Neon Genesis Evangelion: More Than Meets the Eye
Copyright: I still don't own either Evangelion or Transformers, and yes, suing me is still a waist of time and money.
Chapter 2: The Rise of Hero's
The Evangelion Universe Year: 2015 Location: The NERV Geofront
The flicker of lights. The soft hum of the Magi. The smell of coffee and cigarettes. These were the sights, sounds, and smells that Dr. Ritsuko Akagi had been familiarizing herself with for that last several years. The daughter of the late Dr. Naoko Akagi sat in her chair chewing on the end of her pen, glaring at the data that was appearing on the screen of the Magi.
Fifteen years. Fifteen years since the Second Impact, and the discovery of the robot. In all that time, all she could do was repair it and study it. But no matter what she did, she could not, just could not, get the miserable thing to activate.
Taking a sip of coffee that long since grown cold, she tried to think of something she could have missed. Groaning softly, she leaned back into her chair.
The problem was that she hadn't missed anything, at least not anything she could see. She had hooked up the Magi into the other machine's 'brain' and did her best to decipher the data. However, when she first reviewed it, she was not only shocked at the vast amount that there actually was, but that most of it was in codes far to complex for even the Magi to figure out.
Ritsuko did get some information, however. She had learned that the thing's name was Optimus Prime, and that it was of a race known as the 'Transformers', a race capable of a rather bizarre ability of transformation, (which she found out by watching a wire frame model on her computer, a model of Optimus transforming from Robot mode to truck mode, and back again). And of coarse that they ran on a power source known as 'Energon', or pure energy. The most important, though, was the Matrix.
The Matrix was by far the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. It was like a giant, sky blue diamond that seemed to glow from within. Surrounded in an unknown metal, it was the most glamorous piece of work that she had ever seen. It was also, as far as she could tell, the most useless as well. At first she thought it was the power source to Prime, but after dozens of failed attempts to activate the mecha giant with it, it became clear that it was not the robot's power source.
The Matrix now sat on a metal perch in a secure room not far away from her lab, doing nothing more than collecting dust, it's purpose unknown.
Years ago, after her mother's death, Commander Ikari had ordered Ritsuko to find a way to activate Prime, thinking that it would be a useful weapon against both the Angels and SEELE. Of course, Gendo Ikari had failed to mention the discovery of the robot to SEELE. In fact, only he, Fuyusuki, Ritsuko, and the 'bridge bunnies' knew about Prime. Maya, Shigero, Makoto, and the crew that had found Prime were not only threatened with their lives, but the lives of everybody that were even remotely related to them if they ever mentioned anything about Prime.
So there she was, years later, and she was no closer to activating Optimus than was when she had started. At times she wondered if it was easier and cheaper to build Eva units. Oh well.
Popping the bones in her neck, Ritsuko grimly stared at the screen in front of her and typed at her keyboard.
'After all, answers didn't just present themselves to you by themselves, now do they?' she thought as she plodded blindly forward in her work.
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Two Weeks Later Location: Tokyo 3 Train Station
Shinji Ikari stood inside of the phone booth, listening to the recording that told him to go to the nearest shelter.
"This is dumb," he sighed as he hung up the phone. He had been waiting for thirty minuets for the woman that was supposed to pick him up. What was her name again, Misato?
Sitting down on some steps, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the letter and picture received just the other day. The letter was from his father, and the only thing written on it was the word 'COME'.
Come. What was he, some kind of dog that his father was just now beginning to notice. Ugh, some father.
The picture was of Misato, the woman that was going to take him to his father, Commander Ikari. Judging from the pose that was on the picture, Shinji felt that it was a pretty safe bet to say that this woman was a hopeless flirt.
'And she's my father's what?'
Putting the picture and letter away, he leaned back into the steps. Looking up he saw a pale girl standing in the streets. Before he could say anything, a flock of bird flapped and squawked as they flew past him. Startled, he looked away from the girl and towards the noise, but when he turned back to her, she was gone.
'Where had she gone?'
This thought was interrupted as he saw several military Helicopters flying above him. They were flying backwards, almost as though they were retreating from something.
It was then he saw what it was that the choppers were fleeing from. A giant. A black giant with a white skull-like face that peered out at the world with utter disdain.
Shinji watched in awe as the two forces exchanged blows, though even he knew that it was an obvious mismatch.
Within seconds, the giant had destroyed the helicopters, and the ruined machines started to rain down around him.
' I must run away, I must run away, I must run away!'
Just as Shinji thought that his life was coming to an end, a blue sports car came to a screeching halt in front of him. The driver of the vehicle opened the door and called out, "Sorry to keep you waiting, Shinji, c'mon, get in!!"
Realizing that it was Misato, and needing no more coaxing to do so, Shinji quickly hoped in.
But if he had known the woman's driving record, he might not have been so quick to do so.
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Three Hours ago.
Location: Secure Area, Ritsuko's lab
Ritsuko glared at the monitor in front her and was tempted to throw her coffee mug into it. Instead she slammed it down on her desk causing Maya and Shigero to jump, and Makoto to flinch away from her.
Shaking slightly, Shigero asked softly.
"What's the matter?"
The look he received made him want to crawl under his desk, but after a moment Ritsuko' face softened.
"Sorry," she said, rubbing her fore head gently, "but I have just about had it with this project."
"How come?" asked Maya, though she already knew the answer.
"Energon!" growled Ritsuko as she ran a hand through her blond hair. "The one thing that can get this thing to move is the one thing that don't have, and without it, it's impossible to make him move!"
"According to what we have found, we can make Energon," reminded Maya.
"I know," said Ritsuko, " But we don't know how to make the necessary machines that make Energon, nor do know what materials are use to make Energon." Shaking her head, she slumped in her chair and let the air hiss out of her lungs. Looking towards the center of the room, she looked at Optimus Prime, who lay on an enormous steel table hooked up to the Magi. Just a little Energon, just a tiny bit..
Makoto looked at the screen and mumbled softly, "It's to bad that something like that wasn't already built into him, it'd make this so much easier."
Ritsuko's head jerked up. "What did you say?"
"I said 'it's to bad that the Energon machine wasn't already inside him', you know, kinda like a portable gas station or somethin'. But c'mon, that's a little far fetched don't you think?"
Ritsuko stared at Makoto for a moment, shocked that she didn't think of about that years ago, turned back to her computer and typed furiously.
"Um, Dr. Akagi...?"
"Quiet," mumbled Ritsuko, running a quick check through Prime's body. Two minuets later, the mechanical layout of Optimus Prime's Energon generator showed up on the screen.
Ritsuko flopped back in her chair, amazed.
"All these years I have been looking though his files for the blueprints for a Energon generator, and I never thought to look in his body. Not once."
Shigero looked over at his friend, smiled and punched lightly on the arm.
"How come you didn't think of this sooner?"
Makoto shrugged, embarrassed.
Maya smiled and said brightly, "Now that we have the tools, how 'bout we figure out the materials are?"
Ritsuko, who had been examining the side of Prime's body looked up and grinned.
"I'm way ahead of you."
Pressing her hands against what looked like a gas cover, Ritsuko was pleased to find what see was looking for. The cover opened up to reveal a hose that appeared top be made out of some sort of flexible metal. It took every thing she had to lift and pull the hose out. It was so big that she could have stuck her head in the end and she would have had room to spar. Taking a cotton swab out of her lab coat pocket, she rubbed the inside of the hose.
