Both Eva and Angel got up to their feet, and stared at each other over the
distance. The power cable had snapped, and only barely a minute remained; and
they stood there and stared.
Then, a roar. The Evangelion pitched forward in a full run. Sachiel blasted
away at it with another double energy attack. Unit 01 merely plowed through
and SWATTED it aside with the back of its hand.
The Angel still had no expression, but even those below could see its astonishment
and fear. It threw bolt after bolt, and the Eva kept on swatting them away until
with one final lunge Unit 01 roared and headbutted it once more. The jagged end
of its broken horn drove deep into Sachiel's bonelike mask, and ichor flowed
out from the cracks. It slumped against the Evangelion, stunned senseless.
Unit 01 twisted its fingers into a clawlike shapes and stabbed at the Angel's
chest. Incredibly, it seemed to want to pull out the core. Sachiel screeched at
the realization. It expanded and wrapped itself around the Evangelion.
Self-destruct.
Chaos reigned in the command center for a few moments as the sensors tried to
recalibrate. "What happened to the Eva?!" Misato screamed.
Then there, amids fire and screaming darkness, walked the Evangelion Unit 01. It
lifted its face to the heavens and ROARED.
Within, Shinji breathed heavily; or at least gurgled LCL. "That's done... dat's
done." He began to chuckle, then laugh. "DAT'S DONE! WAHAHAHAHAHA! DAT'S DONE!
NOW WE GETS TA STOMPS GENDO!!"
The Eva made another roar, even louder, that sounded somewhat like "WRAAAAAAAAA
UUUAAAARRRGGGHHH!" It lifted on foot and drove it deep into the pavement. Then,
in an exaggerated walk forwards, the other and even deeper. Once more, and - it
slipped.
It lost its balance and fell. Its unarmored face bounced off the ground once
more. It had lost power. Shinji, his sync ratio briefly passing 100%, knocked
himself unconscious.
"The system has been recovered. The graph is in the normal position." said Maya.
"Survival is confirmed." said Makoto.
Misato urged them on. "Begin Pilot Recovery! The survival of the pilot is to be
our utmost priority!"
-
"Shinji..."
"Yes, Misato-san?" The young teen turned to see his new guardian silhoutted
against the open crack of his door. "Is there anything you want?"
"No... no. Shinji. What you did today was a praiseworthy thing." she said
somberly. "You should be proud."
"T-thank you, Misato-san."
"Thank YOU, Shin-chan." And then she closed the door fully.
In the darkness, Shinji stared up again at the ceiling. Shadows from the street
made strange figures up on it. He tried to trace out images that were familiar.
" ...I still needs to stomps Gendo..." he said softly, before falling asleep.
-
-
-
Author's note:
Well, I think I'll leave it like that for a while.
Yet again another awsome chapter. I so want to see one of his mp to come out some time and just go crazy. Like if he somehow became unconscious and his chaos side took over or his farseer side took over. That would be awsome.
I love the part when hes cleaning the room. That made me rofl so hard I was crying.
that is just pure unadultered win. nuff said :sisi:
I love the part when hes cleaning the room. That made me rofl so hard I was crying.
that is just pure unadultered win. nuff said :sisi:
Oh, don't worry. They will be. Just as Kobayakawa showed up early on to be really important later, so I'll not waste characters in my fic. Except Shigeru and Makoto. I have no idea yet what mini-plot I'll put them into (though Aoba did get his brief heroic minutes) during the NERV blackout episode.
Ungh. They just had to kill off ALL the humor in Evangelion in the latter parts of its season. I missed the humor and wrf moments. I missed them terribly.
Anyways, just wait for chapter three. I'll post half of it tomorrow or the whole the day after that. It's easier to write now, actually, since I can refer to the script.
snippet:
"Toji? Do you really want to fight a guy who decides to kill his enemy by headbutting them to death?"
Ungh. They just had to kill off ALL the humor in Evangelion in the latter parts of its season. I missed the humor and wrf moments. I missed them terribly.
Anyways, just wait for chapter three. I'll post half of it tomorrow or the whole the day after that. It's easier to write now, actually, since I can refer to the script.
snippet:
"Toji? Do you really want to fight a guy who decides to kill his enemy by headbutting them to death?"
You know? I despise 40k, utterly loathe it, always found in my games the need to stand by the right and the just and no such faction tere, well, maybe the Tau, but the fact remains its too damn, its too wrong, and I need the right I need to stand by what's good, what is just. (boy I'd love to wipe out the empire and its "god emperor"that term alone makes me cringe, though they would be first on the list, they are far from beng the last)
Still, there are only two fics based of 40k that not only I have liked but I think are made of 40 different forms of win, one is "The firewarrior's guide to the galaxy", the other? this one, of course.
Keep on witting man, this thing has uddles of potential and a very interesting set of characters, even if they all seem to be sharing the same mindspace
And I guess I'll be running a small countdown till tomorrow.
Still, there are only two fics based of 40k that not only I have liked but I think are made of 40 different forms of win, one is "The firewarrior's guide to the galaxy", the other? this one, of course.
Keep on witting man, this thing has uddles of potential and a very interesting set of characters, even if they all seem to be sharing the same mindspace
And I guess I'll be running a small countdown till tomorrow.
Chaos Blade said:
You know? I despise 40k, utterly loathe it, always found in my games the need to stand by the right and the just and no such faction tere, well, maybe the Tau, but the fact remains its too damn, its too wrong, and I need the right I need to stand by what's good, what is just. (boy I'd love to wipe out the empire and its "god emperor"that term alone makes me cringe, though they would be first on the list, they are far from beng the last)
Still, there are only two fics based of 40k that not only I have liked but I think are made of 40 different forms of win, one is "The firewarrior's guide to the galaxy", the other? this one, of course.
Keep on witting man, this thing has uddles of potential and a very interesting set of characters, even if they all seem to be sharing the same mindspace
And I guess I'll be running a small countdown till tomorrow.
Still, there are only two fics based of 40k that not only I have liked but I think are made of 40 different forms of win, one is "The firewarrior's guide to the galaxy", the other? this one, of course.
Keep on witting man, this thing has uddles of potential and a very interesting set of characters, even if they all seem to be sharing the same mindspace
And I guess I'll be running a small countdown till tomorrow.
True enough, the Imperium dosn't really do anything worse then what we used to. About the biggest differance is scale.
Humanity is beset on all sides and is still recovering from the horus herasy. the imperium is in survival mode VS a billion differant races and foes all trying to wipe it out.
Incidently the God-emperor was called so becuase he was functionally a God, literally so far above a normal man as to appear divine and even half dead his sheer willpower beats back the worst vageries of an entire dimension so that humanity can still travel the stars.
The problem is that his teachings have become corrupt and people focus on the wrong parts, as happens to nearly all religions.
The Eldar are nearly extinct and again are trying to claw their way back up to a reasonable position. Everything they do is in furtherance of their races future and the end of Chaos. They literally see the future and try to bring about the most benificial one. They might be bastards about it but its hard to lable them as being 'unjust' when we'd probably feel perfectly justified doing the same thing.
The Tau say they work for the greater good but aren't exactly clear as to whose good. So far they've shown a marked disinterest in actually integrating humanity into their society; any colony that actually sumbits is chemically castrated, often without their knowledge.
Even the Tyranids can't really be called 'evil' they're simply the sharp pointy end of the food chain. evolution after someone stole its beer and kicked it in the nads while calling it 'Nancy'
The game itself only feels morally bankrupt when viewed from the absolute whole. There are plenty of imperial guard commanders desperatly trying to protect those they love, the lives under their charge just as the space marines give up everything to stand in defense of humanity and their God. It just that they fight on such a scale that sacrificing whole worlds and peoples is nessecary, a drop in the bucket that many feel is far too full.
Humanity is beset on all sides and is still recovering from the horus herasy. the imperium is in survival mode VS a billion differant races and foes all trying to wipe it out.
Incidently the God-emperor was called so becuase he was functionally a God, literally so far above a normal man as to appear divine and even half dead his sheer willpower beats back the worst vageries of an entire dimension so that humanity can still travel the stars.
