Arizosa—eep! I hast been forgiven! Joy!
Chaotic Order—it isn't two personalities. It's Shinji playing out a conversation in his head. He knows he is both 'voices', he just chooses not to think about it too much because it makes his head hurt. Makes mine hurt too. Oh, Shinji has plenty of emotions. He just directs them into blowing stuff up. A lack of a sense of right/wrong will do that to a person. Oh… Asuka's going to be fun! And 'Dachi technically has shown his form while in the plug. He just hasn't let anyone else see it.
Richard Rahl—Whoa… Maybe I should re-read that. Hrmm…
legacyZero—I shalleth not abandon! I'm too stubborn!
Itchy—basically, a big-ass anthropomorphic lizard. I've been dropping clues here and there (bad ones) in the way I describe him. Whee… I actually mentioned its name. Somewhere.
A/N: Well, uh… actually, I'd forgotten about the Jet Alone incident. Plus, my copy of Eva is out on loan right now. So some details may be… off. On a happier note, seems FF.N's started uploading reviews, even if its not sending out Review Notifications for the ones it was slow about. Also note that I've switched the Jet Alone incident until after Eva-02's arrival, if I decide to do it at all. Feh, Eva One's still slag, so anything's possible. Meaning, Asuka's going for the JA if it happens.
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Ocean Red
Chapter 9: Debut of the Nameless
A Neon Genesis Evangelion Fanfiction
By CrimsonNoble
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Shinji opened his eyes. This felt somehow familiar. Oh, right. It had to be the needles. Damn, was this going to happen every time he passed out?
Upon further reflection, he admitted that the answer to that was indeed, "probably." He was, after all, one of the pilots. A savior of humanity, as Blondie had termed him. The savior of destruction as he had termed himself.
His voice rang into the empty room, more than a tad bit off key, "Bang-bang Maxwell's silver hammer came down upon her head… Bang-bang, Maxwell's silver hammer made sure that she was dead…"
Rather, horrendously off key. It brought a tear to the eye of a passing nurse, who promptly ran to call security in the hopes that "violating the sanctity of music" was an offense punishable by death. In an unfortunate-yet-fortunate twist of events, it was not.
Not that Shinji was aware of the drama of the nurse's life; he was too engrossed with butchering one of the Ancient One's favorite songs. Well, he might have thought, in comparison, he was merciful. The Ancient One couldn't have carried a tune in a swimming pool if his life depended on it.
Well, not that he'd let his life depend on anything. That was stupid.
Shinji sat fully up, his eyes shadowed by the darkness pouring in the window. Damn, he'd either been out for a long time, or almost no time at all. He felt a breeze coming from the vents, and it took him a long moment to realize that he should not have been feeling it in that particular location.
Immediately his hand whirled up to his face, finding that yes, the insignia scar just under his left eye was revealed to the world. It consisted of five triangles, one pointing downward, while the other four identical isosceles triangles aimed up and away from the first, spreading in a distinctly claw-like fashion.
The cover must have boiled off, mused the scarred one. His hand absentmindedly drifted back to the back of his neck, where the second scar, shaped in an upside-down cross, rested.
Damn. If he kept along this carelessly he would be six feet under before long.
So, he'd simply get better. It was the only logical choice.
He stood up, wavering unsteadily on his feet, and started toward the nearest door, observing blandly that he was still in his plugsuit.
Obviously, it was no time at all. He would have been in a hospital gown had it been longer than an hour and a half. Doctors were evidently slacking. He snorted mentally, and waved at the security camera as he exited the room.
The familiar sounds and scents of the hospital indicated that, as he believed, he was once again inside the Geofront. Inside the NERV complex itself, most likely. Cool. That meant that his locker, and therefore both his weapons and clothes, were nearby. Which in turn meant that he was close enough to get them back before Section-3 appropriated them. Bastards.
Come to think of it, the only time he had ever heard Section-3 mentioned was in passing by an employee, involving a comment about how the only thing they were good for was bodyguard duty, as they would follow orders completely. Actually, that was rather reminiscent of Ayanami and Section-2. Section-1 was most NERV personnel, comprised mostly of technicians. Almost completely, actually.
Shinji pressed his left hand against the wall, not so much as for support, though that was partly the reasoning behind his purpose, but to judge the material it was made of. To see how it would burn, and whatnot. Being made of a plaster exo with a steel infrastructure, he deduced that it wouldn't be anything special. Damnation.
