CHAPTER 11_SKELETOR STRIKES! (BRINGING A KNIFE TO A SWORD FIGHT)
Heart beating furiously. Chaos. Noise. The smell of a horse's behind. These were the only things that Shinji could sense as Marcus shoved him on top of said horse and galloped pell-mell through the pandemonium that was the Sapphirica International Raceway, through the streets where everyone else was panic running, panic screaming and panicking in general, on the way to where Unit One was stored.
"M-Marcus, do we have a plan?" asked Shinji with eyes closed, not wanting to see what they were galloping through and past. He also didn't want to puke given the smell of the horse's butt.
"I have no idea, honestly," replied Marcus as he navigated his way through the miasma of obstacles. "But first thing, no matter what, is to get you to your war machine. I'm sure you'll figure out something from there."
"I guess you don't know what's attacking us either..."
"Not yet, but I'm sure you'll be able to tell us once you get up higher," Marcus said as they turned a corner violently and started going down some stairs, the horse's shoes clop-clop-clopping down them. "Whatever's coming is still a while away, so Renee and I will also join in the defence. So, give us whatever intelligence you can as soon as you can."
Shinji nodded, eyes still sealed shut, wanting this part of the journey to be over. He'd rather right a Lovecraftian horror than continue this wild ride.
They eventually made it to Unit One, Shinji none the worse for wear, but feeling very woozy from the weaving and dodging. He clambered on board as quickly as he could and started the giant robot up. Marcus left him to find Renee and eventually join the defenders on the wall.
[Welcome back, Shinji. Are we going home already?]
"Hi mum," he said into the LCL filled entry plug. "Not yet. It looks like this city is under attack and we need to help defend it."
[Ah, that old chestnut. I guess I have been looking forward to seeing what this new weapon you won in that lucky draw is like to use.]
"The new...oh, right that one," said Shinji, suddenly remembering the now enlarged Lightning Engulfed strapped to the back of Unit One. "I hope I know what I'm doing. I got some training with polearms, but..."
[Shinji, I'm sure we'll be fine. Don't doubt yourself, alright? We're better prepared compared to the first monster we fought.]
That was true. Armed with nothing but his progressive knife and some trees, the Great Big Slime was definitely a cute and bouncy force to be reckoned with. At least now there was both reach and flexibility with Lightning Engulfed and his trusty progressive knife.
"Alright, looks like all systems are go Mother," Shinji said, brows arched in concentration.
[Yes, let's move out!]
Evangelion Unit One rose to its full height, towering over the city walls. The citizens who were running away from the approaching attackers all slowed to gawk at the technological marvel as it loped away towards the oncoming threat.
[Shinji, are my sensors deceiving me or are those...?]
Shinji peered at the screen and zoomed in as far as he could. Approaching Sapphirica were people. At least they looked like people. But there was something not quite right about them. Their skin for example was not a health brown or pinkish white. It was a darker shade of saggy brown like leather baked too long in a hot sun. Their hair was a scruffy grey, and Shinji noticed, some of them had no eye balls. Or teeth. Or limbs. Or some combination of the above. Those that still possessed eyes had a vacant stare about them as if they'd all stared a little bit too long at the abyss and never returned. The Evangelion's targeting system identified them as...
"Z-zombies...?!"
[Whoever made this universe really needs to think of some better enemies. And...who programmed ZOMBIES into the target identification system!?]
"I've never fought zombies before. Is it like in the movies where we need to destroy what's left of their brains?"
[These are fast zombies though.]
"How's that possible?" queried Shinji. "That's going to make things harder for the soldiers on the wall. I thought zombies were all slow lumbering undead things."
[Well...before your father and I got married we watched a movie called 28 Days Later and the zombies in it were very fast. That was a surprise, I mean I thought they would only shuffle, but when...]
"U-uh, alright, I'll take your word for it. We..."
He stopped and stared at the centre of the zombie horde that was comically lurch-running towards them. There was a Titanic, imposing skeleton walking gracefully there, dressed in a black cloak and studded leather shoulder pads. Its empty eye sockets seemed to bore straight into Shinji's soul. He shook off the unnerving feeling. It looked as if he and Unit One would have to face off against the skeleton and hope to cause as much collateral damage as possible to the surrounding zombies.
