Creation began on 10-25-18
Creation ended on 03-15-19
Neon Genesis Evangelion
I Dream of Evangelion: The Falling Sky
It wasn't detected on account of impacting too far out at sea to be of any danger, but eight hours later, there were three more impacts in the ocean…and the last one hit too close to Japanese shores.
"Satellites finally detected it eight minutes ago," said Maya to Ritsuko and the others present within the small room, including Asuka and Rei. "This is the Angel."
On the screens was a massive, ugly creature that looked like a misshapen pancake with eyes and hands, detaching pieces of its mass and dropping them onto the planet.
"Just how big is this thing?" Asuka asked them.
"It's huge," stated Misato to her.
"Worse than huge," went Hyuga. "It's one major, kinetic bomb. Each piece that detaches from it has enough explosive force, combined with its AT-Field, to cause explosions powerful enough to take out a few city blocks upon impact."
"Currently, it's been correcting its aim, intending to hit closer to NERV HQ," Shigeru explained the Angel's current course of action. "It intends to throw its entire body on us once it's corrected its aim perfectly. Even if it misses, NERV, Tokyo-3, this whole section of Japan will end up becoming an extension of the Pacific Ocean."
"How do you defeat something like this?" Asuka questioned; the Evas were tasked with protecting the human race from the Angels, but this one was a challenge due to its extreme danger against them as a giant bomb.
There seemed to be no way for NERV to combat this Angel. All they had were three Evas…and only two pilots.
"I suppose now would be a good time to try and convince the Third Child to return to NERV, Katsuragi," said Kaji to Misato. "Don't you think?"
-x-
"…So…you can see it, Pema?" Shinji asked her as she lay on the roof of the temple, looking up at the sky. "You can see the Angel you said was out there (he points up to the sky)?"
She turns to face him and nods in the positive.
"It's a massive one this time," she told him. "If it does something, it will place you and everyone else in jeopardy."
"What can this one do to hurt us all?"
"Something that is unforgivable."
If she was beating around the bush with no answer that was clear, then Shinji knew that it was really bad…and that she would require the Eva for defeating the Angel. They were between a rock and a hard place right now, meaning a choice needed to be made for their future and the future of others.
"Save us, please, Pema," he told her, hugging her. "Save us from the unknown."
And to do her best in that, she would need one of NERV's Evas to absorb the Angel, and that meant either they would show up to try and deal with it…or that she would have to go to them. But whichever way the pendulum was swinging, her first priority was protecting Shinji, so she would do whatever was necessary.
"Wait for me," she told him, changing into the Servant Beast of the Djinn and blinking herself away from the temple.
-x-
This was a mistake and Misato knew it to be true. There was no way that Shinji was going to just pilot the Eva again after the second time was against his will and his father made a complete ass of himself during the sit-down that didn't go well and the attempted negotiation because he refused to understand his son. And after last night, she understood that any attempt at understanding between father and son was impossible…and the Ikari family was no different from a puzzle with pieces that simply wouldn't fit together.
Gendo was ordering that the Third Child be picked up to pilot Unit-01, but there was nobody that actually expected such an order to be carried out. Or worse, nobody expected anyone else to carry out that order after everything that has happened.
"I don't know what's crazier," said Hyuga to his fellow Bridge Bunnies, "the fact that the city's being evacuated…or that Commander Ikari still wants his son to pilot the Eva even after the kid said 'no' to him and left with that older girl he was said to have had a kiss with."
"Even if we could get him, with the city being evacuated, it'll be too long to bring him here," Maya reminded them. "Also, since he hasn't had any training with the Eva, his assistance would be limited…and then there's that creature that shows up."
"We show an Eva, it will take possession and do our job for us," Shigeru expressed, "and better than we thought we could."
"We don't even know when this Angel could decide to descend upon us, but here's the layout of its potential drop zones," Hyuga informed them, handing them a piece of paper.
It showed a geographic layout of the entire city, dotted by large and small circles, indicating large zones of impact and smaller zones of impact.
