Wacky Elven Thesis
The first chapter's reception was pretty good. As promised, here's another chapter.
Shinji made a habit of waking up before either of his roommates did.
It gave him a time of peace and quiet, however brief, and a chance to get a head start on breakfast before Asuka or Misato awoke.
Misato was... to be blunt... a slob. She couldn't keep her own living space clean for even a day before it became a health hazard, and because of her housekeeping inadequacies, Shinji had to handle the vast bulk of the day-to-day household maintainance. Despite the woman's failings as a guardian, though, she obviously cared about her charges quite a bit, which was admittedly more than Shinji was used to.
Asuka was often demanding and abrasive, with quite the chip on her shoulder. She often appeared pushy or domineering... and, honestly, she was, from time to time... but she brought an energy and a vitality into Shinji's life that he knew he otherwise probably wouldn't have. She also at least put some effort into keeping the apartment habitable, which made generally life a bit easier for Shinji.
If someone were to ask him whether he'd trade in the life he had now for something else, he'd ultimately decline, even as dysfunctional and chaotic as his relationship with Asuka and Misato was, and as much pain as piloting EVA caused him. Shinji had to admit, it was the closest thing he could remember to having a family, and a purpose. The boy thought he was happy with the way things were.
Still, it would've been nice if someone could at least verbally appreciate his work from time to time. Just knowing someone who would look at the effort he put into things and say, 'thank you' or 'good work'... having someone there for him, who just enjoyed being in his company... if Shinji was really honest with himself, that was all he wanted. ... and maybe a girlfriend.
The EVA-01 pilot shook the fantasy from his mind, chuckled at how pointless such a daydream was, and began to cook.
It had been a long journey for Lucy, and there had been times when it had seemed like it would never end. Then she'd wised up and stolen a sports car from some rich guy she stumbled across and murdered. It still wound up taking the better part of a day, but that was better than going on foot for potentially a week or more.
Sure, Lucy had never had drivers' education or any sort of instruction in how to operate a motor vehicle, but she still managed to cross a few hundred miles of highway and only cause a few dozen accidents, so certainly she believed she couldn't be that bad. The drive had still left her completely exhausted, and she'd slept like a corpse that night. Really, it was a miracle that the government hadn't managed to find her while she was asleep, given how the alert should have been raised from the multiple times that she'd had to steal gasoline.
But all of that toil, that effort, would soon be rewarded! At last, Tokyo-3 was in sight! Lucy was just one figurative step away from finding him, she could feel it! The one and only soul that had ever treated her with kindness, that had accepted Lucy despite her being a freak of nature! THE BOY THAT SHE HAD COME TO LOVE!
Lucy slapped herself back to the present, before favoring the fortress city - now only a few miles away - with a determined gaze. "If I keep getting caught up in my daydreams like that, I'll never be able to make them a reality," she told herself.
Since the car wouldn't start due to having been crash-parked the night before, Lucy loosened up her neck before resolutely making her way toward the city. Hand over her heart, Lucy declared, "Just you wait, Shinji. I'll find you one way or another, and then we can be happy together, like before..."
The next day, Shinji was just minding his business, walking to school as usual. It was a rather typical sort of day, and Shinji saw nothing out of the ordinary about it.
The sun was shining, the cicadas were making that really goddamn annoying sound they make, and there was a really cute pink-eyed girl that he'd never seen before, gazing at him from off in the distance - wait, what?
Shinji blinked, rubbed his eyes, and looked again.
Unlike a similar event when Shinji had first arrived in Tokyo-3, this time the girl didn't vanish while he wasn't looking.
Shinji closed his eyes again and counted to four, before opening them once again. Had to make sure this wasn't some kind of hallucination, after all.
Nope, the girl still wasn't gone, so Shinji concluded that this girl was probably real, unlike the last one. The scientific method in action, everybody.
Now, normally Shinji would probably have just gone on to school, and ultimately put the girl out of his mind. But the girl was on his path to the school, so he'd end up passing her by anyway. Besides, she was probably looking at someone else in his general vicinity, or even just watching nothing in particular.
This idea attempting to entrench itself in his mind, Shinji resumed his walk, now slightly increasing his pace to make up for the time he'd spent standing still. Didn't want to be late, after all.
But, as Shinji belatedly realized, there was a problem with his theory. Somehow, without him noticing, the crowds seemed to have mysteriously vanished for some time now, and there was neither man nor object of any remote significance in his immediate location except for Shinji himself.
While Shinji had of course noticed the girl already, it wasn't until he and the girl were just a few meters apart that they made proper eye contact. A strange sense of familiarity came over him, on getting a better look at her, and for some reason, she smiled fondly at him.
She was leaning towards him a little, her hands clasped behind her back. She was wearing a knit ski cap, a blue windbreaker, and a white skirt that went to her knees.
