Angel Attack!
"Unidentified intruder is still coming towards us."
"We've got it on visual putting it on the main screen."
The large screen inside Central Dogma blared, switching to a camera just outside the city. What they saw shocked many of the poor technicians, who even with the training they had at NERV at best had a cursory knowledge of the sheer hell they were about to be put through.
At the top of the room, a very elderly man wearing a brown uniform stood next to a middle aged man who had his shoulders on the table and his hands placed right below his nose. Sub Commander Kozou Fuyutski and Commander Ikari looked onto the screen with rapt attention.
"It's been fifteen years…" Fuyutski said simply.
The Commander remained impassive. "Yes. Well now we know for sure. The Angels are back."
"We're sorry. Due to the state of emergency that has been declared, all lines are currently out of service."
The line went dead. Shinji sighed, placing the payphone back in place as he looked down his watch. "Hmhm, no good. My cell isn't getting a signal either, and none of the buses and trains are running."
It was true. On the way from Kokoro the train suddenly stopped just before reaching the city limits. It caused no small amount of confusion and panic as crowds were being led around the area to the nearest shelters, without even so much as an explanation.
A tap on the shoulder. "Hey sonny, are you gonna move?"
He looked to his left, seeing a worry stricken older man. Shinji moved away a few feet, allowing whatever private conversation to take place without eavesdropping.
The worst part about the situation was that due to Kokoro's unexpected destruction two months ago, many of the burgeoning crowds had moved to Tokyo 3 due to being the closest available. The shelters weren't built for this, as such many people remained outside.
Shinji placed a hand in his pocket, and pulled out a picture. It was of a woman, one Misato Katsuragi if he remembered correctly; she had violet hair, brown eyes… and did a provocative pose with a few notes scribbled on it to emphasize her breasts. Classy.
They showed a time and place to meet, and that she'd arrive in a blue renault but she hadn't arrived yet. He looked down on his watch. Sure enough, it was several minutes past schedule.
"So much for meeting here. I guess I should go find a shelter…"
He turned his eyes to further along the street. For the briefest of seconds, he thought he saw a girl in the crowd. However, the sound of birds flapping took Shinji's attention away. When he turned back she was gone.
"Huh… what was that?"
The only things he could make out about her was pale skin... blue hair...
red eyes
Suddenly, the boy found himself off balance. The ground quaked harshly, the phone lines above shaking and stirring and the people screaming, wondering what was going on.
It shook again. And again. Rinse and repeat. The thing was that this wasn't a continuous earthquake. No, it came in small waves, as if…
Shinji looked up and saw several VTOLs moving away from something. Before he could even ask what it was though, he saw it.
The… thing was tall and massive, towering over the buildings like a human would an ant. It moved slow but every step sent shockwaves across the field. It's body was a dark green, a large red orb planted firmly on it's chest with bones covering it and it's shoulders, it's arms with clawed hands dangling around. A large bird shaped mask was where a head would- should- be. There was nothing remotely human about this thing. It only was.
Shinji's spider-sense kicked in, snapping him away from shock just in time to move his head to the left.
A missile flew right past his head, aiming straight for the monster walking into the city. Shinji could hear every single VTOL firing their weapons at the thing, but it seemed from where he was standing that they were having no effect.
At one point, a huge series of explosions engulfed the creature entirely. Some of those explosions were big enough to melt parts of the buildings around… they fell down into the street below.
Shinji noticed a couple paralyzed with fear. He sent webs towards the couple, and pulled them away before the debris could kill them.
'They're so reckless!' Shinji thought. 'Did they even notice the people down here?!'
Up above, the VTOLs circled around.
"EVERY SINGLE MISSILE HIT THE TARGET!" A pilot yelled, celebrating a seemingly quick victory over it. "HELL YEAH BOYS LET'S HEAD BACK HO-"
Of course "seemingly" isn't the same thing as "surely." A blade of light penetrated the VTOL, sending the pilot downward screaming to his doom.
From there, Shinji could see that the creature was still standing, covered in some kind of protective orange shielding… one that was distinctly very familiar to him. It bent it knees, a halo appearing on it's head as it jumped away from the VTOLs
By this point, everyone on the street were running away from the disaster zone. Shinji debated joining them. Somehow, he didn't think little ol' Spider-Man taking on a huge monster that shrugged off missiles would turn out to be an even fight.
Before he could do anything though, the VTOL the creature had attacked earlier landed right in front of him, knocking him back. He covered himself with his arms… and felt nothing. No explosion.
A door click.
Shinji opened his eyes to take a look. Sure enough, there was Misato Katsuragi herself, sitting with her sunglasses in a blue car, the explosion right behind her.
"Hi there. Sorry I'm late."
'Are you kidding,' Shinji thought 'You got here just in time.'
"What the hell?! It's still standing!"
"Tank battalion's been wiped out. That thing is just striding over our defenses like it wasn't even there."
"Dammit! Then we hit it even harder. We can't let it get through!"
The three army generals could only watch as their proud military might fell to the wayside, the Angel having destroyed almost every VTOL in the area. The Angel, designated the Third: SACHIEL on the large computer screen, turned it's head towards the camera as explosions razed behind it.
Sub Commander Fuyutski knew this would happen. "An AT Field, as we expected."
The Commander only nodded. "Conventional weapons won't be of any use against an Angel."
A telephone rang. One of the generals picked it up.
"What's that… Yes understood, we'll activate the contingency plan,"
Through the binoculars, Misato could spot the Third Angel in the distance.
The damn thing didn't even have a scratch on it, that was how useless the military were in dealing with it. Of course they had a plan ready to go but the brass wouldn't let it happen. Curse their stupid pride.
