Welcome back to Little Angel! This chapter is an adaptation of the second half of Episode 2, containing the rest of the battle against Sachiel!
July 20th, 2015
A large apartment complex sat in a small corner of Tokyo-3. A blue car sat parked outside, currently taped up to try and have it in some shape. Inside the building itself, Misato, Shinji and Sachiel headed down the small hallways towards Misato's apartment.
"Your things should have already been delivered, Shinji." Misato stated as she approached a door, "The truth is, I recently moved to this city as well." Misato stepped inside, Sachiel following behind, she turned when she didn't hear Shinji, who was still standing outside the door. "Come on in."
"I don't want to intrude." Shinji replied with a small smile on his face.
"Shinji, this is your home as much as it is mine." With Misato's encouragement, Shinji took the last step into the apartment.
"I'm home."
"Welcome home." Misato replied, as she shut the door behind Shinji. Entering the main living area, Misato spoke about the large mess the littered just about every single space in the apartment. "As you can see, the place is a little bit messy, but don't worry about that. Make yourself comfortable!"
"This is what you call a little bit messy?" Shinji glanced around, beer cans were on the floor, bags were filled with garbage but then left to sit on the ground. Misato poked her head out from behind a wall, to speak to Shinji.
"Sorry, could you put the food in the fridge?"
"Sure." Shinji headed over to the fridge, where, upon opening it. Found little else aside from beer. "So she is a slob?"
"Wow, that's a lot of stuff, and the look on your face tells me that it's not exactly good stuff."
"Yes, Sachiel. That is right. I just can't stop wondering what kind of life she leads around here?"
"What's that?" Shinji glanced over, Sachiel pointing at the other fridge that sat in the apartment. Thinking the worst, Shinji shouted to Misato.
"Hey, Misato! What's in the other fridge?"
"Don't mind that! He's probably still sleeping!"
"Sleeping?" Sachiel shrugged but decided not to say anything about it. Simply heading into the kitchen area, where Misato was readily preparing some food... using a microwave...
"Let's eat!" Misato shouted out, coming to the table with a can of beer in her hand. Shinji glanced at the food and immediately wanted to puke. It was instant.
- Neon Genesis Evangelion OST I - Track 8 - Misato -
"Yeah... let's eat..." Sachiel simply stared at the food in front of him while Shinji looked sick. Trying to use his hands, Sachiel fumbled with the chopsticks in every way possible. During this entire spectacle of an alien creature trying to use some sort of cutlery, Misato was busy chugging down her entire can of beer.
"YEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Misato shouted out in glee. "Good stuff! Life doesn't get much better than this!" Misato stopped suddenly, and looked right at Shinji, who would touch his food. "Aren't you hungry or something? Come on, it's good, even if it is instant."
"Sorry, I'm just not used to it... Sachiel isn't either." Shinji replied, indicating to Sachiel, who was currently holding one chopstick in each hand, and was trying to pick up food with both hands. It wasn't working. Misato giggled as she showed Sachiel how to hold the chopsticks, giving the Angel a better idea of how they work.
"Are you being finicky?" Misato asked calmly, indicating to Shinji's untouched food.
"That's not what I meant."
"Isn't this nice?"
"What?"
"Having dinner with two other people. Well, one other person, and an Angel. That's gonna be weird."
"Sure..."
"Now, for Round 2!" Misato picked up another can of beer as she started to play games with her roommates. Sachiel got the hang of Rock, Paper, Scissors very quickly, while Shinji watched in amusement.
Misato then got the idea to sort out the chores for everyone, leaving Sachiel out because he wasn't human, and probably didn't understand human chores. The final chart ended up with Misato taking sporadic chores across the week, and Shinji doing everything else. Needless to say, Shinji was very happy with the cooking arrangement. "Well that was an easy way to split the chores wasn't it?"
"Sure..."
"Now, starting from today, this is your home. So feel free to take advantage of everything here. Expect for me that is!" Shinji blushed as Misato teased him, thinking about how this arrangement was going to go.
"Sure."
"Ah! All you keep saying is sure, sure, sure. You're a boy aren't you? Act like a man! Okay?"
"Yes, Misato."
"Oh, well. That's the just the way you are aren't you. Why don't you go take a bath and scrub away all those bad memories from the last few days, okay? Bathing is the laundry of life!"
- End -
Shinji felt very uncomfortable. Living with a female guardian meant that some things were going to be harder to keep apart, and one of those things was laundry. Misato's undergarments were hanging just outside the bathroom. Shinji, deciding to get into the bathroom itself as quickly as possible, opened the door... to a fresh-water penguin.
- NGE: S2 Works - Disc 2, Track 16 - B-17 Rhythm Only -
"Misato!" Shinji came bursting into the kitchen, unaware of his state of dress. Misato looked on, with a small smirk on her face.
"What?"
"There's a p... p... p..." The penguin waddled past, not caring about the situation at the current point in time. The penguin looked over, headed towards the other fridge, and opened the freezer.