He stumbled slightly, his foot dragging across the uneven break in the metal floor.
His loud cursing rent the sterile sound of the hospital. Apparently it also summoned a nurse, who promptly began to chase him as he fled into a men's bathroom.
Which naturally didn't stop her, but she slowed as she saw him enter it, knowing that the only way out was through her.
And knowing that, she felt secure enough to meander the rest of the distance to the door.
A mistake that would have been fatal had Shinji been armed, but as he wasn't, he merely pulled the grate out of the air ventilation shaft, and slithered inside before replacing it. He watched the woman enter the bathroom confidently, watched as she inspected every one of the stalls, watched as she grew more nervous between every stall, and, mercifully, laughed silently as she left shrieking for the Doctor.
Silly bitch.
Shinji squirmed through the ventilation shaft, grunting slightly at the tight fit. This was not a place intended for humans his size to navigate. Stupid architects.
--
Shinji sighed as he came over a locker room, and quickly smashed in the grate, dropping ceremoniously to the floor. Landing on his head, but that was part of the ceremony. He stared blankly at the ceiling for a long moment, collecting whatever was left of his scattered thoughts. Not that there were many of those.
At last he stood, peering around the cavernous room for his locker. Upon locating it, he changed into his newer gear, a plain navy t-shirt under an unbuttoned dark blue Hawaiian shirt, with a pair of black slack dress pants, the kind listed as wrinkle free, though they really weren't. Just close enough that they didn't have to be ironed. Belted with a black one-size-fits-all belt around the waist, with a non-standard buckle. Above that, an identical belt, though it was more bluish, wrapped around his lower abdomen, holding the straight sword across his back. A third belt, from which hung several pouches filled with random items, a couple of razor blades, some rocks, spare clips, extra shells, his lighter, some money, and a single bottle of his special nitro glycerin rested diagonally between the two, held in place mostly by the top belt. It also held a holster for his Walther, though a NERV-issued SIG-Sauer P230 9mm Short automatic pistol would shortly replace that. Not a weapon he knew much about, but after all, it was NERV standard. So it was probably, at worst, decent. At best, it might have been adequate. He prayed it came with a suppressor. Because, damn, he didn't like having to cut his way through a shit load of enemies without his nodachi.
He shrugged another jacket on, once again Shuri's idea. This time, however, he had to credit her. The leather bomber jacket was his second favorite article of clothing she had purchased. He made a mental note to never, ever let her access his bank account. Ever. Again, at least. Gods, he still bore the scars! She had killed off half of what remained of his brain!
At least, that was what it felt like.
Shinji stepped out of the room, heading for the Commander's office, generally pissed at any and all hospital employees at the moment. To hell with them, he cheered. They would be chewed out massively for letting him escape. If not outright fired.
His mental laughter would have scared chipmunks. Had there been any telepathic chipmunks in Japan.
Lucky for all telepathic chipmunks, they tended to live in Australia, with the rest of those fucking kangaroos.*
--
The large, imposing room echoed with the sounds of Ikari's furious ranting.
Ayanami wilted under the intense gaze of the Captain, while her Commander raged at her.
Abruptly, a voice cut through the rage. "Hold up, what's this?"
Commander Ikari glared at the intruder, one Shinji Ikari. "Pilot Ayanami committed insubordination, and as such must be punished."
Shinji's amusement could have been heard in his voice, if one couldn't see the delight in his eyes. Understandably difficult, as he'd picked up his biological father's habit of wearing dark sunglasses. "Hold up, last time I did that, you tried to have me killed. Well, at least, I think that was what happened. Not every day a group of Section-2 dumbasses attacks me. Tell me, have they figured out I do their job better than they do yet?"
The Commander glared hard. Shinji removed his sunglasses, sliding them into his jacket, meeting the man's eyes with a look that said, "I'm so stoned I could get shot and not know it. And you think you have a chance of intimidating me?" Apart from the fact that he hadn't touched any sort of drug, ever. Including painkillers and narcotics.
"Now, I think we should rectify this. I gave Ayanami-san an order before the mission was initiated. I also made a comment that could have been, in that circumstance, an implication that I would have died to protect her. I wouldn't have. But I did say I would protect her, and so there was a second reason for her following my order. Kind of. Anyway, do you even know what that Angel's attack was made of? I took a look in the energy reading logs after my flash-boil, and it was made of Positrons. Just like the rifle. Now, I'm no scientist, but I know the basics of physics, and chemistry is just fun. Irrelevant, but whatever. Correct me if I'm wrong, but positives usually repel, correct?"
