Creation began on 03-20-19

Creation ended on 02-26-20

Neon Genesis Evangelion

The Beast against the Knight

Yuki-Onna didn't care that this knight was a bit on the rusty side or had energy blades on their wrists. They had threatened her friend, her personal treasure, and they needed to pay for putting him in danger.

"Scanning obstacle target," the knight uttered, looking at her. "Identity confirmed. Project Riptor, estimation, five generations removed from the originally-designed specimen, Riptor Prime. Objective regarding fifth-generation Riptor obstacle: Terminate."

Yuki-Onna tilted her head to the left; if this knight just made a vocal motion to come after her, then it meant her own life was threatened, too. She was within her rights to defend herself and Shinji from their attempt to put her down.

Dash! The knight made the first move, leaping towards Yuki-Onna, their blades extended and surging with energy.

Yuki-Onna dodged the attack and tail-whipped the knight in their right side, sending them flying into a streetlight, breaking it in half.

"Aaaaaaurgh!" She shrieked as the knight got back up and turned around to face her.

"Recalibrate motion systems," the knight uttered. "Reorganize Riptor Prime attack patterns into new combat strategy. Combat strategy for Riptor descendant nonexistent. Recalibrating offense records to record new combat patterns to implement new defense strategy. Prepare to engage Riptor descendant for the second time now."

The way it was talking to itself, how it slowly moved in response to being assaulted, Yuki-Onna knew she had seen this behavior someplace before, but couldn't tell where, only that it was…too much of a sudden disgust towards her mindset. Spreading her legs apart as she crouched, she decided to wait until the knight made the first move; her lessons from Shinji were going to decide whether or not her teachings from him would suffice.

-x-

"…She looks pissed," Maya expressed about Yuki-Onna.

"Very pissed," Shigeru added.

"She must really like the boy," said Hyuga, and then the robotic knight dashed towards her.

Yuki-Onna then spun around…and whipped the knight away with her tail, something that not many animals would do when they could use their claws and fangs.

The robotic knight was slammed into the side of a building wall and came out covered in gravel, sparks coming out of its neck as it returned to the streets.

"Primary directive still as followed," it uttered. "Must terminate Shinji Ikari."

Crouching down, Yuki-Onna glared at the humanoid machine and expressed, "If it were friend's father and those people friend has to serve like some mindless drone, I would look the other way, but friend is where I draw the line. He is off-limits to any that would hurt him."

"Ultratech databank does not compute with illogical response. Fulgore does not understand the concept of 'friend'. Only primary directive as followed. Shinji Ikari must be terminated."

-x-

"They were both created by Ultratech," said Jago to Orchid as they watched from the roof, "but the Riptor views the Fulgore as an enemy because it wants to kill the kid."

"But the kid isn't a threat to Fulgore, even after years of disservice and the shape it's in. Fulgore can cut this kid down without any effort." Orchid responded.

Suddenly, Hisako appeared beside the two and looked down at the Fulgore facing the Riptor.

"The darkness within this godless city has sent out the first of its shadows to eliminate a threat to its dominance," she expressed.

"What, Riptor?" Orchid questioned her.

"No…the boy."

"But how is he a threat?" Jago asked.

"I do not know."

Then they watched as Fulgore slice through a streetlight and grab its structure…and swung it like a bat at Riptor and the boy.

"Aah!" The boy gasped as Riptor pushed him onto the ground and got hit by the streetlight, knocking her several feet away. "Yuki-Onna!"

The Riptor quickly got back up and ran towards the boy, just as Fulgore swung the streetlight again, but this time hitting the boy in his torso.

Crack! Hisako, with her undead hearing, heard a crack occur somewhere within the boy's body, seeing as a speck of blood escaped his mouth as he was sent flying down the street.

The Riptor, or Yuki-Onna, as the kid preferred to call it, spread her claws out…and softened the crash of the boy as they both fell to the ground again.

-x-

Yuki-Onna could smell the blood in Shinji's mouth as he lay atop her body. She hadn't gotten to him fast enough to protect him from this knight's attack, causing him to suffer an injury that may kill him.

"Friend…Shinji…hurt?" She asked as she felt around his chest with her left claw.

"Ow…" She heard him respond, his breathing sounding different from earlier; it was less lively and like he could barely take in any air.

Shinji, despite the intense pain he felt in his chest from getting hit by a streetlight, struggled to get off Yuki-Onna so she could move freely. He could see the robotic knight dropping the streetlight and approaching where they had fallen…and he tried to get up.

