Shin Getter Robo vs. Mazinkaiser vs. Neon Genesis Evangelion – The Impact!
Stage Five [Dream of Love]
"Great Mazinger needs repairs. Along with Black Getter." Dr. Yumi said with a sigh as he looked at the damage report.
"This is why we should've let NERV deal with it themselves!" One of the three professors who assisted Dr. Yumi said.
"But that Angel is bad news. We did what we had to considering the foe." Tetsuya said as he sat opposite of Great Mazinger, sitting on the catwalk as he watched the machine's dented and cut up body get minor repairs.
"Great, I'm sorry for working you to such a state." Tetsuya said before he looked down at the ground crew of the base.
"How are the repairs on Getter Dragon going?" He asked.
"Actually they're going well. It should be ready to sortie by the end of the day." Jun Honoo said, the dark skinned woman giving Tetsuya a smile and a thumbs up.
"Well at least there's that. And what about . . . everything else?" Tetsuya asked, trying to stay calm despite the fact that they were at their most vulnerable.
"I'm going to research the notes of the late Dr. Kabuto. Right after Mazinkaiser showed up, Dr. Yumi showed me the alleged blueprints of where it was created. If we go to where it originated, we might learn more about it and Juuzo Kabuto's final work." Jun said.
Tetsuya nodded and looked down. His arm was in a cast and he was covered in bruises.
"I might need that trip as well. I won't do much good around here with a broken arm." he said.
Jun nodded and walked across the catwalk. She put her arm around Tetsuya's waist to steady him, giving him a smile.
"I know for sure I could use the company." Jun said with a giggle, giving Tetsuya's waist a squeeze and the tall man looked unsure of how to respond other than to return her smile.
"That Mazinkaiser can deal with whatever Dr. Hell throws at us. I know it can if Kabuto's up to it." Tetsuya finally said.
"That machine might've been able to deal with that Angel if it showed up at the right moment. We're still talking with NERV to see if they can let us examine it. It certainly would benefit both parties." Dr. Yumi commented.
Hayato's face appeared on a screen on the wall. "This is Hayato. I've relocated to the Tower. We think Shin Dragon is in Antarctica at the moment. I'll keep you posted if it gets closer. Or if it does anything, really. On top of Angel attacks, that thing is the last thing we need to worry about."
"And what about Shin Getter?" Jun asked. "You're not around to pilot it?"
"No. NERV already got it's warning from me, and I spoke to our potential agent. And besides, Kei needs the practice with Shin Getter. Once it's at full power I'm sure you'll be pleased with it. It was Dr. Saotome's last gift to us, after all. Before he truly went insane. Just be aware that getting Shin Getter and Mazinkaiser off of NERV property might take some doing." Hayato finished speaking.
The group all said farewell as Hayato cut the transmission. Then Tetsuya shook hands with Benkei and departed with Jun. For now, Mazinkaiser would have to make do.
/
"It appears the humans are another step closer to this Instrumentality, Dr. Stinger."
"Hee hee hee! Well Mr. Cohen, I'd say the foolish humans should know better but we both know that's wrong! Hee hee hee! As soon as that occurs, the Invaders will consume them all!"
"Calm yourselves you two. We still must be careful. We still don't know when those fools at SEELE will make their move."
"Dr. Saotome, don't think we've underestimated them."
"That's right! We're curious to see what the humans will do in the face of annihilation."
"Shall I make a call to an old associate then? Perhaps moments before we wipe out all of humanity, he'll still have his dream of world conquest realized." Dr. Saotome said to the curious Invaders.
/
If yesterday was a doozy for Misato, this was easily worse. Shinji was just – gone. Ritsuko had explained to her that he was somehow still alive in the LCL fluid but that was a small consolation. Shinji had stopped the Angel that had given the Photon Labs' best a hard time. And for what? For his body to just vanish? Ritsuko explain the hows and whys of her theory to get Shinji back but it was all a bunch of background noise to Misato.
She looked over at the Getter Team, currently held in the waiting room. Ryoma was in a pair of handcuffs and had a smirk on his face for some reason. The other three – Go, Kei, and Gai - were not in such restraints. The four spoke to each other with candor, managing to stay in a good mood despite the amount of paperwork and property damage the Angel attack and the resulting fallout had caused.