The problem is that his teachings have become corrupt and people focus on the wrong parts, as happens to nearly all religions.
The Eldar are nearly extinct and again are trying to claw their way back up to a reasonable position. Everything they do is in furtherance of their races future and the end of Chaos. They literally see the future and try to bring about the most benificial one. They might be bastards about it but its hard to lable them as being 'unjust' when we'd probably feel perfectly justified doing the same thing.
The Tau say they work for the greater good but aren't exactly clear as to whose good. So far they've shown a marked disinterest in actually integrating humanity into their society; any colony that actually sumbits is chemically castrated, often without their knowledge.
Even the Tyranids can't really be called 'evil' they're simply the sharp pointy end of the food chain. evolution after someone stole its beer and kicked it in the nads while calling it 'Nancy'
The game itself only feels morally bankrupt when viewed from the absolute whole. There are plenty of imperial guard commanders desperatly trying to protect those they love, the lives under their charge just as the space marines give up everything to stand in defense of humanity and their God. It just that they fight on such a scale that sacrificing whole worlds and peoples is nessecary, a drop in the bucket that many feel is far too full.
David,
if you still want the link, it's here: The Firewarriors Guide to the Galaxy by Rogue 11
if you still want the link, it's here: The Firewarriors Guide to the Galaxy by Rogue 11
Ask, and it shall be given to you. ^_~
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter Three
This is Tokyo Three
"Good morning, Shinji..." said Ritsuko, a little testily. "How are you?"
"Good morning, Akagi-sensei." His voice was distracted. Piloting the Evangelion
had started to become routine. He still felt it in his mind, the all-consuming
anger at... well, everything. He wondered what could have caused it. Though
Shinji had ideas about the machine spirit, he didn't quite yet imagine that the
Eva might have a mind of its own. That it would be aware of him. That it would
hate itself, and him, and everything in between. A spirit, to him, didn't need
to be independently-sentient.
Otherwise he'd realize he was inside one big walking pile of Pure Injustice.
Which would likely lead him to Chaos. Which might make the world implode.
"That's fine. Appearance positions, an emergency power source, locations of
armed buildings and recovery spots. Have you kept all of them in your mind?"
"I have, Akagi-sensei." Without power, the machine spirit cannot function.
Without weapons, it cannot deliver its wrath. Without a happy machine spirit,
humanity would be destroyed.
Why do you suffer? He asked it. What can I do, to help ease your pain?
As expected, only rage and hunger met his mind.
"Well, I'll review the lesson again. Eva usually works with electric power
supply from the cable. If Eva use the internal battery in an emergency, it can
work only for one minute at its full strength or for five minutes at most on
basic tasks. Did you get that?"
"Yes, Akagi-sensei." He nodded, attentive. In the heat of battle, there was no
time for planning. The future blurred into the now and in seconds legions may
live or die. "Thank you, Akagi-sensei."
The pencil snapped in her hands. His sheer submissiveness irritated her in ways
she couldn't explain. It simply couldn't be natural in Gendo's son; not when she
saw in those eyes the same icy ruthlessness that lay in his father. It had to
be a trick somehow.
"Very well, let'ss resume our lesson on Induction mode, where we left off
yesterday."
The Evangelion skipped out of cover, bursting with its oversized autocannon made
into an assault rifle analogue at a holographic image of the Angel from the last
time. He missed and ducked behind another building.
"Keep your head." Ritsuko advised. "Aim at the center of the target... then
pull the switch."
Shinji leaned out of cover and shot at the Angel. "... pull the switch."
"Good. Next!"
The simulation ran through the entry plug and supposedly the Evangelion's brain
itself. MAGI, the three supercomputers running NERV, supplied and interpreted the
sensory data. Within a sealed room, the Evangelion could act out encounters in
relative safety. Due to the size of the Eva, more complicated motions couldn't
be acted out; such as running, diving, or just close combat.
"Damn it, Shinji!" Ritsuko shouted. "Stop showing off! Just point and shoot!
Point and shoot! This isn't a game! Accuracy is what's important here!"
The Evangelion began to rack up 100 percent accuracy according to the MAGI. Then
that dropped again, as Shinji began to move around and fire from different
positions.
"Shinji! Are you even listening to me?!" Are you playing with me?!
"It sure is surprising that Shinji-kun is so enthusiastic about this..." said
Maya.
"I'd like to think it's because he's found a purpose worthy of his life." was the
reply. I'd LIKE to think that. But it was LIKELY not to be the case. A big part
of that would be how much he hated his father. The Evangelion was power over his
father; it made him important. Unignorable.
Shinji's reasoning for his failure to comform to test procedures was actually
rather simple. Missing delayed how long he could be firing at enemy and stay
at any location. One of the first things he did upon being left to his devices
was to roam around Tokyo 3 and familiarize himself with the city's layout. His
ignorance of its structure had left widespread devastation. Suffering everywhere
and caused by him.
"We must be prepared." he said to himself. "We must make sure our next battle is
fast and precise."
He had the Eldar vote for that. The Space Marine was noncommital, as long as the
xenos were destroyed. The Warboss wanted more destruction and the Chaos simply
liked all the deaths. Well; pity for them it wasn't a democracy.
He tried to equate the buildings he saw on the ground to that of the simulation.
Those important and less important. Those he could afford to let be destroyed,
those to protect, those to avoid.
Ritsuko, who was in the clear mindset of having Shinji as selfish and power-
hungry as his father, couldn't understand this.
"I think it's because he wants to protect someone." sighed Maya.
"Who?"
Maya realized she'd spoken that out loud. She wasn't supposed to know that, and
it felt like a betrayal of Shinji's confidence. Still, it was her sempai asking...
"...rei. Don't they just look cute together?"
Ritsuko shuddered at the image. A mini-Gendo and a mini-Yui. Would there even be
a Tokyo-3 after it was all done?
"If he thinks that, then humanity may be doomed. We need to keep a level head if
we're to get through this."
"Oh, don't worry sempai. I'm sure Shinji-kun will keep his priorities straight."
She shivered again at the odd timbre she heard in his voice. The enemies of
humanity will Die. By My Hands, they shall be Broken. Ooh! She giggled. "He's
sort of Heroic that way."
"Heroic?" What an odd thing to say. Shinji, with his small frame and frankly
rather creepy expressions, was the furthest from heroic in any sight. "Did you
talk to him much when I sent you to get his files?"
"Um, not much, sempai. He did leave an impression, though."
Gods. He's starting already. First he'll manipulate the perceptions of my staff,
then what? "I have more important things to do." she said. "Maya, could you
handle the rest of this for me?" She couldn't stomach being around the boy any
longer....
"Sure thing, sempai."
Through it all Misato, who stood at the back of the room, said nothing. Only when
Ritsuko was out of the door did she comment. "What are you doing now, Shinji?"
she asked when she saw him walking forwards then back away from the Angel target.
"I don't like this gun, Misato-san..."
"Why not?"
"Sure, it has a high rate of fire, but I think I'm going to just poke holes in
the enemy if it has a soft body like the last one. Can Angels heal as fast as
Evangelions?"
"That's why we have hollowpoints, Shinji. Besides, you should really be aiming
at the core anyway. That's why Ritsuko was so annoyed."
"Then, what if it's armored? What if I miss? What about the AT-field? The longer
the fighting goes on, the more damage we do. I think I need something bigger than
this. Something that can kill the Angel in just one shot. As it is, I remember
how fast the Angel was. It could be at me already by the distances I'm forced to
follow." I need a Bolter. I need a Bolter, bad. Going hand to hand against an
Angel leads to Bad Things. Green things. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry,
Misato-san.
"Well, it's at the drawing boards. We'll get something after a while. It's good
to see you taking this seriously, even if Rits-chan thinks you're just playing
around."
He nodded. Misato-san.... she wasn't a bad person. It was good to have a steady
ally in Tokyo-3.
-
-
CHAOS!!
Back! Back, I say!
