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Chapter 8: "We met as soulmates, on Parris Island..."
Typically, it was a very interesting day when the front turret of a Takanami-class destroyer lands in front of you, but today it only made the third on a list of strangest things to happen so far.
And the day wasn't even over yet.
Shinji held on for dear life and mentally thanked Kaji for teaching Misato her suicidal driving tendencies as they swerved up a retaining wall to avoid the warship's turret.
As he was pushed back into his seat from the acceleration of the A310, the boy couldn't help but allow the ends of his lips to curl. Misato expertly drifted around the ramp leading down onto the freeway, Shinji was couldn't remember the last time he'd really been privy to the limit of his guardian's driving skills.
"I've got a clear visual on it!" Misato shouted into the small com piece pinned to her, "I'm bringing in the Unit-01 pilot right now!"
If Shinji had been asked to describe an Angel, the thing walking across the red water was the last thing he would have thought of.
Wait… red water?
Well it wasn't like Tokyo-3 was on the ocean and this wasn't the route Misato had taken to his mother's 'grave'. He made a mental note about it for later, just another thing about this day to ponder.
This towering Angel seemed to freeze the water as its' two legs walked along. More interesting however, was the fact that it seemed to be constructed pf separate sections which worked together appearing like a normal organic creature, but there was nothing connecting them.
He reasoned it might be an AT field holding it together, it only made sense. Where was the core though? His eyes had a hard time making out anything other than the 'pendulum' that hung between the two legs which looked to him like a massive red sphere.
As they reached the bottom of the ramp, Shinji watched as Misato slammed the shifter into the next highest gear. The engine roared in delight as if it were enjoying being redlined for the first time in a long while and he felt himself again pushed back into his seat due to the acceleration.
"Implement Task Zero Three and prep Unit-00 for launch!"
Instead of her earpiece the voice from HQ came through a piece mounted in the car for the both of them to hear. "Negative Task Zero Two has been Initiated."
"Task Zero Two?" Misato asked confused, before her eyes shot up to the sky, "You mean…!?"
Shinji didn't get to hear the last of that sentence as he followed her eyes to the sky. Above them she could see the silhouette of the massive flying-wing aircraft and the trails left by its' escorts.
A few small flashes later and some object was released from the flying-wing. Silhouetted against the sun, he watched as it shed pieces and spread its' arms, clearly showing that it was an Evangelion.
"They launched Unit-02!" he heard Misato call as she stuck her head out the window.
Doing the same, he squinted and could clearly see the extra wings of the S-Type equipment. He felt a bit jealous of the Second Children, of all combat equipment, he had to admit that getting to essentially paradrop in an EVA was by far the most fun.
A stab of worry shot through him as black strings shot up towards the Evangelion and he held his breath as the crimson EVA dodged and weaved in an aerobatic display that would put even the best fighter pilots to shame.
It looked like Unit-02 grabbed something and seeing the explosion on the Seventh Angel's highest part, Shinji guessed it was some kind of rifle.
He smiled at the display of skill as the Angel's structure began to fall apart, Misato shouted something. If it was for him to hear he didn't know, the wind howling as they blazed down the highway kept him from hearing anything.
The falling pieces suddenly stopped and fascinatingly that red sphere swung so that I was now on top of the two reforming 'legs'.
As Unit-02 fell closer, Shinji could now clearly make out the EVA had some sort of rifle as it let out a string of bolts towards the Angel with such accuracy that they stacked on top of each other when they hit the AT field.
Discarding the rifle, Unit-02 spun to get its' foot out in front. Letting its heel dig into the first bolt, the AT field flashed as slowly the top bolt split the ones beneath it over and over again, until it struggled against the force of the AT field.
For a moment noting happened, Unit-02 just balanced there, the bolt digging itself into the AT field.
Then it gave way.
Unit-02 plowed its way into that massive red sphere, Shinji's heart skipped a beat at the thought of her stuck inside it, like he had been trapped inside Leliel. But those fears were never realized.
The main sphere burst like a grape. Out the other side, the Angel's core had been firmly was pierced by the last bolt which still was still on the heel of Unit-02.
