Chapter 4: Attack on Angel Act 1: Beginner's Luck
"So uncivilized" – Obi Wan, Leader of the Jedi and mentor to Luke Skywalker commenting about the barbaric and primitive warfare methods of the Sith.
The hangar doors opened wide as Mari's EVA stormed onward, the ground around it shaking with each mighty step.
Hopefully this one would be sturdier than the previous one whose arm had been ripped off not two minutes into its first battle and had hastily fallen apart not two seconds after the battle was won.
Eva's were after all living and thinking creatures to a degree. And seeing one die on you even if its very purpose was but as a glorified killing machine to be piloted by a glorified cold-blooded murderer, always left a nasty feeling on her.
She still remembered the first time she was permitted entry into one of these biomechanical behemoths.
How the hum of the engine brushed all her insecurities aside and scattered them to the winds.
How in that one moment she was no longer an oddball shorted sighted seventeen-year-old four-eyed freak whose sole purpose for existence was to be the class clown and laughing stock for the bullies in the world.
She felt for the first time in her life, powerful. Powerful and in control.
For the first time in forever she was needed somewhere.
She had found her calling. Her purpose in life which was worth dying for as much as it was worth living for.
Even as her EVA had crushed her first Angel smashing it as an exterminator might smash a bug with a fly swatter, the one thought in her empty mind was the wish that this could go on and on forever.
She was no longer the prey. She had become the predator.
The hunted had turned the tables and become the hunter.
And boy would Mari Makanami go on one heck of a hunt.
By now, Mari had fixed her sight upon the Angel in question which was growing larger and larger as it begun to devour a ten-story building.
It was a jet-black colour with bulging white eyes and a gaping mouth which took up most of what could be conceivably described as its face.
Its body seemed mostly gelatinous in nature and yet there was no mistaking its two-razor sharp golden claws which seemed to glisten in the sun like a beacon of hope.
The sight made Mari want to gag but she still kept her hands steady and her voice unbreaking. It wasn't in a Makanami or an EVA pilot's nature to show weakness before the enemy.
Several thousand viewers who were watching this spectacle unfold in the comfort of their homes were already on the verge of falling off their seats, their mouths as wide open as that of the big mouthed monster trying to turn Tokyo 3 into its lunch.
The youngest pilot of NERV seemed so calm in the face of deadly danger and she was not hesitating in her EVA's advance towards the enemy in the slightest.
Did she even know this was a danger level 11 mission?
But only Ritsuko Akagi and now Shinji who had only just arrived into the briefing room since Mari's premature dispatch onto the battlefield could hear the uplifting and conviction filled melodies of the one and only member among NERV who had not yet fallen to crippling depression yet.
She was daring, she was eccentric, and some might call her even a little crazy. But she was not depressed. Yet.
Shinji's eyes were practically glued to the screen as he murmured a silent prayer for the girl's success.
They had only met once, and it had been a very interesting meeting at that.
And he had only known her name because she had blurted it over her phone to some unknown caller before waving him goodbye and darting away in her handmade goofy looking glider.
He knew virtually nothing about who he only now knew to be his newest fellow pilot.
He only knew that if her mannerisms and inflections in the way she spoke were anything to go by from that one awkward encounter, she was a kind and steadfast companion to those she befriended. And a brave girl at that.
If only the same could be said for his two other fellow pilots.
He wondered if he was betraying his allegiance to Asuka and Rei as he continued his fervent yet solemn call to the heavens for Mari's success and safe return from these impossible odds and her trip to death's door.
He'd gladly have rushed to his personal EVA and ran it out to help her but doctor Akagi had warned that his sudden appearance might interrupt her focus and do more harm than good.
For once in his life he was really hoping that TOKYO-3 TIMES was more than a pile of propaganda and fancy buzzwords to hide the glaring faults in a crap-filled city full of deceits.
FOURTH CHILD – FIRST PLACE. NEWEST PILOT OF NERV STRONGEST IN THE WORLD ACCORDING TO STATISTICAL TESTS he had read in a sheet of newspaper during his long wait in the traffic jam, having no interest in his schoolwork and nothing to say to the stone-like driver who had escorted him to his destination nor to his violent redheaded roommate.
