Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or Naruto, they both belong to their respective creators.
Chapter 2: The Transfer and the Beast
Two weeks had passed since the angel Sachiel descended and wrecked chaos and destruction in the city known as Tokyo-3.
The sudden assault of the angel was kept a secret from the general populace; web cobs of lies clouded the incident and blocked further information of spreading out…but even so, it wasn't enough. The government's and Nerv's information control wasn't able to stop people from inquiring about the numerous giant craters marring the streets and the once tall, proud buildings now turned into piles and piles of rubbish and concrete.
Scars of a recent battle, that's what they were… and the people somehow knew it.
Sprouting rumors about a giant robot battling to protect the city only ignited the flame of curiosity of the civilians. But also fear started to be infused in the general populace. Somehow, the last fortress of humanity didn't seem as secure as before…
Alas, even with their insecurities gnawing at their hearts, people needed to move on and continue with their normal routines.
'This is bad!' Naruto thought as he raced through the sidewalk on his way to his school. Green and lively trees accompanied the side of the sidewalk, but the nature-loving blond didn't have time to stop and admire them. He had overslept-not for the first time mind you- but it seemed that this time he wouldn't reach the school gates before they closed.
The soles of his white sneakers burned at the furious pace the blond was imposing on them. Thankfully for him there weren't many people blocking his way so he could let loose without the fear of crashing against someone. And let loose he did.
He took a turn; his sneakers squealed like tires of a drifting car, a small cloud of smoke also appeared as if accentuating the sudden stop he made. He now had a clear view of his school and the school gate was only around 50 meters out of his reach. His blue eyes brightened with relief at the thought of getting to school in time, but those same eyes widened when he saw his physical education teacher, Matsumoto Kenta, pulling the large iron fence closed.
The P.E teacher stopped in his chore to wipe the sweat clinging to his forehead, and when he did so, his eyes met Naruto's… his lips curved into a smug smirk.
'I got you now, Uzumaki.' With renewed vigor, the middle-aged teacher resumed closing the gate. He was trying his hardest to leave Naruto out of the courtyard. It's not like he hated the boy, in fact, he actually liked him, but he despised tardiness and he wanted, no, needed to teach Naruto a lesson about punctuality.
Naruto saw what his teacher was trying to do, and he didn't like it a bit. 'No you won't.' He step up his pace in a desperate rush to the gates. This wasn't the first time teacher and student faced each other in this particular competition of wills, but all the others past battles had left an unpunished Naruto and one sore, defeated and humiliated teacher.
However, this time the odds were in favor of the brown haired P.E teacher…
With a loud, metallic clang the gate was shut closed and Matsumoto Kenta didn't waste a second in pushing, pressing and pulling all the locks necessary to make sure the blond stayed outside. He exhaled heavily. The muscles on his arms ached at the sudden effort and his favorite jersey was now drenched in sweat, yet he felt rather accomplished, the gate was locked and the blond troublemaker was kept outside…he'd sure taught him a lesson this time.
Naruto let out a curse under his breath, his teacher had finished his task and was now walking away towards the schools building, one hand deep into one the pockets of his blue track-pants and the other one waving in the air in a mock farewell. He was being underestimated, and if there was one thing that ticked Naruto Uzumaki the wrong way was being underestimated.
It was time to teach the teacher a lesson.
Instead of stopping, Naruto kept running with the same determination as before towards the closed gate. There was no gate high enough to keep the blond whirling outside.
He scanned his surroundings in milliseconds, and his eyes settled on something he discarded as trash at first glance, but closer inspection revealed that in the pile there were some old chairs and desks ready to be disposed of.
He could use them…
Naruto had confidence in his acrobatics. He only needed something, anything, to step on to get an impulse. Although the chairs and desks seemed dangerously unstable, Naruto deemed them good enough to fulfill what he'd in mind. Once he got that extra boost the rest would be piece of cake…or a bowl of Ramen in his case.
Chose his course of action, he changed his trajectory towards the pile of discarded school utilities settled just next to the main gate.