NERV worked fast restraining both Unit 01 and the enigmatic Mazinkaiser. While the Photon Labs had requested to see Kabuto themselves, Commander Ikari wouldn't have it. He said that Kouji should be held responsible for the destruction Mazinkaiser caused once the teen woke up. So that one's fate was out of their hands.
Great Mazinger and Black Getter were still flight-worthy so they went back to the Photon Power Labs to provide security there. Shin Getter 2 had been recovered, the three Get Machines separated in different places in NERV HQ.
As for the Evangelion pilots, Rei and Asuka had managed to keep going despite the news regarding Shinji. Though Misato hadn't really talked to them. They were still at the very least professional and cooperated with any tests they needed to.
Unit 01's body stood in the hanger, white bandages wrapped around it's face and chest. An almost human green eye stared ahead as it gave out a grin with a human mouth. It was very much the opposite of what one would expect at first glance.
The green streaks on the purple armor plated had begun to shimmer and Misato frowned.
"Why is it doing that?" She asked, hoping that Ritsuko wouldn't answer.
"This is a hypothesis, but we believe it's the result of Shin Getter bathing Unit 01 in the Getter Rays earlier." Ritsuko answered and Misato wanted to groan.
She'd become fed up with her colleague and old roommate. The questions Ritsuko chose to answer hadn't helped Misato figure out at all what an EVA really was, and today her work had been half-assed. Despite the fact that Shinji was still in there, who knows how close to death or evaporation?
/
"Yes. I can confirm those are Getter Rays." Go said from inside the sealed meeting room NERV used as a containment unit for the Getter Team.
"Well if the boy's still linked up to them, can you reach out to him?" Gai asked.
"Well – I guess I can try." Go said as he reached into his cloak and pulled out a green crystal made of interlocking hexagons.
"This is a dislodged piece of Shin Getter. I'll try and resonate the Getter Rays inside of this with the Getter Rays still present in Unit 01's system." Go said, closing his eyes and putting the shard between his hands.
"Shinji." Go thought. "Shinji, can you hear me?"
/
He was on a train. He was sleeping in his bed. He was walking through a crowd.
He found himself questioning whether his father had really abandoned him, or if he'd just run away. At the moment Shinji couldn't say for certain.
Shinji felt himself flowing like a river through each image, seeing the images of Misato, Rei, and Asuka briefly. They spoke and the words he heard shook Shinji to the core because that's where they were directed.
"Shinji, join with me. Don't you want to become one? I promise it's going to feel really really good." Misato said with a grin.
"Shinji. Don't you want to join with me? It will feel really really good." Rei said, an uncharacteristic smile on her face.
"Idiot Shinji, don't you want to become one in mind and body? I know it's going to feel really really good." Asuka said as well.
Shinji had no idea what was going on as the vision snapped back to the train again.
"Shinji." A voice said, piercing through the jigsaw of images.
Shinji blinked and saw a tall man sitting across from him on the train at dusk. The man's eyes and build reminded Shinji of Ryoma, but this man had shorter hair and a stoic face.
"Are you with me, Shinji?" he asked.
"Yes." Shinji answered.
The man smiled briefly. "You're alright. NERV's figuring out how to get you out of EVA Unit 01."
"Who are you?" Shinji asked and the man smiled.
"Go Ichimonji, secondary pilot of Shin Getter."
"Then you – you were fighting the Angel! So if you're here, that means -" Shinji began.
"You won, Shinji. Your Evangelion stopped it." Go said and Shinji smiled.
"That means that Toji was right. How are you here, Mr. Go?" Shinji asked him.
"Getter Rays. The light from Shin Getter must've been absorbed by your Unit 01. And now that the Angel's S2 organ engine has been absorbed, the Getter Rays are starting to evolve it even further. Both led me here."
"Isn't that a bad thing that it's evolving? Unit 01 is already really hard to control." Shinji asked.
"Getter Rays are the will of humanity. The next time you use EVA Unit 01 see how it responds. It may be easier for you to use." Go responded.
