Chapter 6: The Crystal in the Sky! Lighting Strikes Down!
"C'mon man, do it?"
"You really want this?"
"I won't feel right until you do!"
"Fine," Shinji Ikari pulled back, "HERE!"
And with that, Ikari's fist made contact with Touji Suzuhara's face.
"OW!" Touji yelled, "Okay... we're even. Sorry I decked you."
"Sorry isn't enough for forgiveness to me," Kaworu smirked, "For my forgiveness, you must buy us some cool sunglasses."
"I'm not trying to please you!" Touji yelled.
"By the way, I've been meaning to ask," Kensuke asked, "Why exactly were YOU selected to be the Pilot of that 'Evangelion?'"
"Well..." Kaworu replied, "According to Shinji's father, the original pilot, a girl named Rei Ayanami, was injured in some incident involving Evangelion Unit 00..."
'Back then, when they were testing the Unit out, something happened...'
"The Evangelion's gone berserk!" A scientist yelled, as the hulking form of Eva 00 began to rampage around the room.
"Cut off the main power supply!" Gendo shouted.
Hydraulics and timed explosives propelled the power plug from the
Evangelion's back, whereupon it crashed onto the floor.
The beast still moved.
"Thirty seconds of battery power remaining!"
"It's gone berserk! Get away from the windows!"
'The Eva went a little crazy, and sent Rei's entry plug out of its body...'
"The Entry Plug's been ejected!"
"Activate the Restrainer Polymer!"
Red streams of synthetic polymer guzzled out of the walls, encasing the mad beast in a rapidly-solidifying plastic.
'Then, in a sudden fit of silence, Unit-00 stopped.'
"Power's out."
'Gendo ran out and opened the entry plug, accidentally burning his hands in the process. Rei suffered a few broken ribs, and her right leg was broken slightly. Gendo had no choice but to contact us...'
"And now you know," Shinji smirked, "I was a replacement for Rei, and yet, in a way, I don't care."
"So, you weren't supposed to be here, and yet due to circumstances, here you are," Touji noted, "Well, that gives us a lot of closure."
"So, ever met this Ayanami chick?" Kensuke asked.
"Well, aside from the first day we got here, no," Shinji replied.
A short silence followed, before Touji noticed something...
"Hey, anybody notice something about that puddle?"
"Like what?" Shinji looked down to the puddle. His eyes widened when he saw that said puddle was reflecting the three...
LIKE THEY WERE BEING VIEWED FROM ABOVE.
"That defies all logic!" Kensuke screamed, "Unless..."
Then the three looked up to see their reflections on a giant, flying diamond.
"...Since when do diamonds float?"
"Okay, so Angel Number Five's form is a giant flying diamond," Misato noted, "The Eva's already prepped, but we don't know how it would react to the threat. I'm guessing a giant laser or something."
"If that happened, you would earn an extra 20,000 Yen on your paycheck," Gendo replied.
"Is that a bet?"
"Yes."
"You're on!"
"Oh, I see what you mean by 'Big Guns,'" Ritsuko replied, watching several helicopters transport an oversized sniper rifle.
"That, my friend, is an Positron Cannon meant for oversized pilotable mecha," Misato replied, "The guys building it were glad enough to donate it to our cause."
"Why?"
"They didn't say," Misato replied, "Now, Shinji better be ready..."
"GAH!" Shinji woke up, "Hey, wait, I'm in a hospital again. The Eva must've gone berserk and killed the angel again. That's pretty much what happened last time..."
"Unfortunately, that is not the case."
Shinji turned to the voice's owner.
"Rei!" Shinji asked, "How long have you been here?"
"I have been here for approximately 3 hours," Rei replied, "Doing nothing to your body whatsoever. You should take note of that."
"Okay, I can handle that..." Shinji noted.
"Good to know this," Rei stood up, "Operation Yashima will occur in an hour."
And with that, she left.
"... Where are my pants?" Shinji asked when he looked under the sheets.
Rei exited the room to see Shinji's friend, Kaworu Nagisa, sitting nearby.
"Your friend will be fine," Rei stated.
"He better be," Kaworu snarled.
"Okay, here's the plan," Misato spoke to the pilots, "Shinji will utilize the cannon as a sniper rifle for the Angel, while Rei covers using the blast shield."
"Right," Shinji groaned, "Guns aren't my style, but at this point, I have no choice."
"Command Confirmed," Rei replied.
"Good girl," Misato smiled, "Oh, and all of Tokyo-3's power is going into the cannon, so you can't drop the cannon and run."
"Oh," Shinji sighed, "Great..."
"Angel has been sighted."
"Positron Cannon - Okay! Unit 01 - Okay! Unit 00 - Okay!"
Gendo smirked, and muttered three words.
"Begin the operation."
Ramiel continued the drill its way to the target before a barrage of missles began hitting it. The Angel of Thunder reacted to this by firing several lasers everywhere to intercept them...
Exposing its core to a certain giant purple-and-green robot with a sniper rifle,
"Core Located!" Shinji noted.
"Fire now!" Misato shouted.
Shinji pulled the trigger, firing the Positron Cannon at the Angel's core... and hit an AT Field.
"The AT Field's still up!" Shinji yelled, "And... I think I attracted its attention."
A laser streaked toward the Evangelion... only to be intercepted by another blue Evangelion, with a shield.
"Ikari, cover your own ass! I get tired of having to do it for you!" Rei shouted.
"Okay, you finally show emotion here," Shinji noted, "Okay, here we go! This cannon of ours will proceed forward... and pierce the Angel and the Heavens themselves! Take this! Our hopes! Our dreams! And all of our Sorrow! INFINITY BUSTER CANNON!"
Another trigger pull, and the cannon fired straight into the Angel's core. It hit, shattering the big crystal to bits.
"The fifth Angel has fallen," Gendo stood up, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to attend to."
"Ayanami, you okay?" Shinji asked.
"I'm fine," Rei replied, "But why would you care?"
"Please," Shinji replied, "Why wouldn't I?"
"If I died, nobody would care," Rei replied, "I shall simply be replaced."
"Oh, please," Shinji replied, "So what if you have few friends and rarely emote. You're unique, like a-"
"Please, for the love of god, don't say 'Snowflake,'" Rei sighed.
"... I was going to say 'Diamond,'" Shinji replied.
"Oh..." Rei sighed, "I guess there is only one thing I can say..."
"And that would be?"
"You are not alone."
"... I know I'm not."
"The Fifth Angel has fallen," 03 noted.
"Indeed," Gendo Ikari sighed.
"Tokyo-3 has been determined the center of Angel attacks," 01 replies, "Therefore, Gendo Ikari, Unit-02 will be transferred to Tokyo-3, along with Pilot Soryu."
"Excellent..." Gendo exited the scene.
Shinji walked down the corridor back to the parking garage with Misato and Kaworu.
"Well, this has been one exciting day," Misato smirked, "An angel down, a giant cannon fired, and you wound up saving the girl."
"You sure Rei's a girl?" Kaworu asked, "Because I looked into her eyes and see something... different."
"Define... different..."