Quickly returning to her computer, she had the Magi analyze the sample. Seconds later, she received information on the sample.
She grunted in surprise.
"I don't believe it!"
"What?!" the others asked, coming closer to see.
Ritsuko sat back in amazement.
"Fossil fuels!"
Makoto grinned and quipped, "Leaded or unleaded?"
Ignoring him, Ritsuko turned to Maya.
"How soon can we get a few barrels of crude oil?"
Maya shrugged and replied, "I don't know, two or three weeks at best, but how are we going to make to generator run? It needs Energon to work as well."
Ritsuko smiled and walked across the room. Moving a file cabinet to the side, she revealed a small safe. Pressing a series of numbers, she opened the safe and removed the contents. There, in her hand, was an Energon Cube the size of a box of matches. It glowed softly.
Maya looked at it in awe.
"Lovely. . ."
Shigero looked up a Ritsuko and asked, "How come you didn't show us this before?"
Ritsuko smiled sagely.
"Because, the sample is so small, that we couldn't waste it, and we don't know how much it would take to power Prime up. Also, we couldn't let info on this leak out."
Makoto rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Should be enough to run the generator, shouldn't it?"
Nodding, Dr.Akagi turned Shigero.
"Place an order on several barrels of crude oil from the closest source."
"Yes, ma'am!"
Turning to her colleagues and friends, Ritsuko smiled and said, "In a couple of weeks, we'll be able to activate Optimus Prime, and when that happens, we. . .!"
Just then, the Magi's alarm system went off. Immediately everyone knew what was happening.
"An Angel!"
"Quick, to the control center!" shouted Dr. Akagi as she and her friends ran out the door of her office. Just before she closed the door, she turned back and looked at Optimus Prime.
Soon. Very soon.
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The present
Location: somewhere in Tokyo 3
"Um, Misato?"
"Yes, Shinji?
"Uh, why did you take all of those car batteries? Isn't that theft?"
About thirty minuets before they had flipped Misato's car back over on its wheels. Why? Because a few minuets before that said car was being turned end over end after the U.N. dropped a N2 mine on the angel, and after the shock wave had abated, Shinji and Misato turned to the task of flipping the car back over. After doing so, they discovered that the car wouldn't get very far do to lack of power, so Misato went to a nearby auto shop and took-all-of the car batteries. Shinji wondered if she hadn't gone a little overboard.
"Uh, well this is an emergency, and we needed a working car, right? And I am a government official after all, so everything is going to be perfectly fine, Okay? Okay!"
"I don't think anyone is going to believe that."
Misato rolled her eyes.
"Your no fun! You know, you're not as cute as I thought you'd be."
"Oh, really?" said Shinji, raising an eyebrow.
Misato chuckled.
"Oh, angry? I'm sorry!(giggle) You are a boy after all!"
Shinji snorted and replied, "Well, your not as mature as I thought you would be, either!"
Shinji spent the next couple of minuet trying to crawl into the backseat to escape the wrath of Misato, with the seat belt still attached to him. Dang near did it to. Afterwards, he wondered how she managed to stay on the road while she was attacking him.
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3 weeks later
Location: The Tokyo 3 School Building
Sitting in his chair in his new school, Shinji wondered if somebody had it out for him. There he was, three weeks ago, sitting in the worlds most powerful weapon, and was about to face an enemy that he had just learned about. He had a choice to do it, of coarse. He could stay and fight, or he could go home, his choice.
When his father had pretty much made it clear that Shinji was little more than a tool to him, Shinji decided that he wouldn't fight. If nothing else, he could and would refuse his father out of spite, to heck with the rest of the world.
But after his father had called in the pilot that he was going to replace with Shinji, Shinji changed his mind. There, on a rolling medical bed was the pilot, a girl so badly injured that she couldn't breath without gasping in pain. After a shock wave caused by the angel shook the building, and Shinji caught the girl as she fell out of the bed, his mind was made up. After listening to the girl's gasps and whimpers of pain, Shinji announced that he would pilot the Eva.
And there he was, stareing at the angel that he had volunteered to fight. He was still trying to walk when the angel attacked.
It happened so fast that he didn't have time to react. The Angel rushed forward and broke the Eva's arm, sending pain through the pilots body. Picking the Eva up by the head, the angel proceeded to ram an energy spike into the Eva's eye and through it's skull. After the Angel succeeded in this task, it threw Unit 01 into a building. Shortly afterwards, Shinji lost consciousness.
According to what he was told, Unit 01 went Berserk and had tried to tear the angel apart, but before it do this, the angel threw its broken body around the Eva and self-destructed in an attempt to destroy it's enemy. However, Unit 01 survived the blast, and was later returned to NERV for repairs.
Now Shinji sat in class, and contemplated on what it was he had really agreed to. Half listening the drone of the teacher's lecture on Second Impact, Shinji noticed a message on the laptop in front of him.
'are you the pilot?' 'Y/N'
Looking around the room, he noticed two girls waving at him.
Shrugging inwardly, he pressed the 'Y' key. After all, what harm could come from telling them?
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One hour later
Location: Secure area, Ritsuko's lab
"The oil we needed has arrived, Dr. Akagi," said Maya, ushering in the newly arrived barrels of crude.
"Excellent, let get to work and make some Energon, shall we?" said Ritsuko cheerfully, who was practically skipping around the room in excitement. After all these years, she would finally activate Prime, and she and her friends would finally receive the promotions that had been promised them if they could make Energon and activate Optimus Prime. Now was the time of truth.
"Alright, we're pumping the first barrel of oil into the tank now, Dr. Akagi," said Shigero, as he pumped the oil into the 'tank', which was really just a extremely large fish tank capable of holding 50 gallons of water. Or in this case, crude oil.
"Okay, now, insert the generator hose into the tank," replied Ritsuko. Once this was done Ritsuko crossed her fingers and said, "Now activate Prime's generator."
Typing the command on her keyboard, Maya prayed softly as she pressed 'Enter'.
The Generator, which lay inside a now upright Optimus Prime, turned on and emitted a strange humming sound. As the oil was slowly pulled up into the Generator, the inside of Prime's windshield chest glowed a soft pink as Energon was formed. To everyone's amazement, two Energon cubes the size of washing machines slowly floated out of the windshield windows, and gently set themselves down in front of Prime. The room practically rocked as the Ritsuko and the bridge bunnies cheered; Matoko and Shigero were high- fiveing each other as Maya clapped for joy, while Ritsuko did a victory dance. Realizing that she was being watched, Ritsuko quickly calmed herself and cleared her throat.
"Well, I'd better contact Commander Ikari, and tell him the good news."
Shigero was smiling ear to ear.
"I just can't believe it! We did it! We actually made Energon!"
"Speaking of which," said Maya, "Just how much Energon does a tank of oil make?"
Quickly looking at the Generator, they saw that there were at least twenty cubes of Energon were neatly stacked in front of Prime; and the tank wasn't even half empty yet.
Laughing nervously, Ritsuko scratched the back of her head.
"I don't know, but you had better turn it off or this room will be filled with Energon!"
As Ritsuko called Commander Ikari, and told him the latest news on Prime, the Magi set off the angel alarm one more.
Saying a quick thank you to the Commander, Ritsuko slammed the phone back down on the receiver.