"Well - can you get me out of here?"
Shinji asked and looked out the window of the train, shaking as it went down the tracks.
"No. This is in your mind somewhere. I just want to make sure you're doing alright." Go said.
"Hey – do you know why I'm here?" The boy asked him.
"EVA Unit 01's evolution most likely. It's connected to you after all." Go said.
" . . . That's right. Using the Evangelion Unit 01 . . . that's something only I can do." Shinji said and stood up.
"Thank you, Go." Shinji said as the train stopped and the doors opened. A white lab coat was seen billowing as a woman stepped on, average height and with brown hair. She looked to Shinji with a big smile.
"How you've grown, Shinji."
". . . Mother?!"
/
The entry plug retracted and opened with a hiss. Misato saw Shinji's pilot suit, the white and blue uniform soaked in LCL. Shinji was nowhere to be found.
"Shinji! No!" Misato yelled as she clutched the uniform to herself. The boy that had been part of her life for months now was just – gone.
"Continue the tests and see if we can recover the pilot." Commander Ikari said, sounding impatient.
"Sir, Kouji Kabuto is awake." a staff member informed him.
"Katsuragi, you're in charge of the bridge. I must meet with the pilot and then have other business to attend to." Commander Ikari said as he walked away and Fuyutsuki followed.
It was such a hassle. So many people he had to keep in line. And so many people who just wouldn't comply. The Children were more or less where he wanted them, though Shinji would always be problematic to him. After all, he would always see a mixture of Yui's best qualities mixed with his worst ones whenever he saw the boy's face. And in the actions Shinji had taken had been frustrating as well. The boy wouldn't just play his part.
And now this other boy. Kabuto Kouji. Gendo was not amused with the boy's offensive on the Awakened Evangelion. It was unheard of – Mazinger Z was a famous robot, but even something like it or Great Mazinger couldn't hold a candle to the base level of Unit 01. So how could this 'Mazinkaiser' do so to the God level Evangelion? It was perplexing. Infuriating, even.
The door opened and Gendo saw Kouji sitting up, giving him a confident smile despite being in handcuffs.
"Is this how you greet everyone here or is that just for me?" The boy asked, shaking the handcuffs that fastened his hands together. Gendo refused to let this boy take any power in this exchange. He was so similar to Nagare that it made Gendo want to spit.
"You have personally destroyed a sizable amount of Tokyo – 3 and damaged our most advanced Evangelion. Do not expect this incident to be resolved with a slap on the wrist."
"You found me passed out, remember? Ever since I got inside Kaiser Pilder, I've been asleep. So unless you can take this conversation up with Mazinkaiser, you're wasting your breath." Kouji said, closing his eyes.
"That machine needs a pilot to operate. I fail to see how that excuse holds any water."
"Coming from a guy who puts the EVA on autokill whenever his son shows a shred of compassion? I call bullshit. Mazinkaiser was built to protect humanity. Mazinkaiser must've woken up sensing the Angel and attacked Unit 01 when it merged with the damned thing. Just look at it. You've created a demon you can't hope to contain." Kouji said, closing his eyes and looking satisfied.
"So I see you've heard the news." Gendo responded.
"Yeah. Major Katsuragi was nice enough to tell me what happened -"
Gendo cut him off. "Kabuto, your actions will have repercussions. You will be unable to operate your machine and NERV will see custody of you and it for the time being. That is all."
"Hey! If you mess with me, you're in for a reckoning! The whole Photon Labs will be-"
His voice was cut off a second time as the door sealed shut. Gendo walked away to where Fuyutsuki and Kaji were waiting for him.
"Let's go and get this meeting with SEELE over with. The presence of that -thing – will make them even more agitated." Gendo said, refusing to say the name of the machine that had upstaged his Unit 01.
"And what of our plan?" Fuyutsuki asked.
"The Spear of Longinus is ready in case we face another Angel attack. And two of the Children are accounted for. We should have all three once again soon enough." Gendo responded.
/
"Shinji's alright." Go said, looking to the other three.
"Well that's good news. Any chance of him coming out of that thing?" Kei asked.
