Chapter 20: Comfort from a Dead Shell
-Track Twenty-One-
Soft heel clicks echoed as if going down a hallway. Mild cries of children were fading in and out as the footsteps continued. Sounds of metal contracting and expanding were amplified as the cries were getting louder. Something heavy was scrapping the ground followed by rapid whispering. The footsteps began to fade as well as the scraping sound. Distant high pitch screaming was heard getting closer and closer. The scrapping sound stopped followed by something heavy whipping through the air. A death scream blasted nearby with the sound of head exploding.
-End of Track Twenty-One-
Waking up with a jolt, Shinji kept himself grounded and tried to not react from the savage visions around him. After spending five minutes, the images subsided. Feeling in control, he unclenched his hands that were in tight fists. Checking what time it was, he began his morning routine. After completing it, he worked on the weekend homework.
When the afternoon came, he decided to go into the city. Grabbing his backpack, he packed it with all the items he obtained from the green suit criminal. With one last check to see if he had everything, he was ready. Exiting his home, the male pilot started his trek into Neo-Tokyo. It took him 30 minutes on foot to get closer to an area near downtown.
Walking through the good and bad streets of the city, not much happened. He didn't receive much attention from people walking on either side of the road. Continuing for a bit, Shinji felt a suspicion that someone or some people were tailing him. Hearing menacing giggles in his head, it confirmed what he was feeling. He walked next to a building's front display window and he looked right at the glass display. Glancing out of the corner of his eyes, there were three men in the reflection.
They were taller than him, husky looking, and had a slight punk-attire. Staring back forward, the boy stopped at the crosswalk waiting for the light to change. The three men looked at their target and labeled him as easy prey. Playing with their weapons in their pockets, they were thinking a little threatening would do the trick. The three stopped and surrounded the boy at his left, right, and back. When the light changed and the crosswalk signal was on, the four walked cross the street.
Rayne was walking down an adjacent street doing some window shopping to kill time. She was dressed in blue jeans and a black tank top. A friend walked into her and both chatted a little. The female officer spotted something out of the corner her eye. It wasn't out of interest or curiosity but an observation impulse. Spotting the male Eva pilot, he was surrounded by three men larger than him.
Feeling her police senses active, she pulled out her cell and looked at it. Apologizing to her friend saying that work came up, both said their goodbyes. Putting her mobile phone away and looking down the street both ways, she briskly walked across it. On the sidewalk on the opposite side, the officer headed toward the intersection. Stopping at the light, she analyzed the situation.
The three men had a smirk on their faces. Judging by how they walked, they were trying to be intimidating to the boy. She looked at Shinji and could only smirk while walking towards them when the light changed. His face was impassive and he was walking causally. He was dressed in a plain dark red t-shirt and off white slacks. His attire stood out the most for being in contrast with the men's clothes.
Reaching across and being on the same sidewalk, she followed the group. Noticing an alley coming up, Rayne walked a little faster. All four entered the passageway. Clenching her hands into fists, she jogged quickly to the entrance. Peering around the corner, the female officer saw them. The thugs had the teen against the wall as they block him from escaping. Crouching and hiding behind a nearby dumpster, she could hear their voices.
"I am sorry gentlemen. I will not comply with your requests. Please leave me alone," Shinji said which got a laugh from the three men.
"You just have to make this harder than it has to kid," one said as all three fiddled with their weapons.
"...I see...very well," Shinji said as his voices were grinning with the thirst of excitement.
Sensing that the fight was about to begin, Rayne got out of hiding and headed toward them quietly. The guy in the middle threw a right punch at the boy's face. Shinji caught it and wrapped his arms around the man's arm. Shifting and flanking his body to the right forcefully, bones snapped audibly. The man screamed in pain holding onto his right arm. It was bending backwards from the elbow.
The other two thugs were too distracted by their comrade to see what the pilot did next. Moving away from the wall and walking toward his right, he did a lunging side kick to the inside of the man's right knee. It made him yelp in pain from his right leg shooting back. Loosing balance, he kneeled to the ground and placed his hands on the ground to stabilize. It didn't last long as the teen threw a hard left hook and a hard right hook to the man's temples. The first punch dulled his senses while the second one knocked him out falling to the ground on his right side.
