I seem to be on an Evangelion kick as of late. Here's some GaoGaiGar and Evangelion plot. Also, I bring a character that really, REALLY deserves to be playable in the next SRW game Evangelion is in.
Chapter 16 (Japan) - Roar, GaoGaiGar! He Enters Before His Cue!
"I understand your misgivings, Taiga Koutaro," Zero said calmly when Taiga reported that GGG was formally disassociating itself with the Black Knights and returning to its usual outward neutrality in world affairs. "If it is not in your nature to take human lives, then I will not force you to do so. I prefer my allies to work with me of their own free will."
"It's good to see you understand us, Zero," Taiga replied. "But be aware of this: should you become an oppressor when you promised freedom..."
Taiga dramatically pointed at the screen where Zero's masked face was.
"...YOU WILL FACE THE FULL MIGHT OF GGG!"
"I'll keep that in mind, Koutaro," Zero replied calmly before he severed the connection.
Janus dozed quietly at the library where Harry was teaching science. As he turned away from the whiteboard, he saw the young man dozing off. Not about to waste time trying to gently wake him, the bespectacled soldier-turned-tutor picked up a ruler and smacked Janus on the head, waking him up in a flash.
"Ow!"
"No sleeping in class. You can sleep when we're done. Now, if you read the chapter like I told you to, you should be able to answer this question. Get it right, and I might end our lessons a little early today."
Janus sighed with relief. He actually DID read the chapter, so he wondered what he would do with the extra free time.
"Now, here is the question: define and give an example of thermal shock."
Holy cow, I actually KNOW this! Janus thought excitedly. It's the ONLY thing I remember from the chapter, though...ah, well.
"Thermal shock is when an object is heated and cooled far too rapidly and suddenly, and it breaks as a result. The rapid expansion and contraction applies stress to the object, and can break it if done over a great enough duration."
"Very good. Now tell me the equation of the thermal shock parameter."
Crap, I don't know that one!
"Um...Y equals MX plus B?"
WHACK.
"Ow!"
"You fool, that's the equation for a straight line! You didn't read the chapter, did you?"
"Kira! Flay! Hurry up!" Mamoru called out as the two Archangel crew members followed him and his female friend Hana. They were going to the opening day of Waterpolis, an aquatic amusement park just off of what was once Okinawa on this fine, unusually warm spring day. Sai was supposed to take his fiance to the park, but urgent matters forced him to cancel. Kira, in the meantime, offered to take her. Perhaps out of spite, she agreed to go with him. And with Mamoru's parents off on a sudden business trip until the next day, Flay's offer to chaperone them at the carnival couldn't have come at a better time.
G-Island City, the floating neutral city where GGG's headquarters were based, was making a pit stop in Area 11, just in time for its annual carnival, in which anyone, regardless of nationality or creed, could come for a fun and exciting time.
"It must be so nice to be a kid," Flay said with a sigh. "You don't have to worry about anything."
Kira silently nodded in agreement. He missed those idyllic days too; the days before he found the Strike and became the only personal capable of piloting it. He wondered how many other people shared this fate, and whether he would meet them or not.
Flay stopped when she saw a stand hawking a classic carnival game – knock over the milk bottles, win a prize. She grabbed Kira by the arm, hoping he would win one of the gigantic stuffed toys.
Kaworu Nagisa, a teenager about Shinji's age with the same silver hair, pale skin and red eyes as Rei, lazily walked about the amusement park, taking in all the sights, sounds and smells. He had been living a quiet, nearly solitary life on a NERV moon base for so long he had almost forgotten the joys of living on Earth.
For example, ice cream.
"Mmmm, everything looks so good!" he said with almost child-like excitement. "Oh, I wish I knew what to get...I don't have a lot of money, either."
He spotted something affordable: a creamsicle, vanilla ice cream covered with a thin layer of orange sherbert. He reached into his pocket and extracted some Britannian money, and handed it to the ice cream salesman.
"Thank you!" he called back as he waved, as if saying goodbye to a friend.
Kaworu knew the one he was looking for was nearby, but they would find each other in good time. Indeed, he'd be seeing a lot of people he knew. But until then, the lad decided to enjoy the warm spring afternoon and the carnival. He happily removed the wrapping from the ice cream and took a bite, while crumpling up the wrapper in his hand, making it disappear entirely as if it had never existed.
Still delicious no matter where you go, he thought.
