Disclaimer: Gainax owns Evangelion, not me. I only own the characters in here that aren't found in Eva canon unless otherwise noted. Keep your lawyers at home or they'll eat lead real fast.
Author's Notes
1) This is my first fic, so try to give me some constructive criticism on my writing. I want to get better and hopefully give you guys a great series. My beta reader is known on this site as Ama no Murakumo, and he also wrote a couple fanfics for Evangelion. Unfortunately, he got into a car accident some time ago and might not be able to update for quite some time due to being in the hospital. In case he can't make it back to the keyboard, he's given permission for me to adopt a couple of his fics to get them back on track if this story does well.
2) There is a special treat waiting for everyone at the end of this first chapter. I got the idea from several other fics I read, so keep reading to find out what it is.
3) If anybody has any ideas on how I can improve the story, feel free to shoot em at me.
4) For all you Gendo-haters out there, I will be bashing the bearded bastard every chance I can possibly get. Normally I would be all for bashing Asuka as well, cause she drives me nuts, but I will try to curb my impulses for all but maybe her introduction chapter for the sake of all the Asuka-lovers out there.
5) The first chapter will deal with Shinji's life before NERV, and will probably go by rather fast so we can get Shinji back in Tokyo-3 for the main story to start, so don't expect any Angel fighting until Chapter 2. I'm still trying to get the major plot points better organized to be frank.
6) You guys may recognize quite a few elements taken from many different anime, games, and books, but the elements are the only things taken. I will only use Original and Evangelion characters in this fic, unless asked to do so otherwise and I'm hit by some inspiration that can make it work.
That takes care of all the major keynotes I wanted to touch on, so let's get right into this thing.
NGE Magic Files, Book 1: The Angel Wars
By BeastLord Zwieg
Chapter 1: New Life! The Ru-Jukas Academy
The Tokyo-3 train station was normally a quiet place. Many homeless often made it their home for the night due to the obscenely low levels of human traffic that went through it. After Second Impact, not many people bothered to use the trains unless they were visiting family in another town. Today, however, was different as a little boy sat on the stairway leading up to the station crying his eyes out. Standing before him stood a tall, grim-faced man surrounded by a group of men who looked ridiculously like Secret Service agents, black shades and all.
"Daddy, why are you leaving me?" the boy asked, tears falling down his face as he glanced up at the man in question.
His face didn't budge an inch from it's stony appearance. "Because I no longer have a use for you Shinji. Your uncle will be here to pick you up soon, so do not try to follow me," the man, known as Gendo Ikari, replied coldly.
Having given the boy his instructions, Gendo turned around and walked to a black sedan that was waiting for him. Shinji could only sit there, too stunned to move or speak, as his father walked out of his life for what seemed to be forever.
Watching the car drive away, Shinji sniffled again and looked around. He hoped his uncle would be here soon. He didn't like being alone in a strange place. Little did the young Ikari know that he was being watched. Smiling softly, a figure stepped out of the shadows. "Hello there young man."
Shinji yelped and swiveled around, coming face to face with an middle-aged man, wearing rather strange clothes. He wore a typical white dress shirt and black slacks, but that was were the normality ended. Over the shirt he wore what looked like a leather vest and a long flowing cloak of scarlet red. On his feet were thick boots and in his hand was a long wooden staff, easily taller than his 5'8" frame. Finally, a pendant containing a large white stone dangled from around his neck. His hair was starting to gray and fade, but his tanned face held a kind look despite his interesting appearance. The youngest Ikari didn't know why, but he felt he could trust this man.
"Excuse me sir, but who are you?" Shinji asked.
The man chuckled and bowed formally. "My name is Renaldo Garrett, teacher at the Ru-Jukas Academy. It's a school of paranormal studies for gifted children from all over the world who begin their education at the age of four or five. I have come with a special invitation for you to join the academy and learn there, as the new school term begins today," Renaldo answered. Shinji's eyes widened at the offer, but then he looked at the man suspiciously.
"What do you mean paranormal studies?" he said, gauging the older man's response. So far, he talked about everything as if it were normal conversation, which meant one of two things to Shinji's simple mind: either the old geezer was off his rocker, or he was actually telling the truth.
"While the academy also teaches normal classes such as history, literature, and the sciences, your main education will be in the skills of magic, alchemy, spirit exorcism, the mind arts, and weapons combat."
Shinji nodded. He was only four years old, but being the son of Gendo Ikari gave him a sixth sense for detecting lies. And right now, what he was hearing seemed like nothing but fact.
"Could I get a demonstration, Garrett-san? If you can prove that this magic exists, then I will gladly accept your invitation." Shinji was fairly convinced, but a demonstration was the only way he would actually accept Renaldo's offer. Just cause he was a kid didn't mean he couldn't be cautious.