A good person? By the Emperor, she feeds Untidiness enough to be considered its
Daemon Princess! Shinji marveled at the state of her room. The woman was hunkered
down under a futon blanket, like a turtle. "Misato-san..." He poked her with a
clothes hanger. "Misato-san. It's already morning, Misato-san."
Like a turtle, she slid further in.
"Misato-san... please get up."
"Mnfrgh."
"Misato-san." Poke. Poke. Pokepokepokepoke. "Misato-saaan..."
"...go away!" The women slid her head out slightly and looked at Shinji with
bleary eyes. "I was on night duty until just some time ago. Today I have only to
appear at the office in the evening. So, pleease let me sleep!"
"Ah." Poor Misato-san. She wasn't even hung over. "Are you sure? Don't you want
something to eat? Egg and mushrooms..."
"mnnnh. Tempting. But sorry, Shinji."
"All right. See you later, Misato-san."
"Is today Thursday? Burnable trash only, please."
"Already handled." Waste was weapon of the enemy. Recycling was Shinji's main
defense against it. He glowered around the room. Soon. Soon, we shall have a
reckoning!
"Later, Shinji..."
"Later, Misato-san."
After he left and an underterminate amount of time, Misato's phone rang. She
took it and snuggled back under the covers.
"... yes? (No!) Hello? (Die!) Oh, it's you Ritsuko. You're calling me. (I will
find you and I will strap you down to a bed like we did in college and this time
you won't enjoy it!)"
"How are doing Misato? Aren't you getting along with him? (You will give me
the information that I need so I too can sleep easily)"
"Him? Oh. Shinji-kun. (dammit, even I can tell you're obsessing about the kid.
What are you, some form of shotacon?) It's two weeks after he transferred to the
school. He is as he was. (I've grown used to his oddity) He never got any
telephone calls... (Odd. We never did forbid him to tell about his status as a
pilot. Good to see he's using some discretion. Too much attachment could be a
weakness)
"Telephone calls?(Odd. I thought he'd have a cult by now)"
The NERV phone Misato gave him was left at his desk.
-
Meanwhile, at school; "Hey, Shinji, what's your number?" some random student
asked.
"Oh." He pulled out the phone he bought at a random shop with his own money. He
didn't trust anything from NERV not to have a monitoring system built into it.
He looked at the number saved in memory. "Here." He kept the phone in Silent
mode.
-
Misato continued. "I gave him a phone for necessary contact. Outside of NERV
calls, I don't think he's ever used it or gotten a call from anybody. (for all
the hype we put up about state of the art, you'd think we'd be able to give out
a less tacky phone) He has no friends, though I'm not sure. (so stay away dammit.
He's mine! Mine! Mine!)
"He seems to have an unsuited personality for making friends, doesn't he? (Fools.
You do not know what sort of forces you tamper with.)" Ritsuko, calling from her
office, turned on her chair to look at the Geofront outside. "Do you know the
story of the 'Hedgehogs' dilemma'? (danger, Misato! Danger!)"
"The spiny animal? (what the hell, Ritsuko?)"
"If a hedgehog wants to give or receive warmth from other hedgehogs, the nearer
they approach, the more they injure each other. It's the same as the people.
(Misato. When did we ever stop really being best friends? Oh. Right. when I
started to fuck Gendo and couldn't let you know about it.)" She stood up and went
to the window. "As he is frightened of aches in his heart, he seems so detached
now. (I'm lonely.)"
"Fear? Shinji? Well, I suppose. This has to be entirely new to him. He's such
a serious boy. (Stay. AWay. From Shinji.)"
-
-
It might be helpful to note that neither had any idea of what they were actually
talking about. Misato wanted to Sleep(let me sleep dammit). Ritsuko wanted to
kill mini-Gendo before he sprouts his tentacles.
-
-
Shinji entered the room silently. No one seemed to notice. Rei was still staring
out the window, but knew without looking. He left a unique trace to her passive
senses.
He sat down on his desk and nodded briefly to Hikari Horaki. The freckled girl
was still reserved towards him, but other than Rei was the only one in that
class he could actually identify with. He'd been class representative in his
last class. Gods. There were a lot of boyz in that class.
On his first day of school, he stood up front and introduced himself after the
token 'please treat him well'. "My name is Shinji Ikari and I just moved here to
Tokyo 3. I..." he looked up for a moment. "I came here because of my father.
I didn't really expect the attack, so I guess we spent the first time we met
in so many years just ignoring each other and trying to survive. I'm going to
stay here and help in his... business."
"That's admirable, Ikari-kun." said the teacher. "I see my class getting smaller
and smaller each day. It's good that there are those who are brave enough to
stick around. Please, take a seat."
He picked a chair among many; making sure not to be too close nor too far from
Rei or make it seem that they knew each other previously. He took out a notebook.
Hikari turned to him and said "We don't use actual notebooks here, Ikari-kun. Do
you need help with using the computer?"
"No, thank you. I guess it's just comforting, I've been writing on paper for so
long. I can save my work, but the important stuff... I'll keep it with me."
She smiled a bit. It was good to see someone else serious with schoolwork.
Shinji wrote in a coded script he had invented, based heavily on reverse numeric
transposition:
HIKARI HORAKI(?) Class Rep. A position of some influence. Ask for basic
information and for monitoring classmates. Proper. Independent. Will need to be
subtle. Best approached from a non-romantic standpoint.
-
Days passed, and his list of people to possibly allow into his scenario didn't
grow. In fact, there remained three.
-
REI AYANAMI(O). Protect. Main link to NERV. Possibly higher security clearance
than I have. Ask about things I can't subtly interrogate Misato-san about. As
long as Father uses her as emotional blackmail I have to stay in Tokyo Three. I
feel I can reverse this somehow.
KENSUKE AIDA(?). Class clown. Social Pariah. Has a friend still absent. Very
knowledgeable about a variety of useless topics. Seems to regard me with some
degree of suspicion; might need to... adjust... him later. Seems to be enamored
with military affairs. Dreamer. Idealist. Manipulatable to a ridiculous degree.
-
Shinji tapped his pencil at the edge of the desk and began to doodle the symbols
of his four main figures. There was the double-headed eagle to the Imperium.
There was the squinting Ork. There was the Eye of the Eldar. There was the
eight-pointed Star of Chaos. Focusing on each, he could imagine a link to them
he had left behind at the aparment. If he crossed his eyes a little bit, he
could actually imagine the chimaera's black wings flapping, the stylized Ork
face moving its jaws, the Eye looking and winking... and the Chaos symbol glowing
a faint purple hue. He didn't draw the latter often, even in play, on the off
chance that he might accidentally actually summon a daemon.
While suitably distracted during free hour, other students tended to their own
concerns. Hikari went over to Kensuke to scold him about not giving Toji his
homework.
"Well, class rep, there was no one at Toji's house. Okay, this might shock you.
But Toji's house isn't even there anymore."
"What? You mean - in that robot incident? Could he be hurt?" She faltered. "Or..
or killed?"
"I don't know."
"You're his friend, aren't you? Why aren't you worried about him?"
"Class rep, it's my philosophy that one can't know the future. I COULD worry
about him, but it wouldn't do me and him any good. The only thing I can do is to
wait for him to show up. If he doesn't... well..." He pushed his glasses back
up his nose. "I'll gladly take the pain. But not before then. Not before I know."
Hikari stood there, and licked the top of her lips, uncertain. "Well... maybe
he's all right. The TV did say no one was seriously hurt."
"What, are you insane? Didn't you see the explosion? The Units of not only Iruma
and Komatsu but Misawa and Kyushu were been sent out.Did you see the main avenue?
Entire blocks are -gone-. I'm sure that there were more than ten or twenty people
injured. Probably some may have been killed... "
"That's horrible. Why should such things happen?"
"Nobody knows. The word is pretty hush-hush on this sort of thing."
Someone entered the classroom; he was the athletic and rebellious sort, wearing
a sporting jacket in defiance of uniform rules. That he went to school way past
the required time implied he might have had to sneak in. Students noticed.
