Every Angel Has A Shadow
By StraightedgeWingZero
Shadow The Hedgehog leaves his world behind and crosses through time and space to the EVA verse merging his soul with Shinji Ikari as an infant. Now Shinji battles the angels struggles to control his powers piece together his dreams and tries to discover who and what he is
I own nothing
Beta Read by Popkov
Chapter 17
(Tokyo-3 )
"Are you sure he came here?" - Ami asked dubiously, as she and Omega alighted at the Akihabara station.
"Local surveillance pinpoints this as the station at which he aligned" - Omega replied
"Well, I don't take him for an otaku, so..."
Omega simply pointed, and off they went.
It didn't take too long, though, for Ami to be distracted.
"Gasp! A Beargguy III?!"
Omega did not seem to notice or care that Ami was no longer following him. He simply continued in the direction where Shinji was last seen heading. It didn't take long for him to spot his quarry, nor the thing that was in pursuit.
[scanning…]
[designation: mechanical automation, military grade]
[threat level: beta]
[threat imminence: immediate]
[recommended course of action: intercept and eliminate]
Shedding his disguise, Omega blasted off toward his target, intent on its immediate destruction.
Shinji was almost back to the bustling streets of Akihabara's shopping, lost in his thoughts when he heard the tell-tale sounds of Omega's twin jet boosters and looked up just in time to see the robot zoom up and past him.
"What the hell is Omega doing out of the apartment?!" Shinji asked
Spinning around, he watched as Omega collided with something that looked suspiciously similar – he couldn't completely make out the design or the colors; the ensuing short mid-air brawl/dogfight didn't last long, before the other… whatever it was, blasted off into the distance. Omega seemed to decide not to pursue and instead opted to glide down toward Shinji. Once he landed, he reapplied his disguise.
"Omega, what the hell are you doing out of the apartment?!"
"Ami Mizuno inquired to know of your whereabouts."
"So, where is she?" - Shinji asked, crossing his arms.
Omega simply pointed at the young girl catching up to the pair,
"Hey! I turn around for five minutes.."
"And he takes off after another robot practically in plain view, why the hell did you take him out of my place Ami? And what was that Omega?"
"Analysis indicated it was another model, similar to myself," Omega replied
"Just like I figured, there are more of your kind out there or others like you." Shinji mused
"Others? Where are they then?" asked Ami Shinji lifting a floppy disk in response
"An old floppy disk?"
"It has the locations of the labs hidden in the country, possibly the globe."
Then Shinji made a stark realization, that robot appeared after he had left the building, that he was in, meaning the robot followed him out. But another thought occurred to him, Reizu suggested that he'd come here to Akihabara. Shinji began to suspect she knew more than let on.
"We're going to see Ruju and Reizu," he told the two in front of him
"What? Why?" Ami asked
"Because I have a sinking feeling those two know something, more about Omega."
"What do you mean Master?" Omega question
"We will go to her place and find out."
( Military Base)
"WHERE IS HE?!"
The voice belonged to a tall woman wearing a service dress uniform, her long red hair put up in a simple, yet elegant, bun. The woman in question burst out through a set of double doors into what constituted some sort of warehouse/workshop/laboratory space, teeming with equipment and technicians; the latter did not seem to take notice of the new arrival. Fuming, the woman grabbed the nearest passing person by the lapel, shoving her face in theirs.
"Where. Is. He?" - she repeated through clenched teeth. The technician in question simply pointed towards a far corner, to what looked like a mid-size garage door, though decidedly much more reinforced. Dropping her victim, the woman proceeded towards it.
Upon closer inspection, the door in question had a smaller, regular-sized door cut into it, with an intercom right next to it. Before anything was even touched, however, there was a buzz, and the small door swung silently open, revealing only ominous darkness behind it. Whatever motivated the woman's appearance before this point, she hesitated slightly before coming in. The door slid closed behind her.
The light blinded her at first, as she stepped into a pitch-black room, but her eyes adjusted quickly. She frowned, a mix of annoyance and disbelief clear on her face. It was a blank, grey, dull box of a room, completely unfurnished. The light source turned out to be light panels that lined the ceiling, illuminating every corner of the space, which wasn't particularly large, only equating to around 6 square meters. In front of her was a simple set of double sliding doors, yet one glance upwards would reveal a large reinforced metal curtain, as wide as the whole wall.