The older man smiled. "Certainly," he replied, thrusting his hand out at a tree and concentrating. Shinji gawked as a small red orb of energy appeared in Renaldo's hand before shooting off like a bottle rocket, impacting against a large tree and blasting it into fiery splinters.
The boy blinked twice, pinching himself to make sure he didn't imagine it before turning back to the teacher. "You've got yourself a deal. I wanna learn how to do that!" With that, the two shook hands as Shinji's uncle finally decided to appear.
Renaldo noticed this and smirked. Waving a hand lazily at the bespectacled man, he walked over and whispered something Shinji couldn't hear into his ear. After a minute, Shinji's uncle nodded and walked away, appearing to be in a daze of some sorts. Shinji watched curiously and looked up. "What exactly did you do?" he asked.
"A little memory modification. He'll go through the years thinking that you're living with him and if your father asks for reports on you, he's been programmed to give the bearded fool exactly what he expects. I saw the whole exchange with your father, and I don't trust that man one iota. He'll probably try to force you back for his own gains in the future, but you should be ready for him by the time you graduate in ten years."
Seeing Shinji's nod, Renaldo placed a hand on his shoulder and chuckled. "Don't get too excited about the whole memory altering thing yet though. It usually takes people decades before they can truly master that particular skill. I've never seen a student at the academy that could do even basic memory mod spells by the time they graduate. Now then, we're going to teleport to the school so don't get shocked at finding yourself somewhere else. And don't worry about knowing any other languages, as the area has translation spells around it to make sure everyone can understand everyone else." With that said, Renaldo tapped his staff on the ground twice before the pair vanished in a flash of light.
(Somewhere in the Pyrenees Mountains)
Renaldo smiled as he watched Shinji walking around and observing the sights. He remembered his own youth when he had first come to the academy years ago. Snapping his fingers he called Shinji back over and, pointing to a trail winding up the mountains towards a large castle, they set off.
On the way, Renaldo explained to Shinji how magic and other supernatural forces in the body worked. "Ok Shinji, when you think of your body, imagine it as being a building made up of three floors. The outer-most floor is your physical body which in and of itself has no special properties other then being a container and outlet for the other two floors. The middle floor, your spirit body, is directly connected to your physical body and generates what we call spirit energy to keep your organs and such operating. This energy also goes by other names such as chakra, ki, or bio-energy to name a few since it works your body's biological functions. Understand so far?"
Shinji nodded, prompting the teacher to continue. "The inner-most part of the body is what we call your mana, or magic, core. It contains all of your mana energy that is required for casting magical spells. Almost every single student that starts at the Academy has at least an average mana reserve for their age, though we occasionally get one that has a deficiency in it. These students usually become expert Alchemists, Potion Makers, or Combat Specialists. You actually have a slightly above-average mana level, and hopefully by the time you graduate it will become much larger and more powerful. Your spirit and mana energies are like muscles, in that you need to flex them to make them stronger. That's what we will push you in here along with teaching control: making your reserves much larger. I believe that takes care of the main basics on the subject. Your professors will go over things in more detail when you start studying."
"Also, I probably better tell you about the way a person's power is measured in our world. In paranormal terms, people are assigned a letter ranking based on their level of skill and the weighted strength of both their mana and spirit power, using the letters D, C, B, A, and S. Even further, the letters are divided into low, mid, and high levels. D-classes are the weakest of the bunch, and virtually every academy student starts out as lower D-class. An S-class warrior, the highest rank, hasn't been seen in centuries. The last recorded one was the legendary sorcerer Lae Marcus back in the early 1300s. I myself am considered a mid A-class sorcerer. Perhaps someday you'll be as powerful as me. Now then, let's just be quiet and enjoy the scenery on our way shall we?"
It was almost another hour before they reached the castle, and Shinji could see dozens of other children waiting as he walked up to them and gazed around shyly. Renaldo looked on as he made his way to the front of the group and next to a gaunt-faced, blonde haired younger man who wore a similar outfit to his own, only with a black cloak instead of red and in place of Renaldo's staff he carried a rapier at his side.
He clapped his hands, which gave off a massive sonic boom that turned every head towards his in an instant. "Well, now that I have your attention, I would personally like to welcome all of you to the Ru-Jukas Academy. I am Renaldo Garrett, the school's Advanced Sorcery Professor. Next to me is Professor Axel Reaves, our newest instructor who will hopefully be teaching you Strategy until you graduate." Turning, he gestured to the blonde who curtly nodded.
