Happy New Year everyone!
Tokyo 3 - One day after Shamshel attack
"I'm never going to complain about my bed again."
After twelve hours stuck in a hole deep within NERV's headquarters, the cricks in Kensuke's neck felt like they wouldn't go away despite how much he stretched.
"I feel ya Ken," Beside him, Tohji could hear his bones pop, "Worst night of sleep in my life."
The duo were escorted out of the building by a security guard an hour ago with a stern warning, Kensuke felt the only reason they weren't being locked in jail for the rest of their life was because they were kids. Fortunately, or unfortunately for Kensuke, the only casualty of their crime was Kensuke's camera. Although he would have liked to have bemoaned the loss of $50 of hard-earned cash, the unamused gaze of the NERV guard and Tohji told him now was not the best time.
"Maybe this should be a reminder to stay inside the civilian shelters next time, instead of going outside when it's dangerous." Standing outside was none other than the new kid, Shinji Ikari, the pilot of the big robot that had become Kensuke's new obsession after yesterday.
"Hey new kid, man am I glad to see you!" Kensuke immediately clung onto Shinji with an arm wrapped around his shoulder, as if they were long time friends, "You wouldn't believe the night we had, sleeping on concrete floors is the worst."
Shinji's unamused face was all the response he got before gently removing Kensuke's arm from his shoulder, "Why do I have the feeling you don't regret leaving the civilian shelter and almost dying?"
Tohji rolled his eyes, "It's because he feels justified, and a justified Ken is the worst kind of Ken."
The trio started walking away from NERV HQ, now free to return to their homes, "Just so you know, NERV already spoke with your parents about what happened."
Tohji groaned, "Great, the last thing I needed was a scolding from my old man. No thanks to you Ken."
The bespectacled friend ignored the jab, content on asking questions to Shinji, "So, Shinji, what was that cool robot huh? How does it work? How long have you been training with it? Oh and how does someone get picked to pilot one of those?"
It was a non-stop barrage of questions from the otaku that Shinji could barely keep up. Kensuke asked so many specific questions, who designed it, where did they get the parts from, what system did it use…heck, not even Shinji knew the answer. He just piloted the thing.
"I don't know if I can answer that, legally and plainly." Shinji remarked as he rubbed the back of his head, "I only started piloting a few weeks ago, last month I didn't even know the EVA's existed."
"Really!?" Kensuke shouted, "So you just learned how to kick ass in a few weeks?! Please tell me the robot has some sort of neural plug that streams martial arts into your brain. Like that old American movie!" Kensuke threw out some punches, "[I know kung-fu.]" He spoke in barely understandable English, but it was clear that Kensuke knew the line by heart by how confident he sounded.
"Uh, no. The robot didn't teach me kung-fu, I just know how to fight."
Kensuke stopped throwing fake punches and looked at him, "You do?"
Tohji equally looked at him quizzically, "You know how to fight?"
Shinji nodded, "It's an unofficial fighting style, you wouldn't find it at any dojo."
"It's not one of those 'only for self-defense' kinda martial arts is it?" Tohji asked.
Shinji shook his head, "No, the Komaki style martial art is for actual fighting, I've used it plenty back home in Tokyo-2." For some reason, after he learned to fight, people just wanted to fight him. Whether it was other gangs, rival yakuza members, or just some guy wanting to vent his frustrations, Shinji would often get into fights on the streets of Tokyo-2.
"Shit, the new kid pilots a robot, knows how to fight, and works with the government to fight aliens. What can't you do?" Tohji asked.
The trio made their way topside, pass the checkpoints and security, they could finally go back to their lives.
"I bet my dad is gonna lecture me when I get home," Kensuke said, "The last thing I need after sleeping in a prison cell is to hear him shout at me. I'm going to the arcade, wanna come?" He asked.
"Yeah, I have a feeling my old man is gonna do the same. How about you Shinji? You up for some time at the arcade?" Tohji turned to the EVA pilot, "Or do you have some super secret debriefing to get to?"
"There's an arcade? What kind?" Shinji's interest peaked.
"It's just an old Club SEGA," Kensuke waved aside, "You interested?"
