RichardRahl—Battle Royale is number 1 on my "books everyone must read" list. And there are only something like three books on that list. I have a rough sketch of 'Dachi-weapon, but I ain't got a scanner, nor webspace to upload it at. Feh.
Gopu—Thankiies.
Gambit1—Ja, mien Feuer! And props on SC Evangelion. Great story. I'd drop a review, but my computer's a-hatin' on FF.N right now, so I can't. Apologies.
legacyZero—Trucked and ready!
A/N: Oook. Man, Nightwish is a great band. Red Mage owns your soul. Ah, yes. As to Shinji's classes. First off, he can't be in physics. First you have to take Chemistry, and that isn't offered until High School. Shinji is in class 2-A, the equivalent of seventh or eighth grade. Furthermore, he's fourteen. And my Shinji's a moron, but that's not the point. My Shinji probably shouldn't even be in class 2, but that's unavoidable. In addition, they could not have defeated the Larvae angel the way they did. Things get denser when they get cooler, therefore the Prog Knife would have had even more trouble penetrating the core. That was just stupid. The only way that could have worked was if the molecules in the core were so hyperactive that they were forming sort of a self-restoring barrier against the prog knife, but the good doctor claimed it was simply dense. And another angel! Why in the name of God did Asuka block the acid with the Eva's back, when the back is the place where the plug is? God, she's stupid.
Explanation of why Shinji is a member of the JSSDF, despite being below the legal age. The Ancient One is a member. He… threw his weight around and belabored various people into letting Shinji and Shuri' in.
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Ocean Red
Chapter 11: Boom-Boom
A Neon Genesis Evangelion Fanfiction
By CrimsonNoble
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"Ooops," Shuriken muttered as she cautiously stepped back from the enraged, gargantuan lizard. She was extremely careful to remember that she was six stairs up from a landing.
That, however, was enough to set the beast off, and it pounced, catching her leg as she tried to dodge. She hit the landing and curled up, automatically protecting Nodachi's favorite targets on a downed enemy. The targets being specifically one's eyes, fingers, toes, stomach, and the jugular and carotid arteries.
One three-fingered hand wrapped around a clump of her hair, and jerked her head back, exposing her neck. For an instant Shuriken was certain that she was going to die.
The long, forked tongue that flickered out and lapped at her face reinforced this idea, and the hiss that followed was positively malicious in origin. Her eyes peeked open, determined to glare at Death.
To be smacked in the face with the almost physical force of the stench of his breath. "God damn you to hell!" The saurian manic crouched over her hissed. "Now," it continued in a low snarl, "I have to go to the fucking mall to get a new pair of boots!"
There was a brief instant in which Shuri's mind attempted to come to grips with the fact that no, her blood was not squirting from a gaping hole in her throat, and no, she was not dead. She made a mental note to never damage 'Dachi's boots again. Ever.
And then he was gone, having skittered back up the stairs to his band, and then out onto the floor of the apartment, where he slithered to the door and admitted himself.
And though she remained still on the landing, she resolved further. That damned rat -- lizard, rather -- bastard would pay for scaring the shit out of her like that!
And lo, Shuriken did plot her most insidious revenge, and the Lord looked upon it and trembled in fear. Neither heaven nor hell hath wrath like that of a Shuriken ired.
--
Asuka sighed as she sat down in her apartment. For whatever reason, her beloved Kaji-sama had declined to come along on a shopping spree, and she had been rapidly bored by looking around alone.
She shuddered violently as she shifted her arm, sending a wave of pain shooting up from her fractured collar. Shinji Ikari was, no doubt about it, a complete and total asshole. The sheißekoph even had the gall to strike her!
She refused to admit that there was a very remote possibility that he had simply been better than her. He had obviously cheated, he was obviously a low-down dirty, cowardly, back-stabbing loser. And above all, he was an idiot. He had struck his superior! Inexcusable! It would not happen again.
Her lips curled in a derisive sneer. Next time she saw him, she'd make sure he knew who was boss.
She flopped back with a sigh. Why oh why wouldn't Kaji-sama notice her? Was it for another woman?
//I'll kill her!// She screeched mentally. No one stole her property. No one.
--
Misato gaped at the Commander. "What?" She yelped shrilly, temporarily and conveniently forgetting that he was her superior, and that she therefore had no right to question his orders.
The man glared from behind his tinted glasses. "I ordered you to take the Third Children along with you on your trip to see the Japan's Heavy Chemical Industrial's Jet Alone. You may or may not need his aid, but if what I believe is true then you will… be grateful for his aid."
"Sir," she pleaded, "I can't take him with me! Having him at the conference would weaken our military appearance!" She was begging at this point, doing anything and everything in her power to dodge the responsibility of having the dumbass with her.
The dark man smirked, though it was hidden by his hands, folded in front of his face as they were. "On the contrary, it will only strengthen our position. Though it was a bit difficult, I have managed to obtain his service records."