Letting out that breath he had been holding Shinji collapsed back in his seat as the flash from the destruction of the angels core lit up the A310.
Racing towards the NERV entrance, they watched from a distance as the rockets in the S-Type equipment fired, slowing the Evangelion down for a 'softer' landing.
Shinji silently thanked his pervious outburst as they drove into the parking lot, or what was left of it. Most of the asphalt would have to be repaved. A small drop in NERV's budget though.
If they had made it there 5 minutes faster, he was sure they'd both be nursing headaches and Misato would be shedding tears over the state of her car.
ʡʘʘʢ
As the Third Children watched the thousands of tons worth of armor plating creep in front of him, he felt a sense of dread in his stomach.
This was wrong.
It wasn't like he wasn't used to this, after all he'd lived lives where Evangelions as a whole didn't exist.
But… he couldn't describe it, this world felt as if it was supposed to be following his original life, but somehow, something, ended up one degree off. Shifting everything just enough.
First the date of his mother's death, those white outlines mirroring the fate of the original production EVAs, the red ocean, and now this…
He would be lying if he didn't want the opportunity to meet a certain redhead on Over The Rainbow again. Not only would he be more familair, but he'd also be able to make a good first impression in Unit-02, maybe even nudge the Second Children in the direction of discovering her mother's soul inside.
Now…
"Wow its cool Unit-02 is red!" Kensuke roared, breaking him from his thoughts.
Shinji had piloted EVA's of every color, construction, state of repair, and dubiousness you could think of and he had never seen connection between the color and combat effectiveness.
How the stooges had been given access to this area was beyond him, but here they were, along with Rei who was standing a bit separated from the group saying nothing.
Even further back she was leaning against the chain-link fence, that one eye glaring at him and saying more than words ever could.
Right now, it wasn't the color of Unit-02 that was on Shinji's mind, it was the pilot…
"That's not that only thing that's cool about it!" A female voice boomed; there she was.
He looked up to finally see her, standing on top of her beloved Evangelion, the redhead herself was silhouetted against the sky in her red plug suit.
How many times had he seen her like this, a champion, the returning conquering hero, and it never ceased to amaze him, he was left gawking like the others there only this wasn't his first time.
"Unit-00 and Unit-01 are nothing but beta testing prototypes, they're antiquated machinery," That's a classic, insulting the other EVAs.
"but Unit-02 is the final product, it's the world's very first Evangelion, perfect in every way."
Ah, that arrogance never did get old.
For a brief moment Shinji could smell salty sea air, and an image of the redhead in a tan sun dress superimposed itself over the one he was watching, it felt like poetry, rhyming with his own first life.
But that was a long time ago.
"And there she is" Minato Started "the pride of the Euro Air Force Captain Asuka Langley Shikinami, she's the second child, and the designated pilot of Unit-02."
Captain…
Shikinami…
That name rang in his head over and over, seemingly trying to smash reality to peices.
Not Soryu.
"Have fun with the fake baka, humph." She called out.
Shinji just ignored the jab and watched the redhead gracefully jump down the side of her EVA, her movements perfect, no hesitation, his mind worked itself into a frenzy trying to comprehend that simple little change…
It was only her name and she didn't appear any different, maybe her hair might be a slightly different color… no he was sure it was a shade different thought she could still be called a redhead and her complexion hadn't changed.
Beautiful still wasn't a good enough word for her, angelic might fit it, how unfortunate that word had to be connected to other things.
And her attitude certainly hadn't changed either.
She strode towards them with confidence, and…
"Shinji are you alright?" Toji asked, "You're looking a bit… pale?"
He felt an elbow his ribs, "New girl taking your breath away, hmm?" he said with a smirk.
"It's been a while Misato," She said with a kind of charm in her voice, before glaring at the leaving figure of Rei.
The duality of the Second Children was on display for everyone for the first time. Everyone except him.
"So that's the Unit-00 pilot, the teacher's pet herself?" she said with a bit of venom in her voice.
Turning to the three boys next to the violet-haired adult, her eyes seemingly scanned them like a predator judging if it wants its' prey.
