The original idea for chapter 12 was meant to be an expansion of what Jacob told Rei at the end of 11, the full story about Robartus...
As it turned out...I kinda lost it... I feel like crap for egging you on like I did, only for this to happen...I promise that the Robartus Arc will happen someday, but probably not for a while. If it matters, then just pretend that the ship at the end of 11 ran out of gas and someone had to go to the space gas station and refill the space tank with space gas, so they'll be delayed indefinitely.
Anyway, what you'll be getting this time was a joint effort between myself and a friend of mine. In fact, she was the inspiration for Krissa's personality and design! This'll be a two-three part miniseries while I work on the next part of the main story. Please bear with me on this...
NEON GENESIS EVANGELION: REBIRTH
ENCOUNTER 12: This is (not) a Flashback
By: C-Bell and Robert D
Chapter 1: Saiyans in the Night
"Big brother, what you're suggesting isn't just illegal…It's completely INSANE!" whispered the concerned nine year-old Krissa Lynn Bladeside. Her elder brother, Jacob Daniel Bladeside, in all his genius, had just suggested that the two of them do a smash-and-grab at the local military base.
"C'mon Kris," goaded the ten year-old "We're just gonna take a look at the computers. I wanna know if they have any information on father or Master Son! Or any other Saiyans…Pleaaaaaaaase?"
Though it went against her better judgment, Krissa begrudgingly agreed.
I mean, it's not like the two siblings were unwelcome at the supposedly in-operational Chanute Air Force Base, but sneaking in during the dead of night might not be so well received by the higher-ups. After jumping the fence, the two children sprinted straight for the secret bunker where the true base was located.
"Alright, on the count of three…" whispered Jacob, preparing to open the tightly bolted hatch.
"Wait," asked Krissa, "On "three", or "three" and then go?"
"Does it matter?" Replied the young Saiyan as he threw open the metal hatch, so fast in fact, that the silent alarm didn't even register movement. As the two made their way to the main computer room, Krissa was shaking her head in disbelief.
"I can NOT believe I'm doing this," she quietly mumbled, "I'm helping my brother commit a Capital Offense… WE COULD GET EXECUTED FOR THIS!"
She heard her brother chuckle.
"Krissa, do you really think they'd execute US?" He said in a proud tone, "I mean, we're some of their biggest assets. If we die, they're out two body guards! Then what?"
Krissa grumbled to herself, knowing her brother was right. The two of them had just battled against a foe far more powerful than themselves and came out victorious.
"They might still replace us!" Blurted the freckle-faced girl, "I mean, I heard that dragon dude in Texas just took out two Lv 4s by himself!"
"Pfft, let em try," retorted Jacob as he pried open the door to the secret command center, "That guy might be tough, but I'm a Super Saiyan II now! I'll make him cry like a baby!"
As the siblings began to explore the area of the base usually forbidden to them, Krissa noticed some weird charts on the wall.
"Hey bro, what do you think this means?" She asked, pointing to a hexagonal diagram, "An A.T. Field...what do you suppose that is?"
Jacob snickered.
"You're askin' me, Kris? Really?"
Something flashed for a brief moment behind a large window, catching his attention.
"Hey Kris...you see that?"
The dark-haired girl nodded.
"Bro, lets get out of here...I'm really getting nervous..."
"No way, not now!" he said, "I wanna know what that thing was! Then we can go, ok?"
Krissa sighed and nodded, following her elder sibling down the ladder and into a large, dark, expansive room. At the far edge, Krissa thought she could make out a huge shadow and single red light on the ceiling. For some reason, all the color seemed to drain from Jacob's face.
"K-Kris..." He whispered, "Don't m-make any sudden movements..."
"Huh?" She asked, confused, "Why not?"
For a moment, the red light went out, before coming back on again.
"Because that thing's alive, and I'm sure it's hungry."
Krissa then realized that the red light wasn't actually a light at all. It was an eye. And it had just blinked.
Chapter 2: RUN FOR IT
Down the seemingly endless maze of corridors ran Jacob and Krissa, terror carved onto their features as they fled the massive entity quickly closing in on them.
Suddenly, Jacob spotted a light at the end of the tunnel and motioned for Krissa to head for it.
Once inside the lit room, the siblings quickly slammed the door shut and welded it closed with Ki.
"Think that'll hold it?" Asked Krissa. As if in reply, the creature slammed against the door and nearly knocked it into the room.
"Forget I said anything..." She mumbled, heading for higher ground. Finding none, she opted to hover into the air.