He got close enough and then jumped at one worn out desk. Naruto's right foot stepped on the wood surface and the desk creaked loudly. It was bound to collapse…but Naruto got what he needed. He released all the pent-up energy he'd gathered in his right leg and leaped off.
…The desk collapsed not a second later.
With the jump, Naruto build up enough momentum as to manage to plant his left foot on the wall and then kicked up to reach the wall's ledge. He grabbed the ledge with both hands.
The hard part was done. Naruto now only had to scramble up the wall, something which he easily did.
He stood high up on the wall, the height was considerably but not once did he bat an eyelash. No hesitation, no vertigo, no fear… it was as if the blond had been born to stand up on places where a misstep was fatal. A natural climber, that's what he was.
Naruto searched for a place to land after his heroic feat, and by mere coincidence did his eyes found the form of his retreating teacher…he pondered. It wasn't that much of a distance, but it was still hard to reach without space to gain impulse… it would be a great finishing touch for his exploit though. Naruto smirked like the fox that had caught the sheep.
Meanwhile, Matsumoto Kenta was still sauntering away in his slow but steady – and a little prideful- pace. The supposed post-victory bliss hadn't left his organism yet, and his arrogance blinded him from noticing that the sunrays were no longer raining on him, and instead, a looming shadow grew in size as it closed on him.
His pride cost him greatly. It happened too fast for him to know exactly what hit him. At first he only felt a sudden weight on his back and the next thing he knew his body was propelled forward. He was careless and therefor his unprepared legs couldn't react in time to save him from the inevitable… Matsumoto Kenta fell not unlike the way the mythical Tower of Babel did in the old tales.
The teacher fell to the ground face-first and literally ate dust. Bitter…very bitter dust that tasted at nothing but failure and humiliation.
"Better luck next time, Sensei!"
The teacher's prone figure shook with rightful fury at the taunting of the Uzumaki. He stood up hastily only to see Naruto entering the main building, and still chuckling at his expenses.
Matsumoto Kenta couldn't hold it any longer. His face had turned red and his clenched fists trembled. Finally he released all his pent-ups frustrations in a loud, anger-filled yell that chanted his defeater's name.
"Uzumaki!"
Later that day he would curse Naruto's surname once again when he discovers the footprint of Naruto's shoe on the back of his precious blue jersey…
Naruto was now currently dozing off on his seat, without a care in the world and not paying an ounce of attention at his rambling classroom teacher.
He had to wait outside of the classroom for the perfect moment to sneak in, and when his oldie teacher had turned to face the blackboard and started one of his unnecessarily drawn-out ramblings, Kensuke had gave him the okay sign and he'd slipped into the room without making a sound or rousing suspicion.
The teacher never noticed the new addition to his class…
"As a result, the oceans water's level rose… the earth axis was altered, causing climatic anomalies that threatened the existence of all the living beings in the world. This tragedy received the name of Second Impact…"
The never-ending lecture about the Second Impact was at full-force by now and Naruto had to struggle to prevent his eyelids from closing, because he knew that if they closed he would undergo a deep slumber in just a matter of seconds.
'Must…not…sleep.' He was fighting a losing battle, and he knew it. 'What the hell…just for a few seconds…'
A loud thud was heard when Naruto's face slammed –not so gently- into his desk, and everyone in the classroom -except the teacher- turned their heads to look at the source of the noise, but no one was willing or brave enough as to disturb the resting blond.
…
Seconds passed by.
…
Then the seconds turned to minutes.
…
And the Uzumaki was still in snooze-land. Until…
"Ehhhh?"
Noisy sounds of surprise and amazement were released in synchrony by his classmates and he, reluctantly, rose from his sleeping position. His half-awake eyes then focused on the source of the commotion that brought live to the almost dead-from-boredom class.
Seated in the center of the room, surrounded by people and looking embarrassed from all the attention he was getting, was the 'new' student Shinji Ikari.
At first Naruto didn't understood what the big deal was but then he heard glimpses of the conversations Shinji was having with several classmates at the same time while being bombarded with their questions.
"How were you chosen?"
"Did you have to do an exam?"
"Were you afraid?"
"What's the cockpit like?"
