Tokyo-3 Arcana
Please Read and Review. I'd like to know what I'm doing right (to keep doing it), and what I'm I doing wrong (to correct it).
The Author Notes are numbered in the text, if you are fluent in D&D/Pathfinder Lore, you probably won't need most of the notes.
Chapter 18
Does it Count as a Dungeon Crawl if it´s Just an Old Building?
Tokyo-3
GeoFront, Evangelion Cages
"Everything is ready, Dr. Akagi. The main maintenance check up is done. We can do the rest in Unit-01´s cage." Lt. Maya Ibuji´s fingers danced on the keyboard, inputing an incredible amount of instructions in a very short time. Only Dr. Akagi was faster, but the gap closed every week. If she continued to improve, by the end of the year, they would be around the same speed.
Dr. Akagi marked down an item on her clipboard, and took a drag from her cigarette. "Good work, Maya. Put it next to Unit-02. While transport secures it, begin the check-up for Unit-00."
"At once, Dr. Akagi."
Tokyo-3
GeoFront, Evangelion Cages
Same time
´At last! You took your own sweet time to get me back.´ Yui Ikari thought, deep in Unit-01´s core.
She reflected on the strange turns her fate had taken, since that fateful day the Twelfth Angel arrived, sending Unit-01 and Shinji to a very different world. One that seemed out of a fantasy novel, with wizards, monsters, and magic.
Their enforced stay on Oerth had lasted five years, while only a few hours passed on Earth. She had spent most of that time in a pocket dimension, surrounded by beings that could only be called devils, or demons. She was not really sure about the nuances of their sides. Only that devils and demons were locked in an eternal war, fighting constantly for supremacy.(1)
While she could only listen and think, the conversations around her broke her world view.
Once, she had thought Mankind was limited to a single world, trapped in an evolutionary dead end.
She couldn´t have been more wrong.
Mankind lived in a myriad of worlds. (2)
A veritable multiverse.
Yui had realized how wrong their Scenario was. Even if she managed to remain in the EVA unit for all eternity as a monument to Mankind´s existence, the gesture would be ultimately a futile one.
As long as humans inhabited the multiverse, there would be hope for them.
Third Impact was unnecessary.
And to stop it, she would need the help of, not only Shinji and his fellow pilots but also her old friend Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu.
She extended her awareness towards the red Evangelion, looking for her friend.
To her horror, she found her.
What was left of her.
Or rather, them.
A broken soul, two fragments in conflict over Asuka.
Yui screamed.
Tokyo-3
Previous Location of Rei Ayanami´s Apartment
Ground Floor
Some Minutes Before
"Okay, everybody," Misato said, "before we leave the building, I want a weapon check." She and Kaji checked their guns were loaded and ready, making sure the safety was on each gun, they also made sure to have several spare clips; in case they had to make their way out shooting. Everybody else loosened their respective edged weapons, while Rei checked the quiver at her back was at the right angle to allow her easy access to the magical arrows, and Asuka made certain her wands were safely stored in specially made holsters fastened to her forearms, and their activation words were fresh in her memory. Rusilka checked the balance of her big axe.
Right outside the dilapidated vestibule of the building, Limiry guided Hikari on a prayer to Desna, their patron goddess. "Maker of the stars, keeper of dreamers and travelers. Your daughters ask you for your protection and guidance in this humble enterprise. May our travel be safe and fruitful under your gaze." They stood up, and judging from their faces, they were ready.
Normally, Asuka would have found funny to see a bright yellow skinned diminutive woman leading such a prayer, but since she was shown that magic was real, her usual haughtiness had been very low.
She pulled a few cheap charms she had won at an arcade machine some time ago, and gave one each to her companions. "Here you go, I put a Light spell on these, they will last a while before going dark. Shinji told me the people who taught him used to have something similar (3). It will save the batteries for when we really need them."
Everybody took the charms, and put the cords around their necks. The light was almost as bright as a small flashlight. Next, they put the headbands on, each one with LED lights array, ready to be turned on in a moment. Small but powerful flashights were distributed by Kaji.