"Not yet. The Getter Rays let him bypass a lot of the subconscious dreams and the like. Allowing him to speak directly with Evangelion Unit 01."
"That thing has a soul?" Ryoma asked and Go nodded.
"His mother."
"I imagine that's a long story?" Kei asked Go and her brother nodded. "Yes. Shinji's still working through everything in his mind."
"Well try explaining that to NERV. Even if it's true, I doubt they'd just admit that publicly." Ryoma said.
/
"Well it looks impressive, I'll admit." Asuka said as she looked up to the sleeping giant that fought Unit 01 to a standstill the previous night.
She and Rei were done with the latest training test, staring up at Mazinkaiser's form from the catwalk.
"'Mazin' – 'Ma'-'shin', a portmanteau of 'Wicked God' in Japanese and 'machine' in English." Rei said.
"And of course, 'Kaiser' is German for 'Emperor'." Asuka added. "So, 'Wicked God Emperor'? Well that's a bit pretentious but it certainly looks the part." She said, looking to the massive bulk, golden horns, and various edges all over the machine.
"What do you think, Rei?" Asuka asked her.
"... I don't see how this machine greatly changes our situation." The girl answered.
"Right." Asuka said, decided they were done speaking for now.
"Still, that was quite the battle. I'd be more demoralized if Ryoma and Tetsuya didn't also get their asses kicked." She thought to herself. "Against Angels like these, I hope the top brass knows what they're doing."
She looked up to Mazinkaiser and felt a tinge of envy. "But why the hell does a hot-headed guy like Kabuto get all the cool toys? It's perplexing!" She turned and walked away, her angry bravado dissolving as she walked down the hall remembering the confrontation between Commander Ikari and the Getter Team.
"And what was with that conversation from earlier? Just what did the Getter Team have to gain by seeing the Commander like that? And on top of that, why did they help us so easily? It took Commander Ikari forever to let us assist the Photon Labs." Asuka thought.
"We have hope. And so, we still fight." She heard Tetsuya's voice in her head from the other day.
The man seemed just a larger than life as the Great Mazinger, not just due to the machine he piloted, but due to the way he acted. Like some hero who always knew he was doing the right thing. But that wasn't really true. It couldn't be. Asuka knew from personal experience that the man had to be wearing a mask of some kind.
She frowned and looked to the phone, remembering that she'd mixed up her own with Shinji's the previous day. Asuka looked in the contacts and was surprised to see Ryoma and Benkei's names on the screen. As one was in NERV custody at the moment, calling would be out of the question. But on the other hand if Shinji wasn't here right now – that might give her a window of opportunity. Asuka thought about ways to get out of NERV's reach to make a phone call as soon as possible as she made a beeline for the surface of Tokyo - 3.
/
"Yeah, that should do it. Shin Getter is ready to go!" Benkei said, wiping sweat from his brow, done with finishing touches on the guidance system.
"Good. Focus on repairing the old Getter Dragon next. That's the easiest for anyone here to operate if anything goes down." Hayato said over the intercom.
Benkei paused as his phone rang. "Hey I have a call! Just a minute." Benkei said as Sayaka nodded, looking to Getter Dragon and gesturing to Dr. Yumi for some specifications.
"Hello? This is Benkei." The man answered. The phone number was unknown and he was expecting anything.
"Mr. Kurama. I wanted to thank you for yesterday." Asuka said on the other end.
"Oh, yeah, Asuka. Not a problem." Benkei said, immediately interested in why she called.
"I want to apologize for how that lunch ended. Even though Rei can be dense, I didn't handle myself well either." Asuka admitted after a second.
"Hey, no problem. You're still kids, remember? Better get used to making mistakes now while you're young." Benkei said with a chuckle.
"Yeah but – I didn't do anything yesterday. I – I couldn't stop the Angel."
"Well that's life sometimes, you know? Even something like Shin Getter or Great Mazinger couldn't stop it by themselves. Try to keep your head up." Benkei said.
"I guess. But what do you do if you feel down in the dumps about that?" Asuka asked him.
"Hmm. I don't know? Work on fixing stuff? That's want I do - It's a hobby. You got anything like that?" Benkei asked.