"To the Command Center, quick! And contact the First and Third Child ASAP!!"
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meanwhile
Location: the school grounds
The sound of hard knuckles meeting softer flesh tore into the tranquil day. Shinji skidded several feet across the ground.
Toji Suzauhara, the young teen who had slugged the poor boy, rubbed his sore knuckles as he scowled at Shinji.
"Sorry, newcomer, but I had to clobber you; I had to pop you one to work off my anger!"
Kensuke Aida, the other teen who came with Toji, looked apologetically at Shinji.
"He's pretty mean, huh? His little sister was injured the last time you and your robot had a battle. Well, that his excuse anyway."
Shinji wiped a trail of blood away from the corner of his mouth.
"I had no choice, they made me pilot the stupid thing!"
Toji, who had been walking away, whirled around and grabbed the young Ikari by the front of his shirt. He glared at Shinji for several seconds, then punched him again. Turning around in disgust, Toji stomped off.
Shinji laid on the ground for several minuets, staring up at the sky as wondered about this knew twist in his life. Turning his head to the side, he saw Rei Ayanami standing there, her arm was still wrapped in a cast and her left eye covered with a bandage.
"There in an emergency. I'll report in first."
Rei turned around and ran towards the NERV headquarters. Shinji quickly got up and followed her. As he ran, he couldn't help but think.
'If it isn't one thing in my life, its 1000 others,' he thought sadly as re raced after Ayanami.
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Location: NERV central command
Misato watched the screen as the angel appeared on it. It was unreal, three weeks since the last angel attack, such a short a span of time! If the attacks kept coming like this, NERV would be hard pressed to keep up with the repairs needed for the Eva's in between battles!
While Misato was contemplating this latest dilemma, Gendo Ikari was having a short discussion Ritsuko and Shigero.
"I want you two to go down to activate your project," he stated, his hands folded infront of his face in the world famous 'Gendo Pose'.
"But Sir! We're needed here! The angel-"
"Will be taken care of by Captain Katsuragi. Right now, we need to field test our latest weapon."
"Yes Sir."
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Location: Secure Area, Risuko's Lab
Minuets later Ritsuko was busily typing commands in her computer as Shigero placed a piece of Energon into Prime's body.
"He's ready, ma'am!"
"Thanks, now lets see if we can get this big guy moving, shall we?"
Typing in the final command, looked up and watched Optimus Prime As the fresh energy went through his system. Now, it was only a matter of time.
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Optimus Prime sensed something happening to him, some thing that he had experienced only a handful of times before: he was being revived from a long shutdown.
As Optimus felt the Energon move through his energy-starved circuits and motors, he slowly became aware of his surroundings. His body had been completely repaired of the damage that he had sustained from Megatron. He was no longer underwater amongst ruined buildings, instead it appeared that he was inside what looked to be a lab. He was also aware of two organic beings beside him.
Turning his head towards them, he spoke a greeting to them in English.
"Hello, there."
The male jumped back and spoke in Japanese.
"Oh my Gosh, he, he spoke!!"
The female smiled, and walked up to the Giant Robot.
"Welcome, Optimus Prime!"
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Location: outskirts of Tokyo 3
Toji often questioned the sanity (or the lack there of) of his best friend, Kensuke. The little punk had talked him into joining him watch the battle between the Eva and the Angel.
'I just have to see at least once,' he had said, rolling the camera he always carried around with him in his hands.
And so Toji tagged along, not because we actually wanted to see the battle, but because he was starting to feel a little sorry for hitting that Ikari kid, and felt he owed it the little punk.
Huffing and puffing after running up a long series of steps to get to the top of a hill, the two boys stopped to catch their breath, and looked around for the upcoming battle.
Aida saw it first.
"Look, the Angel!!"
Toji turned and looked where his friend was pointing. What he saw was not what he was expecting. The angel appeared to be a bizarre cross between a snake, a slug, and some kind of crustacean.
"That's an Angel? Disgustin' " mumbled Toji.
Out of a catapult chute within the city, Unit 01 rose up to fight the Angel. Grabbing a gun from a weapon shed that appeared out of the ground beside it, Unit 01 blasted the Angel to the point the dust and debris made by the bullets hid the angel from view. The next thing that Toji and Kensuke knew, Unit 01 was on the ground from a counter attack from the Angel.
"I don't believe it! He's losing already!" grumbled Toji.
" ' not a problem," countered Kensuke.
When the Eva failed to get up, the sandy haired boy couldn't help but remark, "Being beat up must have really messed him up!" he moaned.
"Oh, shut up!!!"
Shinji got unit 01 up and tried to escape the destructive power of the energy whips. But as made his way though the city, the Angel managed to sever the Eva's Umbilical cable, reducing Unit 01's power down to 5 minuets.
As the man made bio-weapon rose to it's feet, the Angel managed to grab the Eva's lower leg and proceeded to throw it into the sky.
As the two teen watched the Eva fly though the are, they both quickly realized where it was that the Eva Unit was going to land. On-top-of-them!
The only thought that went through their heads was , 'Oh (BLEEP), WE'RE GOING TO DIE!!!' as Unit 01 came crashing down on them.
*********************** **************************** ****************************
Misato stared at the monitor and couldn't believe her eyes. The Angel was tossing Unit 01 around like it was a toy. At this rate, Unit 01 was going to be sliced into little bits! If only Unit 00 was functional, then maybe-
Just then Ritsuko rushed into the room.
"Captain, get ready to launch the fifth catapult!!"
Misato turned to her college friend.
"Why? What's the point of- do you mean Unit 00 is operational?!"
"No, we're sending something else out."
The violet haired woman starred at her.
"What? What could we possible have that can defeat an Angel besides an Eva that I don't know about?"
Dr. Akagi pointed behind the distraught woman.
"Him."
Captain Katsuragi turned towards the catapult launching chutes-- and froze. There, standing on the fifth catapult platform, stood a massive robot.
All around her, Misato heard gasps of surprise and wonder, and all attention was directed at the mighty Autobot leader.
"His name is Optimus Prime, and he is going to help us, Captain Katsuragi."
"What do you mean, 'Optimus Prime?' Is that the name of the pilot?"
"No, Katsuragi, that machine is! Now what are you waiting for?!" Ritsuko shouted.
From across the room, Optimus Prime spoke, his deep voice booming off the walls.
"I'm ready for launch, Captain Katsuragi!"
Snapping out of her daze, Misato shouted out the order, "Launch the fifth catapult!!"
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The earth shook as Toji and Kensuke tried to escape from the battle of beast and machine, both of them knowing that they were going to die.
But as the ground ceased to shake, they both realized that they were still alive. Looking up from their curled up positions, they saw that they were between Unit 01's fingers. They had come that close to having their lives snuffed out.
As the Eva laid on the ground, it was able to catch the Angels whips in it's hands. However, the pilot soon realized that the whips were burning away the Eva's hands, and if he moved, he would crush the two people beside Unit 01.
Inside Unit 01, Shinji could hear things being shouted back at the control room, most of it he couldn't understand. He wondered if they had forgotten about him.
"Misato!! What's going on!! I need some help here!"
Her quickly came online.
"Don't worry!! We're sending up some help!"
Shinji blinked. "But I thought Ayanami's Eva was still under repair-"
Behind the Angel, erupting out of the ground via a catapult chute, and getting shot into the air over a hundred feet, came his 'help'.