"TOJI!" Kensuke said out loud, overjoyed.
"SUZUHARA!" Hikari's surprise was more muted, but there stood pleased nonetheless.
Suzuhara Toji grinned lopsidedly and waves. "Wow. There's a lot fewer people here
than I remember."
Kensuke shrugged. "You know how it is. Evacuations, evacuations. Many went to
transfer to other, far away schools. That's what you get when there's a real war
in the city."
"You're the only man I know who's actually pleased to see a real battle."
"But, Toji; it was awesome. I managed to get my hands on leaked footage. There
were a few people stubborn enough not to go to the shelter. It's blurry as hell,
but it's there and I can't decide. Headbutting the enemy to death; was it genius
or stupidly awesome?"
Toji spat to the side. "You wanna know why I was absent, Kensuke? My younger
sister, she was buried under a heap of rubble. She barely escaped death but had
to stay in the hospital since then. My father and grandfather both work for the
research center. They can't desert their posts now.... If I weren't with her, she
would been left alone." He sat down on his seat and put his foot up the table
with force. "Damn that pilot! I'm burning up! He destroyed more of our city than
the enemy! What did he think he was doing?!"
The two didn't know how to respond. "I'm sorry, Toji..." Hikari said softly after
a while. "How is she now?"
"She's conscious. She can't move out of her bed yet, but at least she's awake.
That's why I could come here now. She NAGGED me into coming here."
Kensuke leaned closer and whispered. "Hey... did you hear the rumor about the
transfer student?"
"A transfer student?"
"There. No! Don't look! He came here only after the incident. Don't you think
that's strange? People would usually be leaving, not going here."
"I don't think that's so strange..." Hikari had to say something in Shinji's
defense. "Didn't you hear him say he's minding his father's business? He didn't
expect anything to happen and I don't think he actually has a choice about
leaving or staying."
Kensuke made a face. "Please, class rep. Must you kill my joy with your logic?"
-
The teacher began to talk about Third Impact. Shinji had actually heard most of
it before from his teachers early in junior high. Most of the other students
were familiar with it, too. As much as the elementary years focused only on the
better past of humanity, so did junior high schooling seemed determined to let
it soak into the minds of students just how much their parents had to sacrifice
to give them the slightly more comfortable world they lived in.
"The hardest trials for the human race began then. In the last year of the 20th
century, the massive meteorite, which came from the outer space, fell in the
Antarctic Continent. It caused the ice of the continent to melt in a moment.
Tsunamis ravaged all coasts. As the result, the water level of the oceans went
up, the earth axis fluctuated and abnormal weather which threatened the very
existence of living things occurred all over the world."
'Now here's as I see it...' Shinji thought. 'Either ALL the nations of the world
failed to detect such a rock approaching the Earth, or some select few knew and
knowing that there would be nothing anyone could do to stop it simply let it
come and had the world enjoy themselves up to their final moment...'
'That seems needlessly complicated, Shinji' replied the Farseer through the link.
'I would also say inhuman, but I expect very little actual humanity, as you mon-
keigh call it, from your kind.'
'I would take insult, but I must agree. That it should catch them blind is indeed
most improbable, but more possible than the other...' said the Space Marine.
'Or it could simply be' Chaos put in, well-versed in duplicity. 'That it was
intentional. Someone or something sent Second Impact. I would not be surprised
if we, and by that I mean humanity, caused it. We, as Chaos, would not have
hesitated...'
Whatever reply Shinji was going to make died in his mind as his computer beeped
softly. "A message?"
Is it true that you are a pilot of that robot? Y/N
He blinked.
He tried to find the sender, but it was sent through an anonymous host. He wasn't
quite computer-savvy enough to trace it further, and merely looked at it with a
slight frown.
"But 15 years after that..." the teacher continued. "Out of only 15 years, we have
revived the world so far. This is not only the result of the excellence of the
human race..."
It is true, isn't it? another line scrolled it up.
The answer was obvious. He was about to push 'N' when he saw his finger drifting
past it to 'Y'. Noooooooooooooo! Must... remain... truthful. Lies displease the
Emperor! Even Chaos knows reason! This way! His left hand fought with his right;
until the finger stabbed a button.
Waha-ha!
"... but the one of blood, sweat, tears and efforts of your fathers and mothers."
"HOEEE?!"
Everyone in class turned to look at him. "Shit." he said. A voice within him
groaned. 'This is why Evil -wins-, because Good is -DUMB-!'
'HERETIC!'
'MORON!'
'Too late. Can't lie now. It had to come out sooner or later...'
'... foolish' was Rei's thought, while still staring outside.
They crowded him with questions. He could feel everyone of his other figures
dogpiling the Space Marine. It was a grand skirmish as he tried to fight them
all off simultaneously. He ignored the other students' queries as he thought over
his own ideals. Arguably he stuck closest to the virtues of the Emperor and His
Imperium. However, he and the Space Marine had connected in a way he hadn't
foreseen, and now his instincts seemed sharper somehow.
He heard something about being the pride of their school. Damn, the attention.
It would make crafting his scenario harder. No wonder Father preferred to be all
but unknown.
He was very grateful for Hikari attempting to take control of the class and said
so as much as it ended. She accepted his thanks, but curtly.
-
-
-
"Sorry, new kid. But I have to hit you. I can't be satisfied until I hit you."
Shinji sighed. Should I just take the hit? I caused so many to suffer. Yet, at
the same time. "Could you have done any better?" he asked, inflaming Toji with
his calmness. "No one had any idea if it could have actually worked. I didn't
even know about it until I arrived here, DURING the attack."
"Why you - I won't accept your excuses!" He shoved a fist at Shinji's face. The
pilot merely bent away a fraction to the side and let it pass; then actually
slapping it away with the side of his head. It surprised Shinji too. Those were
reflexes normally attributed to the astartes. His normal tactic thus far had been
to take the hit, letting his small frame deceive them, then maul the tar out of
the other guy. An Orkish way to fight. He a surprising level of pain tolerance
for such a little guy.
He listened.
They had him bound and gagged. Hah! When its enemies unite, even the finest of an
Imperium may fall!
The Space Marine's acid spit burned through the gag, and he leapt over to bite
the Ear of Chaos. The meelee started again. Shinji decided it would be better to
ignore them and focus on the problem at hand.
Kensuke grabbed Toji before he could tackle Shinji. "Toji! Think it over! Do you
really want to get into a fight with someone who kills his enemies by headbutting
them to death?!"
"This vicious, arrogant bastard isn't any better than the enemy he was fighting!"
"Maybe..." Shinji replied sadly and put his hands deep into his pockets. "I can't
seem to cause anybody anything but pain, no matter how hard I try to help."
"See?" said the jock. "He wants it."
'Just stomps him, lil'boss. It woulds be eezy.'
No. I might actually deserve this. I heard about what happened to his sister.
'Hitting you will not help her in any way' added the Farseer. 'To whom do you
truly owe your responsibilities to? Then perceive; to whom does he owe his?'
'To his -' Shinji ducked down as a fist swung at his head again. Bending at the
waist and taking a single step forward, he drove the top of his head at Toji's
abdomen. The more physically able young teen fell backwards with an 'Oof!' Shinji
never even had time to take his hands out of his pockets.
"See?" Kensuke crowed. "Told you!"
"Why you..." Toji got up quickly. "I won't let you look down on us little people!
We live in this city too! You destroyed our home! You hurt my sister! I can't
let you get away with that!"
I can win this with force; Shinji realized. But it won't help him. He's suffering
too. How much more must I do to save these people? I'm not a God or an Emperor.
But I can't... I failed to protect them once. If it will ease some of their pain
then let me carry it. Since dealing with Chaos all those years ago, the sight of
people in pain also put him in pain. It was not a good pain.
'But iz not yours to take. You cant's steals it from them. Pain makes ya strong.
Let dem be sad, and let dem be alive. Take der pain and dey're neva gonna learn
who is really boss o' whom, whos responsible for whom. Dey needs to learn dat
they needs to respect dem'selves too.'