A strangely equipped group was ready to emerge from the ground floor. Misato had assumed command of the party by silent agreement. She and Kaji had worked together many times before NERV, Misato was best at improvising, and both knew how to read the other. "Okay, weapons at rest. First we have to pinpoint the most probable place for these bugs to be hiding in. Rusilka, Limiry? Any suggestions?"
Rusilka knelt next to the door, and held her left hand up, asking for silence. Her eyes scanned quickly the surrounding buildings. Many of them had broken windows. She paid particular attention to those windows.
"There." She pointed, at a building crossing the street. It was almost lined up with Rei´s apartment. "Third floor, fifth window to the left. Can you see a white bundle? Spider web. Judging from the size, it could be a small cat or a pidgeon."
Misato used her binoculars, looked at the place Rusilka indicated, and nodded. She passed the device to Kaji, who took the chance to look around. "That´s the only web I can see. The windows in the same floor and above and below are clear."
Rusilka nodded. "That seems to be an useful trinket. May I?" she extended her hand towards Kaji, who put the binoculars on her palm, saying, "There´s a small wheel in the middle, close to where your index fingers rest. Turn it to focus the image."
"Ah, I see. I´m used to adjusting a pocket telescope by sliding the components, this is quite ingenious." She tried the mechanism before putting the device to use. "Remarkable quality. Hardly any distortion."
"Military grade issue, Rusilka. Maybe not the best quality, but they are very resistant to damage."
"I´d like a set. They are a bit simple, aesthetically speaking." She examined every visible opening on the building. A minute later, she returned the binoculars. "There are a couple of webs visible, the size and shape of the prey cocoons matches with pidgeons. We must proceed with caution. I reckon there could be between three to seven spiders of the size you described, Ayanami. We must also look for a big white cocoon, about this size," She mimed the size of an object about the size of a basketball," made of white fibers, maybe encrusted with dirt and debris to hide it. They usually put them in high corners. A colony this size would be expanding its territory."
Everybody nodded, readying their weapons.
Tokyo-3
GeoFront, NERV HQ, Brig
Same Time
"Get up, idiot. The commander wants to see you." The jailguard growled, opening Shinji´s cell.
"Bad luck, I don´t want to see him." Shinji drawled with a petulant sneer, calculated to provoke the big man.
"Tough guy, uh? GET UP!" he roared.
The jailor pulled Shinji to his feet, pushing him out of the cell. "Hey! Careful, plug suits down´t grow in trees, you know?"
The young pilot had a very good idea of what the true purpose of the visit was, and he chose to go along with it. The commander wanted to measure his fighting capabilities outside the EVA. Therefore, the big caveman wannabe picking a fight with him. Shinji was willing to oblige.
The jailor wasted no time to punch Shinji in the stomach. A few weeks before (but several years for him, actually), that punch would have taken him by surprise, incapacitating him for a good while. Now, he saw it coming from a few miles away, and prepared his body. Still, he made a big show of folding down. He fell to his knees, gasping theatrically.
"Not so though now, uh? Move it." His big hands grabbed Shinji by the upper left arm, and pulled him up. In the time it took to stand, Shinji evaluated 13 different ways to incapacitate, maim, and/or kill the big guy, with his hands alone. But this was just a henchman. It would be better to misdirect the Commander.
Shinji stumbled in front of the jailor, colliding against the wall and sliding to the floor, still clutching his belly.
"I said MOVE IT!", and pushed Shinji in front of him, all the way to Commander Gendo Ikari´s Lair.
Shinji stumbled and fell to the floor, the jailor grabbed him by the arm and pulled him up roughly.
The pilot knew the type.
A plain, simple bully.
The kind who always, always took any chance to feel powerful by humiliating or harming the weak. The Justicar knew them well. And as Jus´ apprentice, Shinji did too. This one? Low level. Easy to break with the right combination of force, cunning and ruthlessness.
But not now. For the time being, the bully was useful. Shinji needed to establish his position as one of weakness. If the Commander realized just how dangerous he was, he would try to either neutralize him, or control him. Neither option was acceptable to fulfill his own Scenario.