"For the next ten years, you will live here at the Academy even during the summer and winter breaks, when we normally have events like festivals or contests scheduled to keep you kids from becoming extremely bored. Now before we begin I will inform you that your studies here will not be alone. In order to teach teamwork and comradeship, you will all be grouped into three-person squads before we begin the opening feast. Your squad-mates will be like your brothers and/or sisters here. We have given thorough interviews to each of you to determine what kind of personalities you have, which has aided us in grouping you all into the perfect teams. Now then, let's head inside and get you kids sorted out and put into uniforms." Shinji blinked, remembering the personal questions Renaldo had asked him about halfway up the path to the castle as the massive doors opened and everyone filed inside.
Moving quickly through the halls, Shinji smiled at the many intriguing things he saw in the paintings on the walls. Vials bubbling with potions with a large cauldron in the middle, a warrior wielding a massive sword against a red-scaled dragon, and many other magical events dotted the images. Any doubts Shinji Ikari had about accepting Garrett's invitation to Ru-Jukas vanished in that hall.
Reaves opened a door on the left and pointed inside, instructing everyone to sit. As the brand new magic students took their seats, Renaldo came in with a notebook. "Alright everyone, quiet down. This notebook contains all of the teams, so we will go ahead and commence with the assignments. When I call your name, you and your squad will take the seats down here designated by your team name. First up is Unicorn Squad…"
As the older man read off the names, Shinji's mind wandered even as he kept one ear open for his own name. He wondered what his teammates would be like, and if they would get along. He figured that they would, since the interviews were apparently designed for forming cohesive squads. But still, Shinji wasn't the best at socializing and he was admittedly a little frightened at the thought of meeting complete strangers his own age. For some reason, he found it easier to talk to older people, though maybe his teammates would help him get over that.
"Next up, Phoenix Squad…Shinji Ikari." Hearing his name, Shinji's head perked up in anticipation as he stood in front of everyone.
"Orpheus Rainier Gundor." Looking around, Shinji saw a pale, rail-thin boy get up. His black hair was scruffy and looked like a bird's nest, and his eyes were a piercing violet. He wore a simple polo shirt and jeans, but everyone would be getting their uniforms after the assignments and after the first six years, everyone was allowed to wear whatever they felt comfortable in. The boy took his place next to Shinji and looked at him, smiling warmly. Shinji began to feel his worries vanish a little.
"And Nicole Agnes Hildebrandt." Shinji and Orpheus both glanced up as a slightly pale girl made her way down. Her light brown hair was cropped short and curled at the tips, and her playful olive-green eyes sparkled with something Shinji was sure amounted to mischief.
'Interesting team…a short Japanese boy, a toothpick, and a trouble-maker,' Shinji thought amusingly. He knew that his teammates were likely good people, but he felt that the names would keep him entertained for the first couple of days as he settled in. His thoughts were cut short as Renaldo called out for what appeared to be the last time.
"Finally we have Dragon Squad…Takumi Hirohino, Edge Sebastian Howard, and Sophia Aileen Zetos." Shinji watched as the last three students made their way down the stairs. Takumi was Japanese, like Shinji, with slicked-back dark brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. Edge looked European like Orpheus but was darker-skinned and had dirty blond hair braided into a ponytail with chestnut colored eyes. Sophia looked at Nicole and the rest of Phoenix Squad disdainfully through her powder-blue eyes, flipping her long black hair behind her in a huff. Shinji wasn't sure what they had done to deserve the girl's ire, but made it a point to try and avoid Dragon Squad like the plague. At least until he knew some spells anyway...
"Congratulations to all of you on your assignments. Now we will join the rest of the student body for the opening feast, and afterwards you and your teammates will be allowed the rest of the day to get to know each other better. And trust me, you better make use of it since classes start tomorrow. Good luck to each of you!" Renaldo finished as the newly christened squads began conversing among each other on the way to the feast.
(Later that evening)
"So...I guess we're gonna be partners in crime for the next ten years," Orpheus said as Shinji sat down on a couch in the lounge area. Getting that map from Professor Rubald, who apparently taught Beginner's Combat, had been a godsend for the three. Otherwise they likely would've gotten lost in the expansive castle.
Shinji chuckled as Nicole eagerly bounced on the balls of her feet. "It appears so. We better get used to each other then, so why don't we talk about ourselves to learn about each other," he said.
"What should we talk about? I'm not usually good at this kind of thing," Orpheus replied. Nicole smiled and jumped onto the couch next to him, prompting a small blush from the black-haired boy.
"How about likes, dislikes, hobbies, and our dreams? That should be enough to start us off," she chirped. "I'll go ahead and go first so you guys know how it's done. I'm Nicole Hildebrandt, but you guys can call me Nikki and I'm from America. I have 2 younger brothers right now but my mom said she's expecting a girl to be born in about five months, so I'll finally have a sister too. I like to play, sing, dance, and tell jokes. What I don't like are jerks and being bored. My hobbies are learning different styles of dancing and wrestling around with the other kids from home. As for my dreams, I want to become a doctor and also meet a nice boy and have a big family someday like my grandma did." Her last comment elicited blushes from both boys that time.
