Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass, nor do I own Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Lelouch was not in a good mood today. Yesterday's meeting was still replaying itself in his head, and he was seething at the memory. He had considered taking Nunnally and fleeing, but decided against it. He knew it would just be futile. If Gendo had been keeping an eye on him for some time, he knew that the man probably still had someone keeping watch over him. If he ran, he would obviously be pursued. There was little that he could do for now other than comply with what Gendo wanted, which only served to further enrage him. Gendo had him in check, and now he was struggling to find a solution to his problem.
Lelouch was so lost in his thoughts, he was barely paying any attention to the path in front of him as he made his way to class. He rounded the corner and collided with another student and they were both knocked to the ground. Lelouch looked to see who it was, and saw a girl his own age with bright red hair. "Oh, I'm so sorry." she said. She wore the pink girl's uniform of Ashford Academy's middle school group students.
"Sorry." he half heartedly said. He stood up, an looked at the girl who he ran into, "You're not hurt?"
"No, I'm fine." she said softly.
"Good then." he said as he walked away down the hallway, resuming his path to his classroom. His thoughts quickly returning to what had happened yesterday.
'Jerk.' Kallen thought to herself. She didn't say anything though as he continued down the hall. She slowly got up, and some others asked her if she was okay. She took another glance at the boy who had ran into her, wanting nothing more than to punch his lights out at this moment, but knew that she couldn't. She had decided to play the part of a sickly girl while at school, so that it wouldn't arouse any attention to her, and wouldn't look strange if she was absent for extended periods of time. She wanted to ditch that cover at this moment, but she managed to stay cool. After all, she figured that it wasn't likely she would see that boy again.
Rei Ayanami walked down the hallways of the complex she had been instructed to attend by Commander Ikari. She had already been informed of the layout of the building, and of where her classroom was supposed to be. She payed no mind to her surroundings, nor those around her, though she was careful not to collide with anyone. Those around her could not say the same about her. She was a new student, and several others had tried talking to her only to be met with a blank stare at most.
As she made her way to her designated classroom, she saw a boy with black hair. He was Lelouch Lamperouge, whom Commander Ikari had told her would soon become one of her fellow Evangelion pilots.
Kallen cursed her fate. She really should have known better. They went to the same school, so of course they could end up seeing each other again. But to be in the same class, and now being told to take the seat next him, she couldn't help but feel that some diety had it out for her. Her luck was just looking terrible lately.
"Oh, you're that girl I ran into earlier." Lelouch commented to her boredly as he glanced at her briefly.
'Ugh. What a stuck up little jerk.' She thought to her self. She could already she was never gonna like this guy. "Sorry about that. I wasn't watching where I was going." she replied softly, covering up how she really felt. If he heard what she said, he didn't acknowledge it, which only furthered Kallen's anger towards him. She was stll considering dropping her frail act.
Lelouch payed almost no attention to class as it went by, devoting all of his thoughts to his meeting yesterday, and also the one that would take place tomorrow. There was also somethings that he couldn't help but wonder about. Evangelion? What was that? What could possibly threaten to humanity even to wipe it out completely? He sat looking out the window as he thought, all the way up until the bell rang. His friend Rivalz asked if he wanted to go gambling like they would often go, but told him another time.
As he exited the classroom, he saw a blonde girl wearing Ashford Academy's high school uniform standing outside the door. Most were looking at her, not only because it was uncommon to see a high school student in the middle school building, but because more than a few male students were ogling her. "What are you doing here Milly?" he inquired.
"Just wanted to talk with you for a bit." she replied. "I heard from my grandfather about what happened last night. Everything alright?"
"I'm fine. For now, at least." Lelouch replied as he walked passed her.
"You sure?" Milly asked, unconvinced.
"Not really." he replied walking off. "By the way, I'm ditching class for the rest of the day. I've got more important things to worry about."
Much later that day, Lelouch sat at the table in his dining room, still contemplating. He turned to look at the clock only to find Nunnally inches from his face, causing him to recoil a bit in surprise. She was staring intently at him, but let out a giggle at his reaction.
"Lelouch, are you feeling okay?" Nunnally asked him.
"What are you talking about? Of course I do, Nunnally." Lelouch replied with a smile. He was lying, and he hated doing that to her, but he didn't want to make his sister worry.
"Are you sure Lelouch? You've been acting distant ever since yesterday, when Sayoko and I got home." she said.
"Don't worry, I'm fine. I've just got a lot on my mind right now." he tells her truthfully. "Tell you what, I'll start dinner now, and you can lend me a hand with everything."
"Okay!" Nunnally cheerfuly agreed. It didn't matter what it was, she always enjoyed doing anything with her brother. Just as he loved his dear younger sister, she loved her big brother.
