The Menace of Mysterio!
Kitagawa Moya stood helplessly as his props were being taken in boxes.
"It's just not fair…" He sniffed. "This shouldn't be happening."
"I'm sorry Moya," An older man placed a hand on his shoulder. "We can't keep the shop. It was bound to happen."
The last of the boxes were placed on the truck. Kitagawa held his head down, and shook the offending hand away.
"It doesn't make it any better." Kitagawa said. "I'll just… head home then."
The older man looked at him sympathetically. "You sure you'll be alright?"
"Maybe…" Kitagawa walked away. "Bye."
The sunset's orange glow made Kitagawa's slow walk around Tokyo-3 a shameful sight. He was ignored by the unfamiliar faces that made up the crowd.
Some time later, Kitagawa sat on a bench, and stared off to the distance. Distraught, he ignored the kids that surrounded him.
"How can this be?" Tears fell from his eyes. "Is this where my life ends? Is this all I have?"
Kitagawa Moya was a man of dreams. Growing up, he had been a huge fan of the great special effects artist Quentin Beck, who revolutionized the field in the 60's and 70's, changing the movie industry forever. The boy wanted to do cutting edge special effects work just like him, so he spent countless hours and days perfecting his craft.
Moya had built wonders and devices that impressed his peers! Sure there was that one incident with the chemicals that got him suspended for a while, but that was an accident. He was on track to becoming a great special effects artist! He was so close…
But then, Second Impact.
With the disaster that came, Moya couldn't finish school. He ended up working at his father's shop, selling trinkets and collectibles. The struggles never ended, what with the finances being constant flux. Half the inventory didn't survive Second Impact, and now everything's been taken away. Again.
If only there was something he could do… anything.
As if by divine intervention, a whoosh in the air disturbed him.
Sure enough, Kitagawa looked up to see the familiar red and blue hero swinging in the air.
"Wow he's so cool!"
"No honey, he's dangerous. We need to keep away from him"
Kitagawa overheard that conversation between parent and child, and started thinking.
In a way, Moya considered himself lucky. He lived in a world where superheroes like Spider-Man and super villains like Doctor Octopus and the Rhino existed.
"Yes…" Kitagawa said. "I can work with this."
A few days later, Misato woke up to the smell of eggs.
Her eyes were half lidded when she opened the door. She walked outside, before spotted her precious ward in his natural habitat: the kitchen, making her some delicious food.
"Rise and shine," Shinji said. "Some of the delicious eggs you like!"
Misato could do nothing but smile fondly. Ever since he came here Shinji had been a blessing upon her dreary little world. No more instant ramen or nights spent alone. No, she had someone to take care of. Someone to love.
"Shinji you are a God send." Misato said, sitting down beside the table. "Thank you so much."
Shinji chuckled. "No problem, just happy to help!"
The boy watched Misato dig in with gusto. The business with Rei a few days ago had left him a touch more grateful of those around him.
Rei Ayanami. His mother's clone, his fellow pilot… but also his twin sister? Maybe? It was just bizarre to think about. What had his father been thinking, creating Rei yet treating her like an after thought? The last piece of his mother and yet Gendo was all too willing to use her to capture him. He didn't think about it in the haze of jealousy, but Shinji surmised that Rei may have something to do with the Instrumentality plan SEELE and presumably his father were involved in.
"Shinji?" Misato said with her mouth full. "Could you turn on the news for me please? Gotta check in every now and then on how the rest of the world is doing ya know!"
"Sure."
Shinji moved towards the radio and pressed the button. A slight static noise was heard before he adjusted it.
"…in other news, the lights have finally been restored over the majority of Japan. There are public debates over wherever NERV's measures had been worth the trouble, as well as the possible downsides of it's budget that drains the life out of low income countries…"
"Oh great, more whining about us," Misato said. "Just what I needed in the morning."
Shinji raised an eyebrow. "I dunno, taking money out of countries is kind of… shady…"
"It sucks that they're starving. It's a humanitarian crisis and lots of people are gonna need tons of help." Misato said, sipping her beer. "But if it weren't for us, they'd all be dead thanks to the Angels. There's only so much you can do in a fight for survival."
"I get it but…" Shinji frowned. "I don't like it."
Misato stared at her can, all empty. "Tell it to the Angels then."
Shinji didn't respond. He cast it aside for now, instead mentally recapping the situation as he knew it.
SEELE caused Second Impact by stabbing an Angel known as Adam (he'd have to ask Dr. Akagi about him). They created NERV to fight the rest of the Angels and HERZ to develop weapons for the Evas and potentially other corporations and governments. Lilith was kept underneath NERV HQ, with her legs having been used as the basis for various genetic experiments in Kokoro. The Angels are presumably going after Lilith(?) and the Evas themselves have some kind of connection to them.
Rei is a clone of Lilith and… his mother… and there's a tank of her in Terminal Dogma. Where do these pieces fit?
The fact that no one's been turned into anything yet means that either SEELE is waiting to do something… or something's stopping them. Was it the other Angels? Are SEELE waiting for them to die before implementing any plans?
On one hand, this gives Shinji plenty of time to figure out how to put a monkey wrench into the whole thing. He didn't know how long the Angels were going to be around and he just so happens to be strategically placed in a position where he can't die or else the world is doomed. There's something that can be done with that.
