Creation began on 08-20-24
Creation ended on 08-26-24
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Welcome to your Escape: The Royal Cup!
A/N: We're here, so let's begin!
Everyone had their own way of getting ready for such an event of great importance, and the members of the Clover Team were no exception to such a rule, with each member prepping in their own way at the hangar, one way or another.
Drake Toros doing last-minute maintenance checks on his G-Rex.
Miki Yami, AKA Geisha, putting on her best yukata for the battles ahead.
Valerie Axiom, running a treadmill in her lingerie with her suit hanging over a stand.
Shinji Ikari, showering to wash the dirt and sweat from the previous day off, listening to classical music while thinking about the things he would want to do if he won.
Nico Megumi getting her Gustav ready to carry three of the four Zoids her team would be using. Looking up at the Zoids in question, she smiles as she fantasizes them being cheered on by people that wanted to see them win the Royal Cup, showering them with gold and silver glitter and streamers.
"What are you daydreaming about?" She hears Drake ask him as he walks over to her, holding a canned coffee for her.
"Just seeing your Zoids being praised for winning, that's all," she admits.
"I don't think it'll be much worth it without your Gustav being praised, too," he tells her. "Yours is the workhorse of the team, getting us to where we need to be much of the time. The leader gets the most attention."
Nico smiles as she accepts the canned coffee.
"Thank you, Drake."
"We got this in the bag!" They hear Geisha say as she steps out onto the app floor of the hangar, wearing a pink and red yukata, her face painted up like a geisha mixed with a white tiger. "How do I look?"
"Like you need to be at a beauty pageant to win every chance you get," Nico expresses with a smile. "What do the face paint details represent?"
"Victory through perseverance."
"Where's Shinji and Valerie?"
"Someone say my name?" They all hear Valerie as she steps out onto the app floor, zipping up the front of her outfit. "I'm all set."
"Then what are we waiting for?" They hear Shinji say as he comes out onto the floor, wearing gray cargo pants, a blue shirt, and a purple and beige jacket with slits along the upper and inner sleeves, exposing his arms down to his elbows.
"First time I think we've ever seen you wearing a jacket like that, Shinji," Geisha expresses, impressed. "I like it. It brings out an inner strength to you."
"Just wanted to get away from the school uniform look as much as I could."
"Are you stating or are you telling us?" Valerie asks him.
"Telling you!" He raises his voice.
"Oh, yeah, that's awesome, Shinji."
Beep! Nico hears a notification from within her Gustav and runs over to it.
"We got a location on where the Royal Cup stage will be held," she informs her team. "We're heading to the Leviathan Canyons over by the Solarix Peninsula."
"Won't we need a Whale King to get there?" Geisha questions, as she was familiar with that peninsula layout, and it was further than where they were currently.
Suddenly, a huge gust of wind blew into the hangar, making them all cover their faces.
"Yeah!" Nico answers Geisha, and leads them outside the hangar, where they look up and see a Whale King hovering above the building. "My parents are going to make sure that we get there! We practically have a head start above nearly everyone else!"
The four Zoid pilots looked at each other, confused by Nico's statement of them having a head start above nearly everyone else, as it likely meant that not everyone was afforded the same information. They were wondering who else knew of the location currently…and who was trying to get there right now.
"First impulse?" Valerie asks them.
"Shock," Geisha says.
"Second impulse?"
"Impression," went Drake.
"Last impulse?"
"In it to win it," Shinji utters.
"Yeah."
The Whale King lowered a platform down, and the Clover Team boarded the transport Zoid two at a time; since Geisha had the only flight-capable Zoid, the use of the platform was unnecessary. When all five Zoids were onboard, the Whale King took to the Solarix Peninsula. Their ETA would be five hours. Fortunately, the Royal Cup wouldn't begin until the Judges were all in position and authenticated the parameters required to start the final battles all participants would be involved in.
"I still can't believe you two are both here," Nico expresses to her parents, standing before them by her Gustav.