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Despite all that was going on around him, Kensuke still had his camera rolling, capturing every moment of this fight. Afterwards, he was really glad that he kept it going because he almost couldn't believe what he saw next.
Shooting out of the ground like a rocket, a new fighter joined the fray. Rising into the are like a mythical war god awakened from a deep slumber, its own size nearly equal to that of an Eva. As it reached the peak of it's jump, it hung in the air for just a second, and it's silhouetted form was against the sun. all Kensuke could make out at the moment was that it had a mostly blocky body and limbs. Only the head was different: shaped like a medieval helmet, it had two sharp looking horns or spikes sticking up from the sides, and two burning blue eyes seemed to glare down at the small group of beings below it. In the giant's right hand, was a massive gun.
As it finally touched back down to earth, the ground quaked, and caused the Angel to turn to look at it. If the Angel had a face, it's mouth would have hit the ground and it's eyes would have bugged out of it's head. It couldn't figure out what this knew menace was! It wasn't an Eva, or and other angel, or one of the puny humans, it was something new and entirely different. The angel felt the power within this new threat, and knew that it was more than a match for the Eva or the Angel!
From what Kensuke could tell, the new warrior was completely machine, and appeared to have been made out of a red and blue semi-truck. But what really got to the boy was not the sight of the robot, but the presence of it, it was almost as though-
Almost as though it were. . . alive!
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Optimus Prime surveyed the scene in front of him. Ritsuko had given him a rundown on what to expect, his new enemies, their strengths and weaknesses; and his new comrades, their names and their roles.
The Angel was looking at him, from what his processors told him, in complete and utter disbelief. The Eva was staring as well, the pilot to shocked for words.
Just as he was about to fire his gun at the Angel, Prime noticed the to boys on the ground. One of them was taping every thing, a huge grin on his face, and the other was looking from the Angel, to the Eva to Prime and back to the Angel, a look of wide eyed disbelief on his face. Optimus knew that his he fired at the Angel, the shock wave and splash damage caused by the weapon might injure or kill the boys. Not an option he wanted to take.
Tossing the massive gun aside, Optimus Prime ran at top speed at the Angel
"Pilot Ikari, release the Angel!!" bellowed Prime. As Shinji willed his Eva to release the Angel, who quickly attacked Prime. Optimus transformed into truck mode and plowed head on into the Angel.
While Prime kept the Angel occupied, Misato was taking certain matters into her own hands.
Forcing the entry plug to come out of Unit 01, she shouted at Toji and Kensuke.
"C'mon you two, get into the entry plug!"
As the two boys scrambled inside, Shinji watched Prime in awe.
"Unbelievable," he whispered as he watched Optimus transform back into Robot mode.
Optimus Prime may have been without his gun, but he was not weaponless. Forcing his right hand to sink into his forearm, Optimus redirected the Energon in his body, and out of the spot where his hand had disappeared, his trademark Energon Battle Axe appeared, glowing brightly, and he raised it above his head. With a salvage warcry, Prime brought the Axe down at blinding speeds and severed the Angel's left energy whip, which it had been trying to use to tear Optimus apart, without success. The wounded beast let out an agonized scream.
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Misato could not believe what she was seeing. The Robot, Optimus Prime, had, had changed, transformed into a truck and back again, created an Axe out of pure energy, and moved with an agility that rivaled, if not exceeded the Eva Units, and had injured an Angel despite it's A.T. field.
Turning to Dr. Akagi, Misato narrowed her eyes at her.
"After this battle, I want an explanation for this!" she said as she waved at the screen.
Upon receiving a nod from the good Doctor, Misato turned her attention to more important matters.
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Shinji, who was still watching the sight in front of him, was startled by Captain Katsuragi's voice.
"Shinji, fall back! There's a retrieval route on the eastern side of that mountain your on! Use it!"
The Third Child was about to do so, when he suddenly stopped himself. He was caught in a dilemma; his Eva only had one minuet of power left, and Misato had given him a direct order to retreat. But if he retreated, he would be abandoning the one who had just saved his life to the Angel. If he did that, he would be no better than a coward, no better than-
He would be no better than his father.
Ignoring the orders from Misato and the protests of the boys behind him, pulled out his Prog Knife and rushed towards the Angel and Prime.
Optimus, who was now struggling with his opponent, sensed Unit 01 rushing up to defend him. Twisting around and grabbing a hold of the back the Angel as best he could, he forced it's head up to expose the Core, and held onto it's remaining whip as best as he could.
"Hurry, Pilot Ikari!" shouted Optimus as the creature thrashed in his mighty grip, "Stab the Core!"
But as Shinji approached the Angel at a dead run, it managed to release it's whip from Prime's hand and impaled Unit 01 with it.
Ignoring the immense pain in his body from the neural hookup to the Eva, Shinji continued forward and stabbed his Progressive Knife into the Angel's Core, thirty seconds of power remaining in his Eva.
30, 29, 28-
Misato and the others watched, all holding their breaths.
22, 21, 20-
Optimus held on, the Angel struggling in his grip frantically.
16, 15, 14-
Toji and Kensuke watched, praying for escape or a quick death.
10, 9, 8-
Shinji willed the Eva to hold the Knife steady, his sweat dissolving in the LCL around him.
3, 2, 1.
The Angel's Core flared, flickered, and died, and the Angel slowly went still.
Optimus Prime and Shinji Ikari had fought and won their first battle together. Both warriors felt weary from their fight and hoped that they wouldn't have fight again for a long time.
But soon, they would have to fight again, very soon.
To be continued.
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Well , chapter 2 is finally up! Sorry it took so long, but I wanted to make this chapter live up to its name, 'Rise of Hero's'.
Just to let you all know, I didn't think that people would be all that interested in this fic, and I wasn't planning on making more than five or six chapters, so I was rather surprised when I got not one, but several good reviews. Thank you all!
To Andrew who e-mailed me earlier: I didn't know that anonymous reviews were being blocked to this fic! If someone would tell me how to take this block off (in case I can't figure it out) I will, and thanks once again for the positive reviews. I'll update as soon as possible for each chapter.
To Mike9: thanks for the info! This will be used in later chapters.
And to answer a favorite question by reviewers: Will the other Autobots and Depticons make an appearance in this fic? Yes!! Expect the return of a few of your old favorites, good guys and bad guys alike!
Final note from the author: Megatron will make an appearance in the next chapter. But who was he sold to? SEELE? Another organization? And how is NERV going to handle the presence of Optimus Prime? How is the world going to handle it? How are the two cybernetic beings going to get home? Find out by reading more of 'Neon Genesis Evangelion: More That Meets the Eye'!
Thank you for reading, and please, read and review!
FallenWarrior101
P.S. Attention all artists! Before I forget, I have a request to make. Would someone please make a remake of the 'NERV' logo found in the anime? Rather than the Maple leaf found in the logo, why not put the Autobot symbol there instead? And place Optimus Prime's famous phrase: Freedom is the right of all sentient beings' above the logo, while 'God's in his heaven, all's right in the world' remains where it is? If anyone can make this, I would like to see it! Thank you for your time
Copyright: I still don't own either Evangelion or Transformers, and yes, suing me is still a waist of time and money.
