Lifaus Highway, Lugunica - 400 years after The Great Calamity
Amidst a thick blanket of fog emerged a single land dragon, bolting through the open plains in a fast escape. A monstrous bellow rang out and a gust of powerful wind rushed through the air. The source of the frightening sound became visible in the night sky. It was an enormous creature that glided through the sky in pursuit of the land dragon and its riders. Its eyes glowed red and a single horn protruded from the top of its head.
This was the terrifying mabeast that killed the previous Sword Saint.
This was the White Whale.
Steering the land dragon was Subaru Natsuki, a Japanese boy who found himself fighting to save a half-elf girl in a world unknown to him. His eyes narrowed with determination, making his already intense eyes look even more fierce. Sat behind him on the dragon's saddle was his blue haired companion, Rem.
"Al Huma!" shouted Rem with her arm outstretched, taking aim at the White Whale behind them.
A string of icicles launched from Rem's open hand and pierced the skin of the leviathan, leaving a bloody wound but not slowing it down in any capacity.
"Man, this thing does not know when to call it quits!" Subaru remarked, "Luckily, neither do we!"
"Subaru, maybe we can lose it in that patch of heavy fog!" Rem said, pointing over Subaru's shoulders.
"Anything's worth a shot!"
Subaru guided his land dragon, Patrasche, to the fog bank in hopes that Rem's suggestion would pay off. As they became enveloped by the fog, their vision was interrupted by a peculiar green shimmer. Soon after, the deafening sounds of rushing wind ceased. All that remained were the sounds of nature and the stomping of their land dragon's feet against the ground.
The fog started to dissipate, revealing that Subaru and Rem were now at what appeared to be the slope of a mountain. Curiously, however, was the fact they felt no change in elevation during their dramatic escape. Patrasche slowed down to a halt, confused by the surroundings.
"Huh? Did we lose it? What happened?" Subaru asked, breathing heavily from exhaustion.
"I'm quite confused," Rem responded, "There should not be any mountains near where we are on the Lifaus Highway."
"Isn't there a mountain range near Arlam Village? Maybe we got there faster than we thought and made a wrong turn."
"No, that would not be possible. We haven't even crossed Flugel's Tree."
"And it's so quiet. Too quiet," Subaru observed, before throwing his head into his hands. "Ah man, why did I say that?! I totally just set up something bad to happen by saying it aloud!"
More fog had begun to quickly accumulate above them and a sudden gust of wind split through the quiet night. The green shimmer they had experienced earlier emanated through the area.
Suddenly, the White Whale passed overhead, the wind nearly knocking Subaru and Rem off their land dragon. The creature's eyes locked onto Subaru with a menacing stare, but then strangely, it looked away. It bellowed – not a particularly threatening roar as much as a deeply confused and perturbed wail – as it flew right past the two. No longer in pursuit of Subaru Natsuki, it seemed that a strange city in the distance was the Whale's newfound destination.
"It's heading straight towards that futuristic city! Wait, the WHAT?!"
Subaru rubbed his eyes and took a look around at his surroundings. His eyes weren't deceiving him.
In the distance, buildings and skyscrapers stood tall, their bright lights illuminating the darkness. The surrounding area reminded Subaru of Japan, but this city wasn't like any he had seen before.
Have I been summoned to another world?! … Again?!
NERVE HQ, Tokyo-3 - 14 years after The Second Impact
Deep inside the headquarters, in the Command Center of the Central Dogma, Captain Misato Katsuragi and head scientist Ritsko Akagi stood on alert. Ahead of them were a series of high-tech monitors maintained by technicians.
"Massive energy spike detected! Something has appeared in the Chūgoku Mountains." Lieutenant Hyuga announced, turning away from the screen in front of him.
"Another Angel?" Misato asked.
"I don't think so. The pattern's different."
"It doesn't match any known readings!" Lieutenant Ibuki chimed in.
"If it isn't an Angel, then what is it?" Ritsko asked.
"Prepare Unit 01 for battle," Misato ordered, deliberately avoiding the question as she knew she had no answer.
When Shinji received the orders, he complied. He didn't want to pilot the Eva. It was terrifying and traumatic. But orders are orders and it was easier to comply. It was always easier for him to comply with what others expected of him.
Shinji let the LCL fluid engulf him and enter his lungs. What once was a strange, foreign experience now felt typical.
Evangelion Unit-01 began its ascent to the surface, passing through the many layers of the facility. As it emerged, its mechanical footsteps boomed across the city streets.
"Shinji, do you have visual on the target?"
"Um, Miss Misato… It's a flying whale…"
Misato looked at the display monitor, confirming Shinji's assessment: there was a giant whale flying through Tokyo-3.
"Every day gets stranger than the last…" Misato mumbled to herself before snapping back, "Shinji, arm yourself."
A tall building close-by slid open, revealing a massive rifle. Shinji grabbed the rifle and pointed it at the White Whale, pulling the trigger to unleash a barrage of bullets at the beast. Smoke temporarily clouded the monster from view before it pushed through. Shinji pulled out a combat knife from Unit-01's left shoulder pylon. Utilizing the Eva's incredible speed, Shinji barreled towards the creature and dug the knife into its dorsal side. Blood sprayed out, coating the nearby buildings in red.
Despite the critical strike, the White Whale continued to fly, colliding into the skyscrapers and knocking chunks off.
"I think it's trying to flee," Shinji reported.
"Don't let that happen! We don't know what this thing is capable of," Misato demanded.
Shinji shot a look of determination towards the beast, ready to strike again.
