Tales of Evangelion CH2:

The Ways of Symphonia

I don't own the rights to these products, but I do own a copy of ToS, but that doesn't count.

Rei, Asuka, Collete, Sheena, Presea, and Regal woke with the rising of the sun. Raine and Shinji were still chatting on the ridge. Lloyd, Genis, and Zelos needed to be woken up. Presea and Regal rolled Lloyd out of bed, and Regal tapped Lloyd's head with his boot to rouse him. Collete found a Penguinist Quill in one of the travel bags, and she began to tickle Genis's nose. After a few bats away, Genis finally hit himself in the head and woke up. Zelos was the most stubborn, tossing and snoring when everyone pleaded for him to get up. Not even Asuka's raging voice would wake him.

Zelos flipped over once again, and he wrapped his arms around Asuka's left leg. That was his first mistake. His second mistake was muttering in his sleep. "Come on, Asuka baby, let me show you how we do things on this side." Asuka's rage took over, and her right foot landed in his crotch, and he was sent flying. He landed next to Shinji and Raine, who looked down at the young man, rolling on the ground in pain, awake, but in pain.

"So Sheena finally took it to him." Raine said.

"No, that's Asuka's handiwork. I'd recognize it anywhere." Shinji smiled sadly.

A ring appeared on the ground around Zelos. He began to speak. "Fffff...ffff...First Aid!" He glowed, and he healed slightly. The others walked up to him.

"How'd he do that?" Shinji asked.

"Anyone is able to cast magic spells." Raine said.

"This still hurts like hell." Zelos squeaked.

Asuka responded, "Serves you right for dreaming about me."

"Hey, I can't control my dreams! Does anyone have any ice?"

Genis pulled out his Kendama and began to bounce it as a ring appeared on the ground around him. "I'll take care of that. Icicle!" A piece of ice appeared out of nowhere. With a swing of the Kendama, Genis broke a piece off and handed it to Zelos.

Zelos took it. "Thanks brat!"

"Careful, or next time I'll summon the pointy end where it hurts."

While Zelos healed, Shinji and Lloyd prepared breakfast. Everyone enjoyed the meal. "I'm impressed, Shinji. I thought I knew all the tricks to cooking around here. I guess some otherworldly recipes are always good. Don't tell him this, but you'd probably rival the Wonder Chef." Lloyd said.

"Who?" Shinji responded.

"Don't ask. He'll find us eventually. In the meantime, mind if I use your recipe?"

"Sure, help yourself."

"Lloyd was taught the recipe Curry Ramen."

After everyone ate, they took down the camp. Shinji asked the inevitable question. "What are we going to do now?"

"We'll fly out to the rip and try to pass through to your world." Lloyd smiled.

"Not just yet. They need training." Raine piped up.

"Training?" The three pilots echoed.

"Sylverant and Tethe'-alla are dangerous worlds, with marauders and monsters loose around every turn. You three need to be taught how to fight alongside us."

Shinji said, "Forgive me, but how are we supposed to learn this?"

"By finding some monsters of course."

"What kind of monsters are we talking about?" Asuka asked.

"Giant potatoes, evil ladybugs, killer bunnies, cherry throwing gelatin, the whole works."

"Will we be provided a demonstration of this before going into battle ourselves?" Rei asked.

"You will. Lloyd, with your permission, I'd like to take over battle assignments for a while."

"Sure, go right ahead. You're the Professor, so you know what's best when it comes to teaching."

"Thank you. The assignments will be as follows. Zelos, Genis, Sheena, and myself. Let the lesson begin!"

As they walked along the island, Raine explained how the battle system worked. "Your basic melee attacks are the norm. You use your weapons to smack, slash, etc. Your more powerful moves can be accessed by using your Technical Points. Different special attacks take different amounts of TP, and stronger attacks require more of it. If you run low on TP, you can either use an item to replenish yourself, or use a melee attack on an enemy. One hit equals one TP. At the end of a battle, you get a stronger recharge, and if you eat something, it will go up even more. Once in a while, you can ask some of your fellow fighters to use one of their special abilities to help you out. Certain creatures have weaknesses and resistances to different types of attacks. For instance, Insect creatures are weak against Ice, while Ice is weak against Fire. If you and your team collect enough hits, you will be able to begin a Unison Attack, where all four launch their special attacks without using TP. If you get two matching techniques, they will combine into a fifth attack at the end. Is this all sinking in?"

"Barely. School is so boring after going to college." Asuka said.

"I think I'm getting some of it." Shinji said.

"All relevant data has been recorded." Rei said.

"One more thing. You can block attacks too. A normal block will only work against physical attacks, but elemental attacks must be blocked by a technique that uses TP. Everyone has one." They stop in front of a big blob with grey eyes. "Here we go. Let's start out with these creatures." She steps forward, making contact with the blob.

