Optimus Magnus--… completely his natural personality. Sorta. Mostly. Funny is good. Dementation is also good. ^__^
Chaotc Order—yep. Shinji a psycho. ^__^ hmm… *is happy with summary* thankiies. ^_^ slaughter… must find this song! BUT! Remember, you can never spell "slaughter" without "laughter"!
evaunit-01—cool. Can you? Please show me where to find them? *puppy-dog eyes* the hospitals are indeed restraining… but only if you're one of the few, the proud, the completely sane..;; rather than being one of the boring people who suffer from the hallucination that they're sane, that is. I'm insane… I just don't get caught. My ranting ravings are mostly taken not-seriously. 'Tis fun. 'Specially when people fail to realize that I'm not joking until they are on the receiving end of my insanity. Then again, for all you know I'm in a straightjacket… No one I know personally heard that, right? .
NPH—well, thanks for the criticism. I don't know what's going through my head right now, but I'm going to say, if you don't like it, read and flame anyway. ^__^ Out of curiosity, are you one of those moody teenagers who take themselves so seriously they can't have fun? No offense if you aren't.
Arizosa—nutty is right! Humor is intended, though I find that I'm not good at it so it stays funny after a couple read-throughs. Unless you're insane and stuff like that.
C^rrot—hmm… I'd almost forgotten about the Jet Alone… that was one ugly robot… Funny is good, interesting is good, flammable is also good. Shinji being a bad boy… *scolds Shinji* yep, feel sorry for Asuka, that I do. Kenshin is fun! ^_^ hmm… one more angel and the JA before Asuka-san shows up, 'twill be fun to see how she attempts to cope with someone who doesn't stand still for her to hit…
Lita of Jupiter—Ancient One may stay off in… wherever he is right now… hmm… .;; forgot to put him somewhere, that I did… Shuri' shows up! That she does, and instead of Shinji running away, Shinji and Shuri' wander off… Section 2's gonna have a little problem on their hands! ^_~ Dear old Ancient is probably going to show up, torture someone, and go off and vanish for a while. He's just… my Id if you know Freudian psychology.
Bleakheart666—Bleak! Gee, haven't heard from you since… umm… chapter 5/6 of order of Eva? .;; heh… worry not! Chapter 7's being written! …it's just not cooperating…
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Ocean Red
Chapter 4: NO! NOT THE WHIP!
A Neo(n) Genesis Evangelion Fanfiction
By CrimsonNoble
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Shinji was already moving before the siren had finished blaring. Angels picked the best times to attack it seemed.
Hell, as long as he got to skip the teacher's lectures on the Gott damned second impact he was fine. This was only the eighth time the teacher had given the same lecture in one week. If he didn't crack and kill the old man he deserved a nomination for sainthood. As it stood, when he found his lighter that desk was going down!
His eye twitched. The leather was itching him again. Damn he wanted the Power back.
Only then did he notice that his phone was ringing.
"It is Shinji, that it is. You got something to say?"
"Shinji get your ass down here!" Ahh, an irate operations director. Then again, only she and Shuriken had his number. And Shuriken almost didn't know how to use a phone.
"Yes ma'am. Arriving at NERV gates now." That hadn't taken very long for the trip… Shinji threw it off with a mental shrug. Wasn't his problem.
He slid the card through reader calmly, his breath slowing. The gates hissed open, and he stepped through, feeling the reverberation as the gateway smashed shut.
He sighed. The escalator was such a slow method of travel.
When he'd finally managed to change into his plugsuit and get to his Eva, he still didn't know anything about the Angel.
"Shinji. When you reach the surface, take the rifle, neutralize the enemy's AT field, and fire."
"Do not worry. It is dead." The communication box collapsed in on itself abruptly, shut and blocked from inside the Eva.
The G-forces attempted to crush him into the seat as the Eva catapulted surface-ward. How they put him inside the city, and over the geo-front with no apparent tunnels was beyond him, but it worked. And that was enough. He bounced as Unit-01 jerked to a halt, immense momentum being halted so he didn't go on an impromptu trip to the stratosphere. He wouldn't have minded it really, but dying was definitely not on the agenda for today. Because, as they say, what goes up must come down. And come down hard the Evangelion would.
A metallic chinking sound confirmed that he was released. His hands darted to the rifle, ripping it free from the restraints. This Angel was so slow…
There! A burst lashed from the end of the firearm, pounding into the Angel's thick hide.