Chapter 2: The Rise of Hero's
The Evangelion Universe Year: 2015 Location: The NERV Geofront
The flicker of lights. The soft hum of the Magi. The smell of coffee and cigarettes. These were the sights, sounds, and smells that Dr. Ritsuko Akagi had been familiarizing herself with for that last several years. The daughter of the late Dr. Naoko Akagi sat in her chair chewing on the end of her pen, glaring at the data that was appearing on the screen of the Magi.
Fifteen years. Fifteen years since the Second Impact, and the discovery of the robot. In all that time, all she could do was repair it and study it. But no matter what she did, she could not, just could not, get the miserable thing to activate.
Taking a sip of coffee that long since grown cold, she tried to think of something she could have missed. Groaning softly, she leaned back into her chair.
The problem was that she hadn't missed anything, at least not anything she could see. She had hooked up the Magi into the other machine's 'brain' and did her best to decipher the data. However, when she first reviewed it, she was not only shocked at the vast amount that there actually was, but that most of it was in codes far to complex for even the Magi to figure out.
Ritsuko did get some information, however. She had learned that the thing's name was Optimus Prime, and that it was of a race known as the 'Transformers', a race capable of a rather bizarre ability of transformation, (which she found out by watching a wire frame model on her computer, a model of Optimus transforming from Robot mode to truck mode, and back again). And of coarse that they ran on a power source known as 'Energon', or pure energy. The most important, though, was the Matrix.
The Matrix was by far the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. It was like a giant, sky blue diamond that seemed to glow from within. Surrounded in an unknown metal, it was the most glamorous piece of work that she had ever seen. It was also, as far as she could tell, the most useless as well. At first she thought it was the power source to Prime, but after dozens of failed attempts to activate the mecha giant with it, it became clear that it was not the robot's power source.
The Matrix now sat on a metal perch in a secure room not far away from her lab, doing nothing more than collecting dust, it's purpose unknown.
Years ago, after her mother's death, Commander Ikari had ordered Ritsuko to find a way to activate Prime, thinking that it would be a useful weapon against both the Angels and SEELE. Of course, Gendo Ikari had failed to mention the discovery of the robot to SEELE. In fact, only he, Fuyusuki, Ritsuko, and the 'bridge bunnies' knew about Prime. Maya, Shigero, Makoto, and the crew that had found Prime were not only threatened with their lives, but the lives of everybody that were even remotely related to them if they ever mentioned anything about Prime.
So there she was, years later, and she was no closer to activating Optimus than was when she had started. At times she wondered if it was easier and cheaper to build Eva units. Oh well.
Popping the bones in her neck, Ritsuko grimly stared at the screen in front of her and typed at her keyboard.
'After all, answers didn't just present themselves to you by themselves, now do they?' she thought as she plodded blindly forward in her work.
************************** ***************************** ***********************
Two Weeks Later Location: Tokyo 3 Train Station
Shinji Ikari stood inside of the phone booth, listening to the recording that told him to go to the nearest shelter.
"This is dumb," he sighed as he hung up the phone. He had been waiting for thirty minuets for the woman that was supposed to pick him up. What was her name again, Misato?
Sitting down on some steps, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the letter and picture received just the other day. The letter was from his father, and the only thing written on it was the word 'COME'.
Come. What was he, some kind of dog that his father was just now beginning to notice. Ugh, some father.
The picture was of Misato, the woman that was going to take him to his father, Commander Ikari. Judging from the pose that was on the picture, Shinji felt that it was a pretty safe bet to say that this woman was a hopeless flirt.
'And she's my father's what?'
Putting the picture and letter away, he leaned back into the steps. Looking up he saw a pale girl standing in the streets. Before he could say anything, a flock of bird flapped and squawked as they flew past him. Startled, he looked away from the girl and towards the noise, but when he turned back to her, she was gone.
'Where had she gone?'
This thought was interrupted as he saw several military Helicopters flying above him. They were flying backwards, almost as though they were retreating from something.
It was then he saw what it was that the choppers were fleeing from. A giant. A black giant with a white skull-like face that peered out at the world with utter disdain.
Shinji watched in awe as the two forces exchanged blows, though even he knew that it was an obvious mismatch.
Within seconds, the giant had destroyed the helicopters, and the ruined machines started to rain down around him.
' I must run away, I must run away, I must run away!'
Just as Shinji thought that his life was coming to an end, a blue sports car came to a screeching halt in front of him. The driver of the vehicle opened the door and called out, "Sorry to keep you waiting, Shinji, c'mon, get in!!"
Realizing that it was Misato, and needing no more coaxing to do so, Shinji quickly hoped in.
But if he had known the woman's driving record, he might not have been so quick to do so.
********************** ************************* ****************************
Three Hours ago.
Location: Secure Area, Ritsuko's lab
Ritsuko glared at the monitor in front her and was tempted to throw her coffee mug into it. Instead she slammed it down on her desk causing Maya and Shigero to jump, and Makoto to flinch away from her.
Shaking slightly, Shigero asked softly.
"What's the matter?"
The look he received made him want to crawl under his desk, but after a moment Ritsuko' face softened.
"Sorry," she said, rubbing her fore head gently, "but I have just about had it with this project."
"How come?" asked Maya, though she already knew the answer.
"Energon!" growled Ritsuko as she ran a hand through her blond hair. "The one thing that can get this thing to move is the one thing that don't have, and without it, it's impossible to make him move!"
"According to what we have found, we can make Energon," reminded Maya.
"I know," said Ritsuko, " But we don't know how to make the necessary machines that make Energon, nor do know what materials are use to make Energon." Shaking her head, she slumped in her chair and let the air hiss out of her lungs. Looking towards the center of the room, she looked at Optimus Prime, who lay on an enormous steel table hooked up to the Magi. Just a little Energon, just a tiny bit..
Makoto looked at the screen and mumbled softly, "It's to bad that something like that wasn't already built into him, it'd make this so much easier."
Ritsuko's head jerked up. "What did you say?"
"I said 'it's to bad that the Energon machine wasn't already inside him', you know, kinda like a portable gas station or somethin'. But c'mon, that's a little far fetched don't you think?"
Ritsuko stared at Makoto for a moment, shocked that she didn't think of about that years ago, turned back to her computer and typed furiously.
"Um, Dr. Akagi...?"
"Quiet," mumbled Ritsuko, running a quick check through Prime's body. Two minuets later, the mechanical layout of Optimus Prime's Energon generator showed up on the screen.
Ritsuko flopped back in her chair, amazed.
"All these years I have been looking though his files for the blueprints for a Energon generator, and I never thought to look in his body. Not once."
Shigero looked over at his friend, smiled and punched lightly on the arm.
"How come you didn't think of this sooner?"
Makoto shrugged, embarrassed.
Maya smiled and said brightly, "Now that we have the tools, how 'bout we figure out the materials are?"
Ritsuko, who had been examining the side of Prime's body looked up and grinned.
"I'm way ahead of you."
Pressing her hands against what looked like a gas cover, Ritsuko was pleased to find what see was looking for. The cover opened up to reveal a hose that appeared top be made out of some sort of flexible metal. It took every thing she had to lift and pull the hose out. It was so big that she could have stuck her head in the end and she would have had room to spar. Taking a cotton swab out of her lab coat pocket, she rubbed the inside of the hose.
Quickly returning to her computer, she had the Magi analyze the sample. Seconds later, she received information on the sample.
