Creation began on 08-20-15
Creation ended on 02-26-16
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Hope from the Sky: The Red Demon
A/N: From the title, you know what is in store.
The tarps they found were sufficient in covering Unit-01 from the rain that fell from the sky onto the carrier. As they made the trip back to the city to see how much had happened in the time that they were gone, the weather's change caught the Survey Corps by surprise.
"The rain clouds may block the sunlight," went Levi, "but if Titans can draw geothermal energy and survive underwater, it's only a minor comfort."
Shinji, who was helping to secure the tarps to Unit-01's head, knew that there would be a shadow of fear and doubt for them if there were Titans in the water and were able to derive energy from alternate heat sources, even if it was only a precaution.
-x-
"…And none of them seemed to know where the Third Child or Unit-01 left to, other than overseas for some expansion operation," one of the men tasked with trying to retrieve the purple Evangelion uttered over a radio transmission to NERV HQ.
"There's a possibility that they won't surrender them," another of the men declared over the transmission. "And if they have these creatures that look like giant people, they may not surrender them, either."
-x-
With the transmission terminated for the time being, Gendo concluded that there would be a need for an Eva under NERV control to venture to this foreign world and retrieve Unit-01.
"Well, Ikari?" Fuyutsuki asked him.
"We will send Unit-02 to this place to retrieve Unit-01," he answered.
-x-
"…At least my plugsuit should serve as an efficient diving suit until we can find some actual ones," said Shinji to Kaede, who was wearing the boy's plugsuit.
In addition, the Survey Corps had found some items that Shinji revealed was nothing more than scuba gear. Oxygen tanks, masks, buoyancy equipment, everything that could allow a person to travel underwater for a short period.
"We found these, but we've yet to find anything like your plugsuit, Shinji," said Armin. "Not even anything that resembles what you explained about earlier. A…submarine?"
As he helped Kaede put on the scuba tank, Shinji responded, "Yeah, Armin. Though, I don't expect a submarine to do much good unless it's armed with torpedoes if there are Titans underwater. This is strictly reconnaissance."
Getting ready to dive, Kaede made sure she remembered the return instructions if she saw any Titans underwater. The rope that was tied around her waist was the longest one they could find, so she could swim away from the ship for a while, but if she were to see any Titans, she was to pull the rest of the rope three times, and the others would pull her up as fast as they could.
"Are you ready, Kaede?" Shinji asked her.
Putting on her mask, she nodded that she was.
"Be careful down there. Don't forget to tug the rope twice if you feel the cold affecting you."
Then, following the way Shinji showed her, Kaede fell backwards into the water.
-x-
"…So we're sending you over to try and convince Shinji to return," Misato informed Asuka as she walked down the hall with her. "Your orders are simply to try and convince him to return with Unit-01. Do not engage him or these giants unless it's to defend yourself. Unit-01's been supplied with a longer battery life just by eating these things."
"And should he continue to refuse?" Asuka asked her.
"Try not to worry about that right now."
I guess she doesn't know, either.
-x-
"How long do these oxygen tanks last down there?" Levi asked Shinji as they monitored the rope that acted as Kaede's lifeline.
"Up to an hour," Shinji answered him, "depending on how you breathe when you're underwater and how you cope with the depth and pressure down there."
Soon enough, the clouds, which had stopped raining, parted…and the sunlight shone aboard the ship and exposing the Survey Corps to warm light.
"So far, it's been over half an hour," said Armin, helping to hold the rope as it led into the water, meaning the girl was either swimming deeper or farther away from the ship. "I hope she's doing alright down there."
Tug! Armin and the others holding the rope felt a tug, which they weren't sure meant what.
"If she pulled the rope, she only pulled once," one of the others said.
Tug! Another pull of the rope was felt…and then another tug.
"Oh, no," Shinji gasped quietly. "That's three tugs."
"Quickly, pull her out," Levi ordered, and they pulled the rope back.
It took nearly seven minutes, but they managed to get Kaede out of the water.
Gasp! Kaede removed the breathing mask and breathed in new air as she was on her back; it was necessary for her to decompress, otherwise her lungs would've inflated and popped.
"Kaede, are you alright?" Shinji asked her.
She nodded that she would be okay, but then uttered, "Thank God, you pulled the rope when you did. I think you were right, Shinji. I kept expecting sharks to sneak up on me and attack me, or a giant octopus or whales or dolphins that you described. I thought I was swimming up to an underwater thermal vent or whatever it was you were talking about…but then I saw what it really was I was swimming towards. What came out of it."
"It was a Titan?" Levi asked her.
"Yes," she answered him. "It looked just like the rocks down there."
"Was it just one down there?" One of the female members asked her.
"I must've saw at least ten of them before you pulled me away," she revealed back. "I don't know how big they were, but the one that tried to grab me had to be about as big as a Colossal Titan."