He got his first good look at it when it dodged the shells. It looked like a squid… except no squid had ever had a body quite so… hell, its body looked like string cheese. Admittedly, much larger than any stick of cheese ever made, but… that was the best way of describing it. Then there were the lobster-like eight or so legs positioned just below the diamond shaped head, and behind the delta-almost-diamond-shape of the other things. Not legs, there was something in them…
The delta-diamond broke into two pieces, each piece revealing a whip. This might not be good…
The whips lashed out, one blowing through his rifle, the other trying to skewer him. Shinji preformed a sort of half-twisting fall that hurt. Quite a bit. The tentacle-whip destroyed a building behind him as it passed behind his back
Shinji used the building to haul Unit-01 to its feet, just in time to be caught by another lash of the whips. Said whips curled around his Eva's arm, tightening painfully. Pull, he commanded the clone.
The Eva went one step further, gripping the angel's whip with his other hand, and jerking it towards her. An icy cold smile curved Shinji's lips. The Eva rammed its horn into the Angel's head, and the Angel screamed. It wasn't a verbal scream, but a wave of Power rushed out from it. The one scream leveled the entire block of buildings. Unit-01 shoved the Angel off its horn, still gripping the tentacles, feeling the delicious agony of flames so icy-hot flames searing its flesh. The Eva ripped its arm free of the tentacles, driving its fist into the bright red orb seated in its chest.
The Angel screamed again, and the purple-armored being's knees buckled beneath the force of the blow. Sensing its advantage, Shamsiel lifted itself from the earth, and tried to hover over Shinji's Eva. Shinji was having none of that however, and hauled on the whips, Unit-01's palm nearly burnt away, and brought it crashing down back to earth.
Shamsiel didn't scream, it roared in fury, and using the whips managed to do to the Eva what Shinji had just done to it. The Eva's grip on the tentacles loosened, letting the Angel retrieve its limbs. Shinji's eyes narrowed within the plug. No one threw him.
He released the prog knife, vaguely hearing the order to retreat, and stood. The blade hummed, vibrating in his un-damaged hand. Shamsiel stared at him for a moment, and then sent its whips out again.
Eva Unit-01 merely jumped over the attack, hung suspended for an instant in the air, and slammed down on top of the Angel. Shamsiel bucked, attempting to remove the insect that dared to touch his holy hide. Said insect was doing its best to hang on, aided by the knife it drove into the Angel's back. For the rest of five minutes, Shinji wondered why it took Shamsiel so long to figure out that by rolling over it could get the Eva off its back.
It did so, depositing Unit-01 onto the wreckage of several buildings, and rotated again. Shinji laughed at its stupidity, and rammed the progressive knife into the completely exposed core. Proving that, if nothing else, the Angels were good for a couple of laughs. The core went boom.
Liquid fire rolled over the behemoth as the Angel self-destructed itself to retain dignity. Shinji understood the action, from a purely outsider's standpoint. Death before Dishonor or Defeat.
"So the Angels hold their honor to themselves as tightly as humans…" //Pathetic//
Only when the biomechanical beast powered down did Shinji realize that when Shamsiel had thrown him that the power cable had been ripped. He lay in the seat until the technicians pried the plug out. By that time he had begun to laugh at the concept of honor, and had trouble standing long enough to get out of the Eva.
He turned to look at the scorched beast. His fist slammed into his palm, and then he turned away. It deserved respect… not many things could resist being controlled but see the wisdom of the master…
--
The steel cuffs felt odd against his wrists. It wasn't that they were anything unusual, it was by no means uncommon for the Ancient One to chain him to a wall for disobedience or out of natural sadism. No, it was that his wrists weren't like they normally were when the cuffs curled around them. And he wasn't in as uncomfortable a position, such as arms being pulled behind his back and then chained above his head.
Shinji heard the Captain enter the cell. It didn't deserve the name cell actually; it was far too clean and modern. A proper cell would have a rusty iron maiden and other such devices. Hopefully a rack as well, but that wasn't as important. It was far too brightly lit as well, not exactly painful, but not the proper dreary atmosphere either. There weren't any rats either.
"You disobeyed a direct order. And you destroyed almost two full city blocks. I could overlook the fact that the Eva's hand has been mostly burned away in light of the fact that you won, but what if you hadn't?"
Shinji rolled his shoulders, and then extended his legs to stretch. "Then we wouldn't be alive to give a damn. I'm not going to say that I'm sorry, because that would be a lie."
Her hand slammed down on the bench, and she leaned forward in an attempt to be imposing. Shinji grinned ruthlessly at her. He was right, and if he had retreated, then he wouldn't have had time to sortie again before the Angel reached the geofront, and that would just leave a nice, wide-open path for the next angel. Even if Rei's reactivation tests were scheduled in three day's time, there would not be a way to block up the path of Shamsiel in time.