With a resounding, nearly deafening crash, the creature exploded into the room and stopped. It seemed the beings who had awoken it had escaped, but that wouldn't last long.
In the light, Jacob was able to get a better look at the thing, and what he saw made his stomach turn: this creature had been nearly stripped down to the bone, leaving only it's skeletal and muscular structures still intact, yet it was still alive. It's shape of the head almost reminded the young Saiyan of a dragon, but it's serpentine body and spider-like leg appendage lent itself more to a chimera than anything else and around it's neck was some sort of silver tube.
"There," said Jacob to himself, "That must be the weak point..."
With a roar of frustration, the beast made it's way to the back of the room. A shimmer formed across it's skull for a moment, and it's eyes shone before a large burst blew open the wall, carving a tunnel up towards the surface.
"Oh no..." Gasped Krissa, causing the beast to look back and roar.
"KRISSA GO!" Shouted Jacob, transforming with a flash to Super Saiyan, "I'll hold him off, you get clear and warn the commander!"
"But Jaco-"
"GO!" He commanded as the beast lunged at him with jaws open wide, "NOW!"
With a nod, Krissa jetted up the tunnel the beast had created and made her way towards the home of Commander Steve Harris, the man in charge of Chanute Base. Touching down on his doorstep, Krissa knocked on the door, not stopping even when a tall, graying man, answered.
"I assume you have a very good reason for waking me up at this hour..." He grumbled, rubbing his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Commander Harris, but..."
As the girl went on to explain the events that had led up to the present, she could see the color drain from the man's face.
"You kids are something else..." He groaned, massaging his temples, "Why couldn't you have been more like your mother..."
"We're gonna get in big trouble, aren't we...?"
"Well...as the commander in charge of both you and Chanute, I have an obligation to reprimand you for your actions...but as your Uncle, I suppose I can cut you a small break."
After their parents died, Jacob and Krissa went to live with their mother's older brother. As a result, the two often visited him at the military base he was in charge of, making more than a few friends there.
Krissa had been so excited she hadn't heard her Uncle clearing his throat, indicating he wasn't done speaking.
"huh?" She asked, "Didn't catch that last part."
"As I was saying..." He sighed, exasperated by the small girl, "I'll hold back on reprimanding you on the conditions that you succeed in recapturing the beast ALIVE and repair the damage done as a result of your...excursion."
"YES SIR!" Saluted Krissa, grabbing the man under the arms and flying back towards the base.
"You're the best, Uncle Steve!"
Meanwhile...
With a crash, Jacob was slammed into the steel wall by the beast, his Super Saiyan glow dissipating. He had managed to do a little damage to it, but Jacob could tell he was hurting a lot more than it was.
"Alright, you skull-faced son-of-a-bitch," he groaned, peeling himself from the wall, "You're tough, I'll give you that...but I'm not out of tricks just yet..."
Bracing himself, and praying that he would be able to withstand the pain, Jacob reignited his aura.
"KAIÔ KEN!" He shouted, his aura changing to a brilliant crimson as he once again charged at the beast, "TIMES THREEEEEE!"
Caught off-guard by his sudden power boost, the beast proved helpless as the Saiyan child ripped the silver tube from it's neck and slammed it into it's skeletal face like an oversized baseball bat. It was then that Jacob noticed the large red sphere on it's body.
"Well that seems a bit out of place, don't it?" He said to himself with a chuckle, "Whatcha wanna bet that's the sweet spot? Break that and down ya go, I'd wager."
Looking around for something sharp to pierce the crimson orb with and finding nothing, Jacob decided to go for a different approach: a Kamehame Ha.
As her brother entered the classic stance for the attack, Krissa came zooming into the chamber shouting for her brother to stop. As it was, he just barely managed to do so before blasting the beast to Kingdom Come.
Chapter 3: The Truth
A few days after the incident, Krissa and Jacob approached their Uncle about the creature's origin.
What they learned would shake their world forever...
"We...found it frozen in the Arctic five years ago..."
The three of them were in a small dark room, usually used for interrogations. It was clear by looking at him that Commander Harris was having a hard time trying to explain the situation to the children in a way that made it seem like they weren't the bad guys. Needless to say, he couldn't.
"We immediately brought it here for examination, stripped it down to the bone to see how it worked, but all we really managed to do was piss it off..."
"But...what is it..?" Asked Krissa, her natural inquisitiveness taking over, "Some kind of dinosaur?"
"No, it's certainly no dinosaur, Krissa..." The graying man paced around the room for a moment.
"It was...an Angel."
At that moment, Jacob burst laughter.