Shinji only smirked, "I'm a little familiar with Club SEGA."
"Oh?" Kensuke asked quizzically, "Does the fearsome robot pilot have some hidden gaming abilities?"
Shinji slyly shrugged, "I may or may not have sunk a few thousand yen into Virtua Fighter at my local arcade."
Tohji clasped his hands around Shinji's shoulder, "You think you're hot shit, new kid?" He asked in a provoking manner, "I went 15-0 against the track team last year."
"I mean, I personally wouldn't brag about beating up babies but you do you." Shinji clasped his hands behind his head, nonchalantly calling Tohji's bluff.
"Oh, that's it. You, me, VF 2, now." Tohji said.
"Oh man, I haven't seen Tohji this fired up to beat someone at a game since Takahata said he was the best player in all of Tokyo-3." Kensuke said, "Well c'mon, let's get going!"
So the trio ran off to the arcade, intent on doing battle.
The Club SEGA was situated in the local mall, it was a rather large mall full of a lot of busy stores. There were some brands Shinji even recognized, Don Quijote had a large presence, a small Cafe Alps, there was a Smile Burger in the food court, heck, a huge portion of the mall was even dedicated to a RIZAP Gym.
Despite there being just a few stores he recognized there were still plenty of stores he could think of being useful. There was a pharmacy store, hopefully with better energy drinks and supplements than the local Poppo stores. Staminan X and Toughness Z's were fine, but he always preferred the stronger variants.
"And here it is, Club SEGA." Kensuke introduced, as they rounded a corner.
The arcade was rather small, not enough to be a problem but definitely not the two-story building he was used to in Tokyo-2. One side of the wall was covered in claw machines and gachas, the opposite wall was full of peripherals like light guns, racers, and even a dance machine. The center of the room was where the arcade cabinets stood, most of them were Virtua Fighter, but he spotted a couple other cabinets like Space Harrier and Fantasy Zone. Lastly, the furthest wall away from the entrance was where the employees stood. All in all it was a perfectly adequate arcade, fit with everything they would need.
"Alright, new kid, you may be a badass, but can you back it up in a real man's game?" Tohji asked as he approached the Virtua Fighter cabinet.
"Best of three?" Shinji asked as he approached the opposite cabinet.
"Duh," Tohji inserted a coin into the slot, as did Shinji.
The two battled it out for an hour, duking it out, trading blows and wins. They were evenly matched, by the end it was hard to say who was better, but it was Tohji who managed to squeeze out the win.
"Not gonna lie, you were tough." Tohji said as he leaned away from the cabinet.
"You definitely weren't bluffing about your skill," Shinji complimented in turn.
Shinji didn't know when, but sometime during their matches, he felt a solid bond start to form between them. He felt like Tohji was trustworthy, his first friend in this new city. Unlike Misato, who he lived with and had a working relationship with, this was something he could call his own,
"Are you two done?" Kensuke approached the two of them, "I've been playing Space Harrier for the last hour and it's getting boring."
Tohji and Shinji looked at each other and nodded, their friendship had officially been born. "Yeah, we're good. Ready to head out, Ken?"
The trio left the arcade, back into the larger mall plaza, "I think I kept my dad waiting long enough. I'm gonna head back, how about you two?" Kensuke asked.
"Same, I don't want him worrying about me even more." Tohji stretched, popping a few bones. "You headed back to your place Shinji?"
The pilot shrugged, "I'm off for the rest of the day, so yeah, may as well get started on dinner tonight."
Content on going their own ways, Kensuke and Tohji parted, leaving Shinji alone in the mall. With nothing to do and no plans for the rest of the day he decided to head home. He started to walk away from the arcade when he heard shouting.
"Watch out, watch out, watch out!"
Before Shinji knew it, a large mass had run into him, throwing him to the ground. He rubbed his head in agony for a few moments until he opened his eyes, surrounding him were opened cardboard boxes filled with little tires, spokes, car frames, and batteries.
Shinji hesitantly picked up one of the car frames, this one looked more intact than the rest. It was a white and orange car, with a black plastic bumper frame around it, etched into plastic were the words 'Golem Tiger'.