She grunted in surprise.
"I don't believe it!"
"What?!" the others asked, coming closer to see.
Ritsuko sat back in amazement.
"Fossil fuels!"
Makoto grinned and quipped, "Leaded or unleaded?"
Ignoring him, Ritsuko turned to Maya.
"How soon can we get a few barrels of crude oil?"
Maya shrugged and replied, "I don't know, two or three weeks at best, but how are we going to make to generator run? It needs Energon to work as well."
Ritsuko smiled and walked across the room. Moving a file cabinet to the side, she revealed a small safe. Pressing a series of numbers, she opened the safe and removed the contents. There, in her hand, was an Energon Cube the size of a box of matches. It glowed softly.
Maya looked at it in awe.
"Lovely. . ."
Shigero looked up a Ritsuko and asked, "How come you didn't show us this before?"
Ritsuko smiled sagely.
"Because, the sample is so small, that we couldn't waste it, and we don't know how much it would take to power Prime up. Also, we couldn't let info on this leak out."
Makoto rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Should be enough to run the generator, shouldn't it?"
Nodding, Dr.Akagi turned Shigero.
"Place an order on several barrels of crude oil from the closest source."
"Yes, ma'am!"
Turning to her colleagues and friends, Ritsuko smiled and said, "In a couple of weeks, we'll be able to activate Optimus Prime, and when that happens, we. . .!"
Just then, the Magi's alarm system went off. Immediately everyone knew what was happening.
"An Angel!"
"Quick, to the control center!" shouted Dr. Akagi as she and her friends ran out the door of her office. Just before she closed the door, she turned back and looked at Optimus Prime.
Soon. Very soon.
************************ ****************************** *************************
The present
Location: somewhere in Tokyo 3
"Um, Misato?"
"Yes, Shinji?
"Uh, why did you take all of those car batteries? Isn't that theft?"
About thirty minuets before they had flipped Misato's car back over on its wheels. Why? Because a few minuets before that said car was being turned end over end after the U.N. dropped a N2 mine on the angel, and after the shock wave had abated, Shinji and Misato turned to the task of flipping the car back over. After doing so, they discovered that the car wouldn't get very far do to lack of power, so Misato went to a nearby auto shop and took-all-of the car batteries. Shinji wondered if she hadn't gone a little overboard.
"Uh, well this is an emergency, and we needed a working car, right? And I am a government official after all, so everything is going to be perfectly fine, Okay? Okay!"
"I don't think anyone is going to believe that."
Misato rolled her eyes.
"Your no fun! You know, you're not as cute as I thought you'd be."
"Oh, really?" said Shinji, raising an eyebrow.
Misato chuckled.
"Oh, angry? I'm sorry!(giggle) You are a boy after all!"
Shinji snorted and replied, "Well, your not as mature as I thought you would be, either!"
Shinji spent the next couple of minuet trying to crawl into the backseat to escape the wrath of Misato, with the seat belt still attached to him. Dang near did it to. Afterwards, he wondered how she managed to stay on the road while she was attacking him.
*********************** ***************************** ****************************
3 weeks later
Location: The Tokyo 3 School Building
Sitting in his chair in his new school, Shinji wondered if somebody had it out for him. There he was, three weeks ago, sitting in the worlds most powerful weapon, and was about to face an enemy that he had just learned about. He had a choice to do it, of coarse. He could stay and fight, or he could go home, his choice.
When his father had pretty much made it clear that Shinji was little more than a tool to him, Shinji decided that he wouldn't fight. If nothing else, he could and would refuse his father out of spite, to heck with the rest of the world.
But after his father had called in the pilot that he was going to replace with Shinji, Shinji changed his mind. There, on a rolling medical bed was the pilot, a girl so badly injured that she couldn't breath without gasping in pain. After a shock wave caused by the angel shook the building, and Shinji caught the girl as she fell out of the bed, his mind was made up. After listening to the girl's gasps and whimpers of pain, Shinji announced that he would pilot the Eva.
And there he was, stareing at the angel that he had volunteered to fight. He was still trying to walk when the angel attacked.
It happened so fast that he didn't have time to react. The Angel rushed forward and broke the Eva's arm, sending pain through the pilots body. Picking the Eva up by the head, the angel proceeded to ram an energy spike into the Eva's eye and through it's skull. After the Angel succeeded in this task, it threw Unit 01 into a building. Shortly afterwards, Shinji lost consciousness.
According to what he was told, Unit 01 went Berserk and had tried to tear the angel apart, but before it do this, the angel threw its broken body around the Eva and self-destructed in an attempt to destroy it's enemy. However, Unit 01 survived the blast, and was later returned to NERV for repairs.
Now Shinji sat in class, and contemplated on what it was he had really agreed to. Half listening the drone of the teacher's lecture on Second Impact, Shinji noticed a message on the laptop in front of him.
'are you the pilot?' 'Y/N'
Looking around the room, he noticed two girls waving at him.
Shrugging inwardly, he pressed the 'Y' key. After all, what harm could come from telling them?
******************** **************************** *******************************
One hour later
Location: Secure area, Ritsuko's lab
"The oil we needed has arrived, Dr. Akagi," said Maya, ushering in the newly arrived barrels of crude.
"Excellent, let get to work and make some Energon, shall we?" said Ritsuko cheerfully, who was practically skipping around the room in excitement. After all these years, she would finally activate Prime, and she and her friends would finally receive the promotions that had been promised them if they could make Energon and activate Optimus Prime. Now was the time of truth.
"Alright, we're pumping the first barrel of oil into the tank now, Dr. Akagi," said Shigero, as he pumped the oil into the 'tank', which was really just a extremely large fish tank capable of holding 50 gallons of water. Or in this case, crude oil.
"Okay, now, insert the generator hose into the tank," replied Ritsuko. Once this was done Ritsuko crossed her fingers and said, "Now activate Prime's generator."
Typing the command on her keyboard, Maya prayed softly as she pressed 'Enter'.
The Generator, which lay inside a now upright Optimus Prime, turned on and emitted a strange humming sound. As the oil was slowly pulled up into the Generator, the inside of Prime's windshield chest glowed a soft pink as Energon was formed. To everyone's amazement, two Energon cubes the size of washing machines slowly floated out of the windshield windows, and gently set themselves down in front of Prime. The room practically rocked as the Ritsuko and the bridge bunnies cheered; Matoko and Shigero were high- fiveing each other as Maya clapped for joy, while Ritsuko did a victory dance. Realizing that she was being watched, Ritsuko quickly calmed herself and cleared her throat.
"Well, I'd better contact Commander Ikari, and tell him the good news."
Shigero was smiling ear to ear.
"I just can't believe it! We did it! We actually made Energon!"
"Speaking of which," said Maya, "Just how much Energon does a tank of oil make?"
Quickly looking at the Generator, they saw that there were at least twenty cubes of Energon were neatly stacked in front of Prime; and the tank wasn't even half empty yet.
Laughing nervously, Ritsuko scratched the back of her head.
"I don't know, but you had better turn it off or this room will be filled with Energon!"
As Ritsuko called Commander Ikari, and told him the latest news on Prime, the Magi set off the angel alarm one more.
Saying a quick thank you to the Commander, Ritsuko slammed the phone back down on the receiver.
"To the Command Center, quick! And contact the First and Third Child ASAP!!"
