This is the longest chapter I've posted to date. It runs for more than twenty pages on Microsoft Word. This chapter borrows a lot of elements from Episode 8 from the Evangelion series, only this time, the battleships are going the other way. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and it uses one of my other favorite kaiju. I just hope you don't get too bored reading it.
Disclaimer: Okay I admit it…I really do own Evangelion and Godzilla! Just kidding.
Chapter 9: Battle on the High Seas: The Dark Guardian Arises
"The situation grows more desperate by the day!" exclaimed Seele 09, "First Godzilla returns. Then Anguirus, Manda, and the Kamacuras. With each one our plans for third impact slip further from our fingers."
"Not to mention the additional machinations of Commander Ikari and his new Unit 14," added another member of the counsel.
"Let us not forget this strange human known as Ishiro Saegusa," commented Seele 01, "It seems at times that he himself is also aware of our plans and actively moves to thwart them." Different members of Seele began to add their own comments in turn.
"If we do not act soon, all of our plans will be for naught."
"We must complete the Eva series and strike while the time is ripe. We must seize all the components for the Instrumentality of Man in NERV's possession."
Then, Seele 01 spoke, silencing his fellows. "Bide our time. That is what we must do. The Eva series is already complete. However, as things stand, using them now would be fruitless and futile. For now we must wait until the opportunity presents itself. And it will."
***
"Let me get this straight," said Misato, thoroughly flustered, "You want me to select an Eva and pilot, and take them to America."
"That's correct," replied Ritsuko without looking up from the paperwork on her desk."
"Care to tell me why?"
Ritsuko sighed and looked up at her friend. "Remember the Jet Alone project?"
"You mean the walking nuclear reactor that went berserk?"
"Yes that one. The American branch of the company heading the project is showcasing their latest Jet Alone model in the Nevada desert. However, they want to demonstrate that the Jet Alone is superior to the Evas by holding a combat trial between the two of them. So they invited us to supply our best Eva and pilot to participate in a combat test against the Jet Alone."
"Are they crazy?" exclaimed Misato, "There's no way the Jet Alone could ever handle an Eva. They wouldn't have a snowflakes chance in hell of even getting past the AT field."
"Wherein our problem lies," said Ritsuko, "The new MK II Jet Alone model carry's a new weapon named the AT Buster. It's designed specifically to pierce AT fields and still do substantial damage to the target."
"How does it work?" asked Misato.
"They haven't released that information to us. We have no idea how this weapon works or even if it actually does. That might be one of the reasons they want a combat trial." Misato could only nod.
"I take it that our choice is Saegusa then," said Misato. Ritsuko nodded in agreement.
"He does have the highest synch ratio and the best combat record," she stated.
"But can we get him away from his work long enough to do a trans-pacific trip and back?"
"We'll have to see about that."
***
Godzilla snorted as he was awakened from his slumber amid the shattered buildings of Old Tokyo. The black leviathan shifted his massive bulk and raised his head to better survey his territory. He inhaled the air deeply, trying to discern the myriad of different scents that passed through his nostrils. The air stank of…intruder. Godzilla, his atomic heart replenished by the radioactivity of the air around him, slipped into the water and disappeared beneath the waves to police his territory.
***
Ishiro looked up from his lab work and eyed Ritsuko warily. "You want me to just drop everything and hop the next flight to America?" He raised a questioning eyebrow. Even though it was rather early in the morning, Ishiro was in the lab, already pouring over all the data he had amassed on Godzilla's genetic structure.
"Actually, you would be traveling with the Pacific fleet on the carrier Over the Rainbow with your Eva."
"And all this for a combat trial in Nevada?"
Ritsuko nodded. She had not expected Ishiro to be happy about the idea. But if anyone was to go, he would be the one. She knew that he had the best chance of proving that the Evas were superior to Jet Alone.
"Well then I should start packing," said Ishiro, smiling, "I've been needing something resembling a vacation for a while. The G-cells can wait for now."
Ritsuko was taken aback. She had thought that he would be reluctant and hesitant to leave his work. But she realized that for a long time now, she had been looking at him as a fellow scientist, not a fourteen-year-old boy who needed to get out once in awhile. After recovering from her surprise, Ritsuko nodded. Ishiro didn't waste any time in leaving to get ready.
As he left, Ishiro remarked, "We pilots obviously don't get a vacation plan. I'll need to talk to the Commander about a salary next."
"And if you don't mind me saying so," commented Ritsuko, "You certainly look like you could use a vacation."
She wasn't kidding. Ishiro's body still looked to be in good condition even though the majority of his activity seemed to consist of sitting in a chair and looking through a microscope or some other instrument. However, it was clear that the strain was taking its toll on the boy. His eyes were slightly red from lack of sleep and had bags under them. His skin, which had been a healthy tan shade when he had first arrived, had turned almost as pale as Ayanami's from all the time he had been staying indoors. Ishiro definitely needed to get out more.
Ishiro chuckled at her remark as he left.
***
"I can't believe they didn't pick me," lamented Asuka as she took a sip from her tea. She threw a glare Ishiro's way. "And don't even try to say anything about it being about Unit 02's dependence on umbilical power."
"Then I won't," replied Ishiro without batting an eyelid.
"Don't
worry about it Asuka," said Shinji, gently laying his hand over her own. After their brief kiss the other night, the
two of them had been careful not to openly show their newly discovered
affection for one another in public.
However, Shinji felt that it was alright for Ishiro to see that they had
grown closer. In fact, he seemed to
already know their feelings for one another.
Also, for some strange reason, Shinji suspected that Ishiro somehow had
a hand in their getting together.
Ishiro had stumbled upon (or
so he claimed) Shinji and Asuka at a local café where they had been enjoying a
light lunch (it was Saturday). Without
hesitating, he told them about how he and Unit 14 were supposed to go to America
to fight in a combat trial against the latest Jet Alone model. This, of course, brought back memories of the
original Jet Alone which had gone berserk in Old Tokyo. Only the desperate actions of Shinji and Misato
managed to bring the robot to a halt and prevent its imminent meltdown. Asuka, for obvious reasons, was less than
enthusiastic about the idea.
"Besides Asuka," encouraged Ishiro, "It would be insulting for them to send you to waste your time crushing a walking tin can."
Asuka nodded imperiously and her two friends held back chuckles. "And don't you forget it," she said only half seriously.
"Besides," added Ishiro, "You two will be able to join me once they actually depart from the harbor. And bring a friend or three along, it'll be nice to have something of a holiday that won't be ruined by giant rampaging, man-eating insects."
"Speaking of which," commented Shinji, "What about the one you were able to capture?"
"Oh him," said Ishiro airily, referring to the Kamacuras that the military had managed to take alive, "He's growing like a weed. I'm glad we had that spare Eva cage that we could modify to contain him."
"How big is he now?" inquired Asuka.
"Fifteen meters tall and climbing," replied Ishiro, "And my suspicions about the G-cells were right too."
"What does that mean?" asked Shinji rather dully.
"It means, baka, that the Kamacuras were created by the incorporation of G-cells into the genetic structure of a praying mantis."
Ishiro nodded and took another sip of his tea. "So when do you leave?" asked Shinji quickly.
"Monday morning, bright and early," said Ishiro happily.
"Don't get too excited about it," grumbled Asuka, "If I recall correctly, the Admiral wasn't too happy about the last time he transported an Eva."
"Oh there's no need to worry about him," replied Ishiro chuckling, "I think the Admiral has reconsidered his position on the Evas after he saw your Unit 02 do what the entire Pacific fleet couldn't." He pushed back his chair and stood up. "Anyway," he said, "I need to get home and start packing." With that, he left the other two children alone with their thoughts.