Substory 01 - Rocket in a Pocket
"I'm so so so so sorry!"
Shinji looked away from the tiny car and to the voice beside him, it was a girl dressed in weird clothes. She wore a very colorful tracksuit, full of blue, white, yellow, and reds. Frankly, she looked like she came straight out of the bubble era.
"Um, yeah, sorry for bumping into you too." Shinji stood up and lent a hand to the girl to stand up.
The girl happily accepted and stood up with him, "Again I am so sorry, the boxes blocked my view and I tripped up on my feet, and when I started falling I couldn't stop!"
Shinji waved his hand, "It's okay, you're not the first person that's run into me. I hope you're not hurt too bad either."
The girl shook her head, "It may look like it but I'm built tough, you have to be if you wanna make it in this job." She gave a strong thumbs up.
"Yeah I guess you have to be, huh?" Shinji stopped for a moment, "Wait, what exactly do you do?" He asked.
"I am the ONE, THE FEW, POCKET CIRCUIT FIGHTER!" She pumped her fist with a wink and a strong smirk.
"..."
"Pocket Circuit Fighter!" She said again.
"I don't know what that is." Shinji told her.
She looked shocked, offended even, "You don't know Pocket Circuit?! It's just the biggest craze in all of Japan!"
Pocket Circuit Fighter reached down into the pile of car parts and pulled another complete toy car like the one he held. "This is a pocket circuit car, you race these on tracks against three opponents, whichever pocket circuit car reaches the finish line first is declared the winner."
Shinji cupped his chin, "I see, so it's just a race but with toy cars." He looked down at the pocket circuit car in his hand. "I feel bad for getting in your way, how about I help you clean up?" Shinji asked.
Pocket Circuit Fighter bowed instantly, almost bending at a ninety degree angle, "Thank you so much! You're really saving my butt by helping me, I'm new to the job and I don't want my regional manager to be upset with me."
Shinji again waved his hand, it was no big deal to him. The two set to work on cleaning their mess promptly, picking up spare parts and fully made kits and putting them safely into organized boxes. As the two cleaned, Pocket Circuit Fighter told him the ins and outs of the hobby. People bought kits and spare parts to design their cars to their wants and needs, there was a surprising amount of depth to something Shinji initially thought was simply for kids younger than him. But the more he listened to Pocket Circuit Fighter the more he realized how popular the pastime actually was.
She told him how old Pocket Circuit actually was, reaching as far back as the Bubble era of the eighties. To think that such a thing was popular even back then.
"Popularity has waned over time, the company's president had to step down because of how bad it was doing. But the new president had a bold new plan to push the hobby into multimedia. Now we have manga, a TV show, and I heard that the company is looking for someone to make a video game about Pocket Circuit, can you imagine that? A video game!"
Pocket Circuit Fighter continued her lecture as the two walked, Shinji was actually getting pretty excited at the prospect of playing some Pocket Circuit.
"And here we are, the Pocket Circuit League of Tokyo-3." Pocket Circuit Fighter stood in front of the store front with pride.
It looked like many others in the mall, except with a bright neon light with the words 'Pocket Circuit League' emblazoned on a sign hanging from the front. It even had a neon car with a plume of flame beside the shop's name. The inside was spacious, likely because it was mostly empty except for a few tables and a stage taking up the outer edges.
"Isn't it a bit…empty?" Shinji asked.
Pocket Circuit Fighter walked in and put down her box on a nearby plastic table with a huff, "Well yeah, I haven't set up the course." She pointed to the center of the room where a large green carpet covered the floor. "That is where the course goes, I just haven't set it up yet."
Shinji followed her lead and set down his box beside hers, "Ah that makes sense."
Pocket Circuit Fighter strode up to him with a smile, "Thank you again for helping fix my mistake, I don't even know your name."
"Oh," Had he forgotten to tell her? "My name is Shinji, Shinji Ikari. I'm new around here."
The girl again bowed as straight as she could, "Thank you soooooo much Ikari-kun, please let me reward you for being so selfless."
Shinji shook his head, "It's fine, I help wherever I'm needed. I don't really need a reward."
