Well here's chapter three and I am soooo sorry I haven't updated it in quite a while. I just couldn't get it to flow right, it just wouldn't come together properly.
Disclaimer: (See First Chapter)
A Demon Changes Everything
Chapter 3
"This is Dialogue"
'This is Thought'
#This is conversations on comlinks, vidlinks, phones, etc.#
("This is Telepathic conversation")
((This conversations in another language))
"Rei Ayanami, age fourteen. The first of the test subjects chosen in accordance with the Marduk Report. The First Child, designated Pilot for the Evangelion Unit-00. Her past has been eradicated, all of her personal records have been erased." stated Ritsuko,
"So, do we have any idea what caused that incident during the last experiment?" asked Misato,
"We still don't know, however we believe that mental instability on the part of the Pilot was a primary factor."
"Mental instability? In Rei?"
"Yes, her mind became much more disturbed than we had anticipated." explained Ritsuko,
"So. What did happen?"
"I don't know. But she could have…"
"Did something occur to you?" asked Misato,
"No, it can't be that."
Shinji glanced up at the clock, "hmm, 06:30 pm. Rits should be here soon." he turned off the stove just as Misato came in.
"Aww, I was planning making some instant Ramen." she complained while pouting to make him feel bad.
"Look Misato, she's coming over to eat, not to be put in the hospital!"
Misato glared at him, "My cooking isn't that bad!"
"The only reason you can eat it is because you adapted to it over the years." he replied smugly.
Shinji was luckily save by the doorbell ringing, he quickly dished it out the food while Misato answered the door.
After settling down Ritsuko looked at the food fearfully, "Misato didn't cook, did she?"
Shinji smirked at Misato and she just glared at him, "No, I cooked. I didn't think you'd want to end up at A&E, plus I don't think it'll look good if people found out Misato poisoned you."
Ritsuko hesitantly brought the food to her mouth expecting it to be bad, of course she like most people didn't expect a fourteen year old to cook good, "This is incredible, a lot better than Misato's."
Misato growled, "Hey! It's not my fault you don't like good food."
Ritsuko smirked, "You know Shinji, you really ought to consider moving out. You shouldn't let one bad roommate ruin your entire life. If you like you could move in with me." she finished jokingly,
Shinji smirked, "I knew it! You just want me for my body, I knew you couldn't resist me." Ritsuko blushed scarlet causing Shinji to laugh, "Don't worry 'bout it Rits, I'll get used to it hopefully."
"He's right Ritsuko never underestimate the ability of the human animal to adapt to it's environment right? And anyway if he does move…" Misato paused as she realized her beer can was empty, "Shinji? Could you get me another one?"
"Sure" said Shinji as he went to the Kitchen, he paused to look at the passed out Penguin who looked content with his bulging belly. Grabbing the can he handed it to Misato.
Misato thanked him and continued where she left off, "He's gonna have to go through an awful lot of trouble and red tape. He just got his permanent security card you know."
"Oh! I almost forgot again. Shinji I need a favor?" asked Ritsuko searching her bag, "Ah here it is, this is Rei's new security card. I keep forgetting to give this to her, would you mind delivering it to her before you go into headquarters?"
"Err, I… Don't know." seeing the pout on her face his iron will caved in, Shinji sighed, "Okay."
Shinji took the card and stared at it, unfortunately Misato saw this, "What's the matter, you're staring at Rei's picture aren't you?" She teased.
A feral growl came out of Shinji throat, "Piss off Misato! You don't know anything!" 'She looks like mother, that bastard must be trying to replace her.' he thought as he glared at the picture.
Sitting down he turned to Ritsuko, "I was wondering, what is it about Rei that makes Gendo closer to her?"
Ritsuko seemed flustered, "Sh- She's a nice girl, but she's like him. She's not very adept at…"
"She's not very adept at what?" asked Misato suddenly curious.
She's not very adept at living I guess." she replied.