***
Kensuke nearly put his head through the ceiling when the phone rang; he was so startled. After all, the last thing you hope to get when you're hacking into confidential files is a phone call. As usual, Kensuke had hacked into his father's records for the latest military gossip. A sly smile sprang onto his face when he noticed that Ishiro Saegusa seemed to be the name that was on everyone's mind. Many of his father's coworkers were amazed at how fast Ishiro had made himself indispensable to NERV in ways other than his ability to pilot an Eva. Kensuke had just been browsing through the latest report filed by his father when the phone had rung.
Kensuke, after gathering his wits about him, picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Kensuke?" Shinji's voice came over the line.
Kensuke exploded. "Jeese Shinji, you almost gave me a heart attack."
"Sorry," Shinji's voice carried no hint of the usual shame that he felt when he apologized, "Looking through your dad's files again." Had Kensuke imagined it, or did Shinji's voice sound slightly amused.
"Um," said Kensuke, frantically trying to come up with an answer. Over the phone is not the best way to mention to someone that you've been going through sensitive government information. Finally, he came up with his only defense, changing the subject. "That's beside the point. Why did you call me?"
Shinji seemed all too ready to drop the subject himself. "Remember when we went out to the Pacific fleet to meet Asuka."
"Yeah," replied Kensuke quickly. How could he forget? That had been one of the most fun and bizarre experiences of his life. Well, aside from the recent experience of being chased by a swarm of ravenous man-eating praying mantises.
"Well, the Pacific fleet is going to ferry Ishiro and Unit 14 over to the U.S. for a combat trial. We're gonna hook up with him once the fleet leaves the harbor. I was wondering if you wanted to come along." Shinji's voice was hesitant. On the other end of the line, the boy was counting down on his fingers until the imminent explosion. Three…two…one…
"ARE YOU KIDDING?!" exploded Kensuke, "OF COURSE I WANT TO COME! I WOULDN'T MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY FOR ANYTHING IN THE WORLD!"
I kind of thought so, thought Shinji smugly. "Well, then you'll want to meet us at the airport Tuesday morning. I'll ask Misato to call you with more detailed instructions." He hung up as quickly as he could, trying to get away before Kensuke started to rant.
***
Ishiro neatly packed the few personal belongings he thought he would need for the trip. After he packed clothes and toiletries, he made sure he had enough tools and parts to make sure that he could properly maintain his prosthetic hand. After that, Ishiro made a quick trip to a grocery store and bought a large number of snacks. Military food isn't all it's cracked up to be (which is really saying something).
Finally, after he had packed Ishiro threw himself onto his bed, musing about his recent dreams. As he stared up at the ceiling, his eyes slipped into the infrared spectrum. After finally having his fill of eavesdropping on Asuka's dreams, Ishiro found himself bombarded by visions of his own. It was all very disconcerting. However, none of his dreams were of the same subject matter as Asuka's. And furthermore, they didn't carry anywhere near the same sense of urgency or dread that Asuka's did which led him to two conclusions. First, the visions he had had were more imminent but not as important in the long run. Second, Asuka's dreams warned of a far greater threat than his mind had ever envisioned on its own.
***
The next morning, Ishiro checked into headquarters. He arranged with personnel to have his lab equipment along with several G-cell samples loaded into crates to be checked with the luggage he was taking with him on the carrier. Ritsuko apparently caught wind of this and showed up at his lab while he was supervising the packing of all his equipment.
"I thought you were going to try to get away from all this," she remarked as she stood next to him.
"It's hard for me to put this kind of work down," explained Ishiro, "Particularly when I'm so close to the solution. I can feel it. I've almost worked out the secret to Godzilla's regeneration. A few more hours of study and I should have it."
"You're that close?" inquired a surprised Ritsuko. Ishiro nodded.
"I was really onto something the last time I was working. I'm almost there."
"Well," said Ritsuko, a bemused look crossing her face, "Don't hurt yourself."
***
Half an hour later, Ritsuko made her way into the holding cage. Maya was already there, making some final system adjustments. Standing in front of them, submerged up to its face in cryogenic fluid, was Unit 00. The restored Eva looked much the same as it always had. However, this time it possessed a new feature. Instead of its normal blue armor, it was bone white. The artificial diamond armor refracted the light giving it blue highlights.
"Everything checking out?" inquired Ritsuko, looking over Maya's shoulder at the data screens.
"So far, everything's working fine," said Maya, nodding, "Better in fact. This new armor is over 50% stronger than the original armor for Unit 00."
"What about the new weapon?"
"The plasma cannon is 62% complete," replied Maya, "So far, all of Ishiro's ideas are working out wonderfully. It's too bad we didn't think about this back when the Angels were the problem."
Ritsuko nodded. "It sure would have been easier if we could have captured the energy of their own attacks and turned it back against them." She rested a gentle hand on her protégé's shoulder. "We'll have Rei do her synch test tomorrow monrning." Ritsuko looked out the windows at Unit 00. Are you still in there…mother?
***
On Monday morning, Ishiro woke up bright and early and dressed for the day. Outside the building, he met a car sent by NERV to pick him up and deliver him to the docks where he would board the Over the Rainbow. After placing his bags in the trunk and settling himself into the backseat, Ishiro waited impatiently for the car to take him to the docks.
Upon his arrival, Ishiro saw that Misato was already there, dressed in her trademark black dress and red jacket, to see him off. By the look on her face, it was clear that the woman was not used to waking up so early in the morning.
"Good morning Major," said Ishiro cheerfully, "Isn't it a beautiful morning?"
"Shut up Saegusa," growled Misato, eliciting a chuckle from Ishiro.
"I trust that you'll be joining us tomorrow then," remarked the boy.
"Of course," groaned Misato, "But in addition to Shinji and Asuka, Touji, Kensuke, and Hikari will be coming along as well."
Ishiro nodded. "I figured as much. But suppose that an emergency comes up in Tokyo 3, will Rei be enough to handle any problems that come up?"
"Well, the modifications you suggested to Unit 00 are working out, so we shouldn't have any problems. In addition, the carrier has several rapid transport craft ready to take Shinji and Asuka back to the city if Rei can't handle anything that comes up." Misato rested a hand on Ishiro's shoulder, smiling encouragingly, "It'll be alright."
Ishiro turned to watch as Unit 14 was lifted by cranes and loaded into a modified cargo ship, the bay of which was already filled with cryogenic fluid. He smiled, more than satisfied. "This should prove to be a relaxing vacation."
***
As the leviathan swam, the scent grew stronger in his nostrils. There was an intruder in Godzilla's territory. With each passing moment, Godzilla's fury grew as the audacity of this intruder became steadily more apparent. Then, Godzilla's equally sensitive ears picked up a familiar far away sound magnified by the water around him. It was a low thrumming noise that the monster had learned to associate with humans and their boats. Godzilla was not a stupid creature and it did not take long for his surprisingly complex saurian mind to realize that the intruder was making a beeline for those boats. With renewed vigor, the King of the Monsters swam on.
***
The next day, a military helicopter flew over the open ocean, following the path taken by the now long departed Pacific fleet. Inside the passenger section, Kensuke was going berserk as usual, turning his camera every which way in order to try and take everything in at once. Touji sat next to him with a slightly disgusted look on his face. Behind them sat Asuka and Hikari. Hikari's face was neutral, but Asuka made no effort to hide her disgust for the actions of the brown-haired military fanatic in front of her. The redhead growled something imperceptible about stooges and idiots before turning to look out the window. Behind them sat Shinji and Misato. Shinji was listening quietly to his SDAT player and looking idly out his window with a disinterested expression. Misato was going through some last minute paperwork on a clipboard in front of her and was making no attempt whatsoever to hide her frustration. Every now and then, the woman took the opportunity to take a huge gulp from a thermos of coffee at her side.