Needless to say, the woman had no reason to look up. With a clear purpose and an even clearer sense of authority, she marched forward. She did not get far. Small sections of the walls on either side of her slid open to reveal nooks that housed some sort of white, vaguely insect-like drones, which immediately buzzed to life and flew out to intercept her. Their purpose – and intent, if necessary – was not so vague.
"Don't worry, they don't sting. Not unless I tell them to. Hee hee hee!"
The doors slid open, revealing a somewhat rotund youth, clad in a black, red-hooded, hoodie with white lines down the sleeves and yellow accents on the sleeve ends and side pockets. A pair of heavy-duty goggles adorned the top of his blonde head, underneath which his blue eyes twinkled with undisguised malice. He rode in a strange three-wheeled black mechanical wheelchair, the inside of which was lined with yellow.
Three things to note here. One, the wheelchair was shaped suspiciously like an egg. Two, those were not wheels, as the wheelchair was most definitely hovering some 30 centimeters off the ground. And three, the woman has not noticed either of these things or the first words out of her mouth would not have been:
"Care to explain yourself, Bovorik?"
"DOCTOR Bovorik" - the youth corrected, with the air of someone who has had, and has enjoyed every instance of, having to correct someone in that regard. For yes, indeed - he would tell any who would (and even any who wouldn't) listen – he was none other than Dr Toni Bovorik, the youngest achiever of an Engineering Doctorate at Texas A&M University. Just don't bring up the allegations about the tragic death of the star quarterback at the time, or the consecutive lab fires. - "After all, a modicum of respect is all I ask, Colonel Munzo" - and with that he waved away his drones, who disappeared back into the walls.
"Alright, then, Doctor" - Colonel Munzo replied, with no respect whatsoever - "Explain yourself!" - she repeated, brandishing her phone, which replayed the footage of the walker incident on the docks.
"Hmm, yes, I see..." - Dr Bovorik muttered, seemingly more to himself than Munzo. He tapped a few times on his chair's control pad, and a holographic screen popped up, replaying the same footage. By that point, he was already turning away.
"Hey, wait, you-!"
"Rest assured, Colonel" - Dr. Bovorik cut her off, without stopping - "I shall see that this… error… yes… will be corrected and your new war assets fully functional within the set timeline"
And with that, he was gone.
"Of all the god damned…" - Colonel Munzo muttered to herself. This is not where she imagined herself at this point in her career. Military life was bred into Kishira Munzo the moment she knew up from down and could walk on two feet without help. What she brought to the table was unbridled, downright ruthless, ambition. It did not win her any friends, but it shot her up the succession ladder with such velocity, that one wondered how she didn't get the proverbial whiplash. It all came to a screeching halt with this assignment. Top secret project of utmost importance and urgency, they called it. Babysitting, she'd call it.
Handpicked for her aptitude, they said. Stowed away like a belligerent upstart, she'd say. Whiplash indeed. Munzo looked at the footage again watched closely as one of the female MPs fell and twisted her ankle in the path of the malfunctioning walker, as soon it closed in upon her...
she vanished
"Hmmm."
Then the same MP that was in danger reappeared being carried by a young boy of fourteen, and placed gently in front of the load chiefs.
"Fascinating." Munzo mused "Who is this boy?"
Nothing else was said as she returned to her post walking past boxed supplies, with a faded letter G on the side
(Next Day the angel attack)
In the wee hours of the morning, a single large bubble floated up through the LCL, nearly mirroring the lazy ascend of the sun, the tip of which was still hidden behind the horizon. Shinji begrudged the Angels' lack of respect for basic schedules.
He barely laid his head down when the almost suspiciously regular event happened: the banging on the door, as if someone mistook it for a marching drum.
The person responsible was one of the two blank-faced NERV goons in suits, who took their vows of silence very seriously. Communication was limited to barely perceptible head motions - all the more so because it was the middle of the night - and jerky hand gestures.
And now, hours later, he was struggling to stay awake and doing his best to tune out whatever Asuka kept rambling on about - most likely around one million of self-aggrandizing boasting -because selectively muting people was frowned upon.
"Please do not tamper with important communication channels" - Ritsuko chided him
"I think you overestimate the importance of certain channels" - Shinji replied, muting Asuka before she could chime in. That's when his communication controls were permanently overridden.
Then he saw it. At first, he did not realize what he was seeing, the curvature before him so weirdly well-aligned with the top of the orange globe of the sun only now deigning them with but a sliver of its bulk. Whatever it was, it was barely skimming the ocean water underneath it, and coming in fast.
