Evangelion: You Shall (not) Win This Time
Episode 30: the Storm (fades) /Altered Episode 20 (begins)
(Warning: All intellectual properties belong to their respective original creators/current copyright holders. EVA to Studio Khara, Reality Warpers to Yoshi3000, you get the idea.)
(Opening Theme: "Reverse/Re:Birth" by Hiroaki Iwagana and Asaya)
"If you're seeing this message, than it means that the cat's out of the bag. Either I've been exposed for trying to prevent Third Impact in a more direct approach, or there's been a massive intake of people learning the Warper's Secret in my universe of operations. For those not in the loop yet, allow me to lay it all down. Despite me having powers akin to your average shonen battle protag, I am from Earth, but not the Earth you know. I was brought here from across the multiverse and given the power I have now with a mission: prevent Third Impact along with thwart the machinations of the individuals who would truly be responsible for it. What do I mean by that? The truth is that NERV and to a greater extent, the UN were being used by an organization by the name of SEELE as puppets to enact what they referred to as "Human Instrumentality", a cataclysmic event that would basically wipe out mankind as we know it on an apocalyptic scale. Don't believe me? Well it just so happens that I have footage from universes where these bastards succeeded."
Those were the opening statements from Bishops' confession video made as part of what he called "Spoiler Alert protocol" before the horrific imagery of both the End of EVA and Rebuild versions of Third Impact played to the unsuspecting audience before the level 10 Warper continued.
"The EVAs being made to serve as our secret weapon against the Angels was only a half truth, for the former leadership of NERV, one Gendo Ikari was not only keeping one of these vile creatures deep in the confines of the Geofront, but fully intended to use it, the EVAs and one of the underaged pilots that were for the most part unwillingly conscribed into the organization due to how those biomechanical abominations were created to initiate SEELE's plan with the sole selfish intention of reuniting with his ex-wife who's mortal soul was sealed within one of the EVA units while making his own son the fall guy in the event there were any survivors. When I came to this Earth, I knew that something had to be done to prevent this, and thankfully it seems as if I have for the most part. The shadow government that's been playing everyone for fools is extinguished, the majority of the Angels have been slain, including the one that Gendo was harboring, and while not intended to happen until the remaining two Angels were taken down, the EVAs have been destroyed with the souls of their victims liberated. Have my actions been less than moral? Most likely. Have they gotten results that've improved the state of the world? I'd like to hope that they have considering that the UN's been using the scraps of invasions you've been dealing with to upgrade their military hardware. And since I brought up the invaders and their botched attempts to take over, I might as well finally rip the bandage off of the biggest secret I've been keeping that was mentioned at the beginning of this little confession of mine: the Warper's Secret. TL;DR version: you are all fictional characters created by individuals from the Earth I originally came from: Earth Prime. And now that you know that, you can officially learn to do near everything that myself and those who have allied with me in my quest to prevent the apocalypse are capable of and possibly then some. Why am I telling you this when I could've easily conquered you all without breaking a sweat and been done with it? Because that's not how I operate. As it stands, things are going to get brutal for this universe with the only member left of the 'let's cause armageddon' club coming back with reinforcements, and I'm giving you guys the option to either flee for safety and get a clean start in some other universe or to join with us and show Gendo and his cohorts that if he wants this world dead, than it ain't gonna die without a fight. Whatever you choose, I won't blame you, nor will I stop you. You're all your own individuals who can make your own decisions, no matter if you're 'real' or not."
With that final sentence, the transmission ended, beginning the great Warper intake of Earth Dimension EVA-12385267 as Bishops was sitting in the confines of the special office inside Dueling Dices alongside his business partners and the other leading members of Jade Company.
"So you were finally forced to spill the beans, eh?" Ryker Blackthorn said, "Honestly, you should have done so sooner when Gendo fled the coop. You really didn't didn't need to hide the secret once Gendo left."
Bishops sighed awkwardly.
