Chapter 3: First Day
Shinji cared nothing for this. Other things occupied his mind. Predominantly his father and the giant purple mech he was expected (forced) to pilot.
He should have known his father had an ulterior motive. Almost a decade without as much as a letter, and suddenly he calls him? The conversation, though brief, had made him excited. His father wanted him to move in, show him the work that had kept him away for almost a decade. Stupid Shinji. But how could he suspect the enormity of what his father really wanted?
Pilot a giant robot, save the world, Shinji thought. Isn't there someone more qualified? Like an adult? I'm just a kid!
Kids were the only ones that piloted these—what had Misato-san referred to the mech as? —EVAs, though. The only other pilot was a girl about his age.
Shinji risked a glance over his left shoulder. In the last desk closest to the window, her attention not on the teacher's lecture, sat Ayanami Rei. The girl, fourteen like Shinji, had ghostly pale skin. Her light-blue hair, cut shoulder length, contrasted with her blood red iris—the one that wasn't bandaged; her left arm was in a sling as well. These injuries, though severe, endowed a concreteness to Rei's otherwise ethereal appearance.
Rei's gaze turned from whatever had engrossed her outside and locked with Shinji's. Embarrassed, he resumed staring blankly at the teacher. His thoughts remained on Rei. Wondering if the girl would call attention to him staring at her. If that happened, Shinji would end up being called the class pervert. A title that no one wanted, especially on their first day at a new school. If only they knew how he had first met Rei…
An anxiety-filled half-hour later, the lecture ended. The teacher told the class to break for lunch. Shinji shot up from his seat. He noted a few weirded-out gazes and a snicker. His cheeks flushed.
Other students filed out, heading to the cafeteria or lockers. Once the voices sounded faraway, Shinji turned around, and sighed. Rei had left with the rest. Thank goodness!
The lockers were on the ground floor, at the school's entrance. Shinji took the stairwell that would exit into the courtyard. Not the quickest way to the lockers, but it should ensure that the other students were gone when he got there. It lowered the chances he would run into Rei, as well.
He pushed open the door and walked into the courtyard. The school, built close to the mountains, had pleasant earthy fragrances on the breeze. Shinji's footsteps crunched up dirt in tempo with bird chirps. This lightened Shinji's mood. This brief elation blinded him to the two other students approaching from behind.
"Hey, you," said a gruff, uninviting voice.
Shinji turned in time to barely make out a fist. The knuckles connected with his left cheek. Both the force and the surprise of the attack sent Shinji flat on his back.
What's going on now? Shinji thought, staring up at the blue sky and the clouds that floated listlessly up there. Is this related to the EVA?
His attacker stood over him. The boy had a rough, square face. His black hair spiked in the front, as if he fought with his hair on occasion as well. Tan skin attested to time spent out in the sun playing sports, Shinji assumed. He wore a black, purple, and white tracksuit, after all.
More fist blows followed. Despite the growing pain in his cheeks and jaw, Shinji receded into himself, thinking in a mantra: why me?
The punches eventually stopped. Another student appeared in Shinji's view. This one wore glasses pushed up along a freckled nose. His brown hair, a bit spikey in the back and the top, fell in blades around his forehead. He wore the school's standard male uniform: white buttoned-up shirt and black dress pants.
"Sorry about this. Toji's little sister was injured when you last piloted your robot."
Those two last words rang in Shinji's head. This was related to him piloting the EVA. Tiredness filled his entire being. How many more difficulties would his father cause him? Shinji thought on that as his now identified pummeler, Toji, continued pummeling away.
"What is going on here?!"
The voice, authoritative and displeased, sounded like a teacher or a principal. Toji (who let go of Shinji's shirt) and his friend gasped. Possible suspension, and subsequent reprisal from parents, tended to do that.
Shinji raised his head enough to see the interloper. His breath caught in his throat. Arms crossed before his bronze chest—an educator's gesture—there stood one of his "saviors" from the hospital. The biker cyborg uchūjin.
"Uh…Well, sir…" rambled Toji's friend as if addressing an actual teacher or principal. "We we're…"
"Beating someone who wasn't fighting back? Supporting this distasteful act through playing guard?"
Footsteps grew in the distance: students and staff were gathering to spectate. That somehow embarrassed Shinji—an audience.
The condemnations grew in their intensity. Toji and his friend appeared to shrink. Once the last phrase was uttered, he stood mere centimeters before the errant kids. Both stared up at him, visibly shaking (Toji's friend worse so).
