A/N: Sup, 1st chapter of my 1st story. Be gentle, be rough; just lemme know what you think.
"Hel-lo and wel-come to Tokyo-3 South Station." blared a tinny female voice as the metro's PA system crackled to life, speaking in odd, clipped pauses, "Please stand be-hind the yellow line and watch for personal belongings as you board the train. Remember to accommodate other passengers and that groping is a federal offense punishable by law; now have a safe day!"
Shinji sighed as he looked at the cracked glass of the clock on the adjacent wall, mentally cursing himself for the nth time that day. He glanced at the now half-crumpled piece of paper in his hand. He needn't have opened it again to read it; he'd spent enough time perusing the other side of the message to engrave the image of the buxom woman into his young teenage mind. He'd been wary of his father's intentions when he received an ominous looking slip with the word COME stamped in black ink from the bastard, but he figured they couldn't be all bad if it included the promise of a woman who was obviously some sort of adult film actress.
Bored, he slung his bag over his shoulder and walked to a corner store, the setting sun casting an orange glow on his back. As he neared he heard the telltale cries of a pair of hookers looking for meal tickets passing by in flashy cars. Shinji, in a predictable display of shyness, attempted to unsuccessfully power-walk past them while keeping his eyes glued firmly to the ground.
"Can't believe these freakin' johns" said the red-haired woman of the night to her blonde companion "Been out here for hours and ain't a single chucklefuck stopped, the struggle is real."
"Ya got good days and ya got bad days" the blonde replied, taking a long drag of her cigarette "Whaddya gonna do?"
'Jesus, Red's only got a bra and daisy dukes on.' Shinji thought as peered at the women out of the corner of his eye 'and what's with the hair dec and chopsticks? Isn't she cold? I mean it isn't hard to tell since her nipples look hard enough to cut ste-' His musings were cut short as the pair turned their attentions towards him.
"Hey" the redhead whispered as she spied Shinji from across the street "Watch me bag Sad Eyes over there." She tossed her smoke and called out "Heeeey big boy, you're lookin' a little lonely, want some company?" She ran her hands over her body for emphasis, inwardly smiling as she looked over the gullible bag of hormones that was about to become her paycheck.
"N-no I'm fine thanks." Shinji stammered as he tried to pull open the push door to the store "Have a nice night ladies!" was his final yelp as he disappeared inside.
"Aw shit" The woman sighed, a glum expression marring her face "I woulda had him."
"The kid couldn't 'a been older than 17, you in the cherry poppin' business now or somethin'?" her friend chided
"Shut up, wise-ass" was her blunt retort as she lit up another smoke "Fuck this town, whole place can go to hell for all I care."
The buzz of fluorescent lighting was the only welcome Shinji received to the store. The crusty owner gave him a peek from behind his newspaper, deemed him not worth shooting, and continued reading. Shinji grabbed an armful of snacks from the aisle, stopping as he found a pair of sunglasses. Smirking, he tried them on and looked at his dim reflection in the window. Cocking his eyebrow as far up as it would go, Shinji put on his best ace pilot face and began to strike poses with various finger pistols involved. He chuckled as he reached to put them back, when a blinding light came on from just outside the storefront.
"ALRIGHT BOYS," screamed a voice coming from behind the light "LET HIM HAVE IT." Just as Shinji began to take a few steps back, the storefront exploded in a maelström of glass and concrete. Having been blown back by the force of the blast, he could only look up in pants-pissing fear as the rest of the store was torn to shreds by violent streams of automatic gunfire. Crawling on the rubble strewn floor, Shinji desperately tried to look for a back door, and escape, anything to-. And, just as soon as it had begun, the assault was interrupted by another deafening blast, this time sending what looked like a car barreling into the store, right at Shinji. Summoning a burst of strength, the boy flung himself out of the way, staring in disbelief at the ashen wreckage of what was once an olive drab sports car, albeit one with several machine guns mounted to the hood. He looked on wordlessly, never noticing the figure coming up behind him.
"So, you must be Shinji." Asked the figure cheerily. After nearly shitting himself, Shinji jumped back and took in his assailant's form.
'It's her! From the photo, what the hell?!' Shinji struggled to collect his thoughts as the woman offered an outstretched hand.
"Misato Katsuragi, now come with me if you want to live." 'Always wanted to say that' she added mentally. Within minutes they were barreling down the city streets in Misato's bright blue sports car, which Shinji noticed was also sporting quite a few guns in addition to military grade composite armor. "So, Shinji, tell me about yourself."
Shinji was currently holding onto the armrests for dear life. He was no stranger to fast cars, but the woman's lack of regard for anything resembling driving etiquette put the fear of God in him. "Not much to tell, I figure you already know I'm here to see my dad." For the first time since meeting her, Shinji gave the woman a good once over, noting her short black dress as well as the prominence of… other features. Never one to miss an opportunity for teasing, Misato sprang into action.
