Evangelion is property of Studio Khara and GAINAX.
Street Fighter and Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist are property of CAPCOM.
NEON GENESIS EVANGELION: SENSHI NO MICHI
Shinji was by no means unfit – his years at the dojo had ensured that. Yet somehow, the waifish girl in front of him seemed to keep a steady lead no matter how he tried to keep up with her.
Ayanami stalked through the corridors of NERV with purpose and direction, and more often than not Shinji had to hang back if he did manage to get in front, simply to avoid losing himself in this maze.
The girl had remained silent the entire trip – through the lengthy tram ride, the elevators, and now moving through the halls of NERV. Behind her, the boy frowned, his mind drifting.
Perhaps she's the quiet type? Only speaks when spoken to? But there's more to it than that – there does seem to be something…off about her.
"We have arrived."
Ayanami's voice snapped him out of his reverie, and he glanced forward. They were beside the doors to the two locker rooms, and without any other words, the girl disappeared into the female changing room, leaving Shinji to make a beeline for his own, thoughts still plagued by the mysterious girl.
The doors slid open for him, and he moved in, beginning to unbutton his shirt as he walked over to where a freshly vacuum-packed plugsuit lay. Tearing away the plastic packaging, he set the limp suit on the bench as he removed the rest of his clothes.
Back into this thing again after only a few days…is this what my life – what Asuka's life is to become now?
His expression fell as he pulled open the back of the plugsuit and stepped into it, and didn't brighten again, even in shock when the suit molded itself to the contours of his body.
Gendo Ikari had a nonplussed air about him – the same could not be said for his sensei, who was uncharacteristically wound up. Beside him, Fuyutsuki glanced at the command bridge's massive monitor, then back at him – then at the monitor, and then back at him. This continued for several more minutes until finally, the Commander's patience finally wore thin.
"Something on your mind, Fuyutsuki?" Gendo queried, his gaze disinterested as he kept focus on both the bridge and his second.
"Of course." The vice commander replied. Although his tone wasn't necessarily agitated, his curt manner and abrupt speech were indication enough that he was rattled. "The Forth Angel has arrived early – only a few days after the Third, and Unit Two is still being repaired."
"Your point?"
"My point?" Fuyutsuki replied, his expression and tone both growing steadily incredulous.
"Both of our pilots have proven that they are quite capable despite minimal training in the EVA's operative capabilities. Even if our effective response power is halved, we can still bring considerable force to the table, sensei." Gendo replied, steepling his fingers in front of his face.
"That may be true, but nonetheless – things have not necessarily gone as planned. The sudden arrival of the Forth, in direct breach of the Scroll's prediction – the Old Men will have even more questions for you." Fuyutsuki warned, and then watched as his former pupil gave a derisive but subdued snort.
"They'll find I don't have answers."
A chime from overhead signalled the activation of the communications system, and the voice rang out across the bridge.
"The First Child and the Third Child have reported in. The Second is reported to be in transit."
Fuyutsuki gazed down at Gendo expectantly, and after a moment, the man rose to his feet, and looked down upon the three senior technicians.
"Where is Captain Katsuragi?" He asked, eyes searching.
Both Maya and Aoba blanched under his gaze, but Makoto remained somewhat composed. "She's transporting the Second Child now, Sir." He reported, swallowing as the Commander's gaze seemed to burrow into him.
"I see. Notify the cages to prepare Unit One, and have the Third Child ready to deploy." The commander replied, moving to sit back down.
"Yes, sir."
Shinji emerged from the locker room, tugging absentmindedly at the waist of the plugsuit as he tried to get comfortable. He stopped, however, when he realised the Head of Security – Dan, he remembered – was waiting outside, back turned, and picking his teeth with what appeared to be a combat knife.
Eyes widening, the boy quietly approached, watching the man who seemed to remain oblivious to his presence. It was now obvious, at this closer range that the knife the man was using was blunt – moreover, it appeared to be made of plastic.
Rolling his eyes, Shinji reached out and tapped the man – who let out a cry and span around into an exaggerated stance, eyes wide with alarm.
"Stay back, I have a kn – Oh, it's you, Third Child! How you doing?" The man joked, holstering the plastic knife and attempting to walk off the little outburst.
"I'm…fine, Mr. Hibiki. Thank you for asking." Shinji replied, looking the man over.