"Well, uh, I have to keep such things secret…"Shinji timidly answered.
"What's the name of the robot?"
'Robot?' All the sleepiness left in the blond had banished by now. 'Are they talking about…'
"I'm not sure, sometimes they call it EVA and others they call it Unit 01…" Shinji continued answering any questions the best he could.
Naruto, meanwhile, was lost in thought. 'EVA…There's no doubt; they are talking about the robot that defended the city, the one that killed that monster.' Suddenly, Naruto found a new admiration towards Shinji for being the pilot of the thing that protected everyone, but he was unaware of deeper and darker feelings also brewing in his interior.
It was lunch break and Naruto wasn't hungry, something very strange by itself, but something that made it even stranger was that Naruto was strolling through the halls with an almost empty look in his eyes.
Tōji and Kensuke weren't by his side, another anomaly, but Naruto couldn't bring himself to care at the moment. The only things in his mind were the events that had happened two weeks before and the newfound discovery of one of his classmates secrets.
Since Shinji Ikari first stepped inside the classroom 3-A, Naruto knew there was something different about him. At first he didn't pass unperceived -being new and all- but also because the declining rate of students made it harder to be unnoticed. Somehow in just a couple of days, Shinji had disappeared from the radars, and everyone had forgotten that a new student had joined them not a week ago… everyone, except Naruto.
The Uzumaki -like many others-, had tried approaching Shinji not just once, but several times, and all those times it would be a one-sided conversation with Naruto doing the talking and Shinji just listening and answering in a brief, unassertive way that didn't leave room for more chatting. It was just too hard to approach him… Shinji was like a turtle, hid way too deep into its own shell where not a trace of the outside world would ever reach it, where not even the dimmest ray of sunlight would ever reach the perpetual darkness that surrounded the scared turtle.
Naruto eventually decided to give him space and let him get out of his shell at his own pace. But two weeks had gone by and there wasn't a single change in the black haired boy's attitude.
When Naruto came back to his senses he was standing in an isolated area of the school-grounds, far away from the watchful eyes of the teachers, witnessing a peculiar event that involved the pilot he was just thinking about and his best friends.
A smack and then a thud were heard when Shinji Ikari's body hit the floor. He struggled to sit up, and when the coppery taste of his own blood reached his taste buds, he wiped his mouth to try and stop the flow of blood coming from his split lip.
Standing over him was Tōji with a pissed-off expression on his tanned face and cracking the knuckles of the hand he'd used to strike Shinji.
"Sorry, transfer, but I've got to beat you up!" Tōji's usual jovial voice was replaced with a duller and colder version as he spoke to Shinji. "I've got to work off my anger." With that said he turned around and walked away.
Shinji just glared at his back from his downed position until Kensuke approached him. "Sorry, his little sister was injured because of the battle… That's his excuse, anyway." Kensuke, after trying to justify the actions of his friend, also walked away.
"I didn't pilot it by choice…"It was no louder than a whisper, but somehow Tōji heard the boy's reply and marched back towards him –pushing Kensuke away in the process.
Tōji roughly pulled Shinji up by the neck of his shirt and glared at him. Shinji refused to look at his aggressor in the eyes, something that made Tōji get even more irritated. Tōji sneered and was about to sock the meek boy again, until a hand with a strong grip closed around his fist and stopped his punch mere centimeters away from connecting with Shinji's face.
"That's enough, Tōji." The one grabbing Tōji's hand was none other than Naruto Uzumaki, and he didn't seem pleased with what he was seeing.
The commanding voice of Naruto almost made Tōji release the boy in his grasp immediately but he didn't, and instead he turned and glared at the blond holding him back. Naruto returned the glare with a stare and never broke eye contact with him.
There was tension in the air as the two friends confronted each other in a stare down. Kensuke stood some distance away, worried that they may resort to punches, and Shinji –Still being held up by the tightening fist of Tōji- could only look between the two of them confused at what was happening.
Tōji's brown eyes were filled with anger, irritation and impotency, while Naruto's azure pools held calm, resolve and understanding. The two stared at each other, engaged in one of the two forms of conversation where only people like Tōji and Naruto could truly understand and convey their feelings when words failed; the other form being with the fists.
