Author Notes: Alrighty then, here goes Chapter 1 of Mysterious Eva.
Keeping this short, I may have changed the Volcano battle a little, but nothing major... well apart from the obvious point of this story.
Anyway, lets go!
Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion, nor anything relating to it. But I so wish I did!
As Asuka repelled down into the fiery depths of the Volcano, Shinji was nice and safe up top on the surface, but he was extremely worried. Shinji might not appreciate the endless torment he suffers at the hands of his red-headed room-mate, but he still cares for those who are close to him, as friends do; although Shinji wasn't sure if Asuka considered him one of her friends, he still considered her one of his... just a friend who has a very odd way of showing friendship...
Shinji mentally bit his nails as he monitored the comms to be kept updated about Asuka's welfare, because he couldn't actually bite his nails with the plugsuit in the way.
Soon, after what felt like hours, Asuka finally reached the Angel and proceeded to capture it with no problems. Shinji sighed with relief and smiled as Asuka was pulled back up to the surface.
"Asuka, are you all right?" He asked her.
"Well of course I am, the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. This was easy!" Asuka stated casually.
"Man... this isn't a plugsuit, it's a sauna bath! Aww, I just wanna take a cold shower." Asuka whined.
'Typical Asuka... she would call me a baka for being so worried for her... but then she always calls me baka anyway. Oh well, I'm glad nothing bad happened' Shinji thought.
That was when the Angel started morphing into it's adult form.
"It's going crazy!" Asuka shouted.
'Oops, I think I jinxed it' Shinji reprimanded himself.
He was even more on edge as he heard the events of the battle beginning to take place not far beneath his feet. He desperately wanted to help, and to make sure Asuka got back out alive, but he couldn't do anything without any D-type equipment on his Eva.
'What's the point in back-up if I can't actually back Asuka up?!' Shinji mentally screamed.
"Scheisse, I forgot I lost the Knife!" Asuka shouted.
Shinji didn't even need to think about it as he unsheathed Unit 01's progressive knife and dropped it straight into the Volcano.
"Asuka, Unit 01 has dropped it's Knife for you, prepare to receive!" Misato informed her.
"Roger! Have you dropped it yet Shinji?" she asked as she cautiously watched out for the Angel.
"It's on it's way!" Shinji responded.
"40 metres to Knife's arrival" someone said from the temporary command point.
"Angel rapidly approaching!" Makoto said.
Asuka saw the Angel coming straight at her.
"No! Go away!" Asuka screamed. "Ah, hurry up with that thing!" she commanded gravity.
Finally, the Knife reached Asuka just as the Angel was about to ram into Unit 02. Immediately, Asuka activated the Knife and plunged it straight into the Angel, holding it at bay.
"What the hell?!" The progressive Knife wasn't penetrating the Angel's body at all.
The Angel lurched forward and latched directly onto the head of Unit 02, with only the D-type suit in it's way.
"Oh my god! How can it open it's mouth in molten lava?!" Ritsuko demanded the air.
"What is that thing built out of?" Maya asked nobody in particular.
Asuka was having no luck with the Knife as the Angel slowly ripped the D-type suit apart.
"Die damn you!"
"The extreme heat has made the Angel strengthen it's molecular structure, the Prog' Knife won't work!" Ritsuko said.
'Damn, if the heat made it stronger... then the cold should make it weaker! That's it, damn am I thankful for Asuka's physics lesson' Shinji realised.
"Think Physics!" He called out.
Within milliseconds, Asuka came to the same conclusion as Shinji, "Thermal Expansion!" she exclaimed.
Asuka sliced off one of her coolant tubes and shoved it straight into the Angel.
"Of course, the coolant!" Ritsuko figured out.
'Jeez Ritsuko, you're supposed to be the genius here...' Shinji thought.
"Transfer all the internal coolant pressure to tube number 3! Do it!" Asuka hurriedly shouted.
At once, all the coolant rushed out and rapidly cooled the Angel. It writhed about in pain as it was subjected to the effects of Thermal Expansion. Asuka cried out as she once again thrusted the Knife into the Angel. This time the Knife directly penetrated and sparks were sent flying as the Knife dug into the Angel.
As the Angel was inches from death, the Angel severed Unit 02's cables in a last attempt to bring it down with it.