Unit One knelt down by the city gate closest to the approaching throng of zombies and looked for anyone in command. Renee and Marcus were talking with a skinny woman dressed in gleaming silver full plate armour seemed to be a good candidate, if only because everyone else's armour wasn't quite so fancy. It seemed like the fancier the armour someone wore, the more likely they were to be in command. Shinji partially ejected the entry plug and stuck his head to grab her attention.
"Hey! A-are you in charge?" he asked as loudly as he could muster. Despite the din emanating from the city, she could hear him and nodded back.
"General Maria Mistplain, and you are?" she asked gruffly. She took her helmet off and a woman of Misato's age with a dark red mop of hair was revealed. She had an aura of authority, and Shinji noted the small scars that marked but didn't detract from her pretty face.
"My name's Ikari. Shinji...Ikari. Do you have anything that's useful against zombies?"
Her eyes grew wide as saucers. Marcus and Renee looked at each other, their faces circumspect. "Z-zombies?"
Shinji nodded. "Oh, and a giant skeleton with a massive sword, about as tall as Unit One."
"Ah f-f-f-f-!"
"General Mistplain, what are you orders?" asked a gruff middle-aged man, also dressed in gleaming armour. "If this is a zombie horde then..."
"General Pacefield, withdraw your soldiers behind the gates, make sure every civilian gets inside safely," Mistplain ordered, hand on chin. "I'll move my Magisters to the ground level while your soldiers arm themselves with bows and arrows. Provision them with anything that can be lit on fire. That's our best weapon against the undead! Bring out the siege weapons and set them up wherever there's room!"
Pacefield saluted and ran off to complete his orders. Meanwhile soldiers and Magisters moved to their assigned positions and fortified the city against the impending attackers.
"General, I'll do what I can to help, but I'll have to face that giant skeleton eventually. I can't let it get too close to the city."
Mistplain nodded "I'll take any help I can get. Good luck, young man."
Shinji returned a wan smile. "Thank you General, you too."
Before Shinji reinserted the entry plug, Renee arrived with Marcus atop the wall. He knew Renee had powerful fire magic, so he was comforted in knowing that the city had one extra layer of protection. He turned his attention to what was coming.
It seemed like a simple enough scenario, beat the giant monster, set the smaller ones on fire to save the city. Hopefully that would earn enough brownie points to allow an audience with King Kosta to save the alliance. He unhooked Lightening Engulfed from the back of Unit One and, without a hint of hesitation, sprinted into the fray and immediately remembered that one did not simply run on desert sand, rough, coarse and irritating as it was. So he did what he could and half ran, half stomped his way towards his soon to be foes.
Up close, the zombies weren't themselves any threat. Their bodies were in too terrible a condition to have any chance of penetrating the Evangelion's numerous layers of advanced composite armour. So, Shinji ignored them, but made sure to put in the effort of squashing as many of them as he could on his way to the main target. If they were undead, then it was best to put them out of their misery as quickly and cleanly as possible. Though clean in this case had the caveat of leaving great big patches of zombie juice wherever Unit One walked. He hoped it wouldn't cause long term damage to the desert sands.
Skeletor was hanging back from the zombie pack. It seemed to be waiting patiently for Shinji to arrive on the scene, holding the pommel of its gigantic claymore with the pointy end planted firmly in the sandy ground. Though its eye sockets were empty, Shinji couldn't help but feel the soulless stare from the lifeless face. There was an intelligence in this foe, far more threatening the primal and instinctive aggression of the Great Big Slime and enchanted Gem.
[Watch out, Shinji. This one looks like a much tougher opponent than what we've faced before.]
"I know, Mother," said Shinji. "Have you got any ideas?"
[Not until we actually fight it. I think you're better prepared this time. Your training with polearms has to count for something.]
"Maybe, but I've only had a couple of weeks' training. Compared to the way this...skeleton is handling its sword..."
[Have some confidence in yourself son! It's a skeleton. It doesn't have muscles like your Mother, or an AT Field. Or a legendary weapon. I'm sure you will win.]
