Title: Two Worlds
Author: Jean
Disclaimer: Two Worlds is based on characters and situations that belong to Gainax and Hiroyuki Takei; the former holds honour for Evangelion, and the latter for Shaman King. No money is being made, and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Considerations: Similarities to other stories/events/passages are purely coincidental unless otherwise cited.
Chapter One
New Place, New Face
There was swirling, and all eight of them were getting dizzy as the whole world spun around them. Anna was unconsciously clinging to Yoh's free arm, willing herself to not get sick, as this, she had decided, wasn't good for her image. Yoh, on the other hand, was screaming like the rest of the guys, and it was a comical sight to see all the guys squealing like girls. There was one exception though: Ren wasn't wailing his heart out; he was merely cursing, both in Japanese and in Chinese, and amidst the sickening feeling, Horohoro actually had the time to laugh at Ren's disposition, quite forgetting the panicking Pilica clutching at his arm. Manta was just being his usual cowardly self. Chocolove, on the other hand, had just stopped screaming and was thinking of a way to turn everything into a funny experience, but because the swirling was too great, he only ended up getting swirly eyes and almost got knocked unconscious.
The older men were no better off than the kids. Ryu was screaming and calling for the absent Lyserg, while Faust VIII was simply telling his beloved Eliza that everything would be okay.
The spirits were no better off than the kids or the men, even though they weren't really affected by the dizzying motion. All were lost in the action that was crying and screaming, though the most remarkable were Bason and Amidamaru, the two proud warriors. Bason was crying "Bocchama" with tears streaming down his ghostly face in rivulets. Amidamaru, with all the might a samurai like him should possess, had torrents of tears gushing out of his eyes in spurts, all the while mumbling "Yoh-dono."
All in all, no one would mistake them for being the heroes who had vanquished Asakura, Hao and his mighty Spirit of Fire.
o-o
"Shinji! Hurry up! Why must you be so slow all the time, stupid Shinji?" Asuka asked, managing to throw an insult as she hurried down the flight of stairs. The two of them had gotten an emergency call from Nerv while in the middle of a class.
"Wait up, Asuka. And where's Ayanami?" he tried to keep from stumbling and almost failed.
The redhead momentarily paused, but hurriedly continued her descent with a look of annoyance on her pretty face. "Stupid. She wasn't in school. I don't know why I even bother with you." Then she hastened her steps more, leaving the skinny Shinji behind.
"Wait, A-Asuka," Shinji stammered as he tried to hurry his pace.
Shinji arrived outside of school a whole minute after Asuka, and there he saw Misato madly signalling for him to move faster and get inside the car. He moved fast, wanting very much to be inside the vehicle at that moment. The klaxons hurt his ear as just now he realized they were blaringly loud, maybe because he hadn't heard the alarms in almost a year now. He sighed, thankful that the closed windows somehow lessened the deafening volume of the klaxons, but he was soon wishing he were outside Misato's car when he again felt how it was to be subjected to Misato's driving skills, or the lack thereof.
The brunette, fearful for his life, gripped the hand rest so hard his knuckles turned a deathly white, and when he looked out the window, that was when he realized that the klaxons were deafeningly blaring but there was no evident disturbance.
"Odd," he whispered, but the two ladies with him heard nothing for the klaxons had yet to be turned off.
o-o
"Have the three units on standby atop the Geo-front," Commander Ikari ordered. The Human Instrumentality experience wiped none of his stern visage. He seemed to be the same person as he was, but if there was one thing that did change, it was that he kept to himself more than he did back then.
Misato saluted then turned back to the screen, relaying the command to the three pilots who then went on standby. "Be alert to whatever will happen. We haven't got a feed on this Angel yet, assuming that this is an Angel," Major Katsuragi ordered, face lined with tension.
"Mein Gott! This Angel is taking its damn time!" Asuka's unmistakable voice could be heard from the open line Nerv kept with its pilots.
"Be patient, Asuka. Be thankful for this time. You haven't been in the battlefield for over a year. This gives you time to be re-acquainted with your surroundings," Misato chided her stubborn charge.
"Mmph," was the adamant reply. "It's not like we haven't had stimulation battle when the Angels dropped form the face of the earth!"
A year had passed since the last Angel showed up, and if it hadn't been for apparent disturbance Magi was currently analysing, everyone would have still been happily going about their lives. Despite the peace though, Nerv had kept its pilots on their toes, performing stimulation battles, holding synch tests, and pretty much kept them well-acquainted with their Evas.
o-o
The spinning suddenly stopped, rendering the Shamans and everyone else very much dizzy and very much wanting to throw up. Ren clutched his head, still letting out an impressive stream of colourful words.
Anna, regaining her composure, whacked him on the said head. "Shut the hell up! My ears hurt already, dammit!"
Ren glared at the Itako, rubbing the sore spot where Anna's hand had connected. "Oww…"
Chocolove, awakening from his stupor, piped in, "Hey, is that your dignity I see floating away from you? Oh why, it is!"
Ren turned his fiery glare at Chocolove, but it wasn't affecting the New Yorker. He was about to hit him with his weapon, when he saw the kidder suddenly shrink away from him. Or so he thought until he noticed Anna was standing behind him and was icily glowering at the black Shaman before returning her attention to her fiancé.
"Yoh-" Anna was cut off when their still interim was suddenly turned into a sickening dive.
o-o
Shinji gripped his controls so hard as the pillar of light beaming from the sky grew in intensity. He vaguely heard Major Katsuragi's tactical commands as he felt a severe vertigo wrack his entire being. He thought he was the only one feeling it until he heard a German curse from Soryu's communication link and a ghost of a groan from Ayanami's.