Wait. Rising heat signature detected?
"What the heck are they do- " Realization dawned on her face. "AW CRAP they're gonna use an N2 mine get down!"
With that, she pulled Shinji down, covering his body as a large explosion threw the entire car for a loop across the fields.
"We did it!"
The military generals celebrated their own certain victory. Throughout the compound, various technicians breathed a sigh of relief. The power of an N2 mine was even greater than a nuclear bomb. If the Angel had managed to survive it…
One general turned his head around to face the men behind them. "I'm sorry gentlemen, it seems you won't be needed here after all."
Fuyutski and the Commander only gave a passive shrug.
The two could stand some ignorance. After all, the fools… they didn't know what they were dealing with.
Not like they do.
As the dust settled, the two occupants of the renault stepped out of it. Misato took a second to place a hand over Shinji's forehead.
"Are you okay?" "I think…" He coughed. "I just can't get this dirt out of my mouth."
"I'll take that as a yes." Misato looked over her car. It had been turned on it's side during the explosion. At least it was intact. "Listen I'm gonna need your help getting this back on the road. I just need you to push okay?"
Shinji nodded. He had to be a little careful though, wouldn't want to give away his secret identity to this complete stranger he just met.
He and Misato went towards the car, placing their backs and hands to push it.
"Ready? Push on three… three!"
It took some effort, but together they pushed the car back to a standing position.
Misato dusted off her hands. "Ah, that wasn't so bad was it? Thanks for helping me out."
Shinji turned to her. "C'mon, I should be thanking you… Miss Katsuragi."
"Oh please it's Misato." She says as she takes off her sunglasses, gazing towards the young boy with her brown eyes. "So Ikari Shinji… we meet at last."
"Uh… yeah."
What else could he say really?
"What's the status of the target?"
"You saw that explosion, it's over."
The compound was buzzing with excitement. The camera feeds were still down due tot the N2 mine ruining the systems in place. The military generals sat there confident.
"Visuals back online." said one of the lower level technicians. He let out an audible gulp as the camera feeds came back to life.
Everyone gasped.
Amid the blazing inferno of the N2 mine aftermath, Sachel the Third Angel stood. It had been damaged, there was some noticeable orange liquid and broken bits… but it was alive.
Judging from the way it's bones snapped back into place, the way it's body squirmed and shook… it could regenerate as well.
The military generals could only watch in horror… they had failed.
"That was it, our ace in the hole."
"It… it had no effect?"
"Goddamn it!" The last one slammed his head against the table. All three felt various degrees of frustration, angel and, more importantly, despair as the angel continued it's regeneration.
Fuyutski stood there completely, feeling just the tiniest bit smug at seeing them like this.
"It's ability to regenerate itself is quite impressive."
The Commander lowered his hands slightly. Reflected in his sunglasses, the Angel's bird mask shifted, moving a little bit to the right… sickening, noisy crunching sounds were heard as the skin was visibly ripped apart. Sprouting from the ripped apart hole on the skin, a second mask was created, in the shape of a human skull.
"We're dealing with a near perfect life form. Entirely self sufficient. It's to be expected."
As the angel began it's final healing process, the Commander and Sub Commander watched the camera pulling away from the horrific sight.
"Those who ate from the fruit of life indeed."
"Yes. They exist to destroy us, those who ate from the fruit of wisdom."
"Yes don't worry his safety is my top priority. Look, can you get a car train ready for us? At express of course. Well I did volunteer to pick him up, so it's only my duty to make sure he gets there. See ya."
Misato put the phone down. Thank God something went right for once today. First she had trouble trying to get to the kid, then the Angel attacked and all of a sudden she had to hurry it on outta there or else she could have gotten killed. Then those idiots dropped an N2 mine and nearly killed her and the kid and totally totaled her car. The cost of repairs alone are gonna be a real drag on her bank account!
She grabbed the hem of her dress. Her favorite dress… all ruined! Could this get any worse? What next, Gojira coming in and Atomic Breath everyone to death?
"Excuse me, Misato?"
Oh right the kid was here. Misato snapped her attention to him. "Hm what's that?"
Shinji's eyes narrowed slightly. "Those batteries… isn't that, um, theft?"
At that, Misato nervously chuckled. "Uhhh… don't worry about it, it was an emergency and we needed a working car right heh heh? Uh I am a government official so everything's gonna be perfectly fine okay? Okay!"
"… Not sure if anyone would really buy that. But I guess it makes sense."
"Well you're no fun. You're not as cute as I thought you were."
"Sorry I guess…"
Shinji turned his head to the window. That thing out there… it brought him back memories of Kokoro. Of the formless tornado that swept the city. Death, pain, misery.
It brought him back to Inumaru and what he learned back in the lab. A tale of hubris, mankind triggering the near death of everyone through Second Impact, of how the Angel Lilith had been instrumental in creating the test subjects that birthed his spider powers, and those of Electro, Sandwoman, the Lizard, Yamagishi…
"I'm sorry too… I guess I should have never existed at all…"
Could the monster outside be related to Lilith? Admittedly Shini didn't have much in the way of reference for what an Angel could be. It was the only explanation that made sense to him at this time though, with the limited information. Could the fact that it looked so different from Lilith meant that it could be some kind of different species? Maybe some sort of distant relative? He head to get to the bottom of this somehow.
"You're being awfully quiet, you okay?"
Shinji snapped out of his reverie. "What? Oh yeah."
Misato looked quizzically at him. "You sure? I figured you'd be asking a million question by now. It's nothing to apologize for, it's just… ya know. What was that huge thing back there? Why did I just get almost blown to smithereens."