"U-uh. Alright. I'll try."
[Atta boy.]
Evangelion Unit One walked up to Skeletor, Shinji trying to exude confidence like he was made of it. He banged the bottom of Lightning Engulfed into the ground for dramatic effect, and then realised he was trying to intimidate a skeleton. Which may or may not have any effect. Still, he needed any advantage he might be able to create for himself.
Skeletor responded by giving him a bow with a fist meeting a flat palm, just like in the old martial arts movies Shinji would watch mindlessly on television during the long slow days of boredom before Tokyo-3, before Asuka, before all of this.
Once the two titans of the battlefield acknowledged each other, Skeletor struck a classic swordsman's first position, sword in both hands raised towards its opponent. In response, Shinji assumed the polearms wielder's first position, front arm holding his weapon lower than his rear, ready to party any attack.
They stood there for what felt like minutes, staring at each other, daring the other to make the first move. And Skeletor did so, leaping into the air and executing a surprising 720 degree spin, turning its sword into a tornado of sharp and pointy death.
Shinji side stepped the attack, and sliced at the Skeleton as it landed. It must have somehow anticipated the counterattack, because it ducked and rolled, trying to slice up at Unit One as it did so. Shinji avoided the attack by jumping over the sword strike. He pointed the sharp end of Lightning Engulfed down at Skeletor's torso as he dropped. It deftly rolled out of the way before Unit One reached it and stirred up a massive cloud of sand.
The two colossi stood up again, returning to their original stances, watching for the next first move.
This time it was Shinji who dared to attempt a first strike, a fast slice straight at Skeletor's head, which missed owing to its head not being there as Lightning Engulfed slashed through the air where it had been. Shinji didn't miss a beat, using the momentum of the attack to spin around and hit Skeletor's arm with the bottom of his polearm. Off balance, Skeletor's sword dug into the ground, slowing down the next swing it would have tried against Unit One.
[Good Shinji, keep it off balance. I'll try to see if there's some energy source that you can destroy to stop it.]
"Thanks mother, I think I can keep this up. At least I don't have to fight it with just a progressive knife…"
/
Along the walls of Sapphirica, soldiers were lined up in neat rows. Each was armed with a quiver of arrows, clad in studded leather armour, and had sheathed at their sides a longsword and a knife as a last line of defence. With every passing second they could see the zombie horde edging ever closer to their fortress. Some of the younger soldiers were starting to get nervous from the anticipation. Their commanders could see the problem, no doubt from their experiences in previous battles.
"Men and women of Sapphirica!" yelled Maria Mistplain, her voice commanding attention despite the clamour all around. "I know, I see in you, the fear of our enemies before us! But I also know that deep in here – " her fist hammered her armoured clad chest " – lies the indefatigable strength of character and spirit of our ancestors!"
"Out there, is an enemy unlike any you have ever faced. They may look like us, but they are no longer us! You must not hesitate! You must not see a familiar face for someone who can be rescued, but recognise it only for what they are now; the undead! Give them the mercy they deserve and the end they craved before succumbing to their curse!"
"I know today will be difficult. It will be a sore day, a red day. Arrows will be splintered, swords will be shattered, and our knives may become dulled. But this will not break us! We will be unbent and unbowed, for we are not alone! And tomorrow, the sun will rise over a safe and sound Sapphirica!" She made her point by drawing the soldiers' attention to Evangelion Unit One, a colossus of science, engineering and scheming, the resources of nations unsheathing Lightning Engulfed and moving towards Skeletor and its foot soldiers, many of which ended up under one foot or another of the Evangelion.
The soldiers steeled themselves for the upcoming fight by cheering and shouting, letting out all of their anxiousness and nervous energy. Marcus and Renee screamed with them in the electric atmosphere from the top of the walls. Mistplain and Pacefield had requested that the two Commanders of Summerise's armed forces fight alongside theirs. Marcus and Renee didn't need to be asked twice; they'd fought giant monsters together before and knew that Sapphirica needed all the help they could get.