But on the other hand, that was the problem wasn't it? The Angel War could last decades as far as he knew. Would he be spending so much time at this only to miss his chance? Would he be able to fight SEELE when the time comes, given how powerful they are? He remembered the facility where he and Rai sprung out Sunako and how he needed their help to escape. Iff Tachiageru had remained loyal to SEELE and told them his secret… or if Naoko cracked and told them…
Shinji had never realized how lucky he has been so far. If he makes a wrong move, splat goes the spider.
"…The latest sightings of the Spider-Man were seen across Tokyo 3's skyline. Conversations about his potential involvement with NERV are ongoing…"
"Oh not him again." Misato said. "Doesn't the news have anything better to do than report on that freak?"
Well that made Shinji's (figurative this time) spider-sense go off.
"You don't like Spider-Man?" Shinji asked.
"Nah," Misato sipped her beer. "Not really fan. Why you ask?"
"Well… it's a bit surprising that's all." Shinji nervously fumbled. "Why? Doesn't seem like a bad person."
Misato frowned. She placed the beer can on the table and crossed her arms in thought.
"I don't… hate him exactly." She said. "It's not about whether he's good or bad. Let me put it this way. Right now, NERV is in charge and battling the Angels. The civilians have to stay inside of the shelters or get killed. We need to keep things in order so as to prevent things from getting out of hand. Now, here comes some random shmuck in a mask who goes around beating people up on the sidewalk… Spider-Man can rob a bank or something worse but nobody knows who he is or how to stop him. Where's the accountability there? He's a vigilante who's doing his thing at the time where the Angels could blow up the world any day and honestly Shinji? I really don't need one more problem to add onto the pile."
"I… I guess that could be a problem." Shinji carefully put together. "But Spider-Man's not all bad. Didn't he save a train from getting destroyed?"
"That he did. He also attacked some guys who were only buying football gear." Misato tapped the table. "He's not infallible and I'm not convinced there's anything he can do the cops can't."
Shinji crossed his arms. "Could the cops take down the Rhino or Electro in Kokoro?"
"Supervillains are rare, Shinji. They probably could take 'em down if they had the chance." Misato crossed her arms. "Notice how they only showed up after Spider-Man did. That guy''s violent, and if you ask me he probably has a few screws loose to be swinging around in tight pajamas instead of, I don't know, taking up photography or something."
"Probably," Shinji smirked. "Maybe the same kind of sanity I'd need to let you cook anything."
Misato blew a raspberry. "You're so meeeeaaannnn! Whacha planning on doing?"
"I'm going to hang out with Touji and Kensuke," Shinji said. He strapped on his backpack, getting ready to go. "I'll probably be out most of the day, if it isn't a problem that is."
"Not at all! It's a weekend so no synch tests today!" Misato said. "Unfortunately, I have to go to work today. Stupid paperwork! Can't get too drunk or I won't be able to do it, what a bummer."
Shinji closed the door behind him. He lets out a sigh.
"Good old Ikari luck. Living with the one who thinks you're a mistake."
"It's a travesty, Touji! It's an epic disaster!"
"Kensuke, why are you so annoying today?"
"The Jet Alone was supposed to premiere today but got canceled! Have some sympathy will ya?!"
The trio walked down the streets of Tokyo-3. They didn't have school today, so the trio decided to celebrate their good fortune by going to the arcades to play games. Shinji rolled his eyes at Kensuke's whininess.
"Jet Alone? What's that?" Shinji asked.
"Some kind of military thing Kensuke mentioned." Touji said. "He's a true and blue geek for that."
"Not just any military thing!" Kensuke stepped in front of the two, annoyed. "It was a real live giant robot! Like one of the Evas! Such a product of hardware not seeing the light of day is saaaaaad!"
Both Shinji and Touji looked at each other, and scoffed.
"I guess?" Shinji shrugged. "Doctor Akagi said that the Angels have AT Fields that can only be penetrated by an Eva. Not sure if that Jet Alone had it's own countermeasures around it."
"Maybe it could have!" Kensuke wailed. "We will never know 'cause the project's been put on indefinite hold! Indefinite hold is code for CANCELED! It's such a tragedy!"
"Whatever Ken," Touji said. "Last thing we need is MORE giant robots in fucking around with the neighborhood. Shin-man, any other Evas comin' here?"
Shinji shook his head. "Not that I know of. They said the other units are needed elsewhere in case the Angels attack other countries."
Not that there was a chance in hell of that happening, when NERV Japan already has the perfect bait for them in their basement.
The trio kept walking, the crowds becoming slightly denser as they entered downtown.
"Hate this part of the city," Kensuke said. "Too many people!"
In that moment, Shinji felt a familiar headache coming in. He knew exactly what it meant, turning his head from side to side to look around. "Which way did you say the place was?"
"I've been there before," Touji pointed at the right. "It's around here, we're not too far-"
Suddenly, a loud static noise came from nowhere! Everyone around for several blocks place their hands in their ears to protect themselves but it was so deafening! Shinji narrowed his eyes to try to focus.
"The FUCK was that shit!" Touji yelled, "Some asshole's idea of a practical joke!?"
Just as quickly, the static stopped. A few people let out a sigh of relief, when A purple smoke came from a manhole cover. The lid opened to reveal a green light emanating from the hole, and slowly… a figure rose from it.