"There was no way we were both not going to see you off as you lead your team to the final battles," her father tells her. "I still can't believe you were able to pull something like this off. You picked four strangers from different walks of life…and you turned them into a team. You have a lot to be proud of, Nico."
Nico looks over at her team, seeing each of them looking out the observation windows, and smiles. They might've all come from different backgrounds, positive, negative or just different in general, but they were all heading towards the same path now. She couldn't have been any prouder to see them work well together.
"All they needed was a chance to shine and someone willing to give them a chance," she tells them. "They have their quirks…but I wouldn't change their respective behaviors one bit. They've grown on me in their own way."
"And what about Shinji Ikari?" Her mother questions. "How has his personal growth and development changed him in the time he's been around each of you?"
"Shinji is…shining like the sun. He's escaped his past and isn't being manipulated by people with hurtful intentions, and he wants to win the Royal Cup so that he doesn't have to go back to Earth. He's really grown a lot since he got here."
"Then for the sake of the whole Clover Team," her father expresses, "do your absolute hardest to win the Royal Cup."
"Uh, everyone?" They hear Drake say. "Is that what I think it is down below in the ocean heading in the same direction as us?"
Nico and her parents come over and look out an observation window and see the ocean below, seeing a blue and red object moving in the water.
Shinji looks at Nico and asks her, "Just who else knows about where we need to get to?"
She looks at him and answers, "Our team was told an hour ahead of other teams…but the soloists were told before any of the teams were, and they're responsible for getting there on their own. So…if that is a Death Stinger down there, then your father is making his way to the peninsula."
"Just to be crystal clear," Valerie utters, "the soloists only know where we all need to go, not the exact destination?"
"That's right. The Royal Cup battlefield, not the finish line."
"Even from up here," went Geisha, looking down at the Zoid below in the water, "the Death Stinger makes my skin crawl with fright and disgust."
Shinji sighs as he can only imagine how his father was feeling, having to put in the effort to make his way to the location they were all heading to.
-x-
Despite his entry into the Royal Cup, Gendo, because he was a soloist, had to make his own way to the Solarix Peninsula for the championship rounds. While free to use any means of travel by the ZBC, he just couldn't expect people to bend over for him whenever he expects them to, and it was the same with the other soloists. They all, due to operating independently, had to rely on their own methods to get to the spot in a timely manner; they would still be allowed to participate, but if they were late, they would be behind the rest. Not enjoying the water around him at all, Gendo leans back in his seat and looks up at the sky, seeing a Whale King flying in the same direction he was going.
"Whale Kings are among the most common Zoids still in use," he recalls a man say to his girlfriend once. "They can carry a number of Zoids within themselves and travel in the water or the air. And they're among the oldest of Zoids that are still in existence. During the days of war, they were the workhorses of any side. But today, they're strictly for business or leisure. Any Zoid team with access to one is most fortunate."
This, of course, meant that the Clover Team, the group his son was with, had access to one, and he was probably enjoying the traveling if he was on one right this moment. And with his scenario no longer optional, all Gendo has left is this new goal and the outcome he desires the most out of it: Revenge against Shinji. If he couldn't have his revenge against the deity he blamed for his personal life's losses, he would settle for taking his revenge out against his own son for ruining his plans by growing a spine and rejecting everything he had worked too hard to leave to chance.
You took away all that I wanted, he thinks as he exhales, so I'm going to make sure that you lose everything you ever wanted. If I can't be content, neither can you.
-x-
The Committee was upset with the lack of progress with the Angels that had failed to show up in a timely manner, which left NERV on constant standby, and they were starting to lose their hold on the world's most closely guarded secret regarding Second Impact. About three days ago, news media outlets across the world received emails from an unknown source containing information on various individuals that worked for the UN, and it caused a stir that was getting progressively worse for the paramilitary agency. But all over Tokyo-3 (and much of the rest of Japan, for that matter), the people were focused on something more important than what was hidden from them outside of Shinji Ikari's Zoid pilot profile page, and that was the Royal Cup on planet Zi. With everyone preparing for it to begin, nobody was concerning themselves with any Angels or NERV's issues, as Misato was seeing this while driving down the street to her apartment as she finished work for the day.