"What do you think your duty is?" Such a loud bellow, even so it paled before Shuriken's volume.
"To defeat the Angels and protect NERV central. My duty is most definitely not to survive what will come. When Judgment calls, all answer."
She missed the significance of that statement, and Shinji reminded himself that she was not someone who knew him. She was not someone he could trust.
Katsuragi slapped him. The blow barely registered, had she tried to break a foot-thick wall of titanium with her bare hands it would have achieved more physical effect. Reflexively, he rolled with the blow, twisting so that he brought his calf into her ankles, tripping her.
"I suggest you don't attack me," Shinji grinned widely, "as you don't want your only active pilot, temporary as that uniqueness of status may be, in the hospital when another Messenger comes to call."
His remarks had infuriated her. "Go to your residence. This… discussion will be finished later."
Shinji banished back to its corner the raging killer. "You've just redefined the term discussion Captain. And off I go!"
He rose, and stepped out the door. The guard unlocked the cuffs, carefully avoiding Shinji's vacant eyes, and returned to his position. Shinji left the building, heading to his apartment, never hearing the last comment from the Captain. "What is he on?"
--
Shinji stopped outside his door. Something was here… something familiar…
He smirked. Shuriken had come after all! The key-card slid through the lock, and he pushed the door open. His shoes made no sound as they hit the floor, and his bare feet made less as he slid silently into his residence.
It was an old game, whoever could touch the other without being touched was the winner. He drew in the Power, wreathing the parts of the rooms Shuriken hadn't managed to get in it. Entirely to mask their aura's from each other, trying to find a specific piece of hay in a haystack would have been simpler than locating each other with the Power now was. Shuriken had all the advantages now, any angle of attack she desired, she now knew the enclosure as well as he did, and for all he knew, she could be in her True Form.
She had done something to the lighting as well, where it had once been dim, now it was impenetrable, not even the thought of light was left. Shinji shut his eyes; her sense of smell was much better than his, and her hearing only mildly less acute. Which meant the only thing he could do was be reactive.
He hated being reactive.
Shinji folded his legs as he seated himself directly in the center of the room, making sure to rustle his clothes so she knew where he was. He had no doubt that she was going to win, but he had no intention of making it easy on her.
She breathed too loudly. That was her major fault, though any normal person wouldn't have detected it, Shinji wasn't normal. The intake of breath shivered softly to his right side, she had gotten better at hiding her breathing since the last time he had seen her. The next exhalation/inhalation was closer, and Shinji waited for an instant before thrusting his hand straight up into the air. His fingers brushed along a shoulder, an instant after her hand tapped the side of his head.
Shinji opened his eyes and stood, releasing the Power as Shuriken did the same. The room was almost blindingly bright in comparison to the utter darkness, almost dark enough to hear it, that had been a moment earlier. He stared into a pair of black eyes, framed by a pale face, topped by shoulder-length dark auburn dreadlocks.
"Shin," she greeted blandly, then flicked her wrist toward him. Shinji caught the object, and walked to the wall behind her before placing it. It was a milky-white spider, and the last in a series of the objects that would disable any listening or observing devices. He rotated the head once it was attached, and it slowly took on a tan hue, becoming almost invisible against the wall.
Almost before he'd let go he was tackled from behind with an enthusiastic hug around the waist of greeting, accompanied by a happy shout, " 'Dachi!"
Shinji turned and hugged her back. "Shuriken!" His shout, while subdued was just as happy.
Classic Shuriken, she hopped backward. Don't stay with people long enough for them to hurt you. A smirk adorned her black-painted lips. "Shall we… paint the town red?"
Shinji caught the hidden meaning, and bared his teeth in a wolfish grin. His bag rested against the wall, and his hands twitched as they reached out for it. He snatched everything from the bag except the nodachi and scimitars. Unembarrassed he stripped out of his clothes, strapping weapons onto his body in every conceivable position, and trotted to the dresser. Out came the red shirt and black pants, and on they went. He turned to Shuriken, dressed in her disturbing dark purple and equally dark blue stalking suit, and gestured for her to lead the way.
"What is in your hair?" Shinji tugged at it, feeling the crusty consistency that came from either too much gel or…
"LCL, methinks."
"Does it hurt?" Some old jokes could remain funny. Shuriken had just killed this one.
"… Whatever you say Shuriken."
"Exactly Nodachi. Glad to know that you haven't quite forgotten who's better here."
Shinji snapped back, his irritation at the synch tests overcoming him for an instant. "Just because you have all of two days more of the Ancient One's tutelage doesn't mean you're better than I am!"