He's just going to keep trying to harm me, until he succeeds. He needs it.
"I won't deny that it's my fault your sister got hurt and your home was destroyed.
I won't even try to ask for your forgiveness..." Shinji said with his eyes closed.
"But why do you really want to take revenge, Suzuhara-san? Them? Or that you
couldn't save them...? I know what it feels to be powerle-"
There was a meaty thwack.
"Ungh. Muh does. You pounsed me ib da does!"
Shinji opened his eyes to see Toji fallen on the ground clutching his face, and
Rei beside him with her right arm outstretched.
"I will not let you harm pilot Ikari." she said flatly.
"..rei?"
"As you have sworn to protect me inside the Evangelion, then I shall protect you
outside of it." She nodded to him. "There is an emergency at NERV. I shall go on
ahead." But first, one last look down at Suzuhara Toji. "You -will not- harm
pilot Ikari."
The boys watched her turn and walk away.
"... 'suke?" Toji asked after a while. "Did I just get beat down and threatened
by Ayanami?"
"... yeah."
"I am scared, and at the same time strangely turned on."
WHAM! Shinji's foot stomped on the ground just below Toji's crotch. The teen let
out a surprised 'mngak!' The pilot leaned over to rest his elbow on his knee. His
eyes were in shadow under the bangs of his hair.
"... Ayanami-san has known it her fate to pilot the Evangelion since she could
talk. She has suffered more pain, seen such horrors, than you can ever imagine."
Shinji looked up, and contrary to their dread, actually had a kind look in his
eyes. Then, he tilted his head and smiled slightly. "I don't mind if you hate me,
Suzuhara-san. But if you or anyone else disrespects Ayanami-san I will SMASH you.
Do we understand each other?"
He looked first to Toji, then Kensuke. Both boys nodded frantically.
Shinji stood up, and bowed deeply. "I can't say I'm sorry to you, Suzuhara-san.
But I will kneel before your sister. We should talk later..." He turned and left
following Ayanami.
The two other teens were left there at the school backyard, unmoving until the
Eva pilots were out of sight. Then, then both let out the breaths they were
holding.
"... daamn, Toji. I don't think you can win against that guy. A man in love is
just a wall you can bust your fist on." Kensuke looked aside and then said with
wonder "... are you crying? It wasn't that scary. Well, maybe it was."
"Dammit. DAMMIT!" He scraped at the soil. "I hate that guy. He comes here as if
he's all perfect. And he's right. I hate that he's right. I don't have the right
to take revenge on him... only my sister and my father and grandfather can do
that. I wasn't injured. I didn't buy that house out of my own money. DAMMIT!"
"Toji, hey, man..."
"Dammit! I need to punch something, Kensuke! Anything!"
"Um... maybe I should go stand over there. Somewhere else." the glasses geek
added nervously.
"Come on, let's go back to class."
Kensuke sighed, relieved. Okay. Boring lectures were better than this emotional
crap. He didn't know how to deal with it. He really needed a gun. Guns made
things simple.
-
-
This is Tokyo 3. The wounds of the last battle still marked it. And now, barely
three weeks have passed and once more it must suffer.
"Tokyo 3 is moving to battle formation!" Buildings began to sink down into the
geofront. "Central block and districts one to seven have been housed."
Up at the command seat, Kozo Fuyutsuki sat. He made sure to keep his hands on the
table rather than together right under his nose.
Misato looked up at him briefly, then back to the main screen. "While Commander
Ikari is away, the 4th Angel arrives. Not again; we're caught off guard..."
"The last time it was a fifteen-year interval." Makoto helpfully added. "This
time it's just three weeks."
"They never think about our circumstances, don't they? They're the type which
women hate."
'Always be considerate.' he thought. 'Misato-san likes considerate men.'
The screen showed conventional forces attacking the floating, squid-shaped
Angel. As expected, they hardly even fazed it.
"They are wasting taxes." said Fuyutsuki. "Have we received authorization to
mobilize yet?"
Shigeru nodded. "Yes, sir. The committee is demanding for us to mobilize.
Immidiately."
Maya hid a grin. Time for Shinji to play hero.
-
Shinji closed his eyes.
Machine spirit, my eyes are your eyes. My heart is your heart. My will is your
will. My rage is your rage. Let us be one, and destroy that which threatens
Humanity.
His mind flashed back to the wounded, the damage.
Let us end all suffering.
KILL. was the only thing he could feel in return. As always. ALL. KILL.
"Shinji-kun? Are you ready?"
"Yes, Misato-san."
Machine spirit, let us protect this city. Let us protect its people.
"EVA! Launch!" yelled Misato. The Evangelion shot up its electrmagnetic catapult
system.
KILL. The Eva was expectant.
-
-
-
end first part
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter Three
This is Tokyo Three
"Good morning, Shinji..." said Ritsuko, a little testily. "How are you?"
"Good morning, Akagi-sensei." His voice was distracted. Piloting the Evangelion
had started to become routine. He still felt it in his mind, the all-consuming
anger at... well, everything. He wondered what could have caused it. Though
Shinji had ideas about the machine spirit, he didn't quite yet imagine that the
Eva might have a mind of its own. That it would be aware of him. That it would
hate itself, and him, and everything in between. A spirit, to him, didn't need
to be independently-sentient.
Otherwise he'd realize he was inside one big walking pile of Pure Injustice.
Which would likely lead him to Chaos. Which might make the world implode.
"That's fine. Appearance positions, an emergency power source, locations of
armed buildings and recovery spots. Have you kept all of them in your mind?"
"I have, Akagi-sensei." Without power, the machine spirit cannot function.
Without weapons, it cannot deliver its wrath. Without a happy machine spirit,
humanity would be destroyed.
Why do you suffer? He asked it. What can I do, to help ease your pain?
As expected, only rage and hunger met his mind.
"Well, I'll review the lesson again. Eva usually works with electric power
supply from the cable. If Eva use the internal battery in an emergency, it can
work only for one minute at its full strength or for five minutes at most on
basic tasks. Did you get that?"
"Yes, Akagi-sensei." He nodded, attentive. In the heat of battle, there was no
time for planning. The future blurred into the now and in seconds legions may
live or die. "Thank you, Akagi-sensei."
The pencil snapped in her hands. His sheer submissiveness irritated her in ways
she couldn't explain. It simply couldn't be natural in Gendo's son; not when she
saw in those eyes the same icy ruthlessness that lay in his father. It had to
be a trick somehow.
"Very well, let'ss resume our lesson on Induction mode, where we left off
yesterday."
The Evangelion skipped out of cover, bursting with its oversized autocannon made
into an assault rifle analogue at a holographic image of the Angel from the last
time. He missed and ducked behind another building.
"Keep your head." Ritsuko advised. "Aim at the center of the target... then
pull the switch."
Shinji leaned out of cover and shot at the Angel. "... pull the switch."
"Good. Next!"
The simulation ran through the entry plug and supposedly the Evangelion's brain
itself. MAGI, the three supercomputers running NERV, supplied and interpreted the
sensory data. Within a sealed room, the Evangelion could act out encounters in
relative safety. Due to the size of the Eva, more complicated motions couldn't
be acted out; such as running, diving, or just close combat.
"Damn it, Shinji!" Ritsuko shouted. "Stop showing off! Just point and shoot!
Point and shoot! This isn't a game! Accuracy is what's important here!"
The Evangelion began to rack up 100 percent accuracy according to the MAGI. Then
that dropped again, as Shinji began to move around and fire from different
positions.
"Shinji! Are you even listening to me?!" Are you playing with me?!
"It sure is surprising that Shinji-kun is so enthusiastic about this..." said
Maya.
"I'd like to think it's because he's found a purpose worthy of his life." was the
reply. I'd LIKE to think that. But it was LIKELY not to be the case. A big part
of that would be how much he hated his father. The Evangelion was power over his
father; it made him important. Unignorable.