The next morning Shinji left earlier to drop by Rei's to drop of her security card. After a short walk he arrived at her apartment complex, "If this is what you get for being Gendo's pet, I'm glad I'm staying with Misato. Although, Misato's was almost the same way."
The entire complex was a mess all the windows were smashed, the doors were hanging from their hinges and rats were running around in the dozens. He tried the com but it wasn't working, he tried the door to see if it was open, to his surprise it was. He walked in and frowned, the floor looked like it hadn't been cleaned ever, 'Even rats wouldn't live like this, that's probably why they're outside' he thought as he entered the living area. The frown deepened, there were bandages on the floor all still covered in blood, the pillow on her bed even had blood on it.
He tried the light switch but nothing happened, 'It would seem she has no electricity as well.'
"Ayanami?" he called out.
No response
Listening closely her heard the sound of water running, deciding to wait, he sat down on the chair in the middle of the room. Shinji's thoughts changed as he thought about Rei, he couldn't help feel sorry for her. He wondered why Gendo left her to live in this dank and dirty cesspool of an apartment, surly he wasn't so cheap as to let continue staying here. Surly he would move her to an apartment like Misato's or even his own house. His thoughts were cut of as he heard the bathroom door open and some one exit. He didn't bother moving or even turning his head in the direction of the bathroom.
"Can I help you Pilot Ikari?" asked Rei as she entered the living area,
"Actually you can." he replied turning his head in her direction, "I was asked to give you your new security card." his eyes subconsciously roamed over her body, noting that she was quite well endowed for her age.
"May I have it?" Shinji blinked realizing he'd been staring, reaching in to his pocket he pulled out the card and handed it to her, "Thank you."
Standing up Shinji made his way to the door only to pause and turn around,
"Is something wrong Pilot Ikari?" asked Rei curiously,
"Um… Would you mind if I walk to Nerv with you?"
Rei stared at him as if she was trying to see into his soul, "That would be acceptable."
Shinji just blinked in confusion completely ignoring the fact she removed the towel she was wearing totally ignorant to his presence. After she was dressed they both left for Nerv
Shinji and Rei both stood on an escalator heading down, Shinji looked at Rei's back as he tried to think of something, anything to talk about, 'Damn! How do you get someone brought up to be a doll to talk? Hmm… maybe you've got to pull the right string. Oh well worth a try.' "Hey Ayanami? Don't you have an Activation test today?"
Silence
"Umm, aren't you scared? Aren't you afraid of piloting Unit-00?"
"Why" she asked quizzically,
"I…um heard you were hurt pretty bad in an earlier experiment. So I thought…you…um"
"Aren't you Commander Ikari's son?"
"Unfortunately" he replied
"Don't you have faith in your own father's work?"
"Not really. But my father didn't make the Evas, so I'm not as untrusting of them. Heck I wouldn't put it past the bastard to put a bomb in my Eva."
Rei spun around on the escalator coming face to face with him. Looking into her red eyes he felt him self becoming unnerved which surprised him considering he'd fought creatures more intimidating than Rei.
SLAP!
Shinji was quite surprised, she had slapped him, him a Demon something to be feared and hated. His mind wandered on to other things as she walked down the escalator away from him.
Shinji stood leaning against the back wall in the observation room, as he stared out the window at Unit-00 as his father spoke to Rei. He couldn't help but smirk as he felt the fear emanating from the Nerv staff. His smirk was short lived as Maya stated that Unit-00 had activated, he'd been hoping that the activation would fail so he could fight the berserker Eva. His head shot to the side as his smirked came back full force, 'So you've finally arrived, Ramiel'
"Ikari, an unidentified object is rapidly approaching Nerv central. It may be the fifth Angel." reported Fuyutsuki,
"Abort the test. Place all operations on first stage alert" ordered Gendo,
"You're not going to use Unit-00 are you?" asked Fuyutsuki
"She's not ready to fight yet." Gendo turned to Ritsuko, "Unit-01's status?"