The boy shrugged. "I guess.. well, I figured you wouldn't give me the answers even if I did."
"Ah… so you're the type to assume the worst in people," Misato said. "That's pretty jaded for a kid."
"Maybe…" Shinji let out a tiny smile. "That's something I'm trying to work on."
"That's fine." Misato smiled back. She turned her head back to the road. "Incidentally that thing we saw back there is a lifeform known as an Angel."
Ah, so it was an Angel. Misato knew what it was. Shinji did remember HERZ had been working with NERV, doing lab experiments for something called the Evangelion project. Did she know about that?
"Seems like a weird thing to call a giant ten hundred foot monster there isn't it?" He brought up. "I thought Angels were supposed to be beautiful and have wings?"
"That's what I was saying!" Misato said, "Though I heard from tech support that Angels in the Bible were supposed to have these weird abstract forms or something so maybe we were just plain wrong."
"I wouldn't be surprised if that was true." Shinji simply said. "Sometimes the way we thought things were turn out to be based on the wrong foundation."
"Ooooohhh so you're philosopher huh? Didn't expect that from such a cute boy."
"Well you're not as mature as I thought you'd be."
The withered look on Misato's face pretty much told Shinji he made a terrible mistake.
"Wait, I was just kidding Misato I didn't mea- WHOAH PLEASE STOP DRIVING LIKE THAT OH MY GOD PLEASE NO-"
The general put down the phone, and placed his hands underneath his chin. He and the other two generals on his left and right weren't exactly keen on this plan, but at this point there was no other way.
"As of now operational command will be transferred to you and your team. It's time you show us what you got."
The Commander only gave a small nod. "I understand."
"At this point it's clear that our weapons did not provide adequate means of dealing with the target which makes you our last line of defense, Ikari, so tell us can you stop this thing."
Gendo Ikari laced two fingers over his glasses, adjusting them. "That's what NERV is for, gentlemen."
"I pray you're right."
The Generals seats were lowered from the floor. Commander Gendo Ikari looked pleased with the result. It meant now there were no distractions. NERV could do it's intended purposed. The scenario was set.
"The U.N. forces are exhausted." said Fuyutski. "What are you going to do?"
Gendo snorted. "Activate Unit 01."
"Activate it… but we have no pilot!"
"Not anymore." Gendo walked towards a terminal. His fingers moved to input commands. "Another spare is being delivered. I'll leave the rest to you."
With that Commander Ikari's platform was also lowered. Fuyutski could only sigh.
"Their first reunion in three years…" He said nervously. His face hardened and turned to the technicians. "All personnel to battle stations, condition one!"
"NERV?"
"Yep. We're a clandestine organization that answers directly to the U.N."
After the near death experience of Misato's spite driving, the two found themselves on a car train. The red alarm lights gave away to normal ones, Shinji shuffled a bit.
"This is where my father works isn't it?"
"Well yeah. You do know what he does don't you?"
The boy shrugged. "Not really… the few times I've seen him, he didn't say anything. Yamashiro said father was in some kind of science group before he died but that's all I know."
"Yamashiro?" Misato cocked an eyebrow.
"Oh, Yamashiro was my guardian. He was taking care of me in Kokoro."
"Kokoro? Wasn't that the city that was destroyed two months ago?"
"Yeah it was."
"… wait, you were living there?!"
Shinji gave her a questioning glance. "Yeah, I was. I lived there for years. Yamashiro had been taking care of me during that time. He died three months ago."
"Three months ago?" Misato gripped the handle of the wheel. "Nobody came to pick you up or anything?"
"N-no they didn't." Shinji rubbed the back of his hand. "Misato I'm a little confused. Shouldn't you know this already?"
"… I should." Misato turned her head out the front window.
Her mind was filled with a lot of questions, but the thought that stood out the most was that holy crap they left this child alone for three months straight with no one bothering to check up on him?! Not even after the disaster that fucking happened?! She was going to get somebody fired that's for sure.
"Will my father be waiting for us once we get there?"
She adjusted the little mirror on the ceiling. "I dunno. It depends I guess. Oh that reminds, did he happen to send you an ID Card?"
"Huh? I think…" Shinji went into his bag. He pulled out a folder. "You mean this?"
"Perfect thanks…" She moved her hand, pulling her own folder and handing it over to the kid. "Here you better read this."
Shinji took it, looking at the cover. "Welcome to NERV… wait, so I'm gonna be working with you guys?"
Misato nodded.
"Wouldn't surprise me." Shinji said in a bitter tone. "Father wouldn't have asked me come unless he needed me for something."
"So you and your old man don't get along…" Misato stretched her arms, laying them behind her head. "Sounds like we have that in common."
Sparing Misato a surprised glance, Shinji was reminded of a scene from years ago. Painted in black and white, it starred a crying little boy tearfully wondering where mom was, why father left him there on the platform. A comforting hand on his shoulder, an unfamiliar stranger said he would take him home.
'Dad…'
Suddenly the car was enveloped in the shining light of the sunset. Shinji looked outside and his face lit up in wonder.
"Wait… that's- that's a real Geo Front!"
He had read about it in a magazine before, an interview with Naoko Akagi shortly after they had found it, but to see it here! An underground self sustaining natural habitat, with a huge lake, trees far and wide, all illuminated under the golden orange glow. Misato smiled.
"Yup. This is it, our secret underground base. NERV HQ, The key in the effort to rebuild our world, and ensure mankind's place in it."
"Um… are we lost?"
Shinji and Misato stood on a conveyor belt that took them across a large chasm of rooms and hallways. In the effort to rebuild mankind's place in the world, NERV HQ was built to house thousands of people to work. As such the labyrinth structure was a place that people could be easily lost in. Especially if someone was new here.