As the Angel dissolved away in the heat, the coolant had run out and the extreme pressure was too much for the suit to take without any internal pressure from the coolant to offer resistance. The suit started to collapse in on itself, as Asuka realised her predicament.
"I've killed the Angel... but," Asuka said as she watched the last of her cables about to tear way.
The notion dawned on her that she was going to die, she wasn't going to see everyone again. She wouldn't get the chance to receive the glory that came with killing the Angels, she'd never get to see Kaji again, nor Hikari, Misato, Pen-pen, the stooges Toji or Kensuke, Wondergirl, or even the baka Shinji...
"... that's it... I'm done for." she relented.
As soon as Shinji heard that, he snapped.
'Fuck it, fuck this, Asuka is about to DIE!' Shinji mentally screamed as he dived straight into the lava of the Volcano without any protection in place.
Immediately he was assaulted with an unbearable burning sensation. He cut the comm link as he started to scream wildly. Through some miracle, he was able to focus and grab onto the cable, as he rapidly grappled towards Unit 02.
Finally, the cable snapped and Asuka was left to drift into the fiery depths to receive her fiery end.
That is until Unit 01 snatched Unit 02 up.
Asuka looked up in confusion as she stopped her descent, only to see the demonic visage of Unit 01 greet her as it's armour slowly began to melt away. She could see Unit 01 writhing in pain from the heat, but still maintaining it's grip on the cable and Unit 02 as they were pulled up.
'How can he take that much pain? And he did it for... for me?' Asuka realised.
'The baka can really pull through when you need him, huh?' she thought.
"Shinji?" she asked, but received no response.
By the time Unit 01 and Unit 02 were finally pulled out of the Volcano, Unit 01's armour had completely dissolved away, along with most of the flesh of the Eva. Almost all that was left of the Eva were the remains of the arms and a chunk of the flesh that was the chest still encasing the remains of the entry plug and the Eva's exposed core. The lower half of the Eva had melted away and fallen from the top half of the Eva, and the Helmet was completely gone, leaving behind a head with part of it's face missing.
The whole image looked gruesome. Some technicians were currently throwing up as others had kept mild control over their stomachs in order to get Shinji out of the entry plug. Asuka watched on from inside Unit 02 in horror, with Misato mirroring her from the command point, as they desperately tried to get Shinji out of the plug, to make sure he was alright...
"You damned baka, why did you do it?" Was all Asuka could squeak out as she resisted the overwhelming feeling to start crying for her friend who could be dead for all she knew.
The first thing that the boy thought when he came to, was whether he was dead or alive. Slowly, he opened his eyes to a white, plain ceiling. He had the urge to say 'unfamiliar ceiling' but he knew that the ceiling was actually all to familiar with him.
He now knew he was alive and at NERV hospital, in what he considered his 'second lovely suite'. They always put him in the same room, and he was so familiar with the room that he knew how to get from where he was all the way to the front door of the hospital with his eyes closed.
Shinji sat up a little and looked around him. He was astonished to find Misato, Asuka and Rei all sitting on either side of his bed.
'How long have I been out for?' He wondered.
Rei seemed to be the only one currently awake, as usual, and was reading another book that Shinji didn't really care about. He needed to speak, or do something.
"Um... Rei, how long have I been unconscious for? What happened?" Shinji asked quietly.
"As of now, you have been unconscious for a total of 22 hours, 11 minutes and 24 seconds. Despite the battle report from the Angel encounter at the Volcano and the condition of Unit 01, you have only suffered very minor burns across your face, which should fully heal in time. Your plugsuit melted in the heat, but it managed to protect the rest of your body quite well. Doctor Akagi says that it was a miracle that your burns were not worse, or that you even survived what happened. Unit 01 has been severely damaged from being exposed to molten lava; it can be repaired, but the repairs are estimated to take almost a year to finish." Rei stated in her trademark monotone voice. Shinji, however, was astonished that Rei had spoken more than she ever had before in the past months he had known her, in the last few seconds.
"Um, wow Rei. Was Unit 01 damaged that badly?" Shinji lamely asked, mainly in an attempt to breach the silence that fell between them as he recovered from his shock.
Rei nodded, "Yes, it was, everyone at NERV saw it for themselves as Unit 01 was placed in storage until NERV would be able to repair it. You were retrieved from the remains of the entry plug miraculously unharmed, but unconscious, likely from the pain you experienced when piloting the Eva in lava without protection." she responded.