"This is insane," Maya stated. "It's worse than what the N² weapons are capable of."
Suddenly, the alarms went off, indicating that something was wrong inside the base.
"What's going on," Misato demanded as Hyuga checked to see what triggered the alarms. "Is it the Angel?!"
His eyes widened at the source of the alarms.
"It's not the Angel," he answered her. "It's…that thing again. It's inside the base…and inside the Unit-01 cage."
"What?!" Ritsuko yelled, and they saw on the screens depicting the cage of the purple behemoth the creature that had showed them up each time. "What's it doing here?"
On the screens, the creature was levitating in front of Unit-01, baring its teeth.
"As a pale imitation of the Baron of Darkness, you will always embody the deception and irredeemable aspects associated with the human heart and soul," it spoke. "You perverted all that is for what will never be, and, as a result, you have reduced yourself into nothing more than an inhuman abomination! An unholy outrage against nature! Of any human I will ever understand from a distance, you are among the worst that will ever exist, and you will never hurt another soul for as long as I am around!"
Suddenly, its claws glowed like those of the Fourth Angel's energy whips and it slashed at the Eva's head, scarring the armor. Then it stopped and floated away, revealing that it had left a series of words seared into the armor on the Eva's head.
"It…it's heading towards the Unit-02 cage," Maya informed the personnel.
"Why the…why would it write 'disgrace', 'embarrassment', 'liar' and 'baroness' over the armor?" Hyuga wondered.
"Something about it must have it ticked," Misato suggested; no doubt Pema was expressing her disgust and outrage towards Shinji's mother through the Servant Beast of the Djinn, whether or not she was trying to excite the woman's response.
Within the Unit-02 cage, the creature floated in front of the red behemoth.
"Baron of Blood, I have need of your services," it uttered to the Eva, and possessed it again.
Unit-02 activated and began to remove itself from the restraints, moving towards the catapults.
"What's happening down there?" They heard Gendo's voice as he appeared in Central Dogma.
"That creature is here, and it took control of Unit-02," Ritsuko explained.
-x-
Unfortunately, even if she had reached the facility's catapult system, there was no way she was going to get out of the place with the Eva under her control through the non-magic method. Instead, she would have to resort to her new standard, which she was okay with doing, since it got results faster.
Since I've been across the city with Shinji, as well as the wilderness, it'll be easy to relocate to either one my way, she thought, standing atop the Eva's right shoulder and looking around the base's catapult system. I will never let them hurt you again, Shinji.
Then, blinking her eyes, she made the Eva disappear from sight out of the Geo-Front…and reappear in front of the temple grounds.
"Whoa!" She heard Shinji gasp from the sight of the Eva being so close to home.
"Sorry about this," she apologized to him. "I shall be dealing with the Angel now."
On the porch of the temple, Shinji couldn't believe how massive the Eva looked up close outside of NERV…and how dangerous it could've been under their control. But under Pema's control, it was no different from a glorified toy that probably cost as much as Tokyo-3 itself to make and maintain over time.
"This will be over momentarily," he heard her say to him as the Eva levitated off the ground and into the air.
-x-
"…No…friggin'…way," went Asuka when she found out that the creature that took her Unit-02 for a spin for the third time now was taking it into the sky. "Who does this monstrum think it is, taking my Eva?! Why couldn't it take Unit-01?! Or take Unit-00?!"
"You should see how it defaced Unit-01," Misato told her.
On the screens, NERV saw Unit-02 steadily floating higher into the air, like a plastic bag caught in an updraft.
Suddenly, the alarms went off again, but this time it was because of the Angel in space as it began to descend towards the planet.
"Oh, no," Maya gasped; they were unprepared and the only thing that stood between them and total destruction…was a creature that despised them using one of their Evas against the Angel.
"Hey, that golden armor," Hyuga pointed out at said armor that appeared on the Evas whenever they were possessed by the creature. "It's…it's expanding."