"And one of you must be the daddy's boy who lucked himself into the Unit-01's cockpit?" She asked, her annoyance seemingly being put on the jock of first, then the one with glasses shifted nervously, cracking under the weight of her gaze.
And him...
"Guten Morgan"
Everyone seemed to freeze, even Misato. Eyes widened, or narrowed in confusion, they all looked at Shinji who didn't bat an eye.
"[Impressive display of skill with the Angel.]" He spoke in her native tongue.
She blinked, like a duck being hit on the head. He was willing to bet she read his file before coming here and the fact he was speaking to her in German threw her off.
To the Second Children's credit she recomposed herself before anyone else could realize how offput she was "[So it looks like someone has a bit of culture here after all...]"
"[But, were you too busy to help me out, not that I needed it!]" She said angerly in German, not that it was hard to sound angry when speaking it.
It was almost like a whole language was suited to the girl.
Despite having to pause a split second to translate the language in his head, Shinji could still see her foot coming to sweep him a few moments before it would have hit, it was after all a classic thing for her to do.
She always tried to knock him off his feet when they first met, at least that hadn't changed.
So, he responded in kind.
But faster.
He had plenty of lifetimes to practice beating her at her own game.
Once again, she looked confused, like no one had ever gotten the best of her, at this point he was sure that hadn't happened yet.
And it was likely that no one had saved her from something yet either.
So, there they were, with his hand grasping her forearm, keeping her from just barely hitting the concrete.
Her eyes bore into his, and for the first time in her life, the girl had the feeling that she would not be winning this fight.
He on the other hand could practically feel the red magma around them and, for a moment at least, he was back in that volcano holding onto her at the end of a line again.
He pulled her back up to a steady standing position, now on firm feet he lowered his hand from her forearm to her hand.
"[I was visiting someone; Misato was driving me.]" he explained casually, like nothing had just happened between them.
For a second time the German blinked.
"[There's more to life than piloting, wouldn't you say?]" he asked, his face betraying him with a friendly smile.
It was a good push in the right direction.
Asuka was still a bit weirded out by the encounter. Like she needed him to keep her from falling on the ground. He must have stopped her because he thought it would hurt him, what a wimp.
At the same time, the faintest part of her knew that logic was all just for her own pride.
He shook her hand "It's nice to meet you Asuka S…Shikinami" the smile still on his face "You won't get me to call you Captain though."
A slap was all he received, it was painful, but it was from her so of course it hurt more, that was expected, even with their hands still shaking he touched his reddening cheek, the smile still on his face.
"Roter Drache"
ʡʘʘʢ
The blonde pressed another lipstick-stained cigarette out into the rapidly growing pile on her ashtray and took a sip of coffee.
Putting down the Third Child's file she leaned back into her chair, her theories were just that, theories. She had made no progress in explaining what happened weeks ago with the Third Child and every time she brought the topic up with the commander, he dismissed her, as he called it, obsession with the subject.
It was as if the blonde was the only person at NERV who thought bringing back a person from the dead was a big deal!
Ritsuko closed her eyes, her mind switched gears to the checklist of tests that would needed after Unit-02's arrival.
The Second Child would need a baseline sync test shortly after her arrival, which meant rolling it into a sync test will all three children.
It wasn't the Second Child she was worried about; it was the Third. He hadn't been put in an entry plug since the Sixth Angel, mostly because of her keeping it that way.
Not that she could keep it from happening any longer.
The scientist was pulled from her thoughts as a set of arms wrapped around her shoulders from behind. A fleeting sense of panic went through her before a familiar voice found its' way into her ear.
"You lost a little weight eh Ritsuko?" ah this old flirt.
She knew that voice anywhere.
"Nice try, but I've gained more than I like to admit." She had already forgotten about her worries of the Third Child, her old friend seemingly washing them away.
"Maybe you're just wearing too many clothes." He said, caressing her face playfully.
"I'd show you, but this room is being monitored." She retorted with a smile.
"I replaced the main feed with a loop." He countered.