"From the size of its head?" Armin asked her.
"No, from the size of its hand," she told him.
Shinji looked at the water, wishing that it had all been just a lie, that they were making progress because of the reduction in Titan activity. But he knew he couldn't delude himself into thinking that way. It was another truth, and it haunted him. The truth…being that there were Titans underwater…deriving their energy needs from alternate heat sources.
-x-
The plane ride to the Nevada was dull, but you couldn't rush things like travel. This was something Asuka didn't enjoy, since she wasn't a fan of long travels. She could've blamed Shinji for this, too, but that wouldn't have calmed her. No, she would just resolve this irritability by beating him into a pulp for his unwillingness to return with the Eva or any of these giants that could boost its operational limits. And she wanted to more power for her Eva; Shinji couldn't just hog all of this power for himself and not share it with NERV.
"I trust you're looking forward to seeing him after all this time, Asuka?" Kaji asked her.
"As if," she retorted.
-x-
The sight of the massive ship and Unit-01 returning to the city was quite a sight for the people and the other Survey Corps members. But their return was also because of a different reason that needed to be shared.
"You're back!" Eren greeted Armin. "Were you able to find any other places out there with people or Titans?"
"We found an island, but there wasn't any people around," Armin revealed, "but we discovered something new out at sea. Thanks to Shinji and Kaede, we found Titans underwater."
"Underwater? But it's an ocean, and it's… That's impossible." Mikasa expressed.
"Ever since we met Shinji, we've been able to get out of the Walls and live beyond it, and before then, even I was starting it would be impossible because it would take so long. Now, we're out of the Walls. If there's one thing that's not impossible, it's what the Titans are capable of." Eren confessed, also revealing that he was grateful to Shinji and his Evangelion for helping them all know the feeling of life outside the Walls.
As the rest of the members got off the carrier, Shinji was informed by Eren and Mikasa that some people showed up asking about him and Unit-01, and they looked like they weren't from around here if they knew who to ask for and appear intimidating.
"…They said they were here under orders from your father to bring you back to your world," Mikasa told him.
"I feared as much," he responded. "When we were exploring an island, I received a contact from someone I knew back home. Asuka Langley Soryu, and the worst part of speaking to her was that it seemed that NERV wanted more than just the Eva. They wanted whatever Titans they could get their hands on."
"What?" Armin gasped. "But that's insane! It's probably only a minor necessity that we're able to get any farming done with the two we have right now, but who would actually…want Titans?"
"I told her that I couldn't let that happen. As dangerous as they are here, I can't risk them being unleashed over there. So long as they're here, I'll use Unit-01 to consume them if there's no way to restore to normal."
"We only discovered one way to restore Titans to human form, but that's a difficult method to use against them," Eren told Shinji.
"What was the method?" He asked him.
"Part of the discovery in creating Titans involves the spinal fluid of a person that can turn into a Titan at will, but that involves the Titan eating the one that can do so."
"Basically, that's cannibalism. Huh? Wait a minute, are you sure about that? The cannibalism part? If it's just the spinal fluid they need to return to human form, then there should be methods that don't require anyone that can turn into a Titan being eaten by Titans."
"You mean, like…removing a part of the spine?" Mikasa asked.
"No, no. There's…what did they call it? Oh! Spinal fluid extraction! If it's just the spinal fluid that's required, then that can be extracted without killing anyone."
"What you're saying is that we could extract Eren's spinal fluid…and use it against the Titans, turning them back into humans?" Armin asked.
"Yes. Or even that guy we still have prisoner back in the Walls. He can turn into a Titan, too. We can even use his spinal fluid."
As they conversed, Kaede went looking for her mother and stepfather, who were probably worried sick about her.
-x-
"…They have a aircraft carrier that they're using to transport the Eva across the sea," one of the men sent to retrieve the Third Child and Unit-01 informed his superiors back home, using binoculars to observe the large ship the Eva was on. "Permission to use lethal force if they refuse to cooperate."
-x-
The fact that this city had many buildings still intact after many years (or centuries) of disuse or no maintenance didn't change the fact that it had at least several buildings that housed many books. Libraries that contained old books that possessed some knowledge that Shinji's knowledge supported much of. But so far, none of the people that practiced medicine had yet to find anything in the books that detailed medical studies that related to spinal fluid extraction.
If only they had access to the Internet, thought Shinji as he walked down the streets and found several, rust-covered vehicles with flat tires. Give them a few driving lessons, they won't need horses, anymore. Show them how to express creativity, and they can create their own graphic novels. Teach them about sports, they support the teams. Introduce them to dance moves that demonstrate self-expression…and they're able to have more fun than they've ever had behind the Walls than outside them.
He entered a building that had once been a clothing discount store, and found some clothes that were still in near-good use. He decided to help himself to a blue coat that only had a tattered bottom. It felt good and only needed to be broken in; he didn't have any clothes beside the hand-me-downs from within the Walls and his plugsuit. Maybe now was the excuse to salvage a semblance of his previous lifestyle.
