/Welcome to the Real World/
- lawless priest -
0.11 a call to arms
The screeching of the Angel alarms seemed almost as if they were the trumpets of hell itself, sounding out their dire dirges to the confused hurrying populous, all the while signaling the fast approach of the grim reaper on his fiery steed.
And who knew, maybe they were.
But the young pilot ducking and dashing through the chaotic streets of the Fortress city, dodging speeding vehicles and people equally as he ran, didn't take the time to contemplate the matter as he headed for the nearest entrance to the GeoFront, almost tripping on his feet while watching with silent yet heavy trepidation as the unfamiliar (or too familiar yet unwanted - in his case) men in the black suits following him with their shaded eyes while the terrified citizens scattered to and fro between them in search of shelter and safety. It was strange but he never would have imagined that he would ever think to call Eva anything close to safe.
Times change and opinions as well, but mainly Shinji Ikari just didn't want to deal with those suited types right then. Between Angels and Agents... it wasn't really much of a choice, not with his friend Toji Suzuhara in the pilot seat of yet another Eva Unit and an unidentified enemy on the horizon. The fake cyborgs could wait indefinitely for all he cared.
He hadn't expected them but there they had been as he made his way out of school and the steep betrayal he felt in the presence of his supposed 'teammates'. Rounding a turn the pilot caught a fleeting glance of a dark figure wearing shades and an perpetually ominous expression. This was no Section 2 operative, not by far. Just the sight of one of their kind nearly gave the younger Ikari a heart attack. And when another showed up on the opposite street he knew it was just a trick of the mind. But there was no time for such things. He had a duty to perform.
..for his friend he'd weather even the storm Agents could bring.
Luckily he hadn't needed to as the steady stream of terrified citizens making their way to the nearest shelter blocked their path and their view of him as he ducked quickly through the gates to Nerv, hoping beyond hope that they wouldn't follow him. There was no way the team of guards at the gates would ever be able to take on their kind with any level of competence. Nothing would stand in their way if they wished to follow him.
The pilot didn't even remember the trip to the Eva cages or the showers for that matter. Only the slight glimpses in the bathroom mirrors of him changing clothes and the slamming of a locker door before the sterile, lifeless walls of Nerv HQ swallowed up his imagination with its seemingly endless maze of useless hallways, corridors and elevators that would all eventually lead him to his despairing destiny.
A familiar yellow substance filled his entry plug as a kaleidoscope of color flashed before those deep blue eyes, bringing with it memories of the last time he had been within that seat.
He remembered dying, clearly he remembered that, but there were other images... a green eyed women in a lab coat with a soft smile, a tall brown eyed American man in a dark flowing coat that might as well have been a dress, fighting an angry man with shades and a tie. He remembered dying again, but it wasn't his own death, but it felt the same... along with a loss so utterly complete it damn near crushed his fragile spirit.
'Who was th...?'
"Shinji, focus. Your sync rate is dropping."
The younger Ikari found himself shaking his head through the sickly yellow tinted fog of the entry plug in confusion as the 'Real World' came roaring back to him with its vivid detail.
"Huh, oh, sorry Ibuki-san. Wait... Maya-san?" confusion was evident in his voice as he realized who he was speaking to.
"Hurry Shinji. You need to be getting into your combat position." The soft yet urgent quality in the older woman's voice brought back what was at stake. 'Toji..'
"Oh, uh... yeah, sorry." He didn't know what he was thinking. An Angel was attacking so he couldn't be sidetracked by useless images, but inside he was silently glad that Maya was ok. There wasn't much indication whether or not she had survived the Agent's attack back with the resistance. But none of that mattered at that time. She was safe and he had a job to do. Shinji swore to speak to her later after the battle was over and this gave him some much needed courage.
Courage that he would surely need.
11.0 like a cold reckoning
/Part 1
"Unit-01 Launching."
Lt. Ibuki gave the call and I could hear Asuka asking who would direct the attack while Rei answered that the Commander would.
'Father...'