"Thankfully, you are children. If you weren't, I would throttle you. Now, never let me catch you assaulting anyone else ever again."
Both bowed deeply, simultaneously uttering the age old, "Yes, sir!" After that they sprinted off. Toji, once at a safe distance, gave one last hateful glance at Shinji, before joining his friend back inside the school proper.
Shinji's once-again rescuer, who had watched them flee, shook his helmeted head. "Fool will not listen."
"Why are you here?"
Villamax cocked his head as if it was the dumbest question ever. "To rescue you."
Shinji grimaced. "My father ordered you to?"
"Does that matter?"
Shinji closed his eyes. He wanted to scream. He wanted to run away back to his sensei's residence. There was no point, though. Shinji's situation was already fated to deteriorate further.
Villamax, noting Shinji's emotional state, sat down beside him, legs crossed. "Your father possesses a strong will—one characterized by cold detachment, from what I hear."
Shinji closed his eyes. Images of the EVA and an injured Rei flashed before him. In a whisper he muttered, "That's an understatement…"
"I have served far worse masters than him," Villamax said matter-of-factly.
Tremors shook the ground. Earthquake safety, much like scales on the piano and violin, were drilled into Shinji at a young age. He kept low to the ground, shifting into a low curled ball, head tucked in and hands wrapped over.
Sirens blared. An actual earthquake. Not unusual. Shinji just needed to wait it out— why was the lady on the speakers warning about "unidentified creatures".
Strong, leather hands gripped Shinji's arms and pulled him up. Before he even realized it, he was running away behind Villamax. To where? And why?
This was a worst-case scenario, as Field Captain Mitsutoshi Ohno had described. The man, a gaunt yet handsome figure, led NERV's Apostle Negation and Neutralization Order (ANNO) Japanese division. His calm, but strained voice powered over panicked cries.
"Villamax," Ohno said, not even using the honorifics endemic to this country. "What's the status of Priority Three?"
Priority subjects were EVA pilots. There were three in total, two in Japan.
"Shinji-san is with me. We are heading to the designated location," Villamax said.
Ohno answered several other voices before Villamax. "Take Priority Three along the designated escape route. Avoid any skirmishes. We will discuss your foray at the school later—"
Screams interrupted Ohno's threat. The field captain demanded to know what was going on. The response was arms fire and Ecliptor and Goldar quarreling. Priority One and her escort were fighting off an ambush.
"Katsuya?! Give me a sit-rep! Katsuy–"
The comms died and only static remained. Their enemy had the upper hand. The only option left to Villamax, assuming any prospective foes were not already aware, was to maintain course and escort Shinji to safety. One issue with that plan, though…
Which way was it? Villamax thought, turning his headfirst right then left. NERV had established escape routes from the Tokyo-3 First Municipal Junior High School, relying on the labyrinthine layout of neighborhoods and streets to disorient foes. Great stratagem as long as the users memorized the route—or had a sense of direction.
Villamax was at a T-intersection, with residential buildings all around. There were no street signs. Only address plates on the property blocks whose printed characters and numbers were personally indiscernible. The eventual destination was the woodlands, into the mountains. The only greenery he noted, though, was grass and shrubbery in the lawns.
Left, or right?
As Villamax struggled with this inconsequential decision that had turned monumental, Shinji spoke. "Where are you taking me? What's happening?" Shinji asked, as he squirmed underneath Villamax's right arm.
"Shinji–san," Villamax said. The child ceased his struggles and listened. Good. "I will answer your questions as long as you obey my instructions."
Shinji glared at him and said, "How do I know you will?"
"My solemn oath."
The boy grimaced and huffed but offered no further resistance. "Let's get this over with."
Villamax nodded, ignoring the attitude. Away they went down various side streets. The tiled roofs flowed into mind-numbing similarity. Street signs, potted plants and trees, and addresses the only real differences. All the while he explained to Shinji the situation—at least what Villamax believed NERV might not retaliate against the whole team if revealed.
After making what seemed like their twentieth turn, they reached a dead end.
"I believe I took a wrong turn…" Villamax said.
"Yeah. I think you did," Shinji said, frustration apparent. He stared down at the pavement. "Why me?"
Villamax cocked his head. He noted how the boy's body shook. An emotionally trying day that had tested the boy's limits.
"Shinji."
Shinji looked up at Villamax. The boy's face contorted in anger and frustration. "Why do I need to pilot the EVA? Why do these monsters need to chase after me, or Rei-san? Why do I need to be here?!"