She could see children and their caretakers looking up at television screens displaying broadcasts from Zi, showcasing the chosen location for where the Royal Cup was to take place.
At least they're happy about something good, she thinks as she continues her drive back to her apartment. Everyone has their teams picked to bet on and against. The participants have gone to Hell and back again to get their teams or themselves to where they are. It all comes down to these final battles and who comes out on top of everyone else.
"…But tell us, Harumi," a man on her radio speaks, "with the Royal Cup on planet Zi just mere hours away, which competitors are being expected to win the most?"
"Well, several soloists," a female voice responds on the radio, "those who are in it for themselves and don't want to share in on the glory and prestige of getting into Class 'S', are statistically smaller than the previous number of soloists this time around, and at least three of them are considered to be overly ambitious and highly aggressive performers. Among them is the latecomer, Gendo Rokubungi-Ikari, and some people already know his history and potential reason for entering the Royal Cup."
"Most people around the nation of Japan believe that Gendo's in it to go after his son, who has rejected him for keeping several secrets from him when he had a right to know what was going on, which would make his agenda more of a vendetta, really. Some say that he's not someone that's not good with being refused for any reason."
"Yes, a man that can't take a hint that 'no' means 'no' is clearly used to having his way. But not in this case. Instead of getting mad, this is a man looking to get even, even when it's against his own son. But among the Zoid teams that are in the Royal Cup, the actual Cinderella story is the underdog Clover Team, which has impressed many Zoid fans across the world with their ambitions and quirks."
"Let's talk about the Clover Team. They're basically a ragtag group of four fighters handpicked by young Zoidian Nico Megumi, who's currently eight years old, essentially making her a Zoid child prodigy, and this is her first time managing the creation and development of a Zoid team. Some would believe that she's able to handle these four that are older than she is because she comes from money."
"Well, they don't know her personally, and she's been keeping track of her team's performance and progress quite well, despite the personal stress it puts on her. Some Zoid managers strive for perfection and accuracy in their teams, but not this young girl. While she wants to see her teammates excel at facing their adversaries, she wants them to enjoy the fighting as well. Now, I'm sure some of you remember that awful stunt Earth's NERV paramilitary agency did with their Eva Team against the Clover Team in their initial match, right?"
"Yes, the humanoid behemoth that wasn't a Zoid. But wasn't it confirmed that the Evangelion that attacked the Clover Team Zoids was not affiliated with NERV?"
"Regardless of that, NERV was still held responsible for the unjust attack on the Clover Team. Shortly after the initial match was suspended, it resumed after the Clover Team's Zoids were repaired and NERV was drilled in their understanding of the rules by the ZBC. Soon after the Eva Team lost, followed by subsequent rematches, NERV, or rather Gendo Ikari, had no other choice but to give up trying to bring his son back to Earth by force. This has enabled Ms. Megumi to maintain her team without further issues stemming from a man that wants to have his way all the time, only to realize that he can't when there are people that won't tolerate him."
Misato reaches her building and parks in a space.
"…But I'm suspecting that most of the public's eyes will be on the Clover Team and Gendo Ikari," Harumi expresses, making Misato wonder why this would be so. "It is to be expected that Gendo still holds a bitter grudge against his son for leaving him that he will make it his sole priority to go after the team until it's only Shinji left to face him. A blood feud between father and son, where only one of them will win and the other will lose everything."
"But isn't murder prohibited in Zoid matches?" The man questions.
"Extremely. But has that ever stopped anyone from trying to take revenge against someone else? I doubt that when push comes to shove, Gendo will do whatever it takes to hurt his son."
Turning the radio off, Misato had to agree with her on that possibility; Gendo wouldn't stop until he made sure that Shinji would lose more than just a shot at a better life if he won the Royal Cup. Getting into Class "S", receiving a glorious king's ransom, building a new life on Zi, away from Earth, its environmental issues, and his relatives and their lack of attachment towards him… Such a future was only possible if he won…and he clearly wanted to win. Anyone with ambitions of winning to seize all that they could ever hope to gain in these moments of opportunity would give their all to succeed.