He paused when he saw two faces he recognized. It was Kira and Flay. Of course, Kaworu knew these two people wouldn't recognize him, so it would be a whole new start.
Kaworu watched as Flay pointed out the prize she wanted from the milk bottles game: a huge plush toy of a green, cartoonish dinosaur with big red shoes and a tiny saddle on its back. He approached the pair to watch and see what the Coordinator would do.
Kira took careful aim, then wound up, and threw the ball, putting just the right amount of force into the toss. The ball sped along, and just as planned, knocked all the bottles down in one shot. The man running the stand enthusiastically applauded Kira's astounding feat before retrieving the prize and giving it to Flay, who hugged it gleefully.
"That's a good arm and eye you have there!" Kaworu said, deciding that it was the perfect time to jump in and introduce himself.
"Oh, thanks," Kira said, embarrassed slightly.
"C'mon, kiddo! Knock the bottles down, win a prize!" the man running the stand said after setting up a new batch of bottles. Kaworu reached into his pocket. He had just enough for one throw. He paid the man and took the ball in hand.
"Here's the windup...the pitch..." he said like a sports announcer before tossing the ball at full force. It whizzed forward, knocking down one set of bottles, bouncing off the back wall and smacking down the adjacent pile.
"Well, I'll be! I knocked down TWO whole stacks! That means I get two prizes, right?" Kaworu said with some excitement.
"Uh...um..." the man stammered, unsure of what to do, since no one had ever done what Kaworu had just done. Both Kira and Flay had looks of sheer astonishment as well. Even the Coordinator couldn't pull off a feat like that.
"I'd like that one, please! And that one for the guy who got the prize earlier!" He first pointed to a stuffed orange dragon toy with two horns and a tail that appeared to be on fire, and then to a burly turtle with claws, sharp teeth, red hair, yellow limbs and a spiky shell.
"Now we all have one!" Kaworu said with a slightly goofy grin.
"Um...thanks," Kira said. "What's your name?"
"Kaworu. Kaworu Nagisa. You are Kira, and your friend is Flay, am I correct?"
"Huh? How did you know?" Flay asked, suddenly suspicious of this new character. He was acting WAY too nice.
"What?" Kaworu said with a shrug. "I overheard your conversation. It's not like I'm a stalker or anything."It wasn't entirely a lie. He did hear the two say each others'
names.
"Let's go, Kira. We have to find Mamoru and Hana before they get lost!" Flay said.
"What? You're the one who wanted me to win you that big stuffed toy!" Kira exclaimed. Quickly, the two started yelling and arguing like a married couple. Kaworu couldn't help but shake his head at this in amusement.
Lilim are truly baffling...I guess that's why they're so charming.
Kaworu loudly cleared his throat, which got the two to stop arguing.
"Now, if you two would stop acting like a husband and wife," the red-eyed young man said. "We can all look for your two friends."
Kira and Flay looked at each other, wondering what Kaworu meant by that.
Mamoru and Hana watched with excitement as a super-fast roller coaster went by yet again, carrying a full load of gleefully screaming park patrons. But what made this coaster unlike any other was that the track came to an end right at the edge of the water. The cars rocketed right off the ramp. But what could easily turn into a horrible accident was averted by the rising of a great mechanical fish that the coaster cars would land inside smoothly, without so much as a single hair on the heads of the riders harmed. Of course, one would have to sign a waiver to go on it.
"What?! We're too short to ride?!" Mamoru cried out when he saw the sign of "You must be this tall to ride". While Mamoru's huge and odd hairdo pushed him over the top, the top of his actual head was below the line.
"Don't worry, Mamoru," said Hana, a girl with pink hair like Flay's, but with a different style, most notably long braids that curved like a cat's tail; "there are plenty of other things to do!"
"Yeah, you're right," Mamoru said. "Besides, it looks kinda scary."
"And that line's looooong! It's longer than that cat I saw once on the Internet!"
"Hey! Mamoru! Hana!" Kira's voice called out to them. Hana looked around and saw Kira, Flay and Kaworu (who she didn't recognize) running towards them, the stuffed toys still perched on their shoulders as they clasped them by the legs.
"Oh, hey guys. You left us! That wasn't nice," Mamoru said.
"Oh those toys are so cuuuuute!" Hana said excitedly."I want one! Tell me where you got it!"
"Yeah, I don't think I really want mine," Kira said. "It's another thing to lug around all day. You can have mine if you want, Mamoru."