"I'm new here okay?" Misato said proving the point. "Buuuut if we keep moving we'll be there eventually!"
Shinji didn't even need to use his spider-sense to predict that wasn't going to happen. Luckily for him, as the two passed through another door a voice was heard from the intercom.
"Captain Katsuragi Misato, report to elevator number 226. Doctor Akagi will arrive shortly to meet you."
"Ohhh, Ritsuko is going to be so mad." Misato nervously chuckled. "At least we're close by. Maybe she won't be too mad at me for getting here so late heh heh…"
The two stopped at an elevator to their left. It was listed as 226, precisely like the instructions said. The boy wondered about something.
"Ritsuko?" Shinji asked. "Is she related to Naoko Akagi?"
Misato grimaced at that. "Yeah… Ritsuko's her daughter. Don't bring it up to her though. They're not on good terms and Ritsuko's been trying to distance herself from her…"
"'Cause she's the crazy maniac who murdered dozens of people and nearly derailed a train." Shinji finished the thought. "I get it. Honestly if my mom was a crazy supervillain I wouldn't want anything to do with her either."
"Right on, so try not mentioning her around Ritsuko."
The elevator doors opened. "Oh hey there-"
Spider-Sense!
"Sorry Misato, Ritsu still hasn't finished her deep dive session so they sent me here in her stead."
Naoko Akagi straightened the lab coat she had on. The mechanical arms were twisting and shifting above and below her. The doctor couldn't help but smirk when she saw Misato's face harden as the Captain took a step back. "You're rather late you know. Wasting precious manpower just because you can't even bother to memorize a map-"
"Y… YOU!"
Shinji pointed a finger right at the doctor. For her part, Naoko was surprised to find the teen in here. Her eyes travelled from him to Misato and back again, piecing everything together.
"Wait what is he do… oh… oh wait." She let out a chuckle. The chuckle turned into a giddy cackle. "OHOHOHOHO This is so rich! Of course he of all people would have to be the Third Child!"
As she laughed, Shinji went into a defensive stance. "What the heck are you doing here?! You should be in jail!"
"Believe me if I had my way she'd stay there…" Misato muttered as she crossed her arms. "Naoko here is the head scientist of NERV. You two knew each other?
Naoko Akagi wiped a tear from her face. "Oh yes, we met in the Magi Demonstration in Kokoro two months ago. He was so sweet, especially when he came all the way from the hospital to check up on little old me."
Shinji glared. "You killed those nurses… You tried to kill me."
Naoko gave an apologetic face so fake even a blind man could see right through it. "I must apologize, I wasn't in the right state of mind at the time. Mental shocks you understand. Don't worry, I'm all better now! My arms aren't even trying to skewer anyone alive!"
With that she clapped her hands.
"Anyway why don't we all get on the elevator and head to Central Dogma. After all we wouldn't want get caught in the path of an Angel down here."
The boat ride towards Central Dogma was a quiet one.
Shinji felt very awkward and out of place when the two adults he was with were discussing some information garble that he couldn't really understand. There were mentions of a 0-9 system, something to do with an Evangelion, probabilities, AT Fields…
He honestly did try to listen to maybe get some information but science was never exactly his strong suit. Shinji was just never good at that kind of stuff, he was more into cooking or playing the cello. In the end, he gave up and just let himself get taken to where he was supposed to go.
Shinji felt nervous when he looked around the chamber. Sitting on the boat, he fell witness to a sea of orange red liquid being filled from several holes in the walls. The smell was nauseous… it reminded him of-
Wait, what was that? It looked like some sort of pylon attached to the wall. The tip and side were painted green, with the rest mostly black with a violet circle extending down.
What was going on?
"Looks like we're here." Naoko said. "Come on, hurry up."
The boat arrived. Naoko led Misato and Shinji away from up the stairs. Throughout the ride and into the entrance, Shinji could feel his spider-sense tingling nonstop. The entire place felt like extreme danger. He had no idea why he was here or what kind of situation he was getting into. Just what was this place?
Just as Shinji stepped inside, he could see that there were no lights in the room. The door closed shut, trapping him in darkness. Immediately cut off from anything approaching sight, he looked around, desperately squinting to see anything.
"What the- Hey! Why is it so dark in here?!"
"Give it a moment. They will be back on in three, two, one…"
The lights came back on, and Shinji screamed.
"OH MY GOD! It's a face… a giant robot!"
In front of him, was the face of a demon. A horn on top of it's head, the violet mask had eyes that glowed a sickly yellow, red stripes flowing from above to below them. It's jaw was painted blue, but any moment they look like they could break loose and devour anyone unfortunate enough to be close.
Shinji went to the booklet he had.
"You won't find this in the manual."
A new voice. Shinji turned to see a bleached blond woman in a lab coat, a blue shirt and pencil skirt waling towards them. She had a mole near the side of her mouth, her entire aura giving off a cold impression.
She continued, "You're looking at the most advanced weapons system developed by man. The synthetic humanoid Evangelion… this is Unit 01. Built here in secret, it is humanity's last hope for survival."
A sarcastic clap echoed throughout the chamber.
"A magnificent speech Ritsuko!" Naoko said. "Keep that up and you'll end up winning an award for best acting and improv."
Ritsuko glared at her mother. Shinji narrowed his eyes. "So this is part of my dad's work?"
"It is."
Shinji looked up. Sure enough, from the window above he could see him standing over him. Gendo Ikari was exactly as Shinji remembered; composed, commanding…
"It's been quite a while."
intimidating
"It's you…" Shinji choked out.