It was at this time that Misato started to stir from her sleep. She sat up from leaning across onto the bed and stretched. She still hadn't noticed Shinji watching her as Misato checked the time and then looked over at Asuka and Rei. She was about to talk to Rei when she noticed her eyes focused elsewhere. She slowly turned to see Shinji with faint patches of pink on his face. She would have chuckled at the fact that it made him look like he had a constant blush on his face if she wasn't so relieved that Shinji was awake.
Immediately she lunged at Shinji and squashed him in an immense bear-hug, rousing Asuka from her sleep in the process. When she was about to ask what the fuss was all about, she stopped herself to see Misato crushing Shinji who was now awake, she noted, in one of her bear-hugs. Against what she would normally do, Asuka just lunged and joined the duo in the bear-hug, squeezing Shinji even harder.
"Um... guys... can't breathe..." Shinji squeaked quietly.
Misato and Asuka came to their senses on what they were doing and both released Shinji. He gasped and rapidly panted to apologise to his oxygen-deprived lungs. Once he had regained his breath, he noticed Misato and Asuka were both glaring daggers at him. If looks could kill, then even the Angels would have keeled over and died pathetically.
"SSSSHHHHIIIINNNNJJJJJIIIII!" They both screamed. Shinji cowered on the bed and Rei had to cover her ears to stop herself from going deaf.
"Why, in the name of Kami-sama, did you do THAT?!" Misato shrieked.
"We thought that you were dead! How could you scare us all like that?!" Asuka screamed.
"You disobeyed orders and jumped straight into the Volcano without any protection!" Misato cried.
"You didn't have to almost get yourself killed for me!" Asuka yelled.
"If I had my way, you would be discharged from NERV as a pilot, and grounded for a whole month!" Misato bellowed.
"What would we have done if you died?! Did you ever think of that?!" Asuka roared.
"Are you really that suicidal, as to risk you own life?!" Misato screeched.
"You really are a baka, you know that?!" Asuka vociferated.
(A/N: Okay I'm running out of synonyms, and now I'm using a thesaurus.)
Both women were left panting for air after the shout-off, while Shinji finally had a chance to get a word in.
"If I remember correctly, there were no orders not to jump into the Volcano. I'm also pretty sure that I was assigned to be the back-up on the operation, and the reason for back-up to be there is to provide back-up and save people's lives!" Shinji answered, showing a rare display of backbone.
All occupants of the room were left speechless and unable to respond to Shinji, until Ritsuko came into the room after hearing the shouting down the hall.
"Ah, Shinji, you're awake. I'm sorry you had to deal with these girls in here when you woke up, but they refused to leave the room when you were placed in here. I'm sure Rei took it upon herself to explain exactly what has happened and your injuries?" she asked.
"Yes, ma'am." Shinji replied.
"Okay then, in that case, I can discharge you immediately. Your clothes are on the side, retrieved from your locker, and the Commander wishes to see you." Ritsuko said as she walked back out the room.
Shinji climbed out of bed and was about to change out of the hospital gown, when he realised that the 3 women he woke up to were still in the room.
"Um... would you mind?" Shinji asked rhetorically.
All 3 women blinked and then calmly walked out of the room to allow Shinji to change. Shinji put on his regular white shirt and black slacks and then proceeded to walk calmly out of the door.
He admitted that he was extremely lucky to survive that ordeal with only very minor burns on his face, but his face still felt a little sore when he spoke or when he used any of his facial muscles.
'Oh well, everything will be back to normal in a day or two, including the burns.' Shinji thought.
Outside the room, he was met with both Asuka and Rei.
"Misato's been called back to work immediately, now that you're awake. Probably paperwork." Asuka said.
"Ok. I have to go see my father... so I-" before Shinji could meekly continue what he was implying, Rei cut him off.
"I am accompanying you." She stated, leaving no room for any questions.
"So am I baka!" Asuka said in the same manner as Rei.
Taken back by the unusual behaviour of his fellow pilots, he silently nodded and walked towards the Commander's office with Asuka and Rei on either side of him. It was a rare sight to see all 3 pilots walking together inside of NERV and so the trio attracted a lot of stares from the various staff. Shinji garnered the most attention after everyone in NERV saw the state of Unit 01, and yet Shinji got off with a few faint pink patches on his face.