"Neat! Thanks!" Mamoru said with a cheer as Kira handed him the large dragon plush.
"Which one do you want, Hana?" Kaworu asked with a warm smile. "I honestly think Flay's is better for you."
"No, I like yours!" Hana said. "I have a lot of plush toys, but nothing like that!"
"Oh, then here. I don't think I could carry that around all day either." He put the plush down and let Hana grab it.
"Yaaay!" Hana squealed, hugging the spiky but soft turtle plush. "Thank you, mister! You're nice! Why don't you hang out with us?"
"You can call me Kaworu," he said, "And I'd be happy to. What ride do you all want to go on?" He was truly happy. Barely a day on Earth again and he had already made four friends.
Taiga walked down the halls of the Earth Alliance Central Council building with his fellow GGG members Dr. Leo Shishioh and Geki Hyuuma, along with Guy himself. As they approached the door, Taiga met a face he wasn't very excited to see.
The man was of medium build with orange-tinted sunglasses, a simple red shirt, a short, well-groomed beard that covered only his chin, and a constant frown. Also notable were his white gloves and dark coat with large faux green gems on the collar and cuffs. He was attended by another man with grey, slicked-back but thick hair and a simple dark purple uniform whose only decoration was a blue faux sapphire on the collar.
"Taiga Koutaro," the man said coldly.
"Gendo Ikari," Taiga replied, leering at him.
"Geki Hyuuma, good to see you again," the man with grey hair said.
"Kozo Fuyutsuki," Geki growled.
It was that time again for both NERV and GGG. In order for their existence to continue, they had to secure funding from the Earth Alliance government, in spite of their professed neutrality in Earth/space affairs. Taiga and Gendo had a sort of rivalry, seeing which of their organizations would receive the most funding. While NERV almost always got more funding due to Gendo's inside connections, Taiga's organization was more popular with the common people. Indeed, GGG and NERV were opposite in almost every way except for their purpose of protecting humanity from an alien threat.
"Normally, this would be the part where we exchange bitter taunts and insults, but I do have a more pressing matter I'd like to address with you before we commence our yearly song and dance for the fools in the council."
"Oh, so you finally admit that GaoGaiGar kicks your stupid Evangelions asses?" Geki taunted. "Ha! You always were a spineless worm, Ikari!"
Gendo said nothing, but beckoned Taiga to come aside. Geki started to follow, but Guy grabbed his shoulder, indicating that he shouldn't follow. The man with grey hair turned to Geki.
"Please forgive Gendo. He's not the type to let people overhear him," Kozo said.
"…Yeah, that sounds like the type of man who has a thousand skeletons in his closet!" Geki replied angrily.
Hidden safely on a cliff covered by thick forest were three robots: Volfogg and two others - one red, one blue: the Dragon brothers HyoRyu and EnRyu. Like Volfogg and Guy, these robots were agents of GGG. They were out keeping an eye on Mamoru, who was given the rank of Lieutenant in the organizations, due to the boy's vital role in the fight against the Zonder.
"So, what's he doing now?" EnRyu, the red robot, asked.
"Must you ask about everything Lieutenant Mamoru is doing?" HyoRyu, the blue robot, groaned. "We are his guardians, not his stalkers. If Volfogg senses that he is in trouble, we'll spring into action."
Volfogg raised his hand suddenly as if to silence the two brothers. He spotted a heavy-set gentleman with an unusually large pipe, a train conductor's hat, sunglasses, dark hair long enough to touch the ground and a thick beard and mustache. One hand was in his jacket, and Volfogg could immediately tell this fellow was concealing something. It wasn't a gun, but Volfogg's ninja senses told him that this man was a threat to Mamoru. The threat was soon confirmed when the gentleman approached a young fellow wearing a thick suit of Uppo-kun, the park's mascot. The bearded man pulled out a solid blob of purple material and jammed it in the man's face, and it quickly began to consume the poor man.
"HyoRyu, EnRyu…hurry down and protect Lieutenant Mamoru. I will notify Taiga and Guy of the next Zonder Robo!"
"Yes, sir!" the brothers said simultaneously. They quickly transformed into a mobile crane and a fire truck before taking off through the woods to Mamoru's location.
Suddenly, he heard an unearthly wail. He looked towards the horizon to see something even more threatening looming there...
Gendo and Taiga sat down in the small side room, a quiet, sound-proofed waiting room where guests of the Council could have some privacy.