"Your universe was attacked while under protected status, so the good news is the Order has put Rendo Nexus on notice. Gendo's rush to try to kill you and his son…fucked him and his organization over. Had he had attacked sooner, he would have dodged that charge of war crimes." Joshinari said with a snicker. "And from what I heard from my friend, my sister is absolutely pissed. Because this is the fourth time they've done this…" Joshinari said icily.
"Fourth time?" Bishops asked.
"First time, they were starting shit in my neck of the woods. Then the second time, they caused some shit in that My Hero Academia universe. Then with the ninjas and now here. The only reason they got away with it was the organization wasn't stupid enough to stay causing shit in my neck of the woods. I thought they would have fucked off but I was wrong. So we'll help you finish this fight. We'll help you…and it seems a lot of PMCs and factions are willing to put aside their beef to get rid of Rendo Nexus." Ryker mused.
"And that's because an organization not willing to 'play by the rules' is a problem. You can pick the game, but you cannot change the rules. Dimitri Rascalov was a sociopathic shit, but he was right on that end." Joshinari said. "Now that Rendo Nexus is on the Order's shitlist, everyone's going to want a piece of them. It's only a matter of time before someone turns rat. But what are your future plans?"
Bishops took a small drink of whiskey before setting the cup down before speaking.
"Whatever I have to do. I doubt that just showing off what would've happened if I wasn't there to prevent it to the whole of the Earth ain't gonna be enough to win them over and I'm going to have to get the world government on my side. On top of that, it's going to be Hypertime training basically non-stop for the next month with everyone, including Toji when he's cleared to leave the hospital to prepare for Shinji's return. I have no idea what those three are planning to do with him, and I want to be ready for anything. And since I brought it up, the Beerus in the group said that 'a friend of mine' sent them to grab the boy for training of his divine energy. What I'd like to know is if it was one of you?"
"Wasn't me." answered Ryker with Josho repeating that response. This of course led the leader of the Knights of Ryujin to look to his business partner before he responded "Don't look at me, I have my share of business connections, but none related to destroyer deities, Equestrians, or any Touhou characters."
Hearing that led Bishops back to wondering "Well if none of the Blackthorns I know did it, and my own business partner didn't do it, who did?"
Loveless was debatable, Pinkamena's been quiet for a while now and he doubted that the Lilac Storm armada had the resources to bring heavy hitters like those three in. He'd have to figure things out later if the person who didn't outright out themselves, right now he had bigger fish to fry.
The co-owner of Spiral Industries finished his drink before setting the glass on the table, going "You know, downing liquor ain't something I normally do, but considering what I've had to deal with in the span of the last week, I think it was needed. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to check on someone in the hospital."
"Anytime, you're part of this group just as much as everyone else we're bringing on board." responded Ryker as his spiral energy using compatriot made his exit with the geist Naruto soon getting up and chiming in "I should probably head out too, I need to make sure that production lines are operating up to snuff. We were working on shipments of assorted products before those hunks of scrap metal made their latest move, and I wanna check in on how much of a delay we're facing in getting them out."
(P.O.V. Shift)
Toji was sitting in his hospital bed playing a round of Pokemon with Sakura when Dr. Moltar entered the room.
"So you got two bits of good news and surprisingly no bad news. First thing, you got a visitor." went the former Space Ghost villain as Bishops entered the room when Toji replied "Holy crap on a cracker, coach, you look like you've gone through hell. What'd I miss?"
"Oh not much, just me having to reveal the Warper's Secret to the whole of our home universe, Gendo making it so that RN is on the order's shit list and Shinji figuring out how to control his divine energy output, only to get scooped up by three powerful fictional characters for further training. So There's that waiting for us in the next 30 days." answered Bishops as Toji responded "What the actual shit? We gotta do something then."