Renee had set up a small meditation space in the middle of the turret on which they stood while Marcus stood watch. He wanted to give her as much time to prepare her magic for what sounded like would be a prolonged battle. Marcus hoped that the noise and bustle of preparations all around them would not spoil her concentration. The undead horde was undoubtedly getting closer, nervous energy once again filling the air. From somewhere down on the ground, orders were being shouted out to load the trebuchets with burning missiles.
Soon, Marcus heard the familiar fwoomp of trebuchets unloading their deadly ordinance against the enemy. Each huge burning missile arced across the brilliant blue sky. It seemed so innocuous, but also so out of place. It didn't seem like the time nor the place for a major battle. Everybody should have been watching and enjoying the camel race and eating their frozen sweets. He wanted to be cheering his wife on in the race. Instead, they were cowering behind the walls hoping that the day would be won by the good guys.
The burning missiles squished whatever they landed on and exploded, spreading embers and red hot embers quickly amongst the zombie army. They burnt copious numbers of the zombies, but even those that were burning remained undeterred by the flames engulfing their already decrepit bodies, yearning for a taste of fresh brains up until the very last moment. It was a gruesome reminder that the zombies had been turned into soulless machines long ago, and any resemblance they still retained to their former selves was not even skin deep.
More fiery boulders and missiles rained down upon the zombies. The larger objects became a physical obstacle to their advance, like trying to squeeze too much water through a thin hose. While they were only slowed down for a few seconds, every little bit of delay was worth it, and there was every chance that some of them would catch on fire as they mindlessly moved around the impediments.
"Archers! Nock! Draw! Hold!" commanded Mistplain. Each row of archers along the walls did just that in unison. Whatever could be said about Sapphirica's monarch being a spoilt and petulant child, the same could not be applied to its defenders.
Further below, the magisters were also getting ready for their role in the fight, sounding like the entire city was filled with monks as they chanted their spells.
"Magisters! To the fore! The arrows of our comrades will be cast aflame!" shouted Pacefield. Sure enough, every single arrow so aimed at the city's foes was now burning together. It was an impressive sight to behold. It almost made Marcus feel like they could win the fight, as long as Shinji could do his job against the giant skeleton in the distance. It seemed like the two titans were locked in a furious struggle. He couldn't see the progress of the fight because of the huge clouds of sand being kick up by their movements.
"LOOSE!"
With a hiss, the first wave of arrows was launched into the air, with another volley of burning rocks and other items from the trebuchets following them for good measure. The archers weren't going to wait for the results of their first volley, with a second volley already prepared. Those arrows were also set alight in short order and launched away. A third, a fourth, and more were fired as quickly as the defenders could manage.
Marcus had been so focused on the defenders' efforts that he hadn't realised how much power Renee had accumulated beside him. Her eyes glowed with elemental energy. He had only ever seen his wife with those eyes twice before. The first time was when she demonstrated to Queen Greendrake her power before she was appointed Templar-Commander, which happened to be when Marcus discovered he liked powerful women. The second was just before Shinji's controlled fall on top of Summerise's wall just a short few months ago during that desperate defence of Summerise.
Every single time she deployed her full power, it made him proud, and in awe of his wife's abilities.
She ignored him, muttering an incantation. The first volley of arrows fell upon the invaders, thinning out the advance, as did the second volley. But there were still a lot that escaped the gauntlet of fire. The sky seemed to darken as Renee's incantation reached its zenith, and then it was filled with light as fireballs rained down upon the horde. From afar, it looked like a child had just thrown a cluster of large stones into a still lake. It was a devastating attack with scorching flames rippling through the densely packed undead. It was a stern reminder that Marcus should not ever make Renee angry enough to use that on him.
Despite this, the attack continued. This wasn't going to be like the battle at Boldhold where the kobold army broke and ran. The undead didn't understand self-preservation, only insatiable and instinctual hunger. The vanguard reached the bottom of Sapphirica's wall, only able to scratch and grasp ineffectually at it. The defenders started hurling oil and tar upon them before lighting the smelly concoction on fire to immediate effect. The fires spread amongst them, as other zombies mindlessly joined in the futile attempt at breaching the wall.
"More tar! More oil!" shouted some of the defenders. "They're climbing on top of each other! We don't have enough tar and oil!"