"Well, I'll save the idle chitchat for another time and get straight to the point," Gendo said. "Based on recent events, I have come to understand that the GS Ride your group developed seemed to resonate with the Evangelion units my organization developed. It happened in the incident at Photon Power Labs."
"Yes. The G-Stone does radiate great energy," Taiga replied. "But only when it is in the hands of one that has great courage. It would not work for a schemer such as you, if you mean to have one for yourself."
"Is not the purpose of both our organizations to protect this Earth?" Gendo asked, hoping to appeal to Taiga's sense of justice. "You protect the world from the Zonder, and mine from the Angels."
Taiga hated to admit it, but Gendo was right. He could not deny the noble purposes of both their organizations, and pooling their resources would be to their mutual benefit. This potential alliance would be tested sooner than they thought as Gendo's cell phone began to ring, followed immediately by Taiga's special communicator.
The two stared at each other when they realized what was happening.
Flay was excited beyond belief when they finally got to the head of the line for the Shooting Coaster; Kira, on the other hand, wasn't terribly excited. Motion sickness was never an issue, of course, but his only experience he had with this sort of thing was in battle, and he didn't want to think about it. Kaworu opted to stay behind in order to keep an eye on Mamoru and Hana.
"Welcome. The Shooting Coaster will soon be departing," the recorded voice of a woman announcer said over a loudspeaker. "Please keep your hands and feet inside the car at all times. Enjoy your ride here at Waterpolis!"
"Oh boy, here we go, Kira!" Flay squealed as the safety restraints automatically moved and locked into place before it started to move. The Coordinator continued to look less than enthusiastic. Of course, when the roller coaster actually began, he found himself closing his eyes and gripping onto his safety restraint for dear life, while Flay squealed and laughed with unbridled excitement.
After about forty seconds of twists, turns and loop-de-loops, the cars shot off the ramp (as intended) and neatly swooped into the mouth of the mechanical fish. Kira finally opened his eyes, and looked around. They were underwater, and projections of mermaids and other fictional sea critters moved about, waving and giggling.
But then trouble came around.
A large, evil-looking dark pink lizard vaguely resembling Uppo-kun, the park's mascot, suddenly appeared right on the front car where Kira and Flay sat. They had no way of knowing, but the fiend was actually the poor mascot, Zonderized.
"…HE-HE-HE-HE-HE! HAVING FUN, KIDS?! WELL, YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHING YET!"
To Kira's and Flay's horror, the monstrosity then began to meld and fuse with the entire track, and essentially became the car itself, and then fused with the entire track, into the form of a monstrous red serpentine dragon.
"ZOOOOOOOOOOONDEEEEERRR!"
"Tara, how ya doing?" Janus said into his phone as the Archangel, fresh out of its latest round of maintenance, sped off toward the location where Taiga had warned them the Zonder had shown up. All of Kira and Flay's friends feared for their safety, and had offered to join up as the new bridge crew.
"The civilian doctors say I'm fine, but I'm just gonna take it easy and avoid combat for a little while until I know I'm completely better," Tara replied.
"Don't worry, Granlif and I are gonna work twice as hard to pick up your slack!" the young man reassured her. He waited for an answer, but didn't get one.
"Janus..."
"Yeah?"
"Please come back alive."
"Why are you so worried about me all of a sudden?" Janus laughed. To his surprise, the girl on the other end suddenly started yelling.
"You...you IDIOT!"
Then the call ended.
"Uh-oh, someone's having girl trouble," a familiar voice said as Janus put his new phone away. It was Mu, who had a bemused look on his face.
"None of your business, Mu," Janus replied as he started to walk away. "I'm going to get ready." Without another word, Janus slipped into an elevator and headed for the hangar before Mu could catch up.
Just then, Ryo of the Dancougar team popped in, having heard part of the conversation.
"Let me guess. Girl trouble?" he quipped.
"Yup." Mu replied.
"Man, it's just like when Shinobu and Sara first started dating. It already brings back memories, and they've only been going steady for the past three years!"
Mamoru, Hana and Kaworu were having fun inside the Hall of Mirrors when suddenly everything started shaking. The young boy and Kaworu suddenly felt the presence of something massive and dangerous.
"A Zonder? Kaworu, we gotta get out of here!" Mamoru said as he made a run for a nearby emergency exit. But the building shook as the destruction outside reached the house of mirrors, and sharp glass started falling everywhere.