"An Angel?" He said, "Uncle Steve, I think you're getting old. That thing was no Angel, Angels look like people only with wings and a halo!"
It was clear to Jacob by the look on his Uncle's face that he wasn't joking.
"R...right?"
"What I'm about to tell you cannot leave this room, is that clear? If anyone finds out I told you I could be arrested or worse."
The two siblings nodded.
"Very well..."
He went on to first explain to the two the truth behind 2nd Impact and how very soon, the Angels would arrive and attempt to extinguish humanity.
"We discovered that after Adam's destruction, its fragmented body dispersed into the atmosphere and quickly encompassed the globe. From there, it fell upon the ground like an invisible snow. Those who were fortunate to survive developed abilities that stemmed from Adam and it's progeny. Those who didn't..."
He needn't have said more, as they all well knew what happened to those who didn't.
"So this Adam guy is the reason we have these powers and why our mom and dad died?" Exclaimed Krissa, a knot forming in her stomach, "And now you're also telling me that these other Angels are coming to kill us?"
"I'm...afraid so..." said Commander Harris, diverting his gaze, not daring to look his niece in eyes.
"However...we are not without defenses..."
He walked over to the door and motioned for the two to follow him.
"I have one last thing to show you..."
The trio walked for a short time before coming to a large door.
"What you're about to see is above top-secret," said Commander Harris as the three of them entered the large, completely darkened chamber.
"Only a handful of people know this base still exists and fewer still know the reason why."
With a throw of a switch, the lights in the chamber blazed to life. Once Krissa had managed to see again, her jaw nearly dropped to the floor at what was before her.
"Allow me to introduce you to the Provisional Evangelion, Unit-X. Given that it's still under construction, it had yet to be given a proper designation but once completed she and others like herself will be mankind's only defense against the Angels."
As the young Saiyan girl stared at the massive humanoid figure before her, she couldn't help but spew forth a proverbial fountain of questions.
"How does it work?"
"Where did it come from?"
"How will it fight the Angels?"
"How many others are there?"
"You will learn in time, Krissa," sighed her Uncle, "But I suppose I might as well tell you now who the pilot has been designated to be."
He extended his hand and unhesitatingly pointed his finger at her.
"You will pilot the Eva once she has been completed. Consider her my gift to you, Krissa."
"But what about me, Uncle Steve?" Asked Jacob, "I mean, Krissa's strong but...I mean, I've got more combat experience than her! For pete's sake, I just took out by full-blooded half-brother from space!"
Kneeling down to look his young nephew face to face, Commander Harris laid a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"Jacob, you are indeed strong. A warrior the likes of which has never been seen before. And that is why you cannot pilot her. You're needed on the battlefield, certainly, but not inside the Eva. Rather, beside it fighting alongside your sister in mankind's most important battle. You can do this for me, can't you Jacob?"
"Yeah...I guess..." He said, casting his gaze down towards his feet.
"That's my boy," smiled the older man, patting his nephew on the back, his expression returning to it's previous seriousness, "Now remember what I told you two: do not tell anyone what you saw here. If worst comes to worst, make something up ok?"
The two nodded, Krissa already formulating a plot in the back of her mind.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jacob noticed a person peeking their head into the room before quickly ducking away.
"HEY YOU!" He shouted as he dive-tackled the intruder to the ground, "TASTE THE IRON GRIP OF JUSTICE!"
"OWW! HEY GET OFF ME!" Cried the figure as Commander Harris rubbed his temples in frustration.
"I'm just gonna go then..." Muttered Krissa as she floated out the back exit.
Chapter 4: Hell Hath no Greater Fury
"Are you stupid?" Shouted the person Jacob had tackled. As it had turned out, they weren't an intruder at all but rather a guest to the base who already knew about EVA.
"S-Sorry about that..." Mumbled an embarrassed Jacob, "It's kinda my job, though..."
"Well next time, maybe do your job a little less effectively okaaaaay?" Snarked the red haired youngster.
Jacob looked up as his Uncle.
"Who is he, anyway Uncle Steve..?"
The Commander chuckled.
"Jacob...I'd like to introduce you to MS. Asuka Langly Soryu. She's from the Europe section of our organization, and will be staying here for a short while."
The young Saiyan's eyes nearly popped from his head when he heard what the older man had said.
"He's a girl?" He exclaimed, dumbstruck, "But...he has short hair and is dressed like a boy and...and...um..."
Jacob, realizing that the young Asuka had begun to cry, moved closer to her and gave her a hug.
"But you're also kinda pretty up close I guess..."