The level 10 Warper responded "There isn't much we can do, at best it'll be consistent Hypertime training until it's time to deal with the final two Angels and whatever the final three episodes have to dish out." when Moltar responded "Which brings me to the other bit of good news, the diagnostics of your surgery came in and they're all green. You're cleared for release and can head home today."
This of course led Toji and Sakura to fist pump the air before the former pilot of EVA Unit-03 went, "Sweet. I can't wait to get back home and get back to the grind. Pretty sure those tin cans that were accompanying Gendo weren't destroyed during the battle, and I want my shot at getting even with 'em for putting me in the hospital."
"First things first, Mr. Suzuhara" went Bishops before adding "there's still the matter of you getting adjusted to the new components that make up your body. I may not have been able to tank the damage instead of you, but the least I can do to make up for it is to ensure that you can be able to stand alongside everyone else like you did before."
Toji looked towards his leader with determination and said "Then what're we waiting for? Let's get to work."
(P.O.V. Shift)
Back home, everyone on Earth was dealing with the aftermath of the Spoiler Alert protocol's reveals in ways ranging from celebrating their freedom from most laws, wanting to assist in the battles to come, to wanting to get the hell out of dodge for a multitude of reasons. The universe's Maya Ibuki was part of the third party as she was busy in her apartment fervently packing her belongings. The revelations hit everyone hard, but for the girl of the bridge bunny trio, she took it the hardest finding out that she was being used to bring forth Armageddon, but that the woman that she wanted to be with for so long was not only part of the plan but was boning her former employer turned multiversal terrorist. She just needed to get away from it all, start over somewhere fresh where there were no EVAs, Angels, First Ancestral Race, none of it. She had just finished taping up one box before starting another when Aoba and Hyuuga knocked on the door of her apartment.
"Don't try to stop me, it's not going to work." went the former bridge bunny through the door when her now ex-coworkers opened the door as Hyuuga responded "We're not here to stop you from getting the hell out of dodge, we're here to try and come up with a plan on where to go. We obviously can't stay here, pretty sure the UN's gonna want our heads on a platter for being complacent in Gendo's original plan until Bishops showed up."
Aoba decided to add to the conversation with "I'm surprised that a good chunk of us haven't been arrested by now, but I'm taking it as more of a window to escape than we probably deserve. So, any ideas on where to go?"
Maya only answered "I don't know, and I don't care. I just need to get away from all of this and never have anything to do with anything related to this franchise again. Becoming a Pokemon trainer, live with talking ponies, become a fucking fish and live underwater for the rest of my life, I don't fucking care. As long as I don't have to be anywhere near a Gainax, Khara or Trigger universe so I don't have to be reminded of the past or have to deal with anything EVA related anymore." while fighting back tears brought about by being used as a pawn in an evil game and mourning a love that could never be when both of her friends each put a hand on her shoulders.
"Neither of us want anything to do with Evangelion anymore either." went Hyuuga before adding "We'll figure out something together." with Aoba chiming in "Hyuuga and I were considering hitting up a Minecraft universe for a clean restart. Why don't you come with us until you figure out what you really want? I mean most times, the worst they got is exploding Creepers."
The other two bridge bunnies started helping their friend pack up what she wasn't selling to foot her exodus so they can get out of Dodge faster before it would become too late, dead set on getting their clean break and starting anew elsewhere.
(P.O.V. Shift)
While Maya was packing for her exodus, the woman she onced loved, the now disgraced Dr. Akagi was preparing for an exit of her own, gathering NERV documents for destruction. It wasn't like she had any chance of staying anyway if she cooperated with authorities during the inevitable war crime trials that would be coming her way, even if she was now immune to conventional laws, the residents of this universe were going to hunt her down and put her head on a pike for even associating with Gendo let alone everything else she had or was ordered to do that was scrapped when Bishops took charge of everything. She had finished preparing a stack, a garbage bucket and some matches when she got a call from one of the people she wanted to talk to the least.
