Chapter Five: Dance Epidemic
--
Fingers intertwined with talons as the crimson Unit 1 met the Angel in a struggle of power. Chuckling like a madman, Momotaros cried out, "Is that all?!" Driving the EVA's head forward to head butt the Angel, Unit 1 had won the struggle; their reward a free shot as the Angel stumbled backwards. Fingers curling into a fist, Momotaros drove Unit 1's fist into the Angel's face, causing its backwards stumble to grow even more unbalanced before it fell backwards into the water. Deciding to let the Angel get up, Momotaros continued chuckling, cracking his knuckles inside the cockpit.
"Shinji, what the hell are you doing?! Finish it off!" Misato cried out nearly causing Momotaros to jump. "Fine!" The Imagin growled, angered that his fun had been disturbed. It was about the time the Angel rose that Momotaros saw it –the sonic glaive Asuka had dropped earlier-- nearby. Picking up the fallen weapon, the Imagin sighed, "This is more like that perverted turtle's weapon." With his complaints, Momotaros failed to see that the EVA's grip left a seal much like the one adorning the train pass and belt upon the glaive. It was over when the seal lit up with a crimson glare and began to spread across the whole weapon that the Imagin's attention was captured. It was captured a bit too well.
Look out!
The warning from Shinji had come too late as the Angel managed to strike Unit 1, causing the mech to fall back on its rear. "Dammit! Why didn't you tell me sooner?!"
How was I supposed to know?!
"Feh, whatever!" Rising to its feet, Momotaros prepared to fight as best he could with the strange glaive, yet only to discover that the glaive was gone; instead replaced by sword. Only a brief moment was given before the Imagin began to laugh again, "Hehe…I love this place!" Pointing to the Angel with the EVA's free hand, Momotaros announced, "That was the only free shot you'll get today! From here on, I'm gonna be at a climax!" Within the EVA cockpit, Momotaros suddenly held up the pass used earlier to transform them. Lowering it to the buckle of his belt, he wasted little time in tossing it aside once the belt finished its announcement.
FULL CHARGE
Energy crackled and sparked up the length of the EVA's sword as it was gripped in both hands, "My Hissatsu Attack…" The blade of the sword suddenly broke forth from the hilt, though due the energy rushing through, the blade didn't fire off, but rather hovered over the hilt. "My Hissatsu Attack…KAIJU VERSION!!" Slashing horizontally, the blade followed his movements; its arc causing it to slice right through the Angel. Raising the blade over his head, he brought the sword down, causing the blade to now slice the Angel down the middle.
As the blade of the sword returned to the hilt, Momotaros gave a satisfied chuckle. Unit 1 turned from the remains of the Angel, its transformed sword resting on its right shoulder. Unfortunately Asuka broke through his cheerful thoughts. "YOU DUMBASS!! LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE!!" Confused, he turned back to the Angel, his hot blood running cold when he saw that the Angel wasn't dead, but rather…
…There were four of them now…
--
The room was dark, lit only by the projector in the back. Shinji tried to focus on the soft hum of the projector's fan in order to escape the humiliation that awaited him as they were briefed.
"Yesterday at 9:34 and 45 seconds p.m. Unit 0 was attacked by one of the targets, "Alpha" which had separated from the other target, was found one kilometer off in the bay."
The projection slide showed a picture of Unit 0's legs sticking perfectly vertical out of the waters and nothing more.
"20 seconds later, Unit 2 was stopped by target "Beta's" attack."
With a loud click, the projection slide changed, showing the crimson legs of Unit 2 sticking out from the ground; the rest of it buried beneath a hill.
"1 minute and 45 seconds later, Unit 1 was attacked by targets "Alpha," "Beta," "Gamma," and "Delta," and was stopped 15 seconds later."
Another click and Unit 1's legs were shown sticking out from the sand of the shoreline.
"I believe the Project Chairperson summed it up best." "THIS IS PATHETIC!"
Shinji winced, but by then the woman continued.
"Following that, Nerv ended the operation and handed control over to U.N Secondary Forces. At 9:57 p.m. the U.N Forces made an attack with a N2 mine."
Another click, and the projection now displayed the massive hole taken out the landscape, prompting a loud grumble from Fuyutsuki, "We'll have to redraw the map again!"
"They succeeded in burning off 28 of the target's structual substance."
One final click was given, showing the Angel, almost reformed from its two halves, charred and dormant. "Well…it kinda looks dead." Asuka announced. "This is merely temporary. The second attack is only a matter of time." Fuyutsuki replied, only for Kaji to speak up, "Well at least we got time to regroup and you can't ask for more than that."
