Episode Two – The Battle for Humanity Begins

There he sat in the entry plug of Evangelion Unit 01. His nerves shook. He hand clinched around the controls of the giant robot. His sweat crept down his brow. His fear amalgamated in the back of his throat and David swallowed it down into his stomach.

"Vitals? Check. Now synching."

David tried to remain calm despite the fear coursing through his veins. He glanced at the display screen in front of him. The blinking lights filled the screen and passed the label "critical."

"Check."

"Evangelion Unit 01 preparing to launch," said Dr. Oliver into the intercom.

David felt the monster around him rumble as it was carried to the elevator.

"Unit 01, are you ready for launch?" asked Dr. Oliver.

David took a deep, cleansing breath and nodded.

"Yes."

"Launching Eva."

David's nerves shot as the elevator slung the titan upward. David sunk into his seat from the force and gritted his teeth.

"Good luck, David," said Emily to herself as she watched the giant Evangelion disappear into the shaft. "The world is depending on you."

The force relented and the Eva stopped. David eased into his seat again and looked around his battlefield. It was an open area near the suburbs of York-3. The pilot did not like it for one false step could lead to someone's home being crushed or worse. Nonetheless, this was where he was to meet the enemy.

The Eva glanced from side to side and saw no sign of the enemy until the ground began to shake. David turned toward the hill and saw the enemy, a giant perversion of the human form. It was a dark green beast with hollow eyes. In place of a heart was an opaque red swelling; from training, David had learned that it was the demon's weak spot. David now faced the enemy they called, "angel."

"We have visual confirmation of target," stated Dr. Oliver. "Now, David, attack."

David wasted no time in lunging at the angel. Unit 01 threw a straight right hand that tapped the right shoulder of the angel as it tried to dodge. While the beast was off balance, David threw another punch from the left and blew the enemy in its hunched head. David threw a kick, but this time the angel swayed out of harm's way. David threw another southpaw and the monster ducked. David threw a right hand, but angel side-stepped him and took a step back to create distance. Unit 01 drew back its right hand and threw a wild right only to be caught the beast's monstrous claw. David quick moment of confusion came at the wrong time and was quickly interrupted by the angel grabbing the Eva's collar and throwing David to the ground.

"Get up!" yelled Emily. "You can beat him."

David groaned and tried to stand. The angel ignored the rising Eva and continued it path toward NERV headquarters. David stood and yelled a maniacal battle cry as he lunged in to attack the monster. The monster turned in time to be tackled to the ground right in the middle of the city. David began to relentlessly beat the angel's face, until the enemy reached up grabbed the Eva's face. The angel stood and forced the Eva to cower as it crushed Unit 01's skull. David felt his robot's pain and yelled a shrilling cry.

"David, hang in there! You can beat him!" screamed Emily.

David heard her over the intercom. He forced the pain to the back of his mind and took the controls again. The Eva reached up grabbed the monster's aggressing arm with both hands. The Eva twisted it wrists and the monster's arm was crushed. It moaned in pain and David stood and attacked once again. This time he landed a few more punches and knocked the beast down. David reached over left shoulder and grabbed his weapon. He held it out and a blade extended from handle. The blade sprung to life with frenzy of spiraling energy. David eyed the angel's glassy heart and attempted to impale with his knife, but the angel changed form and slipped between David's legs.

"Dammit!" cursed David.

"What's going on?" yelled Emily.

David's unit turned and the beast leaped at his head. It wrapped around his torso and over his head like blanket. David then saw the monster's heart begin to glow.

"Dr. Oliver, we're detecting high energy reading emitting from the angel's core," cried a technician analyzing the Eva's readings.

"The angel is going to destroy its self and take Unit 01 with him," yelled Dr. Oliver.

"David!" cried Emily.

David yelled in anger as the light brightened.

"Damn you!" yelled David.

The NERV personnel watched in horror as the angel exploded in a mass of energy.

"The angel has been terminated," said the same technician.

"At the cost of Unit 01 and its pilot," said Emily. She looked solemnly at floor.

The room became quiet in realization NERV it's only EVA pilot.

"Wait! I'm getting a life reading. It's Unit 01!" said the technician.

Everyone turned to the giant screen observing the battle. As the smoke and haze dissipated a giant walked from the rubble. The room was immediately lifted as Unit 01 was still alive.

"David, are you alright?" asked Emily.

"Just fine," answered David. "This thing holds up pretty well."

"Of course, it does," replied Dr. Oliver. "It's the Evangelion. But it looks like you've sustained some damage."

"Hey, I did my best."

David smiled. He was thankful to be alive. It didn't matter how much trouble a few scratches were. The world was safe because of him.

After taking a long, relaxing shower and getting into his regular clothes, David felt normal again. He sat in the locker room and thought about the praise he'd be getting from his family and friends.

"Perhaps," he thought, "they'll have a parade in my honor." He entertained the thought of riding around the city in a hoodless convertible. He imagined the throngs of people chanting his name, the confetti rain, and having Miss York around his arm. "This is going to be awesome."

"Davey! Davey!" David turned with excitement as his brother Cullen ran into the room. Cullen danced and ran to his slightly younger brother. "David, you kooky, daring bastard! How are you? What was it like?"

The brothers embraced in a hug and David answered, "It was scary for a while, but I'm feeling better now."

The brothers turned to the door to see their father standing before them. Despite the celebratory mood of the room, Commander Gillian did not look as joyous as his sons. "I'm afraid I have some bad news. During the battle many citizens were killed." The room immediately went into shock. "The official number has not been released for the death toll, but hundreds of citizens have been hospitalized. Homes have been destroyed."

"But, Davey, destroyed the angel. That's the important thing," said Cullen.

"Maybe, but we are to destroy the angels so they don't kill us, not help them."

David stood up, but soon collapsed into the unrelenting wall. He knew that battling so close to civilization would be trouble. "To think I thought I was a hero. I hurt so many innocent people," David thought. David turned his head away from his family. He didn't want them to see him struggle to fight back his tears.

"Does this mean he won't be piloting the Eva anymore?" asked Cullen.

"David will still pilot the Evangelion. He is the only person who can."

"Why?" asked David.

"Because I said so. Now let's go home."

The car ride was long and quiet. Not a word was spoken. As the car rounded the hills David let his head fall against the window and he saw after-battle. He saw the rubble his monster left in its wake.