"What are you saying, Pilot Ikari?"
"Punish me. It is my fault. I actually have an idea, but we should discuss that in private. Offense: I don't particularly like the Captain there."
"Very well. If you wish to sacrifice yourself for the girl, then so be it. You will be doing something for me. Captain, Pilot, dismissed."
The commander waved them boredly out of his office, and promptly focused on Shinji.
Utterly confused by this turn of events, Katsuragi allowed herself to be herded out of the office by a pair of Section-3 agents, following the First Children.
"You claimed to have an idea?" The man investigated.
"Yes. Like I said, I glanced through the database after my flash-boil. I saw that you are bringing the Second Children—incidentally, how many damn families are coming?—and she's coming on a UN super carrier. I also note that you are sending the Captain to escort her from the midway point. I would like to volunteer as a… bodyguard if you will. The Admiral will not be cooperative. We know this. I can… coerce him. Heh, note that I'm through the BT. It is now perfectly legal for you to employ me as a Section-2 NCO." Uncharacteristically serious.
"You have expanded your vocabulary of late." There wasn't much surprise in the man's voice.
"Better than listening to those damn lectures. Worry not, by tomorrow I will be back to my idiot self. Being boiled does weird things to a person." Hell, being boiled once wasn't pleasant. Twice was just insane.
"I see. Permission granted."
"I have one more request." Shinji continued pestering.
For the first time, impatience graced the older man's voice. "You are becoming demanding. What is it?"
"Two, technically. I want that SIG-Sauer already, and I want to be restrained when taken to the Over the Rainbow." Shinji's sardonic smirk was slightly disturbing.
"Very well."
"Goody. Bye, old man."
Shinji skipped out of the room, clicking his heels every now and then with a, "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore…" thrown out every time he turned a corner.
--
"Captain."
"Yes, Commander?"
"When you go to escort the Third Child. He is to be restrained."
"Why, sir?"
"You do not need to know that. All you need to do is take him."
"Yes, sir."
"Good. Dismissed."
The woman exited the room, wondering why she was being ordered to take the boy. Sure, he was a pilot, and sure, he was good, but what use was it if there was already another pilot for the Eva anyway?
She gave a mental shrug, and tried to dismiss the thought. The Commander had decreed that she didn't need to know, so she wouldn't be told. A thousand curses upon his grandchildren. After all, his son was curse enough for the man. No need to make that any more unpleasant. She wasn't evil, just vengeful.
--
Shinji yawned boredly as Purplie, Katsuragi's new designation, tried to navigate through the half-finished construction below. He thought for a moment, foreign though the sensation may have been, and then walked over to the railing with a shrug before hopping over it to fall the five or six levels to the dirt and concrete below.
Ahh, that was why he didn't do that anymore. His knees didn't like it.
Well, at least his lighter was still in his belt-pouch. That was new.
"Hey-o Kat-lady! Why are you here? Am I being called for some sort of duty?"
Misato's eye twitched busily. KAT-LADY?
"The Commander has… requested that you come along with me to escort the Second Children and Evangelion Unit Zero-Two."
"Oooh!" Shinji squealed excitedly. "Another family! Do we get to ride a boat? Huh, do we? Do we? Do we? Do we? Do we? Do we?"
Kat-lady looked like she would have liked nothing better than to have just fled the scene screaming, in an attempt to sacrifice her rapidly crumbling sanity. //Why me? What did I do to deserve this?//
"Yes. We are going to be rendezvousing with the UN Super Carrier Over the Rainbow."
"Yay!" 'Dachi squeaked. "And you make it sound so officious-like with those big words! This is going to be great!"
At this point, Misato decided that if it would stop her having to spend time with this insane little squirrelly boy that she would have committed seppuku. With a Frisbee.
But the Commander would have found some way to ensnare her soul, and force her to do it anyway. A thousand curses upon his great-grandchildren!
After a good count-to-six, she at last exploded. "Are you fugging high or something?"
"I dunno. Maybe. Lets see… no, that was just the one time… I saw someone get high of Ajax once, drove his car straight into a brick wall. He died. It was funny."
Misato finally broke and ran away screaming, her purple hair streaming out behind her. Shinji gave chase, continuing his utterly random, nonsensical, and inane commentary.
This was fun!