It was early the next day, and Lelouch stood outside of the gate to the school grounds. He glanced at his watch, wondering when this Lieutenant-Colonel Katsuragi was. As he waited, he heard a siren go off. "A special state of emergency has been declared. All residents must evacuate to their designated shelters immediately." a voice of loud speakers said.
"A state of emergency?" Lelouch repeated. However, before he could consider doing as the announcement said, he heard the screeching of tires on the road. Turning to face the direction of the sound, he saw a blue car turning a corner at a speed far above what would be considered safe. The car then sped in his direction, and then hit the breaks, screeching to a halt just in front of him. The entire sight left Lelouch at a loss for words, and questioning the sanity of the driver.
The window rolled down, revealing a beautiful woman with long dark purple hair and a pair of dark sunglasses covering her eyes in the driver's seat. "Hey there. You must be Lelouch." she said.
Regaining his composure, Lelouch's face became serious. "You are Lieutenant-Colonel Misato Katsuragi, correct?" he questioned.
"That's me." she confirmed. "Sorry I'm late. Get in, and we'll be on our way."
"And what about the state of emergency and the order to evacuate?" Lelouch asked.
"We don't need to worry about that right now." Misato replied.
"Fine then." Lelouch said as he pulled out his cell phone as he got into the back seat of the car. He contacted Milly and told her to take care of Nunnally for him. Once that was done, he stowed his phone away and glared out the window.
"Hey, aren't you being a little too serious. You could lighten up, you know." Misato questioned as she looked at him through her rear view mirror.
"Sorry, but I have a thing against being forcefully coerced into something." he replied rudely. "Which means I already hate your boss."
"Sounds like someone has already had the displeasure of meeting Commander Ikari." Misato said. "Yeah, I can't stand him sometimes either."
A young blonde man dressed in regal clothes, followed by a fatter bald man entered into a room where Gendo stood waiting with another man. "Greetings, Prince Clovis." he said.
"Ikari." Clovis nods in acknowledgement. "So, this... thing that has appeared off the coast, it is an Angel?"
"Affirmative." Gendo replies. "As the Emperor has informed you, you can leave everything to us in this situation."
"I'll be the judge of that." Clovis states. "I'm unconvinced that NERV is the only one capable of handling this situation."
"We've already set up a perimeter on the shore, and they're waiting to confront this threat." the man with Clovis, General Bartley said. "And in the event of their failure, we already have units set up around the city."
"If that is what you wish." Gendo said, not seeming at all bothered by this. "NERV will let you do as you please, Prince Clovis."
On the shore of Japan, a battalion of tanks, and Knightmare Frames were waiting for the thing they were supposed to destroy. None of the had been told exactly what it was they were supposed to destroy, but when they saw the explosions in the water from the aquatic Portman Knightmare's torpedoes, they all opened fire without question. The tanks and Sutherlands let loose their artillery fire, and missiles were also launched at the locations.
None of these soldiers would survive the encounter with the Angel.
"What? And Angel has appeared?" Asuka questions in frustration as she stands up from her seat suddenly. "Verdammte! Now I really am going to miss out on everything!"
"Its only the first one. Well actually, technically its the fourth." Kaji says, hoping to calm the girl down. "Anyway, there's nothing we can do about it right now, so just relax Asuka."
"Can't this stupid go faster!" she demands before remembering that her Unit 02 was still in Britannia. She then sat back in her chair and crossed her arms, obviously still displeased at the situation. "This sucks."
"So why haven't we been going straight to NERV headquarters?" Lelouch asked, still staring out the window. He knew where the entrance to the facility was thanks to the papers Gendo had given him yesterday, and was wondering why they hadn't gone straight there.
"Oh, so he speaks again." Misato teased. "I almost forgot that you could talk with how quiet you've been." She received a glare from Lelouch in response. "Oh, lighten up, I was just joking. Anyway, you're not the only kid I was supposed to pick up today. We're on our way to get him first."
"We're sorry, due to the state of emergency that has been declared, all lines are currently out of service." a recorded voice said from the phone that Shinji currently held to his ear.
He sighed. "No good, and my cell isn't getting any signal either." he commented to himself out loud. "And none of the busses or trains are running either." He picked up the bag that was next his feet. "I shouldn't have come here." He had come all this way like his father's letter had asked him, and now it looked like it had been for nothing. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a photograph of Misato from his pocket.
In it, Misato was dressed in a yellow tank top, bending over to give you a good view of her cleavage. On the photo, there was writing that said "To Shinji" with a heart next to it, and "I'll be coming to get you soon, so wait for me." with another heart next to it. There was also a mark of lipstick, implying she had kissed the photo, and a line pointing to her breats with the message "Attention here please!"