"Oh, I guess I could go window shopping. That's fun. It's just hard. We're soldiers and trained to fight at all times. Losing is seen as a worst case scenario."
"Hey do you mind if I hand this off to Sayaka? They're installing Dragon's new Getter Reactor and I want to make sure the staff has it under control." Benkei said.
"Oh. Sure." Asuka said, sounding angry he was cutting the call short.
"Look, I'm sorry! We're just busy with repairs. And with NERV keeping Ryoma and the secondary team AND Kabuto in quarantine it's a bit of a skeleton crew."
"The secondary team? So your daughter too?"
"Yeah. Kei's actually at NERV right now. It would mean a lot to me if you said hi to her from me." Benkei said.
"Well I admit I wanted to talk more, but put Sayaka on. She needs to know how her idiot in shining armor is doing." Asuka said and Benkei sighed. "Kouji's a good kid. Don't joke about him to her like that."
/
Asuka was annoyed as she was passed to Sayaka but nonetheless was diplomatic.
"Hey there Yumi. How are you?" She asked.
"Hello Asuka. Well at the moment I'm panicking. Everything's so hectic and we can barely scrape by with so many pilots missing. Both Mazingers are damaged and it's a bit scary not having Kouji here."
"Well rest easy. Kabuto's doing ok." Asuka said.
"Oh my goodness! Thank you for letting me know!" Sayaka said and Asuka could almost feel her relief through the phone.
"And what about you guys? I know the Angel was stopped, but the TV cut right after Shin Getter went down."
Propaganda, most likely. Commander Ikari didn't want to see his EVA pet project upstaged by anything else, Asuka reasoned.
"Yeah. It was taken care of." Asuka said, not wanting to go into the details of it.
"Well I want to thank you for your courage out there. You stood shoulder to shoulder with Ryoma and Tetsuya. That's a scary thing to do sometimes." Sayaka said.
"Huh?! No that was the easy part! That Angel was a real tough one. We're going to have to be really careful with engaging them moving forwards. Especially if they can tear though all of us like tissue paper." Asuka said.
"Well if you can come over, it would be great to meet up sometime." Sayaka said and Asuka blinked.
"Really? But you're so busy at the Photon Labs."
"And so are you! But come on, Jun is the only other girl I see on base and like you said, it gets a bit stuffy with all the men and their pride." Sayaka said.
"Oh I'm not surprised." Asuka said and found she was smiling.
"Tell you what. I'll plan for the first weekend next month? Is that alright?" Sayaka asked.
"Yeah. Idiot Shinji should be back by then too." Asuka said.
/
Asuka hung up the Mall phone and grinned, saying thank you to the store worker. Using Shinji's phone like that would be amount to Commander Ikari sending a firing squad after him as soon as he emerged from the LCL. At least she hoped he'd emerge from the LCL so her life would have some kind of consistency to it. And someone at home who knew how to cook if nothing else.
She'd written down Benkei and Ryoma's numbers, putting them in her wallet as she as in her civilian clothes consisting of her blue school dress and fancy shoes.
Benkei had encouraged her hobbies, so she looked at everything in the store, making notes to what would look cute, and what would be fun to do at the mall if she had more money and free time.
Then she went back to HQ and followed through on Benkei and Sayaka's requests, writing Kouji and Kei brief letters saying that their kin was concerned but happy they were safe. It was something new to her. Kei gave her a genuine smile while Kabuto tried to look tough and hide how relieved he was on the other side of the glass.
Asuka chuckled at him and Kouji made a face at her. She felt like a kid all over again.
He gestured from the other side of the glass and Asuka exhaled and realized Kouji wanted to write something.
Asuka slid the pen and a sheet of paper under the door.
"Thank you for the message Miss Asuka. You were great out there yesterday from what Misato said. How is Mazinkaiser? Is Mr. Ikari trying to take it apart? And how is Shinji?" The letter read.
Shinji and Ikari. Written like they were separate people.
"Your big new toy is fine. And Shinji should be fine too but we don't know yet." Asuka wrote, sliding it under the glass.
Kouji nodded and kept writing.
"And what about you? Are you OK after all of that?"