Pocket Circuit Fighter planted her hands on her hips, "I think you already have your reward, Ikari-kun." She said with a smirk, nodding to his hand.
Curiously Shinji looked down and noticed he still had the Golem Tiger car on him, "Consider that my reward, I hope to see you on the race track Ikari-kun! Now if you'll excuse me I have to set up for the grand opening tomorrow, thank you again for everything."
Substory - 01 Rocket in a Pocket Complete
Shinji pocketed the car and nodded, "Of course, I'll come by to race when I can." He started to leave before realizing something. "You know, I gave you my name, but I don't know yours." Shinji pointed out.
Pocket Circuit Fighter slapped her head obviously lamenting almost forgetting, "Uh, duh, I can't believe I forgot. I call myself Pocket Circuit Fighter on the job so much I forget to give them my real name." She explained, "My name is Mana, Mana Kirishima. A pleasure to meet you."
To Become a Dragon
"So, this is it?" Shinji asked as he surveyed the hastily built warehouses.
After defeating Shamshel, the body of the angel has been seized upon by the numerous researchers in NERV as fast as they could. Unfortunately the body was too vast and complicated to move, and the side of the mountain was plateaued to be used as a forward research facility. At least, that's what Misato told him. He was sure there were a ton of small details that she left out to not bog him down with the specifics.
"Yep, this is it. How does it feel to be next to an Angel in person this time? Now that you're outside of the EVA." Misato strode forward to the entrance of the nearest warehouse.
There were probably thousands of words anyone could use to describe standing next to an alien (Were they even aliens? He wondered if Dr. Akagi could clarify that for him.) the size of office buildings, the importance of such a scenario, the grandiosity, the awesome ramifications of such a realization…Shinji personally felt pain.
The memories of his arm twisting in ways the human body was not meant to would never leave him, it was such a real experience despite his arm not actually bearing the damage. Then there were the tentacles that impaled his abdomen, that certainly wasn't a pleasant experience either.
"Before we go in, safety first." Misato picked up a couple of hard hats from a container sitting near the warehouse's entrance.
Shinji didn't argue, making sure to secure the hard hat on top of his head.
The inside was busy to say the least, dozens of labcoated men and women walked across catwalks that surrounded Shamshel and the ground floor, most of them had their noses in clipboards turning pages or speaking with others in rushed excited tones.
"This is it? I didn't expect it to be so…intact." Shinji said.
"That's all thanks to you, Ikari." Shinji looked up to the catwalks to the source to see Dr. Akagi leaning down looking at them. She walked down the nearby stairs and met them at the entrance, "The angel is almost entirely intact, the only significant damage is to its core. We didn't have this opportunity with the previous angel since it self-destructed, but this subject should give us plenty to work on. Well done Shinji, your knife work is impressive."
"Yeah, I kinda had help on that part." He really did mean 'kinda', because how else was he going to explain that a one-eyed fifty year old man with a tanto chased him across a homeless encampment until he got good with a knife? If he ever saw Majima-sensei ever again it would be too soon.
"So, what have you learned? You've been analyzing the body for a couple days now, surely you've got something." Misato asked her friend.
Dr. Akagi motioned them to follow her to a nearby office, "We have made some significant insights, but what we have found has only confirmed just how much we don't know about the angels. Take this, for example."
She dropped onto a nearby chair and started to use the computer in front of her, a few clicks from her and the computer shot out a three digit number.
"601?" Shinji asked.
"It's an error code, it means we can't identify the matter we are analyzing. All we know is that it's made of particles and waves, similar to light." Shinji didn't quite understand the context so he simply nodded.
"Well, do you know something tangible? Like, do they have a power source?" It was clear that Misato wasn't really interested in the deeper scientific breakthroughs the angel itself could provide, to be fair neither did Shinji, but needed something concrete in the fight against the angels.
"Yes…"
"But?" Misato egged on the doctor.
"We have no clue how it works," Dr. Akagi sighed, "We know the red orb is a large factor in its energy supply, but whether it is the source itself or simply a part of it we don't know. I had some work ordered, to try and estimate just how much energy these angels actually possess."