Marcus and Renee looked at each other. She nodded at him, and he held her, hoping it wouldn't be the last time. Renee muttered a short incantation as Marcus ran down to do whatever he could to help defend the city. She watched him run for a few more seconds, imprinting the sight in her memory before she returned to her duty of lobbing fireballs into the fray.
/
Shinji was not enjoying fighting the undead. This was the second time that a pallet rifle might have actually done some good. No matter what he did, like smashing its skull, breaking bones or even cutting off limbs, Skeletor kept coming back. And back. And back.
"Mother, can you detect anything your sensors that could show who or what is helping it recover?"
[I'm sorry Shinji, there's nothing around us that could be doing it.]
"Then it must be close, like with Gem. I wonder if it's that sword Skeletor is using? I've ripped the cloak and armour it's wearing to shreds!"
[Then it looks like we need to destroy the sword somehow. Let me try something…]
Something stirred deep inside the Evangelion, and Shinji feeling an electrifying aura in his seat. Lightning Engulfed crackled and glowed as whatever was happening beneath him took effect.
[I've increased the S2 Engine's energy output a lot. It looks like our weapon is getting a good charge out of it. Let's see what it can do!]
Considering the amount of power that the S2 Engine had funnelled into Unit One before, Shinji was more than happy to find out whether this would be enough to put an end to the fight. He charged at Skeletor as Lightning Engulfed crackled with energy, great arcs of lightning lanced out randomly on to the ground and turning the sand there to glass. Polearm clashed with greatsword as the two titans fought for supremacy in the desert. The electrical energy surged through Skeletor's greatsword and into its bones, eliciting smoke and burning the magical creature throughout. It started to shake and smoulder with as gigawatts of energy coursed through it, its eyeless face apparently screaming for mercy, mercy, mercy.
And then, Skeletor collapsed into a collection of bones and its greatsword, now glowing red and warped, clattered to the ground along with its body. Shinji was so surprised at this turn of events that he stumbled over, crushing some more zombies and grinding some of Skeletor's ribs to such much fine dust that it mixed in perfectly with the desert sand.
Shinji felt triumphant. He'd just defeated another big monster, but this time without any mishaps that made him look like a fool. He turned and ran as quickly as the soft sands allowed him to back towards Sapphirica, where the battle against the zombies seemed to still be raging.
As he ran, Unit One glowed with the additional energy being fed from the S2 Engine it had incorporated from the Twelfth Angel. It leapt high into the air, and as it did lightning bolts filled the space around it, striking indiscriminately, popping zombies like the desert was covered with a layer of popcorn kernels. The Evangelion arced through the sky before landing in a shimmering blue and purple haze of destruction in the classic superhero landing. The area had been wiped clean of the undead.
It was just as well that Shinji had arrived on the scene. Zombies, though completely mindless and relying solely on their instinct for live brains, had plenty of motivation. Through brute force and sheer numbers, they had built up a flimsy pyramid of decrepit flesh by clambering over each other on to Sapphirica's wall and was threatening to overwhelm the defenders. The only thing that seemed to be stopping that from happening was a repeated and very liberal application of fireballs and meteors from the Magisters (and no doubt Renee).
But even their combined power would have limits. It would only take one zombie to get past the defences before the entire city would become vulnerable to the spread of whatever caused zombies to become zombies.
Anna is there. So are Marcus and Renee. I need to keep them safe!
Shinji willed Unit One forward with Lightning Engulfed in both hands, zapping everything in its path. He needed to reach that wall and collapse the zombie stack before it was too late. He used Lightning Engulfed like a scythe, sweeping through the undead as if he was casually mowing grass on a warm summer's day.
Upon reaching the haphazardly stacked pyramid, Shinji used the blunt end of Lightning Engulfed to smash the bottom of the pyramid out like a set of badly balanced dominos, causing a catastrophic collapse of the entire structure. The soldiers on the wall cheered, and he gave a thumbs up in response. Small crisis averted.
That was until the people on the walls started pointing to something behind him with looks of fear that froze many others on the spot.
[Shinji! Look out!]
/
Marcus breathed a sigh of relief as Shinji swept away the stack of undead threatening to spill over the wall. The rest of the soldiers he had been fighting alongside also visibly relax as the threat of imminent death through zombification retreated immensely. It was all thanks to the purple colossus, and the whole wall cheered its actions.