"Hmm. Not much of a specimen." Raine said, eyeing the two giant mantises and two large ladybugs. "Zelos, attack the first mantis. Sheena, take the second. Genis, you and I will take the ladybugs."

Zelos drew his dagger and began to slash at the mantis. After three hits, it began to take a few bites out of him, but he raised his dagger to block. "Not a chance!"

"Show them a special physical attack."

"Demon Fang!" He swung his dagger near the ground and it created a stun wave that hit the mantis. "Light Spear!" He twirled around, rising upwards, giving two more cuts to the creature.

"Magic Attack."

Zelos pulled back and a ring formed around him. "Fireball!" Three glowing red balls launch from his hand towards the mantis. It falls to the ground.

Sheena moves in armed with her Ice cards. She slaps them onto the second mantis's face, and it leaves a cold crystal cloud on impact. She does this multiple times before the creature decides to counterattack. "Seal Wall!" Cards make a wall around the girl as the attack gets absorbed. She continues the onslaught. "Drain Seal!" She recovers health from what was taken from the creature. She glows. "Hello, new attack! Pyre Pinion Seal!" Cards fly towards the creature from everywhere, and it takes a large hit. It gets knocked down.

"Yes, you can also learn new attacks from using old ones enough times or in certain combinations."

Genis became encircled as he bounced his kendama. "Chill out! Icicle!" A large hunk of ice hit the ladybug from below, and it fell to the ground.

"Normally we Elves are magic users, so our attack power isn't as strong as humans, but we can still use melee attacks if necessary. Many of our magic attacks can hit multiple enemies at once."

Raine became encircled as she held her staff horizontal. "Light! Photon!" The second ladybug became wrapped in orange light and it took some hits. Before the pulse dissipated, the bug disappeared.

"That creature has been defeated. Everyone get a few more hits in!" All three jumped in and attacked the ladybug. Soon it was no more. "It's time! Zelos, begin the Unison Attack!"

He closed in and took a small swipe at a mantis. "Boo-yah!"

Asuka said, "'Boo-yah?' No one's said that since 2004."

Zelos somersaulted in the air with his blade out, "Tempest!"

Lava began to boil up from the ground, "Eruption!" Genis said.

Sheena stuck a card to the creature and it exploded into other cards. "Pyre Seal!"

Raine was the last to go. "Photon!"

Both Raine and Zelos began to glow. Zelos asked, "Are we ready?"

Zelos glowed with the Photon wrap, as Raine said, "Now Zelos!"

He somersaulted through the air, inflicting some major damage on the creature, "Photon Tempest!"

The Unison Attack completed, and the creature disappeared. Genis used an Eruption to get rid of the last one. The battle completed. Genis spoke, "All talk, no action!"

Back in the field zone, the three students applauded as the triumphant heroes returned.

"That was incredible!" Shinji exclaimed.

"I could do twice as good as Zelos." Asuka stated.

"The creatures seemed rather odd." Rei observed.

"I agree that was an easy battle. Sometimes it is much harder, and you have to work much closer together to stun the creature from attacking." Raine said. "Are you three ready to tackle the next batch?"

"Us? Alone? I'm not so sure about that Professor." Shinji looked nervous.

"You won't be alone. I'll be there to back you up. My specialty is medical magic, so I can heal you and increase your status."

"Sounds good to me! Let's bring 'em on!" Asuka jumped up.

Rei calmly stood up, "Let us begin."

"Professor, wait!" Lloyd realized something, "They don't have Exspheres! They'll have problems fighting!"

"Have you forgotten that I do not possess an Exsphere?" Regal asked.

"This is different, Regal. You're a fully grown man. We're only kids."

"This is just self-defense training. If we find some Exspheres along the way, we'll give them to them. Right now, I believe that they will be fine against those four ladybugs I've picked out. Rei, Shinji, Asuka, you're with me in this battle. Let's proceed." Raine interrupted,

Asuka was the first to see the four hovering bugs. "These things are supposed to be dangerous?" She rushed in, only to be knocked down as a beetle tackled her.

Shinji ran up to the beetle that hit her. "Ha, hey, ta!" His lightning cards sent a charge through the bug. "Shock Seal!" He slapped both cards on the bug at the same time and defibrillated it. It countered with a tackle. "Seal Defense!" A shield formed out of the cards, then it dissipated. After a few more hits, Shinji started to tingle. "Is this a new power? Card Barrage!" Shinji shot cards at the bug, and it forced it backwards. He closed in and finished it off. "Drain Seal!" He recovered power with the last hit the bug could take.