" 'Garuda' can be ready in 380 seconds" answered Ritsuko,
Gendo frowned, he had no control over Garuda like he did Unit-01. He quickly hid his frown, "Make it so."
Ritsuko nodded, "Yes, Sir."
Shinji smirked all the way to the changing room as he thought, 'Finally, one of the greatest of challenges. The only Angel with a perfect offence and defense, this shall be interesting.'
Shinji sat anxiously in Garuda as he waited to be launched he'd been waiting for Ramiel to show he'd actually thought Ramiel would have been the last Angel to show up. But as the saying goes 'You can't look a gift horse in the mouth'.
As Garuda was put on the launch pad he frowned he could feel the power build up and he knew that the Magi's sensors would pick it up too late. As soon as Garuda hit topside he dived to the right just in time to miss the beam of energy that would have gone through his chest.
He kept running as he narrowly avoided Ramiel's energy beams, #I could really do with some strategic advise right about now!#
#Shinji , get in close and try stabbing through it's body.# came Misato's reply,
#Easy for you to say! You're not being shot at by an over grow grain of salt!# Shinji dodged yet another beam, he blinked in surprise as he counted the seconds it took for Ramiel to charge the beam before firing. 'Damn! Only have a 17 seconds interval to get in close. God Damn it!'
Garuda's palm glowed with blue energy as he focused his energy, the energy collected before a spike made of energy slid out his elbow,
'Ok Shinji, stay focused. Just remember it's only a giant grain of salt. Yeah right who am I kidding? Since when has a grain of salt tried to kill you?' Shinji cut short his mental tirade as Ramiel shot off another beam, now was his chance. Garuda disappeared only to reappear right next to Ramiel, he pulled his hand back and slammed his palm onto Ramiel's shell like body. The energy spike shot through his arm and pierced Ramiel's body.
Suddenly Shinji felt a power build up right where his head is, "Oh Shi-" Shinji didn't waste a second as he dropped to the ground. Unfortunately the beam followed leaving him the only option to roll out of the way, #Misato, a little help!#
#Shinji, fall back!# ordered Misato, #We'll come up with another plan of attack.#
Shinji continued to dodge the energy beams while making his way to the launch pad. He glanced back to the nearest launch pad, unfortunately he was hit in the arm completely severing it. Shinji grit is teeth, he was getting annoyed. He dodged right then dived forward grabbing his arm off the ground, finally ducking under the next he dived down on to the nearest launch pad which immediately descended.
Shinji let out a breath of air he didn't know he'd been holding, while on the launch pad he held his severed arm to the bloodied stump as tendons and ligaments reconnected. As soon as Garuda was in his cage, Shinji went to find Misato, he unsurprisingly found her in the control bridge.
"Hey Shinji, How you doing?" greeted Misato,
"Quite well for someone who had his arm shot off." he replied casually,
Misato frowned, "Why don't you go home and get some rest, we'll contact you when we have a plan."
Shinji shrugged, "Yeah, sure."
As soon as Shinji had left Misato turned to Makoto, "So, what do we know?"
"Well, from the data we've collected we're assuming the Angel automatically attacks any opponent that enters a certain range. So there's a 100 probability that if anything enters that range it will be targeted. It's too risky for close range combat in an Eva as we've already seen."
Misato's frown deepened, "What's the status of its AT Field?"
"It's still active." stated Makoto, "It's strong enough that the spatial changes in phase are visible. And needless to say, using conventional means of attacks, guided missiles, artillery and bombs would inflict more damage on us than on the Angel!"
"Yeah, offensively and defensively it's almost perfect. A flying fortress." Misato paused, "What's the status of its current location?"
"At this moment the target is directly above us, penetrating the Tokyo 3 null zone. A giant drill with a diameter of 17.5 meters is boring towards Nerv HQ." said one of the Technicians,
"It appears that the enemy is going to attack Nerv Headquarters directly." said Makoto stating the obvious,
"What's it's ETA?" asked Misato,
"00:06:54 am, just after midnight. By that time, it will have breached all twenty-two levels of the defense armor, and will penetrate Nerv Headquarters itself." replied a Technician,
Misato frowned, 'Less that ten hours…' "What's the status of Garuda?"