The pounding G-forces cut off any other internal or external thoughts as I was rushed to the surface. Normally I would have been nervous and a bit anxious before the coming battle, but strangely I felt calm, my mind composed. I could do this.
I was sorely mistaken.
"Doesn't this seem a little odd to you people? I mean we could do a much better job fighting together than being split up like this."
"Orders are meant be followed for a reason. The commander will direct us."
"Whatever Wonder Girl. You've got a lot of faith in that cold bastard, don't you?" Asuka's sarcastic reply to my other female co-pilot came through my comm-unit but I wasn't paying either of them much attention. Whether or not father's orders would work was the last thing on my mind.
'I have to do this quick so I can find out what happened to Misato and Touji. There can't be any screw ups. None!' I told myself.
"Come on Ikari, we can do this. Remember, we can't be beat, not by those FBI wannabes and not by these poor celestial imitations. Do you here Ikari? We can't be beat." I told myself or at least I thought it was me telling myself. There were times I didn't know who was speaking.
"What the hell are you saying back there Third? Are you taking to yourself... and in English? Since when did you... ?"
"I thought I told you to shut up Sohryu! I don't know what you're talking about and I don't care." That didn't sound like me at all and was obviously not the smartest thing to say but I was still a little ticked from before.
"Hey! You don't get to get fresh with me Third. You're the one talking to yourself! So you'd better watch your mouth and get it togeth... !"
I tuned her out as best I could while I waited as patiently as I could in my seat for an update on the situation. Seconds ticked by into minutes and so on while my once steady nerves slowly bled away my optimism and ate up my confidence. We were slowly approaching a full hour and a half and in about six seconds Asuka was going to give HQ a scathing piece of her mind about the inability of Angels, Technicians, and Commanding Officers in their duty to get their jobs done when they were supposed to.
This would be the fourth occurrence. I silently hoped there wouldn't be a fifth.
"...sigh. Well this sure is boring. You'd think these bakas would try to be on time for their own funerals."
"Ibuki-san, has their been any word from Matsushiro, is Misato-san alright?"
"No, Shinji-kun. There's been no word." That didn't sound good at all. What was going on at the Secondary Test Site? I may have still been angry at Misato but that didn't mean I wanted to see her hurt and with the way things were going...
"So what are we supposed to do, just sit here and wait?"
"Hai, pilot." Fuyutsuki-sensei replied back. "A team has been sent to inquire into what has transpired. You are all hereby assigned to standby until further orders are given."
"Just great... another hour of this." I may have felt the same but I kept my thoughts to myself which was something that I didn't think Asuka was capable of.
"And pilot Sohryu, if you insist on clogging the comm lines with your childish whining any longer you will be taken off of the combat roster until you can act like the soldier you were trained to be. Is that understood?" The Sub-Commander added and Asuka gave her sullen affirmative.
"Good, HQ out."
"...sigh." I could already tell that it was going to be a long day.
/WRW/
We didn't hear from Misato and Ritsuko-san until seven hours later. Apparently they survived with minimal injuries but Misato was going to have her arm in a sling for a while but that wasn't the problem.
The whole bridge crew was there, except for the two we needed. We were in one of the many debriefing rooms on Sub Level B waiting for our esteemed Tactical Officer and the head of Project E to arrive to fill us in on the situation. I sat in my seat quietly, trying to fight off the sleep that weighed down my eyelids ever since I had gotten out of the plug hours before. A few seats next to me Asuka it seemed had already lost that battle as her light snores filled the air. It was understandable, considering it was somewhere close to Four am and we were still, supposedly on active duty... or standby at least. Catching up on the sleep we weren't allowed to have in the Evas was looking like a very good idea every waking moment.
Rei of course didn't seem to be effected at all. Ok... ok, so I was lying. Ayanami had drifted off the moment one of the three remaining bridge techs Aoba-san, told us that we might be in for a long stay. The Great Ms. Sohryu found this to be an excellent chance to bring up her favorite choice of harassment topics when it came to my blue haired co-pilot, but I wasn't paying attention again and truly wasn't in the mood to care either way.