"Well, so much for meeting here." he said. He then looked at his watch. "Well, I guess it can't be helped. Maybe I should go find a shelter." He figured that if a state of emergency really had been declared, and he had nowhere else to go at the moment, heading to a shelter was definitely the smart thing to do. He then noticed something out of the corner of his eye, and looked over to see a pale girl with light-bluish hair that he had never seen before just standing in the middle of the road a distance from him. He then heard the flapping of wings, and briefly glanced up at the birds taking flight from the telephone wires. Then, when he looked over to where the girl had been, there was no trace of her, as if she had never been there to begin with. Shinji wondered if he was seeing things, since he hadn't looked away for more than a moment, and there was no way should could have vanished like that if she had actually been there.
Then suddenly, there was a shockwave throughout the area and he felt a sudden strong gust of wind, and he covered his ears. He then heard sounds, and several Sutherlands rushed passed him, not paying any attention to the Japanese boy. He then saw several Britannian gunships in the distance, and were firing at something that was behind the mountain. He then heard something loud, and thunderous. The sound resembled that of footsteps, though obviously much louder.
It then that something steps out from behind the nearby mountain. It was a gigantic figure with a lanky frame and skin that was a sickly green. It had gray bones prodruding from its chest, resembling a rib cage, surrounding a large red sphere in the center. It also had gray armor on its shoulders, and a large spike prodtruding from both elbows on its thin, gangly arms. Shinji could only stare at the creature with fear, his mouth agape as he wondered what he should do. Before he could think, missiles suddenly flew only a few feet over his head and towards the giant monstrosity. They impacted, but as the resulting explosions cleared, there was no noticable damage. It then raised its arm and the spike retracted into it as it fired a laser from its arm, destroying the wing of one of the gunships. The gunship then lost control, and crashed into the ground a few meters away from Shinji.
Shinji let out a scream of terror. He was currently almost postive that he wouldn't live past the next few minutes, either killed by the monster or by another gunship crashing onto him. His fear only increased as the giant started to glow and leap up, and land in front of Shinji, one of its feet stepping on the downed gunship, which exploded shortly after. He covered his face to shield himself from the explosion, hearing something that sounded like tires skidding to a halt. When he looked up, he saw a blue sports car in front of him.
"Hey there. Sorry we're real late." Misato said as she opened her car door. "You might want to get in. Like right now."
Not needing to be told a second time, Shinji scrambled into the car. Meanwhile, the gunships swarmed above them, opening fire on the massive figure with a mixture of bullets and missiles. On the ground, Sutherlands had gathered around the car, paying no heed to the vehicle and aiding their comrades in the air by firing on the creature. The Knightmares possessed a wide variety of weapons, such as assault rifles, rocket launchers, and other types of firearms. From a distance, Tanks were also amongst the weapons firing on the monstrosity, joining in on the relentless assault. Despite all of the fire that the giant was coming under, it didn't appear to be phased by it.
Debris fell onto the roof of the car, while Misato quickly shifted gears, putting the car into reverse and stepping on the gas. The car backed out of there as fast as it could, narrowly missing out on being stepped on by the giant. She then shifted into drive and took off down the road at top speed.
"What the hell is that thing?" Lelouch demanded frantically from the backseat.
"That thing is what NERV calls an Angel." Misato replied to the boy, her eyes focussing on the road before her. Shinji was still screaming, apparently not liking being in such a close vicinity to the combination of Knightmares, explosions, and a giant monster.
Larger planes were then joining the battle, firing a giant missile at the Angel, who brought up its hand as if to block it. The Angel held it back for a moment, but the missile's jets continued to propel it forward, causing it to split apart as it the Angel's hand held it back before it went off in an explosion. That was not the end of the assault, as more planes above began to drop bombs onto the Angel, all of them going off to create a massive explosion.
Unfortunately, despite all that, the Angel was completely unharmed as the smoke cleared.
"Damn it! Its taking everything thrown at it likes its nothing!" Bartley shouted out as he watched the images on the screen. He, Prince Clovis, as well as Gendo and the command staff sat in the command center of NERV HQ, Central Dogma. "Missiles, artillery fire, its shrugging off everything we hit it with! Its just walking through our defenses as if they're not even there!"
There were many other people present, all of them staff of NERV monitoring various data of the situation. Of them, there wour technicians were sitting in front. Cecile Croomy was among them, as well as another woman named Maya Ibuki, and two other men known as Shigeru Aoba, and Makoto Hyuuga. They were most prominent members of the bridge crew. Lloyd was also present, though he was currently leaning against a wall as he induldged himself in some pudding while he watched the going-ons. After all, there was nothing for him to do at the moment.
"It appears to be an AT Field, as we expected." said the man with Gendo, Kozou Fuyutsuki the Sub-Commander of NERV.
