Information:
Title: "Apocrypha"
Author: Predstavlenia Glazala Boga
Based on Gainax's fabulous anime series "Shin Seiki: Evangelion", and the movie "End of Evangelion".
Summary: A re-envisioning of the whole series. I plan to follow the general outline of the show; more carefully at the beginning, and extraordinarily loosely at the end.
Romance: Yes, of course. Rei and Shinji will get together, as will (obviously) Misato and Kaji. There will probably be nods at Toji and Hikari; however, since Hikari is not a main character (though Toji is in this version), this will be mostly in passing. Anything else, you can find as you go.
Rating: M for language, violence, and sexuality. Not necessarily all in a single chapter, but I'll eventually hit all three.
Disclaimer:
I own a copy of this series, but not the original, or the rights to it. I write this out of love for Eva, not out of some twisted belief that I am a more intelligent person or a more skilled writer than the creators of the show.
Episode 1-A: Angel Attack
2015 AD…
The titan cut through the surf at 50 knots, nearly outpacing the helicopter that tailed it. A bright red UN logo boldly declared the helicopter's affiliation, and supposed authority over all the world. The helicopter's radio incessantly rang with chatter, making the pilot's job even more difficult than it should have been. Right now, he was chasing down a beast, a monster straight out of a Pre-Second-Impact science fiction or horror film. For, the creature they stalked was none other than the Third Angel.
- - - - -
"All lines are currently unavailable. This is only a recording."
The teen-aged boy set the phone back in its cradle, sighing irately. This is stupid, he thought. Why did I even come here? He stepped from the telephone booth, and looked up at the sky, trying to clear his head. Telephone wires sliced the great blue and white vision before him into dozens of pieces, causing it to look not unlike a great broken mirror. After a few moments, he pulled out the postcard he had received, its front a picture of a beautiful, violet-haired woman showing a bit more cleavage than was socially acceptable (a fact accentuated by the arrow drawn towards it labeled "check these out"). It had said to meet here, at the corner of Hanako and 24th, at precisely 1400. The boy lifted his left hand, and checked the watch that had once been his mother's. It was 1448.
"This is stupid."
- - - - -
The titan broke the surface, only a few hundred meters from the shoreline, in a great spray of ocean water. It had reached its destination: Tokyo-3. And it was greeted by a veritable wall of tanks, lined up on every major road from which one could see the bay. A single screamed word emerged from the radio of every one of the assault vehicles: "FIRE!" Moments later, a hail of fire emerged from a thousand different points, converging on the great beast, enveloping it in a cloud of explosions.
A mile distant, three generals smiled in unison. They watched, by means of external cameras, the carnage unfold. Quickly, however, their smiles turned to expressions of disbelief, as the Angel seemed affected not a bit by their explosives. Below them, a tall, bearded man grinned smugly.
- - - - -
The boy put away his postcard, and thought of leaving. He didn't belong here, after all; no one could really blame him. Suddenly, a great gout of sound split the relative silence; explosions, he thought. If there's fighting going on, I really SHOULD get out of here. I don't want to get dragged into it.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spied a young girl, dressed in a standard school uniform, her blue hair waving in the wind. She almost seemed to be looking at him. Who… are you? he thought, quizzically. He realized, a moment later, how foolish he was; he was not a telepath. No matter how hard he thought the words, she would not hear him. He opened his mouth to say something.
The sound of the explosions grew much louder, all of a sudden, and he looked away. When he looked back, he couldn't find the girl. Where… did she go? Was… was she even there to begin with? Did I imagine it? What the hell is going one?
His thought were interrupted rather suddenly by a great pylon crashing to earth a scant two meters to his right. The earth was rent open by the impact, and the boy was knocked to the ground, dazed. Again, he was staring up at the sun.
- - - - -
"DammitdammitdammitdammitDAMMIT! WHERE IS HE? HOW COULD I HAVE LOST HIM AT A TIME LIKE THIS!"
If there was one thing Misato Katsuragi was known for, it was not emotional stability. Nor was it subtlety or perspicacity. It was perseverance. Once she had a mission, she would grab it by the throat and not let go. This one, however, was trying even her patience. It had been over an hour since she had intended to meet the Third Child, and, since then, she had been combing the city for him. He had not been at the designated spot, and she had seen neither hide nor hair of him in the (admittedly short) time she had searched. Time was of the essence, however, now that the 3rd Angel had arrived. It would only be a matter of time before they would be called in, and this boy needed to be in their custody by then.
Rather suddenly, Misato received a larger-than-life image of the 3rd Angel, as it finally came ashore. As it placed its first monstrous leg on solid ground, it crushed Misato's favorite pub, Shang's, located at the corner of Hanako and Route 24. Aww, man! I was hoping to celebrate there when this whole thing was over and done with! Now where am I gonna party… Wait a minute… Is that a child outside? It is!
She spun the car to a halt a few feet from the boy, and popped open the passenger-side door. "Get in!" she shouted. "Am I real late?" After considering the pylon for a moment, and then realizing it was actually the leg of the behemoth that was emerging from the harbor, the boy dove into the car, which then sped away. Moments later, the beast's other leg crashed into the spot the car had only just vacated.