Misato looked up in confusion. Service? "Service, sir?"
"Yes," the man agreed. "If his records have not been falsified, and I very much doubt they have, he technically outranks you."
What? She mentally screamed. "What?" She verbally screamed.
"The Third Children outranks you, Captain. Not only is he a Pilot of an Evangelion, a position much more indispensable than your own, he is a ranking member of the Japanese Strategic Self Defense Force." The man decided to twist the knife a bit more. "Don't attempt to hide it from me, Captain, I know of your assault on him after docking with Unit Two. I would highly recommend you never make such an attempt again, as I have authorized him to use lethal force in defending himself."
Misato moaned in a mix of apprehension, terror, and despair.
--
Shinji grinned widely as he watched the depressed woman approach him. "Yes Kat-lady?" He inquired in an innocent tone of voice, though his grin was anything but.
She moaned in anxiety, and looked like she was about to burst into tears. Shinji grinned wider, if such a thing was possible. Man, this was fun. "Is there something you need my services for?" He resisted the urge to add, 'woman'.
She whimpered as she glared at him. "You have been ordered," she began ponderously, obviously frustrated. "To accompany me to the testing of the Jet Alone. Be ready tomorrow morning. A dress uniform if you have one."
Nodachi bared his teeth at her. "Right then."
Misato fled, chased by Nodachi's hysterical laughter.
--
'Dachi stepped out of the bathroom, having taken a shower for the first time in weeks. Which wasn't to say he hadn't been cleaned, no, he had wandered around in the rain several times, but he hadn't actually taken a shower in the time. He was dressed in his dress uniform, black slacks, black silk blouse, black dress jacket with silver lining, and his rank and regiment symbols on the lapel. His identification tag read, "Nodachi," rather than his birth name, because it was the name he had been registered as. His dog tags rested on top of the blouse, the first time in years that he had worn them. His hair was, for once, neatly combed; slicked back, making his features seem more angular than ordinary.
He wore no tie, mostly because he didn't know how to tie one, but also because he hated the sensation of a noose. Spring mounted in his sleeves rested his Walthers, ready to drop into his hands when the correct snapping motion was made. Inside the concealed pockets of the jacket his switchblades rested, invisible to a cursory inspection, and only if a very detailed inspection was run would the way the fabric stretched because of the extra weight become apparent. Of course, if someone knew it was there, it was fairly hard to miss, but otherwise it was nigh-undetectable.
For shoes he had a pair of black combat boots, ones that he used exclusively for this sort of thing, so they were in almost impeccable condition. Indeed, he had gone so far as to reapply the polish to them, so they shone in the semi-darkness.
Shuriken looked up, grunted, "You look like an idiot," and looked back down.
'Dachi nodded. "It's the hair, isn't it?" He asked rhetorically. Well, as rhetorically as he ever got. Linguistics weren't his field of choice.
Shooting people was.
He promptly ruffled his hair so it stuck out at all angles, giving him a vaguely afro-like look. Shuriken looked up again. "It'd look better in orange," she announced, before finally starting to clean her SOCOM.
'Dachi nodded agreeably, before the screeching of tires alerted him to the fact that his ride was there.
He shrugged, pulled a quarter from behind Shuriken's ear, and meandered out of the apartment, ignoring the girl's scowl. It wasn't that she was being left behind, because she wasn't. It was that he got to have all the fun, whereas she had to wait for something to go wrong before she could have any. Damned lizard.
--
Shinji yawned as he put his feet on the immaculate tablecloth, pushing his chair backward on two legs. He grinned at the looks of disgust directed at him by the elegant patrons of the assembly. He wasn't here to impress them; he was here to keep order. Well, officially he was. He was here to have fun. Piss a few people off.
He twiddled the coin between his fingers, more or less ignoring the proceedings. Beaurocratic bullshit that it was. Sure it was true that he technically wasn't allowed to interfere with the activation, but he didn't care about that. One more thing to blow up if it worked.
"Good afternoon, welcome to this demonstration of Japan Heavy Chemical Industrial's new product. Thank you for attending.
Shinji didn't bother concealing his second huge yawn, drawing further looks of distaste. Kat-lady and Blondie edged away from him, not so hard to do, as they were the only three people at the table.
"You will be observing the official demonstration in the control room, but first we'll be taking your questions here."
Blondie stood, raising a hand, "Yes."
"Ahh," the snobbish man made a gesture of appreciation, "The famous Dr. Ritsuko Akagi. It is our honor to have you here."
"Thank you, may I ask you a question?" She inquired politely.
"Of course," the man responded enthusiastically, "certainly!"
"According to our earlier briefing, this unit is equipped with an internal nuclear reactor, correct?" She demanded.