"Yes. Convetional weapons are of no use against an Angel." Gendo agreed.
"Bartley." Clovis adressed the man next to him in a calm manner. "Make the call. Order the Knightmares to fall back, and the gunships to lure it out of the city. We will go with the last resort." Clovis was a proud man, and he hated the Japanese for believing that they had allowed Lelouch and Nunnally to die. And he hated being he greatly disliked Gendo Ikari. Clovis may be the Viceroy of Area 11, and the Third Prince of Britannia, but in reality, Gendo Ikari held more power than him, and Clovis couldn't stand that. He wanted to prove that the man's organization was unnecessary. He would not admit failure.
"Yes, you highness." Bartley agreed as he picked up a phone and relayed the prince's orders.
Misato had pulled the car over, having gotten far away from the Angel. She was currently using a pair of binoculars to observe the situation, wondering what was going on. The Angel follow the gunships out of the city, which all stayed relatively close as they appeared to swarm around it like bees. Just then, they all scattered, getting far away from the towering creature. "Hm? Wait a second, what the hell are they-" She suddenly realized what was gonna happen. "Ah crap! Don't tell me they're gonna use an N2 Mine! Both of you, Get down NOW!" she ordered and pushed Shinji down, while Lelouch dove to the floor as he decided it was probably best to listen to this woman in the current situation.
Suddenly, there was a massive explosion where the Angel was. The force of it was so great that it sent a powerful shock wave then knocked the car they were in back a considerable distance.
"Just what's going on up there?" Kallen wondered. She was currently sitting in a shelter with the rest of the students of Ashford Academy. The shelter they were in had shaken considerably a few minutes ago. Looking around, she saw a Japanese boy messing around with a video camera, complaining about a 'news blackout' to his other nearby friend.
Also sitting in the shelter was Milly and Nunnally, along with Rivalz and two other girls, Shirley Fenette and Nina Einstein. "Don't worry Nunnally. I'm sure Lelouch is perfectly fine." the older girl reassured the younger one.
Back on the surface, Misato, Shinji, and Lelouch all climbed out of the overturned car. "You two alright?" Misato asked the two boys.
"I've been through worse." Lelouch said.
"Yeah, I think... But my mouth is full of dirt." Shinji said
"Oh, you'll be fine." Misato said. "Now come on you two. We'll push on three. Three!" she said as she skipped the counting entirely. The three of then struggled to return the car to its propper side. "There we go. Now that wasn't so bad.
Lelouch however was breathing heavily. "Um, are you okay?" Shinji asked him.
"Looks like someone here is in terrible shape." Misato teased with a giggle, and Lelouch glared at her, with that being all he could do at the moment. "Anyway, thanks for helping out. You did a much better job than someone else." she said as she turned to Shinji.
"Um, thank you. But I'm the one should be thanking you, for saving me before, Ms. Katsuragi."
"Oh please, just call me Misato. 'Ms. Katsuragi' makes me feel old." she said as she took off her sunglasses. "And I assume you would prefer Shinji over Mr. Ikari."
"Uh, yeah..."
"And Mr. Friendly down there breathing like its going out of style is Lelouch."
"Shut... up..." he managed to say between breaths.
Back at NERV HQ, Clovis and Bartley eagerly watched the screen for the result. "So, what is the status of the target?" Clovis questioned the technicians. The blast had temporaily disabled some of the equipment, so they were now waiting for confirmation on the Angel's status.
"It was a direct hit Prince Clovis. Its sure to have been elimated! There's nothing that could stand up to the power of an N2 Mine!" Bartley reasoned.
"Visuals are now back online." Hyuuga said as the main screen came back on, with what was unmistakably the Angel, still standing.
"Impossible..." Bartley let out. "That was our last resort. Our ace in the hole had no effect."
Clovis' calm and composed facade had finally faded, and you could see his frustration, anger, and despair all over his face. "Damn it! That demon...!" He then slammed his palms onto the table as he stood up and nearly stormed out of the room. Before he left, he glared at Gendo before saying. "I'll leave the rest of this in your hands. I'm leaving." He then left the room and Bartley followed behind him.
"My, someone sure is a sore loser." Lloyd commented.
Back in Misato's car, they were back on the road, with Misato on her cell phone. "Yeah, yeah, I know, I know, their safety is my top priority. Anyway, could you get a car train ready for us? A direct one, obviously." she said into her cell. "Well, I'm the one who voluteered to pick 'em up, so its my responsibility to get them there. See ya soon!" she said before hanging up. She then took this opportunity to think to herself about the state of her car, and her favorite dress, both of which were in pretty bad shape, and lamented how she had looked so good in it.
"So now we're on our way to NERV?" Lelouch asked from the back seat, snapping her out of her thoughts.
