Chapter 26: A Shell's Different Shade
A week past by since the last Angel attack without any altercation or new rebuilding needed to be done in the city. In a conference room at the police station, a meeting was taking place. The majority of the police force was being told about the Zukeni mob and its ranking on the crime syndicate. They were one of the six underground organizations in South East Asia that was a thorn to society. Records of their activities were of kidnapping, robberies, numerous battery charges, numerous rape reports, numerous counts of murders, illegal drug and gun trading. Packets were passed around for more information about the Zukeni mob such as history, people involved, locations, and relationships to other crime syndicates.
The speaker, Jack, then addressed his attention to the Police's Special Attack Force. He told them that officers will supply them with more knowledge about meetings or groupings of mob members. It was their job to get the information as soon as possible and stalk the members for further locations and other higher members. Their main objective was to capture or take out the leader named Rob Tennsuki. Another packet was passed to them describing who the leader was and his background as well his criminal record. Chief Yogosami stood up and addressed them.
"It is a crucial time on our hands people. Tennsuki's gang finally gotten into our city and were going to give him what he came for…" he said pausing a little to look around the room.
"This will be the hardest case that we've ever done together. Cooperation and team work is the key for this mission. Every man and woman power is needed. Every detail of movement, trades, members, and anything about the Zukeni group is first priority. Are there any questions before we begin this?"
A couple of officers raised their hands and Ryu answered them as best he could. The meeting then ended and everyone was dismissed. Officers went to their work spaces chatting with the person next to him or her about the upcoming days and weeks. Most of them didn't like dealing with any mob group especially something of this size. However based on what the mob had committed on paper, it gave them motivation to bring wanted criminals to justice.
Ryu and Nami were discussing about what to do about other criminals that officers may come across unassociated with the Zukeni mob. As they walked and talked, both saw Rayne coming out of the changing room in her street cloths. What stood out was she had a small smile on her face. Both looked at each other then shrugged their shoulders. Rayne walked home thinking about the potential silent strike once whereabouts of a mob hideout were found. In regards to it, she thought of a certain Eva pilot to call for assistance.
As Asuka went to school, so did the talk about her. Most of the male students couldn't stop talking or thinking about her. They were saying she was "The foreigner" with all the right looks and curves for her age. From her beautiful face to her gorgeous figure, nothing seemed less to debate about. Most boys fantasize about wanting to bed her while others were mustering up the courage to try and ask her out. There were exceptions.
In a paved sections on the outskirts of the school, there was a blanket stand. Two male students were making money off sneaky picture shots of the Second Child. They had set up their small booth on their usual business spot on the school grounds. They got to school earlier than normal today. There was a bit more of a turn out than their normal trafiic.
"Everyone keeps saying, 'Asuka,' 'Asuka'" Toji said tiredly looking at the negatives.
"Thanks again," Kensuke said.
Giving the male student the picture of the Second Child, money was exchanged as the trade. Toji held the negatives up to the morning sun muttering the false personality that the girl showed to everyone. The student with glasses told him to not think about too much. Both knew what kind of person she can act like underneath. Nodding his head, Toji looked at another set of negatives and continue to frown.
Elsewhere relatively close to the high school, Asuka was walking on an overpass toward it. She was looking for two Eva pilots. During her first week, she noticed that the First Child would get up during breaks. Other than going to the bathroom or leaving for lunch, Ayanami would sit next to the Third Child. At first she was surprised. Misato stated that the First Child hardly ever talks to anyone.
Despite mostly having a calm, impassive face, she did talk with him. Asuka thought that maybe the First Child was quiet in general and only associated with Eva pilots. Going with that line of thinking, the Second Child agreed that pilots were the cream of the crop of people. As long as the pale blue hair female pilot knew that she was the better pilot, the redhead could associate herself with her. Clearing her head a little, she started walking down the stairs from the overpass. Despite wanting to search around her, she had to look less suspicious. Her "fan" crowd of students was following her.
'Where is that idiot? I haven't seen him and I decided to show up early. Huh?' Asuka thought then spotted someone. The First Child was sitting at a bench reading. Smirking, the redhead walked to the pilot to make her presence known.
Rei was reading one of the textbooks for a class. She had arrived earlier than normal and felt a little tired. Sitting down, Ayanami decided to read school material until she felt more energy to move again. Suddenly, a shadow came over the text. Not even blinking, she shifted the book to be in the sunlight. But the shadow covered the text again.
"Hello!" a female said.