Finally, after several never-ending seconds of tension, Tōji released Shinji and let him meet the ground once again. In return, Naruto broke his hold on Tōji's fist, and the tanned teen didn't wait a second to march away.
"H-hey, Tōji!" Kensuke saw Tōji walking away hastily and he looked at Naruto before turning on his heel and following his best-friend.
Naruto sighed as he watched them go, but then smiled and went towards Shinji. "Need a hand?" He asked.
Shinji, unsure of what to do, stared up at Naruto. His hand was extended, inviting him to take it. The seriousness he had when confronting Tōji was completely gone and now only friendliness could be perceived in him. The sun shone on his blond hair giving it an almost ethereal glow and a large grin stretched over his whiskered face convinced Shinji that he meant no harm, so he finally took the offered hand and got to stand on his feet once again.
"Thank you, Uzumaki-san."
"Please, Naruto is fine. Uzumaki-san makes me feel old." Naruto said, while brushing the dirt off Shinji's white uniform shirt.
Shinji accepted the friendly gesture with a nod of his head."Hai…Naruto-san."
The Uzumaki chuckled. He still thought the 'san' suffix was a tad unnecessary, but let it slide for the moment. Naruto then scratched the back of his neck-a habit he had since child that appeared whenever he was nervous or in an uncomfortable position- and addressed the matter at hand. "Hey, look, I'm sorry about what happened. Tōji isn't a bad guy… it's just that he's been under a lot of stress recently, you know, his sister being in the hospital and all."
To Shinji, the words that Naruto had spoken felt like a wall of bricks falling on top of him. The blond hadn't done it deliberately, but Shinji felt blamed and responsible of the hurt, and maybe dead, that had occurred during his first deploy within the Eva.
Naruto noticed the dark cloud of depression hovering over Shinji and quickly tried to redeem the situation. "H-hey, it's not like I'm blaming you!" He said, his hands waving rapidly in front of him. "It's the complete opposite! If it wasn't for you then, well, I wouldn't be talking with you right now." Naruto finished with a nervous chuckle, obviously trying to laugh off the fact that he had just mentioned his possible death.
Shinji cheered up, but just slightly, mortifying thoughts still weighted him down. "I'm not even sure what happened in there…"
Naruto quickly catch up. Shinji was talking about his time piloting the giant robot also known as Unit-1, if Naruto remembered correctly, and the black haired boy didn't seem very fond of the memory.
A sturdy, rough hand grasped Shinji's shoulder and the boy, surprised by the gesture, raised his gaze from the floor to Naruto's face, only to encounter the shining, face-splitting grin so characterized of Naruto. "Well, what I'm sure is that it takes some serious guts to kick the ass of that monster. Believe it or not, I saw that thing with my own eyes! Damn was it ugly!"
The enthusiasm shown by Naruto made Shinji show a shy, but sincere smile. "Naruto-san…Thank you."
"No, thank you," Naruto replied back, his grin still in full-force. "But seriously, drop it with the 'san'. Naruto is just fine."
Shinji was about to say something, but then, a voice, as soft as silk and as gentle as the caress of a breeze called out. "Ikari-kun…"
The aforementioned and his blond companion turned to meet the owner of such a soft voice. The blue hair, the ever-stoic persona… It was Rei Ayanami.
"An emergency call…I'll go on ahead." No hellos or goodbyes, only bussiness. She simply said what she had to say and then left running, the cast in her arm and parched right eye didn't seem to hinder her movements at all.
She was already gone before either Naruto or Shinji could say something.
"What was all that about…? And what did she meant when she said an emergency call?" Naruto had never heard Rei speak so many words at a time before, but what really intrigued him was that those words were said specifically to Shinji; Rei hadn't even spared a glance at him…
Shinji said nothing. But the pieces of the puzzle started coming together in Naruto's mind, and soon he had figured out the relationship between Shinji and Rei.
"She's a pilot too, isn't she?" The answer Naruto got was a slight nod in confirmation coming from the black haired boy. The blond chuckled awkwardly before saying. "At least that explains why she always comes to school with some kind of injury… I thought she was just clumsy!"