"Yup. From here, we're going straight to NERV HQ. You sure are in a rush to get there." Misato replied.
"Not really. If I could have my way, I would never be going there in the first place." he stated, his tone containing more than a hint of annoyance.
"Gee, you sure are a pleasant young man." she teased, and once again receieved a glare. She then turned to Shinji. "So Shinji, what about you? Are you more fun than that guy who can't take a joke sitting in the back seat?"
"Uh..." he let out, not sure how to respond.
"Don't you think you're a little immature?" Lelouch asked. "I mean, you've got to be at least ten years older than me, yet you act almost half my age." Now it was Lelouch's turn to recieve a death glare from Misato. Intent on revenge, she then quickly swerved her car, causing her two passangers to jerk in their seats and Shinji to almost fall out of them, and Lelouch fell out of his seat and to floor of the car.
Misato snickered. "Guess you should have buckled up."
'Hes right, she is pretty immature...' Shinji thought to himself.
Not long after that, they arrived at the entrance of a tunnel, and the car stopped on a platform that began to move.
"NERV?" Shinji questioned.
"That's right. We're an organization that answers directly to the Emperor." Misato explained. Unknown to her and Shinji,
"No offense when I say this, but I'm a bit surprised that such a organization employ Japanese." Lelouch commented. "Britannia is not exactly known for its belief in equal rights."
"Well, they're not picky when it comes to ethnicity, and over half the staff is Japanese. All that matters to them is whether or not you can do your job. Being run a Japanese man kinda helps too." Misato said.
"Um, so NERV is where my father works?" Shinji asked.
"Well, yeah. You do know what your father does, don't you?" Misato asked the boy.
Shinji sighed and looked away. "I only know what my teacher told me. He said it was important for mankind's future..." There was a brief period of silence. "So then will we be seeing my father? I mean, will he waiting for us when we get there?"
"I can't say for sure. It depends, but most likely we will see him." she replied. Shinji couldn't help but think back to that day. The day his father had abandonned him...
"Oh, almost forgot. You guys have ID cards, right?" Misato asked as she looked from one boy to the other.
"Um, I think so..." Shinji said as he looked into his bag as Lelouch wordlessly handed her his own. "This, right?" he said as he handed her a note that had been torn up and taped back together with a similar ID card clipped to it. Lelouch couldn't help but notice its state as well as the red pen scribbled over the words "Come. Gendo Ikari."
"Perfect. And..." she said, then pulled out a pair of identical books titled 'Welcome to NERV. For Your Eyes Only.' and hand one to both of them. Here, read this. I was supposed to give you guys these earlier, but I sorta forgot." she said with a weak laugh.
Shinji took the book and stared at it for a moment before asking "So wait, does this mean we're gonna be working for them somehow?" Misato only remained silent. "It figures. But I guess I can't say that I'm surprised. There's no way he'd ever call me unless he needed me for something..." Lelouch couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy for the boy. Gendo already reminded him enough of his own father, and he could tell that Gendo thought of his own son in the same regard that Charles thought of his own children...
"Sounds like you and you father don't get along too well." she said as she leaned back in her seat. "We've got something in common, then."
"...same her." Lelouch found himself saying, looking out the window of the car at the tunnel outside.
"Guess that's something all three of us have in common then."
Shinji looked from one to the other. Before the conversation could continue, the platform they were riding came into a wide open area. It was a large, open cavern with forests and a large lake, and in the center was a large building that resembled a pyramid. Shinji was awestruck but what he was seeing. "Oh, wow, that's amazing! Its the real Geo-Front!" he said, not even trying to contain his amazement. Lelouch was also impressed, though he hid it in contrast to the other boy.
"Yup, that's right. This here is our secret underground base. NERV HQ." Misato said. "Its the key to rebuilding our world, and ensuring mankind's place in it."
Some time later, the three were inside NERV HQ, making their way to their destination. Or at least, they were trying to. "Huh, this place seems familar..." Misato said as the three of them stood on a moving pathway. She looked around, unsure of where they were.
"Its should. This is the third time we've passed by here." Lelouch remarked.
"Are you lost?" Shinji asked as he continued to read through the manual he had been given earlier. Lelouch had only skimmed through his.
"Uh..." Misato let out nervously.
"Generally, when someone doesn't know where they are after passing the same place three times, then yes, that means they're lost." Lelouch stated smugly as he looked over towards Misato.
"Hey! I'll have you know I'm not lost! I'm... just not used to this place yet." she stated, doing her best to tell herself that what she said was completely different from being lost. "Besides, don't worry about it too much! They make transist systems like this to be used, you know!"
"Yes, and they're perfect for 'limited tours' where the guide knows just as much about where shes going as the two shes supposed to be leading." Lelouch stated sarcastically.