"..." the First Child said blinking. Looking to her left, it was the Second Child.
"You're Rei Ayanamai, the pilot of the prototype…" the redhead said. She was standing on a little platform to tower over the First Child. Asuka had her left hand on her hip and a determined smile on her face.
"I'm Asuka. Asuka Langley Souryu, the pilot of Eva Unit-02…" she continued. Students came down the overpass stairs and stopped at the bottom. They were making a large crowd as more showed up. A couple students heard some car screeches from a far. Turning around, there was nothing to see beyond the normal traffic.
"…be my good friend," Asuka asked.
"Why?" Rei asked in her monotone voice while looking back at her book. There were a series of cars honking. It started far away then got closer and closer.
"Because it's convenient in many ways."
"If I'm order to, I will."
"…?" Asuka said looking at the First Child. "You're strange."
A rustling was heard to the students' left. Out from an alley up ahead, a man dressed in a fancy business suit and stripped blond/black hair came out. He ran with a familiar backpack that some of the students knew of. Rei recognized it from looking up from her book. The man looked back seeing if the person was still chasing him. His answer was being tackled at his legs and falling to the ground.
Letting go of the backpack, it skidded a bit away from them on the ground. Feeling his legs being let go, the man slowly stood. Looking down at his suit, it had been soiled from the gravel and dust on the pavement. There was also wear and tear damage from sliding a little on the ground. With the fancy suit ruined, he turned around with an angry face.
"Kid, you freaking ruined my suit!" the man said angry. Blinking, the high school student he nabbed the backpack from wasn't behind him. School students and female Eva pilots watched as Shinji evaded the sight of the robber. Calmly, he headed toward his backpack. Picking it up, he unzipped it causing the man to turn around.
"Hey! How did you get behind me runt!?" he shouted. Not getting an answer, the man started stomping toward him. Shinji didn't turn around and was checking to make sure all of his contents were still inside. His voices were grinning wildly.
"…" Rei said feeling odd. She felt that she should let the Third Child know that the man looked hostile and should escape or defend himself.
'Look behind you idiot! You're going to get clobbered!' Asuka mentally shouted at him. About to shout, it was too late. The man got behind him and sneered down at the boy. He lifted his right hand and gripped the teen's right shoulder.
"You got guts for ignoring me shrimp," he said and cocked back his left fist.
The Third Child put down his backpack. When it hit the pavement, Shinji instantly reached up to grab the man's right hand. With both hands grabbing the top of his wrist, Shinji rotated right and squatted into the man's legs. The man felt his arm being pulled down and to the right out of his flexible range making him jump a little. Being under him and seeing him react, Shinji stood up while throwing the man over his shoulder.
The students saw the man flip over the male pilots shoulders. He hit the ground hard and reached for his right arm. It didn't look broken, more possibly a sprain from being turned in the wrong direction. Looking back at the male pilot, he was looking down at the man stoically. Walking toward him, the man got up quickly and shook his right arm a little.
"Kid, you are in deep shit!" the man yelled at him.
"…" Shinji said. Blinking lethargically, he continued to walk toward him calmly. All his voices started making clown laughs one after another. Each was imitating a different age group of young to old. They started overlapping one another till the sounds started to become disordered.
"…" Rei said still stoically looking at the scene. However, she unconsciously gripped her book tighter.
"…" Asuka said watching the fight scene. Despite seeing the Third Child as a rival, she watched with interest. The aspect of him not being afraid of fighting anyone was good. Students around the bottom of the stairs were building. A larger crowd had gathered to watch the fight scene that was in front of them. Some were making bets on who would win the fight.
The man dashed and threw a hard straight left punch at the male student's face. Shinji dodged to the right and stuck his left leg in front of man's legs. It caused him to trip forward to the ground. Without turning around, The Third Child started walking toward the alleyway they came out of. There were many metal trash cans nearby the entrance opening. He was half way there when the man shouted at him.
"YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" the fancy suited man stated.
Instantly getting up, the man rushed at the teen in a full speed run. By the time Shinji stopped and turned around, the man was a couple of feet in front of him with a cocked right fist. Not caring to stop and punch, the man threw his fist forward to the kid's head. Reacting quicker, the male pilot took a right side lunge to avoid the punch. Quickly grabbing the man's jacket and shirt collar with one hand, the boy clenched the man's belt with the other. Turning his body to the left to add torque, he performed a side swinging throw.