Orpheus coughed lightly and leaned back. "I guess I'll go next. My name is Orpheus Gundor, but some people call me Orph for short, and I came here from a small village outside Bern, Switzerland. I like to read and play the ocarina my uncle hand-carved for me. I don't like bullies or cowards. My hobbies are gardening and exploring. They told me that because my mana core was severely underdeveloped at birth, I can't use mana energy at all like most other people. I hope to become a great alchemist though, even if I can't use mana." Shinji and Nikki both looked at him with a hint of admiration. Shinji suddenly remembered what Renaldo had said about people who couldn't use their mana energy.
Shinji smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "Looks like I'm last. I'm Shinji Ikari from Japan. I like thinking about any memories of my late mother Yui, and I hate my father Gendo for abandoning me after my mother's death. My hobbies are trying new things and reading a good book. My dreams? I want to become stronger and protect those I care about, especially from people like my father. I also wouldn't mind opening a restaurant someday, as that's what my mother wanted to do before she died."
Orpheus and Nikki smiled and the three shook hands, sealing their new-found friendship. The academy wouldn't know what hit it...
(Ten Years Later)
"Damn you Ikari! You'll pay for this!" a voice bellowed as Shinji zipped through the halls towards his team's workshop laughing his ass off. In the ten years they had been studying at Ru-Jukas, Phoenix Squad had quickly become one of the most talked about topics ever within the castle walls. To their professors, they were model students, each picking up their own specialties and soaking up the knowledge in those areas like a small colony of sponges lived in their brains. To the other students, however, they were a total and absolute nightmare. Nikki had quite thoroughly corrupted her two friends and now together they were the worst group of practical jokers in the school's history. As it was, Dragon Squad from their year ended up being the target of their pranks more than 80 percent of the time. Less than a week after their first term had begun, Takumi had made the grave mistake of trying to pick on Shinji because of his size, which drew the combined wrath of Nikki and Orpheus. Combining ideas, the two had guarded Shinji's honor like a pack of rabid dogs and quickly retaliated at the constantly sneering Hirohino. The professors to this day still had no clue how Takumi had ended up on the ceiling of the Main Hall in that traumatizing position, considering the ceiling was over 100 meters above the floor and the students hadn't yet learned levitation spells. Not only that, Takumi still couldn't look at a banana without running away in abject horror.
Shinji had asserted himself as the squad's sorcery and black magic expert, specializing in wind spells while his overall spell arsenal grew constantly. Even though still a student, he had become Renaldo's unofficial apprentice and was mastering new spells every several weeks. He also proved himself to be an adept wielder of twin daggers, using his small frame and speed to his advantage. Shinji was also born with a unique ability the professors called the Mana Well that allowed him to not only use less energy to cast his spells, he could cast them at an inhuman speed, making him one of the most dangerous fighters at Ru-Jukas. Unfortunately, he could only use the technique once every three days and it only lasted five minutes at the most. Finally, he was the team's runic carver, putting magical runes on every bit of equipment he and his friends used to increase their performance and durability. His biggest glaring weaknesses were his fear of water and his inability to grasp even the most basic concepts of alchemy, regardless of his talent for cooking, which shared some traits with the science.
Orpheus, however, proved to be a genius at alchemy, the science of altering and fusing items into different or more complex ones. Even though he enjoyed cooking as much as Shinji, Orph was the one better able to understand the ideas and chain them together in item synthesis. In addition, he had focused his entire training style mainly around increasing his spirit energy reserves. As a result, he was physically the strongest student at the academy, as he could pump large amounts of his spirit energy throughout his body to make himself absurdly powerful despite his body size and age. Like Shinji, he also had a strange special ability that made his fighting style even more dangerous when used: it was discovered halfway into Fourth Year that Orpheus was a Metallimancer, someone who could enhance his body's physical capabilities through the consumption of metals such as tin, iron, or zinc. The metals' effects tended to wear off fairly quickly, though, and using the skill could easily put a large drain on Orph's energy reserves if used too much in a short time frame. Finally, he had become skilled in the use of various styles of martial arts, and was capable of fighting off much more powerful fighters with only his fists and some alchemic equipment, which usually cosisted of assorted bombs (the boy, for some reason nobody could pin down, had an obsession with causing explosions, even generating them when his experiments didn't warrant one). His main weaknesses proved to be not only his inability to use magic, but the fact that he was absolutely terrified of heights.