An awkward silent fell upon the room before Asuka rose, "This is all your fault!" She shouted, pointing at Shinji, "If it weren't for you, we would have won…not only that, you stole my EVA color!" Shinji opened his mouth, about to sling back his own argument to her, but the words died in his throat. Turning away, Asuka left.
--
Oh boy…this is going to be a long night…
Misato sighed as she looked to the massive stack of papers that threatened to topple over and smother her. Complaints from the local residence, bills from the U.N. bills for the damages, and so on. Hearing the door open, Misato stood up to look over the stack to see Ritsuko. "Looks like you have your hands full. Here are a few more complaints." Plopping a new stack on top of the pile, "Have fun reading them." Another came from Misato, "Don't remind me." It was then she smiled some, looking to her friend, "Surely you have something to save my skin, my dear friend?"
"Like this?" Ritsuko returned the smile before producing a small flash drive, "Thank you Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, it's good to have a friend you can count on." "That's nice…but I'm not the one who will be saving your backside this time not from me. This is Mr. Kaji's idea." Misato first grimaced as she took the drive, but it quickly faded to a small smile, "Kaji? Hmm…"
Walking away from Misato, Ritsuko approached the door before stopping, "By the way…about Shinji…" "…do you think what happened is because of what happened a few days ago?" Turning to Misato, Ritsuko replied, "I can't say for now, but let's just see if anything like that happens again."
--
It was past noon by the time Shinji made his way home from. Still exhausted, both mentally and physically, he passed by countless rows of moving boxes without notice as he opened the door to the apartment he shared with Misato. Eyes widened as he found himself looking upon a certain red-haired German girl, "Asuka?! What are you doing here?!" She began to smirk, "Why are you still here? You've been dumped for the new model." "Huh?" "Misato will be living with me, afterall, it's a much more logical choice when you consider my superior ability, although I rather live with Kaji." Without missing a beat, Asuka began to nitpick upon her surrounding, "Say, just why are Japanese houses so small? I couldn't even get half my stuff in my new room." Upon realizing the amount of boxes that choked the small apartment, Shinji's eyes nearly bugged out. Walking away from Asuka, who was focused on opening and closing the sliding door, she continued, "…and Japanese sure don't have any sense of privacy, how can they live in a room with no locks? Unbelievable. It's weird."
Opening and closing the door, Misato approached her from behind, carrying a small stereo on her shoulder, "The Japanese way is to consider the needs of others before one's own." "Misato." Misato smiled some as she saw both Asuka and Shinji, "How's it going? You two are going to get along real well."
"What's that?"
"What do you mean?"
"This is part of your new training." Misato said, her smile growing a bit wider.
"SAY WHAT?!"
Placing down the files upon the Angel, Misato explained as she kicked back a beer, "There's only one way to destroy the seventh Angel. Execute a simultaneous two point attack on each target's core while the Angel is separated. In other words, an attack on both halves with two EVAs with perfect synchronized timing; coordination between the two of you will be vital to the success of this mission."
"Wait, wasn't there four of them?" Asuka asked, interrupting Misato. "True, there were four at the end, but it seems the other two are mere extensions of the others. We believe that we take out the main cores, the Angel will be fully defeated. To that end, I want the two of you to live together from now on."
"WHAT?!" Staring at each other, Shinji and Asuka weren't happy to say the least. The first to complain was Asuka. "NO WAY! A boy and girl should never sleep under the same roof after the age of seven!" Misato wasn't affect by her logic, "The Angel is currently regenerating itself. It will begin its second assault in six days."
"…but…it-it's impossible." Asuka whined, slumping down. "We have a way of making it possible." Misato replied, a determined look in her eyes, "The master attack pattern will be choreographed with this music." Holding up a cassette tape, she continued, "If you follow it exactly, you will be able to work in sync and completely destroy all targets. We begin now and we attack in six days."
Looking to one another once more, Asuka quickly jerked her head to the other side. "Hmph!"
--
Upon the DenLiner, Momotaros grumbled angrily as he held a bag of ice to his head; even after three days since Kohana punched him, it still hurt. Urataros was only making it worse, "Senpai, it seems your first outing to this world was a bit much. Clearly, you were looking for fish only to find shark." "Shut up you perverted turtle! I'll beat it next time!" "Oh? It seems they found a way to beat it without your help." This seemed to get Momotaros attention. Whipping off the ice bag, he did his best to brush off the thought, "Hn! Like some fancy dance is going to work! I'll show all of you that I can handle it by myself!"