******************** **************************** ******************************
meanwhile
Location: the school grounds
The sound of hard knuckles meeting softer flesh tore into the tranquil day. Shinji skidded several feet across the ground.
Toji Suzauhara, the young teen who had slugged the poor boy, rubbed his sore knuckles as he scowled at Shinji.
"Sorry, newcomer, but I had to clobber you; I had to pop you one to work off my anger!"
Kensuke Aida, the other teen who came with Toji, looked apologetically at Shinji.
"He's pretty mean, huh? His little sister was injured the last time you and your robot had a battle. Well, that his excuse anyway."
Shinji wiped a trail of blood away from the corner of his mouth.
"I had no choice, they made me pilot the stupid thing!"
Toji, who had been walking away, whirled around and grabbed the young Ikari by the front of his shirt. He glared at Shinji for several seconds, then punched him again. Turning around in disgust, Toji stomped off.
Shinji laid on the ground for several minuets, staring up at the sky as wondered about this knew twist in his life. Turning his head to the side, he saw Rei Ayanami standing there, her arm was still wrapped in a cast and her left eye covered with a bandage.
"There in an emergency. I'll report in first."
Rei turned around and ran towards the NERV headquarters. Shinji quickly got up and followed her. As he ran, he couldn't help but think.
'If it isn't one thing in my life, its 1000 others,' he thought sadly as re raced after Ayanami.
*************************** ************************ ***************************
Location: NERV central command
Misato watched the screen as the angel appeared on it. It was unreal, three weeks since the last angel attack, such a short a span of time! If the attacks kept coming like this, NERV would be hard pressed to keep up with the repairs needed for the Eva's in between battles!
While Misato was contemplating this latest dilemma, Gendo Ikari was having a short discussion Ritsuko and Shigero.
"I want you two to go down to activate your project," he stated, his hands folded infront of his face in the world famous 'Gendo Pose'.
"But Sir! We're needed here! The angel-"
"Will be taken care of by Captain Katsuragi. Right now, we need to field test our latest weapon."
"Yes Sir."
************************** *************************** ***********************
Location: Secure Area, Risuko's Lab
Minuets later Ritsuko was busily typing commands in her computer as Shigero placed a piece of Energon into Prime's body.
"He's ready, ma'am!"
"Thanks, now lets see if we can get this big guy moving, shall we?"
Typing in the final command, looked up and watched Optimus Prime As the fresh energy went through his system. Now, it was only a matter of time.
************************ ************************* ***************************
Optimus Prime sensed something happening to him, some thing that he had experienced only a handful of times before: he was being revived from a long shutdown.
As Optimus felt the Energon move through his energy-starved circuits and motors, he slowly became aware of his surroundings. His body had been completely repaired of the damage that he had sustained from Megatron. He was no longer underwater amongst ruined buildings, instead it appeared that he was inside what looked to be a lab. He was also aware of two organic beings beside him.
Turning his head towards them, he spoke a greeting to them in English.
"Hello, there."
The male jumped back and spoke in Japanese.
"Oh my Gosh, he, he spoke!!"
The female smiled, and walked up to the Giant Robot.
"Welcome, Optimus Prime!"
****************** ************************* *******************************
Location: outskirts of Tokyo 3
Toji often questioned the sanity (or the lack there of) of his best friend, Kensuke. The little punk had talked him into joining him watch the battle between the Eva and the Angel.
'I just have to see at least once,' he had said, rolling the camera he always carried around with him in his hands.
And so Toji tagged along, not because we actually wanted to see the battle, but because he was starting to feel a little sorry for hitting that Ikari kid, and felt he owed it the little punk.
Huffing and puffing after running up a long series of steps to get to the top of a hill, the two boys stopped to catch their breath, and looked around for the upcoming battle.
Aida saw it first.
"Look, the Angel!!"
Toji turned and looked where his friend was pointing. What he saw was not what he was expecting. The angel appeared to be a bizarre cross between a snake, a slug, and some kind of crustacean.
"That's an Angel? Disgustin' " mumbled Toji.
Out of a catapult chute within the city, Unit 01 rose up to fight the Angel. Grabbing a gun from a weapon shed that appeared out of the ground beside it, Unit 01 blasted the Angel to the point the dust and debris made by the bullets hid the angel from view. The next thing that Toji and Kensuke knew, Unit 01 was on the ground from a counter attack from the Angel.
"I don't believe it! He's losing already!" grumbled Toji.
" ' not a problem," countered Kensuke.
When the Eva failed to get up, the sandy haired boy couldn't help but remark, "Being beat up must have really messed him up!" he moaned.
"Oh, shut up!!!"
Shinji got unit 01 up and tried to escape the destructive power of the energy whips. But as made his way though the city, the Angel managed to sever the Eva's Umbilical cable, reducing Unit 01's power down to 5 minuets.
As the man made bio-weapon rose to it's feet, the Angel managed to grab the Eva's lower leg and proceeded to throw it into the sky.
As the two teen watched the Eva fly though the are, they both quickly realized where it was that the Eva Unit was going to land. On-top-of-them!
The only thought that went through their heads was , 'Oh (BLEEP), WE'RE GOING TO DIE!!!' as Unit 01 came crashing down on them.
*********************** **************************** ****************************
Misato stared at the monitor and couldn't believe her eyes. The Angel was tossing Unit 01 around like it was a toy. At this rate, Unit 01 was going to be sliced into little bits! If only Unit 00 was functional, then maybe-
Just then Ritsuko rushed into the room.
"Captain, get ready to launch the fifth catapult!!"
Misato turned to her college friend.
"Why? What's the point of- do you mean Unit 00 is operational?!"
"No, we're sending something else out."
The violet haired woman starred at her.
"What? What could we possible have that can defeat an Angel besides an Eva that I don't know about?"
Dr. Akagi pointed behind the distraught woman.
"Him."
Captain Katsuragi turned towards the catapult launching chutes-- and froze. There, standing on the fifth catapult platform, stood a massive robot.
All around her, Misato heard gasps of surprise and wonder, and all attention was directed at the mighty Autobot leader.
"His name is Optimus Prime, and he is going to help us, Captain Katsuragi."
"What do you mean, 'Optimus Prime?' Is that the name of the pilot?"
"No, Katsuragi, that machine is! Now what are you waiting for?!" Ritsuko shouted.
From across the room, Optimus Prime spoke, his deep voice booming off the walls.
"I'm ready for launch, Captain Katsuragi!"
Snapping out of her daze, Misato shouted out the order, "Launch the fifth catapult!!"
******************* ********************************* ***********************
The earth shook as Toji and Kensuke tried to escape from the battle of beast and machine, both of them knowing that they were going to die.
But as the ground ceased to shake, they both realized that they were still alive. Looking up from their curled up positions, they saw that they were between Unit 01's fingers. They had come that close to having their lives snuffed out.
As the Eva laid on the ground, it was able to catch the Angels whips in it's hands. However, the pilot soon realized that the whips were burning away the Eva's hands, and if he moved, he would crush the two people beside Unit 01.
Inside Unit 01, Shinji could hear things being shouted back at the control room, most of it he couldn't understand. He wondered if they had forgotten about him.
"Misato!! What's going on!! I need some help here!"
Her quickly came online.
"Don't worry!! We're sending up some help!"