"All Nerv and muscle damage is fully repaired." stated Ritsuko,
"And Unit-00?"
Maya looked down at the report, "The reactivation of Unit-00 shouldn't prove a problem, but there's still a feedback error remaining."
"So it wouldn't survive combat." Misato got a thoughtful look, "Hmm, There's something I want to try."
Misato stood in Commander Ikari's office under Gendo watchful gaze while Fuyutsuki questioned her, "You want to use a sniper to shoot the target from outside it's firing zone?"
Misato nodded, "Yes, Sir. Instead of trying to neutralize the target's AT Field, I believe a pinpoint shot with a focused high energy beam is the only way."
"And what did the Magi say?"
"The response from the Magi's super computers were two affirmative and one conditional affirmative." replied Misato,
"Our probability of success is 8.7 percent." said Fuyutsuki,
"It's the highest value we could get."
"I see no reason to reject your plan." said Gendo finally speaking, "You may proceed, Captain Katsuragi."
Misato nodded, "Yes, Sir."
"You know how crazy this whole operation is, don't you, operations director Katsuragi?" ask Ritsuko as both her and Misato descended further into Nerv on the escalator,
"Don't be rude. It's not crazy! It can be done within nine hours, and has the highest chance of success."
"It does? Really?" arriving at the armory, Ritsuko gazed up at their positron rifle, "But our positron rifle can't handle such a high output. What are you going to do about that?"
"If ours wont work, we'll borrow one."
"Borrow one? You don't mean…"
Misato smiled, "Yeah, Strategic Self Defense Force's new prototype."
At the testing area of all new Nerv equipment, Misato stood before the officer in charge, she handed him a Warrant, "I've come on behalf of Nerv to hereby requisition the prototype self propelled positron canon as of 15:00 today."
"But this is just, so ridiculous!"
"We'll do our best to return this in as close to it's original condition as we can. Thank you for your co-operation! Have a nice day." turning she shouted, "It's all yours Rei! Take it away!"
The staff of the testing area all gasped as the roof was ripped off by Unit-00, and the boxed positron rifle was taken away, "Be careful. That's a precision piece of machinery!" chided Misato,
"But ma'am? Our latest calculations show that it will take at least 180million kilowatts to penetrate that Angels AT Field. Just where exactly are you planning on getting that much electricity?"
Misato smirked, "Where do you think I'll get it? All over Japan!"
Shinji sat on the roof of the apartment glaring at Ramiel, he wanted to beat him without any help, but it seems he couldn't. he sighed sadly, he didn't want anybody else to have to fight and possibly get hurt. He knew what the Angels were capable of and to some extent, he was afraid of what they could do. He brought his hand up in front of him, his hand glowed as a spike of energy came out of his palm,
"Even with Sachiel's and Shamshel's abilities it wasn't enough!" he looked up at Ramiel, "I wonder if your powers will be any help?" he clenched his fist dispersing the energy as he did, "Will any of your powers be enough to help?"
Sighing yet again he looked up at the sky, 'I wonder if Akira's having a better time, taking care of rogue Demons? Heh, of course he is, who wouldn't?'
His gaze landed on the ground, underneath he could sense a lot of activity in Nerv, "It would seem she's come up with an idea." he commented running his hand through his hair.
He paused when he heard a News reader on T.V, #We apologize for interrupting our regular programming, for this emergency bulletin. From 11:30 pm tonight until tomorrow morning, there will be a large scale blackout throughout most of Japan, we appreciate your co-operation.# seconds later the same was broadcast by a tannoy throughout the city.