"Look buddy, your sarcasm isn't gonna get you there any faster."
"True, but my sarcasm insures that I won't have died of boredom by the time we arrive at our destination in... would next year be too soon of an estimation?"
Shinji sighed. He was the youngest here, but he couldn't help but feel that he was the one with the most maturity of the three of them at the moment.
"Ugh, where the hell is that woman?" Ritsuko Akagi complained as she put on her lab coat. "She should have been here by now."
"She obviously got lost again." Lloyd said. "Shall we send alert the search parties?"
"Lloyd!" Cecile said, intending to scold him.
"Don't worry. He probably right." Ritsuko said with a sigh. "I'm going to go look for her."
"Right then, we'll continue what we're doing." Lloyd said as he continued to work at his console, performing a few last minute check-ups on the systems.
The group of three currently stood in an elavator. Lelouch leaned back on the wall with his arms crossed, while Shinji continued to read through his manual. As the elevator reached a floor, it stopped and the doors opened to reveal none other than Ritsuko herself.
"Oh, uh, hiya Ritsuko." Misato let out nervously.
She stepped on to the elevator, and the doors closed behind her before it started up again. "You're late, Lieutenant Colonel Katsuragi. Again. You're wasting my time by forcing me to come look for you because you couldn't arrive on time." Ritsuko said. "Feels like college all over again..." she muttered to herself with a sigh.
"Really sorry about this." she appologized.
Ritsuko then turned her gaze upon the other two occupants. "So, these are the boys?"
"Yep." she said, more than eager to change the subject. "According to the Marduk report, these are the Third and Fourth Child respectively."
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Ritsuko Akagi, the head of Project E." Ritsuko introduced herself to them.
"The nice one is Shinji, and the jerk is Lelouch." Misato said as she pinted to each, earning her yet another glare from the Britannian boy.
A little later, the little group came to a point where they would part ways for now. Lelouch was to be escorted to bridge, while Shinji was to be shown something else.
Shinji, Misato, and Ritsuko entered into a dark room, catching Shinji off guard. When the lights went on, he was met with a shocking sight. "Wh-what the hell? A huge face? A giant robot?" he let out, then turned back to the manual, and flipped through its pages.
"You won't find anything about this in there." Ritsuko stated. "This is the most advanced weapons system ever developed by man. The synthetic humanoid, Evangelion. This is Unit 01."
"It makes Knightmares look like pistols in comparison." Lloyd explained to Lelouch in another part, the two of them plus Cecile climbing a set of stairs, much to Lelouch's discomfort.
"Its humanity's last hope for survival." Ritsuko said.
"So then... this is part of my dather's work?" Shinji questioned.
"Correct." a voice said. A voice that belonged to none other than Gendo himself, looking down from a balcony above the Evangelion. "Its been quite a while, Shinji."
"Father..." Shinji let out in surprise, nearly speechless now that he was face to face with him. He averted his gaze from the man, glancing down.
"We're moving out." Gendo ordered.
"What? But Unit 00 is still in suspension, isn't it?" Misato questioned. "Wait, you don't mean... You can't seriously be considering activating Unit 01!"
"Do you know of any other action?" Ritsuko asked her.
"But Rei can't do right now, and Asuka hasn't arrived yet! We don't have anyone to pilot it!"
"We just got one."
"So then, you mean..."
"Shinji Ikari, you will be the pilot of Unit 01." Ritsuko said as she turned to Shinji.
"Wha-?"
"But he has no training!" Misato ptotested. "Even Rei and Asuka took time before they could synchronize with their Evas, but Shinji here hasn't even set foot in one before. Its impossible! He just got here!"
"It would be wise to give it up, Lietenant Colonel." Lloyd called out to Misato as he now stood next to Gendo. "The good doctor Akagi know what shes doing, so I'm sure its best to listen to her on this. Besides, what choice do we have at this point?" Misato didn't reply, but she knew they were right.
"Father." Shinji said, finally speaking up. "Why did you send for me?"
"I believe you know exactly why." Gendo replied.
"So then, you expect me to just get in this thing, and fight? Is that it?" Shinji demanded.
"Correct."
"But that crazy!" Shinji yelled out. "You never wanted me before! You abandoned me! So then why? Why would you call me now, father?"
"Because now I have a use for you." Gendo stated simply.
"But why? Why me?" Shinji asked.
"Because there is no one else who can." Gendo stated.
"But I can't!" Shinji protested once more. "I've never even seen anything like this before. How can I be the pilot? There's no way I can do something like this..."
"You will recieve instructions." Gendo stated.
"No, it just won't work... I'm telling you there's no way I can do this!"
"If you're going to do it, do it now. If not, then leave!" Gendo said.