It had only been slightly less than twenty four hours since the Pacific fleet had gotten underway, and the helicopter managed to close the distance in less than three hours. Finally, the massive, broad deck of the UN super-carrier Over the Rainbow came into view. At the sight of this, Kensuke went ballistic again, despite the fact that he had already been aboard this exact carrier already once before when it had been part of the fleet taking Eva Unit 02 to Tokyo 3, a fact that Touji couldn't help but point out.
"Chill out Kensuke," muttered Touji, "You've already been on this one before."
"Yeah but you never know when you might have missed something!" Kensuke retorted, nearly smacking Touji in the head with the camera as he whipped it around to start filming something else.
"You'd better put that camera away Aida," growled Asuka, who had had enough, "Or I'm going to stick it where the sun don't shine, permanently."
After a nervous gulp, Kensuke complied with Sohryu's request and put the camera away. After all, Asuka was a girl known for carrying out her threats, with extreme prejudice. Hikari gave Asuka for a disapproving look, a look that the German girl ignored with ease considering that her manner had gotten her what she wanted.
Outside, the deck of the carrier loomed nearer.
***
Ishiro stood on the open deck, waiting to greet his friends as they emerged from the helicopter. The aircraft had not yet set down. While he waited for it to land, Ishiro looked out over the sea. The late morning sun glinted off the azure waters, giving the entire atmosphere a peaceful setting despite the presence of dozens of large battleships bristling with torpedo tubes, missile launchers, and cannons. The ocean was calm this morning and its surface smooth.
Saegusa's expression darkened as he was hit by a sudden sense of looming foreboding. There was something wrong with the current setting that he couldn't place. However, the feeling faded quickly and Ishiro wondered briefly if he had just imagined it. However, his clairvoyant senses rarely failed to alert him when trouble was afoot and they even more rarely gave off false alarms. Ishiro was certain that something not so good was soon to occur.
However, he realized that there was little he could do about it at that particular point and time. All he could do was wait until the situation became much more clear to him.
Behind the distracted boy, the sound of the helicopter's rotors became almost deafening as the helicopter itself set down on the deck of the carrier. Realizing that his friends had arrived, Ishiro turned and went to greet the new arrivals as they came off the plane.
Kensuke and Touji came first. Apparently, the excitement at being back on a carrier deck was too much for Kensuke and despite Asuka's threat; he whipped out his camera and became pointing it in every possible direction. Touji simply walked calmly out from under the still whirling rotors. As he approached, Ishiro extended a hand towards him.
"Suzuhara, it's wonderful to make your acquaintance again," he said, smiling as Touji took the proffered hand.
"Nice to see you too Saegusa," replied Touji, smiling wryly, "Considering you've ditched school ever since your first day."
Ishiro turned his attention to Kensuke. "And you must be Aida," he said, chuckling as Kensuke shook his hand without taking his eye from his roaming cameral lens, "Excited about coming are we?" Kensuke was too preoccupied to answer.
Behind them came Hikari and Asuka. Hikari looked around nervously, slightly overwhelmed by the whole situation. Asuka on the other hand, strode forward as if she owned the boat herself. Heck, she walked as if she herself were the Admiral.
"Hello Asuka," said Ishiro pleasantly.
Asuka gave him an uncharacteristic smile. "It's too bad they didn't select me for my superior talents," she boasted.
"I'm afraid that your superior talents had to make way for my superior Eva," Ishiro retorted. He then turned his attention to Hikari. "I'm glad to see that you haven't been hitchhiking on any more Evas miss Horaki." Hikari blushed slightly at the memory of climbing into Unit 14 during Godzilla's attack on Tokyo 3.
Finally, Shinji and Misato brought up the rear. Shinji stretched as he exited the cramped confines of the helicopter. Misato merely hunched over, grasping her thermos of coffee in one hand while hugging her clipboard to her chest with the other. The look on her face was positively miserable.
Ishiro chuckled. "Having trouble with paperwork Major?" he asked. Misato just glared at him. At the look on her face, Ishiro burst into full blown laughter.
***
"You again," remarked the Admiral glumly, "Brought even more children for me to baby-sit I see."
Misato smiled slyly at the Admiral, "If I recall Admiral, last time it was these children who had to baby-sit you." The glare Admiral leveled at her would have cut down any lesser person, but after years of working for a man like Commander Ikari, Misato didn't even flinch.
Misato and company had gone to the bridge to give all the paperwork to the Admiral. As she had suspected, the Admiral was not happy to see any of their faces again. Oh well, she thought with a mental shrug, I guess I can't really blame him after what happened last time.
"So which is the 6th Child Major?" inquired the Admiral.
"That would be me," replied Ishiro calmly.
The Admiral raised an eyebrow. This boy was certainly different from the other two children he knew to be Eva pilots. His gaze was steady and intense. His eyes seemed to penetrate into the depths of the Admiral's mind and ferret out his darkest secrets. In truth, this new boy was very unsettling.
"We will be arriving at the West Coast of the United States in approximately three weeks," announced the Admiral. "I hope you enjoy your stay," he added, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
***
Ishiro leaned against a railing looking out over the sea. It was so calm and quiet out here. He was glad that he could get away from his studies even for a short time, though he certainly didn't do the work because Ikari told him to do so. In his time studying the G-cells, Ishiro had begun to learn why Godzilla had fascinated his mother to such a degree. Miki Saegusa had spent much of her life observing Godzilla and his surrogate son, trying to learn everything she could about him within the scope of her ability. She had first become involved with studying Godzilla when the Japanese government had asked her to use her powers to try and locate the monster as he moved underwater. She succeeded. Since then, the government had called upon Miki several times to find and observe Godzilla. Eventually, she became an essential member of G-Force, the military organization dedicated to finding a way kill or contain Godzilla. After observing him for so long, Miki felt inclined towards the latter option.
She had even been a crucial part of the MechaGodzilla project's G-Crusher program, using her psychic powers to locate Godzilla's secondary brain and target it for MechaGodzilla's weaponry. She was the primary part of Project T which aimed to use her telepathic signals, amplified and sent through a receiver planted on Godzilla's spine to try and control Godzilla's movements. As Ishiro had learned himself, Godzilla's will proved to be much stronger than would allow for psychic control. Not that this stopped the Japanese Mafia from kidnapping Miki so that they could try their own version of the device.
Miki had even been there when Godzilla died. She had shed tears when the foul beast Destroyer killed his only son and successor. She had told him the story many times when he was young and shared with his mind the images she still retained of that event. She had watched as the once mighty King of Monsters slowly melted away, flooding the area with fantastic radioactivity. Her sorrow was then tempered by the joy of finding that the little one was revived by the energy and mutated into another full-grown Godzilla. Just as the phoenix is born from the ashes of its parent, thought Ishir wryly.
Miki had watched the new Godzilla's life with intense interest. She spent almost every working moment, following his movements (which were few and far between, mostly owing to his prolonged hibernation), observing his habits (which were equally few and far between), probing his mind, until she knew him better than she knew her own husband, a soldier she had met during her time on Project T. In a way, Miki fell in love with Godzilla too.
But then, Second Impact happened. The government interest in Godzilla went down the drain. Scientific minds around the world foolishly decided that Godzilla could not have survived such catastrophic changes. G-Force was disbanded, and Miki, whom they no longer had any use for, was cast out like yesterday's garbage. But, despite the words of many respected scientific authorities, she continued to search for him, trying desperately to find him. In the end, her search claimed her life. Ishiro, while saddened, was not depressed about this. He had long ago made peace with his mother's death. She had died for something she truly believed in. And someday, Ishiro wished he could do the same.