--
Shinji nodded absently in response to the Section-3 officer's question as to whether he was going to allow the man to put the cuffs on him, or if he was going to resist. He wasn't really paying attention, nor was he particularly caring. He'd already disarmed himself, apart from his short sword, and his weapons were hidden safely.
So he sniggered slightly when the handcuffs snapped shut around his wrist, admiring the length of metal chain between the individual cuffs.
These pathetic shards of metal wouldn't stand up to Shuriken, let alone Nodachi. But it would be fun to toy with the Second Children. Just for the hell of it. That was the only reason that made anything worth doing.
Nodachi followed the Captain into the chopper, flexing subtly against the restraints. They were pathetic. Really, it was almost like they weren't even made of proper metal! It was insulting!
He wondered offhandedly if the Second would be a fun playmate.
His temporary state of musing was interrupted by the roar of the t-chopper taking off, and he turned to look out the open side of the helicopter.
For a moment he was occupied by wondering what kind of helicopter it was, that it was a NERV custom was not only obvious, but a given. He was wonder what the base had been, it sounded a bit like a Kasatka, but that was Russian. And the old man being the Russianophobe he was, NERV would not have used that. Or the engineer had been shot after being forced to watch his family being tortured, and the helicopter had been in mass enough production that it would have been far more of an inconvenience for it to be switched than to see it every time the man looked at one of the choppers. But that was stretching circumstances a bit.
Okay, a hell of a lot. Probably not a Kasatka then.
His eyes fell shut, and he abruptly decided not to open them once on the super carrier. Why not, after all?
Abruptly he felt the sudden change in the direction he was being pulled as the chopper suffered massive engine failure.
Shinji's eyes flew open, to see the co-pilot standing over the body of the pilot, smiling nastily, his weapon aimed at Kat-lady.
In a voice that sounded as if it had never been washed, he murmured, "Move and she dies…"
Shinji shrugged uncaringly. "Yeah. She dies. So what?"
The man looked confused, impressive when the helmet of his flight suit hid most of his face. "She is your ops-dee. Why aren't you defending her?"
Shinji nodded agreeably. "Feh. She's just my ops-dee. Why would I defend her?"
The man's lips twisted into a vicious snarl, and he spoke angrily. "Fine. Then she'll die." Before pulling the trigger on his weapon.
Before the case hit the floor, now tilting alarmingly as it neared the ocean, Shinji rushed the man, using his bound hands to shove the barrel of the gun up toward the ceiling. He took the knee to his gut, flinching slightly as he did so, but nevertheless succeeding in driving the man backward out of the open side of the chopper.
As they plummeted toward the surface of the water, Shinji looked into the face of the mask and smiled.
"That was interesting. Lets see what happens when you hit the water, eh?"
He nodded, wrenched the man's wrist so it broke with an echoing rapid-shatter, and shoved the gun into the back of his pants before they hit the water.
There was an earsplitting shriek as ribs and vertebra broke, and the man whimpered in pain before sinking.
Shinji looked toward the chopper, the wrecked hulk sinking slowly into the murky depths and sighed boredly.
He felt a phantom hand on his shoulder, and spun around in the water.
"Wake your ass up Ikari!"
--
Shinji shot bolt upright from where he had been seated, observing that the rotors had stopped before he lashed out at the one who had woken him up, his eyes still closed.
He was greeted with a yelp as Kat-lady staggered backward out of the chopper, falling unsteadily to the flight deck of the carrier.
Shinji himself hopped off, landing on all… threes, technically, as his hands were bound.
He stood up, cracked his neck, and followed the sounds of Kat-lady's footsteps. Off-handedly he wondered where the second was.
A moment later he found out, as he heard a distinctly German voice echo across the deck.
"Why, hallo Misato!"
"Hey Asuka! My, looks like you've grown some!"
"Yeah, I'm not only taller, my figure's filled out as well."
At which point a breeze gusted across the boat, lifting the skirt of her yellow sundress to reveal to everyone watching that she was not wearing underwear.
She blushed furiously, and approached to slap Shinji, who shook his finger at her with a, "Ah-ah-ah! That's not a good idea!"
She didn't stop, and Shinji shrugged. "Your funeral."
Her hand impacted the side of his face, and he spun with the blow, driving a low roundhouse kick into her calf, dropping her to the deck, where he landed on her gut, knee first, and raised his manacled hands above his head to deliver a crushing blow to her skull.