It was true, and they could see it. Instead of just being on the torso, wrists and lower legs, the armor covered the entire upper body like a shirt or jacket while the armor on the legs covered them like a pair or heavy boots that reached up to the knees. It was as though the armor was adapting to the degree of danger the Eva was in.
"How long before the Eva intercepts the Angel up there?" Fuyutsuki asked.
"T-minus sixty seconds," answered Shigeru.
"It's in fate's hands now," went Misato.
-x-
Although her body was that of the Servant Beast of the Djinn, Pema could still appreciate the fact that she was above the Earth right now, over the cities, the towns, the lakes, the people, her friend, all of it. It was the first time she ever felt like she was above everything and untouchable by mortal hands. Taking one last look at the world below before she did what she needed to do, she was reminded of how much the world she knew thousands of years ago had faded away and was replaced by a world she was a stranger to…and the only thing about this place that was a godsend to her soul…was that from up high…it looked peaceful, serene, devoid of pain and suffering, of death and destruction.
It would be painful for Shinji to be in a world that would end on a sour note, she thought as she turned to look up at the Angel. "It's time for you to join the others."
Unit-02 then unleashed two energy whips from its arms and flung them at the Angels hand-like sides, lashing onto them and causing burns to sear onto its exterior. If the Angel could scream, it would've done so, but instead of screaming, the core where its giant eye was glowing bright red as its body started squirming around. Then, Pema opened her mouth and unleashed a vacuum of swirling energy as the Angel began to condense towards the red behemoth.
-x-
Gendo couldn't believe NERV was being one upped again by this…this monster that usurped control of one of their Evas for its own purposes! In front of him, the Eighth Angel was being absorbed into the abomination like the previous Angel by using the Eva as a medium to its power, and the Angel was helpless to stop it. All it took was a minute, but it was enough to reduce the situation all the way back to a code yellow, as the threat had been neutralized.
Unit-02, floating in space, descended back to Earth and lost its golden armor.
"This makes six now," Misato stated the number of Angels that had been defeated by the creature using the Eva, seeing the creature sitting on the red Eva's left shoulder as it reentered the atmosphere.
"Uh-oh," went Shigeru, calculating a trajectory of where Unit-02 was heading in its descent. "Uh, from the looks of where they're descending, Unit-02 is gonna wind up in the ruins of Tokyo in eight minutes."
"What?" Asuka demanded.
-x-
Although the threat was no longer in existence, Pema didn't return to normal just yet. If the next Angel appeared, she would need Unit-02 just in case of the necessity, and kept the descent as steady as possible so as not to damage it.
Sahaquiel, the Angel of the Sky, she thought, knowing everything about the Angel now that it had become part of the collective within the Servant Beast. You thought you could hurt Shinji and a lot of other people by sending them into an inescapable inferno. The Ingenuity of God now reduced to being a part of the system that is to protect Shinji from danger. You and Sachiel, Shamshel, Ramiel, Gaghiel and Israfel, your very lives now belong to me. Your very powers now belong to me.
As the ground below came into view, Pema could see that the buildings were very withered and ready to crumble from the looks of things, and a bunch of them were submerged in the water by the coast. This was what remained of Japan's former capital, the so-called megacity of Tokyo, the largest to have ever existed. If only she and Shinji had been around to see it before people decided to lay waste to it and other places.
As far as people have matured in their architectural aptitude and scientific understanding, Pema thought as the Eva touched the ground…and then fell face-first onto the ground, they can't escape their primitive drive to inflict violence upon each other, which makes them all the more pathetic in the world. And the violence stems from many things, be it a drive to obtain the most wealth or a drive to be the most feared and respected…or just to watch the suffering of others. Oh, Shinji, if only others could follow your example and feel appreciation towards the world, to see it the way I see you.
Then, blinking her eyes again, Pema returned to the temple, restored to her human form, in front of Shinji, who sat near the fireplace with Otomo.
"Arrf! Arrf!" Otomo barked as she ran over to her, catching Shinji's attention.