"What did they come back with?"
"I won't bore you with the math, but let's just say it is a lot."
Misato blew a whistle, "So all that your team has concluded is that we don't know a lot more than we thought we didn't know." She chuckled, "The mysterious gets mysterious-er."
"That's not all." Dr. Akagi pushed a few more buttons, switching screens to something entirely new.
"What is it?" Shinji asked.
"It's a wave pattern, think of it like a fingerprint. It's a unique signature to this angel, notice the form of it all?"
Shinji and Misato leaned in, "Wait a minute…is this-?"
"Yes, while it may be composed of different elements there is no mistaking it. What you are seeing is an exact replica of the human DNA."
"How exact doctor?" Shinji asked.
She didn't speak for a moment, almost like she was considering telling them or not, "Analysis shows an almost 98% match."
"Seems a bit too perfect to be a coincidence." Misato's implication sent a chill down Shinji's spine.
A 98% exact replica of anything would be miraculous, but to find such a thing in the body of a dead angel? He briefly wondered if their names weren't just to sound intimidating, because if angels existed…what could possibly have occurred to create such a thing? Shinij's train of thought immediately went to divinity. He stopped there, he didn't want to even think about the further implications.
As the two friends continued their thought experiment Shinji eyed a set of familiar figures, his father and Fuyutsuki. The father and son hadn't seen each other much less talked since he left NERV after Sachiels defeat, to see him here after so much time had passed was strange. He leaned out the door to see him approach what remained of the red orb he had struck with the EVA's knife. While he couldn't hear him his eyes wandered to his fathers hands, they were burnt.
"Something the matter?" Misato asked.
Shinji turned back to his caretaker and the doctor, "I just saw my father pass by and noticed his hands were burnt."
"His hands are burnt? I don't remember that…In fact I don't think I've ever seen his hands. Now think about it, he's always wearing those gloves of his." Misato cupped her chin in realization.
"It happened before you arrived," Dr. Akagi started, "Unit 00 had an…issue, it went berserk in the test chamber."
Unit 00? Shinji hadn't heard of that Evangelion before, "Was that why Rei was so injured?"
The doctor nodded, "Rei was its pilot, yes, so when it went berserk she was the one stuck inside. When her plug ejected it got damaged, the Commander was the first person to reach her plug. He personally opened the hatch to retrieve her, due to the plugs' heat his hands were burnt in the process."
Shinji was left baffled by Dr. Akagi's retelling of the events, he had no idea his father was capable of something so selfless. As Dr. Akagi and Misato talked, and showed him around the corpse of the angel, her words kept ranging in his head. His father acted out to save the life of a girl he had no connection to other than being her boss. The logical side of his brain told him it was obvious to go to such extreme lengths, at the time Rei was the only operating EVA pilot in Japan. But that didn't stop him from replaying the scenario in his head again and again.
It didn't take until he was in bed that night that a thought crossed his mind, "Was I…replaced?" He asked no one.
Did his father not want him?
He didn't recognize when it started but the next day at school, Shinji had been watching Rei whenever he could. She had recently gotten rid of her sling so he finally got to see how she normally acted. All day Rei had looked out the window, not paying attention during class, when it came time to eat she didn't sit or speak with any of the other classmates. When the class went outside for their gym class he tried to keep an eye on her. The boys were on track while the girls sat above them swimming in the pool.
"Any of the girls catch your eye, Shin-man?" Tohji asked as he wrapped an arm around his shoulder, "Y'know, I bet if you told a girl your job is to save humanity you'd get a date instantly!"
"Yeah, yeah! And you can't do it with the help of your two friends, specifically me." Kensuke joined in Tohji's teasing, but Shinji had a feeling they weren't teasing as much as they were hoping to leech off of him.
"I'm not looking for a date,"
"Oh, so just window shopping, huh? Who's got your eye, is it Minami? What about Taki?"
"Or is it Ayanami?" Kensuke guessed, "You know you can tell us if she's a pilot, now that we know you are."
"She is," Shinji saw no harm confirming their suspicions, they were already known to NERV anyways.