As for his father, he was actually killed in the global upheaval that followed Second Impact, but not before he finally impregnated Miki. However, Ishiro never knew the man, for he was long gone by the time Ishiro was born. After his death, Miki had changed her surname back to Saegusa, a decision which to this day, Ishiro approved of. Miki never got another paying job after the end of her tenure at G-Force. However, she had spent so much time working, that she had hardly spent any of the money she had saved up, which meant that she had enough to give Ishiro a comfortable life while she continued her pursuit of Godzilla, who had vanished in Second Impact, along with just about every other kaiju that had ever been catalogued.
And now they are reemerging, thought Ishiro, Fifteen, almost sixteen years after Second Impact and its effects are starting to fade. The turbulent conditions must have forced almost all of the kaiju into hiding in their own unique way. The N bomb that destroyed Tokyo must have been the one that created the monster Anguirus, whatever it is that he was before the mutation.
Ishiro was amazed at how such a straightforward and brutally powerful beast as Godzilla was also a creature of many mysteries. His genetic structure was endlessly complex, comprising not of dozens or even hundreds, but thousands of different chromosomes just to catalogue the sheer number of mutations he had undergone. Ishiro's search for the secret of Godzilla's regenerative abilities kept him engrossed. There was so much he had learned about both the monster that Godzilla was and the animal that he had been. His first determination was that Godzilla must have had regenerative abilities to some extent prior to his mutation. One thing was for sure, the nucleus would be the place where the answer was found. Hidden among the millions of gene sequences that comprised his thousands of chromosomes was the secret to his regenerative abilities. Ishiro was certain that after hundreds of hours of study his search was almost over. After he had found the secret to Godzilla's regeneration, his next project would be how to harness that knowledge for human benefits. He could just imagine the sensation, a miracle of genetic engineering that could restore normally irreparable tissue damage, that could completely regenerate a lost limb from nothing but a severed stump, that could purge a body of illness and disease, or that could bring someone back from the edge of death. His research could do endless good for all of humanity.
And I even have my first human test subject lined up, thought Ishiro slyly as he flexed the fingers of his prosthetic hand.
"Nice to see you again," commented Touji, coming up behind Ishiro. Ishiro jumped, startled. He had been so lost in his own thoughts that he hadn't even detected Touji's presence behind him.
"It was nice of you to come Suzuhara," answered Ishiro. Touji joined Ishiro in leaning against the railing and looking out over the sea.
After a moment, Touji spoke. "Hey, I was wondering why you never came back after that first day at school."
"Well," replied Ishiro, "I've been rather busy I'm afraid."
"What do you mean?" asked Touji, "Shinji, Asuka, and Rei are Eva pilots and they show up for school whenever they can. Surely you aren't too busy doing synch tests to come once in while."
"My being an Eva pilot is only a small part of my duties at NERV," responded Ishiro evenly.
"What else do you do?" Touji wanted to know.
Ishiro smiled and decided to give Touji an answer that would interest him. "I understand that you lost an arm and a leg in the incident involving Unit 03 and the 13th Angel."
Touji looked up, confused. Why was Ishiro changing the subject? Furthermore, why did he think it was any of his business whether or not Touji had lost limbs? It was still a very sensitive area of conversation for the 4th Child. "Yeah," he replied through clenched teeth, "What's it to you?"
Ishiro raised his right hand and held it palm up in front of his face. He opened and closed it experimentally a few times and lowered it back down to the railing. "I too know what it is like to lose part of me in such a fashion. Though, I did not lose my hand in such a noble pursuit as you did."
"You lost a hand?" inquired Touji. Perhaps Ishiro was looking for some sort of common ground between them, to break the ice. "How?"
"To put it simply, I stuck my hand where it didn't belong and suffered the consequences for good or for ill," said Ishiro, smiling wryly. Touji nodded in understanding.
"Was it when you were younger?" he asked.
Ishiro calmly related to Touji the same story he had related to Ritsuko not too long ago. Then, he reached the heart of the conversation. "Would you like someday to have you real leg and arm back Touji?"
Touji nodded, "Yeah. But that will never happen."
Ishiro chuckled. "You'd be surprised Suzuhara. You have been wondering where I've been going with this conversation and now we've reached the heart of the matter that concerns my work at NERV. One of the discoveries, or rather rediscoveries I made after our battle with Godzilla was that the kaiju possesses unbelievable regenerative abilities. Even the most grievous of wounds inflicted upon him are able to heal in a few seconds at the most. More often than not, they heal almost instantaneously. This makes Godzilla nigh invulnerable to any form of attack.
"Ever since that time, I've been trying to find the secret to Godzilla's ability to regenerate. Once I do, I will be able to do much more than simply find a way to defeat Godzilla; I might be able to adapt it for use on humans." Ishiro looked over at Touji, and grinned, "Imagine Suzuhara, you could completely regenerate both of your lost limbs in a matter of days or even hours. Not only that, but they would grow back so that they retain their strength from before you lost them. Imagine what it would be like to be whole again."
Touji thought about it, and the more he thought about it the more he liked it. "Are there other things you could do with this stuff?" he asked, really interested now.
Ishiro nodded, "If you are talking about using it to heal you sister's injuries as well, yes. This could bring people back from the edge of death and maybe even prolong life indefinitely."
"That would be cool," agreed Touji.
"Indeed it would," replied Ishiro. Suddenly, a low rumble filled the air and subsided. Ishiro looked down at his stomach, looked up and grinned sheepishly at Touji. "It appears that it is time for lunch."
Touji looked at his watch to see that it was almost exactly twelve noon. "Your stomach can tell time?"
"Indeed, you could set your watch by it." His stomach growled again. This time there was an answering growl from Touji's stomach. The two looked at each other and burst out laughing.
***
Lunch was surprisingly good for military fare. After eating, the group had settled down for an after lunch cup of tea. Misato, Shinji, Kensuke and Touji sat on one side. Hikari, Asuka and Ishiro sat on the other. They kept the conversation to a minimum. Ishiro certainly didn't mind. He leaned back in his chair and slowly sipped at his tea while the others engaged in some light conversation.
"You never told me you had a prosthetic hand," Misato said, making Ishiro's eyes fly open. He hadn't been paying attention with his ears or his mind. Touji or Shinji must have told her something.
"I never thought it worth mentioning," he said lazily, "There's really nothing special about it. Besides, I was sure that Dr. Akagi had told you about it by now."
"Ritsuko knows!" Misato exclaimed, "Oh right! It's just business as usual. 'Let's all find out something and not tell poor Misato!'"
Ishiro laughed at her exclamation. "It's hardly noteworthy Major. Just because I have a prosthetic yet I am capable of piloting an Eva isn't really anything special."
Misato just groaned and through up her hands in resignation, causing the others at the table to burst into laughter.
***
Night had fallen and most people were in bed. Shinji however, was very much awake. He was sitting on one of the walkways of the carrier, leaning against the railing while letting his legs dangle over the edge. Moonlight reflected off the now dark waters. Shinji looked out over the sea and felt an uncharacteristic feeling of peace fall over him. It was nice out here, nice and quiet. Better yet, there were no Angels to ruin the trip this time.
"A yen for your thoughts 3rd Child," said Asuka as she sat down next to him.
"I was just thinking about how peaceful it is out here." Shinji looked over at Asuka. She had a blissful look on her face as she looked out over the sea. He pushed away from the edge of the railing and scooted back until he was leaning against the wall on the other side of the walkway. Asuka did the same. Then she leaned against him. Shinji obliged by putting his arms around her and holding her close.