He looked back at Renee who was safely ensconced in her high turret position. She gave him a thumbs up as she leaned against a wall, which he returned, but it was clear from where he was standing that his beloved had been drained of most of her power. Not surprising, since she'd been raining literal fire on the legion of undead since the start of the battle. The magisters down below were faring even worse. None were anywhere near as powerful as his wife and many had already succumbed to exhaustion.
He turned back to the garishly demonic visage of Evangelion Unit One and gave Shinji a thumbs up as well. The boy had been their saviour so many times now he thought that the initial heavy damage to Summerise from their unconventional arrival was an infinitesimally small price to pay.
But he saw something moving behind Shinji, and his face turned from happy, to concerned, to terrified. For the giant skeleton thing that Shinji had seemingly already defeated had returned. It had snuck up on them while they were all focused on the zombie pile below and the seeming victory brought about by Shinji. Skeletor was already high in the air, sword about to smash down on its colossal purple foe.
Marcus could only point at the imminent threat and yell in a vain attempt to be heard: "Shinji, look out behind you!"
/
Shinji had been so consumed by ensuring the safety of the city and his friends that he didn't consider the possibility that an attack could come from behind him. As his mother's soul screamed at him through text, the hairs on the back of his neck tried to stand on end in the LCL filled entry plug, and instinctively, the Evangelion's AT Field flared out at maximum intensity.
The impact of Skeletor's blade never came as the blow was stopped by the flare of the octagonal field. Satisfied that the sneak attack had been neutralised completely by the Evangelion's primary defence mechanism, Shinji turned Unit One and swiped at the angry skeletal giant with Lightning Engulfed. Seeing that continuing the attack was futile, Skeletor jumped back a little.
Shinji looked at his regenerated opponent, trying for the second time to understand from where, or what. the monster derived its power. Aside from the missing the original cloak and armour (which caught fire from the previous lightning attack), Skeletor looked wrong somehow.
Shinji saw that the sword it was wielding had wilted and bent under the massive electrical load it had been subjected to earlier. And Skeletor's once straight spine was now also bent a little in sympathy like a white, skeletal banana. And its empty skull looked like it was shooting death daggers at Unit One. Shinji smirked. He was right that the sword was the enchanted source of Skeletor's power. Except now, he had to come up with a plan to destroy the thing to vanquish it once and for all. He could draw on all the electrical power in the universe at will, but it wasn't going to dismantle a magical greatsword. He needed some extra magic to do the deed.
In the meantime, he was satisfied to spar with Skeletor. It did not hesitate to try and press an attack, but with its bent body, it was no longer as fearsome or as effective as it had been previously. Everything was off centre, and it would miss with its massive swings just as often as each seemed like they would hit. There was something absurdly comical about a giant bent skeleton lumbering around randomly trying to hit something manically with a wonky sword.
Unconventional or otherwise, Shinji felt that Skeletor still posed a serious threat to Sapphirica. After all, if a mis-timed swing smashed the wall, there was no way the defenders could stop the undead, so he decided the only thing that could be done was to draw it away from the city walls.
/
"Marcus," Renee said in a daze. She was leaning on him, exhausted from the exertion of raining fire and brimstone down on the undead. "I think I know how to put a stop to this…"
"Renee, you're out of energy," replied Marcus. "You need to rest and…"
"Shinji needs our help, and I'm the only one who can do it," Renee said with a look of determination in her eyes. The rest of her body belied that determination though, as she slumped down on his shoulder. "I think I have just enough energy left to show off my new ultimate attack…"
"Darling…"
"Marcus, either we end this now or Shinji will have to find some other way to do it, which I bet will be far less attractive than if I just helped him now."
"But…"
"I'll take a few days to recover, and need a lot of tender, loving care. But there won't be any lasting effects. And I for one enjoy your kind of tender loving and care." She emphasised the last sentence in such a way that he couldn't resist.
Marcus could only nod his assent. Of the few things he learnt in his life, there was no way to argue with his wife, especially when she used that voice on him. "Help me up."