Focusing only on the remaining thug, Rayne sneaked behind him. The man was in shock. Seeing and hearing the bones pops from his comrade was unexpected. The thug with the broken arm got up slowly. Gripping his broken and twisted limb, he made a mad dash to the boy. The Third Child turned around slowly and watched the man come with a blink.
When the distance was close enough, the man lunge his left fist forward at the boy's face. Leaning to the side a little to dodge the attack, the Third Child took a step forward with his left foot. Quickly grabbing and gripping the thug's lapels on his jacket, he pivoted and fiercely pulled to the right. Planting his right foot behind him, the boy used the man's momentum and slammed him into the wall. A dull crunch was heard as the man fell to the ground knocked out.
The last thug was sweating looking at the boy. The teen stood straight and slowly turned toward the man. His impassive face remained as his eyes seemed to emit something dreadful. Shinji's voices were chuckling evilly and demanding more bones to be snapped and blood to be spilled. Coming to his senses, the thug grabbed whatever was in his pocket.
"YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT!" the man yelled.
Pulling out his pocket handgun, he aimed it at the boy. To his growing fear of the teen, he started walking toward him. About to pull the trigger, he felt something hard whack him in the back of his head. Dropping the pistol and going to his knees, he tried to reach back to touch his head. Two hands gripped his wrists and pulled his arms back painfully.
Feeling his arms being stretched out, a powerful kick smacked his spine. Instantly feeling the wind knocked out of him, he fell to the ground unconscious. Rayne put her foot down and patted her cloths a little. She looked back and saw Shinji bowing deeply to her.
"Thank you for the assistance Miss Rayne,"
"You're welcome," she said smiling. She watched as he picked up the bodies and set them against a wall. He put on black gloves and made them sit Indian style. After doing so, he started to pull their stuff out.
"Uh…what exactly are you doing?" she asked half-curious, half-knowing what he was doing.
"Scavenging," he said.
Each item that the three men had was placed on the ground in front of them. Kneeling down to where he was, she looked at the thug's wallets. She didn't know who they were. Based on the stuff they had, they were common thugs. One was even a bouncer at a night club down in the South end of the city that she knew of. Looking at Shinji, he was looking at each weapon that the thugs had: pocket pistols, concealed knives, and brass knuckles.
Unloading each pistol, Shinji wrapped the magazine on the handles with tape one man had. Once done, he placed them all in his backpack. She handed the wallets back to see what he would do. He looked at them briefly and placed them back in the unconscious men's pockets. Going to the middle man's broken arm, the boy forcefully realigned the dislocated elbow.
The sickening pop and crunch sound was music to his voices' ears. Taking his gloves off, he put them back in his backpack. Standing up, he patted the dust and dirt off of him. Turning to the female officer, she stood up and faced him. Both stared at each other until he spoke.
"Is there something you need Miss Rayne?"
"Um, may I ask where you are going?" she asked. Though she was getting somewhat use to his gaze, what he just did a little unnerving.
"A pawn shop four blocks from this location."
'A pawn shop?' she thought in curiosity.
"Is there anything else you wish to know?"
"Do you mind if I tag along?"
Shinji shook his head side to side a little which made her smile. Both exited the alleyway in which there were a couple of people starring. Ignoring them, they walked one the sidewalk with very little said between them. People continued to stare at them. Rayne felt less self-conscious for not the only one looking weird. She snickered when some people tripped.
Arriving at the shop, both entered it. Shinji walked up to the desk and waited while Rayne looked around intrigued by why he would go here.
'There is no entrance bell or a bell at the desk. It doesn't look really inviting…more like stuff is here and there. Must be how he likes things, nothing flashy or too dull,' she thought. Seeing movement, she saw the owner came out in an orange mechanic jumpsuit.
"Ah, welcome again my young lad. What brings you back to my world?" he asked calmly.
"Unfortunately, it is for a destructive path sir," Shinji said calmly back. The old man gave a soft chuckle.