"It's been a long time," she said.
Shinji was, needless to say, confused. Did this mysterious girl know him? Shinji didn't believe so, but he couldn't say it was impossible. But then, why would she have sought him out? Shinji was sure wasn't anything special; he was only useful for piloting EVA.
Possibly she had him confused for someone else?
"I'm sorry, miss, but, um..." Shinji searched desperately for a way to make his question not sound rude, but didn't have much luck. "...do I know you?"
Shinji was far from an expert at reading people, but looking at her expression, he was pretty sure that he'd somehow hurt the girl's feelings.
Dammit. I suck at talking to people.
The girl tried to recover herself, and awkwardly said, "Well, we were small children, so I guess I can't really blame you for having forgotten about me... And we only met for a short time anyway, so..."
To say that Lucy was frustrated would be, naturally, an understatement. Even though she'd had nothing but Shinji on her mind for the past ten years - barring the occasional fantasies about widespread vengeance on humanity for the imprisonment and excruciatingly painful experiments she'd endured - it made sense that Shinji would probably have led something closer to a normal life in the time since then.
So while she was extremely hurt to realize that he seemed to have forgotten her, she thought she understood why. And while she might be able to make him remember her if she revealed her horns, she really would prefer to have done that in private, under more controlled circumstances.
As it was, anybody at all could show up out of nowhere and ruin everythi-
BANG.
A bullet whizzed right by Lucy's nose, so close that she could feel the air movement as it passed.
The diclonius quickly turned to face the general direction the bullet had come from, before tackling Shinji to the pavement in an effort to shield him from any further shots. As this happened, her vectors instinctively activated and formed an invisible wall to protect them both.
Lucy's first thought, once she could think again, was that it felt very nice to be pressed up against Shinji, even in their current circumstances.
Her second thought, on how to retaliate against the attacker - honestly, using a sniper on her was totally fair game, but that asshole could've hit Shinji! - was to just smash everything until she got to the assailant. Of course, she was then reminded of the panicking, very adorable young man pinned beneath her, and the fact that killing people right in front of him would be a very bad way to resurrect her relationship with him. Lucy might well have been crazy by one definition or another, but she wasn't stupid.
God dammit all to hell, I was starting to think I'd lost them for good... wait, could they have been in Tokyo-3 all along, just waiting to ambush me once I made my move? DAMMIT! Okay, okay, I need to break what I can to Shinji, try to make sure he doesn't try to push me away, and get us both out of here alive and - at least for Shinji - unhurt.
"I'd really wanted our reunion to be something special, Shinji," she began, still casting about her gaze in search of the sniper, "but it looks like the universe didn't like that idea. So I'm going to have to give you the short version instead. I promise I'll give a better explanation later."
Turning to make eye contact with him - God, he had such beautiful eyes - Lucy asked, "Is that okay?"
At that time, another shot rang out, but this time the bullet impacted harmlessly on Lucy's vectors, flattening against the invisible psychic wall before it fell to the ground.
Shinji noticed that, and while apparently unsure whether he was more terrified or confused, didn't have much choice but to nod and hope for the best.
Taking the lack of a third shot to mean that the military was calling for reinforcements, Lucy said, "Right, I'll make it as short as I can. I..."
The diclonius hesitated, wondering where she needed to start, and where she might need to substitute truth for lies. For the short term, naturally, and only for his own good.
"I have paranormal abilities, and the organization that hired that sniper wants me because of them. They are the absolute worst sort of people. I've been tortured, experimented on, cut open for surgery, and generally treated more like a rabid animal than a human being."
Shinji, naturally, was horrified by the girl's claims. What horrified him even more, however, was the almost blasé tone she used in talking about it. Just who was this girl, and what kind of people - assuming she was telling the truth, but surely nobody would lie about something like that - could do such horrible things to another human being? Even Shinji's own father, Gendo Ikari, surely wouldn't do something so atrocious to a person young enough to be his child.
And, why was this girl interested in Shinji anyway?
The ground beneath them began to rumble, or at least Shinji thought so, but he paid it little mind.
"Anyway," the girl then started blushing as she continued, "because of our past, which apparently you don't remember and I don't have time to go into now... you're the most important person in the world to me, and the only thing that ever gave me hope was the memory of our time together."
She then, without warning, kissed him. It was warm. And... kind of nice, if he was honest. And then it was over. Under better circumstances, Shinji probably would've liked to kiss her again.
As the girl got to her feet and extended her hand to help him up, Shinji asked, "Okay, I guess, but... what's your name?"
The girl began to smile, and said, "My name is K-"
"LUCY, KNEEL ON THE GROUND AND SURRENDER!"
Badly startled, the girl scowled darkly and turned to the source of the interruption.
Just as she was about to make a breakthrough and properly introduce herself, the military had to screw up everything. Typical.