"Asuka?" he asked quietly.
"What is it?" she asked back.
"What will you do when this is all over?" asked Shinji, surprising her, "What will you do when there's no more need for the Evas."
Asuka was silent for a moment. "I honestly don't know," she replied, "Eva's always been a part of my life ever since I was a little girl. I don't know what I'll do, what I can do when it's gone. I really can't imagine life without it."
"And I can't imagine it ending real soon," came a voice from the shadows further up the walkway. Shinji and Asuka looked up quickly. Two points of red appeared in the darkness, followed by Ishiro. The red points were his eyes, which had switched from their normal brown color when he let his vision slip into the infrared spectrum.
"Why?" asked Shinji, frustrated, "Why can't they Evas go away. Why will we always be asked to put our lives on the line for people we don't even know, people who don't always even support us? Why do we have to go through so much pain when the people we save never have any idea what we feel?" He stopped when he felt Asuka put her arms around him and hug him tightly.
"I didn't say it would be forever," replied Ishiro, sitting down next to Asuka, who was still leaning against Shinji, "I just said that it wouldn't come to an end real soon."
"Why not?" inquired Asuka.
"The Angels are gone," answered Ishiro, "And to a certain extent, the kaiju have taken their place. Some of these kaiju are not all that different from the Angels in terms of motivation. Godzilla, Anguirus, Manda, these kaiju were just the tip of the iceberg. There are many more kaiju out there. Most of them are less than benign."
"Where did all the kaiju come from?" Shinji asked.
Ishiro shrugged. "Kaiju come from many different things. Some are mutations, like Godzilla. Others have different origins. Some of them are even supernatural in nature. My mother once told me about a giant moth kaiju who was said to be akin to a goddess." Asuka's head went up at this. There was something similar about this moth kaiju and the strange moth-like woman of her dreams and nightmares.
"What about this moth thing?" asked Asuka eagerly.
Ishiro did not seem in the least bit surprised by her question. "Mother called her Mothra. She said that Mothra was first found on an island in Indonesia as an egg. The egg eventually hatched into a giant caterpillar and later metamorphosed into a giant moth. This same moth did battle with Godzilla and actually succeeded in defeating him with the help of Battra."
"Battra?" inquired Asuka, raising an eyebrow.
"Battra was a different creature altogether. He was almost like a dark twin of Mothra, but of a different origin. They were enemies at first but united when they had to fight Godzilla. Battra was killed in the battle, but not before he and Mothra succeeded in carrying Godzilla out to sea." Ishiro looked up at the starry sky and sighed. "My mother told me so many stories about the kaiju that it's difficult to keep track of them all."
After another moment or so, Ishiro stood up. "I'm off to bed," he announced, "Don't stay up too late." He left.
Asuka and Shinji remained where they were for a while. Finally, Asuka yawned. "I'm getting tired," she said, "I think I'll go to bed."
"Me too," agreed Shinji. They let go of one another and began walking towards their quarters.
They stopped outside the door to Asuka's room. "Good night baka," said Asuka tiredly but cheerfully.
"Good night Asuka," replied Shinji. He hesitated for a moment and slipped his arms around Asuka's waist and pulled her close. Asuka was about to protest when he kissed her. For a moment she was stunned by his sudden boldness, but then she relaxed into the kiss and put her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. They stayed locked together for a long moment before they finally let go. Asuka stepped into her room without saying another word. But she had a smile on her face. Shinji went to his own room and also went to bed, thinking about what he had just done. Both children slept peacefully through the night.
Ishiro's night, on the other hand, was anything but peaceful. He tossed and turned wildly as his dreams were tormented by dark shapes moving through the deep blue sea. His dreams were rarely ever misleading. Ishiro could only arrive at one conclusion; a kaiju was coming and would arrive soon. However, the dream was less than definite on when and where the kaiju would arrive. Ishiro could only hope that he wasn't taken by surprise too badly.
***
Morning came and passed uneventfully. Breakfast was a leisurely affair for the guests of the Pacific Fleet. Ishiro was well rested despite his turbulent dreams the previous night and both Shinji and Asuka appeared the happiest they had been in months.
Touji seemed to be a lot more optimistic than usual. He later confided in Shinji saying that he had been cheered up by Ishiro's proposed possibility of regaining his lost limbs. This served to lift the enormous weight of guilt from Shinji's shoulders. After all, despite all that was said and done, he still did feel largely responsible for Touji's injuries.
Kensuke's excitement had not lost momentum over the night and he continued to point his camera in every possible direction, even if it meant that he was filming the same things over and over again. Asuka finally got fed up with this and threatened Kensuke with castration if he didn't put the camera away for the rest of the voyage, an order to which the boy was quick to comply.
Hikari was perhaps the most unaffected of the children, most likely because she felt slightly nervous and out of place. However, she did seem to be pleased to just be among her friends. The fact that Touji was along as well only seemed to make the situation better for her.
Misato was feeling the opposite of the children. It was on this very carrier all those months ago that she had first seen Kaji after their long time apart from one another. While it wasn't exactly a joyous reunion on Misato's part, she did eventually rediscover her feelings for the man. However, this ended when he was killed for asking too many questions about the purpose of NERV. Being on the place where they had first met after all those years had brought back painful memories that she had tried to bury. Misato did her best to hide it and the children were having too good a time to notice her few slips. Only Ishiro, whose knowledge extended past the normal levels of human awareness, seemed to see the situation Misato was in and kept a concerned eye on the Major whenever she was in sight but did not try to interfere.
***
Midday came and went. Touji, Hikari and Kensuke approached Ishiro with an unusual request.
"You want to see Unit 14?" said Ishiro, raising an eyebrow.
"Well," said Hikari sheepishly, "Yes."
Ishiro looked amused by their request. "I thought you had seen this Eva already Miss Horaki."
"Well, we did," replied Hikari, "But it would be nice to see it when it wasn't almost about to crush us."
Ishiro's face took on a look of mock offense. "How could you possibly think that I would be so careless?" This prompted a laugh from the three.
Ishiro's face grew serious. "What about Shinji and Asuka? Did they want to come along."
"To be honest," replied Touji, "We haven't seen them since breakfast. We haven't seen Miss Misato around either."
Clandestinely, Ishiro had a very good idea of what the aforementioned children were up to. He was quite glad to leave them to it.
"Please," begged Kensuke, whose eye was glued to the camera lens. He still took the camera out whenever Asuka wasn't looking.
"Alright," said Ishiro, chuckling, "But you need to put the camera away or half the command staff will flay me alive for allowing you to tape footage of the Eva. Not to mention that I'd have to tell Sohryu and you remember what she told you about cameras." Aida's face went dead white and the camera disappeared as his friends laughed.
Secretly, Ishiro was glad that the three had asked him to take them to see the Eva. Something's going to happen soon and I need to be near the Eva when it happens. Ishiro had been subject to an increasing sense of foreboding as the day wore on. He was certain that whatever was about to happen would happen soon. "Well, now that that's settled, we should get going."
***
Meanwhile, Shinji and Asuka were following Misato around as carefully as possible. Despite the happy appearance they had put up that morning, they had been troubled by the fact that Misato did not seem her normal happy, go-lucky (and drunk) self. Both Shinji and Asuka were able to put two and two together when they figured out that this place brought back memories of her and Kaji (whether or not they were actually related to the location). They had both silently decided, but had not voiced to one another, that because Misato was the closest thing they had to a mother, they needed to be there for her.
