Creation began on 01-04-18
Creation ended on 01-13-18
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Taking it slow
While he still required time to recuperate from his sojourn experience, Gendo wanted to see if his son could still pilot the Eva, something Shinji actually was shown to be sickened by…but obliged his old man, regardless.
"My God, he looks like he's nothing but bones under his plugsuit," went Maya Ibuki as she saw the Third Child in the Entry Plug.
Truth be said, most of Central Dogma agreed with the tomboy; Shinji, still very skinny, had less meat on his bones and made the plugsuit itself look as though it couldn't fill him out even if it tried.
"How is his synchronization ratio?" Misato asked; it had been three days since his return and the revelation of what he had been through in that other universe, and all she wanted for him now was just to take his time recovering.
"Thirty-seven percent," revealed Hyuga to her. "Much too low."
"Maybe it would be a mercy if he were to just throw in the towel," suggested Shigeru Aoba. "Even if he does recover completely, physically, recovering psychologically takes longer."
And yet, he's already damaged, thought Misato. He was damaged even before he ever piloted the first time around. It'd be a dark miracle if he could still pilot.
Having seen his history, as both an abandoned child, an Evangelion pilot and a Magisword user, Misato had to wonder what Shinji intended to do with his vast arsenal of swords with different purposes.
"Hey, people," went Asuka over the intercom, "give him a break, would you? He just got back."
The redhead's behavior towards the boy had shifted after she saw his past and other swords. She almost considered him a god among insects, with people being the insects, and had to wonder herself if he was even happy to be back in this world.
"Thank you, Asuka," Shinji praised her.
-x-
"…It's only the initial test since his return, but with a thirty-seven percent sync ratio, it's too soon to say if he'll ever be able to return to active duty," Ritsuko informed Gendo and Fuyutsuki in the former's office.
"And what is your personal prognosis of him, Dr. Akagi?" Fuyutsuki asked her.
"His recovery is not something we can simply rush because we feel we're on a schedule," she explained. "If he's going to recover from his mental injuries, however many there may be, he has to do so at his own pace. And should he do so before the next test, there's a chance he'll be able to return to active duty."
"Yet we may not have time for him to simply recover," Gendo stated; he couldn't risk his scenario being jeopardized because his son wind up dehydrated, malnourished and psychologically scarred as a result of his experience with the Twelfth Angel and his sojourn adventure in wherever universe he was stranded in before he returned to this. "Reconfigure Unit-01 for the First Child and accelerate the progress of the Dummy System."
-x-
"…Did he just nod off again?" Misato asked Asuka, noticing that Shinji was quiet as she drove back to the apartment.
"Yeah," she answered. "Do you think he's ever going to be okay?"
"That's hard to answer. One of my questions is what is he going to do with all those different…swords? If his father ever knew about them, he'd want them confiscated."
"He wouldn't be happy with any of them, even if he could use them. They're Shinji's possessions, his tools, his…his toys. They could do a lot for the planet if he was well enough to use them all."
"And I'll show you," they heard Shinji say to them, half-asleep. "Anyone can use them…so long as they believe in them."
-x-
"…So, Rei, how does it feel to be piloting Unit-01?" Ritsuko asked the albino girl.
"It smells like Ikari-Kun," Rei explained.
As they were getting more data to install into the Dummy System, the faux-blond woman wondered if the Third Child would ever recover for NERV to be able to use him again. She didn't doubt his being the actual Third Child, as they had tested his DNA and found no abnormalities or flaws that would often be found in cloned or fabricated DNA, but had to wonder what he saw or did wherever he was after the Twelfth Angel.
We may need the Fourth Child sooner than expected, she also realized.
-x-
"…He sleeps more than he eats," said Asuka to her guardian, noticing how Shinji slept again after hitting his bed.
"Ritsuko says it's a side-effect of his malnourished state," Misato told her. "He sleeps more to conserve energy until his body rejuvenates back to or near its previous state."
Then, they looked over at his pouch of Magiswords on his desk, wondering if it was the safest place for them to be right now.
"Probably best to keep those close to him," Asuka suggested, taking the pouch from off the desk and putting it underneath his pillow.
One of them fell out of the pouch and onto the floor beside her feet. It was shaped like a large, white-colored first aid kit with a red cross on the top portion with a sword hilt on its side.
"A sword that…plays doctor for him?" She wondered, picking it up.
Wham! It grew from its compact size to its true size and weighed almost as much as a pillow or an actual sword in her hand.
"If Shinji has that, why didn't he use it on himself?" Misato questioned.
Asuka wondered the same, but then suspected that the reason why was not that he wouldn't…but rather, he couldn't. Maybe it wasn't the way the Magisword worked. Or it was that it required someone fit enough to use it and had belief in its power…and Shinji was, physically unfit to wield most of his swords, meaning someone else needed to.
I want to believe in it, she thought, deciding to give a try. "Here goes."