He looked away, feeling ashamed. It was so stupid. Shinji could stare down crazy supervillains, monsters and the flames of death, but he couldn't even look at his own father? How pathetic! But… even knowing they would meet today Shinji wasn't ready to face him.
Gendo smirked a little before frowning. "We're moving out."
"Moving out? But Unit 00 is still in suspension right?" Misato said surprised. She glanced the Evangelion before realization dawned. "You can't be seriously considering activating Unit 01."
"Do you know of another option?" Ritsuko simply responded.
"Wait, but Rei can't pilot it can't she? We don't have a pilot!" Misato pointed out.
Ritsuko glanced at the teen standing before her. Shinji also stared at her, curious.
"We've just received one."
Misato frowned. "You're serious…"
Turning herself fully, Ritsuko decided not to waste any more time. "Ikari Shinji… as the Third Child, you'll be the pilot."
Shinji stared at her in shock. "What… what do you mean?"
Misato began to argue, "But even Rei took seven months to synchronize with an Eva, it's impossible for him to do it! He just got here!"
"He just needs to sit in the seat, we don't expect him to do much." Ritsuko brushed it off.
"Not so fast Ritsu, you know damn well the pilot has to a lot more than sit." Naoko Akagi stepped in, "The synchronization process will require the pilot's mind to link with the Eva and take charge of it's movements."
When Ritsuko glared at her, Naoko snorted. "Hey, if you're going to send a untrained monkey out there to fight the least you can do is give him a clear picture of what he's supposed to do instead of leaving him in the dark."
Shinji for his part was piecing everything together.
So this robot was an Evangelion. It was NERV's secret weapon that he had been selected to pilot it. Akagi had named him the Third Child, something Tachiageru Yamagishi had also called him, and had been called in the file Inumaru showed him. That meant that he had been designated the Third Child for a long time. Since his father was the Commander of NERV-
He turned towards his father.
"You knew… you knew this would happen."
If Gendo hadn't expected that response, he didn't show it. "We have been preparing for this for a long time. The Angels are a threat to mankind."
Shinji took a step. "Why didn't you say anything before? How come I'm only finding out about this now and not, I dunno ANY TIME before today?"
"You were selected only a week ago." Gendo responded. "We have an approximated schedule but the Angel's attack was unexpected. There was no time frame we would have had for training."
'Bullshit.' Shinji thought. If he was called the Third Child just two months ago, then that meant he had been selected as the pilot for a while now. Why did dad lie? What could possibly be the reason for sending him out to fight a monster in a robot he had no idea even existed until today?
Of course he couldn't exactly point that out can he? That would be suspicious. His father would probably be wondering how his son knew classified information he shouldn't be privy to. How frustrating.
He was about to say no. Maybe yell and rant, rightfully so, about how ridiculously stupid it was he was being dragged into this thing, ask his father what did he to deserve this fate.
Except…
"Misato…" Shinji turned to her. "You said something a pilot, Rei right? Did you say she was in no condition to fight?"
Misato's eyes widened. She gave a slow nod.
Shinji clenched his hands. He took a deep breath, through the nose, before exhaling out.
With great power comes great responsibility… I mustn't run away.
"… Fine I'll do it. I'll be your pilot."
"Inserting entry plug."
Shinji couldn't escape the foreboding feeling in his chest. As the plug lowered into the Eva, surrounded totally in darkness, his spider-sense wouldn't stop causing him headaches. He clutched his forehead, the headaches becoming harsher and harsher. It was as if he was rejecting the Evangelion itself. The pain… the pain, the pain the pain, wouldn't go away it just wouldn't stop!
The plug stopped moving. "Plug locked in place."
A rainbow of colors flashed through Shinji's eyes and all of a sudden, the headaches disappeared.
The boy took a moment to orient himself. The plug's lights turned on. It was dim, but the orange light still felt more comforting than being left in the dark. He felt something climb up to his shoes.
Wait… the smell…
Shinji felt himself getting covered in some kind of liquid. It came very quickly, having already covered up to his legs, chest, even his chin and…
"What is this stuff?! Who-" The liquid reached the top of the plug and he started gasping for air. It was then Shinji remembered what it was and he panicked.
"GET IT OFF ME!"
He started banging on the walls. Shinji didn't care if he left a dent, he had to get out right this instant! "PLEASE LET ME OUT OF HERE!"
The girl lied there on the floor, her body missing her legs and an arm. A large puddle of the orange liquid surrounded her.
"Pilot Ikari calm down, you're not going to drown in it!" "LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!"
She barely clung to life as she coughed.
"LISTEN SHINJI! The LCL isn't going to kill you, once it's filled up you'll be oxygenated directly! You're going to be fine!"
Shinji stopped. He breathed, in and out, slowly…
'I love you too.'
"Are you okay in there?! What was that just know?"
"I'm- I'm fine Misato, it's just… sorry… this stuff, it smells… tastes like…
He nearly choked on his own words.
"It tastes like blood."
Nobody dared to answer that. Shinji sat on the cockpit, breathing in and out, trying to regain control over himself.
At the Control Center, Ritsuko looked over the data results that the young brown haired lieutenant in front of her took and was pleased.
"Synchronization ratio at 53.4%, harmonics seem to be normal." Maya Ibuki said. "I see no disturbances."
"Incredible, and so high without a plugsuit…" Ritsuko said. "We might have a chance after all."
"Don't be so sure, Ritsuko." Naoko Akagi interjected. "A good synch ratio means nothing if the pilot dies within the first two minutes of using it. I'll relay the instructions while Captain Katsuragi prepares the launch sequence."
Ritsuko turned fully towards her. "You're not in any position to give demands, Doctor. They're only letting you here on the condition you take orders from me."