Eventually, the trio of pilots reached the Commander's office, where they were asked to wait by one of the Section 2 guards as Gendo's secretary let the Commander and Sub-commander know that they had arrived.
Inside the office sat Gendo Ikari and Kozo Fuyutsuki. Currently, they were discussing what happened to Unit 01 and what they were going to have to do about it.
"Damn that child of mine, he has unknowingly ruined our plans!" Gendo shouted as he slammed his fist down on his desk.
"Why did he have to rescue the Second Child, in Unit 01 for that matter! Unit 02 and her are both expendable, Unit 01 is not!"
"Calm down Ikari, Unit 01 is not beyond repair, it will just take time." Fuyutsuki said.
"Yes, time that we do not have! Who's to say SEELE won't make a move and try to initiate their scenario in the meantime? How are we going to stay ahead of them?" Gendo asked.
"We could always use Units 02 and 00. Or either of the Units that are on their way as we speak." Fuyutsuki replied.
Gendo seemed to calm down at this. "Yes, we still have our current Units and Units 3 and 17." Gendo said.
"May I ask why it is that you are so interested in Unit 17 in particular?"
"All will be revealed in good time..."
There was a buzz on the intercom as Gendo's secretary spoke, "Commander, all 3 pilots are here to see you."
"Hmm, only Shinji was required to come." Fuyutsuki remarked.
"Doesn't matter, it will save having to repeat ourselves. Send all 3 of them in." Gendo commanded in his typical fashion.
"Right away, Commander." There was a buzz as the intercom was switched off, followed not shortly after by the door to the office opening. The 3 pilots stepped into the large, intimidating office as the door was closed behind them, making it feel as if they were being sealed inside the room.
"You wished to see me... father?" Shinji asked as all 3 pilots came closer to Gendo's desk, where Gendo had his hands tented across his face as usual.
"Yes, you were summoned so that we can discuss your actions with Unit 01." Gendo said.
Shinji winced at this, while Asuka and Rei looked at Shinji.
"Oh... I should have guessed." Shinji said softly while turning his gaze to the floor.
"You are aware that your actions have caused a severe amount of damage to one of NERV's most valuable pieces of equipment? You are lucky that the damage to Unit 01 can be repaired, but you have put us at a disadvantage in terms of our engagement with the Angels." Gendo said.
"Of course, this will not go unpunished. As a result of your actions, we find it fit for you to spend a week here at NERV undergoing an extreme training regimen. Your combat skills will be developed and tested with extreme critique. From then onwards, it will depend upon your performance as to when the training regimen shall stop and you'll be allowed to return to your normal routine outside of NERV. The option to join Pilot Ikari in these exercises is available to the other pilots." Fuyutsuki said.
Both Asuka and Rei considered the proposal, before they announced their agreement.
'Any extra training will only further benefit me as a pilot, and I need to keep an eye on Shinji' Asuka thought.
'I will see to it that Pilot Ikari remains safe' Rei thought.
"Now, as for your future Pilot Ikari, you are to pilot Eva Unit 17 until Unit 01 can be fully repaired. As we speak, Unit 17 is being transported from NERV-UK across Europe by railway to Russia, and from there it will be carried by Sea just as with Unit 02. We have also acquired Eva Unit 03, which will be transported by air and piloted by the Fourth Child." Gendo announced.
All 3 pilots were taken aback as the news of two new Eva Units (one of them to be piloted by Shinji) as well as a new pilot, sunk in. Asuka was the first to react.
"Commander, who is the Fourth Child?" she asked.
"That will remain undisclosed. The Fourth Child has been chosen, but we have yet to notify them and have them accept the position. If they do confirm, the Fourth Child as well as Pilot Ikari will both be taken to the Matsushiro Testing Facility, where they will undergo the activation tests for both new Units, upon their arrival in Japan. Pilot Ikari will be sent the Specification Report of Unit 17 soon." Gendo replied.
"That is all, the training regimen begins in 3 days on Sunday at 6:00 am, be here at NERV by then." Fuyutsuki finished.
And with that the 3 pilots left the unhumble abode that was the Commander's office.
Asuka and Shinji were walking home together at Sunset after dropping Rei off at her apartment. An awkward silence had fallen across the duo as they neared their apartment.
"Um... Shinji, I have something to say..." Asuka said as she stopped walking, with her head down so that her bangs covered her eyes, concealing her expression.