"I had a feeling it would be," he stated. Blinking, he turned to see the other occupant in his shop.
"Hmm, who might this pretty young lady be?" the old man asked kindly. Rayne broke out of her staring when she heard someone addressing her. She walked to the desk.
"This is Miss Rayne Hymity. She is an officer at the police station on the South-West side of Neo-Tokyo," the Third Child said as she bowed slightly.
"May I guess that you are in the attack force team Miss Hymity?" the owner asked with a smile.
"…" she said blinking in surprise. "How did you guess?"
"The television has its moments of interest," he said chuckling to himself.
"I…I see."
"So my boy, what can these old bones do for you today?"
"Would you happen to be in weapons trading sir?"
"Hmm, I might. How did such knowledge get to you?"
"Insights told me that you could be. I took it as a curiosity and hopefully business," the male pilot said
"...?" the young officer said. Looking at him confused, the old man smiled a little while coughing.
"I bet they plague your mind quite a bit?"
"Afraid so sir."
"...?" Rayne stated as she stared at the both of them. 'What are they talking about?…what kind of insights do they mean?'
"Insights meaning "voices" in one's mind Miss," the old man stated with a small smile.
"You mean you have…" she said quietly. Trailing off, she took a step back in surprise.
"Heh heh, come, come, my child. I haven't lost my marbles completely. But, they sometimes alter what is real," the owner said still having a kind smile while Shinji looked at her.
"So, you both of you are the same?" she asked. Feeling her level of surprise dying away slowly, both nodded at the same time.
'I'm starting to wonder if schizophrenia is all that bad,' she thought curiously.
"Both of us can assure you that having them has ups and downs. Almost all of the times, it is living nightmares for days," Shinji responded calmly.
"Don't tell me both of you are telepathic!?" Rayne shouted with her hands on her head, eyes bulging. The old man laughed heartedly while the boy just shook his head side to side.
"What people with schizophrenia receive is lots of observational data such as facial expressions and predicting questions. The problem with it is reassembling and understanding them for use," he stated.
"...I...see..." she said sighing a little in relief. The old man chuckled and coughed again from the animated girl.
"To which weapon category do you prefer?"
"Pistols will be sufficient enough," Shinji said. The gentleman nodded. Turning around, he went through the drape to go into his backroom.
"So is this your "insights" telling you to buy guns?" Rayne asked. Trying to understand, her brain was getting numb at the same time.
"Sorry, it is my intuitional want," the boy said with a blink. The female officer sighed and rubbed her temples. The man came back out with a large folder/catalog and placed in on the desk.
"Please tell me when you found your interest," he said and went back to the backroom.
Shinji opened the large folder and skimmed slowly through each pistol model, picture, specs, and name. Rayne leaned on the desk next to him and stared at the few pictures that caught her eye then moved to others. Feeling a pull on his leg, the pilot looked down. The child voice was smiling at him. Rayne watched the male pilot bend down and pick up nothing but air. Standing back up, it looked like he was holding a small child. He then set who he was holding on the desk and went back to his browsing.
'Must be his schizo acting up…' she thought as she continued to look.
"What are you looking for?" the small boy asked.
"Something that holds more than 5 rounds," Shinji said out loud. Rayne looked at him then back at the folder trying to ignore what might happen.
"Why more?" the child asked. He was lying on his stomach on the counter while staring at the pictures in the pages.
"The more the merrier," an accented voice chimed in. He walked around to the other side of the counter. He leaned on it while prompting his elbows on the desk lacing his fingers in front of his face. It looked very familiar to a certain Commander's pose.
"Is that right?" the small boy asked while kicking his legs a little in the air.
Rayne saw Shinji nod to no one and mentally told herself to try harder to ignore. However, she had an uncanny feeling that there were people around them. She glanced around but saw no one. Looking back at the catalog, goosebumps on her arms.
"Is that so, your predictions never cease to amaze me Shinji," another adult voice sounded. It appeared as another version of the other adult voice, but was younger with brown eyes. He walked in standing next to the posing one. The one with silver eyes adjusted his glasses and smirked widely.