"Yes, this is one of our product's most distinguished features. One hundred fifty days of consecutive operating power is assured." He retaliated smugly.
Shinji snarled. This was beginning to annoy him. //Give me an excuse. Just give me one excuse. I dare you.//
"But from a safety perspective, isn't incorporating a nuclear reactor into a weapon designed for hand-to-hand combat risky?" Point: Blondie.
"It's better than a weapon that won't work for over five minutes." He retaliated.
"But in an emergency there could be problems with remote control."
"Still it's more humane than a system that induces great mental stress, and causes mental instability. I believe we have one of the pilots here?" He announced, a superior smirk twitching his lips.
Kat-lady mumbled something about children.
"And there's still the issue of manual control." One question? Shinji wondered. More like a battalion of them.
"A weapon that cannot be controlled is insane. I believe it is better than an extremely dangerous weapon piloted by a child with a psyche-report like this," he said smugly, lifting a folder with 'CLASSIFIED' and 'TOP SECRET' stamped across it in large red capital letters. He let it fall open.
It was Shinji's psychiatric profile.
Both of the boy's wrists snapped as he grinned. //Thank you.// The gun in his right hand discharged once, blowing a hole in the folder and mostly severing the man's ring finger.
Shinji slowly unfurled himself keeping one P99 trained on the man, the other sweeping the crowd. Slowly he marched forward, smiling charismatically at the man as he waited for Shuriken.
"You!" The man exploded, curled over in pain, "You're not allowed to interfere!"
"I beg to differ." Shinji offered. "I hope you know exactly how much shit you're in. You see, my psychiatric evaluation is classed at Magic level clearance. There are exactly six people alive with that level of clearance. You can be court-martialed, be imprisoned for a life sentence, executed, and tried for treason for even knowing that report exists."
He glared at Shuriken as she melted out of the shadows huddling against the back of the stage. "Took you long enough," he snapped irritably.
She shrugged idly. "You handled it."
He raised the firearm that wasn't trained on the man toward the ceiling, "As of now this operation is under the control of the Japanese Strategic Self Defense Force. This facilty is also under our control. No one is allowed to leave. Any objections?"
One of the man's bodyguards stepped forward. "You have no authori—" He fell silent as a nine-millimeter round ripped through his skull.
"Any others?" Nodachi asked again. None came.
"Good. As for you," he kicked the man in the side. "You are confined to wherever the hell you can be confined here. The test will proceed."
--
'Dachi ignored the activation, for the most part. It wasn't until shit started going wrong that he looked up.
"It's not stopping!"
Panic spread throughout the room as people started to run from the front of the room where the viewscreen. Useless, as the foot of the giant mecha crushed the ceiling, sending chunks of plaster and concrete falling, crushing many of the inhabitants. Blood sprayed as the foot crushed whatever remained of their bodies before continuing it's destructive swath through the base.
Kat-lady forced herself to her feet, coughing as the dust filled her lungs.
"Oh my god!" Someone yelped, "It's heading straight for Tokyo Three!"
"Ohmigawd!" Shuriken mocked. "Shut up. It won't reach."
"What do you mean?" Kat-lady exploded.
Shinji waved vaguely at the hexagonal display. "Well, red's usually bad. And it's spreading damn fast on that thingy. It can't be that close to Tokyo Three that in another couple of minutes it'll reach the outskirts."
A technician glanced up. "What the… The Jet Alone's reactor is overloading! It's gonna blow!"
Nodachi glared in exasperation. "So what?"
Someone with the presence of mind to think straight would have known what he was talking about. This man didn't. "The nuclear reactor has a blast radius of a good three miles! Total nuclear fallout!"
'Dachi sighed. "I repeat: So what? We can't do shit about it. It won't hit the city."
"If it blows the entire area is going to be so hot nothing can enter it for the next twenty years!"
Shuriken stepped forward, leveling her SOCOM at the man's skull. "I said, shut up!"
Kat-lady stepped forward, decisively shouting, "We have to do something!"
Nodachi smiled coldly as Shuriken's gun switched targets. "I don't think you understand Captain, you cannot leave the area."
"I order you to let me leave!" She snapped.
Shuriken's finger tightened on the trigger. "You do not have any authority here. This place is under the control of the jay es es dee ef. You are staying right where you are."
And so, five miles outside of the eastern border of the now fully locked down Tokyo-3, the faulty machine detonated. The reactor's full fury ravaged the countryside, stripping it of vegetation, flattening a mountain, and spreading the unstable atoms around the area.
And further away, in his workshop of horrors, the Ancient One received the news of what his prodigies had done.
And Wakizashi laughed.
END CHAPTER
Yeah. I did it. I let the Jet Alone blow on the outskirts of Tokyo-3. And we get a glimpse of the Ancient One. He owns your soul.
Review, flame, praise, unleash the fiery bowels of cheese-hell on me. Whatever.