"Foolish humans, trapped in a world of hate and evil! Do not worry, for your savior has come…"
The figure emerged from the sickly green smoke, his footsteps making loud clanking noises that called attention to his every move.
"I bring you all a world of magic and wonder! Science and curiosity! Love and beauty! You shall love me in time!"
The crowed gazed at him in odd fascination. The figure had a dome over his head that revealed nothing of his face. His green jumpsuit had a lot of weird stitchings and symbols that no one understood, hidden underneath a dashing violet cape that surrounded him. He raised his arms together, showing his impressively large gauntlets. His very appearance screamed Drama.
"I am MYSTERIO, emissary from the mightiest fleet of the cosmos, the Iron Cross Army! We come to save your world from all the menaces of the stars!"
The crowds whispered among themselves wondering who he could be. A few months ago they would have dismissed him as a charlatan, a nuisance that disrupted traffic. But with Spider-Man, the Rhino, Doctor Octopus the other villains, and the Angels, no one was sure. They were ready to believe anything.
Touji, for his part, wasn't too impressed.
"Nice entrance, but ya missed the Con by a bajillion miles!" Touji said. "It's not even out for a few months so what the heck do ya think you're doing ya freak?"
A sensible little chuckle came from Mysterio. "Touchy little crowd we have here. Perhaps you need a demonstration… of my ALIEN POWERS!"
Fire burst from his gauntlets, incinerating the cars that surrounded him, Everyone panicked, and ran to get away from the alien invader.
"Those are flamethrowers asshole! Nothing alien about those!" Touji grabbed his friends and ran. "C'mon!"
"Guy's crazy!" Kensuke said. He turned his head towards Shinji. "Are you-"
"Already on it," Shinji broke off from Touji's grip. "You get out of here, I'll try to stop him."
"Good luck, Shin-man." Touji nodded. "Tell that bastard his outfit's made of vomit!"
Shinji smirked, nodding while running off to a nearby alley. For their part, Touji and Kensuke stopped after a block or two away from the attack.
"Man, I know I shouldn't be saying this 'cause he was, like, endangering people," Kensuke dusted off his shirt. "But did ya see how Mysterio made that entrance? The smoke, the lights and the flamethrowers he had such cool tech! Wish he was a hero."
"I just hope Shin-man beats him quickly." Touji said. "I was gonna trounce the both of ya in Street Fighter."
Meanwhile, Mysterio stopped torching the area. Instead, he let out a laugh.
"Hahaha, run away humans!" Mysterio yelled. "Are there no champions to face me? Your world will belong to the Iron Cross!"
"I don't know about that."
Mysterio turned around, to find the Web Swinger had landed next to him. Curiously, he brought a back pack with him this time.
"Bad enough we have Angels attacking us," He said, crouching as part of his stance. "but I'm not sure if humanity's dignity will survive if a guy with a fishbowl for a head managed to conquer us. Tell me did you intentionally dye your outfit a shade of vomit or does it look like that from wear and tear?"
"Spider-Man! At last you have come!" Mysterio yelled. "I, Mysterio, knew a refugee from the planet Spider would rise to defend this planet from the ones that conquered your world! You are an obstacle to our conquest, so prepare to face me you in combat!"
For a second, Spider-Man stood there. He tilted his head in confusion.
"Riiiight…" Spider-Man said. "That's some fancy backstory you gave me but… how do I put this… you're totally making that up."
He launched a web at Mysterio's helmet.
"I bet that whole alien invader story thing was a lie too." Spider-Man pulled on the web, "Let's see who's under that helmet!"
He grabbed a hold of the helmet with his hands. Shinji looked to see Mysterio's face.
Except… there was no one. The body just dropped to the floor, lying there motionless.
"Wait what?" Spider-Man looked down. "Then what am I holding?"
A little static came from the helmet. Shinji noticed a small radio to the side.
"As you can see I am no mere human you can defeat with your fists." Mysterio's voice came from the radio. "You will find yourself in a struggle for your puny mind will not comprehend!"
The radio went silent. Then, a hissing sound was heard. A gas escaped from the radio, making Spider-Man cough harshly. He dropped the helmet in his haze.
"Ugh what *cough* the hell?!" Spider-Man shrugged it off. "Some kind of robot?"
"An ALIEN robot, wall crawler!"
When Spider-Man heard that, he looked around to find it. He stared up and saw… Mysterio? The gaudy looking villain stared down at Spider-Man with a mocking title of the head.
"A direct confrontation with would have resulted in instant defeat!" Mysterio said proudly. appearing atop a lamppost. "So I changed the conditions with my special nerve gas designed to make you dizzy! Catch me if you dare, Spider-Man!"
He jumped from the building he was on onto another.
Spider-Man groaned. He took the helmet from the floor and placed it inside of his backpack, in case there was a need for it. Shinji needed to find a way to catch Mysterio before he wound up hurting more people 'cause power and responsibility, mustn't run away, yadda yadda yadda all that stuff.
"One thing's for sure," Shinji said to himself. "This is going to be a looonnng day. I just know it."
Misato yawned. She looked over her friend's shoulder.
"Got anything interesting for me, Ritsuko?" She said. "Today's been kind of a bore."
Ritsuko chuckled softly. "Sorry Misato. All I have are synch test results and a bunch of boring math equations that'll drive you back to sleep."
"Riveting," Misato rubbed her eyes. "Why am I here again?"