Unfortunately for him, fortunately for everyone, one of those, 'screwed if you do, screwed if you don't,' type things for Shinji, his eyes being closed threw his aim off the tiniest bit, so that his blow, made somehow more painful by the metal of the handcuffs, impacted her collarbone at decreased force, so instead of the crunch of bone breaking, he was treated to the snap of bone fracturing.
Shinji shrugged as he stood, leaving the Second limply on the deck, whimpering slightly, but not crying.
"Don't fuck with me, Nazi whore. I bite back." He nodded absentmindedly, and wandered off, already on his way to the bridge.
Had to figure out who the Admiral was, naturally. Not so easy with his eyes closed. But then, anything worth doing was worth working for.
So, to hell with the Second! That had been far too easy. Not worth it at all.
--
Shinji slid sideways into the bridge, having just walked rather painfully into the wall next to the door.
"Bonjour, comment ca va?"
Shinji stared. With his eyes still shut, but he managed to stare anyway. It was impressive.
"What. The. Hell?"
"Well, you must be Shinji Ikari. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"You being?"
"My name, young one, is Ryouji Kaji. Not surprised I know your name?"
"I kill gigantic beings called Angels for a living. I pilot a… very large human-thingy. I defend the planet. Am I somehow unjustified in my assumption here?"
"Ahh, you do have a wit!"
Shinji paused. "No, no I don't. I've just had this conversation too many times."
"Oh." Came the disappointed response.
"So, where's the CO of this little boat?"
Kaji laughed. "Don't let him hear you calling it that."
"Too late."
"Ahh! Admiral! I see. Have you met Kat-lady yet?"
"Who?"
"The Captain. What was her name? Katsur-poo-poo?"
Kaji almost laughed. It was funny. Except that 'Kat-lady' herself was standing behind Shinji.
It seemed she hadn't lost the nervous tic in her eye yet, he managed to observe before she exploded.
--
"So, Shinji. I'm told you can fight rather well. Tell me, what do you practice?"
Shinji's eyelids sort of flickered, as if he was blinking. "I used to do Kenpo, Kendo, JJ, and Ba Gua. Now I don't, I just do whatever I feel like. Did Muay Thai for a bit though. That was fun."
"Impressive résumé. Is there anything you'd like to call what you do now?"
"Yeah. Gun-do," Shinji replied, a snicker flickering over his features as the name left his lips.
Kaji smiled. "Would you mind giving me a demonstration?"
Shinji shrugged blandly. "I run the Range every thursday now, so if you want to watch, then's the time."
Abruptly his head turned, and he stared at the hull. Through his still closed eyelids, but…
"Something's coming."
Kaji's eyes opened slightly wider. "What?…" he managed before there was a shockwave and the sound of a geyser going off.
Shinji turned back to the man. "Angel."
Kaji kept his panic under control. "How do you know?"
"Couldn't hear a sub, nor a boat, nor an aircraft. Plus, this isn't the most expedient way of transporting an Eva." It was about this point Shinji realized that they were alone in the room, "You were expecting this, were you not?"
Kaji, knowing the boy wouldn't see, smirked deviously. "Yes, I guess the Commander was."
Shinji nodded agreeably. "I expect you have shit to do. I do too. So… FREAKOUT!" He bellowed, before zooming up the stairs, his bound hands extended in front of him.
Kaji shook his head at the surrealism. Evidently, Shinji watched a little too much TV…
--
"Hello-ooo! Would you like data on this enemy and how to defeat it?"
The Admiral glared back. "I want you off my bridge!"
Shinji shrugged blandly, having followed Kat-lady in, before walking up to the man.
"You do know that, in the case of an Angel attack, NERV controls more power than you, correct?"
"How did you know that?" The man demanded loudly.
"I didn't." Shinji announced, circling the seated man.
Once behind him, his hands whirled forward before jerking back towards himself, the chain of his manacles wrapping around the man's throat, pulling his head to Shinji's chest.
"You just told me." He twisted his head to face Kat-lady, and cheered, "Carry on then. He won't be interrupting."
END CHAPTER
*Tribute to the End of the World (ebaum). I hold nothing against Australians. Honest.
Seppuku with a Frisbee: realultimatepower .net , remove the space.
Getting High Off Ajax: credit to Drug Wars 2 International, TI-83+ game.
Feh. Ended. I don't know if I'm going to be writing the Angel, or just skipping the narration. If I write it, expect changes to it. Right now, its 94 Fahrenheit, and I don't feel like thinking.