Shinji's reasoning for his failure to comform to test procedures was actually
rather simple. Missing delayed how long he could be firing at enemy and stay
at any location. One of the first things he did upon being left to his devices
was to roam around Tokyo 3 and familiarize himself with the city's layout. His
ignorance of its structure had left widespread devastation. Suffering everywhere
and caused by him.
"We must be prepared." he said to himself. "We must make sure our next battle is
fast and precise."
He had the Eldar vote for that. The Space Marine was noncommital, as long as the
xenos were destroyed. The Warboss wanted more destruction and the Chaos simply
liked all the deaths. Well; pity for them it wasn't a democracy.
He tried to equate the buildings he saw on the ground to that of the simulation.
Those important and less important. Those he could afford to let be destroyed,
those to protect, those to avoid.
Ritsuko, who was in the clear mindset of having Shinji as selfish and power-
hungry as his father, couldn't understand this.
"I think it's because he wants to protect someone." sighed Maya.
"Who?"
Maya realized she'd spoken that out loud. She wasn't supposed to know that, and
it felt like a betrayal of Shinji's confidence. Still, it was her sempai asking...
"...rei. Don't they just look cute together?"
Ritsuko shuddered at the image. A mini-Gendo and a mini-Yui. Would there even be
a Tokyo-3 after it was all done?
"If he thinks that, then humanity may be doomed. We need to keep a level head if
we're to get through this."
"Oh, don't worry sempai. I'm sure Shinji-kun will keep his priorities straight."
She shivered again at the odd timbre she heard in his voice. The enemies of
humanity will Die. By My Hands, they shall be Broken. Ooh! She giggled. "He's
sort of Heroic that way."
"Heroic?" What an odd thing to say. Shinji, with his small frame and frankly
rather creepy expressions, was the furthest from heroic in any sight. "Did you
talk to him much when I sent you to get his files?"
"Um, not much, sempai. He did leave an impression, though."
Gods. He's starting already. First he'll manipulate the perceptions of my staff,
then what? "I have more important things to do." she said. "Maya, could you
handle the rest of this for me?" She couldn't stomach being around the boy any
longer....
"Sure thing, sempai."
Through it all Misato, who stood at the back of the room, said nothing. Only when
Ritsuko was out of the door did she comment. "What are you doing now, Shinji?"
she asked when she saw him walking forwards then back away from the Angel target.
"I don't like this gun, Misato-san..."
"Why not?"
"Sure, it has a high rate of fire, but I think I'm going to just poke holes in
the enemy if it has a soft body like the last one. Can Angels heal as fast as
Evangelions?"
"That's why we have hollowpoints, Shinji. Besides, you should really be aiming
at the core anyway. That's why Ritsuko was so annoyed."
"Then, what if it's armored? What if I miss? What about the AT-field? The longer
the fighting goes on, the more damage we do. I think I need something bigger than
this. Something that can kill the Angel in just one shot. As it is, I remember
how fast the Angel was. It could be at me already by the distances I'm forced to
follow." I need a Bolter. I need a Bolter, bad. Going hand to hand against an
Angel leads to Bad Things. Green things. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry,
Misato-san.
"Well, it's at the drawing boards. We'll get something after a while. It's good
to see you taking this seriously, even if Rits-chan thinks you're just playing
around."
He nodded. Misato-san.... she wasn't a bad person. It was good to have a steady
ally in Tokyo-3.
-
-
CHAOS!!
Back! Back, I say!
A good person? By the Emperor, she feeds Untidiness enough to be considered its
Daemon Princess! Shinji marveled at the state of her room. The woman was hunkered
down under a futon blanket, like a turtle. "Misato-san..." He poked her with a
clothes hanger. "Misato-san. It's already morning, Misato-san."
Like a turtle, she slid further in.
"Misato-san... please get up."
"Mnfrgh."
"Misato-san." Poke. Poke. Pokepokepokepoke. "Misato-saaan..."
"...go away!" The women slid her head out slightly and looked at Shinji with
bleary eyes. "I was on night duty until just some time ago. Today I have only to
appear at the office in the evening. So, pleease let me sleep!"
"Ah." Poor Misato-san. She wasn't even hung over. "Are you sure? Don't you want
something to eat? Egg and mushrooms..."
"mnnnh. Tempting. But sorry, Shinji."
"All right. See you later, Misato-san."
"Is today Thursday? Burnable trash only, please."
"Already handled." Waste was weapon of the enemy. Recycling was Shinji's main
defense against it. He glowered around the room. Soon. Soon, we shall have a
reckoning!
"Later, Shinji..."
"Later, Misato-san."
After he left and an underterminate amount of time, Misato's phone rang. She
took it and snuggled back under the covers.
"... yes? (No!) Hello? (Die!) Oh, it's you Ritsuko. You're calling me. (I will
find you and I will strap you down to a bed like we did in college and this time
you won't enjoy it!)"
"How are doing Misato? Aren't you getting along with him? (You will give me
the information that I need so I too can sleep easily)"
"Him? Oh. Shinji-kun. (dammit, even I can tell you're obsessing about the kid.
What are you, some form of shotacon?) It's two weeks after he transferred to the
school. He is as he was. (I've grown used to his oddity) He never got any
telephone calls... (Odd. We never did forbid him to tell about his status as a
pilot. Good to see he's using some discretion. Too much attachment could be a
weakness)
"Telephone calls?(Odd. I thought he'd have a cult by now)"
The NERV phone Misato gave him was left at his desk.
-
Meanwhile, at school; "Hey, Shinji, what's your number?" some random student
asked.
"Oh." He pulled out the phone he bought at a random shop with his own money. He
didn't trust anything from NERV not to have a monitoring system built into it.
He looked at the number saved in memory. "Here." He kept the phone in Silent
mode.
-
Misato continued. "I gave him a phone for necessary contact. Outside of NERV
calls, I don't think he's ever used it or gotten a call from anybody. (for all
the hype we put up about state of the art, you'd think we'd be able to give out
a less tacky phone) He has no friends, though I'm not sure. (so stay away dammit.
He's mine! Mine! Mine!)
"He seems to have an unsuited personality for making friends, doesn't he? (Fools.
You do not know what sort of forces you tamper with.)" Ritsuko, calling from her
office, turned on her chair to look at the Geofront outside. "Do you know the
story of the 'Hedgehogs' dilemma'? (danger, Misato! Danger!)"
"The spiny animal? (what the hell, Ritsuko?)"
"If a hedgehog wants to give or receive warmth from other hedgehogs, the nearer
they approach, the more they injure each other. It's the same as the people.
(Misato. When did we ever stop really being best friends? Oh. Right. when I
started to fuck Gendo and couldn't let you know about it.)" She stood up and went
to the window. "As he is frightened of aches in his heart, he seems so detached
now. (I'm lonely.)"
"Fear? Shinji? Well, I suppose. This has to be entirely new to him. He's such
a serious boy. (Stay. AWay. From Shinji.)"
-
-
It might be helpful to note that neither had any idea of what they were actually
talking about. Misato wanted to Sleep(let me sleep dammit). Ritsuko wanted to
kill mini-Gendo before he sprouts his tentacles.
-
-
Shinji entered the room silently. No one seemed to notice. Rei was still staring
out the window, but knew without looking. He left a unique trace to her passive
senses.
He sat down on his desk and nodded briefly to Hikari Horaki. The freckled girl
was still reserved towards him, but other than Rei was the only one in that
class he could actually identify with. He'd been class representative in his
last class. Gods. There were a lot of boyz in that class.
On his first day of school, he stood up front and introduced himself after the
token 'please treat him well'. "My name is Shinji Ikari and I just moved here to
Tokyo 3. I..." he looked up for a moment. "I came here because of my father.
I didn't really expect the attack, so I guess we spent the first time we met
in so many years just ignoring each other and trying to survive. I'm going to
stay here and help in his... business."
"That's admirable, Ikari-kun." said the teacher. "I see my class getting smaller
and smaller each day. It's good that there are those who are brave enough to
stick around. Please, take a seat."
He picked a chair among many; making sure not to be too close nor too far from
Rei or make it seem that they knew each other previously. He took out a notebook.