Too fast! Only by some inane instinct Unit 01's AT field came up just before it was slammed squarely in the midriff, and sent sprawling onto the sand behind it. Cursing, Shinji willed Eva to get up.
The creature in question was something akin to a snake, with a long lithe body - most of which slithered on the ground - and a grotesquely round head - the bottom half of which seemed to be nothing but a gaping mouth, surrounded by several foldable flaps line with spike-like teeth, open wide in readiness -, which was swaying back and forth, it's one large eye peering down at the Eva underneath it.
But before it could strike, Unit 02 stabbed it in the head with a spear. Or, at least, tried to. The spear bounced harmlessly off of the Angel's AT field. The effect was instantaneous. The Angel's head swiveled in Unit 02's direction and, after the briefest of pauses, it lunged. Luckily, the first thing its mandibles latched onto was the spear in Eva's hands.
The tussle was brief and surely one-sided, when the Angel reared its head, letting out a sound that was some combination of a screech, hiss, and a wail, intoned with pain and anger. The struggle forgotten, it refocused its attack on its original target: Unit 01, whose prog knife was embedded to the hilt near the tip of its tail.
If Shinji could sweat in the LCL, he'd be soaked, as he now desperately yanked at the knife that refused to budge. He was tired, annoyed, and not in the mood to be eaten. However, now he had no choice if they were to survive this encounter. If only the damn knife would cooperate—!
"Do I need to see it again?" - Shinji asked.
They were sitting in the debriefing room. Thankfully, Shinji had managed a shower and a clothes change, though the obvious downside was his still sopping wet hair. Ah, well, a small price to pay to be able to get away as soon as possible.
Or so he thought.
No, soon was not on the agenda. Recklessness and downright insubordination were.
Fuyutsuki raised his arm to forestall yet another round of bickering. He had the look of someone who would rather be anywhere else, a sentiment that Shinji shared.
"You do, Mr. Ikari," - Fuyutsuki replied - "as this meeting is disciplinary as well." - seeing Shinji fume, he continued - "As you are aware, you are not the only operative out on the field anymore"
"Oh, she's hard not to notice, alright" - Shinji muttered, smirking as Asuka's, no doubt lengthy, incoming tirade was forestalled once again, this time simply by a look from the old man. The smirk died the moment the look was turned on himself. Shinji didn't fear the man, but he held a modicum of begrudging respect, nonetheless.
"In a unit, communication is key" - Fuyutsuki rolled the footage to the point where the Angel returned its attention to Unit 01 again - "Now, what could you have communicated to Ms Soryu in this instance?"
Shinji barely resisted running a palm over his face and groaning. With barely restrained sarcasm he replied: "I would have communicated that I was about to get swallowed whole." - when Fuyutsuki's expression did not change, he continued - "This was because, a) it was inevitable at this point, and b) it was because it was necessary." - a tiny nod from Fuyutsuki -
"In my first… encounter, I saw the core at the back of its, uh, throat, and seeing as the only way was for it to get its defenses down by itself, a sacrificial, uh, play was necessary"
"Very good." - Fuyutsuki said, with an air of someone happy for the excuse to end this as quickly as possible - "See that you keep the importance of on-field communication paramount. Dismissed"
Shinji found Ami and Omega - in his human disguise, of course - loitering across the road from the very entrance he found himself coming out of. While he briefly wondered how they knew exactly where he'd be coming out - NERV had several ways up peppered around the city for its personnel -, he figured he shouldn't be too surprised at the ease with which Omega could track him down, mildly disturbing as that was. Ami waved him over, a gesture he returned half-heartedly.
"You ready?" - Ami asked as soon as he reached them. Shinji simply nodded and the trio headed off. What they did not notice was two sets of eyes following them suspiciously.
"Well" - Ami said unhappily - "That's a bummer"
Shinji simply stared past the small crowd, the yellow tape, and the safety workers, at what remained of the storage facility he had been to only the night before. Someone had not appreciated his accidental intrusion and was going to extreme lengths to make their point.
That, and to cover their tracks, of course. Tracks to what, though? Shinji thoughtfully rapped his fingers on the floppy in his pocket.
"We" - Shinji slowly mulled over every word - "need help"
Ami Shinji and Omega(In disguise) made it to the apartment where the sisters lived. Shinji instructed Omega to act while in public, to speak when spoken to only, and to use proper vocabulary when out and about in public.
And when he was out in public he would be addressed as Otari, instead of Omega. Walking up the stairs, Ami went on ahead of her two companions and knocked on the door.