She paused and saw that Kouji was pretty bored looking, bound in handcuffs and doing his best to keep in good spirits.
"I'm fine. It's just crazy around here. What do you find so fun about being a pilot anyway? You don't have to do it for anyone." Asuka asked him in writing.
Kouji frowned and hissed as his manacled hands dropped the pen and he struggled for a second to pick it up again.
"I like fighting for the sake of stopping Dr. Hell, but I don't like to put people in danger. I have a personal stake in this. If I say it's for justice, that makes it easier. If it's some soulless monster I'm fighting, I'm fine. But it's not all fun and games. Dr. Hell killed my Grandfather and then used his mechanical monsters to attack Japan. Mazinger and I have the power to stop him. So we try our best to do that." Kouji wrote, looking confused as he passed the note under the door.
Asuka nodded and Kouji scooted back on the floor, lying down and trying to sleep. Asuka gathered all of the notes and pocketed them as she got up.
/
The door collapsed as a legion of golden armored soldiers surrounded the Photon Labs. With all their pilots out of the hangar, there was no response team ready to deploy against them. The two armed security guards stationed fell quickly in the ensuing attack.
Dr. Yumi was at a loss for words as Sayaka and Boss were captives. Dr. Hell stood in front of the Photon Power labs and grinned. He hadn't needed to fire a single shot once he had his captives.
"Dr. Hell?! How did you get so close-?!" Benkei yelled to the blue skinned man.
"Mazinger Z and Great Mazinger are damaged from the last battles. And that last Angel attack has you all scattered about. All I needed to do was plant a tracer on Mazinger Z and then I did a little reconnaissance of your base. I may not be able to bypass the Photon Barrier, but I don't need to do that to get what I want today.
"Normally I'd send a mechanical monster – but I want to save resources. And also show my lackeys Ashura and Brocken that it is quite simple getting what one requires if one merely thinks about it. And on top of that – the mechanical monsters I need are right inside this base." Dr. Hell said.
"Dr. Hell! Why come all this way?" Dr. Yumi asked, stepping outside the inside of the labs and pointing a gun at the other man.
"You really think a mere toy like a pistol can stop me? Shoot if you like – I made this body immortal long ago." Dr. Hell said with a chuckle. Yumi fired and a hole appeared in Dr. Hell's shoulder, rapidly healing as the bullet fell out and Dr. Hell sneered.
"Careful Dr. A ricochet might hit your daughter, and we wouldn't want that to happen, now would we?" Dr. Hell said. An Iron Mask held a handcuffed Sayaka close to Dr. Hell and Yumi dropped the gun. Dr. Hell chuckled as Yumi pressed a button on his counsel.
"Dr. Hell! I just cut off the base's Photonic Reactor! Even if you're here, you won't get the secrets of Photon Power!" Yumi said, looking desperate as Hell regarded him as a lesser being.
"Pah. What a pathetic ploy. I must congratulate NERV. Handling something like the Angels in such a spectacular failure that both the Photon Power Labs and the Getter Team is burning at both ends to cover for it!" Dr. Hell chuckled.
"Kill us all you like! Kouji and Mazinkaiser will stop you!" Sayaka yelled even with an Iron Mask's blade touching her throat.
"She's right Dr. Hell!" Boss exclaimed. "You might think you've won today, but the latest Mazinger will pound you to pieces!"
Dr. Hell laughed. "Ah yes, the latest Mazinger! Mazinkaiser, was it? Please. I would do the world a disservice if I silenced my greatest rival's friends in a place like this. And I am a Doctor – a civilized man. I am more than willing to make you a deal to save the lives of your daughter and – and -" he trailed off as Boss spoke up.
"My name's Boss! Not even the author knows my name!" He blurted out.
"-Boss then. My terms are simple. Hand over the remains of Mazinger Z and Great Mazinger and I will spare their lives and leave your precious Photon Power Labs. Your deal, Doctor Yumi." Dr. Hell finished as his ultimatum hung in the air.
/
Edits:
It was pointed out to me by Ultimagnum that I spelled Gai as 'Guy. Thanks once again for your proofreading.
And thank you Reader for reading this.