Thud! He heard something loud, but it wasn't anywhere in the store.
"Aaahh!" He heard people screaming, and ran outside to see what was wrong.
"Oh, no," he expressed, horrified at the sight in front of him.
-x-
Equipped with an untested reactor derived from the N² technology used against the Angels, Unit-02 could now operate for longer than five minutes if there was resistance against its mission priorities.
Asuka saw the people running from her Eva, and she liked that she was being feared from her presence after justing arriving.
"Attention, people," she spoke over the the Eva's loudspeakers. "I'm only going to say this once. Surrender Unit-01 and hand over the Titans…or the repercussions will be severe."
The people merely ran towards the hills; this thing, this…red demon…was beyond them.
But one man ran away from the people, towards the water where the carrier was. He hoped to get to the Eva faster than Unit-02 could.
-x-
"Shinji was right about them," Armin said, hanging from the side of a building with many of the other ODM gear-using soldiers. "He even said this Asuka girl was crazy in her Eva."
"Hard to believe that there's someone else with one and isn't here to help us," added Mikasa.
"We have to hold her off until Shinji shows up," said Eren, and propelled towards the red Eva, biting into his left thumb, triggering his Titan transformation.
An explosion and a flash came, and the red Eva was jumped on the chest by a Titan of fifteen meters in height with a jagged mouth and green eyes.
"Gahh!" Asuka gasped.
The Rogue Titan grabbed onto one of the plates of Unit-02 and slammed its right fist into it, leaving a dent in it.
Asuka barely felt the Titan's assault on her.
"Rrrrrrrraaaurgh!" The Rogue Titan shrieked, leaving additional dents into the Eva's armor; even the face of a non-Titan enemy, Eren refused to back down.
Asuka had Unit-02 grab the Titan and hold it in her grip.
"Well, this is one Titan," she sighed.
"Asuka, stop!" She turned and saw Unit-01 approaching her. "Put down that Titan and back away from the city!"
"Sorry, Third! I got orders to bring you, the Eva and several Titans back to NERV!"
"You have no idea how dangerous the Titans would be if NERV got possession of them and exploited their secrets!"
"The Evas would be more powerful and not as reliant on external energy sources! We could fight the Angels without restrictions!"
"And you'd have a doomsday weapon to use when things don't go your way! But you don't understand how dangerous they are and why they need to remain here where they can be contained and handled. Now, put that Titan down."
Asuka never got the chance to even consider, as the Rogue Titan suddenly evaporated in her hand…and something shot out of it.
Eren, once he saw Shinji and Unit-01 arrive, emerged from his Titan body and escaped; he had done what he had intended to do.
"Well, that's a Titan you won't be using for anything," Shinji told her.
"Shiest! Very well, then, I'll just apprehend you!"
Unit-02 then charged towards Unit-01, but the purple Eva retaliated and they smashed into each other…with Unit-01 being the stronger of the two, forcing the red behemoth backwards with more force than expected.
"Aaaaurgh!" Asuka grunted; she didn't expect the purple Eva to be this powerful after eating several of those giants the Third Child was using it to save these people from. "You idiot!"
When Shinji had pushed her Eva a good distance outside the city limits, he kicked her in the waist and knocked to the ground.
"Asuka, you can walk away from this!" He told her. "I don't want to endanger the people that live here!"
"It's not our world, Third! Their lives mean nothing to me!"
Shinji sighed…and had Unit-01 punch Unit-02 in the face.
Asuka countered with a kick to the back, throwing Unit-01 off her Eva, sending it face first into the ground.
"You would willingly turn your back on us all for the easy way out?!" Asuka questioned him as they both got back up. "What are these people and their problems to us?! They shouldn't matter if they refuse to cooperate!"
"Cooperate? With NERV? That's not cooperating, Asuka, it's tyranny. That's being an asshole for selfish reasons."
"Their problems aren't ours, Third."
"So long as I'm here, they're as much my problems as they're theirs."
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
And with that, Unit-02 withdrew its Prog. Knife and held it up in a defensive manner; while her orders were to retrieve the Eva, she wasn't instructed to bring it back with its arms or legs intact.
"Asuka," Shinji tried to be reasonable with the redhead, "don't make me take the people's hope from them. They need this Eva and me more than NERV right now."
"I got orders to bring the Eva back to NERV," she responded. "I intend to carry out that order."
"The Red Demon."
"What?"
"That's what you are right now. You're the Red Demon. Toji always referred to you as a demon…and maybe you are."
Unit-01 withdrew its own Prog. Knife and assumed a defensive stance.
To be continued…
A/N: There you have it. Shinji has declared Asuka to be a demon like his friends saw her as, but only because she threatens to take away the people's hope that he wants to preserve.