So, Shinji kept silence.
They would be justice later. Now, he needed to play his role, as an easily cowed, weak, harmless child.
Tokyo-3, GeoFront
NERV HQ; Commander Ikari´s Lair, Same Time
"Hmm…" Commander Ikari watched the scene without any visible emotion, his mouth hidden behind his gloved fingers, laced in what was known as the Gendo Pose by NERV´s staff, but always far from Commander Ikari´s earshot. "Disappointing performance. I expected at least a token resistance. It seems the Third Child is no fighter, despite what his record of lesions shows."
Behind him, Vice-Comander Kozo Fujutsuki mused. "Maybe his scars are a sympathetic echo of the Evangelion´s own scars?"
"Maybe." The Commander kept watching the screens, "I´ll get Akagi to correlate type and place of the lesions."
Fujutsuki sighed.
Tokyo-3
Abandoned Building, Across the Street from Rei Ayanami´s Former Apartment
Ground Floor
Misato and Rusilka headed the loose formation. Each holding her own favorite weapon, Misato her trusty handgun, with a fresh clip; and Rusilka her sharp axe. Behind them, Asuka, a magic wand held tightly in her right hand, Vester clutched tightly in her left; and Rei, her hands holding the bow and arrow as if they were a part of her. Rei was intrigued by the easiness with which she held her new weapon, it was almost as if she had spent a lifetime hunting with arrows. Behind them, Limiry and Hikari, ready to support the fighters with healing or blessings. Kaji closed the formation, short sword in his left hand, gun in the right.
While Misato and Rusilka examined the shadowy entrance, Limiry and Hikari used their flashlights to sweep the ceiling, looking for cocoons. Kaji and Asuka covered the sides when they entered, walking sideways, ready to turn their weapons to the back, in case something tried to attack from behind.
Nothing in the first room…
Misato hand-signaled Kaji. He advanced to a closed door and tried the handle, it opened easily, revealing a second room. Misato covered Rusilka as the dwarf prepared an axe strike should something come out fighting.
Nothing.
A quick survey revealed a thick layer of dust, and nothing sticking to the ceiling.
Misato shook her head to the light switch, and Kaji tried it. As expected, it didn´t work.
The party repeated the process again and again, until they hit paydirt in a room at the second floor.
Inside, they found a cocoon, nestled at the corner of two walls and the ceiling. There were a few pidgeons and a cat wrapped in webbing below the mass of white strings.
Rusilka whispered. "The animals are still alive. I think the cocoon will mature soon, tomorrow at the earliest. We can´t allow it to open on its own. I reckon there must be around twenty spiders there."
Asuka nodded, and after sheathing Vester, she pulled the second wand from its holster. She whispered too, "Okay, everybody ready to kill any spider that tries to flee. I´m gonna burn them first and then put out the fire, Okay?"
Misato shook her head, holding her gun at the ready, her eyes scanning the room, alert for any sig of movement. "I think it would be better if you only freeze the cocoon in a solid block of ice. Less chance for any spider to try to run for it."
Asuka nodded again. She readied the Frost Wand, and spoke the literal magic word it had engraved at the handle. "Frizaris!" A beam of blue mist surged from the tip, quickly encasing the cocoon in a solid mass of ice. After a couple of seconds, the mass of ice was so heavy it fell from its place, crashing to the floor, and breaking into pieces.
Quickly, Rusilka went down to one knee, and examined the fragments, nodding satisfied. "All dead, and broken. Just to be sure, I´ll break the biggest pieces." Immediately, she put axe to the work, smashing the bigger pieces to fragments no bigger than a pebble.
Kaji turned around, he had heard a skitering noise somewhere. "Hurry up. I think we have company!" He hissed. "Rei, break the windows, we need more light in here!"
The bluenette pulled the string of her bow, and the arrow she had at the ready flew true to its target, the corner of four glass panels, still whole, but covered by a thick layer of dust and grime. The arrow stroke right where the four supports held most of the weight of the windows.