"As the Captain, you need to be here in case NERV gets attacked by Angels." Ritsuko said. "And, you have paperwork to do."
"Goddammit." Misato grumbled. She turned back to her desk. A huge stack of papers were placed upon it. The ghastly sight caused vein pop out from Misato's delicate forehead. "Always hated this part of the job."
"Well it isn't going to get done by itself. Get to it."
Misato looked back at the stack. She tried to make it go away by staring hard at it, but it didn't work. In the end she sighed, gathering up all her Captain Katsuragi concentration power and just doing her job. Misato got a pen and started signing things off.
"How's Shinji by the way?" Ritsuko asked. "Things going alright on your end?"
Misato smiled. "Yeah actually. He's been great. We've gotten along a lot better, doing great in school, even has a few friends! I think he's got something for Rei, how cute is that?"
"Eh, best 2/50. Not sure if the Commander is going to let anything happen."
"Oh right, she's the favorite. Ugh. Wish he'd pay some attention to his own son."
"He has his reasons…" Ritsuko shifted uncomfortably. "Did you and Shinji get into any more arguments?"
"Well we had a minor disagreement over Spider-Man." Misato narrowed her eyes. "Are we going to do something about him?"
"We are. We're sending Section 2 agents to arrest him."
"How come I'm not involved in that?"
"Because, Captain, you're needed to come up with battle strategies against the Angels. A minor vigilante is way outside of your weight class."
"Bummer. I could take him."
"I bet you could."
They shared a laugh at that. Misato stopped stretched her arms a but.
"We were supposed to see the Jet Alone today. It's been put on hold." She said while messing around with the pen. "Thank God, last thing we needed was competition. Humanity's on the brink of extinction and NERV's the best chance at survival. I bet that hunk of junk wouldn't have gotten past the AT Field."
"It would have been interesting, but I'm kind go glad it got canceled." Ritsuko stared over the synch test results. "The man who was supposed to present was someone I knew from college. He had a crush on me."
"That sounds super awkward. Glad we got out of it." Misato said. "Wonder why it got put on indefinite hold."
"Probably a programming error or something. Not like it matters." Ritsuko tapped on the keyboard. Papers were being printed from a nearby machine.
"Yeah… I guess it doesn't." Misato tapped the desk with the pen. "Do you think it might be sabotage?"
Ritsuko shrugged. She took papers from the "Don't see the point. Anyway, gonna take these to Mother."
"Okay then. See ya Rits!"
As Ritsuko made her way out, Misato stared down at the paperwork. It was perfectly convenient. No competition will make it easier for NERV to do it's job. Stupid government and stupid military will finally let her do what she does best. Kill Angels. So why does she feel like something is wrong?
"Heh… I go on about accountability to Shinji but we have no problems keeping secrets like these from the public… or use criminals to fight our wars. Hypocrite."
For her part, Ritsuko took steps down the stairs. She finds her target, a large box with wires and cables connecting it to the computer screens up above. This is the MAGI.
She opened the door. Ritsuko entered, finding herself in a cramped space. Notes were everywhere, containing complex equations and promises of petty vengeance. She shook her head when she spotted a haggard presence. Four mechanical arms reached around messing with controls Ritsuko didn't know what for.
"Something you need, Ritsu?" Naoko said, typing into her screen. "I'm busy."
"Hello Mother," Ritsuko handed Naoko some papers. "The results from the latest synch tests."
Naoko took them, taking off her goggles to look at them properly. Her eyes carefully examined the papers, before placing it on the desk.
"Excellent Ritsuko. I'll input them into the MAGI soon."
And that was it. Naoko kept on typing, leaving Ritsuko hanging.
There were no words exchanged between them since Naoko had been brought back into the fold. What could be said? Mother and daughter had grown apart over the years, each absorbed in their own work… their own obsessions. They shared only one thing, and it was that which drove the wedge even further.
Ritsuko shifted uncomfortably.
"Misato talked about the Jet Alone." Ritsuko said. "I assume the indefinite hold was your doing."
"Indeed. It was quite simple." Naoko said. "When the Commander ordered me to cripple it's development, I knew a public display would be too much. Instead, a well timed untraceable virus was all that was needed to critically cripple all of the Jet Alone systems. By the time they get it running again it'll be the end of the year, and the Angels will be dead. A wasted effort, a fitting punishment for a robot made out of destructive nuclear power."
"But… Wouldn't they trace it back to you?"
"Hardly. I faked a trail to a hacker in Latveria. They won't find out until after I'm back in prison. We'll be fine."
"I see." Ritsuko chuckled. "You always were better than me in these things."
"And yet, he chose you over me."
Silence.
Ritsuko turned around and stepped outside. She took a last glance at her mother.
"I hate you."
The door closed.
"Hm. Bitch." Naoko adjusted her goggles. "Should have raised her better."
Gendo Ikari had hurt Naoko. He had hurt Ritsuko too, but all Naoko saw was another betrayal. She didn't even give her a chance, and it seems there will never be one.
Shinji had to admit, this guy was good.
Mysterio had used specialized spring boots to jump between buildings at a fast rate. Even when Shinji used web zipping to get across Mysterio managed to stay ahead.
"Giving up are you? You might as well, given your feeble powers are no match for my own!"
'This is getting annoying.' Shinji thought. He let out a groan. "Says the guy with a fishbowl for a head."