Two other voices walked in. The one with green eyes walked behind the male pilot. He rested his forearms behind Shinji's shoulder region. From his height, he could look at the catalog while hovering over the pilot's head. The other with blue-red eyes climbed on the desk and sat next to the boy gazing at the weapon's catalog.
"Ooo, I remember those," the green eye voice said smiling.
"You mean that one," the silver eyed asked. He pointed to the one which got him a nodded from the adult version. Shinji looked at the weapon that held .50Cal ammunition.
"No, but ammo taken into consideration."
All of them giggled with dark glee. The last voice made his appearance by hanging upside down. He was in a strait jacket being held by chains from the ceiling. His copper rusted eyes bore at the Third Child. The Eva pilot slowly looked up and blinked.
"Lovely afternoon…isn't Shinji?" he said smiling with teeth showing.
"..." the pilot said with a blink. Slightly bowing to him, he looked back at the catalog. The action made the crazy one grin wider while staring at the female next to him.
Rayne felt her nerves about to snap from the eerie feeling of a whole crowd presence around her. She looked up from the catalog and froze. She stared at the different color orbs that surrounded mostly Shinji. Continuing upward, she saw two copper-red color orbs. A flashback came to her. The relevance of it made her instantly react.
The young officer jumped back and reached down toward her left inside calf in one move. Revealing an S&W pocket revolver holster there, she pulled it out and stood up. She pointed the gun directly at the ceiling orbs. The rest of the voices turned toward the girl except Shinji. He turned one page and saw something of his interest then slowly turned toward her.
"Shinji…step away from the desk," she said in a stern whisper. She had her eyes set on the red-copper orbs in the air
About to say something, her expression made him keep quiet. Rayne watched in her peripheral vision as the male pilot picked up the imaginary child and set it on the ground. What made her turn her head was that the blue orbs went with Shinji's motion.
'Almost like it was a real…' she thought.
Shaking her head, she trained her sights back to the almost red orbs. Gritting her teeth in anger and fear, a scornful expression was on her face. The other color orbs were backing away and went next to Shinji. The green spheres hovered over the boy's head which made her feel eerie.
The hanging voice smiled wickedly at her. It slowly turned toward Shinji making the chains creak and rattle. He got the usual un-expression and no feelings from it. Its smile grew to a grin then turned back to the female. Starting to swing himself, he pondered what reaction he could produce.
Rayne felt the atmosphere turn ice cold but never took her aim off at the copper orbs. She saw it starting to swing side by side feeling that it was hanging upside down. Suddenly it stopped swing and fell on the counter with a soft thud. Blinking in surprise from the sound, it then slowly started hovering towards her. Adding to her developing fear, the other colored spheres slowly made their way toward her.
'Control…Control…they aren't real. They aren't real,' she thought to herself. The spheres kept coming toward her but they slowed their pace to a snail's. Small creaks on the floor were heard as if they were stepping closer and closer to her.
'They are not real, not real, not real…' she thought frantically as her hands were shaking visibly. To the other voices delight, they grinned wickedly and continued their advancement.
'NOT REAL, NOT REAL, NOT REAL, NOT REAL!' she screamed in her mind. Her expression became terrified which the voices thought they were the cause. All stopped their advance when they felt Shinji shake his head. The insane looking voice didn't believe him and got inches away from her face.
"Twinkle, Twinkle little eye. Now it is time for you to die."
"Stay away…" Rayne said quietly. A couple of scenes from her past came in random order.
"Stay away," she said a little louder.
More scenes flooded her mind. Voices filled her ears as the environment change a little to a cloudy mist. All around her were large robotic corpses ripped in half and in pieces. She looked down and saw herself in a carved bath tub. It was inside one of the bio-robots. Everything below her knees was in red and orange liquid. She remembered the orbs teasing her and staring. Something in her mind clicked.
"STAY AWAY!" she shouted. With fear and rage, she shoved the revolver in front of the copper-red orbs.
The voices looked at the young officer and felt an icy shiver run through them. They were expecting the female to be scared stiff. Instead, an enraged cop appeared making the insane voice recoil a little with surprise. They all took a step back seeing that inferno was erupting from the eerie shine in her eyes.