Those tests had better have been truly statistically accurate, and they had better have been conclusive and fair tests as well.
He swore he would tear apart NERV's research facilities with his own hands if they were not.
"What a drama queen" he heard the irate German remark with mocking disdain. "No one needs to see you anyway and you're not a celebrity in some drama show."
Well you're the one always complaining that NERV doesn't rate you highly enough and that Rei only got in through Nepotism and sucking up, Shinji silently sighed to himself.
Mari begun the fight with a devastating kick with her EVA's mechanical leg to the Angel's neck, having waited a few seconds for it to turn it's back to her to begin chowing down on another hopefully already evacuated building.
The satisfying noise of reinforced alloy connecting with unprotected Angel flesh gave her a confidence boost and she quickly followed up with a rapid succession of punches which had the huge black creature reeling.
A disgusting puddle of some dark liquid splattered from its gaping void like mouth and it's gleaming jet-black skin seemed to grow ever so slightly coarser in texture like an almost melting ice cream.
Despite the clearly very ailing injuries that the EVA had inflicted upon it, the creature was clearly far from finished as it tried to claw at its opponent in the moment that the half machine and half biological EVA's overexerted limbs were bracing for yet the next series of blows which would hopefully have finished it off or at least weakened it into submission.
"Dodge that, you idiot. Fly you fool" Shinji egged tersely as his vision fixed even more tightly to the television screen, banging his fist uncontrollably onto the table he was sat beside.
His overwhelming concern for a girl who was to all intents and purposes still mostly a stranger to him was beginning to negatively impact his usually tightly censored and highly selective and sensitive language lobes.
"You're the idiot" He heard sarcastically coming from behind him, but this only caused him to grit his teeth more tightly and bang harder.
His heart practically exploded from his chest as the gleaming golden claw came down upon the EVA's shoulder pad.
Mari's eyesight may not have been great even with her now very outdated pair of spectacles she had not managed to replace with all that was on her cluttered mind, but she was not blind.
As the fatal set of sharp nails were all but upon her EVA to give it a nasty rake, a rapid yet calm flick of a joystick sent her fading to the right slightly so only a very small and inconsequential graze was the only damage the hardened metal right joint ended up receiving.
"Get in there. Kill that son of a b*tch. Go on. YOU CAN DO THIS, I KNOW YOU CAN"
the usually introverted and soft spoken outcasted son of the uncaring Gendo Ikari whopped joyously, banging the table even more as he did so as if he were a spectator in a Sumo Wrestler stadium and not a professional military protector watching his fellow military protector struggling not to get killed by a greatly superior enemy which could destroy all of mankind if not stopped.
The sudden change in the flow of the battle, relieving as it was, was only corrupting his already corrupted language lobes even more.
SHINJI-IKARI-PROFANITY-CHECKER. EXE- had crashed due to system overload.
But Shinji didn't care at this moment. All that mattered was that the chances were once again in Mari's favour and that she was finally stepping further away from the jaws of death.
"Hmph, dummkopf. Du sind am zeit tu zeit dummer als deine idiotische Vater Gendo"
The doctor had become a broken-down mess as she sat with her face buried in her hands clearly trying very hard to suppress her quiet yet painful sobs which could not help but escape her.
The EVA's next few seconds were spent mostly on the defence as it dodged between the Angel's clumsy but powerful punches.
The audience behind the telly screens of Tokyo swooning left and right following the motions of their saviour's war machine, the news channel on the screen had all but become their world as hot saliva trickled from their still open mouths.
Time seemed to turn to a blur as in the next few seconds, the slowly disintegrating monster of black slime overbalanced and tripped.
A deep throated groan made the earth rumble as it fell, reminding Shinji of the last time he had watched the walking dead except louder and scarier.
For the first time since arriving into the briefing room that day he was completely silent.
He along with all the other spectators no doubt clustered around their screens, was waiting with bated breath.
Asuka only shook her head at this.
If only he could be this eager about watching her in action instead of that glasses freak with the stupid hairstyle.