With a mere thought and an upward glance, Kaworu projected a barrier around him, Mamoru and Hana, protecting them from the falling pieces of mirror. But it wasn't just any barrier...it was an AT Field, and an extremely powerful one at that.
Mamoru and Hana, who had been crouching down to protect their faces and holding their plush toys over their heads, suddenly looked up and saw this feat, which Kaworu was doing with his hands in his pockets.
"Kaworu...you saved us! But...how are you doing that?" Hana asked.
"I'll explain some other time. It's too early in the tale that is your life for you to know. For now, let's leave this crumbling place; an old friend of mine that I want to introduce you to is waiting outside for us."
Hana wondered just what she had gotten herself into...
"Attention to all crew members," Murrue's voice came over the Archangel's loudspeaker. "We have received orders from Earth Alliance headquarters. We are to follow the orders of both NERV and GGG's commanders. Work together with GaoGaiGar and the Evangelions to stop the Zonder Robo and Angel!"
"That's a plan I can get behind!" Shinobu said eagerly. "Cyber Beast Force, you all know how to deal with these Angels!"
"Captain," Natarle suddenly said. "I've spotted the Zonder Robo...but you're not going to believe who is attached to it..."
A zoomed-in shot of the serpentine dragon revealed an unconscious Kira and Flay melded into the body of the monster.
"Attention! We've spotted Kira and Flay attached to the Zonder Robo. Its destruction takes immediate priority! Anyone capable of..."
But then they spotted something else.
Gendo looked at the screen, with images being fed from the battle lines. Suddenly, one of the operators called out something.
"Sir, a massive AT Field just appeared in the boundaries of the park! Blood type has been confirmed for blue! It's another Angel!"
Two Angels at once? Those old fools couldn't have predicted that, Gendo thought.
"Wait...I'm also picking up the signature of an EVA from the Angel! Based on our databases, it's Evangelion Unit 04!"
"What?!" Kozo exclaimed. "But I thought that wasn't due to be finished for months now! What is it doing in the hands of an Angel?! "
Tabris! What is the meaning of this?! You go against our plan yet again?
I'm no longer interested in marching to your drummer anymore. At this point, I am no longer Tabris, son of Adam. I am Kaworu Nagisa, son of man. Goodbye, 00.
Shinji, Asuka and Rei deployed in Units 01, 02 and 00 from an Earth Alliance battleship, attached to extremely long extension cords. And it didn't take long for them for them to notice Unit 04.
It was white, and resembled a slightly shorter-nosed version of Unit 01. In its left hand it held a massive red, two-pronged spear, and in its right it carried a massive shield. It also lacked any sort of external power source.
"Hey, I've never seen that EVA before," Shinji said. "I guess that's Unit 04, just like Misato said. I wonder the pilot is."
"Hello, Shinji-kun," Kaworu's voice came over his communicator with a slightly seductive purr. "I've been waiting for you."
"Um...do I know you?" Unit 01's pilot said, unsure of who this fellow was and why he was coming on so strong.
"Maybe, maybe not. You can call me Kaworu. I hope we can be friends...Unit 04 wants to be your friend also."
"Hey, guys! Who's the weirdo?" Shinobu's voice came over the EVAs communicators. "According to our temporary superiors at NERV, this punk here is an Angel, and that makes him our enemy."
"Wait!" Mamoru, who was sitting with Hana behind Kaworu inside Unit 04. "He's not a bad person at all! He saved me and Hana when we were inside the Hall of Mirrors!"
"Uh-huh, Kaworu's really nice!" the little girl added, hugging . "He even gave me a neat plush toy!"
"And if that still doesn't make you want to trust me, I will free Kira and Flay from that Zonder Robo's grip."
"Taiga, what do you suggest?" Guy said as he overheard this conversation. "If Mamoru says he can be trusted, we at least ought to give him the benefit of the doubt."
"I agree," Taiga replied. "Besides, it's too risky to use Hell and Heaven to free anyone caught in a Zonder that isn't its host."
"Yeah. I mean, if he saved Mamoru, that's gotta count for something," Janus added.
With that, everyone agreed to trust Kaworu for now. He felt a warm feeling in his core; joy that he was being accepted. For the first time since he had begun all this, he truly wanted to help humans. Silently, the Angel vowed to never squander this trust. Too much was riding on the coming conflict to do something like that.