Rayne unleashed the bullets in the revolver in seconds. Despite the sounds of the gun blasting inside, the bullets hit nothing except the ceiling. Depleted, she threw a left hook to the copper orbs. The fist hit nothing but air which angered her more. Clenching her fist and the handgun tighter, her teeth were fully shown with her fierce expression.
All the orbs giggled and vanished except for one with dark magenta color. Dropping the weapon, Rayne dashed at the purple spheres. Engaging in hand-to-hand combat, she made physical contact. It defended itself which she continued brutishly until it was dead. The old man came out casually and watched as the female look in rage and the boy still calm. He watched for a minute as Rayne threw fists to kicks while Shinji dodged, blocked, or countered by holding her wrists until she broke free and tried again. He started to walk around the counter.
"Miss Rayne," the boy called
"…" she said with angry eyes.
"Miss Rayne…" Shinji said again. The officer threw a knee to his stomach which was blocked by his knee.
"Get her into a more secured hold my boy. You will have more success that way," the old man said. Reaching the front of the counter, he pushed up and sat on the counter. Shinji nodded.
Rayne was about to do a left kick when her wrists were released. Off balance, her legs got swept from under her changing her view to the ceiling. There seemed to a dark abyss above her. Landing hard on the ground, she tried to get up quickly. Before she could, her arms and legs became firmly secured. Struggling to break free, the purple orbs hovered over her.
"Miss Rayne…" the male pilot said impassively.
"Stay away from me!" she yelled in its face while still trying to get free.
"Miss Rayne, please cease your act-" Shinji said getting cut off with a head-butt. He let one hand loose and got a right cross to the side of his face which dazed him.
Seizing the opportunity, Rayne quickly got up and thrust her right knee forward. It coiled with something and the orbs went down. Getting ready to attack, she recoiled to see the orbs move back up casually. She felt it was stalking her as it walked towards her slowly. Throwing a straight punch to its face, her hand was caught by a larger hand.
She was going to use the other fist but felt a hard hit to her gut quickly. It knocked the wind out of her as she fell to the floor coughing and wheezing with her eyes closed. When she reopened her eyes, the environment changed again. Rayne wasn't in a large dark place of disembowelment, but in the pawn shop. She first noticed that she was staring at the floor.
Looking up little, a pair of shoes was in front of her. A murky presence was above her making her realize who she was fighting with. She felt very small and wanted to disappear. About to say something, the shoes turned back to the counter. Getting into a sitting position, Rayne kept her head downcast and listened.
"Has a lot of damage been done sir?" Shinji asked to the owner.
"No, the ceiling needs repairing anyway. But I couldn't say the same for you my boy," the old man stated with a chuckle. His laughter made Rayne cringe.
"My wound will heal in time. I have found my selection sir," the boy stated and pointed to the weapon. He got off the desk, looked at it.
"Will you be wielding uno or duo my young lad?"
"One is good enough."
"Are you sure?" the old man asked grinning.
"Shall I explain my reasons or do I need to sir?"
"Now that is a mystery," the old man chuckled. Confused by what they were saying, Rayne willed herself to face what she did.
"I actually have one in stock…but it is not the standard," the owner began to say. Noticing the female standing up, he saw her coming toward them. A look of guilt came across her.
"Are you feeling better my dear?" the owner asked. Rayne shun her head down but nodded. The old man smiled and went back to get a box.
"That is good to hear," the Third Child said. Picking up his backpack, he placed it on the counter. Rayne tried to formulate words but none would surpass her guilt. Biting her lip to try and speak, the boy broke her train of thoughts.
"If you feel guilty Miss Rayne...you should not," he said turning toward her. She looked up and saw him not hurt anywhere or have any sign of bruising.
"But…I hit you."
"You definitely have a sting," the pilot said. He was rubbing the left side of his head and his stomach.
"I'm sorry."
"It is alright. Does this help you understand your curious thought?"
"…what do you mean?" she asked with a confused face.
"You wondered if schizophrenia was beneficial than harmful. What you experience was an episode of what that mental disorder can do."