Mari had been eagerly anticipating this very moment as she quickly jerked two joysticks with her now very sweaty palms to quickly capitalize on the advantage.
The dodge and wear down the enraged enemy tactic from Warfare-101 was working itself like a charm.
Sometimes the simplest strategies made for the best battles.
A very creepy smile of savage glee crossed the brunette's face as her EVA moved in to deliver the final blow. So much fun even if this war was so gruesome and horrific.
The massive Angel had fallen far enough for its neck to once again be exposed and after executing one final well aimed kick to the creature's shin to completely knock it for six, the creature was grabbed tightly into a headlock whereupon diamond hard biomechanical fangs sunk themselves deep into its already bleeding neck.
Another massive moan of pain shook the city and Shinji and Asuka were even forced to cover their ears just as the chief scientist of NERV finally regained her composure and managed to struggle back to her feet.
The dying Angel finally fell silent as a black sludge begun to pour from its mouth flooding the streets around it. The clean up crew would have a lot of work to do.
The Angel itself begun to dishevel even more and it even seemed to decrease in size as more mysterious liquid leaked out.
Its body seemed to convulse and tremble like a hypothermia victim struggling in vain to keep out the cold and it curved into a ball like a baby.
Then after a tense wait which seemed to last an eternity but was really just a minute, the now much smaller creature which had been bigger than Mari's Eva in its prime finally lay still.
A reassuring silence filled the air.
It lasted only briefly however as a raucous applause spread through the devastated city.
Popcorn fell on the ground and drinks were spilled as people young and old from around the city danced around and yipped for a joy that had not been felt for an immeasurably long amount of time ever since the previous impact.
Most everyone was cheering at the top of their lungs as the barely scratched EVA stood triumphantly resting its right foot on the corpse of it's now almost pathetic looking foe, save for Misato who had missed the entire spectacle because of a splitting headache and terribly upset stomach that had restrained her to her bed that day.
The acute symptoms of alcohol abuse.
The one person who was not intently putting their all into a massive smile that might not have the chance to appear for a very long time after this glorious event had worn off was the Eva pilot herself who merely spared a glance at the gigantic river of black vomit which had most likely been the remains of the dead Angel's previous meal.
"So uncivilized" she nonchalantly remarked.
Her superiors NERV really was losing their touch if this was what they classed as Danger level 11 out of 10.
It might as well have been classed Danger level 0 with how little of a hassle this battle had been.
She had dealt with that beast like she dealt with a bug.
They really were just insulting her talents with bringing her such a trivial task of child's play.
But Shinji had no such control as he punched the air around him and jumped so high that his onlookers felt he might touch the skies.
"yes, Yes! YESSSSS!" he assertively roared in triumph as he danced around the room making a complete fool of himself in front of the roommate and secret romantic crush, he knew to be both highly irritable and easily insulted.
Asuka only grunted in frustration and shook her head, too tired to deal with this nonsense.
But the doctor allowed herself the second smirk of the day as she watched the celebrating boy with a sense of quiet nostalgia at how so many difficult years seemed to fade away from Shinji in the blink of an eye.
The inner child within that boy had not died completely after all.
It seemed there were high hopes for him yet. And by extension, high hopes for the world that depended on him.
10 minutes later, the small side door leading to the EVA hangars slid upon and a now well under control Mari strode out with an expression that was neither happy nor unhappy.
"You did great" Shinji begun but was quickly interrupted by a tap on his shoulder as Mari glanced one more time in the direction of Dr Akagi and Asuka to ensure that neither of them was looking in their direction.
The Doctor was sat by a laptop in the room typing the mission's report to the higher ups of NERV and Asuka was glancing impatiently at a clock in the room clearly frustrated by this pointless delay to her day and clearly eager to get going at any moment. Both were in a different corner of the room quite a distance away.
The brown-haired girl then put her face to Shinji's ear and in a meticulously adjusted small voice which Shinji could barely make out, whispered a quick few words.
"Meet me by the tube station near here later. It's very urgent. I'll explain everything there."
The very surprised boy opened his mouth to further inquire but Mari silenced him with a quick finger over her lips. Then as quickly as she had done so the first time they met, she quickly made her way out the exit of the room.