Then again, she and Shinji had been so engrossed in each other that they'd somehow failed to notice the dramatic change in the status quo. She'd even eventually let down her vectors, in her lapse of focus; if they'd waited and tried for a third shot, they would've killed her successfully.
Looking about, Lucy observed that dozens of soldiers stationed on the surrounding rooftops and balconies, most of whom were packing very heavy ordnance. Rocket launchers, bazookas, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and all manner of other things designed to blow stuff up.
Further, there were about four or five soldiers on street level armed with flamethrowers. On seeing them, Lucy's scowl deepened further. While she could use her vectors to stop solid objects like projectiles, she couldn't predict her ability to defend against a stream of ignited jet fuel. And even if she could make a good enough wall to stop the liquid from coming near her, the heat would still be a nightmare to deal with. The flamethrower guys would have to die first, then, but if Shinji got hurt then everything she'd worked for would be for nothing.
The guy with the loudspeaker demanded again, this time not quite as loud, "Give up and come with us quietly, and nobody has to die today. Try to fight, and every resource the military can invoke will be unleashed upon you!"
As Lucy continued to cast her gaze about the area, trying to plan a way to get Shinji out of there safely, Loudspeaker Guy continued, "And don't think that your hostage is going to save you, either! We're authorized to take him out to get you, if that's what it takes."
A lower-ranking soldier commented, "But that's an EVA pilot. If he bites it, then who's going to stop the Angels from wiping us all out anyway?"
Loudspeaker guy, the commanding officer in charge of the operation, glared in disapproval at the challenge. "There are two more pilots to take his place, and he's just a rookie anyway, with no training. That pilot's an affordable sacrifice."
"But, sir-"
The CO pulled out his sidearm and shoved the barrel into the argumentative soldier's mouth. "Have you got a death wish, son? Keep contradicting my orders."
After a moment or two, the lower-ranking soldier's shoulders slumped in defeat.
Holstering his sidearm again, the CO remarked, "That's what I thought."
Then, getting his loudspeaker again, he declared, "Make your choice now, Lucy! An artillery division will arrive in a matter of moments, and I think we both know that even a diclonius can't take on a battalion of tanks by herself!"
Lucy grimaced. If it was just her, she probably could take out a bunch of tanks by herself. But being able to do that and ensure Shinji's safety, was another matter.
But she still had a few minutes before they arrived. She had a plan, and desperately hoped it would work.
At that time, Shinji asked, "Lucy? Is that what they called you?"
Lucy ignored the question, wondering if she might be able to tear the street up in a way that blocked all the soldier's line of sight to her and Shinji, thus allowing her to escape through the sewers.
If she had time to work out how, she could probably pull it off... but Lucy also knew that she was running out of time to do anything at all.
As she started snaking her vectors toward the group of soldiers with the flamethrowers, a plan of action began to form.
"Shinji," she began, "I realize that I must seem like a total stranger to you, but... if you're willing to trust me, I think I can get you to safety."
And then the Angel alarms began to sound.
Meanwhile, at the Geofront...
On seeing Misato enter the command deck, Lt. Makoto Hyuga immediately gave a situation report from his terminal. "The MAGI detected a blue AT pattern just moments ago, and it somehow has already infiltrated the city!"
Misato snarled, and scanned the monitors. "Damn, it's already here?!"
However, there wasn't any sign of a giant otherworldly monster anywhere in Tokyo-3.
"Where the hell is it?" she muttered.
Lt. Shigeru Aoba, scanning the security cameras placed throughout the city, referred to the MAGI's coordinate data and exclaimed, "I think I found it! Or... her!"
Misato immediately went to his terminal to investigate, and observed that a pink-haired girl seemed to be facing off against the JSDF - or, on seeing their different uniforms, some other military force - and apparently trying to use Shinji as a hostage.
"Is the Angel that girl, or what?" Misato muttered to herself.
At that time, Commander Gendo Ikari entered the comand bridge. Misato immediately reported the situation to him before asking for orders.
Gendo considered the situation for a moment. On the one hand, Nerv's primary directive was to eliminate any and all Angels at the first opportunity. On the other hand, if the pilot of Unit-01 were killed, there was no telling how it might affect the Human Instrumentality Project.
The intervention of the unknown military force was also a matter of some concern.
Regardless, however, inaction was not an option.
His decision made, Gendo gave the command.
As the NERV staff watched on the monitors, the pink-haired girl with Shinji suddenly made her move.
The street exploded, and the military unleashed an immediate counterattack.
Reviews make the world go 'round, ladies and gents. More to the point, reviews put me in the mood for writing.
Anyway, I'm sorry for everything taking so damn long, but hopefully it was worth the wait. No idea when the next update will be, though. College kinda sucks... but at least theater is fun.