"Why you-" Mysterio barked. "You should be glad you are not seeing my true face! My people wear them because your eyes would not comprehend the horror that is underneath!"
The caped invader hopped from the building he perched from towards the below. Spider-Man soon followed suit.
A couple were holding hands as the woman pointed at a mannequin wearing a dress she liked. They heard something crash behind them and could only look on in horror as both costumed strangers landed onto the streets.
"Getting tired Mysterio?" Spider-Man said. "If you just put down the fishbowl I promise I'll only web you up just a little bit."
The area was different from other places Shinji had seen. It was way more high end, with fancier shops and restaurants present. It also meant a larger crowd was there to witness the two.
'I have to finish this quick, or who knows what he'll do?' Shinji thought.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Mysterio's voice reached over the masses that had gathered around the two. "WITNESS the triumphant power of MYSTERIO against the terrifying, the deadly, the AMAZING SPIDER-MAN!"
The crowds started murmuring among themselves. Some even grabbed cameras to take pictures of the event.
"Hey uh, I didn't agree to this! Just get over here and fight!" Spider-Man yelled.
He flung his fist, but Mysterio aptly dodged it. Spider-Man kept trying to hit him, but Mysterio was surprisingly agile and able to avoid attacks.
"Such a primitive life form!" Mysterio said. "Look at you, dancing to my tune like a marionette or an actor following directions!"
Over the crowd, a couple of strangers stared in amazement.
"Wow a real superhero battle!" One said. "Never seen one of those before!"
"It's dangerous." Another said. Where's the police when you need 'em?"
"Shut up guys, the show's still going!"
Spider-Man quickly grew annoyed. Mysterio dared not to get close, playing keep away and prolonging the fight. Shinji wondered if it was a coincidence they were having their fight in the middle of a place where crowds would form.
"Okay times up!" Spider-Man launched a web at the villain. "I'm not letting this crappy B-Movie go on!"
"Hahahaha!" Mysterio laughed, even as the web landed on his arm. "I cannot stop now! Not when I release my MAGIC!"
A click, and purple smoke erupted from his arm. This time, the smoke spread fast and covered everything close by.
Spider-Man couldn't see very well. He pulled on the web line he had caught Mysterio with, but it had been caught off. He stopped to catch his breath over the thick fog, wandering in the weird maze.
"Magic huh?" Spider-Man said. "I thought you were an alien?"
"Fool! Magic is a universal science!" A booming voice came from within the fog. "We of the Iron Cross Army can use it however we please!"
"Right, right," Spider-Man narrowed his eyes. "Hope your Iron Cross buddies appreciate some fruit punch!"
Spider-Man hit something alright. He couldn't see clearly in the crowd. Suddenly he felt his vision getting blurrier. He saw shapes in the haze. Masks shaped like birds. Laser whips. Mechanical arms.
'Enemies!' Shinji thought. 'Enemies everywhere! I have to stop them!'
Suddenly Spider-Man was struck in the back. And the front, and the stomach, and Shinji noticed he was being attacked on all sides!
"They're everywhere- OW!" Shinji was interrupted by a punch to the jaw. "Everywhere! I have to stop all of them!"
He kept at it. Spider-Man was surrounded. He needed to beat them all! The Goblin, the Vulture the Shocker, Doctor Octopus, the Angels! They will hurt his friends, they will hurt him! He had to protect everyone! He had to save everyone!
"Now you see, puny spider!" Mysterio's voice was heard through the savage beatings going on. "There is NO escape from my maze of illusions!"
Shinji punched and punched. He felt things fall quickly with each hit… too quickly! The shapes were passing through him. His senses slowly started snapping into attention.
He had quickly deduced there was no way that the punches could only be coming from Mysterio. They were too quick and too many in a row to be just him. Whatever is going on in the fog was tricking his senses. A sickening feeling came over him, as he wondered what he had been hitting.
"Need to… get out!"
He launched a web up into the air. Shinji pulled hard on it, trying to ignore the pains over his body. In the end Spider-Man saw the fog disappear from his vision as he climbed onto the lamppost.
The boy himself breathe. In and out, Shinji felt his pain disappear. The benefits of a healing factor he supposed.
"Where the hell is he… wait…"
He stared down in horror. The violet smoke could only do so much to cover up the borderline gang fight that erupted between civilians. Screams of rage and agony were heard over beatings and panic.
"Monsters… ALIEN MONSTERS!"
"GET OFF OF ME!"
"Please don't hurt my children! Take me!"
"Fuck off you damn demons!"
"The Angels… they're killing us!"
All throughout were the paranoid ramblings of men and women lost in the haze. They were all seeing things… just as Shinji had in the moment.
"My God…" Spider-Man softly whispered. "What have you done Mysterio?!"
He inspected the area. It pained him to see these people tearing each other apart like animals. Only the worst scum would do something like this.
Sure enough, Shinji spotted a familiar dome head crawling through a manhole.
"You're not getting away!"
Spider-Man threw himself into the action. He swung right on top of the manhole.
"Freeze freak!"
Clicking sounds disrupted Shinji's attention. A bunch of men in business suits were wielding guns right at him. These were Section 2 agents.
"Listen officers, I get your jobs involve shooting me," Spider-Man pointed at the manhole. "But there's a guy getting away and maybe you could hel-"
His Spider-Sense kicked in fast enough for Shinji to dodge the gunfire.