It was only after the sound of her footsteps died away when Shinji turned back to Asuka who was by now also heading in the direction of the exit clearly eager to return to what could remotely be called her life.
His words were surprisingly confident and self-assured when he next spoke.
"Erm. Asuka. Is it okay if I don't come home today? I sort of promised a friend that I'd pay them a visit today. They were quite resolute that I go to them today no matter what and there's a chance I might end up staying there overnight, so I might end up not coming back home today if that's alright with you."
Asuka gave him a quick scan and for a split second he felt the crippling insecurity of the normal introverted Shinji threaten to make a return.
But her suspicious stare soon turned to a disdainful frown.
"Whatever idiot. It's not as if we'll need you anyway. Do what you want. I'm going out tonight to get some food which is bound to be miles better than your pathetic cooking."
Then with a final dreary "ugh, I'm out of here." The German redhead bolted from the room not looking back as she did.
Once again, Shinji waited for the footsteps to completely die away before he made any movement. He walked delicately up to Doctor Akagi and waited for her to turn away from her work to acknowledge him.
"So, Doctor Akagi. If there's nothing left for me to do here, I guess I'll get going now, if that's alright with you."
"Of course Shinji. The threat has been dealt with and since I have no further orders concerning you from HQ, it should be fine if you go. I'll call a driver for you."
"That's kind of you Doctor Akagi, but really there's no need. I'll just be walking to the tube station not far from here. I promised a friend we'd meet there today and they're probably already worried sick about me not being there."
"That's perfectly fine Shinji. Take care of yourself and I guess we'll see you here for your next mission soon. Goodbye."
"And goodbye to you too. Have a nice day" Shinji replied with surprising fire in his tone as he boldly strode for the exit of the building, feeling more positive with every step for some inexplicable reason.
Had Asuka been hitting him less hard over the past days?
Unlikely with how aggressive and harsh her outburst this morning over a late and hastily prepared breakfast had been with how badly injured his last mission left him.
Had Misato been paying him more attention and finally treating him with some sense of proprietary or love as an adoptive son ought to be treated by his adoptive mother?
She had most likely gone into an alcohol overdose this morning from a and not even bothered to acknowledge Asuka's punch in his face with even one of her usual snide remarks on how some girls showed their affections in different ways and one just had to live with it.
He knew Misato well enough to realize this was the only probable reason for her absence at the breakfast table and from his missions.
Was the world closer to safety now?
The image of the hulking angel and the sheer amount of vile matter it had ejected from its body in its dying moments answered this question for him.
There was no real reason for him to feel this spring in his step he was feeling now. The earth was still in danger and it still felt as if the world would turn upon him in an instant if he gave them the slightest and most trivial reason.
The one explanation he could muster as the front door to the outside world finally came into sight and a gentle autumn breeze caressed his skin was Mari.
A girl he had never known and yet for inexplicable reasons felt very deeply connected to.
Like two halves of a soul which had been split apart long ago finally merging together once again.
It was as if the first time he had seen her crash landing onto his school rooftop, making a quick call and taking off again he had thought her to be nothing more than an illusion. A figment of his overactive imagination.
But seeing her here in the flesh and being the direct subject of a few words, she had clearly intended for only him and him alone to hear had been what truly what confirmed her to be real.
Who was she really?
And what did she want with him?
He knew that if left unanswered, these two questions would haunt him to his grave and beyond.
And that truly was a fate worse than death.
This was bigger than just saving the world from the unforgivable mistakes it had made in the past.
And he would get to the bottom of this mystery even if it killed him.
Sometimes in life, you had a simple choice. Take a chance and risk everything or play it safe and lose out.
And there's chapter 4. A "super chapter" of sorts.
Now the true drama, action and mystery begins. And it's going to be one heck of an emotional rollercoaster from here on.
And as usual, reviews are always welcome with how much effort and time it takes me to right these chapters.
Also. Have you noticed all the chapter titles are a reference to certain well known works. As a bonus little activity while you wait for the next chapter, try to guess all the references. Kudos for those who get it right.
Till then thanks and have a nice day.