"Let's go, Unit 04," Kaworu said to his EVA rather calmly, though he would have likely said it in a hot-blooded manner if he was capable of it. The white Evangelion started forward, raising its spear and shield to engage the Zonder Robo. What was immediately notable that it was walking on top of the water's surface, rather than submerging as one would expect.
The Zonder, designated by GGG as EI-13, turned around and lashed out at Unit 04, only to meet the blunt end of its spear face-first. As the Angel-turned-EVA-pilot turned his mech around, he spotted Kira and Flay on the monster's back. With both great care and great force, he took hold of the two teens and ripped them out of the Zonder's body, which reeled back in pain, even though it immediately regenerated the damage.
"All right, new guy!" Janus cheered. "Now we can cut loose on these jokers! Let's split up for now, since we're dealing with two of them!"
"Yes. Hyoma, Kenichi, Mu, Volfogg, come with me," Guy said. "Janus, Shinobu, HyoRyu, EnRyu, help the Evangelions with the Angel! Whatever group deals with their threat first will come to assist the others."
"Kaworu, I need to go with Guy's group," Mamoru said. "Will you watch over Hana for me?"
"Of course. Stay well, my little friend," the Angel replied. To Hana's amazement, Mamoru suddenly began to glow bright green and gained wings of light as Kaworu let him out of Unit 04's Entry Plug.
"Mamoru...he's...he's..." Hana gasped, overcome by Mamoru's sudden transformation.
"Your friend is a very special boy, Hana-chan," Kaworu said. "That is all you need to know. Now hang on, here we go!"
"TENKUU KEN!" Kenichi yelled as he pulled out Voltes' sword. He rushed forward at EI-13 and delivered a mighty slash, immediately severing its head.
"Don't let your guard down! It won't be destroyed until we remove its core!" Volfogg called out. Indeed, even decapitation wasn't enough to stop the Zonder, but it did weaken it somewhat. The dragon started to shrink and compress, forming into a monstrous, robotic version of Uppo-kun.
"ZOOOONDEEEERRRR!"
It immediately struck Voltes, knocking it backwards into the water. Combattler rushed to its aid, only for it to get rushed by the Zonder, and they began to push against each other like a pair of sumo wrestlers.
"A contest of strength, huh?" Hyoma grunted. "Okay, let's see what..." But to his shock, the Zonder quickly grabbed Combattler and tossed it over its head, into the water. It let out a rather unnerving belly laugh, only to be interrupted by Mu in the Moebius Zero, which peppered it with gunfire
"Hey ugly, over here!" the ace yelled. But as he tried to steer the Moebius, he miscalculated the amount of momentum he had, and the ship began to spin out. The Zonder raised its hands and fired a pair of pink lightning bolts from its hands.
"Crap...I forgot! This thing isn't designed for air combat..." Mu grunted. He quickly hit the eject button, no longer able to control the Moebius as the bolts struck his ship, which exploded and crashed into the sea.
That just left GaoGaiGar to deal with. It quickly rushed forward to deliver a devastating right haymaker to EI-13. It countered with its own fist, but GaoGaiGar was far stronger. It shattered the Zonder's arm and struck it square in the jaw, knocking it in the water as well. Quickly, Guy raised his fist.
"BROKEN MAGNUUUUM!"
The whirling projectile fist dove into the ocean, then came back up, sending the Zonder flying. Combattler and Voltes got up and wasted no time in getting their revenge on their rather humiliating defeats.
"CHOUDENJI SPARK!"
"VOLTES BA-ZOO-KA!"
The electric bolt and projectile struck the Zonder dead-on, and it dropped back into the drink. To everyone's surprise, Guy then immediately followed it. From within the water, they could hear the echoes of GaoGaiGar's Hell & Heaven attack.
GaoGaiGar emerged from the water with Zonder Core in hand, victorious at last.
Mamoru quickly did his purification ritual, and the man possessed by the Zonder was restored to normal, overjoyed to be free of his monstrous shape.
"I'll be okay, guys!" Mu called out from the shore as he picked up Kira and Flay, who were both starting to come around. "Go help the Evangelions!"
"Right! Let's go, everyone!"
The battle against the Angel wasn't going quite as well as the battle against the Zonder did. It was a massive, arthropod-like creature, with a long cylindrical body, a shovel-shaped head with two eyespot-like markings and eight segmented limbs, and two short arms. Unlike the previous Angel, this one's core was easy to spot, just below its head.
