Disclaimer: See Ch.1
A/N: Okay, I've been getting some comments on character backstories, or the lack there of. Don't worry, ch.5 and ch.6 will have the character backgrounds and will also have events such as the Great Cataclysm and Coming of the Rifts explained to the Eva crew. So please be patient.
Of Rifts and Evas
Book 1 of the Heaven's Storm trilogy
Chapter 4: Discoveries
Dimension: Rifts Earth
Location: unknown
Date: June, 30 109 PA
"Where the hell am I?" Asuka asked to no one in particular, finding the sound of her own voice very comforting.
The Second Child was very confused. One moment she had been sure she was dead, as the energy wave from the S2 engine broke through her AT field. Next thing she knew, she wakes up in unit-02's entry plug feeling sore as hell, and with her EVA completely drained of power. She quickly hit the emergency release to eject her entry plug from the Eva. Once she had got out of the entry plug, she had been hit by a new set of problems. First, her plug suit was too tight. Next, she felt a little off balance. And finally last of all she had a splitting head ache.
Oh yeah, and she was lost too.
'Today has just been wunderbar.' Asuka thought sarcastically.
She stood next to unit-02, which was itself standing at the edge of a clearing in a forest; a really creepy forest in Asuka's opinion. She also had a sinking suspicion that they were not in Japan anymore, since none of the trees matched with those she had seen during her time there.
Further thought was cut off by the sound of an entry plug being released from an Eva.
"Finally, the baka wakes up."
Asuka marched over to the other side of the clearing where unit-01 waited. She heard the sound of an emergency hatch being opened, and moments later saw the outline of Shinji on the Eva's shoulder. Unfortunately he was standing with his back to the sun, and Asuka couldn't see him clearly. However, from his movements he didn't seem to be injured.
"Shinji you baka, get down here!" Asuka yelled up at him. While yelling at him allowed her to relieve some of her pent up emotions, though she would never admit that she had yelled at him just to get him down there with her.
Shinji jumped at the sound of her voice, and then began to climb down the Eva. He reached ground out of Asuka's line of sight, took a moment to collect himself, and then turned to face the red-haired pilot.
A second later, two shrieks filled the air.
"What happened to you?" They both yelled, almost simultaneously.
Asuka couldn't believe her eyes; this couldn't be wimpy little Shinji. He was too old, too handsome to be Shinji. However, upon closer inspection she could see the similarities. In fact, he looked kind of like his father, though much younger, and without the beard.
'I must be hallucinating.' Asuka thought.
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'I must be hallucinating.' Shinji thought.
This was definitely Asuka Langley Sohryu; there was no denying that. She had the same hair, the same eyes, and definitely the same attitude. It was everything else that had changed. She looked stunning - not that she hadn't before - but now she looked like a goddess.
'It looks like she has aged a couple of years.' Shinji thought.
Shinji could not help but notice the appraising looks that Asuka was giving him.
'I...is s...she checking me out?'
However, a few seconds later her usual snide look returned, and Shinji braced himself for the inevitable explosion. He was not disappointed.
"This is all your fault." She said in her usual accusatory tone.
"M...my fault, why is this my fault?" Shinji asked, stuttering over his words. He was not sure if it was fear, anger, or awe over how Asuka looked that caused the stutter.
"Stop staring at me like that, you pervert."
Further argument was cut off by the sound of rustling bushes at the far edge of the clearing. Both pilots turned their heads toward the noise, and watched as something from their worst nightmares crawled into the clearing.
It was grotesque - whatever it was. It was some sort of monster with four legs, and grey skin. It had a horrifying face, with a long snout full of teeth, and a curved horn projecting from the top of its snout. It had a long, dexterous tail which it used to balance its body. Its soulless black eyes stared directly at the pilots.
Saliva dripped from its jaws, as it opened its mouth and let out one of the most horrible sounds they had ever heard. It sounded like some kind of demonic laughter.
The creature seemed to just stroll casually around the clearing, circling the two pilots. It kept its distance from the EVAs, but never let the pilots from its sight.
Suddenly the monster leapt at them. Shinji grabbed Asuka and pushed her out of its path. However, the monster passed right over their heads, not even touching them. Once again it let out its insane laughter.