Misato seemed to be unfocused in her wanderings. She traversed the various decks of the carrier seemingly at random. However, her two shadows noticed that she seemed to be visiting places that held special significance for her and Kaji during the admittedly short time they had been together on the ship.
Finally, after almost two hours of wandering about the confines of the carrier, an almost tearful Misato returned to her room. Shinji and Asuka, who had been watching her from around a corner pulled back to have a short discussion.
"We need to talk to her," said Asuka at once.
"A-are you sure?" asked Shinji hesitantly, "Is it really our business?"
"Of course it is baka," replied Asuka sharply, "She's our guardian and if she's like this she can't properly fulfill her duties as such." Her expression softened when she saw the look on Shinji's face, apparently stunned by her apparent insensitivity. "But most importantly, because she's done so much for us." Shinji nodded. "She's been there for us whenever she could." Another nod. "She's taken us into her home." Another nod. "It's time we did something for her." Yet another nod. "We can't let her tear herself up like this, not when we can help." Shinji nodded a final time.
Asuka peeked around the corner, then turned back to look at Shinji, who looked at her as if she were a tap-dancing Eva. "Let's go," she said softly. Shinji nodded mutely. They crept around the corner (unconsciously keeping up the pretense of stealth) and up the corridor to Misato's room.
At the door, Asuka had a fairly good idea of what to do. She didn't want to knock or announce their presence in any way and give Misato a chance to put on any masks or raise any walls. They had to catch her with her defenses down in order to reach the heart of the matter. Thus, Asuka decided that the direct course was best. She opened the door and marched in without hesitation, Shinji trailing nervously in her wake.
Misato was perched on her bed with tissues scattered around her. It was clear that she had been crying. She jumped when the children entered, somewhat surprised by their bold and unannounced entrance. Before Misato could put any words together or wipe the tears from her eyes, Asuka gave her a stern look saying, "We need to talk…now."
***
"Sir!" yelled the sailor manning the radar, "There's a large object approaching from the southwest!"
"What kind of object?" demanded the Admiral.
"It's about seventy-five meters underwater and closing fast," replied the man.
"It'd better not be one of those damn Angels," grumbled the Admiral irritably, "Fire as soon as it comes into range and sound the alarm.
***
Ishiro lifted the edge of the canvas covering the prone form of Unit 14. "Well," he said simply, "There it is."
The big, black Eva was laying face down in a shallow pool of cryo-stasis fluid. This allowed access to the entry plug for maintenance and emergencies. He wasn't so sure why the others wanted to see it, the Eva was much more impressive standing up.
Why don't I find out for myself? thought Ishiro wryly. One by one, he slowly slipped into their consciousnesses and found the reason they had come.
Kensuke's reasons were as he had said. The boy was a military fanatic and would have given up an arm and a leg (sorry Touji) to see an Eva at any time, regardless of how many times he had seen one in the past. It appeared that Kensuke had similar feelings about most other forms of military hardware. It must be a wonderful state of mind, thought Ishiro, To him, nothing truly gets old and boring if he takes an interest in it. To him it will always be new and exciting no matter how many times he has seen or done it.
Touji had come because he was sticking with Kensuke. He had nothing better to do and Shinji and Asuka were off doing something else, so he came along. Ishiro did notice that Touji saw a perk in Hikari being there.
Hikari, wanted to come for some strange reasons. It appeared that when he had nearly stepped on her during their battle with Godzilla, Ishiro had inadvertently scared most of Hikari's memories of what the Eva looked like out of her head. She was also a little too busy trying to survive long enough to get inside the Eva to notice anything about its appearance. Because of this, Hikari was unusually keen to see the thing that had both saved her and almost killed her.
For a long moment, they stared silently at the ebony behemoth. Ishiro was pondering whether to ask them to voice their reasons out loud when the screaming of klaxons and alarms rang through the hold; this was followed by a powerful vibration that shook the ship violently. Hikari yelped in surprise and fear and grabbed onto Touji who clutched a railing. Kensuke was nearly pitched headlong into the cryo-stasis fluid and barely managed to save himself by grabbing onto a nearby railing. Ishiro, who had been leaning against the wall, carefully maintained his balance. The shuddering had come as no surprise to him.
The four of them rushed out onto the upper deck of the ship and rushed to the edge to see what was going on. Several of the battleships were unloading torpedoes into the water at an obscene rate. Turning their heads, they were barely able to make out the torpedoes' target, less than a mile away. A massive object was moving through the water at incredible speed.
As the object neared, Ishiro was able to catch glimpses of black carapace, an orange horn and two glowing red eyes. Despite what little he had seen, it was more than enough for him to make a proper identification.
"Battra," he muttered under his breath. Without hesitation he ran towards the main hold of the ship and his Eva.
***
Shinji and Asuka were deep in conversation with Misato. Thanks to the abruptness of their arrival, they had been able to keep Misato from hiding her feelings from them. It took a little coaxing, but Misato finally opened up to them and told them just how much it had hurt to lose Kaji. At one point, she broke down, sobbing. Shinji and Asuka helped to comfort her by drawing the woman into an embrace.
Finally, after Misato had regained some semblance of control over herself, she wiped her eyes and smiled. "I'm so lucky to have two great kids like you."
Before either of the two children could form a response an explosion sounded from outside and the ship shook violently. Alarm blared throughout the length and breadth of the gigantic carrier. Misato quickly dried her eyes and rushed out of her room towards the bridge, Shinji and Asuka following right behind her.
When they reached the bridge, the Admiral was frantically scanning the horizon with his binoculars, searching for any sign of their attacker. It quickly became visible in the form of a white plume of water thrown upwards by an underwater object traveling at incredible speeds.
The object veered towards a battleship named the Devastation circling around the edge of the fleet. The ship unleashed a full broadside at the attacking USO (Unidentified Swimming Object), but to no effect. The target continued on a collision course for the doomed ship. At the last possible second, the massive body of the thing rose out of the water. The observers on the Over the Rainbow were afforded a partial view of the beast that was attacking them.
The creature was encased in a black, angular carapace. Several rows of tiny, yellow protrusions ran down the length of its back with a ridge of red spikes running down the center. Its body was segmented like that of an enormous caterpillar. Its flanks were decorated with spots of red that almost looked like giant, finely cut rubies. A row of tiny legs ending in hooked claws ran down each side of the monster. About midway down, a pair of much larger legs protruded outward. The rest of the creature remained underwater. However, the end of the tail rose out of the water, tipped with what looked like a gigantic, contorted trident of a dull gray color. The view was brief before it fell back beneath the waves. Its head was crowned by a horn that looked like a gigantic shard of orange crystal. This horn was surrounded by a group of much smaller horns.
The monster rose well up above the Devastation's zenith before it began to fall forward, emitting a horrible shriek like some sort of predatory bird. Crackling orange arcs of power raced up the main horn, originating from the cluster of smaller ones at its base. The attacking creature brought the full length of its horn across the width of the battleship. The Devastation was cut cleanly in two.
The monster did not slow down after its initial attack. It veered towards a different battleship, rushing at it head-on. The battleship fired with every weapon it could bring to bear. Undaunted, the beast continued forward, diving fully underwater and passing beneath the battleship. A massive explosion ran the entire length of the ship as it was ripped open from underneath. It slowly began to sink beneath the waves.
Every ship that could opened fire on the attacking creature with all the weapons it could point at the offending monster. At one point, the Admiral coordinated a single, massive barrage of missiles that converged on the target, turning the ocean into a maelstrom as the water was heated well past the boiling point by repeated explosions and throwing up dozens of sky-high plumes. When the last few geysers of water fell back down, the ocean's surface was still. The black shape of the leviathan could still be seen, floating motionlessly just beneath the surface.