"Don't let Jacob get to you, Asuka," sighed the Commander, "He's like his father was: denser 'n lead and twice as thick."
"Yeah, ok..." She muttered, still upset by Jacob's unintentional insults.
"I'll suppose I'll be taking my leave now, Asuka you know what to do right?"
The auburn haired girl nodded.
"Good, then I'll be seeing you guys later!"
With that, Commander Harris escorted the two children out of the room before heading off towards home.
A moment passed before Asuka spoke again.
"Jacob, was it?"
"Yes'm, Jacob Daniel Bladeside! At your service, Ms. Sorlang!"
The German girl face palmed.
"It's Soryu, not Sorlang. As in, Asuka Langly Soryu the one and only."
"Sore...you..." Jacob sounded it out slowly, making sure he said it right, "Got it Ms. Soryu!"
"Good! But you can just call me Asuka, I guess," She said pridefully, "Now then, I suppose you've been around the base before right?"
"Sure have!" Cheered the energetic boy, "We've lived with Uncle Steve for a long time, so we know our way around here."
"We?" Asked Asuka, looking around, "Who's we?"
"My sister and I, silly!" He chuckled, "She left about the time I tackled you, again sorry bout that...but we've always been together! She was born with a heart defect, so I didn't get to see her at all when she was born. Course I was barely two at the time but still. Even after she did come home though she had to be hooked up to some equipment to help her breathe...I kept constant vigil over her the whole time, and as a result we became inseparable. Then after 2nd Impact when our parents died, it was me and her on our own for a long time. Eventually our NewType powers showed up and we joined forces with a few others like us.
We lived like that for a while until we met Uncle Steve who took us in. He was my mother's older brother, and he gave us and our team a base of operations right here at Chanute!"
Jacob paused.
"That went a whole different direction than I meant for it to..."
He glanced over at Asuka, expecting her to be snoring but instead found her eyes sparkling.
"Wait a minute...NewType team...secret base...government assistance...You guys are the Central Warriors, aren't you?"
A look of confusion washed over Jacob's face.
"The Central Warriors..? Uh...no, we never really had a name for ourselves...'specially not one that...stupid sounding..."
"Ach neiiiiin..." She groaned in frustration, "are you the guys who fought NewTypes in LA and Chicago and fought Pyrena two years ago? Cause if so, that's what they call ya."
"That was us, ye-"
Before Jacob could react, a torrent of questions came from the fangirling German girl about which one he was, are they still together, could she join them even though she doesn't have a power, why they split...the list goes on.
Sighing, Jacob answered as many of her inquires as he could. Since the fact that he and his sister were part Saiyan, he had to leave out the bits about that as well as Master Son. She might know about Eva, but Jacob couldn't tell anyone about him being an alien just yet.
Well, without clearance at any rate.
When he finished, he could tell that Asuka was upset by the information, but not too much. The Central Warriors had been her idols for as long as she could remember, and here she was talking to their leader! The one person in the group whom she loved the most! It was a dream-come-true for Asuka.
"So then, Jacob," she said, doing her best to regain her calm, "I expect you to make up for your earlier statements."
"Earlier...oh right, that...sorry about all that, Asuka..."
"As I said, it's all fine now but I still expect you to make it up to me."
She paused and took a breath before continuing, closing her eyes to prevent them from giving away her lack of calmness.
"As penance for insulting my womanly good looks, I demand you take me on a date this Saturday. No excuses, non-negotiable."
Asuka slowly opened one eye to check Jacob's reaction. She hadn't been sure what to expect, but it probably wasn't what ended up happening: Jacob passing out onto the floor.
"Dumpkoff..." She muttered, calling for someone to pick up the unconscious lug, "If you're gonna pass out, least you can do is say "ok" first..."
To Be Continued~
Hiya, my name's *INFO WITHHELD*, but you can call me C-Bell! I wrote the first part of this before bro took over XD Yeah, I'm pretty much Krissa IRL only without the whole "can crack planets in half" thing~
I'm new to writing, but I've learned a lot from Rob and I'm actually the editor as of chapter 8 (I think XD)
Now I know some things don't quite add up yet, such as how Asuka doesn't seem to remember Jacob in the main timeline despite the...interesting way they first met. I assure you, this'll all make sense in the end though you might wish it hadn't. Translation: get some tissues, you're gonna need 'em.
Anyway, I hope we can all get along like nice chaps and whatnot! Oh, and please follow my Twitter, ShingekiDatAss, if you don't mind!
Gracias, mis amigos~
See ya next time in Chapter 13: "You can (Not) Escape" (working title)