How to answer that… Villamax knew nothing as to why NERV's equivalent to a MegaZord required children to pilot them. He assumed the reason why the other monsters wanted both Reiand Shinji was due to their piloting abilities. The last question was deeply existential, requiring more an answer from the asker than the answerer. Regardless, Villamax needed to assuage the child. He deserved that, at the least.
Explosions rippled behind them. Villamax, familiar with violent discharges, pulled both himself and Shinji down. He wrapped himself over the boy as debris rained. Ceramic and wood chunks broke apart upon impact with the street. An unidentifiable metal shard about Shinji's size embedded itself a scant few paces left of where they lay.
Once the debris stopped falling, Villamax rose. "How is your person?" he said to the still prone Shinji.
"Okay. I think…" Shinji's voice was soft, like disturbed prey.
"Good. We need to move, before—"
Shouts of "There they are!", dangerously close, rang in Villamax's ears. Steeling himself, he turned to face his foes.
Out from the blazing violet inferno that consumed the surrounding neighborhood, strode two monstrous black silhouettes, distinct in every physical aspect from each other. They were not the insectoids that had assaulted the hospital. As they approached closer, their assured strides hastened.
"Shinji," Villamax said, as he strode forward, blade summoned and at the ready, "I will engage these miscreants. Hide until it is safe."
He did not wait for Shinji's response.
"Hand over the kid," the monster on Villamax's right demanded. Its mostly crimson carapace was divided into segments like armor, with curved spikes protruding from its pauldron-like shoulders. The right arm, from the elbow down, ended in a curved blade that reflected the violet flames.
"No," Villamax stated.
"Well then, looks like we're going to have a problem," the monster on Villamax's left said. It had mostly green scales with yellow blotches, especially around its chest and abdomen. A hood, an extension of its flesh tipped with spikes at the end, fanned out from its head down to the back of its hips, resembling a carnivorous plant's mouth. The fangs in its actual mouth—more menacing with the mist exhaled with every breath—were less comforting.
"And by we, I mean you," the monster on the left finished with.
"We shall see," Villamax replied. After he completed that brief sentence, he broke into a run, blade above his head.
In a wide arc, he slashed at the reptilian monster. His attack was parried by the warrior monster's arm-blade. This one pressed the attack, strokes ascending or descending from multiple angles. Each one was countered, though, with Villamax's precise bladework. Suddenly the warrior monster turned counterclockwise on its left heel. A white mist rushed past, engulfing Villamax.
He entered a defensive posture. Warning signs appeared in Villamax's display inside his helm. He glanced at his sword's pommel. White ice slowly grew like an oncoming glacier over not only his weapon, but his hands as well. From the incessant crackling, he assumed his entire body was covered.
If the reptile has ice powers, then the warrior must have conjured the flames, Villamax thought.
As if hearing his thoughts, fire roared through the freezing mist and knocked Villamax back. The warnings on his display went from relaying dropping body temperature to imminent immolation. But he still stood and, with the ice evaporated from his person, he went on the offensive.
Villamax's charge was aimed at the reptile monster. The warrior monster, noting this all too similar attack, moved to parry again. Before Villamax's blade reached the reptile monster, though, he turned his stroke to a devastating vertical upon the warrior monster. Metal scraped across its carapace, sparks flying as a notable indentation formed. The warrior monster's eyes widened with realization, but it was too late to counter. Feints required the unexpected.
"Fireor!" the reptile monster said, clawed hands reaching out towards its companion.
Villamax launched a high kick with his right leg, his boot sole connecting squarely on the reptile's snout. As this dazed it, Villamax struck several times with his blade. The last stroke generated sparks which sent the reptile falling backwards.
A scream from behind prompted Villamax to turn around and bear his blade in a defensive position. Fireor brought his arm-blade down in a vicious stroke. As the weapons connected, the force created stirred the air and cracked the road beneath them. The servos in Villamax's arms tingled.
"You'll pay!" Fireor said, its voice fiery and furious. "I'll personally send you to the Underworld!"
"Is it a desert by chance?"
That question earned raised eyebrows from Fireor. Opening created, Villamax removed his left hand from the pommel, bunched it into a fist and launched an uppercut into the soft underside of Fireor's armpit.
The attack stunned Fireor, eliciting a shocked gasp. It took several steps back, clutching its regular hand underneath its arm. Before Villamax pressed further, a roar, bestial in its intensity, grew behind him.