But striking it was another matter entirely.
"Man, I can't believe we can't beat up this oversized shrimp!" Shinobu grunted as it recovered from another energy whip attack the Angel, codenamed Shamshel, utilized to deadly effect in spite of being attached to a pair of stubby arms.
"Damn you! I won't be defeated by SEAFOOD!" Asuka yelled as it drew a massive machine gun the size of a small building and begin firing rapidly. Shamshel whipped its arms about, sending all the bullets flying away as the motion strengthened its AT Field. They catastrophically crashed into various already wrecked buildings, leveling them entirely. Meanwhile, HyoRyu's ice and EnRyu's fire couldn't penetrate its barrier either.
Even Kaworu was surprised with how much of a fight the Angel was putting up. His spear kept missing its core as it squished and squirmed to avoid being struck, or putting up a shell made of its AT Field around the core like Sahaquiel did when it looked like he would land a solid hit.
But along came the cavalry as GaoGaiGar, the Super Electromagnetic robots and Volfogg, who immediately sprang up into the air, raised his arms up to his side, and opened up several loudspeakers on his chest.
"MELTING SIREN!"
The sonic blast coursed through the air. But to his surprise (due to his inexperience in fighting Angels), his barrier-breaking siren was only so much noise.
"Dumbkopf!" Asuka yelled as she drew Unit 02's Progressive Knife. "A little noise isn't going to break an Angel's AT Field!"
"Then how about this?!" Janus roared. He rushed forward, Gran Claymore drawn and struck at the Angel's core. Suddenly, he heard something speak to him in his head.
Stop...please...can't...breathe...
But he was already mid-slice, and struck hard at the Angel's core. It screeched wildly and began flailing like mad, knocking everyone (even the sturdy GaoGaiGar) except Granlif and Unit 00, who managed to duck in time. Shamshel lunged at Granlif with its tentacles with the intent to impale it...
Only for Unit 00 to take the hit.
Janus and Shinji watched in horror as the prototype Evangelion wrestled with the Angel, obviously suffering from great pain in spite of its valiant effort to hold off the beast. Even Kaworu was impressed with this...he knew Rei quite well, and wondered what made her do this, especially for someone like Janus. He then noticed that Shamshel couldn't yank its tentacles out. Unit 00 was somehow keeping the energy whips in its own body. Shinji had managed to get up, and saw the struggle
"Janus...Shinji..." Rei gurgled over the communicator.
"Rei!" Janus cried.
"Hey, we gotta help her!" Shinji called out.
"Hurry...you two and Kaworu...finish it..."
Janus and Shinji heard her cough up blood.
"Shinji-kun; Janus; let's finish it while it's vulnerable," Kaworu replied rather calmly, readying his spear.
"Yes!"
Unit 01 reached for its Progressive Knife, and Granlif readied its Gran Claymore. While Shinji and Janus rammed their weapons into the Angel's core, Kaworu took a few steps back, whirled his lance, and tossed it like a javelin. It whizzed by Unit 00's head and impaled Shamshel's core and went right out the other side, dissolving into light before it could land and do any damage to the city.
The Angel shrieked, and finally perished. But unlike Sahaquiel and Gaghiel, Shamshel did explode...but into a great bloody mist as opposed to a fireball. Waterpolis was soon covered in its blood, and the oceans of Okinawa were polluted by the same mist.
Rei awoke in a hospital bed a few days later, all bandaged up with a patch over her right eye. Shinji sat by her bed, reading a book and hoping she would wake up while he was visiting. A basket covered with gold-colored foil was on the chair next to him. She turned her head to him, and he smiled warmly, happy to see that she was okay.
"Rei, you had us all worried back there. You didn't have to jump like that."
"I-I'm sorry," Rei replied, looking away rather shamefully. "I just...wanted to protect him."
"Janus? Why?"
Rei shook her head. "I...don't know."
Shinji had a vague idea why, and the reason was contained in his basket. He removed the foil for her, since her arms were too weak. It was full of small orange fruits that Rei recognized.
"Tangerines...I heard they're your favorite."
Rei couldn't find the words to express her gratitude, but after so long, she found another way.
For the first time in her life, she smiled.
I was originally going to use Ramiel as the Angel of the day, but he's kind of passive, and I couldn't think of a more awesome way to do him in without the canon way. So I decided to use Shamshel. So anyway, see you on the other route!