"Him? Oh, he's one of those new hot spring penguins!" Opening the door, the penguin gave Shinji one more look, before entering the freezer, letting the door close behind.
"That was a..."
"His name's Pen-Pen. He's your other roommate!" Misato grabbed her can of beer and took a big sip of it. "Now, why don't you go cover up, huh?" Shinji glanced down, and quickly covered himself, waddling back to the bathroom, Misato sat in wonder. "Hmm, maybe I'm being a little too cheery? He's probably already made up his mind about me."
At the back of the room, Sachiel sat in wonder at what he had just saw. "So that's what that looks like! Male confirmed, female, yet to confirm."
- End -
Shinji lay in the bath, the water coming up to his neck. As he sat, thoughts about the events of the past few days plagued his mind. 'Misato... Katsuragi... She seems nice. She can't be a bad person. But... bad memories always seem to find me when I'm here. That's how it always has been. Like my father, and that girl, Rei Ayanami...'
"So, how was Rei today?" Ritsuko stepped into the observation room that had been used for Unit-00's activation test. Unit-00's orange husk sat in the large room below, currently bandaged, and held still by a solid red substance. "You did see her in the hospital, right?"
"She'll be ready to pilot again in twenty days." Gendo replied. "By that time, Unit-00 will be ready for reactivation, releasing it from cryo-stasis."
"It must be difficult on the children."
"No one else can pilot the Evas. As long as they survive, that is what I'll have them do."
"With no regard to what they, as people, may want?"
Within hours, Shinji's room had already been marked by a sign, stating that it was Little Shin-chan's room. Shinji lay inside, listening to his SDAT player, a gift he had received years before, and a way to block out the world. The room had some boxes in it, with what few of Shinji's belongings there were. Sachiel lay close by, wanting to both speak to Shinji, but also not interrupt the boy. On the desk, an application for the local high school sat, having been half filled out. The track changed, and Shinji continued to lay in silence.
"After all the horrible stuff he went through, I can't say whether he'll pilot again."
"Maintaining him is part of your job." Ritsuko reminded Misato over the phone as the woman lay in the bath.
"I'm just scared. I don't know how to deal with him."
"Whining already? I seem to remember you were the one who had the bright idea of taking him in!" Ritsuko jabbed teasingly.
"Oh, shut up!" Misato cut the call and relaxed against the bath. 'I was just thinking of Shinji as a tool. I'm as bad as Ritsuko. We destroyed that Angel, but it came back afterwards anyway. I guess I can't feel happy about it.'
Staring at the ceiling, Shinji muttered to himself once again. "Another unfamiliar ceiling." Sachiel glanced up as Shinji continued to speak to himself. "Of course, in this whole city, there isn't a place that is familiar. Why am I here?" Memories of Misato taking him in, his arrival in Tokyo-3, and especially, the battle against Sachiel, the sounds of the clanging of laser against armour rang through his head. Memories of the entire battle, and what he saw after.
July 16th, 2015
- Music from Evangelion 1.0 - Track 5 - Les BĂȘtes -
"Unit-01's head has been damaged! Extent of the damage is unknown!"
"We're having trouble maintaining activation!" Emergency lights blared throughout Central Dogma, Misato stared in horror as Unit-01 sat in silence, bleeding from its head.
"Status report!"
"The synchrograph is reversing! The pulses are flowing backward!" Maya declared as Ritsuko stared at the monitor from above.
"Break the circuit! Block it, now!"
"We can't!" Maya replied as the nerve connections started to break. "It's rejecting the signal! It won't take it!"
Standing behind a man wearing glasses known as Makoto Hyuga, Misato waited for readings. "What about Shinji!?"
"His monitors aren't responding! Life signs unknown!"
"Unit-01's gone completely silent!" Came the voice of the last of the bridge bunnies, Shigeru Aoba.
"Misato!"
"We have no choice. Abort the operation! Rescuing the pilot is our top priority! Force eject the Entry Plug!"
"We can't!" Maya stated, turning to the Captain. "Unit-01 is completely out of control!"
"Wait... What did you say!?"
Suddenly, Unit-01 reactivated, its one working eye glowing brightly in the darkness. "The Eva's reactivating!" Unit-01 pried its jaw open, revealing a set of red teeth inside.
"I don't believe it! There's no way it can move!"
"My god..."
"It's gone berserk?" Ritsuko supplied as Unit-01 roared up above. Leaning down on it's knees, Unit-01 prepared to leap right towards Sachiel.
Oh shi-
Unit-01 came crashing into Sachiel, it's umbilical cord flying around the purple Eva.
Oh no you don't!
Sachiel wrapped its long arms around Unit-01 in an attempt to get the Unit off. It seemed to work, as Unit-01 went flying backward. While Sachiel stayed in an arched position, Unit-01 landed dead on its feet, and quickly turned to face the enemy.