Naoko waved a hand. "Yes yes, little Ritsu taking the big girl responsibilities now, I know. But surely my expertise would be necessary to make sure the pilot remains alive, wouldn't you say so… Captain?"
Misato took charge before the tension got any worse. "Naoko, you tell Shinji whatever he needs to do to pilot, you keep an eye on the synch ratio Ritsuko."
Naoko smirked triumphantly while Ritsuko scowled.
Misato turned to the other technicians. "Begin launch sequence!"
The locks on the Evangelion snapped away and were lowered by various equipment and technicians working as hard as they could to get everything ready.
Shinji heard many systems being cleared for take off but ignored all of that. He had to be ready and focus.
A small window popped up on his viewscreen. Naoko's smug face showed up on it.
"Well Pilot Ikari it seems like we're going to be working together from now on. Assuming you get out of here alive of course… which luckily I plan on doing by providing you with a set of instructions. It always helps to have an extra set of arms."
Shinji narrowed his eyes. "I'd rather crash a train."
"Pffft hahaha, having a good sense of humor helps you. Try doing quips like that Spider-Man guy you surely heard of." Naoko wiped a tear from her face. "Anyway the way this works is that the Evangelion works on a neural interface. Whatever your mind wills it to do, the Eva will follow the command. How well it does it is through your synch ratio, which luckily you already have a high percentage right off the bat. I wonder how you managed that…"
The wink she gave made Shinji shudder.
"Anything else I need to know?" He asked. "Weapons I could use or…?"
"Well thing is you're supposed to have some weapons like a progressive knife or a gun at your disposal, but neither had arrived by this point. The attack truly was sudden."
"So I'm out there all on my own then?"
"Yup. Like a lamb to the slaughter… hopefully this ends with the lamb devouring the wolves first."
"Launch pad is clear! All green!" A voice came from an intercom.
"Oops, that's my cue! Don't die on us, it would be so cruel for everyone if you did. Bye!"
As Naoko's face disappeared from the viewscreen, Shinji sighed. He just had the most rotten luck.
At the command center, Misato turned to the Commander. "Last chance to abort. Your call."
"No." Gendo said "Either we stop that Angel or humanity's future ends here."
Fuyutski learned down on his ear. "Ikari are you sure this was the right thing to do?"
Gendo only smirked.
"Launch it!" Misato yelled out.
With that, the Evangelion catapulted upward! The high speeds were a dizzying and nauseating experience for the would be superhero, who was having trouble keeping his mind straight with all the turbulence getting to him.
"NNNNNNNNGGGGGGGHHHHHHH" Shinji grit his teeth.
The Eva came to a sudden stop, and Shinji managed to open his eyes. From a distance, he could see the Angel from before.
Sachiel considered the Eva with a curious stare. It seemed to wonder what it was dealing with… whether it was any different from things he been destroying today.
"Ready Shinji?"
He gulped. "Not really, but don't let that stop you."
"Right." Misato said. "Disengage final safety locks! Evangelion Unit 01… move out!"
Shinji felt like he could move now. He looked around the interface and tried to figure out how to do what. Doctor Akagi said that he had command the Eva into action by thinking.
"Walk."
He felt a phantom leg moving upward, and the Evangelion's foot was raised as well.
"I'm… I'm doing it!"
The boy commanded the foot to step down. However, it was too quick. The Evangelion lost balance, and fell to the floor.
"Shinji pull it together! You have to get up now!"
Shinji tried to collect his bearings but his senses were being overwhelmed. Suddenly it was as if he could see and sense everything. The air, the design of the building he was surrounded by, the people…
Wait people?
Shinji opened an eye. Yes, he had to squint his eyes a little but he could see people down on the street. A panicked family. The boy surmised that not everyone could get into the shelters and now they were left to rot.
That is the least of his worries though. Shinji felt his head being grabbed, and his body pulled upward. He came face to face with the Angel he was fighting. He could see that in between the time in the street and now, he had grown a second skull next to it's mask.
Sachiel moved it's free arm to catch the Evangelion's left arm. Shinji could see the angel's arm blowing up, gaining strong muscles… and a pain seared through the boys own arm!
"AAAAAAGGGGGGHHH!"
"Listen to me, don't panic!" Misato yelled over communications. "Your arm isn't really being pulled! Focus!"
"NOT SO SURE IF MY ARM AGREES WITH THAT ASSESSMENT!" Shinji could only yell. Because really, even if it wasn't real it still hurt a friggin' lot and that was bad.
"Systems unresponsive the field hasn't deployed!" He heard someone, probably a technician say. "At the rate he's going the pilot might have his arm broken for real!"
"No, Shinji!"
He had to think of something fast. What could he do? No weapons, no back up…
The big red orb on the chest. Could he…?
He sent a command to the Evangelion. His leg moved a little, forward backwards, forward backwards, forward backwards…
Then a kick! WHAM!
The Angel let go of Unit 01's head and arm, taking a few steps back to recover while it brought it's hands to his chest. Shinji breathed in, clutching his own arm.
"That was too close for comfort… great now what do I do?"
"Activate the AT Field." Naoko said through the radio. "Think of it like a force field created by your own thoughts. Your mind makes it real, whatever you feel it just is. The goal is to get close and personal to the Angel to bring it's guard down and destroy the core, the thing you just kicked."
"Don't do anything too dangerous!" Misato said. "Whatever you do make sure it doesn't get away from the city. Also make sure it doesn't cut your umbilical cord or else you'll only have five minutes of power."
Shinji narrowed his eyes. "Right…"
It was just like a video game boss. Find the weakness, hit it until it dies. Simple.
