Taming the Beast
Summary: An error in the Space Bridge Project sends Coby, Lori, and the Convoys into the Eva Universe. Why are the Rumbles that Coby and Lori pilot so similar to the Evas? Is there a connection between the Angels and the Transformers? Will they survive?
Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion or Transformers Galaxy Force, but they are interesting stories.
Chapter 2
Galaxy Convoy got up and rubbed his head. Quickly, he scanned the area and frowned. This isn't right, he thought. My sensors say we're on Earth, but this isn't any part of Earth that I know.
Choosing an out-of-the-way location, he sent it to the others with the message to meet him there. The other Convoys responded, but he got no reply from either Coby Rumble or Lori Hitomi.
We need to fall back and regroup, and then find out what happened to them, and to us, he thought as he transformed and left.
"How is he," Misato asked.
"Still asleep," Ritsuko answered. "But you may want to see this too." She led the Operations Captain to another room. On the beds were two teenagers, probably about 16 or 17. One, a girl, had long black hair, while the other, a boy, had blonde spiky hair.
"We don't know who they are, but they were inside these," the doctor handed Misato a few pictures of two small robots, the chests looking like the cockpits of some sort of vehicle.
"What are these?" Misato couldn't help but ask.
Ritsuko shrugged, "We don't know. Some sort of advanced machine that these kids were controlling? The techs were going to try and open one up to see what makes it tick. In fact, they should be starting right about now."
At that moment, the monitors attached to the boy started beeping in an alarming way as his heart rate shot up. He began to shake and moan, as if in pain, before letting out a scream. Blood began to seep through the sheet where his right leg was.
"What the hell?" Misato gasped. Ritsuko stood wide eyed until she ran over to the wall and grabbed the phone, dialing a number fast.
The techs were starting their work when the intercom in the room came on, blaring Dr. Akagi's voice, "STOP! DO NOT DAMAGE OR CUT THE MECH IN ANY WAY! I'M ON MY WAY DOWN!"
Misato was scared and confused, "What was that about?"
"Later," Ritsuko answered. "Help me take this kid's bed to Test Chamber 3."
"Why did you stop the study?" Gendo asked Ritsuko. "And why is an unknown person here, in a classified area, when they should be in the secure medical ward?"
The doctor trembled slightly. She and Misato had brought in the bed into the Test Chamber just as the Commander was about to order the techs to continue. Sure, she was more than just an associate of Gendo's, but that didn't mean she wasn't afraid of his temper. "Sir, a few minutes ago, this boy's heart rate shot up and his leg opened up and began to bleed," she explained. "I knew that they were going to start cutting into the right leg at that time. I believe the mech and the boy may be linked subconsciously. I brought the boy here to test that theory."
Gendo's eyebrows shot up at that, and then he smiled, "Continue, Doctor."
Ritsuko let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding, "Yes, sir. Proceed with the study, but cut into the left leg." The techs did as she said, and the minute they started, the boy started screaming again, blood appearing on his left leg. Then his eyes shot open. At the same time, the mech's optics came to life.
"Stop!" Ritsuko yelled, but it was too late.
The mech let out an inhuman screech and kicked the techs and the equipment, sending all flying. No one died, but it was obvious that the medical ward was going to get a lot of people with broken bones. The boy leapt from the bed, wrapping the sheet around him, and striking out at Misato, Ritsuko, and Gendo, knocking them to the ground. He rushed toward the mech as it transformed: the head folding into the back of the cockpit, the arms and legs becoming four insect-like legs, the cockpit coming down to act like the head of an animal, and the shoulder cannon swinging onto the back to point over the head like a scorpion tail rotating to point at anyone who moved.
The boy ran up next to the front-left leg and turned, "Who are you? What where you doing to us?"
Gendo stood first, drawing his side arm. It was a bad move, as the mech instantly turned toward him, hissing metallically. Section 2 agents also drew their firearms, pointing them toward the mech or the boy. "Dr. Akagi, sedate him," he ordered.
The mech hissed again and fired, the hot, plasma burst striking in front of them. "That was a warning shot," the boy said in a commanding tone to rival Gendo's. "Threaten us again or shoot and you won't survive. Now, stand down and answer my questions!"
"You heard him, stand down!" Misato yelled. The Section 2 began to look at each other, as if unsure. Then they began to lower their weapons.
"Belay that!" Gendo ordered, though even he couldn't mask the fear in his voice.
"Commander, the kid is scared shitless!" Misato yelled. "You think a gun is going to intimidate him anyway? That mech is obviously a friend of his, and has the bigger gun I might add!"
Gendo gnashed his teeth, but he lowered his gun, "You will be penalized for this, Captain."
"For doing the smart thing and saving your life?" the kid yelled, obviously disapproving of the Commander. "Apparently, you don't know how to do your job, even though you're obviously supposed to be in command here. Now where am I?"
Misato stepped forward, but not before she glared at the Commander and muttered, "Well, if I'm going to loose my job…" She turned toward the boy, "You are at NERV HQ. We found you inside that mech after the Angel Attack. You dropped out of some sort of big red circle that appeared in the sky and landed in Tokyo 3. We were trying to study your mech, when we realized that any damage your mech sustains, you suffer too. Now can you answer some of our questions?"