Quickly pulling his left foot back, he shifted weight to it while pushing off his right foot. By the time his right foot slammed down on the ground, he had turned 180 degrees and threw the man at the top of the trash cans. The students saw the man being launched forward into the hallway as fast as he was running. Everyone heard a large and loud crash a moment later. It sounded like how some cartoon characters would hit a bunch of trash cans when being thrown into them.
"…" Shinji said standing straight. Slowly turning around, he started heading back to his backpack at a calm pace.
"Whoa, did you see that?"
"He launched that guy into the alleyway."
"What material arts did he use?"
"Looked like judo to me."
"Yeah. He only did throws."
"Damn. Strong and fearless."
"That's must be what an Eva pilot has to be. They're fighting those monsters."
As he reached his backpack and picked it up, he put it on. Rei closed her textbook and placed it in her bag. Standing up, she turned and started walking toward him.
"…" Asuka said with a frown.
'I'll admit that he is strong…but I am not going to let him show off in front of me,' she thought getting off the platform and walking toward him.
'Hey-hey-hey!' both the child and crazy voiced shouted in Shinji's head. Both grabbed his shoulders and were shaking him.
'They're coming over! Do something cool!'
'…' the boy thought and adjusted his backpack a little.
'Heh heh heh,' the accented voice stated and grinned evilly. 'I have something better for those two. You'll assist me.'
'…' the boy thought again then internally bowed.
Both got close enough to him to see down the alleyway. Looking at where the man was, he was bruised a bit in some places; however, he was pointing something at them. Before both could say anything, the man fired the pistol at the boy's direction. Looking toward Shinji, his right cheek was grazed from the bullet fired. Blood started oozing out and falling down his cheek.
The female Eva pilots watched as he slowly touched his bleeding cheek. Looking at the blood on his hand, they saw his facial expression was still the same. Slowly turning his head at them, it instantly turned into an evil grin. His murky aura turned into one of malice. It made both flinch and shiver on how quickly it changed.
"Heh heh heh," he began to chuckle softly for only them to hear. He turned around and started walking back to alleyway.
"…" both Rei and Asuka said.
Despite being startled, they slowly looked at where he was going. Both started to hear the male pilot cracking his knuckles which popped audibly and gruesomely. He tilted his neck and it sounded as if it snapped loudly. The Second Child felt goosebumps go down her back as she kept staring. Blinking, Ayanami was getting confused and apprehensive at the same time.
'What the hell happened?' Asuka thought feeling scared.
'That change,' Rei thought trying to figure out what was happening. 'Is he experiencing an episode? It seems like it. Should I intervene?'
"What…are…you looking…at…punk?" the man in the trashed fancy suit stated. Weakly pointing the pistol at him, he only had the strength to sit up. Shinji walked in front of him still having the menacing grin. He bent forward.
"…you look tired sir…let me help you," the boy whispered evilly.
Both female students saw the Third Child reach forward to the injured man. Taking the gun slowly out of the man's hands, he put it back in the man's inner coat pocket. After patting that area gently, he moved his hands to grip the front and back of the man's head head. In one swift turn, both Rei and Asuka saw the man's head turn 180 degrees with a sickening crack.
"…!?" both said flinching from the sight and sound. Despite fear creeping into their minds, Shinji let the body fall onto the alleyway pavement. Stepping on the man's back, he turned around. He still grinned evilly while looking down at the lifeless body.
"Sir…you don't seem to be breathing…let me open an airway for you," he whispered in distortion.
It was loud enough for both girls to hear. They felt a cold shiver run down their spine as they continued to watch. Shinji slowly reached down and grabbed under the man's jaw with both hands. They saw him bend his knees and started pulling up. He inched slowly up making the veins and tendons expose on the man's neck.
Asuka's heart was beating fast as she was witnessing what a killer would do in a horror movie. It gripped her making her sweat and starting to shake all over. Rei gripped her bag tightly as she felt her insides become tense. The vicious and sadistically behavior and action of the male pilot was immense. She never felt fear this powerful before. Her breathing seemed shallow and quick watching the man's neck stretch.
"…!?" both said with a visible flinch.
They saw the head being pulled off with a savage blood bursting rip. The redhead paled and stared at him wide eye in terror. Ayanami looked at him with horror and felt the need to run away. The head dropped to the ground with a dull thud. Blood was gushing out of the man's neck onto the alleyway ground. Shinji slowly looked up and at them. With a blood stained uniform, his eyes were glaring and his mouth grinned at them.
"Miss Ayanami…Miss Souryu?" a familiar voice called to them on their right.