"Oh? Dancing?!" Capturing the attention of Ryuutaros, the purple Imagin almost seemed to latch onto Momotaros' bruised head, "What's going on, Momo-chan?!" "N-nothing! Get off me you snot-nosed brat." Pushing Ryuutaros off, Momotaros got up from his seat and rushed toward the exit. "I'll show you!"
--
Synchronizing with Asuka was proving to be…difficult for Shinji. With each mistake she shouted and blamed him and now she had ran off. Even after she had stormed off, he wasn't safe as Hikari shouted out, "Go and apologize!" He was about to ask why when suddenly Shinji's head snapped backward, gaze directed to the ceiling. "Well? Go! You're the one who made her cry!" Shinji's head lowered, his hair spiked back with a bright crimson streak and his eyes burning red.
"Ore…Sanjou!!"
Looked upon him with confused and widened eyes, Momotaros was rather confused as well. "W-what? Do I have something on my face?" Looking down to Shinji's attire, Momotaros jumped, "WHAT THE HELL AM I WEARING?! No wonder she cried!" Rushing out, door slamming after him, the others sat, confused by Shinji's sudden strange behavior.
"…maybe Asuka is rubbing off of him?" Toji suggested only to get a sharp elbow in the ribs by Hikari.
Misato frowned as she took a sip of her beer. …That behavior…it was like when the EVA changed…
--
Fighting off a shiver as he tried to ignore the strange clothing he was wearing, Momotaros muttered, "Gah…I feel so…wimpy in this clothing!" Quickening his pace on the sidewalk, he looked for any sign of a suitable clothing shop in the city. His search, however, came to a suddenly stop, as did his legs. Sniffing the air, he couldn't help but recognize the scent. The scent of…"…Imagin…"
--
The cool air of the convenience store gave Asuka goosebumps as she looked for a certain drink among rows of different beverages. Behind her, sand formed on the ground before rising up as a creature; its lower half suspended in the air above its upper, which seemed to come straight out of the ground.
Tell me your--?!
Plowing through the creature with a few steps, unnoticing its presence, Asuka stopped and looked at the sand on the floor, "I swear, people have gotten so lazy these days." Heading to the counter, she noticed Shinji --with a freaky new hairdo, but the clothing was unmistakable-- walking in. Sighing, Asuka admitted, "Yea, I know."
"Huh? Know what?" Shinji replied. His voice was a bit off as well, but Asuka was too annoyed to put full notice on it. "Geez you're dense, just carry these!" She snapped, thrusting her bag of drinks and snacks toward him. Confused, he took them and she walked out. Noticing Shinji was still looking at the shop, she shook her head and grabbed him arm, "C'mon. What's with you?" "It's nothing." Shinji said, almost defensively.
Momotaros could have sworn an Imagin was here, but now it was gone.
--
"No matter what, I'll put Rei and Misato to shame!" Asuka shouted as she drank from a can, standing atop of the bench she and Shinji currently sat on. While Shinji might have thought such a statement was a bit overkill, Momotaros chuckled, "Heh! Now we're talkin', we'll show them!" Glancing over, Asuka raised a brow, "Looks like you're finally acting like a male." Taking a bite out of a store-bought sandwich, she was surprised to find that she didn't have anything to say; expecting Shinji to disagree like usual. Then again, he had acted weird before at school.
Maybe it was nothing…or maybe not.
--
Days had passed and on the night before D-Day, Shinji found himself doing as he always did; lie in bed listening to music. Misato was staying all night at work and Asuka had taken the opportunity to sleep away from him; threatening him to keep away from her before complaining about sleeping on the floor, of course. His thoughts were interrupted as the door slid open, revealing Asuka. Pausing his music player, he listened as she walked into the bathroom. Several moments later, the toilet flushed, the lights went out, and a soft thud as Asuka took to his futon. With widening eyes, his thumb slipped, pressing the rewind button of his player, causing the high pitch sounds of rewinding to fill his ears as he looked to the sleeping Asuka right next to him.
Blushing some with her so close to him; he could make out her nearly exposed breasts in the dim light provided by the outside world. Seeing her lips, Shinji found himself moving his face closer and closer, his lips nearly meeting hers. Suddenly, he saw her lips move and her eyes fill with tears. With a click, the tape had finished rewinding and he heard Asuka mumble in her sleep, "Mama…Mama"
Grabbing a blanket and pillow, Shinji moved away from Asuka. "You're just a child yourself." He said, curling up on the floor. The sounds of sand running caught his attention as the strange blue Imagin who had been introduced as Urataros was before him…or at least kinda. His upper half emerged from the floor, though his lower was hover in the air above him. Shinji would have shrieked in surprise, but he found himself disturbingly growing used to these surprises.