Lelouch blood boiled. At the mention that he had abanoned his son because he apparently had no use for him, he couldn't help but feel anger. And now here he was, telling him to pilot a giant machine or get out... He couldn't help but picture Charles in Gendo's place, and himself from six years ago in Shinji's place. "You are dead. You have always been dead to me, dead from the moment you were born!" He clenched his fists in rage, but said nothing.
Others inside the large chamber, such as Cecile, couldn't help but feel sorry for Shinji. Then, the base suddenly shook. A blast from the Angel had struck on the surface.
"Its close. It knows our location." Gendo said out loud.
"Shinji, we don't have much time. What will it be?" Ritsuko questioned the boy.
Remaining quiet, he turned to Misato. "Get in, Shinji." she said coldly.
"Its not fair... If I had known he wanted this..." Shinji said, gazing towards the ground. "Why did come here?"
"Why, Shinji? Just why did you come, if not for this? You mustn't run away. Not from your father, and especially not from yourself." she said.
"I know that, but...! I just can't! What you're asking is impossible!" Shinji yelled out.
Gendo then turned to a screen next to him. "Fuyutsuki. Begin prepping Rei." Gendo ordered as the Sub-Commander appeared on the screen.
"Rei? But can we use her?" Fuyutsuki questioned.
"She isn't dead yet."
"Understood." Fuyutsuki replied before his image was replaced by one that said 'Sound Only."
"Rei." Gendo said.
"Yes?" a soft voice replied.
"Our spare is unusable. We're sending you out."
"Yes, sir."
"Alright, lets work fast! We'll swap out the core and reconfigure Unit 01's system for Rei then re-activate!" Ritsuko ordered.
"Roger. Canceling current operation and reconfiguring." Maya replied over the speakers.
'I knew it. He didn't need me after all... No one does...' Shinji thought to himself.
Shortly after that, a gurney was wheeled into the hall by a doctor and two nurses, wth an injured girl, Rei Ayanami, laying on top of it. Her right eye was covered by bandages, and there were others on her body as well, most notably was her entire right arm. As she sat up, it was clear that she was in great pain, struggling to hold herself up. Then, the base shook once more, and her gurney fell over and her out of it.
Shinji himself fell to the ground, and above him, one of the large light was loosened and about to fall on top of him.
"Look out!" Misato warned, but it was too late. He wouldn't be able to get out ofthe way in time.
Then sudenly, an enourmous hand came up and and over Shinji, protecting him from the falling object.
"The Eva moved!" one of the technicians cried out.
"No, that's not possible!" Ritsuko said in disbelief. "It didn't even have an Entry Plug inserted! There's just no way it could have moved on its own!"
"You mean it reacted on its own, without any kind of interface?" Misato questioned. "Could it have been to protect him?"
As Rei continued lay on the ground, Shinji recovered from his shock and ran over to her. "Hey, are you alright?" he asked her. As he picked her up, she cried out in pain, unable to endure it any longer. He then felt something dripping onto his hand and looked to find the girl's blood on it.
As he looked at the girl crying in pain, Shinji steeled his resolve. "I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away." he repeated to himself, doing his best to convince himself of what he knew he had to do. He knew he had no choice. He had to do this. "Fine, I'll do it! I'll be your pilot!"
"Forgive me, Mr. Lamperouge." Gendo said to Lelouch as they made their way to the bridge.
Lelouch said nothing to the man.
"As I'm sure you've realized by now, what I want you to pilot is an Evangelion, though not Unit 01. I've brought you here so that you can watch the battle and decide for yourself if you will."
As they set foot onto the bridge, Unit 01 had just finished its set up, and was ready for launch. "Last chance to abort, sir." Misato said.
"No, we're going through with this."
"Roger. Evangelion Unit 01, launch!"
"So, they're sending out Unit 01." Asuka said as she watched the screen. "Is it the First in there?" she asked Kaji.
"Don't know. We're only spectators right now. They're too busy with the important stuff to talk to us right now." Kaji replied.
"Wish it was me out there in Unit 02 right now..."
Back in Britannia, four children in military uniforms who all looked to be about fourteen were also watching the battle. "So that's and Evangelion, huh?" a blonde boy asked his three companions. They were also watching the battle on screen. "And you're gonna get to pilot one of those things, Mari?"
"Yup, sure am, Gino." girl with brown hair tied into pigtails and glasses replied. "Course, this is my first time seeing one as well. Never even let me look at the ones they've got here in Britannia right now."
"There's probably a very good reason for that, Mari." a pale boy with gray hair said. "We don't want you going for a test drive, now do we? Remember when they let you in the Gawain for a bit?"
"No one asked you, Kaworu." Mari said as she glared at the pale boy. "What about you, Anya? What do you think?"
"Its interesting." a pink haired stated in a deadpan.