- - - - -
"All of our efforts have had no effect! Tank shells, guided missiles, artillery; none of them have done a god damned thing!" The general in the center threw down his pen in disgust. Billions of taxpayers' yen wasted. His despondent gaze drifted down to the owner of the facility. …Ikari. You're actually enjoying this! Bastard…
The general on the right stayed resolute, however, and pulled a red card with a magnetic strip on it from his breast pocket. He passed the card through the reader, which responded with an affirmative green light. Taking the phone from it's cradle, he looked at his comrades for a moment. "Time to use the ace of spades, gentleman." Bringing the phone to his ear, he said a short phrase into it: "Access code: Remember Hiroshima."
- - - - -
Gazing at the battle through a pair of binoculars, Misato could tell it wasn't going well. The UN had lost over 40 of the forces they had deployed, and it was unlikely they had burned off even 1 of the target's mass, despite the extraordinary amount of explosives they had hurled at it. Suddenly, all the helicopters scattered. It took her a moment to realize what was going to happen, and then…
"NO! THEY'RE GONNA USE AN N2 MINE? GET DOWN!" she shouted, shoving the boy she had retrieved to the floor of the car. There was a bright flash, and, suddenly, they were rolling. I'm gonna be sick, thought Misato; she then remembered she had a guest, and throwing up on him would be a bad idea. After all, you're responsible for our future, aren't you?
- - - - -
The three generals cheered as the N2 mine detonated. They had won. Without NERV or their oversized toys, they had defeated this harbinger of death, and defied God's will. The military was almighty.
"Well, Ikari, looks like you won't get a shot at it after all." The bearded man just smiled in response, no less smug than before.
"Shockwave approaching," called out one of the techies. A few seconds later, the external cameras went offline.
- - - - -
"One, two, three… PUSH!" The pair threw all their weight against the car, which had ended up on its side after the blast. They pushed with everything they had, and the car tipped over. Misato dusted off her hands, and looked at her charge. "Thanks, you're really helpful!"
"Oh, well, thank you, Miss Katsuragi." He blushed slightly at the praise. It had been an awful long time since he had been honestly praised by anyone. With his father, he had either been berated or ignored, so he wasn't quite certain how to react to this uncommon kindness.
Misato took off her sunglasses, and regarded the boy. "Well, then, Shinji Ikari, we meet at last."
- - - - -
"External cameras back on-line. Receiving visual…" The monitors slowly blinked back on. Where there had been static only moments before, the was now…
"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE! HOW CAN THE THIRD ANGEL STILL BE STANDING!" shouted one of the generals. His face, locked for a moment in disbelief, shifted quickly to hopelessness. We've lost this battle. We used our Ace, our trump card, and it just smiled and asked for more. "Ikari, we're leaving this to you and NERV. Don't disappoint us." The pedestal upon which the three men had been sitting now retracted into the ground, the bulkhead closing behind it.
"Fuyutsuki," Ikari said, "what is the status of the Third Child?"
The older man blanched. It's his own son, for Christ's sake! Can't he even call the boy by his name? He shook it off after a moment. "Captain Katsuragi just reported contact with him. They should be here inside 12 minutes."
"Good." The elder Ikari folded his arms behind him. Everything was going according to plan.
- - - - -
"Could you prepare a car-train? An express, of course. Thanks!" Misato closed her cellular phone, and immediately started moping. Today started off so well, how could this have happened? My car is ruined and I just got it repaired and I still have 33 payments on the loan and OH MY GOD MY DRESS! This was my favorite dress! I looked so good in it…
"Um, Miss Katsuragi? We've arrived. Please stop the car. Miss Katsuragi, please, I don't want to die in a car crash. MISS KATSURAGI!" This last shout brought her to her senses, giving her just enough time to stomp on the brakes and miss the wall. She pulled onto the car-train, and looked at her passenger.
"Sorry, Shinji, I guess I got a little lost in thought." Well, THAT was a lame excuse, even if it IS true. "So, did your father send you an ID card?" That's it, divert the conversation away from the part where we almost died. I am god damned SLICK.
"Oh, um, yeah." Shinji dug through his bag for a few seconds, shifting aside clothing and his cassette player, until he found the document. Drawing it from the bag, he took a look at it again. Many parts of the document had been censored, but there was still a sense of… authority to it. He handed over the document, and received one in return: a small booklet, with the phrase "Welcome To NERV" emblazoned on the front cover. "NERV? My father's organization?"
"Yeah! You better start reading that; it'll tell you everything you need to know about the facility you'll be working at! One thing it can't really describe, though, is this." Just as she said those words, the car-train came out of the tunnel. Around them was a world just like the one they had just left, though half of a mile under ground.
"WOW! A REAL GEOFRONT!" Shinji shouted, unable to mask his delight. Such a thing was often discussed in scientific communities, but was about as feasible to create as a true biodome. There were trees and lakes, and even birds flying around in the gigantic subterranean chamber. The less natural features included a multitude of skyscrapers, originating from both ground and sky, as well as a giant glass pyramid. Misato pointed to that last feature.
"That is our destination, Shinji. That is where we will meet the real you." She then lowered her sunglasses and took a quick nap, leaving Shinji to contemplate what she had meant by "the real him".
A/N: Alright, this is slow to start off, and it's nearly identical to the series. Stay with it, though, and I promise the differences will become more and more apparent.