'Toji, you have to be alright. We've come too far to lose you now.'
I felt like sighing again. Inadvertently I had gained someone who could finally understand how I felt about piloting Eva that didn't happen to have a uterus, who wouldn't ignore me, ridicule me, and use me as a tool and already things were looking shady.
It was like God had it out for us male pilots, like there was some special target painted all over us that we couldn't see or wash off.
Either that or the guy just had really good aim. He was God after all.
'... sigh.'
"Sorry I'm late. Is everyone here?" her voice oozing wariness, with the good doctor behind her, Misato Katsuragi strode in with a tired panther's agitated gait. One arm in a sling, her hair a little off and her left eye twitching a bit as the door slammed shut behind her and waking the others up, it was clearly obvious that today had not been the Major's day.
"Ma'am." Maya-san called out softly as she handed my guardian the latest reports as she made it to the center podium. The Major gave the younger woman a undecipherable look that lingered a little longer than it should have before she took the reports and sighed at their contents.
"Screwed again it seems."
"What's that supposed to mean?" her arms stretched in a yawn, Asuka waited for her answer. "Yeah, what happened?" Aoba asked at her side, taking the words right out of my mouth. But it was Ritsuko-san who answered us.
"We were attacked."
"What?"
"By who? Maya and Asuka asked, their surprise obvious.
"We don't know. They were western, possibly American. Who knows how many?" The Major answered off handedly while scanning the reports.
"They practically tore the place apart, but we only saw three of them." Dr. Akagi said quietly from the side, almost too quietly in fact. You have no idea how strange it was to hear the doctor sound so... out of it. I mean, here was Ritsuko Akagi, the coldest, most clinically impersonal woman I knew looking like a deer caught in the headlights. And I wasn't trying to be mean or anything, I sort of liked the doctor. She was fine company when she wasn't at Nerv. But this was just wrong.
"You'd think they were business men or some high end salary men but.. the way they moved, it was... impossible. Nobody could do the things they did. "
I couldn't help but share a look with Ayanami and Sohryu at that comment. I opened my mouth to say something but Misato beat me too it.
"Doctor Akagi, get yourself together! You have a job to do." the stern look Misato gave her was not something you'd give a long time friend. It was purely business, but it got the doctor back to her wits. She apologized and cleared her throat before taking the papers the Major handed her.
... "You'd think they were business men..."
It just sounded like too much of a coincidence.
"What about the pilot... What about the Fourth Child?" I questioned Misato, needing to know the truth. I had to know about Toji. Asuaka and Rei gave me a look out the corner of my vision but I paid them no attention, I was getting rather good at that of late. But it was the brief moment of unease the Major displayed before she fell back into her military mode that told me that any naive notions that any male pilot could survive the curse that weighed on our breed was poorly conceived.
"The Fourth Child is..."
"The pilot was abducted." Ritsuko-san blurted out. Misato called her out but she wasn't paying attention, I could tell from the deep, faraway look in her eyes. She was reliving the moment, reliving the horror it must have been to see those devils in action.
"They took him before he even made it to the entry plug. "
"Doctor."
"We don't even know how they made it in."
"Doctor!"
"They were just... there, out of the blue and they snatched him, trashed the equipment and then played havoc on the those poor bastards we had there to guard the place."
"DOCTOR! That is enough! Guard! Yes, you there, you are to escort the Doctor back to the Medical Ward and keep watch over her until ordered otherwise."
"Understood." One of the faceless Section-2 agents waiting outside the briefing room replied as he complied with the order and led Dr. Akagi away who didn't seem to pay him any mind, too lost in her own nightmares.
There was a pregnant moment of silence after that, one that no one seemed willing to fill up, least of all me, but I needed answers.
"So, they took Toji?" It was more a statement than a question but I was looking for a bit of confirmation. Maybe Sohryu was wrong, maybe Toji wasn't the fourth. Inside I didn't believe that but there was still a chance. Of course it was hard not to notice the surprised look my 'Guardian' gave me at the mention of his name.