"Miss emotion as usual, I see." Mari commented.
"Now, now, Mari. There's no reason to tease Anya." Kaworu said. "You only asked her so you could change the subject."
"Ah, lay off Kaworu." Mari complained, and Gino couldn't help but laugh. "Man, I hope my fellow Eva pilots are a lot easier to get along with than you guys."
Back in Japan, things were not looking good for Shinji, whom had only managed to take a single step, then ehen he went for a seond, the Evangelion fell over, flat on its face.
"Shinji! Pull it together! You have to get up now!" Misato said over the Evangelion's radio.
However, before he could do that, the Angel was upon him, and lifted the Eva up by its head. Then, the monster began to pull the Eva's arm, almost as if it was trying to yank it out of the socket. In the Entry Plug, Shinji grabbed his own arm, feeling the phantom pain of the Evangelion, making it seem to his brain as if his own arm was being ripped out from the socket.
"Shinji, listen to me! Don't panic, your arm isn't really being pulled! Focus!" Misato said, trying to calm him down. However, this didn't calm the boy down, and things only got worse when the Angel snapped the Eva's wrsist, and its hand hung limply.
"Man, that Eva is getting beat." Gino remarked. "Its hardly even outting up a fight!"
"Is it technical problems?" Mari questioned. She knew that Evas had a limited battery life, but the cable was still in it.
"Maybe its the pilot." Anya said in a monotone. "Maybe the pilot is just no good."
"Oh come on !Fight back damn it!" Asuka yelled at the screen. "Whoever the pilot is, they suck!"
"Now Asuka, please try to calm down." Kaji said, trying his best to calm the enraged redhead.
"Oh, just wait until I get my Eva..."
Lelouch watched in horror as the Angel repeatedly fired its beam into Unit 01's eye, hearing Shinji cry out in pain. And while he did feel some pity towards the boy pilotting it, there was only one person his worry truly was aimed towards in this situation: Nunnally. As he watched and listened to everything going on, there was only one thing he could think at this time, and it was 'I can't ever let Nunnally anywhere near one of these things!'
On the surface, Evangelion Unit 01 sat unmoving for a moment, leaning against the building it had hit. Then, its remaining eye began to glow, and it stood up and roared out. With a massive leap into the air, it landed on the Angel, which tried to grapple with the other giant briefly before it leaped off of it.
The purple giant then rushed at the Angel, but met resistance as it ran into a near-invisible wall, the Angel's AT field. Then, Unit 01 raised its damaged arm, which began to heal its earlier injury. It then brought its hands up to the AT field, and exerted its own AT field, which allowed it to tear right through the Angel's. The Angel then fired another beam of energy, but it barely phased Unit 01, who seemed to want revenge on the angel, grabbing both of arms and snapping its wrists like it had done to it moments before. It then raised it massive foot and kicked the Angel, sending it flying backwards a great distance into a building. But the Bio-mecha still wasn't finished, and ran at the Angel, and colided with it so hard that it pushed back the building it had embedded into as well The Eva then raised its fists as it punched the Angel's core a few times, then grabbed ahold of its ribs and ripped one out and began to repeatedly strike its core with its own rib.
Sensing it would lose this battle, the Angel got one last burst of strength as it got up, and wrapped around the upper boy of the Eva. After a moment, the Angel selfdestructed, and a massive explosion engulfed Unit 01.
"Wooooaah!" Gino let out in amazement.
"I don't know who the pilot is, but I like his style." Mari remarked.
"What style?" Anya questioned with her usual monotone.
"The part where he rips out the things rib and proceeds to beat it down with it own appendage." Mari explained. "That was my favorite part."
"Why am I not surprised?" Kaworu asked.
"Cause Mari is so crazy." Gino said.
"I heard that!" Mari said and Gino flinched.
"Wow, that was quite a comeback." Kaji commented. "See Asuka? Nothing to get worked up over."
"I guess it was an okay performance once the pilot got his act together." Asuka said as she relaxed back into her seat. "Still, it'll be nothing compared to what I'm going to do once I get my shot at the action."
"Fine, Ikari." Lelouch said to the older man. "I'll pilot one of those things! Just don't ever think about even bringing my sister anywhere near one of those things!"
"Of course. Welcome to NERV, Lelouch Lamperouge." Gendo said as he stood up, and he and Fuyutsuki left the bridge.
And there is the second chapter. So what did you think? For the battle, I wanted to cover it from a different agnle. Rather than just describe a battle that everyone knows, for the majority of it I wanted to cover those watching the battle than it itself. There's Asuka, whose as impatient as always, Lelouch, who doesn't want Nunnally to be an Eva pilot and resigns himself in her place, and Mari and her group of Kaworu, Gino, and Anya, who will get some more focus next chapter. Please review.