"You're back," he greeted her as he got up and ran over to her. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," she answered, noticing that the pearl-like constructs that seemed embedded in her palms had gotten larger due to the assimilation of this latest Angel, now as big as small discs that fit in them. "I'm glad you're fine."
-x-
As the people returned to Tokyo-3, Gendo was once more infuriated with the way things were going for him. Not once, not twice, but six times now have the Evas been unable to do their job in defeating the Angels without being used like puppets by this creature that appeared after the Third Angel and his son showed up with that girl. And now, standing in front of the disfigured Unit-01, he had come to his own conclusion that Shinji and the girl had a connection to the creature that disgraced them more than the Angels did each time. He wouldn't have been surprised if the girl could somehow summon the creature by having some sort of pact with it.
"It'll be an hour to repair the disfigured armor," Ritsuko told him.
"And how soon before we can get the Third Child here again?" He asked her.
"That's something altogether different. Section Two doesn't want to go anywhere near the boy and the boy himself has made his voice heard the last time he was here when he attempted to negotiate his service to NERV in exchange for being left alone with the girl."
"Those terms couldn't be allowed and he cannot be permitted too much freedom."
"Either way, this latest catastrophe has caused an unexpected hindrance for NERV. Word is that the United States are looking to sever their ties with the agency after reviewing the recorded footage that shows the Evas getting possessed by the unknown creature to defeat the Angels. They're not convinced that we're able to handle the difficulties surrounding the idea of attempting to establish cooperation with something that is as intelligent as a human."
"So long as we have the Evas here, we'll suffice."
"There's more. The UN members from the United States have made the most extreme request regarding NERV: They want you replaced."
"That's not going to happen."
"So long as you keep insisting that we go after the Third Child, who has refused, they see no other alternative than for you to be replaced by someone more capable. Personally, we should recruit another pilot from the list of candidates. There is one that can be made ready within…"
"Not until we have the boy put in check," Gendo cut her off; he was dead set on having Shinji under NERV's control, regardless of what anyone else said about him.
"Well, then, how do you intend to get your son to cooperate?" She asked him.
Of course, Gendo had something else up his sleeve that he hadn't tried yet.
-x-
It was beautiful and haunting, this music Pema and Shinji were listening to on the radio. Far different from the regular music they were used to because it had no lyrics, but wasn't entirely devoid of voices. Whether it sounded like some sort of chanting or a semi-loud prayer was questionable, but it attracted their ears.
"What sort of music is this, Shinji?" Pema asked him, as it was his idea to listen to this.
"It's called trailer music," Shinji explained. "People put this sort of music in film trailers to attract the masses, but it gives an eerie degree when used on trailers regarding films of the horror or supernatural sort. This song is called Catch the Falling Sky."
"It's haunting…but beautiful."
And it reminded her of how, in a sense, she had caught the falling sky herself.
"The Angel I defeated today," she informed him, "was called Sahaquiel, the Angel of the Sky, and I caught him as he fell from the sky. So…I caught the falling sky today."
"Ha-ha-ha!" Shinji laughed. "You did catch the falling sky today."
"Aaahh…" They heard Otomo yawn as she lay down beside Pema on the floor.
"Looks like someone's a sleepyhead right now," Shinji expressed, and then yawned himself. "I guess we should call it a day."
"Yeah," Pema agreed with him as she yawned.
-x-
The sight of the temple was an eyesore, but Gendo was adamant on setting his son straight his way. Why anyone would want to live in such a poor, decrepit shack like this and call it a home was beyond the man, and he would rather not know what went on in Shinji's mind. Holding a pair of Molotov cocktails in his hands, he intended to render the boy and that older girl he chose over his purpose homeless.
You petulant brat! He thought, taking a lighter and bringing it up to the Molotov in his right hand. You brought this on yourself!
To be continued…
A/N: Uh-oh! I didn't expect this chapter to turn out the way it did, but when you need to meet the demands of readers, things get turned around a bit. But don't expect the horrible to happen just yet. You must await the next chapter to be written. Peace!