Asuka was mad when she got up. In fact, she was glowing red. A bug attacked her and she didn't even flinch. Instead, she turned on the bug. She jumped and took two slices of the beetle with her ice dagger. She pulled back and a red circle formed around her. "Flaming Drive!" A pillar of fire raced towards the beetle. It faltered, and she closed in. She called out "Deomonic Thrust!" as her blade created a shockwave on the ground, and the dagger shot forward. The bug counterattacked. "Not this time! Red Wind!" A red blanket swiped in front of her, flipping the creature around and stunning it. Suddenly she felt really, really good. "And now for something completely different! Chilling Drive!" An ice pillar flowed towards the bug. Because of its weakness, the bug was no more.

Rei began to move forward and slowly swung the kendama around and hit the beetle. The beetle backed up and began to charge her. "AT Protect." An orange octagon stopped the attack. She thought better of the close attack method. She pulled back and a brown ring surrounded her.

While Rei concentrated, Raine added a little magic to the mix herself. "Maybe this will help! Accuteness!" A shockwave spread throughout the field, and the others were surrounded with red waves for a moment. They felt more powerful.

Rei finished her spell. "Quake." The earth opened up under the flying beetle. Since it was airborne, nothing happened until the fissure slammed shut, spraying rock upwards into the beetle. Rei and Shinji got tackled by the last two bugs. A white ring appeared around Rei. "You need help. Double First Aid." Both Shinji and Rei recovered energy.

Raine called out, "You've gotten enough hits. Start the Unison Attack."

Asuka obeyed, closing in on the weakest beetle and attacking it. "Lets get it started, shall we? Demonic Thrust!" She created a shockwave and pushed her dagger into the bug.

"Drain Seal!" Shinji's cards rotated around the bug, giving him more power.

"Quake." Rei let the fissure open up and it damaged the beetle severely.

"Photon!" Raine surrounded the beetle in light.

Shinji and Asuka glowed. Shinji said, "Don't leave it incomplete!"

Asuka thrust her dagger into the beetle and seals swirled around it, creating suction. "Draining Thrust!" And with that the beetle was no more.

The last beetle attacked Asuka. Her life was low, so Shinji played cat and mouse with it to help her. Raine was enveloped in a white ring. "Help is on the way!"

Rei suddenly felt a pulsating emerge in her chest. "Such power!" She put her hands together, and closed her eyes. She began to charge her energy.

"Nurse!" Raine called forth four medics that ran around, healing the entire party. She looked at Rei, who was still charging. 'What in the worlds is she doing?'

Rei spoke aloud. "From the darkness of the night to the brightness of the moon. From all of the heavenly bodies in the night sky. I beg for you to help us now. Starburst!" A five pointed star landed on the final beetle and exploded into quicksilver. The beetle was destroyed.

The battle was over. "Well, we survived." Shinji said.

"That was the most fun I've had in a while." Asuka said.

"There is nothing more to complete here." Rei said.

"Well done class, you all get an A." Raine said.

"Excellent!" The three children said in unison.

As the battlers returned to the field, the others were slack jawed. Lloyd was the first to speak. "How'd you learn Demonic Thrust? I've been trying to master that technique for weeks!"

Zelos was next, "And those elemental Drive attacks were like nothing I've ever seen!"

Sheena fanned herself with her cards, "I'm impressed. You could probably match me, Shinji. You learned an attack I had never even heard of before."

"The way you handled that kendama magic was awesome." Genis said. "It's like you had done it your whole life!"

Collette was nearly speechless. "R...R...Rei! You PRAYED! You asked for power from the heavens! How? I thought I was the only one."

"I noticed that too. You gripped your chest before you began. What was that, Rei?" Raine asked.

Presea understood. "It's her Cruxius Crystal. It's manifesting itself."

Rei nodded, "I did not think so before, but I believe I do have something inside of me. Perhaps this Cruxius Crystal you speak of."

Lloyd asked the unanswerable, "But how? It needs to be applied to the skin like an Exsphere. Hers is on the inside and it works. Does that mean that she also has a Key Crest in there with it?"

Rei responded, "Unknown."

Zelos put an arm around Rei's shoulder. "Well lovely lady, that doesn't matter anyway. Welcome to the club."

"Club?" Rei attempted to look confused.

Collette pieced it together for her. "You came from another world, you prayed, you used magic, and you have a Cruxius Crystal. You probably didn't know it, but you're the Earth's Chosen, just like Zelos and I are for our respective worlds."

Rei's eyes widened with surprise, "I am a Chosen?" She looked down to the young Presea who answered her look with a small smile.

(Author's Note: Didn't expect that once coming did you? Hey, every world in ToS has a Chosen, why not earth? And Rei does seem to be miss miracle, so who would be a better choice?)