Sachiel seemed to glare at the Eva. He pumped his arms, making them grow larger with muscle tissue, and got into a fighting stance.
'Of course, simple doesn't mean easy.' Shinji thought. He raised his own hands up.
Remembering that there were people down there, Shinji knew whatever he did he had be careful he didn't accidentally hurt them. He blinked, trying to think.
That barrage on the senses from earlier had lessened. He was able to focus his attention around himself, getting a clear picture of the city in his head. It was strange. Could being in the Eva be doing something to him?
Whatever is going on Shinji decided he could find out later. After this is over.
His hyper enhanced senses showed him that there were far less people forwards. Shinji knew figured then that he had to move the monster away.
With plan set, he threw a punch at the Angel.
However, Shinji was shocked to find the Eva's fist seemingly hitting nothing but dead air. Bright orange shockwaves appeared where the punch landed.
"What the heck…?"
"That's the Angel's AT Field. You need to concentrate on tearing it down so you can attack!" He heard Ritsuko say.
"How do I do that though?" Shinji asked.
"Tear it down using your own AT Field!"
The instructions being mostly unhelpful, Shinji tried to think about what to do. The Angel clearly won't be letting up soon. Wait… Shinji brought both hands towards the Angel, touching it's AT Field. He then pushed.
"What do you think you're doing, Pilot?!"
One step, two steps, three…
Shinji grunted while pushing the load. "There are people down there, I have to push it away so they don't get hurt!"
"Pull back, you're not going to-" Misato felt mechanical grab her shoulder. She violently shook it off.
"Let him do it." Naoko said. "It seems like he knows what he's doing."
"And how would you know that, doctor?"
Naoko turned around, facing the Commander. The two stared each other down. Everyone could feel the air in the room turn cold, the tension incredibly thick.
"Let's just say… Commander…" Naoko's eye twitched. "I have faith."
After some pushing, it seemed like Sachiel had enough. Unit 01's hands suddenly phased through the AT Field. Shinji felt a huge burst pain on his head as the Angel launched it's fist at Unit 01.
Shinji took a hit, clearly not expecting that. For a second blood came out from his mouth. But as the Angel threw another punch Shinji recovered in time to dodge. The boy was getting more and more used to the robot he was piloting. Now it seemed was the time for a counter attack.
If Sachiel punched left, Shinji moved right, if Sachiel attacked the head, Shinji aimed for the core. It was a punch out brawl. Sachiel had more power but Shinji was faster, something he had realized was his major advantage in all the fights he had been on so far as Spider-Man.
At this point, Shinji grabbed both of Sachiel's hands, gripping them tightly. He grit his teeth trying to keep a hold on them to keep the Angel on a stand still.
It went like this for a minute… and another…
Then a pain shot through both hands.
"AUGH!" Shinji yelled.
He was quick to find his hands were being pierced by two bright beams of light. Of course! The boy had forgotten how the monster had been able to do this earlier to take out a VTOL. Sachiel then kicked the Evangelion in the stomach sending the robot tumbling downwards. It stood over Shinji, almost smug.
'This is like how I kicked it in the core before… he must be learning!' Shinji realized to his horror. 'I have to end this now!'
Shinji threw another punch, and he found it impacting the AT Field once more.
'Oh crap he brought it up again!' Shinji thought. He didn't know how he was going to penetrate the AT Field. He had to find a way, but how?
Well there was one idea.
He reached his hand out to grab the horn on Unit 01's head… and ripped it right off.
"Shinji!" Misato yelled.
"I didn't know what else to do." Shinji argued.
He held the horn like a knife. Shinji went up close to the Angel, waving the horn in hand. Then he slashed at the Angel's field.
Sure enough the field was sliced through! Before the field to regenerate, Shinji grabbed both sides of it.
"No… no you're not!"
He practically ripped the field apart! Sachiel was about to throw a punch but Shinji wasted no time. First he smashed his fist against the Angel's mask, disorienting the monster. Then he grabbed both of it's hands.
KRRRRRRRRRRK
He managed to break them both during the struggle. Shinji freed a hand and punched at the core, sending the Angel to the floor. Then the Eva straddled over Sachiel. Shinji kept his eyes on the bright red core in the chest.
He punched the core. And punched. And punched and punched and punched…
The core started visibly cracking. Shinji felt elated, he could see his enemy being destroyed soon! Victory close at hand!
However, the angel known as Sachiel did not want to die like that. Not by this abomination.
It wrapped it's arms and legs around the Evangelion, curling itself into a ball. Shinji barely knew what as happening when-
"SHINJI!"
A huge explosion took out several city blocks. The size of the explosion wasn't too large, but it left behind a towering cross shaped beam of light that was visible on the field… with a rainbow for good measure.
Everyone in Central Dogma was shocked and amazed. One the one hand the boy had managed to fight off the Angel decently. But on the other…
"Where's the Eva?!"
"Scratch that where's the pilot?" Misato yelled. "I can't see anything, where's the feed?"
"Feed should be coming back online right now Captain."
A minute later, the camera signal could readily pick up what was going on again.
What they saw was the aftermath of the explosion. City block damaged, the streets almost burned to a crisp. Evidently some people were in the nearby vicinity as some dead bodies could be seen on the footage.
And yet… among the smoke and crater, the technicians could make out an almost demonic figure still standing upright.
"Vital life signs clear, Captain. The radio frequency is still down but Unit 01 is intact and the pilot is alive."
"Good." Misato nodded, relieved. "Get an evac team on the double."
Shinji gasped.
His eyes darted from side to side. He found himself inside a white room. Shinji looked down and saw he had apparently been put in a hospital gown.