"No, but I will tell you some things," the boy growled. "My name is Coby Hanson. I'm 21 years old, married to Lori Sakura Hanson. Rumble here is a Symbiocon. I constructed him when I was 16, and I later made another for my wife named Hitomi. Anything Rumble feels, I feel, and vise versa. The same is with Hitomi and my wife. This is because Symbiocons need to have Human partners to function, and in return, the Human receives enhanced abilities. When I am in the pilot seat, we can combine our power as Coby Rumble, making us exponentially more powerful than we are separate. Now, what is NERV, and what kind of an excuse for a codename is an Angel?"
It was Ritsuko who answered this time, "NERV is a private organization funded by the UN to stop the Angels from destroying mankind."
"And you are right in saying that I am in charge here," Gendo said, stepping forward. "Do you know what the penalty is for attacking a UN Operative?"
Coby was unimpressed, "Do you know what the penalty is for trying to conduct an experiment on a registered member of the Cybertron Army? For a UN organization, you sure don't know a whole lot."
"Before we start killing each other, I think I understand what's going on here," Ritsuko interrupted. "I hate to say this, Coby, but we know nothing of a Cybertron Army. It doesn't exist. That added to the fact that you claimed you are 21 and you look like you're 16, I think that the red circle we saw you fall out of was actually some sort of wormhole that brought you from another universe."
For a moment, Ritsuko thought he was going to deny it. But when he looked at her thoughtfully, she realized that understanding was in his eyes. He is as old as he says, she realized, And he's been through more than we know.
"That explains why the Space Bridge turned red," he said to himself. "Someone altered it to cross universes." He looked up, "Well, while the Cybertron Army doesn't exist, that does not mean that my Oath is null. I will help you guys protect humanity, so long as it is clear that it is the right thing to do. But I am not under your command, and if you piss me off, you will see what Rumble and I can do when we're Coby Rumble. Now, where are my clothes, and where is my wife?"
"If you wish to stay here, you will be under my command," Gendo said. Rumble hissed and leveled his cannon at the Commander.
"He doesn't like you," Coby said. "I don't like you either. You've shown nothing but arrogance, something someone of your rank should be above. I will help you, but I only answer to my superiors. You are not one of them, you half-assed, arrogant, upright, four-eyed, excuse for a son of a bitch."
Ritsuko and Misato left with Coby for the medical ward, giving him the basics of what was going on. Coby shared this information mentally with Rumble, who was being led by the techs to the Eva Cages, where he could stay. Rumble decided he liked the Evas the minute he saw them, and sent a mental picture to his Human partner, who whistled in awe. Gendo was the only one left in the Test Chamber, as all the Section 2 agents had left laughing at the stunned face of their commander, whom they didn't like that much either. Gendo would remain there for five whole minutes before his brain would finally stop trying to comprehend what happened and let him move again.
Coby waited by Shinji Ikari's bedside for the young pilot to get up. Lori walked in and handed him a beer, which he accepted. He really needed it after all they had heard.
Lori had woken up soon after he was returned to his room, so he shared with her everything he was told. She also whistled when Hitomi sent her an image of the Eva Cages, but felt that the Commander was hiding something. Coby promised her they'd find out, and the two of them got dressed. Because they had reverted to their 16 year old selves, they couldn't help but blush as they changed. They were very glad that their rings hadn't vanished when they went through the modified Space Bridge, as their rings were the only proof of their marital status in this universe. It was afterwards that Ritsuko had brought them to this room and told them about the boy in front of him.
Anger – No, pure, hot, rage had filled him when he heard Shinji Ikari's story. Abandoned by his father, only to be called back to be used like a tool. Coby and Lori now had another reason to deeply hate the Commander: he was borderline evil. Coby made a mental note to see just how much the Commander could be lying to everyone around him.
He took another swallow of the beer. Being a Sybiocon's partner meant that he had to maintain an emotional center, or his enhanced abilities could be deadly to those around him in an explosive way. Normally, he could do that, but there were times, even when he was 16, that it was hard. Eventually, so many incidents had occurred that he was given a license to purchase alcohol, even though he was underage at the time. First Gunner had confirmed that he couldn't get drunk, rot his liver, or anything like that due to the fact that his body literally needed it. The Human body produced small amounts of alcohol naturally, but Coby's couldn't because of his link to a Sybiocon. He was literally required to drink regularly – and even more during times of stress or anger – in order to avoid loosing control of his emotional center and abilities. The same became true with Lori the minute she became Hitomi's partner.
Shinji stirred and woke up, staring strait up as he remarked, "Unfamiliar ceiling."
"You may be seeing more of it, so get used to it, Ikari-san," Coby said.
"Who are you?" Shinji said alarmingly, turning to see Coby and Lori.
"I'm Coby Hanson, and this is my wife Lori," Coby answered bluntly. "We're from another universe, but since we ended up here on accident, we're going to try to help you, along with our partners, Rumble and Hitomi."
"Oh good! You're awake!" Misato said cheerfully as she walked into the room, Ritsuko behind her. She stopped when she saw what Coby and Lori were holding, "Why the hell are you guys drinking beer?!"
"If you had been paying attention to anything we had told you, Captain Katsuragi, you would know that it is imperative for the survival of those around us," Lori said, feeling huffed that Misato had not listened earlier. "Judging by your breath, you drink ten times the amount we have to consume."
Ritsuko laughed and walked up to Shinji's bedside, "How do you feel, Pilot Ikari?"
"I feel fine," he said. "What happened?"
"Well… the Eva went out of control after you passed out and killed the Angel, and then somehow opened a gateway to another universe to pull in those two," Ritsuko said, pointing to Coby and Lori. "At the same time… well…" Better get this over with now. She held up a mirror for Shinji.
He took one look at his white hair and red eyes, and screamed.