"Okay never mind!" Spider-Men yelled out as he swung away. "You can deal with that on your own then!"
The Section 2 Agents called in back up. Or something. Shinji didn't pay attention to that, only wanting to get as far away from this mess as possible.
Rei Ayanami sat on a bench, alone.
For some reason, she did not feel like being in the apartment today. A split second decision later, and she left without a thought towards what she would do once she was out. Rei had figured she would find out later.
She did not.
The most accomplished was walking around aimlessly across a impressively large city and finding nothing of value. There was only a bad smell and rotten people, with the occasional odd sighting of graffiti that foretold the apocalypse or so she had been told. She didn't know anyone, so she felt out of place.
So when Rei found the park, she simply sat on one of the benches instead of continuing further.
At least this place had some sort of tranquility to it. A run down park occupied the space, with broken playground equipment covered in moss. There was hardly a noise in the area, even the crowds were only but a mere distant memory to her ears.
It was a little boring admittedly, but she thought it was nice.
Of course, good things don't last forever. The sound of leaves rustling interrupted her thoughts, so Rei looked up to find out the source of her error.
"… Spider-Man?"
A familiar shape of red and blue looked down. He almost fell from the tree, so he must have been pretty shocked.
"Aya- erm, I mean," he started, "you're that girl from the other day! You haven't gotten mugged since then right?"
Rei shook her head.
"Oh good… don't mind me. Just hanging. In the trees. Invisible. Like a niiinjaaaaa…"
She noticed his comedy continued to be a barren wasteland of death.
"Why are you over here?" She asked.
"Ah well you see… uh…" The wall crawler scratched his chin. "Thing is earlier I fought a bad guy. I kinda underestimated him. He's gassed a ton of people, including me, and got away. I don't know where to find him. Also Section 2 wants to fill holes in my body. Not a fan of that if I say so myself."
Rei blinked. "I see."
"… You're not gonna try to turn me in are you?"
"No."
"Really? I mean, that's great but- why not?"
"I do not see the point."
"Huh. Makes about as much sense as any." Spider-Man sighed. "Just wish I knew what to do. Maybe I really only ever cause problems…"
Rei looked down to the ground. Shinji wondered what she could be thinking. Her eyes widened, and she returned to gaze at him.
"I am a pilot."
"Oh… you are?"
"Yes. I pilot an Eva. I do it because it is my bond to other people. I am supported by others in the task. Another pilot by the name of Ikari Shinji, Captain Katsuragi, Doctor Akagi, the Commander-"
"I get the picture. Where are you going with this?"
Rei furrowed her eyebrows. She was annoyed at the interruption.
"I do not work alone. I am one of many, and having many helps. You may need a similar consul."
"… you know? That makes a lot of sense." Spider-Man got up. "Thanks Ayanami. I think I know who to turn to."
Rei watched as the mysterious Spider-Man launched a web line and swung from the tree. She was glad to have helped him somehow.
She blinked once again.
He had called her by her name. A name she had not given.
Interesting…
Mysterio punched the hatch open.
The room was filled with boxes. This was where they moved most of his things after they closed his shop down. It was difficult breaking in here to get supplies, but not that hard once he punched out that guard.
"It wasn't supposed to happen like this!"
Moya Kitagawa removed the helmet from his head. He placed it on the desk while rubbing his forehead.
"I was supposed to run circles around that wall crawler," he said. "Get a decent fight, show boat for the audience, profit! But noooooo I had to fucking screw it up."
He took off his cape, tossing it away to the floor. Canisters spilled out of it.
"Just FUCKING Great!" Moya yelled. "I had it all figured out! I made plans! But now I might be wanted for terrorism!"
He kicked a box away from him, sending rats into a frenzy.
I fucked up!" Moya said, stepping forward. "I was stupid yes, I messed up super badly but I can make this work!"
He knew how dangerous the chemicals were. It was an experimental brand that was supposed to help create illusions to an audience without a need for more physical work. Instead, the chemicals attacked the neurotransmitters and forced people to witness the most terrible things the mind made of! In hindsight, using such dangerous materials was what ultimately doomed him.
"It was just part of a performance! It wasn't real! They could shake it off!"
Could they? Could they really? Moya wasn't so sure. He tried to get it out of his mind.
He picked up a table.
"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"
He threw it into a pile of boxes. The table broke, and the boxes fell on top of each other.
Moya looked around and laughed.
"Heh heh, all my life I've been denied everything! No more! I'll spread magic and wonder! No prison can hold the power of the mind! NO ONE WILL! I WILL make this right!"
THWIP!
His mouth shut by a string of webbing. Kitagawa tried yelling but came out muffled thanks to it.
"Hate to interrupt your little mental breakdown." Spider-Man said. He raised his fists. "But how about we just skip straight to the surrendering part okay?"
Spider-Man placed the helmet on the table.
"So that's the situation." Spider-Man said. "Crazy guy with light shows and tricks got away and I don't know where he is. I got this helmet during the attack. Do you think you can help?"
Kensuke grinned. "Are you kidding? This was the moment I was born for!"
He quickly got to work. He plugged in several cables into he helmet and connected it to the laptop he possessed.
Shinji and Touji watched Kensuke type away at the computer screen. Both of them sweat dropped at the sight.
"How…" Shinji turned towards his friend. "how long did he have this planned out?"