Nerv HQ…
"The shield has just broken through the seventh defensive layer." said a technician,
"What's the status on the energy supply system?" asked Misato,
"Umm, we're running about 3.2 behind schedule. But we should be finished by 11:10." explained Makoto,
"And the Positron rifle?" she asked,
#For the honour of technology development, section three. We bet that we'll have it built in three hours.# said a technology development tech over a com,
"And how is our defence coming along?" she asked,
"Well…a shield is about the best we could come up with." said Ritsuko, "It was sort of part of the space shuttle. It may look ugly, but it's got a electromagnetic base coating that section two guarantees will stand up to the enemy's particle beam for at least seventeen seconds."
"Good work, Ritsuko. What about the sniper position?" asked Misato,
"Taking geographical features and access to power transformers into consideration, this is our best choice." said Makoto bringing up an area on a map,
"Right. Everything's looking good. Our sniper will attack from atop of Mt. Futago! We will commence at 12:00 am tomorrow morning! From this point on, this operation will be called, 'Operation Yashima'."
Principle, Tokyo 3 first Junior High…
"They're really late, we ought to evacuate to a shelter." said Toji as he, Kensuke and a few other students stood on the roof of the closed school,
"No way! I hacked into my dad's data files, I'm absolutely sure this is the time and place it said!" said Kensuke,
"Well okay then, where in the heck are they?" asked Toji. As if by command a flock of birds took flight as the mountainside shook and parted,
"That entire mountain is moving!" said Toji,
"There they are! The Evangelion!" exclaimed Kensuke.
The first to be seen was Garuda followed by Unit-00 carrying the space shuttle shield, Garuda turned his head to look at the school causing most of the boys to gasp, "Totally Awesome!" exclaimed most of them upon seeing the Evas. They began to cheer as they took steps away from the launch pads they were attached to and made their way to Mt. Futago.
8:10 pm, Mt. Futago…
#The shield has penetrated through the seventeenth layer of armour. It will reach HQ in three hour and fifty-two minutes.# warned a tech,
#Power supply stations from Shikoku and Kyushu is completed.# said another,
#Beginning tests of each cooling system.# said a female tech,
"This is a very delicate piece of machinery! Handle it carefully!" chided Ritsuko as Garuda put the Positron rifle on its stand.
A few minutes later Shinji stood glaring at the rifle, he really hated using weapons, "This thing wasn't really built for field operations. Will it really work?" he asked Ritsuko,
"Point taken, but we have no choice. This was the most expedient way of achieving our goal." explained Ritsuko,
"Are you sure it's safe to use?" he asked not really trusting the giant weapon that could quite possibly blow up in Garuda's face,
"Theoretically, yes. However, we're not sure if the cannon barrel and accelerator will be able to handle the stress or not. This is the first time it's ever been fired with such a high power output behind it.." commented Ritsuko,
"Listen up!" said Misato causing everybody to look at her, "Here are the battle plans for the operation. Shinji…you and Garuda will be the gunner." Shinji nodded reluctantly, "Rei, you will cover him with Unit-00."
Rei simple replied with a quiet, Yes."
"The reason for this arrangement is because Shinji has a higher sync ratio with Garuda, and this operation will require an exceptional high degree of precision. Since the positron beam will be influenced by the Earth's gravity, magnetic fields and rotation, it will not fire in a straight line. You must remember to adjust for these deviations , you must penetrate the Angel's core precisely." explained Ritsuko,
"Ritsuko, just so you know. I know jack shit about guns and don't like using them. So I have no idea what the fuck you're talking about!" said Shinji as politely as he could,
"Don't worry. Just do what the manual says. As soon as the indicators in the center converge, just pull the trigger. The computer will handle the rest. Also be aware that before you can fire the rifle a second time, you will first have to wait for the unit to cool, then replace the fuses and reload. You've got to hit it the first time."
"Umm, just curious. But why did you tell me all that bull shit about Earth's gravity, magnetic fields and shit, if the computer gonna do it for me?" asked Shinji, when she didn't answer he asked a more sensibly question, "What if I miss? Or the enemy shoots back?"