Stepping down from Patrasche, Subaru and Rem examined the horizon. They weren't quite sure what was happening, but they could make out that something was challenging the Whale in the center of the city. It was Subaru's genre-savviness that clued him into the Whale's opponent being a mech. But slowly, the behemoths battling in the distance got smaller and smaller.
"What are those strange towers? There's so many of them piercing the skyline," Rem asked, her face overwhelmed with confusion.
"Ok, so this is one of those future sci-fi worlds with giant mechas, right?" Subaru mumbled to himself, "This is really bad. We need to get back to help Emilia! Why the hell did we end up here?"
It was at that moment that a thought crossed Subaru's mind.
"There's something I need to test. You might wanna cover your ears for this."
Ever since Subaru was first summoned to Lugunica, death was no longer a permanent state. After losing his life, Subaru would reset to an earlier point in time.
If he dared to let others know of this power, however, there would be punishment. But this was a different world, and Subaru thought that perhaps the Witch's powers wouldn't extend here. There was only one way to find out.
"I… I can return by d–"
Subaru's body froze, leaving the boy payalyzed and unable to finish his sentence. He felt a powerful force clutch his heart. Even in this new world, Subaru was not free of the curse placed on him by the Witch of Envy.
In the murky black clouds that filled his mind, he felt a presence, as if there was someone right there behind him breathing down his neck.
"I love you," the presence softly whispered before fading away and leaving Subaru out of breath and in silent agony.
The fight between Evangelion Unit-01 and the White Whale continued, taking both past the city limits and close to the shore of Sagami Bay. Shinji leaped into the air, sliding his knife into the creature as he glided above, leaving behind a massive gash. In retaliation, the Whale shot out an enormous gust of wind.
Shinji quickly dodged the attack, but the ungainly evasion knocked him backward. As he awkwardly got the Eva back on its feet, the Whale dove into the water, submerging itself into Sagami Bay.
"I'm going after it!"
Before Shinji could make the plunge, Unit-01's viewport suddenly turned red, completely obstructing his view.
"What's going on? I can't… Miss Misato, I'm not in control!"
At the Command Center, the technicians scrambled to find the root of the issue. Misato and Ritsko watched with concern.
"It's gone berserk…" Ritsko said.
"What the hell triggered it?"
Subaru Natsuki clutched his heart. That Witch has me under her control here too? I can't catch a break at all, he thought to himself.
"Subaru… something's wrong!"
"Huh?" he replied fraily, still reeling from his painful encounter.
Subaru turned to face the Evangelion in the distance that had begun to barrel towards them. Its legs leaped and traversed great distances with impossible speed. At least, Subaru would have thought it was impossible prior to seeing it happen right in front of his eyes. Sweat dripped down his forehead.
"Well… crap! Trade one giant monster trying to kill us for another, huh? Why are we always playing on hard mode?!"
The two of them remounted the land dragon and Subaru grabbed the reins.
"Patrasche! Take us away from the giant, scary robot!" he barked.
"Ro…bot?" Rem asked inquisitively.
"I'll define it for you later, but for now, I think we have bigger problems! Hold on tight!"
"Rem is happy to hold Subaru tight!"
Patrasche shot off, scaling the mountain as the aggressor pursued them.
"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it, stop it, stop it!" Shinji furiously screamed to no avail.
It wasn't long before the Lugunican travelers made it to the peak of the mountain. The Evangelion zeroed in on their position as it grew near.
"There's nowhere left to run," Subaru concluded. After a moment of thought, he stepped down from Patrasche and started to walk towards the increasingly fast-approaching foe.
"Subaru?! What are you doing?!" Rem yelled out, then quickly dismounted and followed him out.
Subaru had one last card to play. He wasn't supposed to exert himself like this, but they were out of options. He knew if he ever ran into Felix again, there would be hell to pay. After all, hell hath no fury like a catboy's scorn.
"Shamak!" Subaru shouted at the top of his lungs, the Eva now nearly on top of them.
Black smoke sprayed out from his body, completely enveloping the surrounding area and the Evangelion Unit that was moments away from ending his life. Eva Unit-01 was now deprived of its senses, consumed by smoke plumes and complete darkness. Unable to detect the Witch's miasma, the berserk Eva returned to its normal state and the unit's viewport was no longer red.
"Am I… in control again?" Shinji wondered, pulling the control levers back and forth, but it was still no use. He still couldn't see anything through the viewport beyond blackness.
"Woohoo!" Suabru shouted ecstatically, throwing his fist in the air, "Even killer death robots halt in the presence of Subaru Natsuki!"
"Very impressive, Subaru! You never fail to amaze me!" Rem congratulated him.
As the black smoke cleared up, so did their brief moment of relief. In the sky above them were multiple helicopters labeled with the word "NERV." The helicopters lowered, surrounding the duo. Rem pulled out her Morning Star and put on a fighting stance.
"I think you should put that thing away, Rem…" Subaru implored, nervously flailing his hands around. He knew full well that fighting would be a lost cause. Even a demon couldn't take on an entire armed paramilitary organization with just a mace.
"Freeze! We have you surrounded. You are under arrest for interfering in a NERV operation. Do not resist or we will be forced to use lethal force," a commanding voice demanded, amplified by some kind of speaker system. It belonged to a dark haired woman in a red jacket who stepped out from one of the helicopters and approached them.
From the cockpit of the Evangelion, Shinji watched as Misato and a group of NERV agents escorted the strangers away. The word 'strangers' didn't even cover half of it. His eyes drifted from the peculiar boy and the blue-haired girl in a maid outfit to the large, scaly creature that was being apprehended in one of the aerial crafts.
"Is that… a dinosaur?!"