"It looks like we've won." Fuyutsuki said as the battle was watched from Central Dogma.
Crouching down, Unit-01 rushed Sachiel, with the intention of destroying the other worldly being. Sachiel, coming back to an upright position, pulled up its A.T. Field just before Unit-01 was able to make contact. Unit-01 smashed into the A.T. Field, coming to a dead stop.
"It's an A.T. Field!" Ritsuko said as worry went through Central Dogma.
"No! We were so close! As long as that Angel has that A.T. Field up..." Misato supplied as Ritsuko finished.
"Unit-01 can't get near the Angel!"
Haha! Try and get me now!
Unit-01 stood back for a moment, the muscles in the left arm twisting and turning to restore to a workable state.
Ew! That looks disgusting!
"Left arm, regenerated!"
"No way!"
With two working arms, Unit-01 took a hold of Sachiel's A.T. Field, with an ounce of strength, the Field began to split right down the middle.
Stop! You can't do that! That's cheating!
"Unit-01 has deployed its own A.T. Field! It's neutralising the phase space!"
"No," Ritsuko corrected her apprentice. "It's eroding it!"
With a final flourish of strength, Sachiel's A.T. Field completely broke apart, Unit-01 staring down the Angel.
Oh shi-
"It went through the A.T. Field like it was nothing..." Misato said as Unit-01 prepared its final assault.
Blam!
A powerful laser sent Unit-01 flying backwards, when the light cleared, Unit-01 stared Sachiel straight down.
Try and get me now!
Unit-01 sprinted down the street, running straight for Sachiel. Grabbing a hold of its arms, Unit-01 started to twist and turn them in the same way that Sachiel had minutes before. A sickening crack was heard, as both hands broke off the arms, red blood oosing through the ends.
Ow! Those were my hands! You ripped off my hands!
Unit-01 kicked Sachiel in its core, sending the Angel flying backwards at the force. Crashing into a building, Sachiel came to a stop. Unit-01 wasn't done though, running full charge towards the Angel, pushing both it and the building back metres. Sitting on top of the Angel, Unit-01 started to hammer at the core, punching it left and right. When that didn't work, Unit-01 forcefully ripped at Sachiel's body, taking apart the spikes covering the core, and separating it from the body.
Fucking hell!
Giving a triumphant roar, Unit-01 started to hammer Sachiel's core with the spike, dealing massive damage as cracks started to appear in the red orb. Continuing its assault, Unit-01 didn't let up.
Fine! If I can't win! Then I'm taking you with me!
Wrapping its remainging limbs around Unit-01, it started to grow in size.
"The Angel! It's going to self-destruct!"
But! I! Won't! Go! Without! One! Final!
The core started to glow a magnificent white as Unit-01 stared right at it. As the light got more blinding, Sachiel gave one final cry.
BLAM!
- End -
The resulting explosion was massive, dealing massive damage to nearby buildings. At the sight of a giant cross in the sky, Sachiel... was defeated.
"Is... the Eva?" Misato asked as the feed in Central Dogma continued to display pure white light, no one having any idea whether Unit-01 was fine.
Their prayers would soon be answered, as the light cleared, the towering form of Unit-01 strutted out of the explosion, a possessed touch in its step. Central Dogma was silent, as the Evangelion continued to walk.
"That must be..."
"The Eva's true form." Misato finished for Ritsuko as Gendo watched from above, a satisfied smile on his face.
Unit-01 came to a stop. Inside, Shinji had no idea what had happened. The feed having cut off during the Eva's rampage.
"Reconnecting. Systems restored. Graphs are back to normal."
"Pilot life-signs are normal and confirmed."
"Recovery teams for Unit-01's pilot are being sent out now! Preserving the pilot's life is our first priority. Hurry!"
With a resounding crash, Unit-01's headpiece came crashing to the ground. Shinji stared out of the Entry Plug in shock and confusion. Staring to his left, Eva Unit-01's head could be clearly seen by Shinji, taking in the fact that the head looked a bit realistic made Shinji a bit unnerved. But the changing of the skin, and the resulting appearance of a real eye in the head made him extremely uncomfortable. The eye took a moment to find itself, then stared straight at Shinji.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"
July 21st, 2015
Shinji lay in bed, memories of the battle overtaking him. He had no idea what the eye was, or what it meant, but it creeped him out. Rolling over, Shinji tried to fall asleep, but to no avail.
"Shinji. Can I come in?" The door suddenly opened, where Misato stood wearing a towel over herself, with another one for her hair. "I forgot to tell you something. You did a very great and noble thing today. You should be very proud of yourself. Good night, Shinji. Hang in there."
Episode 2 finished! Now, I have a relative timetable set for this story, so Episode 3 won't take place for another couple of weeks in-story. In the meantime, there will be a couple chapters worth of filler, regarding comedy, Shinji settling into Tokyo-3 high! And of course, more antics with Sachiel! Until the 5th, Ciao!