"So…" Naruto continued. "The city will be attacked by one of those things again?"
Another nod came from Shinji, but this time he also muttered a worried 'probably' under his breath.
"…"
The silence told Naruto everything…Shinji was worried, even scared, at the prospect of having to deploy in combat once again, but honestly, who could blame him? Giant monsters were attacking the city and he had to pilot an equally enormous robot in order to battle them. Shinji wasn't born for fighting, that much was obvious. He wasn't one of those dashing Shounen-manga heroes that piloted Mechs gallantly without an ounce of fear…he was just a normal middle-schooler -even younger than Naruto himself- that had been thrown directly into the jaws of hungry wolves.
The blond felt bad for Shinji. He wanted to help him… support him with the heavy load he was forced to carry on top of his young shoulders… but he knew he couldn't do much for him.
Shinji was rooted to his spot, still looking at the direction Ayanami left. He knew he had to get going, but his body felt cold, as if frozen, and therefor refused to move. He knew it was just a matter of time for him to return to the cockpit of Eva-1, but he wasn't ready. Training hadn't helped dissipate the insecurities that still plagued his mind, and also training couldn't ever compare to a real, life-risking, combat situation.
"I know you can do it."
Shinji heard those words the same time he felt a firm pat on his back. It was Naruto who did it, and he was still smiling at him with the same confidence he always had. "I believe in you!" He said.
"You…believe in me?" Shinji Ikari didn't know how to feel about the blond. In the two weeks he had been enrolled in the school several times his eyes had been drawn towards Naruto.
Naruto Uzumaki was the kind of guy that didn't judge anyone; he was friendly, funny and considerate. That's why he was friends with everyone in their classroom and also with others of different classes. He was reliable; Shinji could remember how the Class Rep would often trust Naruto with important tasks when she needed help. He was also strong enough as to protect himself and the others around him if it comes to a fight and most importantly, his unlimited confidence in himself made him a gravitational center that attracted everyone.
…Not only once had Shinji found himself glancing at Naruto with a mixture of admiration and jealousy -something that aggravated him since the Uzumaki had been one of the few who had tried befriending him-.
"You really think I can do it?" Shinji asked.
"Yep. You did it once, so you can do it again!"
Shinji had to admit that it was nice to have someone believe in him, but he had to question why Naruto had so much faith in him when they barely knew each other. "…Why?"
"Why, you ask…?" The blond pondered for a moment, his arms crossed around his chest. "Because you're my friend!"
The reply caught Shinji out of guard. It was a simple, but also honest answer to the question that Shinji had formulated. 'Friend…' Even if he wanted to he wasn't able to say anything back. Naruto's warmness had left him speechless…
"Listen, Shinji," Shinji didn't have time to sort out his fumbled thoughts because Naruto spoke again. "It's okay to have doubts. It's okay to be scared. But if you don't believe in yourself, then believe in me!"
By now, Shinji was focused completely on Naruto and his small speech. The words spoken by the blond were said with so much intensity that they were being engraved on Shinji's mind. "Believe in the Naruto that believes in you!"
In the end, Naruto struck a heroic pose only to look cool…
His made up speech had the desired effect. Shinji had never felt so much motivated before. He still had his doubts, but if someone was willing to believe in him then he'd try his best to correspond those feelings.
"Hai! I have to go now, Naruto-san!" Shinji said with determination.
Naruto nodded. "Kick some monster ass for me!"
The young pilot also nodded before going off in the same direction Rei had gone not so long ago. Naruto watched him go to the distance, he tried to keep a smile on his face but as soon as Shinji was out of sight, he let it drop. 'Why must it be you?'
Some minutes later after Shinji went off, the emergency alarm woke up once again and in a matter of a few minutes a whole, complex operative mobilized police and army alike to evacuate and safely relocate civilians into previously designed shelters made from the strongest steel and concrete existent.
Most people waited anxiously inside the shelters, but not Naruto. The blond had taken to follow after his two wayward friends Tōji and Kensuke through the thick forest surrounding the city.