Nikki was the team strategist, her skill at pulling pranks making itself manifest in her uncanny ability to analyze combat situations and think on the fly. While she had only an average level of mana, she proved to be quite capable in the white magic associated with healing and defensive spells, which normally required more control than raw power. Her special technique, Angelic Seal, was perfect for her casting of shield spells. The ability not only increased the power of her defensive magic, it caused most minor spells to be reflected back at the caster. Like Shinji, however, she could only use it once every three days for roughly five minutes. She was also a specialist in brewing potions and herbalism, adding credence to her status as the team medic. Her offensive skills were mainly focused on long-range, as she could throw her two bladed chakram with devastating accuracy. Her biggest weaknesses were her tendency to act rashly when excited and a fear of mice and poisonous animals, something the other students quickly learned not to take advantage of after Shinji and Orpheus had dealt with the first moron who tried to slip a mouse down her uniform blouse.
All three of the teens were listed in the academy records as having mid C-class power rankings which, while not strong enough to outmuscle even the weakest professors in the school, were more than enough to trounce all but the other three squads still remaining from their year.
As it was, Phoenix Squad was virtually inseperable compared to other teams at Ru-Jukas and the professors knew better than to try and force them apart outside their dorms. Their teamwork skills were considered the best in the school as they learned to protect each other from attacks by the other students, usually attempted revenge for some odd prank they had pulled. One thing almost everybody was getting in on concerning them, however, was the betting pool that tried to pinpoint when Orpheus would finally ask Nikki out on a date. Shinji was the only one not holding a current bet, as he figured they wouldn't confess until next year at least and he didn't want to profit from his friends' love lives anyway. Ever since an incident involving Dragon Squad, a Griffin, and a rubber duck during Seventh Year, though, he knew that the two liked each other (he still couldn't believe what they had done with that rubber duck...and he probably didn't wanna know where they got the idea from either).
Their wardrobes and appearances had also changed quite a bit once they were allowed to get out of the academy uniforms. Shinji had opted for a standard sorcerer's cloak in forest green and a silver-lined griffin hide vest over his normal attire of a black polo shirt, sweat pants, and running shoes. Underneath everything, he wore a skin tight bodysuit woven from magically enhanced unicorn hair and hydra scales for added protection. In addition, his hair had grown out a little bit, but only to the nape of his neck and 'it still looked like a neatly kept mop that lived on his head,' according to his friends. Finally, he wore a pure silver earring in his right ear. Silver was one of the most powerful magical amplifiers among metals and the earring gave Shinji a source of extra mana strength should he need to draw on it.
Orpheus had decided that after being teased for having what other students dubbed 'a fancy name,' then he may as well look the part. His new outfit consisted of a mithril chain mail bodysuit underneath a creme dress shirt, blue werewolf hide vest, and gray slacks, with a navy trench coat woven from elven silk over everything. The coat itself had a copy of the rune symbolizing 'fortune' stitched onto the shoulders and back. He also wore a platinum ring on his left index finger. While not a mana amplifier like silver, platinum was an excellent conductor of any kind of supernatural energy. With a couple defensive runes carved into it by Shinji, most minor attack spells simply ricocheted off of him on impact. Strapped around his chest was a military ammo belt that he had redesigned to hold a multitude of cylindrical vials, each one containing various combinations of metals soaked in a basic alcohol solution for his Metallimancer abilities. The biggest change was on his head, interestingly enough. He finally managed to straighten his hair out and had allowed it to grow to his shoulder blades, putting deep purple streaks in random places to match his eyes. Nikki loved the look, but many other students claimed he looked like a demented nobleman, the whole appearance made even more intimidating by his tall 5' 4" frame.
Nikki underwent a change almost as drastic as her crush's. Her hair had grown to roughly halfway between the middle of her back and the shoulders, though it still kept the light brown tone and curled tips. One source of constant embarrassment yet entertainment for the girl was the fact that her bust had become rather large for her age. At 14, she had what would be considered average C-cups, easily having the largest chest of any girl at the academy. It was embarrassing due to all the stares she got from the older students, male and female, but she also found great pleasure in using her rack to tease Orpheus to no end. The boy had a nobility complex longer than the Great Wall, and always tried to avoid looking like a pervert, even if Nikki privately admitted that she enjoyed it when he did chance a glance at her. Her clothes had gone on a similar tangent to Orph's in being a tad formal. Her top was a loose fitting red blouse meant to cover her assets, though the neck was low enough that a generous amount of cleavage could be seen if looking down from a high vantage point. Below the waist, she wore a black pair of hip-hugging pants that she had sewed together herself using dragon skin leather. Finally, she wore a white cloak with black inner lining over the ensemble, signifying her status as a medical sorceress.
Back with Shinji, he ran into the workshop and slammed the door shut, still laughing loudly as Orpheus looked up from his cauldron. Sighing, the taller boy added more ingredients to the concoction and tapped his foot. "Ok Shin what did you do to Hirohino this time?" he asked exhasperated.