"But…I don't have it. You were going through an episode, right?" she asked. She was trying to figure out why both he and the owner weren't angry at her or scared of her outburst. She saw Shinji nod.
"I thought that only the person with schizo could see whatever they see."
"Is that true for you?" he asked still staring at her. Rayne blinked, and looked at him in wonder and shock. At the same time, a comfort came through her.
'No one has understood me nor tried to. But, he seems to and doesn't ask questions about anything…it's comforting,' she thought. Her guilt seemed to fade away and be replaced by something that felt foreign to her. A smile seemed to be the only expression she could give to him. Watching him bow seemed like a form of forgiveness.
"It seems that the tides have ceased their raging," the owner stated. Turning to the drape door, they saw the old man come out. He was holding onto a small case that seemed heavy.
"The waves are just lying dormant and hopefully for a while," Rayne stated with a small smile.
The old man chuckled with a kind smile while Shinji nodded and blinked. The owner placed the case on the table with a loud clunk. Getting out his gloves, the boy put them on. Opening the case, there was a collection of things inside. A charcoal metal color gun lied inside.
"So what makes this a non-standard," the young officer asked. Watching the Third Child pick up the gun, the owner just smiled. Seeing the boy grab the front end, he passed it to her. Grasping it, she had to regrip it from it weight.
"Whoa! This is a bit heavy," she stated.
"The metal components are made from a heavier alloy than steel…tungsten is the metal I believe. Even though the main frame of the pistol is a polycarbonate base, the metal parts hold its core structure," the owner stated.
"There is also a .50Cal barrel which the clip holds only four rounds from the size," he continued. Shinji picked up the barrel and Rayne only opened her mouth.
'Don't ask, don't ask, don't ask…,' she thought. Blinking, she put the gun back in the case.
Wondering how Shinji was going to pay for the weapon, he took the items from his backpack. Laying on the counter were the brass knuckles, knives, pocket pistols and an extra one. The old man looked at each one, inspected them, fingered each a little and then did the same with each knife. He nodded and took them away into the backroom. Shinji put everything from the case back in its place and closed it. Putting the items in his backpack, he slipped it back on.
Reaching in his pocket, Shinji pulled out a large amount of money. It raised the young officer's eyebrows but she kept her mouth closed. The owner came back and saw 40,000 yen on the counter which made him look at the boy.
"Repairs," he said. The old man smiled then sighed.
"Until we meet again sir, good day," the pilot said.
Bowing, he turned around and headed toward the exit. Rayne waved then followed to find he held the door open. She suggested getting something to eat. The owner smiled seeing the boy nod. As the door closed, they walked out of sight. The old man looked at the 40,000 yen in his hands and smirked.
'So I'm not alone in this world. Kind of depressing that a young one has to suffer the same as I,' he thought walking back to a room in the back.
Reaching it, he opened the door then looked around. The floor, walls, and ceiling were littered with blood, disembowelment, and decapitations of many individuals. Legs and arms dangled over armrests, chairs, and tables while intestines were tied to the TV. Eye balls hang from the ceiling drying to the point of cracking open and shriveling.
Some individuals the owner recognized while others were new to him. The one that stuck out was a figure sitting in a corner with odd eyes. His eyes widen a little for almost recognizing the face, but couldn't confirm. When he blinked, the person vanished as well as the massacre in the room. Feeling sweat dripping everywhere, he blinked several times to see if anything changed. Nothing did. Looking back at the money in his hand, he felt clammy holding it. Setting it on a table, he waited to see if anymore visions appeared before he used it.
Rayne led Shinji to an ice cream parlor and ordered for him. He was about to pay when she waved her finger at him. Looking back at her and nodding, he put his wallet back in his pocket. The pilot remembered a teaching he had in the past. The family father stated that if a woman wants to pay, let her and don't argue with them. Remembering when he responded in understanding, an imaginary cut was felt on his lips. It reminded him not to verbal respond afterward.
Both sat and ate quietly. Rayne wanted to talk but could see that most people in the parlor were staring at them like they were wild animals. Hearing him pass something to her, it was paper and a pen. Cheering up, they began message passing until both decide to head to their homes.