Shinji stopped and turned to listen to what Asuka had to say.
"I...I just wanted to say... Thank you for saving my Life." Asuka spoke as Shinji struggled to hear Asuka's words.
"Oh... it's okay... after all, it was my job as back-up, right? You did your job and killed the Angel, and I did my job and made sure you made it back alive." Shinji said as he offered Asuka a smile.
Asuka looked up and saw Shinji's smile, and she couldn't help but smile as well.
"Baka, you don't need to act so tough, just because you saved my life." Asuka said as she put on a mock-scowl, returning to her usual self.
Shinji let out a sigh, "Doesn't suit me, huh?"
"Nope, now c'mon, I'm hungry!" Asuka said as she started walking to their apartment again.
"What do you want for dinner, Asuka?" Shinji asked.
"How about we order out? It'll save you cooking." she suggested.
'Well, I'll be damned, she's acting a little nicer to me' Shinji noticed
'I suppose I should give the baka a break, not everyone is able to jump in a Volcano to save someone else's life at the risk of their own, like he did. He's also got a bit more of a backbone than I thought he did, so I can lay off a little' Asuka thought.
"Sure, that sounds great." Shinji said.
Later that night, Shinji lay in bed with his bedside lamp on, listening to his S-DAT player and reading the file he found waiting for him when he got back after picking up a Pizza for him and Asuka.
Apparently Asuka had already read it and was quite impressed with the newest production model.
(Flashback)
"Asuka, I'm back! I've got the Pizzas!" Shinji called out.
"Welcome back, Section 2 dropped off this file for you, it's got everything you're allowed to know about Unit 17." she said casually as she finished reading the file at the kitchen table.
As Shinji placed the Pizza boxes on the table, Asuka closed the file and handed it to Shinji.
"I admit, my Eva Unit 02 was the first production model, and it has withstood the test of time and is more than a match for the Angels," she said proudly, "but you've got a handicap now with the newest model; it's outfitted with more recent technology to try and boost the pilot. I'm sure that now even you could match me with the new Unit." she said casually, but without any malice.
'Well, Asuka's still being nice, in her own way...' Shinji thought.
"Thanks Asuka, I'll read it after we eat." Shinji said as he put the file aside and grabbed his Pizza and went to watch the TV in the Living Room, with Asuka following and doing the same.
(End of Flashback)
As Shinji read, he agreed with Asuka's opinion on the Eva.
"Potential Battery Capacity... 7 minutes... Speed, Mach 1.3 – that's slightly faster than Unit 02... 180 degree vision... 2 progressive Knives... 2 progressive blades concealed in each foot... Knee caps made of... wow... Hand armour is reinforced... Head armour is reinforced... wireframe vision?... advanced computer AI assist system... experimental prototype? Mini Vortex system?" Shinji said out loud.
"I wonder why it's called Unit 17 though... and why are some parts of this report blacked out, like the background info and the last part with other details?" Shinji wondered.
He decided to leave it for now and get some sleep. In the morning, Shinji needed to pack his stuff to take with him for his training at NERV, as well as greet his friends at the airport who returned from Okinawa tomorrow.
He was going to have fun explaining his training he had coming up. Shinji would also bet that it wouldn't be long before Kensuke hacked into NERV and found out about what happened to Unit 01 as well as about Unit 03 and Unit 17.
Author Notes: And there we go, my first chapter of Mysterious Eva. Hope you guys liked it, I just dived straight in at the Angel battle at Episode 10 and went on from there. I think that the next chapter will take place after the training. It's gonna be a little boring reading a training montage from me, so I'll write a report on the outcome of the training!
The point in the training is to get Shinji to improve his melee combat capabilities.
The production model Evas are different from the Prototype and the Test type (Units 00 and 01 respectively) in that they are designed more for combat specifically. Therefore I made Unit 17 more of a melee unit, hence the large amount of progressive blades present on the body and the reinforced hand armour for punching. Shinji isn't that good at melee combat, so I needed to work in some melee training somewhere...
Anyway, by next chapter a week will have passed, you get to see the results of the extreme training, mostly aimed at Shinji, and you also get to see the activation of Units 03 and 17 that have finally arrived during the Pilot's training.
Hope you guys are looking forward to it!
Remember to leave Reviews! Until next time!
- Western-Otaku