"Don't ask questions you don't wanna know the answers to." Touji shook his head. "Once he gets an obsession he'll stick to it."
"I can hear you two!" Kensuke shouted. "The world may mock Kensuke Aida, but soon they will learn the awesome might of… um… I'll work on that."
A ping was heard.
"There we go!" Kensuke pointed at the screen. "I traced the tech to an address in the Shopping District."
Touji narrowed his eyes. "Hey wait… I know that place! It's a warehouse Dad passes by when he goes to work."
"Did he say anything about it?" Shinji asked.
Touji placed a palm over his chin. "Hmrrr, thinking… right! He said somethin' about a shop closing down a week ago and some dudes took their shit. I think it was props or somethin'."
"Props?" Shinji put the mask back on. "Sounds like Mysterio alright. I'm gonna check it!"
'Guess having guys in the chair isn't such a bad idea after all.' Shinji thought. 'Time to take care of business!'
Moya had ripped out the webbing from his mouth. "You won't ruin me again Spider-Man!"
"Me? Ruin you?" Spider-Man said. "I think you did that yourself."
Mysterio flared up the flamethrowers to attack Spider-Man. The hero dodged the ensuing fire, which caused several boxes to start burning.
"If you just went along with my movie NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!" Moya roared over the flames. "Where do you get off thinking you're the good guy?!"
"I dunno let me think." Spider-Man said. "I'd say I'm the good guy since I haven't attacked people with flamethrowers."
The hero landed next to Mysterio. He threw a punch at his foe, but Mysterio blocked the attack with his arm. The gauntlet exploded, knocking both back.
"Geez, that's, uh, explodier than I thought it would be." Spider-Man picked himself up. "You wanna quit now?"
"My… my arm…" Moya stared down his opponent. "You FREAK!"
Spider-Man launched webs at Mysterio, keeping him attached to the floor. He could only stared at him in sadness.
"Why?" Shinji asked. "Why did you did you do any of this? You were an annoying pain in the ass the whole time, but that suit? It takes a genius to build something like that. Why be a supervillain at all?"
Moya struggled in the web. After a minute or two, he stopped. The man looked at the hero standing over him, tears running down his eyes.
"i… I didn't want to hurt anybody." Moya said. "Look, all my life I wanted to be a special effects artist okay? I went to school, I almost had it but then Second Impact took everything so I had to run my father's shop. I tried to be satisfied with it but... I wanted attention. Publicity. I thought I could make money out of fighting you and maybe I could achieve my dreams. Maybe make a movie about you and me fighting? I don't fucking know, none of this makes any sense. But it's gone now, isn't it? My life is over, and… it's all my fault…"
Not a word came right away. Painful sobs were heard as the two stared each other down. Moya breaking into bitter, painful tears the whole encounter.
Then, Spider-Man took a step forward.
"I'm sorry about what happened to you." Shinji said. "No really, I am. If all my dreams were crushed I'd probably snap too. But you did wrong, and a whole bunch of people got hurt hurt in the process. Also wanna say that it's maybe not a good idea to play space invader when humanity's under attacked by Angels every other day. You could use your arsenal could in other, better ways. Maybe for construction or something I don't know. Why not make money that way? That seems like a better use for your talents."
He ripped the webbing off of Moya.
"Come on," Shinji raised his hand towards him. "Let's repent."
Moya looked at the hand. He hesitated, just a little bit, when he raised his own hand in return.
They shook on it, together.
"Alls well it ends well, huh Touji? Mysterio's in prison, Spider-Man avoided getting caught. He sure outdid himself this time!"
Kensuke and Touji sat together in a campfire. They had been here a few weeks ago, playing military soldiers in the fields. Shinji said he would be late, so they were merely waiting for him to arrive.
"I'm just glad that asshole's not on the streets." Touji said, munching on a marshmallow from a stick. "He and his vomit crusted costume can rot for all I care."
"Touji! Don't eat with your mouth full!"
Oh right. They had brought Hikari over for this trip as well. It was Touji's idea ("I just wanted to be around someone who wasn't stupid!" he said with particular insistence).
"Right um," Touji swallowed his food, the blush he had covered by the orange glow of the fire. "Sorry."
"Heh, thanks for inviting me you guys." Hikari smiled. "Where's Shinji though?"
"Shinji said he wanted to invite someone over." Kensuke said. "Didn't say who though."
As if he spoke of the Devil, the three heard footsteps across from them. Kensuke turned around to see them.
"Hey Shinji we were just talking about- huh?"
Rei took a seat on one of the logs. Shinji sat next to her, smiling at the group.
"Sorry everyone," Shinji said. "I wanted to bring Ayanami along since she hasn't been out all that much."
Everyone blinked at the sight of the two. While Touji and Kensuke were weirded out by it, Hikari smiled and took it in stride.
"Of course Shinji!" Hikari said. "We always have room for more!"
Rei nodded. "Thank you."
There was a faint feeling forming inside of her. Rei didn't know what it was, but… it felt good, compared to the strange feeling she had when she was alone in the city earlier today.
That was how the night went on, with the group of teenagers sharing stories and laughing. Ayanami, for her part, kept quiet and spoke little. She may have enjoyed the company all the same.
Shinji thought about his time in Tokyo-3. A few months ago, he thought he had face everything alone. He didn't want to let anyone down, after Inumaru and Mayumi. However, becoming a pilot and making friends… that made him realize he didn't need to be alone.