Hikari turned to him and said "We don't use actual notebooks here, Ikari-kun. Do
you need help with using the computer?"
"No, thank you. I guess it's just comforting, I've been writing on paper for so
long. I can save my work, but the important stuff... I'll keep it with me."
She smiled a bit. It was good to see someone else serious with schoolwork.
Shinji wrote in a coded script he had invented, based heavily on reverse numeric
transposition:
HIKARI HORAKI(?) Class Rep. A position of some influence. Ask for basic
information and for monitoring classmates. Proper. Independent. Will need to be
subtle. Best approached from a non-romantic standpoint.
-
Days passed, and his list of people to possibly allow into his scenario didn't
grow. In fact, there remained three.
-
REI AYANAMI(O). Protect. Main link to NERV. Possibly higher security clearance
than I have. Ask about things I can't subtly interrogate Misato-san about. As
long as Father uses her as emotional blackmail I have to stay in Tokyo Three. I
feel I can reverse this somehow.
KENSUKE AIDA(?). Class clown. Social Pariah. Has a friend still absent. Very
knowledgeable about a variety of useless topics. Seems to regard me with some
degree of suspicion; might need to... adjust... him later. Seems to be enamored
with military affairs. Dreamer. Idealist. Manipulatable to a ridiculous degree.
-
Shinji tapped his pencil at the edge of the desk and began to doodle the symbols
of his four main figures. There was the double-headed eagle to the Imperium.
There was the squinting Ork. There was the Eye of the Eldar. There was the
eight-pointed Star of Chaos. Focusing on each, he could imagine a link to them
he had left behind at the aparment. If he crossed his eyes a little bit, he
could actually imagine the chimaera's black wings flapping, the stylized Ork
face moving its jaws, the Eye looking and winking... and the Chaos symbol glowing
a faint purple hue. He didn't draw the latter often, even in play, on the off
chance that he might accidentally actually summon a daemon.
While suitably distracted during free hour, other students tended to their own
concerns. Hikari went over to Kensuke to scold him about not giving Toji his
homework.
"Well, class rep, there was no one at Toji's house. Okay, this might shock you.
But Toji's house isn't even there anymore."
"What? You mean - in that robot incident? Could he be hurt?" She faltered. "Or..
or killed?"
"I don't know."
"You're his friend, aren't you? Why aren't you worried about him?"
"Class rep, it's my philosophy that one can't know the future. I COULD worry
about him, but it wouldn't do me and him any good. The only thing I can do is to
wait for him to show up. If he doesn't... well..." He pushed his glasses back
up his nose. "I'll gladly take the pain. But not before then. Not before I know."
Hikari stood there, and licked the top of her lips, uncertain. "Well... maybe
he's all right. The TV did say no one was seriously hurt."
"What, are you insane? Didn't you see the explosion? The Units of not only Iruma
and Komatsu but Misawa and Kyushu were been sent out.Did you see the main avenue?
Entire blocks are -gone-. I'm sure that there were more than ten or twenty people
injured. Probably some may have been killed... "
"That's horrible. Why should such things happen?"
"Nobody knows. The word is pretty hush-hush on this sort of thing."
Someone entered the classroom; he was the athletic and rebellious sort, wearing
a sporting jacket in defiance of uniform rules. That he went to school way past
the required time implied he might have had to sneak in. Students noticed.
"TOJI!" Kensuke said out loud, overjoyed.
"SUZUHARA!" Hikari's surprise was more muted, but there stood pleased nonetheless.
Suzuhara Toji grinned lopsidedly and waves. "Wow. There's a lot fewer people here
than I remember."
Kensuke shrugged. "You know how it is. Evacuations, evacuations. Many went to
transfer to other, far away schools. That's what you get when there's a real war
in the city."
"You're the only man I know who's actually pleased to see a real battle."
"But, Toji; it was awesome. I managed to get my hands on leaked footage. There
were a few people stubborn enough not to go to the shelter. It's blurry as hell,
but it's there and I can't decide. Headbutting the enemy to death; was it genius
or stupidly awesome?"
Toji spat to the side. "You wanna know why I was absent, Kensuke? My younger
sister, she was buried under a heap of rubble. She barely escaped death but had
to stay in the hospital since then. My father and grandfather both work for the
research center. They can't desert their posts now.... If I weren't with her, she
would been left alone." He sat down on his seat and put his foot up the table
with force. "Damn that pilot! I'm burning up! He destroyed more of our city than
the enemy! What did he think he was doing?!"
The two didn't know how to respond. "I'm sorry, Toji..." Hikari said softly after
a while. "How is she now?"
"She's conscious. She can't move out of her bed yet, but at least she's awake.
That's why I could come here now. She NAGGED me into coming here."
Kensuke leaned closer and whispered. "Hey... did you hear the rumor about the
transfer student?"
"A transfer student?"
"There. No! Don't look! He came here only after the incident. Don't you think
that's strange? People would usually be leaving, not going here."
"I don't think that's so strange..." Hikari had to say something in Shinji's
defense. "Didn't you hear him say he's minding his father's business? He didn't
expect anything to happen and I don't think he actually has a choice about
leaving or staying."
Kensuke made a face. "Please, class rep. Must you kill my joy with your logic?"
-
The teacher began to talk about Third Impact. Shinji had actually heard most of
it before from his teachers early in junior high. Most of the other students
were familiar with it, too. As much as the elementary years focused only on the
better past of humanity, so did junior high schooling seemed determined to let
it soak into the minds of students just how much their parents had to sacrifice
to give them the slightly more comfortable world they lived in.
"The hardest trials for the human race began then. In the last year of the 20th
century, the massive meteorite, which came from the outer space, fell in the
Antarctic Continent. It caused the ice of the continent to melt in a moment.
Tsunamis ravaged all coasts. As the result, the water level of the oceans went
up, the earth axis fluctuated and abnormal weather which threatened the very
existence of living things occurred all over the world."
'Now here's as I see it...' Shinji thought. 'Either ALL the nations of the world
failed to detect such a rock approaching the Earth, or some select few knew and
knowing that there would be nothing anyone could do to stop it simply let it
come and had the world enjoy themselves up to their final moment...'
'That seems needlessly complicated, Shinji' replied the Farseer through the link.
'I would also say inhuman, but I expect very little actual humanity, as you mon-
keigh call it, from your kind.'
'I would take insult, but I must agree. That it should catch them blind is indeed
most improbable, but more possible than the other...' said the Space Marine.
'Or it could simply be' Chaos put in, well-versed in duplicity. 'That it was
intentional. Someone or something sent Second Impact. I would not be surprised
if we, and by that I mean humanity, caused it. We, as Chaos, would not have
hesitated...'
Whatever reply Shinji was going to make died in his mind as his computer beeped
softly. "A message?"
Is it true that you are a pilot of that robot? Y/N
He blinked.
He tried to find the sender, but it was sent through an anonymous host. He wasn't
quite computer-savvy enough to trace it further, and merely looked at it with a
slight frown.
"But 15 years after that..." the teacher continued. "Out of only 15 years, we have
revived the world so far. This is not only the result of the excellence of the
human race..."
It is true, isn't it? another line scrolled it up.
The answer was obvious. He was about to push 'N' when he saw his finger drifting
past it to 'Y'. Noooooooooooooo! Must... remain... truthful. Lies displease the
Emperor! Even Chaos knows reason! This way! His left hand fought with his right;
until the finger stabbed a button.
Waha-ha!
"... but the one of blood, sweat, tears and efforts of your fathers and mothers."
"HOEEE?!"
Everyone in class turned to look at him. "Shit." he said. A voice within him
groaned. 'This is why Evil -wins-, because Good is -DUMB-!'
'HERETIC!'
'MORON!'
'Too late. Can't lie now. It had to come out sooner or later...'
'... foolish' was Rei's thought, while still staring outside.