A moment later, the whole structure fell down to the street, allowing the sunlight to enter the place.
Four spiders the size of a small dog reared on their hindmost pairs of legs, waving the front legs in a threatening display. Kaji and Misato shot their guns immediately, striking two spiders. The arachnids flew back, their heads blown to pieces by the bullets. Asuka got another, with a shot of her Frost Wand, while Rei pierced another with an arrow.
The whole fight lasted only a few seconds. Asuka stored her second wand back in the holster, and Vester was back in her hand. "Yes! That´s the way we do it on Oerth! But next time, wet my blade, girl! I´m not made to be a witness, but a participant!"
"Yeah, yeah, sure. Whatever…" Her hands were shaking a little. ´Adrenalin rush.´ she thought.
Once they were sure the attack had passed, Hikari proceeded to empty her stomach in a corner. While Limiry protected her. "Easy, traveler. Easy."
"I´m sorry…" she said miserably. "I was…"
"Yeah, I know, it happens to everybody. I can tell you a few stories." Limiry patted Hikari´s back, soothing her. "It happened to me; not nice, I can tell you. But look at the good side. We are all okay. Now, rinse your mouth, that aftertaste is something I wouldn´t want to linger on. I speak from experience." Hikari took the water bottle from Limiry´s hands, nodding her thanks. She did as instructed and spat the water on the same corner.
Asuka kept on watching around, and got closer to her friend. "Are you okay, Hikari?"
The freckled girl nodded. "I´m better now. It was…"
Misato signaled Kaji, "Lets keep moving, I´d like to get out of here with daylight." She half turned to Hikari, "Can you go on?"
The teen nodded. "Yes. I never had to be in a fight, except in school… And that was a while ago. I can go on."
Tokyo-3
GeoFront, Evangelion Cages
Same Time.
"Maya! Cut all energy flow! NOW!"
"Cutting connections now! At the speed it´s using energy, the reserve will deplete itself in 7 more seconds!"
"Aoba! Release the Bakelite!"
"There´s a blocked valve in the second nozzle! I´m compensating with the other five!" HE grabbed a microphine, pressing a button and shouting on it. "Maintenance! Clear that valve now! I don't care if you have to use an axe, blow that valve now!"
Down in the Evangelion cages, Unit-01 roared, trying to demolish a wall with its bare hands. The protective layer had been removed to ease maintenance of the organic components of the purple Evangelion.
Exactly in the seventh second, EVA-01 lost the last of its energy reserve. The right hand of the monstrous creature struck a last, weak, punch onto the wall. its legs were already encased by the red liquid, that began to solidify almost instantly.
At the other side of the wall, Unit-02 rested in its cradle, patiently awaiting for the next battle, completely oblivious to the events in the next cage, dreaming her joyous reunion with her daughter, to live/die together.
Inside the now inert Unit-01, WYui Ikari wept bitter tears.
Author Notes:
(1) Demons (also known as Tanar´ri) are Chaotic Evil, Devils (Baatezu) are Lawful Evil. Incidentally, Morag the Marilith, ally of the Justicar and Escalla, is a Demon. Mariliths are serpentine creatures from the waist down. From the waist up, they look like six armed women. They can wield a weapon with each hand. Though Morag is quite an anomaly among them. She down´t really like to fight (though she can) and prefers to read and write poetry to being actively evil. Morag debuted in the third novel of the series, Queen of the Demonweb Pits.
(2) The Prime Material Plane. However, there are many Prime Material Planes. In D&D, almost every campaign setting is part of a Prime Material Plane. Except for Spelljammer and Planescape, every setting is located in a different PMP.
(3) During her first dungeon crawl with the Justicar and Polk, back in the White Plume Mountain novel, Escalla spelled a few stones with Permanent Light spells, tying the stones to cords so the group could have their hands free. It became standard operative procedure for the group. Asuka is not at that level, so the magic with dispel by itself when the spell duration (10 minutes/level) expires. Not much time, but ten minutes of battery saving can be the difference between life and death in a dungeon crawl.