"You and I need to have a long conversation." went Misato on the other end with Ritsuko curtly responding "There's nothing to talk about other than saying our goodbyes to one another, because I have zero intention of speaking to anyone from this universe again once I make a break for it."
"So you're just gonna fuck off to who knows where instead of owning up to your failures?" responded Misato in an aggravated tone towards her seemingly former friend's plans with Ritsuko answering "Like hell am I going to incur the wrath of someone who can rip me in half like a phonebook in a matter of seconds with no effort by being here when he gets back from….whatever the fuck he's off doing, let alone be at the mercy of the UN who's taken the opportunity to basically sign our death warrants for actions other universe counterparts of ourselves committed."
"And you don't want a chance to make things right? To prove that you aren't the maniacs our original canon selves became and make sure that the Gendo from this universe gets what's coming to him? We have the perfect opportunity to make up for our past failings, and you just want to turn tail and hide?!" chastised the former NERV major with the disgraced doctor shouting "Well excuuuuuse me for not wanting to be accused of playing the hero anymore since that's worked out for us soooooo well up until now! You and your on again, off again fuckboy can act like you're still good people all you want, but I'm looking out for me! I've let myself be consumed by the shadow of my good for nothing mother, even falling for the same pit of letting a glorified supervillain stick his dick in me, well no more! Fuck this shit, I'm out! Have a nice life!" in return before hanging up and striking a match.
(P.O.V. Shift)
(Track Change: "the Sea That Reflects One's Home Planet" by ZUN- Touhou: Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom OST)
With a pained and exhausted groan, Shinji had awakened after the brutal battle against Zeruel in an unknown realm. Managing to get himself to sit up despite his body saying "no, that's a horrible idea after every other horrible idea you had in the last 24 hours" and went to himself "Okay, no more mixing the Kaio-Ken with the Inner Gates. I've learned my lesson." before taking note of his surroundings and going "Where the hell am I?"
"Oh goody, our special trainee is finally up and at 'em." answered a disembodied voice as the former pilot of Unit-01 responded with a "Show yourself." while trying to charge up an energy blast. Keyword "try" as he had used up pretty much everything in his last fight.
"Oh come now, is that any way to thank the group that saved your skin after you used up all your power beating an Eldritch freak of nature? You're welcome by the way." replied the voice as the three figures that had indeed caught him mid-fall: Warper versions of Discord, Beerus and Junko. Shinji was about to enter interrogation mode when Beerus tossed him a senzu bean, telling the former EVA pilot "Hard to get the full picture when you're not in top shape. That oughta help."
Shinji downed the bean as its effects almost instantly kicked in when he stood up from the bed and went "Well then, that may have fixed my body troubles, but it didn't give me answers to what I was about to ask." as Junko responded "Simply put, you're on this Beerus' homeworld, a friend of your master requested us to bring you here to teach you how to fully master the divine Ki that dwells within you."
This of course would lead Shinji to ask "And pray tell who exactly is this 'friend' of my boss that put you up to this?" as Discord whipped out his phone and presented the chat logs between him and their dispatcher: one Pinkamena. Shinji then looked up from the screen, put his hands together and went "That actually kinda makes sense. So when do we start?"
Beerus' answer: "Out into the field, we're starting now. Your universe has minimum a thirty day window before the events of canon resume, which means we only have a set amount of time to cover as much ground as possible."
(P.O.V. Shift)
The Knights of Ryujin, the Storm Dragons and the Lilac Storm armada had gathered on neutral ground: Gensokyo Dimension 848712-Centauri, and in particular, within the confines of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. However, they weren't the only ones to show up as Ryker and Josho had made their way to the mansion grounds.
"Surprised to see you two here." went Bishops before asking if they were there for the same reason he was, to which Ryker responded "This hypertime training seems to have had some effect for you, might as well see if it's as effective as a day in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber."
"Perfect, you two being here gives me the perfect chance to really get the hang of Super Spiral 3." replied the Knights of Ryujin leader as the universe's Sakuya made her presence known.