"First Aid Magisword!" The announcing voice called out, and the sword shot out a beam of pink light at Shinji's body.
He glowed for a moment and then ceased, looking unlike he had a second ago. There wasn't a single sign that he was in need of food or water to recover from malnutrition or dehydration.
"Whoa!" Misato gasps, and Shinji slowly stirred from slumber.
He looked at the two and the fallen First Aid Magisword on the floor.
"Which one of you used my First Aid Magisword?" He demanded, just wanting to know who the culprit was.
Asuka raised her left hand up, taking responsibility for her action.
"Thank you. I feel so much better. I couldn't have used it on myself, even if I wanted to. I didn't expect either of you to consider using it, though. Not without believing in magic."
She picked the sword up and gave it back to Shinji.
"Are you sure you're okay now?" Misato asked him.
"Positive. My First Aid Magisword is one of the medical remedies I acquired during my time in the land of Lyvsheria. Heh-heh, I actually found it underneath Castle Rhyboflaven, along with three other Magiswords that were undiscovered until I found them."
The women felt that when they observed his past in Lyvsheria through the sword representing his history up to the present, the world he ended up in felt like something out of The Legend of Zelda franchise due to the bits of medieval tones combined with the sense that it seemed the kingdom of Rhyboflaven's primary resource was agriculture, particularly broccoli, a sufficient source of riboflavin. A literal kingdom of agriculture that he spent five years in.
Shinji reached into his pouch and pulled out a different Magisword. This one looked like an over-sized piece of broccoli as big as a refrigerator.
"The Broccoli Monarch Magisword," he told them the name of the sword. "It just produces broccoli, depending upon the situation you're in."
Then, he replaced it with another sword from the pouch. This one resembling a large, emerald ankh attached to a sword hilt.
"Your Revival Magisword?" Asuka questioned, recalling the copied memory she had of him using the sword to return Vambre Warrior to life when she got hurt saving him from a monster that looked similar to the Tenth Angel, only humanoid and served as the sword's guardian.
"If I could restore Vambre to life with this sword, I could use it to restore anyone to life…so long as they're willing to be restored to life."
"You mean, it can only resurrect people that want to come back," went Misato, understanding the magical mechanics of the Magisword better than Asuka did. "Nobody has died while you were gone."
"It doesn't have to be a recently-deceased individual, Misato," he stated, knowing more about the power of the sword than any other person alive did. "So long as you truly know the person from your point of view, you have a conscious and voluntarily desire to see them brought back and are willing to pay the required toll to do so, you can recall anyone from death, past and present."
He offered his sword to her, but she didn't take it. As much as she knew it was possible, she couldn't really see herself bringing her father back to life. Not even to ask him why he did what he did fifteen years ago, even if there was a chance of getting closure.
"Maybe later," she suggested; maybe once she had more time to think it over, she would reconsider.
"Couldn't you use it to…bring your mother back?" Asuka wondered; with the knowledge that Shinji witnessed his own mother getting killed by the very Eva he had once piloted, the redhead had to accept the fact that the boy came from a broken and dysfunctional family if his father just up dumps him on someone else's doorstep.
"Except she ain't beyond the mortal plane, Asuka," he informed her. "It's not easy to move beyond the mortal coil when you're purposely entombed inside something you don't really know about because the people that do know about it don't tell you."
"You'd need your Restoration Magisword to do something like that."
"Yeah. Either of you care to tag along with me outside?"
"Huh?" Misato responded, and saw Shinji extract another Magisword from his pouch that looked like a huge dual-edged sword made of something besides metal, red, blue and purple-smeared. "That cannot be safe."
"Oh, it's safe," he assured her, even though she knew he'd used it many times before after he acquired it. "Hardly anything beats it."
-x-
"You won't believe what Japan Heavy Chemical Industries has gotten into," Ritsuko informed Gendo, having received an update on the actions of the former wannabe-rival company, entering his office and placing a piece of paper on his desk. "We might have a problem."
"They have no means to hinder NERV," Gendo expressed, unconcerned.
"Maybe not, but they're getting recognized for being called, what some parts of the world that hate NERV, a people-caring agency."
The paper detailed that Japan Heavy Chemical Industries had gotten into the food distribution business…and was making a comeback after their humiliating demonstration of their Jet Alone robot. It also mentioned that one of the people involved with the recovery of the Third Child and his return to Tokyo-3, Shiro Tokita, stated that they owed their new venture to said boy, who suggested that they try something different to help the people that were being starved by the lack of resources.
"Your assumptions?" Gendo asked her.
"I have no assumptions on what occurred when the Third Child was with them," she answered, "however, you should ask him…or Major Katsuragi, if he confided in her."
-x-
An Unpayable Debt
The dark outfit fit quite good for something he had just found with the Magisword. It felt like a good-quality shirt and pants that people spent a great deal of effort into perfecting. And on a personal level for Shinji, it felt like the best suit of silk.