"Ahh!?" Asuka said recoiling and looking scared to her right.
"…!?" Rei said jumping and staring wide eye at the person.
"…" Shinji said with a stoic expression and blinked. "Are the both of you alright?"
He suddenly was standing to their right. There was no blood stains on him. Both blinked multiple times then looked back at the alleyway. The man was lying there unconscious. There were students around them as well. Some were walking by while some were staring into the passageway. None of them looked afraid or in horror.
"What the?" Asuka muttered rubbing her eyes and looking again.
'Another illusion?' Rei thought remembering the one she saw in the classroom. Both heard footsteps fading away and saw the Third Child walking away not saying anything else. Asuka felt her nerves were a wreck from what she witnessed. Trying to calm down, she breathed a deep sigh of relief.
'Just what the hell was that? That was freaking creepy,' she thought feeling her legs shake a little. Looking at the First Child, the red head's eye brows rose. The Frist Child was frowning looking at the back of the male pilot. She started walking forward with a firmer grip of her bag and a closed fist in her other hand.
'What happened? Why did I see the illusion? How did Pilot Souryu see it as well?"
'If Ikari has a mental disorder, why is it projecting outward for others to see? Is it contagious? No, it can't be. It is an alteration of one's mind…but not so for Ikari,' she thought walking a little faster.
'Did the other students see it? Their reactions around us seemed to show they didn't?…Why are these events occurring?' she thought seeing Shinji's back getting closer and closer. He crossed the sidewalk and the signal changed. Traffic began moving and she stopped.
"…" Rei said narrowing her eyes at the crosswalk light.
Unfortunately, it didn't change quickly for her. If anyone was close to her, they would have heard her grunt in frustration. Asuka came to the crosswalk and looked at the First Child again. Despite what she had heard from Kaji and Misato about her, the aspect of her being impassive towards anything wasn't true. Hearing tapping noises, Asuka saw Ayanami tapping her foot impatiently.
'…what the hell is eating her? Is it that psycho idiot?' she thought seeing the light change.
The students around stopped in surprise when the dubbed "Ice Queen" started jogging towards the distance figure of the Third Child. Murmurs went around before Asuka pondered if she ran would it turn into a competition. If it took her mind off what she thought she saw, it was worth doing. Starting to jog after the pale blue haired pilot, she heard more murmurs and people starting to jog. A smirk came on her face as she headed toward the school up ahead.
Back in NERV, Ritsuko was sipping her coffee before continuing to work. After a while, she sat back a little on her stool chair to look at the computer screen full of data. Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped under her bosom. She knew by the atmosphere and the unshaven face that it was Kaji. He flirted a little which she played along. He made a suggestion, but she countered by pointing out the audience watching. The only one viewing them was Misato glaring in from the window. Her nostrils were flared and snorted at the two. The Captain turned and walked toward the room they were in.
"Long time, no see Kaji," Ritsuko said.
"It has been a while," Kaji said backing off then drank his coffee.
"More careless than I remember though."
"Still as stupid," Misato said stomping in. "Why are you still here?"
"I got notified of transfer this morning so I'll be staying awhile. We could hang out together like we use to," he suggested with an open palm.
"Who'd want to…?" Misato stopped as the Angel alarm went off.
Grids went up in the command center showing the enemy's location from Tokyo-3. A patrol boat reported a sighting of a large being near the Kii peninsula. Analysis was taken and confirmation came that the enemy was an Angel. Sub-Commander Kozo took command for the Commander was absent currently.
"All personnel, first class battle stations," he stated.
Only Eva Unit-01 and 02 were operational for Unit-00 was still not battle ready. Rei was placed on stand-by. Both the red and purple Eva were sent up getting to the closest spots near the peninsula. Reaching the surface and halting to a stop, the lift restraints were released. Both ran to a power output spot that had external power plugs. Getting to it, they inserted the sockets in the back of their war machines for power.
[Listen up you two. We're going to destroy the Angel before it gets to land. Unit 01 and Unit 02 will continuously attack in turns. It'll be close range] Misato ordered from the command center. She got only roger from Asuka and a blink from Shinji.
"Aww, this is my combat debut in Japan. Why aren't I allowed to fight alone?" Asuka whined to herself. An audio link was established from Unit 01.
[Shall you begin the first attack and I cover Miss Souryu or shall I attack first?] the Third Child asked through the communications.
[Hmph, I'll take the first strike] Asuka said with a smug on her face.