"So, what is it that interests you? Is it her ta-ta's?" Tohji continued teasing.
"Is it her sweet supple legs?" Kensuke tagged in.
"Or is it her amazing calves?" They both said in union.
Shinji had half a mind to smack the both of them upside the head before an idea popped in his head, "Say, you two have been here for a few years, yeah?"
The duo looked at each other, not expecting this response, "Yeah, I moved here, like, three years ago." Tohji said.
"Same." Kensuke answered as well.
"How long have you two known Ayanami?"
"She transferred last year," Kensuke said, "As far as I know she's been like this since she enrolled. Some people have tried talking to her but she always seems to reject them. Not, like, tell them off or something, just that she doesn't interact with anyone."
"Really?" Shinji asked.
Tohji nodded, "Yeah, you shoulda seen it when she first came to class, Class Rep was trying so hard to get her to socialize. But even she couldn't make a dent in her."
Kensuke backed him up, "She seems to give everyone the cold shoulder. No idea why."
Shinji turned back to Rei, sitting alone away from the other girls. Despite being here for almost two months now, he had very little idea about who his fellow pilot was. Who exactly was Rei Ayanami, and what was her connection to his father?
As the rest of the school day passed by, Shinji kept Tohji and Kensuke's words in the back of his mind as reference. Occasionally during class he would steal glances at his fellow pilot, trying to put the pieces together. It was clear he was still missing something. What that thing was, he didn't know.
"You two headed to the arcade after class?'' Shinji asked as the bells rang, declaring the end of the school day.
The two boys groaned, "Can't, grounded." Kensuke bemoaned as well as Tohji.
"I'd love to bang out a couple matches of VF but my old man wants me home before the sun goes down, sorry Shinji." Tohji explained.
The consequences of their excursion during the Shamshel fight lingered on for the duo, Shinji almost felt bad.
"Alright, I'm just gonna be there for a bit. Misato is having her friend over, and I'm cooking dinner." Tohji once again groaned, "What?"
"Shinji," Kensuke started, "Do you realize how blessed you are? You pilot a robot, you live with a smoking hot babe, you cook & clean, and on top of all that you are a badass martial artist. Save some stuff for the rest of us man!"
Shinji shook his head, "It's not all that glamorous Kensuke,"
The self-declared otaku muttered something but quickly left before the conversation could continue.
With nothing to do for a couple hours, Shinji made way for the mall, more specifically the Pocket Circuit store. Mana said the grand opening was today, and he was hoping to see what it would look like. He expected a dozen kids with their own pocket circuit cars crowded around the center of the room watching their cars drive around a track. But that's not what he got.
There was a huge crowd lined up outside the store with people of all ages, young boys, grown men and women, teenage girls his age. Mana wasn't kidding when she said how wide the appeal for Pocket Circuit was. Inside he could hear cheering and booing, the whir of gears and batteries driving on the track was ever present.
"Shinji, thank goodness you're here!" Shinji turned to the front of the line, where Mana stood looking frazzled.
"Oh hey Mana, busy day huh?"
"Very busy, management sprung this whole thing on me at the last second so I couldn't prepare for how many customers there would be and I'm pretty much doing it all myself and…" Mana deflated, obviously having been the only person keeping things together would have put a strain on anybody. Moreso with how many people there are.
"I could help if you want, just tell me what to do." Shinji volunteered himself.
"Oh, I wouldn't want to make you help me again, I don't have anything to compensate you with."
Shinji simply waved his hand, "It's okay, I help where I'm needed. Just tell me what you need done and I will do what I can."
Man looked as if she had a load taken off her, finally able to decompress, "You're a lifesaver, here, I can work the tracks but I need you working concessions."
Shinji followed Mana inside and quickly learned how to work the cash register while Mana was able to work on being the Pocket Circuit Fighter. For a few hours things went pretty smoothly, people came in and hung around to watch the cars race along the track, occasionally buying snacks and drinks to pass the time. Without having to do all parts of the job, Mana seemed to actually shine in her role as Pocket Circuit Fighter, mentoring kids in smaller tracks around the room to test their cars, and being an excellent spokesperson for the hobby. Of course, that wouldn't last forever.