"What makes you think I did anything? He could just be blaming me for his own rotten luck," the Ikari boy replied, trying way too hard to look innocent.
Nikki looked up from her book and fixed Shinji with a blank stare. "Let's see...you came in here running while laughing like a maniac, you can't stand Tak almost as much as your old man, and let's face it...it just has to be you on principle cause you're Shinji Ikari."
Shinji chuckled and held up his hands in defeat. "Ok, so I may have charmed one of the suits of armor to dry hump him everytime he sees a girl. What's so bad about that?"
Orpheus snorted. "You did what?! I almost wanna go take pictures, if I wasn't certain that the view would mentally scar me for life," he said amusedly. Shinji was always unpredictable with his pranks. It was like a lottery drawing: you never knew just what he was gonna hit you with.
Shinji laughed again. "I just had to get him one more time before the graduation ceremony tonight. I couldn't help myself. Anyways, speaking of graduation, what exactly are you guys gonna do after we leave? I'll be heading back to Japan myself. Professor Garrett said he just got word of a letter from you-know-who demanding my presence in Tokyo-3." Orpheus took on a serious expression as he walked over to Shinji and laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Then I'm going with you. You're my brother in everything but blood Shin, and I really have nothing waiting for me back in Switzerland. Besides, the chance to help you get back at tall, bearded, and ugly should be fun."
Nikki jumped up and pumped her fists into the air. "Count me in too. My parents told me to go out and explore the world after graduation, and what better way to go than with my best friends!" she exclaimed. Both boys smiled and nodded, happy to have the girl along for the ride.
Suddenly, the door burst open to reveal an enraged Takumi wearing torn robes and with a pink-dyed suit of armor wrapped around his leg, humping it like a dog that's been doped up on viagra. Unfortunately for him, Orph's caulderon was right next to the door when it exploded with a loud BANG before he could utter a sound.
The inky black smoke that enveloped the room threw the teens into hacking fits as they shoved the windows open in an attempt to air out the workshop. After the dust cleared, Orpheus glanced sadly at the remains of the large pot and the charred body of Takumi lying unconscious on the ground.
"What the hell...? I didn't even use any flammable or explosive materials. Why the hell did it blow up again?" he cried, lamenting the loss of his work.
Nikki giggled and wrapped her arms around his playfully as he blushed cherry red at the contact. "Because, Orpheus dear, that's your biggest talent: you make things explode without even trying," she said. They all chuckled lightly and dragged Takumi out into the hall, leaving him there for his squad to find later.
The time seemed to drag on forever as the three waited for the graduation ceremony. Shinji tried practicing his spellwork, but found he couldn't concentrate enough to even focus a simple fireball. Orpheus and Nikki had the same problems with their concentration, though they tried not to show their frustration with the way time seemed to crawl along at a snail's pace.
Once the graduation festivities finally rolled around and ended, Phoenix Squad was gathered in the corner of the Main Hall talking quietly amongst themselves as their classmates milled about. The ceremony itself was nothing special really by any means. Principal Izumi and Vice Principal Mueller simply shook hands with each graduate and presented them with their diploma certificate, which also doubled as their sorcery and alchemy practicioner's license. The students' parents were allowed to attend the event, which easily doubled the number of bodies in the Main Hall. Shinji didn't have any problems with being alone at graduation, as Renaldo had been more of a father to him then Gendo ever could have been, and having his mentor and friends there was enough for him to be happy. Orpheus unsurprisingly was alone as well, considering he and his family hadn't parted on the best of terms. Nikki was the only one who had any family in attendance, but her aunt couldn't stay long after the ceremony before she had to return home to help the girl's parents with housework and babysitting.
The three laughed quietly at one of Nikki's jokes when Dragon Squad approached, their leader looking positively livid. Takumi and Shinji had it out for each other ever since the former's first attempt at bullying. Both were black magic specialists, though Takumi favored lightning spells to Shinji's wind. Shinji usually had the last laugh anyway, since Takumi like most bullies couldn't handle it when the people he bullied started fighting back.
Edge and Orpheus had their own private rivalry going, usually concerning their combat skills. At least twice a week since sixth year, Edge would challenge Orpheus to a duel in the school music room where Orph practiced his ocarina. Thus far, the record stood at 302-168-62 in Orpheus's favor, despite the fact that Edge fought with a massive broadsword and Orpheus with his bare hands.
Sophia and Nikki were even more heated in their dislike of each other than the boys. Maybe it because they were girls...but who could tell? Widely considered the most beautiful girls at Ru-Jukas, the two tended to get into catfights when they were alone simply on the basis of their vast differences. Whereas Nikki was friendly, eager to help others, and just plain sweet; Sophia was arrogant, snobbish, and lazy. Phoenix Squad always wondered how Sophia had become so popular with an attitude like that. Sometimes Nikki joked that the other girl could only graduate if her teammates bailed her out due to her habit of just lying around the grounds half the day instead of doing her assignments. In fact, Sophia's only real interest was in the Herbalism class, where she outperformed everyone except Nikki, which burned her to no end.