An all too familiar mist enveloped him. Villamax cursed his misfortune. The reptile monster, smiling at its entrapped prey, proceeded to maul him. Sparks flew from every claw swing. Laughter accompanied this assault, colder than the ice that covered Villamax's person.
I have one course, Villamax thought, activating his emergency ability. In moments, his whole body escaped the primal clawed violence to reappear mere paces behind his confused attacker.
"Where did he go—?" the reptile monster asked.
"Freezard! Behind you!" Fireor said.
The warning was too late. As Freezard turned around, Villamax's blade struck it several times over with a powerful kick as a finisher, sending him flying into Fireor's embrace. Spare seconds gained from this, Villamax looked around for Shinji. Little effort was required. Head poking out from a wooden mail post in front of a burning house, Shinji gaped.
He needs to hide better, Villamax thought, as he ran towards the boy. He was almost there when he heard angry shouting from behind. Fireor and Freezard had recovered.
"Villamax-san…" Shinji said, as Villamax scooped him up in his left arm while holding onto his blade in his right hand.
"I know."
They proceeded to run back behind the damaged domicile, jumped over the fence that enclosed it, and resumed the chase. Villamax traversed the neighborhood in a semi-random way hoping to accomplish two objectives: lose Fireor and Freezard, and connect with another of his companions and/or NERV personnel. Both proved difficult.
Fireor and Freezard kept pace, with the occasional ice and fireball hurled at Villamax and Shinji. Most missed, but there were a few instances where he had to dodge. These evasive maneuvers elicited shrieks from Shinji. As much as Villamax desired to stand and fight, he knew his duty was to protect the boy.
Eventually they turned a corner, and, at the street's far end, domiciles gave way to foliage. If they entered the nearby countryside, they could lose their pursuers. A wall of purple flame combusted before them, foiling any escape.
"End of the road," Fireor said, brandishing his arm-blade. "Now hand over the kid, and we'll make your end quick."
"I am sworn to protect this child."
"How noble," Freezard said as he slithered behind Villamax and Shinji as the purple flames dissipated. "Unfortunately, such promises are going to break like ice melting in the sun."
"There's only two of you," Villamax said.
Both monsters laughed. "Don't you wonder why I refrained from entrapping you like this earlier?" Fireor said, satisfaction apparent. "How long-range attacks seldom reached you? Only impeded?"
Villamax noted from his periphery additional shapes emerging.
"Shinji-san," Villamax said, never tearing his gaze from his foes.
Shinji gulped. "Yes, Villamax-san?"
"My apologies, but I think escape is no longer possible."
"What are we going to do then?"
"I shall do as honor dictates. I will defend you as long as I may, before I am struck down. If you have the opportunity, run!"
Fireor swung his arm-blade in a dramatic fashion while Freezard hissed softly. The display failed to intimidate Villamax. Shinji on the other hand…
"Villamax-san, you can't beat all these guys!"
"True. But that's not the point," Villamax said, setting the child down. "Now remember what I said, and prepare yourself."
Shinji latched on to his right leg. Villamax readied his blade.
The creatures that had joined Freezard and Fireor were grunts. Uniform in appearance, they were black with a gold line snaking down from the left shoulder, past the sternum, to curve back around the abdomen, ending with a spade-shaped tip aimed at the left pec's bottom. Red belts adorned their waists with a gold-winged orb pendant as a buckle. Each one wielded a pronged sword with an arrow shaped end— overkill with their crimson-clawed fingertips.
Villamax breathed deeply. He thought about what brought him here: a devilish bargain to resurrect loved ones. Kegler's laugh resonated in his head, a specter of a pleasant day's past. A fair thought to meet a second death with.
"Batlings," Fireor said, pointing his index finger at Villamax. "Atta—".
Booming laughter halted the call to strike. The sheer violent pleasure in that action reverberated through the neighborhood. Screaming soon joined.
On Villamax's right, a building suffered a sudden implosion. Ceramics and wood flew in a violent bloom as a monstrous shape balled its way through. Villamax, Shinji and most foes dove out of the way. A few Batlings were caught in the lopsided ball, crashing together into another house's front door on the other side.
"Well, look what we have here. A brawl that I wasn't invited to. Shame," Bluefur said, cocking his head in mock disappointment as he hauled himself over the mangled bodies and debris.
The Batlings closest to Bluefur engaged him. This elicited further laughter from the big, blue monster, as he proceeded to use his double-ended club to smash. Above him, Villmax noted, flew Diabolico. Lasers snaked down from his hands upon more Batlings.