He helped Renee stand up and lean against the low wall so that she had clear line of sight. They watched as Shinji drew Skeletor away from the city, making small but meaningful retreats every time the magical undead monster tried to strike. It was clear to Marcus and Renee that Shinji was holding his own, but the heavy strikes from the titanic skeleton's sword would eventually wear him down. The fight had to end, and the sooner the better.
Renee started a long and complex incantation. Marcus did his best to sure that she was not distracted, though that was a tall task considering they were still in the middle of a large scale battle. Soldiers were clamouring for arrows, fire and fuel a short distance from them. Shinji had managed to literally and figuratively sweep away the immediate threat of zombies spilling over the wall, but the soldiers were still busily keeping them at bay where they could, and now it was without the support of the city's now exhausted magisters.
Whatever happened, he too wished the battle would be over soon.
/
[Shinji! Are you alright? The entry plug sensors are showing various levels of physical and mental stress!]
"It's alright Mother," he bit out, wincing through every little bit of the sympathetic pain transmitted by the Evangelion's feedback systems. "I can handle this."
Though Skeletor was bent, it was still unbroken, and the ferocity and speed of its attacks had increased since its return. The simple weight of its sword was enough to transmit huge shocks into Lightning Engulfed, through the arms of Unit One, and into Shinji's own, as the unrelenting attacks felt like they might shatter at any moment.
[Maybe we should try zapping this thing again? If we just sustained the discharge for longer, we should be able to weaken it even more, if not outright destroy it.]
"And then we punch it until it stops?"
[We'll find a way Shinji. We always do.]
That didn't fill Shinji with much confidence. More than once in this madhouse journey, he wished that Misato was here with him. He could use one of her hare-brained schemes right now to defeat Skeletor. But there was no better option at the moment.
"Alright, let's do it. Are you ready?"
[Of course. Here we go.]
And from deep within the Evangelion, a rhythmic hum started to make itself heard, and the energy flowing through the cybernetic giant started to make him feel all-powerful. Shinji could only concentrate on parrying and defending against the wild sword swings of his opponent, its empty eyes showing the desire to shatter his soul into a million little pieces. And when Shinji knew that his mother had everything ready, he went on a ferocious and wild series of attacks, forcing Skeletor into a defensive posture. Even if Lightning Engulfed was much lighter in mass than a greatsword, Shinji willed Unit One to make quicker strikes. He had to force Skeletor into a series of parries to make sure that when the time came, Shinji was the one who controlled the battle, and he alone would conduct as much electricity as physics (and probably magic) allowed into his foe. He visualised Skeletor becoming just a blackened pile of ashes, and the Evangelion seemed to heed his call, joining him in making his vision a reality. He aimed for its head and upper body, repeatedly threatening to look ribs or shoulder bones clean off. All the while, the Evangelion's S2 Engine continued drawing and storing ever more power.
/
Marcus stood by as Renee continued her chant. It started as a barely audible whisper, and he could only hear small parts of it. But now her voice was getting louder, appearing to feed off the battle. The clear blue sky had been so bright just a moment ago, but it had darkened somewhat as if it was contemplating and anticipating the conclusion of Renee's spell.
Her chant continued towards its climax.
Heavens above and earth below
I beseech you to heed my missive
For I am The One who wields your power
I stand between the darkness and the light
The candle and the star
And by your powers combined
Our world shall bow to our will
And it shall bathe in the glory of the ultimate magical attack…
EXPLOSION!
The rest happened in slow motion for Marcus. He watched as the sky darkened as if dusk was settling in over the midday sun. And then a small pin-prick of light sparkled into life on the surface of Skeletor's blade as Evangelion Unit One glowed violet, lightning arcing slavishly from it on to the giant skeleton and then the entire world was replaced by a void of white and noise.
A/N:
Hi folks, it's been a while. Life has overtaken the time I normally reserve for writing this little tale. It's been a busy holiday period, so hopefully the wait has been worth it! Thanks as always for the views, likes and reviews. It's always wonderful to see you guys enjoying my writing.
Up next in our boi's mopey adventure: Shinji wakes up. Shinji holds hands. And Shinji reclines comfortably in a chaise.