As he and the Warriors walked into Mount Ma'all, the people and creatures present all turned their gaze upon the new guy.
"Who is that?"
"I've never seen him around here before."
"He's an interesting face."
"Where is he from?"
"Why is he with the Warriors?"
Vambre and Prohyas ignored them and led Shinji to Ralphio's House of Swords where he could acquire more Magiswords for himself.
"This is it," Vambre told him, showing him the location.
"Whoa," he quietly gasped as he went inside with them and saw the walls adorned with Magiswords of every kind within view.
"Ah, Warriors!" They heard Ralphio's voice as he showed up behind the counter. "Here for new Magiswords today?"
"Not today, Ralphio," answered Prohyas to him.
"Huh?!"
"We're here to help our new friend get some for himself."
Ralphio looked at Shinji and said boy wondered if the sword costume he was wearing was a gimmick he used to advertise his shop.
"Hello, sir," Shinji greeted, opening his pouch of Empire Coins and taking out one. "How many Magiswords can I get for this one coin?"
Ralphio looked at the coin…his eyes widened beyond their capacity. The Empire Coin represented untold wealth associated with families of immense royalty before the modern-day Lyvsheria and Rhyboflaven existed. Just one coin could potentially feed forty families for over ten years with fresh produce and poultry…with a spare sum to buy clothes. It appealed to his greedy desires for wealth, but even if he did take it and supplied the boy with every Magisword he had in his shop, it wouldn't be enough to be considered equivalent between the two.
"Young man, I could sell you five copies of every Magisword here…and I would still owe you more for this coin," he confessed.
"What?!" Vambre gasped, disbelieving that just one of these coins could be worth every sword in his shop. "Really?"
"Yes."
"How about…for as long as I'm here and for as long as I'm in need of Magiswords I don't have yet, you agree to supply me with up to at least five copies of any Magisword I'll take that has been around or will be around for years to come, along with any information on where to find Magiswords you can't find anywhere else…and I'll consider the purchase on this one coin even. How's that, Mr. Sabreware?" Shinji suggested to him.
"I'll accept that bargain, sir. Who are you? I always have to know my new customer."
"Shinji Ikari."
"Nice to make your acquaintance, Shinji Ikari. Shall we get you started on building your collection of Magiswords? I have quite the selection for many different needs or situations."
Shinji was shown many different swords, some of which had their uses as tools while others seemed to be meant to help limit one's spending by being sufficient resources. He gathered three copies of Blow Dryer, Body Poppin', Cemet, Chainsaw, Cuppa Joe, Diving Suit (just because he couldn't swim didn't mean there wouldn't be places he might've required such a resource to travel), Droopy Clothes, Electric Razor, Excaliburger, Flashlight, Golden Broomstick, Grabby Giraffe, Ground Pound, Homing Device, Jackhammer, Little Blue Bomb, Microwave, Ninjappearance, Normcore, One Big Hole, and even Trouser Magiswords (much to Vambre's irritation, but Shinji felt he would need additional clothing in the future), starting his collection.
"You'll also need one of these here," Ralphio told Shinji, pointing to large swords that didn't seem like they were meant to be used as offensive or defensive weapons. "They're called Hoverswords. They're used to fly across solid surfaces."
"Flying swords?"
"Yes."
"I'll take that one, please," Shinji expressed, pointing towards a large Hoversword that was smeared red, blue and purple.
"Sold!"
-x-
"Oh, I've missed this! I've missed this!" Shinji cheered, flying across the hills on his Hoversword with Asuka holding onto his sides.
"Shinji, this is both crazy and exhilarating!" She yelled to him, but had to admit that being on a large sword that barely touched the ground was as large as a surfboard or snowboard was quite exciting.
"I know, I was terrified when I first tried it out. But after that day, it was great to be on this sword. I felt like I could touch the sky."
Misato watched as the Hoversword traveled up the hill like a bullet while the two teens might've weighed it down by maybe two-hundred pounds, yet moving like they weighed maybe five-ten pounds. And part of the reason Shinji chose this one was because the colors reminded him of herself, Asuka and Rei due to their hair colors, most likely to keep from forgetting them where he had been. If she had gotten on it, she'd probably weigh it down by at least one-hundred-thirty pounds…and Shinji would probably still claim it could carry her around.
Still, it must be a way to fly, she thought. At least he made sure Pen-Pen was fed before we left.
-x-
The warm-water penguin, true to Misato's words, was too busy eating an entire garbage full of sardines, courtesy of Shinji and his Fish Fed Magisword. If he could've said anything to the boy, Pen-Pen would've praised Shinji for giving him such a banquet of fish, much more than he had in over a year ago. He must've eaten thirty-two sardines…and he still had plenty more left to eat until he was full and couldn't consume any more.
"Squawk," he went, feeling like he was in Heaven.
To be continued…
A/N: Anyone think that Shinji should be the one to come up with the Warriors for Hire's theme song used in the series?