"Scanning," they both heard it speak. "Scanning… Target in distress. Injuries show two cracked ribs and a punctured left lung filling with blood. Vitals…less than critical. Verifying that target is still a threat…if left to live."

On his arms and knees, Shinji turned to face Yuki-Onna and told her they had to get away from this thing before it could do worse to them, but then he coughed out more blood.

"Target showing signs of refusal to succumb to injuries," it uttered as Shinji tried to crawl away. "Must carry out prime directive: Terminate Shinji Ikari."

Yuki-Onna got back up and faced the robot and bared her fangs and extended her claws.

"I will kill you," she told the knight.

Fulgore then raised its arms up, but didn't get the chance to stab the Riptor as she tackled it to the ground…and began biting its right arms off, pinning its left arm to the ground.

"Activating self-destruct sequence," it uttered, realizing that it was losing and had to carry out its objective, one way or another. "Ten…nine…eight…"

Yuki-Onna then stopped biting into the knight and got off it, grabbed Shinji and ran to hide behind a street corner, hoping to evade the explosion.

"…Two…one," the damaged robot finished, and a beep was heard a second later.

BOOM! The robot exploded and took much of the street it was on with it, sending bits and pieces of itself flying everywhere.

Yuki-Onna poked her head out from around the corner and saw the machine was in so many pieces that it wasn't coming back. Then, she turned to look at Shinji, who didn't look too good after being moved by her.

"Are you alright?" She asked him.

He looked up at her and gave her the thumbs-up gesture with his left hand; he was still alive, but he probably needed a doctor for his injuries.

"I…don't want…friend to die," she told him, and then helped him onto his feet…and then onto her back. "Find aid."

-x-

"…She saved him from the Fulgore," Hisako expressed to Jago and Orchid. "She may not be as dangerous as you once believed."

She then disappeared, leaving the two behind.

"Maybe," Jago uttered, still not as convinced that they needed this creature's help.

"It could've killed the kid out of mercy," said Orchid, "but Riptors don't do mercy. They don't understand mercy. But just maybe…this one is different from the other ones."

-x-

"Gaaah!" A female nurse from Tokyo-3 General Hospital gasped as she saw a dinosaur walk into the front entrance, scaring people into backing up against the walls and hiding behind corners, watching as it approached her. "We don't have any food here! Go away!"

But the creature stopped two feet in front of her and lowered to reveal its passenger.

"Please…help my friend," it, no, she uttered to the woman.

"She's not dangerous," the boy expressed, coughing out blood. "Help, please."

He climbed off the dinosaur's back and revealed that he was injured, judging from the way he was breathing and how blood seemed to escape from his mouth.

"Did…she do this to you?" She asked him.

"No," he answered, grimacing as his right hand up to his chest. "She saved me from what was trying to kill me."

The nurse then called for a stretcher.

-x-

"…She took the Third Child to the hospital," Misato informed Gendo in his office. "We're sending Section Two over there now to retrieve them."

"Good," Gendo responded, though he could've done without the Riptor being brought back. "And what of the remains of the Fulgore that attacked?"

"A salvage crew is already there to gather the pieces for study," she explained.

Even if there were only a few pieces left, it was still possible for NERV to ascertain where the machine came from and who might've sent it to attack one of their pilots. While Gendo wanted to suspect that it was someone that had a relationship with Ultratech, Fuyutsuki had to suspect that this might've had nothing to do with the former corporation.

-x-

It wasn't everyday that anyone in the hospital saw a dinosaur tearing open a vending machine for something as nutritional as a refrigerated sandwich or salad.

"What the…" A male janitor gasped as he saw Yuki-Onna picking up the fallen cover of the vending machine and placing against the wall so she could pick up the fallen sandwiches and salad. "Gracious Susanoo."

Yuki-Onna turned to face him with her gathered food, bowed her head to him.

"I am sorry for your vending machine," she told him. "I have no money."

She then walked past him and left to return to where Shinji was.

What kind of dinosaur eats from a vending machine instead of trying to eat someone in front of them? The janitor wondered, wondering if he should consider himself lucky or just grateful that he hadn't ended up in the belly of a prehistoric beast.

To be continued…

A/N: Sorry this took so long. Real life is such a pain in the butt of make-believe. We all have our issues that hinder our creative juices and motivational drives to resume what we enjoy. I hope this chapter motivates you to ask me questions I hope to answer later. Peace.