"Nice shades, do you always wear them at night or just when you're ogling girls?"
"I have a, uhh, medical condition"
"And I assume this condition prevents you from removing the price tag as well?" In the middle of cooking up another clever quip, Shinji's words died in his mouth as a row of bullets raked the car's right flank.
"KATSURAAAAAGIIIII" came a guttural cry from a sleek black shape pulling up next to them. Aerodynamic, yet twisted, it had with glowing spikes and green fin-like projections along with a large stylized logo in the shape of a white witch doctor's mask. And on top of the hovering craft was a dark figure brandishing a large machine gun. "THE SHOTS HAVE BEEN FIRED; MY BROTHERS AND I WILL DESIST NO LONGER. YOUR FATES ARE SEALED."
Bewildered, Shinji searched Misato's face for an explanation "Ah don't worry about ol' Zacky, he's all talk" She reassured him as she grabbed a microphone from the dash "ISN'T THAT RIGHT ZACKY. I'M HERE BABY, COME GET ME." Another barrage of gunfire peppered the vehicle, eliciting various alarms and flashing red lights. "Crap," she muttered "Auto-guns are offline, switching to manual" A rough lurch forward informed the duo that their adversary had reached ramming speed and was currently ravaging the rear propulsion systems. "Shinji!" Misato yelled "hand me a beer!"
"What?!"
"No questions dammit just hand me a friggin' beer!" Shinji quickly complied and tossed her a yellow can of Yebisu. She winked and tore the tab off with her teeth, shoving the can into a tubular component suspended between them. "Alright Shinji I'm gonna try something, when I tell you, I need you to hold the wheel steady, can you do that?" A nod and a silent prayer ensued. "Ok, strap in, kid" She continued as she produced a small black capsule with the letters "N-2" stenciled on it. Before Shinji could ask any questions, she opened up a small jar of what looked like water and jammed the capsule inside, which began to bubble and emit a bright, searing light. A crazed smile etched its way across Misato's face as the pair was thrown back into their seats by the sudden acceleration. Tears formed in the corners of Shinji's eyes as Misato made a sudden full 180, turning them to face their assailant as she shifted into reverse. "SHINJI TAKE THE WHEEL!" She gave him no chance to respond, leaping up from her seat to open a small cupola on the roof to aim a black metal tube. Shinji, to his credit, grabbed a hold of the wheel before they careened to a fiery death and held it in place for Misato's 90 MPH game of chicken with machine guns. "Jeez hold her steady Shinji I'm trying to get a shot off!" The boy offered no response; his gaze held captive by the effects of rough winds on an already short dress being worn by the woman above him.
FWHOOP. The comical sound of the launcher firing was quickly followed by the significantly less comical sound of multiple explosions and screeching metal. His eyes returning to the road, Shinji's gaze was greeted by the sight of a flaming hunk of metal tumbling end over end straight towards them. Strangely, the sight seemed to harden his grip on the wheel even more as he brought his foot down to meet the brake. In the blink of an eye Misato dropped down from the hatch, bringing the pair to a squealing halt as they watched the searing wreck sail over the hood of the car, sliding for several yards before coming to rest on the deserted street. "YES! COME GET SOME YOU FUCKS!" Misato cheered, banging on the dash and slamming the horn before sighing dreamily. Wordlessly, Shinji reached over to examine one of the many beer cans that littered the floor of Misato's car.
"What the hell is in these things?"
"40 millimeter high explosive shrapnel rounds. We order them in bulk this way, easier to get through customs."
"Uh huh." He collapsed into his seat, spent.
"Well I'm sure you've got a lot of questions for me." Misato chimed in, hoping to inject some levity to the conversation.
Face buried in his hands, Shinji offered only a muted "Nope."
"Really," she pouted, deflating somewhat at his apparent lack of excitement in comparison to her own "Nothing about the crazy guys who wanted to kill you or why we were in a car chase in an '85 Renault Alpine strapped with enough firepower to bring down a tank?" Shinji ran his hands through his hair, mincing words as though it pained him to say them.
"Look lady, mentally, I'm still somewhere in between here and shitting myself at the Quik-Mart. I don't know anything about any of these guys or why they want to kill me, or why I was sent to a deathtrap to be picked up by Xena the Road Warrior or whoever the hell you are, but rest assured I will include it in the nice long chat I'll be having with my father once I see him." Having spaced out during the monologue, Misato only caught the tail end of Shinji's little rant.
"Oh right, you guys haven't seen each other in a while. How many years has it been now?"
He sighed and turned his head to look out the window at the passing lights "I don't wanna talk about it."
"Oooh I get it, you're one of those mysterious, brooding types aren'tcha?" she teased "You and Rei will get along juuuust great." Little else was said for the rest of the drive, and before long the last of the sun's rays gave way to the pitch black grime of downtown Tokyo-3.