Takumi pointed at Shinji and snarled, "You're gonna pay for that armor prank this morning Ikari! Do you have any idea just who you're dealing with?"
Without skipping a beat Shinji retorted, "Why, did you forget who you are?"
Everybody within earshot starting laughing as Takumi's face turned an interesting shade of tomato. Even Edge was chuckling at his teammate's goof. 'Tak walked straight into that one,' he thought to himself as he and Orpheus simply stared each other down. Even if their friends hated each other with a burning passion, the two close-range fighters probably had the closest thing to a friendship between the Phoenix and Dragon squads, though it was more of a respect for each other's abilities. Edge could quite handily defeat any student not named Orpheus Gundor.
Growling, Takumi huffed and turned around. "Just you wait Shinji Ikari, I'll get you if it's the last thing I do!" he yelled, stalking off with Sophia trailing him like a lost puppy. Edge simply shook his head and followed his teammates.
Not able to resist taking another crack at him, Shinji yelled back, "While I'm flattered that you want me Hirohino, I just don't swing that way!" Orpheus and Nikki snorted and fell to their knees giggling as they heard Takumi's strangled roar at the jibe.
The three continued chatting for a couple more minutes before being interrupted again, this time by Renaldo. "Shinji, I'll need you to come to my office when you're done here. I have to talk to you for a bit about you-know-what," he said quietly to the young Japanese boy. Shinji cocked an eyebrow.
"There's no need for secrecy around my squad, Garrett-sensei. Orph and Nikki know everything. Besides, they've already offered to go with me back to Japan and we have time now to speak with you," he replied in a serious tone. Renaldo sighed and nodded.
"I should've known they would. Have you guys all mastered the translation spells yet?" the older man asked. The teens chuckled, much to Renaldo's confusion.
"We actually don't need them even though we have mastered them," Nikki quipped. "We've been studying our native languages together and all three of us are completely fluent in Japanese, English, and German."
The news startled the middle-aged professor. 'They've all become fluent in two languages outside of their native one? My word, these kids will never cease to surprise me,' he thought. Shaking his head in embarrassment, Renaldo laughed lightly.
"Well I suppose that makes things much easier then. Why don't you three come up to my office and we'll talk about this in private."
Following their teacher, the three friends stayed quiet along the way, passing a glance at the dorm halls as they ascended the stairway. The teacher's offices were on the fourth floor of the seven-floor castle's east wing, giving the professors a wonderful view of the mountain valleys below. The student dorms encompassed the entire second floor, with girls living in the northern half and boys to the south. Above the main seven floors, the castle had four cardinal towers where several classes took place plus the central tower where the Principal and Vice-Principal's offices were located.
They reached Garrett's office in the back of the wing in silence, watching as the man opened the door and invited them in. Shinji, Orpheus, and Nikki all sat down and waited for Renaldo to speak. Considering the circumstances, they decided that it would be better to wait until their teacher gave them the whole story before they said anything.
"Alright you three," he began, "it appears that my fears about Gendo Ikari were quite correct. He has summoned Shinji back to Tokyo-3, though for what reason I have no clue. As potent as my information networks are, Gendo hides his tracks and goals extremely well. The little information I have on him is just basic knowledge about NERV, the organization he works for. Apparently it's a specially created paramilitary organization that was started by the U.N. after Second Impact, and Ikari is Supreme Commander there. There seems to be more to NERV's creation and finances than the U.N., but whoever is involved is even more adept at hiding then Gendo. My contacts can hardly track even a hint of a trace of them. I guess I better give you this now and see what you kids think."
His briefing complete, Renaldo pushed a letter across the desk and watched as Shinji took it and unfolded the paper. It was probably the shortest letter any of the three had ever seen. It only had one word in its entirety.
Come!
-Gendo Ikari
Orpheus whistled. "I'll give the man one thing...he has brass balls to wait ten years and then send something like this out of the blue." Nikki nodded.
"Definitely. The man must think Shinji is some kind of obedient dog for him to believe that this would work."
Shinji chuckled and tore the letter in half. "Well I suppose it worked anyway, because I'm going. If Gendo Ikari wants me to come, he's gonna get what he wants," he said with an obvious smirk plastered across his face.
'Oh he'll get what he wants, but the fucker is gonna regret it before I'm done with him,' Shinji thought as his smirk grew even wider. Orpheus and Nikki both had similar thoughts going through their minds while they thought about what Shinji had told them about Gendo's abandonment.