Shinji blinked. "But I thought Ayanami's Eva was still under repair-"
Behind the Angel, erupting out of the ground via a catapult chute, and getting shot into the air over a hundred feet, came his 'help'.
************************ ***************************** ***************************
Despite all that was going on around him, Kensuke still had his camera rolling, capturing every moment of this fight. Afterwards, he was really glad that he kept it going because he almost couldn't believe what he saw next.
Shooting out of the ground like a rocket, a new fighter joined the fray. Rising into the are like a mythical war god awakened from a deep slumber, its own size nearly equal to that of an Eva. As it reached the peak of it's jump, it hung in the air for just a second, and it's silhouetted form was against the sun. all Kensuke could make out at the moment was that it had a mostly blocky body and limbs. Only the head was different: shaped like a medieval helmet, it had two sharp looking horns or spikes sticking up from the sides, and two burning blue eyes seemed to glare down at the small group of beings below it. In the giant's right hand, was a massive gun.
As it finally touched back down to earth, the ground quaked, and caused the Angel to turn to look at it. If the Angel had a face, it's mouth would have hit the ground and it's eyes would have bugged out of it's head. It couldn't figure out what this knew menace was! It wasn't an Eva, or and other angel, or one of the puny humans, it was something new and entirely different. The angel felt the power within this new threat, and knew that it was more than a match for the Eva or the Angel!
From what Kensuke could tell, the new warrior was completely machine, and appeared to have been made out of a red and blue semi-truck. But what really got to the boy was not the sight of the robot, but the presence of it, it was almost as though-
Almost as though it were. . . alive!
************************** ************************* ******************************
Optimus Prime surveyed the scene in front of him. Ritsuko had given him a rundown on what to expect, his new enemies, their strengths and weaknesses; and his new comrades, their names and their roles.
The Angel was looking at him, from what his processors told him, in complete and utter disbelief. The Eva was staring as well, the pilot to shocked for words.
Just as he was about to fire his gun at the Angel, Prime noticed the to boys on the ground. One of them was taping every thing, a huge grin on his face, and the other was looking from the Angel, to the Eva to Prime and back to the Angel, a look of wide eyed disbelief on his face. Optimus knew that his he fired at the Angel, the shock wave and splash damage caused by the weapon might injure or kill the boys. Not an option he wanted to take.
Tossing the massive gun aside, Optimus Prime ran at top speed at the Angel
"Pilot Ikari, release the Angel!!" bellowed Prime. As Shinji willed his Eva to release the Angel, who quickly attacked Prime. Optimus transformed into truck mode and plowed head on into the Angel.
While Prime kept the Angel occupied, Misato was taking certain matters into her own hands.
Forcing the entry plug to come out of Unit 01, she shouted at Toji and Kensuke.
"C'mon you two, get into the entry plug!"
As the two boys scrambled inside, Shinji watched Prime in awe.
"Unbelievable," he whispered as he watched Optimus transform back into Robot mode.
Optimus Prime may have been without his gun, but he was not weaponless. Forcing his right hand to sink into his forearm, Optimus redirected the Energon in his body, and out of the spot where his hand had disappeared, his trademark Energon Battle Axe appeared, glowing brightly, and he raised it above his head. With a salvage warcry, Prime brought the Axe down at blinding speeds and severed the Angel's left energy whip, which it had been trying to use to tear Optimus apart, without success. The wounded beast let out an agonized scream.
******************** *********************************** *************************
Misato could not believe what she was seeing. The Robot, Optimus Prime, had, had changed, transformed into a truck and back again, created an Axe out of pure energy, and moved with an agility that rivaled, if not exceeded the Eva Units, and had injured an Angel despite it's A.T. field.
Turning to Dr. Akagi, Misato narrowed her eyes at her.
"After this battle, I want an explanation for this!" she said as she waved at the screen.
Upon receiving a nod from the good Doctor, Misato turned her attention to more important matters.
******************** ************************************ *************************
Shinji, who was still watching the sight in front of him, was startled by Captain Katsuragi's voice.
"Shinji, fall back! There's a retrieval route on the eastern side of that mountain your on! Use it!"
The Third Child was about to do so, when he suddenly stopped himself. He was caught in a dilemma; his Eva only had one minuet of power left, and Misato had given him a direct order to retreat. But if he retreated, he would be abandoning the one who had just saved his life to the Angel. If he did that, he would be no better than a coward, no better than-
He would be no better than his father.
Ignoring the orders from Misato and the protests of the boys behind him, pulled out his Prog Knife and rushed towards the Angel and Prime.
Optimus, who was now struggling with his opponent, sensed Unit 01 rushing up to defend him. Twisting around and grabbing a hold of the back the Angel as best he could, he forced it's head up to expose the Core, and held onto it's remaining whip as best as he could.
"Hurry, Pilot Ikari!" shouted Optimus as the creature thrashed in his mighty grip, "Stab the Core!"
But as Shinji approached the Angel at a dead run, it managed to release it's whip from Prime's hand and impaled Unit 01 with it.
Ignoring the immense pain in his body from the neural hookup to the Eva, Shinji continued forward and stabbed his Progressive Knife into the Angel's Core, thirty seconds of power remaining in his Eva.
30, 29, 28-
Misato and the others watched, all holding their breaths.
22, 21, 20-
Optimus held on, the Angel struggling in his grip frantically.
16, 15, 14-
Toji and Kensuke watched, praying for escape or a quick death.
10, 9, 8-
Shinji willed the Eva to hold the Knife steady, his sweat dissolving in the LCL around him.
3, 2, 1.
The Angel's Core flared, flickered, and died, and the Angel slowly went still.
Optimus Prime and Shinji Ikari had fought and won their first battle together. Both warriors felt weary from their fight and hoped that they wouldn't have fight again for a long time.
But soon, they would have to fight again, very soon.
To be continued.
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Well , chapter 2 is finally up! Sorry it took so long, but I wanted to make this chapter live up to its name, 'Rise of Hero's'.
Just to let you all know, I didn't think that people would be all that interested in this fic, and I wasn't planning on making more than five or six chapters, so I was rather surprised when I got not one, but several good reviews. Thank you all!
To Andrew who e-mailed me earlier: I didn't know that anonymous reviews were being blocked to this fic! If someone would tell me how to take this block off (in case I can't figure it out) I will, and thanks once again for the positive reviews. I'll update as soon as possible for each chapter.
To Mike9: thanks for the info! This will be used in later chapters.
And to answer a favorite question by reviewers: Will the other Autobots and Depticons make an appearance in this fic? Yes!! Expect the return of a few of your old favorites, good guys and bad guys alike!
Final note from the author: Megatron will make an appearance in the next chapter. But who was he sold to? SEELE? Another organization? And how is NERV going to handle the presence of Optimus Prime? How is the world going to handle it? How are the two cybernetic beings going to get home? Find out by reading more of 'Neon Genesis Evangelion: More That Meets the Eye'!
Thank you for reading, and please, read and review!
FallenWarrior101
P.S. Attention all artists! Before I forget, I have a request to make. Would someone please make a remake of the 'NERV' logo found in the anime? Rather than the Maple leaf found in the logo, why not put the Autobot symbol there instead? And place Optimus Prime's famous phrase: Freedom is the right of all sentient beings' above the logo, while 'God's in his heaven, all's right in the world' remains where it is? If anyone can make this, I would like to see it! Thank you for your time