"Is it dead?" wondered Misato.
"Of course it is," boomed the Admiral pompously, "You don't think that the Pacific Fleet couldn't handle an overgrown insect on its own."
Seconds later, a warning came from the cargo ship that Unit 14 was being activated.
"What?" shouted the Admiral in anger, "The threat is obviously past. Stop the damn launch."
"I'm sorry to contradict you sir," said Ishiro over the radio, annoyance clear in his tone, "But the threat is not over and Battra is far from dead."
"What did you call that thing?" asked Misato.
"Battra. It's a long story, I'll tell you later." Ishiro's voice was getting a little more frantic. "We need to figure something out, it's about to attack again."
"You're joking!" snapped the Admiral.
Of course, five seconds later, the sea exploded upward and the upper forward half of Battra rose above the surface. Now that it was facing towards them, the people on the bridge of the Over the Rainbow now had an unobstructed view of the creature's face.
Looking at him from behind, Battra was intimidating, from the front, he seemed to instill a sense of barely suppressed fear in everyone who looked at him. Battra's eyes were gigantic, ruby colored, multifaceted bulges, identical looking to the ones that decorated his flanks. Two tiny mandibles in the center of its face opened and closed sporadically. Below and on either side, was a single upward curving tusk or perhaps fang. As the monster's jagged maw opened, it let out another horrible bird-like screech.
Again arcs of energy ran up and down the length of his central horn. Then, a bolt of orange lighting streaked away from the protrusion and struck a battleship in front of the carrier. The bolt of energy raked the length of the ship, setting off explosions and starting fires wherever it touched. After a few seconds, the entire battleship was shattered by a single giant explosion.
Again, arcs of energy flickered across the cluster of small horns at the base of the main one. This time, the arcs streaked down into Battra's ruby eyes where they emerged as flashes of violet energy. The two streams of purple lightning streaked just over the flight deck of the carrier to strike a destroyer on the other side. That ship too vanished in an explosion.
More arcs raced around Battra's crown as he prepared for yet another attack. However, they vanished when a familiar gurgling bellow echoed across the open waters. Unit 14 stood proudly on the ship that had been carrying it. Battra whirled around to face the Eva, as he did so, an orange bolt of energy leapt from his horn at his new opponent. The bolt of energy streamed across the water and crashed against the orange hexagon of Unit 14's unfolded AT field, protecting both the Eva and the ship on which it stood.
Battra plowed forward, swimming with an undulating motion that created a tremendous swell which nearly capsized the carrier. The monster began to head straight for the ship holding Unit 14. As it did, it dove just beneath the surface and gained speed. Unit 14 crouched slightly then leapt straight into the air. Seconds later, the tip of Battra's horn emerged from the water and ripped into the cargo ship's underside. The ship promptly sank. At almost the same time, Unit 14 landed hard on the flight deck of the carrier, causing it to plunge down a considerable distance before its buoyancy overrode the Eva's momentum, nearly swamping the vessel. As the gigantic machine shifted its weight to regain its balance, the ship tipped precariously, spilling several fighters and helicopters into the sea. The Eva then whirled around to confront Battra again.
"Ishiro?" said Misato frantically, yanking the microphone from the Admiral's grip, "Where are Touji, Kensuke, and Hikari?"
"Oh they're in here," remarked Ishiro casually, "It's actually getting a little crowded in here."
"But they're in danger in the cockpit!" protested Shinji.
"Would you have preferred that I leave them on the ship?" asked Ishiro, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Oh," was all that Shinji could say.
The Eva's wrists opened up and the handles of its two AT swords dropped down into its hands. With a flare of orange light, the shaped AT fields sprang into being. Battra came charging at the ship and the Eva.
"No!" the Admiral nearly screamed, "I don't want to go through this again!" He was referring to the incident with the 6th Angel, in which the Angel had thrown itself onto the flight deck of the carrier in order to drag Unit 02 into the ocean.
Rather than wait for the kaiju though, Unit 14 leapt off the flight deck of the carrier and descended, swords leading towards the oncoming form of Battra.
"Ishiro!" yelled Misato frantically, "Unit 14 is using the B-type equipment! It won't be able to operate underwater!"
"We'll manage," declared Ishiro. Unit 14's feet slammed onto Battra's head on either side of his horn. At the same time, both swords drove into the curved top of his armored form. However, the blades, which could cut through an Angel's core with the greatest of ease, failed to even scratch Battra's ebony carapace.
At that instant, Battra unleashed another blast of energy from his horn which hit Unit 14 directly in the chest, throwing the Eva off his head and into the sea, where it sank beneath the waves. Battra dove down after it.
"Oh no," gasped Asuka, "We don't even have the umbilical cable this time."
"Hey," protested Ishiro over the radio, "I said 'I'll manage' okay!"
"I hope so," replied Shinji softly.
***
Unit 14 was sinking fast. Ishiro growled with the exertion of trying to get the Eva to move. However, water was seeping in through every chink in the armor, filling spaces, making movement all but impossible and reducing the Eva's buoyancy further. They would sink all the way to the bottom at this rate, where they would be absolutely helpless when Battra continued his attack.
Behind Ishiro, the other three children were clutching the back of his seat as hard as they could. Hikari looked positively terrified. Touji, who looked sadly resigned, had put his good arm around Hikari's shoulders while latching on to the back of the seat with his prosthetic. Kensuke looked positively delighted to be back in the cockpit of an Eva, even though he wasn't piloting.
The giant, black, armored caterpillar wasn't going to wait for them to reach the bottom. He came plunging down from the surface, attempting to sink his horn right into Unit 14's chest. With all his will, Ishiro urged the Eva to move, jerk, or even twitch, anything! He was rewarded when the Eva's weight shifted ever so slightly at the last moment, sending it drifting out of the path of Battra's attack. Battra barreled by, his jagged sides scraping against Unit 14 and sending it careening.
Ishiro knew he couldn't keep this up much longer. Battra would not be so easily dodged next time and Unit 14 was all but completely immobile. Erika, he thought frantically, do something!
The response came instantly. With a rushing sound, the water was forced from the Eva's armor. The whole body was suddenly sealed from the surrounding ocean. Furthermore, Erika had also managed to balance out Unit 14's buoyancy, making it neutrally buoyant.
Thanks Erika, thought Ishiro gratefully. The Eva's self correction came not a second too soon as Battra came surging back towards them. Ishiro deactivated the Eva's AT blades and withdrew their handles back into Unit 14's arms. It was obvious that they would be of no use. Using its arms and legs, he oriented Unit 14 towards Battra and with a kick of its powerful legs, sent the Eva speeding towards the monster like a giant torpedo.
The two slammed together with incredible force, sending a plume of water into the sky above the surface. The two enemies grappled with one another, losing all sense of up and down, right and left as the spun and whirled about. Unit 14 hammered Battra's face with its fists, slamming them repeatedly between the monster's two glowing red eyes. Battra brought his horn crashing down on Unit 14's right shoulder, crushing its brace and nearly dislocating it. In retaliation, the Eva gripped both sides of Battra's enormous head and brought its knee up, smashing it into the creature's mandibles. Reflexively, the two pointed tusks contracted and dug their points into the back of the Eva's knee while Battra's mandibles opened and bit into the armored plate on the front.
In the entry plug, Ishiro screamed as fire seared through the nerves of his knee. He reached down with one of the Eva's, and grasped at one of the tusks holding the limb in place and pulled with all his might. After a moment, it gave and was pulled out of his leg. Without letting go of said tusk, he reached down with Unit 14's other hand and pulled out the other tusk the same way. Then, he pushed back against Battra's face and yanked his knee from the monster's mandibles, taking a good chunk of armored plate with it.