Shuriken, if nothing else, knew when to back off from Shinji when he was pissed. "Sure 'Dachi." Her tanned hand pushed the door open. Shinji shouldered his duffle, and followed her out.
--
The knife slithered in and out of the man's throat, drawing a garish red-lipped smile from one ear to the other.
"That was clumsy, Shuriken." Shinji's voice floated from the stairs.
"Shut up! You know I prefer throwing things." Shinji smirked back as she gave him her patented glare-o-death. Finally, she remembered how to annoy him, and walked over to huggle Shinji.
Shinji made a sound somewhere between, "ACK!" and "GRRRCK!" before reminding her why it was a bad idea to huggle him. He rapped her sharply on the head with his fist, brass knuckles and all. Her eyes did the sort of unfocused swirling of the dazed that always managed to annoy her. She didn't like being dizzy. Know yourself and your enemy, and you shall never lose. Too bad they knew you just as well…
Shuriken punched him in the stomach, blasting the air from his lungs.
"What was that for?" Very mild, considering that she had just nearly slammed him into a wall. Or it could be the fact that he hadn't quite recovered his breath.
"Now is not the time for your introspective moments, 'Dachi. In case you hadn't noticed, the only reason they haven't blown the shit out of this building is because they think some of them are still in here." In a hushed snarl she added, "Family gangs have to be the worst."
Shinji's tongue flickered out over his dry lips as his mouth curved in pure delight. Pretty, pretty red, painting his hands crimson; trickling down his blade, spraying from ruptured arteries…
Shuriken recognized the look on his face, and inwardly groaned. Not one of these moods again…
Shinji began to move toward the stairs, his eyes staring straight ahead without seeing the world. His body seemed to flow through the unnaturally thick air surrounding him, never quite touching anything. His smile now barely twitched his lips as his hands drew one of his sidearms and primed it. Quite a shame that all the quad-filament wire was still with the Ancient One… The muzzle of the gun aimed directly at the wall for an instant before he applied pressure to the trigger.
The weapon barked once, and heated steel slashed through the decaying plaster wall. Shinji continued up the stairs, listening to the music of the man's screaming. That was music he could dance to.
Maybe the gangsters could too? Well, if not he could show them. Shinji flipped the gun around and used the butt to smash out a window. He wasn't quite conscious of the fact that Shuriken wasn't following him, but rather still on the ground floor, hovering near the stuck-shut front door. Glass tinkled as it shattered further on the pavement below, drawing the small crowd's attention to it, and then upward to the source.
What met their eyes was not one of their family, as they had hoped, but rather the business side of a handgun. Three flashes, three miniature explosions, and one of the mob fell dead, the other two screaming their last moments of life as they desperately tried to keep what was supposed to stay inside them inside. Puddles of crimson formed below the once-men. The remains of the broken life stared at the corpses for a moment before simultaneously moving to pick them up to remove them.
Shinji slithered onto the windowsill, taking part of his mind to make sure his bag didn't catch on the frame. His hands re-holstered the pistol, and he flicked his wrists. From the long sleeves of his shirt, the switchblades dropped into his palms. An audible "snick" echoed through the near-silent alley as the blades reached for air after their long imprisonment. Shinji dropped from the window, giggling as he awaited the two-floors distant earth to rise enough so they could have a more intimate acquaintance.
One of the men looked up, having heard the clack of the weapons uncovering. Two silver streaks in the midst of a burgundy and black greater streak, widened by the dark green bag hovering sideways behind the creature's back. Drawn by a sort of morbid fascination that comes when one has accepted their death, he found it intensely ironic that gutter-scum would be exhumed by such a lovely specimen of what they desired to become.
For a moment he pondered what it was that could make the being's hair float around its face so ethereally, what it was that could make its clothes stand out, patches of utter blackness against the tapestry of shadows the moon painted on.
And then he stopped worrying about what would happen when he died, stopped wondering if there was an afterlife. For he found out. Yet he could no more tell this to any whom still cared, just as all who had gone before him had been unable.
Shinji whirled, steel flashing luminously in the light of Luna. Stars, the moon, and Shuriken would be the only witnesses allowed to leave the scene tonight. If it had been possible, Shinji would have limited even that to merely Shuriken, but alas, he no more had power over the heavens than he understood the mind of a hormonal female.
So instead he lost himself the rain of crimson, bathed in it, removing the filth that was the taint of his father, if for just one short moment.
End of Chapter*Looks back at the last page or so of the chapter.* Hell, did I write that? O_o
Anyway, praise, flame, roast, burn, print out and put on a pedestal, host it on your site, as you wish, or as you wish not. It is three-thirty in the morning here… time to sleep.