Is he a joke? A big, man-shaped joke? Or a joke-shaped man? Hmm…
"Anyway…" Dan continued, his hands now on his hips. "The brass seems to think that you need escorted to the cages, just in case something happens to you on the way there! And they picked just the right guy for the job – but between you and me, I think you could handle some trouble if it was thrown your way, know what I'm saying?"
The security chief raised his eyebrow, but Shinji remained impassive in incomprehension.
"What I mean to say is…you're no shrimp – you can handle yourself, right?" Dan queried, watching as Shinji nodded slowly.
"I believe so…Gouken-sensei trained me and Asuka well –"
"Gouken?" Dan screamed, voice shrill.
Shinji stepped back a little as the previously affable man began to degenerate into a muttering, cursing mess.
"That no-good…self-styled…mcdojo…short-changing…" Dan grumbled under his breath, expression dark. In front of him, Shinji raised his eyebrows, both at the sudden change in temperament, and at the words spoken about his sensei.
"Excuse me?" The boy spoke, his voice a little harder than usual. "You know of Gouken-sensei?"
"That I do, Third Child! That I do!" Dan replied loudly, with a huff to punctuate at the end. "I once trained under Gouken-sensei," – he spoke the name mockingly, like a taunting child, and Shinji felt the urge to show this man exactly what Gouken had taught him – "And I was expelled, because he believed my heart was too full of anger, believed that I wasn't allowed to learn! All because I wanted to avenge my father!"
The man collapsed to his knees in the middle of the corridor, hands held up towards the ceiling.
"Father!" Dan wailed.
Shinji rubbed the bridge of his nose as the sideshow played out in front of him – this was steadily moving past affably comedic, and into irritating. He watched with some small degree of trepidation as Dan stood back up, wondering what exactly he'd do next.
"Anyway, after I was expelled, I resolved to wander the earth, and assemble my own, ultimate fighting style! Saikyo style!" The Security Chief went on, his fist clenched in front of his face, and Shinji inwardly groaned.
Strongest Style? Really?
Thankfully, it was at that moment that the communications system buzzed to life, echoing throughout the corridor and drowning out any more of Dan's incessant rambling.
"Would the Third Child please report to the primary Cage? Repeat, would the Third Child report to the primary Cage?"
"That's my exit cue." Shinji murmured, and quickly and quietly slipped past the Security Head, who had descended into another rant cursing Gouken's name. As the boy turned the corner and slipped out of sight, he let out a sigh of relief, before making his way to where he remembered the Cages were.
Hopefully I can get there in time…I never knew Gouken-sensei took students before me and Asuka…I wonder if there are any more? He never spoke of them. I know that Gouken-sensei was trained by Soke Gotetsu-sensei, but nothing else. Perhaps if I see him again, I'll ask.
But now, I have something else to do.
Letting out a breath, Shinji squared his shoulders, and headed off to face whatever was aimed at him this time.
"Misato, why am I not being deployed?" Asuka asked the Captain, still dressed in her school uniform as the two made their way up to the upper levels of the bridge, where the three senior technicians were already hard at work directing preliminary defence efforts.
"It's only been three days since your battle with the last Angel, Asuka." Misato offered, as they moved up to the platform. "Crews are still repairing the damage that Unit Two suffered last time – remember your shoulder?"
The redhead rolled the shoulder in question as the unpleasant memory of feeling it torn from its socket played back through her mind.
"Yeah. I remember. But then, what about Unit One, and Shinji?" Asuka replied, clearly fishing for some loophole she could use. "That was at the centre of the Angel's blast, surely it's damaged? And yet you're sending it out?"
Misato resisted the urge to give an exasperated sigh, before responding. "When the Angel exploded, the blast only inflicted superficial damage. At worst, the armour's a little toasty. Nothing more."
Beside her, the girl let out a small curse, but spoke up, one last time.
"I heard about another pilot – Rei Ayanami. What about her? Does she have an EVA?"
The Captain glanced at the redhead, then nodded. "Yes, she does. Unit Zero, the Prototype. But Rei's been injured for several weeks – there was an activation experiment, and the EVA went berserk. It's currently under lockdown until we can confirm that it's docile again."
Asuka gave a small snort. "You make it sound like it's some kind of animal…then again, it's not really a robot in the truest sense, is it?"
Misato's eyes narrowed, before she replied. "Even I don't know what the EVAs really are, Asuka. It's not my field. You want to ask questions like that, go talk to Ritsuko."