He'd overhead their plan of getting out of the shelter in order to see the catastrophic battle that would soon be raging on the surface, and although normally he'd have bashed them in their heads for trying to do something so stupidly dangerous, Naruto himself felt curiosity blind his better judgment. Many nights he'd spend reminiscing about the haunting, obscene being that had put the city and all of its habitants in spine-chilling suspense.
He hadn't been lying when he told Shinji that he had seen it. The long arms, broad shoulders, dark-green skin were some characteristics of it that Naruto was able to burn to his memory. For a brief moment the neck-less creature and the teen had exchanged glances, and it was then than Naruto saw the beaked face made of bone that would intrude on his dreams for many days and nights…
Naruto's survival instincts had kicked in when he felt the overwhelming presence of the beast that didn't even flinch when it was assaulted with a rain of bullets and missiles, and ran went to the nearest shelter he could remember. He still couldn't understand why that creature hadn't attacked him the moment it laid its hollow eyes on him…
Now another of those things was going to attack the city, and Naruto, instead of feeling scared, felt propelled to watch the outcome of the battle.
"Awesome! I've waited for so long to see this!" Kensuke exclaimed. Tōji was at his side and his ever-reliable camcorder was being used to its fullest to record the breath-taking moment the moment the dreaded enemy appeared.
Naruto was also watching. He stood some meters away from his friend to avoid being detected, but he still had a nice view of the city, and therefore, of the monster assaulting it.
The enormous creature was very different from the last one. With its serpentine, crimson-red body, it slithered through the modified, armored buildings that had rose since the city activated its defense protocol. The monster then rose vertically like some Cobras do when preparing to attack and revealed the sentient ribcage projecting from the hollow region of its chest. Instead of arms, the creature had two long, glowing purple whips and, incrusted on the underside of its pointy head, was an orb that resembled the body in its color.
"Just in time!"
Naruto looked at the place Kensuke was pointing his camcorder at to observe how a seemingly normal building started producing an orchestra of mechanical sounds before opening up on one side and finally revealing what laid in its interior.
Everyone observing immediately knew what it was. The weapon, the behemoth, the robot… the rumors didn't do it justice.
Standing as tall as many of the building scraping the atmosphere and painted in a scheme of purple and neon green was an armored titan born of knowledge, steel and who knows what else. Built to resemble its human creators, it was both a science wonder and an ultimate weapon against invaders.
"It's here."
"Evangelion…"Said Naruto in a whisper, entranced by the mighty humanoid robot. Its power was tangible and extremely alluring to the blond teen.
The combat started when the robot got out of his cover and shoot at the creature with a giant version of a Gatling gun it had quickly seized. Rounds as big as cars rained down that day when the robot didn't spare a bullet against its enemy. The monster stood unmoving as it was showered with blaze and bullets coming from the furious Vulcan. When the rotary cannon finally stopped dealing pain and slowed down, a thick mantle of dark smoke had covered the serpent-like enemy.
The spectators (Tōji, Kensuke and Naruto) held their breath. They couldn't see through the thick smoke permeating the area and therefor couldn't know the fate of the invader.
Suddenly, whips of light cut through the smoke and hadn't the purple behemoth jumped to the floor at the right time, it would've been sliced in half like some building that weren't so lucky.
"Oh man… that punch really messed him up, Tōji."
"Sh-shut up!"
Considering Rei's condition, Naruto deduced that the one piloting the Evangelion was Shinji. And he, with growing concern over his friend well-being could do nothing but watch as the monster attacked over and over again with its deathly whips at the robot. Maybe it was luck, or maybe it was skill, but Shinji somehow managed to evade the lethal blows.
The same show continued for a while, with Shinji dodging for his life, and the monster remodeling the landscape with its vicious whips, but with his Vulcan cut in half and with no means to counterattack, Shinji's panorama was looking grim.
In the end, his luck ran out and Eva-1 was sent crashing to a building after receiving a powerful blow.
The overwhelming Snake monster then lashed out and wrapped a whip around the robot's ankle before pulling, lifting the gigantic robot with ease, and ultimately send it flying like a ragdoll.