Knock Knock
Shinji furrowed his brow in deep contemplation, wondering what to ask. He gripped the floppy disk in his pocket carefully in anxiousness. Something brushing up against his leg broke his musings.
"Huh?" Shinji looked down
The orange cat was brushing up against his leg,
"Meow." it purred looking up at Shinji
"Oh, it's a cat."
Then there was another different colored cat on the railing behind him. Then a Maine coon cat walked near Omega as if sizing him up. Then two more cats walked to Ami.
"There are...certainly a lot of cats," Ami remarked
"Assessing threat level: minimal." Omega spoke
"You think Omega? There just cats, probably strays or.." Shinji said
"Somebody extremely lonely, kind of like you, must own a lot of them." Ami snarked
"Master Shinji, what are you expecting to find out from subject Reizu?" Omega inquired
"More of your kind possibly Omega," he replied "And when we're out in public, don't call me master."
"My kind."
Sure enough, the door opened to reveal a very haggard Ruju, her hair was out of sorts like she had just woken up, and she was dressed in shorts and a purple muscle shirt.
"This better be important you crazy cat lad- Oh it's you kids!"
Ruju hastily shut the door in their faces out of embarrassment, the sounds of shuffling could be heard. After a few minutes of waiting, the door opened again, only to find Ruju dressed in a track outfit.
"Okay, Okay, huff, sorry kids, I thought you were that fake blonde with like a thousand cats who lives downstairs."
"A lonely cat lady called it." Ami chimed
"We're looking for your sister, is she around?" Shinji asked getting to the point
"Oh, so you're not here to see little ole me." Ruju pouted
"Let me guess it's regarding your robot buddy, speaking of where is he?"
Both kids gestured to the larger boy behind them, the robot obviously in disguise
Shinji began to go into detail about what he had found in Akihabara and what followed him. Ruju took in every word he spoke, feeling some sense of familiarity towards his story. Afterward, Shinji produced the floppy disk from his pocket, stating there was a map on it, causing the woman's face to split into a grin for a second.
"So that's it, there is more of Omega, and who knows what else." Shinji finished explaining
Ruju quickly snatched up before Shinji could blink
"I've got an extended drive inside, I can take a gander at it, see what else is in there. I'll contact you when I find something." Ruju assured
Shinji looked at her with suspicion but nodded nonetheless. Another cat brushed up against Shinji's leg but this one had a collar tag around its neck, kneeling to examine it, his eyes widened to discover the identity of the owner
"Ritsuko Akagi," he whispered
"So you know her?" Ruju asked, "She has a lot of cats."
"She must be lonely," Ami said
"Apparently."
(Tokyo station that same day turned into the night)
A young girl was just getting off the train, wearing a thick hoodie which was unusual for warm weather she pulled down the sleeve to better conceal her metal arm, and she securely fastened her messenger bag with the item inside. She descended the stairway, entered, and exited the station going into the city.
"Alright, I wonder to start looking, the city is still deserted so this will be more difficult than I thought." mused the girl
The wind blew in a specific direction as if trying to guide her somewhere, she walked along the lonely sidewalk, and after about fifteen minutes of walking aimlessly, she found her way to a park. Seeing that it was also empty the girl thought to take a breather for a few minutes. She rubbed her right arm unconsciously as if in contemplation, then stroked the item in the bag.
"Are you lost?" a female voice broke the girl from her thoughts
Looking up she saw it was a white-haired young woman, wearing a silver kimono
"No, I'm just resting, it was a long trip getting here, from where I was." the girl replied
"Did you walk to Tokyo?" asked the woman
"No, I took a train after the attack passed it was a very long trip." the girl replied
"Oh I see, how rude of me, my name is Marika Hirota, " the woman bowed
"May I ask yours?"
"Usagi Hamato" she replied
End chapter
End notes: Sorry this took so long, I've been busy with my health with my job among other things too, but here it is Shinji is letting more of the Shadow side come out of him and we all know he's Vegeta(not DBS Vegeta) to Sonic's Goku. Dr Omega's fight with Beta was short but the two will meet again in a longer fight. And the military woman is a bad a big bad at that. She'll meet with Shinji/Shadow and try to recruit him and he'll refuse. Also, Dr Bovorik is based on one of the Doctors of the Chaos Council from Sonic Prime courtesy of my man Popkov himself. Next chapter Shinji and Usagi meet and go on another adventure awaking another part of his dreams. Leave Reviews and suggestions, it's the only way updates could come a little faster and Stay Prime