With no Angels popping up, left or right, we may not have anything to worry about but the Royal Cup, she thinks as she goes up the elevator. I want very much to believe that the threat of the Angels is over, that we have nothing more to worry about.
Of course, this meant that, if it was true, then the only actual concerns they had left to actually worry about…were the people that were behind the conspiracy to cause Second Impact, effectively destroying the world as they knew it fifteen years ago. This, while upsetting, would have repercussions that couldn't be ignored by anyone. To know that there were people that wanted to cause Second Impact, deliberately, and worse yet, there were some people that knew about this and either failed to do something about it…or simply chose not to…made other people second guess whatever it is that they thought they knew about the people in their lives. But none of this would have been made possible to know about had Shinji not been chosen to pilot a Zoid by a little girl that picked him out everyone else his age that were better or worse than he had been initially, so Misato felt that the world was mildly indebted to Nico for picking to poach him before he ever came to Tokyo-3 just to pilot the Eva, something he really didn't want to do at all, which infuriated his father, who was now on Zi to get revenge.
"Shinji, you and your Clover Team better survive your father's wrath," Misato says as she enters her apartment.
-x-
Shinji decided to update his profile before the Royal Cup officially started, since he wasn't going to have time to do so once it did, putting in new information that he felt was relevant, including his recent encounter with Ms. Gaidoku, who he admitted to liking. And while being afraid of his father winning the Royal Cup, he wrote that he refused to let a man like him win when his reason for participating was nothing more than simple revenge against himself for rejecting his intentions back when they were both on Earth, something he was now free from because his father was stripped of all his authority and unethical ambitions that came at a cost too great to imagine or consider achieving. The Royal Cup had to be won by those who had goals within the realms of reason and acceptance, by individuals that sought for the right reasons, like resolving past struggles or building a better future for themselves and others. If he let someone like Gendo win, it would hurt people that look up to those that hold promise over those that got involved for the wrong reasons and called them the right reasons.
And while I have no guarantee of winning unless I give it my all, alongside the rest of the Clover Team, alongside Nico, Drake, Geisha and Valerie, I have to believe that the Royal Cup will be won by those that want it more than anything my father could want, he thinks as he finishes typing down his tidbits and saving with his pilot status in the Royal Cup as active and pending victory. Even if there's a chance that we'll lose, I can't let someone like him win.
"Attention, Clover Team," a man's voice spoke on the loudspeakers in the Whale King. "We shall be making our descent towards the Solarix Peninsula in ten minutes. Please, proceed to your Zoids to begin disembarking right after. Thank you."
Shinji nods and turns off his tablet and gets up from the bench to head to Liger Rogue.
"Yo, Shinji," went Drake as he walks up beside him on the right, "let's go kick some Zoids."
"Eh-heh! Yeah."
They each got inside their Zoids as the Whale King began to descend towards the ground below, the peninsula coastline resembling the outline of a romanticized sun's edges.
"Wow, it looks like the rays of a sun," Shinji says as he sees the holographic layout of the coast.
"Yeah, that's how it's looked for the last millennia," went Valerie. "A geographical work of art."
The loading platform they were on began to descend to the ground below and Geisha's Storm Sworder took flight into the air while Nico drove her Gustav onto the ground, pulling Liger Rogue and G-Rex on its trailers as the Geno Saurer stepped off.
"Good luck, y'all," Nico's mother praised them. "We're all rooting you."
"Thank you," Shinji says through the intercom.
"You have got to be kidding me," they hear Geisha over the intercom, sounding annoyed.
"What's wrong?" Valerie asks her.
"I might be jumping to conclusions, Shinji, but I think your old man followed our Whale King here, and now he's following us from a distance. Eight miles east of us."