At that point, Battra's eyes unleashed a barrage of purple energy which slammed into Unit 14's stomach at point blank range. Ishiro gritted his teeth and fought through nauseating waves of pain to bring the Eva's fist crashing back down on the monster's multifaceted eye. With a shriek, Battra backed away.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Ishiro gave a kick and send the Eva speeding towards the surface. It broke the surface with enough momentum to throw its upper body onto the flight deck of the nearby carrier and haul itself aboard. Unit 14 lay there prone for a moment, sprawled out across the flight deck of the Over the Rainbow, crushing any fighters that had not already been dumped into the ocean.
***
On the bridge, the Admiral was nearly pulling his hair out with rage. "Is this going to happen every time I try to transport one of these damn children's toys?"
"Ishiro!" yelled Misato, "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, sure," grumbled Ishiro, "Never better." He groaned, he was going to be in pain the next morning.
The Eva finally managed to find steady footing and get to its feet, balancing carefully on the now empty flight deck. The surface of the ocean off to the starboard side of the ship erupted upwards and outwards as Battra rose up. The kaiju's momentum carried him almost completely clear of the water. He too latched onto the flight deck, hooking the two larger legs onto the edge of the carrier and pulling himself onto the ship. Rearing up like this, Battra was about ninety meters tall, nearly matching the Eva in height. Ishiro slammed the Eva's left shoulder into Battra, trying desperately to force the kaiju off the ship before it capsized.
Everyone was so absorbed by the activities going on outside on the flight deck that they failed to notice that on the radar, another even larger submerged object was approaching.
Unit 14 finally managed to shove Battra over the side and back into the sea. Battra rose up again and floated just off the side of the carrier. Arcs of energy flared from his horns to his eyes as the creature prepared to attack again.
Suddenly, the sea behind Battra exploded and a brilliant blue-white beam of energy struck the insect-like monster on its back, exploding against its powerful armor. Battra wheeled around to confront this new attacker. The ocean frothed as a sinuous tail rose above the waters and smashed back down. Three rows of jagged plates appeared above the waves, followed by the gigantic mass of the monster that bore them. Godzilla reared up in the waters and roared out a challenge to this intruder into his territory.
Battra regarded the newcomer with a feeling approaching curiosity. Then, his eyes flared malevolently as recognition surged through his brain. Abandoning any further attacks on Unit 14 and the Pacific Fleet, Battra dove just beneath the waves and charged straight at Godzilla, rearing up to slam his full mass into the King of Monsters. Godzilla roared again and the two of them, grappling, slowly sank out of sight.
"Let's get the hell out of here," declared Ishiro over the radio.
"I couldn't agree more," said the relieved Admiral. The fleet fled at full speed.
***
Beneath the surface, the waters boiled and churned as the two monsters battled fiercely. Godzilla and Battra exchanged heat beams and lightning bolts as the two of them clashed, sinking all the way to the bottom. On the sea floor, their fight continued unabated. The two of them grabbed and ripped, tore and bit, each trying to kill the other. Godzilla's powerful abilities of regeneration easily compensated for Battra's nearly impenetrable armor.
Finally, Godzilla managed to find a crease, a gap in Battra's carapace. Bringing his jaws as close as possible to the weak spot while trying to hold the rest of Battra at bay, Godzilla unleashed the full force of his atomic ray into the hole in Battra's defenses. The creature shrieked in rage and pain, unleashing a torrent of orange and purple bolts of energy across Godzilla's body. The pain forced Godzilla to relinquish his grip on his foe. Battra however, was in too much pain to counterattack. Leaking black blood into the ocean around him, the wounded beast swam off and disappeared into the deep.
Godzilla's nostrils filled with seawater, testing for the scent of his opponent. Satisfied that he had driven away the intruder, Godzilla began swimming for home.
***
Unit 14 now lay prone on the flight deck of the Over the Rainbow. With a low pop/hiss, the entry plug slid out of its socket in the Back of the Eva's neck and opened. Touji, Kensuke and Hikari were the first to get out. All three of them were drenched in LCL, seeping into their clothes and sticking to their hair. They were quite tired and shaken after their strange ordeal.
Ishiro was next to get out and he was positively exhausted. The poor boy barely managed to haul himself out of the entry plug before tumbling to the hot flight deck below. Shinji ran to help him up, not caring whether he got LCL on his shirt or not. "Are you okay?" he asked Ishiro worriedly.
"I've been better," admitted Ishiro, "But at least I didn't faint this time." He gave a dry laugh. "And I'm supposed to be on vacation, how ironic."
"At least you're alive," remarked Shinji.
Ishiro nodded in agreement. Then, he changed the subject. "Did you find out what was bothering Misato?"
"How did you know?" asked Shinji.
"I'm good at reading peoples' emotions. She was trying to hide it at breakfast, but something was bothering her." He looked up at Shinji, his eyes begging the boy to answer the unspoken question.
Shinji sighed. "After being away for several years, this ship is where Misato met Kaji Ryouji. They were a couple back in college but broke up before Misato left to go work for NERV. When the Pacific Fleet escorted Unit 02 and Asuka to Tokyo 3, Kaji accompanied them. It wasn't the happiest reunion, but they made up later and fell in love again."
Ishiro nodded. "Why does that give her cause to be sad then?" He asked even though he already knew the answer.
"Kaji was killed for asking too many questions about NERV's real purpose. Misato was hit pretty hard by the news. She managed to get over it. But now, this ship brought back not only memories of meeting Kaji here, but all her memories of Kaji," Shinji choked back a sob, "And she remembered just how much he meant to her."
"Kaji seems to have meant a lot to you too," observed Ishiro. Shinji looked at him sadly. "But that's a story for another day," added Ishiro, "You don't have to tell me now."
Shinji nodded. In any case, they had already made it to Ishiro's room. After opening the door, Ishiro stumbled inside. Turning around, he thanked Shinji for his help and after closing the door, went to take a shower and get some sleep.
***
A few weeks later:
In Tokyo 3, business carried on normally. Ritsuko had only recently called Rei in for several synchronization tests to see whether or not she would be able to pilot the reconstructed Unit 00. Fortunately, the test went without a hitch. After returning home, Rei fell asleep instantly, tired from the hard day.
At 10:27 that night, all forms of communication other than human speech ceased to function for the second time. Down in the Command Center, Ritsuko, Maya and the rest of the bridge crew were instantly aware of the situation. A runner was sent to collect the 1st Child. The implications were clear. Manda had returned to Tokyo 3 and would soon attack.
"With the communications blackout in effect, we can't reach Misato," worried Ritsuko, "Rei's the only one we have now."
Unbeknownst to the workers in the Command Center, another threat was approaching, this one from below. With their attention on the impending attack from Manda, the staff of NERV never noticed that another, even greater threat was coming from the ground beneath their feet.
***
Ishiro stepped off the escalator and onto American soil. Looking around, Saegusa found that he was hardly impressed by what he saw. There was little here that was different from Tokyo 3, other than the fact that the skyscrapers were not built to lower into the ground in case of an attack.
Behind him, Unit 14 was slowly being lifted by crane off the flight deck of the Over the Rainbow and onto an enormous flatbed truck, which would transport it to the proving grounds in Nevada. He sighed in relief. And now for the easy part.
Authors note: Battra is one of the coolest kaiju that Toho has ever created. He's just so darn versatile. I'm not exactly sure, but I read on one of the numerous websites around that Ritsuko's mother is the spirit that resides in Unit 00. If I'm wrong, feel free to correct me. Well, the best is still yet to come (depending on your actual opinion of this fic).