Just as he was about to inquire of this, it stopped, leaving him reeling from the shock. Then the sound of explosion riveted his attention back to his viewing screen. He could see the unmistakable oranges and reds of a fulmination and the accompanying dust cloud.
"Misato, I'm checking it out!" Asuka made to move her Eva, but was stopped by Misato.
"No, we don't know yet what it is. We're still waiting for a surveillance feed and directives from the Commander."
There was an obvious silence, then: "Maya says that no Angel presence could be detected from it. Our cameras are wiped out by the explosion and there's no way we can see what that thing is." Misato sighed and relayed the commander's directives: "Unit 00 and Unit 02 are to investigate the location of the explosion. Unit 01 is to remain in position and is to stay alert to defend Nerv Headquarters if need be."
"Wha- Ayanami! I can take care of it myself! Misato…" Asuka's complaints came through the communication link.
"There would be none of that, Asuka. Follow orders," Misato's voice had unquestionably taken on an authoritative tone.
"Dammit," Asuka muttered, putting her rifle in position as she moved towards the affected area, Unit 00 right beside her.
"Be careful," Misato told them over their links.
o-o
"Ugh," Pilica groaned as she got up from her position on the dirt, "Where the hell are we?"
The others got up as well, some groaning and moaning, and the others dusting themselves off.
"I don't think we're still in Tokyo," Manta voiced out, looking at his surroundings and noticing the towering, unfamiliar, and weird buildings beyond the foliage.
"Ya think so?" Yoh piped in, dusting off his pants. He looked around and noticed what Manta was referring to. "Yeah…guess you're right."
The group gathered around, wary of the unknown surroundings.
Anna crossed her arms over her chest, and in her bossiest voice, started to order everyone around. "The guys will scout the place except Manta, Ren, and Ryu. You three will guard the others with me."
Just as the assigned Shamans were about to move, the ground shook, almost knocking the unsuspecting people to the ground. Manta and Yoh happened to look up simultaneously, and what they thought had been towering, unfamiliar, and weird buildings were apparently not what they first appeared to be.
"The towering, unfamiliar, and weird buildings are not buildings!" the two close friends said in unison.
Anna was beside them in a second, her hand poised, ready to whack their heads. "You've been thinking of those words a long while ago and just now you voice them!" Then she brought her hand down harshly on their heads, a comeuppance to those who acted dumbly around Anna the Itako.
Manta was about to defend himself when again he fell flat on his behind. The ground shook with every step the supposed buildings took. The Shamans erased all forms of joking around and got ready for whatever might come upon them.
"Amidamaru," Yoh asked, sparing his spirit a smile, one that the spirit gladly returned.
The others were about to perform over soul when the towering anthropomorphic machines stopped scant meters away from them.
o-o
"I've got a visual," Asuka informed the headquarters, perfunctorily zooming in the Eva's viewfinder. "They're…what the-!"
"They're people," Rei, who had been quiet all this time, whispered.
Asuka and Rei's visual feeds were transmitted to the Central Dogma.
"I'll open a link." Asuka started to initiate a command to open a communication link when Misato stopped her.
o-o
"Major Katsuragi, have their entry plugs released," Commander Ikari ordered, not taking his eyes off of the video screen.
"What, sir, but we don't know the status of those beings. We are not sure if they are not Angels," Misato protested, seeing how dangerous the situation was.
"I stand by my command, Major," the commander's voice brooked no argument.
"Yes, sir," Major Katsuragi hesitantly obeyed. She then turned back to face the screens where the feeds from inside the cockpits were displayed. "Asuka, Rei, I will have to order you to move your Evas so that your backs are facing the subjects. Your entry plugs will then be released. The safety latch inside is a bit hard to open, but you can open it up. No hostilities whatsoever as long as the subjects don't show any sign of aggression, but stay on your guard. Understood?"
"Yes," the two female pilots answered.
"But, Misato, that's too dangerous!" Shinji interrupted, but he dared not address his father.
"Yes, I know, Shinji, but that's how it goes."
"Yeah, coward, that's how it goes! Plus, it's not like we can be in any danger. Soryu, Asuka Langley is here!" Asuka smugly told off the Unit 01 pilot.
"Don't worry, Shinji-kun, I will protect Pilot Soryu," Rei quietly offered.
"Be ready," Misato said while Asuka kept on ranting about how Rei could stuff it and how the stupid Shinji could use a little spine.
Before Nerv ejected the two entry plugs, Shinji's timid voice came through, "Thank you, Ayanami."
"Stupid, stupid Shinji! Dangerous my ass!" Asuka muttered as she pried her plug open. "Dammit! Open up, you stupid scrap of metal!" She gave it one final push, and, fortunately, the stupid scrap of metal gave in to the redhead's efforts. She stepped out of her plug, just as Rei was stepping out of hers. She scanned the area and saw the subjects scattered, evident that they had been avoiding a direct hit from the plugs.
Jumping from her entry plug, she eyed the subjects warily, never letting her guard down. Then she heard something that quite surprised her:
"Yo!"
-To Be Continued…
Author's notes:
Hallo! I've thought of putting the author's notes at the top, but then that would have made a bad beginning for the story, yeah? Heehee. Anyway, I've decided to make a crossover because…well, I just wanted to. Actually, I've always wondered how the fcked up characters of Evangelion would interact with the crazy crew of Shaman King.
And please do review. If you ever decide to flame me, please make it constructive. Saying that this piece is just shtty or whatever wouldn't be of any help to me. Constructive criticism is always welcome.
Thanks! Cheerio!