"Is this everyone?" asked the head maid as the combined party nodded yes before she responded "Splendid, I'll be preoccupied with my mork once your training begins for the time being. However, I will be checking on you in an hour. With that said, two of you may grab my shoulders while the others grab onto the first two so you can get started."
Bishops and Naruto grabbed opposite shoulders as the others made physical contact with them as Sakuya activated her ability, allowing the extensive training to begin at last.
(Track Change: "Back to Rise" by Mick Gordon & Omega Sparx- Killer Instinct 2014 OST)
With the click of a watch button, both camps began their training in earnest. Where Shinji was doing laps around Beerus' planet while wearing lead block handcuffs, the Knights were sparring as if their lives depended on it. Shinji was learning how to better control the flow of divine energy he could output, everyone else was taking moves that they already knew to their natural extremes. Shinji was learning new moves for hand to hand combat, so were the others. Shinji learned how to use the Hakai, Toji had managed to achieve Super Spiral thanks to the Spiral Energy reactor inside of him. Everyone was pushing themselves to their extremes day in and day out for the whole of 32 days, preparing for the day when the whole team would be reunited as a singular strike force against the forces of Rendo Nexus.
(P.O.V. Shift)
It was the eve of the final day before Shinji would return to Tokyo 3, and the results of his training showed in force as the boy stood firmer, more confident, ready to take on the multiverse.
"I'm actually impressed the kid managed to get as far as he did in such a short time." went Beerus before asking "Are we sure that he isn't from a universe where he's been a Saiyan in hiding this whole time and not even Bishops could tell?" as Discord responded "Not likely, us Warpers tend to have a knack for sensing out someone of their own species."
"Well he's not." went Junko before turning to Shinji and saying "You've done well for yourself in this last month, Mr. Ikari. The divine energy within you is now fully part of you, an extension of your full strength."
"Well I certainly feel a hell of a lot stronger after all of this." answered Shinji before the group's Whis chimed in "Before you return to your universe however, I do believe that a proper test of your new abilities is in order." as he summoned a projection from his scepter, one of another Zeruel, this time looking more like its Rebuild counterpart.
"Hmmm, this one will do." went the angelic herald before telling Shinji "You were only able to defeat your universe's Zeruel after you finally let the energy flow freely from you, it only seems fair that you do it again with one that's even stronger than the one you fought."
Shinji looked at the alternate version of his greatest foe for a moment before asking "What universe?"
"Earth Dimension EVA-644981985-Z" answered Junko before opening a portal and saying "Off you go. Oh, and if you'd be so kind as to blow up that universe's moon while you're at it, I'd be willing to chalk it down as extra credit." as the former Third Child stepped through towards his destination.
The battlefield Shinji was sent to was dire. Each of the EVA units had been damaged, Unit-01 had yet to go berserk and Rei had been absorbed into Zeruel's core. Though it couldn't speak like its fallen counterpart, Zeruel stood triumphant, ready to begin Third Impact.
(Track Change: "Stardust Speedway (Bad Future JP Mix)"- Sonic CD JP OST )
That was until it felt a massive concussive force crashing into it as the now stronger than ever Knight of Ryujin second in command descended down to the level of its "face" and simply went "Congrats, you've been picked as my personal training dummy today." before striking the Angel again with such power that the Rei it had absorbed was teleported next to the NERV crew as Shinji sent a mental message to his counterpart still inside the EVA.
"Look, just because you're still me from somewhere else doesn't mean that I won't take you down if you get in my way of my fight with skinny boy over there. Rei is safe, you can either pull back and let me take care of things, or you can offer your sanity and your restraint to become a version of you greater than what you could ever be before. What's it gonna be?"
That universe's Shinji who was in the beginning stages of unleashing his own divine energy knew even in that state and with zero knowledge of what the guy floating above him was even talking about that this was an opportunity he couldn't pass up as he mentally responded "I'll do whatever it takes, if it means I can end this and create a world where no one has to rely on the EVAs, than I'll sacrifice everything. You want my sanity and restraint, you can have what little of it I got left!"
