This edit of the second chapter includes some changes and several sections rewritten. Unfortunately it doesn't extend the chapter like I did with the first one, because I actually like the way this chapter was written anyway. The end bit with Gendo having a meeting with Seele is also removed.
Additionally, I added a monologue recap in Gurren-Lagann style. I challenge you not to read it with old Simon's voice. Chapter 3 coming soon.
2. UNLEASH THE BEAST!
This is the story of a boy who has yet to realize his destiny. He shall pierce the heavens, who have judged man as unworthy for their folly, leaving the fate of the world to rest on the boy's shoulders.
The boy was called by his estranged father to the forsaken city at the center of the attacks, and inspired to pilot humanity's last resort - the artificial humanoid battle unit, Evangelion Unit 01. Now, he must fight, but can he truly find the courage to stand up and do battle with the Angels?
"Remember what I said, Shinji. Never back down. Never run away."
Shinji leaned back into the seat, attempting to calm his nerves, but his grip on the two cockpit triggers remained tight. In his head, he repeated his father's mantra again and again. Never back down. Never run away.
Glancing around at the interior of the cockpit, he took a moment to familiarize himself with the interface and general shape. As he was informed earlier, Evangelions, EVA for short, had cockpits seperate from the main structure itself. These cockpits, called 'entry plugs', were elongated metal tubes that housed the necessary interface to 'synchronize' with the EVA.
Shinji caught recognisable words amongst the technobabble radio chatter.
"Flooding entry plug."
Orange liquid began to rise from the bottom of the plug, threatening to drown him.
"What the - are you trying to drown me?" He took a deep breath and held it as he went under.
"Don't worry. Once the LCL has filled your lungs, it'll provide oxygen to the blood. You'll get used to it."
Letting his breath go, he started intaking large gulps of LCL through the mouth. It tasted horribly of blood, and it made him feel sick. The liquid faded completely transparent, and Shinji found he could breathe easier with the illusion of air in the plug.
Thinking was made difficult by the intrusion of words and phrases in various languages, the ones he recognised were only the words in English and Japanese. The importance of understanding the English language had increased tenfold since the Second Impact.
Dr. Akagi took charge. "Configure linguistic interface to Japanese."
After that, the intrusive thoughts faded away. The previously dark displays surrounding him whirred into life, displaying abstract rainbow patterns for several seconds and eventually displaying a view from the EVA's eyes, even if the entry plug was technically located much lower than the EVA's head.
A unfamiliar sensation spread warmth from the two points of his head where he wore standard issue A10 nerve clips, the sensation spread throughout the body and made his presence in the cockpit all the more comfortable. If he were asked, he'd relate the sensation to motherly love, though he would never quite understand why until some time later.
Ritsuko's assistant, Maya Ibuki, relayed some numbers to her superior. "Synchronization rate hovering at 41%."
A small horizontal segmented gauge on Unit 01's display displayed the same value, having jumped up and down and eventually settled at the 41 mark.
"That's good, Shinji. 41% is a good start for your first time in the entry plug, and you're not even wearing a plugsuit. Everything's ready for launch. Shinji?"
Shinji gripped tight on the controls. "Ready when you are."
Unit 01 was slowly unrestrained, being bound by several mechanical devices and doused in red water to prevent it from moving. Shinji didn't understand the necessity of these procedures, since it was only a robot, but there was little time to question it. Unit 01's battery charge reached maximum, and the interface beeped in response. A click from behind the EVA indicated he was being plugged into an external power source. According to Dr. Akagi, an EVA's internal battery was barely enough to last five minutes from an external power source, and thus lengthy cables called 'umbilical cords' served the best alternate option to keep the EVA in the action.
Unit 01 was lifted by a railed platform and came to a halt directly below a shaft leading up to the surface. The shaft gates opened up in rapid succession until they reached the ground level.
Misato turned to commander Ikari on the NERV HQ bridge. "Do I have your approval?"
"What, you think I'm going to make us back down now? Who the hell do you think I am?"
Misato grinned. "That's what I want to hear. Launch!"
The force of the launch pushed Shinji down into the pilot seat.
Around half-way up the shaft, the restraints holding Unit 01 onto the platform abruptly broke, forcing the EVA to its hands and knees. As soon as the platform came to a halt at ground level, Unit 01 was unexpectedly launched high up into the air. The umbilical cable extended beyond its reach and ejected automatically.
Misato cursed audibly on the bridge. "Why'd you have to launch so fast? Last time Rei went up, it was like an elevator ride!"
Ritsuko defensively responded; "Commander Ikari rushed me."
Shinji started screaming as he reached the apex of his leap. It was a well known fact of nature that what goes up must come down. The EVA began to fall, and ungracefully crashed into an apartment block.
Ritsuko piped up through the communication network. "Shinji. Can you stand?"