Geisha showed them all a heads-up display of what she was looking at, and Shinji sees the Death Stinger approximately eight miles east of where they are, moving at a steady pace for a Zoid that hadn't been in use since it was blacklisted and kept in storage. It was really disturbing to know that he was a considerable distance from them. Whether it was pure coincidence or Gendo was stalking them, none of them were certain, only that so long as he stayed away from them, they would tolerate his uneasy presence.
"Say, Geisha," went Shinji, trying to change the subject. "When we win, you say you want take your Fire Phoenix and fly into the sunset?"
"That's right," Geisha answers.
"Why fly into the sunset?"
"When people watch you go off into the distance, there's something magical about it, inspiring and encouraging others to look for their next great adventure."
"Yeah, you're right," they hear Drake say. "There is something magical about it when you think about it."
"I always thought there was something magical about that film with that man that died while making it back in the last decade of the previous century," Valerie states. "There's a film here from forty years ago that has a similar background. A Zoid is dismembered in front of its owner by a gang of outlaws and its soul is sent to the land of the fallen, only to come back and help its owner to win a victory for their town that is slowly dying. The Zoid was referred to as…"
"The Silver Crow?" Shinji speaks up. "I saw the movie The Silver Crow just last night. It was beautiful. And the other film from Earth, The Crow, based off the graphic comic book, was also a powerful film."
"Zoids become guardian angels," Drake expresses.
"I hope your Gun Sniper is watching us, then," Nico tells him. "We need all the luck and goodwill we can get for what's coming."
Beep! Nico got a notification from the ZBC and stopped her Gustav.
"What is it?" Valerie and Shinji ask her.
"They're about to launch the Judges," she informs them, and they each look up at the sky.
A moment later, the sky is dotted with several objects falling towards the land below. They space out and hit ground, causing a minor tremor that lasts for just twenty seconds.
"Attention, all participants currently present," a female voice utters on the intercom. "At the sound of the bang in the air, all Judges within the six-hundred-mile starting line will announce the beginning of the Royal Cup. Once it begins, all teams and soloists must traverse the terrain and compete to obtain the data needed to complete the digital map that will show you the location of where you need to go to win. When the Royal Cup begins, all participants will receive a random byte of information that is incomplete without the remaining five pieces you will receive upon defeating rival Zoid pilots. Each battle must be centered around a different Judge to prevent foul play from being suspected. This is stressed upon the soloists that think they can bend or break the rules."
"Ouch," Shinji utters; at least they now know that his father can't do anything to cheat his way to victory in this tournament.
"There are twenty Judges in total, each covering thirty miles and recording each and every one of you. We look forward to watching you face off! Wait for the bang!"
"Looks like we're waiting right here, then," went Nico, and she pops open a can of coffee. "Geisha, you should come down and wait with us. Unless you feel aerial surveillance is helpful to track others."
"No thanks," Geisha tells her. "Besides, Gendo is moving away from us. He's going further inward. Since he's a soloist, he knows he's being looked at more than we are."
"Yeah, he better get to steppin'," Shinji expresses.
Meanwhile, in his Death Stinger, Gendo bided his time to take his revenge against Shinji. He required five victories against at least five combatants across the terrain. For now, he would play along, but in time, nothing and nobody would keep him from dealing with Shinji.
Coma, legs broken, organs ruptured, so long as you can't do much of anything for the rest of your life, he thinks as he imagines Shinji having to live out the rest of his days in a hospital room somewhere just waiting for the bliss of oblivion. A grim and bittersweet fate awaits you.
-x-
With SEELE currently in the wind, Fuyutsuki had more time to observe the time being spent to start the Royal Cup on Zi. Since he was in charge of NERV and there were no sightings of any other Angels, he permitted the personnel to watch the tournament within the Geo-Front.
"So, you're really hoping that Ikari's son will win the Royal Cup?" Ritsuko asks him as they watch the holographic display of the geographical location with the command center.
"That's the ambition," he says to her. "Are you not the least bit impressed by his progression as a Zoid pilot…and as a person coping with being on an alien world similar to our own?"