Renaldo sighed. "So I guess there's no stopping you?" He saw three heads nod in unison. "Very well then. Just be careful. My contacts in Japan have warned me that odd things are happening in Tokyo-3. The energy vibrations there are strangely distorted and flucuating wildly. Something's going down in that city, and it could be extremely dangerous."
Shinji shrugged his shoulders lazily. "Eh, we're used to danger. Professor Dielgear taught us after all." The aging sorcerer blinked. Markus Dielgear, the eccentric professor who taught Advanced Combat, was considered an rampaging psychopath by the majority of the student body and even most of the other professors. To be honest, Orpheus was the only person in the academy's walls who had ever attacked the man's assignments with relish. Everybody else was usually terrified for their physical and mental health whenever they attended one of his classes...
"I'll give you that point. Markus is more intimate with danger than anybody on the planet, so hopefully you kids are prepared enough for this. Regardless, stay on your toes and keep training yourselves to be stronger. You three may be the toughest squad in the school, but you're still just a group of mid-C class fighters. There's always a bigger fish out there, and I don't want any of you to get seriously hurt or killed. Here, take this to help you," Renaldo said, slowing pushing a small device to the group. It looked similar to a GPS system that the students were required to learn how to operate in Technology class, but it had two strange angled antennae sticking out of the top that were spinning in slow circles.
"What's this thing?" Orpheus asked, inspecting it closely. Of the three, the young alchemist had the strongest mechanical knowledge. His intensive studies in alchemy, the physical sciences, and the various metals he used made sure of that.
"It's a spectral analyzer. It tells you the relative power of whatever you point it at. Try it on me," Renaldo answered. Orpheus said nothing but pointed the machine at the teacher and activated it. Both antennae spun faster than before and the device blipped a few times before the number '146,000' appeared in green lettering on the screen.
"That number is my overall strength level. I'm mid A-class, so the number is really high. Each class has a specific range: 0-20,000 is considered D-class level, 20,001-70,000 is C-class, 70,001-120,000 is B-class, 120,001-170,000 is A-class, and anything above 170,000 is considered S-class. Why don't you kids try it out on each other now?" he explained.
Shinji nodded and looked at Orpheus. The taller boy smiled widely and pointed the analyzer at his friend. Soon, a green 61,000 flashed on the screen. Smirking, Shinji took it and pointed it at Nikki, whose power came in at a respectable 55,000. Turning to Orpheus, he repeated the process. Orph's power level frankly shocked Renaldo, as it was just below Shinji's at 60,000.
'Impossible! Even without a proper mana core, his power level is that high at 14 years old?! Shinji and Nicole are both above average for their age, but they can train both their mana and spirit bodies, which brings their numbers up naturally. It appears Markus was right about young Gundor...' he thought to himself.
He was pulled out of his thoughts by the expectant stares of his students. "Hmm, well the three of you are easily among the strongest students at Ru-Jukas. If you keep training even harder, I wouldn't be surprised if you became B-classes by the end of next year," he told them smiling. "Still, always keep your skills and senses honed. You don't know what could be awaiting you in Tokyo-3. Now, I believe that Principal Izumi should be wrapping up his spiel right about this time. I just want the three of you to know that I'm very proud of you and the progress you've made here. I think of you as the children I never had. Why don't you go ahead and finish packing and tomorrow I'll teleport you to Osaka-2 so you can catch the train. May as well give Gendo the impression that you lived there for the past ten years."
With that said, the three friends smiled and hugged their aging teacher before running off to their dorm rooms. After they slammed the door, Renaldo chuckled and lit up the pipe he saved for special occasions.
Tokyo-3 was about to become a much more interesting place with those three involved.
That takes care of Chapter 1. Rambling time! It took me forever to get this thing typed out, but I'm rather proud of the finished product. Send me lots of reviews and tell me what you think. Also, I promised you guys a treat, so it's time I delivered.
You all will have the chance to decide who ends up in a relationship with Shinji! You are welcome to choose any girl you think would be a good fit for our young hero, even a girl from another anime or game. Send me your votes via either reviews or PM, and we'll keep a running tally. The contest will end after Chapter 7 has been uploaded so you'll have plenty of time to vote. Also, I've got a little trivia question to add a bit of spice to this first round of voting. Anybody who can figure out where I got the inspiration for Orpheus's Metallimancer ability before Chapter 2 goes up gets their vote counted double. SEND ALL ANSWERS TO THIS QUESTION BY PM PLEASE! I'm still trying to decide who exactly I want Shinji with to be honest, so I'll cast my lot in the upload of Chapter 2. Good luck everyone!
Next time on The Angel Wars, Chapter 2: Return! Shinji's Furious Storm Blades.
Let's make this a good story everyone. This is BeastLord Zwieg, signing off until next time!