"You're prepared as always hmm?" He was, but from what she could see, the man needed to shave, and he needed to visit a decent barber. Sloppy as ever when it came to his appearance apparently.
"Hey when I play, I play to win."
"But you lost." She said, eying the window, and the violet haired demon that was pressed against the glass, her breath fogging it.
"Should've covered the windows too."
Misato's blood was boiling at the site of the man.
He mumbled something to Ritsuko, just as she walked through the door, which only caused her blood to boil more.
"What the hell is this jerk doing here, I thought you got assigned to Europe?"
"I'm on a job, looks like I'll be here awhile, so the three of us can hang out, it'll be just like old times." Kaji said as he leaned against Ritsuko's desk.
"Who the hell wants to relive the past, and I'm down here to see Ritsuko not you. HR has just given us the approval on Asuka."
She stood there, looking at the two of them, him leaning against the desk she sat at, they both looked at her, imploring her to go on.
"And?" Ritsuko asked, she knew there was more.
Misato started, but hesitated, she knew this was going to be strange, even coming from her, but she had to tell her, the fact that Kaji was there didn't matter.
"Did you know Shinji speaks German?" she asked quietly, her anger suddenly evaporated now at the thought of the boy.
Ritsuko raised an eyebrow, "Shinji doesn't know German," her face settled in a devilish look "did someone tip him off on the nationality of our new pilot."
Kaji chuckled, shrugging in agreement "I've known boys who've done less to try to impress a beautiful new girl, including myself actually."
Misato's eyes narrowed "He's fluent."
Her friend's eyebrow raised behind her glasses "You're joking."
"NO!" She exclaimed throwing her hands up "He greeted her in German, listen to her in German, I think he threatened her in German, even seemed to spar with her in German, he only welcomed her to the team in Japanese, there wasn't even a pause, I wouldn't have known it was his second language!"
Kaji just stared at her friend, who's mind seemed to be fried by the idea that someone could speak two languages.
"It's not a big deal Misato, lots of people know a second language."
"Yeah, but how many know German here in Japan, and how many have a new pilot coming from German?" Kaji mused.
How many of those came back to life?
"You shut up!" Misato yelled while pointing at him "This has nothing to do with you."
Before she stormed off, leaving the both of them in a very perplexing situation.
Alright, 2.0 here we are. Quick note, I'm going to use the spelling Soryu. I've seen the spelling Sohryu online, in the NGE Proposal book it's Sōryō, and for the Netflix subtitles its Soryu. . So, like I said with the Netflix dub being my go-to for the original series, I'm defaulting to that.
SHOUTOUTS!
KySocceRref- Yeah, I love a good time travel story, I started to think about a straight NGE-only story, but I didn't see very many Rebuild stories. Then first time I watched them I noticed the details that are pointed out in the Loop Theory and that is what got me here.
kyinglittelstar- Always happy to brighten a mood! I actually kinda want to see the 'spoilers without context' meme pop up again for 3.0+1.0, the same way they happened with Avengers: Endgame. I have a feeling with Anno's writing it'd be even more confusing.
Gleaming Onyx- Well there you go, lets just say the 'Ghost of Asukas past' is going to… well… I don't want to spoil anything, but don't worry, I'm gonna have a blast when the time comes.
So, thoughts about waiting for 3.0+1.0, honestly, I could go two ways with this story. I can wait too… *ahem* "somehow" see it, albeit probably without subtitles, or I can just go on and default to NGE for details or I can wait 6-8 months. My dilemma really revolves around character details… like what is Shikinami's backstory, we know Soryu's, but obviously they are not the same character. Judging just by behavior alone they are not the same, I mean Shikinami has a doll! Soryu would never have a toy doll. It seems like her mother (I'll be the first to say she's the redhead with glasses in that picture in 3.0) probably had a similar fate, but something different happened? Of course I could just fill in those holes myself but that just doesn't feel right.
Do I really expect to get answers in 3.0+1.0? Not particularly, I'd bet it'll be just as off the wall as EOE (Or my own personal idea of it being a discount Endgame lol), but it'd be nice to have a bit more information.