[Very well]
Both Eva's grabbed their weapons. Asuka grabbed a long-metal spear and Shinji grabbed a rifle. They got to the shoreline and waited for the Angel to come. No later than a few moments, the Angel popped out of the ocean with its arms up in the air. Its shape was like a ninja star except with bendable limbs and a bulky shoulder and upper torso.
"Commence the attack," Misato ordered.
Shinji opened fired in short-burst mode at the Angel. Asuka saw an opportunity. There were buildings that headed out to the shoreline and lead to be near the Angel. Leaping on the rooftops, Eva-01 continued providing cover fire. On the last one, she leaped in the air and Shinji ceased fire. Pulling her spear back then down, a vertical slash went down the middle of the Angel splitting it in two. She smirked.
"How do you like that, Third Child?"
[When there is a Ying Miss Souryu…] he started to say when the Angel started to move. The Angel's one-two face went into its skin and one face came out on the newly split two. Both bodies then shed their older gray skin to reveal two separate bodies. Both bodies, one Angel was formed.
"That's cheap!" Misato said gawking as the NERV crew saw the change in battle.
[…there is a Yang]
Sometime later after the battle with Angel, there was an assembly. The command staff was mostly present in a quiet room with a large video screen. All pilots were watching still in their plug suits. Also in the room watching were Kaji, Maya, Makoto, Shigeru, and Kozo. Video started rolling.
[At 10:58:15 a.m. today Unit 02, attacked by Target "B," which separated from the original. It fought for twenty seconds before becoming immobilized…] the female narrator stated. A photo was brought up that showed Unit-02 buried at a mountain side. It was face down on the ground and still in one piece.
[Unit-01 fought against Target "A" that separated from the original. It battled against it for two minutes before knocking "A" into the port…] she continued. Another photo came on and showed Unit 01 doing a lunging side kick to the Angel's facial area with green and orange covers. The second clip showed the Target "A" splashing in the water at least several hundreds of feet away.
[…Five seconds later, Unit-01 engaged battle with Target "B" for one minute before its power cord was cut off. Three minutes later Unit-01 repealed Target "B" then powered down…]
The next shots were the cord being cut and the Eva getting nicked in several places from the Angel's razor sharp arms. The next one showed the after affect of the Eva slamming a low kick on the outside leg of the Angel. Next couple of slides showed Unit-01 grabbing the Angel and spinning twice then releasing. Target "B" fell onto Target "A" as it was trying to get back up. The last slide was Eva-01 sitting with its knees up, arms loose at its side and head on its knees.
[Here's a comment of the person in charge of Operation E.]
[Eva-01 did fine but Eva-02 looked bad.]
"Geez, my combat debut was screwed up because of you!" Asuka said standing up facing Shinji. He didn't get up and just sipped his tea as the female speaker continued to talk.
"Do you wish me to counter your statement Miss Souryu or no?" he said not facing her. His action caused her to instantly fume. But the video continued stopping her from saying anything.
[…NERV aborted the mission at 11:12 a.m. and gave command to UN's Second Force.]
"..." Kozo stated. He looked peeved at Asuka but wondered why Shinji didn't show his usual fatalities toward the Angels. Though the pilot did repeal, there was no defeat which made him slightly more annoyed.
[At 11:17 a.m., they attacked the target with an N-2 Mine] the narrator stated. A video clip was played of the Angel(s) getting up, the explosion, and then the two targets looking fried up within a newly made crater filled with water.
[They succeeded in incinerating 30% of the target's components.]
"They got it?" Maya asked quietly.
"They only ceased the Angel's movement. It's only a matter of time before it can be reactivated," Makoto stated.
"Well, it's fortunate that we gained some time to prepare another plan," Kaji stated the optimistic view.
"Listen you two. Do you understand what your job is?" the Sub-Commander asked standing up.
"To destroy the Angels," Shinji said standing up and turning to face him.
"Correct. NERV doesn't exist to commit such dishonorable actions Pilot Souryu," he said making her frown.
"Is there anything else that is needed Sub-commander?" Shinji asked calmly.
"Yes. The both of you will need to learn to cooperate with each other."
"What! Cooperate with someone like him!" Asuka shouted in protest pointing at Shinji.
Shinji blinked and kept staring at Kozo. The Sub-Commander felt his annoyance for the male pilot go down. He turned around and headed for the lift. Standing on the elevator platform, he sighed while the elevator descended. Asuka sat back down pouting. Shinji picked up his tea and walked out.