Easier said than done, the only training thus far was Shinji being told the EVA was controlled by thoughts and movements rather than buttons or levers. There were controls, but Shinji wasn't sure what they were there for. Concentrating as hard as he could, Unit 01 slowly scrambled to its feet, straining on the weight of its own legs, and finally managed to stand up.
"Good work, Shinji. We're unrolling another cable for you. Do you think you can try walking to it?"
"Right. Walk."
Unit 01 took one step forward towards where the umbilical cable was being unravelled from a power station.
"He's going for it!"
It toppled over and planted face first into the ground.
"Shinji, get up! It's coming for you!"
Shinji tried to stand at an agonizingly slow pace, but the Angel was already upon him and lifted him off his feet holding onto the EVA's head with one hand. Using its free hand, it started pulling on the EVA's arm in an attempt to break it. Feeling the sympathetic pain, Shinji instinctively let go of the controls to grab a hold of his own arm, which had been forced off at the same angle as Unit 01's.
Ritsuko shouted. "Concentrate, Shinji! It's the EVA's arm that's being pulled, not yours!"
Unit 01's arm snapped, and Shinji experienced similarly painful feedback.
This time, Misato shouted. "Shinji! Do something!"
Shinji mumbled through the grunts of pain. "I have to do something..."
Flashing back to a few hours ago when he first met Misato, he remembered about the red robot's powerful kick to its red orb causing the Angel to let go. Raising both legs, he performed a similar kick directly into what he had now deduced to be the Angel's weakness, causing it to visibly crack. The Angel let go and howled. Unit 01 fell back to the ground, indenting into the pavement. Scrambling to his feet, Shinji turned on his heel and made a run for it in the opposite direction. At each step, the synchronization dropped by five points.
On the bridge, Misato pointed at Unit 01's internal battery power display. "Oh god, why is the EVA draining so much battery power?"
Ritsuko honestly didn't know, and couldn't respond. She knew that an EVA's strenuous activity could drain the battery power in one minute at maximum activity, but 10 seconds?
The EVA had come to a complete halt in the middle of a sprint right in the streets. The cockpit switched to alarming red lighting and began to beep incessantly using its own seperate internal power source.
"No... no! Damnit, move!"
Shinji grabbed the controls, pushing them forward as far as they would go, and rapidly clicked the two triggers in an attempt to elicit a response. He swore as the Angel caught up and delivered a blow to the EVA's backside, sending him toppling forward.
"Someone... get me the hell out of here!"
Gendo Ikari's face showed up on a small rectangular communications display.
"Shinji! What did I tell you? Never back down, never run away!"
"But the power's out! I can't do anything! I don't want to pilot anymore, dad! Save me!"
Gendo leaned closer to the camera, gritting his teeth and demonstrating a feral grin. He spoke three words, each punctuated like sentences of their own.
"GRIT. THOSE. TEETH."
Shinji was moved and inspired to tears. "But what about the power?"
"You don't need batteries! BELIEVE, Shinji. Believe you can pilot, and make it so. Do the impossible, and kick reason to the curb! Prove to me that YOU'RE A MAN."
Shinji shivered all over, and then gripped his controls tight while intently staring at the Angel. Deciding that he no longer felt like running away, the EVA instantly responded by repowering itself. The entry plug remained a sickly red, indicating it could not read where Unit 01 was getting its power from.
"I DON'T NEED BATTERIES! I DON'T NEED CABLES!" he yelled, and unleashed a primal war cry that Unit 01 mirrored with its own synthetic-sounding vocal cords. Unit 01 tore apart its wired-shut jaws, ripping its own gums and shedding blood from the mouth.
Shinji charged and tackled the Angel to the ground, and unleashing another war cry, he started to one-handedly slam the red orb at the Angel's chest with his fist. The first crack grew into several more, and in response the Angel unleashed an unexplainable surge of energy that sent Shinji flying into a nearby building.
Shinji wasted no time climbing to his feet and charging again, but was stopped abruptly by a hexagonal geometric shapes in the air, like a barrier.
"Shinji, that's an A.T. Field! You'll have to neutralize it with your own A.T. - " Ritsuko didn't finish, she was cut off by surprise and disgust as Unit 01 gruesomely repaired its own broken arm and tore through the Angel's A.T. Field like it was fabric floating in the air.
Shinji tackled the Angel back onto the ground, and snapped off one of the rib-like bones in a cage that surrounded the core. Using it as a primitive weapon, he started to hack away at the Angel's core, eventually piercing through it and leaving it wedged half way in. Standing up, he carried out a powerful stomp, driving the tooth all the way through the core to the other side.
The Angel let out a shrill cry and morphed into a ball-like shape surrounding Unit 01, before rapidly expanding and exploding, accompanied by a cross-shaped beam of light. Shinji passed out in the cockpit, still wearing an inane grin.