For the next few minutes the beast toyed with them. Sometimes it would lunge in their direction and then suddenly stop; as if it just wanted to watch them flinch. Other times it would lower its horned head and paw the ground; acting like it was going to charge them. It never did though; it would just start laughing again.
"It's playing with us." Asuka whispered to Shinji, her face pale with fear.
The monster looked like it was about to start with its games again when suddenly a new sound was heard. It was a high pitched whine.
"Get down!" A voice yelled at them, in English.
Asuka dived for the ground, Shinji just moments behind her.
A whistling sound was heard, followed a few seconds later by an explosion and a wash of heat. Asuka was the first to look up.
The monster was gone. Where it had stood was a smoking crater; no evidence of the beast remained.
Once again the pilots heard laughing, but this time they were relieved that it sounded like a human.
"Don't you know that it's dangerous to park out here after 5 pm?" They heard the voice from before asked jokingly from behind them.
Shinji turned around and saw their rescuer. He stood about 5'10 and was a little overweight. He had dark brown hair which he cut short and green eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses. There was also a smile on his face which looked like it never went away and a jovial twinkle in his eyes.
He was standing in front of the strangest vehicles that Shinji had ever seen. It looked like some kind of bike, but the wheels looked more like landing gear.
"You two can get off the ground now, otherwise someone might think you were doing something naughty." The guy said.
This statement managed to shake Asuka from her state of shock.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!!!" Asuka screamed.
"How can you even imagine me and this spineless baka doing anything of the sort?"
"Wel,l your torn clothing does tend to make one wonder, your choice of venue is remote, and - if it weren't for the demons - I'm sure this would make a fine make out spot." The man just seemed to be enjoying every second of this, and he wasn't even afraid of Asuka's wrath.
Asuka turned bright red, turning away from Shinji and the man in embarrassment.
She was in luck though, Shinji had not noticed as he had also turned a bright red.
"Och laddie, we are here to rescue them; not turn them into tomatoes." A second, deeper voice said from behind the man.
Shinji looked past the guy and saw what looked like a dwarf - straight from some RPG - standing next to unit-01 and attaching some strange device to it. The "dwarf" finished attaching the device and turned towards the two pilots.
"You'll have to forgive Marc here; he seems to think that he's funny." The dwarf said, indicating the man who had saved them.
The man, Marc, grumbled something in a language that Shinji did not recognize. He then headed off into the clearing and out of Shinji's line-of-sight.
The dwarf offered Shinji his hand, helping him back on to his feet.
"The name's Grunir Thorson, Techno-Wizard Inventor Extraordinaire." Grunir stated, giving his name and title.
"Yeah, it's extraordinary when one of your inventions works." Marc jeered from the direction of unit-02.
Shinji's mind was buzzing with questions, but before he could get a single one out, another voice announced itself.
"Oh you poor dears, have you had to put up with these two cretins for long?" This came from a woman, who hopped out of another strange vehicle. It looked to Shinji like a floating car.
She was quite attractive, with her long golden blond hair, bright blue eyes, and a tall, slender body. She was wearing some sort of body armor with a red cross on the chest, indicating that she was some sort of medic. At least Shinji guessed that was what it meant.
"Hi, I'm Valerie Nostrom, though my friends call me Val." The woman, Val, walked over to Shinji and pulled out a hand held device which she then waved over his body.
"Well, you seem to be in perfect condition; no internal injuries or broken bones. You might want to fire your tailor though; it looks like he gave you the wrong size of clothes."
Shinji - who had been in a slight daze ever since he woke up - looked down at his plug suit and saw what Val had been referring to. It was stretched way tighter than normal, and was developing tears in many areas. He also noticed that the plug suit was emphasizing some parts of his anatomy, and quickly developed a deep blush.
Val noticed this and chuckled, "Don't worry kid; nothing I haven't seen before." She winked as she said this, which only caused Shinji to turn a deeper red.
"What's your name kid?" Val asked.
"S...Shinji, Shinji Ikari." Shinji answered.