"Shinji, don't even think about something like that." said Ritsuko seriously, (Is she anything but?) "You must destroy the Angel with your first shot."
"I…I'm just to defend Unit-01, is that correct?" asked Rei,
"Yes." replied Ritsuko,
"It's time." said Misato, "Get geared up."
"Right." replied Rei and Shinji in unison.
Mt. Futago, just before 0:00 am…
Shinji and Rei each sat on a shoulder restraint looking out across Tokyo 3,
"Hey, Ayanami? Why do you pilot this thing?" asked Shinji,
"Because I'm bonded to it." replied Rei.
Shinji raised an eyebrow, "Bonded?"
"Yes, it's a bond."
"You mean to Gendo?" he asked,
"To all people." she replied,
"You're a strong person Rei, there's not many left in the world, like us. Most have become weak, relying on children to save them." commented Shinji,
"I have nothing else." she paused before standing up, "It's time, let's go." Shinji watched as she got in her Eva, a frown adorning his face.
Shinji sat in Garuda he openly glared at Ramiel, he didn't really pay attention as Misato gave the orders to the tech staff. He was brought out of his glare by a command,
#Release final safety lock.# said Makoto. Shinji loaded the fuse, as a visor came down over his face,
#Error correction for Earth rotation and gravity is 0.0009. Voltage is 0.2 short of critical.# said one of the techs, #Seventh and Tenth connections engaged! Transmitting all energy to the positron rifle!#
Another tech began the countdown till Shinji was to fire, #9…8...7...6...5...4#
#Detecting a high energy output, from the target!# shouted Maya,
The tech ignored her and continued his countdown, #…3...2...1...#
#Fire now!# ordered Misato, Shinji did so and at the same time the Angel so did the Angel. Both beams shot towards each other, there was a distortion in the air as the tow beams met. They spiralled around each other before firing off behind their owners opponents, both exploding when they hit the ground behind,
#Hurry! Second shot!# shouted Misato, Shinji did as she said as he replaced the fuse,
#Replacing fuses! Initiating recharge!# exclaimed Makoto,
#Barrel cooling in process!# said a female tech, she paused as a reading came up, #We've got another high energy reading building inside the target!#
#No! Not now!# said Misato, #Look out Shinji!#
Shinji waited for the melting sensation, he waited to smell his skin and blood boil. But it didn't come, he looked out from under the visor and saw Unit-00 holding the shield in front of him. He frowned as he waited for the indicators to center so that he could fire,
#Ten seconds!# said Makoto answering Misato's question of how much longer till he can fire, which happened to be what Shinji was going to ask.
Shinji frowned as the shield began to melt, "Hurry up!" he shouted at the computer hoping it'll listen. The indicators flashed as they centred on the target, he pulled the trigger sanding the positron beam from the rifle and straight through the center of Ramiel. Shinji wasted no time as Unit-00 fell to the ground, he ripped off the protective plate and removed the entry plug. Placing it on the ground he manually ejected his own plug and ran down the arm of Garuda. When he got to the plug he ripped off the emergency hatch and peered inside,
"Ayanami! Are you alright?!" he asked hopefully, when she opened her eyes and looked at him he let off a sigh of relief, "You really shouldn't say you have nothing to live for. Life is precious whether, it's one life, or a thousand."
"I…I understand." she said quietly.
Well there you have it. Once again I'm sorry I haven't updated for a while, my next chapter when I get around to writing it should introduce Jet Alone…I think.
Grey Wolf4: I have no idea what the pairing will be anymore, it'll probably be a Shinji/Asuka pairing with maybe a couple of flings on the side.
FFAUTHOR: In truth, I can't tell you if the next chapters will be as good as the 1st or 2nd and I don't have a clue when I'll next update. There's a chance that it'll not be updated for a few months, there's also a chance I could update it next week although I'm doubtful.
Vampwriter: Well as you asked, here's the 3rd chapter, hope you enjoy it!