"It is true that the Fourth Child was abducted, but we have teams already out to retrieve him." She couldn't even say his name, but she really didn't need to. Just her not having corrected me confirmed it.
"So what now? They got Suzuhara, Are these weirdos going to try to snatch us too?" Asuka asked with her ususal arrogance but I sensed a bit of unease in her as well, if only under the surface.
"Unlikely but it is a possibility so we are doubling your guard and confining you to your quarters until further notice."
"What? You can't..."
"What of the Angel? Are we not still under standby status." It wasn't every day that Rei interrupted someone. Of course with it being Asuka that only made it all the more entertaining. Hell, you should have seen the faces the red head was making. She was so red I could have sworn she was going to burst a blood vessel.
"Your standby status has been revoked. And until further notice you will be staying in the apartment next time mine. Rei, you will be taken home to get what you'll need for your stay and then you will be moved in as I have stated. That is all. The agents outside will escort you."
And with that she turned to the bridge crew and started taking their reports and giving them their orders while leaving us to our own devices, or more specifically to the devices of the Ghost like Agents escorting us. It looked like I wouldn't be able to have that conversation with Ibuki-san as I had planned.
/WRW/
"Well this sucks. I can't believe that Stooge let himself get bagged like an armature and leave the rest of us to suffer for it." Sohryu was complaining again for the fourth time in the last hour. I was starting to think that was some type of special number, signifying deeds of dire intents and purposes were at hand.
We were back at the apartment in the living room with Rei staying with us. Security reasons she said. I didn't care. I was still pissed at them for not telling me about Toji being the Fourth but I was too busy cursing the Agents to worry about that.
I knew it was them. It couldn't be anyone else. But why? It didn't make any sense. If they wanted pilots they've have come after us first, or at least for me because of what happened that night from before. I didn't even know if they knew I was the One. It was still strange to think of myself in such a light, but with the obviously superior intelligence gathering abilities the Agents or at least their masters had, you'd think they have found out by then and would have made steps to deal with the problem rather than the half hearted efforts it seemed they were taking.
They easily could have taken me any number of times in the last week but they did nothing. Even when they did it was as if them catching me was only an afterthought.
There was that one time, that night they attacked the folks at Zion but that could have just been them trying to catch a runaway or to just end the resistance.
So why Suzuhara? And why now? Was it to get back at me? 'Did they' know that much about me already? Who knew, I barely had any 'new' info on them. Only the folks at the Resistance would have that, but I couldn't get in touch with Zion. I didn't even know where they were hiding or how many of them had survived.
I still didn't even complete my 'training'. If being straped down into some aging poor excuse for a leather chair while someone screws with your mind, telling you that you're going to learn Kung fu could be considered training then yeah.
I swear, they were all pretty whacked out at Zion but I was just as lost since I knew I would end up going back to them some time latter if only for answers at least.
But there was little chance of me getting into a position to find them with the doubling - more like tripling - of the guard. There'd be no way for me to get out of the apartment without them knowing, let alone them following.
And I found out much to my displeasure, that it would be a long time before any of us saw the outside world again.
AN: Part 1 complete and on to Part 2. I really wanted to have this huge Neo/Agent and Unit 01/Unit 03 battle in this chapter but it just didn't fit well into the story line... and because of the fact that I was working with 24 pages on one chapter and was forced to split it all into two parts. THERE WILL BE some serious asskickings evolved next round though. Just thinking about it kinda puts a smile on my face, haha...sigh. Anyway...Part 2 should be out within the week, hopefully. My computer died on me so I may not beable to actually update the finished chapter on time, but I'll find away.
other than that... I'm still taking sugguestion. One of my reviewers from Boss Ikari wanted to see Kensukes wheel chair equiped with Nos. I laughed so hard when I read that. I'll have to see if I can fit it in. haha, I swear sometimes...
lawlesspriest hotmail . com
long live the smurfs, folk!
/priest/