"Pleased to meet you, Shinji. I'm sure Grunir has already introduced himself, and you already know me, but the guy over there is Marc Fitzler."
Val pointed at Marc, who was busily attaching the same strange devices that were on unit-01 to unit-02.
"Hey, what are you doing to my EVA?!" Asuka yelled.
"Who is she?" Val asked Shinji.
It was at this point that Shinji realized that he couldn't speak English very well, as he had not used it since Junior High. The confusion must have shown on his face, as Val laughed, then pointed to a device in her ear and another on her neck, which Shinji had mistaken for jewelry.
"These are universal translators of sorts. It's a good thing you speak an Earth dialect, otherwise we might have had a little trouble in communicating at first."
"I've never heard of technology like that." Shinji said to her.
"No? Hmm, I thought with those giant robots of yours..." Val went silent for a moment at this, seemingly deep in thought.
"Where are we?" Shinji asked, interrupting Val's train of thought.
"All your questions will be answered once we get back to base." Val said.
"But you never answered my question, who is she?" Val indicated Asuka, who was currently yelling at Marc to stop messing with her EVA.
"Her name is Asuka Langley Sohryu, she's...we work together." Shinji paused, unsure of how much he should tell her.
"Alright, everything's ready; we can take off whenever we like." Marc said, as he finished up with whatever he had been doing.
"C'mon kid, when we get back to base I promise you that you will be informed of everything you need to know."
Shinji wasn't sure, but he thought he saw a look of pity in Val's eyes.
Marc ran over to his bike and turned it on. Shinji was amazed to see it lift off from the ground. It was some sort of flying bike.
Grunir indicated to Asuka that she should get into the hover car, to which she loudly replied that she wasn't going anywhere.
"Suit yourself lass, but just so you know there's another one of those wee beasties out there." As soon as Grunir mentioned this, Asuka quickly jumped into the hover car and loudly demanded to know why they weren't leaving yet.
"Is she always like that?" Val asked as she and Shinji headed toward the hover car.
"Yeah, pretty much." Shinji replied. A thought then occurred to him.
"Wait a second, what about our EVAs? Are we just going to leave them here?" Shinji asked as the hover car lifted off.
"Why don't ya look behind us?" Grunir indicated from the controls in the front seat.
Both Eva pilots looked behind them and gasped. There, flying in the wake of the hover car, were units 01 and 02.
"How is that possible?" Asuka asked, so stunned that her voice was lacking the confidence that it usually conveyed.
"It's a little device I've been working on called a FeatherLite generator. It uses a Light as a Feather spell to make whatever it is attached to become weightless." Grunir explained, not noticing the looks of utter shock on the pilots' faces.
"Where are we?" Asuka asked Shinji.
Shinji just shrugged in stunned silence.
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Location: Infirmary, Auberge research facility
Dr. Ritsuko Akagi awoke to an unfamiliar ceiling, feeling as though she had pulled an all nighter with Misato.
"What happened? Where am I?" She asked herself.
She looked around the room she was in and saw that it was some sort of hospital room, but not like the kind she was used to. Some of the devices she could recognize, but some of the others were completely alien to her.
"Ah, you're up I see." A cheery voice said from the doorway.
Ritsuko looked over and saw a lady in a nurse's scrubs entering the room. She had a cheerful smile on her face and looked to be about 25 years old.
"Excellent, you're the first one to wake up." The nurse stated as she moved around the room.
"The first one to wake up? Were others hurt? Who else is here?" Ritsuko asked, her mind already going over worst case scenarios on how bad the meltdown had been.
"Well, there's another young woman, who has the strangest hair color. I don't believe I have ever seen naturally purple hair before. Also, there were two young gentleman brought in, one of whom was clutching a camera of some sort as if his life depended on it. There was also a young girl and the pilot of that robot outside - the albino girl – the one that Scott carried in. I've also heard that Val and her team found two more of those robots and their pilots, and are bringing them back here."
"What happened to me? Where am I?" Ritsuko asked the nurse the same question she had asked herself.
"Well, as to what happened to you we don't exactly know, and were hoping you could tell us. But this is the Auberge research facility's infirmary wing." The nurse stated as she poured a glass of water for her patient.