"I'd prefer to stay here and watch."
"I thought you might." The older woman replied, stepping up to the second highest level of the Bridge. In front of her, the three-man team of senior technicians chattered away, and Misato stepped forward.
"Report." She called, and all three swivelled around in their chairs.
"All weapon emplacements are green along the coastline. They'll be ready to receive the Angel whenever it comes into firing range – should cover the EVA's approach if we get it deployed soon enough." Makoto offered, already moving back to face his console again.
"We have a ninety-eight percent evacuation percentile currently – the remaining two percent are funnelling out now." Maya supplied.
"And the Angel?" Misato queried, looking up at the bridge's main monitor.
"It's coming into visual range now." Aoba replied, swivelling back to face his console.
The monitor's image zoomed in once, then zoomed in again, focusing on a small, red form visible in the distance, emerging from between two mountains.
Almost immediately, hundreds of previously concealed gun batteries and missile silos on the surface of Tokyo-3 opened up to full, unleashing their deadly payloads directly at the new arrival.
As the Angel began to approach, more of its shape could be discerned – it resembled a crimson, scaleless snake – gliding through the air on an invisible current. Its head was curiously shaped – bearing more resemblance to an arrowhead than anything else. On top of the head, were a pair of false yellow eyes – like one might find on a butterfly's wings.
Just below the head, a pair of small, arm-like limbs were crossed, above what appeared to be some kind of ribcage. There was no core visible at present – perhaps the position of the Angel obscured it.
With every thunderous crash of heavy weapons fire against the Angel's gleaming hide, there was a small, almost unnoticed pulse of multi-coloured energy rippling out from the point of impact.
"Taxpayers money at work." Misato drawled, watching as the Angel made its way through the neverending hail of weapons fire. "What's the status of Unit One's pilot?"
"He's reported ready – they're loading him into Unit One now." Maya replied, and Misato nodded, crossing her arms as she gazed at the screen, and at the otherworldly creature it depicted.
"As soon as he's locked in and ready, patch me through. I don't want to deploy him just yet." The Captain said.
This Angel seems large – and moves in an atypical fashion. I believe the EVA might have an advantage in the cramped, close quarters of the city – after all, it's far more manoeuvrable, and with a martial artist like Shinji at the controls…
"Filling LCL now. Electrolysing." Maya chirped, fingers flying over her keyboard.
After a few seconds, the activation process was complete, and Misato stepped forward, beside the technician.
"Patch me through, please." The captain asked, and the technician nodded. With a few quick keystrokes, the monitor changed to a view of Shinji's face in the Entry Plug of Unit One, and he looked up, a little surprised.
"Misato…" The boy said, voice soft. As Misato focused on Shinji's face, she could make out what appeared to be injuries – some bruising on his left cheek and a small cut on his bottom lip.
"Holding up alright?" The woman asked, with a small smile nonetheless. Behind her, Asuka approached, peering over the Captain's shoulder.
"Yeah." Shinji replied, steadily, then narrowed his eyes slightly. "Is Asuka there?"
Misato turned around slightly to find the redhead all but leaning over her – and with a small sigh, let the girl past to talk to the boy on the other end.
"Is it true you got into a fight already?" Asuka asked, with a small grin on her face.
"What? How do you know about that?" Shinji replied, somewhat taken aback.
"Word travels fast around that school. Heard you won – but if that cut on your lip is any indication…"
"I…didn't want to hurt him that badly. Let him get a few in." The boy murmured, cricking his neck slightly. "Kinda regretting it now, though."
"You always do." Asuka said, then shifted around for a bit, before speaking.
"Listen, Shinji – you were a little timid in the last fight, and I got a little banged up because of it. Before you say anything, I'm not blaming you – I'm warning you." Her expression hardened, as she looked at her companion.
"Don't give that thing a single chance, or it could tear you apart. Just kill it, and get home. Got that, baka?"
After a second or so, Shinji gave a firm nod, smiling, and Asuka returned the smile, before stepping back. Misato moved back in front of the redhead, and glanced at the monitor.
"Ready, Shinji?"
"…Yeah, ready."
The Captain nodded, and then took a small breath.
"Alright….Launch!"
Boom! First chapter after a little December break. I'll try to keep a constant flow of content coming, to keep all of you followers satisfied. Hopefully I can manage a chapter every other day, at minimum. Please read and review, I need your criticism!