"The ceiling mustn't be very familiar to you."
Eyes widened.
"I mean, you hardly ever went to hospitals when you were younger. Given your healing factor I suspect you may never have to enter one as a patient ever again. Lucky you."
No… she couldn't…
He turned his face up and found that unfortunately… Naoko Akagi was standing there with a cruel grin. The tentacles behind her moved and slithered on their own, ready to pounce at any given moment.
"We have some things we need to discuss… arachnid."
Author's Note:
Wow a lot of things happened in between Chapters 13 and 14.
Netflix licensed Evangelion and gave it a new dub (Wonderful, and I liked the new dub. The actor who played Shinji blows Spike Spencer out of the water.) Avengers Endgame came out (it was awesome), Spider-Man Far From Home became the highest grossing Spider-Man film yet (it was good but I disliked the Tony Stark stuff), now Sony and Disney negotiations fell through so Spider-Man's no longer in the MCU (bummer but Sony will do fine).
The Netflix Evangelion thing was particularly exciting for me. I watched Evangelion during a time in my life where I was having a lot of issues and the show helped me out, and I hope this leads to generations of new fans to come to the fold and appreciate it.
For those new fans who somehow found this fic, I will primarily be using the ADV Films/Rebuild 1 script for the series instead of the Netflix dub. Not only am I more familiar with the older dub, but also there were some script changes in the Netflix version I thought weren't worthy of my grace.
I'm also considering doing some edits to previous chapters. If any are done I'll list them in the chapters themselves.
Thank you for waiting patiently. You've all said some things, I'll try commenting on the general stuff:
-I saw some people speculating the Goblin might not be dead on reviews and the TV Tropes page. I'll admit that I can see how his death could lead to that and it might possible he did survive, but as far as the story is concerned he isn't coming back. I already have a plan and it doesn't include him.
-Good news for Kotei fans, he's alive! Bad news is… you'll probably wish he stayed dead.
-The "Mary Jane" of the story won't be coming until very late. For now, Shinji has some growing to do and a different love interest of sorts before then.
-Like I said in Chapter 4, Shinji isn't going to end up with Rei or Asuka. No ship hate, but I wanted to explore other relationships here.
-I love the idea of Shinji teaming up with Sunako and Rai as Amazing Friends. Maybe after the story is over they do it. Not right now though…
I hope that covers everything. No Spider-Man action this time around, nor the next one. But Chapter 16 will have Spider-Shinji make a glorious return in a new costume!
Edit: RealRemainder God Bless their soul pointed out issues with the formatting and I fixed them. Thank you.
Next Chapter: Welcome to Tokyo-3.
Omake 1:
Misato: "Don't worry Shinji, NERV had recruited the best and brightest in Japan to keep humanity safe!"
*Elevator Opens*
Naoko: Whas up bitch?
Shinji: *stares at the screen like the office*
Omake 2:
If Mayumi had lived.
Mayumi: *straightening her glasses.* Wait so let me get this straight. You summoned your son all the way here, not to apologize or take him back, but to send him in a giant robot to fight a dangerous monster with zero training.
Gendo: Yes.
Mayumi: *red eyes take warning* Yeah no.
*She summons the Incorporeal Angel to fight Sachiel*
Misato: Whoah she's an Angel?!
Shinji: *smiling* She sure is, isn't she amazing?
Omake 3 (written by Johnny Freeman):
Shigeru: Okay, here we go. *ahem* Welcome Tokyo-3 to tonight's first ever Mecha Match! I'm your host, Shigeru Aoba and I'm assisted by my good friend, Makoto Hyuga! Hello Hyuga, so glad you can make it tonight.
Makoto: Well it's either this or unemployment. So what are we seeing here tonight?
Shigeru: Well you see, tonight is a special night. On our corner we have our Evangelion, Unit 01, on stand by.
Makoto: And who's our pilot?
Shigeru: Well my friend, tonight's pilot is a recent newcomer from Kokoro. A Ikari Shinji.
Makoto: Ikari? As in-
Shigeru: YEP, Son of the Commander of this entire operation, Gendo Ikari.
Makoto: And what about our challenger?
Shigeru: The MAGI identifies our new challenger as "Sachiel", sounds super religious.
Makoto: I mean a lot of stuff here is super religious-
Shigeru: And look at that, Not even a second into the start of the match, and Unit 01 is face first into the dirt. Oh dear god, this is gonna be a short fight.
Makoto: More like a short life.
Shigeru: Hang on, Looks like Sachiel's coming in to help him up.
Makoto: What a nice Angel.
Shigeru: Aaaaaaand he just broke that Evangelion's arm.
Makoto: Boy, I can't even imagine what that pilot is going through. That must really hurt.
Shigeru: No shit. Wait- OH! And Unit 01 kicks that bastard in the chest! OOOH, DIRTY MOVE!
Makoto: Hey Shigeru, are there rules in this fight?
Shigeru: That's a good question and I guess not! Looks like Sachiel's making use of his AT-Field and- hang on a minute! Seems the Third Child's using this to his advantage! Pushing him away from the city.
Makoto: He said he's doing it to prevent civilian casualties
Shigeru: I mean, that's a good thing. I mean… Nobody's gonna get hurt. Except for Unit 01 over here because the AT-Field seems to have dissipated, and now Sachiel gave our contestant a swift punch to the face! He is NOT having any of this!
Maya: What are you guys doing?
Makoto: Oh, Shigeru brought this from surveilance cameras in the city and thought it be a good idea to edit that into a boxing match. Kinda like what the americans do.
Maya: You can't do that! Wait… Can you?
Shigeru: Well hey… It's fair use.