They crowded him with questions. He could feel everyone of his other figures
dogpiling the Space Marine. It was a grand skirmish as he tried to fight them
all off simultaneously. He ignored the other students' queries as he thought over
his own ideals. Arguably he stuck closest to the virtues of the Emperor and His
Imperium. However, he and the Space Marine had connected in a way he hadn't
foreseen, and now his instincts seemed sharper somehow.
He heard something about being the pride of their school. Damn, the attention.
It would make crafting his scenario harder. No wonder Father preferred to be all
but unknown.
He was very grateful for Hikari attempting to take control of the class and said
so as much as it ended. She accepted his thanks, but curtly.
-
-
-
"Sorry, new kid. But I have to hit you. I can't be satisfied until I hit you."
Shinji sighed. Should I just take the hit? I caused so many to suffer. Yet, at
the same time. "Could you have done any better?" he asked, inflaming Toji with
his calmness. "No one had any idea if it could have actually worked. I didn't
even know about it until I arrived here, DURING the attack."
"Why you - I won't accept your excuses!" He shoved a fist at Shinji's face. The
pilot merely bent away a fraction to the side and let it pass; then actually
slapping it away with the side of his head. It surprised Shinji too. Those were
reflexes normally attributed to the astartes. His normal tactic thus far had been
to take the hit, letting his small frame deceive them, then maul the tar out of
the other guy. An Orkish way to fight. He a surprising level of pain tolerance
for such a little guy.
He listened.
They had him bound and gagged. Hah! When its enemies unite, even the finest of an
Imperium may fall!
The Space Marine's acid spit burned through the gag, and he leapt over to bite
the Ear of Chaos. The meelee started again. Shinji decided it would be better to
ignore them and focus on the problem at hand.
Kensuke grabbed Toji before he could tackle Shinji. "Toji! Think it over! Do you
really want to get into a fight with someone who kills his enemies by headbutting
them to death?!"
"This vicious, arrogant bastard isn't any better than the enemy he was fighting!"
"Maybe..." Shinji replied sadly and put his hands deep into his pockets. "I can't
seem to cause anybody anything but pain, no matter how hard I try to help."
"See?" said the jock. "He wants it."
'Just stomps him, lil'boss. It woulds be eezy.'
No. I might actually deserve this. I heard about what happened to his sister.
'Hitting you will not help her in any way' added the Farseer. 'To whom do you
truly owe your responsibilities to? Then perceive; to whom does he owe his?'
'To his -' Shinji ducked down as a fist swung at his head again. Bending at the
waist and taking a single step forward, he drove the top of his head at Toji's
abdomen. The more physically able young teen fell backwards with an 'Oof!' Shinji
never even had time to take his hands out of his pockets.
"See?" Kensuke crowed. "Told you!"
"Why you..." Toji got up quickly. "I won't let you look down on us little people!
We live in this city too! You destroyed our home! You hurt my sister! I can't
let you get away with that!"
I can win this with force; Shinji realized. But it won't help him. He's suffering
too. How much more must I do to save these people? I'm not a God or an Emperor.
But I can't... I failed to protect them once. If it will ease some of their pain
then let me carry it. Since dealing with Chaos all those years ago, the sight of
people in pain also put him in pain. It was not a good pain.
'But iz not yours to take. You cant's steals it from them. Pain makes ya strong.
Let dem be sad, and let dem be alive. Take der pain and dey're neva gonna learn
who is really boss o' whom, whos responsible for whom. Dey needs to learn dat
they needs to respect dem'selves too.'
He's just going to keep trying to harm me, until he succeeds. He needs it.
"I won't deny that it's my fault your sister got hurt and your home was destroyed.
I won't even try to ask for your forgiveness..." Shinji said with his eyes closed.
"But why do you really want to take revenge, Suzuhara-san? Them? Or that you
couldn't save them...? I know what it feels to be powerle-"
There was a meaty thwack.
"Ungh. Muh does. You pounsed me ib da does!"
Shinji opened his eyes to see Toji fallen on the ground clutching his face, and
Rei beside him with her right arm outstretched.
"I will not let you harm pilot Ikari." she said flatly.
"..rei?"
"As you have sworn to protect me inside the Evangelion, then I shall protect you
outside of it." She nodded to him. "There is an emergency at NERV. I shall go on
ahead." But first, one last look down at Suzuhara Toji. "You -will not- harm
pilot Ikari."
The boys watched her turn and walk away.
"... 'suke?" Toji asked after a while. "Did I just get beat down and threatened
by Ayanami?"
"... yeah."
"I am scared, and at the same time strangely turned on."
WHAM! Shinji's foot stomped on the ground just below Toji's crotch. The teen let
out a surprised 'mngak!' The pilot leaned over to rest his elbow on his knee. His
eyes were in shadow under the bangs of his hair.
"... Ayanami-san has known it her fate to pilot the Evangelion since she could
talk. She has suffered more pain, seen such horrors, than you can ever imagine."
Shinji looked up, and contrary to their dread, actually had a kind look in his
eyes. Then, he tilted his head and smiled slightly. "I don't mind if you hate me,
Suzuhara-san. But if you or anyone else disrespects Ayanami-san I will SMASH you.
Do we understand each other?"
He looked first to Toji, then Kensuke. Both boys nodded frantically.
Shinji stood up, and bowed deeply. "I can't say I'm sorry to you, Suzuhara-san.
But I will kneel before your sister. We should talk later..." He turned and left
following Ayanami.
The two other teens were left there at the school backyard, unmoving until the
Eva pilots were out of sight. Then, then both let out the breaths they were
holding.
"... daamn, Toji. I don't think you can win against that guy. A man in love is
just a wall you can bust your fist on." Kensuke looked aside and then said with
wonder "... are you crying? It wasn't that scary. Well, maybe it was."
"Dammit. DAMMIT!" He scraped at the soil. "I hate that guy. He comes here as if
he's all perfect. And he's right. I hate that he's right. I don't have the right
to take revenge on him... only my sister and my father and grandfather can do
that. I wasn't injured. I didn't buy that house out of my own money. DAMMIT!"
"Toji, hey, man..."
"Dammit! I need to punch something, Kensuke! Anything!"
"Um... maybe I should go stand over there. Somewhere else." the glasses geek
added nervously.
"Come on, let's go back to class."
Kensuke sighed, relieved. Okay. Boring lectures were better than this emotional
crap. He didn't know how to deal with it. He really needed a gun. Guns made
things simple.
-
-
This is Tokyo 3. The wounds of the last battle still marked it. And now, barely
three weeks have passed and once more it must suffer.
"Tokyo 3 is moving to battle formation!" Buildings began to sink down into the
geofront. "Central block and districts one to seven have been housed."
Up at the command seat, Kozo Fuyutsuki sat. He made sure to keep his hands on the
table rather than together right under his nose.
Misato looked up at him briefly, then back to the main screen. "While Commander
Ikari is away, the 4th Angel arrives. Not again; we're caught off guard..."
"The last time it was a fifteen-year interval." Makoto helpfully added. "This
time it's just three weeks."
"They never think about our circumstances, don't they? They're the type which
women hate."
'Always be considerate.' he thought. 'Misato-san likes considerate men.'
The screen showed conventional forces attacking the floating, squid-shaped
Angel. As expected, they hardly even fazed it.
"They are wasting taxes." said Fuyutsuki. "Have we received authorization to
mobilize yet?"
Shigeru nodded. "Yes, sir. The committee is demanding for us to mobilize.
Immidiately."
Maya hid a grin. Time for Shinji to play hero.
-
Shinji closed his eyes.
Machine spirit, my eyes are your eyes. My heart is your heart. My will is your
will. My rage is your rage. Let us be one, and destroy that which threatens
Humanity.
His mind flashed back to the wounded, the damage.
Let us end all suffering.
KILL. was the only thing he could feel in return. As always. ALL. KILL.
"Shinji-kun? Are you ready?"
"Yes, Misato-san."
Machine spirit, let us protect this city. Let us protect its people.
"EVA! Launch!" yelled Misato. The Evangelion shot up its electrmagnetic catapult
system.
KILL. The Eva was expectant.
-
-
-
end first part