"This is bullshit!"
The loud clatter of plastic hitting the floor silenced the room, "I'm the best in my region, no way some random scrub beat me!"
Shinji quietly apologized to the boy buying a snack and excused himself from the cash register to locate the source of the disturbance.
"Sir, you've already lost the race," Mana said in a gentle voice, hoping to neutralize the aggressor.
Standing in front of her were three older boys, more likely young adults by the looks of things. The one in the middle had a broken car in between his feet, like the one who was causing a scene.
"Go home, while you still have some pride." Behind Mana stood another lanky young man in a hoodie, likely the person who won the race.
"Like hell I am, I'm not walking away from a million yen!" The two young men surrounding the aggressor nodded in agreement, backing him up.
"I'm sorry sir but you're out of the tournament, if you continue to cause a scene I will call the police." Mana threatened.
The aggressor balled his fist, "Oh yeah? Well, take this!" He threw a punch and the lanky man, ready to knock his lights out. But it did not connect.
"That's enough." Shinji said, catching the punch before it could land.
Shinji threw the fist right back at the young man, making him stumble into his friends, "What the-? Who the hell are you?!"
Shinji stepped in between Mana and the other racer, "You've been asked to leave, don't make the same mistake again. Apologize now, and we can go out separate ways."
That obviously didn't sit well with the young men, "You think I'm walking away from a million yen? You can bet your sorry ass I'm not doing whatever I can for that kinda cash!"
Shinji could tell where this was heading, "Fine, you wanna act this way then let's settle it outside."
The three young men snickered, "Us, against twerp like you? Do you have a death wish? Fine, kid."
The four of them walked outside of the storefront, all eyes were on them.
"Don't go crying to mommy when you get your ass handed to you kid!" One of the young men laughed.
Shinji rolled his shoulders, clenched his fists and entered into his stance, "I never do." He muttered to himself.
Sore Losers
Sore Loser B & C did not waste time rushing him, pressuring him on both sides with hasty jabs, he could immediately tell they weren't taking him seriously. Shinji felt it was time to prove them wrong.
As Sore Loser B threw another jab at him Shinji pulled his arm forward, making the young man overextend and throw off his balance. A swift knee to the gut keeled him over, and with a strong uppercut to the jaw Shinji's opponent was sent reeling. But he wasn't done, Shinji finished with a somersault kick that planted the loser's face straight into the ground, finishing him for good.
"What the-!?" The other two were left stunned by how fast their friend was taken down.
He quickly stood back up, ready to face the rest of his opponents, "This is your last chance to back down and apologize, you should take it."
His words did the opposite of persuading him as the leader's face only got more mad, "Get him!" He shouted to Sore Loser C.
Shinji's next opponent was much more cautious, slowly approaching him like he was some sort of dangerous beast.
It was clear that this one wouldn't be the one who would start the engagement, and would rather try to react to a punch rather than be the one that threw it. Unfortunately what he wasn't expecting was Shinji to grab him by the collar and forcefully push him to the ground. Shinji didn't waste any time winding up and executing a punt kick on the man's face, completely knocking him out.
"Is complaining and having your men beat up anyone you want the only thing you know? This is embarrassing." Shinji said as he turned to the last man standing.
The Sore Loser didn't respond, instead raising his fists preparing to fight.
"When you wake up after this, let it be known I gave you an out." Shinji told him.
The man roared with anger and rushed at him throwing punch after punch. It was a wave of blows that kept Shinji on his feet, dodging every one and blocking whatever he couldn't avoid. His skills were below average at best, definitely the kind of person who thrived off intimidation rather than actually knowing how to fight. Even the other two knew how to fight better than this guy.
As the next punch came at him, Shinji met it half way with his elbow and stopped it, the blow made the young man wince back as he clutched his hand. This would be his critical mistake.
Shinji did not hesitate to send his fist into the gut of his opponent with enough force to send him keeling over the impact. To finish off, Shinji backhanded the man straight across his jowls, sending him flying to the ground.