"Shinji-san, keep calm," Villamax advised.
"Why?" Shinji said. The boy yelped as Villamax tossed him up.
"Diabolico! Catch!"
The flying demon swooped and grabbed Shinji. Child secure, Diabolico gave a curt nod and flew off to safety. Now free from guarding the boy, Villamax went to duel Fireor, but halted. The monster simply stared at the duo flying away.
"Lord Diabolico…" The words were slurred. Fireor's yellow eyes wide in shock.
Lord Diabolico? These monsters were familiar with Villamax's erudite companion, in a subordinate way. He brushed this information aside. He had to press the advantage before…
"Villamax! Watch out!" Bluefur said.
Villamax dove. A white mist blew over him, engulfing a still dazed Fireor. Once the haze ceased, Villamax turned to face Freezard.
To the reptile's credit, he charged at Villamax. Blade and claws met each other blow for blow. Orange sparks flew. Eventually Villamax landed a decisive stroke along Freezard's abdomen. Miniature explosions occurred as the blade cut through scales. Red blood soon began to flow from the wound.
Freezard, shocked at the injury, stepped back, hands pressed against his abdomen. Red worm-like guts slipped out between Freezard's fingers. Not desiring prolonged suffering, Villamax moved to put the reptile out of its misery. This attempted mercy ended with a surprise punch.
Villamax, as he went down, only caught a glimpse of his attacker: a new monster in various shades of blue with a large, round hat with frills that resembled tentacles hanging from the rim. Its yellow eyes brimmed with loathing. That sight faded as his world went black.
While in the blackness, darker than any night, voices, accusatorial but soft, haunted Villamax. They were his past returning to torment him. Normally cheery Kegler was somber, lamenting loneliness. Another one, disappointed and stern, rebuffed his martial valor, his honor. The last one struck the deepest. Trakeena asked him—nay accused him—why he had failed to stop her, to save her.
Another voice soon drowned out all these specters. It beseech him to awaken. Pain accompanied it, forcing the blackness away as morning banishes a nightmare.
Bluefur stood over Villamax, ready to backhand him.
"Finally awake, sleeping beauty?" Bluefur asked, hand going down to his side. "Have a nice nap?"
Villamax ignored the goad. "What happened?" As he raised his upper body, he looked around and noted that they were still in the same spot where the battle occurred, but there were no monsters, only leftover destruction. "Where are our foes? Where's Shinji?"
"The kid? He's alright, I assume. Diabolico flew straight away with him, after you passed him like a football."
No update. That concerned him. Not nearly as much as the missing opponents. Bluefur continued.
"The other guys—the schmucks bruising you up—booked it as soon as possible. Impressive, really. How the cobra one managed to keep its guts inside while the bats swept him away."
"Bats?" Villamax said. "You mean the Batlings?"
"Not those guys. Literal bats—" Bluefur made small flapping motions with his oversized hands "—descended from the sky, swarmed around them, and when they parted, poof, no more monsters."
"Magic."
"Yeah. Magic. Should probably ask Diabolico about that?"
There was much to ask Diabolico. His relationship with this new monster group needed explanation. Truth was uncomfortable, but uncertain loyalties were lethal.
"Let's regroup with the others, Bluefur," Villamax said as he got back onto his own two feet, thoughts on future conversations.
Bluefur nodded. "Yeah. Its past time for my shower."
Villamax cocked his head. "I thought you despised that?"
"Oh, I do. But a joke's a joke."
Villamax nodded his head. Simple wisdom.
"Why don't you give it a shot?"
Villamax did, and it was terrible enough to desire forgetting its utterance. Bluefur, despite visible revulsion to the joke, encouraged Villamax to try another. They kept talking like this as they continued to the NERV rendezvous. All through the dead neighborhoods, bellowing laughter and bad jokes filled the street. By the time they had reached their destination, Villamax and Bluefur had developed a genuine camaraderie.
This development almost distracted Villamax from his future confrontation with Diabolico, and the fallout entailed. Almost.
First chapter of the year. I hope everyone had a good holiday season, surviving the annual food coma. As always, please leave a fav, follow, and/or review. I always appreciate the feedback. As a New Year's Resolution, I am attempting to increase my output. I am also working on a special project. Considering all this, I am announcing that I have a Twitter. It will be used to provide updates on the writing status of chapters, and forementioned special project. The Twitter profile is under the same name as my FanFiction profile. I'll be looking into a platform in the future for a Q&A as well, if my readership is interested. Until next time!