"Here, drink this." Ordered the nurse, who handed the water to Ritsuko and then headed to the door.
"Hey wait, what's going to happen to me?" Ritsuko asked.
"When the rest of your group wakes up, Mr. Auberge would like to set up an interview with all of you. Now get some rest, I'll let you know when the rest of your people have awoken." With that, the nurse walked out, leaving a very confused Dr. Akagi behind her.
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Location: Head researcher's office, Auberge research facility
"Yes sir, Grunir and Val are heading back now with the two robots - EVAs they called them - and their pilots."
Damon Auberge looked at the speaker built into his desk, listening intently as Marc gave his report.
"So you're sure that they are from another dimension?" Damon asked.
"Pretty sure, they seemed surprised by my Sky Cycle, and from what Grunir just told me they seem pretty unfamiliar with magic too."
"Alright good work, I'll see you when you return to base, Damon out."
Damon listened as Marc cut the link, and then sat back in his chair to think.
'Well, that makes eight of them all together, plus three of those robots.'
Damon looked back over Scott's short report, and once again marveled at his findings. The robot - or whatever it was - had an aura, which could only mean one thing. It was - in some way - alive.
'We'll need to do some more testing as soon as possible.' Damon sat back and began to plan for the future.
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Next chapter...5: Q&A
Special thanks: Eternally Lost Zeppo, whose amazing pre-reading has once again kept this story from looking like something you would read in a 3rd grade English class.
A/N: I know I left some unanswered questions with this chapter, but that's what the next chapter is for. 'Til the next chapter.
Omakes- written by vcharlie.
OMAKE (1): chapter 4: Discoveries
"Shinji you baka, get down here!" Asuka yelled up at him.
While yelling at him allowed her to relieve some of her pent up emotions, though she would never admit that she had yelled at him just to get him down there with her.
Shinji jumped at the sound of her voice, and then began to climb down the Eva. He reached ground out of Asuka's line of sight, took a moment to collect himself, and then turned to face the red-haired pilot.
A second later, two shrieks filled the air.
"What happened to you?" They both yelled, almost simultaneously.
Asuka couldn't believe her eyes; this couldn't be wimpy little Shinji. He was too old, too handsome to be Shinji. However, upon closer inspection she could see the similarities. In fact, he looked kind of like his father, though much younger, and without the beard.
'I must be dreaming again.' Asuka thought it was one of those wet dreams.
"Oh Shiji." Asuka said in a melodious voice.
'Well it's time for Eve to entice the reluctant Adam. The world's population won't spontaneously pop out of the ground.' Asuka mischievously thought.
-End of OMAKE (1)-
OMAKE (2) chapter 4: Discoveries
Dr. Ritsuko Akagi awoke to an unfamiliar ceiling, feeling as though she
had pulled an all nighter with Misato.
"What happened? Where am I?" She asked herself.
She looked around the room she was in and saw that it was some sort of
hospital room, but not like the kind she was used to. Some of the
devices she could recognize, but some of the others were completely
alien to her.
"I think that's a heart monitor, there's, something that resembles a
brain monitor, and a very animated anal probe."
Not that she was complaining of course. With a little bit of
rubbing and some naughty thinking of Gendo she became quite happy.
-End of OMAKE (2)-
Here are some more review responses:
Vcharlie- Damn, when you leave a review, you leave a review. Ch.5 and 6 should hopefully answer some of those questions you have about the origins of rifts earth and the character's backstories. I really liked your theory on how the Lance of Longinus works. I won't be using the Lance in this Book, but it will appear in Book 2. If I happen to use that theory of yours, I'll make sure you receive full credit for it.
Eternally Lost Zeppo- I am being mysterious with the Auberge team for a good reason. This is a three book story and some of the questions raised in this book won't be answered until books 2 and 3. Don't worry though, the main premise of the Auberge team will be revealed by the end of this book.
X-over- Thanks for all the websites you sent me. EVA info galore.
Andross937- Okay, I've got a couple of ideas bouncing around in my head and I might be sending you an e-mail containing them in the next few days. Any advice you could give would be appreciated.