It was then that the former Third Child looked at the downed Unit-01 with a smirk on his face, stuck out his palm and unleashed a mass surge of Warper Energy to set his counterpart down a proper path of saving the world he inhabits before turning back to Zeruel who had gotten back up and went "Yo, bitch boy. Let's go."
(Track Change: "Taming the Demon Within" by Therewolf Media)
Zeruel unleashed its hoard of tendrils as Shinji dodged and sliced away at each of him with a blade of energy made of pure Ki while floating closer to the creature and delivering a downward chop towards the beast's "face" and dishing out a swift roundhouse kick/uppercut combo. This wouldn't deter Zeruel though, as with an enraged howl, the creature would then mimic the same transformation shown by the version Shinji had previously fought, shrinking in size but growing in power.
"About time you decided to stop holding back." went Shinji before another massive surge of energy erupted behind him. That universe's Unit-01 was gone and in its place was a Shinji who had flown into the air into a portal that quickly closed behind him, leaving the remaining Third Child to smirk and turn back towards his opponent.
"Too bad you won't be around to see him get the opportunity to get even stronger than me." before tapping into his divine energy reserve and charged towards Zeruel as the two entered a vicious dance of death with the rest of the NERV crew of that universe watching in awe and horror that a single Shinji of questionable humanity could go toe to toe with the very thing that required gigantic biomechanical abominations to even stand a chance of defeating as if they were in some sort of shonen battle series. The final blow came when Shinji had managed to get in close and deliver one of his newest moves to disintegrate Zeruel: Hakai.
Shinji then descended towards the onlookers and laid down the line after sealing Gendo into a containment field:
"As I'm sure you have questions, let me answer the ones that actually matter. Yes, I just reduced that Angel to nothingness without the use of an EVA. Yes, I did it because I could. And yes, I sealed your Gendo away for when you'll see your Shinji again…..in 2030. Don't even think of trying to undo the containment of your commander, you'll want him nice and unable to escape the inevitable war trials you're all going to face and your Shinji is going to want his pound of flesh from him when he gets back. Oh, and I wouldn't try to skip town either, it'll only give him more of a bone to pick with each of you. Peace out, bitches!"
With that, the Knight of Ryujin flew into the sky, fired off a ki blast that destroyed the moon and portaled away from that universe as those who witnessed the battle could only just go "WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!"
(P.O.V. Shift)
They weren't the only ones who saw the battle as Gendo was still in his rejuvenation chamber, watching the events of both Zeruel fights and witnessing how far his son had come. You would think he would be proud, but this is Gendo Ikari we're talking about, he was seething in murderous rage. Enraged growls grew louder and louder as the machine began to hit its absolute limits in terms of power retention until growls turned into an enraged roar, shattering the device and unleashing Gendo's full rage as his roars grew louder and angrier as the bastard king was enveloped with a massive field of his own ki. When the field lessened, Gendo's form had changed, now sporting the same clawed arm he had during his last fight with Bishops and Shinji on both of his arms as "Wings of Light" burst out of his back.
"WAIT UNTIL I GET MY HANDS ON THAT LITTLE BASTARD!" howled Gendo before adding "I'M GOING TO MAKE HIM REGRET EVER COMING OUT OF MY LOINS WHILE I DESTROY EVERYTHING HE LOVES FOR TAKING YUI FROM ME! THAT! IS! MY BIRTHRIGHT!"
(Ending Theme: "Aozora ni Naru" by Jin Hashimoto- Kamen Rider Kuuga OST)
(Author's Note: Don't think we're done with showing off the results of everyone's training just yet as next time, more battles get to show off what a good portion of what the Knights and even Gendo will be bringing to the final battle of the arc. The final calm before the storm is almost enter as we prepare to enter canon's endgame.)