That was quite a close one, Shinji-kun… Urataros said. I would have been…disappointed. After all, it is more satisfying if you catch a fish then to steal one…
"You were watching?!" Shinji asked in a hushed shout. Urataros merely chuckled before vanishing.
--
With the early morning sun rising, the seventh Angel was back on the move. Breaking through the last defense, it found itself in Neo Tokyo 3. Within their EVAs, Shinji and Asuka awaited deployment. "Spread your ATs fields as soon as the music starts." Misato said through the comm. Then follow the mission choreography. You ready?" "Roger!"
"Just remember the moves, Shinji." Asuka said with a smirk, "Full power, maximum performance." "I know that." Shinji replied, "We'll be finished in 62 seconds." The external power detached with a hiss of steam, the timers of the internal power supply appearing on a monitor within the control room. Both EVAs shot up towards the surface, the sounds of classical music filling both Units.
Launching out into the air above the Angel, both Units withdrew collapsible staffs before throwing them at the Angel. Though the Angel smacked them away from hitting it, a field of energy connected between the two, slicing it in half. Reforming as Alpha and Beta, the Angels were under fire instantly and when they shot back, they would only find the EVAs back flipping away from each blast. Landing a marked spot, a shield went up, though it was quickly slashed apart by both Angels. Missiles flew from all directions, distracting the Angel halves. Time was almost up and so far, things looked like they were going according to plan.
That is until it was time to deliver the final strike. As Unit 2 jumped into the air, Unit 1 remained on the ground. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Asuka blared into the comm, beating Misato by a split second. "You ruined it, you idiot!" Thrown off by Shinji's sudden change, Asuka landed back on one of the nearby mountains.
Dread filled Misato, unsure of what was wrong with Shinji. It was then Shinji's face appeared on the monitor, though he now sported a long, wavy, and purple dyed bang and eyes hued the same color. "Sorry, Asuka and Misato-chan, but I can't dance to that music, hehe." The Angel had reformed back into on when Unit 1 moved. Pointing to it, the possessed Shinji asked, "Hey. Mind if I defeat you?" With a flash of light, that bullet train from before appeared in the air before connecting to the EVA; unlike before, it didn't turn red, but rather its eyes turned purple. Unit 2's internal battery had died, yet Unit 1's was still going. Still in a state of surprise, the control room was silent until Shinji's voice filled the air.
"Can't hear ya." Suddenly, with a snap of his fingers, the music changed from classical to hip-hop. As if like some command, both Unit 2 and the Angel stiffened -- the former rising to its feet, its power source replenishing as well -- before both began break-dancing in sync with Unit 1. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" Misato and Asuka shouted in unison, though the former's was in sheer confusion while the other's was pure rage. "The Angel…the Angel is dancing?!" Hyuuga muttered in disbelief as they all watched.
As Unit 2 and the Angel continued moving their feet, Ryuutaros had Unit 1 in a headspin. Reaching out to grab one of the discarded rifles, by the time he returned to his feet, it had transformed into a massive pistol of sorts. Spinning, he fired a behind the back shot, missing several times before finally hitting the Angel, forcing it to split. "Not only is this dance horrible, but so is his shot now!" Asuka lamented as her EVA moved against her wishes. Appearing in the corner of the screen, Shinji replied, "That's not nice, Asuka-chan."
As the Angel split, both halves discovered that they were still under Ryuutaros' power as they continued dancing. Unit 2 picked up a rifle of its own as it shuffled in sync with the beat of the hip-hop music. Both Units had reached the Angel halves, sneaking in punches, kicks, and blasts through their dancing.
"Heheh." Producing the belt and pass, he quickly put it on before swiping the pass over the belt buckle. "Henshin!"
GUN FORM
Another swipe of the pass…
FULL CHARGE
It was there that both Units were spinning away from the Angel halves, allowing the two to begin reform despite their forced dancing. Energy began to gather in the barrel of Unit 1 before both came to a stop in similar poses; guns pointed at the reforming Angel. Ryuutaros giggled some, "Bye bye!"
Pulling the trigger, a blast of energy shot forth toward the combining Angel halves, accompanied by Unit 2 unloading with its rifle. As the blast struck, it left a massive hole where the two main cores once were located before the Angel erupted with a crucifix-shaped explosion.
Ryuutaros giggled a bit more before he threw out a peace sign through the EVA. Smoke filled the air from the improperly aimed shots which left three buildings damaged and one mountain side gone. Misato sighed, "Maybe they'll just be happy the Angel's gone?" She said wishfully, doubting she would get lucky.