It didn't matter if his father had abandoned him. Or that he had to work with Naoko Akagi. Or that SEELE was in control over the world. Or even if Misato thought Spider-Man was a mistake.
What mattered were his choices, and what he could do in the here and now.
Author's Notes:
Thus we end of what I like to call the Tokyo-3 Arrival arc!
The chapter ended up changing course multiple times over the writing process. This is probably the first chapter I've written where the actual written work turned out to be a different beast from the outline. The chapter was originally meant to be more comedic in tone, with a more asshole-ish Mysterio (ala the comics or Far From Home) and humiliating moments for Spider-Man. Instead this is what we got. Such things are normal I suppose, hope you enjoyed it.
Haha, "nodding in the negative" from the last chapter gets a lot of flack huh? Yeah that was a weird goof. I removed it. Silly me! Also, might as well say it now that if you see Omakes written by "Johnny Freeman" it's not me writing it but a friend that I asked to do as a favor. Hope you like what he does as much as you like mine!
Time to check the reviews:
JCarrasco: I shall, so says I!
RealRemainder: If I recall, Ritsuko gave a similar statistic about the Angels in relation to humanity. Might be wrong on the exact details though, I'll go back and correct it once I check it out.
Huagh: That's the goal! Shinji overcoming his own insecurities and bonding with others is always a favorite of mine.
Z-King: You're absolutely right lmao it's one of the reasons I wrote this fanfic.
GMP1: I'm actually nervous about how you're all gonna take it, so I'm gonna can reveal my hand a bit. Classically, Spider-Man has three major defining love interests: Gwen Stacy, Black Cat and Mary Jane. Mayumi was meant to be the Gwen right from the start, and I had Mana Kirishima in mind for being the Mary Jane at the end (although with the way the story has been developing in my head I might be changing it to Asuka instead. Time will tell on that one). So the second love interest is… well, they won't quite be Black Cat, not really. However, certain aspects of her character (preferring one side of the identity, making Shinji question his priorities, etc.) will be brought over and play a role in the next few chapters.. I only ask that you wait and see how it develops before making any judgement calls.
Next chapter, Asuka arrives! But what's this? Someone else is coming? Time to find out in "Asuka's Week in Hell".
Shinji meets a fan (by Johnny Freeman and GainaxVel30):
Shinji's eyes nearly closed, before he slapped himself awake..
These fights were having a draining effect on Ikari. If he's not careful he might black out in the middle of class. O in front of Rei's apartment, he wasn't sure whuch was worse. Periodically he gave himself a few soft slaps to stay awake. Shinji tried to focus on when the next stop will be.
"Uh, excuse me! Sorry! Uh Coming through"
Shinji turned and noticed someone trying to move through the crowd. The young man was white, probably American. He had brown hair and seemed really young, like about Shinji's age. Shinji had never met an American before in person. Thee noticed Shinji and his face lit up in joy, as if he was meeting a famous celebrity. Shinji, for his part, was confused about the reaction the teen approached him.
"You're Shinji Ikari! Oh my god!" He exclaimed.
Shinji looked up, pointing at himself in confusion.
"Oh nononono I'm not gonna hurt you or anything?" The American pointed at the seat. "Is it okay if I sit with you?"
Shinji didn't say anything. The teen decided to sit next to him anyway.
"I just wanted to say that, as a fan of your sh- Wait no, uhhh… As a fan of your… work I can say that you are a huge inspiration for me! Like, you helped me get through a lot of what I was feeling Sophomore Year." He said, "I mean… I know what its like to have the whole world relying on you and being afraid of letting people down. I get that but… I just wanted to say… Thank you… for all that you do."
Nothing was said. Shinji blinked.
"Oh wait," the teen said. "You probably don't speak english. I'm sorry. I'll just… I'll be quiet and…"
It was there where the american looked to one person reading a newspaper and saw a news report about Spider-Man.
"Huh," the teen scratched his head. "I never knew there was a spider man in this universe."
He looked at Shinji and then at the newspaper. The gears in his heads started churning. The american's expression changed from confusion to realization.
"Don't tell me... You're Spider-Man?"
Shinji's eyes widened in horror. A random american had somehow managed to piece his identity together!
"NO, ME KNOW NOT WHAT YOU TALKIN ABOUT!" Shinji shouted in his attempt at english as he ran to the next cart.
The american reached out a hand, "Wait come back I-"
But it was too late. Shinji left the cart, and now people were staring at him. Great.
At the train stop, the teen took off in sadness. A green glow appeared interrupted it.
"Well look who finally decided to show up." Doctor Strange said, sitting on the bench with a newspaper in hand. "Next time you want to go dimensional sight-seeing, how about NOT splitting off from the only man who can send you home?"
"Sorry Doc." Peter Parker said. "I got lost and I really liked the city and I met this guy from an anime I watched and-"
"Oh I'm sorry," Strange interrupted, "I didn't realize it was my problem. This trip's over, we're going back to our Earth and we are not going to do anymore dimension hopping… at all."
Peter sighed dejectedly.
Strange began to make the dimensional sign, opening a rift that lead them back into the New York Sanctuary.
"Come along, Parker." The doctor ordered as he went into the portal.
Peter turned back to Tokyo 3 one last time before turning his attention to the gateway.