"He would've been more valuable piloting the Eva, but he chose a biomechanical animal that we barely understand and which the ZBC prohibits the exploitation of further advancement with these creatures in any way they view as unethical, which includes synchronization with the nervous system."
"Doctor Akagi, part of the reason it's forbidden to synchronize a Zoid with one's nervous system is because acts like that had been committed in the past, and those acts held repercussions for the people they were used on, and all of them were severe. They may not look it, but Zi is technologically more advanced than Earth is, and we're not in any rush to engage Zi in a technology race that we can't win. What would be the point?"
"Advancement."
"NERV could do better with medical technology instead of military technology or developing artificial intelligence."
"If the Angels are no longer a priority, what else is there to do?"
"Move on and find something else worth doing."
Ritsuko looks at the holographic map and sees several other Zoid teams and soloists making landfall at the location and spreading across the layout.
"Just under half an hour now," Fuyutsuki expresses, seeing the timer counting down to the start of the finals.
"I fail to see the logic in letting the finalists get into position over a six-hundred-mile terrain if it's akin to a racetrack of sorts," Ritsuko admits.
"It gives everyone involved a fair chance to do their best."
-x-
Although they had yet to hear the bang that would start the finals, the Clover Team had ventured almost halfway to the middle of the six-hundred-mile terrain as soon as they had received a notification that the Excalibur and Matthias Teams had arrived. The only sore point of the teams arriving was the Yeagerist Team, something Geisha found ridiculous because they had dropped to Class "B" after their match.
"How exactly did they get to participate in the finals if they were Class 'B'?" She asks.
"Most likely, they drew one of the wild cards that the Royal Cup gives out to Class 'B' teams," Drake states. "The ZBC recognizes hard work and perseverance, and they take into account what the fans of certain teams expect to see from their favorites."
"Oh, that's great."
"If it's any consolation," Shinji informs her, pointing to what he saw on the holographic map, "the Yeagerist Team is heading towards my father. Maybe they don't like that he's in the game or they want to take him out as soon as the finals begin."
"If they can, that's one adversary we won't have to face," went Nico, "but they shouldn't underestimate him just because he's a soloist. We don't know what he's capable of with a Death Stinger in its entirety because nobody's ever faced one until now."
"Whatever their reason for heading towards him," Valerie expresses, "they'd best be prepared to go toe-to-toe with him, otherwise they'll be the ones in the dumps."
The anticipation was getting to them. It was a short time until the Royal Cup began…but a long time to wait for it. Every second, every moment, an eternity spent waiting for the inevitable to come their way…just so they could fight it out for the biggest of prizes that were there for the taking. And from what they could guess on their status as a Zoid team, there were fans out there waiting for them to play and win, young minds looking for their next great role models in a world where each moment of every day was another chance to shine in the darkness.
Beep-beep-beep! They hear a beeping sound.
BANG! A loud bang could be heard from all over the terrain.
"Attention, everyone!" A male voice, robotic, utters over the intercom. "The annual Royal Cup…has officially begun. Battle Mode One-Zero-Zero-One. Ready… Fight!"
All five members of the Clover Team looked at one another on their heads-up displays inside their respective Zoids.
"Do your best out there," Nico tells them, "give them all a run for their money…and have fun."
"Yeah!" Shinji, Drake, Geisha and Valerie all cheered, and their Zoids spread out from the Gustav and its trailers.
The wait was now over. It was a no-holds-barred free-for-all to determine who would make it to the top. The Zoids Battle Commission Royal Cup…had finally begun.
To be continued…
A/N: It took a while to get this done, and as of late, every time I put a new document on the site, it gets altered so that everything centered is not centered, which isn't how I do things like this. What do you think so far? Everyone is psyched up and can barely hold their excitement, and things are either straight and narrow or sideways for certain individuals, particularly Shinji and Gendo, and for different reasons. One is fighting for a one-sided revenge because he can't admit that he screwed up and failed…and one is fighting for control over his own future and escape from his shameful past. In other words, the gauntlet has been thrown down, and anything goes.