Seeing a purple robot of several feet of height being thrown into the air was not something one sees every day, but Naruto didn't have time to be amazed. 'No!' The falling robot was heading towards them, if he didn't do something then the frozen Kensuke and Tōji would end up crushed under the machine.
Making use of his impressive speed for the second time in the day, Naruto rushed to his friend's aide. The earth shook with the collision of the titan and when the cloud of dirt lifted, it was revealed that Naruto had just barely got his stunned friends out of harm's way.
"You okay, guys?" He asked.
"N-Naruto?" That was Tōji, and Naruto had never seen him as scared as he was before. The younger boy was shaking, his tan skin was pale and his eyes were brimming with tears, but he was still able to speak –unlike Kensuke, who looked as disheveled and even more scared that Tōji-.
The blond only nodded and just his presence calmed down the agitated boys, but before they could get away, the monster approached hovering over the Eva. The creature lashed out with its whips again and the Eva defended by grabbing them, its plated hands burning as it did so.
"Why won't he fight it?" Tōji asked.
Over the sound and lightning of the whips, Kensuke found his ability to speak back. "It must be because we're here…He can't move!"
'Shinji…' Naruto saw the reasoning behind Kensuke's word, indeed they were close to the battle and one sudden move of the Eva could end up hurting one of them.
The Uzumaki was about to take his friends away from the battle when pieces of armor on the spine section dissembled and a large metal tube was ejected. "You three, get in!" The voice wasn't Shinji's, it belonged to a woman, but that didn't matter at the time. A rope stair descended from the tube and Naruto beckoned his friends to climb it up.
The first one to enter the tube was Tōji. "What? There's water!"
The secod one was Kensuke, who quickly tried to protect his camcorder getting wet. "My camera! My camera!"
Bringing the rear was Naruto and when he entered the dark tube, he immediately knew that the liquid they were bathing in wasn't water…It smelled like blood.
The boys panicked at first at being underwater, but then discovered that they could breathe once they stopped struggling and allowed the strange liquid access to their lungs.
"Entry Plug restarting."
The light returned to the cockpit and Naruto saw Shinji holding onto the internal controls, cringing and grunting as in pain while trying to keep the monster almost on top of him at bay.
"Shinji!" Naruto called out at him in concern, but the younger boy didn't reply.
The Evangelion manage to push the hovering monster away and stand up. Its hand badly burned.
"Now! Retreat!" The voice ordering the retreat was the same one that had told Naruto and his friend to enter the plug, probably Shinji's superior.
"Take recovery route 34. Head to the mountain's eastern side!"
Shinji did nothing…
"Hey, Transfer, she said, 'Run away!'" Tōji tried to get Shinji out of his trance, but it was useless. "Transfer!"
"I can't run away… I can't run away…" Naruto observed how Shinji got more confident as he whispered those words as a mantra.
The Evangelion took out the Progressive Knife out of its left shoulder pylon, ready to take the offensive.
"Shinji-kun, listen to me! Fall back now!"
No words would reach him now. With the knife gripped on the right hand, Shinji let out a battle howl and motioned the Eva to charge. The Machine slid down the hill, demolishing trees, rocks and anything else that was on its path.
The Serpentine monster waited, and when Eva-1 got close enough, it lashed out and this time both of his deathly tentacles pierced the Eva on the stomach.
Inside the Entry Plug, Shinji jerked in pain, but released another yell and used the knife to stab at the crimson orb under the monster's head.
Thirty mortifying seconds passed that way, Shinji yelling and suffering a burning pain that none of the others boys could understand while trying his hardest to penetrate the core.
The timer of the internal battery was down to ten and sparks flew as the knife grinded into the enemy who couldn't escape as its whips were stuck between the platted armor of the Eva.
"Come on, Shinji! You can do it!" Over his shouting, Shinji heard Naruto encouraging him and with one last push the knife penetrated the hard core just before the timer hit zero. The Evangelion died down and then was bathed in the blood of the Shamshel, the fourth angel.
E/N: Thanks for reading. Expect the next chapter soon. Opinions and suggestion as well as constructive critiques are always appreciated.