The three sore losers lay there on the mall floor groaning, clutching their injured bodies. "I warned you. You had plenty of chances to walk away and avoid this fight, but you chose this."
The three sore losers stood up groggily and cowering, "Please we'll stop, we'll stop!"
"Don't let me catch you causing trouble again," Shinji warned.
The trio turned around running with their metaphorical tail between their legs, "We're sorry!"
Mana ran up to him eyes wide and mouth agape, "Holy crap, you beat them up without a sweat! That was so cool!"
Shinji shrugged, those three were run of the mill guys he'd bump into anywhere in Tokyo-2, big mouths with little else to back it up. "I made sure they won't be causing you trouble anymore. What were they mad about anyway?"
"They were mad 'cuz they were knocked out of the tournament."
Behind Mana, the other young man that was involved walked up. He was a scrawny person, big squared glasses, a grey hoodie and sweatpants, and a black moppy hair to complete his unkempt vibe.
"Tournament?" Shinji asked.
Mana groaned, "Remember that thing I was talking about, how management dropped this thing on me at the last second? They wanted this location to really pop, so they're making Tokyo-3 the prime location for the Pocket Circuit Champion League. Basically a big tournament, with the top prize being a million yen."
"So everyone from across the country is coming here to compete, huh?" If management wanted a way to cause a scene within the Pocket Circuit community, making a tournament with the grand prize of a million yen was certainly the way to catch everyone's attention.
"Yep, everyone with even just a passing interest in the hobby is here, even those idiots you just got knocked around. They claim to be big shots but really they're nobodies. Might be the best in their region, but they aren't good enough to be notable."
"Pocket Circuit really draws in a big crowd." Shinji noted.
"Say, you aren't competing are you?" The young man asked.
Shinji shook his head, "I just learned about Pocket Circuit yesterday, I didn't even know about this tournament."
"You should join!" Mana ecstatically said, "Won't hurt to try, and hey, maybe you'll even win. Don't worry, the tournament goes on for a few months, so as long as you're competing you won't have to worry about any schedule problems."
Shinji thought it over, he had a big hole in his schedule some days with nothing to fill it. If he wasn't doing NERV training, he was waiting at home to cook after school. "Sure, I'll join, how does this work?"
Mana quickly ran him through the rules. Right now the tournament is in "pools", basically throwing everyone together and seeing who comes out on top while filtering everyone else out. So long as the player comes out in first or second, they get to move to the next round, while third and fourth are eliminated.
"After we get out of pools, we will only let first place advance to the next round, so on until we get a top four match. The winner of that match wins the million yen."
"Sounds like fun," Shinji turned to the young man beside Mana, "Should I expect to see you in the tournament too?"
The man gave a small smile, "Yeah, by the way my name is Taka, Takahata Minoru. A pleasure to meet you, and thanks for stopping those losers from beating me up." Taka stuck out his hand, Shinji met him halfway and shook it.
"It's no problem,"
Mana did not hesitate to grab his arm and drag him inside to play some Pocket Circuit, he might have to rely on Misato's cooking for dinner tonight. He hoped Dr. Akagi would forgive him later.
This chapter is filled with many firsts, the first of Shinji's new friends (unrelated to the Yakuza), the first substory, the first time we see some minigames (more on that in a bit), and the first appearance of Pocket Circuit Racing with none other than Mana Kirishima as Pocket Circuit Fighter! Which leads me to a point I wanna make about this fic.
This story will not be going the route of Rebuild, this will be the initial Evangelion scenario only, now that doesn't mean we won't be incorporating Rebuild elements into this story as we can see here with Mana Kirishima being from Girlfriend of Steel. I want to incorporate as many small nods to various Eva projects as I can. Of course without breaking the main scenario.
Lastly, we get to see Shinji and Tohji get along over a game of Virtua Fighter. A couple things about this scene. While I don't intend to adapt the 'Drink Links' system from Like A Dragon, this is basically the start of their drink link. As for why it was over a game of Virtua Fighter, well it's kinda obvious this was made after the announcement of RGG making the next entry in the series. I follow the fighting game community so I was pretty hyped for this (even though I have very little connection to VF personally).
Thank you for reading.